Seems like more and more film crews are popping up in San Telmo. Whether they’re for commercials or movies, I don’t know. Coming back from Walrus Books late Sunday afternoon we saw that the corner of a popular tourist hangout, Bar El Federal, had been transformed into a piece of London.

We came across the site just as the final scene was being filmed. There’s the black taxi from London and the actress in a hooded black outfit. Off to the left was a guy holding a water hose that produced the “rain”.

And notice the fake street sign on the side of Bar El Federal as calle Perú momentarily became Peter Street, City of Westminster.

This post inaugurates a new category – On the bus – an occasional series of anecdotes from travels on the city buses.

Country Music

Growing up in a small town outside Nashville I often heard country music playing somewhere almost every day. No surprise that in Buenos Aires I’ve rarely heard country music. But today as I hopped aboard the #17 bus in Recoleta the driver was playing country music on the radio. I didn’t even know there was a country music radio station in Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the traditional country sounds of George Jones or the edgier, hardly country, Johnny Cash but the twang of Brooks & Dunn or some other modern, commercialized country music act.

Empty then full

The #17 starts somewhere around Plaza Francia, so there’s hardly any riders as it passes through Barrio Norte. But the bus fills up as it passes through downtown on the way to the southern parts of the city. Ultimately, the bus becomes jam packed as all those who must ride standing grasp the overhead rail.

January 24th marks 40 years since the death of the Argentine poet Oliverio Girondo.

As a leader of the avant garde in 1920s Buenos Aires, Girondo wrote a manfesto in the fourth issue of the literary magazine Martín Fierro in which he railed against the literary establishment of the day, the “impermeabilidad hipopotámica del ‘honorable publico’“. Girondo joined forces with others to create a new publishing venture for young writers that they called “Sociedad Editorial Proa”.

A brief chronology

Girondo was born August 17, 1891 in a house on calle Lavalle. (The house was on a block later demolished to make way for Av 9 de Julio). From a wealthy family Girondo first traveled to Europe when he was nine. Later, Girondo traveled extensively, making many return trips to Europe.

While living in Paris in 1922 Girondo produced his first book of poetry, Veinte poemas para ser leídos en el tranvía. Girondo republished the book a couple of years later in Buenos Aires. After again traveling and living in Europe, Girondo returned to Buenos Aires in 1932.

Buenos Aires of 1932 was very different from the city that he left a few years earlier. The late 1920s and early 1930s was a period of uneasiness, a military coup in 1930 brought in a new government led first by General Jose Uriburu who was replaced by another general, Agustin Justo, in 1931. (Question: I just noticed today that Girondo’s mother was a Uriburu; I wonder if he was related to the general/president?)

In 1932 Girondo published one of his most famous works, Espantapájaros, which had a rather infamous publicity campaign.

In 1943 Girondo finally married his longtime lover Norah Lange, much to the disgust of Girondo’s chief rival Jorge Luis Borges.

Throughout the 1940s Girondo continued to serve as a mentor to young Argentine writers.

In 1956 Girondo published what some call his landmark work En la masmédula.

1961, Girondo was leaving a cinema on Av Sante Fe when he was struck by a car. The accident left him with diminished capacity for the remainder of his life.

Died January 24, 1967 at age 75.