Pirates of the Caribbean

In anticipation of the latest chapter to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” saga, it is worthy to note that this chapter, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” features global artists that not only have successfully crossed over into the prominent, yet tricky, Hollywood entertainment industry, but have outperformed a successful, artistic career on an international level. Global actress Penélope Cruz and international guitar duo, Rodrigo & Gabriela will star in the Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films scheduled for an early summer release, May 20, 2011.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Penélope Cruz was honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the 2,436th star from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce on Friday, April 1. While Rodrigo & Gabriela celebrate their artistic collaboration with Hans Zimmer, composer, in the launch of Walt Disney Records’ soundtrack of the “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” due May 17, 2011.

It is fantastic to experience the international contributions that these artists have given to the global community, and an even greater acknowledgement of the gifts these ethnic artists have given the US community, in a time when ethnicity and foreignness is being questioned and shamed.

Enjoy the movie and its international contributions!

Harper Paperbacks

On Stranger Tides

By Tim Powers

Pub: Harper Paperbacks

ISBN: 9780062101075

$13.00 USD | Paperback

This past week Dulce Bread & Book Shop was featured over at the American Booksellers Association’s news site, Bookselling This Week. Dulce is a proud member of ABA, “a national, not for profit trade association, and exists to protect and promote the interests of its members: independently owned bookstores, large and small, with storefront locations in towns and cities nationwide.” Take a look.

Bookstore Owner Breaks Bread With Texas Community

By Elizabeth Knapp on Thursday, Feb 24, 2011

For Teresa Carbajal Ravet, food and language lie at the center of her culture. As the owner of Dulce Bread & Bookshop in Dripping Springs, Texas, she strives to preserve these elements, while making them more accessible to the general public.

Born in Mexico, Carbajal Ravet grew up speaking both Spanish and English and baking and eating pan dulce, Spanish for sweet bread. She came to the states to attend school, with intentions of returning to her home country. Instead, she stayed in Texas doing what she loves – enlightening others about her language and culture by teaching at various universities in the state. As an educator, Carbajal Ravet was frustrated with how difficult it was to find cultural or bilingual books for her classes.

“For where we are as a nation, it shouldn’t be that hard to find cultural literature,” she said. Taking matters into her own hands, Carbajal Ravet opened a bookstore of her own.

Dulce Bread & Bookshop is a cultural bookstore with a mission “to introduce and familiarize the U.S. community with the ethnic community of artists,” the store’s website proclaims. Carbajal Ravet opened the store about a year ago, and it has been well received by the community.

Read More

Vaqueros

Talk about culture! El Arte en la Charrería, The Artisanship of Mexican Equestrian Culture, has come to town, specifically to The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Organized by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC, in collaboration with Luis González, Marisú González and Gabriel Cabello, this cultural exhibit is NOT one to be missed. As I’m writing I’m listening to Linda Ronstadt’s Canciones de Mi Padre because that is exactly what this exhibit will do for its guests, that is, fully engulf them into the charro experience, the beauty and distinction of the Mexican cowboy and cowgirl.

Thursday, February 17, was one of those days that provided a wealth of experience and culture. I was ready for it and enjoyed the day to the fullest extent, motivated by a non-profit breakfast series, rushing over to an organizational meeting for the National Latino Congreso (more on this later), working on inventory at the bookshop, and culminating in a cultural celebration at the Opening Ceremony of El Arte en la Charrería at the Texas State History Museum. I had been graciously invited by Las Comadres para las Américas to join five lively women in the celebration of the opening exhibit.

That evening, guests were greeted by elegantly-dressed charros outside the front doors to the Texas State History Museum. The men, women, and most impressive, the horses, were amiably mingling with early arrivals and posing for pictures. Upon entering, guests were given the bienvenida by museum representatives and immediately mesmerized by the cultural sounds of the unique Mariachi melody, and at the same time enticed by the delicious aroma of Mexican cuisine. The food and drink hit the spot after a long work day and the ambiance was equally as inspiring. Tequila Ambhar shared a variety of drinks from an Ambhar-tini to an Ambhar Jalapeño Pear Fresca, including a recipe booklet with its drinks. The St. Edwards Mariachi Ensemble performed for the diners followed by a cultural performance by Roy Lozano’s Ballet Folklorico. Lastly, guests were invited to stroll through the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Hall of Special Exhibitions by museum officials and exhibit collaborators, representatives of the González and Cabello, as well as Cónsul General de México en Austin, Rosalba Ojeda.

Apart from being a diverse and magnificently colorful collection of Mexican artesania, carefully and proudly displayed, it was pure joy being among generations of Texans, young and old, white and brown, sharing culture, sharing history!

About the Exhibit from the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum

Long before cowboys in the Lone Star State gained iconic status in America lore, the charro – or Mexican cowboy – established a culture in Texas with a nearly 500-year-old heritage dating back to the introduction of houses and cattle to the Americas.

Arte en la Charrería: The Artisanship of Mexican Equestrian Culture contains more than 120 examples of the excellent craftsmanship and design distinctive to the Mexican cowboy. With leather work, costumes, textiles, silver and iron work as well as works on paper that illustrate the life of the charro, this exhibition showcases intricately hand-crafted objects that embody the very identity of the Mexican nation. The exhibition introduces Museum visitors to the work of unique Mexican artisans who manufacture the articles and costumes that embellish and distinguish the charro tradition.

Exhibit Opening

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Running through June 5, 2011

High Noon Talks

First Wednesdays of every month from noon to 1 PM, FREE admission

March 2: Vaquero Culture discussion by Norma Cantú, English Professor at UT San Antonio

April 6: The Search for a Chili Queen discussion by Marian Martinello, author of The Search for a Chili Queen

May 4: Charrería Today presentation by Rodrigo Gaona of the San Antonio Charro Association

Explore the Story

One Saturday each month from 1 to 3 PM, FREE admission

March 26: Charro Art, a live demonstration of leatherworking and weaving

April 23: Vaqueros vs. Cowboys, exploring the differences and similarities between the Mexican vaquero and the American cowboy traditions

May 28: Music of the Charrería, listening to corridos, a popular form of ballad or song

All Other Days & Time

Admission to the Museum’s exhibits, including Arte en la Charrería: $9 for adults; $8 for college students (with valid ID); $7 for seniors/military (with valid ID); $6 for youth ages 4-17, free for ages 3 and under.

 The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum is located at 1800 N. Congress Avenue at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. For more information, call (512) 936-4649.

I was hooked! As a young girl yearning for my Mexican home, my culture, my language, I was hooked on the Spanish channel’s soap operas. Las telenovelas, as popular as the US soap operas and perhaps more so, were my childhood vice. My memories take me back to an 8 year old girl sitting in front of the television after a long day in public school. At a place where I would have to speak English, learn English grammar, read English books, and do everything English, coming home to mi telenovela en español was the ultimate reward for the exhausting drudgery called school. I would unpack my school gear, fix myself a snack, and sit inches away from the black and white, 24” television set. I never cared to greet our nana as I was always attempting to circumvent her detection of my arrival. You see, she was anti-telenovelas. Even though she also came from Mexico and missed her home and family just as much as I, she disliked my childhood vice. So much so that she did everything possible to drag me away from the TV and hinder my wide-eyed viewing. Why was I hooked? I cannot remember a single storyline, or a particular character, or any of the usual recurring actors, I am certain though, that the only possible attraction was that of the telenovela’s cultural familiarity and escape from my present reality.

So when I received a review copy of Victor Cass’ novel, Telenovela, those youthful and immature memories came rushing back, as fleeting as these dramatic, love stories. Two dramatic storylines mischievously intertwined and foreshadowing each other. Two telenovelas in one, filled with love, lust, convenient relations and true friendships, as well as the usual key ingredients of infidelity, betrayal, and family unity. This soap opera is divided in eight parts, episodes that introduce the reader to the key characters, Miriya Fronzini, known to her family as Junior, and Lorena Sandoval of the primary telenovela, while the secondary telenovela is playfully woven into each of these episodes to introduce Arturo, Sofia, and Carmen. An appealing writing technique in an attempt to reproduce the spectator’s feeling of sitting at the edge of his/her seat, anxiously waiting to see what comes next, making it difficult to put down the book.

Certainly the top attribute of this novel is the characters themselves, at least in the primary telenovela. Not for the lives they lead or the story they tell, but for who they are. Victor Cass gives his readers the enlightening opportunity to meet a variety of ethnic characters all living amongst each other without grouping them into divided racial gangs. Moreover, the reader has the pleasure of meeting a diverse lineup of Latino characters that come from a variety of South American ancestries and varying generationally that is, some may be first, second, or third generation US born, while others are immigrants. Readers meet an Argentinean immigrant daughter, a best friend Polish Jew, an Armenian elementary teacher, a first generation Mexican-American, as well as an Ethiopian waiter, and so on. Each of them shares her culture, his customs, her language, her dialect, and his prejudices, all the while loving, fighting, lusting, and making peace.

Telenovela is a fun and light read, however if the reader pays attention (s)he will experience a lively, cultural lesson.

Telenovela

By Victor Cass

Outskirts Press

January 2009

ISBN: 9781432736903

Paperback, 282 pages, $17.95

 A lone apprehension, the book’s case cover. The front cover is not inviting and as enticing and attractive as Ancona’s photography and expressions within. A fear that such a genuine tradition would be missed due to its packaging is real. Children do, alas, judge a book by its cover, pending their development into perceptive readers.  The young bailaores, beautifully dressed and poised, are set before a pale yellowish background that dulls their significance. The title’s vibrant color is subdued by this pallor rather than allow the mesmerizing attention that flamenco commands.

By and large, a book worthy of notice and experience for its historical and cultural tradition.

¡Olé! Flamenco

By George Ancona

Lee & Low Books

ISBN 9781600603617

$19.95 | Hardcover

Ages 7 to 11

Given that I’m an advocate and promoter of books and authors of color, my starting point will be that of organizing a casual reading group of multicultural books and/or authors. I made an initial search on the internet for book club and reading group guides and came up with several different good sources that mention similar key points for a successful reading group. I will touch on these points here with a cultural point of view. Three of the sites referenced for this post include, Reading Group Choices, Reading Group Guides, and About.com Bestsellers on How to Start a Book Club by Erin Collazo Miller. To join an established Latino reading group, with a focus on Latin@ authors visit Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club. This book club lists national meeting locations and times and lists the year’s selections. If you do not find a location near you, contact Nora Comstock to request guidance in starting a Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club in your area. Another wonderful Latino reading source is The Latina Book Club, which includes other Latino book clubs available. These last two sites will already have some of the details answered for the start of a reading group, for example, meeting schedule, ground rules, etc. Recommendations for book selections can also be found in the above referenced sites and at the Indiebound website, a community of “indie-conscious people” supporting local businesses, such as independent bookstores.

• Starting a reading group begins with gathering a group of reader participants. Perhaps you already have a few friends that share in your literary interests or you have acquaintances that expressed an interest in a reading group. Initiate the idea of a reading group, generate interest, and start recruiting. From the onset it is best to set a scheduled meeting location, time, and frequency. Ideally the handful of initial participants will be able to easily agree on the group’s meeting time. It is common to dedicate a month’s time to reading the selection before coming together for the discussion.

• Growing the reading group is best done through word of mouth. Each initial participant can reach out to his/her circle(s) of family and friends to generate additional interest and recruit members. Sources indicate that a group of 8 to 10 and up to 12 members is ideal for a successful discussion, keeping in mind that not all members will be able to participate at every monthly gathering. Another form of recruitment includes printed announcements posted at particular locations with “reader” traffic such as libraries, coffee shops, independent bookshops, etc. Also, utilizing social media is an opportunity in getting the word out about the new reading group. Facebook, Twitter, Meetup, and others can create enough interest to complete the group.

• Creating guidelines from the onset is essential. Participants and the reading group as a whole must be aware of the group’s expectations and common courtesies. These guidelines should be written down by the group’s founding member(s) before recruitment ensues in order to give perspective members a clear understanding of his/her commitment. Items to consider include, selection of group’s literary interest (i.e. genre, language, authors), how to select of books/authors, selection of discussion leader(s), respect for individual space, respect for diverse perspectives, member participation, engaged participation, food, drink, etc.

• Make initial book selection(s) and start gatherings. Once the meeting schedule has been decided, start meeting and inviting others. Allow for some flexibility in meeting as months come with a preset holiday, seasonal, school schedules that will invariably conflict with members’ routines. Looking ahead at the next month will give the group a heads up on possible conflicts. Choose a common form or two for group communications, whether an internet forum, email list, telephone tree, etc. each member is assured of “being in the loop” regarding meeting changes and/or upcoming conflicts.

• Lastly, don’t forget the primary reason for organizing a reading group… sharing the joy of books with others. Whether each member has a different reason for joining a reading group, the ultimate focus is reading good books, experiencing books with others, and sharing one’s perspective.

Enjoy gathering and sharing your love of reading, and always check back with Dulce for an enticing diversity of titles and authors, discussion leads, and topics.

Now I must disclose that I am not a reading professional. My experience comes from my personal reading development and language learning. As I often mention, I came to the US from México as a young girl only knowing the Spanish language and refusing to learn the English language. My reading expertise also encompasses my experience as a parent of five children, ages 3 through 13, at different stages of their reading education, human development, language(s) acquisition, and having been exposed to differing pedagogies, that is, traditional vs. alternative, i.e. public education vs. Waldorf Education. In addition, my professional instruction and career is in foreign language studies, acquisition, and literature. And lastly, and perhaps more significant, I am an avid reader, who was never exposed to early, formal, or traditional reading lessons, in fact was a late reader and a slow reader in both languages. My home environment was not filled with books and I rarely experienced my family reading. However, my childhood memories are filled with storytelling, and if you catch me in person I’ll tell you a story or two.

Returning to the storytelling question and reading, my first thought would be initiate a re-examination of the current standards and expectations by parents and educators regarding children, their natural human development and subsequent reading instruction. Can we honestly and truly expect a 5 year old to enjoy and appreciate the solitary act of quiet reading and for how long, especially when he/she has been overexposed to highly stimulating media and electronic games? We adults are contradicting ourselves in our teaching and blaming the supposed “learning difficulty” on our own children.

Additionally, I would initiate a re-examination of the current priorities and expectations given to parenting and teaching. With the impractical and unnatural educational standards and expectations, adults have set themselves up for failure, and hence, disillusioned with our teachers. We look forward to becoming proud parents of healthy, adorable, and intelligent children, yet we fail to make an effort to education ourselves on parenting and child development. We prioritize our professional development, if any, ahead of our parental development. Why? It may be an unintentional and unconscious act but a re-examination is long overdue. Also, the teaching profession is one described as “a labor of love” and not a profession one elects for its value and recompense. Why would we value, trust, and expect to recompense all of our teachers, K through 12 and beyond, with competitive salaries, secured benefits, expected professional development, and absolute collaborative support from involved, informed, and educated parents? Well, because they are our children and we should expect that from ourselves as the standards of quality parenting. Yes, it is a lot, and I’ll be the first to admit that it is a demanding role and the toughest job I have ever had, however, well-rewarded by the children and their natural, developmental successes.

Storytelling, a time spent as a parent and teacher, learning the warmth of words, as well as their power. Sparking creative imagination, a curious mind, and astute thinking, storytelling is the foundation to an avid reader, thirsting for new ideas and addicted to words. Try it, pop in an audio book into your old cassette player, slide its CD into your car stereo, download it, or simple read to the whole family. You will be pleasantly surprised at the joy it will bring.

Thank you to @pdguymikeg for your question, as it brought up a great subject for continued discussion. It is a subject that should not have a definitive answer, but one that should ignite creative dialogue that will compel us all to seek further knowledge and experience.

Here I include a list of bilingual youth titles to begin your storytelling experience by reading aloud with your group of students and children.

• The Ruiz Street Kids | Los muchachos de la Calle Ruiz by Diane Gonzales Bertrand

ISBN 9781558853218

• Lorenzo series of titles by Lila & Rick Guzmán

ISBNs 9781558854710, 9781558853416, 9781558853928

• Walking Stars | Estrellas peregrinas by Victor Villaseñor

ISBNs 9781558853942, 9781558854628

• Trino series of titles by Diane Gonzales Bertrand

ISBNs 9781558853171, 9781558854738, 9781558852686, 9781558854584

• The Case of the Pen Gone Missing | El caso de la pluma perdida by René Saldaña, Jr.

ISBN 9781558855557

• Upside Down and Backwards | De cabeza y al revés by Diane Gonzales Bertrand

ISBN 9781558854086

• Witches, Owls, and Spooks | Brujas, lechuzas y espantos by Alonso M. Perales

ISBN 9781558855120

• Who’s Buried in the Garden by Ray Villareal

ISBN 9781558855465

• My Father, the Angel of Death by Ray Villareal

ISBN 9781558854666

I anxiously await the results of the interview with HBO Latino Habla Texas. Within a couple of weeks I should know whether the producers would like to include my Latina perspective in the Texas edition of the Habla series of vignettes on the cultural diversity of Latin@s in the U.S. HBO Latino previously ran Habla vignettes with celebrities and vignettes from Latin@s in NYC and Chicago. HBO Latino Habla Texas is in the works and will prove to be a group of Latin@s even more diverse and unique than ever. Stay tuned.

My visit with Glo Rod of Stories of Multiple Pets on BLOGTalkRadio was amusing. I had never given thought to the entertainment that my adopted pets have offered my family on a daily basis. After sharing the family’s pet stories with Glo Rod and SOMP’s listeners, I was amazed by their unconditional gifts that have been given to our daily lives. Listen to some of the stories here.

            This stirs up a fitting memory of my childhood. During the school holidays and back in Mexico, my older sister and I would at times stay with Abuelita Eva in Ciudad Juárez while our mother continued working, traveling back and forth the US/Mexico border. Often Abuelita would treat us to a movie at the old Cine Victoria en el Centro Histórico de Cd. Juárez, which I later learned was the home of Benito Juárez, first indigenous national to serve as presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Anyhow, I enjoyed our cinema outings choosing to watch one of three film series, Cantinflas, El Ocho (Herbie the Love Bug), and Capulina. All my favorites because they were fun, funny, and they didn’t make me cry, I laughed!

             In contrast, back in the states I was first invited to a movie theatre to watch the latest Disney film. Excited at the opportunity to experience a brand new, high-tech US theatre I did not pay much attention to the title of the film, Walt Disney’s Bambi. ¡Hijole! What a depressing, heartbreaking, tearjerker! Since that day, I declared that I would never, ever, see another Disney movie in my life. And I haven’t. I haven’t even taken my children to Walt Disney movies. Not only because of the oath made so many years ago, but also because my partner and I are determined to be a media-free household. Definitely not my favorites because they are sad, tragic, and make me cry. And I don’t like to cry!

            On to books and reading, a different story? Not quite. I don’t usually pick up sad titles, but on occasion I do feel a ‘real’ experience is needed. There has been one book, in my entire reading career, which has made me cry. One. Suspicious titles that give an inkling of sadness and tears do not make it off the shelf easily. I choose books to experience and to discover everything possible, almost anything, except for crying. So when Thelma Reyna sent me her latest literary work, I’ll be honest, I was reluctant to read it. The Heavens Weep for Us and Other Stories is a collection of twelve short, yet painful, stories. Could I possibly review stories that I would not normally read? Is it possible to set aside tough emotions in order to give an honest critique? Yes, and this is why.

            The Heavens Weep for Us and Other Stories by Thelma T. Reyna is a collection of twelve short stories dealing with life. An honest, real, and motivational collection of short stories that deals with life’s unfairness and the human ability to overcome or renounce.  Readers can relate with each of the stories whose characters struggle through losses and uncertainties. Some struggles more difficult than others, some characters better able to overcome, and others easily surrendering to the pain. Not a terribly difficult collection to read, however certainly a meditative one.

            Loneliness is part of life, however we are not here alone and it is our task to make solitude a willful state of being. It does not happen to us, it comes from us. Reyna deals with this state in her first story, White Van, in which a young, professional woman suddenly notices a fellow neighbor, an older gentleman, which captures her curiosity. Each week day on her way to work she sees him, alone and pensive, in his front yard. He is in the same clothing, same position, and with the same expression on his face. Loneliness is her thought, however not a deep thought, a passing thought. At each pass on her way to work she simply notices, yet never motivated to do anything. Not even once he is gone.

            Life has an awesome curve ball. It can throw them with such exactitude that they always catch us off guard. And when you have settled into a comfortably nice lifestyle these curve balls can be and are very upsetting. Reyna’s awareness of these curve balls is precise and writes of the human reaction to such shocks. Her stories, Little Box and Marry Me, have the element of attempting to reinvent oneself after a significant life change or after a loss, while trying to seem the same. Perceptions are different, lies invented, others hurt, only because the delicate transition of reinvention is just that, delicate. We are not here alone.

            “Each of us in our respective places, each of us where we belong.” The thought of crossing over to another experience whether it is a social, cultural, economic, or other crossover is a sensitive maneuver in life. We are sure to fumble at our first attempt, yet can’t explore the other without a first endeavor. So many of us decide it is not worth the risk and deny ourselves of such crossover experiences. In Reyna’s story KeiKei & Ollie, she is able to give the reader an excellent representation of an uncommon, yet special, crossover using pets.  A young, chic Siamese cat and an old dog, used to teach us about societal norms and the necessity to challenge ourselves to experience the other.

            Finally, in Saving Up, Reyna beautifully sums up the various and diverse life experiences that humans live through. It is then up to us to take each experience and gather the treasures within each. ”Our memories crowd us sometimes. Too many memories sometimes. Too sharp, or too fuzzy sometimes.” However, each memory is a treasure, that is, if we choose to see it as a treasure. It is in our will to value each experience, grow with each experience, and remember to share the experience with others.

            These are but a handful of the real life experiences that The Heavens Weep For Us values and shares with its readers. Well worth the reading. Well worth the memories.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of The Heavens Weep for Us and Other Stories from the author, however did not receive any type of compensation for its review.