Episode 13: The Episode Where we Jump the Shark

In our unlucky 13th episode Milton and I go so far off-topic, that it's not even funny. (Well, actually I suppose it is.) To make matters worse, serious back pain has delayed me getting this out, and I didn't have a chance to record an intro, resulting in the episode beginning and ending rather abruptly. Next episode will be better. I promise.

Links:

• Mail Order Guaraná -- for those outside Brazil
• Brazilian Showerhead Pics: 1, 2, 3

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Comments

[Edson José Cortiano]

Hey guys,
I really enjoy the show.
I've been listening / watching since the beginning.
I like the way Kinsey edits it, meaning I agree that phones ringing, people ringing the doorbell and so on add spontaneity to the show.
One suggestion: for me, as a Brazilian English teacher, it was very useful to now how you could call "pão de queijo" in English (cheese roll or cheese bun). So, I think for me (and many other listeners who sometimes have to explain Brazilian food, habits, etc to English speaking people), I'd like to have more of that.
And keep up the good work!

[Zebulon]

Please delete this if you think it is inappropriate for a family show; however, it made me smile. I just came across this Brazilian news, admittedly from 2005 - better late than never, I suppose.

"Espertantina Mayor Felipe Santolia has finally endorsed May 9 as the official Orgasm Day holiday, which he said was intended to improve relationships between married couples."

[Zebulon]

I like the interruptions. They make the show fresh and personal.

Maybe one reason you are not getting as much feedback as you expect is because you tell us you record more than one show in a day. So we wait for the next show before commenting. I'm not suggesting you don't record several shows in a day - I'm just suggesting you don't tell us that you are... :-)

[Kinsey]

Edson,

Thank you. As for pão de queijo, I just call it "pão de queijo". There's no good way to say it in English. Sometimes I say "cheese bread" to show what the words in Portuguese mean, but it's problematic, sounding a bit to much like Pizza Hut's "cheesy bread". Also, in Mexico they call cheesecake "pan de queso". I like your suggestion of using "roll". I suppose that if I were introducing it on a menu in the US, I would put "tapioca cheese roll".

Zebulon,

Thanks for the news. Here's the full article with commentary Interestingly, Simone says she's never heard of the holiday or even the town where it was created.

Actually, I have to keep reminding myself that we do pretty good in the feedback department for the number of listeners we have. You may be right that the reason feedback has trailed off has to do with us doing multiple episodes in a single day.

[Edson José Cortiano]

Hey Kinsey,
I forgot two things in my comment:
1) Ponta Grossa is a city in my state, Paraná. There's a town near it called Campo Largo. We're always making jokes about men from Ponta Grossa meeting women from Campo Largo. ;-)
(You do have a Point Gross in the US, right?)
2) Tell Simone I said "hi". (I have two great mineiro pals, they are sweet and wonderful people. Mineiros rock! PS.I'm from Curitiba, if you're wondering.)
Last thing, a request: make more comments on language,Portuguese and English.
All the best.

[Kinsey]

Edson,

I'll keep that in mind about language when we do shows. At some point there will be an entire episode dedicated to interesting facts about the Portuguese language.

[Edson José Cortiano]

Good news, Kinsey.

I'll be looking forward to this episode.

Should you guys need some contributions, I've been working on a dictionary in the tradition of Chamberlein's A Dictionary of Informal Brazilian Portuguese.

Here are three entries, to give you an idea:

laranja (testa de ferro) – beard / straw-man (“pessoa a quem uma empresa ou um título de propriedade é transferido com o único propósito de esconder o seu verdadeiro dono)

lavagem de dinheiro – money laundering

miojo – spagetti-os (only these are canned)

I can send you the file by e-mail.
Cheers

[Kinsey]

Edson,

Those are interesting. If you like, you can send the file by e-mail to kinsey[AT]brazilianismspodcast[dot]com, and we'll talk about it when we come to the language episode. It will still be a few weeks before we get to it, though.

[MDG]

Oi Kinsey...

I only just found your podcast recently and I've finally caught up (it took me about 5 days) and I really enjoy it. You and Milton are hysterical but also interesting. I hope you keep doing what you are doing and not change your editing or format. I really like the tangents and drifts in conversation.

Eventhough this is a little late, you guys always seem to talk about pizza so I feel alright but one pizza topping there that is strange to probably most Americans is tuna. I couldn't even imagine a tuna pizza before I went to Brazil and when I finally had it there it was amazing. And in exotic fruits... I love pinha.

Also, I hope Milton gets better soon and you guys start recording again!

[Kinsey]

MDG,

Oi! Thank you for your kind words. As you can see, I've just posted a new episode, so the show is starting to make a recovery as Milton gets better.

I don't think I've ever tried tuna on pizza, even though I've spent a lot of time in Brazil. Hmm, maybe I should give it try.

[spanky]

Hi guys,

Again, let be reiterate, edit how you best see fit. The show is yours, it seems to be doing well (300 users you said!?). Don't go changing a lot of stuff just because a drunk spanky shows up foaming at the mouth. I wish you all success!

spankie

[Kinsey]

Spankie,

Thank you. We really do appreciate your remarks, especially the thoughtfully critical ones. Mostly the reason we bring you up so much is to see if we can thereby encourage other listeners to critique us.

[The Spanky]

I just saw the title. I didn't get the shark part. Did I miss something? I haven't been taking my meds.

The Spanky

[Kinsey]

Hi The Spanky,

Jumping the shark basically means coming out with an episode so dismally bad that it's clear that a show is past its prime. I was just making fun of how bad we did on this one. That's also why there's a photo of garbage.

[Patrick]

Keep the calls in...adds a bit of unexpected unscripted realism to the podcast. Some background noise and vocals from calls or visitors is good.

[Kinsey]

Patrick, thanks. I like to include stuff like that, so people can get a better feel for my life in Brazil. Examples of stuff I do cut out are long pauses of more than fifteen seconds, long tangents that have nothing at all to do with Brazil and are incredibly boring, and loud noises created by Milton tapping his microphone.

[Mark]

I wanted to comment on the electric shower heads. When I first arrived in Brazil I was advised to get out of the shower before changing the settings on the shower head. It later occurred to me that unless you stand on an insulated mat or dried off completely, it wouldn't make much of a difference where you are standing. I was shocked several times, but it is such a low current that it isn't too dangerous. I would think that most shower heads are insulated well enough that it isn't a problem.

It's also not an issue in the sweltering heat, when it's so hot that you don't need or want the water any warmer than it is already.

As for only using your right hand, my high school electronics teacher told us the same thing in regards to any energized electrical circuit. Now, I'm not convinced that one hand or the other is better, but I think the important thing is to only use one hand. Using both hands could create a direct path through your heart, which could be fatal for even the small amount of current used in the shower heads.

[Mark]

Huh. I just looked up the specs for some shower heads. They draw a lot more current than I thought. 25 amps at 220 volts can be dangerous.

[Kinsey]

Mark, ah yes, I can see how using two hands might create a problem. I'm fortunate to live in one of the cities that uses 110 current, so it's a little safer here. Still, I have to admit I've yet to hear of a shower fatality in Brazil, at least one that involved electricity.