Multiculturalism
Yesterday, my day was made by this Spanish musician at the Park Street T-stop. He was playing one of my favorite songs, La Bamba. I really love that song. Richie Valens, who sang it, had a pretty tragic death though. There's a whole movie, called La Bamba - The Richie Valens Story - that my aunt showed me when I was younger. I think that's when the love of La Bamba began; I can't really be sure. Remember when people had cassette tapes? Well, I had a single of La Bamba and the whole Richie Valens album. Anyhow, the movie is pretty good in that really bad way. It's got all the makings of a classic Lifetime Made-for-TV movie.
In case you don't know the story, I'll just ruin it for you because I doubt you could even rent such a classic. It's too bad. Anyhow, Richie has some fight with his brother who doesn't think he'll make it out of their poor Spanish town and become a singer. Well he does make it, and everyone's listening to the radio and thinking, "Wow, Richie made it!" And then like a day later, he dies. Yeah, seriously. He had this real fear of planes, but he gets on this little one with this guy called the Big Bopper and some other guy nobody ever remembers. And they all die, and that's what the song American Pie comes from. So they show the family hearing the news on the radio while they hang up laundry and it's very sad. Then they play La Bamba.
You know what is really pathetic? That little summary could be completely off. I really only remember a few scenes in the movie. Like this one in Richie Valens's kitchen, and the laundry scene with his brother going nuts. I really have no idea if there was any issue between the siblings. Or if the town listened to Richie on the radio. I do know the American Pie thing is true though. Hold on, let me check out IMDB to see if they have a summary.
Ok, some good news: there was some rivalry with the brother. Bad news: I am a politicially incorrect moron, because the whole thing takes place in California and it just so happens that La Bamba is a Spanish song and RiTchie (add that one next to Rodgers, from RoDgers and Hammerstein) Valens has a Spanish background. Apparently the movie also focuses on a relationship with his gf, Donna, who I think dumps him because he's poor and Donna's rich. I believe there's some scene at an arcade, but honestly, I might be mixing that up with the Karate Kid. For some reason, I can never remember if Daniel-Son also had a gf named Donna.
Also, the other guy who died in the plane crash was Buddy Holly, and people do remember him, apparently just not me.
I'm not doing movie reviews ever again unless I do my research. It's too embarrassing to myself.
Okay, so I forget how I got on this whole La Bamba track. Now I'm listening to the song though, and it's pretty sad that Ritchie was only 18 when he died. Man.
So yeah in the T station, this guy was playing La Bamba. I loved it. I was singing it and sort of dancing around, only not too much, because nobody else was. It was like noonish on a Thursday afternoon, and my buddy Joe and I were on our way to North Quincy. So we were dressed nicely and just the two of us were getting into this guy's music. It was great, too, only he kept playing it over and over and over again, for about ten minutes. It got old, I must admit, even though it was La Bamba.
Then he played the Pearl Jam cover, "Last Kiss," only he played it in Spanish. I sung along in English. It's actually a lot harder to sing along to a Spanish song in English than I thought it would be. The timing is really hard and I kept getting sidetracked listening to the Spanish. By the end, I had it okay though.
So anyhow, we go to North Quincy and come back like at least an hour later. So we're getting off the T at Park Street, and I ask Joe if he thinks our buddy will be there. As we step off, we hear him: he's playing La Bamba! That just about made my day, because I thought it was great that there's some musician who only learned La Bamba.
That's also probably why he's playing in the Park Street T Station on a Thursday afternoon, but hey, if you have to pick one song, I thought La Bamba was a pretty good choice. It's pretty upbeat and catchy.
You know this whole La Bamba thing has made me remember back to sophomore year. This guy Diego was on my floor and we had to interview international students for this education project I was doing. So I'd go to him and ask him tons of questions about his home country. You know where he was from? Puerto Rico. That's not even, like, a foreign country. He wasn't considered an international student. I could never get that right. Every time I saw him, I'd be like, "How's the weather in the Dominican Republic?" "Are you going to Cuba for vacation?" "Is Panama nice?" "How's Siberia compare to Boston?" Before I met Diego, I asked his roommate if Diego spoke English. I remember his answer to me, right from the start, a wiseass: "Why, cause his name is Diego?" Umm... yes?
Something else happened to me this week. Monday night I went to Late Nite in Warren to get some forks for my room. I go there about three times a week and get forks and spoons and knives and plates, and now I have a pretty good supply. Anyhow, that's not important to this point. They were all out of forks, so they sent me to the sushi guy to ask him to get some. So I go over to him, and guess what... he's Asian!! And I look around, and no other Asian people work at Late Nite except for this Sushi chef. Now here's the thing: did they put him there just because he's Asian? Am I supposed to think that I'm getting authentic mahi-mahi because there's some Asian dude from New Jersey behind the counter? It kills me! Seriously. The sushi is the same pre-made stuff whether they have Lee Kwon or Mike put it on a plastic plate. Similarly, I've noticed that in the daytime, they have Asian ladies making the Asian soup-stirfry concoction (What, oh what, are they doing there? It's like this weird thing where it's a mix between stirfry and soup. They can't make up their minds, so they just put out whatever looks sort of Chinese-like. For instance, who puts Spinach leaves in their soup? Who would stirfry that though? Troubling.) I don't understand the point of these things, but I was laughing when I saw the Asian guy at the sushi stand. And he asked me what I was laughing at. How am I supposed to answer that? "Oh, sorry, I was laughing because you're working the sushi stand and you're Asian."
You can't explain these things to people.
In case you don't know the story, I'll just ruin it for you because I doubt you could even rent such a classic. It's too bad. Anyhow, Richie has some fight with his brother who doesn't think he'll make it out of their poor Spanish town and become a singer. Well he does make it, and everyone's listening to the radio and thinking, "Wow, Richie made it!" And then like a day later, he dies. Yeah, seriously. He had this real fear of planes, but he gets on this little one with this guy called the Big Bopper and some other guy nobody ever remembers. And they all die, and that's what the song American Pie comes from. So they show the family hearing the news on the radio while they hang up laundry and it's very sad. Then they play La Bamba.
You know what is really pathetic? That little summary could be completely off. I really only remember a few scenes in the movie. Like this one in Richie Valens's kitchen, and the laundry scene with his brother going nuts. I really have no idea if there was any issue between the siblings. Or if the town listened to Richie on the radio. I do know the American Pie thing is true though. Hold on, let me check out IMDB to see if they have a summary.
Ok, some good news: there was some rivalry with the brother. Bad news: I am a politicially incorrect moron, because the whole thing takes place in California and it just so happens that La Bamba is a Spanish song and RiTchie (add that one next to Rodgers, from RoDgers and Hammerstein) Valens has a Spanish background. Apparently the movie also focuses on a relationship with his gf, Donna, who I think dumps him because he's poor and Donna's rich. I believe there's some scene at an arcade, but honestly, I might be mixing that up with the Karate Kid. For some reason, I can never remember if Daniel-Son also had a gf named Donna.
Also, the other guy who died in the plane crash was Buddy Holly, and people do remember him, apparently just not me.
I'm not doing movie reviews ever again unless I do my research. It's too embarrassing to myself.
Okay, so I forget how I got on this whole La Bamba track. Now I'm listening to the song though, and it's pretty sad that Ritchie was only 18 when he died. Man.
So yeah in the T station, this guy was playing La Bamba. I loved it. I was singing it and sort of dancing around, only not too much, because nobody else was. It was like noonish on a Thursday afternoon, and my buddy Joe and I were on our way to North Quincy. So we were dressed nicely and just the two of us were getting into this guy's music. It was great, too, only he kept playing it over and over and over again, for about ten minutes. It got old, I must admit, even though it was La Bamba.
Then he played the Pearl Jam cover, "Last Kiss," only he played it in Spanish. I sung along in English. It's actually a lot harder to sing along to a Spanish song in English than I thought it would be. The timing is really hard and I kept getting sidetracked listening to the Spanish. By the end, I had it okay though.
So anyhow, we go to North Quincy and come back like at least an hour later. So we're getting off the T at Park Street, and I ask Joe if he thinks our buddy will be there. As we step off, we hear him: he's playing La Bamba! That just about made my day, because I thought it was great that there's some musician who only learned La Bamba.
That's also probably why he's playing in the Park Street T Station on a Thursday afternoon, but hey, if you have to pick one song, I thought La Bamba was a pretty good choice. It's pretty upbeat and catchy.
You know this whole La Bamba thing has made me remember back to sophomore year. This guy Diego was on my floor and we had to interview international students for this education project I was doing. So I'd go to him and ask him tons of questions about his home country. You know where he was from? Puerto Rico. That's not even, like, a foreign country. He wasn't considered an international student. I could never get that right. Every time I saw him, I'd be like, "How's the weather in the Dominican Republic?" "Are you going to Cuba for vacation?" "Is Panama nice?" "How's Siberia compare to Boston?" Before I met Diego, I asked his roommate if Diego spoke English. I remember his answer to me, right from the start, a wiseass: "Why, cause his name is Diego?" Umm... yes?
Something else happened to me this week. Monday night I went to Late Nite in Warren to get some forks for my room. I go there about three times a week and get forks and spoons and knives and plates, and now I have a pretty good supply. Anyhow, that's not important to this point. They were all out of forks, so they sent me to the sushi guy to ask him to get some. So I go over to him, and guess what... he's Asian!! And I look around, and no other Asian people work at Late Nite except for this Sushi chef. Now here's the thing: did they put him there just because he's Asian? Am I supposed to think that I'm getting authentic mahi-mahi because there's some Asian dude from New Jersey behind the counter? It kills me! Seriously. The sushi is the same pre-made stuff whether they have Lee Kwon or Mike put it on a plastic plate. Similarly, I've noticed that in the daytime, they have Asian ladies making the Asian soup-stirfry concoction (What, oh what, are they doing there? It's like this weird thing where it's a mix between stirfry and soup. They can't make up their minds, so they just put out whatever looks sort of Chinese-like. For instance, who puts Spinach leaves in their soup? Who would stirfry that though? Troubling.) I don't understand the point of these things, but I was laughing when I saw the Asian guy at the sushi stand. And he asked me what I was laughing at. How am I supposed to answer that? "Oh, sorry, I was laughing because you're working the sushi stand and you're Asian."
You can't explain these things to people.
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