Fortune's Fools?

As time and the world marches on (or a bus rolls by as in this case) there are always those who are left by the wayside. This city certainly isn't lacking in those who have given in to substance abuse, cachaca (a cheaply available & potent alcoholic drink derived from sugar cane), mental illness, misfortune, or various combinations thereof. In fact, "Cracolândia", or "Crackland", is an area where crack addicts, including children & pregnant women, converge to get high through the night & the streets become reminiscent of zombie movie sets. Social workers & church volunteers attempt to pull addicts out of their magnetic world, while experimental visitors from other states & even countries often become entrapped. Whether fortune's fools or mearly foolish, these are the residents of the darkest side of the city.

Men At Work

In this city of momentum, they couldn't put enough reflectors on me to do this job! Just stand in the middle of Avenida Faria Lima, one of the busiest avenues in the city, and direct traffic... You see that bicycle up against the lamp-post? That would be my exit strategy... 

Advertising, how low will they go?

Remember Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report"? He walks through a shopping mall and companies have lasers that scan your eye's retina and start calling you by name and personalising their adds? Well, this week I saw evidence that that terrifying thought is drawing closer to reality, when in Pinheiros Metro station an advertiser had set up a light & dry ice rig that projected the company logo, with commuters having to walk through it! Pretty hard to ignore. If that wasn't bad enough, last night my sleep was twice disturbed by computerized tele-marking calls on my mobile at 1.30am & 3am!! As I say, advertising, how low will they go?

The Flame Thrower of Poá

I often like to look up the variety of definitions that exist for a word, in order to get a greater feeling for it. This weekend the term was "Hustler", to which one definition read: "a shrewd or unscrupulous person who knows how to circumvent difficulties". São Paulo has the highest number "hustlers" I've ever seen in a city, and you come across them everywhere, from trains to zebra crossings. I met this particular hustler in my home town and he fell on the better side of the definition, simply offering talent for a willing donation. He also offered me a great São Paulo second to capture. 

Anyone for German folk dancing?

Every end of May an area of the city named Brooklin celebrates the German spring by holding MaiFest (May Festival). Thanks to a large population of German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Portuguese immigrants, one thing that this city can't be criticised for is cultural diversity, as proven by the somewhat unusual novelty of coming across traditional German folk dancing in the streets of São Paulo. 

They Dream of Manchester

Late Sunday morning in the humble ETA Theatre in the heart of the city, a conductor's impassioned swing of an arm leads an amateur orchestra through a number of classic Queen songs to a small yet enthusiastic audience. Between numbers, the conductor speaks of their shared dream of flying out to Manchester, England, in 2013, to participate in an international competition. "I'm quite competitive, if we go it wouldn't be to participate, it'd be to win". Non-footballing Brazilians dreaming of Manchester, who'd have thunk it! 

Will the real Funk please stand up?

Originating from the Rio nightclubs, what young Brazilians call "Funk" may not represent the best of their youth culture. Think crude west coast 90's hip hop a la 2 Live Crew, only more poorly executed and in Portuguese. However this month the annual city-wide cultural festival Virada Cultural put on a lesson in REAL Funk when they invited legendary bass-player and inventor of the "slap" technique Larry Graham to perform. The result? A killer set of Funk classics ending in this on-stage party for those lucky onlookers pulled up onto the stage. (click on image to enlarge)