BR is for BREGA.

(Hello Kitty in “A cheesy happiness”.)

Hello, my dear readersLong time no seeBy the way, I hope I still have readers!It seems all bloggers spend a while without updating their blogs, when they don’t write for a living. The only thing I can say is that I miss Multi Maiden and will do my best to be here more often! I need to remember how to deal with this blog! Of course, many things happened from my last post. It seems 2014 will be an exciting year in Brazil, we’ll have the World Cup   and elections, for instance. But if you think that we’re all excited about the World Cup, you’re wrong! … Actually, the situation in Brazil is pretty tense nowadays. Many negative things happened in the past months and we’re still learning to deal with democracy. Maybe I’ve been away from this blog also because of this. When everything around me is too negative, I need to take a deep breath and remember what’s positive. Brazil is much more than a country where progressive and conservative people hate each other, where women are sexually abused in a train or subway and where many people think that women who wear “sexy outfit” deserve to be raped! Usually I read many news on internet, watch some tv and pay attention at everything around me to have some inspiration to write on this blog. But I realized, a few days ago, that I need to look for inspiration somewhere else, because it has been rare to find something inspiring on internet or tv! Today, against all odds, I found something interesting! A playlist on UOL (Universo Online, a big Brazilian internet portal) . About cheesy songs . The name of the playlist is: Para ouvir escondido. I think I’m not able to translate it properly, but it’s something like: Songs you like to listen to but refuse to admit it. Cheesy songs. Cheesy and kitsch mean BREGA in Portuguese. And BREGA, in Brazil, is a lifestyle! We are kitsch, all Latin America is kitsch and, first: this is not bad at all. Second: we, Latin American people, should like it! Our kitsch is spontaneous! Of course, people can manipulate it for profit, but it happens to everything in this society!

What’s cheesy, kitsch or brega is related to a tricky situation: elite x people. Usually middle class people, like me (and many of you, my dear readers) don’t want to look or sound like people. Poor people. Have you ever realized that everything poor people do or like is considered brega, kistch, cheesy? They always have a bad taste! Simple people are always kitsch, it doesn’t matter if they are poor or not. So, of course the concept of cheesy is subjective, but it’s usually related to a bias. Created by the financial elite who rules the world, absorbed and repeated by the middle class. Popular stuff are also kitsch. We, middle class people, want to be cool, glamorous, cult! We don’t want to be cheesy! (I hope my readers understand that this paragraph contains sarcasm …) When I was at college, studying Portuguese and Italian (language and literature, something very cult and elitist, I must say, but completely useless when it comes to make money … ), if someone said: “I’m reading Harry Potter!”, this creature would be fulminated by wrathful looks, including mine . We reacted like: “Hey! We are the intellectual elite of this country (I studied in one of the most famous and traditional universities of Brazil)! How can you read Harry Potter?! Burn this creature! Burn it, before it lays eggs!” Elite people read the classics, not bestsellers. Back then I was very proud to belong to the intellectual elite of Brazil. Yes, to be more intelligent than “the rest”. Because one of my favorite books is The Odyssey, by Homer, ok?! It really is. I’m probably one of the most feminine women of this planet, but I’ve always loved adventures, stories of brave people, warriors, full of challenges! I’ve always been intelligent and Odysseus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus) won everything in his life thanks to his intelligence! The Odyssey tells his adventures away from his home and kingdom, Ithaca. If you still didn’t read The Odyssey, my dear readers, do it! It’s a great book! Usually my tastes are elitist. They are, it’s something spontaneous. But I’m getting more open-minded and I’ve always had a kitsch/cheesy/brega side (you can see by this blog) . I like colors, gifs, blinkies, cuteness in general. Cheesy things are colorful, sometimes exaggerated, emotional, sentimental, simple, made without any worries about what other people will think. The elite (and great part of the middle class) are usually very worried about other people’s opinions. They fear to be ridiculed. That’s why they usually don’t allow themselves to have some fun or be who they really are. We all have a cheesy side! We all love a terrible pair of sneakers, an old fashioned sweater, we all dress the way we want not the way fashion experts want. We live in places full of objects which don’t match to each other and some of them are very cheesy and even useless, but we like them. We all (at least the healthy people) fall in love and listen to terrible songs, thinking about our beloved ones. We create ridiculous nicknames to our boyfriends (girlfriends), write ridiculous love letters and be too emotional sometimes. And what’s the problem? I think that happiness is kitsch. Joy is kitsch. When we don’t fear what people will think about us, we are being cheesy. And Brazil is an extremely cheesy country! I think I will write a series about it, I even thought about to write a monograph about it, for college! We like colors, our Carnival parades are huge combinations of things which don’t match to each other, we, women, like huge hoop earrings (I have a small collection), many accessories and many girls have a very … peculiar style, when it comes to outfits. Our parties and traditions are very cheesy! We are very emotional people, sometimes dramatic and exaggerated. Of course, I don’t like every cheesy thing or agree with every cheesy behavior. As I said before, some things are manipulated for profit in this society. But the real kitsch is part of all of us, Brazilians, even the ones who want to pretend that they are too cool to be human. That’s why the UOL team played with cheesy songs and the way we react to them. When I was younger, I would think twice before to show you a “top 5” of cheesy Brazilian songs , but now I just admit: I like them! Yes, they are terrible, but they are cool! Funny. Or authentic. Emotions and feelings or ideas expressed without any kind of sophistication. The way they are. Listen to them, my dear readers, you will realize that there are cheesy people everywhere! These are five classics, from five icons of our BREGA MUSIC! And people like these songs, but only a few is brave enough to admit it. Let’s go :

Sandra Rosa Madalena – Sidney Magal:

This song is absolutely awesome! Cheesy to the bone! Sidney Magal is an icon, when it comes to cheesy singers! He has never been a Gipsy man, but in the beginning, Paulo Coelho (yes, the writer!) decided to release Sidney Magal as a Gipsy man in the music industry. Sandra Rosa Madalena is a song about a beautiful and stunning Gipsy woman (Sandra Rosa Madalena). An epic!

Eu não sou cachorro não – Waldick Soriano:

Imagine a man who was cheated by his woman. He is sad. He will drink, my dear readers. He will cry. Especially if he listens to this song. Waldick Soriano is a real icon of brega music, usually love songs without any sophistication. Many songs about men who were cheated by their women. It must hurt. Eu não sou cachorro não (“No, I’m not a dog”) is about a man, opening his heart to that evil woman who decided to be with another guy. He is not a dog to be so humiliated and despised! He will go away! But before he will sing a song. The way Waldick sings this song makes me want to cry too …

Lambada – Kaoma:

Don’t believe if someone says that he/she doesn’t like this song! He/she is lying! This is an international classic! From the Golden Age of Lambada! Kaoma is not exactly a “one hit wonder” band, but they disappeared after the “lambada fever”, in Brazil. This song is really nice! ^^ I was 10 years old and used to dance lambada with my “boyfriend”, an 11 year old boy, naïve like me. It was cute! Sweet memories!

Fuscão Pretoooooooooo – Almir Rogério:

Actually, the name of this song is Fuscão Preto (“Black Volkswagen Beetle”, a big one). Epic, classic, give a microphone to a drunken man in the karaoke and he will sing this song! Another sad story about a man who was cheated by his woman. He heard about it and didn’t want to believe . But a few minutes later, he saw his woman and another guy in a black Volkswagen beetle. Sad. Very sad.

Balada Boa – Gusttavo Lima:

This is a recent song, released last year. It seems that even people from other countries like it! I love this song! I don’t know why. There’s nothing special about it. It’s already a cheesy classic. The rhythm is nice … nice rhythm, meaningless lyrics about a party, an even more meaningless chorus (you will be persecuted by this tchetchereretchetchetereretchetche …) … I love it! It was a huge success in Brazil last year!

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What about you and your favorite cheesy songs, my dear readers? Are you ashamed to admit that you like them? I hope not. Life is short, so we shouldn’t care about “being cool and glamorous all the time”. Well, that’s all for today! I hope to get back as soon as possible, anyway, stay tuned! And be cheesy!

Luna

P.S.: For the ones who want to check the playlist which inspired this post, here’s the address:

http://www.radio.uol.com.br/#/editorial/para-ouvir-escondido

Multi Maiden drops: New Year’s Eve song

Dear readers, dear readers, 2013 is almost over . I’m enjoying (?) an sleepless night, listening to Brazilian music and thinking about my life. It was an extreme year. Not one of my favorites, I must say. But I also lived great experiences and met awesome people! What did I learn? Especially to love myself . I’m still learning, actually. It takes time. I learned that no matter how terrible people are to you, it worth it to be kind, peaceful, caring and good-hearted . There’s something in this life (at least according to my beliefs) called karma. It means that everything you do, comes back to you. Sooner or later. And don’t think that God will punish you. You will punish yourself. Evil people are lonely, unhappy and frustrated. Guess why?! This year I felt ridiculous sometimes, because I was nice to shitty people. But my brother said to me: “You were yourself, they were themselves.” It makes sense. Of course, I thought about revenge a thousand times . But it’s better to let everything flow. Don’t think I’m wise. I’m trying to be!

On 2013 I started this blog. I’m not completely satisfied about it and I explain why: I didn’t write as much as I would like to, here . Many things happened. Too many things happened! So, if I can make a wish , I would like to post more nice and interesting stuff on Multi Maiden next year! There are many ideas on my mind . But I honestly consider myself a hero, because I got back to this blog! I want to make it better, anyway.

I got in touch with many people. And it’s impressive how much you learn about yourself dealing with other people! I think my personality needs some improvements. Basically I need to be stronger. This year I started to openly defend my principles and some people didn’t like it at all. I had to deal with many childish reactions . It happens when you decide to be yourself. At the same time, I’ve never seen so many people like me before!  There’s nothing new about what I’m saying but many people choose to hide who they really are and live a comfortable life. When you decide to be yourself, the pain and the pleasure are definitely bigger! I honestly don’t care about how many people think I’m not cool(especially because I usually have the same opinion about them). I don’t want to be popular, I want to be happy . I was popular at college, but it was a different era. Popularity back then meant charisma. Nowadays it means how many likes do you get on Facebook. And I am not a Facebook person.

2013 was very hard in many senses. But I could learn from all the bad experiences. I didn’t change or became bitter because I suffered. Maybe I am more silent. Less impulsive. And in the end, I would like to thank all the shitty people I’ve met! They were great teachers! They showed me that I’m on the right way. I hope you, my dear reader, can also think about that, if you met some shitty people this year. What can you learn from them? Maybe you need to be wiser and avoid that type of people. Maybe you need to love yourself a little more. Anything happens in our lives without a reason! If 2013 was hard to you, believe that you always can rebuild your life! Everything will be ok (right, Luna?!). Nothing exactly changes on New Year’s Day, but there’s a strong energy in the air which encourages us to start again! So, don’t be afraid to try. Make your wishes come true! I will do my best to be a better person on 2014. Because I could learn from my mistakes. And to all the evil guys and girls who made me cry and tried to destroy me, I have a message: it didn’t work . So, I have a song for you:

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY DEAR READERS! STAY TUNED! STAY STRONG! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

Hugs,

Luna

Brazilian Christmas–Part 1

And so this is Christmas, my dear readers?! Christmas Eve, actually. Véspera de Natal, in Portuguese. How are you? Hope fine. I’m fine. It’s always good to have the chance to be with the ones I love, that’s why Christmas means something to me! I’m not Christian or Catholic, I’m not a religious person and think that, nowadays, Christmas has lost its original meaning. I mean, it doesn’t look like a religious celebration anymore, despite some symbols related to Jesus Christ, like the Christmas crib. By the way, I’ve always thought that there’s something special about Jesus Christ’s birth. Isn’t it a magical story? An angel came to his mother, to tell her that she would give birth to a very special person (with a very tough destiny), who would influence humanity. Deeply. This woman, her husband and baby had to escape from the hate of a powerful man, who feared to lose his kingdom and wanted every baby or little boy to be killed. Jesus Christ was born in a crib in the middle of nowhere. A star, star of Bethlehem, announced his birth and three wise men, from different parts of this planet, followed the star to give gifts to that special baby . Each gift had a symbolic, spiritual meaning. This is just amazing! I don’t know if it really happened or not, but it’s a great story!

Many (bitter) people say that Christmas is just another commercial holiday. Is it a news? Capitalists will take each opportunity they have to take money from us and increase their profit. We, the 99%, give meaning to everything, not the great corporations. So, Christmas can be something more than a commercial holiday. Maybe I live in a parallel universe, but my family and friends didn’t talk to me about expensive gifts. We are mostly adults and when you grow up, gifts get rare. Not to me, of course. I like to give and receive gifts, but usually I think about handmade stuff, at least to give. Just to show to my loved ones that I love them, care about them. That’s why I like Christmas cards! Families with kids maybe are more faithful to traditions, so there are many gifts. But I know that many people feel happy enough to be with their loved ones and enjoy some nice dishes. 

Here in Brazil, Christmas is not that different from the North Hemisphere one. And this is bizarre. No, I have nothing against the White Christmas, but if you find a snowflake somewhere in my country right now, I’ll give you an expensive gift! It’s Summer in Brazil . Snowmen would melt and the poor guys who get an extra cash working as Santa Claus, are probably cursing the heat right now! Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the 16th to the 19th century. Many of our traditions came from Europe. And for many years we were deeply influenced by the United States, especially by their entertainment industry. I know it happened to many other countries, but it makes sense to Northern countries to have Santa Claus, reindeers, snowmen, snowflakes, hearty food, etc., as symbols. We, Brazilian people, maybe didn’t have time or conditions to think about our own way to celebrate Christmas. And this is sad! All my childhood memories related to Christmas are about sweating at night, before the dinner, because there was something in the oven. I’ve never believed in Santa Claus. My mother would never let me and my brother believe in Santa Claus. She was a social worker. It means she got in touch with many poor kids who would never receive a visit of an old man full of gifts (maybe the lack of chimneys can explain it …). I’ve always known that mom and dad were responsible for the gifts. And, believe me, I was a very healthy kid! Actually, my friends back then didn’t believe in Santa Claus either. Adults usually don’t believe that kids are smart. Kids see dozens of Santa Claus, in different shapes. Some of them are thin. Some are black, Asian. They feel that there’s something strange. Kids don’t see Santa Claus as a symbol. That’s why they feel uncomfortable with this diversity. And when they see that Santa Claus doesn’t visit poor kids, they feel very very sad! Don’t get me wrong, my dear reader. I don’t want to ruin your Christmas! But … am I lying? I honestly don’t like Santa Claus. Many kids fear him and their parents obligate them to take pictures with him! Adults think that they know what is the best for kids. If only they could hear them, they would get surprised!

I like the idea that Christmas gifts are made by elves, dwarves, what the hell are they? Those tiny creatures with pointed ears … They make traditional, old-fashioned toys and I think this is pretty charming! They don’t make Playstations, they make toy trainsAnyway, some Brazilian kids believe in Santa Claus and even write letters to him. But I think this is an old-fashioned belief.

We usually join our family on Christmas and have a dinner with a lot of food. Really! The main ones are peru (turkey), chester (a “special” type of poultry with an oversized chest). tender (a type of ham), different types of roasted meat, farofa (a typical Brazilian dish, made with corn and/or cassava flour, onion, garlic, veggies and/or meat. I am a “farofa expert” and I’ll do my best to give you more details about this dish tomorrow!), maionese (another Brazilian dish. It’s not only mayonnaise, but mayonnaise with veggies and, sometimes, meat, usually chicken, ham or tuna fish), rice, salty pie. At middle and upper class houses, there’s a big diversity of dishes and desserts. That’s why women usually feel a little guilty after Christmas, here! We also eat nuts, almonds and a very traditional Italian sweet bread called panetone. The traditional one is filled with fruits and raisins, but nowadays there are many varieties of panetone, including salty ones. The ones filled with chocolate are quite popular!

Many families have a dinner on Christmas Eve and a lunch on Christmas. The dinner is much more traditional. We do Christmas decorations and some of them, at places like banks and shopping centers become tour spots, many people visit them to take pictures. Our Christmas decoration is quite similar to the North Hemisphere one: Santa Claus, snowmen, snowflakes, wreaths, Christmas trees, socks. We exchange gifts. At some places, especially companies, we play amigo secreto (literally secret friend, but I think that hidden friend would express better what does it mean). We pick up a name in the middle of many others in a bowl and buy a gift only to this person. But we don’t reveal which is our hidden friend until the day we exchange the gifts. A nice way to save money, I guess. My family doesn’t play amigo secreto.

I hope I could give you some useful information about our Christmas! Now I need to go to kitchen, to help my godmother to cook! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy the company of the ones you love! And a little bit of good food too!

FELIZ NATAL! Stay tuned. And have a good time!

Hugs!

Luna