CONJUNTO FEST LINE-UP

Thursday, May 10 5:00-11:00 pm Opening ceremonies & TCF Poster Contest Awards

5:35-6:45 pm Bene Medina y el Conjunto Águila
7:00-8:10 pm Oscar Hernández & the Tuff Band
8:25-9:35 pm Paulino Bernal y el Conjunto Bernal
9:50-11:00 pm Joel Guzmán y Los Aztex featuring Sarah Fox

Friday, May 11 “Puro Conjunto Pesado: Así se baila en el valle”

5:00-6:15 pm Gilberto Pérez y sus Compadres
6:35-7:50 pm Los Fantasmas del Valle
8:10-9:25 pm Rubén Vela y su Conjunto
9:45-11:00 pm Los Dos Gilbertos Saturday,

May 12 “Puro Conjunto Pesado: The San Anto, Laredo, Corpus Christi Connection”
11:00-11:50 am Student Recital: GCAC/Conjunto Heritage Taller/Palo Alto College
12:05-12:55 pm Los D Boyz
1:10-2:00 pm Los Conjunto Kings de Flavio Longoria
2:15-3:05 pm Nick Villarreal y su Conjunto
3:20-4:10 pm Bernardo y sus Compadres
4:25-5:15 pm Linda Escobar y su Conjunto
5:30-6:20 pm Los Texmaniacs de Max Baca
6:35-7:25 pm Ricky Naranjo y Los Gamblers
7:30-7:50 pm Conjunto Music Hall of Fame Ceremony
8:00-8:50 pm Eva Ybarra y su Conjunto
9:05-9:55 pm Los Pavos Reales/Salvador García y Eddie “Lalo” Torres
10:10-11:00 pm Mingo Saldívar y sus Tremendos Cuatro Espadas
11:15-12:05 pm Flaco Jiménez y su Conjunto

little loca

DRIVE RIGHT IN, DRIVE RIGHT OUT

Ha! ha! I have successfully kicked my bout of sickness/influenza and decided to celebrate by having a rousing study session this afternoon. What is up with the new KRS webpage? I was looking for information on BARR ,(the last time I was on the website was when I ordered The Advantage album) apparently its all streamined and shit. I preferred the old school website with those little windows and the the 32-point type. Ah, well apparently the long-time owner, Slim Moon, took some corporate job with Nonesuch Records, leaving his wife in charge. Hopefully the website is the only thing that'll change with the little record company that could, but I guess we'll see 'bout that.

p.s. Save MISSION DRIVE-IN!
This institution is a staple of South Side San Anto life. I can't imagine a summer without going to the Mission, driving thru those gates greeted by the insane red-headed stranger Rusty waving you in, hiding in my Dad's cameoneta and watching the most ill-thought of double-features (usu. a first run with a movie that has been showing at least 3 mo's ago) in the cool San Antonio night air. If you haven't been to Mission Drive-In, then do yourself a favor and go, and do it right, too. Sneak in a six-pack of beer and some snacks and lawn chairs.

Muchas Luchas

Still trying to recover from this flu/cold bug that has bitten me and won't let go. Sunday, went to Vaquero's Bar (622 Roosevelt) for some Lucha Libre (estilo Mexicano) it was pretty awesome. Juan Diego the "evil" ref was back with some great one-liners for the crowd. And Difunto (a calaveras themed wrestler) was pretty heated about something that went down in the final tag-team match (Difunto y Mr. Muerte vs. Chief Battu and Kato Kung Lee) which was pretty hellacious, even more so considering Chief Battu and Kato Kung Lee's combined age is something in the 90's. You don't win many fans calling the esteemed South Side crowd "mojados" my man. The announcers and wrestlers are hilarious, if you don't know Spanish you won't get 80% of the jokes. En serio.

Apparently Huracan Ramirez is going to be there this Sunday. Who is a legend. I'll see you kids out there, with a cold Bud Light in one hand and one of the best lonches this side of the Rio Grande on the other.

Control De Estado-Acto Criminal 7"

I picked up this 7" from Hogwild Records a week ago and have been listening to it on and off. It was the cover art that caught me, a kid with a book in his hands and what looks like a faceless suit with a gun to the kids head, in a fierce Raymon Pettibone-style line drawing, the lyrics in Spanish and the pink vinyl sealed the deal. 6 songs of blazing thrash/hardcore, 4 songs in Spanish (Acto Criminal, No Hay Piedad, Atentado Machista, Hechos) and 2 in English (What Retirement Plan?, and Fashion Junkie). This was released by Burrito Records by Sound Idea Distribution, based in Florida. This 3 piece band has some pretty righteous lyrics, especially the Atentado Machista, which calls out the bullshit machismo in the hardcore scene.

Todos somos

la misma cosa

todos tenemos la misma capacidad

la fuerza no tiene genero.

The lyrics deal with globalization/immigration/capitalism (Acto Criminal, What Retirement Plan?) war (No Hay Piedad) patriarchy (Atentado Machista) and fashion-punk (Fashion Junkie). The album was recorded very lo-fi and raw which doesn't detract from their sound but makes it 10X better in my opinion. Plus the vocals are ragged and angry. Pissed-off political hardcore on pink vinyl, what more can you ask for?

H.A.R.D.

I have been sick these past couple of days, so I have been just moping around or sleeping and waking up in a cold sweat. Thanks to good ol' Nite-Time for helping things along. Friday night, Blazin' Banditas Lucha and Kay Mala and I drove up to Corpus to check out the H.A.R.D. (Hurricane Alley Roller Derby). They had their bouts in a converted H.E.B. and it was so underground and badass. The Broads On Quads took on the Black-Eyed-Brigade in a tense bout with the Black Eyed Brigade finishing up 39 to 26. It was pretty tense, with about 5 fights taking place between the two teams, these women play with that heart and soul, but seriously, i thought they were going to have a large scale riot up in therr. Never a dull moment. Outstanding jammers included Melee Mistress for the Broads on Quads and Quadalupe (awesome name!) for the Black-Eyed Brigade. Awesome bout and an awesome time.

pinche

Bush is encountering some unprecedented resistance to his tours of Latin America. Mayan leaders in Guatemala have vowed to "spiritually cleanse" an ancient site after Bush visits. So awesome. "That a person like (Bush) with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked is going to walk in our sacred lands is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney. After countless years of oppression, sponsoring death squads and adversely influencing their elections, it looks like the chickens have come home to roost. Greg Grandin's book "Empire's Workshop" looks like a good place as any to start and learn a little about our history in Latin America.

Huh?

Just checkin' out how this thing works