Walking Into Guanajuato

Since I am not with my girls, I love looking at fotos I have taken of them, thinking back to what we were doing at that moment.

What a lovely walk into town.

You can see why this is a favorite spot.

The above fotos were taken 27 October 2011 during Cervantino on our way into town for trumpeter Brain McWhorter's master class on practicing. I had already been into town once on that day to listen to Brain perform with the other members of Beta Colide. A wonderful concert followd by a very intimate master class. Brain has many very progessive views on practicing and I was very thankful that Pearl and Rose were there to take in some of his wisdom.

It's always fun walking into Guanajuato. So cool to live in a walking town. Nice to not need a car.

Street Art

Here's a video of the wonderful street art on Dia de los Muertos (2 November) in Guanajuato, Mexico.

Latex Rubber Urethral Catheter

I returned to the Metroplex last week to continue helping out my Grandparents. When I first returned to help out I had a crash course in cathetering my Grandfather, Ralph Trostel. I watched one and the the next I performed by myself under the supervision of Brad, a real nurse. After that I was pretty much on my own. 4 times a day. As I'm sure you can imagine this has brought me closer to my Grandfater than ever. It's been very cool to have this time to spend with my Grandparents during this part of their life.

I have been very fortunate to have a chance to know all of my Grandparents when I was growing up. We all live in the same town of Arlington Texas. My Grandfathers were both cool in their own special ways. Looking back they were both better Grandfathers than they were fathers. Most of it having to do with the simple fact that they had much more time to spend with their Grandchildren and they were able to show us what they loved. I loved the hours I spent with my Grandfather Melvin Pettit on his different boats. I love sailing. Nothing like it. Powered by nothing other than the wind. Ralph loved taking me fishing, camping, and hiking in many close by State parks and even as far away as Durango Colorado. Beginning my love affair with that beautiful part of the world. Ralph loves maps and trails. He would drop off my oldest cousin Matt and myself somewhere on a trail and our adventure would begin.

Ralph bought me this shirt at 1 of his favorite dollar stores.
I am holding a latex rubber urethral catheter 14 French.
Yes, almost the whole cath goes in. About 11" to reach the blader.

So right now I am in my hometown of Arlington Texas playing nurse. There is a season for everything. If you are fortunate enough to be able to empty you bladder without the use of catheter, enjoy it.

Cool 3 Wheeled Bikes

Sorry about the complaining in my last post.

I will be beading back to Texas tomorrow evening, so today I took my girls to the Zoo in Leon and to 1 of their favorite parks.

We had a wonderful day together and we even spotted a few cool 3 wheeled bikes. The most loaded down 1 I didn't have time to click a quick foto of as we drove by but I was still pretty pleased with the fotos I did manage to get. I hope you enjoy.

Fast trash.

Fast water.

Fast food.

The Phantom Sinfonieta Potosina

As I stated yesterday, my performance last Sunday of Joseph Haydn's trumpet concerto went very well. I was especially proud of the how the middle, Andante movement sounded. I took the most chances with the Andante and they worked wonderfully.

Saint Paul's Church in San Miguel was the most packed I have ever seen it. 250 plus people crammed into the church and made an enormous difference in the temperature. The church went from pleasantly cool during the rehearsal to hot and humid. It's amazing how people can effect the local climate so rapidly. Or maybe not. Due to the size of the orchestra, 17 musicians, the end of my trumpet bell was at almost the same location as the ears of the people on the 1st row. Luckily the Haydn is pretty light and they all seemed to enjoy themselves. 1 very sweet lady who had the misfortune of being closer to me than anyone I think I have ever performed for, was such a good sport and played along with the clown show that now accompanies all of my performances.

As most of you know, Michael Pearl contacted me around 6 months ago to invite me to perform as a soloist and principal trumpet with Sinfonieta Potosina a small chamber orchestra. I was thrilled. What an opportunity. It turns out that my feelings about performing the Haydn trumpet concerto were correct. However, my excitement about Sinfonieta Potosina, ProMusic and ProMusica president Michael Pearl were completely off.

I am not familiar with the British class system but I don't think musicians are very high on the scale. It's been a long time since I have dealt with a person as disrespectful as Michael Pearl. When I was contacted by a media  source in San Miguel about my upcoming performance I was happy to hear I was getting a little press. She asked if I could send her a foto. As you all know I have lot s of those. I know it may sound silly but I do think about my image and what I am trying to convey with every piece of PR I send out. So here's the foto I sent:

This was not the "image" that ProMusica and Michael Pearl wanted was the reply I received from the nice lady who, up until this reply I believed was an independent reporter. I now realized that while I'm sure this appeared as an article in Atencion, it was in fact an advertisement. Slick.

The most insulting and disrespectful insult came after the last rehearsal with the phantom Sinfonieta Potosina. I was sitting outside the church eating a very yummy Piasana torta when I notice a box filled with programs for that evenings performance. I opened the program and as I looked through I noticed my name was nowhere to be found. I am billed in the add for the concert inside of the program as "Our star trumpeter" In the program notes there is over 1 entire page dedicated to the fictitious Sinfonieta Potosina which in reality is just a pick up group comprised of musicians from Queretaro and Guanajuato that only rehearsed the day of the performance. We never played completely through the Haydn until the performance. Not a single mention of who the soloist for the evening concert is. Or any of the musicians who made a sound. Plenty of information on how to donate money.

Here's my encore from the concert:

Michael Pearl was sitting in the 2nd row and had the most disgusting look on his face when I brought out my rubber hose trumpet. I think he was the only person who didn't enjoy it. No surprise. He also didn't announce who the soloist was so I had to take matters into my own hands. How many times have you heard someone shout during the encore of a classical music concert, "What's your name?" That's how comfortable I made them feel. And how little information they had. Thanks ProMusica and Michael Pearl you really know how to treat your "star trumpet soloist".

I'll post more of my performance when I get a chance. I can't wait for you to hear the Andante.

Uni

So many things going on right now.

Yesterday evening I rocked the house with a very little piccolo playing followed by the Haydn trumpet concerto and a rubber garden hose trumpet encore. The San Miguel sell out crowd was wonderful. Especially a very sweet lady in the 1st row. More on her and all of the concert craziness in an upcoming post.

Last year in December I wrote about the best Christmas present I ever received, Christmas Cornet. Following in a very close 2nd has to be the bicycle. There is no better site than the image of a shinny bicycle back lit from the lights of a Christmas tree early Christmas morning. As a child I was fortunate enough to see that site more than once.

I now look back and rate the quality of the Christmas gifts I have received as a child based  on a few requirements:

1. Years of use.

Cornet, trumpets, flugelhorn, mutes, bikes, records (lp's), cd's, books. Many years of enjoyment.

2. Where it takes you.

Buzzing into a tube has turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. My love of cycling has taken me to many many beautiful corners of the United States and even a bit of Canada. I love the clean Canadians. Such a nice place Canada. Even better than where cycling took me is the fellow cyclist that I have met over the years. The same goes for music and performing. So many wonderful memories.

2011 has been a year of learning for me. Much of it self-inflicted and some of it just good ol' forced learning.  More on my nursing and extensive hands on male catheter (I thought I was going to throw up or pass out when I witnessed my 1st demonstration, which was also my last before I was to begin) practice in another upcoming post.

Something I am very excited to have learned this year is riding the unicycle. The unicycle is a blast. It's such a cool feeling to ride and not hold on to anything. The silence of the uni is also super cool. They make no sound at all. The cleanliness is another plus. No greasy parts at all. The pack-a-bility. I brought 3 unis (20" 16" and 12") down when Pearl, Rose and I flew back to Guanajuato in August. Take the pedals off and take out the seat/ seatpost combo and there's nothing to 'em. I think a uni would make a perfect gift for just about anyone but especially for the younger people on your gift list. It's also a very good work out. Great for your core and balance. Remember on a uni there's no coasting. Feel the burn. Oh, you can get a good 20" uni from unicycle.com for 112 bucks. This is what I chose for my 1st unicycle. And this is what I received:

I made a few modifications to my uni.

1. Odyssey plastic pedals that are white indoors but in sunlight the turn bright pink. More surface for my big feet. On sale for $5.

2. Root beer brown Animal seatpost clamp to replace the bulky but more convenient and more easily adjustable quick release type which comes stock. $10.

3. Animal Tom White Wall 20x2.20" tire. Higher pressure, more surface area, smoother rolling, more stable, big BMX street tire. $22.

4. Once I learned how to ride, I had some problems with flats. I'm 6'1" and 180 lbs. I have a life time sponsorship back from my bike racing days with Velox, the makers of fine cloth rim tape. So with a little help from my local bike store, problemo solved. No more flats.

Gordon is my local (when I'm in Texas) Velox representative.
He's also an excellent seatpost cutter.
Look at the size of that thing!

Just for fun go into your local bike store during the Christmas rush and tell them you're looking for a seatpost. When they ask you how long tell them, "700 millimeters" and see what their reaction is. More on what I've done with my 700 mm seatpost soon.

They say it takes 10 hours to learn how to ride a unicycle. I don't think it took me that long. A nephew (13yrs.) who not 1 person in our family, except for me, thought would have the determination to stick with it long enough, learned to ride in around 7 hours. It was so cool to watch. I'm so proud of him and my girls who have also began learning the joys of unicycling. Rose is practicing in the kitchen on the 16" uni as I type this.

If you order anything from the friendly people at unicycle.com please mention this post. They have no idea who I am but maybe if a few people order a uni then they'll give me a free t-shirt or something.

4 Wheeler

My neighbor Jorge is a constant source of amusement for me.

This is what he showed up with the other day

That's a big 4 wheeler. 

Or maybe a small truck.

Haydn's Trumpet Concerto

If you're in central Mexico and you're not busy this Sunday, please stop by St. Paul's church in San Miguel Allende. At 5pm I'll be performing Haydn's trumpet concerto. I'm very honored to be performing this work. Such beautiful music from the Classical period. It's going to be fun.

This is the first copy of the Haydn that I started working on in Junior High.
If you look carefully you can see the phone number
of an old girlfriend from my youth orchestra days.
Trumpet players get all of the girls.

Made Of Sugar

Wow! All of October and not a single post. Things have been a bit crazy as of late.

I spent the majority of October playing nurse in the lovely Metroplex community of Arlington Texas, my hometown.

I returned to Guanajuato on the 26th of October. Just in time for Beta Collide and Corpus Acrobatics (more on them soon). Upon my return, the lack of constant sounds is the thing I have noticed the most. In Arlington I was staying at my Grandparent's home which is surrounded by major interstate highways, 2 major league sports complexes and just about every type of eatery you can imagine (except of course for any very nice restaurants). I don't think there has been a moment of silence there in decades. Sad.

Yesterday, Pearl, Rose and myself all headed into town for our yearly Dia de los Muertos (2 Nov.) tradition of watching people assembled large murals on the streets. We also purchased a few things made of sugar for the girl's shrines in honor of Monarch and Rusty, the girls 1st 2 cats. Even in the early morning, with many of the shops closed, there is almost too much to take in.

I bought 2 things for my own collection.

I have a wonderful true story about someone just like the above foto.

I can't seem to get my camera to focus on this little guy. Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.

I hope you enjoy just a few of the sites on Dia de los Muertos. Stay tuned for more.

Marching Suits

I'm going to do my best to try and capture a little of the "feel" of life here in Mexico with the assistance of a video every now and then.

Today was a holiday here in Guanajuato so the girls and I headed into centro to meet Michelle for snacks. We ran right into a parade. In Mexico, as I have seen in other countries except for the United States, they get every government employee they can round up and have them "march" in said parade. Nothing more exciting than government officales in suits followed by their sercretaries. If you watch closely you will see a few marching suits.

These clips were shot on our return trip up callejon Tecolote. If you listen carefully you can hear the drums all the way up the hill.

Split Oval

My love of bettles is 1 of the many things I have inherited from my father. Beautiful and simple, the people's car. Here are few fotos of a very nice split oval that I stumbled passed the other day. 

Clean.

What a good lookin' car.

Sanitary Practice

Being the father of 2 girls I am, like it or not, the athority on all things male. The physical part of this has always come natural to me. By physical I mean being there to open up all sorts of things, reaching those things placed out of my dauthers reach (I'm 6'1"), providing shelter from an unexpectedly large Pacific Ocean wave. I'm there. Now, when they ask questions things can become a bit trickier. Most of the times I have answers for their questions or will at least do my best job of pretending I know an answer. Then there are the un-answerable kinds of questions:

"Why do men have nipples?"

I guess I should know the answer to this but, I don't.

"Why don't you wipe after you go pee-pee?"

Ok, I think I got this. So, I go into the standard, or at least I thought it was standard, you shake it a bit and you're good. This is what all boys do I tell them.

While I didn't seem like the most sanitary practice to them, they seemed to accept that this was as universal as I had claimed.

My most memorable days during my 5 years with the Orquesta Sinfonica de la Universidad de Guanajuato, OSUG, were spent on tour in Egypt back in 2009. We spent most of our time in Cairo although we did travel to Alexandria for a performance in a beautiful hall and a wonderful lunch over looking the Mediterranean Sea. Back to Cairo. Michael Severens, a cellist with the OSUG, had a cousin who worked in Cairo and he had offered to take Michael out and show him a little bit of the town. Michael was nice enough to invite me and off we went. We had a blast. Over the course of the evening we went to:

A super cool club in an old victorian building that had a very cool very old elevator that took you up to the 2nd floor and that was all there was, no 3, no basment, an elevator for 1 level. Old school craziness.

A very nice restaurant on the banks of the Nile river. Yummy Egyptian food in a lovely outdoor setting. Very posh. More on this place in a minute.

An undergroud pub. Maybe my favorite spot of this wonderful evening. Drinking alcohol in an Arab counrty is a bit different. Besides, I have always been a fan of underground drinking.

We also stopped by the Cairo Jazz Club so I would know where it was. As it turned out Michael's cousin had a co-worker who sang in a blues/jazz group that would be playing at the club the following evening after our concert. So the next night once returning to the hotel after our concert, I crossed the street in front of our hotel, made my way accross the Nile and the few short blocks returning to the Cairo Jazz Club. The band invited me to sit in and we all had a blast. The trumpet opens so many doors. That was another fun night in Cairo.

Ok, back to the evening at the very poosh restaurant. I go to the restroom. As I enter I notice the attendant, I smile and make my way to the urinal. As I am relieving myself, out of the corner of my eye I notice the attendant is approaching me. This seems a little odd to me, but I'm not from around here so I remain relaxed.
He places a small neatly folded short lenght of toilet paper on top of the urinal dividers.

I didin't know what to do. My head was spinning. All I thought I knew of the post pee process was now in question. Until this point in my life I had thought of myself as fairly civilized. And then in this bathroom half way around the world this happens. I didn't have a runny nose. I left the toilet paper where it was. Did the "standard" shake, put it away, zipped up and quickly washed my hands and headed back to my friends at the table.

My girls loved hearing this tale upon my return. They still love hearing it.

Amazing to see these in person.

This place was next door to our hotel. Michael and another
cellist from Toluca took me here. We ordered grape and apple flavor
taobaco. 1 tasted good the other not so much.

I could have walked forever in the bazar.
My eyes have never been so stimulated.

The view from our hotel . We were right on the Nile.

I didn't have much time in Egypt but I think I made the most of it.

Normal For Me

People have been asking about the condition of the skin on my face. I am happy to report that my skin is much better.  I feel much better and other than a little redness I look fairly normal. Well, normal for me.

Pearl took this foto of me at the park last week.
I've been helping my girls learn how to ride as well.
They are so cool.

More to come on my new love, the unicycle.

Ooze 3 (Snail Slime)

My face is feeling better.

My doctor prescribed me a cream to help regenerate the skin cells on my face. The cream feels wondeful. The cream, Cicafarm is a Spanish product. The 1st ingredient is Zinc Oxcide. Sounds normal enough. The 2nd ingredient is Baba de Caracol. Hmmm. In our Larousse Spanish English dictionary baba means either:
1. (saliva) dribble, spittle, saliva, slobber.
2. (de caracol) slime
3. (caiman) cayman, alligator
While numbers 1 and 3 are both good to know, number 2 is what I'm looking for. Caracol slime. Caracol is the Spanish word for snail. So I guess snail slime is good for your skin. I wonder what kind of snails they use? And how does one "harvest" snail slime? The 3rd ingredient is calendula which translates beautifully into marigold.

How much of the 100 grams is snail slime?

In my last post I was joking about building up a base tan.
Like it or not I've invested in a few new hats. Yee-haw!

I will be treating my face for the next 6 weeks. Then I will return to the doc to see how I look. At that time we will talk about what we will treat next. On Tuesday she said I had areas on my arms, back and chest. I think arms are next. Don't worry, I won't bore you with my following treatments.

Still swollen and as Rose likes to say, "crusty"
but feeling much better. It feels better than it looks.

I hope to feel well enough to play with my Cuban friends this Sunday.

I'll keep you posted.

Ooze 2

I am very happy to report that I went to the skin doc today and she says that my skin looks wonderful. She says we have killed all of the cancerous cells. Good news.

Some more good news. On the 6th of November I will be the featured soloist with the Orquesta de Camara Potosinos for their season opening concert in San Miguel de Allende. I will be performing the jewel of trumpet concertos, the Haydn. I'm very excited to get a chance to play this wonderful piece with an orchestra.

Even more good news: I have been booked to perform with my friend and pianist/organist Chris Brunt. On the 5th of December we will be performing Christmas music of many styles from many different eras as part of the Cox Chapel Music Series at Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas. It will be a treat for me to perform this program in the beautiful Cox Chapel so close to home.

1st Sunday of November San Miguel MX.
1st Monday of December Dallas TX.

Hope you can make it to 1 or both.

Here are 2 fotos from the BUZZ foto shoots.
This is Ricardos favorite. It's a great shot.

Ricardo took 100's of fotos of me.
This "throw away" is 1 of my favorites. 

So for the next 6 weeks I am on a treatment to regrow the skin cells on my face. The timing is just about perfect. I was planning a surf trip in 2 months so that should give me a few weeks to get a good base tan before I hit the surf.

Ooze

For the last year or so I have been bugging Michelle to go to the dermatologist. We are a very white bunch and we have been living a bit closer to the sun over the last 11 years (5 in Colorado Springs and 6 at a slightly higher elevation here in Guanajuato). About 2 months ago we went to see the skin doctor. The doc said she was surprised she didn't find anything on Michelle. Michelle is very pale. Good news, although now I'm thinking my odds don't look so good. It's not a good sign when the skin doc says, "You've been out in the sun a lot!" especialy when you just told her that just a few minutes earlier. After inspecting my upper body the doctor ask me to take off my pants so we could continue the examenation. I normaly don't wear underwear and that day at the doctors was no exception. After alerting her to that fact she said not to worry that we could just start on the upper body and work our way down. I'm a work in progress.

Take 2 they're small.

I stared my treatment with Efudix, 3 and a half weeks ago. Efudix is a cream that gives the paitent a chemical peel. It's also know as chemo-cream. Think of it as chemotherapy in a tube. It's almost as much fun as it sounds. The 1st week you don't notice much. 2nd week you look and feel like you have a sun burn. The 3rd week your skin begins to ooze and sometimes bleed. Ooze is a wonderful word that my girls were unfamiliar with until about a week ago.

It's hard to see the ooze in the foto because it's
kind of clear. And this morning there were no
fresh bloody spots. I'm lookin' pretty good.

This morning when I awoke the areas around my eyes were very swollen. Not sure what that's about. I hope to be done soon.

I have spent much of my 38 years on this planet outside. I would not change that. I would never want to give up all of the amazing things I have experienced in the great outdoors, I would however wear a hat.

A Few More 3 Wheeled Bike Fotos

I was in Leon on Friday so I grabbed a few more 3 wheeled bike fotos. I always see many more than I could safetly shoot from the comfort of a moving car.

In between 2 taxis waiting for a little action.

It's there somewhere.

Walk In The Rain

Earlier today I was looking up at where I store my rain poncho and I was lamenting the fact that I haven't had a reason to use my poncho much as of late. So naturaly I was excited when the storms began to roll through about a half hour before I was planning on walking into town to listen to my friend Betsy Pinover Schiff talk about her fotos that are on display at the Museo del Pueblo de Guanajuato. Betsy's exhibit opened on the 5th of July and will finish on the 3rd of September. Guanajuato Sombra de Color is a very cool colection of fotos Betsy took of Guanajuato. The exibit was full of beautiful colors overlayed by interesting shadows. Good fotos, bad description.

Anyways one of the best parts of my evening in town was walking in the rain down into centro. The rain poncho enables one to get out even when the rain is still pretty fierce. I love walking through town when not many people are out. It's an especially nice treat on a Friday at 620 pm.

Guanajuato is such a beautiful place in so many ways. Thanks Betsy for giving me a different lense to look at the colors of Guanajuato and Mexico through. And for getting me out of the house to walk in the rain.

This guy just came out from under the bridge as I past by.
He's selling camote which is like a sweet potato.
I'm not sure how they are cooked but there is wood burning
involved and he some how has a wild sounding whistle
hooked up to the stove that he sounds for advertisment.

I saw this guy on my way back up.

Beautiful grafiti and ugly grafiti.

She comes by it honestly.

Please pardon any more misspellings than normal. We have a newly upgraded computer which is great, but the spell check curently underlines 99% of the words that I type. I'll try to get it fixed soon. Just hang in there.

Thanks the Management.

I'm Back

I'm back.

After a fun family filled 6 weeks in Arlington, Texas I'm back in Guanajuato. It's good to be back. The girls and I arrived at the airport in Leon on the evening of the 15th. The first thing you feel when you step off the plane is the cool dry desert mountain air. Pearl and Rose both commented on how cold they felt as we made our way off the tarmac. Michelle's beautiful smile was the most pleasant sight  as we peered through the customs doors. Wonderful hugs and kisses and talk of Rose's new hair doo. After a 30 minute drive up to Guanajuato where the night skies are much darker and the air has the taste that I have only found up in the mountains, we are home.

If you study the above foto you will see some of what I have been up to for the last 6 weeks. The foto was taken in my mother's garage. Over the last 6 weeks this area is where I began riding a unicycle (I had never sat on much less ridden a uni before 6 weeks ago). It is also where I made some adult and Texas size hula hoops and where I spent many hours practicing my trumpets.    

Now that I'm back and under strict orders not to go out in any sunlight, I will be posting more over the next few weeks. Please stay tuned.

Hope your summer has been awesome.

Fotos

Yesterday I traveled to Leon to upload the fotos Ricardo has taken of me for BUZZ. On the way to get the fotos I took a few fotos of my own.

I love to see the old style bugs still in service.

Clowns looking for a gig.

You'll have to look closely to see how this 3 wheeled bike works.

La Dama Jonathan Winters

After our television set broke in the summer of 1978, my parents made a decision that may very well have had more positive impact on me than any other they ever made. They decided not to get another. My sister and I would listen to old radio programs on cassette tapes that our parents would purchase, Lum and Abner, The Lone Ranger, Amos and Andy, The Green Hornet, Palidin, etc... You name an old radio show and I have probably listened to it. We had a few new releases as well. I remember listening to (tapes my parents had recorded from the radio) the first Star Wars when it came out. And when I got a bit older I could pick out things that I thought looked good and my parents would order them. 

Jonathan Winters was 1 of the first old school stand-up comedians I ever heard. What I always remember about his style was that he seemed to be improvising. It never seemed to me that he had much of a plan. Some of his jokes/stories don't work. I love it. It's not like almost every other recording you hear of modern comedians, where every joke is funny. Jonathan Winters is simply a very funny man and if you let him just talk and tell a few stories he's going to be funny. I didn't realize at the time how those old cassette tapes filled with Mr. Winters funny stories would forever effect me and my performing.

Mr. Winters

When I joined the Air Force Academy band in 2000, they required that most of the performers speak at least a little during each performance. Getting the performers to speak makes for a much more audience friendly show and the AF knows that. While I have always been comfortable playing my trumpet anywhere and for anyone, I was not comfortable speaking in front of anyone. Up until this point in my life, I had never needed to. The 1st few times I had only a mic in my hands it was not pretty. I wish I had recordings of those early days. I know they would be very funny to hear. Since there was no way to avoid public speaking, I decided that there was no reason I could not do this. I worked on it and in less than 3 years I was doing my own improvised stand-up routine in front of the entire Af band, on live TV in front of a crowd of over 3,000. 1 of the best feelings ever, hearing that many people laugh at something so simple as a few words.

I have always followed the Jonathan Winters approach when it comes to my performing. I have a plan but there is no script except for the 1 in my head. To me it feels more natural and honest as a performer, and it is much more exciting as well.

It felt wonderful on Saturday just before I began the 1st complete BUZZ show. The show begins with 5 minutes of a rubber hose trumpet clown bit followed by 10 minutes mas o menos of me yapping about BUZZing into a tube. The final section of the BUZZ show is 20 minutes mas o menos of music where I am joined by the BUZZ Brothers and a drummer. All 3 of my brains cells seemed to align and I was in the zone as they say.

For the 1st ever full performance of BUZZ, I am very pleased. The audience love it. The band sounded great. The theater in the library was a perfect spot (it got better once they turned on the lights so you could see me, that's Mexico.) Petite Francois Perinet was the crowd favorite, even though he forgot to play the French National Anthem (the 3 cells weren't always aligned). The BUZZ Brothers, Dan Norman on the tuba and John Swadley on the slide trombone provided some good grooves over the stick work of Ramon Hernandez. Everyone wanted more, so we gave it to them. Very fun start to the afternoon.

After returning and unloading all of the BUZZ gear Michelle, Pearl, Rose and I headed into centro to late night dance club La Dama to see old friend Matthew Stadler at his book signing party. It's fun to be able to take the girls inside of the most famous late night club in Guanajuato. I'm not sure what time La Dama opens but no 1 gets there until midnight at the earliest and closing time is whenever the sun comes up. 1 of my favorite things is hearing an author read from his or her own work. Very cool. 

Pearl and Rose on the balcony of La Dama.
Rose's "belt", doubles as her jump rope. 

Matthew's latest novel is, Chloe Jarren's La Cucaracha. It's set in Guanajuato. I'm looking forward to reading it. I know Matthew's voice will slip into my head when I am reading his words. Let me know if you want a good mystery for the summer. I've got Matthew's info.

2 Shots

Yesterday I went to Leon and San Francisco del Rincon to get a few last items for the show. Another 3 wheeled bike foto was taken in San Francisco del Rincon. These 2 shots of the same guy on a 2 wheeler were taken in Leon. I wish I had a better shot. I love it when I see people using bikes.

Here he comes........

There he goes.

Another

Another 3 wheeled bike foto:

Rather Large Puppets

Since much of the BUZZ show is focused on the history of buzzing I have been looking for the best ways to present history in a fun, interesting and entertaining way. 

With his invention of the self named Perinet valve in 1838, Francois Perinet may have change the trumpet more than any other person in history. Since I don't believe a man of Francois' age should be out on the road I decided to contact puppet master, Heie Boles for a little help. You may remember when I worked with Heie on a production about a year ago (see earlier post: El Negro and Me and El Negro July  2010). I told Heie my ideas and she was nice enough to let me borrow a German puppet to take home and experiment with.

Once I had worked with Heie's puppet for a bit I knew what I needed to get the job done.

I sought out local artists Mika y Felipe. Besides being highly recommended from several different people, I had seen some of their work before and I though if they couldn't help me they would know of someone who could.

When I went over to Mika y Felipe's I brought Pearl and Rose along. I thought it would be an interesting place to look around and boy was I right. So much great art lying around everywhere. Felipe is know for his rather large puppets, that are used in parades and other festivals. Super cool, but not exactly what I need.

The adult size puppets.

Pearl inside a child size.

Rose and her tongue.

Those are too cool but I needed something much smaller and more French.

1st Felipe sculpts a head.

Around the head he forms a mold.

Then he pushes a paper solution into the mold.

After a little smoothing of the edges, some paint and costume,
 petite Francois Perinet is born.

I had Felipe make 2 just in case something unexpected happens.
So whenever I show them together, they will be brothers.
Francois and his younger brother________.

I'm open to any ideas for a nice French sounding name for Francois' younger brother. Fire away.