The obligatory Madonna post

I was talking to a reporter yesterday on what it means to blog on Latino LGBT issues - as opposed to gay issues in general - and I told him that, for one, I didn't feel the pressure to make the obligatory Madonna post every time she released an album.

But I did get "Hard Candy" this week and am still trying to wrap my head around it. It's got some good stuff - I can't get "Candy Shop" out of my head - but what brings me to write about it is "La Isla Bonita, Pt. II" which surfaces here with the name of "Spanish Lesson."

Now let it be known: "La Isla Bonita" is up there with last year's "Hey You" as one of my least favorite Madonna tracks. I cringe every time I hear it playing and, yet, "Spanish Lesson" is a treat.

As in "La Isla..." Madonna sings a few lines in Spanish in an atrocious accent but this time she has fun with the concept. Supposedly she is translating certain Spanish language phrases but the translations are actually a bit off-kilter yet close enough.

So, if you really wanna know what she's singing, here are some of he lyrics with the real translation in parenthesis:

• "Yo te quiero means I love you" (sorta, it means I care for you)
• "Mucho gusto means I'm welcome to you" (hm, no, it means 'pleased to meet you')
• "Callate means close your mouth" (more precisely, it means 'shut up')
• "Besame means give me love" (if a kiss means more than a kiss)
• "Digame Miss, tell me baby" (no, it means 'Call me Miss')
• "Yo soy loco means you drive me crazy" (nope, it means 'I am a crazy man')
• "Entiendo means I get it" (Yup! Or 'I understand')
• "Siempre means that I won't forget it" (nope, it means 'always')

It's obvious that the slight variations are pretty knowing which makes the song that much more fun. So, what the heck, I guess there was an obligatory Madonna post in me after all.

My New York: Time gous by con Loli (Redux)

Grab on to something! Take a couple of deep breaths. Relax. Ready?

Spain's La Terremoto de Alcorcon is making their New York debut at Narcotheque this Saturday (at Fontanas bar). I won't be able to make it but you certainly can!

We usually don't promote bar night events here at Blabbeando but who can forget the immortal "Time gous by (con Loli)?"

I mean, it's totally ruined my appreciation for a certain Madonna track so much that I always skip it on the CD unless I wanna be overcome by an incontrollable fit of the giggles.

Who is La Terremoto? Hm, a little reminder below.

Reberverations: Willi Ninja's passing

COMMENTS FROM OTHER BLOGS

• RIPs: Steve Irwin, Willi Ninja, polar opposites (evillaugh, Sept. 4, 2006)
  
• The loss of an ICON (Lavish Magazine, Sept. 4, 2006)
• An appreciation: Willi Ninja, legend (1961-2006) (Slaves of Academe, Sept. 3, 2006)
• Willi Ninja, RIP (J's Theatre, Sept. 3, 2006)
• Sweet dreams Willi Ninja (justBthat, Sept. 3, 2006)
• Willi Ninja Supreme (LaTasha Natasha Diggs, Sept. 3, 2006)
• RIP, Willi Ninja (kb Network, Sept. 3, 2006)
• Rest in peace, Willi Ninja (The Adventures of an Extroverted Wallflower, Sept. 3, 2006)
• To Willi (Faux Real, Sept. 3, 2006)
• Willi Ninja, RIP (Living Out Loud with Darian, Sept. 3, 2006)
• Paris still burns: Willi Ninja R.I.P. (Terrence Says, Sept. 3, 2006)
• Hold that pose: Remembering Willi Ninja (Karl Xtravaganza, Sept. 3, 2006)
• RIP Willi Ninja, you will be missed baby (Michelle Visage, Sept. 3, 2006)
• Willi Ninja, father of vogue dancing, passes (Da Greasy Guide, Sept. 3, 2006)
• Strike a pose... (Make Up Beat, Sept. 3, 2006)
• Willi Ninja, R.I.P. (Harry2Much, Sept. 2, 2006)
• Willi Ninja, a true friend (Angel Eyes Rodriguez, Sept. 2, 2006)
• In loving memory of the icon Willi Ninja (Jasmyne Cannick, Sept. 2, 2006)
• End of an era: Willi Ninja steals away (taylor Siluwé, Sept. 2, 2006)

UPDATE #1: MEDIA COVERAGE

• Godfather of voguing, star of "Paris is Burning" dies in NYC - Includes comments from Madonna (AP, Sept. 5, 2006)
• New York Times obituary (NYT, Sept. 6, 2006)
• Gay City News obituary (Sept.7, 2006)

UPDATE #2: COMMENTS ON WILLI'S MEMORIAL SERVICE AND FUNERAL, HELD ON FRI. SEPT. 8, 2006 IN ST. ALBAN'S, QUEENS

• Last night (Emmanuel Xavier, Sept. 9, 2006)
• Remembering Willi... (Preboot a/k/a Donald Agarrat, Sept. 9, 2006)

Time Gous By (con Loli)

You have been warned...

Madonna, Shakira... Andrea Echeverri?

November will bring a new album from Madonna, who is seeking to regain some of her lost dance music status with "Confessions on a Dance Floor." The new single "Hung Up" is catchy, thanks to a prominent sample from ABBA's "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight)" and the video, which seemed a little underwhelming at first sight, grows on you with it's retro look and the "Flashdance" vs. "Ray of Light"-like dance floor sequences. Catch the video, the song and the remixes here while the lawyers get to raw.like.sashimi and ban them from the site (the video is also here).

November also brings Vol. 2 of Shakira's two-album experiment in world domination begun earlier this year with the awfully titled Spanish-language "Fijación Oral" and now followed up with its equally awfully titled English-language counterpart "Oral Fixation." Both only share two songs in common and, surprisingly, it's not her smash single "La Tortura" which featured hottie Alejandro Sanz from Spain. Musically, "Don't Bother" - the new single - is actually the best song Shakira has released in quite a while with a rock edge that was missing in most of the last album. The video, which also premiered this week, is also one of Shakira's best. I simply love what the director did with the use of lighting in the car junk yard. Unfortunately it's the lyrics that strike the wrong note as Shakira delves one time too many into a soap opera-ish tale of a woman scorned taking vengance on her unfaithful lover (and what's up with the lines "she's the greatest cook and she's fat free" or "for you, I'd give up all I have and move to a Communist country"?). It's also a bit uncomfortable to watch someone who was lauded in Colombia for her musical talents as well as her beauty embrace the bimbo package that the United States music market has encouraged (as a matter of fact, fans are up in arms over the semi-nudity for the cover of her new album - pictured above - as this Univision.com forum shows).

So, as the Shakira vs. Madonna new CD release dates approach, perhaps we should leave the marketing to them and focus instead on an album that will probably leave both of them in the dust at least artistically and musically. An ode from a mother to her three-year old daughter, Andrea Echeverri's self-titled Spanish-language debut album was released earlier this year remains one of my favorite albums of the year. It is also one of the most erotically assured albums I have ever about womanhood addressing, for example, the erotic fullfillment of giving birth. All that without pouring black tar on yourself or posing semi-naked for an album cover! Go figure! It is a mellow, sonically challenging, beautiful album that strikes moments of pure emotional power.

Three songs in particular always leave a lump on my throat and even some wetness around my eyes, "Fulgor," "Quedate" and "Menos Mal." They are basically love songs. A translation of "Menos Mal" follows:

"Menos Mal / Thank heaven"

Thank heaven you showed up
Thank heaven you convinced me
Thank heaven you are still here

Thank heaven we offended each other
Thank heaven we forgave each other
Thank heaven we gave each other another opportunity

Thank heaven we built
Thank heaven we decided
To continue 'til the end

Don't leave
Never will the bad be forgiving

Thank heaven we placed a bet
That we'd sow the little seeds
That we'd make each other laugh

Thank heaven we had fun
Like surprised children
Thank heaven together we felt the hunger to live

Thank heaven we connected
Thank heaven we made each other pregnant
Thank heaven we penetrated each other

Don't ever leave...