Spice Girls Spanish Style

A couple weekends ago, in the Barrio Santa Cruz, there was this "concert" of people lip-syncing famous songs. Some were techno (with little to no words) some were Spanish, and some were English.

One of the English ones was The Spice Girls. There were 4 above-the-age-of-forty women dressed as the famous group, along with a mannequin, lip-syncing the hit "Wannabe."

It was weird but very entertaining, as you could probably guess.

Want to view it? Well you can! Right here.

Thin Lizzy on the beach

This video is all the way back from January 17th or so, but I just got around to posting it.

Mike plays us some "Boys are back in town" on the beach with a new (weird) German friend.

Some short time after this video, aforementioned German friend stripped to his speedo and ran into the sea. It was an unfortunate sight.

Fortunately for you, he isn't visible in this video! Enjoy!

A guitar ditty

The weekend after the end of Spring Break, USAC took us on a (free) day trip to Javea and Altea, as well as Cabo de San Juan, where there is a great viewpoint after a short hike.

In Javea, there is a very pretty church, and I wanted to shoot something in front of it. Due to how the restaurants near it were set up, as well as a lack of places to sit (Mike doesn't have a guitar strap so he can't stand and play), I had Mike sit on a road blocker. Although it is hard to see, the church is in the background.

Mike and I discussed before this what song he should play, and how it would have to fit the church theme. He mentioned Stairway to Heaven, and I thought it would be brilliant.

Enjoy.

As a distinguished singing legend, this voice thing could prove to be an issue

This past weekend I went to Valencia with Sarah and Carly. I have been sick for over a week now, but if you want to call that sick, you probably could say I have been a constant sick since I got to Spain.

But starting last weekend, my throat really hurt, so I went to the doctor and he prescribed me some antihistamines and ibuprofen. I was only to take them for 5 days or so.

Randomly on Friday, my throat hurt and I decided to rest it by whispering to my friends for the rest of the night, or using sign language. That provided at least some entertainment.

On Saturday morning, Sarah nudged me to wake up in the hostel, whispering good morning. After Carly came back from washing her face and we were whispering in our room, Sarah pointed out that there was no need to whisper; we were all awake. Yet, I realized that had I tried to speak normally, it came out as cracks and gurgles beyond recognition.

I whisper-gurgled through the afternoon and evening, when I just flat-out attempted to talk. I forced myself to formulate words and sentences with the crackling soundbox I called a voice. Saturday my throat didn't hurt at all, only my confidence in speaking did.

After chatting with a couple cool Manchester blokes that night, my voice warmed up a bit and heavily improved from the morning. No longer was my laugh a hissing gasping noise, but there were actual inflections at the "HAs."

Sunday my voice was back but raspy. When I got home that evening, my host parents noticed immediately and said that I just sounded more Spanish. It's true, the young chicas over here all have raspy smoke voices.

This morning it really was no different. The pitch in my voice is very different, more in the lower range. Usually it is in a low range to begin with, but it's even lower, since I am unable to make my "omg that child is adorable" squealing noise when I see a stroller, since it comes out as a screeching hiss that could deter any and every parent from allowing me near their kin.

Tomorrow or wednesday I will record my radio program, and I am sure it will sound JUST LOVELY. If it hasn't changed, I will have a radio recording of my "spanish voice" for me to cherish the rest of my life.

As a way to un-swell my vocal chords, I have been trying to hum songs, usually to no avail. Right now no one is home and I just try to cough or scream, and a raspy HHHHHHH noise comes out.

Since I know my singing voice is probably in the terrible to horrible range when I have all of my pitch, imagine how it must be now. Even slow, jazzy songs like "Old Fashioned Morphine" that require little to no singing effort on my part (when I sing to myself around the house) have become like Christina Aguilera songs now.



I can't even hit the note of the "sister don't get worried" lyric without it coming out as a screeching HHHH. So sad.



I hope this doesn't last forever.

How does one translate "superfly"?

One of the technicians I work with at the radio station is younger, in his late 20s, and recently asked me to help him understand the lyrics of one of his favorite songs. Thing is, the song was "Pusherman" by Curtis Mayfield. Super 70s, super slang, and super hard to translate.


i'm your mamma, i'm your daddy
i'm that nigga in the alley
i'm your doctor, when in need
want some coke, have some weed
you know me, i'm your friend
your main boy, thick and thin
i'm your pusherman
i'm your pusherman

First I had to explain that the n-word should never EVER be repeated. He didn't understand why, and I just had to say it was very degrading to black people to be called such a thing. He was like "I thought it was the same as 'black'" and I was like " NO NO NO NO NO! Please oh please never call someone this. Please. It's very bad."
I also had to look up what exactly IS a pusherman. It is a person who pushes drugs, or something like that.
Then I had to explain thick and thin, and how it means that it means good and bad, and that this (unlike many slang words you will see in this song) is still acceptable to use in everyday conversation.




haha

ain't i clean, bad machine
super cool, super mean
feelin' good, for the man
Superfly, here i stand
secret stash, heavy bread
baddest bitches, in the bed

I completely ignored his request for translating superfly...I just said it meant cool or something. I also said "you will sound silly using this in every day language".
"What is 'stash'?" I explained it meant something you meant to hide...usually drugs or money. He was like "is it the same as 'stuff?'" No, no it is not.
He understood the last line...so we moved on.



i'm your pusherman
i'm your pusherman
i'm your pusherman

solid life, of crime
a man of odd circumstance
a victim of ghetto demands
feed me money for [style]
and i'll let you trip for a while
insecure from the past
how long can a good thing last?
woo-hoo, no
got to be mellow, y'all
gotta get mellow now
pusherman gettin' mellow y'all

"'Feed me money?' what does that mean?" It means get money...and a lot of it.
Trip was also an interesting translation. "No, not viaje, not travel" i said, but more like something with drugs. He thought it meant stoned, but I clarified that trip referred to more LSD type drugs.
I also threw in the phrase "you be trippin'" as a way to say someone is being crazy.



heavy mind, have you signed?
makin' money all the time
my [LD] entrusts me
for all junkies to see
ghetto prince is my thing
makin' love's how i swing
i'm your pusherman
i'm your pusherman
huh

too bad, [Splee]
for a generous fee
make your world what you want it to be
got a woman i love desperately
wanna give her something better than me
been told i can't be nothin' else
just a hustler in spite of myself
i know i can rake it
this life just don't make it
lord, lord
got to get mellow now
gotta be mellow, y'all
got to get mellow now

"Andres," I said, "Rake in this case refers to receiving lots of cash."

i'm your mamma, i'm your daddy
i'm that nigga in the alley
i'm your doctor, when in need
want some coke, have some weed
you know me, i'm your friend
your man boy, thick and thin
i'm your pusherman
i'm your pusherman

The secret guide to men

I found it, yes IT. THE way to strike up conversations with cute boys. IT is mentioning your enjoyment of the band "TV on the Radio." Guaranteed success. I also scored 4 free MP3 albums in the process.

Third Radio Broadcast!

A little side note: The song I used, "Wheels" by Cake, contains an amusing lyric (PS: The group is from Sacramento)...

And the muscular cyborg German dudes dance with sexy French Canadians
While the overweight Americans wear their patriotic jumpsuits

If only I could just do a whole program on hating on Americans. It wouldn't be very hard!

NOW we have a plan.

I love listening to classical music.

Today, Rocio was listening to classical music as she graded papers, and it made me think about how I love to just sit and quietly listen to it.

It gave me an idea.

I have been dying to figure out where I want to travel to this semester, b/c I have the urge to see some places, and to NOT see others.

After hearing this music, it inspired me: I want to travel somewhere where I can see an opera or see a live orchestral performance or an orchestral ballet.

So that decision is made. The question now is...where is that exactly? Germany, perhaps?

If my world were a musical...

Who am I kidding? It practically is with all of these songs that are sung around the house for Dante to do things.

One example is sleep time:
A la cama, con Dante! A la cama, con Dante! (time for bed, with Dante)

(when they happily sang this after dinner, Dante just broke down to tears because he didn't want to go...it was kind of funny because it was so spontaneous)

Eat time:
A comer, a comer... (and other lyrics...that are about eating)

Cleaning up after playing:
...todo tiene su lugar!...(everything in its place)

As well as an abundance of other songs that I hear Dante sing with his mom in his room or when playing. Sometimes when he is playing with his toys alone, he'll sing to himself. Not songs, but just singing instead of talking. He'll just sing things like "the car goes into the garage! The red one, the blue one, the green one!"