The s**t hit the fan!

I am still worried. It has been well documented that Chavez has recently bought a lot of very sophisticated war tools. He is ready to attack anyone, and all that he needs is an excuse. According to the FARC the next president of the US will be Barak Obama, and they are convinced he will not support the Plan Colombia and the TLC ( free trade agreement) which means - according to their view - the country will be weakened at multiple levels and ready to be defeated in case of war. ( Oh Hillary, where art thou??? :-) )

Is history repeating itself? Are we facing the same situation when Churchill was warning the world about Hitler and everybody said the Germans would never do anything?

Sometimes as a normal citizen you can feel totally powerless. This is one of those moments where I feel so small and feeble that I am just afraid. I see the comments of the French regretting the death of Raul Reyes, knowing that all they care about is Ingrid: once she is free they will totally forget about the rest of the kidnapees. I see the presidents of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina (and she was supposed to be Fabulous...) supporting Correa in his allegations about the supposed invasion of the Colombian armed forces to his territory but never condemning the presence of illegal foreign guerrillas in Ecuador. Are Colombians just blind and we do not see what the rest of the world sees??? NOOO... we have been suffering in our own flesh what those foreigners perceive through foreign history books, news and theorists. It is so easy to perceive the conflict from the comfort of the living room, romanticizing a 45 year old guerrilla that has isolated itself from any progress in the modern world, and would do anything to win a war based on anachronistic ideals ( so they can keep on drinking Buchanan ... )

It is these kind of distorted messages that make any one disagreeing with the communist guerrillas or ideologies a paramilitary by default. The conflict has been turned into such a manichaean scheme that there is no room in between... I have never nor will ever be a supporter of anyone who uses guns to impose their beliefs, and even less when these are not traditional guns such as gas pipes, chainsaws or poisonous snakes.

Now that I am staying a couple of weeks in Colombia, I am experiencing all the anger and frustration of a country that is betrayed by its neighbors. We Colombians see the operation against the FARC as a blow they will hardly recover. But why was Chavez so angry about Raul Reyes's death? Why did he make such a fuss about it? Why did he do a minute of silence for this criminal and never did anything for other dead Venezuelans? Did he know that all the information that compromises his government with the guerrillas was going to float to the surface? Why is Correa saying that it is impossible that computers can survive bombs?? (Mr. Correa, it is not the computer that survives, it is the Hard Drive... and believe me, those can be pretty sturdy).

I think we needed the s**t to hit the fan to finally see the true colors of our "friends" and their politics of deception. Con amigos asi, para que enemigos...

Mico Mandante

Pues si, estoy preocupado con la falta de claridad de Chavez. Ahi hay gato encerrado. Hacerle un minuto de silencio a Reyes es como hacerle un minuto de silencio a Osama Bin Laden. Creo que estamos pasando por un momento historico bien grande, pero a a vesz asustador. Quien sabe que mas informacion va a salir de los computadores capturados. Ojala alguien en Venezuela tenga cordura... Las pataletas de niño rabioso no se pueden dar a nivel diplomatico.

Hace como dos meses me soñe que Venezuela atacaba a Colombia, especificamente Cucuta, Riohacha, Barranquilla y Santa Marta ( curiosamente no se veia nada en Cartagena, creo que Chavez no es tan idiota de atacar una ciudad patrimonio mundial... espero) y Ortega aprovechaba para invadir a San Andres. Lo que no vi fue el tercer agente, Correa en Ecuador. Pero la cosa les salia muy mal, y terminaba Miraflores bombardeado por aviones españoles y los caraqueños celebrando la caida de Chavez... fue un sueño intenso. Ojala se quede solo en eso, un sueño ( excepto la parte de los caraqueños celebrando, que no solamente serian ellos los unicos en el mundo)

So you think you can dance

Ok... here you are going to notice how much I like TV.

Tonight was the finale of "So you think you can dance". I saw every single episode of this show. I was hooked from the very beginning. I had my doubts, thinking it was going to be the same mediocrity of American Idol ( of course, thanks to Melinda and Sparks, its level was amazing...) seeing the people they were displaying during the auditions... but boy oh boy... dancing is another planet... Anyone can sing. Not everyone can dance! The level of the people in there was AMAZING... I cannot believe that the antithesis of good TV = FOX Network was showing experimental contemporary dance on prime time. A country like the US that has seen its culture of entertainment grow on the history of dance ( Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers Dance on air) is going to its roots... and OMG... what amazing roots! But more than the level, the respect all of the dancers had for each other was impressive, and the fact they invited people who did not make it to Las Vegas but had an amazing style is incredible.

Cat Deeley is gorgeous, she was certainly part of the success of the season. And Mia Michaels... OMG... See I do not care if it is not Pina Bausch or Maggy Marin or Carlotta Ikeda in one of their amazing 2 hour performances, but the fact that they are able to showcase in the traditional commercial TV format, with not very popular tunes something that reaches the level of elite crowds for everyone to see is really revolutionary. Call me kitsch, call me not sacred, call me sacrilege, but the fact a 15 year old teenager in the middle of Wyoming was able to be exposed to something s/he would have never been able to experience in person is amazing. It is not commercial per se. It is not accepted as mainstream, but I really wonder how could this show break the ice... It was great, and yes, I voted three times for Sabra last night, even though Danny and Neil are first class, amazing... I had a great time, a memorable experience this summer.

SIGGRAPH SAN DIEGO

I'm posting from my cell phone so no pics yet! ok, I'm in san diego. AMAZING TIME! I have been eating mexican food! delicious! what an interesting culture. I have alwaysbeen attracted to cities that connect with other cultures, and definitely I could not ask for anything more. Tijuana just 20 miles away makes thid city so interedting. Lots of spnish everywhere but also asians! love it! the hotel - double tree club - too expensive and too little for its price, and you have to pay to access the internet! how uncivilized!... but who cares! the food! the mountains, and very very friendly people. I saw Noel's friend Raul and his partner John last night, wonderful time. I should be seeing them soon again.

I set everything up at the gallery in the convention center. darn, I had to fight against the stupid PC. I keep forgetting that in the other world mice have 2 buttons. I had to deactivate the RIGHT button in the script... argh..... but anyway WORLD looks great. it is an honor to be able to be here. I could not see all the other pieces because they were still working on them but there are some very interesting works... I should blog about them soon... today is the opening, and the best part is I am going to see my wonderful friend Rob Rothfarb. I asked him to be with me all the time!

pics and video soon.. I hope.

Nashville - San Diego

I'm in Nashville, Tennessee waiting for my conneting flight to go to San Diego. Siggraph 07. just like last year I'm going to be like a kid in a toy store... I guess we are all geeks. of course, I slept three hours last night and I'm pooped... but happy! besides that Mike gave me a diamond earring! yay! I should post more... I will have plenty of time waiting in the airport...

MORRISSEY

Of course you can barely see Morrissey in my pictures... but the concert was AWSOME... the first time I saw him was in Paris in 1992, then in New York in 1998, then in DC in 2004 and now in Tampa! In this cultural black hole that Tampa is, it is certainly a breath of fresh air to see an artist as he stated himself " You have never seen my picture in an american magazine, nor heard my voice in American radio" and he is proud of it.

Amazing... go see him! He even changed some lyrics of his songs to adapt them to the American context... very political...

I started my summer class

Yay... I am pooped but I think this is going to be a great class ... oh and it is freezing in the lab.. .argh... I should be posting links to mys tudents' projects soon

MAE

This is my friend MAE with Laura Bush! I just found the pic in the news :-)

Media Land....

Tampa Bay's Media Talk

NEW YEAR'S EVE

Look at the careful product placement on the champagne glass... :-) I had a great time with my brother, his wife, the future baby, my dad and my nephew. Very fine and mellow, great food cooked by Camilla Laorni, Italianissima! My nephew is a soccer player.