The Cultural Center of Federal Justice

The trick in which one projects an image of a speaking face on an inanimate object has spread far and wide. Your correspondent first saw it presented as art by Tony Oursler, and the first time you see it, it's undeniably cool. It was also well done at the Latvian speaking stones installation. The Brazilian Federal Justice Cultural Center has a less expertly installed version in which various primary source legal experts discuss the formation of the modern Brazilian court system. For the enlightenment of our readers, one such installation is pictured above for those who are impervious to nightmares about slightly malformed disembodied heads discussing jurisprudence on command.

Vidigal

We haven't visited the favela of Vidigal. Favela is the Brazilian word for "shanty town" or "slum" or "poor neighborhood." As the Rio police undertake a slow but successful campaign of "pacifying" the favelas and forcing out the most prominent drug-trafficking elements, the hillside towns have become a tourist attraction. In this case, we took a picture from the safe distance of a couple miles of water away, with Vidgal's lights spreading up the Two Brothers at sunset.

Grumari

Hey, we made it outside the city! Not far outside the city, but far enough to find this lovely beach, called Grumari. Best part is that it has a park behind it rather than a series of apartment buildings as is the case in Ipanema. The whole baby thing on top of two work schedules has definitely slowed down our pace of exploration in comparison with prior tours, but it hasn't quite stopped us entirely. More soonish!