Information On Beck

UPDATE: The links below are now working. Splendid.

If I know you, and I think I do, I think you listened to the new Beck album and you went "Yeah, it's alright, bit disappointing though." That's what I thought but I gave it another listen and its better than you think. Okay, it's no Odelay or my favourite Mutations, but there are some really good tracks on there. And I think anyone who can give songs as good as the following away to b-sides, soundtracks and other artists deserves another listen:

Beck - Salt In The Wound
Beck - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes
Beck - Deadweight
Beck - Feel Good Time

Eu quero um visto permenante, por favor.

This morning I was in a terrible mood. I was going to write about baile funk, but I couldn't motivate myself. The reason for this is because I was seriously concerned that I wouldn't be able to stay here beyond the end of my tourist visa, which expires in just under a month. For about two months Bruna and I have been on an extremely frustrating and irritating wild goose chase. Normally people hire lawyers to complete this proceedure for them, but that's way too expensive, so we have to do everything. The problem, apart from the fact that I don't speak Portuguese, is that Brazilian bureaucracy is ridiculously complex. Not only do they require all kinds of documentation, but they also need it to be verified. So imagine that whenever you need to show your passport or driving licence you first have to photocopy it, take it a special office, wait for half an hour and then pay for someone to look at it and stamp the copy. We have collected all kinds of documents and declarations that we are in 'stable union', that Bruna will take financial and healthcare responsibilty for me, and testimonials of my good character, written by people who barely know me, all verified, paid for and stamped.

It feels like the system is designed to be as uneccessarily complicated as possible, and the worst aspect is the failure of anyone to take responsibility and say "Yes, that's my job, I'll help you!." I don't think this flaw is unique to Brazilian bureaucracy, by the way, as anyone who has called a call centre anywhere in the world will know. It's the lack of coordination that really gets you. Someone will say that they can deal with a particular aspect of the proceedure "but you have to go to this office to blah blah blah..." and when you go to that office they contradict the previous person, and so it continues.

But the reason I'm writing this is not to have a rant, but because maybe, just maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. We have just returned from the Federal Police, where they informed me that my current paperwork is fine, that I don't need any additional visas or documents and I don't have to pay anything. This isn't for my permanant status, but it keeps me here for a few months so I can sort things out. It seems too good to be true, but maybe I'm going to be fine. That is until tomorrow when I go to the British Embassy and they say "No that's not right, you need to blah blah........."

Last Night I Went To Australia...

...and I have never been there before. I went to a party at the Australian embassy, so technically I have now been to Australia. I might go to all the embassies then I can claim to be a seasoned world traveller. Or maybe not...

I mention it because I experienced one of those incongruous moments when you hear a piece of music that you really like and think "How did this end up here?" The dj was playing some atrocious Kelly Clarkson house remix which he then decided to mix into Laid Back's White Horse. This sits alongside hearing Talking Heads in my local hypermarket (which is about the size of Australia) and the man on an adjacent desk in the Brazilian ministry of work (where I am attempting to get my permenant visa sorted out) deciding to use his computer to listen to Patti Smith.

I have been a bad blogger this week so next week normal service will be resumed, promise.

Battles With The Portuguese Language Part One

I have been doing this blog for over a month now, and I have yet to post any Brazilian music, which, frankly, is shocking. So that follows after this description of my ongoing attempt to learn the language.

Yesterday and Monday I had my written and oral tests to complete my first semester as a Portuguese language student. I think I did quite well, obviously there were mistakes, but I think the most important things were all in place. I find it difficult to learn, partly I think because I don't speak French or Spanish or another latin language, and partly because I am the worst student in the world. This is where Bruna and I are different, she loves studying and would happily be a student for the rest of her days. I find sitting down to study akin to torture. I can happily occupy myself for hours with any inanimate object, a spoon or a paper clip say, if it means that I don't have to face up to that text written by someone far cleverer than me. I am the only person you'll ever meet who has a degree with no mark, no 2:1 for me, I just have a degree (I think they gave it to me so I didn't mess up their statistics).

To give you an idea of some of the diffences between our languages, I give you the example of Titanic. It's my favourite one. Firstly, the letter i is pronounced e, so the first syllable is tee. Secondly, when a letter t appears in the middle of a word, it is pronounced ch, so the second syllable is chan. Lastly, the only words that end in hard sounds (c,k,d,t etc) are words that have come from English. All Portuguese words end in a vowel or a soft sound like r, m or s if it's plural. If there is a hard sound they add an e to the end. So park becomes parque. But they also do this even if there is no e actually written there. So internet is pronounced internechee, blog becomes blogee and titanic becomes teechanikee. Which is a bit different, to say the least.

Once you've got this principle in your head, its okay, it's like using a secret code, you just have to remember it as you are speaking. In fact it's quite easy to guess words if you don't know them, just say it in English and add an e. It works surprisingly often.

Now for some musica Brasileira. My favourite Brazilian singer is Caetano Veloso. He was part of Tropicalia movement of the 1960's that has recently become popular again in the western world (if you don't own this, you really need to). I think he has a wonderful voice, it makes me want to use terrible words like pure and angelic. Don't let those words put you off, I guess what I mean is that he just has a beautiful voice. This is my favourite of his tracks:

Caetano Veloso - Tropicalia

Oooooooh

A couple of weeks ago, I posted this track:

Roberto De Simone - Secondo Coro Delle Lavandaie

I explained the origins on the original post, but as far as I was concerned it was super obscure. I only knew about due to the fine work of the people at WFMU via 20 Jazz Funk Greats. If you didn't listen to it the first time, try it now, trust me its magnificent.

Then I download a track from OOIOO's new album. I don't know too much of the bands stuff, but I should as I am a huge fan of Boredoms (this is Yoshimi of that bands side project). And what do I hear?

OOIOO - Uma

Its only a cover of the Roberto Di Simone track. So I guess it shows that no matter how obscure you think you are getting, there is always someone there before you. Freaky huh? Compare and contrast, they both sound pretty fine to me.