pixies

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.



foto : ::katey::

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.


debaser : pixies



wave of mutilation : pixies



and of course...

here comes your man : pixies

Just Because

Just because I’ve been listening to a lot of Andrés Calamaro lately.

Just because this song makes me happy.

Just because this video features viejitos and kids of color hanging out on city streets.

Just because this video features musicians taking over the sidewalk.

Just because.

Andrés Calamaro, Corazón en Venta

"Feliz navidad sangrienta..."

¡felicitaciones!

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

:)

wiki guinea pig

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

Racist Halloween

I don’t even know what to say about this:

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.”

amazon.com

buycostumes.com

If you need inspiration, you can read the mierda in support of the costume here.

see also

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)



casanegra : nour-eddine lakhmari (morocco)



i will take him at his word & also throw in...

laila's birthday / eid milad laila : rachid mashrawi (palestine)



salt of this sea / milh hadha al-bahr : annemarie jacir (palestine)



...two very good films that are playing now which i've seen before.
ok ya, ándale pues.

whip it good

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 girl and 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


**

and because it is again that holiday, a brief public service announcement: fuck columbus!!!!!