Twenty years ago I was a college student looking for anything to distract me from having to reading 5 books and 10 scholarly articles by next Tuesday. Back then, the internet was so new. Everything was so interesting. Every page linked to easily to the next.
Since then not much has changed. At this very moment I am supposed to be archiving some blogs posts for work, which means I am fishing around in the blog world, which means, as you can see, I am only half working.
Here are a three of my favorite time-killers. The first two are oldies but goodies, and, sadly, still timely. The third is just plain silly.
muslimswearingthings.tumblr.com
peppersprayingcop.tumblr.com
animalstalkinginallcaps.tumblr.com
(mostly stupidly obscene, but there are some real gems)
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Dance parties, ducks and Michael Jackson
I took Nayáhuari to a dance party this weekend. Not a post-church mariachi, sonidero and packs of kids running between the tablecloths kind of party, but a good old urban house party with 1 child (mine), 90 adults, chips, alcohol, and a DJ in the living room. Considering that my toddler’s bedtime is midnight anyway, she fared rather well, athough she was more interested in the snacks and less enthused by the unfamiliar 80’s and 90’s hip-hop/R&B soundtrack that had the crowd of thirty-somethings strutting all over the dance floor.
Not surprisingly, Nayáhuari has also shown indifference to my favorite Pocoyó episode. Now for all you out there with pequeñitas y pequeñitos, if you haven’t already found Pocoyó, you should check him out. He’s a little blue cartoon character who—along with the help of a pink elephant (surely a nod to Dumbo’s drunken dream), a duck, a blue bird, and a neurotically happy yellow worm—helps small children explore real-life challenges, such as saying good-bye to someone you love and fessing up when you’ve broken someone else’s toy. Each episode comes with it’s life lesson, but in an effort to reach out to the parent set, they are also just plain funny.
Here is one of my favorite Pocoyó episodes, with Pato and Pocoyó battling on the dance floor, and Ely, the pink elephant, as DJ.
Pato’s performance of Michael Jackson and Pocoyó’s arena rock number (with an octopus on his head!) has me clicking the replay icon over and over. But after one viewing, Nayáhauri was ready to move on to a different episode. Reminds me of how at the party last Friday, she was not moved to dance to Prince or the Jackson Five but instead shouted to me, “¡No tanto fuerte la música, que los árboles están dormidos!”
P.S You can also find Pocoyó on YouTube in English, and in a Latin American edition, but on this rare occasion I assert that the Spaniards are doing it better.
Not surprisingly, Nayáhuari has also shown indifference to my favorite Pocoyó episode. Now for all you out there with pequeñitas y pequeñitos, if you haven’t already found Pocoyó, you should check him out. He’s a little blue cartoon character who—along with the help of a pink elephant (surely a nod to Dumbo’s drunken dream), a duck, a blue bird, and a neurotically happy yellow worm—helps small children explore real-life challenges, such as saying good-bye to someone you love and fessing up when you’ve broken someone else’s toy. Each episode comes with it’s life lesson, but in an effort to reach out to the parent set, they are also just plain funny.
Here is one of my favorite Pocoyó episodes, with Pato and Pocoyó battling on the dance floor, and Ely, the pink elephant, as DJ.
Pato’s performance of Michael Jackson and Pocoyó’s arena rock number (with an octopus on his head!) has me clicking the replay icon over and over. But after one viewing, Nayáhauri was ready to move on to a different episode. Reminds me of how at the party last Friday, she was not moved to dance to Prince or the Jackson Five but instead shouted to me, “¡No tanto fuerte la música, que los árboles están dormidos!”
P.S You can also find Pocoyó on YouTube in English, and in a Latin American edition, but on this rare occasion I assert that the Spaniards are doing it better.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Loving Lupe (Fiasco)
Spending the holidays with my nephews meant I also got to spend some qt with Lupe.
Here’s a great fan video for “And He Gets the Girl”
Here’s a great fan video for “And He Gets the Girl”
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Music for the (little) people
Since moving to New York I have been on the hunt for music shows to take my kid too. Carnegie Hall has some wonderful acts, but it’s not exactly an appropriate atmosphere for an active two and a half year old. Then there's the language dilemma. Finding good kids’ music is tough, and finding it in Spanish is even tougher.
One day I picked up a flyer at the public library announcing “Fati & Charles: Enjoy kids music from Latin America.” The design was was simple: all text, no image. With an introduction like that it was going to be pretty hit or miss. However, we didn’t have anything else to do that Friday, so Nayáhuari and I headed out in the rain and arrived a few minutes late only to find our humble neighborhood library transformed something like a kids rock arena. Upstairs in the only open space in the tiny building around 30 Jewish and Chinese kids were jumping and singing at the top of their lungs – in Spanish.
A Fati and Charles show lasts about an hour and consists of the pair teaching movements to accompany their original songs. During the show the kids dance with hats on their heads and with huge animal shaped sponges in their hands. They throw the props up in the air and then pick them up again, singing “equipo chócalo cinco” and giving high-fives all around. They even stage a protest with picket signs expressing their desire to do it "SOLO." This video does not at all do justice to the infectious collective energy of their live shows (and it's missing the picket signs) but it is one of Nayáhuari’s favorite tracks from their album El Baile del Sombrero.
One day I picked up a flyer at the public library announcing “Fati & Charles: Enjoy kids music from Latin America.” The design was was simple: all text, no image. With an introduction like that it was going to be pretty hit or miss. However, we didn’t have anything else to do that Friday, so Nayáhuari and I headed out in the rain and arrived a few minutes late only to find our humble neighborhood library transformed something like a kids rock arena. Upstairs in the only open space in the tiny building around 30 Jewish and Chinese kids were jumping and singing at the top of their lungs – in Spanish.
Fati and Charles performing in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
A Fati and Charles show lasts about an hour and consists of the pair teaching movements to accompany their original songs. During the show the kids dance with hats on their heads and with huge animal shaped sponges in their hands. They throw the props up in the air and then pick them up again, singing “equipo chócalo cinco” and giving high-fives all around. They even stage a protest with picket signs expressing their desire to do it "SOLO." This video does not at all do justice to the infectious collective energy of their live shows (and it's missing the picket signs) but it is one of Nayáhuari’s favorite tracks from their album El Baile del Sombrero.
Fati & Charles wrote a grant to do a series of shows in the public libraries. None of this capitalizing on the wealthy New Yorker market and offering music in Spanish for tots at $300 per semester in rich white neighborhoods. No. Fati & Charles play in the festivals & library circuit—open, public spaces. And as long as they are doing that, their music remains accessible to the little people, which is exactly how music should be.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Amor y Música
Mothering with songs of protest
Ever since I had a child, my daughter has become the calibrator for my interaction with music. Not only have I become a homebody, missing show after fabulous show (Bunbury, Calamaro, Enanitos + Hombres G! Ouch!), I would rather give in to listening to the music she wants than contend with her toddler stubbornness/potential tantrums just to listen to HDS Would Tour 2007 for the three millionth time, let alone listen to a new recording that I may or may not even like.
Before she could talk, Nayáhuari indicated if she wanted more of something with an inflected “Mmm?” She used it for everything – tortillas, games, and of course music. She could nominate songs for our “Rolas Favoritas de la Chunk” playlist by simply giving the “Mmm?” seal of approval when a song ended. However, if she said this in the middle of a song, it was her cue that track didn’t make the cut, and I had to hit the fwd button to keep her from going into an “Mmm? Mmm? MMMMM!” rampage.
Early on I was looking for songs in Spanish she might like. De Colores seemed to be a hit when I sang it to her, so I dug up the old Joan Baez recording of it that another hippie Chicana—my mom—used to listen to on her Gracias a La Vida LP. Baez’s arrangement got an instant “Mmm?” seal of approval from Nayáhuari and was soon transferred to our “Favoritas” playlist. One day, in an attempt to expand my child’s repertoire, I let the Gracias a La Vida album play in its entirety. Most songs were met with an instant “Mmm?”, indicating that my toddler was not interested in letting the particular track finish. But towards the end of the album, my then one and half year old child let this song go on uninterrupted.
It seems appropriate that my child would bring me back to the songs of my own childhood. This album, which preceded Linda Ronstadt’s Canciones de Mi Padre by ten years, was Baez’s tribute to her Latino roots and among my earliest exposure to the protest music of the era. Joan Baez recorded this album for the people of Chile, then living under Pinochet’s ruthless dictatorship, and I remember the distinct feelings of hope and freedom it inspired in me, even at the tender ages of 3, 4, 5, and 6 years old, which were the years when we still had an LP player in our living room, and the scratchy note songs like Gracias a La Vida, Cucurúcucu Paloma, Te Recuerdo Amanda, and De Colores left their stamp in my mind and my imagination. Maybe it was the image of Joan raising a hand towards the heavens framed by the bright purple of album’ cover. Whatever the inspiration, the seeds to my future activism were there, in the music that moved me even before I could understand the words (I grew up speaking English and didn’t become bilingual until much later in life).
These days, Nayáhuari knows the words to De Colores. She has a blast imitating Magaby’s Pequeños Gigantes performance of Cucurúcucu Paloma, and she still wants to hear Las Madres Cansadas twenty times in a row. My hope is that these songs will also make a place for themselves in her heart and in her mind and that their presence in her life will guide her—on whatever path she chooses—to walk with a passion for justice, with optimism, and with hope.
For lyrics to the English version Las Madres Cansadas, see:
http://www.joanbaez.com/Lyrics/wearymothers.html
Ever since I had a child, my daughter has become the calibrator for my interaction with music. Not only have I become a homebody, missing show after fabulous show (Bunbury, Calamaro, Enanitos + Hombres G! Ouch!), I would rather give in to listening to the music she wants than contend with her toddler stubbornness/potential tantrums just to listen to HDS Would Tour 2007 for the three millionth time, let alone listen to a new recording that I may or may not even like.
Before she could talk, Nayáhuari indicated if she wanted more of something with an inflected “Mmm?” She used it for everything – tortillas, games, and of course music. She could nominate songs for our “Rolas Favoritas de la Chunk” playlist by simply giving the “Mmm?” seal of approval when a song ended. However, if she said this in the middle of a song, it was her cue that track didn’t make the cut, and I had to hit the fwd button to keep her from going into an “Mmm? Mmm? MMMMM!” rampage.
Early on I was looking for songs in Spanish she might like. De Colores seemed to be a hit when I sang it to her, so I dug up the old Joan Baez recording of it that another hippie Chicana—my mom—used to listen to on her Gracias a La Vida LP. Baez’s arrangement got an instant “Mmm?” seal of approval from Nayáhuari and was soon transferred to our “Favoritas” playlist. One day, in an attempt to expand my child’s repertoire, I let the Gracias a La Vida album play in its entirety. Most songs were met with an instant “Mmm?”, indicating that my toddler was not interested in letting the particular track finish. But towards the end of the album, my then one and half year old child let this song go on uninterrupted.
It seems appropriate that my child would bring me back to the songs of my own childhood. This album, which preceded Linda Ronstadt’s Canciones de Mi Padre by ten years, was Baez’s tribute to her Latino roots and among my earliest exposure to the protest music of the era. Joan Baez recorded this album for the people of Chile, then living under Pinochet’s ruthless dictatorship, and I remember the distinct feelings of hope and freedom it inspired in me, even at the tender ages of 3, 4, 5, and 6 years old, which were the years when we still had an LP player in our living room, and the scratchy note songs like Gracias a La Vida, Cucurúcucu Paloma, Te Recuerdo Amanda, and De Colores left their stamp in my mind and my imagination. Maybe it was the image of Joan raising a hand towards the heavens framed by the bright purple of album’ cover. Whatever the inspiration, the seeds to my future activism were there, in the music that moved me even before I could understand the words (I grew up speaking English and didn’t become bilingual until much later in life).
These days, Nayáhuari knows the words to De Colores. She has a blast imitating Magaby’s Pequeños Gigantes performance of Cucurúcucu Paloma, and she still wants to hear Las Madres Cansadas twenty times in a row. My hope is that these songs will also make a place for themselves in her heart and in her mind and that their presence in her life will guide her—on whatever path she chooses—to walk with a passion for justice, with optimism, and with hope.
For lyrics to the English version Las Madres Cansadas, see:
http://www.joanbaez.com/Lyrics/wearymothers.html
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
naco es chido : psa
oh my god, you guys, i didn't know mexicans have mockumentaries too! ja!
see it next month at artist television access in sf on wednesday, august 31 @ 7pm :) i have just watched the trailer 3 times.
naco es chido : sergio arau
see it next month at artist television access in sf on wednesday, august 31 @ 7pm :) i have just watched the trailer 3 times.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
facundo cabral
i was so sorry to wake up to this news today, and can still hardly believe this happened to one of our most beloved viejito folk singers...
facundo cabral was assassinated in guatemala city early this morning.
everything is too quiet now.
no soy de aquí, ni soy de allá : facundo cabral
**
yo bailo con mi canción
y no con la que me tocan,
yo no soy la libertad,
pero si el que la provoca.
si ya conozco el camino
para que voy a andar acostado,
si la libertad me gusta
para que voy a vivir de esclavo
...
i dance to my own song
not the one they play for me
i am not freedom
but i am he who incites her
if i know the way
already
why would i go lying down?
if i love freedom
why would i live as a slave?
**
:( que descanses en paz, facundo cabral...
Monday, May 30, 2011
the revolution will be live
the revolution will be no re-run, brothers.
the revolution will be live.
**
thank you.
we almost lost detroit : gil scott heron
**
april 1, 1949 – may 27, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
el profeta
luís sent me all these rockdrigo links recently, and an email that said: i consider him a working class revolutionary poet who really connects with the people...
i especially love this one, so mexico city ...
i agree! and i'm surprised the beloved df roquero (epd) has not made an appearance here until now. oops! pues, better late than never.
i especially love this one, so mexico city ...
rockdrigo gonzález : balada del asalariado (ballad of the working man)
me asome a la ventana
y vi venir al cartero
me entretuve pensando
en una carta de amor.
mas no, no, no...
eran la cuenta del refri
y del televisor
...
y vi venir al cartero
me entretuve pensando
en una carta de amor.
mas no, no, no...
eran la cuenta del refri
y del televisor
...
me asome a mis adentros
solo vi viejos cuentos,
y una manera insolita
de sobrevivir
mire hacia todos lados
dije: dios que ha pasado?
nada muchacho
solo eres un asalariado
**
and this one, metro balderas. of course, performed in the estación balderas. classic.
solo vi viejos cuentos,
y una manera insolita
de sobrevivir
mire hacia todos lados
dije: dios que ha pasado?
nada muchacho
solo eres un asalariado
**
and this one, metro balderas. of course, performed in the estación balderas. classic.
you should check out the comments to his songs on youtube, so much love for this guy. mixed with sentimental laments about his death. mixed with complaints that the rocanrol of today isn't. so great, and really only he could elicit all that.
¡que viva rockrigo! thank you, luís!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
mantenlo prendido
oh man, the bomba estereo show at the independent tonight is sold out! i'm supposed to go for a birthday present :) i hope we get in!!
last time i saw colombianos perform at the independent was a couple years ago at the aterciopelados show in april 09. and i remember i got into it with this guy from barranquilla. he came up next to me, and wanted to talk. about colombia. had i ever been, do i know barranquilla, bla bla bla. he was telling me how beautiful it is, his country. and how safe for visitors now. i must of looked at him like he was insane when he said that. excellent, i said. safe for tourists, but one of the most dangerous places on earth if you're a trade unionist.
incidentally, i'm an aries, born in the year of the dragon, specifically the year of FIRE dragon. can you get more FUEGO than that? i don't think so.
last time i saw colombianos perform at the independent was a couple years ago at the aterciopelados show in april 09. and i remember i got into it with this guy from barranquilla. he came up next to me, and wanted to talk. about colombia. had i ever been, do i know barranquilla, bla bla bla. he was telling me how beautiful it is, his country. and how safe for visitors now. i must of looked at him like he was insane when he said that. excellent, i said. safe for tourists, but one of the most dangerous places on earth if you're a trade unionist.
and then i told him, i know it's beautiful. my colombian friend spoke to me often about exactly that, how very very very beautiful it is. how he missed it every day, how more than anything he longed to go back. the guy looked confused and concerned. he was exiled, i said. pause, more confusion / concern. because he was a militant in the armed struggle. his eyes opened wide and that was the end of the conversation.
**
incidentally, i'm an aries, born in the year of the dragon, specifically the year of FIRE dragon. can you get more FUEGO than that? i don't think so.
fuego : bomba estereo
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
bajo control obrero
brother,
dime que camino estamos tomando
vete preparando
ya está comenzando
: karamelo santo, haciendo bulla
**
welcome to the reclaimed hotel bauen, buenos aires, argentina. bajo control obrero/under worker control :)
right now they are getting ready for
¡¡festi-bauen!!
@ 5pm : 28 march 2011
plaza de los dos congresos
buenos aires, argentina
featuring dub-cumbia-ska-roqueros karamelo santo and also expropriados, the hotel workers' band (nice band name!). i want to go! but i am here ;( if you are there, this is for you...
¡¡expropriación YA!!
**
the argentine military coup happened almost exactly 35 years ago, at dawn on march 24th 1976.
this clip is set to haciendo bulla (making noise) by karamelo santo. on the anniversary of the coup, let's have some tribute to many years of heroic argentine popular struggle... brought to you by the madres, abuelas, hijos, piqueteros, & obreros, aka the people of argentina!
¡¡¡todo el poder al pueblo!!!
dime que camino estamos tomando
vete preparando
ya está comenzando
: karamelo santo, haciendo bulla
**
welcome to the reclaimed hotel bauen, buenos aires, argentina. bajo control obrero/under worker control :)
right now they are getting ready for
¡¡festi-bauen!!
@ 5pm : 28 march 2011
plaza de los dos congresos
buenos aires, argentina
featuring dub-cumbia-ska-roqueros karamelo santo and also expropriados, the hotel workers' band (nice band name!). i want to go! but i am here ;( if you are there, this is for you...
¡¡expropriación YA!!
**
the argentine military coup happened almost exactly 35 years ago, at dawn on march 24th 1976.
this clip is set to haciendo bulla (making noise) by karamelo santo. on the anniversary of the coup, let's have some tribute to many years of heroic argentine popular struggle... brought to you by the madres, abuelas, hijos, piqueteros, & obreros, aka the people of argentina!
¡¡¡todo el poder al pueblo!!!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
what makes a movement?
and how does a movement move?...
the left forum (artist formerly known as the socialist scholars' conference) takes place in nyc starting tomorrow...
left forum 2011
the new solidarity
the new solidarity
march 18th - 20th
pace university
new york
**
without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.
: lenin
we sayin' something like this—we saying that theory's cool, but theory with no practice ain't shit.
: fred hampton jr.
maraming salamat to sergio :)
**
without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.
: lenin
we sayin' something like this—we saying that theory's cool, but theory with no practice ain't shit.
: fred hampton jr.
maraming salamat to sergio :)
Monday, March 14, 2011
we dont need no occupation
roger waters, of pink floyd, in the guardian:
In 1980, a song I wrote, Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, was banned by the government of South Africa because it was being used by black South African children to advocate their right to equal education. That apartheid government imposed a cultural blockade, so to speak, on certain songs, including mine.
Twenty-five years later, in 2005, Palestinian children participating in a West Bank festival used the song to protest against Israel's wall around the West Bank. They sang: "We don't need no occupation! We don't need no racist wall!"
...
Artists were right to refuse to play in South Africa's Sun City resort until apartheid fell and white people and black people enjoyed equal rights. And we are right to refuse to play in Israel until the day comes – and it surely will come – when the wall of occupation falls ...
**
palestine will be free : maher zain
In 1980, a song I wrote, Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, was banned by the government of South Africa because it was being used by black South African children to advocate their right to equal education. That apartheid government imposed a cultural blockade, so to speak, on certain songs, including mine.
Twenty-five years later, in 2005, Palestinian children participating in a West Bank festival used the song to protest against Israel's wall around the West Bank. They sang: "We don't need no occupation! We don't need no racist wall!"
...
Artists were right to refuse to play in South Africa's Sun City resort until apartheid fell and white people and black people enjoyed equal rights. And we are right to refuse to play in Israel until the day comes – and it surely will come – when the wall of occupation falls ...
**
palestine will be free : maher zain
admittedly, islamic r&b is not my most favorite style. but what a beautifully animated video, no? and what beautiful sentiments. ¡¡palestina sera libré!!
prince was here
you can be the president
i’d rather be the pope
you can be the side effect
i’d rather be the dope
why don’t pop songs have lyrics like that anymore?
**
prince was here a couple weeks ago, and left all this prince-dust floating around in his wake. i heard lots of gushing testimony about his shows (including a guest appearance by sheila e singing glamorous life?! wow). and then i was walking along broadway and this car drove up and stopped at the light, playing prince on the stereo oakland-style at high volume like a public service.
i wanna be your
the car drove off but this lady walking next to me took up right where he left off...
lover
was great. thanks, prince. thanks, prince fanáticas!
i grew up listening to prince, in part because my teenage cousin was super obsessed. i remember her car ceiling was full of tiny prince pins and her part of the bedroom wall she shared with her sister was full of half-naked prince pictures. at family weddings we would always bother the dj until he relented to play little red corvette. it was always the same. we would keep asking at regular intervals. he would finally play it, and the kids would run to take over the dance floor while the adults sat this one out waiting for the rancheras or whatever to resume.
**
i could never take the place of your man : prince
i'm going leaving you with this, from his recent show at the oakland coliseum. can i just say this man is 52 years old?
thank you, amy :)
i’d rather be the pope
you can be the side effect
i’d rather be the dope
why don’t pop songs have lyrics like that anymore?
**
prince was here a couple weeks ago, and left all this prince-dust floating around in his wake. i heard lots of gushing testimony about his shows (including a guest appearance by sheila e singing glamorous life?! wow). and then i was walking along broadway and this car drove up and stopped at the light, playing prince on the stereo oakland-style at high volume like a public service.
i wanna be your
the car drove off but this lady walking next to me took up right where he left off...
lover
was great. thanks, prince. thanks, prince fanáticas!
i grew up listening to prince, in part because my teenage cousin was super obsessed. i remember her car ceiling was full of tiny prince pins and her part of the bedroom wall she shared with her sister was full of half-naked prince pictures. at family weddings we would always bother the dj until he relented to play little red corvette. it was always the same. we would keep asking at regular intervals. he would finally play it, and the kids would run to take over the dance floor while the adults sat this one out waiting for the rancheras or whatever to resume.
**
i could never take the place of your man : prince
i'm going leaving you with this, from his recent show at the oakland coliseum. can i just say this man is 52 years old?
thank you, amy :)
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
wow, nice work defaming the memory of sandino,
ortega.
on the anniversary of augusto sandino's death, daniel ortega, sinverguenza former revolutionary leader and current president of nicaragua, mentioned he has been talking a lot these days to his murderous lunatic friend, muammar gaddafi:
Daniel Ortega says he has telephoned Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to express his solidarity. Ortega says he has called several times this week because Gadhafi "is again waging a great battle" to defend the unity of his nation.
**
i actually didn't think it was possible for ortega to be any more of an asshole than he was already. i suppose i was wrong. i mean, he sold out the people of nicaragua a long time ago and hasn't looked back since, but still. how are you going to express solidarity with a dictator's massacre of democracy demonstrators? vete al infierno, señor ortega and take your friend with you.
since ortega decided to utter this mierda in a sandino commemoration, let me also take this moment to reclaim a bit of sandino's honorable legacy, which certainly belongs to the incredibly heroic popular forces in libya trying to bring down a tyrant, and not to that tyrant and his friends...
**
nosotros iremos hacia el sol de la libertad o hacia la muerte
y si morimos, nuestra causa seguirá viviendo, otros nos seguirán
we will go towards the sun of freedom or until death
and if we die, our cause continues living, because others after us will follow
: augusto césar sandino
all power to the people! abajo gadafi!! ¡¡¡que viva que viva que viva libia!!!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
imperialists ruin everything
an understatement, of course... but this is so yuck! a tiny spy drone in the form of a fake hummingbird...
**
so, in honor of the chuparosas de verdad, and the anti-imperialists everywhere, here are some sweet lines from neruda’s oda al picaflor:
oh
mínimo
relámpago
viviente,
cuando se
sostiene
en el aire
tu
estructura
de polen,
pluma
o brasa,
te pregunto,
¿qué cosa eres,
en dónde
te originas?
**
and silvio’s version of colibrí y la flor. he explains in the introduction that this is the song his mother would sing as a lullaby, and he believes this is the song from which all his other songs come...
and for good measure here also is duo guardabarranco's colibrí...
¡a la chingada with mechanical counter-insurgency animals of any kind!
**
so, in honor of the chuparosas de verdad, and the anti-imperialists everywhere, here are some sweet lines from neruda’s oda al picaflor:
oh
mínimo
relámpago
viviente,
cuando se
sostiene
en el aire
tu
estructura
de polen,
pluma
o brasa,
te pregunto,
¿qué cosa eres,
en dónde
te originas?
**
and silvio’s version of colibrí y la flor. he explains in the introduction that this is the song his mother would sing as a lullaby, and he believes this is the song from which all his other songs come...
and for good measure here also is duo guardabarranco's colibrí...
¡a la chingada with mechanical counter-insurgency animals of any kind!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
a la revolución en egipto... a valentine
dime si te causo una revolución,
dime si te hago cambiar tu canción,
dime si te hago suspirar,
dime si te haré volver a empezar...
**
querido pueblo egipcio:
we love you for reminding us of what millions of people & a burning desire for freedom and justice can do. we love you for your most beautiful victory against a most ugly u.s. client state regime. we love you because even though bringing down the dictator is not the same thing as dismantling the dictatorship, we know that you are just getting started!
تحيا مصر! ¡que viva egipto!
♥ ♥ ♥
**
friday was such the happiest day in recent memory, no? even all the way over here. i had a difficult time believing it was true at first, then all of a sudden there were all these text messages & emails, so many notes from friends & camarads who were 1. dancing or 2. in tears or 3. both. when i finally tore myself away from al-jazeera english (and live broadcasted scenes of the biggest street party ever in the history of the world), i set out for work in downtown oakland. i stopped downstairs in our building for some caffeine, and the palestinian owner greeted me, smiling, did you hear? he said an egyptian women had just come in and bought 12 dozen cookies for the entire floor of her office building to celebrate. a few minutes later my mom, who had emailed recently to say that the egyptians & their revolution were in her prayers, texted me: yay egyptians! god bless them!!!
for reals.
**
love songs for the revolution...
#Jan25 Egypt : Omar Offendum, The Narcicyst, Freeway, Ayah, & Amir Sulaiman
Long Live Egypt : Scarabeuz & Omima
The Sound of Freedom : Amir Eid & Hany Adel
Egypt: Rise to Freedom : Basha Beats & Natacha Atlas
Back Down Mubarak : Master Mimz
Ezzai : Mohamed Mounir
**
adelante, egipto & tunez!! let's go algeria, yemen, jordan!
dime si te hago cambiar tu canción,
dime si te hago suspirar,
dime si te haré volver a empezar...
**
querido pueblo egipcio:
we love you for reminding us of what millions of people & a burning desire for freedom and justice can do. we love you for your most beautiful victory against a most ugly u.s. client state regime. we love you because even though bringing down the dictator is not the same thing as dismantling the dictatorship, we know that you are just getting started!
تحيا مصر! ¡que viva egipto!
♥ ♥ ♥
**
friday was such the happiest day in recent memory, no? even all the way over here. i had a difficult time believing it was true at first, then all of a sudden there were all these text messages & emails, so many notes from friends & camarads who were 1. dancing or 2. in tears or 3. both. when i finally tore myself away from al-jazeera english (and live broadcasted scenes of the biggest street party ever in the history of the world), i set out for work in downtown oakland. i stopped downstairs in our building for some caffeine, and the palestinian owner greeted me, smiling, did you hear? he said an egyptian women had just come in and bought 12 dozen cookies for the entire floor of her office building to celebrate. a few minutes later my mom, who had emailed recently to say that the egyptians & their revolution were in her prayers, texted me: yay egyptians! god bless them!!!
for reals.
**
love songs for the revolution...
#Jan25 Egypt : Omar Offendum, The Narcicyst, Freeway, Ayah, & Amir Sulaiman
Long Live Egypt : Scarabeuz & Omima
The Sound of Freedom : Amir Eid & Hany Adel
Egypt: Rise to Freedom : Basha Beats & Natacha Atlas
Back Down Mubarak : Master Mimz
Ezzai : Mohamed Mounir
**
adelante, egipto & tunez!! let's go algeria, yemen, jordan!
Friday, January 28, 2011
adelante, compañer@s
Friday, December 17, 2010
hella ♥ oakland
ooohhh! so cute!! that's what i have to say about this love letter to oakland, a re-make of jay-z's empire state of mind. really, why have an empire state of mind? much better to have an oakland state of mind.
oakland state of mind : youth roots
the lyrics pay tribute to the flatland neighborhoods and legacy of movement & struggle that lives there still. and for those taking notes there are a few historic black panther party sites shown in that video, alameda county courthouse, defremery park, etc. know your history! those young people do.
one fist in the air for the town ya'll
everybody come together time to stand tall
no place in the world that can compare,
put ya fist up in the air, everybody say yeah
:)
oakland state of mind : youth roots
the lyrics pay tribute to the flatland neighborhoods and legacy of movement & struggle that lives there still. and for those taking notes there are a few historic black panther party sites shown in that video, alameda county courthouse, defremery park, etc. know your history! those young people do.
one fist in the air for the town ya'll
everybody come together time to stand tall
no place in the world that can compare,
put ya fist up in the air, everybody say yeah
oakland
:)
Friday, November 12, 2010
Amor en la Mente
Durante momentos como ahorita, cuando el racismo estanca nuestras comunidades, mientras el capitalismo corre como agua podrida por la tierra, tengo que acordarme que el amor todavia existe. Ya sea amor por tu vecino, amor por tu familia, amor por tu comunidad, o amor por tu amante, nos hace sentir algo que nos obliga ver afuera de nosotros, de pensar en algo mas que nuestras propias necesidades o interes. Durante estos tiempos dificiles, tengo que acordarme que el amor existe y alomejor no literalmente mueve montanas, pero si cruza fronteras fisicas y mentales.
Asi que aqui estan, en ningun orden, algunas de mis favoritas canciones de amor.
♥
La Pachuquita
Johnny Cash::Ring of Fire
Ramon Ayala::Un Rinconcito en el Cielo
PJ Harvey::This is Love
The Danleers::One Summer Night
Stone Temple Pilots::Still Remains
Julieta Venegas::Limon y Sal
Enanitos Verdes::Luz de Dia
Asi que aqui estan, en ningun orden, algunas de mis favoritas canciones de amor.
♥
La Pachuquita
Johnny Cash::Ring of Fire
Ramon Ayala::Un Rinconcito en el Cielo
PJ Harvey::This is Love
The Danleers::One Summer Night
Stone Temple Pilots::Still Remains
Julieta Venegas::Limon y Sal
Enanitos Verdes::Luz de Dia
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