Columpio Sonoro / Sonorous Swing

"Esfuérzate, siempre y en todo, por obtener a la vez lo útil para los demás y lo agradable para ti mismo." G.I. Gurdjieff
Columpio Sonoro / Sonorous Swing by Vicente Rojo (Sculptor) 2005.

Vicente Rojo Almazán es un pintor y escultor mexicano, aunque nacido en 1932 en Barcelona, España, ciudad en la que hizo sus primeros estudios de escultura y cerámica.

En España hace sus primeros estudios de dibujo, cerámica y escultura en 1946 en la Escuela Elemental del Trabajo.

Llega a México en 1949, reclamado por su padre, el cual residía aquí como refugiado político desde el fin de la Guerra Civil Española.

Vicente Rojo es sobrino del general Rojo, el más acreditado jefe de las tropas de la Segunda República Española que se opusieron al golpe de estado protagonizado por el general Franco.

Trabajó en el suplemento México en la Cultura de la oficina de ediciones del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes; asimismo colabora con la Revista de la Universidad de México y la revista La cultura en México (1962-1974) de la Revista Siempre!.

Obtenida la nacionalidad mexicana, estudia pintura en la escuela de arte La Esmeralda y realiza durante estos más de cuarenta años una amplia obra en pintura, diseño gráfico y en fechas más recientes escultura.

Exponiendo en numerosas ocasiones en México y eln el extranjero a partir de 1958, en 1991 es galardonado con el Premio Nacional de Arte y el Premio México de Diseño, habiendo participado en el diseño gráfico de diversas publicaciones culturales como la Revista de Bellas Artes, la Revista de la Universidad, UNAM, Plural, México en el Arte y el periódico La Jornada, entre otros.

Cofundador en 1960 de la editorial Era, de la cual forma parte en el consejo editorial y como director de arte. Miembro de la llamada generación de la Ruptura, es una figura importante y destacada dentro de las artes estéticas de este país y su figura es altamente respetada por colegas y círculos intelectuales en general, siendo considerado uno de los artistas más importantes del abstraccionismo en México.

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Arboreus

Ahh, Happy Weekend!



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The Crossing

Crossing the street.
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Rural Scenes

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Nectar

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Shame

Without hope and asking God for help, education for their children, jobs, health care, security, services don’t provided by the Mexican State, but politicians and catholic hierarchy, they take care of themselves:

May 22, 2006 Issue
Copyright © 2009 The American Conservative.
While the country’s poor flee, Mexico’s elite take care of themselves.
By George W. Grayson
Mexico City—A watchword of Mexican politics is “Show me a politician who is poor and I will show you a poor politician.” In accord with this adage, many Mexican officials enjoy generous salaries and lavish fringe benefits. Even as they live princely lifestyles, they and their fellow elites pay little in taxes and refuse to spend sufficient money on education and health care to create opportunities in Mexico—a country that abounds in oil, natural gas, gold, beaches, fish, water, historic treasures, museums, industrial centers, and hard-working people. Rather than mobilizing these bountiful resources to uplift the poor, Mexico’s privileged class noisily demands that Uncle Sam open his border wider for the nation’s “have nots.”

Mexico’s establishment also keeps quiet about the salaries and benefits that its members receive. Private-sector executives are especially secretive. Thanks to Forbes magazine, however, we know that Mexico leads Latin America with ten billionaires, including telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helú, the world’s third richest person with $30 billion. And an increasing amount of data is available on the earnings of public officials. The numbers show that Mexico’s governing class is enriching itself at the country’s expense, with exorbitant salaries and bountiful perks. Remember, these are “official” figures. Most politicians have ingenious ways of fattening their bank accounts.

The salaries of top Mexican government officials match or exceed those of comparable figures in Europe and much of the rest of the world. President Vicente Fox ($236,693), for example, makes more than the leaders of the U.K. ($211,434), France ($95,658), Canada ($75,582), and most other industrialized countries (POTUS earns $400,000).

The 500 members of Mexico’s notoriously irresponsible Chamber of Deputies, which is in session only a few months a year, each made $148,000 last year in salary and bonuses—roughly on a par with Italian and Canadian legislators and substantially more than their counterparts in Germany ($105,000), France ($78,000), and Spain ($32,311), where living costs are markedly higher. Other legislators in Latin America receive substantially less; for example, those in Bolivia earn $28,000 for a four-month session. Legislators in the Dominican Republic take home $68,500 for six months of service.

Even better work, if you can get it, is to be found in the judicial branch of the Mexican federal government. In 2005, the 11 justices on the National Supreme Court of Justice—equivalent to the U.S. Supreme Court—received $311,759, compared to $194,200 for their American counterparts. (The U.S. Chief Justice earns $202,900.)

State-level Mexican officials are amply rewarded as well. Salaries and bonuses place the average compensation of Mexican governors at $125,759, which exceeds by almost $10,000 the mean paychecks of U.S. state executives ($115,778). Narciso Agúndez Montaño runs Baja California Sur. Although his state has only 424,041 residents, he earns $277,777. This is $100,000 more than the salary of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who governs 36,132,147 Californians.

And so on…

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Señora Ciclista / Lady Cyclist

Joy Laville. Painter, sculptor. 1923. Isle of Wight, England.
Señora Ciclista / Lady Cyclist. 2005.
From the exhibition on Paseo de la Reforma.
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Shadows of Molango

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Theme Day: Contrast

Rothko on The Beach.
Isla Mujeres [Women Island], Cancun. Mexico

Click Here To View Thumbnails For All Participants

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Where is my hand

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Sonorous Pencils / Lapices Sonoros

Lapices Sonoros / Sonorous Pencils. Painted steel by Brian Nissen. 2005. From the sculpture exhibition on Paseo de la Reforma (main street).
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NYC Series

B.B. King Blues Club on West 42 St.


NYPD

Sorry for post about NYC, but I couldn't resist, I'll try to continue this series of NYC and Washington on my other blog, hope you have the time to visit: Sketches of Cities.

Tomorrow more about magical Mexico.

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NYC Series

Freemans
End of Freeman Alley, New York, NY
This exceedingly low-profile restaurant materialized at the end of a nondescript Lower East Side alley unknown to even the most intrepid hipster. Persevere, and you'll discover a taxidermist's dream of a dining room, specialty cocktails, and a homespun American menu tinged with the occasional Anglo accent, like devils on horseback and summer pudding. If you don't feel like battling for a Rum Swizzle (Haitian rum, lime juice, syrup, bitters) during the raucous evening hours, order one (or two) on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, along with a bowl of stewed plums (with Greek yogurt and vanilla syrup), a slab of excellent wild-boar terrine, and a fat lamb-sausage patty served with watercress salad, two poached eggs, and thick slices of sourdough.
Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld. The New York Times.

Radegast Hall Biergarten
Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
Ivan Aohut, part of the team that turned Astoria's Bohemian Hall into a destination back in 2000 now partners with a couple of Czech friends and his wife Joanna, a private chef who cooks hearty dishes like roasted pork tenderloin topped with prunes and porter beer sauce and served with potato dumplings and red cabbage. Aohut, who built the outdoor bar at Bohemia, has built his solo venture to resemble a 1890s Austrio-Hungarian beer hall, with communal tables made from 150-year-old barn wood. The garden, where burgers and an array of wursts are grilled, will eventually have infrared heating under its retractable canopy. Free Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Brooklyn Street Art


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NYC Series

Bowery St in Chinatown

Catherine St at Madison St in Chinatown

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NYC Series

The Brooklyn Bridge and The Manhattan Bridge as background.


The Man of South Street.
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NYC Series / 1,000th Post

Union Square (In the background the Empire State Building)

Union Square is an important and historic intersection in New York City, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road now 4th Avenue, came together in the early 19th century; its name celebrates neither the federal union nor labor unions but rather denotes the fact that "here was the union of the two principal thoroughfares of the island" and the confluence of several trolley lines, as in the term "union station." Today it is bounded by 14th Street to the south, Union Square West on the west side, 17th Street on the north, and on the east Union Square East, which links together Broadway and Park Avenue South to Fourth Avenue and the continuation of Broadway. Union Square Park is under the aegis of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

Neighborhoods around the square are the Flatiron District to the north, Chelsea to the west, Greenwich Village to the south, and Gramercy to the east. Many buildings of The New School are near the square, as are several dormitories of New York University.
Wedding at The Cloisters

The Cloisters house the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of art and architecture from medieval Europe. Best known for the beautiful tapestries on display, the Cloisters also offer architectural installations, a series of special programs, and fantastic views of the Hudson.

"Located on four acres overlooking the Hudson River in northern Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park, the building incorporates elements from five medieval French cloisters--quadrangles enclosed by a roofed or vaulted passageway, or arcade--and from other monastic sites in southern France. Three of the cloisters reconstructed at the branch museum feature gardens planted according to horticultural information found in medieval treatises and poetry, garden documents and herbals, and medieval works of art, such as tapestries, stained-glass windows, and column capitals. Approximately five thousand works of art from medieval Europe, dating from about A.D. 800 with particular emphasis on the twelfth through fifteenth century, are exhibited in this unique and sympathetic context."

Today this blog celebrates 1,000th post. Thank you all for your support. Cheers!
Este blog celebra hoy el post No. 1 000. Gracias Mil por sus visitas y comentarios. Salud!

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NYC Series

A contortionist extraordinaire, Yogi Laser at South Street Seaport
Through proper exercise, breathing, relaxation, diet, positive thinking and meditation, Yogi Laser has created a lifestyle which allows him to perform advanced yoga as entertainment all over the world.

Internationally and nationally known as a yogi-contortionist extraordinaire, he wiggles and writhes his muscular physique into and out of seemingly impossible yoga postures.

The contortion act is a graphic visual of unimaginable physical possibilities exhibiting meditative concentration, flexibility, self awareness and inner strength.

Whatever you’re planning - Performance, Print ad, Film, Fitness shows, Fashion - Yogi Laser gives your project or event a brand new twist.

Tomorrow Sept 22th this blog celebrates 1,000th post. Thank you all for your support. Cheers!
Mañana Septiembre 22 este blog celebra el post No. 1000. Mil Gracias por sus visitas y comentarios. Salud!

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NYC Series

Times Square Scenes







Times Square is a major intersection in Manhattan, a borough of New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets. The Times Square area consists of the blocks between Sixth and Eighth Avenues from east to west, and West 40th and West 53rd Streets from south to north, making up the western part of the commercial area of Midtown Manhattan.

Formerly named Longacre Square, Times Square was renamed after the Times Building (now One Times Square) in April 1904. Times Square, sometimes known as the "Crossroads of the World," has achieved the status of an iconic world landmark and has become a symbol of New York City. Times Square is principally defined by its spectaculars, animated, digital advertisements.

The intersection of Broadway and 42nd Street, at the south-east corner of Times Square, is the Eastern Terminus of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across the United States of America.

On February 26, 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that traffic lanes along Broadway from 42nd Street to 47th Street will be de-mapped starting Memorial Day 2009 and transformed into pedestrian plazas until at least the end of the year as a trial program. The same will be done from 33rd to 35th Street as well. The goal is to ease traffic congestion throughout the Midtown grid. The results will be closely monitored to determine if the project works and should be extended beyond its trial period." Bloomberg also stated " he believes the street shutdown will make New York more livable by reducing pollution, cutting down on pedestrian accidents and helping traffic flow more smoothly." [Wiki]

Have a Great Weekend
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NYC Series

Scenes at The Met


The Metropolitan Museum of Art
5000 Years of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
Singers

Old Marketing

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Dia de la Independencia / Mexican Independence Day

On 16 September the entire country celebrates the day when in 1810 Mexico gained its independence from Spain. On the night before, 'El Grito' - a dramatic re-enactment of the revolutionary Father Hidalgo's call to his fellow Mexicans to join the uprising - takes place in city halls throughout the country. Mexican flags are seemingly on display everywhere you go and celebrations continue late into the night. On 16 September, military parades are held in most Mexican cities. It is a time of great national pride and a celebration of Mexico's cultural identity during which food, music and drink play an important part of the activities.

El proceso de la Independencia de México fue uno de los más largos de América Latina. La Nueva España permaneció bajo el control de la Corona por tres siglos. Sin embargo, a finales del siglo XVIII, ciertos cambios en la estructura social, económica y política de la colonia llevaron a una élite ilustrada de novohispanos a reflexionar acerca de su relación con España. Sin subestimar la influencia de la Ilustración, la Revolución Francesa ni la independencia de Estados Unidos, el hecho que llevó a la élite criolla a comenzar el movimiento emancipador fue la ocupación francesa de España, en 1808. Hay que recordar que en ese año, Carlos IV y Fernando VII abdicaron sucesivamente en favor de José Bonaparte, de modo que España quedó como una especie de protectorado francés.

El núcleo donde hubo de comenzar la guerra por la independencia fue Dolores, Guanajuato, luego que la conspiración de Querétaro fue descubierta. Aunque aquél 16 de septiembre de 1810 el cura Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla se lanzó a la guerra apoyado por una tropa de indígenas y campesinos, bajo el grito de "Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe, muerte al mal gobierno, abajo los gachupines", finalmente la revolución le llevó por otro camino y se convirtió en lo que fue: una guerra independentista.

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