The Girl From Ipanema is a far weirder song than you thought

I have always loved the song, it's so hauntingly beautiful. This video goes into a lot of detail that helps explain why.



It also explains why there are some versions of the song I don't like. It's more than just style. Some versions have key elements missing. The orginal early versions were more complex than most people realize.

"The Alchemist" and "The Pilgrimage"; are they books for self-abosorbed Yuppies?

I recently read those two books, then came across this article in the New Yorker, about the author, Paulo Coelho. It's long, but an interesting read. There was one part, quoting one of his literary critics from his native Brazil, that I've excerpted below:

The Magus
The astonishing appeal of Paulo Coelho

[...] Mário Maestri, a history professor at the University of Passo Fundo and one of the few Brazilian critics who does not reflexively dismiss Coelho, has written, “In spite of belonging to different genres, Coelho’s narratives and self-help books have the same fundamental effect: of anesthetizing the alienated consciousness through the consoling reaffirmation of conventions and prevailing prejudices. Fascinated by his discoveries, the Coelhist reader explores the familiar, breaks down doors already open, and gets mired in sentimental, tranquilizing, self-centered, conformist, and spellbinding visions of the world that imprisons him. When he finishes a book, he wants another one that will be different but absolutely the same.” Maestri calls the work “yuppie esoteric narrative.” As if to prove the point, this winter Starbucks distributed five million Venti cups printed with a Coelho quote: “Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure. Never forget your Personal Legend. Never forget your dreams. . . .” [...]

Ouch! Sharp criticism, yet one could argue that "He makes that sound like a bad thing". I think much of what Mário said is true. Yet the very things he cites have also made Coelho a best-selling author, winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author. Yuppies buy books, so Coelho can laugh all the way to the bank.

Despite his popularity with the demos (or, because of it?), he's a controversial and eccentric figure. I found the interview interesting. He claims, among other things, that his book "The Pilgrimage" is responsible for the revival of interest in the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, a journey he himself has made. And looking at the statistics for travelers, what he says may well be true.
     

Who benefits from the Oil Spill in the Gulf?

Obama Boss George Soros Ready To Profit From Oil Disaster
Follow the link. Count the ways. Connect the dots. Golly.

See more about the collusion between the Obama Administration and BP:

The BP Racket

BO and BP
     

Ford Motor Company is profitable - in Brazil

It's one of the most advanced and efficient car manufacturing plants in the world, and they aren't begging for a bailout. It's worth noting the reasons why. Here is a 3 minute 33 second video of Ford's plant in Brazil:



They would like to build such efficient manufacturing plants here in the USA, but they can't, because of the stifling unions that won't allow changes in the manufacturing process. So American jobs continue to go overseas, and Americans won't buy cars with bloated prices due to extra costs created by union demands. So we need to bail-out the unionized auto-makers, so taxpayers can subsidize the unions and the cars they make that aren't selling?


Related Link:

South of the equator, Ford and GM prosper