Hidden Beauty at Sam's club

So after a lengthy trip, we finally made it to CO. Naturally my mom needed to feed us an enormous amount, and where did she take us? To my progressive shock, she took us to buy in bulk from union basher Sam Walton's mega deluxe superstore. All Angelino pretense aside, I found it oddly exhilarating. There is something amazing to see so much of everything. Check it out.


Cheez balls are awful. But great! But truly awful. But then they come in a "Barrel" and become great all over again.



Ferrero Rocher was always my favorite Euro-Trash confection. Then it came to the USA and I was happy, then i saw a WALL of FR at Sam's Club and it blew my mind.


OMG! OMG! OMG! That's what she said!

So I bought a hot dog and a Cherry Coke for $1.50 which was awesome because the hot dog and the Coke were enormous. The Lady who sold it to me was this super sweet elderly lady who should be serving cocoa somewhere with better lighting rather than dishing out weiners to people like me. The hairnet made her look sad, but the dawg was huge and they have an awesome chopped onion dispenser that chops fresh onions for you when you turn the handle.


Nice Lady, bad lighting.


Turn clockwise, get onions.


GIANT Hotdog and Coke.


The whole giant warehouse was being cleaned constantly by teenage girls driving concrete zambonis. This girl waited for me to get out of the way while i was taking my hotdog picture. I smiled, she looked confused and continued to drive her cleaning machine.


The Holidays, in bulk.

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?

Health care for all ... (Mexicans)

So I got a spider bite (Yes, again)

As some of you may or may not know, I'm allergic to spider bites, so my tuesday bump had turned into a nasty ampoule with liquid and stuff.

So, we casually ambled over to the Hospital to get treatment.

The room where the doctor saw me was full of interesting and colorful vials


The nurse gave me two shots in the butt, and then escorted me to the operating room which was full of draconian looking equipment.


The Doctor drained the nastiness, cleaned me up, and bandaged the wound. Then he prescribed some anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and fun painkillers.




Afterward, my Grandpa took me to get some Ice cream so i would feel better.



Total waiting time to see the doctor - 10 minutes
Total time spent in hospital - 45 minutes
Total cost of procedure and perscriptions - $58 (Including ice cream)

Don't let them tell you socialized medicine doesn't work!