22.12.20 - Trem bom

Halloooo,

Good to Zoom t'other day, as we traversed São Paulo in search of cake and stray grandparents. 

Ridaut's birthday went off without a hitch and was a nice warm-up for the Xmas season, in a blaze of MEAT and ICE CREAM. Gaby is officially on holiday this week, but unofficially prepping and recording her course so we've been mainly working on that, with some PR thrown into the mix for good measure. 

I've made another compilation, and can recommend this folk Christmas mix for the holiday season. My phrase of the day comes from Minas Gerais, where for some reason they refer to everything as a "train", i.e. anything good is a "good train", the bus is a "train", etc (although the bus stop is a "pondions", a contraction of "ponto de onibus"). Can get very confusing, I'm sure.

I will be doing a live set of Christmas songs on the 24th as grist to Gaby's content mill, so hopefully see you there; and let's talk on the 25th in any case. 

Ciao for now!

The Fred, White & Blue

15.12.20 - Jag anar ugglor i mossen

Halloooo,

Lovely to speak yesterday! As mentioned there really isn't all that much going on at the moment, so we're just going about our business planning Gabi's course and looking forward to the holidays. 

Also I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the week comes from Sweden, where people who suspect that all is not right apparently say "Jag anar ugglor i mossen", or "I sense owls in the swamp".

Ciao for now,

Fred Sheeran

08.12.20 - Quem não dá assistência perde para a concorrência

Halloooo,

Good to speak at the weekend, and hope all well in royal Covid's city. The new job has been going well, basically carrying on what I've been doing for them all year only more so, and without the additional eight hours a day of frenzied translation project management afterwards, which has been a relief. Now I just need to remember what I used to do in my spare time...

In other news I've made a new mixtape, and my Brazilian phrase of the day goes out to my old job - "if you don't lend a hand, you lose out to the competition" (only snappier and with a better rhyming scheme). Keep the art advent calendar coming, and speak soon!

Ciao for now,

The Fred is the Beginning is the Fred

01.12.20 - Jacaré comprou cadeira mas não tem bunda pra sentar

Halloooo,

Hope all well and let's Skype soon, yes? My fault for launching into impromptu live shows, of course. This week I wrapped up my affairs with Day Translations and am starting my new proper job at Sherlock literally as we speak so let's see how that goes. 

Not much else to report otherwise as we self-isolated following a (thankfully unfounded) COVID scare involving Adny and Ridaut. We've been fine-tuning Gaby's entrepreneurial vision, which sounds grand but mainly involved balancing an iPad-turned-teleprompter on top of a rickety pile of books while taping her latest video, and reeling from a bout of summer humidity.

I've cobbled together a new compilation despite the record release calendar slowing down for the end of the year, and my phrase of the day ("jacaré comprou cadeira mas não tem bunda pra sentar") applies to people who make an impulsive decision and regret it later: "the alligator bought a chair but has no bottom to sit on".

Ciao for now,

The Fredge of Glory

24.11.20 - Uso obrigatório de máscara

Halloooo,

Hope all well witchu! I'm into my last week at Generic Translation Corp, and managed to get Saturday off for once to go for a birthday lunch with Gaby and friends, in one of our favourite spots up in the mountains. I then spent the rest of my long weekend flopping about, checking out a rather nice new local café with multiple grandparents, Zooming with yet more grandparents, and briefly reviving my song and dance show on Monday.

I've done made another compilation, with a Fredbangers chaser, while my phrase of the day ("mask use is mandatory") adorns every shop entrance nowadays, like some bizarre entreaty to please put on mascara before entering each place of business. I have since found out that "máscara" actually does mean "mascara" as well as "mask", but everyone refers to it as "rimel", like the brand.

Ciao for now!

Black Fred-day

17.11.20 - Boca de urna

Halloooo,

Hope all well, and good to speak briefly yesterday! 

Not much to report here post-Ilhabela getaway, other than officially jumping ship from my current job to a full-time position at Sherlock starting next month. We also had Gaby's grandparents round for lunch on Sunday, and I returned to winning ways at the footy yesterday. 

Elsewhere I've made a new compilation and companion Fredbangers mix, and written the liner notes for Tom's new Bandcamp EP under my Raymond Duck nom de plume.  

I picked up my phrase of the week over the weekend when Gaby went to vote in São Paulo's (so-far inconclusive) mayoral elections at her old school: "boca de urna" or "ballot's mouth" refers to the typically illegal practice of handing out electoral materials and pamphlets to people on their way to vote, and can also be used as a shorthand for exit polls. 

That's all for now - speak soon!

Fred Balls

11.11.20 - Tem vida mais barata, mas não presta

Hallooo,

Hope all well in the Med. A day late this week, as we were coming back from Ilhabela yesterday and into a full schedule of work, patients and house-cleaning, but suffice to say we had a rather splendid few days camped in an Airbnb on a hill with its own waterfall, occasionally rolling down into town from restaurant to beach and back again, while Valente and Berry found out about chickens and greenery, much to their delight.

I also got a job offer from Sherlock yesterday, which means I can ditch the translation job at some point in the near future and keep (mostly) working from home even when the 'rona clears up, which is a most pleasing development.

I've made a new playlist, and a new Fredbangers mix to celebrate the weekend's positive news. And my phrase of the day means "there is a cheaper life, but it's not worth it", which is something people apparently say in places like Ilhabela.

Ciao for now,

Fred States