Word: rios
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...point in the tour the bus stops at Catedral de Sao Sabastiao do Rio de Janeiro, a modern cathedral built in 1960 that looks like a huge brown traffic cone. Inside, the pews are semicircular in shape, radiating from the center like wooden ripples from a stone thrown in a pond. In the 1800s, despite the supression of Afro-Brazilian religions, followers of such faiths would secretly worship West African deities during Roman Catholic rites. For example, someone might act as if they were praying to the Virgin Mary when they were really praying to Iemanja, the goddess...
...arrive at my hotel in Rio de Janeiro, the first person I see in the lobby is Michael Stipe, the lead singer of R.E.M. He's standing near the concierge desk at the Copacabana Palace wearing a green T-shirt and white bath slippers with blue straps. He's got stubble going on his chin and cheeks that's somewhere between I-haven't-gotten-around-to-grooming-myself-lately and I'm-growing-a-beard-as-part-of-a-midlife-change. As he leaves the hotel I think, wow, alternative rock has gotten a little old. Stipe...
...Seeing Stipe and thinking about the aging of alternative/progressive rock made me think that, in a way, Rock in Rio may be about music finding itself again. OK, maybe it's not about something that big, but, between you and me, I have to come up with some sort of big idea to justify the expense of my editors' sending me down here. I was going to use the concept that Rock in Rio was about saving the soul of rock 'n' roll, but I think I used that one a few months back when I went to Glasgow...
...turns out there actually was a "girl from Ipanema," Heloisa Eneida Pinto, and she used to stroll "like a samba" past the bar every so often on her way to Ipanema Beach, and her "tall and tan/and young and lovely" looks inspired Jobim and Moraes. Now, with Rock in Rio in town, the guys from Papa Roach could be at the Garota de Ipanema right now, getting inspired to write a song about kicking some guy's ass. That's progress...
...From the peak of Sugar Loaf (which is 1,299 feet high) you can see all of Rio, as well as the neighboring peak of Corcovado, the famous mountain with the huge statue at its peak of Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) with his arms stretched out like he's welcoming you home after a lifetime of really screwing up big time. The statue is visible from pretty much everywhere in Rio. Corcovado inspired Jobim to write the song of the same name (called "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" in English), which even today endures as one of the finest...