Daily Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Looking for something to do in Rio tonight? Live English Music perhaps?

Children's Dance Classes in English in Rio de Janeiro

My friend Nora is starting a dance class for 3-6 year olds :) I would enroll the Canadoca but she doesn't fall into the age group. Sounds like fun!

Rock in Rio 2011

I've driven by the giant guitars in Gavea & Copa but hadn't really looked into what Rock in Rio entails until this weekend. Turns out it's from September 23rd until October 2nd and will feature the following bands (announced thus far): 

September 24: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snow Patrol, Capital Inicial, NX Zero, Stone Sour.

September 25: Metallica, Slipknot, Motorhead, Coheed and Cambria, Sepultura, Angra.

October 1: Coldplay, Skank.

 

For more info: Rock in Rio site

Brazilian Christmas Gift Idea for the Kids

The Canadoca has a CD of music in English that incorporates her name into each song, for example:

"Little Canadoca had a farm, EIEIO"

or

"Oh how I want to go to Canadoca's house..."

or

"If you're Canadoca and you know it, clap your hands!"

You get the idea.

Turns out there's a Portuguese version too, of course. I can't stress enough how much Portuguese I've picked up from the Canadoca watching a bit of Xuxa every now and again. (By the way, Xuxa is the blonde grinning kids Brazilian pop star. The Canadoca loves her.) Portuguese teachers always told me to watch children's television to learn more Portuguese wbut before now I really couldn't handle it - I didn't really even like kids' tv when I was a kid, rather I would try to sneak to watch episodes of Another World with my parents ;)

Back to the topic at hand: what a cute gift, a personalized CD for the little Brasileiro or Brasileira in your life.  The site they provided on the card doesn't seem to be working but here is some contact info if you are interested: 

Leite Musica & Cia
2226-7289
or email [email protected]

in case the site works for you: www.leitemusicaecia.com.br

 

Upcoming Concerts in Rio

Gringoes might be interested in seeing Amy Winehouse on Jan 11th or Iron Maiden on March 27th. Both at HSBC Arena in Barra.

Ervilhas com olhos preto

Last night Mr. DRL, some friends and I went to see the Black Eyed Peas here in Rio. It was exceptionally good. Rained a bit, but it almost made it better for some reason...

I've always known that the Black Eyed Peas loved Rio but will.i.am especially won over the crowd when he declared his intentions to buy a house in Rio next year and live here (in response, Mr. DRL yelled: "Buddy, you can't afford it! True in most cases, but I think will.i.am can likely swing it. )

The guy does love Brazil. He cheered for Brazil in the world cup, and says Jorge Ben Jor is his favorite artist of all time, and last night JBJ performed with the Black Eyed Peas on stage, which was fantastic.

Some recent Brazil related will.i.am tweets:

- I'm hungry I want fejuada... :) brasil is my favorite place on the planet...

- Wow...jorge ben jor performed with us on stage in rio :) "wow" another dream came true :)

Say hi to Jon for me...

Bon Jovi is in Rio tonight. I am not. I've been gone all week, but I bet you couldn't tell!  I had no idea that he was coming to Rio until after we'd booked our little getaway. When I heard, Mr. DRL was with me and immediately started laughing at what I assume must have been a look of devastation on my face. He asked if I would have changed our vacation plans if only I'd known. Well, not exactly, but... we were pretty flexible on which week to go away... yes I am an 80's girl at heart.

Anyone going?

I have seen him before but if I found out that he played "keep the faith" while in Rio, I just might cry....

Upcoming Concerts in Rio

Just bought tickets to a couple of upcoming concerts in Rio de Janeiro... you'll never guess which ones! Here is a bit of a listing of what is coming up. ~ By the way ~ as an aside, I gave/repeated BAD information recently - Lady Gaga is NOT in fact scheduled to come here in November. This is not the first time that it was falsely reported that she was coming here - some sick freak likes to play with our emotions! I apologize if I got you all excited for nothing. 

September 25 - Chicago + America

October 8 - Dave Matthews Band

October 15 - Greenday

October 24 - Black Eyed Peas

Tickets for all can be purchased on the LivePass  or HSBC websites.

 

 

 

Hip Hip Hooray it's my Birthday

No, really, it is. And in celebration of my birthday, if you have a kid, or know a kid, you should buy that kid some cute and really, I promise, not-annoying-at-all kids music, to support a good cause. I have mentioned the Pacing the Panic Room blog and the amazing pregnancy photography series that the author did for his wife and subsequently for others as well. Now I mostly stalk that blog to see photos of their gorgeous kids - baby Tessa and who is a little younger than the Canadoca, and stepson "LB". The author's stepson lives with Smith Magenis syndrome, and the album I referred to above is a charity album to raise money to benefit its research. Hooray it's my birthday just happens to be my favorite track (I also really like Always A Blue Sky). The potty song is always good for a laugh too. 

Click here for "Do Fun Stuff"

Woman On Top

I watched this film in the fall and have been meaning to blog about it but it hadn't happened until now. I download a lot of my entertainment from iTunes, and this was the case for Woman On Top as well. The synopsis of the movie said nothing about Brazil (I checked after), rather, the fact that the woman in the film moves to San Francisco was what interested me. As the opening credits rolled and the film began with "Once upon a time in the land of Bossa Nova" complete with Portuguese stone streets, I had to laugh. Sometimes you just can't escape Brazil.

It's a cute movie - kinda lost my interest towards the end - but worth checking out. Penelope Cruz is very cute (though not exactly Brazilian).

The soundtrack was definitely one of the film's highlights:

Peace and Quiet in the Club

I never seem to run out of material for this blog. I literally have lists all over my house of ideas of posts I have yet to write... but this one jumped the queue to to speak as I HAD to share this immediately.

There's a new club in Ipanema called Shh! Club Silencio, which, just as it sounds, is a silent club. Where everyone wears headphones and listens to and dances to the music of their choice... here are the "step by step instructions" from the web site:

Each person receives a wireless headphone at the entance to the club

1. -3 DJs play simultaniously transmitting to the headphones their respective sets, of which will be different genres: one electronic; one rock/pop; and one for the chill-out...

-The party-goers can alternate beween each channel by way of a switch on their headphone, which basically means that you decide what music to listen to. The club remains the same with lights, drinks, and, of course, dancing...

Anyone been? Any thoughts? I found this concept to be unique to say the least.

Lots to do...

My to do list is long these days, as is the list of things to do in and around Rio this weekend. Two high profile picks:

• Oi Fashion Rocks Rio. The event features a performance by Mariah Carey, and a show by Calvin Klein, who apparently spends a lot of time here in RIo. At the Jockey Club.
• If you want to then escape the city, the Buzios food festival is on this weekend as well. So many great spots in Buzios to eat, so this is sure to be stellar.

Jazz Fest

Looking for something to do in Rio this weekend?

Itaipava Premium Leblon Jazz Festival

Marcelo Camelo, Mallu Magalhães, George Israel, Victor Biglione and 4 more
www.leblonjazzfestival.com.br
Saturday 25 July 2009
Rua Dias Ferreira - Leblon
Rio de Janeiro
Brazil
2ª Edição do Itaipava Premium Leblon Jazz Festival

Move over, MC Gringo...

... there's a new kid in town!

Don Blanquito emailed me awhile back, hoping I'd post about him, no doubt.  He claims to be the first American in Brazil's Portuguese funk scene. Here is his myspace page, and a link to his latest video. What do you think - does he give MC Gringo a run for his money?

I think I need to start listening to more Diana Krall

For many reasons.
Like me, she originates from Vancouver Island - she even wrote a song about the Malahat highway. Now, she's singing about Brazil.  (Quiet Nights is her new album, it came out in March, and it's Brazilian-inspired, even featuring a version of "The Boy from Ipanema").  She loves the Bossa Nova genre and so here is her interpretation.

Three guesses

as to where I was last night. Just a hint... when I left, I was confused if I was feeling lost in love, all out of love or if I was making love out of nothing at all...

Night Out - Elton John. Part 1: The Concert

One of my girlfriends & I had been talking about going to Elton John but hadn't quite gotten our act together in terms of getting tickets. Yesterday we decided we still wanted to go and would head down and see what the scalpers could offer us. This was a great way to see the show - we ended up with tix that were worth R$550 for R$250.  We were on the floor and had an awesome view of both Elton and James Blunt, who opened for him.

On the way in several people warned us about getting robbed so I was a bit nervous....getting scalped tix was a bit sketchy as this cop came up to us as we were walking with one scalper and asked us if we had tickets and if we were buying them from the guy, I said we didn't have tickets but that the guy hadn't offered us tickets (which he had but I didn't want to make any trouble... not sure what the laws are on reselling tix here...) we ended up buying them from someone else.  Oh and the washrooms in the Sambódromo are nothing short of terrifying... but other than that it was a great venue.

I enjoyed James Blunt a LOT, much more than I expected to. I will have to buy some of the songs I heard last night from iTunes later.

 Elton was fantastic as always, funniest thing was I think he was wearing the same outfit he wore when I saw him in Calgary last year and may have even done the same set. My viewpoint was much better from where we were here, and it's always magical to watch a concert from under the stars. It even rained very briefly (which was a bit of a relief from the heat!) I just felt really lucky to be there.

Elton John played for over two hours. He is such an amazing entertainer and I really enjoy the members of his band as well, especially the drummer who is an original member of the band and the blond guitar player who is probably pushing 70 but is still just too cool for words and even almost hot.

Here is the list of what Elton sang last night:
"Funeral for a friend / Love lies bleeding"
"The bitch is back"
"Madman across the water"
"Tiny dancer"
"Levon"
"Believe"
"Take me to the pilot"
"Goodbye yellow brick road"
"Daniel"
"Rocket man"
"Honky cat"
"Sacrifice"
"Dont let the sun go down on me"
"I guess that’s why they call it the blues"
"Sorry seems to be the hardest word"
"Candle in the wind"
"Bennie and the jets"
"Sad songs (say so much)"
"Philadelphia freedom"
"I’m still standing"
"Crocodile rock"
"Saturday night is alright for fighting"

After the curtain call:
"Skyline pigeon"
"Your song"

I hadn't heard "Skyline pigeon" before but the Brazilians sure had.

Yay!
After the concert my night took a bit of a turn for the worse but I'll put that in a separate post...

The DRL Christmas Music Guide

Am I the only one whose favorite Christmas music consists of whatever my parents played most as a kid? Which consisted of whatever tapes Auntie Janet copied for mom and dad, and whatever records we had?

Last night, I realized that it is Christmas in one week. Seriously, I've been oblivious. I was at the mall last weekend and was like, wow, the mall is sure busy, I wonder why...?  Hello! You'd think the English Christmas Music they play in the malls constantly, and over the top decorations would remind me but apparently not... still doesn't feel like Christmas!

Being that we did minimal Christmas shopping this year (my husband and I are not exchanging gifts, my immediate family is not exchanging gifts as we are going away together for Christmas, plus we cut back significantly with my husband's family as well, and most of their shopping consisted of "Oh I'll buy that from your baby wish list!" My sister handled our buying for my dad & stepmom, yeah I've hardly shopped at all!), and we are in a tropical climate while back home they are getting beaten with snow (anyone hear that it is snowing in California and in VEGAS? Unreal. Wonder how many de-icers they have in the Las Vegas airport. According to my husband who was stuck in Houston in a snowstorm last week, Houston has ONE, and is a major hub. So I doubt it looks good for Vegas... They are also calling for a white Christmas all across Canada, and despite the fact that a lot of people think that we live in igloos and it's nothing but snow year-round up there, I assure you that a Canada-wide white Christmas has not happened in a long long time. Calgary generally doesn't even get a white Christmas, and neither does Vancouver...), wow anyway the traditional Christmas stuff is pretty anti-climactic around here this year.  And that might just be the longest sentence ever.

So last night I did Christmas cards, and then realized most people will probably receive theirs around Easter...
Whatev.

I also realized that we did not have any Christmas tunes here in Brazil, so I quickly went on iTunes and was delighted and a little SHOCKED to learn that ALL of my favorite Christmas albums growing up were available for immediate purchase and download.  Want to hear my hitlist? It is a weird mix... This is so embarassing that it totally justifies me keeping my blog anonymous...

It is ironic that these are my favorite Christmas albums as I don't listen to any of these artists' non-Christmas music... kind of strange when you think about it! This is very different from my regular taste in music, the one exception is that I love everything by the Carpenters...

1) Celine Dion - These Are the Special Times - ok, not an oldie but I really like it and reminds me of snowy recent Christmases at my mom's, my favorite track is the "Another Year has gone by" song.

2) John Denver & The Muppets - A Christmas Together. This is where the SHOCKED it was on iTunes part comes in... It reminds me of when I was a kid, okay? We Wish You a Merry Christmas is a highlight with Miss Piggy singing about the figgy pudding.

3) The Carpenters - Christmas Collection. I hear this being played in Brazil a lot. I think Karen Carpenter has the best voice of any singer I've ever heard, it is very warm, smooth and comforting.

4) Anne Murray - Anne Murray's Christmas Album.  Anne's "Silver Bells" is the best.

5) The Oak Ridge Boys - Christmas with the Oak Ridge Boys. Thank God for Kids is my fave.

6) Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers - Once Upon A Christmas - this might actually be my favorite overall Christmas album. The title track is good and I also love "With Bells On"

SIngles to complete the playlist:
The Beach Boys: The Little St. Nick
Mariah Carey: All I want for Christmas is You
ABBA: Happy New Year
Alvin & The Chipmunks: Please Christmas Don't Be Late (My husband HATES it when I put this on!!! haha... which amuses me...)

Now that I have thoroughly humiliated myself, I will proceed with the Christmas sighting of the day.

It's even a musical one (I assume...)  Here in Rio if you are behind on your Christmas shopping there is really no excuse for you, as vendors are even set up at intersections selling Santas to motorists, it appears that they are Santas which do a variety of impressive things!  Although none as impressive as my soccer, James Brown singing Santa I'm sure... (see video a week or so back).

Madonna in Rio

They say to thank god for unanswered prayers... I get it as I sure was happy we did not get tickets for Madonna's first show - Sunday night - as it poured rain that night and she even slipped and fell at one point, yikes!

Monday night's show was fantastic - cool weather for Brazil, which was welcome, in that crowd! We had floor "seats" so we were especially thankful for the lack of rain.  As we walked down the platform and I saw the huge glittering "M"s I admit I got a little choked up. I was so excited!!!!!  I figured I would cry when I first saw her (this was pre-pregnancy me thinking this... so I figured I was really in trouble now!) but I held it back until she sang "You Must Love Me" from Evita... loved that.

She opened (an hour and 37 minutes late - this is according to our friend who "wasn't watching his watch") with Candy Shop from her new album, and had a good mix of old & new, she played for over 2 hours.  Highlights for me were Borderline (she did sort of a rocker-style version, loved it), Devil Wouldn't Recognize You & Heartbeat from the new album, La Isla Bonita (which she really seemed to Brazilian-ize - went over really well!), especially with one of our friends, that was his one song he wanted to hear!  The Brazilian crowd seemed to love it most when she sang Human Nature, 4 minutes, Vogue, Ray of Light and Music.

I was shocked at how calm the crowd was, reportedly there were 70,000 people there and we were a bit timid to find a place to stand closer to the front as we didn't want to get squished (me especially!) but it all stayed quite civilized, which almost made me sad we hadn't gone up further.  Better safe than sorry, especially in my condition!

She closed the show by waving a Brazilian flag.

I can't even describe in words how much energy Madonna has. To be honest it's frightening in a way. I don't understand how she literally whips herself from one end of the stage for hours on end, day after day - it has got to be the most exhausting show ever to perform, and she does it for days on end at 50 years old. No wonder the woman is so ripped (and oh, is she ripped...) She seemed much more "Edgy" and maybe even hard is the right word, in person in concert rather than when I have seen her on television, had to comment on that as well (for example she called us motherf*...ers more than once... and yelled for people to "show the queen you love her" and staked a claim she will never leave).  She sure has been through a lot and it does show!

I was so grateful for the opportunity to see Madonna live, especially at Maracana, it was an experience I'll never forget. It was overcast that night but every so often I'd lift my head to look up and remember we were outside and the odd star would reveal itself from behind the clouds.  What a venue!  Great night.

Here is a photo of some of the madness outside the Copacabana Palace, where she is staying.

For updates on all things Madonna-in-Rio, the Made in Brazil blog has got it under control! Check it out there is even a video of her before-show prayer!

We didn't take many photos - mostly video (and if you've seen the soccer santa post, you'll forgive me as you'll know how terrible I am still at posting video...)

Madonna Madness

I CAN'T WAIT!
Not long now until the Madonna concert....
Our guests asked us: "Is everyone HUGE Madonna fans here or something?"  As in every store/restaurant/place they seem to go, Madonna is blasting from every speaker.  I assured them that it is normally not like that everywhere and it's probably just in anticipation of her concerts.
Some media outlets are reporting that she is bringing "A-Rod" with her to Brazil...

I've heard that Madonna loves Rio, usually stays in Ipanema, and eats at Satyricon. Apparently she arrives here on the 12th (her first concert is on the 14th and she performs the 15th as well).