29 novembro 2008

sabado

estou lendo a minha querida WELTWOCHE que foi fundada por um tio meu em 1933 a, ao contrário de muitas até hoje não faliu. Este mes ela fez 75 anos e a edição traz muitas reportagens sobre a história, as pessoas que passaram por ela e muito mais. Nada que interesse aqui no Brasil. hehe Na terça tocarei no SESC com a trupe chá de boldo. Que emoção. Vamos tocar na choperia do SESC Pompéia. 

05 novembro 2008

what I'm reading

I got the book "The black Swan" from my mother recently after a journalist in the Weltwoche has written an article in the WELTWOCHE about the books author Nassim Nicholas Taleb see his site here
Basically his theory goes that we are behaving like christmas-goose that get fed during two years. Every day somebody nice comes, gives you good food and shelter. So you make an economic model and say: "hey..in the average every day I get food and feel fine". 
Until.....the 24 of Dezember....
I love the idea. After the recent crash and all the mis-management in the Banking industry his book became quite a bestseller. 
Taleb is Christian Lebanese World citizen and his book is quite entertaining with a mix of history, matematics, statistics real world examples. 
On youtube you have a lot of interviews with him.

25 outubro 2008

The other day

At Sonny Rollins  show at the Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo. Under intense heat and Sun we watched to grandmaster of Jazz swing along. 
With his white beard he looks really cool. Played like hell. Ended his show with a Blues that left everybody standing. 
Afterwards we went home and cooked pasta. It is a nice wonderful summer evening here in São Paulo. 

14 outubro 2008

jokes

Now we are in the times of the "crisis jokes". 
"The crisis is worse than divorce: Half my assets are gone but my wife is still in the house!"
Or Ze Simão, a columnist of the folha de São Paulo came up with:  
a bolsa de valores agora se chama "pochete de valores". 
Here it is, after long, dark cold days very hot. In my car it showed 34C. 

04 outubro 2008

bailout and more

Uffa, what a week. Because of the trouble in the US we have seen the Real going through the roof. From 1,5 it went to 2. Furthermore the US government decided to throw more money at the system liberating their "packet" of short-time measures. 
My opinion is that it will not stick, it is outright wrong. It is even to little. The whole mess built up with the subprime crisis and the derivatives written on these foul loans amount to 62 trillion (Credit-Default Swap market, The Economist, 20. Sept. issue), and we are talking of a "rescue" of 0,8 trillion. 
Well it is a try. However an ill fated. 
Throwing liquidity at the system created the problem in the first place. The fannies where 150 times leveraged because of government guarantees. High commodity prices and "bubbles" all over the place have been the effects of such behaviour. 
Totally unjustified the Brazilian Stock exchange lost some 20% in the last weeks and the US Dollar rose from 1.5 to 2 in a week. This is really not understandable for me. 
Brazil should be THE winner of this situation. No subprimes, no excess liquidity, very strong in commodities. 
My guess is, that in 6 month the R$ will be at 1.2 to the USD and the US and Europe are in for a huge recession unfortunately. 
So much for my 5 cent opinion. 
I am sitting in the garden. Valeria had to work, so we are not traveling to the beach. Here the summer is coming. After very cold an dark days a fine english rain has started and the air is awash with flower scents. Very nice. 
I am reading "Ei professor" by Frank McCourt. The second book after "Angela's Ashes" .
Also read "Kukuckskind" of Ingrid Noll. Read it in a day. Very good. Both of them. 
Lot's of probing with the band because on 9 of September we will play at Teatro Mars in Bixiga, the old italian quarter in São Paulo. 

11 setembro 2008

the burger at av. dr. arnaldo

I Liked the view of the guy eating his hamburger. However the taxi accelerated before I could take a good "hooper" like shot of the famous Burg-Dog Diner at Av. Dr. Arnaldo near Av. Paulista. It is 26C at midnight. Too hot.

09 setembro 2008

fotos from the band

trupe cha de boldo, which would translate into "the vervain tea band" is a band I play in ( as avid readers of my blog must be knowing by now). Well whatever. Recently we have gotten a new photographer in your group who makes astonishing pictures of the band in action. Follow this link to see some.

30 agosto 2008

hung over

oo yeaahh. yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. but yesterday i played with the band in the closing of the são paulo festival de curta metragens . Basically I started this post yesterday but went to sleep before posting it. So now I will do that. I am reading "ei professor" by the author of angela's ashes.

24 agosto 2008

Read, Volley, Live

What I am just reading: A Biographie of Joseph von Eichendorff from Diogenes Verlag. Since it was my preferred writer in school I really loved this book which joins the literature side of this author with his real life. We come to an end with the Olympics. Right now the US are playing against thae Brazilians in the volley men final. Great game. The US are behind in set but leading 19:15 in the second. They have the fastest serve I have ever seen. I hope the brazilians will win.... What else do I read? Somehow it is more dificult to remember which books you are reading than knowing which films you just saw. Angelas Ashes. Great book about a miserable, catholic irish childhood. Now I read his next book, he is Frank McCourt. Very good read. Funny, honest, fast. "They wouldn't have you the steam of their piss". Hehe. Today I read the Economist and there was the expression. ...."this is harder than nailing jelly to the wall" I think I would like to become a buddhist. Being muslim is really no option. I mean what do you want of a religion, which calls all non-muslims "infidels. Christianism I really already know but have no real talent for it. The concept of sin and all that suffering in your life to get to haven is a bit tiring. Howeber buddishm with its calmness seems attractiv right now. First I have to stop smoking. You cannot do ashtanga vinhasa yoga in a convincing way AND smoke. Then eliminate meat of my diet. It is 2:1 in sets for the US and 15:15 in a great and very beautiful game.

21 abril 2008

food crisis

I mean.... the world IS really crazy. Who would have thought, that we have to hear about food crisis again. All of a sudden the price of rice rises 160% in a year and other staple foods follow. Things like this leave me really worried. Nobody understands what really is going on. After food..what's next... a nuclear war about an island in the nortic circle between Russia and.....USA or England... nobody knows. 
I think I'm just a bit drunk. I just ate four cloves of garlic, drank half a bottle of red wine and ate some delicious black chocolate of sprüngli...so far no food crisis here. That's about my 5 cents to world opinion. 
Brasil just found the largest non OPEC oil reserves. I am sure, that this is BAD news for the country. 

13 abril 2008

cut my hair

I just cut my hair. To be exact Julia cut my hair sitting on a chair in our garage. It feels great..looks ±. but...here it is 
"function before form".
Lazy sunday. Yesterday we played at Remi and Mari's wedding. A little house with garden in the vila madalena. some 200 guests, nearly everybody musician. great sound. Salsa, Ru
mba, Samba, Rock, everything. We played as the last band after a lot of real good ones and the people really liked it, although our sound is really much more simple than theirs. 

The other day at the new auditorio ibirapuera

Ontem fomos no show dos nossos amigos Luiz Bueno e Fernando que formam a dupla DUOFEL que e se apresentou no auditório ibirapuera 
The building conceived by Niemeyer in the 40ties has been constructed only recently with help from TIM and probably other sponsors. The result is sublime. Never have I been fascinated SO much by great architecture. And... much to the contrary of other Niemeyer projects it is even a good concerto hal and useable. Where form meets function. Normally Niemeyer is only form. Museums without walls to hang pictures, cities without walkway for citizens, houses to big to live in, public offices without offices, but everthing veeeery beautiful. 

07 abril 2008

At the

lawyer's office. the other day I was in the office of a first class lawyer in São Paulo. 10th floor, next to the marginal.

24 março 2008

Você lava...do you wash

your panties juntos com as meias...together with your socks????
Você lava Calcinha/cueca junto com meia?
Sim, não me importo
Claro que não!! que nojo
Pensando bem..acho..nem lavo calcinha/cueca
Minha esposa lava nem sei como...
Votar
resultado parcial...

Snow

I just read it. "Snow" by Orhan Pamuk. A very well written book about a turkish refugee, who visits his homecountry after twelve years in exile in germany. In one night he visits a remote little village, where in thick snow a dense story of love, fundamentalism, murder and politics unravels.

03 janeiro 2008

Recently Read Martin Suter, Der perfekte Freund Super Suspense, geschrieben wie von einem englischen Kurzgeschichten Kõnner.  Dann noch  Pierre Closterman, O grande Circo WWII Ace mit seinen Memoiren. Fantastisch für die welche Flugstories gerne haben.