Palin in the House

Last night I attended An Evening with Sarah Palin at the Austin Convention Center. It was presented by Heroic Media. It was fun - not just because I got to see and hear one of my favorite conservative gals, but I got to hang and chat with like-minded folks about issues I find exciting and engaging - politics, pro-baby rights and Sarah.

I met some very lovely, smart and passionate ladies. There was a lady with her daughter who had come from San Antonio. She was Catholic and we discussed abortion and the various cliché and red herring arguments that the "pro-choice" crowd likes to use ad nauseam. I directed her to the Life Training Institute website because that site offers great arguments and debate strategies.

As for the speech itself, Gov. Rick Perry introduced Sarah. Truth be known, I am not a big fan of Rick Perry. There's just a certain je ne sais quoi about him that irks me to no end. It also doesn't help that he's an Aggie, and I don't like Aggies.

Sarah's speech was very thoughtful and funny. She's a very good speaker - personable and genuine. She clearly had a very real connection with the audience. The only negative of the whole evening - other than the pricey sandwiches - was the fact that we were not allowed to take pictures.

Any who, after her speech, there was a brief Q&A session with Palin, Perry and Raymond Arroyo. After about 15-20 minutes, Palin and Perry left the stage. Shortly thereafter, a lone (and obligatory) lefty protester got up - shouted some unintelligible blurbs - and was promptly escorted out of the building. I was too far away to hear exactly what she said, but I am pretty sure it was something like - "It was Bush's fault!"

Suck It Up

My two centavos on the illegal immigration laws of blessed Arizona

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ap2TZkCU0SSg

The article states:
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said April 26 that his country’s citizens are “angered and saddened” by the Arizona law, which he said “doesn’t adequately guarantee respect for people’s fundamental rights.”

Awww. Do you need a hug?? Maybe some tequila?

What a bold-faced asshat or maybe he just assumes we won't bother to educate ourselves - neither the Mexican Constitution [English] nor the Mexican Population Laws [pdf in Spanish] are Draconian per se, but they're also not all kumbayah either. If they can't afford the same kind of respect for THEIR illegal immigrants - like, uh, say - being able to protest against the Mexican government - they need to just shut up about our laws - see Chapter 3 of Mexican Constitution.

Don't get all cozy about the poll numbers...
They [Obama & the Democrats] are going to cram illegal immigration down our throats just like they did "healthcare" - come hell or high water - they will try and blindside us again with - "it's a dead issue" or "we don't have the votes" - but just like Jason of Friday the 13th fame - that bitch is coming back up... and it's going to catch us with our pants down.

And while I'm at it...
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S. Carolina) has GOT to go. Yeah, kick out the Democrats - that's easy - you see a 'D' by their name - done - I ain't voting for the asshat, but it's those RINOs that have inflicted the wounds from within - it's time to detoxify and purge.

Cause I can...
I am taking full-cheese liberties with an excerpt of dialogue between Henry and Eleanor from one of my favorite movies of all time - The Lion in Winter:

E: "Your sons [i.e., RINOs] are part of you [i.e., GOP]."
H: "Like warts and goiters, and I'm [i.e., voters are] having them removed."
E: "We've made them. They're our boys [i.e., RINOs]."
H: "I know, and good God, look at them."

Onward!

The Convenient Silence of Truth

Never - at any time in my life (until now that is) - have I ever heard any mention - by either the media or any of my teachers or professors - of the fact that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a registered Republican.

Oh, really?

You'd think that little factoid would be important to note. Here's a good article detailing said fact:

Why Martin Luther King Was Republican
by Frances Rice
08/16/2006

Perfidia

Because daily blogging will kill my Mafia Wars leveling, I am blogging intermittently. As for today, being Sunday, I am going to write about a song I am totally in love with - Perfidia. The song was published in 1939 and was written by Alberto Dominguez. I found limited information on Alberto - he was born in the state of Chiapas in Mexico in 1911 and he died in 1975.

Perfidia is Spanish for perfidy. Literally, the word means treachery or state of being faithless or disloyal. So, you can well imagine the focus of the song - love and betrayal.

The Spanish lyrics are:

Nadie comprende lo que sufro yo
Canto pues ya no puedo sollozar
Solo temblando de ansiedad estoy
Todos me miran y se van

Mujer, si puedes tu con Dios hablar
Preguntale si yo alguna vez
Te he dejado de adorar

Y el mar espejo de mi corazon
Las veces que me ha visto llorar
La perfidia de tu amor

Te he buscado por doquiera que yo voy
Y no te puedo hallar
Para que quiero otros besos
Si tus labios no me quieren ya besar

Y tu quien sabe por donde andaras
Quien sabe que aventura tendras
Que lejos estas de mi
**********

IMHO, the English lyrics - by Milton Leeds - don't do the song justice. Rather, the translation loses some of its depth. It sounds a little too cutesy especially the 'gods of love' line.

The English lyrics:

To you
My heart cries out "Perfidia"
For I find you, the love of my life
In somebody else's arms

Your eyes are echoing "Perfidia"
Forgetful of the promise of love
You're sharing another's charms

With a sad lament my dreams are faded like a broken melody
While the gods of love look down and laugh
At what romantic fools we mortals be

And now
I find my love was not for you
And so I take it back with a sigh
Perfidia's won
Goodbye
**********
Blah! Wah Wah!

The literal translation of the Spanish lyrics are more like this:

No one understands how much I suffer.
I sing for I can no longer cry.
Quivering with anxiety is all I do.
Everyone that sees me leaves.

Woman, if you can speak with God,
please ask Him if I've ever stopped loving you.

The sea - reflection of my heart.
The times that it's seen me cry over your treachery.

I've looked for you everywhere I go, but I can't find you.
Why do I want another's lips when your lips won't kiss mine?

And you, who knows where you are?
Who knows what adventures you're having so far away from me.
**********

Very different, huh? Truthfully though, if someone READ those words to me, my first reaction would be, "What are you... 16?" But, slap a mariachi band behind it and add a beautiful voice or two, and it's absolute art!

The song has been widely used and covered. It has been featured in movies like Casablanca, Now, Voyager, and Mambo Kings.

It's been recorded as an instrumental by the likes of The Ventures and Glen Miller.

The English version is also performed by Princeton's oldest cappella group - the Nassoons.

English versions notwithstanding, the Spanish versions are the best. It's been covered by the great Nat King Cole. There's a cheesy 80s sounding version by Luis Miguel and a pretty good doo-wop version by Trini Lopez. My favorite version is by the Trio Los Panchos (Canciones del Corazon - available off iTunes), but the version by Los Tres Caballeros is pretty good too.

Just for fun, I am adding a link to a version by sexy Spanish wench Sara Montiel. It's a womanly take on the song that's a little Ann-Margaret in its feel, but a good song is a good song.

Enjoy!

Book Blurb

I was strolling through some of the book titles off the ISI website - Intercollegiate Studies Institute - and came upon this book title:

A Consumer’s Guide to the Apocalypse
Why There Is No Cultural War in America and Why We Will Perish Nonetheless
--Eduardo Velásquez

Wow. Can it be?? A conservative-y book with a depressing book title NOT written by Steyn? Heh. The description states that the author's thesis "...is that when we peer into contemporary artists’ creative depiction of our sensibilities we discover that the antagonisms that fuel the current cultural wars stem from the same source."

Not a very original thesis if you ask me, but what really put a fork in this book for me was the mention of Coldplay. No thanks.

Anyhoo, my current book-leanings are focused on Mexican history - the Aztec wench in me I guess - so this won't be going on my 'to-read' list any time soon. If anybody out there has a book suggestion - be it historical or political - drop me a line! I am currently reading Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico by T.R. Fehrenbach.

YCT - Day 2

I'm going to be skipping around the topics and speakers from day 2. This post focuses on the first speaker and the lunch keynote.

Political Trends
The first speaker of the day was Matt Gamble - research assistant at Baselice & Associates, Inc. It was a flashback to statistics class, but I bucked the zzzs and paid attention - enough to give you a basic synopsis - the dems are in trouble and the GOP is gaining ground. Amen.

Lunch Keynote - Michelle Malkin
A conservative goddess. My knees were literally wobbly when I walked up to her - and yes, she is THAT attractive! She signed my conservative ladies calendar, and she graciously took a picture with me - your humble Aztec wench. Boy, what a lady! Seriously. Truly nice and accommodating. She rocked. We didn't speak much, but I did manage to tell her that she acted and looked nothing like the 'knuckle-dragging, Islamohomophobic, mysoginistic bigot' the msm often portray her as.

Her speech.
Well, if I wasn't in love with her after our autograph encounter, I certainly was after the speech. She spoke of the overt corruption of the current regime, er administration. She spoke of activism and courage.

A YCT member asked her the question I had wanted to ask - how does she (the YCT member) - as a hispanic, spread the word? Malkin's response was - focus on the message - i.e., conservative principles - and NOT the messenger. Beautiful.

YCT 2010

I think the title implies a yearly deal, but it's new to me. It's the Young Conservatives of Texas - a "non-partisan conservative youth organization" - and its activists are - you guessed it - conservatives. It was their 30th deal and it was a weekend filled with conservative speakers. I don't recall how I found out about YCT, but I ended up on their email list. I had been ripe for a conservative anything, so when I found out Michelle Malkin was one of the speakers, I got that "thrill up my leg" and registered. Now, I knew going in that I would not know anybody at the conference, but I wasn't going to let my social apprehensions keep me away.

04.09.2010. The first day. Friday was a meet and greet pachanga. I met a few of the alumni, but I basically did a snack drive-by and scurried home. The most annoying thing about that evening - other than my social retardation - was the uppity drink guy who got all upset at my request for a glass of ice water. Seriously folks, it's not in my nature to pony up $3 for bottled water if I can help it. That was it for Friday.

God bless America!

It's my first post and I'm already nervous. I have that 'pre-test' kind of feeling - the kind I used to get right before a test I knew I hadn't studied nearly long enough for... but hey, this isn't going on my transcript, so let's give it a go shall we?

Welcome and by all means... make yourself at home!