you said larry craig was from iowa. he's not. he's from idaho. two totally different states.

Of course, you're absolutely correct.

More than a typo, but an error nonetheless.

Thanks for the correction!

Thanks for correcting, Dave!!

It serves to help justify my existence.

Dave

Oh dear, Dave, you've left yourself wide open to a moonraven putdown yet again...

Which would only be meaningful if I paid attention to anything the crazy woman writes.

Dave

Where is she when we NEED her.

Clav

Good article.

Clavos ... obrigado. How's the titfer??

De nada, Vasco.

Como vai voce no Portugal?

Me titfer, mate, as you well know, continues to occupy an honored place in my house, even as the man who so kindly gave it to me attempts to fool me into thinking he's now a long dead Portuguese explorer.

Whose name, BTW was Vasco da Gama, Stan.

Vasco,

You mean obrigada don't you.

Sorry couldn't resist.

Not sure how I feel about Vasco de Gama. It's personal.

"You mean obrigada don't you."

Not unless he is a she, Zedd.

You say obrigada, but a man says obrigado.

BTW, thanks for #7.

"Obrigado", Zedd. Stan's male, as far as we know... ;-)

How are those internet cafes in Portugal working out for you, mate?

He was greeting Clav.

I was making a funny.

Also male...

Hmm. About 10.40 p.m. in Texas by my estimation. Getting a bit late to do those errands now. Bad Zedd.

Clav, sorry. Up to coment 14 and not one serious word about your actual article yet...

"Oh dear, Dave, you've left yourself wide open to a moonraven putdown yet again..."

Speaking of moonraven, with Labor Day around the corner, I wonder if we can expect another 10-hour mud wrestling contest between Clavvy and moonie, like last July 4th? What a way to spend Independence Day (gag!).

BTW Clavos, if said "action" does take place on Monday I'll miss it. While you and moonraven are rolling around the mud criticizing each others writing, my bride and I will be climbing an 11,000 footer in the Montana Rockies.

Sigh...

Not only that, but Akismet ate one of my own comments about an hour and a half ago; I was replying to Zedd's obrigado/a comment right before you did.

It's 0452 in Lisbon right now, so even Stan's probably through carousing and has gone to sleep.

Think I'll go out in the garden and eat some worms....

Doc,

You don't know the half of it. Cocomment has eaten two of my comments in a row on this thread; the first responding to Zedd on her obrigado/a comment, and the second minutes ago replying to you.

Not my day...

MCH:

Your bride? Congratulations!

Don't worry, I'll be sure to let you know who won and who looked the most horrendous in a spandex leotard (or stretchy pants).

Now there's a nice image to take with you on your climb...

MCH has a wife? I wonder what branch of the service she was in. Or maybe she's just not allowed to speak or have opinions.

Dave

To paraphrase the old saying about going to sea:

"Any man who would climb a mountain for pleasure, would go to Hell for a holiday."

Clav,

I was calling you a girl. You guys are so slow. I have friends from Brazil....

I was joking off course.

I will have more to add about the bullying tactics of Iowa, New Hampshire and the rest after I have done some additional reading. I read an interesting article on the subject a few days back but want to do more reading.

I'm glad you brought the topic up. There will surely be more discussion on this topic. Kudos.

Oh, my mistake. I was making fun of Stan then.

Okay I goofed... sigh.

((((YOOOOOOOHOOOOO Chris)))), another error!!! Come-and-get-it!!!

Zedd,

"I was calling you a girl. You guys are so slow. I have friends from Brazil...."

But you weren't because the gender of the word refers back to the speaker. The literal translation of obrigado/a is "I am obligated to you," therefore the ending is determined by the gender of the speaker.

Eu falo portugues. I worked for a Brasilian company for ten years, back in the seventies, and traveled to Brasil about once a month during that time.

Clav

I realized that I goofed when I remembered how it works. Hence the mortified retraction.

Thanks for the translation. It will be more meaningful when I say it to my friends (Brazilian Japanese) and the pizza guy. I'll tell my kids.

We try to learn "thank you" and "Hello" in as many languages as possible.

Clavos and Doc,
I saw your posting regarding cocomment. Sorry you are having problems. Can you send me the url where you had this issue so I can send it to our team?
Tks
I can't post my email but will check your reply.

Don't worry, Zedd. When I was in Brazil I was constantly having to catch myself to keep from using the wrong word-ending.

It could be worse. Apparently, when the Lakota (Sioux) Indians were first shown the movie Dances with Wolves, they spent most of the film in hysterical mirth. Apparently, in the Lakota language, men and women actually speak different dialects... and the dialog coach on the movie was a woman. She'd just decided it was easier to teach all the actors (most of whom were not Lakota) her language rather than confuse them.

So it was not that the Lakota thought the movie was laughably bad. It was just the spectacle of big, strong, fierce warriors walking around talking like women.

Don't worry, Zedd. When I was in Brazil I was constantly having to catch myself to keep from using the wrong word-ending.

It could be worse. Apparently, when the Lakota (Sioux) Indians were first shown the movie Dances with Wolves, they spent most of the film in hysterical mirth. In the Lakota language, men and women actually speak different dialects... and the dialog coach on the movie was a woman. She'd just decided it was easier to teach all the actors (most of whom were not Lakota) her language rather than confuse them.

So it was not that the Lakota thought the movie was laughably bad. It was just the spectacle of big, strong, fierce warriors walking around talking like women.

When and where were you in Brasil, Doc?

Have we talked about this before/

Last November, Clav. It is when I discovered that the caipirinha is the Drink of the Gods.

I mentioned this some time ago, whereupon you related the anecdote of your wife knocking back caipirinhas as if they were lemonade and subsequently falling off her bar stool.

Although you can get some pretty fantastic caipirinhas even from vendors on Copacabana Beach, the very best ones I tasted were actually made by a bartender in our hotel in Foz do Iguaçu. Not exactly the cachaça capital of the world, one would have thought. Just goes to show, you never know.

Ah, yes. Now I remember (the memory thing is a residual effect from the cachaça)!

By any chance, did you stay at the Das Cataratas at Iguaçu? It, and the rest of the chain it belongs to, were owned by the company I worked for, back in the seventies.

Alas, no, Clav, although that would have been nice. That's the one right by the falls, right? On the Brazil side or the Argentina side?

We stayed at a place called the Recanto Park, which I believe was a brand new hotel - and I'm bolstered in this hypothesis by the fact that they still hadn't finished building the front of it when we were there! It was, however, an extremely nice place with great facilities. Some way out of town, though.

Yes, the Das Cataratas is on the Brasilian side, right on the falls. In fact, it's right in the middle of the Parque Nacional de Iguaçu

It's a charming, rambling hacienda style colonial building. You can literally walk to the Garganta do Diablo from the hotel.

The hotel is part of the Hoteis Tropical chain; they have an equally charming, similar hotel directly on the Amazon at Manaus.

Yes, I remember it, or at least glancing at it while dodging the hordes of thieving coatis...

Unless I'm mistaken, the video you linked to was shot from the viewing platform on the Argentina side. Curiously enough, my laptop wallpaper is currently the Garganta del Diablo from almost the same spot - you can even make out that weird-looking tree shaped like a wildebeest's head.

Great post