Tuesday, July 31, 2007
João Gilberto manifests himself in orkut (or does he?)
Most of us cultivate pet activities that give us immense pleasure but are not readily explainable to people who don’t share our taste. Some people fish, others play golf or collect coins—passions that leave me cold.
I frequent the João Gilberto community in orkut. Like other communities, it can be a mixed bag, offering boredom and trivia along with highly rewarding booty.
Some members (there are 8,513 of them as of this moment) engage in nonsense like the poll “Who is the worst MPB singer of all times in the last week?” In compensation, the community boasts some of the world’s best-informed minds on the work of João Gilberto. Not only is this a continuing source of information, but the ardent fans here share their musical treasures, including rare recordings and videos.
I’m always wary of strangers who send me “friend” requests in orkut, and I was doubly so this morning, when orkut informed me in one e-mail, “João Gilberto has written you a scrapbook entry” and in another, “João Gilberto has added you as a friend on orkut.”
In no way could it be João, right?
There are many famous Brazilian artists who are orkut members, but João Gilberto could not possibly be one of them.
The scrapbook entry, posted at 6:26 am, reads: “Gostaria de agradecer por tudo o que vens falando e esclarecendo na ‘comunidade João Gilberto’. Muitíssimo Obrigado.”
Checking the orkut profile of the person purporting to be João Gilberto, little information is offered. relationship status: committed; languages I speak: Portuguese. That’s it.
João has joined three orkut communities: his own, Tom Jobim (160,279 members), and Dorival Caymmi (4,424 members).
The orkut João had one friend: my cyberfriend Gregório Queiroz, who is one of the luminaries of the João Gilberto community. Greg had not hesitated in accepting the friendship request. After all, what did he have to lose should the profile prove fake? I decided to do the same. So now João has two friends.
João’s scrapbook contained three entries from regular posters to the community—all perfectly serious, without the slightest hint of skepticism. Greg tells João how special his work is. Jorge, an overloquacious Spaniard, showers thanks and blessings on him. Arquimedes Luiz James Barros, like Greg a major voice in the JG community, has a request for João’s next recital. No tongue in any cheek, although the request by Arquimedes is a test.
Greg and Arquimedes had received scrapbook entries identical to mine.
What’s going on here?
So I dropped into the JG community to investigate the fallout.
Here there’s a new topic, posted by João at 6:24 am: Fico muito feliz por isso aqui.Há pouco resolvi entrar no tão comentado Orkut, afim de constatar o que já me vinham avisando. Que haviam algumas Comunidades criadas nesta rede para discutirem e trocarem informações sobre minha carreira e etc.
Não acreditei quando vi. Até porque, tudo isso é novo para mim. Computadores, internet, e-mail. Um grande amigo meu é quem está nesse momento digitanto este recado. Em pouquíssimas vezes visitei meu próprio web site.
Enfim, gostaria de agradecer todo esse carinho que constatei ao passar a noite de ontem quase que inteira lendo os "tópicos" que vocês criaram.
Muito Obrigado.
João Gilberto.
So far, no one has dared respond to this post. I will venture first.
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11:28
 
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1 Comments:
Within two days of his appearance, the JG community hounded the newcomer so persistently that he canceled his orkut account, only to return the following day under the same pseudonym, this time admitting the fakery.
This episode begs the question: Had it been the real João, would he have been treated any better?
Of course, the chances of the real João appearing in orkut are nil. JG community member Janete Galvão (wife of Novos Baianos founder Luiz Galvão) summed it up independently: "Não é João, nem ninguém proximo; alguém brincando -- ainda bem que parou."
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