today we celebrate our independence day in chile (the real independence day is not today, but that's a whole other can of worms). i'm far from patriotic, and as time passes and horrible things go longer without truly being reconciliated, more terrible things happen, and the few promising things end up not producing significant changes due to the ruling class' interference, i end up being less and less proud of my country.
regardless, the national holidays are a time to spend with family, eat nice food, drink and have fun. acclaimed writer pedro lemebel (1952 - 2015) puts it better than i could:
(translated and paraphased by me, original quote found here)
The people deserve to celebrate, because this country has no carnival. People deserve to have their cut of beef, I love that, the neighborhoods, those smoky backyards, that smell of barbecue. That said I don't have much to do with nationalism. The flag makes me feel nothing since the dictatorship, same for the national anthem. I don't have anything to do with those things, but I do like to see poor and humble people happy. Because this country has suffered very much. In that sense this holiday gives me that pleasure, nothing else. The rest is for drinking and eating.
in that mood, i want to mention a few things about my country that make me happy / proud / thankful, because we need to get together and have a good time even when things are bad, or maybe especially when they are bad.
to start, i'd like to say that there are of course many more talented artists, cuisine and art from chile that will go unmentioned, these are just a few things that i personally like.
empanadas
as seen in the picture above, these are just very tasty. there are many different fillings, but today my grandma gave me some to go and they're the typical flavor: "pino", which includes meat, onion, egg, olives (not a fan of those) and sometimes controversially raisins.
nanopesos (play here)
back in 2019 and just a few days after the protests started, developer Camila Gormaz (better known for the RPG Long Gone Days) released Nanopesos, a short game that gives context to the societal issues that brought forward the protests in a very accurate simulation of what it's like to live in a low-wage job in chile. it was really cool to see a high profile developer from my country do her best to spread awareness of the situation without being overly dramatic or exaggerating: it really be like that for many, many people. and still is.
los jaivas
i'm a big fan of progressive music, so it's cool to say that we have musicians as talented, well regarded and socially conscious as los jaivas. like most of the fortunate artists of the time (AKA the ones who weren't straight up tortured and murdered), los jaivas were forced into exile after the military dictatorship. in later years they returned to chile, while exploring more latin-american sounds, instruments and themes in their music. they perform to this day, with various lineup changes (some due to sad untimely deaths).
a couple of songs i like:
hijos de la tierra - what can i say, i'm a slut for accordion. everyone goes hard af here though - take special note of the rhythm section
mambo de machaguay - again everyone goes hard af. you have everything from charangos to flutes, plus a guitar solo that shreds
los tres
remember mtv unplugged in the 90s? well, the first chilean band to participate were los tres. singer alvaro henriquez was REALLY good (still is, to a degree), their sound presented a welcome change from the typical post-dictatorship music scene, and all the musicians are very talented in their own right. the mtv unplugged performance in particular is very good - it's available in full on youtube if anyone is curious.
a couple of songs i like:
he barrido el sol (unplugged) - again, i'm a slut for accordion. plus, alvaro henriquez' voice really does seem like silver here
la torre de babel - the misadventures of a young cigarette, animated video included
bonus:
tronic - misis guiñi
tronic are a band with a virtual drummer that was pretty popular back in like 2003, and are still putting out albums. they seem like chill dudes in general but i'm not that big a fan so i can't say a lot about their career,
HOWEVER there's this song called misis guiñi that not only slaps, but also comments on the chilean pensions system. it was made in like 2005. it's about some poor, retired lady they meet in the supermarket who dresses like a rich lady (vieja cuica) in order to successfully steal food because her pension isn't enough for her to live on. sadly still topical to this very day. and the song is actually good. i LOVED this song when i was a kid, and still do. very influential in the long run.
this is Fine Art™. i don't make the rules.
they also have a song called combo final that is basically stacy's mom but chilean. and better. they seem like fun dudes, maybe i should listen to more of their stuff...
la ley - dia cero
dia cero slaps. not a lot to say about these guys but that song is cool. my mom has always claimed that i look like the singer, which is very loving and generous from her part. i cannot claim to be as handsome as beto cuevas.
that's all for now! those empanadas are not going to eat themselves, and the game i'm working on isn't gonna code itself either
also if you found any of this entertaining then please consider taking a look at my latest game: Blade of the Overlord! i promise it's not that long and it has some cool / fun things even if you don't care about TCGs