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.

After spending the whole day dealing with simulation data about Brazil, here are two positive hard facts about my country's economy:

1. The stock exchange reached it's highest level ever. The Bovespa closed today at 72766 points.
2. The dollar is at its lowest level since soon after the Real has been floated, nine years ago, at R$ 1,642.

Let's hope this trickles down to better employment levels and standards of living.

I've played in two bands so far, both in Brazil. Unfortunately, since I got back to Germany, I didn't find bands to play with. So my musical activity has been limited to playing in my room, on the streets and in the corridors of different Business Schools around the globe. I've had the odd jam session of open mic from time to time, too.
I was looking into my music library today and found the crude recordings of some of the concerts of the second band I played with, Bunker 292 Acústico. The band was composed by a singer, a guitar player, another guitar player and myself on the harmonica. The singer and first guitar player were my cousins, and we used only acoustic instruments, which made rehearsing very easy. As a curiosity, all band members were from German decent, and a mix of German and Portuguese during rehearsals was common.
I had great fun playing with them on Sunday afternoons, which encourages me to try to get into a band as soon as possible. I am realistic enough to know that I won't be doing that while the MBA lasts, but I think music will continue to be an important part of my work/life balance (a theme that is very trendy at the moment).

Below you will find one of those recordings, I hope you enjoy it. It is already almost 5 years old and it was one of our first live concerts, so forgive any mistakes and the recording quality. The allAll band members have gotten much better now, I believe.

Plush

This post just goes out to a great friend of mine and his wife who have just received a new daughter in their family.
Silvia and Alex, I wish you three all the best for years to come and believe strongly that Luisa will be the greatest and most enjoyable challenge that you will face.
I hope could be in Brazil soon to visit you and take part on the happiness that I am sure you are experiencing. Unfortunately, I believe Luisa will be quite big already when I'll eventually meet her.

Fortíssimos abraços para vocês três, estou especialmente contente que está tudo certo. É nessas horas que eu fico triste em estar longe, mas é assim mesmo. Mandem notícias, fotos, vídeos assim que puderem, para eu me sentir um pouquinho "tio", mesmo que de longe.
Tudo, tudo, tudo de bom,
Fernando

Mas na ida recebi uma notícia triste. Estava no carro com o Steve, checando os e-mails antes de sair da Alemanha. Marisa Lobo morreu em conseqüência de uma queda acidental no centro de Sampa.



Eu conheci a Marisa rapidamente em janeiro de 2006, quando estive em São Paulo. Linda, carismática, sexy, inteligente, interessante e independente. Não são muitas pessoas que deixam uma impressão tão forte em tão pouco tempo. Era atriz e bióloga, mas outros que a conheceram melhor poderão falar mais sobre ela.

E não é que foi legal??



Com direito a apresentação de balé e balada depois no sábado: