A Bittersweet Life | fernandosouza.org http://www.fernandosouza.org Sat, 10 May 2008 01:04:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 en Queensryche http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/05/09/queensryche/ http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/05/09/queensryche/#comments Sat, 10 May 2008 00:56:58 +0000 Nando http://www.fernandosouza.org/?p=82 What was supposed to be a nice simple day: meeting a great friend from São Paulo, having lunch together and watching a gig at night (for free), turned out to be an amazing day to break the same boring routine .

Since my friend Ju was working for the production of the Queensryche show, she invited me to hang out with her into the backstage, and after one hour doing so, the production team realized they were short on staff, so I volunteered to assist them. Long story short, I ended up working as a roadie for Queensryche, being responsible for helping with the stage set up and simultaneous translating. During the whole gig I stayed at the lighthouse giving instructions for the spotlight guys (who were Brazilian), such as when they should turn on and off the lights, which band members should be spotted during different parts of the gig and stuff like that. And it was really exciting! The whole experience was unique, watching every single details of what happens in the background of a big band, undersanding how things work, talking to band members, tour manager, roadies etc…

As for the gig itself, it was very, very good! I was quite impressed by the band, and mostly by Geoff Tate! The guy is an amazing singer, what a voice! I’ll from now on pay more attention to their studio work, maybe buy some albums, listen to them more carefully and hopefully become a new fan.  Another curious fact is how the band members behave on stage. It’s if they were totally different people, with different attitudes, trying to pass an image of rock stars, when they are in fact really normal people (like you and me), who talk about silly and serious stuff, call their families every hour to check if they’re good, make funny voices on the mobile for their children to hear, browse the net in order to look at the latest sports results, drink tea, wear reading glasses, and many more things.

Anyway, this amazing happening made me update my useless facts list, take a look!

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]]> http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/05/09/queensryche/feed/ Gigs http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/05/08/gigs/ http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/05/08/gigs/#comments Thu, 08 May 2008 14:27:39 +0000 Nando http://www.fernandosouza.org/?p=81 Last night I lost the opportunity to attend Whitesnake’s gig because of a mobile battery that went down. A friend of mine from São Paulo who is in Rio had free tickets but couldn’t phone me because my number was on her dead phone. This same friend also has free tickets for today’s gig, but not for Whitesnake, today Queensryche will be rocking Rio. All I know about them is that they’re a pretty solid band from the USA and they’ve been rocking since the 80s and they have Geoff Tate as their singer. Geoff is one of the best Rock singers in history, so watching him sing makes the night very worthy. I’ve listened to their material before, it’s good, but I can’t say I’m a fan.

This morning I was thinking about all the gigs I’ve attended in almost thirty years of life. They weren’t many, I’m afraid. I wish I could have watched more gigs, you know? sometimes I missed gigs because I didn’t have money, or because I wasn’t in town, or because I didn’t have anyone to go with me, or simply because I was too lazy to go. I’ll now try to list all the gigs I went to:

Iron Maiden (1996, 1998, 2001 & 2008), Helloween (1998, 2001, 2004, 2006 & 2008), Bruce Dickinson (1995, 1996, 1997 & 1998), Gamma Ray (2003 & 2008), Dream Theater (1997), Blaze (2002), Paul Di’anno (2005), Eric Clapton (2001), Rolling Stones (2006), Tribuzy (2005, 2006 & 2007), REM (2001), Red Hot Chilli Peppers (2001), Guns ‘n’ Roses (2001), Skid Row (1996), Motorhead (1996), Dio (1997), Scorpions (1997), Halford (2001), Foo Fighters (2001), Silverchair (2001), Dave Mathews Band (2001),  Masterplan (2003), Sepultura (2001), Dr. Sin (2006) and Queensryche (2008).

As you may see, not an impressive list. I wonder if this list can be improved in the future with some huge names on it. This year I’ve already missed Whitesnake, Ozzy and Deep Purple. Let’s hope I won’t miss any good gigs anymore.

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]]> http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/05/08/gigs/feed/ Oh, the rain. The Lovely Rain! http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/30/oh-the-rain-the-lovely-rain/ http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/30/oh-the-rain-the-lovely-rain/#comments Thu, 01 May 2008 01:20:34 +0000 Nando http://www.fernandosouza.org/?p=80 The rain has finally arrived, thanks God! It had been so fucking hot the past few days that it felt like it was summer all over again. My windows are now open, I’m not wearing a t-shirt and I’m actually feeling cold. I had almost forgotten how nice this sensation is! Hopefully it has arrived to stay. I really don’t want that hot weather anymore. At least not for the 2 or 3 months to come. Let winter be winter, for God’s sake! But, you know, with the whole global warming issue, we never know what the future holds for us.

The internet is awesome, isn’t it? Torrents are even more awesome! I spend hours downloading and then watching TV shows from the very early 80s, stuff that I used to watch when I was a child, and I had nothing but flashes of them on my mind. Some things are not as nice as I thought they were and some are just as cool as I remember. Memories, they are indeed a wonderful thing!

Tomorrow is a holiday again, therefore nobody will work on Friday. Bloody lazy country! Have I mentioned how much I hate this country before? Well, I’ll be home again and think about stuff, and you know what happens to me when I think about stuff. Well, bad things will come… :-/

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]]> http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/30/oh-the-rain-the-lovely-rain/feed/ Feeling… http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/27/feeling/ http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/27/feeling/#comments Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:18:18 +0000 Nando http://www.fernandosouza.org/?p=79 I’ve been bad lately. Not only depressed, but feeling tired, feeling sick, feeling old, feeling only God knows what… I’ve bought one of those multi-vitamins & mineral pills to make me feel less tired and willing to do stuff, but to be honest it’s not working. So, I really think it’s something mental, you know what I mean? Not in a mood to do anything, really.

The cave is cozy. It’s warm, there’s lots of food, music, tv, lots of downloaded films and series (btw, have you watched the last episode of Lost aired last thursday? OMFG!). What else could I ask for?

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]]> http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/27/feeling/feed/ In my cave http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/22/in-my-cave/ http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/22/in-my-cave/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:47:04 +0000 Nando http://www.fernandosouza.org/?p=77 I’m still too far from being ok. It was a holiday yesterday, and it will be another holiday tomorrow, so no work today because everybody in this country, specially in this bloody city, won’t work between 2 holidays! I’ve been at home since last Friday doing nothing but thinking how shitty my life is, how uninteresting I am, and how come I have nothing to do besides being home in front of my laptop. I’ve never imagined I would miss work! Well, at least when I’m working I’m surrounded by (sometimes nice) people and not thinking about things.

When I’m depressed I like to cook. And that’s what I did today. Spent lots of money on good quality ingredients. Since you’re willing to cook a nice meal, enjoy eating it and therefore putting on some weight, there’s no reason to do it without quality products and the most important thing: passion!

I haven’t been on msn messenger for more or less a week, so I haven’t been talking with anybody. I’m stuck in my pseudo cave saving me from the outside world. There’s one thing I still haven’t figured out how to do: save me from myself! Am I my worst enemy? I guess so…

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]]> http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/22/in-my-cave/feed/ Me, myself, without Irene (the day after) http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/18/me-myself-without-irene-the-day-after/ http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/18/me-myself-without-irene-the-day-after/#comments Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:49:57 +0000 Nando http://www.fernandosouza.org/?p=76 Left work, took my car, faced a huge stressful traffic jam to have a fantastic night! And am I feeling good? Not really! I’m pretty down, actually.

Half an hour before the gig I stopped at a restaurant to have dinner. Ate a very nice pasta as fast as I could, coz I was getting late for the gig. An interesting fact about this fast pit stop at the restaurant was the waitress. Not because she was cute or hot, but because I was wearing a Helloween t-shirt and she said: “Are you going to the gig?” And I said: “In a matter of fact, yeah, I am. I’m a bit late actually. I kind of need the meal asap.” The fact that she actually knew who Helloween was, is great!

Anyway, I arrived at the venue 30 min after my meal and 30 minutes before the gig. The venue is under a mall, so since I was alone, I decided to go for a walk in the mall to see if I could bump into someone I knew. I couldn’t find anyone, so I decided to enter the venue. As I put my feet inside it, I bumped into Sylvia, someone that I know from the music studio where I often hang out. In fact, we just said hello and she didn’t seem very excited to see me, so I said bye bye and told her I would talk to her later (I was lying, of course!). Some minutes later I saw 2 guys who I once knew from a galaxy far, far away. So, I pretty much didn’t talk to anybody during the whole gig, nor during my way back home. Actually, I only talked with someone when the phone rang this morning and it wasn’t for me!

Well, I did open my mouth! I just didn’t open it to talk, but I opened to sing all the songs, hehe! I also shook my body in some occasions hehe! As for the gig itself, it was AMAZING! I already knew Gamma Ray was able to deliver a very energetic gig! Energy was something that lacked Helloween in their 2006 gig, and that was the reason I was a bit, let’s say, not so excited about it. But, it was a surprise after all! Helloween is a band again! It appears the’ve finally gotten over all those internal problems and the new (not so new anymore) members are totally integrated with the original band members and the fans! The Helloween ’spirit’ is alive again! It was the best Helloween gig (considering stage, setlist and band ebergy) I ever saw with my very own eyes! Even better than the 98 gig when they supported Maiden. Oh, and I was almost forgetting to mention the fact that Kai Hansen went on stage to sing/play the last 2 songs with Helloween. Kai left Helloween in 89 to form Gamma Ray, so watching him on stage with Helloween was a dream come true. It was a chilling moment. I actually got the chills for more or less 5 minutes! Amazing!

And now I go back to the first paragraph of this post. I’m feeling down. Really am. Not having anybody (colleague, friend, relative or girlfriend) to share this special moment is very depressing and sad. Instead of being a nice and talkative (full of comments about the gig) drive home with friends, it was a long, cold, and silent one.

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]]> http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/18/me-myself-without-irene-the-day-after/feed/ Me, Myself, without Irene! http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/17/me-myself-without-irene/ http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/17/me-myself-without-irene/#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:59:59 +0000 Nando http://www.fernandosouza.org/?p=75 No real reason for me being absent for all this time. A lot has happened in this meantime. My brother came with his girlfriend to spend 10 days here, we went out almost everyday and we even went for a short road trip towards the mountains region of Rio. We had a nice time, I only wish we could do this more often, but you know, it’s kind of difficult when you live more than 2.000 km away from each other.

Not so long after he went back to his hometown, Recife (northeast of the country), I went there! In fact, I was going to my father’s house, which is in a city called João Pessoa, 120km away from Recife. So, I took a plane to Recife spent the morning there and went to my father’s house with my brother by car. The real reason for this short trip to a distant place was a surprise. A surprise for my father, who was going to be honored at the City Hall. He received a very important title for improving the industry of tourism in João Pessoa (yes, my father works with tourism!). Anyway, the surprise actually worked! You should have seen his face when we arrived there. He had no idea we would be there! Really, really nice! Anyway, the ceremony was good, simple and fast. I was a bit worried, thinking it would take lots of time and lots of politicians would speak for ceaseless hours. But thankfully, I was wrong. After the ceremony, we went to the hotel where my father works for a very nice cocktail that lasted a few hours. I spent 3 more days there, enjoyed my little brothers, went for a swim in that huge swimming pool, and some other stuff. It was a nice time to relax, I needed that.

Came back to Rio two weeks ago, and since then I’ve been working. A guess that’s what normal human beings do, right? They work! Anyway, nothing much has been happening in my life. Well, actually there’s this new girl at work, she’s not Monica Bellucci, but she’s interesting, cute, the type of girl I like, you know? And I’m tottally terrified of talking to her, of presenting myself. Jeez, what happens to me? I’m a lost case!

Tonight Gamma Ray and Helloween will rock Rio! Am I excited about this? Not really! I’ve been going to Helloween gigs since 96 and although they’re my second or third (really don’t know) favourite band, their gig is not new to me, so I know what to expect: I’ll go there, watch the gig, enjoy the music and I’ll leave the venue very satisfied. And that’s it! Now the Gamma Ray gig is kind of interesting. It’s their second time in the city. I went to their first gig (2004?) and they rocked! Watching Kai Hansen on stage was totally worthy it! I haven’t followed Ray’s career since ‘Somewhere Out in Space’, but I know their material is good and they will play 2 or 3 songs from ‘Land of the Free’, so no doubt it will be awesome! And what is THE most important thing: Gamma Ray + Helloween, (one band that originated from the other) are playing together for the first time after years of fights and accusations in the press. Seems things are ok with them now, let’s hope it stays like this for a long while. One thing that is bothering me is the fact I’m going to the gig alone! alone again! Or should I say alone as always? A few people said they would go with me, but at the last moment they gave up with different excuses. I really don’t give a damn if the excuses are true or not. They’re not going and that is it! I’ll do what I do best: enjoy a nice meal, enjoy a nice concert, enjoy a nice drive by the coast back home, all by myself! Me, Myself, without Irene!

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]]> http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/04/17/me-myself-without-irene/feed/ Time is money http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/30/time-is-money/ http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/30/time-is-money/#comments Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:50:47 +0000 Nando http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/30/time-is-money/ This post probably won’t make any sense at all. It’s jut me thinking a bit “loud”.

If,

time = money,

spent time = spent money. (does it make any sense?)

So,

If,

spent time spending money = ????

Yeah, maths was never my strong subject! :-/ Hey Ju, if you read this I guess you could help me with this equation, couldn’t you?

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]]> http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/30/time-is-money/feed/ Oprah http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/27/oprah/ http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/27/oprah/#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:14:02 +0000 Nando http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/27/oprah/ I’ve just realized I like Oprah’s show. Is there anything wrong with me?

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]]> http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/27/oprah/feed/ Socks mystery http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/20/socks-mystery/ http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/20/socks-mystery/#comments Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:57:49 +0000 Nando http://www.fernandosouza.org/2008/03/20/socks-mystery/ When I was about to leave home earlier today I opened one of my drawers and couldn’t find any socks. Then I opened the next one, and then the next, and finally the last (counting from top to bottom), and the only thing I could find were odd socks, or if you prefer, miss match socks! Where have all the other matches gone? I have no socks to wear at all!!!

Well, instead of being here totally intrigued by this ( utterly mysterious) fact, I should have been to the shops earlier today to buy new ones. Whatever, I can do this tomorrow. Now I really need to sleep, the past two days have been very tiring…

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