Category: Places

I arrived in Darwin, Northern Territories from Denpasar Indonesia (Island of Bali) with $8 dollars and change to my name, on a one way ticket. It was the early ’80’s and I was crazy, fearless and naive. My Australian adventure began without my even knowing that I was in the Outback, or for that matter what the Outback was.
Despite having landed illegally, since you’re suppose to have the means of support to match the 6 month visa I was granted, you’re also supposed to have a departure ticket. My rationale was that Canada and Australia were practically sisters and my country had hosted many a vagrant Ozzie, besides I had a job lined up in Queensland, wherever that was.

(more…)

I made my first trip to New Orleans in 2000 with my brand new wife to celebrate our Honeymoon. We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel in a wonderful suite overlooking the French Quarter, close to the mouth of the Missippi river and a very short walk from Harrah’s Casino. I adore New Orleans and my bride and I enjoyed the historic city during perfect spring weather. We drove all the way from Ft. Lauderdale, some 14 hours but it was worth it to then have the car at our disposal for touring around the great city and it’s then undamaged neighborhoods.

(more…)

The hardest category I created on this blog was “body” but it seemed like a good idea at the time and was intended to serve two purposes. First; for me to not neglect my body, since by having to write about it I would have to think about it. Second was to practice writing about topics that were more of an assignment than a pleasure. After-all this blog is more about my evolution as a writer, designed by me, for me to improve and have to consciously make an effort. Plus, good health is a precious commodity, perhaps the most important factor in both success and happiness, so I included the category for these reasons.

(more…)

One of my friends just returned from Argentina to Sao Paulo and told me how impressed he was with Buenos Aires, how continental and European-like the city was, with nice wide tree-lined boulevards dotted with clean old-fashion coffee shops, restaurants and stores selling reasonably priced goods, as it seems that the dollar has more value there than in Brasil. My friend has been living in Brasil for 10 years and now has asked his wife to consider moving to Argentina.

(more…)

the city of Sao Paulo was under siege for these past few days by gang members. The problem is related to prisons, over crowding and the fact that the crime bosses are in jail and continue to manage the crime syndicates with cell-phones from behind bars. The governor promised to correct this problem, so developed a new super-max prison about 600 km from Sao Paulo then when he started to move the crime bosses they rebelled because they knew they were going to lose control of their syndicates since cell phones won’t work from the new prison.

(more…)

A friend sent me a very cool website today, designed in part by the Canadian Government. The reason this particular website appealed to me so much, was because I’ve travelled through the “Great White North” of Canada and worked as a prospector near the borders of Alaska and Yukon in my home province of British Columbia. Yep, go figure? I’ve been a rock-hound, worked open-pit mines, mineral exploration and built pipelines inside the Arctic Circle – and you probably thought I was just a web-geek..
Life of a Rock Star wesite tells the story of an extraordinary group of scientists who tramped, paddled and rolled across Canada in the nineteenth century to study the geology of Canada’s varied terrain.

Carnival has ended and the city is back to full pace. The weather is hot and humid, just how I like it. My wife Paula and I spend as much time as possible at the Club, get up earlier in the morning when the temperature is very agreeable, to get some programming work done. After a few hours of fixing all the broken pages and programs on the new Silicon Palms web-server, we head to the pool at the club and soak up some sun, swim a few laps, enjoy a cold beverage, then drive back home for an afternoon siesta. Most often we run together in the early evening, after which I’ll spend another half dozen hours (or so) back in front of my computer.

(more…)

My partner has a condo in an old luxury apartment builiding on Miami Beach, and I’m lucky enough to get to use it from time to time. Tomorrow night I depart Sao Paulo, Brasil on a red-eye bound for Miami. If my luck holds-up, I’ll arrive and clear customs before 6:00am, hit a cash machine and jump a cab to take me to my pad, change to swim gear and be in the ocean watching the sun come up.
The apartment has a wireless network, so as soon as I plug my laptop in, I’m back riding the light. Nicely decorated, large single bedroom, with hard wood floors and cool art work, furnished in a Havana motif. Second floor looking out towards the Intra-Coastal where the big yachts cruise past. It’s a couple of minute walk out the door and down the stairs to a nicely kept, large swimming pool and walk out the path to the best part of Miami Beach.

(more…)

We’ve befriended a nice neighborhood dog named Bobby, he’s similar looking to a Golden retriever but a little less gold, little smaller and thiner. Very gentle dog that lives freely in the area and travels a circuit to visit his many friends and eat some handouts. Bobby, or Roberto as we sometimes call him, comes to the gates of our villa and waits until someone sees him, then barks and wags his tail with great enthusiasm. Fortunately for Bobby he’s befriended a house of dog lovers, as we have 3 small husky pomeranian mix dogs and because we always save him some scraps, which he’s come to enjoy each day like clockwork.

(more…)

It’s the country’s biggest, richest city, but São Paulo ranks just 11th out of Brazil’s 26 state capitals (and Brasilia) as a place to live. The Fundação Getúlio Vargas, a business school, analysed quality-of-life data from about 48,000 families and produced a report that took 12 variables into account, including income levels, sanitation, pollution and violence. Brasilia was named the best urban environment, while Rio Branco in the north-west border state of Acre came last.
But São Paulo need not despair: the city was only about one point behind Rio de Janeiro, and unlike 13 other state capitals, it had a positive rather than negative evaluation. Paulistanos rated their city negatively for violence, but may not have taken into account the most recent crime statistics. From July to September this year murders fell 26%, to 584, compared with the same period last year.