april 2026 finds is here!
BOOKS
1. i’ve been re-reading 50 shades of grey for the third time. it’s in portuguese this time. i got the 5 volumes cheap on vinted. it’s not been an easy read. some words are repeated ad nauseam and the storyline is too detailed and sad.
2. another dud was the creative act: a way of being by rick rubin. it’s a 430-page hard cover book made entirely of platitudes. a whole page says the universe never explains why. oh, lordie. i struggled for weeks and finally decided against going beyond page 150. argh…
3. i went through a casa atelie by tomie ohtake. we got it in sao paolo, after visiting two buildings by the architect. the book is nice and informative, but visiting the buildings was even nicer.
4. in rio, we found and bought a catalogue for a ron mueck exhibition. i love his stuff, i wish i could have seen the ongoing retrospective in tokyo.
5. i borrowed a 300-page japanese cookbook from a friend. it’s rintaro: japanese food from an izakaya in california by sylvan mishima brackett and jessica battilana (photo). it’s full of recipes and cultural context. very interesting, i recommend it.
MAGAZINES
6. i read british vogue, as usual. i have been feeling a little lost among the misguided opinions and the endless camouflaged paid content. i’ll probably extend my subscription anyway, won’t i?
MUSIC
7. i listened to new blue sun by andree 3000 and i liked it.
8. flea has a new album called honora. it’s ok, but it feels like i’ve heard it before. a lot of the collaborators on the album are black musicians.
in a plea, he screams: i don’t care about your fucking politics i don’t wanna hear about your politics. you’re 63, you should know better than just say tepid nothings in this day and age. well, i guess that is his level. he stuck with his pdf file friend and band colleague through decades, he sure knows how to look away.
i bought his autobiography a while ago, but i haven’t read it yet.
9. imagine that hole’s live through this was released one week after kurt’s death. and they had to tour 14 countries starting with august that year. in june, their bass player had died by heroin overdose. so melissa was replacing her, recomended by billy corgan.
last, but not least: those fucking kids would have eaten her apart when she stage dove…
10. i remember the day a friend gave me two tapes in front of our high school: ten by pearl jam and core by stone temple pilots. i fell in love with both and listened to them endlessly. this concert must’ve taken place around that time.
an observation: they obviously had no pesky insurance companies telling them what not to do, lol.
11. peak pearl jam for me is their mtv unplugged. 28-year-old eddie wrote pro choice on his arm and sneaks don’t vote republican into a song on national tv. fire!
PODCASTS
12. i’ve been following kristen mcmenamy since the 90s. i was glad to see her revival a few years ago. she looks almost untouched by the passage of time and she’s 61!
13. i’ve been loosely following fka twigs. but her music is not interesting anough and she comes across as pretentious. to say nothing of her baby voice.
14. jerry hall speaks openly about her life. imagine a life of 70s glam featuring brian ferry, grace jones and, ofc, mick jagger.
i found ysl’s youtube channel.
15. i listened to juergen teller‘s episode.
16.to paolo sorrentino‘s episode.
17. and to jim jarmusch.
18. shonda rhimes on call her daddy was very business like. that wow that comes after every single question reeks of glib media training and it kinda ruins it for me.
19. marcello hernandez on armchair expert is funny, a character.
20. walton goggins has had a very interesting life.
21. i listened to billy corgan on and the writer is. the interviewer stutters a lot and doesn’t end his sentences. but billy saves the podcast.
EXHIBITION
22. i saw in porto the vivian maier retrospective i had seen in vienna in 2008. 100% recommended!
23. we went to the opening of a new muzeu in braga. meh.
we were honored to be invited for the preview of the 2026 venice biennale. and we were lucky to get to see most of the pavilions before they shut down. the trip was a whirlwind, i loved it!
24. we waited 3h to see seaworld by florentina holzinger. it was worth it! her show will be shown in berlin and vienna next year, and new york in 2 years.
there are many art shows opening at the exact time as the biennale.
25. one of them was doku the illusion by lu yang at espace lv. a 138-minute fever dream i wish i had the time to watch throughout.
26. i had tickets for the opening of helter skelter by arthur jafa and richard prince at fondazione prada. interesting!
27. anish kapoor at palazzo manfrin was cool, too. anish kapoor has a few big shows in europe this year.
28. at palazzo grassi, i liked the work of michael armitage. i can say that i appreciate the fact that the billionaires like prada and pinault don’t shy away from showing great black art.
YOUTUBE
29. learn about tokyo edo.
30. i will never grow these perenials, but i will absolutely watch content about it.
31. you must watch how they make this pate in milano.
32. mariacarla shows us her firenze hot spots.
how was your april? as i was saying above, i was in venice recently. check the posts on my insta.
photo and video credits: copyright holders and little aesthete
