Went shopping for Brazil reading material at Amazon.com.

Paulo Lins' City of God: Drawing on his childhood upbringing in Rio's Cidade de Deus housing project, Lins, uses his knowledge of drug trafficking and gang warfare as the basis of this novel.

Annette Haddad and Scott Doggett's (eds) Travelers' Tales: Brazil: An anthology of extracts from books and magazine articles by journalists, anthropologists, historians, and other travellers to Brazil.

Alma Guillermoprieto's Samba: The author, a trained dancer and well-known journalist, describes a year she spent in Rio's Mangueira favela preparing with its inhabitants for Carnaval.

And, for Travis, who's a bit behind the curve in terms of trip reading:

Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island: Highlights his travels across Britain.

*Brazil book descriptions taken from The Rough Guide to Brazil.

Since the closure of Pownce I've searched the Net far and wide for a replacement microblog site. Tumblr is easy to use, intuitive, and extremely mobile friendly. Though the death of Pownce was sad I think Tumblr far surpasses it in many ways.

The ThreeCircles.net Tumblr: http://threecircles.tumblr.com

With the closing hours of 2008 upon us and a new year just over the horizon a bit of reflection, sentimental or not, gives us a glimpse of things to be thankful for, friends to remember, and hope for changes upcoming.

The world shrunk just a bit smaller for me throughout the year as I ventured across the globe both near and far. Washington, D.C., Switzerland, Thailand, and Peru. Four continents, four capital cities, three amazing countries: Each bestowing images, experiences, and memories that will not soon be forgot.

From Einstein's Haus in Bern to an elephant ride in Chaing Mai to an Incan city lost (and found) in the Peruvian Andes. From Swiss German to Thai to Spanish; from fondu and Champagne in the Swiss Alps to Pad Thai and Chang Beer in Bangkok to Cevechi and Cusqueña overlooking the beautiful coast stretching out from Lima; from the Farmer Room to the elegance of the Marina Phuket to the Gran Hotel Bolivar.

While each destination shifted a country from the "To visit" to the "Want to go back" column, each also imparted a sense of my place in the world and of all of the truly amazing places, people, and sites to see. As Anthony Bourdain states, the more one sees of the world the more one realizes how little we know.

ThreeCircles.net may not be long for this world due to dwindling interest but, for now, it's worth paying tribute to for the role it has played to this point in keeping a small group of friends in contact.

At the end of this year, that has been so difficult for so many across the globe, we especially remember those who are fighting difficult situations and yet who continue on. When we, in our own lives, often fret over the smallest inconvenience, we should not forget that there are those that cherish those "inconvenient" moments because, if even for a fleeting moment, the focus shifts from the larger struggles in their lives. And so, in reflecting back on 2008, we pay a special tribute to them. We let them know that while contact may not be daily, weekly, or even monthly, we're thinking of them; we're hoping for them; and we're thanking them for their friendship.

Hope. Good riddance to "hope" as a catch-all campaign slogan. But, for 2009, hope to the world. Not from some adored god in some mystical form or from one political party over another. Rather hope from one human to another. And another. And another. Regardless of race, religion, belief, language spoken, gender, ability, sexual orientation, and other such non-meaningful categories.

Here's to hope that the United States returns to the beliefs that made the country great. A respect for all people of all nations, not just ours; a respect for human rights and human dignity; and a goal of peace.

Here's to hope that more people than not can have a safe home, food, and employment. Here's to hope that wealth becomes more evenly spread throughout the world. Here's to hope that fewer countries of the world are in turmoil and more are at peace both within their borders and with their neighbors.

Happy New Year.

On Saturday (6.21.08), after a lunch at the Beachcomber, Travis and I decided to visit one of Florida's smaller, and much closer to home, theme parks, Busch Gardens Africa.

Travis bought his ticket online and after encountering problems with our printer, and thus printing out said ticket, I waited to purchase mine at one of the self service kiosks at the front gate.

We opted for the Annual Passport considering it was only $99 and a single-day ticket runs something to the tune of $65. Plus, as with many of the Disney annual tickets, parking is included.

We had watched the radar throughout the morning and early afternoon and figured we would encounter rain at the park. That turned out to be more than true.

Still, it was fun exploring something new for a change. Or at least "new" in the sense that I hadn't visited the park during regular operating hours for 22 years.

Jungala, the newly opened animal exhibit area, provides lots of up close viewing areas and interactive exhibits. Of course there's the coasters of which we rode none due to Travis' stitches. (Long story. E-mail or PM him.)

Generally we just wandered the park watching the animals and checking out the shops, restaurants, and exhibits. We spent a bit checking out some of the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales.

Later in the evening we stopped in the Hospitality House where they provide all guests 21 and up with two free Busch product "samples" per day. Sample is a bit misleading as they're actually close to full sized beers. I'd say about 8 oz or so. I only tried one, billed as an "American Wheat" ale, not being a huge fan of beer in general.

I wasn't able to snap many pictures due to the weather but look forward to visiting the park throughout the year.

Yesterday, after a trip to Disney during which we visited The Columbia in Celebration for lunch, the Grand Floridian for a drink, and the Magic Kingdom for fun, we decided to try out Terror in Orlando.

I first heard about the attraction from several posts on HHN Vault and, from there, explored the limited website the attraction has online. The Vaulters gave mixed reviews of the haunt but I was anxious to try it anyway. After first attending Howl-O-Scream in 2004, looking for a break from canvassing for John Kerry, it now seems that we're addicted to the scares of late September and the month of October that come to us by way of Busch Gardens and Universal. Terror in Orlando seemed like an option for us to experience a little "Halloween in February".

I couldn't recall the exact address for the attraction but a quick reference of the white pages at a Contemporary pay phone led the way. We headed off Disney property and toward International Drive.

About ten miles and what seemed like a hundred stop lights later we discovered the haunt tucked inside a small strip mall. A small sign above the thrown-open doors indicated we had indeed found Terror in Orlando.

The decor inside the building was limited: A counter to the right with some merchandise lining the walls behind it, a blank wall beyond that with testimonials written in markers scrawled along it, and the entrances to the two houses to the front-left.

We purchased our "Combo" tickets (pictured above) that would grant us entrance to each of the mazes and then were instructed to queue up when we were ready. Being the only customers in the building we had no reason to wait and went to the entrance to the first maze: Mayhem Manor.

You can find the full backstory here but, in short, Mayhem Manor details the life of a doctor (Dr. Morpheus Mayhem) who studied the emotion of fear by drawing unknowing subjects into a research facility set up to look like a typical Halloween haunted house. Soon, the doctor went mad, people began to go missing, and, well, you decide to enter Mayhem Manor to find out what happened.

After a brief introduction to the backstory in a small, dimly lit chamber with a large fireplace and portrait of Dr. Morpheus Mayhem, we were set on our way through the maze.

Overall, the run was certainly reminiscent of the houses put together for Howl-O-Scream and Halloween Horror Nights. Lots of twisting turns, dark corners, and hidden trap doors that would swing open to reveal the scare actor that was following you behind the scenes as you made your way through the house. Yes, you read that correctly, from what we could determine, there was actually only one actor per house. But, through cleaver use of air guns and other mechanical scares, in conjunction with the actor, there didn't seem to be any dead zones throughout the house.

The gore-factor was limited and the sets, while detailed, were not at the level of either HOS or HHN. The mazes were also brighter than either of the two leaders generally have theirs. Perhaps this was out of safety concerns that the owners/operators have in mind.

Next up was 3D Funhouse. The maze was much shorter than the first and the theme not nearly as horrific as a mad physician. Instead, the house leads you through a rather barren off-screen remake of Killer Clowns from Outer Space."

Evidently these clowns want to kill you but you can't be too sure as the backstory is never provided. Still, it was fun with a foam machine thrown into the mix in one hallway and an air-driven compression machine in another.

The cost for the Combo Ticket was $17.00 per person. If you wanted to traverse just one house the cost was $12.00. You also had the option of re-walking both mazes for 50% of the cost ($8.50 for two houses or $6.00 for one) as long as you don't leave the premises.

The verdict: The houses were very short which, in light of the cost of the ticket, was a bit of a disappointment. Of course, I've spent $57 on a ticket to HHN and their houses were of much the same length: Too short. The scares were there on several occasions and the detail was good. Not great but good.

Overall, I'm happy I went as it provided for a fun 20 minute or so distraction.