Jerry Curl

Adam Lambert appeared at Quebec's Le Festival Ste-Agathe en Feux Festival yesterday and debuted a new song off of his upcoming album. Of the song, called "Outlaws of Love," Lambert said he drew inspiration from his personal experience: "All of the things I’ve been talking about over the past year, all of it boils down to acceptance and this is a song that I wrote about how it feels, that no matter where you go or where you turn, sometimes it feels like you’re just running from the law."

The Financial Post reports : Steve Jobs is now more liquid than Uncle Sam. While it’s highly unlikely that President Barack Obama is looking to ask the founder and chief executive of Apple Inc. for a loan, it became a fact as of Thursday afternoon — the world’s largest technology company now has more cash on hand than the most powerful democracy on Earth has spending room. As Republicans and Democrats continue to work towards a compromise to the country’s debt ceiling crisis, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday that Washington now has a total operating balance of only US$73.768-billion. Meanwhile, Apple currently boasts a cash reserve of US$75.876-billion, as of its most recent quarterly earnings report at the end of June . Of course, the numbers aren’t directly comparable; the government’s number represents how much financial headroom it has before bumping up against an arbitrary debt ceiling, while Apple’s cash reserve represents the pile of money the Cupertino, Californi...

It's hard to explain it in 140 characters or less. President Obama's re-election Twitter account lost thousands of followers Friday after his 2012 campaign tried to use the social media site to turn up the heat on Republicans over the debt ceiling. The account, @BarackObama, sent out scores of tweets Friday listing the Twitter handles for dozens of GOP members of Congress. "If you live in Wisconsin, ask @SenRonJohnson http://twitter.com/SenRonJohnson to support bipartisan compromise to the debt crisis," one tweet said. Earlier in the day, the president called on Americans to use Twitter, as well as other forms of communication, to send a message to Congress to end the stalemate. "Let your members of Congress know, make a phone call, send an e-mail, tweet, keep the pressure on Washington and we can get past this," the President said. But the tweet offensive may have backfired. Or is that back-tweeted? According to the website Twitter Counter, the account lost...

Branden Haley as featured on Homotography .

The Huffington Post reports : Amy Winehouse's family is hoping she may be remembered for more than self-destructive behavior and tabloid headlines. In the wake of the singer's tragic death, they're establishing a namesake charitable organization in her honor. Mitch Winehouse, Amy's father, announced at her funeral in London on Tuesday that he plans to create the Amy Winehouse Foundation, according to the Daily Mail . The organization will provide support for those dealing with substance abuse and possibly also include a rehabilitation center. The foundation will also benefit children and horses, two things she was extremely passionate about. Mitch Winehouse had been in New York with a relative when he heard of Any's death, the Daily Mail reports. At that very moment, he knew what he needed to do: "I was with my cousin Michael when I heard and straight away I said I wanted an Amy Winehouse Foundation, something to help the things she loved - children, horses, bu...

MTV has announced the first line-up of artists who will perform live at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. British singer-songwriter and chart-topper Adele, whose quadruple platinum hit single “Rolling in the Deep” received an incredible seven nominations, will make her VMA performance debut at this year’s show. Lil' Wayne and girl-beater Chris Brown will also be performing. The other nominees can be seen and voted for at MTV . The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from Nokia Theater L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 28, 2011 at 9PM. MTV will announce additional performers and presenters on a later date. (Via TV By the Numbers )

--> This is quite possibly the best thing I've ever posted.

The AP reports : Lady Gaga will release a book of photographs with fashion photographer Terry Richardson. Grand Central Publishing announced yesterday that it will release the book, Lady Gaga , on November 22nd. The publisher said the book will include more than 350 color and black-and-white photographs of Gaga. Richardson followed the singer for 10 months between August 2010 and February 2011. That time period includes Lady Gaga's Monster Ball tour and the recording of her album Born This Way . Lady Gaga will write the book's forward. In related news: After crying and throwing shoes as a guest judge, Gaga performed two songs last night on the So You Think You Can Dance results show — "Edge of Glory", and her new single "Yoü and I". Video below:

In disturbing news: One of Florida's most powerful Catholic leaders is being accused of running the Miami Archdiocese like a gay sexual mafia boss. Gawker reports that a group of Catholics from South Florida calling their organization Christifidelis had launched a major investigation into the activities of Archbishop Emeritus John C. Favalora. In a report from Christifidelis called "Miami Vice," the group found that Favalora was part owner of a company that manufactured an aphrodisiac drink and took trips to Key West with "gay associates." He also reportedly had sexual relationships with several underlings, including at least two monsignors, a rector, and a former student. The report indicated that many other priests in South Florida are gay and have live-in boyfriends. Some engaged in pedophilia. Favalora resigned eight months before his 75th birthday, when archbishops routinely retire. Soon after, new archbishop Thomas Wenski was supposedly brought in to ...

Every member of the House and Senate appears in the video, except for Senator Scott Brown, who declined, the HuffPost reports : "A Democratic Hill staffer with knowledge of the project told The Huffington Post that Brown was invited to participate, but he declined."Scott Brown has a strong record at the state and federal level against bullying and believes that all people regardless of sexual orientation should be treated with dignity and respect," said Brown spokesman Colin Reed when asked whether the senator had been asked to appear in the video. "His main focus right now is on creating jobs and getting our economy back on track."

The Miami Herald reports : Sen. John Kerry officially lifted his “hold” on a $20 million for U.S. programs to promote democracy in Cuba yesterday after a day-long brouhaha over the funds and Havana’s possible release of Alan Gross, a U.S. government subcontractor jailed in Cuba. Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vernont still has a separate hold on part of the funds, but three Capitol Hill staffers said his concerns could be quickly resolved by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Kerry spokesman Frederick Jones, in an email to El Nuevo Herald yesterday afternoon, wrote that the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations “lifted the hold on the Cuba funds” after State and USAID officials agreed to a “thorough review of the programs.” Launched in 1996, the Cuba programs are designed to help non-government groups such as dissidents, blacks and youths. Havana alleges they are part of a subversive effort to overthrow the communist government, a...

CNN reports : Earth will become home to 7 billion people later this year, and most of the planet's growth will affect the developing countries the most, straining those regions' limited resources, a Harvard University professor said yesterday. The world's growth has been dramatic: It was just in 1999 that the global population reached 6 billion. United Nations projections call for the population to reach 10.1 billion in 2100, according to David Bloom, a professor of economics and demography at the Harvard School of Public Health, in an article published in the July 29 issue of Science. By 2050, about 2.3 billion more people will be added, nearly as many as the total living on the globe as recently as 1950, Bloom said. Humanity grew slowly through most of history, taking until 1800 for the population to hit 1 billion. In the past half-century, the population grew from 3 billion to about 7 billion. Forecasts call for the world's "demographic center of gravity" t...

As featured in the New York Post . (Via Kenneth in the 212 )

Joe Klein of Time Magazine writes: Let us not put too fine a point on it: Thursday’s House vote on Speaker John Boehner’s debt ceiling proposal is a joke. If it passes the House, Harry Reid has said it is dead on arrival in the Senate. If it somehow passes the Senate, which it won’t, President Obama will veto it. It is, therefore, a symbolic act that is wasting precious time. It follows last week’s Republican theatrics, the passage of the Cut and Demolish Act (or whatever they called it), which also was a waste of time. These are the actions of a party that has completely lost track of reality–and of a leader, John Boehner, who has lost the support of his party. And so I have a proposal: the Cut the Crap Act. It will have to be passed by Monday, to avoid default. And it will require an act of statesmanship from Boehner: he will have to modify his proposal and cut loose the Tea Party robots who are opposed to a deal of any kind. He will have to find common cause with Harry Reid and, ye...

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Which gay movies deserve a bigger audience? Out magazine asked their favorite directors, entertainers, and artists to help compile a hit list. Most random choice? Teen Witch . Most disappointing ommission? The Boys in the Band . Click here for the slideshow presentation. [ Editor's note ] Not satisfied with the list they put togther, I decided to take up Out 's offer and submit my picks for their upcoming reader-generated 50 Gayest Films of All Time feature. Below you'll find my e-mailed suggestions: Dear Out editorial board, I have such a bone to pick with you. I just went through your picks of essential gay movies and I’m resoundingly disappointed to find some GLARING omissions. Now, I know that compiling an essential list of anything isn't easy. What’s more, I know that getting homos to agree on anything is even less so. But fear not, below you’ll find a few choices that I think will, ahem, fill in the holes… For starters, where did The Boys in the Band go? As on...

In honor of her would-be 82nd birthday, the Huffington Post offers a slideshow of her iconic looks. Forever our lady!

Photo caption: An occupational therapist works with a patient in 1959 Reuters reports : The U.S. Army's chief medical facility, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, retired its ceremonial flags yesterday, as it closes its historic facility after more than a century of treating wounded American fighters and presidents. The complex in northwest Washington near the Maryland border shifts most of its operations in August and finally shuts its doors on September 15th as a part of a consolidation with the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The new facility will be called the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and will have campuses in Bethesda and Fort Belvoir, Va. "The ceremony is not a closing, but a transition of the organization to the next iteration of what we call 'Borden's Dream,' so named after the Army Doctor who had the vision to create the first Walter Reed General Hospital," Col. Norvell Coots, commander of the Walter Reed Health...

Murilo Rezende as featured on DNA .

The Baltimore Orioles are the latest MLB franchise to speak out against anti-gay bullying in a new clip featuring Jake Arrieta, Jason Berken, Zach Britton, Kevin Gregg and Michael Gonzalez. Said Orioles Director of Communications Greg Bader : “The Orioles are proud to support the It Gets Better Project and the Trevor Project. Bullying of any kind, for any reason, is unacceptable to our organization, and we are pleased to have our players speak out against this behavior in the hope it will provide encouragement to LGBT youth, and all children, who are facing hatred and prejudice.”

The Advocate reports : A controversial antigay preacher from Minnesota has plans to sue MSNBC and Rachel Maddow for $50 million for being allegedly shown in a false light. Bradlee Dean, who runs the You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International ministry, spoke in 2010 on a radio show about Muslims and their views on homosexuality. He also encouraged Christians to take a more proactive approach against gay rights and LGBT activism. The Minnesota Independent initially reported Dean's message in 2010, but the ministry claims that his quote was edited and presented inaccurately. Despite a statement put out by the You Can Run But You Cannot Hide ministry disputing the Independent's reporting, several other news organizations, including ABC News and The Rachel Maddow Show also ran with a shortened version of the quote. Larry Klayman, an attorney representing the ministry, claims that Maddow's show altered the quote, omitting parts of his statement. More on this here . Maddow...

Director Gary Marshall helms the star-studded romcom, out December 9, with a cast includes nearly half of Hollywood: Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michele, Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl, Jon Bon Jovi, Zac Efron, Josh Duhamel, Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vergara, Michelle Pfeiffer, Allyssa Milano, Seth Meyers, Sienna Miller, Sara Paxton, Hilary Swank, and Halle Berry. --> I'm usually a little skiddish around "star-studded" movies like these (See: Valentine's Day ; He's Just Not That Into You ). But this one looks fun-- despite having Katherine Heeeeeeiiiggggl . The again, I will flock to anything with Michelle Pfeiffer in it!

The Marquee Blog reports : Frank Darabont, best known for directing The Shawshank Redemption , has stepped down from his position as showrunner on AMC's The Walking Dead , according to Deadline . Darabont directed the pilot after trying for years to get the series on the air, and has been instrumental in the production of the show ever since. Though, Deadline reports, "talks are still ongoing about him possibly staying on in some capacity." The three-time Oscar nominee appeared at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, along with the rest of the cast and crew. AMC did not respond to requests for comment. In the meantime, The Walking Dead 's new season [finally!] premieres on October 16th. UPDATE: AMC broke its silence on the recent major showrunner shakeup that’s impacted their highest-rated series. No big revelations, but EW gives us the statement: The Walking Dead ’s Glen Mazzara, writer and executive producer, is expanding his responsibilities to assume the role of...

ArtsBeat reports : British soul singer Adele will retake the top spot on the Billboard album chart this week, claiming her 11th week at No. 1. Out since February, 21 sold 77,000 units this weel according to Nielsen SoundScan, bringing that album’s total sales in the United States to 2.75 million. It is the first album to rack up 11 weeks at the top slot since Taylor Swift’s Fearless in late 2007 and early 2008, and only the eighth album to do so since 1991, when Billboard began using SoundScan’s data to compile its charts. In related news: Amy Winehouse will re-enter the Top 10 of the Billboard album chart this week with Back to Black , Ms. Winehouse’s breakthrough second album. It sold 37,000 copies in the United States in the week that ended Sunday, reaching No. 9 --> A little part of me thinks Amy Winehouse had to die so Adele could live. Also this week, Kidz Bop 20, the latest in the best-selling series of playground-friendly remakes of pop hits, sold 69,000 copies to open at ...

People close to Amy Winehouse say she left plenty of unreleased music, but no decision has been made about whether it will be released. Spokesman Chris Goodman says there is "plenty" of material, but there have been no discussions yet about releasing anything. The Guardian newspaper Thursday quoted an unnamed spokesman at record label Universal as saying Winehouse had left the "framework" of about a dozen songs. Winehouse released only two albums, but had been in the studio sporadically over the past few years. Sales of her music have soared since her death. In the U.S., digital sales of her tracks have risen by 2,000 percent in the past week. Winehouse was found dead at her London home on Saturday. (Via AP )

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy I'll take bizarre injuries for $1,000, Alex.

JetBlue introduced several new three-month, unlimited flight plans today in an attempt to snare more higher-paying business travelers. BluePass is available only for departure from Boston Logan International Airport or Long Beach Airport for travel between Aug. 22 and Nov. 22. The offer is a more focused version of its All-You-Can-Jet plan, announced in 2009. That plan, where travelers could go anywhere JetBlue flew, sold out within days, as did the second incarnation in 2010. JetBlue didn't offer the pass this year. All-You-Can-Jet was used to pump up travel volumes during September and October, typically one of the slowest times of the year for airlines. Under the new plan there are three options. The first, costing $1299, allows travel between Long Beach and nine Western cities. The second, at $1499, offers Boston fliers unlimited travel to 13 cities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The third option is $1999 for travel between Boston and 32 cities nonstop and 22 additional ci...

The AP reports : House Republicans are pressing ahead with a vote on a newly modified plan to stave off an unprecedented government default next week even though the legislation faces a White House veto threat and unanimous opposition among Senate Democrats. As the House prepared to vote today, investor worries that a dysfunctional Congress might remain gridlocked sent stocks plunging. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped almost 200 points Wednesday, on top of a 92-point drop the day before. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, made headway with balky conservatives unhappy that the measure contains smaller spending cuts than a more stringent debt measure that passed the House last week. The new measure depends on caps on agency budgets to cut more than $900 billion from the deficit over the coming decade while permitting a commensurate increase in the nation's borrowing to allow the government to pay its bills. Boehner acknowledged that the measure was hardly perfect but represe...

Mashable reports : After a running start, Google+'s growth may be slowing down a bit. A report from Experian Hitwise found both traffic and users' average time on the social network fell last week in the U.S. Total visits to Google+ declined about 3% to 1.79 million in the U.S. for the week ending July 23 compared to the previous seven days, according to the research company. The site received 1.86 million visits the prior week. Average time on the site was down 10%, from 5 minutes, 50 seconds to 5 minutes, 15 seconds. Matt Tatham, a rep for Experian Hitwise, was careful not to overplay the findings. "This is not a huge drop," he says. The company extrapolates its figures from data from ISPs and from an opt-in panel of about 2.5 million users. The report comes after Google+'s traffic enjoyed a steady climb since its June 28 debut. Last week, comScore reported that the network hit 20 million unique visitors. Some were so enamored with Google+ that they closed out t...

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(Via City Rag )

Reuters reports : Environmentalists went to federal court yesterday seeking to restore endangered species safeguards for some 1,200 gray wolves in Montana and Idaho removed from protection by an unprecedented act of Congress. Conservation groups say Congress exceeded its authority by intervening in an ongoing court case to remove the wolves from the endangered species list without bothering to amend the underlying law and by presuming to exclude its action from judicial review. Jay Tutchton, a lawyer for several groups challenging the delisting, said lawmakers sought to take a "politically expedient shortcut" that violates the constitutional separation of powers between the courts and Congress. But government lawyers said the delisting, tucked into a budget bill signed into law by President Barack Obama in April, effectively amended the Endangered Species Act by making a special exemption for wolf populations in the Rockies. The gray wolf become the first animal ever taken of...

Proving yet again that the GOP has no idea how to manage money-- The Huffington Post reports : The Senate Democratic plan to raise the debt ceiling would slash spending cuts far deeper than House Speaker John Boehner's proposal, according to a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) by the official congressional scorekeeper on this morning. Reid's plan would reduce the deficit by $2.2 trillion over the next decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said. Boehner's would trim just $850 billion, the CBO said last night. The speaker was forced to pull his bill from the floor ahead of a planned today vote in the wake of the unimpressive score. The score CBO gave Reid's bill makes passing Boehner's bill -- which every major Tea Party group has deemed insufficient -- more challenging for the Republican leader. Reid's plan includes no tax hikes or additional revenue, a demand Republicans have stuck to. The scoring is anything but exact, howe...

Rob Evans as featured on VGL .

The Daily Show Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes , Political Humor & Satire Blog , The Daily Show on Facebook The ever-handsome Don Lemon's tweeted response:

In uplifting news, the Huffington Post spotlights the work of Carl Siciliano of the Ali Forney Center: The Ali Forney Center's executive director, Carl Siciliano, gushes about his 2005 experience with Bea Arthur, best known to audiences as Dorothy Zbornak of the iconic 1980s sitcom, The Golden Girls . When she was first introduced to the center -- dedicated to providing a "safe, dignified, nurturing" environment for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth -- the actress was so impressed, she agreed to reprise her one-woman Broadway show, raising more than $40,000 for the organization along with a personal donation. It turned out to be a particularly fortuitous moment, as the actress quickly became too ill to continue her tour. "For me, Bea wasn't just an icon, she was a voice of progressive thinking," Siciliano recalled. "To have someone of her prominence and cultural significance care about us and our organization meant so much t...

The Miami New Times reports : Florida has constitutionally banned its gay wedding cake and is trying to eat it, too. While gay couples began exercising their right to marry in New York this weekend, Florida tourism boards are trying to make sure our state gets its share of the financial boon New York is likely to see as a result of gay marriage by trying to attract honeymooners. The question then becomes, will gay couples really want to celebrate their marriage in a state that doesn't recognize it? Steve Rothaus reports that both the Miami and Broward convention and visitors bureaus have begun advertising campaigns aimed at newly married gay couples to try and convince them that the shores of South Florida are a perfect place for their honeymoon, and their money. And New York is sure to see a lot of economic activity thanks to gay marriage. "Officially, a report from the Independent Economic Conference projected that same-sex unions would generate about $284 million in additi...

The U.S. department of Health and Human Services is once again looking at changing its policy that bans men who have sex with men from donating blood. The HHS described the current policy as "suboptimal" and asked a group of experts, known as the Blood, Organ, and Tissue Safety Working Group, to look into ways of changing it. As it stands, any man who had sex with another man since 1977 cannot donate blood. A new policy could allow certain gay or bisexual men, possibly those who have abstained from homosexual sex for a certain time, to donate. “This announcement by HHS means we’re moving in the direction of finally ending this antiquated and discriminatory policy,” Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., told the National Journal. “Senator [John] Kerry [D-Mass.] and I will continue to push for a behavior-based screening process both in the name of fairness and a safer blood supply.” (Via the Advocate )

Kellan Lutz has collaborated with Dylan George founder Danny Guez on a new fashion line called Abbot + Main. Conveniently, he also knows how to best display it. (Via Towleroad )

Norman Brannon, who writes regularly at Nervous Acid reports: It's fair to say that when Rufus Wainwright released his debut self-titled album in 1998, the sheer volume and variety of his future work could hardly be predicted. He used to speak of (and, indeed, continues to mention) his desire to be a contemporary pop star. But if House of Rufus — the 19-disc box set featuring almost everything he's ever put his name on in the last fifteen years — reveals any one thing, it's that Wainwright is no contemporary pop star. Nor should he be. When Foolish Love opens the set with its theatrical panache, there is no question that Wainwright's idea of pop music sounds nothing like the radio: there is no traditional chorus, the lyrics are more conversational than radio call hook, and the arrangements — provided by the legendary Van Dyke Parks — haven't been "contemporary" since Parks produced Phil Ochs in 1970. Later, within the context of his "official"...

ArtsBeat reports : The numbers are in: Amy Winehouse, who died last Saturday at age 27 , will re-enter the Top 10 of the Billboard album chart this week, with her music racking up greater sales in the days after her death than it had for the entire year to date. Back to Black , Ms. Winehouse’s breakthrough second album, sold 37,000 copies in the United States in the week that ended Sunday, reaching No. 9, according to data released by Nielsen SoundScan yesterday evening. That was the highest weekly sales for the album since March 2008, two weeks after she won five Grammy Awards. Frank , Ms. Winehouse’s less-known first album — it had not been released here until 2007, four years after it first came out in Britain — sold 7,600 copies. Along with the handful of her other album titles, including a B-sides collection and a live record, she sold a total of 50,000 albums last week, 95% of them as digital downloads; up until last week her album sales for the year were only 44,000. Sales of Ms...

The Huffington Post reports : Olympic silver medalist Jeret "Speedy" Peterson was found dead in a remote canyon in Utah in what police are calling a suicide. One of the world's most risk-taking and innovative freestyle skiers, the creator of the one-of-a-kind "Hurricane" called 911 before shooting himself, police said. The 29-year-old had been cited for drunken driving Friday in Hailey, Idaho and had pleaded not guilty. Officers found Peterson late Monday night between Salt Lake City and Park City in Lambs Canyon. Police said a suicide note was found near Peterson's car; they declined to reveal what it said. "Regardless of the amazing stuff he did skiing, it was the stuff he did for other people that was incredible to me," said Peterson's longtime coach and friend, Matt Christensen. "A lot of people saw his story and said he must be a wild jackass and a cowboy. He was just the opposite." He was one of the most colorful of athletes, an...

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In a Salsa class on lucky 07/07/07, Eric & Mat danced into each other’s lives. Three months later, the couple shared their first trip to Disneyland- and they have been back to visit every year since. Post-proposal, the duo had no question that their ceremony would take place at Disneyland’s Rose Court Garden. Once their wedding day arrived, Mat said the only thing they had to do was show up and be in love- could they be any cuter?! Just when I thought these love birds couldn’t be any sweeter, they shared a very special wedding day detail with me. Mat’s mother loves Cinderella, so the couple surprised their moms with the ultimate ceremony transportation- a ride in Cinderella’s Crystal Coach! After the moms arrived in royal style, they walked their sons down the aisle to say “I do”. Mat & Eric: I wish you every happiness! More pictures at the Disney Wedding blog .

NPR Music reports : The world of Latin music has lost one of its greats. At age 55, Colombian salsa singer Joe Arroyo died this morning at a hospital in Barranquilla, Colombia. He died of multiple organ failure. On the day of his death, it was announced that he was to be among the recipients of the Latin Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos mourned Arroyo's death, calling it on his Twitter account "a great loss for music and for Colombia." "El Joe" as he was known, was born in 1955 in the Caribbean city of Cartagena. He fell in love with salsa at the young age of 15 and signed on to legendary record label Discos Fuentes in 1971. He played with celebrated bands like The Latin Brothers and Fruko Y Sus Tesos. His brilliant music combined the styles of his native Cartagena (calypso, merengue, salsa, soca) and showcased the incredible variety of African styles that exist in Colombian music, such as champeta and po...