Friday, August 04, 2006

Este y Eso

Manuel Ramos

FREDDY FENDER
We can't seem to break away from sad news. Freddy Fender (Baldemar Huerta) legendary musician and actor, has incurable cancer. His family reports that he is at home and in good spirits and requests that you leave messages here for Freddy. Fender was one of the first artists to find success in Spanish-language rock 'n roll. The singer has also recorded rhythm and blues, country, and conjunto music since starting his career in the 1950s. He is a three-time Grammy Award recipient, including wins with groups Los Super 7 and the Texas Tornados. The official website is at: http://www.freddyfender.com/ .
Meanwhile, details for the various Trinidad Sánchez, Jr. memorials and benefits for the family can be found at Pluma Fronteriza.

FREE BOOKS
A couple of La Bloga members recently received a package of free books from the Instituto de México in San Antonio, Texas. The books included bilingual editions of works by noted Chicano/a authors Sandra Cisneros, Tino Villanueva and Jimmy Santiago Baca; a fifth generation Californian, John Oliver Simon; as well as Mexican authors Elsa Cross, Jorge Humberto Chávez, Marco Antonio Campos and Cristina Pacheco. The accompanying letter from the Director of the Instituto said that the "idea of creating these editions is to promote, through a literary language, Mexican authors that haven't published their work in English, and vice versa. We are distributing these works with the objective of awakening, through this little taste, the interest of important editorial companies with larger coverage that could spread the work of these writers in both countries." Quite admirable. These are nice editions to any library, everything is in Spanish and English, and each selection has an author bio and photograph. Of course, with Cisneros, Villanueva and Baca, the writing is first-rate, and I assume that when I get a chance to read the others, I will find the same high quality. Tip of La Bloga's sombrero to the Instituto de México for a creative attempt at spreading literature and literacy.

JOAQUÍN MURRIETA


The Joaquín Murrieta Horse Pilgrimage took place July 28-30 from Madera to Cantúa Creek, California. According to Victor Valenzuela, a descendant of one of Murrieta's lieutenants, Murrieta - who allegedly died along with several of his men when ambushed at Arroyo Cantúa by California Captain Harry Love on the morning of July 25, 1853 - was California's first Chicano activist. "I find that a lot of Mexican and American people don't know about Joaquín Murrieta," said Victor. "I regard him as the father of the Chicano Movement. He's 'El Patrio' (The Patriot). There are so many interesting things that have been written about him. Historical writer Manuel Rojas has the Mexican perspective. Professor Humberto Garza has the Chicano perspective." Read more about Murrieta and the Horse Pilgrimage on the Vida en el Valle website.

MUSEO DE LAS AMERICAS FAMILY FREE DAY
Spend a day at the Museo and help support the art and cultural exhibits that only this organization can bring to Denver. Music and family activities, summer art and basement sale with original art, prints, gifts and artist supplies at bargain prices. August 5, 10 AM - 4 PM. The Museo is located at 861 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, 303-571-4401 or www.museo.org.
As I noted last week, this weekend is also the party known as the 10th Chicano Music Festival at El Centro Su Teatro.

COPYRIGHT
For all the aspiring writers who read La Bloga, we borrow this advice about copyrights from Poets & Writers:

Do I need to copyright my work?
You own the copyright to anything you write, but registration with the U.S. Copyright Office will entitle you to monetary damages in cases of infringement, which rarely occur with literary work. Most times it is safe for you to wait until your book has been contracted for publication; your publisher should then copyright the book in your name.
- - Other Resources
For an excellent explanation of the law and your rights, visit the Web site for the U.S. Copyright Office. Another resource is The Writer’s Legal Guide: An Authors Guild Desk Reference (Allworth Press, 2002). You may also look for information from the Authors Guild, the National Writers Union, or a local chapter of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

Later.

2 comments:

Gina Ruiz said...

I'm down with that! Vamanos!

Anonymous said...

How cum everything has to be Califas?
Why not somewhere in between, so we can also do Gregorio Cortez and Geronimo?
R