Sitting at Lucy's in Echo Park, my favorite place in Los Angeles (see post below), amid the Big Load commercial washers, the Starbucks barristas, Noticias 24 on the TVs, a wallplug for my Powerbook, catching up on all the news that's fit to post...
First up, via D-listed, comes this Forbes list of the Top Ten Most Expensive Celebrity Photos. Ever. Coming in at #3 is that little ol' gal from Texas Eva Longoria with her Tony Parker wedding pics, which the happy loving couple sold to OK! mag for a cool 2 million. While it was reported #1 couple Brad and Angelina donated the $4.1 million they made off baby Shiloh's pics to charity, Eva and Tony apparently pocketed theirs. The better to pay for the most Expensive Chicano Wedding in History, I'm guessing. Many jokes have already been made speculating about a dollar dance, so I won't go there. I will, instead, let the bridesmaid dresses and giant Tony Parker bobble head on the couple's red wedding cake speak for themselves. Of course D-listed can't help but end their post with a snarky comment regarding the only people of color making their all-gringo list: "I still can't get over OK! paying $2 Million for Eva Longoria?! Nobody knows who she is!" That's what you think, gabachos.
Props to fiction writer Manuel Munoz who La Bloga reports has just been shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize for his short story collection, The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue. One of only two Americans on this prestigious world wide list. (Miranda July, director of the sublime Me and You and Everyone We Know, the other stateside writer.) As with most interesting artists -- to me anyway -- Munoz's work revels in a specificity of place, setting his stories in his distinct hometown of Fresno, California, the Mexican American part. Y que! An interview with the writer, now living in New York, can also be found on the La Bloga site. I just picked up the book yesterday. After reading only one story so far I can safely report, DO believe the hype.
Another 80s icon, it seems, is making a comeback. No, I'm not talking about Haircut 100 (though if anyone deserves a second look it's those lads from Beckenham, England, see wacky video proof here), but America's pre-Osama bad boy Manuel Noriega is back in the news. The ex-Panamanian dictator is up for release,
for good behavior. Go figure. Vato wants to go back to Panama, the
French want him for money laundering. I will not get into the
geopolitical implications of his extradition but only want to mention
Noriega's enduring footnote in rock history. After the U.S. invaded
Panama in 1989, (Operation Just Cause they called it -- Go Figure, again),
Noriega took refuge in the Vatican Embassy. Since flushing him out with
the full force of an AC Spectre Gunship raining bullets on the home of
the Papal See would look bad, U.S. forces did the next best thing, and
blasted the building with loud rock music, a la John Cusack in Say
Anything. Various news accounts report the Heavy Metal playlist
comprising of lots of AC/DC, Van Halen's Panama (of course,) and ...Garth Brooks? Anyway, as an
experiment, I am listening to AC/DC now (the transcendent Bon Scott-era) on my ITunes, as I type. Hm. I
think it's working. I feel the uncontrollable urge to turn myself in to
the nearest Marine. I am now switching over to the stylings of Down aka
Kilo. That's better. Now all I want to do is Lean Like a Cholo.
And finally, indulge-me-time: today is not Lou Reed’s birthday. Today is not the anniversary of anything remotely connected with the Velvet Underground. Today is not even a commemoration of Andy Warhol, Nico, or Brian Eno's famous dictum that while the Velvet Underground’s debut album may have only sold a few thousand copies every person who bought it started a band. The closest excuse I can find that justifies posting this amazing clip of VU’s ‘Rock and Roll’ is that, uh, Velvet Paintings come from Mexico, I'm Mexican American, and, hey, "Velvet's" half the name of this very badass band. A lame stretch, but who cares. I came across this tenderly homemade video this morning and remembered, again, why I love rock and roll...
Yes, Manuel is a remarkable writer and it's cool that his work is being appreciated overseas. He has a story in my upcoming anthology, Latinos in Lotusland. More on that later. Hasta.
Posted by: daniel olivas | 25 July 2007 at 05:45 PM
Hmm, I am intrigued by Muñoz. Hadn't hear of him, and it's not bc of the usual "everything important happens in NY" blindness. But will def check him out. Here's a reading tip for you: Junot Diaz's new novel, the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Full of comics, terror and heartbreak. I'll be blogging about it soon. (it's due out in Sept., but an LA friend picked up a review copy somewhere).
Posted by: caro | 26 July 2007 at 07:23 AM
Oh yeah: there is no need for even the lamest segue when it comes to the talking about Velvet Underground, the Ramones or the Clash. Go for it!
Posted by: caro | 26 July 2007 at 07:24 AM