Antigua Characters: Mago Dory

Me gano la vida de lo que la gente me regala. —Mago Dory
I earn my living from what people give me as tips. —Mago Dory

Mago Dory will be the first entry in the Antigua Characters category. I have thought I should wait until I can do a series, but if I follow this path, it might take a long time, so instead, I will publish the Antigua Characters as I come across them and they all will be available through the Antigua Charatecters category.

Mago Dory is the performance name of magician Dory who goes from restaurant to restaurant performing his magic tricks. The photo was taken while we had some tapas with some good friends in La Antigua Guatemala. According to my good friend Nelo, Mago Dory is very famous around La Antigua Guatemala.

The other day I caught Mago Dory as he was doing this magical mystery tour of La Antigua Guatemala restaurants and posted the picture to the Twitpic feed of AntiguaDailyPhoto. If you want to see Mago Dory performance, check out this video clip captured by my good friend Norman, from ClimaYa.

Central America in the News Again: Yesterday Central America was sadly in the news again as Honduras brought back to life a long gone disease in Latin America known as military coup d’état. Honduras and CrisisHN became trending topics in Twitter even surpassing Iran. 🙁

At one point or another, we might not like El Señor Presidente (The President) or how is exercising the executive powers he was given through democratic elections, but we must follow democratic and constitutional processes to remove him or her from office. The military coups are NEVER a good option. The wounds caused by military regimes and their golpes de estado and military juntas are still too fresh in many countries in Latin America.

I leave you with Los Dinosaurios, a song by Charly García, Argentine Rock-star. Please, those who understand the lyrics, would you mind, translating and posting them in the comments. Thanks.

11 Responses to "Antigua Characters: Mago Dory"

Laura says:
June 29, 2009 at 9:43 am
I have yet to see Mago and his infamous magic tricks… looking forward to the show!
Keeping an eye on Honduras… seems to be getting more tense. Fingers are crossed.
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michele misha says:
June 29, 2009 at 11:13 am
Lovely Photo Rudy……….I will look out for Mago on my next trip in October.Look forward to meeting more Characters in the real life Theatre of Antigua………..
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janna says:
June 29, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Rudy, I’m still thinking about that song & what it means.
This is my attempt at a translation:
The friends of the barrio can disappear
the singers on the radio can disappear
those in the newspapers can disappear
the person that I love can disappear.
Those who are in the air can disappear,
those who are in the air.
Those who are in the street can disappear,
in the street.
The friends of the barrio can disappear,
but the dinosaurs are going to disappear.
I’m not calm, my love
it’s Saturday night
and a friend is in jail.
Oh! My love,
the world disappears…
If the heavy ones, my love,
carry all this ton of baggage
in their hand
Oh! My love
I want to be light.
When the world knocks (you?) down
it’s better not to be tied to anything,
imagine the dinosaurs in bed.
When the world knocks (you?) down
it’s better not to be tied to anything,
imagine the dinosaurs in bed.
I didn’t translate “barrio.” I think of it as “neighborhood,” but some people attach a negative connotation to it, like “ghetto.”
I put “you?” in parentheses because it doesn’t actually say “you,” but the following line directs “you” (plural you, ustedes, or “y’all” in English 🙂 ) to “imagine the dinosaurs in bed.” I’m not sure if we are to dream of dinosaurs while we’re in our beds, or to imagine dinosaurs together in their beds. The songs is a little puzzling, but pretty.
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janna says:
June 29, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Also, Rudy, thank you for the “invite.” I’m flattered beyond words. Please let me know if you have anything specific in mind that you’d like to see from me.
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Eric says:
June 29, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Great portrait, and nice musical accompaniment(I almost don’t need to comprehend all of the lyrics). I will definitely check-out the video clip. Mago Dory looks like quite a character. Mi unico talento es, con botellas de Moza, puedo hacer que desaparecen! Ja-ja-ja
Y, sobre Honduras, creo que el Sr. Stein dijo lo mejor esta manana en La Prensa Libre – No era necesario un golpe militar.
Solamente mi opinion, Rudy. Soy amante, no combatiente ….
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emromesco says:
June 29, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Hi there. It seems Janna beat me to the translation. And a very good one indeed. I won’t post mine, I just would translate the thing about “tira para abajo” as “When the world pulls down”. Barrio would be ghetto if it is an immigrant barrio, but in our lands of origin, the barrio is just a neighbourhood, unless one feels like a foreigner in ones own land.
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Mark says:
June 30, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Rudy, Zelaya was removed by the legislative and judicial branches of Honduras for his refusal to adhere to the law. To call it a coup is disingenuous.
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Rudy Girón says:
June 30, 2009 at 2:37 pm
@Mark, obviously you did not click any of the links I posted above. Below, just a sample paragraph from the news appearing in the Google News links I posted above. Perhaps you are the one spreading the mendacious propaganda. 🙁
June 30, 2009
Latin Americans suffered at least three dozen military coups d’etat from the 1960s through the end of the 20th century. They believed they had put that unsavory history behind them with a wave of democratically elected civilian governments, and for the most part they had, until Honduras returned to that bygone era this week with army tanks in the streets, the president ushered into exile at gunpoint — in his pajamas — and the Congress waving a phony resignation letter before naming a new president. This was a coup, and it must be reversed. Continue reading the Editorial of Los Angeles Times.
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jerrybrown says:
June 30, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Rudy-
When leaders overstep their constitutional bounds, they leave themselves open to being ousted. In the days before the coup, it had been reported that the El Presidente’s own party and the legislature had said he should not do this. I don’t like lawlessness, one way or the other. A man who thinks he is above the law should not be surprised when he gets beaten down the same way. “Live by the sword, die by the sword.”
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Justin Stevenson says:
July 9, 2009 at 7:19 pm
i disagree with the article about magician dori, hes been known for constantly riping off people selling or renting properties, he is working as a “real estate corridor” wich its forbiden cuz he has to be subscribed to the chamber of real estate corridors in Antigua Guatemala, the law says that has the state for rent pays the corridor the comission, not the one that is renting, this fella charges the one renting and the owner that is renting comission wich is forbidden, plus i wanted to buy a house in Antigua and he told me about a nice and big house, so i went with him to see it and i liked it, i was ready to buy it but, a friend of mine wich happens to be guatemalan, told me that a friend of his that is a real state corridor had the same property and so i went to talk to him and i found out that he was charging twice the price of the property, and the way he acts, so electric like he has an electric shock or something, he knows squat about English so was difficult understanding his words but i warn everyone that wants to rent or buy a property cuz he scams people off.
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Nelo Mijangos says:
July 14, 2009 at 7:34 pm
i can’t say if Justin is right about the magician Dory. but i can say that he is a real magician, no one is perferct.
Reply

Antigua Characters: Mago Dory

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