Samba and Basketball

Plot and Duck have been wanting to try Canto do Brasil since before it burned down, then got built back up. What a lovely, little restaurant, with a tropical vibe and really good food. The feijoada was the best Plot has ever tasted.

There's lots of colorful art on the walls and then you see headdresses coming up the stairs from below, and the music gets really loud. Samba!

Soon everyone is dancing, though probably more so when you aren't staring down a luscious plate of food right in front of you. Plot chose to eat rather than dance, but he and Duck were just about the only ones not up on the floor.

OK, the samba is a little cheesy.

Mmmm, Passion Fruit Mousse and surprisingly delicious chocolate cake.

And then, this morning: B-Ball! The old codgers gathered in the gym on Treasure Island. It was a perfect morning, with the expected hamstring (LeBan), calf cramp (Ira), back spasm (Kevin) and just plain Tired (Andy). It was nice to see Nya again -- she used to play with us at James Lick and is still the only woman who has ever lasted more than one game. She's a little bigger now too and just as fast as ever.

The guy in the top row with the towel on his shoulder, between Nya and Kevin, is Young Mike, who we all met this morning. There is a fantastic training facility on Treasure Island, funded by the Department of Labor, where kids at the very end of their chances can go to learn trades. Most of them have blown through whatever opportunities they had and have no place to live. They can live on the island now in the old Coast Guard housing (ages 16-24) and can learn trades -- culinary, plaster, masonry and so on. Mike just showed up when he heard the ball bouncing and then those young legs showed us all how it used to be.

Everyone knows if Romney is elected all these programs will be eliminated. Everyone is registered to vote. Many of the guys think Barack has a secret he's going to unveil on Romney in the debates. Plot is less optimistic.

Top row: Nya, Young Mike, Kevin, Orlando, Andy, Plottie, Sherlock.
Bottom row: Adili, Maurice (holding ball), Laban, Ira and Joe.