`Touching hearts`, Have some Tea!

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08 May 2010
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MDTimes Number 1007 Weekend Times No. 39 May 08 2010
‘Touching hearts’,
Have some Tea!
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08 May 2010
Cover story
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Mouse Click
by António Espadinha Soares
32
Press Play
by MC LA
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‘Touching hearts’,
Have some Tea!
by Cecília Jorge
Photo by Manuel Cardoso
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Do you know Macau?
Macau and its dependencies:
the Island of Coloane (I)
by Diamantina Coimbra
22
Czechs discover
a new taste
for speciality beers
by Jan Flemr
20
Cooking Times
Chili chocolate
fondant
by Carlos Balona Gomes
18 World of Wonder
28 Offbeat
29 This Day in History
30 Infotainment
34 Zoom
by Pedro Daniel Oliveira
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Fiction awaiting
the arrival of history:
Martin Edmond’s
Luca Antara
by David Brookshaw
24
Ask the Vet
How to feed
your Guinea Pig
by Dr Ruan Du Toit Bester
Weekend
Macau Daily Times’
Saturday magazine
Administrator: Kowie Geldenhuys
Director: Rogério Beltrão Coelho
Editor: Cecília Jorge
Design Editor: João Jorge Magalhães
Other contributors for this issue:
António José Espadinha Soares, Carlos Balona Gomes,
Cora U.I.Wong, David Brookshaw, Diamantina Coimbra,
Fabrizio Croce, Jan Flemr, Manuel Cardoso, MC LA,
Pedro Daniel Oliveira, Ruan Du Toit Bester
E-mail for news and agenda: [email protected]
Address: 2nd Floor 62 Av. Infante D. Henrique, MACAU SAR Telephones: + 853 287 160 81/2 Fax: + 853 287 160 84
E-mail for advertisement: [email protected]
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‘Touching hearts’,
Have some Tea!
by Cecília Jorge
From then on, as usual in human
relations, habits gave birth to a business, trade was established, markets
won abroad, even in the opposite
side of the planet. Tea merchants
got rich and richer throughout the
centuries. Empires were built on
tea plantations, wars of independence were fought, for example in
T
he word “tea” arises
thoughts of various
sorts, depending on
where you are in this
world.
Tea can be simply regarded as a
drink, hot or cold, simple or mixed
with the most unbelievable ingredients and flavours. But tea can also be
an intrinsic part of some cultures, an
inseparable core of peoples’ identities, as happens in the East Asian
nations China, Japan, Cambodia, Sri
Lanka, Korea and elsewhere in Arabia and India.
Much could be said about its origins
– but it is commonly accepted that tea
has a history of over 4000 years and
that it was “discovered” in the Middle
Kingdom. We have also been told,
since very young, that legend has it
that emperor Shen Nong [2737 BC]
fell asleep while boiling some drinking water in an uncovered kettle when
some leaves were blown into the kettle
and the result was the extremely aromatic, flavoured and healthy infusion
that tea-lovers now appreciate.
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the United States (starting with the
‘Boston Tea party’) and the clippers,
before and after the unequal treaties that China was forced to sign,
were loaded with bales of Oriental tea, destined for the traditional
“five o’clock” English tea. Opium
and other wares were also shipped,
but that is not the point here.
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A very expensive product
In the beginning a very expensive
product, only within reach of the aristocracy and the upper classes, tea
and its consumption became linked
with nobility and good-mannered
people not only in the United Kingdom and Portugal but across Western Europe generally. The British in
particular became addicted to the
drink, which is how the expression
“five o’clock tea” was coined.
Drinking tea was regarded as a sophisticated custom, and with the
large variety of tea choices already
available in the nineteenth-century
British cities and towns, tea-houses
became a good business, targeting
ladies meetings and the glitterati.
There you would also find delicate
pastries and cakes to make room for
lengthy conversations over a teapot
and exquisite china.
In Portugal too – thanks to its centuries-old ties with China and the Chinese – drinking tea was also linked
to the upper class and to this day a
very old popular Portuguese expression is used to define an uneducated
person: “não bebeu chá em pequenino…” [did not drink tea from infancy]
which means that the person’s social
upbringing lacked good-manners.
Somehow the meaning is more tied to
proper upbringing, than wealth. You
can be well-off, educated, but without
manners and thus have not drunk tea
from an early age. Interestingly, Coffee, another popular drink in Portugal
and other Latin countries, was never
attached to social behaviour.
Anyhow, it was and (still is) in the
Orient that tea has kept the closest links with tradition and customs,
where the “tea ceremony” or “tea
cult” have been elevated to an exquisite art in both China and Japan. Uncountable treatises, books, and manuals have been written since the olden
days, though the first one is said to be
‘The Treatise on Tea’ [Cha Ching] by
Tang dynasty poet Lu Yu (733-804).
The art is taught only by experts to
pupils who learn the philosophical
meaning that surrounds the act of
brewing and pouring tea for companions. It also includes the selection of
tea from dozens of varieties, according to the season, the time of the day,
and the occasion. Many “schools” still
pass on this knowledge to ensure that
modernization does not suffocate or
end up changing the “old ways”.
The most popular drink
In Macau, where traditions fight
stubbornly to survive amidst the
sheer pressure of development and
modern consumerism, it becomes
quite a curious enterprise to re-think
the meaning of “tea” [or better said,
“chá”, the Portuguese word that
comes directly from the Cantonese
“cha”].
Firstly, tea remains the most popular drink, although the older and
wiser local residents still prefer to
drink it warm, rather than ice cold
because of all the implications that
a cold drink is thought to have on
one’s inner organs.
A cup of Chinese tea – served in a
mere glass, a teacup and saucer, or in
tiny delicate goblets, can see range
in price from totally affordable to
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utterly expensive, depending on
the kind and variety of tea leaves in
question.
From the many tea shops that
thrived in Macau’s Inner Harbour –
mainly in the so-called Chinese Bazaar area by the waterfront and near
the jetties, where most of the tea
warehouses were located in the early
days – a few remain. Mostly located
at the Camilo Pessanha and Cinco de
Outubro streets, they have continued
their business as old customers and
some who have learned by word-ofmouth, still place their orders there.
Some keep the habit of stopping by
whenever returning home and buy
packages of three or four of the most
sought-after varieties: Oolong, Puehr or Iron Guanyin, to carry abroad
as gifts to family and friends.
Offering tea is still regarded here
as a compliment. You do not have
to speak Chinese to understand that
when sitting in any of the old “Casas de Pasto” [eateries] or maybe a
Café or some traditional restaurants,
the waiter will serve each customer a
glass of warm tea before taking your
orders. It’s a welcoming gesture to a
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tired traveller...a timeless custom.
But the ultimate in tea-related “mores” is no-doubt the “Iam-cha” [Yumcha] and everything that goes with it.
The long list of delicacies included in
the “Dim Sum” [roughly translated into
“Touching Heart”] are supposed to be
appealing and tasty enough to cheer
your sight and leave your heart “melting”, even with expressions like “phoenix claws” for stewed chicken feet and
“pork intestine pasta” for a rice noodle
served with three or four kind of sauces
where the only connection with the
animal is the shape of the noodle.
Tiny bits of food, crafted into small
dumplings, others cut into pieces
suit a mouthful. Steamed, fried or
deep-fried, they’re served in small
portions [you can always order an
encore]. Tiny enough to be picked
with the chopsticks, while “talking
business” with trade partners, or
just having a longer seasonal chat
with family and friends. The old
“Tea lounges” used to start serving
at 5 am until 2-3 pm, but nowadays
you can even get Dim Sums in the
evening or round-the-clock at the
places that never close – casinos.
Also linked to this, might be the
“Cha Gordo” (literally “Fat Tea”)
one of the traces of the Macanese
gastronomy that is a festive banquet
served at odd hours, or extended
from tea-time until way past dinner.
Tea might be the only thing that is
not served then...but that’s a theme
for another story.
Manners at table
During Yum-cha, waiters and sometimes the hosts pour the chosen tea
[or mixed teas], into small cups and
more will be served around, while
food is served and consumed, and
empty bamboo steamers are piled up
on the table, to make billing faster.
It’s good manners to always thank
who is serving, either with the word,
with a nod, or just tapping lightly
with your fingers on the table [symbolizing a tradition launched centuries ago by the servants of a legendary emperor that was travelling
incognito].
Since it’s customary not to leave
cups empty during the meal, it is also
usual to have someone filling them up
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constantly… and it’s bad manners to refuse. When one has
had enough, the trick is to not drink. The cup will be too full.
Old Macau tea-lounges or ‘Casa-de-chá’ like Luk Kok (Six
Nations), used to be teeming with crowds lining up for a
table. More often than not someone would be sent hours in
advance on weekends to fight for a table and wait for the remaining guests. And a feature that was lost forever with the
older lounges was the carriages that circulated among the
tables with piping hot goodies, advertised in calligraphed
characters on colourful strips of paper, to enable spotters to
hail the carrier and order a serving or two.
At dawn, old tea-lounges in the Bazaar area would be filled
with workers having a bite to eat before going to work, others comforting their stomachs after a hard night’s-shift.
During the 1980’s some elderly and the retired men would
even bring along their bird cages and have breakfast to top
off a walk in the parks and their “Qiqong” daily exercises. The feathered beings would chirp and provide musical
background.
So Yum-cha here is all about leisure, taking life easy, enjoying nice food and good company, “over a cup o’tea”…
even if in a noisy surrounding. Noise and chatter are somehow indigenous to most Cantonese, inasmuch as having a
popular expression: “kou heng”, roughly meaning “collective merry-making”.
No wonder then that the Tea/Cha has also ended up tied
to expressions like “inviting you to tea” (to mean returning a favour, or a compliment) that can be innocent; or the
more devious “cha-cheen” (“money for tea”), to hint at the
infamous bribery.
But the Dim Sum still touches the hearts of the locals. W
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Macau and its depen
the Island of
T
by Diamantina Coimbra,
Institute For Tourism Studies (IFT)
he incident described below, which occurred
in 1910 and the series of events occurring in
the following weeks contributed directly to
how Coloane came to be permanently occupied by the Portuguese.
The contents of this story were extracted from the book
“Os piratas em Coloane em 1910” written by Pe. Manuel
Teixeira and published by Centro de Informação e Turismo
Macau.
On May 5, 1910, Constâncio José da Silva, lawyer, director and proprietor of the weekly newspaper “A Verdade” was
alerted to a kidnapping that was to ultimately end poorly for
many of the victims and perpetrators. Chan Chat, a Chinese
merchant and resident of Hong Kong informed Constâncio
José da Silva that pirates had kidnapped a group of 17 students and one kitchen helper (all of them minors) from a
Chinese school and were demanding a ransom of $35.000
for each child. Constâncio José da Silva reported the incident to the governor Eduardo Marques who decided to attempt to rescue the kids. The kids were kept first in Taipa
and then in Coloane, together with dozens of other people
kidnapped from different villages. The Chinese secret police
tried initially to save the children using nonviolent methods,
but did not succeed.
In 1910, there were only twenty Portuguese soldiers in
Coloane, so the military forces were reinforced for the special mission. Commander and administrator of the islands of
Taipa and Coloane, Albino Ribas da Silva, was appointed for
the operation. Also, Lieutenant Aguiar, with another group
of 45 soldiers, departed from Macau in the morning of July
13, 1910, at around 2 am. Both Silva and Aguiar landed in
Coloane at 4 am. The Portuguese lost one soldier in the first
failed rescue operation, and with the loss of another soldier
the following day, the Portuguese reinforced the army with
more artillery and a gunboat. By that time, many pirates had
disguised themselves as grocery shop owners, fishermen and
farmers, so the Portuguese soldiers attacked everywhere and
everyone, including pirates, fishing boats and lots of innocent people. The pirates responded, attacking the Portuguese
soldiers. On July 13, another group of 105 men was sent to
further reinforce the military forces of Coloane. On that
day, some boys and women were rescued from the pirates
but hundreds of Chinese people died, including pirates and
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ndencies:
Coloane (I)
© Cecília Jorge /Beltrão Coelho
Coloane pier (ca.1920)
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innocent civilians; the Portuguese
lost two soldiers and one was seriously wounded. On July 14, at
5 am, the population of Coloane,
holding a white flag, begged for
peace but many pirates managed
to run away with their armaments. Nine children and seven
men were rescued and brought
to Macau; five of them were students of the Chinese school. Later
that day, another gunboat named
“Pátria” was sent to Coloane.
On that day, a Chinese official
brought a letter to the Portuguese
governor. The letter was signed
by Chinese commander Wu King
Yung and says:
“Sir – The Chinese government
being very glad to see the energetic
and severe measures, that your excellency is taking in the suppression
of the pirates, who is doing so much
harm and atrocities to the innocent
people of the neighboring villages of
China, I have the honour to place
at your command for the same purpose the service of all the ships and
troops that have come near Colowan
whenever needed. I have the honour,
Sir, Your obedient Servant.
Wu King Yung, Commanding the
Chinese forces near Colowan.”
However, the governor of Macau
did not accept his assistance for the
following reasons:
1. The Portuguese forces
were strong enough to protect
Coloane.
2. In the preceding year, the
Portuguese and Chinese authorities had tried to discuss the
issue of delimitation of borders
but conversations halted due
to a campaign launched earlier
by a few Canton newspapers,
against the Portuguese. Also,
Chinese forces were working
hard to expel pirates living in
the neighboring villages, so
many pirates moved to Coloane.
If the Portuguese were not able
to expel the pirates, the Chinese would have a good excuse
to occupy the island. W
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Fiction awaiting the
Martin Edmond’s L
T
* Professor of the University of
Bristol, lectures Brazilian Studies,
Portuguese Studies and also African
Literature in Portuguese.
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he cover of the 2009 British
edition of Martin Edmond’s
beguiling
book,
Luca
Antara, features the outline
of a face of indeterminate
ethnicity upon an image of the Australian
interior, and a sixteenth-century sailing
ship with a large red cross on its billowing
sail. We could be forgiven for assuming
that the book is a literary re-enactment of
the old debate surrounding the supposed
‘discovery’ of Australia by the Portuguese
nearly two centuries before the arrival of
James Cook, and indeed, if that was what
we were looking for, we would not be disappointed. However, Edmond’s book is
far more than a mere contribution to the
theories put forward by Kenneth McIntyre
and more recently Peter Trickett, based
on their readings of the so-called Dieppe
Map, and refuted by various Australian
academics. Luca Antara defies genre. It
interweaves elements of autobiography,
biography, bookish criticism, history and
fiction. It includes a quest motif, and to
cap it all, it was located by this reader in
the ‘travel literature’ section of one of his
favourite local bookshops.
Edmond is the author of a number of
books, and has lived in Sydney since
1981, when he left his native New Zealand. In Sydney, he has worked as a taxi
driver, but the persona he reveals in that
part of Luca Antara that might loosely be
termed a memoir, is one that has an abiding interest in the remote history of travel
in the Pacific, an obsession that is fed by
a Borgesian fascination with the labyrinthine world of second-hand bookshops,
from where his own personal library is
re-stocked with a regular stream of bibliographical curiosities. It is this that leads
him eventually to the figure of Manoel
Godinho de Herédia, the Luso-Malay
cosmographer and supposed sponsor of
an expedition from Malacca at the be-
ginning of the seventeenth century to
discover the fabled southern continent.
But Edmond, the bookish taxi driver, is
a more general bibliophile who has his
own favourite authors, one of whom is
none other than Fernando Pessoa, Portugal’s greatest poet of the twentieth century and who, rather as Edmond inhabited
the demimonde of migrants and the unsettled in inner-city Sydney, led an apparently anonymous life around the bars and
cafés of central Lisbon in the 1920s and
30s, while inventing an alternative world
through the creation of his heteronyms.
Indeed, it is the relationship between the
artist and his invention, the plausibility of the hoax that fascinates Edmond.
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e arrival of history:
Luca Antara
by David Brookshaw*
Following this line of argument, for Edmond, Ern Malley, the literary creation
who fooled the worthies of the Australian literary establishment in the 1950s, is
as real as Pessoa’s fictitious personalities
such as Alberto Caeiro, Bernardo Soares,
and Álvaro de Campos. And when Pessoa’s other heteronym, Ricardo Reis, appropriated by José Saramago in his novel,
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis,
declares his independence from his original inventor, the act merely underlines
Edmond’s attachment to the importance
of reader reception in determining the
authenticity of character. What is important is not that people are deceived by the
hoax, but rather the inner truths of what
the hoax, or in the case of Pessoa, the
heteronyms, might have to impart, and
this consideration will become important
in what goes on to constitute the central
quest of the book.
As the narrative meanders along, Edmond develops an obsession with the figure of Herédia, after obtaining an English
translation of his works from the Kuala
Lumpur branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. His curiosity about Herédia’s supposed commissioning of a voyage of
discovery to Luca Antara undertaken by
his servant in 1610, leads him to wonder
whether, to quote him, ‘it would be possible to fabricate an account of this voyage in such a way as to give it not just
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credence as a work of fiction but the unmistakable aura of truth’.
In the end he decides against the attempt, but instead is put in
touch with the enigmatic Henry Klang, in Malacca, who claims
to have seen and copied the account of the voyage of Herédia’s
servant, António da Nova, to Australia, while he was working in
the national archive of Malaysia. It is his English rendition, or
summary, of the supposed document that is fed to Edmond via
e-mail, and then re-spun into the book, Luca Antara. So he has
ended up doing what he had decided against doing, that is, he
has fabricated a story based on supposed archival evidence, but
which he later discovers has mysteriously disappeared. We are
back to the author’s professed fascination with Pessoa, for we
are unsure whether the oddball Klang is not merely Edmond’s
heteronym – another obsessive misfit like himself, a Portuguese
Catholic Eurasian, and therefore like Edmond in Australia, a
kind of outsider within. But even if Klang exists, and we are led
to believe that he does, for Edmond tracks him down on an investigative trip to Malacca, then we are still left in little doubt
that António da Nova is, after all, Klang’s invention, a spiritual
ancestor, as Klang himself terms him, a kind of heteronym from
the deep history of Portuguese expansion in Southeast Asia.
As for António da Nova, what does his story say about the supposed arrival of the Portuguese in North-western Australia at the
beginning of the seventeenth century? Nothing beyond providing us with an enthralling, but plausible tale of romance. Stranger
things happened in Portugal’s far-flung empire. António’s contracting of a sea-going ‘prahu’, or fishing boat, to take him further south
than any European had ventured before, his abandonment on the
coast of Luca Antara, his astonishing encounter with a Portuguese
New Christian degradee, and his flight with Estrela, the degradee’s
mixed-race daughter on another vessel carrying a cargo of the
prized sea-slugs for the Chinese market, all come as no surprise to
those who are familiar with historically verified incidents in Portuguese overseas history. Portuguese adventurers ranged far beyond
the confines of their main commercial hubs of Goa, Malacca, Macassar, and Macau, cropping up around the coasts of the Bay of
Bengal and throughout the so-called Spice Islands. The arrival of a
lone Portuguese in Australia is an intriguing possibility that clearly
appeals to Edmond’s romantic sensibilities.
In the final part of the book, which takes on the characteristics of
a travel narrative, Edmond returns from Malacca to Australia, but
attempts to follow the route of António da Nova through Java, Bali
and on to the island of Flores, on a succession of ever more decrepit
ferries, and in the company of various more or less picturesque travellers. His encounter with the myths of local pygmies on the island
of Flores, the residue of some prehistoric population dating from
the time when the islands were joined to Australia, before the seas
flooded and destroyed the lands between these islands, lead Edmond to surmise that perhaps Herédia’s depiction of Luca Antara
was no more than the lost continent of his sixteenth-century imagination. To put it another way, Herédia was his own heteronym, and
Luca Antara a lost paradise waiting to be regained: Luca Antara was
fiction awaiting the arrival of history. W
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Mouse Click
by António Espadinha Soares
Video of the Week
REAL Ultimate Power!!!!
The Vaccine War
http://tinyurl.com/mdt0805
http://www.realultimatepower.net/
This is an old one but quite good for a laugh. It’s the
Official Ninja Webpage, the website for REAL Ultimate
Power, which lays out the argument for something that
all men have known since five years old, namely, that
Ninjas are awesome! Seriously though, this is one big
satirical webpage that will have you rolling around on
the floor in laughter. Check out the Ninja Sightings
sections for some hilarious visitor submitted content.
Software of the Week
Personal Brain
http://www.thebrain.com
Mistrust in science is a somewhat rising phenomenon
amongst affluent citizens of the developed world, people
who have, ironically, reaped the most benefits from it.
One particular topic on which there is predominant
scepticism is the subject of vaccination, with many parents in the USA and UK not vaccinating their children
against diseases that had been previously eradicated in
the developed world. This PBS special explores the reasons and key players behind this phenomenon and the
implications it’s been having on many communities in
the USA.
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It had been a while since I last saw anything about this
little app. Personal brain is a program that let’s you organize all your Web pages, contacts, documents, emails and
files in one place using a graphical oriented approach so
that you can better visualize, connect and recollect your
thought process for complicated ideas (not depicted on
screenshot). It does this by providing you tools to link
items associatively so that information across different
types of files are organized by concepts and ideas. It’s free
for a 30 day trial after which it has to be purchased. It’s
available for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.
08 May 2010
Free CSS Templates
http://www.freecsstemplates.org/
Building a webpage has become a required business practice. However, building a reputable web presence can be a
pain, especially designing a simple and effective webpage
that won’t scare away prospective clients rather than inform
them about your products and services. If all you need is
a simple and effective design then take advantage of the
hundreds of the free customisable templates on this site.
CSS templates will set the whole mood for a website, so that
any future changes only have to be done to one source file
which will affect all pages on your site display.
Blog of the Week
Biofortified
http://www.biofortified.org/
Much like last week’s suggestion on the topic of
genetically modified food, this blog focuses heavily
on the subject. It presents the ideas and opinions of
grad students, professors, and the occasional guest
experts, devoted to providing factual information
and fostering discussion about plant genetics and
agriculture, and especially genetic engineering. It also
provides links to other useful resources such as books
and a forum where visitors can discuss topics more
indepth than in the comment section of each post.
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Chili chocolate fon
I
n both the Mayan and Aztec cultures,
cocoa was the basis for a thick, cold,
unsweetened drink called “xocoatl”,
believed to be a health elixir. Since sugar
was unknown to the Aztecs, different
spices were used to add flavor, even hot chili
peppers. So we can’t say this is a new recipe at all.
Not as a drink but as a fondant or “lava cake”,
you can try to do something special and exotic to
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your dessert. It’s very funny when you keep secret
of this chili hint and your family or gests start to
notice something new among this tiny chocolate
cake.
Of course you can always reduce the amount of
chili if it’s too hot for you.
It’s a very easy recipe to prepare and the only
important point is not to over bake the fondants,
as the basic idea is to get a outer part cooked and
08 May 2010
ndant
Questions and comments to
[email protected]
To publish at http://www.sundayflavors.blogspot.com
by Carlos Balona Gomes
Photo by Fabrizio Croce
YOU WILL NEED
(Serves 4):
200 gr / 7 ¼ oz of good quality dark chocolate;
120 gr / 4 ¼ oz of butter, plus extra to grease,
at room temperature;
15 gr / ½ oz of sugar;
4 eggs;
40 gr / 1 ½ oz of all purpose flour, sifted;
1 teaspoon of chili powder;
Cocoa powder, to dust;
Icing sugar, to dust;
4 ceramic ramekins with 7,5 cm (3 inch)
diameter.
METHOD:
a inner part quite liquid, remembering lava
flowing from a volcano when you cut the
cake. So, study your oven and if you over
bake it at the first and second times, don’t
give up, you will get it perfect next time. If
you don’t bake it enough, just imagine you
are eating a good chocolate mousse. But
never, never throw it away because this is a
health elixir, as you will notice! W
Preheat your oven to 200º C / 392º F;
Slowly melt chocolate and butter using a
double boiler method (a small bowl over a pan
of simmering water);
Remove from the heat and whisk very well;
Leave to cool for 10 to 15 minutes;
Incorporate the eggs, one by one, whisking the
mixture very well;
Add sugar, flour and chili and incorporate very
well;
Grease the ceramic ramekins with butter and
dust with cocoa powder, tapping out any excess;
Divide the chocolate mixture between the
ramekins and bake for around 12 minutes in
preheated oven to 200ºC / 392ºF – remember,
the outer part should be cooked and the inner
part still liquid;
Remove from oven and let it cool a bit before
removing from the ramekins;
Turn very gently the chili chocolate fondants
out on to warmed plates. Dust the tops with
icing sugar and serve;
A perfect mach for this dessert will be a
vanilla, lemon, orange or passion fruit ice cream
or sorbet.
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Czechs discover a new taste
for speciality beers
A man brews a beer in the
vat at Prague’s Strahov
micro-brewery pub.
F
by Jan Flemr
or a country that
boasts the highest beer
consumption per person
in the world, drinkers in
the Czech Republic have
been oddly slow in expanding their
palate from the ubiquitous lager.
Blame communism. Pale, bottomfermented lagers were virtually all that
was on offer back then, when central
planners stifled small breweries in
favour of cheap, mass-produced lager
that kept the workers happy and
tasted the same.
The rush is on now, however,
to offer a different taste, with the
number of micro-breweries offering
speciality beers nearly doubling over
the past five years to forge a niche in
the market.
“The communists homogenised
everything. They left pale lagers and
from time to time someone made
dark beer – and that was it,” Martin
Matuska, the owner of a microbrewery, told AFP.
“Communist Czechoslovakia had no
market for speciality beers,” added Karel
22
Kosar, head of the Czech Research
Institute of Brewing and Malting.
Some breweries would supply
the traditional Christmas market
with stronger premium beers, but
it was really only after the collapse
of communism in 1989 that the
speciality sector developed.
Kosar said that was partly thanks to
an influx of tourists with more varied
tastes, and partly thanks to Czechs
returning from abroad having sampled
what was on offer elsewhere.
Still, it’s taken time.
From one speciality beer in 1989
there were 130 by 2004, but the
real boom has been in the past half
decade.
By 2009 micro-breweries were
producing 178 speciality and unusual
beers and industrial breweries – keen
to cash in on the trend – another 83.
The average Czech consumes about
150 litres (quarts) of beer a year, by
some way the highest in the world.
Lagers still overwhelm the market,
making up more than 99.5 percent
of the Czech Republic’s total beer
output, and in pubs usually cost less
than a euro (1.33 dollars).
“Czechs are said to be a nation of
beer drinkers, but this basically means
that they guzzle the cheapest stuff,”
said Martin Matuska’s son Adam,
a master brewer in Broumy, west of
Prague.
Technically speaking, the category
of “special and unusual beers” refers
to any beer other than pale lager with
about 3-5 percent of alcohol volume.
The prospect of offering speciality
beers has led pubs in and outside
the capital to gradually expand
their supply, prompting increased
production from brewers.
Riding the wave, Martin Matuska
– a master brewer himself with
experience abroad – last year turned
an outbuilding at his country home
in Broumy into a brewery with a
projected annual output of 800
hectolitres (17,000 gallons).
It now supplies local pubs as well as
about 20 restaurants in Prague.
Whereas drinkers previously would
wash down their 10 lagers with six
shots of peppermint brandy, now
they would finish off with two of
Matuska’s stronger speciality beers,
Adam Matuska, 20, told AFP as he
sat in the garden of their country
house, wood stacked tidily along the
walls.
“Now they are beginning to realise
that beer can taste good, that it can be
better,” he said, “like this wheat beer
we make, which people aren’t familiar
with although it has a long tradition.”
The Matuska brewery, relying strictly
on natural ingredients used by the
ancient Czech brewers, produces lager
as well as catering for other tastes –
pale, dark, wheat, strong wheat, India
Pale Ale and so on.
“When I decided to make these
types of world beers, people said:
‘No one’s going to drink this, the
Czechs are conservative.’ But they are
08 May 2010
conservative only because they never
had anything else,” Martin Matuska
told AFP.
Looking ahead the family would like
to export beer – and even build a new
brewery as a greenfield project.
Jan Vesely, head of the Czech Beer
and Malt Association, predicted a
bright future as living standards
rise and demand grows for more
exclusive products.
“Micro-breweries, which now make
up three percent of the market, are
like flowers on the lawn that make it
livelier and nicer and that we all like,”
he added enthusiastically.
“Thank God we have them.” W
AFP
(ToP) Beer House microbrewery pub in Prague.
(Bottom) Customers at the
Strahov micro-brewery pub.
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-All about Dogs.
-All about Cats.
-All about Exotics.
-All about pet
ownership.
-All about nutrition.
We will be focusing on
the following;
Allergies
Avian/Exotics
Behavior
Boarding
Dental
Digestive System
Diseases
Ears
General
Heart
Hormones
Husbandry
Medications
Musculoskeletal
Neoplasia
Nervous System
Nutrition
Reproductive System
Respiratory
Skin
Surgery
Travel
Urinary
Vaccinations
Ask The Vet
Question Categories
to be covered are:
by Dr Ruan Du Toit Bester
Dr Ruan Du Toit Bester
Rua, D.R, L, P, Marquest 2/F,
Flat B, Ponte 6A, Macau SAR.
Macau: +853 66962666
Hong Kong: +852 66706906
Fax: +852 24142727
Ask the Vet - is a service that allows you to ask questions about your pets’ health and
behavior. My goal is to help you, the pet owner, improve the knowledge of your pet’s
everyday needs and health care in Macau through a variety of pet services and veterinary
resources that where never available to pet owners before.
Pets have become a very important part of our families. In many cases they have become as much a part of our lives as children or grandchildren. And, in certain ways, just
as complicated. Think of all the questions raised by wanting a pet. Pet ownership has
definitely become more complex. Everybody seems to have an opinion on what pet you
should get and what being a good pet owner means. My goal is to answer your questions
and try making things simpler for you. I want to give some of the basic information that
will help you to raise a healthy, happy and family compatible pet. And, of course, have
fun while you are doing it.
The ideas listed in this column come from many years of studying and practicing veterinary medicine in South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong and Macau. And they are just that,
my ideas and opinions. They are not meant to be all-encompassing or correct for every
situation. Use this information as a tool, along with the advice from your veterinarian, to
help you make the interaction between you and your pet a wonderful experience.
As far as I am concerned, there are two kinds of people; those who really love animals,
and those who have never owned any. People who say they do not love pets have usually
never owned one. And for those who say they hate them, well, let’s just not talk about
them! The picture above is of a 150kg sea turtle at Australia Zoo that I did abdominal
surgery on after it ingested a ball of fishing line. Indiscriminate and over fishing causes
this to happen too often.
I hope this section helps you enjoy that perfect life with your pet. And I would love to
hear the stories of how you came to own your particular pet and any interesting experiences you have had.
24
How to
G
uinea Pigs are
cute little creatures
but they are not
easy to feed correctly.
The main reason is that guinea
pigs are the only species, apart
from humans, who require Vitamin C included in their diet.
Most other animals have a specific enzyme that enables them to
make Vitamin C.
What should you feed
your guinea pig? Like rabbits, Guinea Pigs are herbivores and require a high fibre
diet. They should have grass or
grass hay (e.g. meadow, timothy,
fescue, oaten, pasture, and paddock or ryegrass hays) available
at all times. Lucerne or clover hay
can be offered but not as the sole
source of fibre as they are high
in calcium and protein. Suitable
grasses include clover, buffalo
grass, & oat grass. Guinea pigs
also enjoy dandelion, milk thistle
& a variety of fresh herbs.
Grass & hay encourages chewing
for long periods of time and helps
to keep their teeth in good condition, which grow continuously
throughout the guinea pig’s life.
The hay is best provided to them,
if possible, in a hayrack attached
to their cage wall.
Fresh leafy green vegetables and
herbs should also be offered. Veg-
08 May 2010
o feed your Guinea Pig
etables include broccoli, cabbage,
celery, endive, beet/carrot tops,
brussel sprouts, zucchini, capsicum, spinach leaves, bok choy &
other Asian greens, dark-leafed
lettuce varieties, fresh (uncooked)
peas and stringed beans, corn and
husks (sparingly as high in calcium). Herbs include parsley, coriander, mint, dill, basil, dandelion,
rocket etc. Offer a variety of 2 or
3 different greens each day and
remember to make any changes
to the diet slowly to avoid gastric
upset.
Guinea Pigs also require a dietary
source of Vitamin C, otherwise
they will suffer from ‘scurvy’.
This is usually supplied by the
fresh greens but small amounts
of vitamin C-rich fruit can also
be offered e.g. citrus, kiwi fruit,
strawberries.
High quality guinea pig pellets
(min 16% fibre) can be offered but
only in small amounts as a treat.
Many commercial pellets are too
high in fats and carbohydrates,
and low in fibre, and should not
be fed ad lib or as the sole diet.
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Vitamin C content also declines
once the bag is opened.
Pregnant GP’s have a higher requirement for Vit C and oral supplementation may be required contact your vet for advice.
What foods shouldn’t I feed?
Foods to avoid include cereals,
grains, nuts, seeds, washed or
brushed potatoes, wild mushrooms and berries, onion, shallots, avocado, rhubarb, breads,
biscuits, sweets, sugar, breakfast
cereals, chocolate.
Don’t feed your GP on rabbit or
rodent pellets.
If your rabbit is not fed on an adequate diet, signs of Vitamin C
deficiency will occur about two
weeks after the deficiency starts.
The guinea pig will be lethargic
and weak. It will eat less and lose
weight and may have enlarged
limb joints. It develops a rough
hair coat, diarrhoea and produces
26
a discharge from its eye and nose.
Death usually occurs in about
three to four weeks.
Hygiene Guinea pigs are slobs when it
comes to table manners and etiquette. They scatter their bedding
into their food, their food into
their water, their water into their
bedding and if that’s not enough
they often soil in their food, water
and bedding too!
For this reason, their food and
water containers must be cleaned
out and re-stocked daily.
To prevent the guinea pigs from
nesting in their food and water
containers, it is best if the containers are suspended above the
ground. If this is not possible,
provide them with heavy food
and water containers that cannot
be overturned.
You will find water bottles for
guinea pigs available at pet shops.
These are hygienic but guinea
pigs will often block the end of
the water tube with slurry of food
and water from their mouths as
they drink. For this reason, their
water containers must be checked
daily.
Did you know that ...?
• The average life span of a
guinea pig is five years.
• Male guinea pigs are called
boars, females are called sows
and young are called pups
• Length of pregnancy is 59 to
72 days - and a sow will often
double her weight during pregnancy and she will produce 1
- 10 young per litter (average
3-4).
• Piglets are weaned at around
3 weeks.
• Guinea pigs are native to the
Andes Mountains.
• Guinea pigs are related to
chinchillas and porcupines. W
08 May 2010
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Offbeat
Mango tribute to India’s Tendulkar
A new variety of mango has been named after India’s recordbreaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar in honour of his cricketing
success, an Indian television channel reported last week.
Farmer Kalimullah Khan told India’s NDTV news channel
that he has created a hybrid version of the creamy, sweettasting fruit by combining two of the finest Indian varieties,
including the Chausa.
“There is no player like Sachin Tendulkar in the whole world
and that’s why I have named this mango Sachin,” the elderly
farmer, from Malihabad in Lucknow district, northern Uttar
Pradesh state, told NDTV.
Tendulkar, 37, is widely regarded as one of the world’s
greatest batsmen and has iconic status in India. He is
also the first Indian sportsman to have a waxwork figure at
London’s famous Madame Tussauds museum.
India is the world’s largest producer of mangoes. The
Alphonso mango, grown in Tendulkar’s home state of
Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, is seen by
locals as the “king of fruits.”
The Sachin mango, though, will not go on sale.
“Our Sachin is a world hero and he is priceless and not a
saleable commodity,” said Khan, who plans to donate a tree
of Sachin mangoes to the cricketer “so he can enjoy them
with his friends.”
Khan has produced nearly 300 new mango varieties and
won India’s top civilian award for his work on mango grafting
and cultivation.
He told the news channel he is working on a new hybrid
fruit to be named after the legendary Bollywood singer Lata
Mangeshkar.
Ancient navigation skills
A Marshall Islands outrigger canoe has arrived in an outlying
atoll after finishing the first long-distance voyage in the country using ancient navigation skills for 60 years.
The 30-foot (9.1 metre) outrigger canoe “Jitdam Kapeel” left
last week from Majuro for Aur Atoll – a distance of about 90
miles (145 kilometres) and arrived 21 hours later, last Friday,
after an overnight journey.
The voyage is the first since World War II in which a voyaging
canoe has attempted to sail between atolls in the Marshall
Islands without modern navigational aids.
The canoe with a crew of eight was captained by Alson Kelen,
who runs a canoe building and training programme for young
people in the Marshall Islands.
“Our main guide is the northeasterly waves,” said Kelen, who
has studied under Korent Joel, one of the last master naviga-
28
tors still alive in an island group traditionally known for navigational and canoe building prowess.
Kelen said they also used the moon and stars to guide them
on the journey, which aimed to demonstrate the skills that
Marshall Islanders have used since they first settled the western Pacific islands 2,000 years ago.
Master navigator Joel was on board a motorised vessel that
followed the canoe, to help if necessary.
Kelen’s programme trains about 50 young Marshallese men
and women each year in building and sailing outrigger canoes.
“To become a master navigator you must spend a long period
of time studying how currents work within your atoll by looking
at how they react with the land,” Joel said.
“Afterwards, you put yourself in the lagoon to feel and understand it.”
As a child, Joel used to be hit on the head with a paddle by
his teacher every time he made a mistake in judging the flow
of the current, he said.
Kelen and a group of younger Marshall Islanders have been
studying with Joel for more than two years.
“Iroij (chief) Remios Hermios told us the last time people
sailed using traditional navigation techniques was just after
World War II,” Kelen said.
The crew aim to sail the return route to Majuro early next
week.
Ancient voyaging skills are being revived throughout the Pacific and earlier this month a group of four traditional Polynesian canoes left Auckland for a voyage to French Polynesia.
08 May 2010
This Day in History
Europe Day: ‘V’ Day is celebrated
Russians and taken captive. The Russians took
approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before
and after the German surrender.
Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released
and sent back to Great Britain.
Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation
would continue into the next day. On
May 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more
soldiers in Silesia before the Germans
finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E
Day was not celebrated until the ninth in
Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute
from Stalin himself: “The age-long
struggle of the Slav nations ... has ended
in victory. Your courage has defeated the
Nazis. The war is over.”
Soviets boycott
L.A. Olympics
On May 8, 1945, both Great Britain and the United States
celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as
well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out
flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war
machine.
The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops
throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague,
Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after
the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the
Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at
Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel
Island of Sark – the
German
surrender
was realized in a
final cease-fire. More
surrender documents
were
signed
in
Berlin and in eastern
Germany.
The main concern
of many German
soldiers was to elude
the grasp of Soviet
forces, to keep from
being taken prisoner.
About
1
million
Germans attempted
a mass exodus to the
West when the fighting
in
Czechoslovakia
ended,
but
were
stopped
by
the
Also on this day, in 1984, the Soviet
government announces a boycott of the
1984 Summer Olympic Games to be held
in Los Angeles, California, citing fears
for the safety of its athletes in what it
considered a hostile and anti-communist
environment.
Although the Soviets had cited security concerns, the
boycott was more likely the result of strained Cold War
relations due to America’s generous aid to Muslim
rebels fighting in Afghanistan – and payback for the U.S.
boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. A number
of other Soviet Bloc countries and Cuba followed suit
in boycotting the Los Angeles Games, which carried
on without the presence of many of the communist
world’s best athletes. China, however, participated in
the Los Angeles Summer Games in its first Olympic
appearance since 1952.
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The Born Loser by Chip Sansom
Sudoku
Easy
Easy +
Medium
Cinema
Date Night
Phil and Claire Foster (Steve Carell and
Tina Fey) are a married couple from New
Jersey with two children whose domestic
life has become routine. Phil is a tax
advisor while Claire is a realtor. They have
a weekly “date night” at a local steakhouse
followed by a movie, but it is just as routine
as everything else in their marriage. They
learn that their best friends, Brad (Mark
Ruffalo) and Haley (Kristen Wiig), are
getting a divorce.
In an effort to reignite romance, Phil takes
Claire to a trendy Manhattan restaurant
where they can’t get a table. Phil decides
to take a reservation from a no-show
couple, the Tripplehorns, despite Claire’s
misgivings. Halfway through their meal,
they are approached by two men named
Collins (Common) and Armstrong (Jimmi
Simpson), who question them about a
flash drive they believe Phil and Claire stole from mobster boss Joe Miletto (Ray Liotta). Phil and Claire
try to explain that they are not the Tripplehorns, but the two men threaten them at gunpoint. Not seeing
any other way out, Phil decides to tell them it’s in a boathouse in Central Park.
Hard
Macau Tower
2:30/4:45/7:15/9:30 pm
Iron Man 2
Starring: Robert Downey Jr.,
Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson
Director: Jon Favreau
Language: English (Chinese subtitles)
Duration: 124 min
Cineteatro
TV
Room 1
2:30/4:45/7:15/9:30 pm
Canal Macau
Saturday
11:00
11:25
12:00
12:25
13:00
13:30
14:30
18:45
19:30
20:00
20:30
21:00
22:00
23:00
23:30
30
Iron Man 2
Sunday
RTP-i (Live)
PETER PAN AND THE PIRATES
THE TURTLE ISLAND
THE NEW GULLIVER´S TRAVELS
COOKING
TDM NEWS ( REP. )
NEWS AT 24H (RTP - i) (Delayed Broadcast)
SOAP OPERA - COMPACT
VARIETY
DOCUMENTARY IN PORTUGUESE
TDM TALK SHOW
MAIN NEWS, FINANCIAL & WEATHER
REPORT
COMEDY
DRAMA
TDM NEWS
FILM: THE HURRICANE
RTP-i (Live)
11:00
12:00
12:30
13:00
13:30
14:30
14:50
15:15
17:45
18:30
20:00
20:30
21:20
21:50
22:15
23:00
23:30
00:00
RTP-i (Live)
SUNDAY MASS
DOCUMENTARY IN PORTUGUESE
COOKING
TDM NEWS ( REP. )
NEWS AT 24H (RTP - i) (Delayed Broadcast)
DOUGIE IN DISGUISE
TAO SHU - THE WARRIOR BOY
SOAP OPERA
CULTURAL CONTEST
FUTEBOL: ( Rep )
MODERN MUSIC
MAIN NEWS, FINANCIAL & WEATHER
REPORT
TDM INTERVIEW
THAT 70´S SHOW
CRIMINAL MINDS
TDM NEWS
TDM TALK SHOW ( Rep )
DOCUMENTARY IN PORTUGUESE
RTP-i (Live)
Starring: Robert Downey Jr.,
Edward Norton, Scarlett Johansson
Director: Jon Favreau
Language: English (Chinese subtitles)
Duration: 124 min
Room 2
2:30/4:30/7:30/9:30 pm
Date Night
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey
Director: Shawn Levy
Language:English (Chinese subtitles)
Duration: 88 min
Room 3
2:30/4:45/7:15/9:30 pm
The Ghost Writer
Starring: Peirce Brosnan, Ewan McGregor,
Kim Cattrall
Director: Roman Polanski
Language:English (Chinese subtitles)
Duration: 128 min
08 May 2010
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Press Play
by MC LA
Broken Social Scene
Lo-Fi For
The Dividing Nights
Canadian collective Broken Social Scene have announced details of a bonus ‘EP’, as a reward for
those who pre-order their new album, Forgiveness
Rock Record, which comes out on May 3 via City
Slang.
The EP, which is actually ten tracks long so arguably NOT an EP at all, is called Lo-Fi For The Dividing Nights and the band give the low-down on
their official website.
Lo-Fi For The Dividing Nights was written during
the recording of Forgiveness Rock Record in Chicago. During downtime band members would head
into Soma’s second smaller studio to test out new
ideas and overdubs while John McEntire worked
in the main room. Here they created lovely little
soundscapes, one of which ended up being the
closing song on Forgiveness Rock Record, ‘Me &
My Hand’, and the rest became the beginnings of
Lo-Fi For The Dividing Nights.
Twee pop
Club 8 -
The People’s Record (2010)
Club 8 is vocalist Karolina Komstedt and songwriter Johan Angergård (also in The Legends and Acid House
Kings). The band already has six full-length albums
under their belts, all produced by Johan Angergård and
the last three were recorded by the band themselves in
Summersound Studios. The People’s Record, their seventh album, is the first one with an external producer,
and will be released on May 12th. The first single from
the album is called ‘Western Hospitality’ and is available
for free download in the bands Myspace.
Sweden’s Club 8 is commonly recognized for their
personal blend of melancholic, dreamy and irresistibly
catchy style of pop has been a precursor for bands like
Camera Obscura, jj, and Kings of Convenience. The
People’s Record marks the beginning of a new epoch.
The band has travelled to Brazil for inspiration, bought
records made in the 70’s in Western Africa, used a percussion player from Cuba and hooked up with producer
Jari Haapalainen (The Concretes, Camera Obscura, Ed
Harcourt). The result is unique mix of Swedish pop melodies and African rhythms - undoubtedly one of the most
unique, captivating and catchiest pop records of the year!
Minimalist M. Ostermeier –
Marc Osterneier was a member of the shoegaze/post-rock
band Should, who released a pair of albums in the late nineties. The Maryland based musician is now creating experimental and ambient compositions built from skeletal piano
melodies and augmented with electronics and acoustic recordings that evoke post-rock legends Labradford in their Mi
Media Naranja and El Luxo So phase, or later period Harold
Budd, (once he’d dropped the excessive reverb and chorus
effects).
Percolate is filled with understated melodies played on both
acoustic and rhodes piano while the electronic elements are
used sparingly to couch the piano, not overwhelm it. And at the
emotional core of the mini-album – the tracks clockwork and
32
08 May 2010
Synthpop Future
Islands - In Evening Air (2010)
In Evening Air, the trio Future Islands, accomplishes a lot with very little. Even calling the band a trio
misleads, as the term might evoke images of a guitar, bass and drums threesome, bashing away at
viscous rock music. But this is a hooky, dark dance band. Sam Herring only sings and glides. William
Cashion just plays bass. Gerrit Welmers adds programmed drums and beds and blips of keyboards.
Future Islands’ sound doesn’t suffer the duo-with-frontman configuration. Cashion’s distorted bass
pairs deep, wide textures with lean, neck-snapping melodies. Welmers’ keys luxuriate in layers of noise
on “An Apology” and sprinkle variations on a sad-eyed pop theme during “Swept Inside.” “Vireo’s Eye”
stacks layers of tones and tempos, using simple repetition to create the illusion of a bigger band.
What’s more, In Evening Air is a little LP: Its nine songs combine for 36 minutes, and the mid-album
title track is a luminous instrumental miniature. Still, these minutes are full of emotional intensity
given perfect urgency by Herring’s strangled soulman voice. On “Long Flight,” for instance, Herring takes us into the bedroom where he saw his live-in lover cheat, singing, “I really wanted you
there/ But you ruined what was love/ Just ‘cause you needed a hand” like he’s still sweating through
the nightmare. “Call on me/ I’ll be there always,” he chants during “Inch of Dust,” gradually getting
louder with the phrase, turning what first seems an offer of reassurance into a cry for mutual help.
You sort of want to give him a hug. Mostly, though, you’ll want to sing along.
Neither Future Islands nor In Evening Air are remarkable only for their efficiency. Size matters only
insofar as the songs and the performances succeed, and, here, both are mostly perfect. In Evening
Air stands as one of the year’s best records—a poetic, provocative and powerful statement by a band
patient enough to recognize its limitations and turn them into intoxicating, electric atmospheres.
Pop SIA
- We Are Born (2010)
Adjectives to describe Sia’s music wouldn’t usually stray far from ‘poignant.’ Her past albums have
had a decidedly down-tempo feel, well removed from the mainstream sound that earns pop stars millions of dollars. Adjectives to describe Sia’s music wouldn’t usually stray far from ‘poignant.’ Her past
albums have had a decidedly down-tempo feel, well removed from the mainstream sound that earns
pop stars millions of dollars. But things might be turning around for the Australian songstress -- she
got happy, and she’s back with a new sound for her upcoming album that’s more animated than ever.
Currently on a zigzag tour across North America, the cyber space recently leaked six tracks from ‘We
Are Born’ (due out in June by Sony Music), to warm fans up to the new sound. She wants people to
know the music and sing along at her shows. And catching people off-guard with a tempo change
hasn’t always worked in her favour.
She tried to delivered a pop record to Universal right after [second major album] ‘Colour the Small
One’ -- which was practically, for all intents and purposes, the same record that she’s putting out now,
but Universal reply that they didn’t know how to market SIA like that, not as a down-tempo artist.
Being categorized as a one-genre performer was never her intention, Furler says, and she didn’t realize
then that she would be forced to stay in that box. So to continue her career, she put out the sombre
album ‘Some People Have Real Problems.’ It was what she calls a necessary segue into what she really
wanted to do: pop.
– Percolate (2010)
scratchy these elements are joined by a
third – airy, melancholic, twangy guitar worthy of Marc Nelson, Ry Cooder
or Loren Connors. Although Marc’s
stated aim is to create something that
“evokes a melancholic stillness”, the
mini-album is not monochromatic
– the penultimate track continuity
hints at ambient techno while closer
persuasion ends on a wistful, blissful
/ somnambulistic note, that whilst not
ecstatic, seems to hint that maybe life
isn’t so bad after all.
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Zoom
Photo by Manuel Cardoso
Hard times
Shrouded in the mist of uncertainty that shatters the world,
foundations of Catholic Church stand unabated atop the hill.
Pedro Daniel Oliveira
Journalist
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08 May 2010
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