DDT - Deambulações DeMentes Teóricas 45

The Serial Killer - Part XXV

An unknown serial killer, popularly known today as the Servant Girl Annihilator, preyed upon the city of Austin, Texas during the years 1884 and 1885. The series of murders was referred to by contemporary sources as "The Servant Girl Murders."

Seven females (five black, two white) and one black male were murdered. Additionally, six women and two men were seriously injured. All of the victims were attacked indoors while asleep in their beds. Five of the female victims were then dragged, unconscious but still alive, and killed outdoors. Three of the female victims were severely mutilated while outdoors. Only one of the murdered female victims was mutilated indoors. Six of the murdered female victims had a "sharp object" inserted into their ears. The series of murders ended with the killing of two white women, Eula Phillips, age 17, and Susan Hancock, who was attacked while sleeping in the bed of her sixteen year-old daughter, on the night of 24 December 1885.

Four hundred men were arrested during the course of that year. The authorities refused to believe that one man or one group of men was responsible for all of the murders. Only one of those arrested, James Phillips, was convicted of the murder of his wife, Eula Phillips. The conviction was later overturned.

The serial-murders represent an early example of a serial killer operating in the United States, three years before the Jack the Ripper murders in Whitechapel. In her book, Jack the Ripper: The American Connection author Shirley Harrison asserted that the Texas killer and Jack the Ripper were one and the same man, namely, James Maybrick. According to author Phillip Sugden in The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, the conjecture that the murders were committed by the same hand originated in October, 1888, when an editor with the Atlanta Constitution proposed the conjecture following the murders of Stride and Eddowes by Jack the Ripper. London authorities questioned several American cowboys, one of whom, according to the authors of Jack the Ripper, A to Z, possibly having been Buck Taylor, a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, who was born in Fredricksburg, Texas, about seventy miles southwest of the city of Austin, Texas.

The series of murders ended when additional police officers were hired, rewards were offered and citizens formed a vigilance committee to patrol the streets at night. Contemporary newspapers reported that the murderer(s) had apparently fled the area, as no more murders were officially attributed to the killer.

Of course now we are slowly approaching the modern era of serial killing, which turn is epitomized in Jack the Ripper, considered to be the first case of serial murder widely spread and covered by the media. The suggestion that the Servant Girl Annihilator could have also been Jack the Ripper across the Atlantic is not altogether farfetched, considering that the police never found any of these two very interesting colleagues.

MAGIC MOMENTS 228

Tunes for Travelers 33fkdsf
No carro, no comboio, no autocarro, no avião, no barco. Façamo-nos às estradas deste mundo, mas que seja com estilo e energia.

On the road again


I can't wait to get on the road again

Macro Secrets 179

Rock stars are the closest we have to Gods

AS BANDAS DE ANDRÓMEDA

Beatles, The

Inglaterra
O nome tem origem na palavra "beat", que significa "batida" e que caracterizou também a chamada "beat generation" norte-americana. Se trocarmos a letra "a" por um "e", o nome passa a significar escaravelhos. 

A fase da euforia teen e a fase do génio.

São a referência de todas as bandas rock e pop desde os anos 70, dos mais diversos sub-géneros musicais, o que é um feito surpreendente.

Inovadores, revolucionários, mas sempre com um profundo toque daquele humor especial britânico, cheio de ironia e segundos sentidos e "nonsense" que colocavam em muitas das suas músicas e em muitos dos seus videoclips.

Dela saiu John Lennon, um ícone musical e social incontornável.
"Eleanor Rigby" é das músicas mais bonitas jamais escritas e compostas.
Mas também: The Fool on the Hill, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, A Hard Day's Night, Day Tripper, In My Life, Paperback Writer, Penny Lane, Roll Over Beethoven, The Long and Winding Road, When I'm Sixty-Four, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Yellow Submarine, Yesterday.


Tocaram juntos pela última vez a 20 de Agosto de 1969.

Ahh, look at all the lonely people

PALAVRAS TRADUZIDAS 18

My Way - Frank Sinatra


E agora, o fim está próximo
E assim eu encaro a última cortina
Meu amigo, vou dizê-lo claramente
Vou expôr o meu caso, do qual estou certo


Vivi uma vida cheia
Viajei por todas as estradas
Mas mais, muito mais do que isto
Fi-lo à minha maneira


Arrependimentos, tive alguns
Mas afinal, são poucos para mencionar
Fiz o que tinha de fazer
E levei-o até ao fim sem isenção


Planeei cada percurso traçado
Cada passo cuidadoso ao longo do atalho
Mas mais, muito mais do que isto
Fi-lo à minha maneira


Sim, houve alturas, tenho a certeza que sabem
Quando mordi mais do que podia mastigar
Mas através de tudo, quando havia dúvida
Eu engoli-o e cuspi-o
Encarei tudo e mantive-me de pé
E fi-lo à minha maneira


Amei, ri e chorei
Tive a minha dose, a minha parcela de perdas
E agora, enquanto as lágrimas se desvanecem
Acho tudo tão divertido


Pensar que fiz isso tudo
E se me é permitido dizer - não de forma tímida
Não, oh não, eu não
Eu fi-lo à minha maneira


Porque o que é um homem, o que é que ele tem?
Se não a si próprio, então não tem nada
Dizer as coisas que realmente sente
E não as palavras de alguém que se ajoelha
O registo mostra que eu levei com os golpes
E fi-lo à minha maneira

DDT - Deambulações DeMentes Teóricas 44

The Serial Killer - Part XXIV

Thomas Neill Cream was known as the Lambeth Poisoner.A scottish-born serial killer, who claimed his first proven victims in the United States and the rest in England, and possibly others in Canada and Scotland.

 In August 1879 Kate Gardener, a woman with whom he was alleged to have had an affair, was found dead in an alleyway behind Cream's office, in Ontario, pregnant and poisoned by chloroform. Cream claimed that she had been made pregnant by a prominent local businessman but then, after being accused of both murder and blackmail, fled to the United States.

Cream established a medical practice not far from the red-light district in Chicago, offering illegal abortions to prostitutes. He was investigated in August 1880 after the death of Mary Anne Faulkner, a woman on whom he had allegedly operated, but he escaped prosecution due to lack of evidence.

In December 1880 another patient, Miss Stack, died after treatment by Cream, and he subsequently attempted to blackmail a pharmacist who had made up the prescription.

On 14 July 1881, Daniel Stott died of strychnine poisoning at his home, after Cream supplied him with an alleged remedy for epilepsy.

Using money inherited from his father, who had died in 1887, Cream sailed for England, arriving in Liverpool on 1 October 1891. He went to London and settled into lodgings at Lambeth, ridden with poverty, petty crime and prostitution.

On 13 October that year, Ellen "Nellie" Donworth, a 19-year-old prostitute, accepted a drink from Cream. She was severely ill the next day and died on 16 October from  strychnine poisoning.

On 20 October, Cream met with a 27-year-old prostitute named Matilda Clover. She became ill and died the next morning; her death was at first attributed to her alcoholism.

On 2 April 1892, after a vacation in Canada, Cream was back in London where he attempted to poison Lou Harvey (née Louise Harris) who, being suspicious of him, pretended to swallow the pills he had given her. She secretly disposed of them by throwing them off a bridge into the River Thames.

On 11 April, Cream met two prostitutes, Alice Marsh, 21, and Emma Shrivell, 18, and talked his way into their flat where he offered them bottles of Guiness. Cream left before the strychnine he had added to the drinks took effect. Both women died in agony.

The motivation for the series of poisonings has never really been settled. It has generally been assumed that Cream was a sadist who enjoyed the thought of the agonies of his victims (even if he was not physically present to witness these). However, Cream was always greedy: from the start of the series of crimes Cream wrote blackmail notes to prominent people; and the poisoning of his one known male victim, Daniel Stott, was in the hopes that Stott's wealthy widow would now share the deceased's estate with him.

Only three of these are known, but there may have been others who were approached. 

Cream's downfall came through an attempt to frame two respectable and innocent doctors. He wrote to the police accusing these fellow doctors of killing several women, including Matilda Clover. Not only did the police quickly determine the innocence of those accused, but they also realized that there was something significant within the accusations made by the anonymous letter-writer: He had referred to the murder of Matilda Clover. In fact, Clover's death had been noted as natural causes, related to her drinking. The police quickly realised that the false accuser who had written the letter was the serial killer now referred to in the newspapers as the 'Lambeth Poisoner'.

Not long afterwards, Cream met a policeman from New York City who was visiting London. The policeman had heard of the Lambeth Poisoner, and Cream gave him a brief tour of where the various victims had lived. The American lawman happened to mention it to a British policeman who found Cream's detailed knowledge of the case suspicious.

The police at Scotland Yard put Cream under surveillance, soon discovering his habit of visiting prostitutes. They also contacted police in the United States and learned of their suspect's conviction for a murder by poison in 1881.

On 13 July 1892, Cream was charged with murdering Matilda Clover. From the start he insisted he was only Dr. Thomas Neill, not Dr. Thomas Neill Cream, and the newspapers usually referred to him as Dr. Neill in their coverage of the proceedings. His trial lasted from 17 to 21 October that year. He was convicted and sentenced to death.

Less than a month after his conviction, on 15 November, Dr Thomas Neill Cream was hanged on the gallows. As was customary with all executed criminals, his body was buried the same day in an unmarked grave within the prison walls.

Billington claimed that Cream's last words on the scaffold were "I am Jack The..." Billington promoted this alleged incident as proof that he was responsible for executing the notorious Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper. These claims remain unsubstantiated, as police officials and others who attended the execution made no mention of any such event. Records show Cream was in prison at the time of the last three Ripper murders in 1888. As he was still imprisoned at the time of the Ripper murders, most authorities consider it impossible for him to be the culprit. However, Donald Bell suggested that he could have bribed officials and left the prison before his official release, and Sir Edward Marshall-Hall suspected that his prison term may have been served by a look-alike in his place. Such notions are unlikely, and contradict evidence given by the Illinois authorities, newspapers of the time, Cream's solicitors, Cream's family and Cream himself.

MAGIC MOMENTS 227

Tunes for Travelers 32fkdsf
No carro, no comboio, no autocarro, no avião, no barco. Façamo-nos às estradas deste mundo, mas que seja com estilo e energia.

Keep your eyes on the road,

your hands upon the wheel 

Macro Secrets 178

I've taken the side of the angels

Even if the angels are wrong

AS BANDAS DE ANDRÓMEDA

A-HA

Noruega
O nome é uma exclamação universal de reconhecimento.


A voz de Morten Harket.
Os coros de Magne Furuholmen.
Pop sofisticado. No universo dos anos 80 recheado de bandas de todas as cores, formatos e feitios, os A-HA destacavam-se por serem um pouco mais exóticos, um pouco mais nórdicos e com um pouco mais de classe.
Poéticos, melódicos, energéticos.
Sempre gostei mais das suas baladas do que das músicas mais agitadas.
"Hunting High and Low" é das coisas mais bonitas que já se fizeram na pop, incluindo o vídeoclip.
Mas também: Stay on these roads, Crying in the rain.


Tocaram juntos pela última vez a 4 de Dezembro de 2010.

For you, I'll be hunting high and low

PALAVRAS TRADUZIDAS 17

Billie Jean - Michael Jackson


Ela era mais como uma rainha de beleza de um cena de um filme
Eu disse não importa, mas o que queres dizer com "eu sou o tal"
Que vai dançar na pista
Ela disse que eu sou o tal que vai dançar na pista

Ela disse-me que se chamava Billie Jean, enquanto provocava uma cena
Depois todas as cabeças se viraram com olhos que sonhavam ser o tal
Que vai dançar na pista

As pessoas sempre me avisaram para ter cuidado com o que faço
E não andar por aí a partir os corações das raparigas
E a minha mãe sempre me disse para ter cuidado a quem amo
E para ter cuidado com o que faço porque a mentira se torna verdade

Billie Jean não é a minha amante
Ela é apenas uma rapariga que diz que eu sou o tal
Mas o miúdo não é meu filho
Ela diz que eu sou o tal, mas o miúdo não é meu filho

Durante 40 dias e 40 noites
A lei esteve do lado dela
Mas quem é que aguenta quando ela insiste
Nos seus esquemas e planos
Porque dançámos na pista
Por isso ouve o meu conselho, lembra-te sempre de pensares duas vezes
(Pensa duas vezes)


Ela disse à minha bebé que tinhamos dançado até às 3, depois olhou para mim
Depois mostrou a fotografia do bebé a chorar os olhos dele eram iguais aos meus (oh, não!)
Porque dançámos na pista, bebé

As pessoas sempre me avisaram para ter cuidado com o que faço
E não andar por aí a partir os corações de raparigas
Ela veio e pôs-se ao meu lado
Depois o cheiro do perfume doce
Isto aconteceu demasiado cedo
Ela chamou-me para o seu quarto
Billie Jean não é a minha amante
Ela é apenas uma rapariga que diz que eu sou o tal
Mas o miúdo não é meu filho


Billie Jean não é a minha amante
Ela é apenas uma rapariga que diz que eu sou o tal
Mas o miúdo não é meu filho
Ela diz que eu sou o tal, mas o miúdo não é meu filho

Ela diz que eu sou o tal, mas o miúdo não é meu filhoBillie Jean não é a minha amante
Ela é apenas uma rapariga que diz que eu sou o tal
Mas o miúdo não é meu filho
Ela diz que eu sou o tal, mas o miúdo não é meu filho


Ela diz que eu sou o tal, mas o miúdo não é meu filho 
Ela diz que eu sou o tal (Billie Jean não é a minha amante)

Billie Jean não é
A minha amante


Billie Jean não é a minha amante (ela é apenas uma rapariga)

Billie Jean não é
Billie Jean não é
Billie Jean não é a minha amante
Billie Jean não é a minha amante

Billie Jean não é
Billie Jean não é
Billie Jean não é a minha amante
Billie Jean não é a minha amante


Billie Jean não é
Billie Jean não é 




não é tão mau como eu pensava ...

DDT - Deambulações DeMentes Teóricas 43

The Serial Killer - Part XXIII

Maria Swanenburg acted as a serial killer in the Netherlands between 1880 and 1883, poisoning her victims with arsenic in an effort to collect their insurance money. She took care of children and ill people in the poor neighbourhood of Leiden in which she lived.

She poisoned up to one-hundred people of which twenty-seven died between, but failed in her attempt to kill at least another fifty using the same method — the investigation included about ninety deaths. Forty-five of the survivors sustained chronic health problems after ingesting the poison. Swanenburg's motive was the money she would receive either through the victims' insurance or their inheritance. She had secured most of the insurance policies herself. Her first victim was her own mother in 1880; shortly after this, she killed her father too. She was caught when trying to poison the Frankhuizen family in December 1883. Her trial began on April 23, 1885. She was found guilty and sentenced to live in a correctional facility for the rest of her life. She died there in 1915.

Again, I do not think that Maria should be included in the serial killer list of honourable members of this activity. Her motives, as was the case, as we have seen, for most of the female killers we have presented here, was money. And I do not think that that is the true esssence of our trade.

MAGIC MOMENTS 226

Tunes for Travelers 31fkdsf
No carro, no comboio, no autocarro, no avião, no barco. Façamo-nos às estradas deste mundo, mas que seja com estilo e energia.

Jackie is just speeding away
Thought she was James Dean for a day 

Macro Secrets 177

Pearls to Pigs ...

OS ATLETAS DE ANDRÓMEDA

Zenga

Número 1. Mãos de ouro. Raça italiana.
Um dos melhores do mundo.
Há quem discorde?


"Quanto mais alto pensares,
mais alto se realizarão os teus sonhos."


Os italianos chamaram-lhe o Homem-Aranha,
cognome a que apenas o lendário
Lev Yashin, o russo Aranha Negra, tinha direito.
Walter Zenga defendeu a baliza italiana
nos Campeonatos do Mundo do México e da Itália.
Considerado um dos melhores guarda-redes do mundo,
estabeleceu um record ainda não superado:
esteve durate 517 minutos (mais de 5 jogos completos)
sem sofrer golos, incluindo grande parte do sexto,
a semi-final disputada contra a Argentina de Maradona.
Foi eleito três vezes o melhor guarda-redes do mundo
pela Federação Internacional de História e Estatítica do Futebol,
em 1989, 1990 e 1991.

= FIM =

PALAVRAS TRADUZIDAS 16

Blue Jean - David Bowie


Ganga Azul - Acabei de conhecer uma miúda chamada Ganga Azul
Ganga Azul - ela tem uma cara camuflada e nenhum dinheiro
Lembra-te que eles sempre te desiludem quando mais precisas deles
Oh, Ganga Azul - será o céu mais doce do que Ganga Azul
Ela tem uma moto de polícia
Ela tem um nariz arrebitado

Às vezes sinto-me
(Oh, toda a raça humana)
Cantando pela Ganga Azul
(Oh e quando a minha Ganga Azul está triste)
Ganga Azul pode enviar-me
(Oh alguém me envie)
Alguém me envie
(Oh, alguém me envie)


Um dia vou escrever um poema numa carta
Um dia vou reunir aquela faculdade
Lembra-te que toda a gente tem de esperar na fila
Ganga Azul - toma cuidado mundo sabes que eu tenho a minha
Ela tem raízes latinas
Ela tem tudo

MURMÚRIOS DE LISBOA CV

Daradriel - Part I

She asked for an angel. She needed one desperately. She was beyond despair. So they felt sorry for her and a little bit scared of causing an international affair in the heavens above, and actually sent her one.

She had asked for anything. It wasn't as if she would be expecting an archangel or something of the sort. Just anything with wings and not of this world.

So they sent her Daradriel. A renegade.

Daradriel had quit heaven a long time ago. It did it, not because it believed in any of Satan's bullshit, but because it was lazy. It didn't want to be assigned any of that guardianship crap. It had much more interesting things to do. Like ... nothing.

Daradriel came, mumbling and grumbling all the way down. It landed at her feet and made its presence felt right away. If there was a problem, the sooner they got rid of it the faster it would be able to get back to where it wanted to be.

She felt a whisp of air cross her body and deposit itself inside her heart, causing her a sense of gloom, and doom. And she knew something was there. She looked to the left, and then to the right and then to the left again.

Daradriel took a deep breath and twisted its head from side to side, lifting its eyebrows and turning its eyeballs. What a dope! What a sad example of an earthly creature this one was. Didn't she know that angels are everywhere, which means they take no sides? It decided to speak and end the creature's confusion. It said:

"You don't need an angel. You need a man. A real, flesh and bone man. To fuck you like you've never been fucked before."

She jumped in mid air, literally, and fell on the chair again with a bumping sound. She bit her tongue and cried in pain. Daradriel went on:

"You heard me. I tell you, you don't need an angel and you're wasting my time. Go find yourself a man."

She grasped for air, opened her mouth and closed it again. Tears ran down her cheeks like drops of pouring rain.

"I can't be who you want me to be. Angels don't fuck. They have no flesh, no bones, nothing. We are thoughts suspended in the air. So you better believe me, girl, when I tell you to quit this nonsense."

Daradriel cleaned one of its long black nails and waited for some kind of reaction. It had completely forgotten how boring humans can be, with their petty little problems and their exagerated emotions.

DDT - Deambulações DeMentes Teóricas 42

The Serial Killer - Part XXII

Around 1870 the Bender family built a small cabin outside of Cherryvale, Kansas, about fifty miles north of the Oklahoma border. William Bender and his wife (sometimes referred to as “Ma” Bender) were in their sixties; Thomas and Joanna—better known as Kate—were in their twenties. They were German immigrants; all spoke with accents and the elder Benders spoke little English. It is unclear exactly how these four were related. Most accounts say that Thomas and Kate were the son and daughter of William Bender and his wife, but Thomas was also known as John Gebhardt and is sometimes referred to as Kate’s husband. Other accounts say that none of them were actually named Bender and that only the mother and daughter were related. The men are described as “large, coarse appearing men.” The description of Kate ranges from “a large, masculine, red-faced woman” to “good looking, well formed, rather bold in appearance.” A number of sources agree that she had a ruddy complexion and she may have been a redhead.
The Bender’s kept a small grocery store in the front of the cabin, selling stapes such as tobacco, crackers, sardines, candles, powder and shot. They also provided meals for travelers. Though they kept to themselves, the Benders attended church and town meetings and seemed to be an ordinary rural family. The only exception was Kate who professed to being clairvoyant, giving public lectures on spiritualism and advertising in local newspapers her ability to “heal disease, cure blindness, fits and deafness.”

In 1873, citizens of Labette County became concerned over the inordinate number missing persons in their community. Neighboring counties were experiencing losses as well. In March 1973, Dr. William York from Onion Creek, Montgomery County, came in search of a man named Loucher and his infant daughter, who had travelled in the region the previous winter and were never heard from again. Dr. York never made it home either.
Dr. York was from a very prominent family and in April his brother, Col. A. M. York came to Labette County leading a party of fifty citizens of Montgomery County. They searched unsuccessfully for the missing doctor, stopping several times at the Benders' cabin. On one occasion they asked Kate to use her clairvoyant powers to help with the search, but she had no information for them.

The next time someone stopped at the Bender’s cabin it appeared to be deserted. Their wagon was missing and a calf they were raising had died of neglect. The authorities in Cherryvale were notified and went back to check on the house. Everything seemed to be in order, nothing was missing but clothes and bedding. But a thorough search of the house began to reveal the Benders’ horrible secret. Near the table where guests were served was a trap door and the foul smelling hole beneath the door was clotted with blood.

The ground in an orchard near the house had been carefully plowed but one small section was noticeably indented. The ground was dug up revealing the decomposed body of Dr. York. His skull had been crushed and his throat had been cut. Before nightfall seven more bodies were extracted and another was found the next day. Most were badly decomposed but were identified by clothing and jewelry. They were:

• W. F. McCrotty of Cedarville.
• D. Brown of Cederville.
• Henry F. McKenzie of Hamilton County, Indiana.
• Mr. Loucher and his baby daughter from Independence.
• Two unidentified men.
• One child believed to be an eight year old girl.

Another body previously found in Drum Creek was also attributed to the Benders. All but the baby had fractured skulls and slit throats. It was believed that the baby was suffocated when buried alive with her father. The eight year old girl’s body had been badly mutilated.
The travelers were murdered for their money. The amounts stolen by the Benders ranged from 40 cents to $2600 along with horses and wagons.
From the condition of the bodies and the arrangement of the house, the authorities were able to surmise how the killings were done. The table where customers took their meals was in a small booth formed by cloth partitions on both sides. The partitions were close enough to the back of the chairs that, when sitting upright, the heads of the diners would indent the cloth. The male Benders would wait behind the cloth partitions and when the opportunity presented itself would smash their victims’ skulls with stone-breaker’s hammers. The bodies were thrown through the trapdoor—into what one book called the “slaughter-pen”— where the throats were cut to guarantee death. After dark the bodies were removed and buried in the orchard.
This speculation was verified to an extent by a Mr. Wetzell of Independence, Kansas who had read Kate’s advertisement and travelled to the Benders’ with his friend Mr. Gordan, seeking a cure for neuralgia. Kate examined Wetzel and expressed confidence in her ability to effect a permanent cure, but invited them to dine first. For some reason the two men rose from the table and decided to eat their dinners at the counter instead. This caused a change in Kate’s behavior; she became caustic and abusive toward them. They saw the two Bender men emerge from behind the partitions. Wetzell and Gordan became suspicious then and decided to leave—a decision that probably saved their lives.

When the news of the murders spread through Labette County, it whipped the citizens into a frenzy. They demanded vengeance and formed vigilance committees to hunt down the Benders. The vigilantes went first to the home of a man named Brockman, another German immigrant who had briefly been a partner of Mr. Bender’s. They put a rope around his neck and threatened to hang him if he would not confess. When Brockman swore he knew nothing they hanged him from a tree but when he was at the point of death they lowered him down and questioned him again. When he still had nothing to tell him they hung him again. This torture was repeated three times before the posse left him semi-conscious, lying on the ground.

The search for the Benders continued, but though the Governor of Kansas offered a $2000 reward for their capture, the Benders were never brought to justice. One investigation determined that they took a train from Thayer to Chanute where John and Kate got off and took the M. K. & T. train south to Red River in Indian Territory. Here they met up with the elder Benders and travelled through Texas and New Mexico.
It is said that the vigilantes killed them even before they left town. But the fate of the Bender family remains to this day a mystery.

MURMÚRIOS DE LISBOA CIV

The Vampire & the Werewolf - Part II


She has decided. At least for now. She thought it would take her a long time. It was quite easy, though.
She chooses the werewolf disguised as a vampire.


The reasons are simple and thus presented:
1. She enjoys masks, but in Venice, not in Lisbon.
2. She's tired of begging for crumbs.
3. She's a simple soul, looking for another simple soul. Although sometimes she forgets this.
4. Her mind enjoys the idea of the vampire, her body desires the werewolf. And she's tired of feeding only her mind.
5. Once upon a time, long ago, she learned that love needs no masks. A simple, kind, feisty werewolf taught her that.


A problem arises:
She wants the werewolf to know all this. But how? She's quite sure if he knew all this, he would quit his vampire disguise and come running to her flesh, as he should. But she has no idea how to tell him. They never reached speaking terms, you see. This is becoming of late quite a cunundrum, for when she makes her mind up about something, she hardly rests until she can make it happen, somehow.


On the other hand:
She could be completely wrong. Maybe if he knew all this, he would just laugh at her, laugh at her silly her. Or even worse, think her totally mad. A mad woman. A woman old enough to not be having fantasies with complete strangers who ...


On second thoughts:
Maybe she would prefer the vampire, after all. At least she's positive he wouldn't laugh at her. Because he knows and he never did. In fact, she's almost sure he pities her. He treats her with utmost respect and keeps her at a safe distance, without leting her know that he knows. Quite the politician.

The only problem is:

She's quite sure he thinks of her as a kid. She's almost positive he feels quite amused by the whole situation - a student infatuated with him. How long has it been since that has happened? How long? He's not young anymore. And he was never that handsome, anyway. But when he was younger, he did break quite a considerable amount of female hearts. It's his funny side. The ability he has of making you think you're a little bit important in his life. The charm wins them all. Or it used to, anyway. Nowadays it seems that the younger ones think of him as a sweet, qiut, uncle sort of type and the older ones see right through the fox that he is and are just not impressed in the least. Actually, she has a feeling that most of them pity him. There he goes ... they think ... who does he think he fools anymore? ...

Sometimes, very often in fact, she herself pities him. All those masks, all that running around on empty feelings and empty ground. What the hell for? To climb what ladder? To hide what?

Tennessee Williams was quite right, when he said, describing the master piece he created called "A Streetcar Named Desire": “… I think its best quality is its authenticity or its fidelity to life. There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ people. Some are a little better or a little worse but all are activated more by misunderstanding than malice. A blindness to what is going on in each other’s hearts. Stanley sees Blanche not as a desperate, driven creature, backed into a last corner to make a last desperate stand – but a calculating bitch with ‘round heels’ ... Nobody sees anybody truly but all through the flaws of their own egos. That is the way we all see each other in life. Vanity, fear, desire, competition – all such distortions within our own egos – condition our vision of those in relation to us. Add to those distortions in our own egos, the corresponding distortions in the egos of others, and you see how cloudy the glass must become through which we look at each other. That’s how it is in all living relationships except when there is that rare case of two people who love intensely enough to burn through all those layers of opacity and see each other’s naked hearts. Such cases seem purely theoretical to me.”

Can't they see this? Don't they know that this is the truth, the absolute truth about the world?

MAGIC MOMENTS 225

Tunes for Travelers 30fkdsf
No carro, no comboio, no autocarro, no avião, no barco. Façamo-nos às estradas deste mundo, mas que seja com estilo e energia.

One of these days I'm gonna
change my evil ways
'Till then I'll just keep riding on

Macro Secrets 176

You only really know death

when you get close to it;

if you do die, you'll never know what it is

OS ATLETAS DE ANDRÓMEDA

VALENTINO ROSSI

Não há outra maneira de apresentar Rossi.

Em cima de uma mota, o corpo colado à pista,

dançando uma valsa que se desenha à velocidade da luz.

"Riding a race bike is an art -

a thing that you do because

you feel something inside."

É ali que Rossi se sente feliz. E nós felizes por vê-lo.

Rossi parece não ter limites. Já o apelidaram de GOAT (Cabra),
iniciais de Greatest of All Time ou Melhor de Todos os Tempos.
No seu curriculum contam-se 9
campeonatos mundiais de motociclismo.
Coisa pouca, para um "puto" com 33 anos apenas.

Foi considerado um dos cinco melhores desportistas mundiais

da primeira década do terceiro milénio (2000-2010).

Excêntrico, divertido e cool,

pode-se dizer que ele é o epítome

de uma moto humana.

Só lhe faltam as rodas.

PALAVRAS TRADUZIDAS 15

Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock

O guarda deu uma festa na prisão municipal
A banda da prisão estava lá e começaram a gemer
A banda saltou e aquilo começou a abanar
Deviam ter ouvido aqueles gajos a cantar

Vamos rockar, toda a gente, vamos rockar
Toda a gente no bloco prisional inteiro
Dançava ao som do Rock da Prisão

Aranha Murphy tocou o saxofone tenor
O Pequeno Joe soprava no trombone
O baterista de Illinois partiu aquilo tudo
Toda a secção de ritmo era o Gang Púrpura
Vamos rockar, toda a gente, vamos rockar
Toda a gente no bloco prisional inteiro
Dançava ao som do Rock da Prisão

O número 47 disse ao número 3
És o prisioneiro mais giro que eu já vi
Folgaria muito na tua companhia
Vá lá e faz o Rock da Prisão comigo
Vamos rockar, toda a gente, vamos rockar

Toda a gente no bloco prisional inteiro
Dançava ao som do Rock da Prisão

O gajo triste estava sentado numa pedra
A chorar num canto, sozinho
O guarda disse, hey, amigo, não sejas quadrado
Se não consegues arranjar um parceiro usa uma cadeira
Vamos rockar, toda a gente, vamos rockar

Toda a gente no bloco prisional inteiro
Dançava ao som do Rock da Prisão

Henry Matreiro disse a Bugsy, por amor de deus
Ninguém está a olhar, agora é a nossa oportunidade para fugir
Bugsy virou-se para o Matreiro e disse
Ná, ná, quero ficar por aqui mais um bocado e divertir-me
Vamos rockar, toda a gente, vamos rockar
Toda a gente no bloco prisional inteiro
Dançava ao som do Rock da Prisão
Dançava ao som do Rock da Prisão

Dançava ao som do Rock da Prisão

DDT - Deambulações DeMentes Teóricas 41

The Serial Killer - Part XXII

Vincenzo Verzeni was an italian serial killer who committed six rapes and two killings. He strangled his victims (all women) and committed acts of cannibalism, mutilation, vampirism and maybe even necrophilia.

In case you're wondering, this is the real thing. As you must have learned by now, what matters is not quantity but quality here. And Vincenzo offers us exactly the right amount of the latter. He certainly displays all of the classical features of what we are talking here: strange, difunctional, eccentric, inteligent.

Vincenzo Verzeni was born into an extremely bigoted and dysfunctional family in the mid-XVIII's. He was considered different and eccentric by his own family and peers, as he was rather smart and preferred to spend time alone.

In 1870s, Verzeni committed two murders and had attempted to kill several others. One of the attempted murders was the cause of his capture and conviction. In 1873, when walking, Verzeni noticed an 18 year-old woman in her front yard. He went to her and began attacking her, choking her, but when he heard a noise nearby, he ran off. The woman reported the attack to the police, who had Verzeni in custody.

Verzeni preferred strangling his victims, which is why he was nicknamed The Vampire Strangler of Bergamo. He told police that the act of strangling someone gave him sexual pleasure. But, strangling was not the end of his murders; after Verzeni strangled his victims, he would tear out their intestines and genital with his bare hands. He even bite them on their thighs, drinking their blood through the wounds.

After one of the murders, Verzeni carried the intestines and clothes away from the site so that he could smell and fill the insides of the victim while he walked home. He discarded them, afraid that his mother would find them and become suspicious.

Verzeni was found guilty and was sentenced to hard labor for life at a psychiatric hospital. He died in custody in 1918.

MAGIC MOMENTS 224

Tunes for Travelers 29fkdsf
No carro, no comboio, no autocarro, no avião, no barco. Façamo-nos às estradas deste mundo, mas que seja com estilo e energia.

Well that long black train

got my baby and gone

Macro Secrets 175

Perhaps in another life

MURMÚRIOS DE LISBOA CIII

The Vampire & the Werewolf - Part I

Which one does she prefer? The funny thing is that they seem to be switched. The vampire has the face of a werewolf, whereas the werewolf looks like a vampire.

I shall explain:

The vampire is a professor at the university. She calls him the "literary whore" because he seems to be ambitious and lick fine asses to climb up the ladder of prestige. He's smart, wise, diplomatic, a gentleman. He's also cinical and deceiving, wearing a thousand masks, each one an exquisite and intricate composition by itself, appropriate for each occasion in his life. He always knows what to say, how and when to laugh and the exact distance to keep someone not welcome. She needs a dictionary to talk to him. He's a charmer, but in a cold, distant way. A fake. The man with the thousand masks. He will suck your soul to get exactly what he wants, but not a single drop more. He will leave you dry with want and not feel a single ounce of regret.

She wishes that deep down inside he would be a good heart. A good man. A passionate and sensitive soul. Hiding beneath all the masks of a vampire. But she suspects it's only wishfull thinking, to make things easier. She did see a possibility of heaven, once, when his eyes smiled some time ago, behind all the masks. It was a magical moment, but it vanished as soon as it began. She used to be in love with him, but then she decided she didn't want to be in love with him anymore. What for? He doesn't even see her. Or does he?

From a distance that's exactly what he looked and felt like, that morning when she was waiting for him. A werewolf, hunting, for her. But all is happening in her imagination and nowhere else.

The werewolf is the guy who works at the garage. She's been looking at him for the past 8 years and she never seems to get tired of that face. He's handsome, slick, muscular, has a cool beard and hardly ever smiles, just like a vampire would behave. She has fantasies with his body several times a month. She knows he likes the chinese symbol of yin-yang and motorbikes. She has no idea what kind of effect she has on him, but she has caught him several times looking at her when she leaves the house, and pretending to keep sweeping the floor. He looks like a cold-hearted vampire, but she's almost positive that he is a young, strong, unpredictable werewolf deep down inside. She falls in love with him almost every day. She imagines that he would feel like a comforting dock to rest her body and a simple soul to match her mind. Unlike the real vampire, he's probably not that smart or diplomatic. He would tear her clothes off and be down to earth, no masks and no diplomacy. She knows she would love it.

Which one does she prefer? If given the choice, which one would she choose? If both of them were actually hunting for her, which one would she prefer would catch her?

She hasn't decided. After all, she may have her whole life to do it. Neither seems to consider her a good prey.