"Some people want to fill the world with [manipulative, melodramatic, derivative, exploitive, lowest-common-denominator hackery]. And, what’s wrong with that? I’d like to know." -Paul McCartney Before I start, I’d like to say that, if possible, you should see this movie in a predominantly Hispanic theater. The premieres of 2012 in Huntington Park (with subtitles) and Pico Rivera were a combination of Mardi Gras, the Academy Awards, and an Olympics opening ceremony: Long li... Read Full Story

Bucking the trend towards discounted services, a new chain of upscale check cashing stores has opened locations in major cities throughout the nation. Walk into an Espèces Chalet and you're greeted by one of the long-legged "cash attendants." She might bring you an expresso as you use the leather-trimmed, Alexa Stamatiou-adorned ATM. Checks are cashed at the concierge desk where you can also ask about the latest, hottest clubs and night spots. Manager Roland says that business has been... Read Full Story

http://www.nelsonguirado.com/media/10Gracias.mp3Without knowing her by name, I became familiar with Omara Portuondo during my semi-obsessive Cuban music days, when I spent much of my last couple of years of college acquiring and learning about Cuban music. Cuarteto d'Aida is one of the acts on the BMG Tropical Series, which has some great Beny More cds as well as Tito Puente and others. d'Aida mostly sang covers, so nobody can claim that they were trailblazers. Still, Omara, her sister, Elen... Read Full Story

http://www.nelsonguirado.com/media/(Ghost)_Riders_In_The_Sky.mp3Most of the Veterans Day tributes on youtube have music that I don't like as much as the standards or oldies. The new ones seem a little melodramatic. Vaughn Monroe sings "Old Soldiers Never Die" here. He takes service in stride, as part of a man's nature, not as some extraordinary feat. That's probably because service was more universal back then and people had more of a sense of duty. Countries, too, saw war as part of the huma... Read Full Story

Can Fox report something about the Vatican and science without mentioning Galileo in the first sentence or Giordano Bruno, who was not burned at the stake for being a scientist, in the middle of the report. Really, the article needs two anti-Catholic references? Why didn't they say that the search for extraterrestrial life follows the great history of the Catholic Church in encouraging science in general and particular scientists like Galileo; Copernicus; Mendel; and Georges Henri Joseph ... Read Full Story

1. Obama said that the Fort Hood massacre is "incomprehensible." Let me help him: The killer thought that the God in which he believes would like that he murder those who, according to him this time, is harming Muslims. At least that's what he said. Understand? 2. I added on my Fort Hood post that it's true that if a person murders (unjust killing) for his religion, he's a religious fanatic. It follows, however, that a person who kills for material things, like money, is a materialist fanatic... Read Full Story

I may have a mini-obsession at any one time (the last being 40s music), but I'm pretty moderate about any one thing over time and somewhat of a dilettante in breadth of interests- from the physical like cars and technology to the metaphysical to those things in between, like music and art. I partition my radio listening according to this tendency. When I reach maximum political talk radio capacity, I switch to straight news, music, or, like I did a couple of years ago, the Comedy Channel on S... Read Full Story

Besides the loss of life and casualties and the horror experienced by family and friends of the deceased; I hate these mass-murder events for the meaning that people project onto the incident. Because the left in 2009 doesn't perceive of Muslims as an ideological enemy, liberals have been mostly mute on the issue, except for the occasional gun control utterance. Now, if Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had had Glenn Beck's station on one of his car stereo pre-sets, progressives would have gone nuts. ... Read Full Story

When one of my high school students asked for help with her resume, I sat down with her in front of the computer and searched for templates. Templates are an OK way of doing resumes: you download one, highlight the included text, and substitute your own information. I'm fortunate that I haven't had to do a resume for a few years. When I needed them, in the mid-nineties to early 2000s, I would use resume software which would automatically format my input. I don't remember the exact name, but ... Read Full Story

Magnificent. A Christmas Carol combines a traditional, faithful in every sense of the word telling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with probably the best realistic-type animation ever, surpassing the previous record-holders, Up and Bolt from the past year. It’s been usual for contemporary adaptations to update the CC premise, sometimes infusing it with a modern, secular sensibility. Not this time. We get a historically accurate setting with characters approaching Christ... Read Full Story