Damn! Why didn't I think of that!? :: TangoEros :: New Blog

This is Lily...an architect/tanguera from Hong Kong...she's in Buenos Aires for three months...

I like the name "Tangoeros"...I love the play on words...it looks like "tangueros" misspelled at first...

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/tangoeros

With a heavy head...

This just popped into my head because I happened across a YouTube video of one of the Seduced by Tango audition tapes. The guy was really sloping his neck forward.

Ya know the expression "heavy handed"? "With a heavy heart." "Don't be the heavy." "Heavy D."

We leaders need to watch out for being "heavy headed". The tell tale sign is the dramatically sloping neck - as if the leader is holding a bowling ball by his teeth (with a string or sling or something or other...it's the only heavy imagery I could think of...) and trying to keep his face vertical...not looking at the ground in other words...although that is a whole 'nother problem in and of itself...

I think it also comes from wanting to (or unknowingly) make contact with the follower's head. Ms. Hedgehog recently wrote about a variant of the forward slope - "the sharp incline to the right".

Neck straight (in the X and the Y axes)...head up...chin up...gaze to the horizon...like there is an invisible string supporting your head...

Here's Pablo Veron ::



Here's Adrian Costa ::



I'm focusing on the positive...the best posture, in my view. I'm sure you can find some good examples of heavy headedness on your own. Unfortunately, it's pretty common.

Follower Energy :: Deep Tango Thoughts

Colbay over at The Tango Hours mentioned it. Debbi at An Ever Fixed Mark touches on it in her private with Shorey.

You might call it follower energy. Or perhaps power. It's the concept of the follower not being passive at all. The absence of energy is what I have called a lazy follower. Not passive, active. Relaxed, but listening. Poised.

The leader leads with intention, the follower should follow with intention. Her intention to "take" the step. Not just take the step, but "TAKE" it. I'm having a hard time verbalizing what's in my mind on this. I will have to leave it at this - it's not just stepping. There's more to it.

Jaimes Freidgen has us do an exercise at a workshop once. In particular, it was on the molinete, and it was intended to illustrate the follower's energy level when taking her steps - back-side-forward - around the leader. He had the leaders stand on one foot, with the other leg extended out to the side, with a block frame. The follower was to take her steps around the leader, and pivot him on his active (standing) foot. First one way, then the leader changes feet and the follower goes the other way.

This energy level can be extended to walking and most/all other steps I would think. The crux is the delicate balance of it all. Not to seem lazy/flaccid, yet also not to seem too athletic, not to be backleading, or to feel like the follower is "getting away" from you or overstepping the lead.

I wonder, is this concept the difference between a heavy (feeling) and a light follower? Some followers (regardless of their physical stature) feel like a ton of bricks. Some feel like a feather mounted on ball bearings. These would be the two ends of the spectrum. I like it somewhere closer to the feather - but not too light.

This is a topic that I struggle with, when dancing with a few particular practice partners. Used to struggle with, since I no longer practice regularly. Eventually, I just gave up on it and kept my mouth shut.

Ladies? Your thoughts?

Bra on chair :: Oye Como Va

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 200 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 Bush's (pushed by the banking/credit card industry/lobby) bankruptcy reform act, suicide (or death by natural causes), is becoming the only option for many people to relieve themselves of their debt.

::
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.

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...

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

I am, I said.

I'm just a bit embarrassed to admit that I like this song by Neil Diamond.



Here are the lyrics:

LA's fine, sunshine most of the time
The feeling is laid back
Palm trees grow and the rents are low
But you know I keep thinking about
Making my way back

Well, I'm New York City born and raised
But nowadays, I'm lost between two shores
LA's fine, but it ain't home
New York's home but it ain't mine no more

I am, I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all
Not even the chair
I am, I cried
I am, said I
And I am lost, and I can't even say why
Leavin' me lonely still

Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of being a king
And then became one
Well, except for the names and a few other changes
If you talk about me, the story's the same one

But I got an emptiness deep inside
And I've tried but it won't let me go
And I'm not a man who likes to swear
But I've never cared for the sound of being alone

I am, I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all
Not even the chair
I am, I cried
I am, said I
And I am lost, and I can't even say why

I am, I said
I am, I cried
I am...

I am a churning urn of burning funk.

There are thoughts, memories, floating around in my primordial ooze. They float like big, puffy, white, cumulus clouds on a hot summer breeze, materializing out of and dematerializing into, thin air.

They sail like ships across the surface of the ooze, but sometimes they may dive below the sticky, viscous surface and get lost for years sailing around the thick deep. Or perhaps, they are not below the surface, but rise above it, and sail across the vast wild blue yonder of my mind. Where exactly they are, I don't know. They are not lost. They are there. They are.

I took an interest in music at the age of 12 or so. 7th grade. 1972. I heard what my older brother and sister played. Jimi Hendrix. The Doors. Santana. Janis Joplin. Richie Havens. Jefferson Airplane. Blind Faith. Savoy Brown. The Rolling Stones. James Taylor.

Turntables. Eight track tapes. Reel-to-reel. Hi-Fi. LP. Vinyl. The guys and gals who envisioned and created digital music and the iPod were not even born yet, I bet.

James Taylor was one of my favorites. I am a churning urn of burning funk.

I am not me.

One of my favorite quotes is...

"Any life, no matter how long and complex it may be, is made up of a single moment - the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is."
Jorge Luis Borges

I hope my single moment comes soon.

I am not me.

Mediodia de Viernes :: Tango Short Film

Featuring Sally & Ariel Yanovsky...filmed by Catrin Strong, in El Garage, Buenos Aires, 2008.

Sally's post about it...is here...

Required reading...from Sallycat :: When Tango Cultures Meet

"Please, just for me, forget the steps...hold me, feel the music, and give me your soul. Then I can give you mine." [Sallycat]

When Tango Cultures Meet or "Tango of the soul"...

Happy Mother's Day! :: I kneel before your bounty...

To all the wise and wonderful women out there, whether you have conceived or not, you carry within you the potential to create new life, and that is a miracle of nature - a miracle of the universe. Not just the potential to create life within your womb, but with your abundant feminine energy, to nurture and love and raise young'uns to be happy and healthy big people. I'm so very grateful that I have a wonderful mother who I am very close to. I salute you all. I love you all. I kneel before your bounty. Have a beautiful day.

Vincent van Gogh on Tango :: What if?

Someone recently told me about a quote attributed to him...something like...

"Treat a person as he is, and he will never change. Treat a person as he ought to/might be, and they will become that person..."

Anyway, I was googling around looking for it, and ran across some other quotes of his that seemed apropos to tango...


Original van Gogh:
“By working hard, old man, I hope to make something good one day. I haven't yet, but I am pursuing it and fighting for it . . . .”
Tango re-write:
"By working hard, old man, I hope to make something good of my tango one day. I haven't yet, but I am pursuing it and fighting for it..."



Original van Gogh:
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”
Tango re-write:
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt tango?"


Original van Gogh:
“If you hear a voice within you saying, 'You are not a painter,' then by all means paint... and that voice will be silenced.”
Tango re-write:
"If you hear a voice within you saying, 'You are not a tango dancer,' then by all means dance tango... and that voice will be silenced.”


Original van Gogh:
“I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.”
Tango re-write:
"I dream of dancing tango and then I dance my dream."


Original van Gogh:
“How difficult it is to be simple.”
Tango re-write:
"How difficult it is to be simple in tango."


Original van Gogh:
"Paintings have a life of their own that derives from the painter's soul.”
Tango re-write:
"Tango has a life of its own that derives from the dancer's souls."


Original van Gogh:
"One must work and dare if one really wants to live.”
Tango re-write:
"One must work and dare to dance tango if one really wants to live."


Original van Gogh:
"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.”
Tango re-write:
"I often think that the night, with tango, is more alive and more richly colored than the day."


Stuck in there with the van Gogh quotes for some reason...from Dr. Seuss...

"Don't cry because it is over...smile because it happened."



Last one:
“I can't change the fact that my paintings don't sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture.”

The painting above, "Portrait of Dr. Gachet", sold for $82 million...

Tango from the margin :: A brand new blog

She's only got a few posts up so far. Check it out.

http://tangofromthemargin.blogspot.com/

View over Waterfall Road :: Wales

Photo by Nicky.lew on flickr...

My home country...Wales...my mother and brother have been back there...tracing the family tree back...pre-dating the 1600's I think...

Then there is a branch that was in Georgia from the late 1700's I'm not sure where in America they were prior to that. No doubt they landed on the east coast and started migrating inland - to better and better farmlands as the frontier advanced inland.

Then after the Civil War, they packed up and moved to Texas.

Another branch of the tree was already in Texas - the paternal side from Tennessee (the folks from Wales, I think), and the matriarchal side from Spain. John Smith (the messenger dude at the Alamo) and Maria de Jesus Curbelo (from Spain) married in San Antonio. After the Texians (as they were called then) defeated Santa Anna's army, and gained their independence from Mexico, John Smith became the first mayor of San Antonio. This lineage makes me a "Son of the Republic of Texas". John Smith is my 7th Great Grandfather.

It's interesting to note that Texas was the only State that was actually its own country - "The Republic of Texas. It was bounded by the Sabine River on the east, the Rio Grande (then named "Rio del Norte") on the west and the Gulf of Mexico on the south. The northern boundaries were the Arkansas River and Red River and it extended as far north as the current state of Wyoming.

Just to get a reaction, when I lived in Aspen, I used to tell people that I was there as an Ambassador of The Republic of Texas, because Aspen was originally part of the Republic. I'm not 100% sure, but I think Aspen was pretty close to the western edge of the territory.

I'm piqued by the way my brain works. I see a photo like this from a new flickr friend, notice it is in Wales, then I get this flood of thoughts and memories.

So, I just roll with it sometimes.

Here is a map of the Republic of Texas...

A vals :: La Tapera [Edgardo Donato]

I like this song...the vid happens to be of Alberto and Paulina Dassieu, so it's a good one to watch...

Alex's current project...

This is what I have been working on the past couple of months - something like this - not this exact structure. The concept is similar - an open air "loggia". It's 3 feet above the pool level - at the same level as the house. I've expanded an existing concrete patio off of the house - bringing the width to 14'6" versus the original 6'-0".

16 tons of Pennsylvania bluestone will be arriving in a week or so. The loggia level will get grouted/mudset stone in a pattern that is called "pattern" - the same as the photo. The pool level will all be sandset with grass in between the stones - in a grid pattern. The pool will also get all new coping stones. All of the existing Pavestone brand concrete pavers will be removed - I've removed about half so far to make way for the patio expansion. There will also be one monumental stair, and another lesser/plain stair. Plus handrailings. Shit, I have a lot of work to do.

The loggia itself will be 10x10 timbers - open air - exposed structure - all douglas fir. There will be a see through (double sided) outdoor fireplace with a flat screen TV above the firebox.

There will also be a hot tub where a huge, overbuilt fountain used to be. The hot tub will have IPE (Ironwood) multi-level decks around it for laying out and/or seating - wide and low.

The difference with this project versus my others in recent years is that I am doing all the work myself. I have had two day laborers helping me the past two weeks and will increase the labor force to help with the bluestone. It's been a grueling and backbreaking experience for me - a "I'm too old for this shit scenario". But at the same time it has been fun too - lots of sweating, huffing and puffing, grunting and cursing. Cuts & bruises. Redneck sunburn. It's been twenty plus years since I've done heavy labor. It's good for me. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

The other difference is that this is a design-build project - designed and built by me. The design is all in my head - with a few sketches along the way to work out the details.

The clients are great - personal friends - a doc and his wife. Clients don't get any better than this.

Anyway, this is what I am up to, when I'm not blogging or sleeping.

Murat & Michelle :: The Proposal

From their website...a video of Murat's marriage proposal to Michelle...

http://muratandmichelle.com/videos/proposal.WMV

Luis Bianchi & Kyla Joy Mares :: @ Stone Soup

Many thanks to our buddy " m i l e s " for the video here, and also Murat & Michelle's below...

Very cute performance...from a couple who had never performed, nor really even danced (once) together before...note wardrobe malfunction barely averted...

Murat & Michelle :: @ Stone Soup

I had more than one invitation to make the trek to Stone Soup in Kansas City. Okay, I had two invitations. Or was it three? Sadly, I could not make it. It sounds like it was a great little fest.

Note that Murat & Michelle are in Santa Fe, New Mexico this starting yesterday, so unless you are already there, it's probably too late to make that workshop.

Here is the rest of their upcoming schedule : [sadly, I won't be able to make any of these, either...except...maybe, just maybe, New Orleans...]

[] May 16-18, 2008 Austin Texas

[] May 23-25, 2008 Houston Texas

[] May 29, 2008 Phoenix Arizona

[] May 31- June 1, 2008 Flagstaff Arizona

[] June 6-8, 2008 Tucson Arizona

[] June 13-15, 2008 San Diego California

[] June 19-22, 2008 Los Angeles California

[] June 24-29, 2008 San Francisco California

[] June 30- July 2, 2008 San Luis Obispo

[] July 5-6, 2008 Sacramento California

[] July 12-13, 2008 New Orleans Louisiana

[] July 14, 2008 M&m are back to Washington DC for privates and for Milonga U16

When you build in the 100 year floodplain...

UpShitCreekWithoutAPaddle
Originally uploaded by AmericanRivers.org

This is what happens...

Azul...

Originally uploaded by Malena_c

DiSarli :: Nido Gaucho

Have a listen for a unique surprise...

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

Too much tequila last night...

I love women....

I love basking in feminine energy...

That is all...

A photo...

The Empire Strikes Barack

Don't you just love Biagi?

This one in the imeem player below is "Zaraza" by Rodolfo Biagi...not one of my favorites, but the only one I could find to share. "Cuando se ha Querido Mucho", "Indiferencia" y "Humliacion" are some really great ones - tangos, if you can get your hands on them.

The one who got away...sorta...

This is a photo of a "trick rider" who I almost married about five years ago. "Almost married" is an overstatement. This is one of those obscure/random facts about me that I almost forgot about myself. Going through photos on my computer yesterday jogged my memory.

She was 21. I was 43. We didn't love each other. We barely knew each other. She was a friend of a friend and needed help. It was a green card thing. We had many serious discussions about it. We both pondered the implications for a number of weeks.

Then we both decided it was not a smart thing to do.

She's an amazing young woman. Sweet and innocent and beautiful and delicate. As delicate as a trick rider can be. Perhaps it's her heart that seems delicate. She grew up on a 250,000 acre cattle ranch and is now driving heavy equipment at an open-pit mine - one of those gigantic dump trucks - I think.

We still keep in touch - an email back and forth every few months....

They needed to do a study to figure this shit out?

On MSNBC.com...

1 in 3 PARENTS LACKS KNOWLEDGE ABOUT BABIES
Many have little understanding of infant development, study finds

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
updated 3:13 p.m. ET, Sun., May. 4, 2008
CHICAGO - Nearly a third of U.S. parents know surprisingly little about typical infant development, and this lack of understanding can rob their babies of much-needed mental stimulation, researchers said on Sunday.

"There are numerous parenting books telling people what to expect when they're pregnant," said Dr. Heather Paradis of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

"But once a baby is born, an astonishing number of parents are not only unsure of what to anticipate as their child develops, but are also uncertain of when, how or how much they are to help their babies reach various milestones, such as talking, grabbing, discerning right from wrong, or even potty-training," said Paradis, who presented her findings at Pediatric Academic Society meeting in Honolulu.

Click to read the entire article...

I thought this was common knowledge - and the very obvious reason behind the fact that there are so many fucked up, ignorant, stupid-assed, brain-dead people walking around in the world today. They didn't get the proper mental/ intellectual/ creative/ nurturing/ brain development fucking plain and simple "love" they need to be highly functioning human beings.

Didn't we all know this? I've known this since the 5th grade - when I knew I had my shit together better than most of my teachers. Okay, I exaggerate - 6th grade. It became brilliantly clear to me - like a superfuckingnova - in high school when I determined it was all an elaborate day-care system and that if I was going to learn anything, that I would have to avail myself of the resources before me, and edumacate my own ass.

They had to do a study? Come fucking on....

It's a good thing DiSarli's "Verdemar" just came on...I'm calming down...

TangoGenesis :: What is within?

The Orion Nebula...from the Hubble Space Telescope...

Too often, especially for leaders, tango is about the external. It's about the vocabulary, the elements, the figures, the combinations, the "stuff". It's about the classes, the workshops, the god-teachers, the festivals. Conscious thought and the ego muck it all up. (I'm being good, I wanted to use the 'f' word...)

Knowledge versus "knowing".

We forget that tango, not tango the dance, but tango the feeling, can well up, spring forth, or otherwise materialize within the context of the physical connection we share with our partner - from within us - exclusive of our knowledge. TangoGenesis.

Knowledge is material, physical, tactile. "Knowing" is energetic, spiritual, vibrational. Knowlege is facts and rules and constraints. "Knowing" is the limitless realm of possibility - the infinite.

Tango is born from within. TangoGenesis from what we hold in our hearts, our souls, and our conscious and unconscious thoughts. It is our past life experience, and it is what our future holds. It is what we hold within our energetic beings. It "is" our energetic being. The energy we are and encompass and project to another.

Yes, tango is a feeling, but do you feel tango?

I do.

I've always considered myself more in tune with the "inner" than most. Being more enlightened than the next guy, with regard to what is going on inside, is something I've focused on for many years in my life, and more recently in my tango.

But these past several days, I've had some help. I'm still reading.

The Big Bang of Tango

What if there is more than one universe?

What if there are seven universes?

Could one of them be a parallel universe to our own?

If there is a parallel universe, then what if there is a parallel tango, one hundred billion suns away from us?

The Dirty War :: The Disappeared :: A Political Tango

A YouTube Video of a documentary short from Journeyman Pictures...

Tango as a symbol...?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUjEd0zSKmY

The Volcada :: Homer & Cristina

Brought to us by m i l e s of tangobliss...Homer & Cristina's very, very smooth volcadas. I get alot of hits from folks Googling for "volcada technique" so I figgered I'd post this as part of my "Tango Blogging/Googling Enrichment Program". There's not a lot of technique discussed, well, not any discussion of technique, but this is what they are supposed to look like.

Personally, I like the volcada on the close side cuz hardly no one duz it...(volcada with her right leg)...

Gustavo y Giselle

Sorry...but I just love these two...