Melbourne! People say it.

                 Federation Square in Mel: Building is at the top ten ugliest in the world. 
                              Picture from http://allcity7.com/showthread.php?t=95




I just can`t get it. Melbourne is the most liveable city in the world? Yes, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s liveability ranking, in a recent Economist blog post. Incredibly, they say infrastructure and entertainment are some of the analysed topics.


Man, trains and trams are heavily crowded during rush hour period and beyond. You have no trains after 12am on weekends and it`s not difficult at all to have cancelled or delayed trains any time of the day. I lived in Perth and from there I could hear, along with the whole country, how bad public transportation in Melbourne really is . 


It`s crowded, indeed, and costly too. Okay, i`m not writing this to be controversial, but it feels weird to be living in a city that doesn`t make up for the statistics. There`s culture, but from time to time, it`s not everywhere and it`s not all the time. The city may be a bit effusive when you think of clubs, perhaps, but not to the actor Ashton Kutcher, who has mentioned Melbourne`s mid-week as lame.


Back in Brasilia, Brazil, where I grew up, so much has changed in some years while I was away. I think there`s more diversity in culture here than in Melbourne (!!?) Lots of festivals, concerts, plenty of exhibitions. You just have to pick one and go.


Nevertheless, I feel blessed to have lived in Australia, and Melbourne is a lovely place. So I know now how is it to live in the most liveable city in the world (at the year 2011.)

Brazil and the South African experience

Nice place to surf and play soccer. 

South Africa, a country in development, hosted this year's World Cup. It is now time for Brazil to do the same in four years time. What experiences can Brazil learn from South Africa? Apart from the uncomfortable noise of the vuvuzelas, it was an admirable spectacle to watch, but the country had to make lots of arrangements to accomplish the feat.


Many South Africans claim, however, it was a World Cup owned by FIFA, soccer's international organizing body, instead of a World Cup by South Africa. The point of view of how tickets were sold and the opening concert organized was predominantly European. An aspect that Brazil has to take care of.


Along with these facts, South African minister of tourism inquired the hospitality industry, whether the hotel prices were too high or not. It follows concerns that the flight tickets became costly too. This practice is not new, and it is observed in other sports as well, when there are major events schedulled.

The infrastructure of the country was questioned by New York Times readers, in relation to declarations by Danny Jordaan, head of the South African committee. He stated that the infrastructure in South Africa for the World Cup would be superior than 'any previous tournament host', but the train tickets were difficult to book, and the train station's staff wasn't helpful prior to the beginning of the competition.

Brazil has to observe such problems in order to deliver a beautiful show. FIFA has to work together with the country's committee to understand the internal ambience, and the Brazilians need to improve the organization of the tournament.

The winner is ...

The future world cup awarded by FIFA

In the bid for the 2022 World Cup, Japan promises high technology in order to be the favorite ones to host the event. People from all 208 FIFA member nations would be able to watch the World Cup in real time, in real stadiums, watching holograms of the real match from Japan. That's quite a promise.

The groundbreaking technology FIFA utilised in the 2010 event was merely 3D, an agreement with one of the official sponsors, Sony. "3D viewers around the world will feel as they are inside the stadiums in South Africa, watching the games in person," according to Howard Stringer, president of Sony Corporation. They forgot that not everyone owns 3D TVs. Looking at this aspect, Japan is already a winner.

What about using technology simply to achieve more 'sustainable' results, such as goal-line technology? It's a method invented by Dr Paul Hawkins that is successfully being used in tennis and cricket. Football supporters, players, journalists, agree the world cup organisers would be better off using the technology than any hologram or 3D effects.

Few examples are England's lost goal against Germany, and Carlos Tevez's goal in the match Mexico battled Argentina, and lost the game.

The future could reserve a holographic world cup, with goal-line technology. That's an improvement.

Vuvuzelastylin'

Kids play with vuvuzela

The World Cup is almost at the end, but I think there is no problem talking about the vuvuzela now.

I am Brazilian, and I am used to the sound of vuvuzela for a long time. In every major or minor competition in the country there is vuvuzela. A friend of mine even drank beer from one, in the Brazil's 1994 World Cup victory.

Vuvuzelas are taking over the world of sports in this World Cup 2010. So many stories, so much controversy, for such a simple device that represents the enthusiasm of a cheerful crowd. I think it’s fun.

Of course there is not just good news about vuvuzelas.

During the world’s largest sport event press, players, and some supporters complained about the noise. All others blow out their vuvuzelas creating a wall of sound that is transmitted to the world via tv broadcast. Ah, there are cases of supporters who got their ears injured and had to be hospitalised, for example, Sven Wipperfurth in West Germany. Or worse, like the South African kid who was shot for blowing the vuvuzela out; in the city of Pamplona, Spain, the council banned the vuvuzela sale at the San Fermin festival (mX News, p.6, Tuesday, July 6, 2010. Melbourne, Australia).

The way the audience manifests itself keeps changing over the years: from ripped paper and singing echoed by supporters, in the seventies, to inflated sticks that are hit together to produce noise, in the first competition of the millennium, in South Korea and Japan.

In South Africa now there is a new way that will go into history forever. It’s like that saying, “say something bad, or something good, but say something about me”. In this World Cup it happened involuntarily. For the better or worse.

Wayne Rooney in billboard for the World Cup 2010

This is my first post, and I would like to share my likings and 'dislikings' on all different topics in the media, with all that would stop to read some ingenious points by a random person in the crowd.

I’ll start by talking about the latest effort of Nike in the 2010World Cup. The spot "Write the Future" is entertaining, and well done.

Some time later I found out the director of the video is Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, a talented film director, who has won an Oscar and who improves the movie industry every time he makes something new.

Above all, however, Nike is the name behind the ad. The company has some eccentricities on TV and there's always a chance for them to reinvent themselves, proven with the video, which is why the company is a big player (yes, almost literally) in the industry.

Video is a successful tool in advertising that helps marketing significantly.

The new products that go with the TV ad, also have great creativity, like the crayons made by artist Diem Chau, commissioned by Wieden + Kennedy Portland agency, in US.

Nike is writing their future now with this excellent campaign, and unstoppable attitude.

I’ll be offering my thoughts and opinions whenever I get the chance on this blog.