Je suis arrivé au Brésil.

Temperature at 9 o' clock in the morning.


At my uncle's in the middle of São Paulo. Yes, it's true.


Tomorrow, the beach! See you in 2009.

Midterm exams and a little bit more about Bristol

These are the two reasons I haven't been too active around here, besides the two thumb messages below.

On week 5 of the first term of the full time MBA we have the midterm exams. So it is a whole week with exams, accounting on Monday (gone!), marketing and organizational behaviour tomorrow, economics and operations management on Thursday. Lots of things to read and re-read, little time for e-mails and blog.
These exams account for only 20% of the final grades, but are a good way to measure your position in the course and, if you want distinction, every bit of the grade is important, so you do work hard.

But I tried not to get too stressed about all that and even did something which some of my colleagues considered academic suicide: I travelled during the weekend, departing on Friday to Bristol and coming back on Sunday night. Needless to say, my OB book travelled with me, but saw little use, if any.
In Bristol we had the annual convention of the National Harmonica League. I must admit that I love these harmonica gatherings and always have a good time. And this time it wasn't different. It was great to meet new and old friends and to hear great music all around.
There were a couple of things to learn from this experience:

• a scooter is quite handy, but keep your distance from drunken youngsters
• check in at your hostel early, don't leave it until 2:30 a.m.
• having good friends saves you in desperate situations like the one above
• be passionate about what you do and things will happen easily. I had a great time doing the workshops on harmonica maintenance, and got really flattering feedback
• there are good opportunities if you choose to work with the passion of people. I gotta figure out how to keep the harmonica business in my future plans

I will try to post some videos (the hotel lounge and bar full of harmonica players is hilarious!) or pictures soon, but the priority is low due to the exams. I also owe some material on the Spitz! punk blues festival, I know.

But now let's go to sleep. Tomorrow the day starts at 6:30 a.m.
And we have only 2 hours time difference between São Paulo and Coventry.

Glasgow

After over 9 hours of travel by coach I arrived safely in Glasgow yesterday. My friend Donald Black was at the coach station to pick me up and, after an excellent dinner prepared by his charming wife Lorna we met another friend, Donnie, and went to two pubs in Stirling.
Today the three of us went for a drive in country side, which is really beautiful. We had excellent weather and it has been a good day so far.
In the evening we are visiting a pub where people meet to play Scottish music. I am looking forward to it.
And tomorrow I will spend many hours in a coach again, on my way to Coventry. I hope it doesn't rain and that I don't have problems getting from the coach station in Birmingham to the university. The next update I'll post from my residence room.

Thames Festival

070915 01 Thames Festival

The weather was great, lots of people outside, some interesting booths and, at the end, good music. The Thames Festival was my main activity yesterday in the afternoon.

London, first photos

Well, a first note on travelling to London. Those cheap flight to Stanstead are really temping. But take into consideration that you will spend at least an extra 25 pounds (almost €40,00) to get to Central London, between the train, the tube and change comission. The best bet is London City airport.


At Stanstead


The day after, taking a bus trip from Hammersmith Hospital to Piccadilly Circus. Why Piccadilly? Because. It was as good a destination as any other. I chose the bus over the tube so that I could see the sights too, sitting in the top front left spot. This inverted traffic system is really scary.


Then a stop at Apple's store on Regent Street. I liked the stairs a lot. Made of glas. It is interesting, though, to watch how things work there. It has characteristics of a church, school, social center. You really don't go there just to buy things. You can spend hours testing everything, learning from the instructors, watching product presentations and workshops.

From 070912-13 London

Good thing I am not a Mac fan, or I would have come out of the shop a lot poorer. But the new iPod Nano is nice. And I have friends who enjoy this, so I put the photos online.

And later I was walking towards Piccadilly Circus I heard the distinctive sound of live music. And, sure enough, great funk music with tight horn lines was flowing out of a big fancy shop. I got in, spent some minutes, drank a nice glass of berry juice, shot this short video and continued on my way.


More photos here.

An Irish weekend

And it seems that, this time, it will be Irish. First I found the following:

Irish Music Sessions: Community Corner:

The second Friday of the month.

At Hammersmith Irish Cultural Centre, London
From 7:30pm
Price: Free

And then, by chance, I saw that Brendan Power, harmonica extraordinaire, and old acquaintance, will be playing the same venue on Saturday:

Saturday, 15 September 2007
Brendan Power
At Hammersmith Irish Cultural Centre, London
From 8:15pm (Doors 7:30pm)

On Monday I'll probably go to the blues jam at the "Ain't nothin' but..." with two or three harmonicas in the pockets. Let's see.

What I'll be doing on Sunday

It is a pitty, but the Spitz is closing now in September. I've been there on my first trip to London with Nix, a big fan of punk blues and we saw the Urban Vodoo Machine one and a half years ago.
NIX, I'll drink a vodka screwdriver in your name!

Primeiro dia da era pós-Trossingen

Bem, resolvi ir com calma hoje. Dormi um bocado, mas não exageradamente. Acho que ainda precisarei da noite de hoje para me recuperar dos últimos 3 dias de Trossingen.
Um efeito muito positivo que eu não tenho certeza se resultou do estresse da última semana é que eu perdi uns 2 a 3 quilos do meu peso. A barriga voltou a ficar muito mais apresentável e as bochechas acho que estão um pouco menos pronunciadas. Difícil de dizer, pois a barba cheia muda um pouco o rosto.
Depois de organizada a roupa da mala e telefonado com os pais, saí para resolver algumas coisas em Heidelberg, aproveitando as lojas abertas. Na verdade, a única coisa que precisava resolver de verdade era comprar um transformador para o modem que, obviamente, está funcionando neste exato momento. Outras coisas resolvidas foram o passe semanal para Mannheim, uma maleta/mochila para o lap top, adaptadores de tomada para a Inglaterra e Canadá, uma caneta tinteiro com um sistema de recarga muito interessante e comida para a semana.


O almoço foi, como a janta de ontem, num fast food oriental do outro lado da rua do apartamento. Simples mas gostoso e barato. Os pratos pequenos saem por menos de 3 euros e são mais do que suficientes. Amanhã acho que prepararei o brócoli com gorgonzola, veremos.
Agora à noite foi a vez de usar a internet de novo e preparar o calendário para a semana que vem, verificando horários de bondes, ônibus e trens, além de ler uns artigos legais da Businessweek.
Estranhamente, o sono não vem e eu estou pensando seriamente em assistir ao filme do mundo da Amélia, que tanta gente fala que é bom e eu não tenho a mínima idéia do que se trata. Quase que comprei a décima temporada de Friends por 9,50 EUR, mas desisti. Já devo ter visto vários dos episódios e não sou tão fã assim para gastar tanto tempo essa semana. Algo me diz que tempo é algo que não terei.
A foto de hoje eu tirei da última vez que vim à Heidelberg, depois da viagem à Bélgica com o Rômulo.

No trem para Heidelberg: tchau Trossingen!

Mais um capítulo escrito. [esse seria o título original do artigo, mas acho que não se desenvolveu de acordo]

Quero ver se acho um texto que rascunhei sobre a minha estadia em Trossingen. Não está terminado, nem sei se terminarei, mas quero ver se publico aqui. Era para ser um e-mailzão geral como aquele que enviei em final de julho. Mas, quando fui ver, já tinha escrito três páginas em Times New Roman 12 no Word e não tinha nem chegado ainda ao anúncio de que iria sair da firma. Resultado: fiz um outro e-mail mais suscinto às pressas, principalmente voltado para meus amigo gaitistas, a quem talvez a informação do estado da minha relação de trabalho com a Hohner fosse mais importante. Ou não.
De qualquer forma, abri o lap top no trem para contar das peripécias do dia de hoje, que começou ontem às oito e meia da manhã e ainda não terminou. Pois é, pela primeira vez estou me exibindo de computador numa mesinha do ICE só para mim e as minhas bagunças. Mas, pelo que estou vendo, não vou durar muito. Como vocês talvez perceberam na terceira oração desse parágrafo (e meus leitores são todos (os três) muito perspicazes e com certeza perceberam a indireta), varei a noite. E agora, depois de um dia de muita adrenalina, o sono tá voltando. De modo que eu acho que contarei as peripécias uma outra hora, senão isso aqui não vai dar certo. Até. 15:16

Caixas

Aos poucos as caixas vão sendo fechadas. Isso é bom, muito bom. Pena que eu não sou eficiente o suficiente. Mas há de dar tudo certo. E em outra cidade outras caixas estão sendo fechadas. Mas acho que com mais disciplina.


Vou sentir falta dessa jaqueta de couro. Até daqui a um ano!