MisterBryans

Our Woman In Havana

Gabriel is back in Havana for the month blogging on a daily basis. She is a journalist in her 'real life', so her posts are always fact-filled and educational, even when she is writing about what didn't happen. So frinstance, on a night when she misses Pupy due to bad planning, we still find out where the tango milongas are in Havana.

If you know Gabriel like I do (and I've personally never met the woman), part of the fun is speculating on what info and opinions she leaves out of each post.

La Timba Soy Yo

I just received in the mail the new Soneros All Stars CD, 'La Timba Soy Yo'. (Yah, more new music!)

This CD has Pupy written all over it, as he is the exec producer, Mandy and Pepito do a lot of the lead vocals and 'BonBon' (Roelvis Reyes- Pupy's drummer), is the arranger/producer.

The Soneros All Stars is the brainchild of Janne Bodgan from Sweden, who released the immensely popular changui CD 'Dime Nague' that many of us played the hell out of a couple of years ago.

Since I've only had the CD for a couple of days now, I cant quite comment on the whole record yet. But the first song on the album 'El Maraquero', was pre-released a few months ago and is an excellent timba, and the last song 'El Congo Francisco' whooo boy, is a real burner that sounds like it will destroy the dance floor big time.

You can listen here.

Cambio?

Since all of us who've been to Cuba more than twice have become amateur Cubanoligists, I thought I would link to a real expert in the field, Phil Peters over at The Cuban Triangle, for some insight as to what is really happening on the island.

Phil has a post saying that although the changes that have been decreed by the government (legal use of cell-phones, computers, etc) are positive, the real structural changes in Cuba are occurring in the agricultural sector. He discusses how the  bureaucracy is being re-organised, how idle land is being being distributed to private farmers, and how the government is proposing to streamline the food distribution system,

If the result of all (these changes) is elimination of the huge state distribution system in agriculture (the acopio) and a new policy where the state abandons mass rationing and instead targets food aid to those in need, that would mark a very large “structural” change, one that could point to later policy moves in other economic sectors.

Cuban friend Yoser Rodriguez confirms that some of these changes have affected his family.

Photo of farmer near Santa Clara from Ian Cowe.

More Sports Blogging

This comes from Nicholas Jennings, who is supposed to be working hard on some TV project.

Women's Diary

Saw him in the evening and he was acting really strangely. I had been shopping in the afternoon with the girls and I did turn up a bit late so thought it might be that. The bar was really crowded and loud so I  suggested we go somewhere quieter to talk. He was still very subdued  and distracted so I suggested we go somewhere nice to eat.

All through dinner he just didn't seem himself; he hardly laughed and didn't seem to be paying any attention to me or to what I was saying. I just knew that something was wrong. He dropped me back home and I wondered if he was going to come in; he hesitated but followed.

I asked him again if there was something the matter but he just half shook his head and turned the television on.

After about 10 minutes of silence, I said I was going upstairs to bed.

I put my arms around him and told him that I loved him deeply. He just gave a sigh and a sad sort of smile. He didn't follow me up but later he did, and I was surprised when we made love. He still seemed distant and a bit cold, and I started to think that he was going to leave me and that he had found someone else. I cried myself to sleep.

Man's Diary

England lost to Russia. Absolutely gutted. Got a shag though.

Hockey Blogging Take 3

(hey, this is fun!!)

i learned.....

That the Serbian National Ice Hockey team are currently ranked 30th in the IIHF World Rankings.

IN Calgary, along the infamous 'Red Mile', there are more women than men. (Am assuming the colour red refers to Calgary Flames colours and is not some hooker reference)

My friend Diego insists that 3 out of every 10 hockey fans are women. (And Diego knows a lot of women.)

A female friend from Montreal who I'm sure wishes to remain anonymous, wanted to know if having a crush on Roggie Vachon qualified her to be considered a hockey fan for which the answer if of course, 'No!'.

It was also made clear to me that Quebecers, being more sophisticated than we Anglos, have no idea who Don Cherry is.

Full disclosure. I am hoping to see Pittsburg and Montreal win their current series. I'm also hoping to see Man U and Chelsea win their Champions League games this week.

The Question Of Black Radio

Ashante Infantry has  a good overview of Toronto's first Black radio station FLOW, and it's new format changes. FLOW has obviously moved far away from it's initial premise to reflect the Black community of Toronto, and seems to be now (I haven't listened in years) just another commercial radio station fighting for ratings points and advertising dollars.

I would probably be more critical of Flow if I thought there was a potential for a commercial radio station to be a cultural voice. But I don't. Urban music (hip-hop and r 'n b) has lost any kind of cultural power it once had. And much as I am a Jully Black fan from way back, I don't see her success in the Canadian marketplace as being representative of any cultural breakthrough.

She is just going good business. Which is about the best you can say about music on commercial radio these days.

UPDATE, after a conversation with my friend Diego Fuentes. The mainstream music industry (radio, the record companies) don't release or programme the best music that exists these days. The music that changes peoples lives, that promotes cultural awareness. Which is why it doesn't really matter what FLOW does. If they play by the rules of the industry, they are never going to represent the creativity and diversity of the African-Canadian population of T.O.

Hockey Blogging Take 2

I know we are going waaaay off topic here but, predictably, I am in a bit of hot water for my Montreal Canadians logo post that explicitly excluded women.

I should have explicitly excluded only 98.3 % of women. I should have specified that i was referring to the legendary Montreal teams of the 50's and 60' when the National Hockey league was comprised of the original six teams. You remember Dickie Moore, Bernie 'Boom-Boom' Geffrion and the 'Pocket-Rocket' don't you?

No, ok, well let me ask this.

What percentage of women support any of the six professional hockey franchises in Canada in 2008? I mean, who buy season tickets, regularly watch the games on TV, read the sports pages, join the hockey pools at work, or wear the team uniforms, etc etc...Is it 15%? 25%? (I cant imagine it's that high) 5%?

And of this percentage, how many were born outside of Canada in the hockey 'hotbeds' of say Guatemala, Pakistan, Serbia,  Somalia or the other places where Canada's immigration population comes from?

So what I'm saying is that the culture of professional hockey, then and now is principally a 'guy' thing, which probably explains why the national embarrasment known as Don Cherry has kept his job for so long.

No More Live Salsa Music On Fridays in T.O?

I know for a fact that salsa on Fridays is ending soon at Lula, and there are many rumours about the immanent demise of the Friday night party with Son Ache at Cervejaria.

I don't think anything or anyone is to blame, it's just the cyclical nature of music.

Adding: Sophie makes a good point that the frequency of international Latin artists appearing in Toronto causes people to spend less on local music.

Nice Guys Do (Sometimes) Finish First

Hilario Duran accepts SOCAN Composer of the Year honours at the 2008 edition of the National Jazz Awards.
(Photo: Kris King)

Timba.com Revisited

So it appears I am dropped from the Timba.com blogroll. For a technical reason it seems.