Thomas Locke Hobbs

Currently: Buenos Aires
 
Seba

Emilie

Friends in New York. I'll post more over the next several days.

 
 
Tulips & Gravestones at St. Paul's Chapel in Lower Manhattan.
 
 
Stuphin Blvd./Archer Ave. at about 3am going into Manhattan from JFK. Like the crazy person I am, I took the subway into the city in the middle of the night. I remembered, as I borded the train, that the E line is the preferred one for homeless people. It's the only subway line that travels entirely underground and most trains use those old crappy cars with the flat gray benches--perfect for streching out.

Panama City
My bizarre arrival time in NYC was gracias a Copa Airlines, the Panamanian carrier. Panama City has this whole Dubai-vibe going on. It's not a big city--under a million, but the whole water-front is lined with these 50-story condo buildings. One of the characters in the John Le Carre film, "The Tailor of Panama", refers to them as the Cocaine Towers. I'm sure the 85 banks there aren't earning their keep from free checking. I regretted not having my camera out as we came in for a landing. Flickr, tho, has lots of pictures of Panama City's big, tall buildings.

In searching I was reminded that there's also a Panama City, Florida which is a big spring break destination. A search reveals not only tall buildings and Panama's famous tricked-out school buses but also hot, hunky guys on spring break. Not bad.

 
 
Oscar Niemeyer's Niteroi Museum (see also 2005.03.31). The museum is often compared to a flying saucer. In fact, astute observers will have already noticed the small craft in the upper right-hand corner coming in for a landing on the mother ship.

I didn't feel like lugging my SLR around Rio's notoriously dangerous streets so this photo and the ones below were taken with a $3 disposable camera. I was actually in Rio a month ago but I just got these developed now.

Thumbs up for Jesus on Corcovado.

The view from Corcovado of Ipanema, Leblon and Lagoa. The statue is buzzed four times a minute by helicopters but just being up there is almost like being on a helicopter ride, so dramatic is the view.

Garoto de Ipanema. This guy and a friend were selling henna tatoos. They asked if they could drop their books next to our seats while they went swimming. I asked only for a photo in return.

Sheltering from the Evil Sun at Praia Lopes Mendes on Ilha Grande. 30 minutes without reapplying my 45 sunblock after a swim and I went from the whitest boy on the beach to the pinkest.

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One last photo from Sao Paulo. This is the same view as I posted on 2006.03.30 but on a rainy night with fogged windows from the enclosed, rooftop pool.

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Paçoca! I've documented my love of paçoca before (see 2005.05.23). Amor Paçoca's recipe uses mandioca flower in addition to the usual peanuts and sugar, making it more flaky & crumbly.

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Phebo Soap is this traditional, glycerin soap that is scented of roses. It was twice as expensive as Brazilian Dove but I knew it'd make a cooler blog post. Apparently I'm not the only one with an obsession for Brazilian consumer products. I found this great set on flickr; Colorful Brazil which includes a photo of, yup, Phebo Soap.

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All the ingredients for making capirinhas are extremely cheap in Brazil. Sugar: 40 cents/lb, limes: 25 cents/lb, cachaza: $2/liter.

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I coudn't figure out what to photograph in the city, so I took pictures of stuff in my fridge. Today: an old pizza box.

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A friend's Brazilian Funk CD collection

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Just some random stuff around São Paulo

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The Galeria do Rock in downtown São Paulo (see also 2005.04.18). The first photo should really be turned vertical. The stairwell photo is a visual cliche (see Paris) but still looks cool with that orange railing. The gallery is filled with t-shirt shops selling rock & hip-hop themed clothing. The upper floors, which get less foot traffic have a lot of custom t-shirt and printing shops. Such is the place´s notoriety that when the Rolling Stones played Copacabana for free, the local newscasts used the gallery as a backdrop for their ´rock fans go crazy´ human interest stories.

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This building is on Avenida 9 de Julho near the Centro. It has been totally abandoned and covered with pichações, this blocky graffiti script that is indigenous to Brazil. I´ve blogged this before, see 2005.07.11. I only learned the name for this style of graffiti thanks to Graffiti Brasil, a book I stumbled upon in a museum bookstore.

I quite like the building itself with its 1940s deco stylings. If São Paulo ever experienced a wave of gentrification I could easily see this building converted back into the luxury apartments it once was. For now this area is a no man´s land at night and not terribly safe by day. It´s also just down the street from my apartment, São Paulo, like New York, being a city of abrupt neighborhood transitions between good and not-so-good.

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Rua da Graffiti in Pinheiros/Vila Madalena (see also 2005.09.15). Six months after my last visit there are a lot of new murals up.

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Graffiti Paulistano: The first picture is a stairway leading up from Cardeal Arcoverde, an avenue in Jardins America. The second is a graffiti mural on Rua Agusta near the centro.

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Back in São Paulo I took advantage of a clear day to go to the observation deck of the Banespa Building. I can never get enough of the endless, highrise sprawl of the city. If you like this view, I have a whole other page of pictures from my trip up there last August.

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Oscar Niemeyer´s Church of Saint Fracis of Assisi in Belo Horizonte. It´s quite different from the church of the same name in the post below. The church is one of Niemeyer´s early works, dating from 1942. The church is part of a suburban park development called Pampulha that was spear-headed by then mayor Juscelino Kubitschek. JK, as he´s called here, went on to be elected president and was the driving force behind building the new capital at Brasilia. Niemeyer designed many of the major buildings in Brasilia (my 2001 Brasilia photos).

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Ouro Preto, an historical town in Minas Gerais. The area was the site of a gold rush in the 18th century, which lead to the construction of a lot of baroque churches. I visited the town in 2001 and more pictures are on my old Geocities page.

Praça Tiradentes, the main square in town

São Francisco de Assis Church, the most ornate and photographed

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Wayne Thiebaud eat your heart out. Cake carts aren´t uncommon in Brazil, altho the ones in Abrão on Ilha Grande out do themselves.
 
 
Trash can on the beach.
 
 

Breakfast in Trinidade, this laid-back beach village about 20km from Parati (see also 2005.04.27 and 2005.09.23). I hardly spent any time in São Paulo before heading out to the beach. As is typical for my photography, I took more pics of food than beachs. All the pousadas I stayed in offered the same, excellent breakfast; papayas, bananas, bread, coffee, milk, orange and guava juice.
 
 

Chili and corn. The chili is often left at restaurant tables for spicing up dishes. Corn on the cob is a typical street food, served hot from boiling pots.
 
 

Me at Parque Ibirapuera and the view from my 7th floor apartment that I´ve rented this month overlooking Praça 14 bis on Ave 9 de Julho in the Bela Vista neighborhood.
 



photo of thomas locke hobbs For more about me, please go visit my old geocities page.


Friends
Luc Garcia, Bryan Chin, Vagner Cardoso, Aaron Holsberg, Jesse on the Brink, Overheard in NY, nblinks.

Other blogs I like
World Hum, Ted Gideonse, Subway Moblog, Philip Greenspun, Marginal Revolution, Made in Brazil, Joel on Sofware, Gothamist, GoodAirs, Gizmodo, Felix Salmon, Frank Malafronte, Cool Tools, CityRag, Brad DeLong, Beautiful Horizons, Bloggy, Amy Langfield, more.

Blog Highlights
Portraits [2004, 2005, 2006, 2007], Portugal, Sao Paulo Gay Pride, Sao Paulo Skyline, More Sao Paulo [1, 2, 3, 4], Buenos Aires [1, 2, 3], Mexico City, Curitiba, The Gates, Paris, Morocco [1, 2, 3, 4], NYC Gay Pride [2006, 2007], My Flickr Stream.

Archives
2003.06, 2003.07, 2003.08, 2003.09, 2003.10, 2003.11, 2003.12, 2004.01, 2004.02, 2004.03, 2004.04, 2004.05, 2004.06, 2004.07, 2004.08, 2004.09, 2004.10, 2004.11, 2004.12, 2005.01, 2005.02, 2005.03, 2005.04, 2005.05, 2005.06, 2005.07, 2005.08, 2005.09, 2005.10, 2005.11, 2005.12, 2006.01, 2006.02, 2006.03, 2006.04, 2006.05, 2006.06, 2006.07, 2006.08, 2006.09, 2006.10, 2006.11, 2006.12, 2007.01, 2007.02, 2007.03, 2007.04, 2007.05, 2007.06, 2007.07, 2007.08, 2007.09, 2007.10, 2007.11, 2007.12, 2008.01, 2008.02, 2008.03, 2008.04, 2008.05,

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Contact
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