English
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Español
Big Daddy Kane in New York
Big Daddy Kane is one of the leading rap legends of the United States. His style has influenced many of the most important rappers of the last twenty years; among those are Eminem, Jay Z and Ice T among many others. Big Daddy Kane did it all and well back in the mid-eighties when hip-hop was living its golden age, and the MC Hammer’s low-slung pants had not made rap a bad parody of itself yet. Big Daddy Kane comes from the streets of Queens, New York, and have just been acknowledged with Grammy and MTV awards, as well as being part of the lists of best hip hop singers of all time. Daddy Kane has a very unique talent of phrasing, with extremely sexy lyrics. His first two albums, “Long Live the Kane” (1988) and “It´s a Big Daddy Thing” (1989) are considered rap classics by critics and by many fans. And it was not only in his rapping that Big Daddy Kane became popular, but also in his image and attitude in their videos and on stage. If you happen to be in New York on the 17th of July, do not hesitate to be part of the Big Daddy Kane’s live performance at the BB King concert hall, where along with other famous celebrities of the rap world will delight all the rap lovers in the “A Salute To Hip Hop” event. EPMD, Chubb Rock, Marley Marl and DJ Scratch are some of the artist confirmed in the agenda of the event. For more information about this legend of hip-hop of all time, visit his official...
Day trips from Valencia
Valencia has incredible routes to go on a weekend trip, but if you´re on holiday, it can be any day. There are natural areas of huge attractiveness that you can see by hiring guides or venturing to experiment by carrying out special tourism activities. Do you known what tigernuts are to horchata, that typical Valencian milk-like drink? It´s a natural, healthy and nutritious drink that´s made with a vegetable that´s typical from the north of the city of Valencia. The funny thing is that the tigernut (chufa in Spanish) isn´t produced anywhere else in Europe, and the way in which it´s dried is unique. Hence the development of the Route of the Chufa, so that visitors can get to know the whole process that revolves around the making of this refreshing drink. Tour prices cost 14€ for adults and 6€ for children, and with this ticket you can go on a workshop to learn how to make the drink. If you like wine and you´d like to enjoy a nice Valencian wine tasting in the afternoon, we recommend that you go on the Ruta por la Huerta. The route is carried out in the afternoon and you walk around scented vegetable gardens while the sun hides behind the horizon and the stars begin to shine. All of this with a glass of wine in your hand. The tour takes three hours and costs just 22€, including a picnic meal and the wine tasting. For those who like the contemplative life and pure nature, bird watching from La Marjal del Moro is a good idea. La Marjal del Moro is a wetland that...
Shopping in Amsterdam
In the long pedestrian area from the great Muntplein square to the famous Dam Square, in distance of more than a kilometer, lies the main shopping street in Holland, the Kalverstraat street. There, it is possible to find all kinds of shops, particularly boutiques, footwear and clothing, as well as grocery stores, tobacco, jewelry, toys, children´s clothing and beauty supply stores. Following the same Dam Square, very close the central station and parallel to Damrak Avenue, you can stroll through the peculiar Nieuwdendijk street, in a pleasant environment in which you’ll be able to discover several famous music, accessories and souvenirs and gifts shops. In addition to buying clothing from elegant boutiques, you can also stop for lunch in one of several restaurants along this street. In one of the most important and beautiful buildings of the city, where once was a post office, you’ll find the famous Magna Plaza shopping center, which is located between Dam Square and the Singel Canal, in the heart of the city. There you will have the chance to buy or enjoy a lively walk through shops. If you are looking for an elegant shopping street to make your purchases, PC Hooftstraat Street is for you. Located in the Oud-Zuid district, from Stadhouderskade to the largest park in the city, the Vondelpark, you will be walking on one of the most expensive streets across the country; luxury shops, such as Cartier, Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and the well-known American jewelry Tiffani & Co will be all available for your shopping experience. If you are looking for a nice souvenir, Amsterdam has a...
Patti Smith in Concert in Rome
The video that I included below, which was posted on YouTube, has a comment from a fan asking who pushed the dislike button by mistake. There are two people who indicate their displeasure with the song, but this fan does not understand how this is possible. How is it possible that anyone would not fully appreciate this truly memorable song? It is a sad but beautiful song that the veteran Patti Smith dedicated to the ill-fated Amy Winehouse. “This is the girl” (“This is the girl”) is the song’s title. It’s only possible that these two persons are mistaken in their commentary. And so we go from one great to another with our hearts on our sleeves. Too bad it’s only possible to include one single from this great lady of song, Patti Smith I mean! Although a mix with “little” Amy, wouldn’t be bad either. Well, to get to the point… Patti Smith will perform in concert as part of an international tour with her latest album, “Banga”, giving her fans (those who always mark “like”) an opportunity to see her live at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome. It takes place on July 20 at 9 p.m. Here’s the link where you can find out all of the practical information about attending and buying tickets: http://www.auditorium.com/eventi/5274394 The organizers of this space dedicated to the arts are proud to once again present Smith (as they were ten years ago). The American artist demonstrates her fascination with Italian culture in this new work, which is named “Banga”. As an artist committed to various causes, a painter, a singer,...
Heimspiel Festival
While Berlin and music have always gone hand in hand in some way, it is true that summer is perhaps the most propitious time in the German capital for the expression of that condition which, according to Walter Pater seeks all art, these mysteries both abstract and concrete, at a time in which according to the Pythagorean-Hermetic tradition they uncover the secret of the universe. Following the physics of the avant-garde, is it possible that, strictly speaking, all that is and always has been a vibration of strings? The importance of music in the summer life of the residents of Berlin is seen in the prestigious Citadel Music Festival, which takes place from early June until late August in the imposing Renaissance citadel in the Spandau neighborhood of the German capital. It features a wide and varied range of international artists. The spectrum is truly staggering, and it includes both true living legends of contemporary culture of the past half century, such as Lou Reed or Bob Dylan, as well as new bands which are quite refreshing like the British group Kitty, and Daisy and Lewis, champions since their brilliantly arrogant youth of a stimulating and exciting revival of rockabilly, blues, country, swing, and rhythm and blues. Between these extremes there is also space during the summer months for classics of different genres, those musicians who are reluctant to completely abandon the scene, such as Billy Idol, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Snow Patrol or the ever powerful group The Pogues. However, within this very extensive program we would like to direct your attention to the Heimspiel festival on July 13...
Bastille Day or Fête Nationale
June 14 is the Bastille Day or Fête Nationale and Paris dresses for the occasion. For those visiting the city this day becomes memorable because you may feel and experience the pride of the Parisians for its history, since it recalls the French Revolution and the end of the monarchy. July 14, like every year, Parisians gather to watch the parade live or on television. The parade led by the highest political authority, with foreign authorities invited, takes place during the morning at the Champs-Elysée. As every year, the show opens with the presentation of the cadets of the Ecole Polytechnique de Saint Cyr, École Navale. What is most striking is the overflight of aircraft of the Patrouille de France, leaving smoke trails in the air with the colors of the French flag. While this day is commemorated in a very political way, as the President may pardon convicts and meets with the press, in addition to a party in the gardens of the Palais de l´Elysée, the normal citizen participates in different festivals, decorating his home with tricolor banners and preparing to watch the fireworks. It´s called Bastille Day because July 14, 1789 the people of Paris over took the prison which was located in the Bastille, wich the symbol of the despotic reign of Louis XVI, marking the beginning of the French Revolution and of wishes fror Freedom , Equality and Fraternity which are symbolized in the three stripes of the French flag. On August 26, 1789 the Constituent Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Man, which defines the personal and collective rights as universal,...
The Cure concert in Rome
The musical career of The Cure is one of the most unique and prolific in the history of rock and pop. The Cure is one of those bands that are essential to hear at some point in childhood, adolescence, and then as an adult, a bunch of different times, different musical styles combined in songs both happy with party mood but also dark and with introspection. At the time when we still heard the radio, The Cure was always on the top lists; this legendary British band has managed to cover in their songs so many emotions within the broad spectrum of the human psyche. All of course, thanks to the lyric of the charismatic Robert Smith, one of the best rock and pop composers of the last thirty years. The beginnings of The Cure are of course marked by “Three Imaginary Boys” (1979), their first album with a slight dark punk influence that was shown as a solid band but still with a lot to discover their full potential, both in the studio and on the new sounds composition. It is known that around 1979, The Cure was on tour with Siouxsie and the Banshees. Unexpectedly, the guitarist of the Banshees left the band and Robert Smith took his place during the rest of the tour, while still playing with The Cure. Based on this intense experience, Robert Smith got to know about the potential that his music could reach, a density much deeper and a new staging. As a result, the style of The Cure changed drastically, leading to their three classic albums of post punk: “Seventeen...
Regina Spektor Concert in Barcelona
Usually compared to ´War and Peace´, ´Life and Fate´ by Vassily Grossman (the first person to show the Nazi death camps to the world, an exhaustive catalogue of horrors that he chillingly documented in ´The Black Book´ along with Ilya Ehrenburg, a book banned by Stalin in order to avoid that the knowledge of the raging antisemitism got out together with the extent of his collaboration during the Jewish genocide) is considered one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. However, Grossman died in 1964 in Moscow without seeing it published. The Soviet authorities considered it so threatening for the regime that they even confiscated the tapes of the machine that it was written with and it wasn´t until 1980 that a copy of the manuscript finally managed to reach the printer. In it, in an admirable way characterized by a certain emphasis that can only be reached through the highest form of literature, Grossman denounced from left-wing positions the distortion of the communist revolution, which Stalin had turned, at least since the first political expulsions, into a regime along the lines of national-socialism. The Second World War was a turning point in this drift, strengthening Russian nationalism with a patriotism that had been despotically fomented and imposed by the government and, under Stalin´s supervision, increasing the persecution of Jewish citizens, millions of which were repressed in atrocious ways, ways which most of the time ended with their lives. That very same antisemitism, shown more subtly in the shape of quotas, which showed in the need to identify one self as Jewish and other types of restrictions of...
FIRE!! Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
From the 5th to the 15th of July, Casal Lambda is carrying out FIRE!!, the 17th International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Barcelona. The main headquarters of the exhibition will be the French Institute of Barcelona. Casa Asia will be showing the Asian film screenings and FNAC Triangle will be the home of the lectures, discussion tables and open projections. This year the festival is packed with material, ready to mark its territory at a time in which its organizers define it as ´combative´ and in which nobody should stay quiet. It´s all pointing towards the fact that these film and documentary screenings will be a space to raise critical awareness that leads towards a change of an unequal and discriminatory system. Despite these politico-philosophical proposals, the organization points out that the festival is driven by the passion of good films, a discourse which has stood since its first edition. This year, for the first time, a competition for short film creators will take place, ´Filming against violence´, which is related with the promotion of human rights and is taking place with the collaboration of Amnesty International and the Bande à Part film school. Among the films that will be screened is the Teddy Award winning as the best film at the 2012 Berlinale Keep The Lights On, directed by Ira Sachs. It´s a great film that portrays relations of love, sex and friendship between two men of our time. Gun Hill Road, directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green, tells us the story of a prisoner who goes back to his home in the Bronx and finds that he´s lost his...
