OaxacaDreams

We will miss you Oaxaca and hope to come back for a long stay again in the future!!

Goodbye Oaxaca and onward

"Often I feel I go to some distant region of the world to be reminded of who I really am. There is no mystery about why this should be so. Stripped of your ordinary surroundings, your friends, your daily routines, your refrigerator full of your food, your closet full of your clothes -- with all this taken away, you are forced into direct experience. Such direct experience inevitably makes you aware of who it is that is having the experience. That's not always comfortable, but it is always invigorating. --Michael Crichton, Travels (1988)

redchurch

"I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything, you only have the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses."
--Bill Bryson, Neither Here Nor There (1993)

farewells

Well, i just can't believe that our time in Oaxaca had come to an end. It's difficult for me to summarize my experience there. We are in Seattle now - and Mexico is starting to feel so far away. I will miss the icons and flowers tied into the front of buses like this one. I will miss the relaxed pace, the walkable city, the old churches, the people, the brightcolors, and the warm sun. and so so much more.
What a wonderful year it has been and i want to also thank my good friends I met in Oaxaca (you know who you are). Thanks for the great memories of spontaneous poetry, deep conversations, firework adventures, popcorn, movie nights, and general silliness. L

Santos

For some fun reading on the plane i picked up this comic of lucha libre Santos at a newsstand in Mexico City. Great way for me to keep up with my spanish. Cartoons rock.

market scenes

We went to the outdoor market in SanCristobal de las Casas (Chiapas). This is a frequent scene at most markets in Mexico - chickens. Markets are always a feast for the senses. Small yellow-orange mangos arranged neatly in piles, crazy varieties of dried beans, sugarcane pieces in plastic bags covered with hotsauce, luchalibre masks, unrefrigerated thin meats hanging from stalls, pear shaped chayote squash, dried peppers of all heat levels and flavors, spices in cups, plastic goods,.. too many things to list.

san cristobal

Here is one of the churches in San Cristobal de las Casas. Perfect time for a pic is at sunset.

leafcutters

LeafCutter ants!!! Love them. Here they are taking leaf clippings back home so that they can cultivate and eat their garden of fungus. We saw these in the rainforest of Chipas - near Palenque.

pile o hot

Market pepper closeup from San Cristobal De Las Casas (Chiapas).

Mexico City Anth Museum

We spent some time in Mexico city, and were quite taken with the anthropology museum there.

Olmec

This is a giant Olmec stone head in La Venta Park, Villahermosa in the state of Tabasco. Olmec civilization thrived between 1300 and 400 BC.

Chiapas-Palenque2

More scenes from the ruins at Paleque.

Chiapas-Palenque

We had a fabulous time in Chiapas! Our vacation took us to the ruins of Palenque, the bluegreen waters of Aguas Azules, Sumedero Canyon, and San Cristobal de las Casas. Wow! This is a photo from Palenque.

sakyong mipham

Work in progress - my stencil portrait of Sakyong Mipham.

Zapatistas

The Zapatistas are passing thru town, and we are hoping to see Suncomandante Marcos (delegate zero) this week. This newly painted stencil is just one block from our house.

transformation

"The Buddhist teachings are fabulous at simply working with what’s happening as your path of awakening, rather than treating your life experiences as some kind of deviation from what is supposed to be happening. The more difficulties you have, in fact, the greater opportunity there is to let them transform you. The difficult things provoke all your irritations and bring your habitual patterns to the surface. And that becomes the moment of truth. You have the choice to launch into the lousy habitual patterns you already have, or to stay with the rawness and discomfort of the situation and let it transform you, on the spot." Pema Chodron

moustache

Piece I made yesterday. Stencil, acrylic on canvas. Am really into color primaries these days.

creative commons

FYI-I have an Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives license on my site. It's thru the creative commons web site. "This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, allowing redistribution. This license is often called the "free advertising" license because it allows others to download your works and share them with others as long as they mention you and link back to you, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially." The creative commons site is really interesting, visit the link above and check it out.

fireworks

"We anoint their fuses with a tiny amount of fire, and they come alive, playing out their life span in a matter or seconds. In those few seconds a crack in the universe is opened, giving us a glimpse of the energy locked within all matter." - B.W.

carmen alto

Celebration at Carmen Alto church last night. Procession of the Cristo Negro and fireworks.

Yavesia church

We took a great trip yesterday up into the mountains. Rented a little white volkswagon which served us well on the small dirt roads. Here is the church at Yavesia.

Otokoyaku

My stencil portrait of Yuu Todoroki of Japans Takarazuka Revue.

burritos

We went up to the small town of Huayapam yesterday, with a visit to the Orchid garden and to the nearby dams where we saw these donkeys. (M. took this great photo). Huayapam is definitely worth a visit as well as the Orquideario where you can see over 700 varieties of orchids

food and flags

Now this is an interesting food link (ideasinfood) you should check out. These folks like to experiment! This is a roasted monkfish in grape-chipotle sauce with braised black cabbage, preserved morel mushrooms and grated chorizo. holy cow.

702

Hey - check out this cool site (big happy funhouse) where they post old found photos - maybe you'll see one of your relatives there...

quiz

Can you name these 11 celebrities? (you can click on the image to enlarge).... and Here's the answer as i promised last week: BigMamaThorton, Peggy Shaw, ElvisHerselvis, Harriet Dodge, Jennifer Miller, Judith Halberstam, Del LaGrace Volcano, Patrick Califia, Dred Gerestant, Jamison Green and JD from LeTigre.

beanbag

Running lots of errands today. I've been to La Trinidad church, Benito Juarez market, Pitico and back. Here is are some cocoa beans in a bag at Mayordomos chocolate shop down south of the zocalo.

view over teotitlan

Maya Heiroglyphs are the coolest ever. We'll see some in our trip to Chiapas next month.

eberhardt

Isabelle Eberhardt - my stencil portrait tribute

happyNewYear!

Happy New Year everyone!

sencillo

Church wall in Teotitlan

writ

Ponder ancient Mixtec scripts at this site

hatsOff

Market pic from Ocotlan

ocotlan2

Another pic of the church at Ocotlan. Also for fun, check out this timeline of mexico 500-1000AD

ocotlan

The church at Ocotlan.

donations

entryway

Life

“There are times to cultivate and create, when you nurture your world and give birth to new ideas and ventures. There are times of flourishing and abundance, when life feels in full bloom, energized and expanding. And there are times of fruition, when things come to an end. They have reached their climax and must be harvested before they begin to fade. And finally of course, there are times that are cold, and cutting and empty, times when the spring of new beginnings seems like a distant dream. Those rhythms in life are natural events. They weave into one another as day follows night, bringing, not messages of hope and fear, but messages of how things are.” Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche

radish carving skills

castillo

Firework detail on castillo.

noche de rabanos

The famous Oaxacan radish night!

flight

Here's a snippet of lyrics to one of my favorite christmas songs here in Mexico:"Los peces en el rio" Where the fishes are excited about the birth of baby jesus.

"La virgen se está peinando
Entre cortina y cortina
Los cabellos son de oro
Y los peines de plata fina
Pero mira como beben
Los peces en el río
Pero mira como beben
Por ver al dios nacido

(chorus)
Bebe y beben y vuelven a beber
Los peces en el agua por ver al dios nacer
Bebe y beben y vuelven a beber
Los peces en el agua por ver al dios nacer"

Lhasa de Sela does a great rendition of this tradional song.

posada

We tag along with sparklers in hand. Read about a posada and christmas in Oaxaca here.

Evolution

" "Intelligent design" is "a religious alternative masquerading as a scientific theory" and cannot be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, a federal judge said Tuesday, ruling in one of the biggest courtroom clashes on evolution since the 1925 Scopes trial.". See MSNBCnewslink here.

FoosBall

lights

Montage from Ferris wheel pics

filament

More carnival-night market scenes

dragon ride

Underbelly of the dragon ride at the night market on Hidalgo - which is going on until the 21st.

Frida

My stencil portrait of Frida Kahlo based on 1926 family photo.

estrellas

Just found out that Go-Oaxaca linked my blog on their site. Cool.
This by the way is part of a guadelupe exhibition just off the Alcala
(Los Danzantes courtyard).

houdini

My recent stencil of Harry Houdini

super

The fair is in town. We took a walk to El Llano park tonight for some of these glowy surreal pics.

Sunday Market

We went to the Tlacolula market today, always a great outing and a feast for the senses.

beatified

I took this photo today at the main cathedral by the zocalo. To learn more about Juan Bautista and Jacinto de los Ángeles read this San francisco Bay Guardian article by John Ross "John Paul II canonizes a make-believe saint, beatifies two stool pigeons, and proclaims a new evangelization of Indian America."

yellowlock

pho

iglesia

Statue detail at Iglesia de San Francisco - i was wondering around randomly until my art store re-opened.

pared

You can see how i'm inspired by stencil graffiti art here in oaxaca.

drag

"To define gender as exclusively male and female is to limit the infinite possibilities of being. Whenever anyone has attempted to fit a neat little label on me, my inner punk diva forges to the forefront in protest. Gender is fluid. It shimmers with ambiguity. It is confusing, not confining. It is dangerously delicious. It is a constantly evolving choice. It is mutable and malleable. Gender is a balancing act. Gender is drag. It is an inside job of attitudes and behaviors not limited by the costume of appearance. Gender encompasses a spectrum of options and a kaleidoscope of desires and delights." Maureen Fischer - actor and drag king (above is my stencil tribute to MF)

fiesta

Always a fiesta in town. Last night the tradional flaming toros, cherry bombs, music and dancing.

propaganda

I'm thinking this morning of propaganda and the wierd disturbing pycops operations that the US wages. How come this stuff isnt widely published?

tgvg day reminders

"We have to remember that land in America was largely acquired dishonestly by outright theft and by breaking treaties with the first peoples of this land. American History that only considers the false myths as truth will always diminish the past and present lives of Native American Indians."
Robert Two Bulls

"Is it because as Americans we have a deep need to believe that the soil we live on and the country on which it is based was founded on integrity and cooperation? If we dare to give up the “myth” we may have to take responsibility for our actions both concerning indigenous peoples of this land as well as those brought to this land in violation of everything that makes us human. The realization of these truths untold might crumble the foundation of what many believe is a true democracy. As good people, can we be strong enough to learn the truths of our collective past? Can we learn from our mistakes? This would be our hope." Deconstructing the Myths of “The First Thanksgiving”
by Judy Dow (Abenaki) and Beverly Slapin

cruz

portraits

Continuing my stencil work. My stuff will be on display in an exhibition at the biblioteca just off the Alcala for a month. Groovy eh?

artshow

I'm happy to report that i had my very first showing at a gallery tonight. Corner of the Alcala (tourist walk) and Morelos in the centro historico. First photo is view right outside the gallery, and my pieces are the three there in the upper right pic.

plantains, chiles and tamarind candy

My friends K and T brought over some very ripe (black) plantains the other night. Fried up they made for an excellent dessert. I could eat them every single night! and Speaking of food, here are a few of our favorite things. •Fresh passionfruit/maracuja juice from the pochote market. •Coffee at Nuevo Mundo cafe (on M.Bravo 206) where i sometimes meet my intercambio (language exchange) partner and friend G. •Sausages and sauerkraut from the germans who sell their goods at the organic market every friday/saturday. •Fresh tortillas from the tortilleria •Mangos (the small yellow ones, or ataulfo). •all the varieties of chiles! •and the cayenne dusted tamarind candies. Here are some market scenes above

elote

Here's a little painting i did on a small metal comal plate. Corn, comal, tortillas and sun. We have a tortilleria around the corner from us where you can buy fresh tortillas daily. yum!

obra

Here are two pieces i'm working on. 45cm x 45cm.

blur

Only rarely does something comes into sharp visual focus - because life is also movement, emotions, and sensation.

1910

Nov 2oth is the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution.

stencils

My very first stencil. Thanks to Miguel for letting me use your mug! By the way, check out this work by LoganHicks- simply amazing. He is a stencil guru. and when i get home, i want to do some stencils on vinyl.

Maguey

Lovely photo that M took last night - thought i'd throw it up here. These maguey/agaves are in front of SantoDomingo church which is just three blocks from our house.

retablos

Here are a couple of retablos from the early 1900s.

poem

Here's a little art/poem collaboration between me and Lars L.

cerro fortin

View from the top of CerroFortin here in Oaxaca. Great spot to excercise and birdwatch.

mutualism

Oh yes- I have discovered a little ant-aphid mutualism going on in my potted plant. Check these guys out. These ants are feeding on the aphid plantsap waste. yum! and do you know that in some cases ants tend colonies of aphids (which includes protecting them and moving them around from plant to plant).

oaxaca scenes

Here are some photos I’ve taken throughout my time in Oaxaca (just over 8mos now) : A weaver in Teotitlan, interesting transportation in Tlacolula, carved gourds for sale, tejate mixing, tlayudas at the pochote organic market, and parade during guelaguetza.

TLRs

Old cameras are so cool, esp TLRs. Check out this miniature digital Rollei TLR. So crazy.
And these Hasselblad cameras make me drool.

contactsheet

Was feelin the creative vibe. put together this montage which includes zocalo night shots.

muerto

Well as you can tell from my latest sets of photos that it's day of the dead here in mexico. Oaxaca has been filled with flowers and candles. We made our own altar here at the house. On the altar, we placed photos of our loved ones who have died along with flowers, fruits, candies, chocolate, and copal incense.

velas

Some evening scenes during day of the dead. Glow of candles on the altars at night and a walk through the panteon general (cemetary).

smokin

phonecall

altar

marigold

mothra

I found a dead medium-sized moth today. It's wings so shimmery and soft. Does anyone remember the film godzilla vs mothra? it was one of the greats. (these links are to fabo posters). oh in case you've forgotten...

Mothras Special Weapons:
Gives Off Poisonous Yellow Dust
Emits Rays From Antennae
Discharges Bolts Of Lightning From Wings
Can block Godzilla's radioactive breath ray
Telepathic

8pm

"There is nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept." -Ansel Adams

nightscenes

Walking around at night tonight with my digital camera. Its so fun to get these sort of shots as i intentionally move the camera to get the light trails.

spanish lessons

Here's a piece i put together today. The skull i drew in pencil, took a digital photo of, then colored and arranged in photoshop alongside the text. I found an old spanish grammar book at the lending library. It was on the give-away shelf. It contained wierd phrases like "I shall give it to him, provided he treats me well." um...

estado

Another panel of oaxaca pics. Bottom two are from Teotitlan.

scenes

Oaxacan scenes: artists abound, orange slices to go along with your mescal, a toro full of fireworks, night cart at el llano park.

Casa de la Ciudad

planeta

Heck, i feel famous. Planeta just linked my blog on their website. I'm listed under 'expats in oaxaca'.

mondayart

Some prelim sketches.

santodomingo

under and above

Another watery montage, though its hot and dry in Oaxaca right now. The rainy season is over. I gave a thirsty wandering german shepard some water today. He came into the building where they had the weaving show.

oaxacan artists

We spent a great day out and about celebrating Ks bday. We saw great art by Oaxacan artists (panel here – showing pics of paintings- lower right is detail of a Franciso Toledo piece), went to the museum/cultural center at Santo Domingo, and saw a fantastic weaving show at Casa de la Cultura. Topped it all off with a cake (featuring day of the dead chocolate and sugar skulls) – and of course traditional birthday song.

ceramics

Here are some pottery pieces i made for day of the dead. (Whistles and small bowl)

A-gua

devilish calavera

bicycleta

"It was my teacher Lisette Model who finally made it clear to me that the more specific you are, the more general it will be." -Diane Arbus

milagro

dancing skeletons, still
behind a small pane of glass
color and glitter
un milagro

perpetua

water,gourds,flowers and candles

yellow

lila concert

octoberfest

We've been so busy of late. Went to a modern dance interpretation of the opera Carmen. Watched traditional dance at our neighborhood church (followed by fireworks - traditional dancing toro and flaming castillo). Saw Lila Downs perform a free concert at Parque Llano. Oaxaca is such a cosmopolitan city - and it's a city that loves to celebrate.

wheels

hotel

el_encuentro

"Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more. Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long". -Walker Evans

doctrina

BW

The next two photos are ones i took while on my recent trip to NC. (using my traditional camera and a roll of BW film.) The prints turned out supercontrasty- but i like the effect. In general, I have really loved my switch to digital - but miss my cool wide angle lens of my SLR... but going back to darkroom processing and all the expenses. uoof. maybe one day when i have big bucks i'll own a digital SLR.

NC bricks

post post

casting shadows

Afternoon light

Photography-Documenting 'reality'

grafHinge
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Some things to ponder-
--------------------
"Post-Documentary?" Essay by MarthaRosler

"...documentary .... is undergoing profound challenges from multiple sources, on social, political, and ethical grounds. Critiques of documentary have centered on questions of the image and its relationship to a phenomenologically present visual reality; denigration of its metonymic adequacy in relation to the situation it depicts; and doubt about the ability of any image of a visual field to convey lived experience, custom, tradition, or history. Postcolonial discourses have undermined the authorial voice of the photographic image, the photographer, and the cultural milieu in which the image is inserted. "

"These challenges, which radically undermine photography's claim to a unique capacity to offer direct insight into the real and to offer up structural truths about power differentials in society, have produced something of a crisis among artists and intellectuals and troubling some in journalism and the legal professions, if not others in the wider audience. "
--------------------

color

color
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Photo from just around the corner from our house. Nice light at this time of day eh?

bluelight

light2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Went by Galeria Indigo this evening for an art opening and saw many friends there. Then back home to watch a soccer game with M. as we drank hot chocolate. (Mexico won their game against Guatemala.)

respite

I am back from my trip to the states. A very welcome respite, a change of scenery, a nice visit with my family, hikes in the misty gentle mountains of NC, swims in the ocean. I saw a praying mantis eating a wriggling wasp, a teenie tiny hyper vole zipping along a trail i was on, schools of silvery fish skipping out of the water, regal blue herons along the marshy shoreline.
Now back in Oaxaca with my sweetie. Sipping on passionfruit juice this morning in the sun thinkin that life is mighty fine.

wormeaten

wormeaten
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

THis is what my gut must look like. The Doc says i have entamoeba histolytica. Strange to be the host for a little parasite. On meds now. Yep.

redbus

redbus
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Such a HOT day today! Whew!

VWbug

VWbug
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Here's a pic i took today, "postprocessed" in Pshop.

pigs

pigs
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Here's another mixtape for ya'll. It has nothing to do with pigs. Gosh , it's Septmber already! How'd that happen?

celebration

teo3
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

These celebratory globes are included in parades and festivals. Here's one stored at the church in Teotitlan del Valle.

I put a small home movie up if you want to get a taste of some Oaxacan celebrations. First clip is from Tlacolula (you'll see the globes) and second clip on the reel is some Oaxaca city fireworks.

Tapa

tapa3
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I think i may have some little parasite in my gut. dammit.

Here's a fun little stencil-esque piece i made from a photo of a letter box.

Teotitlan

teo
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I love this view of the town. Big thanks to K. for showing us around.

virgincita

G
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

One of many altars inside the church of Teotitlan.

sky

sky
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

With guests in town we trek on over to Teotitlan Del Valle. Such a beautiful day - clear, clean. Here's a funky photo of the "Precious Blood Of Christ" Catholic Church which is located on the remains of
a temple dedicated to Quetzalcoatl.

graveyard

panteon2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Everything is subject to change.

Panteon

graveyardpanel
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I went to the panteon (graveyard) with M yesterday and it was such an amazing place. In this one covered area there were tons of “money-bat” moths – The Mariposa de la Muerte. They flew about and many preferred the dark interior of the empty tombs.

casaflag

casaflag
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Another photo i took in Ixtlan.

rio

rio
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

We went to the town of Ixtlan yesterday. This is a photo i took at the main church.

torrofuego2

torrofuego2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I posted this photo on 7_23 but here it is combined with a photo that MJH took. I really like the effect. The mood here is entirely different than the original shot - which i feel was more festive.

Dub

victor
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I have another cool mixtape for you cats. And related to todays show, check out this interesting reggae music link (nice streams)
and also this Reggae zine link. Lastly, if you havent heard of AlphaBlondy click here and check out his music.

amarillo

tank
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I want to remind you all to check out the links on my sidebar, especially the ToyCamera link and Nyclondon's site which have great black and white photography. Also - if anyone has an interesting website that you think I should list on my blog, let me know.

Hoy

cig
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Ciggie pack ala grafFic

taxistand

taxistand3
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

"city" scenes

red and oranges

reddance2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

It's been a creative day for me. I've been learning more montage techniques. The stencil art web site had some nice tips so i'm trying new ways of isolating images. I approach these sort of montages in a painterly way - adding, subtracting, layers built up, torn town. It's a very organic process.

truckstop

truckstop
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

una mas photomontage.

sidral

sidral
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

"A Ming vase can be well-designed and well-made and is beautiful for that reason alone. I don't think this can be true for photography. Unless there is something a little incomplete and a little strange, it will simply look like a copy of something pretty. We won't take an interest in it." ~John Loengard, "Pictures Under Discussion"

Not sure if this Sidral Mundet soda is incomplete or strange enough, but it is a type of apple drink that has been around since 1902. Don Arturo Mundet originally produced it - but alas, it's owned by cocacola these days.

movement

market
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Smokey filtered light, a snapshot from the market. (photo montage)

"Perishability in a photograph is important in a picture. If a photograph looks perishable we say, "Gee, I'm glad I have that moment." ~John Loengard,

"Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes."
~Henri Cartier-Bresson

LosDos

losDos
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Random graffiti,
Art Crimes

Here's an interesting site about stencil art

Green

EBgarden2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

A photo i took on the Ethnobotanical garden tour.

basura

basura
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Usually folks take pictures of plants at the ethnobotanical garden here in Oaxaca, but this trashcan was mighty appealing to me.

OaxacanMarkets

tlacMkt
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Movement
Organized chaos of chicken and active pigs in bags
Woven baskets and AA batteries
Shouts from vendors
Women with head wraps and common aprons
Fire from the comal, smoky busy
Draping meat in thin strips
Fly swatters
Bootleg ranchero music, red plastic buckets
Miscellaneous items random
Innumerable combs and luche libre action figures,
light bulbs, rat poison
Tarps strung across the streets, rebar,
Kept sheep
Kids and interesting fruit
Faith
Wheel barrows of gummy worms
Herbs and sticks, underwear

Tlacolula

gourds
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Carved gourds at the Tlacolula market

sawdust

My last pottery class was tonight. THese are my final pieces - my molcajete (mortar and pestle), and two whistles. These were sawdust fired - and have a nice black hue.

Ascalapha

moth1
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Photo i took of the Mariposa de la Muerte (Ascalapha odorata). A bat-like moth which can have a wingspan up to 7inches. This female moth (you can tell by the pink wavy band on the wing) was maybe 5inches in length and fluttered into our room while we were sleeping. Moths are cool!

Comal

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way.. things I had no words for." -Jean Michel Basquiat

marimba

marimba
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

howdy - another mixtape mix for you cats. see on sidebar or click HERE :)

Blue

michael
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Feelin' the creative vibe, here's a portrait of my friend Michael - who is also an artist.

the Future

asketch2 copy
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

"Now is the only time. How we relate to it creates the future. In other words, if we're going to be more cheerful in the future, it's because of our aspiration and exertion to be cheerful in the present. What we do accumulates; the future is the result of what we do right now." P. Chodron.

dibujo

sketch4
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

List of fav cartoon artists:
Chuck Jones
Alison Bechdel
Eric Orner
Erika Lopez

Calavera

skel3
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

A drawing i made this morning.

Tamayo

sketches
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

In prep for my pottery class - went to the Museo Rufino Tamayo to study the prehispanic work there. Such incredible pieces.

Here's a bit of info about Tamayo:
"Tamayo, Rufino - Mexican painter of Zapotec descent. He was born in Oaxaca but following the death of his parents in 1911, went to live with his aunt in Mexico City. He studied at the Escuela des Artes Plasticas, and in 1921 was appointed head of the Department of Ethnographic Drawing at the Archaeological Museum, which introduced him to folk art. In 1936 48, he was based in New York, and after the exhibition which marked his return to Mexico (at the Pallacio des Bellas Artes, 1948) was bitterly attacked by the muralists for its disavowal of popular and accessible forms, he moved to Paris. He finally returned to Mexico City in 1964, donating his collection of Pre Columbian art to Oaxaca to form the Museo de Arte Prehispanico de Mexico Rufino Tamayo.

Tamayo was an outsider in post Revolutionary Mexico, politically neutral and opposing the muralists' commitment to a public, popular art. His own paintings draw on Mexican folk art and ceramics for their themes and in their rich use of colour and texture, but their sophisticated compositions are more closely indebted to Cubism. In the 1930s he painted tropical fruits, perhaps influenced by his experiences as a child working for his aunt's wholesale fruit business. Later his imagery became more grotesque, dominated by animals. From the mid 1940s onwards, he moved towards abstraction and placed greater emphasis on his use of strong colours." (internet source)

amanecer

starart2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Just started a pottery class at Sachmo art center. yahooo!

BTW - this is a photoshop art piece i just made.

lucha retablo

lucha
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

A Retablo is a religious folk painting on tin. This photo is of a retablo I saw here in Oaxaca (artist unknown).

This is a 500-year-old tradition of placing small narrative paintings (usually recording a miracle) on sheet metal.

I just picked up the book called:
"Infinitas Gracias-Contemporary Mexican Votive Painting"
which is a collection of retablo paintings by Mexican artist Alfredo Vilchis Rogue and his sons. CHeck it out if you have a chance: Infinitas Gracias Book

Milarepas story

IMG_4330
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

"He didnt know what to do, so he surrendered himself even further. He walked over and put himself right into the mouth of the demon and said, "Just eat me up if you want to." Then that demon left too. The moral of the story is, when the resistence is gone, so are the demons." Milarepas story as recounted by Pema Chodron.

toro de fuego

torro
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

"What gives value to travel is fear. It is the fact that, at a certain moment, when we are so far from our own country we are seized by a vague fear, and an instinctive desire to go back to the protection of old habits. This is the most obvious benefit of travel. At the moment we are feverish but also porous, so that the slightest touch makes us quiver to the depths of our being. We come across a cascade of light and there is eternity......" Camus

votives

velas
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Pic of candles in the cathedral by the Zocalo (town square).

"What I think is so extraordinary about the photograph is that we have a piece of paper with this image adhered to it, etched on it, which interposes itself into the plane of time that we are actually in at that moment. Even if it comes from as far back as 150 years ago, or as recently as yesterday, or a minute before as a Polaroid color photograph, suddenly you bring it into your experience. You look at it, and all around the real world is humming, buzzing and moving, and yet in this little frame there is stillness that looks like the world. That connection, that collision, that interfacing, is one of the most astonishing things we can experience."
Joel Meyerowitz

Tejate

tejate2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Our friends Liz and Mike are visiting.
This photo is of the Tejate drink which is made of corn, ash, mamey seed, and cacao flower (seen floating on top) - it is traditionally served in these painted gourds.

pochote

pochote
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

The amazing pochote tree!
One of Mixtec legend.

jefe

I just got the album – Jefe de Jefes by the group Los Tigres del Norte. It’s a double CD full of narcocorridos which features the ubiquitous & beloved accordian, and has beats that have you grabbin for a cold cervesa. It’s fun music and is one of the backdrops to my experience here in Mexico.

Here's an article on the group:
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/
metro/12.31.97/los-tigres-9753.html

Today – I think I’ll experiment with paper mache. All ya need is flour, water and newspaper - so its cheap entertainment.

Oh and point your mouse in this direction-
http://staff.washington.edu/muffley/oaxaca3.mov

It a home movie of ours which includes misc. celebratory scenes here in Oaxaca-
set to a LosTigres song.

politic

redred copy
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Holy Jehosa – but I just am floored by the ignorance and diabolical ways of this administration. (No big news there.) We try and stay abreast of the news through ‘alternative’ (read :non-embedded) media sources – such as Democracy Now and Free Speech Radio news. Sometimes we tune into the BBC. (All via the wonders of the internet.) The Daily Show is also damn funny and thank goodness we can also see John Stewarts shows on our computer. Here’s the latest show on the Rove CIA leak. http://movies.crooksandliars.com/The%20Daily_Show_Rove_Leak.mov

Aguas negras

coke
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Went on a walk up to Cerro Fortin today. Great to get a view over the whole city. On my way back took this photo of Sto Domingo with a coke placard in the foreground. Cocacola is referred to as "Aguas negras del imperialismo yankee" or "Black waters of Yankee imperialism". Yep.

Teotitlan

FeatherDance1
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Yesterday we went to Teotitlan Del Valle to see the Danza De la Pluma - or traditional Feather Dance.

BabelCar

carlanguage
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Languages, ciphers, towers of babel and cars decorated with prayers.

BTW, here are a couple of links you might enjoy!

http://www.jesusdressup.com/number2.html
http://www.jesusdressup.com/hollywood.html

Porfirio Diaz

fridastreet
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Photo i took, just around the corner from our house. I manipulated it in Pshop- combining it with an image of Frida Kahlo.

OaxacaPics

oaxpanel2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Just wanted to include more 'people' shots on my plog/blog. Here's another photopanel i put together of Oaxacan scenes.

kg

kg
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Another photomontage - combining pics i took at the Market on Friday.

artificial languages

marbles2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Conlangs are pretty fascinating.
Did you know that Klingon is the fastest-growing artificial language?


Here's an except from the Wired article i read years ago-
"...when a few lines of Klingon dialog were needed for the first Star Trek movie, in 1979, James Doohan (who plays engineer Scott) leapt at the chance. He spat a few lines of aggressive nonsense into a tape recorder and told an actor playing a Klingon to go memorize it. Five years later, on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the producers wanted to be able to have large chunks of Klingon dialog. So they recruited Marc Okrand, a linguist working at the National Captioning Institute, who had come up with a few lines of Vulcan as a favor to friends working on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. He remembers of that experience, "I drove away from the studio thinking, 'My God, I just taught Mr. Spock how to speak Vulcan.'"

Extrapolating from Doohan's sounds, Okrand invented a vocabulary and grammar and translated every line of dialog spoken by a Klingon in Star Trek III. He then stayed on the set to correct mistakes - and to incorporate new coinages. Okrand reasoned that since the Klingons were warriors rather than philosophers, their language would emphasize action, and therefore verbs. Klingon has three official parts of speech: nouns, verbs, and everything else. Adjectives don't exist per se: there is no word meaning simply "greedy," although there is a verb "to be greedy" (qur). And most adverbs are agglutinative; that is, limitless strings of suffixes can be attached to a verb to modify its meaning.

Okrand made the language as alien as possible. Sentence structure is object-verb-subject, a virtually nonexistent combination in human linguistics
"
The full article can be found at-
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.08/es.languages.html

VHFUHW FRGH

codexsketch
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I'm really fascinated with the Mixtec Codex, and have been making some cartoon sketches based on that style. (Here's one i drew the yesterday afternoon).

Speaking of a 'codex', I've been reading The Code Book by Simon Singh. Its all about cryptography. Did you know about the Caesar cipher? Its "also known as a Caesar shift cipher or shift cipher, and is one of the simplest and most widely-known encryption techniques. It is a type of substitution cipher in which each letter in the plaintext is replaced by a letter some fixed number of positions further down the alphabet. For example, with a shift of 3, A would be replaced by D, B would become E, and so on. The method is named after Julius Caesar, who used it to communicate with his generals." (wikipedia quote)

lirio del agua

h20lily
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Saw this beautiful water lily at the Pochote market today.

godcar

godcar
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I'll take this opportunity to introduce you folks to one of favorite cartoons -
GodMan. (Here are links to three strips) ENjoy!
http://archive.salon.com/april97/comics/comics4970410.html
http://www.salon.com/comics/comics4961223.html
http://archive.salon.com/aug97/comics/comics4970807.html

calle

calle
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

another photomontage for your viewing pleasure :)

MiCabeza

wall
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Another collage - combination of two photos and color manipulation.

fragmented

tower
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I've started taking spanish lessons again. This is how my brain feels sometimes - in a jumble.

beachtrip

beachpanel
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I thought I’d include some of my ‘normal’ photography pictures here on my photo-log. For the most part, I load these sort of photos onto a Kodak.com site and invite my friends to see them. This was a trip we took to Lagunas de Chacahua.

oaxacachurch

oaxacachurch
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I’m really shy and feel weird about taking photos of people I don’t know here in Oaxaca. So you’ll see that most of my photos are of buildings and bugs and so forth. This is a picture of a Oaxacan church i took a few years ago. (it was a slide that i scanned in).

scarab

scarab4
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

We went on a great hike yesterday at San Felipe del Agua. Lush cool greens and fresh air. It was perfect. We were accompanied by two friendly but very stinky dogs we named ‘Mort’ and ‘Fez’. Saw ferns alongside cactus and I took this pic of a disembodied scarab beetle.

molcajete dreams

collage2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I love the Oaxacan Molcajete. It is a stone bowl/mortar and a pestle to grind chiles and spices. Often we have salsa served to us at restaurants in a small stone molcajete. I'll try and take a photo of one soon.

chow

birds
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

We've been seeing lots of the large ants called chicatanas (Atta mexicana?). We've found maybe 20 or so in our courtyard over the past two days. They are quite big and many people here collect them for a culinary treat. They are often prepared in sauces with chile and herbs and said to taste like crabs.

tigertongue

tigertongue
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Cool things:

Tilework
Succulents
Polished stones
Volcanos
Comic books
Crinoids
Coelacanths
Dragkings
Antiwar Hiphop
Ancient Tiger tongue money from Laos (seen here in the photo)
Shrines (any type) but esp the portable travel kind

Photo credit - unknown/anon

ElTule

tule2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Ah, the passing of time, just like kilowatts on a electric meter. This is an old photo (circa 1940s) that I purchased at a camera store in town. It is of the sacred El Tule cypress tree - which is one of the oldest living trees in the world (more than 2000 yrs old). The town Santa Maria del Tule is about 15minutes from Oaxaca city. Now there is a fence around the mighty tree, and tourists stand 12 feet or so from it and take pictures. (hey - just like stonehenge.. alas)

fridaZap

frida
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Images of Frida Kahlo and Zapatistas abound in Mexico. Here's a photomontage i put together last night.

codexTreeBirth

codexTreeBirth
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

From the Mixtec Codex, depicting Tree birth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixtec
Also some really interesting Codex sites:

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/hgarrett/imagearchive/nuttall/nuttallpl71.jpg
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/hgarrett/imagearchive/nuttall/nuttallpl46.jpg
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/hgarrett/imagearchive/nuttall/nuttallpl51.jpg

smoke

smoke
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Another pic of the copal from this morning.

copal

copal1
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I lit some copal incense this morning. Sure has a nice smell. Here's a photo i took of it burning in its charcoal well.

"The word copal comes from the Nahuatl word copalli. The sap of the tree is used for incense and the wood used to produce the Alebrijes, whimsical wood carvings.

Copal incense is the dried resin of the copal tree. The incense is somewhat smoky when burned and has sort of a pine scent.

The incense has been widely used since prehispanic times. It is burned year round in Mexican churches and is especially popular in the homes during the Day of the Dead celebrations." (Tomzap internet ref)

polticArc

march
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

"Every effort for progress, for enlightenment, for science, for religious, political, and economic liberty, emanates from the minority, and not from the mass."
~ Emma Goldman (1869-1940)


"War does not determine who is right — only who is left."
~ Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

"War is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow."
~ Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968)

Ollas

jars
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Here's a translation of the Naruda poem below.

"From resonance, growing, when
Night comes out alone, like a recent widow,
Like a dove or a poppy or a kiss,
And her marvelous stars expand."

NarudaPoemInPart

"De lo sonoro, creciendo, cuando
la noche sale sola, como reciente viuda,
como paloma o amapola o beso,
y sus maravillosas estrellas se dilatan."

Pablo Naruda (from un dia sobresale)

June

untitled
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Happy early fathers day to my dad! and thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes and presents.

By the way, check out this center- http://www.carolinaraptorcenter.org/adopt.php
I now have an adopted bird (her name is Hannah) and my brother's bird is Emmett.

oaxaca poem

graffiti
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Scorpions walking vertically up blue walls
shiney silver sacred heart milagos
gleaming gleaming
large, newly cut lilys in chocolate bowls
celebration in the streets.

LuchaActionFigures

lucha
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Well we've had some great podcast reviews of late. Here's what people are saying.

"I just listened to this... twice! So fun. Wish I could beam myself there" - LR (Seattle)

"I wanted to share with you a delightful experience I had yesterday. I figured out how to download your podcasts onto the MP3 player my brother got me last Christmas (which, truth be told, I haven't used so much). So MP3 player in my pocket, earphones in my ears, I set off on a walk while listening to your podcast from June 7 (with your two friends in town!). I wandered through the neighborhood while listening and laughing to the stories of your trip to the market. You folks do really great radio! All the flavors and colors and textures that you described came alive for me on my walk. Eventually I ended up under a big tree in this former monastery near our house as you finished up with some great music! I listened to one of your earlier mostly music podcasts on my way home! (Who knew Lara was down with the gangsta rap! "I'm eatin' green leaves like a panda."--I love that line even though I don't understand it.) I could see your Morning Coffee talks becoming my morning walk listening. I really really enjoyed them--thanks so much for making them! I can't wait for the next one!" TR,podcast fan (Pasadena)

so thanks for the great feedback ya'll and we'll keep putting them out for sure. :) L

MidDay

IMG_3325
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Scanning the city
I see flat roof to flat roof, a continuum.
Laundry on the lines suggest
human presence, but it is too hot
outside to offer up the body.
The sun can take you in like a communion wafer.
Huitzilopochtli is to blame -
Interminable night battles to force
the sun to rise.
It is upon us!

empty

empty
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

K.G.B. Beat triad. Crown jewels of versy-informal. Quick talk and all night, all week typewriter marathons. Good inspiration to follow. Mind meanderings. EGOEGO fantastical. EGO that Kerouac uses to try and keep afloat, but waves of whisky drink take him under as he avoids the turd tossing critics and life becomes too much to bear. Old age does not suit him.
Borroughs old skeleton-man walking. Yage brain, piles of poetry on onion skin on a dirty otherworldly floor. Shoots his wife in the head. William do Tell us that this was an accident. Ginsberg, naked guru jew-buu – shouts from rooftops “I am high and naked and I am king of the Universe!” Don’t we all believe that we somehow stand apart? Will beat out, cheat death? Death, that anonomizer. Sizzles us all to atomic bits; vapor. We leave histrionic dramas behind – and some may even think the earthsolid will remain – ancestors to shoulder, to give us hope of continuation, infinity. But our supernova sun goes exploding. Taking out the roundrock we live on- a speck in the infinity of the universe, inside universe, inside infinite universe. Rendering poetry meaningless, our lives meaningless. One must live day to day, moment to moment, for it is all we truly have.

spinner

spinner
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

had nothing
want nothing
appears to be nothing
IS

Xyloryctes

youngrhino
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Maybe this is a female rhinocerus beetle, I'm not sure. Still lots of these beasts around the city.

podcast details

Buenos dias. Just to fill you all in a bit, 'Podcasts' are basically Radio Shows on the Internet (in MP3 format). I make our shows with two software programs: itunes and garageband. I save the shows as MP3 files and then post them to the web. You dudes can use an MP3 player to hear them: like a portable ipod, or through software programs on your computer such as iTunes, Quicktime or Windows Media Player. So that's the scoop.

For a dictionary definition of Podcasting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

We just saw 'Revenge of the Sith' last night at a movie theatre in town (in Plaza de Valle - or Gringolandia). THe area is termed gringolandia due to the concentration of US or US-like businesses (KFC, MCdonalds, SAMs club etc). you get it.

SO today i'm going on a water devination trip. I'm taking my camera and hunting down more of the little water caps. Trying to find more examples, interesting variations.

river

Agua
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

The flow of concrete is a nice frame-up for this old metal cap. We saw one yesterday with the date 1872 stamped on it.

wherewaterlives

wherewaterlives1
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

So you can get a better idea on the size - this is where the water is living.


"One must go through life, be it red or blue, stark naked and accompanied by the music of a subtle fisherman, prepared at all times for a celebration". F. Picabia

"timeshifted content" and snowlions

Buenos dias. I wanted to let you all know that i've made my first podcast. woohoo! I've assembled my little radio show using garageband and itunes. There's a link on the sidebar - so check it out.

Oh by the way - apparently i can interface with Skype for my radio show - sooooo..if any of you want to have a guest spot on one of my shows, let's set it up!

FYI- image here is of the snowlion tattoo on my left leg combined with pshop brushwork.

Also i have posted a couple of our VERY short homemovies (see link bar). They are of the firework celebrations at the conclusion of SemanaSanta.

mahak

mahak
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

From the 'List of Essentials' Kerouac 1954 TIP #16
'Work from Pithy
middle-eye out, from the jewel center of interest, swimming in language sea'

Am reading ‘BigSkyMind’ Buddhism and the Beat Generation.

MJH, JC, am remembering our evening of reading Beat poetry. What a great night! Come to Mexico, lets sit on our roof on a warm sunset eve, drink cerveza and compose spontaneous poems! MJH, you are an inspiration.

Also be sure to check out the side bar link (TobyRogers) there you’ll see the reflections of a meditation retreat ctr dropout.

By the way this image is a montage: detail of tattoo on my leg (Mahakala) and photograph of a cross bearer during SemanaSanta.

Finally, here's a Passage from Kerouacs Dharma Bums: “After they’d gone to bed I put on my jacket and my earmuff cap and railroad gloves and over all that my nylon poncho and strode out in the cottonfield moonlight like a shoudy monk. The ground was covered with moonlight frost. The old cemetery down the road gleamed in the frost. The roofs of nearby farmhouses were like white panels of snow. I went through the cottonfield rows followed by Bob, a big bird dog, and little Sandy who belonged to the Joyners down the road, and a few other stray dogs (all dogs love me) and came to the edge of the forest. In there, the previous spring, I’d worn out a little path going to meditate under a favorite baby pine. The path was still there. My official entrance to the forest was still there, this being two evenly spaced young pines making kind of gate posts. I always bowed there and clasped my hands and thanked Avakokitesvara for the privilege of the wood. Then I went in, led moonwhite Bob direct to my pine, where my old bed of straw was still at the foot of the tree. I arranged my cape and legs and sat to meditate. The dogs meditated on their paws. We were all absolutely quiet. The entire moony countryside was frosty silent, not even a little tick of rabbits or coons anywhere. An absolute cold blessed silence.”

dinero

dinero
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Mexican money is so much more interesting than US change.

Here's some facts: "The name peso means weight, and this is a reference to the principal characteristic of the coin. The silver mines of Mexico supply ample sources of pure silver and, more importantly, the peso was the first coin to have a border that made it easy to detect if the coin had been tampered with. It was a common practice to cut or wear down the edges of gold and silver coins, thus obtaining raw precious metal. Since the peso was a coin of pure silver.." it had an exact weight. (wikipedia)

waterseries

agua2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Like i said , there are lots of types of these agua hatches around Oaxaca city. oh and if anyone wants to compose a water haiku , i'll post it here to accompany my photograph.

estrella de agua

agua3
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

These metal water covers vary in style thoughout the city. Maybe someday I'll put together a little coffeebook with the aqua- series I am taking.

dayofdead

skel
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Photo of the thin metal skeleton on our porch.

tortillacross

crosstortilla
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Woke up from a midday nap today with a fledgling poem in my head, shouldve written it down. Are poems best composed in these almost-conscious states? (grab the bedside pen and notebook immediately!) Or do they just seem like brilliant seeds because you cant discern good writing in that slow feel-good sleepy fog?

Some new B/W pieces today. I'm wanting to produce images which are interesting to look at. Ok, Duh, right? But esp these days I want to even go a bit farther than the 'unadulterated' black and white photo. My attention turns to photomontage at the present. And what is 'unadulterated' anyhow? In the traditional darkroom - full of fixer and stopbathsolution, you dodge and burn and crop. A photograph is already once removed from 'reality'. I shouldnt be so worried about being a purist-and keep to what brings me pleasure. A purist perhaps would never touch a digital camera.

repet

bricks
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

maybe its the microscopist in me, but i love this sort of close-up shot. Repetition, like cells in the body. Bricks, keratinocytes- very similar dont you think?

untitled

untitled
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I'm so drawn to the color red these days. Red and orange. Does everyone know about the printmaker Jose Guadalupe Posada? (1854-1913) "Posada's best known works are his calaveras, or skeletons, which often assume various costumes, such as the Calavera de la Catrina, the "Skeleton of the Female Dandy", which was meant to satirize the life of the upper classes during the reign of Porfirio Di­az. Most of his imagery was meant to make a religious or satirical point; since his death, however, his images have become associated with the Mexican holiday Di­a de los Muertos, the "Day of the Dead"."- wikipedia

SinTitulo

walk2final
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Here is a photoshop produced piece- where i tried to give a linocut feel.

SD

SD
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Photography has always been a passion of mine. I've spent lots of time in the darkroom in the 'early days'. Most of that darkroom time was developing and printing transmission electron micrographs. I worked for several years at an EM diagnostic virology lab at Duke - which was such a blast. The electron microscope is such an impressive piece of equipment. The pictures we'd generate of the viruses were simply amazing. I still work in a lab, but primarily use the light microscope to take interesting pics of cell structure/signaling etc. I really love this as well.

But now on my year abroad, i turn my attention to the world which most of us are used to seeing. No need for a microscope as my eyes are sufficient. I'm currently using a digital camera- a Canon PowershotS410 (but if i find that this is insufficient, will dig out my NikonF3 nondig SLR). Enjoy!

agua

agua
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

i just want to say that yes - a blog is a weblog, and since i havent been very wordy lately, and have been mostly posting my art/photos, maybe it is more apropos to call this my Phlog- or photo-log. Though i will start making an attempt to use my language skills.

Also - I'm asking for your opinion (whoever is out there), on whether you'd like a piece (art/photo) to 'stand on its own' or to have some bit of explanation from the artist? Does it add to the piece? OR might it interfere with initial preception?
And do you like titles or prefer a piece to be 'untitled' ? I'm just now forming my opinion on the matter and am wondering how others feel.

cactus

cactus2
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Testing my pinholdcamera mimic technique.

Plebe de la semana

My person of the week is Maria de luz Flores (May 23, 1906-June 25, 1944), better known as Lucha Reyes, the famous female Mexican mariachi singer. The 1994 film 'LA REINA DE LA NOCHE' is loosely based on her life. Here's the description: "THe film opens with Lucha Reyes returning home from a tour in Germany. Serious problems with her voice force her to take up folk songs - rancheras. Lucha Reyes was right in the centre of the events of her day and moved among the most significant personalities of its artistic and intellectual life. Her lesbian relationship with a prostitute sent shock waves through the society at the time, but she nonetheless married a theatre director. Today Lucha Reyes is considered to be the finest singer of Mexican folk music. She is a part of her nation´s heritage just as is Edith Piaf in France and Judy Garland in the United States". Some of the descriptions of her life remind me of the character Kitty Butler in Sarah Waters book 'Tipping the Velvet'. By the way Sarah Waters has a new book coming out in 2006!

Cuetes

foxwheel
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I cant tell you how much spinning wheels of fire facinate me. Jolting me into awareness. This composition includes newspaper photo of President Fox.

I just put up links to some alternative Media by the way. Pacifica Radio in particular - which hosts Democracy Now. Also, is everyone getting their podcasts ready? Its the radio revolution.

semanasanta

semanasanta
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Combining two photos - one i took at Semana Santa (Easter) and the other of wall graffiti. I like the dark nature, the silhouettes, there's nothing quite as dramatic as the cross bearer.

Rhinoceros Beetle

Rhinocerus Beetle
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

We've encountered lots of Rhinoceros beetles in the city over the past few days. I think this one might be: Xyloryctes jamaicensis, a type of scarab beetle. I did alter the image abit- so it looks more illustrative. Liz, of course am thinking of you, fellow friend of bugs.

LuchaLibre

lucia
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

LuchaLibre(wrestling) is popular here in Mexico. And here's a geek factoid about the cartoon ¡Mucha Lucha!. It is the first ever all-Flash (Macromedia) animated show on TV. Check out the animators web site at http://www.fwakanimation.com.au/muchalucha/.

redbuddah

buddah
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

"Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed- that is human." Master Seung Sahn Koren Zen master 1927-2004

untitled

untitled
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

"When i have finished smoking, I am not interested in the butts" Francis Picabia

untitled

untitled
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Collage of the day, combining photos taken this week. Red candy apples and bars on a window.

IMG_1634

IMG_1634
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Another Photo from Cuilapan de Guerrero.

Estoy enferma. I have a head/chest cold. damn, and yesterday afternoon was bored as a stick. This evening we are going to the movie 'the future of food' produced by Deborah Koons Garcia (Jerrys widow) - she's in town with I. Chapela. We got to see them last night at a panel discussion. Always something interesting going on in town. and later tonight we are going to hear some cuban music near Solidad.

brickwindow

brickwindow
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Always interesting things to see here in Oaxaca. M and I went to pay our electric bill yesterday and i took the camera along.

19L

19L
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Photocollage featuring our glass water container.

yair

yair
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

We just got back from the Oaxacan coast. Young Yair took us on a tour of the crocodile farm at the lagunas de Chacagua.

recyclables

recyclables
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Digital art of the day - i took this photo around the corner from our house. The bottles were in a bucket beside a big heap of garbage. Several neighborhood houses were flooded in the recent rain/hail storms.

politicalwheel

politicalwheel
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Catherine Wheels are fascinating things to me. Chaotic, celebratory, larger than life. Flames and flying sparks. Like the graffiti on the wall they shout "Wake up! - Despierta!"

chair

chair
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

After the terrible hail storm here in Oaxaca - a lone chair appears on our street, Jesus Carranza. I really like the lines, the empty interior. signifying.. lost youth? time and the elements taking their toll...

cinema

cinema
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

Combining images from Oaxaca, Semana Santa procession photo i took with newspaper photo of 'juvenile delinquents'. Watching the cinema of life unfold.

churchwire

churchwire
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

I've taken quite a few photographs here in Oaxaca since we have arrived. Photography for me is very fulfilling, enriching. And photomontage is new for me. The photographer, Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) remarked that photomontage is the creation of a "non-existent moment". And I think that is very intriguing. It is at once something you captured on film, but expanded into another expression yet again.
Layers, changes, additions can take me further into an individual photo. Sometimes I can take a unexemplary photo I have taken and turn it into something quite interesting to look at.

cathedral superheros

catherdral superheros
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

one of my favorite scenes in Oaxaca city is of the bubble superheros in the Zocalo

surrealistic scatterings

surreralistic scatterings
Originally uploaded by mufflevski.

"I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say one was an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow it was better to say one was a humanist or an agnostic. I finally decided that I'm a creature of emotion as well as of reason. Emotionally I am an atheist. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time."
-- Isaac Asimov, in "Free Inquiry",1982

Tossin fuera

Twell, am starting my first Blog here in Oaxaca Mexico - where i have lots of time on my hands. I'm not much of a writer, its not my strong point. But i think it'll be good for me to reexperience the medium of words. M and I are here for one year. It's very exciting to be living 'abroad'. Mexico is so full of new sights and sounds and smells. I've started language school at Amigos Del Sol. I am noticing some progress, poco a poco. The school is only a 15 min walk from our house. Classes are from 9-12 M-F. In the afternoons i've been in creative spurts of collage-making utilizing photoshop to combine images and painterly play. Stay posted, because i'll have lots of musings this year as i have so much free time on my hands.