Caroline Kahl

Cherries

Music as sweet as cherries, a tribute to a great artist and DJ fom Buenos Aires. Check him out at Skol Beats 2006. Carlos Shaw-Show Me.mp3

Culture Shock

or just a question of Contrasts? Download high_contrast.mp3 

Fearless or total indifference?

Just read the post of someone who referred to another posting on a site, to me the worst utopia of this country, controversies between romantic patriot Brazilians and some stupid "white men" who always know it better, you know the country I am referring to, n´est-ce pas? You probably know the site.
Us foreigners fore sure have to have "no fear" kind of attitude in this country, I fully agree! But the proper word for the big part of the population of this marvellous country is not "lack of fear" but a INDIFFERENCE and a lack of HONESTY, and attitude which drives us fearless foreign fellows crazy every day in this country. Them and their most common saying: "Se Deus quiser!", something which we cannot grasp with our socio-cultural background.
And the saddest part, no one can blame big part of the Brazilians for it in their daily battle to combat hunger and to simple survive.
Who cares that an ex-governor enters into hunger strike to stop the media reporting on his dirty corruption record of the past if he and his wife BTW desperately need to go on a diet after so much public deficit spending and fraud, besides mixing politics with their religious confession? Ninguém merece!
The media is gonna dig a lot of dirt this year of elections, all candidates are under supervision, them, their friends & family.  And that is great.
Be responsible for your acts and for your attitude, do your homework and you got notting to fear!

The sweet fruit of mono-culture

This man deserves standing ovations! About Sugar and Arts in a country like Brazil.
Wished I was the "rainha do açucar" and I would invest into Brazilian music. One day I will, chefe!

Truth does not hurt

Only that Brazilians do not dare to face it.
Everything here in business is just: "show de bola", "estamos junto nisso", "beleza".
Us gringos have to learn and accept these millions shades of grey tones, even if we are accustomed and love to think in pure black and white... a question of "take it or leave it". 
Different country, different rules. So much patience required which almost kills us.
Download 06_lisa_shaw_hot_skin.mp3

Sein oder nicht sein, das ist hier die Frage

"Die Leute in Brasilien haben zu wenig Kohle und heiraten zu frueh um ein ausgepraegtes Stil-bewusstsein zu entwickeln."
Generally true, just walking down the streets of Rio and you willl realise.
Besides, Carioca men seem to be the worst dressed men on earth in their beach style sneekers and bermudas and still think they are THE best (machos). Spending days and nights in Gyms working on their muscles does not compensate for a lack of intelligence and style.
Sein oder Nicht-Sein, das ist die Frage.
Nevertheless we call Rio our home and are willing to teach them something.

Tropicália

Do not miss Tropicália at the Barbican in London until May 21st.
So many highlights yet to come like:
Debora Colker, 25 - 29 Apr 06 / 19:45h
Gal Costa, 28 Apr 06 / 20:00h
Jorge Ben, 3 May 06 / 19:30h
Paulinho da Viola, 13 May 06 / 16:15h
AND
Orfeu Negro, 14 May 06 / 14:00h
Gilberto Gil, 26 Jun 06 / 19:30h
amongst others...                        

Hot business topics in Brazil

Reinsurance!
Still a monopoly of governmental IRB Brasil Re, Brazilian Congress is expected to open the market to privately owned national and foreign reinsurance companies soon.
Many foreign companies already keep an eye on Brazil and started to open offices in this country: Partner Re, Transamerica Re, XL and others. More

A Vale que impressiona

292 million metric tons of minerals exploited and produced (Iron Ore, Aluminium, Bauxite, Manganese, Copper, Potash ect).
USD 7 billion in exports, record volume and growth rate of 26.9%.
Biggest privately owned exporter in Brazil.
Responsible for 68% of Brazil´s total railway cargo, 27% port cargo.
Whom am I speaking about: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce and their "hot" commodity Iron Ore.
Many people promise to sell it to you, most of them are fakes.
You want Vale Iron Ore - line up and you may be attended in 2010.
Otherwise look out for small companies and mines which sell Iron Ore to you. And there are a few....

Brazilian companies in NY

ADRs from Brazilian companies are a hit at the NYSE. Never before was the negotiated volume as high as in the first quarter of this year - reaching USD 61,5 billion, twice as much as in the past year during that period. The demand for ADRs from Brazilian companies even surpassed the ones from countries like the UK and China. This makes Brazilian one of the most procured countries according to a survey by the Bank of New York.

Negotiated Brazilian ADRs rose 19,5% this year at the Wall Street, compared to the ones of Chinese companies (19,1%), Asian (9,8%) other emerging countries (12,7%), with metallurgic companies like CSN and Usiminas facing the highest demand (plus 47% and 57%). In terms of volume Petrobrás is the star with an approximate USD 7 billion. The paper of the state-owned company was the most negotiated one, leaving more than 450 other companies behind incl. British Petroleum (USD 4,5 billion).