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Unha familia do Incio durante a vendimia (1967)

O grupo Nueva Democracia de Celanova actuando nunha voda nos anos 60

Premiados nun concurso de feos celebrado en Celanova (1951)

Es la cuarta especialidad que pierde, ya solo tiene otorrino y psiquiatría

El próximo otoño la editorial Norma prepara un gran homenaje al guionista belga Zidrou. Nosotros este curso nos adelantamos y le rendimos el tributo que se merece en una entrevista acompañado de sus dibujantes, todos aquellos como Francis Porcel o Jordi Lafebre, que han trabajado y trabajarán con él. Benoit Drouise es uno de los más reconocidos guionistas del cómic europeo, vive en Ronda y desde allí nos atiende siempre que le necesitamos. Merece la pena sumergirse en su amplia obra, para adultos y niños, pero siempre historias reales, aunque un poco soñadoras, tiernas y divertidas. Para terminar este doble programa: Calpurnio. El padre de Cuttlas nos acompaña para celebrar sus 30 años de vida.

(YouTube link)

Tencho, Hime, Dora, and Detch are cats who all work at a Pizza Hut outlet. They are the stars of a new ad campaign from Pizza Hut Japan in which we see very short vignettes about cats running a pizza parlor. In the ad above, most of the staff is caught sleeping on the job. There are a dozen such ads so far. Continue reading to see them.

Introducing the Characters
(YouTube link)

Answering the Phone
(YouTube link)

Working the Cash Register
(YouTube link)

Computing
(YouTube link)

Uniform Malfunction
(YouTube link)

Spying an Abandoned Pizza
(YouTube link)

Staff Meeting
(YouTube link)

Planning a Delivery Route
(YouTube link)

Tencho’s Paycheck
(YouTube link)

Taking Out the Trash
(YouTube link)

Cleaning Up
(YouTube link)

-via Buzzfeed

Artie Lange figured out the formula for making “The Tonight Show” watchable. By embracing the fact that Fallon is such an inherent sweetie-pie, rather than join in on the goody two-shoe goodness like most spineless guests, comic Lange realized that his blue material would create a sort of Margaret Dumont/Groucho Marx dynamic.

Nothing makes a comic funnier than a straight man who can’t handle it. It’s either that or farting. Anyway, on Thursday’s “The Tonight Show,” Lange shared a story of a recent trip to Atlantic City, where he was doing standup at the Borgata hotel. And, of course, no trip to the Borgata is without its fair share of gambling and prostitution, said Lange. But how did the former “Howard Stern Show” sidekick and Oscar-snubbed “Dirty Work” actor manage to keep these strange women from lifting his wallet?

Allow Lange to tell the story, and I hope you enjoy Fallon’s cringing as much as I do–kind of brings the whole yarn to another level.

source: The Tonight Show

Some sheep have been bold enough to show their bravery by accepting the Ice Bucket Challenge. Others demand a greater feat, such as proving one’s capability to read on a fifth-grade level. But some motherfuckers? Some motherfuckers just don’t know when to quit. Some motherfuckers decidedly accepted a means of CIA-endorsed torture–not so much for the ALS children–but, like Bill Burr has already professed, for their own two and a half seconds of fame.

Last week, one of the jackholes behind the YouTube channel Hipcrush Willowfist attempted a “water-boarding challenge.” And, even though the dude was not locked away in some blacklisted medieval lair or had barking dogs chomping for his exposed genitals, he was still pretty obviously freaked out by the few seconds of psychological pain.

Simply put on his part, he “bitched out pretty quickly,” according to his YouTube description. “I wouldn’t recommend this to anybody.”

h/t reddit

Image by Sam Taylor

Unless you’re a fucking loser, you probably haven’t been following the ongoing “war” between a few transgender activists and some so-called radical feminists. They’ve done their best to suck me into their collective madness recently, but I’m not playing ball. Let me fill you in. First up we have TERFs, short for “trans-exclusionary radical feminists." Basically, they’re full-on internet weirdos hell-bent on telling trans women that we’re not "real" women. They want to stop us from using female bathrooms, going to shitty music festivals and, uh, accessing healthcare. I know, right? Throw a few obsessive trans folk into the mix, and a handful of privileged white feminists with nothing better to talk about and, well, you’ve got yourself the perfect pointless shitstorm.

You’re all insane, and you’re all behaving like assholes. I’m sick of you all. It’s gone past the point where it matters who I agree with—though of course that’s trans people and their right to get on with their lives without hassle—but this isn’t about rational debate any more, it’s about an over-educated and time-rich bunch of narcissists on both sides who are completely and utterly addicted to a never-ending mudslinging match about absolutely nothing. That’s right. You are talking about nothing. Absolutely. Nothing. I can’t even tell you how disgusted I am to have waded into this "debate" just to tell you that you are talking about nothing, because it means that I am also talking about nothing. I am talking about you talking about nothing.

Take the debate around the word "cis." It’s Latin for "not trans." So far, so neutral. Well, a group of bloggers known as "Mean Girl feminists" (although they’re nowhere near as cool as that name would suggest) hate the word "cis." The Meanies desperately wanted to be the popular girls at school but everyone else thought they were the sullen weirdos, so now they’re taking it out on any trans peeps that want to join their woman gang. They objected to the term cis from the start because they basically refuse to see themselves as anything other than transparently "normal"—as I’m sure some people hated being told they were "heterosexual" when the gay rights movement made clear that being "straight" was just another sexual orientation.

But well done to you, too, angry trans people. Well done for the “die cis scum” hashtag and all the rest of it that has given Meanies ample excuse to now claim that "cis" is a slur. Good work.

"The TERF war is just over-educated and time-rich narcissists having a never-ending mudslinging match about nothing"

Meanies—if you don’t like the word cis, can you just fucking pick another one, please? Literally just make one up. Like "kokadillo." Or "flumbledumpling." I don’t know, maybe they can do a call-in for suggestions on The View or something. Because it really would be useful to have a word to describe people, like you, who don’t experience extreme dysphoria in relation to their body sex. Of course, maybe it’s not the word "cis" that you object to at all, but the idea. Maybe you don’t believe in the word because you don’t really buy into all this trans business either? Who knows.

The TERFs and the Meanies call themselves "gender critical," but they’re not, not really. They aren’t obsessed with Derek Jeter, or Katy Perry, or the billions of other people who aren’t trans who perpetuate gender every day. Just trans people, who they can pick on. "Gender critical feminism" is a special form of bigotry paraded as legitimate concern. It's a modern twist on "Love the sinner, hate the sin." All they want to do is talk, but they have nothing new to say. And I don’t buy into their “all discussion is important” crap either. Most people are full of shit. It’s like the "discussions" about immigration that are used by bigots as an excuse to express their hatred of foreigners. It’s just ugly prejudice dressed up as fancy debate.

Behind this facade of valid discussion hides a bunch of overgrown school bullies pointing at people who are different and demanding they explain that difference. Asking someone why they are trans is no better than asking them, “Why are you so fat?” Gia Milinovich is the girl in the playground shouting, “You’re not pretty like us!” but who never gets into trouble because she’s banging the head of science, Mr Cox. She’ll tell you what being trans is all about. Me, teacher! Call on me! I know the answer! I’ve read the next chapter!

Then there’s Sarah Ditum, your best friend's mom who won’t sign the consent forms for the school trip. She hates FUN. I don’t. I’m the girl with the short skirt and too much makeup on hiding behind the bike cage with a bong, a pack of Parliaments and Derek from 12th grade. And don’t forget Julie Burchill, the chatty girl who everyone’s heard of even though she was expelled years ago. No one knows that we’re secretly best friends. She buys me the cigarettes.

The Trans Activists are the kids with thrift store shoes sitting in the library crying about Meanies and TERFs, quoting Judith Butler and prattling on about some impenetrable gender theory they believe is gonna change the whole fucking world. At least trans people have a reason for being interested in trans issues, though. You know, because we’re trans. Still, it’s reciprocal insanity—and I should know. I used to be a bit obsessed with Julie Bindel before I realized that she’s actually a professional concern troll. So I "get it" when I say what I’m about to say next.

Trans people, ignore the bullies. I’m not here to bash trans folk who, by and large, don’t have the platforms these radical feminists enjoy—but a large number of you are driving me nuts. If people upset you, block them. Report them to the police if necessary. If they’re trying to influence policy makers who hold real power over your life, talk to those policy makers yourself. TERFs wrote a shitty blog about me a few years ago, calling me "Mr Lees." I left them a comment along the lines of "Yeah, good one. Love, Mr. Lees." They haven’t bothered me since. Don’t let them bother you. Buy some flowers. Run a bath. Masturbate. Look on Facebook to see how the real people who were horrible to you at school are all ageing badly as their rotten souls shine through. Basically, just do absolutely anything other than engage with their bullshit. You’ll be happier. They have no power over you. Stop giving them power.

And stop pushing people away that might otherwise be our allies—all those well-meaning but woefully uninformed people on the edge of the scuffle. Some people are prejudiced, but the best way for us to change that is by helping them get to know us, not backing them into a corner. Of course you are right to be angry, but your anger isn’t making anything better. It’s just upsetting you and goading them. Trust me. I’m a selfish bitch and I know how to get what I want—this isn’t how you go about it.

Also, a tiny, unidentified, minority of people, presumed to be trans, have even been making death threats—and the TERFs and Meanies are, disgustingly, using shit like this to tar all of the trans community with the same brush. And there’s no excuse for misogyny, or transphobia, from anyone. Who benefits from that? No one. It doesn’t help women, trans or otherwise. It’s a shame so many "natural born" women are unhappy with their lives, and it’s a shame so many trans women are too, but no one is forcing you to get together and multiply that misery by being shitty to each other. It’s called nativism and it serves no one.

They tried to talk to me about identity politics and I was like…

Of course, there are good points being made on either side—but good luck picking them out. Juliet Jacques penned a very thorough and very well written 9,000-word essay for the New Statesman recently, providing some background to the bickering. It doesn’t surprise me that Mrs Ditum praised it, for it was more "discussion" and endless discussion is what these people and this war depend on. As with any heated conflict, though, understanding the history doesn’t really help. The only way any dispute is resolved is by both sides agreeing to stop shouting and hurling missiles at each other, forgetting the past and starting to respect each other's human rights. Sorry, but we’re not going to "think" our way out of this one.

As for you, Meanies, you need to get over yourselves. If you asked 1,000 women in the street what issues matter to them most, I doubt anyone who isn’t trans or named "Glosswitch" would say "trans people." If you’re that concerned with us, you really do need to ask yourself why. Seriously. Get a fucking life. If Caroline Criado-Perez has a few spare hours to write about the oh-so important issue of how she feels about the word cis, good for her. I’m no more interested in that than I would be in her innermost thoughts on the term “white people.” Let her get on with it. It has absolutely nothing to do with me or the struggle for equal rights.

And there is no such thing as "feminism that opposes transgenderism." Opposing equal rights for trans people is called bigotry. Women have always existed and trans people have always existed, the only thing that truly changes is the way that other people agree to treat us. "Transgenderism," if that’s what some people want to call it, is nothing more than a push for the equal rights of trans people—just as feminism is nothing more than a push for the equal rights of women. It’s not complicated. It’s not a fucking competition. Everyone deserves respect. If there are any instances where people’s rights appear to compete—such as the important conversation about how we make sure every woman has access to safe spaces in rape crisis centres—let’s talk about it sensibly, practically and with genuine compassion.

"Discussing other people's identities is 'Peak Chattering Classes'"

Discussing other people’s identities though is, to borrow a turn of phrase these people will all recognize, “Peak Chattering Classes." A bunch of boring, middle-class, middle-aged people arguing about who is "right," and prattling on about shit like, “If Imogen identifies as X, how does that affect me?” I’ve seen sad fuckers from both sides of the fence jabbering about this on social media and it’s like, Hello, have you guys never heard about sex? Where I come from people don’t sit around on the veranda dissecting the minutiae of identity politics—we’re too busy looking for jobs or, in the absence of those, that ever shrinking social security blanket that you pampered pricks will never have to worry about wrapping yourselves in.

The thing that annoys me most is, while we don't need Gia Milinovich wondering out loud if trans babies would be better off aborted, we do need proper fucking feminism. Sarah Ditum writes about important issues like rape and abortion sometimes... imagine what we could do if we all focused on stuff like that with her. If we put real people before ideology. If we all pulled together to fight the good fight instead of fighting each other!

Finally, TERFs do sometimes pose a real threat to our rights, especially in the States. So, trans crew, if you want to fight, fine, but fight about something real. Like healthcare. Julie Bindel describes hormone blockers for trans teenagers as “child abuse” and genital surgery as “the operation that can ruin your life.” We don’t tolerate twats who say you can “pray away the gay” and we shouldn’t suffer fools like Bindel who advocate “reparative therapies” to “cure” us of being trans. Sheila Jeffreys repeats the same evil lies in her most recent book without a shred of evidence. Trans woman Geena Rocero WHO’S ACTUALLY HAD THE ACTUAL EFFING SURGERY says it was like a rebirth: “I never enjoyed having sex before, and all of a sudden it felt good. I was much more in touch with my sensuality, and I went crazy exploring it.” I don’t know about you, but I’m more interested in listening to any nuggets of wisdom Geena’s vagina has to offer than Julie Bindel talking out of her asshole.

Just to be clear: Any operation can ruin your life if it’s botched. That doesn’t change the fact that every reputable medical body in the USA, UK, Western Europe and elsewhere agree that medical therapy (science Gia, science!) is THE effective treatment for trans people if we seek it. It’s just not up for discussion. The real issue is simple. You either support trans people’s rights or you don’t. Everything else is just noise.

Maybe you think my contribution to the "debate" isn’t that helpful either, but hey, it can’t be much worse than anyone else’s. Most outsiders are appalled or just fucking bored by all this—if they’re even aware there’s a fallout in the first place. So listen, TERFS, Meanies, Trans peeps—I reckon most people peering in on your obsessive online squabbling about identity and terminology will see it for what it is: ugly, childish, inward-looking nonsense. Y’all need to start talking about some real fucking shit.

Follow Paris Lees on Twitter.

All photos courtesy of Fernando Caudevilla

Have you ever been to a hole-in-the-wall taco shop where, even though a passable health inspection grade is on display, you're not really sure what's going in your burrito? Buying drugs is kind of like that. You can gauge a dealer by reputation, but most of the time dealers don't even know exactly what's in the drugs they're selling.

Basically, there's no quality control for the market of illegal drugs. A 2013 report by Energy Control found that 38 percent of pills sold as ecstasy didn’t contain any MDMA at all. Only about eight percent of what’s sold as cocaine is totally pure; the rest is combined with additives like phenacetine, levamisole, caffeine; 17 percent of cocaine didn’t have cocaine in it at all. That's basically like paying for filet mingnon and getting a slice of roast beef. Besides getting cheated out of high-quality drugs, there are also serious dangers to not knowing what's in your drugs, like the recent rise in lethal overdoses from heroin that's unknowingly laced with fentanyl.

That's where Dr. Fernando Caudevilla comes in. Meet him in his office in Madrid and Dr. Caudevilla is simply a Spanish family physician. But meet him on the internet and he morphs into Dr. X,  a one-stop drug consultant who was once described as the “Roger Ebert of illegal drugs.” In forums on the deep web, he offers practical advice about using illicit drugs; in a laboratory in Spain, he tests drug samples for purity, which people send him from around the world.

We spoke to Dr. Caudevilla/Dr. X in January for an article about buying drugs on Silk Road, but we wanted to know more about how he got involved in his work, so we spoke to him over Skype.

VICE: So you’re a family doctor by day, and a drug-tester by night.
Dr. 
Fernando Caudevilla: Yes, but I do it in the day also. [Laughter] But yes, I work with an NGO called Energy Control to do these drug test programs. We do testing at parties or at raves that are colorimetric tests, which will give you information about whether there is a drug or there is not a drug. We also do another kind of drug testing that we do in the laboratory, where we can analyze the substance and know its composition.

So you can tell if you’ve got cocaine cut with chemicals, or heroin laced with fentanyl, or whatever. How did you get into this?
I joined the Energy Control team by a mixture of personal and professional interests in drugs, basically. I'm personally interested in experimenting with some drugs—using them wisely and with all scientific knowledge—and also I'm interested in them as a professional, as helping drug users is one of my fields of work.

Do people send in drugs from all around the world?

Yes.

How is that legal?
In Spain, it’s not forbidden to analyze the drugs. It’s forbidden to sell drugs, or to give drugs to people, but not to analyze them. We view this as a prevention model. At Energy Control, we’re not just giving people the drug composition, but also taking the opportunity to talk with the drug user and give him accurate information, objective information, about the drugs. Drug users feel that we are not judging them. We’re not telling them, “Don’t take drugs.” We just accept the fact that people take drugs, and we try to give information so that drug use is less risky and more healthy.

So the goal is harm-reduction.
Yes. In this sense, testing drugs is one of the strategies we use. Drug testing is not about saying “this drug is good, this drug is bad.” It’s just to have the opportunity to be in contact with the user.

How often do people send in drugs that are not pure, or are not what they thought they were taking?
It depends on the drug, and where they got it from. If you go to the party and know the person selling the drugs, then you don’t have as many problems. But if you buy a drug at a disco from a person you don’t know, it’s more probable that you’ll get something impure. It happens a lot with prescription drugs. People who think that they are buying ecstasy are actually buying the medication from their grandmother.

Yikes. I’m sure that’s disappointing.
It can be very harmful, too. Sometimes, that medication can be way more harmful than taking ecstasy.

You’re on a lot of deep web forums under the name Dr. X, and you let users consult with you about their drug use. Why did you start that?
I started with this a year and a half ago, and now I’ve answered over a thousand different questions and had 30,000 visits. Similar to what I told you before, people have questions about their drugs, but health professionals will just say, “Drugs are bad.” But that’s not useful for them. People want to know the effects of drugs and their individual risks, the combination of drugs with prescription drugs, risks about having a particular health problem… I can answer all of these questions. I’m doing this almost every day.

That’s amazing. How do you find the time to do this? I mean, you’re a full-time doctor.
Yeah, I’m a full-time doctor! But it’s maybe one or two hours a day online. Sometimes I answer three questions, sometimes five, sometimes zero. But I think it’s also very interesting.

Do you charge a fee for your services?
Not at all. The lab testing is volunteer, and so are the internet question-and-answers. But I do accept donations, and some users have been very generous.

Can anyone send you a drug sample?
The program we were doing at first was just for Spain, and we do that for free [for Spaniards]. Now, we are accepting samples from all around the world. But it’s a little more complicated. We ask for a little money for doing the testing service, but if you get in contact with Energy Control, you can find information about how to send in drugs to be tested here.

There’s been a huge increase in people buying drugs online, with the expansion of the deep web and marketplaces like Silk Road. Do you think that’s a safer way to buy drugs?
It’s just different. These are still illegal markets, and if a market is illegal, there’s no possible way to control it. But these kinds of markets, like Silk Road, have many interesting things—like the fact that you can give feedback about the products that you get, so the good vendors are easier to find. In general, that’s better than what we had before. But obviously, they’re not perfect.

Would you say you’re an advocate of legalization?
Absolutely. The answer is yes, with no doubt. We will have to see what kind of legalization we like, though. Think about apples, tobacco, and antibiotics—these are three products that are legal, but legal in different ways. It’s not the same to buy an apple than to buy alcohol or prescription drugs. We have to talk about what kind of legal state we’d like for drugs, but if drugs are dangerous, then that’s the main reason that we should make them legal. If it’s not legal, it can’t be controlled.

That’s a really good point. How would you want people to frame drug use, then?
Taking drugs is a human activity. People will always take drugs—some people take legal drugs, some people take illegal drugs. Drugs—both legal and illegal—have their problems. But I think that there are better ways to relate people to drugs than we have been doing. I think that the work that I do is just trying to prove this—there are different ways we can relate to drugs, and make good relations between people and drugs.

Follow Arielle Pardes on Twitter.

Adult females replace teenage boys as the largest gaming demographic.

The Loudest Word in Rock and Roll: "In a lot of ways it's really perfect and very cool, almost gang-like: 'We are The Stooges or The Kinks or The Sisters of Mercy.' The mind-set is, 'There is only one of us and we are it and we are gonna do it our way, no mercy.'"

Current opinion seems to disfavor the leading 'The'. Paste's 100 Best Band Names has 10 starting with 'The'; The Weekling's 50 Greatest Band Names has 6; SPIN's 40 Greatest Band Names [multipage, sorry] has 8. (There may be some methodological issues with this survey: SPIN omits the 'The' from 'The Brian Jonestown Massacre'.)

O parque do Espiño está aberto ao público pero as ruínas que atesoura dentro son sorprendentes e dan para soñar

Una de esas mentiras que se perpetúa a través de internet es la de las “casetes de gasolinera”. Lo primero porque, obviamente, esas portadas no son de casetes, sino de singles de vinilo. Tocadiscos en el coche no llevaba nadie. Quizá hoy en día algún hipster, por tirarse el pisto, se lo ponga en su bici. Y lo segundo, porque, obviamente, ninguno de esos discos se vendían en gasolinera alguna.

En los expositores de cualquier “estación de servicio” lo que había era Perales y Serrat, cintas de chistes de Arévalo, sevillanas, alguna de Barón Rojo y Obús… pero los temas estrella eran dos: las cintas infantiles y las de rumba. La primera, para que los niños se callaran un ratito. Y la segunda, para hacer el viaje más entretenido a padres y camioneros.

Pasa el tiempo. Nos plantamos en los 90. Llega “lo latino” y el Caribe Mix. Y el CD: cambia el sonido, cambia el soporte, pero la esencia es la misma. Música alegre, bailable y en español. Es la época dorada del CD de gasolinera. La grabación y la fabricación es más barata, pero la demanda es la misma, y la ganancia para la discográfica, mayor. Circunstancias propicias para que germinen todo tipo de flores del mal. Engendros que nacen y crecen, ocultos, en la sombra. Y esperan el momento adecuado para asaltar nuestros sentidos. Es lo que hicieron ellos. “Vibraciones”.

Mirad. Mirad y desesperad. La foto que estáis contemplando no es obra de ningún abanderado del posthumor. Tampoco son personajes de una película de Sasha Baron Cohen. No hay rastro de ironía en semejante imagen. Aquí sólo hay sitio para el desesperación. Sus responsables pensaron que era la mejor tarjeta de presentación posible para el trío. ¿Por qué?

Porque el comprador se identificaría con el grupo. Con esas dos fans del programa de Nieves Herrero,  madres de Estesys y Samiras. Y con ese tío del pueblo tan simpático, imitador de Chiquito de la Calzada en la boda de una prima que apenas conoces y que gusta pasar sus vacaciones cerca de alguna zona de cruising playera.

Por un momento podríamos pensar que detrás de semejante foto no haya seres humanos, sino una torpe imitación extraterrestre, incapaces de comprender nuestra cultura. Pero no fue así.

Este es el mundo de los 90. Esta es la España de los 90.

La verdadera.

La de Alcasser y Rodríguez Menéndez. La que quieres olvidar, ahogándola en un río de recuerdos de prestado de la Super Nintendo, las Tortugas Ninja y Sensación de vivir.

Pero Vibraciones no pidieron, ni quisieron, representar una época. Simplemente querían hacer música. Su único disco fue editado bajo el prestigioso sello “Producciones Juan Manuel“. Si David Geffen puso su nombre a su sello, el Juanma también puede, que hostias. La contraportada nos da algunas pistas de su origen. Note el lector que, a pesar de facilitarnos una dirección de contacto… ¡en ningún momento se indica la localidad ni provincia a la que dirigir el correo! Dudamos que nadie escribiera jamás para pedir un catálogo. Pero al menos cumplir bien el trámite.

Investigando un poco por internet descubrimos que en realidad, la compañía se sitúa en Canarias. En Las Palmas, concretamente, lo cual explica en buena medida el aspecto del tipo: Canarias en los 90. Todo parece indicar que el disco estaba pensado para el mercado local. Pero el ébola llegó hasta la península, y este disco también pudo. Los controles en Barajas volvieron a fallar. Por suerte, pocos pagaron las consecuencias.

 

Los agradecimientos nos indican que la grabación del CD “ha sido realizada por Javier y Toñy”. En realidad, las dos chicas de la portada tiene cara de Toñis, así que estamos algo confundidos. Está claro que canta una chica, así que intuimos que el papel de Javier sería el de los teclados y programaciones. ¿Dónde deja esto a la otra chavala? ¿Está simplemente para hacer bulto y rebajar la pluma del tipo? ¿O son como Gamora y Nébula, hermanas adoptivas, asesinas intergalácticas y rivales en letal combate? Me decanto por esta segunda opción.

El resto de los agradecimientos son los esperados: el productor, el estudio y, cómo no, la peluquería unisex del barrio, donde seguramente trabaje alguna de las chicas. O el chico. Y cualquier banda de nivel, desde Muse a Dinamita pa’ los pollos, tienen un gran aliado en su zapatería de confianza: en el caso de Vibraciones, el apoyo de “Calzados Cáceres” fue también muy importante en su camino al éxito. Como también lo fueron “Octavio y Ovidio”, amigos del grupo y posibles protagonistas de una serie de dibujos sobre un búho y una serpiente. Eso sí, a tacaños no les gana nadie, ya que ni siquieran regalan simpatía.

Pero dejemos que habla la música. Que hable como un gangoso, en este caso. Es complicado encontrar un ‘highligh’ de un disco destinado únicamente a entretener al comprador en algún viaje. Lo esperado: tecladitos fritos por doquier, las programaciones que te vienen por defecto en el Casio (67 – Latin Jazz), producción inexistente, voz de rechazado de un casting de Operación Triunfo, mezcla entre rumba, bachata y merengue y letras de amores y desamores.

En realidad no hay aquí mucho destacable. La chica tiene el concepto de cantar bien que tiene el 90% del personal y el disco suena mediocre y cutre, pero eficaz. Lo natural que sale al grabarle un disco al típico grupo de bodas, bautizos y comuniones.

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

El auténtico momento WTF del disco cuando nos encontramos con una versión latina y pachanguera del… Runaway de Del Shannon, un clasicazo del Rock’n’Roll, aquí transmutada hasta extremos increíbles en una orgía de trompetas de sintetizador y con una melodía modificada y que avanza a tropezones en su estribillo. Imaginamos que era para engañar a la SGAE, puesto que no se indica la autoría del tema por ninguna parte. Casi me caigo de culo cuando reconocí la canción.

Del Shannon decía que, para ganarse a las mujeres, había que dar pena. Y ellos lo conseguían, pero no por la melancolía de sus canciones, sino porque su ‘cover’ es putapénica. Con ese “alas para ammmmmar” y un deje coplero que aparece en la voz de la chavala en alguna ocasión y una letra que, más que escrita, fue encajada a golpes de Mjorlin en la melodía clásica. Y si hay que retorcer la gramática para conseguirlo, pues se hace. Que el español es un idioma vivo y en constante mutación, como La Cosa.

Sirva este clip como ejemplo del contenido de este “magnus opus” canarión. Desgraciadamente, no existe más información sobre este power trio. Nosotros MATARÍAMOS por ver un videoclip de ‘Vibraciones’. O al menos una actuación en directo, en algún hogar del jubilado, que presumimos apoteósica. Pero no. Esta Panda Tope no disponían del presupuesto de las grandes figuras de la canción. Ni siquiera de las pequeñas. El disco “no es el Padrino, pero cumple su función de entretener” a los despistados compradores y, hoy día, a los lectores de esta su querida web. Mal que nos pese, el contenido no está a la altura de la portada. De esa maravillosa portada, que de un plumazo nos viene a recordar de dónde venimos… y a donde nos dirigimos. Normal que huyamos… como un fugitivo.

Si el nuevo disco de Los Punsetes o el próximo single de El Último Vecino no lo remedian el disco “Nueva Numancia”, el disco nuevo de JUANITA Y LOS FEOS, será el DISCO DEL AÑO para ESTÁ PASANDO, 2ª vez que lo consigue el quinteto quinqui madrileño. Mientras preparaba con suma delicadeza y atención la pinchada del en el DABADABA de hoy (ver info aquí) me he vuelto a dar cuenta de la grandeza apoteósica de este GRUPAZAZO madrileño.

Todas las canciones son hitazos, sus afiladas guitarras escupen recuerdos de los mejores terroristas musicados de los 80, sus teclados están a la altura de genios sintetizados como Le Shok o los Screamers, su cantante es una diosa y sus canciones ya lo dije, himnos inmediatos. Por eso hoy, una de sus interpretaciones es uno de mis #cucumbersdelverano. Para epatar he escogido una canción que no es suya sino de ese combo tan odiado por muchos de vosotros que es MECANO. Este puto hit salió en disco en el Club del Single de Discos Walden y es alucinante. Mi quedada cabeza lleva repitiendo día sí y día también su estribillo durante el último año. Lejos de ser un incordio, me gusta, lo reconzco. Disfruten del impecable tributo de Juanita a Mecano. Dios los salve a todos.

He aquí el sublime nuevo disco navajero.

A sus pies JUANITA!!!

 

O grupo actúa no festival Feito a Man ás 21 horas na Zona C de Bonaval

• Tres conciertos más dentro del Feito a Man

Cuando los policías se dirigieron al individuo, en evidente estado de embriaguez, para identificarle, su reacción fue violenta

Este lunes, la televisión norteamericana se disputa sus premios Emmy como cada año. Juego de tronos, Breaking Bad, Mad Men o True detective están en la pugna por unos galardones en los que por primera vez destaca la ausencia de Homeland y en cuyas nominaciones brillan también dos particulares producciones: House of cards en drama y Orange is the new black en comedia.

¿Por qué son particulares? Porque no han sido estrenadas en una cadena de televisión de forma tradicional. House of cards y Orange is the new black son productos de Netflix, la innovadora plataforma de contenidos bajo demanda online en USA, que está resultando todo un fenómeno también en producción de contenidos de ficción propios.

Netflix pone a disposición del espectador, a sólo un clic, cine, espacios televisivos y series de producción propia sin horarios y sin esperas. De hecho, cuando estrena sus series, cuelga todos los capítulos de la temporada de golpe, el mismo día: el espectador decide cuándo y cómo los quiere ver. Se autoprograma su contenido, sin esperas. Y paga por ese privilegio. Es el valor añadido de la compañía, que así está plantando cara a las cadenas convencionales. Y no ha hecho más que empezar.

En tiempo récord, Netflix se está convirtiendo en Estados Unidos en una reconocida factoría de ficciones. House of cards ya destacó en los Emmy del año pasado y este año vuelve a competir en una decena de categorías junto a la revelación de Orange is the new black, que es la favorita en los apartados de comedia.

A través de dispositivos como la PS3, Wii, Xbox, PC, Mac, tablets o una simple smart tv, se puede acceder a esta innovadora plataforma que se expande por el mundo pero que, de momento, no tiene demasiado claro si debe instalarse en España, un país con un sistema de distribución de derechos que se resiste a evolucionar y con una audiencia que no cuenta con tradición en la televisión de pago, ya que la población mayormente no entiende que hay que pagar para que los productos de ficción se sigan financiando. Busca la alternativa pirata.

De momento, sólo ha habido especulaciones. Se habla de la llegada de Netflix a nuestro país en 2015 pero la realidad pesa: España ha aparecido en los últimos años en “la lista negra” que Estados Unidos elabora con los países con los que no es recomendables hacer negocios relacionados con la propiedad intelectual. Y el hecho es que los datos recaudados por el VOD (vídeo bajo demanda) en España (con plataformas como Wuaki o Filmin) aún no son prometedores.

¿Se producirá un cambio progresivo? ¿Ayudará que la plataforma Netflix se instale aquí con su ventana abierta y fácil a contenidos de calidad o será un estrepitoso fracaso en nuestras tierras? En cualquier caso, lo más probable es que este domingo veamos a las dos series de Netflix hacerse con unas cuantas estatuillas, demostrando que el camino está trazado hacia nuevas formas de producción y consumo. Aunque España aún esté a la cola.

Y ADEMÁS…

Así está revolucionando Twitter el consumo televisivo

Youtube: una poderosa vía de promoción e ingresos que la TV en España aún no aprovecha

¿La audiencia de televisión se puede medir a través de Twitter?

Not too long ago I was asked why I don’t write about sad things anymore. My answer is this:

I don’t think there’s a magical equation in life that ensures you eternal happiness. And I don’t necessarily think happiness is merely internal. I, do, however think there are steps you can actively take to fill your heart just a little bit further each and every night. One of those things, I believe, is being careful with what you choose to share with the world.

Social media is full of gruesome videos, inappropriate photos, hateful comments, and sorely biased articles. It’s full of racism, bullying, and negativity. And frankly, folks, I’m sick of it.

Have we all been guilty of complaining on social media? Of talking about how tired we are, how much we hate our jobs, how much we miss someone who hurt us? Well, of course. I’ll be the first to admit you can probably find a post of my own on all of those topics if you dig hard enough.

But why? Why do we feel the need to spread that into the minds and hearts of our friends, family, and acquaintances who read our posts?

Do things happen that upset me, disappoint me, and hurt me? Certainly. And do I feel compelled to write about these events to process them, cope with them, and move on from them? Of course. That’s called “journaling” and it’s both an intensely personal and extremely healthy way to spend your time. Do I call my friends and family when I’m crying because something bad happened in my life? You betcha. We need that sometimes.

But do your 1,100 Facebook friends need to hear about that rude customer you had today? Well, probably not.

We pick and choose who we surround ourselves with. People who inspire us and love us. We pick and choose what we expose our children to — what we deem appropriate and beneficial. We pick and choose how we spend our time — doing things we find enjoyable. So why shouldn’t we be picky and choosy about what we share with others, what we expose others to? Why don’t we think about the effects of the things we share? Who we might be offending, who we might be hurting, who’s day we might be dampening?

It’s not to say you need to censor yourself but it is saying you need to be responsible. That you need to know what you’re doing when you put things out into a social world.

And to say it simply, I’m only going to put positivity out there. And that doesn’t mean I don’t feel, that I don’t hurt, or that things don’t get to me. It’s not being ignorant or running from the truth, it’s simply deciding to actively internalize the bad and share the good.

I could read an article that contains a video of an American journalist being beheaded that infuriates me and I could share it with all of you and make you all infuriated too, but what’s the point? What is that accomplishing?

So don’t expect another article about the next boy who breaks my heart. Will it happen? Inevitably. Will I write about it? For sure. But instead, I’ll choose to share with you why I think the world needs more love.

Social media is a tool. Remember that. Use it wisely. You can build for good or you can build for evil.

Frankly, I think there’s enough bad out there as it is. Consider doing something about it.

All Aboard the Cock-a-Doodle Express to Deulmusae. NSFW. NSFW.

The Highway to Helmet Heaven

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An Ode to the Chode

This Mighty Member stands stiff at the entrance.

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Watch Your Step for Hidden Gems

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Because Martin Luther is totally basic .

1. It is a heretical opinion, but a common one, that the sacraments of the New Law give pardoning grace to those who do not set up an obstacle.

2. To deny that in a child after baptism sin remains is to treat with contempt both Paul and Christ.

3. The inflammable sources of sin, even if there be no actual sin, delay a soul departing from the body from entrance into heaven.

4. To one on the point of death imperfect charity necessarily brings with it great fear, which in itself alone is enough to produce the punishment of purgatory, and impedes entrance into the kingdom.

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5. That there are three parts to penance: contrition, confession, and satisfaction, has no foundation in Sacred Scripture nor in the ancient sacred Christian doctors.

6. Contrition, which is acquired through discussion, collection, and detestation of sins, by which one reflects upon his years in the bitterness of his soul, by pondering over the gravity of sins, their number, their baseness, the loss of eternal beatitude, and the acquisition of eternal damnation, this contrition makes him a hypocrite, indeed more a sinner.

7. It is a most truthful proverb and the doctrine concerning the contritions given thus far is the more remarkable: "Not to do so in the future is the highest penance; the best penance, a new life."

8. By no means may you presume to confess venial sins, nor even all mortal sins, because it is impossible that you know all mortal sins. Hence in the primitive Church only manifest mortal sins were confessed.

9. As long as we wish to confess all sins without exception, we are doing nothing else than to wish to leave nothing to God's mercy for pardon.

10. Sins are not forgiven to anyone, unless when the priest forgives them he believes they are forgiven; on the contrary the sin would remain unless he believed it was forgiven; for indeed the remission of sin and the granting of grace does not suffice, but it is necessary also to believe that there has been forgiveness.

11. By no means can you have reassurance of being absolved because of your contrition, but because of the word of Christ: "Whatsoever you shall loose, etc." Hence, I say, trust confidently, if you have obtained the absolution of the priest, and firmly believe yourself to have been absolved, and you will truly be absolved, whatever there may be of contrition.

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This is one of the best tribute albums ever released. It features "hip" young musicians interpreting the music of Henry Mancini. This CD is just plain fun. The songs are played in a variety of styles, with 16 instrumentals and four vocals. Mancini wrote some of the best melodies of his time period, and these performers give an exciting new spin to his material. This is far removed from Andy Williams! It's hard to pick a favorite, because there are so many good tracks here, but special mention has to go to Nan Vernon, who sings an absolutely mesmerizing version of "Moon River". There is also an unlisted bonus track where she sings the song in Japanese. I highly recommend this CD. - By Johnny HeeringStumbled across this CD in a used record store years ago and the cover and title caught my eye. Being familiar with a previous Del-Fi compilation album of this sort, "Pulp Surfin" (a conscious, semi-irreverent knock-off of the "Pulp Fiction" soundtrack which is well worth the purchase itself) my interest was piqued enough for me to lay out a few bucks for this. It was, without a doubt, the best spur of the moment, "what the hell", blindly optimistic music purchase of my life.