Weblog
More music in Buenos Aires
Last night the 19th of November. I went to a concert at a cultural centre. There are cultural centres all over the city and these are places where you can go to see many kinds of cultural events like live music. A a few nights before, I went to a centre in San Telmo and saw a choir recital. The choir was singing songs about psychological conditions like being paranoid. I really did not understand much of the Spanish but they did sing well. The performance was also quite theatrical.
Getting back to last night's performance. I went to the "Ciudad Cultural Konex. Quite an interesting space as well; it is on the grounds of an old warehouse. The concert took place in the courtyard and the main band played on a stage that was like a large staircase. I have noticed there is quite some interesting architecture in Buenos Aires.
http://www.ciudadculturalkonex.org
The performance was by a group called "La Bomba de Tiempo". They are a group of percussionists who play improvised music. When I saw them play last night, one person was standing in front conducting the band. They also had a guest musician playing the saxophone. It was a good performance and everyone was having a good time. It was a fairly young crowd; yet there was some people a bit older (like me) and some of them came with young children. I did attempt to speak some Spanish and was chatting a bit with a guy named "Herman" (but say that with a Argentine accent). At the end of the gig. I asked him how would you say "Very Cool" in Espanol and his reply was "Muy Buen".
Music in Uruguay & Argentina
I have been taking guitar lessons for a few weeks now; I had on 2 occasions played guitar; I first played in high school but I did not keep it up. I then took some lessons from a friend in London some years ago; I have a guitar in London that has just been sitting there gathering dust. While here in Buenos Aires; I saw someone mention on a web log that he knew someone who taught guitar here and I thought hmm why not; I have been wanting to take it up again for some time. It is going well but I do need to practice more. And it has been also really good to discuss music with my teacher Cristian. One of my goals is while being here is to get know people and not just be a tourist. And the Argentines really like their rock music and of course Cristian is no exception to that.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been to a concert at the Vaca Profano in the Almagro barrio with Cristian. I do want get out to more live gigs while here. I just got back from Montevideo yesterday on the 15th of November ; I was with travelling some people I met here in Argentina; we were planning to go see some Tango while in Uruguay; we were told about a bar that is known for Tango; we did get to the bar eventually after walking around a bit on rather cold and windy night and not quite knowing our way arond in Montevideo and it was not Tango act that night but it was a live act with rock stylings with some interesting sonic things going on. And they were very good. The band was led by Rossana Taddei; I also bough the CD of their latest album. Also, I figure listening to the CD will be good exercise for improving my Spanish
Food in Buenos Aires
Milanesa de Soja (a cautionary tale)
A couple of weeks ago; I went out a for a walk in Caballito further away along the main road of Rivadavia. It was lunch time and I went into a rather large restaurant in a shopping area. The waiter brought me a menu and I had look through it; I was looking at the daily specials. I saw something called Milanesa and I thought; that sounds good; I have had Milanese before in Italy and in England; they are a piece of meat that has been flattened and covered in bread crumbs and than pan friend. I usually have them made with chicken. So, I was just assuming it was the same thing here. I order the dish and meanwhile, I have a few pieces of bread and wait; the Milanese is served a bit later and it looks quite good; I cut into the MIlanesa. It was a Milanesa made with soybeans. It was so tasteless and so very dry. Ugh, I cannot imagine anyone enjoying the taste of these things. I tried to eat it all but it got quite tedious to eat and I gave up three quarters of the way through it. I have seen this dish in a few restaurants since that incident. I have nothing against soybeans but how about using a recipe that does not seems like you are eating breaded paper.
Week 4 & 5 Buenos Aires
I am in my fifth week in Argentina now. Where does time go? Just a short post for the moment. I need to study.
Last week, I was doing some work on the game project and using a desk at my friend Steve's studio.
And also last week, I went to see some awesome Jazz at the "Vaca Profana". The name would translate as the "swearing cow". I went with Cristian my guitar teacher, his wife Susannah and some of their friends and with Steve. These guys played very well. I had not been to a jazz concert in ages. It is quite something to watch them on stage as they do what they did; it was like watching a conversation taking place on stage and I did not quite understand what was being said but I liked it. The band was led by Ernesto Snajer.
http://www.vacaprofana.com.ar/
And this week, I have been on a Spanish class. We meet each day for 4 days and we walk around parts of the city. The idea is that you learn Spanish and use it right away. Part of it would mean going up to people on the street and ask questions like where is so & so street. I will have more to say on that later. Yesterday, we were in Palermo Viejo. It was such a nice day; it is getting more humid here.