Swimming, Capoeira, Cooking, Travel, Historical Linguistics, Ling. Anthro., Archaeology, Geography, Reading
Languages - I speak Portuguese, Spanish, French, Haitian Creole, and Italian. I studied a little Japanese, Mandarin, Polish and Czech.
Cooking/Eating - Thai, Mexican, Southern/Soul Food, Cajun, Cuban, Italian, Japanese, Indian, Mediterranean, Brazilian, Chinese.
Travel - Where I've been:
USA rural (Grand Canyon, Everglades, the Keys, the Sonoran Desert, the Smokeys/Dollywood, the Adirondacks/Champlain valley, Chessepeak Bay, Lake Powell, the Catskills, the Miss. Gulf Coast)
USA cities (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Flagstaff, Santa Fe, El Paso, San Antonio, Denver/Boulder, New Orleans, Orlando, Chicago, St. Louis, Southern Indiana/Indianapolis, Memphis, Richmond, Charlotte, Savannah, Atlanta, Washington,D.C., Philadelphia, Hershey, Baltimore, NYC, Burlington, Albany, Syracuse, Bufalo/Niagra, and other smaller cities and places in most of the lower 48)
Rocky Point/Nogales, Mexico (underage drinking and one time for Thanksgiving - thanks Mara!)
Toronto and middle of nowhere Ontario (fishing trip)
Montreal (lots of times -- cool city)
Spain (Alcalá de Henares, Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Sevilla, Badajoz, Burgos, San Sebastian, Alicante/Benidorm, Tuy, Santiago de Compostela, Bilbao, Toledo, Córdoba, Trujillo)
Canary Islands (the only part of Africa I've been to yet)
Italy (Naples, Roma, Milano, Venezia, Firenze & Toscana)
Poland (Sanok, Rybnik, Nisko, Mazury Lakes - Ketrzyn & Mikolajki, Gdansk & Sopot - Baltic Coast, Warsaw)
Lisboa, Portugal
Czech Republic (just Prague and Ostrava)
Belgium (just Bruxelles)
London, England
Athens, Greece
Germany (Bamberg & Heidelberg)
Budapest, Hungary
Slovakia (2 strange hours on train)
Vienna, Austria
Switzerland (Geneva & Zurich)
France (Paris/Versailles, tweece in Nice)
Netherlands (Amsterdam for less than 24 hours)
Brazil (Teixeira de Freitas & the Discovery/Whale Coast - Cumuruxatiba & Porto Seguro - Vitória da Conquista, Rural Northeast Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Ouro Preto, Rio de Janeiro/Niterói, Salvador, Chapada Diamantina, Natal, Olinda, Fortaleza)
Polyglots who have mastered glottal and can even do some lip rounding, maybe a little [open o] and I'm always down for schwa. I also welcome those of you who can do "intrusive r". But if your not rhotic enough for me, I'd love to explore your bilabials. And we can always do some pidgins together...I'm into that, too.
STYLES: Rock and Punk are actually quite high on my list. I also enjoy Samba, Reggae, "neo-soul", Axe' / Baiana/ Pagode, "alternative", Funk Carioca, R&B, Nortena, Merengue-hiphop, regular "Hip-Hop", Reggaeton, old School (Miami bass), Blues, Konpa, Cumbia, Electronica, and even some Jazz, Forro', Bhangra...maybe a little Classical and Country (...well, a little).
Groups/Artists: Rage against the Machine; Prince; System of a Down; Caetano Veloso; Alejandro Sanz; Green Day; Jill Scott; Ivete Sangalo; Natacha Atlas; Erykah Badu; Weezer; Foo Fighters; Eric Clapton; Shakira; Alicia Keys; Smashing Pumpkins; Red Hot Chili Peppers; Skank; Rita Lee; Sublime; Carlos Vives; Beastie Boys; Estopa; Marissa Monte; Celia Cruz; Carlinhos Brown; Brujeria; Paulina Rubio; Utada Hikaru; Prodigy; Anita Baker; Tina Turner; Mr. Vegas; Buju Banton; Les Nubians; Yolanda del Rio; Vicente Fernndez; Alicia Villareal; El Recodo; Intocable; Orixas; Wyclef Jean; Carimi; Gloria Estefan; La Bouche; Debbie Deb; 2live Crew; Talib Kweli; Fonky Family; Missy Elliot; Busta Rhymes; Mary J. Blige; Amel Larrieux; Los Tigres del Norte; Ludacris; CCR; La India; Ismael Rivera; Monchy y Alexandra; Fugees; Mos Def; Outkast; Barry White; Elvis Crespo; DJ Laz; Fulanito; C&C Music Factory; Bob Marley; Sean Paul; Red Rat; Elephant Man; Beenie man; Devonte & Tanto Metro; Queen; No Doubt; Tanya Stevens; Patra; Tego Calderon; Aventura; Don Dinero; Ivy Queen; Jota Quest; Big Pun; Coup Cloue'; Stevie B; Gilberto Gil; Sergio Mendes; The Gypsy Kings; Rosario; Basement Jaxx; Amber; Manu Chao; Bjork; Pizzicato 5; IIO; Delirium; E' o Tchan; TGU; Punjabi Boys; DJ Singh; Heart; Mig21; Ozo Matli; Kumbia Kings; Guns & Roses
American/English - Children of Men, Office Space (cause I've been there), Napolean Dynamite (more cliché), Zoolander, The Big Lebowski, Broke down Palace, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Forgotten, Donnie Darko, The Grudge, Pitch Black, Billy Madison, The Gods Must Be Crazy and many cheesy movies of the disaster genre from the 50s, 60s, and 70s à la "Towering Inferno".
Brazilian - Cidade de Deus (City of God), Central do Brasil, Caminho nas Nuvens, 4 days in September, Carandiru
Spain - Any Almodovar movie is good, also liked Km0 and Abre los ojos
French - L'Auberge Espagnole (the Spanish Apartment), Amélie, Manon de la Fontaine (only because of successive repetition in all my HS and College French classes).
Japanese - The Audition, Tampopo
Latin America - Y tu mamá también, The Motorcycle Diaries
Caribbean - Black Shack Alley (Rue cases nègres)
Documentaries / Other - American Tongues, Destinos (Raquel RodrÃguez and her late 80s shoulder pads).
Favorite Short: Mis vacaciones - trippy Spanish 12 minute short about a little boy on summer vacation in his grandparents' village who accidentally drops Ecstasy.
I really don't have time for TV...cooking shows and nature shows...that's about all I watch.
The most recent books I read or am reading: Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe; The Power of Babel by John McWhortor; Genes, Povos e LÃnguas (Genes, Peoples and Languages) by Cavalli-Sforza
Books I've read in the last few years:
Accents of English 3: Beyond the British Isles by J.C. Wells;
O Alquemista (The Alchemist) by Paulo Coelho;
A History of English Words by Geoffrey Hughes;
Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken;
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury; Starship Troopers by Heinlein; A LÃngua de Eulália (Luso-Brazilian sociolinguistics) by Marcos Bagno; World Orders Old and New by Noam Chomsky;
O povo brasileiro (Brazilian Anthropology) by Darcy Ribeiro