And the hits just keep on coming

OK, so what were the most popular posts? Well, far and away, not one post came close to this one about a Brazilian arms shipment going to Venezuela. This was actually a repost from another blog. I got some interesting hits on it: two from Cuba, a handful from Venezuela, and someone, I don't know who, who works at the State Dept. in Wash. DC got it in an email and then resent it to other people there. I know this from the stat tracker that shows where they got the link from. The second most popular post is the review to Bad Buddhist Radio I mentioned yesterday. #3 is a post that was pretty popular among the ex-pats living in Brazil because it deals with "Brazilian pizza". It seems a lot of people had been meaning to do a similar post on the differences. This post about "real crime" shows in Brazil got a respectable number of hits, it seems some Brazilian found the video funny and started emailing it around and around, and I got more email than I expected about it, as did the "price of a can of Pepsi" post that I also mentioned yesterday. The cricket posts all got a good number of hits, but these two about Mark Vermeulen and this one about Mohammad Asif got a good number more than the rest.
Thanks for stopping by....

Trafficing and Googling Wickets & Guayaba

Well, I thought it would be interesting to end the year with stats for the blog. Now, I took about a year and a half off, but it seems things are as stable as they are going to get. I hope to be posting about once week more or less. On with the stats. Obviously, most of my traffic comes from Google, but #2 was from a blog by a friend of mine which went off air last week, "Pumpkinseeds & Contradictions". #3 was direct traffic by people who knew the address and Blogger was tied with the same number of referrals. The rest if the top 10 is rounded out by fellow expats who either added me to their blog roll, or people who clicked on my link when I left a post. On to keywords people use when they hit my blog. This one comes with an asterisk *. #1 is the coach of the team when I worked there, Marcelo Neveleff. HOWEVER, there is a set of RELATED words that move one topic to the top, and that is "Bad Buddhist Radio". I did a review here and that gets hits all the time with a string of key words, from the name of host of the show Ryu Cope, to Bad Buddhism, or Bad Buddhist Radio. Lots of traffic form those words right there. Another bizzare occurance is people who Google "price of a can of Pepsi". I get hits on that because of this post here, where I talk about a strange custom in Brazil of giving gum balls or candies as change when they do not have enough coins. Well thats enough for today. Next post I will bring some more stats. Maybe...

Bad Buddhist Radio

I want to write a review for a really interesting podcast I found called "Bad Buddhist Radio". Now the subject of Buddhism always interested me since I took a class on world religions. I approached the subject several times, just to abandon it after a while. Some things made perfect sense, while others were so wrapped in mystical mumbo-jumbo that it left me scratching my head. Earlier this year though, I found a podcast that explained it in perfect "American" English. No BS, just straight to the heart of what the Buddha meant when he said what he said and did what he did. The guru of Bad Buddhism is a guy name Ryu Cope. Ryu seems to be a pretty talented guy, he is an actor, a designer, created a role playing game, bunch of stuff. His name pops up in a bunch of places on Google, so check it out. Back to the podcast. Ryu handles the material like if he is your buddy, drinking a beer, explaining to you what Buddhism is all about. Don't worry about karma or zen or beams of light, "Buddhism is about being fully in the moment and seeing the world as it truly is. The here and now. This life, not one to come, not one that has already been. Buddhism is practical, the ordinary world, human nature and what we struggle with. Buddhism is moderate, the Middle Way, walking the fine line between extremes." Now, that is an explanation of Buddhism I can understand and relate with. I am sure "traditionalists" will have more than a few bones to pick with the way he deals with the Buddhist ideal of karma and rebirth, but then again, Ryu approaches them as the Buddha said one should: He studied, he reviewed, he contemplated, and Ryu made up his own mind on the subject. Right now, there are 57 episodes, and trust me, each is worth your while. The first 16 episodes are an introduction to Buddhism, who was the Buddha (he was just some dude who was awake), what Buddhism is, what it isn't, and explains the Four Noble Truths and the Middle Way, which lay the groundwork for the path to enlightenment. The next 29 episodes Cope did "Buddhism A to Z", one letter and how it relates to Buddhism. He also did some Q & A episodes, and the last few episodes continue explaining Buddhism and the day to day. That is what I like about his podcasts: he includes stories we can all relate to. He talks about his office, but it could be anybodies coworkers. The dude is funny, belligerent, arrogant in a way you can appreciate. It's like a friend smacking you upside the head saying "Dude, wake up. Open your freakin eyes and ears and pay attention." I recommend downloading the first few episodes, and if it clicks with you, take the time to download them all. Well worth your time.