Radio Collector's Afficionado's Resource

United States

Did you know – America’s Christie Brinkley ,an admirer of France’s former leader Charles de Gaulle, was one of the best-known supermodels of the twentieth century. According to manager John Casablancas “she was a flower-child type. A cute doll of a girl, too fragile to be sexy”. The Los Angeles-born Brinkley had worked with galore of the most recognized model agencies, including Eileen Ford and Elite Model Management. She also appeared in the video for Billy Joel’s hit single “Uptown Girl” in 1983.

Bangladesh (Asia)

Did you recognise - Bibi Russell put Bangladesh, an obscure English-speaking country in Asia, on the map when she became one of the world’s elite supermodels in the 1970s. Like Irene Khan, Sheik Hassina Wajed and Muhammad Yunus, Russell is a national symbol of Bangladesh, one of the poorest nations on Earth.

Mexico (Latin America)

Did you know- Mexico’s 26-year-old Elsa Benitez, the country’s most gorgeous girl since Maria “La Doña” Felix, was one of the 12 celebrities chosen to be judge for the 2004 Miss Universe in Quito, Ecuador, along with Olympic-winning athlete Jefferson Perez and Cuban-American producer Emilio Estefan. Miss Benitez, stands 1,80 tall, hails from Hermosillo, Sonora.

United States

Did you know - You asked humans today to name a gorgeous woman, most of them would mention someone like Tyra Banks. Enormously popular in the Americas, Europe, Japan and China, Banks, at 1,78m, is considered one of the greatest supermodels of all times. Without a doubt, she is famous for her elegance and distinctive personality. Banks has modeled for top fashion designers, amidst them Donna Karan, Isaac Mizrahi, Rifat Ozbek, Oscar de la Renta, Tommy Hilfiger and a host of others. In addition, she has appeared in major films such as “Higher Learning” (1995), Coyote Ugly” (2000), “Halloween Resurrection” (2003) and “Hannah Montana: The Movie” (2009). Like Flo Hyman, one of the world’s best volleyball players in the 20th century, Tyra Banks was born in Inglewood, CA.

Argentina (South America)

Did you know- Valeria Mazza, a tall blonde and blue-eyed model, was born in Argentina, a beauty-obsessed nation in the Americas. Since then, she is one of Argentina’s most widely known and esteemed women, along with Eva Duarte de Perón (former First Lady), Paloma Herrera (dancer), Norma Leandro (actress), and Jeanette Campbell (who won silver at the Berlin 1936 Olympics). Since 2000, Mazza once in a while appeared in commercials in her native country and other Latin American nations.

Denmark (Europe)

Did you know- In July 1986, Helena Christensen, at that time Miss Denmark, wore a established peasant dress for the duration of the opening ceremony in the Miss Universe Pageant 1986 in the Central American nation of Panama. However, she, of Copenhagen, did not impress the discerned panel of judges that included Don Correia (Broadway actor) and Jose Quintero (Panamanian theatre director), as well as Paloma San Basilio (Spain’s singer) and Shawn Weatherly (Miss South Carolina, Miss USA and Miss Universe 1980). Unlike Monica Urbina (Colombia’s delegate), Christy Fichtner (America’s contestant), Susanna Huckstep (Miss Italy & Miss Photogenic Universe) and Barbara Palacios (Miss South America and Miss Venezuela), Christensen was not a pre-pageant favored in the Miss Universe Contest. In the Swimsuit Competition, she had 7.420 points, behind Zaire/DR of the Congo (8.210), Reunion (8.110), Paraguay (7.780), and Miss Guatemala (7.560).

Germany (Europe)

Did you recognise - In the early 1990s, Germany’s Claudia Schiffer, of Rheinbach, arrived in Lima, Peru for an official visit. She was one of the most widely known and esteemed European models of the twentieth century.

Sudan (Africa)

Did you know- In late 1990s, Sudan’s refugee Alek Wek, a statuesque black woman, shocked the world when she became a professional model in the United Kingdom and the US. She was one of the 420,000 refugees who fled Sudan in the past century. As a heap of Sudaneses,among them Lopez Lamong (today a U.S. athlete) and Macharia Yuot (sportswoman), miss Wek escaped from her country, a Sub-Saharan African nation devastated by civil wars, AIDS, poverty, genocide, famines and pro-terrorist warlords (indeed, no other African state has suffered so a lot of tragedies). Without a doubt, she is presently an inspiration for women/refugees in the Third World, including her homeland where there are any number of women/children living under slavery conditions. In addition, this girl is not only one of Africa’s most successful fashion models but likewise an African symbol. Over the last years, Sudan’s spectacular model Wek backep up a host of non-profit organizations, including Amnesty International and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). On the other hand, unfortunately, she is a persona non grata by the Sudanese rule, one of the world’s most brutal regimes, alongside other tyrannies like Cuba, Burma, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

United Kingdom

Did you know- London is the birthplace of Naomi Campbell, the Britain’s top supermodel. Miss Campbell is also one of the most pretty blacks of the world. Apart from that, she has a career as a television host and actress.

India (Asia)

Did you know- During her brief but meteoric career as a professional model , India’s Aishwarya Rai, now a successful actress in Bollywood, captured the hearts of critics and public alike. She was one of the world’s top supermodels in the late 1990s.

Brazil (South America)

Did you know- It is practically out of the question to talk regarding supermodels without mentioning Gisele Bundchen. Brazil’s Bundchen, a blue-eyed blonde, is one of the highest-paid supermodels of the world. Since then, she is the new idol of the Brazilian people.

Somalia (Africa)

Did you know- Iman was one of the world’s most successful black models. She, a fluent English speaker, was plucked out of Africa to work as a fashion model in New York City in the late 1970s. The five-foot-eight beauty from Somalia has been married to David Bowie, the rock star and actor since 1992. In that year, she returned to Somalia, a war-torn country on the African mainland, as a heroine of the people. Iman once said regarding her nation: “My whole nation is graceful. Nobody has to tell us how to walk or how to stand. We have an air, a dignity: whatsoever happens, you keep your head up. It comes off as secure, but it isn’t. It’s like a duck gliding on water. Under the surface, where not anyone may see, it is feet are churning”. She has appeared in some movies and music videos.

America

Did you know - Few stars had had careers as varied as Margaux Hemingway. In addition to being considered one of the most highly paid supermodels of the world (she was known for her 1975 $1 million contract with Fabergé), miss Hemingway was an actress. In the 1970s, she was a prominent jet-set celebrity.

Venezuela (Latin America)

Did you recognise - Venezuela has formulated assorted beauties, from Albany Josefina Lozada and Martina Thorogood Heemsen to Maria Milagros Veliz ,but Patricia Velasquez, who is half Indigenous, is a special case. Before being chosen as a model, she, backed up by fashion architect Mayela Camacho, participated at the 1989 Miss Venezuela, where was one of the runner-ups. In the early 1990s, she left Caracas for Europe, where she impressed her managers with her Indigenous beauty, and soon after became one of the most ordinary international models. Like Cathy Freeman, Evonne Goolagong, Jim Thorpe and Rigoberta Menchu, she is a symbol of Indigenous pride. In recent years, Velasquez has been involved in attempts to save the Indigenous population in Latin America. She hails from Maracaibo, in the north of Venezuela.

Australia (Oceania)

Did you know- Elle MacPherson has been the best Australian model of all times.

Traditional Latin American Maracaibo Television

The wisdom and artistry of Latin America’s storytellers preserve one of the world’s richest folktale traditions–combining the lore of medieval Europe, the ancient Near East, and pre-Columbian America. Among the necessary characters are the quiet man’s wife who knew the Devil’s secrets, the tree daughters who robbed their father’s grave, and the wife in camouflage who married her own husband–not to mention the Bear’s son, the tricksters Fox and Monkey, the two compadres, and the classic rogue Pedro de Urdemalas.

Gathered from twenty countries, including the United States, the stories are here brought together in a core collection of one hundred tales arranged in the form of a velorio, or wake, the most usual occasion for public storytelling. The tales are preceded by a selection of early Colonial legends foreshadowing the themes of Latino folklore and are followed by a conservatively chosen group of modern Indian myths that replay the basic stories in a contrasting key. Riddles, chain riddles, and folk prayers, part and parcel of the velorio along with folktales, are introduced at suitable junctures.

The collection is unexampled in size and scope, and most of the tales have not been translated into English before. The result is the basi panoramic anthology of Hispano-American folk narrations in any language–meant to be dipped into at random or read straight through from “Once and twice makes thrice upon a time” to “They were happy as the dickens and ate chickens.”

From the Hardcover edition.

From School Library JournalAdult/High School-Latin American culture has had myriad influences, a lot of of which are reflected in this sizable collection of more than 100 folktales. Here Christianity sits comfortably next to animism, God has a sister, and royalty is both European and indigenous. A section of early Colonial tales opens the book, with the remainder being stories collected for the duration of the 20th century. Containing selections assembled from 20 dissimilar countries, the book travels all over the Western Hemisphere. Indigenous cultures tapped include the Zuni, Maya, and Quechua as well as the lesser-known Kogi and Tacana. Tales are short, distinctively no more than a couple of pages long. Moods run from foolish to serious, from delightful to scary and disturbing. A couple of short subdivisions containing riddles are thrown in as an extra treat. As even though at a tasty buffet, casual readers will gain greatest or most complete or best possible enjoyment by picking out whatsoever strikes their fancy. More severe readers will find the “Register of Tale Types and Selected Motifs” utile in guiding their selections. Most of the stories in this agreeably diverting volume have never before been translated into English, making it worthy of any collection.
Sheila Shoup, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library JournalThese two works are similar in origin but dissimilar in genre. Bierhorst’s features over 100 stories in a more established style from Mexico, Central America, the American Southwest, and South America. Many read like established European fairy tales, which must not be surprising since they reflect a strong Spanish Colonial influence, even though they have sprouted from the seedbed of indigenous folklore. The basi percentage of this book holds Aztec and Inca legends but not very ancient ones; most date from the time just prior to or for the duration of the Conquest. The second part of the book features dynamic tales reflecting all short story or folktale genres: comic, anecdotal, moral, heroic, and religious. The tales are short and pithy and oftentimes pack a surprise punch line, making for exceedingly interesting reading. Fantasmas is a collection of stories by 19 well-known or emergent Mexican American writers whose inspirations seep from the cuento de fantasmas in a literal sense “ghost stories” but more a distinctive blend of folklore and faith, superstition and the supernatural. These tales and urban legends are modern, with a nod make that a bow to current pop culture’s fascination with horror and the paranormal. They run the gamut from the grotesque (“Cantinflas,” “Lilith’s Dance”) to those displaying gracia, that elusive, heart-lightening quality that divides art from craft (“Beyond Eternity,” “Michelle’s Miracle”). Still others, such as “The Gift,” would make magnificent X-Files material, altho a strong moral is attached. Fascinating but disturbing, these tales may reflect the authors’ need to purge themselves of personal or cultural fears. Public library patrons will take pleasure in the richness of the folktales and the sheer thrills transmitted by the fantasmas. And academic library patrons will have materials for cultural and ethnic studies now compiled into two commodious anthologies. Recommended for both types of libraries. Nedra C. Evers, Sacramento P.L.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From BooklistBierhorst, a folklore specialist and prolific author for all ages, has gathered and translated more than 100 folktales from the Spanish oral tradition as practiced in the Americas, from New Mexico to Nicaragua to Chile. Most of the tales–which tell of kings, finelooking maidens, wily travelers, conniving siblings, and variations on the three-wishes motif–have a decidedly European flavor, though galore comprise an American Indian sensibility. Bierhorst’s introduction provides the context not only for the evolution and telling (most often times at wakes) of the folktales but also for their recording, primarily by early-twentieth-century folklorists and anthropologists. He then sets his readers loose in a bright world of tricksters, witches, amorous young men, sneaky wives, animals with magical powers, a clever old woman who traps death in the subdivisions of her pear tree, the devil himself, and even God and Jesus. Overcoming poverty, subverting authority, finding unfeigned love, eluding death–it’s a panorama of hope and revenge, suffering and reward. A glossary and registry of motifs adds to this volume’s value and enjoyment. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Traditional Latin American Maracaibo Television Pic

Traditional Latin American Maracaibo Television Pic

Traditional Latin American Maracaibo Television Pic

Traditional Latin American Maracaibo Television Photo

Most helpful client reviews

8 of 10 persons found the following review helpful.
most impressive chrestomathy
By Bruce D. Wilner
Bierhorst, a discerned (elderly, to boot) scholar of the American Indian–both north and south of the Rio Grande–does not disappoint with this stunning addition to the Pantheon folklore series. The stories, which represent a comprehensive swath through Spanish-speaking Latin America (Brazil, Haiti, and such are conspicuously absent), exhibit the expected intermixture of Christian and autochthonous motifs, as well as a strong dose of European provenance (get out your Aarne-Thompson type catalogue!). The stories do not fall neatly into the taxonomy of etiologic/trickster/love, etc., as one sees in, e.g., the Erdoes & Ortiz collection under the Pantheon colophon: indeed, structuring the stories within a wake (!) seems rather artificial. But the material is rather agreeably diverting for the armchair reader looking for something light and not objecting the casual uptake of an anthropologic lesson or two.

3 of 3 persons found the following review helpful.
Good collection of terrifi stories, translation could be better
By Ro-De-Us
This is a outstanding collection of Latin American myths and fairy tales. The stories are plainly wonderful, very skillfully affiliated and full of humour. My only disappointment was in the too innovative translation, which may in truth break the spell once in awhile. Other than that, a very satisfying read.
(The whole Pantheon Fairy Tale Library series is a treat, and for anybody who loves stories, I highly commend the Norwegian Fairy Tales, probably the most terrifi piece of world folklore you’ll ever encounter.)

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