@ Miss Favela’s in Williamsburg…

it is a GOOD TIME to be had by ALL!

Brazil is in Brooklyn

if you are feeling S.A.D. from the biting winds, grey skies and freezing temperatures in NYC…

SUMMER can be found at this special spot in Brooklyn.

Miss Favela; a botequim (a Brazilian neighborhood bistro) sits right under the Williamsburg Bridge…and as you pass by on a Saturday; you will hear the walls bursting with sound and watch people flow in and out crowding the street corner.

the fun awaits INSIDE

Live AWESOME Samba music plays from 2-6 … then the DJ arrives…

Feijoada; Brazils’ nation dish; (a hearty but delicious meat and bean stew) is served with unlimited sugary Caipirinha’s.

People are smiling, dancing, clapping, singing…it is a pure celebration.

Even the owner ( the beautiful lady next to me in the pic) will get up and dance!

BUT

Get there early!

Here is what I recommend:

reserve a table at 1 pm. great place for a small party of 2 or even a large party of 6 or more.

fill your belly with delicious Brazilian bites as the music slowly starts to play…the place slowly starts to fill and by the time it is PACKED (at 3:30 on the dot)

you will have danced off your rice and yuca…and will be glowing in the Samba Sweat and Sun!no more S.A.D. I guarantee it

Where shall we go next? Lebanon? Russia? Korea??

Join the group and Get Out in the World of NYC!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/433510340063149/?fref=ts

signing off…

your Cultural Concierge

Ana

Maria Callas once said, “An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I’ve left the opera house.”

I do not frequent the Opera very often, and it is a shame because not only do I live in NYC, where we have one of the best opera houses in the world, The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center , but Opera is in my blood. My aunt was an opera singer in Germany for many years during the 70′s and 80′s. Elaine Cormany. To this day she is a successful vocal coach in the US, teaching people how to find their voice and let it fly. Watch her video. Her voice is like a winged dove that transforms into a hawk soaring towards the sun in the sky….

I have a mystical love for the Opera. But I also have a practical dislike for it as well.

Many hours sitting, listening to foreign lyrics that always leave you heart broken and needing a stiff drink…

One has to be ready for the Opera experience.

But after my experience last night, Callas’ quote reigns true for me, for I saw Opera at its finest, which will end long after I left Lincoln Center and will also begin my new-found love for Opera today.

I was a guest at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala. Where 12 of the best opera singers from around the world came for a night to sing their most acclaimed arias. All honoring the 2012 recipient of the award, this year going to Ailyn Perez. Adorable anecdote is that she is married to Stephen Costello, a tenor, and they travel around the world performing in Operas together.

Richard Tucker, ( 1913 – 1975) was one of America’s greatest tenor. His award is ‘selected by conferral, rather than audition. This prestigious award carries not only the name of Richard Tucker and a cash prize of $30,000, but also a stellar list of past recipients. The operative guideline for the Richard Tucker Award is that it be awarded to an American singer poised on the edge of a major national and international career, and it is hoped that the award acts as a well-timed catalyst to elevate the artist’s career to even greater heights. ‘

Many artists shined on the stage last night. But here are a few of my favorites. The confidence they had upon entered the stage, their first breath as they commanded out the journey of their vocal story, often tragic but always full of feeling. Just like life.

* Liudmyla Monastrusky, Soprano from Kiev. Powerhouse voice and Queenly stage presence. she performed Verdi’s Macbeth ‘Vieni, t’affretta’ : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abyiczP57kQ

* Erwin Schrott : http://youtu.be/5JnBjFYOqXg

*Dmitri Hvorostovsky : http://youtu.be/ThQS8i_w-uw

“The word ‘politics’ is derived from the word ‘poly’ meaning ‘many’ and the word ‘ticks’ meaning ‘blood sucking parasites’. -Larry Haridman

I will be glad when all of this is over.
I have a blurred vision from all the red and blue blocks on the screen, though it has made late night TV quite entertaining.

Social media is flooded with some sense of (false) hope…
feeling HE is the ‘Savior’ of female body parts, Mexican bus boys and free condoms at Planned Parenthood.
And many have their points.

But its undeniable that we are a divided nation.

Liberal artists trying to pay their rent, Latinos looking for someone to relate to, single women desperately trying to find their place in society …many simply voted for comfort, coolness and a glimmer of hope… and saw that in Obama.

I get it.

But there was also a rise in a new majority outside the
‘Corporate- Trump-Wall St. Box’…those starting to understand what really is at stake in this country.

I got that.

From here is where we build the bridge.

It is time for the Republican party to pick up its game.
The minorities are the majority now. The suits need to loosen their ties if they want to win the ‘Comedy Central’ crowd; which is huge.

On tv today, an ABC news analyst made a great  reference saying The Republican party is ‘a Mad Men Party in a Modern Family World’.

Maybe this was the year to finally see this, spurring the next Republican contenders to bring a more modern and winning punch to the ring.

We can thank Virginia and our founding fathers for creating their ‘PLAN’ of the electoral college. It was a good idea at that time.
But now, its time to change.

One person/One Vote. Restructuring the popular vote and retiring the electoral votes. Every state being a battle ground state, not just O, V and F.

Romney is now officially out of politics, from what ‘they say’… so lets hope he starts some good businesses on his own accord and shows America the change he wants to see by leading the way.
Sometimes you can break more ground outside of the White House walls.

Look at Gore. ha

GOTTA LOVE BRIAN WILLIAMS AND TRUMP! Watch and Giggle:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/brian-williams-donald-trump_n_2087878.html