Monthly Archives: June 2010

“The night the stadium was to open, pibe, my heart was bouncing, throbbing like a belching fighting frog in mating season. We dined on pizza and champagne and marched off like so many soldiers of destiny to the inaugural concert. Although the Frog Kickers’ rather scandalous performance angered some, everyone agreed it was a great first night at the Menemental. It was with great regret that we left the beautiful stadium at the end of the night, festooned as it was with our dreams.

“Over the next few days, che, the Garlic Sea was awash with the sound of happy croaking as we collected our rents with a smile from the wretched porteños seeking solace from their metropolitan mindfuck. We joyously advised them to leave the rat race and come down to the seaside to regain some of the dignity they had forsaken with every beep of the car horn over the years. Plus, they could leave behind those rotten sporting institutions they’d poured so much of their lives into in the capital and start afresh with a new franchise, a new team in a new home.

“Of course everyone was eager to know what and when the next function would be at the Menemental. Days passed as we bought each other mobile phones, argued about the taxes on properties and began to lobby for better roads so we could drive our new cars around to places that used to look down on us. Aye, pibe, we shut a fair mouth or two then! We invested heavily in art to show how off our sophistication, and dignitaries visited from overseas to gather information for speeches on how Mar de Ajó was the way forward, a blueprint for all struggling communities worldwide. Our smiles were kaleidoscopic flashes of chameleonic brilliance. Indeed, such was our radiance it seemed that we were all bipedal Cuban Tree Frog – not for being an invasive species and a nuisance to humans, but rather because our skins revealed how hot we felt. Continue reading →