I still haven’t figured out how to join that site with this blog, or if I don’t, what to do with this blog, so for now, I’ll keep things separate.

The other relevant thing about this, is that this blog is gonna end. I'm gonna have a .mac web presence (with this same address), where I can have a much easier time writing my opinions and my goings on. It'll take a few weeks tho.

Till then, I remain,
a pc.

Blood isn't a brilliant drama for the masses like The Godfather, and it isn't a brilliant drama for the few like No Country for Old Men.

There Will Be Blood sounds like a warning or a threat, and the title is very appropriate to the feel of the movie. But this is a beautiful movie. The camera angles are amazing, claustrophibically centering on the main character. The work between sound and camera, what's offscreen and what's onscreen is masterful, and begs studying. Daniel Day Lewis is superb, and his performance is the best I've seen anywhere in a long time. This is worth seeing for him alone.
But it's a difficult movie to watch. There's no conflict that needs solving. No building towards a resolution. It's a pure character study. What's amazing about it is that the character doesn't change in the traditional way, going from bad to good, or finding repentance or being punished. The changes are all below the surface. They are the evolution, the changes that happens to a changeless man over time.

So that's it, really. I don't recomend this movie to the regular guy. And by regular I don't mean average. I just mean, it's not your sunday afternoon entertainment. Certainly don't take a 1st date to watch this. Unless you don't wanna get laid.

esse site meio que perdeu o sentido.

Do I write in portuguese?

ou deixo em ingles?

in any way, it's become a pain to manage

cheio de regrinhas e coisinhas…. tou afim de recomeçar

but still,

ainda nao sei o que fazer com esse espaço….

What I'll probably do is,

vou dividir em 2:

One part in english, geared towards my American readers (none so far)

e uma parte em portugues, pra ficar no lugar do email que tenho mandado c as novidades…

sei la…

for now, I'm still thinking about it.

de resto.. nada…

Anywho, today I got my student visa. The final piece of the puzzle. The last strand of anxiety is gone. I'm locked, I'm loaded, and ready to go.
This week that passed I sold my car, my computer, my guitar, I gave away my stereo, my VCR. And I started to say goodbye to friends.

In 2 weeks, I'll be on a plane to Cali.

I can already see myself driving down from LAX to Orange, early morning, with a beautiful Sun shinning on the horizon.
I can see myself riding my bike to College everyday, camera on my backpack…
Going to the AMC 30 at the Block…
Walking around Old Towne, feeling at home.

Can't wait. I'll miss my friends and family, but I can't wait.

2 weeks….

 So I'm sharing it with yous.

Also known as On the Lot. The apprentice-like reality show where wanna-be directors pit their skills against each other until only one remains, the winner, of a Spielberg produced one million dollars movie deal with DreamWorks.

It's a new concept for a TV show, and after a couple of format changes, they settled (for now) on a live show hosted by the beautiful Adrianna Costa. It's a poor format, where we don't get to see how each week's films came to be. The trials and tribulations of the contestants as they struggled to make their films. The breakthroughs, the chokes. That's what we want to see. It's the key to success for this show. And they should be clearer about each week's rules, and they should spend less time on useless banter (which would unfortunately mean less Adrianna, but you can't have everything), and more time showing the real meat of what being a director is all about. The films and the results are only the important and interesting conclusion, and should not be the whole show. Also, they should find a way to involve every contestant each week, and not only 5 of them, and marginally at that.

As it is, each week our contestants try and make the most pitiful movie to see who'll get a hug from Adrianna best movie and move to the next round. Only we never see this. We only see the end result, the short movies, which are judged by a panel of film personalities:

• Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia): She judges according to her personal taste which makes her a poor judge.
• A guest director: Those have been interesting, adding some freshness to the show.
• Gary Marshall (Director of Pretty Woman): He is the best part of the show. His comments are always insightful, he has a command of the language that is a pleasure to witness, always cracking jokes that help make his point. He is a kind person, and knows talent when he sees it.

It seems the show is suffering from poor ratings, and justifiably so. Altough the subject matter is dear to my heart, it is poorly executed.
Meanwhile, we still have 2 Chapman alumni among the 14 contestants left. Here's to them, living the dream.

So that's it. Now, all that is left, is everything.

The fun starts now….

And now, here I stand in mid-step, on the edge of tomorrow, waiting for the inevitable conclusion of the first part of this journey. By tomorrow I expect to find out where to land my other foot. By tomorrow I'll have Chapman's decision, and I wanted to record this moment, the moment before the knowledge of my fate.

I'm so tense I could crack. I'll either be admitted at Chapman's Dodge College, or I won't. It's like the riveting conclusion to the best of crime dramas, with the amazingly happy ending and the miserable sad conclusion so close together, both of them as likely to happen as the other, fate hanging by a thin thread that's about to break.
(I hope I hope I hope)
If I do get it, if I'm admitted, the positive release of tension will be so intense, I can only guess at my immediate reaction. But I'll be happy, my immediate future will be known, and I'll be on my way in the best possible manner. I'll have won the first battle, and I'll be a champion. Champion of the World. Rocky Balboa's first victory.

And if I don't… well… the bleakness of the prospect exists only in contrast to the other option. In truth, if I don't get it, I'll still go to LA, and I'll still be on my way to fulfill my dreams. I'll be stronger for having fought an amazing battle, and I'll be victorious in other ways that are as important as the title of Champion, if not more. I'll have lasted till the final round, and stood there, toe to toe, with the best. Losing the battle, but winning the war of the road to my dreams. ADRIAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!

The evening began with a couple of new ballads, and then started to gain momentum with songs from acclaimed Brazilian musicians like Raul Seixas and Legião Urbana, until he got to his 80's rock songs we were all waiting for.

And then, an amazing surprise. He introduced on stage a true Brazilian guitar legend. A man who was there in the 60's, at the beginning of Brazilian Rock: Luis Carlini.

This guy can play the guitar. If Americans knew him, he'd be included in one of those "top 100 guitar players of all time" things.
 
He came on stage, sat on a stool, and played a mean slide guitar to Paulo Ricardo's howling blues tune. My simple enjoyable evening had gone up a few notches, and now I was really having a blast.
 
Luis Carlini remained onstage for most of the remaining songs, and it couldn't get any better than this, or could it.
 
After just a little while, Paulo Ricardo said "I have the pleasure and the privilege of bringing up on stage, the guitar player of Brazil's most successful band in the USA…."
 
And I said, sarcastically, in an "as if" tone of voice: "Sepultura". And a second later Paulo Ricardo finished his sentence with "…..Andreas, from Sepultura"

I went nuts. He took the stage, all serious-like, and I could help but yell "WAR FOR TERRITORY!!!", to which he gave a big smile.
 
What followed next was pure Rock & Roll ecstasy. Song after song, melting into one another, with Andeas and Carlini guitar-dueling, Paulo Ricardo (we always say his full first name) leading the audience seamlessly and non-stop from Elvis to Beatles to Led Zep, and onwards. His love for music and the stage is evident and contagious, and he sings with talent, humor, and passion. You can't ask for more.
 
The night ended after two short hours with the staples Radio Pirata (Pirate Radio), Revoluções por Minuto (Revolutions per Minute), and Olhar 43 (Look 43).