Category: Places

  • New Year’s Eve in Brazil

    Back in my office, sitting at my desk but my mind and spirit are still on the Costa da Sul (South Coast) of Rio de Janeiro and the coolest beach, Macumba Beach (future articles).
    Meanwhile, back in Sao Paulo the weather is overcast and still wet outside from the rain last night, all night, so this morning I’ve got my big double-wide windows open wide to let in the fresh air and the sounds of the giant city as it prepares for the big party tonight.

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  • Here today, gone to Rio

    The past year has been one of the greatest of my life. The growth on personal, strategic and economic fronts has been exceptional. Maybe it was all the people and all the collective work from the past that has propelled Silicon Palms to where it is now, but I say that the past 12 months have been amongst the most significant in my career, it’s been a breakthrough.
    Please read my Season’s Greetings

  • Super Natural British Columbia

    My family’s home in Canada is some 200 miles east of Vancouver, about half-way between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, on the shore of a magnificent lake in a magical valley, both sharing the Native Indian name “Okanagan”. Every summer I return to the place of my youth, both literally and figuratively, as I dedicate as much time as I’m able towards rest, relaxation, and recreation, prior to my annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas to attend the Casino Affiliate Conference.

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  • Tropical Stonehenge

    SAO PAULO, Brazil – A grouping of granite blocks along a grassy Amazon hilltop may be the vestiges of a centuries-old astronomical observatory — a find archaeologists say indicates early rainforest inhabitants were more sophisticated than previously believed. On the shortest day of the year — Dec. 21 — the shadow of one of the blocks disappears when the sun is directly above it.
    Continue reading Tropical Stonehenge

  • Canada Day

    Canada FlagLiving abroad for the better half of my life makes me a true Ex-patriot (or expat) but that doesn’t mean I’m without a homeland. On the contrary, I love Canada to a degree that no-man should possibly feel towards a place, or area of land (dirt and trees). Most of my life away from Canada has been in seeking places with better characteristics, then learning what is it that makes a homeland special. Certainly Brasil has everything and more a person could ever dream of, and Miami’s got the best weather with the most modern infrastructure in the world, but if you’ve ever known Vancouver, and lived in British Columbia, then you’ll know why it’s easy to be a Canuck.

  • Vegas Conferences

    All webmasters who already do, and those who are interested in promoting and affiliating with online casinos will want to attend this free conference at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. The event is September 12 and 13, 2006 and includes a welcome party the evening of the 12th. There is no admission charge whatsoever for webmasters, and Lunch Buffet and drinks on both days are provided free as well! www.gpwa-conference-2006.com/registration.html
    THEN:
    The Casino Affiliate Convention (Las Vegas 2006) event will focus on global marketing for the Gaming Industry. It will be held on September 14-15, 2006 at the Stardust Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

  • Embu das Artes

    Rarely I travel in Sao Paulo alone and usually never more than I have to but there’s a place about 45 minutes from my home that I thoroughly enjoy visiting. It’s a little town called Embu das Artes or just plain Embu. We have some good friends living there and they have a house on a 5 acre lot, both of which are prime but the combination is nothing short of exceptional. Getting to the house is challenging because of the many very poor neighborhoods I need to drive across on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, however the destination is worth the risk.

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  • Tennis Anyone?

    The French Open is on and in Brazil the television coverage begins in the morning and continues all through the day and evening. As you may know, there are no night-matches at Roland Garros, the Paris location of the French Open, so live television coverage concludes before dusk and unfinished matches are completed the following day. Tennis is so popular in Brazil that they even play pre-recorded matches all evening for those who weren’t fortunate enough to watch during the work day – another benefit of being a web geek.

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  • Drive Sao Paulo

    You think your city has tough traffic? Take a drive in Sao Paulo, this city of 18 million. First there’s a big disparity between vehicles because many wealthy inhabitants are driving luxury imports, and then there are multitudes of cheap wrecks that may or may not even be registered. Volkswagen has factories in Brasil that have been pumping out vehicles for decades, these little cars being famous as reliable are like cockroaches in that they’re hard to kill and seem to come out from every crevice. So it’s not uncommon to see old VW Combi-vans, Beatles and Golfs lined up beside Mercedes and Land Rovers at an intersection.

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