Guitarra Portuguesa

Depois de estar 25 anos sem tocar viola, recomecei este ano depois dos meus filhos me terem dado uma viola pelo Dia do Pai. Depois de “arranhar um bocado” decidi que era altura de encontrar alguém para me ensinar a tocar guitarra portuguesa. Não encontrei ninguém aqui na Bélgica e decidi procurar além fronteiras. Encontrei somente nos arredores de Amesterdão. No sábado tive a primeira lição, gostei muito. Estou ansioso de poder “ter a minha guitarra nas mãos” e poder começar a praticar. Falta pouco.

A Guitarra Portuguesa

A guitarra portuguesa é um instrumento muito difundido em Portugal sendo o que mais se aproxima do sentimento lusitano do povo português. A guitarra portuguesa tem um timbre de tal modo inconfundível que, onde quer que esteja, qualquer português a reconhece aos primeiros acordes.

É um instrumento musical carregado de simbolismo e, à mercê da sua longa aliança com o Fado, é conotado com o “modo de ser” português. Destino, fado e saudade são palavras que naturalmente se associam ao trinado da guitarra portuguesa. As origens da guitarra portuguesa remontam à Idade Média, a um instrumento chamado cítula. Esta evoluiu ao longo dos tempos, passando pela cítara, culminando na guitarra portuguesa. Começando por ser instrumento habitual nos salões da alta burguesia, sobreviveu e transformou-se nas mãos do povo, para se tornar, actualmente, num instrumento popular. A guitarra de Fado, como é hoje designada, foi durante muito tempo conhecida por guitarra inglesa.A razão desta designação era devida ao seu fabrico, em Inglaterra, por um violeiro famoso chamado Simpson, o qual fabricava os melhores instrumentos deste género, alguns dos quais eram exportados para Portugal. A guitarra portuguesa é, em linguagem técnica, um cordofone composto, cuja caixa harmónica é periforme, ou seja, tem forma de pêra.É constituído por seis pares de cordas e já teve diversas afinações, mas a que realmente se enraizou foi a a Afinação de Fado: a começar pelas cordas mais agudas, Si – Lá – Mi – Si – Lá – Ré. Existem três tipos de guitarra portuguesa: a de Lisboa, a do Porto e a de Coimbra, com diferentes tradições de fabrico. A de Lisboa é a mais pequena das três, com caixa baixa arredondada e é a que possui o som mais “brilhante”. A de Coimbra é maior, com o corpo assumindo uma forma mais aguçada.A do Porto é semelhante à de Lisboa. Uma das principais diferenças reside na cabeça da guitarra: a de Coimbra possui uma lágrima incrustada, enquanto que a de Lisboa apresenta um caracol. Fonte: www.nfist.ist.utl.pt & Musicolicos

What if we treated our scriptures like our cell phones?

1. What if we carried our scriptures around in purses and pockets?
2. What if we turned back to get the scriptures if we forgot them?
3. What if we flipped through the scriptures several times a day?
4. What if we spent an hour or more using them a day?
5. What if we used them to receive messages?
6. What if we felt like we couldn’t live without the scriptures?
7. What if we gave scriptures as gifts?
8. What if we used the scriptures as we traveled?
9. What if we used our scriptures in case of emergency?
10. What if we asked other people for their number (favorite scriptures)?
11. Think about it. Scriptures come with unlimited usage, no roaming charges, unlimited reception (no weak signals), no worries of disconnection because of price.

Priceless!

Source: Circles and Dots and Other Distractions

Alemanha – Portugal

Era uma vez uns meninos que tinham a mania que eram estrelas e que sabiam jogar à bola, mas saiu-lhes o tiro pela culatra. Vejamos:

1. Nem o crucifixo envolto na toalha dentro da baliza salva Ricardo
2. Defesa que não vale nada
3. Cristiano Ronaldo não dá uma para a caixa
4. Nuno Gomes não joga nada desde 2000
5. E apesar de gostar do Scolari, sou obrigado a reconhecer que não conseguiu ver que é preciso mudar.

PORREIRO PÁ!

Boa viagem até Lisboa e parabéns pela ….. que fizeram. Mas não posso deixar de dar os meus parabéns aos dois jogadores que sempre lutaram e deram tudo pela camisola, o BOSINGWA e o DECO.

Deutschland über alles!

Wandeling – Passeio – Going for a walk – Promenade

This picture was taken at the Vrijbroekspark near my home in Mechelen. I love to come here for a walk and to relax. I took the chance to take some pictures of roses and dahlia’s and they are very nice.

Mozy is the dog I adopted in December 2007, he is now a member of our family and a very good friend. He is really greatful that we saved him from having put to sleep. We go for walks together and we enjoy each other’s company a lot.

A Muslim joins the LDS (Mormon) Church after translating the Book of Mormon

Reflections of Sami Hanna as recorded by Elder Russell M. Nelson, apostle for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My neighbor, Sami Hanna, is a native Egyptian. He is an academic scholar who moved into our neighborhood to accept an assignment with the university as a specialist in Middle Eastern Studies and the Semitic group of languages such as Arabic, Abyssinian, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Assyrian. Being a newcomer into our community, he felt the Mormons were a bit of a curiosity. Upon learning the name Mormon came from our belief that the Book of Mormon is divine scripture, he was intrigued by the existence of the Book of Mormon. He had erroneously thought this was American literature. When he was told that the Book of Mormon was translated from the ancient Egyptian or modified Hebrew type of hieroglyphic into the English language by the prophet Joseph Smith, he became even more engrossed, for this was his native language and he knows much about the other Semitic languages as well as the modern languages.

So challenged was he by this book that he embarked on the project of translating the Book of Mormon from English to Arabic. This translation was different from other translators, for this was to be a translation back to the original language of the book. To make a long story short, the process of this translation became the process of his conversion; for he soon knew the Book of Mormon to be a divine document even though he knew virtually nothing of the organization of the Church or of its programs. His conversion came purely from the linguistics of the book which he found could not have been composed by an American, no matter how gifted.

Some of these observations I think will be of interest to you, as they were to me, for they clarify some of the unique aspects of the book.

1. Jarom 2: “It musts needs be…” This expression, odd and awkward in English, is excellent Arabic grammar. Elsewhere in the book the use of the compound verbs “did eat”, “did go”, “did smile” again awkward and rarely used in English, are classical and correct grammar in the Semitic languages.

2. Omni 18: “Zarahemla gave a genealogy of his fathers, according to his memory. Brother Hanna indicates that this is a typical custom of his Semitic forebearers to recite their genealogy from memory.

3. Words of Mormon 17: Reference is made here as in other parts of the Book of Mormon, to the “stiffneckedness” of his people. Brother Hanna perceives that this word would be a very unusual word for an American youth, Joseph Smith, to use. An American would likely prefer an adjective such as stubborn or inflexible. But the custom in the Arabic language is to use just such a descriptive adjective. Stiffnecked is an adjective they use in describing an obstinate person.

4. Mosiah 11:8 “King Noah built many elegant and spacious buildings and ornamented them with fine work and precious things, including ziff.” Have you ever wondered about the meaning of the word “ziff” referred to in this scripture? This word, although in the Book of Mormon, is not contained in dictionaries of the English language. Yet it translates freely back into the Arabic language, for ziff is a special kind of curved sword somewhat like a scimitar which is carried in a sheath and often used for ornamentation as well as for more practical purposes. The discovery of the word “ziff” in the Book of Mormon really excited my neighbor, Brother Hanna.

5. Alma 63:11 Reference is made to Helaman, son of Helaman. Why did not Joseph Smith interpret this as Helaman, Jr., which would have been more logical for him, bearing the same name as his father, Joseph, and being named Joseph Smith, Jr. In Arabic , Brother Hanna explains, there is no word junior” to cover this circumstance. Their custom is to use the terminology Joseph, son of Joseph; Helaman, son of Helaman, etc.

6. Helaman 1:3 Here reference is made to the contending for the judgment seat. Brother Hanna observes that the use of the term ”judgment seat” would be quite strange to an American who might have used a more familiar noun such as governor, president, or ruler. Yet, in Arabic custom, the place of power rests in the judgment seat and whoever occupies that seat, is the authority and power. The authority goes with the seat and not with the office or the person. So, this, in the Semitic languages, connotes the meaning exactly.

7 Helaman 3:14 In this verse, there are a total of eighteen “ands.” Reviewers of the Book of Mormon have, on occasion, been critical of the grammar in such a passage where the use of the word “and” seems so repetitious. Yet Brother Hanna explains that each of the “ands” in this verse is absolutely essential to the meaning, when this verse is expressed in Arabic, for the omission of any ” and” would nullify the meaning words.

8. Helaman 3:18-19 Have you wondered why the Book of Mormon cites a numbering system such as this? Do we say “forty and six, forty and seven, forty and eight?” No! Joseph Smith’s natural interpretation would; more appropriately have been forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight without the ands”. Brother Hanna excitedly observes that the use of “and” in forty and six” is precisely correct Arabic. Remember they number, as well as read, from right to left and recite their numbers with the “and” to separate the columns.

Well, I have just cited a few of these examples. There are many more! As Latter-day Saint leaders, we are aware of the Semitic origin of the Book of Mormon. The fact that an Arabic scholar such as this sees a beautiful internal consistency in the Prophet Joseph Smith’s translation of the book, is of great interest. The Prophet Joseph did not merely render an interpretation, but a word for word translation from the Egyptian type of hieroglyphic into the English language. Brother Hanna said the Book of Mormon simply flowed back into the Arabic language.

Source: Blossom as a Rose

O Tratado de Lisboa é fundamental para a carreira política de Sócrates

The Prodigal Son / God loves each one of us

Playing the guitar

Today I found myself wondering why I don’t play my guitars more often. I know that that is due to my health but maybe playing my guitar will help me overcoming my problems… I guess I will have to wait untill I get home tonight.

Scolari no Chelsea

Pronto, os mal-agradecidos esfregam as mãos de contentes, Scolari parte para o Chelsea e deixa Portugal, como eu sempre disse, pela porta grande. Foi ele que soube galvanizar os ânimos do espírito derrotista em que nos encontrávamos há muito e que nos devolveu o orgulho na Selecção. Se os nossos governantes fossem como a Selecção, quem sabe se não estariamos melhor…

Neste momento quero desejar ao Felipão os melhores sucessos no Chelsea e deixar aqui o meu agradecimento pelas muitas horas felizes que me proporcionou.