Brazzil

Some have dismissed his initiative as just "the paranoia of the Brazilian left-wingers", but Rebelo comes across as a judicious and dignified congressman who remains open to dialogue.
By Brazzil Magazine

I am a Brazilian living in the United States and I visit the Brazzil site to hear stories about home. I am saddened, however, by the way your magazine places so much emphasis on sex in Brazilian culture. Though this emphasis on all things erotic may help you attract a readership, it gives a very skewed view on Brazilian culture and promotes many of the stereotypes regarding Brazil that foreigners hold.

I am an American and just read your article on the vote counting in the United States. I understand that this presidency situation was at the very least a fiasco, but I thought your article was a little harsh. I'm very proud that we "stick our nose where it doesn't belong." Before I didn't like this, but then I came to realize that this is what our country was founded on. Not just life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for ourselves but for everyone to have this opportunity. By the way for us Americans who are dumb, the capital of Brazil is Brasília. In 1957 it was constructed to help with the overcrowding of Rio de Janeiro, which was the previous capital.

I have had the honor of meeting some really great Brazilians who were here in the US working. I have nothing but good things to say about your people and your country. While I have only seen pictures of your country it is very beautiful and I cannot wait until I have the opportunity to visit it. Adeus.

Dear Marta Alvim, I enjoyed very much your piece on Brazilian women in the current issue of Brazzil. It is very informative and gives us the hope that in the not so distant future things like the murder of Sandra Gomide by her boyfriend Antônio Pimenta Neves in Ibiúna, São Paulo state, last year, be a very old story. And that Neves go in the pen.

Actually I got the news from a friend who is also an amiga of Pimenta. However, she was very upset because he had been arrested! She was full of concern for him. Later I found out that many people of the bourgeois class in São Paulo were calling Sandra a "whore". No compassion, not even respect for a murdered woman! And, as you know, under Brazilian law a suspect with a college degree is entitled to "special jail", probably with TV and telephone. Something I could never understand in a so-called democratic society.

My mother and my two sisters were school teachers in the São Paulo state network, as teaching was at the time one of the very few upper level professions open to women (there were a few young ladies in medical schools, as far I remember.)

Mother was considered an agitator because she was always calling meetings of teachers to demand better conditions of work and better pay. And starting petitions.

At the time, they were considered the queens as they had "so many privileges!" Can you imagine what were the conditions in less rich states, and for those who were municipal teachers, or employed by some private association? I think of mother as the first feminist I met, more than 70 years ago.

On the positive side, I remember that when the war in Europe ended, in April 1945, several newspaper and advertising writers and artists got together at the Brazilian Press Association, ABI, in Rio to celebrate the defeat of Nazism. The British artists with us, Abercombie and Niece, sang God Save the King (or queen?), the French ones sang the Marseillaise, the Argentines sang their national anthem but when it was our turn, the turn of the Brazilians, we felt we couldn't sing that horrible, stupid "Ouviram do Ypiranga às margens plácidas..."

We discussed it briefly and decided to sing the Flag Anthem ("Hino à Bandeira"), which is less patrioteiro. As a genuine expression of Brazilian folk art, we sang it to the tune of Amélia:

Salve lindo pendão da esperança,
Salve símbolo augusto da paz,
Tua nobre presença a lembrança
Da grandeza da pátria nos traz.
etc etc

If you ever knew the Amélia tune, you will see that it fits exactly the words of the Flag Anthem. 10 years later, in 1955, I emigrated to the US.

Dear Ms. Daniella Thompson, I recently read your article about Brazilian Jazz in Brazzil magazine. I have also read about other topic of Brazilian music of yours. I don't know how you did it, but it seems you have all the info I have always wanted to know about Brazilian music. Not only did I get a review of Rosa Passos but also the history of Lumiar Publishing Co.

I have been obsessed with the same kind of music since high school and my obsession has never stopped even until now. I live in Indonesia but have always tried to maintain my Brazilian music contact either through my own heart or through various media.

I was impressed with your writings because you exposed Brazilian musicians that I have never heard before which makes me very curious to look for their albums in the future. Thanks again for your valuable info.

A few weeks back, Ms. Bebel Gilberto and her also very good band was in concert at Bimbo's 365 Club. Bimbo is right...a sad number of the audience were carrying on as if on a holiday and chatting, laughing, meeting new friends, and having a rip roaring loud good time...during the concert.

The entertainment from Ms. Gilberto's singing and communication with the standing in front audience and her charisma along with a fabulous Brazilian but surprisingly international band was an awesome tribute to her generation and their continued extraordinary Brazilian music we can apparently look forward to.

For those of you who are Brazilophiles, and aficionados da música brasileira, Bebel Gilberto is another one of the greats of Brazilian music; her music is lilting, soothing, up-beat, happening, fun, and many of the lyrics carry your mind on pleasant journeys in your soul.

The venue at Bimbo's I guess runs hot and cold depending on the audience. I've found it unique that people pay $20 to see a sold out show and then not participate by enjoying the music...instead, do their best to drown out the music with their bantering.

Sergio Mendes and Brasil 2000 were presented at the same Bimbos' and what a super enjoyable concert that was. I think Bebel would entertain us better at Yoshi's or somewhere else considerably more intimate. Bimbo's needed a little crowd control that night. Try one of her CD's...she is maravilhosa.

I have lived in this country (USA) for as long as I can remember, and I still can't get used to the way some Brazilian business owners conduct their business here. Sometimes I crave for a typical Brazilian dish and then I get out of my way to visit and enjoy something that it will take me back to my childhood days back in Brazil. Knowing that, some people will take advantage of you by skyrocketing prices while the quality of the food decreases. The same old Brazilian mentality: Tax more on less than tax less on more. That's what happens when your head is too narrow to absorb and embrace a new culture that has been here before you decide to take the boat and come here. Next time I will order a pizza.

Any and All Help

I represent a gay Brazilian man, detained in New York, in his application for asylum. I am looking for up-to-date information on the persecution of homosexuals in Brazil, and for someone very familiar with the situation to prepare an affidavit for submission to the court, and for any contacts you may have in the New York City area who may be able to testify.

In sum, I am looking for a lot of help (I represent this client for free). If you are willing to help me, I will provide more specific information, including a confidential version of my client's affidavit (story). I have Brazilian Portuguese speakers willing to assist in translation. Muito obrigado.

Above all we ( my family and I ) want to thank you for this great job that you guys are doing, Brazzil is the most valued magazine in the USA. It brings words... Not blah blah, as many "papers"... So thank you very much. I am sending a contribution for a one-year subscription.

Please extend my subscription as far as this $20 will allow. I am a frequent visitor to Brazil and I lecture in several universities. Your Brazzil is the most informative of any materials I have found. I am acquainted with several Brazilian-Americans in San Diego. They delight in your magazine.

Can you please advise me how I can get in touch with the Workers' Party [Partido dos Trabalhadores] in Porto Alegre. Some of their ideas have created some interest here and I would appreciate more information and detail

I came across your magazine while surfing the Internet. I will subscribe. I read an article from the June '95 issue and found it very interesting ("All About Eve"). As you know, American men are fascinated by Brazilian women and the Brazilian culture. I wish I was there.

I need to know all about the poverty of the shanty towns and favelas in Rio de Janeiro. I don't know if you can help but please do if you can

I love the telenovela Terra Nostra. I watch it every day in Los Angeles dubbed in Spanish. I am French/American and I noticed that most Brazilian soaps are well written in comparison with what we see on the American Channels. Usually, the decoration and cinematography are well above the local average. The stories are pretty good and entertaining. Above all, I wish our American TV actors would be as sophisticated in their craft as the Brazilians are.

Generally there is an obvious European influence in these telenovelas and I guess that's the reason I relate to them. They are very well researched. For example, the way these Italian workers are dressed and behave still exist today (more modern of course) in all the European villages around the Mediterranean Sea (Italy, France, Spain.) Thanks God I understand Spanish, at least I am entertained.

I'm watching Terra Nostra. It's a beautiful soap opera. Everyone here is talking about it. I've talked about the soap opera with people in the Internet that see or have seen the soap opera and they loved it. Is there a way where I can get the story on Terra Nostra soap opera in English instead of Portuguese on the Internet? I don't know what I would have done if I was in Juliana's shoes.

I'm very excited to hear about Brazzil. I'm an American with a Brazilian heart and I like to keep up with every thing that goes on in the country.

I teach English to non-native speakers at a school in San Antonio, Texas. Our students come from all over the world. For about the past year I have been using Internet on-line newspapers as part of reading and discussion activities. Sometimes I have a Brazilian student, and when that happens I use your newspaper. Due to copyright laws it has been suggested that I contact all sources that I use for permission in order to avoid even the appearance of violating the law. In addition, I would like to make a presentation of my activity at the Texas Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TEXTESOL) conference next year and the national TESOL convention in 2002.

I would not want to encourage others to engage in activities that your publication prohibits. The activity is as follows: I put the students into groups of 3-5, and I give each student a current Internet newspaper article in English from his or her respective country. The students read their articles, and afterward they must summarize them for the rest of the group. Often the students give background information not found in the article or their own opinions. Each listener in the group must then ask at least one question of the speaker. Often interesting discussions ensue about the speakers' respective countries. I let the students write on the articles and keep them after the activity.

There are many advantages to this activity. It gives them current, authentic material to read about topics that they sometimes already know something about. It keeps our students aware of current events in their own countries. It makes efficient use of time in which a variety of skills are practiced during the period: reading, speaking, listening, questioning, and clarifying. It is also a way of creating cohesion in a class by creating an interest in each other's countries. Many students have also told me that these articles have helped them to improve their vocabulary.

If I think that an article is of general interest to the class, I might use it for activities involving the whole class. In that case I might need to make multiple copies up to a maximum of 10. Is it permissible to make multiple copies?

Please let me know if you approve of this use of your on-line publication and if I have your permission to include Brazzil as a possible source of material during my TESOL presentation. If for any reason you cannot approve of this activity, could you please offer a suggestion as to how I could modify it in order to meet your requirements.

I just wanted to share that I look forward in watching every night Terra Nostra. I think that Juliana and Matteo are so beautiful together. I enjoy when they use the phrase ecco, va bene. I can't wait to see how this will turn out and looking forward to visiting São Paulo in the year 2001.

I'm just starting to learn Portuguese and I was wondering if you know of some program where you can pair people up, one who speaks Portuguese, who wants to learn English and another who has the opposite needs. Thanks.

Gostaria de saber como entrar em contato com a publicação Our Guide/Nosso Guia( em Miami ). Vocês sabem informar se ainda está em circulação? A página na internet/telefone do Nosso Guia foi desconectado. Estou tentando montar um cadastro de empresas/entidades de lingua portuguesa (principalmente brasileiras ), aqui nos EUA. Vocês têm alguma sugestão de como eu poderia iniciar este trabalho?

Today I was reading http://www.brazzil.com/p23mar99.htm. That was perhaps the most informative data available on the Internet to me, in Florida, USA. Strange... I was searching for supportive proof and data for my own personal Yanomami studies.

I may have information regarding the Yanomami that is valuable to a degree and I would hope you are interested in it. There is an existing document, a video record, of the actual Yanomami people, I am searching for it myself, indirectly, as I am trying to find as much out about the Yanomami as I can—in addition to this video document. It was recorded by a television network in the 1990's and was (then) an official documentary for international purview; in it, the Yanomami treated all proceedings as if they were a diplomatic affair, though they appeared conscious of the fact that they were not meeting any dignitaries, just academicians.

If you are interested, perhaps you could help me access this video document; it has been published, and is neither amateur nor unscientific. Additionally, I would like to offer my informed viewpoint as to the disposition of some points raised in p23mar99.htm—in no particular order:

To achieve funeral pyre temperatures in the jungle rainforest environment, caves or rock depressions or crags can be used, with the appropriate fuel; several species (related to one genus) of hardwood deciduous trees can provide part of the necessary fuel, while the other fuel component is a charcoal/clay consisting of a certain river mud strata (any local waterway) and cinder-hot charcoals from certain species of `softwood' trees; you can build a mini chimney out of the charcoal clay, around a furnace fire of the hardwoods, and create the necessary pyre temperatures, when combined with the radiant and insulative properties of various geologic features (crag, depression, cave, etc... think about it; the geometry of the rock wall angles... it can focus that heat easily...)

So, don't think that just because it has not occurred to anyone yet, that it cannot be possible; how do I know the pyre stuff? The video document; the Yanomami said some very interesting things in it; part of your difficulty in locating the "true" Yanomami is they do not wish to be found, and they have spent generations of their lives effecting this "in the wild" and "in the midst of `white' man"...

Another point: I seriously doubt any "true" Yanomami has ever killed a white man; these people are the most docile Amazonian tribe, period. There could be up to four tribes being confused as the one "true" Yanomami, perhaps more. I am certain there are many Amazonian tribes who have acted violently as a group or only individuals. The Yanomami among them, HA!

This video document I speak of, if you are interested, I can recount all I remember from it for you. I mention this because it was amazing, I reckon viewing it when it aired originally on TV was an experience I would compare to something religious, it had that nature about it, it "seemed" very important to me when I saw it, though I was not sure why.

Little did I suspect what would happen to those Yanomami, the ones living in a real eden, with all the species of plants and animals I had never seen before (and a few which had only existed in pictures previously), in harmony with nature and themselves, talking about their past, and our past (how they knew what they did I still cannot fathom, for their knowledge surpassed mine, and I'm no idiot!), and they also talked a bit about the future.

Well, what do you think? If you don't answer, I am going to plaster your name all over this mail and send it to every Yanomami source I can think of... Well, I won't do that if you request, but if I hear nothing from you, I can only assume you do not object in any way. I personally would love you to add this, my quest for truth, and perhaps yours, too.

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