This is a must-read article.
It doesn't get any better than this. I am speechless.

CNN Article

Mexican stamp called offensive to blacks

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- The Mexican government has issued a postage stamp depicting an exaggerated black cartoon character known as Memin Pinguin, just weeks after remarks by President Vicente Fox angered U.S. blacks.
The series of five stamps released for general use Wednesday depicts a child character from a comic book started in the 1940s that is still published in Mexico.
The boy, hapless but lovable, is drawn with exaggerated features, thick lips and wide-open eyes. His appearance, speech and mannerisms are the subject of kidding by white characters in the comic book.
Activists said the stamp was offensive, though officials denied it.
"One would hope the Mexican government would be a little more careful and avoid continually opening wounds," said Sergio Penalosa, an activist in Mexico's small black community on the southern Pacific coast.
"But we've learned to expect anything from this government, just anything," Penalosa said. In May, Fox riled many by saying that Mexican migrants take jobs in the United States that "not even blacks" want.
Fox expressed regret for any offense the remarks may have caused, but insisted his comments had been misinterpreted.
Carlos Caballero, assistant marketing director for the Mexican Postal Service, said the stamps are not offensive, nor were they intended to be.
"This is a traditional character that reflects part of Mexico's culture," Caballero said. "His mischievous nature is part of that character."
However, Penalosa said many Mexicans still assume all blacks are foreigners, despite the fact that at one point early in the Spanish colonial era, Africans outnumbered Spanish in Mexico.
"At this point in time, it was probably pretty insensitive" to issue the stamp, said Elisa Velazquez, an anthropologist who studies Mexico's black communities for the National Institute of Anthropology and History.
"This character is a classic, but it's from another era," Velazquez said. "It's a stereotype and you don't want to encourage ignorance or prejudices."
The 6.50-peso (60 cent) stamps -- depicting the character in five poses -- was issued with the domestic market in mind, but Caballero noted it could be used in international postage as well.
A total of 750,000 of the stamps will be issued.
Ben Vinson, a black professor of Latin American history at Penn State University, said he has been called "Memin Pinguin" by some people in Mexico. He also noted that the character's mother is drawn to look like an old version of the U.S. advertising character Aunt Jemima.
The stamps are part of a series that pays tribute to Mexican comic books. Memin Pinguin, the second in the series, was apparently chosen for this year's release because it is the 50th anniversary of the company that publishes the comic.
Publisher Manelick De la Parra told the government news agency Notimex that the character would be sort of a goodwill ambassador on Mexican letters and postcards. "It seems nice if Memin can travel all over the world, spreading good news," de la Parra said, calling him "so charming, so affectionate, so wonderful, generous and friendly."

It is a shame everyone is so uptight. I guess that is easier for a honky to say. I love Uncle Remus, The Kingfish, Stepin' Fetchit, Rochester, Mantlin Moreland, Buckwheat, Stymie, Farina and the Almighty Louis Jordan - There is no irony involved. I just eat this stuff up and find it funnier than any current genre of comedic genius. I have to get this stamp!

German Pope making changes at the Vatican
"In the name of the Lager, the Wit, and the Hefeweizen"

Dark and sinister, seething with an undercurrent of impending doom. Atmospheric, sepia-tinted with a flourish of gothic noir and a layer of caustic grime.

No, I am not reviewing a Cypress Hill record nor have I taken up smoking the demon weed again. I am describing the impressions experienced from watching the new film Batman Begins.

Christian Bale, portraying Bruce Wayne/Batman, is an excellent actor, rapidly becoming one of my personal favorites, despite his appearance in Reign Of Fire (a film that I had such high hopes for but ultimately sucked worse than Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome... If that is possible). My first experience with the caped crusader was through the ambiguously gay television series in my early youth, like most old coots in my age group and I recall even back then somehow being put off by the ker-pow and blammo sequences of silly combat against grown men in pirate suits. My salvation came through the perusal of a childhood friend's hard-cover archival book of the original Batman comic strips from the 40's or 50's (?) with was the foundation for the Dark Knight revival of Batman before the first decent remake in the late 80's came out (with Michael Keaton). It was grim, heady stuff for a nine-year-old at the time and will always remember the first exposure to a superhero who was brooding and existential, having lost everything but his monetary fortune and loyal manservant. By the way, butlers are extremely underrated these days and my sole aim in my business endeavors is to succeed to the point where I may employ a butler, not unlike P-Diddy, or Inspector Clousseau.
This film captured the spirit of the scary Batman, a vigilante driven by hatred and blood vengeance. The story is little more than Death Wish with cool weapons and a cape, and Bale plays Bruce Wayne in such an intense manner that I watched the entire film without urinating, despite needing to about one hour into it. The special effects are hazy and convincing, Liam Neeson plays a menacing mentor of Wayne's who trains him to become a Ninja, Michael Caine plays Alfred The Butler with great pathos and an depth, and Katey Holmes is annoying and unnecessary. I have noticed that she smiles from the side of her face like a stroke victim and has a smooshy face. She is also now a Scientologist and my readers may know by now how I feel about that. This movies is better than the Michael Keaton one. It is better than the one directed by Tim Burton. I will not even mention the last one - with Jim Carrey as the Riddler and the Batman/Robin nipple suits... The one was fruiter than the TV series.
Regardless of the slight flaws just mentioned and my lame, awkward writing tonight, the film does not suck. Only your mom does.

Brief Music Reviews

Foo Fighters In Your Honor

The new Foo Fighters record - 2-discs
Disc 1 = Heavy Loud Rock that makes you drive faster and play air guitar.
Disc 2 = Acoustic, singer-songwriter pop ditties that immediately hook you in.
Initial Impression: I like it!!!

Here is a broad truism regarding Foo Fighters: I essentially like everything they do. I like Dave Grohl. I actually met him and spoke with him for a few minutes at a Guided By Voices show in NYC a few years ago and walked away semi star-struck. He is a happy guy who gives off a bright vibe. His music is catchy, it possesses an exotic dichotomy between heavy and light, dark and bright, melodic and noisy. He is a logical extension of the Nirvana's sugary pop overtones, minus the undertones of devastating depression, crippling addictions and psychiatric oblivion. It is great heavy rock music derived from the underground and brought to the mainstream. There are no allusions to any street cred, no ridiculous punk rock maxims adhered to, no nonsense clouding the message and music.
As mentioned above, In your Honor is a double disc release with one "heavy" disc, one "Mellow" disc. It works. A good Foo Fighters song enters your consciousness and immediately settles in as if it were always there. It taps into a primal font of melody and arrangements that are ingrained in the brain from years of classic rock, new wave, punk, post-punk metal and alternative subcultures, all blended into one delightful aural confection.
The opener of the disc, the title track is the call to arms that defines the rest of both discs - more emotive than emo (yuck), more tuneful than a circus calliope, heavier than molten magma mixed with lead, peanut butter and egg nog, and as introspective as any Jackson Browne record.

Great band, another great album.

Grand Magus Wolf's Return

Ok, this is hard to relay to people who are not familiar with this band. They are a Swedish band inappropriately grouped in with the Stoner Rock subgenre based on a few chord progression and the downtuned tone of their Gibson SG. Note to morons: Just because a band flaunts its Black Sabbath influences does not mean you can automatically assign them an eternal slot next to Fu Manchu and Kyuss.

Grand Magus is 100% pure heavy metal. SludgeyDio, yet clear riffage, screaming leads straight out of Sabbath Volume 4, gruff but melodic vocals, existing in a realm somewhere between Chris Cornell and Ronnie James , powerful and glorious...
Here is my impression of what transpires on this disc: A sky of nutella raining down the remnants of mega-lard on a mudscape crackling with electric razor wire. Green clouds part to reveal a moon composed of cinderblocks, grinding out the white hot steam-powered cadence of amplified locust drone, Forty four million swords angrily slashing the slowly-congealing air, rich with the scent of ozone and burnt rust, contact made of the crimson throat of the quasi-fire beast, that-which-is-not-to-be-mentioned evermore. Burning Pentagrams and Viking violence pillaging the molten pewter goblets - a meniscus of black blood, tension challenged by the tremors of resistance, muscular cords at critical mass, pressure risen to levels of obliteration. Gluten and cooling paraffin swirl in a symphony of mad latitude, all recycling in a vertical rip current where up is the new down.

A privately-owned rock.
A cliffside view around 6 pm.
A large cliff with a lighthouse off Javea, Spain
The Mediterranean coastline in Javea, Spain, near sunset

All above images are from my recent Spain trip. I gazed upon many majestic mountainous vistas, rising proudly from the azure depths of the warm Mediterranean. I also ate copious quantities of spanish olives, necessitating the imbibing of countless gallons of bottled water. I peed a lot.

Aside from the whiny "animals are your friends, not your food" undertones, I consider this a fine piece of work. I take comfort knowing that folks are willing to spend large parts of their lives caring little about the drudgery of global politics, natural disasters, and drilling in Alaska and sit around playing with vegetables and video cameras.

Search your peelings, Cuke....

Brief Reviews and Whatnot...

FILM

Ok, I had 24 hours to mull it over and Revenge Of The Sith still sucks. If you want to see a better distortion of reality with politically feel-good historical revisionism, see Kingdom Of Heaven. Suspend any belief or political leanings and embrace it for what it is, a Swords-minus-Sorcery epic starring the tall glamorous elf Legolas and Liam Neeson as his father/rediscovered mentor who curiously dies very early in the film (Phantom Menace, anyone?). It is quite epic, in a Gladiator sort of way, violent, emotional and visually enthralling. Saladin, enemy of the Crusaders is portrayed sympathetically, which is where I cannot decide if this is either
a) Pandering, and not trying to make the Muslims angry out of any pussy-ass honky fear... sort of like what Whitey does with the Blacks...
b) Progressive, discounting the political climate and presenting the other side, creating a conduit for the complexities that truly mire down the current situation in the Middle East and perhaps give some inkling to why these people want to skewer us like kebabs, with pita bread, onions and yogurt sauce, but with a bit more cumin than Greek food.

POPULAR MUSIC

Coldplay X & Y
I may have mentioned in past discussion that I am and have always been an ardent fan of Coldplay, despite the myriad reasons to shun such a band, mainly, the juvenile and trite reason being that they are too popular and mainstream.
Coldplay, in my humble opinion, are a great band. Truth be told, they are derivative of U2, Sigur Ros, Pink Floyd, Jeff Buckley and many other "atmospheric" groups, and Chris Martin's voice is oddly reminiscent of Dave Matthews (blecchhhh). They are a bit twee, which some may see as shite, and their melodies will no doubt grace too many car commercials and HBO promos to come, but I cannot shoot any holes in the overall sense that I get from the enjoyable listening experience that washes over me when I hear them. I eagerly awaited this new record after hearing a few online leaks of unfinished demos and such and after obtaining an advance copy I am pleased to announce that the record is every bit as lush and elegant as 2003's A Rush Of Blood To The Head. The title track of the album is a sweeping epic of longing and every emotion that makes me a sissy. It stands proudly along side of Doves Some Cities as a modern masterwork of sonic grandeur.

SELF-ABSORPTION

As I have mentioned earlier, I have returned from a 10-day jaunt in Spain, on family business. I was impressed by the little I actually saw of this fairly large European nation and am regretful that I did not have enough time to see the main tourist spots such as Madrid (which I saw only through an airport layover) and Barcelona (3 hours north of my region of travel). I spent my time is Valencia, a wealthy but inconsequential city situated on the Mediterranean coast. It was pleasant, pretty and the weather was perfect. After attending a wedding, our caravan traveled south the beach resort town of Javea, populated mainly by British and German tourists - pastey, visibly sunburned and eating sausage on the beach. I have returned, slightly more tanned than George Hamilton, and experiencing the odd patriotic pangs that I feel whenever returning home from a foreign land. New York really is one of the best places in the world and it is no wonder that it is a number one target from the hostile outsiders.

One thing that I noticed during my Spanish sojourn was the absence of any explosive gas. We ate small meals often (I lost 7 lbs. and felt constantly hungry), consisting of fresh, non-processed ingredients, drank alcohol reasonably (wine as part of the meal, never enough to get intoxicated). I noticed this anomaly an hour after every dinner when I would normally excuse myself and wander about the grounds to privately dispel with any exhaust.
It was not until the second day back in New York did I notice that my Jetpack was recommissioned, full-torque and ready to search and destroy.

Tried to watch Sith one more time - could not - It sucks very much. That is my final verdict.