29.11.16 - Papagaio come milho, periquito leva fama

Well helloooo,

Quite a week we've had, around all the time-consuming work stuff which I shan't bore you with here. On Wednesday I took my newly-restored-and-actually-working guitar out for a spin at the Garaffas open mic and had a gay old time, jamming with a French/Brazilian guy who seemed quite cool until he launched into an apparently unironic cover of "Don't Worry Be Happy"... 

The following night I curtailed my experimental spell in defensive midfield and scored a couple of screamers at the football, followed by the celebratory drinking of beer.  This was followed on Friday by yet more merry-making, at the same bar to boot, for the traditional end-of-year football get-together which involved unlimited grilled meat, two crates of Brahma, rabos de galo all round and an impromptu after-hours concert in the car park.  Good times were had by all, as far I can remember.

On Saturday we went to the Bourbon mall to do our monthly shop and watch "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" in full IMAX 4D glory, which wasn't the cynical Harry Potter cashgrab I was expecting, and was actually pretty impressive in 3D and bowel-loosening THX sound.  Then to round out the weekend, we went on a road-trip to Holambra, a Dutch colony a couple of hours inland from São Paulo and apparently the largest producer of flowers in Brazil. 

It turned out to be a bit of a damp squib - out of season, half empty and with a thunderstorm threatening to let loose overhead - but on the plus side I got to practice driving on the motorway (for hours and hours on the way back, once Waze dropped out, I missed a turn and ended up in an alternate reality where north was south and São Paulo apparently no longer existed) and try some torta holandesa next to a big windmill, in the company of nonplussed Dutch tourists. Crucially it meant we were out of the house when Palmeiras clinched their first league title in 22 years, although there were still plenty of parties and fireworks going on by the time we staggered home.

Et maintenant... I've gorn done another compilation, and have an absolute corker of a phrase-of-the-week: "the parrot eats the corn, the parakeet takes the blame".  See also: "quem faz fama deita na cama", which basically means "if the shoe fits...", and applies to those whose nefarious reputation (or "fama") precedes them.

Goodbye forever,

Fred Dwarf