Celebrating Turkey Day in the Land of 'Tacos al Pastor"

One of my favorite foods that is served everywhere in town, practically on every street corner and almost every restaurant, is 'al pastor'. The literal translation is "to the shepard" which probably speaks volumes as to its origins, but as a lay-person I claim no expertise in such areas. It is (usually) seared pork sliced from a large skewer, right onto the tortilla, and then covered with cilantro & onions, and also sometimes with chunks of pineapple. I prefer the salsas or chilies with them, but sometimes it's just great to wolf them down with a Mexican beer while watching a band play in the plaza. It's trully the fast food of this land, and probably holds appeal far beyond the reaches of the borders of Mexico, and for good reason.
a little quote: "Nobody eats turkey in November here, except you Americanos !?!"
In Spanish, turkey is called "pavo" and here it's usually only served for Christmas dinner, which seems quite enough for the majority of my Mexican friends. I was hoping to find a decent semi-traditional turkey served at one of the American chains down here, namely Holiday Inn, whose hotels have restaurants in them. Alas, calling around, not one of them even knew about the holiday, let alone served any kind of turkey dish on Thursday - No Pavo, Senior.

I remembered that there is a large American ex-pat community in San Miguel so googling turkey-san miguel-restaurant-thanksgiving, I found only one place, called 'The Restaurant' in town that was serving, but that was all I needed...! Turns-out that it was a really high-end place there that catered not only to that community, but it's most affluent part. For a Thanksgiving meal the price, not including wine, was in excess of 600 pesos ($50 USD), which was just way out of my price range. It broke my heart to have to say no, but at that point I was ready to just settle for my usual order of tacos al pastor and spend the savings on my groceries for the rest of the month! Luckily the spirit of holidays past was looking out for me...

A little place called Harry's comes to the rescue yet again...!
While chatting with my friend Enrique, who manages Harry's, I complained a bit about missing Thanksgiving and especially, the taste of a good turkey & stuffing, etc, etc. After he had heard enough, (apparently..) he asked why I wasn't planning on having my dinner there at Harry's and pointing at the huge flyer that was spread all over the restaurant and another large sign that I actually was facing the whole time - duh!! Sometimes it's the obvious that we take for granted, and it takes someone to occasionally whack us upside the head to snap us out of it, I guess, perhaps both verbally and also on occasion, literally.

Anyway, needless to say, the dinner was really great and they served the turkey both traditionally and Cajun-style and when it was all over, there was spicy BBQ sauce (from the cajun turkey, of course) all over my tablecloth, my leather jacket, my hands, and anything else that was within a 5 foot radius of yours trully - it was friggin' great! (...and I was using a knife & fork, believe it or not, lol). Harry's is definitely a good place to find a piece of "the States" when needed. The only element of the whole ritual that was missing was anyone to share it with. As usual, I dined alone on Thanksgiving, but at least this time it was in some crappy Chinese take-out eating off paper plates, which is my usual ritual, ever since joining the service - I know, very depressing and I don't even like mentioning it, however it puts the experience in proper context. It's amazing what a person can adjust to when exposed to the broad range of experience that constant travel can offer. Some not so great but so much of it, quite wonderful.

A little band outta Texas - well, more like Mexico...
That evening, to round things out, what I thought was to be the piste de résistance turned out to be something closer to the coup de grâce, lol. Enrique also informed me, mid-pavo, that the stage being set-up in the middle of the bar area was for a series of bands that were to play from that Thursday evening until Sunday, and the first of them was to be a Blues Band, right there from Queretaro! I thought to myself, "self, you've been missing out on the Blues scene this whole time." To think that it's been going on right under my nose, but I had not bothered to sniff it out...! He asked me, as he knew my love of the genre, to please stick around and give them a listen, as he wanted to hire them for more shows if they were any good. My response was something to the effect that they probably couldn't drag me away from this bar tonight, as this was what I had been searching for since I had arrived. Well, it turned-out to be not quite that, honestly.

So naturally, I spent the rest of the day on this thing tapping-away on some work stuff and also working on Gigbag, of course, sitting in my fav spot at Harry's, awaiting this grand event. As the time passed, the place filled-up rather quickly and there definitely was an electricity in the air, as many of the patrons were also awaiting this band. Some were even fans, as was my friend Miguel, who is a fellow British car nut/mechanic. I asked him about the group and he dutifully complimented them on their ability as musicians and included that they had been playing for six years together. "Six years," I thought, "they must be seriously tight and have a great set!"

It turned out that I was right, kinda... lol

a little break - Disclaimer time: Okay, I need to be very clear here: finding a band that even specializes in the blues, let alone is serious about it, here in this part of Mexico, is something of an extreme rarity, so for me to be sitting at a blues show at Harry's was exceptionally lucky. There are no blues clubs here and the ONLY place that I've ever heard it is on the university radio station, and then it's only late at night. There just simply is not a tradition here and these guys most certainly stand alone in the field. With that caveat very firmly in place, I'll proceed.



The band set up their gear quickly, got tuned-up, grabbed a drink before the first set and took their spots on stage; they had obviously done this many times before. The first song was a great slow blues number, all instrumental, and had good solos on both the two guitars and harp (harmonica). Things were progressing nicely.

The second song was "I shoulda quit you baby", which is an old standard covered by everyone from Muddy to Zep to Clapton, and on. The singer even sang it in English, which was really kewl, but I soon realized that the only lyrics he knew were "I shoulda quit you baby, a long time ago" and that was repeated on and off for several minutes! The crowd, mostly Spanish speakers didn't know the difference and applauded wildly when it was over. I was kind of in shock, myself.
The next had to be better than that, right? Well it went from reasonably good to mediocre to flat-out 'jam night average'. After listening to almost two sets of the drummer play only the straight beat and bass player do a completely fundamental riff over and over and over - I felt my brain begining to melt. Out of frustration, I made eye contact with the drummer, who was a younger guy, perhaps 23, and gave him a little coaching from my chair to add something to his turnarounds. He understood, did a quick snare roll on the 5 to 1 transition and the whole band seemed to give him the "WTF are you doing?!! look". He cowered a bit and went back to his boom-tap style and I realized immediately what was happening. The band was not being allowed to develop because they weren't getting it - the blues, I mean.

My little plan's genesis
Turns out, these guys, who all seemed to really love the music, weren't actually very familiar with it. After that set, I introduced myself and after talking for a few mins learned that the band consisted of two father-and-son teams, along with the singer who seemed to be a music teacher, or something to that effect. The fathers, one on bass and one on lead guitar, both invited and apparently inspired their sons to get into the blues, and that's how the band got going. It was really a great story, except that inspiration aparently had a ceiling in the expansion department. I pulled the drummer aside and we had a quick 'come to Jesus' chat and I gave him the straight skinny on what he needed to do to change the dynamic, especially between he and the bass player. The rhythm section had to groove and it was up to him to get these guys trained. The trick to it was that it would have to happen in small increments, not great leaps. These guys had the chops to be something much cooler, much more of 'the real deal', as we like to say, but it would have to start at it's foundation, that guy sitting behind the skins.

So the final set was in the bag and the guys were giddy at having played such a larger venue. I could tell that the bass player, a gent pushing 60 who seemed to really enjoy playing his 50th re-issue American P-bass, was also kind of leaning on the drummer for his deviation from what they normally practice to. I couldn't listen to it, naturally, and he and I chatted for about 15 mins, in my poor Spanish and his limited English, about what he was listening to. I quickly discovered that he was listening to the usual around there, which are the traditional Mexican styles of music like Banda, etc. He was in a blues band but didn't really have a exposure to much of it's variety beyond just perhaps a few songs.

This was the key issue, in my opinion and I gave him a short list of bands that he needed to find on YouTube and give a listen. I borrowed his bass for a moment, showed him some ways to walk a bassline and just a few tricks of the guys over in Austin, however, suddenly he had to pack up his rig - he took back his axe and it was time to go. The band quickly packed-up their stuff, we said our goodbyes, and I returned to my friends and ordered another Havana rum.

Obviously I had rattled the guy's cage a bit, but I think there was some small bit that got through. I knew that the drummer got it, loud and clear and the others seemed to really dig the changed energy that the third set offered, especially with the more distinctive phrasing from the young drummer. Perhaps the bass player felt a little annoyed that some young punk from up north was trying to tell him how to play bass, and the machismo of the society reinforces that obviously, but that really may have been what it took to get his attention also. The real problem was not in the way that people were seemingly unwilling to change, but in their limited view of what was available to them. By offering a peek into the next level that his band would now be moving toward, if he isn't willing to develop his chops, his band will most likely give him that nudge to becoming a much better player and, I'm quite certain, a more enthusiastic blues player. I'd seen it before and also in myself; he looked to now be on the path from being a bass player, to becoming a bassist.
I could see that Queretaro was on the way to having a blues act that would eventually surprise even a tourist from Texas, and thus spread the gospel of the blues to more of the city, but that was only the first step in 'my little plan', but more of that later....!
fs

a little about Gigbag, (finally, lol), the blog's namesake

Gigbag: The Year in Review
Well, it's been an amazing time for us at 'Team Gigbag', with both good time and some tough ones also. Luckily, the good ones have vastly outnumbered the tougher, and it's especially because of the people that comprise the Team, both core & extended. (btw, I use Jake & Elwood, as they seem to represent much of the attitude of our little company; hopefully their respective estates won't be too annoyed at my occasional liberty..)

This last year has seen much progress with the company, but the site construction has stalled a bit, but only for a short time, hopefully. My Partner Mike convinced me that my original approach was too limited and that the only way to launch Gigbag.com was to, "do it right and do it BIG!" rather than the phased implementation that I had originally envisioned. We definitely need to have the broad functionality of 'our little site' in-place and available, otherwise it has no real appeal to the broad populace and therefore will not be successful. Further, the passing of time continually increases the chance that another company/group will release their own version of gigbag, rendering our efforts worthless. We have to act now and do so aggressively, thus the complete re-calibration of our design implementation.

but enough of the dry stuff...


A Global Revolution and an Enterprise of Equal Scale in the Making
One of the principal elements of Gigbag that will really improve the 'footprint' both around the country. an worldwide, is our network of musicians that we have developed this last year and will continue to do so in the coming ones also. In my travels I have had the good fortune to meet many, many people that work within the live music industry and were interested in participating as representatives for our site. This ever-growing network will serve as boots-on-the-ground in their respective areas of the world and conduct an informational campaign with both venues and bands, showing them how Gigbag works and providing basic-level customer service as required. Once a toe-hold has been achieved in several cities around the nation and we have a solid functionality in-place, then come s Phase II - Spiderwebbing!

Spiderwebbing is the term we coined that describes the effect that takes place once the popularity of the site begins to increase: the venues & bands that use Gigbag will, in turn, have some/all of their business counterparts (for bands it's venues and for venues, it's bands) also sign-up and use Gigbag's functionality, this will translate into a massive growth in these markets, as the fans & patrons of both also learn about the site from not us, but the BANDS & VENUES - they do the advertising for us... and what follows is a slow but steady revolution that transforms the live music industry as we know it.


Now all we need is the Moolah
With the change in our strategy comes the need to raise a substantial amount of capital to put into the programming costs. I had spent several thousand myself on our first programming venture, which did accomplish a great deal in the User Interface design and especially, definition of functionality. We began the whole process having a decent idea about what we wanted the site to do, however, after playing the "what if..." game for six months solid with my programmer, we realized that we had much more that would be required of the 'ol Gigbag, if we were to really make a difference in the industry and improve the situation substantially, as we had originally set-out to do.

Gigbag evolved into a functionality that was both complicated but also powerful in scope. The team in Phoenix re-designed the entire User Interface (UI) in a week and what arose was a completely new look & feel. It made sense, was elegant, and further, was compact design that could be used along the broad scope of the functions Gigbag had to offer. We had our designer do a mock-up and got it ready for primetime (all platforms), he sent it to us and I found out that everyone else was "underwhelmed" - shit...! haha Really, what the problem seemed to be was that the look was not as professional-level as was expected by those who are better versed in design than I. In our next effort, this will be overhauled and if required, given a complete makeover/facelift/boobjob/whatever... lol

So, in our search for investors, the obvious first question is always, "let's see your business plan" I hadn't even thought about that the whole last year, but realized the moment that I was asked, that I should have done that even before designing the UI - shit...! lol

No, seriously, for those unfamiliar with it, a good Business Plan serves as the foundation for any major business operation and is often the difference between success and failure in the business world. Further, it becomes the roadmap for how to run your business and steers one's decisions in a clear and transparent manner, leaving only the details of each decision's implementation & execution the only remaining work to be done. The better your plan, the easier it is to operate your business!

For our company to even begin to solicit serious money from serious investors, we needed a business plan, and that has been the focus over the last, and next, several weeks. My target for completion is the end of the year, at the latest; obviously, the sooner it is completed, the sooner we can submit it to investment groups, and (hopefully) the sooner we go into development of Gigbag.


Marketing Plans, Revenue Projections and Mission Statements - Oh My!
And so, the effort continues to define in a reasonable manner what Gigbag will look like as a business and what real expectations are in order when looking at our capital requirements vs. revenue, etc.

What we have found is breathtaking: in the first year of operation, we were already profitable well-before the end of it, and by the second year, depending on budget allocation, had made substantial repayment of the initial investment made. In our projected fiscal budget, it would be relatively easy to at least double any investor's money within a three to four-year timeframe, which would put it at least a 25% per year return on their initial investment.

However, if what I believe is true regarding our revenue calculations, we may be able to greatly improve that ROI (return on investment) even more. This next few weeks' findings will steer that offer significantly. Gigbag will be both a good thing for the live music industry and a profitable thing for those who decide to invest in it.

Perfect Pitch
(or at Least the Search for One)
One thing that I've been working on for the last month was Gigbag's 'Elevator Pitch'. While surfing the various angel investor sites, (groups of investors that focus on particular areas, industries, etc for their investment), on site asked you to upload your elevator pitch, which is meant as a 1-2 minute presentation that one may give to a busy investment representative while they are in between meetings.

A brilliant concept, in my opinion and something that I'll try out here in my little blog to all of you, my friends & foes alike! lol Here goes:


" Do you enjoy music? Do you like to watch bands play?

Yes, terrific!

Wouldn't it be great if, no matter where you were in the world, if you wanted to see a live music show either that moment or several months from now, in your home town, the other side of the state, or travelling on vacation anywhere in the world, there was one place that you could go to find it and it would always be easy, accurate, and especially, it was always free...?!

Would you use it? Of course you would, along with, what we believe is, anyone else who has Internet access and loves music, which is a large part of the industrialized world. That's what we are building at Gigbag.com: an international database of all live music events that is both customizable to your musical preferences and is updated in real-time, unlike any other website on the planet.

And as I said before, always free!

With the proliferation of the Internet and its users increasing geometrically each year, we are designing a website that will use this valuable content to provide marketers targeted access to a highly-desirable and affluent global population that is broad in its demographic range. This is the business model for Gigbag.com and it will become a major force in Internet advertising.

We know that anyone who wishes to become involved in Gigbag will have the opportunity to both help transform the world by increasing the amount of music in it, and at the same time profiting nicely from it. Those who do so will be very glad they did."



Feel free to contact me directly at fstraub@gigbag to provide any feedback, it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if you're interested in becoming part of Team Gigbag and investing in our company, you can also contact me the same way; I would love to tell you more about the company and where we are headed.

fs

'ol Carl gets his say about my antics

I took the Myers-Briggs Personality test, from Isabel Myers (1897-1980) and her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs (1875-1968), that my friend Leon had posted in his blog http://leoquix.blogspot.com/ and I've taken this test before, with mixed results, however it was probably not as well done as the one on this site.

If one is not a M/Briggs Geek, or at least a fan of Carl Jung, it's not that interesting, which I understand if that is the case.

BUT PLEASE BEAR WITH ME, because anyone who knows me I think will enjoy the later sections!

Btw, if you ARE interested, here's the results for me:

ENTP, Originator, Intellectual
fstraub.mypersonality.info
Personality Type
ENTP - The "Originator"
Temperament: NT (Intellectual)
Primary Function: Extraverted Intuition
Population: 3% (4.5% male, 1.5% female)

Extraverted 63%
Introverted 37%

Sensing 32%
Intuition 68%

Thinking 58%
Feeling 42%

Judging 11%
Perceiving 89%

I agree, a bit dry, but wait....!

Okay, this is where this s**t gets a little scary... lol
About the ENTP
Expert Quotes & Links

"ENTPs are idea people. Their perceptive abilities cause them to see possibilities everywhere. They get excited and enthusiastic about their ideas, and are able to spread their enthusiasm to others. In this way, they get the support that they need to fulfill their visions"
- Portrait of an ENTP (The Personality Page)

"It is so natural for these individuals to practice devising gadgets and mechanisms, that they start doing it even as young children. And they get such a kick out of it that they really never stop exercising their inventive bent"
- The Portrait of the Inventor Rational (Keirsey)

"ENTPs are usually verbally as well as cerebrally quick, and generally love to argue--both for its own sake, and to show off their often-impressive skills... argument as a sport."
- ENTP Profile (TypeLogic)

"ENTPs contribute an innovative, versatile, and enterprising approach to work. They view limitations as challenges to be overcome and look for new ways to do things. They need to find a niche for themselves in order to be free to maneuver. They prefer the start-up phase of a project rather than the followthrough or maintenance phase. Once the project is designed, they prefer to turn it over to someone else."
- ENTP - The Innovator (Lifexplore)

"...attention seeking, experience junky, insensitive, adaptable, not easily offended, messy, carefree, dangerous, fearless, careless..."
- Jung Type Descriptions (ENTP) (similarminds.com)

...and this is fascinating

ENTP Career Matches

ENTPs are often happy with the following jobs which tend to match well with the Originator/Intellectual personality.

(I've highlighted the carrers & significant hobbies that I have pursued in the past or expect to in the future)

Actor
Artist
Comedian
Computer Analyst
Computer Programmer
Consultant
Designer
Engineer
Entrepreneur
Inventor
Journalist
Lawyer/Attorney
Marketer
Musician
Photographer
Politician
Psychiatrist
Psychologist
Public Relations
Sales Representative
Scientist
Systems Analyst
Writer

So which one(s) of these do I remind you of?

Any feedback to offer my friends?

(I think it's especially funny that they mention Wile E. Coyote)

Famous ENTPs

Real ENTP People

Alexander the Great - king, military commander
Alfred Hitchcock - filmmaker (The Birds)
Celine Dion - singer
David Spade - actor, comedian
George Carlin - comedian, actor, author
James A. Garfield - American President
John Adams - American President
John Candy - comedian, actor
Julia Child - chef, author, TV personality
Lewis Carroll - author (Alice in Wonderland)
Marilyn Vos Savant - author, lecturer, playwright
Matthew Perry - actor (Friends)
Nikola Tesla - inventor, physicist, engineer
Richard Feynman - physicist
Rodney Dangerfield - comedian, actor
Rutherford B. Hayes - American President
Sir Walter Raleigh - writer, poet, explorer
Suzanne Pleshette - actress
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt - American President
Thomas Edison - inventor
Tom Hanks - actor
Valerie Harper - actress
Walt Disney - filmmaker, entrepreneur
Weird Al Yankovic - musician (satire/parody)

Fictional ENTPs (Characters)
Bugs Bunny - Looney Tunes
Cosmo Kramer - Seinfeld
Dr. Emmett 'Doc' Brown - Back to the Future
Ed - Cowboy Bebop
Mercutio - Romeo and Juliet
Polly Prince - Along Came Polly
Q - James Bond
Q - Star Trek: The Next Generation
Shirley Feeney - Laverne & Shirley
Wile E. Coyote - Road Runner (Looney Tunes)

Of course I reccommend that anyone who is interested, take this test (it's only 75 questions); it will give you a little insight to your personality and hopefully make you chuckle in the process.

Btw, unlike several other sites, this one is FREE, (just like Gigbag, lol).

go to: http://www.mypersonality.info/

fs

Day of the Dead and a big, steaming bowl of VUDU' CHILE

Living in a new country is to experience constant personal growth & development on a nearly daily basis
(...thus constantly having to admit that one's previous ideas were wrong!)
When I first started planning the trip down here, I made the assumption that in Mexico I would probably not get an opportunity to celebrate the holidays here, as I probably wouldn't be close to anyone enough to do so. Had I known the culture was so welcoming, that would not have been a consideration. Further, having lived in Arizona for so many years, I thought that this time of the year was relatively quiet in Mexico - I was wrong again.


In Arizona, the Mexicanos there tend to, based on my recent experience here, tone-down the day known as "Dia de los Muertos" which translates into day-of-the-dead. It's steeped in the Latin American Catholic tradition with the days before it serving to build into a culmination that is to most here, a nationally-recognized holiday that is only neo-religious; I call it that as it seems to have transcended the mere religiosity of Catholicism (but it dates back much further, btw). It now has become to the people of central Mexico a time of gathering with one's family and remembrance of one's ancestors with trips to the cemetery and even creating a place in their home for those remembered to re-join the family, have some food, a drink and even have a cigar. As Santa's cookies and milk magically disappear, so does the food, tequila and the fine cigars.

Similar traditions have existed throughout the history of early civilization and even pre-civilization, and what I have witnessed these last few days certainly hearkens back to this building block of what would become religious philosophy concerning what happened to the 'person' inside this shell we call mortality. But I digress..

'Dia de los Meurtos' falls during the holiday season that much of the western world celebrates as Halloween; the days of the holiday go (something) like this:

Oct 30: Devils Night
Oct 31: All-hallows Eve (Halloween)
Nov 1: All Saints Day
Nov 2: Dia de los Muertos



Swimming with the current
(...or how to survive living one block away from a massive party that lasts an entire week!)
I knew living down here in Centro was going to be difficult now and then, especially considering I would be trying to park a truck the size of a battleship on streets centuries old (and narrow to boot) - and within the vicinity of several large Catholic churches. For the uninitiated, these serve as cultural gathering/rallying points for a myriad of festivals, and of course, the plaza in front of the Gran Hotel/Harry's - my second home here, is Ground-Zero.

At the beginning of last week as I sat out at my usual perch tapping away on this laptop-thingy, several trucks began unloading what looked to be staging equipment. As soon as the lights were unpacked, it confirmed my guess. The scale, however, was far beyond anything that I would have even ventured, as it took up much of the far end of the central plaza, soon afterward massive tents were erected covering the balance of the open space, turning the whole view brilliant white as sunlight hit the canvas in the afternoon din. It was a harbinger of the week ahead and I had no idea of the crazy train headed my way...

The next late afternoon, as I headed back from work (we usually break about 6-ish) the traffic was even worse than usual, believe it or not, lol. Actually, compared to Miami, this place is a cake-walk, and that doesn't even include the one-fingered waves one receives on your morning commute through Hileah - with Alabama tags. Don't get me wrong, Miami is a cool town; I just don't miss that drive.

So I gave up looking for parking after 30 mins of the stop-and-go gaggle f**k of cars and paid the lady at the Estacionarse Publico (parking lot) to keep an eye on things for about 16 pesos/hour. Making my way down to have my usual 7-Anos Havana Club Rum & CocaCola Light was like running the weekend gauntlet - but it was only Wednesday! I found a spot at Harry's way in the back, as people were literally spilling over both sides of the railing; had I not been good friends with the staff, I would probably STILL be waiting for a seat, haha.

The stage out front was a parade of Mexican music and cultural acts that ranged from ultra-modern to several from indigenous tribes chanting incantations that have endured more than a thousand years. When they do this en masse, the trance effect is breathtaking; I witnessed probably several hundred people throughout the square, dressed in everything from Gucci to loin cloths dancing in rhythm with the drums' hypnotic pulse.

The rest of the week, once I learned when was the right time to look for a parking spot, was amazing. The acts that graced the stage increased in talent and apparently, in notoriety also, including a presentation by the Governor of the state one evening.


Meanwhile, in a sleepy little town nearby
My friends who play in the band Vudu' Chile that, on occasion, let me wreck a couple of songs by sitting-in with them, insisted that I attend a gathering that they were hosting in San Miguel de Allende. Turns out that the ex-pat community up there does Halloween in a big way, throwing a terrific costume party with hand-crafted beer and the best $1 margaritas I've ever had, (and that's not just because I had... shit, I can't remember how many, actually, lol), but we'll get to that in a bit.

So my usual costume for such events is Jake Blues (the Blues Brothers) which is a simple yet functional getup, especially if one is going to play bass that evening (i.e. nothing to get in the way of the guitar, etc). A simple assembling of ray ban wayfarers, a mini-fedora, a thin tie and a black suit with white shirt, set-off with white socks, of course. I have probably enough versions of this basic ensemble in my closet to clothe both Jake AND Elwood, plus Mr. Fabulous and even the 'Duck', but it never occurred to me that I might need any of it in such a "remote" part of the world - I was wrong yet again.

















60's Retro in a land that remembers it's past, not yours!
(...or the search for outdated shades, a funny tie and a weird-looking hat)
Walking through the mercados here in town, I noticed that several impromptu costume shops had a costume version of the fedora that Michael Jackson made famous. "I know that hat..!" was the eureka-moment that was the impetus for the next day's quest, complete with Knights with outrageous French accents hurling livestock at me! (actually, it was even more fun than that..)

I immediately bought a small stack of the hats from the gent running the tiende (shop) as they were only $3 each and 'the lads' may need a last-minute costume for their gig. I figured that I would find something better, but just in case I had a 'plan B' in place so I kept one when I gave the balance to my friend David, the singer of Vudu' Chile.

After another 30 mins of walking, it was obvious that I need some professional help with this one. I flagged-down what turned out to be one of the kewlest cabbies in town and we went shopping! With all of my trudging about town, within 10 mins he took me to one of the biggest Mercados I had ever seen, packed with more items for sale than I had thought possible and people also packed into such a small space, reminiscent of the Egyptian Bazaars. It was an awesome experience, especially with my cabbie as my guide/translator. We found three hat shops straightaway and a few were close with their versions of the infamous fedora, but alas, no 'tobacco' (cigar). What a great place, however , and now I have THE spot to go in Queretaro (Qro. is its abbreviation) for pretty much anything except for plasma screen TV's; they have everything else. I could have driven around this town for weeks and never had found this hidden place; hopefully I can find it again(?).

Btw, it turns out, Mexico is NOT the place to save money, that is, if you are looking for non-Mexican items. Often Mexicans will pay a 20% to 50% higher price than that of the US, and sometimes much, much more. One of the principal items in such a costume is the now-classic, Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses (called 'lentes; in Spanish). There are several versions of these coming in a myriad of colors, but Ackroyd wore the standard all-black & Belushi wore the tortoise framed browns, those being the most rare to locate in my experience. I found some imitations for sale, but they were basically the kids' version and didn't fit my big ol' noggin.

During my escapade with my new cabbie friend, he took me to several "tiendas optica" high-end eyeglass & sunglass shops that carried Wayfarers, and they did carry the all-black version. What I thought was a direct hit turned into a dud - the going rate for a set of these at a nice shop in a mall in the US is about $100. These places apparently cater to the upper classes of Mexico City and not tourist Gringos, so to offer them is a status symbol in itself. They were charging, after converting to dollars, more than $250 for the same set of glasses. As the blood went to my feet, I did an about-face and considering abandoning this whole endeavor completely.

Despondent and in shock, I hopped back in the cab and asked my friend to take me back to Centro so I could get a quick bite and re-think this scheme. We arrived at the plaza in front of Harry's and I was charged $16 for an entire afternoon of driving. Just before we parted, the cabbie suggested one more shop for me to try, that being the one he dropped me of in front of.

Not getting my hopes up I entered the shop (a regular eyeglass/optometry shop, it turns out). There on the end of the display sat not just any of the versions, but the exact ones Belushi wore, which I had pretty much abandoned searching for in the US - here in Qro less than two blocks away from my apartment! Holding my breath, I asked what the price was and... we had a bingo! I had finally found a set of these and in of all places, who'd a thunk?!

Okay, the last time we needed a set of the narrow-styled black ties for the band in Alabama, we actually had to make them ourselves as it's just not a common design, at least nowadays. Here in Mx, I figured that I would have to buy a standard and have it altered, or something in that direction. When I went to the tux rental place to see about renting the black suit required, they not only had a perfect match for the suit & white shirt, but they even had THAT tie... son-of-a-gun, I was locked and loaded.





Tofu tacos 'to die for' and a few too many margaritas
Arriving at the Club de Leonnes (Lion's Club) San Miguel, with the help of a cab who led me and my LR through the many winding streets of the historic district, one could see that it was going to be fun. In costume, sans shades, I entered the club and immediately a large fellow, who I found out later was the association president, loudly protested, "Who let the Feds in?!" Laughing, I reached for the shades and donned them, to the cheers of several people there at the entrance. Apparently I was not the only one to choose that guise as a lady said, "they've been waiting for you!" (who, me?!)

The association was the San Miguel Vegetarian Society, or something like that. They promote organic food production and sell it at a local market where many of the Americanos shop for such items. The group had included a big spread of food to go with the event and the salsas were particularly good, in a country that is famous for its salsas, btw.

I entered the main hall and up on the stage were "the lads" of Vudu' Chile, all wearing the hats and doing their best impressions of that infamous band that wrecked half of the Chicago Police force's squad cars. I was greeted by David with a a booming, "Welcome fellow Blues Brother!" in the middle of Julian's terrific guitar solo, and the crowd sounded their approval - it was to be a good night indeed.

Apparently there were a lot of single ladies in attendance that evening as I had to fight them off with a stick (yaaaay! lol). To pick a favorite seemed at the time at least, like bad manners as I was new to this group. Just then I noticed two older "young ladies" were out in the middle of the floor having a blast; they became my dance partners for most of the remainder of the evening. The two ol' gals probably were pushing 60, (if not pulling it a bit), but they were more energetic than most in their 30's - I was worn-out after just a few songs!

During a trip to the men's room I remember walking in and being frozen in my tracks as I caught my image in the mirror: it was almost scary how I'm looking more and more like Belushi's 'Jake" every year (so is that a good thing... or really bad?!), lol.





Later that evening Javier the bass player invited me up to play a couple of songs. Of course I was not in any shape to do so, however he insisted so I stumbled onto the stage, kicked over some one's beer and proceeded to play along with one of the funkiest versions of Suzie-Q that I can remember. It was one of the best Halloween parties that I've ever attended.


Dirty Martinis with Cultural Icons
The last day of the Festival in Qro. was completely incredible, and I had no idea what I was watching until it was over, in most cases. Harry's not only was packed, it had a table in front marked "Reserved" for a VIP that was expected soon. Apparently it was someone with clout as they were able to keep a table empty for that long in a mobbed nightclub in the teeth of such a party. "Who the heck can do that?", I thought. Turns out, it was the semi-illusive owner of Harry's, an 'Americano' who's name is....

nope, it's Bob.

Bob is one of these Am. ex-pats who went to Mexico to make his fortune and apparently he has done this in spades. He is said to own houses in San Miguel, where there is another Harry's, and Cabo San Lucas, where he'll probably put another one some day soon. At his table that evening, once he arrived, was seated several friends and what looked to be a few 'hangers-on" as would be expected with a guy with some money, in any part of the world.

I waited inside the bar working on my laptop, as it was the only place that I could find and I had a few web design pages to finish for Gigbag. Happily tapping away, Bob, whom I had never met prior, walks up and loudly proclaims to the whole bar, "you're looking at porn while Tania Libertad is about to perform in a few minutes?!" Par for the course, I guess, but I was hoping for more from someone of his ilk - and who the heck was Tania Libertad?

I was on the list for a table out front to see the music, but I was not going to get my hopes up. However, just as I was about to resign myself to only hearing the show and not seeing it, the lead hostess appeared told me that a couple had just vacated what was, my favorite table and asked if I wanted it? It was probably like watching Wyle E Coyote disappearing with papers and dust flying where he had once stood - I bounded to, and took my place at one of the best places to view the show. A Vodka Dirty Martini was ordered immediately to celebrate my good fortune but alas, it would have been even better had someone been there to share it with.

The headliner for that evening, which was to be the closing act for the entire festival, was lady known throughout the Latin world as "Tania Libertad", who I had never heard of, let alone seen play a show. It was explained to me that she is similar in reputation to that of possibly, Joan Biez would be in the US, as she is not interested in commercial success. However, that is probably where the comparison would end as she is a classically trained mezzo-soprano with an amazing range that is also quite powerful. She was born in Peru and has a huge following here in Mx, along with much of the rest of the hemisphere. She travels with a quartet of musicians all of great talent and they perform a list of songs that are steeped in the history and tradition of Central & South America, as it was explained to me.



I remember catching myself with a tear rolling down one cheek, thinking that I have no idea what she's singing, but the emotion she is able to communicate and instill was inescapable - or was it just me? Looking around the mass of people I saw very large, football player-sized men openly weeping. The elderly couple next to me was holding each other closely while the woman wiped the tears from her gent's face; a very touching and beautiful scene to watch.

After the show was over, the plaza slowly emptied and I worked a bit more on Gigbag pages while also working on another martini. I watched the cleaning crews and roadies work their magic for a couple hours as they re-claimed the plaza, slowly restoring it to its former state a week prior. As Harry's also slowly emptied, the folks remaining consisted of most of its regulars, myself included.

Suddenly, a buzz took over the hotel lobby, which adjoins the entrance to Harry's, as some of the security chaps cleared the area and a petite Tania Libertad arrived right behind them, a small entourage trailing her. I found out later that Bob had summoned her through the Hotel staff to come down and have dinner with his friends and him. As she made her way through the place, she was hugged, kissed, photographed and just generally adored by the patrons of the restaurant, all the while patiently greeting the next person in the small throng along her route to the back where Bob waited. As it passed my humble little table she even wished me a good evening, which was, I guess not surprising in this very warm and friendly culture. Had this happened up north, security probably would have tackled and dragged off to ensure their celebrity didn't have to see any of the riff-raff.

The buzz died down and they dined for another hour and I tapped-away, revising a few more pages of Gigbag. I could hear the laughing of the large table of the two entourages getting louder as the evening wore on and the alcohol flowed, Bob the host usually being above the others. Bob had a reputation among the patrons of Harry's as a fun person who tended to, shall we say, imbibe freely.

Suddenly, (there seemed to be a lot of those that evening...) I hear Bob loudly call out from the restaurant to his staff, "Let's hear some Michael Jackson!" Within a few seconds the mellow jazz on the house system was replaced with, at almost full volume, 'Billie Jean'. The group arose with Tania in the lead and she marched toward the front in-time with the music, smiling and waving to everyone, her long flowing gown and entourage behind her, similar to the way a professional wrestler would exit the arena after having defeated their foe.

A fun & surreal ending to a wonderfully surprising evening.

fs