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

My trip to Petrópolis

Petrópolis, also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 65 km (or 45 min) from the city of Rio de Janeiro. This is a GREAT city for who likes cold weather and music & gastronomy Festivals. Its worth a weekend visit if you are in Rio de Janeiro.

It gets really cold on July. I went on May and it was already 12 Celsius. Prepare for the cold weather, hot blood Brazilians!

Nestled among the forested hills of the Serra dos Órgãos, in the valley of the Quitandinha and Piabanha rivers, Petrópolis is a popular summer holiday spot. Besides the climate and surroundings, the main attraction is the former Summer Palace of the second Brazilian Emperor, which is now the Imperial Museum, specializing in Imperial history and memorabilia.

The town's name ("city of Peter") honors Emperor Pedro II, the nation's second monarch and son of Pedro I. The city was the summer residence of the Brazilian Emperors and aristocrats in the 19th century, and was the official capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro between 1894 and 1903.

The town's origins can be traced to Bernardo Soares de Proença, who in 1720 opened an alternative route between Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, across theSerra da Estrela. While traveling to Minas Gerais along this route, Emperor Pedro I found the region's climate pleasant. Thus, in 1830 he bought a farm, and had his Summer Palace built there, but he never saw it finished, because he stepped down from the throne. Other Brazilian aristocrats eventually followed suit. Pedro's Palace is nowadays the Imperial Museum, one of the main attractions of the 'alpine city' of Petrópolis, together with the Cathedral of Saint Peter of Alcântara, the Crystal Palace and the House of Santos-Dumont. The 'Imperial City' became in due time home for artists, intellectuals and celebrities, and by the twentieth century, one of the main tourist attractions in the country.

Santos-Dumont house

Alberto Santos-Dumont (July 20, 1873 – July 23, 1932) was a Brazilian early pioneer of aviation. Heir of a prosperous coffee producer family, Santos Dumont dedicated himself to science studies in Paris, France, where he spent most of his adult life.

Santos-Dumont designed, built and flew the one of the first practical dirigibles. In doing so he demonstrated that routine, controlled flight was possible. Though occasionally credited with being the first to do so, in actuality Solomon Andrews had demonstrated controlled flight some years earlier. This "conquest of the air", in particular winning the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize on October 19, 1901 on a flight that rounded the Eiffel Tower,^[1] made him one of the most famous people in the world during the early 20th century.

Palácio de Cristal (Crystal Palace)

Wedding Ceremony