Pop Culture!

It's all around and I'm loving it!

1. BOLLYWOOD, BABY!

Anyone who can point me in the direction of good Indian or Pakistani music/artists/films gets a prize (an email thank-you from me). It's all around BCN and I'm suddenly eating it up. Kudos to JOE MORGAN for already helping me out in this department. If I had the power to, I would answer your wish and make you Maliali. :) Anywho, my obsession with this music and these films has kicked in hardcore due to the following:

a. My pal Shani.
Shani works in my local kebap shop.
*Note to reader #1: Kebaps are like gyros, only they're Pakistani, not Greek and they are adored throughout Europe.
*Note to reader #2: By "local" I mean across the street. Here in BCN there is a "Mr. Doner Kebap" shop (Home of the real Pakistani falafel!) every 200 m.

Shani has only been in Spain for a few months working in this shop and speaks only enough Spanish to ask if patrons want their falafels "picante" or "sin picante." He does, however, speak decent English and was therefore, pleased to make my acquaintance. He had been dying to speak to someone about something besides salsa. So now I hang out some evenings after work in the kebap shop with Shani, the proprietor of the shop, and the Indian and Pakistani owners of the local internet cafes. I eat falafel and we watch Bollywood films with English subtitles. I also help Shani with his Spanish, which is fine by me since he's a fox.

b. "The Guru" featuring Jimi Mistry.
Last week I finally watched "The Guru" with Jimi Mistry* (Hot!), Heather Graham and Marisa Tomei, after weeks of my friend Kelly telling me to rent it. While the film is ridiculously lame-o, me gusta la musica a lot. I have downloaded bits of the soundtrack and annoy my roommates by blasting it when I get ready to go out....to the grocery shop, to buy phone credit, to work; pretty much any time. (I know they secretly love it because I have walked in on them dancing to it and one of them copied one of the songs onto his flash disk to put in his own computer.) Heaven forgive me because I'm sure that the music from this soundtrack probably pales in comparison to that of other better artists. All I can say is, "Chori chori gori se"! Download it, dance to it, live by it.

*Note: "The Guru" does not do Jimi Mistry credit. If you really want to see a great film, track down and rent "East is East."


2. SUPER LOPEZ with a little MANGA on the side.

So my intercambio friend Noelia is quickly becoming an actual friend (aw.). Her newest addition to my life has been Spanish comic books. (An excellent learning tool and a great source of chuckles.) Super Lopez is my favorite so far. He's the classic underdog, wears a Superman suit and is drawn with the head of Aznar, the former, much-hated Spanish president. Noelia and I got up early this morning and went to this cool book market that's open Sundays and I checked out comics and books translated from French while she drooled over Mangas. She loves her some Mangas, making her both extremely nerdy and endearing at the same time. (If you don't know what Manga is, ask your kids.)

If I keep up my study of comics, by this time next week I should be able to rattle off things like "Holy rusty metal, Batman!" in Spanish without a problem. Gee-wiz, ain't that swell?!

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P.S. - I spent Saturday in Sitges, a costal town 40min south of Barcelona. Not only is it the "gay getaway" as the Barcelonians call it, but it is also GORGEOUS. I posted a few photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/ajruiter.