LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Even Apart, El V and Al Zorra Remain Historically United

Goofy e-mails between el V in his hotel room in Cardiff,



where he is attending the annual WOMEX (World Music Expo), and will make the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Juan Formell of Los Van Van.

El V writes:
Subject: Re: in room
both here and in ireland all the signs are bilingual in gaelic.  across the street is the harlech house.
 :
men of harlech, in the hollow,
do you hear like rushing billow,
wave on wave that surging follow
battle's distant sound?
loose the folds asunder,
flag we conquer under
the placid sky now bright on high
shall launch its bolts in thunder . . . 
On 10/23/2013 12:40 PM, C replies:
Kill those Norman Plantagenet invaders!  Stomp ‘em, bomp ‘em, mow ‘em down with your arrows! 
El V replies:
oh, i'll use that in my talk!
C replies:
You should know:  the "Men of Harlech" actually immortalizes the Welsh against Henry V, from whom the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII (House of Lancaster as well as the Welsh Tudors), was descended , post Henry IV decisively taking out the Plantagenet - House of York monarch Richard III. If it is confusing, it's because it's the confusion of the Wars of the Roses. The confusion is all the greater because, as you know, dear, this is not the history which is my specialty, and I don't know much about it.

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