El Orgullo del Golfo / The Pride of the Gulf

¡Feliz cumple, Rigo! Mejor tarde que nunca.

A pesar de haber nacido en Matamoros, Rigo empezó su carrera musical en Houston. Qué orgullo. De la wiki:

Rigoberto Tovar García ( 29 de marzo de 1946 – 27 de marzo de 2005), mejor conocido como Rigo Tovar, era un cantante y músico mexicano nacido en Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Creó una mezcla musical entre la cumbia, la balada y el bolero con elementos de rock. Muere el 27 de marzo de 2005 a causa de un paro cardiorrespiratorio.

Es considerado el padre de la Musica Grupera y Tropical, un pionero que introdujo instrumentos modernos a la dotación acostumbrada dentro de la música tropical y de cumbia (guitarras eléctricas, sintetizadores, bajo eléctrico , efectos de sampleo , órganos moog, y batería eléctrica).

Rigo empezó su carrera musical en Houston, Texas a principios de los setenta. Fue el creador del grupo "El Costa Azul", llamado así por una cantina/bar en Houston, e integrado por sus hermanos. Su primer álbum Matamoros Querido (1971) incluyó el tema homónimo y "Lamento de Amor" que fueron las que le abrieron las puertas musicalmente hablando a los Estados Unidos. Aparte de cantar canciones escritas por otros, Rigo era compositor de las letras y los aspectos musicales de sus canciones.

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¡Happy Birthday Rigo! Better late then never.

Even though he was born in Matamoros, Rigo got his start career-wise in Houston. From wiki:

Rigoberto Tovar García (March 29, 1946 – March 27, 2005) was a Mexican singer best known as Rigo Tovar, famous for his cumbia songs. Considered a musical pioneer who started fusing electric guitars, synthesizers and rock melody with traditional Mexican music.

Born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, he died a few days before his 59th birthday from diabetic complications leading to cardio-respiratory failure. Although raised in his native Matamoros, bordertown to Brownsville, Texas, United States, he got his start in Houston, Texas, in the early 1970s. His music, a blend of cumbia, tropical and rock and roll quickly gained him a large following. His first album Matamoros Querido (Beloved Matamoros) (1971) included the title song and "Lamento de Amor"(Lament of Love), both became hit singles.


La palabra del día

modoso,sa

adj. Recatado,comedido,que tiene buen comportamiento y educación: chico tímido y modoso.



°°°

Adivina el contexto. O nombra uno.

*


I
do
not
have
but
words.

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A six word memoir.


I was tagged by Chuck.


I'm not tagging anybody. But all are welcome to the challenge.

Notes on Translation, Pedophiles, Festivals in New York and Obligatory Books.

Or a to do list:

Foreskin's Lament. A book about Orthodox upbringing and dealing with ghosts of religiosity in childhood.

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Chris Morris and Paedogeddon. British dry humor about pedophiles. Always funny.

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Cipher Journal is at Yale and does literary translation. Yale is confirmed to be a sad sad place.

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Open Letter. The new publishers of books in translation from the good people at University of Rochester. Including Chad Post of the incredible Three Percent.

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Pen World Voices Festival in New York in May. Seems to be a mandatory stop. And fun, maybe too. And much good info for sure.

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Bernard Levy. I heard that he has a castle in Morocco, a castle in somewhere else, a retreat in some other far flung globe spot. But decided to write his book on Darfur in a $1000 a night resort in the South of France. He is headlining at the Pen World Voices Festival.

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I need to read the Unbearable Lightness of Being. And Wayne Kostenbaum. And more.

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Michael Henry Heim looks like Lincoln and speaks nine languages and must be respected.

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Love to fish. Blog more.

A typical leftist social climber.

A typical poetic social climber.

Be gone. All.

uno escribe
porque
no hay ocupación más torpe y desdichada
que vivir.
Gloría Gómez Guzmán

one writes
because
there is no occupation more awkward and unfortunate
than living.

Translation by John Pluecker






Para mí, tú eres la gloria.

Y ausente te quiero más.

Poettube 2008


Todos los videospoemas alrededor del tema del piropo. Organizado por la Gaby Torres. Con videopoemas de Tijuana, España, Rosarito, Houston, Monterrey y más y más.



Aquí pues.


A lot of videopoems spinning around the theme of the "piropo" or the catcall. Organized by Gaby Torres. With videopoems from Tijuana, España, Rosarito, Houston, Monterrey and more and more.


Spanish English Glossary of Legal Terminology for Immigration

Gasté horas buscando un glosario de terminología de los tribunales de inmigración. Al final encontré uno de Dagoberto Orrantia que me parece muy útil. Así que quiero que sea más fácil de encontrar en el Internet.

Aquí está el link al Glosario de Terminología Legal para los tribunales de inmigración.

°°°

I wasted hours looking for a glossary of Immigration Court terminology. Finally I found one by Dagoberto Orrantia that seems really useful. So I want it to be easier to find on the Internet.

Here is the link to the Glossary of Legal Terminology for the immigration courts.

Las ocho cosas que quiero hacer antes de morirme



The eight things that I want to do before I die.

Por pedida de Sylvia.

1) Ingeniar un plan para deshacerme de los peores vecinos en el mundo. Borrachos, feos, descuidados con el costumbre desagradable de emborracharse y gritarnos a nosotros, "Pinches putos" en los momentos menos oportunos.

1) Come up with a plan to get rid of the worst neighbors in the world. Drunkards, nasty and careless people with the unpleasant habit of getting drunk and shouting at us "Pinches putos" at the most unfortunate moments.

2) Tener un carro al que no se le mete el agua cuando llueve, uno que no me deja cien millas de Houston sin transporte porque ya no quiere jalar y uno que tiene aire condicionado y calefacción para no tener que manejar como loco cuando llueve con los vidrios todos empañados y yo con una mano en el volante y otro limpiando el agua del parabrisas con una servilleta de taquería.

2) Have a car that the water doesn't get into when it rains, one that doesn't leave me stranded 100 miles from Houston with no transportation because it doesn't want go anymore and one that has air and heat so as not to have to drive live a loco when it rains with the windows all steamed up, with one hand on the steering wheel and the other cleaning the mist from the windshield with a taquería napkin.

3) Vivir al lado de la casa de mi hermano y su familia por un tiempo, trabajar en su granja orgánica todo un verano.

3) Live next to my bro's house for a while, work on their organic farm for a whole summer.

4) Ser todo musculoso y sin panza pero con hombros bien definidos (por lo menos ese verano cuando estoy trabajando en la granja).

4) Be all muscular and with no panza but with really well-defined shoulders (at least for that summer when I'm working on the farm.)

5) Ser locamente promiscuo y completamente fiel a la vez, sin ninguna complicación de celos o confusión general o enfermedades.

5) Be wildly promiscuous and completely faithful at the same time, with no complications of jealousy or general confusion or diseases.

6) Me dio verguenza lo que escribí aquí y lo tuve que quitar.

6) I felt ashamed abotu what I wrote here and I had to delete it.

7) Hablar español, francés y arabe súper bien. Y perder el inglés por completo. Y vivir en paises donde se hablan esos idiomas temporadas largas.

7) Speak Spanish, French and Arabic really well. And lose inglés completely. And live in countries where those languages are spoken for long periods.

8) Escribir un libro que me guste sin condiciones, que se publique en una casa editorial que usa fonts bonitos y diseños actuales y hip, y que el texto les inspire a mis bisnietos desconocidos. Entonces claro, tener hijos (prefiero tener nietos, pero bueno, hay que tener hijos).

8) Write a book that I like unconditionally, get it published in a publishing house that uses pretty fonts and hip, contemporary designs, and that the text inspires my unknown great-grandchildren. So obviously, have kids (I prefer to have grandchildren, but well, gotta have kids first).

Gracias por haberme incluido, Syl. A pesar de estar lejos físicamente, me siento más cerca hoy.

Y ahora les pido a Emmy, Sehba, Amira, Román, Chuck, Anita, Echo, Linda, John y Pepe si no han sido señalados hasta ahora. Y después pedirle a ocho personas más.

And now I ask all the people above to write their own lists on on their blogs and then ask eight more people if you wanna.

Yes We Can / Sí Se Puede

The fierce urgency of now.

An end to scapegoating the members of my house - as he said "immigrants and gay people."

OK. I am officially moved. Without a doubt there is a momentum. Yes, if he is elected, we will have to work hard, social movements will still have to organize, Obama will not be perfect. He does not claim to be. He claims to need us to help, to need us to be inspired, to have hope, to push for change, to push him to keep creating change until the election and when he is (please) President. I believe in our ability to see beyond old divisions and make something new. I know it is a moment full of a crazy, charismatic energy. I know I am swept away. There is always a first time.

If you haven't seen the will.i.am produced video for Obama, you should click here. If you want to see an interview of will.i.am on the NYTimes about how the video came about, click here.


* Oh, yeah, Houston represent!

** Yes We Can is a back translation of Sí Se Puede. Estoy seguro que alguien lo tradujo al inglés. Me encanta que la lema de la campaña es una traducción del español.

When language is so flexible.

Can be so long or short flowing or staccato provoking or expansive.

Why would correctness be the ultimate arbiter.

Them Like Us Too


For truly scary news from the People of European Descent, click here.
(A translation of the anti-immigrant poster from Spain:
Act right or get out! Against the high levels of foreign crime.)