The Magic of the Cities.

Zen promotes the rediscovery of the obvious, which is so often lost in its familiarity and simplicity. It sees the miraculous in the common and magic in our everyday surroundings. When we are not rushed, and our minds are unclouded by conceptualizations, a veil will sometimes drop, introducing the viewer to a world unseen since childhood. ~ John Greer

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Independence Day Parade / Desfile Día de la Independencia












The Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821) was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The Mexican War of Independence movement was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought independence from Spain. It started as an idealistic peasants' rebellion against their colonial masters, but finally ended as an unlikely alliance between Mexican ex-royalists and Mexican guerrilla insurgency.
It can be said that the struggle for Mexican independence dates back to the decades after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, when Martín Cortés, son of Hernán Cortés and La Malinche, led a revolt against the Spanish colonial government in order to eliminate privileges for the conquistadors.
After the abortive Conspiracy of the Machetes in 1799, the War of Independence led by the Mexican-born Spaniards became a reality. The movement for independence was far from gaining unanimous support among Mexicans, who became divided between independentists, autonomists and royalists. [Wiki]

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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Local News

Desfiladero
Aguafiestas patrias
Jaime Avilés
Q
ue durante las fiestas patrias los narcotraficantes sean sensatos y no ataquen al público, pidió un almirante en declaraciones a la prensa. Que pensándolo mejor nadie salga de su casa y las familias vean el Grito comiendo productos chatarra, aconsejó la televisión. Que no cunda el pánico, pues habrá 2 mil francotiradores en las azoteas más importantes del centro, avisó para tranquilizarnos la policía. Que vendan bebidas alcohólicas sólo en comederos y bares para gargantas de alto poder adquisitivo, le ordenó elgobierno federal al GDF. Que se diviertan mucho, nos desearon a coro todas las autoridades.
Por supuesto, en cuanto las tinieblas cayeron sobre el valle de México la histórica noche del 15 de septiembre de 2010, se vaciaron las calles. En las antenas de los coches no había, como otros años, banderitas tricolores. Los artesanos que las producen no vendieron casi ninguna. En los barrios, colonias y pueblos de la urbe estallaban apenas algunos cohetes (¿o eran balazos?). La gran ciudad, enlutada por la guerra que provocó Felipe Calderón, asistía al parecer a su propio velorio.
¿Y qué esperábamos? ¿Que la derecha gobernante celebrara con genuina alegría lo que más odia y lamenta, es decir, el estallido de la rebelión popular que en 1821 nos convirtió en país soberano e independiente de España y medio siglo después en Estado laico? ¿Que los restauradores del colonialismo ibérico, que puso en manos de Repsol nuestro petróleo y de Iberdrola nuestra energía eléctrica, exaltaran con gratitud la memoria de don Miguel Hidalgo? ¿Que lo veneraran quienes han establecido esta nueva teocracia que hoy permite a obispos y arzobispos dictar medidas de insalubridad pública a través de políticos fanatizados por dogmas religiosos?
No, la exhibición de carros alegóricos de Walt Disney, la letra de la balada más estúpida que alguien haya compuesto jamás en la historia de la música Shalalá, el futuro es milenario–, la quema de 17 mil petardos (uno por casi cada dos muertos de la guerra calderónica) y el desfile de los ejércitos que en otros siglos nos invadieron fue una revancha y una burla, una afrenta a los sentimientos más profundos del pueblo y una disculpa a las potencias contra las cuales nos hemos rebelado.
En medio de un clamoroso aislamiento diplomático –pues no vino a su fiesta ninguna figura relevante de la política internacional– Calderón despilfarró 3 mil millones de pesos en una puesta en escena que no vale nada en términos históricos o estéticos. ¿Cuánto costó en verdad la pachanga, cuánto desviaron los organizadores a sus cuentas bancarias inflando las facturas? Una vez más, el grueso del botín fue para Televisa y sus marionetas, es decir, para cebar a la teledictadura, como bien la llamó Andrés Manuel López Obrador en Tlatelolco. Sin embargo, el verdadero espíritu de quienes ahora también se robaron las fiestas patrias quedó de manifiesto en una carta y en una foto.
La foto es de principios del siglo XX, se la tomaron vestido de gala al general Victoriano Huerta, que derrocó y asesinó al presidente Francisco I. Madero en febrero de 1913, y fue estampada sobre pendones que el pasado miércoles adornaron la calle principal del centro de la ciudad de Querétaro, por deseo y capricho del presidente municipal panista, Francisco Domínguez Servién. Pese a que no existen vínculos entre el golpe de Estado de Huerta y el bicentenario del Grito de Dolores, El Yunque aprovechó la ocasión, a través de este alcalde, para rendir homenaje al odioso pelón como el héroe que realmente es para los talibanes del Bajío.
Hidalgo y el infierno
La carta, en cambio, es la que decretó la excomunión de don Miguel Hidalgo el 13 de octubre de 1810 y fue reproducida y distribuida la noche del miércoles en la Plaza de las Tres Culturas por cuatro círculos de reflexión del movimiento obradorista –San Simón Ticumac, Buzón Ciudadano, Camellón por la IV República y La Moderna–, quizá para desmentir al cardenal de Guadalajara, Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, quien asegura que el genial cura michoacano, taurino, rebelde y políglota, murió reconfortado con el auxilio espiritual de la Iglesia. He aquí una breve síntesis del texto de Pío VII, nomás para que ustedes juzguen...

La Jornada  18 Sep 2010.
“Por la autoridad de Dios Todopoderoso, el Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo, y de los santos cánones de la Inmaculada Virgen María [y de los] ángeles, arcángeles, tronos, dominios, papas, querubines y serafines, y de todos los santos patriarcas y profetas [y un larguísimo etcétera], lo excomulgamos y anatemizamos, y secuestramos de los umbrales de la iglesia del Dios omnipotente, para que pueda ser atormentado por eternos y tremendos sufrimientos...
“Que el Hijo, que sufrió por nosotros, lo maldiga. Que el Espíritu Santo que nos fue dado en nuestro bautizo lo maldiga [...] Que el Cristo de la Santa Virgen lo condene. Que todos los santos lo condenen. Que sea condenado donde quiera que esté, en la casa o en el campo; en los caminos o en las veredas; en las selvas o en el agua, o aún en la iglesia. Que sea maldito en el vivir y en el morir; en el comer y en el beber; en el ayuno o en la sed; en el dormitar o en el dormir o en la vigilia; estando de pie o sentado; acostado o andando; mingiendo o cancando, y en todas las sangrías.
Que sea maldito interior y exteriormente. Que sea maldito en su pelo. Que sea maldito en su cerebro. Que sea maldito en la corona de su cabeza y en sus sienes, en su frente y en sus oídos; y en sus cejas y en sus mejillas; en sus quijadas y en sus narices; en sus dientes anteriores y en sus molares; en sus labios y en su garganta; en sus hombros y en sus muñecas; en sus brazos, en sus manos y en sus dedos, y en todas las vísceras de su cuerpo. Que el Hijo del Dios viviente, con toda la gloria de su majestad, lo maldiga, y que el cielo con todos sus poderes se subleve contra él, lo maldiga y lo condene. Amén.
Al margen de tantos disparates perpetrados por la oligarquía y su jefe mínimo para despachar los trámites de este año, el Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía que dirige Marina Stavenhagen tuvo el acierto de promover la coproducción de cuatro películas, alusivas todas a nuestros estallidos sociales. Una, al de 1810(Hidalgo, la historia jamás contada, de Antonio Serrano); dos, al de 1910(Chico Grande, de Felipe Cazals, y El atentado, de Jorge Fons) y la cuarta, al de 2010 (El infierno, de Luis Estrada). De todas, ésta es sin duda la mejor. Con la penetrante ironía de Kusturica en Underground, Estrada explica el fenómeno de la violencia ligada al narcotráfico y muestra las ruinas físicas y morales del norte del país, destruido por la guerra calderónica.
Durante la proyección, la gente permanece electrizada y sale mentando madres contra el gobierno espurio, llena de angustia, de alarma y de urgencia por organizarse y actuar para detener esta debacle. ¿Quién dijo quehacer cine sobre el narcotráfico es reproducir la mierdaEl infierno, con las soberbias actuaciones de Joaquín Cosío, Damián Alcázar, Jorge Zárate, María Rojo y Ernesto Gómez Cruz, es una película extraordinaria. Ahora bien, si ustedes quieren reírse un poco más de nuestra pesadilla cotidiana, no se pierdan el espectáculo que Jesusa Rodríguez presenta hoy a las 19:00 y los próximos jueves, viernes y sábados a la misma hora en el museo Universum de la UNAM. Las crudas del bicentenario es una nueva joya del teatro de cabaret. Y si no, como dicen los columnistas que toman refresco sin hielo, al tiempo.
Desfiladero saluda el nacimiento de Lucio, que el pasado 11 de septiembre vino al mundo para transformarlo, y el cumpleaños número 25 de la abogada Christianne, que emergió de las entrañas de su madre el 19 de septiembre de 1985, dos horas después del terremoto. ¡Felicidades a todas y a todos! ¿Nos robaron el 15 y el 16 de septiembre? Pues alégrense. Ya es 18 y pronto será 23...
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Independence?

Independence Angel / Angel de la Independencia
Independence Heroes / Héroes de la Independencia

Independence?

Preparing the mediatic show for the celebration of the bicentennial of independence






In 2010 Mexico will celebrate its 200 years of Independence with national and local public events. The Bicentennial or Bicentenario actually takes in two celebrations: the first being the Bicentennial of two hundred years since Independence (1810) and the second the no less important Centennial of 100 years since Mexican Revolution of 1910.

Mexican Independence Day celebrates the events and people that eventually resulted in independence from Spain, the country that had control over the territory of New Spain, as it was also known then. Fueled by three centuries of oppresion and sparked by a call to revolt by the respected Catholic priest Hidalgo, the first call to arms was made in the village of Dolores, in the state of Guanajuato. The uprising pitted the poor indigenous indians and mixed mestizo groups against the priviledged classes of Spanish descent, and pushed them into a violent and bloody battle for freedom from Spain.

Mexico is facing - once again - one of those defining moments in its young and fledgling democracy. It wasn't that long ago, July 6, 2006 to be exact, that the Federal Electoral Institute in Mexico announced the final vote count in the presidential election, resulting in a narrow margin of 0.58 percentage points of victory for right wing Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (PAN). That same year the left wing PRD (Revolutionary Democratic Party) led by Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador took to the streets in massive protests demanding a vote by vote recount and accusing the whole world of being silent witnesses to a massive fraud and conspiracy.

The widespread expectations among Mexicans that a long-awaited democracy would solve the country's problems are now confronted with the reality of an institutional system that is not only broken and corrupt at its core, but that is consolidating its power with unnerving ease and at an alarmingly fast pace. (The Huffington Post)

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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The informal way of life in Mexico

Transport (at Zocalo)
Mexico upside down

The informal sector is economic activity that is neither taxed nor monitored by a government, and is not included in that government's Gross National Product (GNP), as opposed to a formal economy. Examples are barter and gift economy.
Although the informal economy is often associated with developing countries, where up to 60% of the labour force (with as much 40% of GDP) works, all economic systems contain an informal economy in some proportion. The term informal sector was used in many earlier studies, and has been mostly replaced in more recent studies which use the newer term.
The English idioms under the table and off the books typically refer to this type of economy. The term black market refers to a specific subset of the informal economy in which contraband is traded; where contraband may be strictly or informally defined.
Given the complexity of the phenomenon, the simplest definition of informal economic activity might be: any exchange of goods or services involving economic value in which the act escapes regulation of similar satchel acts.
In developing countries, the largest part of informal work, around 70%, is self-employed, in developed countries, wage employment predominates. The majority of informal economy workers are women. Policies and developments affecting the informal economy have thus a distinctly gendered effect.



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Monday, September 13, 2010

Art Lesson



Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do.  ~Edgar Degas

It is a mistake for a sculptor or a painter to speak or write very often about his job.  It releases tension needed for his work.  ~Henry Moore

An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them.  ~Andy Warhol

The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?  ~Pablo Picasso

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.  ~Pablo Picasso

A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.  ~Michelangelo

Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.  ~Leonardo da Vinci

I don't paint things.  I only paint the difference between things.  ~Henri Matisse

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.  ~Aristotle

The artist's world is limitless.  It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away.  It is always on his doorstep.  ~Paul Strand

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Saturday, September 11, 2010

Invasion

Please, don't invade my space,
I'm celebrating my independence,
see, not collar!

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Friday, September 10, 2010

Friday Moments

Flamingos.  Mexico City Zoo
Individual
At hand

Happy Friday!

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

Searching The Light

Illness is not cured by saying the word "medicine," but by taking medicine. 
Enlightenment is not achieved by repeating the word "God" but by directly experiencing God.

- Sankara

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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Man & Machine

A friend of mine once sent me a post card with a picture of the entire planet Earth taken from space. On the back it said, "Wish you were here."
Steven Wright
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Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Borda Garden II

Pretty Indian



Virgin Iron Sketch
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Sunday, September 5, 2010

The Borda Garden I




The Borda Garden is one of the most famous monuments in Cuernavaca, it was the residence of rich families since the colonial times, it was chosen by its location beside the Cathedral of Cuernavaca and by its main road (now Morelos Avenue); this road comes from Acapulco, crosses Cuernavaca, Mexico City and ends in Veracruz. 
By this road passed the richness the Nao of the Orient brought to New Spain and also was the residence where many famous travelers were lodged. Don Jose Borda was the builder of the residence, he also donated to Taxco the beautiful Santa Prisca church and its Parvis Square. Don Jose de la Borda used this residence such as rest home and rest of silver caravans that came from Taxco to Mexico City.

Manuel de la Borda, his son, was appointed priest and was the first person in charge of the Santa Prisca church, at the death of his father, he already lived in the residence. Don Manuel made the gardens that in that time was extended until the ravine. The gardens received the name of Botanical Gardens, by its varieties of fruit trees and ornamental plants that were brought from all over the world. The mangos were brought by the travelers priest that came from the Spanish Philippines.

In the same way Manuel built the fountains and the paths, and in 1783 he inaugurated the ornamental lake, to water the Botanic Gardens. Manuel de la Borda also built the Chapel of Guadalupe in 1784, near the gardens and the residence; this church originally had two beautiful towers. It was also famous by the books and articles that the important visitors who were lodged here, wrote about the same.
The residence never lost its attraction for the rich and important persons and in 1865 the Emperors Maximilian of Hapsburg and Carlota Amalia, chosen this place as their summer residence, and then it took again a category of simple elegance.

The Emperors offered spectacular Gala Receptions in the Gardens and in the ornamental lake. The rooms were decorated with luxury as the Chapel of Guadalupe; you can still see the personal shield of the Austria Emperors, in the reception room, the residence is know as "The Borda Gardens". Nowadays  the morelenses celebrate great receptions, popular feasts, cultural events among others. [Tour by Mexico.com]
Happy Sunday!

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Friday, September 3, 2010

Folkloric Dresses


Handcrafts Market in Cuernavaca,  near Mexico City
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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

September Theme Day: Open Air Market

San Lorenzo Market
Near Piazza del Duomo. Firenze


Florence (Italian: Firenze, alternative obsolete spelling: Fiorenza, Latin: Florentia) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 367,569 inhabitants (1,500,000 in the metropolitan area).
The city lies on the River Arno and is known for its history and its importance in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance, especially for its art and architecture. A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the richest and wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance; in fact, it has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. It was long under the de facto rule of the Medici family.


Click Here To View Thumbnails For All Participants.

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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Rural Church


Laïcité
In French, laïcité (pronounced [la.isiˈte]) is a concept of a secular society, connoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. During the twentieth century, it evolved to mean equal treatment of all religions, although a more restrictive interpretation of the term has developed since 2004. Dictionaries ordinarily translate laïcité as secularity or secularism (the latter being the political system), although it is sometimes rendered in English as "laicity" or "laicism".
In its strict and official acceptance, it is the principle of separation of church (or religion) and state. Etymologically, laïcité comes from the Greek λαϊκός (laïkós "of the people", "layman"). [Wiki]

Laicismo
Laicismo es la corriente de pensamiento, ideología, movimiento político, legislación o política de gobierno que defiende, favorece o impone la existencia de una sociedad organizada aconfesionalmente, es decir, de forma independiente, o en su caso ajena a las confesiones religiosas. Su ejemplo más representativo es el "Estado laico" o "no confesional". El término "laico" (del griego λαϊκός, laikós - "alguien del pueblo", de la raíz λαός, laós - "pueblo") aparece primeramente en un contexto cristiano.
El concepto de "Estado laico", opuesto al de "Estado confesional", surgió históricamente de la Separación Iglesia-Estado que tuvo lugar en Francia a finales del siglo XIX, aunque la separación entre las instituciones del estado y las iglesias u organizaciones religiosas se ha producido, en mayor o menor medida, en otros momentos y lugares, normalmente vinculada a la Ilustración y a la Revolución liberal.
Los laicistas consideran que su postura garantiza la libertad de conciencia además de la no imposición de las normas y valores morales particulares de ninguna religión o de la irreligión. El laicismo es distinto del anticlericalismo en cuanto no condena la existencia de dichos valores religiosos. [Wiki]

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Monday, August 30, 2010

Sunday Dancers


Ver. 2

Dance performers in the Rio de Janeiro Park
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