¡Feliz Día del Padre!

Happy Father's Day to all my readers!

I hope you all are able to enjoy this holiday with your own fathers.

My father, unfortunately, is no longer with us but while he was alive, he inspired me in so many different ways that it seems futile for me to try and list them all.

For example, I once saw him working on a painting that looked much like the above illustration. When he asked him about it, he said that he had copied it from a picture -- and I'm guessing that the above illustration -- which comes from a famous book by Mexican architect Ignacio Marquina -- is the one he copied it from. To some people, that might not seem like much but it seemed obvious to me even when I was a child that it took a lot of effort for him to duplicate a picture like the above illustration so well that it looked like an original piece of work. And of course, my father's interest in things artistic eventually helped inspired my interest in the arts -- although, unlike him, I never seriously tried to copy an actual picture, much less create one from scratch.

Anyway, I am sorry that I never had a chance to question him more about his painting when he was alive but perhaps it is just as well. After all, some things are better left to the imagination.

Anyway, please enjoy the holiday.

(A repost in honor of my late father.)

Pop Song of the Week: "The Girls on Fox News"

Believe it or not, this song is not a satire. At least that's what songwriter Austin Cunningham said.

However, it is surprisingly catchy.

Movie Song of the Week: "One Jump Ahead"

Who among us hasn't had a day like this during the last ten years?

Movie Quote of the Week

He's wrong! It don't take much strength to pull a trigger, but try and get up every morning, day after day and work for a livin'! Let's see him try that! Then we'll see who's the REAL tough guy! The working man's the tough guy! Your father's the tough guy!
--Robert De Niro, A Bronx Tale (1993)

TV Quote of the Week

A child tries; a man accomplishes.
--Hector Elizondo, Columbo, “A Case of Immunity”

Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión

Cristela: "Mexican Mona Lisa"

I wish I had liked this show a lot more than I did. I really wanted to like it because of Cristela Alonzo's character but it just didn't seem as imaginative as I'd hoped. As cartoonish as Ugly Betty was, it at least aspired to portray something close to modern-day reality by acknowledging the fact that most of us work in a predominantly white yet still multiracial environment. Cristela, on the other hand, still prefers a world of--ahem--black and white, if not brown and white. I don't want to blame this all on Alonzo; after all, I have no idea how much control she had over her material nor how much of the show was influenced by non-Hispanic studio executives. But I still felt the show could have been more promising than it was.

I wanted to root for Alonzo's character but I kept wishing the writing was better, the characterization sharper, the family conflicts not so banal. I would love to see her get a second chance but knowing Hollywood, I doubt that's very likely. But maybe some executive will prove me wrong. I certainly hope so.

Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión

Devious Maids: "Pilot"

I wish I hated this show a lot more than I did. But once I got past the dubious concept behind it, I actually found myself liking it.
Granted, I liked it better when it was making fun of rich white people but still. I was surprised because I really wanted to hate it.

On the plus side, it was nice to see Judy Reyes of Scrubs working -- though I wish she had a better role than maid if for no other reason than the fact that you already see too many Hispanic women on TV playing maids. And my late sister the All My Children fan would have appreciated the fact that it also had a starring role for Susan Lucci even though her character was more benign than the one she played on All My Children.

On the down side, it doesn't even pretend to aspire to any type of social realism. And yes, I know some people would consider that a plus because producer Marc Cherry isn't exactly known for such work but still.

Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión

The Middle: "Pilot"

I saw this a few years ago on the recommendation of blogger Ken Levine and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was not half bad. Like some online critics, I tended to like it better when it focused on the three kids than when it did when it focused on the parents but all in all it was not a bad show.

I'm sorry I put off watching it for so long, but then most of the ads I saw for it reminded me so much of the old show Malcolm in the Middle that I thought it was a rip-off. And it did not help that the other show that cast member Patricia Heaton was associated with (Everybody Loves Raymond) wasn't one of my favorite shows either. On the other hand, Neil Flynn -- who played a supporting role on Scrubs -- did a surprisingly good job playing the family patriarch.

Show Tune of the Week: "A Very Good Day"

A song that never fails to make me cry. And one that is, of course, dedicated to all the people out there who do the work that others would rather not deal with.

Leyendas

1. leyenda -- legend.
2. leyenda blanca -- literally, white legend; a uncritical or whitewashed portrayal of Spain and the Spaniards during colonial times.
3. leyenda dorada -- literally, golden legend; a book about saints.
4. leyenda negra -- literally, black legend; the claim that Spain and the Spaniards were depicted as uniquely bloodthirsty, cruel, greedy and licentious, in excess of reality.
5. leyenda rosa -- literally, pink legend or white legend; the claim which promoted an ideal view of Spaniards.
6. leyenda urbana -- urban legend.

Siglos

1. siglo -- century.
2. siglo de cobre -- age of copper.
3. siglo de la ilustración -- Age of Enlightenment (18th century).
4. siglo de las luces -- Age of Enlightenment (18th century).
5. siglo de oro -- golden age.
6. siglo de plata -- silver age.
7. siglo dorado -- golden age.
8. siglos oscuros -- dark ages.

Trailer of the Week: Ocean's 8

I really want to see this movie -- which is odd because I had no such enthusiasm about the previous movies in this series.

Cuento de Mi Id

"King Kong: An Alternative Ending"

"It wasn't the airplanes that killed him. It was the corrupt workings of our profit-driven economic system."

"You mean--"

"That's right. It was booty that killed the beast."

Pop Song of the Week: "Zombie"

The same old thing since 1916.

Movie Song of the Week: "Rule the Planet (Paul Oakenfold Mix)"

Well, I should consider myself evil for posting this but Helena Bonham Carter does have a point. It is disgusting the way we treat humans. Especially those who aren't rich and healthy. And I fear that a future world of sentient apes would not treat them much better.

Question of the Week

Should I consider myself evil because when I first saw ads on BBC America for the "first female doctor," my first thought was that they had finally made a movie about Elizabeth Blackwell?

Movie Quote of the Week

You know you've reached rock bottom when you're told you have character flaws by a man who hanged his predecessor in a military coup.
--Tom Hanks, Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

TV Quote of the Week

No matter how paranoid you are, you're not paranoid enough.
--Signy Coleman, The X-Files, "Unusual Suspects"

Quote of the Week

After all, if you believe that no one was ever corrupted by a book, you also have to believe that no one was ever improved by a book (or a play or a movie). You have to believe, in other words, that all art is morally trivial and that, consequently, all education is morally irrelevant. No one, not even a university professor, really believes that.
--Irving Kristol, New York Times Magazine, March 28, 1971.