May 26, 2009

LIMITÉ MAGAZINE IS LOOKING FOR EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

Limite Limité Magazine is an academic journal dedicated to capturing the echelon of modern world culture - elevating the unique and inspiring in fashion, design, travel, the arts, and pure expression. Fueled by a desire to serve as the voice uniting cultures from around the globe, Limité celebrates diversity, creativity, and the modern lifestyle of today’s man and woman.

Whether derived from the styled catwalks of Milan or the graffitied streets of Brooklyn, it is the select works that alter the way we see our world that become Limité features. The men and women who are the tastemakers, entrepreneurs, visionaries, and determined underdogs all contribute to the living trans-world culture that is Limité.

Ideal Candidates:
We feel this position is ideal for college students (but not limited to) looking to gain valuable REAL experience with a fast-paced, up & coming online media company that focuses on dissecting pop culture in a relevant and intelligent manner.

Contributor Duties:
You will be responsible for various cultural and product reviews, conduct interviews and manage press release submissions for the online magazine. Experience is not necessary for the position, although we do recommend a writing background (literature, communication or any other liberal arts majors).  Most importantly, we need those with a lot of fire and enthusiasm and the ability to learn and contribute great editorial ideas. 

Incentives:
The position/internship is currently unpaid, but affords lots of networking opportunities at exciting industry events, school credit, work reference and valuable editorial experience. We also give you the opportunity to bolster your writing portfolio and provide an expansive PR platform to build on your own creative projects.

Contact:
If you are interested in this position, please drop an email inquiry to the Limité Staff at: limite@freshmediainc.com

May 19, 2009

INK BLAST | BUY THIS BOOK TODAY!

By Juleyka Lantigua

Get_a_financial_life Despite all the depressing news about the evaporating worth of money, the imploding world economy and the impending doom about to befall us, right now is exactly the time to make one important financial investment: improving your personal finance knowhow.

My recommendation is a $16 investment in Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, a book that changed my life when someone recommended it to me a decade ago. Like many of you out there, I grew up in a working class household (in the South Bronx) where we got by paycheck to paycheck. Those circumstances made for very pragmatic money managing principles: if you don’t have cash in hand, you can’t afford it. If you want something extra nice, start saving today. Those solid principles form a sturdy foundation for building financial stability and wealth, but without the right tools and knowledge, you won’t reap the benefits of living in the most advanced capitalistic system in history.

Stocks, bonds, insurance, compound interest and all such financial terms, did not enter my vocabulary until I was considerably in debt and headed straight for a financial abyss. In a moronic and robotic way, I was just making monthly payments and trying to avoid the dreaded collections calls, while making decent salaries and living well beyond my means.

Then I read this exceptional primer and began a serious overhaul of my financial life. Today, I’m no millionaire, but I am leaps and bounds ahead of where I would be—in terms of managing my debt, saving for retirement, and making smarter money decisions—than I would have ever been without this guide.The author, Beth Kobliner, is a contributor to the New York Times, and a former staff writer for Money magazine and financial columnist for Glamour. Her no-nonsense, jargon-free approach will decode the otherwise intimidating worlds of real estate, investment portfolios, savings plans and much more.Maybe you’re all set when it comes to managing your money. Congratulations. Now help out your sibling or friend who’s still struggling: buy them this book.

Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner, 2009 edition, paperback, $16 

--

Juleyka Lantigua is a writer whose work has appeared in books, magazines and newspapers around the world.

March 12, 2009

LOOKING FOR GOOD BOOKS

Books República Update's very own Juleyka Lantigua has taken on the role of book scout for the Senior Editor, Multicultural Studies at Praeger Publishers (home to Greenwood Press and others).

She is looking for books in these and similar/related categories:

• Latino students' guide to college

• Pop culture titles

• Social and political issues titles 

• Practical and "feel-good" books 

• Biographies of Black, Latino, Asian and other folks of note

• Anthologies of essays, commentary, fiction

• Topical dissertations that can be turned into non-fiction titles

Please send this email to your writer/author friends who have book projects or ideas or who are ready to be matched with an idea they can develop into a book.

Make sure to visit the website below and download the current multicultural catalog so you get a sense of what books they're publishing along these lines BEFORE you email juleykalantigua at gmail.com.

Catalog: www.praeger.com | Web site:  www.greenwood.com

December 01, 2008

12 03 08 | 7PM | STREET ART, STREET LIFE PANEL DISCUSSION AT THE NEW SCHOOL

Back_in_the_days The Aperture Foundation, the Photography Department of Parsons The New School for Design and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School present a new season of panel discussions focusing on photography. The third and last event is “Street Art, Street Life: Street As Site of Globalization.”

This panel looks at the complex social, political, and economic conditions of globalization in the context of contemporary photography and the street as a venue and source of inspiration for artists from the 1950s through today. Join photographers Martha Rosler, Barbara Moore and Jamel Shabazz from the exhibition "Street Art, Street Life" as they discuss their work and its larger cultural context.  Moderated by Whitney Rugg, Curatorial Fellow, The Bronx Museum of the Arts. The exhibition is on view at The Bronx Museum of the Arts from September 14, 2008 through January 31, 2009.

Time: 7:00PM
Address: The New School (Tishman Auditorium)
66 West 12th Street, New York, NY
Phone: (212) 229-5353
Cost: Free
For more info visit: www.newschool.edu

September 03, 2007

JUNOT DIAZ: BACK WITH A BANG

UPDATED 10 02 07 | 12:34PM EST: Last week Variety reported that Miramax and über producer Scott Rudin have optioned Junot's book for a film adaptation that will start production in 2008. Congrats to Junot and his squad!

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By Led Black

It may have taken him ten years to follow up his literary debut "Drown", but for all of those who were longing for his new material, the wait was worth every second.   Undoubtedly one of the most exquisite voices of contemporary literature, Dominican writer Junot Diaz has nailed a novel that depicts the Dominican experience from all angles, and believe us, he takes no prisoners.

Junot_wao_coverTitled “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”, Diaz tells us a Dominican story that travels from DR to Jersey, and back and forth in time in signature Sci-Fi approach.  The book describes the story of Oscar, your average Dominican teenager and his family, their interactions and their history: Tackling on Dominican Society in the island, the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, and the reasons that provoked Oscar's family to ultimately migrate to the U.S.  Diaz pays extreme caution in depicting details that encapsulate not only Oscar's life but the actual state of the entire Dominican community with a distinctive flare and wit that amazes you over and over:

"Every summer Santo Domingo slaps the Diaspora engine back into reverse, yanks back as many as its expelled children as it can...Like someone had sounded a general reverse evacuation order: Back home, everybody! Back home!"

With a prevailing notion of current times, Not only does Diaz focus on Oscar's life...but he keeps on throwing references to major social events that could help people from all walks of life relate to the narrative and Oscar's geeky existence.  Yes, there's lots of references to Thee Lord of The Rings, and other major books, but he does know how to drop a throw back and slam you with descriptions like this:

"Oscar, who had never been punched a couple of times by a military trained adult, felt like he had been run over by the entire Steelers backfield circa 1977."

"...It is believed that the arrival of Europeans on Hispaniola unleashed the fukú on the world, and we've been in the shit ever since."

"It's all true plataneros..." as Diaz would say: The man is back.  For all of us who made of "Drown" a staple set in stone in our college years, this is a major event.  Diaz does a wonderful job of describing our heritage and our experience as part of the Diaspora not only in telling our story through Oscar's life, but in reminding us who we are, were we come from, and leaving us hope as to where we might be heading as a society.

Junot Diaz will kick off his book signing tour starting Thursday September 6th from 7 'til 9PM at Barnes and Noble Union Square

Here are the rest of his book tour dates:

09 07 07 | 7:30PM | Washington, DC  | Borders - Bailey's Crossroads

09 08 07 | 7:30PM | So. Hadley, MA | Odyssey Bookshop at Hampshire College

09 09 07 | 2PM | East Brunswick, NJ | Barnes and Noble, 2PM

09 10 07 | 6PM | Chicago, IL | Chicago Public Library Main Branch

09 11 07 | 7PM | Philadelphia, PA | Free Library of Philadelphia

09 12 07 | 6PM | Cambridge, MA | Harvard Bookstore at the Brattle Theatre

09 13 07 | 8PM | Miami, FL | Books & Books

09 14 07 | 7:00PM | Dayton, OH | Books & Co.

09 15 07 | 2PM | Madison, WI | Barnes and Noble - West Towne Mall

09 16 07 | 6:30PM | Iowa City, IA | Prairie Lights

09 17 07 | 7:30PM | Edina, MN | Barnes and Noble

09 18 07 | 7PM | St. Louis, MO | St. Louis Public Library Schlafly Branch

09 19 07 | 7PM | Los Angeles, CA | Dutton's

09 20 07 | 7:30PM | Boulder, CO | Boulder Bookstore

09 21 07 | 7PM | Dallas, TX | Borders – Preston Road

09 22 07 | 2PM | Tulsa, OK | Barnes and Noble - Southroads

09 23 07 | 3PM | Austin, TX | Book People

09 24 07 | 7:30PM | Seattle, WA | Elliott Bay Book Company

09 25 07 | 7:30PM | Portland, OR | Powell's City of Books - Burnside

09 26 07 | 7PM | Oakland, CA | Diesel Books

09 27 07 | 7PM | Corte Madera, CA | Book Passage

09 28 07 | 7PM | Ann Arbor, MI | Borders - Downtown

09 29 07 | 3PM | Houston, TX | Latino Family Festival

10 02 07 | 6PM | New York, NY | Instituto Cervantes

June 15, 2007

THE NEW YORKER OUT LOUD | HAITI MEETS THE D.R.

By Led Black

Haiti_dr This month’s New Yorker Out Loud pod cast series, which consists of a New Yorker fiction writer discussing a story from the magazine’s voluminous archives, features the gifted Haitian writer Edwidge Danticat conversing with The New Yorker fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, about talented Dominican writer Junot Díaz’s 1995 short story "How to Date a Brown Girl (Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie)." The pod cast includes a reading of the straight up hilarious story by Mr. Díaz.  In addition, The New Yorker online has another very funny selection written by Díaz as well as a fascinating excerpt from Danticat’s forthcoming memoir and a short story she wrote in 1995.   

For more information please visit: www.newyorker.com

April 08, 2007

FLYER OF THE WEEK | W/E 04 08 07 | CLAW MONEY

Claw_money

March 19, 2007

PUBLICITY ASSISTANT JOB OPENING AT POWERHOUSE BOOKS

Power_house Position:
The Publicity Assistant reports to the Publicity Director and is primarily responsible for: producing, disseminating, and archiving all marketing and promotional materials; database management; and gallery and event preparations.

This position requires a detail oriented, multi-tasking, proactive individual who excels under pressure and can function in a high-pressure environment. The position is strongly structured and requires a person capable of both taking direction while working autonomously. The ideal candidate is passionate about both art book publishing as well as publicity, promotions, and marketing, and is excited by working in a dynamic and challenging industry.

Responsibilities Include:
• Creation and dissemination of all press and marketing materials including but not limited to physical packages, electronic art, press releases, evites, press kits, seasonal press listings, event listings, mock-ups, and sales materials.
• Assist in preparing and working at in-house and offsite events—including gallery openings, book signings, launch parties, and other special events.
• Coordinating interns and interviewing applicants.
• Track and archive media coverage.
• Generate and update art, press, events, evite, listings and weblinks reports.
• Maintain events and company contacts databases.
• Update art and reviews for key online accounts.
• Research media and event contact information.

Requirements Include:
Computer skills: Microsoft Office, Photoshop, and Acrobat. Familiarity with Mac required.

Salary:
Commensurate with experience

Application Materials:
Cover letter
Resume
3 writing samples
3 references

Please send your application to:
Sara Rosen, Publicity Director, via email at sara@powerHouseBooks.com or via fax at 212-366-5247

About powerHouse Books:
Founded in 1995 and based in Brooklyn, powerHouse Books has published the hottest photography, art, and popular culture books in the history of the universe. Our list of emerging and established artists and authors includes Karl Lagerfeld, Francesco Clemente, André Leon Talley, Ron Galella, Patrick McMullan, Greg Gorman, Jamel Shabazz, Claw Money, Boogie, Ricky Powell, Martha Cooper, Charlie Ahearn, Jack Pierson, Larry Fink, Helen Levitt, and many others.

March 07, 2007

REPÚBLICA REVIEW | THE LAST PLAYBOY: THE HIGH LIFE OF PORFIRIO RUBIROSA

Porfirio1 By Led Black

Before most of the world even had an idea what a Dominican was, there was one Dominican who wooed, seduced and conquered some of the richest and most famous women on the planet.  His name was Porfirio Rubirosa but he was famously known simply as Rubi.  His dalliances and marriages to so many leading ladies and wealthy heiresses made him a permanent fixture of the tabloid newspapers of the day.  It was in many ways poetic justice that his life came to an abrupt end in much the same manner that is was lived, fast and furious. “The Last Playboy: The High Life of Porfirio Rubirosa” by Shawn Levy is an entertaining and at times quite salacious book that brings the infamous Latin lothario to life. 

Porfirio Rubirosa was born in 1909 in San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic but moved to Paris at an early age due to his father’s appointment as the ambassador to France.  He was by all accounts a sub par student but was an accomplished sportsman who excelled in boxing, polo and racecar driving.  Even though he spoke five languages (fluent in three) and lived the life of the international jet set he was in many ways quintessentially Dominican. 

His charm, refinement and cunning landed him marriages to such woman as Woolworth fortune heiress Barbara Hutton and Doris Duke, the American Tobacco heiress.  He even had the balls to court and subsequently marry Dominican dictator Trujillo’s only daughter, Flor de Oro.  That stunt almost got him killed but he would eventually become closely aligned with the Trujillo government even though he fell in and out of favor with the tyrannous Trujillo.  Porfirio Rubirosa amassed quite a fortune from his selective and usually short marriages.  He also had steamy affairs with Zsa Zsa Gabor, Rita Hayworth and Eartha Kitt among many many others.  Not to mention that he was friends with JFK, King Faruk of Egypt and ran with the Rat Pack. 

“The Last Playboy” does not deal as much with some of the more serious aspects of Rubirosa’s life such as his alleged participation in the kidnappings and murders of opponents of the Trujillo regime but is nonetheless an eye-opening and fascinating look at the life of a man who was famous the world over for his way with the ladies.  It is only apt that I end this review with Shawn Levy’s hilarious and on the money definition of a tiguerue.  After all Rubirosa was the ultimate tiguere.  Big Pimpin’ indeed!!!

“Tiger: tigre in Spanish, tiguere in the local argot, in which the word came to represent the essential defining characteristic of the Dominican alpha male.  The Dominican tiguere was, like the ideal male in all Latin cultures, profoundly masculine – macho, in the Castilian – but had dimensions unique, perhaps, to the Creole culture of Hispaniola.  He was handsome, graceful, strong, and well-presented, possessed of a deep-seated vanity that allowed him the luxury of niceties of character and appearance that might otherwise hint at femininity.  He could move with sensuality or violence; he was fast, fearless, fortunate.  A tiguere emerged well from nearly any situation that confronted him, twisted any misfortune to an asset, spun a happy ending of some sort out of the most outrageously poor circumstances; he was able, being feline, to climb to unlikely heights and, should he fall, always landed, being feline, on his feet.  The tiguere bore the savor of low origins and high aspirations, as well as a certain ruthless ambition that barred no means of achieving his ends; violence, treachery, lies, shamelessness, daring, and, especially, the use of women as tools of social mobility.  A tiguere always married to advantage.”

February 01, 2007

THE BEAT OF URBAN ART BY JUSTIN BUA

"There is no book like The Beat of Urban Art which combines visual art with history, social commentary, and a narrative autobiography. In a time of re-dos, re-makes, and re-mixes, BUA has spearheaded a truly unique and original style. His work will be some of the only from our era to stand the test of time. Your children's children's children will love BUA."             -Big Daddy Kane

Bua_bookIn The Beat of Urban Art, artist BUA brings us his ground breaking vision, which melds urban rhythms, graffiti, and classical training. This visually arresting book is about his life, his work, and the birth of Hip-Hop. As we follow BUA through his turbulent youth, navigating the streets and underground worlds of the urban jungle, we recognize the powerful evolution of BUA’s distinct style—"Distorted Urban Realism."

In the legacy of the masters, Justin BUA represents the lives of both the revered and the marginalized, the heroes and the underdogs of his time—New York City during the 1970s and 80s. With an autobiographical narrative accompanied by drawings, sketches, studies, and explanations of how even his most famous paintings were created, The Beat of Urban Art takes you into the head of the Toulouse-Lautrec of our time.

For more info or to pre-order your copy visit: www.justinbua.com

About Us

The República Update is a lifestyle destination that delivers quality and relevant information to its community of readers. We cover events, pop culture, branding, trends, technology, the arts and social issues from a multicultural perspective.