Hash-tags #Bendecidayafortunada o #BendecidayenVictoria Pura Ridiculez Mas Que un Meme

Por cualquier cosa eres Bendecida y Afortunada

A veces no se qué pensar sobre las tendencias y modas en las red; pero estoy pensando que los últimos hashtag de moda #bendecidayafortunada o #bendecidayenvictoria desafía el límite entre lo burdo y lo profano.

El problema de este hash tag, va mas allá de la pantalla de un ordenador; mientras crecía en Cartagena, esencialmente en un ambiente cerrado cerca las playas por la Avenida Santander, me daba cuenta de lo vacía que puede tornarse ciertos segmentos de las sociedades, con el uso de la telefonía móvil y las redes sociales.

Aunque no solo con el ejemplo de las redes sociales, sino con los clubes y los grupos de interés que uno puede encontrar en un ambiente donde el tiempo y la falta de oficio puede ser algo perjudicial para la salud y las relaciones sociales; sin mencionar que uno puede caer en la ridiculez por sobreexposición mediática en dichas redes.

Aunque no solo con el ejemplo de las redes sociales, sino con los clubes y los grupos de interes que uno puede encontrar en un ambiente donde el tiempo y la falta de oficio puede ser algo perjudicial para la salud y las relaciones sociales; sin mencionar que uno puede caer en la ridiculez por sobreexposicion mediatica en dichas redes.

Las Tetas son Parte de la Moda

Entre los miles de fotos que uno puede encontrar en Twitter, Facebook o Instagram con esta nefasta etiqueta, el prototipo es casi siempre una zorra en pelota que no se respeta, como la de la foto de al lado; o cualquier vagabunda, que se caso por dinero y cuando le aparece el primer hijo, ahí le entra lo muy bendecida y afortunada que es.

El problema de esta moda, es la tendencia a la falta de auto-respeto; ya que a una zorra no se le puede quitar lo zorra y volverá un ama de casa; y si piensan que pueden poner la religión de por media para ocultar que son putas, ni por ahi van a poder demostrar que son unas piadosas.

Siempre me acuerdo en la Iglesia de Bocagrande allá en Cartagena; todas esas parejas que iban a darse golpes en el pecho, alabar a Dios y luego hacer lo que se les viniera en gana después de poner sus pies afuera de la iglesia.

Un Carro no es Una Bendicion

Nunca he sido religioso, pero en mi filosofía siempre he sentido que la teología puede jugar un papel fundamental en la formación de un individuo, si es manejada de una forma en que el individuo vea que el mundo es más complejo que las paredes de su templo, y las páginas del libro base.

Pero llega un punto debido al uso de las redes sociales en los que uno puede cuestionar ¿Que tanto alguien puede estar enfocado en cosas vánales, cuando otros están pasando verdaderos problemas.? Y no es una bendición tener un carro, es un lujo. Todas esas grandes "bendiciones" no son gracias a ningún Dios; son gracias al esfuerzo que uno hace por salir adelante.

La única bendición es la vida misma; lo mas sacro y puro. pero la gente no la valora. Yo no creo que en esas tal llamadas bendiciones que la gente habla y promulga; creo en el valor humano, la capacidad de respeto y la el potencial para salir adelante.

Aquí es la falta de autoestima y apreciación por el "yo", tratar de buscar complacer a los demás para ocultar una falta de personalidad, debido a que la empatía y la interacción social nunca fue desarrollada; estas personas, no solo mujeres. Que ponen mensajes religiosos con cierto toque vanal para presumir, demuestra la clase de personas que son.

El problema es que gente como las de estas fotos, las habrá mientras haya humanidad en este planeta y en el cosmos. Siempre alguien tratando de sobresalir con poco esfuerzo a expensa de alguien más.

Todo esto hace caer, la banalidad en un asunto repetitivo donde lo profano y lo sacro se mezcla en un simple autorretrato.

This Last Lonely Place Movie Review

Every now and then, there is a beautiful piece of cinematic art that catches the attention of the people, there is always a niche on the independent cinema that will attract viewers to new proposals on the audiovisual entertainment.

This Last Lonely Place, has that  aspect on the audiovisual narrative as well as in the story, that can captivate audiences, much as the Golden Era of Hollywood movies. Such as The Maltese Falcon or Casablanca, movies that set a trend and gave a romantic glamour starting Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Ingrid Bergman just to name a few;  or even the old Dick Tracey short and 1945 movie; where a dark environment and shady characters played a pivotal role in the movie narrative.

Even the title of the movie pays an homage to the old noir movies, specially In a Lonely Place where Humphrey Bogart was the main star along Gloria Grahame. The movie was financed by a successful Kickstarter campaign and the Humphrey Bogart Estate , Jeff Marchelletta and Josh Mandel of Industry Standard Films produced the film along with writer/director/producer Steve Anderson of Santana Films.

The movie follows three individuals Sam Taylor, a taxi driver (played by Rhys Coiro); Frank Devore, a shady investment banker (Xander Berkeley) and Faye Gardner, Frank's lover (Carly Pope); whose story begun by a mere casualty after Frank called for a taxi and Sam was the closest one to be on his proximity.

The movie plays homage to  Humphrey Bogart cinematic legacy towards the noir genre, as well as breaking certain conceptions of the genre itself by presenting Carly Pope's character in a mix of the femme fatal but with more altruistic characteristics that makes her character unique towards the women of the noir films, as Faye tends to act according to her own motives; but not only Carly's character (Faye Gardner) is well developed, as there is a complexity shown towards the characters motifs  along the movie that gives them a dose of realness,

The complexity of the characters is quite unique, because it makes me wonder, how far would you go to achieve your goals.? And how much would you sell your ideals? In order to conquest what you want without even thinking on the damage and the people you would use. Nobody knows but it is part of the human nature, such as Faye trying to gain money for herself or Sam who was trying to gain money for his family in Hawaii.

How do you know how far someone will go.? It's difficult to know, almost as a Kafkaesque Metamorphosis just to explain human nature. The movie as it was mentioned on a previous paragraph brings noir elements from Humphrey Bogart cinematographic legacy, as there is as mystery element in the movie that gives the viewer a feeling of old Hollywood movies.

The movie itself is reminiscent German Expressionist films, much as the work of Fritz Lang movie named M; where the city plays a part on the story, but also there is a beauty on how the scenes are carried, as if it was a movie from the Golden Age of cinema.

If any of my readers have the chance to see This Last Lonely Place, I would totally recommend it because it's a fine piece of cinematic product; with really fine acting and shows a quality of cinema that is almost absent on today pieces of audiovisual storytelling, an amazing story that was produced in an indie fashion, that will place the viewer in their seats from the beginning to the end.

If you want to see the movie you can click here where for USD$8 as well support independent filmmakers.

The Sadness of the Perfect Selfie - Instagram Reasoning

There is nothing more depressing in the digital world than a perfect selfie. People just sit on the edge, and take photos of themselves. Over and over, thousands of self-portraits, everyone is trying to create the perfect image, while in the inside they have nothing to say, or even show some interesting value in a conversation.

People are just boring sometimes, the newer generations are showing levels of vanity, that can be traced to an uncontrollable narcissism. Who want's to fake a fucking smile on every photo,? show that their lives are perfect, people who are living inside a dream and delusional fantasies of self-absorbed thoughts.

It's almost as an attention whore mentality, everything they do has to be recorded, just to cover the emotional void that is absorbing their lives.

Why to expose yourself in underwear to the rest of the world,? or in a bikini.? No one beyond the fuck fantasy will like you, those little comments that will tell you how good you look won't take away the fact that you have an intellectual deficit as well as an emotional one, as you aren't able to stay within a relationship or with a small circle of friends.

It doesn't matter how much approval you seek, your insecurities can be seen afloat and you will always feel less, physically and emotionally.

There is one sad aspect of the perfect selfie,and that is you can see people on the lowest point; because, one selfie has 20 or 40 other behind just to achieve that perfection. 

The LGTBQ Chronicles: Five Questions with Jay Arseno - Take it From the Ashes

Jay Arseno at Boardner's

His voice and style are cool; and his stage presence is quite inviting, but his style is what it gets the attention from the crowd.

From his style of rock n' roll and techno, but it's with his guitar that his voice shine. Jay began his career in his native Baton Rouge, Louisiana; by singing in a church; but he became inspired to become a singer by listening to the cassettes and C.D's his parents and sibling bought.

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Jay with a round of five questions, I hope you enjoy and in the meantime if you want to listen to his music, check his soundcloud channel:

Jay: I was inspired to become a musician when I was about 5 or 6 years old and I fell in love with music. My parents and siblings would always be playing cassettes and CD's when I was growing up and would encourage me to sing along with whatever was playing. That’s how I figured out that I had a decent singing voice and that I could carry a tune pretty easily.

Jay: The most difficult part of being an indie artist is taking on the challenge of promoting yourself. Unless you have representation through an independent label or a marketing team behind you, you have to do everything yourself along with being the artist. Sometimes the biggest challenges aren't in writing the songs, but promoting the songs and getting them heard by the right people.

Jay:I am personally not a big fan of labels. I believe that artists should be appreciated for their work and not be judged by who they are personally, especially when it comes to their sexuality. When you look at a painting or a sculpture, do you immediately ask yourself, ‘I wonder if the artist is gay or straight?’. No! You appreciate the fruits of the artist’s labor that are right in front of you. I believe the same should apply to music and that people shouldn't be concerned with labels. 

I pour a great deal of myself into my writing and my music, whether it be from personal experiences that I would like to communicate or stories that I come up with. I believe that my personal identity and sexuality are two sides of the same coin in that one cannot exist without the other. By writing from my personal experiences my creativity is fueled by both my personal identity and my sexuality in some cases. 

However, I leave the interpretation of the work to the listener that hears it. That’s the whole purpose of art in whatever form it may be, to create a personal experience for the ones who are witnessing and experiencing the piece that is being presented to them.

Jay: The process of producing my own music has ups and downs, as with anything. There will be times that I can start writing and finish a song in 30 minutes. Other times it will be days before a song is finished. It really is a case by case basis, but I thoroughly enjoy every second of it

Jay: I believe that social media has allowed otherwise unknown artists and causes a global platform in order for them to been seen and heard by millions, if used properly and in a dedicated fashion. As an artist, you don’t necessarily have to rely on a record label to create a fan base and for your music to be distributed and heard worldwide. The power and resources are there, as long as you know how to use them to your advantage. I have personally used social media to promote my own music by creating a Facebook artist page, twitter, and music networking sites like Reverbnation, CD Baby, Tunecore, YouTube and many others in order to become a internationally distributed singer/songwriter. With all these resources available to artists today, it also becomes virtually impossible to really stand out, but that’s the price we pay for the ability to create and manipulate our own destinies in this age of technology, I guess.

Poema a un Gato

Poema a un Gato

Por: Gustavo Calvo

Entre las sombras anda,

y a plena luz del día está tirado en la cama,

grita como un rey,

pero exige como si fuera una reina.

Se mueve despacio, y como si estuviera volando;

para luego caer encima del teclado.

Se rasca el culo contra la pared,

parece más un mico que cayó en una red,

Se esconde por debajo de un zapato,

y espera salir de la nada como un payaso en una cartón.

Entre estornudos, y la cola por mi nariz, ese animal peludo ni pide perdón,

y mas que se le da por tirarse tres volatines antes de perderse abajo del sillón.

The Different Layers of the Closet

The metaphor of being trapped someplace, can scare anyone. The ego can be your own worst enemy, as well the fear of rejection.

Sometimes we hesitate about ourselves, we lack of the locus of control to keep fighting forward, we simply leave everything behind.

The closet can be a very lonely, no matter if it's surrounded by people, at the end those people are just layers of clothing that sometimes just cover the loneliness.

The step that many of you, us, we, have to take out to be happy always comes with a price. The fear of rejection, that many doesn't want to face in their lifetime because they don't want to lose something.

It's what we can call, based on an anime named Fullmetal Alchemist The Law of Equivalent Exchange which in other words means, every action creates a rebound.

The fear of losing your family, the fear of losing the little you have, it can develop a toxic relation with everything that surrounds you, and comes the idea of what to do to being happy.?

There are many doors to open, many layers and outfits you can try before discovering, which one fits you the best. There are many combinations you can try, sometimes some people won't find them, won't even see it, and will go on the streets pretending.

Some of the layers, come with the stigma, they are being broken and the paradigms of discrimination towards what you wear, that reflect your personalities are being accepted, that the world is not filled with white and black outfits but there is a bunch of colors in the spectrum.

Some people will never realize the words "self-acceptation", they will live in the shadows. Maybe is the fear of risk also,? rejection is also a part, but also is self-realization.

How do you know your own self.? That is a question, that beyond the cheap internet phrases from Paulo Coelho and some other self help authors, it goes into a metaphysical level, it can be answered just by the act of living and learning.

Just live and get out from your comfort zone, without doing anything stupid. Know a little bit of other realities than yours, learn what is happening in the community, even so read a book or travel around your city. You will live a little bit more just by knowing, and when you know what is happening around you, then you will know what is happening to you, and discover a solution to your inner questions.

The LGTBQ Chronicles: Five Questions With Musician Brett Gleason

Brett Gleason by Doug Seymour 'Starry Night'

There is some mystique behind his deep voice and enchanting persona. His blue eyes and stage presence can mesmerize every individual that is on the audience; but his songs, his lyrics are what can catch many people attention to Brett Gleason.

Originally from Brooklyn, Gleason discovered his love for music at a young age; a speech impediment caused him to spend his free time involved with music and books. His style is eclectic, as he mixes between an electronic presence as well acoustic piano song.   

There is a complex individual beyond the stage, a sensitive artist that is in touch with his emotions, his own personal history and the history of the community; such, as growing up with bipolar disorder; coping up with his identity as a gay man, and a singer songwriter that is willing to defy every label and create his own. 

With his self-titled debut album, there is an image of a really promising indie artist; with a fresh musical proposal that reflects his own struggles and growth as a person and a musician. 

One of the nicest aspects about the internet, is that the users can find a wide array of interesting proposals; as well support independent musicians, that are trying to be known to a public that are eager for a new musical proposal; and what better way to see their work, such as Brett's around Youtube and finding their songs through iTunes as well other electronic media.

How you discovered that you wanted to follow a path in music.?

BG.  I grew up with a bad speech impediment so I got involved in solo activities at a young age, lots of sports and arts – I was a gymnast,a writer and played multiple instruments. As I grew older and began to experience more intense emotions, I started to employ these skills to help clarify and master my feelings. At 13 I started writing songs and knew this was going to be my life.

As I read on The Huffington Post, you were diagnosed with bipolar disorder when you were 19 years old, as well as the time you started to become sexually active. How have those experiences, molded you in the path to find your identity as a musician but as well as a person?

BG.  Being bipolar and gay have further solidified my status as an outsider which I think is useful for an artist.  It’s given me an opportunity to see things from a very different perspective as well as freed me to pursue my artistic pursuits.  I think I’d feel a lot more pressure to find a steady job, marry and have kids if I weren’t a gay man with a history of mental illness, as things stand I’m free to create my own divergent path and follow my own crazy dreams.

How do you describe your music.? Who where your influences.? And, what do you think about labels many people place over artists, such as avant-garde or queer.? Do you see yourself with or without any of these labels.

BG:  I create a kind of fusion of alt electro rock with a piano based singer/songwriter sensibility.  I grew up listening to large, epic rock groups like The Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails but also solo artists like Tori Amos, Fiona Apple and Elliot Smith.  I like to write songs that can be translated both as a full rock band sound as well as solo with just me at the piano.  Like most labels, genres do more to exclude than to inform.  My goal is to reject them all.

How was the process of releasing your eponymous debut album.? Taking in consideration that sometimes people as well the industry markets the work towards more of the life and image of the artist, than the work itself.

BG: Making my debut record was a long process. I played all the instruments except for drums and produced all the songs myself. I did however do a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the record which brought some great people on board to inspire and motivate me along the way.  Using my name and face to represent the record make it a very personal process but also a very transparent one. My name, my face and music – those can all speak for themselves and they speak candidly.

What is your opinion toward the use of social media,  in order to position not only a product but the artist himself.?

BG: To be honest it’s hard to have a position on social media as I haven’t known any other way to connect with fans and release music. Whereas maybe ten years ago, recording a record was a really private process it’s now something that you live tweet, share early mixes from and document publicly on a daily basis.  I used to think this was a shame but now I see how you can use this as a way to not only get feedback along the way but to feel more connected throughout what can be a very isolating experience for a solo artist.