Art, Politics & Entertainment

Strange how I always seem to be out of town for important events. I was in transit from Bali, Indonesia to Singapore (yes, in an airplane) on September 11th, 2001. And then, on Election Day, 2008, I was in the town of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Fortunately, I had a choice that evening of several locations to watch election results as they happen, surrounded by ex-pats and anxious tourists. One spot has become one of my favorite cafes because 1) it offers free wifi 2) it has really good tortas - hot sandwiches filled with seasoned beef and local cheese and 3) they also sell cereal with banana slices for breakfast, another weird comfort food of mine. They held an electoral countdown monitored on-line and posted on a whiteboard, complete with a George Bush pinata and free shots of mezcal, the local booze, when Obama reached 270 electoral votes! Today, the whiteboard had the words "324! Obamanos!" written on it in a rather booze-happy script.

I ended up watching the results in the bar of a local five star hotel, well, because it wasn't as crowded and had a large screen TV, and was also full of Obama supporters. (Yes, I've been a bit coy about my policital leanings because this is a blog about creativity, not politics, but let us just say I felt very at home, and er, helped the cafe owner hang the Bush pinata - and have been delighted by the crafty support for Obama I've been seeing around the blog-o-sphere). It was an amazing experience, to sit in that bar and feel the cheers pulse through me when the west coast results were announced and CNN declared Obama the winner. There wasn't a dry eye in the house during Obama's acceptance speech, though my waiter did indicate that his tears were because he was going crazy trying to keep the crowd in cervezas - there was barely room to walk in the bar.

In honor of exercising the political (and other) voices of the people, I thought I’d share some posters I’ve been finding around town - In many ways, they're a lot more interesting than some of the art in the local art galleries - especially when you can't quite read what's going on:
For example: Why is that cricket riding in the shopping cart, and where is s/he going? Do crickets have genders? What do they have to do with liberty and resistance?
What is a dog doing at a funeral for artists? Is s/he going to pull the banner off the funeral wreath? Does that count as dramatic tension in the image?


This one appears to have a bit of socialist message, but I still find it mustache-ist that only the guy with the most facial hair actually gets to sit down and read the paper.

She sure looks angry, and I think I would be too, if a caravan of theatrical tourists was about to come to my zocolo. Of course, I could be mis-reading this one.

Band or no band, I love the virgin of guadalupe in the gas mask, complete with flaming tire cape. I think I may need a flaming tire cape. None spotted yet in the markets.

Apparently, the local Luchadores (Mexican pro wrestlers) are now taking their stage names from soul music and American horror flicks. Really, it's embarrassing how pervasive American culture is.
Ok, all I can read on this one is "PreHispanic CoverUps," and maybe something about tattoo portaits, which might be "portraits" or "portents." I think its a little late to cover up the whole pre-hispanic thing, though it does look like someone tried to peel it off the wall. And, actually, The PreHispanic Peel Offs is kind of a cool name for a band. As is Tattoo Portent.

Oh dear. Don't get me started.