perhaps the economic crisis has hit hard the fallen alt-rock star community, causing them all to go back to work? obviously band reunions are nothing new, but in the last couple years even bands long long long gone like gang of four are doing reunion tours. really?! after all this time? my bloody valentine, echo & the bunnymen, the jesus & mary chain...i'm serious.
which brings me to the pixies. or rather, pixies. three dates at the oakland fox. it's a bit out of the language-scope of the upcoming shows we list here (psst. there on the right!) but if you want to shell out to see them it will cost you $70 minimum (economic crisis?!) and you better get your tickets fast because 2 of 3 shows have sold out.
too much! but i am prompted to think for a minute about the greatness that was (umm... is?) pixies. there's just no one like them. kim deal singing softly over frank black's screaming is just brilliant. isn't it? also the bassline hooks kill me. still.
my parents got married 40 years ago today :) feliz día to them!!
a couple years ago we were sitting around talking and my dad caught us all by surprise when he recounted to my mom the exact outfit she was wearing when he first saw her in his 10th grade english class. can you imagine? good god!
here they are on their wedding day. so cute.
felicidades, for sure. and now, because i know they like them, a little maná as a regalito for this occasion...
de pies a cabeza : maná
hoy te quiero mas que siempre hoy te adoro mas que nunca
i was a guinea pig for wikipedia last week! basically i went in and they asked me to make a "contribution" on wikipedia and then asked me lots of questions to evaluate that process. before i went i knew i was going to have to write something and of course i got nervous and started thinking, oh my gosh i don't know enough about anything! my mind would go completely blank when i tried to think of a topic. especially because i didn't know if i was going to have to make an entirely new entry or to contribute to a topic already in there. as it turned out it could be the latter, but still i didn't really have any ideas until i sat down in the research office.
well, el gran silencio to the rescue again. that's what came to me. i cleaned up a bit the english-language entry on those guys and really i think wikipedia, no the world, is better for it ;) jejeje. in appreciation for giving me something to write about i am posting this video which i don't think we've ever posted here, of their collaboration with celso piña. it's a great song and the video is another with some beautiful footage of working-class monterrey, mexico. cumbia poder : celso piña & el gran silencio
Unfortunately, This "illegal alien [sic] costume" is only the beginning. Amazon also has a host of other racist costumes for sale. Thanks to the good work of CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles), Target has pulled the above item from its on-line store (yay!), but a whole slew of other websites are still selling it. The UFW has an e-mail campaign to get the costume pulled from Walgreens, Toys R Us, and Amazon (although internet rumors have it that Toys R Us has just pulled the item, too).
An even funner way to join the campaign is to go to one of the following sites and submit a customer review that reads something along the lines of “THIS PRODUCT IS A RACIST PIECE OF SHIT.”
ok, so i guess i'm kind of on a roll with all these recommendations. will return to regular programming here soon. but in the meantime there's the arab film festival in sf (& la), october 15th-25th. directed by michel shehadeh, it's really one of the best in the bay area (which has some film festival or other running at almost all times of year). ziad was on the jury for this year's awards. he highly recommends: ein shams / eye of the sun : ibrahim el batout (egypt)
hey, did we really need another coming-of-age film about a young woman overcoming adversity & her parents, and defying cherished societal gender roles in the process?
as it turns out, yes! we did! ooohh, everyone i know who has seen whip it has loved it. drew barrymore's directorial debut is based on the novel derby girland it's really good. our heroine, bliss, finds herself drawn away from the world of texas beauty pageants and irresistibly towards the injury-producing warehouse contact sport of women's roller derby. yes!!! roller derby, of course, involves fishnet stockings & short skirts, lots of eyeliner, and roller skates. plus trying to knock the hell out of your opponents as you crash past them with great agility at a very high speed. something for everyone, in other words. anyways it's so sweet, so funny, and a very quick two hours of a movie!
here's a trailer :
thankfully the (waaay overused for decades) devo song is nowhere to be found in the film. but the soundtrack, like the ladies of roller derby, kicks ass. here are some selections... enjoy! and vete al cine!
cannonball : the breeders
heart in a cage : the strokes
kids : mgmt
sheena is a punk rocker : the ramones
pot kettle black : tilly & the wall
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and because it is again that holiday, a brief public service announcement: fuck columbus!!!!!
Meet (if you haven’t already) Huichol Muscial, five chamacos from Nayarit who play completely unplugged music using traditional Huichol instrumentation. Y hasta cantan en su idioma (see YouTube for the “Cusinela” video, which I could not find an embedding code for). In the interview below, HM gives props to las cusinelas – las mujeres - for the work that they do. And in the new video – “Que Feo Se Siente” - they hold it down for life on the rancho.
Que feo se siente, / How bad it feels
Ya se está secando el rancho, / The rancho is drying up Las vacas ya no dan leche / The cows have no more milk Las gallinas no dan huevos / The chickens don’t lay anymore eggs No hay chamba para la gente. / There is not work for the people
Que feo se siente, que feo se siente / How bad it feels, how bad it feels
Antes llenabas la traj / Before you could fill the trailer Con maíz y con frijol / With corn and beans Ahora está llena de olotes / Now it’s full of corn cobs Fue lo que la milpa dio / That’s all that the cornfield gave…
If you haven’t done so already today, take a moment to honor your ancestors and commit at least one good anti-colonial act of resistance.
speaking of ineffectual, delusional, & apologist international "peace" entities, the nobel prize committee has awarded the peace prize to u.s. president barack obama.
foto : salon tango finals, world championship in buenos aires, august 2009. by natacha pisarenko (ap) apparently tango made it onto unesco's "representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity". whatever. the compiling of such a finite list of deserving cultural "elements" and allocating protected status & funding on that basis is ummm, problematic. and ridiculously far away from such realities as war & imperialism. and of course unesco, like all un-related entities, is sketchy to say the least.
but dios! tango issooooo beautiful, isn't it? originating in the poor immigrant neighborhoods of buenos aires & montevideo, it was most likely first danced by (& between) young men who worked in the río de la plata ports in the early 1900s. that's a bit of distance from the glammed-up ballroom version that people tend to imagine as tango today, but you know how it goes...
foto : buenos aires. young men dancing (among men) and listening to tango, circa 1900. (from the museum of tango, buenos aires)
tango music & dance have experienced in recent years a sort of resurgence owing to modern pop cultural reinterpretations. those arguably do more to rescue them from declining into obscurity than the unesco designation will. and maybe are also bringing back a bit of the more street-level consumption, no?
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siento un dolor / i feel pain muy dentro de mi corazon / so deep in my heart si amarte es un pecado / if to love you is a sin yo me quemo pues / i'll burn then en el infierno junto a vos / next to you in hell : tango del pecado (calle 13)
tango + electronica = pa' bailar : bajofondo
tango + reggaeton = tango del pecado : calle 13
tango + mas electronica = mente fragil : tanghetto
tango + mas electronica + argentine hiphop = mi confesión : gotan projectw/ koxmoz
tango + rock en español = mareo : bajofondo w/ gustavo cerati
tango + popular revolt = queremos paz : gotan project
Mercedes Sosa, cantante de canciones de lucha y movimientos, fallecio hoy a los 74 años de edad en Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mercedes Sosa era conocida por sus canciones acerca de liberacion, guerra, vida, amor, y muerte. Su voz era una de las mas reconocidas por los movimientos revolucionarios en Sur y Centro America, especialmente por sus canciones acerca del poder del pueblo y de las condiciones inhumanas del los obreros y pobres. Aunque aveces nos quebro el corazon, por 40 años compartir su voz y talento con el mundo.
Que descanses en paz Mercedes, y gracias a la vida, que nos dio el regalo de tu voz....
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Mercedes Sosa, singer of timeless songs about struggle and movements, passed away today at the age of 74 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mercedes Sosa was known for her songs about life, death, war, liberation, and love. Her voice was one of the most recognized by revolutionary movements in Central and South America, especially for her songs about people power and the inhumane conditions of the workers and the poor. Although she sometimes broke our heart, for 40 years she shared her voice and talent with the world.
Rest in Peace Mercedes, and thank you to life, that gave us the gift of your voice.....
"Solo le Pido a Dios"/ "I only ask for God"
Solo le pido a Dios/ I only ask for God que el dolor no me sea indiferente/ that I do not feel indifferent to the suffering que la reseca muerte no me encuentre/that the withering death does not find me vacia y sola sin haber hecho lo suficiente/ empty and alone without having done enough
Mercedes Sosa y Pablo Milanes: Nos Vamos Poniendo Viejos
you know (yes, i know you know), lots of "journalism" is such garbage. and local tv news is at the top of that list, right above most (increasingly de-skilled & concentrated / centralized) "local" city newspapers.
it is, however, good for a laugh once in awhile! gotta love youtube for this kind of thing...
oh my gosh did you catch the expression on the co-anchor's face on the second one? hilarious.
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as for avoiding the vast array of media basura, may i suggest the following for generally high-quality writing (i mean, god, is it really so difficult?), relevant content, & useful analysis...
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