At least that’s what the folks at Panama Travel News are saying. It was Friday morning, sort of excited about going to the Guildstock ‘08 for reasons I will not discuss here (ask me though. I love ranting) but even more excited because I scored a copy of Señor Loop’s new album in 4 years “MCMLXXXII” and I was getting a sonic blast of aural bliss that night, so spirits were high. Workload was crazy over at Focus, with deadlines coming in all directions and that, coupled with other degrees of assorted crap that befall on us human beings on a general basis had me on edge. So it was with great surprise that one of the top dogs around these parts, a very nice and down-to-earth man named Vito, came by the office that morning out of nowhere and we had this quick conversation:

Vito: Hey, are you the same Rob Rivera that has that website?
Rob (startled): Uhm, I guess I am, yes.
Vito: Really? Because I was reading Google News and there was a story there that put your site as the #1 Blog in Panama. Congratulations!
Rob: Umm, wow, thanks…?

My silly chunk on the Internet came in first at something? anything? I must be on crazy pills. Either that or I was still riding on the post-coital side effects of the night prior, one that was just as weird for a whole bucketful of different reasons. Nevertheless, I fired up ze… emm, Firefox… and logged on to Google News to see what all the commotion was. If I’m going to let my ego have a field day with this, might as well corroborate it. A few clicks here and there, and well… here you go:

A good blog, like a good man, is hard to find.
1. http://www.rob-rivera.com/

Fun, satirical, and the know on the art /music scene. A busy site; it takes a while to load sometimes. Rob has thoughts from current events: “the real estate boom pushed forward by Americans, Canadians and Europeans has kick-started a strong degree of social discomfort due to the notion that Panama is being sold piece by piece, fearing that there will come a time where Panama won’t be for Panamanians at all.” to tacos: “Legends of the Rock Cafe tacos curing illnesses such as depression, the flu, breast cancer and Parkinson’s have not yet been verified, but I can tell you for a fact that they sure as hell brush off a foul mood when you’re so mad you could scorch fire and eat babies.” Funny and relevant, Rob is at the top of the pack of the Panamanian bloggers. He also has organized such quirky activities as “the zombie walk” in Panama City.

I would like to thank Robin and the folks behind Panama Travel News for giving me this very reassuring pat on the back. I also appreciate the nice touch on clarifying that you’re talking about the blog, and not the basket case that writes on it. She’s right on how slowly the site’s been loading lately; it’s like I’m driving Miss Daisy here, but like every constant struggle for dominance I (along with my code-munching friends at Porto Diao) have to constantly keep this heap in check. Even still, I very much appreciate the sentiments. I bet Robin’s cute, too. Mmph.

You can check out who came up behind yours truly (sexual implications aside; please try to ignore the ambiguously gay phrase as Bananama Republic came in at #2. Geez, I waltz into these sometimes) by checking out the Panama Travel News piece right here. You can also engage in the lovely clash of the titans going on in the comments section. I can’t wait until a Spanish-speaking nationalist comes in there and poops all over their heads.

The rest of the day is a blur, but Vito did tell me later in the day that I showed up in Google News again; that could be the reason why this here site’s been so slow these past couple of days. Anyway, thank you very much for coming and I’ll try to keep the snark in top form. I remembered I had to mention this here though because I logged on to Facebook this morning to check up on our Grainjaus Grindhouse double feature night at the Theater Guild of Ancon this April 11th (wow, that shameless plug came out of nowhere) and I saw the following. Take a look at the picture. Left column. Closely, friend. Closely.

That makes me want to put an ad of my own! In fact, I’m gonna look into it right now. I don’t want to throw Bananama Republic a banana peel (heh) because they’re funny folks, but that just struck me as funny. Anyway, you better believe you’ll be seeing my mug at some point this umm, month. I don’t know. I lost my point somewhere after I drew the “OMG!” on the picture.

Señor Loop’s MCMLXXXII album is forthcoming! Here’s a preview review: if I listen to the record a little more than I have already, there is an 81% possibility that I will, in fact, become pregnant. You can check out their single “Insensato” at their MySpace page.

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