Pirato

Pirated CD´s and DVD´s are a way of life outside the borders of the U.S. Like it or not, there is no stopping the pirating of electronic products. Like a Starbucks on every corner in the states, you can´t walk a block without finding a DVD shop in Ecuador hawking your favorite Alf episodes or the most recent Hollywood release filmed (usually surprisingly well) in the back of the theater. Don´t want to fight the crowds at that Sex and the City premier? Go buy the DVD for a buck fifty from your local neighborhood capitalist.

Strangely, though, it´s mostly DVD´s that are sold, and it is difficult to find music. (Though there are plenty of music DVD´s). That is, until I found the Russian Mob. My friend Carl turned me on to an MP3 store run by a Spanish speaking Russian ¨family.¨ They sell their CD´s for 4 dollars, and each one contains between 10 to 15 albums, bootlegs, rare-cuts, and live concerts of your favorite artist. From Willie Nelson, to Jethro Tull, to Miles Davis, this is truly impressive. For 40 dollars, I just transfered 6 gigs, 1411 songs, and 3.2 days worth of music to my computer...including (John Newkirk and Rhett Baker) the entire Bad Religion collection. It almost makes me forget that the only beer I can get is a cheap lager.