Owner: Cubanocast URL:http://www.nelsonguirado.com/index.php/cubanocast Join Date: Sun, 13 May 2007 20:01:28 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Classic Cuban music is qualitatively competitive with any music from the previous century, yet few outlets exist to hear it. Well, here's one. Site statistics:Click here
Jorge Chavez living the American Dream in St. Roberts Missouri 2007-07-12 21:15:24 During my stay at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo, I often visited Latin Touch Cafe for some of the best Cuban sandwiches in St. Roberts
(pop. 2500 [OK, maybe the best in a 200 mile radius]) and to visit with my good friend Jorge Chavez
.
I thought his story would be interesting to some of my readers, so I asked him if he wouldn't mind me posting a little something about him and he assented to my request.
Jorge arrived in our nation five years ago on a raft, not concerned, apparently, with perpetuating that particular Cuban stereotype. After arriving in the United States, some soldiers took care of him which shocked him as Castro had told him that the American
soldier was cruel. He stayed in Miami for a while, but, the Cuban Sandwich market being a little saturated in South Florida, followed the advice of a friend and moved to Missouri
, where his little sandwich shop, a mere mile from the post, is a favorite lunch stop for the soldiers.
Jorge and I discuss the issues of the day. Notice the re Read more:American Dream
, Dream
Celia Cruz- En Venezuela 2007-07-18 20:55:59 I was thinking about my Venezuela
post and remembered this song by Celia
Cruz. It's describing a carnival in Venezuela. Simon Bolivar led the South American revolt against Spain. Hugo Chavez calls his movement the Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario after him.
Listen to En Venezuela
Queen of Cuban Rhythm
Simon Bolivar Read more:Celia Cruz
Rare Tito Puente clip from 1965-El Cumbanchero 2007-07-26 09:27:53 A youngish Tito Puente
pays tribute to Puerto Rico's greatest composer, Rafael Hernandez. Those four drums he plays are called timbales. Puente's career started in New York in the fifties so, by this time, Puente was well established. This particular song, Cumbanchero has been remade many times; I must have like ten version of it.
President Kennedy is mentioned as well.
Trio la Rosa Amor en Guagua (autobus for non-Cubans) 2007-08-02 15:12:26 Just like the English call car hoods, "bonnets" and subways, "tubes," and people in Minnesota call soda, hilariously, "pop;" distinct countries and regions in Latin America have different names for the same thing. The one that causes the most chuckles amongst non-Cuban Latins is the the word "guagua," which Cubans
use for "bus" (most Latins call a bus, "autobus"), so much so that I stopped using it in conversations with my Mexican friends just to avoid the inevitable distraction.
One song that mentions guaguas is from my new favorite old group, Trio la Rosa. It's an exceptionally charming song, recounting the role the bus plays in one man's romantic history. In Amor en Guagua, a man meets his wife and falls in love with her on the bus. The bus then takes them to their wedding and subsequent honeymoon. Nine months later, the bus brings his son back dressed as a bus driver. The song isn't clear if the birth took place on the bus or in a nearby hospital.
Listen to Amor en Guagua
T
Grupo Rana Baila Centro Americano Centroamericano philosophy 2007-08-12 02:41:23 One of the most beautiful times in my life was when I taught ESL at Elizabeth Learning Center (whatever happened to just plain "school") in the tiny Los Angeles suburb of Cudahy. I not only enjoyed teaching, but I enjoyed talking with my students on everything from women to politics. But, the Army called my number and I had to leave. I miss them.
Anyways, most of the students were from Central America (El Salvador, predominantly, of those) and Cumbia is the most popular rhythm in those parts. Coincidentally, a Cumbia/Central American themed radio station briefly graced the Los Angeles airwaves at this same time and, during its operation, became my favorite spot on the dial. They'd often play this song (called BailaCentro
americano I learned later). I loved that song, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I tried internet searches, interrogating my students, P2P programs, and even went so far as to call the radio station. They told me it was from Grupo Rana. So, I drive around Los Angele Read more:Americano
Cha Cha Cha Dancing demonstration 2007-08-22 14:34:15 I hate when people steal my moves without giving me credit. He dances almost like me but without quite my level of cat-like grace and I usually keep my shirt buttoned.
The names of the dancers are Ekaterina Vaganova and Gabriele Goffredo. The name of the song is Tango Harlem by Touch and Go. Read more:Dancing
Jim Carrey, Cuban Pete, Armstrong, Desi, Diaz, and Latin Lovers 2007-08-22 04:18:28 I saw The Mask with my kids recently. It's not as great as I remember it, but it's still a lot of fun. The coincidentally Cuban
Cameron Diaz is stunning in this film- gorgeous in a way she hasn't appeared since- and it's nice to remember Jim Carrey
before he became a serious actor.
The Cubanocast relevant scene here is Carrey's performance of Cuban Pete. Cuban Pete hearkens back to a time when Americans visited Cuba in great numbers and the two nations maintained an excellent cultural, economic, and sometimes genetic exchange. During the Cuban Pete era, Latin
os, only about one or two percent of the American population at the time, were still considered somewhat exotic in America, and the justified (so I've been told) stereotype of Latin men as romantic and good lovers in general fired the fantasies of Americanas throughout our great nation.
Let's begin with the Sonora Matancera's instrumental version. Not spectacular, but remember that the Sonora Matancera wasn't necessar Read more:Armstrong
, Jim Carrey
, Lovers
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