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)