Mouseland Revisited

I am very fond of the famous "Mouseland" speech of the beloved Canadian politician Tommy Douglas who is considered the "Father of Canadian Health Care". He is so admired in Canada that in a poll taken by the Canadian Broadcasting System in 2004 he was named "The Greatest Canadian of All Time". The Mouseland story was told by Tommy Douglas in 1944 but it is so apropos of the coming presidential election in November that I want to share it with you again. Tommy used this story many times to show in a humorous way how voters fail to recognize that neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives are truly interested in what matters to ordinary citizens, yet people continue to vote for them. Perhaps the next time around we will have a winning third party candidate if we can ever find a popular Libertarian without a loose screw or a well-meaning Socialist like Tommy who doesn't give the people the communist scare.

Serendipitous News

I have a new blogging partner. His name is Javier Camarena. He is a native of my adopted city of Irapuato, Guanajuato, México which I like to characterize in Spanish as "mi patria chica", or in other words, "my little homeland" or "my little home turf". However, Javier now lives in Chicago, the city where I was born and raised and we have discovered that in effect we have traded places. He, like me, is very interested in history and he has begun a blog called "IrapuatoJaCa" which stands for "Irapuato - Javier Camarena" and it is written in Spanish. He is going to translate some of my blog posts into Spanish and place them on his blog in order to share with his family and friends various tidbits of Mexican history and culture that I have discovered. I welcome all of my fellow students of Spanish to visit his blog and see what he has to offer. It will be an excellent way to practice your Spanish and learn a bit of Mexican history and culture at the same time. I hope to translate some of his own original blog posts into English and post them here as well. You can access Javier's beautiful blog by clicking on this link: IrapuatoJaCa

Here is the introduction to Javier's latest blog post called "Muéganos" which I greatly appreciate. I have added an English translation below:

El presente post es una labor mancomunada entre el Sr. Bob Mrotek Autor del Blog “Mexicobob” y un servidor, resulta que Bob es nacido en Chicago y con sangre de ascendencia de Polonia, pero residente en Irapuato y con un cariño a nuestra tierra a prueba de balas pues se nota el corazón de fresa que lleva dentro, para nuestra desgracia él escribe en el idioma Inglés para su audiencia que es principalmente de Anglosajones residentes en México, dando a conocer aspectos de nuestra cultura y tradiciones que a veces son desconocidos aún por nosotros, los nativos de estas tierras, yo por el contrarios soy orgullosamente nacido en Irapuato pero radicado en Chicago y por medio de comunicaciones sostenidas hemos llegado a un acuerdo mutuo consiguiendo su aprobación para traducir algunas de la publicaciones que a través de los años ha sacado a la luz en su columna cibernética, la labor investigativa, el esfuerzo, la dedicación, y el contenido del presente reporte son enteramente producto de su dedicación y esfuerzo como autor del mismo.

A Quienes tienen la fortuna de dominar la lengua de Shakespeare les recomiendo que visiten su sitio, es fenomenal la labor investigativa que realiza y nos lleva a conocer aspectos desconocidos de nuestro terruño y nuestro estado. 

This post is a joint effort between Mr. Bob Mrotek, the author of the blog Blog "Mexico Bob" and myself. It just so happens that Bob was born in Chicago and is of Polish heritage, but is now living in Irapuato and has a bulletproof (See note 1 below) affection for our land because it shows the heart of a "Fresero" (Strawberry Head - See note 2 below) in him. To our dismay he writes in the English language to his audience that is mostly Gringos living in Mexico, revealing aspects of our culture and traditions that are sometimes still unknown for us, the natives of this land. I, on the other hand, am proudly born in Irapuato and based in Chicago and through sustained communications have reached a mutual agreement regarding approval to translate some of the publications that he has brought to light in his column through the years through cyber investigative work, effort, and dedication. The contents of this current posting are entirely the product of his dedication and effort as author.

For those lucky enough to master the language of Shakespeare I recommend you visit his site. The investigative work carried out is phenomenal  and leads us to knowledge of unknown aspects of our land and our state.

Note 1 - I sure hope that Javier is right about the term "bulletproof"!

Note 2 - People from Irapuato are known as "Freseros". Irapuato was the Strawberry Capital of the World for many, many years and the word "fresa" means "strawberry". Calling someone a Fresero is a term of endearment akin to calling someone from Green Bay, Wisconsin a "Cheese Head". By the way, it may be interesting to note that Irapuato and Green Bay are Sister Cities.

Rosalinda the Pretty Rose

Rosalinda (Pretty Rose) is the title of a Mexican Soap Opera that is available on You Tube with English subtitles. This is an excellent aide for English speaking people to learn how to speak Spanish as well as a tool Spanish speaking people who are learning to read English.

Rosalinda, starred by the very pretty Mexican actress Thalía, was produced by Televisa in 1999. It tells a story of this girl who sells flowers and decorates a restaurant. One day, she meets Fernando José, a man who plays the piano at the restaurant. They fall in love, get married, and have a child named Erika, but the villain,  Fernando's stepmother Valeria, desires to split the happy couple up as villains always do and...well you will just have to watch to find out what happens.

Rosalinda Part 1

Rosalinda Part 2

Rosalinda Part 3

Rosalinda Part 4

Rosalinda Part 5

Rosalinda Part 6

Rosalinda Part 7

Rosalinda Part 8

Men & Women of Science

Joseph Glanvill (1636–1680) was an English writer, philosopher, and clergyman. He was not a scientist, nevertheless he was very interested, and even excited, about scientific undertakings in the last half of the 17th century when for all practical purposes modern science was born. The following excerpt is from a book that he wrote in 1661 which he revised and expanded several times in the years following. Today I was thinking of something profound to say about the passing of Neil Armstrong and the other brave NASA astronauts (including Christa McAuliffe) who preceeded him in his next wonderful adventure to the great beyond.
For me, I think the words of Joseph Granvill say it all:

SCEPSIS SCIENTIFICA, Or THE VANITY OF DOGMATIZING 
By
JOSEPH GLANVILL
1661

"Methinks this age seems resolved to bequeath posterity somewhat to remember it: the glorious undertakers, wherewith heaven hath blest our days, will leave the world better provided than they found it. And whereas in former times such generous free-spirited worthies were as the rare newly observed stars, a single one the wonder of an age: in ours they are like the lights of the greater size that twinkle in the starry firmament: and this last century can glory in numerous constellations. Should those heroes go on, as they have happily begun, they'll fill the world with wonders. And I doubt not but posterity will find many things, that are now but rumors, verified into practical realities. It may he some ages hence, a voyage to the southern unknown tracts, yea possibly the moon, will not be more strange than one to America. To them, that come after us, it may be as ordinary to buy a pair of wings to fly into remotest regions; as now a pair of boots to ride a journey. And to confer at the distance of the Indies by sympathetic conveyances, may be as usual to future times, as to us in a literary correspondence. The restoration of gray hairs to juvenility, and renewing the exhausted marrow, may at length be effected without a miracle: and the turning of the now comparative desert world into a paradise, may not improbably be expected from late agriculture."

Ah-Wim-A-Weh

I am not a cat lover. I just don't have it in me. However, I must admit that I am tolerant...Nay! I am actually partially fond of one particular cat. I have never seen him and he comes around at night and makes awful noises and he usually leaves a calling card fashioned out of cat doo-doo which I always step on by accident and then stink to high heaven. He also leaves me notes written in paw prints on my car's hood and windshield that I have yet to interpret. Why do I tolerate this cat? It is because neither of us can tolerate mice. The reason that I can't tolerate mice is because my wife can't tolerate them and whenever she thinks that there may be a mouse around the house my life becomes unbearable. Where I live in Mexico, one must always be careful not to leave an open door unattended, even for a few minutes, or a mouse will sneak in. It most often happens when there is a sharp change in the weather, especially just before the rainy season or in the autmn when it gets colder. If I could only know where the cat lives I would send over some catnip or some cat vitamins or something. I worry about the time when something might happen to him and my backyard jungle will go unguarded. I am always careful to check for his calling cards in the morning so that my wife won't step on one because that will be the last of cat's nine lives no matter how many he has left. A man named William Congreve once wrote a line in a play called "The Mourning Bride" that said "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned." I would like to add "or a woman who is frightened by a mouse or steps in stinky cat crap". Sometimes I think that life is like walking a tightrope between cats (or women) on one side and mice on the other. I just pray that in my case the Dear Lord grants my buddy the cat an extra nine lives. I will take the crap...one way or another.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight. I think that I shall call the cat "Ah-Wim-A-Weh".

Mother's Day in Mexico Revisited

Tomorrow, Thursday, May 10th, is Mother’s Day in México. It is always on the 10th of May. My wife Gina is taking the afternoon off to go to her mother’s house with a hired helper to clean the house from top to bottom in anticipation of tomorrow’s celebration.  In the United States Mother’s Day is always on the second Sunday of May regardless of the date. In 2009 the second Sunday of May fell on May 10th and so that  year the people of both Mexico and the United States honored their Mothers on the same day. That won’t happen again until the year 2020. Why does Mexico celebrate Mother’s Day on a fixed date and the United States celebrate Mother’s Day on a variable date but both in the first half of May? It's a rather long story. Originally they celebrated on the same date but things got a bit confused along the way. The important thing is that Mothers everywhere get their due. Let’s take a look at how the whole thing got started.

First of all, celebrating motherhood is nothing new. The practice goes way back in history all over the world. In England it evolved into “Mothering Day” which was a Sunday in Lent when servants were given the day off to return to their ancestral home and visit their mothers and share time with their families. The practice did not fare well in the American colonies at first and it wasn’t until after the bloodshed of the American Civil War and during the Franco Prussian war that an interest in celebrating Mother’s Day was revived. A lady named Julia Ward Howe, who in 1861 wrote the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, made a “Mother’s Day Proclamation” in 1870. She called on mother’s the world over to come together and protest the futility of their sons killing the sons of other mothers. Her motive was not so much to revere motherhood as it was to use motherhood as a catalyst for peace. During the ensuing years the celebration of Mother’s Day was disorganized and sporadic but the seed that Julia Ward Howe planted began to grow.

At the same time that Julia Ward Howe was writing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” there was a lady in West Virginia named Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis who was organizing women to work for the well-being of their communities by holding “Mother's Work Days”, which were days when groups of women dedicated themselves to campaigns involving better hygiene, sanitation, and medical care in the small communities of rural West Virginia. During the Civil War she helped not only her neighbors but wounded soldiers from both sides as well and through all that she managed to keep peace among the various political factions in her neighborhood. Taking their cue from Julia Ward Howe, a women’s group led by Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis began to celebrate an adaptation of Howe’s idea called “Mother’s Friendship Day” in order to re-unite families and neighbors that had been divided between the Union and Confederate sides of the Civil War. Her many humanitarian efforts were only cut short by her death on Tuesday, May 9th, 1905.

After Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis died, her daughter Anna M. Jarvis campaigned for the creation of an official Mother’s Day in remembrance of her mother and in honor of peace. The idea for Mother's Day came to Miss Jarvis on May, 9th 1907, the second anniversary of her mother's death, which happened to fall on a Thursday. On May 10, 1908 which was the second Sunday in May, the first official Mother's Day celebration took place at Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. From there the idea spread from state to state and foreign countries as well, including Mexico. In 1912 West Virginia became the first state to officially recognize Mother's Day, and in 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed it into national observance, declaring the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. This may be where the fixed date versus variable date separation took place. What had been originally celebrated May 10th had now been officially transferred to the second Sunday.

In Mexico City in 1917 a young man of 28 from the State of Puebla named Rafael Alducin Bedolla founded what was to become an important newspaper called Excelsior. In April of 1922 he invited all interested parties to a convention to propose a nationwide holiday in Mexico dedicated to Mexican motherhood. As a result of this convention the first official Mexican “Día de la Madre” was celebrated on May, 10th, 1922. Guess what…it was a Wednesday! Why they didn’t follow the second Sunday idea we’ll probably never know. If anyone does know, please tell me. Father’s day in Both Mexico and the United States is celebrated on the third Sunday in June. This year Father’s Day in both countries will fall on Sunday, June 17th.

There are various ways that Mexican people celebrate Mother’s Day depending upon their local customs. Here in Irapuato, Guanajuato, where I live, it is the custom to stand outside of the mother’s house after midnight and sing “Mañanitas”, a very old traditional song. It is usually reserved for the Blessed Virgin, Mother’s Day, and birthday celebrations. If the people are wealthy they may hire Mariachis to do their singing or perhaps a small “Norteño” type band.  Some people, who are not so wealthy, band together and go in turn to the houses of each of their mothers with the men singing one part and the women singing another part. It is very beautiful. The night doesn’t end until everyone’s mother has been serenaded. On the morning of May 10th the mothers usually attend morning mass at their local church and after mass the children treat mother to breakfast. In the afternoon everyone gathers at the home of the oldest mother in the family and the ladies make chicken with mole sauce, jalapeños, corn tortillas, and red rice. If they don’t want to cook they send out for “carnitas” (braised pork) which is another favorite dish and it is served with refried beans, tortillas, and rice. Afterwards there is a desert of either ice cream or cake or both. Oh, yes, I almost forgot…there is generally plenty of tequila too, usually served with the carbonated soft drink “Squirt”. It is a special time that reunites the family with the mother at the center. Here is the Mother’s day version of “Mañanitas:

Estas son las mañanitas, que cantaba el Rey David.
Hoy por ser día de las madres, te las cantamos a ti.
Despierta Mamá despierta mira que ya amaneció.
Ya los pajaritos cantan. La luna ya se metió.


Que linda está la mañana en que vengo a saludarte.
Venimos todos con gusto y placer a felicitarte.
Ya viene amaneciendo. Y a la luz del día nos dio.
Levántate Madre mía. Mira que ya amaneció.

Christ has risen! Hallelujah!

¡Cristo ha resucitado! ¡Aleluya! 


               HAPPY EASTER

  

It's not his turn...

This morning I read a little item in the paper by my friend Armando Fuentes Aguirre in his column "Mirador" ("Observer"). It was under the category "Historias de la creación del mundo" or "Stories about the creation of the world". The story tickled me because it reminded me of one of the current leading candidates in the Republican primary race for the November presidential elections in the U.S.

I don't think my friend and mentor will mind me repeating the story here with a translation for the benefit of my fellow students of the Mexican language and culture. The story is about the creation of the sunflower which in Spanish is called "el girasol". The word "girasol" literally means "turn to the sun" because the sunflower continually tries to turn towards the sun during the course of the day.

En verdad el Señor no iba a hacer al girasol.
The truth is that the Lord wasn't going to make the sunflower.

Quiero decir que al principio no había girasoles.
This means that in the beginning there were no sunflowers.

Si los hizo después fue nada más como pretexto para hacer luego Van Gogh.
The fact that He made them later on was nothing more than a pretext for creating Van Gogh afterwards.

El girasol, que no sabía eso, se sentía muy orgulloso de sí mismo.
The sunflower, not knowing that, was very proud of himself. 

(En general las criaturas que no saben muchas cosas se sienten muy orgulloso de sí mismas).
(In general, the creatures who don't know many things feel very proud of themselves).

Fue, pues, el girasol con el Creador le dijo:
It was for that reason then, that the sunflower said to the Creator:

Gracias, Señor, por haber hecho el Sol para que girara en torno mío.
Thank you, Lord, for having made the Sun to revolve around me. 

English Dames

My little step-grandson, is also my godson and we usually call by his nickname, "Chiqui" (CHEE-key), which is short for "chiquito" meaning "little one". He is six years old and like most six year olds he is an inexhaustible bundle of energy except when he is sleeping. He is always looking for something to do so I decided to teach him to play checkers. The regular game of checkers in Mexico is almost the same as it is in the U.S. and Canada except for the nomenclature. Instead of "Checkers" the game is called "Damas Inglesas" (DAH-mahs een-GLEH-sahs) which means "English Dames" or "English Ladies". In English we "capture" an opponent's piece and in Spanish we "comer" an opponent's piece meaning that we "eat" it. In English, when our piece safely reaches our opponent's side of the board it receives the crown of a "king" but in Spanish it receives the crown or "corona" (kor-OHN-ah) of a "reina" (REY-nah) or "queen".

I was going to buy a set of checkers but then I thought, "Nahhh...what fun is that?" so I decided to make a set. I came across a man who was selling large tiles made of "barro", a type of kiln fired clay used for things like flowerpots. I guess we would call the material "terracotta" in English. I bought a tile for fifteen pesos and it was sixteen inches square which was exactly what I wanted. Then I sealed the tile with paint sealer and divided it into sixty-four  two inch sqares with a large ruler. Then I painter each individual square with red or black enamel to make the checkerboard pattern. I used a small brush and a lot of patience. It took several sessions but the results turned out pretty good as you can see in the photo below. When I was done I glued a very thin piece of plywood to the back of the tile to reinforce the terracotta and also to keep the terracotta from damaging any wooden surface that I placed it on.

After I finished the checkerboard I still needed the checker pieces. I had decided to try plastic milk bottle caps when I started the project and I asked my wife Gina to tell all of her family and friends to save their milk bottle caps because I would need a lot of them. I had to make sure that I twelve each of two different colors. She didn't want to do it at first because she was afraid that they would think she is weird. I told her to tell them that she is doing it for her husband and that if she tells them that I am crazy they will surely understand. She did just that...tell them that I am crazy, and one of her friends said to her, "Poor Gina, I think you are understating the obvious". However, the plan did work and I got a big bunch of milk bottle caps after about a week or so, just in time to match them up with the checkerboard. There were two colors that had at least twelve caps of each color and they were light blue and yellow.

To make a long story short every thing came together just fine and we have been enjoying the heck out of this checkerboard. After Chiqui got the hang of it he started learning strategy very quickly and it wasn't long before he was beating his mother and his grandmothers and all of his cousins and to date I am the only one he hasn't beat. It is getting too close for comfort. In fact, the games get so tense that when we have to go to the bathroom we have to have another party guard the board to prevent.... ahem...someone from "accidentally" moving a piece in their favor. If it wasn't for this we would probably both rather pee in our pants than leave the board unguarded.

Chiqui wants to know wnen we are going to start playing chess. I don't think I am quite ready for that. I told him that we won't play chess until he bearts me at checkers. Looks like I better start figuring out how I am going to make the chess pieces.

.

Coronal Mass Ejaculation

In the last day or so there has been a very large sun spot called "active region 1429" that is producing a coronal mass ejection (CME). It is sending out all kinds of energy waves from the Sun directly towards the Earth. I am not too worried about it because I have so many other things to worry about right now and the first one on the priority list is the usual "What's for dinner?".

Nevertheless I decided to have some fun and this morning I fashioned a solar protection helmet for myself out of aluminum foil in the style of the hat worn by Jughead in the Archie comics. I put it on before I left the house and when my wife saw it she looked very worried and asked me what the heck it was. I told her about the solar flare and that I was wearing the helmet for protection against brain damage. She said that it was probably too late and that I looked so stupid in the hat that probably my brain was already damaged. I put on a very stern face and told her that I was serious. Then she asked me if I had made one for her too and I told her that unfortunately I had already used up all of the aluminum foil (which was true). Then she asked me what she was supposed to do and I suggested that when she went out that all she needed to do was wear an aluminum pot over her head and then I kissed her quickly and ran out the door. I was laughing so hard that I could hardly drive the car.

When I got to work the shop dogs took one look at me and started barking like I was some kind of Martian or something. The people in my office said that I was nuts but I made up some bogus physics and my story improved with each telling. One person asked me how I knew when the solar rays were beaming down and I said that when I am wearing the hat in the presence of harmful solar radiation I can hear our local radio station XEWE Irapuato AM 1420 ("La Estación Familiar"). I had some of them half convinced but when my boss saw me he knew exactly what I was doing because he is a jolly joker himself and we had a wonderful time laughing about it. There is just nothing like a good belly laugh, especially when you have the belly for it. My friend Luis said that I looked just like a little kid. Yup...and that is just how I felt!

When you leave the house tomorrow don't forget your hat!