Tons of guests, like Frank Jorge, Grazi, Maureen and Bel, plus a nifty backward vocal by Marion. Just like on the cd. Hip version of Amor with Serginho. I missed the end of the show, as always, to get some beauty sleep.
(I'll have to find out if the band is using backing tracks. Didn't see any headphones anywhere...)
New web site on the way... design queen meltoni and I had a work meeting at tortaria last night, and she apparently didn't like my horizontal-page idea. :(
It should be simpler, more objective and less "pro," a direction I've been leaning towards for about two years. Noticeable?
It was when I tried to cancel that things started to click.
I am now the happy user of an adsl connection. The guy from Pampa, the local company in charge of installation for BrasilTelecom, came over. The whole problem was solved in 20 minutes. And I didn't have to say a word to be told that BT phone support sucked.
It appears no order for a tech had been sent until yesterday.
Now, if they'd only solved this for me on the first day of trouble, I would be a happy, grateful customer.
They are the Absolute Worst Internet Provider I have ever done business with.
The name is Brasil Telecom. Not only are they the most disorganized company on the planet, but they basically tell you they are not interested in helping you.
I´m very frustrated. They have been telling me they would solve some connection issues at my home, promising on-location support since MONDAY. Five days of daily promises, and yesterday the phone-tech tells me there´s "nothing I can do about it." That they´ll fix it when they get around to it.
Welcome to Brazil´s largest phone company and their ridiculous customer service.
I should have known too. Believe it or not, I went through this same experience last year when I switched to Brasil Telecom from their rival, Net (on cable). Because of a brief memory lapse, I am now in hell.
If you´re in Porto Alegre, GET NET. They´re not too great with support as well, but nothing compares to what I´m going through now.
The weather could be colder, but I´m happy enough with 9 degrees (celsius).
On my flight into Poa, we stopped in Florianopolis. Here´s a snapshot of the beach city from my window. Come the summer, I´ll be spending some time there.
And pic two is Poa from above. As always, I get the lucky side of the plane with the nice view.
Officialy, I´ll only have my ADSL up next Friday. Until then I´m taking advantage of the fact that there are a zillion new Internet cafes in town. Soon I´ll figure some way to post pics.
Major overhaul of the apartment.
Missed the show last night, but I needed the sleep. 12 hours of it.
Heading out for my churrasco right now. And had a "fake cinnabon" (as Carmela puts it) at a McCafe. Better than no cinnabon.
My newest toy: An external USB2 storage device based around a 2.5 laptop HD. It's very, very slim, like an iPod or a Zen. It's powered via USB. And although it's not exactly an ultra fast drive, it's excellent for simple backups, and it'll even run some tracks with Logic.
Hilarious review of viralata. I had seen it some time ago, but I just came across it again today. Enjoy!
There’s a fine divide between just clever enough and too smart for your own good. In rock, it’s far too easy to take yourself too seriously. For some artists, resisting an opportunity to look clever can be tough.
Well, as always, Mr. Mark Oliver Everett (or “E”) doesn’t disappoint. He’s once again taking his own lack of seriousness way too seriously.
I’m sure there are people who will find Shootenanny to be downright annoying. With chorus punch-lines like “We’ll blow off our heads in despair” (“Fashion Awards”), E achieves Groucho Marx subtlety. And of course, some people can’t stand E’s voice anymore.
But I do like the Eels. I even like this album. And just when you thought I hated their guts.
The songs cover topics ranging from personal to social, from ballads laden with pedal steel to poppy, jingly rock morsels. E can’t seem to sing about happy things, which is a sign that he knows what he’s doing. The lyrics, which are somewhat bland (and occasionally mindless), are mostly mumbled throughout the album. Very cool indeed. Even if his humor can get childish from time to time.
I’m not surprised that this album is self produced. He uses little gimmicks liberally, yet still keeps things very organic. And although song structure can get repetitive, he throws in enough new ideas to keep things fresh. Like, I really enjoyed the simple arrangement of “Love of the Loveless,” which uses electronic drums very nicely.
Two interesting festivals are taking place in Toronto this weekend. The Mabuhay event, at City Hall, should be an interesting celebration of Fillipino culture, alhtough I'm not very sure how many days that could fill.
Also, the Taste of the Danforth offers tons of food (mostly Greek), some concerts and a fashion show.
Now it's on was the climax of the night. People roared when it started. "This is my favorite one," came from the guy standing next to me. The song was excellent, but I had been satisfied long before by The Group Who Couldn't Say.
Grandaddy was great on stage, and the crowd, trucker caps and all, were jumping and waving their hands.
What I really enjoyed was how the band used projected video, which was loosely synched to their music. There was apparently no click track. No additional prerecorded music. The video guy was responsible for what was on the screen.
Montreal was a low point during last year's winter trip to the province of Quebec. Yes, there were some interesting things to see. But today, not bound by the rules of a tour company, I had some real fun.
It turns out Montreal, which had not been a part of our original travel plan, was the nicest destination of all. And that’s counting our so-so hotel (lacking the essential internet access), the crazy arrival late Monday evening and the rainy, hot weather.
A lot of the European charm of QC can also be found in the old part of Montreal, but here, the architecture seems integrated into a thriving city. In QC the structures were beautiful, but very touristy. Sorta reminded me of the Epcot World Showcase.
After walking around a bit (200 pics) I visited the Notre Dame Cathedral. Last year the rule was No Flash. This year, it’s “pay 3 bucks and do whatever you want.” That was followed by lunch at Jardin Nelson to the sounds of cello and violin. My comment about crepes? Perhaps a bit premature…
The highlight of the entire trip was during the afternoon. Our visit to St. Josephs Oratory starts out innocently enough… it’s a stunning church high on Mont-Royal. But once I reach the Basilica (not a short walk, mind you) I start hearing… an Organ. And it’s not a little Hammond either. It’s a pipe organ in a room with 60 meters of ceiling height.
A concert by Philippe Belanger was taking place and the chamber was nearly empty. Maybe half a dozen people. It was amazing.
No, I didn’t see dozens of whales. In fact, I only saw two because by the time they were going crazy with the sightings, I was happily resting inside the ship.
Whale-sighting protocol requires that the guide start desperately screaming a direction, like “6 O’CLOCK, 6 O’CLOCK,” to indicate the whale’s position. Then everyone runs to that side of the vessel to see the whale. First time I heard this, I thought, “ok, I’ll do like the natives.” I start running down a metal staircase on the soaked ship and, of course, I trip. No legs broken, only bruised pride.
Anyway, we stopped briefly in Tadoussac, which looked quaint. And we traversed the Fjord Saguenay, which was pretty cool. Ahh, I almost feel like a francophone with all these pronunciations that require me to pucker up. The brochure tells me I’ve just “experience urbaine ou nature des plus enrichessants...” Magnifique!
Ok, ok, I’ll play nice.
But the trip WAS great. Far better than I could have expected. And, admittedly, I didn’t expect much from this northern outing. The Fjord was impressive, the countryside gave me a whole new view of Canada, and I had a Tortiere (meat pie, or, back in POA, a pastelao) which was not bad.
The ship itself was very nice. I’m not sure if I should call it a boat or a ship, so I’ll stick with making a good impression. Ship. It was obviously designed for tourists, with three levels of decks and a bar. And to celebrate the liberal alcohol laws of Quebec, I had a glass of wine.
Adventure Option B would have been to take the same tour in a Zodiak, which in case you don’t know, is an inflatable raft holding about twenty people. Elaborating, the Zodiak tour gets you: three hours on the river, in the rain (I didn’t say?), in the cold (about 10 degrees) and without a washroom. In fact, you have to remain seated at all times. I’ll take comfort for $5 less please.
I’m sitting in the minivan right now on the road to Montreal, where I’ll spend the last leg of my incredible journey. To the sound of Metrics, eating a sub, drinking water with a French label. Le Montclair, Ozonisee!
My epic dinner tale in QC had a happy ending. We took a carriage tour guide's advice and went to the chique Charbon (that's “coal” in French, knucklehead). I had a steak with caramelized vegetables. Nifty.
Carmela is absolutely right: bloggers unite (!) and support the coolest publishing tool on the net, Typepad. I found it to be a great service, well worth what they're charging. I need my 300mb storage as well (lots of audio files), but if it weren't for that...
QC is turning out to be much nicer than I'd hoped. I had this idea that the cool part of the city would be limited to a few streets, since there was very little to see during my winter visit last year. Well, QC has alot to see, and I'm sure I won't be exploring a significant part of it during this visit.
Lot's of walking! And about 150 pictures per day...
By now you already know that I love this city. However, my culinary experiences here have caused the development of a few thoughts.
After having what could be considered "good" crepes, I've come to the conclusion that they're no more than deflated pancakes.
Next time you're here stay away from (yes, I'm naming them) "Les Voutes Saint-Louis." 10 on the Tourist Trap Meter.
La Place du Spaghetti. If you're last option is to have a snack at the Italian joint, something's wrong.
Last chance is tonight. We're heading out to get the best Tortiere in QC. Let's see...
The only time I had been to Quebec was on a tourist excursion last year, during my first visit to Canada. It was in March, and the weather was absolutely brutal. A major-looking snowstorm that wouldn’t lift made the city especially difficult to explore.
I decided I’d return in the summer, on my own schedule.
First let me say that traveling in a minivan makes the trip alot more fun. Apart from being able to stretch out in any direction, there are 12 cup holders, tons of interesting compartments and adjustable air conditioning for every passenger.
All of this came in handy during my extra long nap on the road.
The first sign of French-only speaking natives was in Montreal, where just about everything except for McDonalds and Future Shop has a new name. I was trying to match-up logos to their strange, accented titles. But, no, we didn’t actually stop in Montreal.
On the road to QC (short for Quebec City, ok?), we stopped at a little gas station off the highway. Everything in French! And they were all speaking French as well! In fact, on the way out, I held the door for a guy who responded, ”Merci.” I stood there in disbelief as I realized that this is the Lost Civilization, forgotten by the surrounding nations in the Lands That Speak English.
So, getting back to my journey…
We arrive in QC, and start looking for a place to stay. As we drive around the old part of town, I am blown away by how beautiful it is. It’s MUCH nicer in the summer. And there’s like, a trillion people in the streets. Very exciting.
But there aren’t any hotel rooms!
Finally, after about two hours searching for a place, we come across Hotel Le Cofortel. Yes, they have a room with - surprise - broadband access. And so here I am. Day one of the QC adventure.
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