family cartography

Continuing preparations for my vacation to Brasil:
I've been making a google map of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo each; trying to find as many places of interest, restaurants, bars, etc., as I can. For Rio, I recruited my parents to help.
Little did I know they would also be including family history and places in their editing! It was great to find out which hospital I was born in, where my mom went to school, etc etc. My dad even included some jokes, historical background, and even poems about certain places!

here's the map for Rio!

my favorite musical!

Dancer in the Dark: excellent!
Björk: a bit melodramatic, but overall a great performance. It's a role that somewhat fits her shy, quiet, eccentric personality, so it makes sense that she would pull it off. Definitely worthy of a swan dress!
Musical numbers: unlike any I'd seen before, though I'm definitely not a musical buff (blegh!). I especially like how sounds from the background of the previous scene slowly materialize into a song. The musical scenes themselves are filmed in a slightly different color (different camera?), and the dancing seems to happen as if it were on the background, sometimes breaking into the forefront of Björk's mind. Reality breaks back into the scene slowly, not quite abruptly, and an actual event happens while the song is finishing. The scenes are really quite wonderfully set up and executed. Kudos, Lars!
Story: meh, interesting only because of how it is constructed around Björk's character's flaws. If she wasn't so intent on keeping promises, or so distracted at work, there would be no story. But it works for the purpose of the movie, this contrast between a harsh/depressing reality, and happy musical numbers.

Recommended!

*I should say though, that this is my second favorite musical; there's always Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Björk's got nothing on Gene Wilder!

discoloration...

Due to my upcoming trip to Brasil (just one week!!!), I've had to renew my passport, buy almost $2,000.00 worth of plane tickets, i've bought a ridiculous costume for the Rio de Janeiro Carnaval parade, i might buy more inconspicuous shoes (sans the swoosh) and a more easily transported bag (backpack?) to make my trip easier and possibly safer... ...but this one topped all of the silly travel preparations I've had to make:
I'm getting a yellow fever shot! I have to do so because there have been some recent cases in the state of Goiás, which is near Brasília. I'm only going to Brasília for a couple of days, but you never know. The things I do for Niemeyer...
Here's a map showing endemic zone for yellow fever in South America:
UPDATE: got the shot. I had to go in at 3pm, because they had to open a 5 dose vial that only lasts for an hour after open. So four or five people have to be there, or else the dosages are wasted. Still, it cost me $75.00! So now I'm immunized (effective in 10 days for the next 10 years), and i have a yellow card to prove it!
But the cost made me think a little about all of the diseases in third world countries, and how much it costs for each individual vaccine; I know this specific one is more expensive, but it is difficult to finance all of these medical expenses in countries where tere is not nearly as much money to begin with...
not to mention uncurable diseases like AIDS.
Sigh; well, at least I'm immune to one of them. Hooray for me.

naked time!

Damn! Today was No Pants Day, and I missed it! That's what I get for working on Sundays...
Meanwhile, in Union Square, pantless subway riders converged to celebrate the occasion!

mondo music festival

Went with Jonathan and Chris to Hiro Ballroom for the Mondo Music Festival last night, and saw some amazing bands!
First off, it was Burkina Electric. This group comprises of three natives of Burkina Faso, one German, and I think one Austrian (I couldn't quite figure it out, because they kept joking about where they were from). The music itself is quite interesting, in that they mix traditional vocals, lyrics, and rhythms with electronic sounds, distortions, and equipment. The instruments include an electric guitar, a digitalized table of some sort that works as a sampler (i really wanted to get a closer look at this instrument, it was an intense piece of equipment!), drums, and a pair of "wands" that trigger different sounds and rhythms depending on their position relative to each other. Meanwhile, the singer, Mai Lingani, has a captivating voice, is beautiful, and can really move. She dances along with a couple of choreographers, although one of them was sick and did not perform last night. The dancing ranges from tame rhythmic bobbing back and forth to what could be best described as tribal interpretive dancing. There were a lot of quick, expressive motions involved in the dances, making for a theatrical presentation. And a lot of the basic steps reminded me a lot of samba and other Brazilian dances, which is just the dose of nostalgia I need in the midst of deadline, and right before my trip :P All in all, it was a great experience. I would recommend checking out their website, even though it's not extensive, if only just to hear the two songs they have on video there.
Next up was Zemog el Gallo Bueno. I don't have much to say about these guys. They annoyed me. I don't really like to trash talk people that are working hard to make a living, but damn, this was disappointing. It was Latin music, mostly the party salsa/merengue hybrid stuff that involves a lot of call and response and yelling. It was not very original, most of the beats seemed very very similar, and the singer was definitely not as good looking as in the first band. He was like a Puerto Rican version of the lead singer from Creed, and it seemed like he had the same self-adulation as that guy. Really not a good time; or maybe I'm being too bitter.

The next band, Jose Conde Y Ola Fresca, was also a latin music band, but they were quite a bit more talented. Their music had different beats and melodies, the singers had good voices, they knew how to engage the crowd, they knew how to do great solos (they even borrowed the best member from the previous band, the bassist, for the night); just a better band. Not to mention By this time Chris was good and buzzed, but he still would do nothing but bob his head (what is it with midwesterners and dancing?). Jonathan and I were starting to burn up the dance floor; it was only a matter of time before we started moving up to the front and bumping into everyone around us. All we needed was for the music to go up yet another notch.

And it did. Budos Band is absolutely fantastic! They're a bunch of guys from Staten Island who play AfroSoul music. The horns, oh the horns! Every single one of the 12 member carries his own weight, and the music really grips you and makes you move... ...I completely zoned in, and wasn't paying attention to anything but me and the music for a solid hour! Just feeling it, moving to every beat, to every toot of the horn... ...it probably looked like I was having a seizure to everyone else, but what the hell do i care? It was the first time in months I had this intense of a moment with the music, so I just rode it until they finished. The type of song didn't matter either; they had slow songs, ominous songs, happy songs, hyper songs... ...I was moving to it all. I would HIGHLY recommend picking up some of their music!

Budos Band- Budos Band II

Search for Mondo Music Festival; I don't know how often they'll have this, but I would try it out every time! I'm definitely adding Burkina Electric and Budos Band to my musical library, and would never turn down an opportunity to see Jose Conde (and his LEGO t-shirt, hehe) live again!


Musical bliss.

yummy in my tummy, muthafaka!

mmmm..... full of Florent, courtesy of dad, for mom's birthday! My sister had an indoor soccer game this evening at Chelsea Piers (first time there, remind me never to participate in any tourneys in the place). Game aside (sorry, B), it was a great night. My mom complimented a Gehry building (IAC), we walked around the meatpacking district, and dinner was great! Made fun of some people with really annoying voices with my sister, and apparently someone that was in Incredibad was there. I had the roulade of chicken breast....wow.wow.wow. Maybe I just like cheesy stuffed chickens, but this was great! Also gotta love the decor; framed city maps, cities from all over the world. I'd forgotten about that touch from my last time there. Even the menus have maps on them. good times, good times...

Florent
69, Gansevoort St.
between 9th Ave. and Washington St.
this place is open 24 hours, and is not too cheap, but not off the charts or anything... 4 people, a little under 80, plus tip.

sabotaging mofos...

Well, looks as if Intel is backing out of One Laptop per Child, days before a OLPC machine with an Intel chip was to debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in La Vegas this week. The company cites "philosophical differences", and is itself involved in developing a low-cost computer that will be put in competition with OLPC machines in some of the same markets. Yeah, philosophical differences, right...
Some of the disagreement could stem from the use of chips by Intel's competitor, AMD, in the first few prototypes of the OX machine. But the timing of this is very suspicious. We'll see how this Classmate computer compares to the OX. I guess that competition could improve the cost of this product, maybe even immediately, but at the same time, the quality of these products needs to be top-notch. The children don't have the money to replace their computers every few years...

I hope this is for the best, but it certainly doesn't feel like it right now.

caucus

Obama won the Iowa caucus in the Democratic party, Huckabee won the Republican party caucus. What does this mean? I don't know, but I guess Obama is the least bad candidate, and I hope Huckabee carries this momentum to beat Giulianni for the Republican nomination. I think if Giulianni wins the nomination, he might just become president, and we'll be in for another long time of world-scale power-wielding...
Obama seems to be the least bad candidate of the bunch, and there's urgency for someone like him to win. I don't trust Hillary at all,the Republicans are garbage, and Edwards just seems to be along for the ride (though that might be the media). I feel pretty dumb that I don't know much
about any other candidates (outside the two big parties), if there are any yet...

cold!!!!

cold makes me catatonic.
wind chill and corridors be damned!

at least i know i'm still tropical at heart

Macapaba- meio do mundo

Well, my trip to Brasil is just around the corner... ...and with it the preparations are hitting full stride! OBA!
I might be parading for G.R.E.S. Beija-Flor de Nilópolis, one of the samba schools in Rio with the most tradition, and the defending champion of the parade. My aunt's cousin will try and order the costumes this week, so I'll know very soon. Pity it couldn't be for Salgueiro, my childhood favorite, but Beija-Flor is almost beyond compare in tradition, so who the hell am I to complain!?

on to the theme, or enredo:

background: Macapaba literally means, in an indigenous language of northern Brasil, a concentration of native palm trees, called bacabas. This word led to the name of the capital of the state of Amapá, which is Macapá. The city, the only brazilian state capital not connected to any other by road, turns 250 years old on the day of carnaval, February 4th. The theme calls for a celebration of this city with some of the indigenous roots of Brasil, where explorers came to look for mystical Eldorados, and which sits right on the equator, or the middle of the world (meio do mundo). It also helps the school's cause that there is a rare species of beija-flor (hummingbird) that inhabits the forest surrounding the city.
enredo: Beija-Flor is celebrating the city of Macapá as symbolic of the roots of Brasil: a hidden, natural utopia, filled with myths of riches unimaginable, with geographical and ecological symbolism to match. This is a land of some of the original peoples of Brasil, not as fully integrated into the rest of the country as in most places; a land where local legend and folklore loom as large as in any other. A land where the unknown lurks, where anything can happen...
*I really tried to translate the general idea of the text from their website, but it was daunting; there was no real story to be found, except for some mentions of a germination of a new being from the fusion of two indigenous plants... ...I may need to brush up on my folklore, but the rest just seemed like the listing of a bunch of folkloric and historical figures and events, with no real story. But that in itself is just a celebration of the place, just as carnaval is just a celebration of Brasil and its people. So I guess it makes sense in the most basic sense...

the song, or samba-enredo:

“MACAPABA EQUINÓCIO SOLAR VIAGENS FANTÁSTICAS AO MEIO DO MUNDO”
Autores: Cláudio Russo- Carlinhos Detran - J. Velloso - Gilson Dr. – Kid - Marquinhos
Intérprete: Neguinho da Beija-Flor
Arranjo/Regência: Alceu

É manhã
Brilho de fogo sob o sol do novo dia
Meu talismã, a minha fonte de energia
Oh deusa do meu samba, a flor de Macapá
No manto azul da fantasia
Me faz mais forte, extremo Norte
A luz solar, ilumina meu interior
Vou viajar na Linha do Equador
Emana ao meio do mundo a beleza
A força da Mãe Natureza, é Macapaba
O rio beijando o mar, encontro das águas

Marejando meu olhar

Quem foi meu Deus que fez do barro poema
Quem fez meu Criador se orgulhar
Os Cunanis, Aristés, Maracás,
Foram dez, foram mais, pelo Amapá

Um dia, navegando em rios de Tupã

A viagem fantasia, dos filhos de Canaã
A mágica da terra, a cobiça atraiu
Ibéria se enleva no Brasil
A mão de Ianejar

Na fortaleza pela proteção da vida
Em São José de Macapá
Brilha Mairi a minha estrela preferida
Herança moura em Mazagão
Retiro meu chapéu de bamba e assim
O marabaixo ao marco zero cai no samba
Soam tambores no tocar do tamborim

O meu valor me faz brilhar
Iluminar o meu estado de amor
Comunidade impõe respeito
Bate no peito eu sou Beija-Flor

Don't even ask me to translate this...

the costume for our group, of a pescador (fisherman):

This fisher(wo)man is DECKED OUT! I guess they fished by diving in and letting the fish get stuck on the fake algae on their "wings". But who am I to question time-tested sustenance methods?

Well, i'm gonna rock that costume, and have a damn ball!
Olha a Beija-Flor aí, gente!

reveillon

Happy New Year, everyone!


Spent New Year's with Rob, his sisters and mother, Carla, Nate, and Sheridan. It was a relaxed night at Carla's studio (on 48th and 8th), with a few exciting moments. First, at around 9 pm, I got a call from my dad , telling me happy new year, etc etc etc. I thought it was strange, because I thought it would be midnight in Rio at 10 pm NYC time. Well, I was an hour off, so after hanging up, I ran back into the room and got everybody running towards Brasil Grill to celebrate the fireworks in Copacabana. In our hurry, running into the restaurant during the final countdown, Carla popped open a bag of confetti all over someone at the bar! Luckily he was drunk enough not to care.
We spent the next three hours shuffling between the rooftop and the room, making fun of Ryan Seacrest and fellow teeny-boppers and so-called musical acts, and eventually settling upstairs and looking for lines of sight towards times square, or anywhere there may be fireworks.

Suddenly, the crowd a couple of blocks away began getting louder, and we figured they were counting down. But we couldn't really see anything, or discern any sounds from the noise. So when things started quieting down, Rob said, "it's midnight, Verizon time!". Nothing like having a cell phone service provider tell you the new year has come...
We toasted, drank our bubbly, and watched the crowds flow out of Times Square towards the trains to Jersey.

We went back to the room, got ready to go party and left for a party in Brooklyn. Sheridan knew the DJ at this house party in BedStuy, so we made the trek down. An hour and a half, a trip on the dreaded G train, and some fun with horns and fries later, we ended up in the basement of an older 3-story brownstone. We paid a small donation to a child-care center run out of the house, and then enjoyed a few hours of dancing to incredible old school hip-hop, funk, afrobeat, and some Michael Jackson and Prince! There was a spread of fried chicken and vegetables, and a killer punch concoction that made eveyone smell like alcohol, even if you didn't drink it. Oh, and apparently the kids were having a sleepover upstairs! Thanks to the people that organized the party (I still haven't figured out who you are...)!

And thanks to you guys, for making this a great night!