Now this is a much better rendition! The designer is my friend Duda Simões and the percussionist is another friend Ricardo Siri. Not sure who did the Flash work. Enjoy it, it's a lot of fun!

Play some percussion

I was shopping at my local supermarket today and they were playing Christmas music over the system. A very corny, American version of Jingle Bells came on. Sleighs, snow, etc... I thought, "Man, this is so fucking out of place"! Then it really started to irritate me. I though, "If they don't turn this shit off I could easily go postal in here and kill everyone". Is this a normal reaction or should I seek help?

Ah, how I've learned to love the "frente fria" or cold front here in Rio. Yesterday turned out to be the hottest day of 2003 in Rio. The highest recorded temperature was recorded at 45 C / 113 F and humid as hell (higher than I had reported yesterday). Late at night huge winds came through, the Christ statue got covered in clouds, it rained like crazy and today the temperature at the same location was listed at 26 C / 79. Talk about a drop! I used to hate these cold fronts that can last up to a week or two here, but now they bring with them a great relief from the heat. One can actually concentrate and get some work done!

Today in Rio it's 38 degrees Celsius (around 100 degrees F). It can actually be hotter than that depending on the neighborhood you're in or where you're standing. In the sun it's just no joke. Just when I was about to start complaining I looked at this photo from the NY Times of a guy crossing the street iin NYC. I've decided a little sweat isn't so bad after all.

You can have it!

Who would have ever guessed that after almost 3 years of living in Rio and trying to play music here, I've wound up in a duo project with a Jewish guy from Israel?!! Life can be crazy at times. This lunatic's name is Yuval Ben Lior (not to be confused with Jorge Ben Jor) and he's from near Tel Aviv (you know, where all those fucking bombs go off everyday). He moved here about 3 years ago after marrying a Brazilian.

Pic from the session

Anyway, about 3 weeks ago Yuval calls me up cold, and says he got my number from some girl and he's looking for a pandeiro player for his personal project. He said he had some tunes, mostly in the samba/choro vein. I figured it would probably suck, since it's rare that an accomplished musician calls people could whom they've never even heard, but maybe would result in some paying gigs, so I went over to his place.

He starts to play the first tune and go, "Wait a minute, this shit is cool!". One after another he plays his original tunes ... more than 10 of them. Lots of variety, various grooves and influences (by no stretch of the imagination limited to samba/choro). I tease him everyday about how he doesn't know shit about Brazilian music, but yet he writes all of these cool tunes with this flavor.

He's a jazz guitarist who studied in L.A., but here in Rio he started to get into acoustic guitar and writing these tunes that tend to have some Brazilian accent. But I get to use all sorts of rhythms ... we've got samba, baiao, 6/8 waltz, tango, rock, fuck. It's really fun, interesting instrumental music. I guess this is true "world music" for lack of a better term ... an American, an Israeli playing music in Brasil, with a Brazilian istrumentation.

We just spent 3 or 4 days recording tunes for a demo in my apt. He splits for vacation in Israel for about a month next week, so we wanted to document what we've done so far. We're talking about looking for some gigs to play and trying to make a serious CD ... invite some special guests, etc.. We want to play the stuff for friends first and sort of "test" the stuff out on an audience.

Well, we'll see. At the very least we're having a lot of fun working on this stuff ... a great creative outlet. Yuval says I've put new life into the tunes and I'm thrilled to have this kind of material to sink my teeth into ... it gives me a LOT of creative options for the pandeiro, something I've really been wanting to find.

Stay tuned.

Last night I met some friends for beer and pizza to celebrate a friend's birthday. We met at a bar in an area called Baixo Gavea. It was a Thursday night and the place was packed. The amount of beautiful women present was absolutely incredible. It was mind boggling. I turned to my friend and said, "Man, this is almost absurd! My friends from back home wouldn't believe this unless they saw it for themselves ... and their hearts may not be ready for it!"

Last night I was at Clube dos Democraticos and bumped into a couple of friends from the group Casuarina (I've mentioned them before in the blog). We started chatting and João (Lenine's son) said to me, "Listen Scott, you know we're recording our first CD at Bistoito Fino's studio, right?".

He then, in the humble way told me the band would love it if I recorded on a tune with them, playing pandeiro de nylon. I said to him, "João, are you kidding me man, just say when and where"! I then laughed at him and said, "Man, this is my first real invite to record a real CD on pandeiro ... you don't have to ask me with so much respect!". We both laughed like crazy. I can't wait for the session.

As I think about it, I guess it's not true that this is my first invite, but it's my first to record on something that's associated with an already formed band, playing samba and associated with a label.

I'm actually in the midst of a duo project and we've started to record. I'm also supposed to add some pandeiro to a recording for another group. More on all of this later.

Well, of course this is really good news. However, I highly doubt this will result in much improvement in drug-related violence. This article also mentions "specially defined groups" ... the police being one of them. I still haven't told the story yet (but I will), but I had my first view down the barrel of a handgun a few months ago. Nope, it wasn't a criminal ... it was a cop who thought it was necessary to stick in right in my face. They're some of the most dangerous people in Rio ... armed and ignorant. A great combination.

Brazil passes strict new gun law
Brazil's Senate has passed a bill to outlaw the carrying of guns in public and control illegal gun ownership.

The law will tighten rules on gun permits and create a national firearms register, with strict penalties for owning an unregistered gun.

A referendum will be held in 2005 on whether to ban gun sales outright.

About 40,000 people are shot dead each year in Brazil, mainly in urban shanty towns, giving the country one of the worst murder rates in the world.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will now give the law final approval.

After the law takes effect, gun owners will have 180 days to register their weapons or surrender them to the police.

Thereafter, anyone with an unregistered gun faces a four-year prison term.

Only strictly defined groups of people - including police, security officials, target shooters and transport companies - will be able to obtain a gun licence.

The legal age for owning a gun is being raised from 21 to 25.

In October 2005, a national referendum will ask: "Should the sale of arms and munitions be prohibited in Brazil?"

Slow change

More than 50 other gun control bills have come before Congress over the years and failed to be passed.

Brazil's arms industry is the world's sixth largest, and strong lobbying has in the past blocked any changes to the law.

Campaigners say that the difference this time is that public opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of gun control.

"The country is going to start to have efficient gun controls, something it's not had up to today," said Antonio Rangel of Rio de Janeiro anti-violence group Viva Rio.

Over 100 police officers are shot dead in Sao Paulo alone, and thousands of civilians are killed in gun battles with police.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/3305927.stm

Published: 2003/12/10 11:16:33 GMT

© BBC MMIII

Last night I participated in the CD release concert of my friend Zé Paulo Becker's new CD, "Sob o Redentor". The show was at the Sala Baden Powell (Baden Powell Theater) in Copacabana, a place where I have seen many, many great shows. Actually I think the day after I arrived in Rio back in April, 2001 I saw a concert by Guinga (one of Brasil's best modern instrumental composers) there.

The baião in action
Leila Pinheiro
Zé and strings
Zé and Marcello
(photos courtesy of Duda Simões ... valeu Duda!)

Zé really did a great job. The CD is all original, highly arranged music with many great special guests. Two of the songs have lyrics by Aldir Blanc, one of the most important lyrisists in Brasil. Leila Pinheiro sang one of them on the CD and in the show last night.

There were tons of great musicians in the show and it was quite a production. Some of the tunes even had a string section ... which was great! There are so many names to mention as far as instrumentalists who played, but just a few ... Márcio Bahia (drummer for Hermeto Pasqual), Trio Madeira Brasil (Ronaldo do Bandolim and Marcello Gonçalves, along with Zé), Chico Chagas on accordeon, percussionist Beto Cazes. Anyway, lots of people ... I think there were between 20 and 30 musicians in total. The sound check took so long that we didn't even get to pass the tune I played on. I had to just walk on stage, borrow Beto's mic and hit! We played Chamengo Bom, a baião of Zé's .... 2 guitars, pandeiro, zabumba (Carlos César) and Beto on triangle. It rocked.

The wonderful Cuban pianist Ruben Gonzalez has died. Those who haven't seen Buena Vista Social Club should - his interviews and performances were wonderful. I also highly recommend his CD, "Introducing Ruben Gonzalez". It's sad to think of all of those wondeful musicans dying off, but so beautiful to know they got to leave such a big mark at the end of their lives.

View image

Buena Vista pianist Gonzalez dies
By Stephen Gibbs
BBC correspondent in Havana
The Cuban pianist Ruben Gonzalez, one of the leading members of the musicians that formed the Buena Vista Social Club, has died aged 84.

Gonzalez reached world stardom in the late 1990s but his career began in the 1940s at Havana's Tropicana cabaret.

Buena Vista founder and musician Ry Cooder described him as "the greatest piano soloist I have ever heard".

His death follows that earlier this year of another key member of the Buena Vista Social Club, Compay Segundo.

In the 1950s and 60s, Gonzalez was at the forefront of modern Cuban music, blending jazz and Latin rhythms.

Always perfectly turned-out, Gonzalez had thought he had retired in 1996, when Ry Cooder asked him to join in the Buena Vista Social Club recordings.

Despite suffering from arthritis and not owning a piano at the time, he was overjoyed, every morning waiting outside the studio before it opened.

After the success of the resulting album, he toured the world, to great critical acclaim.

With his death, and that of Compay Segundo, Cuba has lost two men whom in the final years of their lives introduced the world to a style of Cuban music that had almost been lost.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/3302471.stm

Published: 2003/12/09 02:19:55 GMT

© BBC MMIII

A friend just sent me this article from the NY Times regarding the bizarre murder case of the Shell Exec and his wife in Barra da Tijuca last week. Really crazy story so far.

An American Family Abroad: Horror Strikes in the Night

By TONY SMITH

Published: December 5, 2003 (New York Times)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 2 — The detectives at Rio de Janeiro's homicide division are a world-weary bunch, inured to the horrors of violent crime by their daily hunting down of killers in one of the world's most dangerous cities.

But the grisly assault last weekend that left Zera Todd Staheli, a 39-year-old American oil executive, dead and his wife, Michelle, 34, in a coma has shocked even the most case-hardened officers. [Michelle Staheli died of her wounds early Thursday, Reuters reported.

According to the police chief, Álvaro Lins, the Stahelis were battered on the face and head with a sharp, heavy instrument — probably an ax or a meat cleaver — as they slept at their home in a guarded condominium in Barra de Tijuca, an affluent middle-class suburb, on Saturday night or early Sunday.

While Rio residents, or cariocas, are used to the drug gang warfare that spills out from the city's shantytowns, this killing evoked horror just as Rio is trying to clean up its image ahead of the 2007 Pan-American Games, which are to be held here.

With 50 of every 100,000 residents dying violent deaths each year, Rio has one of Brazil's highest murder rates. While approving a recent public campaign to stamp out police corruption, residents hold out little hope things will get better soon.

"I'm constantly worried by the increasing violence," said Teresa Carvalho, 40, who lives with her businessman husband and two daughters in a house in Barra, whose palm-lined, sandy beaches, sprawling malls and gated condos give it a yearning-to-be-Miami feel.

The Stahelis were found writhing in agony by one of their four children, their 10-year-old son. He had been drawn to his parents' bedroom by the beeping of their alarm clock, which was set for 6.30 a.m. to wake the family — practicing Mormons originally from Spanish Fork, Utah — to go to church.

Finding his youngest sister, aged 3, slumbering unharmed between his parents' legs — she later told the police she thought mommy and daddy were just "dirty with mud" — the boy woke his eldest sister, 13, who raised the alarm by calling a neighboring American family. The police are not releasing the children's names.

Mr. Staheli, who worked for the oil multinational Shell, was dead by the time help arrived, but his comatose wife was rushed to the Copa d'Or Hospital near Copacabana Beach.

"In my 20 years as a detective in Rio de Janeiro, I've never seen anything like this," said José Renato Torres, who was first to arrive at the murder scene on Sunday. "There are no clues, no murder weapon, and all the hypotheses look absurd."

Anxious to convince the public that the killing is not just another sign of the unraveling social fabric of this city, where million-dollar ocean-front apartments back onto favelas made out of bricks, cardboard and tin sheeting, Anthony Garotinho, the new state secretary for public security, said the police were facing "a very atypical crime."

But detectives freely acknowledge they have next to no leads.

Except for what was found on the couple's bed and the wall behind it, which was spattered up to the ceiling, no traces of blood were found in the house. Neither were there any signs of a break-in, and the couple's valuables — Mr. Staheli's gold Rolex watch and his wife's jewelry — were found untouched in a small wooden cask on a bedside table. The house's electronic gate can be opened only from within.

The family's driver and live-in maid, neither of whom were on duty over the weekend, were questioned and released by the police.

To kill both Mr. Staheli and his wife in quick succession — the children said they heard no cries — would require substantial strength and dexterity, according to Dr. Roger Ancillotti, head of Rio's legal medicine institute, who examined Mr. Staheli's body.

"It's as if some ninja had appeared by magic in the bedroom, attacked the couple and then disappeared in a puff of smoke," he said.

Because the Stahelis arrived only a little over three months ago, it is proving difficult to find people who knew them well enough to give any clues of a possible motive.

Concerned about seeming contradictions in the eldest daughter's declarations to detectives, the police want her to make a full, sworn statement before leaving the country. They will also take a full statement from the next oldest child, a boy.

Mr. Lins said the involvement of a relative could not be ruled out. "I am not accusing anybody, but as there are no signs of intrusion, there may have been some kind of a collaboration," he was quoted as saying.

The police are also questioning Mr. Staheli's colleagues at Shell, where he had recently been named vice president for natural gas and power in the southern part of South America. But oil executives dismissed the possibility that Mr. Staheli was killed for work-related reasons, citing a lack of serious political or business intrigue in the region.

Whether or not the slaying is ever solved, it has inevitably added to the cariocas' sense that crime is out of control, said Ms. Carvalho, who handed over a brand new S.U.V. at gunpoint in a carjacking earlier this year. "It's almost like criminals think it's cool these days not just to rob, but to kill and maim in the most spectacular way."

I just came in from the street and thought, man it's just so damn hot here. Then I opened up the NY Times Online and saw this:

***
The first major snowstorm of the season — a powerful one-two punch that pummeled the East Coast and promised another wallop of snow and freezing temperatures — snarled traffic yesterday and left travelers stranded at airports.

The storm covered Central Park with eight inches of snow yesterday, less than it left behind elsewhere as it crawled up the East Coast. The National Weather Service reported 10 inches in parts of Maryland.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that snow removal would cost $1 million per inch, but that the Sanitation Department was standing by with 212,000 tons of salt.
***

You can have it!

This girl seems to be enjoying it »
(Photo credit: Librado Romero/The New York Times)

I had literally just finished doing what this article was warning against when I came across the headline on BBC News online. I first thought it said, "rarely", not "rapidly" and thought, "Oh, that's good news". Then I looked and again and realized my error. Oh well. I guess this stuff is dangerous ;-).

By the way, I disagree. I don't know of anyone who's died of lung cancer from smoking pot. Now cigarettes on the other hand!!

***
Cannabis 'rapidly damages lungs'
Even short term use of cannabis can damage the lungs of young people, say researchers.

A team from Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, conducted tests on smokers, non-smokers and cannabis users.

Non-smokers had the healthiest lungs. But cannabis users showed more signs of damage than those who stuck to cigarettes.

A British Thoracic Society meeting heard less than six years cannabis use was enough to cause significant damage.

It is vital that young people understand the dangers of both cigarette and cannabis smoking.
Dr John Harvey
Dr Sarah Nuttall, a research fellow from the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said: "The consensus among many young people who use cannabis seems to be that they will not suffer any long-term effects as long as they stop smoking it early enough.

"However this is clearly not the case - our study shows that even short-term use of cannabis in addition to tobacco use does have an impact and makes a serious difference to lung function."

Dr John Harvey, chairman of the BTS communications committee, said: "It is vital that young people understand the dangers of both cigarette and cannabis smoking since these habits can start having a serious impact on their lungs at an early stage."

A British Medical Journal study published earlier this year warned that regular cannabis use may be as dangerous as smoking in the long term.

Professor John Henry, a toxicologist at Imperial College London, feared that deaths attributable to cannabis could soar.

There are currently an estimated 3.2 million people in the Britain who smoke cannabis regularly, compared with 13 million tobacco smokers.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/3293459.stm

Published: 2003/12/05 11:01:50 GMT

© BBC MMIII

Anjos da Lua (Angels of the Moon) is one of the most grooving, interesting, unique and fun rodas de samba (a small group that plays around a table) in Rio today ... period. I remember when I first got here back in April, 2001 and they were playing at Emporium 100 on a street called Rua do Lavradio every Wednesday night. It would get going around 10pm or so and got until 2 or 3am. The place was always packed and the vibe was incredible ... on a Wednesday!

View gig flier (thanks Duda!) »

I filmed there several times for my pandeiro documentary and started to know the cast of characters. I remember getting to sit in a bit back then, but my arm was still bad and I really wasn't ready yet anyway.

Emporium 100 closed a while back and Anjos da Lua stopped playing altogether. The band is made up 6 people: Eduardo Gallotti, Pedro Miranda, Sandrinho, Pedro Hollanda, Rubinho Jacobina and Mariana Bernardes (but there are always a few other people sitting in as well). The important thing to mention is that all of these musicians are quite special as individuals ... as singers, instrumentalists and composers. Sandrinho alone, playing tan-tan and singing is a one man show ... amazing.

I remember hearing this group and thinking, "Man, I'd really like to get to the point where I could arrive at this gig and be welcome to sit down and play". Well, guess what? It's happened already.... just took a few years. I now arrive and I'm told to grab a chair and jump in.

A new place opened up called the Democraticos Samba Clube in Lapa and every Wednesday night ... Anjos da Lua! Return of the Wednesday night that blows away any Saturday night I ever had anywhere else in my life. I was there last night, sweating like a dog and playing pandeiro de nylon (a plastic head pandeiro) alongside my buddy Serginho who was subbing as the panderista on the gig. At one point I turned to Sergio and said, "Man, this shit is just TOO good!" I felt like I was almost tripping on the music. The repetoire was so wonderful, the groove so strong, the singing so pure. I told Sergio, "I've played a lot of music in my life and with some really special people... but this experience, with this group is right up there with the best of them". Playing percussion in a section with say 4 or 5 guys when it's really clicking is just heaven.

Playing at the table

Anyway, that's it. I just wanted to devote an entry to this wonderful group of musicians ... with whom I feel truly lucky to have the chance to play with. I will never forget these moments.

If you ever get to Rio I hope you're lucky enough to experience it for yourself.

I've actually got a little bit of recent video footage of this gig that I should share at some point.

I just found one of those rare things in the foreign press ... positive news about Brasil! Imagine that?

Brazil bets on Linux cybercafes
By Denize Bacoccina
In Sao Paulo
Unemployed and living in one of the poorest areas of Sao Paulo City, which has a high rate of violence and little to do, 19-year-old Jose Antonio de Oliveira Silva used to spend most of his time at home.

But that all changed with the opening in Cidade Tiradentes of a "telecenter", a free internet cafe set up by the local authority.

"Now I come here almost every day," said Jose Antonio, who is taking courses in computer and writing skills.

He spends one hour a day, the maximum time allowed per person, practising on the computer and hopes that the new skills will help him in the search for a job.

"I know people who have got jobs because they knew how to work with computers," he said.

Finding a job is also Elaine Guimaraes' prime concern. Unemployed for five years, she uses the net to register with job websites, e-mail her CV and to access services such as government benefits.

She learned how to use a computer at the Telecenter Cidade Tiradentes.

"During my last job, computers were something new. But now, if I find a job I will have to know how to use them," she said.

Lack of jobs

Getting a job is the number one worry here. Sao Paulo City has an unemployment rate over 20%, but in Cidade Tiradentes, with its 130,000 inhabitants living in social housing projects, the rate is even higher.

Walking around on a weekday, you can see just how many people are on the streets doing nothing.

"Ninety-eight percent of people living here didn't have access to computers before," said Jesulino Alves de Souza, who co-ordinates the centre.

Now, some of them, after learning at the centre, have saved money to buy their own computer to use at home.

A resident of the area for 11 years, Mr Souza believes the Telecenter has become an important part of the lives of many young people in the area.

It has never been robbed or vandalised, unlike other inner city public buildings and schools.

"Maybe because they know that we are here to serve the community," he explained.

'Fundamental right'

The Telecenter project was started two and a half years ago in Sao Paulo by a left-wing local government as part of a digital inclusion plan that aimed to improve access to information.

Research carried out that year showed that there were about three million people in Sao Paulo without any access to computers. Now, about 250,000 people are using the nearly 100 net cafes.

The government is the biggest software buyer. We can save a lot of public money using the free software solution
Beatriz Tibirica, E-Government project
Although ownership of a computer and access to the internet are common for middle-class Brazilians, of the population as a whole fewer than 10% have access to the net.

"We want to take the telecenters to the poorer areas in the periphery, to reduce the social and economic divide," said Beatriz Tibirica, co-ordinator of a project called E-Government.

"Access to technology is fundamental in order to get full rights and opportunities in modern society", she added.

Each telecenter has about 20 computers. Some are used for the courses and others are free to be used for anything from preparing homework for checking the latest about soap stars.

Since last year, all the centres have been using the free operating system GNU/Linux.

"The government is the biggest software buyer," said Ms Tibirica. "We can save a lot of public money using the free software solution."

She pointed out that the free software has many advantages: no need to pay for licences and it is possible to use a simpler version of the computer, with one server and several thin clients - computers without hard disks.

These computers, according to Ms Tibirica, cost a quarter of the price of a machine and have reduced maintenance costs.

Education experiment

Moving from paid to free software to reduce costs is part of a national government plan.

The idea is going to be tested on a larger scale in the next few months, when the Ministry for Education buys new equipment.

A new bid is under way to buy 10,000 computers for schools. There are already 230,000 computers in 43,000 schools around the country, most of them using proprietary software like Microsoft Windows.

The new computers will be able to work with both proprietary and open source software.

"More than saving money, which is important enough, the free system will allow us to create a network of knowledge in the field," said Americo Bernardes, director of the National Program for Informatics in Education (Pro-Info).

But he admitted that this was an experiment. "The government is using the free system in some administrative offices. But using it in schools, with students, has a much bigger impact," said Mr Bernardes.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/3250876.stm

Published: 2003/12/02 11:01:04 GMT

© BBC MMIII

I'm trying to figure out why the case of this American Shell executive who was murdered in Rio on Sunday and his wife who was beaten, etc. into a como 'still' hasn't appeared in the news outside of Brasil ... at least I haven't been able to find the story. It's especially strange because it's not a simple case of robbery and assault. This happened for some other reason and the authorities are stumped so far.

I always thought my first (and maybe my last!) biking accident in Rio would be caused by the distraction of a beautiful girl walking down the street as I weave through traffic. But it just wasn't to be.

Today I truly busted my ass riding home from swimming on my way to teach a lesson. There was construction on the bike/pedestrian path along the Lagoa (big lagoon), so I took to the street. I had enough room and was riding with the flow of traffic without a problem.

I notice a guy riding towards me, but on the sidewalk. He was really on the edge, because of the plastic fencing keeping people off of the pavement. All of a sudden, without any warning, this asshole goes flying off his bike and his bike comes flying at me. The damn bike crashes right into me and I go twisting right over the handlebars... fuck me! I broke my fall with my hands to protect my face. My bike got twisted up a bit (and that asshole cost me my water bottle holder!). But miraculously, I got out of there with only some minor cuts and scratches ...almost nothing. I got up with my neck a bit funny and thought, great, time for that herniated disc operation finally .... with a demo recording for this weekend and an important show with my friend Ze Paulo next week. But my hands feel ok, and I think I'm cool.

I immediately started barking at this guy, calling him an idiot. But he came over to see if I was ok and explain that his peddle got caught in the plastic fencing. I cooled down and told him it was cool. I don't know if all of those years of BMX bike riding paid off, or if I just got lucky ... but if I had fallen to the left I would have gone right into traffic ... and I'd probably be in the hospital right now instead of writing this.

Oh yeah, for those concerned, my cell phone and iPod made it home just fine ;-)

I probably just spent the wisest money of my life thus far. After living in this apartment for over a year now I finally bought and air conditioner. I took advantage of the very common Brazilian custom of paying "parcelada" ... in payments. 10 payments of 66 Reais ... no interest. So, in almost a year this puppy will be paid off! ;-). If my memory serves me correctly, this is the first place I've lived in in over 2 and a half years here that has had A/C.

It took me forever (including a ridiculously hot summer last year) to decide to buy something as domestic as an A/C unit. Of course there has to be some humor to this story, right? Of course.

I asked around to find a competent guy to install the damn thing. I did it myself in NYC, but the hole was already there as well as the electrical outlet. But here there wasn't an opening in the wall, nor the right kind of outlet. So, I call a guy, he doesn't call back (now there's a surprise here!) and then he finally comes over to look at the job. He seems ok and even honest. Then I ask him for a quote and he say, "I'll call you tomorrow to give it to you". Does he call? Of course not! I'm thinking, man this guy must not like to work. Finally, a week later I get a quote out of him. I decided to get a second.

So I schedule with an actual A/C specialist company to give a free quote. Of course, no one shows up and I wait around for nothing. I call back and give them one more chance. The guy comes by, gives a lower quote (240 reais) and I say ok.I go out and buy the damn thing and they guarantee me delivery the next day while the guy will be breaking the damn hole in the wall. Does it show up ... of course not! I wait around all day and into the next ... finally it arrives. When does it arrive? In the middle of a nasty cold front which brought tons of rain and cool temps... literally, the temps dropped from probably mid-90s down into the 70s. I had to wait through the weekend for the guy to come back and install the thing ... all the while with a nice view of the rain through the hole in my wall!

Anyway, it's really hot and really humid outside (as well as outside my bedroom) ... but in here it's an oasis. I'm not leaving until winter!!

Strange. I still found no report about the attack on this Shell exec and his wife in any news source outside of Brasil. The police are scrtaching their heads apparently. No sign of a break in, no robbery and all 4 kids in the house at the time of the attack. The oldest kid is a 13 year old girl, so hard to imagine any of these kids inflicting serious injury. These people must have pissed someone off ... and someone with keys to the house! Maybe maid or driver related. The authorities here have stated that the investigation will be considered a state priority.