The walk of no shame...

The new ad (and catchy tune) from AMP Energy Drink...which is pretty cute...the ad, I could care less about the drink...

Have YOU ever done the walk of shame?

I mean, it was just sitting there in the morning light.

I mean, it was just sitting there in the morning light.
Originally uploaded by Mareen Fischinger

Tending toward the "less horny" imagery...for Tango Pilgrim...

Argentina in the news...in today's New York Times

The Phoenix has landed...on Mars

I didn't even know there was a probe on it's way to Mars. Yesterday, it landed in the northern polar region of Mars.

Here is another computer generated image of the lander's solar power panels unfurled.



Everything I have said about the dumbing down of America (and the world at large) does not apply to these folks at NASA & the JPL, obviously.

Missing the Denver Fest

The Denver Tango Fest's outdoor/bbq milonga is today...at the Cheesman Park Pavilion...and I am missing it...and many of my friends, old and new.

I'm also missing some special tangos with special women in Miami at their Memorial Day fest.

I'm missing the Milonga a Media Luz in Atlanta tonight due to ongoing transmission troubles.

I'm missing the Milonga Pavadita tonight in Dallas.

I'm missing the long running Sunday night practica at Tapestry Dance in Austin.

I'm missing tango...

Flip-flop tan...

A friend shot this today with my camera...she was amazed at the flip-flop tan on my feet...from wearing flip-flops while I work...a definite OSHA violation...but I am the boss...so if I drop a 400 pound stone on my toe...I only have myself to blame...but at least my feet are cool in this heat...

270 Illegal Immigrants Sent to Prison in Federal Push

From this morning's New York Times

270 Illegal Immigrants Sent to Prison in Federal Push
By JULIA PRESTON
Published: May 24, 2008
Immigrants arrested in an Iowa raid faced tough criminal charges instead of rapid deportation, signaling a sharp escalation in a Bush administration crackdown.

With the average annual cost per federal prisoner being somewhere around $24,000, is this really where we want our tax dollars and resources going? To imprison a bunch of Guatemalans just because they want to work?

Something is amiss.

Maxed Out's James Scurlock and Elizabeth Warren on NightLine

Gee Mr. Money, do girls have to learn all this about credit, too?

Houston, we have a problem :: Fiscal Destabilization

"The problem is so large, it threatens fiscal destabilization..." I am paraphrasing remarks by Allen Greenspan on the credit crises. Yes, crises, not crisis. Plural. Multiple crises. Not a singular crisis. Personal credit, corporate/business credit, government credit, national debt. Understand that credit is synonymous with debt.

The past couple of days, I have been feeling a very palpable feeling of impending doom and dread. It's something I have never felt before, and I don't like it. It's not a good feeling. But, I trust my gut. I trust my connection to the universe to tell me when something is amiss. Maybe this is it? Maybe not.

Now, I am by no means an economist, but I am most definitely cursed by a very lucid big picture point of view. Big picture and long term.

I'm not sure where to begin with all this.

I will start with what prompted this post. I just finished watching "Maxed Out" - a documentary by James Spurlock. Here is the link to the film's website.

Here is the YouTube Trailer:



Here is the info from the YouTube site :

Americans are buying with plastic at a staggering rate. From lattes to vacation packages, car payments to home-equity loans, our reliance on credit is increasing. Even the Internal Revenue Service endorses credit cards as a "convenient" way to pay your taxes. The average American family carried about $9,300 in credit-card debt in 2005 reports the nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Dallas. But what happens when borrowers who already have sizable debts are offered more credit?

Director James Scurlock, 34, set out to tackle that question in "Maxed Out," a documentary he intended as a comic portrayal of consumer irresponsibility. What the self-described "finance geek" and former publisher of a financial newsletter ended up with however, is a much starker tale—one of struggle, suicide and desperation. "I think the people in the film would like nothing more than to pay off their bills, but they've just gotten to a point where it's not possible," says Scurlock. "And at some point, they're just being preyed on [by lenders] and manipulated and squeezed so hard that they can't ever hope to recover. And that's not right."

Here are the highlights I can recall from my first viewing:

::
Sharecropping replaced slavery - we all know this. We all know that sharecropping was a system of credit/debt. What probably did not dawn on many of us is that it was a system that immediately and in large part permanently ensared those living under the illusion of "freedom". I would offer that slavery - or being trapped by debt - has expanded to include a wide variety of social groups across all races. It is present and prevalent across the globe today.

::
The Federal Debt is at $9 trillion plus and is growing by roughly $1,000,000 per minute. We can barely keep up with the interest payments. Is part of the reason that our infrastructure is suffering (highways, bridges, airports, water systems, sewage systems, and on and on); we cannot afford to pay our soldiers more than a pittance; we cannot care for our soldiers with good hospitals; we cannot care for the many uninsured; we cannot keep our parklands maintained and open to the public; we cannot pay our teachers good salaries, nor educate our children; we cannot respond to natural disasters (Katrina); we cannot help those devastated by Katrina almost three years later - is the reason, in large part, because most of the funds are going to service the national debt? The film alludes to the growing problem of shrinking federal funding in many critical areas due to funds being diverted to interest payments on the federcal deficit.

::
Experian, TransUnion and the other one...the credit "agencies" keep a separate database on VIP's - "important" people - judges, congressmen, actors (unbelievable), ceo's - in order to ensure a higher level of accuracy in their credit reports. A 100% correct credit report in fact. For the rest of us, they depend on, actually want, need our credit histories to be inaccurate and fraught with errors.

The film states that these "important" people could easily cause trouble in the mdedia for the credit agencies - so it is in their best interest to devote special resources to ensure 100% accuracy for these folks.



::
Your income level has nothing to do with your FICO credit score.

::
Suze Orman, the TV financial guru, is supported by credit card companies.

::
MNBA, the nation's second largest credit card issuer, was the top campaign contributor to George W. Bush's last presidential campaign.

::
Since the bankruptcy reform act, suicide (or death by natural causes), is becoming the only option for many people.

::
The current "average" family with 2.3 kids actually has less money available to make ends meet and cover the basics of food, shelter, health care, and transportation than the same family, same obligations, did back in 1970.

::
College students are especially targeted by banks/credit card issuers - each year a whole new crop of 18 year olds emerge - fresh fodder for the credit/debt industry. Not technical college students, not high school graduates with jobs, but newly enrolled college students.

Worse, the banks/credit card companies PAY the colleges and universities large sums of money to be allowed to solicit college kids. Yes, they are just kids.

::
A pawn shop proprietor is interviewed in the film. It's an interesting peek into a different segment of the population. He says that the pawn shop "is" the bank for these folks. They don't have credit cards or bank accounts. The pawn shop is their financier.

::
Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren wonders about what the exit strategy is for this problem. She asks "really smart" people in the government - and said that she just got stupid grins and no response.

This same woman was invited to speak at a gathering of banking executives - credit card issuers. She said that by screening the riskiest of consumers - and denying them credit - that the banks would see a 50% decrease in the number of defaults. After discussing the facts and figures and evidence for some time, one man in the back of the room raised his hand. He said that if the banks were to screen out these "high risk" consumers, that the banks would see their profits fall dramatically. Profits from interest, late fees, and other fees. Basically, banks make a very large percentage of their profits on the least sophisticated customers - the ones with the least ability to assume and repay debt.

This is a serious, serious problem. To me, it's like a huge asteroid about to hit the Earth. Among the multitudes of environmental, social, political, economic and energy problems that humanity faces today, I think this one could be responsible for the undoing of it all. The one to bring down the house of cards we westerners have built over the last 100 years.

Populations rise and fall with the tides of nature and the passage of time. Civilizations rise. Civilizations fall.

I don't know what to do about it. Can anything be done about it?

I don't know what to think about it. I don't know what more to write about it.

I know I don't understand it.

I know that rising gas prices, energy problems, ongoing military actions in Iraq & Afghanistan, the subprime/mortgage/credit crisis (what we see right now) are just the tip of the iceberg for what lies ahead.

I'm thinking now that I should have kept my subscription to "The Mother Earth News".

Watch the film. Rent it. Neflix it. Buy it. Watch it.

I am because we are

Madonna's new documentary on AIDS in Malawi...

http://www.iambecauseweare.com/

Here's the trailer:

Fishnets I like

Green highlights
Originally uploaded by ianono

These are about the only fishnets I like...what do you ladies think?

The Lean

The Lean
Originally uploaded by babalucci

Ouch! Stupid!

voleo

voleo
Originally uploaded by gabymann

no comment...early morning flickr activity....

Verano porteño I

Verano porteño I
Originally uploaded by Mikel Pierre

En Buenos Aires...

Followers :: The step "is" the embellishment...

I was just looking for some audio of Osvaldo Fresedo's "Vida Mia" - the long, slow, really orchestral version with Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet - when I ran across this. Gustavo y Giselle Anne dancing to another Fresedo song "Araca la cana".

I was watching and noticed that Giselle Anne doesn't do much in the way of embellishments - a tap here, a flourish there - that's about it.

The quality and character of her step, her movement. The "way" she moves - is in fact the embellishment. The extension and reach of her leg - embellishes and brings attention to her leg. The angle and attitude and trajectory of her foot - her ankle - brings attention to her feet.

Her waiting for the lead and not anticipating is a beautiful embellishment in and of itself.

Am I making sense here?

The quality and character of motion through time and space...

A Tango Dream...Dark, late, anonymous tango...

I had another tango dream last night. My memory is devoid of details. I was outside of my self (Self 1) watching myself (Self 2) dance. Self 1 was thinking that Self 2 was dancing really well, looking very "liso". Self 1 noted that the style was Villa Urquiza.

I don't remember anything else - the woman I was dancing with - the place - nothing. Not much anyway - it was very dark, and it was very late.

This was the song being danced to. [Note on the YouTube page that there is a link to download the mp3. Also note that I have posted this before...but here it is again, in the context of my dream.]

It's a long song, so these guys had to split it into two parts.

Part 1 ::



Part 2 ::

Have you ever written to your Congressman/Senator/President?

Photo by "NearDC" on Flickr...


Congressional Representatives ::

https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Senators ::

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

What about the President?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Traffic Trends :: Monica Bellucci

All of my site hits from Islamic countries such as Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, to name the prime ones...are using the search words:

"heart tango music" or "monica bellucci tango" or something along those lines...

Interesting, huh?

Monday morning wake up milonga...

Better than coffee to get your ass in gear...

Seduced by Tango :: Canned

An anonymous reader said they received direct communication from the producers that the project has been shelved due to lack of funding.

Look for a new documentary film, which is currently in the pre-pre-concept stage...

It's called "fuckedupintheheadbytango"...a film by roberto alejandro leovigildo de jesus curbelo...

What I do is not who I am...Part I

I don't remember if I read this somewhere, or if I came up with these words myself. "What I do is not who I am." It was an epiphany of the highest order for me. So simple, yet so remote was the understanding. Distant. Shrouded by fog.

I do remember writing the words on a yellow legal pad. I can't remember now exactly when it was. Six years ago in Aspen? Was it ten years ago? Quite possibly it was as long as thirteen years ago - in Dallas. Thirteen long years. Gone in a blink.

I very distinctly remember coming to the realization that I had become my job. My job was me. My entire identity - "who" I was, was "what" I did. What I did for a living. What I did for dollars. I was a workaholic of the worst variety. I would go into the office at 5:30 in the morning and not leave until 6:30 or 7:30. My logic was that I wanted to miss the horrible rush hour traffic of Dallas. Go in early before it started, leave the office late, after it had subsided.

I remember drinking cold, stale coffee at 4:00 or 5:00 pm. The dregs of the pot.

I was a sick fuck.

There were times, under the heavy burden of single handedly running a new division of the company, that I would stay even later - until 11pm or 1am. Sometimes, I would just get a room at the hotel next to the office and not even go home.

It was also my escape from an unhappy marriage. One that was doomed from the very beginning to fail. But that is another story. For another time.

Until the color of a man's skin...is of no more significance than the color of his eyes...

"Until the color of a man's skin
is of no more significance
than the color of his eyes
me say war"
[Bob Marley]



The lyrics...

Until the philosophy which hold one race
Superior and another inferior
is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned
Everywhere is war, me say war.

That until there are no longer first class
and second class citizens af any nation
Until the color of a man's skin
is of no more significance than the color of his eyes
Me say war.

That until the basic human rights are equally
guaranteed to all, without regard to race
A dis a war.

That until that day
the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship
rule of international morality
will remain in but a fleeting illusion
to be pursued, but never attained
Now everywhere is war, war.

And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique,
South Africa sub-human bondage
have been toppled, utterly destroyed
Well, everywhere is war, me say war.

War in the east, war in the west
war up north, war down south
war, war, rumours of war.

And until that day, the African continent
will not know peace, we Africans will fight
we find it necessary and we know we shall win
as we are confident in the victory.

Of good over evil, good over evil, good over evil
Good over evil, good over evil, good ever evil

The first time ever I saw your face :: Roberta Flack

This song makes me cry every time I listen to it...one helluva voice...one helluva song...and the woman it makes me think of when I hear it...well, I wonder how she is doing now...I still love her...



This version is better...

I am hurt.

The lyrics....

"Hurt" by Johnny Cash

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

[Chorus:]
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here

[Chorus:]
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way