First, I’d like to offer an apology to my readers for not keeping to the content schedule outlined on my “About” page. This week has been a harrowing return to work after an adventurous ten days off, and balancing competing interests is never an easy task. So, dear readers, I’ll try to not let this […]
Sometimes, the videos are more about the cities that inspired the music than the music itself. Other times, you just want to jump through the screen. Here are a few of my favorites. Lupe Fiasco – Paris, Tokyo [NEW] por PeteRock …and of course… Image courtesy Flávio Conca via Flickr
Global Juke Joint: City Sounds Read More
São Paulo presents ample opportunities to sate every human desire, from food to finance to fornication, and I love her for that. The videos below offer up images of the world’s biggest underrated city, from its adolescent growth spurt to its mammoth adulthood and accompanying developmental issues. Don’t sleep: São Paulo, 1943: This propaganda-soaked documentary,
Growth of a Megacity Read More
A few weeks ago, I took a tour of downtown São Paulo and the bohemian ‘hood of Vila Madalena (aka Madville – just coined by yours truly) with one Flavia Liz Di Paolo, professional travel guide. Flavia Liz, full of spunk and moxie and who speaks, like, seven languages, offers personalized tours of São Paulo
A (Not Quite) Three-Hour Tour Read More
The third episode of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates’ four-part documentary, Black in Latin America, takes place in my current country of residence: Brazil. He uncovers part of the mystique of this exotic, exoticized country by visiting favelas in Salvador and Rio, beauty salons in Belo Horizonte, and historical sites in Recife and Diamantina, discussing
Thoughts on Part Three of ‘Black in Latin America’: Brazil Read More
These whirling women lead rituals during the syncretic Festival of the Divine Holy Spirit, a tradition in the northeastern Brazilian state of Maranhão. They’re here in São Paulo for one week (everything comes here). The elderly lady who opens the video is in her 80s! She was being possessed by the orixá, an African spirit
Dança das Caixeiras Maranhenses Read More
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From the AV Room: My City, Five Ways Read More
Dr. Henry Louis Gates, star professor of African-American studies at Harvard University, has just completed a four-part documentary on the African diaspora in Latin America – titled ‘Black in Latin America – that’s currently airing on PBS (last episode, tomorrow night). He’s visited Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mexico and Peru to shed light
Thoughts on Part One of ‘Black in Latin America: Haiti & the DR’ Read More
Burl Ives got it wrong; the most wonderful time of the year, in much of the world, is upon us – Carnival. For four, five, six, even seven days leading up to Ash Wednesday, revelers in the Catholic world drop inhibitions and taboos in a frenzied, culturally-mixed-and-matched attempt to “get it all in” before having
Last summer, Wallpaper* magazine published its “Born in Brazil” issue, a 210-page design-focused exposé on the established names and up-and-comers in the realms of Brazilian work and play. Along with the print version, the magazine included on its website this beautifully-shot, beautifully-scored look at the remarkable energy – and traffic – of São Paulo, as
A Tale of Two Cities – Part One Read More
