Magic carpets

For several months I have been working with Arulfo Mendoza of Mano Magica, taking photos of some of Oaxaca's visual artists.  I have posted many of them on this blog.  He is producing a book to celebrate his many years of working with a wide swath of Oaxacan artists.  There were two other photographers involved, who I never met working on different aspects of the art scene.  Very early on I realized what a rare and special opportunity this was and I made the most of it.  It was wonderful to meet so many artists, many times in their own spaces, and marvel at the depth and diversity of human beings' brilliance and creativity.  I also learned an incredible amount about taking photos of art and my already fluent Photoshop skills dramatically grew in new areas.  There may be a little more work to do, but yesterday I gave all the final shots to maestro Arnulfo and he seemed quite pleased.  In return he gave me a couple of his beautiful rugs.

 It doesn't get any better than this does it?  Gracias, all the maestros, for the whole experience.

From straw into gold...

Well, not exactly straw, more like abono, you know, manure, you know, bullshit..... into gold, that's for sure.  In some circles, I am known as Mr. Compost or Mr. Mulch.... in other circles, I am know as Sr. Abono, that's Mister Bullshit to you.

I just had a huge truckload of aged abono delivered and if you just put it directly on the gardens, it will stay in dry chunks until the rains come, which is not for another five months.  So what better thing to break it up with than my trusty wood chipper.  For this operation, it could be called the Poop Chute.

 As far as I know, I have one of only two  in Oaxaca.  It makes a huge difference. 

I also have some large piles of pure compost and some of grassclippings.  As I started shoveling the abono in the chipper, I could see that it was going to come out a bit heavier than I wanted, so I began mixing in the other ingredients and can now control the output from heavy to light and fluffy. 

 

This stuff is absolutely perfect and I have been putting 4 to 8 inches of the the stuff on all the beds.

 

The soil in the gardens is already getting good, but this should make a huge difference.  I will also be mixing potting soils in the chipper adding dirt, sand and compost depending on the needs of the plants.  Pretty cool, eh?

Smiles from Tlacolula

Here is a wonderful shot taken by Henry Wangeman of Amate Books.  If you know Henry, you know he brings laughter and smiles wherever he goes.  He just has a magic touch with people.  So he was bantering with these ladies at the market in Tlacolula last Sunday, joking with them about taking photos of them to which they responded,"Not unless you buy something."  To which Henry said, "Well, you better all hide your faces."  They were all laughing as they complied.

And here is our favorite waitress, Esperanza, from the barbacoa place we always go to when in the area.  If that isn't a wonderful smile.....  And she is always like this.

Henry always signs his letters with this quote from Kurt Vonnegut-"I urge you to please notice when you are happy and exclaim or murmur ...'if this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'"

Guns and more guns

Watching the US gun debate from the outside is surreal.  It is akin to the GM food issue.  Clearly corporations have far more sway than anyone else.

As I have a wont to say, "The whole world is watching"  and goin'  "That's crazy and sad."  And because the US is who it is, these action affect others, like its neighbors.  I certainly acknowledge that Mexico is not without sin and complicity in the current state of affairs, but if you take all the guns out of the equation, things would be much better.  Of course, I realize that this is never going to happen which is crazy and sad.
from the LAHD

Mexican activists Javier Sicilia and Sergio Aguayo on Monday delivered to the U.S. Embassy in this capital a letter signed by more than 50,000 people in which they ask Washington for concrete measures to halt the “illegal and immoral” flow of weapons to Mexico.

In the letter, addressed to President Barack Obama, they expressed their condolences for “the frequent murders of innocents in your country” and said they are “deeply” moved by the recent massacre of children at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

However, they also expressed their bewilderment and indignation at “the indifference of the U.S. government toward the massacres that plunge Mexico into mourning,” where more than 70,000 people died in conflicts involving rival criminal outfits and the security forces during the six-year term of President Felipe Calderon, which ended on Nov. 30.

Just in December, the first month of President Enrique Peña Nieto’s term, “755 people were executed,” most of them with firearms obtained in the United States, from where 70 percent of the arms seized in Mexico in the last three years come, according to U.S. government figures.

The concrete measures the activists and their supporters are asking Washington undertake include banning the importation of assault rifles manufactured abroad, among them the AK-47, the weapon of choice for Mexican gangsters.

As an example.  US Man convicted of smuggling ammo into Mexico.

Edward Sandoval, 31, from San Antonio, pleaded guilty on Sept. 6 to aiding and abetting the smuggling of goods from the United States.

According to the factual basis filed in this case, in January and February 2011, Sandoval admittedly purchased about 40,000 rounds of multiple caliber ammunition, including 7.62mm and .223-caliber, from a San Antonio gun shop for a friend who informed Sandoval that the ammunition was destined for Mexico via Eagle Pass, Texas.

Sandoval further admitted that he was paid $1,500 each time he bought ammunition for others. In February 2011, authorities in Eagle Pass seized about 15,000 rounds of ammunition purchased by Sandoval before it was smuggled into Mexico.

Tailgating

Some of the best shots appear as I am driving and well, they remain some of the best shots I didn't take.  However, every now and then they look you right in the eye and say, "Do you feel lucky?  Well, do ya, punk?"

 OK, I'll back off.

 Somehow this doesn't seem like it rolls off the tongue as easily as "Betcha can't eat just one."

Walk this way

I have a place I park when I go into the city and walk pretty much everywhere from there.  The spot is perfect for an easy get-out-of-town route and if you knew the traffic here, well, it can be very heavy and from this spot it is one light and on the road.  So I get to walk all over the city and yesterday it was a return to the car insurance company.  I've done this walk far too many times in the last week, but that's another story.  All I will say is that I finally managed to renew my car insurance.  It is a very nice walk and Friday is even better because the stalls and vendors are set up in Llano Park.  It was early so I managed to not succumb to the temptations of all the food and aromas that seemed to line my path.  Walk the walk...
Parents waiting for their little ones to get out of school.

 

There are always vendors there and this guy had on a great hat.

This one selling churros has a fine shirt on sayin' enough of the violence against animals.

Parents always end up carrying everything.

Bench decorations.  It looked like there were heads at some point, but none now.

 

At first glance, this guy fooled me,

 

but upon closer inspection, it's a painting of a guy painting a paint store.

 

I hate when this happens. (Thank God I have insurance)

 

A pub in Oaxaca?  Who knew.

 

Nice light detail.

 

Mr. Egg makes more sense than Señor Huevo if you know your vernacular.

 

Photo shoot in Llano.

 

"Sure you don't want something sweet?"

 No, your smile is enough.

Snow in Mexico

 One of the misconceptions that people have about Mexico is that it is always warm and sunny which is far from true.  Sure, at the beaches it can be mighty hot and humid, but this is a huge country and much of it is mountainous.  We had a killing frost a couple of years ago and it gets close to freezing on many nights in certain areas.  The thing to note is that houses do not have heat and some are open to the elements, sometimes with no closeable doors or windows.  They are never air-tight like in New England.  People build fires inside, but then the threat of carbon dioxide poisoning becomes real.

from LAHD

The Mexican government declared an emergency in 21 municipalities in the northern state of Chihuahua due to heavy snow and a cold wave blamed for six deaths there.

Federal officials said that the measure, which was requested by the Chihuahua government, will allow authorities to access resources within the national emergency fund to cover food, clothing and health care needs among the affected population.

Salvador Echavarria Campos, a meteorologist with Chihuahua’s UEPC civil defense agency, said that the lowest temperature registered Thursday morning was minus 11 C (12 F) in the municipality of Bocoyna, in the state’s mountainous region.

On Tuesday, UEPC director Luis Lujan Peña confirmed that the snow had cut off some 150 communities in the Sierra Tarahumara mountains.

So far, official figures are that six people have died in Chihuahua and two others in the western state of Michoacan from causes linked to the low temperatures.

Stay warm, mis amig@s.

Street art....

This really is street art in that this poster was flattened into the street. 

 

I love the texture.  It made me contemplate the many layers behind the picture.  The poster is for a photographic exhibit of photos of Santiago Queretaro in 1934 by Enrique A. Cervantes.  So we have old photos of a city assembled for an exhibition, a poster made, then blown onto the street where some knucklehead photographer walks by and shoots it and then posts it as art.

Of course, this place is never hurting for wonderful street art.

No wonder this building is in bad shape.  It has a serious pest problem.

 

Somehow I am always taking a shot with an electrical meter.  Going for that shock value.

 

Community radio- the voice of the pueblo.

Pump up the volume....

Let's have a party

This was the set up in the zocalo yesterday.

from LAHD.

The dominant figure on the Mexican left for a decade, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, formally signed up on Tuesday with the new political party he hopes will become a mass movement.

“We begin this membership campaign with the goal of recruiting and adding millions of Mexicans ... who are convinced of the necessity of genuine change,” the two-time presidential candidate told supporters in the Zocalo, this capital’s giant main square.

Lopez Obrador ally Marti Batres delivered to the Federal Electoral Institute the documents needed to begin the process of turning the Morena organization into a registered political party eligible for public funding.

Morena must sign up at least 220,000 members and hold assemblies by the end of this year to qualify for the 2015 mid-term legislative elections.

“We have to keep fighting to transform our country,” Lopez Obrador said Tuesday. “We are convinced that if there is not a regime change, we won’t find a way out, either as a people or a nation.”

 Good luck with that...

Goin' to the chapel... part 674

Whenever I see a bride or a wedding, I just gotta get a shot or two.  Same for quinceaneras.  Of course, I studied with a master, Sonya Melescu, so I always end up trying to get the necessary shots.  I remember Sonya's rule, "No matter what, the bride must look good." 

 

So when I saw this bride getting ready for her wedding in Santo Domingo......

 

Even got a shot of her tattoo.

 

One of the boys in charge of the train. It was long and took six kids (and their parents) to handle.

 

I think this must be the chain they drape on the couple.

Finally, she was ready and she and her parents started the walk into the church.

 

The train was at least 6 meters long.  

And there she goes.

 Felicidades!

Hupiles are art

In mi casa I have quite a few hupiles (blouses) and faldas (skirts) hanging as art.  They come from the various regions and the work is remarkable.  So when I saw the work of Amalia Martínez Casas from Tamazulápam del Espíritu Santo at the artesanos mercado in Conzatti Park, I purchased some new wall art.

Tamazulápam del Espíritu Santo is in the mountains to the WNW of Mitla in the Mixe region and Doña Amalia has on the traditional outfit for the region. 

First, there is this one.

This red one has such an unstated elegance.  Sorry for the shadows from wires overhead.

It is huge, maybe a meter across.  It would fit me, but she said it was for women only.

I also got one of the woven belts she has on.  It is six meters long!  The inner part looks to be woven from palm leaves and the outer of wool.  Not too cool, eh?  I am sure one of you knows far more about these hupiles, so feel free to clue me in.  And what do they call the belts?

Shot of the day

Perfecto!  One of the bridesmaids and her abuelo waiting for a wedding.  Yes, I got shots of that, too.

Break that bowl

It's that time of year.  It's the New Year - Buñuelo time! And here they are.

And those wish granting bowls.

Here, the New Year tradition says get yourself a nice sweet bowl of a light warm syrup of piloncillo, raw sugar, to have with your buñuelos.  When you finish, throw it over your head while making a wish for the new year.  Note to self- make sure the coast is clear, before the toss.

Worked for me!