It's all good...

Life has definitely being quite eventful for me this past couple of months. Another project finished, done and done.

And now, ready to move on to the next one. There is sooooo much neat stuff earmarked in my agenda. But first, the news...



Award winning title


There is no better tool to establish, reaffirm and promote any cultural manifestation that by recognizing its excellence.

Terramax Entertainment Publishing is proud to announce that its latest literary project, the Deluxe Limited Edition coffee table book "HOLLYWOOD… Se Habla Español," has recently become an Award Winning Publication.

The book, written alongside my dear friend Rafael J. Rivera-Viruet, a true Hollywood insider, has garnered its first nationwide recognition by being selected by Latino Literacy Now as Best Gift Book.

The awards were presented during BookExpo America held on May 28, at the Javits Convention Center in New York City.

With a considerable number of titles vying for this coveted and prestigious recognition, the New York based publication written and manufactured by Latino craftsmen in the United States walked away with the second prize. "Colombia by Color," by Benjamín Villegas, won the first prize.

In recognition of the many positive contributions being made to Latino literature by publishers and writers worldwide, Latino Literacy Now, a non-profit organization that supports and promotes literacy and literary excellence within the Latino community, created the Latino Book Awards in 1999.

In addition to these book awards, Latino Literacy Now also awards the Latino Literacy Now Lifetime Achievement Award for publishing excellence and, in association with noted actor, director and community activist Edward James Olmos, hosts the Latino Book & Family Festival series held annually in Houston, Los Angeles and Chicago. For a full list of the awards go to: http://lbff.us/latino-book-awards.

The fruit of over 25 years of intensive and thorough research, "HOLLYWOOD… Se Habla Español" highlights the careers of Latinos who made important contributions to the history of cinema and details the Latino presence in the seventh art since its very inception over one hundred years ago.

Direly needed and a sought-after item by serious collectors this new addition to the literary world has become a most-have title for libraries and educational institutions.

Printed in a large format for easy reading and lavishly illustrated throughout with over 200 original photos and prints, the book features a preface by famed screen and television star Ricardo Montalbán. HOLLYWOOD… Se Habla Español was a project the late star enthusiastically supported since the beginning.

This award emphasizes the book’s main purpose of promoting a positive image of Hispanics and solidifying our social, artistic and cultural manifestations worldwide.


"El tren de la tarde" shows the changing face of Radio





It's new, it's fun, it's young and vibrant. But, don't take my word for it... just tune in and check it out. In español desde Niu Yol, and serving all Latinos, Hispanos and other Americanos.

Let Giovanni Herrán, Andrés Santacruz and Kike Sebá, the kids from El Tren, keep you entertain weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m.

Tune in to 98.7 and 97.5 on your FM dial or listen live on the web: (haga clic aquí) Radio Nueva Granada

Concrete Temple's Bird Machine

The Stagecraft is the Star

I just saw this delightful and sweet play and I urge all theater lovers to check it out. I fished this short review from Backstage dot com and wanted to share it with you all. Then again, don't take my word (or this reviewer's) for it and check it out for yourselves.

Reviewed by Ron Cohen
JUNE 22, 2009




The stagecraft is the star of Bird Machine, co-created by Renee Philippi and Carlo Adinolfi. The show has technology as a major theme, but most of the devices and techniques are pleasingly low-tech yet highly imaginative and lift the sometimes uncertain storytelling into a magical realm. Beguiling puppets are artfully manipulated by a busy crew of puppeteers. Props and set pieces are bathed in evocative lights and projections, emitting a fairy-tale essence.

read more...


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Ok, you all... lets cut it short. But, do not despair...! It's all good, Part Deux will see the light next Thursday, soooo much to tell you...

Future Attractions include: La Cápsula del Time, Poetry workshops in San Juan and Mayagüez, Revistas Huevo Crudo and Contratiempos, plus a preview of my new artistic endeavor 100% NYC TRASH....

Will keep you posted...

Check This Out!

Hey, Friends and Familia,

Definitely, Italians ARE Latinos. And proof of this undeniable fact is this extraordinary and enthralling play.

Blood Type: Ragu a funny, poignant and powerful one-man show about a man's journey in search of his identity opened its preview performances on February 20th at the newly renovated Actors Playhouse.

Frank Ingrasciotta, an extraordinary writer and performer, penned the piece and plays the protagonist. The play is directed by Ted Sod.

Previews continue this week and run until Opening Night on March 5th.

Show times are: Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm; Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7:30pm; Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm, and Sunday evenings at 6pm. Tickets are available at a special price of $25 with the code BTRPR.

The show is playing at the Actors' Playhouse, 100 Seventh Avenue South, in the heart of Greenwich Village. The theater is located just across the street from the Sheridan Square/Christopher Street Station on the number 1 train. You can go to www.smarttix.com, www.BloodTypeRagu.com to purchase tickets or call 212-868-4444. Groups of 10 or more call 646-319-0634.

Check out some videos of the show from a production at the Belmont Playhouse, where Frank set the box office record for the longest running show. Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=blood+type+ragu&aq=f

So, you all go and check it out! Will keep you posted.

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Raising from the slums with a great work of art!!!!

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): a short review (kind of)



Years back, I read a book by an obscure Colombian writer named Héctor Rojas Herazo. “Respirando el verano” (“Breathing the Summer”), a short novel of about one hundred pages or so, is nonetheless a literary gem from one of the less-famous members of the Latin American Literary Boom.

Rojas Herazo, with the hand of a true literary master, weaves a series of events with genuine linguistic craftsmanship to create a piece of work I found to be a delight to read.

In one instance, the writer describes a woman urinating in front of her house. But in the hands of Rojas Herazo the event of an old woman pissing on a dusty front patio in the midst of a hot summer day losses the comfortable anchor of a routine domestic occurrence. The text obviates that descent into inhumanity and dementia and acquires poetic transcendence. By virtue of the written word the sordid gesture is vested with epic tenure.

There is a sequence in Slumdog Millionaire, a movie by British director Danny Boyle, which is at once poignant, raw and funny, and possesses the same esthetic and sub-textual properties of a Rojas Herazo work.

Our young Indian hero Jamal Malik, an orphan from the slums of Mumbai, is locked by his mischievous brother in a shanty latrine wobbling on wooden stilts over a pool of filth, just as India’s big-screen hero arrives in the slums by helicopter.

Not wanting to let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip, Jamal dives feet first into the excrement down bellow clutching in his hand a photo of the movie star he keeps in his pocket held up high and safe from getting soiled.

The short anecdotic scene, vital to the dramatic arc of the protagonist, is definitely an iconic cinematographic moment, one that illustrates the mastery of its director.

That filth-covered kid parted the packed crowd of rabid fans like a Red Sea of onlookers pinching their noses with disgust. In that fleeting moment, young Jamal’s action stop being what it is to become a metaphor for opportunity. His character embodies the theory that there are opportunities to be had in every situation in life. Literarily covered in shit from head to toe, Jamal was the only one capable of reaching the coveted star and getting his autograph on a worn out, yet clean photograph.

Collecting praise and awards all over the world, besides its dramatic setting and some tragic events portrayed, Slumdog Millionaire overflows with optimism, a welcomed sight in these times of economic crisis and fear. I highly recommend you all check it out.

Remembering Ricardo Montalbán

The original Star Trek Khan. Signed by the Star, a treasure indeed!!!!

––––––––––––

Last Wednesday, Ricardo Montalbán, an undeniable all-time film and television star, passed away in his home in California at the age of 88.

Recognized and honored all over the world, it is still sad to witness as the curtain falls once more. Another figure representative of a distant and glorious era of the big screen sadly departs.

I did not get to meet Don Ricardo Montalbán in the flesh, but I was allowed the honor of getting a taste of his sensibilities, enjoy the virtue of his graces and the blessings of his generosity.

When, over 25 years ago, my writing partner and associate, Rafael J. Rivera-Viruet, started to put together our book “Hollywood… Se Habla Español,” Don Ricardo Montalbán embraced the project enthusiastically.

Not more than a year ago, moved by the images and the stories detailed in our humble literary endeavor, the actor called the book “a deserving homage to the Latino figure...” on his candid, yet enlightening preface.

“To have all those memories, all those faces, friends, colleagues and associates, all this beautiful and big Latino family gathered in one place, and ready to be cherished now and forever,” he wrote, a definite joy for the star after such a long and illustrious career in Hollywood.

The pride of calling him a collaborator stays with me, and in the case of my co-author, the pleasure of enjoying his close friendship for so many years.

This past year I visited L.A., in the midst of a film project, and tried to visit with the idolized star (Khan Noonien Singh has been a favorite of mine since childhood), he was already too sick to visit with a nosy writer. Instead, he let me keep a copy of an autographed photo he generously provided for our publication with the promise of its return.

I will treasure that gift all my life, not for what it is, but for what it means to me: a fleeting moment in my life when I was definitely touched by greatness.

Today the man, the star, the artist is no longer among us. Words are not enough to describe our sadness.

But, immortalized by the magic of the moving image, he remains as alive and present as he always has been: elegant, cool, collected, shining among the shiniest of stars and still the “Latin Lover.”

Through his films and TV appearances we honor his life, celebrate his achievements and cherish his memory.

Don Ricardo, we remember and thank you, for everything.

No lesser evil possible - Part Deux: Time for some McCain bashing!!!

You all thought that I was not up to the task.

You all thought that I had a thing against Obama...

Definitely not!

I dislike all politicians with equal passion.

Just as I profess an undeniable love for long country drives, sad songs and poetry recitals (the softness and delight of greens, tears and words), in that same measure I do despise the front offered by the participants (mainly protagonists) of the modern democratic processes. Of course, there are ways and there is A WAY.

But lets not deviate from the subject on hand: Dear Old John McCain...

A hero in all the sense of that powerful noun, a war hero no less, and that is something that can’t be denied. His saga in and out of war is a tragic and dramatic one.

His years in office, a consistent public servant, spell experience, savvy.

The man knows how to apply the tools of survival in jungles of different manufacture. That is colossal.

And he does not hide it. He is a hero, a fighter, a warrior. The passionate considerations of the wartime protagonist: Death before dishonor, triumph at all cost. That’s their thing, their motto.

His agenda is as transparent as is his life and his actions. Is the agenda of the status quo, he does not even tries to shade or soften his message.

Just like Bush, his predecessor, McCain preaches the gospel of Bravado, a big stick, and the willingness to use it, lie if necessary, just so you can swing the stick and bully everyone around.

This epic battle between good and evil, this obstinate effort to be at war just because, just so we can restore a democratic government a bunch of miles over yonder, while our country’s economy stumbles without any hope in sight.

Furthermore, there are also those who think that all these bellicose occurrences taking place for the past, like, two thousand years or so, have some kind of biblical significance, prophecies being fulfilled, the coming of the kingdom of God, Alleluia! The bible clutching core of Christian America, the same ones that favor Creationism against Evolution and attempt the blurring of that sharp line keeping on separate sides government and religion.

Hey, In God we trust! That’s our thing, our Motto.

Mr. McCain has the obvious convictions of any right wing, conservative, white American Christian. He is all for traditional values, the American way, the old school. There is nothing wrong with good Christian values…

They pin his medals to his chest, his white mane flowing, wafting to the tune of the wind of war, the stern look of the wary hero imprinted in the creases of his face, they prop him up on stage, a Christian belle, a warrior woman by his side to take on the reigns of the civilized word.

Get me Norman Rockwell if that is not a beautiful American emblem, an icon, deserving the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.

But now, seriously…

Any young man who goes into a far, hostile land to defend and protect under the command of abstracts like honor, country, god or any other pretty word or sentiment (other than genuine, and I do mean GENUINE, self-defense, which makes us just humans) is a hero in my book. That does not qualify him to be president of any nation, though.

And years doing the same thing? Well, a couple of decades doing the same thing is a remarkable thing, of sorts.

Waldo is being hiding from us just about the same amount of years and that does not qualify him to be president either. He’s not even any good at hiding. So there you have it.

The right wing media puts in its grain of sand, and so, just a couple of months before a black man has the chance of holding the nation's highest office, here comes a piece of census breaking news to white America. So conveniently on time, just to add wood to the fire.

Hey fellas, in just four short decades your hegemonic presence in the nation is over and done. Some wide-hatted ranchero from a barrio in Mexicali is leafblowing your political muscle out of the spotlight with the ease of the years lazily sliding by.

Believe me, you all, this race is got everything to do with RACE, doesn’t matter what the politicians say.

Will keep you posted.

No lesser evil possible - Part One: Lets talk Obama...

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Lets revisit the political arena.

Lets look at things with unblinking eyes and open minds.

Lets talk Obama!

A remarkable career, the stuff American dreams are made of.

Black, raised by a single mother, poor and hard working, and on the verge of attaining the highest office in the nation, to become the undisputed leader of the FREE WORLD...

Such an inspirational story, beautifully American, wholesome.

Yes, America, out of nowhere comes Obama, catapulted to instant celebrity status (the darling creature of the reality-TV phenomenon) thanks to the booty-shaking virtues of the Obama Girl and her catchy tune, a youtube favorite.

All of the sudden, America hungers for the cool demeanor of the young senator and his darling wife, sparking impossible comparisons to the mythical Camelot of yesteryear.

But wait just a gosh darn minute!

Black, poor, just arrived in the political arena yesterday evening, and now he is running for President?!

Not only that, check out that bunch of dinero hurled his way, paving a rosy road for our fine new candidate, a healthy campaign trail all the way.

He jumps in private jets, his soulfully foreign-sounding name emblazoned to the sides , and chills out with other world leaders as if he was already a head of state.

How awesome, but....

...there is a big BUT that makes me suspicious of all this Obama broo-haha.

First, there is the dinero... Where does it come from? Hey, we all know that people don't just go around giving money away by the handful, unless there is the hope of a future payback. Find out who's money it is and you will know whose agenda Barack is going to follow once he is elected. And believe me, is not going to be the Joe-Six-Pack or Juan-Del Pueblo's agenda... That's for sure.

Lets move on...

When his pastor for many years, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, stood in front of his congregation and preached truth in the loud, abrasive and scathing way all preachers inspired by the Spirit of God do (which does not diminishes the truth contained within the yelled speech) and then he was attacked and shamelessly quoted out of context by the media, what does Barack Obama do?

Instead of showing a manly nerve, promote real CHANGE and take a strong stance in favor of his spiritual mentor, he does the oh-so-convenient little sidestep and plays the political game.

He preaches CHANGE, he fills his mouth with those six capital letters as if he was bringing down a slab of rock engraved by God itself, yet is willing to mow everything in his way with the metaphors of misinformation and covert, he is willing to fail to serve the truth in order to retain his political edge.

That turns Obama into what every politician is: a professional liar, a master of the rhetoric of convenience, the tired beauty of the political slogans, those jewels of poetry and deceit.

Barack Obama is a product, casing, label and promotional package all neatly wrapped in one.

Sorry you, my dear in law, Melvin, Obama's humble subject.

His words are carefully studied, programed, scientifically designed to please, to convince, to obtain results.

He preaches CHANGE, yet indulges in the political game of winning-is-the-ultimate-goal, the Machiavellian theory that the end justifies the means. He threads thru the dark alleyways of the precise strategies, hidden agendas and formulaic behavior, the land of the PR masters, political strategists, marketing gurus and spin doctors (not tha DJ-ing kind either).

It is funny, but just today in Extra!, a celebrity-based TV magazine, the narrator refers to females voters as fans, expected to react more promptly and base their decision swayed by features showing the candidates and their respective spouses fashion sense. Girls, you are not smart enough to make your decision taking into account a real, sensible and attainable social agenda or any other sensible political goal, sorry girls... Not on this watch.

We are left to decide between two evils. (McCain is no better, will blog about that soon.)

Damn... I feel like in that episode of "South Park" were the foul-mouthed eight-year-olds are urged to decide between a douche bag and a turd sandwich as their school mascot: without the possibility of a lesser evil.

What do you all think? Get back to me with your thoughts.

Will keep you posted.

A big herd!

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Yes, we are destined, according to those that know, to be a majority in this nation in a bit over four decades.

Now a whooping 15% of the general US population, experts predict and the press highlights recently that Latinos, Hispanos and other Americanos will be all over and in greater numbers.

"Among the changes expected are that by 2050, the number of Latinos in the country is expected to double to account for nearly one in three U.S. residents," writes Tony Castro of www.redorbit.com.

That's a big freaking herd of people!!!!!

According to the information published in several media outlets last week, the Latino population is projected to nearly triple. The data establishes that from 46.7 million today the Latino population will rise to 132.8 million, going from 15 percent to a quite outstanding 30 percent of the U.S. population.

And you know what?

The clock is ticking!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is time for the Latinos to get down and dirty, manos a la obra, and start grooming carefully that new generation destined to take the reigns of this great land of ours. We need leaders. REAL LEADERS, darn it!

We need responsible leaders sworn to protect THE people, the land, the nation. Leaders capable of sparking and promoting real change, and with the ability to steer the nation towards peace, prosperity, general well being and all that pretty crap every political candidate promises so vehemently, and always fails to deliver (given the current turn of events).

I know is a lot to ask.

What we don't need is the all-too-common arm flaying, loud voiced, slick opportunist that pops up every time a poor wretch gets beat down to a pulp by the cops or any similar situation of blatant injustice.

Pointing fingers, lamenting the infamies of the past and the insistence of always trying to find who to blame, instead of procuring the solutions, do not put into perspective the prospects of real, long lasting, positive change. It only stalls evolution in a puddle of controversy and mud slinging, quite amusing on a half hour transmission of Entertainment Tonight, not so when we realize that our future is oftentimes decided by these headline-seeking bozzos.

So, what the heck are you all waiting for?

Lets shape a nation, educate correctly our people and not just allow for the Latinos, Hispanos and other Americanos to lazily grow into a big headless herd.

Lets get ready! The clock is ticking, yet there is still time.

Bounce that one around yourselves and get back to me. I would like to know what you all think.

Will keep you posted.