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Rubén Blades

Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (Spanish pronunciation: [ruˈβem ˈblaðes] but [ˈbleðz] in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian singer, songwriter, actor, musician, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban, salsa, and Latin jazz genres. As a songwriter, Blades brought the lyrical sophistication of Central American nueva canción and Cuban nueva trova as well as experimental tempos and politically inspired Nuyorican salsa to his music, creating "thinking persons' (salsa) dance music".

Blades has composed dozens of musical hits, the most famous of which is "Pedro Navaja", a song about a neighborhood thug who is killed by a very attractive street walker he actually knows (he tries to kill her, she shoots him, they both die, a bum finds them, and takes his belongings; Blades' song "Sorpresas" continues the story), inspired by "Mack the Knife". He also composed and sings "Patria" (Motherland), which many Panamanians consider their second national anthem. He has won sevenGrammy and fiveLatin Grammy Awards. His acting career began in 1983, and has continued, sometimes with several-year breaks to focus on other projects; since 2015, he has portrayed Daniel Salazar, a main character on TV series Fear the Walking Dead.

El Viejo

El Viejo is a municipality in the Chinandega department of Nicaragua.

El Viejo is a small city near the city of Chinandega, noted for its particular gastronomic specialties, which include rosquillas (a type of doughnut), cajetas (a type of dulce de leche), bollitos de leche (a kind of scone), and a fruit particular to the region called the toncua, which is related to the papaya and is eaten with honey.

El Viejo is also the site of a colonial-era church, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in El Viejo (Basílica Inmaculada Concepción de María en El Viejo), built in the 17th century. The church was elevated to the status of national religious sanctuary on October 8, 1995, and was declared a minor basilica on February 7, 2006 by Pope John Paul II, during his second visit to Nicaragua.

The basilica possesses a baptismal font dating from 1560, and also possesses a little statue of the Virgin Mary. Tradition states that Fray Pedro de Zepeda y Ahumada, brother of Teresa of Avila, traveling to El Realejo with the image, was forced to go to El Viejo due to a storm. The people of El Viejo were so taken by it that they wished for the image to stay in their town. However, Zepeda y Ahumada set off once more for El Realejo, but a second storm forced him back to El Viejo. Thus, he decided that this was a sign of divine intervention and left the image in El Viejo.

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EL VIEJO

by: La Vela Puerca

La cabecita despierta
Orgullo de su mamá
El niño creció en su casa
El adolescente quiere asomar
Resbalando las veredas
El barrio lo encandiló
Dando vueltas las esquinas
Tocó placeres, tocó dolor
Se enamoro de la vida
Todos los días, todas las noches,
Desayunó con las damas,
La cena se la salteó
Va caminando sin rumbo
Lleva la calma del vagabundo
Pero dejando la vida
Donde mande la ocasión
Viejo divino dónde vas?
Yo sé muy bien que no querés mirar atrás
Final amargo sólo queda hoy
Tu perro flaco
Y el fondo de un vino pa' entibiar
Después de las juventudes
Cansado de tropezar
Se busca una buena esposa
Y catorce horas pa' trabajar
Pero algunos pajaritos
No se pueden encerrar
Se les va apenando el alma
De pronto ya no quieren cantar
Se desparramó de a poco después
Que entraba pa' los cuarenta
Y casi sin darse cuenta
Alcohólico se volvió
Y fue bajando escalones
Muchos inviernos a la deriva
Las vueltas que da la vida
En la calle terminó




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