12.11.24 - Pra minhoca cego, macarronada é suruba

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. 

A relatively normal week for all concerned for a change, and we went up to Indaiatuba for the weekend, where I was seconded by Diva for headrubs, etc the entire time. Now we enter the maelstrom of end of year plans which doesn't really let up until after Carnaval...

In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the week comes from a commenter on Instagram, so I'm not quite sure what it means, but the literal translation is "to a blind worm, a pan of pasta is an orgy". Use it as you see fit!

Think that's about it for now, speak soooon!

A Fred of Nothing

05.11.24 - Sair de fininho

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. It's been a busy week here, mostly spent getting Gabi's office into working condition with plenty of painting, plumbing and rewiring, wrangling of tradesmen and frantic trips to Leroy Merlin. 

In between all that we got out on Wednesday to visit the rather splendid Sala São Paulo for some cut-price ballet, the Museum of the Portuguese Language (whose previous claim to fame was burning to the ground in 2015, but is looking good these days) and Luz station, famously modeled on St. Pancras. 

On Thursday I rocked up to the Sherlock Halloween party as a man being abducted in a box, but arrived too late to make a dent in the voting and had to make do with some spooky cupcakes. And on Sunday we went to see the Smashing Pumpkins ("I love doing that!") who put on a good show despite some baffling setlist choices. 

In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the week means "to sneak out without anyone noticing". Another way of putting it is "saída a francesa", which confusingly translates to "Irish exit" in English. 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

You know I'm not Fred

29.10.24 - Por os pingos nos "i"

Hallooooo,

Hope all well! 

We spent the weekend painting Gabi's new office from top to bottom, because if you want something done properly you've got to do it yourself. I also taught myself how to fish for wires inside drywall and change all the lightbulbs, which was probably more hassle than the new knowledge was worth, but at least it's done now. We're going back today, to (hopefully) finish the job.

In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the week means "to dot the i's" (and the... lower-case j's), or take care of something down to the tiniest details, essentially.

Speak soon!

Frediminomenon

PS: I got your letters! Both of them! Lovely stuff, keep them coming!

22.10.24 - Esculpido no machado

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. A wet and windy week in São Paulo, as we got the keys to Gabi's new office and descended on it with tins of paint and all manner of DIY artefacts to make it usable. It's gonna take a while but it's already looking much better, and the power was switched on yesterday, which helped a lot. 

In other news there's a new compilation in town, and my phrase of the day - "sculpted with an axe" - is a rather unforgiving way of referring to those who aren't easy on the eye...

Think that's about it for now - speak soon!

Little Fred Riding Hood

15.10.24 - Cantar a bola

Hallooooo,

Hope all well with youuu. 

We've been moving and shaking a fair deal this week as Gabi got the keys to her new office (albeit with no power at the moment, along with half the city) and started drawing up plans for furniture, etc, plus we went for a family barbeque at Susy & Eduardo's, followed by a brief trip to Indaiatuba. 

In other news I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day means "to sing the ball", a phrase derived from snooker if I'm not mistaken, which means to call out in advance what's going to happen (often used in a "I told you so" context).

And that's about it so far this week - speak to you soon!

Frod Only Knows

08.10.24 - Solvitur ambulando

Hallooooo,

Hope all well, and v. excited you're booked to come over! Work is pretty hectic round these parts, hence the late-in-the-day email, although we had a nice relaxing weekend pottering around the house, learning new recipes and going to Taynah and Rafa's Peppa Pig-themed baby party, for our annual catch-up. 

Here's a new playlist which, full confession, I haven't had time to listen to in full yet; and my phrase of the day is "a Latin phrase which means "it is solved by walking", referring to an anecdotal, practical solution to a seemingly complex philosophical problem" (source: Wikipedia).

That's about it for now, speak sooooon.

Fred Ringer for Love

01.10.24 - Quem não é visto não é lembrado

Halloooo,

Hope all well, and a very good morning to Billie Joe Armstrong, who's just woken up. 

We've had a busy week, starting with being called to audition for an ad campaign in Pinheiros along with a bunch of other gringos in suits (not sure why they were casting for English speaking actors in São Paulo; probably cheaper I guess), then to a fancy party thrown by Sherlock for journalists and influencers - none of whom I really knew but fun was had regardless. 

And then over the weekend we saw some friends, ate some nice food and went to the Horto for a run - we didn't even have time to go to the annual air show down the road! Finally, yesterday I sat for 5 hours in a government building to renew my foreigner ID, which was distinctly less fun but had to be done...

In other news, I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day means "he who is not seen, is not remembered", which is straightforward enough I suppose. 

And that's about it, I think! Speak soon,

Wake Me Up When September Freds

24.09.24 - Não é assim que a banda toca

Halloooo,

Hope all well witchu. 

Over here, in between visits to tiny apartments, we headed off to the seaside on Saturday, as Ridaut was booked to give a talk about creating Senninha in the midst of a sprawling cosplay and geek culture festival in Santos, which was rather surreal and full of excellent fancy dress. Then we went for a nice lunch on Sunday, and minimal downtime before getting back down to it on Monday.

Elsewhere I've made another canon compilation, and an extra one for the International Day of Peace; and my phrase of the day is "that's not how the band plays", meaning "that's not the way things are going to be", usually deployed as a rebuke. 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

Fredioactive

17.09.24 - Cadeirada

Halloooo,

Hope all well, and lovely to speak the other day.

We've been battling record-breaking pollution and dry spells, but ventured out at the weekend to a kid's birthday party complete with ziplines and a magic show, and have invested in a humidifier, so all is well.

I've made another mixtape, and in happier news Pablo Marçal, who has leveraged his career as an "aspirational influencer" and scammer of the elderly to become a frontrunner in the São Paulo mayoral election, took a chair to the head (or a "cadeirada", as it was quickly dubbed here) in Sunday's debate. Obviously violence is never the answer in these instances, except maybe in this one specific instance...

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

Frod x

10.09.24 - Um dia da caça, outro de caçador

Halloooo,

Hope all well, and good to chat/sing t'other day. 

We've been plotting our next moves in the real estate and influencer spheres while having nice lunches in the mountains and trying to make gin and tea cocktails, with limited success. All against a backdrop of fairly apocalyptic smog from the recent "controlled burns" across the country. 

In other news I've made a new mix, and my phrase of the day translates to "one day as the hunted, the next as the hunter", and more or less means "you win some, you lose some". 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

Fred through the needle of life

03.09.24 - Pé-rapado

Halloooo,

Hope all well. Not much to report here this week, just plenty of work followed by a trip to Indaiatuba for Adny's birthday and a nice lunch in São Pedro (where we once took you for watermelon caipirinhas!). And the podcast I appeared on is out, and in English, if you fancy a listen. 

In other news I've made another compilation, plus a Brazil-only playlist for Instagram, and my phrase of the day is "pé-rapado" or "scraped foot", which is used to describe people from humble backgrounds who tend to walk around barefoot. 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

Bury a Fred

27.08.24 - Picar mula

Halloooo,

Hope all well! It's been a chaotic end of winter here in São Paulo, with temperatures veering wildly between 30 and 6 degrees and back again, so we've been mainly staying in and taking care of business, although we managed to get out over the weekend and see Taynah and family on Friday, Andreia and co. for her birthday pizza buffet on Sunday, and Gaby's grandparents for afternoon tea. 

In other news, I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day ("to poke the mule") is a polite euphemism for "hitting the old dusty trail" and heading home. Appropriately for a week in which I guested on a podcast about how Brazilians never ask guests to leave their house if they can help it!

Speak soon,

Fred Right Hand

20.08.24 - Há males que vêm pelo bem

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. We were out and about this weekend - Gaby was invited to a lecture by a fellow psychologist at the USP, which as it turns out is a "city university" full of verdant pastures and empty campus buildings (it was Saturday, to be fair). 

So having wandered around for a bit we went on to the annual Festa da Achiropita, which was absolutely packed to the gills with people seeking out the parish's famous fogazzo (worth the hour and a half spent in a queue).  The next day we continued the Italian theme with a trip to the amusingly named Di Cunto restaurant and deli with Zila in tow, which was appropriately delicious.

In other news I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day (literally, "there are evils which arrive for good") roughly translates as "every cloud has a silver lining", or "blessing in disguise". 

And that's about it for noo - speak soon!

Shotgun Fredding

13.08.24 - Alegria compartilhada é alegria redobrada

Hallooooo,

Hope all well!

It's been unusually cold over here so we've mainly been huddled together for warmth in our draughty house, although we did brave the rain on Friday night to see Forfun, one of Gaby's favourite teenage punk-pop bands, play a huge comeback gig at the Allianz Parque, which was good clean healthy fun (although it did go on for hours, and they had a lot more reggae in their back catalogue than I anticipated). I'm taking her to see the Smashing Pumpkins in November as part of our cultural exchange...

We also went to Indaiatuba at the weekend, and on to Claudio's for a barbeque and the Olympics closing ceremony. In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the week comes from a Forfun song which itself cites a Swedish proverb (?) along the lines of "joy shared is joy doubled (and sadness shared is sadness halved)". Excuse my poor Swedish!

And that's about it - speak soon...

FredEvac

06.08.24 - Come quieto

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We've been getting back down to business after a week away, and also stricken with the flu, so not a lot to report except for a lot of Olympics-watching and flopping about!

In other news I've made a new compilation, plus two new themed mixtapes for the boys, and my phrase of the week ("eats quietly") refers to people who prefer to keep a low profile, i.e. us this past week...

And that's about it! Hopefully I'll have more for you next time I write. Speak soon!

Guided Freditation

30.07.24 - Mais antigo do que andar pra frente

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We are back in Brazil after another fun week in Buenos Aires... 

I spent a few days wandering around town while Gaby was at her conference, checking out all the touristy spots and cool hangouts in Palermo and Puerto Madero, then had a few days of work (booo). 

On Saturday I went to the eco park by the river before succumbing to a nasty cold, so Sunday was spent mainly packing and recovering, then we headed home on Monday night. 

In other news I've made another playlist, and my phrase of the day means "older than walking forwards", which applies to anything which is, well, really really old. 

And that's about it! Speak soon,

Freddy Wap

23.07.24 - Boca de sacola

Hallloooooo from foggy Buenos Aires! We are about halfway through our jaunt south of the border, and are having a lovely time in the Paris of Latin America... 

Having arrived on Thursday, found our Airbnb (at the top of a huge tower block, with a heated pool on the top floor!), got to grips with the weird Monopoly money they have here and met up with Martin from the local Sherlock office who gave me some pointers from a nearby bar, we set out into San Telmo and its endless antique shops, markets, impromptu tango performances and dulce de leche ice cream.

On Saturday we hit the port first thing and took a ferry to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay, for an awesome lamb lunch and a chilly stroll around the old city streets, then back for a trek through the shopping district and back for empanadas. On Sunday we checked out Palermo, ended up in a petting zoo surrounded by giraffes and flamingos, had lunch under a train line and generally wandered around a rather hip and happening neighbourhood drinking Aperol Spritzes until it was time to go home. 

Yesterday we did more random strolling around San Telmo, and went to trendy  Recoleta for drinks in a secret bar under a florist, followed by huge plates of pasta and a photoshoot by the Obelisk. Today Gaby starts her psychologists convention in Puerto Madero, and I'm going to keep wandering around as the weather gets progressively worse - wish me luck!

Overall we've been pleasantly surprised by how walkable and safe the city is compared to São Paulo. Great food, nice people, and not hugely touristy either, despite the inevitable Brazilian contingent. Long may it continue! 

No compilation this week, except for this one I made for Instagram about the Olympics, and my phrase of the day means "bag mouth" and refers to people who can't keep quiet - basically, any gust of wind and they'll start flapping!

Speak soon,

Leaders of the Fred World

16.07.24 - Calado, é um poeta

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We're gearing up for our trip to Buenos Aires on Thursday, but in the meantime have been out and about at Bruna's for Friday night burgers and board games, then to Bea's for her birthday party / pizza and karaoke free-for-all on Saturday, then the movies on Sunday to get over the Euro 2024 blues. 

In other news I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day means "when he shuts up, he's a poet", and is used as a backhanded compliment along the same lines as "face for radio", etc. And that's about it for now!

Speak soon,

Fred Rum

09.07.24 - Leite com pêra

Hallooooo,

Hope all well! 

We were over in Indaiatuba this weekend with Zila, Luiza and Gabriel in tow, catching up with the cats and briefly playing football in the park until the midday sun got the best of us. 

Elsewhere I made another compilation, and reposted my infamous "eating pizza wrong" video on Instagram, leading to another tidal wave of vitriol in the comments section - from whence my phrase of the day, "leite com pêra" or "pear with milk", which is shorthand for someone who's a bit wet behind the ears and has no real-world experience. 

And that's about it - speak soon!

Fred the Humanoid

PS: new Cote d'Azur hiking route has just dropped, apparently!

02.07.24 - Tão feio que faz pipoca assustando o milho

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. 

It's taken a turn for the chilly here in São Paulo, so we marked the occasion by going to Bruna's family house in the mountains to eat fondue, followed up by a huge cauldron of feijoada the next day - so a pretty perfect weekend all told!

Elsewhere there's a new compilation in town, plus another one about apology songs which I did for Instagram, and can be found here; and my phrase of the day is a spectacular Brazilian turn of phrase about someone who's "so ugly he makes popcorn by startling the kernels". So there's that. 

Speak soon!

We are standing on the Fredge

25.06.24 - Vão-se os anéis, mas os dedos ficam

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We've been belatedly getting into the winter solstice spirit with not one but two festas junina (traditional "June parties" which typically involve synchronised dancing and corn-based snacks) over the weekend - one at Gaby's friend's, once we picked up our replacement car, and another at the Horto Florestal, monkeys and all. 

Elsewhere there's a new compilation in town, not to mention 3 new playlists of increasing intensity which I made for Matisse & Silas, and I learnt the latest phrase of the week from Zila when we were telling her about last week's car accident; it translates to "the rings have gone but the fingers remain", i.e. "at least you've got your health", basically.

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

The Frederal Reserve

18.06.24 - É pra acabar com os pequis de Goiás

Halloooo,

Hope all well!

Plenty of work going on here, so not much else to report, except for a five-car pile-up we were involved in on Saturday, after a drunk-driver rammed into traffic on a nearby bridge. 

So we had to spend our evening being ferried between the scene and the nearest police station, coordinating Ubers and tow trucks, and now we're carless for the foreseeable future. Which is a pain but I guess it could have been worse...

Elsewhere I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day ("it's to end all the pequis in Goiás", where "pequi" is a fruit from centerwestern Brazil, and particularly abundant in the state of Goiás) is used to refer to nigh-on impossible, end-of-days occurrences. So there's that!

Speak soon,

Fred Wine Supernova

11.06.24 - ¿Quieres incluir la propina?

Halloooo,

As of 4am this morning I am back in Brazil, after a whirlwind long weekend in Chile. On Friday morning it was all aboard the Latin American equivalent of Ryanair to fly over hours and hours of empty Argentinian pastures, then the majesty of the Andes for about five minutes, then land in Santiago. 

I wasted no time hitching a funicular up the big hill next to my hotel for premium views of the city, a cable car ride down and then back up the mountain, and a belter of a sunset, followed by egg on chips which is apparently the national dish. 

Then the next day I wandered round the centre of town, past protests outside Parliament and the Plaza de Armas, through the chaos of the Central Market, eventually finding the cool neighbourhood to check out a few museums and climb up another hill (reminiscent of Parc Buttes-Chaumont in Paris) around sunset, before a quick round trip to Barrio Italiano for, um, a burger.

The next day I switched things up by getting a coach to the coast, taking in the Pacific Ocean from Viña del Mar then being driven at breakneck speed to Valparaiso, which was exhausting to get around but pretty cool, like an inverse Rio - the undesirable part of town is by the sea, and the pretty, touristy part is up in the hills. Had some nice fish and chips, petted lots of stray cats, bought a fridge magnet, toured Pablo Neruda's awesome hillside house and went back for a Pisco Sour and an early night. 

On Monday I pushed the metaphorical boat out even further, if you will, with an all-day guided tour into the Andes. Got picked up at 6am, kitted out with boots and a hat and driven into the snowiest depths of the cordillera, to make my way on foot to the James-Bond-villain's-lair surroundings of the Yeso dam, which was pretty spectacular. We made our way slowly back to town via a restaurant in a valley (with a llama that posed for photos!), and that was my cue to head to the airport and fly back at a very odd hour. No complaints though, the airport was totally empty when I arrived!

All told, a very satisfying few days and I think I managed to do basically everything on a very strict timetable. Gaby is back tomorrow and I must resume my translating duties, with a hard deadline of July 1st. But for now, I'm going to put my aching feet up and spend some quality time with the cats. 

No compilation this week, although I did an all-Brazilian one for the 'Gram the other day, so there's that. And my phrase of the day means "do you want to leave a tip", uttered during most transactions in Chile, except  in Portuguese, "propina" means "bribe", so I felt like I was in a political drama whenever anyone mentioned it. 

That's about it - speak soon!

Fred Velvet Cake

04.06.24 - Pagar mico

Halloooo,

Gaby is off in the Highlands, and I'm holding the fort back home before heading off myself on Friday, over the Andes to Santiago, Chile - should be good! 

I've also had my first translation job come through (thanks to an assist from Jub!) so I've been getting on with that in my spare time, and went for a wander round town on Saturday morning including a visit to the MASP and its Francis Bacon exhibition, which was as cheery as you'd expect. 

Elsewhere I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day, "pagar mico", means "to pay the monkey", or "to make a fool of oneself". It apparently comes from an animal-themed card game where the monkey card is the losing card, but the less context the better as far as I'm concerned. 

Speak soon!

Fredtime story

28.05.24 - Pensando en la inmortalidad del cangrejo

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. This weekend was our 10-year anniversary, then we saw Gabi and Adny off to Europe, and launched our ebook, and recorded a bunch of promotional material, so it was all go. Plus work was pretty hectic, and the weather turned and it's cold and wet now, so be careful what you wish for, I guess.

Elsewhere I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day means "thinking about the immortality of the crab", which is how they say one is daydreaming or deep in thought in Spain, apparently. 

And that's about it for now - speak soon!

Waiting on a Fred

21.05.24 - Mal das pernas

Hallooooo,

Hope all well - we've been hard at work here, with Sherlock sweeping a PR awards show midweek and our ebook about to come out. Plus we headed up to Indaiatuba at the weekend for a swim and some time with our OG cats, which was fun. 

Elsewhere, I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day ("bad in the legs") means "hard up", "short of cash" and other fun turns of phrase. And I think that's about it for today - short but sweet!

Speak soon,

Frodspeed You! Black Emperor

14.05.24 - A corda sempre arrebenta do lado mais fraco

Halloooo,

Hope all well!

We had Zila and the in-laws over this weekend for Brazilian Mother's Day celebrations (lots of food, essentially), and have otherwise been prepping for our upcoming travels and carting donations for Rio Grande do Sul to the Post Office...

In other news I've made another compilation, plus a Mother's Day mix on Instagram... and my phrase of the day means "the rope always snaps at the weakest point", a kind of variation on "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link" which is used whenever the least well-off are disproportionately affected by tragedy...

Think that's about it for now - speak soon!

Fred-ly Fire

07.05.24 - Cercando galinha

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. All good here except for the south of the country being underwater, which is a bit scary... 

We had a relatively uneventful weekend, as Gabi wrapped up the classes she was giving on Saturday, but we managed to get out and partake in some karaoke. As a result we also ended up with huge amounts of leftover birthday cake, which we're making our way through now...

Elsewhere, I've made not one but two new compilations, and my phrase of the day means "to herd chickens", and is used to describe people walking unsteadily after one too many chopps... 

Think that's about it - speak soon!

Frod Only Knows