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Hialeah Jorge, and something's tongue
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New York City Diary
Tuesday, January 23, 2001
7:44 PM
[1/23/2001 7:33:55 PM | Jorge Navarro]
The new year's here...as is this now functional page: fresh, complicated,
chilly and a little sick. Fuck me in the dirt! If you like, you may fuck me in
the sludge....a not-so-fresh, complicated, and tre chilly mixture of ice, dirt
and what often appears to be dogshit and or polenta...seeing as dirt
remains relatively rare up in these parts during the winter
months......unless, of course, your talkin' 'bout the Cuban Cowboy's dirt;
O' that we gots plenty. So, Here joo go, amigos e amigitas, NYC Diary
Volume 1, #1. OF POWER AND STROM THRUMOND'S BALLS.I watched, in
horror, as our President-Select bestrode a podium, took his vows and a
his surely dubious, or dubya-ous...or better still, Dubya-Ass, place in
history. Motorcades, protesters, Ashcroft. For some reason, the whole
thing reminded me of Cake's song, "The Land of Race Car Ya-Ya's" off of
their delicious "Fashion Nugget" CD. To that end, i am not sure whose
testicles hung from the Presidential rearview mirror. I am, however, sure
that if the Republicans had yet another wish granted, those would be
Hillary Clinton's testicles. After all, Rick Lazio has none to spare [a lil
shout out to all my NYC peeps!...remember: i'm from Florida, i actually
know and consort with a guy named CHad (chad King to all ya'll in Gville,
FL!), so i've got mondo atonement action up in dis piece]. Strom
Thurmond's, however...now thems some COJONES (ingeniously disguised
as his double chin....take a look next time you surf upon C-Span. I kid joo
not)! OF AMBITION AND HJ'S MOVE TO NYC. As many of joo know, i moved
up here (after nearly 15 years in Gainesville, FL) to rock out and fulfill the
twisty destiny of my alter-ego, the Cuban Cowboy. The Cuban Cowboy,
an odd mix of American Icon, Ricky Ricardo, Dwight Yoakum, and any/all
uncoordinated male exotic dancers you may have ever seen, must surely
have a place in the city, no? Maybe. Determining what and where that
place remains an ongoing process. I moved up here in early September,
2000. In the nearly four months since then, i have played out dozens of
times (mostly open mics, several "paying" gigs....if you're thinking about
making da benjamins...think agin'...joo play for tips until joo start drawing
100 or so peeps to each show, or until joo gots legal/managerial
representation, and/or you can suck one mean ass dick, yo); i have
walked in the rain, at 2 am, both baby taylor guitars in hand, rock-pack
(you know, a backpack loaded down with cables, pedals, CDs, mailing list,
my ever-diminishing ego, etc.) on back and the proverbial song in my
heart....after many nights of playing before relatively few people; or
people there to see other performers or there to piss in a place other
than Avenue A. The experience, while eye-opening, has done nothing to
curb my enthusiasm. Indeed, it has only increased my resolve --- there's
plenty of space here for my a Cuban cowboy. It's just that the concept of
"space," coming from Gainesville, FL, has become downright
astrophysical! What one must do, of course, is take it day-by-day,
gig-by-gig, and network opportunity-by-network opportunity. ANYTHING
THAT ENHANCES YOUR PERFORMANCE, YOUR CRAFT, YOUR ARTISTIC
GROWTH --- DO. Such is my current ambition. To that end, HJ finds himself
working on other, important, aspects of his craft.WASSUP DI WEEK? Well,
i'm currently in rehearsals for a one-act play entitled, "This Must Be the
Place" (Written, Directed, Produced by the incomparable Bex
Schwartz)....a piece partially based on a song of the same title written by
the Talking Heads. The play goes up next month (FEB. 15-17, at the
Expanded Arts Theatre, 114 Ludlow....lower east side, NYC) and it marks
the first time since high school that i will act in any play. I'm nervous as
fuck but am so glad to be doing such intense work the first time
out-the-chute (ex-lovers confront their ennui, each other, former
connections and current emotional/physical entanglements...via dialogue,
and motion). By day, the Cuban Cowboy is an Actor/Teacher for New York
University's Creative Arts Team (under the auspices of the Gallatin School
of the Arts)...a participatory eductation drama company committed to
social change through drama. I go into schools with another actor and
help teachers and their students (High schoolers, middle schoolers) use
drama to enrich their learning experience. Critical thinking,
problem-solving, cooperative learning, a student-centered/driven
pedagogy, it's all there. I've never seen anything like it (remember, if joo
don't already know....HJ is a recovering HS English teacher who taught
for 6 yrs...as well as a preschool teacher for two years to boot!...so i
been there) and am so privileged to be a part of such vital work. HJ
benefits directly in that my stage persona continues to develop as i,
inversely, benefit from professional actors' training and perspectives
afforded to me by the position.So what does the new year hold for your
cuban cowboy...besides his heart in its hand???.....find out...every week!
(Next posting..Tuesday...January 30...just before Dark Angel comes
on!)Current Reading List:Farewell to the Sea...Reinaldo Arenas
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men...D. Foster Wallace
Consilience...E.O WilsonOYE!One LAST THING! PLease feel free to email
me with comments, suggestions, suggested topics for future entries, your
views of your move to NYC, a recording contract, a movie deal, etc.,
etc.....
7:33 PM
The new year's here...as is this now functional page: fresh, complicated, chilly and a little sick. Fuck me in the dirt! If you like, you may fuck me in the sludge....a not-so-fresh, complicated, and tre chilly mixture of ice, dirt and what often appears to be dogshit and or polenta...seeing as dirt remains relatively rare up in these parts during the winter months......unless, of course, your talkin' 'bout the Cuban Cowboy's dirt; O' that we gots plenty. So, Here joo go, amigos e amigitas, NYC Diary Volume 1, #1. OF POWER AND STROM THRUMOND'S BALLS.I watched, in horror, as our President-Select bestrode a podium, took his vows and a his surely dubious, or dubya-ous...or better still, Dubya-Ass, place in history. Motorcades, protesters, Ashcroft. For some reason, the whole thing reminded me of Cake's song, "The Land of Race Car Ya-Ya's" off of their delicious "Fashion Nugget" CD. To that end, i am not sure whose testicles hung from the Presidential rearview mirror. I am, however, sure that if the Republicans had yet another wish granted, those would be Hillary Clinton's testicles. After all, Rick Lazio has none to spare [a lil shout out to all my NYC peeps!...remember: i'm from Florida, i actually know and consort with a guy named CHad (chad King to all ya'll in Gville, FL!), so i've got mondo atonement action up in dis piece]. Strom Thurmond's, however...now thems some COJONES (ingeniously disguised as his double chin....take a look next time you surf upon C-Span. I kid joo not)! OF AMBITION AND HJ'S MOVE TO NYC. As many of joo know, i moved up here (after nearly 15 years in Gainesville, FL) to rock out and fulfill the twisty destiny of my alter-ego, the Cuban Cowboy. The Cuban Cowboy, an odd mix of American Icon, Ricky Ricardo, Dwight Yoakum, and any/all uncoordinated male exotic dancers you may have ever seen, must surely have a place in the city, no? Maybe. Determining what and where that place remains an ongoing process. I moved up here in early September, 2000. In the nearly four months since then, i have played out dozens of times (mostly open mics, several "paying" gigs....if you're thinking about making da benjamins...think agin'...joo play for tips until joo start drawing 100 or so peeps to each show, or until joo gots legal/managerial representation, and/or you can suck one mean ass dick, yo); i have walked in the rain, at 2 am, both baby taylor guitars in hand, rock-pack (you know, a backpack loaded down with cables, pedals, CDs, mailing list, my ever-diminishing ego, etc.) on back and the proverbial song in my heart....after many nights of playing before relatively few people; or people there to see other performers or there to piss in a place other than Avenue A. The experience, while eye-opening, has done nothing to curb my enthusiasm. Indeed, it has only increased my resolve --- there's plenty of space here for my a Cuban cowboy. It's just that the concept of "space," coming from Gainesville, FL, has become downright astrophysical! What one must do, of course, is take it day-by-day, gig-by-gig, and network opportunity-by-network opportunity. ANYTHING THAT ENHANCES YOUR PERFORMANCE, YOUR CRAFT, YOUR ARTISTIC GROWTH --- DO. Such is my current ambition. To that end, HJ finds himself working on other, important, aspects of his craft.WASSUP DI WEEK? Well, i'm currently in rehearsals for a one-act play entitled, "This Must Be the Place" (Written, Directed, Produced by the incomparable Bex Schwartz)....a piece partially based on a song of the same title written by the Talking Heads. The play goes up next month (FEB. 15-17, at the Expanded Arts Theatre, 114 Ludlow....lower east side, NYC) and it marks the first time since high school that i will act in any play. I'm nervous as fuck but am so glad to be doing such intense work the first time out-the-chute (ex-lovers confront their ennui, each other, former connections and current emotional/physical entanglements...via dialogue, and motion). By day, the Cuban Cowboy is an Actor/Teacher for New York University's Creative Arts Team (under the auspices of the Gallatin School of the Arts)...a participatory eductation drama company committed to social change through drama. I go into schools with another actor and help teachers and their students (High schoolers, middle schoolers) use drama to enrich their learning experience. Critical thinking,
problem-solving, cooperative learning, a student-centered/driven pedagogy, it's all there. I've never seen anything like it (remember, if joo don't already know....HJ is a recovering HS English teacher who taught for 6 yrs...as well as a preschool teacher for two years to boot!...so i been there) and am so privileged to be a part of such vital work. HJ benefits directly in that my stage persona continues to develop as i, inversely, benefit from professional actors' training and perspectives afforded to me by the position.So what does the new year hold for your cuban cowboy...besides his heart in its hand???.....find out...every week! (Next posting..Tuesday...January 30...just before Dark Angel comes on!)Current Reading List:Farewell to the Sea...Reinaldo Arenas
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men...D. Foster Wallace
Consilience...E.O WilsonOYE!One LAST THING! PLease feel free to email me with comments, suggestions, suggested topics for future entries, your views of your move to NYC, a recording contract, a movie deal, etc., etc.....
