QUETZAL, MEXICAN MASKED MEN, DOG WHISPERERS, AND MORE!
Tia Tenopia with a GREAT BIG SHOUT OUT to all of you loyal Latinopianos–no, not Wurlitzer or Steinway. Okay, your Tia working overtime here, anyone who got that joke, raise your hands, please.
Moving on…We’ll be brief this week–got two great videos for your optical and cerebral delectations. Didn’t know your Tia se avienta with these kind of fancy words, que no? Delectations? Look it up!
Okay, so in Musica, we got another great performance by that stellar East Los music group Quetzal. They’ve been criticized because so much of their toe-tapping, foot-stomping, hip-swinging music also has serious content. They explain why this is so with their song “Canto Liso,” based on a poem by that great Cuban poet, Nicolás Guillén. Como dice la Martha, beyond dancing, “la music tambien inspira y madura.” Quetzals’s music moves the body, soul AND mind!
In Cinema, we converse with an accomplished producer, director and Los Angeles based filmmaker Carlos Avila on his latest productions, the PBS documentary “Tales of Masked Men.” The film is about “luchadores,” Mexican masked wrestlers. Carlos is already known for his awesome PBS drama series “Foto-Novelas” and for directing the feature film “Price of Glory” starring Jimmy Smits. Carlos told Latinopia that in making this documentary on Mexican Masked Men he discovered that the lives of “luchadores” is a metaphor for the struggle we all share to survive in life. Pues, watchalo!
Please also check out all our great blogs. Sal Baldenegro comments on the Democratic party and civil right issues in Political Salsa y Más with Sal Baldenegro. Harry Gamboa Jr. evaluates what its like to pass an age threshold in Word Vision with Harry Gamboa, Jr. Don Felipe De Ortego talks literary non-fiction in Bravo Road with Don Felípe. Sara Inés Calderón takes on Immigration Reform in Thinking Latina with Sara Inés Calderón and Eduardo Díaz reminds us to “Keep our eyes on the prize” in his Mireándolo Bien with Eduardo Díaz. Gosh, what a bunch of brainy people we have in our community!
And be sure to check out Angela Ortiz’s latest Photo of the Week, this week it’s “Bubbles in the Pond.” And Sergio Hernández returns this week with another Arnie and Porfi cartoon strip–this time the boys discover barrio dogs and dog placas. What? Dog Placas? Check it out, it’ll all make sense in a moment.
Enjoy this week on Latinopia!
Tia Tenopia
No, not Yamaha, Baldwin or Kawai either!