What? The U.S and Cuba are going back to their corners? Man, what food for thought. Without going into the whole cold war thing and what the implications were and will be, the first thing I flashed on were some of the things that may or may not have happened had the whole foreign relations pissing match never happened. What would have done to the whole cigar thing? Would they have been such hot property? How many more Cuban players would be in Major League Baseball? Oh, and the vintage wheels in Cuba? If they could buy any car (nevermind the fact that few can afford a new car), would all of those classic daily drivers have been maintained? The lengths Cubans went through to keep the cars running are heart-wrenching to anyone who's ever owned a beater. An article at the Detroit Free Press tells of one man tearing up at the gift of used spark plugs, and that some Cubans made homemade brake fluid "mixing detergent and rubbing alcohol, with maybe a bit of tree sap...". What will become of the cars?
And what about the music? As loved as Cuban music is, not to mention music incorporating Cuban elements, how many average Americans are even cognizant of it? Would their national music have been vastly more popular overseas? Or would popular American acts, unrestricted from touring there, have influenced younger generations decades ago, to the point that it just blends in. A sea of Gloria Estefans. One thing the U.S. did gain though, was Celia Cruz. She was in the U.S. with her husband when the shit went down and decided to stay, becoming an American citizen in 1966. What would happen if she went back, just before it happened? Would any of us, excepting freaks of international music, have noticed? There's a thousand what-ifs. Tonight it's all azúcar. Listen to these Celia Cruz songs and look at photos of old cars. Yee haw.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco - Quimbara mp3 at ATumbr(?)
Celia Cruz - La Vida es un Carnaval mp3 at ATumbr(?)
Celia Cruz - Yo Vivre (I Will Survive) mp3 at Clones Project
Celia Cruz - Ob La Di Ob La Da mp3 at BBC
Video:
Celia Cruz - A Night of Salsa at YouTube With Tito Puente, full 1999 concert
Celia Cruz at YouTube Take your pick.
Visit:
Celia Cruz at the Smithsonian
Cuban cars - Look and drool
1950s American cars aren't collector's items in Cuba at Detroit Free Press
