Good Times (in la Gran Manzana) once again and otra vez!

Ediciones CEDIBIL from the hermana República Dominicana brought its Catálogo de Novedades to the City. A swanky affair at the Rio Gallery in upper Manhattan with good food and delicious sangría, during the event the editorial seal based in Santo Domingo presented two anthologies by esteemed Dominican bibliographer and author Miguel Collado (second from the left).

The two titles are: Ideario de Pedro Henrquez Ureña, which collects under one name a series of quotes and statements by the late Dominican statesman and humanist of the title, and El fantasma de Trujillo, an anthology of stories written with the infamous Latin American Dictator and his cruel regime as its main subject.

You can email the Editorial at cedibil_milenio@yahoo.com to request additional information on its many titles.

At the event LTTM indulged in many joyful conversations with a slew of talented and productive Dominican writers, artists, cultural promoters and poets all living in the city that never sleeps. ¡Pa’lante Quisqueya! The City obviously embraces all your good vibes.

Isaías Amaro, a self-described folklorist, researcher, artisan and freelance journalist, was the invited artist and a stunning and colorful collection of his traditional carnival masks were on display. The artist regaled LTTM with a copy of his published tome titled Mi Carnaval de Santiago. ¡Gracias, hermano!



Printed in Spanish, Mi Carnaval de Santiago takes a close look at the traditional Santiago de los Caballeros carnival. Lavishly illustrated throughout with photos and prints from the age-old tradition, the book contains poetry, popular lyrics, as well as historical notes and personal accounts by the author on the popular religious celebration.

Go to www.vainasdominicanas.blogspot.com for additional information on this book and the artist’s work.

-

Take heed, all Ye Latino, Hispanic and other Americano writers, publishers and editorial houses: the Feria Internacional del Libro – Puerto Rico (FIL-PR) is inviting ya’ll to take part of the upcoming Feria celebrating the popular book event’s first decade. The Feria will be held at Puerto Rico’s newly constructed Convention Center, a state of the art and very elegant facility that, in the humble opinion of LTTM, is the Jewel of the Condado. Yes, indeed!

This year the not-for-profit FIL-PR is dedicating the Feria to children and adolescent oriented literature.

The FIL-PR 10th Anniversary Edition will run from the 14th to the 18th of November.

Look forward to the literary activities and musical entertainment to be featured at the Café de lo Poetas, smack-dab in the midst of the Fair. A Big Apple presence is essential to make the whole affair a total success.

Come on, New York Latinos - we can do it!

Max Resto, the LTTM's head cheese, has been honored as the FIL-PR New York Delegate so don't hesitate to email mresto@hotmail.com for more info.

See ya’ll at La Feria! And remember to Read on, brothers!

Good Times (in la Gran Manzana) uno, dos y tres

Israel López Cachao’s recent weeklong gig at the Blue Note provided several memorable nights of great Cuban classics as well as some entertaining onstage antics by El Maestro and his croonies. El Maestro Cachao, the inventor of the mambo, is still going strong in his eighth decade on the planet. What a show!

Also in the audience to see and hear Cachao was Dr. Benjamín Lapidus, a Master tres and cuatro player who shared his latest CD entitled Sonido Isleño: Vive Jazz! with LTTM.



Listen up Ben, mi amigo - at the after-show party at Wes Broadway's Tribeca penthouse your CD sparked a joyously impromptu Latino jam session with Ol' Wes himself shaking the maracas like ripe mangoes - Careful, Wes! - and it was a delightful way to end an already memorable evening. Thanks for the great CD - and Exito with your music!

Check Ben out at: www.sonidoisleno.com

-

The little Monkey Moo is an adventurous fella, and his adventure, even though uproariously funny, is ultimately a tragic one, a poignant reminder of the loss of innocence.




The Monkey Moo, a modern variation of the Japanese puppeteering techniques, follows the peculiar character and tells a simple story of an impossible love, yet walks the edge between the sharp social commentary and breakthrough on stage experimentation, carefuly weighted against ancient artistic expressions and revered theater traditions.

Yoko Myoi commands praise for her performance as the innocent Moo, at large in the early 20's city of Shanghai. Her powerful, yet charming stage persona carries the whole story with ease and lots of physical humor.

Never before have I witness a more creative and effective use for a piece of rope or encountered a doll more endearing than the "female lead" of this wonderful project, played by talented Uruguayan puppeteer and prop designer, our dear friend, Karen Elizaga.

A collective artistic endeavor, the play was also created and performed by puppeteer Andrei Drooz and James Dellatacoma, Ralph Gould and Stephen Quaranta of the "melodic noise trio" Zelda Pinwheel, all under the direction of Kanako Hiyama.

The Monkey Moo is a presentation of Great World Amusement Center as part of this year's FringeNYC theater festival and is held at The Studio @ Cherry Lane Theatre (www.cherrylanetheatre.org)

Showtimes are:

Tue 8/14 @5pm
Thur 8/16 @9:30pm
Sat 8/18 @ 12:30pm
Fri 8/24 @ 7 pm

Don't miss it!

For more info go to: http://www.myspace.com/themonkeymoo

Good Times (in la Gran Manzana) I

Puerto Rican band Plena Libre brought its gustoso brew of Afro-Caribbean dance tunes to the Big Apple on a recent date.

Our friend Gary Nuñez and his happy band of musicians just finished a gig in L.A. and told LTTM that Plena Libre was invited to participate on next year’s Playboy Jazz Fest in California. !Epa, hermano: A son de bomba y plena!



Gary shared with us his CD "evolución," a flavorful and upbeat mixture of plenas and bombas, ideal for any dance soirée.

A memorable night of dancing and good ol’time Boricua spiced fun, the musical ensemble had the audience literally dancing in the aisles, much to the dismay of the theater manager, our dear friend Lili Santiago Silva, !una Boricua de las bravas! Those fire codes that don’t allow for the public to “block” the aisles… But then, what’s a bunch of happy-feet Boricuas to do when you play bomba y plena to them? Explain that to New York’s Bravest!

We should give thanks to Lili for her efforts. The theater at El Museo del Barrio is doing its part to promote the Latino Culture and to preserve the valuable contribution by all Latinos, Hispanics and other Americanos here in El Barrio.
The Museo has prepared a very varied musical program this season's Summer Nigths at El Museo with two fabulous musical showcases entitled Musical Icons of El Barrio and The Alternative Music Festival.



(above)
Fofe, lead vocalist of the Grammy nominated Rock en Español group Circo, put the City on its toes at El Museo del Barrio's Summer Nigths at El Museo.

Get up and GO before it's too late! Summer Nigths at El Museo is held every Thursday afternoon kicking off at 6:30 p.m. sharp and it ends August 23. The event has already featured Tito Puente, Jr., Cultura Profética, Johnny Pacheco, Circo, Pistolera and Julissa and will also feature a tribute to the ill-fated salsero Héctor Lavoe, performed by Chino Nuñez and Friends, and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, among many others.

Go to www.elmuseo.org for more information.

June – Gone, But Not Forgotten

Let’s call this humble literary effort a sort of Consecration of Summer; a way to cherish the season in all its beauty and life affirming qualities.

Following the wonders of Spring, with its flowers in bloom and its ambiance of benign comforts, finally the Northern Sun, which shines here as much as it does in the Tropics, yet with treachery at its extremes, moves closer to allow for some all-time favorite outdoor activities.

Welcome then to the hot dazzle of Summer. Those who can, flock to the Hamptons; those who can’t, well - same ol’, same ol’ (count me among the same ol’s).

Being that June is the un-official Hispanic Month (with the usual lunatic PR media fare and lame Latino-themed features everywhere you look), all Hispanics, Latinos and other Americanos hereby agree that the perfect opportunity for celebrating our varied heritage has arrived. Let’s all step aside from the everyday hustle and bustle of this workaday world and hold a month-long fiesta and toast our common roots with wine, rum, cerveza, tequila or mezcal, chibcha, vodka, scotch, chichaíto, sake, bilís, mamajuana. Whatever… Salud!

Now’s the time to take to the streets, avenues and plazas of this great land and make merry and indulge this glorious life and all it has to offer. Now’s the time to hold beauty contests, march in colorful parades, write glorious odes and make public proclamations of unedited and unsurpassed praise. Now’s the time to gather and cheer, sing and dance, jump up and do flips in mid-air. Who cares? And given the chance: perhaps we’ll even make love as demented rabbits do.

Just as in ancient pagan rituals of fertility, prosperity and adoration, let our spirits fly like flags; let’s show our colors, show all colors. Let’s take the time to get in touch with what and who we are and adjust the geography of our future; let’s show those around us what we are made of and that we are here - period! Come on - deal with it and lets party. Lives flicker and dim in millionths of a second (-there is infinite smallness as there is infinite bigness, both equally mind-numbing), and it takes an eternity (if not longer) to make sense of it all. So why bother?

The media, though, thrives on negativity, even the hallowed New York Times can’t resist resucitating an old (and well-covered by all media at the time it was first “discovered” several years ago) situation with guess what - the AIDS crisis in Puerto Rico! As if a dose of Puerto Rican bashing just prior to The Puerto Rican Day Parade, the City’s biggest celebration of its proud Latino presence, was deemed appropiate by the editors at that prestigious publication. A dubious decision indeed. Not a smart move at all. But that’s just my humble opinion.

At least I would hate to think that it was a show of biased journalistic practice or hidden political agendas…

Go figure. Then, again, that’s just me.

It’s almost as if the news media wants to make Hispanic Month look like North America’s Spanish-speaking residents have a monopoly on stupid behavior when indulging in celebrations. Hey, baby - we Hispanics, Latinos and other Americanos know how to throw a fun bash. Especially Boricuas in New York.

Of course, there is a big difference between what the law allows (and what common sense suggests) and what one is capable of doing in the midst of a wild party ambiance (believe me, I KNOW!!!!!). One thing definitely got nothing to do with the other or vice versa…(Wink! & Salud!)

Hey - shame on all those drunken, noisy Puerto Ricans! ¡Se les debería caer la cara de vergüenza! (Double Wink!! & Double Salud!!)

- To witness some very funny drunken Puerto Ricans and other funny s%@t from the Puerto Rican Day Parade go here:

http://www.sitv.com/blogs/whatshot/2007/06/13/puerto-rican-day-parade-madness-part-2/


Alongside the newspaper supplements containing idiotic guides on how to party like a real Boricua (or any Hispanic, Latino and other Americano for that matter) I for one would’ve loved to see an inkling of real and unified media coverage placing South American immigrants in this hostile land under real scrutiny, and under a fair light, taking into consideration our respective places of origin, our social and economic dynamics and our real contributions to this land.

- Go here for information on “Politics con Sabor” a new documentary film about the Latino presence in New York politics:

terramax.biz

- Go here for a review in Spanish by Max Resto of “Politics con Sabor” published in Puerto Rico’s El Nuevo Día:

http://www.endi.com/XStatic/endi/template/nota.aspx?n=239788

Yes, June is gone, la cruda is almost over (Thank God Almighty!) and life goes on.

:-b

Who's That Girl?

Photo by DiKLiX
(Click on image to enlarge)



Once again curiosity kills the cat.

Or at least half an hour of our precious time.

See here. The “famigerado” Wes Broadway (one of my many local mentors and a Master pedestrian philosopher) and I decided to take a refreshing walk on a beautifully sunny Spring afternoon.

When, lo and behold, in a New York minute we were amidst what looked like something which might turn out to be a noteworthy occasion.

A horde of marauding paparazzi staging the siege of a high fashion Soho clothier blocked our path.

“This entertains the possibility of some amusing star gazing,” says Wes, also and avid modern urban adventurer as all philosophers are.

Wes is a man who threads the streets of the modern Babylon devoid of fear because he knows that in New York “death is a state of being instead of an imminent occurrence,” or something like that.

Unlike Gracián, an old mentor from the island who never traveled after leaving Spain, his motherland, because, as he used to say: “no matter where I go, things are always a lot better someplace else,” Wes likes to go out and about, an urban nomad at heart.

You see, Wes is a merry fella and always brings along the party, the joy and the good times with him wherever he goes. A budding photo-chronicler, he likes to snap digital pictures of abstract street fixtures, of the capricious shadows cast with ease over the urban sidewalks and of other photographers caught in the act.

Adroitly, he shows me the ways of the land adorned with the most unusual pedestrian philosophy, jewels of useless savvy, the rule of the metaphor and the sharp, yet florid one-liner.

Drawn by the aforementioned and cat(time)-slaughtering curiosity, Wes asks one of the more prominent members of the click-quick fraternity of paparazzi, who was perched vulture-like with his finger practically glued to the shutter, why the commotion.

Wes's tone was gentle and polite, as is the habit of most philosophers, but the vulture with a Nikon didn't flinch, his gaze riveted to the door of the store - and his lips were sealed.

“¿Qué pasa?” Asks again the polyglot Wes, a man versed in many languages as philosophers generally are, in an attempt to bridge what in his book was an obvious matter of linguistic differences. “Guá Sápenin?”

The man, his stare glued to the door of the building in front of him, answers with a dry and mortified “I don’t speak Spanish.”

Quicker with his tongue than most philosophers, Wes sized the man up and down and replied: “Ah, so you just want to be an asshole then.”

Bound by curiosity, we stick around. About a half and hour later, out comes the celebrity, entourage in tow, beefy bodyguards with looks of solemn concern rushing the convoy of black SUV’s down the street to fetch them with flash like speed.

Wes snapped a still of the moment, frozen in time the hurried instant when two obviously important personalities rushed past and into their vehicle. The only problem: we don’t know who they are!

Who is that cute girl so jealously guarded? Who is the lady behind? Why all the fuss?

Which brings us to the moral of the story. There is so much positive stuff happening everywhere: the Spring trip Northbound of the Monarch butterflies, the National Spelling Bee competition, the blooming of the cherry trees, the first rains of May…

There are also more urgent and solemn subjects to ponder like the war, the spread of lethal viruses, drought and famine, global warming, immigration and hate crimes, human dignity, democracy and liberty, yadda, yadda, yadda and yadda and yadda…

To cap off the event, the photographer later got on a yelling match with a comrade at arms who jumped in front of his lens stealing his precious shot, in hunting jargon: obliterating his view. Too bad for him, it is not his fault that he is an asshole, the world is filled with them, at least everybody knows one and it is definitely not a favored subject.

Should we expect more from a society which gives more time in the media to panty-less blonds, dead blonds and jailed blonds and, just to add a bit of variety, they feature with prominence some anorexic brunette here and there and then throw in a drunk redhead passing out on the curb, just to spice things up instead of devoting all efforts to real newsworthy events. Hey, the world is also filled with 20 something’s making stupid decisions. Dumb kids getting drunk and rowdy, drinking beer by the keg and puking their cheeseburger-filled humanities behind the bushes of urban capitals all around this great big ozone depleted planet of ours, hallelujah. And I know, I was one of those.

What are we to expect?

Right now, the least I expect is change…

As it is written in the Talmud: If I will not help myself, who will? If not now, when?

Still, curiosity kills…

If anyone can identify the "celebrity" in the photograph, please send in your answer right away because I for one am dying to know.

Ken Burns revisited

Shall we just drop the subject and keep on going? It is Summer out there, so sunny and beautiful…that it almost inspires one to just forgive and forget, toast to life and make merry?

I don’t think so!

I do take offense with the fact that Señor Burns (lets say it candidly) “forgot” to mention the contribution of Latinos to World War II. I do take offense with the fact that when advised about such blatant and shameless attempt at historical revisionism, the famed maker of documentaries and all around audiovisual artiste stuck his nose up in the air and stated, as divas tend to in a very Bob Evans anecdotal-way: “The brown kid stays OUT of the movie…”

He wrote off the contribution of Latinos to that great event, the Last Great War, a significant contribution by any account, but some of us have not, and will not!

We can not write it off, or so conveniently “forget,” because it is a memory embedded in our soul, made of blood, sweat and tears. Just like all the rest of such memories (no matter from whom and where in this planet). Just like the ones featured so prominently in Señor Burns’ documentary.

So sad that it has to come to this, but it is a matter of respect. Respect is a mutual thing, Señor Burns. You have to give a lot of it in order to expect the same in return. And it should be as fair as Death is in the midst of battle, and just as blind as the bullet capable of taking away a life.

There are attempts, honest, humble, yet bold attempts to write a reliable account of what World War II did to America, to the world, to us, trying establish in all fairness what were the consequences, what was the real human price paid in such a pivotal event in modern history.

Noemi Figueroa Soulet (Producer/Director/Writer) is about to release of The Borinqueneers, (www.borinqueneers.com) “the first major documentary to chronicle the never-before-told story of the Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment, the only all-Hispanic unit in the history of the U.S. Army.”

Set to premiere August 2007 on most PBS stations and narrated by Latino actor Héctor Elizondo, the documentary “explores the fascinating stories of courage, triumph and struggle of the men of the 65th.

“The 65th Infantry Regiment was created in 1899 by the U.S. Congress as a segregated unit composed primarily of Puerto Ricans with mostly continental officers. It went on to serve meritoriously in three wars: World War I, World War II and the Korean War.

“When they were finally called to the front lines in the Korean War, the men of the 65th performed impressively, earning praise from General MacArthur. They performed a critical role containing the Chinese advance and supporting the U.S. Marines in the aftermath of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. Sent to every corner of the peninsula, they showed outstanding resilience and a legendary fierceness as combatants, even as they faced discrimination within the Army,” reads the synopsis of this documentary project.

Kudos to you all!

Although thousands of Latinos have served courageously in the Armed Forces since World War I, their contribution and sacrifices have gone largely unnoticed.

Until now, but there is so much to tell, so many inspiring Latino stories of courage and sacrifice.

Señor Burns’ high-nosed attitude and stubborn disposition, plus the fact that he insists on keeping his film intact tells from the onset the “veracity” of his documentary (or lack thereof) and, in my book, puts the reputation of this gentleman at the level of dirt, but we can’t let him go off that easy.

I don’t know who said that there is no use in beating a dead horse, but even though Ken Burns plays the dead, the deaf and the dumb, this horse is still very much alive and ready to kick at any moment.

So I say, hey, “ojo pela’o” (keep your eyes peeled) and, to quote the famous Forrest Gump, Master of the Modern Pedestrian Philosophy: “That is all I have to say about that.”

…for now ;-).

Ken Burns: PBS’ official revisionist

In the science fiction novel 1984, George Orwell tells in grim detail of a society divided, continuously monitored and controlled by a fascist state.

Winston Smith, the main character of this excellent work of science fiction, is a lowly bureaucrat from the Ministry of Information. His work consists of revising dispatches issued by the government and then adjusting all available information sources to comply with such data, thus projecting the effectiveness of the leadership of the state. Represented by the Big Brother, a paternal figure who sternly watches his every step, the state employs our hero to write and re-write history as set to benefit the instruments of power.

This futuristic cautionary tale about the dangers of the totalitarian state takes place 23 years ago.

Well into the 21st century and warned about it as far back as 1949, the year the novel was published, and we have not learned a damn thing!

Not only the digital revolution, the constant terrorist threat and the ensuing culture of fear, and the new voyeuristic technology of surveillance puts us so near the nightmare of the Orwellian Big Brother, but now we also have a government sponsored Smith, re-writing history at will.

An ongoing controversy, the most recent mega-project by Ken Burns raises some questions in terms of the veracity of the documentary maker. A 14 hour film about World War II the work fails to mention one single Latino veteran.

And this is not the first time Mr. Burns fails to recognize the presence and contributions by Latinos to the United States history. In the May 11 edition of the Daily News (Hey, Ken Burns, why shun Latinos?) columnist Juan González sets the record straight in terms of Mr. Burns continuous shunning of all contribution by Latinos in his 30 year career.

Ken Burns is described in this article as a “serial eraser of Latinos.” González mentions a lame attempt by the producer to appease the anger of the Latino community when he promises amends, yet states that his film will not be changed.

We are an important part of this nation and do our part to help it grow.

And when it came that time to defended it, 300,000 Hispanics said present. Many of them lost their lives there. A life is a big payment for whatever reason. When that is the case: it is not a privilege when such an event is being documented to be acknowledge, but an undeniable right.

Being PBS a public entity, Señor Burns is exercising his own brand of historical revisionism on our buck and I think all those who pay their taxes are expected to have a say at it.

We assume is not ignorance (the information is out there, so are the numbers and then again, he is a veteran documentary maker, researcher and filmmaker, PBS’ sacred cow) so, what’s the deal?

What is the reason for his actions? Go figure… Responding to what interest? Who knows! Following whose agenda? Who cares!

The subject is out there, the information is available and yet Mr. Burns stubbornly decided to leave his documentary as is and then heads (on our buck, I assume) to proudly show it at the Cannes Film Festival sometime next week.

Being a film buff, there is another screenplay which comes to mind: A day without Mexicans. This amusing movie envisions, in a humorous way, how hard the life of Californians would be without the help of the Mexican labor force.

But lets put all movies, novels and documentaries aside. Lets forget the philosophical analogies and the empty rhetoric and lets face reality, lets grab the bull by the horns and do whatever you are suppose to do when you are in such a dangerous and surreal situation…

I heard through the grapevine that there are plans for calling all Latinos to boycott this project. I say let’s boycott this thing in every form.

I call on all Latinos, Hispanics and other Americanos to boycott the program, all sponsors, the stations. I would go even further and say lets boycott the Ken Burns effect when making photo slideshows in a home computer.

Let$ hit where it hurt$ the mo$t.

I do know several important Latino businessmen here in the City that are frequent contributors to the local PBS affiliate, and I’m sure they are not willing to pay for a self appointed Smith, or budding Big Brother for that matter, to shamelessly erase their own presence, deny their contribution and shun their heritage.

Salutation to all Latinos, Hispanics and other Americanos

I look in wonder at this America of ours stretching from here to the very end of the world, all the way from the cold white North (with the frozen eskimo pie) to the mythical Tierra de Fuego, that far away frontier where (according to a poet friend) a short, stocky, dark skinned guy with shaggy jet black hair and sporting a colorful alpaca poncho points South and states in a beautifully accented Spanish that “down that way there is no more world.”

I envision a place populated by color and texture: Boricuas, Quisqueyanos, Guajiros, Gauchos, Charros, Amazones, Jíbaros, Cariocas, Negros, Cholos, Indios, Serranos, Nicos, Mapuches, Paisas, Rolos, Corronchos, Ñaños, Chapines, Mambises (you add your own). Among them all I feel at home, unlike the friend who jockingly states that he feels like “at the casting call for Apocalypto.”

But I definitely do not see any Beaners, Wet Backs, Greasers or Spicks, nor do I see any Gringos. I do not see an undocumented alien, but an adventurer in search of the American dream, and, where many see a lowly servant, I see a hard worker, I see hope, dignity and I see glory.

Here we are: the Hispanics, the Latinos and all other Americanos sharing the land and hoping for the best. We are here, we are present, and it can’t be denied.

But, what are we?

Are we the open Pampa lashed by the dry winds of winter, the high Andean peaks defiying the horizon, the fragile green of the shrinking Amazon forrest? Are we the fabled once mil vírgenes, stringed across the Caribbean to cushion the blow of the Conquest and all its consequences? Or are we that sliver of land in Panama allowing two oceans to touch, although so briefly?

Are we the slaves dragged here against our will? Are we the plantation, the hacienda? Are we the modern metropolis, the dreams of a developing country or the decaying old city, the crumbling forts, the ancient temples? Are we that promise of prosperity that lays somewhere West of us (the myth of El Dorado) or North of us (the myth of El Mighty Dollar)? Are we the music, the food, the language, the sweat, the blood and the dreams?

Are we those things that makes us different or the ones we share in common? Call me the optimist and sign me in for the later.

I am a romantic, a poet of sorts in this new age of technology. And I am here on an important mission: to make sure that the world wide web is good for something, besides being the lair of the home-made-movie craze, the sexual predator, the virtual dating scene and the venue for the always annoying and unsolicited promotions for penis enlargement pills and all the other assortment of remedies for erectile dysfunction.

Latino to the Max pretends to take full advantage of this new media, one that easily stretches from here to the farthest reaches of this big, blue and marvelous globe, with the magic of a simple click.

Lets open up a dynamic dialog among all Latinos, state in orderly discussion what we like and dislike, what we long for, what we ambition in life… and have fun doing it. It is not hard to embrace so many hermanos, more than 400 million strong (and growing), when the embrace is a virtual one and produces a possitive effect.

We are not here to read my daily banters about how much life sucks (even when it does sometimes), I will not talk about girlfriends and money (or their lack thereof) and, of course, we will not be looking foward to the latest Paris Hilton scandal (even thougth there is an intereresting take on the state of affairs of our great nation, but that is another story).

Art is the best and the loudest way of announcing our presence, highlighting our contributions and establishing our presence. Art is the best form of colonialism (payback time), the best way to plantar bandera, that is undeniable and I am all out to highlight our art, in all its manifestation, and be critical about it.

It is exciting to set out on such a journey, one that we hope will be a long and enjoyable trek of discovery. And is not devoid of a little fear that I set out on this new venture, it is my big bald head up here and I do take full reponsibility for all I say.

All literary journeys, particularly any attempt to place the wonders of our daily life within the realm of the writen word is a trek that goes in instead of out. And both experiences, life and literature, are so rich and full of feelings and substance, promises for a long, lasting and interesting voyage.

Opening the means of comunication is the first step towards understanding, the second step is to turn this into a real dialog, so… let me hear from you.

Max Resto: The Power That Drives LatinoToTheMax Blog

Born in Coney Island, New York, but raised in a small mountain town in Puerto Rico, Max considers himself to be nothing more than a humble country boy, a proud jibarito with big-city spirits and hearty small town mores. However, being a gypsy at heart and a rebel since early in life – envision a mischievous fire-headed little devil of three – whose red mane is now absent and who still keeps a hand thrust into his bag of literary tricks that are cherished legends in the barrio where he grew up.

Max says that he always goes through life “against the grain, running backwards or swimming up stream” - but there are an awful lot of his friends who say that he just doesn’t move in time when told.

Disgusted with the situations he encountered when he entered the higher education arena, mainly the violent UPR strike of 1981 and the idiotic attitude (that is his opinion) of some of the professors, the gypsy in him once again kicked in and Max fled the Island to embark upon what he describes as a lifelong and very personal pilgrimage.

As a young man of 19 he joined the United States Navy and traveled the world enriching his life experiences and feeding an intellectual hunger that’s still far from being satisfied. It should be noted that Max Resto possesses the curiosity of the proverbial cat who manages to stay alive and kicking time and time again.

While honing his uniquely communicative style as a writer and artist, Max has been crafting a respectable creative catalog, especially as a chronicler. He’s become a favorite of serious readers from all over the Latino literary world, and has garnered international praise. A voracious reader with a discerning mind, he often delivers ironic, sharp observations about daily occurrences; always observing life from a very personal, yet detached perspective.

His body of work embraces the skills of a proficient writer, columnist, printer, artisan, producer and film director, but also includes his years of experience as a journalist, television personality, as well as in a number of other multimedia venues.

Max has authored four books. His fiction writing has appeared in anthologies of contemporary Latino writers; while his stories, columns, reviews, interviews, comments and essays have been published in magazines, newspapers, educational textbooks and Internet sites.

For a number of years he was the Features Editor for The San Juan Star in Puerto Rico, while also the Film Commentator for the radio program En Otra Frecuencia 940 AM, and for the TV show Hoy 940 on WIPR-WIPM Channels 6 and 3 in Puerto Rico – all local PBS affiliates. He is a frequent contributor to many major Spanish language newspapers, and also to the Internet site redyaccion.com. In addition, he writes, produces and directs corporate videos, develops his own literary works and film projects and collaborates with other authors by providing editorial services.

Max Resto’s passionately stubborn and well-informed commentaries can be controversial, yet are undeniably appealing and thought-provoking. His ability to fuse a deep respect and understanding of Latino traditions with the up-to-date expertise of internet-based media that provides him with a special take on what it really is to be a professional Latino in a modern global environment. All of this converges in his exciting blog: LatinoToTheMax.com.