La Colonia Penal

The way that the Chilean people speaks, like 'going for the branches' or changing the subject from nowhere, is, according to Raúl Ruiz, a clear example of a critic to the realistic representation, understood like a interested construction maintained by the economic power throughout the twentieth century. Of course, this critic has no relation with political parties or politics itselfs, but it comes from the instinct, something like the manifestation of the critical essence of the chilean people.

Over this premise is created La Colonia Penal (The Penal Colony), a 1970 chilean film directed by Raúl Ruiz and named as a rare case of chilean surrealism. Based on a Kafka story, show the travel of a journalist to a caribbean island, old penal colony recently made independent, that has decided maintained his economy over the sell of news. For this purpose, all the habitants of the island are dressed like soldiers  performing fake tortures.

A real crazy. The protagonist of this film is a real journalist and the dictator of the island is the classic Luis Alarcón.

And this is not more called surrealism. A new group of theorists baptized it as 'realism in trance' or 'socialist realism'. But that goes for another post...




Here is the full movie online: 

CD player

I was in the second year of my secondary education when I received as a gift my first music player, a cd player.  In that time, that gift changed my little life and I became and addict to listen music. Suddenly, I stopped paying attention to my teachers and partners from the school, I no longer did a family life, and I turn myself into a hermit, a lonely one.

But I didn't care. I enjoyed those moments of solitude, I had a great time just my and my brain and I learned a lot of stuff because in my loneliness I used to read and learn from anywhere.

The problem was that I left my friends and I practically dissapeared from the streets. But they knew me and waited and no problem.

The bad quality of the CD player just let me enjoy that solitude for a pair of months until it broke. But it was a excelent time.

Everybody can do the ska

Two of the things I enjoy the most is music and weed. I prefer them combined, of course. About one year ago, in the national event Santiago a Mil, I had the possibility of seeing live and direct to an australian orchestra. But it was not any orchestra, it was The Melbourne Ska Orchestra, dedicated to  the jamaican rhythms, to the old island tradition, to the ska. I could see them twice, one outside of the Bicentenarium Footbal Stadium of La Florida and another in the Gabriela Mistral Center. Happyly, on the two ocations smoked. Obviously, I don't remember how I got there or when it was. But I remember the singer lady and his mesmerizing voice and figure, to a crazy dreadlock saxophonist, and to the another singer, one bald head that remember me to the singer of a brithish Two Tone group called Bad Manners. Awesome. It was a good evening. I would like to be listening to any song of them while I write this but I have no headphones to use and no mp3 player neither. Bad thing.

Anyway, here's a video for anyone who sees this and have no heard the catchy tune of ska:

I can't hear the video, so I hope it has a decent audio quality.

Now that I remember a bit more about it, I remember that suddenly they start to mix the classic ska rhythm with reggae and cumbia, a catastrophe. I guess in the end was not as good as I remembered it first.