Another day, another dollar- and the hackerhouse wakes up on a fine sunny morning in Copacabana neighborhood, Rio.
Hackers often have weird sleep schedules, staying up late and waking up early. The computer powers them, they have symbiotic relationships with the computers.
But today was different, the hackers needed to relocate their attention to outside of the skatehive headquarters.
They needed to go underground.
The hackers followed the signs that lead them deeper in the underground tunnel that towards a transportation device they needed to use, to relocate their physical bodies to a busy spot in Central downtown.
The air conditioning and proper ventilation kept the subway station smelling clean, properly maintained, there was no little everywhere on the ground. the citizens of rio respect their train, and homeless people do not live on the trains like they do in the us.
A skate session waited the hackers.
Down by the train tracks they waited for their train. the train map a single straight line, easy to navigate.
30 long minutes later, the hackers emerged about 8 train stops from the safety of copacabana.
We met at the central downtown skatespot and ran into this crazy guy wearing a skatehive shirt
The session was sick and clips were stacked. the video is being edited and this picture of Juarez might appear again in that post.
but the hackers must move on
The hackers were hungry, but they wern't sure where to go. they decided to keep walking until they got to something worth stopping at. The skateboarding was long, and they deserved a good sit-down meal after today's work.
They continued to traverse the night, glancing up at the mystical architecture and hand-installed Portuguese brickwork.
Finally, they found what they were looking for:
Feeling like a million bucks, the hackers paid the bill and kept exploring, the area bustling with nightlife.
But then something appeared. a mysterious figure of a man in a white suit with red accents. who was this man and what did it symbolize?
They kept walking but the mysterious man was following them. they glanced to the right and He appeared, chill and cool. At first the americans thought it was a rendering of Micheal Jackson, but the locals rapidly communicated that no, in fact...
It was Zé Pilintra...
Ze Pilintra is an important deity in an afro brazilian cult. wiki . He assists people in their street-life quests of drinking, gambling, and exploring inter dimensional nature of reality.
He is a deity involved in law enforcement and orderliness. This is fascinating to me because it seems like it doesn't make sense. Brazil feels more free than America, with the ability to drink on the streets- yet everyone behaves themselves. They know how to navigate the "dance" of laws, and move like water to avoid conflict. The government is corrupt, but they need that to continue to have the freedom of lifestyle that is so wonderful here.
Ze Pilintra is the god of being cool and clever, The god of not being a kook and being a smartass at the same time. This to me is rad. This is why brazilians can run red lights, speed, drink in the street, buy single cigarettes, walk around almost nude, and no one fucks with each other. They have a very advanced understanding of how to coexist with one another. I think it is because of this spiritual guide. Like jesus, he did incarnate in a physical form in the brazilian state of Pernambuco. The flag of the state is this:
The idea of "rougeishness" of which Ze Pilintra embodies, is seeded deep in the identity of the "carioca" (city of rio) people. There is a lifestyle approach derived from this spirit, and it's called...
Malandragem
This term is a word used to describe a lifestyle of idleness, fast living and petty crime. The "malandro" is a dude who knows how to take advantages of situations. Able to cunningly manipulate situations to serve himself. It is not about screwing over friends, but about side-steppings the rules imposed on by society. It is a characteristic of quick-wit, and the ability to re-access situations and pivot accordingly, within reason, to subvert imposed constructs that hold the man back from living life to the fullest.
This lifestyle could be misunderstood with a lack of wisdom. Young people attempting to incorporate this lifestyle without proper life experience and knowledge of cause-and-effect could be dangerous.
We proceeded deep into the Lapa neighborhood and gravitated towards this bright red aura of tilework in the distance.
Was this just another pedestrian pathway, or was this one unique as beautiful as it appeared to be?
Like an ancient temple entrance, this was something extraordinary. This was not created by happenstance, some great intention was behind what i was feasting my eyes on.
Was this a skatespot?
Vlad explained that this was a famous landmark, created by a visual artist:
Jorge Selarón.
He was a gringo from Chile who created the Lapa Steps as a tribute to the Brazilian People.
Packed with visual information, the hackers could not mine all the data contained within the brilliance before them!
With pedestrians lounging around on the good vibes that embodied these steps, We walked up the steps.
This massive geographical sculpture was made using over 2000 unique tiles from over 60 countries from all over the world. The artist made these steps his life's work, claiming that they would never be finished until the day of his death. The artist worked 23 years on the steps and was found dead on the steps in 2013.
Many of the tiles were hand-painted by the artist, depicting pictures of brazilian women.
There was a very dangerous skatespot here that was probably disrespectful to try trick on.
The people guarding the top of the steps didnt want a skateboarder filming tricks on the lapa steps.
Brazil is the artist's city.
