Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings .... even if you do not commemorate or celebrate Christmas, there is a high likelihood today that you are linked with at least someone somewhere who does. If you have the house decorated it is less likely a lot of time and energy will be spend in honoring the birth of Jesus Christ and chances are even more remote that you are aware of how Saint Nikolaas' legacy has come to blend into all this.
It does not really matter. What's important is that all of us take a moment every now and then to stop and think about whom and what is around us and in that respect I am a true believer that as long as we do hold someone in our memory, they do live on.
It is then thrilling, maybe even powerful, if we all do so more or less at the same time. I guess we have a need or strong desire to do so.
To some extent it bothers me that a couple of hands full of temporarily elected or otherwise appointed politicians claim attention to lecture entire populations on what should unite in this time of the year, as if their mandates included some spiritual proxy, whereas arguably the majority are in an urgent need for withdrawing to a moment of zen or redemption to reflect upon their actions, in a way just as much of most common people tend to do, before the turn of another year.
Whether we accept it or not, we are all agents in our environments. What we say and especially what we do comes upon others in one way or another, consciously or not.
This world is still relatively new to observing mere citizens getting things done, without the interference of any protagonist. The people that rise and shine every day, do their work whether GDP measured or not, care for their children and the elderly and make doing good seem so simple whereby others feel onboarded.
This Christmas I will take a moment and salute all those people in the middle of their societies, capable and willing to make a difference not just for themselves or within their boundaries. I just might feel tempted to do so throughout 2015 and beyond. Sound jolly enough ?
2014-12-24
2014-09-23
Clach-na-cinneamhain
On St Andrew's Day in 1996, a high level ceremony took place at Edinburgh Castle wherein a 150 kg stone was returned by England under the terms of a peace treaty signed and sealed in the year 1328.
The stone in question will have been used for the coronations of Scotland's kings which is exactly what made it the perfect prize for Longshanks and all his successors, including Queen Elizabeth II, to sit on, inside Westminster Abbey for over 668 years.
Apparently the stone's return was a prerequisite for the so called devolution period which followed, including a return of parliamentary powers and other promissing privileges, sovereignable countries would normally have access to.
For a continental low-lander like me it has always been admirable how an entity like the United Kingdom manages to so vividly carry forward a rich history from dark middle ages, through globalising discoveries and industrialised warfare to this very day. I suppose that simple geography - an island - is an advantegous form of (de-)fence which safeguards traditions on the inside, while keeping undisired enlightments born elsewhere, out.
The Commonwealth continues as an impressive league of nations and many other or former worldy empires eviously wonder how an apparent nice old lady democratically mothers millions of people with a variety of beliefs and backgrounds at great distances, as the supreme head of state or chair, without too much contestation.
I would have liked to see a yes vote in Scotland's referendum, though and I suspect that if international institutions headquartered either east or far west from Britain would have interfered with less drama on the bureacratic consequences of independence and projected a more embracing path as apparently is possible for currenlty less aligned states, a majority of Scots will have found the necessary comfort to vote otherwise.
Especially the EU Commission and Parliament have given us a taste of the level of clumsiness we may expect when the time comes wherein populations find victories in becoming more influential into the regions they are most concerned with. Just picture an elephant trying to stand still long enough in a porcelaine store.
The British Crown and its House of Commons have been wise to allow the Scots to have their referendum. Possibly more (symbolic) powers will have to be returned than a majority of MP's in London would have betted on two years ago, but at least a disruption will not take place on their shift and the union is good for another 10 years (and not an entire generation as hinted by England's Prime Minister.
I guess much will depend on what a Prince of Wales or Duque of Cambridge intend to do with a certain stone.
The stone in question will have been used for the coronations of Scotland's kings which is exactly what made it the perfect prize for Longshanks and all his successors, including Queen Elizabeth II, to sit on, inside Westminster Abbey for over 668 years.
Apparently the stone's return was a prerequisite for the so called devolution period which followed, including a return of parliamentary powers and other promissing privileges, sovereignable countries would normally have access to.
For a continental low-lander like me it has always been admirable how an entity like the United Kingdom manages to so vividly carry forward a rich history from dark middle ages, through globalising discoveries and industrialised warfare to this very day. I suppose that simple geography - an island - is an advantegous form of (de-)fence which safeguards traditions on the inside, while keeping undisired enlightments born elsewhere, out.
The Commonwealth continues as an impressive league of nations and many other or former worldy empires eviously wonder how an apparent nice old lady democratically mothers millions of people with a variety of beliefs and backgrounds at great distances, as the supreme head of state or chair, without too much contestation.
I would have liked to see a yes vote in Scotland's referendum, though and I suspect that if international institutions headquartered either east or far west from Britain would have interfered with less drama on the bureacratic consequences of independence and projected a more embracing path as apparently is possible for currenlty less aligned states, a majority of Scots will have found the necessary comfort to vote otherwise.
Especially the EU Commission and Parliament have given us a taste of the level of clumsiness we may expect when the time comes wherein populations find victories in becoming more influential into the regions they are most concerned with. Just picture an elephant trying to stand still long enough in a porcelaine store.
The British Crown and its House of Commons have been wise to allow the Scots to have their referendum. Possibly more (symbolic) powers will have to be returned than a majority of MP's in London would have betted on two years ago, but at least a disruption will not take place on their shift and the union is good for another 10 years (and not an entire generation as hinted by England's Prime Minister.
I guess much will depend on what a Prince of Wales or Duque of Cambridge intend to do with a certain stone.
2014-06-26
Don't follow the money
Throughout an important part of my childhood, my sisters and me have been raised with the idea that football is something one does either in any backgarden or in pursuit of some (silly) dream of stardom. That is because at home we were all very much into hockey. Football and hockey .. oil and vinaigre.
In The Netherlands it is common for nearly any town to have its own local hockey club, often adjacent to the generally more popular local football activity.
For the avoidance of doubt, hockey, implies the sport as originally first recorded some time BC on outside grass and not the much later variants involving an ice or rollerskater rink, whereas football in this context is what derived from the no-rules middle ages games, thesedays particularly celebrated (and contested) in Brazil.
While my mother edited the club's weekly paper and organized year-end tournaments and my father presided over the club's growing pains, we were off to trainings twice a week, rain or shine, competetion matches also sometimes twice a week, refereeing and eventually coaching more junior teams. Only if outside temparatures would severely remain below zero we would withdraw, since the hard ground would affect the intended course of the ball too much. The trembling of hands when a stick hits a long or hard ball was routine.
What a game. For over 10 years we were all passionate hockey fanatics, on and off the field, but not a single aspect ever interfered with "the ordinary course" of each and everyone's life, other than the extent of numerous friendships that arose and lasted.
Football, at its top, is a highly lucrative and visable profession, maybe almost a perceived life style wherein individuals become brands. Hockey at the most can become a nearly overwhelming hobby in addition to a person's normal life of school or work.
One good illustration I recall goes back to 1978 when The Netherlands' men and women ended 2nd and 1st in the world hockey championship in Argentina but what everyone remembers to this very day is an enourmous range of details of the final football match between Argentina and The Netherlands that same year. Two sports, same place and time, same objective, one professional, the other not.
What is probably the most brilliant in hockey (and so many other sports) is that the huge money gap with professional football simply does not matter. Sportsmen and women will not invest less effort just because the audience is a handful of devoted parents instead of hundreds of thousands of fans and media commentators in sponsered stadia, operated by technically bankrupted clubs willing to secure luxury life styles for whom has no historic connection to the local club.
I can appreciate the excitement of populations when individual professionals line up under the same banner to compete and am sensitive the very occasional good will actions of some football stars, but also understand arising revolts by those that simply see other priorities.
Every now and then, I cannot help wondering though, whether off the field, us amateurs just might be better equipped to serve our surroundings, and for that thought I am forever grateful to who put me there.
In The Netherlands it is common for nearly any town to have its own local hockey club, often adjacent to the generally more popular local football activity.
For the avoidance of doubt, hockey, implies the sport as originally first recorded some time BC on outside grass and not the much later variants involving an ice or rollerskater rink, whereas football in this context is what derived from the no-rules middle ages games, thesedays particularly celebrated (and contested) in Brazil.
While my mother edited the club's weekly paper and organized year-end tournaments and my father presided over the club's growing pains, we were off to trainings twice a week, rain or shine, competetion matches also sometimes twice a week, refereeing and eventually coaching more junior teams. Only if outside temparatures would severely remain below zero we would withdraw, since the hard ground would affect the intended course of the ball too much. The trembling of hands when a stick hits a long or hard ball was routine.
What a game. For over 10 years we were all passionate hockey fanatics, on and off the field, but not a single aspect ever interfered with "the ordinary course" of each and everyone's life, other than the extent of numerous friendships that arose and lasted.
Football, at its top, is a highly lucrative and visable profession, maybe almost a perceived life style wherein individuals become brands. Hockey at the most can become a nearly overwhelming hobby in addition to a person's normal life of school or work.
One good illustration I recall goes back to 1978 when The Netherlands' men and women ended 2nd and 1st in the world hockey championship in Argentina but what everyone remembers to this very day is an enourmous range of details of the final football match between Argentina and The Netherlands that same year. Two sports, same place and time, same objective, one professional, the other not.
What is probably the most brilliant in hockey (and so many other sports) is that the huge money gap with professional football simply does not matter. Sportsmen and women will not invest less effort just because the audience is a handful of devoted parents instead of hundreds of thousands of fans and media commentators in sponsered stadia, operated by technically bankrupted clubs willing to secure luxury life styles for whom has no historic connection to the local club.
I can appreciate the excitement of populations when individual professionals line up under the same banner to compete and am sensitive the very occasional good will actions of some football stars, but also understand arising revolts by those that simply see other priorities.
Every now and then, I cannot help wondering though, whether off the field, us amateurs just might be better equipped to serve our surroundings, and for that thought I am forever grateful to who put me there.
2014-02-26
України слава стане поміж народами
In early 2011, when Europe was already very into it's crisis with no view of a miraculous exit, a German newspaper columnist wrote how unlikely it would be for countries to - once again - siege a war against one another and explained this by two reasons. Firstly, the simple lack of financing and secondly the lack of sufficient men (and women) willing to militarily equip themselves to attack their neighboring counterparts.
At the time that sounded like a harsh but very meaningful statement, as politicians and populations were - once again - commencing to severely blame and intimidate each other across borders for the wrongdoings impacting the lives they had hoped have had such a different course not so long ago.
I suppose from a relatively western point of view, the notion of war would deem any form of organized combat to be only hypothetically possible between people from different countries wherein perhaps the only modern variable would be the absence of geographical disputes.
Now the "west" expresses it is shocked by the deaths of people on Kiev's Maidan square. I am afraid I cannot share the surprise and wonder if the many heroic combatants in Ukraine do.
I have been extremely impressed with the organization, the discipline, the creativity even, whereby hundreds and then thousands of people equipped and trained themselves, volunteering into some sort of hierarchy pursuing very strategic thoughts on a day-by-day basis. People could have indulged in guerilla type demonstrative actions, but chose to establish and expose themselves in a non aggressive manner to a threat which could have been substantially more mortal. Their Cossack forefathers will have been proud.
What is Ukraine today is as responsible for what has become Europe as it is for Russia and here too I sense that "western" or EU views hinting that what is a stake is an EU / Russian divide is somewhat poor assessment of what a brave and educated population is in pursuit of.
Politicians should be wary against an informed population which is disciplined and persistent enough to siege against politics or the lack and abuse thereof.
At the time that sounded like a harsh but very meaningful statement, as politicians and populations were - once again - commencing to severely blame and intimidate each other across borders for the wrongdoings impacting the lives they had hoped have had such a different course not so long ago.
I suppose from a relatively western point of view, the notion of war would deem any form of organized combat to be only hypothetically possible between people from different countries wherein perhaps the only modern variable would be the absence of geographical disputes.
Now the "west" expresses it is shocked by the deaths of people on Kiev's Maidan square. I am afraid I cannot share the surprise and wonder if the many heroic combatants in Ukraine do.
I have been extremely impressed with the organization, the discipline, the creativity even, whereby hundreds and then thousands of people equipped and trained themselves, volunteering into some sort of hierarchy pursuing very strategic thoughts on a day-by-day basis. People could have indulged in guerilla type demonstrative actions, but chose to establish and expose themselves in a non aggressive manner to a threat which could have been substantially more mortal. Their Cossack forefathers will have been proud.
What is Ukraine today is as responsible for what has become Europe as it is for Russia and here too I sense that "western" or EU views hinting that what is a stake is an EU / Russian divide is somewhat poor assessment of what a brave and educated population is in pursuit of.
Politicians should be wary against an informed population which is disciplined and persistent enough to siege against politics or the lack and abuse thereof.
2014-02-10
Museu Nacional da Arte de Negociação / National Museum of (the art of) Dealmaking
So we all find consent in that what is popularly referred to as Chinese shops is not culture. We are less certain whether football or soccer and the many ways in which it is practiced, viewed or just commented, can be regarded as culture. Fortunately, no one raises doubts on the indeed cultural value of a collection of 85 works of Joan Miró.
Christie's in London appropriately opted to cancel the auction of those works, albeit less than 3 hours from its commencement, as it would be unable to guarantee an undisputed passage of title to successful bidders from the vendor, in this case a Portuguese government agency which took ownership of the collection through the nationalization of the BPN bank.
Nearly simultaneously, back in Portugal, an opening hammer does sound to announce the start of another bidding run amongst politicians wherein all the nearly childish confrontation between dreams and reality could have possibly inspired Joan Miró for another unique piece of surrealism, leaving the general public to make its own interpretation of the real meaning of it all.
BPN was nationalised by the Portuguese Government in the then still awake of a world wide financial crises and whereas banks were facing collapse in many countries, BPN's exposure was not vested in imprudent derivatives investment decisions, but simply in a systematic carrying on of fraudulent and criminal practices to finance the free-flowing of its adminstation. Whereas in Portugal it has not been too uncommon that legal entities were formed with a Board of Adminstrators including several former members of government along with all the legally required estatutes and licenses, the rather big difference for this BPN is the size of a still estimated suffocating gap of nearly € 5 billion, its rushed nationalisation has left the Portuguese audience to gaze at.
So while that art collection was kept in storage, large parts of the Portuguese population gradually came to be confronted with having to dispose of their public and private material and immaterial treasures in order to substantiate the imposed austerity measures to - inter alia - pay for the BPN gap.
I can understand that genuine art lovers, and especially those without money, feel devastated with the thought of an impressive collection dissappearing beyond territorial horizons forever. I am less impressed with the surrealism of in particular opposition members of parliament suddenly climbing on their pedestal to cry out disgrace for the cold financial view the government shows towards culture, in view of the potential Miró's work would have for foreign visitors, somehow excluding the Portuguese population themselves from the outset. It is a poor and shameful Pontius Pilatus like attempt for those who did not manage to embed a nation's rich and so undervalued culture amongst the nation itself and the role it once had worldwide.
Yes, an investment of money, time, prospect, vision in what nearly any country would primarily vest within a government's budget and political initiative to promote "culture", tends to quickly fall on a priority ladder in times of austerity. The same happens at any person's home. Art-and-nearly-everything-else-critic Miguel Sousa Tavares made a valid point in reminding people of the enormous amount of public and private time and money which was spent surrounding the pre-historic art sites in Portugal's Côa Valley. And that art is immovable.
I would take one step further, in that any museum which would come to hold onto the Miró collection in Portugal would seriously risk becoming a permanent place of exhibiting the very symbols of entangling private and public mismanagement of the early 21st century and that is not something anyone is waiting for at this point.
With that being said, I see an opportunity for a modern forward looking government in search of sketching a vision, to attribute the proceeds of the auction now scheduled in June, to some fiscal incentive - however symbolic - in order for any Portuguese to spend some time and/or money to create or buy into forms of Portuguese originated art, whether it is a young artist's painting or some educational roadshow or project for children. Then we really are cultivating.
Christie's in London appropriately opted to cancel the auction of those works, albeit less than 3 hours from its commencement, as it would be unable to guarantee an undisputed passage of title to successful bidders from the vendor, in this case a Portuguese government agency which took ownership of the collection through the nationalization of the BPN bank.
Nearly simultaneously, back in Portugal, an opening hammer does sound to announce the start of another bidding run amongst politicians wherein all the nearly childish confrontation between dreams and reality could have possibly inspired Joan Miró for another unique piece of surrealism, leaving the general public to make its own interpretation of the real meaning of it all.
BPN was nationalised by the Portuguese Government in the then still awake of a world wide financial crises and whereas banks were facing collapse in many countries, BPN's exposure was not vested in imprudent derivatives investment decisions, but simply in a systematic carrying on of fraudulent and criminal practices to finance the free-flowing of its adminstation. Whereas in Portugal it has not been too uncommon that legal entities were formed with a Board of Adminstrators including several former members of government along with all the legally required estatutes and licenses, the rather big difference for this BPN is the size of a still estimated suffocating gap of nearly € 5 billion, its rushed nationalisation has left the Portuguese audience to gaze at.
So while that art collection was kept in storage, large parts of the Portuguese population gradually came to be confronted with having to dispose of their public and private material and immaterial treasures in order to substantiate the imposed austerity measures to - inter alia - pay for the BPN gap.
I can understand that genuine art lovers, and especially those without money, feel devastated with the thought of an impressive collection dissappearing beyond territorial horizons forever. I am less impressed with the surrealism of in particular opposition members of parliament suddenly climbing on their pedestal to cry out disgrace for the cold financial view the government shows towards culture, in view of the potential Miró's work would have for foreign visitors, somehow excluding the Portuguese population themselves from the outset. It is a poor and shameful Pontius Pilatus like attempt for those who did not manage to embed a nation's rich and so undervalued culture amongst the nation itself and the role it once had worldwide.
Yes, an investment of money, time, prospect, vision in what nearly any country would primarily vest within a government's budget and political initiative to promote "culture", tends to quickly fall on a priority ladder in times of austerity. The same happens at any person's home. Art-and-nearly-everything-else-critic Miguel Sousa Tavares made a valid point in reminding people of the enormous amount of public and private time and money which was spent surrounding the pre-historic art sites in Portugal's Côa Valley. And that art is immovable.
I would take one step further, in that any museum which would come to hold onto the Miró collection in Portugal would seriously risk becoming a permanent place of exhibiting the very symbols of entangling private and public mismanagement of the early 21st century and that is not something anyone is waiting for at this point.
With that being said, I see an opportunity for a modern forward looking government in search of sketching a vision, to attribute the proceeds of the auction now scheduled in June, to some fiscal incentive - however symbolic - in order for any Portuguese to spend some time and/or money to create or buy into forms of Portuguese originated art, whether it is a young artist's painting or some educational roadshow or project for children. Then we really are cultivating.
2014-02-04
Happy new (sales) year
Next to the office building I work in what's classified as one of Lisbon's central business districts, there is a store called "Only you". It's a clothes store, very much prêt-a-porter, or perhaps "all-you-can-carry" would better describe the retail outlet of about 1500 square metres.
Once a week a couple of professional (Portuguese) window dressers re-do the mannequins with what looks fairly fashionable and decorate the various front windows with the same kind of imitation old fashioned looking suitcases one would find in quite a few more traditional retail chains throughout the city operated by Spanish, Portuguese or English brands.
In popular terms the place is referred to as a Chinese store and indeed the man behind the cash register and the video surveillance system resemble what one can encounter in the streets of Shanghai or Kowloon. The only communication tool missing would be the walkie-talkies used there to communicate the arrival of counter-fit investigation teams, but no need for those here.
This store re-opened past summer after about a month long of plastering and refurbishing activity, mostly carried out by Chinese nationals.
I remember when a couple of years ago a type of low priced interior home chain store closed down there and only about a week later several trucks were unloading what seems to be the entire range of items any person would need for personal, family, home and automobile care and play. Not a single colleague in my office did not recognise the type of shop as the kind to what they will have seen near to where they live.
There is not a neighbourhood or small town across Portugal without the tomato coloured paper lanterns, often in front of what once was a traditional family owned specialist store which just did not make enough money anymore or could not find an interested inheritee. I suspect many chain outlets, addicted to the many mega shopping centres on city's outskirts will be jealous of the apparent very fine tuned geographical spread of these Chinese stores.
Gradually the number of people that admit have made a rational purchase inside such a store, is also growing. Again, I would guess many central purchasing and marketing divisions of branded chain outlets would envy the surprising swift capacity to adjust to customer behavior.
The city of Lisbon debated but eventually opted to avoid creating some sort of Chinatown somewhere, presumably in an attempt to avoid too much of the same.
Now the discussion is heating up again, just downstairs from where I live. What for decades was a hotspot cinema was forced to close down and in a matter of months, the famous comfortable seats and the entire kitchen equipment of the adjacent lounge like restaurant have been removed to make way for an even larger store a young Chinese family operates just around the corner.
The shop owners association in my neighbourhood, has now appealed to the city council that the former cinema space should remain a place of cult for the general community instead. Although no one has come up with a designated project, the destruction/construction work has now stopped and a street shows another symbol of indecision. In the meantime, a young family, far away from its home country is seeing its dreams and hopes for growth evaporate.
I just do not get it, why any community, municipality or an entire country - and especially one where small enterprise is indeed an economy's engine - would want to deliberatley resist at this point in time against any form of legitimate enterprise.
Under the circumstances, for starters, I would be inclined to suggest that any Chinese shopkeeper is invited or even obliged to become a member of the shop owner association and work with everyone to increment the overall quality of a neigbourhood. Strength, cooperative, generous, idealistic .... the qualities of any horse.
Once a week a couple of professional (Portuguese) window dressers re-do the mannequins with what looks fairly fashionable and decorate the various front windows with the same kind of imitation old fashioned looking suitcases one would find in quite a few more traditional retail chains throughout the city operated by Spanish, Portuguese or English brands.
In popular terms the place is referred to as a Chinese store and indeed the man behind the cash register and the video surveillance system resemble what one can encounter in the streets of Shanghai or Kowloon. The only communication tool missing would be the walkie-talkies used there to communicate the arrival of counter-fit investigation teams, but no need for those here.
This store re-opened past summer after about a month long of plastering and refurbishing activity, mostly carried out by Chinese nationals.
I remember when a couple of years ago a type of low priced interior home chain store closed down there and only about a week later several trucks were unloading what seems to be the entire range of items any person would need for personal, family, home and automobile care and play. Not a single colleague in my office did not recognise the type of shop as the kind to what they will have seen near to where they live.
There is not a neighbourhood or small town across Portugal without the tomato coloured paper lanterns, often in front of what once was a traditional family owned specialist store which just did not make enough money anymore or could not find an interested inheritee. I suspect many chain outlets, addicted to the many mega shopping centres on city's outskirts will be jealous of the apparent very fine tuned geographical spread of these Chinese stores.
Gradually the number of people that admit have made a rational purchase inside such a store, is also growing. Again, I would guess many central purchasing and marketing divisions of branded chain outlets would envy the surprising swift capacity to adjust to customer behavior.
The city of Lisbon debated but eventually opted to avoid creating some sort of Chinatown somewhere, presumably in an attempt to avoid too much of the same.
Now the discussion is heating up again, just downstairs from where I live. What for decades was a hotspot cinema was forced to close down and in a matter of months, the famous comfortable seats and the entire kitchen equipment of the adjacent lounge like restaurant have been removed to make way for an even larger store a young Chinese family operates just around the corner.
The shop owners association in my neighbourhood, has now appealed to the city council that the former cinema space should remain a place of cult for the general community instead. Although no one has come up with a designated project, the destruction/construction work has now stopped and a street shows another symbol of indecision. In the meantime, a young family, far away from its home country is seeing its dreams and hopes for growth evaporate.
I just do not get it, why any community, municipality or an entire country - and especially one where small enterprise is indeed an economy's engine - would want to deliberatley resist at this point in time against any form of legitimate enterprise.
Under the circumstances, for starters, I would be inclined to suggest that any Chinese shopkeeper is invited or even obliged to become a member of the shop owner association and work with everyone to increment the overall quality of a neigbourhood. Strength, cooperative, generous, idealistic .... the qualities of any horse.
2014-01-16
Thinking out of an 16-20th century box
Eusébio, who must not need any introduction, has passed away at the age of 71. Across the world people in the same line of professional activity mourned in less or more official manners. In Portugal the government decreed 3 days of national mourning, a nearly state funeral and various members of parliament are (being) positioned to prepare the general public for a burial inside Lisbon's Pantheon.
It is impressive to see people from all angles of society honouring a person upon his death. That certainly says something about the person's life.
The immediate following nationwide debate that has arisen is particularly less honorous and has all the yummie and yackie ingredients we so often see in other matters of national interest. It is almost ironic that a building which took more than 200 years to be concluded is the centre piece of all this because that is probably how long it will take to arrive some general consent.
On one hand, there is the will of the masses arguably biased by the colours of their football club grasping an opportunity to tie their club into a form of immortality. Then, there is the nearly arrogant but ever so typical patronizing lecturing of what a population should (not) want, coming from opinion makers and commentators, some of which may very well end up next to Eusébio in the foreseeable future. Somewhere in the middle are politicians, eager to produce some heroic symbol, possibly not very different from the times of Roman emperors seeking to entertain a crowd. The facts are that hardly anyone is indifferent and arguably that could allow this to take a genuine democratic course.
With Eusébio nearly sidelined, the debate enters into the interpretations of the law that defines who should (and thus should not) be entitled to what is perceived by all as the ultimate and sole resting place for national heroes.
The word that is singled out from the law is "culture" amongst the various categories that would allow or dictate the remains of a personality to be moved into the Pantheon. One may not like the idea, but it will be difficult to argue that - in Portugal - football is not an aspect of (popular and general) culture. There is a little Cristiano Ronaldo in all of us, according to the Minister charged with a still struggling economy.
Then again, following this rationale, perhaps the Pantheon should make room for whom has been responsible for spreading mobile phones, shopping malls, or indeed, the Meditteranean diet.
So here's a suggestion for all those that truly wish to honour Eusébio and everything he has brought about.
Build a big palace, as round as a ball, twice or three times the size of the National Pantheon, covered by gold leaf and red carpets (and/or blue, green), a true temple for all those topplayers that once were, still are or will be larger than life itself. A place of worship accesible to all those that want to be, could have a tremendous touristic potential beyond borders.
I am sure money is not an issue in this line of professional activity, it never is.
It is impressive to see people from all angles of society honouring a person upon his death. That certainly says something about the person's life.
The immediate following nationwide debate that has arisen is particularly less honorous and has all the yummie and yackie ingredients we so often see in other matters of national interest. It is almost ironic that a building which took more than 200 years to be concluded is the centre piece of all this because that is probably how long it will take to arrive some general consent.
On one hand, there is the will of the masses arguably biased by the colours of their football club grasping an opportunity to tie their club into a form of immortality. Then, there is the nearly arrogant but ever so typical patronizing lecturing of what a population should (not) want, coming from opinion makers and commentators, some of which may very well end up next to Eusébio in the foreseeable future. Somewhere in the middle are politicians, eager to produce some heroic symbol, possibly not very different from the times of Roman emperors seeking to entertain a crowd. The facts are that hardly anyone is indifferent and arguably that could allow this to take a genuine democratic course.
With Eusébio nearly sidelined, the debate enters into the interpretations of the law that defines who should (and thus should not) be entitled to what is perceived by all as the ultimate and sole resting place for national heroes.
The word that is singled out from the law is "culture" amongst the various categories that would allow or dictate the remains of a personality to be moved into the Pantheon. One may not like the idea, but it will be difficult to argue that - in Portugal - football is not an aspect of (popular and general) culture. There is a little Cristiano Ronaldo in all of us, according to the Minister charged with a still struggling economy.
Then again, following this rationale, perhaps the Pantheon should make room for whom has been responsible for spreading mobile phones, shopping malls, or indeed, the Meditteranean diet.
So here's a suggestion for all those that truly wish to honour Eusébio and everything he has brought about.
Build a big palace, as round as a ball, twice or three times the size of the National Pantheon, covered by gold leaf and red carpets (and/or blue, green), a true temple for all those topplayers that once were, still are or will be larger than life itself. A place of worship accesible to all those that want to be, could have a tremendous touristic potential beyond borders.
I am sure money is not an issue in this line of professional activity, it never is.
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