My Grandpa

My Grandpa is 92 and still writes a daily trivia and advice column for the biggest Newspaper in Mexico.

He does this every day by hand and gives it to my grandma, who then types it up and E-mails it. Then, Grandpa gets fussy about e-mail until we receive the confirmation, at which time Grandpa starts research for the next day's column.

The financial crisis: It affects us all

I had a conversation with my parents recently that went something like this.

Blogging in Mexico Day 7

We left for the Zocalo on a beautiful day


On our way to the Zocalo we stopped at the oldest department store in Mexico, where we caught this cop goofing off


The restaurant inside was Pancho Villa's favorite


The nuns on the street were a good indication that we were going the right way


Though Shrek and Fiona were a bit disconcerting


Finally, we arrived


The cathedral of Mexico City served a dual purpose. Not only as a place of worship, but as a model to the native peoples of the glory that is Christianity, and the Spanish did not disappoint.



And like all good creepy vestiges of medieval Catholicism, they even had relics. Hands, skin and bones of various saints.


As always, a reminder of the dual nature of Mexico's culture is never too far off. These indigenous dancers were outside of the cathedral.


We then hoofed it back to the palace of fine arts (Bellas Artes), where we saw a few paintings by Diego Rivera



However, too much culture can be rough on people from L.A, so we ended our day with Anti-Culture


That's it for Mexico! Tomorrow I'll be back in LA, readying for the primaries, bitching about the strike, finding bizarre stuff on the web, and being my annoying old self... Thank god.

Blogging in Mexico Day 5 & 6

So day 5 was a horrible oopsie. I forgot my camera/phone. So all the pictures from the incredible and beautiful museum of Anthropology will have to wait. However, day 6 provided a ton of fun pictures from Chapultepec castle. The seat of government for Colonial viceroys from Spain, Mexican emperors, A military academy, Dictators, and now, a museum to be defiled by yours truly, and his three favorite cousins/rugrats.

Mario, Fernando, and Paula (My Cousins) climbing over the symbol of the grasshopper on a mountian, or in the Aztec language "Chapultepec"



Chapultepec Castle



A beautiful ceiling mural of a "Kid Hero" from the military academy who according to tradition, wrapped himself in the flag, and threw himself off the ramparts to avoid the flag's capture by encroaching American forces during the war with the U.S. (Note the American flag on the bottom right hand)



An incredible Mural Depicting the Spanish conquest where an eagle warrior is pierced by a spanish blade as he plunges his spear into the spaniards throat. In other words, the vile merciless Aztecs were conquered by the Vile merciless Spanish.



Some of the spanish Viceroys that ruled over "Nueva Espana" . Yeah, the first guys is an inbred cross-eyed goon.


Santa Ana's (Of Alamo Fame) Wooden Leg



After the castle , we went to a Oaxan Restaurant where my mom fed us all sweetbreads.


Then it was off once more to the plaza of the three cultures where you can see a colonial church that overlooks aztec ruins. under the shadow of Apartment buildings.



It was here that Fernando made a gruesome discovery
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By this time, the kids (and I) were getting slap happy, so we headed home as the sun set behind the Angel of Independence.

Blogging Xmas in Mexico Day 4 (Christmas Day)

25 Relatives
12 Hours
18 lbs of Turkey
10 lbs of stuffing

Oh, Holy Smokes!

Grandma is rather pleased with the spread


Cousin Enrique Noshing on a Turkey Leg


Cousin Peter Rockin' his new sweatbands


My Loot From left to right:
BARACK OBAMA'S BOOK, PJs, Wireless mouse, Pjs, Bartending Guide, PC bag, Cologne, Hippie Candles, Tweed Jacket (With Patches)


Merry Christmas to all!

Blogging Xmas in Mexico Day 3 (Christmas Eve)

Some midday fish Snacks (Charales)


A brief stop at the Camino Real


Loaded with presents and goodies


Relatives gone mad with glee


Grandma: "We are not amused"


Do we eat dessert, Or does dessert eat us?

Blogging Xmas in Mexico Day 2

Teotihuacan

Pyramid of the Sun as seen from the parking lot


Pyramid of the Sun as seen from the Avenue of the Dead


Ornamental Jaguar head by the Pyramid of the Moon


Eagle Hieroglyph By the Pyramid of the Moon


Bizarre Family By The Pyramid of the Moon

My Brother Loses it over Apocalypto

My brother is so indignant right now, that he might as well have been wearing a Victorian Dress and fanning himself as he was IM ing me. Check it out.


He totally misses my Schwartzie joke, but it got ugly when I called someone a halfbreed. Oh, the humorless PC world my brother now inhabits.