Pedro Infante y Jorge Negrete

Daniel Hernandez

Some of you may know I have a long-standing crush on Mexico City, though I don't get to see her often. Former LA Weekly writer Daniel Hernandez does though. He's a young journalist in doing a book on youth culture in Mexico City. I love his amazing blog, Intersections.

Hernandez' picture above is from an anti-delinquent rally in Mexico City ("Be a Patriot, Kill 1 Delinquent" the sign reads). He also has some interesting posts on "Emo Riots" in the capital, and lots of other things you won't find on CNN.

Graciela Iturbide

There's a fascinating piece in the L.A. Times about an exhibit by Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide. Thanks to Tex(t)Mex for the tip. (Above, The Angel of Sonora, 1979.)

A student of photographer Manuel Álvarez Bravo and perhaps most famous for a prodigious, alluring body of work made over six years in the remote village of Juchitán in Oaxaca, Iturbide, 65, has had a prolific career and has shown all over the world. This month, however, marks her first museum exhibition in Los Angeles. "Danza de la Cabrita (The Goat's Dance)" at the Getty Center contains nearly 140 pieces highlighting Iturbide's work in Mexico and the U.S. -- and the line in the sand that attempts to separate the overlapping lives she's found there. "The Mexican and the American Mexican," says Iturbide, "are marginal people -- on both sides of that line.

"Her work expresses "the culture between the culture," says author Luis Rodriguez, who has also been pulled to the worlds that call to Iturbide -- Oaxaca and of course the East L.A. gangs he became famous for writing about in his memoir "Always Running." "It's the way I think of Mexico when I'm in Mexico City. You feel all the layers -- the ancient, the indigenous, the modern all coming together. Her photographs are borderless. Everything comes streaming over it. No border, no wall will stop that."

Guadalupe

"...one may no longer consider himself a Christian, but you cannot truly be considered a Mexican unless you believe in the Virgin of Guadalupe."

--Carlos Fuentes

[Art from Shana Brown.]

20,000 Mexicanos Desnudas

I never thought I would see even one Mexican nude in Mexico City's Zocalo. But here you go, today almost 20,000 stripped for the photographer Spencer Tunick. And right in front of the cathedral no less. ¡Que escandalo!

It's hard for me to see these photos and not think they were shot at some kind of mass human sacrifice or a genocide or something, but then again, I have a suspicious mind.

There's video here, and an article in English here.

By the way, according to some historians the Aztecs sacrificed 20,000 people a day for three days when the Temple Mayor, which stood at this very site, was dedicated around the year 1390.

Revolución de Amor

Often when I'm feeling a little down, I'll put some headphones on and listen to this album cranked up as loud as I can take it. It's by the Mexican rock group Maná and it's utterly brilliant. While it doesn't take my blues away, it always helps me to incorporate them back into the fullness of my life and regain my equilibrium. But you have to listen to it really loud.

I bought my copy of Revolución de Amor---obviously a bootleg---from a sullen teenager sitting on a blanket between the Catholic's Cathedrál and the Aztec's Templo Mayor in Mexico City's Zocalo, a space with some pretty significant spiritual energy flowing through it.

From the blanket next to where I bought the CD, there was an indigenous woman selling giant Incredible Hulk hands made out of lime green foam that you could wear as gloves and bap your friends with.

Later that afternoon, a couple of blocks up the street, I saw a group of prostitutes standing in lingerie and high heels on the sidewalk outside a strip club. They were smoking and chewing on one of these Hulk hands, spitting the little green pieces into the street with loud disgust.

¡VIVA MEXICO!

Crucifixion

Good Friday, 1987
Tarimburo, Michoacan, Mexico

Via Cruces

Good Friday, 1987
Tarimburo, Michoacan, Mexico

I ♥ DF

13 reasons why Mexico City is still my favourite city. (Ok, I'm not sure about the temazcal with a real shaman in W Hotel's "sleek, modern spa." But while the rest of this list from The New York Times is Condesa-heavy, it's still pretty cool.)

Fonda El Refugio

The food at Fonda El Refugio in Mexico City is so good it makes me cry. In 1987, I ate there with a certain New York City blogger every night for at least a week (or so it seems to me now). In 2003, I had the pleasure of taking Wendy there. The food was still great and we had the added bonus of watching a Mexican businessman order plate after plate of gusanos del maguey tacos (look it up) for a table full of groveling German investors. That was too much.

For more on the range of cuisines available in Mexico City see this article in the New York Times.

Guadalupe

From "The Warrior Queen: Encounters with a Latin Lady," by Luisah Teish in Goddess of the Americas.

"Then it begins again and She is there. Ave Maria Morena, the Virgin of Guadalupe. I talk to the Lady on the candle. Who are you today, Ms. Lupe? Shall I choose a green one for Tonantzin, the sustaining power of the Earth? I pick up the green candle and remember the coronation of la Morena. She was declared the 'Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas.' I recognize in Her Ala, the Igbo Earth Goddess; Asase Yaa, the Great Mother of Ghana; and Nana, Mother of All the Gods in the Kingdom of Dahomey. I take a moment to thank Her for welcoming my ancestors to these shores. I thank Her for the knowledge of the herbs of this land which the Native Americans shared with my people. And even now as I stand in the grocery store, I acknowledge that this little girl from Louisiana has found a place in Oakland, California. I am snug and safe in Her belly."

On Dec. 12, 1531, the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to an Aztec farmer in what is now Mexico City. She is both a cultural figure and a spiritual one, and is a presence in the lives of millions of Mexicans, Chicanos, Latin Americans, and others around the world. On this day, more than a million people make the pilgrimage to her temple in Mexico City. Perhaps one day I will too.

(Art from Serena Supplee, "Artist on the Colorado Plateau.")

Day of the Dead

Today is Day of the Dead, a celebration of ancestors by Mexicans, Native Americans, Chicanos and many other cultures. Although hyped up in North America, I don't think there's really any special hoodoo-voodoo about Day of the Dead that people should be afraid of. It's simply a day to lift up the living memory of your family members and friends who have passed on and to celebrate their ongoing presence with you throughout your life. It's a celebration that mocks death because death can never have the final word.

Someday I hope to be able to come up with a more complete list of my ancestors (especially those on my Mom's side), but these are some of my folks I am remembering today.

Presente:
Joey Andes (cousin) c. 1969-2007
Vaughn Procter II (Uncle Vaughn) c.1940-2004
Vaughn Proctor (grandfather) c.1920-2004
Antonia Gallegos (Gram Toni - grandmother) c.1909-2002
Beki Fuch (Aunt Beki) c.1947-2000
Beatrice Kadau (Bambea - grandmother) c. 1922-1977
Jack Kadau (step-grandfather) c.1912-1973
Rex Gallegos (dad) c.1938-1972
Laura Amadisto (grandmother's sister) c.1912-1962
Benjamin Gallegos (grandfather) c.1909-1959?
Rita Rivas (great grandmother) c. 1879-1958
Edward Amadisto (great grandfather) c. 1879-1952
Jim Maddox (great grandfater) c.?-1936
Amado Amadisto (great great grandfather) c.?-1916
Juana Portilla (great great grandmother) c.?-before 1909
Sosten Portilla (great great great grandfather) c.?
Colonel Juan Osuna (great great great great grandfather) c.?

Significant Others:
Donis Arias - died 2003
Louise Smith - died 2003
Danny Sepulveda - died 2001
Roger Bowen - died 1996
Ginny Earnest - died 1993
Ron Owens - died 1989
Claude Owens - died 1984
Raymond Beard - died 1972

Estrellas:
Alice Coltrane - died 2007
Elvin Jones - died 2004
Babatunde "Baba" Olatunji - died 2003
Cesar Chavez - died 1993
Miles Davis - died 1991
William Stringfellow - died 1985
Bob Marley - died 1981
Pablo Picasso - died 1973
Martin Luther King, Jr. - died 1968
John Coltrane - died 1968
Thomas Merton - died 1968
Albert Einstein - died 1955
Frida Kahlo - died 1954
Mahatma Gandhi - died 1948
Wassily Kadinsky - died 1944

Corrections and omissions welcome.

Torre Latinoamericana

Mexico City, 2003.

The Torre Latinoamericana is in the heart of Mexico City. I'm not sure when it was built, but it looks to be at least 40 years old, meaning it's withstood several big earthquakes. Still, I don't think I'll ever be taking a trip up to the observation deck. Note that unlike contemporary skyscrapers, it has windows which can be opened all the way up.

Thanks for indulging me as I take some of my snapshots from our trip to Mexico in 2003 and see what I can do to them using PhotoShop. I think I made some of them more interesting...but is it art?

Juiced

Mexico City, 2003

Mexico City, 2003

Dolor a la mexicana

Mexico is out of the World Cup...losing 2-1 in double overtime to Argentina. Either team could have won this match....unfortunately this time the ball bounced the wrong way. Aye, aye, aye.

Did I really need another album?

...in this case, I think I did.

Beautiful, emotional Huasteco music from the northeast of Mexico....Los Camperos de Valles, perfect for a quiet and lonely Sunday afternoon.

El ave de mi sonar
Nubarrones sin parar / veo venir en mi horizonte
y el ave de mi sonor / vuela perdida en el monte
y hasta mudo en su nidal / sin cantar esta el cenzontle.

I see endless, immense clouds / Approaching on my horizon
And the bird of my dreams / Flies lost in the jungle
Silent in its nest / The mockingbird is without a song.

Cinco de Mayo burrito bash

I originally thought that this blog would have a food theme, hence the "Soulfood." It hasn't turned out that way. I'm not sure what happened....oh yeah..there's that cute baby....

Anyway, we had Tim & Michelle over last might for a mighty burrito feast. As usual, I made WAY TOO MUCH food. We will be eating burritos for months.

Being Cinco de Mayo, the evening was capped off with tequila shots and loud shouts of "Viva Mexico! Hijos de la Chingada!*" Then I realized that everyone was staring at me and wondering what the heck I was yelling about.

Being Cinco de Mayo, we also enjoyed a long call with Cousin Geoffrey in South Korea. It was a sleepy one (his early morning, our late evening), but extremely edifying. Unfortunately, we did miss his birthday, since it was already May 6 in his time zone.

I was up with Amado around 5:00 this morning and I am still quite sleepy. I am trying to solve that by listening to Jethro Tull's Bursting Out album as loud as I can take it in my headphones. That oughta help.

Also, after reading Katie's blog this morning I am also thinking about which horse I would bet on in today's Kentucky Derby if I were a betting man (which I'm not...the last thing I think I bet on was USC vs. Ohio State in the 1975 or 1976 Rose Bowl. I was in junior high, the bet was for $1, and I lost big time). Anyway, just between you and me, I am picking "Barbero" to win the Derby today. I have no reason for this pick, just call it a hunch. MARK MY WORDS!

*See Octavio Paz's classic essay on this phrase, "The Sons of La Malinche," in The Labyrinth of Solitude.

Huitzilopochtli

I always found it interesting that the primary deity of the mighty Aztecs was a hummingbird. Certainly beautiful, but perhaps not the fear-inspiring god you might expect to have had thousands upon thousands of human sacrifices made to. I guess big surprises sometimes come in small packages.