POSTCARD FEAT #5 WITH JIM HEAVILY

Peru and Bolivia have recently overtaken Colombia as the next Afghanistan.

In addition, roughly 80 percent of U.S. cocaine was thought to be Afghans using opium to placate their children.

Archaeopteryx and Confuciusornis were found not to be flapping rubbish.

Economic hardship in the U.S. was linked to abusive head trauma; a different study concluded that Americans abuse the gene responsible for Urofacial Feces Grimace when they try to smile.

Excessive burger consumption was correlated with wheezing Herpes.

French researchers reported that 52 percent of young exposed their phone numbers to an average-looking young man who hit on them.

Physicists recorded an iridescent corona, and made subatomic particles that were found to be more watery.

Sixty-one percent of African Americans, 40 percent of Hispanic Americans, and only 23 percent of white Americans use lubricants during pond snails on Crystal Meth.

Scientists created crash helmets that stink, and fruit flies whom gonate squid, and a pelagic eel-pout, all native to the North Pacific.

African leaders discussed Trees spanning the continent from Senegal to Djibouti, to check the spread of male Topi antelope who issue alarm snorts.

Imaginary predators in the presence of Female Heat make more linger.

ODOMETROCULTO

Who's in charge of assigning retinues?
Like, what Greek Olympic forward
got to rampart the elemental cuentos
we are later taught through rote
to materialize and spangle?
What is occult, often inks prehensile
doodles in a maven theater; furthermore,
a ferule with which to calibrate the dank:
Odometroculto.
Likewise, how many majestic conifers might
it take to fashion a thyrsoi that meets the
gait of demi-gods, fabulists, and fanny-ologists?
Fanny, as in the silk girder of stockings
stretched across the haunches of an Amazon.
Fanny as in Betty Page spliced with Nina Hartley
in a concert hall manned by Souza or Sondheim.
At one time, aren't we all culpable of requiring
a thiasos, a gaggle of the uninitiated waving
the fronds of inequity? Who here can honestly say
they are above and beyond, over the river and through
the woods with maeneds or bacchae? Who will remain
to walk away from the largesse of losers
who wore their hubris like pirated pelts?

BOOTLEGGERS_&_RUMRUNNERS

I have an all-in-one printer, and it was having a paper jam the other night, so I yanked the page out of its maw and watched in awe as it made this pretty pattern.

POSTCARD FEAT W/ JIM HEAVILY NUMBER FOUR

Scientists lack standard ingredients.

The abundance of sugary sports drinks increase in alcohol consumption when American college students study abroad.

Doctors at the American Academy of Toddlers expected small black wasps.

The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park had failed to stop elk from eating scientists.

It was found that exposing young platinum bodies rather than the researchers is currently too low to spur widespread Drosophilia flies by giving off the deceptive scent of fruity wine.

Loud noise and white noise improves Swedish children but worsens sensitivity to common painkillers.

Half of stroke victims experience phantom limbs, and two thirds of Americans fail to report Spike Lee telling harmful lies.

Following brain surgery, genitals evidence self awareness previously limited to higher primates.

An elephant named Happy can smell light.

New clocks made it possible to measure altitude on the speed of time.

Two centuries ago, the method whereby cuckoo chicks obtain Killer whales.

A U.S. murder was estimated to be urged of the newly devised Boston Bowel Preparation Scale.

Clinicians across the globe report on the cleanliness of the largest known genome, fifty-one times the size of Spain.

Scientists in New Guinea discovered a new genus of very beautiful.

WEEK THREE POSTCARD FEAT W/ JIM HEAVILY + POEM

FINDINGS FROM SCRATCH

The practice of and popularity of Blindness prompted wild, American Herpitologists
in Vietnam to examine all-female lizards and to conclude that what they were really
looking at were Japanese Ichthyologists.

Only 2.4 percent of "bourgeois males" knew how to build a snail-shell house, but an overwhelming amount of female malacologists could converse about 209 yet-to-be-discovered micromollusks.

Scientists noted that strongly religious American consumers have weaker brand anger than the sight of cooked meat, regardless if that meat were on a spit or exchanged for goat meat.

Blindness accelerates a person's sense of Dogs.

The death of a child causes Slavemaker Ants to enslave the strong.

Australian researchers initiated "rude," "rough," and "mechanical" sex while asleep.

Parthenogenesis was observed in the study's lead author, as that entity proceeded to strip the honeycomb of any meaning and/or male sexual apparatus in the light of day.

Anorexia was correlated with eye damage.

Adolescent girls make the best unplanned scientists.

Overweight women had a higher propensity to use penetrative texts and find Polar bears incapable of eating modern Neanderthals.

Few Egyptian mummies had cancer, or a pen of porpoises.

TEASER: NEW POSTCARD FEAT WITH JIM HEAVILY

WHAT THE PHRASE, COLLATERAL DAMAGE, LOOKS LIKE

Cables get read by your eyes only type
dudes, but the Miniskirt Ministries enjoy dossiers
housed in calf-skin vacuumed minutes.

Confidential dozens cloud the secretariat
but the firm's switches are at the control
of knowledge dullards on opposing sides
of a wormhole.

An open source Trojan horse rifles through
desktop landscapes, peeping at the poker
hands of analysts, pilfering elections
from councils that can photocopy your shadow.

Looking more infiltration than honey-pot
malovolent computers first axe basic entity
then memory specs followed by revenant regiment.

And, now a true test for battery acid amendments
for the doctrine mongers who sell us short, the spectacular
incumbents: a daft, silver-haired Swede, unafraid

to delineate the contours of what collateral damage
looks like outside the foreground of the recorded.

NEW INTRODUCTION FOR NEW "RUBBERROOM," ILLUSTRATED BY CARLOS FOLGAR

INTRODUCTION

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." -- Mark Twain

On the morning of November 16, 2004, in between third and fourth period, I threw a chair at a dry-erase board and went on an obscene tirade for several minutes in front of many impressionable, ghetto high-school children. I still can’t tell you what set me off that day, or what I was hoping to accomplish by lashing out so awkwardly. I was suspended indefinitely from my position shortly after fourth period; towards the end of the school day, two detectives came by to “talk” because the chair I threw had nicked a girl student as it came down and her parents were pressing charges against me. The detectives had come by to inform me that I was being charged with reckless endangerment and 2nd degree assault. Two days later, on the advice of my newly appointed U.F.T. lawyer, I walked my dumb ass to the Fordham Police Precinct and turned myself in so that I may be “processed” for a court appearance.

The Office of Special Investigations directed my principal to conduct the investigation, a lucky break. But, it did not help my case that the girl who I had managed to nick with a chair was the niece of some secretary for some bigwig ator and I was reassigned to the Regional Operation Center on Fordham Ave. in the Bronx. At the R.O.C., I was told to report to the “rubber room” for Bronx teachers in the south Bronx (not a coincidence). Even though I spent less than two weeks in that “rubber room”, I couldn’t tell you the street address, if I took the 2 or 3 to get there, or even the name of the stop. All I remember is that there was a Blimpy’s on the corner of my new “assignment,” and that the rest of the neighborhood was an industrial whorehouse. I also knew, deep in my heart, that I was the only person to blame for my present predicament. Surely, no one had prompted me to throw a piece of furniture at another piece of furniture because the children were “wilding out,” off-task and/or in a frenzy.

The document you hold in your hand has been disseminated by me to colleagues and teachers in the Bronx since 2005, but especially among the eighth and ninth cohorts of the NYC/DOE Teaching Fellows. It is a mea culpa, of sorts, written by a rookie, inner-city high school teacher; it is directed to neophyte teachers that toil in third-world conditions with third-world resources and try to deliver a first-world education to impoverished, throwaway U.S. youth. More importantly, this sequence of poems is the closest I have come to explicating to myself why I thought that throwing a chair against a dry erase board in a room full of disenfranchised freshmen was the most effective way to quiet a gregarious room. Was it a momentary lapse of reason? Had the moon assuaged its nuttiness into my cerebrum the night before? Did my melt down have an origin, a source that fed its bellows? Could I plead partial insanity?

Ultimately, I spent two weeks, “reassigned,” to the “Rubberroom” in the south Bronx. My principal, and a cadre of parents, wrote to the district superintendant and advocated on my behalf. I was back in the classroom just in time to help wrap up my school’s program before Xmas break. I finished the year and then completed two more years before resigning in 2007. By my account, I was actively involved in the education of between 300-450 children in the Bronx (20-30 students per class, 5 classes a day for nine consecutive months in the span of three years). That experience has laid the foundation for everything that I think I know about educating high school children to become better writers and readers. On February 29, 2008 Radio Diaries (Joe Richman, Samara Freemark, and Anayansi Diaz Cortes) produced a segment for broadcast on This American Life. The segement, titled “Human Resources,” told the story of several teachers that had been “reassigned” to the various “rubberrooms” located throughout the boroughs.

Of all the things I have written, in my short life as an author, this work has sparked the most interest and notoriety. Is it because it defies definition (i.e. it’s a poem written in acts and scenes)? I suspect it is because this is the most honest and accurate thing I have ever had the audacity to write.

POSTCARD FEAT # 2 WITH JIM HEAVILY: I WALK ELAN

I WALK ELAN by Yago S. Cura


Saturday morning, operating on Gargantuan Blvd,
I walk an Xmas-dog I like to call, Elan.

Elan feels like an over-eager Midas associate.
Elan feels that I am trying to pull one over
on him grossly damn loud.

He is that unassembled by the elements.

However, this happens to be a particularly crisp sojourn
into the Solstice, through cobalt, and Pacific heather.

And, I am not the homestead of startling properties
that I once was when the Boulevard was therapy for the solvent.

Nowadays, I am at a branch of the library where torque is a sonata:
a pianissimo played by the collusion of automobiles "exhausting."

Elan is driving to work in a totaled crimson Volvo which
exhibits regenerative protocols; he is driving to his job
designing Ferris Wheels.

They are building one for the Sesquicentennial called,
Derelict Specter.

ARTIFACTS FROM MY OLD LIFE IN NYC

This is a laundry ticket from Super Magic Kingdom, the laundromat that has been in charge of cleaning my chonies for the past five years. I was always losing these tickets when I got them from Super Magic Kingdom, so they just knew to let me recognize my laundry bag and pay what it said on the ticket. I found this ticket in a jacket that I hadn't seen in four months.

CHAZ FOLGAR, ILLUSTRATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

So this is one of the illustrations that Chaz Folgar has completed for the new edition of "Ruberroom" that I am going to unleash on the world through Hinchas de Poesia Press. This particular illustration is inspired by the poem which you see below. Of all the things that I have written or worked on, this cycle of poems has garnered the most interest and attention.

Hinchas is going to release/distribute it through MagCloud. I am not sure how much they are going to charge for each one, but I am willing to bet it's going to be on the affordable side. I will keep you updated.


ACT FOUR, SCENE TWO: WHERE IS YOUR AIM?


At Discovery High
I am the teacher
that threw a chair
at a student, except
of course, I was aiming
for the smartass
blackboard.

I was not aiming
for any student
but for all of them.

It is just that I turned
my back for a sec
after setting my cretins free
on bullshit group practice
and sat down with one group
to troubleshoot

and the next thing I know
I am hurling a chair
from myself a chair
is coming from my hands

a quixotic missile
I can not to this day
explicate.

SISTER BDAY STICKER

It was my birthday recently. My sister sent me a print of one of her photographs in a rolled up tube and this birthday card. I love my sister and miss her now that we live on opposite coasts of North America.

SARCASTIC CAPSAICIN

Dear Middle Age Persian Hair Coiffuirist: The "best" cut for me is not what I wanted from you; what I wanted was my hair left in luscious rivulets, but cleaned up for "business" around the edges.
Dear Dyers of Sunflowers and Perennials: In jars, your spurious creations dribble out the toxins that you so cautiously have made them compulsively imbibe.
Dear Saturday Morning Jehovah's Witnesses Operating on Venice Blvd: I have a gargantuan dog, and he celebrates Halloween, Xmas, and Kwanzaa.
Dear Over Eager Midas Associate: When you overtreat customers better than they want to be treated they feel that you are trying to pull one over on them when you in fact may have nothing but elan to offer the betrothed-to-their-car.
Dear Mountaintops of Cobalt Pacific Sylvester: On particularly crisp sojourns into the hills of the Solstice--a homeestead unassembled by the elements.
Dear Mar Vista Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library: The tutors clog your reading rooms with remedial chatterbox therapy solvent torque, the boulevard is grossly damn loud.
Dear 1990 Totaled Crimson Volvo: Through a new lease on life, it has shown regenerative properties and startling auto-correction protocols.
Dear Poignant Pop Garbage: girls unsheath their girdles for the magic collusion of ionized dungarees with phosphorous pants, pianissimos, and quizzical, telepathic sonatas.
Dear Ferris Wheel on the Santa Monica Pier: the derelict specter of Abbot Kinney enters the enamel pillar each pylon supports in the jaw of fandango.
Dear Awesome Museum Exhibit Poster: Your irregular dimensions make for a romp through the muck of quality framers versus the do-it-yourself-pantheon.

HORACIO CURA JEWELRY DESIGN

Buenos Aires native, Horacio Cura, has been a goldsmith and jewel master in the U.S. for almost 40 years. He began his career with Juan Mendoza Jewelry Designs on 47th street in New York City's Diamond District during it's 70's heyday.

In 1983, Horacio moved his family to West Palm Beach so he could commence as Production Manager for Southern Time Jewelry Manufacture, which specialized in watch cases and bracelets. In 1987, Horacio accepted an offer from Ororoma Jewelry Manufacture to become Production Manager and Jewelry Designer, and stayed with the manufacturer for ten years.

Ororoma sent Horacio to Madras, India on three separate occasions to facilitate mass production techniques and logistical manufacture support for thirty bench jewelers and supervisors. Horacio has supervised large-scale, wholesale operations in the U.S., India, and Argentina, however, since 1998 he has operated as single proprietor of Horacio Cura Jewelry Designs.

98' was the year Horacio opened a taller in Miami's Seybold Building; he operates his taller there to this day. While not a manufacturer of jewelry, Horacio Cura Jewelry Designs accepts models, special orders and jewelry designs to make in 14, 18, and Platinum. Horacio is also a lightning-fast appraiser, and consultant for hire.

LIBRARIANS & CUSTOMER SERVICE

"According to the Association of Research Libraries, the average per-title cost of an academic journal grew by 227 percent between 1986 and 2002; in the past five years, prices have continued to rise 7 percent to 11 percent annually."


I was talking with my sister the other day and she had a less than average experience with the clerk that checked her books out. I explained that clerks are not really customer service oriented; clerks are trained to maintain the physical and logistical appearance of the library; they are neither trained nor necessarily like to interact with the public.

Customer service has become the primary directive of most librarians. I have gone to several job interviews lately where I was told by librarian friends that I should talk up my customer service skills. I have no problem with that since I have been a teacher for ten years and have developed intense rapport capabilities. I could talk a turnip into wanting to be a potato if I had to and if my fancy was struck. But, does that necessarily mean that I can give good customer service?

I ran across this article in The Chronicle Review written by Daniel Goldstein that speaks specifically to the dominance of this trend, especially in academic libraries where I have garnered most of my experience as a librarian. The article is titled, Library Inc., and I believe it has a lot to teach the layperson and librarians alike.

In it, Goldstein makes the point that libraries have shifted from "owners of the material their patrons required" to "providers of access to information" and that "At least since the 1970s, libraries have understood that their budgets would never be able to keep pace, and they began to seek an alternative arrangement. According to Goldstein, what they've done is redefine themselves as locksmiths and abandoned the scriptorium. You may ask yourself, why is this troubling?, and what is the relationship between this and the current emphasis on customer service?

Well, to save a few bucks, academic libraries have given control of their coffers of scholarly material to information middlemen like Elsevier and Taylor and Francis instead of opting to own journals, monographs, etc. Or as Dan Goldstein puts it, "The shift from owning a journal to merely providing access to its digital incarnation has, of course, saved some money. But those savings come in tandem with detrimental changes both to the content of library collections and the ways those collections are used." In other words, to save money, academic libraries are relying more and more on access rather than ownership, but this does nothing to amplify/push/further/engender the librarie's collection. If anything, it would be like not buying a CD of music in the hopes that you could hear the songs individually on Pandora.

Furthermore, Goldstein writes, "By outsourcing ownership to mega-vendors, libraries have introduced the commercial interests of the journal providers into what had been an internal academic transaction between a library and its patrons. Purveyors of e-journals provide access to their titles on sites that are designed to bolster brand recognition and encourage repeat visits". This does nothing for the idea as libraries as repositories of information from a diverse array of sources, not just a Google-like expanse of Teflon scholarship.

NUAI REVIEW, "DETENTION & RECESS" (2010)

Listening to “Detention and Recess” (2010) you get this immediate sense that Nuai pray at the altar of Afrika Bambataa, Pete Rock, and Immortal Technique. That's just me, I'm an east coast scumbag, so my frame of reference is eastcoastcentric to say the least.

If I were from the west coast, though, I might say Nuai are reminiscent of Jurrasic 5 and Pharcyde, maybe Souls of Mischief. Their new album, “Detention & Recess," is eclectic without being overtly technical, politically conscious without being "preachy", and reverent of Hip-Hop's revolutionary zeal, while at the same time, playful and raw. Ultimately, though, these three Angelino emcees, Aaron, Moses and Rahten, make original asphalt ballads that are “hardcore” but not heartless.

Track 1, "Other Side of Town," samples what sounds like the guitar riff from Das Efx's, "They Want Das Efx". Aaron and Moses joust on this track, and their chemistry is evident, but Rahten shines as well and provides a sort of verbal ballast to counteract the duo. Aaron spits "if you avoid the freeways, the streets are less busy/...conscious of when things are changing/ handshakes and fist pound indicate what part you stay in." Toward the end of his initial cipher, Aaron spits that "observation is the best way to stay upper-handed," and somehow I knew I was dealing with a trio of freestyle fanatics.

It becomes evident early on that ”Detention & Recess” is a robust critique of our Anglo-centric education system. The album serves as rebuke to those who say the educational system is equitable across socio- economic lines. I guess you could say the album concerns the many ways in which an individual can become "institutionalized"(school vs prison). The title might also refer to the way that lyricists use the flow of rhythm and silence to express themselves (Detention & Recess, if you will). Regardless, Nuai's second independent release is a work of unadulterated heart, pure in its convictions, and influenced by acts like Dead Prez and Slum Village.

Track 9, “Monster,” is lo-fi backbeat made kooky by a cartoon xylophone. Rahten ignites this track with, “it feels like I am a lost soul/ I’m facing death at the crossroads/ walking long roads painted with skulls and crossbones/ in the stone garden, cold-hearted and alone”. The track addresses the personal demons that we sometimes create for ourselves. Rathen adds, “Research and design/ the science of creating a monster that spits rhymes/first thing give em him heart, conviction/ line after line/last thing insert new eyes/now he’s alive!”

Track 4, “Tracks Needs Trains” is a soulful ditty where the piano functions as bass, reminiscent of that first Wu-Tang joint (Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers) when they dropped C.R.E.A.M. and blew everyone’s head. Feature MC “The Sicks” raps, “I know my mommas said that money shit gets old/ but shit looks new when its dipped in gold/with a touch like Midas and a gift like Hov”. The Sicks even underscores a healthy obsession with Immortal Technique and the might sword-pen when he spits, “technique like Immortal, in this world like a portal with the pen as my sword I kill microphones”

Track 5, “Sea Sick,” is a jazzy joint that could have been inspired by something Del the Funky Homosapien dropped on No Need for Alarm, or the Outro of one of the three Guru’s Jazzmatazz albums. The track recounts the physical sickness slaves must have felt during the Middle Passage. All three emcees emote a mumble Rahten “And when I am at the bank, it’s like I walk the plank/ In the water with open wounds in a piranha tank…soldiers roll up your sleeve and express one of your worse pet peeves”. The chorus intones, “Why does it smell like this?/ What’s this around my wrist?/ shackles and chains laying in a pile of shit/ Why’s everyone screaming, nah I must be dreaming/ I’m feeling sea sick”.

My standard for Hip Hop is impossibly high. What that means is you better not waste my time because like it or not I am a walking Hip Hop encyclopedia. For one thing, I am slightly older than Hip Hop; my frame of reference begins with Hip Hop's inception in Kool Herc's Bronx basement at 1520 Sedgwick and ends with the last album the radio stations have been giving heavy rotation. I may not have been there, in that basement, but I hold most acts up to the spirit of that recreation room. It’s no wonder the mainstream has appropriated Hip Hop as its next cash cow. However, acts like Nuai ensure Hip Hop remains a sonic movement of righteous populism set to music mashed up by overzealous masters of ceremonies.

BOOKS I NEED TO CHECK OUT THX TO "LITTLE BROTHER" BY CORY DOCTROW

I just finished Cory Doctrow's "Little Brother" and there are a heap of books that he lists in his bibliography that I definitely need to read. Here is the list, more or less...

Andrew Huang, Hacking the Xbox (2003)
Bruce Schneir, Secrets and Lies (2000)
Bruce Schneir, Beyond Fear (2003)
Bruce Schneir, Applied Crytography (1995)
Dan Gillmor, We, The Media (2004)
Bruce Sterling, The Hacker Crackdown (1993)
Bruce Sterling, Shaping Things (2005)
Daniel Pinkwater, Alan Mendelsohn: The Boy from Mars (1997)
Scott Westerfield, So Yesterday (2004)

3 NEW ILLUSTRATIONS FOR YAGO CURA'S "RUBBERROOM"

So Chaz Folgar is at it again and has agreed to illustrate my "Rubberroom" with several illustrations taken straight from the text. I like to call these interpretive illustrations and I think his are right on the money. Enjoy! And, just in case you were curious, Chaz Folgar is the curator of the current show in the Graham Center of Florida International University called, "Challengers of the Unknown"

WHY WIKILEAKS IS AN IMPORTANT VICTORY FOR DISSENTION

According to the confidential military reports published by WikiLeaks, from 2004 to 2009 there were 66,081 'civilians' killed during the U.S. Occupation of Iraq while there were only 23,984 'enemy(ies)' (those labeled as insurgents) that were killed.

One can draw all types of conclusions from these figures, namely, that three times the amount of civilians were killed in pursuit of insurgents, a.k.a. our enemies. Now take into account that restitution is offered to the families of civilians that are killed. Does it not stand to reason what we are losing as collateral damage in this occupation could be the very thing that we need to be successful. In other words, think about how many hearts and minds we could win over if we were just a little more careful with our trigger fingers.

I am not talking about mistakes made during war, something of which I know nothing about. I am talking about wholesale debasement of our soldiers, and the tarnish that accompanies our martial endeavors. In other words, we have outsourced our military ability to be precise and accurate by allowing mercenaries and contractual soldiers carte blanche to not follow the rules of engagement. To play devil's advocate, I haven't really offered any solutions, maybe because I don't think there are any solutions aside from the obvious one of disengagement and neglect.

Definitely a sticky widget but I, for one, as a patriotic, peace-loving American support the dangerous work that WikiLeaks is willing to do for the rest of us and salute the conscience of the dude that gave up this information and is sitting in the bottom of a brig, counting the lifetimes before parole.

REWRITE OF SEVENEXPRESSISHMAEL

Call me the pilot of my commute, the belly of the Seven.
Call me something indicative of my milieu, but that also harkens
to a harpooner that sleeps with his implement.
Call me customs agent of the feminine ingression, or mutiny
on the high stilt sea of the Queens el.
Call me pressure dyspepsia as the express barrels plaudits.
Call me jocular recluse: a farm christened, Arrowhead.
Call me unclassified tendril on terra firma, an abomination of superstitious pressured suits.
Call me Knickerbocker Clancy, South Pacific de la Carré, proto-Kipling.
Call me pulpo, octopus ink, Squid Bic, a stylus named epic tome,
didactic almanac, critical percolating rubble.
Call me alcove throne, a dromedary of solace.
Call me passed over for promotion all my lubber life.
Call me paperback flagon, symmetric synthetic, a poetry cabernet.
Call me Captain Apeshit with prosthetic pinepeg from the whirled woods
of Woodside, Corona Park, or Kissena.
Call me pip of mongrel caste, Admiral Deep Pockets.
Call me windlass of my lector time in the ratchet of Jonah’s gaze.
Call me capstan of the "stand clear of the closing doors" intercom command.
Call me something you can make more fancy by adding an "e"
Call me the great, white whale of Shea Stadium before Citifield.
Call me todos los mamones que van al U.S. Open in boat shoes.
Call me pelvis of the world, Ambassador to Foam, Prince of Cetyology.
Call me late for classes at library school on the frigate, U.S.S. Marm.
Call me “dismemberer of my dismemberer” with tact for tit for tat.

YAGO LOS ANGELES READING

Hello Friends & Fam.

As many of you know, I recently moved to LA. On Saturday the 23rd of October, I am going to read as part of the launch of PALABRA's sixth issue.

PALABRA is a literary journal of Chicano & Latino literature based in LA. The table of contents for their sixth issue will feature these writers (the url for the sixth issue is http://palabralitmag.com/id13.html).

Many of you don't live in the LA area so please pass this along to friends that you might have in the LA area that would be interested in attending a reading.

Please pass along accordingly, and if you can make it out on Saturday afternoon, Amanda, Berlin, and I would love to see you there.

The reading is at the RedCat Lounge. The RedCat Lounge is located

631 W. 2nd Street (@ Hope St.)
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(in the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex)

WHY I AM THE BEST CANDIDATE...

I am the best candidate for this position for three reasons: I am a multilingual, multicultural librarian with multiple life perspectives that has serviced an array of age-groups and communities. From 2004 to 2010, I serviced the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx--first as a high school English teacher and then as an academic librarian with Bronx Community College teaching Information Literacy. While at BCC I worked the reference desk, and cataloging books. In addition, during library school at Queens College, I worked at the Rosenthal Library as an Information Assistant, and volunteered to assist the registrar of the Museum of the Moving Image update their catalog and accession new artifacts.

My experience cataloging may not be vast, but I have always engaged in pursuits that cultivate an attention to details. For example, I am the publisher and co-editor of an online journal called Hinchas de Poesia, but also the designer of its website. Coding html is an arduous, time-consuming task, but it is certainly one that requires attention to detail. If one line of code contains a superfluous bracket or an extra div tag then your design will not display correctly, and you must ransack all your code for the error. Likewise, if the name of a book is misspelled and we just trust the copy, how will that item be found? The most important function of my job as a cataloger would be to ensure that people can locate the titles that they need. To do this, I will have to continue collocating accurate records and facilitate patron access to them.

Last but not least, I am a bilingual librarian, an ALA Spectrum Scholar, and a member of REFORMA. Even though English is my native language, I exert a native fluency of Spanish and worked as a freelance simultaneous interpreter for a non-profit that services Brooklyn and the Bronx Family Courts. I am an avid reader of Latin American Literature, and would love to augment the superb collection of the Public Library. My membership in REFORMA connects me with other librarians servicing Latino communities throughout California and allows me to create a dialogue with other librarians running successful Spanish language programs. Likewise, my relationship with the ALA and the Office for Diversity as the recipient of a Spectrum scholarship can only serve to reinforce ties that the Public Library has with the ALA.

WHAT IS AUTHORITY CONTROL?

Is it just a phrase, or simple a concept? Is it a precept, maxim, tenet? Will it tuck me in at night and call me pretty when I am feeling down? Will it raise my children, and make sure the airlines don't jip me on my flier miles?

According to Library Technologies, Inc. authority control is the "assignment of a unique form of a heading and the use of cross-references from unused and related headings". In other words, authority control is the process by which librarians, but particularly catalogers, create and collocate a heading along with its related headings (like see alsos). Now, what I would like to know is if the catalogers create the actual heading, or just link it up with its related headings? Another question I might have is whether the sole objective of an authority file is to "overlay" it with the Library of Congress authority file?

The Libraries Technologies, Inc website offers viewers a front-row seat to the steps in authority control. If you are curious, by all means, please proceed here.

AWESOME GERMAN ANTI-PLAGIARISM VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwbw9KF-ACY

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC LIBRARY REPORT

I have been invited to interview for a public library system in southern California, so in an attempt to be the best candidate and land the job I have decided to conduct some surveillance on this library system in an attempt to better understand how they organize the books in their collection.

From navigating their OPAC, I have been able to tell a couple of things. For example, this particularly library uses the Dewey Decimal System because a particular book, Eduardo Galeano's "Mirrors" has a call number, 909, and that specific class is for World History. Dewey is used in smaller libraries that need an easy way to orient their clients, like public school libraries and public libraries.

Their OPAC uses SirsiDynix which is a bibliographic management system. They have recently completed projects with Carnegie Mellon, and from the website I believe that the system I am interviewing with uses the Horizon product. But bullets from the SirsiDynix brochure selling the inferior product, Symphony (for 1 location libraries), leads me to phrases I am not completely familiar with like "n-tier architecture". According to Wikipedia, which is pretty good with technical descriptions, an n-tier architecture is "a client–server architecture in which the presentation, the application processing, and the data management are logically separate processes. For example, an application that uses middleware to service data requests between a user and a database employs multi-tier architecture. The most widespread use of multi-tier architecture is the three-tier architecture."

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A VOLUME AND AN ISSUE?

According to Webster's online dictionary, a volume is "a series of printed sheets bound typically in book form;" it is also "a series of issues of a periodical". Issue on the other hand is "the act of publishing or officially giving out or making available" when it behaves like a noun and seems to have no affiliation to it's meaning with magazines and publishing.

However, a look at a page from California State University Libraries, delineates a more precise definition of the word volume. According to this source (http://lib.colostate.edu/howto/gloss.html), a volume is, "physically, a gathering of pages bound together in the form of a book". In this sense, it is identical to the dictionary definition. In addition, though, "Numerically, a volume is a full set of issues (numbers) which comprises a SERIAL volume bound together." And here is where we get to the meat and potatoes of the difference between volume and issue; from this definition, it seems that issues comprise a volume when you are talking about a serial publication (magazine, journal, etc.)

HINCHAS TO JOIN CLMP?

I am thinking of joining CLMP to make the work J. David and I do for Hinchas de Poesia a little more legit. They have created their own necessity and design and cultivate resources for independent and established presses. I think it will definitely advantageous for Hinchas to join them and better define the work we are striving to do with the online magazine and the micro-press.

The following are questions that I am going to have to answer with my online application. I am even thinking of calling the Membership Manager to consult...

1.) Describe the editorial focus or mission of your press or magazine

2.) Discuss future plans or goals for your organization. Are there any issues you hope CLMP can help you address?

LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE & INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM

Loida Garcia-Febo interviews Dr. Carrie Gardner about LIS, Intellectual Freedom and curricula.

COLOR ILLUSTRATION FOR "RUBBERROOM" BY HINCHAS DE POESIA PRESS

CUTE CHAOS BY POCKET OF LOLLIPOPS

EFFING WITH WHITE PEOPLE

don't eff with white peoples or they will parody you to def
as ministers, aren't they administrators with a spastic zeal
for discretion?
aloof doodlers, Nature's way of saying idle torque
making Grecian speculations about art, aren't they about as
romantic as sleeping under the gigantic night of a hobo node
and calling it camping
like the concept of Deluxe is largesse avalanched to the tits
for the sake of making the mud crumble from the lips
of the ravines
sort of freeloading bomboclots of sobriety and cucumber cool

don't eff with white peoples or you'll never get that recipe
saber-tooth generalists the lot of them, or lobbyists of hobbies
physiques excite their ire, as do the idea of conventions,
clipboards, and transparent name tags
all sorts of appropriate volleys of unpronounceable, ethnic
last names
sieved by customs agents in handlebar moustaches shushing
the lubbers that have braved silent seas, enormous leagues
and the hatred of know-nothings.

SUMMARY OF THEME OF "SAVE VENICE PADDLE"

Another thing that I have been working on is a little screenplay called, "Save Venice Paddle". It concerns the locals of the Venice Beach Paddle Tennis Courts find their habitat desecrated one day by hundreds of pink fliers with three words on them: Save Venice Paddle.

The locals investigate the players of this grass roots movement while they leverage their best efforts at stalling the city of Los Angeles from closing down the paddle courts, paving them over, and creating more parking.

A history of Paddle and Platform Tennis can be found here and reviews of the Venice Beach Paddle Tennis Courts can be found here.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

My wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Berlin, mid September and life has been kind of hectic ever since. Definitely better, but definitely more hectic and less restful. My wife was thinking of starting a blog for expectant and current Latina moms because she says there is a derth of Latinas writing about their rearing experiences.

So, in case you haven't heard, Hinchas de Poesia is ready to unleash its third issue of poetry and art. The images and banners for the third issue were taken from a sketch book I unearthed a while ago, before I went to grad school in Massachusetts.

You can catch a sneak peek at the Contents page here. As you can tell, we tried to put the FB recommend button on each and every page and a counterso that our fans on FB could recommend our pages to other readers. Highlights from the issue include, Challengers of the Universe, an exhibit of comic art at Florida International University and the series, Dead in the Spring, by photographer Michelle Cura.

Also, the author of "Compound Memorandum" (Hinchas de Poesia Press, 2010) James Foley, a journalist covering the war in Afghanistan, got a video he shot on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. The video he shot was first seen on Global Post, an international journo website. It was picked up shortly thereafter and James Foley was given full credit for his work.

The Hinchas de Poesia Press profile for MagCloud is available here. Currently, we are still hawking, Odas a Futbolistas and Postcard Feat. We are thinking of adding at least two new publications before the year is out, Rubberroom by Yago S. Cura and illustrated by Chaz Folgar and a publication by Francis Raven, an artist coming out in the third issue of Hinchas.

SAMO LIBRARIAN APPLICATION

Describe your experience using OCLC or a similar bibliographic utility to locate and customize records for a local catalog.

As an adjunct academic librarian at Bronx Community College, I was responsible for cataloging a nominal amount of books and monographs under the supervision of the college's cataloger. Our standard and baseline was always the Online Computer Library Center record; in fact, many institutions "copy-catalog" the record available in OCLC and super-impose it into their OPACs.

The scope and range of WorldCat (the OPAC of the OCLC) is unparalleled. For example, there are 470 languages and 112 countries constitute the catalog, but what makes it irreplaceable is its scope of format; the OCLC catalogs "books, videos, serial publications, articles, recorded books and music, electronic books, sheet music, genealogical references, cultural artifacts, digital objects,...[and]Web sites".

As an information assistant with the Rosenthal Library of Queens College, we would use WorldCat when the C.U.N.Y.+ system was down or offline for repairs and upgrades. In fact, I distinctly remember using WorldCat to accurately pinpoint the location of materials during the first week of the Fall 2008 semester. If it weren't for that bit of administrative assistance we would have never made it out of those wilds.

Last, the OCLC record also contains information that would be useful for collection development and reader's advisory purposes. You could totally recommend a book for a patron based on this function, or you could lead patrons to that portion of the record so that they may read reviews from readers on Amazon or Good Reads.

In many ways, the OCLC, and WorldCat in particular, are like that Swiss Army Knife
every librarian carries in her tool box.

Provide details on your experience in developing and maintaining web content. Specify the software applications you have used for the design and layout of graphics and web pages.

I use Dreamweaver to design and construct all my web pages, and Photoshop to correctly render images. I have been designing web pages since 2007, mostly as end- of-the-semester projects. In 2008 I designed an website for Information Assistants at the Rosenthal Library that delineated protocols and provided helpful hints for a "smooth shift" at the Rosenthal. Since the program at Queens College is the only program for librarians in the City University system, I took great pride in knowing that I had designed a resource for all the librarians coming through the C.U.N.Y. system and getting their "sea legs" at the Rosenthal like myself.

Likewise, in 2009, I saw great need for the creation of an ancillary website for the Resource Learning Center of Bronx Community College. I created the website using Dreamweaver and Photoshop in less than a week and uploaded the website eagerly. I have created an online portfolio and linked both websites, http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~ycura100. This led me to build, develop, and maintain a literary journal, Hinchas de Poesia. We have recently completed building the architecture for the third issue, which is viewable at www.hinchasdepoesia.com, and await the integration of the micro-press which should bring substantial traffic, and possibly some revenue.

In working at a busy public service desk, what do you consider the most important criteria for offering excellent public service? Describe an experience in which you provided good customer service in a library setting. Explain what made this a successful encounter.

Offering excellent public service is not difficult; it is time-consuming and costly but it is a vital part of the "service" librarians accomplish. Treating each interaction like a singular occurrence helps to propel the success of reference interviews. But, the reference interview is fraught with many pitfalls; over time, these "failings" can alienate clientele and make staff seem unapproachable, even hostile.

Therefore, I believe that the success of a reference interview rests squarely with the interlocutor. Body language is a big part of it, so it is vital that you look patrons in the eye and give them your full attention by facing them. Also, patrons look to reference desk staff for questions, but also I suspect for a little interaction. So, a successful reference librarian will engage with the public and create a space where questions are welcome landmarks.

An example that comes to mind involves my tenure as an adjunct academic librarian with Bronx Community College. I was at the reference desk taking questions from walk-ins and dazed students; three separate students asked about the same topic so I held an impromptu lesson with these three students on the prominent, convenient, and helpful features of Opposing Viewpoints, a database of articles organized by subject and divided into pro and con stances.

Downloadable content such as eBooks and streaming media formats are burgeoning in popularity. How do you think these trends will affect public library collections and services in the years to come?

I believe that the popularity of eBooks and streaming media formats will continue to grow unabated. Therefore, for a library to remain viable as a repository of culture, it must adapt to advances in technology and format. Because all that eBooks and streaming media formats require is a platform, these formats will undoubtedly shrink the physical space of a library. The space in a library will serve to welcome and root patrons to the physical landscape not just house books.

In addition, the hardware at libraries will increase as patrons seek answers expressed in streaming media formats. Smart boards might become essential to the task of servicing inquisitive patrons and providing quality information service. The reality is that no one really knows where Technology is taking the modern library, but we all can agree that it will survive its evolution and take an earnest interest in finding a way to bridge the analog and the digital.

JENSEN RESPONSE MECHANISM

Judy Jensen is the editor of Borderlands, a literary journal in Texas. She has a campaign going where she sends you a postcard and you respond. She has a Facebook page up and running on her responses so far, and I suggest you check out Borderlands because it's a banging rag.

ALA'S DISCOVERING LIBRARIANSHIP

The American Library Association and the Institute of Museum and Library Services are starting a program called "Discovering Librarianship" whose sole purpose is to get young people (especially minorities) interested in becoming librarians.

You have to apply for these volunteer positions, so I thought I would publish what my response is going to be, or more clearly, I thought I would utilize the venue of my blog as a way to work out what exactly I am going to submit with my application.

One of the first things it asks me to do is delineate why I want to become a Discovering Librarianship Volunteer? So I would like to share with you my reasons and if you feel that you can add anything to this, please comment or contact me offline.

I would like to become a Discovering Librarianship Volunteer so that I may continue to engage with young people on the importance of Literacy, and assist ALA and IMLS to recruit outstanding minority students for careers in libraries and museums. I applaud ALA and IMLS recruitment efforts, and welcome the challenge of this national initiative.

I feel a personal debt to ALA, and other minority students. In 2007, I was awarded a Spectrum scholarship to attend Queens College. At the time, I was an English teacher at a high-stakes high school in the Bronx. I did not know then that I was going to combine what I knew about teaching with what I was going to learn about the organization of information. Librarianship came easy because so much of it relies on teaching students and patrons how to delineate, and then locate, their need.

I received my M.L.S. from Queens College in 2009 and had the good fortune of finding work as a facilitator of Information Literacy for Bronx Community College. The Deputy Librarian, LaRoi Lawton, himself a minority librarian, was my direct supervisor and subsequently became my unofficial mentor. Therefore, as you can see, I have been extremely fortunate in terms of mentors and opportunities; I would like to give back by speaking up about the importance of libraries and the vastness of Librarianship.

I would also remind young adults that they are constantly making decisions about what the future truly holds for libraries, whether they like it or not.

OPENING SCENE: SAMO COURTS...

FADE IN:

EXT. SANTA MONICA PADDLE TENNIS COURTS. LATE AFTERNOON.

Two older white men and a black woman sit on one of the municipal benches at the Venice Beach paddle tennis courts; the men, JIM RUSH and SMITTY SMITH sit shoulder to shoulder facing the woman. The woman, LA RAE KELLOG, wields her Blackberry in one hand so that she may gesticulate with her free hand. Whatever they are talking about, the tone is jovial, playful--almost congenial.

The bench is situated at the far end of the courts. The courts are caged-in hemispheres of three courts wide by two courts deep (There are other benches, but none has a tree shade as generous as the one which concerns us now, or as formidable a parking access).

We see a tall Chicano man, ART ESTRADA, late fifties, and (what appears to be) an apprentice, JON MINI COOPER, come out of a 1984 Black Ford Bronco. Before reaching the bench they talk and the apprentice walks off. He does so exaggeratedly, rattles off a txt message, converses with the asphalt.

ART
So, I was thinking, if laughing gas were to condense into a liquid,
what liquid would it make? What should we call the liquid state
of laughing gas? Purely as a matter of speculation of course...

LA RAE
You seen Greg?

JIM
I seen him earlier, around the same time you saw him taking

SOCIAL NETWORKING LANDSCAPE

CMO's guide to the Social Media Landscape can be found here, click here

BOYLE

Chavez clava Los Angeles
en los que no have
and those on the west side
Pero sin verguenzas
no te metas con mis Cadillac
chancletas. Orale, pues
mas tarde se acalambrio el atardecer
and the Datsuns and Subarus and helicopters
on the 5 south or the 10 east
chaparro each other with green rope twine
and it sounds like sooty waves
street-legal muffler ombligo
paleteros and ice-cream vatos
the random Don Bigotes with
diver's cap of Just for Men
and Marks-It-All sideburns
the ancient vagos playing golfito
across the street from burger filling
at the foot of the hospital that should be called
Brown Memorial, or in the septic duck funk misted
indelible at Hollenbeck adonde uno puede
holler back at the EMF of a Union rep
and wear black sox with huaraches
because you don't want cold calves.

PANDA'S LETTER TO LONGCHAMP, PURSE MANUFACTURER

Your company has a reputation for producing quality purses. That is what led me to purchase a Longchamp tote as my everyday purse. I am writing because, unforunately, I am disappointed with my Longchamp tote. I purchase the purse in May of 2010 and anticipated having the purse for a long time--at minimum a year. I have friends that have purchased Longchamp purses and have been able to use them for many years without complaint. However, after less than four months of normal use I am dissatisfied by the fact that the bottom corners of my Longchamp tote have become worn and frayed. I am open to any suggestions as to where I can repair my Longchamp tote, or as to whether Longchamp has a guarantee or warranty of their products as does Louis Vuitton, Coach, and other purse producers.

OPEN LETTER TO BABY DON CHEADLE

Dear Baby Don Cheadle,

We are so seriously excited about your imminent arrival. Every one tells us not to worry and to disregard what every one else says. This can get rather confusing as it forces us to cancel everyone's advice by canceling everyone's advice. After tabulating with this algorith, we are inevitably left, once again, with your undisputed interger (1, of course) and very little viable intelligence.

If I get to speaking about you as if you were a meteor I apologize in advance. It's just not every day that two adult humans get to welcome a new member of their family. If you haven't figured it out, yet, you are a newborn male human infant. So, there are some things we would like to square away with you before you come in and completely wreck our lives by giving it some meaning.

We are not pedigreed people and we are not independently wealthy. We are hard-working and tempestous, and we like to bicker when it suits the situation. Your mother and I chose to teach people how to be better people, which is not necessarily a lucrative endeavor. You can live comfortably, but you will have to work and study and amass credentials if you are to acquire any of the luxury items your friends and acquaintances possess.

We are perfectly imperfect and realize this might not jive with your clean-slate consciousness. We understand that no matter what precautions we take we are going to screw you up good. And I have already come to terms with this. It is written. The good news is that we will undertake screwing you up with the best of intentions; the bad news is that everyone is screwed up in their own way. In many ways, how people are screwed up is like a inherited fingerprint, a DNA heirloom.

But hold on. You probably think that I am being disparaging or humble when I say that your mother and I are going to screw you up. You don't know me yet so I will let it slide, but just so you know I am a primate with moderate abilities when it comes to contradictions and verbal architecture. When I say screw you up, I mean in the good sense that our parents screwed us up, in the good sense that all children are the result of some deficiency passed down ad infinitum.

Please do not take this as facetious batter from which you will draw large pancakes of reasoning. I am being completely literal when I say that inevitably your mother and I will imprint you with some kind of tick that other might people might call a personality or temparament. We are just getting started.

FUTBOL & SUNDAYS

Sundays, I like to get up early and throw my hoodie on and walk to the 7-11 on Pico and Lincoln to get a.) Sunday LA Times b.) Krispy Kreme chocolate frosted doughnut c.) rampantly sweet coffee. There's no one on Pico except the crankheads that belong to CLARE and the joggers or bikers pushing past to get to the beach.

I like to read the paper and turn on my computer and see what kind of mischief the world has gotten itself into. Then, I like to take care of my water closet business preferably accompanied by the front page. This is followed by more computer and more reading. Then, around 10 I like to walk to Virginia Ave park and stretch out before the futbol starts.

Futbol on Sundays is the religion that I have adapted because of my secular, closed-minded beliefs about religion. For me, there is no better religion than the religion which makes you run after a ball for pure unadulterated fun. We chase the ball because it is round kind of thinking prevails for me most on Sundays. Maybe we chase the ball because we did that once for free, for no trophies or successful recipes, for pure deporte.

INTERNET USAGE STATISTICS AND FIGURES

[Via: Online Schools]

NEW NEIGHBORHOOD

About a month ago, my wife and I moved to Los Angeles to await our first child. We both believed that Los Angeles would have more to offer a family than New York--not in terms of culture, strictly in points for quality of life. We moved in to my wife's Aunt's house in Boyle Heights, two blocks from a cosmic overpass and one of the best Mexican bakeries in the city.

I have fallen in true lust with this swath of the city. I mean, this neighborhood is not fancy or glitzed up with stucco like Alhambra or one of the Covenas. It is the epitome of a working class neighborhood and having Mariachi Plaza three blocks away makes for interesting afternoons. Sometimes you can hear the dueling Mariachis. Most of the times, the speakers from the guitar store blare Lola Beltran or belchy banda.

We have stumbled on the Ben Franklin branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, and had our fill of taquitos at Al and Bea's. We have even had to kill some time waiting for the Ben Franklin to open and stared at the Hollenbeck police station trying to wring some answers from the post modern facade of the architecture. And, really, how large can you get a red antenna to be? The Hollenbeck police station has a gargantuan red comm sys on it premises.

REWRITE: ODE TO WESLEY SNEIJDER

ODE TO WESLEY SNEIJDER


At 17, Sneijder commences career in Ajax brigadoon
to continue his father’s futbol seraphim from the primeval,
medieval core of Utrecht to the plush, ergonomic belly

of Mundo Futbol’s cult-like Mechanical Academy
and achieves hincha-status with Internazionale so
hooligans in Milan now ploy a Dutch limp in star suits.

At 26, Sneijder helms battering gallop abacus
representing hazard-orange Netherlands against
stalwarts Brazil, Uruguay, and Cameroon.

In infinite three-day rapscallion shadow
fresh from Internazionale romp and circumstance
hustled his heart out in South African terrordome.

At 43, Sneijder has brood of Quicksilver Children
in fashionable Italian Alps that he compels
to crack cross-beams, engineer Ozone carburetors
and train with the martial concentration of Spartans.

One of these children will employ a hostile take-over
of Ajax and rain down on staff tutoring jacks, astrolabs,
murderous arts and crafts, and battlehymns of the aerobic
star chamber

ODE TO WESLEY SNEIJDER

At 26, Sneijder helms battering gallop abacus
representing hazard-orange Netherlands against
stalwarts Brazil, Uruguay, and Cameroon.

In infinite three-day rapscallion shadow
fresh from Internazionale romp and circumstance
hustled his heart out in South African terrordome.

At 17, Sneijder commences career in Ajax brigadoon
to continue his father’s futbol seraphim from the primeval,
medieval core of Utrecht to the plush, ergonomic belly

of Mundo Futbol’s cult-like Mechanical Academy
and achieves hincha-status with Internazionale so
hooligans in Milan now ploy a Dutch limp in star suits.

ARTICLE IN THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION ON "GAP BETWEEN COLLEGE ASPIRATIONS AND SUCCESS" IN LATINOS

The article in the Chronicle of High Education talks about a poll funded by the "Associated Press-Univision...and... co-sponsored by the Nielsen Company and Stanford University" found a couple of interesting things. First off, of the "1,521 Hispanics polled", "94 percent of Latinos expect their children to attend college". This is an amazing testament to how Latinos view a college degree; there are very few Latinos who would shun the advantages in quality of life and self knowledge that it brings. However, of the Latinos polled, only "13 percent of Latinos...[had]...at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 30 percent of the U.S. population."

Moreover, "Eighty-seven percent of Hispanic Americans value higher education as being extremely or very important, compared with 78 percent of all Americans." Therefore, it would be hard for one to disagree that Latinos find education important. And this is true, but might we calibrate for hubris and the "ridiculousness" of the question. In other words, what fool, living in these United States, would not consider a college degree of the utmost importance. So, the bent of this poll now aims to understand the difference between Aspiration and Success. However, the authors of the study did come up with some reasons as to the gulf might exist.

The authors of the study suggest that "causes for the discrepancy between aspiration and achievement: lack of money and a reluctance to borrow it, familial obligations, and tepid support from parents and teachers." Which is nothing new, although I was surprised by the acknowledgment that "tepid support from parents and teachers" was making ground as a reason why inner city schools chock full of Latinos are failing to educate our minority children. College needs to not even be a question of volition, but of decision, and we need to ensure that Latino children are successful in college and outside of college, as citizens, denizens of an important minority.

The url for the article is, http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Poll-of-Hispanics-Finds-a-Gap/25866/

ILLUSTRATION FOR SECRET CAVE BASES...BY CHAZ FOLGAR

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF NEW PEW CTR STUDY ON LATINOS

Just one-in-ten Hispanic high school dropouts has a General Educational Development (GED) credential, widely regarded as the best “second chance” pathway to college, vocational training and military service for adults who have not graduated from high school. By contrast, two-in-ten black high school dropouts and three-in-ten white high school dropouts have a GED, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of newly available educational attainment data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey. The relatively low level of GED credentialing among Hispanic high school dropouts is especially notable because Hispanics have a much higher high school dropout rate than do blacks or whites. Some 41% of Hispanics ages 20 and older in the United States do not have a regular high school diploma, versus 23% of comparably aged blacks and 14% of whites.

Among Hispanics, there are significant differences between the foreign born and the native born in high school diploma attainment rates and GED credentialing rates. Some 52% of foreign-born Latino adults are high school dropouts, compared with 25% of the native born. And among Hispanic dropouts, some 21% of the native born have a GED, compared with just 5% of the foreign born. Hispanics are the nation’s largest minority group; they make up 47 million, or 15%, of the population of the United States. As of 2008, there were 29 million Hispanics ages 20 and older; of this group, 41% are native born and 59% are foreign born. This Pew Hispanic Center report also analyzes labor market outcomes of Hispanic adults based on whether they dropped out of high school, have a GED or obtained a regular high school diploma or more. Among its key findings:

• As of 2008, Hispanic adults with a GED had a higher unemployment rate
than Hispanic adults with a high school diploma—9% versus 7%.

• However, Hispanic full-time, full-year workers with a GED had about the
same mean annual earnings ($33,504) as Hispanic full-time, full-year
workers with a high school diploma ($32,972).

ODE TO INIESTA

Sobriquets amass resonance, a sort of
frequency of utterance so victories

feed hard-scrapple scandals and ego-imploding
defeats, glitches on the donkey tube.

The Spanish press take Don Andrés to be their
lawfully-wedded guest, pero Iniesta is no
crisp maiden.

If anything, el Ilusionista is a humble bogey
with enormous scimitars for Dimensions.

Some call him Anti-Galactic based on that
Milky-Way of a season with Barca, burying Chelsea

in the League Mausoleum with the deceased stars
of long-range petards at 25 yards; tambien, Iniesta

le dio tremenda nalgadas a Manchester until Rooney
stepped up and pledged allegiance to Iniesta from across
the glassine moat of his celebrity.

Iniesta's that scrappy palooka runt makes pop-off midfield;
he pries opens the berth of play and doesn’t get sucked out to sea

by the phalanx of defensemen flotsamed into the penalty box.
If anything, Iniesta proved paramount as that character actor

alternate with humility degrees; I mean it was David Villa I think
gave the assist, but it was Iniesta that projectiled the rock
past Stekelenburg.

In all truth, I had flotsamed Jarque's tragic heart attack from mind
but the Paladin Iniesta, a tiny man, is an avalanche of cleats.

FOUR NEW BANNERS FOR ISSUE THREE OF HINCHAS

BANNERS FOR HINCHAS TRES

SPAIN WINS THE 2010 WORLD CUP

Holy crap! What an amazing game! Full of sighs and miraculous, theatrical kicks, stuntman tumbles, Luftwaffe header pirouettes and ninjitsu tears. The two halves went without a goal until second over-time when Iniesta fiddles through a Dutch dam and David Villa lobs it to him. Iniesta's goal was worth not only worth wait, it's grandeur drew from the more than 105 minutes of continuous play (two 45 min halves and a 15 min overtime).

Both teams were evenly matched. The Netherlands came out to play and they played defensively aggressive, while from minute one, Spain played aggressively adept and dynamic futbol; shit, you could even say that Spain beat the Netherlands by outplaying them at TotalFutbol, a style of futbol created by Cruyff in the late 70's. Exhibit A: in the awesome match against Germany, Puyol, a defensive player made the most amazing header I have ever seen in my measly life.

I guess what I am trying to say is that both teams wanted it but I feel that the Netherlands were waiting for Spain to make a mistake that never came. For example, Iker Casillas made the sweetest save on a fast break with Robben, but so did the goalie for the Netherlands. Both teams' goalies plaer amazingly well and the goal that Iniesta made in the second over time segment was pure genius and came almost at the end. But it came, and that is all that matters.

I swear towards the end I was just hoping that the game would not end in a penalty shoot out because I felt that that might have been a let down. In some sordid way, I feel that the World Cup owed us an amazing match that did not end in a shoot out.

I also came to grips with the many Odes that I am going to have to write for the 2010 World Cup. So far this is my short list: Sneijder, Forlan, Iniesta, Donovan, Higuain, Podolski, Schweinstagger, etc.

ODE TO FORLAN

Forlan's got forty years of ego felatio coming to him
for propelling Uruguay to uber-heights of Cup History.

More than sideswipes from el Ruso or pseudo-saves
by slap-happy Suarez, more than martial lobs into
double-team territory by Perreira or Gargano chest bumps,
more than cardio from the bomba or vuvusella vitriol

No player has done more to propel, permit, permutate
purloin, their country's chances than Forlan did with
Uruguay.

Forlan's got pedigree and panache
plus a mustard plug of Fortitude, a phalanx of ambidextrous
closed-loop fire control systems.

Nicknamed Cachavacha by Independiente fans,
or was it los locos de Penarol?, Forlan destroys conceits
that the goalie can run spatial reconnaissance
that the farthest post is difficult to sopapo
that too much green deflates balon's roar

Forlan's boxing shot is right outside box
where balon arcs and wanes, where any outside
shove from the gods can slap alas on your botin.

GERMANY VERSUS SPAIN

Obviously, I want Germany to pay for spanking Argentina. Obviously, this means that I want Spain to best them, to overcome their disadvantage in height and weight. But, I got to tell you: I have been watching Germany for some time now and I am kind of wanting them to take it all. If that happens, then my wife and I will be justified in naming our first born, Berlin.

Let me just say that the German defense is near to amazing; when they are rendering, when they are calibrating, they are a wonder to see. One of the tenets of futbol is, control of the middle, and both teams had that down pat. That is, Spain would manuever volleys and sojourns into German territory and had very little luck, despite being a little faster and more compact. But the German did not allow this mechanism any currency. The Germans would roll up, bumrush style, and were obligating Spain into errors that never materialized.

This made for very interesting and dynamic futbol. Germany's size advantage though was huge. For example, at least on the television screen, putting Boateng versus a striker like David Villa seemed like putting a action figurine against an action figure, or like putting Danny DeVito against Gary Coleman.

ODE TO WESLEY SNEIJDER

At 26, Sneijder helms battering gallop abacus
representing hazard-orange Netherlands against
stalwarts Brazil, Uruguay, and Cameroon.

In infinite three-day rapscallion shadow
fresh from Internazionale romp and circumstance
hustled his heart out in South African terrordome.

At 17, Sneijder commences career in Ajax brigadoon
to continue his father’s futbol seraphim from the primeval,
medieval core of Utrecht to the plush, ergonomic belly

of Mundo Futbol’s cult-like Mechanical Academy
and achieves hincha-status with Internazionale so
hooligans in Milan now ploy a Dutch limp in star suits.

URUGUAY BESTS SCRAPPY AS HELL MEXICANS

My surrogate team this year is Mexico. My wife is an L.A.-raised Chicana, and I have lots of love for mis cuates. For Father's Day, my wife bought me the FIFA Mexican kit and there was a minor diplomatic scuffle after I put it on and sent a photo to my pops, Hinchas Argentinus. He called me just to make sure I hadn't defected and to remind me that my paltry inheritance rested on me boostering for Argentina in all international matches of stature and renown.

Therefore, I watched the Mexico vs. Uruguay game eagerly. As soon as the game started you could tell two things: one, Uruguay was going to try to use their superior weight to their advantage; and two, Mexico was going to have to rely on their superior agility, while down-shifting forceful strikes. If Mexico were to stand a shot they would have to be superior "dancers". Uruguay were going to throw their weight around and Mexico was going to have to don a no-stick, Teflon coating to even have a chance of boxing with God.

Despite, superior weight advantage, the Mexican team not only held their own but took calculated shots and hustled hard. Guardado's izquerdazo in the 18th minute hits on what I am talking about; the Goalie-Cam shook with the force of that left-legged volley, and seemed to buouy Mexican spirits. The game was hotly contested and vigorously played; at one point, el Ruso Perez, a Uruguayan hit-man-cum-striker, is fully bleeding from his skull and trying to convince the sideline ref that the bleeding is under control while blood trickles from the gauze. He comes out of the game for 20 seconds and comes back head-wrapped in blue gauze like a daffy Jerry Lewis.

Unfortunately, Luis Suarez scores for Uruguay in the 43rd minute with a spectacular head past Suarez, Mexico's goalie, also known as the Rabbit. In the second half, Uruguay covered Mexico with that additional weight so there were alot of theatrics, shirt-pulling, and name-calling. Mexico played with heart, and they lost with heart, but they're qualified for the next tier of play, despite being in second place (behind Uruguay of course).

ODE TO NORTH KOREAN SQUAD ON THEIR SPECTACULAR, HISTORIC DEFEAT

Kim Il-Jong played 18 holes in 19 strikes on the first
golf course that opened in North Korea.

I don't know squat about golf, but it seems highly unlikely
that a sentient, carbon-based dictator could not sink
over seventeen holes in one.

I'm no expert, though; all I know
is, duress engenders fiction.

During the last Olympics, Kim Il
bested a basketball cadre comprised of
Kobe, Jordan (who came out of retirement,
appraently), LeBron, Bird (ditto), Eisenhower,
George W., Hillary (State Dept. Intramurals),
and the Sancrosanct Void.

He has demolished the likes of Elvis,
Nixon, Michael Jackson & Obama at bowling.

It's true: the Glorious Leader and a squad
of robot mavens dunked on the leaders of the free world
(a team of Hillaries).

At this moment, in Pyongyang, N. Korean sorcerers
dismantle the stunning, historic defeat of its heroes.

The way the sorcerers will spin it: the rain played
in favor of the North Korean heroes; this facilitated
their transmutation into lake-jumping Pointers, or
Salukis with the breakneck of sprinklers.

The way the sorcerers will spin it : heat signatures
boiled from the crown of the Fatherland's heroes as they left
Ronaldo standing still, and played keep away from

his wiley co-pilots, the Portugese half-bloods
were swash-buckled under, the merchant mathematicians
proved no match for the superior North Korean players.

Kim Il-Jong, notorious cinephile, Uranium dunce
crisp military lapels and bouffant martial arts hair
amazing golfer, snorkler, spelunker, Formula One astronaut,
illustrious grand wizard of spin on the ball, any ball,
any sport played under righteous banners for Father-glory.

Those poor Portugese bastards, those righteous
unequivocal North Korean heroes.

STUNNING UPSETS & WORLD CLASS GOALS, JUNE 17-22

For me, what has marked the 2010 World Cup more than previous Cups is the sense that upsets abound, that the "giants" of the beautiful game (Germany, Italy, etc.)can be got at with sophisticated slingshots. That, Goliaths do get felled by Davids, that overconfident teams falls under the pressure of their own hubris, and that true sportsmen are virtuosos of great skill and heart.

The 2010 Cup has also been marked with a plethora of shots saved by the post. The post is mostly unforgiving, like the net in basketball; one could safely say, iron unkind, and it would apply to many of the 2010 Cup matches. Futhermore, I don't see how divine intervention was not at hand during Serbia vs. Germany, or Spain vs. Switzerland. So many shot were saved by the post, you'd think it was the 12th man.

There has also been lost of chatter about the Jabulani, the ball designed by Adidas for the 2010 Cup. The Jabulani is not stitched together, the hexagons on its face are thermally bonded, and there are rivulets and channels on the ball that only an engi-nerd could explain. I even heard one of the goalies was so shook up about the wiley Jabulani that it drove them to tears.

Last, referees have been a hot topic this Cup. It seems that FIFA has attempted to exhibit its reach by having refs that are from exotic and far-away locales when it should instead opt for refs that have more experience and are better versed in protocols. Exhibit A: the ref that officiated at the Slovenia vs. U.S. match, Koman Coulibaly. Coulibaly, a native of Malawi, has surely officiated games in his native country, but how many matches of international stature? To this day, neither he nor FIFA have ever given any explanation for the invalidation of a third goal by Edu that would have put the U.S. over Slovenia, 3 to 2. The game was hotly contested and then hotly debated for the next couple of days.

There's the case of Germany, which was bested by a Serbian scissor kick authored by Jovanich, and a missed penalty by Podolski. There's the case of France, which was the obvious choice against Mexico (France made it to the Finals in 2006). But, they were no match for el Chicharita's torero moves or a swift penalty booted in by Cuahtemoc. How about Switzerland beating Spain, how about little old blond-haired, blue-eyed Switzerland besting the Red Tide of Spain.

There has also been a fair share of matches expertly played. For example, Brazil's spanking of Cote d'Ivoire on Sunday was an expert, flamboyant spanking with three of the pretties goals I have seen all Cup. Both play an aggressive, physical style with loads of creative, technical passes. The first goal by Fabiano was surgical; he was almost parallel with the goalie but manages to slice it into the opposite pocket. However, it would not have been possible without Kaka's wrangling of a volatile, overhead pass. The second goal, I thought, even more masterful.

Again, the ball finds Fabiano who cascades it over three defenders in lock-step, positions himself in front of the goal, and extends a killer rocketball past goalkeeper Boubacar Barry. That is not to say that Drogba's goal against Brazil wasn't equally as spectacular. My man fields a pass and uses the momentum of it falling to equalize on Brazilian goalie Julio Cesar.

The Paraguay vs Slovakia game was a dazzling match. Paraguay played a vivacious futbol, full of stop-and-go, suicide sprints, and misdirection that proved magical to watch. The main problem is that Slovakia gave Paraguay openings and Paraguay was able to define; in the 27 minute Enrique Vera burst through the Slovakian defense to bumrush it in; in the 86th minute Rivieros sails one in after balon does a little pinball wizardy in the goalie box. All in all, Slovakia seemed dazed and confused and Paraguay capitalized on that.

GOING THROUGH MY BLACK BOOKS