True Detective

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t finished or started watching True Detective, please leave this review for later

I would like to say that True Detective is the best TV show I’ve ever watched, but that wouldn’t be fair since we’re talking about an anthology season. The second season will come as something completely new, with different actors and a different plot. Let’s just say this is the best season I’ve ever watched from a TV show.

It all starts with the opening of every episode. This has got to be one of the best openings ever, from the music theme to the sequence of images and shots, it is impossible not get drawn into the series mood right away.
The plot itself is actually quite common, two detectives running after a serial killer that came up with an unusual and mysterious way to present his victim thereby shocking the Louisiana community. Once the investigation starts to unfold you automatically know that it is much more than a serial killer hunt. With a perfect mix of religion, mystical twisted cults and historical and mythological elements, True Detective will have you wondering in the end of each episode about what’s going to happen next, and more than that, what’s the explanation for all these you are watching.

Even though the plot is really interesting, the best thing about True Detective is the characters. For one, you have Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson doing some of their best interpretation work ever, and to complement that, the characters they were given in the show have such a density and capacity to evolve along the eight episodes that are simply astounding. Together, they present a memorable dramatic “bromance”, highlighting the best and the worst humankind can offer when put into a tense and creepy environment. Performances for the ages, that will be remembered as the factor that made most of the world say that this is one of the best TV series ever produced.

Season’s Finale: “Form and Void”
Not everything was great about True Detective. It doesn’t take away its merits, but the finale truly falls short for what the seven previous episodes promise. Seriously, was the director in a hurry to finish the whole thing? Was his objective having the audience wondering and then leaving a bunch of critical questions without answer? What’s the point in introducing several interesting elements to a crime if you’ll end up not answering most of them and you will settle for a rather basic explanation?

When I finally got to know the villain, the so wanted serial killer, I had my first disappointment. It turns out to be a rather basic frustrated guy that whistles in a creepy way, works around a school, and has an incest relation with a kind of mentally retarded old woman. Not what I expected, but that’s ok, that I can accept. The way they come across the final clue (the green painted house) seemed way too forced, but that is also ok for me, not going to pick on that. What really drove me mad was the need to put a quick end to the show. What’s wrong in having a couple more episodes to shed some light on way too many details that were introduced and never properly explored? Why Cohle’s hallucinations? Why having him create small voodoo-like dolls out of beer cans? Why all the noise around the Yellow King? Why Carcosa? Why the antlers? Why all the imagery and paintings on the walls? The ingredients for a tremendous final episode were all there, but they only served as appetizers that were never intended to fully satisfy you (be answered).
The ending itself was ok. Most fans weren't probably expecting a happy ending, but I guess it was alright to have a slightly happy one. Marty kind of reconciles with his family, and Rust, triggered by a near-death experience, comes close to his father and passed away daughter, showing that he is able to put away his nihilist posture and feel true love.

The TV show will go down in history as one of the best TV productions ever, but the ending, at least in my opinion, doesn't allow it to be a “10 out of 10”.

Air Max Day

March 26th, 1987 – The day Nike revolutionized the running shoes industry and presented the Air Max 1. Designed by Tinker Hatfield, the Air Max 1 came as a breakthrough and settled as one of the freshest models ever. From those still in the market, the AM1 is clearly my favourite runner.

The “Air Max Day” is an interesting marketing idea that Nike came up with this year, and to celebrate its first edition, Nike released a limited edition of the Air Max 1 which basically reproduces the same colorway as the original one from 1987 also using the same materials. I’d be ok with this re-edition if that was truly a re-edtion. But no, Nike had to come up with a bad taste idea of adding a bright volt midsole. I mean, I didn’t like it, but considering the sold out pre-orders, the public seemed to like it. Also different from the original is the tongue tag which now features a “3.26” inscription which I think adds a very nice flavor to a commemorative edition.

As for me, during the day I won’t be able to take any of my AM1 pairs for a walk, but once I get home from work I’ll make sure to go out for a quick walk ahah!

Noite de Improviso + Il Trovatore

How good is it to experience different live shows and performances? Past week I had my first night of live improvisation comedy and went to my first opera ever.

Noite de Improviso @ Comedians

If you have been looking for a good live improv show, this is it! 3 guys on stage and 1 invited guest will assure that you laugh until you can’t take it no more. During approximately 1 hour and a half these guys will present you to several improv group techniques (some of them really impressive, requiring a very sharp memory), making the show really interactive with the crowd. As far as I’m concerned, maybe too interactive!!! No, it really is fine, but damn, from a crowd of two hundred people I was one the chosen targets! Basically I got to watch a guy performing Daniel Simoes as business consultant in the funniest situations picked out from the crowd ideas.

The venue – Comedians – is really impressive in the inside. You sit all around the stage in small 4 person tables, you can order different types of drinks and the food menu is really OK (mainly based on appetizers and small portions). The entrance is R$ 40 and the show will be on every Wednesday night at 9pm. Totally worth it!

Il Trovatore @ Theatro Municipal de São Paulo

I have wanted to go to an Opera since my sister got in the Conservatorio Nacional in Portugal. No better time than the season’s opening opera at Theatro Municipal. Il Trovatore is a famous four acts opera which premiered back in 1853 in Rome. It truly is a different experience. The acting and the music are both so powerful and intense that you are easily sucked into the story, even if you have a hard time understanding every piece of it. The Municipal Symphonic Orchestra of São Paulo is simply amazing, and even though it plays below the stage, it earned a round of applause as if they were as important as any of the main characters.

The Theatro Municipal of São Paulo, located in the city center, is a beautiful and historic place which definitely deserves a visit. For R$ 40 I got a decent seat (not sure if me and my girlfriend sat where we were supposed to though), and experienced some unique and truly astounding moments. Il Trovatore will be on until the 22^nd of March during different days of the week. An experience that I will repeat for sure!

Ratos de Porão + Dead Fish (09/03/2014)

Yesterday I got to take part in a historic moment of the Brazilian Punk-Hardcore scene. Still being alive and still playing on the road after 33 years of existence is an accomplishment that few bands have in their repertoire. Ratos de Porão recorded their first album in 1984, and this year they are celebrating its 30^th anniversary. To commemorate, the band put up two shows, bringing back the original line-up that recorded “Crucificados pelo Sistema”.

I got to the venue right before Dead Fish started playing. This band dates back to the early nineties, and coincidently this year they are also celebrating the 10^th anniversary of one of their most well succeed albums – “Zero e Um”. I am not the biggest fan when it comes to punk-rock or melodic hardcore, but I gotta give it to these guys, this was a pretty damn good show. The vocalist was unstoppable during the entire show, and the drummer really is nothing short than amazing. The band played the album from the beginning to the end, making the crowd go insane. A crowd with a lot of young blood that was able to boost the band with their sing-along and unstoppable moshpits. It was a great opening for Ratos, which surprised me at all levels. The only negative point to mention was the sickening teenagers and posers taking selfies with their iPhones during the entire show. Or maybe it is just me getting old and grumpy.

Now to Ratos! Back in February 2013, I had just arrived in Brazil when I got to see Ratos for the first time playing at home(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6oKHkJm_yQ). That was simply an amazing and brutal show, which even surpassed the one I’ve seen from them 7 or 8 years ago in Portugal. I knew this wasn’t going to be the best show I would see from them, but it was also not supposed to! This was supposed to be an historic and fun show. And it was!! Jão, the current guitarist went to the Drums, Mingau came back from the dead (1984), left the bass with Ultraje a Rigor and took the guitar for the night, Jabá also returned and took the bass and João Gordo assumed his front-man position. As expected, the setlist covered “Crucificados pelo Sistema” but it also included some other early 80’s classics that you hardly get to see at any Ratos show. Hell yeah, old school style!!!! I missed those usual classic punks and more of those die-hard Ratos fans in the crowd, but still, the moshpit was insane - old school pogo, no fancy dancing, beer and sweat in the air, and memorable singalongs. Given the songs played, the setlist hardly had any song with more than 2 minutes which allowed the crowd to keep the energy during the entire show. A Ratos show is simply CHAOTIC, and you got to love that! After one encore and several Ratos chants from the crowd, it was time to go home.

In the end, everybody left the place smiling. It was a different show from Ratos, a show in which you could see the guys having fun going back in time. I take my hat off to Ratos de Porão, not only as Brazilian classic band, but as an international classic band! Oh, and from what I heard, a new album is coming! “RATOS! RATOS! RATOS!”

Visions - Ludwig Collection

My first Carnival in Brazil was quite different from what I expected. Took some time off from work, and spent my days visiting São Paulo with my girlfriend. During one of those days I got to visit a new exhibition being held in Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil.

“Visions” is part of the Ludwig Collection which is spread all across the world. Back in 2010, during the Museums International Day I travelled to Cologne in Germany to visit the Ludwig Museum there, which is still one of my favorites, and now I had the chance of seeing another bit of the collection. Along 4 different floors you get to see works from Picasso, Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Gerhard Richter and others, taking you from neo-expressionism to pop art or hyperrealism.

Among all the great artists and masterpieces displayed, two or three really caught my attention. Rudolf Hausner, described as a “psychic realist” and the first “psychoanalytical painter” was a total stranger to me and I absolutely loved his “Adams Three Selves”. I was also fascinated by the works from photo-realism artists like Robert Bechtle and Ralph Goings, which I never heard about before. Andy Warhol had 3 or 4 pieces there, one with a collaboration with Basquiat, but nothing that really marveled me. Picasso opens the exhibition with his “Big Heads”, but that’s basically it from him.

If you can find yourself some free time, I truly recommend this exhibition. It is not that big, you won’t take hours visiting it, and it offers a great diversity of styles and artists. It’s free entrance, and it’s very well located, making it perfect for a walk around the city center afterwards. The exhibition will be available until the 21^st of April.