What I learned Today #3" Cielito Lindo

Despite having plenty of access to Latino culture as a resident of a major metropolis, I still have not for the life of me been able to learn much Mexican folk music. You know, the songs that define the culture for an entire nation, yet here in America they're rudely appropriated from their original context to sell stuff or in an attempt to be funny. You know: "I dance! I dance! I dance! Upon a Mexican hat!"

Recognition usually comes to me out of the blue. Today I'm listening to ancient records on WFMU's "Antique Phonograph Music Program" for Jan 13. The announcer intros a song from 1924 he calls "Beautiful Heaven." It's a Latin tinged orchestra instrumental, which suddenly leads into the familiar chorus of "Ay, Yi, Yi, Yi!" Hey! I know this tune. Some searching around the title finally informs me that yes, it is a Mexican folk tune, originally titled "Cielito Lindo."

As the Wikipedia article I linked to will inform you younger kids, this tune is better known to us Anglos of a certain age as the "Frito Bandito" song. Hope I can remember at least its proper title when I hear it again.

Yes, as a kid I had a sticker with this artwork on my dresser drawer.

Further Adventures in Publication!

Once again, I can look forward to the ego-stroke of seeing my name as a byline. This time it's for a collection of academic essays called "Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero," edited by Robert G. Weiner.

I was able to dust off an article I written a few years ago on Roy Thomas' "Retro-World War II" series The Invaders, and All-Star Squadron and repurpose it by putting more emphasis on Captain America. Then I was asked what else I could write, and I ended up with an article on Cap's post-mortem career as a Marvel Zombie.

Well, that book has been and gone to the publisher, and it's now scheduled, at least on Amazon, to ship June 30th! Whee!

Coming up, time allowing, something on James Bond.

Authors! Has This Happened to YOU?

Since I started selling my old books through Amazon, and my old 45s through GEMM.com, I had always wondered if this might happen, and now it has: I've sold a book back to its author.

I don't need to embarrass anyone by revealing the author's name. Just know that this was a vanity-published "think-and-grow-rich" book that I got as a review copy, back when I was editing a pennysaver and a quarterly business magazine. And as far I know, mine was the only copy that was ever offered on Amazon. But I know how stingy publishers today can be with contributors' copies. So just don't let yourself be caught short.

Despite the fact that I work for one of the world's largest printing companies, I do not get an employee discount program for any of the books we print, just a vendor discount on magazines. Guess otherwise all of our employees would be slogging Harry Potter books on Amazon.

Meantime, here's My Amazon Storefront.

Post-Inauguration Quarterbacking

I was happily able to watch President Obama's (Let's say that again! President! Obama!) whole inauguration speech at work (thanks, Mr. Prez, for keeping it around 20 minutes). Working in an office full of proofreaders (and thus professional nitpickers), we all picked up on Obama's referring to himself as the "44th man" to take the oath of office (consternation! Grover Cleveland!) but it was probably easier to go with the better-known number than to stop and explain a blip of history. After all, Cleveland was a reformist democrat who won the popular vote for re-election, but lost the Electoral College vote thanks to Republican voter fraud in Indiana. We know that never happened again… in Indiana.

As a music buff, I was caught short by Obama's exhortation "pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off..." as I thought he was citing the old Jerome Kern song (Pick yourself up!/Dust yourself off!/Start all over again!).

Still and all, it was nice to hear a President use complete sentences for 20 minutes, each sentence using words already in the dictionary. Put me in mind of where I was on that day 16 years before: Standing on Pennsylvania Avenue, waiting to watch Clinton's inauguration parade, and to boo the previous Bush.

Col. Tribune responds

Surprised I am to find comments from "Col. Tribune" regarding my last post. But maybe I shouldn't be. Surely the Trib's web folks have search bots running all the time to find references specific to its web pages, or, more likely, when someone is linking directly to something on their page that might result in a waste of bandwidth. I actually copied the picture in the previous post and saved to my local server. Perhaps they also Google for the image's tags. And as long as I'm not being libelous or reselling the image, I might be okay.

Some disclosure may be needed: I worked for a few years at the Pennysaver, a suburban shopper that was owned by the Tribune Co. at the time. Afterward, I contributed editorial to many of the Trib's special advertising sections and later did a few features for their CareerBuilder section. Samples? Why, they're right here!

I certainly have nothing against what appears to be the Trib's version of "News 2.0," with content selected by people wating time on the internet (like I am now). Just don't know if this will help keep the daily dead tree version coming to my sidewalk. 

Col. Tribune parties down!

So today the Governor of Illinois gets busted in an influence-peddling scheme.

Not the first time this has happened in our great state, I'll admit.

But when my Google news bot directs me to the main link for the story, I'm directed to a site called Chicago Breaking News, which appears to be a money-saving pooling of resources from across the debt-ridden Tribune Co. empire. Okay, nothing else unusual here...

But right at the corner of the page is a strange figure going by the name of "Colonel Tribune." I can't be too sure, but it looks like the image of the Tribune's curmudgeonly long-time owner, Colonel Robert R. McCormick. Seems the Colonel has found a new role at the paper as "the Chicago Tribune's Web ambassador. He is here to help you stay informed and in touch with the latest news."

Now, history tells us the real-life Colonel was more interested in keeping the country safe for Republicans, and for helping Chester Gould make sure each villain in Dick Tracy died a gruesome, violent death so Tracy would never have to stoop so low as to arrest and Mirandize them. And I'm pretty sure McCormick was never seen wearing a newspaper hat (a "Napoleon" hat at that), especially one with the name of the Tribune's web site instead of the newspaper itself. But I guess with new owner Sam Zell finding new ways to screw the employees by filing Chapter 11, we realize the Colonel is just another asset whose image can be exploited, just like Colonel Sanders.

Almost distracts from the fun of wondering what schmuck Blagojevich thought he sell Obama's Senate seat to.

Economic Goals Re-ducks

Just filled the gas tank on the ol' Tercel again. Less than a month from the previous fill-up this time, because I made a trip to the city to show a friend the Goose Island brewpub, and detoured home by way of Flossmoor Station. So the price of gas today was at 1.99⁹ a gallon, not quite a dollar less than the 2.76⁹ I paid 20 days ago, but very nearly half of what I paid for the previous fill-up in September.

The last time I saw two bucks a gallon was once in January 2007, and before then, not since the spring of 2005.

As long as I still have a job, that's one bright spot in today's economy.

Election part 2

McCain is giving one of the most gracious concession speeches I've heard in some time.

If only he were this eloquent on the campaign trail, instead of running against the names in Obama's rolodex.

And I'm still straining to see any minorities at the McCain rally.

America Wins!

For those delusional enough to think Sarah Palin could run in 2012: just remember the rally in Grant Park tonight for Obama outnumbers the entire population of Alaska.

Meantime, I'm dealing with the fact of the first President who's younger than I am.

One economic goal achieved

This past summer, we moved the family from Park Forest to Downers Grove. Mostly so the kids would have much better schools, but also because we wanted to be closer to where I work (and where my wife might find better part-time opportunities around the baby's schedule). At the height of the gasoline crunch, we figured that what with driving 35 miles each way, plus tolls, I would be paying out over $200 a month just to get to and from work. That's figuring gas at an even $4.00 per gallon. I'd had to pay as mush as $4.25⁹ on the first of July.

Now that we've moved, my commute is a whopping 3.3 miles each way. I figured that if I didn't make any extended side trips to other areas, I just might be able to go a whole months between filling my tank. I had been able to achieve that five years before, when my work was in the Loop and I usually had to just drive to the train station.

In August, I was still getting stuff moved, and the month ended with me driving to my parents 50th Anniversary party in Iowa. September also saw some side trips to the northern burbs. But when I filled up on Sept. 27, paying $3.89⁹ per gallon, I found myself with no business for the following month besides getting to work or running for groceries.

As the month of October wound down, I saw that I not only might reach my personal goal, but with the price of gas tumbling through the month, I might just be able to make my next fill-up at a dollar a gallon less than the last time.

33 days later, on Oct. 30, I finally succumbed to the needle's dance around the letter "E". As the old Toyota had suffered much indignity from being parked under a tree for three months, I decided to splurge on a car wash at Delta Sonic. Imagine my glee at choosing the "car wash" discount and paying only $2.76⁹ per gallon, a whole $1.12 less than last time. Imagine myself discovering that due to the sneaky arrangement of gas grade buttons on the pump, I had actually filled up with the "Mid-grade" gas, instead of my usual "Regular," which would've been $2.66⁹.

Still, I had managed to enjoy a small victory and to justify the great expense of moving out. But I had discovered that by now driving mostly short, in-city trips, the mileage on my '95 Tercel had dwindled from a self-satisfied 38 miles per gallon to barely over 25 mpg.

Still, it looks like my next fill will cost at least 50 cents a gallon less than this one. See you in November!