Everybody Cut!

My job has always been a giggle- even if there are times when I wonder if it's helping me to descend gradually into insanity. To be honest, I don't think anyone needs a job to do that - if you just relax and let it all wash over you, insanity will surely come.

So, I spend my working day teaching music. I work with bi lingual musical legends and between us we steer bi lingual children through a sea of crochets and quavers, and for the most part we get away with it.

So, as we fast approach our summery Christmas, the heat is on on in every which way. It is, after all, the most musical time of the year.

The older students are performing the musical Footloose. And the band of local musicians we have hired are superb. I get the pleasure of trying to tell them how it all works and they are doing their best to make sense of my shocking Portuguese. I can't believe it's actually working out.

I'm actually having the time of my life - reckon they should have hired Brazilians for the original. It would have been a right laugh.

So here it nearly is - Footloose, a carol service, a couple of gigs, and then we can call it a year.

Marvellous.

Location:R. Macedo Sobrinho,Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

MOO!

So, there's cows everywhere. Let's try and get someone posing in front of each one. Even as I write, I'm trying to devise a booze-related cow crawl - something along the lines of 'how many cows can you have a booze with in an afternoon?' - but in the meantime, here's our little fella with the local cow. Gotta love all this bovine potential for beery chaos. Watch this space.

Holiday Wednesday

Back in the UK, random days off usually happen on a Monday. No Idea why - here they happen on whichever day has been bagged by the occasion deemed worthy of allowing the nation to do as it pleases for 24 hours.

So, it was bank holiday Wednesday today, and I've had a mini weekender all in 24 hours. Last night (Tuesday, but effectively Friday)  I hit the glorious Pavão Azul  in Copacabana, and behaved precisely like it was Friday night. I was, after all celebrating having made it through 37 years relatively unscathed.

Chicken, feijao and beer.

This morning (Wednesday) was effectively Saturday, so me an the little rascal watched kids TV and then headed out for an early lunch (which was effectively Saturday night) - we had Galeto and he demolished an unholy amount of feijao. Good news, 'cause he spent the next 2 hours (effectively Sunday lunchtime) spark out in the buggy, and I whiled away the time at one of my prefered kiosks watching the world go by. Many of the 'world' were, incidentally, a thousand or so pissed up students on their 'Dawn of the Dead' style zombie march. Quite entertaining.

The Brama kiosk, just near Barraca 86 - Barraca de Fatima

The he woke up, and I spent Sunday afternoon in the park with Jed (see what I did there?). And then our early evening scran was at the old favourite on Belford Roxo - Pizza and a bottle of Original to boot.

And no Sunday on a Wednesday is complete without chasing after your child while he tries to drive...

Now its Sunday night and I'm snoozy to say the least. And its Thursday tomorrow. Only 2 days till next weekend. Get in!