terça-feira, 7 de abril de 2009

25th March, 10.000 ft, somewhere between Usa and Brasil, late at night


Very difficult words to write right now, so I'll be as brief as possible. I woke-up, smoked a cigarette and then my brother called from Brazil, with the terrible notice that my mother had passed away. Well, it almost killed me. What can I say more? I cannot remember exactly what happened next, just have flashes of diving in the ocean, packing my things and going to the airport, in order to return to Brasil as fast as I could. Sad. Yes, very sad. In a way, it was the end of Café Funquê tour. But only the end of our First Usa tour. Because there will be more. Because she would like that. Because the show must go on. And, above all things, because we loved to play to everyone of you. That's all, folks.
(by Chokito)

photo above: See u soon!

I'd like to thanks (sorry if your name is not here, but i'm really no good with names...): Leslie, Isaac, Dereje, Magda, Dean, Tallula's bar, Duke University, Chamas Barbecue house, Sergio, Norah, Madalena, Maile, John Durant, Robert, Brian, Derren, his wife and the baby, Margaret, Stephanie, Maria, Linda, Igor, Paula, Elzira, Coutinho, Jacaré, Hilda, Ananda, Moeaux and Chuy, Aaron, Voz alta, El Dorado, Kava Lounge, Gage and his wonderful warehouse, Bodega de la Maiz, The Office, Blu bar, The Copa, Opal Divine's Freehouse, Sxsw 2009, Devo, Taxi, Diego's Umbrella, Vinil Laranja, The Potter Pots, Futumomo Satisfaction, Chiwoniso Maraire, Israel Maldonado, Dub Addis, and everyone that helped us in some way. And, of course, special thanks to JitB. See you soon!

24th March, Sergio's house, San Diego, California


Everybody woke-up, back on the road. More cactus, More rocks, more sand... We passed through 3 or 4 police checkpoints, and were stopped only once. Some conversation, reading (i'm almost finishing The shining, from Stephen King, cool book), two Subways stops, and once in town, we stopped at In-n Out. After, Sergio's house, where we literally camped! By night, car ride with Gabo to O.B., Wendy's, some people at Garnet St., then we went home. Freezing night!! I could not get to sleep. And I could not imagine what tomorrow would be like...
(by Chokito)

photo above: the only photo of Austin!!! Café Funquê, leaving Robert's house on sunday , 22nd March. photo by Hilda Guevara.

23rd March, Lordsburg, somewhere between Arizona(?), New Mexico(?), Mexico(?!), 10:43 pm, Norman Bates motel...


Once again, the desert. We left Austin by 10:00 am, and headed west. I slept the whole trip, 'cause I hadn't sleep at night. Well, it was not very different, the same landscapes, only this time we were against the wind for a long time, which forced us to put more gas in the car. Three or four stops at Subway, music and and then we stopped here, our old hotel...
(by Chokito)

photo above: Lord, i'm three, lord i'm four, lord i'm five hudred miles away from home... the desert. Somewhere between Austin and El Paso. Or between El Paso and Tucson. Or...

22nd March, Jacare's haus, Austin, Tx


Sunday. Everybody tired, but happy about yesterday's show. Barbecue, playing with the dogs, reading, relax day. By 4 pm we went to town, left the car near Blu bar and went for a walk. Shopping day! Very cool rock stores at 6th Street. Tons of t-shirts, posters, dolls, amazing. I bought a Bjork poster and some souvenirs for my friends in Brazil. Later we ate an excellent pizza and returned to Blu, to our last show in Austin. Ananda was there, cool. The guys from Vinil Laranja too, they were going to play after us. But the city was already a bit different, there were less people on the streets, that kind of thing. But we enjoyed it anyway, ehhe. After Vinil's show, goodbyes, we got back home and started to pack everything for the journey home...
(by Chokito)

photo above: the Gabriels, Cacau, and I, or at least, my feet! John's house, SanDiego, California

segunda-feira, 6 de abril de 2009

21st March, Jacare's houze, Austin, Tx


Yeah, today is the Big Day. The D day. Woke -up in the morning, helped Hilda with her plants, then Cacau, Damaceno and I wento Marcia's house, another brazilian friend. Very cool place. We returned home, burrito lunch, then we headed downtown, check in, Futumomo Satisfaction was doing their soundcheck: the girls rock! Then me and felipe went to Austin Convention Center but it was over , we almost got depressed. No free strings, no free t-shirts, nothing. At least I found an old keyboard abandoned in a hall, with a message: "this needs a new home"... Well, now it has! Felipe and I got a pedi-cab and headed Opal Divine's. Man, we kicked asses! The show was great, powerful, everybody dancing and partipating,the crowd was in our hands, it was amazing! Unbelievable! The set-list: Funkator, Xoxote, Sweetness, Circo, A Praia, Fio da Navalha, Milk Shake, Deepshade, El Tango, Johnny and U$200 ( you can see the whole show at youtube.com, just look for cafe funque sxsw 2009!) After, a band from Spain, The Potter Pots, sixties style, then the so waited Futomomo Satisfaction. Another great show. All that japan girls in their bikinis, very cool! After, i went for a walk and saw two nice bands, Diego's Umbrella, from san Francisco, and Taxi, from Venice. The last one was a power trio, with two bassists and a drummer, awesome. Also met Mike, who works in the Key Bar, where Taxi was playing. Nice fellow! After that, I met the others at Opal, then JitB, home, some conversation with Gabo, sleep.
(by Chokito)

photo: Gabo and I with our special fans, Stephanie and Maria,, at Gage's Warehouse, San Diego, California

domingo, 5 de abril de 2009

20th March, Jacare's houze, Austin, Tx


Woke-up early, some chat with Robert, then everybody woke-up. Gabo and Cacau went to downtown, while Felipe, Damaceno, Robert, Ananda ( a brazilian who lives in San Jose, California, and works with dance who came to stay for a couple of days at Robert's house too. Very cool girl!) and I went to Chuy's, a typical Tex Mex restaurant. Excellent food! As big as your face! Back home, me and Damaceno went for a bike ride, very good one, we visited Barton Springs Park. Back home, I met Hilda Guevara, Robert's wife. What a nice person! We talked a lot, such a beautiful soul. After a while,, Gabo appeared here to take me and Felipe to downtown. God, the city was freaking out! Bands, chicks, lunnies everywhere! At midnight Felipe and I entered Austin Music Hall to testify the show of one of our favourite bands, DEVO. It was great, very, very cool! Unfortunately, we could not see the whole show 'cause we had our own show to do, in the bar across the street, Blu. After yesterday's stress, this show was very cool, and agressive, heeh. We met the guys from Vinil Laranja, another band from Brazil, cool. They're planning to stay in Austin after the end of the festival and maybe fix residence inthe Usa, which is also cool. After me and Felipe wento to Which Which, a fast food similar to Subway, awesome. Cold wind (always, in this country...), home, and a great night of sleep, 'cause tomorrow is the Big Day for us...
(by Chokito)

photo above: Damaceno and I, Beatlelesque picture. Durham, North Carolina

19th March, Jacaré's house, Austin, Texas


First thing in the morning, Austin Convention Center, to get our wristbands. There were a lot of stands there, selling clothes, cds, posters, and a lot of people, from all over the world, very impressive. We met a canadian couple, some brazilians, tons of people. We walked to the artist lounge, where we had hot-dogs and beer. The city is not very big, and there are pedi-cabs everywhere. The bands almost always walk together, so there's a huge variety of styles around, from hip hop dudes to mangá style japanese girls. After that we went to The Copa, where we're going to play. We met a very kind girl from Sxsw crew, Heather. The show was good, but it's very hard to play anywhere after playing in such a special place as The Kava Lounge, in San Diego, 'cause the sound there was perfect. And at The Copa... The sound was not that bad, but it wasn't perfect either, and to make it worse they cut the P.A. system in the middle of the last song, which brought the devil inside us, specially Gabo to come out! What an unpolite thing to do! Afterwards, the manager said it was a misunderstood, and etc, but he was not very convincing... It stressed the band a little. Later, there was this fantastic show from this woman, Chiwoniso Maraire, from Zimbabwe. Awesome! And we discover that Austin is also green... JitB, home, sleep.
(by Chokito)

photo above: John's backyard, Wilbur St. , San Diego, California

18th March, Robert "Jacaré"'s house, Austin, Texas


We left the Red Roof Inn by 11:00pm, and went to Robert's house. He is a very good friend of Damaceno, and a samba lover. He plays in a Samba school in Austin, Unidos da Ópera, and carries the totally unusual nickname of Jacaré, which is very strange for a guy from Texas, heeheh. What a place!! Big house, Tex Mex style, with a great backyard, and two dogs, Moeaux and Chuy, and a cat, Ms. Kittin. Needless to say that me and Cacau were the most happy ones to have pets around! Then, a welcome barbecue, with excellent ribs!!! Cool!
Later, Gabo, Felipe and I went to downtown, to Blu bar. There, we met Elzira, who recognized us as brazilians 'cause we were speaking portuguese in fron t of her, and, of course, she is brazilian too, and Coutinho, another friend of Damaceno, who plays percussion with some bands here in Austin. Gabo and Felipe got back home to pick up our instruments, so I went for a walk in the city, all by myself. Amazing, it seems that there are people from every part o f the world here, brazilians, canadians, japanese, africans, very cool. Every bar has a band playing in, the music never stops, you almost cannot find a local without music in the air! A fter Cacau and Damaceno showed up, and we stopped at Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop, where there was a strange competition going on: two bikes grounded on the floor, and then 2 guys (or 2 girls) cycling like hell, while their performances appeared in a huge tv monitor behind them, very funny. Gabo and Felipe returned with the instruments but we were not going to play anymore (there was a small chance of performing a set at Blu's), so we tried to get our Sxsw 2009 wristbands , but we're too late, rsrs. JitB, not before getting lost in austin, then home and sleep.
photo above: Not even half-inche of snow and we're already happy, freakin'out! Later this night, it snowed much more and we had our first snowball fight, it wwas awesome.
(by Chokito)

sábado, 4 de abril de 2009

17th March, Red Roof Inn, Austin, Texas


We left Norman Bates motel about 11:ooam, and got back on the road. More desert, more cactus, more Subways. We met some musicians on their way to Austin, too. Little stop at Sonora to eat, than 3 more hours and we finally arrived in Austin at night. It was very late to go to Damaceno's friend house, so we stayed at the Red Roof Inn. The hotel was fuul, and there were some bands there, we could kinda smell it... Cacau and Damaceno stayed in the room, and Gabo, felipe and I went out for a ride. What-a- Burguer, 7-Eleven, and, of course, JitB! Then, back to hotel.
(by Chokito)

p.s.- I'm very sorry to inform that from this moment on we no longer have photos of Austin, 'cause we forgot the damn batteries in San Diego. Said so, this and the next photos are from different moments of our trip in the Usa. The photo above features Dereje, from Dub Addis, and his cute dogs. Durham, North Carolina.

quinta-feira, 2 de abril de 2009

16th March, Lordsburg, somewhere between Arizona and New Mexico, 11:00pm


We woke-up very early in the morning, left some of our things at Sergio's house and left in a rented car to Austin, Texas. Through the desert, just like the movies. Many jokes, lots of songs (some nice ones!) and some stops, for restroom or to eat! Subway was elected the best alternative on the road. And always road 10east. At night we stopped in a motel, Norman Bates style. Cool! Tv, shower, sleep.
(by Chokito)

15th March, Ourhouse, S.Diego


Sunday, but no rest for us! A whole house to clean up! Massive work. After, a little relax at the jacuzzi, some burritos, and Margaret visited us, so cool! At night we moved to Kava Lounge, a awesome bar near San Diego's airport. All the drinks, even sodas, were organic. Crazy. This night, this show, is something to remember. The sound was perfect, the vibe was perfect, the set-list was perfect, it was amazing! Ireally don't know if the acoustic of the house was the responsible, or the Original Crush factor, but it was the best show until now! After, donuts, home and a well-deserved night of sleep.
(by Chokito)

14th March, Ourhouze, S.Diego


Another working day today. El Dorado, Downtown. Very cool bar, old-fashioned decoration, a huge buffalo head on the wall, nice place! We played two sets, and Gage was our sound operator. It was awesome, very good. The only problem was that i got a terrible headache, and could not enjoy it so much. After, the classical JitB, home, and sleep. The very first time since the beginning of the trip that I slept before everybody, unbelievable...
Huh, I almost forgot: in the afternoon there was a jam session at Sergio's garage. Awesome!
(by Chokito)

Friday the 13th of March, Ourhaus, S.Diego


We almost have a true friday the 13th today, with all the fame it has! Today was Linda's bithday, and she is one of our great fans here in San Diego. So, we accepted to play at her party, in her house. It would be wonderful, barbecue, friends, fun... And it was! But there's a funny story behind it...
We arrived at Linda's home at 20:oo, with all our stuff. But Damaceno forgot his mix table, so he and I came back home to pick it up. When we arrived there again, there was two cops in the front of the house, talking with Linda. The taller one asked me if I lived there. Of course i said I didn't, but all I wanted to say was: - no, and you? do you? Hehe!
The people who were in the party started to get sad, specially Linda and Maria, but we called Gage and just moved her party to his Warehouse. Another Gage's show! Cool! And the show was great, the party was great, it was totally cool!!!!!!!!! After, Jack in the Box, South Park session, sleep!
(by Chokito)

quarta-feira, 1 de abril de 2009

12th of March, ourhauz, S. Diego

Long bike ride in the morning, came back home, then Cacau made a mini barbecue, just for me, Gabo and herself, cool! Jacuzzi session, Then Margaret showed up and took Gabo, Felipe and me for a ride. We went to Ocean Beach, nice place, kinda hippie, rsrs! Lunch at theBlue Parrot, very spicy for Gabo, hehe...She left us at home, then we passed at Gage's to pick our things, and there we met Gage's pet, a 6-foot boa constrictor, incredible! It liked Damaceno, and stayed in his arms for a long time (we DO have photos of this, but they are not published in order to keep our drummer's moral integrity intact in Brazil).
By night we played at Bodega de La Maiz, another warehouse close to Gage's warehouse. This show was arranged by Margaret, who became very close to the band. What a cool girl! The show was alright, a jazzy one. Igor and Paula, friends from Brazil, showed up there right at the last song, heehh! After we all came back to our house for a couple of beers. No fast food today. We're getting better, ehehh!
(Obs- the photo above is actually from Gage's Warehouse, 'cause the photos from Bodega aren't here, hehe!)
(by Chokito)

11th of March, Ourhaus, S.Diego


Today we have a gig in a place called Voz Alta, an art gallery near Gage's Warehouse. That sounds good... After lunch, me and Gabo went to Garnet St., looking for some cheap clothes. after, Carl's Jr., what a deception, the photo is much better than the sandwich itself, heehe. Back home, jacuzzi, shower, then we put our stuff in the car and went to Voz Alta. What an incredible place! The paintings belonged to a local artist, Cesar Castañeda, very cool! The place was kinda empty, but the show was very good, anyway. Each one of us played in a corner of the room, totally spread. And we earned cool t-shirts, the whole band. Later, guess what? Yes, Jack in the Box. We should be sponsored by them. Home, South Park session, sleep.
(by Chokito)

10th of March, In- ko-pah Desert, S.Diego


Woke-up early, and went to the desert with Damaceno, Cacau and Robert. Felipe and Gabo preferred to stay at home. A hour later, we were at the desert, very close to USA border. On the other side of a huge wall, it's Mexico. Amazing. It reminded me the famous Pink Floyd's song... Shooting day! 38 Colt, 45, 9mm, 22 rifle, shotgun... Damn, how can it be that something so dangerous can be, at the same time, so fun? For a beginner I did very well. And Cacau shooting was an unforgetable and hilarious experience too! As the sun was going down, we started our journey back. Before going home, we visited Derren, Damaceno's friend. Good fellow. Albertson's, home, shower, dinner and South Park session, just a perfect day!
(by Chokito)

9th of March, Ourhouze, S. Diego


Monday. Absolutely nothing to do. The whole band stayed at home , sunbathing in the backyard like lazy lizards...
(by Chokito)

8th March, Ourhouse, S. Diego


Breakfast, then bike ride with Cacau, along Garnet St. Some nice stores, but the gold mine was Thrift Trader, a second-hand clothes store. Four items for $20. Perfect! Home, lunch, Albertson's, sunbath in the backyard... By night, we wenty to Gage's Warehouse, for another show. Well, it seems we're growing a fan club here, hehe! Stephanie, Maria and Linda are the headmasters'. We played two sets of 9 songs each, very cool. Later, Jack in the Box, our savior. As I couldn't get to sleep, I went for a night walk, all by mysef. Nobody on the streets. Only the shivering cold fuckin' wind and a cat or two...Cool...
(by Chokito)

7th March, Ourhouse, S. Diego


Ihop's pancake breakfast with Sergio, Madalena, Cacau e Damaceno. Delicious! Then we went back home, picked some clothes up and went to John's studio, to shoot some photos of the band. Awesome session, the guy is pretty damn good! Later, chating with Sergio, he told me that John is one of the most expensive photographer of S. Diego. Cool... lucky us! There were solo photos as well, very good vibe. We got back home, dinner, then John showed up with 2 dvds full of of photos and a printed one of myself, fuckin' cool! The freezing weather continues. Sleep!
(by Chokito)

6th of March, Our house, S. Diego, 11:00pm


Breakfast burritos with Cacau and Damaceno, then a lonely bike ride along Pacific Beach, till it's south end, while everybody stayed at home, minding their own business. No problem going south, but the return... against the wind... stupid wind! After, Gabo, Cacau, Madalena and I went to Ralph's in order to buy meat and other things for evening's barbecue. Damn, today was really shivering cold! By night, full house: Sergio and Norah, Madalena, Robert, Maile, John, Charlie, Jennifer, Carol and Fred. Tons of beer, meat (excellent!) and burguers (blearght!). Later Gabo and I left for a night walk, it was freezing! He went to a party, and I headed home. Green dreams...
(by Chokito)

terça-feira, 31 de março de 2009

5th of March, "Our" house, San Diego


It's not an easy task to sleep on a inflate bed that just lets the air go away slowly while you're sleeping, but that's ok, it's part of the game... Slow, quiet day, everybody just relaxing. I only went out to buy some things at the supermarket, then came back and spent some hous inside the jacuzzi, just like a rich guy, hehe! Plus, if I could, i'd just live there, immersed in 103'F...
Later, we went to Gage's Warehouse. Amazing place. Very hard to describe. It's a crazy mix of house, bar, cuisine, factory and show-bar. They built their instruments, in fact 90% of everything there, hardware included, is produced by then. We started to set things up to the show, while Cacau went to the kitchen to help Gage and Brenton with the feijoada. at the time of the show, the entrance of the place became just a whole in a very big stitch, cool! The gig was very cool, too much fun. We played The smiths' This Charming Man, everybody singing, awesome! Home, 7-eleven, backgammon and bed.
(by Chokito)

quinta-feira, 12 de março de 2009

4 de Março - Nossa casa, San Diego - 06:30 pm


Uau! Que noite longa... E boa! Damaceno conhece todo mundo. Tipo eu no Rio. Aqui na casa tem uma jacuzzi show de bola!! Pra relaxar a carcaça da nêga! Fui dar um rolé de bike com o Choki , o Damaceno e o pai dele. Fui, fui, fui tanto que me perdi de todo mundo. Greentimes... Hoje à noite a gente toca como banda convidada de um músico local, Israel Maldonado, amigo do Batera, no "The Office" uma boate por aqui. Maneiro... Um rango, umas beers, etc e tal...

4th Mar- Yeah, another show popped up today, we gonna be support band to Israel (Damaceno's friend) Maldonado's band. Bike ride, Damaceno, Sergio and I. after 2 minutes we lost her already. Unbelievable... Gabo and Felipe preferred to stay at home. We printed some band cards, and visited some stores at Garnet St. On our way back the wind was almost moving buildings, damn! By night we went to The Office, North Park. It's quite a modern neighbourhood, more alternative, very different from the beach-style of P.B. The place really surprised us, nice stage, and the sound equipment was very good too. The original plan was a pocket-show, maybe 5 or 6 songs, but Israel gave us a hour and 20 min., so we played a full set. One of the best shows until now! Going home, we stopped at Jack in the Box to kill our green-hungry. Oh, bud, why is San Diego so green...
(by Chokito)

3 de Março - John's house, Nossa casa, San Diego - 08:00 am



Wake up, mfuckers!!! Let's go to the beach! Porra, estamos tirando onda. Eu, Batera e Choki fomos dar um rolézão de bike, tipo quase duas horas pedalando. Lembra o Rio, às vezes Búzios, outras Barra (humm...) mas sempre o Rio, babado forte, falando em babado, inda não vi nenhuma bibinha por aqui, mas é questão de tempo, já já elas se manifestam... Hoje vamos ensaiar muito, fazer uma jam maneira. Tem uma canja amanhã e quinta tem show. Tá pintando um monte de coisas... ah, a cerveja, ou melhor, as cervejas são um capítulo à parte... Stand by.
Pra não perder o hábito, vamos fazer um típico barbecue brasileiro. Muito green no meu vale. Many beers! Conhecemos uma produtora de moda, trampo à vista... Very excited... Xangô é rei! Café Funquê!

P.s.- A Norah, madrasta do Batera, é a nossa Marianne Faithful!!

3rd Mar- Woke-up very early, and went with Damaceno to take her sister to her work. Riding her Mustang! What a car! Coming back, supermarket (lots of vitamin C just to bear the unstopable cold wind), then a huge bike ride with Cacau and him around the bay. Ok, everything here in the United States is very big and/or fat, but fat seagulls are really something... A quick visit to Guitar Center in order to get another Ampeg Ba115. Cool! Later, Gabo, Felipe and I went to Albertson's to buy some meat. Brazilian barbecue. And hundreds of different beers! After our meal, we played a small set, almost acoustic, in our living room to a very special audience: John, Sergio, Madeleine, Nora (Sergio's wife) Shauna and Kara. Then, 7- Eleven, backgammon and sleep!
(by Chokito)

quarta-feira, 11 de março de 2009

2 de Março - Casa do Sergio, pai do batera, San Diego - 01:30 pm



Puta que los pari! Como demorou! Tem um fuso foda por aqui, por um momento achei que tava voltando pro Rio, viagem longa da porra! Ah, só rolou biscoitos e suquinhos, pobreza... FINALMENTE CHEGAMOS EM SAN DIEGO!!!
E chegamos bem. Ficamos uns 40 minutos esperando a Maile, nossa madrinha na área, e o Sergio, pai do Gabriel batera. A Maile rapidinho deixou todo mundo calminho, relax, ai, como era verde o meu vale... num to tintindo nada. Que lugar lindo, praieiro e ensolarado. Muito surf. E cheio de mulher bonita. Tá ficando bom, tá ficando legal!!
Nós vamos ficar hospedados numa casa show de bola, a uns 200 metros da praia, Pacific Beach: a casa pertence a um dos melhores fotógrafos da america, John Durant, que é padrinho da Madalena, irmã do batera. Desculpa...
A rapeize pega umas ondas maneiras por aqui. Tem muito veterano de guerra (Vietnam neles!) doidão da cabeça mesmo por aqui. Cachorros, gatos (ai, que saudades...) Vamu nanar... Foi o dia mais longo da minha vida. acho que do resto da banda tambem... Voltei 3 ou 4 horas no tempo. Me sinto ate mais novinha... Inté!
(by Cacau)

2nd Mar- After hours, we at last arrived in San Diego. Cool! Shining sun, hot weather, yeah! Maile and Sergio, Damaceno's father, came to pick us up. What a green place, if you know what i'm talking about... We're here only for 20 minutes and already lost our minds... We left our stuff at Sergio's garage ( a typical american garage), then Damaceno, Felipe and Robert went to Best Buy, and Sergio, Cacau, Gabo and I went for a walk at Pacific Beach. Cool place, and some good waves too. And a shivering cold wind! Back to Sergio's house ,we moved our stuff to the house where we are going to stay, which belongs to John Durant. He is a well-known photographer, and Madeleine (Damaceno's sister) godfather. Very cool fellow. After we went to Fatburguer, then back home. My nose simply cannot get used to the local humidity, nor my brain cells to the local flora... Bath, backgammon and bed.
(by Chokito)

2 de Março - somewhere between Durham an d Chicago,10.000ft - 10:00 pm


Ok, saímos de Durham ainda nevando. A tripulação, muito doida. Todo mundo simpático e contando piadas pra amenizar as tremidinhas à 2 milhões de metros de altura! Oh God, I want a parachute!! Chegamos em Chicago, terra dos Blues Brothers, rápida conexão, agora estamos à caminho de san Diego. Queremos sol, aqui tem neve pra todo lado!!!!!!!!!!! U-lá-lá. Tô escrevendo uma nova letra. Uma obra-prima como sempre. Tomara que tenha um ranguinho nesse vôo. A gente não aguenta mais biscoito! Pause.
(by Cacau)

2nd Mar- I will not gonna make it. I'm dying...
(by Chokito)

2 de Março - Leaving Durham - 06:30 am


Ai, que sono, que frio, que tudo! Tá uma nevasca in-cri-vel, zente! É tanto branco cintilando igual a escama de peixe... Pensei nos véios! Estamos indo pro airport, no caminho tinha uma porrada de carros derrapados e batidos. É, a neve é bonita mas também perigosa... Chegamos às 07:40 am no aeroporto, faz check-in, passa no detector, tinha duas peças da bateria do Gabriel comigo, vixemary!! Parou a porra toda! Nos sentimos Muhameds. Neguinho fala muito rápido por aqui, não tô tindindo nada. No final, foi só falta de informação e tudo bem, devem estar nos vigiando pelas cameras, rrsrs. Tô bem cinicazinha e sentadinha num cantinho escrevendo pra vocês. Estamos aqui há menos de uma semana, mas já posso escrever um livro, que doideira!! I wanna get high!!!!!!!
(by Cacau)

2nd Mar- I did not sleep at all. Around 06:00 am everybody woke-up, we took our things then shuttle to the airport. What a sight! Everything was covered by snow. On the way, 7 0r 8 car accidents. Yeah, the snow is beautiful but also dangerous... At the airport, an unbelievable cold. And the check-in was OUTSIDE the building, freaky! My breakfast: chickenburguer and Coke, rsrsr. Damaceno had some problems with his baggage, but nothing serious, thanks God. The authorities here are very, very paranoid. You cannot even speak the word "bomb". Damn, you're not allowed to do anything! The flight was ok, we had a connection in Chicago (Blues Brothers' land, Felipe and Gabo just bought Blues Bro. hats for themselves, cool) then we took a plane to San Diego. To me, this was the worst flight ever. My nose was very dry, almost bleeding, the seat was too narrow, and I couldn't get to sleep at all. At least the view from up there was amazing! Pretty beautiful!
(by Chokito)

1 de Março - (ainda na) Casa da Leslie - 11:00pm


Começou a nevar!!! Incrível!!! É neve de verdade!!! Agora são 11:oo pm, nosso vale vai ficar green daqui a pouco... E quanto a vocês, mortais: morram de calor porraí que porraqui vai começar a "Primeira Batalha de Neve Cafunquê"!!! Um bando de malucos que TIVERAM infância se divertindo muuuito com uma coisa tão simples. Agora a gente tem certeza de que não é sonho... estamos mesmo na terra de Obama!!! E Bara quer o quê? Bará qué Brahma, Skol, Bohemia e muito mais!! Agora são 02:30 am. Tardão! Cansamos de jogar bolas de neve uns nos outros (o Gabo se estabacou no chão, foi lindo...e eu tomei uma bola de neve na cara! Chokito também!). Hora de arrumar as nossas tralhas. Vôo pra San Diego (uêeba!!) partindo às 09:00 am. Serão duas horas até Chicago, conexão, e mais 3h ou 4h até a Terra do Surf. A aventura continua e o dindin acabando...
Tá na hora de vender o corpitcho... Numa boa, que frio é esse, zente? Bjs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(by Cacau)

1st of March- We took a ride by car, and composed a song ( just singing, of course) with the names of the places that were passing through, it was very funny, it's a shame we didn't record it. Sears, Wal Mart, Marshall's , Best Buy, then we went to Guitar Center to give the bass amp back, then Mc Donald's. Outside, huh, it was freezing! Got back home, dinner, then me and Gabo were smoking a cigarette outside the house when a snowflake fell over me. God! My first snowflake! So cool! Ok, it was like a single sand grain, but it was amazing! After, the Gabriels and me went to Dereje's home, to make some contacts and maybe a gig when we come back from Texas. The guy is very cool, and we talked a lot about Brasil and his country, Ethiopia, He also has two cool dogs. Going back home, the view was beyond beautiful: snow everywhere! Just like the movies! So you can guesswhat happened next: a huge snowball war, the first of our lives, heeh, very cool! Of course Cacau was the main target, but that didn't save me from receiving a killer one right on my face. Damn! Wet, freezing, but undoubtely happy, we got inside and packed our stuff, 'cause tomorrow we're going to San Diego.
(by Chokito)

1 de Março - Casa da Leslie, 05:00pm



Estamos esperando a neve... Neve mesmo, porra, mas até agora nada
. Coisa engraçada aconteceu ontem: fomos num posto comprar beers. Tina um big negão com palitinho nos dentes:
-Show me your id!
-I don't have...
- Sorry, you have to go out of here!
Hã? What's Up? Eu, Gabo e Felipe tivemos que sair fora, com cara de tacho! Batera e Chokito ficaram. Só porque a gente tocou nas bebidas e não tínhamos id. Funny thing... Lei é lei!!!
(by Cacau)

1st of March- Sunday. The weather forecast said that is going to snow tonight... Pleaaaaase!!!!!!!!!!!

28 de Fevereiro - Casa da Leslie, 10:30pm


Acabamos de chegar em casa. Showzinho bom, bem diferente daquilo que a gente faz. Tocamos até "Trem das onze". Já posso falar que tocamos em churrascaria! A comida tava ótima também. O show de amanhã no Tallula's caiu porque a previsão é de neve por aqui. Um frio da porra e agora isso. Tô ansiosa e já congelando só de pensar. Vamos aproveitar nosso último dia antes de embarcar pra San Diego. Por agora, ai, como era verde o meu vale...
(by Cacau)

28 de Fevereiro - Casa da Leslie


Skindô, skindô! Fizemos um carnaval no suingue do rock e do jeito que a gente gosta, não ficou ninguém parado! Gente do mundo inteiro: Pangaea Party. Foi tudo de bom. Dava pra sentir a energia dos gringos. Muitas gatas... e gatos também. Bom, fuckfuck nem pensar, mas tudo bem, ainda temos uns 40 dias pra pegar alguém nem que seja na porrada. depoius do show, mil fotos, contatos e otras cositas mas... Fomos até uma pizzaria em Durham mesmo. Tudo cheio praka. Pedimos pra viagem e enfim kza, Blue Moon, Stella e... ai, como era verde o meu vale! E a sensação do dever cumprido ninguém tira de nós. Pra falar bem francamente, a gente arrebentou e quebrou as regras da Duke. Café Funquê neles!
Hoje tem um pocket acústico numa churrascaria brasileira. Nosso cachê? Encher o rabo de carne que ninguém tá de bobeira, mané! Em tempo: fomos abordados ontem na Guitar Center por dois brasileiros que ja sabiam do nosso show no Tallula's, pode? Claro que pode, com a gented pode, e quem não pode que se foda!
(by Cacau)

28 Feb- Shopping day. Sears, Macy's, Best Buy, and all these places. Gabo bought himself a tennis, and I was almost kicked out from a wig storejust because I a was trying too many wigs, haha ( the corean kong started to shout, "no more try, no more try", haha, very funny. Motherf#@&^%$!!!! On our way home, we entered a cool comic books store, and I bought Sandman's vol 1, which is completely sold out in Brasil. Cool!!! But the truth is that I never had the time to fully enjoy my comic book, 'cause my motherf@$#$%% band mates just surprised me: they bought to me the Hot Rod Red Fender Jaguar Bass Guitar that I tested two days ago! Amazing, man! Unbelievable! Motherf$%#^%$&^*!!!
By night we had a show at Chamas, a brazilian barbecue restaurant. Damn, it was awesome to eat typical brazilian food, like white rice and beans. Cool! And, of course, the meat was really something. I was still feeling like a pig when we started playing. We played a very soft set, very jazzy. It was very funny,' cause it was very different from what we are used to. A soft Café Funquê. On the way back home, Gabo, Cacau and Felipe tried to buy beer in a 7/11, but they could not because they were without their id's. In the other hand, I was not bothered at all, with my casual and natural american style, heheh!!!
(by Chokito)

27 de fevereiro de 2009 - Casa da Leslie


Hoje é o show na Duke! E vai ser foda! Se bem que foda mesmo foi levantar. Todo mundo cansado e ainda no efeito "lata de sardinha". Não temos muito tempo, então fomos ao guitar center de novo, largamos o Felipe lá e fomos pra Raleigh com o Gabo pra ele comprar um sax ( acabou comprando dois, tenor e soprano!) numa loja que passou a ser o melhor lugar até agora: Marsh's Woodwinds, uma mistura de loja de instrumentos de sopro com antiquário, muito foda! Móveis e objetos antigos, alguns à venda, outros não, pianos e acordeons, vinis, vinis mis de jazz e afins (rimou!), revistas, parecia que estávamosnum túnel do tempo cultural americano. Um privilégio. Talvez a gente toque lá (sim, la tem um palco pra isso) em abril. Eu quero morar lá! Agora temos que partir pra Duke. Ai, como era verde o meu vale... São 9pm e estamos nos preparando pra passar o som. Danou-se!
(by Cacau)

27 Feb- Everybody woke-up still cracked by the "tuna can effect" ( oh, my back!). It's very funny, but it's hard to believe that we're here in the United States, the bell just don't ring, hehe. It seems like we're on a holiday at Penedo (a small city in Rio that is very cold). After lunch we went to Marsh's Woodwinds, a very cool store, so that Gabo could buy a new sax. He actually bought two! After the owner said that Brandford Marsallis usually goes ther to fix his instruments, cool! While Gabo was testing thousands and thousands of saxes ( is that the plural of sax?), me, Cacau and Damaceno, the drummer were up to something completely american, donuts! Yes!!! we got back, picked up Felipe at Guitar Center (he is almost living there...), went home, shower, dinner, packed our stuff, Isaac showed up (he's the responsable for this gig, thanks Isaac!) and so we went to Duke University. we got there and... the stage was not ready yet (brazilian way, ehehh). Dean, the sound operator, was Damaceno lost brother, hehe! Meanwhile, we met another band, Dub Addis, cool guys, specially Dereje, the keyboard player, who is actually from Ethiopia, but lives here in the USA since he was a teenager. The guy had these huge dreads, so maybe he...well, dont bother. Stage ready, we did a small soundcheck, put our stage clothes and started. Dude, this was one of the funniest things that I had ever seen!
There was this dance group formed by some students, and they decided to coreograph one of our songs, "Cucaracha". It was very funny, specially if you consider the lyrics... And, at the same time, it was really cool! What can I say about the show? It was great, we definetly put all those gringos to dance! I remember one spacial moment, there was this old lady, and she had her fingers inside her ears, like, "huh, what da hell is going on?" and then Felipe noticed it and said: "The next song goes to this beautiful lady here", and then we played "Fio da Navalha", an introspective but powerful song, and then the old lady just danced the whole show like ther was no tomorrow...
After the show and all that well-wish thing, me and Felipe just walked around the party, to see the chickas. And there was a bunch of them! There was this indie girl, God! Meanwhile, Gabo was trying his luck with a local girl. It's needless to say that every 5 minutes one of us just walked by to see the development of the situation, hehe! Yeah, we are bad asses sometimes, hehe! Then I had some conversation with the Dub addis crew, just to see if there's a chance of performing a jam. Or maybe something else... Then, home, shower, backgammon and bed!
(by Chokito)

sábado, 28 de fevereiro de 2009

26 de Fevereiro de 2009 - Casa da Leslie, mãe do Gabriel Batera


08-30 - Dormimos bem. Eu acordei antes de todo mundo, claro, não vim aqui pra dormir porra, e sai pra dar uma corridinha pra quebrar o frio. Temos um compromisso na Duke University, que é onde vamos tocar amanhã. Tipo um bate-papo informal sobre cultura musical brasileira. Um luxo!

00:40h - A noite, fomos tocar (primeiro show!) num bar/restaurante turco... "Tallula's"!
Me lembrei de Tallulah Bunkhead, atriz mucho loca americana da década de 20!
Pouquíssimas pessoas, só pra variar, pra constatar que o mundo ;e pqueno demais para brasileiros, econtramos e conhecemos quatro. O Nome da cidade é Chapel Hill, que é o oposto de Durham: vários pubs, bares e restaurantes e várias pessoas enlouquecidas nas ruas. Todo mundo ruim!
Menos a gente... até que.... bom, como era verde meu vale!
Ah, o show foi muito bom! (Alguém duvida?)
E os brazucas locais nos A M A R A M!

P.S: fomos e voltamos os cinco + bateria completa + guitarra + baixo + respectivos amps, fodidos e enlatados como sardinhas dentro de um Honda Civic 91. Rolaram uns peidos (meus, claro!) paramos num beco sem saída com uns 8 carros de polícia em Chapel Hill e na volta ainda erramos o caminho duas vezes! bem rock and roll, foi lindo! As 05 da manhã... Ah, como era verde o meu vale!
(by Cacau)

26 Feb - We woke-up very early (ok, 10:30am is not so early, but, wow, nobody deserves it...) and went to Duke University. It's really very near to "our " home, so we just walked. God, what a sight! Blair's witch definetely lives around here! And she probably do, because there's no one walking on the streets, just a few (2 or 3) runners. Duke University is one of the most important universities of USA, and, because of that, is a very expensive one. The buildings are very beautiful, and the gothic styleis everywhere (what an amazing church!). And lots of brickmade little buildings, so cool. There are a lot of asian students, they seem to be everywhere!
We had a kind of lecture to Magda's students, she works with Leslie (Brazilian Studies, can you believe it?!). And her pupils actually speaks portuguese, which is amazing, hehe.The lecture was very cool, we talked about our band, brazilian culture, about our influences, among other things. After, a very spicy lunch at the Teacher's restaurant. Then, we went to the Guitar Center (another paradise on earth!) and bought a guitar amp ( Fender Blues Jr.) and a bass amp ( an Ampeg B115), so that we can play. I tested the bass amps with a Fender Jaguar Bass, an amazing bass guitar, and with a Fender Precision, which was not that good. Now, a cello for U$ 190 is too much temptation...
03:30am- Do you know those tuna cans? Now picture this: 5 people, a guitar and a bass guitar, bass amp, guitar amp, 1 sax, and a COMPLETE drum set inside of a small car (a 91 Honda Civic), all together. Yeah, it was just like this. Nobody deserves...The show was really cool, it was a turkish restaurant called Tallula's, cool place. There were brazilians there too. another cool thing was buying a Wiston, which I haven't smoked for about 15 years ( don't smoke, children...)
(by Chokito)

25 de Fevereiro de 2009 - no aeroporto de Miami esperando o vôo de conexão


05:30 - enfim, chegamos vivos, e mortos de fome, em Miami. Próximo passo: a PORRA da imigração... agora que eu quero ver...

05:55 - ainda no airport... e não é que eu tenho estrela?! Passei bonita e bem-recebida, zente!
Já o Chokito... apitou tanto o detector de metais que ficamos a pensar ( Gabo e eu, claro!) se o puto não tinha um piercing em "algum lugar escondido"...

11:50 - Depois de 3.000 horas no aeroporto, finalmente estamos chegando na CArolina do Norte. Detlahe: minha trilha musical do Rio até aqui: Chet Baker, Ella, Sarah e outros standards do Jazz.
Tudo pra ajudar a me esquecer do medo que tenho de altura! HELP ME!
Não to acreditando ainda, mas ja sinto saudades da minha família: Wilmão, tia Dina, meu babys, a casa e a galera... vamos ver...

12:30 - Cheguemo, caralho! O lugar é bonito e esquisito, não tem ninguém na rua. Também, um frio do cacete! a Leslie, mãe do Gabi Batera é um amor, ta recebendo a gente super bem, tem até duas gatas lindas que já ajudam a gente a amenizar a saudade de nossos babys...
Comemos (tem comida boa por aqui!) e fomos dar um rolé tipo: ver equipamentos, ver computer, etc. Noite fria. Quase morri, meu nariz caiu em algum lugar...
Voltamos pra casa, graças a Deus, comemos mais e finalmente... cama!

...o primeiro dia já foi.

by Cacau.

25 Feb - After a freaky sleep, we arrived in the United States by 5 am. Miami airport.
Immigration police, everything ok, cool! We met Felipe at the airport, which looks like a bit our own airport, so me and Cacau were wondering if we really are here in the USA or if the pilot fooled us and just came back home, rsrsr. Coffe, cigarette (after walking like hell to find a smoking area), then we took the airplane to Raleigh. Beaten by the sleep, I had to pay the price: those classic embarassing photos ( I hate you, Cacau!).
We arrived at Raleighat 11:30am, then shuttle to Leslie's house. Leslie is our drummer's mother, and she teaches at Duke University, she is the responsable for the Brazilian Studies area. The most part of the houses and buildings are brickmade, which gives the whole town an England aura, it's very cool! Here we are in the end of winter,, so most of the trees are leaveless, completely naked, so it seems that we are in the scenario of "Blair's Witch", which is totally cool! Gabriel, Cacau and Leslie went shopping. Ah, nothing like a hot shower after hours travelling! After our meal (excellent!), we went for a walking, just to see the area. First stop, Sam Ash. "Little "musician store. Thousands of basses, guitars, keyboards... Puta que pariu! After a while, Cacau started to freeze, so we came back home, had dinner and then bed.
(by Chokito)

24 de Fevereiro de 2009 - no avião


22:50 - saimos do Rio terça de carnaval, chovia muito. Ficamos enchendo a cara e quase perdemos o vôo. Só falatavam nós 4. O Felipe foi se cagando sozinho em outro vôo, bem a nossa cara. Tudo tranquilo até demais! Depois de 200 horas ainda estávamos no Pará! Putaquiupará...

by Cacau.

24 Feb - Well, here we are. Cacau sleeps beside me, with her tedddy bear (actually it's a dog, which belongs to her real dog, Negão. You can only imagine the smell of it...), Gabriel is on the next seat writing a lyric or something, while Gabriel the sax player (Gabo from now on) is probably sleeping due either by the amount of food he ate or due to his sleeping pills, hehe. Our guitar player, Felipe, went in another flight, a little bit earlier. Hey, it's unbelievable, Café Funquê going to USA. After a lot of discussion, we decided to face the challenge: a cucaracha band in Uncle Sam's land!
I wish we get there soon. I really don't understand why people just love to travel by plane. Alright, take-off and landingis really very cool, but the rest... You're not allowed to smoke, the food is tasteless (chicken or beef, sir?), and to crown the whole thing, the movie was a shit! The stewardesswere much older than they should be; how can it be, with all the technology, and expensive tickets, and not even a good movie? Damn...
Hours and hours flying, it seems that Brasil never ends...
(by Chokito)