I am grateful for online independent publishing. This reminds me, I must upload a free e-book just now 🙂
Month: April 2013
Zach Braff’s Kickstarter
Valid insights about the creative process.
Hispanic and Latin Rockin’ tunes (33)
Today’s groovy and funky spanglish beat comes courtesy of Pacha Massive, a New York-based duo, comprised of Nova (Dominican) and Maya (Colombian), two very talented musicians and performers. Don’t let go was their first track to hit my ears (and stay there!).
Locked doors
Sometimes a locked door can be your best friend. I am grateful, in a bittersweet and paranoid way, for that.
Optimistic
Today and everyday, even if I don’t always acknowledge it, am grateful for second, third and fourth chances. This one’s Optimistic.
Humanize Issue 20
As part of research for an inhouse redesign project I’m currently involved in, I logged into Issuu this morning. One of the site’s recommendations was Humanize. I wish I could download the 20th issue, but I guess we’ll just have to read it here, won’t we? 😉
(update… the embedded option did not work with my template (frown) I suppose it requires a paid upgrade)
A vulgar display of power: “it was a real slap in the face”
Things have been hectic in Guatemala this week. I’ll let Reuters explain:
The genocide trial of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt was mired in uncertainty on Friday as judges squabbled over who should hear the case following an order to annul nearly 18 months of proceedings.
The trial was suspended on Thursday when Judge Patricia Flores, who was originally assigned to the case, ruled all actions taken since she was recused in November 2011 were void, citing an order from the country’s top courts.
On Friday, Guatemala’s attorney general said the ruling was illegal, echoing the view of one of the presiding judges who asked the constitutional court to resolve the matter.
Rios Montt, 86, is charged with genocide and crimes against humanity for a counterinsurgency plan conceived under his 1982-1983 rule that killed 1,771 members of the Ixil indigenous group in one of the bloodiest phases of Guatemala’s civil war.
His trial was hailed as a landmark in efforts to bring justice for victims of the 1960-1996 civil war. It took years to set in motion after Rios Montt’s lawyers repeatedly delayed efforts to make the retired general stand trial.
Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz said the government had lodged an appeal against Flores’ decision.
“I have never seen a case where something like this has happened,” Paz y Paz told Reuters. “It is illegal.”
“What worries me is the image of the justice system in the eyes of the people,” she said, adding she was concerned that the constitutional court had no deadline to resolve the matter.
Flores’ announcement sparked anger among victims of the civil war, which claimed the lives of about 200,000 people and caused the disappearance of another 45,000.
Judge Yasmin Barrios, who has overseen Rios Montt’s trial with two other judges since it began last month, said Flores’ order was against the law. She suspended the hearings on Friday pending a ruling by the Constitutional Court to settle the dispute.
“No public official or citizen is obliged to execute illegal orders … and this court will not do it,” Barrios told the court in Guatemala City where Rios Montt has been on trial.
More than 100 people applauded Barrios’ decision and began to chant “justice, justice” as she left the courtroom.
Flores’ intervention came days before prosecutors had hoped for a judgment in the trial, which has stirred up powerful emotions in Guatemala and cast a harsh light on the actions of the armed forces during the civil war.
ACCUSATIONS
More than a hundred victims have testified during the trial, retelling stories of torture, rape and arson that they endured during Rios Montt’s 17-month rule.
One prosecution witness even implicated President Otto Pérez, himself a retired general, saying soldiers under his command carried out atrocities in the war…
(Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Simon Gardner and Stacey Joyce)
I’m really glad I got to know you
If you haven’t seen Seeking a Friend for The End of The World, please do. It was so moving and entertaining.
Spoiler alert! Some of the final lines:
Penny: I don’t want to fall asleep. Okay? Don’t let me fall asleep. Promise.
Dodge: I promise. What about your parents?
Penny: They’re romantics. They understand. Besides, they’ve got each other. I just want to be with you.
Dodge: And I want to be with you.
Penny: I couldn’t live without you. No matter how long. What do we do now?
Dodge: I just want to lay here with you. Just want to talk to you.
Penny: Okay. What are we gonna talk about?
Dodge: Where’d you grow up?
Penny: Well, I was born in Surrey. My whole family are from there. My mum was a journalist before she married my dad. They never fought. Or at least we never heard them fight. Charlie’s the oldest, then Benny, then me. We had a sister but she died when she was born. I still think about her.
[*explosion*]
Penny: Oh God.
Dodge: What was her name? What was your sister’s name?
Penny: Patricia. Patricia Hope Lockhart.
Dodge: That’s beautiful. That’s a beautiful name.
Penny: I wish I’d met you a long time ago. When we were kids.
Dodge: It couldn’t have happened any other way. It had to happen now.
Penny: But it isn’t enough time.
Dodge: It never would have been.
Penny: I’m scared.
Dodge: I… am madly in love with you, Penny. You’re my favorite, favorite thing.
Penny: I thought that somehow we’d save each other.
Dodge: We did. Penny. I’m really glad I got to know you.
Scared of what?
In my country the army’s scared?
When this sort of thing happens
You learn to sigh and brush it off.
Early thirties
He listened to Pantera. He looked forward to therapy.
Early thirties, paper airplanes.
Played truth or dare with himself.
Duffboy imagery
Artwork by Strawberries
The Guatemalan cosplay experience
It was the second time I was assigned to photograph a cosplay/anime convention, here in Guatemala City (ok, to be honest, this time I around I offered to cover it). It was a brief, but stimulating 35 minutes. I share with you a few snapshots to prove my point, taken at the Akiba Show event.
Swoon alert! Ryan Gosling Speaks Up For Cows
Good to know that he`s voicing his outrage!
Is is possible to love this man any more!? Ryan Gosling has penned a letter on behalf of PETA to the National Milk Producers Federation urging officials to require dairy farmers to begin phasing out ‘dehorning’ – which is a painful process in which calves have their horns gouged out or sensitive horn tissue burned out of their heads.
“There is absolutely no reason – and no excuse – for the cruel, unnecessary practice of dehorning to continue.”
We love when celebs use their voice to speak up for animals! You can read the full letter and learn how you can lend your voice against dehorning too over on PETA.org.
Goosebumps at night
I am grateful today for the ability to read… and find used books at bargain prices. I mean specifically Chuck Palahniuk’s Fugitives and Refugees. A walk in Portland, Oregon. That is all for now, but it’s good enough, good and plenty.
For some reason or another, haters gonna hate
I could not help but research, reflecting upon my own hating, the nature of haters gonna hate:
“Haters Gonna Hate is a catchphrase used to indicate a disregard for hostile remarks addressed towards the speaker. This expression has its roots in American hip hop, and spawned an image macro series featuring pictures of celebrities, animals and cartoon characters strutting or posing in a conceited manner.
Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesn’t really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock somelse [sic] down a notch”.
Duff who lives at home 