Rio & other places

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WOW! What a week or so it's been. New Year's was HHUUUUUUUGGGEEE!!!!! 2 MILLION people on one beach is pretty full on. Unfortunately I don't have any pics as I wasn't going to take my camera! Glad I didn't coz I saw one robbery & I'm sure there were plenty more! I did get some pics of everywhere else though, so I'll add them later. For now, a quick update before I head North to Fortaleza. I've seen all around Rio as well as some other areas and towns like Petropolis, all with their own music & attractions. It's been fantastic meeting and spending time with people from all over the world, all here together. One event which deserves mention as a 'low-light' is a Favela Funk Party I went to one night (early morning). Thankfully it wasn't really in a Favela (slum area), but it also wasn't what us Westeners think of as Funk. It was in one of the Samba schools on one of the Favela borders, and apparently in Brazil, Funk is basically Techno/Dance music with Samba style rythms instead of the normal club music in Oz. So anyway.... a taste of Modern Brazilian street culture!! I've heard some of the best musos I've ever heard anywhere though playing in streets & in bars playing Brazilian jazz/samba/bossa nova. The beaches are of course some of the most beautiful in the world, but not as good as the Sunny Coast! Maracana stadium was pretty awesome... looking around the stadium & in the dressing rooms where the Brazilian Futebol (soccer) team plays. It's been raining most of the time, but when it finally cleared, I went up Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf mountain) & Corcovado where Christo Redentor (Christ the Redeemera) statue is. The museums here have also been good, especially Museu de Villa Lobos, a museum & library dedicated to Brazil's greatest 'Classical' musician & the America's greatest modern composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Well, I think I've remembered most of the important things, so bye for now.

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