Mexican Tuesdays

[johncorrigan]

In honour of Lat's visit to a local hostelry, celebrated so eloquently on 'Platform 3', let's defy the 'leader of the free world' and enjoy things Mexican...on Tuesdays. For starters I offer this from Lila Downs...any sign of these little blighters when you were doing your reconnoitre, Lat?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn3qzn6Ke8A

[Lat-Literal]

In honour of Lat's visit to a local hostelry, celebrated so eloquently on 'Platform 3', let's defy the 'leader of the free world' and enjoy things Mexican...on Tuesdays. For starters I offer this from Lila Downs...any sign of these little blighters when you were doing your reconnoitre, Lat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn3qzn6Ke8A

No obvious sign - but wouldn't be at all surprised.

[Richard Tarleton]

Great thread John. I'd like to offer a novel and film, Como Agua para Cocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) by Laura Esquivel - quite brilliant. More than a dash of magical realism, it's about families, love and food, set against a background of Mexican revolution. It's set on a ranch near the Mexican-US border .

I first saw the film on TV, but now have it on DVD (various cheap offers on Amazon). I was actually reading the novel in Spanish when I went to Santiago de Compostela for my OU Spanish summer school, and to my great delight it turned out to be on the curriculum.

I've been to Mexico once - I was lucky enough to win a Millennium Fellowship in 2000 to spend time on an Earthwatch wildlife project in the dry tropical forest on the Pacific coast of western Mexico, about 4 hours south of Puerto Vallarta. The project, based at a research station, involved trapping small carnivores (skunks, ocelots and the like) in order to fit them with radio collars. We saw the pawprints of large carnivores (puma) and witnessed the encroachment into the natural forest by plantations and cattle ranches.

My cousin Lawrence Snow on the American side of the family was a mining engineer in Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre in the 1920s - here he is, including having a brush with a car (I think I've posted these before on the family photo thread, but they're great pictures !

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Great thread John. I'd like to offer a novel and film, Como Agua para Cocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) by Laura Esquivel - quite brilliant. More than a dash of magical realism, it's about families, love and food, set against a background of Mexican revolution. It's set on a ranch near the Mexican-US border .

[Globaltruth]

Great idea - do we need separate threads for Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen? Or just lob them into this one?

[johncorrigan]

The Chieftains did a crackin' Mexico related record a few years back - San Patricio and here they are with Ry and Mexican singer Chavela Vargas doing Luz Da Luna, though that does have a sense of Monday about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQzSsTewbc

Great photos by the way, Richard!

[Lat-Literal]

The Chieftains did a crackin' Mexico related record a few years back - San Patricio and here they are with Ry and Mexican singer Chavela Vargas doing Luz Da Luna, though that does have a sense of Monday about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQzSsTewbc

Great photos by the way, Richard!

I love that CD.

Los de Abajo - Los Lunaticos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chx-mmY64Oo

[johncorrigan]

Hey it's Tuesday so try a spot of Mexican Bolero to brighten the day (or evening).
Toña "La Negra" - Nocturnal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azHqt7AbbQg
Quality!

[Richard Tarleton]

Another great Mexican film - Danzón, which premiered at Cannes in 1991. The whole film is on You Tube. (This can't be legal - Ed.)** Spending the bulk of her time working and raising her child alone, Julia's life is filled with mundane grays. The only color in her life comes from her Wednesday night trips to Mexico City where she dances the danzón with her long-time partner Carmelo. But one night, she goes to dance and Carmelo is not there. At first puzzled, and then obsessed, she embarks upon a search that not only solves the mystery of his disappearance, but also leads her down a path of personal discovery and renewal. This drama earned international acclaim and was the first Mexican film to premiere at Cannes in over a decade.

Here's a review from the New York Times.

What is Danzón? Danzón is the official musical genre and dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico, and is still much loved in Puerto Rico. Written in 2/4 time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring set footwork around syncopated beats, and incorporating elegant pauses while the couples stand listening to virtuoso instrumental passages, as characteristically played by a charanga or tipica ensemble.

**£373 used on Amazon - I'd say watch it on You Tube

[johncorrigan]

**£373 used on Amazon - I'd say watch it on You Tube

I would too, Richard...liked the sound of the music but could do with the sub-titles.

[Lat-Literal]

Hey it's Tuesday so try a spot of Mexican Bolero to brighten the day (or evening).
Toña "La Negra" - Nocturnal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azHqt7AbbQg
Quality!

Thank you JC - I liked it.

[johncorrigan]

Hey it's Tuesday - a wee bit Mariachi band with some lively dancing, and some whistling to celebrate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-U82PriO0

[Lat-Literal]

Hey it's Tuesday - a wee bit Mariachi band with some lively dancing, and some whistling to celebrate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-U82PriO0

That's very celebratory, JC.

I wish I could dance like that.

[johncorrigan]

I wish I could dance like that.

What a great attraction that would be down your locallish establishment on any Mexican Tuesday, Lat...I'd pay good money to see it. I loved the way the guys danced with their hands behind their back; and I saw the purpose of the sombrero at the end...not to keep the sun off, but to mask the power of the embrace. Celebratory stuff indeed!!!!

[Globaltruth]

Hey it's Tuesday - a wee bit Mariachi band with some lively dancing, and some whistling to celebrate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-U82PriO0

Drat, missed it again. By way of apology...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASXvu8T_Bv4