transplanting

beto busca breakbeats
Originally uploaded by rswells.

last night, mildly upset because the local sports channel was not showing the pistons/spurs game as it had days before, i kept up with the scores online...until the game came on said channel--a tape delay--as the third quarter came to an end on the computer. score 64-63. at that point, i fixed my focus on the tv in tali's room, coaxed her into watching with me by trying to explain the importance of the pistons to any real michigander, and mentioned that some popcorn and pop sure would be sweet. quickly, tali picked up the phone and called a local grocery, ordering some snacks for the game. an amazing game which put us both on edge until rasheed left big shot bob free to do his thing yet again. (if you ask me, horry belongs in the hall of fame after all of this.)

today, i went downtown with one of tali's friends, pilar, on a music and book search. we took a crowded microbus to the spot and on the way came across a huge sign for "kansas blue jeans." apparently, it's a brand that's been around for a while. something i'll look into later. after twenty minutes or so on the micro, we arrived at a book bazaar of sorts. i found a slightly stained, harcover version of a collection of borges stories for 8 soles (about $2.50). from there, we stumbled upon a small scale vinly bazaar of sorts. as i started flipping through, latin lab type shit came over the speakers. "where am i?" i thought to myself. "am i really hearing latin reggae, latin salsa, latin funk? just like i would at the nuyeurcan spanish harlem that is the 8th st. taptoom? is that wide-smiled and shirtless young man across the way really who i think it is?" after subtly nodding my head, the sellers asked me what i was looking for. unsure of how to sincerely express "groove" in spanish, i said something like "jazz funk funky," giving the "j" in "jazz" a soft "j"/"y" sort of sound and making my "u"'s long. willy then escorted me to his stand in the back, asked me if i wanted some "soul...tipo lou rawls?" and i said "s� s�!" i figured i had struck gold, like some old conquistador. after such a work up, however, the actual collection was not as mind blowing as i had anticipated. plenty of elton john, the carpenters, and the village people. at one point, willy held up a "tierra, viento, y fuego" (earth, wind, and fire) record to me: "no gracias," i responded. i still found a way to purchase 18 dusty lps for about $15.

i followed all this with pizza for lunch at 5pm.

right now an old, subtitled episode of LOST is on the television.