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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