March 2008 El Calendario de Todos Santos is On Line!!

I just finished posting the March 2008 issue of El Calendario de Todos Santos online. The print version hasn’t even hit the street yet, so you blog readers are the fortunate few. <g> Print edition should be here on Sunday or Monday at the latest.

www.elcalendariodetodossantos.com

Yes, I have been missing in action. It’s a busy time here and blogging loses out. There are some interesting things going on though. The telephone poles have stopped appearing in Las Tunas. They died right in front of my lot – not a big deal really – I should get service much sooner than others waiting for underground contractors to install the lines.

Today I noticed a new business in the Las Agaves Plaza – it’s a money exchange! Not sure we really need one (with two banks, ATMs and all) and they haven’t lasted long when they popped up in the past, but if they stay open late and on weekends, they will likely get some business.

The weather is wonderful. Cool brisk evenings, even cold if the dew falls on you, but warm in the sunny days. I haven’t been to the surf breaks so no info there but the ocean was pounding last night. The whales appear to be returning north, little by little.

With a bit of luck, I’ll get to posting on the blog regularly again. At least I did better this year than last. I just received a book on WordPress so soon this hosted version of the blog will no longer be updated. Be sure to switch to www.todossantos.net if you want the continuing current posts.

More On Las Tunas Telephone Service

Okay, I don’t know all the answers, but installation of the poles has stopped. The existing poles have all been wired (bad news.) Juan and Erik have spoken with Telmex and are now soliciting bids from independent contractors to put the phone wires underground. It is not possible to use the same infrastructure as the electricity uses.

Once all is installed, we should have voice and high speed interent (DSL) service. That’s good news!

Todos Santos Film Festival Highlights

I just received this information from Sylvia and Leonardo Perel (via Linda Stobbe) concerning the film festival schedule. There appear to be some dating errors in the text. Previous info I have received indicates that there will be 2 Maryse Sistach films “Perfume de Violeta” and “El Cometa” shown on March 1 and “Emma’s Bra” will be also be shown on March 2.

Opening Day for kids Thursday, Feb 28, Film at 5:00 Plaza Todos Santos

• The Camera of the Secrets is a short documentary by the young students ( age 6-12) from the rural school at Elias Calles about their lives and experiences in filmmaking. (English Subtitled) This is the first film produced by our Youth in Video Program. The kids and teacher will be on stage at the Plaza, Come and support them!!!

This event is followed by “Dragones” a feature animation from Peru ( 7:00 pm Teatro )

• Dragones is a sweet animated film for all ages. If you know kids ( 5-12) who would enjoy this beautiful film in Spanish only, please, pass the word.

• Opening Night film :

Nonna’s trip / El viaje de la Nonna, Mexico, 2007, Dir Sebastián Silva

Friday, Feb 29, 8:00pm Teatro Marquez de Leon

It is a charmingly funny, ultimately touching story of a Mexican-Italian family united by love. This film was the Opening Night film in San Francisco at the Castro Theater with more than 1,000 people in attendance. A lot of laughter!!!

• Tribute to Women & Film honoring distinguish Mexican director Maryse Sistach with a retrospective of her work. Maryse Sistach will be in town on Saturday March 1 and Sunday March 2 for her three screenings with Q&A.

MARYSE SISTACH began by studying anthropology at La Sorbonne, Paris and then turned to studying film direction in Mexico City. She has focused her main films on problems of personal relationships, young girls coming of age, and the restrictions and violence of a patriarchal society upon women. Violet Perfum ( 3/1 18 hrs )is a tragic story about two young girls that was in the papers and inspired Maryse to take it to the screen and set it in an urban environment. Emma’s Bra ( 3/2 20 hrs ) is a delightful comedy set in Mexico City in the 60’ that follows a young girl coming of age and discovering her womanhood with her first bra. El Cometa, ( 3/1 20 hrs )is a tender love story set in the background of the Mexican Revolution where Diego was an aspiring filmmaker at the time when silent films where starting to come to Mexico.

 

• El Benny, Cuba, 2006 , Dir Jorge Luis Sanchez, 120 minutes

Friday, Feb 29, 6:00pm Teatro Marquez de Leon

Artistic genius is the central thread in this film about the charismatic Benny More, a singer regarded by many to be the greatest Cuban musician of all time. “ El Benny” focuses on More’s life as he rises from unknown to superstar in 1950’s Cuba, a time when the country’s musical talent was the best in the Western Hemisphere.

• Super Amigos, Mexico 2007, Arturo Perez Torres

Sunday, March 2nd , 6:00 Teatro Marquez de Leon

With their masked wrestling costumes these five comic-book superheroes champion the causes of Mexico’s oppressed in a vivid and realistic documentary. Super-Barrio a tenant’s rights activist, Super Animal protests the barbarity of bullfighting, Super Gay fights homophobia, Fray Tormenta champions homeless children as a professional wrestler and Ecologist Universal is an impassioned environmental conservationist. Five heart warming and true stories of activism shot with gorgeous cinematography in and around Mexico City.

• Frekuencia Kolombiana, Colombia, 2006 Vanessa Gocksch

Monday, March 3^rd, 5:00 at La Esquina Preceded by The Camera of the Secrets

Frekuencia Kolombiana is a fascinating voyage through the country visiting a variety of political and cultural events where Hip-Hop takes center stage. Hip-Hop artists incorporate older music styles from the traditional “Cumbia” to ‘Llaneras”. Originated from a place of exclusion, the music is now a movement of hope and the true voice of the youth of Colombia.

• J.C. Chavez, Mexico, 2007, dir Diego Luna

Monday, March 3 , 7: 00pm at La Esquina

Diego Luna (Y tu mamá también) in his directorial debut with a documentary that is more than a bio-pic about the famous boxer Julio Cesar Chavez.

A winner at Tribeca Film Festival in NY, this film tells the story of a child born into a poverty –stricken family who battled his way to the iconic stature of a national hero and served unwittingly as a politico’s poster boy. The film captures with a cinema-verity style- the emotional gamut inherent in this sporting life and the intimate father–son relationship that is producing the next champion in the family.

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Tickets are free, donations suggested. Your donations will benefit our Youth in Video Program, the educational program that teaches young children the art of filmmaking. We are ready to start our second film at the High School in TS.

Your donation will make possible the purchase of a second camera.

On a Lighter Note

Unbelievable as it may seem, TelMex (local and only telephone company) is installing poles in the Las Tunas area. Earlier this year, a new sub-station was built and now the poles are going in. The good news is we will have real phone service in the area. The bad news is the poles are above ground. The Las Tunas area banded together previously to mandate underground electricity only, in order not to have unsightly poles all over the neighborhood. At great monetary cost and ongoing hassle, all electricity in the area is underground.

Not so the phone service.

Will we also have DSL internet access? Time will tell.

Telephone poles on Avenida de Las Estrellas in Las Tunas, Todos Santos.

Another Loss in Todos Santos Extranjero Community

On Sunday, February 9, 2008, local resident and all round good guy Terry Stevens drowned while swimming in the Las Tunas bocana. Terry was a smart tough cookie and a strong swimmer. He often swam in the bocana and knew the dangers present. That particular day there were many large rogue wave sets that came infrequently and it is thought that one of these caught Terry, smashed and held him to the ocean floor until his air ran out. There will be a memorial gathering in Las Tunas on Saturday at 3 pm to honor Terry’s life.

Vaya con dios!

Terry Stevens with his daughter Candace, March 2007.

The Zocalo Today and The Election Thumb

Just to follow up on yesterday’s posts. Here’s a photo of the state of the zocalo at around 2 pm today. And here’s a photo of my election-inked thumb. It’s still deeply stained today, even after 6-8 thumb scrubbings.

The zocalo, February 4, 2008, hours before the shows begin.

My election inked thumb…30 hours later.

February 2008 El Calendario de Todos Santos OnLine

I just now finished posting the latest edition of El Calendario de Todos Santos on the web site:

www.elcalendariodetodossantos.com

Enjoy!

Mexican Election Day

This year for the first time, I was eligible to vote here in Mexico. So vote I did. No I won’t tell you who I voted for. But I will talk about the process. It was enlightening.

First you have to vote in the neighborhood where you live. There they will have a book with a copy of your voter credential in it. Every voter in Mexico is issued a credential (photo voting ID card) and it must be presented to vote. Your card is checked against the book by election officials. They then call out your name to another table that is manned by members of the various opposing political parties involved in the election. They too check a copy of the same book to verify that you are allowed to vote. If you pass, you can vote. Both groups mark you down as having voted in their books. When you return from the booth, your right thumb is then painted with indelible ink to prevent you from voting again. It’s a primitive, but in my mind, highly effective system.

You might remember the fuss after the last Mexican presidential elections. Candidate Obrador claimed massive vote fraud. If they follow the same procedure on the mainland as they do here, then the only way such fraud could occur is collusion at the highest levels of government. You would need multiple voter credentials in order to vote more than once AND you would need some way to remove the ink from your thumb (or some method of avoiding the thumb-inking altogether.) I am still trying to get this ink off after 6 hours. I seem to recall that Obrador said thousands of dead people voted and that thousands of votes for him were not counted. I guess this system wouldn’t stop that type of fraud but it certainly seems to stop anyone from voting more than once.

The actual voting is on a paper ballot. No chads, no electronics. You mark your vote with a big X over the party or persons you select. Then you fold the paper ballot and slip it into a box. After that I suppose bad things could happen to the box and its contents. But that’s true in any election anywhere in the world, isn’t it?

2008 Todos Santos Art Festival

The Todos Santos Art Festival begins tomorrow, Monday February 4. This in itself is odd as the festival usually begins on the weekend. But since today was election day in Mexico, the festival could not begin today. Also strange is the fact that this is the second year running that Mexican election day and the Super Bowl are on the same Sunday. The bad part is that there are no liquor sales in Mexico on election day. Well mostly no sales. Some exemptions are granted if the clientele are foreigners and not Mexican nationals. For example, the Sandbar will be serving liquor to non-Mexican nationals today during the football game.

The majority of the art festival events occur in the main town plaza or zocalo. Back in late October, remodeling of our zocalo began. The current municipal building will be torn down and the new zocalo will double in size and this is a good thing since the town has more people and tourists than ever and the old zocalo just couldn’t accommodate everyone. The bad news is that the remodeling is not any where near finished and the resulting zocalo is 1/2 the size it once was. How is everyone going to fit in that space for the big festival events? Quien sabe?

Zocalo on January 16, 2008.

Zocalo on January 16, 2008.

Zocalo today, February 3, 2008.

That’s the municipal building in the background. It’s more than half empty now but still standing. In the center is a new fountain/pagoda, recreating the turn of the century look of the zocalo.