Tuesday, March 03, 2009
The Band! Musa do Forro continues to Evolve!
Hi there!
Back again FAST!!!
Some things that might be interesting to read.
First of all, Thieny found an academia just up the street from the one she goes to now that charges only R$20 a MONTH! Her current place charges R$140!!! And the new one has a pool!
Also, the Vila Uniao Clube, which is a venue for bands has offered to let us rent the space..per night...for R$2000. Since Thieny has a "promoters" license, we could hire another couple of bands...either Forro or swingerao ( a faster style, mostly for dancing, not listening) and take home the difference.
We are not really interested because of the amount of work invbolved in guaranteeing that everything will fall into place and if it doesn't, then not making any money on the deal. There would be nothing in the deal that would guarantee we could find good bands willing to play for not much money. WE could play for that amount, but not all bands could.
Anyway, that's just one thing.
Our "Patrocina" (sponsor) Leide's mother passed away last Friday. We took Leide some flowers yesterday.
We were also in the studio for several hours yesterday and welcomed a new drummer who has previously played with another Forro band called Zanzibar, which has been around for a long time. He wants to stick with us and we are glad to have an experienced drummer, even though he's only 19! Almost everyone in the band is young, ranging from 19 to 25. We are replacing our keyboard player, the oldest member, because he has constantly tried to go against what we and the other members want. He nixed plans to play a couple of gigs that would have made money for us as owners and the band musicians.
We have another couple of weeks to finish polishing up our repertoire and train our dancers before another meeting with Leide about our future.
More later...
Back again FAST!!!
Some things that might be interesting to read.
First of all, Thieny found an academia just up the street from the one she goes to now that charges only R$20 a MONTH! Her current place charges R$140!!! And the new one has a pool!
Also, the Vila Uniao Clube, which is a venue for bands has offered to let us rent the space..per night...for R$2000. Since Thieny has a "promoters" license, we could hire another couple of bands...either Forro or swingerao ( a faster style, mostly for dancing, not listening) and take home the difference.
We are not really interested because of the amount of work invbolved in guaranteeing that everything will fall into place and if it doesn't, then not making any money on the deal. There would be nothing in the deal that would guarantee we could find good bands willing to play for not much money. WE could play for that amount, but not all bands could.
Anyway, that's just one thing.
Our "Patrocina" (sponsor) Leide's mother passed away last Friday. We took Leide some flowers yesterday.
We were also in the studio for several hours yesterday and welcomed a new drummer who has previously played with another Forro band called Zanzibar, which has been around for a long time. He wants to stick with us and we are glad to have an experienced drummer, even though he's only 19! Almost everyone in the band is young, ranging from 19 to 25. We are replacing our keyboard player, the oldest member, because he has constantly tried to go against what we and the other members want. He nixed plans to play a couple of gigs that would have made money for us as owners and the band musicians.
We have another couple of weeks to finish polishing up our repertoire and train our dancers before another meeting with Leide about our future.
More later...
Monday, March 02, 2009
Rain!
Carnaval was WET! It rained in Fortaleza, and up and down the whole coast, for two days straight! The first and last day were reasonably sunny but the rest...ugh! Not a pretty picture.
Needless to say we are in the midst of the rainy season, which generally begins in January and lasts until late May or June, although these parameters can vary.
Here I am sitting at the beach bar right in front of the condo development where we stayed with friends of Thieny's, Mike and Regine.
The rental situation here continues to be pretty tight as far as I can determine so anyone who wishes to find some space in the good areas had better think about making arrangements early. As you know, Fortaleza Adventure was set up to help with these arrangements, in particular for people making their first visit to our city.
One thing I noticed recently has actually happened over time but is still interesting for visitors. When I arrived five years ago, it was difficult, if not impossible to use an international credit card at, for instance, some of the bigger stores in Centro.
Over the Carnaval period, I used my international debit/credit card at a small supermarket in a beach community near Cumbuco called Tabuba, and it works in almost any location now. This makes it much easier to go places and not take a lot of cash.
Many places also have the wireless appliances which are used to swipe the card, particularly gas stations and restaurants.
I don't necessarily recommend using your credit or debit card just anywhere. I have had my card "cloned" more than once, so best to use an actual bank ATM (I use one of the two "international" terminals at the main Banco do Brasil branch in Aldeoda) in their lobby or if you do use a card at a gas station or restaurant, that you get to know the place first.
More later...
Needless to say we are in the midst of the rainy season, which generally begins in January and lasts until late May or June, although these parameters can vary.
Here I am sitting at the beach bar right in front of the condo development where we stayed with friends of Thieny's, Mike and Regine.
The rental situation here continues to be pretty tight as far as I can determine so anyone who wishes to find some space in the good areas had better think about making arrangements early. As you know, Fortaleza Adventure was set up to help with these arrangements, in particular for people making their first visit to our city.
One thing I noticed recently has actually happened over time but is still interesting for visitors. When I arrived five years ago, it was difficult, if not impossible to use an international credit card at, for instance, some of the bigger stores in Centro.
Over the Carnaval period, I used my international debit/credit card at a small supermarket in a beach community near Cumbuco called Tabuba, and it works in almost any location now. This makes it much easier to go places and not take a lot of cash.
Many places also have the wireless appliances which are used to swipe the card, particularly gas stations and restaurants.
I don't necessarily recommend using your credit or debit card just anywhere. I have had my card "cloned" more than once, so best to use an actual bank ATM (I use one of the two "international" terminals at the main Banco do Brasil branch in Aldeoda) in their lobby or if you do use a card at a gas station or restaurant, that you get to know the place first.
More later...
