If you lower it, they will come

The weather today makes me want to check the calendar. Is this July or January? After twenty minutes on a bench looking out at Copa's shining beach I was sweating through my t-shirt. Hot hot hot! About time.

Four new arrivals just checked in, from Sweden. More interesting, they came from another hostel they were staying at in Rio. 16 of the last 18 people to check in were already in the city, at another place. The other pair were from the U.S.

They are coming to the house specifically because we lowered our already-lowest price from R$20 to R$15/ night, and that's about the cost of a cold beer in a bar in L.A. A little slow in the city right now. I read a blog recently that referenced a review that cited a passage from a book about a research study (whew! not firsthand information!) where they had people choose either a delicious, fancy truffel for 15 cents or a Hershey's kiss for 1 penny. Most of the people chose the great deal on the truffel. When they reduced the prices by 1 cent each, to 14 cents for the truffel and the kiss for FREE, nearly everyone chose the Hershey's kiss. We are, in essence, conducting the same experiment. Would we dare do a FREE WEEK just to see see how many people would go for it, to really push them, just for the hell of being crazy Piratas? Don't think I haven't brainstormed that.

Shall we play in the sand?

It's a nice day for some beach football, and I'm all up for it if the guests want to play. Should be plenty of space out on Ipanema just before sunset.

Caipirinha class last night was fun, good people. Limes are 84 centavos/ kilo right now, a quarter watermelon is just over R$1, the pineapple and maracuja aren't so cheap but they're worth it.

Clear that the July crowd is arriving steadily in Rio, starting new continental treks, fresh faces. I expect Lapa and the usual hotspots to be bustling this weekend.

See U on the flip side, Yo

A lot of you will watch the Michael Jackson "thing" today. By the way, here is an excellent obituary that may give you a little better perspective on the man. In the spirit, I thought I would give you the video to one of his more recent hits, "They don't care about us". It was filmed here in Rio de Janeiro, and the musicians are from Afro Reggae, which is one of the biggest NGO's to work in the favelas of the city. They also put on the absolute BEST bloco during Carnaval, which starts up at the end of our block at Posto 8. Best time I had that whole amazing week. Sorry about the stupid green thing on the top, best one I could find to embed. Youtube, whatta ya gonna do? Enjoy.

Monday at the office

This morning I stopped by the cheap grocery store on my way to the hostel, buying maracuja, limes, a bag of sugar and a bottle of cachaca. My plan is to mix a big batch of wicked caipirinha in the morning, let it chill and wickify n the fridge, then serve everyone "helpers" in the late afternoon. That is my entire, unedited plan for today.

A new Mediteranean/ Greek restaurant has opened between us and the corner staple, "Sindicato do Arpoador". The food looks good, and cheap. Lunch this week, gotta scout it.

Party Weekend

Friday Night: 10 pm van to Sao Cristovo JUNE PARTY, and from there the vans to the Lapa Street Party 'til dawn.

Saturday: Afternoon BOAT PARTY (weather permitting), then a 10pm van to Salgueiro Samba School

Sunday: Afternoon Beer-B-Que (on the beach if there's sun), then an 11pm van to Rocinha Favela Funk.

Simply doin' more than anybody. Went to Rio Scenarium last night, Samba Rock, love it when the musicians jam out and the dancefloor responds.