Muertos

It's Nov 2 again. Time to remember the grandparents, light some candles, and enjoy a piece of dead bread (pan de muertos). All of this is done best, of course, with some musical accompaniment...


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la dibaólica:

a few months ago, se murió mario benedetti. he was a beloved uruguayan poet & leftist militant, whose work is still recited from memory all over the americas. here he is with his camarada, musician daniel viglietti, performing "refranivocos" as viglietti plays "the devil in paradise" by violeta parra. ¡viva benedetti!


refranivocos / el diablo en el paraíso: mario benedetti / daniel viglietti

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La Cumbiambera:

The original plan for this post was to honor people who have in the last year gone on to the spirit world. Blame it on the baby, but La Cumbiambera just couldn’t get focused. So I went back to an old favorite – Quetzal – and this song “Limones Agrios,” which was composed after the passing of two of the band members’ grandfather. The song is dear to my heart because the old man lived in Oxnard, CA, which is just down the road from where my grandparents live, and because the song's central metaphor is the lemon tree. The area surrounding Oxnard is home to a huge agricultural industry, and in particular citrus orchards, so the metaphor is not random. Neither is my attachment to it as my family, beginning with my great-grandparents, has worked for many generations as laborers in the very orchards referred to in this song. Today I remember those who work the land. La tierra pertenece a quien la trabaja.


Limones Agrios: Quetzal

Más Allá

This post has been plagued by technical difficulties, so by now it might be old news that last Wednesday evening a man threatened to jump from the Crown Hotel on Valencia Street in S.F. In response, the police halted all foot and vehicular traffic along block between 16th & 17th Street on Valencia, thereby causing people to pool at the street corners to see if there was anything to see.

I was one of the passersby who stared up at the haunting skyline as the man sat at the edge, hunched over, legs dangling, with the October breeze as the only buffer between himself and the sidewalk that lay five stories below. Meanwhile, people stared. And took pictures. And called their friends. And said horrible things. As someone who has stood on that edge before, I was overcome with immense sadness and was reminded of a time when I was comforted by this song:


"Más Allá", La Ley

"Tengo ganas de brillar / I want to shine

y mi luz esta apagada / but my light has gone out

no tenía a nadie a quien culpar / I didn’t haven anyone to blame

y nadie culpabilizaba / and nobody blamed me

Hay algo más o algo menos / There is something more or something less

me da igual si mas o menos / I don’t care whether it’s more or less

dejé morir, dejé vivir / I’ve stopped living, I’ve stopped dying

Estoy hundiéndome en la oscuridad del mar / I am drowning in the darkness of the sea

aquí no hay aire pero al fin podré llegar / There’s no air here but I will finally arrive

Más allá …/ Beyond…"

"Más Allá" was written after La Ley's lead singer Beto Cuevas was informed of a young fan who took her life supposedly because she was obsessed with Cuevas and could not get close to him. I say “supposedly” because the purported reason a person chooses to end her life is never the real reason. The decision to commit suicide cannot be explained by the severity of a person’s particular set of challenges, but rather how that person’s brain reacts to the stresses in her life. This is why some people see their entire families get murdered during war and some of these people choose to keep on living. And why a person living a comparatively privileged life might go through a bad break-up and choose to kill herself then. I have done a lot of reading on this subject, have tried vairous types of therapies, have spoken intimately about this subject to many depressed and non-depressed people, and as far as I can tell, the bottom line is this: some of us are blessed with brains that have stable chemical balances. Others of us are not so lucky.

P.S. For insight on this topic, I recommend “The Mood Cure” by Julia Ross. Whether you are struggling with your own depression or have been impacted by the inexplicable behavior of someone you love, Julia Ross' easy to understand explanations of brain chemistry and its effects on mood shifts is enlightening.

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.