For you who think you can play drums.

The level of the musicians here is extremely high. This video is a must see , and pay attention around 5 min into the clip. The drum solo is by far one of the best I have ever seen!

Vai Brasil !!!!

Today I was invited to some friends house to see Brasil's first game in the world cup, against North Korea, and I was instructed to wear something yellow, green or blue. So 25 Brasilians and one Norwegian were glued to a big-screen TV . And when they scored the long awaited first goal in the second half, the emotions that were released in the room and all over the neighborhood were overwhelming. Fireworks after one goal says it all. During the game it was official national holiday for 90 minutes. Shops closed, rush hour was moved back from five to two o clock because everyone was going some place to see the game and all buses and metro stopped. I don't think there exists one single person here that does not like football. Vai Brasil !

Another week has passed since I last had time to sit down and write on the blog. But needless to say, here as in the rest of the world, I guess there is only one thing on peoples minds these days , FOOTBALL ! The world cup could might as well have been here judging from the mood in the city. Brasil haven't even played their first game yet, and people are going bananas! Earlier I wrote about the overwhelming differences here, but the one thing that unites these people is when 11 of them go some place, with yellow and green shirts, running after a ball. Every car , every bar , every corner you turn there are flags, horns , hats or any kind of effect that can be used to celebrate ..eh.. a world cup that for them starts tomorrow. God knows how it's going to be here when they are hosting the circus them selves in 2014 !
The last time Brasil hosted the world cup was in 1950. The final was them against Uruguay at Maracana. The newspapers for the next day were already printed, with the front page saying victory for Brasil . They lost ! The following week there was a considerable increase of suicides in in the country because of this, as they called it a tragedy.
Football , a game ? Here it's religion.

Welcome to the Jungle

Well , I mentioned before that there is only 10 % left of the jungle along the Atlantic coast. And it is still a lot.
These pictures are from the park next to my house. Although it's totally an urban jungle I move around in every day, it's great that we now and then can come here and be reminded where we actually are. And judging from the way the people here got asswopped by nature this year, seems like this element can take the power back when ever it wants.

To learn another language

I now find my self in a place where it is not only about learning the technique of playing Brazilian music, but about learning the language. It' s about loosing the accent that makes people hear that you are not from here. And the more you play, and the more you get into it, the harder it is to get a hold of the small details that makes you sound different from the rest. It's enough to play some sixteenth note in stead of others , and it right away sounds like an Americanized samba or bossa.
It's about hearing, speaking, thinking the language every day. It's about not having to pull out the dictionary every once in a while. Will I ever get there... I don't know. I more frequently feel lost than oriented these days, and need to remind my self to listen through a indie or folk album a day just to breathe a little.
Song of the week: Steve Winwood "Can't find my way home" .