Ben's presentation

I'm very happy because my student the a very good presentation at the conference. It's nice to see your student doing well. I was worried because since yesterday he has been very nervous. Yesterday I took him to drink a beer. Nothing better than a beer to relieve stress. lol

Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar

Last night my student and I were planning to go to the BB King restaurant but it was closed. So the second best option according to most websites was the bourbon street blues and boogie bar. The atmosphere was nice and the place really looks like a traditional blues location. Unfortunately we were very hungry and the food there was not good. On the website the menu looked great but it was false advertisement. They had only about 40% of what the menu on the website had and it didn't taste that good. I could come val there for the music but never to eat. :)

Conference

The conference here in Nashville is going well so far. Nothing too exciting but some cool talks. My talks are both tomorrow (Tuesday).

Not quite country music

I got here to the country music restaurant and it seems to be closed. I'm waiting in the restaurant in front called Sambuca. The problem is that this place is very nice. I'm at the bar. Good service. Good appetizers. And some very nice brazilian jazz. Maybe Nashville is not so bad after all. This place looks very civilized. Much better than any bar we have in Melbourne. :(

Country music here I go

I really hate country music but being in Nashville I can't avoid so I'm leaving to check this restaurant where they have a bluegrass jam. I swear, if they sing I'll leave. If it is instrumental I might stay. At least it is free.

Going to Nashville

I'm on my way to Nashville to attend an IEEE conference. I'm gettig tired of these conferences. It's just too much work and very little reward. I could now be in Florida and see Kalil play soccer which is definetely much more fun. Anyway, next time I'll fly to my presentation and fly back on the day after. What makes it harder to arrange is that the conferences don't publish the program far in advance so we don't know which day we are presenting until it is too late. :(

Party @ the Menezes'

I'm been quiet the last few days because I'm not in Boston. Yesterday we had a good party in my house. It was great to see our friends. Unfortunatelly Sebastien was missing; he was in Nashville (to where I'm heading while I write this). We had quite a lot to drink and eat. We cooked Vatapá and some chicken sausages. I guess people liked it because there were no leftovers ;)

With my family

I arrived yesterday and spend the night talking with Kalil, Adele and Sarah. It's great to be back!! Today I went out with Sarah to have lunch out. The weather here in Florida is just great. Actually better than in Hawaii. Hawaii is more beautiful but Florida has a better weather.

In Florida!!!

Hurray. I'm here!! Plane just landed. Looking forward to the party on Saturday. See you all there.

On my way to Logan

Florida here I come!! I'm on my way to Logan airport here in Boston. Not long now until I get home.

Almost in Florida

I'm packing tonight to go home. I'm happy to go there and see my friends and of course my family. Can't wait to be there. Saturday we're having a party in my house. I'm sure it's going to be fun because Jerry and I will make sure everyone swims. So again. Be prepared!!

W.

I finished watching the movie W yesterday. The movie is quite nice because it now only criticizes Bush but also shows his human side. The movie depicts him as a guy that really thought he was doing good to the country but at the same time being weak and going with the others decision particularly Cheney's. Overall it is a movie worth watching.

3.5 hours of Squash

Just finished playing 3.5 hours of squash. I'm very happy because my knee took the stress. So DeLo (the doctor) may not be as bad as I thought. Maybe he did fix my knee or maybe the knee just got fixed by itself with time. I was finishing playing when one of the organizers of the squash team here called me to hit some balls with him. I could not refuse :) My arm is so sore that I can't even move it. But at least the knee is fine. Who cares about the arm. lol.

The Punisher 2

The second movie from the punisher is out. I live super-hero movies particularly from Marvel but this one is a disgrace for their name. After the concert yesterday I decided to go home instead of my usual place (Cambridge Common). How I regret! The movie is one of the worst movies I've watched in my life. It consists of unnecessary use of graphic violence for no reason at all plus the terrible acting of a group of unknowns. The actor that did the punisher is not that bad, just a bit bad, but the others, OMG!!! The so called "jigsaw", the vilain, and his brother managed to display the worst acting I've seen ever. Please DO NOT rent it. It is a waste of money. I'm glad I watched for free and even in this case I still think it was a waste.

Cassandra Wilson

Musically speaking the concert was excellent. No complaints. But unfortunatelly Ms. Wilson herself does demonstrated that she is a bit bitchy. First she almost made a scene because a woman took her picture (without flash). It's hard to believe why she wouldn't like it since she "sign" to be known. Doesn't she know these fans are the ones who will eventually buy her music. In my mind she should be happy that people want her picture!! Next she did not give us an encore and that as a first here at the regattabar. Finally she left and didn't stay to sign and talk to fans which is again unusual at this jazz bar. So I'm divided on my opinion of her. She is a great singer but she needs to be careful with this kind of attitude. There is up reason for it.

Border cafe

I'm at this mexican place called Border cafe. The place is really really full. I hope this place is as good as they say.

SAT results

I can't tell you how proud I'm from Kalil and that his SAT result granted him this opportunity to spend the summer on this TIP program from Duke. I'm very happy and it will be a great opportunity for him. I'm sure it will be hard but I'm also sure he will enjoy. Well done Kalil!

Going to Harvard Square

I'm on my way to Harvard square. I'll try to find a good bookstore and maybe a music store. Today I didn't fell like working. Can't explain why. So why fight it?! I'll do different things and later go to Cassandra Wilson's concert at the regattabar. Tomorrow it is back to work.

Children See, Children Do....

I have not been posting a lot... but will try to come back and do it. I just came across this video from a campaign in Australia. It makes you think. Even for some of you who do not have children, we have to remember that we are all part of a society whose main responsibility is the education of our children. They are the future.

Boobs

Should I be writing about this? Anyway I hope Sarah doesn't get upset after all the boobs were not mine and I have nothing to do with them :) This is what happen when you live in a big city. Just now 2 African Americans, I mean black, girls left the train and decided to flash their boobs!!! Wow!! What I'm surprised is that they looked like shit. Horrible!!! I guess this is always the case right? You have something interesting to show you don't. :). Anyway this would never happen in Melbourne, would it?

Dark

The interesting thing of leaving in a large city is the kind of people you find onte streets, the train, etc. The diversity is amazing! But some of them are just too much. Like the couple in front of me on the train. I don't know how they called these people here in the US but we all seen them. The dress in dark/ black clothes, have many piercings, have chains attached to their clothes, and try to look mean! I say try because in reality they are just nerds. Dress them on normal clothes, cut the hair and remove the piercings and the truth comes out. Is it so bad just to be a need to the point that one has to dress like this. People say it is a statement of defiance. I don't believe it. They are just nerds trying to fit on a society that doesn't accept them as nerds. They then put on this face of "bad guys". But there is no way out. They are anything but "bad guys".

Back in Boston.

I'm back in Boston. It's nice to return. In 1 week I'll be in Florida :) I miss everyone.

30 minutes to Atlanta.

Just 30 minutes left ;). I read quite a bit and listened to music. Also I managed to sleep for about 2.5 hours!!! First time for me. I look forward getting out of this plane and stretching my legs.

6 hours to Atlanta

So far I've managed to read a bit of my book and had dinner. Yes, Delta served dinner for free. I thought we'd be having jus peanuts again. They are showing the 007 movie. The same movie they showed when flew to Hawaii. The only problem so far is that someone around this area here does not stop farting so every 15 minutes we have to resist the awful smell. lol. It's 12:45am in the east. I'm yet to sleep. Maybe I'll read a research paper and see if this helps ;)

In the air. 8 hours to Atlanta

I'm in the air. The plane left Honolulu on time which is a first for me with delta. Now I just have to wait 8 hours to arrive in Atlanta and then another flight to Boston. Why do nice places have to be so far? :). We should have place like Hawaii of the coast of Florida. Maybe the Bahamas are like that. We should check it out some day.

I'll try to write as we progress on this flight. Now I'm going to try to finish the book I'm reading: Emergence.

Big Island. Hawaii.

I'm at the airport returning to Honolulu. Tomorrow I fly back to Boston and in 1 week i'll be in Florida ;). The big island is, like all the other islands here, beautiful. Just amazing. Yesterday was a bad day because we were not very lucky. We went to Mauna Kea to the observatory. It was really cold up there. 23F plus winds of 40 miles per hour. Cold!!!! The we went to try to see the lava flow in Hilo. Why was it a bad day? Well, first my friend broke the car. He didn't see a rock and the car lost all engine oil. The rock was huge!! And he didn't see. I was not surprised because I noticed after 10 minutes of his driving that driving was not his strong skill. Next time I travel I drive, no matter what!! Maybe I can live with other people driving but they will have to drive fast or at least respect the limit. My friend was driving at 40 m/h on a 55 m/h limit!!! Then after taking 2 hours to get to the lava flow (on a trip that is supposed to take 1 hour) we could not get in because there was an evacuation in place. My friend said we had bed luck because it was Friday 13th. I say we had bad luck because I as not driving. ;)

Today the day was better. But again what was supposed to take 3 hours to do took 5 because he drives like a snail. At least the people at the resort allowed me to check out late (6pm) and I had some time to swim and snorkel.

While snorkeling I saw 2 huge green sea turtles. Very nice!! They get really close to you it is awesome. Sorry Cheryl, I can't deny it was good ;)

Presentation

Yesterday we had the first day of the conference here in Hawaii. It went very well. I also had my presentation which means that I can now focus moreon campaining for my SIGAPP election. By the way, Jerry and Caroline, do you want to become SIGAPP members? If you do you can vote for me in June. LOL. It's $8 to become a member for 1 year.

At Hilton

Wow! What a room. My room with bathroom probably has about 900 square feet. 3 queen beds a desk and porch twice the one in my house. I'm officially impressed. :)

Blow dry my shoes

Yesterday I went to this bike ride down the volcano here in Maui. The ride was nice but it was raining during the entire ride. The result was that the only pair of shoes I brought here was soaked. By the time I got I the hotel and took it off the smell was "not very pleasant" lol. Without knowing what to do and in need of a dry pair of shoes, I was left with only one option: use the blow dryer. I took it and place it inside the shoe and turned it on. After about 15 minutes it was dry :). So I did the same thing with the other. I thought that was the end of the story for these shoes but today I acidently steped on mud! Yes, so the shoe that used to be white and dry, is now brown and wet. I thought about getting rid of it but in 5 days I'll be going to see the lava flow and I'll need something. So maybe I'll just throw it in the lava before I return :)

Thai food in Hana, Maui

I just arrived to Hana. Very nice small town but not may options to eat. But driving around I found this backyard ofva house selling thai food. I hope it is good because I'm starving. ;)

Cameras. Love them or hate them

I hate because they always break at the wrong time. I'm coming down the mountain in a beautiful scenery. Then after 4 pictures, the camera just break. Just like that. I had to I get another camera afterwards because I still have a few days left here.

On my way up!!

The ride in the car, up the hill, has started. The bad news is that it is 28F on the top. So it's going to be colder than I thought. Let's see what happens. At least we get some rain gear. This will be fun!

Kalil scored 4 goals

Hank just wrote on my facebook that Kalil scored 4 goals and played really well. I was very happy with the news and called him. Kalil told Hank that maybe I should not go to the games that often. I guess he is right ;) I called Kalil to congratulate him but as always he was not very excited. I guess he thinks scoring 4 goals is no big deal. If he's right, he'll have to score 4 again next game. LOL

Maui bike ride

It's 8:50am here and I'm going all the way to the top of the mountain (7000ft approx) and ride a bile down. It can take up to 5 hours to complete because it is a 35 miles ride. I hope I'll survive but since it is going down, gravity should help a lot. :). I'm going with this company: www.mauibikeride.com

Going to Maui

I'm at the airport to go to Maui. I'll be 3 days there. I hope to do some work while in there since here in Oahu it was hard. I was at a friends house and I didn't have Internet connection. Hopefully I'll have some in my hotel in Maui. The flight leaves in about 1 hour. Yesterday I went to pearl harbor. To be honest I didn't like much. I don't like these war things. But before I went with Sascha to Hanauma bay. That was incredible. The water was a bit cold but the place is beautiful. We can see many fishes (hey Wayne, in this case it is fishes for sure, not fish. ;) ). We stated there for about 3 hours. For lunch we went to a Hawaiian restaurant and I had two local foods: laulau and lomi-lomi. Very good stuff. I'll try to cook laulau to the guys in a future party.

Hawaii

Got here yesterday. So far the place seems as nice as people say. It actually fells a bit like Brazil. Today (wed) I went all around this island (o'ahu). I started by going to Waikiki where they have a nice marked. Then I went to may places like Sandy Beach, Sound Beach, then to Waimea. The waves at waimea are just unbelievable. Most of them were about 3 times the height of a man, so I'm assuming it was about 7 meters. The ocean here is very blue, as blue as I can imagine. Just beaultiful.

Tomorrow. I'll go to a snorkling place which is supposed to be very nice. I don't think I can spell the name but it is supposed to be good. I hope so. :)

I did some snorkling today at waimea. The water was a bit cold but bereable. I'll try to post pictures as soon as I get access to the Internet on my computer.

Ronaldo in Salt Lake

After a 5 hour flight, I arrived in Salt Lake City. The flight was good. Now we're waiting for the gate to become available. Now there is a very loud Brazilian woman on the cell phone and it is annnoying. Typical Brazilian. lol

So far, so good!

I'm at the gate and so far it appears the flight is on time. I have a short connection in Salt Lake so this thing must leave on time ;). Don't want to just stay in Salt Lake. Do they have snow in there? I hope not. I'm now starting to agree with a joke I heard once in which snow was called "white s$&t". LOL.

On my way to Hawaii!

This time I think it will work. I'm on the airport on my way to Hawaii with a stop on Salt Lake City. Hopefully the flight will leave on time. Let's see...

Police sliding...

Yesterday we had the snow that canceled my flight.... :( I'm going this morning.. but one thing was interesting. I was walking back home on my street (College Av), on the snow, a lot of snow, when I hear this siren of a police car. Then I started to look where it was coming from. For my surprise the police car appeared on the top of the road coming in my direction completely perpendicular to the road, sliding on the snow. At first it was kind of scary because it was coming towards me but when I realized it wasn't really going to hit me I could stop laughing until I got home. The funny thing was the car coming sideways and the officer inside desperately trying to control it. He didn't and smashed on the car parked 6ft from me and also on the parking meter. I couldn't take a photo yesterday but I took one this morning of the meter. It was so funny that it was almost worth it not going to Hawaii (not really). It was also funny the guy in front of me, walking on the sidewalk. When the police car hit the other, he didn't control himself and shouted: "Oh Shit!!" :) Now that I think of it, I think the officer turned the siren on to warn people to get out of the way... He was completely out of control. Just wished I had a video camera there to put it later on youtube.

I hate snow now...

After several snow storms I was already getting upset with it. But now I hate it!!! My flight to Hawaii was cancelled because of this terrible weather. :( I'm trying to see if I fly on Tuesday. I hate this... I was really looking forward to going to Hawaii and now I lost one day there... :(

Hangover

I think I drank last night more than I should have. I had some beers at the Cambridge Common and walked home. There is something about walking at night in a city that fascinates me. I used to do that a lot in Brazil when I was younger, coming back home after a long night. Unfortunately there we can't do this any more because if you do you will die. However here in Boston one can still do that. I like it a lot. And this is the reason why I always walk home after I go to Cambridge Common. With the iPod the walk is even more pleasing.

Gnossiennes No. 1

It's been about 1 hour since I arrived in my room. It's 2:24am. I'm listening to this piece (subject of message) for the 9th time. You need just a couple of beers to realize how beautiful this piece is. I could literally sit here until the morning listening to this piece on repeat. :)