I don’t like flying; or rather it’s the going up and the coming down that bothers me most. Once I’m in the air and realize there is nothing I can do about it, I become quite philosophical about it all and try to forget my good friend John Hindmarsh, a skilled pilot, who for no […]
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It seems that one can never take anything for granted in the academic world, at least because there is always someone somewhere waiting to contradict everything that has been said previously. This is especially true of revisionist history. Of course new evidence and different ways of interpreting the “facts” of history may justify revising standard […]
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Stories about the creation of the universe are found in many places in the world throughout history. We have our own creation stories: Creationism, Intelligent Design, and Darwinian Evolution. Whichever one and for whatever reason you choose, all are attempts to explain who we are, why we are here, and is there any real purpose […]
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I began reading about Indians when I was a boy and my sympathies were always with the underdog, so I warn you that what follows is not a scholarly objective study of the Huichol Indians (probably one of the most studied and least understood peoples on earth) but simply my personal opinions based on my […]
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The Huichol Indians of Jalisco and Nayarit have accomplished the almost incredible feat of maintaining their independence and most of their traditional values well into the 21st century. Thanks to the rugged terrain of the Sierra Madre mountains the Huichols were able to escape the brunt of the Spanish invasion. They continue to celebrate their […]
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Sunday afternoon, at about ten minutes before 4 p.m., local time, in bullrings all over Spain and Mexico, matadors kneel in arena chapels and pray to La Virgen de la Macarena to protect them. For precisely at 4 p.m., a bugle will blow and they will go forth to meet their destiny. Moments later, a […]
Continue ReadingLa Cucaracha (The Cockroach), one of Mexico’s best known corridos, is a comic, satirical song, with infinite possibilities for creative verses. The typical chorus is: La cucaracha, la cucaracha Ya no puede caminar Porque no tiene, porque le falta Marihuana que fumar. Which translates into English as The cockroach, the cockroach Can not walk anymore Because […]
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Available from Amazon Books: Hardcover “Mexico City offers us a mirror of our urban prospects, and Americans ignore its example somewhat at their peril.” Mexico City has long exercised a fascination for writers of varying foreign stripes — Graham Greene, Aldous Huxley, Jack Keruoac, D. H. Lawrence, William S. Burroughs, B. Traven; not to mention Latin […]
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“Don Luis, aquí. Aquí, Don Luis,” yelled a group of white-shirted men. They were calling for passengers in the camionera central in Pinotepa Nacional near the border of Oaxaca and Guerrero. We had dodged taxis, buses, minivans and pickup trucks in our search for the sitio Pinotepa de Don Luis. And now several animated drivers yelled and waved us […]
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Masked dancers take to the streets on July 25 to reenact an age old battle fought in Spain long before the conquest. The ceremonial tastoan (sometimes spelled tastuan) rituals come from the 12th century and were originally known as the dance of the Moors and the Christians. In Spain’s version, the dance symbolizes the expulsion of the Moors […]
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