I have two things on my mind today. First, it is really hard to find books about Brazil that are not general Latin American histories. I am interested in this topic for many reasons, but the primary reason for its timeliness is that my family's new au pair, Elis, will be joining the family on August 12. She is from a rural part of Sao Paulo state. So, I am trying to find out more about her country. I was hoping to find an author that writes like Julia Alvarez about the Dominican Republic - where there is history, historical context - but also a plot based story line. I would have accepted a Bill Bryson-esque funny travel book about the country. But, I can't find anything other than histories that talk about macroeconomic or currency crises. There is nothing about Brazil since its constitution was ratified in 1988...that's right 1988 - within my life time and with no one apparently wearing a wig. So, I have resorted to reading the Economist's section on Latin America and simply speculating on past activities. So, for example, Brazil has started to give soft money to foreign powers to increase its prestige in the developing world. I think that this is clearly a continuation of their wild espoinage activities of the 1990s. They were so deep underground - that no one even saw them - so now they have been forced to actually make people aware that they care about the rest of the world - politically. So, it is only a matter of time before we see Tom Clancy writing about the Power to our south and its nuclear aspirations. I already have some great plot lines and am craving an opportunity to do research in Copacabana.
More importantly, why does it seem like every mention in popular American culture of Brazil is about four topics - soccer, Amazon rainforest, ethanol, or economic crises. For example, my au pair has expressed a desire to drink her favorite soda - Guarana Antarctica - not available in Omaha. Not available despite being the second most popular drink in a country of $193 million that shares our times zones. This country is larger than Italy, the United Kingdom and France - combined. It has 14 cities with more than 1 million people. It is the fifth largest country in the world. How do we not have their best domestic soda; we still have Tab for crying out loud.
Some other tid-bits. They speak Portuguese. In fact, there are more Portuguese speakers in Sao Paulo then in Portugal (that would be a country).
The flight time from Houston to Rio de Janeiro is roughly the same as it is to Paris and London. Oh and by the way, that holds true for Miami also because Brazil extends much further to the east of the U.S. And Rio de Janeiro, by the way, is almost as far away from the U.S. as is possible in Brazil.
How is this possible? Why do we as a country know so little about a very large country that is relatively nearby. I blame my brother, Jim. No real reason - just because he is there.
So on to point 2.
Second, my brother's (Jim) quest to find an EPL team - and thus the irony that I would write about something that is clearly Jim's fault just before offering yet more good natured, brotherly advice. I have attached a link to a posting on espn.com about Manchester City's efforts to buy an EPL title. As a mercenary fan who is only followishing, this appears to be the perfect team. There are recognizable stars (Tevez, both Toures, Daniel Silva, Robinho (Brazilian)) and will be interesting story lines. I say go for it Jim. Manchester City should be your team.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Independence
I am hereby declaring my independence from Mary's blog. For months I have waited for something - almost anything on which to write. I have missed ample world cup opportunities. I have missed vomit on birthday cake opportunities. I have missed my chance to end war and bring this world to perpetual piece. In short, not just I, but you the reader deserve more than the woeful ineptitude of a blog that only updates once every couple of months. Pathetic. Therefore, I hereby state that while I might comment on other blogs including my sister's, I will not be beholden to them. I am independent.
And with that, I will write a quick blog about a couple of things.
1) My wife and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on July 15, 2010. I can't believe that we have been married for 10 years. Its amazing to think that in another ten years - I will have kids in college and none of my kids will be as little as the oldest is today.
2) My brother Jim may not only be the smartest Chapman - but also the funniest writer. Since he does not have a blog, I have posted his most recent email. I will admit to being the sibling.
Howdy Family,
So I felt that I had been an email slacker for long enough. It turns out that my
absence in any form of communication was noticed by at least one of my siblings.
A couple weeks ago, I had the following phone call with one of you.
Me: “Hey, “sibling””
Sibling: “Hey, just wanted to make sure you were alive”
Me: “Yep, alive and kicking, what’s up?”
Sibling: “Oh, that’s all I really had to ask.”
This led me to think, “hmmmm, my family is wondering about the status of my
aliveitude…I should probably send some form of communication to reassure them
that I still walk in this plain of existence”. Due to my overall sloth, I have
chosen a short mass email. Because it is short and I don’t really have any
recent stories or desire to write on any informative chemical engineering topic,
it is in list format.
1. I am alive.
2. I am writing this at work during lunch while babysitting a plant trial (that
has lasted 3 weeks and counting). The plant trial is rather uneventful (“read
boring as (insert favorite expletive here)”) and yet somehow time consuming. At
this point we are simply spinning our wheels, but the higher ups want to press
forward, so forward we shall press and more of my time we shall waste...I could
explain more but that would indicate that I care at this point…and that would
just be a lie.
3. As it turns out, summer in Houston is a rather warm and humid endeavor, and
yet I feel completely acclimated…perhaps it’s the running in 105-110F heat index
weather regularly, perhaps it’s because I’m naturally just so cool (yeah, I went
there, you know you like it).
4. As of this moment, I am still alive.
5. I don’t care about the Lebacle, the NBA is boring and it is over, go away
until whenever your season starts.
6. I heard this and found it funny. The world cup is like Twilight, pretty
people run around for two hours not scoring, and all the while, its billion fans
tell you that you just don’t understand…On a plus note, it provided sports
entertainment to help me get a month closer to football season.
7. My girlfriend is good.
8. College football season is only 47 days away. Yes I am quite excited. As I
previously mentioned, I have been forced to resort to lesser sports to fill my
time, and it has not always been pretty. I now know faaaaar more about Nascar
than I should. And oh yes, I have favorite drivers. Can you guess who?
9. The Tom Chapman sponsored question, does Jim have a girlfriend? No I do not.
Foooooooooooled you. And you got so excited after question 7. I am the puppet
master and you are my marionettes. Dance puppets, dance.
10. …Still alive.
11. I have recently begun watching True Blood. It is quite entertaining but not
for all audiences.
12. I am looking for suggestions on the following topics (oh yes, a list inside
a list, I can just feel your glee)
a. Locations to visit that would be fun. Omaha does not count, do not suggest
it, I will just mock you mercilessly.
b. A soccer team from either the EPL or La Liga to follow…well lets be serious,
followish.
c. A beer or whiskey to try that I have not…uh, never mind, not the right
crowd…Mary, can you name me your top 5 moderately priced, available in the
States, scotches.
d. A movie, a tv show, a book, or some other form of entertainment.
e. A website to read on a semi regular basis.
f. A pearl of wisdom.
g. In the Chapman spirit of writing random stuff for a small not very captive
audience, should I start a blog?
h. Something to add to my bucket list…well my next year of my life bucket
list…so I suppose it’s more of a cake list…like before I have another birthday
cake…and we’re moving on.
13. On a serious note, I would like to request a moment of silence for Anthony
Rendon’s right ankle. If you put my left with his right, oh the humanity, ankles
would be pointed every which direction.
14. I strongly endorse the following link:
http://www.nimportequi.com/en/video_remi_pacman.html
15. And one more for you Star Wars fans out there.
http://thebubble.msn.com/#/video/?id=dd82f5b2-9b14-4b3f-9b76-4e6076850541
16. So, I got my oil changed last Friday…oh, and a haircut…like I said I don’t
have very many exciting stories for y’all. On a plus note, being able to do
those things means that I am still alive.
17. The second to last The Bachelorette of the season is on tonight…I’m willing
to bet someone’s not there for the right reasons…In other news, the sky is blue,
the sun is hot, and I’ll be watching something else.
18. If you couldn’t tell, I’ve hit full on rambling mode. My goal was to get to
20, but sometimes you fail…and sometimes you redefine success to meet what
you’ve already achieved. 18!!! SUCCESS!!!
When at first you don’t succeed, redefine success.
3) Spurs looked anemic in their summer opener. But we are within a couple of weeks of both the Premiership opener with Manchester City and the Champions League. I really, really, really hope that we sign another striker and bring back Giovanni De Los Santos to play in midfield during the week. We had lots of injuries last year in the midfield and a little more speedy depth would be good.
And under point 12(b) above - I recommend that Jim jump on the Champions League band wagon and root for the good North Londoners - Tottenham Hotspur. If not Spurs in the EPL, I would recommend Everton (because of the existing, Howard, and potential, Donovan, US connection) or Manchester City because they are spending a TON of money and so will be good indefinitely and yet they have not won anything yet so they are not ridiculously bandwagon material. Finally, they have great uniforms and colors.
In La Liga, I'd root for either Vallencia or Sevilla - probably Sevilla because with Daniel Silva's move to Man City from Vallencia, they team may be unable to repeat last year's third place finish. As an aside, arguably Man City which finished fifth last year in the EPL has had three of the five best transfers of the summer period - Daniel Silva, Yaya Toure and German International Jerome Boateng. Collectively, they just made Man City a lot better, especially when you consider last summer and a year for last year's acquisitions to gel. I wonder if Robinho will be back and better or if he is back to Brazil forever.
Obviously, rooting for either Barca or Real Madrid in La Liga or Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool or Arsenal in EPL is pretty weak. So, seriously, dude, don't be pretty weak. Choose wisely.
And with that, I will write a quick blog about a couple of things.
1) My wife and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on July 15, 2010. I can't believe that we have been married for 10 years. Its amazing to think that in another ten years - I will have kids in college and none of my kids will be as little as the oldest is today.
2) My brother Jim may not only be the smartest Chapman - but also the funniest writer. Since he does not have a blog, I have posted his most recent email. I will admit to being the sibling.
Howdy Family,
So I felt that I had been an email slacker for long enough. It turns out that my
absence in any form of communication was noticed by at least one of my siblings.
A couple weeks ago, I had the following phone call with one of you.
Me: “Hey, “sibling””
Sibling: “Hey, just wanted to make sure you were alive”
Me: “Yep, alive and kicking, what’s up?”
Sibling: “Oh, that’s all I really had to ask.”
This led me to think, “hmmmm, my family is wondering about the status of my
aliveitude…I should probably send some form of communication to reassure them
that I still walk in this plain of existence”. Due to my overall sloth, I have
chosen a short mass email. Because it is short and I don’t really have any
recent stories or desire to write on any informative chemical engineering topic,
it is in list format.
1. I am alive.
2. I am writing this at work during lunch while babysitting a plant trial (that
has lasted 3 weeks and counting). The plant trial is rather uneventful (“read
boring as (insert favorite expletive here)”) and yet somehow time consuming. At
this point we are simply spinning our wheels, but the higher ups want to press
forward, so forward we shall press and more of my time we shall waste...I could
explain more but that would indicate that I care at this point…and that would
just be a lie.
3. As it turns out, summer in Houston is a rather warm and humid endeavor, and
yet I feel completely acclimated…perhaps it’s the running in 105-110F heat index
weather regularly, perhaps it’s because I’m naturally just so cool (yeah, I went
there, you know you like it).
4. As of this moment, I am still alive.
5. I don’t care about the Lebacle, the NBA is boring and it is over, go away
until whenever your season starts.
6. I heard this and found it funny. The world cup is like Twilight, pretty
people run around for two hours not scoring, and all the while, its billion fans
tell you that you just don’t understand…On a plus note, it provided sports
entertainment to help me get a month closer to football season.
7. My girlfriend is good.
8. College football season is only 47 days away. Yes I am quite excited. As I
previously mentioned, I have been forced to resort to lesser sports to fill my
time, and it has not always been pretty. I now know faaaaar more about Nascar
than I should. And oh yes, I have favorite drivers. Can you guess who?
9. The Tom Chapman sponsored question, does Jim have a girlfriend? No I do not.
Foooooooooooled you. And you got so excited after question 7. I am the puppet
master and you are my marionettes. Dance puppets, dance.
10. …Still alive.
11. I have recently begun watching True Blood. It is quite entertaining but not
for all audiences.
12. I am looking for suggestions on the following topics (oh yes, a list inside
a list, I can just feel your glee)
a. Locations to visit that would be fun. Omaha does not count, do not suggest
it, I will just mock you mercilessly.
b. A soccer team from either the EPL or La Liga to follow…well lets be serious,
followish.
c. A beer or whiskey to try that I have not…uh, never mind, not the right
crowd…Mary, can you name me your top 5 moderately priced, available in the
States, scotches.
d. A movie, a tv show, a book, or some other form of entertainment.
e. A website to read on a semi regular basis.
f. A pearl of wisdom.
g. In the Chapman spirit of writing random stuff for a small not very captive
audience, should I start a blog?
h. Something to add to my bucket list…well my next year of my life bucket
list…so I suppose it’s more of a cake list…like before I have another birthday
cake…and we’re moving on.
13. On a serious note, I would like to request a moment of silence for Anthony
Rendon’s right ankle. If you put my left with his right, oh the humanity, ankles
would be pointed every which direction.
14. I strongly endorse the following link:
http://www.nimportequi.com/en/video_remi_pacman.html
15. And one more for you Star Wars fans out there.
http://thebubble.msn.com/#/video/?id=dd82f5b2-9b14-4b3f-9b76-4e6076850541
16. So, I got my oil changed last Friday…oh, and a haircut…like I said I don’t
have very many exciting stories for y’all. On a plus note, being able to do
those things means that I am still alive.
17. The second to last The Bachelorette of the season is on tonight…I’m willing
to bet someone’s not there for the right reasons…In other news, the sky is blue,
the sun is hot, and I’ll be watching something else.
18. If you couldn’t tell, I’ve hit full on rambling mode. My goal was to get to
20, but sometimes you fail…and sometimes you redefine success to meet what
you’ve already achieved. 18!!! SUCCESS!!!
When at first you don’t succeed, redefine success.
3) Spurs looked anemic in their summer opener. But we are within a couple of weeks of both the Premiership opener with Manchester City and the Champions League. I really, really, really hope that we sign another striker and bring back Giovanni De Los Santos to play in midfield during the week. We had lots of injuries last year in the midfield and a little more speedy depth would be good.
And under point 12(b) above - I recommend that Jim jump on the Champions League band wagon and root for the good North Londoners - Tottenham Hotspur. If not Spurs in the EPL, I would recommend Everton (because of the existing, Howard, and potential, Donovan, US connection) or Manchester City because they are spending a TON of money and so will be good indefinitely and yet they have not won anything yet so they are not ridiculously bandwagon material. Finally, they have great uniforms and colors.
In La Liga, I'd root for either Vallencia or Sevilla - probably Sevilla because with Daniel Silva's move to Man City from Vallencia, they team may be unable to repeat last year's third place finish. As an aside, arguably Man City which finished fifth last year in the EPL has had three of the five best transfers of the summer period - Daniel Silva, Yaya Toure and German International Jerome Boateng. Collectively, they just made Man City a lot better, especially when you consider last summer and a year for last year's acquisitions to gel. I wonder if Robinho will be back and better or if he is back to Brazil forever.
Obviously, rooting for either Barca or Real Madrid in La Liga or Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool or Arsenal in EPL is pretty weak. So, seriously, dude, don't be pretty weak. Choose wisely.
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