Wishing all my readers the best in 2012
Desejos de todo o melhor em 2012 aos meus leitores
Deseo lo mejor en 2012 a todos mis lectores

VALE A PENA LER!

JOÃO CARLOS ABREU
Querem tirar-nos a Esperança


Como é possível que um país altamente endividado, fruto da incompetência de todos os governos, continue a ajudar as ex-colónias e se esqueça de verificar a miséria que rasa em Portugal. Há, quer queiram, quer não, portugueses com fome; há uma considerável pobreza envergonhada, gente que necessita de medicamentos e não os pode comprar!
Não imaginei nunca que, aos 76 anos de idade, me quisessem tirar a esperança. Desde pequeno, os meus pais ensinaram-me que “a esperança era a última coisa a morrer”, mas no meu país isso já não acontece. Todos os dias, os portugueses são “bombardeados” com palavras e afirmações que não só nos roubam o sossego, mas também a própria esperança.
No meu dia-a-dia, porque ando na rua e ouço as pessoas, sinto-as cada vez mais assustadas. Os mais velhos, incrédulos, com lágrimas nos olhos, contam os “tostões” que lhes restam. Os mais novos, depressivos, com “canudos” nas mãos, batem de porta em porta à procura de um trabalho. Uns e outros, sem mais nem ontem – como se costuma dizer – têm pela frente, de repente, um “gandulo”, dois ou três, com armas brancas, exigindo-lhes os seus haveres.
Os analistas nas televisões vão somando palavras sobre palavras que soam a vazio. Devem de ser poucos aqueles com vontade de ouvi-los. Somos, efectivamente, um país de palavras que, à força de repeti-las, adulteram-se e ferem-nos. Porque as palavras quando ditas num determinado contexto têm a força das armas.
O Senhor Primeiro Ministro, em vez de usá-las de forma a que em cada português se acendesse uma luz, fá-lo precisamente ao contrário: um pessimismo assustador que cada vez mais se vai alastrando. As pessoas estão à deriva e assustadas. Já não acreditam em dias melhores. Mas a culpa de tudo isto vem, precisamente, de cima, daqueles que tinham a obrigação de dizer a verdade, mas sem nos aterrorizar. Somos seres humanos, mais frágeis do que pensais, porque estamos, há muito, debilitados…
Agora, parece que a palavra de ordem é emigrar. Para onde?! Como?! É assim tão fácil sair de um país para outro e logo encontrar um trabalho?! Onde estão assinados os acordos com os países, Brasil e Angola? Existem, por ventura? Abalançar-se a emigrar não é o mesmo que ir ali ao lado. É muito mais complicado.
Descobri, há muito, que vivo num país de raivas, ódios e vinganças, o que me entristece; um país com uma classe política em cujos alicerces falta-lhe humanismo e consciência: do querer servir sem servir-se; do querer ser útil à sociedade sem vaidade; servir com humildade, pondo o saber e a inteligência ao serviço dos outros; construir uma democracia saudável em que todos tenham um lugar digno da condição humana, com liberdade e justiça social.
Mas aonde já se viu que um alto governante de um país descriminalize uma Região, referindo-se que nessa o impacto da dívida será maior?!
Como é possível que um país altamente endividado, fruto da incompetência de todos os governos, continue a ajudar as ex-colónias e se esqueça de verificar a miséria que rasa em Portugal. Há, quer queiram, quer não, portugueses com fome; há uma considerável pobreza envergonhada, gente que necessita de medicamentos e não os pode comprar!
Como é possível que neste país, para dar uma cadeira de rodas a um deficiente, se tenha que juntar X de cápsulas de garrafas?!
E as dívidas das Empresas do Estado, que atingem verbas mirabolantes, nunca são chamadas e nem repetidamente exaltadas, como aquela da Madeira?!
Este panorama, tal como se apresenta, não conhecemos até quando nos vão submeter a todos estes sacrifícios e se, por ventura, eles servirão, sequer, para se atingir os fins desejados. Cada vez que um governante em Lisboa faz declarações, Portugal mais se assusta: ou é para mencionar a palavra CRISE, é para nos mandar EMIGRAR!
Por mim, vou continuar a lutar; vou continuar a acreditar que pertenço a um povo capaz e criativo; vou continuar a ouvir o menos possível os políticos e os analistas que nos roubam a esperança.
Em 2001, quando estive em Buenos Aires, a Argentina estava mergulhada num túnel que parecia sem saída. Encontrei, num estabelecimento, um jovem que me disse: “vamos virar isto”. Em 2011, a Argentina é um dos países economicamente mais florescentes. Eu bem sei que de 2001 a 2005 tinha um Ministro das Finanças – Roberto Lavagna – extraordinariamente competente e inteligente.

AZORES AS NEVER SEEN BEFORE - A PERSPECTIVE BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER

An unusual perspective on the very pretty Azores Islands in the Atlantic Ocean a long way west of Portugal. If lots of wildflowers and very little traffic appeals to you, then you`ll love this place. Time lapse photography by Ian Swarbrick - www.imagesfromthewild.ch

Garoupa no Tinto à Carapacho

Simple delicious recipe that can be done with any rockfish like rockcod. This a recipe from the island of Graciosa in the Azores.

Recipe calls for:
Olive oil
Sliced onion (2)to cover bottow of the pan
Butter
5 Sprigs Mint
5 Springs Parsley
Red Wine
In a sauce, place about 5 TSP of olive oil, and add sliced onions. Place the whole fish cut in half and add a salt to taste, a bit of black pepper, 1/2 cube of butter and about half a bottle of red wine and cover.
Place on stove top for 15 minutes. Add parsley and mint. Cover and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Turn off the fire and remove mint and parsley.
Plate fish, being careful not to break apart and sprinkle with chopped parsley and mint.
May be served with steamed potatoes or rice.
Enjoy
Translation: José M. L. Alves

The volcanic mystic in the Azores

Indonesian Words From Portuguese Language - Palavras portuguesas usadas na Indonésia

These are Indonesian words that are thought to have come from Portuguese language. There are approximately 131 words in total.

Photos of Yesterday's Lisbon - Fotos de Lisboa antiga

Imagens Antigas de Portugal - Profissões - Professions of Yesterday's Portugal

Faces of yesterday's Portugal - Portugal de rosto antigo

Luís Lobo Henriques Fotografia. Música de Custódio Castelo no álbum "Murmúrios" de Cristina Branco, e Pedro Burmester em "Chopin".

Fados de Natal

César Morgado - Árvore de Natal
Amália Rodrigues - Vi o Menino Jesus
Fernando Farinha - É Natal
Amália Rodrigues - Natal dos Simples
Carlos Ramos - Noite de Natal

Then and Now - Documentary of shore whaling in Capelas, São Miguel, Azores

A very well done documentary of the return of a German biologist who sixty four years earlier had spent time in Capelas and documented the shore whaling that was a way of life until 1974. The presentation is followed by the presentation of the original documentary.
Although it is in Portuguese, there are parts that have English subtitles and and can be easily followed. If you have an interest of the purely artisan method of shore whaling, this is well worth spending 45 minutes to view.
A production of RTP/Açores it shows well their capabilities.
Grande reportagem "Reencontro com as Baleias"(vídeo) - Notícias - RTP Açores Grande reportagem de Herberto Gomes com base no documentário publicado em 1964 sobre a caça à baleia nas Capelas. Em 1964 um jovem biólogo alemão veio aos Açores estudar as aves e acabou a filmar e realizar um documentário sobre a caça à baleia nas Capelas. Quase meio século depois, regressou a S.Miguel ; reencontrou-se com os antigos baleeiros e voltou a ver um cachalote.

Merry Christmas - Feliz Natal - Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas to all. I hope that you continue to enjoy my blog

Feliz Natal a todos. Espero que continuem a desfrutar o meu blogue

Feliz Navidad a todos. Espero que continuen a disfrutar mi blog

Merry Christmas from my grandchildren - Feliz Natal de parte dos meus netos

Wishes for the Merriest of Christmas from my grandchildren - Votos de um Feliz Natal dos meus netos.

Oscar Nomination "Original Music" for the Documentary " José e Pilar"

The music from the documentary José e Pilar, about the life of the Portuguese Nobel for Literature, José Saramago, was nominated for an Oscar for "Best Original Music".
Lyrics Manuela de Freitas - Music José Mário Branco.


Letra

Se às vezes numa rua no lugar
eu penso que um dia hei-de morrer
sei que tudo o que tenho vou deixar
aqui onde hoje estou deixo de estar
e tudo quanto sou deixo de ser

medo da morte não consigo ter
mas outros mais humanos e banais
medos que a gente tem mesmo sem querer
como o medo que eu tenho de morrer

só por querer viver um pouco mais
se consigo a meu modo estar no céu
mesmo vivendo neste chão de inverno
se apenas sou árvore que cresceu
no espaço e no tempo que é o meu
para que havia eu de ser eterno

mas como as minhas cinzas vão ficando
debaixo de uma pedra de jardim
meu amor tu sabes onde me encontrar
e uma flor sobre a pedra vais deixar
de cada vez que lembrares de mim
de cada vez que te lembrares de mim

Arquivado em: camané, fado, já não estar, letra, lyrics, música, vídeo

From:http://amusicaportuguesa.blogs.sapo.pt/

Octopus with Grapes - Polvo Com Uvas

Em bem rigor, uma adega é uma sala de visitas. Assim o pensa com certeza a família Brum, dos Biscoitos, ilha Terceira, que fez da sua adega a porta de entrada para o Museu do Vinho.
Aproveitando um magnífico cenário de pipas empoleiradas, Eduardo Reis preparou um polvo com uvas.
Antes, provou um verdelho licoroso. É um aperitivo para beber com vagar, olhando as vinhas em currais e antevendo o mar no fim do declive de pedra negra.
Octopus with grapes is a simple a tasty recipe. Although the program is in Portuguese, it is easy to follow the methodology to make it.

Receita:
Coze-se o Polvo em água, sem sal e com uma cebola.
Depois de cozido deixa-se arrefecer e cortam-se os tentáculos
Numa sertã com azeite, salteia-se o polvo.
Noutra sertã, salteiam-se as uvas. Quando as uvas começarem a ficar moles e a libertarem algum sumo, apaga-se o lume.
Coloca-se o polvo numa tigela e por cima deitam-se as uvas e mistura-se com uma colher.
Polvilhar com salsa.
(Opcional: passar um borrifo de vinagre balsâmico pelo todo).
Servir quente ou frio.
Recipe:
Steam the octopus in water adding salt and an onion.
After steaming it, allow to cool and cut in small pieces.
In a frying pan, add a small amount of olive oil and add the white grapes. Cook until golden, and towards the end, squeeze down on the grapes to release some of the juice. Remove and place in a deep plate.
On the same frying pan, with a bit of olive oil, heat the octopus, but do not fry.
Add the octopus to the grape and add a bit more of olive oil along with finely chopped parsley. Mix and serve.
Optional- Add a bit of balsamic vinegar and mix.
It may be served either warm or cold with a dry chilled white wine.
This program is from a series of nine produced by Media9 in Terceira, Azores.

Morreu Cesária Évora - A Maior - The Great Cesária Évora Passed!!

Cape Verde and the world mourne - Cabo Verde e o mundo choram!

Holiday Greeting!

"I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to my friends, but it is difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my lawyer yesterday, and on advice I wish to say the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally -conscious, socially-responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter holiday practised with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practise religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2012, but not without due respect for the calendar of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:

This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/him or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. The wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher .

Best Regards (without prejudice)

Name withheld (Privacy Act).

LOL!

Curta metragem da verdadeira história da criação do mundo e dos Açores

Belo trabalho, cheio de imaginação que só vem provar o que todos nós sabiamos! LOL

Autoria de Vitor Descalzo em www.acorestube.com

Pico 1960

Outro tesouro! Another treasure!

Video Digital Faria at www.acorestube.com

São Jorge 1960

Outro tesouro! Another treasure!

Video Digital Faria at www.acorestube.com

Faial 1960 -

Outro tesouro! Another treasure!

Video Digital Faria at www.acoretube.com

SÃO MIGUEL 1960

O São Miguel da minha juventude! Ê interessante ver a rápida evolução dos anos desde então - Progresso para uns, perda de valores essenciais e inocencia para outros... o que é indiscutível é a mudança.
Vale a pena passar uns 20 minutos para apreciar!
Althought the narration is in Portuguese, it is will worth viewing this 20 minute video to appreciate the rapid evolution that took place since then. This is the São Miguel of my youth. For some, since then, it is all progress ...For others, it is the loss of essential values and innocence ...what is undeniable is the change!

Video Digital Faria at http://www.acorestube.com

CANÇÂO DA TERRA - Zéca Medeiros

Não precisa de comentário! Só se sente.

THE LAST WHALERS - A lifestyle of the past

Produced by William Newfeld, WBN Productions, in 1968 and the New Bedford Whaling Museum, this video exemplifies a lifestyle that ended in 1984, when the Autonomous Government of the Azores adhered to the international ban on whaling. A trade brought the Yankee whalers to the Azores, it became a way of life, not only for the people of the Azores, but also became a stepping stone to the immigration, illicit and not, that followed.
Today's Portuguese communities in the United States, can trace their roots to these brave men of the sea.
This video has to be seen in the light of the time it depicts and in no way is representative of the today's Azores, where a very important new industry of whale watching tourism has been introduced.
It is however, worth the 20 minutes you will spend, viewing this lifestyle of a bygone era!
And when in New Bedford, be sure to visit the Whaling Museum.

San Diego had its own cannery row - Tuna industry once dominated waterfront

Workers in 1931 cleaned tuna at the Cohn-Hopkins Co. on Crosby Street in San Diego. The city was once called the "tuna capital." (Courtesy of San Diego Public Library)

“We ate lunch, but we didn't have a break for dinner. We worked straight through. It was pretty hard. . . . Sometimes there was only two or three hours of work. It just depended on how much fish the cannery had, how many boats came in. . . . We were only paid 33 cents an hour.”
– Katie Asaro,tuna packer, 1927

By Richard Crawford
Thousands of men and women once worked aboard San Diego-based fishing boats and in the local tuna canneries. For many years the region was known as “The Tuna Capital of the World.”
It was an industry that brought jobs and wealth to the region, as millions of cans of tuna shipped globally were stamped with the words “Packed in San Diego.”
San Diegans had been fishing for tuna since the 1880s, when Portuguese fishermen based at La Playa were catching albacore from small boats. Fish not consumed locally were pickled and shipped in barrels, usually to San Francisco.
A San Pedro sardine canner had a better idea. In 1903, Alfred Halfhill began experimenting with canning a variety of other fish, including longfin tuna, or albacore. Halfhill found albacore that was steam-cooked turned white and tasted something like cold chicken, leading to the legendary description “Chicken of the Sea.”
Halfhill aggressively marketed his “white meat tuna.” Within a few years, sales of canned albacore took off. Packed in olive oil in individually soldered cans, the tuna was shipped across the United States and enjoyed wide success, particularly in New York's Italian immigrant community.
San Diego's first large tuna cannery, the Pacific Tuna Canning Co., started up in 1911 at the foot of F Street. The plant would burn down the next year, but in 1913, it reopened at the foot of 26th Street. The Premier Packing Co. opened in 1912 at the foot of Crosby Street. Nine more tuna canneries opened on the San Diego waterfront in the next decade.
The first San Diego plants were small, employing fewer than 100 people each. A wave of consolidations dropped the number of canneries to five by 1920, but the overall number of employees grew.
San Diego Packing started in 1914 with 50 workers, but after absorbing other companies, it employed 400 by 1935. Van Camp Seafood swallowed three smaller companies and employed nearly 800 by 1932.
In the early 20th century, canneries were scattered along the waterfront from the foot of Laurel Street to Barrio Logan. By the 1930s, San Diego's “cannery row” would lie roughly between 16th and 28th Streets alongside fuel docks, shipbuilders and anchored tuna clippers.
From each cannery a wharf jutted into the bay where the fishing boats would unload the tuna. The process at the giant Van Camp cannery was typical. Large cranes hoisted baskets of tuna from the boats and emptied them into a flume, where the fish flowed a hundred yards into the cannery.
After inspection, the tuna moved on conveyor belts to a room where men gutted and washed the fish and then loaded them into ovens for “pre-cooking.”

After cooling, the tuna was sent to 60-foot cleaning tables, where women removed bones and skin and separated out the white meat. The tuna then was conveyed on large wood trays to the packing tables, where more women placed the meat by hand into cans.
Machinery then dropped measured quantities of salt and oil in the cans as they moved along a conveyor to the lidding machines.
Once sealed, the cans were steam-cooked, cooled and readied for shipment.
Katie Asaro cleaned fish and packed cans for the Westgate cannery.
“When I started in to learn how to pack, we were paid by the hour,” Asaro said. “Then we were on piecework. The faster we packed, the more trays we packed, the more money we made.”
Westgate paid its fish cleaners 30 cents for each tray.
It was repetitive, assembly-line labor. But the jobs were sought after, particularly during the Depression. The workers were always on call, ready to run to the canneries whenever the tuna boats arrived at the wharves.
“Sometimes there would be two, three or four boats at the same time,” Asaro remembered. “The cannery would be flooded with fish and it had to be packed.”
Although San Diego canneries and fishing boats dominated tuna production for most of the 1900s, profits and prospects were always cyclical.
As early as 1933, worrisome competition from Japan led the San Diego Sun to run a news story with the headline: “Tuna – A Doomed Local Industry.”
But local expertise beat back the competitors in the 1930s and continued to do so for decades.
When foreign competition threatened in the 1950s, the fishermen ended the tradition of hook-and-line fishing and converted their boats to seiners that used large nylon nets to corral schools of tuna.
The efficiency of the seiners restored prosperity, but it courted controversy. Netting schools of tuna killed dolphins and sharks caught in the nets.
Renewed foreign competition and rising costs ultimately forced cannery operations to go abroad.
In June 1982, Bumble Bee Seafoods closed its plant at the foot of Crosby Street, where San Diego women had canned tuna for 70 years. The Van Kamp Seafood cannery – San Diego's last tuna cannery – followed two years later.
Richard Crawford is a San Diego historian.

Portuguese Historical Center's Tunaman's Memorial Ball

Congratulations to Guidi films and the Portuguese Historical Center for the keeping for posterity the Tunaman's Memorial Ball 2011 - held at the Bali Hai Restaurant on Shelter Island.
A job well done of the presentation of the Tunaman's Ball Honoree's. Augie Felando, Lifetime Award - Italo Cileu and Billy Sardinha - Business Award, Evelina and Cristiano DaRosa, Humanitarian Award.
Parabéns a Guidi Films e ao Portuguese Historical Center, por ter a visão de salvagardar para a posteridade o serão do Tunaman's Memorial Ball 2011, que se realizou no restaurante Bali Hai, na Shelter Island.
Boa apresentação dos homenageados durante o Tunaman's Ball, Augie Felando, Prémio Êxito Vitalício - Italo Cileu and Billy Sardinha - Prémio Empreendorismo, Evelina and Cristiano DaRosa, Prémio Humanitário.

FADO - Património Cultural da Humanidade -World Cultural Heritage

O Museu do Fado, em Alfama, foi a casa da candidatura a Património Imaterial da Humanidade. A notícia foi recebida da aprovação foi recebida com gritos de alegria, até porque foi uma espera longa. Desde a madrugada que havia fadistas e amantes do fado à espera da notícia.
“O fado é um elemento importante da nossa identidade e um enorme contributo para a cultura mundial. E, acima de tudo, as comunidades do fado incentivaram o processo e nele participaram. Esta decisão traz-nos uma enorme responsabilidade, a responsabilidade de preservar e promover o fado como uma grande marca da diversidade do património humano”. Foi com estas palavras que o presidente da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa acolheu, em Nusa Dua, na ilha indonésia de Bali, a decisão do VI Comité Intergovernamental da UNESCO.

Foi um antecessor de António Costa, Pedro Santana Lopes, quem lançou as bases da candidatura do fado a Património Imaterial da Humanidade, tendo por embaixadores dois nomes maiores desta expressão musical, Mariza e Carlos do Carmo. Aprovada por unanimidade na Câmara de Lisboa, a 12 de maio de 2010, a candidatura seria apresentada à Presidência da República a 28 de junho do mesmo ano e posteriormente oficializada junto da Comissão Nacional da Organização das Nações Unidas para a Educação, Ciência e Cultura. Dois meses depois, chegava à sede da UNESCO, na capital francesa.

Confirmada a declaração como Património Imaterial da Humanidade, ao cabo de longas horas de análise de dezenas de candidaturas internacionais, António Costa destacou o que disse ser um “grande tributo que a UNESCO prestou aos fadistas”: “Finalmente tocou-se o fado”

“Tocou-se o fado e acho que foi um grande tributo que a UNESCO prestou aos fadistas, àqueles que têm cantado, que têm tocado, que têm composto, aos poetas que têm dado as suas letras ao fado e que são aqueles que justificam nós estarmos hoje aqui e que asseguram a grande salvaguarda do fado, dando-lhe futuro e perenidade”, assinalou o autarca de Lisboa, em declarações citadas pela agência Lusa.

“Estranha Forma de Vida” foi o fado que António Costa fez chegar às demais delegações presentes em Bali depois de agradecer a distinção da UNESCO. “Acho que foi a melhor forma de homenagear aqueles que têm de ser hoje homenageados. São aqueles que têm feito o fado e que são os fadistas. E aquela Estranha Forma de Vida é uma homenagem a todos”, explicou.

“Profunda satisfação”

Cavaco Silva escolheu o portal da Presidência da República na Internet para uma primeira reação aos acontecimentos de Bali. O “reconhecimento” da UNESCO, afirmou o Chefe de Estado, “constitui um motivo de orgulho para todos os portugueses”. “A partir deste momento, o fado é reconhecido como um Património de toda a humanidade, um valor inestimável no presente e uma herança cultural importante para as gerações futuras”, escreveu Aníbal Cavaco Silva.

O Presidente deixou uma saudação a todos os que se envolveram na preparação da candidatura: “O seu sucesso é também o sucesso de todos os que, ao longo de mais de um século, viveram, trabalharam, escreveram e cantaram o fado. Estão de parabéns os fadistas, os poetas, os músicos, os compositores, os estudiosos e todos os que contribuíram para fazer do fado uma melodia universal”.

Por sua vez, a diretora do Museu do Fado - onde se aguardou em ambiente de festa antecipada o desfecho da maratona de análise na Indonésia - encara a decisão da UNESCO como uma “grande alegria” e, ao mesmo tempo, uma “responsabilidade acrescida”.

“E ouviu-se o fado. Muito bom e muito bem. Estamos muito felizes e com imensa vontade de partilhar essa alegria com todos os que trabalharam nesta candidatura, com todos os que constroem o fado, com todos os nossos artistas, todos os nossos parceiros, as instituições envolvidas, os investigadores, a equipa do Museu do Fado. É uma alegria muito grande”, reagiu Sara Pereira, que lembrou os cinco eixos estratégicos do projeto de salvaguarda submetido à UNESCO: a rede de arquivos; o arquivo digital sonoro; o programa editorial; roteiros temáticos do fado; o programa educativo.

Já o secretário de Estado da Cultura, Francisco José Viegas, considerou em comunicado que a distinção da UNESCO dá aos portugueses “alegria”, num momento “em que Portugal necessita como nunca de notícias positivas".

“Um grande estímulo”

Ouvido pela Antena 1, Carlos do Carmo confessou-se emocionado e recompensado com a distinção da UNESCO, sublinhando que se trata de um enorme estímulo para todos os que se dedicam ao fado: “Agora, depois da emoção, vou ver se tenho voz para cantar”.

“O jogo vai ter regras, porque eles vão-nos dizer quais são as regras do jogo. Com o empenho que houve nestes seis anos, que foi muito grande, desta dedicação para apresentar a candidatura, este empenho não vai quebrar. Portanto, isto não se esgota nesta candidatura e coisas muito bonitas vão ainda acontecer, com certeza, porque a equipa não se vai desmembrar e estou convencido de que a comunidade do fado vai ficar muito sensibilizada, porque isto é bom para todos os que tocam, todos os que cantam. Isto é um grande estímulo”, sublinhou o cantor.

Na véspera da decisão, o musicólogo Rui Vieira Nery, à frente da Comissão Científica da candidatura, colocava em destaque uma “reconciliação nacional” sobre o fado. Assim como o facto de o processo ter gerado “um certo sentimento de unidade na comunidade fadista que nem sempre existe”. O especialista, que é afilhado dos fadistas Maria Teresa de Noronha e Fernando Farinha, salientava à Lusa, por outro lado, a virtude de “a candidatura ter sido acompanhada pela comunidade e não apenas por um comité de investigadores”.

À rádio pública, Rui Vieira Nery defendeu este domingo que a distinção atribuída ao fado abre portas “a outras eventuais formas culturais portuguesas”. “Fala-se de crónicas de mortes anunciadas, neste caso é uma crónica de um sucesso anunciado, mas é sempre muito consolador. Nós tivemos muitos anos de trabalho envolvidos com muita gente nesta candidatura e todos nós, que participámos nela, estamos muito felizes por esse trabalho ter chegado a bom porto”, frisou o musicólogo, que, em Bali, chegou a tecer duras críticas à presidência da reunião da UNESCO, atribuindo a demora da discussão a uma “incompetência extraordinária”.

“E é prosseguir com a responsabilidade que o Estado português assume neste momento de continuar a proteger e a difundir o fado. Mas penso que esta vitória transcende o fado. Acho que é uma vitória da cultura portuguesa no seu todo”, rematou.
RTP/Notícias

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Cultura - Mudeu do Fado recebe notícia de Bali com gritos de alegria - RTP Noticias, Vídeo

Fado, the music that best represents Portugal, its feelings and that of its people, was designated today by UNESCO a World Cultural Heritage.
The candidacy was sponsored by the Fado Museum in Alfama, where "fadistas" and followers of the fado, waited eagerly from the early morning hours, after an all day and all night concert at the museum, that was broadcast worldwide.

Fado has just been given World Heritage status by UNESCO, meaning it’s protected as “intangible cultural heritage of humanity,” joining other unique cultural expressions such as the tango and flamenco. This musical style (which is actually more like a poetic recital) is strongly connected to the streets of Lisbon where it was born and has come to be symbolic of the Portuguese soul. Those interested in listening to Fado should look for the greatest Fado diva of all time, Amalia Rodrigues. She defined the style of the genre and has influenced an entire generation of young singers. The album to get is “The Art of Amalia Rodrigues” which should be available wherever World Music is sold. The queen of the new generation of “fadistas” is Grammy-nominated Mariza, and her album “Fado em Mim” is a great introduction to the singer and Fado music itself.

Not Fado but greatly representative of the sound of Lisbon is Madredeus, a band that received great acclaim and worldwide success in the 1990s. Their “Best Of” collection is called “Antologia” where you’ll hear their now-classic hits mixing the influences of Fado and modern folk. A former member has gone solo to great success, with his album “Cinema” having been considered one of the albums of the year by Billboard magazine in 2004. That’s Rodrigo Leão, a musician/composer with an obvious passion for Lisbon reflected in his music.
Also mixing Lisbon’s Fado with folk and pop is Dulce Pontes, a well-known name in World Music. Her biggest hit is “Canção do Mar,” first performed by Amália Rodrigues. You’ve heard that song if you watched the movie “Primal Fear” (starring Richard Gere) or the NBC/TNT drama “Southland” (it’s the theme song). Pontes’ “Best Of” CD is one of the top-selling Portuguese albums of all time.

To understand the relevance of Fado in Lisbon and on Portuguese culture in general, visit the Fado Museum whenever you’re in the city.
From: Go LISBON Blog

Mariachi Tambien Es Patrimonio de la Humanidad

El Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia expresa su beneplácito por la declaratoria

PARÍS, Francia, nov. 27, 2011.- La UNESCO inscribió hoy en la Lista del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad la música de mariachi de México, junto a la tradición de los chamanes jaguares del Yuruparí de Colombia, el rito peruano de la región de Cusco y el fado portugués.

Por decisión del comité de expertos, reunido en la isla indonesia de Bali, la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO) consideró que la música del Mariachi es centrada en la vida en comunidad.

Según la UNESCO, 'la música de mariachi transmite valores que fomentan el respeto del patrimonio natural de las regiones mexicanas y de la historia local, tanto en español como en las diversas lenguas indígenas del oeste del país'.

Para festejar la decisión del comité, un grupo de mariachis ingresó en la sala de reuniones y cantó 'El son de la negra', una de las melodías más emblemáticas del género.

El secretario de Cultura del estado mexicano de Jalisco, Alejandro Cravioto, declaró que 'no hay ninguna expresión musical mexicana más difundida por el mundo, y esta universalidad tenía que verse reflejada en la lista de patrimonio inmaterial'.

Cravioto destacó que el mariachi acompaña todo el recorrido vital de los mexicanos ya que 'está presente desde el bautizo hasta el entierro', y señaló que, junto con la comida, es el único elemento propio que los emigrantes se llevan siempre consigo.

Otro de las nuevos integrantes de la lista es la sabiduría de los chamanes jaguares del Yuruparí de Colombia, pues los expertos del comité reconocieron la 'ejemplaridad' de la candidatura colombiana de esta tribu.

Los jaguares del Yuruparí, que habitan en los alrededores del río Pirá Paraná, transmiten por vía masculina y desde el nacimiento el Hee Yaia Keti Oka, una sabiduría que les fue entregado desde sus orígenes por los Ayowa (creadores) para cuidar del territorio y de la vida.

La UNESCO también declaró patrimonio inmaterial el peregrinaje al santuario inca del Señor de Qoyllurit'i de Perú, que recorre ocho kilómetros desde Mahuayani hasta Sinakara y finaliza en el sitio sagrado, situado a más de cuatro mil metros sobre el nivel del mar.

La celebración fusiona tradiciones andinas y europeas cristianas a través de las cuales se ha establecido una expresión religiosa compleja y única en el mundo.

El fado portugués, género musical habitualmente cantado por un solista acompañado por una guitarra portuguesa, que nació en los barrios humildes de Lisboa, también fue incluido en la lista del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad.

El Comité para la salvaguardia del patrimonio cultural inmaterial agregó en total 14 elementos a la 'lista representativa del patrimonio cultural inmaterial de la humanidad' que ya cuenta 213 tradiciones de todo el mundo.

Entre ellas los cantos y juegos Becarac y la danza del silencio Nijemo Kolo del interior de Dalmacia, ambas de Croacia; el desfile de los reyes a caballo de la República Checa.

Así como las prácticas culturales relacionadas con el balafon, un instrumento de percusión de madera empleado por las comunidades Senufo de Mali y Burkina Faso. También se reconoció la poesía oral espontánea Tsiattista acompañada por violín de Chipre; la equitación en la tradición francesa; el ritual de trasplante de arroz en Mibu y la danza sagrada Sada Shin Noh, las dos de Japón.

INAH EXPRESA SU BENEPLÁCITO

Con la inclusión del Mariachi, una de las máximas expresiones de la música nacional, a la lista de Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la UNESCO, México suma siete declaratorias en este rubro, destacó hoy el Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH).

Al dar a conocer la designación, ocurrida en el marco de la sexta reunión del Comité Intergubernamental para la Salvaguardia del Patrimonio Inmaterial, que se desarrolla en Bali, Indonesia, el INAH destacó que tras dos años de evaluación de la candidatura mexicana, esta mañana (tiempo de México) se logró el voto positivo y unánime de los 24 países miembros de dicho comité.

De acuerdo con un comunicado, el Mariachi, música de cuerdas, canto y trompeta fue una de las 17 candidaturas recomendadas para esta inscripción que fueron analizadas y cuya declaratoria coloca a México -junto con Colombia e Iránù en el octavo lugar en la Lista Representativa del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial.

China encabeza el padrón con 29 elementos inscritos, seguido por Japón con 20, Corea con 13, Croacia con 11 expresiones culturales, España con 10, Turquía con nueve; y el séptimo lugar lo ocupan Francia, India y Mongolia con ocho.

En esta sexta reunión, el Organo Subsidiario, encargado de evaluar las candidaturas, destacó la propuesta mexicana como uno de los expedientes mejor concebidos e integrados de entre los 17 recomendados, siendo un ejemplo a seguir para las candidatura de otros países. El expediente, detalló el comunicado, fue presentado por el INAH y la Secretaría de Cultura del Estado de Jalisco en agosto de 2010.

De manera que su inscripción en la Lista Representativa del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad es resultado de un proceso de elaboración y evaluación de casi dos años.

El comité de la UNESCO decidió reconocer al Mariachi dado que -entre otros aspectos- ha sido transmitido de generación en generación, recreado constantemente durante eventos festivos, religiosos y sociales, reforzando el sentido de identidad y continuidad de sus comunidades portadoras en México y el extranjero.

En la actualidad, existen mariachis en países de todos los continentes, principalmente en Aruba (isla de las Antillas Menores) que cuenta con el mayor número de agrupaciones musicales de este tipo, quienes cantan lo mismo en español que en papiamento, que es la lengua oficial.

Asimismo, en El Cairo, donde el pasado 15 de septiembre, Día de la Independencia de México, debutó un mariachi conformado por músicos egipcios.

La reciente inscripción de El Mariachi, música de cuerdas, canto y trompeta, en la Lista Representativa del Patrimonio Inmaterial de la UNESCO, contribuirá a que los organismos mexicanos involucrados coordinen esfuerzos para afianzar y reproducir esta expresión que conjuga sabiduría popular, ejecución de instrumentos, tradición laudera, e improvisación de patrones rítmicos y melódicos, entre otros elementos.

Taste Portugal - Saboreie Portugal

See Portuguese gastronomy as never before - Veja a gastronomia portuguese como nunca!

Carlos do Carmo - Paulo Gonzo

Enjoy this presentation at Coliseu de Lisboa - Hear the versatility of the fado and why it should become a UNESCO World Heritage!
Save the link to uWall.tv and enjoy your favorite artists while you work or relax.
Disfrutem esta apresentação no Coliseu de Lisboa - Ouçam a versatilidade do fado e porque deve ser um Patrimónia da Humanidade da UNESCO!
Guardem o link da uWall.tv e disfrutem os seus artistas favoritos no serviço ou quando relaxando!
http://uwall.tv/

O Nome da Rua

O Nome da Rua foi uma produção da RTP Açores, num total de 46 programas e nos anos de 1993 e 1994, tendo como apresentador, Luciano Mota Vieira, que foi amigo íntimo do meu pai, Gil Alves e que conheci, tendo gratas memórias da sua pessoa.
Para mais informações sobre o apresentador, sugire uma visita a http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciano_Mota_Vieira
É uma série bastante interessante, historiando muitas das ruas mais importantes de S. Miguel, Terceira e Faial. Gentilmente cedido pela família, convido-vos a ver o primeiro programa e depois de aderirem ao You Tube, para conseguir os links para os demais programas.
Para os amantes das nossas ilhas, é uma deliciosa relíquia.

Fado - World Heritage

FADO: WORLD HERITAGE UNESCO from Ivan Dias on Vimeo.

In November Fado waits UNESCO decision in order to become World Cultural Heritage. Some top portuguese personalities joined us to tell the world the people we are... This is just the first spot with a beautiful soundtrack by two times oscar winner Gustavo Santaolalla.

Açores, As 9 Maravilhas do Mundo

Rumo Ao Sul - Autoria de Machado Ribeiro

Como és terna solidão,
irmã gémea da saudade
deixa que em teu regaço
repouse meu coração.
Desponta o sol
amanheceu
o mar é calmo
baloiçam palmeiras
barcos veleiros
sulcam as águas
ao fundo a montanha
no fim de Point Loma
e no cimo, imponente,
a estátua de Cabrilho

29 de setembro de 1979

Sabores das Ilhas - Culinary Program on the Gastronomy of the Azores

If you have the time and understand Portuguese, this is a wonderful program about the cuisine of the Azores - We enjoy it and hope you do as well!
Se tem tempo disponível e fala português, este é um belo programa sobre a gastronomia dos Açores - Espero que lhes agrade como a nós!
The theme of this first program is the "Cozido das Furnas" that shows the preparation of the various ingredients in the in the volcanic cooking process of this typical gastronomical delight from Furnas, São Miguel, Azores.
Below the video are some photos of myself and my cousin at whose invitation I enjoyed the afternoon, first visiting the site at the hot springs at the lake in Furnas, where we viewed the food being taken out of the ground prior to being brought to the restaurant at the Terra Nostra Garden Hotel.
With the meal, we enjoyed a red wine from Pico island, Terras de Lava Tinto.
We topped the afternoon with a chilled mixed drink, Furnas Cocktail, made with passion fruit liqueur (Maracujá do Ezequiel) and a top grade scotch whiskey.
Great food and libations, and of course, wonderful company!

Plate as enjoyed at the Terra Nostra Garden Hotel in Furnas in 2007

Author's cousin Álvaro Lemos 2007

Author José Alves 2007

Tributo Ao Baleeiro - Tribute to the Whaleman

Yesterday...other values! Well worth viewing the bravery of these men, who fought, one on one, with the largest mammal in the sea.
No need to place today's values on a bygone era!

The Last Azorean Whalemen

Looking forward to seeing the final product.

The Last Azorean Whalemen - Trailer from FRANCHISE STUDIOS on Vimeo.

The Sinking of the American Boy - Converted Tuna Seiner

Just as many stories need to be documented of the bravery and hard life of the tuna fishermen, this story demonstrates well what some of the families never knew happened out at sea!
The owner of this blog, knew some of the men in this story and respected them!

The Wreck of American Boy

It was so sudden. The waters were very rough. I thought we were going to die.
--Fisherman Joaquim Rico, aboard the tuna boat American Boy.

Fishing for tuna on the high seas has always been a risky job. All too often the small tuna clippers have capsized in pounding seas or run aground on rocky shores. In the mid-1950s, fifty-two tuna boats—a third of the San Diego fleet—were lost at sea in one five-year period. On the morning of March 6, 1966, twelve fishermen from the tuna clipper American Boy wondered about their own fates when heavy waves swamped their boat.
The 125-foot long steel tuna clipper had been launched in September 1946 by the shipyard of the Consolidated Steel Co. in Newport Beach. Originally a “bait boat” for Van Camp Sea Food that captured tuna by hook and line, the American Boy was converted to a purse seiner in 1959 and now used large nets to corral tons of skipjack and yellowfin tuna in the eastern Pacific.

American Boy in dry dock at the Campbell Machine Co. in 1950. Courtesy Maritime Museum of San Diego.
American Boy had narrowly escaped disaster in July 1963.

Returning home with a full load of tuna, the boat was 180 miles southeast of San Diego, when rogue waves flooded the cabins and rolled the vessel on its beam-ends. “I was sure we were going over,” Captain Joe Lewis recalled. “We heeled over 45 degrees.”
Battling the waves from the helm that day was 25-year-old Manuel Jorge who felt the ship shuddering as if it had been rammed. “I threw the engine telegraph to „full ahead‟ and tried to hang on. I guess I prayed some too.”
The boat was saved when the seas swept a twelve-ton net off the stern. With the weight gone, the boat slowly righted itself. A Coast Guard plane dropped an auxiliary water pump to the clipper and the American Boy reached San Diego with its crew safe and valuable cargo intact.
Three years later, Manuel Jorge would skipper the American Boy as it fished off the coast of Costa Rica. After leaving San Diego on January 19, 1966, the crew of twelve had taken 175 tons of tuna in about a month‟s time. But on Sunday morning, March 7, as the boat was plowing through rough seas, the generator suddenly stopped working. Without power the automatic 2 gyroscope went haywire and the American Boy twisted erratically in the waves. Before the crew could react, seawater poured into the boat.
The ship‟s cook, Donald Phillips, was fixing lunch in the galley when a huge wave washed him across the room. He scrambled for the door. “God save me, it opened and I got out of there.”
When Phillips reached topside the ship was heeled over almost on its side and several men were clinging to the rail. Two small skiffs floated free and the twelve fishermen climbed in. Minutes later the American Boy sank below the waves.
The men knew they were lucky to be alive. But the quick sinking had given them no time to radio a distress message. In the tropical heat they were wearing little clothing. They had no food or water, and they were 200 miles from the mainland.
Two drums of fuel floating among wreck‟s debris gave the men hope. They could be used for the outboard motors on the skiffs. But at first, the men allowed the boats to drift. “There was no panic,” Phillips remembered. “We made jokes, sang songs.”
Phillips also remembered being thirsty, and “very, very hungry.” One man fashioned a fish hook from a nail, and then attached it to some salvaged nylon line. But the makeshift tackle caught nothing. A box of macaroni came floating by but it was too “well-seasoned” with salt water to be edible.
When a sea turtle swam by on Monday afternoon, ship‟s oiler Mark Somes plucked it from the water. A fisherman used his pocket knife to cut its throat. The blood was drained into a tin can and passed among the men. “I tried to tell myself it tasted just like water,” recalled John Da Luz. “But it didn‟t.”
The men tried eating the raw turtle flesh next. “It wasn‟t bad,” Da Luz decided.
On Monday afternoon, after drifting for more than one day, the fishermen decided to actively look for help. “We got a bug in our heads we‟d better move to the northeast, closer to shore where the big ships pass by,” Somes explained.
The decision worked. A few hours later the fishermen spotted a cargo ship on the horizon. Quickly tearing wood pieces from the sides of the skiffs and dousing them with fuel, they made blazing torches for the ship to see. That evening the Greek freighter Aristaios took the men aboard.
The Aristaios dropped the men off in Acapulco at the end of the week. On Saturday, March 12, they flew home to San Diego. After 36 hours in an open boat, the men arrived burned and blistered from the sun, but amazed and thankful for their rescue. Donald Phillips would note, “With so little time to get out, things could have been different.”

Originally published as “A TUNA BOAT CREW'S SURVIVAL TALE: The American Boy's fate in 1966 a look at perseverance on the open ocean,” by Richard Crawford, in the San Diego Union-Tribune, September 8, 2011


As it appeared in www.tunaseiners.com - Thank you for allowing us to share!

A Portuguesa

Vale a pena ler por completo! Nestas alturas em que os anseios são os mesmos de então...Vingar!

Data: 1890 (com alterações de 1957)
Letra: Henrique Lopes de Mendonça
Música: Alfredo Keil

Heróis do mar, nobre povo,
Nação valente, e imortal,
Levantai hoje de novo
O esplendor de Portugal!
Entre as brumas da memória,
Ó Pátria sente-se a voz
Dos teus egrégios avós,
Que há-de guiar-te à vitória!

Às armas, às armas!
Sobre a terra, sobre o mar,
Às armas, às armas!
Pela Pátria lutar
Contra os canhões marchar, marchar!

Desfralda a invicta Bandeira,
À luz viva do teu céu!
Brade a Europa à terra inteira:
Portugal não pereceu
Beija o solo teu jucundo
O Oceano, a rugir d'amor,
E teu braço vencedor
Deu mundos novos ao Mundo!

Às armas, às armas!
Sobre a terra, sobre o mar,
Às armas, às armas!
Pela Pátria lutar
Contra os canhões marchar, marchar!

Saudai o Sol que desponta
Sobre um ridente porvir,
Seja o eco de uma afronta
O sinal do ressurgir.
Raios dessa aurora forte
São como beijos de mãe,
Que nos guardam, nos sustêm,
Contra as injúrias da sorte.

Às armas, às armas!
Sobre a terra, sobre o mar,
Às armas, às armas!
Pela Pátria lutar
Contra os canhões marchar, marchar!

Sorrisos da Califórnia - da autoria de Ramiro Dutra

Lagos de anil, poentes de carmim,
Pomares que rescendem no calor,
Manadas branco e pretas sem ter fim,
Colinas prenhes de pão e de amor.

Vinhal fecundo, imenso jardim,
Por ti eu rendo graças ao Senhor,
Por tudo que me deu e sinto em mim,
Por tudo que contemplo ao meu redor.

E se algum ignorante ou esquecido
Tentar cobrir no fundo do olvido
Teus sorrisos e graças, tuas cores,

Lembrarei que do mar no outro lado,
Doutro jardim à beira-mar plantado
É que vieram muitas destas flores.

Planing Your Next Vacation? Here is a suggestion!

Festival Cabrillo 2011

Nos dias 1 e 2 de Outubro teve lugar o Festival Cabrillo 2011 em San Diego, comemorando a chegada de João Rodrigues Cabrillo, Português ao serviço de Espanha, primeiro europeu a pisar as terras do oeste do que hoje é o México e Estados Unidos.
Cheio de nostalgia e saudade, o Festival Cabrillo foi dedicado à memória de Mary Rosa Giglitto, a força e entusiasmo do mesmo desde o seu início.
As atividades no primeiro dia iniciaram-se com a Cerimonia Comemorativa, realizada na área onde o Museu Marítimo de San Diego está a construir a réplica da nau San Salvador, barco de Cabrillo.
Para iniciar as cerimónias, um quinteto da marinha Americana, tocou os hinos de Espanha, México, Portugal e Estados Unidos.
As cerimónias foram orientadas pelo Superintendente do Cabrillo National Monument, Tom Workman, que aludiu à memória de Mary Rosa Giglitto e os seus contributos para com o Festival Cabrillo.
Presentes estavam entidades representando Portugal. Cônsul Geral de Portugal em San Francisco, Dr. António Costa Moura, Comandante Paulo Sousa Costa, representando o Chefe de Estado-maior da Armada, de Espanha, Cônsul Geral em Los Angeles, Enrique Ruiz Molero, que foi o orador principal, Nico Saad, Presidente Emérito do Festival Cabrillo, Ensenada, Xavier Rival, em representação do Presidente Municipal, Enrique Ruiz Torres de Ensenada, México, assim como Zé Duarte Garcia, Presidente do Festival Cabrillo, Miss Cabrillo, Juliette Simões, Donald Valadão, personificando Cabrillo, e numerosa assistência.
Foi orador principal o Cônsul Geral de Espanha, que no seu discurso, teceu a historia de Cabrillo, assim como as excelente relações entre Portugal e Espanha.
Logo em seguida seguiu o depor de duas coroas de flores em honra de João Rodrigues Cabrillo, por parte dos representantes do Cabrillo National Monument e pelos representantes do Cabrillo Civic Club #16 e pelo Portuguese American Social and Civic Club em San Diego.
Antes de terminar as cerimonias, os oficiais, diretores e amigos de Mary Rosa Giglitto foram convidados a por uma rosa vermelha na coroa de flores oferecida pelo Cabrillo National Monument.
Para fechar as cerimónias, foi colocado na mesma coroa, quatro ramos de poejo pelo representante dos indígenas Kumeyaay, que viviam nas áreas onde chegou Cabrillo como sinal de amizade entres os povos representados pelas várias nações.
A bênção foi oferecida na língua, Kumeyaay, por Jane Dumas, anciã no na Nação Kumeyaay.
Apos a cerimonia, as duas coroas de flores foram levadas para o Cabrillo Monument, para estarem patentes ao público em frente à estátua de João Rodrigues Cabrillo.
Seguiu-se o jantar e serão, Cabrillo Banquet, organizado pelo Cabrillo Civic Club #16 e Portuguese American Social and Civic Club, que serviria para a ocasião solene do desvelar do busto em bronze em memória de Mary Rosa Giglitto.
Terminado o jantar, seguiram as apresentações pela mestre-de-cerimónias, Dinisa Valadão que pediu a palavra aos vários representantes dos países que fazem parte da história de Cabrillo.
Nico Saad lembrou com muita emoção, os seus quarenta anos de trabalhar com a Mary Rosa Giglitto, desde a fundação do Festival Cabrillo em Ensenada, à sua visita a Portugal com a Mary, para pedir um busto de Cabrillo que hoje se encontra numa praça em Ensenada, à sua contínua promoção da história de Cabrillo.
Falaram também, Xavier Rivas, representante do Presidente Municipal de Ensenada que falou das boas relações entre Ensenada e a comunidade portuguesa em San Diego.
O Cônsul Geral de Espanha reiterou as boas relações entre Espanha e Portugal, especialmente nesta altura em que ambos os países enfrentam tempos difíceis.
Tom Workman, descendentes de madeirenses que imigraram para o Havai e Superintendente do Cabrillo National Monument, ofereceu à Família Giglitto, uma placa alusiva ao contributo da Mary para com o monumento.
Zé Duarte Garcia, Presidente do Festival Cabrillo de igual modo, ofereceu à Família Giglitto, em prol do Festival Cabrillo, uma placa que citava o trabalho de Mary Rosa Giglitto para que o Festival Cabrillo, ficara reconhecido como o primário festival internacional nos Estados Unidos.
Em representação do Chefe de Estado-maior da Armada Portuguesa, o Comandante Paulo Sousa Costa, aludiu à ligação da Marinha com o Festival Cabrillo e importância que esta amizade tem para a Marinha, interlaçando a os feitos de Cabrillo com os da comunidade.
Finalizando, pediu ao Cônsul Geral, Dr. António Costa Moura que o acompanhasse no pódio, para atribuir à Miss Cabrillo Festival, Juliette Simões, a oferta de uma bolsa de estudo no valor de $3,000 em nome da Marinha Portuguesa.
A seguir o Cônsul Geral discursou sobre as boas relações entre os países, a importância do Festival Cabrillo, e salientou a importância da comunidade participar ativamente na vida política, não só na Califórnia, como em Portugal. Adicionalmente aludiu à importância de reconhecer os tempos difíceis que Portugal está a atravessar e o quanto tão importante é o contributo da comunidade.
Adicionalmente salientou o trabalho feito por vários indivíduos em prol da comunidade, tendo dado especial enfase à obra desenvolvida por Mary Rosa Giglitto.
Para encerrar a noite, a mestre-de-cerimónias, chamou ao palco José Alves, que com os Comendadores Capitão Cristiano DaRosa e José Vitorino Silva, tinha coordenado o projeto da escultura do busto em bronze de Mary Rosa Giglitto.
Este projeto que foi custeado por ofertas de amigos de Mary Rosa Giglitto teve um contributo muito especial por parte do Governo Regional dos Açores.
A sua conceção teve início logo após o falecimento da homenageada e foi elaborado pela artista local Kitty Cantrell de Ramona e fundido na Bronze Artworks em Escondido.
Para o desvelar do busto, foram convidado ao palco, os familiares de Mary, Frank Giglitto, viúvo, filhos Ângela e Frankie, irmãs gémeas, Antoinette e Bernadette, Miss Cabrillo, Presidente do Festival Cabrillo e os Comendadores Capitão Cristiano DaRosa e José Vitorino Silva.
A meio do palco encontrava-se o busto, coberto pelas bandeiras, americana e portuguesa,
Depois de feitas as apresentações, José Alves, agradeceu aos clubes Cabrillo Civic Club #16 e Portuguese American Social and Civic Club a autorização para que decorresse a cerimónia durante o Cabrillo Banquet, assim como ao Portuguese Historical Center por ser a entidade que recebeu e dispersou os fundos para o projeto.
Seguidamente historiou o projeto, e pediu a comparência no palco do Cônsul Geral em San Francisco, Dr. António Costa Mouta e do Cônsul Honorário em Los Angeles, Edmundo Macedo, amigo íntimo da Mary e grande impulsionador do projeto que dirigiu a seguinte mensagem aos presentes:

Good evening,
My unforgettable friend Mary Rosa Giglitto built an outstanding pyramid consisting of laborious activity, amazing imagination, indomitable courage, sense of humility and unmatched class.
I do not expect the value of Mary's contribution to society to dissipate like smoke into the clouds, but to live among us and future generations as a precious example of what people can do when people are guided by a clear conscience, by tolerance and fairness.
In her quest for greatness, Mary succeeded.
Plain and simple, "Our Mary" was bigger than life!
Thank you.

A pedido de José Alves, os Cônsules, convidaram a família Giglitto e Rosa a desvelar o busto em homenagem a Mary Rosa Giglitto.
Com muita emoção Frank, Ângela e Frankie Giglitto, destaparam o busto deixando cair para diante as bandeiras que exemplificavam o amor de Mary por Portugal e pelos Estados Unidos.
No Busto a simples legenda:

Mary Rosa Giglitto
“Our Mary”
1938 – 2011

Noite extremamente comovente para todos presentes, a assistência, de pé, acompanhou com uma grande salva de palmas um momento que se pode dizer único na comunidade portuguesa de San Diego.
Ficaria assim memorializada Mary Rosa Giglitto, mulher de grandes dons, que deixou um vacum na comunidade portuguesa, podia dizer-se mesmo na Califórnia, que jamais poderá ser preenchido.
Frank Giglitto agradeceu em nome das famílias a homenagem prestada à sua companheira vitalícia.
Em seguida, o Cônsul Geral ofereceu à família Giglitto, uma réplica em resina do busto, seguido com espontaneo convite do Consul Costa Moura para que a assistencia de pé cantasse "A Portuguesa".
José Alves agradeceu a participação de todos devolveram o serão à mestre-de-cerimónias, que encerrou o serão com um convite ao baile que seguia.
No dia 2, e na Base de Submarinos em Point Loma, pelas 11 Horas da manhã, o local abriu ao público.
Patentes estavam várias barracas com manjares das nações representadas, assim como artesãos e barracas de organizações comunitárias assim como uma área para crianças.
Para abrir as atividades do dia, a Filarmónica União Portuguesa de San Diego tocou uma variedade de números.
No coreto em frente ao palco principal, local onde se sentaram as entidades e convidados de honra, incluindo o Comandante da Base de Submarinos, estava patente para apreciação pelo público, o busto de Mary Rosa Giglitto.
O entretenimento da tarde principiou com danças por parte de Abel Silvas, membro dos Kumyeaay com o programa Running Grunion, que reconta a história dos indígenas destas paragens., seguido com o grupo Soaring Eagles, membros do Nação Lakota, índios de North Dakota.
Seguia-se a atração principal da tarde, a encenação do desembarque de João Rodrigues Cabrillo, na Baía de San Diego a 28 de Setembro de 1542.
Acompanhado por uma narração da viagem de Cabrillo por José Alves, que serviu de mestre-de-cerimónias durante o dia, via-se ao longe a nau San Salvador, que depois da entrada no “bom e calmo porto de San Miguel (San Diego) prosseguiu até à área hoje denominada por Balast Point, onde Cabrillo, o Frei Franciscano e dois soldados, remaram até chegar a terra no pequeno barco denominado por “chalupa”, onde depois de desembarcar, declaravam a sua descoberta para o Rei Carlo I de Espanha.
Uma assistência de uns milhares de pessoas assistiu ao desembarque, com emoção e que depois tiveram ocasião de falar e ser fotografados com Cabrillo e sua companha.
A seguir houve a apresentação das bandeiras em que foram portadores membros da marinha americana acompanhada pelos hinos do Espanha, Portugal, México e Estados Unidos.
O Presidente do Festival Cabrillo 2011, Zé Duarte Garcia apresentou as entidades presentes que de perto e de longe vieram para participar no festival e agradeceu à assistência pela sua presença, com votos de que estivessem a gozar a linda tarde e a experiencia da história da viagem de Cabrillo.
De novo, no palco voltaram as atuações, principiando com o grupo folclórico, Portuguese American Dancers de San Diego, fundado em 1955 pela madeirense, Mary Moniz, e hoje sob a direção de antigos participantes no grupo.
Sempre uma apresentação muito emocionante, este ano teve especial significado, pois pela primeira vez atuou no grupo uma sobrinha-neta de Mary Rosa Giglitto.
Apos esta apresentação seguiu o grupo Hispanic Mexican Ballet Folklórico, que agraciou a assistência com vários bailas coloridos.
Para terminar as atuações da tarde, exibiu-se o grupo espanhol Olé Flamenco muito apreciado pelos presentes.
O Festival Cabrillo 2011 foi o quadragésimo oitavo. Celebrado em memória de Mary Rosa Giglitto, apesar de ter decorrido com o brilhantismo a que o público está acostumado, não foi difícil sentir a ausência da sua maior impulsionadora e alma, a Presidente Emérita, Mary Rosa Giglitto.

Ancient ways and modern times

This is a very interesting article, well worth reading, written by LA Times writer, Joe Mozingo, that describes the Kumeyaay people, then and now. These were the people that Cabrillo encountered when he arrived in Todos Santos Bay, Ensenada, Baja California and in San Miguel, now San Diego, California.

Click on tittle and scroll down to Column One to read article

Ancient ways and modern times

Cabrillo Fest to honor Portuguese community’s iconic past president

Double click on the title to open link to read article from sdnews.com (Peninsula Beacon)

Cabrillo Fest to honor Portuguese community’s iconic past president: Mary Rosa Giglitto, a pillar of San Diego’s Portuguese community for the last 50 years and a co-founder of the Cabrillo Festival, Inc., will be honored with a bronze commemorative bust at the 48th ...

Closure of U.S. Consulate in the Azores

UPDATE on Potential Closing of the U.S. Consulate in Ponta Delgada

Source:  LUSUS
The Online Newsletter of PALCUS  
April 2012     

PALCUS has been assured by our contacts at the U.S. Department of State that there are no plans to close the U.S. Consulate in Ponta Delgada at this time. Nevertheless, Congressman Dennis Cardoza (CA18 -D ), co-chairman of the House Portuguese-American Caucus addressed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton directly on this matter at the House hearing of the Foreign Budget for F.Y. 2013 on February 29th.

Congressman Cardoza expressed his concern regarding the possible closing of the U.S. Consulate in Ponta Delgada and the decision to move the application of I-IV and DV visas from the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon to that in Paris.

Secretary Clinton's reply in the record follows:

"CLINTON : Well, first, with respect to Portugal, I share your view that Portugal is a wonderful friend and not only a good partner in NATO and so many other areas, but the source of a lot of Portuguese-Americans, culture, food, so much else.I will have to take those questions for the record, Congressman, because I want to look into the two areas that you raised. But I want to assure you that we highly value our relationship with Portugal. And we'll be very careful in making any decisions that would affect the free flow of people and trade."

PALCUS would like to thank Congressman Cardoza for taking the question in person directly to Secretary Clinton on behalf of Portuguese-Americans in the United States. Meanwhile, PALCUS will continue to press the issue with its contacts at the State Department and through its letter-writing campaign. 

September 22, 2011

Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Washington D.C.

Dear Madam Secretary,
It has been brought to our attention the possible closure of the U.S. Consulate in Ponta Delgada, Azores for economic reasons.
The closure of the Consulate would be a burden for the many Azoreans who regularly visit the Consulate for the most varied reasons. It is not sufficient that they must travel within the archipelago at great cost to resolve personal and business matters, closure of the Consulate would bring an additional burden by forcing them to travel to Lisbon, a distance of some 900 miles to handle these same matters.
Additionally, the consular presence maintains good will between the over one million Azorean descendants who are U.S. Citizen and their ancestral home.
The U.S. Consulate in the Azores is the oldest consulate in continuous operation in the world, having opened when President George Washington appointed the first official U.S. Consul, John Street, in 1795, when Thomas Jefferson was our Secretary of State.
For these reasons, I urge you to reconsider the closure of the U.S. Consulate in the Azores.

Respectfully,

José M, L. Alves
Azorean by Birth, U.S. Citizen by Choice

Tuna From Catch To Can, 1950s

If you have some time to enjoy a film about tuna fishing and processing, I suggest that you take a look at this one. The method is pole fishing as it was done up until the mid 1950's when purse seining became the norm. This is an enlightening film produced by Chicken of the Sea, about a life style, that is no more, and that many times the families did not know how these men of the sea worked. Carl Soares, a member of a pioneer tuna fishing family in San Diego is the skipper. Enjoy!
For more information regarding tuna fishing view:
http://www.westcoasttunahistory.com
http://tunaseiners.com/blog/

Se tem um pouco de tempo para apreciar um filme sobre a pesca do atum e seu enlatar, sugiro este.O método usado é de ingodo e caniço, utilizado até meados dos anos 1950, altura em que a pesca com rede foi adoptada. Este filme produzido pela companhia Chicken of the Sea, mostra um estilo de vida, que passou à história, e que por por vezes nem as família conheciam. Carl Soares, membro de uma das famíilias pioneiras da pesca do atum em San Diego, é o capitão. Desfrutem!
Para mais informações sobre a pesca do atum visualizem:
http://www.westcoasttunahistory.com
http://tunaseiners.com/blog

Olhos Negros - Carlos Guilherme

Linda versão de uma das pérolas do cancioneiro açoriano.

Cabrillo Festival - Ensenada, Mexico

September 17, 1542 is the date of arrival of João Rodrigues Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer in the service of Spain, to San Mateo Bay, today, Todos Santos Bay, Ensenada, Baja California.
With this commemoration, starts the cycle of events that commemorate Cabrillo’s voyage of discovery initiated at Barra de Navidad in Mexico and up the coasts of Mexico and what is now, the California and the West Coast of the United States, that will culminate with Cabrillo Festival’s reenactment of Cabrillo’s landing in San Diego Bay, on October 2.
A committee from San Diego’s Cabrillo Festival traveled to Ensenada to participate in the city’s commemoration, included Miss Cabrillo, Juliette Simões and her mother Susette Simões, Cabrillo Festival’s President, Zé Duarte Garcia and past presidents, Mary Correia and José M. L. Alves.
The committee was hosted by the President Emeritus of Cabrillo Festival, Ensenada, Nico Saad. The event was organized by Cabrillo Festival Ensenada and the City of Ensenada and incorporated the highest government entities of the area, including the Mayor and the Commandant of the Naval District.
The event was held at the plaza that holds the bust of Cabrillo, a gift of the Portuguese Government to the City of Ensenada.
The flags of the four participating countries, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States were raised, accompanied by a Mexican Navy Honor Guard.
Nico Saad, spoke about the close relationship and history of the two Cabrillo Festival Committees and Mayor Enrique Pelayo Torres addressed the importance of Cabrillo’s arrival as a time in history, when cultures and people’s came together to further the human spirit.
To end the ceremony, there was an exchange of gifts, and a book presentation by historian Carlos Lazcano, followed by a performance by the folkloric group Omo Pilcuyac of Ensenada.
For the San Diego Committee of Cabrillo Festival, it was once again a memorable visit to Ensenada and an opportunity to experience its always generous hospitality.

A 17 de Setembro de 1542, marca-se a data da chegada do explorador português ao serviço de Espanha, João Rodrigues Cabrillo à Baía de San Mateo, hoje, Baía de Todos Santos, Ensenada, México.
Com esta comemoração, principia o ciclo de atividades que comemoram a viagem de descoberta de Cabrillo, que teve início em Barra de Navidad no México, percorrendo a costa do México até ao que hoje é a Califórnia e a costa oeste dos Estados Unidos, culminando com o Festival Cabrillo a realizar no dia 2 de Outubro e a reencenação da chegada de Cabrillo a San Diego.
Um comité representando o Festival Cabrillo em San Diego e composto pela Miss Cabrillo, Juliette Simões, sua mãe, Suzette Simões, o actual presidentr Zé Duarte Garcia e os ex-presidentes Mary Correia e José M. L. Alves, viajaram até Ensenada para assistir às cerimónias.
O anfitrião foi o Presidente Emérito do Festival Cabrillo em Ensenada, Nico Saad. A atividade foi organizada pelo Festival Cabrillo em Ensenada e pela cidade de Ensenada, ao que se associam as mais altas entidades locais, incluindo o Presidente Municipal e o Comandante do Distrito Naval.
O evento teve lugar na praça onde está patente o busto de Cabrillo, oferta do governo português à cidade de Ensenada.
As cerimónias iniciaram com o hastear das bandeiras dos países participantes, México, Portugal, Espanha e Estados Unidos, acompanho por uma Guarda De Honra da Marinha Mexicana.
Nico Saad, Presidente emérito do Festival Cabrillo em Ensenada, discursou sobre o relacionamento e historial dos Festival Cabrillo, Ensenada e San Diego e o Presidente Municipal Enrique Pelayo Torres aludiu à importância da chegada de Cabrillo, o encontro das culturas, e a sua geminação no espírito humano.
Para terminar a cerimónia, realizou-se um intercambio de lembranças, seguido por uma atuação do grupo folclórico Omo Pilcuyac de Ensenada.
Para o comité do Festival Cabrillo em San Diego, a ida a Ensenada, foi uma viagem memorável, e a oportunidade para novamente deliciar na sua sempre generosa hospitalidade.

El 17 de Septiembre de 1542, se registra la llegada del explorador portugués al servicio de España, João Rodrigues Cabrillo a la Bahía de San Mateo, Bahía de Todos Santos, Ensenada, México.
Con esta conmemoración se inicia el ciclo de actividades, se evoca el viaje del descubrimiento de Cabrillo, que tuvo inicio en Barra de Navidad en México, recorriendo la costa de México hasta lo que hoy es California y la costa oeste de Estados Unidos, con la reconstrucción, el día 2 de Octubre, de la llegada de Cabrillo a San Diego.
Un comité representando el Festival Cabrillo en San Diego, compuesta por la Miss Cabrillo, Juliette Simões , su madre Suzette Simões, el actual presidente Zé Duarte Garcia los ex-presidentes Mary Correia y José M. L. Alves, viajaron hasta Ensenada para asistir a las ceremonias.
El evento se efectuó en la plaza, en la cual se encuentra el busto de Cabrillo donado por el gobierno de Portugal a la ciudad de Ensenada.
Las ceremonias, se iniciaron al izar las banderas de los países participantes, México, Portugal, España y Estados Unidos de América del Norte, y con la participación de una Guardia de Honor de la Marina Mexicana.
Nico Saad, discursó sobre el relacionamiento e historial entre los Festival Cabrillo Ensenada y San Diego y el Presidente Municipal, Henrique Pelayo Torres aludió a la importancia de la llegada de Cabrillo, el encuentro de culturas y la germinación del espirito humano.
Para terminar la ceremonia en Ensenada, se hizo un intercambio de regalos, seguido por una actuación del grupo folklórico, Omo Pilcuyac de Ensenada.
Para el comité del Festival Cabrillo en San Diego, la ida a Ensenada fue un memorable viaje, y la oportunidad para de nuevo disfrutar su generosa hospitalidad.

Fado: "Património Imaterial da Humanidade"- Fado: "Intangible Heritage of Humanity"

Enjoy a few minutes seeing the short film that was presented to make the Fado an "Intangible Heritage of Humanity". Desfrutem uns momentos a ver o filme de candidatura do Fado a "Património Imaterial da Humanidade"

A Chronology of the History of the Portuguese in San Diego

When I was asked by Mizé Ferreira, incoming president of the Luso American Fraternal Society, to be the keynote speaker at its convention in San Diego , I decided that a presentation on the chronology of the history of the Portuguese in San Diego would be a given, since this community has a certain mysticism among communities in California. 
The presentation was made on August 7, 2011.

In 1973 I vacationed in San Diego, and after a few days here, I decided that if I were to ever leave San Jose, the choice would be San Diego. 

Little did I know that just a year later, I would be moving to San Diego to pursue a business opportunity.

Shortly thereafter, I began my involvement in the Portuguese Community and learning about its history.

My first involvement was in the Cabrillo Civic Club #16. 

This gives me a perfect “door opener” as it relates the chronological history of the Portuguese in San Diego.

It was almost 469 years, to today, that the first Portuguese set foot on what is now San Diego and the West Coast of the United States. I am of course speaking of João Rodrigues,  Cabrillo, the name that was given him by the Spanish, whom he was in service of. And why the name Cabrillo?  

Most likely, because he was born in Cabril in Northern Portugal. Interesting enough, if one looks at a phone book in Portugal, one is hard pressed to find the name Cabrillo or Cabrilho.

After his death on San Miguel Island in the Santa Barbara Channel, it was around 300 years, before a récord could be found, of a Portuguese setting foot in San Diego.

We are now in 1852, when a captain José Machado, known as Joseph Clark, became one of the most famous whaling captains of his time, when he established the Monterey Whaling Company.

History tells us that Joseph Clark was asked to come to San Diego, around 1858 [1]by a Captain Packard, to help with the establishment of a whaling station at Ballast Point, Point Loma, just across from where Cabrillo is  believed to have landed.

Meanwhile, immigrants from the Azores had come to try their luck during the gold rush of 1849 in California. Many of these men were from the island of Pico and once they had tried their luck at gold mining, decided to look for other opportunities, like farming, dairying and fishing.

One man of these men was Manuel Francisco Madruga, who had been farming in Northern California.   After hearing stories about fishing in San Diego,  he decided to move his family to the La Playa area of Point Loma at about 1885, and try his luck at fishing[2], eventually becoming a successful fish broker.

As word spread of the good fishing in San Diego, other immigrants from the Azores and later from Madeira, found their way to Point Loma. The first marriage performed between two Portuguese in San Diego, was that of José Leal Monteiro and Maria Mitchell, (Machado), held in 1889.

From its inception, the economic base of the Portuguese community was fishing.  These pioneers engaged in,  salt fishing.

From 1885 to 1913 when the first cannery opened to can exclusively tuna, the Portuguese dominated this fishery.

As the members of the community became more prosperous, they used their profits to invest in land, and businesses related to fishing and boatbuilding.

They built small homes, with a community developing in La Playa first, and subsequently in Roseville. This was a lot different from the early comers, who had settle on La Playa and lived in wooden shacks with blue doors.

As the community grew, the influx of immigrants, now accounted for more people not only from the Azores and Madeira, also but from the “Continente”. They came from the east coast, mostly from Gloucester, Massachusetts, where they had been fishing. This last group settled mostly in the area known as “downtown” in San Diego.

These immigrant families, brought with them, the customs and traditions from their areas, and made these part of their daily lives, including the Festa Do Espírito Santo, that had begun to be celebrated at people’s homes in an unorganized manner.

From 1910 to 1913, a home belonging to Manuel Cabral, was used as a community hall for the celebration of the “Festa”.

Members of the community would bring the traditional food of the Holy Spirit Feast (Sopas) from their homes and share in the celebration. There was much merryment, and the celebration went on well into the night. There would be a small parade to St. Agnes Chapel, a mass and crowning. For this early celebration, a crown was made by the tinsmith Joe (José) Azevedo who had immigrated from Terceira.

Mr. Azevedo was also the first Portuguese to own a fish canery in San Diego, where he canned sardines. It was located in his backyard, across from the present St. Agnes Church.

As many of the Portuguese immigrants in those days were living in the downtow area of San Diego, the commute to Point Loma to attend s Festa, was done done by ferry. This posed a problem for those who lived downtown, for the celebration would many times last past the last ferry. This meant either staying at friends homes in La Playa, relying on one of the fishermen to return them by small boat or more likely, waiting on the beach for the first morning ferry. “Many times we walked up the boardwalk on Broadway (downtown San Diego) late at night with our shoes in our hands, for we were tired from walking and dancing”, wrote Lawrence Oliver in his autobiography, “Never Backward”, published in 1972.

For those who were Point Loma residents, either from La Playa or Roseville, it also meant a night of great enjoyment, for the celebration would mean listening to the music of Frank Goularte and his viola, as well as the dancing of the  Chamarrita.

In 1913, a crisis in the family of Manuel Cabral made it impossible to continue using the home as a community hall.

A group from the downtown Portuguese community, who at that time were enjoying a more prosperous financial situation, spearheaded a move to build a community hall in the Roseville area of Point Loma.

The building was named the Cabrillo Pavillion, and was used as a community hall from 1914 to 1921.

Although used for community events, even the Festa organizers had to pay for the use of the Cabrillo Pavillion. Miss Aurora Mitchell (Machado) was the first Festa Queen in this hall.

In 1920, Frank Silva, an immigrant from the Cape Verde Islands, coordinated a drive to buy a crown so that the Portuguese Community could in an organized manner, celebrate the Festa do Espírito Santo. This crown is still used today at the annual Festa.

In 1921, a group of immigrants from the La Playa community decided that an Irmandade should be formed and that property be purchased in its name to build a community hall.

There was a break between the two factions, from Downtown and La Playa.

The old group moved the Festa to Downtown. The Cabrillo Pavillion was then turned into apartments which became the home for many Portuguese for the next 40 years.Until 1963^[3], San Diego had two Festas. The Downtown Festa and the Point Loma Festa.

As a gesture of perpetuity of the Downtown Festa, the gold crown that the Olivers had acquired in Portugal for this celebration^[4] was placed in a chapel consigned by Lawrence Oliver at the Imaculata at the University of San Diego,^[5] where it remains.

The Festa da Trindade as it was known, was celebrated on Trinity Sunday.

The move to organize an Irmandade, and a new hall was led by M.O. Medina and the Medina Family. Lore has it that M.O. Medina’s father made the statement, refering to the Cabrillo Pavillion, “O Senhor Espírito Santo não paga renda a ninguém”-   the Holy Spirit pays rent to no one.^[6]

The first major goal was to purchase the property for the community hall and chapel.

Donations were solicited from the Portuguese community in San Diego, as well as from other Portuguese Communities dispersed throughout California.

Two men stepped forward, Manuel Correia from Madeira and Joe Rodgers (José Rodrigues) from Pico and offered to lend $500.00 each to buy the property, with the stipulation that they would be rehimbursed by the Irmandade.

In order to clear the debt, tuna fishermen pledged one day’s catch in the summer of 1921.

 As construction on the new hall began, each boat also pledged the labor of one fisherman for the duration of the construction, making sure that  the fisherman fully shared on that trip’s catch.

Of special interest is the Chapel located adjacent to the hall. The design draws on the architecture of the Impérios of the island of Terceira in the Azores.^[7]

Thus was created, in 1922, the United Portuguese Sociedade do Espírito Santo (U.P.S.E.S, Inc.), Point Loma, San Diego.

As tradition dictated, each year a president (Mordomo) was picked and the feast was celebrated on Pentecost Sunday.

He or she was chosen by a committee from the U.P.S.E.S. with preference given to those who had made a Promessa (a promise) of thanks for a Divine intervention.

In 1929, a new way to choose a feast president was agreed upon.

Instead of individuals, tuna boat owners and the crews became responsible for celebrating the Festa by donating 50 cents per ton of tuna caught to offset the expenses.

As chance would have it, M.O. Medina, the man credited with starting the commercial tuna industry in the United States and his tuna boat, “Atlantic”, was chosen as the first president under the new system.

From 1929 to 1948, the Festa evolved from the very traditional style as was celebrated in the Azores, more specificly in the island of Pico, to the rather elaborate affairs of today.

Before 1948, the Festa was celebrated with daily activities beginning the Thursday prior to Pentecost Sunday, and continuing until the Monday after Festa Day.

From early on, the Portuguese fraternal organizations played an important role, always participating in the parade.

The competitive spirit of the community was evident from the begining of the celebration of the Festa. Every year, there were changes made either to the parade and or the manner in which the participants were dressed.

In 1921 a drill team was organized by the U. P. P. E. C. and became a part of the parade.

This was followed in 1937, by the introduction in the parade of the first King.

The king and aids walked inside the Varas, along with the queen and side maids. The reason was that - “the boys could not walk straight by themselves”.^[8]

The introduction of statues of saints, marching bands and of alegoric floats became commonplace.

As an added bit of flair, since the hall was so close to San Diego Bay, the host tuna boat would be decorated with lights, flaggs and garlands. On Saturday evening, fireworks were set off from aboard.

Today, the parades have become trully coreographed events, with many children dressed in the representative costumes of many religious and historical personages related to catholicism and Portuguese history.

In many instances, more than 1000 children participate in the parade. Floats and children dressed as tuna fishermen pay special homage to the tuna fishermen that have been the heart of this community.

The high mass and the crowning of the Festa Queen, family and friends, is done in a most solemn maner, many times with a Bishop or priests, who are especially invited from Portugal, officiating. Accompanying, is always the Portuguese Choir of St. Agnes Church.^[9]

As early as 1932, the community recognized the need for a larger, more modern hall, even though additions had been made to the original hall.

Again, a novel way was used to raise funds for the new hall.

Each tuna boat would contribute 25 cents from every ton of tuna caught toward the construction. This fund raising went on until 1948 when the new hall was completed.

For the dedication of the new hall, the community went to great lenghts, inviting dignitaries from near and far, from governmental officals to embassadors and consuls.

An elaborate ceremony with the Hollywood star, Harold Peary, of Portuguese descent, as master of ceremonies, officially opened the new hall.^[10]

In the week prior to the Festa, the finishing touches are put on the event. All the work that had begun one year earlier is now coming to fruition. The hall has been spruced up, the kitchen is ready, the decorations are up.

 It is also during this last week, that the rosary is prayed before the Corôa, food is served to those in attedance, all followed by the dancing of the Chamarrita.

On Saturday night, an evening parade departs from the hall to St. Agnes Church for the handing over of the crown from the previous year’s Queen to the present Queen to be.

The annual Festa’s traditional “Fish Fry” has also greatly abled the Hall to stay a viable and strong part of the community and unique to San Diego.

On the Friday before the celebration, the Irmandade invites tuna boat captains, canery representatives, members of the business community and selected members of the public, who are delighted with a fried fish meal of exquisite proportions and drinks.

They are asked to bid on the most varied items, from gift baskets to chain, and from sweet bread loaves to outboard motors.

There is an aspect of the Festa do Espírito Santo which has not changed since it’s inception in San Diego, the Sopas do Espírito Santo, the traditional stewed meat (carne de môlho) flavored with spices, and linguiça, served with boiled potatos, and “sopas”, Bread, fresh mint, cabbage and kale.  To top off the meal, Sweet Bread (Pão Dôce or Massa Sovada) is served for dessert.

Annually, the San Diego Festa do Espírito Santo serves between 3,500 and 5,000 attendees. 

A main seating takes place when the parade returns from the church and the crowned Queen is presented to the public.

At this main seating, attendees are the Queen and her entourage, the Festa President, family members, dignitaries, members of the Board of the U.P.S.E.S., Inc., and invited guests.

As part of the tradition of the Festa, the kitchen keeps a list of members in the community, who have contributed to the Festa in a special way and cannot attend, the sick, families who have lost a family member since the last festa and special requests.

On Sunday, Festa Day, volunteers deliver to 100 plus  homes, pans of Sopas, as an offering from the Festa do Espírito Santo.

The bazaar or (arraial) has also been a prominent part of the Festa. Started in 1955, during the Festa of Edward and Deutilde Varley,^[11]  traditionally this is the place one meets old friends, enjoys the music of brass bands, eats the food of the motherland, including linguiça, barbequed sardines, bacalhau, takes chances on the many games that help support the Festa and enjoys the entertainment of the folkcloric group, Portuguese American Dancers, founded in 1955 by Mary Moniz.

Greatly missed is, the Point Loma Strings (António Garcia da Rosa, Lionel Garcia da Rosa, Manuel (Frizado) Silva, Manuel Labricha and later José Correia), who were an important part of the entertainment  and dancing during the Festa.

In the evening, in the hall, there is a Grand March and dance which includes everything from the top 40, swing, line dancing, rock n roll and the “Chamarrita”.

In the middle 60’s, the old method of choosing the Festa president was revived. Names of those interested in making the Festa are put into a hat and a name pulled at 10 P.M.

The Festa das Contas is held on second Sunday in January.

In the 1980’s, once again, the community saw a need to modernize the hall. In 1989, a total renovation of the hall was completed in stages under the direction of Basílio Freitas.

Today, the U.P.S.E.S. Hall in San Diego is one of the best equiped and most confortable halls, of the many Portuguese Halls in California.

From its onset, San Diego’s Festa queen capes have been recognized for their beauty, intriquesy of the embroidery, and design.

They were trully different from other Festa capes in California, indeed anywhere. Expense was not spared to make the cape a true work of art.

Originaly they were bought “up north in Artesia”.^[12]  In later years, many have been the community seamstresses who have worked in these works of art.

One other event that takes place in San Diego is the “Weekly Crownings. Due to the overwhelming popularity of families wanting to host the Festa do Espírito Santo, and since there were not enough years to accommodate everyone, it was decided by the U.P.S.E.S. Board, that on the weeks following Easter leading to Pentecost Sunday, a family could in fact have a mini Festa and crowning and prepare a meal for family members and friends.

In the week preceding the crowning the family and invited friends pray the rosary in their homes every night, before the crown.

This has proven so popular and so many families have signed the “Weekly Crowning Book” that at present, it extends to the year 2078.  In many instances,  names are placed in the book prior to, or at the birth of a child.

In 2010, with Evelyn daRosa Feliciano as President, the U.P.S.E.S. Festa celebrated its 100th anniversary with much pomp and circumstance.

Of note is the fact that San Diego’s Festa do Espírito Santo is the oldest religious festival in San Diego.

In 1993, a group of community members who had been privatly celebrating the Festa da Trindade, or old Downtown Festa, asked the U.P.S.E.S. to sanction their Festa. It was agreed.

San Diego, once again, has two Festas, one on Pentecost Sunday and the other the following week, on Trinity Sunday.

But, lets return to the 1892 and the first commemoration of the arrival of Cabrillo 350 years hence, as Manuel Cabral, played the personage of Cabrillo at a citywide commemoration sponsored by the city fathers.

This commeration was not to be repeated until the arrival of the Cabrillo statue, that now sits atop Point Loma at the Cabrillo National Monument.

By 1893, there are reports of the fishing for “bonito” by the Portuguese[13]. The La Playa community continued to grow and so did the fishing, mostly coastal, for bonito and albacore.

The Portuguese immigrants had been observing how the Japanese and Italians were fishing,  going out in the morning and returning in the evening with their catches.

Among these men, was Manuel Oliveira Medina, who had come from the Azores to farm, and later wound up in San Diego to fish.

Astute and observant, in 1919, M.O.Medina, built his first tuna boat, Oceana. It was constructed by Manuel Madruga Jr. in his backyard in the old town area, not far from here. Medina paid for the boat within a short time, always with his sights set on larger boats.

As fishing became more productive, and the fishermen got better at using the barbless hook devised by the Japanese, there was a need to go further out and search for the schools of tuna.

This required larger and better equipped boats that could spend time at sea and only return when full. Therefore, in 1926, M.O Medina, consigned the building of the Atlantic, a boat equipped with ice chambers that could go out for longer periods of time, yet maintaining the fish fresh for unloading upon its return to the cannery in San Diego.

This was closely followed by the building of the Lusitania, owned by Manuel Garcia da Rosa and bother’s António and Lionel.

By 1929, M.O. and his boat the Atlantic, were fishing for the first time below the Equator, and thus an industry was on its way to making San Diego the Tuna Fishing Capital of the World.

A most important contribution to tuna fishing was the finding of banks in the Pacific Ocean, many of them discovered by the Portuguese tuna fishermen and have names like: Picaroto Bank, Rosa Bank and Lucky Strike.

With the growth of the community in La Playa and Roseville, there was a need to establish a church in the area. In 1908, under the direction of Father Mesny, a church was built. It “was a small, wooden structure built by the men of the parish, with a square steeple topped by a cross. The interior was wood with a central altar over which was a statue of St. Agnes.

The new church became the hub for community activities. The Festa do Espírito Santo was now celebrated at the new church, with the social activities taking place at the Cabrillo Pavilion. 

As an established tuna fishing industry prospered, so did the number of Portuguese families become larger.  This caused a need for a larger church.

“Several fishing boats started saving money to build the new church.

About fifteen boats gave 25 cents per ton of fish.

There were also requests for a Portuguese speaking priest.

Finally, in January of 1933, Father Rose, on loan from the Diocese of San Francisco, arrived to build a church and preach in Portuguese as well as in English.

Plans had already been drawn by Father Roure, pastor of Sacred Heart, and $3,000 to $5,000 had already been collected by the fishing boats.

With his admonition to do no work for which money was not on hand, the bishop granted permission to proceed with the lowest bid of $6,898 plus $100 for metal lath, and the project started.

The country was still in the height of the Depression. Often boats could not sell their catches, or catches were falsely condemned by canneries unable to buy.

Boats lay idle and so, some of the men came to help at the construction site.

While the church was being constructed, Mass was said at the Portuguese Hall.

The new St. Agnes church was dedicated by bishop Cantwell of Los Angeles-San Diego on May 4, 1934 and a solemn mass followed.

Father Rose continued at St. Agnes until 1936, when he returned to the Diocese in San Francisco.

An affable person, he was well liked in the community and prior to his leaving had been able to save enough money to build a rectory.

He was replaced by Father Forrestal, who was born in Ireland.

Father Forrestal did not speak Portuguese, however, “he learned Portuguese on his own by listening to records and with the help of friends.” His first Sunday, he preached in English. By the second Sunday, he preached at one mass in Portuguese.”^[14]

“By 1946, a new St. Agnes School opened was dedicated by Bishop Buddy on September 15. It was administered by sisters of St. Joseph of Orange until its closing in 1970”^[15]

In 1947, Father Edward Creighton arrived. Under his direction, the church was widened in 1950, and stained glass windows, imported from Ireland were added.

Soon after, the property across the street from the church became available and “and parishioners insisted that Monsignor Forestall buy it.”^[16] The church hall was built in 1957.

After Monsignor Forrestal departure there were several care take priests, among them Father Lawrence Avila who became an assistant to Father McDonald being followed by another Portuguese speaking priest, father José Lopes from Portugal.

Today St. Agnes  is a modern church, with a renovated school, now called the Parish Center.

Over time, many members of the community have contributed to church activities. Among the participants in church events have been the Portuguese choirs that have embellished church events from the Sunday Mass, to weddings, the Romarias, the “coronation masses, special church events and even funerals.

St. Agnes to this day continues to be the religious center of the Portuguese Community in San Diego.

Today, the Portuguese community has become dispersed, and can be found in many parts of San Diego County, away from Point Loma.

Even with less and less Portuguese speakers in the community,  the importance of St. Agnes Church has not diminished, for where ever members of the community live, Point Loma continues to be where their roots are, and St. Agnes is the their church of choice for weddings, baptisms, first communions and funerals.

Returning to the mainstay of the community, more and more boats were built, many of them the design of Manuel Madruga Jr. at the now defunct Campbel Industries, where many of the men in the community were also employed in shipbuilding.

As the community grew in importance, it was decided that an organization should be formed by all of the local fraternal, civic and social organizations. This was to receive visiting entities from Portugal. Thus the Portuguese American League was formed in 1936.

As with other communities, San Diego was not immune to differences. As a result, the Portuguese American Social and Civic Club was founded in 1940.

Just as in other cities and towns in California, Portuguese fraternal organizations, flourished with the opening of local councils. Among them was of course the Luso, which became one of the more active local councils, especially after the founding of the Festa do Bom Jesus Milagroso, spearheaded by José Tavares.

In 1940, the Cabrillo National Monument was dedicated in Point Loma.

After a turbulent trip through New York, where the Cabrillo statue, a gift from the Portuguese Government, was to be exhibited at the New York Exposition of 1939, it was sent to the San Francisco Bay area, where it was to be part of the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1940.

As it turned out, it was not exhibited at either location and went into storage, at a private home in Oakland, until Lawrence Oliver found out.

I should mention that Lawrence Oliver was to the San Diego, what Donald Trump is to New York.

As a young man who came from Pico, without education, he became one of the premier entrepreneurs in San Diego, having interests in the tuna industry, processing, real estate, cattle raising and banking. He served in many boards, including that of San Diego Gas and Electric.

Returning to the Cabrillo Statue that was sculpted by Alvaro de Bré, it was in essence stolen from the Oakland garage where it had been stored, and brought to San Diego with the help of Colonel Fletcher a state senator, who was a friend of Lawrence Oliver’s.

It sat in storage until 1949, when it was initially place near the light house on Point Loma, and later moved to its present location.

Sacramento, Fresno and Oakland wanted it, but with a bit of ingenuity and lying, San Diego got it!

By 1964, a local committee was established to form the Cabrillo Festival Inc., Organized by the Point Loma Junior Chamber of Commerce, it has, from its beginning, had the invaluable support of the Portuguese Community.

Special credit must to be given to Mary Rosa Giglitto, recently passed, under whose direction and efforts, the Festival grew to become the premier international festival in the United States, involving  four nations, the United States, Portugal, Mexico, Spain and Native American Groups.

By 1940, as the tuna industry and its technology continued to develop, new techniques were found and so this same year, the tuna boat Endeavor, owned by Victor Goulart was built, the first boat to have a freeze-drying system to conserve the tuna.

With the beginning of WWII and specifically with the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Navy mobilized  all tuna boats.

Some 600 fishermen, mostly Portuguese, enlisted in the Naval Reserve.

Shortly after being painted navy grey, and armed with bow cannons, the tuna fishing boats were sent out to sea. They were given the designation of YP’s (Yard Patrol).

Among these boats, there were several boats that were sunk, including:

The YP277 (Triunfo)

The YP284 (Endeavor)

Other boats included, the Navigator and the Yankee.

The YP346 (Prospect) commanded by Joaquim Theodore was damaged.

It is important to note that Jack, as he was known, and some of the other boats, were the reason that many service men and women had turkey to eat at Thanksgiving, for due to the cold capacity of the boats, they were able to transport frozen turkeys to the various combat zones.

Most important is the fact that Jack’s boat shuttled marines behind enemy lines during the Campaign in the Solomon. His achievements are included in the book, Guadalcanal Diaries.

For his bravery and wounds,   Jack Theodore was awarded a Purple Heart.

With the end of WWII, the men returned and built new boats.

By 1949 tuna fishing was evolving again. The Espírito Santo was the first boat to be equipped with a helicopter for spotting schools of tuna.

In the mid 1950’s a new way of fishing was introduced in San Diego. Originally used by the Slavs in San Pedro, purse seining became the norm.

Purse seining is a method, whereby a tuna boat carries a large net that is released from the stern of the boat and is pulled by a skiff, a small boat, until it encircles the school of tuna.

Men in speedboats then round up the tuna, much as cowboys round up cattle, forcing the fish to stay in the net.

Slowly the net is pulled until it has the form of a purse and the tuna cannot escape. The tuna boat then does, what is known as a back down procedure, where any dolphins that are in the net are allowed to escape, many times with the men swimming in shark infested waters to save the dolphin. The net is then pulled tight and the bringing of the fish into the boat’s holds begins.

It sounds simple, but it is a most complex procedure, with much danger to the men.

The first Portuguese fisherman to convert his bait boat to purse seining, was Lou Brito. Brito was also to create one of the largest commercial tuna fishing consortium.

As the purse seining became common place, the need for larger boats adapted  to the new technology were built.

By 1955, Manuel Madruga, Jr. retired from Campbel Industries.

In 1956, a boat builder from Pico, became the principal designer at Campbell Industries. It was time for José Vitorino Silva to have his hand at designing the award winning tuna boats that we all have become familiar with.  The slick lines of the modern tuna boat came from the pencil of Joe V. as he is known. They represent some of the most beautiful lines ever drawn, smooth as an ocean wave.

By 1965, the fleet had completely changed their technology to purse seining and it was on its way to becoming the tuna industry, without parallel.

New vessels with larger capacity and longer range were designed, new navigation equipment introduced, fishing techniques were improved and new ones found.

All of these factors led the San Diego tuna industry to become the best, most productive, efficient tuna industry in the world and its fishermen, to become the best rewarded.

One last evolution in the fishing of tuna was the Medina Panel.

Designed by Harold Medina in the 1970’s, it seemed to be an answer to fishing for Dolphin Safe Tuna. The Medina Panel is  a fine mesh net that is attached to the upper part of the net to facilitate the exit of dolphin from the net during the back down procedure.

Continued government regulations, made it impossible to sustain tuna fishing as it had been done before, and so its decline in San Diego began in the late 1970’s.

The development of the tuna industry accompanied the growth of San Diego. Those days are no more. The industry’s one hundred and fifty plus boats are gone. San Diego’s loss, the loss to United States fisheries, is now growth for others. Socio-economic winds and political expediency, made an industry fade into the history books. But as time moves on, and memory of what once was the mightiest tuna industry in the world becomes dimmer, names such as Medina, Correia, Rosa, Brito, Madruga, Silva and many more, will never be forgotten.

There are couple of other dates that I feel are important to note. In 1975, The Azorean Alliance was founded. It was an attempt to bring together the Portuguese Communities in California, at a time shortly after the 1974 revolution in Portugal, when it was felt that Portugal would go communist. It was a way of alerting the Portuguese in California of the importance of becoming politically involved in their communities and defending Azorean interests.

This concept was not to be, but the Azorean Alliance has become one of the most Portuguese organizations in San Diego, with its premise now being that of a social club.

In 1977, after a number of books were given to the Portuguese Community in San Diego, and no one wanted to received them, for they feared that their content was left wing inspired, they became the foundation for the founding of the Portuguese Historical Center. By the way, the books were about Portuguese literature and history.

The PHC, over the years has evidenced itself as the repository for the history of the Portuguese Community in San Diego, and well worth a visit.

From the mid 1970’s to the mid 1990’s San Diego also had a Portuguese radio program under the direction of Paulo and Angela Goulart by the name of Hora Portuguesa.

In 1986, on Shelter Island, the Tunaman’s Memorial was dedicated,  “Honoring those that built an industry and remembering those that departed this Harbor in the Sun and did not return.”  

The concept and design was coordinated by Captain Anthony Mascarenhas, under the auspices of the Portuguese Historical Center and depicts three tuna fishermen pulling in a giant tuna in the old style of pole fishing.

In 1992, the city council passed for the street name that connects the Portuguese Hall to Saint Agnes church, to be changed to “ Avenida de Portugal”

In 1999, a marching band was formed. The Filarmónica União Portuguesa de San Diego, now delights the community at Festa time and at many other events.

Originally a community of fishermen, San Diego’s Portuguese Community is now made up of the most diverse professions. From attorneys to dentistis, from teachers to construction workers to entrepreneurs.

An amalgam of immigrants and their descents from the Azores, Madeira and the “Continente”, even with all their regional differences, has melded into a very distinctive community, for it has drawn from all of the traditions and customs of the various origins, and formed  a vibrant community, where the young are interested more than ever, in their past.

My presence in San Diego as I told you dates to 1974, when, as I believe it occurs in many of your home towns, the older members of the community questioned, whether the community would withstand the change of time.

I can tell you, that San Diego is alive and well, and that it will continue to thrive. It will become different from what we experience now, but just as it evolved from its simple beginnings, so it will continue to do so, for being Portuguese is not being stale, but an ever changing process that we all have experienced.

©José M. L. Alves 2011 

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[1] Portuguese Shore Whalers of California: 1854-1904

[2] The Holy Ghost Festas A Historic Prespective of the Portuguese in California 2002

[3] Oliver, Lawrence,  Never Backward, 1972

[4] Lauriano, Gertrude  Conversation with José M. L. Alves P.H.C. 2001

[5] Oliver

[6] Medina, M.O. PHC Conversation with Claire Alves, 1981

[7] Medina, M.O. PHC Conversation with Claire Alves, 1981

[8] Labruzzi, 2001

[9] Rose, Phyllis – Conversation with José M. L. Alves 2001

[10] Commemorative Program 1948

[11] Varley, Deutilde - Conversation with  – José M. L. Alves P.H.C. 2001

[12] Varley

[13] A Chronology of the Portuguese Presence in California – 2011 PHPC

[14]            St. Agnes Church Golden Jubilee,1983

[15]            St. Agnes Church Golden Jubilee,1983

[16]            St. Agnes Church Golden Jubilee,1983