Google hearts Elmo

Gee, Google really loves Sesame Street! It's been a week of dedicated banners.

And speaking of Feist, she also digs the Street:

FEISTed

Holt Renfrew decided it’s Christmas time here in Toronto. They had Kristin Chenoweth scheduled to come unveil their window dressings for the season (penguins in winter coats), but she got sick and replaced last minute by… Feist!

I must say I was a bit disappointed at Feist for selling out, but what was I expecting? She did sell 1234 to Apple after all. But now, department stores! At least she didn’t play Christmas songs. I was even more disappointed at not having seen Kristin, whom I believe would have been a more uplifting performer. Having said that, I did move to Sealion. And these kids were pretty good too.

Brazil quickies

The Rio Pride Parade brought in more than a million people to Copacabana last weekend, and the rain was no deterrent to revelers.

Even Spider-Man turned up, ‘cause he’s an upstanding guy and totally for civil rights for everyone. Spidey was in town to receive the key to the city (something related to a live action show next weekend) and I don’t really know if he attended the parade or not, but the crime rate in Rio was very low this weekend.

Rio just won best gay destination in the world. It seems like they're winning everything these days. Things are changing really fast in the Wonderful City. I don’t even think there was a parade when I left Brazil, a little over ten years ago. I’m not exactly fan of pride parades, but it works as a symbol and the cause needs all the help it can get down there.

Speaking of gay and Brazil, some new movie productions seem to be pushing the envelope in Brazil, while Hollywood is still doing the funny gay movie. Out of Brazil comes Do Come ço Ao Fim (From Beginning To End), the story of two step-brothers who fall in love. Hot!

Meanwhile, Rodrigo Santoro is Jim Carrey’s lover in I Love you Phillip Morris, which looks pretty bad. No wonder they’re having a hard time finding distribution in the US. It's got distribution guaranteed in Brazil, though.

On an gay-unrelated note, what looks really good is Dobro de Cinco, a movie based on a Brazilian graphic novel by Lourenço Mutarelli. The production uses live action and 3D animation.

This is it

Posthumous homage or cash grab? A bit of both, of course. This Is It leaves you wishing that this concert would have come true -- it was going to be quite a spectacle. Even though this is more a documentary than a concert video, we are still only allowed very few glimpses into the mind of the man in the mirror. Even in his last days, very little of the real person behind the shades comes through. We never see Michael sweat. Or suffer. We just see him sing and dance.

It seems that Jackson was born to be an enigma, a mythological creature we will never really understand -- a fiercely human person who ended up looking almost not human. But damn, the guy was good! Thanks, MJ! I hope they let you go in peace now (fat chance...)