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Here is the word for this week: apostle PRONUNCIATION: (uh-POS-uhl) MEANING: noun: A strong supporter or pioneer of a policy, cause, or belief. USAGE: "Romney is the frontman and apostle of an economic revolution, in which transactions are manufactured instead of products, wealth is generated without accompanying prosperity, and Cayman Islands partnerships are lovingly erected and nurtured while American communities fall apart." Matt Taibbi; Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital; Rolling Stone (New York); Aug 29, 2012. ETYMOLOGY: From Greek apostolos (messenger). Earliest documented use: 950.

Sorry about that Ax. A prato executivo or prato feito is offered by many, many restaurants that are not of the por quilo/kilo variety where you go through a buffet line and at the end, your plate is weighed. Most restaurants serve a portion that is enough for more than one person and with a higher price. So as a way to compete with the por quilos, they offer and executive plate or "done"/prepared plate. It includes the "base" or base Brasilian meal - rice, beans, farofa and usually either fries or pure / mashed along with a small fresh salad of lettuce, tomato and onion. Along with a chosen protein. One place I often pass in the center of Rio near Largo do Carioca offers half-dozen daily options with a fish variety or two, chicken, pork loin and two beef choice. Never more than 12Reais. It is normally hard to finish it all. At a por quilo/kilo, when you enter, the door person gives you a ticket and then you can choose a table. Tip the chair(s) forward against the table top as the signal that those places are taken. Then hit the food lines. At the end, after your plate is probably pretty full, you get to the churrasco or grill station. Depending on the price per 100grams posted at the entrance to the restaurant, the grilled proteins will vary. More expensive, higher-quality cuts. Everybody here loves picanha - top sirloin. Me, not so much. Sometimes stupendous. Quality varies. My favorites are the harder-to find maminha. It is surrounded by the more common and less expensive alcatra.Some places offer "maminha de alcatra" but still not true"maminha" Think of boneless eye of the round. Not much available in any one animal in comparison to other cuts. A great one has super taste but tender like filet mignon/tenderloin. And my other fave is a lean fraldinha or bottom sirloin. Lots and lots of flavor. But if the restaurant doesn't get great quality it can be very fatty and disappointing. It is nice if they slice it, then crisp it on the grill after slicing off of the rotisserie. I guess you could day I like my men like my fraldinha - lean. Steak here - contra-filet is NOT going to be like a NY/KC Strip. Usually cut thin and tough/chewy. They apply a sticker to your check and at the table a waiter comes by and asks for your drink order and marks that down as well. You are able to go back and grab a fresh plate and repeat the procedure. It is very popular here for not only the main lunch meal but also at the fanciest of weddings/private events. Cariocas prefer to dine in this manner and choose what they wish than in the US with the preferred plated supper. Many times por quilos are hard to find. They are hidden behind the front display counters in confiterias/bakeries or lanches/snack bars. There is a nice cheap one right near the metro entrance at Gloria. Unless you were really looking and peered into the back of the snack bar, you'd miss it. Around the corner from my dentist downtown, just behind the Library is a wonderful half block straight out of Paris on the Rua Pedro Lessa. There is a cafe there. Great coffee. And if you find your way in, and you speak Portuguese and can understand the menu, there is a stairway with no markings leading you to a super breakfast buffet for 12Reais. Most everyone would never know. And right in front is a flower stand, benches to read, totally shaded with trees and just across the street, a wonderful spot behind the Library. In the back, as it were(our kind of spot), totally hidden from the hustle and bustle from the Avenue Rio Branco which the front side of this building faces.

This morning over poached eggs and buckwheat toast, my DC friend told me that the two programas were with the younger of the two Andersons. And the other was with the fairly new, massively hung Lean/Leandro. He had been with Anderson before who has been around for quite some time. Not as long as "our Anderson" from the other site, but more than a few years. He rated Lean as a B+. Only reason he didn't get a full A was that he refused to kiss, let alone anything else other than to pile drive a deeper foundation than was dug for the base of the Washington Monument in my friend's home town. Or something like that. My other friend who lives with me was the first to inhale Lean's own monument to the base on his first evening at Meio Mundo. There is some kind of serendipity here. Not sure what. Bookending punctuation as it were. Last week he wasn't around and I figured he had taken that trampoline leap to 117. He honestly he has the looks and a still-fresh, still not seen-it-all appearance that many at 117 seem to show. Off in another hour to catch the boat and bus for another afternoon at Farme. It is supposed to rain tonight. The plane coming into Galeao have already changed their landing patterns and doing "bombing runs" over my home on final approach.

Don't worry the weekend is almost here Oz will be making his appearance outside his apartment and the boys will be chanting his name. Long term BF's are going home for the weekend and when the mice are away , the cat will play or something like that?

I came home after about three very nice hours at Farme today. My friend from Washington, after three programmas at 117 last night kept at it tonight. Must be practice makes perfect. He saw Christo Redentor twice tonight. Kind of difficult when the cabines in the Puteiro Meio Mundo on Teofilo Otoni lack skylights as well as washrooms, not counting the little baskets used for tossing used pieces of toilet paper. At a rough count, for a noted deadly night, there were about 25-30 clients and 50 garotos. There was one guy there, I was told named Leo, that he termed a God, definite keeper/boyfriend material who refused to even kiss on the lips, let alone dueling tongues. Definitely a passion-killer. But he had two white guys with dicks of death and was corn-holed relentlessly. Arrived in Rio 36 hours ago and has already been the recipient of five injections of hot Brasilian linguica(sausage)

Thanks for the tips, ihpguy! As ax said, it's too advanced for us who don't speak a word of Portuguese. Had a great day at sugar loaf today. Planned to stay a couple hours, end up staying until 7pm watching the city lighting up. Charmed for sure. The view and comfy chairs make the 12R hot dog very reasonable! Cheaper than airport! Amazing. Afterwards, went to MM since nothing happened yesterday. Talking about class, the flip flops alone set Lagoa apart! Should have brought my own. Same at 117 last night. crappy flipflops. MM is more of a twinks place, more to my taste. Found Lukas after sticking around for 2 hours, had a great time. All u need is one. Only in RIO, taking in the scenery during the day, some guilty pleasure at night! If only the owners of Lagoa expands to RIO. Lacking of professional management seems to be the difference here. At Lagoa, they give you a print out with all the charges and ask you to confirm it before you pay. At MM, the cashier let you have a glimpse on the screen, then round it up when I pay by credit card. It's minor details like this and the towels and flip flops that make RIO's sauna looks cheap. Perhaps why they can't attract the "knock-out" good looking boys Lagoa has.

By the way, I went to Ipa and Farme today with a friend visiting from Washington DC. Prices have gone up. Considerably. Me being more of a saver than spender, got my large bottle of cold mineral water that I schlepped to the beach for only 3.50Reais. When the vender for the O Globo biscuits came by, he wanted 3 for each or 2 for 5. Well, in the center we pay 1,50 per bag. I told him he was too high and he sold me them for 2/bag. Ditto for fake sunglasses. Another vendor had prices ranging from 35 and 50 up to 80. When I told him that I bought them for 15 and 20 at the corner of Rio Branco and Barao de Inhauma, right in front of Casa "Joy" Behar, where I change money, he told me I could buy anything he had for 30. Ditto for the acai there. I had a jones on for some today. In Ipa, the price is now, more or less 2Reais for every 100 ml. At the very expensive Amazonas Soul on Texeira de Melo and General Osorio, they were asking 13Reais for 300ml. NOT. At Lanches de Para, that will get you a nice bowl/tigela of the real stuff. Back at the Praca XV, 500ml went for 6. Almost half the price.

Sorry guys. It has been a really hectic week here for me. Trying to get an apartment ready and everything has kept me busy with mundane things. However, as Firecat can tell you, I have been a bore for a week. I hope when my BF's go away this weekend, I'll be out to play a bit more.