Futebol Commercials!

I have recently discovered two things:
1. Apparently blogger changes languages automatically according to the country you're in.
2. The only celebrities in Brasil are soccer players (and Gisele Bundchen). Every commercial is dedicated to the World Cup and the more famous players endorse 2 or 3 products each. I'll post a few to show you what I mean!









There are a few others, but I can't find the videos on Youtube.

Oh my god....this kid!!!

WATCH THIS VIDEO AND VOTE FOR HIM!!!

Oprah is giving away a tv show and this is one of the applicants. He has cerebral palsy and he is seriously HILARIOUS!!! Hear him out and VOTE!!

http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=5615&promo_id=1

So I was reading this survey...

and it said the two countries with the most beautiful people are the US and Brazil. In theory...shouldn't I be gorgeous? Hhaha

Anyway, it was a pretty good day! I actually forced myself to get out of bed and watch the US game. I'm so glad I did! It was such an amazing game. I am so proud of our boys! We just need to learn how to play well in the first half because a second half run won't cut it with top teams. They can probably beat Ghana, which is really exciting! I don't know if we've ever even gotten that far in the tournament!

Did anyone see Bill Clinton there? Ummmmm. Pilf.

My mom and I also went to Target. I am on a quest to find books for the Brazil trip. It was rough getting her to spend $12 on a Sedaris book, but she finally conceded!

Oh and can we please talk about swim suits these days?! Does anyone feel comfortable in such little fabric? I hate to sound like a prude, but I don't think the manufacturers of these things are thinking about girls of all body types. They're aiming for models and everyone else has to deal. That's not fair. Us J-Lo types can barely fit in a large bottom! Seriously. Maybe it's just Target though. Are there more conscious stores out there? I digress. I got a blue bikini that will be ultra conservative for the beaches of Brazil...meaning, it's not a thong.

New Jacket!

Today I got this amazing Brasil jacket! I love it!

The next few days will be very busy! I have to prepare for my trip. I still need a lot of things. Both the US and England play tomorrow as well. Their group is a mess so wins are essential!!! Should be great!

WTFPeople&Oil

If you have watched the news or been in this world AT ALL for the past few months, you know about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil is STILL gushing into the gulf at a rate of thousands of barrels a day, meanwhile the people who rely on the Gulf for their entire livelihoods are now unemployed and the ecosystem is completely obliterated. This is no joke. It's an ongoing crisis, and my impression was that people all over the US cared about it.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a CNN poll that asked the following: Would you donate time or money to help fight the Gulf oil disaster?

As I am posting this, the answers are as follows:

Yes
51%
108678
No
49%
102674

Umm...Are you joking? 49% of Americans would not donate time OR money to help fight this? I can understand time. But come on. After the earthquake in Haiti, America rallied to help that country. We even had a celebrity phoneathon. All we have for this is Kevin Costner making up science and James Cameron making underwater robots. We should be looking out for our people and animals on the coast and be treating this crisis with the same urgency. This isn't a little problem and it's going to take everyone's participation to fix it whether you live in the Gulf area or on a farm somewhere in Nebraska.

Sorry. Done ranting. But what do you think?

A Worthy Victory

Today Brazil showed all the other teams at the World Cup what it's about. It was nice to see a team with expectations live up to them. Not many teams have been doing that (cough England, Spain, France, Italy cough). I was so happy for Luis Fabiano! He finally gained some scoring confidence back and led us to victory! Elano has been playing really well too. Thankfully, he's in good health after that terrible attempt at a steal by the Ivory Coast.

However, the whole Kaka situation is quite troublesome. I don't think that his absence will trouble Brazil too much in the Portugal game, but I was disappointed with the way he acted on the field today. He is usually a very composed player, so the first yellow card from fighting came as a huge surprise. He didn't deserve the second yellow card, but he set himself up with the first one. Ps, has anyone ever seen WORSE acting than Ivory Coast? Kaka barely touched him in the stomach and he fell over clutching his face. What an idiot.

ANYWAYS. I am finally learning more about my Brazil trip! I will spend the first week with my aunt in Sao Paulo, then a week in Rio, then back to Sao Paulo to stay with my grandma. It should be a lot of fun. My dad and I travel down together but will split up initially. He'll be in Belo Horizonte for the first week.

Speaking of him, a universal happy father's day to you all. We celebrated with lots of food and, of course, the game. I hope everyone is well. Hope to hear from you all soon.

CHER CHER CHER CHER

OH



MY



GAY



YOU GUYS. The Cher show was absolutely the coolest show ever. Ever. It was a great conclusion to probably my favorite day of the year. Let me take you through my adventure from the beginning:

We stopped in Cedar City, UT (about 4 hours south of Salt Lake) to watch the Brazil game at Chile's. It was a little bit of a lackluster performance, but I couldn't have been happier that we rallied in the second half to win.

I don't remember what time we arrived in Vegas, but I do remember how surprised I was at the utter randomness of Vegas. It is in the middle of nowhere. Desert desert desert Vegas desert desert. Anyway, Caesar's Palace is so beautiful. It's HUGE and very intricate in terms of detail. Columns everywhere, replicas of famous Roman art...We ended up having to walk through the casino to get to the registration desk. The main lobby is awesome too - best shown in the Hangover haha. We finally made our way to our room. The quality wasn't too great, but we probably paid for the cheapest possible room since we got a package deal.

After settling in, we headed back downstairs to the casino area/theater for the show. A bunch of Cher's famous outfits were on display (ex from the Oscars - pictured above, Sonny and Cher etc). She's pretty tall, but SO tiny! In addition to exploring the outfits, we also explored the Cher Boutique which is basically an entire store of Cher items. Do you want Cher candles? They have em. Do you want a wifebeater that says "Flamboyant Gentleman?" They have it.

Finally, we headed into the theater. Our tickets were for the second mezzanine, which is the equivalent of NOSEBLEEDS. We wound our way to the top floor and asked the usher which door to enter. Rather than showing us, he asked us if we wanted AN UPGRADE!!!!! He gave us two new tickets for rear orchestra, 20-30 ROWS FROM THE STAGE. Ummm...I don't think there has been a greater win in human history.

Okay, so you walk in, and there is a screen with stars and asteroids flying everywhere, kind of like the screen saver except WAY more awesome. The show started a little late, but um. It's Cher. I'll wait. So - the music starts, Cher descends from the air in a little cage wearing a crazy awesome spiky, sparkly headdress. Won.Der.Ful. She talked to the audience for a little bit. She's hilarious and she knows she can do whatever she wants. She confronted the reluctant, straight men by saying she bet they couldn't wait for the "crazy old bitch" to be done so they could gamble hahah. Oh Cher. You legend you.

The whole show was incredible. She changed her wardrobe at least 15 times. She wore the classic Half Breed garb, Gypsy, sparkly headdress, Christmas light coat... They were all so beautiful and ornate. The show takes you on the journey of Cher's career, starting with Sonny and Cher. In between all of her costume changes, clips of the Sonny and Cher show, her movies, what have you. They were all so cute and amazing! She actually sang a duet with a video of Sonny and it was so touching. If I were her, I think that portion of the show would constantly depress me. Being reminded of him would be really hard. However, she summed up my feelings with her rendition of "Love Hurts." The ending was great. "Believe" and "If I could turn back time". Everyone stood on their feet and sang along.

It was seriously so amazing to see her in concert. She sang the whole show and sounded fantastic. Not to mention that she has a bangin bod and she's 64. You sort of forget about all that she has accomplished in her career just because she's Cher and you know she's a superstar. This woman has an Oscar, a Grammy, an Emmy, and a Golden Globe (upon probably hundreds of other awards). She's the second most successful female recording artist in history and is the ONLY recording artist to have a #1 song in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Plus, she's fabulous. Duh.

As you can tell, I loved the day. I was in shock afterward haha. My mom and I then just walked around the strip. I never thought I would like Vegas, but I actually really do. It's such a great place to see so many shows that you couldn't see anywhere else. I love how it's decorated too. A touch of Paris and a little bit of Rome in the desert. I definitely want the chance to go back. I'd see Cher again in a heartbeat.

A few updates

Yes, I know. I haven't been writing about the World Cup. That's because I have been too busy lazing around and doing nothing. I'm sorry. So far, in my opinion, there hasn't been too much to write about anyway. Germany performed fantastically and no one in the world wants to have the baggage that England's Keeper has. That's pretty much it so far. I'm pretty disappointed with the performances of other top contenders for the cup. However, a lot of good teams still have to play (Brazil, Spain) so we'll see.

TOMORROW my mom and I are driving to Vegas for the Cher concert!!!!!!! Unfortunately, tomorrow is also Group G's first day of playing. I am going to miss the Portugal vs Ivory Coast game, which is a huge shame because both of those teams have top quality players I don't want to miss. However, we will be making a planned stop in a Chile's restaurant 4 hours South of Salt Lake City JUST so we can watch Brazil play! Yes. We do make special stops for soccer games in my family.

Tomorrow also marks the 10 day countdown to my Brazil trip!!!! YAYYYY!!!!

Ps: Does anyone remember how cool American Girl Dolls were?!

World Cup Day 1

I am officially starting the World Cup portion of this blog, which will consist mainly of two topics: Player of the Day and Good Looking Discovery of the Day. Don't lie, it's half the reason you like soccer too.

Congratulations to South Africa for their tie with Mexico!!! I loved seeing the people of South Africa rallying behind their team. I especially loved seeing Desmond Tutu jumping around in the stands with his precious little South Africa beanie on...Which is why I am actually breaking my Player of the Day rule on its first day. Oh well. This is my blog. I'll do what I want.

In that case, Desmond Tutu is my player of the day. He is just too precious (and since both games tied, no team necessarily outshone anyone else).



As for my Looker of the Day, I choose Yoann Gourcuff - midfielder, France. Currently plays for Bordeaux. Nice.



France underperformed today. It was disappointing, but Uruguay had some solid defense. It wasn't a great game until Henry came in. Booo.

Keywords: Reagan, Small Government, Jesus

Today, I stepped out of my box. I forced my mother to attend the "Get Motivated Business Seminar," a day full of notable and motivational speakers with one thing in common: conservatism. As you know, I am not exactly conservative. In fact, I'm not conservative at all. My whole life, I have attended endless "liberal" events and have really loved each of them. But I felt like my view of the political spectrum was incomplete. So when I saw the advertisement for this seminar, I knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime.
The seminar took place in the stadium where the Utah Jazz play and although people filtered in and out all day, it is safe to say that there were at least 15,000 people there. The seminar was targeted at businesses, so my mom and I originally thought we'd have to fake a business. We kind of did - our tickets said that we were from Issy Inc (a card company I made in maybe 3rd grade as alternative to Hallmark). But as it turned out, most people were there for personal motivation and weren't with companies at all.
My mom and I arrived while the host for the day was explaining how everything was going to work. She mentioned some of the speakers we would hear from throughout the day. Now, I have to be completely honest - I went to that seminar for 2 people: Colin Powell and Sarah Palin...obviously for different reasons. The newspaper had previously announced that Palin would be speaking via satellite so that had already dampened my mood. Plus, the host really annoyed me. She had on a gold sequin dress and 80s hair. Gag.
However, my spirits quickly picked up when she introduced Colin Powell as the first speaker! It was a pleasant surprise because they didn't tell us the order of the speakers. I really really respect Colin Powell. I think he's an incredibly intelligent and brave man. I have to really forgive him for some issues during the Iraq War, but otherwise, he is such an amazing, diplomatic figure. His speech disappointed me a little. He was trying to be really funny, but I LIKE stern, serious Colin Powell. However, it wasn't a bad speech by any means. He spoke a lot about globalization and his past. Overall, I liked it! It was just nice to see him!
Next, John Walsh, the host of Americas Most Wanted, spoke. Interesting, but not relevant to my story. Then more random people spoke, and I was ready to leave because I had no incentive since Sarah wasn't even going to be there...Until the host announced they had changed their plans and now she would be here LIVE. WIN.
Then Rudy Giuliani spoke. I respect Giuliani for what he did on and after 9/11, and for reducing crime in NYC. His speech wasn't too bad. He had some interesting things to say about how Churchill inspired him. He also encouraged people to read (yay)! However, he made the most political statements out of all of the politicians that spoke. Some of his claims were also a bit exaggerated. He said Obama warned people against using ipods and new technology in a commencement speech, but I just researched the speech and Obama actually made incredibly similar points in his speech as Giuliani did in his (that sometimes too much information isn't beneficial). He also said that everyone needs to go out and buy an ipod and a blackberry and a computer. I agree that those things are incredible, but it immediately struck me that he did not address the fact that some people simply cannot afford those things. Overall, it wasn't too bad of a speech. Politically charged, but it's to be expected.
The next significant speaker was Mitt Romney who spoke via satellite. He also made some random claims about Obama that really aren't true (that he apologized to the world for America...what?!). To be honest, I zoned out for a lot of his speech. He spoke a lot about his business ventures, god, and so on. Mitt is definitely an attractive man, but he left me flat inspirationally speaking. I'm sure part of that was the satellite. Again, overall it really wasn't a bad speech. You can really tell he's passionate about what he does, which is always nice to see.
Next Apollo Anton Ohno spoke. Okay, so he's not a politician (or conservative? do we know?), but he was definitely my favorite speaker of the day. Did you know he can leg press almost 2,000 lbs?! I know, crazy. As an athlete, I felt like I could really relate to his goals and how he felt that the process of preparation is what's really important. He knows it's about work, not random idealist stuff that only works for some people.
THEN the crowning moment, PPAAALLIIINNNN. I must add that Todd and Piper were there, for the record, at least I'm pretty sure it was them. We were in the nosebleeds. Here's why Sarah Palin surprised me - she did not mention politics at all. I think the most political thing she said was "media" or maybe when she made a joke about writing things on her hand. But that's it. Honestly, it was a little disappointing because I was hoping she would say something crazy and out there I could laugh at, but no go. Pity. However, she did get a few tag lines in which were hilarious and Fey-esque. Anyway, her whole speech was about how she was a high school athlete and how they won the state title for basketball. She was also the ONLY person to speak who used a podium or a script. She pretty much read her whole speech, and half of what she did read were quotes from John Wooden, not her own writing. Still, I am not disappointed, because she's Sarah Palin. She can do whatever she wants nowadays. She's a hot ticket! It was definitely worth it. How many people can claim they heard Sarah Palin say Wasilla, IN PERSON? Also I kind of have to thank her for helping make my Tina more famous. That's kinda mean. Sorry Sarah.
I think I reached my goal for today's experience, in that I learned a lot about the conservative political culture. I learned that there are three things that will make a stadium full of conservatives cheer, no matter how many times you say them: Reagan, small government, and Jesus (hence the title). Of course that is pretty much the exact opposite of every rally I have ever been to. Yes, it was a little annoying hearing about how government should be small all day, and as a non religious person, the constant devotion to Jesus also got on my nerves. Thankfully we're in Salt Lake and the chances of finding more people like me, or even Muslims, Hindus, or other religions is very very minimal so that probably didn't offend anybody. I learned that conservatives really don't want to be like Europe. I think that the flag is more prevalent in conservative rallies. They also like to point out how great America is more than liberals do. I think natural cynicism sort of comes with being liberal. We don't speak as positive in general as conservatives do. The seminar actually motivated me too (!), although, not for the reason it meant to. Hearing people I disagree with but admire for certain things has motivated me to beat them. I know that sounds belligerent, I don't mean it to. It's just that they made me realize I have to work THAT much harder to work for things I believe in so that the things I didn't like in their speeches never come true. Anyways, it was a really different, interesting, and enlightening day. No regrets...well maybe wearing more comfortable shoes.

Shopping Win!

Yesterday my mom and I went to an outlet mall and get this: I got 6 items (3 from Gap, 1 from Adidas, and 2 from Banana Republic) all for $50!!! There are some wicked deals right now, because normally, ONE thing from Banana Republic would be $50. Yay deals!

Every Drag Queen's Dream

I am officially seeing CHER LIVE IN CONCERT in Las Vegas on June 15th! AHHHH!!!!!! She is so amazing. I feel so privileged to see such a legend! She's not only a legend but also a crazy good entertainer. She knows how to put on a good show. I cannot wait. This is going to be such an amazing experience, because in addition to seeing the wonderful and fabulous Cher, I will be staying here:



That's right, Caesar's Palace will host both Cher and myself that night. How brilliant is that?! I never really imagined myself going to Vegas. I wrote it off because I always considered it a place where people just went for the casinos and getting wasted, neither of which are my cup of tea. But recently, I've begun to realize the amazing entertainment opportunities there, only 6 hours from Salt Lake. I mean, Bette Midler is there too!!! Anyway, it will be really fun to see all the lights and get a brief taste of what it's like there. I leave you with a picture of Cher, so that you can see the amazingness that awaits me!

WTFSupreme Court

If I have this story right, it appears that you now have to declare that you are using your Miranda Rights when you're being arrested. So for example, you have the right to remain silent. Normally, you could just remain silent. But now, you have to say "I AM REMAINING SILENT" or something like that. If I got this wrong, let me know. But as far as I understand this new Supreme Court ruling, I think it's absolutely ridiculous. This Supreme Court is crazy! Remain silent while talking and corporations are people with rights. Ummm...Please.

Random notes: I found 2 things in Salt Lake that I love! One is in the grocery store oddly enough. You know how the vegetables are watered every so often with a little sprinkler? Well before the sprinkler turns on, it plays a recording of a thunderstorm! It's kind of adorable. I don't know why I like that so much. The other thing is in the library. Okay, the actual library SUCKS. The book selection is absolutely minimal and there are literally NO news magazines, only allure and OK and family living and random mags like that. There are more romance novels than any other genre of book. You get the idea: selection is poor. BUT the way you check out books is so cool. There is just a little black pad, and you put your pile of books on it, and the computer suddenly knows what you are checking out! I had my books stacked on it and it got all of them without the books even touching it! It was so cool. No scanning, no nothing. LIKE MAGIC.

We Built This City

ON ROCK AND ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLL.

I am slightly obsessed with that song right now. I don't know why. Grace Slick didn't even like it. She also didn't like Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (another Starship song) because "what if you got hit by a bus or something?" hahaha

Finally bought my tickets for BRAZIL! I am leaving June 25th with meu pai! Very very excited, but I have a lot of work to do before I go.

Which leads me perfectly to my next point: June is going to be MY month. I plan on really make this month count. I need to be really diligent about learning Portuguese and working out (for two reasons - in preparation for Brazil and so that I can hopefully play vb in the fall, considering I probably won't have touched a ball all summer).

Also - I figured out why I didn't like the new Alice in Wonderland movie. I know, late, but regardless. Alice really lost her spark. All her curiosity was gone. She did most of what she did just because she felt obligated and thought she was asleep. Boo. I need to read the books now to make sure it was just the writing/acting and not Lewis Carrol's fault.
(ps: Grace Potter did a cover of White Rabbit for the new Alice in Wonderland soundtrack, "Almost Alice"...squawk!)