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 ;)