Didn’t Oliver Stone suggest that “it was those crazy Cubans” that killed JFk?
There are no nuttier people on the planet than ex pat anti Castro Cubans and those that love them – in the case of Australian media, that seems to be basically all journos. Bush calls Castro a evil Dictator and all Australian Journos nod in agreement like a bunch of little scared cats. Fuck Australian media for being a bunch of little complacent fuckwits.
And if I could make that angrier and dirtier, I would.
Thats it… I am moving to Cuba and opening it’s first official Gay club in Havana.
The Glasgow Sunday Herald… The Herald is one of the few papers in Scotland not to toe the Labour Party line – not bad going for a west of scotland publisher.
Today I finally bought Castro’s book. I went to 5 bookshops on the Coast before I finally managed to find Fidel Castro’s My Life that you’ve been raving about. I’d seen it before once or twice but couldn’t afford it. Finally, today, I had the cash.
I’ve picked up a few good books lately. “I Celebrate Myself” by Bill Morgan(a autobiography of Allen Ginsberg) the title was taken from Walt Whitman
“I celebrate myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you”
And I picked up Chomsky’s Interventions, and My Lives by Edmund White, but after hearing the self indoctrinated noise over Castro’s historical stepping down, I just had to finally get his book.
The first bookshop I went to I bought The Nature Of Alexander by Mary Renault (it was on sale for $7). I couldn’t find the recommended book that you guys suggested in the excellent Alexander podcast (btw, I actually liked Oliver Stones Alexander, especially the most recent two part new directors cut- It’s clearly hollywood, but hey, no ones gonna lend you millions of dollars to make an edgy realistic movie about Alexander).
When I went to the counter to pay for the book, the timid older lady behind the counter said “would you like to join the bookclub?…. you get 10% off once you buy X amount of books?” she smiled showing off coloured crooked teeth. “Sure” I said “why not”.
“I’ll just need some details… is that OK?”
“Sure” I replied.
“Name?” she kindly asks
“Marcelo…..” I begin, as she looks at me with a natural warmth…. “Castro”
Her face shifted and contorted as if she’d been sucking on a lemon rind.
I repeated “Marcelo Castro”
“Oh, ummm… your not related to that evil dictator are you?” She say’s this in a lightly playful yet serious tone like it was naturally meant to roll off her tongue. Like she’d been waiting years to meet a ‘Castro’ and give me her pre-recorded message.
My face shifted too at that moment. At first I threw out a small remark. “That’s debatable” I said, slightly under my breath.
Then, with absolute conviction and not a tremble in her voice “No!… he is a dictator” Like as if she mentally stamped her foot on the ground. She shoots me a quick serious look, then brushes it off with an attendants paid smile.
“Did you know that a large number of Latino’s consider Castro to be a hero against facism?” I say.
“Oh, thats not true” she say’s, like as if she somehow quickly zapped over to Latin America and asked everyone. Like as if she had absolute fact tucked behind her worked-on smile and crooked teeth.
I payed for my goods and left.
Walking away, I began to remember the history that I know, the thousand upon thousands of Latinos killed and tortured, dissapeared, raped, imprisoned by U.S. supported, created, trained dictators and Military regimes. I remembered my own history, and how we ended up in Australia and forced to leave Uruguay, and the death sentence that was handed out to my family by US dollars. And how we sought refuge in order to stay alive. And I remembered my Aunts brother, who was tortured in prison by CIA trained military for 20 years.
I remembered. I remembered. I remembered.
This must be the hundreth time that I’ve been asked that question “Are you related to
Fidel Castro?”
Re the Fidel show – yeah I’d actually love to do a decent series on Fidel. Looking for someone to co-host it with me. Perhaps David and I might tackle it at some stage.
Didn’t Oliver Stone suggest that “it was those crazy Cubans” that killed JFk?
There are no nuttier people on the planet than ex pat anti Castro Cubans and those that love them – in the case of Australian media, that seems to be basically all journos. Bush calls Castro a evil Dictator and all Australian Journos nod in agreement like a bunch of little scared cats. Fuck Australian media for being a bunch of little complacent fuckwits.
And if I could make that angrier and dirtier, I would.
Thats it… I am moving to Cuba and opening it’s first official Gay club in Havana.
The Glasgow Sunday Herald… The Herald is one of the few papers in Scotland not to toe the Labour Party line – not bad going for a west of scotland publisher.
ok ok I’ve calmed down now….
Here’s a nice tribute, featuring music by the legendary revolutionary singer songwriter Sylvio Rodriguez
Today I finally bought Castro’s book. I went to 5 bookshops on the Coast before I finally managed to find Fidel Castro’s My Life that you’ve been raving about. I’d seen it before once or twice but couldn’t afford it. Finally, today, I had the cash.
I’ve picked up a few good books lately. “I Celebrate Myself” by Bill Morgan(a autobiography of Allen Ginsberg) the title was taken from Walt Whitman
“I celebrate myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you”
And I picked up Chomsky’s Interventions, and My Lives by Edmund White, but after hearing the self indoctrinated noise over Castro’s historical stepping down, I just had to finally get his book.
The first bookshop I went to I bought The Nature Of Alexander by Mary Renault (it was on sale for $7). I couldn’t find the recommended book that you guys suggested in the excellent Alexander podcast (btw, I actually liked Oliver Stones Alexander, especially the most recent two part new directors cut- It’s clearly hollywood, but hey, no ones gonna lend you millions of dollars to make an edgy realistic movie about Alexander).
When I went to the counter to pay for the book, the timid older lady behind the counter said “would you like to join the bookclub?…. you get 10% off once you buy X amount of books?” she smiled showing off coloured crooked teeth. “Sure” I said “why not”.
“I’ll just need some details… is that OK?”
“Sure” I replied.
“Name?” she kindly asks
“Marcelo…..” I begin, as she looks at me with a natural warmth…. “Castro”
Her face shifted and contorted as if she’d been sucking on a lemon rind.
I repeated “Marcelo Castro”
“Oh, ummm… your not related to that evil dictator are you?” She say’s this in a lightly playful yet serious tone like it was naturally meant to roll off her tongue. Like she’d been waiting years to meet a ‘Castro’ and give me her pre-recorded message.
My face shifted too at that moment. At first I threw out a small remark. “That’s debatable” I said, slightly under my breath.
Then, with absolute conviction and not a tremble in her voice “No!… he is a dictator” Like as if she mentally stamped her foot on the ground. She shoots me a quick serious look, then brushes it off with an attendants paid smile.
“Did you know that a large number of Latino’s consider Castro to be a hero against facism?” I say.
“Oh, thats not true” she say’s, like as if she somehow quickly zapped over to Latin America and asked everyone. Like as if she had absolute fact tucked behind her worked-on smile and crooked teeth.
I payed for my goods and left.
Walking away, I began to remember the history that I know, the thousand upon thousands of Latinos killed and tortured, dissapeared, raped, imprisoned by U.S. supported, created, trained dictators and Military regimes. I remembered my own history, and how we ended up in Australia and forced to leave Uruguay, and the death sentence that was handed out to my family by US dollars. And how we sought refuge in order to stay alive. And I remembered my Aunts brother, who was tortured in prison by CIA trained military for 20 years.
I remembered. I remembered. I remembered.
This must be the hundreth time that I’ve been asked that question “Are you related to
Fidel Castro?”
Next time… I’ll proudly say yes.
awesome story Marcelo!
Thanks Cam, I gather that a Fidel Castro Autobiography show is due? Possibly at least, a two parter to fit it all in?
Thought I’d share this article on Media bias on Cuba
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/16707
Marcelo, that’s a great article. I’m going to try to get the author on the show. Thanks for the link.
Re the Fidel show – yeah I’d actually love to do a decent series on Fidel. Looking for someone to co-host it with me. Perhaps David and I might tackle it at some stage.