gestos y fragmentos (processo revolucionário em curso II)

last night horsemouth finished reading os cus de judas (in elizabeth lowe's translation as south of nowhere). the original portuguese title of  the arses of judas not being quite the thing for sensitive anglophones clearly. the portuguese phrase it echoes is no cu du judas, in the arse of judas meaning in the middle of nowhere/ the arse end of nowhere/ the back of beyond/ some shit hole. 

antonio lobo antunes (the writer of it) did himself serve in the portuguese army as a medic during the portuguese colonial war (in angola). that's why it probably reads so well, with more disgust than catch 22 and less humour. at the end of the war he returns to lisbon, it is written in 1979 after the defeat of the  processo revolucionario em curso. the central character is on the pull in a nightclub but he can't stop himself reminiscing about the war, the squadies he was there with will went off to attempt to make a revolution, he will go off to be a drunken, disillusioned drone. (antunes himself will become a writer).

similarly the leftist director robert kramer is there in those years. 

we find him in gestos y fragmentos - ensaio sobre os militares e o poder (alberto seixas santos, 1982)  an actor playing the part of a leftist american film-maker wanting to understand the events round him in portugal. portuguese talking heads talk in portuguese (so horsemouth has little idea what they are saying). kramer paces his room, he makes timelines. wanting to understand the moment when it all went wrong and what possibilities remain.

'the main thing is that everybody in lisbon is reading Ten Days that Shook the World. I looked all over lisbon for a copy of the book in english, and couldn't find one. I haven't read it, before now. I wish I had, because it’s really opened up my perspective...'

later horsemouth watched public enemy's history of rap fight the power 

we are up to date back lives matter, mobile phone cameras, donald trump, the internet. it is far from perfect - if you want to complain about the marginalisation of women, in particular roxanne shante, during the early years of NY hip-hop you have to do it then in the main narrative (not in a third episode  only partially devoted to women MCs, because to do it then is to reinforce that marginalisation). queen latifah gets the spotlight because she won a grammy, MC lyte gets five seconds, did salt and pepper even feature?

it's a sunday morning. horsemouth has his coffee. today no music practicing. tonight the phonecall from his mum. he needs to get some shoes (mike is visiting soon). next weekend he is away cat-sitting in the boonies. soon the end of month list.