This. Dumb. Heat. Is. Bothering. Me.
I’m not a big fan of the heat, so if I have to walk anywhere in Vegas, I’m very crabby doing it and only get happy those few precious moments I get to walk by a place with A/C so I can steal a tiny walk-by-breeze.
I wasn’t too worried about the heat because when I rented the place I’m currently at, I saw that there was a thingie on the wall to set air temperature. I even asked the guy showing me the place if it came with central air, and he said it did.
Cut to this past Saturday where I’m burning up in my place and fiddling with the wall thingie. Oh, I get it…I don’t have central air!!
I wonder if the leasing company is going to do anything about it or just blame it on the dumb apartment-finder dude. Ugh.
So now I have no microwave and no A/C. I’m a goddamn caveman!
Speaking of cavemen, I went to see “Year One” this past weekend. I liked it. What’s not to like? It’s a Harold Ramis flick, it has some improv friends in it, and that Michael Cera kid is High-Larious. (Yes, I know I misspelled it so shut it.)
Speaking of High-Larity (yup, I did it again, shut your pie-hole), this funny movie was followed by an even funnier one: The Hangover.
I cried laughing so hard. Yup, that good.
Do yourself a favor: try to go see the movie on a night where the chances of the theater being packed are better.
Laughter is contagious, so watching this movie with a bunch of people that want to laugh is a better experience than watching it alone or waiting for the dvd. Heck, I’ll go see it with you if you want, but don’t go alone.
Speaking of alone, I’m enjoying going to the movies by myself so much, that I think I’m going to try to do it at least once a month.
Oh, hey, I keep hearing bad things of the trailer alone for the upcoming “G.I.Joe” movie, but guess what, I’m gonna watch it. I love movie eye-candy, so the special effects are going to make me watch the movie. I may not go to the movies to see this, but for sure I will rent it. I like special effects so much that I even watched “Jumper”. Yup, I watched that movie. Suck it.
Speaking of sucking, Poppa’s Day was this past weekend. The past couple of years have been a little rough trying to put on a good face celebrating the day with my step dad and his family, but I’ve learned to look at the positives about the day and enjoy it without letting it affect me the way it has the past couple of years. Now I look at the day as a chance to see my Mom, sisters, nephews, and most important, my niece. And they of course remind me of my Pops, so it’s pretty cool now.
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This past weekend was the Puerto Rican parade. I saw a car that was decked out in PR gear and my guess is they were heading towards the parade. The car had some music on and the driver and passenger were singing along to the lyrics. For some reason, this made think of how bad a son I am to the Home Land.
There’s a lot of Spanish music that I enjoy and I’m sure there’s plenty more that I would enjoy, but I don’t’ listen to Spanish radio, so I’m not caught up with the latest latin artists. But I’m referring to latin pop music, not the traditional old school Mexican music. See, unlike most Mexicans, I don’t listen or enjoy listening to traditional Mexican music. Especially music that includes a mariachi band. I think that’s called “Ranchera” music. I think.
Anyway, I’ve always felt bad that I’m not familiar some of the most popular songs of this genre or that I don’t know the lyrics to these songs. I especially feel bad – and embarrassed, when I’m at events or get-togethers with friends and or family, and people start to sing along to some of these old songs that I never bothered to be familiar with or grew to like.
The one time I thought, “hey, that sounds cool”, was when I listened to an artist do a version of one of these songs. That artist is Luis Miguel. This guy is considered the ‘Frank Sinatra of Mexico’ and he even did a duet with Mr. Sinatra. I gotta tell you, that comparison is well deserved.
This guy has a great voice. I don’t care for his attempt at pop music, but his traditional romantic ballads…man, his voice makes them great.
So when I first heard him do a version of one of those old traditional Mexican songs, I was pretty hooked. I’m weird with music. If the beat and bass is right, if the hook is right, or if the voice is right, I’m in. It doesn’t matter what kind of music it is, I’m in. (you’d be surprised at a peek at my ipod) So because of what his voice adds to a song, I bought a cd of him singing some of those old traditional songs.
I always knew that Mexican music is pretty passionate and a lot of it comes from the heart, like I’m sure a lot of good music does. And I’ve always heard that those old ‘rancheras’ have the good stuff: some deep stuff from the heart. But I think, and I may be wrong, that the reason these songs are popular, is because they were written and sung by men. By men that helped promote and personify the image of being “macho”.
And that’s weird! Ask any Mexican person you know, and they will confirm that at least once, they have heard of, seen –or have been a part of- a sing along to some of these old tunes and have been moved to tears while singing. Especially when they’re drunk.
I find that weird, but kinda cool; that grown men that take great pride in their machismo will have no problem, especially drunk, succumbing to tears while singing along to some of these old songs. It’s almost sort of ironic. I think.
I don’t have that ‘machismo’ thing, but I admit to being a sort of hopeless romantic. So just last week, when I finally started to pay attention to the lyrics, I understood a little more why grown men and women are moved to tears by some of those old songs. Because at some point I think we all have those moments where we wish we could truly feel and express the anguish we once felt or are feeling, and sometimes a good written song, sung with true emotion, is a welcome excuse to allow ourselves to succumb to our true emotions without the risk of being called a pussy.
In Mexico, if you see a young person crying over a pop song, there is room and reason to call him a pussy. But if you see a grown man tearing up over some of those old ‘ranchera’ songs, he is not a pussy, he’s a Man.
Isn’t that weird…???
When artists like Britney or the Back Street Boys write or sing about heartache, it’s cute and teeny-boppy. But there’s somehow something way different about a grown man who wrote and recorded a song 50 years ago that to this day will move the macho of the machos.
There are many songs about heartache out there, but knowing that one of those old school macho dudes wrote this over 50 years ago when a girl did him wrong, makes one go “Wow…” and no longer wonder how these guys ever got a piece of ass:
Blame Me for What Happened (loosely translated)
You know better than anyone that you deceived me,
that what you promised you forgot.
You know very well that you were not faithful
although nobody loved you as much as I did.
I am full of reasons to despise you,
and nonetheless I want you to be happy,
and there in the other world,
instead of hell I hope you find glory,
and that a cloud of your memory will erase the memory of me.
Tell whomever asks you that I did not love you.
Tell them that it was I that cheated on you and that I was the worst.
Blame me for what happened,
and cover your back with my pain.
Of course, the written translation and the lack of audio does this song no justice, so give this is a listen if you’re slightly curious about what I’m babbling about.
