I found a band!

Jazz Band

Yo, I think I outta try out!!

La Marea Roja...

So I just got back from Panama on Monday night. It was a quick 6 day trip. I needed to renew my passport, and it takes 2 hours down there vs. possibly 2 months from here. I also hadn't been there in over a year so and it was good for me to go down there and see my mom and the rest of my family.

As it so happens though, my timing was great. I was there during the semi-finals and finals of the Gold Cup 2005. What am I talking about? It's a soccer tournament ran by the CONCACAF which is the confederation of FIFA that governs soccer in North and Latin America and the Caribean. It's kind of the equivalent of the Euro cup. The powerhouses in that region are mainly the US and Mexico. Panama is way down there. But they did well in pool play, came in second, and then beat South Africa (an invited out of region team) in the quarters in penalties to make it to the semis.

Now, to say that this was/is a big deal, is an understatement. I don't know how I can convey what it was like. Panama had never been this far in any international soccer comeptition. This was big time. "La Marea Roja" (the red tide) is the name given to our fans. That's cuz our team colors are red and white, and the fans always wear red. In the semis we were playing Colombia. Colombia is a big time team, they've made several World Cup appearances. We'd already beaten them once in the tournament, and beating them again would be a big upset. I'm pretty sure that at least half of the country if not more watched that game. I'm not joking. We scored early in the first half, then scored again. Colombia then scored to make it 2-1. It was nerve wracking to watch. I thought they would tie for sure, but we scored again to make it 3-1. They then scored, but the final was 3-2 and we won. People were out in the streets celebrating, waving their flags, sporting their red jerseys and partying in the streets. This was the biggest accomplishment in soccer for us ever. Everybody was ecstatic. Next up, the USA in the finals on Sunday. No one thought we could win. Just getting there was amazing, but what if, what if...

On Sunday, it was double the intensity as the semis. I think the whole country stopped to watch that game. I watched at at my uncle's restaurant, El Piloto, that he opened especially for the occasion (usually they close on Sundays). Check out the scene...

I don't mean that all the sports fans were out cheering, I'm talking everybody. People that probably don't even like soccer all that much. Here's my uncle behind the bar:

Before the game and durin halftime and any other breaks the place was bumpin to reggaeton songs all specially written to support the team. Popular songs modified with lyrics to cheer.

I was afraid we'd get killed. I watched the USA-Panama game they played in RFK about 6 months ago and we lost 5-0. It would have been horrible for that to happen with the whole country cheering. But that didn't happen. They played great. The #6 team in the world vs the #83 team. We had as many if not more chances then they did. We had one goal that was taken away by a really close offside call, one shot hit the crossbar, and plenty more chances. The US also had a bunch of their own. The US controlled the ball more, and we got lots of chances on fast breaks, but at the end of regular time it was 0-0 and no one could say we were outmatched. OT proved to be more of the same, both sides getting good chances. Panama tiring and the US appeared fresher, but still no goals and a 0-0 score. So it's off to penalties. 2 great goalies (our goalie, Penedo, was one of the huge surprises of the tourney). Up first was Tejada, our best forward. And the US goalie stopped it. That was the beginning of the end. Our goalie stopped one, but another one of our forwards hit the crossbar and missed. We ended up losing in PKs.

My little cousin Diego was devastaded. He was in the corner of the restaurant, head down, wrapped in his Panama flag. When I left about 20 mins after the end of the game, he was in the same position. Nothing was gonna cheer him up. But he's too young to realize what a great performance it was. He was the exception, not the rule. To the rest of the country, it was time to celebrate. Again, it's hard to describe. The game started at 2, prolly finished before 5 or so. Afterwards I went to my grandfather's house to hang out with them for a bit on my last night. When we headed back to my mom's place around 8:30, it took us half an hour to cross Calle 50 because the people were out in mass, celebrating, partying, drinking. That road was closed at some intersections, and at other it was bumper to bumper with cars, most sporting flags and drunk Panamanians.

Monday night, the team flew home to a huge celebration.

http://www.prensa.com/hoy/deportes/289946.html

Over 20000 people went to the stadium to welcome them back, and I'm sure the partying just continued. Just imagine if we had won!!! No doubt, Monday would have been declared a national holiday! No joke. On my way to the airport in the morning, people on the radio kept on calling and commenting on how proud/happy they were.

The funny thing is that in the US, that soccer game was probably the smallest blip in the sports fan's radar. Somewhere below Sunday's baseball game, and NFL pre-season talk shows. Few people if any knew about it, let alone watched it.

Just goes to show how different life is around the world.

Anyways, it was a good time for me to be home :)

Ahora, vamos pa el Mundial chicos. Hay que califcarse! Come decian la gente en la radio: "Te imaginas si llegamos al Mundial? Te imaginas si ganamos un partido? Chucha, si metemos un gol? La dementia brother (pronounced brada) la dementia!!!"

Homeowner update and where's Tera & J?

So seriously, condos are not always the best. The update on the nosy neighbor is that the other day she asked me if I went to Harris Teeter. When I said yes, she said, well, do you want your receipt? I said no, but I should have said yes. She probably has that stuff in her scrap book or something. Yesterday she came out of her place when I got back from the gym and asked me if I had been working out. When I said yes, she told me to go to Curves. WHAT!?! She's nuts.

In other news, I noticed that Tera is now logged on as a blogger. But no posts. What's up with that Tera? We need the update! And J - you've been pretty quiet too. How was the stay at home vaca?

Dude, that's my car!

Started playing around with Google Earth.

Searched for 4754, and I'm sure that's my acura parked in the driveway next to Tamara's car. What do you think?

Joyeux Anniversaire!

Today is my mom's bday. If I'm not mistaken she's 67 today. Joyeux anniversaire maman!

On Sunday she ran a half-marathon in 2:38 and she won a $40 New Balance gift certificate for coming in second in the 50+ (5o!) category.

My new baby

So I posted the picture of the flugel horn I was planning on buying.

The guy was a pro jazz player in France, and I had exchanged multiple emails with him before deciding to purchase the horn. He seemed like a guy that I could trust, and I had actually ran a search on the internet and, indeed, he was a reputable trumpet player/teacher.

Anyway, excited as I was about the horn, I, without thinking too much, sent him the money (about 800 USD). He confirmed the payment, and said that he would ship the horn as soon as possible.

Well, I emailed him the next day to make sure he had shipped. No response.... Okay, I thought, maybe he was busy and didn't have time to respond. Next day, I send him another email... no response. I start to worry. Again, the next day, I send him an email. Same thing. This goes on for a week! At this point in time (actually by the 2nd day), I start thinking that I've been screwed. I send this dude a large sum of money, and I get nothing. For the last week, all I have been thinking about is how I've just been scammed into paying 800 bucks for nothing. I have trouble sleeping at night, think about a trip to France to confront this guy, think of any way in order to either get my money back or get the horn.

Well, this morning, I finally get an email from him. He was apparently in Hungary for a week long gig and did not have internet access the whole time. I was totally relieved. He wrote me that he sent the horn last monday and that it should arrive shortly. With about 7 emails from me, he clearly felt bad for not being able to contact me.

This evening, after returning for work, sure enough, the horn arrives!!! and what a Beauty. She plays as good as she looks (only if women were like that). This evening, I'm drinking and just looking at this horn with joy...

Anyway, I've learned that, unless you decide to buy through ebay and paypal (which protects both the buyer and seller), it's best to use a service such as escrow.com, which ensures that both parties get what they ask for before the actual transaction takes place.

I've lost many hours of sleep over this, thankfully, with a happy ending. But I've learned a good lesson on trading online.

Sorry for the long message, but I couldn't tell anyone about this for the last week (too ashamed, embarrased), and I had to let it out!

Now to enjoying my new horn!

Kazu

ha!

Thanks for sharing pics of the wedding! Looks like a great time.

Sorry, I found this picture hilarious! ha ha... busted.

Our Favorite Landlord

So here's Tommy's exchange over the security deposit, AFTER we hired a maid service to clean the house.

btreiser11: hey
fcamargo4: yo
btreiser11: just spoke to your boy
btreiser11: john gill
fcamargo4: ?
fcamargo4: from HA?
btreiser11: he passes along his best
btreiser11: yeah
btreiser11: so anyway
fcamargo4: what's the deal?
btreiser11: he made a comment first off that the floors didn't even look swept on the inside
btreiser11: so I called bullshit on that
fcamargo4: huh?
btreiser11: he said we got ripped off by our maids
btreiser11: anyway,
btreiser11: here are the items we got busted for
fcamargo4: this is a good start
btreiser11: overall cleaning of house/walls/utility room and fireplace
btreiser11: then gutters
btreiser11: outside overgrowth
btreiser11: and ivy on walls
fcamargo4: sweet
btreiser11: and both drains up and down in the shower he said were paritially clogged
btreiser11: I told him this is like it always is
btreiser11: it's their fault
fcamargo4: and that's our fault?
fcamargo4: right
btreiser11: plus he told me they were redoing the house
btreiser11: painting and floors
btreiser11: so I told him we wouldn't pay for anything inside
btreiser11: except fireplace and utility room
btreiser11: he said 100-200 for those
fcamargo4: pay?
btreiser11: off deposit
fcamargo4: ok
btreiser11: gutters another 100
btreiser11: ivy and overgrowth
btreiser11: said could be around 500
btreiser11: he was just using rough numbers
btreiser11: said he had 30 days to give back, but that we were looking at about 50%
btreiser11: 1K
btreiser11: kind of what I expected
btreiser11: I bet we end up with a little more
btreiser11: maybe 1200
fcamargo4: yeah, I guess that's about what we thought
fcamargo4: better then nothing
btreiser11: anyway,
btreiser11: yeah - no kidding
btreiser11: that's the update though

Typical.

Homeowner

So speaking of missing 4754, I think I've run into homeowner again. Seriously. She moved to my condo complex. I have this crazy neighbor who also works in the condo office and is super nosy. I have to pass her on the way in from the parking lot and she is ALWAYS either looking out her window or sitting on her patio. The other night she asked me why I was getting home so late. Then a few days later she tells me that she moved my tomato plant because it wasn't getting enough sun. Its ON MY PATIO!!! Then, I came back from the long weekend to find a note asking me to clean up my patio. It was unsigned, but I could faintly make out the word "homeowner" and the bottom if I looked hard enough. What is up with these people? What happened to live and let live?

I'll post picture of the new place soon (soon, as in, when Fab lets me borrow his camera). :)

Stacy and Dan's wedding

This weekend I was up in lovely Connecticut for Dan and Stacy's wedding. It was a lot of fun, and a wonderful ceremony. The bride and groom looked great, and as happy as ever. As you can see in these pics:

It was a fun wedding. Lots of eating, dancing, drinking. You know, the usual wedding stuff. Dan and Stacy definitely got their groove on. Check out Big Danny in money form:

I hung out most of the time with the MSTR/ex-MSTR clan. Cuong and Annie, Chris and Tina, Jake, Liz Pontikes, Amanda Schmu (not sure how to spell her last name), and Tania Chozet.

Dan and Stacy should be on their way to their Alaskan cruise honeymoon right about now. Go Big Danny!

You can check out the rest of the pictures on Ofoto:

http://amazon.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=z6w12hf.56qfd7zv&Uy=afsm8n&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=1&UV=916190004557_288406946203

Alright, I'm going back to reading my book and watching some poker on TV.