2007/11/24

De regreso...

Ya ando acá de vuelta de nueva cuenta. Acabo de subir algo a la Columna de Cristal y tengo mucho material para este blog también, pero no he tenido tiempo de redactarlo y subirlo... Estoy retrasado como con dos meses de temas por postear y lo único que ha salvado este blog de una muerte (o en su defecto, un indeseado letargo) son los videos de Al Yankovic, por lo cual, creo que se merece un descanso (y ustedes también). Pero de mientras, abusando de las bondades de los videos en internet los dejo con un hallazgo reciente.

Muchos de los que vivimos de este lado del charco solemos ver con desden todo lo que proviene de España, no solo por las diferencias culturales, sino también en parte por ese rencor acumulado desde hace tantos años que se ha impregnado en nuestros pueblos casi a nivel genético. Aun así, es justo reconocer que por allá también hay cosas que valen la pena, y como muestra los dejo con un video breve pero bastante entretenido.



Como imaginarán, al igual que Enjuto Mojamuto, tengo una agenda apretada...

2007/11/10

Para que se entretengan mas rato

Como diría el buen Jack Bauer: Damn it!
¿o no era así?… Bueno. El caso es que ya se pasó otra semana… otra mas que se va como agua de jamaica… y sin hielo!

En fin. Como estaré mas ausente de lo normal esta semana y no tengo mucho tiempo de escribir nada, para que no me extrañen los dejo con otro video de Al Yankovic. También es un video animado pero esta vez les durará mas rato que los anteriores. Jajaja.

Si leen o le ponen atención a la letra de la canción está muy chido, pero si no, va a estar de UEFA.

Esto es: Trapped in The Drive-Thru con ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic.




Seven O'Clock in the evening
Watchin somethin' stupid on TV
I'm zoned out on the sofa
When my wife comes in the room and sees me

She says "Is this 'Behind the Music'
With Lynard Skynard?"
And I say "I don't know.
Say, it's gettin' late...watcha wanna do for dinner?

She says "I kinda had a big lunch.
So I'm not super hungry."
I said "Well you know, baby, I'm not starvin' either
But I could eat."

She said "So whadya have in mind?"
I said "I don't know what about you?"
She said "I don't care, if you're hungry, let's eat."
I said "That's what we're gonna do!"

"But first you gotta tell me
What it is you're hungry for!"
And she says "Let me think...
...What's left in our refridgerator?"

I said "Well, there's tuna, I know."
She said "That went bad a week ago!"
I said "Is the chili OK?"
She said "You finished that yesterday!"

I hopped up and I said
"I don't know, do you want to get something delivered?"
She's like "Why would I want to eat liver?
I don't even like liver!"

I'm like "No, I said 'delivered'."
She's like "I heard you say liver!"
I'm like "I should know what I said..."
She's like "Whatever, I just don't want any liver!"

Well I was gonna say something
But my cell phone started to ring
Now who could be callin' me?
Well I checked my caller ID

It was just cousin Larry
Callin' for the third time today...
My wife said "Let it go to voicemail."
I said, "OK."

"Where were we? Oh, Dinner, Right
So what d'ya want to do?"
She said "Why don't you whip up somethin in the kitchen?"
"Yeah," I said, "Why don't you?"

And then she said "Baby, can't we just go out to dinner, please?"
I says "No"
She says "Yes"
I says "No"
She says "Yes"
I says "No"
She says "Yes...
...Oh, here's your keys"

I step a little bit closer
Say "OK, where ya want to go?"
She says "How about The Ivy?"
I said "Yeah, well I don't know..."

I don't feel like gettin all dressed up
And eatin' expensive food
She's says "Olive Garden?"
I say "Nah, I'm not in the mood...

...And Burrito King would make me gassy
There's no doubt"
She says "Just forget about it"
I said "No, I swear I'm gonna take you out!"

Then I get an idea
I says "I know what we'll do!"
She says "What?"
I say "Guess"
She says "What?"
I say "We're goin' to the drive-thru!"

So we head out the front door
Open the garage door
Then I open the car doors
And we get in those car doors

Put my key in the ignition
And then I turn it sideways
Then we fasten our seat belts
As we pull out the driveway

Then we drive to the drive-thru
Heading off to the drive-thru
We're approaching the drive-thru
Getting close to the drive-thru!

Almost there at the drive-thru
Now we're here at the drive thru
Here in line at the drive-thru
Did I mention the drive-thru?

Well here we are
In the drive-thru line, me and her.
Cars in front of us, cars in back of us.
All just waiting to order

There's some idiot in a Volvo
With his brights on behind me
I lean out the window and scream
"Hey, Whatcha tryin to do, blind me?"

My wife says "Maybe we should park...
...We could just go eat inside."
I said "I'm wearin' bunny slippers
So I ain't leavin' this ride..."

Now a woman on a speaker box
Is sayin' "Can I take your order, please?"
I said "Yes indeed, you certainly can
We'd like two hamburgers with onions and cheese."

Then my wife says
"Baby, hold on, I've changed my mind!
I think I'm gonna have a chicken sandwich
Instead, this time"

I said "You always get a cheeseburger!"
She says "That's not what I'm hungry for."
I put my head in my hands and screamed,
"I don't know who you are anymore!"

The voice on the speaker says
"I don't have all day!"
I said "Then, take our order,
And we'll be on our way!

I wanna get a chicken sandwich
And I want a cheeseburger, too
She's like "You want onions on that?"
I'm like "Yeah, I already said that I do...

...Plus we need curly fries
And don't you dare forget it!
And two medium root beers
No, just one, we'll split it."

Then I said "I'm guessin' that
You're probably not too bright...
So read me back my order
Let's make sure you got it right."

She says "One, you want a chicken sandwich.
Two, you want a cheeseburger
Three, curly fries, and a large root beer"
"Stop, don't go no further!"

"I never ordered a large rootbeer
I said medium, not large!"
Then she says "We're havin' a special,
I supersized you at no charge."

"Oh." And that's all
I could say, was "Oh."
And she says "Now there is somethin' else
That I really think you should know.

You can have unlimited refills
For just a quarter more..."
I say "Great, except we're in the drive thru...
So what would I want that for?"

Then she says "Wait a minute
Your voice sounds so familiar...hey, is this Paul?
And my wife is all like "No, that ain't Paul,
Now tell me, who's this Paul?

She says "Oh, he's just some guy
Who goes to school with me.
I sat behind him last year
And I copied off him in Geometry.

I said "I know a guy named Paul.
He used to be my plumber
He was prematurely bald
And he moved to Pittsburgh last summer.

He also had bladder problems
And a really bad infection on his toe."
And she said "Mister, please, you can stop right there,
That's way more than I needed to know!"

And then we both were quiet
And things got real intense
Then she says "Next window please,
That'll be five dollars and eighty two cents."

So we inched ahead in line
Movin' painfully slow
I got a little bored
So I turned on the radio...

[Song plays]

[Click] Turned it off
Because my wife was getting a headache
So we both just sat there quietly
For her sake.

Then I looked at her
And she looked back at me
And I said "Um,
I think you have somethin' in your teeth."

She turned away from me
And then turned back and said "Did I get it?"
I said "Yeah. Well, I mean, most of it...
But hey, ya know, don't sweat it."

Then she said "How about now?"
I said "Yeah, almost.
There's still a little bit there
But don't worry, it's probably just a piece of toast."

Now we're at the pay window
Or whatever you call it
Put my hand in my pocket
I can't believe there's no wallet!

And the lady at the window's like,
"Well, well that'll be five eighty two."
I turn around to my wife, and say
"How much have you got on you?"

She just rolls her eyes and says
"I'll pay for this, I guess."
So she reaches into her purse
And pulls out the American Express

I hand it to the lady
And she says "Oh, dear.
It's gotta be cash only
We don't take credit cards here."

I took back the card and said
"Gee, really? Well that sucks."
And that's when I found out
My wife was only carryin' three bucks.

I said "I thought you were
Going to hit the ATM today"
She says "I never got around to it
So where's your wallet anyway?

And I said "Nevermind,
Just help me to find some change..."
Now the lady at the window
Is lookin at me kinda strange...

And she says "Mister, please,
We gotta move this line along"
I said "Now hold your stinkin' horses lady,
We won't be long."

We looked around inside the glove-box
And check the mat beneath my feet
I found a nickel in the ashtray
And a couple pennies and a dime in the space betweent he seats

Before long I had a little pile
Of coins of every sort
The lady counts it up and says
"You're still about a dollar short"

And now my woman's got this weird look
Frozen on her face
She screams, "you know
I wasn't even really hungry in the first place"

And so I turned around
To the cashier again
I shrugged and said "OK
Forget the chicken sandwich then"

So I pick up my change
Pick up my reciept
And I drive to the pickup window
Man, I just can't wait to eat

And now we see this acne ridden
Kid about sixteen
Wearin' a dorky nametag that says
"Hello, my name is Eugene."

And he hands me a paper bag
I look him in the eyes
And I say to him "Hey, Eugene,
Can I get some ketchup for my fries?"

Well he looks at me
And I look at him
And he looks at me
And I look at him

And he looks at me
And I look at him
And he says "I'm sorry
What did you want again?"

I say "Ketchup!"
And he says "Oh yeah, that's right...
...I just spaced out there for a second
I'm really kind of burnt tonight."

And then he hands me the ketchup
And now we're finally drivin' away
And the food is drivin' me mad
With its intoxicating bouquet

I'm starvin' to death
By the time we pull up at the traffic light
I say "Baby, gimme that burger,
I just gotta have a bite!"

So she reaches in the bag
And pulls out the burger
And she hands me the burger
And I pick up the burger

And then I unwrap the paper
I bite into those buns
And I just can't believe it
They forgot the onions!

2007/11/03

A survivor's tale

Ahorita que comenté acerca de que he estado leyendo un poco mas de lo habitual, me vino a la mente un comic que leí esta semana el cual definitivamente quisiera recomendar y darle un espacio en este blog a manera de homenaje.

Quería comprarlo desde hace tiempo pero no lo había hecho en parte por el precio, en parte porque no es tan fácil de conseguir y en parte porque no siempre me acordaba de buscarlo. Mi principal interés para conseguirlo era de tipo profesional, pues es uno de los comics mas reconocidos a nivel mundial y el primero (tal vez el único) en ganar un Pulitzer. Pero ya saben… muchas veces esas cosas que ganan premios están de hueva y a veces si me dolía el codo pensar en gastar mi dinero en algo que luego ni siquiera me darían ganas de leer.

Se puede conseguir en forma de volumen con la obra completa o en dos partes. En el Comicastle había encontrado solo una de las partes, pero hace un par de meses vi el volumen con las dos partes en una librería aquí en el D.F. (El Péndulo) Aunque tenía muchas ganas de comprarlo, me detuve porque andaba algo gastado y de hecho, pasé por ahí alguna que otra vez, pero no me decidía (si, pienso mucho las cosas que compro, encontré hoy una lista de juegos por comprar del año pasado y todos los juegos que compré desde entonces son de esa lista y todavía hay algunos que no tengo o que no han salido a la venta). Esta semana tuve que ir por esa parte de la ciudad y pensé que ya le había dado muchas largas y que tal vez cuando volviera a ir ya ni si quiera lo encontraría, así que lo compré.

No me arrepentí en lo mas mínimo. Recibí mas de lo que esperaba.

El comic en cuestión se llama MAUS, escrito y dibujado por Art Spiegelman durante un periodo de varios años. La obra completa consta de casi 300 páginas. Escrita originalmente en inglés, también hay versión en español y otros idiomas (aunque no la he buscado). Como siempre, de este tipo de obras famosas solemos encontrar descripciones y críticas rimbombantes con términos rebuscados diciendo que son lo más maravilloso que se ha hecho en la historia de la humanidad. En lo personal, no me gustan esos comentarios porque no te dicen nada relevante, prefiero hablar del contenido o en su defecto, de la impresión que causa el leerlas. Del contenido no quiero decir mucho porque realmente es algo que cada quien debe leer e interpretar por si mismo.

La obra tiene dos aspectos sobresalientes:
1. El tema central es la persecución Nazi en contra de los judíos polacos, incluidos los campos de concentración de Auschwitz.
2. Los hechos que narra fueron reales, ya que la obra se basa en la experiencia del padre del autor, Vladek Spiegelman.

Pero además, la forma en la que está escrita y dibujada es peculiar porque Spiegelman no solo narra lo que vivió su padre, sino que retrata los momentos en los que lo iba a visitar para que le relatara todas estas cosas y lo complicada que era su relación con él. En ese sentido es Biográfica (por parte de su padre) pero también Autobiográfica. El leer algo y saber que fue real, en definitiva le imprime algo especial a cualquier obra, sobre todo cuando los hechos descritos superan muchas veces a la ficción. Si alguien pensó que hacer un documental en forma de comic no era posible, necesita leer Maus. De hecho, para mi gusto, es la obra mas completa que he visto referente a los sobrevivientes de la persecución nazi.

Por cierto, otro rasgo característico es que representa a las personas como animales antropomórficos, dependiendo de su raza o nacionalidad, de ahí su nombre (Maus significa ‘ratón’ en alemán). Los judíos son ratones, los alemanes son gatos, los polacos son cerdos, los americanos son perros, etc… (lo que le ha valido algunas críticas injustificadas).

El estilo narrativo es muy ligero y fácil de digerir, pues aunque te cuenta muchas cosas, la mayoría de mucho peso, lo hace de manera muy eficiente de modo que habrá quien lo podrá leer en una sola sesión sin mayor problema.

Como tengo otras cosas sin leer, pensaba ponerlo en ‘lista de espera’ pero un día después de comprarlo lo hojee y comencé a leerlo casi accidentalmente y ya no lo pude soltar. Leí 100 páginas esa noche y pensaba que lo mejor sería dosificarlo para digerirlo mejor. Al otro día en la mañana lo único que pensaba era en seguir leyéndolo y leí otras 100 páginas… en la noche leí las 100 restantes.

Creo que no he dicho mucho de la obra, pero fue intencional porque lo ideal es que la conozcan por ustedes mismos. Definitivamente es ya una de mis obras favoritas. Podría ponerla al lado de otros comics como “Ghost In the Shell” o “Earth X” pero definitivamente es muy difícil compararla a otras cosas, en gran medida por el tema y por ser hechos reales.

Si les interesa conocer un poco mas, vean Wikipedia o simplemente Googleenlo.

I'll Sue Ya... If I hurt my knuckles when I punch you in the face

Pues ya es sábado (otra vez). Ya casi pasa un mes desde que fue el Creanimax en Guadalajara y no he subido mi resumen de lo que fue el evento. Y tampoco he terminado de escribir el Bonus Stage de la semana No había puesto mas videos de Al Yankovic porque no quería solo poner un video tras otro. De nuevo no es precisamente falta de tiempo. Es mas bien cansancio, en gran medida mental pero también físico, pero es extraño, he procurado pasar menos tiempo en la computadora que antes y aun así me duelen los ojos (y antes no), aunque tal vez es porque últimamente he jugado un poco mas de videojuegos y leido mas de lo habitual. Procuraré ponerme al corriente, pero de mientras los dejos con otro de los videos de Yankovic.. ja, chale. yo tenía una lista de los videos que quería subir, pero no la encuentro por ningún lado. Bueno, dejen ver cual escojo...

Ok. este es de los que quería poner desde hace tiempo. Se llama I'll Sue Ya y es una parodia de las demandas absurdas que tan comunes son en Estados Unidos. No solo la letra, sino la música me agrada bastante, pues no está tomada directamente de otra canción, sino que simplemente es una tonada un poco al estilo de Rage Against the Machine.

Enjoy!

Weird Al Yankovic - I'll Sue Ya


I sued Taco Bell
'Cause I ate half a million Chalupas
And I got fat!

I sued Panasonic
They never said I shouldn't use their microwave
To dry off my cat

Huh, I sued Earthlink
'Cause I called them up
N' they had the nerve to put me on hold

I sued Starbucks
'Cause I spilled a Frappucino in my lap
And brrr, it was cold!

I sued Toys'R'Us
'Cause I swallowed a Nerf ball
And nearly choked to death

Ugh, I sued PetCo
'Cause I ate a bag of kitty litter
And now I got bad breath!

I sued Coca-Cola, yo
'Cause I put my finger down in a bottle
And it got stuck!

I sued Delta Airlines
'Cause they sold me a ticket to New Jersey
I went there, and it sucked!

Yeah!!!

If you stand me up on a date
If you deliver my pizza 30 seconds late

I'm gonna sue, sue
Yes, I'm gonna sue
Sue, sue, yeah that's what I'm gonna do
I'm gonna sue, sue
Yes, I'm gonna sue
Sue, sue, yeah I might even sue you!

Ugh!!

I sued Duracell
They never told me not to shove that double-A
Right up my nose

I sued Home Depot
'Cause they sold me a hammer
Which they knew I might drop on my toes

I sued Dell Computers
'Cause I took a bath with my laptop
Now it doesn't work

I sued Fruit of the Loom
'Cause when I wear their tightie-whities on my head
I look like a jerk

I sued Verizon
'Cause I get all depressed
Any time my cell phone is roaming

I sued Colorado
'Cause you know, I think it looks a little bit too much
Like Wyoming

I sued Neiman Marcus
'Cause they put up their Christmas decorations
Way out of season

I sued Ben Affleck
--
Aw, do I even need a reason?

Ugh!

If I sprain my ankle
While I'm robbing your place

If I hurt my knuckles
When I punch you in the face

I'm gonna sue, sue
Yes, I'm gonna sue
Sue, sue, yeah that's what I'm gonna do
I'm gonna sue, sue
Yes, I'm gonna sue
Sue, sue, that's right I'm gonna sue you

Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

I'll sue ya!
I'll take all of your money
I'll sue ya!
If you even look at me funny

I'll sue ya!
I'll take all of your money
I'll sue ya!
If you even look at me funny

I'll sue ya!
I'll take all of your money
I'll sue ya!
If you even look at me funny

I'll sue ya!
I'll take all of your money
I'll sue ya!
If you even look at me funny

I'll sue ya!
Ha-ha ha ha-haa
I'll sue ya!
What'chall think of that?

I'll sue ya!
Ha-ha ha ha-haa
Boo ya!
I'll sue ya!

Ugh!