10.03.26 - Pego de calça curta

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We are back from a lovely long weekend in Rio - my first time there, and Zila's first time back in 70 years (!).

After a scenic taxi into Santos Dumont airport we went to our fancy Airbnb in Barra da Tijuca, then set out the next day into the centre of town, covering plenty of ground including Leblon, Copacabana fortress and the cable cars up to Pão de Açucar, where we were briefly stranded in a lightning storm. 

On Sunday we hit the beach, before taking in Parque Lage and the nearby lake, and heading back on Monday as the rain set in. A full write-up will be coming to Substack in due time, but suffice to say we had a great time and are a bit sad to be back to work in grey, flat São Paulo.

In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day means "caught with short trousers" (roughly equivalent to "caught with one's trousers down"). And that's about it - speak soon!

Cristo Fred-entor

03.03.26 - Nem que a vaca tussa

Halloooo,

Hope all well. 

Work continues apace in the bright new post-Carnaval dawn, and we even got the figurative "band" (the pre-pandemic Wednesday night football crew) back together - we didn't play any football but we did go to the Gaucho bar to discuss playing football at some point. 

We also went to Indaiatuba over the weekend to brainstorm our next furniture-restoring venture, and I went to the cinema on Sunday night to finally see "The Secret Agent", which is well worth its Oscar hype. 

In other news I made another compilation, and my phrase of the day is "not even if the cow coughs", which means "it ain't gonna happen", basically. And that's all... I think it's been a pretty slow news week otherwise, right?

Speak soon!

Fredbird

24.02.26 - Nojo de farra

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. Carnaval is officially over, and the Brazilian New Year has unofficially begun, much to everyone's chagrin. 

We're just trying to get our old furniture restored, and if you want to do something properly (and cheaply) you've got to do it yourself, so we went to Zila's on Sunday to have lunch and scope out her garage as a potential workshop space. 

I've made a new playlist - haven't had time to listen to it yet! - and my phrase of the day is "nojo de farra", literally "disgust at merriment"... a common feeling among hungover Brazilians on a post-Carnaval comedown. 

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

Harder, Fredder, Faster, Stronger

17.02.26 - Pinto no lixo

Halloooo,

Hope all well. Carnaval is in full swing here, but I've been struck down by the flu and have been resting up at home, although we did have a nice trip to Indaiatuba and a nearby farm, for plenty of cheese and milk.

I have, however, made another mixtape. And my phrase of the day translates to "a chick [baby chicken] in trash", which is the local equivalent to "as happy as a pig in sh*t". May it serve you well. 

Ciao for now,

The Grateful Fred

10.02.26 - Enquanto existe cavalo, São Jorge não anda a pé

Halloooo,

Hope all well. 

We've been wrangling servicemen and taking receipt of cooktops as the work on the flat reaches the final stretch, plus I went to the centre of town first thing on Friday to renew my driving licence, and the entire system went down so I'll have to do it all again next week. And we went to a cool antiques market on Sunday (including a bookshop in a working bus!), followed by a slap-up Italian meal in the Italian meal district which we took you to last year.

In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the week means "as long as there are horses, Saint George won't travel on foot". Or: as long as gullible people are around, opportunists will take advantage of them. 

And that's about it - speak soon!

Freddy Tirar Más Fotos

 

03.02.26 - A pista está salgada

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We've been Getting Stuff Done this week, from moving into the new-flat endgame to... well that's about it, really. But we did go to another kid's party (science-themed!) with lots of familiar faces, then on to Gaúcho's for MEAT in the evening, at Amelie's request. 

I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day is new to me, coming as it does from the youth on TikTok. It literally means "the track is salty", and as I understand it has become a catch-all for describing how tough the dating world or job market is, depending on context. Not sure why, exactly, but I may start using it anyway.

And that's about it - speak soooon!

Blue VelFred

27.01.26 - Ser uma formiguinha

Halloooo,

Hope all well. Running a bit late this week, as we had to go all the way to Campinas for an ultrasound first thing this morning (due to nefarious health insurance shenanigans which I shan't bore you with - all is well, in any case!), followed by lunch in Indaiatuba then back home for work. We also got out a bit at the weekend, heading to the Horto to hang out with the capybaras and stretch our legs.

In other news, I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the week is a new one even for me - if you have a sweet tooth, Brazilians will refer to you as a "formiguinha", or little ant, which is extremely whimsical but also makes more sense than whatever a "sweet tooth" is...

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

Space Frod-dity