The here and now... and what and why

Complacency is a trap. At least that’s what I was thinking when I up and left the comfort of a Yankee prep school gig, where I taught music, amongst other things, for 28 years. There was also that life long career as a composer, musician and artist.

First, it was a year in St. Thomas, USVI, working as a reporter and shooting photography and then, a year in San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Time passed.
More time passed and a year back in the Athens of America followed by a hasty return to Oaxaca where it is all happening.
A couple of years in San Sebastian Etla and now, just down the road in San Pablo Etla. Life is good.

Click on an image to see it larger.
For additional photography please visit my flickr page.
You can find my music on Jango (World & latin - Worldbeat) and at iTunes and most online stores.
¡Soy consciente de todas las tradiciones del Internet!
If you are coming to Oaxaca, please contact me for tours or advice.

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo
The view from Corazon del Pueblo

The hereafter re me

My photo
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Musician, photographer, videographer, reporter, ex-officio teacher, now attempting to be a world traveler

Saturday, February 27, 2010

El Chato - Salon d'la Fama

"Atendido su amigo "El Chato" is what it says over the door to the Salon d'la Fama, The Hall of Fame, a cantina on Calle Porfirio Diaz, where we stopped by for a late morning visit. We were greeted by El Chato and as we sipped our mezcal and beer, ate some wonderful botanas, we were treated to great conversations with the other patrons. One was an author, who had written about mezcal. Another was a renown architect who had been involved in many of the major restorations of some of Oaxaca's finest sites, including the church at Ocatlan. The ambiance was perfect, a wonderful way to sit back and drink in and engage with people. Of course, the real treasure is El Chato. Here is the photo from over the bar of him in his earlier days at La Fama. I love the look of this place and some of the old photos. Those of you have known me for years will recall I had a photo of this cantina on one of my earlier CD's, "World in My Pocket." The outside was a gorgeous blue at that point. Now it is this light nondescript tan, but the inside is unchanged. As I say, perfect.

If you want to read a great piece on cantina culture in Mexico, read David Lida's chapter in"First Stop in the New World." It is not what you think it is. So don't fear for my innocence. Damn, where did I put that halo?

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