16.02.16 - Aceita que dói menos

Hallooo! 

Lovely to speak/sing to you yesterday, and glad you had a whizzy jolly time for yer birthday. Also, just got your package full of books, which was a pretty great way to start the day - so thanks! As it happens I've just started "The Magus", but once I've breezed through that I'll follow up with "Against The Day" for some more light reading...

 I had a quite splendid weekend, which kicked off with a visit to the Mercadão on Friday afternoon, to stock up on obscure ingredients and scratch a tourist-y itch to eat one of those massive mortadella sandwiches on the balcony while the Queen's Golden Jubilee concert played on nearby screens (that last bit wasn't part of the plan but I rolled with it). Now I have everything I need to make my tapioca-and-coconut cake (once I get a minute) and we ended up walking through the restaurant-supplies district, so now I know where I can get a pasta mill or industrial deep-fat-fryer at short notice.

Then on Saturday we grabbed the cats and went to the eerie apartment complex in Guarujá, hit the beach and swimming pool almost immediately, and spent the rest of the weekend in an ice cream-induced food coma, sipping bubbly by the pool and eventually heading back, screaming cats in tow.

Since then work has ramped up again, but at least everyone is slowly getting back to business after the Carnaval period so I don't feel too left out - we've just been to shout at the driving lessons people so maybe that'll start soon, who can say. "Just accept it and it'll hurt less", as the saying/e-mail subject goes.

We speak soon!

Frod

09.02.16 - É muito venha a nós e ao vosso reino nada

AND A GOOD DAY TO YOU SIR!

Carnaval is in full swing here, although I've been housebound the whole weekend editing bile-filled Newsletters for work, missing out on a whole host of fun in Aldeia da Serra and Itu (which, from what I gathered from Gaby's updates, is like Aldeia da Serra but with slides and waterfalls). While the whole country has Friday - Tuesday off, I didn't even get so much as a day to myself the whole time, and have to cope with the pool being permanently full of screaming infants outside to boot. Not that I'm bitter.

I did manage to briefly escape on Saturday afternoon to a bloc party in the Zona Sul, which reminded me of the Notting Hill Carnival only hotter and stuffed to the gills with costumed revellers; to be honest I was more focussed on my sockless mocassins, producing skin-flaying agony with every step, than the actual event, but it looked like fun. Next year I fancy going to the procession in Recife, where they have a giant chicken on a bridge.

On Friday night we went to Andre and Dani's apartment for pizza and a viewing of their wedding video (for both weddings, natch); Saturday was Luiza's 12th birthday so we went for a pizza en famille; and Sunday marked a watershed moment when, for the first time ever, I not only stayed awake until the end of the Superbowl but actually had a vague understanding of what happened too.

In my confinement I put together another compilation, and uncovered another saying which, in rather convoluted terms, applies to deals that could be considered one-sided ("it's very, everything for us and to your kingdom nothing!" Or something like that).

Anyway, hope all well with you. Good luck with the wall-cutting, and let me know when you're up for a chinwag on the ol' Skype.

Fred Out

02.02.16 - Falar pelos cotovelos

Bom dia! 

Glad to hear you're all moving and shaking on various fronts, all very groovy.  I myself spent the weekend sitting by the pool at Bruna's luxury compound in Aldeia da Serra, chain-eating barbecued meat and sunning myself on a giant inflatable Havaiana lilo, as Gaby's schoolfriends came and went, gossiping, crowdsourcing whirlpools, playing Marco Polo and throwing Bruna's mum in the pool. All most fun, and Bruna's mad dad has pledged to take me to his hometown for Carnaval next weekend, apparently whether I want to go or not.

Since then Gaby's started a new work/life regimen, which includes powerwalking down the middle of the Bras Leme avenue to unwind in the evening; it was quite an eye-opener and we passed legions of joggers, cyclists, aerobics classes, coconut water vendors and samba drummers (although the latter get everywhere, to be fair) taking in the night air, before doubling back past literally hundreds of restaurants for mounds of delicious salad at home. 

Next week brings all the temptations of Carnaval, but given our extravagances at New Years and Gaby's impending Masters, I think we'll be taking it easy this time - maybe the odd trip to the beach, or foray into one of SP's many bloc parties. It's too hot to really consider leaving the house at the moment, let alone make grand plans.

I learnt my saying du jour last night; it means "to speak to the elbows", and applies to people who talk to excess (to the extent that they have to keep tapping people's elbows to keep their attention from wandering, apparently). I like it, and want to use it more often in conversation. I speak to you soon, yes? 

Yes.

Fred

26.01.16 - Dar um Migué

Wotcha,

Hope all well frogside. Top of the hour this week is our trip on Saturday night to Villa Country, an amazing nightclub / Western movie set / country music stronghold and generally very odd place, for an evening of STEAK, line dancing (both improvised and under the guidance of "personal dancers" in cowboy hats, who would burst into synchronised footwork at random intervals) and ear-bleeding live sertanejo until the early hours. Quite hard to explain without pics (conveniently included here), but I'm certainly glad we checked it out.

On Sunday I was roped into working all day with a pounding headache, but managed to slip away for a get-together and jam session at Flavio's swish new apartment in the evening; then on Monday (São Paulo's birthday and a city-wide Bank Holiday, whether my boss realised it or not) we went to Campinas, to check out Claudio's toy factory and new enormous mechanical laser printer (pretty cool / Bond-villain-esque) and sit/sleep through a business meeting (not so much), before adjourning to his flat for nibbles, and heading for home. We now all have jobs for life at the factory if all else fails, and I'm trying to wrangle a trip to Ubatuba to see Claudio's new boat, so twas a fruitful journey all told.

Elsewhere, word on the street is we're off to Aldeia da Serra at the weekend for a pool party at Bruna's; I also want to head to the Mercadão Municipal at some point and step up my baking game... In the meantime I've made another playlist (it's a little more downbeat than usual, with limited scope for dancing, so apologies in advance); and my Brazilian phrase of the day means literally to "give a mickey", and is pleasingly similar in meaning to "take the mickey", i.e. bypass the usual rules / tell white lies to further your own agenda, in a relatively harmless way. May it serve you well.

Speak to you soon, bassoon!

Fred

19.01.16 - Não caga e não sai da moita

Hello. You've reached Alan Rickman.

Hope all well in Frenchland. Work has been most bothersome this week, in that we've actually been called upon to do some, so I shall be brief. 

Not much to report over the past week, other than some sightseeing at the Parque de Ipiranga, where Prince Dom Pedro infamously demanded Independence for Brazil despite suffering from considerable bowel distress, and lived in a big palace which is now a museum, or will be once it reopens after repairs. It's based on the parks in Paris and was rather fetching if I do say so myself.

Speaking of bowels: today's Brazilian phrase refers to those indecisive souls who neither defecate, nor vacate the premises reserved for defecation; I believe it has a close, unpublishable variant in English meaning "make your mind up, sharpish".

Today's e-mail is therefore mainly a flimsy pretext to hype up my new mixtape - this week I'm working in the medium of Youtube, since some of the songs are unavailable on Spotify (I cannot work in these conditions...)   I've also booked my flights to Paris, getting in on the afternoon of the 17th and leaving the morning of the 20th. Consider yourself warned.

Speak to y'all real soon,

Fredders

12.01.16 - Quando o capim muda de cor, o burro morre de fome (Commemorative Bowie Edition)

Hallooo!

'Tis of a day of rain and much greyness in the Zona Norte... In sunnier times, on Saturday morning, we tested our communal pool for the first time - turns out it's heated and actually quite pleasant, when free of screaming children. Prior to that we had a few people round to the flat, notably Bruna and Andrew who it was good to see again - the caipirinhas and takeaway pizza did flow... 

Yesterday was of course spent in mourning/appreciation of the great Bowie - HE WAS SO GOOD! I ended up having a brief remote jam with the man in the flat upstairs, after we both started playing along to his songs. In addition to my commemorative Spotify playlist (another plug here: https://play.spotify.com/user/freddypowys/playlist/3jaLybBh58akUDrj8QZ3TB) I proffer the following internet-based miscellania:

- Bowie origin story, by Flight of the Conchords: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqa4G0J2faE

- Radio Soulwax mix/tribute video: https://vimeo.com/53207758

- TVC15 on Saturday Night Live: https://vimeo.com/40895664

- "It's a walk-off!": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InIxKCa3H9g

- TV on the Radio (ft. David Bowie) - Province: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr4jQia49JI

- Love is Lost (LCD Soundsystem remix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpXleysIs90

- Dead Man Walking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOZrGHmMl4o

- Seu Jorge - Life on Mars? (from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6l8zrsf4LY

- Christmas duet with Bing Crosby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiXjbI3kRus

- Sweet Thing / Candidate / Sweet Thing (reprise): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCqsJzBwjNQ

- Extras cameo: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnleeu_extras-david-bowie_shortfilms

- BBC6 Bowie special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpCrIZamdQE

- Rolling Stone interview with William Burroughs: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/beat-godfather-meets-glitter-mainman-19740228

- Wild is the Wind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cSAKlu0OlU

That will be all. Today's phrase ("when the grass changes colour, the donkey dies of hunger") is more like a Zen koan which I think refers to people who are resistant to change, and as a result perish like the idiot donkeys they are. And on that note, I will bid you adieu, until we speak tomorrow!

Ashes to Ashes,

Fred to Freddy

05.01.16 - Dar um bolo

Happy New 2016! May your year be full of joy, may your livestock ever prosper. Most excellent news about the wedding being confirmed for June - ice cream in Paris for all!

Ilhabela was tremendous fun - on the penultimate day of the year we joined forces with Giorgio and Beth, two of Gaby's friends from back in school, to check out a nearby waterfall where, having slathered ourselves in insect repellent, I was battered from above by torrents of ice-cold water, threw myself repeatedly down a natural waterslide and wrapped up our trip with some home-distilled passion fruit cachaça. You'd have loved it, it was like a tropical Gorge du Loup... 

Then we hit the north, and the Praia de Armação, to check out another potential wedding venue - a little chapel on the beach, next to a new three-tiered restaurant and event space overlooking the sea. All looked very promising despite not being completely built yet, and we wolfed down squid bruschettas and pineapple ice cream before having a dip and heading back into town for amazing esfihas and lemon tart ice cream at the foot of an oddly Jewish-looking Christmas tree.

On New Years Eve we went to Goat Beach again to top up our tans, before heading back to the hotel for naps and general beautification, and going to a ridiculously over-the-top, Vegas-themed party at the Sea Club, featuring lots of gorgeous people dressed all in white, Marilyn Monroe impersonators, roulette tables, firework displays, champagne and burgers on tap, a chapel for staging mock weddings, blaring EDM and people throwing themselves into the central pool fully-clothed as the night wore on. 

It was a rather amusing experience, but we have since decided to make it a one-off, especially since the next day was a bit of a write-off (apart from an excellent medley of paprikaschnitzeland apfelstrudel at a curiously German beachside restaurant in the evening).

Then on the 2nd we had our final breakfast on the balcony (loads of cake, basically), headed home in pouring rain and grinding traffic, picked up the cats and a pizza, and have been recovering at home ever since. My phrase of the day ("dar um bolo") may be favourite so far - when you stand someone up in Brazil, you "give them a cake", which I would generally prefer to them arriving as planned.

We speak soon! Good tidings to you, sirs.

Fred