Fly in Any Weather

Have you listened to enough Andrew Bird, lately? I think not, but I'll recommend so. Why enjoy "Imitosis," above, and other Birdman hits? Well, first introduced to me by a tried and true source of things de la ultima moda--including traveling the world, curing the sick, and listening to exceptional music--you'll find Bird's tunes can be described best as "farm boy folk rock." He earns a sought-after stamp of approval (B+) from my argotic idols over at Stylus Magazine, that boasts such descriptions as "prolific, long obscured folk-pop hybrid," "lyrical rhymes," "superior elegance," and one song in particular has an "ecstatic, achingly melodic finale."

If that's not enough, Pitchfork bestows the gift of truth: that his new album, "Armchair Apocrypha is ultimately another object of strange and unique beauty from this inventive songwriter and performer." And you'll forgive the fact that he's from the Second City, when you see they report that he's on Janet Reno's Song of America compilation, a patriotic lineup of songs that, in Reno's words are "focusing on key periods in American history, in order to tell our story to young people who might find joy in learning history through music."

Can I get two 'whats' for Birdman? One more for Janet proving the GOP doesn't have a monopoly on patriotism? And one more for good measure?

Why thank you; we appreciate it.

Ditat Musĭca

That is, music enriches. And has enriched, especially lately. Expect a fair number of posts in the near future on music. To start with, here's a little tune I've been belting out for the last month and a half. Andando pato (literally, walking duck; colloquially, being poor), I didn't go to the Argentinian's concert when he came to Concepción, and I'm kicking myself for it now. But one of my students shared some Gustavo Cerati music with me anyway (I really like the two albums I have), and in the first few days of seeing this Viña Del Mar performance of my favorite Cerati hit, I was playing it on repeat, as you might have expected. Every time I hear old Cerati, or his former band, Soda Stereo, my ears perk up. Good stuff.

I had to post it. ¿Que otra cosa puedo hacer?

Updated: More Than Meets the Eye

I thought I was excited to see the new Transformers movie, which I'm still dying to catch at a theater. Then I found out someone changed his middle name to Megatron. Seriously. Still, there's no doubt this theme song is hot. As good as the Limp Bizkit version of the Mission Impossible theme, no?

Update: The change, in case you didn't catch it, was that I added the link for the guy who changed his name to Megatron. Seriously. You should check it out. There are also Nike Transformers, now.

Last night I dreamt of San Pedro...

...well, not exactly. More correct: my roommate was playing his Madonna CD (no this is not deja vu) and along came "La Isla Bonita." Of course, she isn't talking about San Pedro de Atacama, the oasis of the South American desert, but it made me think of my late April trip there and how much the landscape reminded me of Arizona. I've mentioned this before in conversations, but I realized I still hadn't shown anyone. That is, none of the 500 odd pictures I took there had been loaded to the internet. So this picture-updating bonanza continues with Days 1, 2, and 3 of my trip to northern Chile. Additionally, the much anticipated pictures of mountain biker and sand boarder Akshai are also finally available. Lastly, if you want to see more, the landscape and I make appearances in the San Pedro section of my friend, Meredith's public gallery.

Call It Macaroni

You know what Yankoo Doodle did when he went to town. Well in Latin America, los yanqi didn't put a feather in their hat, but whatever they did, they called it imperialism. But when los yanqi get together on the Fourth at home, we celebrate. Here are some children of Apollo (extra-credit for anyone that catches the reference) celebrating by watching over Town Lake, finest body of water in all the land.

Some of us here tried to do the same at the Instituto Chileno Norteamericano de Cultura, and were sorely disappointed. However, we did manage to go out for pizza and beer. Still the Instituto wasn't their usual disappointing self because I managed to meet an Arizonan, reminisce about the great places my state offers visitors, and listen to a Chilean talk about the Declaration of Independence. The words sound just as beautiful and inspiring in Spanish:

Nosotros creemos ser evidente en sí mismo, que todos los hombres [las personas] nacen iguales y dotados por su Criador de ciertos derechos inagenables: que entre estos son los principales la seguridad de la libertad y la vida, que constituyen la humana felicidad: que para asegurar estos derechos se instituyeron entre los hombres los gobiernos, derivando sus justos poderes del consentimiento de los pueblos: que siempre que cualquiera forma de gobierno se haga destructiva de estos fines, toca al derecho imprescriptible de la sociedad alterarla, ó abolirla y escablecer otra nueva, zanjando sus fundamentos sobre aquellos principios, y organizando sus poderes de la manera que juzgue mas conducente para el efecto de su seguridad y felicidad.

More Pictures

Haven't been blogging or uploading pictures, but in this one post I'll be satisfying your need for a Akshai-updates. In case you didn't notice, there's a sidebar link to my picture gallery on Picasaweb. Most recently, I've added pictures of an April trip to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso (Central Chile), including a visit to the beach, the casino, and a concert venue called "El Huevo" (The Egg). The highlight of the trip was the Pablo Neruda house in nearby Isla Negra, which is where I am while looking in a window here, popped collar, of course. Check them out.

The Technicolor Yawn

Unfortunately, I thought it was important to check out the recent Democratic Presidential Debate. The donkeys debated Sunday night, purportedly about their policy positions on contemporary issues of contention, to the point of making me question my supposed civic duty to watch the drivel. I majored in Political Science because I enjoyed U.S. politics, and now here I am questioning the American U.S. political system to the point that I wonder if watching more debates is really going to help me make a more informed decision, and if I even care. All this while, in a place where no one likes politics in the U.S. to begin with (Latin America), and have a penchant for putting me in the position of trying to defend it.

But there were some exceptional highlights from every candidate there, including:

O'Bama - "I don't expect to do anything but complement the other candidates here on how similar we all are." (paraphrased)

Clinton - "We had a balanced budget and surplus and we did that the old-fashioned way--limiting spending and increasing revenue." (Because, you know, limiting spending is something the Clinton administration was known for, and increasing revenue is something they can take credit for. Not to mention, we feels a little like she bites that involved first spouse critique harder than Eleanor Roosevelt. Has she been a member of a presidential administration that she isn't distancing herself from, nowadays.)

Richardson - "I can't hear questions, so I will simply talk about what I want to." (paraphrased)

Edwards - "I don't know if I know what a rich person is, but..." (You know, because, he's never been rich.)

Gavel - "I would give the president line item veto." Because we've never tried that, and it's probably constitutional.

Kucinich - "I would cancel NAFTA and the WTO." Because we can stop that globalization stuff, ya know.

Biden - "To be president, you must occasionally be practical." Which is why I supported a 700-mile fence. It's a practical solution. (paraphrase)

Dodd - answering what he would do to get rid earmarks, "I wouldn't put us in that kind of rigid straitjacket."

Gore - Didn't show up.

Who do I think won? Nobody. I couldn't find anyone I liked more than I had before the debate started. Losers? No doubt Richardson looks so much less worthy of my future support, based on his performance, because if debate questions discomfit him, what happens when he gets real questions? And cowboy boots? A little reminiscent of someone else we have in office.

Mike Gravel loses before I ever knew his name. Why introduce yourself, to the biggest audience you've ever seen, as an unlikeable and completely arrogant nut? Why? Obviously he had potential for good ideas and instead he shows up as the termagant, there to set things straight. Not how you accomplish anything productive.

Overall I agree with The Fix on the night's feel:

a question asking each candidate to name the biggest mistake they had made in the past several years, the night has a bit of an "Oprah" feel to it. We were half-expecting the question: "If you were an animal, what animal would you be?"

Indeed. Cillizza further suggests that, "The format rewarded general policy pronouncements (end the war in Iraq, bring about universal healthcare) over specific proposals." I hadn't felt that way while watching, but I'll concede that it seems this way in retrospect. The only good debate to reward policy pronouncements is one that occurs in the printed media, which will not be well-read by the masses.