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RE: Tell me some good news; Go west old man!
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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 RE: Tell me some good news; Go west ... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
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This French guy was drawing the Golden Pavilion. A group of schoolkids showed up with their teacher. The kids were utterly silent and stood still while they watched the artist for five minutes. Even so, it must have been a little unnerving to have a dozen cute kids following your every gesture.
Everywhere we went there were groups of school kids with their teachers, being exposed to their cultural heritage.
When I was in high school we lived in Washington, DC. Some of us guys used to go to the Natonal Gallery of Art on weekends. Chances were much better there of meeting a girl who had read a book, played an instrument, or knew who Matisse was. But you didn't see gangs of well-behaved 11-year olds looking at the paintings with their teachers.
In the spring it was time to troll the busloads of kids on the Mall who were on their high school trips from North Carolina or West Virginia, checking out the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. With our ducktail haircuts, roll collar shirts and skinny trousers we were clearly cooler than the country boys.
The girls were more likely to be into the Top 40 than Mozart. On the few occasions I managed to borow my Dad's black Cadillac
http://tinyurl.com/9ml33qy
we did much better than in my little Ford that was born the same year I was, though it had literally belonged to a little old lady who only drove it to church and the grocery store.
http://tinyurl.com/9yxhdpk
It was tough sneaking the girls away from their chaperones, but if you could, it was a positive indication.
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Date Oct. 22 2012 1:14:08
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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RE: Tell me some good news; Go west ... (in reply to estebanana)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: estebanana
You are a wild man.
No. I was an Air Force brat. Military kids have been around. A lot of them figure out that "the way it's supposed to be" can be different in place A than it is in place B. They learn to size up a situation, adapt and act.
My Dad used to say that if you were really brave, really smart, or really well connected politically, you could get a star--become a general. Two of those qualities, you could get two stars, all three qualities, three stars. All three qualities plus tall, handsome and lucky, you could get four stars. So the sons and daughters of generals and admirals have certain kinds of examples set for them.
There are way more generals and admirals in Washington DC than anywhere else. Well, maybe Beijing? So when you put together a pack of military brats who have been around, learned from it, and whose fathers are flag rank officers, you are going to have a certain percentage.....
RNJ
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Date Oct. 22 2012 3:19:53
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: Tell me some good news; Go west ... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
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quote:
There are way more generals and admirals in Washington DC than anywhere else.
There certainly are more than enough generals and admirals in Washington, DC, Richard. Nevertheless, in per capita terms, both by size of population and size of military/naval forces, some developing countries have us beat by a mile. In many Latin American nations, for example, the military/navy has provided a nice landing pad for those sons of prominent families who did not go into law, diplomacy, or the family enterprise. As one example, the Bolivian navy (although Bolivia is a landlocked country, think patrol boats on Lake Titicaca) a few years ago boasted 11 admirals. Didn't require much heavy lifting!
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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Date Oct. 22 2012 11:02:49
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: Tell me some good news; Go west ... (in reply to estebanana)
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Stephen and Richard,
I wish I could contribute to your discussion concerning Japanese girlfriends, both past and present. Unfortunately, I never had the good fortune to have a Japanese girlfriend. Ever. Most of my professional life, both as a career Foreign Service Officer and subsequent to retirement, as a consultant, has been spent living and working in Southeast Asia and the Pacific--Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Burma, Thailand, Palau, Micronesia, Samoa--with a couple of detours to South America (Chile and Colombia). During that entire time I have been married to a Brazilian woman I met in Arizona in 1971 while a graduate student. She was Studying at Arizona State University on a scholarship from Brazil, and I was Studying for my Master's. In May 2013, we will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary.
I can tell you that marriage to a Brazilian woman has been one of the great adventures of my life! Marta (my wife) often accompanies me on my consulting gigs (Malaysia, Palau, Samoa, for example. Unfortunately her schedule did not permit her to come with me to Micronesia this year). We both felt so at home on our Southeast Asian assignments, that Marta herself commented that we must have been Southeast Asians ourselves in a previous existence. Having visited Brazil and Marta's friends, as well as noting the women from Salvador de Bahia in the North, to Rio de Janeiro, to Porto Alegre in the South, I would like to say that Brazilian women have to be among the most beautiful and funloving creatures on this good Earth. But I know that can be said about any women. I could say it with equal sincerity about Colombian women and be equally correct. Or Thais. Or Malays. Or Burmese.
But when I read your comments and experiences with Japanese women, I wonder if I may have missed something by not having sampled that delight before settling down with Marta. I will never know. But I will continue vicariously experiencing the possibility by reading your posts.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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Date Oct. 22 2012 15:11:24
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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RE: Tell me some good news; Go west ... (in reply to BarkellWH)
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There are more people with striking good looks, of all genders, complexions, ages and social strata on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro than anywhere else I have been. And all wearing the absolute minimum of clothes!
Gloria, Flamengo, Botafogo, Urca, Leme, Copacabana, Arpoador, Ipanema, Leblon, São Conrado, Tijuca---a festival of human beauty and good spirits.
But don't go down the short steep slope to the water with your expensive camera. You're out of sight of the barefoot plain clothes cops in T-shirts, with Berettas stuck in the waistbands of their swim trunks. The pistols are out of sight under their T-shirts unless the breeze happens to print their shirts against their bellies. 99.9% of the tourists are totally unaware of the cops.
I saw a ruddy blond chunky guy cross the Avenida Atlantica by himself with a gigantic video camera. He stood on the sidewalk filming the girls on the beach. Instantly three cops surrounded him. He never noticed them on the crowded sidewalk.
The beach boys are the geniuses from the favelas--the slums. They know two or three languages besides Portuguese. They can size you up in the blink of an eye. They can hint at the availability of drugs, the possibility of introducing you to some of the pretty girls in view, without ever being specific or pushing. Or they can rapidly conclude that all you want is a chair, an umbrella and a cold beer, for five bucks.
A half block back from the beach on the side streets you can have a charcoal grilled half chicken or an excellent steak, a big pile of golden delicious french fries, a bowl of chopped tomatoes, green peppers and onions, a can of olive oil to drizzle over them, some delicious bread rolls and an ice cold Antarctica on draft, all for ten bucks.
Breakfast is excellent coffee with hot milk, a staggering assortment of tropical fruits and good Roman style bread. Yes!
Twelve years ago I sat at Meia Petaca ["half a straw sleeping mat"], a cafe across from the beach, near the entrance to Help disco, now closed. You might say the area specialized in night life. The cafe doesn't look like much. The clientele spans the working and middle classes. The food is excellent.
I dined with two young sisters I had met on the beach. They had part time jobs, but didn't mind dining out with a middle aged American.
I had offered to take them to a trendy Italian place in Leblon, but they were Brazilian girls from Minas Gerais. They wanted steak. We had steak au poivre, a good salad and excellent risotto. I commented on the risotto to the waiter.
"But of course, the chef is from Milan!" he replied.
Halfway through the meal a little beggar came in off the sidewalk, maybe seven or eight years old. He was barefoot and bare chested, dressed only in shorts. He had caramel skin, blond ringlets and an angelic beauty. He shyly asked for crusts of bread, but the girls fell in love with him and fed him morsels of steak and risotto.
The waiter hustled over to kick the kid out. The girls objected. To please the girls I intervened and said, "This young man is my guest. Please let him eat in peace." The waiter backed off reluctantly. I showed the kid how to butter his bread with a knife, instead of smearing it on with his fingers.
Seated at the open window, keeping an eye on their Mercedes parked at the curb, were two flashily dressed guys with a lot of gold jewelry. With them was a stunning young green eyed blonde. Later, she said she was eighteen, but my girls admired the workmanship of her ID card. The guys answered their cellphones often, appeared to negotiate, and made notes on a pocket pad of paper. The guys and the girl laughed and joked together.
When we finished our dessert, glasses of expensive cognac appeared, without my ordering them. The two guys nodded and waved. My girls said they knew the blonde, so I waved the three of them over to our table, and thanked them for the drinks.
One of the guys said, indicating the little beggar, "When I was his age, I was just like him, sneaking into the cafes and begging for bread crusts. You are a good man to treat him well."
"It was the girls' idea."
On that trip and others I met engineers, scholars, the great luthier and former classical player Sergio Abreu, a famous musician who was giving a free show in his old neighborhood of Copacabana, and a long list of other wonderful people.
At Maracanã stadium, together with an immense crowd, I watched Flamengo play Botafogo, the only football (soccer) game I've ever been to where each team brought their own samba band.
The Brazilians know how to live.
RNJ
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Date Oct. 23 2012 0:07:42
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: Tell me some good news; Go west ... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
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Speaking of Rio's beaches and the lovely Brazilian female fauna that inhabit them daily, that wonderful song "The Girl from Ipanema" (Portuguese: "Garota de Ipanema") turned 50 this year. With music composed by Brazilian Antonio Carlos Jobim, and lyrics by the Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes, "The Girl from Ipanema" really put Brazil on the world's musical map with the great 1962 version by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto.
The Brazilian-American guitarist Manny Moreira described "The Girl from Ipanema" as follows, and I have never heard a better description of this iconic song: "To the layperson, 'The Girl from Ipanema' sounds like a nice song, but to the trained ear it is perfection." This year on the 50th anniversary of the song, the original girl (woman) who inspired the song was located and interviewed by several publications. Her name is Heloísa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto (now Helô Pinheiro), and at the age of 66 she still possesses stunning beauty. Back then, she really did pass daily in front of a watering hole known as the Veloso Bar and Cafe, and the rest is history. With all the wars, conflict, world events, and major news stories since, I still think this is one of the great stories of our time.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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Date Oct. 23 2012 14:40:04
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Ruphus
Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010
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RE: Tell me some good news; Go west ... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
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Stunning beauties can be found everywhere, but most thrilling to me remain blondes; Scandinavian ones, with Denmark appearing like quite a dorado. ... Then again, slavic ... Russian scene ain´t exactly shabby either ...
They seem to have invetented long legs, full rounds and kaleidoskopic iris.
As unspectacular have I noted the balkan. ( Former) Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Romania etc.
Further, to my nose colours appear to unite fragrance of skin.
My snuffling preferance in ranking order: brunettes ( slinkily sweet ), blondes ( excitingly intimate), red haired ( a bit tough ), black ( less appealing to me).
Most sympathetic types: Reds. ( Including males as chums.) We seem to somehow dig each other.
Ruphus
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Date Oct. 23 2012 18:17:10
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