Rio Helmi (or actually not)

Who is this masked man, and what are those strange gestures he is making? In case you cannot see it, it says "Buddha" on his stomach. There is also a drawing of a face. I persume that it is the face of the Buddha, and those gestures must be ones of supplication. Yes? - - All right, all right, you forced it out of me. It is Rio Helmi, or at least it used to be. Rio is a famous photographer now, probaby a multi-millionaire. His url is in the comment. I would still like that $2,000 Rio. I will even forgive you all those sandwiches you pinched from me (see below for the full story), but it will still cost you an extra grand. - - Rio was another of my roommates. He slept right below me in a bunkbed. One night he convinced me that I absolutely could never prounce Köln correctly. He thought this was just terribe as my parent lived just outside of Köln. I have lots of Rio stories. The shadow in the background used to be me.