Mísia

Last night I took Mike and JD to see the stunning Mísia at Madrid's Teatro Albéniz.

We listened to two sets: traditional fado songs and her "Drama Box" music which included more contemporary fados, popular Spanish songs a la Almodóvar, boleros, and tangos.

In a word: tremendous.

At intermission, I asked JD what he thought and with a slight hesitation he took a drag off his cigarette and asked "how did you hear about her?" It took me a few minutes to recall where or how or when the name Mísia first made its way into my plane of view, making its way past my otherwise touch and go, oblivious and mostly stunted relation to the world. I couldn't remember, and still can't. Not exactly. But I do know that whatever song I first listened to, I knew I had to have more.

In a recent NPR interview, when asked about her love for fado music Mísia replied: "For me it is the only way to be alive, and to put outside what I have inside. The only way of... cleaning my ghosts and shadows."

It's amazing to me how we like things before we even understand why or how. I only remember that this music was powerful, overwhelmingly so, the first time I listened to it and that it resonated with me somehow back then...and still does now.

Melancholic. Dramatic. Intense. Glorious beyond belief.

Meat is Murder, Jamón is Flesh

Walking down Madrid's one and only Calle Fuencarral the other day, JD and I stumbled upon the following poster advertising the Centro Dramático Nacional's latest theatre production, what appears to be a very interesting version of Tennessee William's Suddenly, Last Summer:

For those wondering, the image above is, yes, pieces of ham carefully placed on a naked man's body, head hooded, weehoo practically in plain sight.

And, for a closer look, I present the "zoom shot." Don't be alarmed. Once again, it's only ham gently carressing a naked dude's flesh, so as to appear as flesh, that is, in the end, ham (?) I wonder just how many Spaniards salivate as they walk past all of this perfectly good jamón york just lying there wasting away!? The horror...oh, the horror.

Based solely on my tenth-grade love for The Glass Menagerie and this poster, I will be going to see this play.

Strange, Stranger, Strangest

But, not necessarily in that particular order...

Over the past 10 days or so several "strange" things have happened (or I have happened upon several strange things?...one never knows). As I was walking back from JD's place today, I started thinking of some of these bizarre happenings--my own mental musings were sparked by a simple flashback to wandering down the very same street where only days earlier I had stopped to take note of the movies playing at the local theatre, suddenly turned around to leave, and nearly stepped on a dead chicken, head and neck lurching out of a bag, eyes glossed and somewhat "perky." Recalling the feel of nausea and disgust naturally led me directly to the other "strange" things rummaging around in the backyard of my brain. How these things seem to escape simple everyday conversation, I quite honestly don't know. But anyway, here goes.

Top three strange things that I have stumbled upon (you can rank them if you like, since I can't seem to find a good "order" of strangeness, strangosity, strangementedliness, strangeryeous, ersumthing....):

1. An email from the U of M Orthopaedic Surgery Department titled "Mouse surgeries"

Text as follows:

Hi Pernillie,

This is Jason over in Kurt Hankenson's lab. I wanted to let you know that we were doing some more ovarectomy surgeries on Monday around 9:30 if you were interested in observing any more of them. This time there will be some genuine surgeries instead of them all being just shams. If you're interested, let me know.

Thanks, Jason


2. A photo on flickr titled "French Chicken"


3. A movie that Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia made--together! Unbelievable. Absolutely fucking unbelievable.


So, just to clear up for everyone in case anyone should leave this blog entry feeling a bit confused-- 1. In addition to all the "fake" mouse surgeries taking place at UM laboratories, there are, in fact, "real" ones which should interest us and which Pernillie may or may not watch. 2. Chickens can act or be stage props in Frenchy theatrical performances in Tokyo or Paris, although the best combo seems to be men in underwear with chickens. and 3. Raul Julia must have done a shitload of drugs before agreeing to play an evil dictator in Streetfighter opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme. Wow. I guess all I can say in the end is strange, very strange indeed.