CB-NC Batizado

If you are one of the many readers visiting my blog, you should know that Grupo Capoeira Brasil-NC is having their annual batizado Oct 10, 2009. The dates could possibly change in the next couple weeks, but early October is when things will begin.

If you play capoeira or you're just interested in seeing something new, come by the Terreiro de Arte e Cultura at 105c W. Corporation st. in downtown Durham, NC for the event. If you get there early enough, you might even learn to do some of this:





*Blogger managed to do a great job with cutting these images off in my browser. How about yours?

"Skank" is a word that will get you into trouble

There was once a time when the internet was appreciated for its anonymity. Lies and half-truths circulated freely without any need for verification. Only the most foolish of souls bothered to take any of the internet's wisdoms to heart. Today, however, is a new day. If I say something about you, your mother, or your best friend, you could make quite a fuss.

Today I just discovered the risks of speaking one's mind--particularly if your mind is full of worthless babble. Now, I do not condone calling anyone a skank. It is a quite offensive word. I am not sure where it came from, but I think its etymology refers to an early episode of The Real World. At the latest, the San Fransisco season is when those five letters came together, forming the word causing all this trouble.

Let me take that back. The word didn't start the fuss. It was the unnamed blogger who used it in reference to a Vogue cover model. For some reason, she wants to know the identity of the blogger, but like anyone who just found themselves in potential trouble (who knows what kind of "protection" this model has, right?) wants to make sure nobody comes knocking at his/her door passing out court orders or ass kickings (even if they are free). So far the blogger has not been forced to reveal himself but the judge has advised Google to pass on a message to the character in question: "get a lawyer."

In the end, the moral of the story is not to treat others as you wish to be treated. Instead, you all should learn not to use words like "ho" and "skank" next to someone's image, as it may cause damage to one's reputation and/or career.

People, I did not tell you much about this story. I just think it is an absurd bit of news. I do not condone the use of sexist language. Words such as skank, ho, skallywag, bitch, whore and the like are usually horrible in their popular applications. If you want to know more about this story, you can start by reading here.

Law and the internet is some crazy shit though. How do you control virtual space by law? If you know more than I do about this, please chime in.

Gonna be the Sh!t...

So there's a capoeira movie coming out. A friend sent me the trailer,
and I'm excited. Some would be ashamed to say this in any sort of
public forum, but I like kung fu movies. I've gained an appreciation
for the genre. In the past I thought it was silly to see people
flying and doing all kinds of comic book action, but today I can
appreciate the aesthetic and broad offerings of many of these films.
Like any other type of artistic expression, some films are more
successful than others. Either way, I can confidently say that I like
this sort of movie.

But now there's a movie on the way that seems to have this same sort
of action. Its like the Shaw brothers went on vacation in Salvador,
and now they want to do something a little different. I don't really
know who directed the film. Maybe I'll pay more attention to that
later. It will be interesting to see how the film is received, and
what it does for attention it grants the capoeira community. One
thing that I think will be particularly interesting is the way that
people will deal with the way that discussions of race/discrimination
at the turn of the 20th century in Brazil is framed in the movie.
Also, how will today's movie-going audience digest the movie's
portrayal of injustice--and this will probably have to show up in the
film since we're talking about a folk hero? Are the problems that
Besouro fights against issues that die with the villains and the hero?

I'm going to have to keep my ear to the ground.

Oh, and if this movie doesn't come out in the US fast enough, I may be forced into seeking out bootleg copies. It's the way of the world.

Yeah, its gonna be good!

Venezuelan Internet Radio, anyone?

I'm wondering if anybody knows of any internet radio stations that
spend much of their airtime talking about politics. Oh, by the way, I
am interested in Venezuelan radio stations. I will check http://www.aporrea.org
to see if I can find anything there, but if anyone out there has any
information for me, I'd be happy to hear from you. I want to listen
to the radio while I'm working in the library.

To be honest, my job isn't the most stimulating one around, but I do
get to spend the day listening to music, podcasts, documentaries, and
the like while remaining productive. That's the key, right? While I'm
there, I have to get things done. Still, I thought that I could keep
my mind on Venezuelan politics during these working hours, and that
would facilitate my writing after work.

If you know anything, let me know.

It has been a while

Yes, I know it's been a very long time since I last posted. In fact, even Shaily wrote me some mean messages because I hadn't been posting. I guess I should never assume that nobody is reading this blog. Apparently someone is always interested. If they're interested in what you have to say or they are just interested in wasting time is not important now. What is important, however, is that there is slight demand for me to keep up with this.

One of the things keeping me away has been the work I have been doing. I recently went to the LASA meeting in Rio de Janeiro to present a paper on capoeira and transnational something-or-other. I hope to continue working on the topic, so it was a great chance to get some of the thoughts down on paper (or screen). Now that I'm back, I'm trying to get back into my dissertation writing. I've begun to write again, but it's never easy to switch topics.

Besides all this, I have been working on a photoblog for the last few months. I have been posting images to Misfired Pixels as well as on Flickr (Hopefully blogger doesn't have a problem with me linking these sites here. We'll see if they do anything about it.) If you're interested, check out the sites. Feel free to leave comments, good or bad. Photography is something that I enjoyed some time ago, but I have neglected my camera for years. I'm only now beginning to make up for that lost time.