Estes 125 degraus estão divididos por 5 patamares com 25 degraus cada. Cinco, eram também os anos necessários para concluir uma licenciatura, isto nos anos pré Bolonha! Subir esta escadaria era como vencer cada ano de curso, com todas as dificuldades que uma Universidade afamada e exigente impunha. Fazer um curso naqueles anos não era fácil nem os professores eram pessoas acessíveis. Era preciso estudar e queimar muitas pestanas. Pensamento rápido, como eu era tão inocente! No cimo, de cada lado, duas bolas gigantes fazem o remate da escadaria, diz-se que são os tintins do Rei D. Dinis que fundou a Universidade em 1290, sendo uma das universidades mais antigas do mundo!
These 125 steps are divided into five flights of 25 steps each. Five was also the number of years needed to complete a degree, in the pre-Bologna years! Climbing this staircase was like passing each year of the course, with all the difficulties that a renowned and demanding university imposed. Studying in those years was not easy, nor were the professors accessible. It was necessary to study and burn the midnight oil. How naive I was! At the top, on each side, two giant balls crown the staircase. It is said that they are the balls of King Dinis, who ordered the construction of the university in 1290, making it one of the oldest universities in the world!
Actualmente, os cursos no pós-Bolonha, com o pagamento de propinas em valores muito superiores aos que eu paguei quando fui estudante e uma acção social que contempla um número reduzido de estudantes, tudo isto provocou uma transformação no ensino superior, este perdeu qualidade e exigência. A passagem dos alunos é muito facilitada com muitas disciplinas a serem feitas através do recurso à realização de trabalhos individuais e de grupo. Talvez por isso, alguém teve a ideia de construir um elevador ao lado das escadas monumentais. Nem os cursos são mais de cinco anos, nem a dificuldade em vencer cada ano é a mesma. Parece-me correcto a ideia do elevador. É muito mais fácil vencer a altura indo de elevador do que pelo esforço físico de cada um!
Currently, post-Bologna courses, with tuition fees much higher than what I paid when I was a student and social action that covers only a small number of students, have caused a transformation in higher education, which has lost quality and rigor. Students' progress is greatly facilitated, with many subjects being completed through individual and group work. Perhaps that is why someone had the idea of building an elevator next to the monumental staircase. Courses are no longer five years long, nor is the difficulty of passing each year the same. The idea of the elevator seems right to me. It is much easier to overcome the height by taking the elevator than by physical effort!
I also think it's fair to see the elevator as a way to help people get ahead academically, if that's really what's happening at the university. I myself gave up applying for positions at the university because the degree of difficulty and the requirements demanded in the competitions are so absurd that I gave up on all of them! The emotional strain and time wasted studying, knowing from the outset that the competition was rigged, that is, that the person had already been chosen in advance! But I don't want to talk about that anymore!
Neste post, o que quero mesmo é direccionar o tema do elevador para o que se passa com os doutoramentos. As universidades tendo autonomia financeira e com o pagamento de propinas de mestrados e doutoramentos em valores de bens de luxo, as universidades tornaram-se "empresas". Passaram a mercadejar o ensino! Quantos mais mestrados e doutoramentos "venderem", mais dinheiro entra em caixa. Dinheiro que poderia ser aplicado ao financiamento da actividade de investigação, mas que acaba por ser dirigido a aumentar o número de professores e outras bocas que todos juntos comem deste grande bolo, que são os orçamentos das universidades. Novos cursos são criados, para absorver todas estas pessoas e cursos que muitas vezes nem têm saídas profissionais.
In this post, what I really want to do is shift the focus from elevators to what is happening with doctoral programs. With financial autonomy and tuition fees for master's and doctoral programs reaching luxury goods prices, universities have become “businesses.” They have started to market education! The more master's and doctoral programs they “sell,” the more money they make. Money that could be used to fund research, but which ends up being used to increase the number of professors and other mouths that all feed off this big cake that is the university budget. New courses are created to absorb all these people and courses that often have no professional outlets.
Even more seriously, doctoral degrees are also made easier, because if the difficulty is great, few candidates will dare to apply, and few candidates means little money! This situation has led to the trading of doctorates and fake theses (purchased from professors). The jurors who evaluate them are not stupid, but they turn a blind eye because it is money coming into the university, as if it were an academic protocol. And the defense of a doctoral thesis becomes a drama in which all sides play their part! I don't believe that university presidents are unaware of what is going on!
Esta é a realidade das universidades e, eu sou só uma pessoa que observa de fora, não estou dentro da instituição, mas sei que se cometem fraudes ainda maiores, mais vergonhosas, inimagináveis e impensáveis como o ROUBO DE NOTAS de alunos! Exactamente isso que leram! Passam certificados de licenciaturas a alunos com notas fracas roubando as notas a alunos com notas mais altas! Neste país, não foi só um primeiro ministro a mercadejar a sua função, neste país há também universidades a mercadejar certificados e diplomas cometendo crime de ROUBO a alunos que realmente se esforçaram para darem-nos a alunos calões!
This is the reality of universities, and I am just an outsider observing from afar. I am not inside the institution, but I know that even greater, more shameful, unimaginable, and unthinkable frauds are still being committed, such as the THEFT OF STUDENTS' GRADES! That's right, you read that correctly! They award bachelor's degrees to students with poor grades by stealing the grades of students with higher grades! In this country, it wasn’t just a prime minister who sold out his office; in this country, there are also universities selling certificates and diplomas, committing the crime of THEFT against students who truly worked hard to earn them, only to give them to students who didn’t make the slightest effort!
DISCLAIMER: Este post é uma obra de ficção, qualquer semelhança com a realidade é pura coincidência! Espero que tenham percebido que este post se trata de uma distopia! Nesta distopia, a UC roubou as notas desta aluna para dar a quem? Pensem lá? Quem precisava de ter uma média alta? Pensem!! Pensem!!!!
DISCLAIMER: This post is a work of fiction, any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental! I hope you've realized that this post is about a dystopia! In this dystopia, who did the university steal this student’s grades to give them to? Think about it. Who needed a high GPA? Think!! Think!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16w93wTB04w&list=RD16w93wTB04w&start_radio=1
" Rabbits out of hats
The amazing trapeze cats
It won't do it for me
Cus I can perceive
The tricks of your sleeve
Your magician days are gone
What is there left to prove?
Is there something left to lose?
You've been playing Bowies with me
Tell me who are you supposed to be
Cus I don't know you anymore"
Tradução: DeepL.com (free version)
SEGUNDA / MONDAY
TERÇA / TUESDAY
QUINTA / THURSDAY
SEXTA / FRIDAY
Qual o vosso look favorito? Contem-me tudo nos comentários, estou curiosa para saber!!
Tradução: DeepL.com (free version)
COMEMORAÇÃO DO DIA DO PAI
Olá! Bem-vindos! Esta semana, mais precisamente na 5ª feira, celebra-se em Portugal, o Dia do Pai. Então, resolvi escrever uma short-story sobre uma conversa entre dois pais. Para entenderem o contexto desta short-story tenho de fazer uma viagem no tempo, pois esta história foi escrita há já alguns anos. Trata-se de uma crítica social e política muito divertida!
FATHER'S DAY CELEBRATION
Hello! Welcome! This week, on Thursday to be precise, Portugal celebrates Father's Day. So, I decided to write a short story about a conversation between two fathers. To understand the context of this short story, I have to take a trip back in time, as this story was written a few years ago. It is a very entertaining social and political critique!
A few years ago, I applied for a job at a local council through a public competition. In Portugal, these types of competitions are a complete joke, because what they really want is to employ friends and family members of local councillors.
The mayor's daughter also applied for this competition, and of course she was the one who was selected! Later, I also learned that the vice-mayor's daughter was also selected in a tailor-made competition, which was fraudulent! In fact, the daughters were exempted from doing an internship and were immediately hired as permanent staff.
So, this short story is about a conversation between the Mayor and his Vice Mayor. In this conversation, they decide on the details of hiring their daughters. It is, of course, a satirical conversation, in which I ridicule local politicians.
EU É QUE SOU O PRESIDENTE
I AM THE PRESIDENT
THE END
That's how those in positions of power in Portugal decide! I hope you enjoyed this Father's Day short story about how they do everything to spoil their children! This story was written to be published in a newspaper on Father's Day, but it never saw the light of day, until today!
👤👤👤👤👤👤👤
Como banda sonora para este post, escolhi a canção da banda Depeche Mode: "Everything Counts", (Vale Tudo) que acho que não precisa de grandes explicações, basta ouvi-la, escolhi um video traduzido para português!
As the soundtrack for this post, I chose the song by Depeche Mode: ‘Everything Counts’, which I think needs no explanation, just listen to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wX5--_bLG4&list=RD-wX5--_bLG4&start_radio=1
Tradução: DeepL.com (free version)
Por falar em Hollywood, vocês sabem sobre o meu gosto por bordar em ponto cruz, quanto mais pequenino e detalhado melhor. Foi, talvez também, nesta época que resolvi bordar a película de um filme antigo, que seria sobre o que se passava na minha vida à época. Estes trabalhos o Hacker/ladrão não me roubou! E, cada frame deste filme é a prova daquilo que se passava! Que digamos é um pouco a concretização do que se passa hoje, por incrível que possa parecer!
Speaking of Hollywood, you know about my love of cross-stitching, the smaller and more detailed the better. It was perhaps also around this time that I decided to embroider the film of an old movie, which would be about what was going on in my life at the time. The hacker/thief didn't steal these works from me! And every frame of this film is proof of what was happening! Let's just say it's a bit like what's happening today, incredible as it may seem!
A série de tv "Os Intocáveis" foi a inspiração para o filme, um trio que combatia a corrupção, um pouco à margem da lei, cuja a identidade era desconhecida, excepto a personagem feminina, que era eu! lol
The TV series “The Untouchables” was the inspiration for the film, a trio that fought corruption, somewhat outside the law, whose identity was unknown, except for the female character, who was me! lol
Este trabalho terá sido realizado pelos anos 2007-9, não sei precisar. O meu espanto vai para a visão do futuro que este bordado contém! Nestes dois frames da película, está bordado o meu cão Bolinhas, com um bigode que se destaca, junto a um teclado de piano (instrumento cujo som aprecio), num lindo dia de sol! No outro frame tem um bolo de aniversário. Se repararem este frame também tem bordado uma âncora, se a memória não me falha terá sido o bolo do meu aniversário que foi esquecido no meu local de trabalho! Passando desta descrição para os dias de hoje, acho que este bordado é muito simbólico e até visionário! Quem diria que isto seria usado contra mim!
This work must have been done between 2007 and 2009, I'm not sure exactly when. I am amazed by the vision of the future that this embroidery contains! In these two frames from the film, my dog Bolinhas is embroidered, with a prominent moustache, next to a piano keyboard (an instrument whose sound I appreciate), on a beautiful sunny day! In the other frame, there is a birthday cake. If you look closely, this frame also has an anchor embroidered on it. If my memory serves me correctly, it was my birthday cake that was forgotten at my workplace! Moving on from this description to the present day, I think this embroidery is very symbolic and even visionary! Who would have thought that this would be used against me!
Neste frame, está representado uma parte do meu jardim, estão bordadas 2 paredes em branco e a uni-las está representado um relógio. Nestas duas paredes foi feita uma pintura mural com a ajuda dos meus dois sobrinhos, quem diria que esta pintura continha um relógio escondido. O tempo, é de facto, um grande desafio para o Homem. Por isso, os ponteiros deste relógio não apontam para nenhuma hora concreta, mas para um tempo vivido fora do tempo, algo para além dele. Tenho a acrescentar que esta pintura mural já não existe! Sem saber talvez esteja aqui representado o tempo quântico!
This frame shows part of my garden, with two white walls embroidered and a clock connecting them. My two nephews helped me paint a mural on these two walls, and who would have thought that this painting contained a hidden clock? Time is, in fact, a great challenge for mankind. That is why the hands of this clock do not point to any specific time, but to a time lived outside of time, something beyond it. I should add that this mural no longer exists! Without knowing it, perhaps quantum time is represented here!
É claro, que ao visionar este filme fica-se com um sorriso de ferro, ainda mais actualmente, se atentarem no desenho, os dentes são carruagens de um comboio e as suas rodas são um aparelho dentário, será este a representação do tal sorriso amarelo?
Of course, watching this film leaves you with an iron smile, even more so nowadays. If you look closely at the drawing, the teeth are train carriages and their wheels are braces. Could this be a representation of that yellow smile?
Para terminar, um chapéu/cartola numa cadeira pintada, que também fazia parte desta pintura mural e deste relógio que se recusa a contar o tempo!
Finally, a hat/top hat on a painted chair, which was also part of this mural and this clock that refuses to tell the time!
A verdadeira artista por trás destes trabalhos e fotos, o olhar dela será que esconde algo? Parece-me enigmático!
The true artist behind these works and photos, is her gaze hiding something? It seems enigmatic to me!
Tradução: DeepL.com (free version)
Hoje, dia 9 de Março de 2026, o nosso Presidente da Republica, Prof. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, cessa as suas funções presidenciais, seguindo-lhe o novo Presidente eleito democraticamente, António José Seguro. Quando um Presidente cessa funções é encomendado um retrato oficial do Presidente para ser exposto na galeria dos retratos no Museu da Presidência. Cada Presidente escolhe o artista plástico para realizar essa obra.
Today, March 9, 2026, our President of the Republic, Prof. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, steps down from his presidential duties, followed by the newly democratically elected President, António José Seguro. When a President leaves office, an official portrait of the President is commissioned to be displayed in the portrait gallery at the Museum of the Presidency. Each President chooses the artist to create this work.
President Marcelo chose a painter who comes from the streets, an urban artist who started out doing graffiti and now has street art works all over the world. Initially, this artist refused the commission, I think because he felt that his urban and protest art did not fit in with this type of work. He ended up accepting without charging a penny, only that the value of the portrait be spent on works by emerging artists. This urban artist is called Vhils!
On this day of farewell, I would like to publicly praise your two terms in office, won by significant margins – the President of affection, as you became known – but I cannot do so! A President who swears to uphold and enforce the Portuguese Constitution, and who breaks that oath every day for 10 years, cannot leave with his head held high and slam the door without a serious problem of conscience. I don't know if you suffer from occasional insomnia, but there is an excellent medicine for that on TV, but it is my wish that it has no effect!
What I would really like, President Marcelo, is to have a sword, one of those from the movie Star Wars, a lightsaber, and cut you in half and then hang you upside down on the door of your law school with the inscription: OPAAC (The President Assassinated the Constitution). For a professor of law, I think in my innocence that I would never have to remind such a person of the chapter on the rights, freedoms, and guarantees of citizens, you know, Marcelo, those rules that you violated every day while you were president! You know that place? That's the one!
Como banda sonora deste post escolhi a canção dos Muse "Ruled by Secrecy". Presidente Marcelo, limpe o sangue das suas mãos porque eu nunca entenderei qualquer que seja a explicação. Qualquer. Nunca!
As the soundtrack for this post, I chose Muse's song “Ruled by Secrecy.” President Marcelo, wash the blood from your hands, because I will never understand any explanation. Any. Never!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhNDpbpyIRo&list=RDVhNDpbpyIRo&start_radio=1
Tradução: DeepL.com (free version)