Richard Feynman, sambista

I can't say I know of any other Americans who went to the streets of Rio in the mid-1950s and played samba in the streets with locals. Clearly, this guy was a genius and ahead of his time. But what's amazing is he also happened to be one of the greatest physicists of all time, a Nobel winner and beloved professor.

For sambistas, it's interesting to note that he found pandeiro tough and settled on frigideira -- an instrument that doesn't get enough love nowadays!

Here he is on the subject of samba carioca:
http://buoy.antville.org/stories/1466743/

And here's a brief overview of his other accomplishments:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIJw3OLB9sI

AfroPop Worldwide on Brazilian music, past and present

Afro-pop Worldwide also recently covered recent pop trends in SP:

http://www.afropop.org/wp/6610/the-soul-of-sao-paulo-rock-rap-and-future-music-from-the-endless-city/

And here's part 2 of their Rio show from last July:

http://www.afropop.org/wp/4215/rio-2-samba-strikes-back/

104 years was the least of Niemeyer's accomplishments

The architect of Brasilia and most of Brazil's modernist architecture has passed away, outliving his slightly older colleague, Le Corbusier, who had a long career, by an astonishing half century.
obituary

The Ugly American lives

So Lady Gaga visited Brazil this week. She played some soccer with favela kids, fine. But what's horrible is what these "witty" TV commentators have to say. Has anyone ever heard anything more condescending? "It's probably the coolest thing that these kids are ever going to have happen..." I hope not many Brazilians catch this clip; the basic idea seems to be that the world is just holding its breath, waiting for America to spread its magic fairy dust of glamour and joy upon the otherwise miserable ocean of humanity.
'TMZ' clip

Belo Horizonte, city of doggy love

And they say Paris is the city of love. This canine love motel almost makes up for the botox injections that, according to this NY Times article, some plastic surgeons in Brazil now offer for dogs.
article

The Microsoft From Ipanema

Forget the Olympics and World Cup coming to Brazil. The clearest sign today of Brazil's rising profile might be a new arrival from Redmond, Washington: Microsoft. The tech giant is bringing R&D and tech startup incubation to the cidade maravilhosa.
NY Times link

Beware the Highway of Death

Personally I think the term is a bit of an exaggeration. The "highway" part, I mean. But this Reuters blog post is interesting, in part because there's someone named "Nacho Doce"?!