03.11.20 - Não tenho nem dinheiro pra cagar em banheiro de rodoviário

Halloooo,

Good to Skype yesterday, and hope all well in Lockdown II: Electric Boogaloo.  

We've been showing a newly-retired Doug around town this holiday weekend, including a trip to Claudio's on Sunday for some extensive barbecuing, and a rare stop at the Gaúcho bar for some illicit post-football snacking yesterday. We've also been dealing with the fallout of a newly-neutered Berry, who has somehow become even more hell-bent on destruction than before.

Elsewhere I've made a new mixtape and an election-themed Fredbangers to soundtrack Ringo Starr's inauguration as President elect this evening. My phrase of the day comes from a rather amusing stand-up set by Afonso Padilha, which is on Netflix if you fancy subtitled ruminations on growing up in poverty in Brazil - "I don't even have the money to shit in a bus-stop bathroom" probably loses something in translation though.

Finally I  just want to say good luck, we're all counting on you.

The MisFreducation of Eunice Waymon

27.10.20 - Chove e não molha

Halloooo,

Hope all well in your respective countries. 

Not a lot to report here, what with life as we know it grinding to a halt (except building work) - on Sunday we visited Bruna's new flat briefly, and yesterday we had Berry neutered which was fairly emotional for everyone involved. She's fine now, and as much an agent of chaos as she's always been, especially in the early morning.

I've made another playlist, and a Halloween-themed Fredbangers mix, and my phrase of the day is a "fish or cut bait" / "make up your mind" situation, where "it's raining but you don't get wet", or something like that. 

'Til next we speak again,

Fredlock Holiday

20.10.20 - Dar o braço a torcer

Halloooo,

Lovely to Zoom the other day, even under the circumstances, and hope you're all doing well in your far-flung corners of the globe. 

Not much to report here, aside from plenty of work to be getting on with and a slight reduction in building work cacophony.  I took Berry to the vet on Friday, mainly to find out why she keeps weeing everywhere indiscriminately, and she's for the chop this Friday (she'll thank us later!). And my homemade fish & chips was a roaring success, albeit a particularly smelly one which is never to be repeated.

I done made a mixtape and another Fredbangers anthology, and my phrase of the day means "to give ones arm to twist", which is when you "gotta hand it to" someone or admit you got something wrong. Finally, I can heartily recommend the new Alan Partridge podcast, which some kind soul has uploaded to YouTube.

Ahaaaa,

Fredge of Seventeen

13.10.20 - Brincando se dizem as verdades

Well helloooo,

Nice to chat yesterday, while the Building Works Philharmonic Orchestra took a day off for once. 

As discussed this weekend was a relative smorgasbord of activity, with a party at Jacob's on Saturday followed by a day out/factfinding mission to a packed Campos de Jordão on Sunday, including coffee & cake and a long lunch up the side of a mountain. And yesterday I made some damn good fish and chips, helped Gaby set up her new bookshelves and played footy with "os lads", including Guilherme who was visiting from Santa Catarina.

Elsewhere I've made another mix and another Fredbangers special, and my phrase of the day means "joking often reveals the truth", or "many a true word is spoken in jest", basically. 

Speak soon and bon voyage,

Fred Out!

06.10.20 - Quando o gato sai, os ratos fazem a festa

Hallooo,

Hope all well in la belle France/Italia. Not much to report here except that the building work going on in and around our building has somehow gotten worse, and I've been sat in front of a fan all week to counteract the frankly ludicrous heat.

Otherwise I have gone done another mixtape, and another drill-resistant batch of Fredbangers. My phrase of the week is "when the cat's away, the mice will play", or in this case, "have a party". Finally, I recommend Bob Dylan's latest old-time radio show, in which he does not sing.

Ciao for now,

Losing My Fredge

29.09.20 - Soramimi

Hallooo,

Lovely to speak yesterday - things continue as they seemingly always have here, and we remain confined to quarters while faceless deviants drill into our ceilings. 

It's not all bad though - we had another kickabout yesterday, and some friends round for dinner and a rather extravagant birthday cake on Saturday. And on Sunday we went to a restaurant from Gaby's youth (her Elysee Carnot, if you will), for vast helpings of meat and beans. I also finished Moby Dick, which was pretty awesome despite all the rambling chapters about cetology and how the whale is in fact an insect.

Elsewhere I've made another mixtape and another batch of Fredbangers, and my phrase/word of the day hails from Japan, as an amusing method of misinterpreting lyrics in a foreign language to mean something else in your own. Take it away, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soramimi

Ciao for now,

Fredalo

22.09.20 - Quem fala demais acaba dando bom dia a cavalo

Halllooooo,

Good to catch up yesterday, over the sounds of incessant hammering. The big development this week is our return to the football pitch after many months spent sheltering in place, which went reasonably well, although we were all hopelessly out of shape. 

My phrase of the day translates as "he who talks too much ends up saying 'hello' to horses", and is used to refer to people who talk too much, or so I'm told. 

And never let it be said that I don't shake things up now and again: in addition to my weekly mixtape, which will continue as a sprawling catch-all for new discoveries and releases, I've started compiling a separate batch of "Fredbangers" which I've been turning to throughout the week to spur me on at work or drown out power tools. 

The criteria is any track which sounds good playing loud in a car, once I figure out how to sync Spotify and can finally send our iPod into a well-earned retirement. Enjoy!

Ruth Freder Ginsburg