On this, the day of the Trazzler final judgment, I give you — Keepin It Rio's first appearance in that archaic, rough, dirty-up-ya-fingers, form of media — newspaper.
+
In true, um, Brazilian-style — this wasn't printed until the day after the contest voting ended (Sept. 15).
Imagine the untapped potential of the dozens of literate Southern Utahans...a few of which, surely have the ability to use a computer.
I hope, within the next few hours, it is THEIR spirit that forces the Trazzler judges hands towards selecting my trip.
Travel Channel — how can you be so bad and so good all at once?
You give the Hunter S. Thompson of Food a platform (Bourdain's No Reservations) and then you barf up this.
Brace yourself folks. Below is the actual description of the shows first episode — taken directly from the press release sent to us: Riku and Tunna, the two Finns behind the madness, begin their journey in Brazil where they encounter dangers I personally wouldn't dare to face. The episode starts with Riku in a medical chair getting his bicep sliced open with a scalpel. What for? A diamond of course! He gets a diamond sewn under his skin in case he gets robbed and needs cash fast.
This precaution makes more sense once they reach their first destination: a shanty-town (Rocinha Favela) run by gang members. The murder rate in this town is significantly higher than Rio's, which has one of the highest crime rates worldwide. A lot of criminals move to the shanty town to get lost after leaving prison. Riku and Tunna get up-close-and-personal with one of the gang members and his guns.
They have got to be joking... Unfortunately, prior to this post, the preview of the show has been removed from YouTube.
It was probably because of the dozens of comments pointing out whatever false location the show was calling Rocinha.
I spent around a dozen Funk fueled nights scurrying up and down the morro of the most populated favela in Rio and, no, that certainly doesn't appear familiar. I'm no favela expert but I do also recall every single person (Brasilero or not) being accosted by rifled minions whenever even seeming to take a picture with so-much as a cell phone — much less a video camera.
Aside from Diplo's 'Favela On Blast', which doesn't even show too much visually, you will be hard pressed to find quality favela footage.
In addition to the obvious cultural clusterfuckery this show is about to induce upon the places it visits, I wonder about the legal ramifications of lying about the place you are claiming to be shooting from.
Of course, I refuse to actually tell you what day the show will start. If you really wanna see it you will have to figure it out by means other than those of my words. Travel Channel stays losing.
We are at the midway point in the Trazzler.com #NYCGO writing contest. It has been a lot mo' fun and exciting than people woulda predicted. From the jump, I've been all sorts of active about getting the word out and it seems like a few dozen of the 204 semifinalists did the same. The efforts have livened the experience up for everyone involved.
I don't readily toot my own horn but in this case I'll break for a squeeze.
For one, my idea to donate some of the winnings to charity has caught on almost as rapidly as the wildfires burning my current So-Cal surroundings. Initially, I felt a tad robbed but charity is still charity and I would rather the winner donate a portion of their winnings to positive cause — especially one having to do with their Trazzler trip. After all, the writers owe as much to the places they visited as they do to their writing abilities. It's also true that most of my fellow competitors have only been complimentary instead of malicious.
I've been impressed with my supporters' drive to hustle votes and clicks for my lil' writing tidbit. Some get pretty excited and I have to be wary to warn cats not to flirt with their five-per-IP address limits by allowing votes from their friends and family. Visions of mid-party music halts aimed at convincing everyone in the room to log onto Facebook and send a vote the sloth direction plague my mind.
Still, aside from a few techno-tards who can't seem to follow the simplest of steps (albeit the voting/wishlisting terms take an inkling of explaining) to vote for the trip, all of my efforts have yielded results. The YouTube video should hit 1,000 before the contest is up, my CouchSurfing comrades have represented well, the Twitterverse has been responsive and, of course, the majority of my wishlisters have flooded in from my Facebook contingent.
As the contestants tighten their shoe laces, adjust their shin guards and wait for the second half to begin, a lot could still change. Team SLOTH won't. And to paraphrase Mos Def:
The word sloth has zig-zagged in and out of this blog since its inception. Eventually both the physical animal and the metaphoric one penetrated my mind state and my writing. All things sloth intensified on February 7th, when I finally had the chance to not only see a sloth but meet one.
Among the many amazing adventures that I had in Brazil, that day ended up leaving the thickest mark on my memory of the country.
#24514 Slouching in Slow-Travel, Sloth Style in Caraíva, Brazil
Nothing says “take it easy” like a hug from a sloth. No matter how easy you have been taking it, it’s simple to find yourself past the point of relaxation in Brazil’s cultural dream state of Bahia. True, you may have spent the last few hours or days in a gentle zephyr of milky sand, soothing ocean suds, and soul-cleansing moqueca (seafood stew) in the petite village of Caraíva—but a state of zen is only attained via sloth. Kept as pets by the indigenous Pataxó tribe, these smiley, three-toed mammals accentuate wooden handicraft outposts on the path back towards reality. Need a hug for the road?
When I stumbled upon Trazzler and their #NYCGO writing contest, it was my duty to that day and that animal to try to relay that experience. After considering the total amount of money, the idea of giving back to the experience came naturally.
So, yes, if I win I will donate exactly half ($5,000) of the grand prize to the World Wild Life foundation's Brazil focus. Of course this will help the sloths but it will also help preserve the area around Caraíva and beyond. I think that is only fair. After all, I will be helping to increase tourism to that area just by publicizing it this heavily.
It's sort of part of a bigger eco-friendly tourism reality that travelers and trazzlers alike will have to start realizing sooner or later. The ease of travel increases and the likelihood of too many visitors adversely effecting a place becomes inevitable. I just want to get a head start. Most travelers can't afford big donations, so I would hope, if I win that this one would be for the team.
Today voting (wishlisting) has begun for the Trazzler.com NYCGO writing contest and my trip is in fourth place out of 204.
For the sloth's sake, my sake and your sake, fellow traveler, let's hope I win.
And by razzmatazz, of course, I mean tiny sweet, tangy strips of gooey bloggy goodness sprinkled with sugary narrative.
But it's the bite-size length of the writing strips that are the site's most delicious feature.
Yes, the twitter of travel writing, Trazzler has its recipe just right. They don't give their writers (although mostly talented) enough room to ramble on and ruin the places they are trying to praise. This rapid fire approach on their mini-blogs (called "trips") forces writers to be concise. This also allows for more writing to be spent on other "trips" in other countries for other readers. It's a double victory.
Maybe, best of all, they don't open the floodgates to any-ole-hack with a keyboard and a passport stamp to write for their site. They have focus, consistency, quality and breadth — and all of these qualities compliment each other to make one hell of a great travel site.
If they play their cards right, maybe I will even lend them my words about my "trips", in Rio and out.
It's almost been six-months since my six-months in Rio and I'm still writing about it.
Join trazzler and 'wishlist' my trip starting Monday August 31st and maybe, just maybe the site will get the chance to host my trips about the marvelous city.
For all of you loyal Keepin' It Rio readers, still checkin' the site after six months of absence...enjoy the exclusive photos of Caraíva, including bonus Sloth shots. Maybe more to come next week...
are probably aware, Alex and I have left the land of juice bars and sand bars to return to the land of milkshakes and handshakes.
I am shocked, culturally.
A few nights ago, I was introduced to a girl at a bar. I went for the double cheek-kiss as her extended hand nearly jabbed my lung. Oh yea, we shake hands. I forgot how cold we are.
I also forgot how cold we are--in the literal sense. I wanted to give my new Havaianas sandals a whirl, but the only whirl was that of freezing wind that instantly incapacitated my feet. So much for all the tank-tops I bought.
Also so much for all the new tank-tops I bought--those being the cannons of miniature model tanks I bought from a Brazilian military enthusiast. No, I'm just kidding. I don't even think you can find those separate from the whole tank.
At any rate, I am readapting to the culture that I once knew exclusively.
Perhaps the most comforting experience thus far has come in the form of an efficient errand. Alex and I returned just one day before our grandmother's 80th birthday. Our gift? A framed collage of pictures we'd taken in Brazil, co-starring other family members that had visited us. So, we decided to devote an afternoon to this project. We started by ordering lunch...online. Sandwiches from Bay Cities Italian Deli on Lincoln. Point. Click. Point. Click. Ready in a half an hour. Next stop: Fed-Ex Kinkos on Wilshire. 15 minutes on the parking meter. We put in the USB flash drive into the Sony picture printer and out falls one $4.99 8"x10" photo, with 9 minutes left on the meter. Next stop: Joann Fabrics (isn't fabric already pluralized?). One frame--also $4.99. We picked up our sandwiches and returned back to the house within an hour.
Kissing, sweating and waiting are only a few of the cultural skins that I've had to shed since I got back. I'm sure more will emerge, in true awkward form. Until then, I guess I will just have to be keepin it Rio--in California.
