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 Show at El Rey, in Los Angeles, in 2007 Only two Brazilian rock bands really made it abroad. Heavy-metal Sepultura and psychedelic Os Mutantes.
Os Mutantes’s success is peculiar in the fact that the band had its heyday in the late sixties and early seventies, when it was instrumental in shaping counterculture in Brazil. It was dismantled for decades, till the nineties, when it was progressively brought back to life, championed by Kurt Cobain, Beck and David Byrne.
Initially formed by brothers Arnaldo Baptista and Sérgio Brito, and red-haired-enfant terrible singer Rita Lee, it blew the country’s mind with its experimentalism and funny, surreal performances, that mixed bridal dresses and Napoleon outfits. Their free and crazy attitude was particularly striking in the tense period of censorship and political restrictions the country faced at the time. Keep reading
 Brasília Cathedral Oscar Niemeyer, the centenary Brazilian architect that gained world fame for his sculptural reinforced concrete buildings, is still producing in an almost compulsive rhythm.
His signature is everywhere – not only in Brasília, the country’s capital and the main showcase of his creativity. During the last decade, he designed at least a dozen new projects, including a couple of museums and an annex for the Serpentine Gallery in the Hyde Park, in London. This week an impressive group of buildings by Niemeyer were inaugurated in Belo Horizonte. They will host Minas Gerais state government headquarters. The project, that cost over R$ 1 billion (US$ 560 million), includes two 15-floor towers and an auditorium. Keep reading
Deep Brazil is back to business.
In fact, the transition to a new host and a new look was smoother than I expected. Thanks for sticking with me through this process. I hope you like the results. And, please, remember your feedback is always welcome.
So, back to the topic of the day: Veja covers one more scandal involving the governing Partido dos Trabalhadores. Época gives tips on how to help your kids being good students while Isto É discusses new treatments for male impotency.
 
 Isto é magazine
 In the next few weeks, I intend to change several features of this blog. It will be moving from Wordpress.com to a self hosted version. I hope it will gain flexibility – wider columns, space for more content and, maybe, some ads.
I am not a computer wizard, so this process might be painful. Please, be patient. I believe I will be back to regular business soon.
I am also looking for ways to make the design friendlier and more pleasant. I would really appreciate if you could give me your feedback on these topics:
- Do you like the look of the website? Too many/few photos?
- Is it easy to read? Would you prefer a different font/letter size?
- Can you figure where the links are (or maybe they are too discreet)?
- Would you like to have more/less blank spaces?
Thanks! I hope you will enjoy the new look of Deep Brazil.
This week, Isto É reveals details of the Mensalão, one of the many on-going political scandals (a big group of congressman that were receiving a “monthly salary” to vote legislation favored by president Lula’s party, Partido dos Trabalhadores). Veja talks about the latest revolution in cosmetics and Época covers the production of a series of films about psychic Chico Xavier, that died eight years ago but who sill has a huge following.
  
 From the Chrystal Ball series:
The Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology released today a study that outlines how the country and the planet will (probably) evolve in the next 20 years. Produced by the Centro de Gestão e Estudos Estratégicos, the document offers a time line based on several sources. It is meant to help government plan its future strategies.
Part of its content is easily predictable, considering recent tendencies. But there are some surprises.
Among its main forecasts:
Economy
- In four years, Brazil will go back to its tradition of successive commercial balance deficits
- Brazilian Gross Domestic Product will be 925 billion dollars in 2015 (which means, less than our present GDP, around 1.6 trillion dollars. It is not very clear how Goldman Sachs, the original source of this information, came up with this number)
- Brazil, the brand, will increase its value. The demand for products associated to the country’s cultural diversity will grow
Keep reading
 Madeira river, in the Amazon, where Jirau dam is under construction A study released today by BNDES, the main federal bank responsible for financing infrastructure projects, reveals that Brazil will increase its investments in power dams, highways, railways, ports, telecommunications and sanitation. According to daily paper Folha de S. Paulo, around R$ 274 billion (151 billion dollars or 111 euros) should be invested between 2010 and 2013, 37.3% more than the volume spent between 2005 and 2008. BNDES didn’t publicize the investments made last year, during the global financial crisis.
These resources will finance such projects as the rocket train that should connect Rio and São Paulo at a cost of R$ 34.6 billion (19.1 billion dollars or 14 billion euros) in the next ten years. It should also finance the hydro power dams of Santo Antonio and Jirau (6.4 gigawatts combined capacity), that are already under construction in Rondônia state, in the Amazon region, close to Bolívia, and the controversial Belo Monte power dam, in the state of Pará, also in the Amazon. With an estimated capacity of 11.3 gigawatts, Belo Monte is meant to be the second biggest hydro power plant in the country, after Itaipu, in the Southern state of Paraná. This project has been dragging for over 30 years due to the many environmental and social issues it raises, and the fierce opposition of environmentalists, indigenous leaders and singer/composer Sting. Its costs are estimated in R$ 16 billion (8.8 billion dollars or 6.5 billion euros) – but here, again there is controversy. Many Brazilian entrepreneurs have already indicated that this forecast is too conservative at it will probably cost twice as much.
 Today is the 65th anniversary of one of the main campaigns ever promoted by the Brazilian Army and Air Force – the takeover of the inexpugnable fortress of Monte Castello, close to Bologna, in Northern Italy. World War II was in its final months and 25,000 Brazilian soldiers were sent to Italy fight alongside with the Allies to stop the German advances. Under the leadership of general Mascarenhas de Moraes, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (Força Expedicionária Brasileira or FEB) promoted a series of combined air raids and artillery and tank attacks. Around 440 Brazilians died during the three-month operation.
Keep reading
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