Check out Mike Tyson's NBA Tattoo Reviews on the Jimmy Kimmel Show called "Tattoo time,LMAO! Watch it after the jump........
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Mike Tyson's NBA Tattoo Reviews on Tattoo Time
Check out Mike Tyson's NBA Tattoo Reviews on the Jimmy Kimmel Show called "Tattoo time,LMAO! Watch it after the jump........
Musical May Madness: Bossa Nova
I've mentioned it before - I love Brazilian music (and yes, I'm aware that there is a variety of genres). I like samba, pagode, axe, funk, and even some forro. In fact, it was the music that sparked my interest in wanting to learn the Portuguese language and that's probably what eventually lead me to Brazil. I especially like Bossa Nova; it's so romantic and makes you want to dance slowly with a partner or listen to a musician play music live while relaxing at a bar or restaurant in Brazil.
Therefore, for my final Musical May Madness, I present you with a few videos of Bossa Nova music. They may be old, but they're classics. I hope you can appreciate the music as much as I do.
Turn up your speakers, sit back, relax, and just listen and enjoy....
Goodbye May. You were swell.
Ahhhhh! 40 something days left until we leave. I remember when we had 4 months left. I can't believe that it's already the last day of May. This month FLEW BY.
I'm not just ending a stressful school year, but I'm realizing that I won't have much of a summer vacation this year. Turns out I only have about a month. I finish teaching this week, have final exams next week, and then 2 teacher work days to tie up my loose ends and move out of my classroom by the end of the week next week. That means a lot of grading, putting the finishing touches on my students' final exam, grading the exam (but I'm smart - it's multiple choice on scantron), and saying goodbye to my co-workers and students. Then we know what's next....
Once school's out I can focus on our moving preparations "full time" for a month before we leave. I've made my appointments to cancel our services, take care of the cat's business, and we've sold most of what we advertised on-line. That's what takes most of the time and energy and is not fun. Packing and sorting is not a big pain because I get to walk down memory lane as I do it. We also need to take yet another trip to the consulate in Miami and we have a 5-day vacation, if you will, to New York to spend time with my family and friends.
I want to be careful that this post doesn't just turn into a list of what I have to do before we leave. I was just thinking about how time flew. Maybe it's because it's the last official month of school. I think that's it. My job was tough this year and part of me can't believe that I survived the school. Makes me really think about what my experience will be at a private, international school in Brazil. I've been working at poor, public schools for years and that's what I'm used to. Leaves me wondering how my experience will change in Brazil....how will I cope with teaching students who are more dedicated? Who come from education parents? Who have educated parents? Who really do want to go to college? It makes me anxious. I'm just going to have to be very observant and learn what I can about the school, the students, and the parents beforehand to try and prepare myself. I just know that if I can survive in an environment like where I'm working now, I can make it anywhere.
It seems simple making the transition from students who fight you when you try to teach to teaching compliant students. I hope that it'll be easy and that I'll be able to modify all of my lesson plans to accommodate my students' needs and the school's expectations. Somehow I believe I will.
Right now I need to get back to grading papers on "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet", Act II, Scene I.
What language do you dream in?
I remember being told by someone long ago that when you dream in your second (same could go for third or fourth) language that you have made it. Meaning you are fluent. I loved hearing that. I actually thought it was fascinating since I've been obsessed with languages for years, and that includes sign language. I've known since I was in high school that I'd be involved with foreign languages somehow in my life because I can say for sure that that and culture have long been interests of mine, hence my double major in college - Anthropology and Spanish. For years I'd wanted to know more about exchange students and when I was in 11th grade I jumped on the chance to apply to be one and adventure off to the unknown once I had graduated from high school.
I can't recall the first dream that I had in Spanish, but I know it was after I'd been living in Bolivia for some time. I imagine that it was after at least 6 months of being there. It makes sense. I spoke a lot of Spanish throughout the day - to my host families, friends, boyfriend, taxi drivers, store owners, etc. I don't remember that first dream being completely in Spanish, but I know that I was speaking Spanish as I dreamt. Once I woke up and realized what I'd done, I felt exhilarated. I had accomplished what only bilingual people do. Correct? At least I felt I could brag to people that I had dreamt in a foreign language.
Fast forward a number of years and I can say with assurance that I have dreamt in Portuguese as well. I know that I dreamt in the language while I was in Brazil and that I don't do so regularly. I mean, English is my native language and I didn't dream in a second language until I was 18 years old (while in Bolivia) so it's not a daily occurrence or anything, but it happens. Additionally, I often think and talk to myself in Portuguese. I catch myself doing this when I'm thinking about something that I want to say to my husband and I talk to my cat in both languages; I believe that comes from the fact that I'm constantly speaking Portuguese to E, so why not to the cat or to myself? It's a habit.
I remember once having a bad dream, not too long ago, that was in English. In this dream, someone was either going to hurt or kill me and I was scared, but all of a sudden E appeared and saved me. Once he entered into my dream I looked at him and spoke to him in Portuguese, thanking him of course. Once I was finished addressing him I reverted back to speaking/thinking/dreaming in English. Interesting, isn't it? It's like since I normally speak Portuguese with E on a daily basis, that transferred over to my dream and I interrupted my English language dreaming in order to respond to E's saving me, at which time I spoke Portuguese. When I turned back to speak to the other person in my dream, I must have assumed that he was an English language speaker like myself.
For a multilingual, pseudo Anthropologist as myself this is all so interesting. I like to "study" my own language acquisition and learn from myself. I believe that it helps make me a better language teacher. I also observe my husband and those around me.
My questions now are....what language do you dream in? Do you have bilingual dreams? Does the language you're speaking in your dream change depending on who you're "talking" to (like me)? Do you speak your second/third/fourth language fluently when you dream?
Was Jersey Shore's Snooki Drunk Driving in crash in Florence, Italy?
2011 Air Jordan x New Era Fitted Hat
Monday, May 30, 2011
My multicultural family
 |
| Our wedding day |
I have a small multicultural family. Just me and my husband. Nevertheless, we are a multicultural unit. By "multi" + cultured I mean that we each have more than one culture. I'm an American of European descent. E is a Brazilian who is Native American and European. My native language is English and E's is of course Portuguese. We eat different foods, we grew up listening to music that the other had never heard of, and watching TV shows that the other will never get a chance to watch. Our traditions are diverse, our customs, our physical appearances, our likes and dislikes. And I know that E comes from an Amazonian (Brazilian) culture where my northeastern upbringing has greatly influenced the person that I am today. Neither of us had ever truly experienced the culture of the other and probably didn't really understand one another until we first slept in each other's childhood homes.
I got to thinking about multicultural relationships recently as I was introduced to New Latina, "a personal growth and lifestyle on-line magazine for women" by a good friend of mine from college. I realize that I am not a Latina, but I was asked by the founding editor and publisher to contribute to an article that she was writing about bicultural relationships (with a focus on Latinas and their "gringo" partners). I was asked a few questions via e-mail about my relationship and this started the ball rolling...in my head....and I started to think about this "bi/multi cultural" relationship/marriage that I'm a part of. And then, much like me, I started to read and read and read about other people's experiences and find it all so fascinating.
By the way, once the article is published, I'll post the link here for everyone to read. I'm so proud.
Anyway, back to thinking about multiculturalism and how it's a part of my life....you know I realize that my husband is from a different culture than me, but yet it's not something that I dwell on. Hence, out of sight, out of mind. Wait, that doesn't make sense because it's not out of sight. But it is almost out of mind. I mean, I don't have daily thoughts about the fact that I'm living with someone who is not "culturally" like me. I'm just so used to E. Oh yeah, and did I mention that my mom told me last year that she thinks I'd be "bored if I had married an American"? Interesting.
What I want to say is that I don't feel huge cultural differences between my husband and me. Maybe it's because we met in Brazil so everyone was unlike me during the beginning - the foundation - of our relationship. I was used to being with someone who did not share the same customs as me, someone who didn't speak my language. Therefore, when we moved to the U.S. everything in our relationship seemed to me to be "normal". Plus, I'd dated foreigners in the past so I wasn't necessarily used to dating Americans. I didn't feel I was missing anything by not dating one. I actually noticed our cultural differences most when we went to New York to visit my family and stay with them for 2 weeks, especially when my mom whispered to ask me why my husbandbread for breakfast. But what is funny is that on our subsequent trips to NY there was more bread in my parent's house and yet my husband had picked up the habit of eating oatmeal for breakfast. I loved it!
Although after more than 6 years together we still are learning from each other and dealing with cultural differences, we're also used to being in a marriage with someone who is very unlike us in many ways, and I'd say, deal with it pretty well. I believe that living in each other's country has helped us better adapt, as well as having an open mind and an adventurous spirit. Oh yeah, and loving each other despite our differences. Isn't that the fun part anyway?
NBA Referee Exposes NBA For Allowing Lebron to Travel
Hangover 3': Headed to Amsterdam?
Director Todd Phillips and the series' stars are eager for a third go-round with the Wolf Pack, and one star would love to see the action move to Amsterdam.....
At last week's Las Vegas premiere, Jamie Chung (who plays Stu's fiancée) had her pick: "Probably Amsterdam. If you think of the coolest, craziest cities in the world, it would have to be Las Vegas, Bangkok and Amsterdam."
Justin Bartha (Doug) agrees: "Amsterdam could be a different kind of hangover. It could be fun. And Zach [Galifanakis] will probably already be there."
via. PE
Jersey Shore's Snooki was arrested today in Florence, Italy
“A witness tell TMZ, Snooki smacked her into the back of the patrol car, wedging her ride between the car and a highway protection wall. The witness says Deena was in the passenger seat at the time of the crash — and when she tried to exit the car, she had to go through the window … because the door was blocked by the wall.”
Jersey Shore's Ronnie beats up Mike the "The Situation"
While details are sketchy, the proof is certainly in the pudding judging from paparazzi shots. When the two arrived back at their apartment, Ronnie's hands and knuckles looked bruised and battered. As for The Situation? He was sporting some pretty serious redness around his left eye. Check out a photo of a bruised up "Situation" after the jump....
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sean Kingston Badly Injured In Jet Ski Crash
According to Local10.com, the "Beautiful Girls" singer had a female passenger on board his watercraft when it crashed into a bridge around 6 PM local time.
We're both Kingston and his passenger were rescued from the water by a good Samaritan.....
The Miami Fire Dept. responded to the scene and both Kingston and his female passenger were transported to nearby Jackson Memorial Hospital. We're told Kingston's injuries are so severe, he is being treated in the trauma ward.
We're told ... at this moment, officials do not believe alcohol played a role in the crash.
via:tmz
Until there is a cure....
...there is HOPE.
To donate to the American Cancer Society, visit my friend's Relay for Life page
Thank you,
Stephen A. Smith Goes Off About Scottie Pippen’s LeBron/Jordan Comment
Pakistani President Musharraf Address Bin Laden Killing, Calls Obama Arrogant!
Mothers and Daughters
There is nothing like the bond between mother and daughter. It is unbreakable. It is strong. It is fierce. Impermeable. Unique. One-of-a-kind. We come from our mother's womb and as a result we have the invisible connection that continues to bond us to her throughout our lives.
With this being said, I have had the honor to witness such a bond between two of my best friends (REAL best friends) and their mothers. I mean where the daughters have respect, love, admiration, and true friendship with their mothers. And these women are not mothers because they gave birth to my sister-friends, but because they were extraordinary women during their time on this planet, and they touched everyone in their lives. They were role models, they were strong, they fought the illness that reached out to hurt them and which eventually took them away from us. And yet they remained beautiful inside and out throughout their battle.
But the sickness only took them away from us physically. It canNOT take away their spirit, their strength, their LOVE. These women will remain with us forever; they will live within us, reminding us to be good people, as they were. To work hard, to treat people with respect, to love our husbands, and to be fabulous mothers like they were.
Today I honor the memory of, the life of, and the legacy of Virginia Surowka and Barbara Bogart. Two of the most fascinating women in this world. Two of the most wonderful women that have ever entered into my life, and who I will never ever forget. And I had the blessing of seeing them as second mothers, as aunts, as an additional member in my family. God bless these women for all that they did while on this Earth. My thoughts and prayers go out to their families everyday, and especially today as Mrs. Bogart has left the Earth this morning to ascend to heaven, pain free. I love you ladies, and I love your daughters Stephanie and Kim who would not be the women they are today had they not been born by you and raised by you. Thank you for your gift.
Barbara (Babs) and Virginia (Gemini), may you rest in peace, and be remembered for all of your beauty and all that you accomplished on this Earth. These women are truly, angels in heaven.
With love,
With this being said, I have had the honor to witness such a bond between two of my best friends (REAL best friends) and their mothers. I mean where the daughters have respect, love, admiration, and true friendship with their mothers. And these women are not mothers because they gave birth to my sister-friends, but because they were extraordinary women during their time on this planet, and they touched everyone in their lives. They were role models, they were strong, they fought the illness that reached out to hurt them and which eventually took them away from us. And yet they remained beautiful inside and out throughout their battle.
But the sickness only took them away from us physically. It canNOT take away their spirit, their strength, their LOVE. These women will remain with us forever; they will live within us, reminding us to be good people, as they were. To work hard, to treat people with respect, to love our husbands, and to be fabulous mothers like they were.
Today I honor the memory of, the life of, and the legacy of Virginia Surowka and Barbara Bogart. Two of the most fascinating women in this world. Two of the most wonderful women that have ever entered into my life, and who I will never ever forget. And I had the blessing of seeing them as second mothers, as aunts, as an additional member in my family. God bless these women for all that they did while on this Earth. My thoughts and prayers go out to their families everyday, and especially today as Mrs. Bogart has left the Earth this morning to ascend to heaven, pain free. I love you ladies, and I love your daughters Stephanie and Kim who would not be the women they are today had they not been born by you and raised by you. Thank you for your gift.
 |
| Stephanie & Virgina Surowka |
 |
| Kimberly & Barbara Bogart |
Barbara (Babs) and Virginia (Gemini), may you rest in peace, and be remembered for all of your beauty and all that you accomplished on this Earth. These women are truly, angels in heaven.
With love,
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Lady Gaga Flies into GMA
A Drunk Christina Aguilera Gets Carried Out Of Club
Christina Aguilera was spotted stumbling her way out of a Hollywood club on Thursday night. According to Radar, the Burlesque star looked wasted as she staggered out of The Beverly while being supported by boyfriend Matthew Rutler. With her eyes half-closed and her red lipstick smudged, Aguilera, 30, wobbled in her platform shoes as she was guided carefully to a waiting car.
I personally don't see whats the big deal,we all sometimes have a little too much to drink sometimes,if this keeps going on though,then its a different story.Peep more photo's after the jump.....
Photos: Lindsay Lohan Rocks House Arrest Ankle-Cuffs
Fica a Dica #1
Conheçam a EDEI.
Eu queria poder falar mais sobre ela, mas a coisa mais difícil eh achar algo sobre ela na net.
Ela tem apenas 22 anos, nascida em Londres, linda e com uma voz encantadora.
Até me arrisco a dizer que ela é quase uma Fiona Apple.
Uma de suas maiores influências é o Gavin DeGraw (logo falo dele aqui no blog).
Me chamou muita atenção um cover que ela fez da música Grenade do Bruno Mars, cheguei a me arrepiar ouvindo-a cantar.
Então vou deixar o vídeo aqui para que vocês a conheçam e conheçam a voz linda que ela tem.
Espero que gostem!
.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Je t'aime Skype
The day that I downloaded Skype onto my laptop was the day I really opened up communication between me and my family who live miles and miles away. Don't get me wrong, we spoke prior to having Skype, but we couldn't have these pseudo face-to-face conversations. And I missed those. It's difficult to live so far away from family - to not be able to hug and kiss, sit around and talk, and of course open Christmas presents together. This is what I miss most. Skype attempts to bridge that gap.
It's difficult to live thousands of miles away and still try to watch your nieces grow. Whenever I hear one talk or cry in the background when I talk to my sister on the phone I feel my heart tear a little. Skype can help, even if it's not a complete solution to the problem, it does help. And I can't tell you enough how I love to hear my sister tell me that she hears, "Aunt Mere, Unk E, 'puter" as my oldest niece taps on her dad's laptop.
But what I don't want to do is to focus on the negative, on the fact that I'm far away and so using the computer to stay in touch is the best way; instead, I want to sing Skype's praises and express my gratitude towards my family for embracing technology and buying webcams and/or downloading Skype so quickly so that we can converse more often and easily. And web cameras are not just for bringing families together, they're a great way to keep in touch with friends as well as making free international calls. I know I talked to the travel agent who bought our plane tickets via Skype and neither of us had to pay a dime.
As a result, I have compiled a number of reasons why I'm thankful for Skype and some of my favorite experiences so far using this program to stay in touch with people that I love.
1. I can watch my infant niece experiment with her vocal cords, learn to crawl, and smile as she sees and recognizes my face.
2. I cannot get enough of my eldest niece screaming, "look Aunt Mere!" or "Where's Unk E?" or showing me the dinosaurs and Mickey and Minnie dolls we bought here when she came to visit us. And of course hearing her get excited about Shamu is exciting. And of course, hahahahaha, one day she even yelled out, when seeing E just in shorts, "Unk E is naked!". She's toooooo cute! (and funny)
3. We were able to have our Brazilian Christmas on the 24th of December and then wake up on Christmas Day on the 25th and open presents with my parents and my youngest sister via Skype. They were in New York and we were here in Florida. Priceless. I felt like we were all in the same room (almost).
4. I think it's funny when my sister jokingly put my eldest niece in front of the computer once and said "watch her" and acted as if she were serious and was going to leave the room. I wish I could babysit.
5. My best friend from Manaus has recently moved to Azores, yet we can still talk and joke as if we were sitting in her apartment like we have so many times in the past. Her husband and son can join in on the fun and they can taunt my husband by talking about all of the delicious food from Manaus that he misses so much. We just laugh and remind each other of all of our dear memories.
6. I can talk to my mom and stepdad, and youngest sister. Or I can watch them get up, walk away to play the piano and/or sing, and hear them cook and yell from the other room. It almost makes me feel like I'm right there with them.
7. There have been wonderful conversations with one of my best friends who lives in New York, and who I miss greatly. While talking to her I've been able to speak with her sweet mom, her sister, and niece and nephew. It's been fabulous "seeing" them all!
8. And finally, Skype is an excellent way to ensure that my nieces remember who I am and how much I love them.
I'm forever grateful that my family understood the importance of Skype to me as I live away from them and especially as we know we will soon be even farther away. And I don't even feel silly hugging the computer and acting like I'm going to bite my niece's finger off because I know she loves it by the way she laughs out loud for half an hour each time.
It's difficult to live thousands of miles away and still try to watch your nieces grow. Whenever I hear one talk or cry in the background when I talk to my sister on the phone I feel my heart tear a little. Skype can help, even if it's not a complete solution to the problem, it does help. And I can't tell you enough how I love to hear my sister tell me that she hears, "Aunt Mere, Unk E, 'puter" as my oldest niece taps on her dad's laptop.
But what I don't want to do is to focus on the negative, on the fact that I'm far away and so using the computer to stay in touch is the best way; instead, I want to sing Skype's praises and express my gratitude towards my family for embracing technology and buying webcams and/or downloading Skype so quickly so that we can converse more often and easily. And web cameras are not just for bringing families together, they're a great way to keep in touch with friends as well as making free international calls. I know I talked to the travel agent who bought our plane tickets via Skype and neither of us had to pay a dime.
As a result, I have compiled a number of reasons why I'm thankful for Skype and some of my favorite experiences so far using this program to stay in touch with people that I love.
1. I can watch my infant niece experiment with her vocal cords, learn to crawl, and smile as she sees and recognizes my face.
2. I cannot get enough of my eldest niece screaming, "look Aunt Mere!" or "Where's Unk E?" or showing me the dinosaurs and Mickey and Minnie dolls we bought here when she came to visit us. And of course hearing her get excited about Shamu is exciting. And of course, hahahahaha, one day she even yelled out, when seeing E just in shorts, "Unk E is naked!". She's toooooo cute! (and funny)
3. We were able to have our Brazilian Christmas on the 24th of December and then wake up on Christmas Day on the 25th and open presents with my parents and my youngest sister via Skype. They were in New York and we were here in Florida. Priceless. I felt like we were all in the same room (almost).
4. I think it's funny when my sister jokingly put my eldest niece in front of the computer once and said "watch her" and acted as if she were serious and was going to leave the room. I wish I could babysit.
5. My best friend from Manaus has recently moved to Azores, yet we can still talk and joke as if we were sitting in her apartment like we have so many times in the past. Her husband and son can join in on the fun and they can taunt my husband by talking about all of the delicious food from Manaus that he misses so much. We just laugh and remind each other of all of our dear memories.
6. I can talk to my mom and stepdad, and youngest sister. Or I can watch them get up, walk away to play the piano and/or sing, and hear them cook and yell from the other room. It almost makes me feel like I'm right there with them.
7. There have been wonderful conversations with one of my best friends who lives in New York, and who I miss greatly. While talking to her I've been able to speak with her sweet mom, her sister, and niece and nephew. It's been fabulous "seeing" them all!
8. And finally, Skype is an excellent way to ensure that my nieces remember who I am and how much I love them.
I'm forever grateful that my family understood the importance of Skype to me as I live away from them and especially as we know we will soon be even farther away. And I don't even feel silly hugging the computer and acting like I'm going to bite my niece's finger off because I know she loves it by the way she laughs out loud for half an hour each time.
Trox's Top 5 N64 Games
#5
#4
#3 & #4
 |
| Only a few elite nerds, including yours truly, have seen this screen without cheatin'. |
#1
Well guys. That officially wraps up the last Top 5 in the series. I'm going to step back from countdowns for a bit, but I'll be back. I've decided to leave the Top 5 gig to the experts who already have it down to a science. You can check em out every Friday on Twitter @thebestcast. Thanks again Phinny and Dave.
As I mentioned last week, now that we are breaking away from video games here for a bit, we're going to start talking tattoos! I'll go ahead and give you next weeks homework assignment now so that you have some time to think about it. I want you to send me a picture of the absolute WORST tattoo you have ever seen in your life to trox@troxtalk.com Also, I want to get into the NFL lockout and NBA finals next week because it feels like I haven't talked sports in a month... As usual, follow @troxtalk on Twitter and feel free to give me some feedback, offer suggestions, or cuss me out. I'm hitting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail on a road trip with some friends this weekend. It's sure to be a blast, so I might have to post something on Monday about that as well. Until then, take care of yourselves, and each other.
Warmest Regards,
Trox
P.S. This time I swear I didn't forget. This is my hipster pick. Most people who aren't wrestling fans wouldn't have given this game the time of day. It's like a more polished version of the classic WCW Vs. NWO World Tour. I love it because you could beat up your buddies with the likes of Test, The Big Boss Man, Andre the Giant, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit...And some of the characters are still living too....
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Mobb Deep Collabo with Odd Future?
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Scott Mccreery Wins American Idol
Lady Gaga Performs "Edge of Glory" on American Idol Finale
Beyonce' Performs with the Lady's Of American Idol
Jack Black and Casey Abrams Performance on American Idol
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