Thursday, September 13, 2007

Memento ou será que os peixinhos morriam de saudade?

A common misconception that goldfish only have a three second memory has been proven completely false. Research by the School of Psychology at the University of Plymoth in 2003 demonstrated that goldfish have a memory-span of at least three months and can distinguish between different shapes, colours and sounds. They were trained to push a lever to earn a food reward; when the lever was fixed to work only for an hour a day, the fish soon learned to activate it at the correct time.
Scientific studies done on the matter have shown that goldfish have strong associative learning abilities, as well as social learning skills. In addition, their strong visual acuity allows them to distinguish between different humans. It is quite possible that owners will notice the fish react favorably to them (swimming to the front of the glass, swimming rapidly around the tank, and going to the surface mouthing for food) while hiding when other people approach the tank. Over time, goldfish should learn to associate their owners and other humans with food, often "begging" for food whenever their owners approach.




E assim se acaba com uma das mais bonitas intenções da natureza a de que o belo do peixinho dentro do aquário redondo olhava(*) para nós a cada 3 segundos como se fossemos um novo amiguito, estilo: olha um novo amiguito...(3s)...olha um novo amiguito...(3s)...olha um novo amiguito...

(*) devo ter tido uma meia-dúzia, durante a minha longa adolescência, aos pares ou solitários e nenhum deles terá durado mais de 3 meses!


Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Against the wall

What we have
What we give
What we take
Who we are
What we have
What we give
What we take
What we have
What we give
What we take
Who we are
What we have
What we give all away
Always
What we do if we throw it all away
All away
Always
What we do
If we throw it all away

by Nitin Sawhney, Philtre, Throw




Tuesday, September 11, 2007

for men that mean business

Férias “veranengas” em Bilbao. Hotel-giro-design-com-vista-para-o-Guggenheim. Chuva a cair lá fora e a estragar as fiestas da terrinha. Entre as revistinhas e livrinhos estrategicamente disponibilizados na prateleira de charme do hotel há uma Esquire de Setembro de 2007, preço em libras esterlinas(*). Folheio-a, descobrindo rapidamente que apesar do peso desproporcionado da publicidade página sim, página não – fundamentalmente dedicada a automóveis e relógios de pulso – e de ter sido fundada em 1933 se trata de mais uma tentativa condenada ao fracasso de convencer os homens a lerem revistinhas metrosexuais... women’s imagination at work!



(*) “esterlinas” – sempre quis dar uso a esta palavra – é linda, não é!?