El Gaffney

First Half Recap

Here’s the link to my photos/fotos from Rio, Santiago and Buenos Aires. I’m off on a quick trip to Mexico City tonight. I’ll try to get a shot of me in a sombrero before leaving but can’t make any promises since the city is actually quite modern. Hope you enjoy the show. Email (or comment I guess) if you have any questions about what each picture is of. I should know, but was definitely too lazy to label each of the 90 shots.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=plax7en.2qzrctvb&Uy=-lgaotf&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

Tags: argentina, brazil, chile, photos, travel

Proving My Age, Again

An an ariel (7th Floor) view of the Caesar Business hotel’s pool on the 2nd floor. I couldn’t help it.

Tags: brazil, hotels, travel

To Sum It Up

Life was good in Rio. I got down to business and to the business of gettin’ down. And I definitely will return for Carnaval when I can afford it outside of a business trip. Though there’s nothing like good clean business… and a little monkey business. Name that movie. No chance, huh? Back to School - conversation between Thornton Melon and Dean Martin. Next trivia: Who else makes an appearance in that movie and is responsible for the name of this blog? Answer coming upon my return to the U.S. Photo: Me eating Biscoito Globo on Ipanema Beach, where I also drank coconut water (and ate its “meat”), Matte Leão (a nice cold tea), and of course, a lime caipirinha with sake. That’s all for Brazil. Beachseth Out.

Tags: brazil, travel

One Last Stop in Rio

On my final day in Rio, I decided to go to Corcovado to see Santo Cristo and the beautiful view, both of which are shown above. From up you could see the whole city: Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar), Rodrigo de Freitas lake, Gavea’s Rock (from where people jump to fly with asa delta - hang-gliding), and all the various beaches I’ve been bragging about for the last few days. I got some pretty good shots of Sugar Loaf, the soccer stadium, some long bridge (like the one they blew up in the original Bad Boys), and other parts of the city, but will save those for KodakGallery (formerly known as Ofoto). Furthermore, it’s fair to say that besides for my brief Copacabana association, I didn’t think about Bar Mitzvahs that long. And for those wondering: yes, of course my first inclination was to replicate his pose, but using better judgment, I decided against it and stood respectfully in front of JC. After all, Jesus was a Jew, so I was in good company. In all seriousness though, it was extremely powerful (and gigantic and way up high) and it was the perfect place to finish my trip. If you don’t believe me Google Earth it or use Google Maps to get there. Those are the best. Verdad eso. Doble verdad.

Tags: brazil, google, travel

Sambas: Not Just the Name of a Sneaker (Introduzindo Crazy Legs)

That night we went to Junior’s house and then to the Beija-Flôr show. Above is a picture of the samba school, whose colors are blue and white and whose name means kisses flower. The show took place in a theater called Claro Hall (located under a mall). Opening acts were Monobloco and MC Marcinho. Above that is Crazy Legs (thanks Jake for the nickname), doing some dancing Brazilian “funky” steps. Those paolistas (from Sao Paolo) had some moves, but were definitely not prepared for the serving that this gringo could do. If BDR had been there with the spin moves, we may have been able to change the Americano stereotype double-handedly. But in true, late night weekend fashion, we finished off the night with some slices made of palmito and calabreza in Pizzaria Guanabara. ETPO (Estimated Time of Pass Out): 5AM. DTEO (Definite Time of Eye Opening): 1PM, which was fine with me since I managed to burn my entire face within 2 hours the previous day. You could call me Porco like a Portuguese version of Lord of the Flies.

Tags: brazil, dancing, friends, travel