Articles by Beatrice Labonne

Rio Dispatch

The Stones have rolled out of Brazil, but geriatric singers keep coming. Who is next, you may ask? None other than Luciano Pavarotti! He has been invited by the Governor of the rural state of Minas Gerais. MG is not a Brazilian trend setter in matter of hip concerts. Pavarotti will sing duets with Roberto Carlos, another aging singer, the Brazilian equivalent to matinee idol. Other noteworthy aging celebrities are here, Maradona for one and Quincy Jones.

Lula, the Brazilian President a well known bon vivant (polite understatement) has been sober for more than 40 days. He has apparently shed some 15 kgs. Now he let photographers snap his leaner figure when cavorting on the beach.  Elections are coming, image improvement is a key asset to his re-election.  Unfortunately the bank accounts of many Brazilian politicians is not slimming down very much to the contrary.

The Winter Olympic Games in Turin are over and the Frozen Bananas are heading home. FB is the affectionate nick name of the Brazilian bobsled team. Its performance was a disaster. The sled capsized in the first bend of the track. According to a local columnist, banana planting countries have no chance of medals at the winter games. I would add that some de facto European banana republics have done well for themselves and reaped a few medals in Turin....No names, please.

"The Kite Runner" is a best seller here too. I have very much enjoyed the book, and recommend it.

Carnival is here. But it is not all fun and game for the Carioca revelers.  A small number of them have taken this opportunity to do a little business on the side. They have stolen couple of Picassos, Monets, Dalis etc..from a local museum. For good measure, they also robbed the hepless museum visitors. Then they melted away among the street carnival marchers. Finally, yesterday at the occasion of the first night of samba school parades, aficionados had the opportunity to parade dressed as spermatozoids.  They were flocking around a huge hairy ovule.

Carnival is a template for Brazil buoyant and unconstrained creativity. This is why I love this country.