Here's something I've wanted to post for a while.

British....reserve.

French....fries.

German....efficiency.

Italian...food.

Jewish....humor.

American...enthusiasm....and

Portuguese...power.


What is this power, anyway? It has something to do with certain unofficial party cruise some Portuguese people made to what is today Senegal, in 1200, around the same time that the Bantu wave of migration began, originating in that same area. I guess that this level of contact with Europeans was a new thing under the sun and Bantu people spread out far and wide to tell the story to everybody. The Portuguese must have been pretty good because by 1850 the Bantu system had been adopted all the way down in Xhosa land.

For their part, the Portuguese don't really care much about Europe, or anything. It just matters that it goes well. Going forward.

Here are a few words from my Portuguese Larousse:

medo = fear
no = a bedknob
O = "the"
Bom dia! = Good day
O-brig-ado = Thank you

French is a required subject in the Portuguese school system; English is not...

Anything that seems brightly colored, well-put-together, and seems to take care of itself is using Portuguese power, I guess. Buzzcocks, Public Enemy (incl album covers), John Lydon + PiL*, Discord Records*, Butthole Surfers, Jay Leno, Poly Styrene, Green Day, Pele, Dave Chappelle, Sam Adams Beer....Burger King....Marvel Comics...adult swim....Pedro Martinez, Reggie Jackson, LaDanian Tomlinson, Tom Brady..the Kennedys (duh).... Austin Texas, Portland Oregon, Brixton UK, Oakland California, Etc.

And it's a genuine European country with plenty of old time people around. It's just amazing.

There's more to say. Maybe this post will just stick here and accumulate value as more key words are added to it.

* Gray is definitely a color.

Note: after reading Chinese one can get away with talking about European countries in this manner without actually being gladhanded and patronizing. Thanks for bearing with us.

In a nutshell: "We don't have a problem with anybody."

And if you ever show up here, all I can say is...look good.

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Here's something else that deserves attention: Hey, what's the deal with Pure Land Buddhism? The way I see it there are two competing schools of buddhism popular among young people: Zen and Pure Land. Zen could be seen as Roxy Music developing into Ramones developing into Kanye West and Gnarls Barkley; you know, real nice and all. Pure Land could be seen as Desmond Dekker developing into Sex Pistols developing into Strokes, Killers, Jets, Dre, etc; like one is clearing away obstructions while taking great pains not to give people the wrong idea that one is an idiot.

Pure Land Buddhism is very popular. Here is a comparison.

Female Name Z: Bola Pebbles; PL: Gert Abilyou

In the 70s, which did you prefer: War, Curtis Mayfield, Sweet, Norman Greenbaum, early Steve Miller Band (PL) or Bloodstone, Harold Melvin, Beach Boys, Orleans, popular Steve Miller band (Z)?

Cop Shows: Bochco PL, L 'n O Z.

The word for Zen is a lot like that moment in Law and Order when Sam Waterston has an impossible seeming question to answer and he manages to say something forcefully effective in return.

Some bands from Asia know the difference quite well and sing about it. To be rhetorical about it, would the reader consider Bruce Springsteen to be pro-management, pro-labor, or a seasoned observer of the situation? Cibo Matto is an example of people who are seasoned observers of East Asian religious stew.

It's weird how Dave Letterman is so positively nitty gritty with such a vacuum of clarity and determination in the center of his soul. In other words he is a hybrid w/o self-examination.

Everything that is zen has some kind of conversationally functional pure land counterpart. Sour Cream and mayonnaise; vodka and gin; Queens and Brooklyn; etc. I suppose one should let the reader finish on his or her own...