Dating in Brazil Vs USA: Paquerar & Namorar

I received the informative and timely email, Paquerar & Namorar, about the way Brazilians "flirt, hook up and hang out". I enjoy such social anthropological type-writings and only a 2 days prior, I'd met a dynamic Brasileira and our conversation landed on the topic of dating and  the what-to-do-whens.


I forwarded the email to my friend Danilo, a São Paulo native, and he confirmed that the article was very accurate. Some of the sentiments the Brasileira shared with me at the dinner party were included in the piece. The conclusion: the rules of love and dating apply to men and women.


I'm a hybrid of both worlds — USA and Brazil. Women and Men.

A Random Moment with The Hired Gun

The Hired Gun, Hip Hop MC, writer, critic, arts educator

We totally dated ourselves when we realized we knew each other since the heydays of Myspace. Yes, that Myspace. Since then we've been connected through the music and poetry circles and the occasional hot button race issue. At the Ace Hotel, on a Saturday afternoon we discovered we were neighbors in Brooklyn, kindred in the artist lifestyle.

 ~  ~  ~

My name is Mikal Amin Lee AKA The Hired Gun, Fresh Roots Music, Nomadic Wax, Urban Word. I am a Hip Hop MC, artist, writer, cultural critic and arts educator. I’ve been based in New York City now for the last 13 years—born and raised in New Jersey—been reppin’ Brooklyn since 2000, officially. Unofficially, I’ve been reppin’ Brooklyn since Big Daddy Kane in 19- [muffles his voice] I’m not gonna say when cause I look very young.

As an MC and artist, what is the message behind your music?

My influences have been people like Chuck D, KRS-One, Brother Jay, The Native Tongues, Freestyle Fellowship and regardless of the political message or the artistic message, the thing that I took from them and what I try to carry on is I want you to think. I want you to ask questions. That’s what my music is—it’s to inspire thought, it’s to provoke thought—what’s going on with you, what’s going on with the community around you, what’s going on with the world around you, why are things the way they are, where do you fit in all of that. So that’s really what my music’s about regardless of what the topic or the concept or the theme is ... I’m not afraid to say I love Black people, so I try to celebrate us as much as possible in my music and I try to show a different angle because I’m not what this country or what people think are stereotypical of us so I try to represent that as well in my music.

Tastes Like Travel

The universe places you exactly where you can achieve what you asked for.

                                                                                - @mightymoebetta

The Law of Attraction is so powerful it's scary. My need to travel must be strong enough that the Universe is listening. Paris (and France in general) is everywhere I turn. I joke about my willingness to do unspeakable things to get to Brazil in 2014 (behind every joke...). Recently jobs I've applied for are perfect for me and would give me the opportunity to travel and/or work with internationals. I don't have the means to travel at the moment so I'm satisfying my wanderlust in NYC. It's uncanny--the new people I'm meeting are natives of countries on my must-see list and people who have visited them already. When I finally make it to Paris, Brazil, Thailand, South Africa, Italy, etc. it will be new to me but I'm being prepped, appetite kept whet, constantly gaining new insights.


All signs point to my inevitable travel. Sometimes I swear it's all too perfect. This past month has been plotted like a movie--full of foreshadowing and "coincidences".

World Cup Of Women's Love

Last year, I was on South Africa time for a month during the World Cup. This year, it's Germany. My Nigerian ladies were eliminated during the Group phase. Sigh. I just finished watching the Germany v Japan quaterfinal match of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011. Japan pulled the upset and eliminated Germany (1-0), the defending champions and the host country. It was a great game! Japan was the underdog coming in and they played hard. This was after France and England played to penalty kicks (and England's squad was peppered with hobbled players)! France missed their first PK and I didn't know how it was going to play out. I stood the entire time. But then England missed a PK and,well, France didn't. This sets up a pretty interesting semi-finals.

Air In The Square

For the first time ever, a BMX and skateboarding event was held in Times Square. Air in the Square featured 18 of the top BMX and skateboarding pros navigating and wowing the crowd on the Megaramp ASA Triples course on June 16, 2011. The event was presented by MSG Action Sports and ASA Entertainment.


When I received the email from MSG, I was intrigued. I'd watched only a handful of similar events during the initial X-games craze years ago. This would be the first time I'd witnessed this sport live. It was thrilling to say the least. They are serious athletes. And fearless. By the end of the event, I did form an attachment to a few of them--Bob Burnquist, Jett Eaton, Jager Eaton, Andy Macdonald, Mike Spinner and Austin Coleman. Another favorite, Colton Satterfield was the winner of the BMX tournament.

Zumbi

You like what you like. Sometimes you can't explain why you're drawn to someone, a particular show/movie, song; you just are.


A few months ago I opened Jorge Ben Jor's discography in my iTunes and let it play in the background as I worked. I already had quite a few of his songs with 5-star ratings, I workout to some, I want to do a burlesque routine to one and I've used them in some of my mixes and playlists. Now I wanted to hear everything. "Zumbi" (A Tábua De Esmeralda, 1974) struck me.

Zumbi / A Tábua de Esmeralda / Jorge Ben

"What song is this?" I wondered. It made me move unconsciously and when I listen to the layers at the end of the song I feel surrounded. It has the energy of a rally song--every time I play it I put the volume up. I have a visceral response to that song. The crescendo of the song represents all coming together. I wish the song would go on forever (or at least 2 more minutes!) Although it's in Portuguese I started learning the words. I sang along with the chorus and I knew the word "Angola" was in the song. And "Nina" and "Congo". But what exactly was I singing?

Cidade de Deus (City Of God)

Men will be boys and the power of photography

Flixster - Share Movies

Zé is ugly. He's drug dealer and gangster in 1970's Rio. Never learned to read. Socially awkward, not sure how to handle his feelings so he resorted to violence.


Those are some of the conclusions I drew while watching Cidade de Deus (2002).

Feeling The Love

Early this morning I was tinkering around with my DJ software. The urge to listen to music came over me then I remembered I was working on a mix a few weeks ago that I never finished. I ended up trimming, crossfading and panning songs until 3 in the morning.

The mix I completed last night was mainly 70's music - majority being Jorge Ben Jor, Asturd Gilberto with some Lingala beats, George McCrae and Jamiroquai thrown in. I love the sound. Music you can feel. On Thursday night, I met DJ Sami (Fuzzanova). He was rocking the event with some great 60's & 70's sounds. A song I thought was Jorge Ben was actually Emilio Santiago he told me - a new artist to add to my music library!