Worst videoclip ever!!!

Please take some time off your office duties to read this extremely amusing review of Jessica Simpson's new video, "Public Affair". By the Guardian, of course.

In the end of the review, there are links to YouTube where you will be able to enjoy this instant trash classic.

Thanks, Tom, for the link.

Is it hot? Use a mirror to block the sun

This is outreagous.

environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1999968,00.html

US says: Yes, there is global warming, but instead of reducing emissions, we'll point mirrors to the sun.

If true, it is the single most stupid piece of policymaking ever.

This is the kind of stuff people should be parading against.

From the Rockefeller Center

While in NYC, I spent a couple of hours at the top of the Rockefeller Center, gazing at the city's incredibe skyline.

Here are a couple of speculative-nonetheless-beautiful shots taken at different stages of sunset - where you can see the Chrysler building and the Metlife building to the left, and the Empire State Building to the right.

Mongols

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050425fa_fact4

I read this today and found it extremely amusing, though rather long.

It is an account of the Mongol empire, their war tactics, and their destruction of Baghdad in 1258.

To imagine that battle, like they say, think of Athens in the time of Aristotle being destroyed by a nuclear weapon.

A Love Supreme

An unbelievable journey.

That is what this album is.

Raises all kinds of emotions and reactions.

Great for work, great for leaisure, great for drinking, great for thinking. It's the all-weather jazz album.

Definitely my best US purchase.

After the routing

"Any other team 4-1 down at half time would have seen a half empty ground for the second half, and at 5-1 down the manager would have probably been sitting on the bench on his own! Not us though, we stayed to the end and we sang our song. It's what makes us unique and sets us apart from the rest. When the players take a beating like they did tonight we show them that they are not alone and they'll never walk alone. There's no other club like it. "

Chesil, liverpoolfc.tv message boards

Not so New Year

This brilliant piece comes from the excellent blog of Greg Mankiw (author of my macroeconomics textbook and former Economics advisor to Bush).

Which by the way is already in my Internet Explorer favorites for quite a while.

Empanadas

So the bar I frequented the most in 2006 is already the bar I frequented the most in 2007.

2 days in Sao Paulo this year, 2 days going to Empanadas.

This after some 10-15 visits the previous year.

amazing place. Tasty, burining-hot, full-size empanadas for R$ 3.70 (£1), -5C cold beer, big screens, amazing alternative vibe in the heart of Vila Madalena. Priceless. (though really inexpensive).

New York City winter

Prior to arriving here in NYC, I thought, "Come on - there is no way this city is better than Tokyo, Paris or London. Maybe it's just hyped".

Dumb me.

It is so much better than any of the previous.

Times Square can't really be compared to anything - It even dwarfs Shibuya, Champs Elysees and Piccadilly Circus (the closest matches).

The assortment of bars and restaurants is unbelievable.

Shopping is just another piece of entertainment, even for the most crowd-averse of beings.

The vibe, ... oh the vibe. It feels as though the whole city has a beating heart, a living soul, an edge. An overwhelming edge.

But the people live up to billing of being a little bit rude.

2006 - music, for me

Time for the famous "The Best of"

Albums I got ahold of this year, heard from beginning to end and have entered my all-time greatest:

1. The Revolution Will Not Be Televied, Gil Scott-Heron

2. At War With The Mystics, The Flaming Lips
3. Carioca, Chico Buarque
4. Under the Iron Sea, Keane
5. His Band and The Street Choir, Van Morrison
6. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
7. Cartola (2o LP), Cartola
8. The Best of Fela Kuti
9. Perfil, Adriana Calcanhoto
10. Astral Weeks, Van Morrison


Top Songs - 2006 discoveries
- "Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung" - The Flaming Lips
- "Lady Day and John Coltrane" - Gil Scott-Heron
- "What's Happening, Brother?" - Marvin Gaye
- "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" - Gil Scott-Heron
- "Atlantic" - Keane
- "Dura na Queda" - Chico Buarque
- "Preciso me encontrar" - Cartola
- "Street Choir" - Van Morrison
- "Inverno" - Adriana Calcanhoto
- "Bole Chudiyan" - Kavita


Still heard a lot of:
- "Woman of the Ghetto" - Marlena Shaw
- "Somewhere only we know" - Keane
- "The Hardest Part" - Coldplay
- "Venus in Furs" - Velvet Underground
- "Inner City Blues" - Marvin Gaye
- "Roads" - Portishead

The UK travel journals - part IV

West Ham United 1 x 0 Sheffield United

Upton Park, East London.

The game from which Tevez ran away.

I was there.

The UK travel journals - part III

One of the greatest moments of my trip was a quick yet interesting visit to the headquarters of my favorite paper, The Guardian, so often quoted in here.

That was all thanks to the lovely Liane Katz, now Liane Dabbous after marrying my good mate from Insead, Alex. While in a lunch with them I found out that Liane is the editor of Guardian Unlimited Travel! I could not refuse an offer to visit, which I did on my way back to Heathrow from Luton.

Follows some pics taken to prove!


Me (yes I'm chubby these days)


Liane, thank you!

The UK travel journals - part II

So the first Englishman I talked to on this trip was the driver that went to pick me up at Heathrow. His name is Ken and he drives a Volvo sedan with cream leather interior. Nice.

The 30-minute chit-chat on the way to Harpenden is, as expected anywhere in the world, revolving around weather, football and beer. So the weather is dreadful (it really is, I have to say) in spite of the pilot of my plane affirming it was a 'mildly warm' (sic) morning in London at amazing 12 degrees - yay.

The conversation got going when he noticed I really followed the Premiership. While I got into details of Liverpool's weekend match against Boro, he remarked that he doesn't really follow the first division which, in his words, is getting 'wretched by money'. His football passion was actually League Two (fourth division), in which his hometown team played: Wycombe Wanderers.

Ken also convinced me that Magners cider was the best British drink at the time. I had no argument at first, but later conceded. It is great. Much better than Blackthorne which was till this trip my favorite cider, but which now I rate as too 'gazzy'.

The UK travel journals - part I

Having been to Heathrow twice before, I certainly did not rate it among the best airports I had been to, but until I arrived there once again I wasn't quite sure why that was. Now I remember.

Upon arriving in there, I feel like I'm going to prison. Its tight, cornered walkways are crowded, and the low ceiling makes it hard for the body odor coming from the passengers to escape. And judging from what I smelled, the deodorant in Ghana and India is not of the highest quality - flights from Accra and Mumbai picked up their luggage in the same belt I did.

Architecturally, one can't even say that Heathrow has its moments. There is no grandeur, no spacious lounges, nothing to alleviate the fact that you have just been double-digit hours in a long-haul flight. Colors are dull, with the shades of cement gray, rubber black and unpolished metal only being disturbed by the yellow signs that indicate Flight Connections - in agressive serif font, so uncommon in large banners of that type.

Is it so unpleasant for British people to head back to their country, and be reminded of their dreadful weather, food, and women (not all of them though...), that they had to build an unwelcoming airport too?

Why I've been out

I've been in the UK for work since Nov 20. Scarce internet access. But soon will be back and intend to post my travel diaries.

Google maps

maps.google.com já cobre o Brasil, inclusive com mãos de direção. Também dá pra colocar os mapas de ruas em cima do Google Earth. É impressionante.

Google vai dominar o mundo.

Ou melhor, já domina.

All is not lost...

I lay on the couch at my girlfriend`s place and watched Arsenal v Liverpool while she took a nap on my lap. On one of the occasional waking-ups she had, she witnessed Mark Gonzalez receive a ball from an Alonso steal on the edge of the area, then neither cross nor shoot - just do an utterly shitty kick aimed at nowhere - which prompted her to exclaim "Jesus, why do you support this team? They are so crap"

I did not want to start some ellaborate musings on why I have become such a fierce, addicted supporter of LFC. But she actually had a point - Liverpool played really bad at the Emirates. To be fair, at the beginning of the match, circa Crouch`s disallowed goal, it was not that bad. Finnan cleared brilliantly at Henry's foot and made everyone proud. Kuyt came back to chase balls and a couple of his speculative shots were thrilling. But... still it wasn`t like when we play at Anfield.

So what has been happening?

Truth: Away form has been dire.
Home: Played 6, Won 5, Draw 1, Lose 0.
Away: Played 6, Won 0, Draw 1, Lose 5.

But: Away fixture list was the toughest it gets.
Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal, Everton and Bolton are, indeed, the worst places to go to. Of course, if you wanna be a champion, you gotta be able to steal some points from the big guys at their homes, but it`s not like we were being outclassed at Watford.

Having said that, Man U thrashed Bolton at the Reebok, and Everton lost at home to Villa. And 0-3 scorelines are always embarassing.

Truth: New squad members are struggling to adapt
This is not the year when we`ll see the best of Gonzalez, Fabio Aurelio, or Paletta. Just see how much Agger has improved from hsi start.

But: What's going on with Gerrard?
The captain is the person of whom it was expected to lead the team in situations like yesterday. But his positioning leaves him as a peripheral, sometimes nonchalant figure.

Truth: We'll miss Sissoko
Any team would miss the best anchor midfield in the world these days (I dare people pointing me a better one. He's fitter and more effective than Makelele, Gattuso, Gilberto, Edmilson....)

But: Who's his replacement?
Oh Rafa, now we curse the day when you let Didi Hammann, the Kaiser, the German Shepherd, leave. He was so important at Istanbul and Cardiff. Now Zenden makes do at the centre, and that way we won't go far.

"America..... f*** yeah!"

www.borgenproject.org

Very Interesting. I stumbled into this while reading

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Development_Goals

where by the way I ended up while reading

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bolton

which i was reading out of curiosity after getting astonished by

cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/10/bolton.congress/index.html

[browsing is cool].

Some parts that try to link the story:

"THE BORGEN PROJECT IS BRINGING U.S.
POLITICAL ATTENTION TO SEVERE POVERTY.
The plan to end world hunger is underway and agreed to by every nation on earth. Are you ready to force U.S. leaders to achieve the Millennium Goals?"
(from the Borgen Website)

"Bolton, (...) interim U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (...), began his term by laying out a list of wanted amendments to details of the 2005 World Summit to be held in New York City in September 2005. These included stopping the UN use of the term "Millennium Development Goals"."
(from Wikipedia)

"Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (...) said he would block Bolton's nomination.

Sen. George Voinovich (...) read a list of complaints by Bolton's subordinates who said he had a reputation of bullying his colleagues, taking facts out of context and exaggerating intelligence.

Carl Ford, the former chief of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, called Bolton "a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy" and a "serial abuser" of subordinates."
(from CNN)

So this guy is what Mr Bush is sending to tackle the Millenium Goals. Oh boy. Thank god they just changed the Congress.

Things like this amaze me - how much internal American problems end up impacting the whole world.

This is why I stayed up late watching the vote count live on CNN last Tuesday.

Train stations

I like train stations a lot. They're great for those moments when you wanna remain anonymous among the crowds.
So I was brosing and found some B-side pics on the topic. I mean, pictures I took but probably did not publish before.


Me in Frankfurt Hauptbanhof. Liked that. Huge. But honestly, less impressive than Tokyo's Shinjuku or Paris's Gare de Lyon (no pics from those though, sorry)


Berlin U-Bahn Hallesches Tor.


Main exit of Canary Wharf station. One of my favorite own pics ever. Yes this one is an A-side. Hence the deja vu.

What I'm listening to

"Hamburg Song"
Keane


I
Don't wanna be adored
Don't wanna be first in line
Or make myself heard
I'd like
To bring a little light
To shine a light on your life
To make you feel loved

No,
Don't wanna be the only one you know
I wanna be the place you call home

I lay myself down
To make it so, but you don't want to know
I give much more
Than I'd ever ask for


Will
you see me in the end
Or is it just a waste of time
Trying to be your friend

Just shine, shine, shine
Shine a little light
Shine a light on my life
Warm me up again

Fool,
I wonder if you know yourself at all
You know that it could be so simple

I lay myself down
To make it so, but you don't want to know
You take much more
Than I'd ever ask for


Say a word or two to brighten my day
Do you think that you could see your way

To lay yourself down
And make it so, but you don't want to know
You take much more
Than I'd ever ask for

Looming

"(...) poderemos ter, em 2006, uma Libertadores com um nível de rivalidade jamais visto para o torcedor brasileiro: Vasco e Flamengo, Inter e Grêmio e São Paulo e Santos. Para deleite absoluto e eterno da rede Globo! E, por que não, da tradição do futebol brasileiro."
(trivela.com)

Olympic timber

A "green conscience" article.

Papua's ancient rain forests have recently come under a great threat of deforestation after the Chinese government has placed an order of 1 billion US dollar or 800,000 cubic meters of the threatened merbau (intsia spp) rainforest timbers, to be used in constructions for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Jap food

duas recomendações de comida japonesa em SP:

Sushi Isao
R da Glória, 111 1. andar Sala 12
Liberdade

Esquema "festival de sushi" onde o melhor não é o sushi, são os sashimis fresquíssimos, os camarões gigantes empanados (com molho coreano), o gohan quentinho, as ostras geladinhas, e, claro, o ambiente totalmente japa. Faixa de preço de uns 50 reais a conta.


Nagayama
Rua Bandeira Paulista, 369
Itaim

Não é o bar, na esquina; é o restaurante do lado. Se eu fosse vc resistia aos sashimis (bem bonitos por sinal) e pedia direto um tempura udon. Eu só comi udon bom assim em Tóquio. Acho que não preciso dizer mais nada. A conta sem caipirinha de sake deve sair uns 60 reais.

Vintage Hyypia

From Liverpoolfc.tv messageboard

"Rather than join the sniping about Zenden, Crouch, whoever... I thought I'd raise a glass to a true Liverpool legend.
A flawless performance tonight from Sami. Won every header, but not just won the headers, won them commandingly. Every pass perfect and at least two crucial and absolutely immaculate challenges. Top drawer in every respect and very far from being past it (regardless of the strength of the opposition).

But not just tonight. Seven and a half years, nearly 400 games - an inspirational captain for many of them. A model professional in how he conducts himself both on and off the pitch.

Remember last season... Sami's head split open...sprints off the pitch for stiches...sprints back on with a huge bandage on and immediately leaps like a salmon to clear the danger at a corner with a thumping header.

Remember the 4th minute against Juventus in the Champions League quarter final...what a volley.

Remember the treble season, 58 matches played and not a single booking.

Remember 2 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 2 European Super Cups, 2 Charity Shields, the UEFA Cup and that night in Istanbul. Quite probably the greatest red never to have won a league title."

Posted by PlasticGloryHunter 18 October 2006 09:54 PM

Bold statements

Como diria meu tio, tem 4 coisas que deveria ser proibido tentar convencer os outros a fazer: mudar de partido, mudar de religião, mudar de time, e comprar produtos Amway (rs).

Mas me sinto na obrigação de externar minha posição nesta eleição tão importante para o meu país.

Acho enganoso tomarmos a nossa decisão de voto com base nos "rótulos" que a mídia e os partidários mais aguerridos ficam nos empurrando goela abaixo:
- Os pró-Alckmin levam a discussão pro campo do "competente" contra o "incompetente", do "ético" contra o "corrupto"
- Os pró-Lula insistem no "do povo" contra "da elite", "social" contra "reacionário"

Lula não é tão incompetente assim, e nem Geraldo é tão reacionário; da mesma forma, Geraldo não é tão ético assim, e Lula não é tão "do povo". Poderia escrever parágrafos e parágrafos a respeito, mas não é o caso.

A pergunta que importa é: já que os candidatos são tão parecidos, como tomar a decisão?

Pra mim (que votei Cristovam no primeiro turno), a decisão é entre modernidade e retrocesso. Entre mérito e clientelismo. E nesse caso a escolha é Alckmin. Votar em Lula é perpetuar erros, e se enganar que estamos melhorando.

Votar em Lula é perpetuar o clientelismo - a prática da política de favores, de toma-lá-dá-cá, de esmola pro pobre em troca de voto. Lula infestou a administração pública com "companheiros", ex-sindicalistas que nada ou pouco entendem de gestão e ficam cumprindo papel de Rainha da Inglaterra nas empresas públicas, loteando cargos e decisões. Práticas de administração pública no Brasil seriam consideradas abomináveis nas empresas de ponta do país, e ainda assim persistem sob as vistas grossas do Presidente.

Votar em Lula é ir na contra-mão da eficiência estatal. Estado eficiente não é Estado mínimo - é Estado que sabe gastar. Nem quero entrar na discussão do Aerolula, por exemplo; vamos falar de inchaço da máquina. Claramente o Brasil tem mais servidores públicos do que precisa. É por isso que os impostos são tão altos, é para custear essa estrutura. Estado forte não é Estado inchado - é estado bem desenhado e com instituições sólidas. E Lula não tem feito nada pra levar o Brasil nessa direção.

Votar em Lula é se enganar que estamos ajudando os pobres, quando na verdade tapa-se o sol com a peneira. Lula gasta com a esmola do Bolsa-Família mas não propõe solução para desenvolver o Nordeste economicamente. Não acho que o Bolsa-Família deve acabar (o nosso problema de distribuição de renda é tão grave que exige soluções drásticas), mas queria ver uma solução de médio-longo prazo para a pobreza sendo desenvolvida em paralelo. Lula não tem nenhuma.

Votar em Lula é se enganar que estamos indo contra o "demônio neo-liberal". Lula não baixou as taxas de juros de maneira significativa para promover o desenvolvimento, mesmo com a economia mundial em expansão. FHC, em contrapartida, aumentou juros pois teve que lidar com sucessivas crises econômicas de âmbito global (México, Rússia, Ásia, Argentina). Lula não entende nada de macroeconomia e só pensou em não "incomodar o mercado".

Votar em Lula é se enganar que a política externa é de sucesso. Vou até dedicar mais parágrafos a isso, pois é impotante. Capa da revista The Economist da semana passada falava que Lula cada vez mais perde espaço para o louco Chávez no jogo geopolítico. E não me venham falar que a The Economist foi comprada pelo PSDB... (essa foi a Veja - e essa é um lixo mesmo).

O Brasil passou a ser menos relevante mundialmente, como demonstrado pelas candidaturas ignoradas nas votações para secretário-geral da OEA, da OMC e de vaga no conselho de segurança da ONU. Evo Morales humilhou o Brasil ao tomar as refinarias da Petrobrás - e Lula ainda disse que o cara tava no direito dele! Só porque é mais um "companheiro", Lula não quis bater de frente. Até o Kirchner demonstrou muito mais culhão do que Lula jamais teve, ao decretar moratória e sair ganhando.

Outro argumento frequente dos petistas é que Lula investiu no Mercosul. Vamos acordar para o fato que o Mercosul está falindo!!! Bloco econômico de sucesso é aquele onde os paises integrantes se unem para serem mais fortes no tabuleiro global. E o que houve no Mercosul? Argentina e Uruguai estão colocando cada vez mais sanções aos produtos brasileiros, e vão fechando acordos bilaterais com os EUA. O Chile, que seria um ótimo parceiro, debanda e fecha mais acordos bilaterais ainda! Até o celebrado Celso Amorim, no fim das contas, negociou "tão bem" que a Rodada Doha da OMC foi pro espaço. Ou seja, perdemos infinitas oportunidades de vender mais nossos produtos, mas "mantivemos nossos interesses soberanos"... zzzz....

Como prova de que não está funcionando o Mercosul, basta ver que, ao invés de se unirem, as indústrias calçadistas de Brasil e Argentina se digladiaram, e agora ambas estão minguando por causa da concorência chinesa. Só em Novo Hamburgo-RS 20.000 pessoas perderam o emprego porque as fábricas fecharam. 20.000! É mais que a fábrica da Volks em SBC.

A discussão Lula-Alckmin também não é sobre economia; acho que a essa altura ninguém mais se ilude com isso. No fundo, ambos buscam a mesma orientação econômica, que é a social-democracia. Aliás sugiro ler um pouco sobre social-democracia no link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_democracy

Corrupção, não dá pra garantir que não vai haver. Aliás, infelizmente, o mais provável é que continue havendo - 4 anos é muito pouco pra acabar com um mindset de 5 séculos (novamente sugiro ler "Raízes do Brasil" do Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda). Mas não votar em Alckmin porque abafou CPIs e votar em Lula após a quebra do sigilo do caseiro é, no mínimo, hipocrisia.

Por fim, queria acabar com esse mito de que privatização é coisa do demônio. Telebrás privatizada significou melhora gigantesca na prestação de serviços de telefonia. Vale prvatizada criou uma companhia "classe-mundial" ao invés de um elefante branco. Banespa privatizado tem aumentado o crédito no Estado ao mesmo tempo em que presta melhor serviço. E com essas companhias tendo mais lucro, elas pagam mais imposto e o Brasil ganha; elas sendo estatais inchadas, NÓS é que temos que pagar impostos pra sustentá-las. Querer ficar com as estatais é que nem um pai que não quer que o filho saia de casa porque não quer que ele saia da sua vista.

Se eu acho que Alckmin é perfeito? Não!!! Longe disso. Não tem nem cara de estadista. Mas ele é uma aposta pela modernidade do Estado, por um Brasil que funciona, e que, funcionando melhor, pode prestar serviços básicos de muito mais qualidade; funcionando melhor, tem economia mais forte, com mais empregos e portanto mais renda, sem precisar de esmola pra ninguém. Eu acredito nesse círculo virtuoso e é isso que me fará votar nele.

Também tornaram-se vazios os argumentos de votar no Lula "pela causa", pelos "trabalhadores". Esse argumento é totalmente válido para votar na Heloísa Helena. Lula e seus amigos só querem transformar Brasília na sua casa-grande.

Woman of the ghetto

Possibly my favorite song in all time.

There is a great review about it on
http://shakeyourfist.blogspot.com/2006/09/woman-of-ghetto.html

Here goes my personal transcription of the lyrics.


Woman of the ghetto (live version 1973)
Marlena Shaw
lyrics

(ging, gi-gi-gi-gi-ging...)
(la-la-la-la-la-la-la, ...)

I was born, raised in a ghetto
I was born and raised in a ghetto
I'm a woman, of the ghetto
Won't you listen, won't you listen to me, legislator?

(ging, gi-gi-gi-gi-ging...)

How do you raise your kids in a ghetto?
How do you raise your kids in a ghetto?
Do you feed one child and starve another?
Won't you tell me, legislator?

Enthralled through
I know that my eyes ain't blue
But you see I'm a woman
Of the ghetto

I'm proud, free,
Black, that is me
But I'm a woman of the ghetto

(ging, gi-gi-gi-gi-ging...)

How does your heart feel late at night?
How does your heart feel late at night?
Does it beat with shame, or does it beat with pride?
Won't you tell me, legislator?

(na-na-na-na-na-na-na, ...)

Puts me in the mind of,
come and cross the water in a boat
Chained, tied, together

They said, "no, no, they're really not man, and women,
just chain 'em up, tie 'em up, chain 'em up, tie 'em up,
chain 'em up, tie 'em up, work, work, work"
There's where the movement came from

Say no, no...

My children learned just the same as yours
As long as nobody tries to close the door
They cry with pain when the knife cuts deep
They even close their eyes when they wanna sleep

Now peace, you say
is all that you ask
But self-respect is a separate task

You may be sitting up there
in your ivory tower
60 stories tall

I know that you may have checked out at least one ghetto
But I wonder have you lived there at all?

Places like Watts,
ah, Holland, tell me
Chicago, ah tell me
Washington got some too
I have been up on the mountains, I

And I'm free at last
I say I'm free at last
I've seen the children dying
And I've been one of the mothers who was crying

(ging, gi-gi-gi-gi-ging...)

I am a woman
I am a woman
I am a woman, yes I
I said that I am,
I mean that I am,
I'm the woman, I'm the woman, I'm the woman of the ghetto

Strong, true,
A woman
A woman

You can walk through the streets of the ghetto at night
Whole lotta pretty, some ugly sites
Along comes the sleek limousine
Say "hey baby I got ten...
Look at me, I'm clean"
So she takes a little dope
What the hell everybody got to go

I got a baby
I got a baby
I got a baby i want to feed and I'm not really giving it all

up, just a little ten-cent piece or two
Ah, the black woman...

But I ain't gonna raise your babies no more
I got a few on my own,
I wanna keep strolling,
I say I am a woman

gi-gi-gi-gi-ging, I am

I
I am
I am

Remember me
I'm the one who had your babies, I

gi-gi-gi-gi-ging, I am
I am
I am a woman
Of the ghetto

Woman,
I'm a woman, yeah yeah yeah
Just a woman...

(I liked it)
(Marlena Shaw!)

Debate

So I'm watching the live TV debate between Lula and Geraldo.

And it's all as expected - Geraldo goes and asks about corruption, Lula comes and says that he is punishing people; Lula says that the former government only sold state companies (which he calls "state patrimony") while he is more concerned in investing in the "social side"....

But as I watch it, what i really wonder is - how much does a debate change things? Especially in this case.

Take my example - I'm gonna vote Geraldo. So I have a natural bias to take each of his arguments as solid and prepared, as well as to consider Lula a liar and an incompetent.

And then I can truly visualize some Lula voter in the Northeast thinking that Geraldo is asseptic and elitist, while Lula is trustworthy for being "from the people'.

Oh, sorry, then I remember Lula voters don't watch TV. Otherwise they wouldn't vote Lula for sure.

just a quick train from Waterloo station and they're home

Noteworthy that 7 out of the 11 players that started Holland's match against Bulgaria today ply their trade in the Premiership.

For the record they started with Van der Sar; Bouhlarouz, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Van Bronckhorst; De Jong, Landzaat, Sneijder; Van Persie, Kuyt, Robben.

And why is Dimitar Berbatov on the pitch for Bulgaria? Wasn't he injured?

Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung

Running to the station holding hands
Now the volcano is flowing red
Something there will change us into sand

Now we'll be forever holding hands
Lava and tephra will form our bed
Now the royal flames of Pompeii bless
All our senses...

(The Flaming Lips)

Travel and Living

Been recently hooked on Discovery Travel and Living.

I was never a huge fan of Discovery Channel or any of its branches, but after a special program on Cantonese Food on T&L can`t really stop watching it.

I realy like the specials they've got on food and the backpacking series. Makes me wanna move my fat ass from the couch and do something, whether it be turning on the stove or filling clothes in a rucksack.

Reminds me of my days as a budget traveler in New Zealand and Scandinavia.

( Plus they've got international poker championships. )