English or Ingles?

So perhaps you've heard of ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich's comments last Saturday calling Spanish the "language of living in a ghetto."

And maybe you know that a few days ago Gingrich posted a quasi-retraction via YouTube.

Well I have mixed feelings about his remarks and the brouhaha surrounding it, but I'll discuss it in greater detail in a future post either here or at The Latin Americanist.

However I will say two quick things:

1 - I'm really happy that The Latin Americanist was mentioned in a WaPo article on the subject. I hope that the exposure in the "traditional" media can translate in more readership of a blog that I've worked very hard on for over a year.

2 - Gingrich wrote a follow-up article on Sunday about his remarks; judge for yourself whether he's correct, wrong, or a bit of both.

Lo bueno, lo malo y lo feo – Red Bull New York @ Columbus

Image of Claudio Reyna via MLSnet.com

LO BUENO

+ Though the game ended in a nil-nil draw, there were some positive signs for RBNY. Dutch boy (or should that be “man”) Ronald Waterreus made several huge saves in goal and I was impressed with his effort. Claudio Reyna was solid in his debut in the Reds’ midfield and I was impressed by Van Der Bergh.

+ Kudos to those that those few thousand fans in Columbus who came out to watch the season opener in spite of sub-freezing weather and some nasty flurries.

+ Also kudos to the Crew for the simple tribute to Lamar Hunt on their unis and mowed onto the turf.

+ Off-topic: Houston’s outstanding effort against Chivas during the CONCACAF Champions Cup semis. Though they eventually lost the series, they never gave up and played extremely well even in front of a packed crowd at Estadio Hidalgo.

LO MALO

- RBNY’s unis: like the dark blue color and monochromatic look but ode the superfluous piping on the sleeves.

- The defense was about as bad as I had anticipated. We were lucky a few times that the Crew didn’t score on us from several close chances including dead ball opportunities. The defense did improve somewhat during the last quarter of the game but that was due to a change in strategy where the midfielders stayed back more than usual.

- Off topic: Julie Foudy’s blunder during this afternoon’s DC-Rapids game when she said that Fred’s previous team was “the Melbins.” (Maybe this is being too nit-picky, but critiquing Dave O’Brien would’ve been too easy and I’m not in the mood to discuss Eric Wynalda’s seemingly latent homosexuality).

LO FEO

! I agree wholeheartedly agree with Martha over at The Offside’s RBNY’s blog: it is inexcusable for broadcasters to be stuck at the Garden while the team’s playing away. It looked like RBNY’s admin is running a second-rate equipo de potrero by having Shep and whoosits giving the play-by-play from midtown west. I can’t imagine the inane banter they will have if the video feed ever goes on the fritz. (On the other hand, maybe Shep can give more anecdotes of his time playing with Pele and Chinaglia way back when!)

! Mind you, the broadcasting team would’ve been freezing their asses off in Ohio if it weren’t for the fact that the team has lost a lot of money. (No, I’m not falling for de Grandpre’s spin on RBNY’s financial losses; it makes no financial sense to have zero sponsors and to have blown half-a-mil on expenditures during the ’06 home opener like having Shakira warble a single song. Perhaps it is all part of a plan to build a winning squad by the time Red Bull Park opens in summer of 2008, but it would seem that a proper rebuilding process takes longer than a year and change).

I heart Julieta Venegas

This is Julieta Venegas:Eye candy aside, she is an award-winning singer/songwriter from Mexico whose becoming increasingly popular in the genre of rock en español. She tends to sing in a very melodic, catchy style though some of her tunes can have a hard edge to it. Did I also mention that she can kick musical ass with an accordion? (Just trust me on that one).

As evidence of her awesome awesomeness I submit the following YouTube vids as evidence:

Andar Conmigo

Limón y Sal

Me Van a Matar

Sería Feliz

If I am lucky I might be able to go to her concert Thursday night at B.B.King's with C. and her friend. I'll go if I can get over the somewhat prohibitive cost of the concert and depending on some repairs being done in the apartment. I really hope I can make it!

“Denial” isn’t always a river in Egypt

I have just sent to several of my closest friends a message that has taken me months to formulate. After I returned from Colombia in January one of the messages left on my answering machine was of the death of a very dear and amazing teacher I had in elementary school. I have not been as tough as I used to when dealing about matters related to death which makes writing the message so much more difficult. It hurts too much to fathom that she’s gone and I don’t wish to imagine how my friends react to the grave news I will tell them. However I must be responsible and deal with it and do the honorable task of informing them.

I regret not having the willpower to have called him, especially since my answering machine doesn’t have his message anymore.

I just don’t know how I will come to grips with this.

Quick thoughts on the fifth season of "Reno 911!"

Image via this site

T-Minus 25 minutes until debut:

1. I wonder if Wiegel will give any hints at who's the father of her not-yet-born child? (My money's on one of the Reno firemen. It makes little sense, but I figure it could be a dark horse compared to some more obvious choices).
   
2. I'm really hoping Maria Bamford's given a role on the show since that would complete the "Comedians of Comedy" exacta. Perhaps as a "friend" of Deputy Kimball, hmmmm?
3. "And the installation is freeeee!" (I have no idea why that just popped into my mind).
   
4. "Reno 911!" ought to be a lead-in for "Halfway Home", not riding on the coattails of Ned the joke-stealing shmuck.
   
5. For some unknown reason I am worried that this will be "Reno's" last season. I have no idea why.
6. Not to give too much away but I can't wait to see the episode where Dangle's ex-wife returns.

It's been about half a year since the last season ended. I can't wait for the new season to start!

11:05pm: After watching the season debut the following thoughts came to mind:

1. In the scene before the opening credits did anybody else notice that the ad on the side of the bus was for High Sierra Carpeting? (See comment#3 above).
2. Of the Hotty's girls I found the redhead to be most attractive.
3. Best of luck to Reina and the KKK guy. (Hell, if they can make it then anyone can!)
4. Trudy Wiegel + pink and white uni = delicious!
5. Speaking of Wiegel, the biggest belly laugh of the night for me was when she squeezed her right boob when trying to get Joe's attention.
   
6. Too bad there was no Police-Tek advert in this episode.

I can't wait until next Sunday's episode when Clemmy gets baptized. High-larious!

A tip of the hat after 30+ years

On March 31, 1973 my mom and dad got married in a small community church in Colombia. naturally for my mother it has been a day of remembrance since this is the second straight wedding anniversary without him. Needless to say she hasn't been in the best of moods today.

They were never the type to brag about the number of years they were wed. Even the wedding anniversaries were pretty low-key. Dad usually would be gone for the day at work but he would always come back with a lovely (albeit inexpensive) bouquet of flowers for my mom. Heck, he even made dinner for all of us even though he would usually be tired too think after returning from work. By night's end they would sit in bed talking and reminiscing of the wedding and the first few years of being together.

Their union was certainly not without its faults. They would sometimes argue over trivial things and there were periods lasting weeks when they would not even greet one another. Twice they had nearly divorced. Yet through it all they never diminished the amount of disrespect or adoration for each other. Somehow they would overcome their differences and they each grew stronger due to it.

In a day and age when some marriages don't last 34 months (or in very rare cases 34 hours) it's reassuring to know that they would've continued to humbly celebrate a few healthy decades together.

It was nice while at lasted. I honestly don't know what else to say beyond that severe understatement.

I heart shoegazers

I remain in the quasi-funk that has bugged me for the past few weeks. However, one of the few things that has kept me awake includes shoegazer music.

What is shoegazer? Check out the following YouTube clips and you'll see:

Astrobrite - Overdriver

Lush - Nothing Natural

Resplandor – Sueños de un Ave

Medicine - Time Baby III

My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow

Damn that felt good!

Sing your life

Morrissey performing at Radio City Music Hall in October 2004 (photo copyright Alyssa Scheinson)

Saturday June 30 at Madison Square Garden.

Need I say more!

Un año

Yesterday was a landmark day for this blog in that it was the one-year anniversary of its inception. In the course of the past year I’ve written about many things from politics to sports to my many foibles. In that sense I’ve accomplished one of the primary goals in the creation of this blog- to write about various different topics. That was why I named this blog Huevos Pericos- because it is a dish with a milieu of ingredients that combine well enough to enjoy as a delicious meal.

Yet at the same time I realize that the blog’s production has been inadequate. In one year I’ve only written around 70-something posts. Ideally, quality should trump quantity. (That’s the modus operandi of my favorite blog- forksplit). However I need to write more and more about the ideas that run rampant in my mind and hopefully I can accomplish this in the upcoming weeks and months.

This blog was created as a conduit for my many disparate and varied thoughts; a diary, if you will. That was why I chose to type up my first post on the 6-month anniversary of my father’s death. The past few days have been quite difficult because his passing away was predominant in my mind. Very little of the feelings of nostalgia and remembrance have changed since then. More so when I look at old pictures of him like I did yesterday as mom rummaged through some old boxes of photos yesterday.

There was one snapshot in particular that caught my eye- it was of him grilling dinner during one of our summer vacations camping in southern new jersey, circa 1990. He was standing over a small hibachi grill grinning from ear to ear wearing a tattered t-shirt and shorts. His expression glowed in the brightness of the mid-afternoon sun and one could tell that he was absolutely blissful. It was a photo that captured him at his very best- energetic, overjoyed, and generous. Mind you, there were occasions when he could be very mean, ornery, and cruel. But for now I prefer to remember the positive aspects about him and try to use that as a crutch to support my still-wounded psyche when I look back at the unfinished book which was his life.

So yeah, we’re one-year-old. Happy birthday to us.

Old habits are hard to break

I need to make up my mind. Just a few days ago I vowed that this month will be a time when I go out to several events and I won’t be so sedentary like I was in February.

So what happens? I stay at home this weekend.

Yesterday I was to go out for a meeting of the Jackie Robinson Foundation Alumni Association (JRFAA) as part of the foundation’s yearly Networking Weekend. Instead I get cold feet and figure irrationally that I will make it up by going to the JRFAA Dinner Sunday night at the Brown Shoe Company.

So what happens? I don’t go to the dinner.

Part of the reason is because my stomach was somewhat topsy-turvy. Yet I still could have gone, but in the end I decided I would much rather stay at home and get a few things done.

Really, I make no sense whatsoever.

However, salvation is around the corner in the form of my shrink who I will visit tomorrow afternoon. First I have to go pay a fine for overdue books at Bobst, then go see him. Perhaps it would be a good idea to stop by the hotel where the Networking Weekend is taking place and take a few minutes to greet some old pals and acquaintances. It is the latest I could do after rescinding on the events of the weekend.

Yet knowing me I’ll flee for Queens as fast as I can after the appointment’s done. My insecurities will get the best of me and I will want to interact as little as possible with other people. I’ll probably be a bit disheveled and tired from not sleeping well and pale from having skipped breakfast and lunch. Besides, there’s supposed to be rain and snow showers in the late afternoon which would make it ideal to commute before the rush hour.

Cold feet indeed. I bet that’s what will happen.

Hopefully I’ll prove myself wrong.

Tidbits: March shan’t be ‘meh’

Ugh, February was terribly uneventful for me. It was an extremely blasé month were my accomplishments were almost none but my failures were equally as tiny. A month where I was pretty in much in stasis when I only went out a handful of times to the doctor’s office. Mercifully, February is the shortest month of the year and I eagerly look towards March to change things around. For starters I’ll be off to Manhattan and the Jackie Robinson Foundation Networking Weekend starting Saturday, and later in the month I hope to go out to lunch a few times with friends, go see Reno 911! Miami with my bros, and sing my assiduous self off during the Aterciopelados concert two weeks from this Sunday. Fun, fun, fun by the ton, ton, ton!

Okay, off to the tidbits:

• Three exceptional events I missed over the past month due to my acting like a bump on a log- Dominican food festival at the United Nations Delegates Dining Room, The Armory Show, and La Cumbiamba eNeYe’s concert.
• So I suppose you’ve already heard of Anthony Bourdain’s article on how the Food Network has transformed itself (i.e. too much focus on Rachael Ray!). But I wonder hw he feels about the food-oriented programming on the Travel Channel (e.g. Epicurious).
• Dammit, I really miss Pollo Tropical! Perhaps I’ll have to make due with this.
• Why couldn’t this have happened when I was a student there! I tell you, those kids have it made. (I suppose I’ll have to take solace in the charity games we faced yearly against the Islanders).
• C’mon Moz! Please give us some good news and tell us you’re going to tour this year!
• Lastly, a very handy guide to remembering things (via Metafilter).

So that’s all for now. I’m looking forward to seeing many old friends and acquaintances mañana and hopefully that will bump me out of my stay-at-home funk.

And away I go!

The Palmero Diaries, part two

Lovely angled shot of La Palma’s main church (via this site)

As promised here is the second and (unfortunately) final part of the “Palmero Diaries” which I wrote about a month ago in the small town of La Palma, Colombia. Much like the first part I will include a few afterthoughts in italics.

Wednesday January 03, 2007

For the first time in a long time I am at peace with myself. I guess this country life is the ideal nourishment for the soul. That and my visit to dad’s grave on New Year’s Eve helped calm most of my internal anxieties. [For the rest of the time I was in La Palma I was serene and not stressed. Except for the bout with dengue around the middle of the month].

Speaking of New Year’s Eve, it was a grand night where I danced and got plastered. (Not that I’m proud to have consumed over 2/3 bottle of aguardiente [more like ¾] but I was pleased that I was able to tolerate such an amount). Yet by far the best part of the evening was receiving a surprise visit from the husband of one of my aunts. (She the one who threatened to assault my mom on several occasions claims retardedly [bad grammar, I know] that “those gimps (being my brothers and I) killed my brother”). He sat and talked with us in private and expressed how much he cared for us. He wished us the best and tried to apologize for the disgusting slurs and threats by his wife and sisters-in-law. Though we appreciated his thoughtful words we told him that what his wife and sisters-in-law did was unforgivable. Though I’m prone to provide second chances I doubt I ever will for them. It would be very selfish to claim that they killed dad, yet their negative influence and lack of compassion seriously damaged a frail psyche. I can’t say that I feel angry against them because doing so wouldn’t help me or bring dad magically back to life. In reality I pity them for their ignorance and idiocy though ultimately I could care less how they conduct their lives as long as they leave my immediate family and me alone. [They’ve resorted to saying junk behind our backs which on the one hand is cowardly since they ought to just come to us and say it. On the other hand, they are making fools of themselves through their backstabbing and that gives me some slight comfort.]

My stay in La Palma has gone past the halfway point yet I feel like it will finish in days. [I felt time move faster though things had the tendency to be laid back there. Too much relaxation, perhaps?] Little-by-little, cousins aunts, and uncles are leaving as they return to their daily lives and routines. (One cousin and his girlfriend leave for Bogota in less than a half-hour, for example). Though I look forward to the 15^th when my immediate family leaves for Bogota I know in my heart that I will really miss this quiet oasis of a village, especially my “grandma.” [I still do. A lot]. And now I will depart to the dining room table where a piping hot and meaty tamale is waiting for me. [Tamale + cup of hot chocolate = sheer bliss].

“It’s very good my friend!” (Inside joke).

So I’m afraid that’s it in terms of my journal entries over the month I was in La Palma. What had originally been a grand idea to write in a notebook every day turned out to be a lame two entries. I guess I better redeem myself ASAP. Hopefully I’ll have some photos I took posted during the weekend.

Colombia