A n a r c h i c _ U n i v e r s e ®

Googel Hypocrisy: Bingo! YouTube

When I say TV is not good for you, I mean it. This afternoon I caught a program on CNN which reported a fact that made my chins drop. Both of them.
YouTube suspended the account of a civil rights activist who used his YouTube videos to complement his blog on torture in our friendly Middle Eastern countries.

Google cannot get rid of the anonymous crowd that plagues my life in orkut.com. Today I filled out a report again on the fake profile, a DUCK, which uses a board on Orkut to publish links to a new blog impersonating me. The old one I terminated after hunting it down for a week.  For a report of abuse it seems you need to submit DNA to Google, Orkut, whichever of the tentacles of Mini-Me, Maxi_me being You-Know-Who.

Last year I fled Blogger after a mob flooded my first Universo Anárquico. Don't take me wrong. I love Google products, except Blogger, thanks but no thanks.

The DUCK (PATO) is still around, today I filed my second report to Orkut.com. The bloggers who people "Blogueiros do Orkut" complain about me, the owner didn't like to receive a note from me for the owner to do something about it. Honey, S**t or get off the Pot, really. Pass the ownership to any other. Nobody would do a better job than you. And Happy Birthday, too.

What's the difference between me and the violation of my rights and this Middle-Eastern blogger kicked out of world visibility by YouTube?

Our friends have oil. That's all. Or That's oil. Crummy joke.  Good night.

links for 2007-11-29

• The Politico: Giuliani billed obscure agencies for trips
  (tags: Giuliani, corruption Politics)
• Visionlearning
  computer-assisted learning in science
  (tags: reference science)
• Google Data APIs - Google Code
  (tags: google tips web)
• Omelete - Billy Wilder - Filmografia Comentada - Parte 1
  (tags: movies BillyWilder lists)

links for 2007-11-28

• descrição vários autores dez anos de Blue Bus livro em PDF se quiser
  Conheci o Blue Bus quando da coincidência (sic) do Símbolo do PAN-Rio. Felicito seus dez nos de blog das rápidas dia 29/11. O texto acima é fascinante; o Blue Bus, bacaninha.
  (tags: aniversário Blue_Bus história)

Party with Piñata 2

Party with Piñata 2
Originally uploaded by anarchic_universe

Isn't this the dream of the GOPers? To hit the donkey with a stick till it breaks and they can put their hands on its inner contents?

The donkey is resilient. I hope the people can see thru all these other candidates and move to the right direction. I watched a bit of "Hardball" and felt like puking. The US situation of harmful lies and war has been so pervasive people forget what the press now calls an invasion four years ago was called measure to defend us from a tyrant.

Have a nice evening. Click on the photo to learn more about a piñata.

We're Coming to Take You Away

Once there was a people who thought their ways were democratic. They cast their votes for leader of their land every four years and for the helpers every two years. They were industrious, creatively, and orderly. The only problem they had was superstition.
Heck, they thought women brought bad luck. They locked theirs up in their dwellings. Likewise, people of color were also bearers of bad luck. They tried without success to kick back across the Big River those who spoke a foreign language even if these folks had had babies in the democratic land.
As for the darker ones, well, those were out of control. There was no way they could be hanged on trees, there was no way they could be forced to pick cotton, there was no way they would not talk too much.
The time for the election of a new leader of the land was approaching. The people who thought they were democratic shrugged and winced. They had three choices: A woman, a brown man, and a black man. OMG! What now? Any of them would be a choice to ruin the land, cast bad luck all over the place.
They listened to the three, skeptically. The woman promised to fix what was broken and, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it," she added energetically. She had heard this before but couldn't put her finger on where. She was a paradox: a blode who sounded smart and aligned with the land's modus operandi. But a woman? Just in case, many in the land placed a broom behind their kitchen door. That was for her in case she visited; she could fly away.
The brown man said as little as possible. He nodded his head supporting the blonde. He claimed experience and -- horror!--tried to make a speech in the language once spoken in the southwest in the land. Dangerous man. What to do?
The black man was terrifying. First, he was not that black. Second, there were rumors he had taken magic potions when living abroad. It was said he would include the people in his decisions, even if his decisions for the book were not many.

Then, one day, a millionaire from the southwest came along. He sounded just right. He claimed taxes were for the birds, except to kick out the foreign born and their children or to protect the unborn. Conservative congregations and the young, who can't read between the lines, supported this man enthusiastically.

When the election for leader of the land came, the man from the southwest won hands down. Alas! He was against taxation but not a word had been said about appropriation. All the riches of the land became his. He didn't believe in a State, so they were his, under his supervision.

And that is how King George was replaced by John Paul - Bingo!

links for 2007-11-27

• Chicagoist: Text(ure) Messaging
  Yey! Way to go. The snow shows it has a lot of spunk?
  (tags: photography republished)

links for 2007-11-26

• The Exploding, Plastic Biopic; or, The Drifter’s Escape
  A dense review of I'm not there, the intriguing biopic of Bob Dylan. Dylan is played by different actors marking the different phases of his career. The review includes links to other reviews with other opinion about the poet-songwriter who communicates
  (tags: Dylan film review)
• Products in Translation: Photos (Part 1) : DivineCaroline
  Amusing photos of different everyday products, such as margarine. The capyions make you wonder: is it foe real? Th ephotography is superb.
  (tags: funny photos English web)
• ACME Pundit Saws | The Macalope: An Apple blog - CNET Blogs
  For Mac lovers
  (tags: Apple OSX Microsoft Windows_sucks)
• Eight Ways to Fight Memory Loss
  (tags: diet healthcare nutrition exercise)
• Prisoner of war map, 1944
  (tags: diy WWII printing)

A Hard-Working Week - Life in Los Angeles

This week of Thanksgivings gave us a chance to thank friends and family for what they do for us and for being there. It also gave us a chance to re-organize home affairs totally out of sync. We needed in fact a few more days to solve the kinks about my blogs, visitation of links, comments and all that good stuff hidden behind a blog, plus a few more days to straighten out our affairs.  Alas! Did I say I was thankful? The opening statement reads like a contradiction to the body of the paragraph.

Malibu was hit again by firestorms. We haven't had any rain, but water from gardens and other waste forms is attracting birds to Long Beach, at the mouth of our dry but not quite L.A. River.  I wish I could get in a car to go see them. Playa del Rey, near us had a lot of mallard ducks, my fixation as a child, but got developers come in. I wonder if there are marsh fowl left there. I haven't been back there in twenty years.

There are many pockets of Greater Los Angeles I wish I would get to know or revisit. Although we have a reputation for dull architecture, there are distinctive neighborhoods here. I guess it takes trained eyes for the beauty of Los Angeles and its deco, nouveau, "modern" and contemporary architecture. We must not forget the forged styled millionaire mansions, in Gothic or Spanish or name it we've got it copy-cat whims of the rich and famous.

This week was a quiet one, with some computer problems solved, not all, very few blogs read, some physical pain beyond my control, and lots of videos or VH1 Classics.  I mentioned we spent Thanksgivng Day with Bob Dylan. Later on there'll be a great article I scooped from a blog into our del.icio.us network.

I knew an architect who was fond of saying, "The poor don't have friends; they have relatives." True enough, I received a couple of calls from my American relatives. It is nice to hear they are all well.

The story of the Texan who shot his neighbors' burglars(and killed them both) amused me.  Sorry for th eloss of lives, but it seems we live in the days of Oregon  Trail. A  Mexican  felt upset at  some hoodlums and shot them, too. That is the way in the little pueblito he came from.

My source for music has been the feed of Nialler 9, the MP3, videos, everything music blog from Ireland. One day I hearda great electronic song and there are these synthesized sentences. I thought it was a Laurie Anderson revival. One of my home tecchies had added voice to every change I made in navigation of the Mac. It was nutty.

We have kinda started a Scorcese festival -light. We caught "The Nutty Professor" with Jerry Lewis on cable and followed it with "The King of Comedy", a dark portrayal of Jerry Lewis entrapped in his fame and a character whose schizoid dreams lead him to want the life of a comedian, but he's not really that funny. The wannabe is played by Robert De Niro. We have till Tuesday to watch New York, New York, which I haven't seen in over twenty years.  A madcap ensemble cast played in a Henry Fonda-Barbara Stanwick first coupling for a film, "The Mad Miss Manton."

When visited in her convalescent home, my son told Mommy it was Thanksgiving. She replied, "Where is the food?" And got losti n her Alzheimer's fog again.

To a nice week, with plenty of exercise, healthy diet and upbeat feelings, even if they won't make your life longer, they may make it better to handle. But then again, look at all the irascible French old ladies reaching 92 to a hundred years of age.  Duck Soup anyone?

links for 2007-11-25

• Receita de guacamole
  Descubram as maravilhas da pasta de abacate salgada temperada a gosto.
  (tags: receita guacamole saudável fácil)

links for 2007-11-24

• How to punish a cyber-bully - Los Angeles Times
  Opinião de um professor de direito. Ele questiona o papel da mída, que acobertou as pessoas provavelmente responsáveis pelo assédio e tam∫ém a eficácia da lei de telecomunicações que puniria os cyber-bullies.
  (tags: Megan Miers harassment suicide internet cyber-bullying law)

There Are Thanks to Be Given

I get fed up with newsppaper articles whose total first page text is deceiving. That is the case of today's L.A. Times article about the girl who was bullied anonymously on the Internet. She had some insecurity issues and hanged herself while the family were preparing dinner.  The perpetrators of this hideous deed seem to have been the mother of a neighboring friend, the friend and an employee of friend's mom's business.
Towards the end of the article the L.A. Times shows an opinion of a jurist concerning a federal law punishing those who anonymously harass and inflict personal injury to others on the Net. So there is a law. I'd be very surprised if there weren't one.

I know I am totally behind in my blogging duties after hunting down the impersonators of Cretinismos, a photolog Fotolog.com hosted and orkut.com  let be without even noticing the profile of the divulger of the harassment, impersonation and breach of copyright photos was a duck without a valid profile sitting in Blogueiros do Orkut board.  Yesterday I paid a short visit to this board on orkut to realize I was being scolded by the probable responsible for Cretinismos and by the owner of the board for leaving the owner a "weird message" someone else told the owner about.  I wrote the owner an e-mail. I have e-mail on my blogs. If a person doesn't want to own a board, don't do it.  But please, don't add to the drama already.  The likely responsible for this deed, along with his pals, frightened me away from Blogger in August last year. I didn't have to sue. We called his Daddy and the 22-yr.-old prankster had to pull every line off his own board about me.  This year his Mommy called me to complain about her firstborn.

A fellow blogger said these anonymous creatures crawling the Internet aren't worth the spit of a mosquito. I can hear my friend, as serious as a Franciscan monk or a German philosopher. Caetano Veloso says German is the natural language of philosophy.

I am glad I am not a fifteen-year-old chubby girl lured into a trap to be led to believe she had an Internet boyfriend who shunned her and humiliated her collectively with other MySpace people. The boyfriend was this friend's mother, so it's reported.  Although Brazilian bloggers in the orkut board thought it was funny to see "me" interviewing "them", I believe I stiil own the right to my speech and image in my country, where all Internet companies involved are.  The prankster jumped into the discussion to say I had to learn I would never be able to sue anyone in Brazil. But who was talking of suing if all I did before for him to  behave was to call his parents?

I had to take a break from VH1 Classics all day today with Bob Dylan. I had to post this for all to know there is a federal law to protect you from cyber-space bullying if you are ever a victim of this cowardly deed.  I just had to do this, after I read the Los Angeles Times misleading front page of the  article about the teen girl bullied to death.

The Anonymous Bullies of the Internet ought to be punished like evil creatures that they are, without a way out, trapped in a corner.

Back to Dylan on VH1. Happy Thanksgiving to all. I give thanks for my family being well and for having a few great friends; they know who they are.

L.A.Times permanent link, click. Pass it on.  With you Bob Dylan and Johnnie Cash.  Enjoy.

links for 2007-11-22

• Top 15 Leopard Hints at Appletell
  Leopard has its kinks
  (tags: Apple Os OSX reference tips tutorial)
• Top 10 Cool Facts about Space - The List Universe
  para os interessados em espaço sideral
  (tags: reference)
• BlogCamp MG aconteceu! | Escrita Torta em Linha Reta
  encontro para organização d blogueiros
  (tags: blogs)
• detailed description of the way to make perfect mashed potatoes
  Detalhado com toques de humor, o artigo entra em várias minúcias parra garantir que o leitor saiba coo fazer pirê de batatas igual aos das caixas ou programas de TV. Recomendo. Altos toques, simples mas essenciais.
  (tags: food reference HowTo)
• Should Hillary behave as if she were a housewife?
  Comparação entre a situação da mulher moderna e a dona de casa tradicional. Quem a Hillary deve "ser"?
  (tags: Hillary campaign)
• greve dos escritores sindicalizados c/ apoio de outros sindicatos foto
  A greve já deu preju colossal. Conta com apoio de outros sindicatos, como o de atores, contrato a vencer em junho, e prdutores intermediários, daí seu sucesso. Há foto no link. É incrível observar a diferença entre uma passeata organizada aqui nos
  (tags: greve WGA Los_Angeles)
• Facebook: propaganda involuntária dos usuários
  Parece que vai ser notícia diária. MoveOn.org denuncia que Facebook tem um sistema em que cada dado acrescentado pelo usuário é usdo em comerciais em vez de o usuário ter o direito de não participar deste sistema e optar pelo mesmo, se quiser.
  (tags: Facebook ads)
• cyber-bullying - the anonimity on the Net
  Um jurista descreve três suicídios de adolescentes pelas provocações anônimas na Net, O caso central, de uma gordinha de 15 anos cortejada e desprezada por um namorado virtual fictício, é revoltante. Foram adultos, vizinhos, que bolaram o "namora
  (tags: cyber-bullying MySpace laws Internet)
• A lei mais protegida - Segunda Emenda - o direito ao porte de armas- decisão
  This I will be alive to see - i hope a new interpretation on "The right to bear arms". Reasonable for mosquito shooting artillery. Unreasonable for today's guns.
  (tags: constituição direito armas)
• m a r t e l a d a - crítica vitriólica e comentários sarcásticos por marcelo träsel
  (tags: blogs web2.0)

links for 2007-11-21

• Obama Leads In Iowa
  (tags: Democratic_Party aw-shucks!)

No posts, no blogs to read

Tool for bloggng kaput.Ke1s non respons1ve. W1ll get back A.S.A.P. <3  U All.

Son's coca-cola catapulted to computer. To Apple soon.  Take care.

links for 2007-11-19

• foto estagiário fadinha do Facebook -photo of Facebook fairy costume
  Finalmente vejo a cara humana da notícia sobre o estagiário despedido após seu chefe descobrir que a licença para visitar família era para festa de Halloween. O rapaz estava vestido de fadinha(fairy= gay, gíria antigona) Se não houvesse mentido po
  (tags: Facebook fairy Halloween photography)
• Será mesmo que Kobe Bryant iria para o Chicago Bulls? Só vendo
  Não gosto do Michael Jordan wanna-be; explico. Michael Jordan não expulsaria seus pais de uma residência, era pontual e altamente confiável como jogador. O Kobe quer ser o Michael jordan. É temperamental, desfez o timaço dos Lakers com Shaq, mentiu
  (tags: Kobe Bryant Bulls Chicago)
• opinião área desabrigados em Los Angeles Skid Row - an op-ed for the cops
  Já levei várias pessoas para ver o mar de papelão de caixas nas calçadas do Skid Row, no centro de Los Angeles, enquanto os desabrigados dormem e as ratazanas correm. É um editorial que vale a pena ser lido. Não se pode acreditar no número de desab
  (tags: homelessness)
• Waxy.org: Daily Log: Fun with Google's Calculator
  (tags: humor math tips Google)
• William Gibson: The Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary Interview
  (tags: fiction interview scifi)
• Change of Subject - Observations, reports, tips, referrals and tirades | Chicago Tribune | Blog
  humor article on planted questions answers Hillary Obama.
  (tags: statistics Google Obama programming lawyers)

A Quickie

I would like to thank http://www.fotolog.com/ for discontinuing the rogue fotolog cretinismos they hosted. My question is whether they have control over the creation of yet another one with my copyright images or whether I will have to be keeping track of this type of stuff on Google's orkut.com, for example, where the fotolog made its appearance?  Or was it it took several days and mail for Flickr/Yahoo, Google, Orkut and Fotolog to realize I meant what I wrote about this stealth of photos with copyright and impersonation, derisive language, etc.?
Whatever it is, this nightmare is over for the time being.

My other nighmare will take all week. No, it's not called French rocket scientist on vacation from work. Engineers are not that hard to handle.  It's a complicated scenario which will be time-consuming, to say the least.

A friend of mine in Rio says my only visible feminine personality trait is my fondness of the artt of biatching. I miss Seth A. Feminine or teh only visible one, I don't know. I hope I will be able to keep on visiting with you and I have great links from del.icio.us. Check them out.  Will I be the only losangelino(by adoption) happy to see fake Kobe Bryant gone? I guess. Nite-nite, see you soon!

links for 2007-11-18

• Bitch Is Back
  From Tom Watson a convincing argument on voting for Hillary Clinton. I need no convincing. I believe she has built her independent identity by now.
  (tags: Hillary opinião)
• polarização da sociedade brasileira. Verdade? Análise excelente.
  Este assunto me fascina. Acompanho muito de longe o Brasil mas percebo alguns dos fenômenos descritos no post existem. A discussão nos 40 comentários também é pertinente. É uma leitura analítica que não torce para o "Capitão Nascimento" nem para
  (tags: Brasil Politics discussão problema social)
• discussão: psiquiatra, psicólogo, psicanalista, que fazem, metafórico
  Foi fascinante ler o post do Cláudio Costa, que me descobriu hoje. Sua narrativa literária sobre os três psis e suas metas é muito instrutiva. É encantadora prosa e informação que todos deveriam possuir.
  (tags: psicólogo psiquiatra psicanalista caminhos literatura)
• Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama on Health Care
  If health care doesn't come soon I will have to sell the house.
  (tags: healthcare)
• Add Firefox 1.5 Style Google Search to Firefox 2 Address Bar at Digital Inspiration
  for my househelp of tech nerds
  (tags: firefox Google HowTo tips)
• Say, what?: LET'S GET BLASTED
  this year's Darwin Award with photo by Swanksalot
  (tags: Darwin_award foto_Swanksalot)

Identity Theft and Impersonation

I feel somewhat discouraged as a blogger to report how poor services on the Net serve us. The problem I have tried to solve contacting all Internet organizations involved is a photolog inside an organization called Fotolog, which accepts complaints from members only, and once you try to solve your problem, well...
They have a board to discuss problems. But that requires separate username and password. In two hours inside Fotolog.com I couldn't solve my problem. Someone made montages with photos I own, hosted in Flickr.com, shown by a fake profile on orkut.com, in Fotolog, powered by Google.com.
PRO Users of Flickr are required to report any breach of Terms of Service or Terms of Use. These are pretty much the same for most services.

So, somebody has been impersonating me and I can't take the photolog of "my interviews" down from Fotolog.com. The energy these Internet menial workers in customer service spend to tell you they can't solve the problem reveals the downgrading of our work force and the fact these Internet giants don't care about laws in their own country. My country.

I don't own this photolog, for you to see for yourselves how Flickr(Yahoo), orkut(Google) and Fotolog, powered by Google, treat their fellow Americans in their own territory.

I hate to admit the Internet is still a lawless country just like the Far west. Unfortunately for us, that will remain just like that until somebody makes these Internet giants obey the law of the land, the USA.

The photolog in question is at http://www.photolog.com/cretinismos/ Today is the fifth day I try to bring it down for copyright infringement, abuse and impersonation of the one and only yours truly Tina Oiticica of the Anarchic_Universe and the Universo Anárquico.

Just check out my copyright collection of Os Mutantes on Flickr and you can see where some of the photos came from. http://www.flickr.com/photos/anarchic_universe/

Be my guests.

1970-80s Films to Forget

Tonight we watched some gems from the Cold War era. In one, "Firefox," the Russians are portrayed as stupid Nazi-like folks who allow an American, Clint Eastwood, an experienced Nam pilot, to fly over all of the former USSR, the Urals, all over the place and hijack a very special MIG (Firefox) Jewish scientists had built (but would be used against Israel.) The accent coaching is hideous, the dialog is a disaster, the special effects are cheap, in an era when Kubrick's 2001 had been filmed already.
The purpose of the 1982 film is to glamorize an aging Clint Eastwood for him to be a tougher than tough James Bond. To my surprise, Firefox, the super-MIG the West hijacks, a mind-reading jet, Firefox, the movie, was produced, starred and directed by ... Clint Eastwood.

I'll say he came a long way.

The other film we saw, another of a bad vintage quality, was "The Out of Towners," with Sandy Denis and Jack Lemmon. She kinda repeats her whiny Honey from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", Mike Nichols great adaptation of Edward Albee's play. Jack Lemmon, curiously reminded me of his performance in "Some Like It Hot" - the picky, detail-oriented catastrophe predicting "Jerry" or "Daphne".
In "The Out of Towners" a couple from Ohio come to NYC for the husband to have a job interview. Everything goes wrong for them. The only great quality in the aged humorless film is to remember once again the Cold War. This time, the problem is Cuba. And Hispanics, and Negroes. Let's not forget the Irish. It is funny to remember, though, a time when there were strikes and visibly more freedom of speech. However, the humor has aged badly. See it just to remember the Cuban hijackings, "Take me to Havana" -- I remember that from Spy v. Spy in Mad Magazine. The year of the film is 1970.

So, these depictions of USA politics can show you what the GOP can do for you.

Unfortunately, no links in this post due to navigator problems. I think I will give up on Apple computers.

Good morning and good day to all.

A Birthday Lunch

Today I went out. A doctor's appointment. A drop in blood sugar, a rush to a nearby restaurant. I was glad I called for reservations. The place was packed. It's not too big: two rooms. In the front one, I could  feel a faint breeze.  What a hot day, today.  Beautiful  clear sky, view of fucsia and pink  bouganvilleas, palm trees; view and breeze are better than a back room in which the mirrors echo the conversation.

Young employees from the nearby light industry chat. A table with nerds, if I ever saw so many. Maybe from Yahoo? Another with chatty young women, dressed in EMpTv glam. Of course, it is also nearby.  I explain to my friend Santa Monica wasn't always glitzy. In fact, it was a town sought by older citizens to retire in, a town filled with people who worked in WW II efforts, whose little cottages by our airport have become monster mansions, a lot of them.

There is one table by the window. There are two women sitting next to it.  We sit, relieved we'll be near the window. The breeze! Soon it is visible they are daughter and mother. Mother was celebrating her 92nd. birthday.  Soon we were engaging in conversation. Mother likes to talk and so do I. There's always something to learn from casual conversations; try them.

They happily ate their fish entrées. Thinking of my excessive weight, I ordered a seared ahi tuna salad.  "To drink," asks the waitress, eager for a wine list sell. "To drink, nothing better than the excellent natural water of Santa Monica, please."  I can't drink alcohol and why spend two-fifty on a coke? Eight on an Evian?  The waitress is unhappy; tough shitsky. Neither my friend and I, nor Mother and daughter will order much more than the main dish. Restaurants make money on drinks and dessert and coffee drinks.  Those can equal the price of the entrée.

I sincerely wish I could understand Mother. The din in the room and her articulation just don't allow me to get much out of her conversation. She's all there; I tell her she must have swept a lot of men off their feet. Her blue eyes glimmer. A trip abroad. A friend. I realize this woman saw the Ford Model T crusing around. She was alive in the days of Lindbergh. My mother pops in my mind. I ask the B'day girl who she preferred, Errol Flynn or Robert Taylor. I knew it! Robert Taylor. She likes Clark Gable. I tell her he didn't like Vivian Leigh(Gone with the Wind.) He ate food with lots of onions before the kiss-kissy scenes. Just a bit of Hollywood lore. She laughs.

The meal is coming to an end. A Flan dessert comes to the table with a small candle on it. Each wrinkle in Mother's face tightened as she opened a big smile and announced proudly, "Ninety-two! I'm ninety-two!"  We all sing Happy Birthday. I wish I had the guts to sing Las Mañanitas. More techies from the clean-air business await outside. The daughter had her own stories and I had mine. Nothing can compare to the exhilarating feelings of meeting someone who witnessed history and is happy to talk about it.

Sincerely blessed I felt. The sun was too hot. A quick taxi; a friendly ride. Back to my work desk, I see the glimmer of those blue eyes, filled with life, at ninety-two.  Eyes can be windows to the world. I saw a world in hers.
   ***        ***       ***     ***     ***    ***     ***    ***    ***    ***    ***     ***    ***   ***
Las mañanitas con Pedro Infante. Click for the lyrics.

Are Teens Equal to the Baggage They Carry?

A friend and I just got off the phone. We are both USA-Brazil bicultural, living here in the USA.  We both have teens; he has a girl, I have a boy.
I've been in a foul mood. I can't seem to get my nick back, got a glimpse of the old skin of my blog, which curdled the blood in my veins. I guess I must change my name to Marie Antoinette and offer my beautifully damaged neck to the sympathy of strangers, you readers.

My friend was politely disagreeing from me regarding the behavior of teens in Brazil being worse than that of their USA Internet-iPod gizmos-to-the-infinite-power fellows.  I believe we in the USA have a funny way of teaching a minimum politesse, used when necessary. It makes more sense to me for an American kid to spend his money on gizmos than a parent in Brazil to buy a middle-class kid an iPod or any gizmo for five times the price here on a one-fifth salary there.

Maybe our bicultural nature made us pass on to our children a sense of order, work, and respect lacking elsewhere. We come from strict two-parent households; we are liberals; having sowed our wild oats, we prevent mistakes discretely. Our children know how to be charming outside the home (and hurricanes within.) I would like to believe these traits  stem from a combo of educated Americans and Brazilians who want to be parents, not buddies with their children.

The average age in Brazil is young. We are getting old. Both countries are getting chunky older girls from Malibu or Ipanema. In Brazil maids are the way to go. Here, they are a luxury. Our children know how to cook, wash, clean. There is no shame in work. One can pick up a broom and listen to the iPod; that will liberate a lot of serotonin, a strong anti-depressant.  In Brazil I was considered a torturer to have my son peel and help in cooking preparation at age nine. He doesn't have to go to Scouts to learn about survival skills, c'mon.

We acknowledge teens are being assaulted by a world we never experienced. There is too much info out there and too many sick practices I had never heard of before. I had never known of cutting, ANA-MIA, cult of suicide, anomie, heck, we have a whole generation in need of vigorous household chores workouts.  Sandy Banks, in the L.A. Times mentioned this the other day.

In the end, each child carries his own baggage. Some is innate some is learned. Some is learned at school; some at home. I am glad I am who I am, a citizen of the world. I am glad we can pass our cultural baggage to our son, my French husband and I. He is multi-cultural. America gave him strong work ethics. Southern California gives him a multi-ethnic respect  I appreciate as much as the weather, a bit chilly today, thanks for asking. Brazil gave him the charm and discipline I inherited. France gave him table manners and a je-ne-sais-pas- quoi pride only the French can have. The bubble gum is American, fer sure.

Beware of Widgetbucks by swap.w

I just came upon this video. As bloggers don't make money, except a few, I guess, and I am not one of them, I would like to leave here the link to swapw's advice. I find his videos simply constructed and well delivered, in a language tech-dumbell here can understand.

Widgetbucks, what they are, and why they may not be good for you, with Swap.w.

Widgetbucks. Click for video.

links for 2007-11-13

• Edwards vs. Clinton on Iraq - Fact Checker
  Good points on semantics in polspeak; differences between Hillary and Edwards.
  (tags: linguistics Politics Hillary)
• B12 Solipsism blogger edition: Food sexuality
  vegetarians and sex don't match, umm. I wanna see that.
  (tags: food sexuality)
• Folha Online - Brasil - Lula diz que Corinthians "está salvo" do rebaixamento - 12/11/2007
  Aguardo pronunciamento de Brasília.
  (tags: Brasil futebol)
• What is a Mashup?
  Surprise me, Gaizago
  (tags: mashup web)
• G1 > Tecnologia - NOTÍCIAS - Jovem americano e 'musa do metrô' se encontram pela primeira vez
  A Thiane do Vertente 01 deu essa notícia também. É genialíssima. Um momento positivo da Internerd.
  (tags: cool love internet)

Scarlett Johansson - So What?

The one time I saw Scarlett Johansson that sealed my impression of her as an awkward actress was not on film. That was Saturday Night Live, on NBC, after I had seen her in "Lost in Translation", in which I disliked her acting, too.  Saturday Night Live is impromptu acting, with a little bit of rehearsing -- I saw a bit of it backstage long time ago. So, she was hostess on Saturday Night Live, which can make or break actors and bands. She was a dud.
Scarlett Johansson reminds me of a teenager whose stature got stumped and breasts overgrew. As American men are traditionally crazy about breasts, Terry-Thomas delivers a magnificent monologue on that, and the search for youth is timeless, well-documented in Nabokov's book and Kubrick's Lolita, adaptation of the book, here we have Scarlett Johansson, click on her fan-site at your risk.
She is young, but so is Natalie Portman. To Scarlett's disadvantage, Natalie Portman was on SNL acting comfortably in a time span close enough for me to compare the two young actresses. Woody Allen is on his third movie with Scarlett. But he says she is no Diane Keaton. That reminds me of the lover/husband in Matchpoint, a film I finally watched tonight. She is what she is: a slightly hoarse voice, a good mistress, a seductive elf-like creature, little else than lust, spelled in her lips and ... bosom. A child actor, she hangs out with the right people and says the right things at the right times. Good luck, Scarlett, now I understand better why your face (and bosom) is posted in headers of hip blogs, and why you are revered. You are Lolita revisited, politically correct, Hanging out with the right people, whose lips will kiss, tits will smother, and ... I hope your acting improves and lasts to be more of a Diane Keaton's.

links for 2007-11-12

• Podcasts and Science Friday
  A different take on diet; not as a punishment but a serious look at whites: starch, flour, sugar.

  Could be fun

  
  
  (tags: science diet fun)
  
  


• 
  
  Google’s “Nofollow” Rule
  
  
  pra vocês que manjam dessas coisas. Tô por fora, alguém me explique isso.
  
  
  (tags: Google no-follow links)
  
  


• 
  
  Chicagoist: Illinois Politics As Usual...
  
  
  This photo portrays such a casual relationship between customer and official, it's short of hilarious (if the subject and rep weren't so sad.) Take a peek at it.
  
  
  (tags: corruption republished photos)
  
  


• 
  
  Top 10 Bizarre Mental Disorders - The List Universe
  
  
  Se é desordem mental, tenho que conferir!
  
  
  (tags: health science mental world)
  
  


• 
  
  Amazon.com - A Quick Tour of Our New Remodel
  
  
  Who knows I'll go back there?
  
  
  (tags: design)
  
  


• 
  
  Wired: The Long Tail
  
  
  socialnetworking Yes!
  
  
  (tags: blogging internet productivity trends Tech theory web2.0)
  
  

Santa Monica Sunset

  Santa Monica Sunset 
  Originally uploaded by anarchic_universe

Beautiful sunsets are the norm in Santa Monica. The brown layer close to the ocean tells us about pollution. Holding a glass of virgin Bloody Mary, who cares? Some guacamole to help other Mexican finger foods makes us a bit wistful as the sun sinks deep behind the Palisades, a pallid copycat of the mountains we could see in Ipanema.

It's low tide now. There is a melancholy pervading the ambiance of happy hour artificial cackle. Tomorrow may be one more day to kill. One more afternoon spent on a lazy hotel rooftop. There is something morbid about the beauty of sunsets.

links for 2007-11-11

• Os Mutantes - As Últimas
  adições à formação da banda. Liminha junta-se a Sérgio Dias e Dinho Leme, e cantora convidada é a brasileira internacional sediada em NYC do Nouvelle Vague e Thievering Corporation, Karina Zeviani
  (tags: Os_Mutantes news members band)