B.B.D. @ IPANEMA BEACH

Gotta love that beach life. We've been chillin' at the Wave Hostel in Rio for the past week now. And what's cool about this hostel is:
a.) It's only 2 short blocks from Ipanema Beach.

and

b.) They serve free breakfast daily from 8am - 10am which includes toast, ham, cheese, butter, jelly, juice and fresh fruits.

Here's a sample of what a typical casual wake up conversation might sound like as we lay in our bunks in our 6 bed dorm:

Me: ahhhh (full arm stretch)
Muzz: yes
Me: You got the time dude?
Muzz: yeah, hold up...11:30a.m.
Me: ahhhh....did you make it to breakfast?
Muzz: naw.
Me: that sucks. you hungry at all?
Muzz: i could eat.
Me: let's do it...

So far, I have only made it to breakfast once. Not too shabby.

But right around the corner from our hostel is a Por Quilo restuarant that we've been making frequent visits to. There's a bunch of these in Brazil and this is how it works. It's basically a buffet but you are charged based on how much your plate of food weighs, hence per kilo (por quilo). I try to get on the healthier side of things with eats like salmon, carrots, and spinach rice. And to avoid beach dook potentials, I stay away from the beans. Good stuff.







and then...the big surprise! Guess those carrots were heavier than I thought.


And after the eats, we gots to hit up Ipanema Beach. These Cariocas (people from Rio) love their beaches especially on the weekends. And when the sky is clear and the sun is ablaze, you can bet your bottom dollar that the beach is gonna be packed.




And on Sundays, it's pretty dope how they close off the main road along the beach to create more space for people to jog, ride their cruisers, skate, jog, and roller blade. I like that.


All the girls here are carrying something around that I've never seen back home. And what they are carrying is a genetic gene that produces HUGE butts. It must be a Triple-Helix or something. Seriously though...normal bodies and then just a HUGE perfect firm curvy butt out of nowhere. Thongs have never looked so nice.




We also check out some girls volleyball practice and games. They got mad skills here and we've seen some vicious spikes.


But before we saw B.B.D., we bobbed our heads to the funky hip sounds of this band just grooving their minds away. It was interesting to see a band with two drummers. I didn't understand a word they were saying but it was Mentally Hip-Hop Smoothed Out on the R&B Tip with a Pop Feel Appeal to it.


As we were walking along the shore, in the corner of my eye I spot B.B.D. coming out of the waters....



and people are asking if they could take a picture...





HOLLLLLLLAAAAAAAA!!!!
















B.B.D. = Buff Big Dark (the man in the center)

Not Bell Biv DeVoe but a very casual celebrity sighting on the beaches of Ipanema. The funny thing is, none of us knew his name (celebrity?). When I saw him I was like "hey muzz, there's that big black guy from "White Chicks" but I didn't really think it was him. And then Muzz was like "oh shoot, that is him" Then I took a closer look and saw that people were asking to take pictures with him. This B.B.D. guy is HUGE and hella stood out.

Before we took that great album cover shot, we got a chance to talk to him and this dude is hella cool. On the most perfect day on the beach where he could be totally relaxing, this guy takes the time to talk and take pictures with his fans. You gotta love it. Apparently, he's down here in Brazil shooting a film titled "The Expendables" coming out next year. He told us "We're blowing stuff up man." What that means, I'm not so sure but he definitely sounded hype naming the all- star cast of Mickey Rourke, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, etc. The conversation got so casual with the classic "where you guys from? how do you like Brazil?" that later Muzz told me that he almost accidentally threw in the other classic "i'm sorry, what was your name again?"

And if youre' still wondering what his name is like we were, it's Terry Crews. Here's one of his classic scenes. Classic???





And with that said, I myself will be "making my way downtown" to San Diego next week for 6 days before heading to the Motherlands - The Philippine Islands. Can't wait to see the fam, eat mexican food, and catch some NBA playoffs.


Go Lakers! Go Lakers! Go Lakers!

Beautiful, I just want you to know...

I think I found my new calling: Video editor of the Year

Check it out...

Feliz Páscoa!

Happy Easter to all from Rio de Janeiro!!!





I sit here wondering a couple of things:
1. how did 2 months in Brazil just fly by?
2 how I have yet to lose my lip balm after 7 months.
3. how many more times is this invisible mosquito going to bite me? (scratch, scratch)
4. why do Brazilians prefer to use utensils to eat a Eggcheeseburger w/ bacon?
5. Cristo Redentor - 700 meters tall? WOW!

While I continue to wonder, in honor of Easter Sunday, I present to you.....Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) and friends.

We're buddies, and we're cousins and we're brothers...






The view from up here is absolutely breathtaking. That thing sticking out of the water right behind us in the center of this photo....yeah, that's what they call the Sugar Loaf.



YESSSSS! We were definitely in the clouds and got a view of my favorite- classic fog. It felt like Daly City, but we waited it out for a couple of hours for the sun to make a move. While waiting we found humor watching all the gringos going for that perfect pose and photographers getting creative to work that perfect angle...





You don't learn this technique in Photography 101:


And here we are again at the same exact spot as the fog photo. After several chants of "REDEEM the Clouds" (i'm not even sure what that means), the sun made a move and ahhhh....there was the Sugar Loaf.



We took the cable up to the top of that Loaf to catch another view of what is known as the Marvelous City.


Sugar Loaf pt. 1


Sugar Loaf the sequel.



This, my friend, is the Copa...Copacabana.


And here's Muzz getting a closer look at Redentor. If you look closely you can see Cristo Redentor at the top of the highest peak. Muzz tried to bust out some trivia on us.
Muzz: How many meters tall do you think Redentor is?
Me: Hmmm...good question (thinking....)
Brian: Ummm...I'd say about 226 meters.
Muzz: Okay.
Me: TWO HUNDRED??? Damn...that's HUGE. I say....about 35 meters.
Brian: 35?..that's it? That's like from here to that wall (pointing to a hella close wall).
Muzz: You ready for this? 700 meters.
Me & Brian: WOAAAAHHHHHHHH.




Muzz wasn't lying when he told me way back in October when I first got to BsAs... , "this trip is gonna be SIC." That's gotta be the understatment of the year.

But Muzz was lying about one thing. He misread the facts. I knew it couldn't be true but for some reason I believed it. 700 METERS????
After a day of confusion, Muzz revealed his guilt and informed us that Cristo Redentor is actually 700 meters above the ground. "Samsonite, I was way off." The statue itself is 38 meters tall.

Me: I knew that was fake.
Muzz: That'd be sic though.

So go ahead and look back at the photo where Muzz is looking through that telescope and imagine Redentor being as tall as that entire peak looking over the Marvelous City of Rio de Janeiro. We had a major giggle session. And til this day, I get the giggles just picturing how HUGE of a statue that would be.

Happy Easter everybody and see you soon...