One week until I leave for Buenos Aires (for a 5-week stay), so I'm making sure I hit all of my favorite Argentina-focused websites for last-minute revelations/tips/etc. Not surprisingly, Trip Advisor has been an invaluable resource, from its reviews of lodgings to its forum full of BsAs experts. Without those travelers' and residents' posts, I would have had no idea about porteños' idiosyncrasies regarding use of cash (crisp, unmarked U.S. bills for short-term rentals, thank you very much), I'd be clueless about ATM limits and I'd be wicked confused about the Argentine kissing culture.

I've returned to a podcast I used to listen to a few years ago: Desde el Baño. It's no longer updated, but the posts that remain are fantastic for adjusting to the Argentine accent and learning some lunfardo slang, which was the podcast's main mission.

For news, I've been checking out the biggie newspapers, El Clarín and La Nación, mostly via their iPhone apps/versions. There also are some great smaller online publications, such as The Argentine Post and The Argentimes. Interestingly, Buenos Aires also has a really high-quality government website with a ton of good stuff for visitors, including about a dozen blogs. Lately I've been trying to stay up to date with the tourism blog (duh), available both in Spanish and English.

And while news is interesting, I've learned a lot from personal blogs, notably two run by Americans: Good Airs isn't updated super frequently but its archive offers an interesting view of how the country has changed during the past few years. And the newer Tourist to Townie has some great tips and insights from a 20something packing a job, language classes and as many side trips as possible into his stay in the city.

Qué emocionante: Canal Encuentro, the best of Argentina's online-programming offerings, is better now that there's a live stream.

There's a still a wide range of programs available for later viewing via stream or download (just create a free account to take advantage of higher-quality downloads).

Overall, the site can be very slow, but all things considered it's a fantastic tool for language learners and those interested in Argentine culture.

Here's more on Canal Encuentro, adapted from the website: es el primer canal de televisión del Ministerio de Educación del país. Fue creado en mayo de 2005 y la transmisión comenzó el 5 de marzo de 2007. Se dirige a todo el público pero más que entretenimiento, constituye una herramienta para la comunidad educativa. Hay contenidos de todas las regiones de Argentina y, como se trata de un servicio público de comunicación, no posee publicidad.

So, I hit "publish" on Blogger for the first time 10 years ago today. What! Here's the gripping first post. (Of course, this domain has been around longer -- since April of '99 -- and an online wordspewspace of some sort has been running semi-continuously since the summer of '98).

Lo mejor de la peli Los Paranoicos, sin duda, es cómo baila el guapísimo (aunque no tanto en este filme) Daniel Hendler. Este video incluye algunos de los mejores momentos.

The best part of the film Los Paranoicos is definitely Daniel Hendler's dancing. This video features some highlights.

It's been a kick-ass few weeks for new music. Among the iberoamericano artists I dig, I'm liking new stuff from Mexico's Julieta Venegas, Spain's English-singing Marlango, Uruguay's Jorge Drexler and Argentina's Diego Torres.

Julieta Venegas - Bien o Mal

As the sassy gay friend would say, Julieta is one crazy bitch. She is by far my favorite of the Spanish-language pop stars and this video shows that she hasn't lost her alternative, quirky edge. Yes, those chicks are eating flowers and either farting or giving birth to butterflies -- you be the judge. Ya Conocerán (which you can listen to here) is my favorite track on the new CD, Bien o Mal, but this song is great (I'm a sucker for the guitar in the beginning).



Marlango - The Long Fall

I like this song a lot and I love the video. It reminds me of Alanis Morissette's Ironic. I'm a fan of Leonor Watling's acting, so I've always wanted to like the often melancholic Marlango. But until I discovered Hold Me Tight I never really was into her group's music. This new CD has several tracks that I really, really like a lot, including a collaboration with Rufus Wainwright and a few with Watling's baby daddy, Jorge Drexler.



Jorge Drexler - Una Cancion Me Trajo Hasta Aquí

Again, he's Leonor Watling's boyfriend and a really talented singer/songwriter who won an Oscar for a song he wrote for the Motorcycle Diaries soundtrack. His new CD is really interesting -- all recorded live a la the Unplugged series. The song is breezy and fun.



Diego Torres - Guapa

His unplugged, drum-heavy version of Color Esperanza is one of my all-time favorites, but I'm not consistently wowed by Diego Torres. But he does have a wicked good voice. And while it's by far the most conventional of this batch of picks, I like his new, upbeat pop single, Guapa.

This weekend I experienced a taste of what's to come in Argentina when I checked out Juan Cuba of Los Nadies performing tangos, boleros and other non-roquero songs. It was his first time belting this style of music in public, apparently. I went to check out the space, Red Poppy Art House, more than to see the specific musician, but this was a great show.

Twiteando

Twiteando
Originally uploaded by tjdee

Soy famoso entre las DOCENAS de personas que estaban mirando CNN en espanol durante la verdaderamente interesante conversacion que CNN Mexico manejo sobre el Mexico actual y el pais que los ciudadanos quieren que sea en 2020.

La persona que escogio mi tweet tuvo que editarlo para que quedara en la pantalla. Y le agradezco porque Jesus me noto que habia hecho un errorcito en el tweet original: "Es interesante que hablemos de acceso a tecnologia cuando todavia hay gente sin comida, educacion basico, etc."

Hombre, es educacion basica, por el amor de dios. Pues, hago un monton de errores cuando "twiteo" en ingles tambien, pero, por favor, estaba escribiendo para que los editores lo leyeran. Hiiiiiiiiijole.

Pues, nada. Lo mas importante es que me meti en la conversacion y aunque falle, participe. Eso es un triunfito, te lo digo, y es algo que tengo que empezar a hacer fuera del ciberespacio.

Si tienes ganas de participar en el dialogo sobre lo que pueda pasar en Mexico durante los proximos 10 anos, checa el nuevo sitio web de CNN Mexico y la pagina del programa especial, Mexico 2020.

Toward the end of 2008 my temporary lack of television coupled with my intensified focus on consuming as much Spanish-language media as possible turned me onto Spain's above-average archived TV programming. I quickly found Andaluces por el mundo, a pretty low-budget show on Television de Andalucía, that profiled a handful of andaluces currently living outside Spain. The national (and more developed) Television Española has its own version of the show, following Spaniards of all regional backgrounds as they head overseas. There's a great archive of all 50 episodes here. Check out the Españoles en San Francisco episode here.

Julieta Venegas led me to Bajofondo through a collaboration she did with the Gustavo Santaolalla-led rioplatense group. Bajofondo, via Pandora, led me to Electro Dub Tango, Otros Aires and (somewhat-forgotten) Gotan Project. Those four groups make of the base of my new go-to Pandora station. It's an especially good one for working or for just getting in an Argentine mood (I like this much more than the new flamenco fusion I was interested in for a minute last year). Also great when company is over, as it's great music that doesn't distract too much from conversation. Check it.