comment I am working here industrial esthetic preparing the ground for what is to come next page after page until dead space
My grandfather told me anytime anything goes wrong in your life
you can pick up your guitar and trouble will go away for a while.
Reproduction of art entails industrial esthetic. We write and then we publish.
and now there's inSite 05
agost-nov 2005
MI CASA SU CASA
CRITIQUE: is A++!!!
Okay it's been a couple days and now we are really
back really really back and settled in yes oh yes settling in to
hot days with cool nights California frontier autumn has begun at last at last at last.
But all is not well in lotus-land. The mythical island of California is burning again. Brushfires scatter around the state. One north of Los Angeles sounds particularly bad. Mikey and I wake up on the border worrying about Chris as we begin writing a cup of coffee. But he doesn't live in Topanga-Ventura. Maybe we will make eggs for breakfast. Don't go out to eat at little restaurant-stand where the owner speaks Aztec from the mountains of north Puebla. Save money now. Burn my fingers on the hotplate. Ooops. Not to worry he'll live until the next headache and then take asperin.
The trucks are backed up everywhere, even down to the boulevard and all along one side. We hear their horns blasting all yesterday morning. Go out for a walk and find a mile-long line all along Bellas Artes, back, back, back past Lopez Portillo — and this ain't the main line, no, this is merely overflow. The trucks howled all day yesterday and day before. Mexican newspapers scream U.S. customs is getting very strict this week. They claim no on radio, just normal, can't explain it, but now they are keeping the cargo gates open later than usual, long into the night "pulling out the stops". Hmmm. Sounds like they knew something was coming even not denial between the lines. Some balance. Trucks wait nine, ten hours in line. Reports of fistfights. Drivers quit. Hmmmmm. This is how the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper........
And the Chinese think they can just build a super-port 200 miles south and the trucks and trains shall simply swimmmmmmingly stream across the border? Ahem. Get a grip. If you build it they will come. And then we will have reallllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyy huge traffic jams. And more work. More work. More. Supposely a new Otay gate, Otay II, will be opened to connect to the new peripherical boulevard being built in a great loop all around the megalopolis of Teguax. Remains to be seen. Construction has been underway for more than five years now. The president occasionally comes to town to dedicate another new bridge.
The civilian "American vigilante" groups meanwhile are spottily patrolling the border, except more of them appear in the media than in reality. Who patrols the border of this page between you and me,
meanwhile
outside the computer
back in the real world, the "minutemen" has like two dozen head to patrol instead of two hundred. 24 vigilantes to watch the whole damn border. Moo. Hablo el buey y dijo mu. The steer spoke and only said moo. The "friends of the border patrol" has canceled/postponed their operations. Radio says tips from these groups has[have] led to the arrest of seven illegal immigrants since July. Wow. Seven. All of that. Almost as few as just you and me and all of these tens of thousands of words flowing by every two days no. Now it is late September. Viva Mexico. Viva America. Seven, yes, seven. That is all.
I have made the leap from every three days to every two. Been three or four times now I've written every two days. Blame Jeff in Florida. Heh. Doesn't mean I upload on time, no, gotta still work on that standing still yet is. Tomorrow I shoot for every day. Because I want to celebrate the new year. ON THE TWELFTH DAY OF AUTUMN sputnik launched and the space age began. Join me. In spirit if not flesh. Aye.
October 3, 1957: just another frontier in space and time. The beginning. This year there's an ecclipse. Uh huh.
Mientras tanto en la frontera mexicana on the Mexican border meanwhile
the dark vans loaded with dozens still hurtle through
U.S. night without headlights against
traffic backwards flow
on Freeway Eight
toward the linking roads that will lead
Oh, but just to get the perspective straight, we must remember there are tens upon hundreds even thousands upon tens of thousands of Mexicans who cross over WITH visas, WITH work permits, 100% LEGAL. For them the system opens arms, for them the bus lines and trains, for them all the benefits of good work and business, for you, for me, for all of us the great good wonderfull ness-ness of capitalism and our American dream el sueño americano oh yes. There is a dark side but there is a bright side too. That is the victory of superman of supermarket, truth justice and the Amer.I-can buey ain't no hay it's golden straw where the goose lay her egg okay. There is a dark side, yes, economic slavery of cheap-wage illegal immigrants, but this only because there be a shining light calling north to streak that shadow too. You, me, us, he, she, they. All one the Earth turns around and around day and night. Yes. Just don't think that we forget it one side for the other. No, my great great grandfather remind me where all come from yeah good business working economy trade.
Speaking which our new editor Thomas went with us to the inSite presentation night before last. I had thought maybe I should just stay home but then my better angel, i.e. Michael Arthur, dropped by with Thomas in tow and said get a load on, look, you already took a shower and did laundry just so you'd have clean pants and shirt and body and socks so let's go, okay?
So we went to the key exchange MI CASA ES SU CASA
It was delightful.
And no one asked me anything about Tom Delay....
I still wish we could've gone to the one Tuesday morning at the state prison in La Mesa. But Danny was still house-sitting with Mikey at his aunt's house and we couldn't get out of San Diego until late afternoon anyway but hey it turned out good because we went to the one at the ICBC and saw a bunch of people we have come to know through our six years living in Tijuana already and that was nice, yes, to see old faces. Ran into a couple of people we have seen at events here and there, one of them actually named Michael with was deja vu city to the max but good to finally shake his hand and exchange names he's a teacher and was asking questions about the art exhibit in the gallery at ICBC because the artist was also there night before last yes.
His name is Jonathan Tepperman and he's got an installation set up at the gallery space of ICBC. We almost went to the opening last August but, well, we don't remember why but we didn't. Should have. We see now that we should have. At least we had the opportunity night before last of seeing him at the inSite talk and talking with him and hearing him talk to a couple other people about various images included in his installation work.
But now we have changed the subject. Because Jonathan and Michael and me and everyone we were all there to see something else entirely: the inSite_05 presentation: MI CASA ES SU CASA.
and like much of insite, when it was good it was very very good and... well, it was good.
Tonight, Friday night at seven, there be an important event at the cafe comal (or is it called cafe amalia???) on or near calle Brasil street just on or near Ocampo (the directions on the radio confused us) off "the boulevard" in colonia cacho at seven pm (we got that part straight) until whenever generations of poets are gathering to read and perform oh yes we gots to go there yes but there is a conflict because NORTEC is presenting a great concert at Las Pulgas tonight but of course although the show starts at eight they won't start to play until ten or eleven or ?? there are two at least two djs whatever before them but this could be the scene of the century just the street outside will be unbelievable we'll go there after the poetry meeting probably
but first we want to attend the poetry encounter generations yet there be a second issue that we want put into text beyond the fantastic wealth of poets here in Tijuana, and this is the beautiful little neighborhood known as colonia Cacho.
Cacho is a little corner-valley just south of Agua Caliente Boulevard, close to downtown. It was developed (we think, not sure) in the 1920s and 1930s, very much in California style, with big family houses and yards and sidewalks and even palm trees. Into the 40s and 50s it remained the neighborhood of choice for the leading families of Tijuana, until, in the 60s and 70s and 80s, the middle-class and the rich and the nouveau riche began to move up onto the hills or out to the beaches.
Cacho never lost its cachet nor prestige but retained much of its older style and thus remains a delightful area to walk, both to gaze at the new and old houses and newer mansions, and then return to the cafes and stores and restaurants scattered along Brasil street and the boulevard. The quality of the sidewalks definitely enhances a strolling experience.
There are also a couple of galleries around there and we must beg your pardon that we do not know exactly where they are located. One of the more important is the gallery run by "the Germans" an attractive couple who have dedicated much time and space to presenting work by emerging and established Baja California artists. Their English and Spanish and German is excellent and clear, and their location (in a transformed house) is charming.
Cacho starts beyond the Tijuana tower park. Calle Brasil is the first street south (parallel to) the boulevard.
INSITE EVENT : mi casa es su casa
Paul Ramírez Jonas
Have you ever been to one of those boring slide presentations? Well forget it, this was a really interesting one.
Have you ever listened to someone talk and talk and talk and you fell asleep? Well, forget it, for this one you stay awake.
I am not sure what to say, how to quote him, when to start or where to stop.
The concept is fascinating, the work intriguing, and the presentation... entertaining.
This guy has brought forward the ancient campfire talk, the old magic lantern show, the gather round me children and you shall hear... this is nothing new, mind you, this "presentation" this "cart&pony show" this "talk" with image, not new, no, this is an ancient tradition, but this guy controls it like an old hand. He's good. No boring bla bla bla. No overkill of image. Just clean, straight, sharp.
This guy is a showman, but without showing off. This guy is a charmer, but he don't need no snake. Practically don't need no flute.
And his topic: the question of keys and locks and how we open and close our spaces to ourselves and to other people....
Except that even though he went into outer space at times, he simply did NOT babble on boring no not boring, not like some lunatic theorist of art and culture lost in abstract abstruse abullsht gesundheit. No. He could go way out there, yes, but his feet were always firmly on the ground and his eyes in your eyes and his word was true.
What did he do? He just showed pictures projected up on the big magic screen and talked about keys and locks and how we open and close our lives and doors. [click] Here is so and so. [click] Here is his keyring. [click] This is her key is for the front door. That key is for his mail box in the United States. This key is for her car. This is the mystery key he doesn't remember what for. We all have those, yes.
He opened up a space in your head and you could see. And ohmyGod yessss how we love it when people do that to these left and right brains.
And all the while telling just the littlest bits of information about the people and their lives that leave you hungry to know more, to see more, chewing gratefully on the very real food for thought, the very nutricious narrative fiber, the the the the fact that there are keys that open up the doors of our lives and then there are keys we don't even think about being keys. Like passports which are keys to other countries, no? Yes. Click click. Beep beep.
I told you I cannot do him justice. You'se gots to go see him yo'self.
Paul Ramírez Jonas will be presenting his talks again at
the Atheneum in La Jolla on 18 October 7:30 pm; the Tijuana River Reserve in Imperial Beach on 19 October 6:00 pm; the Woodbury School of Architecture San Diego 20 October TBA El Lugar del Nopal, Tijuana, 21 Octubre hora por confirmar You could do worse. Go. See.
and now for something completely different
FROM: poesia de Victor Soto poetry Los cómplices El sauce esconde a los amantes. Mi deseo se adhiere a las paredes, espejos y escaleras. Por callejones ciegos huyen los cómplices de la noche que deja el cadáver de un niño y ese llanto que va del vecindario hasta la puerta de Molino Rojo. Laura, tu madre busca su cuerpo y el tuyo entre los fantasmas del alcohol. Es hora de volver. The accomplices The willow tree hides the lovers. My desire is stuck to the walls, mirrors and stairs. Through narrow blind streets the accomplices flee from night that left the cadaver of a child and that cry that goes up from the neighborhood toward the door of Molino Rojo. Laura, your mother looks for her body and yours between the phantoms of alcohol. It is time to go back.
work continues on the translation project. I am preparing it for escritores tijuanenses.
copyright 2005 daniel charles thomas