Some numbers

Buenos Aires proper has a population of 3 million. 

Vancouver has a population of 603,000.

The regional population for BA is 13 million. 

For Metro Vancouver 2.3 million.

The population density in each city proper is 13,000/square km for BA, 

and 5,200 for Vancouver.

Canada's popluation is 35 million.

Argentina's is 42 million.

Canada covers almost 10 million square km

Argentina has about 2.8 million square km

Musical Ride

Our street, Sinclair y Segui, is relatively narrow and quiet. It is tree lined and parking is only allowed on one side of the street. There are many apartment buildings in the area. And everyday  towards evening, a horse drawn carriage makes an appearance through the neighbourhood.

As it approaches from a distance one can hear an amazingly beautiful sound of music of some sort. At first, before seeing the carriage, I imagined a new version of the Hare Krishna group; a kinder, gentler and much slower version. There is rhythm and back beat too. It's delightful.

The music is made by the soothing sound of bells and cymbals bouncing to the motion of the carriage, and the clip-clop of the horse's hoofs on the pavement. It is quite beautiful and seems to lower the temperature of the street, if only for a brief moment or two. 

Look up. Look way up.

The  local version of the popular hop on and off type tourist buses, is the BA Bus and it offers a long and winding road of what seems like going around in circles for too much of the three hour journey. And the commentary on the headphones sticks to the facts, nothing but the facts and never offers any insight into what a person might be seeing.



At Plaza de Mayo, an area at the centre of serious political activity through the years, the Madres de Plaza de Mayo are not mentioned on the bus commentary while at a site commemorating the deaths of the Argentinians who were killed during the Malvinas War, the event is termed The Falklands War. Those two things, and others, didn't quite make sense in the setting. Still the bus trip is simple enough and worth it if only to sit back and look up at the amazing skyline that is Buenos Aires. 

And there is the traffic. There is much less horn honking than I expected, however the degree to which drivers will attempt to drive between, through and around pedestrians is quite amazing.

There is a strong European influence in design in this city and there is much new building taking place, especially along the waterfront, of a more 21st Century nature.

Film Review: Searching for Sugarman

We recently viewed, on the long flight to BA with Air Canada, an interesting and relatively new documentary about a Detroit based singer-songwriter named Sixto Rodriguez. In the very early 1970s he released two albums on the Sussex label, home to Bill Withers among others. The albums were not successful in any sense, neither by sales nor critical acclaim. Sixto was an unlikely star at the best of times, at one point performing in a dingy bar in Detroit with his back to the audience.

For some reason however, his music struck a chord in apartheid South Africa where the two albums sold incredibly well; he was, it was later reported: "bigger than Elvis." Languishing in obscurity in the US, Rodriguez left the music business and took up hard labour and civic politics (again without success).

In South Africa his albums continued to sell to yet a new generation. A certain mystery arose in the republic about this performer and all kinds of stories began to circulate about the poor man's demise.

This film, though flawed, and somewhat irritating in its early bits, largely because of the way it attempts to heighten the mystery, is the story of how two South Africans went looking for their rock hero. It is a thoroughly entertaining and rewarding movie.

View the trailer here:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CD0QtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D8hEojBYmR-o&ei=KLjqUMKNHo2s8QThwYDACw&usg=AFQjCNHMhkpvHAKPsQA9_U_CJDWi69oXQQ&sig2=Nx_UbTMurEOoHu5FFrTs0w

Don't Cry for Me...

In 1978 the music album: Evita was released by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Then in 1996 film director Alan Parker made the movie of the same name. It starred Madonna, Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas, and tells the story of Eva Peron, influential First Lady of Argentina during the 1940s.

Apparently the citizens of Argentina took to the film, and to its star, as they often display visual treatments of Madonna's likeness.

This huge lighting display is in the very heart of the city. Madonna's face is visible for many kilometres. No sign of any displays of Antonio Banderas.