In honor of Celia Cruz's 88th birthday, Google and its famous graphic artists decided to mark this special occasion with one of their famous doodles to decorate their main search page.

Today, September 30th marks what would have been the 67th birthday of the famous salsa singer and influencer, Hector Lavoe. If you are new to salsa, you will soon learn about this amazing singer and performer. You may have performed or danced to many of his songs when he was with Fania Records back in the golden age of salsa.

For a few months now, the FANIA Records salsa music website had been down with a 'Coming Soon in Fall of 2009' text. Today, a brand new website has flourished to show salsa music in all of its glory!

If you watched the PBS special of "Latin Music USA" you must have seen the video snippet below. This particular section had a particular effect on me when I watched it. It is Rubén Blades and Willie Colón rehearsing one of Blades first songs with Fania Records called "El Cazanguero". It was great to see a young Rubén Blades singing with amazingly clear vocals and eloquent lyrics while Colón was directing the band. For those who haven't seen the documentary - hopefully this video will influence you to watch it. This is a prime example of artists having truly mastered their craft and created something that withstands the test of time. The classics never die.

I have come to realize that the videos that I have come to enjoy the most are the ones that provide me an emotional connection to the past of salsa. Sometimes I wonder if this is my 'second' life since somehow watching these vintage videos makes me flashback to a time I was never born.