Is it time to take the “neo” out of neo-neocon, and go south?
I’ve been blogging now for six years.
Six long years under the moniker “neo-neocon.” And I was thinking the other day about whether I can really lay claim to the prefix “neo” any more.
After all, am I really still a newly-minted neocon? Haven’t I become just sort of a middle-vintage neocon? Or maybe even turned paleocon?
But “neo” is my name, and my nickname too. What would I do without it? What would I call this blog? What would I call myself?
However, in the interests of honesty, truth, justice, and the American way, I’ve decided I can no longer be known as neo-neocon. Casting about for a substitute, I realize that it’s time for a geographic change, too; this weird April First snow/rain/yuck storm has come just in time to get me thinking that I really should set out for warmer climes.
And what could be warmer than—Brazil? Yes friends, there’s been an exciting development in the life of neo(ooops! old habits die hard)-neocon. I will soon be taking up permanent residence on the beach at Copacabana. Or maybe the beach at Ipanema—after all, I’ve written about it already.
I plan to move down there once I learn enough Portuguese to get by. And of course I’ll have to get bikini-ready by availing myself of some of the famous body-sculpting surgeons of Brazil.
And then, and only then—well, just call me Rio-neocon, my new name.
lol, as the 1st blog I read each day, you managed to dodge my April 1st radar–you had me going for a few seconds there!
Well I was going to suggest Panama, where I have already purchased my escape plantation, stashed my oro, the almighty dollar goes 4 times as far, and a doctor visit costs $5.00 then I realized its April 1st!
Compliments. I thought I was on guard, but this floated right by me.
How about Neo the Barbarian, Not the Matrix Neo or Neo-Con?
Would you trade your apple for a pineapple?
Toy
Great music! Rio-con? I like it , but if you like enduring summer South Louisiana is good for that
Too late Ms Qwerty….
Happy April Fools Day, Neo. Truth be told, you could not function south of Pennsylvania.
I think I might top the gullibility stakes. I was about to comment and congratulate you on your impending move. Then I saw the comments…
I have enough difficulty recognising sarcasm in the real world.
Hmmm….
neo549 has a nice ring to it.
Brazil is a nice place to live if you are well off, but it does have lots of poverty. I worked on a project there in the early 1960s at the Centro Technico de Aeronautica, located in a town about 100km north of Sao Paulo. Rio is about 200km north and I made it to Rio several times. I visited a town named Americana which was founded by southerners who imigrated after the civil war so they could keep being slave owners. Alas, Brazil outlawed slavery about 10 years later. Sometimes you just can’t win.
My father was torpedoed off the coast of Brazil. The torpedo was a dud but it ruined the rudder and one screw and the U-boat was apparently out of spares so they steamed around in circles until they were towed into the harbor at Rio.
It took several weeks to get the ship fixed (ship-shape?) so while the rest of the world was engaged in an orgy of blood and fire pop was at the casino playing roulette with George Raft.
I don’t have that kind of luck.
Brains neither. I completely fell for it and was going to make some crack about you running into the Obamas until I read the comments.
I used to work with a fellow named Healey from your neck of the woods. Wooster. He drove a truck. A Reo. Hauled apples.
A new name?
How about “SHE who must be obeyed”? Let’s give the White House a run for its money.
I felt bad!
My 76 year old neighbor called me this morning and told me she was pregnant, and I laughed because I knew. But reading this, I felt bad that we would have to get through the next rocky 20 months on our own without neo-neo and gang helping to steer the ship. Sure, she might have kept up the blog, but it would have been mostly to discuss how her rhinoplasty and brachioplasty scars were healing. Yay neo neo. You will always be neo neo to us.
Glad it is 4/1/11. You had me concerned for a moment.
I have mixed emotions about Brazil. As mentioned previously, it is fine if you have money. Except then you live in a walled, guarded compound. You drive very non-descript automobiles, and go armed at all times. You worry about kidnappers whenever your kids are outside the compound. You go to places like New York, London, Vail to kick up your heels and shop. At least the ones I knew did.
Copacabana and Ipenema are beautiful. One night in Copacabana two husky young airmen from the RAF “Queens’ Flight” drifted a little too far away from their larger group, and were predictably mugged and badly beaten.
While flying around Brazil, my partner and I had a Brazilian pilot attached to help us through the red tape at each airport–and there was lots and lots of it. He showed us the pistol that he carried in his kit at all times. There was security at most airports, but he had no trouble evading it. I now assume that most people in Brazil are armed.
Ray, we were involved with various parts of the aviation bureaucracy, including the technical branch; as we were trying to get an airplane type certified. We visited the facility you mentioned, which also houses the Embraer factory, I believe. At one point, another bureaucrat accused me of making an illegal approach into Rio. He wasn’t going to do anything about it, just pulling my chain. Despite my denials he was insistent. Until I quizzed him about the color of the tail of the airplane he was speaking of. Bright Red. Color of the RAF Queen’s Flight. Same type of airplane we flew; but flown by Prince Charles on that approach. We followed him by a few minutes, as we were carrying his press contingent around the country on a deal with the British Embassy. That finally shut him up.
Much of Brazil is beautiful and I do like parts.
And a happy April 1st to you too!
🙂
You should go as “Carioca-con.” Your photo will need to change, too.
Rio NeoCon
Neo Riocon
Neo NeoRio?
The only reason I didn’t take the bait is because all day long the kids at school were coming at me with some very outlandish April fool pranks.
How about Neocon Formerly Known As Neo-Neocon or NFKAN-N?
Thanks for the Jobim. As Aguas de Marco is one of my favorite tunes.
Why limit yourself to a particular geographic region.
Go with GeoNeoCon
Happy April 1st
Has it been long enough to be Eo-Neocon?
Well I see that it’s just an April fools joke… Still, keep us apprised of that bikini body thing.
When I woke up this morning, it was snowing.
How’s that for an April Fool’s joke?
rickl
When I woke up this morning, it was snowing.How’s that for an April Fool’s joke?
A store clerk just informed me about that April 1 snow- at lest April 1 snow in NE. I found out a while back that the clerk used to live in my NE hometown, and had married the uncle of one of my Gr 1-12 classmates. Then we end up meeting each other 2,000 miles away in TX! Small world.
We agreed that December and January cold weather is fine, but snow in April is very discouraging.
She said when she moved to TX to be near her daughter, that her daughter told her the weather in TX is either hot or it’s not. Which is a pretty good description of TX weather south of the Panhandle.
Perhaps you should go to divinity school instead — then you could become theo-neocon….
But keep the bikini …
If it weren’t April 1st, I would beg you to wait until the next Presidential election. We’ll need your vote!
😉
You could always take a cue from the weather and go gloom and doom with Eeyor-Neocon.
At first I thought, “NO! She can’t leave!” Then I thought, “Wait – she can still blog from Brazil.” Then I thought, “I’m an idiot.”
I’m reminded of a story about a comment made by Oliver Wendell Holmes regarding a colleague’s move from Boston to Los Angeles: “I can’t understand how anyone can exchange 300 years of culture and tradition for ten degrees of temperature.”
I was upset you were bailing on the USA, figured must be something romantic going on-then I saw the comments….
Neo-riocon, surely.
Off topic, but I’ve been watching the EagleCam. I have it running in a separate window. (Hat tip It’s About Liberty.)
It’s a bald eagle nest in Iowa, which has three eggs with one due to hatch at any time. Last night I saw a shift change, when the other parent arrived and took over on the nest.
It turns out that the first egg hatched during the night. I got a screenshot of the chick this morning.
This beats the hell out of network TV.
Since I find you to be one of the great defenders of Western Civilization I would like to put forward a new nick name in the offering–“St. Joan of Thermopylae”– . It brings to mind a vision of a lone female figure, shield and sword in hand, standing between the cliffs of Mt. Oeta and the Gulf of Lamia, ready to do battle with seemingly insurmountable odds in defense of Democracy.
Isn’t rio-con the Chinese pronunciation fo neo-con?