News and opinions on current events from “The Land of the Southern Cross”.
This ad, featuring an all-star cast of Brazilian players (Ronaldo, Cafu, etc) was broadcast in the lead-up to the 1998 World Cup. Not only is it possibly the best soccer-related advertisement to every be filmed, it is also an apt metaphor for the performance of the Brazilian team that particular World Cup, and most since…
We’ve featured the Brazilian classic “Tico Tico no Fubá” before on this website…but never like this. Here it gets a full orchestra treatment, and not just from one orchestra, but two! In reality, I found both and couldn’t decide which arrangement I liked better, so I included them both. First up, an orchestra that I…
After our annual conference it has become a habit for us to spend some time with a few of our missionary colleagues for fellowship and relaxation. We usually try to chose an area that will give us a chance to see some new aspect of Brazilian culture and/or history. Last year, for example, we stayed…
The Gruta da Lapinha is a spectacular series of caves located near the city of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais. I had the opportunity to tour the caverns a couple weeks ago during some down-time from the annual Baptist Mid Missions, Brazil conference. Here are some of the amazing things we saw:…
I mentioned this attraction in a previous post, but that did not give it nearly the coverage it deserves. Mini Mundo is what we in the Model Railroading community call a “garden railway”. But it is certainly not your “garden variety” garden railway. It’s creators have gone all-out to make sure there is something for…
Author’s note: Back when I was running a website called “Best of Brazil”, I would regularly post interesting facts and stories from Brazil. Of all of the things I shared there, this has to have been my favorite. Enjoy! Our story begins when Silvia Renate Sommerlath was born in wartime Germany, to a German father…
In Brazil’s large cities there is an honored tradition called the panelaço. Basically, what happens is people disgruntled with one particular politician or other will stand at the windows of their high-rise apartments and bang on pots and pans. Here is one recent example: In the wake of the mass confusion and fear surrounding the…
On Monday Michael and I had a unique and very educational experience. We were given the opportunity to attend a seminar put on by the government of the state of Maranhão on the next steps for the development of the Alcântara Launching Center. Now before going on, you might want to read this post for…
Danilo Gentili is a highly successful Brazilian comedian and talk-show host. He can be downright hilarious. He also takes special joy in skewering pompous (usually, but not always, leftist) politicians, in very irreverent ways. And that last one could land him in jail. It all started when he posted some pretty disrespectful tweets about a…
A few months ago I published an article about the nascent Brazilian homeschooling movement. Since then many have asked for an update. There has been much movement, but no definite resolution. I will try to summarize what is going on. First off, some took umbrage to my use of the word “ban” in the title…