trotsky vengarán

there's a punk band from uruguay called trotsky vengarán (they will avenge trotsky), tkyvgn for short. jejeje;)


todo puede estar mucho peor
todo puede estar mucho peor

aunque todo este mal
todo puede empeorar...

**

it can all get a lot worse
it can all get a lot worse

even though it's all bad
it can get worse...


here is a video. i especially like the animated text that says enjoy the miseria and feel the hambre.


todo puede estar mucho peor : trotsky vengarán




you can see their live performance of ni olvido ni perdon (neither forget nor forgive) here. ni olvido ni perdon is a common slogan taken up by popular organizations in south america, generally as a call to action against complicity with the legacies of state repression from the dictatorships & dirty wars. and here someone made a video for tkyvgn's justicia infinita (infinite justice). justicia infinita is ...well... self-explanatory.

inflation & the distribution of wealth

the illustrious buñuel gives a quick lesson...

la ilusión viaja en tranvía / illusion travels by streetcar : luís buñuel

feliz año

happy lunar new year!!



the ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work...

pm

it's been many years since i first watched pm by sabá cabrera infante, and i just recently watched it again.

in 1961 this 15-minute documentary had the distinction of being the first film refused public screening rights by icaic, the cuban institute of film arts & industry, an action usually recalled as the first major act of artistic "censorship" by the new revolutionary government in havana. liberal cultural historians, then & now, have generally regarded this event as an early example of the suppression of intellectual & artistic freedoms intrinsic to this/any socialist revolutionary project, and as a(nother) example of leftists not knowing how to have any fun.

the episode is of course a bit more complicated than that. it was preceded just weeks before by fidel castro's declaration of the cuban revolution as "socialist" & the bay of pigs invasion, and was followed by castro's famous words to the intellectuals speech. the u.s.-sponsored invasion had of course failed in its intent, but it had succeeded in igniting a profound pro-revolution & anti-imperialist sentiment in the general public, an acute sense that what they were building in cuba would need to be ardently defended. documenty filmmaker & writer michael chanan has an excellent account of this historical moment in his book, cuban cinema. the banning of pm is best understood, he argues, less as the capricious act of a heavy-handed and overzealous revolutionary state, and more as an extension of the debates, splits, and coalescing tendencies that were present at the time among cuban cultural workers and the organizations they belonged to. the revolutionary experiment was in its early days and sincere consideration was given by artists & intellectuals to questions about the creation of a new revolutionary culture. for sugar plantations you could expropriate, collectivize, and redistribute, but in the realm of aesthetics how precisely to kick out imperialist & ruling class ideologies and promote true liberation??

as for the content of pm, it's a collection of scenes of havana night life, concentrated in predominantly black & working class old havana & regla. i won't detail here the debate about its potential counter-revolutionary nature, but will just mention that the primary concerns were 1. its (alleged) narrow representation of working-class black cubans 2. its concentration on a cultural space strongly identified with the playground-for-the-american-rich character of havana in the 1950s, which had flourished under the batista dictatorship with mafia-run hotels & bars, gambling, drug trafficking, and prostitution and 3. its (perceived) allegiance to the importance of aesthetic form over content.

the particular controversy over pm is of course difficult to fully appreciate from this distance. but i think a consideration of the role of artists & intellectuals in making the revolution is always timely, no? also, admittedly, i like the rumba scene that begins the 2nd part ;)

pm : sabá cabrera infante y orlando jiménez





i also just have to say, i have a very deep appreciation for the individuals & organizations that make this kind of thing available online for free like a public service. this film would otherwise be very difficult to come across. thank you!

No one as Irish as Barak O'bama

I couldn't resist! The original version of the song by the Corrigan Brothers can be seen here (no embedding was available). The revised version, which has better lyrics, follows.

"O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
From the old Blarney Stone to the green Hill of Tara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama"

silvio (ii)

...te doy una canción
como un disparo,
como un libro,
una palabra,
una guerrilla...
como doy el amor.

**

...i give you a song
like a gunshot,
like a book,
a word,
a guerrilla...
like i give my love.

thank goodness for silvio rodríguez! or maybe thank cuba. he's so young here. and cuba is so cuba...

la canción de la trova (cuba, 1968), filmed by santiago alvarez & noticiero icaic :



this is a performance from the 2ndo festival de la nueva canción latinoamericana, which was held in sandinista nicaragua in 1983. words on the stage read : la lucha es el mas alto de los cantos / the (armed) struggle is the greatest song...

pequeña serenata diurna (nicaragua, 1983) :



one of the things i love about silvio is that his songs are poems, and people appreciate them like that, incorporate them into their lives & occasions, and will recite/sing them all the way through beginning to end when given the opportunity.

like this...

te doy una canción (cuba, 1985) :



or this!

ojalá (spain, 1993) :



mil gracias, silvio.

ya llegó el frente (fmln)

umm, wow...so much to say about this but no time now. for the moment let's just appreciate (finally!) the decline of the pro-death squad/anti-communist arena party :)

and watch some pro-fmln reggaeton...

¡a-ja! ya llegaron
los revolucionarios locos
los de la bandera roja
la traen en el corazón...

**

a-ha! they've arrived
the crazy revolutionaries
the ones with the red flag
they carry in their hearts...


no me comprendes : trick daddy

pinche u.s. government, stealing from us again

mierda. mierda. mierda. this makes my stomach turn...

...the Border Patrol now has migracorridos that sing of the danger immigrants face when crossing the border illegally...What Mexican listeners don't know is that the migracorridos are the U.S. government's latest effort to convince migrants to stay home.

: san antonio express-news

foto : sf chronicle

it's not enough apparently to steal our land and our labor. also now our music.

not enough to build a 3-tiered fence, extend it all the way into the ocean, put floodlights and barbed wire on it, and set armed men and dogs to guard it. not enough to enact policies that separate families, that force transnational workers to cross further into the desert where they are more likely to die. no, the migra has to try to disguise state propaganda as popular music and infiltrate the mexican radio airwaves as well. but a song cannot go up against the desire to feed a family... a todos los inmigrantes: que dios los proteja en el camino...

culture is a weapon (thank you, amilcar cabral). time for us to use it against them. ¡la tierra es para quien la trabaja!


**

and now for some corridos de verdad (as opposed to the fake migra-sponsored variety)...

here is amparo ochoa's version of a famous corrido which dates from the days of the mexican revolution:

adelita : amparo ochoa



victor jara (chileno) had such an affection for the corrido that he recorded a mexican revolution one too:

el corrido de pancho villa : victor jara



also here is the obligatory narco-corrido, perfected by los tucanes:

niño de oro : los tucanas de tijuana



and, of course, any proper discussion of these songs should include the beloved corridos of los tigres del norte. and since it's awhile since i posted any rock en español, here are 3 corridos from the tributo a los tigres del norte album, a great compilation of roqueros covering tigres songs.

la tumba falsa : ely guerra



el circo : maldita vecindad



contrabando y traición : la lupita



these lines are from el circo, about political corruption in mexico & the pri party/salinas family despotism. i think they also work for the above-mentioned migra scheme. que se vayan a la chingada esos running dogs.


pura tranza. puro circo. pura farsa.
la misma tranza, la misma farsa, es pura tranza, la misma farsa
pura pura tranza, puro puro circo, pura pura pura pura farsa!

palestina te queremos

from today's protest at the israeli consulate in sf, which kept the entrance locked down for hours...

the fox

wow, i can hardly believe it. the old fox theater in downtown oakland (built in 1928) is finally scheduled to re-open on february 5th for the first time since 1966. am i a little weirded out by the orientalist architectural details ("the architecture...has long defied definition, being variously described as indian, moorish, medieval and baghdadian")? yes. unsettled by the gentrification looming around every corner in downtown oakland? yes!!! on the other hand, this is one gigantic beautiful old theater building which is not being converted into a church. hurray for that.

the first concert scheduled at the new old fox is social distortion, february 6th.

aww, punk rock boys with eyeliner ;)


**

and i went down my old neighborhood
the faces have all changed
there's no one there left to talk to
and the pool hall that i loved as a kid
is now a 7 eleven

i went downtown to look for a job
i had no training, no experience to speak of.
i looked at the holes in my jeans
and turned and headed back.

...

good times come and good times go,
i only wish the good times would
last a little longer.
i think about the good times we had
and why they had to end.

so i sit at the edge of my bed
i strum my guitar and i sing
an outlaw love song.
thinking' 'bout what you're doin' now
and when you're comin' back.


the story of my life : social distortion

bolivia ♥ palestina

from página 12:

Bolivia se suma así a Venezuela, primer país de la región que expulsó al embajador israelí y varios funcionarios de la sede diplomática en rechazo a la acción militar.

Morales condenó los ataques en Gaza, que desde fin de 2007 ya causaron más de 900 muertos, incluyendo numerosos civiles y niños palestinos, y anticipó que su gobierno presentará una demanda en la Corte Penal Internacional por genocidio en contra del presidente de Israel, Shimon Peres, y del primer ministro, Ehud Olmer.

"Quiero informar que Bolivia tenía relaciones diplomáticas con Israel, frente a estos hechos graves de atentado a la vida y a la humanidad, Bolivia rompe relaciones diplomáticas con Israel"...


hurray, bolivianos! ¡viva viva palestina!

venezuela ♥ palestina

...


caraqueños protest at the israeli embassy
foto: ap

last week chavez gave the israeli diplomats in venezuela 72 hours to leave the country. expelling them was, he said, a "gesture of dignity". yesterday venezuela's cargo planes left for gaza via egypt carrying 12.5 tons of medical supplies, with 80 more tons of aid to follow this week. and the palestinian flag will fly in their national assembly for one month. ay, venezuela ¡me haces latir el corazón! and i'm not the only one...

viva venezuela : tambor urbano

slum kids v. cops

ok, by now you know of the cinematic delight that is slumdog millionaire.

here's a chase scene from the beginning of the film, and aside from the very compelling content, slum kids v. cops (gooooo, kids!!!), it combines some very kick-ass music. here are a.r. rahman (superstar composer of a zillion indian film scores including lagaan) + m.i.a. (leftist sri lankan pop-electronica-dancehall star), together at last. hurry up and watch it before youtube takes it down for "violation of terms"!

o saya (in slumdog millionaire) : a.r. rahman + m.i.a.

A mommy-to-be rediscovers Andrea Echeverrí

There is something bumping around in La Cumbiambera’s belly, and it’s not New Years tamales. When I discovered I was pregnant a couple of months ago, I decided to whip out Andrea Echeverri’s self-titled 2005 solo album, which she dedicated to her daughter Milagros. I purchased this album new when it first came out and liked it, but now my appreciation of the album is growing right along with my waistline.

Lyrically, this album offers a refreshing alternative to the tortured songs about unrequited love that saturate most popular music. The songs are all about fulfillment, the type of fulfillment that only a profound love—such as that of parent to child—can provide. Apparently, the album was also inspired by Echeverri’s amorous relationship with her partner, but in many songs the line between amorous and filial love is blurred. This may sound creepy; however, the sexuality expressed in Echeverrí’s lyrics is nothing more than a celebration of body and soul, of body as a celebration of soul, whether that soul is manifested through a mature love for a partner or a spontaneous love for a child. Here the female body is not a sexual object but instead a source of power, knowledge, and inspiration.

Musically, the album is a treat. It is easy to listen to and features the folk-pop sounds characteristic of Echeverrí without being sappy. One of my favorite tracks is Lactochampeta, which is a satire of the sexually explicit Columbian musical genre champeta, and as you can guess, the song is about breastfeeding. The explicit lyrics (“chúpatela tetita, tómatela lechita, así, así, durito, y con ritmo”) are set to an infectiously rhythmic tune that mimics the actual rhythms of a breastfeeding baby (sucksucksuck. breath. sucksucksucksuck. breath.) Other favorites are those with audibly latinoamericano influences such as “A Eme O” (see video), a folkbachata of sorts, and “Imán” which listens like a son jalisence with a spirit appropriate for a pre-school sing-a-long.

There are also a couple of blusesy tracks like this one:


“Ya yo no” – Andrea Echeverrí

In short, the album is a collection of lullabies for grown-ups, sans the sleepy effect. Echeverrí’s songs relax and uplift. They are a reminder of the best possibilities of love. They celebrate life and femininity is ways that are at once tender and empowering. And, in this historical moment in which so many of the world’s mothers are separated from their children or are unable to provide for them due to crimes of the state, this album infuses La Cumbaimbera with a sense of purpose, and of course, makes me shed a tear.

apartheid wall v. reyes magos

...



...sent along by the argentinos.

no complicity

update: new article on the egyptian people's resistance to mubarak's love affair with zionism in electronic intifada. ¡que viva la resistencia del pueblo!



an egyptian national burns his passport outside the egyptian embassy in beirut, 2 january. foto by matthew cassel, posted on electronic intifada.


i've been thinking a lot about complicity...

in argentina, the court system has yet to process decades-old cases against the majority of the country's dirty war criminals. just last month in fact, the courts were set to release alfredo astiz, one of the most notorious milicos from the esma, the largest of the ex-clandestine centers for detention and torture. he remains in custody (just barely) but the case against him is stalled despite mountains of evidence. 25 years after the formal end of the dirty war, and sectors of the state & civil society are still its active accomplices. it's been up to the popular organizations, the mothers and the recovered children of the disappeared, to call out this complicity with the dictadura & its legacy for what it is. in recent years that's taken the form of escraches, noisy protests that publicly identify these asesinos, exposing them to their neighbors & acquaintances, and shining a light on the blood they have on their hands. so they are not permitted to go about their daily lives as if nothing has happened, as if 30,000 people were not disappeared and 300,000 more were not exiled. perhaps the courts are too lazy & slow to hold these murderers and torturers accountable. but the people are not!




last week the egyptian embassies in yemen, syria, and lebanon were attacked in popular demonstrations as symbols of the mubarak dictatorship's hand-holding with the murderous israeli state. in addition to hosting tzipi livni a couple days before her government unleashed this ongoing massacre on the palestinians, the mubarak regime has maintained a sealed boarder with gaza, and has its troops positioned there ready to fire upon people whose desperate circumstances have forced them to flee. egyptians have come out to the streets in the thousands, facing police assaults and arrests at every turn, to express solidarity with the people of gaza, and to denounce mubarak directly for his complicity with the genocide mission against palestine.

for sure it's time to call out the collaborators, the vendidos, and the apologists. no business as usual!! no complicity with the imperialists or their puppets!

next gaza solidarity action in sf:

tomorrow
monday : january 5th
8am rain or shine
market & montgomery in sf


**

and now for some relevant attaque...

resistiré : attaque 77

criminales disfrazados
seres sin razón ni piedad,
no hay palabras en el mundo
que describan vuestra maldad,
por dinero asesinás,
por placer aniquilás,
por poder nos destruís,
suciamente mentís.

aunque siempre vigilés
y mis datos procesés,
no es tan fácil hacerme callar,
resistiré,
resistiré hasta el fin
resistiré
resistiré hasta el fin...

nos hablás de sumisión,
nos pedís resignación,
pero no me dejaré engañar,
resistiré,
resistiré hasta el fin.
resistiré
resistiré hasta el fin.

cuba, que linda es cuba

¡quien la defiende la quiere mas!



foto by korda

today is 50 years since the overthrow of the u.s.-sponsored batista dictatorship in cuba by the movimiento 26 de julio. ¡feliz 50 años! en cada barrio... ¡revolución!

banda bassotti : que linda es cuba--cuba sí, yanqui no