The Women On The 6th Floor - Love, Humor and Respect

By now thousands of migrants are crossing the French borders heading home for the Summer holidays. They left the villages of Spain and Portugal during the tough years of the fascist Iberian regimes and they still take to France, Germany, Switzerland to find a better job and escape the difficulties that still affect these two countries' hinterland.
Depicting the lives of the Spanish cleaning ladies and maids in Paris, "The Women of the 6th Floor" is a beautiful movie that does not fail to show the difficulties of the migrants in a big city but does it with humor.
Starring the acclaimed Spanish actress Carmen Maura (who won a Cesar award in France as actress in supporting role in this movie), Natalia Verbeke and Fabrice Luchini the film revolves around the lives of these funny maids and the love story between a boss and his maid. But it is above a story of respect for the maids and concierges of Paris. Not to miss!!

Underworld's song for the Olympics Opening Ceremony

Underwold teamed up with movie director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire) and wrote the song Isles of Wonder inspired in Caliban's Dream from Shakespeare's The Tempest for the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony . See below the easiest to find excerpt from Shakespeare's play but the one that best seems to have set the tone for the song and the show:

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I wakedI cried to dream again.

Some claim the ceremony was somehow parochial. It was indeed a great show of Britishness rather than a show of Worldiness. But then again, occasions like these are there to show the host city's glory.
20 years ago Barcelona used the Olympics to propel both the region and the Catalan language and relied on the powerful scenic imagery of la Fura dels Baus.
 Hitler, dangerously but brilliantly used the art and craft of Leni Riefenstahl to film the Germania dream and the Olympics in Munich in what is until now probably one of the most beautiful images of olympic athletes in motion.
Danny Boyle cleverly used the British imagery and did not forget one of the biggest British legacies - Pop culture. Hey Jude was consensually used to please mothers and grandmothers, but we do have to thank Boyle for having included Bowie's song Heroes, hoping it will soon replace the boring "We are the champions" in major events. David, who refused the title of Sir, does deserve it as he made more for British pop culture than many institutions and performers put together.

The Stone Roses live in the adorable city of Lisbon

They went separate ways for 15 years and reunited recently. Lisbon will now have the possibility to see the band live at Optimus Alive Festival on July 13. The band's gig in the capital of Portugal follows a couple of highly acclaimed concerts particularly in England where, according to Reuters, the band made a successful comeback "leaving the fans wanting more".
The Roses concert in Lisbon happens one year after Primal Scream, another great band from the so called Madchester movement, took to this very same stage and revisited the fabulous Screamadelica album.
I wanna adored, I am the ressurection, Fool's gold or Waterfall are just some of the reasons to attend this gig.

Josep Abril - From Catalonia with style

Some days before Barcelona Fashion Week which, will take place between July 10 and July 13, we bring you images from last year's Summer edition featuring outfits by one of our favourite designers - Josep Abril. His name is not featured in the calender for this edition for reasons that we haven't been able to ascertain until now. But that will not hinder from visiting his atelier and talk to the man who created the outfits pictured here and show in the magnificient Barcelona University building.

Boom Festival, Portugal - One of the biggest alternative events in the world

It is hosted every two years in northern Portugal and has become true mantra for those seeking new sounds, new forms of art and new experiences.
 Between July 28 and August 4 let yourself go in this festival taking place in a fully ecological venue. Concerts, conferences, healing and dance dance dance are just some of the many things you can do here to the sound of trance and psytrance music.
For more information check the website http://boomfestival.org/boom2012/

The Sónar adventure in the land of Samba

The acclaimed electronic and advanced music festival has conquered the heart and soul of Brazilian in its first venture in this country. 31,000 people took to Sónar São Paulo to see the likes of Kraftwerk, Modeselektor, James Blake, Justice, Flying Lotus, Alva Noto, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Squarepusher and Brazilian names such as Emicida, Dago, Psilosamples, Ricardo Donoso and DJ Marky vs Dj Patife. Parque Anhembi was the venue chosen to host in May 11 and 12 fifty shows on 3 stages of which Krafwerk and Sakamoto were the most acclaimed, along with the wild beats and the sounds of Modeselekor and Squarepusher.

Under the same format of its main event which takes place every year in Barcelona and which attracts 90,000 on average to this Catalan city, Sónar draws a very positive balance from Sónar São Paulo, the biggest event so far outside the Spanish borders. Sónar has hosted until now 31 events around the world since 2002. London, Lisbon, Hamburg, Tokyo, Rome, Buenos Aires and New York were some of the cities covered. But none of these events has had the dimension of Sónar in São Paulo, a city were this festival hosted a smaller event in 2004.

Brazil has been raising its profile in recent years and musically is keen on proving that it is not just the land of Samba and Bossa Nova but also a place where all music combinations are possible. A proof of the importance of events like this was given by the country’s government which designated Sónar São Paulo "a cultural event of national interest" not only given the presence of some of the biggest names in international modern music but also given the chance it provided to show new Brazilian talents to the world, considering that this event was broadcasted on Youtube.

Flash back and flash forward at Benetton

The Italian brand which is synonym for both color and knitwear has just presented its coming Autumn Winter collection. 11 months after the public announcement of You Nguyen as creative director of Benetton his influence is there to be seen in many items Trendenz had the chance to see, feel and touch today at the Benetton showroom in Lisbon.

One of the most striking examples of the ongoing revamp of this brand is the new profusion of color bringing us back to the old colorful tones of the brand, something that somehow had been lost. Color is now back but in a new fashion and some colors are now mixed and combined with new tones and shades, bringing us back closer to the brand’s heritage.

A further positive aspect in this collection is the true plunge in the brand’s heritage operated by the creative minds of Benetton, bringing us back to the old patterns of the brand. A couple of years ago Bentton shoed an astonishing display of items which are part of the brand’s history. (Please refer to http://trendenz.blogspot.pt/2011/06/benetton-vintage.html). We are now pleased to see that the brand did research the old archives and brought back to life some of these items with a new touch.

Items with new knitting techniques thanks to the readaptation of existing machines under the guidance of Giuliana Benetton and fitted jeans with special seams and knitwear with particular effects to render women more sexy, along with designs inspired in the art world and new or improved knitting techniques to combine different kinds of wool are some of the new features of the new Benetton collection thanks to the work of Nguyen to a fair extent as the new creative director.

Trendy is the best noun for this new collection whose items can now be found in all stores and not only in showrooms for the delight of fashion produced. This was stated by both You Nguyen and Alessandro Benetton, the very same Alessandro who is now fully at the helm of the company, thus following the remarkable footsteps of his father, Lucciano Benetton.