Fresh Google Wallpaper: Brazil

Jim Carrey used to be the biggest movie star in the world. I know you probably know that, having seen Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber or even The Truman Show a hundred times, but it's worth remembering and keeping in mind while watching the below video, which Carrey posted at his website called, for real, Jim Carrey Tru Life. This video, which is about a minute and a half long and shot in extreme closeup, is Carrey's profession of love to Emma Stone. It is exactly as creepy and unsettling as it sounds. Take a look below.

The other videos on the site appear to be really genuine, including what he saw on a recent trip to Brazil (while flanked by bodyguards) and a kind of video confessional about his early career filmed while riding on a private plane. There's therefore no immediate reason to assume that the Emma Stone video is actually a joke, though taking it seriously is far too depressing and disturbing to be an option either. What, exactly, is he trying to tell us here? Why on earth would he record this video, and especially in such extreme close-up that reveals lines on face that do not look like normal wrinkles. And if this is his attempt to bring comedy to the website, why start with something that's so borderline, and so difficult to see as a joke?

Yes, I realize that Carrey famously played Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon, and this kind of stunt seems exactly like what Kaufman would have done if he'd lived long enough to see YouTube. But I still can't quite get the joke here, if there's supposed to be one, and either way the video feels like a fairly sad reminder of the movie star who no longer really exists. Emma Stone, I hope wherever you are, you're somehow less creeped out by this than I would be.

Rio de Janeiro (rē'ō du zhänā'rō, Port. rē'oo &thstrok;i zhuneē'roo) city (1990 pop. 5,533,011; 1995 metropolitan area est. pop. 10,181,000), capital of Rio de Janeiro state, SE Brazil, on Guanabara Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. The second largest city and former capital of Brazil, it is the cultural center of the country and a financial, commercial, communications, and transportation hub. It has an international airport and a subway.

Rio, as it is popularly known, has one of the world's most beautiful natural harbors. It is surrounded by low mountain ranges whose spurs extend almost to the waterside, thus dividing the city. Among its natural landmarks are Sugar Loaf Mt. (1,296 ft/395 m); Corcovado peak (2,310 ft/704 m), site of a colossal statue of Jesus; and the hills of Tijuca (3,350 ft/1,021 m) and Gávea (2,760 ft/841 m).

The city acquired its modern outline in the early 1900s, and extensive public sanitation and remodeling are continuing. Hills have been leveled, tunnels bored (the longest underground urban highway, linking the northern and southern sections of the city, opened in 1968), parts of the bay filled, parks laid out, and beautiful palm-lined drives built to connect the various districts. Favellas, or slums, are interspersed throughout the city.