Don't Mess With the Classics

Some songs are just best alone to be enjoyed by generations of fans. Some are so masterfully done that they simply cannot be remade, no matter how stellar the production or talented the singers.

Last week I saw a video featuring Michael Bublé and Laura Pausini interpret the Lou Rawls classic "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine." It was downright horrible. I have listened to Laura Pausini for years and I was disappointed in her lusterless performance. Bublé was languid. Sure, the vocals were fine and there seemed to be some chemistry between the singers, but this interpretation was awful. It lacked the soul and profound earnestness that Rawls imbued into his singing of it. The copy does no justice to the original.

This made me think back on some of the other train wrecks that resulted from pop artists who think they can do justice to a classic and iconic song. Wilson Phillips offered up a weak and dismal version of the Eagles classic "Hotel California" and Norah Jones's butchery of the Roxy Music song "More Than This" are just a few examples.

Stay with the original classics, you can't go wrong!

Here is a video of the original  "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" for you. Enjoy!

Here is a tip of the hat to the great Lou Rawls.

Ferguson and Elegía a Emmett Till

I have been appalled by the events in Ferguson, Missouri. Not only was I disappointed by the verdict exonerating the police officer who killed an unarmed 18-year old African-American male, Michael Brown;  I was dismayed by the rampant violence that has wreaked havoc in that community.

There have been riots, violence, and ignorance on both sides of the imbroglio that has rampaged through the once oblivious peacefulness of a community that no one knew about until August 2014.

In the past the past the police hid behind the shroud of public indifference; now they are hiding behind their shields and badges amidst a pointed flurry of righteous fury directed their way. Despite it all, there has been progress. In 1955 14-year-old Emmett Till, was kidnapped from his uncle’s home in Chicago, Illinois and brutally murdered for the simple reason that he whistled at a young white girl. The perpetrators were never apprehended and there was no reaction of disgust or anger at the horrific murder. I don’t condone violence, but it is good to see the public expression of rage at happened to Michael Brown. No such reaction took place in 1955.

However, Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén noticed and he wrote a powerful poem (in 1958), which I post below.

Elegía a Emmet Till

En norteamerica,

la Rosa de los Vientos

tiene el pétalo sur rojo de sangre.

El Mississippi pasa

¡oh Viejo río hermano de los negros!

con las venas abiertas en el agua,

el Mississippi cuanda pasa.

Suspira su ancho pecho

y en su guitarra bárbara, el Mississippi cuando pasa

llora con duras lágrimas.

El Mississippi pasa

y mira el Mississippi cuando pasa

árboles silenciosos

de donde cuelgan gritos ya maduros,

el Mississippi cuando pasa

y mira el Mississippi cuando pasa

cruces de fuego amenazante,

el Mississippi cuando pasa,

y hombres de miedo y alarido

el Mississippi cuando pasa,

y la nocturna hoguera

a cuya luz cannibal

danzan los hombres blancos,

y la nocturna hoguera

con un eterno negro ardiendo,

un negro sujetándose

envuelto en humo el vientre desprendido,

los intestines húmedos,

el perseguido sexo

allá en el Sur alcoholico,

allá en el Sur de afrenta y látigo,

el Mississippi cuando pasa.

Ahora ¡oh Mississippi,

oh viejo río hermano de los negros!

ahora un niño frágil,

pequeña flor de tus riberas,

no raíz todavia de tus árboles,

no tronco de tus bisques,

no piedra de tu lecho,

no caiman de tus aguas:

un niño apenas,

un niños muerto, asesinado y solo,

negro.

Un niño con su trampo,

con sus amigos con su barrio;

con su camisa de domingo,

con su billete para el cine,

con su pupitre y su pizarra,

con su pomo de tinta,

con su guante de beísbol,

con su programa de boxeo,

con su retrato de Lincoln,

con su bandera norteamericana,

 negro.

Un niño negro asesinado y solo,

que una rosa de amor

arrojó al paso de una niña blanca.

¡Oh viejo Mississippi,

Oh rey, oh río profundo manto!

Detén aquí tu procession de espumas,

Tu azul canoza de tracción oceánica:

mira este cuerpo leve,

ángel adolescente que llevaba

no bien cerradas las cicatrices en los hombres

donde tuvo las alas;

mira este rostro de perfíl ausente,

deshecho a piedra y piedra,

a plomo y piedra,

a insult y piedra;

mira este abierto pecho,

la sangre Antigua ya de duro coágulo.

Ven y en la noche iluminada

por una luna de catastrophe,

la lenta noche de los negros

con sus fosforescencias subterráneas,

ven y en la noche iluminada,

dime tú, Mississippi,

si podrás contemplar con ojos de agua ciega

y brazos de titan indiferente,

este luto, este crimen,

este mínimo muerto sin venganza,

este cadaver colossal y puro:

veny en la noche iluminada

tú, cargado de puños y de pájaros,

de sueños y metales,

ven y en la noche iluminada

oh viejo río hermano de los negros,

ven y en la noche iluminada,

ven y en la noche iluminada,

dime tú, Mississippi…

The Anniversary of O.K

I bet you didn't know that this year is the 175th anniversary of the creation of the abbreviation "O.K." which is used all over the world.

Where did it come from? It originated as an abbreviated Old English form. It comes from "Oll Korrect." Good to know!

Russia, the Monkees and Cuba

On Friday, October 3rd I left an office in Miramar when I heard Mickey Dolenz's voice singing "I'm a Believer." Intrigued, I followed it to a school for the children of Russian diplomats.

Russians everywhere celebrating their teachers. It was neat to see and surreal. I thought the Monkees and Russia would be incongruous. Perhaps I was wrong.

A Hackneyed Olbermann Has Lost His Bite

There was a time I respected Keith Olbermann for injecting sense of humor to sport broadcasting, but after suffering through his recent “analysis” demonstrating Derek Jeter’s inferiority (http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11586050/boston-red-sox-planning-low-key-derek-jeter-ceremony) I have decided that he is not worth paying attention to.

In an almost Don Quixote-esque fashion, Olberman rattles his sabermetrics against what he sees as the windmills of Derek Jeter adulation. But there are no windmills. He is the only one who is blowing wind. He has to…………he has no modern day Sancho Panza. The only reason I can think of as to why Olbermann would engage in such a classless move (similar to Skip Bayless insinuating that Jeter was taking steroids a couple of years ago) is that he wants to distance himself from over-the-top Yankee worship. Remember, this is the man who publicly called upon Cal Ripken to sit down on the verge of history instead of passing Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak in 1995. It is amazing, isn’t it, how journalists can ridicule, heap scorn upon and make baseless insinuations against an athlete and no one ever holds them accountable for their boorish behavior?

Olbermann is the same man who found amusement at making fun of the name of the Italian goal keeper Gianluca Pagliuca. Yes, it rhymes, so what? We could extend your form of entertainment to your name: Doberman Olbermann. But you have no bite, do you? Any PR cachet you had disappeared after your short and tumultous tenure at MSNBC.

ESPN has hired Olbermann back, but what remains to be seen is if his time at the sports network will be as insightful and informative as when Rush Limbaugh joined the booth of Monday Night Football. Now, that was a great decision, wasn’t it?

The perfect antidoe to Keith Olbermann are these two links: 

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11590438

http://www.marca.com/2014/09/26/mas_deportes/otros_deportes/1411717416.html 

They even love him in Spain. Does Olbermann even know where that country is? Think bull, Keith, for that is what always comes out of your mouth.

The Ice Bucket Challenge and Moral Licensing

I am sure everyone has seen  numerous videos of friends, relatives and celebrities being doused with ice-cold water in the name of challenging others to do the same or make a donation to fight ALS-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease). The cause is noble, of course and while some critics have denounced the act as narcissistic "slacktivism" there are others who have offered a critical and reasonable concern about the latest cyberfad.

Don't worry, I don't have ice coursing through my veins, but perhaps I am a bit of a cynic. How many people who pour cold water on themselves actually make a donation? The premise of the fundraiser is to either make a contribution of $100 or have water poured on you. Amidst the jocularity and e-camaraderie that we have seen with these Facebook exhibitions, a sense of perspective and in a way empathy is lost. People seem to have forgotten about those who lack water. How would residents of Detroit, battling a water shortage respond to the ALS fundraiser? I am sure in countries suffering through droughts could not care less about the Facebook antics of Internet denizens.

William MacAskill, research fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, has written an excellent article highlighting unexamined consequences of the ice bucket challenge. He notes that money contributed to the ALS through this challenge is funding denied to other charities. I am ambivalent about this, but his next observation is spot on. He describes another trend, "It's called moral licensing; the idea that doing one good action leads one to compensate by doing fewer good actions in the future." Many people seem to think that by making a contribution they have cleaned their soul and they do not have to do anything cause-worthy for a while. Does moral licensing permeate all the ice cubes that shower down on willing participants? Perhaps.

 

I think MacAskill says it best when he makes the case for more active and regular involvement in ONE or TWO causes; to become more knowledgeable and familiar with the issues and challenges. How many of the ice bucket participants know the details and challenges of ALS? Are any of them even aware that many people in our country are without water as they (the ALS fund raiser participants) undergo an ice shower? 

While it is extremely impressive that so much money has been raised for ALS research, it would be better if this were more than a one-time fad that will make the VH-1 highlight reel when the program visits the year 2014. 

Concrete Poetry of the World by Rakuli

Do you know what concrete poetry is? I am just getting into it myself, but here is a fine example by Rakuli (www.rakuli.com) that I like since I work in international education!

Enjoy!

Meet Isabel Leonard

Last summer I read about a young Argentine-American opera singer who performed at an outdoor concert in New York. Reviews were great and I checked her out on the Internet. I found her website and listened to a few of her concerts. Wow! What a voice! I am no opera expert, but I was moved by her performance and her multi-cultural outlook on life and how she puts her bilingual talents to good use. But don't listen to me....
check her out yourself. Her website is: http://isabelleonard.com/.

Here is a video of her in concert. Enjoy! Gracias, Isabel!

The Police Perspective

It is easy to issue a blanket condemnation of the police in light of the events of Ferguson, Missouri, but in the name of perspective we really need to see the police side of things. They are after all, human. I think if someone attacked me and I had a gun, I probably would shoot; it is a natural reflex. I think ultimately, the blame rests with both Michael Brown and the police officer who shot him in self-defense, Darren Wilson. They both took actions without considering the consequences and now one person is dead and the life/career of the other is being scrutinized in such a fashion that he will never be the same again.

Here is a nice infographic that illustrates how police feel about how justice is meted out in the US. What do you think? I have used the image from the website Policy.Mic which features an excellent take on how the police mindset has changed in recent times.

Dusklands and Ferguson, Missouri

The conflagration in Ferguson, Missouri that has engulfed the nation in inflammatory rhetoric and condemnation brings to attention many details and perspectives that many are unaware of or refuse to consider. The police have received harsh criticism for not only the death of Michael Brown, but for how they reacted afterwards, especially dealing with protesters (interestingly enough the looting that took place during the riots received nowhere near the condemnation it should have).

Many authors, historians, sociologists, political scientists and community activists have decried the police state, but I do not think anyone has put it into words as well as J.M. Coetzee. Writing about the Vietnam War in his excellent novel Duskland, one of Coetzee's characters describes a couple of lines of thinking that certainly apply to the police approach to the Ferguson protesters. He writes, "We brought with us weapons, the gun and its metaphors, the only copulas we knew of between ourselves and our objects. From this tragic ignorance we sought deliverance. Our nightmare was that since whatever we reached for slipped like smoke through our fingers, we did not exist; that since whatever we embraced wilted, we were all that existed."

Referring to the U.S. military's approach to demoralizing the Vientamese, Coetzee's character,almost proudly, claims, "We must work on the assumption that the military believe in their own explanations when they assign a solely military value to terror operations." This is what we are seeing in Ferguson. Somehow a military mindset has set-in in police approaches to protests. I cannot say if this is an inheritance from the Kent State University shootings years ago or a reality that was borne out of the wreckage of the Twin Towers and the Pengaton in 2001. It does not bode well for us.

                       

Source: Policy.Mic
                   

An Angry Millenial Strikes (at Your) Back

Katie Kieffer

Looking trim and elegant on the cover of her new book, Let Me Be Clear, Katie Kieffer, asserts her generation's list of grievances against President Barack Obama, declaring his perceived lack of effort "a war on Millenials." Browsing through some books at a Barnes and Noble store I came across this and the title caught my attention. Flipping through the pages, however, I quickly noticed Ms Kieffer's belligeraet tone. As a young woman who has clearly achieved success (she has made frequent appearances on Fox New channel (although I would consider this more bad taste than success!) it is interesting to see the ire and spite that this young woman has. The more I read the pages of her book it soon dawned on me that we have someone who wants to be the next Ann Coulter. Of course, this means attacks on President Obama and any manifestation of left-leaning policy. I can see her being prepared to be the next line of conservative right-wing screamers who will say anything to get attention. She is so committed to the right-wing cause that she doesn't take time to get her facts straigtht (an Ann Coulter trait she has perfected). She regurgitates hard-line venom without even considering what she has written. Take for example, her criticism of Jay-Z and Beyoncés trip to Cuba. She writes: "Mr. and Mrs. Jay-Z Carter vacationed in Cuba for their anniversary in the spring of 2013--you know, that communist country run by a dictator whose people love him so much that they risk their lives paddling on makeshift rafts, to get here?" Who is she referring to? Fidel Castro or his brother Raúl, who took over for him several years ago? I don't think Ms Kieffer has followed the news lately. If she had, she would have known to use the term "balseros" for the people who traversed the dangerous waters to make it to the US.

There were some other misrepresentations as well, but these days, who needs to be factual? My side bias ensures that an author of any political bent will have an audience. Young Ms. Kieffer will "write" more books I am sure; there is certainly a market for her (fiction, experimental, politics, etc.). As for me, I thought seriously about buying it, after all, in Cuba we often have a shortage of toilet paper.

When Reason Goes Up in Flames

"These are the times that try men's souls," proclaimed Thomas Paine in his masterful The American Crisis.  Although written on the eve of the American Revolution, Paine's ominous observation resonates loudly today. Reason has left the building it seems, replaced by a histrionic "I-am-right-because-I-am-right" mentality that extends into the ridiculous.

Just yesterday someone posted on my Facebook wall a picture of New York City's Twin Towers aflame after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  My friend (since defriended) had Tea Party sympathies which alarmed me. He had taken the post from an Israeli website (I couldn't read the Hebrew), but the message below the horrific images read "We are fighting the same terrorists who did this."

It makes you think, doesn't it? There are many things to say about that posting:

1. Has there ever been a direct connection between Mohammed Atta and his men and Hamas or Palestinians? No. Ultimately, the staged scenario backfires: people will empathize with the thousands killed in the Gaza strip because they have been suffering constant, daily attacks from an enemy that has abused the notion of self-defense to masquerade genocide.

2. Using violence to end violence hasn't really worked very well, has it?

3. I have always been curious about the use of the pronoun 'we.' It somehow exudes a feeling of vicarious inclusiveness that allows armchair patriots to condemn an action, philosophy or a race of people without having to take a bullet or worry about being killed by gunfire, bombs, etc.  Perhaps the person who posted the image and message actually is an Israel soldier. Then I could sort of understand where he/she is coming from. After all, actual combat is a respectable pedigree. But it is most likely that the person is sitting comfortably at home and wanted to express him/herself in a way that would align him/her with the solders on the front lines.

What that person has done is not justify the mass killings in Gaza; he/she has instead shown a spotlight on his/her own cowardice.

This is merely symptomatic of the era we live in. Reason has exited and its space is now occupied by hypocrisy masquerading as righteousness. I will end with another Thomas Paine quote (I have researched him for a class I am teaching in Cuba): "To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture."

Misty Makes a Statement

On my Facebook feed today I noticed an advertisement for Under Armour that has been attracting a lot of media and pop cultural attention. The ad features a ballet dancer named Misty Copeland performing some incredible moves. Copeland is a dancer with the American Ballet Theater in New York City and her beauty, grace and power have rightly attracted the attention of many people.

In 2012 I saw a performance by the American Ballet Theater(In the Upper Room), although I was unaware of Ms Copeland at the time. It was astounding and although I never disrespected ballet, I gained a new appreciation for it.

Perhaps this is the sensation that Under Armour is going for; inviting a new audience to experience ballet beyond the performances displayed on the stage, in public, under the discerning eyes of the public and the spotlights. There is beauty in it even when it is just a solo "practice" session.

Earlier in July I saw the incredible Viengsay Valdés perform Swan Lake (I am happy to say that my students became instant fans) and seeing Misty Copeland perform gave me the same sensation: the sense of power, pride, autonomy and strength distilled through fluid movement....simply amazing.

Sometimes a person comes along who makes you use up all your adjectives to describe them. This is what Misty Copeland has done. I know now I, and many others, are going to have to improve our vocabulary.

                          Misty Copeland rocks. But you already knew that.

Wondering About the Wonderful Wonder Woman

Yesterday, Warner Brothers revealed the image of Wonder Woman, portrayed by Gal Gadot in the movie Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which is set for a 2016 release.They clearly have found their Gal! Having grown up in the 1970s when the Wonder Woman television series starring Lynda Carter ran on television, I was curious to see how the 21st century version of this 20th century heroine would be portrayed.

The version is still sexy but with the warrior edge much more prominent, and as one conservative poster lamented, a downplayed presence of Americana in her accoutrement. The poster commented that there was more of a Xena feel to this Wonder Woman. He might be right. Xena represented many of the values of the 1990s--a more independent, battle-worthy form of the conception of the woman in battle. We have seen a shift in the cultural landscape and this is a good thing. 

I think in many ways that Wonder Woman represents different images and values to different people. The National Geographic magazine that is out in stands now features prominent women in US history and it spends time on Sacagawea and how since there was no real portrait done during her lifetime, that the "authentic" image of his famous Native American Indian woman has been articulated and interpreted by various artists in different ways. 

I know Gal Gadot will bring a refresh and new perspective and interpretation to this famous figure of American mythology (it is interesting to note that since she was not born in the US--but in fact on Paradise Island--it is ironic that she has been incorporated as a figure of American values). How will the new version jib with books such as Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth? We will have to see. 

I am sure that the new Wonder Woman will inspire much debate and that is not a bad thing! I like the fact that she is Israeli. Given what we have seen over the last couple of weeks in the Gaza Strip it is important to realize that Israel can produce wonderfully talented and good people.

Discovering Ernst Toller

I started reading Ernst Toller's play "Man and the Masses" yesterday. I found it at the college library a few days ago and I like what I have read so far. Toller wrote it while he was in the Niederschönenfeld prison in Germany for four years beginning in 1919. Toller was a socialist and fierce anti-war critic.

I found myself often thinking of the present horrific situation in Gaza as I read this text. For example, in his introduction, Toller writes, "These corpses, in a ghastly embrace, seem to lift their stark fists in protest against a humanity which despoils itself, against a fate which gloats in the danse macabre of blinded nations."

Here is another part of a memorable scene:

The Man 

I must make it clear,

I did not come to help you

The Woman 

Forgive the dream that blossomed for a moment. 

And later, a passionate soliloquy that echoes throughout Gaza today.....

The Woman 

You speak of desires?

I know---a chasm yawns between us...

But it was not a whim that made me turn,

No wish to change my way of living.

It was a need...Need of my very self,

Need of the darkest depths of my existence.

Need alters us, I tell you, need changes us.

Not moods or spells or fits of boredom,

But need--the need to be a human being. 

Toller might be forgotten these days, but I will read more of his work. His message, however, still rings loudly.

Interesting Sights in Havana

Shortly before I returned to the US for a vacation I saw a Cuban driving a British vehicle--that is the steering wheel was on the right side--in Havana. This must have been a challenge for him! Everyone else is driving as they always have and he has to take extra precautions while he drives. Clearly, someone from England donated the van and this is one more testament to how Cubans make do with what they have. Very rarely will we see something similar in the US.

Back in May as I was walking down the street I saw someone wearing a " Save Ferris"  t-shirt. Anyone who has seen the classic 80's movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"  will know that characters in the movie wore similar shirts to save the "ailing"  main character. I wondered to myself, "How on earth did that shirt get here?"

By contrast, when I was at the airport waiting to pick-up a colleague, I saw a teenager with a shirt that read " Fuck Facebook; I have real friends!"

Very interesting indeed!

Rolf Jacobsen, Norwegian Poet

Looking through the stacks of books at the college library today I came across  a book of poems by the Norwegian modernist poet Rolf Jacobsen (1907-1994). I flipped through them and I enjoyed his style. Here is one of his poems that I really enjoyed.

HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT

Innocently
with large eyes
and twisted eyebrows
and mouth curiously pursed
like a child
she goes to start dancing
under dimmed floodlights, hooded floodlights
Tango and Cucaracha
to the castenets, so:
Arms raised, two steps to the side.
Bend clumsily in the knees.

Now with innocent eyes
and twisted eyebrows
the gasmask stares out over the world
with its snout curiously pursed
like a child.
So we go to start dancing
under cold floodlights, white floodlights.
Tango and
cucaracha
to machine-guns, so:
Arms raised. Two steps to the side.
Bend clumsily in the knees.

Judging a Country by its Theaters

They say never a judge a book by its cover (“unless it is artwork done by Boris Vallejo!” exclaim males in the 15-24-year-old demographic!). You may have to adapt that sage adage to something more contemporary and at the same time depressing: judge a country by its movie theaters. AMC’s recent announcement that it was “improving” the movie experience for viewers by replacing theater seats with recliners nearly made me choke when I read it. For a brief instant, I was bewildered and disoriented. I thought to myself, “Is this for real?” I soothed myself by rationalizing that this was perhaps the latest spoof offered to us by The Onion. But no, it wasn’t and it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

No longer is the movie experience that AMC offers us solely about watching a film on screen, it is about transporting your personal space with you to the theater itself. People can now take naps while the film is being screened. No longer do people have to adjust to the theater; the theater has to adapt to the customers. How distressing! Very soon, I fear, people will soon be able to receive pedicures or drink a daiquiri while a beautiful woman fans them with a giant palm leaf while they watch “Transformers 56: the End of Meaning.”

I live in Cuba now and the theater experience here is incredible! Conversations take place between various sections of the theater….all in good nature, usually talking about certain parts of the film. This became clear to me when I saw the film “42” in the fall. I found the experience incredible and exhilarating! Social conversations have not died out and the film takes center stage in these public and spontaneous discourses. People were talking about racism in the US and what Jackie Robinson had to go through; they asked me what I thought about it. The experience was entirely different from what the theatergoer takes part in when he/she goes to the cinema.

From June 12 to July 12 theaters in Cuba have screened games from the World Cup and this has been incredible! It is an experience to watch a great fútbol game in a cinema with over 300 people in the audience. Breathtaking and lively. They get it here. For Cuban cineastas and most theaters around the world, going to the theater is still a social experience; it is not an individualistic cocoon fashioned to inure people from that social contagion known as public conversation. It is not about extending the confines of home to public spaces. It is disappointing, but all AMC has done is settled one non-existent problem by creating another one: the person sitting behind the audience member who is reclining won’t be able to eat his/her $20 box of popcorn with the back of the seat in their face.

No One Says No to Leoneta

You can’t miss her even if you are one of the least observant persons on the planet. She stands about 178 cm (with help of five-inch heels), she has a mane of jet black hair that reaches out and expands as she moves her head to the hypnotic rhythm of her band. Her black eyes will grab your attention; or rather, they will just grab you, period. Her svelte form is accentuated by tight black pants (or yellow depending on the night) that gyrates to the music, enthralling all the male members of the audience.

She is a throwback to the Cuba of the 1940s. Her alluring, inviting and happy smile are irresistible and when she rolls her ‘r’s’ as she pronounces the word “rico,” (rrrrrrrrrrrico!) many people find that they cannot say no to this woman who one Cuban described to me as “salzosa.” She certainly is. Spicy, hot, exotic and with a personality that matches her beauty…these are the components that make up her “salzosa” identity. When she encourages the audience members (unwitting victims) she pulled on stage to dance with her, she jubilantly exclaims “Eso!”(that’s it!) or she will exhort them to swivel their hips with one word:  “cintura.”

She is the perfect performer, but more than that, she is, for many, the idealized Cuban fantasy woman that harkens back to the pre-Revolution days when the sultriness of Cuban females lured US men to the island like the Sirens did to Odysseus. Her voice is incredible and she whole-heartedly embraces the role she has chosen to entertain people.

No one can say no to her. She has called me up to stage where I danced (horribly, in fact). She flashed her smile and opened her mouth in joyful rapture; she extended her arms and jiggled her chest before me before turning around and shaking her rear end in a sexy, erotic gesture that was not lost on the male audiences. I forgot about my horrible dancing and just enjoyed what I was seeing. I don’t think I will ever meet another woman like her again. I have not seen anyone with such spirit, such joy, who was so “salzosa.”

I enjoyed a show with a friend and she said, when she saw Leoneta, that “she is a heartbreaker.” I agreed. For little did I know, she broke my heart. Am I sad? No. I am just grateful I had the opportunity to orbit around this bright star, even if for just a brief moment. These are the things in life that you remember. Years down the road, I will fondly recall my time in Cuba and you can rest assured that I will think of Leoneta quite often. Que rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrico.

You can't ignore her style!

Post script (July 20, 2014). Apparently someone can say 'no' to Leoneta; her band fired her for inappropriate comments. I wonder where this sultry crooner will land next?

A Different Kind of World Cup

While all eyes are on the World Cup scanning the football pitches for spectacular moments that redefine the sport, another event took place that did not garner so much attention.  In June over 200 teams not recognized by FIFA, the world's governing body of football, gathered to play their own version of the World Cup in the Swedish city of Ostersund. This is great. I wish more media attention would go their way. To learn more about the Confia Cup, go the link on the New York Times site. 

Viengsay Valdés is the Real Deal

On Friday, June 20^th my students and I went to Havana’s National Theater to see the National Ballet of Cuba’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. One of my students had befriended a ballerina who invited us to attend the performance. I am glad we did!

One of the first things I did once I sat down in my seat was to glance through the program for a name…a name of Cuba’s most famous ballet dancer. I read about her in the fall in an issue of Bohemia magazine. I was thrilled to see Viengsay Valdés in the cast of performers! She played the role of Odette (the Swan) and Odile (the Black Swan). She was magisterial and virtuosic in both roles. I especially liked her as the Black Swan. What a performance! Power, beauty, grace and agility mixed with a poetic and intense yet joyful and dark disposition all emanated from this incredible dancer. The crowd loved her, especially as the Black Swan. They roared as if someone had scored a goal in a fútbol match or as if someone had delivered a great solo at a rock concert. I couldn’t believe it.

Neither could my students. They were glued to the performance and were soon also excitedly yelling their approval after Ms. Valdés’s performance. Neither my students nor I are ballet experts, but what we saw Friday night will live with us for the rest of our lives. I am sure of it. I would not ever want to forget Viengsay Valdés. She is a world class dancer who performs all over the world. If you have a chance to see her, go. Just go. 

                                   

I am Nobody. Nobody's Perfect

Yesterday (June 17^th) as I was walking on the street I saw a beautiful young woman wearing a white shirt with a Playboy logo on it in which you could read “I am Nobody. Nobody’s Perfect.” I don’t know why, but the expression just struck me. Perhaps because in some ways it captures the spirit of the Cuban people. For many Americans Cubans are invisible to them; always under the radar until something comes along to stir up the US-Cuba relations debate. The second part of the expression, “Nobody’s Perfect,” really resonated with me. I think it is because it really is an anthem of many Cubans. They seem to say “Yeah, I am not perfect, so what? I am okay with that.” Of course, we can’t ignore the play on words—the girl is “Nobody” and she’s perfect.

It is funny. Not many slogans or sayings that appear on t-shirts catch my attention these days, but this one did. 

Something Fishy Happened at Manchester United

Today I learned that David Moyes “left” the football club Manchester United, ending  a tumultuous and extremely brief stint at the vaunted team. As we all know, this is just newspeak for he was fired. To some executives, I am sure it sounded better than “he was relieved of his duties” although I am sure many Red Devil fans were relieved that he was removed from the premises of Old Trafford.

Moyes’s work at Everton is proof that he is an excellent coach, but I think he had a lot of forces against him. For one, he had to follow in the footsteps of a legend—Sir Alex Ferguson. No one could have succeed in a reasonable amount of time after what Ferguson did for Manchester United over the last 25 years. It is a shame that the club did not give Moyes more time.  The impatience of the Manchester United board of directors aside, there was another element at play….one that we have seen before….during the World Cup of 2010 in South Africa.

It was there in the first round of the tournament that we all witnessed awful behavior on the part of athletes. The French team imploded and rebelled in a petty and immature fashion against the coach Raymond Domenech in what became an embarrassment for the French nation. One of the culprits in that team was Patrice Evra who currently plays for Manchester United.  He displayed a callous and juvenile attitude that infected the rest of the team that resulted in Domenech losing authority over the players.

I think the same thing happened at Manchester United. I can’t help but feel that Patrice is loving Evra minute of the latest incident where a head coach loses his job. When will people see this guy for what he really is?

The Monuments Men and the Abraham Lincoln Brigades

I just finished reading Robert Edsel’s excellent book The Monuments Men (Publisher: Center Street) and I am still marveling at the until now unheralded work of the men and women who worked for the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives unit of the Army during and after World War II. James Rorimer, Walker Hancock, George Stout and many other valiant figures played vital, yet unfortunately,  unrecognized roles in rescuing paintings, statues and other cultural treasures stolen by the Nazis during their reign of terror and looting. Oftentimes they had to struggle with the very military structure that they belong to to be recognized as legitimate warriors with an equally important objective. Unfortunately, not many people remember the Monuments Men these days. Edsel writes, “All countries ignore the Monuments Men’s legacy at their own peril. For example, several years ago I spoke with one of the key officers in charge of tracking down some of the 15,000 works of art looted from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad during and following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. He acknowledged that he had never heard of the Monuments Men.” Hopefully, with the upcoming soon-to-be released movie “The Monuments Men,” starring George Clooney and Matt Damon, the story of these figures who risked their lives will make its way into the collective consciousness of millions of Americans. 

Edsel’s book and his work remind me of the efforts made by another historian/writer to retrieve an important historical event from the chasm of American indifference,  ignorance and intellectual lethargy. Thanks to Peter Carroll I now know of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades and their role in fighting fascism in Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). His book The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade introduces us to the many ordinary men and women who followed their sense of conscience, duty and social justice to assist people they did not know in fighting the forces of the Nationalists led by Francisco Franco, and troops sent by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. In the era of the US policy of non-intervention these brave individuals, most of whom had no military experience went to Spain to fight soldiers who had ample training and weapons support. I do not see this ever happening again. The immediacy of the media almost makes us intimately acquainted with the violence and conflicts around the world. I doubt we will see another Robert Hale Merriman or Milton Wolffe (called ‘Lobo’ by his Spanish comrades in arms) put their careers on hold to live up to and support the ideals they believe in. Similarly, I don’t see any future James Rorimers or Lincoln Kirsteins out there to continue the work and legacy of the Monuments Men. But what we can do is read these two excellent books and make sure that public libraries and school libraries have them.  Sure, Duck Dynasty and the Kardashian sisters might grip America’s attention right now, but you can rest assured that in 10 years time, they will be a thing of the past, buried deep in our country’s collective Altaussee mine, while the stories of the Monuments Men and the Abraham Lincoln Brigades will continue to be told for generations to come. 

Thank you to Robert Edsel and Peter Carroll for reminding us why history is important. History is not just about the military victories that count, but the battles waged on the fields of our collective conscience, even if they did not result in a “win.” I tip my hat to the Monuments Men and the Abraham Lincoln Brigades, may the light of your inspiration continue to guide us for many years to come.