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Showing posts from April, 2014

Nós tenemos muitos nabos! Good Portuguese music!

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Video Hello friends and Zazzlers! Celebrating the Revolution with good regional folk Portuguese music! It's good and it's new! This band is called Galandum Galundaina . They adopted an old song that you can listen to in the video below. By the way, Michel Giacometti was French but lived in Portugal for 30 years. He gathered a lot of information about popular culture namely music. (It seems this new song from Galandum is, in fact, recreating two songs but I only got the lyrics for the first one.) If you don't understand the lyrics of this song, well, don't worry, I don't understand it completely because this group sings songs in "mirandês", a Portuguese language used in north-east Miranda do Douro. To know more about mirandese, please visit this site ! Their songs are about the rural way of life, quite poetic, funny, and high-spirited! You just have to love it! Nós tenemos muitos nabos... Nós tenemos muitos nabos a cozer nua panela, nun tenemos

Carnation Revolution is 40 years old

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Portugal and red carnation photo print by aportugueselove Browse other Carnation Photography Portugal and red carnation canvas print by aportugueselove Create a digital canvas print There's a great poster created by painter Maria Helena Vieira da Silva , A poesia está rua.It means Poetry is in the streets. Adres , a Portuguese street artist, made this graffiti to celebrate the Revolution in 1981. Hello again! I am back with a few more lines about April Revolution. One day left for Freedom Day! April 25 is now celebrated as a national holiday. Now you know that it marks the bloodless military coup that was supported by the civilian population. It allowed democracy and civil liberties to the Portuguese people after almost five decades of dictatorship (1937-1974). The Carnation Revolution ended the Estado Novo regime, the longest dictatorship in Europe, changing the Portuguese political system from an authoritarian dictatorship to a democracy. However, I mu

April Revolution and women!

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Source Hello friends and Zazzlers! Here is another short post about April 25. There's a lot to be told but I don't want to be a bore! Tomorrow I'll publish the last one of this series of postages. So, about women, what was in April Revolution for women? A lot. Carnation Revolution made a big difference in women's life. Being a woman in the old regime had to be suffocating. Before April 25th, 1974 we couldn't talk about equality between men and women. (Now it's a lot better, not perfect yet, of course!) By then a woman's salary would be 40% less than a man's. The position of a woman was secondary and relative not only in society but in the family as well. - Until the late 60s, women could only vote if they were householders - like if she was being a widow - and possessed intermediate or higher education. In 1968 the law established equal voting for the National Assembly of all citizens who could read and write. But many women were an alphabe

The songs of the Portuguese Carnation Revolution

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Portugal, Dia da Liberdade (Freedom Day) Vinyl Binders by aportugueselove Browse other Abril Binders Portugal, 25 de Abril - Freedom Day by aportugueselove Look at Zazzle Button Bottle Openers Portugal, 25 de Abril - Freedom Day Throw Pillow by aportugueselove Shop for another throw pillow . Portugal, 25 de Abril - Freedom Day Drawstring Backpack by aportugueselove View another Drawstring bag at Zazzle Portugal, 25 de Abril - Freedom Day 2 Inch Round Button by aportugueselove Create your own custom made buttons online at zazzle.com Portugal's Radio Renascença played a folk song called Grândola Vila Morena at 25 minutes past midnight on Thursday, 25 April 1974 - Fair town of Grândola, land of fraternity, the people is the one who rules most within you, city. For more than a hundred army officers that song was the signal, they were waiting to start the move to Lisbon in their military vehicles. (If you take a look at 25 April Rev

Why did Carnation Revolution take place?

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Portugal and red carnation Ping-Pong paddle by aportugueselove Browse more Carnation Ping Pong Paddle Portugal and red carnation cutting boards by aportugueselove View more Carnation Cutting Board Portugal and red carnation stone coaster by aportugueselove See another stone coaster at Zazzle Hello friends and Zazzlers! Here I am with a few more facts about Carnation Revolution. I don't know if you're fond of history. I am! So, why did this revolution take place? - Civil liberties and political freedoms were inexistent. - People could not assemble or make demonstrations or create freely. Just an example of someone who likes movies, me! Foreign movies could not be dubbed, only subtitled. The subtitles were more easily adjusted by the censors if they disapproved of the original dialogue. - The "blue pencil" was a symbol of censorship. Censors used a blue pencil to make cuts of any text, image, or design that should not be published in

What is the Portuguese Carnation Revolution?

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Famous poster video Images in this video shows how the siege of Carmo Headquarters by the Armed Forces Movement took place. Salgueiro Maia leads the operation. The military is surrounded by thousands of people who supported the revolution. There was eminent danger as no one knew how the government forces would react. Marcelo Caetano and two ministers of his cabinet were inside. The siege began at 12:30 and at 16:30 Marcelo Caetano announced that he would surrender. An hour later, General Spinola entered the Carmo Headquarters to negotiate the surrender of the Government. The Carmo Headquarters hoisted the white flag. At 19:30 Marcelo Caetano surrenders. Victory! In a nutshell: - A bloodless coup occurred on 25th April 1974 which ended the repressive and dictatorial leadership of the country. - The longest dictatorship in Europe, the Estado Novo, had prevailed for almost 50 years - The old regime, or Estado Novo was founded in 1933. It was led by António de Oliveira

Salgueiro Maia was Carnation Revolution's hero

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Portugal Freedom Day Watches by aportugueselove Look at Portugal Watches online at Zazzle.com Portugal, Dia da Liberdade or Freedom Day 18oz Water Bottle by aportugueselove Check out Portugal Water Bottles online at zazzle "Fed up with almost 50 years of oppression, - Sick of incompetence, - Fed of cannon fodder manufacturer, - Tired of helping a handful of gluttons eat on the budget account, - Tired of "fighting" for lost causes, I decided to say "enough." (...) After the first radio signal with the song E depois do adeus, we begin to wake up the guys, they were convinced to stand before another instruction night. (...) Thus, before the denial of freedom and injustice that we had reached, the zero hope in better days, we had to change the regime, not to become substitutes to the previous regime ourselves, but to return freedom and democracy to the people so as to ensure people the choice of the collective destiny. To unwi

April 25th - Celebrating freedom in Portugal

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Portugal and red carnation car mat by aportugueselove Browse another Floor Mat Portugal and red carnation bottle cooler by aportugueselove See another Drink Cooler at Zazzle Portugal and red carnation Double-Sided square acrylic keychain by aportugueselove Find additional Acrylic Keychains at zazzle.com Portugal and red carnation bumper sticker by aportugueselove Check out Carnation Bumper Stickers online at zazzle In a few weeks, it will be time to celebrate April's Revolution . It happened 40 years ago already! I decided to write about it because it's an important date. I was a child when it happened. We were sent home from school and I had a pink uniform! I remember a black and white TV showing images of what was going on in Lisbon. I remember enthusiastic discussions from the adults around it. Then I remember returning to school and watching two big fainted squares on the classroom wall in front of us. That's because the pho

The wonderful cork and the most famous Portuguese cork oak tree

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This photo is courtesy of Miguel Monteiro.  Check more photos of this tree on his blog . Hello Friends and Zazzlers! I've been wanting to write more but unable to do it. This last week went by very quickly. At last, I find some time to write more about cork. Zazzle has surprised us with some cork products. I liked it a lot. But for now, it's just cork coasters . I hope someone convinces Zazzle to add some more! Cork is a fascinating raw material. At least for me, it is. The origins of the use of cork are lost in time. This raw material from the cork oak (Quercus Suber L.) was already in use thousands of years before Christ. Today cork is used in endless objects but Ancient Egyptians used cork for the soles of their sandals and Romans also use it for footwear! Portuguese caravels sailed to discover new territories and also made use of cork in their construction. But mostly cork was used to keep wine protected in containers. This started n the 17th century wh