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| The skyline of Downtown Houston, Texas Category:Images of Houston, Texas (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Not Going To Havana Anytime Soon
Havana, Cuba may never be an actual travel destination for me, but it is a place that will hold some lure. Recent rumors that Raul Castro might be returning to the Roman Catholic Church might bode well for the future of the island nation. With an inevitable passing of the Castro brothers in the years to come or at very least their retirement from government affairs, maybe Cuba will see brighter days ahead and hopefully not continue down the ill-fated road still being traveled by the government of Venezuela. Hopefully the next decade will see better relations between the United States and the countries of Latin America. If only the drug cartel activity can be gotten under control, maybe Latin American still has a chance for prosperity not for just the few, but for many.
Enmity between nations rarely serves any positive benefit. At times the symbolic gesture can end up with a good result, but usually it is a symbolism that increases misunderstanding between peoples and resolves nothing in the long run. But countries are really bodies of people with their own opinions and ideologies. As it is with individuals sometimes it seems better to be right than to be compassionate even though what is right eventually gets lost in ambiguity and self-righteous pride while compassion is passed off as something merely for show.
Houston Here We Come
Tomorrow I'll be packed up and on the long and winding road to Houston, Texas, land of heat and high humidity. Hopefully the rains will have moved on--I can only pray that they would make their way to California--and we will avoid any flood problems. I've got a lot of traveling ahead of me, but that also might mean less time on the computer.
I've already cut back on my blog posting schedule, but I will attempt to stay as active as I conceivably can, internet willing and the creeks don't rise. Please don't abandon me and keep commenting on my posts so I know you're there. If I don't make regular visits to your blog posts I hope you'll understand and I'm sure most of you will. I'm gonna try as best I can.
And if you see a metallic cashmere colored Town and Country van flying by you on the highway, give a wave--it might be me.
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| My planned route over the summer |
Battle of the Band Results
From my standpoint of musical taste, I had two great choices in my Battle of June 15th. I like both of the versions I presented and either one was worthy of a win. If you read my most recent post at Wrote By Rote you would have learned about my long appreciation for the traditional music of Cuba. In some of my past posts on Tossing It Out I have indicated my enjoyment of the modern Spanish rock music.
This was a match up that was difficult for me to predict which way it would go. In a sense I'm continuing to put out feelers to see how Latin musical styles will go over in my Battle of the Band segments because I have a number of other Battles planned using Spanish music and particularly Rock en español picks. Seeing as how I received quite a number of votes on this contest I will proceed in the future with some more of this type of music. Not for next few Battles mind you, but coming soon.
Even though I'm a big fan of traditional Cuban music, my pick in this Battle was the version by Caifanes. I think the group's mastermind Saúl Hernández creates some great music. His current group Jaguares is one of the best of any rock group in the world according to my personal taste in music. It's a style of music that I favor a great deal. However in this most recent Battle I was in the minority of voters.
The traditional sound of Compay Segundo won by almost twice as many votes.
The Final Vote Tally:
Compay Segundo 24 Votes
Caifanes 13 Votes
Do you think the embargo against Cuba had any positive results? When is a punitive economic action against another country beneficial? Will you be discouraged from voting on my Battle of the Bands match-ups if I use Spanish music or music of other countries?
The traditional sound of Compay Segundo won by almost twice as many votes.
The Final Vote Tally:
Compay Segundo 24 Votes
Caifanes 13 Votes
Do you think the embargo against Cuba had any positive results? When is a punitive economic action against another country beneficial? Will you be discouraged from voting on my Battle of the Bands match-ups if I use Spanish music or music of other countries?
