La nueva Belen Esteban

Someecards.com is genius

Eye candy

Again, I have no idea what this gentleman's politics are, but I have to share this delicious eye-candy:



Unusually for Dr. Abdullah, he is not doing his English Dandy look but instead his casual attire recalls images of Superman. Pretty great subliminal message as far as the propaganda imagery goes. I am referring to the white t-shirt and what looks like the hint of a cape. However, I have seen his opponent, who won the election, wearing what I assume is a traditional cape worn in his country, and in that case, it's a clever blending of traditional fashion, authority, monumentality, and contemporaneous images of heroes. But let's face it, he's just gorgeous.

Who knew Julio Iglesias' lyrics could be so dead-on?

Puerto Rican Celebration of Aliens Day

I have often commented about some of my countrymen's fixation and belief in extrerrestials in the "Real news-Boricual Alien Stories" topic of this blog. This is an update, in Lajas, town where the Mayor is building the Omnipuerto or UFO Airport they are celebrating a holiday devoted to Aliens. I am sure the plans for a landing site, the highway section denominated as the "UFO Route" and now this commemoration will lead them to choose this small town on the Island. I can't wait. Below is an article from our daily newspaper El Nuevo Dia.

06:00 A.M.

Celebración del Día del Extraterrestre

Reinaldo Ríos Narra la experiencia que lo convenció de la existencia de estos seres y conmemora sus visitas este sábado en Lajas

EL NUEVO DIA (San Juan)

Por ELNUEVODIA.COM / 78700@elnuevodia.com

Luego de caer al suelo mientras jugaba baloncesto, Reinaldo Ríos vio una “dona de luz sobre un monte”. Se había lastimado la espalda y pensó que quedaría inválido pues con gran dolor tuvo que arrastrar la pierna hasta llegar a su hogar.

“Yo me fui a mi casa y dije: 'Dios mío si estos seres existen, que por favor vengan y me curen'. Al par de minutos vi unas luces que traspasaron las paredes de mi cuarto. Eran como unas esferas de luz que se hicieron como unos niñitos y sentí que penetraron mi cuerpo. Al otro día no tenía la condición que estaba padeciendo”, narró en conversación telefónica el maestro de matemáticas y vecino de Lajas.

Esta experiencia marcó a Reinaldo Ríos a los 14 años de edad y desde entonces está convencido que uno de sus propósitos en la vida es preparar a los humanos para la venida de los seres extraterrestres.

Con esta convicción, celebrará en Lajas el “Día del Extraterrestre”, mañana sábado 5 de diciembre a partir de las 6:00 p.m. El lugar de encuentro será una finca localizada en el kilómetro 7, hectómetro 8 de la denominada Ruta Extraterrestre 303 de este municipio. Allí se ofrecerán gratuitamente charlas y exhibirán fotografías y vídeos para todos los curiosos e interesados en el tema.

La actividad también es conocida como la “Vigilia Mundial OVNI” pues en Perú, Colombia, México, Estados Unidos y otros países conmemorarán las visitas extraterrestres con actividades similares, que se transmitirán en vivo a través de internet.

Ríos confesó que sus ideas no han sido bien recibidas en la Isla. “La imagen en Puerto Rico no la tengo muy buena. No he tenido la aceptación que he gozado en otros lugares del planeta. Aquí nuestras ideas se cogen a mofa, burla, no he recibido ese apoyo”, precisó Ríos.

El investigador del fenómeno OVNI dijo que algunas de sus iniciativas como la creación de la “Ruta Extraterrestre” en Lajas, el OVNI Puerto y el nombrar al municipio como la “Ciudad OVNI” han sido aplicadas en otros lugares del mundo y han tenido un éxito turístico y económico.

“No es cuestión de creer en el tema de los OVNI. Es cuestión de ser inteligente y sacarle el beneficio económico. Se puede hacer un observatorio astronómico, un museo de astronomía. Y la gente llega al municipio. Así funciona en Nevada con la 'Ruta 375' y en Chile con la 'Ruta Ufológica'”, manifestó Ríos.

http://www.elnuevodia.com/celebraciondeldiadelextraterrestre-644641.html

The King

Kehinde Wiley Michael Jackson

The fabulous artist Kehinde Wiley, known for his portraits of African and African-descent men that cite canonical art historical images, has truly outdone himself now: here is his posthumous portrait of Michael Jackson. The blog post below gives interesting information, as does the Art Basel edition of The Art Newspaper, link also below. From watching the Martin Bashir documentary, I learned that Jackson was quite interested in art history, particularly Renaissance, Baroque, and 19th Century Realist art, so it did not surprise me to read that both artists had discussed pictorial precedents for this masterpiece of 21st century royal portraiture. I often wonder why royalty doesn't avail themselves of great painters, for example the Spanish Royal family has few portraits on canvas.

The only good ones are by Hernan Cortes (yes, his real name) and there was a to-die-for campy society painter called Ricardo Macarron who depicted the family in a manner that I can only describe as painted as if your grandma's Coty powder puff had been dipped in oil and laid on in a thick impasto. Of course, we have photography and my favorite purveyor of official royal imagery: HOLA! which has its own section on this blog. (this will be a subject of an article if and when I get tenure and can "go wild" with my art history). Queen Elizabeth did have Lucien Freud paint her, so we can give them props for that brave act.

Ricardo Macarron King Juan Carlos I of Spain

Lucien Freud Queen Elizabeth II

Blog Post on painting:

http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/art_basel_design_miami/spotted_at_art_basel_miami_michael_jackson_on_horseback_144826.asp

Art Newspaper link:
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/The-work-the-King-of-Pop-commissioned-but-never-saw/19815

Political Camp as Protest

A friend of mine shared a photo (photographer unknown) that for me demonstrates wit, glamour, and perseverance in the face of ignorance and hate, and brings back many memories of demonstrations I took part in organized by ACT-UP, WHAM!, WAC, and other groups that utilized subversive humor and camp to great effect. The moral ugliness of hate is here transposed breezily into the hideousness of poor fashion choices, bigots are as ugly on the outside as they are on the inside. If pathology and perversion are projected onto the bodies of queer people by homophobes, this is turned on its head by turning back the attention onto the horrid sartorial details of the hateful zealot. Taking the stereotypical image of the queer as fashion obsessed (guilty as charged!) and turning it into a sign of resistance, just one example among many of the power of camp as a political tactic.