Long time, no write...

It's been quite long since I wrote here. I went to Brazil for 5 days to attend my brother's 50th birthday. It was an amazing gathering of people able to consume alcool like no other group I've met. :). But most importantly, my brother was very happy and enjoyed the 2-day celebration. All his friends and family were there.

But I haven't been writing because I don't have much to say. I'm returning home soon and I've been concentrating even more on work. Also I'm kinda sick of being far from everyone and haven't enjoyed being here in the last few weeks. Sure Boston is an amazing city but amazing doesn't replace the people you really love. I'd go back today if it wasn't too much irresponsability. I've made a commitment to be here so now I have to go through with it. It's hard but it's the correct thing to do! :(

Homeless but with a Macbook

I just passed by this homeless man hare in Boston (or at least that is what I think he is) asking for us to "spare some change". I was surprised when I saw in his bag a MacBook. What?! Is he asking for "change" so that he can buy the latest MacBook pro? Amazing! Maybe being a homeless here in Boston is not so bad. The "tech" oriented people may not have change but they can give them their old Macs.

Arrived in Boston

In relieved that nome of my bags were lost. I have very short connections and I was worried the bags weren't making it. They are here. The issue now is to find a way to include clothes for me because everything I have is for other people. :)

Flying to Cincinnati

The flight from Atlanta left on time from the gate but due to the trafic on the runway it took us 30 minutes to get off the ground. The prospect of getting to Boston in time is not promising as now I'll have something like a 30 minutes connection. What I'm worried the most are the bags. I hope they make it.

Happy mother's day Sarah

I wish I was there to say this in person. I miss you. Happy mother's day! I'll be back soon. Love you!

Returning to Boston

I'm on the plane back to Boston (with stops in Atlanta and Cincinnati). I already miss my family :(. It was nice there. Soon I'll be home back for good!

At Logan Airport

I'm almost at Logan to catch my flight to Orlando. There is a connection in NY I guess to get some swine flu. lol

Good research week

The last few weeks were not so good in terms if research but the last three days compensated for the lost time. We finally converged on the transactions paper and decided on possibly three projects one of which I'm really excited about. I'll work on getting some results next week in Florida. Unfortunately I can't mention it here but if it works it will be amazing. :)

Home tomorrow!!!

I'm very happy I'll be going home tomorrow. I miss Sarah and kids. It will be nice to see Kalil play some soccer, Adele try to be cute, and Sarah... ;). Sunday we have a party for Aurélia so I'll have a chance to see our friends. I miss them all and miss being close by.

Very happy. Fortaleza!!!

My soccer team (Fortaleza) managed to get a draw against Flamengo (from Rio de Janeiro) in their field. This is a nice result because we now decide the game in our field next Wednesday. It was nice to watch it over the internet. Kalil also watched and we kept talking about it throughout the match. Now they have to concentrate on the decision this Sunday against our rivals. We only need a draw to win our third championship in a row.

More Berklee

I went to Berklee to watch a guitar fusion recital but as I got there I noticed that almost everyone was going to this cello recital. I then went with the crowd. I was not disappointed. It was a recital by a senior student called Halley Feaster. It started a bit slow and not quite creative. She started in a trio formation (cello, violin and electric guitar) in a free jam. It was not very impressive but nice. I also did not like when she sang, her voice is okay but you can definitely see that she is a better musician than singer. The best was at the end when they played a more "heavy metal" set ending with the Flash of the Blade by Iron Maiden, what was also surprising was the voice of the invited singer, she was called Leanne Greenman. She impressed me. She resembled a bit Amy Winehouse both visually and her voice. I'll definitely look for something from her after she graduates. I'm sure she will have a successful career. As for Halley Feaster, my opinion is that the band is good but they need to work on more tunes that fit their style, tunes more like the Flash of the Blade. I'm going there tomorrow again. Concerts are always free and you get a nice feeling that you're watching the people that will make the music will hear in the near future.

94F here

94!! That is hot for Florida let alone Boston. Tomorrow it will get better meaning colder. :)

At the Berklee College of Music

I just got back from a jazz composition recital at the Berklee College of Music. For those who don't know. Berklee is for non-classical music what the Julliard School in NY is for classical. The number of jazz musicians that graduated from there is stunning: John Scofield, Mike Stern, Al Di Meola, Abe Laboriel, and many many others. The jazz composition recital is part of the requirements for graduating in jazz composition. The group today was led by pianist Sergio Marte from the Dominican Republic. It was very good. I was very impressed. It also made me happy to see that the Brazilian Music is used a lot. Sergio played 5 pieces, two originals and 3 from Brazilian musicians: Milton Nascimento, Tom Jobim and Cesar Camargo Mariano. I was so happy with the performance that I'll go tomorrow or Wednesday to listen to another student. I may be seeing the future of jazz!! :)

Today it was ever warmer

I thought yesterday was a warm day but I didn't know about today. Today it was around 90F. The problem is that the city is not prepared for this kind of heat. I came to the lab to do some work and even here the air conditioning was not on. I hope they actually have one. I asked a lab mate today and he said las summer it was hot in the lab all summer. If this is true it won't be fun!

I knew it!!! Stinky

One of the first things I thought when I got out today and felt the heat was: there will be a lot of stinky people in this city. You know. Shower is optional to then during winter but they don't realize that with heat it's a different thing. Well it took the whole day but it happened. I'm at a pub and the guy that sat next to he smells very bad. Seriously I don't know how he doesn't smell it himself. Sh$&!! I thought e as moving but he moved to another chair and came back. Stinky is back. I'm leaving soon of this guy stays here. :)

Asgard Pub and Restaurant

I've tried to locate a pub supposedely at the basement of MIT but it is closed. They are re-structuring it. So I was left with few choices since there isn't much around MIT in terms of pub. I walked down Mass ave. and got into this Asgard Irish pub. I'm having a guiness. By I think I'll walk to the Tavern. It's a better bar and it's just 2 blocks from here. It's too fancy here and people are just watchingbthe Red Socks. Honestly I couldn't care less for baseball. I don't get it!!

Pour House

I stopped to have a beer at the pour house. The place seems okay but nothing special. I'm on the Back Bay area here in Boston. I'm going to use a GPS tag from this blogger to see if it works. Click here to see where I am.

The weather is great today. I little warmer than I wished but it is fine. Tomorrow it will be ideal. There are a LOT of people on the streets. Bostonians are enjoying the sun as much as they can.

Johnny A. Wow!!!!!

I just got out of this guy's concert. I'll talk more about it tomorrow but I'm in total shock!!! I not afraid to say that this was one of the best guitar players I have ever seen in my life. This guy is slimply amazing. I'm speechless!!!! Wow!!! :)

Johnny A.

I'm again at the regatta bar to watch this guitar player I have never heard in my life: Johnny A. I had to exchange a ticket I had for another concert and this as the only option. I hope it is good. It's guitar so it is a good start :)

Bartley's Burgers

I'm at Bartley's burgers waiting to eat what is apparently one of the best burgers in the USA. Let's see. Or better, let's eat!! ;)
UPDATE: the burger is really good but quite expensive. It was $14 for a burger that is not that large with a soda. I'll come back only to bring Kalil to try it when he comes in July. But for the money we can eat a lot better in other places.

It's hot here!!

Wow. It's 65F today and it will be 89F tomorrow. Now this is an unexpected change!!

Echoes

Echoes from Pink Floyd must be one of the most builtiful songs ever recorded! The emotion, peace that it passes to the listener is beyond anything you can possibly experience in any other song. If you never sat through the 23 minutes or so of this one you're missing out. :)

Scullers Jazz Club

In at scullers to watch Nicholas Payton. I'm hoping for a good concert. Last time I saw him was in Italy in 1997.

Fortaleza won again!!!

Yesterday I watched my soccer team on the web :) There is this website that broadcast every single possible soccer game you can think of. It's very nice because I can follow my team a bit better. Yesterday we tied with Paraná in their home. Since we won in our house we advance to the last 16 to meet Flamengo. We have a good history against Flamengo so we may do well even though they are in a very good phase. But it doesn't matter, what matters now is that we advanced. The next game is in about 1 week.

New England feels like England

The day today here in Boston feels exactly how I remember the weather being in York, England. I guess I now know why this region is called New England; it may be "new" but it feels like the old. The weather here today is gold, wet, gray, foggy, that is, everything England is known for.

Sleeping burrito

My default meal here in Boston is burrito at Qdoba. Last night not only I had one for dinner but I actually felt like one! The heating in my house was not working so I spent the entire night wrapped like a burrito. LOL. First I've put on some socks, the wrapped myself on a sheet and finally wrapped myself on the duvet cover. It really felt like if I was inside this giant burrito. At least I managed to sleep the entire night. Worse is that I may have to do this again tonight.

Out of Coffee

Today is a holiday here in MA: Patriots Day. The result is that we are working in the lab but because we had no deliveries we run out of coffee. I had to go this afternoon to the coffee place to buy beans to place on the espresso machine. Tomorrow the lab will refund me (so I hope). At least the beans are great not like the secretary normally buys.

Boring Sunday

Yesterday nothing happened here. The highlight of the day was the food at the Thai place (Pho and I). I went home early to watch a movie and choose to see "the unborn". What a terrible movie!!! It's so bad that it took me a lot of effort to finish it. It is a bad story coupled by terrible acting. It is a sort of Exorcist of someone who has not even been born. Go figure. The actress is quite cute and that is about it. There is nothing else I can say about her. Do yourself a favor. Don't watch this one.

Wally's

Sometimes it's hard to explain why this city is good and interesting. I just got out of this place called Wally's Jazz Cafe and it made me think again about the pros and cons of this city. The weather now is pretty good so that is no longer an against. Wally's on the other hand is a pro. It's located about 2 blocks from the university and this was my first time there. The band was made of kids probably from the Berklee school of music and they sounded great. The sense us that you are hearing the future of jazz and I have to confess I liked it a lot. Why don't others like it? This city is pretty good and the longer I stay the more I think this is re kind of place I'd like to live at some point. The pros outweigh the cons by a big margin. Wally's is just an example.

Fortaleza 4-1 Guarany

My soccer team yesterday won the first of the semifinals against Guarany. The game was away but we managed to win with a 4-1 score. The second game is Sunday. We only need to draw.

Another Check Mate

Yesterday I had a couple of checkmates on chess with friends. Jerry made a mistake and could not recover from it and the other buddy I play also lost I also figured out that he is from the west coast. We exchanged a couple of messages.

Nice change in Boston

Yesterday we had the first real Spring day here. The temperature was about 78F and the city transformed itself. At Kenmore square the restaurants had tables outside, at Harvard square the bars also had people outside. The ice rink in front of the Charles hotel gave place to a bar :) The mood was completely different and the city started to show its true culture.

Fly concert

I just left The Fly concert. It's a trio where two of the guys play with Brad Mehldau. The group is a bit avant-garde and quite different from what they play with Mehldau. I bought the CD there and got them all to sign :) awesome.

Dinner with Jesus

Today I went to have dinner with "jesus". This is the running joke between Sarah and I when I refer to Prof. B. We went, me, him and a candidate to a position in the lab to the kenmore area. Nice place. French restaurant. Sarah might remember tyt area because it had the worst traffic due to some construction; where the barnes and noble is. The dinner was very nice and I had re opportunity to understand the human, mortal side of jesus. Lol. He is a very pleasant guy but very serious about his work. He is social but doesn't forget to talk about his work. The area of the restaurant was very busy due to a red socks match. But I think that area seems to be good all the time. I have to convince Sarah to come here for a few days.

Poor Guy

Here at the lab we have a person who couldn't look more like a nerd. Nothing against nerds but this person is the extreme. After all we (computer scientists) are all nerds a little. This person, let's call him A, wears that typical shirt (see example in the picture), with his pens and a small notebook; actually I thought his kind of image was more like for movies. I was wrong.

Last night we were having a beer on the party and he confessed (after a few drinks) that it's been more than 4 years he doesn't have a woman. He said he is not that good with women and he actually gave up trying. Poor guy. The problem is that he was serious and I felt bad for him. I recommended him to save his money and go to Fortaleza, Brazil. But I'm not sure. His case is extreme. I can't see how he'll manage to approach a woman. It's hard to imagine. I'm writing here because I sincerely felt bad for him. He sounded as if he wanted to find a girlfriend but just didn't know how or had the courage to. Poor guy...

Dr. J last day

Last night we went to a Korean bar for Dr J. farwell party. We gas quite a few beers and even some liquor. The liquor was called "100 years" and it is supposed to be medicinal but I don't believe it ;). The drink was okay. Not bad. Dr J. is returning to Korea and the lab will loose a lot after he's gone (today) as he is one of the nicest guy in the lab. We have discussed the possibility of collaborating in the future on doing an analysis of the network of Brazilian music. Hopefully one day we can really do it. It would be quite interesting to know to see the portrait of the Brazilian music.

What a Long Week

I've been here for about 5 days since I came back from Florida but I feels like a month. I don't know why. But this week has been harder to bare than all the other months! I guess I had a good time in Florida and then had to come back to "reality" here. 2 weeks until I go there again.

Chess with Friends

IR continue to enjoy playing chess. In addition to Jerry I now play a guy that I found randomly and happens to be the best hardest opponent this far. This guy beat me handly on the first one with an amazing openning. The second I won but because he made a bad mistake. The third we finished today and I won again! I'm very happy because this time I won't instead of him loosing... if you know what I mean. :)

Ping Pong

After my meeting today I went to buy bread with a friend. When we were returning we found that the university has a few pool tables. My friend asked me if I wanted to play. I thought: why not ;). But no table was available so we played ping-pong. It was nice to remember how I used to play it. I'm not even half as good as I used to be but I can still some demage. ;)

More about the New England Recital Yesterday

I checked the name of the woman that played in the recital yesterday. Her name is Hye-Kyung Ha. I guess Sarah, the adopted name, is easier to remember. :) Today I'm planing to go there again for another recital. This time it will be given by another Piano student, called Sung Ho Yang. I hope this recital is at least as good as the one yesterday.

New England Conservatory

The NEC is about a block from NEU. They offer free concerts every day in fact more than one concert a day: about 600 free concerts a year. Today I decided to go to a piano recital from a senior student at NEC. She played a variaty of pieces including Schumman and Beethoven. I don't remember her name but I think she was from Korea. I do remember her adopted name: it was Sarah (why do I rememer this name?! I don't know it just seem to be a name I like lol). Anyway, the recital was very good and I'm glad I went. I think I'll start attending these free recitals more often.

Mango Fried Rice

There is on Thai restaurant close to NEU that I just love. Today my admiration grow ever more. I asked for a Mango fried rice. Wow!!! This is by far the best fried rice I have ever had in my life. The taste is hard to describe but the mix between the slight sweet taste of the mangos with the Thai spices makes a perfect combination. I must learn how to cook this one.

Brazil in May

I called my family today as they were celebrating Easter (in Brazil, Friday is more important than Sunday) and my brother convinced me to go to Brazil for his 50th birthday. He convinced me by paying my ticket :). So I'll be going there in may for about 5 days only.

Cold is relative

We all know this but here is more apparent. I said in my previous post that Spring is here but it is amazing that although it is still 50F most people are wearing shorts already and t-shirts. I know it is not freezing but it is still very cold!!!

Good weather in Boston

This is my first day back in Boston. Just had a meeting with Dr. B. This morning I was shocked with how good the weather is here. Nice temperature (around 55F) and a beautiful blue skies. I guess Spring is here finally. This means that the weekends may start to be better because I can actually go visit places (outdoors). I haven't yet done much here except for going to Jazz concerts.

Flying back to Boston

I had a great time at home. Unfortunately it is never long enough. But I'll be back home on May 2nd. Just 3 weeks. :)

Flying back home.

I'm on my way back to Melbourne. Going home!

What?!?!

This is weird!!! I'm at the station inn and the feeling is very weird. The reason is that these guys are playing some things I have no idea what it is. But then everyone else here does!! I thought I was pretty aware of what what as going on on the musical scene but then again there us a completely different new world these people live in. They are claping like they know
these songs for years while I don't have a clue about them. :)

Station Inn

I'm at the door of the Station Inn. I want to see what this place is all about. They say on the web is one of the best places for country music. My problem is that "best" and "country music" just don't seem to go together.

Tornado in Nashville

This afternoon I experienced my first tornado. Fortunately it missed the hotel but not for much. It's pretty powerful stuff. From my floor I could not see three yards from out of the window. At some point I had to go to the inside room because it was a bit scary.

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. :)

As good as it gets!

McCoy Tyner's concert was amazing. It really doesn't get better than this. Tomorrow I'll post some pictures. Of course he is not as young and versatile as before but he still can swing. It was a great experience.

McCoy Tyner

I'm at the regattabar for the McCoy Tyner concert. It is very exciting given that I'm sitting 6ft from the guy. McCoy Tyner is probably the most important jazz musician I have ever seen. He is one of the greatest jazz piano players of all time. This will be a unique experience. The concert starts in 10min.

Almost ready to go to Hawaii

Just got my snorkeling gear. Now I need to pack. I wish Sarah and the kids were going with me. But if Hawaii is as good as they say, I'll be back there with them :)

Please!!! not Paulo Coelho

I'm riding the T and the person in front of me is reading a book from Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian writer. The problem is that he is one of the worst we have! Why is this always the case? That some of the worst things become very popular?

Routine...

I just got home and speaking to Sarah she asked me to post my routine here in Boston. She thought it was interesting because I told her I fell sometimes I'm in the Pink Floyd the Wall movie where the kids just march like machines. So here it goes...

I wake up at 8am. I stand up to get the phone (the alarm). I go back to bed and check to see if there are important emails and to check to see if Jerry made his move on the chess game. The answer is normally no and yes respectively. I make my chess move. Then I get the towel, put some toothpast on the toothbrush and walk to have my shower and brush my teeth. I come back after the shower to the room. I eat a cereal bar and drink some water from my aluminum bottle. I dress up, take my iPod, iPhone and wallet. Put the music on the iPod on random because I want to check some music I haven't heard yet. Walk for about 10 minutes to the T station. Go down the stairs and wait for the train. While waiting, I take my iPod, put it on random classical music because I have to read. I take my book and start reading waiting for the train to Braintree. The train arrives and I go to the fourth door from the end of the train (closer to my exit). I stand right where the door of the train will be when the train stop to be the first to get in and have a chance to get a chair. I must get a chair because I have to read. I sit, and read for about 35 minutes when I arrive at Downtown Crossing. I leave the train but I don't put my book away. I hold it because it is a short walk to the Orange Line to get the train to Forest Hills. I sit and wait for the train while continue to read my book. When the train arrives I walk to the fourth door from the front of the train. This door will be right in front of the escalator when the train stops at Ruggles station (Northeastern University). I also know where the door is so I normally get a sit and continue to read my book. When the train passes at Back Bay station it goes above ground so I can check to see if Jerry made a move on chess, he normally didn't. I arrive at Ruggles and walk for about 5 minutes to the Physics building. I take the largest elevator because the other doesn't go to the 5th floor. The elevator has a problem, so it always stops on the 3rd floor for about 5-10 seconds. But it continues after and I get to the 5th floor. I'm normally the second person to arrive, since Sune arrives before me. I place my coat on the chair, plug my computer to the power outlet and to the large monitor. I then go to make my latte. I fill my mug with milk and put on the microwave for 2 minutes. When there is 45 seconds to the end, I turn the espresso machine and make a one shot of espresso. It takes it about 40 seconds. So my milk and espresso are ready at the same time. I pour the espresso on the mug full of milk: latte is ready. Go to the desk and check my email and a lot more of some useless stuff. If I have something, I write on the blog. By this time it is around 11am, I stand up and go to the espresso machine and take a shot of espresso. Back to the desk and start working on whatever I decide to work on that day. At 12 noon (sharp), people come to my office to ask if I'm going to get lunch. The answer is yes 99% of the times, and also 99% of the times we go to the burrito place, Qdoba (I'm starting to hate burritos!!). Buy the burrito and bring it back to the lab where we eat and talk about movies (most of the time). At around 1pm lunch is over and we all go back to work. I work all afternoon but just before that I check to see if Jerry made a move on chess, he normally did. I make my move. Work until around 6:30pm when I normally go to the gym to play squash. There I play from 7pm to 8pm. Have a shower and head back to the lab. Before though, I pass on the small grocery store and buy bread, cheese and ham. I get to the lab and make a sandwich. Work again until around 9pm. By then I call Sarah and try to speak to her and Kalil, sometimes I call at 8:30 to speak to Adele too. After the call I work until 10:50. I take my aluminum water bottle and fill it with water (for the next day, go to the top of this text). Walk to Ruggles station but before I put my iPod on shuffle all songs. No matter how much I try, the train normally has just left by the time I arrive at the station. I wait 15 minutes for the next. I can't read anything, just walk around because it is an open station and at that time cold "as hell". When I get on the train I get on the 3rd door from the end. Sit, get my book and put the ipod on shuffle classical. I read my book but I always have to be careful because the train is faster now and I can't miss my exit. I leave the train at Downtown Crossing and run to the other train because if I don't run I miss it. Run to the 6th door from the front of the train because upon exiting the train I'll be in front of the escalator. Sit (no problem finding sits at this time of the night). As the train passes on the station Charles MGH, I check the iPhone to see if Jerry made his move, he normally didn't. I arrive at Davis Square (my station) and walk home. This time I walk slowly because I'm tired. I always cross the street in front of the library (two blocks from the station). When I get home, I change, use some lotion for the skin because it is really dry here and I was having problems. I sit in the computer and check my emails again. After that I read a little more (many things) and if it is Friday night I go to hulu.com and watch the Office. Go to bed. If I can't sleep well I drink half a glass of wine and sleep. After that is go back to the top and start everything again!!!!!

THIS IS WHAT I CALL ROUTINE!!!

Institute for Contemporary Art

I went this evening to the Institute for Contemporary Art here in Boston. The are having a special exposition of the work of Shepard Fairey who is the artist responsible for the Obama sign you can see here. Once you see the exposition you really understand why the poster is the way it is. It reflects Fairey's work since his beginning. Interestingly enough, this was the first time he did a poster of a political figure in support of him/her rather than to criticize. The exposition is worth going to and if you're around Boston go on Thursday after 5pm: it's free!! More works from Fairey can be seen in this page from the ICA.

John Abercrombie photos

As I said yesterday, the concert was awesome. Here are some pictures. The band was John on Guigar, Gary Versace in the Hammond organ and Adam Nussbaum on drums. Both John and Adam are very well known but I didn't know the organ player. 

However he impressed me in a good way. Very consistent and 

showing complete control over the instrument. His solos were 

solid. We might start seeing him around more often. After all he is already playing with some of the greats such as John and Adam.