Big Brother Blues

Paco's been acting up a bit. I mean he is a little needy, or a lot really, but his life has turned to absolute shit. Imagine being the only one who gets all the love and all the time at the park, and then within a two year span a cat and two babies show up. And in that time we invited every wayward, halfway house rehab experiment in the metro area to stumble around our house with power tools. Yah, we remodeled. Well "we" didn't, but some others tried.

Q's been good. Maybe a little moodier, but today I got off work early and we went and threw rocks into the river. It's great therapy.

I'm listening to a salsa. It's for this weekends wedding at Cordillera near Vail. It's really nice. Sometimes I hate weddings.

But Salsa I can dig. And don't think for one moment that Salsa is a Merengue and Merengue is a Samba. It's all different and only someone with rhythm can figure it out. So I get help, usually at parties and weddings I have a crowd of Latinos and Latinas gathered around my computer watching me scroll through my selection so I get it right. Will a Ranchero be the proper fit for this Spanish crowd? WRONG! Not if they're from Spain, but throw on an accordion for the Chihuahua set and they'll bore a hole in the floor.

I love watching different cultures dance. Hava Nagila brings Jews back from the dead. And those old enough to be Andy Rooney's grandfather have the strength to hoist a portly bride on a cast iron chair. No, really, think about becoming Jewish. I played Hava Nagila four times in a row last weekend, and some guy with that old guy hump and sweater to match leapt into the circle and busted out some serious folk dancing. This is the same guy who'd cut the Challah and said the prayer. He seemed so old then. He did the Yiddish version and then said, "I don't remember the English." And he was about to give up when his wife, a version of George Costanza's mother, shouted, "Blessed are you looord...."

He repeated what he could hear. "Blessed are you...what? Speak up? Lord?"

"Our God King of the Universe..." And he cupped his ear to hear what was quite impossible for all of us to ignore. A shrill startling birds out of trees.

"Our God. King? What are you saying?"

"King of the Universe," she shouted back. It was like a skit.

"Well, I can't hear you!"

"Universe!"

And then I played Hava Nagila and he was a Rockette kicking and springing with cat-like agility.

Oh, god, it's late. I'm just going to post some pictures.

sadness abound

and this is where the whole ethnic dancing thing popped in my head

Flamenco: Either you're born with it or you're not.

Otto can do it in his sleep.