marederia

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☞ About Beck's coolness

Ignoring his past with Scientology, Beck is one of those artists who is consistently great.

About 20 years ago, I visited Paris with 2 of my closest friends, and I went into a music shop where I bought Beck's Güero album for the sole reason that it was named like that. I had heard Loser by Beck and liked it a lot, so I thought it was a good bet.

I immediately broke the cellophane bag it came in and started listening to it. I was hypnotized by "Girl" and "Guero". I could not stop listening, especially to Girl, so when I discovered the amazingness of its music video, I declared it my absolute no.1 song by Beck.

Sure, the song lyrics are kind of confusing and dark, but everything else is the best. The video was directed by Motion Theory, and it was based on MAD Fold-ins by Al Jaffee, which I have always thought were the coolest.

The last but not least reason why I love this song and video is that it was filmed in East LA, which has a very high concentration of Latin-Americans, specifically Mexican-Americans. I love the Chicano culture and seeing the mariachis, dances, taco stands, piñatas, big family reunions, quinceañeras, street music, etc, just reminds me of Mexico and my childhood.

10/10 on all fronts. Gracias, güero.

or like we like to say to people we like and that they seem to like us:

Güero, hermano, ya eres mexicano.

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☞ About microminifeminisms

I will always defend the use of my second last name for my mom, and that her last name should have been my first one. This is nothing against my dad, but against this ridiculous system where the child that grows inside a mother and then given birth by her, and then fed by her milk and then taken care mainly by her (sure, things are changing but let's be real, it is still the general situation) should have the father's last name. Makes no sense, NONE. The same with how women take their husband's last name when marrying. I will never understand it. I am glad Mexico does not have that custom.

I have wanted to go back on my parents’ family trees and thankfully, my uncle Fernando had already done the hard work of tracing our family 5 generations back until mid 19th century on my mom’s side.

It turns out I should have been born as (at least up until the research shows)

Mariana Mendoza + (whichever is my dad's real last name, coming from the line of women in his family tree)

We have been robbed of our history, our women, and unfortunately, we will never be able to trace it back to its origin.

In Mexico, it is normal to have both your last names, but in Finland, it has been a bit of a struggle to keep both in official and unofficial situations. I am glad I have stuck by my stubbornness, and Finland recognizes me with both.

For any purpose, I will always be:

Mariana (dad's last name) (mom's last name)

I do not care to be a pain in the ass in this very specific case.

The thing left for me to find is my dad's real last names.

PS: If my dad was not the great dad he is, or if I had no contact with him, you better believe I would have already changed my last name to my mom's.

PS 2: Dolores, you are my Tatara-tatara-tatara-abuela (great-great-great-grandmother), but I don't know anything about you. When were you born? When did you die? I don't know who you were? Who were your mom, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers? I know nothing, but I wish you well.

I also wish our families had kept their family trees present and updated.

PS3: Thanks to my uncle Fernando, because he has given me the amazing gift of knowing a little bit more of my history.

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☞ About äänestäminen

It was my second time voting in municipal elections in Helsinki, and this time, I had some black light keeping me company.

Unfortunately, it seems the world is going to the right, and Finland is no exception. A few days ago, there was a voting "simulation" among the youth, and I found it generally sad. The party that is known for having racists (and other awful people) on board got what I think is a disgustingly high voting result. They even got more than Vasemmisto (the left), which is more than depressing.

The boomerification of Gen Z is something that should be studied.

[marederia]

☞ About living alone

My house is anything but silent. My house is a talkie like they used to say. I cannot stop talking to myself. My house also has subtitles as I catch myself speaking in English just as much as I speak Spanish. I am trying to make my movies in Finnish too although they may be translated incorrectly.

I remember my parents telling me that I have always talked alone since I was little. They would stand outside my room listening to me create storylines about my life, something I still do. This has been a constant way for me to create different lives within my own. I always thought this was a normal thing, even now I still believe everyone does it as adults, but talking with my closest friends made me realize that it is not as common as I thought.

I wonder if it is a way to cope with something.

I also wonder if my neighbors hate me because if it's not my loud laugh it's my loud speaking when talking with my family late at night. What can I say, I come from a noisy and loud family.

Hieu Minh Nguyen, from "This Way to the Sugar"

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☞About Librosabrosos vol. 13

Memory of Water ( Teemestarin kirja)

Emmi Itäranta

Full dishes:

◎◎◎◎◎      ◎◎◎◎           ★★★                ◎◎             ◎     

I wanted to read more Finnish writers, so when I started looking for options translated to English, I found this dystopian story. I really like reading and watching dystopian media and am not sure where this comes from. It could be out of fear of what our world could become, or maybe I like them because I assume that when the world really goes to hell, I might already be dead. Of course, this thought seems less and less realistic with how things are around the world. Dystopia could be closer than we think. (let's be honest, it is true already in many areas)

Memory of Water takes place in a distant future, in the Nordics, after an ecological disaster. Fresh water shortage is the main problem in this world where the resources are regulated by a dictatorial regime. Water crimes are the most common and are highly punished.

Noria is the tea master's daughter in a world where tea masters carry out very sacred and peaceful tea ceremonies and are known as the keepers of water. Noria's best friend is Sanja, an expert in "old" technology who tries to figure out how old machines used to work. They often go to this "plastic cemetery" to find new treasures.

It was very interesting to read how this new world is built and how they speak of the old world, aka ours, which was lost a long time ago due to human atrocities. This was a book I couldn't stop reading until the end, but I have to be honest: this was the only reason I gave it 3 full dishes out of 5. I was tempted to put 2, just because of the last chapter. I really disliked the ending and felt it was a small heartbreak, just like any book, series, or movie ending that you end up screaming at. Also, some plot holes frustrated me.

I found out there was a movie made of this book in 2022, which at least in IMDb has a low rating, and to be honest, after finishing the book, I was so mad. I really don't feel like seeing the movie. Maybe when the disappointment passes I will, if only at least because my Finnish crush acts in it.

Still, I recommend you read it. It could be that you like the ending or look at it as a more realistic one, which could very much be true.

PS: I want to commend the author as she wrote both Finnish and English versions.

[marederia]

☞About Librosabrosos vol. 12

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Olga Tokarczuk

Full dishes:

◎◎◎◎◎      ★★★★        ◎◎◎           ◎◎             ◎     

Olga won the Nobel prize in Literature on 2018 and I had been curious about her books for a while so when I saw 2 of her books (this one and Flights) in their lovely bright International Klein blue Fitzcarraldo editions, I decided to get them.

First of all, Fitzcarraldo, your books are the most destroyable books I have ever had. They are very pretty but also very weak.

The title of this one intrigued me, and then I found out it is from a William Blake poem, "Proverbs of Hell":

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy. Drive your cart and your plow over the bones of the dead."

William Blake takes indirect part in later on in the story, and it made me want to read more of him.

This is a small murder mystery filled with what many have called "dark feminist comedy," which I really enjoyed. It also made me rethink my omnivorous ways and the thought of shifting to a vegetarian lifestyle. Funnily enough, I felt my (possible) future self represented a bit in Janina, our main character. A smart, older, and curious woman living alone in her lovely forest house with just a few but important people connected to her, and with a stubbornness that knows no bounds.

I cannot wait to complete reading "Flights" and maybe "The Books of Jacob" although 912 pages is a commitment I am not sure I can make at the moment.

PS: At the time I was listening these songs regularly so they became the soundtrack to this book. ( and very fitting in my opinion)

PS2: Also, I just found out there is a movie from 2017 based on the book, so I'm looking forward to watching it.

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☞About hauntingly beautiful songs

Although I have never been a fan of Kate Bush, I must accept this is amazing. I have had this one on a loop for the past week.

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☞ De Iván

Esta playlist la hice para él pero más que nada para sus tías Rosa e Ignacia.

Él debe estar cabalgando por allá por donde se encuentra.

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☞About being that fucking dense and devoid of empathy.

They originally arrived in the US illegally. They have illegal family. Ah! but they are the "good" ones and the ones coming are the "bad ones".

Bien dicen que no hay latino más peligroso que uno con papeles.

Latinos for tr*mp can eat shit.

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☞ When you open the envelope PDF, fast forward your eyes to the very small english translation they offer, and you scream. Part 2

Actually, I could read the Finnish this time, but my anxiety still pushed for the English translation.

A J Ú A

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En Los errantes, de Olga Tokarczuk

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☞Sobre rolotas

Ecca Vandal es una compositora y rapera Esrilanqués nacida en Sudáfrica que aparte de gustarme mucho, me recuerda a mi amiga Amy.

Y si, tuve que buscar cuál era el gentilicio de Sri Lanka, porque yo iba directito a escribir "Srilankense"

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☞About lists and Salarakas

Salarakas is gone for now, and one of my favorite issues that we did was #30 Pearls. It is basically because in my MUSTS columns, I listed my favorite movies. It was supposed to be TOP 10, but clearly I could not, so I did 40 more.

I still missed some and probably the list will evolve as time passes, but for February 2023 this was my truth.

Here is the link if you want to download the whole issue. (FYI you can download all of our issues for free in our Patreon)

signing out,

Nieve de Limón.

[marederia]

☞About Climbing

I have been getting into adventure parks (specifically Korkee in Helsinki). I have discovered I enjoy doing that a lot. Unfortunately, those parks close for most of the year as they are outdoors and Helsinki does not have an indoor one. Due to this, I have been exploring getting into climbing or bouldering. I don't know if those will be something I enjoy as much but while doing some research I found this amazing documentary and another one called Free Solo. That one talks about Alex Honnold, and although I respect and admire his abilities and accomplishments, I found him a bit insufferable.

The Alpinist is a documentary about Marc-André Leclerc and his amazing accomplishments free soloing through rock and ice. I really liked him and even though he was an adrenaline junkie to the point of playing with his life daily, he was very true to himself. He belonged to that small group which is the closest we will have to real-life superheroes, at least abilities-wise. If you can find it somewhere online, I recommend you watch it.

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☞De 10 años de un crímen de estado coludido con el narco

Los 43 normalistas de Ayotzinapa siempre será una herida abierta para México y un crímen terrible que hasta ahora el gobierno no le ha podido dar justicia ni claridad. Algo de lo que poco se habla es de las 21 víctimas que sobrevivieron, que aunque esten vivos, siguen sufriendo consecuencias por lo que tuvieron que vivir.

The Missing 43: Mexico's Disappeared Students

AYOTZINAPA, El paso de la tortuga

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☞About Nick Rattigan and great dances

Nick was TELE/VISIONS who then turned into Current Joys, and who I just discovered is also part of Surf Curse. 10/10 all around.

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☞About house goals