Parole, parole

Parlato = spoken, canto = sung.

Parlato: Cara, cosa mi succede stasera, ti guardo ed è come la prima volta. Darling, what's happening to me this evening, I look at you and it's like the first time.
Canto: che cosa sei, che cosa sei, che cosa sei What are you, what are you...

Parlato: Non vorrei parlare. I wouldn't want to speak.
Canto: Cosa sei

Parlato: Ma tu sei la frase d'amore cominciata e mai finita. But you are the phrase of love, begun and never finished.
Canto: Non cambi mai, non cambi mai, non cambi mai. You never change...

Parlato: Tu sei il mio ieri, il mio oggi You're my yesterday, my today
Canto: Proprio mai Really never.

Parlato: Il mio sempre, inquietitudine My always, [my] disquiet
Canto: Adesso ormai ci puoi provare, chiamami tormento dai, già che ci sei Now you can try [it on], go ahead, call me "torment" while you're at it.

Parlato: Tu sei come il vento che porta i violini e le rose You're like the wind that brings violins and roses
Canto: Caramelle non ne voglio più I don't want any more sweets.
Parlato: Certe volte non ti capisco Sometimes I don't understand you.

Canto: Le rose e i violini The roses and the violins
questa sera raccontali a un'altra this evening go tell them to some other woman
violini e rose li posso sentire I can hear/smell violins and roses
quando la cosa mi va, se mi va When I want to - if I want to
quando è il momento When it's the [right] moment
e dopo si vedrà And then we'll see

Parlato: Una parola ancora [Just] another word
Canto: Parole, parole, parole Words, words, words

Parlato: Ascoltami Listen to me
Canto: parole parole, parole

Parlato: Ti prego I beg you
Canto: Parole, parole, parole

Parlato: Io ti giuro I swear to you
Canto: Parole, parole, parole parole, soltanto parole
parole tra noi.
Words, words, words, words - only words, words between us
Parlato: Ecco il mio destino, parlarti come la prima volta This is my destiny, [to] talk to you like the first time.

Canto: Che cosa sei, che cosa sei, che cosa sei What are you...
Parlato: No, non dire nulla. C'è la notte che parla No, don't say a word. [Let] the night speak

Canto: Cosa sei
Parlato: La romantica notte The romantic night

Canto: Non cambi mai, non cambi mai, non cambi mai You never change
Parlato: Tu sei il mio sogno proibito You're my forbidden dream

Canto: Proprio mai Really never.
Parlato: E' vero, speranza It's true, [my] hope

Canto: Nessuno più ti può fermare No one can stop you now
chiamami passione dai, hai visto mai Call me passion, go on - have you ever seen
Parlato: Si spegne nei tuoi occhi la luna e si accendono i grilli The moon extinguishes itself in your eyes and the crickets light up

Canto: Caramelle non ne voglio più I don't want any more sweets
Parlato: Se tu non ci fossi bisognerebbe inventarti If you didn't exist, someone would have to invent you

Canto: La luna e i grilli The moon and the crickets
Normalmente mi tengono sveglia Usually keep me awake
mentre io voglio dormire e sognare While I want to sleep and dream
l'uomo che c'è in te, quando c'è The man who is within you - when he's there
che parla meno Who talks less
ma che può piacere a me But can please me

Parlato: Una parola ancora [Just] another word
Canto: Parole, parole, parole Words, words, words

Parlato: Ascoltami Listen to me
Canto: Parole, parole, parole

Parlato: Ti prego I beg you
Canto: Parole, parole, parole

Parlato: Io ti giuro I swear to you
Canto: Parole, parole, parole, parole

parole soltanto parole, parole tra noi

Parlato: Che cosa sei What are you?
Canto: Parole, parole, parole

...parole soltanto parole
parole tra noi

Rocio Jurado "Muera el amor"

It just doesn't really get any better than this, especially the lyrics to the song (in English it's hard to translate but it's like Death to Love") and her whole performance is to-die-for, particularly the hair tossing and gestures at the end. All she is missing is a cigarette. Also, she's looking just a little bit butch here, which works for her.

Lyrics to "Muera el Amor"

Rocio Jurado Muera el Amor Letras:
Muera el amor Que dice que engaña,que
besa,que araña Que muera el amor Que
queda,que pasa,que pisa,que pesa Que muera el amor
Que miente,promete,se apiada y se rie de mi

Muera el amor Que abraza, que abrasa, que roba, que
arrasa Que muera el amor Que quema,que hiela, que
corre,que vuela Que muera el amor Que droga, que
agarra,desgarra y que te hace feliz

Veneno veneno Que estalla por mis venas como un
trueno Espuma blanca flor de piel Que hierve
cuando estoy con el Amor sin preguntas,sin
peros,amor sin cuartel

Tu Que me besas,que me pesas,que me abrazas Que
me abrasas,que prometes,que me mientes Y te
quiero,y yo te quiero

Muera el amor Que rompe,que rasga,que oprime,que
aplasta Que muera el amor Que gusta,que asusta,que
gasta y desgasta Que muera el amor Que mancha, que
borra,que duele y que te hace feliz

Veneno veneno Que estalla por mis venas como un
trueno Espuma blanca flor de piel Que hierve
cuando estoy con el Amor sin preguntas,sin
peros,amor sin cuartel

Tu Que me besas,que me pesas,que me abrazas Que
me abrasas,que prometes,que me mientes Y yo te
quiero Tu Que me rompes,que me rasgas,que me
dueles Que me das mas,que me mancha Y encima voy y
te quiero Y yo te quiero

Muera el amor Muera el amor Muera el amor


_________

Thanks to one of my top readers, Narciso, who has alerted me to this jewel from Venezuela:

Top Pet Names 2008

Any of my regular readers knows that I have an obsession with unusual names- campy telenovela actresses, Latina/Latin American beauty queen finalists, Barack Obama-loving politicians in Brazil, or Venezuelan congressmen called Lenin, if it's a story about weird naming practices, I am all over it!

But the pet name arena has remained unexplored, until now. Semester crunch-time anxiety led me to scroll around the MSNBC news site while procrastinating today and there I found what might motivate me to adopt a second cat: my top "unusual" cat name ever SIR LIX A LOT. Of course, I appreciate the shout out to that poet of hip hop, Sir Mix A Lot, singer of one of my favorite songs ever "Baby's Got Back."

Here is the list, according to the TODAY show via MSNBC:

Most unusual
1. Edward Scissorpaws
2. Sir Lix-a-lot
3. Optimus Prrrime
4. Buddah Pest
5. Snoop Kitty Kitty
6. Miss Fuzzbutt
7. 80 Bucks
8. Sparklemonkey
9. Rosie Posie Prozac
10. Toot Uncommon

For the full list and the ones for dogs as well:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28540800/?pg=7#TDY_Pets_TopNames

Harvey Milk/Barack Obama

Last night I finally saw "Milk" and was absolutely devastated by the story. I knew that he had been assassinated and that he was the first openly gay politician to be elected in the United States, but what I was struck by -- besides Sean Penn's incredible, Oscar-worthy performance - were the similarities between him and Barack Obama.

An outsider/insider privileged man leaves his cushy job to become a community organizer in a marginal neighborhood. Using mouth-to-mouth grassroots methods, he builds a political movement that creates a series of unlikely alliances. Despite early defeats, his refusal to give up and his ability to put himself in the situations that will garner the biggest publicity pay off, earn him name recognition, and eventually lead to elected office. An enormous ego and charisma, as well as great speaking ability, enable him to mobilize thousands. His use of testimony to elicit empathy and humanize himself to those who would hate him because of his sexual orientation or religion is similar to Obama's strategic referencing of his own race and class in his campaign.

Like Obama, Milk made reference to historical parallels to shock people into awareness of the horrors of discrimination. In Milk's case, the Holocaust was a point of reference he used, citing the famous quote about how the Nazis would go after the Jews and if people did nothing it would be the Communists, the Catholics, and so on. In Obama's the Civil Rights struggle was an event that he often recalled, placing himself as the heir of that heroic generations' struggle for justice.

Unremarked is the fact that I think Obama is also an heir of Milk. Without the precedent set by Milk, who risked his life to go into office to serve everyone while watching out for the human rights of those who were among the most discriminated against, someone like Obama could never have been the first black man in office. I think Van Zant may have been purposefully making some implied parallels between the two campaigns and the two men. It is staggering to me to realize that Milk was murdered only 10 years after MLK and RFK; that 30 years later we still don't have full civil rights for gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals, and transgendered people in this county; that few people know who Milk was.

But most of all, what I find staggering is that Obama, who built his campaign on civil rights, defending the oppressed, presenting himself as an improbable candidate coming from marginalized groups in American society, can throw G/L/B/T supporters under the bus, again and again and again. Even though we fought for him (I count myself as a bisexual woman) in many ways, he felt free to draw the line at G/L/B/T issues during speeches and debates - defending marriage from us as his trump card to show right wing zealots that he was OK. A negro they could let into the Master's House, as long as the gays remained working out in the fields. By inviting Rick Warren to give the blessing at his Inauguration, he is doing the equivalent of inviting Anita Bryant. Milk is turning over in his grave.

I was struck by the rhetorical similarities of Milk's speeches with Obama's. For example, this is what Milk said when he won:

"It's not my victory, it's yours and yours and yours. If a gay can win, it means there is hope that the system can work for all minorities if we fight. We've given them hope."
- Harvey Milk, after winning a seat on the Board of Supervisors in 1977

As an Obama volunteer, I was given encouraging talks by precinct captains, and received emails from Obama or his deputies, telling me again and again that it was not Obama's victory but mine. And that it was "because of you" that he won.  Obama also used this phrase in his acceptance speech, to dramatic effect. I remember that this rhetoric brought me to tears more than once.

Here is an example of Obama's use of the "because of you" rhetoric:

"And today, on this Tuesday in February, in states North and South, East and West, what began as a whisper in Springfield has swelled to a chorus of millions calling for change. It's a chorus that cannot be ignored, a chorus that cannot be deterred. This time can be different, because this campaign for the presidency of the United States of America is different. It's different not because of me. It's different because of you."

Just as Milk often cited the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, so too did Obama, and just as Milk cited himself as an example of the fact that democracy had to include everyone, so too did Obama, as in the quote that follows:

"It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect." 

Obama's mantra of change could well have been spoken by Milk, and if we believe in what he says, then we have to take responsibility for our own share of duty to bring human rights to all Americans, not just for those that Obama feels are politically expedient to support.

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
-- Barack Obama

For more information -

Link to the documentary The Times of Harvey Milk:

Merry Christmas??????

Photo: AP (K. Mohammed)

I am resting at an undisclosed warm-weather location, living the Real Housewives of Atlanta lifestyle, if they were retirees looking at Social Security checks in the mail each month. Each morning's newspaper headlines bring a surrealist haiku. For example: "Missing Elf in Sanibel," or my personal favorite "Deputies Arrest Lewd Santa at Wal-Mart." Of course, after yesterday's tragic incident in Los Angeles where a guy in a Santa suit murdered several people, set fire to a home, and then killed himself (why don't these murderous people ever kill themselves first before going on these horrific rampages?), the molesting Santa harassing a woman at a big box union-busting schlock shop seems less shocking.

But the photo I saw in USA TODAY (as my late, beloved ex used to refer to it "The McDonald's of newspapers.") this morning -see above- took the sinister Santa trope to a whole new level. Now no one would belittle the sacrifices made by our troops in Iraq, especially when they are away from home for the holidays. But you have to acknowledge the creepiness of the petite soldier, almost child-like, sitting on Santa's lap while wielding a massive machine gun. And a nice touch is the Crucifix on the ground. (wouldn't that be sacrilegious?) Merry Christmas! Is this like the latter-day Crusades? Is the point to send the propaganda message: Bow down to us, infidels? I find the image absolutely terrifying and abhorrent. But that's because A. I am a lapsed Catholic who objects to most of what the institution of the Papal Catholic Church has ever done, and B. I am a pacifist and this war was based on lies and Bush's goals for imperial profit.

Devorame. Otra Vez.

This is the best salsa sensual song. Ever. Titled, evocatively, "Devorame" (Devour me) by the salsa troubadour Lalo Rodriguez, the lyrics leave nothing to the imagination. Made popular in the late 1980s, I still remember fondly having to translate it into English while drinking margaritas at El Sombrero in the Lower East Side with a very uptight WASP date. Hot. The album cover for this song is priceless, "Un nuevo amanecer" (A New Daybreak) features Lalo in a blue silk robe, open to reveal his curly, hairy chest, he's in some kind of wicker throne chair and of course has a hot mami on either side of him. I don't know what I love most about this video of a live performance. The improvisation on the lyrics "Moje las sabanas...." the fucsia lycra body suit with lace up sides on the thighs of the dancer on the left, the Afro-mullet of the male dancer on the right.... For my loyal readers who speak Spanish, the lyrics are a real treat. Enjoy.

It's hard out here