Rocketboom

Éste fue uno de los laburos más divertidos que hice: el subtitulado en español de Rocketboom, un ácido video-blog -producto de culto con su epicentro en NY-, que explora conductas de la vida digital, movimientos sociales emergentes, temas políticos, curiosidades y vanguardias.
Desde los comienzos, y por el boca-a-boca, tuvo cientos de miles de espectadores on-line, y fue disputado por varias cadenas de TV. Los tipos no cerraban trato con nadie, ya que no aceptan publicidades de determinadas fuentes que consideran inmorales: cigarrillos, coca cola, republicanos...

Sign of times, la rebeldía se transformó en estrategia de marketing, porque cuando cerraron un acuerdo de distribución con una mega-empresa, los ceritos de los cheques se extendieron hacia el infinito. Eso sí: siempre en Internet; nunca desembarcaron en la tv, como tantas veces les propusieron.

Un capítulo viejo con sub-títulos en español:

Usury. Published by Toward Freedom

Un verdadero placer fue haber publicado notas en la prestigiosa revista Tower Freedom, una verdadera leyenda editorial, que es el gran referente de la agenda progresista en los Estados Unidos. Sale en forma ininterrumpida desde 1952, siempre en defensa de los derechos humanos y con un especial foco puesto en los crímenes del imperio en todas las latitudes del globo.

The IMF and Usury: Crime Without Punishment

 Elizabeth Levy Sad / Translation by David Epstein

After the Second World War, the International Monetary Fund was created to promote international monetary cooperation, to foster economic growth and high levels of employment, and to provide temporary financial assistance for countries to help ease the balance of payments.
But, as Nobel Prize-winner economist Joseph Stiglitzs denounced in several journalistic interviews, the IMF acts as a usurer that disables the growth of emerging countries, and insists on using recipes that have failed.
According the World Bank's data, the Committee for the Annulment of Third World Countries' Debt and the Economic Conference for Latin America, the "Third World" as a whole, together with the countries of Eastern Europe, paid more than US$ 4 billion in the last 20 years. This means credit entities received resources for an amount six times higher than the original sum. 

Colonia del Sacramento. Published by TouristTravel.com

TheTraveler  

A Refuge by the River 

By Elizabeth Levy Sad. Translation: David Epstein

Colonia del Sacramento - Uruguay

Intimate, peaceful, overflowing with secrets.

Colonia del Sacramento is a place to open the senses, away from noisy
cities, far from the cobweb of shopping malls, distant from heavy traffic
jungles. Lying by the Río de la Plata bank, the widest river in the world, and
located less than 200 km from Montevideo (Uruguay’s capital), this magic
city harmoniously mixes history with nature; that is why I chose it as a
weekend refuge and I visit it several times a year.

From Buenos Aires, or from Montevideo, you can get there by ferry or plane. If you have only one day available, you can hire the tour offered by ferry lines, which includes a pretty complete route and a lunch, for less than US$30.

Colonia was declared “World Heritage City” by UNESCO; however, it is not a massive tourist destination; it is quiet during the whole year. The city’s magnet its Barrio Histórico (old, or historic neighborhood) where
constructions from the 17th and 18th century are preserved untouched. Colonia has been dominated alternatively by the Spanish and the Portuguese. You can recognize the typically Portuguese construction with its stone buildings, while the Spanish ones, are made of bricks.

Barter Clubs. Published by Toward Freedom

Otra nota que publiqué en la querida Toward Freedom.

Los clubes de trueque, y el rol que cumplieron cuando estábamos haciendo equilibrio entre el iceberg  y el Titanic.

Click a la nota:

 Barter Clubs

Before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, many pre-Columbian civilizations were organized economically on the basis of barter. If a family harvested a certain type of food, they traded it with another clan that had a different kind, or perhaps swapped it for lands, cattle, or garments. Today, in the midst of a dramatic economic crisis in Latin America, that wise approach has apparently revived.

Maté: Shared Sensations

Text: Elizabeth Levy Sad

Translation by David Epstein.

A taste born in the millenary knowledge of the American continent, a unique beverage whose preparation has secrets and mysteries.

Maté is a fantastic ritual: if it is shared, it tastes much better. Welcome to Planet Maté.

Maté is an intense infusion. It is the result of a preparation carried out with a plant called “yerba maté”. But more than a beverage, this is an ancestral cultural practice. It could well be the symbol of shared ideas, hospitality and communication among fraternal spirits.

Maté is part of the inheritance left to us by South American Indians and it is currently an indisputable part of everyday life in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.

What are the secrets of this natural elixir whose ingredients are simple and extracted from the generous mother land?

Whether it be a gift from the heavens or an earthly object, maté is always an invitation to share.

The same recipient in which we brew maté is shared with those we invite to drink it. That is why it is a signal of friendship and warmth and open hearts.