preciosos momentos de guadalupe

She loves you thiiiiiis much! Seen at Cowtown Rodeo and Flea Market, Sharptown, NJ

Un Poquito Mas Tijuana

Had to get some gifts for the kiddies. Had ~2 hours. Saw these things.



Which is the real one?





New Age - New Wave, who gives a shit?



Why so pissed off looking? Because you haven't achieved enlightenment or because they have no Cars albums?




Mas.....

Burritos for the Deaf

Mrs Lex10 was on the phone with me the other day and had the TV on mute. She stopped in mid conversation and rewound the DVR. That is when she was sure she discovered the secret ingredient to burritos.

Incidentally, they're off the menu henceforth.

Frontera Violenta: El Todopoderoso

Mexcian Comic featuring loads o' whippin', punchin' & shootin' - brightly colored cactus drama with an dissapointingly Aryan protagonist.



Mira!

More TJ Images + Wallpapers

Here's the experience:
In the haze of hawkers offering me souvenirs, pimps waving me over from a block away, Indians following me with handfuls of massive wooden rosaries, more pimps offering to hook me up with massages, (One, a leathery American with peggy teeth, even suggesting I could get just a massage, no sex, thereby circumventing my wife's psychic ability to detect deviltry. I thought gee, great, now if I don't catch an STD, get my wallet stolen and my ass kicked that massage will be great! Luckily for the leathery gent there is no shortage of horny gullible morons.), Vicodin, free peeks into strip clubs, offers for taxis because I must have looked unable to raise my hand in the air for some reason, disgruntled but talented Mariachis and offers to buy absinthe at no savings that I then could not bring back to the U.S. I still managed to capture a few images that poked me in the eye as ironic or beautiful.

This was not Mexico as far as I could tell. This was madness.

Image from an Olive oil can in the Gigante Grocery. (Strangely an island of clean good smelling calm)

IMAGE ABOVE IS A LINK TO A WALLPAPER

Painting from the back of one of the many donkey carts (the donkeys are painted to look like zebras) that turistas can have their picture taken on:

IMAGE ABOVE IS A LINK TO A WALLPAPER

More dried fruit in the Dulces shop. Massive hunks of Calabash, squash, cactus, and more recognizable stuff:


A strange industrial-strength communication device whereby anyone on the street can call someone:


Lastly two images of the best souvenir in the universe:

Awesome Xmas Find: SANTA V. SATAN - Ole'

Saw this in Spanish years ago in the middle of the night, & wondered what the hell was going on. Ultra-compelling imagery - couldn't stop watching. We've talked about it every Christmas since. Now I'll be able to find out what's the deal.



Really wicked looking devil, machines with human lips, resourceful kids, and wild sets. I cannot friggin' wait!

Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5:
Part 666:
Part 7:
Part 8:
Part 9:

NEW VIDEO: La Virgen de Xtabay

Here's what I want to say about this:

I live near a flea market called Cowtown (Previous posts here, here and here) which also hosts from May-Sept the only regular rodeo in NJ, complete with PETA protesters, a Grand Parade, and 12-pack drinkin' divorcee' dads.

Anyway, Cowtown is a flea market on Tuesdays and Saturdays. On Saturdays, it's less of an antique/collectable venue and more of a crap/knockoff sale. There are a lot of Korean and Chinese vendors, but the most interesting are the Andean vendors. I say Andean because they can be from multiple locations in S.A., but they inevitably sell really rustic knitted gear, and handicrafts from that region (like pan pipes and bracelets that say stuff like "Quito"). On spring days Andean musicians will play, and the atmosphere becomes really prosaic, with catfish frying across from tacos mojados and boxes upon boxes of items that look like they came from a parallel universe.

Well, as it turns out, many of these vendors sell, by virtue of a common language to the Mexican members of the community, providing them with stuff they want, often emblazoned with the Virgin of Guadalupe - a potent symbol of Mexican faith & pride.

It was this juxtaposition of Andeans selling la Virgen on (sometimes really plush two-ply) blankets alongside their native designs that made me put this video together. Music is Yma Sumac's (herself a Peruvian) Voice of The Xtabay- a Yucatan legend. The stuff juxtaposes itself - no?

Enjoy.



UPDATE: English language bonus track below:
Kinda bogus, but go for it....