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(Click on image for Poem)
Memorial Day
5.28.07 |
10
de Mayo, Día de las madres a la Mexicana.
The great things mom taught me:
My mother taught me RELIGION -
'Ay Bendito , pídele a Dios que yo no te agarre, cabron.'
My Mother taught me about ANTICIPATION -
'Deja que lleguemos a casa, pinche chamaco'
My Mother taught me about my ROOTS -
'Malagradecido, cuando yo era chiquita no tenia nada'
My mother taught me LOGIC -
'Como que por qué? porque si!'
My mother taught me about INSPIRATION-
'Si llegas con malas calificaciones te voy a dar con la chancla,
cabron'
My Mother taught me about WISDOM-
'Tu crees que sabes todo, aprende a limpiar la cola primero'
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And here enters
the Wood Man,,, El Hombre De Madera,,,,,,,Mike Melnyk,
5.25.07
Many artists work their magic in
different ways. One artist we met on our journey is Mike Melnyk. Mike,
who was in town from the California Bay area, gave a woodwork jarana
making workshop from the beginning process to the end at Gallery Colibri.
His informative presentation was filled with still slides while
narrating his methods & techniques on the various jaranas he's
built. Although his claims as not being an expert in the jarana making
field we sampled two of his masterful created instruments and were
impressed with the craftsmanship, quality, design and sound. Mike's
reasoning for his methods made sense. Many questions were asked and his
explanations of the process was indeed thoroughly informative. His
meticulous woodwork indeed shows his passion for building these
traditional Veracruz instruments, which led us to ask why and how did he
become so interested in this genre of music. His interest began when he
attended a performance by
Los Cenzontles in Cali and was hooked
ever since with the culture and the beauty of their art. I think it was
because of the hot spicy Latinas, but that's my theory, ha!. Mike is
originally from south side of Chicago, attended Columbia college and
left for Cali in his 3rd yr in an overloaded VW beetle as he described
it. In Cali Mike began his journey in the woodwork business and had
various furniture making yobs and now works for himself earning his
keep, working with wood. Mike is a good guy and we like that he is
open to showing anyone who want's to learn. One conversation we had with
Mike that sums up Mike's good character was of other builders not
willing to share information charging thousands of dollars for classes
and felt in the tradition of the old ways he's happy to pass along his
knowledge on the subject. A true artist if you ask me. Although
Mike does visit from time to time, we look forward to his next visit.
After his workshop we all went over to Casa Aztlan for a performance by
Tarima Son and a fandango. It was a pleasure to jam along with Mike
Cántaro's newest friend. Mike's jaranas can be found in the hands
of Los Cenzontles and
Mono Blanco and we'd hope one day
in the hands of Cántaro,,,,hint hint. I was disappointed that the
waiting list is about a mile high but I could hope, wink wink ;)
Mike can also be found in the documentary
"Fandango,Searching
for the White Monkey" by Los Cenzontles, a journey accross
Mexico on the subject.
Viva Mike! El Hombre de Madera
http://www.mmelnyk.photosite.com/
(click on image for recent photos)
MAY 10th
THE TRADITION IN MEXICO:
Mothers Day celebration in Mexico
takes place on May 10 as the day is special for the people of Mexico.
The day is celebrated with gusto as churches in Mexico organize special
mass. The highpoint of the event is the orchestra which plays "las
mañanitas" and distribution of 'tamales' and 'atole', the traditional
early-morning meal to all local mothers.
Lo tradicional en Mexico para el
dia de las Madres(10 de Mayo), es de que todos los hijos e hijas o la
gran mayoria de ellos se reunen en diferentes lugares asi como publicos
o sus casas, un dia antes osea el 09 en la noche formando grupos en
donde todos empiezan a prepararse para llevar las tradicionales "Man~anitas"
a sus mamas. En donde muchos aprovecha para llevar desde una simple rosa
o clavel o hasta un arreglo junto con esto le ayudan a expresar sus
sentimientos hacia las sus mamas.
(Click on image for a storyl)
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