Do nothing

Just for fun, I've asked to ChatGPT: "How to make life easier?". Here's its response:

"Making life easier can involve various approaches and solutions, depending on the individual's specific challenges and needs. Here are some general tips that could help:

1) Get organized: Having a clear and organized system for managing your daily tasks and responsibilities can help simplify your life. This could involve using a planner, creating to-do lists, and streamlining your possessions.

2) Automate routine tasks: Consider using technology and tools to automate repetitive tasks, such as paying bills or scheduling appointments.

3) Practice self-care: Taking care of your physical and emotional well-being can help reduce stress and make life feel more manageable. This could include getting enough sleep, exercise, and eating a healthy diet.

4) Simplify your possessions: Decluttering and simplifying your possessions can reduce stress and make it easier to manage your environment.

5) Seek help: Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Whether it's delegating tasks, seeking support from friends and family, or seeking professional assistance, having help can make life easier.

6) Set achievable goals: Identifying specific, achievable goals and breaking them down into smaller steps can make life feel more manageable and help you focus on what's important.

7) Find joy and purpose: Focusing on activities that bring you joy and a sense of purpose can make life feel more fulfilling and enjoyable.

Remember, making life easier is a process that takes time and effort, but the reward is a more balanced, fulfilling life".

In my case, all those tips are useless (especially the seventh one). I'm really fucked up, mentally and physically speaking.

Hey, Sump'n Claus, don't forget me!

It's Christmas time...

Everybody is so excited, but I'm not. How am I supposed to be?

I have no money, folks. Broke, completely broke. Besides, I've got my flaws (like everybody else, by the way).

Hey, Sump'n Claus, how about to drop by my place and bring some fifties with you?

I feel lost (II)

I've been trying to be more positive, more disposed to look on the bright side, but it's been tough - to say the least.

And psychiatric treatments are not cheap and not available for me now, so...

I feel lost

Wow! The last time I wrote something here on this blog was in 2018! What happened?

Well, my life is falling to pieces. So many problems, lack of money... A constant hell.

But I hope I'll be able to get through this phase.

"Wait... I know that voice! I know that song!"

It was quite unexpected when I saw Denise Dumont singing Tico-Tico no Fubá, 30 years ago, in the very beginning of Radio Days. In case you don't know, she is a Brazilian actress who has been living in New York since the end of the eighties (her husband is british writer/director/producer Matthew Chapman).

In Radio Days - a Woody Allen's film, released in 1987 -, Denise plays a latin singer who performs in a bar or something like that. The scene is very short, but it's easy for many Brazilians to recognize both melody and lyrics of Tico-Tico no Fubá. In spite of its first recording had been made in 1931, the song became popular in the 1940s, thanks to Carmen Miranda.

Speaking of her, Miranda was kinda the first "Brazilian music ambassadress" in the US. If on the one hand her work contributed to diffuse part of our culture abroad, on the other hand her outfit (especially her striking fruit hat) turned into a stereotype of the Brazilian women. Anyhow, Carmen Miranda helped to promote important Brazil's songwriters, like Dorival Caymmi.

It's so cool when I'm watching an American movie and I hear a familiar tune, with a voice singing in Portuguese! Some years ago, I saw Nacho LIbre, starred by Jack Black. It's a silly, funny movie, no big deal, but at one point, I said to myself: "Wait... I know that voice! I know that song!". The track was Irene, by Caetano Veloso. Recently, I had the same feeling when I was watching You're not you, starred by Hilary Swank. The Brazilian song included in its soundtrack is the marvellous Malemolência, by Céu.

Translating the word malemolência to English is tough. However, googling around, I've found this amazing and very satisfactory solution: Swing Mood.  How about to replicate the original words in Portuguese here, followed by the entire translation of the song lyrics, made by José Thomaz?


Malemolência (Swing Mood)

Veio até mim (You came up to me)
Quem deixou (Who did allow )
Me olhar assim (You look at me this way)
Não pediu (You didn't)
Minha permissão (Ask for my permission)
Não pude evitar (I couldn't avoid it)
Tirou meu ar (You stole my breath)
Fiquei sem chão... (I felt so lost)

Menino bonito (Handsome boy)
Menino bonito, ai! (Handsome boy, oh)
Ai menino bonito (Oh, handome boy
Menino bonito, ai!... (Handsome boy, oh)

É tudo o que eu posso (That's all that)
Lhe adiantar (I can tell you now)
O que é um beijo (What is a kiss)
Se eu posso ter o teu olhar? (If I can have your eyes)
Cai na dança, cai! (Let us dance, dance!)
Vem pra roda (Come to the dance)
Da malemolência... (In a swing mood)

Menino bonito (Handsome boy)
Menino bonito, ai! (Hansome boy, oh)
Ai menino bonito (Oh, handsome boy)
Menino bonito, ai!...(Handsome boy, oh)

É tudo que eu posso (That's all that)
Lhe adiantar (I can tell you now)
O que é um beijo (What is a kiss)
Se eu posso ter o teu olhar? (If I can have your eyes)
Cai na dança, cai (Let us dance, dance)
Vem pra roda (Come to the dance)
Da malemolência... (In a swing mood)

Menino bonito (Handsome biy)
Menino bonito, ai! (Handsome boy, oh)
Ai menino bonito (Oh, handsone boy)
Menino bonito, ai! (Handsome boy, oh)

Let's finish with a video, shall we? During her performance of Malemolência, below, Céu and her band incidentally include another song, Mora na filosofia (written by Monsueto Menezes e Arnaldo Passos)

Alternative (and bizarre) titles

Probably you've already watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off, haven't you? (It's one of my favorite 1980's comedies). But do you know what is the title of the movie here in Brazil? Curtindo a vida adoidado - something like Enjoying life insanely. What the hell? And how about the unforgettable 1970's series Charlie's Angels? As Panteras, i.e. The (Female) Panthers...

The "creativity" has no limits, as you can see. I think the mainly reason behind that weird, inaccurate renaming in Portuguese is an alleged commercial appeal. Local entertainment distributors have made up those titles because they take for granted that the ones fabricated by them would be able to attract bigger audiences than a bare translation would do. Recently, I've got puzzled by two of those... er... "inventive" names.

Truth - a James Vanderbilt's film, starring Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford, released in 2015 - has become Conspiração e Poder (or Conspiracy and Power) here in Brazil. Wouldn't it be easier and simpler just using the word Verdade (truth, in Portuguese)? Maybe I'm wrong but the acts of a team of journalists (and their consequences), as well as the media responsability, are the central theme of this movie. Verdade would be a proper title in Portuguese, since the storyline discusses, in a sense, the concept of truth in journalism.

The most bizarre renaming, however, is found in the series Black-ish.

The awesome ABC show has come to be Família Desajustada (i.e. Troubled Family or Dysfunctional Family). You gotta be kidding me...

Be a three-point shooter or die - the contemporary NBA's "dilemma"

When I was younger I used to play basketball, even living here in Brazil.

So what?

Well, it is surprising because, as you probably know, soccer is kind of a mandatory religion, when it comes to this tropical, peculiar country. So, every Brazilian - since their childhood - is condemned to "the curse of one-single-sports mindset".

What does it mean?

Let me give you some examples.

PE classes are nothing but impromptu soccer matches for schoolboys in the majority of educational institutions. Female students, on the other hand, play some sort of dodgeball (we call it "queimada"). In public places, small talks usually involve chatting about the last soccer games. Brazilian sports journalism is focused on soccer - 95% of the time. Need I say more?

Against all odds, however, I became a huge basketball enthusiast. And, of course, like the worldwide opinion, NBA is the most-beloved competition.

Naturally, I have my favorite players. John Wall, DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Karl-Anthony Towns - this would be my ideal lineup. Each one, in my opinion, have brought some valuable, wonderfull and - at the same time - uncomplicated things to the game. DeRozan, by the way, is the best illustration of that.

Toronto Raptors' shooting guard has been presenting a nice, classic playing style on court; his moves remind me the 1980' ones (I started to see NBA broadcasts at that time), however, with the athleticism of the present-day guys. DeRozan's stats have proven his worth to the team and a large number of fans agree that he deserves to be called a star (speaking of which, he was elected to NBA All-Star Game four times - 2014, 2016, 2017 and this year).

But DeRozan's elegant "old-fashioned" way is changing a little. And it's necessary, if he wants to be even more important for his team (and even more prominent in the league). Being a good three-point shooter is crucial nowadays. He's realized it and his numbers around the perimeter show that.

In his first NBA season DeRozan tried, on average, 0.2 three-point field goals per game; in his fourth one, an increase to 1.5. Recently, he attempted 3.6 three-pointers per game in 2017-18 season. His efficiency behind the 3-point line is not that good yet, but the Raptors' player has learnt that his playing style must incorporate those shots, since many guards, forwards and even centers have been developing that ability.

It's not a secret. Every NBA team - even San Antonio Spurs - needs three-pointers, if they want to go ahead and, eventually, win the championship. I think it's not an exaggeration to say that NBA players have been facing a "dilemma": Be a three-point shooter or die.