Monday, July 27, 2009

Dance 208: Summer Garage Classics.


Hola mis amigos, y ojala te tuvistes un buen fin de semana (hope y'all had a great weekend)

Having been born in the early-seventies, I missed out on a lot of things; Watergate, 'Nam, the opening of 'Rocky' ("Adrieeeen, Adrieeeeen!!!" ; odd that he'd become a megastar out of that mess!). Well, with the help of Joe Fiore, I got chance to travel back to 1979 (maybe) and experience the grooviest, hippest, most outta sight party this past Saturday.

It was called 'Summer Garage Classics' and the name suggests it all. Reminiscing the days of platforms, mood rings, polyester, lava lamps, 8-tracks and all the free sex a man (or woman) could hope for. Seriously, Fiore, the 'Mad Hatter' genuis gave us quite the party without the slickness or unnecessary Madison Avenue glitz that permeated through the 1970's. Think, 'Studio 54' without the attitude, drugs and the elitism; or so I've been told. Mind you, I was raped into watching 'Bambi' rather than get to snort coke off some guy's zipper. Just kidding by the way...DRUGS ARE VERY BAD!!! :-)

Anyhoos, here I am with the man of the hour who is still nursing a broken leg, poor baby! You gotta ease up on the rough sex, dude! :-)

Monday, July 20, 2009

'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'



(courtesy Heyday Films/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Hola chicos y chicas; bienvenido a 'Bears Gone Wild', hehe!

So, in our struggling economic times, it's a little difficult to fathom the notion of going to the movies without opening your wrists afterwards because you just paid $12 (popcorn, candy and drink not included) for the worst dreck of your life and time you'll never get back.

So, it is with great pleasure to announce that the latest "Harry Potter" flick; of course, going by its full title, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" gets my seal of approval as one of the best summer films of 2009.

Once again, we find our beleaguered boy wizard (Daniel Radcliffe, now looking striking at 20) faced with even more perils at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A new conspiracy is brewing among Valdemort's faithful and the Death Eaters are now becoming more powerful. One of the conspirators is Professor Snape (an always brilliant Alan Rickman) who along with evil Hogwarts bully Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) are allowing all the dark forces to enter Hogwarts. Again, it is up to Potter and esteemed headmaster Albus Dumbledore (a wonderful Michael Gambon) to unroot the source of the evil and try to stop it, but it does prove to have a fatal result. Also, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) has become somewhat of a stud, much to the chagrin of Hermoine (Emma Watson, seriously is she hot or what???) and even Harry has got Ron's sister, Ginny, wetting her lips for him. Ooooh! Filthy stuff for a PG movie!

Anyhows, I imagine that those who are faithful readers of the insanely popular J.K. Rowling books may differ in their opinion of this film adaptation, but who cares? A book of Rowling's magnitude can only fit so much on screen and the last book 'The Deathly Hallows' will be split in two parts for 2010 and 2011. So...in closing, spend that money on this gem and let's see if the 'film' versions for the last one exceed expectation.

By the way, wanna see what I can do with my wand? Hehe!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

THE LAUNCHING OF G MAG

Bienvenido a un nuevo edicion de 'La Fiesta del Latino Oso'.

They often say that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, so the gods of karma have directed me to repost this blog the right way.

Last Friday at Club Atlantis in the heart of Jackson Heights, I was given the privilidge of being part of history. The launching of 'G Mag', a new LGBT-friendly magazine dedicated to covering urban nightlife from a Latino perspective. The magazine has the groundbreaking distinction of being the first 'bilingual' English to Spanish text. It accomplishes two tasks and that is to reach both the English and Spanish speaking communities in our very diverse Latino community.

I got to meet Vice President Cesar Galvez and President Luis Rodriguez who are the creators of this very inventive and innovative magazine. Like all LBGT-based publications, it features news and current events: the main article features a touching tribute to the late Michael Jackson and correlates it to the same sadness felt in our community when we lost one of our greats, Celia Cruz. They also reviewd the latest Sacha Baron Cohen comedy, "Bruno" and their features include everything from editorials and cloumns to horoscope and nightlife. Much credit must be given to these innovators for giving us an informative and entertaining magazine that will be gracing the stands for years to come.

Peace and be well, my friends.
Que la paz y los benidiciones sean amplea, mis amigos.

C-los.

Hello and welcome to another edition of the 'Latin Bear Beat':

A menudo se dice que usted nunca tener una segunda oportunidad para dar una buena primera impresión, eso es la cual lo que los dioses del karma han dirigido a publicar en este blog de la manera correcta.

El viernes pasado en el Club Atlantis en el corazón de Jackson Heights, se me dio la privilejio de ser parte de historia. El lanzamiento de 'G Mag', una nueva revista LGBT urbano dedicado a la vida nocturna de una perspectiva latina. La revista tiene la distinción de ser pionero de la primera "bilingüe" Inglés a Español texto. Se realiza dos tareas, y que es llegar a los de habla Inglés y Español comunidades muy diversas en nuestra comunidad latina.

Fue introducido a Vice President César Gálvez y el presidente Luis Rodríguez, que son los creadores de esta inventiva e innovadora revista. Al igual que todos los LBGT a base de las publicaciones, incluye noticias y acontecimientos de actualidad: el artículo principal cuenta con un homenaje conmovedor a los fines de Michael Jackson y la correlaciona con la misma tristeza sentido en nuestra comunidad, cuando perdimos una de nuestros grandes, Celia Cruz. También criticaron la última comedia de Sacha Baron Cohen, "Bruno" y sus características incluyen todo, desde los editoriales y cloumns, al horóscopo y vida nocturna. Gran parte del mérito se debe dar a estos innovadores por darnos una revista informativa y de entretenido que será vamos a leer constantemente en los proximo años.

C-los.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

My 'Bruno' review.



(courtesy Universal Pictures)

Hola, que tal and como se va.

One of the small perks of shoveling coffee at my unnamed, but still crappy coffeehouse franchise is that occasionally I can get free movie tickets. To give you a hint, we're where Universal UMG is on 8th Avenue.

Anyhoo peoples, this 'cub' reporter got front row seats to the latest blockbuster extravaganza (and no, we're not talking lost footage from Michael Jackson's film debut in "The Wiz"). It's BRUNO! The latest from Sacha Baron Cohen, the wacky Brit who created that other infamous (and very creepy) character 'BORAT'. Well...this one is other creepy character; a flamboyantly gay fashionista who fancies himself too chic and too hip for the other fashionistas of the world. Pfffft! Yeah sure!

At any rate, if you're expecting any tameness from Cohen...guess the f*ck again! In the same anarchic spirit of BORAT, Cohen again assaults his audience with his hilarious, if strange, kamikaze and controversial style of comedy. No target is sacred, no joke safe, and no celebrity unharmed. Well, from reports I heard, he cut out what could've been a very offensive MJ joke when he was interviewing his sister, La Toya. Bravo...but it could've still been funny.

Cohen (who is actually straight and married to 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' cutie, Isla Fisher) is smart comic and knows which targets will generate the most laughs. He goes after reality shows, celebrity adoptions, gay adoptions, Southern redneck homophobes, gay-to-straight converts and even gay marraige in Cali. The best part is...it is SO GODDAMN F*CKING FUNNY!!!

It comes out July 10th, and by the way...no penis is safe...neither is the late 'Milli' from Milli Vanilli.