Streets that Speak: Rua Miguel Bombarda, Oporto, Portugal

Porto, the home of Port wine and Porto football club and Francesinha's: I'm amazed by this city time and again. This time round, I came across some stunning grafitti on Rua Bombarda, right in the city centre that really made my day. 

The Tale of A Feather In Full Flight

I want to fly again
Into the wispy winds of time
Beyond the valleys and the seas
Over sandy beaches
And laughing children
Over hands held in love
And friends embracing
I want to fly again
Into dream-carved sunsets
Beyond dancing shadows
Over smokey fires
And smiling octogenerians
Over lovers locked in dance
And flowers in bloom
I want to fly again
I want to fly again

Photo Jamming : Jason's birthday

Pics by my friend Supriya and myself : Check out Supriya's recently launched webpage for more of her amazing pics : 

http://supriyaphotography.dpg.cc/gallery/who_are_we/

Blues Ahoy

(Original article copied from The Copenhagen Post's In & Out Guide )

http://cphpost.dk/inout/reviews/concert-review-blues-ahoy

There are, admittedly, few places to go out on a wintry Monday night in Copenhagen, and fewer still in the midst of the cold spell that’s been gnawing at our fingertips and cracking our lips of late.

Nørrebro’s Kind of Blue is a bar that provides music of a different sort for those lonely Monday evenings when the streets seem darker and colder than usual. Now in its tenth installation, ‘Tangled Up In Blue’ is a singer-songwriter orientated evening that provides Copenhagen’s most talented names within the genre an opportunity to share their powerful, emotionally-charged music.

This particular installation of the event featured German songbird Paula Tebbens accompanied by pianist Edoardo Bottalico (EBDK), Americana rock nomad MC Hansen and folk singer Julie Dybvad, who was backed up by a remarkable array of instrumentalists. Tebbens and Edbk set things in motion, playing songs off Tebbens’ demo album Memory Box alongside other singles. The duo ventured deep into folk territory in a charismatic performance that resonated with echoes of the sort of music played by bands such as the well known Minnesota-based group Dark Dark Dark. The highlight of their set was the seldom played ‘Cotton Candy’, which seemed to ignite a sparkle in the eyes of both musicians as well as the audience.

Next on the stage was wandering MC Hansen (aka Mads Christian Hansen) accompanied by the established Jakob Chano Lundby. Hansen’s set strayed playfully into Americana-meets-folk pastures and shimmered with a blend of melancholic, reflective and playful flickers all at once. 

Both musicians looked at ease and played with a glee that could only have emanated from the fact that they were well and truly enjoying themselves on stage.

Dybvad rounded off the show with a performance that was as dextrous as it was witty. Her hazy vocals were backed up by several outstanding instrumentalists playing the bass, trumpet, piano and guitar, all of whom added depth and dimension to what proved to be the highlight of an evening of quality music.

The next Tangled Up In Blue event is in two weeks time at Kind Of Blue (Ravnsborgade 17 in Nørrebro) and is by far the best bet for a top night out on a Monday evening.

By Allan Mutuku Kortbæk 

The Audacity of Hope

Anon Art

Art should not have an identity. What matters is not the noun, but the connection to the noun. A noun is but a descriptive term, limited to the understanding of those who process it. An entity on the other hand, maintains its infinite relativity and as such, can be all manner of different things at the same time. Contradiction or fact ?

Things lose value when they get a name- language destroys essence and purity. May true art always remain anonymous.

Turn on, Tune In, Drop Out

Wake up, smell the coffee, hear the sirens

The sound of inevitability edging ever closer 

To your picket-fence world, your safe havens

Your sacrosanct heavens

Far from the maddening crowds

From the sewers and street wells 

brothels, bordels and bare beat-broken barren wastelands 

Beyond the walled fortresses of distortion

And the cold, numbing silence of social subjugation 

Turn on, tune in, drop out 

Of of your soul-void cavity 

your dollar-bill disgrace 

your Wall Street indecency 

This is my world you're ruining 

These are my forests you are felling 

My children you are starving 

This is our world that you are killing