An essay about FREE, from Chris Anderson

 FREE, from  Chris Anderson,
the Editor in Chief of Wired.

Chris Anderson’s excerpt samples perfectly how the free concept works. Being very illustrative and using examples of the struggle of today’s well succeeded brands, he introduces – and explains- to us how every company, in the 21^st  century, is going to have to figure out how to use- or compete with- free.

With the media it is not different. The psychology that exists behind the concept of being “free” serves as a  hook to sell, to bound, to create intimacy, and to show what a vehicle can produce and offer to its viewers/readers.  Despite how free the media should be, ignoring the idea of free is something that will lead to bankruptcy. First of all, the media is made for the people, and above anything else, with the people. And countering this approach does not work. Free access and information is something that is happening for good, it’s not a trend: everyone now can become a citizen journalist, to begin with, and this is not going to stop. This idea will grow and strengthen each day along with a non-stop revolutionary technology.

In another excerpt of FREE, Anderson mentions the power of Brazilian street vendors, which is something familiar to me. He mentions a band called Calypso, which became a big sensation in the country thanks to the street vendors. The band never minded having their CDs being sold on the street, because selling CDs isn’t their main source of income, their shows are. “In a sense, the street vendors have become the advance team in each town that Calypso visits”, Anderson says. Having their content out there, getting popular and reaching more people every day, make them stronger, more powerful.

The reason I am mentioning this is to reinforce the idea that there is no way to compete with FREE. We – the media- have to be smart and walk along with it and identify if selling content is the main source or not, and find other ways to do so. Re-invent our ways to be profitable is the way to go. But we don't know this way just yet. One idea that works- at least for me - is to have free content on websites but also restricted access to some of it. I subscribe to a Brazilian newspaper and do not regret it. Since I am a student, I read this newspaper and have already created some kind of link with them, their columnists and ideas. The “Scooby snack” thing works with readers. An The New Yorker got me that way as well. And after having my Anderson’s snack, I am going to buy the book. I’m sure he knew it.

Fresh Music -Jam da Silva’s new music video comes out of the oven

 Samba Devagar (Slow Samba), the new and catchy song of Brazilian musician, Jam da Silva, became a visual illustration. The Music Video was released in Brazil last Friday, August 31^st and quickly made its way into becoming big news, being on the first page of a major newspaper of the country, called O Globo.

The homepage links it to Amplificador, blog hosted by O Globo 

 Silva is a very well known percussionist in the country and has worked with musicians all over the world, including Marisa Monte, Roberta Sá and Moussu T et Lei Jovents.

 Produced by Ecstatic Civilians, Samba Devagar is the second video from a series that Silva shot is Los Angeles while visiting the city last June. The black and white video is directed by Marshall Tyler, who has worked in big blockbuster films such as Public Enemies and Collateral and has directed two documentaries,  Skid Row and Paper Dreams. The video was shot in 17 different locations of the city of L.A.

 I had the pleasure to help with the production as well as being a part of the cast with a group of friends and my husband. Everybody involved in this collaboration posted the video on facebook, which gave it a lot of hype. The social media buzz around it is non-stop.

Posts from friends all over the world

Launching in great style, Samba Devagar music video is scheduled to be in more than 20 media vehicles and will be seen on TV after September 4^th.

Words of the artist:

"Samba Devagar  became a tribute to the underground scene of LA" 

"I hope that my music is a true reflection of who I am. MPB or electronic, I want it to tell a story and a mood. I love to mix worlds and experiences that transcends genres"

Watch Samba Devagar here:

Attracted to Sex, Relationships, and sometimes...Love

I have always loved to discover new things. And last night I might say I felt accomplished. Not just because I found myself walking on the stretch on Santa Monica Blvd and discovered some theaters that I didn’t know or have been at… but because I decided to pick one of them to walk in and watch a play. And even better: I loved what I saw.
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Los Angeles is the mecca of entertainment, so I’m not so surprised that my adventure would have a good pay off. The Complex Theatre was showing a monologue show entitled “Sex, relationships, and sometimes...Sex”. It caught my attention and easy 5 minutes and 20 dollars after (which awarded me a glass of white wine- or more), I was sitting in this cozy room waiting for the spectacle to start.


During (a bit more than) one hour I saw 16 young actors talking about everyday situations involving – of course- sex, relationships and love. Love of all kinds. There is the hot guy who takes advantage of girls for being…well, hot. Also, the brokenhearted hot guy. The 50-year-old man who has never been in a relationship- besides the one with the loved mother, the daughter who never met her dad, the mistress, the lesbian, the traumatic and jealous "macho", love between friends and so on…

Laughter and tears walk together in this great pocket show that characterizes the raw, delicate and poignant perspectives of what the title suggests. At the end of the show I learned that it has been running since 2003 and it is not just in LA, but also in Toronto, New York (where it was originally created) and Ireland.

 “Sex, Relationships, and sometimes…Love”, written and directed by Joelle Arqueros, was an off-Broadway GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) nominated play and has been getting some media buzz: 

“Her eye for natural detail is spot-on… and her characters’ mannerisms and dialogue ring true” – LA WEEKLY

“Candid and tropical”- DRAMALINE

“… a montage of manic and sometimes unnervingly psychotic comedic acts. While this may sound uncomfortable, rest assured that it can be. Delightfully uncomfortable, that is.” – GUESTOFAGUEST.COM

  “Joelle Arqueros understands the human condition; her theatrical monologues impressively roam a wide range of emotional dynamics, from angst to xenophobia and everything in between.”- Julio Martinez, VARIETY 

 The show runs every Wednesday at 7h30 and 9 PM- and I'm glad I was at the right place, at the right time!

Check it (not so much) out:

From matchmaker to homewrecker

 It’s not a new concept to realize that a significant percentage of the population of the United States of America is composed of immigrants, and a lot of them are illegal. In order to pursue their dreams and have a decent job, many of them need to adjust to and abide by the immigration rules of the country. The easiest way to get there, we all know or have head of at least, is through marrying a gringo/a. This path soon became a formula which even sooner became a business. MariaHelena Knoller, 59,  was in this case, a successful business woman until immigration agents caught her.

Maria Helena Knoller

 In 2008, the resident of Holyake, MA, Knoller, was sentenced for having arranged more than 40 fraudulent marriages between illegal immigrants and American citizens. Most of the immigrants getting married were from Brazil as well as Knoller. Clues of this crime became clearer once immigration investigators found more than $117,000 in cash, 61 gold rings for upcoming marriages and proof of past arranged marriages such as photo albums and other documentation. Her role in this process was that of the mediator, most commonly known as the wedding planner or “cupid” for the more romantic ones. She charged between 8 to 12 thousand dollars to the immigrant and paid 2 to 4 thousand dollars to the American bride or groom. She was responsible for getting the entire paper work ready for their green card application, coached them on their interviews in order to achieve their permanent legal status.

 She was found guilty on February, 2011 and a federal judge also ordered her to serve three years of supervised release. John P. McKenna, Knoller’s lawyer, believes that the sentence was fair and “there is a good chance that she will be deported back to her native Brazil”. Warren Lee, supervisor of immigration services in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agrees:

“Even a person who is a legal resident and an American citizen by choice, and infringes the immigration laws of the U.S. in such degree, will not be welcome in this country anymore.”

 Mariana Gitomer, public affairs officer from the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) explains what it takes in order for a marriage to be approved and granted the green card:

“Other than the required application forms you have to face an interview with an officer and that is the final step to obtain the temporary green card. In this interview, you have to bring a lot of personal evidence to support the relationship as a real one. For example, photo albums of your marriage, with family, friends, travels, joint accounts, apartment lease agreements with both names on it, etc. You also have to have a convincing and believable story, but it is up to the officer to believe if it is real or not.”

 For this specific case, Gitomer takes a stance: “It is a lot of documentation to be forged, and that consolidates itself as a crime, no question.”

 To decrease her sentence, she has assisted prosecutors in identifying more than 12 fraudulent marriage cases and turned in some of her own “clients”. Some of them have already been deported to Brazil, where she will be joining them soon.