Rio's Theatro Municipal

This magnificent building has recently been given a complete make over. The restoration is a beautiful success. You can take a guided tour of the restored facility Tuesday through Saturday at several times during the day.  More info here.

Romeo and Juliet, the ballet, is coming to the theater in October.  Good seats are too expensive for our blood, but I understand there is one day a week? month? when tickets are just R$1. Can anybody tell me when that is?  I have been mining their website, but I cant find it...

New take on a standard Brazilian tune

I love me some classic Brazilian favorites - the ones everyone sings along to. Here's a different take on an old favorite - on the vibraphone, no less. Wild.

Caetano Veloso and Maria Gadu - Leãozinho

Gay Pride in São Paulo

June 26^th is Gay Day in San Francisco.  750,000 or so people will pack Market Street and the Civic Center to celebrate all things LGBTQQI. It is the highlight of the year and is the second largest public event in California, after the Rose Bowl parade.  Oh the memories.

Luiz and I lived within a quick, downhill walk of the Civic Center so each year we would host a Gay Day Brunch where friends would gather, fuel up on a good breakfast buffet (and cocktails), put the finishing touches on their special apparel (you can never over-accessorize on Gay Day) and strategic makeup, and then spill out onto the street to take in a full, long day of joyfulness.

This year, June 26^th is also the 15th annual Gay Day parade in São Paulo. While we won’t be attending, we love following the festivities online.  The event in São Paulo is the largest LGBT party on the planet.  This year they could well host 3 million participants. THAT’S a PARTY!

The theme of the event this year is “Love each other, end homophobia.”

For fun, the organizers have come up with the idea of getting everyone on the street dancing with each other, a sort of debutante ball. The organizers are preparing a waltz in the center of the city. They have provided a remix version of the Blue Danube waltz to each of the 17 tri-electricos that will be keeping the crowd in high gear. Whenever the Blue Danube waltz is played, everyone is encouraged to dance with whoever is next to them.  FUN!

Gay people are so clever.

Thanks to the Inside São Paulo team for posting about this on their terrific blog about all things São Paulo.  Check them out.

Maria Gadú and Luis Kiari - Quando fui Chuva

I could listen all day...

Favela tour in Santa Marta

[Note: As soon as we got on the bus from Niterói to Rio we realized we had forgotten our camera. Please know that all of the photos included here were taken by Peter Mountain and were previously posted on a similar account of a favela tour of Santa Marta over on the very enjoyable Sem Destino blog.  Do go check them out.]

My first experience with a walking tour of a favela community was with Zezinho in Rocinha.  Nobody does it better. But now with Luiz in the tour guide biz, his class was taking a tour of Santa Marta, a favelinha climbing the hills behind Botofogo, in Rio. I tagged along to see how they do it.

Santa Marta was the first favela community to be so-called “pacified” by the police chasing out the criminal syndicates that often control favelas. Now the Rio police occupy the “top of the hill” office space.  Residents report being grateful for the calmer quality of life these days.

This community is nearly vertical.  It is amazing how houses have been built on such a dramatic slope. But there are thousands of houses.  I was nervous about having to climb hundreds of stairs to take the walking tour, but to my relief they have an electric tram (free) that takes residents up the hillside.

We started out by taking the tram to the top and then walking a bit further up to get spectacular views of Rio. The tour guide focused on the pacification process, pointing out bullet holes in cement walls. She kept it light, but also seemed to want to dazzle us with the danger of past years.

There is an unlikely football court on the top of the community.

We stopped by the tour guide’s home, where she introduced us to her (very cute) husband and darling little daughter. The house, while small, was quite comfortable.

From there we slipped further down the hillside and went to the now-famous little plaza where Michael Jackson filmed the “They Don't Care About Us” music video (much of which was also clearly filmed in Pelorinho, Salvador). It has since become a fountain of money for local entrepreneurs. There is a little bar, a cocktail vendor and a hot dog stand.  While we were there a group of men showed up with instruments and started some terrific pagode.

Finally, long after the sun went down, we wormed our way through the maze of walking paths and stairways to a tram stop and rode it back down to sea level.

While I did not find the tour as informative or inspiring as that which Zezinho provides in Rocinha, it was nice to see the flow of cash from tourists (in this case tourism students) into the community.

Check out this video made by the folks at Sem Destino.

Favela Santa Marta - Rio de Janeiro (English subtitles) from Pedro Serra on Vimeo.

How did I get here?

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack.
And you may find yourself in another part of the world.
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile.
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife.
And you may ask yourself - Well...How did I get here?

Teaching English and providing written translation in Brazil.  WTF?  My past includes more than 20 years of professional management experience, managing million dollar budgets, schmoozing with the mayor. And now… correcting pronunciation and explaining common grammar errors.  

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!

I just did a little inventory.  I have 34 lists of conversation questions, 25 lists of idioms, 76 lesson plans based on current events, 35 pages of song lyrics, and 40 vocabulary lists (plus much more). I’ve become an English teacher.

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?...Am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Somehow I have carved out a niche. I have attracted clients. I have created a rhythm that pays the bills, but does not consume me in the process.  Luiz and I have made the transition.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...

Cultural da Índia event report back

Wow. Wow. That was amazing.

Last night Luiz and I joined a couple friends to attend a music and dance performance by Indian artists at the Sala Baden Powell cultural space in Copacabana. It featured about 50 minutes of mind blowing music and drumming by Anuradha Pal and her group “Recharge.” And then about 40 minutes of exquisite dance by Arunima Kumar, with live musical accompaniment.

The performances were part of a cultural exchange festival sponsored by the Indian Consulate and the Brazilian Cultural Ministry, among others. The event, in Rio, started on May 19^th and will conclude May 22^nd. The event continues through June 5^th, touring through São Paulo, Brasilia, and then Belo Horizontes.  You can find the schedule and additional information here.

Check out this video of master drummer and composer Anuradha Pal.  Her website is here. She was AMAZING.

Here is a video of Arunima Kumar performing a number similar to one of the three she presented last night.  Really beautiful.

Keep in mind that tonight in Rio is a different performance than what we saw last night (so I cannot comment on its impact, but I bet it will be wonderful). To see what we saw, you would want to go May 22^nd. Oh, and if you go, sit in the balcony.  It is a small theater, so you will not be too far back.  The main floor seating is odd in that it slopes DOWNWARD away from the stage, so you cannot see the dance performer's feet, which would be best.

EAGLE FREEDOM LINKS -- 5-16-11 -- EAGLES Edition

EAGLE FREEDOM LINKS 

American Perspective -- Sen. Inhofe describes pictures of Osama Bin Laden death photos

Acts of The Apostasy -- Conspiracies and controversies

Adrienne's Corner -- Obama: classless, clueless, and crude...

Allied Liberty News -- Who sets gas prices at the pump?

Always On Watch -- Ummah and Osama Bin Laden 

Amusing Bunni's Musings -- Are You a real man?

Anonymous Political Scientist -- Dr. Drew on Kenneth Thomas, mental health issues, and the famous Ephblog



Another Black Conservative -- Mike Huckabee will not run in 2012

Atlas Shrugs -- Beck announces 'Restoring Courage' rally in Israel this August

It Don't Make Sense - Yet another environmentalist feel-good hoax 

A Conservative Teacher -- Democratic Senate vs. Republican House on gas prices

A Patriotic Rottweiler -- Wikileaks exposes North American integration plot

A Western Heart -- Islamic hospital 

BBCW -- Buy a Chevrolet, Buick, or GM with you Pell grants and Federal student loans

Beers, Bicycles, and VRWC -- It bears repeating



Beer, Guns, and Baseball -- The Phillips Curve is wrong, stupid, and bogus

Big Blue Wave -- Prochoice Fail 

Black or White is a Choice -- Heading back to the Dark Ages?

Blog De King Shamus -- Culture, Islam, and the sting of failure

Blowing San #1 -- The persecution game is on, NOW!!

Bluegrass Pundit -- New NRSC ad: "Hot Air" alternative energy plan

Bread Upon the Waters -- Psalm 113 - Capella Clausura 

Can We Keep Our Republic? -- A dispatch from the post American presidency 

Catholic Fire -- St. Matthias 



Caught Him With a Corndog -- Channeling Samuel L. Jackson 

Christian Conservative -- Steve Bridges as Obama -Comedy 

Christian-With-A-View -- Killing the unborn 

Commentarama -- Teachable moments on black racism

Common Cents -- Growing, growing, and growing: Obamacare waivers 

Conservative Hideout 2.0 -- What is the debt ceiling debate about?

Conservative Perspective -- Happy birthday Israel - Israel wave your flag

Creative Minority Report -- Awww. Obama's soo cute quoting the bible 

DeanO -- Today's political cartoon 



Down Under on the Right Side -- I'm sure it was gay porn

Economy Politics -- Jobless Claims drop but we still have over 400,000 jobless every week 

Eye of Polyphemus -- Waiting for the big boom 

Fuzzy Logic -- Fuzzy Faux news: central planning/unintended consequences

Generational Dysfunction -- The siren's call 

Greg Mankiw's Blog -- Evaluating ARRA

Hack Wilson -- Video collection of awesome national anthems and flyovers

HolyCoast.com -- Religion of peace attacking Israel on three sides

innominatus -- Presidential numerology 



Jo-Joe Politico -- Ever the amateur 

Just a Conservative Girl -- Herman Cain on securing our borders, the debt ceiling, and the lack of leadership in Congress

Just an Artist -- Kitty vs Fly 

Left Coast Rebel -- Eliminate the elephant 

Let The Truth Be Known - Some of this & some of that 

Liberty At Stake -- Stuck on Keynesian stupid 

Lone Star Parson -- The sign of the bull 

Lonely is the Nights -- Irish tradition 



Maggie's Notebook -- Seal Team 6 helmet cams

Mind Numbed Robot -- MemeBusters - Bill Whittle 

Motivation Truth -- Governor Palin and Martha MacCallum discuss Common

Musings of a Vast Right-Winger -- Mexico's immigration law: Let's try it here at home

My Daily Trek -- Amnesty for illegals

NoOneofanyImport -- Time to offend a feminist

No Sheeples Here -- Obama's full of hot air 

Obama Cartoons -- Osama fish food

Pathetically Incorrect -- He's dead... And it's all Bush's fault!!!



Pedaling Fast & Trying To Keep Up -- Look what hatched!

Political Realities -- The myth of big oil subsidies

Proof Positive -- SNL on the least serious president in the history of the Republic

Pundit & Pundette -- Saturday reads 

Randy's Rountable -- 17 days later

Rational Nation USA -- Israel again under attack by Arabs bent on her destruction

Reaganite Republican -- Reaganite's Sunday funnies 

Right Klik -- Show me the money: John Boehner, "cut trillions," "debt ceiling hike without deep cuts would be arrogant"

Robbing America -- The President's consistent inconsistency

Self Evident Truths -- Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek round two 



Sentry Journal -- The Classic Liberal: The Mysterious Herman Cain

Shawsblog -- The poor quality of a college education 

Stop Marxism -- 'J Street' Rabbis keeping congregations barefoot and pregnant

The Audacity of Logic -- Quote of the year 

The Blog -- Achooooo!

The Born Again Americans -- Republic vs. Democracy 

The Camp of the Saints -- Piece Corps

The Catholic Knight -- Who is Herman Cain? 

The Conservative Diva -- PDS to the left and to the right

The Conservative Lady -- Obama to speak as Egypt's 'New Democracy' swells with hate



The Country Thinker -- A rags to riches story, socialist style

The Daley Gator -- Indiana as a police state? 

The Last Tradition -- Did the Associated Press skew a poll about Obama in favor of Democrats? 

The Libertarian Patriot -- Walter Block - Why Ron Paul can win in 2012

The Other McCain -- Newt? No problem.

The Malcontent -- Michelle Obama invites rapper to White House who called for the killing of cops and the burning of George W. Bush

The Observatorium -- Resistable force meets immovable object

The Scottcarp Dream -- Will Obama's energy policy sink him? 

The Wisdom of Soloman -- My thoughts on the passing of Osama Bin Laden

Theblogprof -- Poll: Americans Oppose raising the debt ceiling, 47% to 19%



They Say/We Say -- Meredith Baker is the latest thorn in the NY Times calling for expanding the disclosure act definitions

 TOTUS -- Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice! 

Trestin Meacham -- Cut workforce services

Tu Ne Cede Malis -- Social Justice, Population control, and fighting the myth which progressives perpetuate

Ubi Petrus Ibi Ecclesia -- Is America Satanophobic? 

Virtual Mirage - Bloody Mexico: Chapo Guzman 

Warning Signs -- The animal connection

We The People ... -- Picture of the day 

Welcome to House of Harkonnen -- Bin laden, Obama, and photogate



What Does The Prayer Really Say? -- Would a request for meatier sermons offend a priest? 

 Why I Am Catholic -- Because Blaise Pascal spoke truth to power like this

Woman Honor Thyself -- Obama quotes the bible 

Woodsterman -- Learn it ~ live it ... post it! 

Yankee Phil -- 25 manners kids need to know by age 9 

Zilla of the Resistance -- When family isn't good enough 

Mister Brazil 2011 named

All photos by Sergio Mattos

Last weekend the 2011 Mister Brazil competition took place in Angra dos Reis.  At the end of the evening Lucas Malvacini, representing Búzios, was elected the new Mister Brazil.  Take a look.

Here is part of the swimsuit  walkoff.

I am grateful to the folks at the Made In Brazil blog, which promotes Brazilian models in the fashion world, for the nonstop eye candy.  What a great job.

For a lot more photos and information, go check out the Made in Brazil blog.

Documentary - Brazil: A Racial Paradise?

Wow – thanks to Meredith’s vigilance on the subject, I just watched the latest in the series of documentaries about being Black in Latin America being written and produced by Dr. Henry Luis Gates, Jr.  I posted about his important series previously.

The episode was: "Brazil: A Racial Paradise?"  Fantastic.  Take the time. Watch the documentary.

Issues of race are complicated here in Brazil, as they are in the United States.  But these dynamics can be SO DIFFERENT (and also the same) when it comes to the history of Africans, slavery, integration, opportunity, true equality.

The struggles of the descendants of slavery in the US and in Brazil are in many ways similar – but in many ways they are completely different.

This is an EXCELLENT video program that explores this material.

Here are the first few minutes of the film.

Watch the full episode. See more

Black in Latin America.

Cool MTV ad

I don't actually watch MTV, but their new commercial is cool.  Check it out.

Prince William and Kate Middleton's Royal Wedding: Music Pays Tribute to Princess Diana

From Mirror:

"PRINCE William and Kate Middleton will pay a touching tribute to Princess Diana today – when their wedding service will feature a hymn played at her funeral.

The couple have selected the final hymn from Diana’s 1997 funeral to be the first sung in Westminster Abbey by their 1,900 guests.Two billion people worldwide will witness how William’s late mother remained at the forefront of his and Kate’s thoughts as they planned their special day.

The rousing Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer was also chosen by William and brother Harry in the Guards Chapel on the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana’s tragic death in a Paris car crash.

Friends and family will join the royal couple to sing the emotional and inspiring words to the Welsh tune just before they say their vows in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

And in another tribute, bride Kate will make her three-and-a-half minute walk down the aisle to the dramatic sounds of Sir Hubert Parry’s anthem I was Glad, which was played at Charles and Diana’s 1981 wedding.

William has told close friends and royals he is sure his mother will be there in spirit today, wishing him and Kate happiness.

Along with brother Harry he has publicly vowed never to forget her."

This music in this video is better and a lot clearer but wasn't embeddable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJCxt2DjZK0

Maria Gadú singing "Lanterna dos Afogados"

Time for a little calming enjoyment separate from politics or the daily grind.  Close your eyes and just take it in.

Celso Fonseca - Slow Motion Bossa Nova

I first saw Celso Fonseca in Berkeley, CA, at a Japanese jazz club.  Very smooth.

Bossa Nova Classic

Come with me back to an earlier post. These many versions of "The Girl from Ipanema" are a delight. Which do you prefer? Check them out.

Click here to begin your adventure.

Sergio Mendes and the Black Eyed Peas

Turn up the sound and grab a dance partner.

America The Beautiful

Ana Carolina & Maria Gadú - Mais que a mim

Sweet.

MercyMe & The Rock Worship Roadshow Crew Sing Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da