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Michael Kaiser´s Q&A interview

here is one guy that I admire. Micheal Kaiser. He heads the Kennedy Center in Washington.
I have read his book on Art Management and got some good advises on how to run an art business.

I hope you like this videos. I know it is long, but it is worth it!

Tim Burton

Tim burton's first stop-motion work. It's a short story about a boy named Vincent Malloy who wanted to be just like Vincet Price. Voice by Mr. Price himself. Subtitles in portuguese.

Yarn Bombing / Guerrilla Crochet – A Collection

Special Topics on Calamity Physics - Marisha Pessl

Brazilian Cover

I have to say its much better than the original one

You can call me crazy, but I saw that book in a Bookstore next to my house and I was really curious about it.
After reading its review, I decided I wanted to read. However, the book was really expensive here in Brazil (R$65,00 = which would be $32,00), so I decided to wait. Soon enough, the Bookstore went out of business and sold every book really cheap. A bad news are always followed by a good ones. Or the other way around. I preferred the bookstore. Oh Well!

The book became a metro book for me, that's how I call the books I read during the 45 minutes on the daily metro (1,3 hours total). Usually I read fast books, poems or short stories are preferred. They are faster and easier to read with all those people, music and noise around.

Anyway, I am slowly reading Special Topics on Calamity Physics on my way to work and I am finding it really nice. The narrative is amazing. The tone is ironic and slightly funny. The story is a mystery.
                             

"Dazzling," (People) "Exuberant," (Vogue) "marvelously entertaining," (The Dallas Morning News) Marisha Pessl's mesmerizing debut has critics raving and heralds the arrival of a vibrant new voice in American fiction. At the center of this "cracking good read"4 is clever, deadpan Blue van Meer, who has a head full of literary, philosophical, scientific, and cinematic knowledge. But she could use some friends. Upon entering the elite St. Gallway school, she finds some-a clique of eccentrics known as the Bluebloods. One drowning and one hanging later, Blue finds herself puzzling out a byzantine murder mystery. Nabokov meets Donna Tartt (then invites the rest of the Western Canon to the party) in this novel-with "visual aids" drawn by the author-that has won over readers of all ages.




Publishers Weekly:
Starred Review. Pessl's showy (often too showy) debut novel, littered as it is with literary references and obscure citations, would seem to make an unlikely candidate for a successful audiobook. Yet actor and singer Emily Janice Card (a North Carolina native like the author) has a ball with Pessl's knotty, digressive prose, eating up Pessl's array of voices, impressions and asides like an ice-cream sundae. Card reads as if she is composing the book as she goes along, with a palpable sense of enjoyment present in almost every line reading. Her girlish voice, immature but knowing, is the perfect sound for Pessl's protagonist and narrator Blue van Meer, wise beyond her years even as she stumbles through a disastrous final year of high school. Card brings out the best in Pessl's novel and papers over its weak spots as ably as she can. 

MY MEMORY LAND (one of my paintings)

Hi, I present you one of my paintings called MY MEMORY LAND and its phrases!
Hope you like it !

...my memory land...
eternity had a past • the hungry then the moral • if the past taught you to kiss like this, thanks for the ones before me • always the same white sun • keep legs and mouth shut • did this life really exist or did I make it up? • your glory is smoke • a good thing is shower • heal me from being old • there is only one truth and only one lie • is the dark hard or soft? • to forget you is more difficult then to stand you • your little was good • the experience killed the idea • to get lost is a way • where does the time I lost go? • or I am a saint or I am a wacko • I found out that each one of us is diverse • a long time ago, I used to turn into an angel in May • you are more defenseless than a fat naked lady • come to the table or it will get cold • is there bread in the sky, mom? • it is the life of the things • the insconscience is the fundament of life • is the heart could think it would stop • the stars lie light • who gives love looses love? • the trip is the traveler • what we see is what we are • scribble your eyes (expression for: go date!) • I got a music box as a gift • it is not a question of calendar, it is a question of breathing • my words work for my reality, your words work for your reality, se we decide to exchange words they will loose their value • likes and dislikes are arguable • end a period with an exclamation • I would love so much if I didn’t fear • you are where you are most missed • I love you the size of this whole world • I decided to be happy and I became • the solution is the ménage • cry, my eyes • I wet my brushes in my soul´s water • do not bargain with an artist • we kill time and it kills us • have they say sorry for you? • did you live the years you have? • craziness • I believe in smurfs • Is it so difficult to understand me? • soul swings • when it hurts I scream “ai” • sometimes I cry smiling • I am just like a sweeper in the fall • I wanted to eat your desire • I like hot brownies with vanilla ice cream • I just pray in the shower • look at the person beside you and observe his strangeness • how is the dwarfs´ life? • how long does the night last? • give me a true answer and I could love you • if I was asked about the beauty of life, I would talk about a little flower I once saw • I can clearly live without knowing me • I like wet hair •yes, this handwriting is mine • to comprehend is difficult, to accept is impossible • I just had to say • it must be hard be poor • high hill kills • I farted specially for you • tell me sky, do you know my half? • turn off the stars and let me sleep • everything seems so untied • I returned my entrance ticket • I don’t know what else I can do • have I said I love you in this canvas? • I wonder if I know how to go back home from here • it’s late to say goodbye • no one knows a pleasure of an elevator’s love • they say that teen is the best time • I always say I am ok • I don’t know about the dangerous of the streets • no, I don’t have a cigarette • how much is worth your hour of work? • i know its hard to pray, but i just do it • you know I think you’re cute • half of the people are divided • there is no way you can know someone’s real intentions • amen • I don’t know why every day needs to end, does everything have to? • my nails grow • I have no ideas what I am writing so far • I wanted to suspend my head • today was not worth • I know I am one, but they want me to be more, always more • and that’s how my Sunday ended • sixteenth of September ___________________________________

Clown on the Subway!!

Mirrored by The SOns of the Stan Brakhage

Awesome finding! This is a great video...


Mirrored from The sons of Stan Brakhage on Vimeo.

Passage from THE TRIAL by KAFKA (Video by ORSON WELLES)

Ilha das Flores - The Isle of the Flowers by Jorge Furtado (Brazilian Short Story)

This is one of the greatest Brazilian Short Stories (as a experimental documentary) by Jorge Furtado from 1989. It refers to the social problems and poverty faced in Ilha das Flores, an island where garbage is thrown at and the food given to pigs worth more than the one given to kids. Watch it !

It tracks the path of a tomato from garden to dump with the help of a monotone voiceover and a collection of bizarre images. While a very humorous film, the message it delivers about how human beings treat each other is anything but such. The director himself has stated that the film was inspired by the works of Kurt Vonnegut and Alain Resnais, among others.

The film has been denounced as "materialistic" because one of its early credits displays the phrase "God doesn't exist". Nevertheless, critic Jean-Claude Bernardet defined Isle of Flowers "a religious film", and the Brazilian National Bishop Confederation awarded the film with the Margarida de Prata (Silver Daisy), calling it "the best Brazilian film of the year" in 1990. In 1995, Isle of Flowers was chosen by the European critics as one of the 100 most important short films of the century.

PLOT

A constant and verbose off-narrator guides the viewer through the life of a tomato. Beginning at Mr Suzuki's tomato field, the tomato is then sold to a supermarket, where it is acquired by Mrs Anete, a perfume saleswoman, together with some pork. Each exchange requires the presence of money, which is, together with the tomato, the constant element in the story. Mrs Anete intends to prepare a tomato sauce for the pork, but, having considered one of Mr Suzuki's tomatoes inadequate, she throws it in the garbage. Together with the rest of the garbage, the tomato is taken to Isle of Flowers (Ilha das Flores), Porto Alegre's landfill. There, the organic material considered adequate is selected as food for pigs. The rest, which is considered inadequate for the pigs, is given to poor women and children to eat.

This is an English Version! Enjoy!







Let me know what you thought about it.

Root Samba Music Repertoire - Second Set (Part 1)

You who like BRAZILIAN ROOT SAMBA MUSIC and have been following my blog, here is the Second Set (Part #1). Enjoy the amazing Brazilian traditional root samba songs...

And check the previous posts!

O que vier eu traco
Singer: Lucia Menezes


Kid Cavaquinho
Band: Exaltasamba


Ë samba que eles querem


A vizinha ao lado
Singer: Roberta Sá


Leviana
Singers: Ze Keti



Tiro ao Alvaro
Singer: Elis Regina
Lyrics: Adoniran Barbosa e Osvaldo Moles



Trem das Onze
Singers: Maria Gadu & Caetano Veloso



Esta melodia
Singer: Maria Monte



E o mundo nao se acabou
Singers: Sandy & Paula Toller



Ë preciso muito amor
Singer: (band) Samba de Raiz



Wait to the next part and dance samba with us !!!

Root Samba Music Repertoire - First Set (Part 2)

As you know, I decided to present you a great root samba repertoire from Brazilian Bars...You've got to know what is going on here. Check the traditional and fresh songs we are shaking out butts with...


We are back with Root Samba Music First Set (Part #2)

Alguem me avisou
Singer: Lenine


Leva meu samba
Singers: Fundo de Quintal (band) & Sandra de Sá


Na cadencia do Samba
Lyrics: Ataulfo Alves
Singer: Cassia Eller


Check another version by Novos Baianos


Morena Angola


Sem Compromisso
Lyrics: Geraldo Pereira
Singers: Chico Buarque & Tom Jobim


Volta por Cima

This is a great song!!! I love it!!!

Falsa Baiana
Singers: Roberta Sá & Roberto Silva



Acreditar
Singer: Dona Ivone Lara & Nilze Carvalho

This is a feel good song! You need to scream it and sing it, principally, during Carnaval time! Its just like sex...


Samba do grande Amor
Singers: Djavan & Chico Buarque

Tinha cá pra mim
Que agora sim
Eu vivia enfim
O grande amor
Mentira
Me atirei assim
De trampolim
Fui até o fim um amador
Passava um verão
A água e pão
Dava o meu quinhão
Pro grande amor
Mentira
Eu botava a mão
No fogo então
Com meu coração de fiador
Hoje eu tenho apenas
Uma pedra no meu peito
Exijo respeito
Não sou mais um sonhador
Chego a mudar de calçada
Quando aparece uma flor
E dou risada do grande amor
Mentira
Fui muito fiel
Comprei anel
Botei no papel
O grande amor
Mentira
Reservei hotel
Sarapatel
E lua de mel
Em Salvador
Fui rezar na Sé
Pra São José
Que eu levava fé
No grande amor
Mentira
Fiz promessa até
Pra Oxumaré
De subir a pé o Redentor
Hoje eu tenho apenas
Uma pedra no meu peito
Exijo respeito
Não sou mais um sonhador
Chego a mudar de calçada
Quando aparece uma flor
E dou risada do grande amor
Mentira!!!


Homenagem ao Malandro
Singer: Chico Buarque

Chico Buarque is one of the great names of Brazilian Music. He composes heavenly. Everyone just loves his lyrics, he does not sing as good though, but I can't say it here or Brazilians will kill me...
Well, he is charming, intelligent and have those melting eyes....


Diogo Nogueira's version



Se acasso voce chegasse
Singers: Elza Soares & Elis Regina & Jair Rodrigues



Coracao em Desalinho
Singer: Zeca Pagodinho





Do you want to know the lyrics or to have them translated? Write to me!

Best Samba Selection - Root Samba Music Repertoire - First Set (Part 1)

I have a group of friends that have a samba band called "Cama de Viga".  Check their MySpace HERE! Recently, I went to a "Roda de Samba" (Samba Circle) and I decided to share with you their repertoire.


The videos presented here show a little bit of the root samba (old traditional samba music) and the new samba rhythms. I also tried to selected great Brazilian musicians singing the samba songs so you have an idea of the great names.


I hope you have an idea of what kind of music plays in a samba bar in Rio de Janeiro.
Of course, knowing the lyrics is better, but you can feel the music.


REPERTOIRE
First Set of 45 minutes (Part #1)


Pressentimento



Com que roupa?
Lyrics: Noel Rosa
Singer: Diogo Nogueira



Maracangalha
Singer: Tom Jobim and Dorival Caymmi
@ Tom Jobim´s house in Jardim Botanico - Rio de Janeiro



Rosa Morena
Lyrics: Dorival Caymmi
Singer: Joao Gilberto and Caetano Veloso (2000 in Buenos Aires)

Rosa Morena
(Dorival Caymmi)

Rosa Morena, onde vais morena Rosa 
Com essa rosa no cabelo e esse andar 
de moça prosa, 
Morena, morena Rosa

Rosa morena o samba está esperando, 
esperando pra te ver 
Deixa de parte essa coisa de dengosa, 
anda Rosa, vem me ver 

Deixa de lado esta pose 
Vem pro samba vem sambar

Que o pessoal tá cansado de esperar
Ô Rosa, que o pessoal tá cansado de esperar
Morena Rosa, que o pessoal tá cansado de esperar
Viu Rosa, que o pessoal tá cansado de esperar.




Sonho meu
Singer: Maria Bethânia and Gal Costa (1978)



Ai que saudade da Amélia
TV Program: Som Brazil 2011
Lyrics: Maria Lago

Nunca vi fazer tanta exigência
Nem fazer o que você me faz
Você não sabe o que é consciência
Nem vê que eu sou um pobre rapaz
Você só pensa em luxo e riqueza
Tudo que você vê você quer
Ai, meu Deus, que saudade da Amélia
Aquilo sim é que era mulher

Às vezes passava fome ao meu lado
E achava bonito não ter o que comer
E quando me via contrariado
Dizia: Meu filho, que se há de fazer

Amélia não tinha a menor vaidade
Amélia é que era mulher de verdade
Amélia não tinha a menor vaidade
Amélia é que era mulher de verdade

Às vezes passava fome ao meu lado
E achava bonito não ter o que comer
E quando me via contrariado
Dizia: Meu filho, que se há de fazer

Amélia não tinha a menor vaidade
Amélia é que era mulher de verdade
Amélia não tinha a menor vaidade
Amélia é que era mulher de verdade

Follow up my blog of the First Set (Part 2) and Second Set.

You will like it!

Letters of Vincent van Gogh

Daily, I spend about 2 hours on traffic going to work. Sometimes I am able to read on the buss. I prefer fast texts like poems or short stories, because the buss shakes a lot and I get dizzy.

Brazilian Version

By L&PM Pocket Book

My current buss-book is called Letters of Vincent Van Gogh.

Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, Etten, September 1881

Van Gogh was 37 and on the edge of fame when, in 1890, he shot and killed himself. Unable to sell his brilliant canvases, he was utterly dependent upon his younger brother, Theo, to whom most of the letters collected here are written. Anguished by loss of faith after planning to be a priest, disappointed in several once-promising love affairs, he was also so tormented by poverty that one of his artistic breakthroughs occurred when, without proper colors, he brushed in "a garden, green by nature, but painted without actual green, nothing but Prussian blue and chrome yellow." 

Whether van Gogh's suicide was the inevitable culmination of depression, or due to epilepsy or to professional frustration (he is remembered, beyond his pictures, for razoring off part of his ear), his letters reveal that the end was long contemplated. In 1878, he had written to Theo, "It must be good to die in the knowledge that one has done some truthful work." By the time he put a hole in his chest, he knew he had done that. The letters, edited by de Leeuw, the director of the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, echo the artist's passionate voice, and the connective narrative excerpts other letters that readers may regret not having in full. Integral to the letters are 49 pen-and-ink sketches that evidence van Gogh's development into a creative force. Although each letter possesses an inherent pathos because one knows what lies ahead, van Gogh's epistolary appeal goes beyond melodrama. Often inspired by books despite being a limner of peasant life and the land, he once wrote, "How beautiful Shakespeare is, who else is as mysterious as he is; his language and method are like a brush trembling with excitement and ecstasy." 


                                                          ***

This is a very fine collection of the letters, with multiple sides of VVG revealed. To read a collection of letters by an artist whose work you know very well is to invite yourself to take a look at him as a person. As a person, I found that I liked him best in these letters when he was struggling with his religion, his art, and his purpose. 

He writes about his friendships, his family, his attempts at love affairs, his religious beliefs and questions, and most importantly, about his art. These letters reveal him as anything but the anti-social person often portrayed in the past, with the ones about his relationship with his brother Theo being particularly touching.


Van Gogh was a prolific correspondent and an absolutely wonderful writer. His prose is remarkable--he could have been a writer as well as an artist. These letters shed light on the inner thoughts and the inspiration for his art and show him as a person of great passion and compassion.


One of the passages I liked was: ". . . after all I think, I think, that I would still rather be a shoemaker than a musician in colours."


***
So, if you want to join me in this reading, I would be honored. I am starting it now.
I will definitely take a LONG time to read as I always feel dizzy reading on the buss...


Also, I found this website really interesting: http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters.html and http://www.vggallery.com/letters/to_theo_saintremy.htm