"It's hard, but so far, so good," said Cesena, adding that "my challenge is that Americans always associated Brazilian music with Samba, Bossa Nova and Tom Jobim. The best of what we have as music, but we have so many other great expressions of music that are not so popular or known. I believe my mission here is to bring other elements of our culture." His music might not be the typical Brazilian music well known in America, but he guarantees that there is a taste of Brazil in every single note of his songs. Cesena is currently developing his own music style. "I can't name it yet, but it's something very particular," he said.

The sacrifice is paying off. Cesena has recently been awarded best Brazilian Musician living in the United States. "I'm like a little ambassador of my country. Everything I do has a little taste of Brazil. The challenge on this is that there is a stereotype of who the Brazilian musician is. But here people really enjoy and respect the Brazilian artist and the Brazilian musician. I was very surprised on how they accept you," said Cesena emotionally.

Seems like this is just the beginning for Cesena. It's what said an expert. "Marcelo is a major gift; he does things musically that I can't even put into words; a lot of artists struggle their entire lives trying to do," said oboist Tom Boyd, who performed on  more then 1,000 movies in Hollywood. Cesena and Boyd met in a recording studio last fall. Boyd said they've been "musically married" since. "When we met was that about a year ago when we did a movie called Watercolors. I knew walking out of there that it was not going be the end of our relationship. That we were going to be musically doing things together for years to come," said Boyd. The partnership is going well. The duet has founded a group called Hollywood soloists, featuring concerts inspired by famous movie soundtracks.

Cesena might play classical, but his talent is very modern. He developed his own way of interacting with the audience. Boyd said it's just a matter of time until Cesena makes it big in Hollywood. "He's one of the few musicians a run into my entire life that has been able to move people like I've never seen before. What he does with that piano and what he does in communication with the audience is a rarity," said Boyd, adding that "right now, he's this diamond in the rough that no one has found yet. Marcelo will set the world in fire. I think he'll be offered movies; he will be offered solo contracts. I'll be lucky to be part of his live. I give it about a year."

Cesena has plenty of plans for the next year and for the long-term future. "I want to do things is a larger scale now; I want to travel the world doing presentations; I want to compose for movies and video clips. I want to carry on touching people with my music; that's my mission," he said. After 20 years playing professionally, he's about to release his second solo album, Nuance. Watch out Carmem Miranda, he might get a star right next to yours.

 "When I saw president Obama entering the room today, I confess I was a little scared of the so-called Obama factor. He told me when we met a week ago that he would send his wife, Michelle, to the Copenhagen voting session. I told him that I would win if he wasn't present. He came, but God wanted us to win today anyway", said President Lula prompting laugh from the Olympic committee. Chicago was eliminated in the first round of voting followed by Tokyo followed in the second round. In the end, Rio won 66 votes, more than twice the number of votes its final rival, Madrid, earned.

"Brazil is living an exciting moment! We worked hard during the last few decades. We now have an organized and strong economy, which has won the battle against the global recession, while other countries are still struggling. We live in a free country and enjoin democracy. In the last few years, 30 million Brazilians stepped out of the poverty zone," said Lula, who has been in the office since 2003.

"As a Brazilian citizen, I'm proud of being part of this project," he said tearfully, adding that Rio's victory marks the arrival of Brazil on the World Stage. "It started with Brazil's recent inclusion in the new G-20," he said, adding that his responsibilities as a president have increased drastically. The White House announced, late September, the broadening of the eight-country membership to include nations such as Brazil, China and India.

"The Olympics belong to all people, to all races, to all continents, to the whole humanity. It doesn't belong only to us, Brazilians, it belongs to South America too; a continent of almost 400 million men and women and nearly 180 million youngsters; a continent that has never hosted the Olympics...It's time to light the Olympic fire in a tropical country; in the most beautiful and wonderful city ever, Rio de Janeiro," said Lula.

 "The 2016 Olympics in Rio will be unforgettable; it will be full of passion, happiness and creativity, characteristics of the Brazilian people," he said. Lula was also the key player in Brazil's successful bid to stage the 2014 soccer World Cup. "We are fully aware of the legacy the World Cup and the Olympics will bring to our people," said Lula who has approved generous financing of $23.2 billion for both projects.

Fifa's President, Joseph S. Blatter, said that Rio won the right to host the 2016 Olympics thanks to Lula's moving presentation to the International Olympic Committee. President Lula, who is a former steel and union worker that suffered hunger in his childhood, brought millions of viewers to tears with his final words. "Today is, perhaps, the most thrilling day of my life. I'm the proudest president in the world. If I had to die now, my life would have been worthy already."

Picture from the NY Times.

According to local TV station, Telemetro, the group of four teenagers first found the creature while playing near a cave in the community of Cerro Azul in Panama City. Fearing an attack, they used sticks and rocks to kill it, and then tossed its body in the water. The group later returned to the site and retrieved the creature's dead body to photograph it.

Zoologists in Panama were unable to identify the creature's origin only observing that it resembled a dead fetus; others speculated it could be an animal with a genetic defect. Fraudulent or not, this bizarre case is being investigated by local authorities, but no official announcement has been made as to whether they plan to conduct DNA tests on the creature to classify its species.

While scientists are no closer to a conclusion, the "get it first, no matter if it is right" people keep writing screaming headlines and/or tweeting about the story; the video is available online on the websites of TV stations such as WSOC.TV, WBALTTV from Baltimore, WFTV.com and even on CNN. Check it out, tweet your own conclusions and keep me posted on that one, please!

After having received international acclaim as the culinary master behind London's Shoreditch House and Cecconi's Restaurant, what made you decide to open Cecconi's in West Hollywood?

The opportunity to come to America and explore a new and exciting market. There are so many opportunities here in the restaurant business. London was great, but the market there was a little bit saturated.

Was it a risky decision?

Yes, definitely. Opening an Italian restaurant in America, in the middle of a recession, when most of the other restaurants are suffering or closing was the biggest risk I ever took in my career. But, it has worked out perfectly.

So what is Cecconi's recipe for success?

It's all the about the basics at Cecconi's. We buy the best ingredients; we serve great food combined with an amazing atmosphere and affordable prices. 

What are the most pleasant and difficult aspects of cooking Italian food in West Hollywood?

The Californian and the Italian climates are very similar, which allows us get really good produce year around. The biggest difficulty was to adjust our menu to the West Hollywood and Beverly Hills' clientele's particular palate.

What dish is a hit and what is a flop at Cecconi's?

When we first opened, in February, we had a chicken tortellini, served in a hot chicken broth, on the menu, that was just beautiful. Everyone that had it loved it. I got great feedback about it but for some reason it wasn't a big seller, so I substituted it for meat angolotti, which is now the most popular dish on our menu. It's served with shaved truffles on top and it's a beautiful dish as well.

What would you recommend that a dieting diner order in your restaurant?

There are plenty of options; we almost don't use butter, even our desserts are designed to appeal to health conscious people. The menu offers carpaccios, tartares and a selection of salads. I can also say that our pizzas have about 800 calories, while the average American pizza has between 1400 to 2000 calories.

What is your favorite restaurant in Los Angeles?  

Terroni on Beverly Boulevard, because of the food and the foosball table.

What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?  

Last year during Art Basel in Miami, I had to cook for 300 people on the beach, for three nights, without running water, electricity or a kitchen. It was a crazy task, but it turned out to be a big success.

What was your worst kitchen nightmare?

A gas line was cut at Cecconi's London at 8 p.m. on a Friday night; the restaurant was full and I had to improvise what to serve 200 people for dinner without using gas. We decided to serve oysters' platters, but the oyster chef cut himself badly and had to be taken to the hospital. Then a storm at Soho House New York last year; the open roof top was full of customers when a thunderstorm hit the city and you can imagine what happened.

Who/what has had the greatest influence on your cooking?

My boss (Nick Jones, co-owner of Soho House), my customers, my friends, my wife and my family- all people with a lot of passion for food.  And I also read a lot of cook books.

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef? 

When I was about 9 years old in Catholic school, in Italy, the teacher asked us to draw what we would like to be in the future. I drew a fisherman and a cook. I started cooking in my uncle's trattoria, near Turin, when I was 13.

            With its extensive coverage, BBC was successful in its mission to inform the public on both sides of the debate. Their coverage included Obama's full speech, the public anpress' reaction to it, a section of Q&A, as well as an analysis, in which Jonathan Beale, BBC correspondent from Washington, said: "the speech may have also come too late as positions are already entrenched and some of Mr. Obama's supporters wonder why he did not do this months ago." At the same time, Mark Mardell, BBC North America editor, wrote on his blog: "He (Obama) attempted to reclaim the flag for the Democrats, against critics who say he is not only wrong but unpatriotic in his plans."

                       March against Obama's agenda in Washington (Associated Press).           

            On his home turf, President Obama was met with greater criticism. The Los Angeles Times editorial was unforgiving in its reaction asserting, "the hard part, in terms of both policy and politics, is finding a way to pay for the expansion in coverage. And on that most contentious issue, unfortunately, Obama argued that Congress could cover most of the cost by attacking waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid [existing federal health programmes for the elderly and poor] - a pain-free path that's as unrealistic as it is alluring... he left some of the hardest questions unanswered.". This negative account was offered alone rather than the more balanced analysis provided by BBC.

             While major players in mainstream media, like BBC and the Times tend to be more diplomatic and less extreme in what they will publish, bloggers and smaller independent publications have the freedom to criticism the government more aggressively.  Pijamasmedia.com targets Obama's speech as "High-Stakes Political Game", while correspondent Victor Hanson writes: "Bottom line? Obama should just borrow from the Republican plan, assure the Democrats he's extending coverage to those uncovered, and then, and only then, go back to his eagle routine and soar with it in the stratosphere with "I alone hoped and changed health care.". Without having to worry about ad sales or answering to the big conglomerates with their own political restrictions and alliances, bloggers unafraid to tackle even the most controversial issues give the general public much less filtered information.

Distribution, lead-time, and the high cost of printing to name a few have long been technological barriers of publishing. The methods of getting the printed document circulated locally, domestically and more so internationally has long been a hindrance. The digital revolution has broken these barriers. With the advent of blogging and social media outlets it has never been easier to get information to the public. One is able to post a link to their blog on their facebook, myspace, or other social network. They can twitter about it or even record themselves reading it aloud over Youtube, all with relative ease.

But can anyone be a journalist? According to Clay Shirky the answer is yes. "Like driving, journalism is not a profession -- no degree or certification is required to practice it, and training often comes after hiring [...]" Although some people disagree with Shirky's opinion, thanks to the web, it's impossible to deny that anyone can publish journalistic material anytime. The digital revolution has given a voice to the masses, removing the exclusivity that once limited who or what type of person could express their opinion in a public forum. It has allowed the general public the ability to question authority or suggest varying points of view, without the approval of an editor or publishing entity. The content of a story and the quality of the writing are what determine whether their point or not its considered journalism. Not every video posted on YouTube is journalism, nor is every tweet a news story. Publishing raw data is different than publishing accurate information with context, analysis and judgment. But no matter the content, today, the Internet definitely allows writers to reach larger audiences more efficiently and with much less expense.

Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, just to name a few, have reduced the old limitations of publishing and rapidly became major players in this the new media model.  While journalism is being reinvented, authors and the general public alike enjoy the benefits made possible by the "digital revolution". Will it replace traditional journalism? Will newspapers become extinct? Will this model be able to support itself economically? What's going to happen next? While the picture is still unclear, the reliance on the printed word is a thing of the past.

Blogging became a plataform for writers to get their stories published fast and at no cost. "Julie and Julia" (2009), the Sony Pictures film based on the "two true stories" of Julia Child and Julie Powell, illustrates how bloggers can obtain instant visibility through the Web. Chef Child had to find a publishing house before getting her book published in 1961, while aspiring chef Powell, got hers published after launching a culinary blog in 2009.

Web journalists also have the chance to develop their own digital identity and credibility without the requirements and limitations of an actual employed position, which would have been unlikely ten years ago. Furthermore, blogs and social networks like Twitter have turned into reporting tools enabling anyone, without being a journalist or an expert, to tell stories on the Web, investigate crime, and otherwise serve the community in numerous fashions.

            The Internet has made broadcasting information more time and cost efficient. Today, a story can instantly travel across the globe. Why would a viewer wait for a broadcast news show, or the following day's printed-paper, if the same information is available on the web immediately? Why would a writer need a publishing house, if he or she could simply publish their work online, giving readers instant and fast access? The high cost of printing needing to be offset by cash-flow producing vehicles like advertisements lead to further limitation as it created a new entity to be accountable to. At times pressure from big advertisers has dictated what could be printed, especially when dealing with a highly controversial topic. Censorship in other forms served as a barrier to publishing. As long as the writer had an editor to answer to, who in return was often only the messenger of an agenda set by the large media conglomerate who likely owned the particular publication, the writer lacked full freedom of speech.