Sob o signo de Leão

Federico Babina, Zodiac De Sign

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12 Leões famosos (entre os meus preferidos):

Alexandre Dumas (24 de Julho de 1802)

Beatrix Potter (28 de Julho de 1866)

Giorgio Vasari (30 de Julho de 1511)

J.K. Rowling (31 de Julho de 1965)

Helena Roque Gameiro (2 de Agosto de 1895)

Louis Armstrong (4 de Agosto de 1901)

Barack Obama (4 de Agosto de 1961)

Maria Keil (9 de Agosto de 1914)

Enid Blyton (11 de Agosto de 1897)

Alfred Hitchcock (13 de Agosto de 1899)

René Gosciny (14 de Agosto de 1926)

Raquel Roque Gameiro (15 de Agosto de 1889)

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1939

A pensar no meu sogro, que hoje faz anos.

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Ralston Crawford, Whitestone Bridge (1939-1940, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester)

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«Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte non quand il n'y a plus rien à ajouter, mais quand il n'y a plus rien à retrancher.»

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Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Terre des hommes, ed. Le Livre de Poche, 1939, p. 59

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O filme do ano:
 

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E uma canção desse ano:
 

Ante-Véspera de Natal

Norman Rockwell

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The Boy Who Laughed At Santa Claus

In Baltimore there lived a boy.

He wasn’t anybody’s joy.

Although his name was Jabez Dawes,

His character was full of flaws.

In school he never led his classes,

He hid old ladies’ reading glasses,

His mouth was open when he chewed,

And elbows to the table glued.

He stole the milk of hungry kittens,

And walked through doors marked NO ADMITTANCE.

He said he acted thus because

There wasn’t any Santa Claus.

Another trick that tickled Jabez

Was crying ‘Boo’ at little babies.

He brushed his teeth, they said in town,

Sideways instead of up and down.

Yet people pardoned every sin,

And viewed his antics with a grin,

Till they were told by Jabez Dawes,

‘There isn’t any Santa Claus!’

Deploring how he did behave,

His parents swiftly sought their grave.

They hurried through the portals pearly,

And Jabez left the funeral early.

Like whooping cough, from child to child,

He sped to spread the rumor wild:

‘Sure as my name is Jabez Dawes

There isn’t any Santa Claus!’

Slunk like a weasel of a marten

Through nursery and kindergarten,

Whispering low to every tot,

‘There isn’t any, no there’s not!’

The children wept all Christmas eve

And Jabez chortled up his sleeve.

No infant dared hang up his stocking

For fear of Jabez’ ribald mocking.

He sprawled on his untidy bed,

Fresh malice dancing in his head,

When presently with scalp-a-tingling,

Jabez heard a distant jingling;

He heard the crunch of sleigh and hoof

Crisply alighting on the roof.

What good to rise and bar the door?

A shower of soot was on the floor.

What was beheld by Jabez Dawes?

The fireplace full of Santa Claus!

Then Jabez fell upon his knees

With cries of ‘Don’t,’ and ‘Pretty Please.’

He howled, ‘I don’t know where you read it,

But anyhow, I never said it!’

‘Jabez’ replied the angry saint,

‘It isn’t I, it’s you that ain’t.

Although there is a Santa Claus,

There isn’t any Jabez Dawes!’

Said Jabez then with impudent vim,

‘Oh, yes there is, and I am him!

Your magic don’t scare me, it doesn’t’

And suddenly he found he wasn’t!

From grimy feet to grimy locks,

Jabez became a Jack-in-the-box,

An ugly toy with springs unsprung,

Forever sticking out his tongue.

The neighbors heard his mournful squeal;

They searched for him, but not with zeal.

No trace was found of Jabez Dawes,

Which led to thunderous applause,

And people drank a loving cup

And went and hung their stockings up.

All you who sneer at Santa Claus,

Beware the fate of Jabez Dawes,

The saucy boy who mocked the saint.

Donner and Blitzen licked off his paint.

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Ogden Nash.

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O poema foi publicado há um ano no blogue de Nandia Foteini Vlachou: I know where I'm going

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Biodiversidade

Frank Weston Benson, Lilypond (1923)

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«We can no longer see the continued loss of biodiversity as an issue separate from the core concerns of society: to tackle poverty, to improve the health, prosperity and security of present and future generations, and to deal with climate change. Each of those objectives is undermined by current trends in the state of our ecosystems, and each will be greatly strengthened if we finally give biodiversity the priority it deserves».

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Convention on Biological Diversity.