Finally, I climb aboard the blog train. I have been contemplating this for a while now, time for the next step, try it on. I wonder how long I will be able to stay aboard.
My secret Santa gave me four presents today and they struck me as a great representation of a particular aspect of my personality: a CD byVictor Jara, one of my saints, a CD by Ry cooder and the Chieftains (San Patricio ... more about this later), Failed States by Noam Chomsky and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. I love all of these gifts and I eagerly anticipate their consumption.
San Patricio represents a singular collaboration between two giant influences in my life that strongly reflect my musical taste. Quite simply, Irish music is in my DNA. Add to that my passion for guitar music, something that Ry Cooder represents with extraordinary strength and exemplary ability, and you get something that resonates strongly in my life. Both Ry cooder and the Chieftains have been my musical companions for my whole adult life, but the real kicker is the subject matter of the collaboration, the story of the San Patricios. According to the liner notes, The story of the San Patricios is a little discussed and even less understood footnote in the greater panorama of American Westward expansion. during the Mexican-American war of 1846-48 Captain John Riley and a small battalion of soldiers abandoned their pasts and futures in the burgeoning United States of America and followed their conscience -or their fortune perhaps- across the Rio Grande to fight side by side with the Mexican army under the command of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana. Reviled by the Manifest Destiny minded America of the day as traitors and deserters they have largely been forgotten in the retelling of history. But to generations of Mexicans and Irish they are remembered to this day as heroes who fought bravely against an unjust and thinly veiled war of agression.
I was struck by this subject because I recently read Howard Zinn's description of the Mexican-American war of 1846-48, something that I had been rather ignorant of to that point. Not to put too fine a point on it, I was disgusted at the conduct of the US Government as it appeared in Mr. Zinn's commentary. Now appears before my eyes this additional vignette from that conflict that seems to be prompting me to delve deeper. As yet I have not listened to the music, but I am looking forward to doing so and also to exploring the subject matter further. It has the feeling of a fantastic story, full of conflicting motivations and an intriguing interplay of different circumstances, histories and cultures. Fodder for a great book or a great movie, or both.
So there's Victor Jara, whose story is an inspiration to me and a beacon of the human spirit, The story of San Patricio which extibits potential to do the same. Coupled to these come Noam Chomsky and Richard Dawkins, two icons of intelligent thought and discourse in the modern world. I ask you, how could you have a better Christmas present.
Happy Christmas to all and here's to future!
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