text:
Making Salsa Dura Harder
Abel Delgado
with some significant help from
Orlando Fiol
The past few years
have seen a focus on a harder salsa sound from several bands in the business, an alternative to mainstream romantic salsa. The name given to this approach is salsa dura, and in many ways it harks back to the days of yesteryear (read: the 1970s), even in terms of song selection: bands do covers of El hijo de Obatalá, Número seis and other tunes that were hits during this decade.
While this harder focus is encouraging, seeing as how it moves the music back to a time when the sound was both traditional and progressive, Ive found that for me, salsa dura generally doesnt have the same power as the music of the bands whose sounds are being evoked. This is my perception as a listener and as someone who kicks out $15 or more per CD. Like any good junkie, I want to get my fixes. And despite dabbling in music writing, I'm not associated with the staff of a major newspaper or magazine where I'd get freebies. As such, I drop cash like anybody else, hoping to mainline the same high I get from the killer bands from back in the day. But it doesnt happen. I give the tunes a few spins, waiting to have my socks knocked off and they remain firmly affixed to my ankles. After spending some loot and thinking about it, I believe I now know why Im not so jazzed. Heres what I think would significantly improve salsa dura so that it not only goes back to yesteryear, but takes the music into the future.
Going Back Further in Time
Salsa dura musicians generally seek their inspiration from the 1970s, as evinced by their song selection andto some extenttheir approach. However, they fail to realize that the great bands from back in the day were reaching back themselves. These 1970s bands often picked fairly old tunes to cover, often songs that were never very popular when first composed. For example,
Arsenio Rodríguez
, though prolific, was not particularly successful as a bandleader or a composer in the commercial sense. While some of his tunes were covered during his lifetime, things really took off after his death in 1970.
La Sonora Ponceña
scored hits with Hachero para un palo and Fuego en el 23,
Roberto Roena
Apollo Sound III
featured a number of Arsenio tunes (Soy el terror, Yo soy chambeleón, among others) and several albums by
Larry Harlow
featured Arsenio songs that became hits for that group. And they arent the only ones:
Ray Barretto
(Bruca maniguá on the album
Que viva la música
Louie Ramírez
(Tocororo on the album
) and Eddie Palmieri (Pa huele on the album
) also had hits, among others.
Of course, Arsenios book was far from the only one explored. For legal reasons, the names of Cuban composers on salsa albums from the 1970s were not listed and instead the initials D.R., which stands for derechos reservados or rights reserved, were used. CDs of the salsa albums from this era dont often list the composers of the songs but this pattern is readily observable on the LPs recorded at that time. Bandleaders back then either researched old Cuban music or had a band member do it, often checking out old 78 r.p.m. records by bands that very few salsa fans had ever heard of. Theyd discover songs with interesting potential and rework them for the audience, thus generating hits.
So why should salsa dura cats do this? For a number of reasons. First of all, there isnt exactly a wealth of brilliant salsa composers out there. Folks take a stab at this and songs get recorded, but the fact is that many salsa dura songs are not particularly compelling in terms of either their cuerpos or coros. They offer few observations or satires of our culture and in fact generally dont reflect the richness of Latin folklore or the Latino experience in barrios. In addition, their melodies are often uninspired, with none of the pervasive catchiness that will stick in your head enjoyably. In contrast, many of these old songs are clever, written by people who had advanced degrees in the school of the streets and were gifted at describing situations and people. They also offer rich melodies that can be mined quite effectively. Another advantage is that some of these songs are in genres that are not those generally used in salsa, allowing for greater creativity in covering the tune. The salseros that salsa dura musicians admire did this to great effect: Contigo no quiero na, covered in Roberto Roenas
Apollo Sound X
, was originally titled Se pierde en esta vida and was a guaguancó sung by Celeste Mendoza. The same is true of Yo tenía una mujer, a Papines guaguancó that Roena and his arranger reworked nicely for
Apollo Sound 4
Besides offering a challenge and opportunity in creating the arrangement, these songs offer another advantage: its very likely that your target audience has not heard them before. Therefore, your version wont suffer by comparison. For instance, lets say you go crazy and decide to cover Pablo Pueblo from the album
Metiendo mano
. A great tune, to be sure, but how is your singer going to compete with
Rubén Blades
haunting delivery? How are you going to write a chart nicer than the one for the original, which framed Rubéns voice so well? The result? Your version just will not measure up. This happens quite a bit with salsa dura cats as they cover famous tunes, and though they may not see this, it weakens their albums. The flip side of this cover tunes issue is that musicians resort to them to pull in an audience that knows the original tune and remembers it from back in the day. They do this for very practical reasons: they want to fill the dance floor and get their albums to move in the stores. While I can appreciate why they do it, I believe that its to their advantage to not focus on these songs as much. A band will be more likely to stand out with tunes that they make their own.
Another reason to explore the roots music is that it can be quite educational, improving your skills and deepening your set of resources. Focusing on the music of salsas heyday limits you as a musician because youre exploring a stylized version of the music, one particular piece instead of the rest of the puzzle. In other words, in listening to that music youll only end up understanding one particular approach. Its like starting a jazz band that only focuses on fusion as a reference point, excluding Ellington, Basie, early bebop, cool jazz, etc. Weather Report and the other fusion bands were great, but how musically literate do you think a band that only listens to them will be? And, just like the top 1970s salsa bands, the fusion players knew the traditional sounds inside and out; this allowed them to do what they did in terms of their fusion innovations. Going back will allow you to absorb the traditional sounds and ways of playing, giving you ideas that you can employ in your own music.
So what should you do as a salsa dura musician? Go through the archives. There are tons of tunes which have not been explored fully. Research
Rene Álvarez y sus Astros
, whose albums offer some interesting possibilities. Listen to
Orquesta Sensación
, whose charanga-style tunes can be recast into songs for salsa bands (check out La reina del guaguancó
for some ideas, among others).
Celeste Mendoza
recorded both guarachas and guaguancós (
La voz de Celeste Mendoza
is an album with potential cover tunes like Un congo me dio la letra) that generally have nice cuerpos and good melodies since she worked with top composers and arrangers like
Bebo Valdés
Ernesto Duarte
Roberto Faz
had an extensive amount of recordings with nice numbers, as did
Conjunto Casino
Orquesta Riverside
, whose numbers have rarely been mined by salsa groups. (Note: Do you dig Carnaval en Camagüey from
Eddie Palmieri
s album
? Thats originally a Conjunto Casino tune. Eddie knows, my friend!) Arsenios extensive songbook is far from exhausted and a large number of his recordings are available on CD; you will surely find a nice son montuno with guaguancó flavor that has not yet been covered. The
Sonora Matancera
recorded hundreds of songs and there have to be some in there that offer possibilities, particularly during Lino Frías tenure (get hip to this mans piano stylings; believe me, its worth it). Y hay más, boncó: check out
Beny Moré
(of course!),
Julio Cueva
Orquesta Aragón
Bebo Valdés
s albums with vocals (such as
Sabor a Cuba
Ñico Saquito
María Teresa Vera
Cheo Marquetti
Los Hermanos Palau
, the superb
Carlos Embale
(force your singers to listen to this man!), y bueno, that should get you started.
In terms of guaguancó and other more folkloric genres, today its extremely easy to pick up recordings from
Los Papines
Los Muñequitos
Tata Güines
Clave y guaguancó
Alberto Zayas
Yoruba Andabo
and others. Again, with some creative listening you may find a diamond in the rough. On the bolero side,
Elena Burke
s recordings offer lots of potential because she worked with top filin composers, folks who wrote poetic lyrics
offered up rich melodies. (Especially look for her stuff recorded on the Gema label with some killer bands.) Marta Valdés wrote many fine boleros and theres an obscure CD called
La música de Marta Valdés
featuring versions of her songs from everyone from Bola de Nieve to Pablo Milanés that could spark some ideas for cover tunes. She also has another CD entitled
Tú no sospechas
featuring arrangements of her classic tunes. Boleros arent explored nearly enough in todays salsa dura and they should be: they offer a nice contrast to up tempo tunes and allow for both lyricism and flavorful, jazz-inspired musical passages.
Gonzalo Rubalcaba
offers a nice example of this in his arrangement (and piano solo) in the Marta Valdés song Y con tus palabras on the CD
La música de Marta Valdés
. These examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
Explore Modern Cuban Music
Not all nueva trova is spacey poetry which makes little sense, like pretty much all of
Silvio Rodríguez
s songs; theres some that is actually good and offers the possibilities for some fun, satiric cuerpos. Frank Delgado and
Pedro Luis Ferrer
offer possibilities in this regard. That said, some of the nueva trova songs may need to be edited since some can end up being quite long. And timba, despite being very different from salsa in some respects, also offers the potential for cover tunes (check out El Médicos tune Romeo y Julieta and Yo tengo mi mecánica, for instance). And there are many more artists to investigate for ideas and cover tunes:
Opus 13
Nueva Generación
Emiliano Salvador
Son 14
Orquesta Revé
and early
Dan Den
, among others.
Quick Detour: Why Cuba?
I realize Im pushing the Cuban thing quite a bit, but I have my reasons for that. For one, its very likely the richest lode in terms of songs because historically Cuba has had an enormous amount of groups and songwriters. And although this may ruffle some nationalist feathers, lets face it: this is where a lot of this music started, and I dont think that it was a coincidence that there was a back to roots movement in salsa in the 1970s and a corresponding boom, both artistically and commercially, with the music.
Another significant point to consider is that Cuban songs tend to tell stories and reflect culture. And for a long time, so did salsa songs. Salsa romántica changed this by converting the music into a tropical vehicle for bland, generic ballads that could have come from anywhere. Folklore, storytelling, costumbrismo: these are some of the elements that make this music special and we need to recapture that spirit. Now, I understand that the target salsa audience may not know who el Caballero de París was or what Coco Solo is. So what? Id argue that they probably didnt know what the hell nagüe meant when
started singing it back in the 1940s. Or who Malanga was or where Unión de Reyes is located. The tunes mentioning these Cuban cultural artifacts caught on anyway because they were catchy and well-played. And this could still happen today if you play the music with flavor, verve and creativity.
If people get curious about the topics referenced, explore them and manage to hip up on them, all the better. The more the audience knows and the more the musicians know, the better it is. Because audiences then expect more and musicians deliver more. Otherwise, you have a situation in which people go nuts for an ex-freestyle singer masquerading as a salsa singer, yelping out lyrics with a weak, screechy voice while having no understanding of the nuances involved in singing this music. Like it or not, because of the power of the mass media, this singer then becomes who represents us and our music to the world. I dont know about you, but I dont want to be represented by some freestyle reject who doesnt understand clave and cant distinguish a guaracha from a danzón.
So explore those old tunes because they reflect life, much more than some song that sounds as if it were derived from a telenovela plot.
In addition, given salsas strong Cuban base, this lode offers cover tune options that are more easily adaptable to the salsa modality. In other words, its easier to convert a son or a guaracha to a salsa tune than it is to do so with a joropo or a tango. That said, this does not rule out the possibility of exploring other musical forms: perico ripiao, música jíbara, plena, bomba and vallenatos, among other genres, may also offer salseros interesting possibilities.
However, keep in mind that these genres are generally in different tempos, usually do not employ clave and as such may be harder to adapt. Despite this caveat, the point is that you should indulge in musical exploration and go beyond just listening to Marvin Santiago or Cano Estremera.
Mix It Up
As stated before, it very much seems like the salsa dura practitioners want to evoke the smokin 70s in their music. But they generally put out albums with 8-10 tracks of the homogeneous salsa rhythm. They apparently didnt listen to their old
albums hard enough. All of these artists, in addition to many others during that same time period, played a variety of rhythms. It is rare to pick up an album from this time period and get 8-10 homogenized salsa rhythm tracks. Dont believe me? Okay, lets take a look. Pachecos
Celia and Johnny
features a bolero (Vieja luna, an inspired cover that was rarely done before then), Quimbara, of course, with its guaguancó/guaracha stylings and Ña Mercedes, a bomba. Barrettos album
has a son montuno (Testigo fui), a spacey guaracha (Canto abacuá), a bolero (Eso es amar) and a son done with a charanga flavor (El presupuesto). Palmieris
features guarachas, Latin jazz experiments and an ancient Ignacio Piñeiro cover tune, Yambú, done as a son montuno.
If you observe, the homogeneous salsa rhythm takes over in the late 1970s. Bands forgot about variety and I believe that this less inspired homogenization, in part, helped pave the way for salsa romántica. As such, despite the commercial impact of this sweetie-pie salsa, this approach has not been to the benefit of the music, unless of course you actually like Jerry Rivera and Rey Ruiz. If thats the case, I suggest a despojo with two gallinas prietas performed by your friendly neighborhood santero para quitarte lo malo. ¡Siá cará!
Now, some folks have tried the variety thing and have gone a little overboard. They were forcing it so it seemed more like a stunt than something creative. The trick is for it to be natural: finding tunes that lend themselves to certain genres or which were originally written in a particular genre. And you dont necessarily have to represent 10 different genres. Whats important here is to think outside of the homogeneous salsa box: keeping an ear out for a nice bomba, a slick son montuno, timba, a bolero done filin-style, etc. And do what the old-time bandleaders did: try the tune out on audiences and see if they roll with it. If so, you know that it will be good for the album. I realize that theres a pressure now to be a salsa band and play/record nothing but that because thats what people expect. However, the same way you can broaden your musical sensibilities, you can broaden those of the crowd. If the tune is catchy, believe me, they will roll with it.
Dare to be Different
If youre already going in the salsa dura mode, youre already bucking the system. If you really wanted to play it safe, youd hire one of the freestyle rejects I mentioned earlier and coach him or her through the rudiments of Spanish pronunciation and the concept of singing on key, among other things.
But you didnt do this and dont want to. You want to play slamming music just like the great bands did back in the day. So listen closely to them: the top tier bands favored a slick approach full of rich details that show how musically informed they were.
Three words:
La octava maravilla
, a.k.a.
Apollo Sound VIII
. Rico guaguancó and Para ser rumbero are in the salsa cast, but theyre not generic, play-it-safe tunes for people to do their standard turns and steps in some bar. Rico guaguancó uses Brazilian talking drums, a well-harmonized cuerpo sung by the chorus, not a lead singer, as well as batá drums in a break, after which the band seamlessly goes back into a salsa rhythm. And even then, listen to their marcha and groove: rock-solid, relaxed and easy to latch on to for dancing. Para ser rumbero works guaguancó into the salsa mix, with Rubén Blades guesting for a verse or two, then features a tumbadora solo over some spacey organ (or could it be a synth?). Apelo is a salsified samba. Although the singer should have studied Brazilian cats to have more carioca-like phrasing, its still an inspired choice and fine arrangement. Una mañana linda is a pretty son montuno that has pop breaks, making a José José song actually sound good for a change instead of frighteningly cheesy. No lo corras is a funky son in the charanga vibe, sounding similar to Original de Manzanillo in some respects, using violin and flute.
This is just one example, and I didnt even go over every song on the album. Bottom line: the more you listen to the music from this era, the more you will find wrinkles, touches and innovations executed by its main stars. Rarely were they content to play a simple salsa tune with a cuerpo, a montuno, a mambo with two bars of trombones followed by 4 bars of trumpets on top of the trombones, more montuno, a quick moña and a theme restatement, all in the basic salsa rhythm. Nonetheless, far too many salsa dura bands take this generic approach.
Here are more examples of what I mean in terms of wrinkles by top tier bands from the 1970s:
Justo Betancourt
s Palo pa rumba (on the album
Lo sabemos
) working in guaguancó to explosive effect;
Willie Colon
s experimenting with genres like murga or doing unusual numbers like Ghanae,;
Sonora Ponceña
incorporating samba on Homenaje a las gordas in the album
Tiene pimienta
; The
Alegre All Stars
working in almost funk-like syncopation during the cuerpo of Y yo gangá (from the album
), then creating a bridge in the middle of the song to build tension that was then released with an electrifying mambo, followed by a trombone solo, then a 6/8 coda while the flute player soloed;
Ismael Rivera
Traigo Salsa
(from the album
Esto fue lo que trajo el barco
), a tune in which the conguero plays a caballo throughout and in which while belting out guías Rivera briefly matches his vocals to a slinky piano run by Javier Vázquez;
Típica 73
s nod to Onda Areíto in La candela and Yo bailo de todo, as well as their slickly executed Salsa Suite in which they explored various genres with smooth changes. The bottom line? A close listen to the albums of the era will reveal constant wrinkles that created memorable songs.
Hire Perico, José Madera, Sonny Bravo, Oriente Lopez, Luis Bu and Carlos Averhoff, Among Others, to Arrange Your Songs
A cursory look at the arranger credits on classic 1970s salsa albums will show you that Luis Perico Ortiz, José Madera and Sonny Bravo arranged many of the explosive songs from this era. Im not sure if their
creative energies are turned towards arranging any more, but it wouldnt hurt to ask; Im sure that if they wanted to, they could still write innovative charts like they did way back when. Luis Bu, on the other hand, was responsible for many of the charts that made
El Médico de la Salsa
a star and could offer a group some inspired horn voicings and piano montunos. While he primarily works with timba, I doubt that a guy at his level would have trouble writing a cool chart in the salsa dura vein. Carlos Averhoff is one of the legends behind Irakere and while more inclined to write Latin jazz, could easily apply his talents to salsa; remember that
was also a dance band. Oriente López was one of the driving forces behind Afrocuba and Id bet he has excellent ideas about horn phrasing and working in drums to the rhythm section for very danceable music. I have no idea what the legendary
would charge for a chart, but why not contact him and find out? The list doesnt stop there. Besides the legends, keep an eye out for progressive younger arrangers with good ideas. Ask around; they are indeed out there. One example is Orlando Fiol, a yunta of mine, a fine pianist and a master batalero based in Philadelphia. I know, this smacks of nepotism, or, in this case, yuntaism, pero no me importa. What does matter is finding good people who know the music to write you hip charts. You dont need to take my word for it; call up the people Ive mentioned and sound them out to see if they would be a good fit for what youre doing.
Vary Your Approach
In listening to older recordings, youll notice that often the timbalero did not play the bell and, in fact, played cáscaras throughout the tune, occasionally adding in some sharp, well-timed golpes and rolls. The bongosero rarely played a dry, dull martillo; he often riffed sharply, then drove the song in the montuno and mambo playing a straight 123 123 123, with no extra 12 kick as done by salsa bongoseros. Why not do a tune like this? I know that the two bell sound is very popular in salsa and is always used but it aint no sacred cow. With a good timbalero that plays hip, you can have nice fills and offer a real different sound. Go back and listen to Cachaos descargas (a good CD compilation of them is
Descarga guajira
) and see how Guillermo Barreto on timbales and Rogelio Iglesias on bongo work things out. Or go back to El Benys stuff or even early
Tito Puente
albums, such as
Mambo with Me
Another possibility for variation: theres an Ismael Rivera tune called Sala gente (from the album
Vengo Por la maceta
) in which no bongosero is used, at least that I can hear. Instead, the conguero fills the spaces with riffs on multiple drums and the timbalero helps drive things with the bells and a nice break where he rides the high hat. Cop it! You cant get sued for borrowing an approach!
And why do bands feel the need to play so tight? The
Areíto All Stars
Ritmo Oriental
show clearly the possibilities of a more open groove thats more relaxed. The New York sound is supposed to be more aggressive and fast, I understand. But why not lay back on a tune or two? Although salsa dancers here are used to a tight beat, why not let them learn a brand new groove? It wont kill them, and shoot, something needs to break the majority of them out of their repetitive, robotic monotony on the dance floor where they execute steps and turns like they studied at Arthur Murryrocks School of Salsa Dancing.
¡Ayúdalos a soltar las caderas un poco más!
You can also add natural two bar breaks of bomba, samba or bossa to certain tunes. Again, go over the old recordings and observe closely how pros like Apollo Sound and Willie Colón did it; its very slick, subtle and generally doesnt disturb the dancers flow. People who know how to move will adjust, believe me. Y los que no, ¡que se queden botaos hasta que se pongan pa la cosa!
You could also make the mambo a trumpet solo on top of previously established lines rather than play the lines first and then have the solo. Beny Morés Banda Gigante employed this inversion in El agarrao. Saxes play a simple figure under the cuerpo and the montuno, then comes the mambo. The sax figure keeps playing, a trombone line is added, then Chocolate lays down some wicked lines. Steal another idea from Beny: Soy guajiro (dont confuse this with Soy campesino, a different tune) opens with a couple of bars of horns,
the rest of the band comes in. The percussion does this neat little golpe to open things up, which is really funky. Its a tiny little detail, but it adds impact.
Benys band also offers another lesson in terms of space and volume. In Trátame cómo soy, the mambo is kicked off with two bars of low horns, what sounds like baritone saxes. Then Beny lets out a yell and screechingly funky trumpets cascade over the low sound. The effect is startling and really adds intensity to the number because of the counterpoint. Again, little details that most people wont noticeconsciously. But Id bet that theyd respond in terms of how they move. All these details are what made the great ones great: it wasnt just rum, enormous talent and luck, believe me. They took music making very seriously, and so should salsa dura musicians.
Find New Ways to Play
If theres been one constant in this music since its inception, its change. Musicians constantly experimented with instrumentation, orchestration and structure: this is why salsa bands are not currently sextets playing Acuérdate bien chaleco with a cornet and a botija. Tradition and innovation were always bedfellows in this music, yet salsa musicians are relatively static in the way they play, at least on recordings. While I have to give credit to the musicians on Marc Anthonys Valió la pena for an inspired performance that far outshone MAs usual screamy vocals, this outside-the-box approach is fairly rare. In most salsa dura, the piano tumbaos, horn voicings, percussion licks and general phrasing are all pretty homogeneous. Even working within the confines of salsa, theres still room for musicians to stretch and find new approaches with the music. Proof of this is timba, which offers longer, more sinuous piano tumbaos, funky basslines, sophisticated drumming, slick drop-outs, different conga tumbaos, the use of sax breaks called champola and other innovations strictly in terms of playing.
Dont like timba? Check out
s album entitled
. Staccato horns, different drive to the rhythm sectionnot timba, not salsa and quite different. The point is, these musicians have shown that it is possible to find new things to do with this music. Its not easy, but new approaches are definitely needed to take salsa dura forward.
Woodshed, Woodshed, Woodshed
One way to move towards discovering new variations and wrinkles is through lots more rehearsal, both as an individual and as a band. Often, todays salsa piano players use 5 or 6 generic piano tumbaos. To break out of that closed circle, it may be helpful for pianists to develop 20-30 montunos based on a single chord progression. This will help them expand their musical vocabulary so they can play more interesting figures. Listening to charanga music may also help them in this regard because in this format the piano player, the bassist and the strings all played guajeo figures.
s recordings from the 1950s, like
Una noche en Montmartre
, feature Cachao on bass and may be very instructive in this regard. Musicians can also focus on studying soloing more and focusing less on being strictly marcha players. For instance, congueros could learn some really dazzling licks, including quinto riffs, as well as more virtuosic phrases like those that
Giovanni Hidalgo
has made so famous. Timbaleros should learn how to really solo rather than simply punctuating hits.
Orestes Vilató
Nicky Marrero
Guillermo Barretto
Amadito Valdés
all can offer some lessons through their recordings. Paila players should also learn to solo with one hand while playing the clave or bell with the other. Pianists can try playing split sounds rather than doubling everything on both hands. The essential point is that individual musicians should improve their individual playing through solitary practice rather than relying entirely on ensemble rehearsals to develop chops.
Besides individual practice, bands need to rehearse a lot more. One of the smart strategies that many Cuban bands employ (as per Lázaro Valdés of Bamboleo) is using rehearsals to develop nice little passages called bloques for different tunes, options for varying the performance in different ways. With a signal, his band knows which bloque to employ on which tune. Developing these for live performances can allow you to discover which are the best ones and those you can employ when recording. And of course, it goes without saying that, depending on the talent of the players, lots of rehearsal produces a rich, unique sound for the band, another telling characteristic of the great 1970s bands. While in todays world this is quite challenging for most bands because of time constraints and such, it is well worth doing your best to make it happen: la práctica hace el maestro, señoras y señores.
Explore Brazilian Music
There has never been a huge tendency among the old-time salsa bands to do this, but this was their loss and it definitely would be a loss for salsa dura musicians. Not only does this music offer numbers with sensual, lyrical cuerpos that can be translated and adapted, the horn voicings of samba bands offer the potential to take certain songs in a totally different direction. The recordings of singer Alcione, particularly her album
, may be an interesting starting point in exploring Brazilian sounds. In addition, the songs of
Joao Gilberto
, Gilberto Gil and
Caetano Veloso
may well have potential in terms of offering good cuerpos. Id really pay attention to the horn voicings and the integration of samba percussion instruments; both can really transform a salsa tune.
Write Songs that Mean Something
I realize that songwriting is a gift and that not everyone is
Rubén Blades
C. Curet Alonso
, but fellas, someone should at least try to make interesting numbers. When you analyze the old Cuban tunes that are the backbone of salsa, they consist of observations about their world. Thats why the songs are about rumbas, Santería, how great Guantánamo is, a country tresero jamming in a guateque, a tamales vendor with a nice pair of tamales and more. Its not rocket science. Un brujo en Guanabacoa is a simple tune. Guanabacoa is a Havana suburb where there were and are lots of santeros. The song simply tells of going to see one. But in telling this, its reflecting a unique cultural practice in Cuba. The listeners may well have been to a santero so it spoke to them. This is true folklore: reflecting peoples lives back at them in a tasteful, articulate, fun way. And thats what this music is all about. Of course, listen closely to that tune: it has a nice melody, is inspired and features a true master in singer
Abelardo Barroso
. So its not that easybut still is possible.
In the U.S. Latinos live in barrios and dont share all the cultural reference points that one ethnic group like Cubans would. Regardless, there have got to be barrio stories to tell in a similar way. There have to be characters in neighborhoods that deserve a song. Shoot, I grew up in a neighborhood where there was this guy named Bon Bon, a transvestite who wore batas de casas and chancletas and had linebacker arms. Then there was el Viejo Matamoscas, who looked like a frog and always had a flyswatter in his hand and spent the whole day swatting flies, then fanning himself with the swatter. Another character was La Gorda María, who once chased her boyfriend Blackie down the street with a machete. Im not the only one who grew up with these kinds of characters and all of them are good material for songs.
Hell, listen to your elders and youll find sources for songs. My uncle tells me fascinating stories of fights his large family had with colorful names in the Cuban town of Altosongo: my father apparently had a brawl with Mututungu, was losing, was helped out by my uncle and won. But Mututungu had his revenge later on, cracking my uncle in the jaw just as he was eating a banana in the schoolyard. The Revenge of Mututungu, theres a song right there. Or Los tres sapos, three brothers who looked like bullfrogs and were terrific street fighters. Believe or not, characters like these are not only good song material but are quintessential parts of our culture as Latinos. I dont care what anybody says, no U.S. suburb produces anyone as interesting as Mututungu or Bon Bon.
But theres more: Latino kids face problems with drugs, dropping out of school and many other issues. You dont have to preach, because thats a turnoff. But telling a story about these situations would make for interesting lyrics. El gran varón (from the Willie Colón album
Altos secretos
) is a fine example of this. It is not a preachy song but still covers some powerful issues. And why not satirize dirty politicians or people who are bad for the community? If you hate my article, write a tune called Delgado es un anormal. I wont take you to Judge Judy, I promise; in fact, Id applaud your efforts in stepping out of the usual song theme box. Or you could write about a new trend happening among Latinos. A few years back, I remember going to clubs watching certain characters who loved to wear shirts open to the navel and Mr. T. starter kits on their chests, nearly knocking themselves out with Caridad del Cobre figurines as they gyrated on the dance floor. A simple thing, but you can write about it and goof on it. Latinos are always doing unusual things that you can goof on, whether its wearing Jheri curls years after they were fashionable or gluing plastic saints to the dashboards of their cars. Making the music part of Radio Bemba is a lot more interesting than telling the same old love stories or urging people to rumbear.
Hire Guests
There are dozens of great, legendary musicians that would be happy to guest on albums and I cant imagine that it would be
cost prohibitive to hire them to play or arrange. Want a nice chart for violins and some string lines? Hire Pupi Legarretta. Want to add a monstrous timbales solo to a tune? Call up Nicky Marrero or Orestes Vilató. Hell, call them both and have them duel. Pick a Cachao descarga to cover and hire Cachao to do it, along with
Walfredo de los Reyes
and any other remaining monstruos from that era.
Cheo Feliciano
would be a remarkable guest for boleros or up-tempo music. Id call Juan Carlos Formell or Juanito Márquez and have either of them write a fílin-style chart for a lesser-known bolero gem, give it to Cheo and let the magic happen. Put together a batá-rumba/descarga and invite
Milton Cardona
Francisco Aguabella
Armando Peraza
to add their talents. Have the esteemed Mr. Aguabella add some tambor yuka or mula flavor to a song; vaya, there are lot of options. I would also especially focus on the fine singers from the past and seeing who is available. Im sure that there are many whod love the work and can do an excellent job. (Not for nothing, one of the reasons the
Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Across 110
was so great was Rubén Blades lighting up some tunes and showing clearly that hes the funkiest Tourism Minister that Panamá has ever had.) The point is, there are still many legendary performers around who could truly enhance your album if you are willing to make it happen. Again, I recognize that this suggestion has its drawbacks: guests may charge a lot of money, not have the greatest chops any more or not be easily accessible. Despite this, I think its worth exploring because of the rich musical possibilities such guests can offer.
Cover Ketama
This Spanish group writes fusion flamenco and have a number of very interesting tunes that have both melodic cuerpos and catchy coros. Theres an album called
De aki a Ketama
that offers a number of potential cover tunes. And thats not their only album: their recordings from the early to late 1990s could well be a potential source for good salsa tunes. Checkem out! ¡Esos gallegos están volaos!
Have Fun
You press play and the music starts. I realize that this is what most people expect when they pop the CD in, but do you have to give this to them, necessarily? Often studio chatter can be quite funny and interesting. It also gives the music humanity; people are obviously playing this because you hear them goof between tunes or during the tunes. Examples would be the Alegre All Stars recordings,
Joe Cuba
s El pito (check the crazy giggling the band members do), Louie Ramírez/Pete Bonets De ese mismo trago, the two descarga tunes on
Tito, Tito, Tito
and many more. Also, if you listen to some of the older recordings, singers introduced soloists or made reference to some of the musical shifts and generally vocalized not only the lyrics but the energy of the song, sometimes adding in grunts or yowls of pleasure (listen to Chocolates La mula on the album
Chocolate caliente
for an example.) I dont think you should force it and have your singers sound like freakin Wild Kingdom; Im just saying that a relaxed vibe in the studio may encourage this sort of thing to happen naturally in reaction to the tune.
Record Togetherand On Analog
I realize that few studios are big enough to accommodate most bands but I think that this is worth exploring whenever possible. Recording on separate tracks lends an artificial sound. Sure, the sound quality is nice and polished but that actually works against the music rather than for it. I think that the band's recording together not only sounds more natural and real, it allows band members to feed off each other in their playing, to react to what each other does and throw in improvised wrinkles right on the spot. Recording separately will not capture this, even if you go back and redub a solo to a track already laid down. Its not the same because youre no longer in the moment. I actually dont know for sure exactly how bands recorded back in the 1960s and 1970s. I believe that sometimes some sections were divided up and maybe the human sound comes from the fact that the band played together so much. However, listen to
Cachaos descargas closely: they
record together and created an interplay that would become legendary. I think that salsa dura cats could give their music a real lift if they tried this, depending, of course, on how tight and well-rehearsed the band is. As far as analog goes, I just have a preference for it myself. I think that this was partially responsible for the warmer sound of older recordings. This may sound crazy, but to me, the difference between digitally recorded music and music recorded on analog is almost like the difference between a blow-up doll and a woman. However, years of listening to old vinyl LPs may have brained my damage, so take this with a grain of salt.
Final Thoughts
There are more things that salsa dura cats can do, but at this point my fingers hurt from typing, your eyes probably hurt from reading this and this freakin article is practically book-length. If the length says anything besides the fact that Im extremely wordy, it says that there are a number of interesting possibilities salsa dura musicians can explore in taking this music further. Perhaps my suggestions are no good and I need counseling. Duly notedbut what cant be disputed is the spirit of innovation that has driven this music from the beginning and that current salsa dura is concerned more with rehashing than innovating. As such, as a consumer I would like to see them try something, actually, a lot of things, to snap out of the rut and do what the best examples of this music do: shock us, amaze us, charge us up and make us feel alive and connected. That has been the point of this music from the beginning, ever since Failde Pérez created the danzón, soneros started playing with clave and rumberos got whole solares rocking with only some spoons and some empty bacalao boxes.
Abel Delgado
has been a Descarga contributor for years, mostly because Latin music—his passion—happens to dovetail with his profession, writing and editing. Abel has edited books, magazines and marketing materials in both English and Spanish and currently operates an editorial services firm focused in these areas. Based in Miami, when not working on a project he's looking to expand his ever-growing Latin music collection of 1,500 LPs and 700 CDs.
Pianist and master batalero
Orlando Fiol
is based in Philadelphia, where he plays with a number of local Latin and jazz groups, and also teaches a wide variety of students both the intricacies of Latin piano playing and also those of the batá drum.
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text:
Parkersburg Homecoming organizers announce acts, schedule
April 26, 2013
PARKERSBURG — The entertainment lineup was announced Thursday for the 2013 Parkersburg Homecoming Festival in August....
I am always amazed at how people can complain about a free event. Please join the committee, help raise the money and then tell them what group you want. It's hard to please everyone and still be able to afford to bring groups in.
7 Agrees | 2 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
I think one of the concerns of the homecoming festival is the lack of marketing and lack of focus on the 18-30 demographic. In order to run a successful event you need to have a great blend of music and activities that focuses on the demographics. However, it is a free event therefore they have to work in their budgetary guidelines, and the organization isn't terrible of it. I just think to continue the tradition you need to start focusing on some other demographics as well.
3 Agrees | 3 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
I'm extremely excited that Jason Michael Carroll will be performing at this years festival! I have seen him eleven times and can tell you he puts on a quality, high energy show! I have friends coming in from different states for this show and we couldn't be more excited about it! Hope everyone comes out for it, if not, you're missin out!
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subset: commoncrawl


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A story about former journalist Stephen Glass's bid to become a lawyer incorrectly named the movie about his misdeeds as a journalist. The film was "Shattered Glass."
In the journalism world, Stephen Glass was a true villain, perhaps the most renowned fabricator in the profession's history.
Dozens of his stories in magazines such as the New Republic and Rolling Stone in the late 1990s were proven to be bogus. His level of journalistic deceit became such a national scandal that Hollywood made a movie about his fall, "Shattered Glass."
But in the 15 years since Glass was caught in his fraud, he has pursued another profession that depends on honesty. And now his own fable of redemption, if it is to be believed, has set a jarring question before the California Supreme Court: Can someone who once built a career on lies be licensed to be a lawyer in this state?
The court on Wednesday will tackle that issue when it considers Glass' bid for admission to the State Bar, the final stage in an odyssey that began when he enrolled in law school while practicing his journalism charade more than a decade ago.
Not surprisingly, Glass' quest has stirred mixed reactions.
The Bar opposes granting a license, arguing that he does not meet the "moral character" standards required of lawyers. But two State Bar court decisions have sided with his right to a license, and supporters -- from two Washington, D.C., judges to one of the New Republic editors he most defrauded -- have vouched for his reformation.
"I have absolutely no doubt he learned a horrible lesson and I have 100 percent confidence this won't happen again," said Susan Low Bloch, a Georgetown University law professor who has known Glass since he took her law class in 1997.
Legal ethicists are divided over his case.
"If Glass had been somebody nobody had ever heard of, he would have been admitted years ago," said Richard Zitrin, a Hastings College of the Law legal ethics expert.
Counters Carol Langford, who teaches legal ethics at UC Berkeley law school: "The Supreme Court is going to have to really think about this one. The Bar has a lot of good arguments to make. I don't think it's just about appearance. It's also saying, 'We have to set a standard.' "
Glass, who now lives in a Los Angeles suburb and is a paralegal at a law firm, has declined interviews. Jon Eisenberg, his lawyer, also declined to comment.
But in court papers, Glass insists he has changed, the result of years of therapy and other self-improvements since he had to admit concocting material in national stories, such as a George magazine profile of Vernon Jordan, a close friend of former President Bill Clinton.
Glass' supporters argue that as a 41-year-old man well regarded by his law firm, he should no longer pay for the mistakes of a 25-year-old journalist.
"Second chances are an American story," Glass' lawyers told the state Supreme Court. "This case is such a story -- one of redemption."
State Bar lawyers, however, say Glass has not done enough to repent for journalistic sins that "tarnished the entire journalism profession," and they question his sincerity about changing his ways. They note that concerns about Glass' character kept him from being admitted to the New York Bar in 2004.
"When considering someone with (Glass') remarkable record of fraud and deceit, the State Bar of California should demand nothing less than exemplary behavior over a sustained period of time," Bar lawyers say in court documents. "This standard is necessary in a case like this, where an applicant's past misdeeds compromise the very foundation of the legal profession -- common honesty."
But Glass' supporters say he has shown remorse and that he has steered clear of trouble for a long time. He has worked for a Los Angeles personal injury firm for more than a half-dozen years without incident, and his boss, Paul Zuckerman, has vouched for him in the Supreme Court and State Bar.
In his Bar testimony, Zuckerman recalled immediately deleting Glass' résumé when his job application recounted his journalism troubles but then changed his mind.
Now, Zuckerman testified, he considers Glass "my touchstone, my benchmark for honest and proper conduct" in the law firm.
And Martin Peretz, former editor-in-chief of the New Republic when Glass worked there, favors granting the law license, even though the scandal hit his magazine hardest.
"I don't think what Steve committed, and his journey after, should condemn him to be exiled from respectable, ethical society," Peretz testified in Bar Court. "I think (Glass) has a great deal of responsibility for (his misconduct), and he has acknowledged it, and he's suffered for it."
Howard Mintz covers legal affairs. Contact him at 408-286-0236 or follow him at Twitter.com/hmintz.
Correction: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly named the movie about Stephen Glass.


text:
adidas Golf Shoe Bag
Product Information:
Whether traveling or changing shoes before and after each round, the adidas Shoe Bag keeps golf shoes protected. The large shoe compartment has an easy zipper closure and the top grab handle makes the accessory easy to bring to and from the course. The adidas Shoe Bag is ideal for golfers who want to keep their golf spikes organized and protected before and after play.
- Shoe compartment with zipper closure keeps golf shoes organized and clean after each use
- Grab handle makes transportation to and from the course easy
- Size: 15" x 11" x 5"
- adidas
Country of Origin: VietnamWeb ID: 22716576
Customer Reviews:
Rated 3 out of 5�by 3 reviewers.
Rated 4 out of 5�by Ski Nice for the price! Good product for the price but haven't given out the true test of durability because of how late in the season I purchased it. November 11, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5�by Seatguy Good shoe bag Love the bag, just wish it had seperaters and a pocket February 11, 2014
Rated 1 out of 5�by SK Wrong color sent - very misleading! The photo shows a black/green bag, and when added to the cart, does not note anything about color. However, AFTER the item is purchased, your confirmation email will state that "Actual product purchased may differ in color from product shown". The incorrect color was sent to me -very disappointed in this retailer for misleading the customer! December 18, 2013
1-3 of 3


text:
The 'From' value should be less than 'To' value Please enter a valid price range
Keep your whiteboard's surface clean and protected while customizing it for a variety of uses with board accessories. Erasers and cleaners ensure your whiteboard is always ready for a quick note. Magnetic board accessories make posting photos, important documents, and business cards easy. We also have a variety of other accessories like magnets, clips, pins and more for other types of boards, like bulletin boards.
Shape your whiteboard to fit your needs with a wide variety of magnetic accessories. Easily jot down the time and place for your next office meeting and post the agenda or last meeting's minutes right next to your note with specifically designed whiteboard magnets or magnetic clips. Attach a small whiteboard to your office door and use your magnets to note when you are in or out, or even post your business cards for easy access when you are away with a magnetic card holder.
Clean and Protect
Use and reuse your whiteboard's surface for years to come thanks to a wide variety of erasers, cleaners, and wipes designed to make maintaining your board's surface easy. With a variety of eraser sizes and shapes, clearing your whiteboard's surface between uses or when you need more space is quick. Easy-access whiteboard wipes offer a simple solution for daily maintenance and spray cleaners remove ghosting and stubborn marks from years of use.
Make a Statement
Call attention to your notes or express your own personal style with colorful and creative accessories. Post your most urgent memos with a large, brightly colored magnet to let your workers know just how important they are. With a variety of eraser designs, shapes, and colors, you can swap out your standard whiteboard eraser for a more casual atmosphere.


text:
Add shine to your horse's coat, mane and tail with Absorbine® ShowSheen® Hair Polish & Detangler. ShowSheen detangles manes and tails for quick brushing, and it coats hair shafts to reject stains.
Thrush Buster® thrush treatment helps prevent re-infection, toughens the sole and kills bacteria. Easy to apply. 2 oz.
Cowboy Magic® Detangler instantly helps remove snarls and knots from manes and tails. Made with silk protein, this detangler results in a high reflecting shine after brushing. A must-have in any grooming box! 16 oz.
Use Mane 'N Tail® Detangler to eliminate tangles and knots in your horse's mane and tail. The formula conditions and fortifies hair and helps keep it manageable for grooming and braiding. Qt.
EQyss Micro-Tek Equine Spray soothes your horse's irritated skin on contact. This topical antimicrobial treatment for rain rot, scratches, girth itch and ringworm won't sting or harm compromised skin. It's non-toxic, non-steroidal and alcohol-free. Quart.


text:
Belize By Naturalight
Facts About Belize
Northern Belize
Ambergris Caye
Caye Caulker
Belize District
Cayo District
Stann Creek District
Southern Belize
Northern Belize
Ambergris Caye
Caye Caulker
Belize District
Cayo District
Stann Creek District
Southern Belize
Getting here
By Air
By Land
By Sea
Visitor Information
Specialty travel
Must See
Maya Sites
Inland Protected Areas
Beaches and Reef
Cultural & Historical Sites
Must do
Land Activities
Water Activities
BBN Blog
Discover Belize
Choose your BELIZE ADVENTURE. Start here.
Stann Creek
Southern Belize
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Caye Caulker
Ambergris Caye
Belize Listings
Popular Belize Hotels
Belize Travel Planning
Adventure Travel
Belize Hotels
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Find a Travel Agent
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Auto Dealers
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Real Estate
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Organizations Index
Pelican Beach Resort
Pelican Reef Villas
Swaying Palms, sandy beaches, and warm ocean breezes welcome you to Pelican Reef Villas. PRV, completed in 2007, blends luxury accommodations and breathtaking views with a discreet location 2.5 miles south of San Pedro to give your trip seclusion with real panache!
Maya Mountain Lodge & Tours
Maya Mountain Lodge & Tours is a friendly, family run jungle lodge with air conditioned spacious rooms and cottages. Our amenities include a lovely swimming pool, beautiful nature trails, tropical gardens and a gourmet dining room serving ethnic dishes from Belize. Our property is surrounded by gorgeous Belizean rainforest with excellent bird watching, and other rainforest treasures. We also have an in-house tour company which is one of the largest and most respected in the country providing all inland tours including Tikal Mayan Ruins. Come enjoy the eco-adventure and exceptional service!
Tropical Education Center
The Tropical Education Center is an 84 acre site set in unspoilt savannah land located adjacent to the Belize Zoo. The facility is geared towards promoting environmental education and scientific research. The center is equipped with a classroom, a library, kitchen and dining area, as well as dormitories which can accommodate as many as 30 people.
Beaches and Dreams Seafront Inn and Barracuda Bar and Grill
Hugh Parkey's Belize Adventure Lodge
on a privately owned Spanish Look-Out Caye, near to Belize City and close to the barrier reef; a full service lodge with cabanas over the water, student dormitory, restaurant, bar, PADI dive shop, gift shop and meeting/classroom facilities for vacationers, educational and incentive group. Home to Belize's first Dolphin Encounter program.
Hugh Parkey's Belize Dive Connection
Take the Plunge! Dive with Hugh Parkey's Belize Dive Connection and use Hugh Parkey's Belize Adventure Lodge as the hub for your ultimate Belizean vacation experience.
Barefoot Beach Belize
Barefoot Beach is the Caribbean spot your tropical dreams are made of. We're located beachfront on the quiet Southern side. While relaxing on the beach or napping under the tiki in a hammock, you can enjoy the sounds of the nearby reef. Our rooms, suites, and cottages are decorated with a tropical flair and have all the comforts of home. For true hospitality, cleanliness, and a personal touch......join us!
Belize In The Media
Frigate and boobie bird battle for life over a sun sparkled sea, Belize Lighthawk
Read more...
More stories
It is difficult sometimes to know when to end a photo shoot...this was not one of those times. Therese Bowman at Carrie Bow Caye, Belize 1986.
Going for that early 1900's glamour look. @tmrath at Carrie Bow Caye, Belize 1986.
I don't know ... maybe cause it is a grey day today, or maybe cause the Belizean people are as beautiful as the nature around us ...
Cast net fishing in flood waters, Dangriga, Belize
Tony Rath Photography
Pelican Beach Resort
Naturalight Productions Ltd.
Ambergris Caye
Caye Caulker
Northern Belize
Stann Creek
Southern Belize
Tony Rath Photography
Stock Photos of Belize for Sale


text:
Patricia Bowden, 73, of McLoud, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012, in Oklahoma City.
Services will be 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 6, at Emmanuel Baptist Church in McLoud with Reverend James Bond officiating.
Burial will follow at Fairview Cemetery in Shawnee under the direction of Cooper Funeral Home of Tecumseh.
To share memories, or to sign the guest book on-line, go to www.cooperfuneral.com.
Location, ST | website.com


text:
It's a place to taunt, a place to fret and a place to just be snarky.
While the 49ers and Ravens bashed bodies during Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, fans tangled with each other online Sunday. Social media -- and in particular Twitter -- is a real-time global water cooler. The game may be one of the biggest sports telecasts of the year -- an estimated 179.1 million people were expected to tune in -- but it's also one of the nation's biggest social media events.
During last year's game, Twitter recorded more than 13 million tweets -- a figure that got blown away this year. How does 22 million grab you? And that doesn't include tweets about the commercials.
Fans took to social media to worry -- Daisy Barringer, @daisy, tweeted, "I am shaking I'm so nervous" -- but mostly to trash-talk.
As the Ravens took a commanding 28-6 lead at halftime, Andrelton Simmons, @Andrelton, tweeted, "(I)f it smells like a blowout looks like a blowout it's probably gonna end up a blowout #ravens."
On this newspaper's Super Bowl blog, Niners fan Sam lamented, "Who's got it better than us? Baltimoooooooore Ravens."
But as the on-field fortunes shifted San Francisco's way, so did the emotions online.
"This a ball game when y'all thought this was blow out. #letsgo. #49ers," said tieeeee, or @TieshaF_ on Twitter.
Amy B., aka @BOSS_AMZ, would have none of the 49ers joy growing across Twitter: "Wait ... lol why all of a sudden the #49ers fans wanna speak up. True fans speak throughout the WHOLE game winning or losing."
At times, the game on Twitter was as rough as the play on the field. "Is it actually socially acceptable to tell someone to hang him or herself with a belt on twitter? Stay classy people!" pleaded CBS Sports Radio host Dana Jacobson.
In the end, Indie music artist DeWunNation.com, @DeWun_Music, summed up the close 34-31 Ravens victory: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!.! #ravens."
There were plenty of light moments as well. A 34-minute power outage at the start of the second half led one snarky fan to create @SuperbowlLights, which had some 10,000 followers within minutes.
And advertisers were quick to recognize an opportunity, as well: Laundry detergent maker Tide tweeted: "We can't get your #blackout, but we can get your stains out."
Silicon Valley futurist Paul Saffo calls this the era of "personal media."
It wasn't that long ago that sports fans suffered -- and rejoiced -- alone in front of their TVs. The only others who heard their moans or shouts of joy were patient spouses or friends huddled together for four hours of football. Now as fans gather in front of their big screens with their chips and beer, they make sure their laptops and smartphones are nearby so they can yelp, cry and laugh across the Internet.
"In the mass media age, you sat and watched. At most, you shouted at the screen," Saffo said. "In the personal media age, participation is an essential part of the experience. It's the power of immediacy and the power of immersion."
Many athletes take to Twitter and Facebook, too, though the NFL forbids players from tweeting or updating social-networking profiles starting 90 minutes before a game until after postgame media interviews are completed.
On Twitter, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe seemed more interested in what was occurring between plays -- the commercials -- than the play on the field. "That Audi commercial just had a kid tongue-raping someone ...Way to not objectify women and play into stereotypes," he tweeted.
Contact John Boudreau at 408-278-3496; follow him at Twitter.com/svwriter.


text:
The bike industry often sees fads come and go. Innovation doesn't always assure success or even relevance for that matter. But the 29er revolution seems to be one that's here to stay and for good reason.
There's no denying the rock crawling, root crushing power of a larger wheel. Making the largest of obstacles the smallest of matters is a defining trait of these muddy beasts. By offering decreased rolling resistance, increased traction when cornering and improved ground clearance, one ride upon one of these massive behemoths is sure to sway even the staunchest skeptic.
Benefits of a 29" Wheel
The Diamondback Overdrive packs a punch in terms of value and affordability and takes 29ers to a new level. The newly revised 2012 6061-T6 Aluminum Overdrive series frame boasts of newly formed top and down tubes, a machined headtube, and forged drop outs with a replaceable derailleur hanger. The matte or gloss black finished frame with the contrasting highlights on the TT gives the frame a very "super car inspired" look and feel.
The Geometry is spot on. The ever so sloping top tube provides ample standover clearance. A 71° head tube angle and a 73° seat tube angle create the perfect XC/trail geometry. The 390mm (15.4 inch) chainstays equate to an extremely snappy rig and the ability to easily get the front wheel off the ground – something that not all 29ers can be so proud of.
The Overdrive is a fantastic entry level 29er well balanced between value and performance. The SR Suntour XCT gives you 100mm of travel for the perfect amount of cushion up front. Add to that Disc brakes courtesy of Tektro and you have one of the best in class values for an entry level 29er period.
The Sram X-4 shifters and rear derailleur make the going easy while the Shimano TX50 dual pull front derailleur keeps the shifting smooth for the SR Suntour XCT crankset (22/32/42t). Add in Weinmann SL-7 double wall rims with WTB Wolverine Race folding aramid bead and you can ride this bike over pretty much anything. Diamondback signature alloy handlebars, stem post and Race saddle w/tubular cromo rails round out this package.
The 2012 Overdrive is an economical means of getting into a new 29er. Whether it's your first 29er, you're just "testing the waters", or whether you want to add a new steed to the stable. The Overdrive is offered in SM (16"), MD (18"), LG (20"), and XL (22") are sure to offer the value and quality that you are looking for in a new 2012 Overdrive 29er.
Height must be between 56-79in.
Height must be between 142-201cm.
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Your Bike size is:


text:
South Korea: Gathering pace despite risks
Asia Pacific Economic Outlook, December 2013
In Q3, South Korea's economy expanded at its fastest pace in nearly two years, aided by strong performance in manufacturing and construction. But this masks concerns about exports and consumption.
South Korea's economy expanded at the fastest pace in nearly two years in Q3 2013, aided by strong performance in manufacturing and construction. The strong showing, however, masks concerns about exports and consumption. As economic growth in China—a key export market—slows to more sustainable levels, exports have come under pressure. Private consumption has lightened some of the burden of slowing exports, but it faces medium-term headwinds from high household debt and low income growth.
Q3 pickup in economic activity
The economy grew 3.3 percent year over year in Q3 2013, up from 2.3 percent in Q2. Construction led the charge, rising 4.8 percent, followed by manufacturing at 4.0 percent. Manufacturing growth would have been higher but for labor strikes at two major car manufacturers. Due to the strikes and festival holidays, auto production fell 18.6 percent in September from August, thereby pushing industrial output down 2.1 percent. However, near-term prospects in manufacturing appear healthy, with work resuming at automobile plants and new smartphone launches by domestic companies. It's no wonder then that business sentiment in manufacturing for November rose to the highest level in 17 months.
On the expenditure side, consumption grew 2.2 percent in Q3, up from 1.8 percent in Q2. Consumer confidence has been picking up, with the Bank of Korea's (BOK's) composite consumer index in October rising to its highest level since May 2012. Consumers have benefitted from low inflation and loose monetary policy. However, upbeat consumer sentiments need to be viewed with caution, given high household debt and slow real wage growth. On a negative note, export growth fell to 3.9 percent in Q3 from 5.7 percent in Q2 due to slowing demand from China and the South Korean won's relative strength against the Japanese yen.
Interestingly, the government is trying to develop a broader measure of unemployment.
Twin problems for exports: Slowing China and rising won
As China's policymakers shift focus to equality, the country's economy is likely to move to a lower growth trajectory. Although detrimental in the near term, such a shift coupled with a domestic consumption–driven growth model in China could benefit South Korean exporters over a longer period. Meanwhile, the won's strength, especially against currencies of competitors, is worrisome. The won has gained about 25 percent against the Japanese yen since November 2012, when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed aggressive quantitative easing in his election campaign. The other factor aiding the won's rise is continued investor interest in South Korea, based on healthy GDP growth, strong public finances, and a high current account surplus. In September, for example, a 10-year dollar-denominated bond worth $1 billion (the first since 2009) was heavily oversubscribed. In fact, the won has been one of few currencies relatively unaffected by uncertainty over the US Federal Reserve's asset purchase program.
BOK policy to remain loose despite high household debt
Monetary policy continues to remain accommodative, with the BOK keeping its key policy rate on hold for the fifth time in October. In May the BOK cut the rate by 25 basis points to 2.5 percent. Policy stance is not likely to change until Q1 2014, given the need to support the economy at a time when fiscal stimulus measures will run out. Favorably for the BOK, inflation is at a 14-year low (0.7 percent in October) and much below the central bank's 2.5–3.5 percent target. A key concern, however, is high household debt, which amounted to 153 percent of disposable income in 2012. This is higher than the 2003 level (130 percent), when the country faced a credit crisis, and is also above the US figure before the subprime crisis (138 percent). Consequently, the BOK is aware that any rise in rates would raise debt servicing costs, thereby hurting consumers.
Consumption risks and the government's attempts at reforms
Apart from high household debt, slowing income gains pose a risk to consumer spending. Despite low inflation and unemployment, real average monthly household income grew a mere 1.3 percent year over year in Q2 2013, down from 3.8 percent for the whole of 2012. During the same period, growth in labor wages fell to 4.2 percent from 5.3 percent. The trend is not likely to change much without policy reforms to strengthen small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and develop the services sector, where income gains tend to be highest.
Encouragingly, the government has made a start with reforms. With greater focus on employment generation, policymakers have framed a plan to simultaneously generate 476,000 jobs every year until 2017 and force up household income. Support for SMEs is also on the anvil, with aid allocated for those employing 300 people or fewer. This is set to benefit self-employed individuals the most, especially those operating in sectors with thin top lines. Interestingly, the government is trying to develop a broader measure of unemployment. This follows the National Assembly Budget Office's broad unemployment projection of 7.5 percent, a stark contrast to the current figure (2.7 percent in September).
Rise in social spending in the new budget
In September the government unveiled a deficit budget of 1.8 percent of GDP, with overall spending set to rise 4.6 percent. However, the projected deficit is based on an optimistic estimate of GDP growth (3.9 percent) and hence could end up higher (about 2 percent). In line with the government's election promise, spending on welfare, health care, and job creation is set to rise 8.7 percent, while local governments will receive funds to spruce up their finances, which have been impacted by higher welfare spending obligations. As a result of higher social spending, the government expects public debt to go up marginally in 2014, to 36.5 percent of GDP.1 However, this figure is much below that of developed-economy peers. On a disappointing note, the budget failed to take forward the government's pre-election promise of reforms: A pledge to extend old-age pensions to all South Koreans above the age of 65 was diluted, even as the government delayed its plan to eliminate the budget deficit. This follows the breakdown of a tax reform plan over fears that it would increase tax liabilities for the middle class.
Growth to pick up in the coming years
Despite the risks, the economic momentum of Q3 2013 is likely to continue into Q4, with average annual growth ending at 2.4–2.8 percent, up from 2.0 percent in 2012. An improvement in economic conditions in Europe and the United States is likely to push up export growth to 5.5–6.0 percent in 2014–15. Investments could also benefit as businesses respond to growing demand and high capacity utilization. As a result, overall GDP growth is likely to move up to 3.4–3.8 percent in the next two years.
EndnotesView all endnotes
- Ministry of Strategy and Finance (South Korea), The 2014 budget proposal, September 26, 2013, http://english.mosf.go.kr/popup/10_PolicyFocusBanner_20131014/popup.html.


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Live and learn in the main tower of the New York City Campus! This residence hall comprises floors five through 17 of the building and houses approximately 550 first-year Pace students. Each double occupancy room features wall-to-wall carpeting, cable TV connection, an Ethernet connection (no cord provided). Wireless internet is available throughout the building. Residents are just a short elevator ride away from classes, the library, and dining facilities. A range of theme floor options (as well as non-themed floors) are available to students. Maria's Tower is an alcohol and substance-free building. Common areas include a TV lounge and a study lounge on every floor (the 5th floor, which has half the number of residents as the other floors, has only a TV lounge). Laundry facilities are located on seven floors. Maytag laundry machines are free of charge to all residents.
- Typical room size: 200-250 square feet
- 24-hour Security—students must show ID as they enter One Pace Plaza, and again when they transition to the 4th floor elevator that services the residential floors
- Window treatment: black window blinds (provided)
- Bed style: Standard twin (loftable; in some rooms, beds are required to be lofted due to available space or room configuration)
- In order to preserve the integrity of the building's alcohol policy, and to avoid conflict, we work to avoid placing students who are 21 years of age and older in Maria's Tower, even if they are first-year students; if such students are placed in the buil
- Cable Service provided to all University-owned residence halls, through the University, by an agreement with local cable service providers.
Maria's Tower
One Pace Plaza New York, NY 10038
Room Rates 2016 - 2017*
$7,000/Semester Double
$8,400/Semester Small Single
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We are closed from 2016/01/01 to 2016/01/03 to celebrate the 2016 New Year. Orders and emails during this period will be processed when we are back to work on 2016 Jan 4th. Sorry for the inconvenience and Happy New Year!
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Location: Delta Water Management Research Unit
Project Number: 6024-13000-002-00
Start Date: Apr 19, 2012
End Date: Apr 18, 2017
To preserve the quantity and quality of irrigation water supplies in the Lower Mississippi River Basin, it is necessary to consider the range of crops, soils, and production systems; the types of irrigation and drainage systems employed; the level of runoff water recycling employed; and the different water sources available. This project will address ways to improve the sustainability of groundwater supplies by investigating alternative irrigation methods for the crops currently produced in the region. Production system evaluations will include on-farm research with active participation by crop producers and crop advisors. Data collected from on-farm evaluations will be used to inform, enhance and validate existing hydrology models. Findings from this research are expected to reduce agricultural reliance on groundwater and improve water resources management, inform decision makers of potential impacts of conservation practices, and arm producers with tools and technologies that conserve water resources while maintaining crop yield.


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Click on the merchants below for pricing and availability of projector ceiling mounts. If you have a projector brand preference, narrow your merchant search by choosing the appropriate brand.
If you need a wall mount, click here for wall mount suppliers.
There are no suppliers listing these products right now.


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This Saturday, June 2nd from 10 am to 4 pm plan on going to the Art Fest on Market Street in Downtown Minerva. Artists, Woodturners, Entertainment and good food is on the agenda. No charge.
Minerva is just a short drive from Whispering Pines Bed & Breakfast. For more information call Linda at 866-452-5388.
I'll look forward to seeing you soon,
Whispering Pines Bed and Breakfast ——————————-


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Classic Yellow Snap Key Ring Lanyard
Classic Lanyard Snap Key Ring YellowLANCKR YEL
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Show your support with lanyards!
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I am having trouble manipulating Blu-ray material to the PS3. It streams just fine, but can't FF, RW, or use scene search. These functions work fine for DVD based material. Here is current setup:
PS3media server:
Win 7 64bit
8GB ram
Renderer: PS3 Media Player
1Gbit between server and PS3.
mp4/mkv created by Handbrake.
What works:
m4V container: DVD based material with Dolby Digital soundtracks
mkv container: DVD based material with DTS soundtracks
What doesn't work:
m4V container: blu-ray material with DTS-MA soundtracks
mkv container: blu-ray material with DTS-MA soundtracks.
Again, the material streams fine for both audio and video. If I attempt to FF, RW, or do a scene search, I get the following error in the debug.log file:
INFO 2012-11-22 19:44:53.755 [mencoder.exe-42] Process G:\Program Files (x86)\PS3 Media Server\win32\mencoder.exe has a return code of -1073741819! Maybe an error occurred... check the log file
I've attached the debug log. Look for 'A New Hope (1).mkv' for an mkv example, and look for 'Phantom Menace.m4v' for an MP4 example.
Based on the forum searches here and at handbrake, I'm going down the following paths:
1. Large file size (7-9GB) can't be handled by PS3 via streaming.
2. Something with the DTS-MA stream is an issue.
3. something wrong with mencoder.
Next test is to take a sample blu-ray file and run through handbrake at very low resolution to get a smaller file, but leave in DTS-MA.
Then same video, with standard DTS track.
any other suggestions?


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Can Policy Levers Raise the Share of Americans Who Work?
By one big economic measure, things in the U.S. were never so good as in the early months of 2000. In those heady days, an all-time high of working-age Americans had jobs.
Since then, the rate of labor participation has slid steadily, from a peak of 67.3% to 62.8% last month, scraping lows not seen since the late 1970s.
So is there any chance of reversing the slide?
The White House thinks so, though hesitantly. Other economists agree. Stemming the outflow of workers is possible, they say, with the right policy prescriptions and a more robust economy. Much harder will be nudging the share of Americans in the workforce back up toward two-thirds.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers dug into one of the abiding mysteries of this grinding post-recession recovery in a meaty report last week: With the unemployment rate going down and more Americans finding jobs, why does the overall rate of Americans who are working continue to fall?
In some ways the findings weren't all that novel. Around half the fall in labor participation since the end of 2007, when the recession hit, came from the upswing in retirements as baby boomers slip out of the workforce.
Around a sixth of the decline since then, the CEA found, stems from the fact that the unemployment rate—at 6.1% in June—remains a fair bit higher than the norm before the recession.
The remaining share is due to longstanding trends that predate the recession, such as a slow slippage of women in the workforce and the fall off in youth employment. Prime-age males have been slowly disappearing from the workforce since the late 1940s.
Slowing or reversing these various dropout trends isn't easy.
White House and other economists agree that a wholesale immigration overhaul would deliver the biggest single boost to the workforce: adding as many as six million people over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Next on many lists, including that of some conservatives, would be an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit to include working adults who don't have children.
"Immigration is the truly powerful force," says Doug Holtz-Eakin, a conservative economist and former CBO director who argues that other steps, like a comprehensive tax overhaul, could give the economy a sizable jolt.
Jared Bernstein, a former Obama White House economic adviser, points to ramped up infrastructure investment and other measures that could accelerate growth.
"There is nothing like the pull of a strong, tight labor market," Mr. Bernstein says.
One of President Barack Obama's economic advisers, Betsey Stevenson, made a similar point last week when she told a story of a coffee shop buzzing with talk of people finding jobs.
Her point: Upbeat talk of jobs gets the discouraged to give it another try.
Still, even the White House isn't too optimistic about turning things around in dramatic ways. Even its rosiest scenario has the labor participation rate bumping up a bit by 2016 before heading south again for the foreseeable future.


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File data recovery software for deleted & lost files
PhotoRec is file data recovery software designed to recover lost files including video, documents and archives from Hard Disks and CDRom and lost pictures (thus, its 'Photo Recovery' name) from digital camera memory. PhotoRec ignores the filesystem and goes after the underlying data, so it will still work even if your media's filesystem has been severely damaged or re-formatted.
PhotoRec is free, this open source multi-platform application is distributed under GNU Public License. PhotoRec is a companion program to TestDisk, an app for recovering lost partitions on a wide variety of filesystems and making non-bootable disks bootable again. You can download them from this link.
For more safety, PhotoRec uses read-only access to handle the drive or memory support you are about to recover lost data from. Important: As soon as a pic or file is accidentally deleted, or you discover any missing, do NOT save any more pics or files to that memory device or hard disk drive; otherwise you may overwrite your lost data. This means that even using PhotoRec, you must not choose to write the recovered files to the same partition they were stored on.
Required OS: not specified
Tags: partition , disk , data , file , recovery , utility , undelete
3 Opinions
Saved my gf's life, excellent and easy to use tool
Apparently photorec works on whole partitions, not on a specific directory (where files have been deleted).
A nice tutorial is avalaible here
I use this often and I like it very much !!!
But be aware !! this application runs in Terminal and does not have nice GUI. It has the same user interface in Windows and OSX


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General Guidelines
Scheduling is subject to tour guide availability and must be scheduled through the Special Projects Coordinator.
Please, arrange your tour at least a month ahead of time.
Groups must have at least 8 people with no more than 30 people.
Individuals must be in 1st grade or older.
Children younger than 4th grade must be accompanied by an adult with a 2 children to 1 adult ratio.
Watching a Live Newscast
Individuals must be in 5th grade or older.
Groups can watch the noon, 4:00, 5:00 or 6:00 newscast. Some exclusions may apply. Direct Questions to the Special Projects Coordinator.
Groups must arrive 15 minutes before the newscast time or they will be unable to watch.
Cell phones must be turned off or on silent.
Flash photography is not allowed.
About the Tour
Our station tours are meant to be informative and educational. Individuals have the opportunity to see how a newscast is made and all of the different facets of a successful media group. This tour is most effective for students 5th grade and older, but is available to children ages 1st grade – 4th grade as well. Tours last about 25 minutes. Tours that also watch a live newscast last about an hour. Questions are welcome at the end of the tour.
How do I sign up for a tour?
Tours are arranged by Erika Maley. You can reach her by email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Tour Guidelines
General Guidelines


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STANFORD -- It took a monster game from senior All-American Chiney Ogwumike and so much more Saturday for sixth-ranked Stanford to score its first signature victory of the 2013-14 season.
Ogwumike had 32 points and 20 rebounds as the Cardinal held off No. 3 Tennessee 76-70 in front of a crowd of 6,044 at Maples Pavilion.
But the Lady Volunteers didn't go quietly while suffering their first defeat this season after a 10-0 start. Tennessee rallied from a 10-point deficit with 6 ½ minutes to play to make it 70-68 in the final minute.
Then Stanford (10-1) clamped down when it mattered most.
"We just had to stick to what we knew ... and everything would end up all right," Ogwumike said. "And we have Amber Orrange, which helps, too."
Orrange made the decisive play when Stanford kept possession after a scramble for the ball underneath the Cardinal's basket. On the ensuing play, Orrange dribbled across the court before charging through the left side of the lane with 28 seconds remaining. Orrange flipped the ball in while getting fouled despite being surrounded by two tall defenders. She made the free throw to give Stanford a five-point cushion.
"Kind of kills the mood," said guard Ariel Massengale, who led the Volunteers with 17 points.
In the end, Stanford defeated Tennessee for the third consecutive time, something the school had never done in the 31-year cross-country rivalry.
It's easy to focus on the 6-foot-3 Ogwumike, who moved to seventh on Stanford's all-time scoring list while passing Jeanne Ruark Hoff. As Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said, "She is the heart and soul of that basketball team."
But the tall Texan doesn't accept the notion that Stanford is a one-woman team.
"We are all growing up," Ogwumike said. "After last year, we're more hungry. Before we were letting things happen to us instead of doing things."
One of those "things" was rebounding. Stanford out-rebounded a team that had averaged 52.1 rebounds per game while limiting opponents to 36.3.
"When we rebound, that's not the 'nice girls from Stanford' going up," said Ogwumike, who had 11 offensive rebounds. "We're trying to shed our old reputation and evolve."
The evolution is happening on the court as coach Tara VanDerveer blends a lot of new faces with Ogwumike, fellow post player Mikaela Ruef and Orrange.
It was evident in the play Saturday of freshman guard Lili Thompson, Alex Green and junior Taylor Greenfield.
Thompson had 14 points, Greenfield 11 and Green played strong defense to spell foul-plagued Orrange as the Cardinal won its ninth consecutive game. Stanford hasn't lost since a 76-57 defeat at top-ranked Connecticut on Nov. 11.
VanDerveer wants to see more scoring from post players not named Ogwumike. Ruef did better with eight points, eight rebounds and three assists. But freshmen Kailee Johnson and Erica McCall were held scoreless. Johnson wore a protective mask after breaking her nose Monday against New Mexico.
Ogwumike played all 40 minutes while toiling for every ball underneath the basket.
"It was physical, but the way basketball should be physical," she said.
Her presence led to Tennessee's fourth defeat in a row at Maples. It hasn't won there since 2005. But the Lady Vols still lead the series 22-9 that has titled in Stanford's favor in recent years.
The Cardinal has one more non-conference game next weekend at Fresno State before Pac-12 play begins.
"We need more help from more people," VanDerveer said. "We have to improve a lot."
Contact Elliott Almond at 408-920-5865. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/elliottalmond.
Stanford (10-1) at Fresno State (6-4), 6 p.m.