Bargain Alert! Casita Ocean View; La Cruz, Big Price Reduction!

Robert:

Bargain alert! The price has just been lowered substantially on Casita Ocean View in La Cruz. Hard to imagine, but now you can get a spacious 2 bedroom 3 bath home with good sized pool and big views of the bay, just 100 meters from the beach, for just $245,000 USD.

Views of the bay!

Inviting pool!

Call Deborah Foster, cell 322 117 3099. To see the web page for this property, with many more photos and more data. Click HERE

Halloween Hegemony and Day of the Dead

Robert:

Sometimes the relentless creep of American culture here creates a strange mix of reassuring yet disappointing moments. For newbies, there are still plenty of stranger-in-a-strange-land moments to be had, to be sure, but those moments are fewer and less frequent all the time.

For those more curious intellectual travelers who come here in search of the intriguing, sometimes mesmerizing experiences that only a foreign culture can provide, there is still plenty of that around. Mexico's cultural traditions are extremely strong and resilient, but more and more, aspects of US culture are apparent everywhere.

The net result is that the cultural adjustment period for Canadians and Americans who move here is much shorter and less challenging than it was even a few years ago.

Traditionally, Mexico did not celebrate Halloween. Rather Mexico celebrated (and still does) November 1 and 2, El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), with all night, all family, candlelight vigils in cemeteries, at the graves of their loved ones. There is remembrance of the departed, socializing among family members, and a sort of all night picnic.

This from Wikipedia: "Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased.

Social scientists are fond of saying that this tradition is emotionally beneficial inasmuch as Mexican kids grow up accepting death as a reality, a fact of life; not as merely an abstraction. And, the all night gatherings strengthen already powerful family bonds.

There were and are traditional Day of the Dead treats; pan de los muertos (bread of the dead - ghoulish sounding at first to foreigners, but it is a delicious sweet bread, dusted in granular sugar); and the molded sugar skulls mentioned above, etc.

But the creeping hegemony of US culture is producing a sort of holiday hybrid here now. Both Halloween, with its jack-o-lanterns, expensive commercial costumes, disguises,  and mischief making) and Day of the Dead are celebrated.

Mega, Walmart, Chedraui, the mom and pop tienditas, all are now full of the usual Halloween junk. Elaborate and costly Princess and Snow White, etc. costumes for the little girls; Spíderman and Wolverine, etc., for the little boys. Plus all the hideous rubber masks, plastic vampire teeth, fake blood, spider web in a spray can; it's all here. And the struggling working class moms and dads increasingly feel the pressure to buy their kids these expensive, elaborate outfits and paraphernalia .

US culture is inventive and creative, that's clear. From wonderful musical theatre, to rock and roll, and on and on, the US delights and influences the world. But the US also leads the world in the successful marketing of dubious, even needless junk, especially insidiously, to kids (I'm sure you've noticed, especially if you're a parent or grandparent); and in knowing how to make kids feel entitled to everything they see on tv, and on the store shelves. Everything that can be commercialized, is. Relentlessly.

Catrinas

So struggling Mexican parents now feel yet another heavy financial burden around Halloween.

Mischief is still pretty tame. About the worst form it takes is egging of houses or cars. In fact I have only seen evidence of it once, about four years ago. It's not common. Yet.

Maybe those egg throwers are just the disappointed kids whose parents just could not afford the latest Justin Bieber mask or Disney Princess dress. 

But happily, to a certain extent, this sort of overall cross-cultural influence works both ways. What's the fastest growing restaurant chain in the USA? And the hottest restaurant stock? Chipotle Mexican Grill. Pass the fajitas and chow down amigos.

Today is the anniversary of....

Robert:

As you will see, I am a European history buff.

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt, in 1415, in which Henry V and his exhausted, sickly and underfed army of around 6,000 to 9,000 English knights, longbowmen, and men at arms, defeated a rested and better equipped French force that outnumbered them roughly 4 to 1. Some accounts say 6 to 1. And the French had cavalry!! And this was on French soil, near Calais.

How Henry pulled this off is really a study of grace, inspiration and brilliance under immense pressure and against terrifying odds. It is taught at West Point.

He was not only a brilliant field general, he fought hand to hand alongside his men, front and center. He used the Frenchmen's wild overconfidence, the slope of the land, the narrowness of the battlefield (hemmed in by thick forest on either side) and the deep mud of the freshly ploughed field, all to brilliant, brilliant advantage, turning a desperate and apparently hopeless situation into a stunning victory. There were very few Englishmen killed that day, most accounts say fewer than 200; but many thousands of French died. Some accounts indicate that 6,000 to 7,000 French knights died in just the first ninety minutes of battle.

Both sides had chroniclers and historians present, to witness and record the battle, so there is a surprising amount of specific info about what transpired over those three and a half hours. It was one of the most important battles of  the Hundred Years War.

However, near the end of the battle, Henry committed a war crime, even according to the laws of chivalry of those days. His men were holding a huge number of French prisoners, more French prisoners than there were British soldiers to guard them, with weapons of the fallen still lying all over the field, and suddenly, Henry thought he saw signs of French reinforcements coming. He feared he would lose control of the prisoners in the chaos of defending against a new attack, and that the prisoners would be able to easily re-arm themselves from the weapons on the field, and join in the new attack. So, he made a snap decision to execute thousands of French prisoners on the spot. He lined them up in front of rows of his archers; others were locked in barns and storage buildings which were set on fire.

The feared attack never came; so go the horrors of the fog of war.

In Henry the V, Shakespeare handles this event with a classic Machiavellian interpretation. Namely, that a great king must be noble and good hearted, but able to be utterly ruthless in an instant when the situation demands it. And Henry's bona fides of prior goodness and nobility are substantial.  For example, a few weeks before, the British had besieged the French town of Harfleur, and after it fell, he saw to it that the citizens were well treated and not widely abused. Those who did not wish to swear allegiance to Henry were allowed to leave with their possessions and even given a tiny amount of traveling money. Henry's soldiers were strictly forbidden abuses or atrocities, although undoubtedly some renegades ignored the rules and tried to take advantage of the French. One British soldier robbed a church in the village, and Henry had him hanged.

Gravity; Neil deGrasse Tyson Misses the Point

Robert:

From Andrew Sullivan's blog, The Dish:

Neil deGrasse Tyson        ✔ @neiltyson

Mysteries of #Gravity: Why Bullock's hair, in otherwise convincing zero-G scenes, did not float freely on her head.

6:15 PM - 6 Oct 2013

Unlike NdGT, Isaac Butler believes there’s no need for checking the facts:

In real life, people don’t talk the way they do in movies or television or (especially) books. Real locations aren’t styled, lit, or shot the way they are on screen. The basic conceits of point of view in literature actually make no sense and are in no way “realistic.” Realism isn’t verisimilitude. It’s a set of stylistic conventions that evolve over time, are socially agreed upon, and are hotly contested. The presence of these conventions is not a sign of quality. Departure from them is not a sign of quality’s absence.

The Realism Canard is the most depressing trend in criticism I have ever encountered. I would rather read thousands of posts of dismissive snark about my favorite books than read one more blog post about something that happened in a work of fiction wasn’t realistic or factually accurate to our world as we know it. … [W]e’re talking here not only about the complete misreading of what something is (fiction vs. nonfiction), but the holding of something to a standard it isn’t trying to attain and often isn’t interested in (absolute verisimilitude). We’re talking about the reduction of truth to accuracy.

Oops!

Robert:

If you're familiar with Bucerias, you might remember this street...it's Avenida Estaciones...the street that heads out to Colegio Bucerias then continues on to Valle Banderas.

Yesterday around 3:30 p.m., this flatbed truck, loaded with very tall road grading equipment (center of photo, beyond the patrol car), tried to navigate through all the the overhead utility wires.

It didn't work out...he snagged some wires, and pulled down 2 utility poles...

Notice that one of the concrete utility poles that he pulled down has fallen across a parked car...not apparent in the photo is yet another concrete pole, also down, on the other side of the street, further down the block...it is very lucky no one was hurt...

Piña Vendors Coming In Off the Streets Today

Robert:

Around 11 a.m. a pickup truck filled with ripe pineapples pulled up in front of the office.

The driver came in with a slice of pineapple, offering it to Deborah as an enticement. It smelled so sweet and delicious she had to try it.

Sold!

Deborah bought one (10 pesos) and I bought 2...Yummy. Makes the whole office smell like sweet pineapple.

Big New Price Reduction, Casa Palapa, Punta del Burro!

Robert:

I have always said this is one of the most spectacularly beautiful homes in all the bay area. It's an "Oh my God!" and "Wow!" house if ever there was one.

The price has just been lowered from $995,000 to an astonishingly low $825,000 beautifully furnished and equipped, ready to move in.

The views of the bay are dream-like, and a wide, gradual beach is just a few steps away.

Below is the link to the web page for this amazingly lovely home, with many more photos, and a 360 Panoramic Virtual Tour.

 CLICK HERE

Contact Deborah Foster to View This Home: cell 322 117 3099

This Will Make You Hungry! Pal Antojo from El Pechugon! 38 pesos.

Robert:

One more reason I love living in Mexico! Great food everywhere, for very little money. There are scads of roasted or grilled chicken places all over Mexico...there are many mom and pop places on the roadside, plus big chains...of the chains, my favorites are El Pollo Feliz, and El Pechugon.  El Pollo Feliz is chicken grilled on a charcoal fire. It's great.

But for roasted chicken, I like the chain called El Pechugon. There is a new El Pechugon near the plaza in Bucerias,..up by the taxi stand and Magallanes.

Today I picked up my lunch there. I always get the menu item called Pal Antojo. A quarter chicken, plus two taquitos, and roasted new potatoes. Comes with a bag of fresh made salsa, roasted jalapeños, and tortillas. Take a look:

How much do you think all this delicious food cost me? 38 pesos. That's $2.90 at today's exchange rate. Such a ganga! (bargain). I wonder, what would a lunch like this cost in the 'States or Canada these days? I truly have no idea. Would it be more? Less? About the same?

Three reasons I Love Visiting Guadalajara - Video

Robert:

I spent this past weekend in Guadalajara. I always stay in the wonderful and atmospheric Hotel Morales, in the city's historic center. In the video below this post, there is a clip of the hotel's beautiful lobby, with massive stone arches, fountain, balconies, etc. Meanwhile here's a couple of stills:

It's just a great hotel, and is reason number one I love to visit Guadalajara. ("Guad." for short) A very famous Mexican celebrity was staying in the Morales while we were there, a singer called El Chapo de Sinaloa, and he was eating breakfast with his entourage at the next table, so my companion had her picture taken with him, of course. I was only slightly jealous.

Reason number two I love to visit Guad. is the spectacularly dramatic series of connected plazas, surrounded by magnificent historic buildings, that comprise the historic center. These plazas are just lovely, like the beautiful old colonial Mexico of your imagination, and are filled with activity day and night; street entertainers, free concerts in the band shell, horse drawn carriage rides, you name it. They are also surrounded by huge old department stores, for a little shopping if you want.

   

Reason number three is the fabulous Guadalajara Zoo (Parque Zoologico.). This is a really large old zoo that covers many, many acres; it has been around a long time, with big trees and beautiful gardens all through it. It is truly a zoo in a forest.

There is now a wonderful new attraction; the Sky Zoo, a double chairlift (yes, like a ski lift) that takes you all the way across the zoo, passing through the canopy of treetops, then at the far end of the zoo, doing a u-turn around the bull wheel at the end, overlooking the deep canyon beyond, then bringing you back across the zoo to where you started. See clips of this in the video below this post. Meanwhile, a still:

The zoo also has a train that circles the perimeter, with three train stations with rest rooms and snack bars. You can get on and off the train as you like.

The zoo also has a Safari Adventure, seen in the video, during which you can feed the giraffes from your hand. This is a big hit with everyone, every time; always shrieks and squeals of delight.

Melanie feeds the giraffe.

There is an aquarium, and a separate admission area called the Selva Magica (The Magic Forest), that is all rides. Roller coasters, hammers, octopus, himalaya, ferris wheels, etc., all the usual fairground rides, and in great numbers. This requires a day to itself.

(Oh, by the way, as you'll see there was a big parade through downtown Guad. on Sunday morning, with music-themed floats; a great, fun parade, with lots of dancing in the streets, and the crowd singing along and dancing a bit too. The macabre zombie-like dancers at the end were dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller, just in case you can't quite make out the music.)

Now, here's the video. The tiny, excited little voice belongs to Melanie, the 6 year old daughter of my traveling companion.

"Breaking Bad" Commentary from Andrew Sullivan

Robert:

Andrew Sullivan is among the best journalists writing today. I've been a reader and subscriber to his blog, The Dish, for many years. Today, this analysis of Breaking Bad appeared on The Dish.

I have to admit I only watched the first episode of Breaking Bad, and have not yet downloaded any others. But this intriguing analysis makes me much more likely to do so.

Andrew writes:

In some ways, Breaking Bad was, for me, a hymn to Machiavelli. Walter White – in order to secure his honor as well as his survival – leaves traditional morality and virtues in the desert to seek power and money and respect. And he does so with such brilliance and fortitude and elan that Old Nick himself would have marveled at the spectacle of untrammeled evil and empire building.

 If a man is truly a man through force and fraud and nerve, then Walter becomes the man he always wanted to be. He trounces every foe; he gains a huge fortune; he dies a natural death. Compared with being a high school chemistry teacher? Niccolo would scoff at the comparison. “I did it for me.”

Like Richard III or Richard Nixon, Walt is consumed all along by justified resentment of the success others stole from him, and by a rage that his superior mind was out-foxed by unscrupulous colleagues. He therefore lived and died his final years for human honor – for what Machiavelli calls virtu, a caustic, brutal inversion of Christian virtue. And there is some worldly justice in this – he was cheated, he was diminished, his skills were eventually proven beyond any measure in ways that would never have happened if he had never broken bad. And breaking bad cannot mean putting a limit on what you are capable of doing. What Machiavelli insisted upon was that a successful power-broker know how to be “altogether bad.” You have to leave a woman choking on her own vomit to her death. You have to murder a child on a toy scooter.

But the script cheats. Why? Because Walter is already dying. The calculations you make about your future do depend very much on how far you can see ahead. And the cost-benefit analysis of “breaking bad” when the alternative is imminently “dying alone” is rigged in favor of the very short term, i.e. zero-sum evil. If Walt had had to weigh a long, unpredictable lifetime of unending fear and constant danger for his family and himself, he would have stopped cooking meth. As, indeed, he did, when finally given the chance – only to be yanked back into the life of a mobster by his brother-in-law, bored, sitting on a john. Nice Shakespearean touch that, I thought.

And was he happy? Yes, but in a way that never really reflects any inner peace. He is happy in a way that all millionaires and tyrants are happy. His will is done. But we know that this does not lead to actual, enduring happiness. Which is why, for me, Machiavelli’s great flaw is that the life of such a brutally powerful figure, ruling by force and fraud, is a mug’s game. Isn’t the consequence of his proud immorality a never-ending insecurity? Do not most mob bosses live in fear every day and die by the same methods they employ? Did we not see that happen to Gus? Even to Mike? Did Saddam have a happy ending? Or Richard III? These are lives mesmerizing in action but miserably, existentially insecure. Remember Mike’s face as he took a last look at his grand-daughter. You call that happiness?

So for me, Breaking Bad should be taught alongside Machiavelli – as a riveting companion piece. 

Andrew Sullivan from The Dish

Link to The Dish http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/