We traveled back to Myrtle Beach, SC in December 2010 for the Christmas holidays. Little did we know, but it would be coldest winter on record. It actually snowed in Myrtle Beach, although it was just a light frosting, it was the first time my wife and the kids had seen snow.
Solange took the kids out in the cold and they had their first ever winter photo shoot. I think the photos turned out great and Solange just used her point and click camera. The technology sure has come a long way!
We bought Teddy gloves for the cold, but for some reason, Teddy preferred to put socks over his hands. Jesse didn’t seem to care either way. Read More »
April 20th, 2011 | Category: Jesse, Photos, Slide Show, Teddy | Leave a comment
Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval is chaotic to say the least. Millions of tourists from all over Brazil and all over the world converge to see the biggest and most elaborate Carnaval in the world. On top of that, it is the largest party that I have ever seen. The downside is that the entire city shuts down. Traffic which is already bad goes to a whole new level of bad. Plus all the stores and groceries close for four solid days, and many businesses are closed the entire week.
So the Carnaval 2011, we like many other residence of Rio escaped the chaos and decided to vacation in Frade near Angras dos Reis. We also invited my mother in law, Maria Gonçalves, and her boyfriend, Euripedes Cruz with us. We had a great time and it was fantastic to avoid the chaos. Read More »
April 19th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Photos, Slide Show, Travel | Leave a comment
When I was returning from our vacation in Frade back to Rio de Janeiro, there was a song on the CD called “Rio de Janeiro”. As I was driving, it made me think of all the things that I love about Rio de Janeiro. I decided to put together a video of all those things and then I put the song as the background music for the video.
This was a fun project but I struggled with finding the best video software to do it. My prior videos I had been using Camtasia Studio, but I wanted HD and my version did not support HD. So I downloaded trials of Sony Movie Studio, and Corel Video Studio Pro. Both of them had their flaws and it made certain things quite difficult. Finally, I tried Microsoft MovieMaker which is 100% free. Prior versions were kind of clunky, but the latest version has some very cool effects. Watch it in full screen mode. Let me know what you think. Read More »
March 28th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Technology, Videos | Comments (2)
We just got back from a great vacation at Frade during Carnaval. It is great for running because there are mountains that come straight up to the ocean. But one of the most enjoyable things is to rent a boat and go swimming. Off the coast of Frade are over 300 little islands. It is a snorkeling and diving paradise. Here is a video we took of a few of the dives. I literally can dive and swim with the fishes for hours on end.
Read More »
March 19th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Technology, Videos | Leave a comment
I have lived in Rio since April 2003. Now that Rio de Janeiro will host both the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, one question keeps popping up. Is Rio de Janeiro a safe place to visit? It is certainly understandable. Quite often, photos of violence in Rio de Janeiro are shot around the world.
Not only is Rio de Janeiro one of the most beautiful cities in the world but it is also one of the largest. All large cities have a certain amount of violence and some precaution should always be taken when traveling the dark and unknown streets of a large city. Putting that aside, Rio de Janeiro does have a higher level of violence.
I place this in two categories.
1) On going drug war
2) Tourist related crimes
When we see all the photographs and video beamed across the world, it is usually related to the government’s on going drug war. There is quite a bit of poverty in Rio de Janeiro, and it is all focused in these large slums called favelas. Rio boasts some of the largest favelas in the world. Favela residence do not pay utilities nor do they pay property taxes and so on. Hand in hand with the favelas, is also a thriving drug trade. This drug trade creates a certain lawlessness. Read More »
February 17th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro | Comments (1)
I watched Obama’s speech last week and frankly I was disappointed. It was a nice speech, but in my view, Obama missed the key issue that will fix our economy from a death spiral. That issue is Wall Street.
We all agree that Wall Street and the Fed are the underlying reason behind the greatest economic depression since the Great Depression. BTW. Why do people call our current crisis the worst since the Great Depression? They have been calling it that for years at this point. The Great Depression is over and it was bad. Our current crisis is not over, and so therefore, we cannot compare one against the other.
Back to Wall Street. So these guys are making record profits. They are making money hand over fist during this economic crisis. While unemployment remains high and the rest of America suffers, these guys are raking it in. Why is that? I think I know. Read More »
January 31st, 2011 | Category: Financial Crisis, Politics | Comments (2)
It was Sunday December 5th. The prior Thursday, I had tried to purchase tickets for the final Brazilian championship game but to no avail. There was a line a mile long and many people had camped out with tents, barbecues, chairs and umbrellas. I knew that I didn’t stand a chance so I gave up. The day of the game, my buddy John who was visiting from London rang about 9 am. He was very excited and explained to me that he could get scalped tickets for the game. Each ticket would cost about R$400. I did some quick calculations, and we had a group of 7 people (me, my wife Solange, my two kids Teddy and Jesse, our nanny Sida, and my two friends John and Mark). That means I needed to come up with a little less than R$3000, and I had a little less than an hour to come up with the cash. The scalpers were skeptical that a gringo could come up with that kind of cash on a Sunday morning. They had another thing coming. Read More »
December 30th, 2010 | Category: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Slide Show | Leave a comment
Here is my personal variation on a Chinese favorite, Cashew Chicken. Instead of chicken, I used rabbit, and it turned out awesome. I like to put a little red pepper to bring out the favor. So here’s the latest in my cooking video series. Enjoy. Read More »
December 15th, 2010 | Category: Cooking Videos, Recipes, Videos | Leave a comment
Here’s another family favorite. The tofu gives the dish a nice light flavor, and it it is served in a rather soupy sauce. This goes great over white steamed rice. The kids in my family love it too. Hopefully, Teddy and Jesse will grow up to love this dish. Additionally, this is truly a home style recipe and it is not commonly found in even the most authentic recipes. A similar recipe found in some restaurants is called Ma Pa Tofu, but the difference is that my recipe is not spicey. This video is also a little different because I am using Camtasia Studio instead of Windows MovieMaker which I have now sworn off. Read More »
November 26th, 2010 | Category: Cooking Videos, Recipes, Videos | Leave a comment
There is certainly no easy way to put it. You got your ass kicked in the mid term elections. Well, I got some good news now. As I already told you in 2008, your presidency is going to be about the economy. You did not choose these circumstances, but they are yours to manage. You did not make the economy your #1 priority. It is not clear that it was even your second priority. From the looks of your first two years, I would say that your first two priorities were health care and the war in Afghanistan. Whether I am right or wrong, jobs were certainly not your first priority.
On top of that, you trusted the wrong people. There is no dispute by anyone that Wall Street is the reason behind this economic crisis. Yet you continue to listen to them almost exclusively and unemployment still hangs at 10% even with interest rates stuck at 0% for the foreseeable future. You guys sit around now that interest rates are at a floor and figure out how to “stimulate” the economy. They call it quantitative easing and I call it bullshit. There is a saying that if all you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail. If all you trust is Wall Street, then all you are going to get is the Fed printing more money and deficit spending. On the surface, I agree that borrowing money from the Chinese creates American jobs, but at what expense? Let’s just say that you have made a mess of it. It’s not too late, but you have to first realize that it is a mess and you’ve made it worse in your 2 years. You didn’t create it all, not even close, but it is your role to fix it, not make it worse. Read More »
November 7th, 2010 | Category: Financial Crisis, Politics | Leave a comment
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