Bruno... Day In Day Out

Finally I'm on the IPOD!
I've spent countless hours ripping and cataloguing all my CDs recently, so I'm looking fwd to loading it all up and testing it out.

I got the 40GB version and had my e-mail with the line "Let the Player Play!" engraved in the back. I have a TON of music and I'll still probably only 70% of it. I may even start working out more now that I have an MP3 player... nah, most likely not.

The Mona Lisa!
I found this interesting article on the Mona Lisa today... I remember feeling some of the same feelings when I first saw the lady: too small, too dark, too many people around me. But the fact of the matter is, I was still overcome by an incredible feeling that I was standing in front of the the world's most famous piece of art, and that alone gave me a sense of acomplishment.

I do a lot of research and reading before going somewhere and it's very rare that I am actually positively surprised when I first get to a famous place or building. Stonehendge was smaller, the Statue of Liberty was shorter, Big Ben wasn't as imposing as I'd thought. But the fact is, I saw them, touched them and for a moment was in that very spot in the world that I'd seen in movie, looked up in maps, and read about in history books.

The few places that have blown me away at first sight, despite me knowing exaclty what they'd look like:

Machu Picchu
Angkor Wat
The Taj Mahal
Abu Simbel

Computer Stuff!
I finally managed to get my 200+ CDs all properly downloaded into my new computer... I feel like the iPod is the next clear step, but I'm resisting it for now... I doubt I'll be able to hold out for much longer.

With my new laptop and wireless internet I've also been exploring some great things on the web: kottke.org has some very interesting tech related info and links, and since I'm now working for a film studio, I'm gambling play money on the Hollywood Stock Exchange.

Anheiser Bush is trying to get into the energy-drink bandwagon. You can have a beer, you can drink an energy drink... you can't *ever* mix them. Geeez... I need a drink.

Looong Week
I've actually meaning to blog for quite a few days... it turns out this has been the busiest week at work and I ended up working till 10-11pm every night. It's funny how in my past job it was normal for me to crank 80 hours a week every week, and now I have to do one 70-hour week and I fall apart. My eyes show, my skin shows, my mood shows. But it's over now and I can go back to a more manageable work schedule.

Last weekend I went to San Francisco, it was the wnd weekend in a row and it was an absolute blast! I hung out with my friend Talia, whom I'd met the prior weekend. We partied quite a bit and danced a ton at the Love Parade. I went to the Love Parade in Berlin back in 1999 and I'd never seen that many people together... ever. Estimaets for that year were between 1.6 and 2 Million people. Nuts! San Fran's version was considerable smaller, but fun nonetheless. I guess I'm easy to please when it comes to entertainment: Good Music = Fun.

This weekend some friends are coming up for what should be a mayhem weekend of drinking, college football (we got tickets for Cal vs USC) and parties. It's funny how even though I live in LA I still split a hotel with them that's closer to the action (Hollywood) because I know I shouldn' be driving till well into Sunday.

Wireless! Wooohoooo!
So tonight I was supposed to see a movie with a friend... but after working late and finally getting a good workout, I was pretty tired and just wanted to chill at home. I need to catch up on some sleep but the fact that today is my first day of wireless internet is keeping me from going to bed. I'm burning all my CDs, downloading and cataloging songs, and doing some general set ups of my favorites sites etc... quite fun in a new computer. I may even be able to post more often now that I have a decent connection at home. I still want to ramble on my favorite sunset... but today I just want to get some more music into my new toy.

Lost Sunsets!

Shoot, I had this HUGE post that I wrote about how much and why I love sunsets... then I tried to add a couple of photos... and somehow the text got lost. I'm so new to this it's embarrasing. Well, here are the photos... I'll re-type my Ode To Sunsets in the next couple of days.

This first one was in Costa Rica, the brightness of the colors in the clouds made it seem like a painting:

This second one was the recent Bali sunset... you can see a couple of local ladies, giving backrubs to surfers that come in, unfortunately you can't hear the people playing guitar or the waves :-(

Ok, this is not a sunset, but these Rice Paddy landscapes in Bali are also fascinating:

I still can't believe I lost my post! hmpf!

I've got the Blues, I've got the vacation's-over Blues.
I haven't blogged in 2 months! All the job transition, moving to a new home, and just plain lazyness has caused me to stop blogging. But now, all of a sudden, my friend Willo put me in her blog, and I feel obloged to write something, should one of her millions (or maybe it's zillions?) fans decide to click on my hyperlinked name.

I guess part of the reason I don't blog often is cause I've really only sent the link to about 8 people. But maybe the reason I haven't spread the word about my blog is so that I don't feel like I have to blog on a regular basis. But maybe I'll give it another go.

Two days ago I got back from an absolutely amazing week in Bali with a good friend of mine. Actually the whole trip was born in July out of a drunk conversation with Rick (Willo's "concert-buddy") Now I'm going through the usual back-to-real-life adaptation. It's funny how most people I work with always talk about vacations as a way to rest and "re-energize", yet for me, most of my travels have me come back much more tired from a packed schedule of hikes and adventure sports and all night partying. I feel like if I'm just laying by a pool somewhere I'm wasting valuable time. Maybe that'll change as I get older. I do have a couple of funny stories about Bali which I'll have to save for a future blog.

On another front, I'm finally moved in. I'm living with a buddy of mine in a nice house only about 15 minutes from work. It's great not to have a long commute, and it's the first time in a while I'm living with a friend, so it's kinda nice to have someone to chat with when you get home.

Photos from my most recent adventure will be posted over the weekend... and I'll make sure to begin posting more often than once a month.

Beef Jerky
I spent the weekend dealing with movers. Well, it was more of waititng for movers than actually dealing with them. They were supposed to show up Saturday at 7am and after multiple postponements the showed up at 4:30pm Sunday... which means I didn't get back to Los Angeles till 2am. Not so good. Other than that it was another fun Vegas wkend.

I got to see Farenheit 911, which I really liked. It is unabashedly biased and Michael Moore stretches a little bit at times, but it is very funny at times, though not as funny as Bowling for Columbine.

On my long drive back to LA I also discovered Pemmican Beef Nuggets... it's like beef jerky, but much better texture... if only they come out with the peppered flavor, I'm set for life.

Back into the Blog
After a few weeks of agonizing over which job to take, I've decide to take a job in LA. It was easily the toughest call I've had to make, but at the end of the day, I wanted to be somewhere I wouldn't have to spend all my salary on rent alone.

I have some good friends here, the people at the office seem nice, so I'm looking forward to the first fixed-location job I've ever had in my life. Now that I'm stabilizing myself a bit more, it should be a little easier to keep this blog moving along, and I look forward to a fun summer in California.

Pet Peeve
Last night I flew to Chicago, and upon arriving at Midway airport I ran into the the only thing in the world that really gets on my nerves: People Standing to Left of Moving Walkways. I'm a calm, patient person, but when people block both sides of a moving walkway or escalator, it drives me nuts! And they see you approaching fast behind, and don't even bother to move. If you're travelling in pairs, you can still maintain dialogue by standing in front of each other, duh.

Same thing goes for escalators. In London you get on any of the huge escalators in the subway system and it's incredible, no matter how packed, rush hour, whatever: Everyone stands to the same side to clear the way for people in a hurry. Why can't the do that in the most civilized, advanced country in the world? Is it that hard to figure out? Maybe they should put escalator/walkway police and fine people for standing on the wrong side...

Phew... done venting.

Update!: I did a googled some of the words above to see if anyone else felt the same way... lo and behold there is a place I can buy a "Stand To The Right" t-shirt.

Southern Weddings
The long weekend was absolutely fantastic. One of my best friends got married in Georgia. We were college roommates for a couple of years, and he's the first of my very good friends to get hitched. I don't mean "hitched" in a bad way. The girl is awesome and they are a perfect fit. I was thrilled for them, but it was awkward to see him getting married. It also made me realize I'm in no way ready for something that definitive. The 2 days of festivities were incredible, with ample time to catch up with some good friends from the Ohio State days. We spent quality times drinking and tearing it up at the 2 days of parties, re-telling old stories, drinking in the hotel pool/hot tub, and running away from cops once the late night pool session got too out of control. A few of us even hit Hotlanta for a night of southern debauchery on Sunday night, complete with foam party and all... The Cheese Alert had to be raised to ORANGE. Overall a solid weekend which managed to get my mind off my big job choices.

Now I'm back in NYC for another round of meetings and interviews. I got myself another week or so to make up my mind. My parents call me daily to get the latest on the job-search process... seems like they're more nervous about it than myself. They'll be coming out to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks so we'll be celebrating whatever option I get... and they'll be doing some heavy lifting if I chose Los Angeles and we have to move my stuff. Either way it should be fun.

BIG Decisions
It's a beautiful day out, I'm back in NYC after a great London weekend, and I've spent all day thinking about my next job. I am in the middle of this internal transference w/in my company. There's a great job available in London, and another one in the US (either NY or LA). I am extremly over-rationalizing everything.

While I like the fact that London is an easier base from which to take quick trips to exotic destinations I've always wanted to hit (ie... malta, tunisia). In Los Angeles I would be living the good life: lots of friends, connected to the nightlife, fun weekend trips to party in places around western US. There's also the fact that I have everything - car, furniture, electronics, etc - in Las Vegas, so moving to Europe would entail having to get rid of all that stuff and probably having to purchase a good amount of it once I find a place in London.

I suppose I'll figure it out in the next week or so, and then make the crucial decision. I haven't had to make a choice this big since I decided to move to the US for college in '95. That's almost 10 years where almost all my big decisions just seemes to flow naturally and make sense! Why can't all of life be like that?

Springtime in London!
I left New York yesterday, it was drizzly and foggy. This morning as I arrived in London the sky was a blue as I'd ever seen in this city renowned for bad weather. I slept through the entire flight, and hoped to catch another hour or 2 of shut-eye before going into work. Unfortunately the hotel was overbooked, so a room won't be available for another couple of hours. I spent a couple of quality hours nursing a White Chocolate Mocha and devouring a few dozen pages from Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, and now I finally made it to the office. It's feels a little weird, and a little sad, that I'm in the same computer as yesterday, in the same clothes as yesterday, working on the same stuff as yesterday afternoon... but across the Atlantic. The only notable difference right now is the street-noise in London, many decibels below that of the average NY street. I'll be in London for 5 days and I look forward to catching up with some friends and enjoying some of my favorite local nightspots and restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants... I went to see the film "Super Size Me" on Monday. I was intent on eating a Filet of Fish and a McDonalds Cheeseburger immediately aftee the movie, to prove to myself that I really like their sandwiches. Did not happen. I walked by a McDonalds on the way back to the hotel, hungry, yet I did not have the couage to walk in and order my sandwiches. Though I think some of the fil is exagerated, it will be some time before I enjoy a Mickey D's again.

Before I go back to work... here is an interesting piece of web uselesness.

Comments, etc...
Blogger recently enabled comments... so I took out the script for my HaloScan comments and started a new one with Blogger. Guam and Willo, thanks for the comments, and sorry they were deleted. I've sent the link to a total of 8 people so far as I get familiar with this, eventually I'll send it out to more friends... I'm just trying to avoid all the fame and publicity a widespread blog of *me* would generate.

As far as being personable on the blogs... well, I'm new to this thing, with time I hope I'll get over this blogger's block.

A Perfect New York Sunday
The weekend came to a close with perfect weather on Sunday. As one of my friends put it: "I don't think there has ever been a more perfect day in the history of NY."

Saturday night ended at a Brazilian party in a Soho Loft where a lot of people danced nonstop to new and old tunes from the homeland. Sunday morning I met some friends for a brunch at Vynl... Great Bloody Mary's, decent food, but horrible service.. despite the friendly bartender, the guy running the tables refused to sit our group of 3 down until the 4th person we were waiting for arrived. So we told him the 4th had cancelled, and he sat us in a table big enough for 4, we said *maybe* we'd have another person joining us later, and he'd just take up the empty seat... "No way," said Mr. Rude Host, "if your friend comes in late, he cannot join your group. Either you wait or he'll sit by himself." Eventually we setlled but the event was a great segway into numerous bad service-stories legendary in the Big Apple. After brunch we headed to Central Park to enjoy the sun, and it seemed like so did everyone else in the city. It was tough to find open space in the perfect grass of Sheep's Meadow. It made me think of Copacabana beach on a sunny summer weekend... minus the ocean... minus the white sands, minus a lot of fabric.

That evening I made sure my friend got on her flight back to Brazil and headed back to the hotel to call it a day. I realized that despite all the shortcomings of NY, I like the action and the buzz it generates. On my way back I found this unsuspecting tourist with her I Love NY bag near Times Square. Thousands of tourists each week carry the famous motto on shirts and sourvenirs, and though I don't own anything that declares my feelings, I too, love this city... for now at least.

Slacker
I'm not even 2 weeks into blogging and already I went many days w/out blogging. maybe i should change my blog name to "bruno... month in month out" oh well...

I spent all last week in Tampa for a work conference, it was good and bad. I got to have some fun with folks from work, but had some less than interesting speakers to sit through. The best thing that happened was that a good friend from Brazil came up to NYC, so I changed my flights and headed up to the Big Apple on Thursday. I've been here for 2 days now, we've walked the whole city, spent quality time in Central Park and I even visited some museums which I'd been postponing for some time.

The Frick Collection is small and quite intresting, with some great pieces. The Guggenheim mixed some good pieces with some truly bizarre modern, minimalist art that made me feel cheated of my admission dollars. The building itself if worth it, though next time I go, I'll take the elevator to the top and walk down instead of the usual uphill walk that is that museum.

The weather was perfect for the park on Friday, and when we visited my favorite spot, the Belvedere Tower, one guy was all the way at the top, dressed in a suit... soon after his girlfriend climbed up the steps, the local gawkers waited for the moment as the man got down on one knee to propose to her. He pulled the ring out, she started to cry and said yes, all of the people around them erupted in clapping and whistling. I give the guy credit for proposing in front of a big crowd... it takes guts... though he should not have been on the ledge of such high building, lest her answer disapoint him and he decides life's not worth living anymore. Even if he does act reasonable, he does have to take the 3 narrow flights of stairs down, passing the random tourists in shame, witnesses of his failure. Alas this one came out glorious, and the 15 or so people around them got to witness a pretty special moment.

It's almost 10pm and I'm headed out, I saw De La Guarda today which is one of my favorite Off-Broadway plays, not it time to take on the nightlife once again. This city never sleeps, the least I can do is try to keep up.

Tedious
It's Thursday and my work day is going slow. I'm in this training session that is less than exciting... but it'll be over soon. Last night was Cinco de Mayo, which usually means cheap Coronas and come good parties at local Mexican restaurants... I went out with some work friends around Stamford but couldn't find any decent parties... so we called it in early and headed back to the Hotel. For the first time in weeks I got a full 7 hours of sleep, yet the course I'm going through is making me feel like I pulled an allnighter. Tomorrow I fly to Vegas and all these mundane worries will be forgotten.

Back in the US of A
It's 7pm on my 2nd day in the States and the jet lag has kicked in hard. Last night I felt like Bill Murray in Lost in Translation... staring at the clock in my hotel room, which took about 2 hours to go from 3:07am to 3:29am. I've been in this training session all day today and had more cups of coffee than should be legally allowed. I still have a few more hours of work to do, but tonight I hope to get a full night's sleep.

"So what about the super-duper-first-class seat?" you may ask... "Wasn't that enough to ensure you arrived fresh and rested for work?" The answer is: No. With 20 movies to chose from and all I could eat/drink... I decided to fight sleep and make the most of my 13hr flight. I saw 4 different movies on the flight, only allowing myself a couple of hours of shut-eye, just to make sure the 180-degree bed was indeed working. Probably the most used feature on my plushy seat was the stewardess-call button, I wore that thing out: "Yes, champagne please", "Hi, I'm done with this film, can you get me '21 Grams'", "Yes, I'll have a Bloody Mary", "Can I get some more of that hot-fudge ice cream?" Within 2 hours of take-off it was obvious to the crew it was my first time in First Class... I couldn't care less :-)

Only 2 days till Vegas and I'm itching to go. It'll be the 1st time in 2 years of living there, that me and my 2 roommates will be in Vegas at the same weekend, it should be a blast... but then again, when isn't Vegas a blast?

Leaving My Seoul
Yep, the time has come for me to leave Korea and head back to the US. It's been a lot of fun and I've enjoyed working here and some of the Asia travelling I did... however I can honestly say that I'm ready to go back. This is the first time that I really want to leave a country. I've enjoyed the place, the food and made some friends, but I feel like I want to be closer to my friends and my family. It made me realize that I would not like to take a job this far from Brazil.

Another reason I'm looking forward to leaving is because I'll be flying First Class for the first time ever! Somehow the travel agency had this free upgrade coupon...so I'll be living large on the northern skies. It's over 2 hours from here to Tokyo and then almost 13 hours from Tokyo to New York! That's 15 hours of free movies, newspapers, good food and open bar! I don't remember the last time I was this excited to get on a plane... I even went to into the Japan Airlines website and found out I'll be flying in this ridiculously-brand-new-flat-bed seat! Woohooo!

As I'm leaving Korea, I just updated my map of visited countries, which is a from a cool webiste which I found while reading the blog of a really cool person. Here it is!

Killer food!
Last night, before hitting the dance floors at "Club Day", I went for dinner with some work people. The dinner was good, one of those "set-menus" where they just keep bringing various courses to the table. As usual I had trouble adjusting to the sit-cross-legged-on-the-floor style common in many Korean restaurants... but it was one of the courses that deserved particular attention. In walked the waitresses with 2 big plates with live octopus. Yes, that's right... L.I.V.E. live... they had just hopped them up pretty good, so it wasn't the FULL octopus.. but it was still moving... A LOT. All the bits of tentacles and suction cups wiggling in the plate right in front of me. The only advice from the korean with us: "Chew it fast, so the suction cups stop working right away." They said you can choke to death to death if you eat a big piece and don't chew it well... the mini suction cups in the tentacles would stick to your throat. I had to try it though, octopus is one of my favorite foods, how bad could live octpus be? Plus, I was sure this is probably some Korean urban legend passed down through generations... I picked up the first piece and put it in my mouth... and I can honestly say never chewed with such determination in 26 years of culinary exploration. My impressions: It's good, sure, but it's slimy, I mean slimier-than-oyster slimy, but still quite good. None of the rubbery factor common in bad octopus sushi.

After the exciting dinner I went with friends to Hong Dae... the university district of Seoul, for some bar hopping. We had some lemon Soju to start the evening and the proceeded to club hop between about 6 or 7 different clubs. The Hong Dae streets were packed, long lines in front of every club, and in each of the venues hundreds of Koreans we packed like sardines, dancing side by side. it's interesting that it gets packed and *everyone* dances facing the DJ, so when you look at the crowd, it's almost like there's a concert or sporting event going on. In most clubs I've seen, there is a little more breathing room, and people dance facing each other, or in small circles, or all over; but not here. The dance floor looks like a packed cinema where everyone just got up and started dancing, all still facing the screen. Another interesting item was in Club NB... one of the rooms had a web of pipes above it... and sprinklers... and every 15 minutes or so, always when the music peaks, it starts raining inside! The first time is a bit annoying, but once you get into it... it was a lot of fun! The sun was peaking above the river as my cab brought me back to the hotel... a great night to close out one of my last days in Seoul.

This morning I slept in, and since I'd already cheated death the previous night by eating live octopus I decided to test my luck once again by ticking another mark on my "Korea To-Do List": Eat Blowfish Sushi. What's the big deal? Well, it turns out the odd little fish have a very poisonous toxin, which can kill if the sushi is not prepared correctly. In Japan about 5 people die every year from eating blowfish, so the odds aren't bad. Apparently only speacialized/licensed chefs can prepare it. While many places offer blowfish in Seoul, I went to one in the more expensive neighborhood of Gangnam. Because of the fuss around it, it's a bit pricier... and $50 got me a portion with some side dishes, miso soup and about 10 pieces of Blowfish nigiri sushi... which is decorated with little gold shavings on top of it. My take on this other deadly food: Very good! probably one of my favorite sushi types ever, second only to ama-ebi (sweet shrimp) and par with this one type of snapper I had in a little join Atlanta a couple of years back. Some web texts talk about a tingling/numbing sensation in the lips/tongue from eating blowfish... I felt none of that. I think the only person to ever feel that numbing sensation was the one that choked to death on a reluctant live octopus.