Destination: Mexico
World Borders Redefined
by Michael Yessis | 05.29.06 | 9:22 AM ET
What defines a country’s border these days? Is it a physical place, or does it extend into the “virtual and electronic space”? Moisés Naím argues that it’s all three places and more in an intriguing essay in the Outlook section of Sunday’s Washington Post. “[W]hile geography still matters,” Naím writes, “today’s borders are being redefined and redrawn in unexpected ways. They are fluid, constantly remade by technology, new laws and institutions, and the realities of international commerce—illicit as well as legitimate.”
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzSanta Maria del Tule, Mexico
by Ben Keene | 04.21.06 | 11:02 AM ET
Coordinates: 17 2 N 96 37 W
Weight of tree: 636 tons
Speaking about Earth Day, the grassroots initiative he started on April 22, 1970, former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson remarked: “The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.” Mi Amigo el Arbol, one example of an environmental group that shares this perspective, devotes itself to protecting Mexico’s most famous tree. Arguably the largest single biomass on the planet, the giant cypress known as the Arbol de Tule has been a constant presence for generations in the Oaxacan town of Santa Maria del Tule. It’s estimated to be over 2,000 years old. The tree’s health is now threatened by the strain human activity places on the aquifer beneath its ancient roots. Tomorrow marks the 36th anniversary of Earth Day.
—.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) is the editor of the Oxford Atlas of the World.
Celebrity Travel Watch: President Bush in Cancun*
by Theodore Fez | 03.30.06 | 9:35 AM ET
I know what you’re thinking: Yawn! President Bush is no celebrity, and this is not the Real Cancun! Has Theodore Fez lost his marbles? The answer is…no way! I’m a fashion hound, and what I saw in the press photos from the big honchos’ Cancun meeting today made me feel both shock and awe!
Bullfighting School: ¿Quién es Más Macho?
by Jim Benning | 03.13.06 | 12:50 PM ET
I don’t talk about this much because, frankly, it just intimidates people, as it should. But back in 1998, when I was but a young magazine freelancer with a dog-eared copy of Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” on my bookshelf, I enrolled in bullfighting school. The California Academy of Tauromaquia in San Diego, to be specific. That’s me in the photos. It was for a story for Men’s Fitness magazine.
I studied the art of bullfighting for several weeks, learning the ins and outs of cape-handling, among other essentials. For homework, I studied episodes of the TV show “When Animals Attack.” And then, wearing the traditional white shirt and cap of a bullfighting student, I stepped into a stone bullring in Mexico under a hot desert sun (actually, it was rather cool, but “hot” sounds more unforgiving; stick with me here), and went mano a mano with a snarling, charging 400-pound heifer. I graduated with honors.
Before any of you send angry e-mails: Not only did I not harm the animal, but at the time, I was a vegetarian who wouldn’t go within 10 feet of a Big Mac, so send your notes elsewhere. But I digress. I bring this up now because Gadling just pointed out a recent New York Times story in which the writer attended the same bullfighting school and faced a 300-pound heifer.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: Three hundred pounds? That’s it?
Exactly. That’s the first thought that ran through my mind.
Back in the day, if you wanted to prove yourself in the ring and deliver a meaty story to your editors, you made sure you faced at least 350 pounds of lumbering beef. Know what I’m saying? And honestly, if you were an editor worth your salt, you wouldn’t print a bullfighting story by a writer who faced anything close to 300 pounds. At the New York Times, you’re just giving more ammunition to those in Red America who claim the liberal media elite are out of touch. Don’t you editors know your heifers? Get back in touch. We need you. No bull. Okay, a little bull.
As for the California Academy of Tauromaquia, it offers an excellent bullfighting education, and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in learning the basics. And really, shouldn’t we all know at least the basics? No? Okay.
Eating Fajitas in the Land of Snails
by Jim Benning | 12.19.05 | 1:37 PM ET
I was powerless in the face of my addiction. The moment I saw the Mexican restaurant in Lyon, France, I knew I had to eat there. I also knew the food would be awful. My story about it, Worlds Collide, appears in Sunday’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Into Chiapas
by Jim Benning | 12.19.05 | 1:31 PM ET
Tom Haines concludes his two-part series on Mexico in Sunday’s Boston Globe. This week’s story focuses on Chiapas and the plight of the Zapatista rebels. Last week, we wrote about part one.
European Tourists Murdered Near Tulum, Mexico
by Michael Yessis | 12.16.05 | 12:47 PM ET
Two travelers, Martha Taults of Barcelona, Spain, and Matias Mazzeti of Italy, were hacked to death last week by machete-wielding attackers and left near a road outside of Tulum, according to a Reuters report. Mexican police are looking for clues. They say violent crime is rare in the area, even among the luxury resorts in Cancun, 80 miles up the coast.
Ernest Hemingway Sofas, Frida Kahlo Tequila, Renoir Mineral Water, and Now Lady Chatterley Thongs?
by Jim Benning | 12.16.05 | 12:35 PM ET
Oh yes, and those are just the beginning. There’s also Jane Austen writing paper and the Virginia Woolf Burger bar. The Times of London today offers an amusing overview of the products bearing the names of artists and novels of yore, as well as the controversies that surround them.
Tom Haines Goes to Mexico
by Jim Benning | 12.12.05 | 5:44 PM ET
The Boston Globe published the first installment yesterday of a two-part series about Mexico by Tom Haines. He covers a lot of ground and writes evocatively of the uneasy relationship between Mexico and the United States.
“Far & Wide: The Golden Age of Travel Posters”
by Michael Yessis | 12.06.05 | 4:16 PM ET
That’s the name of the current exhibit at the Los Angeles Public Library’s Getty Gallery. I spent some time there yesterday afternoon, checking out the more than 60 promotional posters from the 1920s to the 1940s. They’re gorgeous artifacts of the Art Deco era, though the curators point out that the posters weren’t intended to be artistic. They were made for short-term commercial purposes, printed on cheap paper with a life expectancy of only eight weeks.
Brinco Shoes: Air Jordans for the Migrant Set
by Jim Benning | 11.17.05 | 8:58 PM ET
Shoemakers have created all kinds of models for travelers, from rugged hiking boots to waterproof loafers, but they’ve yet to design anything specifically for the undocumented migrant market—until now. Inspired by the thousands of Mexicans and other Latin Americans who hike through cacti-strewn Southwestern deserts to enter the U.S. illegally each year, Argentine-born artist Judi Werthein has created Brinco shoes. Named for the Spanish verb “brincar,” which means “to jump”—as in, across the border—the high-top shoes have some unique attributes.
Happy Day of the Dead
by Jim Benning | 11.02.05 | 12:49 PM ET
Today is the culmination of the great Mexican holiday. If you’re looking to get into the spirit, check out Picnicking with Los Muertos from the World Hum archives.
What’s So Impossible About Peace, Love and Understanding?
by Jim Benning | 10.21.05 | 2:50 PM ET
I was in Guadalajara the first time I heard it. I was chatting with a well-educated local, discussing music and politics and culture, when she said, “George Bush was behind the attacks on the World Trade Center.” I thought I misheard her. “What was that?” I said. She smiled and sipped an iced cappuccino and said, “The attack on the towers. George Bush planned it.” I was stunned. We had agreed on everything until this point. She hadn’t struck me as a conspiracy theorist.
The History of “Tourism” in Two Sentences
by Jim Benning | 10.03.05 | 9:00 AM ET
From the October issue of AeroMexico’s in-flight magazine, Escala: The word “tourism” didn’t originate from some English travelers’ journey through Tours, France, as some claim. “The truth of the matter is,” the magazine reports, “its origin goes back to the ancient French word torneier, meaning ‘to go around’ which, in turn, came from the Latin tornare, to make something go around on a lathe. As for the city [Tours], its name is derived from another, older one, Toronum or Toronus.”
When Tourists Attack
by Jim Benning | 08.11.05 | 12:00 PM ET
One fall night a couple of years ago, I found myself on a tiny island in the middle of Lake Patzcuaro in the Mexican state of Michaoacan. I’d come to see the traditional Day of the Dead celebration, when families hold vigils at the graves of their ancestors, decorating them with flickering candles and bright orange marigolds to welcome the ancestors’ souls back for a visit. It’s a beautiful tradition I’d witnessed in other areas. There was just one problem on this night: The island’s small cemetery was being overrun by so many visitors that one couldn’t begin to appreciate the occasion. People were shuffling through the cemetery cheek by jowl, elbowing one another, tripping over tombstones. There was little room to walk or even breathe.