Semana retrasada, voltei aas aulas. Ou melhor, ao paraiso: Calafat, Espanha. Lah estah um dos autodromos mais perfeitos para quem gosta de moto. Ano passado eu tinha ido para lah reaprender a andar de moto. Este ano, fui para lah limar as rebarbas. E que rebarbas. Quanto melhor a gente acha que pilota, pior estah pilotando. Cada detalhe muda tudo. Inclusive a sua confianca nas curvas.
Gracas aos Deuses da California Superbike School, aperfeicoei muito a tecnica (apesar de estar longe da perfeicao) nas curvas, a ponto de colocar o joelho no chao em todas as curvas, de direita e esquerda, de alta e baixa velocidade. Este ano tambem foi especial porque parte das licoes foram dadas por Keith Code (que voce provavelmente nao conhece), o maior instrutor de motociclismo de todos os tempos e criador da Escola (com “e” maiusculo mesmo).
Agora eh praticar nos terriveis autodromos de Moscou durante o verao ateh chegar a hora de ir para Almeria, Espanha, para melhorar os tempos de volta e a visao periferica, que ainda tem muito a melhorar. Pode conferir aqui no video.
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Two weeks ago, I went back to school. Better yet: back to paradise: Calafat, Spain. There is where you can find one of the best racetracks in the world for motorbikes. This year, I went there to sharpen the (still very rough) edges. It’s amazing: the better you think you are riding, the worse you are actually riding. Each detail changes everything. Especially your confidence going through the turns.
Thank God(s from the California Superbike School,), I was able to perfect my technique (even though it’s still faaaar from perfect) to the point where I could touch the tarmac with my knee in every turn, right or left, fast or slow. This year was also special because part of the lessons were given by Keith Code (someone you probably never heard of) himself, the best racing instructor of all times, and founder of the School (with a capital “s”).
Now all I have left is to practice in the terrible tracks around Moscow during the summer and wait for the moment I can fly to Almeria, Spain, to lower my lap times in general and my peripheral vision that also needs a lot of improvement. Check the video.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Coisas que eu achei que jah tivesse contado 4/4.
Things I thought I’d told you 4/4.
Tem uma diferenca enorme entre o que um russo entende por arte de rua e voce. Voce provavelmente pensa em grafite, performance ou meninos de rua que estao sendo treinados por alguma ONG. O Russo pensa em arte arte.
Em Moscou, a democratizacao da arte chega ao ponto de a arte ir ateh voce. E de graca (que eh ainda melhor do que os precos especiais para russos em museus e gaelrias). As grandes pinturas que estao nos museus tambem estao espalhadas pela cidade. Sao replicas aa prova de chuva (porque vandalismo nao tem), com moldura, texto explicativo e uma indicacao de onde voce pode ver o original, caso ainda queira.
Para mim, a cidade fica nao soh mais bonita, mas tambem com um ar mais caseiro. Afinal, soh em casa a gente ve pinturas na parede, ne?
Fui.
_________________________
There’s a huge difference between what a Russian might understand as “street art” and what you might. You might think of graffiti, street performances and so on. A Russian will think of art itself.
In Moscow, the democratization of arts has come to the point of taking the art to you, wherever you are. And for free (which is even better than the special price Russians pay at museums and art galleries). The masterpieces are scattered around the city. They are weatherproof (since there’s no vandalism) replicas, with frame, description and a sign telling you where you could see the original one, in case you still want to.
I think this makes the city not only more beautiful, but also more cosy. It feels more like home. After all, that where we see paintings hanging on the wall, right?
And over.
Em Moscou, a democratizacao da arte chega ao ponto de a arte ir ateh voce. E de graca (que eh ainda melhor do que os precos especiais para russos em museus e gaelrias). As grandes pinturas que estao nos museus tambem estao espalhadas pela cidade. Sao replicas aa prova de chuva (porque vandalismo nao tem), com moldura, texto explicativo e uma indicacao de onde voce pode ver o original, caso ainda queira.
Para mim, a cidade fica nao soh mais bonita, mas tambem com um ar mais caseiro. Afinal, soh em casa a gente ve pinturas na parede, ne?
Fui.
_________________________
There’s a huge difference between what a Russian might understand as “street art” and what you might. You might think of graffiti, street performances and so on. A Russian will think of art itself.
In Moscow, the democratization of arts has come to the point of taking the art to you, wherever you are. And for free (which is even better than the special price Russians pay at museums and art galleries). The masterpieces are scattered around the city. They are weatherproof (since there’s no vandalism) replicas, with frame, description and a sign telling you where you could see the original one, in case you still want to.
I think this makes the city not only more beautiful, but also more cosy. It feels more like home. After all, that where we see paintings hanging on the wall, right?
And over.
Coisas que eu achei que jah tivesse contado 3/4.
Things I thought I’d told you 3/4.
Na Russia, “ateh que a morte nos separe” nao eh suficiente. Por aqui, a tradicao eh garantir a uniao com um cadeado. Depois da cerimonia, os casais e amigos rodam a cidade parando e tirando foto em todos os monumentos. Ao final desta excursao, os pombos chegam aa Ponte dos Apaixonados, colocam um cadeado com o nome dos dois numa arvore de ferro (ou na propria ponte) e jogam a chave no rio Moscou.
O que me faz perguntar: serah que na hora do divorcio, alem de advogado, eles tem que chamar um chaveiro?
Fui.
__________________________
In Russia, “till death do us part” isn’t enough. Here, the holy union is guaranteed by a metal lock. After the ceremony, the couple and their friends drive around the city, stopping and taking pictures at every single monument. At the end of this excursion, the lovebirds arrive at the Lover’s Bridge, where they put a lock on a metal tree (or the bridge itself) and throw the key into the Moscow river.
Which makes me wonder: when they get a divorce, besides a lawyer, do they need to call a keysmith?
C ya.
O que me faz perguntar: serah que na hora do divorcio, alem de advogado, eles tem que chamar um chaveiro?
Fui.
__________________________
In Russia, “till death do us part” isn’t enough. Here, the holy union is guaranteed by a metal lock. After the ceremony, the couple and their friends drive around the city, stopping and taking pictures at every single monument. At the end of this excursion, the lovebirds arrive at the Lover’s Bridge, where they put a lock on a metal tree (or the bridge itself) and throw the key into the Moscow river.
Which makes me wonder: when they get a divorce, besides a lawyer, do they need to call a keysmith?
C ya.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Coisas que eu achei que jah tivesse contado 2/4.
Things I thought I’d told you 2/4.
Este post vai ser um dos mais curtos que eu jah escrevi, mas, nem por isso, vai ser menos importante. Alias, adoraria que todos os administradores publicos do mundo lessem este texto e seguissem o exemplo.
Na Moscow, grande parte dos predios que estah em obra nao fica com aquela cara de obra, com o esqueleto todo aa mostra durante meses (ou anos), enfeiando a cidade. Aqui, eles cobrem as obras com uma replica do que vai ser o predio quando a obra estiver acabada. Parece ateh uma capinha de protecao, tipo aquelas que sua voh colocava sobre a maquina de lavar roupa para nao enfeiar a area de servico. O design varia, mas o resultado eh o mesmo.
Aproveitando o assunto, adoraria que os administradores publicos daqui seguissem o exemplo do Kassab e acabassem com a propaganda de rua em Moscou. Alem do mau gosto, estamos chegando num ponto onde tem tanto outdoor que um cobre o outro e voce nao ve nada. Nem o ceu.
_______________________
This is going to be one of my shortest posts ever. But that doesn’t mean that this one is less important. Quite the opposite. To be honest, I wish every single City Hall representative in the world read this text and followed the example.
In Moscow, most of the buildings where renovations are being done do not look like your typical work site, with the skeleton of the building exposed for everyone to see, making the city uglier than it needs to be. Here, they cover the structure with a replica of what the finished product is going to look like. It works like a protection cover, but with a nice touch to it (kind of like the one people put on their iPhones). The design can vary, but the result is always the same.
While I’m at it, I also wish Moscow City Hall representatives could follow Sao Paulo’s example and ban all outdoor advertising from the city. Besides the terrible taste advertisers have, we’re getting to a point here where that are so many billboards they’re starting to cover each other up. You can’t see a thing. Not even the sky.
Na Moscow, grande parte dos predios que estah em obra nao fica com aquela cara de obra, com o esqueleto todo aa mostra durante meses (ou anos), enfeiando a cidade. Aqui, eles cobrem as obras com uma replica do que vai ser o predio quando a obra estiver acabada. Parece ateh uma capinha de protecao, tipo aquelas que sua voh colocava sobre a maquina de lavar roupa para nao enfeiar a area de servico. O design varia, mas o resultado eh o mesmo.
Aproveitando o assunto, adoraria que os administradores publicos daqui seguissem o exemplo do Kassab e acabassem com a propaganda de rua em Moscou. Alem do mau gosto, estamos chegando num ponto onde tem tanto outdoor que um cobre o outro e voce nao ve nada. Nem o ceu.
_______________________
This is going to be one of my shortest posts ever. But that doesn’t mean that this one is less important. Quite the opposite. To be honest, I wish every single City Hall representative in the world read this text and followed the example.
In Moscow, most of the buildings where renovations are being done do not look like your typical work site, with the skeleton of the building exposed for everyone to see, making the city uglier than it needs to be. Here, they cover the structure with a replica of what the finished product is going to look like. It works like a protection cover, but with a nice touch to it (kind of like the one people put on their iPhones). The design can vary, but the result is always the same.
While I’m at it, I also wish Moscow City Hall representatives could follow Sao Paulo’s example and ban all outdoor advertising from the city. Besides the terrible taste advertisers have, we’re getting to a point here where that are so many billboards they’re starting to cover each other up. You can’t see a thing. Not even the sky.
Coisas que eu achei que jah tivesse contado 1/4.
Things I thought I’d told you 1/4.
Na Russia, o Dia Internacional da Mulher eh muito mais do que uma data para sorrir e dar os parabens para as mulheres que trabalham com voce. Para comecar, 8 de Marco aqui eh feriado nacional e o minimo que TODAS as mulheres esperam de voce eh um buque de flores (independente do tipo de relacao que voces tenham). Mas esse nao eh o assunto deste post. Este post eh sobre outra data, que soh se comemora desse lado do mundo: o Dia dos Homens, que acontece 2 semanas antes, no dia 23 de fevereiro.
Originalmente, esta data era conhecida como Dia do Exercito Vermelho, apos o primeiro grande alistamento de 1918. Mais tarde, com o fim da URSS, o feriado ganhou seu atual nome: Dia dos Defensores da Patria, em homenagem a todos que serviram no Exercito e na Marinha. Alem das cerimonias e homenagens, as mulheres dao presentes e atencao especial aos homens ao seu redor (tambem independentemente do tipo de relacao que voces tenham). Tambem eh comum ver gente vestida com roupas de guerra e, as vezes, maquiagem simulando hematomas e feridas. No nosso caso, como estavamos ocupados trabalhando, acabamos ficando soh com as roupas.
Fui
_________________
In Russia, the International Women’s Day is way more than a day when you smile and congratulate women that work with you. For starters, the 8th of March is a national holiday and EVERY woman expects nothing less than a bouquet of flowers from you (regardless of how you two are related). But I digress. This post is supposed to be about another date. One that is only celebrated on this side of the planet: Men’s Day, which happens to be just 2 weeks before Women’s Day, on the 23rd of February.
Originally, the date was known as the Red Army’s Day, after the first big draft in 1918. After the collapse of the USSR, the holiday received its current name: Defenders of the Fatherland Day, in memory of all the men who served in the Army or the Navy. In addition to all the ceremonies and homages, women give gifts and a lot of attention to all the men around them (also regardless of how you are related to each other). It’s also common to see people dressed as veterans or even wearing special make-up to simulate bruises and injuries. In our case, since we were busy working, we ended up with just some jackets and hats.
Whatcha gon’ do?
Originalmente, esta data era conhecida como Dia do Exercito Vermelho, apos o primeiro grande alistamento de 1918. Mais tarde, com o fim da URSS, o feriado ganhou seu atual nome: Dia dos Defensores da Patria, em homenagem a todos que serviram no Exercito e na Marinha. Alem das cerimonias e homenagens, as mulheres dao presentes e atencao especial aos homens ao seu redor (tambem independentemente do tipo de relacao que voces tenham). Tambem eh comum ver gente vestida com roupas de guerra e, as vezes, maquiagem simulando hematomas e feridas. No nosso caso, como estavamos ocupados trabalhando, acabamos ficando soh com as roupas.
Fui
_________________
In Russia, the International Women’s Day is way more than a day when you smile and congratulate women that work with you. For starters, the 8th of March is a national holiday and EVERY woman expects nothing less than a bouquet of flowers from you (regardless of how you two are related). But I digress. This post is supposed to be about another date. One that is only celebrated on this side of the planet: Men’s Day, which happens to be just 2 weeks before Women’s Day, on the 23rd of February.
Originally, the date was known as the Red Army’s Day, after the first big draft in 1918. After the collapse of the USSR, the holiday received its current name: Defenders of the Fatherland Day, in memory of all the men who served in the Army or the Navy. In addition to all the ceremonies and homages, women give gifts and a lot of attention to all the men around them (also regardless of how you are related to each other). It’s also common to see people dressed as veterans or even wearing special make-up to simulate bruises and injuries. In our case, since we were busy working, we ended up with just some jackets and hats.
Whatcha gon’ do?
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