Do it

My advice? Look out for #1

An Afternoon with Spike Lee

Written ages ago, but thought I should post this here anyway...

One of the biggest names ever to set foot at Concordia spoke to students on Feb. 18 as part of Black History Month. Spike Lee, arguably one the most influential directors of our time, talked for an hour and shared his experiences as a Hollywood director while also giving advice to everyone present. Students and others stood in line for up to four hours to see the director of Malcolm X speak. There was a great deal of anticipation, but not everyone was allowed inside room H-110. Many were forced to wait in the cold for hours and non-Concordia students were told to go home since there were already around 1,000 people in a room with the capacity for 700. It became fairly hectic when people who were turned away refused to accept they would miss the chance to see Spike Lee. After everything was resolved and the audience was seated, the room was filled with anxiety since those lucky enough to get in were chanting Lee's name while staring directly at the door in which he was supposed to come out from.

As soon as Lee walked out wearing a very bright orange winter jacket, he was greeted with cheers and much applause. Although he is known for being somewhat eccentric, he was very open with his personal life, as well as anything the audience was curious to know. He started his lecture by telling students that we are very lucky to be living in a time where "a man with the middle name Hussein is President." Lee added, "I still smile everyday because I never thought I'd see a black President in my lifetime."

Since it is Black History Month, Lee's main focus was to address issues involving racism and what today's youth, mainly young African-Americans, should do in order to be happy with their lives. As excited as he seemed about having Barack Obama as President, he warned students not to "drink the Kool-aid of this post-racial bullshit," since there are still many things that need to be addressed when it comes to racism as it's far from being over. He mentioned that in the United States there are still more black men locked up in prisons than enrolled in universities. Spike Lee has fully embraced being a role model by using his personal experiences in order to motivate youth to follow their dreams and chose a profession they love, not one that their parents want them to do. According to him, "parents kill more dreams than anybody," because although they want what's best for their children, it doesn't necessarily mean they know exactly what kids should do with their lives. Lee said that studying what you love is essential, citing that some of his classmates are miserable today because they did not chose the profession they wanted. He put it best when he said, "that's existing, not living." He focused a great amount of time on the message he wants to send to black teenagers in America: to follow his example and "get their act together."

One of his most insightful and controversial moments was when he spoke of how they wrongfully associate "intelligence with acting white, and ignorance with acting black," many times failing a class on purpose in order to have "street cred," as Lee put it. "To me, that was the best part of his lecture," said Christopher Sandiford, a fourth year film student. "I consider myself nerdy and to hear someone as successful as he is reinforcing that I don't have to act a certain way just because I'm black and it's okay to be myself was pretty satisfying." While the lecture had a serious tone to it, it's relevant to mention that he always tried to lighten the mood with humor, warning students," don't ask me if Lebron is going to the Knicks . . . he is," referring to his well documented obsession with the New York Knicks. Also, he was very willing to answer any questions the audience had, whether related to his movies or not. He also told students, "I'll answer intelligent questions, not something like 'when will the world come to an end?'" Lee was late for another appointment but made himself available to sign autographs for students for at least 10 minutes, much to the delight of everyone present. In the end, Spike Lee was the perfect mix of entertainment and education. His overall message can be summed up by the title of perhaps his most influential movie, Do the Right Thing. In this case, that means doing the right thing for yourself, and doing what you can to be happy.

http://www.theconcordian.com/2.4734/an-afternoon-with-spike-lee-1.634330

Futebol e suas facetas

Meu sonho é ser jornalista esportivo e sei que tenho capacidade para isso, e justamente por essa razão me espelho nos mais competentes e honestos profissionais da área. Porém, por mais que esteja com raiva do Dunga no momento, não vou jogar a culpa toda em cima dele como fizeram tantos jornalistas por aí. Não adianta ficar culpando um ou outro. O Dunga fez besteiras previsíveis (Melo e não convocação do Ronaldinho), mas agora já passou. Se o Melo não pula naquela bola, o Julio César espalma e a gente vai à final (o Uruguai desfalcado não seria páreo para nós) e o Dunga seria um gênio (embora eu o ache fraquíssimo como técnico; levou jogadores que não contribuíram em nada). Mas enfim, o futebol tem dessas coisas. Por mais que seja clichê, o futebol realmente é decidido em detalhes.

Vendo o vídeo do José Antônio Camacho (comentarista de uma televisão espanhola), sinto uma verdadeira emoção e amor à pátria. Como já foi técnico da Espanha, podia muito bem torcer contra para que a seleção que ele dirigiu em 2002 não fosse vista como fracassada, mas muito pelo contrário, torceu e muito, exclusivamente pelo amor que tem por seu país. No Brasil isso está em falta e o Dunga NÃO conseguiu resgatar isso. Agradeço-o por ter tentando, mas não deu. Você não acha que os jornalistas estavam loucos para ter essa chance de dizer ao Dunga "Estávamos certos, e você não"? Claro que sim.

Acho que somos mimados, pois durante a Copa todo mundo finge que entende de futebol, mesmo sem nem saber direito o que é um impedimento. É uma hipocrisia gigante; as pessoas fingem que estão chateadas por um dia, mas logo esquecem. Muitos gostam de se juntar e usam a Copa como desculpa. Se esse não é o caso, porque não acompanhar o Brasileirão? Eu também gosto de ir à casa de um amigo e ver o jogo com eles, mas vejo que prefiro muito mais quando estou com pessoas que realmente entendem de futebol. Isso tem a ver com questão de status (às vezes literalmente se olharmos o Facebook de 95% das pessoas), e não com aquela paixão com que o apenas o futebol nos proporciona. Acho valido e interessante ver as pessoas se juntarem para ver os jogos, e gosto que alguns mostram interesse, mas acho errado todo mundo do nada achar que sabe tudo. Eu não vou para um desfile de moda e discuto com uma designer que o vestido dela está horrível sem nunca nem ter analisado estudado o que é certo e errado. Posso parecer rancoroso, mas se você se dedica algo todo santo dia, e do nada aparece alguém que tem CERTEZA que ele está certo e você não, você não desenvolveria certa antipatia pela pessoa ou situação? Talvez eu seja o único... Porém, vi vários amigos meus que concordam comigo, mas são mais relaxados do que eu (really?). Parte do apelo da Copa é isso, que todos se interessam por futebol. Então talvez eu esteja errado, mas...

Eu tenho muito amor à pátria e acho que o futebol tem sim a ver com patriotismo, pois eles nos representam. Se eu ou você fossemos jogadores de futebol, jogaríamos pelo Brasil, não outro país, certo?. Eu acompanho futebol e o jornalismo esportivo quase a um nível de obsessão e estou chateadissimo com a desclassificação de nossa seleção, já que é uma das poucas alegrias que tenho hoje em dia. Essa é a razão pela eu queria que o Brasil ganhasse a Copa, para ter respeito e alegria... algo muito em falta na vida de algumas pessoas. Senti dor parecida na desclassificação do Corinthians na Libertadores, e foi difícil. Ser Corintiano e Brasileiro faz parte da minha personalidade (vejo pessoas depois de 15 anos e eles ainda se lembram que torço para o Corinthians).. Para muitos, é bobagem se preocupar com futebol já que existem tantos outros problemas mais sérios na vida, mas ele preenche um vazio muito grande e no fundo me traz muito mais alegrias do que tristeza, mesmo quando meu time ou país perdem um jogo teoricamente fácil. No dia após uma derrota, ler os jornais ou ver TV fica muito sem graça. Um dos maiores prazeres que tenho é acordar e ler um artigo sobre uma vitoria do Todo Poderoso, por exemplo. Faz uma diferença estrondosa no meu cotidiano e vejo que sou muito mais produtivo quando estou tranqüilo em relação a isso. Infelizmente muitas vezes as coisas não dão sempre certo, como anda sendo este ano de 2010. Tenho orgulho do meu país, do meu time e vejo cada vez mais que isso é mais que um hobby. É uma paixão, é uma obsessão, e não sei o que eu seria sem o futebol. Uma coisa é verdade: o homem pode mudar tudo na vida... casa, emprego, mulher etc... mas nunca vai mudar de time. Isso exemplifica o quanto o futebol é apaixonante, e espero que eu nunca perca isso.

Feelings of Inadequacy

Feelings of inadequacy tend to be overwhelming. Sometimes you’re walking along feeling alright about yourself and it just hits you out of nowhere: you don’t belong here. You don’t belong anywhere. You might as well give up. It has nothing to do with self-pity. It’s common to mistake facing facts and reality with self-pity. If you complain, you’re a whiner. Fair enough. If you open up your heart and tell people what’s really inside, you’ll be pegged as a cry baby. People don’t want to hear your problems; they hope things are well with you so you won’t bother them with your own issues. How many people REALLY care what you have to say? Two, maybe three? And it has nothing to do with being popular or having many friends. You could have twenty close friends who truly give a shit but you’ll still feel alone.

It’s life. Live with it.

What Do These Mean?

These phrases were written usually when I was either inebriated, intoxicated or just really nostalgic and thinking about my life. They don't mean anything, and they're not supposed too. My goal is to prove you can write something that seems deep without it actually having any real meaning behind it. If I start writing a sentence that makes sense, I immediately start over.

But hey, if they do hit home with you, great. If not, that's fine too. Most of the time they make people laugh, I always say that if these were written one hundred years ago, people would love them (Can't you just see Hemingway jot down his thoughts on the "eternal whisper"?). I have fun writing these, so let me know what you think :). I'll write more with time.

1. The spirit of the earth has yet to be achieved.
2. The eternal whisper transcends time.
3. A vida não é certa sem razão.
4. The meaning still wanders loosely.
5. Surfaces lie motionless when necessary.
6. The blue balloon is fading from my grasp.

PS - My personal favorite is #2, it was also the first one that popped into my mind. The whole sentence just came to me

out of nowhere.

To Dub or Not to Dub

One problem that most Canadians usually don’t have to deal with is an issue I’m all too familiar with: dubbed movies.

Growing up in Brazil, I remember always being skeptical about catching a flick with my friends because some of them insisted that reading subtitles was too much effort. Luckily, most of the time common sense prevailed and I didn’t have to watch a classic like Face Off in Portuguese.

Personally, I’ve grown accustomed to subtitles, so much so that I even turn on English subtitles to the Hollywood movies I watch, a habit many of my Canadian friends neither liked nor understood. However, since my return from Canada a few months back, I’ve noticed a trend that I’m not thrilled about. Slowly, but surely, dubbed movies are taking over subtitled English films. It used to be that only children’s films or big blockbusters were in Portuguese, but the demand for Portugese-dubbed films has increased in the last couple of years. According to Folha de São Paulo, a well respected newspaper in Brazil, 69 per cent of average moviegoers (who attend films once a month) prefer dubbed movies while 50 per cent of avid moviegoers (attending once a week) feel the same way.

This comes as a bit of a surprise to me, but the findings are understandable.

Looking at the movies that are currently showing at a nearby mall, almost half of them are in Portuguese. Movies which would rarely be dubbed in the past like Sherlock Holmes or Up in the Air, now are. Thankfully, both are available with subtitles as well. However, many great movies like Up and Wall-E are seldom offered in English, except for a couple of showings in an AMC-type theatre. It may not seem like a big deal, but after a while it becomes quite aggravating. People who want to see these movies end up resorting to piracy or downloading them off the Internet, which can always be tricky. I remember not being able to find any theatre in which Ratatouille was shown with subtitles, and ended up waiting for the DVD. With Up, as soon as I realized the pain it would be to find a showing of it in English, I just decided to download it off the Internet.

I’ve noticed that any time a movie comes out that isn’t a huge blockbuster or an indie movie, there won’t likely be any available screenings in English. With Avatar, I knew that 3D movies are never subtitled and figured that I was going to have to watch it dubbed. However, because James Cameron is the man and invented the technology that made it possible to insert subtitles in 3D, I was able to watch the epic movie the way it was intended to be watched.

Even though most of my friends prefer subtitles, I’ve come to realize that many people don’t because they’ve grown up with dubbed films. While talking with my girlfriend last week about teaching a friend how to swim, she used the mantra from Finding Nemo to “just keep swimming,” but in Portuguese. It sounded nothing like the original and it took me a couple of minutes to understand what she was talking about. Likewise, my cousin has complained numerous times that all of his friends growing up only knew Disney songs in Portuguese. Trust me, “Hakuna Matata” in Portuguese isn’t something you want to listen to.

That being said, I do understand the need for dubbed films. How can you expect a kid who is too young to read to understand something in a different language? You can’t. All I’m saying is offer both, always.

My brother never studied English in his life but speaks it fluently by emulating scenes from English movies. Watching films in their original language isn’t only better, it might teach you something.

http://www.theconcordian.com/to-dub-or-not-to-dub-a-film-language-debate-1.1110363