Ricky Martin

Photos by D. Ross Cameron for InsideBayArea.com

Well, I got tix to see Ricky Martin at the paramount theater in Oakland. Front row balcony. A week before the show the guy I'm dating told me he didn't want to go. Ok fine. But the way he said it pissed me off: "I'll go with you but i can tell you I have no interest and would be completely bored." It just seemed so rude and at that point it wasn't about the concert, it was about spending time with me. arggghhh I could go on, but I won't.

I ended up taking my friend Sam, who reminded me it was his birthday. I looked at the calendar and fell out my chair. Number One, because I forgot. And Number Two, because the end of the first month of 2006 came so fast, and I seem to be still in Dec 2005 pre-Xmas.

Sam and I grabbed Thai food at Siam Bay, then headed to the Paramount. Walking into the lobby, the air was so thick n hazy n humid: a combination of latin girl twat juice n perfume n gay boy spunk n cologne. (Crude, but it is what I thought.) I'm guessing Ricky is like Aretha and demands that air conditioning be off for his voice.

The crowd was mostly female with tag-along bfs (55%) and gay guys (45%).

The show itself was fun, a step up from Vegas revue, which is what I expected. He's a charismatic performer with the ability to look in a crowd and make you think he is looking n waving solely at you.

And damnnnnn wut an azz. Each pelvic thrust or hip shake had the crowd screaming like white girls at a beatles concert.

Censorship on MySpace?

I noticed a friend's band profile was missing. I contacted him and he showed me the canned email that myspace sends. There was nothing on the band profile that violated those terms. I believe they were singled out solely for their name: Child Pornography. (I admit not the best name, but it does fall in line with the punk aesthetic of pushing boundaries and trying to get a rise out of people.)

How thoroughly was their profile searched? Because if an audit was conducted, one would find that the band never has and never will endorse the exploitative violation of child pornography. Nor do they advocate the corruption of minors. Were pictures looked at? Songs listened to?

I hope that in the future myspace take a closer look at profiles before deciding to delete them in a knee-jerk reaction.

You had a genuine band promoting their music and shows and you deleted them. Yet other profiles are clearly spam and looking to promote their pay-per-view webcams, but these are allowed. (Look at my blocked list if you want an example of those.)

Sincerely,
Lito Sandoval