A brief summary of the recent history of Brazil - Part 1

by Carlos Henrique do Nascimento

I remember how Brazilians, especially students like me, were engaged in the political facts when I studied at university. It was the very beginning of the 80’s, and by that time, the military commanders decided to return the power to the people, reinstituting the Democracy, which they had taken away from them almost two decades before that. This was called the “Abertura Política”, an important episode of our recent history.

For a twenty-year-old guy who always lived under the censorship and rules of that dictatorship, it seemed that a new life would start in our country. Something could be changed! At my school, we started to give strong attention to the political news; there were meetings among groups with different tendencies, and these groups could discuss politics!

 After years of silence, that was amazing. People were very disatisfied with our governors, at least those ones who were aware of corruption, bad politicians and military acts. The president of Brazil was João Figueiredo, a strict general from the Army, and the governor of São Paulo was Maluf, a symbol of corruption. What a couple! 

A brief summary of the recent history of Brazil - Part 2

by Carlos Henrique do Nascimento

People who had been condemned to exile, like Fernado Henrique Cardoso, José Serra and Leonel Brizola, could now return to Brazil. To our frustration, the “Abertura” was made gradually. The first State governors were elected after 18 years, in 1982. Even so, the Military prohibited elections for president. By 1984, several organizations decided to join the movement called “Diretas Já”. Millions of people went to the streets to ask for elections. Despite that, the Military ordered indirect elections: the Congress should elect the president.

 In 1985, Tancredo Neves was elected. He represented the symbol of a new era. The Brazilian Society convinced the Congress people to vote for Tancredo, a symbol of Democracy. Unfortunately, Tancredo died before his inauguration. The vice-president, José Sarney, took over the government instead. What a frustration! Sarney was an old-fashioned politician. He was in that position only because of the alliances they arranged to elect Tancredo. That was another black episode in our history. Instead of following the new ideals and promoting elections, Sarney managed to extend his government. He was elected for a four-year period, but he forced the Congress to vote for an extra year. Sarney was not worried about people’s aspirations.

 Brazilians were finally given the right to vote in 1989, and Fernando Collor was elected in 1990. Collor was elected because the media built him an image of honesty. When Collor was the governor of Alagoas, the television networks and the newspapers brought news of a man with good intentions and able to fight corruption. What a nuisance! After some months in power, several scandals were revealed. Collor used his position to get personal advantages. An official network of corruption was established. Due to problems in Collor’s family, his brother Leopoldo decided to reveal all the facts to the nation. Many companies had contributed to Collor’s election, and part of the money was used to buy cars, and to pay for personal trips and parties. After months of investigation, the Congress decided to vote for Collor’s impeachment.

 Vice-president Itamar Franco assumed the Presidency in 1992. There is nothing important to be mentioned about Franco’s governmemt. The most remarkable episode in his term was a fact that took place in the Carnival of 1993, when Itamar was photographed with a suspect lady without lingerie! The man with the enormous toupee should be forgotten.

A brief summary of the recent history of Brazil - Part 2

by Carlos Henrique do Nascimento

 In 1995, Fernando Henrique Cardoso was elected with a large margin of votes in his favor. His changes in the economics brought hope to our people. The landmark of his period, “Plano Real”, caused a decrease in the inflation rate, a problem that had seemed to be chronic until that moment. During his first term, Brazil had the illusion that everything was going the right way. With the support of Real, Cardoso was reelected for a new four-year period in 1998. To our disillusionment, several problems happened with the main econonic directives. Real lost its value and the unemployment rates increased. There was a crisis in the energy area, mainly because of a lack of investiment in the area. As a consequence, foreign investors abandoned the country. The nation had to take money abroad. As a result, it became a hostage of the International Monetary Fund – IMF. After Cardoso’s eight-year-term, his candidate José Serra lost the elections in 2002.

 Our present president, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, has a special characteristic: he is the first person coming from a poor background to be elected President of Brazil. Best known as Lula, he promises several changes to figth misery, including millions of job positions and the end to hunger with the program “Fome Zero”. As a matter of fact, nothing has really happened till now. The impression that we continue under Cardoso’s governmemt is a fact. Lula has promised that, during the first months of his term, he had been trying to prepare the country to changes.

However, it is disappointing to realize that even after 24 years, Brazil continues with the same old problems. Significant changes are almost impossible to take place. Corruption is still frequently present. The large companies continue to dominate the economy while people become poorer and poorer. Our justice works properly only for those who can afford it. I cannot say with live in real democracy! If I had a time machine and could return to 1980, I do not know what I would say to myself!

Escrito por Aurea às 07h24 PM
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A NEW TRIBE: FOODIES - Part 1

A NEW TRIBE: FOODIES - Part 1

The word foodie was coined in 1984 in the English newspaper The Observer. It describes people who have a maniacal interest for everything related to sophisticated food.

They consider culinary as important as painting or architecture or music. Therefore, they spend a lot to make their “masterpieces”, such as “Lamb with black mushrooms and pesto”. The author of that recipe spent R$ 114.800,00 in his stove, an Ilve Majestic made in Italy that has more than one similarity with the mythical Ferrari (it is also red).

“A Ferrari goes from 0 to 100 km/h in six seconds. My stove is mightier, it goes from 40 to 240 ºC in less time”, tells proudly his owner.

He also explains the difference between a foodie and a gourmet: “A gourmet likes to eat well, while a foodie lives to eat and cannot understand people that eat only to kill hunger. We find pleasure preparing exquisite recipes, recipes that are pleasant to vision, taste and nose. We are fascinated by everything linked to cooking, from stoves and tools to spices and oils. We disdain rice and beans, omelet, grilled chicken and other ordinary things. We consider eating miojo a crime, as serious as the use of aluminum pans.”

 Escrito por Aurea às 01h09 PM
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A NEW TRIBE: FOODIES - Part 2

A NEW TRIBE: FOODIES Part 2

The foodies also like to go to the market at early morning or late at night, so they can read the tags exhaustively and scrutinize all the products deeply.

How many are they? There are not many figures available, but there are some clues. The event Boa Mesa, one of their favorites, had 4.500 visitors in its first edition, 1995. The last one, held in 2003, had 45.000 attendants. Some experts estimate their share of the market at around 3 billion reais each year.

                                                                          

In my opinion, the foodies are one more symptom of a new trend in São Paulo and other big Brazilian cities: people are staying at home more. That is the reason why there are so many individuals interested in home theaters, architecture, decoration, and so on. As the streets become more and more unsafe; people try to stay at home more and more, where at least they feel safe. Why should we spend a lot of money in an expensive car which can be easily stolen? It is much safer to spend money in furniture, so some people invest in home theaters and other things like that, just like the foodies do, so as to find new interesting things to do.

Adapted from Revista AOL

Alfredo Pereira de Carvalho

 Escrito por Aurea às 01h08 PM
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THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE FOODIE

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE FOODIE

1. Thou shalt not cook nor eat rice and beans, omelet, grilled chicken breast or whatever simple dish. Thou shalt not even know the meaning of the word miojo.
2. Thou shalt not save money or personal effort to equip your kitchen. Thou shalt treat all your utensils with greatest care.
3. Thou shalt cite phrases of famous writers concerning the pleasure of food at least once a day, such as “The most sincere love is the love for food” , from Bernard Shaw.
4. Thou shalt use the microwave oven as furniture. In extreme cases, to boil water only.
5. Thou shalt cultivate, even though in thy balcony, thy own kitchen garden, with spices and herbs.
6. Thou shalt be able to distinguish 20 different kinds of rice, 30 kinds of olive oil, 9 kinds of lettuce, 50 kinds of pasta and 200 kinds of cheese.
7. Thou shalt have thy own culinary library.
8. Thou shalt not buy at ordinary markets. Real fresh food can only be found at municipal markets or Gourmet-shoppings (by the way, very expensive).
9. Thou shalt know by heart the names of all the great chefs on the world and their restaurants.
10. Thou shalt plan thy trips abroad with a good restaurant guide and at least one year in advance, so thou can get a place at the El Bulli (Spain), French Laundry (California) or at Alan Ducasse´s restaurant (Paris).

         Meanwhile, the latest figures released by IBGE show a decrease of around 30% in the per capita consumption of beef and 57% in the per capita consumption of chicken. When I think about the “Ten Commandments of the Foodie” and the latest data of IBGE, they remind me of the French Revolution, to be more specific the phrases attributed to Maria Antonieta: “If they do not have bread, let them eat brioches!”. I have the feeling that the way things are now, they are going to explode sooner or later.

                                                                                          

Adapted from Revista AOL.                      

       Alfredo Pereira de Carvalho

 Escrito por Aurea às 12h57 PM
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ELI CORRÊA, THE BRAZILIAN BROADCASTER ICON - Part 1

ELI CORRÊA, THE BRAZILIAN BROADCASTER ICON - Part 1

by Alexandre Tcaciuc Luccas

 

            Eli Corrêa, who is considered "the smiling man" of  the Brazilian radio broadcasting completes the 35th anniversary of his daily program.

 

            He was born in Sertaneja, in countryside of the Brazilian State of Paraná. Since he was a lad of nine, he had dreams of becoming at least a speaker at a store in his hometown in order to advertise products and be in touch with the public and consumers. When he was twelve and working as a store assistant, the official speaker of that store called in sick one day. Then, young Eli Corrêa begged his boss to give him a chance to fill in for the speaker who was absent. "Please boss, please," he said, and he went on begging. He finally got what he wanted, and since that day, he has never worked on a job that was not related to speaking to the public in general.

 

            In the 80's, he became a radio icon at the Radio Globo AM. Eli is a hardworking man – the kind that works nonstop. He has not taken any time off or vacation for four years now.  Moreover, he does not record his programs, preferring to air them live.

 

            Before Eli started his well-succeeded career in radio broadcasting, the audience was pretty shy number wise,  especially  after 12:00 PM. Nowadays, Correa's program is aired daily and the audience has increased a lot. His joyful style of broadcasting is the paramount difference amongst him and his fellow colleagues, who usually conduct their programs in a very conservative and serious style. He greets his audience by saying “Hiiiiiiiiii Foooooooolllllks,”  which is his distinctive characteristic in radio broadcasting.

 Escrito por Aurea às 02h42 PM
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ELI CORRÊA, THE BRAZILIAN BROADCASTER ICON - Part 2

ELI CORRÊA, THE BRAZILIAN BROADCASTER ICON - Part 2

by Alexandre Tcaciuc Luccas

 

Nowadays Eli is 52 years old, he works at Radio Capital, and his audience loves him so much. The manager of Radio Capital, Neder Adib, says that Eli is such a genius because millions of listeners love and support him and his joyful program. Besides that, he airs the show in a very attractive and well-humored way. "It seems he is never worried about anything". Neder Adib also says that Eli is very charismatic and gifted, and he has an incredible ability to effectively communicate with the public in general.

 

Below there are some excerpts of a recent interview given by him to the Brazilian Newspaper Agora São Paulo.

 

JOURNALIST: When did you leave the countryside of Paraná?

                 

ELI: I left Sertaneja in 1972 and arrived in São Paulo to work at Radio São Paulo AM, which pioneered radio music programs.

 

JOURNALIST: When did you become a radio broadcasting icon?

 

ELI: In 1982, at Radio Globo. Before that, I played small parts in someone else's programs.

 

JOURNALIST: When did you start with your traditional greeting “Hiiii Foooooolks”?

 

ELI: I started saying that in the late 70's because I would like to somehow imitate sports broadcasters in order to produce the same joyful effect of the expression  “GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL”. Then kids started to repeat and imitate that very greeting , and that was it.

 

Nowadays Eli works at Radio Capital AM 1040 kHz São Paulo broadcasting news in general. His radio program can be tuned twice a day, from 7 to 9 AM and from to 1 to 4 PM, Monday through Friday.

 Escrito por Aurea às 02h41 PM
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Traditional or “New family”?

         Traditional or “New family”?      

by Mayumi Shima

 

            Do you know if your family is traditional or if it represents the “new family”? First of all, let's understand the meaning of these two expressions. The traditional family is consisted of parents and their children, or parents, brothers and sisters of the same family, and sometimes grandparents or other relatives as well. However, nowadays, the constitution of the family has changed a lot. More than 50% of the Brazilian families is not classified as a traditional one, where there are a father, a mother and children from the same marriage. These families are called the “new families” and sometimes the family picture needs labels with names and explanations for us to understand who is who because the man who looks like a father could be a stepfather, or even the young girl who looks like a daughter could be a wife.

            The last survey by the “Brazilian Statistics and Geography Institute” (IBGE) published data that demonstrates changes in the definition of the traditional family. It also introduced of the concept of “new family”: more than 47% of the families are consisted of wife and husband without children; or one parent and children, where a father or a mother is not present; or even a person who lives alone; or still grandparents that take care to grandchildren, etc… According to Maria Rita D’Angelo Seixas, from the University of São Paulo, two recent factors caused these alterations. Firstly, the divorce law, approved in Brazil, in1977, allows husbands and wives to get married again and form new families as many times as they wish. Secondly, the contraceptive pill allows women to have sexual freedom and prevents her from becoming pregnant if she has sex.

            In the “new family”, parents and children have opportunity to talk about family relationships, and the responsibilities are shared between parents. The new Civil Laws were  adapted according to the changes in behavior and constitution of the families in the society. For example, all children (adopted children, natural ones, or children from the different marriages…) have equal inheritance rights, and nowadays parents have equal rights to take care to children.  The parent who has the best financial and psychological conditions will be chosen to raise the children. Let's have a look at this real example of the “new family”: Since he was eleven months old, Kim C.C. has had two houses. Nowadays he is a twelve-year-old boy, and since his parent divorced, he has lived four days with his mother and 3 days with his father. This fact was not acceptable some years ago, but today it is normal, and Kim is a happy teenager who says that he likes to live this way. His big problem is when he forgets something in the father's or mother’s house, or when he does not know where he forgot it.

            Other data shows there have been changes in the traditional family as well, such as the decrease of 12% in the number of official marriages, the increase by three times in the  divorce rates, the increase by 90% in the number of non-official marriages, the increase by 64% in the number of people who live alone, the increase by 39% in the number of parents who do not have children, and the increase by 53% in the number of women who raise children alone. Another real example of this “new family” is the story of the Brun family: A second marriage was not expected to Roberto and Lucineide Brun. He is a sixty-year-old widower who has a daughter and a son. Lucineide is a divorced woman who has two daughters and a son. She always thought that it would be very difficult to get married again because of her three children. However, Roberto and Lucineide met years ago and decided to get remarried. In the beginning, each family lived in their own house, but today, they decided to live all together in a big house with six rooms. Roberto’s oldest daughter said that it was difficult to familiarize with the stepmother in the beginning, but now they are a true family.

            The “new family” is a real fact and it is increasing every day. Have you already thought about this or about whether your family is traditional or “new”? The most important thing, in my point of view, is to have a good and happy relationship within the family, be it traditional or “new”. To promote harmonious life without discrimination or preconceptions, the Civil Laws have to be continuously adapted to the new reality.

 Escrito por Aurea às 06h49 PM
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A refreshing discovery - part 1

A refreshing discovery

By Bia Mauro

 

A hundred years before the refrigerator was created, Brazil already had the frozen cream. Before telling the history of this marvelous discovery, it's important to explain something to my readers.... The specialists divide the frozen cream in sherbet (sorbet) and ice-cream. The first one is made with sugar syrup and juice or fruit pulp, wine, liqueur or sugar cane beverage. The other has a more complex recipe, including milk products and eggs.

Let's start our trip through the past....

In 1812, D. Diogo de Souza, the governor of the  Captainship of São Pedro (which nowadays is the state of Rio Grande do Sul), took advantage of a strong frost to make an experiment, leaving it in a recipient with citric-fruits juice. When the mixture became crystallized, he ate it with pleasure.

The sorbet popularization, however, only took place in Brazil twenty years after that in Rio de Janeiro... On August 6^th, 1834, Rio received the Madagascar ship, commanded by William Hammett, coming from the USA. He declared to the customhouse that he was transporting 217 tons of ice. On the following 23^rd, a newspaper published an advertisement where there were being offered different qualities of sorbets in two stores in Rio de Janeiro.

Before continuing the story, dear readers, it is important to say that, during the winter, Americans used to pick up ice from the Potomac River and from the lakes near Boston. They would cut it in big blocks and used these blocks to transport fresh foods. It became a lucrative activity only because they started to send the blocks to the countries in the Southern Hemisphere, which were then facing summertime. The ice blocks were involved in sawdust to be transported, and they used to last four or five months.

The most important American who exported ice was Frederic Tudor, named the Ice King. He was very rich and his family wished he would graduate from Harvard, but when he was 13 years old, he left his studies and went to visit Cuba, where he couldn't find a fresh drink. Right after he returned to the USA, he started to export ice. He later developed an ice cutter machine, so the blocks could be better pilled up and could last longer.

 Escrito por Aurea às 06h11 PM
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A refreshing discovery - part 2

A refreshing discovery - part 2

By Bia Mauro

 

Continuing the story... the Madagascar shipment debarked in Rio de Janeiro and the announcement of the sorbet caused astonishment on population. In the beginning, they were suspicious that the frozen cream would burn their mouths.

The novelty didn't take a long time to conquer the population of Rio de Janeiro. They made queues in front of the sweet shops that offered “pitanga”, orange, banana, pineapple, mango, coconut, “carambola” and chocolate sorbets, for 200 réis each.

Still in the 19^th Century, the Italian called Giuseppe Grondona asked the permission of the authorities to make a machine to be able to produce the frozen cream, but he made a big mistake by telling them about the sensual taste of the sorbet. The authorities considered his request immoral and unconstitutional, so they did not allow his output.

Let me write, my readers, one more curiosity... When Brazil was governed by Diogo Antônio Feijó, the future Emperor D. Pedro II, then an 11-year-old boy, asked for permission to taste the sorbet. After this fact, he became a fan of the specialty, and “pitanga” became his favorite flavor.

Moreover, we must say that ice-cream was created before the refrigerator invention. It was invented by the Chinese 3.000 years ago. They prepared ice-cream with snow. The Persians used this technique and passed it away to the Arabics, who transferred it to the Europeans in the 8^th Century. The Greek and Romans were already used to making sorbet with fruits and honey.

The industrialization of ice cream started in the 19^th Century, in Baltimore, in the USA. A milk businessman called Fussell didn't get to sell all the milk he stocked, so he converted it into ice-cream (literally ice in cream).

In 1904, another improvisation originated the waffle cone. An ice-cream man, in St. Louis, had his plates stock tired out and, in order not to lose his clients, he offered his ice-cream in the waffles that his neighbor businessman used to sell.

  In my opinion, my readers, what is important in all I wrote in this is that this fresh discovery is used until today,  and we can taste it in the most different flavors, which are continuously invented every day because of the competition among the ice-cream stores.

 

This is all for now. See you next month with one more unnecessary, but interesting, cultural note!!!!

 Escrito por Aurea às 06h10 PM
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Have you seen it before?

Have you seen it before?

by Eleutério Ramos Gonçalves

Everybody has a friend or a relative who matches to this description: “Men or Women, over forties, intelligent, good looking, with good social position, single or divorced and always looking for someone to have a relationship.”

Our society intends to be modern, but among them there is always someone asking: “What is wrong with him (or her)?”, “She (or he) is so nice, but…”

That is the reason why the movie “Something’s gotta give” (Alguém tem que ceder) has made all this success. Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson perform the couple who proves that, sometimes, loneliness is just a matter of an unexpected encounter.

Erica Barry is a well-succeeded and a bit neurotic play-writer and Harry Sanborn is an executive of a black music label record and a bachelor that believes that there is not even one interesting woman over thirties.  He is going out with Erica's daughter and they get to know each other at her house at the Hamptons. Then, he has a heart attack and, even though she is not very happy with the situation, Erica accepts to look after him until he recovers. The differences between them are huge, but destiny shows in some little details all the surprises that are about to come.

Things start to become more interesting when Harry's doctor (Keanu Reeves) falls in love with Erica, and the two men soon find themselves competing with each other over her.

It's a light and sweet romantic comedy, which makes us believe that we should never give up trying to find true love.

You can’t miss it! After all, Erica and Harry can be just around the corner.

 Escrito por Aurea às 06h08 PM
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Sailor Tale

Sailor Tale

 by Alfredo Pereira de Carvalho

 

Last week, I was watching an episode of “The Color of War”, a series presented by the History Channel, and my attention was caught by one of the cases presented, which I will try to tell you here.

The guy whose letter was mentioned was part of the crew of an aircraft carrier. The carrier was a small one, and was originally a cargo ship that was converted into an aircraft carrier. Since it was launched some years before the war, it had a name of a civilian ship.

Then, Washington bureaucrats decided that, since it was now a warship, she had to be named like one, so they renamed her.

One of the crewmen was an old sailor, who was not the most pleasant man on the world, but his experience was respected. When he was told about the decision, he screamed: “Those S.O.B.’s in Washington don’t know you cannot change the name of a ship? It brings bad luck! We are doomed!” (to be precise, he used many more four-letter words).

         A few months after being renamed, this ship took part in a battle. During that battle, the ship was hit by a kamikaze plane and sank.

         The old sailor was right after all!!!    

 

 Escrito por Aurea às 05h57 PM
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Master And Commander - The Far Side Of The World

"Master And Commander - The Far Side Of The World"

By Carlos Henrique do Nascimento

 

        Based on the story of the ship "Surprise", "Master And Commander - The Far Side of The World" is a one-hundred-million-dollar production from 20th Century FOX. The most important character, captain Jack Aubrey, is performed by Russell Crowell. 

        The story takes place in the nineteenth century. In that period the Royal Navy dominated the seas and made England the most powerful country in the World. The trade and exchange of goods were the basis of his power. Other countries like France tried to take part in this trade with pirate actions and even with missions sponsored by other European governments. During the film, the "Surprise" had the mission to attack a French ship sent by France to rob the British ships in the Southern Seas.

        The scenes start in the Brazilian Coast, cross Cape Horn with its violent waves, and reach the Galapagos Islands. The scenes are amazing,  and the sound effects are magnificent. The battles were filmed with great realism; in fact, in some moments you can feel in the middle of the action.

        An important episode of the movie occurred when Captain Aubrey adverted his second man in command that he should be harder in keeping hierarchy aboard. A sailor had an attitude that the captain interpreted as an offense to the officer. As a punishment, the sailor received several lashes. All these passages reinforced Captain Aubrey's concepts and ideals of duty.

        As a film based in history, the plot brings us not only leisure, but also lessons and knowledge. Many scenes presented the hard life the sailors had during that period. The food was poor, the medication was underdeveloped, and hygiene was precarious. 

        "Master And Commander" is a highly recommended film. Its director, Peter Weir, was very fortunate to select this story, to what he gave precision in details. Russell Crowell acted as a great Captain Aubrey, and we should not forget that he went on a diet to be as fat as the Captain, who was a one-hundred-kilogram man.

        Watch the movie! You won't regret it!!!   

 Escrito por Aurea às 05h47 PM
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