RAPIDINHAS

Getting naked in Brazil has become a fashionable statement for men too. In the last few weeks a government official, a candidate to city council, soap opera actors and group of Blacks all exposed themselves in the buff to the cameras. Júlio Geiger, president of Funai (National Foundation for the Indian) decided to undress and join his naked hosts when participating in a Kuarup, an Indian ritual to celebrate the dead. Justice Minister Nélson Jobim, who also jumped in the river, guarantees that he kept his trunks. Julian Fagotti, candidate for a seat at the Curitiba (state of Paraná) City Council, showed his jewels during his free time on TV in a last and desperate effort to boost his electoral chances. It earned him at least national attention.

For actors Edson Branco and Gonçalo Diniz, unrobing in front of the cameras is going to be like second nature when they finish their participation in Xica da Silva, a period soap opera being aired by Manchete TV. As for the four black students from USP (University of São Paulo). their dropping of the pants was politically motivated. They are defending affirmative action and want the establishment of quotas to guarantee that more Blacks have access to higher education.

Greek playwright Euripedes, who lived between 480 and 400 BC, might be considered a modern nowadays due to the psychological insights of his tragedies, but it's doubtful he would approve of the way his Bacchants is being presented by iconoclast Brazilian director José Celso Martinez Corrêa in a tour de force that lasts five whole hours in the Rio's Teatro Armazém. The play became a must-see when recently composer-singer Caetano Veloso, who was watching the show with his wife actress Paula Lavigne, was dragged to the stage, undressed and supposedly forced to suck from the exposed breasts of actress Patrícia Winceski, 25. It was all part of a scene in which a beast is fed. For Winceski, who wants to be a movie star, it was instant fame. "We took the good and served him to the public. At the beginning, Caetano was timid," she said, "but after a little while, he really sucked." Patrícia, who doesn't use soap or deodorant, also popularized the expression estraçalhar (tear to pieces), meaning what she did to Veloso. As for Lavigne, Caetano's wife, she only had to say, "Next time I'll bring a gun." "Great," said Winceski, "she will suck from my breast too. Eu estraçalho." And she has already plans for future estraçalhamentos: "I would love to meet President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. In order to estraçalhá-lo."

According to the Câmara Brasileira de Livros (Brazilian Chamber of Books), the organizers of São Paulo's recently concluded 14th Biennial of Books, the latest book fair was the biggest, the best and the most lucrative ever. That was expected. There were 811 stands and 3,000 new books launched, 76% more than two years ago. And 1.5 million visitors bought 17.5 million books representing $84.2 million. But many publishers interviewed revealed 30% to 40% lower sales when compared to the prior book fair.

Weekly newsmagazine Veja citing only "reserved conversation" with unnamed participating exhibitors, says that the Chamber fabricated the upbeat numbers and mounted a farce since it wants to transform the biennial event into an annual one. For the Chamber people, who charge up-front fees and keep the income from all admission tickets sold, the fair will always be a financial success.

He was the General-President who coined the phrase "distensão lenta, gradual e segura" (slow, gradual and secure opening). Having governed Brazil from March 15, 1974 to March 15, 1979 he used a strong hand to fire those in the military who opposed relaxing the grip dictatorship had on Brazil. Dead September 12 at the age of 88 from cardiac arrest, Ernesto Geisel, who suffered from bone cancer, was honored with an official eight-day mourning period by President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. The Brazilian economic miracle was already a mirage when he took control of the country. He was able to start the country's redemocratization, abolishing the AI-5 (Institutional Act No. 5) which, among other powers, had complete control of the media. At the same time he made sure his own political group remained in power.

Frederico had a good chance to win the coming November elections for Mayor of Pilar, a little town 30 miles from Maceió, the capital of Alagoas state. But everybody knew that it would be very hard for him to be alive for much longer to continue his campaign. He had received several threats and had been the target of a murder attempt when, during a 50-car triumphal parade promoted by his fans, Frederico's car was hit by a machine gun volley. His enemies finally got the upper hand. Frederico was found dead just before a scheduled appearance on Jô Soares Onze e Meia, a very popular interview TV show. There is suspicion that he was poisoned. The police, who are investigating the case, explained, "People were angry and afraid that Frederico would damage Pilar's image on national TV." But Frederico, who was only a peaceful white goat who had been found in the streets by Petrúcio Maia, better known as Petrúcio do Ferro Velho (Scrap Metal Petrúcio), was transformed into a symbol of discontent with politics as usual.

Times haven't been easy for Pedro Álvares Cabral, the Portuguese navigator believed to have discovered Brazil in 1500. Revisionists have cast a shadow over his importance in history, while festivities to celebrate the 500th anniversary of his feat are being rushed on both sides of the Atlantic. Now comes word from Portugal that the house where Cabral lived the last 30 years of his life has been converted into a cheap brothel. The rundown mansion, located in Santarém, 55 miles from Lisbon, is leased by Maria José Ramos, 79, who sublocates the rooms to prostitutes. The filles de joie trade their wares at Igreja da Graça steps, the church where Cabral has been buried. The city of Santarém wants to convert the place into the Center of Studies and Documentation About Cabral and the Discoveries. They are still hopeful they will be able to do this by April 22, 2000, the 500th birthday of Ilha de Vera Cruz (Island of the True Cross), the land that one day would become Brazil.

Worried about the usually negative portrait about Brazil that the international press has been serving the world, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has chosen diplomat Durval Carvalho de Barros, one of his personal aides, to deal directly with foreign correspondents. Barros is going to be using films, CD-ROMs, booklets and a lot of sweet talk in his attempt to sell a positive image of Brazil. The 196 foreign journalists (16 in Brasília, 56 in São Paulo and 124 in Rio), who usually complain about lack of access to authorities, and lines being disconnected when they are sending their material to their publications, will welcome the move. BBC's correspondent and British journalist Robert Plummer doesn't think the focus will change because, according to him, the press is already doing a balanced job. "Brazilians are too paranoid about the image other countries have of Brazil," he says, dismissing those who criticize the foreign journalists for being too negative.

Interested in buying a sample of Amazon Indian DNA? Coriell Cell, an American genes company, is selling through the Internet and on scientific congresses the genetic code from the Karitiana and Suruí Indians who live in the state of Rondônia. The business has been done without the authorization of Funai (Fundação Nacional do Índio - National Foundation for the Indian), and Brazilian scientists have protested against this commerce. Anthropologist and biologist Carlos Coimbra, from Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) denounced, "These are needy Indian populations. They agree in participating in these researches without knowing that a drop of their blood can make millions to a lab outside Brazil." There isn't much that can be done. The sale of genetic material for research is legal in the US.

For 919 Brazilians living overseas, the main problem is not lack of work or opportunity ,but lack of freedom itself. All of them are behind bars throughout 36 different countries. Most of them are accused of drug trafficking. Among the other charges: prostitution, rape, and theft. The biggest contingent is in Paraguay (169), followed by Bolivia (81), Japan (76), Italy (75), France (70), Portugal (68) and the United States (63). According to the Foreign Ministry that released the list, there is one Brazilian prisoner in these countries: Thailand, Israel, Hungary, Peru, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Chile and South Africa. Greece, Ecuador, Surinam, Czech Republic and Austria have two Brazilian jailbirds each. There are three others in Australia and four in Colombia and Guyana. The roll is completed with Argentina (53), Uruguay (51), Switzerland (42), French Guiana (32), Spain (26), Venezuela (24), Canada (10), Germany (10), Holland (9), Belgium (8), Denmark (7), Syria (6) and England (6).

No, the World Health Organization (WHO) has not approved Nofertil, a male contraceptive produced in the state of Pernambuco by Laboratório Hebron. WHO is against the product because they showed it to be toxic in animal experiments, and there is a 10% risk of sterility for those taking it. Despite these reservations, however, the product should start to be commercialized in Brazil starting next year. Nofertil is made from gossipol, a substance extracted from the cotton seed. The pills inhibit the enzymes responsible for the spermatozoids' maturation. In a similar front, a Cearense (from Ceará) veterinarian has become the first Brazilian to get a biological patent. José Ferreira Nunes, 51, from Embrapa (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária - Brazilian Company for Agriculture and Cattle Breeding Research) found out that sperm can survive three times longer in green coconut water than in any other solution being used right now for artificial insemination.

Bus surfing started some four years ago as a celebration after soccer matches for teens at Parada Duque, a suburb in the greater São Paulo. This crazy "sport" has two classes: free style and stuck feet. In the first one -- the most dangerous -- the youngsters get to the top of the bus and stand there without touching anything with their hands. For the other style, the teens take the metallic signs that indicate the bus direction and use them as reinforced boots. They leave a streak of fire when skating behind the bus. The bus drivers wash their hands, alleging threats and the danger of being hit by stones if they fail to comply with the thrill seekers. Bus skating also has its own vocabulary.

• Agarrar (to grasp) - to find a place where to fit the feet on the bus's top
• Bus, buso, busão - bus
• carne boa (good meat) - girlfriend
• colar (to glue) - to join the group
• fazer fogo (make fire) - to skate behind a bus
• latão (big tin can) - bus
• gaiola (cage) - bus
• renca - gang
• rodar (to turn around) - to be caught by the police
• sangue nos olhos (blood in the eyes) - a furious driver

Malu, the stripper's stripper.
Paranaense (from Paraná state) Malu Bailo has become a celebrity in the night-club circuit due to the elaborate striptease shows she presents all over Brazil. Famous and coveted in São Paulo where she is based, Bailo knows what she does and has criticized Demi Moore's performance in the movie Striptease. She also saw Paul Verhoeven's Showgirl and hated the movie. For her "the style of American women is not sensual". In her new show she has borrowed from several American celebrities. She dresses as Audrey Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Grace Kelly and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, as well as Evita Perón and Brazilian 60s muse Leila Dinis -- just to take it all out till the last piece of clothing.