FAMOUS ACTOR DE NIRO
DONATES MEMORABILIA TO
UT AUSTIN RANSOM CENTER
COL. 7 NOTES FROM LA LA LAND submitted Mon., Sept. 18, 2006
In my sophomore year at UT-Austin I distinctly remember an English Lit. teacher by the name of Dr. Harry Ransom, who taught us of the beauty and significance of important words written by great literary figures. Years later I heard he had been upgraded from Professor to Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
But the latest word on Dr. Ransom really sent me flying with joy for the entire state of Texas . The conservation department of the Harry Ransom Humanities Rsearch Center at UT-Austin is celebrating already 25 years of public service in the field of conservation and preservation.
Since it began in 1980, the center's conservation department has established itself as a pioneer in the conservation of library materials (City of Laredo , take note re: all the valuable materials found recently in storage boxes). The department is challenged continually in the areas of treatment, preventive care, research, and education.
When I found out what superstar actor Robert De Niro did recently for the Ransom Center , I nearly fell off my rocking chair.
De Niro, who's been actor, director, and producer, has donated his entire collection of film-related materials to the Ransom Center at UT-Austin. Dating back to the late 60's to the present, the De Niro archive includes annotated scripts, notes, research materials, and an extensive collection of the costumes De Niro used in his films. Remember "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," "The Godfather--Part 2," and "The Deer Hunter."
In more than 100 boxes, De Niro included the paper portion of his collection. Included are scripts and books with handwritten notations, correspondence with film notables such as Martin Scorcese and Elia Kazen, background research and the notebooks De Niro kept of his films, all showing the evolution from text to the movie image. More than 3000 individual costume items and props used in De Niro's films are included.
A seminal figure in late 20th century cinema, De Niro says: One of the most important things about the Harry Ransom Center is that the material will be available to students and the public. Ultimately, that's what it's all about.
The De Niro collection definitely enhances the film collection at the Ransom Center , along with materials from such film legends as David O. Selznick and Gloria Swanson. But the De Niro Collection is unique because of its depth and scope. No other actor's archive is as large and comprehensive as De Niro's.
Once processed, cataloged and housed, the collection will be available to you for research. High-resolution press images from the De Niro collection are available. For more information contact: Harry Ransom Center , Jennifer Tisdale, 512-471-8949. For contact with Robert De Niro, call Stan Rosenfield, 310-407-3444.
Speaking of glamour--make that glamour, guts, and glory--we get to Gov. Ann Richards, who I admired since I first learned about her. From teacher to Governor of the State of Texas ! She was a role model for everyone. Laredo 's ex-Mayor Betty Flores writes: I have had very few true great friends in my life on this earth. Ann Richards was one of these. A woman whom I did not see often nor talk to often, but whom I could count on always and who was always there when I did call or when I did need to see her. A woman so committed to making the world a better place(or at least Texas ) that she worked harder than anyone I know to do just that. I feel very honored to have been included in the press release Cathy Bonner sent out as a person to be contacted to talk to about Ann. Ann's death is a personal loss to me, and a great loss to all who needed her as their role model, their mother, grandmother, leader, and friend.
But nothing in Ann Richards' history marked her guts and love of fun better than when The Texas Monthly Magazine put her on their July 1992 cover. Dressed all in white, mounted on a Harley Davidsomotorcycle......that picture, to me, says it all....glamour, guts, glory.
I called John Broders of The Texas Monthly to double check on information put on the net by c/net news.com, and Broders confirmed that the information on Ann Richards was correct.
As it turns out, the picture on the motorbike was created by splicing the head of Richards onto the body of a model. The editors explained that their credit page disclosed this fact by noting in the credits page "Cover Photography by Jim Myers...Stock photograph (head shot) by Kevin Dandivier/Texasstock."
According to Hany Farid of Dartmouth College , who wrote the blurb for c/net, after the motorcycle cover appeared, Richards said that since the model had such a nice body, she could hardly complain.
And that was the spirit of Ann Richards, who will be greatly missed by all of us. One note on a floral tribute at the State Capitol read: Ann, thank you for all that you've done for women in Texas . We will miss you dearly. President Bill Clinton, who escroted her flag-draped casket into the Texas state Capitol, recollected her as the woman he
called "spontaneous, unedited, earthy, hilarious." Ann Richards appointed more women and minorities to state posts than any of her predecessors. She called it the "New Texas ," where young girls could grow up to be scientists, engineers, police officers, and teachers....where the dreams and the spirit were as big as the sky. Indeed, Ann Richards, we will miss you.
But let's go to some chisme, the way Ann Richards would have liked.
Some Texas connections at the Emmys a few weeks ago......
It hadn't hit me till I saw them all together in the Aron Spelling tribute that two of the three original Charlie's Angels are from Texas ! ! Jaclyn Smith is from Houston and Farrah Fawcett is from Corpus Christi (as is bombshell Eva Longoria). Spelling, of course, was from Texas as was his first actress wife now gone, Carolyn Jones, of Amarillo, who was Tori Spelling's mother.
Best actress Mariska Hargitay's mother was from Texas (remember blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield?). Janye was a student at UT Austin around the time that I was there or earlier, but she only stayed one semester and headed for Califas because she was sure she was going to be a movie star. So she created the screeching eek sound and public persona that became her trademark and away she went. Jayne's death was horrible.....she was in a speeding Cadillac in Louisiana , on her way to a stage show she was touring, when the Cadillac slammed at high speed into and under the trailer of an 18-wheeler. Newspapers all over the US carried a side pic of the back of the trailer and the smashed Cadillac, It wasn't till after the picture ran front page that it was realized that a white blob on top of the Cadillac hood was Jayne's head. And that's how Mariska Hargitay's mother died.......so Mariska was brought up most of her young life by her father, which is why she always thanks him in public when she is interviewed. She adores him.
For many years I have had Thanksgiving dinner at Peter & Sharon Lupus' house, and Mariska's dad, Mickey Hargitay, is always there. He and Pete became friends when young and into the physical culture scene (Pete was Mr. Indianapolis and later Mr. Galaxy in the Beach movie with Frankie Avalon & Annette Funicello.) .
And my sister's favorite tv show (24) won Emmys for best actor and best drama ! So she's in heaven now.......if you can believe it, she owns the CD's of all the series.....que locura....and let's not forget that PJ Andrews, Julia Vera's prolific son, was nominated for the 4th year in a row for an Emmy for sound in "24". He didn't win this year, but he did last year, and that's good. PJ is already working on a new tv weekly show to watch, titled "Shark."
Totally unrelated to all of the above, I was in disbelief when in a chat room someone wondered why the carne asada at El Rincon del Viejo in Nuevo Laredo always tastes so deliciously different than any other place. I suggested that the unique taste is due to the fact that they cook the meat with mesquite logs. Amigo Gus Perez, aka The Science Marvel of Laredo , agreed !
Time for Norma Adamo's TAN TAN ! Till next time.
(Dr. Neo is a Ph.D. in Dance in Los Angeles, Tiger Legend 2002, and Senor Internacional de Beverly Hills 1997. Contact at neodance@aol.com)
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Column 6 in LareDos August 2006
Intocable_4_ever@yahoo.com
Look for Intocable's latest Album's "Nuestro Destino Estaba Escrito" and "Intimamente."
Think of how many things you have experienced only ONCE in your lifetime.....and let me share my list with you. Only once have I known of a worldwide famous prize-winning musical group from Zapata, my birthplace back when it was a real ranch town in 1936. Only once have I known a Laredo mayor to have an aunt who is a showbiz superstar in Mexico. Only once have I danced on the same dance studio floor, in person, with one of the stars of the original WEST SIDE STORY musical on Broadway. Only once have I had a friend who still remembers the first Superman comic book. Only once I have met a real officer in the Israeli military.
Let's start with the untouchable INTOCABLE conjunto from Zapata. A lifetime source from Zapata tells me that I was wrong about the two guys I met in LA during the premiere of REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES several years ago. They were the singing gardner's sons in the movie. He says:
The two guys who appeared in REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES were the guys from LA COSTUMBRE, not from INTOCABLE. Those guys are Jose Zamora and Edgar Lujan.
Ricardo J. (Ricky) Munoz, the lead singer and accordionist for INTOCABLE, owns 60% of the group. He is the son of Javier Munoz (son of Francisco Munoz and a daughter of Evaristo Gutierrez) and Maricela Soliz Munoz (daughter of Joaquin Soliz {aka “La Gata”} from San Ygnacio). Es de los Munoz de Falcon.
Rene O. Martinez, the percussionist, owns 40% of the group. The rest of the band changes over time. Rene is the son of Carlos Martinez (son of Benito Martinez who used to farm next to Neo's Papa Lupe’s farm in Zapata) and Maria Elena Santos (daughter of Remigio Santos). Rene’s grandfather and our grandfather were very close friends. Benito had 9 children—one female (Mercedes Gonzalez) and the rest males: Benito Jr., Juan, Eloy, Mauro, Luis, Carlos, Angel, and Gilberto (arranged by age with oldest first). I think that only Luis, Carlos, and Gilberto still live.
The other current members are:
DANIEL SANCHEZ-----2nd voice and bajo sexto
FELIX SALINAS---------Bass guitar
SERGIO SERNA--------Percussion
JOSE JUAN HERNANDEZ---------Animador
JOHNNY LEE ROSAS----Vocals, bajo sexto
The group has had some serious problems and a lot of very good experiences. They had the tragedy some 8 years ago in which 3 members of the team died in an auto accident enroute to Monterrey. Ricky and Rene were thrown clear of the vehicle at 100+ mph and survived.
The best anecdote I recall occurred on the Sabado Gigante show with Don Francisco. Don Francisco asked Ricky who owned the group. Ricky’s answer was “Rene owns 40% and I own 60%”. The follow-up question was “So when the group plays, say,for $100,000, how much do you get?” Ricky stuttered and responded, “ I am not good at math; the manager distributes the funds.”
Currently INTOCABLE probably is the most influential group in Tejano music, and their tough Tejano-Norteno fusion has become the blueprint for dozens of other Tex-Mex groups. Tight instrumentation and vocal harmony, as well as romantic hooky melodies, are consistently imitated by other great groups, such as Iman, Duelo, Costumbre, Solido, and Zinzerro, among others.
The group, from its beginnings in the early 90's, went on to major accomplishments, including four consecutive sold-out nights at Mexico City's prestigious Auditorio Nacional . They also sold out in their 2003 headlining show at Reliant Stadium in Houston, which drew a record 70,000 fans. The group has won at least eight of Univision's PREMIO LO NUESTRO awards, their first GRAMMY in 2005 for best album titled INTIMAMENTE. Just last month they were named as best in their category at PREMIOS JUVENTUD by Univision. The award list goes on, turning what once was a dream in Zapata into the biggest artists in Tex-Mex music.
At the age of ten, Ricky Munoz and Rene Martinez, started playing the accordion, and they listened to the music of legendary Tejano musicians and accordionist Ramon Ayala. Recording demo tapes in Corpus Christi, they got their first big break after tons of local radio play, and that's when Manolo Gonzalez of EMI Latin in San Antonio signed them to a record deal. Their first album with EMI was FUEGO ETERNO. Then came shows at clubs and dances. Then came an album titled INTOCABLE, and it earned gold in Mexico and platinum in the US. They have now celebrated their 10-year loyalty to EMI Latin by releasing a greatest hits album entitled X, the Roman number for ten, the number of years they have been with the label.
But on Jan. 30, 1999, Intocable's living dreams came to an abrupt halt when a tragic automobile accident claimed the lives of three members of the group: Angel Farias, video producer, Silvestre Rodriguez, electornic director, and Jose Angel Gonzalez, the band coordinator. Soon after, the Texas Senate, in a move headed by Sen. Judy Zaffirini, passed Resolution No. 221 in memory of the three.
But before we leave the showbiz theme, another once in a lifetime for me is having a Laredo mayor whose aunt is a superstar in Mexican theater. I first became aware of super-talented actress-director-producer Carmen Salinas when she appeared in a supporting role in an American film megahit MAN ON FIRE, with Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, and Marc Anthony. (I see that film on cable tv now all the time. ) For her great work in theater, movies, and TV, Carmen was celebrated in Guadalajara for her 50 years in her professional field Besides being impresario, she also acts in AVENTURERA, which has been her current headlining project for some time. The production has showcased major acting talents as Edith Gonzalez, Itati Cantoral, Niurka Marcos, and Patricia Navidad, all in the leading role. Although the production has been presented in the past in Nuevo Laredo, it is now ready for a major showcase in Laredo proper at LEC on Fri., Aug. 18, at 8 p.m. It's called Mexico's longest playing and most popular musical. Alegria Promotions and SC Entertainment are the presenters. Get ready for audience participation, with themes touching different social issues, including politics. Run, don't walk, to Ticketmaster to get your tickets ! But also get your big bucks ready....
Another once in my lifetime event for me was when I got to dance on the same dance studio floor at Carnegie Hall in NYC with David Winters as my jazz dance teacher. In the afternoons we would take classes from him; at night he was starring in WEST SIDE STORY, in its original presentation. He also reproduced his BABYFACE character in the movie. Watch for him when you watch cable tv.
My final once in a lifetime event for today is Sara Puig Laas, who tells me that the first SUPERMAN comic hit Laredo's St. Peter's School like a blockbuster in 1938. All the boys wanted to read it, and even some of the girls loved it because of Lois Lane, says Sara. "I was only in 3rd grade, but whoever had some spare change would buy it and share it," she writes.
Btw, Sara is also one of my once in a lifetime experiences because I've never had a friend nicknamed LALA LIMONADA, which is Sara's alter ego.
My last once in a lifetime experience is meeting a young lady officer in the Israeli Army, when she addressed the BevHillsHS Faculty, when I was a member many years ago. She came to mind with all the Mid-East turmoil in the news. She told us that everyone in Israel has to serve in the military, as I admired her movie star good looks. But, boy, she was hard as nails when she spoke to us. I think every Jew in America sends $$$ to Israel to support their national defense. It kinda reminds me of the Mormons, who give 10% of all their earnings to their church. Also, let's not forget Israel's formidable defense, or offense as you see it, which starts with the best jets that the US can provide, as well as other fighting equipment.
The young lady officer also reminded of something I learned in Dance History class. If you look at the folk dances of the Jewish people, you will note that all dances are done in a circle, holding hands, or with shoulders intervwined. That is symbolic of their unity as a people. (Think of the fragmented hip-hop dance of America, in contrast.) One thing I'm sure of....Israel will NEVER BACK DOWN.
Some random closing thoughts: why is it that all the showbiz people in Univision's PREMIOS JUVENTUD looked like pimps and hookers ? Other unrelated thoughts: Remember that everyone seems normal until you get to know them.....never pass up an opportunity to go to the bathroom......and if you woke up breathing, congratulations.....you get another chance!
And Normis would kill me if I didn't tell you to look up the MHS La Pitahaya and St. Joseph's yearbooks online at : www.bordertitlecom/pitahaya. Marvel at the incredible work spearheaded by Evan Quiros.....but that's another story for next time. Thanks to Roberto San Miguel for help understanding INTOCABLE, and Senor Temo Rocha for pointing us to the Pitahaya website.
Till next time , as Normis Adamo says: TAN TAN !
(Dr. Neo is a PhD in Dance and Fine Arts, Tiger Legend 2002, Senor Internacional de BevHills 1997, and retired BevHillsHS Faculty. Contact Dr. Neo at neodance@aol.com)
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LareDos JULY 2006 ISSUE -- COLUMN 4
DR. NEO'S NOTES FROM LA LA LAND
"Mexico is a country of masks. Whether out of fear or self-
protection, we rarely present our true face to the world. Mexicans are secretive by nature. Our formality is a shield against scrutiny. We use masks all the time."
Those are the words of the Rev. Sergio Gutierrez Benitez, who lives today in old age in Teotihuacan, a village outside Mexico City, once a pilgrimage site for the kings of the Aztecs.
But Rev. Benitez's words take deeper meaning when we learn that for years he was Fray Tormenta ("Friar Storm"), who fought lucha libre style, concealing his true identity beneath a golden cape, a yellow leotard with "FT" in red across his chest, his costume complete with a red and yellow mask. His fame comes from his 4,000 lucha libre bouts spanning 23 years of his young life, back in the 40's.
His mask was his way of maintaining one of the best-kept secrets of Mexican wrestling, which symbolically represents good and evil, tragedy and comedy, in mankind. Whatever lucha libre represents, when people love lucha libre, they really love it.
The most important thing about Fray Tormenta is that he took up wrestling to raise food money for a Catholic home for abandonred children. Today, in his old age, he still manages to do that with 80 children in his care, but the food money no longer comes from his bouts in lucha libre. He is no longer the luchador who beat his opponents with double somersaults, boots banging against chests in mid-air, pinning with arm locks that could cripple a normal person. Today he is a small man, wearing glasses, with a broad torso, and he is a diabetic.
Why the double life, priest by day and masked luchador at night, and how did he manage to keep his secret? His explanation is simple. He believes that no one would have taken him seriously if the fans and promoters had known he was a priest. Everyone thought his luchador name was a joke. His secret was imperative.
The Reverend's love for lucha libre came first, then the priesthood. He was born in a rough Mexico City 'hood, there lucha libre was more popular than soccer. Knowing how to protect yourself by means of self-defense could mean the difference between life and death in some instances.
One of 18 kids in a family with no money, he went to Veracruz where he got to know pimps and prostitutes, and he became a druggie. When he felt he had hit the bottom, he went to talk to a priest for help. The priest chased him out of the church. He was so angry at that priest that he decided that there should be better priests in this world to help people like him.
By age 22, his acceptance by a Spanish Catholic order dedicated to teaching took him to Rome and Spain,. Later he taught philosophy and history at Roman Catholic universities in Mexico. But a chance meeting with a child sleeping under a bridge in Veracruz made Father Sergio ask permission from his superiors to found an orphanage. He was refused. That caused him to leave the Scholastic Order and he joined the diocese of Texcoco. There the bishop and people of Teotihuacan got him the money for Father Sergio's home for orphans.
But money for food for the children was always in short supply. Every day Father Sergio had no idea where the food money would come from. And that's how he became a professional luchador, suffering dislocated arms, a broken nose, three cracked ribs, and several mangled fingers. And he never made the millions he thought he could earn as a luchador. He even went to Japan 14 times and to the US 70 times. The most money he ever made was $5,000 from a lucha in Japan. As a consequence his orphans never went hungry. One of his orphans is now a doctor, three are lawyers, 12 are computer analysts, and 16 teach school. His orphans are his proudest achievement. The orphans mean more to him than his having been a lucha libre superstar in Mexico.
From a mask craze in lucha libre started by El Enmascarado, a lucha libre star in 1934, to Fray Tormenta, we go to the lucha libre bouts in Laredo back in the 40's. As a kid in Laredo, I remember hearing from my father of the lucha libre events in Laredo at the original old Laredo City Hall, known commonly as "la comandancia". (That's the building across from the abandoned Plaza Theater downtown Laredo.) But the best story so far from that period comes from Helen Garza Roeder, now a carriage horse-breeder in North Texas. She used to live on Salinas Ave., where her father had a refrigeration and restaurant supply business, a couple of blocks from where we lived on Convent Ave.
Writes Helen about lucha libre in Nuevo Laredo: In the mid 1950s, Mom and Dad were devoted fans of lucha libre . They always had a reserved seat in the front row, until one of the wrestlers got thrown out of the ring and landed on my Mom's lap ! After that they moved a couple of rows back. I used to go with them back when I was about 17. There was a wrestler who called himself "El Sordo-Mudo," and he used to flirt with me. He'd be in a hold, but he would manage to be facing us. He's look up and wink at me. I was so embarrassed ! I was married, pregnant, and the guy was flirting with me ! I was so naiive and backward back then. Btw, my son turned 49 last January, so that was 50 years ago! Que recuerdos!
From the Arizona State Museum in Tucson, we learn that promoter Salvador Lutteroth was the first to bring a masked luchador to Mexico City in 1934. The wrestler was an Irishman from Boston, John "Cyclone" MacKey, who wore a leather mask as a gimmick. But neither KacKey or Lutteroth knew about the importance that masks play in Mexican culture. The museum's notes continue: Masks have long been an integral part of Mexico's rich festival life. Aztec, Mayan, and other cultures of prehistoric Mexico used masks to commermorate life cycles, marriage ceremonies, and death rituals, to ensure favor from nature and the gods, in battle, and for entertainment. Aztec warriors disguised themselves as jaguars and eagles to fight against conquistadors. But early church missionaries tried to eliminate masked ceremonies, replacing them with dramas that were rooted in Christianity. Many of the indigenous festivities became intermingled with Christian beliefs, with the resulting rituals recreating historical events. What emeged was a distinctive Mexican manner where pre-Columbian worldviews are still apparent. The use of masks declined, until lucha libre brought them back into popular focus.
The Arizona website is worth the trip: www.statemuseum.arizona.edu
At that website you'll also get to see the distinctive lucha libre artwork of Xavier Garza, of the Rio Grande Valley, who grew up with the legends of lucha libre, which he loved. The result of his work as a visual artist is Las Super Luchas, now an exhibit at the Arizona museum. His 20 art works mark major events in lucha libre history. It's also a tribute to the lucha libre maneuvers and specialty matches immortalized because of their deadliness and silliness. Some of the art work titles are La de a Caballo (The Rocking Horse), the Gory Special and El Tope Atomico (Atomic Headbutt), hair vs. hair matches, and the deadliest match for all for a masked luchador--a mask vs mask match.
And, btw, Father Sergio's work is now immortalized by Hollywood comedian Jack Black in the film NACHO LIBRE, which is very, very loosely based on the life story of the young Fray Tormenta. The film promo is what brought the real Fray Tormenta to my attention. Crazy? That's Hollywood, folks!
NACHO LIBRE is another unique _expression of Black's comedic genius. He's only 31, and if he continues his comedy work in film, he could eventually many years from now reach the status of a Charlie Chaplin or Cantinflas. He's that good. Equally funny in the Nacho film is Hector Jimenez, who plays El Esqueleto, a fey man-urchin, who helps the Fray raise food money for the orphans by backing him up on the lucha libre ring as Nacho's partner. Julia Vera asked someone at the movie premiere where they had found this guy, and no one knew where he came from or how he was found as an actor. An unknown great Mexican actor now maybe on his way to more great things in film, let's hope.
NACHO LIBRE , who believed in angels, reminded me of a message sent by a friend: I'm surrounded by angels, but I call them my best friends.
And that's you, and you, and you....
As Normis Adamo says: TAN TAN! Till next time!
(Dr. Neo is a Ph.D. in Dance and Related Fine Arts, Tiger Legend 2002, and Senor Internacional de Beverly Hills 1997. Contact in LA: neodance@aol.com)
Arizona State Museum’s
Mexican Mask Exhibit
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LareDos JUNE 2006 ISSUE -- COLUMN 3
DR. NEO'S NOTES FROM LA LA LAND
In the ever-revolving windows of my mind I see often a very tired
_expression,
"Different strokes for different folks." But today, in
glaring neon, there's a slight twist, for it says, "Different FUEL for
different
folks." In a somewhat bizarre juxtaposition come thoughts
of the spiritual fuel of the soul, as experienced by Laredo's beautiful
Matachines, of north Laredo. Then there's plain, ordinary, common everyday fuel for the cars we must drive. In another window of the mind there's fuel that keeps a heavy heart going, in the midst of all the hate being expressed by Latinos toward their own race, some of it in the shape of undocumented immigrants. And finally, a truly bizarre thought of the fuel that keeps winning boxer Oscar de la Hoya winning.
Los Matachines de Laredo express their spiritual need through the constant thumping of their feet in dance to music and song of ancient origins. This came to mind with beautiful photography by Erasmo Elias Riojas, age 75, now of Pearland, Texas, and an original Matachin from Dolores, Tx., who transfered residence to the La Ladrillera 'hood in Laredo in 1938 after the coal mine in Dolores flooded. He can no longer dance like Los Matachines due to diabetic foot disease and a peripheral neuropathy condition on hands and feet, caused by agent orange to which he was exposed as a US Navy frogman. He says he is in pain 24/7. When he arrived at La Ladrillera in Laredo, btw, he says that 'hood was a farm field, with no water, no electricity, no sewage, no streets. (That sounds like some parts of Laredo today.) Around 1940 they started selling lots there, he believes, and his family ended as next door neighbors to the head of Los Matachines at that time.
The leading academic archivist of Los Matachines is Dr. Norma Cantu, now a professor of English and US Latino/a Literature at UTSan Antonio. She went there to implement a Ph.D. program in English after teaching for 20 years at TAMIU. Several years ago she produced for PBS in San Antonio a documentary on Los Matachines. How did she get to do it, considering the great privacy that Los Matachines practice? Her sister is married to the head of Los Matachines at that time. Some time later the TV program showed in Laredo through Laredo PAccTV, on one of my excellence-in-performance recognition series.
She writes on the history of this inspired/inspiring group:
In Laredo, Texas, Los Matachines de la Santa Cruz de la Ladrillera perform a variation of the traditional Coahuiltecan matachín. The group moved to Laredo from the coal-mining towns near Dolores, Texas, in 1939 and settled in the barrios that became known as La Ladrillera and Cantarranas. Upon their arrival they built a chapel to house their Holy Cross in its own terreno, its own place or land. The matachín performed by this group honors the Holy Cross as a symbol of communal unity and commitment. On December 12 they dance in honor of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe; on May 3 in honor of the Holy Cross, the eighty or so members of the dance group in Laredo follow the image of an eight-foot wooden cross adorned with colorful flowers on a religious procession to Holy Redeemer Church, dancing at particular stops along the way. The syncretism of pre-Columbian and Christian symbols found on the matachín traditional dress crops up in various other elements of the celebration, which typically lasts from three to five days. Los Matachines de la Santa Cruz de la Ladrillera is the oldest of several groups that still do matachín dances in Laredo. In 1987 the group was invited to the American Folklife Festival at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. It has also received a Texas Folklife Resources apprenticeship grant. The troupe performed at the Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio in 1988 as well as the Dance Performance program in Houston. Matachines are also performed in other Texas towns and as far west as California, as well as in northern Mexico; some performances occur in Yaqui, Tohono O'Dam, and Opata pueblos, but others, as in Laredo and El Paso, in Mexican-American communities, and even in Chicago and Dallas. Some groups such as the Yaquis prohibit women from participating, but for the most part the dance is performed by both men and women.
Dr. Cantu attended this past year's fiesta, and she reports that it
was truly beautiful with a new group from Sta. Margarita de Escocia from South Laredo joining the group. On that Sunday there were 80 dancers !
But a most interesting culture-clash incident was reported by Norma Rodriguez Adamo. She writes:
What a marvel to see first hand ! Los Matachines de La Ladrillera, the huge Holy Cross bedecked in colorful flowers, the costumes, the dancing, the beat of the drum that seems in sync with your own heartbeat.....100 degree weather even at 5 p.m. when the procession started carrying the Holy Cross through the narrow streets ofthe barrio on it's way to Holy Redeemer Church......costumed kids from 4years old, men and women in their eighties, and every age in between....slowly making their way to Holy Redeemer Church..people along the waycoming out on their front porch to watch... finally, the procession stops in front of the church, but the beating drum and the dancing continues. Lo and behold..there is a 'quinceañera' mass letting out just when the bells start tolling at exactly 6 pm.......You should have seen the awestruck, aqua-blue-dressed girls and their 'chamberlains' as they came out of the church to find this large group of Matachines dancing, beating the drum, and blocking their limos!
Make that: their 'tuxedoed chamberlains'. It was surreal, actually...the kids in their formal dresses and tuxedos in contrast to the kids in Matachines costumes.....the formally dressed kids staring, wondering what the heck is going on ...and the Matachines kids teenage barrio girls and boys, in their costumes and concentrating faces, keeping up with the constant thumping rhythm of the drums.So much for spiritual fuel for the soul.
Let's move on now to the very real problems in our everyday lives today with car fuel. To me, all oil news stories focus on one or another group's problems or views in the current crunch. (A few blocks from where I live we got to see in Beverly Hills one gallon of gas for $4.20 in May.) Who do you believe ? I decided to go with the words of an ex-Laredoan, a true professional in the field, James Pappas, now of Kingwood, Tx., 30 miles NE of downtown Houston. James has a BA in chemistry, math, & Spanish, a BS in Chemical Engineering from UTAustin, and an MBA from UTTyler. A registered professional engineer in Texas since 1985, he is Senior Engineering Advisor & Global Technology Coordinator for the Devon Energy Corportation. He has two sons, and his wife Martha, also from Laredo, is from the Lopez Superior Bakery family. Every night James helps his two sons while they do their homework. How can I NOT trust the opinion of such a guy ?
James tries to make sense of the current situation for us when he says:
It's only my opinion, but perhaps it'll explain what's going on with gasoline right now. For years those of us working in the oil and gas industry have warned government and consumers alike that supplies would eventually tighten up, that the cheap fuels the US has been accustomed to were going to dwindle, that there were too few educated geologists and engineers in this industry to find more reserves, and that the culmination could be painful in the least and disasterous at worst. While a few people listened, most, including the majority of our elected officials (dating back to the mid-1970's, from both major parties , chose to ride the wave of the oil shocks of '73 & '79 and subsequent declines of 1986-89 and 92-99. It seems all they were interested in was a false sense of security by the masses, to keep the economic engine going. Indeed, the oil price collapse of the late 1980's led to the downfall of the Soviet Union, since its chief monetary holding wasn't gold, but oil. For that we can all be glad. However, although we conserved energy of all types for a while, we reverted to our old ways of excessive useage of fuels to improve our lifestyle to the point of where we now import over 60% of oil from such rogue or anti-democratic nations as Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia. Is it reliance or addiction? You can judge for yourselves.
Now for the present: Every year, US refineries must
shut down for repair and maintenance. They typically do so in the spring, before peak oil demand rises. They try to work in sequence, to avoid major disruptions, but due to US law, they are forbidden from directly informing one another about their plans. Also, due to last year's hurricanes and their effects, over 38% of offshore Gulf of Mexico oil still is shut in and unable to supply refineries. Then there's the fiascos and nervousness due to the Iraq war, Iran's intentions to go nuclear (or nucular, as George Bush says), and Russia's, Venezuela's and Peru's apparent reversion to socialistic tendencies, which together add anxieties to the market. The result is that speculators have bid up the price of oil and its products, including gasoline and other fuels, as well as gold, platinum and silver, and they are reselling them at a short term profit on the open markets.
Let's look at the realities: I've read that consumer demand is
actually down, which doesn't surprise me given the current high cost.
Supplies are temporarily low, due to refinery shut-ins for maintenance. The Gulf of Mexico work to re-establish production continues at a record pace and, barring another major hurricane, could be back above 95% production by late August according to my sources. The remainder of current high prices is purely due to worries about the world's situation, the local economy, and to these speculators who continually try to manipulate the markets for their gains; the first two issues I can do nothing nor anticipate nothing about, but the last one will pass within a short time.
The bottom line is that oil prices should peak soon
and gasoline price increases should follow within 6 weeks...as long as the saber rattling doesn't escalate. If it does turn into something more serious, e.g., Venezuela cuts us off, we bomb Iran's nuclear research efforts, Bin Laden's group has another successful major terrorist event, then all bets are off. I know this still makes us all feel uneasy, but at least the cards are on the table and there's some logic to it.
Now let's move on to fuel for my heavy heart, when I feel hate from many Americans--but especially from some American Latinos--who bash undocumented immigrants (pls. note I did not say "illegal" immigrants, because I don't believe any human being is "illegal"). When you can't cry any more, there's only one thing left to do to survive--you laugh. And an unbelievably brilliant comedian, new on Comedy Central TV's THE MIND OF MENCIA, is what keeps me sane, through laughter. Carlos Mencia is the man ! His program is on Wednesday nights at 10:30 p.m.
Billy Crystal says that a comic tells jokes, but a comedian tells jokes and makes you think. Carlos is a comedian. He's the freshest breath of fresh air around, and when he jokes, mostly about racial stuff, he makes me and millions of others laugh.
A friend tells me that a lot of California Mexican hate Mencia due to jealousy and/or maybe because he uses the word "beaners" as he makes fun of Hispanics. But he makes fun of all ethnic groups , so he's not biased against any one group!
Mencia's own personal background is an ethnic hodge-podge itself. Born 1967 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, his mother is Magdalena Mencia from Mexico, and his father is Roberto Holness, of German origin and from Honduras. His parents came to America when Carlos was about 7 months old, and his parents decided to give Carlos to his childless aunt and uncle, Consuelo and Pablo Mencia. Carlos was the 17th of 18 children born to his parents. He lived most of his life in the Maravilla Projects of East LA. He graduated from Garfield HS in LA after being skipped from the 6th grade to the 10th because of his exceptional grades. He majored in electronic engineering at Cal State LA, but dropped out before graduation to pursue his love of comedy.
And his name is NOT Carlos Mencia. His real name is Ned Holness, however, when he was going to play at The Comedy Store on Sunset Strip near where I live, a lady by the name of Mitzi Shore, owner of the Comedy Store, played an important role in the future of his career. Carlos explained in a TV NIGHTLINE interview: Mitzi told me...you can't be a Mexican comedian with a name like Ned Holness ! He suggested Carlos Mencia, and she jumped at the idea, saying yes because the name had rhythm and musicality. (NEO NOTE: Mrs. Shore is the mother of Pauly Shore, who was my student at Beverly Hills HS, and who runs the Comedy Store now. The only time Pauly performed at BHHS was in my Global Village Assembly, where he did break-dancing.)
But let's close with fuel that makes a boxer win. Specifically, think Oscar de la Hoya, who won his last fight at the Las Vegas MGM Grand, even though everyone had fears of rust, doubts about his focus and resolve, and concern of a year and a half of soft living. In a TV interview he exlained his winning training regimen. Five months before fight time, he goes to his cabin in Big Bear Mtn., about 2 hrs. from LA, where he has a full gym, and where he can run up and down the hills without anyone bothering him. At the end of the interview, he explained that part of his training for those 5 months is NO SEX ! ! ! No cuchi-cuchi for 5 MONTHS ! And that, estimados amigos, I suspect would give any 32-yr.-old enough anger fuel to go out and win ANY fight ! AUA !
The funny for this time: Jimmy Kimmel's TV orchestra is Cleto and The Cle-tones. I dare you to say that in Spanish without laughing....and from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, an incisive, thoughtful quote from distinguished gentleman Gen. Robert C. Trimble, retired, who left Laredo in 1933 at age 13 when he lived at Fort McIntosh. He says : We inherit health, wealth, fame, and shame.
Time for.... as Normis Adamo says: TAN TAN ! Till next time...
(Dr. Neo in Los Angeles is a Ph.D. in Dance and Related Fine Arts, Tiger Legend
2002, and Senor Int'l de BevHills 1997. Contact Dr. Neo at www.neodance@aol.com)
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LareDos APRIL 2006 ISSUE -- COLUMN 2
DR. NEO'S NOTES FROM LA LA LAND
Great weather is upon us, and baseball is in the air!
From an e-mail from Gus Garcia, lst Latino ex-mayor of Austin, come some memories about barrio baseball in Laredo and Zapata :
When we first came to Laredo as a family (my brother Paco had come to live
with una tia and my sister Alicia came to attend school as a live-in student at Holding Institute), we lived in a house owned by one of my cousins in the Montrose area. That barrio had a baseball team managed by an old man who was a true baseball fanatic. His teams, unfortunately, lost almost every game. One weekend he announced that the following weekend the team was playing one of the best teams in Laredo, but that his team was going to win the game because a young pitcher from Nuevo Laredo was going to be pitching for his team.
Sure enough, the following Sunday, we all showed up to watch this young
pitcher who was going to take the old man’s team to victory. I do not remember how many innings they played, but I do remember that they went into extra inning with the score tied 0-0. Finally, in the 10th or 11th inning, the other team scored a run and the old man’s team lost 1-0. Later that day we found out that the young star pitcher was none other than Procopio Herrera, who later went on to pitch for the San Antonio Missions and the major league’s St. Louis Browns team. Procopio later took up golf and became a professional golfer and as such was the golf pro at one of the Mexican golf courses.
Neo, you also may remember that Zapata and Guerrero also had baseball
teams. Zapata, in particular, had several very good players, among them mi tio Enrique Mejía, Roberto Cuellar and Conrado Hein. That Zapata team routinely beat the crap out of teams from Laredo and the surrounding area (Roma, Rio Grande, Sullivan City and other towns). The Guerrero team was not worth a damn, but they were great sports (among them Dr. Rubén Flores).
So much for that era of barrio baseball, writes Gus, who just had a school named after him in Austin, Tx.
Last month ground was broken for the Gustavo L. "Gus" Garcia Middle School. It will open in the fall of 2007 for grades 6-8, and the school will house 1,100 students at full capacity. (Good friend Dr. Alfredo "Poison" de los Santos, Jr., a professor at Arizona State in Tempe, has a building named after him at the El Paso (Tx.) Community College. I remember "Poison" from MHS days in the early 1950's.)
Btw, marvel teacher Gus Perez, of the Cigarroa Science Magnet, e-mails us that Procopio Herrera's grandson is a student at Cigarroa HS.
And ex-Laredoan Leonard Anderson adds :
I played on a neighborhood team that was from the PLAZA DE LA NORIA in
Laredo. This was across the street from Central Elementary School on one side and also next to the hamburger stand (Central Lunch stand ?) on the west side of it before encountering San Bernardo.
We used to compete with other teams from the Heights, San Jose (St .
Joseph's neighborhood), el cuatro and others.
We had good stuff regarding our bats and baseballs. They were all acquired
through good practices. We were normally selected to be batboys for the visiting teams, Brownsville Charros, Harlingen Cardinals, McAllen Palms, Del Rio Cowboys, Corpus Christi Aces, Galveston Bucs and the Port Arthur (?), all of the Class B Rio Grande Professional Baseball League that the Laredo Apaches belonged to.
They would provide us with the broken bats which we fixed with appropriate
nails and we would then steal baseballs from them. On the baseballs we always had help from the team members. We also acquired a lot of baseballs from foul balls during games. Rather than use them to go in once the game started we would run away from the guards and throw the ball to our teammates that were scattered all over the first and third base side of the parking lots where the Laredo Civic Center now sits. The park was next to the San Bernardo Fire Station. Every once in a while Nick Canavatti the owner of the team would contact us via someone who would visit us playing in the street. He knew we were from the LA NORIA and he would buy the newer balls back from us.
What a beautiful time that was. It even got better with time, writes Leonard.
But it's time for the "who cares" item for this month:
Tom Cruise's baby was born on the same floor as Brooke Shields', on the
same day, at Cedars Sinai Hospital in BevHills, 8 blocks from where I live. That's where Liz Taylor and all the stars go.
It's also where Lucille Ball died. I remember reading for days huge signs
hanging from some of the tall bldgs. away from but facing the hospital, saying : WE LOVE YOU, LUCY ! ( I drove by Cedars every day for 32 years, on my way to work.)
My mother was in that hospital for surgery once, when my parents lived
w/me here in LA. That's when I found out ALL rooms in the hospital are private rooms, and some are suites, in case a close family member wants to sleep near a patient. That, obviously, doubles the room price.
Interesting that when my nephew, my sister's kid, was interviewing at
different hospitals all over the US, he was offered an intership there are Cedars. But he turned them DOWN ! I couldn't believe it !
His reason was very valid, however: At Cedars they don't let interns do any
"hands on" work on patients....they may only observe regular doctors do it. The hospital is scared of lawsuits.
My nephew told me: how am I supposed to learn how to be a surgeon if it's
all "hands off " w/the internship?
So, at any rate, he was offered an intership at Cedars, at NYC Hospital, etc.
etc., but the one he accepted was the VA Hospital's offer at Long Beach, Califas. And for years now he has been a super surgeon in the Dallas area. (He's a reconstructive plastic surgeon who operates only on the head. He can reconstruct a person's head from scratch, if necessary.)
I feel so Jewish when I say "my nephew, the doctor," and "my niece, the
lawyer." LOL ....(My niece is head legal counsel for Schlotzky's world-wide, as of this writing.)
But let's close with a funny : in a recent e-mail, Renato Ramirez of Zapata
IBC fame tells me that two of his credit cards were cancelled. He called to find out why (he just gave $1 million to TAMIU), and they told him someone had reported him dead ! AAAAGGGGHHHH !
Time for, as Normis Adamo says:
TAN TAN ! ! !
(Dr. Neo is a Ph.D. in Dance and Fine Arts in Los Angeles, Tiger Legend 2002, and Senor Internacional de Beverly Hills 1997. Contact him at neodance@aol.com.)
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LareDos APRIL 2006 ISSUE -- COLUMN 1
DR. NEO'S NOTES FROM LA LA LAND
Senior citizens are forgotten invisible people.
I turned 70 a couple of weeks ago, and that thought entered my
mind. However, a more important thought replaced it quickly:
GRACIAS A DIOS for e-mail and the Internet !
Senior citizens actually are no longer forgotten and/or invisible,
all due to the incredible power of communication placed at our computer keyboard. (Errrr....did Al Gore really invent the Internet? LOL !)
The internet allows me to visit whenever I want with a
humongous amount of Laredoans, ex-Laredoans, and friends from all over the world.
It's as easy as it was for my mother, when she used to stand by
the fence in our backyard on Convent Avenue near MHS, to visit with our next door neighbor. Except, as I sit in my 2nd story apartment in LA LA LAND, I have dozens and dozens of next-door neighbors. But I never have to leave my chair, as I write and read and look upon the Hollywood Hills view at a short distance from me.
That explains the big title of this monthly column which our
beautiful MEG of LareDos has invited me to write. Share what your eyes have seen, she wrote me. How could I say "no" to Laredo's most gutsy, original journalist-historian?
But a word of explanation for the unknowing re: LA LA LAND in
the smaller title. LA LA LAND is what Los Angeles, in Califas, is called by some because of its extraordinary amount of imaginative, creative show biz citizens.
And on to our first column for LareDos !
MEMORIES OF ROCIO DURCAL
Sad news, indeed, on the passing of Spain's great Rocio Durcal,
beautiful lady of golden voice.
The announcement of her passing brought back some sweet
memories of when I met her...
One day, maybe 30+ years ago, I received a phone call from a
lady named Sonia, who I met at a party at my house through Felipe de la Rosa, Charo's choreographer. Both of them were originally from San Antonio, where they became good friends.
In San Antonio Sonia had been a top-notch stripper. When I met
her in LA, she was a producer of live stage shows that traveled on tour to all the Hispanic audience centers in the US: Chicago, NYC, Florida, all the Southwest states. Till I met Sonia, I had no idea that there was such a show-biz circuit for Latino entertainers in the US.
But back to Sonia's phone call to me....Sonia was inviting me to
be her guest at her next show, scheduled for one of the largest casinos in Las Vegas. Her comment: If you get to Las Vegas, I will treat you to room, meals, and the show.
My problem at that point of my life was that I was teaching
summer school at Beverly Hills High, from 8-12 a.m. And the show in LV was going to be on a week-night. But quick planning provided a solution .
I finished at work at noon, went to LAX (LA Int'l Airport), got on a plane
and in 40 minutes I was in Las Vegas. I got to the Sahara Hotel, and my room was waiting for me. After a quick shower, I went to the main ballroom, where Sonia was very busy rehearsing the mariachis and doing sound tests.
Singing live in Sonia's show were Rocio Durcal, Juan Gabriel, a
little boy named Pedrito Fernandez, and a young singer named
Sebastian. The show had dancers, singers, and of course, a first-class mariachi.
I stuck with Sonia through the show, and afterwards we went to
Rocio Durcal's room because she wanted me to meet Rocio personally. No surprise....Rocio was even more gorgeous up close than from a distance.
While we were there Rocio made a phone call home to talk to her
husband in Spain.
After that I remember she discussed Pedrito Fernandez, and her
prediction for him was that he would not make it to a singing career as an adult because he was singing from his throat (a big no-no) instead of with his diaphragm .
But years later Pedrito did make it to a singing career as an adult,
so maybe he changed his approach to singing after Rocio talked to him. (Rocio was a classically trained singer, btw.)
Then we all went to Juan Gabriel's room, and he was already in
bed, enjoying a hamburger from room service.
Somewhere along the way Sonia explained to me the business
arrangement between Juan Gabriel and Rocio Durcal. Rocio would sing Juan Gabriel's songs to introduce Juan Gabriel to the audience in Spain. Juan Gabriel would present Rocio in Mexico, so that audience could get to know Rocio's work. The idea, obviously, was to expand the audience for records and live performances of both artists. It's called target audience development. And as the years went by, it worked !
We partied till around 5 a.m., at which time I left for the Las Vegas
airport. After another 40 min. plane ride, I was back at LAX by 7 a.m. I went directly from LAX to school, where I taught my 8-12 a.m. classes, went home and by 1 p.m. I zonked out and slept the rest of the day. I had gone on 30+ hrs. non-stop, and had loved every minute of it !
I saw an interview on TV a few months ago where Rocio explained about
her fight with cancer. She said she was in remission, and that she was hoping for the best. Unfortunately, things turned for the worst.
And now, Spain's great lady of song is gone.
But she will continue to live in all our hearts as the most beautiful
golden voice of our time and of our Spanish culture.
I know she's singing with the angels now. No doubt whatsoever.
Ahora tengo ganas de llorar...till....
MIND-TRIPPING DURING EYE SURGERY
On a Thursday morning the last week of March, I got up at 5 ,
checked into the one day walk-in-walk-out surgery clinic at Kaiser Permanente, and I was operated on my right eye from about 8:30 to 9:30. I was out of there totally, walking on my own feet, by 10:30 +. A patch over my eye was removed a week later.
And the progress made getting rid of my eye floaters (blood
clots) is unbelievable!
Basically they made three incisions, drained EVERYTHING
INSIDE THE EYE....a total vacuum-like cleaning job.
A VERY interesting aside.....they sedated me very lightly, and I
fell asleep.....but I woke up in the middle of the procedure, and my eyes were all covered with something white. I felt two seemingly huge tubes in my nose, and I had to breathe through open mouth.
I went into a panic attack! In other words, because of so much
oxygen in my system, I started hyperventilating. And the two docs and two nurses were doing a VERY delicate procedure--DON'T MOVE, they kept telling me in loud voice !
At any rate, 30 seconds of panic feels like 30 minutes, and I don't wish that sensation for anyone ever.
When it was all over, I sat upright, and the first thing I said to
the docs and nurses : I am so embarrassed for my behavior ! I apologize for making your difficult job more difficult. I totally forgot to tell you that I am claustrophobic.
B
ackground: when I was a kid, my father took me "swimming" in the Rio Grande at our Sta. Rosa Ranch, near Lopeno and Falcon. I must have been 7 yrs old or so, and I could not feel anything below my feet. The water current was humongous ! My father finally grabbed me and took me out of the river. But I was one scared little Tex-Mex.
Because of that near-drowning experience, every semester I was at UT Austin I took
swimming, to prove to myself that I was not afraid of water. I know how to swim, how to float, but swimming has never been a favorite activity.
I figure that childhood experience opened me to the acquisition of
claustrophobia......any time I am in very closed, closed (no windows) quarters with a lot of people, I don't like it. All my life I have avoided scenarios like that.
But back to my terrific doc re:my panic attack.... My main doc's answer to my apology: Don't worry.....when we do the other eye,
we'll just put you to sleep.
And he left w/a big smile.....is he great or what ? (He rides his
bicycle to work everyday, and he plays the bass guitar for a hobby. How can I not trust a doc like that , although I fought having the operation for 9 months? )
I figure that w/ two docs and four nurses taking care of me, the
operation would have cost me $20,000 or more if I had to pay for it. Instead, because of my Kaiser Permanente policy through BevHillsSchls, which costs me $2000/for the entire year, I paid only $10 for the operation and $5 for some eye drops.....asi como lo oyen.....(HINT: get after ALL legislators to get basic health care for everyone!)
But another new experience: the doc said to remain upright all
the time post-op. My question: you want me to sleep sitting up ? Answer: Yes....just lean on 4-5 pillows. And thus was born another new experience for me....sleeping sitting up.....dooby-dooby dooby-dooby, as in Twilight Zone music, please.
But to close on a lighter note......when I went for my last check-up
with my eye doc, I told him my eye was back about 95%, and he told me I would be surprised by the improvement in the next month. (Ahhhh.....that's how you spell relief.)
I told the doc that his new name was going to be DR.
MAGNIFICO, and he said he was just doing his job.
As a little gift, since he plays bass guitar, I took him a CD of my
friend Charo La Cuchi-Cuchi, playing her flamenco guitar beautifully. He found it interesting when I told him that every day Charo locks hereself for one hour in her bathroom with her guitar to practice---that way NO ONE bothers her while practicing.
And on that creative lifestyle note, I will quote wonderful friend Normis Adamo,
who always closes her e-mails with :
TAN TAN ! ! !
Este cuento se acabo ! Till next time....
(Dr. Neo is a Ph.D. in Dance and Related Fine Arts, Tiger Legend 2002, and Senor Int'l de BevHills 1997. Contact Dr. Neo at www.neodance@aol.com) |
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