.: beanie woman :.

.pausa.

2011-01-11T01:22:00.001-02:00

há dois anos não posto... mas adorei lembrar estes anos documentados. quem sabe em algum momento atualize isso aqui novamente...

.família.

2009-06-05T15:26:00.005-03:00

had some nice family events lately...

mother´s day was a lunch at my mom´s with our family´s "four generations". as has been the case since august 2008, malu was the life of the party, and i am one of the strong candidates for godmotherhood, except for one little problem... i am not catholic, and as such, not baptized and therefore cannot baptize her! wouldnt be an issue if my cousin´s partner was not a fervorous catholic... well, the controversy drags on and now the whole family is involved in finding a solution, which mostly means trying to convince me to "convert".

besides the new religious battle going on in the family, we all had a great (and beautifully sunny) day!

this little girl has no idea the ideological controversy she has sparked up!

the three "older generations" (malu was napping...)

grandparents and their grrls!

the pagan aunties!

this one is actually from the week after, during my grandpa´s birthday... he turned 89!!!

and just last week something real fancy: my mom got our family business ISO 9001 certified! after over a year of hard work, the payoff... timbu is the first water business certified in paraná state and the 6th in brazil! here we are, enjoying my mom´s victory at the official certification cerimony:

mingling with the guests

with a stakeholder... getting ready to be the next in line! :)

ya ha ha i win competitors!

and the usual family candids, nice when we are all dressed up!

.the jock.

2009-06-04T09:51:00.004-03:00

hello again! been away from this blog for way too long, and believe me, have missed posting. things have been hectic lately, and there is so much more to put up here, but i´ll get back to it slowly...

as some of you may remember, i did once play volleyball. started at the YMCA near my são paulo home, when i was about 10 and played until i moved to canada... then got back into it in grade 9 and was kicked off the team in grade 11 when all the big girls from balmoral got to carson! hahaha the old grudge resurfaces!

anyhow, all this is to put into context why i had the ridiculous idea of getting a volleyball team together to play a local tournament...

also as some of you may remember, i work for the country´s most famous volleyball coach. all the people who work with me are related to sports in some way, but of course that dont mean they are all pro athletes. so i convinced my two office co-workers, and 3 teachers from one of our projects that we could do this. so here is our team:

- bia: short, hadnt played since i was 14
- rose: short, had never played
- evelyn: short, is the soccer teacher
- soraia: tall, volleyball teacher and one of our only hopes
- gabriela: short, psychologist, but practiced with another team, another hope
- ana: tall, also hadn´t played since high school...
- coach: we had none!
- reserve players: what´s that!!??

after we signed up we thought there was lots of time to practice and of course kept putting it off... until we looked up the tournament schedule and our game was, well, the week after! by saturday, our first match, we had practiced a total of 3 hours, where 2 of those were with kid´s equipment (we teach kids remember?); we had no coach and no reserve players; were we ready? hellz ya, so ready!

oh yeah, something else... the team name: FIDUMA. loosely translated it means "son-of-a..." and was inspired by our kids at the project, who love "describing" their peers´ mothers...

needless to say, we lost both games, saturday and sunday and were off the tournament on the first round... the upside is that our team name captured the crowds and the refs, and we had a blast playing! the idea is to keep practicing, but three weeks later we still have not done that once... that´s FIDUMA!

here are some pics from our athletic fiasco...

warming up...

fi-fi-fiduma!

6-0 game strategy!

evelyn: "damn, how did the ball get there?"

bend those knees!

leftie spike is the trick!

we lost, but we had a good time! next practice?? who knows!

. at work in rio .

2009-04-16T10:35:00.008-03:00

as you may know, i work at a ngo that develops social sports projects for kids and youth. we have projects all over the country and all sorts of public and private partners (tho we do not get any direct funding from government bodies!). so, every year, we organize an event to recognize these entities and other people who were involved with our work, and to account for our actions the year before.

first year, the meeting was a dinner at the copacabana palace (remember the photos?); last year, a cocktail at the sheraton in leblon beach. this time, we chose a downtown location, the museu histórico nacional. it´s a museum at a very old, gorgeous brick building that rents out their patio and conference room for events.

as communications analyst, i was heavily involved in planning and organization of the big night. besides the actual event, this is the moment we define our "concept" and visual identity for the year. Since our main focus in 2008 was in the development of evaluation tools to improve management and to look at the impact of our projects on the kids, we wanted to follow that lead into a concept. Amongst some ideas presented by our designers, we settled on: "look closer to go further" (sounds weird in english? here is the original: olhar de perto para ir mais longe).

out of that, we work on all the event pieces and on the big Annual Report (which was almost entirely written by me!! phew!) .

well, images speak louder than words... here is our event... (and a day off to tourist around too!)

on the way to rio we bumped into a famous country singer ( i think his name is césar menotti)...

got to rio and went straight to the museum to check out the place... this is a patio area (not the event area). purdy!

sunday we had the day off... gustavo (urso) and his partner bela took us around niterói (across the bridge from rio). first stop was forte de santa teresa, build in 1612 to protect the guanabara bay from pirates and corsaries... yaarrrr!!

ana, urso and bela with a front view of the sugar loaf

these were torture cells for pirates and corsaries. they were moved from one to the next, which get smaller and smaller, and then out to get hanged. the hanging place is just in front of these cells, so they would see the prisoners getting taken out from the last cell and straight to john davie´s locker...

cute little chapel

watching posts

canons ready to take down enemy ships...

... and with such a great view!!

gustavo was ready to blow up the place!

that is because of course they don´t mention it anywhere, but besides imprisoning pirates in the 1600s, this fort was also very much used during the dictatorship and held many political prisoners who were tortured and sometimes killed there, probably in these same cells that we visited. but, because brasil has not yet dealt with this dark period of its history, such stories are just ignored from the public...

monday! event day! taking arthur and his mom out to lunch. he is from our project in natal (northeast) and came as a special guest to perform at the opening of the presentations along with another student from rio! this was arthur´s first airplane ride and trip outside natal! he also got to visit the sugar loaf and copacabana beach.

final practice for the boys before their big moment... now here is a nice coincidence... this music book they are reading from dates back to the early nineties... and was published by my mother´s publishing house!! she sold it when we moved to canada and we never saw one of those again until now!

the museum ready for the 3º encontro amigos do compartilhar!

cocktail area...

with barbara, ana and hélio de la peña, a famous comedian who was going to present our results.

with the kids, arthur and sheine, so nervous for their entrance!

and the celeb boss, bernardinho!

the team

showtime! arthur and sheine begin the presentation with a musical performance.

helio jokes around with the kids... are they in a sports or in a music project??

presentation was a success and my script was read beautifully!

at midnight we got back to the hotel... 7am flight back to curitiba... this ain´t no vacation!

.da muthership.

2009-02-13T09:53:00.017-02:00

as many of you know, i went on a cruise up the brazilian coast with my family and 20 other very close family friends. we left from santos/sp, cruised up to salvador/ba with a stop in ilhéus/ba, then went back down to spend new years eve on rio de janeiro´s copacabana beach shore watching the traditional fireworks.

our ship was a 3100-people vessel, 15 floors of rooms, louges, restaurants, casinos, bars, gym, theatre, etc. we spent 7 days indulging in endless food, tanning and pool fun. it was such a great time reconnecting with my old friends, some of whom i hadnt seen in years. all of us girls grew up together and have maintained a close bond even with distances and lives going separate ways. they are in some ways as close to me as sisters.

well, words can´t describe the ship experience... let´s get to the photos of our lavish boat cruise!

final touch ups before getting on board!

family ready to go!

all aboard! this is our room!

and this is our balcony with a view of the Porto de Santos. This one is for you Raija, check out all the cranes!! :-)

ship started to leave... there´s no way out now until ilhéus!

no this is not an illusion... in santos the ocean front buildings are all crooked! they were built on soft sand soil and over the years are getting more and more slanted. makes the pisa tower a little insignificant eh!

and now a small selection of the "cruise experience"...

the deck and pool area

the colourful cocktails

the "younger generation"...

and the old schoolers!

more pool fun!

nightly shows at the theatre (which was amazing by the way!)

our lovely waiters! federico and his assistant served us dinner every night.

night parties by the pool, i could swear there was a congo line somewhere!

some random entertainement, mexican and brazilian music at the lounges.

gala dinner night with the ship captain!

gabriel! he was one of the main features of this trip!

afternoon bingo fun at "tucano lounge"...

yum give me giant ice cream!

finally we get to the climax... new years eve by copacabana beach, rio de janeiro!

final countdown!

happy new year!

time for the family shots...

roses for yemanjá

and it´s party time!

lisa shed her coolness to dance the macarena!

the parents...

the kids (and baby!)...

no time or distance can affect this friendship!

auntie bia!

and the the places we stopped at...

get ready to explore salvador!

can you see the ship behind the buildings?

ilhéus, land of jorge amado!

gotta have acaraje while in bahia!

búzios, rj, final stop before copacabana!

.birthday and special visitors.

2008-12-19T11:09:00.004-02:00

yup, we are all getting older... roddy and i turned 27 this month and threw a little soireé to celebrate the birthdays and the end of our house renos journey... here are some pics from the party... house photos will soon come!

it´s always good to be with friends and family!

another big highlight of the weekend is that we had very special visitors! bea and cris, my friends since grade 3 came over with their partners to see us. though a short visit, we had lots of great moments and some time to catch up on each other´s lives.

the girls and their boys at beto batata. ain´t no swiss-style potatoes like in curitiba!

tourists spots around town...

my mom was happy to see her little girls all grown-up!

.restoration.

2008-12-17T10:44:00.000-02:00

i finished yet another piece... you seen it before in a previous post, a medicine cabinet i found in a dumpster diving attempt...

here is the before and after...

.agente(costura) on the catwalk.

2008-12-02T17:46:00.004-02:00

lisa is really developing into a great fashion designer (or artist-seamstress as she prefers). her big breakthrough started when she decided to set up her shop on a friend´s cafe´s second floor. besides her clothes, other local designers leave items there for sale, and the place has gotten great publicity. she is slowly establishing herself as a vintage store hunter (which is still a niche here) and has been featured on newspapers and local tv.

she had her first official fashion show, which took place at the cafe and was organized with four other local brands. i was honoured to be invited as master of ceremony for the event, named "VESTIR OUTRAS LINGUAGENS - A EVOLUÇÃO DOS ESTILOS INTERAGE COM AS PESSOAS" or "dress in other languages - the evolution of styles that interacts with people" (sounds way better in portuguese!).

each brand had a concept for their summer 2009 collection. lisa chose the twinset as her main piece and designed 15 looks for the show (coleção conjuntinhos eu e você).

here are some photos from her collection (you´ll see me in the background in some pics hehe...)

.more random.

2008-10-22T17:12:00.013-02:00

been over a month! posting so randomly that i can´t get organized anymore... here are some images from the past months... in no particular order...

july 26, cuban revolution day... talita organized a party at her house where people could take books, photos, and any cuban items they wanted to share with friends.

roddy and his bros at my grandniece´s birthday party (thats right i said grandniece)

with my sister in law luciana (aka preta) at the same party...

priscyla´s surprise "birthday party" paty and i organized at my house.

visited roddy´s family in the interior.

on the way back, stop over at recanto dos papagaios, a gorgeous park.

stock car race in curitiba. roddy and elisa, his coworker, got free tickets for us all.

i was summoned to work at the local elections. for those who dont know, in brazil we have an eletronic voting system that is almost 100% fraud-protected. here i am packing the voting poll! oh yeah, and also, working the elections is not optional here, its like being called to jury duty, since voting in brazil is mandatory. as such, doing what i did is considered a citizen´s duty to democracy (rights and duties of a citizen - right to vote, duty to help the system work, something like that...). maybe one day i can do a special post on the elections, prolly in 2010 when we have presidential/governor/house elections and i´ll be called again to work (they call three times).

os gêmeos exhibit - graffiti masters "os gêmeos" have an exhibit going on at the local museum. research these guys if you like graffiti they are so hot right now!

my aunt and uncle came here for pop´s birthday and were the first "official" visitors to the renoed home... made stuffed chicken (jamie oliver recipe!) with fresh herbs from my garden!

dad´s birthday party... with my sister and grandpops you see the newest member of our family: maria luisa! she is soooooooooooooooooo cute!!! we are all drooling over her!

first night after we started the house renos...

and reno´s are almost done! living/dining room got lowered ceilings and lighting (notice ikea items which i installed myself! so proud!), removed a useless half wall that separated the dining from living area. back area got a new door, new bbq space, and a cover for the gas area (soon there will be a sliding door to close it and keep the cleaning supplies hidden!). the gate is an old iron piece i bought from a demolition depot. now we are waiting for the painting to start!

my first completed restoration work! i didnt take photos of the chair before (just after i had already cleaned it) but i can tell you it was rugged ass... i found this while dumpster diving in my hood and after restoring i discovered it´s an original CIMO chair, manufactured by a historical furniture maker from the fifties!

at restoration class...

and this is what i am working on now... it´s almost hollow from so many termites, but it´ll be completely redone and will look awesome as my medicine cabinet! also found on the street, it had a mirror inside that dated back to the fifties as well!

.an update.

2008-09-17T16:26:00.002-03:00

hiya folks... been a long time since i´ve last written and i apologize... i´ve been so busy that i havent had time to even take pictures of things that are going on right now! but here are some news that i want to share with y'all...

- my cousin gave birth to maria luiza on august 07. she is very adorable and for a baby her age, incredibly active! the whole family is drooling over the new member.

- we are staring house renos next monday! this time it´ll be some of the basic finishings the house really needed: lowered ceiling with directed lighting, new bbq and back area, full paint job. phew, i better get ready for a huge mess for the next while!

- i spent a whole week in rio de janeiro working in the evaluation of one of our sports projets. we were evaluating the results after a semester in terms of the kids´behavioural changes at the project, at school and at home. the fieldwork was really enriching and spending a week in that city made me remember how nice it would be to live by the ocean again. i was lucky to know a few people who were very nice to take me out to dinners and keep me some company. and as murphy´s law is always true... it rained on my only day off!

- i am taking an economic impact evaluation course, offered by a back (of course). the idea is to measure economic return and cost-benefit of social projects based on quantitative indicators. hm, as you can imagine, i have many doubts about this, but it´s always interesting to learn new methods...

- i am restoring a chair at the furniture restoration course!

- my radio show has a new day and time slot: thursdays from 9 - 10pm (brazilian time). you can listen online at mundolivrefm.rpc.com.br

- roddy, lisa, aretha and i went on a family vacation on the last long weekend. We enjoyed some days of sunshine at my grandma´s beach pad, the perfect place to relax.

- i picked up my extension diploma. now i am a "social policy specialist". i got an A+ on my thesis "Educacional sport as a tool for children and youth rights protection" which discusses how non-competitive sport can be applied to social development in terms of enforcement of children´s right to health and leisure, as well as the socialization and value-building effects of sports practice. well, im sure i could explain it better in portuguese... but anyhow, the thesis is published in the university´s library, so now i can be quoted in undergrad work! hooray!

- my SFU diploma was denied recognition by the state university. apparently, the programs are incompatible. so, after almost four years waiting, i did not have my diploma validated. the stupid part is, i can still try at other state universities, which just proves the subjectivity of the criteria used to analyse my case. sometimes brazilian bureaucracy is very frustrating.

- i have been called to serve my civic duty and be an elections officer in the local mayor and councillor´s election in october. as some of you may know, voting in brazil is mandatory, and as such any citizen is eligible for "serving democracy" on election day. as a reward, i get two days off my real job, plus 12 bucks for lunch! ha!

- dj primo, who played at the party a few friends and i organized last year and was the best hip hop dj in brazil, passed away at age 28 on september 08 as a result of pneumonia. although i was not personally very close to him, he was a friend of roddy´s and his crew, and of many of my friends. i was really sad about this, specially since he was too young and the cause was too stupid, besides being an amazing and humble man.

these are the main events these past few weeks... the result of this evaluation fieldwork is that i have a huge report to co-write and have been using this blog as a procrastination tool... as such, i´ll just stop right here and force my arse back to work!

.family reunion.

2008-08-13T09:02:00.007-03:00

the carneiros! bia, pops, aunt ana, uncle alemão, flora and marina.

last week i was lucky enough to negotiate a fews days of vacation and off i went with my pops to my aunt´s farm. my uncle and his daughters, who live in brasilia and we barely ever see, were there on vacation as well, so we were excited to spend a some time with them.

i hadnt seen flora and marina since 2003. dont need to say 5 years is a hella long time for kids to change completely.

our favourite activity: horseback riding.

thor, the friendly boxer! although a little drooly, he would be a great boyfriend for aretha!

farm gals...

checked out a cattle vermification procedure. here flora is opening the corridor for the animals to pass through.

cow petting... city folk can be so easily entertained!

herding the cows through the pasture.

after a busy day, nothing like breadmaking to finish off the afternoon!

on saturday morning my dad left to são paulo, and we went to my aunt´s house "in the city" to see nanda and carol, who had just arrived from a bckpacking trip to argentina.

new generation of carneiro women...

and that typical family shot before i rushed off for my 10 hour busride back home...

.busy weekend! black tie debut + family time + mr. wiggles!.

2008-07-28T15:59:00.006-03:00

black tie debut on friday 10pm! im back on-air folks, this time with a rnb show, along with dj soundman pako.

had a little listening party to celebrate the debut, thanks to everyone for showing love! homemade hamburguers are damn tasty!

dont try to get by me without handing over a pice of your burger!

saturday afternoon and evening with my cousin, who is almost giving birth! we are expecting the new family member, maria luisa, any minute now!

sunday night international hip hop festival finals. besides some wack ass presentations we got to meet rock steady crew´s mr. wiggles! by wack, i really mean it... first, no-fun freestyle battles (dont know if it´s the same term in english, but basically it´s those "boy-band" dances), then a totally embarassing bboy crew battle. i wish mr. wiggles had never seen such a weak show.

mr. wiggles represents! popping to sam one´s (france) scratching! so dope to see this guy live.

roddy and his idol... along with crazy legs, mr. wiggles is a top 5.

ain´t roddy lucky to have a partner who, besides speaking english, is totally shameless! i got us to talk with mr.wiggles and give him paulistão´s foot work crew shirt! hahaha thats right, it´s a used and smelly shirt paulistão was wearing that moment!

.training week.

2008-07-12T15:40:00.004-03:00

this week was insane. we organized a meeting with our teachers, who came from all over to country to curitiba and were immersed the whole week in volleyball methodoly discussions, communication and project evaluation workshops, theoretical and hands-on activities. so you can have an idea of how much work we had, picture this. there are 04 people in the office, who organized a week-long event for 30 people who came from lots of different places. we had full days of activities, in which the organizers (as in, ana, nando and i) had to speak, mediate, set up coffee breaks, etc etc etc etc! madness!

i made presentations on communications strategy and project evaluation, which are the two areas i am responsible for.

the last day was the grandfinale. we kept all the teachers in suspense about an adventure activity they had to be prepared for. friday morning a bus picked them all up and we went to a hotel where a consulting company organized an outdoor teamwork activity that included orientation, zip-lining and a hilarious "spiderweb" collective task. everyone had a great time and it was definitely a good strategy to make sure the teahcers would always remember the meeting...

everybody move to the back of the bus! on the way to adventure...

my team... Os FIDUMAS!

all the years of girl scouting came handy when we were faced with maps and compasses...

teamwork...

activity where you had to get people from one side to the other through this net without touching... hilarious!

zip-lining is dope!

the whole group

after the adventure, time for beers and samba! phew the week is done!

.maria clara.

2008-07-03T16:23:00.000-03:00

after gabriel, another baby is part of my life. samira's baby girl maria clara was born last month and is completely adorable! i had the chance to meet her before samira went back home to uberlândia (minas gerais state). in the photo, maria clara and mom sami with aunties bia and alejandra!

.random.

2008-06-18T16:56:00.005-03:00

another one of those random photo posts...

family shot!

with lisa and roddy at the re-opening of circus bar

with pat and su (one on each side of me) at lupa luna festival (aka lupa lama)

family reunion at the farm: nanda, bia, roddy, fred, carol, tio guilherme, joão e tia ana.

getting into the farm thang...

bboy roddy at last years puma x-mas party.

crew at farol de santa marta last summer...

.auntie b.

2008-06-02T16:29:00.004-03:00

this is gabriel!!! say hello to fernanda´s new baby boy and the cutest baby ever!

yes, i had the courage to hold a 15-day old baby! he is so adorable and his baby smell is the best!

with my mom (grandma-wannabe) and new mom fernanda. her family is like our extended family, my parents are long time friends and the kids (lisa and i, fernanda and roberta) have been close since birth! you might have seen from past photos, this family is always present in our lives and so it was awesome to go to são paulo and meet the new member of the clan. he doesnt know it yet, but he is already set to be the star of our new years trip, when we are all going on a boat cruise up the brazilian coast!

.paris est une fête. le grand finale.

2008-05-20T11:07:00.008-03:00

notre dame church, gothic architecture masterpiece.

les velibs... this is some rad shit, public bicycles. every 300m there is a bike station where you can pick up one of these cute rides and bike to your next destination. paris residents can get a card (kinda like a bus pass) and you can also take them for a day if you leave a c/c deposit.

velib station. the best part about them is that people actually use them a lot!! plus, how cool do you look riding these bikes around paris!

arab sweets look tasty!

sorbonne.

a typical breakie: pain au chocolat or croissant, cafe au lait and jus d'orange... at the boulangerie of course!

les trois femmes sur le rive seine...

i love paris!

charlemagne statue in front of the notre dame. everywhere you go there is more and more pieces of history (western that is).

notre dame dans les printemps, the gardens were just starting to flourish.

paiting in the musee d'orsay: regardless of your taste in art, look at the perfect lighting and texture in this piece! amazing!

inside d'orsay

monet, impressionist extraordinaire!

besides the art, the museum itself is gorgeous! it used to be an old train station, so it´s got high ceilings and a great mezzanine.

le sacre coeur on top of montmartre.

fabric shop makes lisa go crazy!

la defénse. across from the tradicional arc de triomphe is this new monument. from one you can see the other, which is a pretty interesting use of the "old and new" idea.

metro station. be careful of old ladies with canes in the metro or you might be a victim of crazy old lady violence! that´s right, i was attacked by a nutty woman while riding the metro to montparnasse... was able to get away in time from getting the cane struck across my face, but damn, i tell you the look i got from this person was hella scary. and no, i did not do anything that could cause such act, except from holding the door for her! i guess french people don´t like polite tourists?

les tour eiffel by night! c'est magnifique!

les trois femmes par le tour eiffel.

alors mon amis, unfortunately this is all... an unforgettable trip!

ps. there are a few other pics at my sister´s house, i´ll do a revival post sometime this year...

.paris est une fête. 1ere pièce.

2008-05-12T16:30:00.011-03:00

hemingway was right. paris is a party. i had a most amazing week with lisa and my mom exploring every (almost) part of this gorgeous city. we had not spent this much peaceful time together in many years and so besides all the travelling fun, it was a special oportunity to bond and reconnect.

our main objetive was to immerse in art as much as possible and so we did. first in the louvre where we saw the greatness of renaissance and 19th century french and italian paintings, as well as ancient greek sculptures, which are such a perfect study of the human body. then we were lucky to catch a camille claudel special exhibit at the rodin museum, which gathered most of her work that´s spread all over france. if you didnt know, my mom is a sculptor and so i grew up sharing her passion for this kind of work, and to have the chance to see such a complete selection of rodin + camille was awesome.

next we went to the pompidou, which is the contemporary art museum and totally different than what we had seen. there are paintings, scultures, installations, design pieces and lots to see and discuss. we drooled over matisse, picasso, basquiat, chagall, miró and many others! at the pompidou, we got lucky again and caught another great special exhibit. louise bourgeouis is a 96 year-old sculptor who is still working away and producing amazing art. she has worked with all media, from wood to latex to fabric! we loved her stuff.

lastly, we went to museé d'orsay, one of the most beautiful in terms of the place itself. plus it holds much of the impressionists. monet, degas, van gogh, modigliani, toulouse lautrec and early matisse canvasses are just some of the geniuses we saw there.

well, there was a lot more we did, and many paitings i could describe for hours. but here are some of the special moments, totally out of order.

j'arrive! we are in paris!

after dinner with veronique, beatrice and bernard, my parent´s long time friends who live just outside paris and wne to meet us a few times. it was cool to talk to people who live in paris´surroundings and hear about the everyday life and difficulties they struggle with.

view from the top of the pompidou. notice la tour eiffel in the back...

lisa besides a paiting by one of her favourites: basquiat.

crepes and wine for lunch... dont get much better than this!

at the closerie des lilas. this restaurant in montparnasse used to be a café where celebs like lenin, trotsky, hemingway and others went to hang out. now it´s become a fancy restaurant, where people like johnny depp and rod stewart check out, but still maintains it´s old revolutionary aura and has little plaques on the tables thoses old regulars used to sit.

this was lenin´s table. i could almost see trotsky sitting across from me talking about an upcoming revolution!

edward munch, famous for his painting "the scream", was a regular too...

mom wished she could talk feminism and existencialism with simone de beauvouir and jean paul sartre, who liked to sit in this spot. and what about hemingway you ask? his place was a bar stool as close to the bartender as possible.

knock knock, are modigliani or gauguin there? this was their studio in montparnasse, which filled with artists and intellectuals when mont martre became too pop. modigliani died here, consumed by drugs and disease.

what, how international is matt? thats´s right, i got the chance to see his finale t´s for sale at citadium, a rad clothing store right next to the shopping hubs of paris, printemps and galeries lafayette!

if you ever go to paris, do not miss out on fauchon, an absolutely delicious pastry store with these gorgeous sweets... it´s mad expensive but just a bite of that chocolate mousse and you will know what i´m talking about. right on madeleine square.

rodin museum is where he used to live, and so in his garden there are sculptures all over.

la tour eiffel classic shot...

... and more...

in the louvre ruins, discovered a few years ago when they were doing some maintenance digging...

if you read the da vinci code you know what im touching... this is where mary madeleine is buried! hahaha

les jardins des tuileries, a garden in fronf of the louvre with more outdoor art for us to hug and appreciate...

... like this henry moore piece...

or rodin.

the side of the louvre.

inside the louvre and beside a humongous paiting!

the grand salon in the louvre.

another classic... mona lisa!

this is just the first part folks... more to come soon! a bientot!

...before you see paris...

2008-05-10T15:53:00.001-03:00

before the first round of paris photos, here is another glam photo op from work... the opening cerimony of a school´s internal competition where my boss and other famous athletes were invited to hold flags and fire the olympic flame. and of course, here i am, jock version, mingling with the celebs...

trying to get in the picture with tae kwon do panamerican gold medalist diogo silva and judo panamerican gold medalist tiago camilo.

with ana and mauricio, ex-volleyball player and olympic gold medalist.

i´m a true fan!! these guys dominated the panamerican games last year!

with ana and magic paula, ex-basketball player and olympic silver medalist. this one is a special photo, since i loved to watch paula play in the 1996 olympics!

.soon to come.

2008-05-05T16:24:00.002-03:00

for those who havent heard, i went to paris for a week with mom and lisa, on a girls only/art immersion trip.

got lots and lots of good photos, just havent managed to post them yet, but promise to do so asap!

meanwhile, im back to normal life after 7 days of museums and evian!

talk again soon!

.glam rio trip.

2008-04-02T10:45:00.010-03:00

enjoying my 5 mins of fame and glory... you might have noticed i have been working my arse off, despite de beach photos, and last weekend it all came together in the 2º Encontro Amigos do Compartilhar. it´s our annual fundraising event, for which i basically coordinated the whole thing. decorations, cenario, script, invitations, etc etc... of course, didnt do it all alone. we had a producer in rio taking care of the operational stuff (like hiring the buffett, the a/v, etc) and everyone in the office here in curitiba also sharing responsibilities.

but i still feel like it was all my hard work that made it the success it was. people complimented on the format, the place, the vibe, the presentations, everyone loved it! and as such, i am feeling quite accomplished. here are some of the highlights of this trip:

cant go to rio and not do some sightseeing... above is lagoa rodrigo de freitas and ipanema beach.

this time ana and i decided to live it up and check out the night scene in lapa, a tradicionally bohemian area in rio. we went to a club called rio scenarium, which has been considered by the guardian (uk) one of the top 10 clubs in the world. you might think it would be pretentious, but we were surprised to find a place totally packed with people just having a good time and dancing to samba and forró non-stop. needless to say, we were right in there grooving to the live bands and left the place at 6am! besides the awesome music, the place itself is gorgeous, decorated with antiques and very spacious. i´ve elected rio scenarium the best club i ever been. top top.

ok, now back to the real world... it´s set up time!

this was going to turn into a cocktail area + presentation area + mini vollyball court...

with guiga, our producer.

taking a break... this is at the sheraton hotel, where we held the event. and no folks, i was not staying there...

the hotel has a private beach and a perfect view of ipanema.

this is one of those before and after shots... that mess you saw above turned into this!

and another before and after...

but before the event started, there was much to do, like soundcheck with our mc, journalist leilane neubarth, and going over the script with the a/v peeps.

well, tis time to enjoy the event!

celebrity volleyball players...

you seen these folks before... natal coordinators suzet and breno, with ana and i.

this is carol, she is in our rio project and was the "anchor" for the film we made there. at the event, she felt like a star, since everyone saw her in the presentation!

gustavo urso, the bear, my partner in crime filming the projects in rio and natal.

exhausted after the event with guiga.

and the money shot...

with the celebrity boss!

.easter with the fam.

2008-03-28T10:36:00.004-03:00

another trip... this one was way overdue tho... i know most of you take me for an urban grrl, but there is a part of me inside that loves the country. not only the country, but my family who lives there, my aunt, uncle and 3 cousins. we dont see each other much because of the distances and the fact that we are all living in different cities (joão is in são paulo now, fernanda in são carlos finishing university and carol in piracicaba starting university). but finally we were all able to meet at my aunt and uncle´s farm for the easter holiday.

and it was just perfect. being with my family of course was the best part. but being away from the city and feeling totally at peace was definitely refreshing and empowering. here are some of our special moments...

easter lunch, the family all gathered finally!

getting ready to try some fishing

this is taciba, the horse i rode.

yeehaa!

isn´t a horse sposed to carry the carriage?

joão and thor. bet ya aretha would love this hilarious dog!

.work trip... really?.

2008-03-24T18:18:00.005-03:00

2 weeks ago i went to rio + natal (see map) to shoot some videos of our projects. i am organizing another one of those big events (remember copacabana palace 2007?) and we are showing the vids during our presentation.

the pics you see below might make you think i was on vacation, but trust me, i didnt even step on sand. these are from a quick tour through natal with the project coordinator, who, by the way, were absolutely amazing hosts. seeing all the gorgeous beaches just made me think of one thing... why am i not here on vacation?? well, leave the sand and the water for next time.

first a little sidenote about rio. i found out that a cousin lives in copacabana! yes, as you can imagine i hadnt seen Daniel for over 5 years and alas, i was there right on his birthday!

drool over this place... natal!

with gustavo, our film-maker.

here we ate a "ginga", which is small fish wrapped in tapioca.

getting some work done...

this one is for all the people who ever doubted me that cashew is a fruit. what you see in the picture is the biggest cashew tree in the world, and the biggest area occupied by a single tree in the world. and yes folks, it does give fruit!

.lately.

2008-03-06T11:03:00.003-03:00

been a while since the last post, and there have been a few things happening down here... some i have pics, some not...

started taking a woodworking and furniture restoration course! what? thats right, it´s always been one of my interests and so i decided to pursue it when i discovered the community centre near myhouse offered a night course. already on week four and loving it...

house is for sale... yeah, we decided we´d had enough. now we´ll start looking for a smaller place and hope it sells asap.

lisa has a new exhibit going on, at hacienda café. it´s called "exhibition in process" because she took lots of clothes to work on during the exhibit´s duration. everyday she´ll make a new piece and hang it up.

the three musketeers at opening night!

working away... lisa is becoming a celebrity! she has been all over the news here!

roddy and i went to my grandparent´s beach pad a few weeks ago and roddy was harassed by the polica when he was walking on the beach at night, alone. he had my camera in his pocket and the accused him of stealing it. the truth is, they just wanted the camera for themselves. in the end, i received a phone call from the cops asking if i owned a digital camera and what brand it was. when i confirmed it, they "released" him, not before saying making all kinds of ridiculous accusations... well, brazilian polica for ya. here is a little photo taken by these pigs when they were trying to intimidate roddy...

2008-02-22T10:36:00.000-03:00

O importante é aproveitar o momento e aprender sua duração;

Pois a vida está nos olhos de quem sabe ver ...

Se não houve frutos, valeu a beleza das flores.

Se não houve flores, valeu a sombra das folhas.

Se não houve folhas, valeu a intenção da semente.

- Henfil

.carnaval | ilha do mel.

2008-02-08T12:52:00.000-02:00

this year carnaval was definitely not as exciting as last year in rio de janeiro, but we still managed to go to the beach for a few days. derek, a friend from vancouver, is here in brasil hitting all the good surf spots, and after a few days resting at our house in curitiba, it was time for the beach again, so off we were to ilha do mel.

ilha do mel is an ecological reserve on the paraná coast. the island has no roads, and thus no vehicles, and there is a limit of 5.000 people that can go there at any given time, so as not to hurt the environment. and so, all the gorgeous beaches around the island are never full and there are beautiful trails everywhere.

we stayed at a small and very cute pousada in encantadas village and got to enjoy the nature and the scenery.

"essa é a barca para a ilha do mel..."

raija, kate and megan, this one is for you... port nerds 4eva! :-)

pousada do chicão

praia de fora

at the forró at night...

no streets means taking trails even at night!

view from the lighthouse...

the lighthouse

taking the boat from nova brasilia village to encantadas... gotta love the lack of care for safety regulations in brasil...

resting after the long hike!

we had some company on our last night... the tarantula was just too confortable above our bedroom door!

and in the morning, a little lizard came to say goodbye...

leaving ilha do mel... this place also has another meaning for us , it was the first place we travelled to together, just over 4 years ago!

we´ll be back sooner than you think

.happy new year.

2008-01-11T09:26:00.000-02:00

here are some pictures of part I of our new years trip... spent a few days in balneário camboriú with the family. nye was really nice, with fireworks and thousands of people crowding the entire beach. afterwards, lisa and i began our holiday road trip with a visit to praia do rosa, where our childhood friends camila and mariana were vacationing. a great afternoon with these girls i love and barely ever see (we live in different cities and work situations always end up getting in the way of visiting) and off we were to farol de santa marta, the start of our camping stint. my cousin´s partner, danni, was in a house there with a bunch of other awesome people and so we ended up spending most of our time hanging out with them. after a few days, we drove up to guarda do embaú and finished our trip at my favourite beach spot in southern brasil. as usual, it was gorgeous and sunny and perfect. unfortunately, our frail bodies could not take so much excitement and both lisa and i ended up with a terrible cold (prolly got it from the peeps at farol, who were all getting sick as well!). had to cut the trip short one day and head home... even so, it was a great holiday!!

so these are from the first half of the trip, the farol and guarda pics will come in a next post...

first day on the beach... with deborah who was also there for new years!

hard to find a spot on this mad crowded beach!

it was easy to get lost in the middle of these colourful umbrellas!

family ties... lisa and roddy venture down into the crowds that started gathering on the beach as midnight approached

there were people along the entire shore

nye family dinner from the safety of our beachfront apartment...

midnight fireworks seen from the best VIP spot on the beach... our balcony!

as required by brazilian traditions, jumping seven waves at midnight brings good luck.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

arriving at praia do rosa...

ready for the beach party!

camila, minha amiga do coração sempre!

lisa and mari

is this a dove commercial? it sure is nice to see old friends!

coming soon... farol de santa marta + guarda do embaú!

.x-mas eve at grandmas.

2007-12-25T17:36:00.000-02:00

the traditional xmas eve dinner at grandmas was as traditional as ever... drunken family members, the usual political discussions that end up in year-long feuds, and unexpected news to shock poor grandma and grandpa... actually this one was a surprise to most family members... my cousin is pregnant!

that means i am going to be an auntie now, since guta is as close to me as a sister! i advised my cousin that good names are the ones that are short and easy to remember... something like... uhmm... bia!

after many a whisky glasses, my grandpa was overly emotional about the whole thing, but it was cute, teary eyed, all he could mutter was "im gonna be a great grandpa, isnt that something..."

awww xmas bells!

grandpa, cousin billy and his partner danni.

grandpa with the non-recognized by law family members (and thus not recognized as such by the older family members either)... danni, julio, and roddy.

five people! guta is expecting a baby for august! auntie bia is waiting anxiously!

after eating my arse off we headed to the puma x-mas party, where roddy and his crew were going to bboy... the party was whack, so empty, but it was dj primo playing so at least the music was dope.

hehe i thought this picture was funny...

got home at 6am... guess the party wasnt so bad...

and today it was roddy's family time so we headed for lunch at a churrascaria! xmas is gift time but also getting fat time! why do we eat so much at this time of year?

the rocha's (from left): marcos, gui, preta, dudu, myself, vilson and marli.

.pat's birthday.

2007-12-23T18:00:00.000-02:00

pat's birthday party at santillana...

parabéns amiga! que todos seus sonhos se concretizem!

.radio xmas party.

2007-12-20T10:27:00.000-02:00

xmas party season has officially begun. already attended a few and last night was a good one. it was the radio station´s xmas gig. it was at a very good club and had an exclusive performance by nando reis, a famous rock-ish singer.

i used to like this guy until last night, when he showed to be a jack-ass, complaining that people were making noise. wtf!!

of course the hip hop traxx crew was all there as well as our significant others... with all the free food and booze, dont need to say it was damn hard to come to work this morning!

enjoying the freebies... hehe...

bianca and her beau, eto.

jerk ass nando reis.

maybe i can understand why he was so angry... is there anyone in the picture paying attention to him??

hip hop traxx crew

the start a a dj career hahaha

getting the crowds moving

bianca trying out the pick-ups

parceiras de fé!

amo.

.the official day.

2007-12-17T22:17:00.000-02:00

happy birthday to me! yey! had a very special day...

began with the traditional lunch at grandma´s. my cousins were there too and grandma made our favourite cake! the lack of birthday candles resulted in me blowing this giant x-mas one!

with my grandparents, lisa and guta.

at night we went to a japanese restaurant for some teppanyaki at their special teppan table. it´s got a huge hot plate in front of it, where the waiter prepares the stir fries on the spot. it was so yummy! we couldnt even walk afterwards from eating so much...

and finished the night at lisa´s house for coffee. she cleaned the place specially for us and true enough there not a single thread of fabric on the floor!

.26.

2007-12-17T11:17:00.000-02:00

argh today i am officially closer to 30 than to 20...

hehe of course, y´all know i love my birthday, and over here it couldn´t be any different... saturday i had a little get together with some friends at our house. nothing huge, some snacks, some beers and spending time with people i like...

pri, amiga de fé!

boys´ club...

peter pan always making a strong presence!

girl talk can go on for hours!

minhas parceironas, garotas subversivas!

christine you remember this little fella dont you? ahahaha

já sabe... é nóis jão!

.fashionista.

2007-12-16T11:01:00.000-02:00

lisa is all over the place... x-mas bazaar this weekend...

also, last month she participated in another bazaar and had the opportunity to showcase her stuff with a "mini" fashion show... and so she asked some of her clients to take over the catwalk with clothes she had sewn for them... being one of her most assiduous clients, of course i was there showing off 2 dresses she made for me...

clients and seamstress: fabi (left), dani, deborah, lisa, ana and i.

after the hard work on the catwalk, some beers to relax...

and on another note, lisa is also making her way into the celebrity world... today she was featured in a fashion article for the biggest newspaper in curitiba! watch out for this rising star!

.the project´s end of the year event.

2007-12-14T16:21:00.000-02:00

kids wanted a "pool party" so we had it. ended up jumping in the pool and leading the "diving crew" hehehe... afterwards was all you can eat pizza lunch... yum!
check out all the summer fun!

ricardo and i

in the pool with the kids!

teachers at the pizza place.

with the kids and evelyn the soccer teacher.

damn we ate so much!

.roddy´s year.

2007-12-09T11:38:00.000-02:00

yesterday was roddy´s birthday, but this year there was a lot more to celebrate other than getting older...

in september, roddy was formally hired as a buyer at vita hospital. on friday, november 30, roddy finished college. on friday, december 07, he got his driver´s license. this was his year.

it was hard sometimes, only seeing each other for an hour a day before going to sleep, but it was worth it. now we´ll start a new routine, both of us done school leaves more time to do other things (and more time to bicker too hehe).

é mo, esse ano foi difícil, mas as conquistas fizeram valer a pena. te amo muito, parabéns! esse é mais um dos muitos e muitos aniversários que passaremos juntos!

.newfound freedom.

2007-12-04T09:34:00.000-02:00

as william wallace would scream: frrrreeedommmmm!

yes folks after suffering through sleepless nights, reading a million books, burning my brain cells trying to find the right academis words in portuguese to express what i wanted to say, and even stressing over my advisor´s lack of response to the chapters i was sending her, i am free... i handed in my 70 page paper on civil society´s role in poverty erradication and non-competitive sport as a method for protection of children and youth rights.

as i wrote it, i promised never to go back to school again, and as i handed it in, i was already thinking of the next step (thanks floriza for the tips, it´s your fault i am thinking about the masters!)... but thats news for another posting...

overall, i´m pretty happy with the paper, tho as i finished it, i knew there was so much more to talk about. unfortunately, i didn´t do any field research, as there wasn´t enough time, but even so, i was happy to learn so much about sports theory. yeah, there is such a thing, and it was not written by a bunch of meathead jocks! hahaha

just to give you a little tast of it... here is my abstract (hahaha how conceited!):

SPORT AS A TOOL FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH RIGHTS PROTECTION: EVALUATION PLAN FOR PROJECT ESPORTE EM AÇÃO

The role of civil society and the NGOs – Non-Governmental Organizations in the struggle against social inequality is entrenched in our society. Within the diversity of strategies used by these organizations, sport stands as an option for the enforcement of children and youth rights. This paper discusses the reality of civil society in relation to the State and the development of social policy, and presents the concept of social sport, using a case study of Instituto Compartilhar – a non-profit organization that uses sport as the main tool for the protection of children and youth – to illustrate the research. It also brings to light the importance of monitoring and evaluation of social projects to legitimize their existence, and finishes with an evaluation plan for Núcleo Vila Torres – Curitiba/PR of the project Esporte em Ação, developed by the organization to help prevent child labour.

Keywords: Civil Society. NGOs. Children and Youth Rights. Social Sport. Monitoring and Evaluation.

.tim festival.

2007-11-20T09:07:00.001-02:00

about 2 weeks ago this year´s edition of the tim festival went down. this is a yearly concert sponsored by a cell phone company that happens in a bunch of brazilian cities... 2007 edition brought to curitiba Hot Chip, The Artic Monkeys, The Killers and... Bjork! Yey!

i went mostly for bjork, her performance is so awesome. too bad it was a little too short, just over an hour. tho i admit i was impressed with the artic monkeys, i had thought they were just some teeny bopper emo band and was surprised with their guitar riffs and heavy drums... the killers is pretty cool tho the lead singer is a pretentious franz ferdinand wannabe.

the best part is always the location of these concerts... pedreira paulo leminski is an old rock mine that they´ve turned into a concert area, so the scenery is totally beautiful and natural, with trees, lake and huge rock walls. when you are waling into the area, you come in through a high point, where you can see the thousands of people crowding by the stage, wicked view!

bjork, so adorable as usual...

roddy and i at another terrible photo...

.a special afternoon.

2007-11-15T17:23:00.000-02:00

there are four people in this photo... samira (middle) is pregnant!! photo taken at a very special afternoon visit at my house... there was much eating, coffee-drinking and chatting... oh, and besides myself, alejandra, samira and baby, you can catch a glimpse of little liz, sami´s dog... she came over to play with aretha, but they didnt get along so well due to aretha´s overwhelming excitement at having a friend to play with... which is why liz is under the table, hiding from my overly friendly dog...

and for the "foreign" blog readers this is my dining room! notice record player and graffitti on the wall hehehe... oh and my beautiful white table that i found in a restoration shop for 60 bucks! complemented them with designer chairs found at sam´s club on sale for less than half the price i would pay in any other furniture store... what a bargain!

.b-grrl.

2007-11-09T11:04:00.000-02:00

right, as if we knee any other freeze... hahaha
bia and déborah are straight hip hop!

photo bruna bazzo

.wedding.

2007-11-08T09:18:00.000-02:00

not mine folks hehehe...

on august 11th my childhood friend cristiane got married to paulo! cris and i met in elementary school in grade 5 and even after the move to canada and all the distance we managed to keep in touch and see each other a few times. and as such, i was really happy to be here and to be part of such a special moment in her life!

the wedding was in a gorgeous place, with lots of green and open areas... in spite of the cold i loved it all!

i know this was more than 2 months ago, but i only took my manual camera so i´m posting the pics cristiane sent me...

the bride and the crew: members of the original grade 5 crew are patricia (beside me), cris (the bride) and beatriz (last one on the right).

cris and her hub paulo (on her left)... bea and diego were maid of honour and best man, and guess what... they been dating and crazy in love ever since this night!

hehehe now a little time travel... this was prolly between 1992-1994.

and this was on one of my visits back to brasil, in 1997.

Parabéns amiga, que você e o Paulo tenham uma vida muito feliz juntos!

.sunday.

2007-10-30T10:31:00.000-02:00

typical sunday afternoon...

hehe this is from another sunday, but fits into the posting... a restaurant called o pedal, beautifully decorated and yummy pizza!

déborah and diego... lisa had her stuff at a bazaar that happened at the restaurant last week.

street ball (3 on 3) tournament happening downtown...

caught a bit of a bmx tournament happening at praça do gaúcho, one of our favourite sunny afternoon spots.

stencil art downtown... caught this on the way home from the bmx champ. its a play on words on the "cow parade" exhibit. "parede" means wall in portuguese... clever!

dont she look just like her ma? quality family chill time on sunday evening... good way to end the weekend.

another great family shot...

.on air.

2007-10-16T18:20:00.000-02:00

interview with dj primo // goes on-air next tuesday, 23out at 11pm-midnight (brazilian time) at
www.91rocknews.com.br

photos by bruna bazzo

.they rocks da party | lado b do subVERSO.

2007-10-16T14:41:00.000-02:00

festa lado b do subVERSO // espaço 92 graus // 11out07 // ferveu!

for more pics check out: www.radiosubverso.blogspot.com

on air

coletivo subverso // bia e bianca //

get ready for primo

soundman pako

pako + primo

primo

primo

djs + coletivo subVERSO (a firma)// primo + pako + bianca + bia + déborah + bruna

radio grrls

bia + j.r. (club owner and rock n´roll icon in curitiba)

coletivo subVERSO + 92 graus peeps + primo at the end of the party... at 8am! it was sunny out...

fuckin´a this party was dope!

.prep time | vila life.

2007-10-11T11:25:00.001-03:00

getting the graffiti exhibit ready for the big party... artists: bluey, cínico, heal, netto, kees

photos: bruna bazzo

é o rap jão!

full graffitti panels only after the party!!

.Festa Lado B do subVERSO

2007-09-27T18:29:00.000-03:00

o pico vai fervê!

.rap game.

2007-09-21T18:10:00.001-03:00

last week bianca and i got our first interview for the radio show... and it was with none other than thaide, one of the biggest names in brazilian hip hop. he is an old schooler who was a bboy before becoming a rapper and is cited as an inspiration by most current hip hop artists in brazil. thaide is from são paulo, where he joined the first bboy group in town. after he partnered up with dj hum and the two released some of the main national rap classics to date.

bianca and i got to talk to thaide while he was here promoting his new and first solo work, called thaide apenas (or "just thaide"). for our first interview it was a good one, as he had a lot to say... however, despite all our precautions (md, mp3player and digital recorder) there was huge echo in the recordings and we were not able to play the content! first timers... at least we commented the main points for next week´s show.

but... here are pics from the interview and from the club he performed at afterwards...

photos from the club by bruna bazzo (valeu amiga!)

im a thug...

exploring the hotel

we be clubbin...

bia + déborah be drinkin and smokin too...

thaide apenas

bia + bianca quebrando tudo!

lacrô.

.working in rio.

2007-09-13T10:44:00.000-03:00

last week i was in rio for the opening of our first project in the city. the project takes place in an army base that seems more like summer camp: amazing location by copacabana beach, sports facilities everywhere, pools, its like a resort! actually, even tho its an army base its used mostly for language classes and other light training. the place is called forte do leme and it does indeed have an old fort on top of the hill.

forte do leme!

the gym where kids will have their volleyball classes.

that flag you see at the top of the hill is where the old fort is located.

this is the pool at the hotel we stayed at...

and this is ana and i enjoying our meager free time...

copacabana beach view.

the hotel gym! with this view i was almost enjoying the work out!

entrance to chapéu mangueira favela, where a lot of the kids at our project come from...

its the army! we get boys to do anything we need!

chapéu mangueira at night...

... and by day. notice big j at the background!

at the event, working my arse off...

never thought i would be hugging an army official... alas!

yes, at times i was unconfortable. the one good thing was tho, that i did shed away some of my own prejudices too, by realizing as much as the army is questionable, the people who work in it are humans nonetheless and can be quite nice people! wont get into it much here, but it was an interesting experience to say the least. when i cought myself singing the national anthem beside colonel rodriguez i almost started laughing... too bizarre...

.another bboy event.

2007-09-10T10:37:00.000-03:00

eliminatórias de curitiba
campeonato brasileiro de breaking
rua da cidadania do carmo
02/09

.playing around.

2007-09-03T16:43:00.000-03:00

playing with the kids at out project... "stretching time"...

.hip hop trax.

2007-08-30T11:56:00.000-03:00

(português abaixo!)

here it is...

last night bianca and i recorded our first participation on the hip hop trax radio show! we got invited by dj pako, who has been running the show for almost 2 years, to co-produce it with him after he saw our project proposal for another program.

so, as of last night, we are co-hosts, co-producers of this weekly gig that airs on tuesdays from 11pm-midnight. and you can all listen in too at www.91rocknews.com.br! just remember about the time difference! last night´s recording will air this tuesday, sept. 04, so tune in!

both bianca and i are super proud of this accomplishment, since some of you may already know, we have been trying to get a show on-air for a while and were starting to give up. when i got the phone call, it was like a jump start and we are now really happy to be part of this gig. the station is commercial, but the show is independent so we dont have to play none of that jiggy stuff and can feature real hip hop.

so this is the big news folks, wish us luck! soon we´ll conquer the airwaves!

.::.

daew pessoal, como alguns já sabem, a feliz novidade é que eu e a bianca gravamos ontem nossa primeira participação no programa hip hop trax, da rádio rock (www.91rocknews.com.br)!

portanto, a partir do dia 04 de setembro, toda terça você pode conferir na 91 rádio rock das 23-00 , bia + bianca + pako+sonik

quero ver td mundo sintonizado nesse dial!

.other good news.

2007-08-27T15:22:00.000-03:00

no suspense on this one... after just a few months as "the intern" roddy has been promoted! yepee! he is now a buyer of non-perishable goods for the downtown hospital unit! although they have not formally updated his position yet, he will soon be registered as such, and of course, earn a full salary + benefits!

property owners, middle class jobs, a dog, and even a white picket fence (hm more like a white, super sturdy iron gate)... have we finally reached middle class status? what will be the next step... vacation in acapulco? suv? home theatre? accumulate goods and capital to move on to the upper class? hahahaha or give it all up, move back to canada and work underpaid service jobs that will still allow us to accumulate more money than here?

.uuuuuuuu... more suspense...

2007-08-24T15:12:00.000-03:00

got more great news folks, but will have to wait a few days to finally make it public... no, im not pregnant, im not getting legally married, im not moving back to canada (sigh)...

for now, i´ll leave you with this enigmatic image...

.song of the week.

2007-08-09T10:07:00.000-03:00

vanessa da mata and ben harper: boa sorte/good luck (click here to listen)

shes got an amazing voice, tho in this link ben harper sounds like a robot (too digital)...

.tocando em frente.

2007-08-02T17:02:00.000-03:00

pra inspirar...

to inspire...

tocando em frente (click to listen)

música de / song by almir sater, interpretada por / interpreted by maria bethânia

.o sertão da canção.

2007-08-02T16:40:00.000-03:00

apresentação de canções inspiradas no clássico "o grande sertão: veredas", de guimarães rosa, com trechos de narração da obra. no palco do teatro paiol, jean e joana garfunkel, sérgio bello, natan marques, e cenário de yuri garfunkel. as linguagens musical e literária são utilizadas de maneira conseqüente e cronológica, o que permite a compreensão da saga do jagunço riobaldo, relembrando seu passado, suas idas e vindas pelo sertão entre minas gerais e bahia, o bando ao qual pertencia, guerras, aventuras e sua amizade com diadorim.

apesar do frio cortante no dia 27 de julho, alguns inspirados se aventuraram para fora de casa e prestigiaram esta apresentação maravilhosa. o ambiente do teatro paiol foi perfeito para as músicas e narrações, e a voz da joana é simplesmente incrível. lindo demais.

.workin on ma fitness.

2007-08-02T16:08:00.000-03:00

summer will soon arrive and along with it beach season in brazil... i take yoga classes (flake) but twice a week aint enough to give me that madonna body (i think she did something like 4 hours a day!).

so, i just had to suck it up and hit the gym. i know you are all wondering... what the hell!!?? but thats right folks, i gave in and enrolled in a 6-month pre-paid plan! now i go 3x week during my lunch break. ok, dont know how long i´ll last with this commitment, but i went alreay all of last week and this, and daaam i am so sore!

gyms here are hilarious. there are these personal trainers who follow you around and get the equipment ready for you, make daily fitness plans, and pamper their clients. i dont really like that part, since having someone watch you work out can be a little unconfortable at times...

as usual, the gym is a meat market, with these horrible muscly dudes and girls in tiny spandex. plus the rich old ladies with their very own personal trainers, who seem more like therapists with all the shite they have to listen to...

well, yet there i am, three days a week, one hour, start with a bike warm up, weightlift, then finish with a run. began considering getting new work out clothes, as giant sweatpants generate even more looks than tiny spanex.

.tempo bronx finals.

2007-07-26T16:01:00.000-03:00

took a (long) while, but here are some pics from the tempo bronx tournament finals. taken by cibercultural, some guys who filmed + photographed the event.

with paulinho... waiting for the battles to start.

this kid fronted all the big guys, and rocked some of them too!

roddy, cybele, zinho and peçonha

dhalsin amd fernando on the "picapes"... timbu water represent!

.we can all be part of the simpsons | todos somos simpsons.

2007-07-23T17:24:00.000-03:00

bia and aretha stop by at the kwik-e mart.
aretha e bia fazem uma parada no kwik-e mart.

bia looking a little tanned from the brazilian summer... looking for a summer job at krusty´s studio.
bia um pouco mais bronzeada no verão, e procurando emprego nos estúdios do krusty.

lisa is always fashion-conscious, even when just visiting apu...
a lisa sempre na moda, mesmo quando só fazendo uma visitinha ao apu...

christine also got the cravings for one of those pink donuts!
bateu o laricão na christine e ela precisou comprar um daqueles donuts rosa no kwik-e mart!

daniel mazer at his favourite springfield joint: moe´s bar!
mazer em seu lugar preferido de springfield: o bar do moe!

.weekend report | o findi.

2007-07-16T15:06:00.000-03:00

you know when you go by weeks without having something to do, then all of a sudden all this shit comes up in one day? well, thats my weekend.

saturday we had the finals for the tempo bronx tournament, the one organized by roddy´s crew (theres some pics from the eliminatory round a few posts ago). it was a good event, not as full as they expected, but still lots of breaking going on. after it was all over, headed over to a churrascaria (meat on a stick!) and dont need to say how much we ate. its so gross to eat that much bbq so late at night, when already a little drunk, and then go home and sleep. woke up feeling sooooo nasty the next morning!

had no time to recoup tho, as sunday was action packed... started with my side of the family, the traditional lunch at granny´s. hit the mall for some last minute birthday shopping for the parties i had to attend... first, my niece´s birthday gig, she turned 9 and all of roddy´s family was there. after she cut the cake we were off to the next item on the list... roddy had a workshop with don campbellock, the guy who invented locking (a break style), and i had andy´s birthday.

at 6pm the america cup final, brasil x argentina. unexpectedly, brasil kicked argentina´s ass with a 3 x 0 match. and to close off the weekend, checked out somzala, a club night at this place called soho bar. its supposed to be a brazilian black music night and it started with awesome tracks (samba, old school funk, mpb) but then when it got packed it just turned into any brit-pop-wannabe night... a clear sign for us to abort the mission and go to sleep... why does it all have to end with that shit! i liked the place tho, the decor is dope and it was packed... too bad the music turned ass when the vibe turned good!

with all this to do, i forgot to take pictures... sorry folks! i´ll try to post some from other peeps... we also filmed the event so when i download it i´ll put up the best moments...

.girls tea/housewarming party | chá de casa.

2007-07-07T22:57:00.000-03:00

heres some good news... after a few bad roomate choices (wont get into that here... so many tales to share!) lisa has taken a big step towards positive change in her life... she rented a small apartment in a really awesome area of downtown curitiba, close to amenities and the nightlife she so loves.

to celebrate this change, deborah (a mutual friend) and i organized a housewarming party for her in the traditional brazilian style... an all girls "tea party" where each person brings a gift and lisa has to guess them all while getting face and body painted with each wrong guess... besides some of her close friends, my mom and my grandma were the honorary guests. in my sister's case, since she customizes clothes for a living, we called the game "customizing lisa"!

according to granny, "you never live long enough, this is the first time i see a tea party done like this, its so modern!" haha those who have met my grandma can just picture her sitting around all of lisa's "modern" friends...

lisa was totally "customized" after a few wrong guesses!

"modern" girls from the left: maria, deborah, lisa, xanda, andreza, ana, fabe, carol (with little luigi), shana and i at the front.

family presence: lisa, grandma, mom and i.

in the end, we left lisa's place late at night after a few beers and lots (i mean lots) of girl talk! it was great to meet some of her friends i didnt know and just hang out at her new pad. i think people felt pretty comfortable there, definitely a good sign this apartment will rock!

.mpb | popular brasilian music.

2007-07-05T23:01:00.000-03:00

checked out a presentation by the conservatório de música popular brasileira de curitiba (popular brazilian music conservatory of curitiba), which one of biba's friends is part of.

not much to say except that... brazilian music rules!

full band performance with percussions, chords, voice and piano!

biba's friend nathália singing cartola.

.the torch.

2007-07-03T23:00:00.000-03:00

those who follow the sports world are aware that the 2007 panamerican games will be hosted in rio de janeiro and begin this week!

well, and those who really follow sports also know that the panamerican torch travels through the country until it reaches the final destination. so last week "the torch" went through curitiba. local athletes carried it around the city for a day until it moved on to são paulo.

ana and i went to see it go by close to our work...

coming...
passing...
and gone...

all this expectation for such few seconds! let the games begin!

.last weekend and the one before that.

2007-07-03T18:21:00.000-03:00

first some more pictures from paty´s going away... stolen from paty´s blog... ehehe

eto, biba, bruna, rafa, myself and roddy with paty... viva españa!

more from the girls: myself, biba, paty, pri, su and talita (the other party organizer!)

amiga, saudades muita e torcendo por ti! ainda não respondi o email mas prometo que assim que tiver uns minutos de calma te escrevo viu! amo muito!

i went on another work trip, to visit one of our projects in the interior of são paulo state. they were having their yearly volleyball festival, so off i was to cover the event and check out the place.

where´s waldo? this one of for karen matt and rolf... find me in the photo!

with some teachers...

and handing out the party snacks... me around 300 kids? not a good thing, i wanted to strangle them by the end...

the good part is that i still had time to go to são paulo meet up woth my cousin joão. we checked out an art exhibit at masp (museu de arte de são paulo) and at night went to a forró club for some hard core dancing. well, as for me, was too embarassed to try after i saw how good people there were, swirling and flipping all over the place. tried one dance with my cousin and then some random dude insisted he could teach me... haha the poor boy musta never been so frustrated!

in front os masp

paulista ave, burguers, beer and cute old man playing the sax... so good to be in the big city!

and just to finish this posting, some terrible photos from the dj primo show here 2 weeks ago. according to bruna, the official photographer, most pics are brutal, but i decided to post these to remember this amazing club/dance/hang out night.

was this a sing along kind of event? roddy seemed to think so... by bruna

b2, latronagem total, lacrando a pista e terminando na vala! tamo junta parceira! by bruna

.surprise.

2007-06-27T09:28:00.000-03:00

some photos from the weekend... out of order because i dont have the pictures from saturday night yet... will post when i have them...

sunday talita and i organized a suprise going-away party for paty, who is leaving to spain for a while. it was "brazilian-themed" so we put together a homely feel with decorations and foods that will leave paty definitely missing her home-country...

all was set exept for a small detail, paty changed her mind about "dropping by" talita´s place, meaning she was about to miss her own party! of course, problem solved, we convinced her to come and with lots of people to surprise her, it was a great night...

photos by bruna bazzo

pri, paty, biba and i... amigas de fé

só love...

paty minha amiga querida vou sentir muito sua falta! fico aqui pensando em você e torcendo pra que você curta muito essa experiência! já estou com saudades...

.not much.

2007-06-22T17:16:00.000-03:00

hey folks, sorry for the lack of new posts on this blog... but besides some serious ideological issues i am dealing with (which i have tried to write down and explain to y'all but havent been able to really express...) nothing too exciting has happened!

but before i start the rant, a little message for a very special person:
FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS CHRISTINE! Te quiero muchisimo mi amiga, y te deseo mucha felicidad, salud, amor y suceso en su vida! Te extraño y pienso en ti todos los dias!

so, the reason for my frustrations is a workshop on popular education i took 2 weeks ago, which reminded me of some things i believe in that have been put aside over time, due to work, life and my reality here. this workshop definitely came at the right time, sorta like a wake up call, and now im struggling to come to terms with some contradictions in my life. hm i´ll stop here, but maybe try to get a little essay together...

if you get a chance and have interest tho, research PAULO FREIRE and his theories on popular education. there is a book that has been translated to english called "pedagogy of the opressed" that pretty much sums up the methodology he developed.

otherwise, all is the same. we got new plants in the home, put up some paintings, got a new/retro lounge chair for the living room. been having people over lots on weekends to partake in the nerdiest of all weekend night activities: play cards! yes, you may laugh but my friends and i have become addicted to crazy eight (is there such a game in english? here is can also be called uno or mau mau). so our saturday nights for the last few weeks have been gathering at my place, making group dinner, driking beer and playing cards... have i turned 75 already? ha, but when i do i´ll kick all the other seniors asses at crazy eight!

roddy is really happy at the new job, tho a little stressed due to all the work he has to do + that normal anxiety that comes with new work environments.

this weekend we have a good club night to check tomorrow, a brazilian hip hop dj, primo, who is from curitiba but made it big and moved to são paulo, is celebrating his birthday here with a party. but if you are wondering about what will happen to the card game, not to worry comrades, we transferred it to an earlier time, so that we can play a few rounds before heading to the club! haha

and thats this week´s report... sorry for the lack of pictures and news, hopefully next week i´ll have some interesting photos from the weekend!

i know i still havent posted pictures of the house, but im just feeling comfortable there now, with it looking a little more like a home and most of the problems fixed, and thus will try to get a photo tour somethime soon.

hope you all have a great weekend!

.monólogo | monologue.

2007-06-12T09:03:00.000-03:00

"Monólogo"

Meu filho,
se te dissesse que poderia haver um mundo de duas classes,
em que uns trabalham e outros não,
e os que trabalham. mendigam, e passam fome,
e os inúteis gozam e desperdiçam.

Se te dissesse que poderia haver um mundo
em que uns tem tudo: pão, remédio, crianças, futuro,
- já nasceram proprietários do futuro! -
e os outros não tem nada, nem mesmo meios para a luta,
a grande luta desigual.

Se te dissesse que nesse mundo
há homens de automóveis, tapetes, mulheres perfumadas,
e homens na chuva, ao relento, mulheres nas calçadas,
e aos primeiros não causam a menor impressão tal acontecimento
e os outros não se revoltam, - estendem apenas as mão vazias - e exalam lamúrias.

Se te dissesse que a justiça e a fé são mercadorias inacessíveis
aos realmente necessitados:
e o direito é apenas a lei que manterá tal estado de coisas;
e há homens que jogam a riqueza pelo prazer de jogar
e outros que mereciam e morrem sem conquistá-la.

E se te dissesse que apesar de tudo esse mundo existe realmente
e vive, progride, e avança,
havias de me dizer: impossível, meu pai,
um tal mundo jamais poderia existir
nem poderia a vida afinal se tão má!

Entretanto, meu filho, basta abrires teus olhos,
aí está, - parece incrível, não é? - mas aí está!

(Poema de JG de Araujo Jorge extraído do livro Estrela da Terra - 1947 )

“Monologue”

My son,
If I told you there could be a world of two classes,
in which some work and some don’t,
the ones who work beg and go hungry
and the useless have fun and squander.

If I told you there could be a world
In which some have everything: bread, drugs, children, future,
- they were already born owning the future! -
and that others don’t have anything, not even the means for struggle,
the great unjust struggle.

If I told you that in that world
there are men in cars, comfort, perfumed women,
and men in the rain, unsheltered, women on the sidewalks,
and that to the first this doesn’t cause the smallest discomfort
and that the others don’t rebel, - just put out their empty hands – and whimper.

If I told you that justice and faith are commodities that are inaccessible to those really in need:
and that a right is merely a law to maintain things as they are
and that there are men who throw away their wealth purely for pleasure
and that others deserved it but die without ever conquering it.

And if I told you that in spite of all this, that world really exists
and lives, and progresses and advances.
You would answer me: impossible my father,
such a world could never exist
nor could live ever be so bad!

Nevertheless, my son, just open your eyes,
and there it is, - seems unbelievable doesn’t it? – but there it is!

(JG de Araujo Jorge, from the book Estrela da Terra - 1947)

.the news | a notícia.

2007-06-11T12:27:00.000-03:00

finally folks, it's confirmed and definitive! well, it was all this last week, but i was waiting for the perfect picture, for a fully illustrative post...

so after 6 years working at the acting agency, roddy decided he needed a change and quit his job to look for something in his area of study (for those who dont remember, he'll soon graduate as a logistics management technician).

the great news is that he got hired on the spot at his 3rd interview! as of this morning, roddy is now an assistant in the supply chain department of vitta hospital. its kinda like a co-op, but with good chances of moving up fast.

.::.

a notícia finalmente pode ser revelada (finalmente encontrei fotos realmente ilustrativas deste momento)...

depois de seis anos trabalhando na 1a linha, o digão resolveu procurar alguma coisa na sua área de estudo (pra quem não lembra, ele está na faculdade de gestão em logística). a grande novidade é que ele foi contratado de cara em sua terceira entrevista!

então a partir de hoje, rodrigo da rocha é estagiário do departamento de suprimentos do hospital vitta! começa com estágio, mas com boas possibilidades de subir rápido na empresa.

.::.

and to try to show you what this change means...

e pra mostrar o que esta mudança efetivamente significa...

roddy went from this...

to this!

parabéns meu amor, muito sucesso!

.big changes | mudanças .

2007-06-01T16:05:00.000-03:00

there is great news to tell but i will wait until it´s totally confirmed to publicize it here... for those who hate suspense, blame it on christine who always pulls these on her blog! hahahaha i was inspired by her build-ups!

be patient friends...

.::.

então, tem mudança pela frente (não de casa, pelo amor de deus!) mas não quero contar o que é até estar tudo certo... ou seja, esse post é só pra deixar o pessoal se mordendo de curiosidade!

calma amigos, tudo tem seu tempo...

.festa de rap.

2007-05-29T09:44:00.000-03:00

saturday we had people over for a small bbq. roddy´s crew came en masse, as well as some of my peeps. the boys transferred the usual saturday practice to our attic, so when i got home from class at 4pm, hip hop could be heard from blocks away coming out of our attic! fernando brought the turntables and the empty space upstairs was perfect for bboying.

the good part about arriving in the middle of a party at your own house is that bbq was alredy cooking, beers were already cold and i didnt have to do anything at all!

so there was bbqing, bboying, fooling around on the mics, cardplaying, beer drinking and much smoking. the usual saturday afternoon party.

and christine this one is for you: dran took his dad to the party! ahahaha now we know why he´s like that... check out the "family photos" hahaha

.::.

sabadera rolou a primeira festa de rap / churrasco / cassino lá em casa. a fwc compareceu em massa para treinar no ático e commandar o churras. quando cheguei em casa da aula já estavam todos lá em cima, música saindo das pick-ups que se escutava de longe e a carne na churraqueira. essa é a vantagem de chegar tarde numa festa na sua própria casa... não precisei fazer nada! valew!

um dos destaques da noite foi a competitiva partida de uno, cortesia bianca bazzo. estávamos tão concentrados no jogo que ninguém lebrou de tirar fotos... só tem essas dos piás pirando de fazer rima na vitrola! e claro, o retrato de familia do dran... como diria o paulinho: "festinha thunay!"

. circuito tempo bronx fwc II .

2007-05-29T09:17:00.000-03:00

not having internet at home sucks sometimes...

finally my pictures (theyre in smaller format so just click on whichever you want to enlarge to see a bigger size) + a video at the end:

dhalsin on the 1s and 2s

zinho - fwc

fernando getting the party started

aranha rocking the good foot while bianca (biba) + bruna photograph

shoes...

pikachu sweeps bboys off the circle

baqueta

dont mess unless you want to get punched!

and here is a video overview of the event. valeu pelo link paulinho!

.racionais mcs.

2007-05-24T15:09:00.000-03:00

after the tempo bronx we had yet another - much waited - hip hop related event: the racionais mc´s concert. racionais is one of the oldest rap groups of brazil thats still around. theyre quite radical and outspoken on issues such as police brutality, poverty and favela culture.

after a wicked dinner at biba´s we were ready... the show was off the hook, except for one small detail... they only got onstage at 4am... and i was basically sleeping on the dance floor. tho when they did get on it was worth it the wait and havining to listen to other whack rap groups.

hard to explain but the crowd there was the typical rap/thug/ghetto crowd, kinda like the same peeps that would go to a nelly show... well in a brazilian context of course. their shows often have a lot of violence problems, so it was super heavily policed, which was damn scary, seeing them cops with machine guns sticking out their cars and staring you down. sends a chill down yer spine for sure!

below, some pics i stole from a website. we were scared to take our cameras! haha, we are also guilty of prejudice! of course, nothing out of the ordinary happened and we regretted not being able to document it.

.::.

daí, depois do tempo bronx foi o show do racionais. fomos pra biba e comemos uma janta arregadíssima (valeu bruna!), depois uma leve jogatina de uno pra esquentar o clima.

o show foi irado, fora um pequeno detalhe... os racionais entraram no palco as 4 da manhã! não preciso nem dizer que a periferia representou pesado no evento. gentatru in the house! e viva o rap nacional!

mc mano brown dropping it

place was packed full

curitiba master hall

mano brown has a strong stage presence... he rules!

.: circuito tempo bronx fwc :.

2007-05-24T10:38:00.000-03:00

as i said earlier, last saturday, may 19, was the eliminatory round for foot work crew´s (fwc) battle circuito tempo bronx. went with bianca + bruna and got some good shots. the event was dope, really organized and all. since it was eliminatory´s for the final battle, it was mainly for people to show their moves. Roddy´s crew has always valued the original styles, so as an effort to remind bboys about them all, in each round a category was drawn from popping, locking and good foot. Each person had 3 entries, during which they had to dance at least one in the drafted category, and the rest they could just bboy. so it was dope to see people actually trying to do something different and actually showing something other than freezes and power moves. a good show.

enough said, here are the photos. these were taken by bruna, and i´ll be posting mine soon...

.::.

como falei, sábado passado foi a eliminatória para o circuito tempo bronx, campeonato organizado pela fwc. o evento foi muito bom e super bem organizado. para conscientizar os bboys dos diferentes estilos do break e mostrar a importância de conhecer os estilos originais, em cada rodada era sorteado um entre popping, locking e good foot. os participantes na rodada tinham que dançar este estilo em pelo menos uma das três entradas. então, foi massa ver os bboys variando dos típicos freezes e power moves. o pessoal mostrou muita qualidade.

então seguem as imagens. fomos eu + biba + bruna e tiramos muitas fotos... aqui estão as da bruna, as minhas vêm amanhã...

alex getting it started.

wilmar, one of the old schoolers

raphaelzinho in a popping move

má from can africa spin crew

latronas bia and biba... where them bboys at?

a break from breaking... the usual cigarette pit stop

shadow series by bruna bazzo

ha, starting up our own battle circle

judges were loving it off

bgirl fernanda uprocking with má

raphaelzinho

cient´s bboys

fernanda

fernanda... nice to see bgirls getting in the circle and repping it hard

the b-side: bia + biba

aranha ("spider") another old schooler... original funk

paulinho and raphael uprocking

Check back soon... more pics from my camera and from our 24-hour hip hop marathon at racionais mcs show!

Logo mais fotos da minha camera + show racionais... maratona hip hop!

.: coming soon... | em breve... :.

2007-05-22T12:06:00.000-03:00

... pics from last weekends eliminatory phase of foot work crew´s tournament "circuito tempo bronx" and hopefully some images from the national rap group racionais mcs´ show here in curitiba...

... fotos das eliminatórias do campeonato circuito tempo bronx da fwc e, espero, algumas imagens do show dos racionais mcs em curitiba...

.: why my new house is driving me mad | porque minha casa está me deixando louca :.

2007-05-21T18:00:00.000-03:00

first bilingual posting

tradução em português abaixo

these are the problems i´ve had with this house so far:

- leak in the guest bathroom wall that came down like a waterfall (twice);

- leak in my room that flooded the kitchen every time we flushed the toilet;

- the house was not connected to the city´s sewage system and we only found that out when the whole bottom floor flooded with sewage water (twice). since the hydro company didnt believe anyone could hand in the house without having it connected to the sewage system, they sent the wrong service a million times and it took us over a week to get the problem fixed, during which time we couldnt even pee in our own house;

- gas leakage in the kitchen outlet;

- the same asses who built our house are building more homes in the property behind ours and so shit kept falling into our back area, from loose bricks to paint to anything you can imagine... the result is that our floor and walls are covered with white and green paint they used in that house, which they were supposed to clean and repaint over a month ago and still havent done so;

- all the leaks are now drying and making the house smell like wet, as well as causing mould spots;

- the bbq is not finished and so it floods when it rains, which means we cant use it coz its always wet. as well, they were supposed to fix it a long time ago and didnt;

- and the latest: there is some problem with the roof that floods one corner of the attic when it rains, and as i only found this out today, its been flooded for days (its been raiing since last week) and now it soaked through the concrete and down to one of the bedrooms, where the walls have water trickling down;

- after we moved in they installed gutter pipes in the back areas of the two other houses, which is awesome... except they didnt in ours;

- the construction company owners are the two rudest and most ignorant men i´ve known, can you believe they get mad at me when i called them with these problems? shouldnt i be getting mad at them for letting these happen??!!

so as you can see, i am so frustrated with what was supposed to be a change for the better. there has been so much to deal with that i am starting to dislike this house and wish i could just sell it and move elsewhere. of course every house has its problems, but im sure you agree with me that this is a much longer list than usual.

.::.

estes são os problemas que já tive com minha casa nova até agora:

- vazamento no teto do banheiro social que fazia a água escorrer que nem chuva pela parede (2 vezes);

- vazamento no meu banheiro que criava uma poça d'água na cozinha toda vez que usávamos a descarga;

- a casa não estava ligada na rede municipal de esgoto, o que só descobrimos quando todo o andar de baixo alagou com refluxo depois de apertarmos a descarga (2 vezes)... e como a sanepar não acreditou que alguém entregasse uma casa sem ligar na rede, mandou o serviço errado diversas vezes. o problema só foi resolvido dias depois, sendo que neste intevalo não podia nem fazer xixi na minha própria casa;

- houve um vazamento de gás na saída para o fogão da cozinha;

- os mesmos X*&#*% que construíram nossa casa também estão construindo mais sobrados no terreno de trás e todo tipo de sujeira da obra caiu em nosso quintal, desde tinta até tijolos... os caras ficaram de limpar e repintar tudo pra gente há mais de um mês atrás, o que não aconteceu até agora...

- depois de tantos vazamentos a casa está secando e portanto cheira à molhado, além de conter mofo em alguns pontos;

- a churrasqueira não foi terminada e por isso enche quando chove, o que significa que não podemos utilizá-la pois não seca nunca... ah, claro que era arrumar faz tempo mais ainda não arrumaram;

- e o último problema: a parede de um dos quartos está ensopada pois há alguma goteira (deve ser um rombo) no telhado que alagou uma parte do ático. só ví isso hoje e já fazem dias que está chovendo, portanto a poça lá em cima existe faz tempo e agora passou pro quarto e causou listras de água na parede;

- depois que nos mudamos, instalaram calhas nas partes de trás dos dois outros sobrados, o que é ótimo... só que não instalaram no nosso!

- os construtores são os dois homens mais grossos e ignorantes que conheço, ficam putos comigo quando ligo para reclamar dos problemas... quem deveria estar puta não seria eu??!!

ou seja, estou completamente frustrada com o que deveria ser uma mudança para a melhor. já aconteceu tanta treta nessa casa que estou começando a odiá-la e querer vender pra ir pra bem longe! sei que toda casa tem problemas, mas esses me parecem um pouco mais do que o normal... portanto um conselho amigos: nunca compre casa de construtor xexelento, o stress - não só dos problemas mas de lidar com os brutamontes - simplesmente não vale a pena.

.: english x português :.

2007-05-21T17:56:00.000-03:00

now that i have a few portuguese-speaking readers, they been complaining about not being able to understand what i write. i tried to explain i put an online translator on the sidebar but they dont use it. i also tried to convince them reading the blog can be like a free english class, but the argument didt work... so, i decided to try to write part of this blog in portuguese. not all, but whatever i feel like (its still my blog dammit!). most of it will be translations from the english text, but since i am now living a life in portuguese, some snipets and comments will be different.

haha can i argue with the english readers that this can be free portuguese lessons?

.cold and miserable.

2007-05-10T09:44:00.000-03:00

it´s 06°C today. winter has hit curitiba and i haaaate it.

for those who think 6° is nothing compared to canadian winter picture this: six degrees all day, at home, at work, in the car, outside, inside everywhere! peoples, there are no heaters in this damn city! i wonder if it´s just because we are in brazil and curitibanos cant come to terms with winter actually existing here.

oh yeah, it´s almost 30°C in rio. i think i need to move.

.over the hill.

2007-05-01T20:59:00.000-03:00

my ma turned fifty this sunday and celebrated it with a huge birthday bash – a party for 85 guests at an amazing penthouse party hall overlooking the city.

many of her / our friends and family came from out of town, proof that mom is well-liked. the party was awesome, just the way she wanted it. performance bartenders served wicked cocktails, a dj that included live sax and percussion with the music took care of the vibe and the food was incredible! so needless to say everyone had a great time. even roddy had his moment of fame when he got conned into showing a little of bboying to the oldies...

mom by the amazing birthday cake...

dad's side of the family: uncle valmes (left clockwise), aunt marilda, uncle alemão, uncle guilherme, cousin carol, aunt sueli, dad's cousin sérgio, dad, margarete, cousin joão, aunt ana, mom and i.

mom and dad bumpin'n'grindin' disco style... pops boogied with all the ladies!

roddy and i had our dancing shoes on!

bia and roddy shake their booties while cousin joe hangs out by the food table...

roddy's performance had all the oldies tryina do the robot!

lisa and fernanda.

grandparents were the last ones to leave the party at 2am!

mom so happy with all her friends from são paulo.

foi muito bom passar esse tempo com todo mundo e a "festa de polaco" durou até 3a feira com o pessoal ficando pro feriadão... fê, rô, bruno, joão e carol que bom que vocês vieram!! ique, muito legal rever você e conhecer a namo! já estou com saudades...

.grrls tea party.

2007-04-21T23:14:00.000-03:00

last saturday biba and i organized a housewarming women´s only tea party... it is basically like a bridal shower, except that i been living with roddy for over 2 years! but with the new house being so much bigger than the old one and all, i needed lots of little things like trash cans, plant pots, bathroom stuff, etc...

so about 15 female friends and family got together at my house for a potluck party. usually the host has to suffer through guessing games when opening the gift and in my case it was no different... with my eyes covered, i had to guess what the gifts were and everytime i got something wrong i had to drink a shot of cachaça... hm, and most of the gifts were wrapped in boxes, meaning i guessed very few. you can imagine my condition by the end of the party...

unfortunately, i forgot to take pictures! maybe it was a good thing, no one will ever prove i was envolved in this embarassing moment.