Neguin

The Red Bull BC One was in Tokyo on Saturday and a new winner was crowned. Neguin beat out Just Do It to become the first Brazilian and Latin American to win the event. He came back from a loss in last year's semi-finals to Cloud (my personal favorite) and showed great improvement. If you're not really into breaking maybe this will change your mind.

Final Battle: Neguin vs. Just Do It (Netherlands)

Semi-Final: Neguin vs. Lil G (Venezuela)

Cloud vs. Neguin (Semi-Final 2009)

A poem by Nicanor Parra

I was in class several weeks ago when Nicanor Parra's came up in our digital poetry course (obviously unrelated to dp). I thought I would give him a try and so I picked up Poemas y Antipoemas. My professor had hyped him up a little bit so I think I was expecting more. Overall, it was still quite good. Here is one of my favorite poems (and one that was short enough for a blog post).

"Madrigal"

Yo me haré millonario una noche
gracias a un truco que me permitirá fijar las imágenes
en un espejo cóncavo. O convexo.

Me parece que el éxito será completo
cuando logre inventar un ataúd de doble fondo
que permita al cadáver asomarse a otro mundo.

Ya me he quemado bastante las pestañas
en esta absurda carrera de caballos
en que los jinetes son arrojados de sus cabalgaduras
y van a caer entre los espectadores.

Justo es, entonces, que trate de crear algo
que me permita vivir holgadamente
o que por lo menos me permita morir.

Estoy seguro de que mis piernas tiemblan,
sueño que se me caen los dientes
y que llego tarde a unos funerales.

Arcade Fire on SNL (11/13/2010)

Arcade Fire played SNL last night and showed why they are one of the best groups still playing today. The second video is of my favorite song from their latest album The Suburbs.

Eugenio Tisselli

Tomorrow I will be presenting the work of Eugenio Tisselli. A programmer, digital poet, and visual artist. Here is an example of some of his work.

More to come later.

50% off at Barnes and Noble

We are the happy new owners of this gem that we picked it up from Barnes and Noble's 50% off criterion sale. This for me was the clear choice. Considered by some as one of the best-ever releases on criterion. Unavailable anywhere else and an important part of cinematic history. Read the review here.

Biutiful

Alejandro González Iñárritu and Javier Bardem have teamed up for Biutiful. Iñárritu has been one of my favorite Latin American directors ever since I saw Amores Perros (2000) about 5 years ago. It's exciting to see that he has teamed up with Bardem, one of cinema's great talents. Yeah for Spanish cinema!

New Music Videos

A few of my favorite videos from the past couple of weeks. I especially like the Foals and Darkstar videos.

Foals - Blue Blood

Sleigh Bells "Infinity Guitars" from Phil Pinto on Vimeo.

Among the Thugs

Because I have to read a seemingly infinite amount of texts for graduate school I've concluded that in order to keep sane I need to always read something unrelated to my studies. I've wanted to read Bill Buford's first-hand account of british holliganism for quite awhile now. After finding a copy here at UGA I quickly became enthraled in this tale of violence and football (soccer). He willingly thrust himself into the culture of hooliganism and of football in general in order to find answers about violence. Did he find the answers he was looking for? No, but he did come to an important conclusion.

This synopsis gives an excellent description of the book and of Buford's conclusions upon writing it:

"Buford, a native of the United States, is the editor of the London-based literary magazine Granta . In 1982 he witnessed the takeover of a train, a football special, by English soccer thugs. He reveals how fascination for this distinctly English phenomenon of "soccer hooliganism" led him to follow a group of violent supporters of the Manchester United Red Devils. Buford is accepted into the group and in time seems to develop a sixth sense about impending violence or when things, in English parlance, are "going to go off." Particularly riveting is his account of the aftermath of a match in Turin, Italy, where 200 or so Manchester supporters marched through the ancient streets leaving fire and destruction in their wake. Buford's original theories on football violence, fraught with notions about disenfranchised youth and the frustration of the working class, are forever dashed. He concludes that the English working class is dead, and what remains is a culture so vapid that " . . . it pricks itself so that it has feeling, burns its flesh so that is has smell." Public and academic libraries should have this."

I could write pages and pages about this topic but rather I share a few articles relating to violence and football.

1. An interesting take on violent gangs in the Argentine league: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/jun/26/huracan-violence-argentina-barra-brava

2. Another article on violence in the Argentine league: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1856553.stm

2. Over the past several years the violence in England has seemed to die down a bit. But, is it something that will always exist? http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/22/football-violence-hooligans

4. A funny clip from the Daily Show: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-june-30-2010/world-cup-2010--into-africa---vuvuzealots

So, if you are interested in the relationship between football and violence and the culture of hooliganism I would definitely take time to read this book.

Miss Buggs

Click here for more.

New Eelus

Notorious XX

If you enjoy mashups, click here before it's too late. Mixing Biggie with the new "it" band is always popular and this is no exception. Here it is with the 2010 Mercury Award winners, the xx. Also, if you like this then you'll enjoy his newest offering, "This is Real Life". It reminds me a little of Girl Talk but a little toned down. Instead of mashing up a dozen songs in one, here we just have two or three at most.

Latin American Street Art

Triangulo Dorado (Argentina)

Latin America is quietly producing some of the best street art in the world. Artists from Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina are making themselves known worldwide. Naturally, street art is political in nature and even more so in Latin America. But, what differentiates new street art as opposed to older graffiti is the level of artistic ability. Street art that was defined by the ramblings of estranged youth or the scribblings of amateurs has been converted into beautiful art and thoughtful political commentary by these same estranged, marginalized figures.

Stinkfish (Colombia)
Os Gemeos (Brazil)
Stinkfish (Colombia)
Faber (Peru)
M. Sueno (Peru)
Stinkfish (Colombia)
XOMATOK (Peru)
XOMATOK (Peru)

Os Gemeos (Brazil)

M. Sueno (Peru)

Cyberculture and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Beckie and I were able to have our first date in months and went to the theater to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. We would have saw Inception but none of the times fit our schedule. Earlier that day Claire Taylor had given a lecture on campus entitled Approaches to Latin American Cyberculture: Resistant Reterritorializations and The Reworking of Place and her words ended up fitting perfectly with the film.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is an example of cyberculture and its mixing of physical and digital space. By mixing different types of media it creates its own specific place that doesn't differentiate between the two. The films use of real life situations combined with videogame graphics and storytelling make it a cybermovie we can all enjoy. Plus, Michael Cera is really funny.



I threw this in for fun. Edgar Wright also directed both Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. Below is the trailer to the latter.

David Walker

Click Here

Guy Denning

Click Here

Music of Athens

It's not a secret that Athens has produced some of the great pop, rock, and indie performers of the past few decades. But, I didn't realize how extensive and diverse the scene is here. So, I thought I would give you all a taste of the music of Athens, the old and the new, the known and the less-known.

The two most prominent figures in Athens music are R.E.M. and the B-52's.





Athens has also produced some of the more prominent indie bands of the last decade, including Deerhunter, Of Montreal and The Drive-By Truckers.







The last two artists on this list are my favorites. Neutral Milk Hotel and DJ Danger Mouse.

Neutral Milk Hotel released, in my opinion one of the best albums of the last 10-15 years In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Although not currently performing together their music continues to inspire.





DJ Danger Mouse is most famous for the album that put his name on the map, The Grey Album, a cross between Jay-Z's black album and the Beatles' White Album. He later gained success for his collaborations with Cee-Lo (Gnarls Barkley) and James Mercer of the Shins (Broken Bells). Along the way he has produced albums by Beck, Gorillaz and the Black Keys.

First Week at UGA

It's been difficult trying to write a blog post after a three month absence. I lost the habit. This week is better than any other to start over. I finished my first week as a doctoral candidate in Latin American Literature at UGA. Being in a new place, at a new school, and among new friends pushes me to write.

This week went well. I teach two classes three times a week and then take three graduate seminars each once a week. These include a teaching methodology course, Latin American Modernism, and Latin American cyberpoetry. The latter is the one I am most excited about for the fact that it seems to be sort of a continuation on Dr. Andrew Brown's Cyborgs and Latin America mini-course at BYU. Below are a couple of texts we read excerpts from for the first day of class. Interesting stuff. Not only are we going to learn about cyberculture and poetry but we will be given the opportunity to put it into action as we write our research paper and convert it into a hyper-paper either as a website, blog, or other form. Also, we will need to create an original work of cyberpoetry.

So, school is good. Athens is a fun town. The south is great. Everybody is so nice. We felt welcome since the first day we came. It goes without saying that it is very different from Utah but that's a good thing. At first I thought I would miss it a lot but now I think I will really like this place.

Found for $5.60 at FYE

Beckie and I decided to take a couple of movies to FYE to trade in for credit. One of them, Gentlemen Broncos, was one of the worst films I've seen in awhile. That's the last time I buy a movie without watching it first. Anyway, with the credit, plus a 40% off coupon from the daily universe, we bought this for just $5.60. In my opinion, a pretty good trade.

Zidaned!

Found this shirt online the other day. It's unfortunate, yet really funny, that one of the greatest players ever will be remember for this and not for how he played.

It's Official

We are headed to the University of Georgia so I can continue my life as a perpetual student. I will be pursuing my doctorate in Latin American Literature. We're excited for the adventure. Here are a few things to look forward to.

- The South (food, people, atmosphere)
- SEC football

- Athens

- Trees

- A few hours from the beach

*I wish I could add more to this list, but truthfully, I don't know much about Athens

New Banksy Trailer

Eelus

A couple of months ago I put up a post about some up and coming street artists. One of them was Eelus. Recently, I've gone back to his work and have been inspired by his unique style. His use of dark grays, browns, and blacks with bright yellows, reds, and greens providing a sharp contrast to compliment his themes. Thematically, he classifies his own work as a mixture of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Some of his works easily belong to that classification while others subtly share topics found within these genres. Beauty in contrast, inspiration through difference, these are the works of Eelus.

Below, is a video of him at his first London show explaning his work, along with some of his originals. For more of his work check out his site here.

Ear and Eye Candy

Joanna Newsom's new triple album Have One On Me and her recent appearance on Jimmy Fallon. Definitely a unique singer song-writer, Joanna Newsom may require some getting used to through repeated listens.






Yeasayer's latest album Odd Blood and their brand new video for the single O.N.E. Pitchfork didn't like it (the album not the video) but I really think they're wrong on this one.

Yeasayer "ONE" By: Radical Friend from ODDBLOOD on Vimeo.

The National, arguably one of the best rock bands working today will be coming out with a new album this coming May entitled High Violet. They gave a preview on Jimmy Fallon.





One of my favorite albums from last year. The Bowerbirds have recently released the official video for the song "Northern Lights".





Gregory Alan Isakov. Another leftover from last year, I recently discovered this Colorado-based folk singer. This is my favorite song from the album This Empty Northern Hemisphere.