Usual and Unusual Photos in Rio de Janeiro

My buddy Stephen here has a downright spooky picture of a large cruise ship approaching the beach at Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro. Aside from the envy I feel at that muito bela vista as I look out the window at slowly melting dirty snow, I'm spooked by the proximity of the ship to shore.

This picture is perhaps a little more typical of Rio de Janeiro. This was taken two minutes to midnight December 31, 1999 on the beach at Copacabana in front of the Hotel Meridien as a transvestite walks by, largely ignored. It wasn't even Carnaval yet!