El Gringo Loco Visits Jalcomulco

So you know just how loco this gringo is, I went there on the back of a motor scooter. My ass, which doesn't carry much padding, will never be the same.

I was in Roberto'’s shop earlier in the week, looking over his selection of "clone" DVDs; and Roberto, who is the gregarious sort, struck up a conversation. Before long he asked if I wanted to go to Jalcomulco Saturday and offered to drive us on his "“moto"”. Being in the midst of the adventure of my life and Roberto seeming like a nice fellow, I said "“claro."”


Later, in one of my more lucid moments, I thought I donÂ’t want to travel to Jalcomulco, some thirty miles from Xalapa, on the back of a motor scooter; and decided that on Saturday IÂ’d tell Roberto we will take my truck.

This morning I arrived at Roberto's shop at the appointed time and told him we I would rather take my truck. Two hours of rigmarole later, during which I had figured that since it was a nice sunny day a motor scooter ride would be fun, we were ready to leave. I asked Roberto how long it would take to get to Jalcomulco and when he responded it would take only a half hour I suggested we take his scooter. The trip was more like an ass torturing hour and a half

Which reminds of when I went with Long Life Harborite to look at some land he had purchased. The land he told me was about a half mile away and about five miles later we arrived there. Not that under estimating the mileage caused any problems, since we were driving; but I still remind him of the incident.

I was greatly relieved to arrive in town and to be able to dismount the motor scooter. So relieved, in fact, I started to give Roberto a bit of static about his half hour estimate, along the lines of the static I give my buddy Life Long Harborite.


Jalcomulco is a very picturesque riverside puebla, surrounded by mountains, that is home to quite a few river rafting guide services and camps. The town, it appeared to me, is largely supported by tourism. When we were there two groups of rafters passed, and as we were leaving two tourism buses were pulling in.

We spent a bit of time looking around town and walked across the suspension bridge,
you see in the photo with Roberto mid-span, had a great lunch of Camarones a la Diablo, which I think the dish is called because of the very hot tomato sauce in which the shrimp were bathed. Roberto told me that I would experience the spiciness of the lunch again in the bathroom tomorrow.

The ride back to Xalapa was pretty much excruciating for the first fifteen minutes, or so, until my ass went numb. After that it wasn'’t so bad except when Roberto failed to notice a peton (speed bumps which are installed in populated areas to slow traffic) and I rose off the seat eight or ten inches. Rising from the seat wasn'’t bad, but the landing was damned painful.

Roberto was a great traveling companion and a very safe driver. We enjoyed lots of laughs together, especially on the ride back after a couple of dark Victorias with lunch. I'’m afraid I'm too old, or have too boney of an ass, for extended trips on a motor scooter, though, and told Roberto that next trip I'’m driving.

If you're in Xalapa you will probably enjoy a half day trip to Jalcomulco which is a bit warmer than it is here owing to its lower elevation.

Guest Posting By Donald Brown

I think my brother has it exactly right in his letter to Sen. John Warner of Virginia. I haven't seen my brother's original letter to the senator nor the senator's response, but anyone who has ever written an elected official and received a response can well imagine the pablum that constituted the Senator's response. You will notice that my brother is much politer than I am.

The Honorable John Warner
225 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510-4601


Dear Senator Warner,

Thank you for your prompt reply and I feel that with minds like yours on this intractable issue a fair and equitable solution will be found to end the chaos in the Middle East.

I agree with you totally when you describe the situation in the region as tense and would like to ask you this; to what do you attribute these tensions? I believe that there are four main reasons for the tensions you characterize and a fundamental reassessment of our direction in the region should be a goal of United States Foreign Policy.

The four main reasons that I believe perpetuate the tension in the Middle East are as follows:

Reason 1: The question of natural resources, namely oil, is fundamental to any debate regarding the region. They have it and we need it. They have it due to a roll of the dice and we need it because our government has been very short sighted in my view. Petro-chemicals are endemic to every aspect of our economic system. From wasteful packaging that is thrown into the garbage the instant a product is brought home. To the massive homes being built that require huge amounts of energy to cool and heat. To energy inefficient vehicles which only use is to display the economic status of its user. The Petro-Chemical basket is where we have deposited all of our eggs which makes us very exposed, both militarily and economically, as a nation. In short part of that tension we are experiencing in The Middle East is caused directly by our own greed.

Reason 2: The United States conscious effort to destabilize specific governments of the Middle East. This effort has taken many forms and is mostly a post WWII phenomenon. The most aggressive form is being exercised as we speak in Iraq. Whether we like to admit it or not, prior to our unwarranted invasion, Iraq was in a state of equilibrium where all factions lived side by side in relative harmony. Granted Saddam Hussein wasn’t a nice guy but sometimes the status quo can be a better option than an unsure future of violence and disharmony. And I think we should all admit that we knew Iraq was no danger to The United States prior to our efforts at de stabilization and Iraq had no connection to Al Qaeda . During the decade of the eighties we armed and manipulated the Hussein regime and fueled the Iraq war with Iran by sending massive amounts of weaponry to Iraq so we could attempt to de stabilize Iran. And later, when we realized Iraq might lose the confrontation, our executive branch, ala Ollie North, decided to arm Iran. And I hate to think that our government loved this scenario because what can be better than the financing of Arabs killing Arabs.

In 1952 our CIA orchestrated a coupe in Iran and deposed a democratically elected government. We then inserted a puppet government of the USA headed by The Shah who was most decidedly a brutal and barbarous dictator. I realize that this happened during the cold war and the fear of Communism was very strong. But I feel that our country should be more reflective when contemplating the future and think of the immense cost in lives and treasure to our country.

The countries of the region are no strangers to attempted conquest and occupation and as we can all see in Iraq and southern Lebanon that they are getting better at defending themselves. And we keep taking a bite out of the same rotten apple.

Reason 3: Our irrational support for undemocratic regimes and the hypocrisy we display to the world which in turn breeds mistrust and extremism. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan Egypt and Jordan are all either dictatorial or authoritarian in nature and most definitely un democratic. And the facts show that the 9-11 highjackers came from Saudi Arabia and Jordan and Osamma Bin laden is now comfortably tucked away in Pakistan. But we tend to focus all of our energy on Iran and Syria neither of which is now or have ever been a threat to the US.

Reason 4: Our support for Israel, which I have a hard time calling a democracy ( how can a democracy exist when it is also called an exclusively Jewish State), is weakening our country because we spend massive amounts of support to prop it up and we get absolutely no pay back except a continual state of war. The only reasons, that we give all these billions of dollars to Israel, that I can think of is that most of the money they get from us goes directly into the pockets of the purveyors of our military industrial complex and the fact that the Israel Lobby gives so much support to the politicians in Washington DC. I ask you Senator Warner; is it wise to let a foreign government have so much control in the halls of Congress?

Israel was created with the overwhelming military support of a few western countries and it continues to ignore many UN resolutions and expand its colonial outposts in the West Bank. It pulled out of Gaza because it has created a de-facto prison there and routinely sends Palestinians from the West Bank that “misbehave” to do time behind the concrete walls and razor wire that encircles The Gaza Strip. Hamas has stated that it is prepared to recognize Israel if it is defined dy the pre 1967 borders which are also delineated by a UN resolution. Is Israel prepared to also recognize Palestine when its leaders have proclaimed that” Palestinians don’t exist and are akin to cock roaches”.When the Palestinians elected Hamas to lead its aspirations at statehood it represented a referendum and proves that they feel ,at the very least repressed at, and want strong leadership to guide them forward.

I hope that instead of constantly waving our finger at the Arabs and Persians and chastising them that we can learn about them and experience their rich culture and history. We live in an anything goes Liberal Democracy where wealth generation and share holder accountability have supplanted morals, decency, and respect of our fellow man at the top of the list of our daily personal goals. And as a Country and as individuals we need to reassess and reflect to create a more positive and peaceful future for the people of planet Earth. Because we have that power and if we look around the world we see the negative environmental effects of all this share holder accountability and wealth generation. Don’t get me wrong because I am not against the generation of wealth but at this point in time the wealth is being concentrated in the upper classes while the middle and lower classes are being left behind to work more and more hours for less and less pay.

I hope that America and the west in general is able to chart a course into the future which will lead us to a point where we can actually “ win the hearts and minds of the people in the Middle East. Our present policy, I fear, is a dead end because the aggression we exhibit is creating polarization and extremism. I wonder how many Hezbollah recruits signed up for active duty when they found out about the rush shipment of bunker busting depleted uranium bombs that where sent air-mail to Israel 2 weeks into the most recent conflict in Lebanon?

Sincerely and With Ultimate Respect,

Donald MacRae Brown

My Social Life

One thing very nice about having shops close by where I buy my produce, bread, meat and etc. is that I can shop for what I need for just a day or two. So I get to often see Tere from who I buy produce, ands who is very talkative and inquisitive as to matters of my life. I also stop daily at the bakery where the folks are very nice.

Today I learned that Tere has two children and a brother and sister that live with her in the same building in which her shop occupies the front room. When I told Tere that it looks like I may be able to rent the house a block down from her shop she insisted that I invite her over to look at the house, so I told her I would invite her and her family over for dinner.

To give you and idea as to the cost of produce, today I bought a large cantaloupe, a green pepper, and a couple pounds of carrots for $23 pesos, or about $2 US. Also today the itinerant juice orange vendor, who pushes a large basket on a cart around the neighborhood, stopped at the front gate of the dog pound and I bought thirty oranges for $17.50 pesos, about $1.60. Thirty oranges will provide me a large glass of juice each morning for a week.

So, as you can see, shopping comprises my social life.

I May Have Found A Home

The prospect that I may soon be leaving the dog pound is looking favorable. Today Rosie left the gate open and I took the opportunity to escape to go buy a telephone card, which one slides into the ubiquitous public telephones, and called the number on the banner advertising a house around the corner for rent. Here when one is selling or renting a property a large banner advertising such is usually posted on the property.

I spoke to Leonora, who as it turns out is a realtor, who informed me the rent is $2500 pesos per month, or about $230. US dollars at todayÂ’s exchange rate, and that the house has six bedrooms. Leonora told me she would meet me at the house in 30 minutes.

When she opened the front door I was stunned. Entering the house, which from the exterior looks plain and relatively small, one climbs six or eights steps and emerges into a front room that is perhaps 15Â’ x 20Â’. The front room opens into a court yard surrounded by about six doors into various rooms, with a walkway around the perimeter and walkways in the shape of an X from corner to corner. Within the blank spaces of the X are triangular garden beds. Through one room off the courtyard is a large workshop in which the owner has woodworking shop and off the shop is a laundry room, off of which is another patio. The kitchen is large enough for a good sized table. In short it is the house of my dreams, though there is no garage; and itÂ’s in the same neighborhood so I can continue to trade with the folks I have found with whom I like to trade, including the bar I went to for the first time a couple days ago where the beers are only $12 pesos.

The owner is a choir director moving to Mexico City, and at present there are a piano, a small harp, congas, and bongos in the house.

Leonora indicated that she thinks there will be no problem but she must check with the owner who returns from Mexico City Tuesday. IÂ’m holding my breath until next Thursday when I will call Leonora again. If it works out, and after I get a few furnishings, the welcome mat will be out.

Expo Flor Xalapa 2006

Today in el Parque Juarez the Expo Flor Xalapa 2006 opened. As you can see in the picture at right, today there was an orchestra playing.









There are a number of vendor booths set up and selling flowers and plants of all types. You can see in the photo at left a display of Plantas Carnivores, amongst which the only one I recognized is the Venus Flytrap.



There were lots of Orchids, cacti, African Violets, ferns, and al sorts of other plants of which I don't know the names.

Somewhere I seem t remember reading that of all the plant species found in Mexico, sixty percent are found in Veracruz state. I haven't been able to find the fact in a quick internet search and it's time for me to head to Dancing in the Rain so I'll leave you with my always dubious recollection.

At any rate the park was busy today.

Waterboarding

With all the talk in the media and on Capitol Hill about torture lately you’ve probably heard of “waterboarding”. I have but had no idea waht it really involved. David Corn, one of the few courageous journalists left, has photos from the museum at the “Tuol Sleng Prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia”.

An American In Paris

The Wednesday offering in the musical comedy series was An American in Paris, starring Gene Kelly and "introducing" Leslie Carson.

It, I think, was very well done, with lots of what you'd expect in a musical - singing, dancing and the obligatory romance, in this case involving Kelly and Caron. The music was composed by the Gershwin brothers. Leslie Caron was quite the ballerina and Gene Kelly was quite the crooner. There was a very long dance segment toward the end of the movie to the song An American in Paris, involving a number different sets and of outfit changes for Caron and Kelly, and which was a product of KellyÂ’s imagination, after learning that Caron was to marry another man the next day. At the end, predictably, Caron returns to Kelly, her true love.

There was also a very cute segment with Kelly and a bunch of supposedly French children, who all spoke English without an accent. Kelly played a serviceman who stayed in Paris following the Big One to paint and theneighborhoodd kids all liked him as he gave them American bubblegum. The kids swarmed him one afternoon as he returned to his room and asked for gum. He responded “tomorrow”, so the kids asked him top speak English and he began pointing at things and pronouncing their English names. Soon he broke into I Got Rhythm and had the kids pronouncing the “I got” part of the line.

Most of the movies in the series IÂ’ve attended in this series were produced by Lowes to supply their theaters, back in the days when theater chains produced movies and/or owned studios.

I learned to night that the Cine Club de la UV presents movies on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays all year around, though don't know what's in store after tomorrow evening.

Another Reason To Not Shop At 7-Eleven

7-Eleven is not renewing its twenty year contract with Venezuelan owned Citgo because Chavez has been mean to Incurious George.

Lieberman - Clueless or Lying?

Is Sen. Joseph Lieberman clueless or just a big liar like Dick Cheney? This is a really astounding assertion that everyone except Dick Cheney long ago gave up on.

"Are there terrorists in Iraq? Of course there are. That's a reason we went in,"

Just for the record the only terrorist groups in Iraq prior to the USA invasion was a group on the Iranian border the USA government funded to harass Iran and in the Kurish area within the "no fly" zone controlled by the USA and Great Britian.

Nothing would please me more in the coming election season than to see both George Allen, who's flaming out spectacularly, and Lieberman, who descended to having to run as an independent, sent packing from the US Senate.

I hope everyone is enjoying George Allen's attempts to defend himself against very credible charges that he is a racist and to explain his lying about his Jewish heritage. His opponent, Ret. Admiral James Webb is running a great campaign and has great credentials.

Rooster Crowing and Zoning

As one who spent a twenty five year career enforcing zoning regulations, and during whose career had occasion to order chickens and a pig removed from residentially zoned areas, I think there is something really nice about being awakened by a crowing rooster while living in the middle of a city. In fact I even found charming the pig, the really cute piglets and the chickens in the back yard of the home where I once stayed in Cuba.

Zoning is most often used in the USA as a means of exclusion, much as regulations requiring the licensing of professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, and massage “therapists”, for instance, are used to restrain the trade in such practices. USA zoning regulations exist, I hasten to add, at the behest of the populace, just as professional licensing regulations exist at the behest of the practitioners of such professions.

Zoning regulations in the USA, separating land use districts, are only practicable as it is a nation of drivers. Here most people don’t own vehicles, consequently there are shops in just about every block. Within the block where I live, for instance, there is an internet café; a shop that sells wrestling masks and videos (by the way, there is a “professional” wrestling rink here, the matches in which, for the record, I have not attended); a panaderia where I buy bread (since I don’t have an oven) the aromas of which can be detected a half block away; a meat market where they cut meat and grind hamburger to order; a produce market Tere, a wonderfully gregarious person, operates out of the front room of her home; an office that does typing; and a gym. And this is a fairly typical block. Around the corner there a couple of tiendas that sell miscellaneous goods, two pastelerias, that also emit pleasant aromas, another internet café, and etc. There is even a Chedraui’s in Centro within easy walking distance of the dog pound, as well as smaller stores selling just about everything imaginable.

Summer Stock

Summer Stock, last night’s Cine Club de la UV offering in its musical comedy series, was actually quite enjoyable. Judy Garland could really belt out a tune, and could match Gene Kelly tap for tap. Phil Sivers (whom to me will always be Sgt. Bilko) was cast to type.

The show actually had a plot, and, of course, the obligatory romance, in this case between Garland and Kelly. There was also a great solo tap dance routine by Kelly during which he shuffle danced upon and repeatedly tore in half with his feet a full sheet of newspaper laying on the stage.

Tomorrow night it’s An American in Paris.

Casablanca

Is there a movie from which there has come more enduringly oft quoted lines than Casablanca? I bought a “clone” copy of the movie yesterday for $15 pesos and, though the video is herky-jerky, I’ve watched it twice since.

Amongst the famous line that one still hears I found:

“Round up the usual suspects.”

“Here’s looking at you kid.”

“Play it again Sam.”

“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

“I’m shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.”

Perhaps I missed a few.

Multiple Sclerosis

I wish to note that within the panoply of human diseases I think that there are few as cruel as is multiple sclerosis, as it usually strikes the young and often leads to a progressive wasting away ending in a too early demise.

Ziegfeld Follies

Friday night’s offering in the Cine Club de la UV was Zeigfeld Flollies, a lush 1945 production directed by Vincente Minelli. The film, which I woudn’t go out of my way to watch again but stayed through the end, consists of vignettes by each of its stars, and there are many whose names I recognize. Alphabetically, the film stars Fred Astair, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathyrn Grason, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, Red Skelton, Ester Williams, and William Powell as Ziegfeld in heaven, with appearances also by William Frawley (whom you might remember from the Lucy show) and a Keenan Wynn.

Most of the vignettes were staged on elaborate sets including a really spectacular underwater set in which Ester Williams performed a ballet. Melton and Bremer sang Traviata, a young Judy Garland belted out a song in a pretty silly situation, Astair and Kelly did a really nice tap dance duet, Lena Horne sang in a roadhouse I imagine one might find in rural Louisiana. Lucille Ball did nothing except sashay around the set wielding a whip on a chorus line dressed as cats, the Red Skelton vignette was a waste, and the Fanny Brice skit was pathetic as was that of Keenan Wynn. There was also a bizzare Astair/Bremer segment set in China Town in which they were made up to appear Asian, Bremer somewhat convincingly and Astair not in the least, as you can imagine with that chin and nose of his. Their dance routine, it seems to me, could have been performed in any setting which makes the Asian make up all the more inexplicable.

The theater in which the films are shown is small, with about 150 seats and a low, shallow wooden floored stage. The building in which the theater is located, however, is a spectacular three story colonial edifice, with a central atrium, which houses university administrative offices and is only a ten minute walk from the dog shelter.

Monday’s offering is the 1950 film, Summer Stock starring Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, and Gloria Dehaven.

The Daily Howl

Just about everyday, when an ambulance passes with its siren wailing, the dogs here in the dog shelter begin howling, in a wave that begins with a solo and ends in a chorus. It’s actually quite entertaining.

The Iraq War Breeds Terrorism - Duh

Let’s hear a great big Duuuuuh. The 16 intelligence agencies of the USA government report, in an April “National Intelligence Estimate” that the invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped to increase the numbers of radical Islamic terrorists.

Let’s once again give a great big atta boy/girl to Incurious George, Darth Cheney, Unknowable Rumsfeld, all of the other administration neofascists, and all those dumb asses who voted to reelect the pack of hubris infected running dogs.

Why may one obtain a tourist visa to visit Mexico, or Cuba for that matter, on the airplane in route, while Mexicans are generally unable to obtain a tourist visa to visit the USA? Duh.

And why in the world do we call them "intelligence agencies"?

Rotting Fruit and "Immigration Reform"

I have read a number of reports similar to this one. Fruit is rotting on the trees as there are not enough pickers and the USA is building walls and making it more difficult for law abiding, willing workers to enter the country. It makes no sense, other than it’s an election year and as with every election for the last 20 or so years the republicans are throwing “immigration reform” to their bigot base to “energize” them.

It really is sickening but that’s how, with a largely uniformed, disinterested electorate, the USA political system works.

Complaining About The Heat

Lots of folks I’ve spoken with the last few days have commented as to how hot it is. Right now it is 75 F, clear, and 53% humidity. The forecasted high was 81. On the other hand, it is 99 F in Merida right now and feels like 110. The low forecasted for tonight in Merida is 73.

So after living in Merida for eleven months I assure folks here that I am not hot when they ask.

Gold Diggers of 1935

I forgot to post this yesterday.

The Wednesday evening offering in the U of V film school musical comedy series was a low budget production of an even sillier story than was told in Gold Diggers of 1933. Other than Dick Powel, I recognized none of the names of the stars.

Providentially I was spared the indignity of suffering through the entire rendering as two thirds of the way through the power went out in the theater. Though the outage was brief I took the opportunity to make an exit, headed up Calle Revolucion, and bought a chocolate chip ice cream cone for the walk home.

Friday evening’s offer of Ziegfeld Follies, with a truly all-star cast, looks more promising.

That Whacky Pope Benedict

I see the Pope is at it again, quoting the bigoted remarks of a fourteenth century emperor who is reported to have said "it's only just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman. Such his commands are spread by the sword, the faith, he preached." No better source than the Dark Ages for material for a speech.

Aside from the fact that it takes a lot of nerve for the Pope, or any other Christian for that matter, to criticize Muslims for spreading their faith "by the sword." I trust I needn't cite examples of Christian butchery aimed at cleansing the world, or one's town, of those of other faiths. Often those cleansed were simply of a differing Christian faith than that at the time which prevailed.

Last May that whacky Pope, in delivering some very inexplicable remarks at Auschwitz in which he attributed the Holocaust to a few bad apples, beseeched God as to why the Lord had not sent the Catholic church some sort of message that the extermination of the Jews was wrong. The Church may have not received any word from God of the atrocities but they certainly received lots of words from good Catholics as to what was occurring in Germany and its occupied territories. The fact is that, to the Pope at the time, as long as Hitler was fighting the Godless Communists in Russia, extermination of European Jews was just fine. In fact the Catholic Church didn't simply overlook the Holocaust, it abetted the butchery.

Pope Benedict isn't all bad though, he provides lots of material for likes Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

More Public Art

Shoe Shine $15 Pesos

There are in Parque Enriquez fifteen or twenty shoeshine stations staffed by shiners of all ages, who provide a first rate shine for $15 pesos.

The shiners first scrub the shoes with soap, thoroughly dry them, paint them with dye which they brush when dried, add three or four applications of polish, buff with the clasic snapping cloth action, and finally they paint the edges of the soles.

A couple of weeks ago I sat down in the chair of the older gentleman at the right wearing my favorite pair of walking boots, which I have had for over ten years and which were resoled once by Dave the Cobbler in Seattle. I retrieved the boots during my recent trip North.

Before leaving the Satsop Valley I had been using the boots for working around the place and had not cleaned and greased them before I left. So when I sat down in the older fellow’s chair the leather was in pretty rough shape, very dry and faded. He handed me a copy of the Diario Xalapa and worked for about a half hour revitalizing my boots. I walked away with a nice shine. He asked for $15. pesos; but, since he worked so long on them and did such a nice job I gave him thirty.

While the gentleman was working my shoes over the younger fellow at the station next door looked on. Since that day each time I have passed both the older fellow and his younger neighbor have greeted me warmly.

I had decided during the last shine that I would have the younger fellow provide the next. Today I went for another shine and found the younger fellow’s station staffed by an even younger fellow, who was lounging in the chair awaiting a customer as I approached. He did a first rate job. Just look at that shine.

As you can see the chairs are covered with canopies provided by advertisers. With the passing of the elections the canopies advertising various political candidates have recently been replaced by a variety of others.

D. C. Corruption

Corruption in Washington D. C. has reached such an unprecedented level that the FBI has increased from one to three the number of squads assigned to investigate members of congress and their benefactors.

My Favorite Internet Cafe

A couple of weeks ago and internet café opened a couple of blocks from the dump. That in itself is completely unremarkable as there are internet cafes in almost every block.

This one, though, is now my regular. It, I assume, is run by members of a family as they are each endowed with the same nose. It must definitely be a dominate gene.

At any rate, upon my first visit, the day the opened, they dug a cable out of a bag and squeezed me in between a couple of desk tops. A couple of visits later I found they had installed another desk with no computer on it and they indicated that it was my place to sit. The cable was a bit short so I kind of squeezed whomever happened to be at the next desk. When I visited yesterday I found they had installed a longer cable to my little desk.

The folks here have been very kind to me from my first visit, always offering coffee or soda and asking if everything is OK. So I keep returning.

Rosie informed me today that a representative from TelMex called to inform her the company is running a special on internet service for $249. pesos per month for the first six months and asked me if I wanted to arrange for service. I didn’t tell her that I don’t plan on hanging around the dog shelter long enough to bother with securing internet service but thought it was nice she thought of me.

Until I get a different place to liveI’m sticking with the good folks here.

Expatriate Interviews

I was recently contacted by a person associated with the website Expatriate Interviews who had happened upon the blog. She asked if I would answer their interview questions. I asked that she send me the questions and I would take a look to see if I was interested.

She did, I did, and the interview is now available on line at http://expatinterviews.com/Chris-Brown.html.

Gold Diggers of 1933

Last evening I attended a University of Veracruz Film School showing of Gold Diggers of1933, a grand production of a rather silly story played out by an all-star cast. Amongst the actors’ names you may recognize are Dick Powell, Ginger Rogers, Joan Blondell , and Ruby Keeler. The musical is a part of the U of V’s month long presentation of classical musical movies produced from 1933 to 1952.

The story, set in New York City during the depression era in which it was produced, centers around a group of down and out show girls, a Broadway producer finding it difficult to secure financing for the production of his grand production idea, and an aspiring song writer. It just so happens that the showgirls’ apartment window looks into the window of an apartment occupied by Dick Powell, the aspiring song writer who sings his romantic compositions through his window to one of the showgirls (Ruby Keeler) to whom he’s taken a shine.

Powell’s character happens to be playing while the producer is explaining his grand production idea to the showgirls in their apartment. The producer likes what he hears, sends for Powell, and eventually enlists Powell to compose the music for his production. Powell also offers to finance the production. Only later, when Powell’s impending marriage to Ruby Keeler is publicized, do we learn that Powell is a trust fund scion of a prominent Boston family.

Upon learning of Powell’s planned nuptials his older brother, and trust fund administrator, travels to New York along with his, old, fat, pompous attorney to inform Powell and his intended that if they marry he will cut off Powell’s income. Upon entering the showgirls’ apartment, along with his attorney, Powell’s brother assumes another of the showgirls is his brother’s betrothed and explains that she will not be permitted to marry Dick Powell. After her repeated attempts to explain she was not whom he thought were interrupted, she and the other showgirl present decide to take the two pompous gentlemen for a ride, so to speak. The showgirls take gents out on the town and convince them to buy them expensive gifts.

By the time Powell’s brother is informed of his mistaken identity he has fallen for the showgirl he assumed was the betrothed, and his attorney has fallen for the other showgirl.

In the end the Broadway production is a great hit and Powell, his brother, and the attorney all marry their favored showgirls.

The show contains a great scene of a chorus line, of perhaps thirty or forty arrayed on a spiraling series of stairs and landing, playing fake violins and singing. At one point the scene goes dark except for the violins and bows that are outlined in neon light tubes. It was quite stunning.

In a bit of disunction at the end, the movie contains a production of the song “The Forgotten Man”, which asks what has become of the men that were sent off to fight WWI only to later suffer the depravities of the Great Depression. The production of the song including legions of soldiers marching in the rain, both fresh troops toward the front and a line of injured returning.

Xico

Having walked around Xalapa enough to gain a pretty good understanding of the interconnections of the arterial streets and where they head out of town, I decided it was time to venture a bit further afield. Additionally I had not driven my pickup since I arrived here August 20th and thought it should have a bit of exercise. I had been wanting to visit Xico, a small town not far from here, and yesterday being Sunday, providing the prospect that I would be able to find a parking space near the dump upon my return, I decided to take a drive.



I knew where to access the road to Coatapec, a city of a size between that of Xalapa and the town of Xico, and headed on my way. I hadn’t yet left Xalapa, however, before I strayed from the proper route, so spent a bit of time driving around a part of Xalapa I had not visited. I backtracked and returned to the old route which I had opted to take rather than the considerably faster highway. You know me.

The two lane road wended it way through the hills, passing quintas and ranchos growing coffee, bananas, citrus, and sugar cane. The road passed through a number of small communities and was often enveloped in a canopy of overhanging trees. It was a very tranquil 20 minute drive to Coatapec, pronounced Qwatapeck, by the way.

I entered Coatapec, following the sign to Xico, but soon strayed from the route and spent a bit of time driving the backs streets until I happened upon what looked like the proper route. Sure enough, in short order I came upon a sign ensuring me that I was heading to Xico, pronounced Heecoe. About ten minutes later, after passing mile upon mile of more coffee, banana, and orange plants and through a couple of small communities complete with the usual multiple speed bumps intended to slow traffic in populated areas, I arrived in Xico.

Traffic entering Xico was backed up quite a ways to a crawl as it was El Dia de Maria Magdalene and there were celebrations and parades impeding traffic. Being extremely devote I didn’t want to miss the celebrations. OK, you're right, I’m about as devout as a heathen can be. Speaking of such things, I didn't know until I watched The DiVinic Files the other night that Mary Magdalene wrote on of about sixty gospels that some politician decided should not be included in the New Testament, even though Mary was apparently referred to by many of her contemporaries as the apostle of the apostles and apparently had a sexual relationship with Jesus. But, then again, being a heathen I'm ignorant of such things.

At any rate I parked in Centro, watched a bunch of folks dressed in clown suits carrying a litter upon which road St. Mary Magdelen followed by a traditional Mexican band and lots of children parade up the main street, and then asked a fellow for a restaurant recommendation. He directed me three blocks down the main drag.

Walking to the restaurant I noticed quite a few horses either carrying their riders or parked riderless. I also noticed the remnants of considerable amounts of horse manure littering the cobblestone streets, which I found considerably more charming than I find the dog crap which litters Xalapa sidewalks.

I soon arrived at the Casa Xiqena, the recommended restaurant, which has been established in a beautiful colonial building. I opted for a table on the veranda where I could enjoy the flowers, that surrounded what I supposed used to be the back yard of the home, and the music provided by a fellow singing to his guitar accompaniment.

I felt obligated to order the mole chicken specialty of the house and a traditional Xico dish, which I accompanied with a Sol oscuro (dark) beer. Mole is a very rich, spicy sauce of unsweetened chocolate, chiles, and spices for which Xico is famed. Soon arrived a chicken breast and leg smoothered in thick dark brown, almost black, mole sauce, along with a large serving of rice and, of course, warm corn tortillos.

As I enjoyed my meal, and music, I noticed the management had posted its “mission statement” on the column adjacent to my table. The owner appeared to be an older very Caucasian looking fellow with a large white beard, who warmly greeted me with a "buenas tardes" and a pat on the shoulder as he passed by.

The pictures you see here are of the restaurant, taken from my chair. Check out the brickwork that fills in the guardrail along the edge of the veranda. I took more picture of Xico with my 35 mm which I will posted when developed. I have been using my 35 mm more and more as the resolution of large prints far exceeds that of photos from the digital and I am thinking that I may take to printing and framing my favorite photos.

Well, as it turns out I'll have to post the pictures another time as the Blogger upload feature is not working.

Here are a few shot of some public art in my neighborhood.

At left is a monument to mothers, in which is bronze woman is holding a child aloft.


So here's a bronze guy with his arm raise. I didn't read the plaque but it must be a monument to the workers of the world.

And how about that rock wall in the background? That baby's like 30 feet high of rock laid without mortar, though I'm pretty sure there's a concrete wall behind the rocks.









This is one of two identical fountains in the bicentennial Park which is a convenient short cut from the made drag trough Centro to near Los Lagos


Speaking of public art, I read in one of the local papers today that the film school at the University of Veracruz his hosting a film festival featuring musical comedies and will show six over the next two weeks ranging in vintage from 1933 to 1950. Admission is free.

Richard Armitage and Robert Novak

Why did Richard Armitage, who we have learned was the first to “out” Valerie Plame, go to Robert Novak with the information?

I suspect because Robert Novak has been a chief republican media whore for almost his entire “journalism” career.

Grupos Religiosos Radicals

According to Diario Xalapa there are some folks here, characterized by the Diario of representing “grupos religiosos radicals”, who are objecting to the fact that the biology text book for junior high school aged students includes a discussion of the human reproductive system, as well as pregnancy and STD avoidance.

I am at a complete loss to understand why the radical religious folks object to including “sex education” in the school curriculum, particularly at a time when the students’ hormones are on the move. Is it because if kids aren’t taught how to avoid becoming pregnant then there will be that many more sheep in the flock to support the shepherd? Additionally, if one limits the breadth of a child’s education, maintaining ignorance as it were, then that child is probably going to be less likely to question that which the shepherd preaches.

As far as I understand the radical religious whacko argument, it is that learning about reproduction etc. will encourage them to have sex. Duh, when do the whackos think that adults telling children not to do something no longer encouraged those children to go try it?

Mes de Patria

September in Mexico is the Mes de Patria, September 16th being independence day. The streets and buildings of Xalapa, and other Mexican cities and towns I assume, are festooned with the red, green, and white colors of the flag, actual flags of all sizes are posted everywhere, and many folks are wearing Mexican flag T-shirts.

Rosie has even posted little Mexican flags along each side of the passageway separating the two buildings that comprise the apartment complex/dog shelter.

The Wobblies Rise Again

I read yesterday that Starbucks’ employees in New York City are represented by the IWW and that Starbucks’ employees in Chicago have notified the company of their intent to seek IWW representation. You know me, I think that is really cool. “Solidarity Forever” in “One Big Union.”

Purposeful Walking

You may remember that last March I reported that a Diario de Yucatan photographer, in the paper’s continuing campaign to shame city authorities into repairing pedestrian hazards, had caught me in mid-stride stepping over such a hazard and that the picture subsequently appeared in the newspaper.

I had commented that one of the things I like about Merida, and Mexico in general, is that one is responsible to watch where one walks. Folks who fall while walking don’t get paid by their local government, such as occurs in the USA, thanks to big hearted, small minded jurors. “Purposeful walking” is how I think Kat of KaTravels blog put it.

Here in Xalapa purposeful walking takes on a new meaning. While the sidewalks here are generally in good shape they are littered with dog crap hazards that require one’s attention. Often an earlier passerby wasn’t paying attention and thereafter has left skid marks a ways along the sidewalk in an effort to dislodge the offending material.

There are lots of dogs here, which again leads me to ask what is it with folks who live in cities keeping dogs?

My Chairs

I’ve been meaning for some time to post a picture of these really cool chairs. The chair on the left I bought at a tourist shop at Parque Santa Ana in Merida for $500 pesos and the one on the left from a roadside vendor just outside of Campeche for $300. peosos.

The wood supporting the hammock, I think, is a type of Cedar. The chairs are quite comfortable, either with one’s feet on the floor or as a recliner with the feet up on a support.

The Birds of Parque Juarez

There is lots of public art in Xalapa so I have begun to make a point of photographing it as I happen upon it during my explorations.

Here are a number of birds that regularly inhabit El Parque Juarez, which I have mention a few times and which is the main downtown city park, flanked by the state and municipal government buildings.





The pink building you can see at left is El Palacio Municipal. City Hall, if you like.

The photo doesn't show it well but the blue bird further in the background at right has what I think are eggs in its mid-section cavity and one protruding from its hind end.



El Parque Juarez, particularly on weekend days is full of folks and vendors of every sort.


Today while I was sitting in the park resting from my daily explorations I was even approached by a woman who asked if I wanted to have my blood pressure checked. I responded "sure" and after she told me that my pressure is fine she asked for $10 pesos.

Also today there was a group of about eight or ten young folks with an assortment of drums hammering out some foot tapping rhythms.

Also today I notice that for the children one of the more entertaining features of the park is its flock of pigeons. The children delight in gathering the pigeons around by throwing feed and then rushing at the flock to send it aloft. The flock lifting off as a unit, I notice, is a bit frightening for the younger children.

The park is beautifully landscaped, affords great views of the mountains to the South and West, and is wonderful place to watch the people of Xalapa.

Vanity Fair Counts Soup on The Weekly Standard

This is a very creative, funny, and well deserved piece of mischief aimed at that neocon propaganda rag The Weekly Standard cooked up by the folks at Vanity Fair magazine.

I urge all of those with access to the magazines to participate.

I'm A Member of Betty's Video Club

OK. I have successfully fulfilled all of Betty’s Video Club requirements to become a renter in good standing.

My first selection was “Good Night and Good Luck”, a George Clooney project which recounts Edward R. Morrow and his staff at CBS taking on Joseph McCarthey. Being essentially ignorant of popular culture I had never heard of the film, even though it was nominated for multiple Oscars.

The movie begin and ends with Morrow telling one of those self-congratulatory assemblages of television industry folks that the TV medium was increasingly being transformed into a tool to entertain and placate the population rather than being used to inform the public of important issues and, thus, strengthen the republic. And that was in, like, 1958.

It’s a good movie which accurately tells the story of one of the many important parts of Morrow’s storied career. The film is shot in black and white, I suppose because the film includes lots of black and white news footage from the ‘50s.

More Government Paid "Journalists"

Here’s an example of why one should be very careful about believing what one is told about Cuba by the USA media, or anything else for that matter.

The Miami Herald reported last Friday that the USA government has been paying “journalists” to write negative “news” stories about Cuba. The Miami Herald has fired two employees and a free lance contributor.

Mas Los Lagos

Here's a shot of one of the many bridges spanning Los Lagos












This shot shows hot each stone in the curb and retaining wall flanking the walking paths has been carved to fitr its neighbors.











On of Los Lagos includes ducks which live in this colonial duck condo.











And here's one of the boys who had been riding the pedicycle down the hill when they spotted me later.

Trying To Rent A Video

Unlike my deluxe accommodations in Merida, the dump came essentially unfurnished, so I do not have a TV. I am, however, able to watch videos on my old Dell laptop with a 15 inch screen, which I plug into the mini sound system I bought in Merida.

Having watched each of my seven DVDs so many times that they hold no surprise, I went a couple of days ago to the video rental store on the corner and thought I’d rent a video. After confirming with the person staffing the place that the videos produced in the USA are in English with Spanish subtitles I began my perusal. I selected The DeVinci Code and laid it on the counter and pulled out my drivers license which is all that the video store in Merida required. After it was confirmed that I had never rented from the store previously I was informed that I would need a picture ID and “comprobante” of my residence, which is proof in the form of a utility bill. I thanked the attendant and left thinking that perhaps she could of explained the requirements before I began my perusal; but, hey, it’s not like I don’t have plenty of time.

Today I walked a few blocks down to another video store, this time equipped with a copy of an electric bill, thinking I’d be watching an unfamiliar video this evening. This time I was educated enough to ask what was required for me to rent a video. The three very pleasant young folks staffing the place informed me that, in addition to the ID and comprobante, I would need to provide the phone numbers of two references.

So here I am again watching An Evening With the Dixie Chicks, in which the Chicks perform the songs from their, at the time, recently released Home album. Some time ago I gushed here about the show. It truly is a beautiful piece of work and the Kodak Theater is stunningly beautiful. And, as I’ve also previously remarked here, I truly the admire the Chicks for speaking the truth about Bush.

As an aside, I notice in the two Dixie Chicks video I have that the audience is composed overwhelmingly of women, particularly young women, who know the words to all the songs and who grow particularly enthusiastic with the performance of “Good Bye Earl”, during which there is a shot of a guy in the audience who looks really uncomfortable.

I’m sitting here thinking about before I moved to Mexico and was trying, through email and the internet, to find a place to live in Merida. I was put in touch with Sr. Lopez, who ultimately became my landlord, by a very helpful office manager of a Merida realtor, which caters to gringos. I was able to rent my apartment simply by wiring Sr. Lopez the first month’s rent and a security deposit equal to a month’s rent.

Sr. Lopez required no references or anything else to rent his apartment to me sight unseen but here one needs references to rent a video. I’m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the stores’ requirements but damned I’d like to watch an unfamiliar video.

By the way, the day before I left Merida Sr. Lopez came to the apartment and very meticulously explained how he had arrived at the amount of rent refund he gave me. Additionally, I wanted to show him the lamp that broke when brushed off the nightstand by the wind blown curtain and the two pop rivets “securing” the hinge of the plastic bedroom door that had pulled out. He insisted that he needn’t look at anything, gave me back the entire security deposit, told me that he was sad to see me go, gave me a farewell hug, and told me that if I needed his help for anything to not hesitate to call or send an email message. .

Rarely in my life have I met persons so completely honorable and admirable as I consider Sr. Lopez. I consider myself to have been extremely fortunate in my life and my encounter with Sr. Lopez has reinforced such consideration.

Los Lagos

Yesterday I walked down the hill from the dump; through the Parque Juarez, the magnificent park that is flanked by the beautiful colonial state and municipal government buildings; down hill a few more blocks to the Los Lagos; and circumperambulated the entire complex. I suppose all told it amounted to perhaps a six kilometer walk, with the last kilometer or so of the return trip up the steep hill back to the apartment.

Los Lagos are three lakes, each successively a bit lower, which accept storm water runoff from a good portion of the city and which are circled by a paving stone walk of about fifteen feet wide, landscaped gardens between the path and the water, and more landscaped gardens which include large trees abutting the upland side of the path.

Amongst the large trees are a type of Cedar and a very strange tree I think is Pine, which resembles a cross between a Pine and a Monkey tree. The needles and bark look like Pine and the needles are in clusters that circle the ends of the branches, which are otherwise bare. They remind me of what are referred to as “poodle trees” in the area of the Olympic Peninsula where I lived for 30 years. The poodle trees are actually Cedar trees that have been denuded of their foliage except for the very top, thus resembling the tail of well groomed Poodle.

The lakes themselves are lined by black stone laid at a perhaps 45 degree slant landward, with thick mortar joints. The stone is no doubt some sort of volcanic rock as the Xalapa area was historically inundated with magma flows from the El Cobre de Perote, a slumbering volcano not far away whose square shape caused one of the Spanish Conquistadors to remark that it looked like Perote’s trunk. Perote being one of his fellow pillagers.

The paving stone walking path is flanked on the lakeside by a curb of perhaps a foot high and on the landward side by a retaining wall of perhaps two feet, both constructed of same stone which lines the lakes, with each stone carved to fit its neighboring stones and laid without mortar. Periodically the retaining wall is interrupted by a shallow alcove in which is a stone bench, complete with a back, constructed in the same manner as the curb and wall. It is all quite stunning.

Occasionally Los Lagos are crossed by traffic and pedestrian bridges constructed as a series of mortared stone arches with red brick lining the archways. Upon the hill flanking the east side of Los Lagos, which stretch for perhaps two kilometers on a NW to SE bearing, is a hospital, an athletic school, and a public gymnasium. The shallower hill on West side is lined with houses and apartments, many with stairs descending to the pathway, some of which are quite creatively constructed of stone slabs cantilevered out of the building foundation or native stone. One of the buildings is supported on and built right to the very edge of native stone which cantilevers above the walking path.

There are pedicycles parked along the pathway available for those who wish to peddle their way along. The group of five or six young fellows you see in the photo repeatedly pushed their conveyance up an inclined access to the pathway, all jumped aboard, and giggled their way on the ride back down the hill. One pedicycle was populated by eight or ten laughing girls peddling their way along shouting warnings to those ahead on the path. It was quite cute. A bit later in my walk the boys riding the pedicycle down the hill passed me in a car and hung out the windows shouting and waving, as they remembered me snapping photos of their ride.

If you’re ever in Xalapa make a point of spending a couple hours walking the Los Lagos trail.