Queen - Invincible Hope / The Call - feat Brian May / The Show Must Go On

Mazunte Oaxaca Adrian Shared con delfines 2013

Mazunte Oaxaca tortugas golfinas apareandose verano 2013

Adrian Shared en Hostal Doña Porfiria playa Mazunte Oaxaca 2013

playa mazunte

FATHER KNOWS BEST -- CHRISTMAS PROGRAM (12-24-53)

THE SAINT -- "CHRISTMAS EVE PROBLEMS" (12-24-50)

Unplugged Mateo Steady Mad, Babel Cafe, Viernes 6 de Diciembre 9:00pm, Bar Restaurante Pizzeria - - - Zipolite

Waves from Zipolite Oaxaca Mexico

TWO HOURS of Relaxing Music - Meditation and Sleep Music - Spa Music

Vendedor de Hamacas en Puerto Escondido Oaxaca. México

http://trekkingmexico.com/vendedor-de-hamacas-en-puerto-escondido-oaxaca-mexico-2/

Stars Over Hollywood Time For Christmas 1953

"River" by Sarah Darling

Screen Directors Playhouse Miracle 34th Street 1949

Wanderlust | The Crowds Swell on Mexico's Pacific Coast New York Times (blog) Mexico's Puerto Escondido used to be a quiet fishing village known only to surfers for its legendary waves, but now a more cosmopolitan crowd is beginning to ...

Wanderlust | The Crowds Swell on Mexico's Pacific CoastNew York Times (blog)

Mexico's Puerto Escondido used to be a quiet fishing village known only to surfers for its legendary waves, but now a more cosmopolitan crowd is beginning to ...

Wanderlust | The Crowds Swell on Mexico’s Pacific Coast

TRAVEL 

By ROCKY CASALE

DECEMBER 4, 2013, 11:08 AM 8 Comments

• 
  
• On the Pacific Coast of Mexico, surfers ride the break at La Punta, a popular spot on the southernmost end of Puerto Escondido’s Playa Zicatela, which features some of the biggest waves in the world. Christopher Sturman
• An open-air room at the new Hotel Escondido. Christopher Sturman
• A lifeguard tower at La Punta. Christopher Sturman
• One of Puerto Escondido’s many surfers, who come from all over the world. Christopher Sturman
• Oysters on the beach at Playa Carrizalillo. Christopher Sturman
• The cafe at Frutas y Verduras, a popular hostel near Playa Zicatela. Christopher Sturman
• A pier overlooking Manialtepec Lagoon just outside of town. Christopher Sturman
• Lihi Peretz, the French-born owner of Black Velvet Fish Taco & Beer. Christopher Sturman

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Mexico’s Puerto Escondido used to be a quiet fishing village known only to surfers for its legendary waves, but now a more cosmopolitan crowd is beginning to discover this unspoiled stretch of perfectly pristine beach.

In Puerto Escondido, on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, the biggest waves fall on the shores of Playa Zicatela, a wide beach bordered by cliffs blanketed in emerald jungle. The summer storms build huge swells here, enticing surfers from all over the world to wake up at dawn to stake their claim in the ocean. During the peak surfing season in August, legends like Laird Hamilton and trust-fund kids from Australia and New Zealand hire Jet Skis to save them the trouble of paddling out to waves against the heavy current. Back on shore, a motley crew of girlfriends, hangers-on and amateur surf photographers, leaning on their tripods, drink beer and wait for the perfect shot. But this is about as much commotion as this sleepy Oaxacan fishing village gets.

Even though its name translates as “hidden port,” it would be wrong to refer to Puerto Escondido as a true “secret.” For the last five decades, surfers who call this area the “Mexican Pipeline” have been migrating here from Sydney, Maui and Santa Cruz, all places known for their champion-making waves. While just a few hundred miles up the Pacific Coast, resort-filled Acapulco draws cruise ships and package tours, Puerto Escondido has remained the hideaway for this low-key bohemian crowd — a mix of surfers, expats and locals, who eke out livings selling fish tacos or fresh juices on the beach, any excuse to never leave this stretch of coast that doesn’t look that much different than it did a half century ago.

Up until a few years ago, it wasn’t so easy to get here. Navigating the road, with its washed-out sections and hairpin turns around the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range, not to mention the occasional road bandits waiting in the fringes to rob unassuming tourists, was quite arduous. There were also the battering hurricane seasons (hence the spectacular swells) and inadequate infrastructure (Oaxaca is the second-poorest state in Mexico), which didn’t make the area appealing to tourists even if they could get here.

Christopher SturmanAn open-air room at the new Hotel Escondido.

Now, with daily flights from Mexico City, Puerto Escondido is drawing a wealthier crowd, including foreigners looking for an easier life as well as the country’s newly minted millionaires who have colonized the beach’s cliffs with their hulking vacation retreats. The Hotel Escondido, courtesy of Mexico City’s design-conscious Grupo Habita, just opened its doors. The cluster of smart-looking oceanfront palapas, complete with Daliesque cactus gardens, private saltwater plunge pools and iPod docks are a far cry from the area’s typical ramshackle guest cottages. But the hotel’s setting — tucked behind papaya groves with horses and oxen grazing nearby — gives it a rustic feeling.

Nearby, Bosco Sodi, a Mexican-born painter who is now based in Brooklyn, has built a modernist destination. With the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, he’s created Casa Wabi, a concrete and wood compound that serves as his local home and studio as well as an artist residency with an exhibition area and meditation spaces. (Not too far away in Playa Roca Blanca, another Mexican artist, Gabriel Orozco, has built his own dramatic retreat based on an observatory in Delhi.) The idea was to collaborate with Grupo Habita to develop the hotel next door and create a getaway with cultural importance, “like a Mexican Marfa,” says Sodi, 43, who had been coming to Puerto Escondido on camping trips with his family since he was a teenager. “I fell in love with the wild nature of this place. It’s changing, but not too fast, and at least this part of Mexico retains the old magic and energy it always had.”

Robin Cleaver, who was living in Palo Alto, Calif., was also lured by the rugged beauty of the area. In 1975, during a visit to his parents, who had retired to Guadalajara, he stumbled upon the region. “The coastal highway was just being built back then, and before that there were just the dirt roads used by local fishermen and coffee growers that lived around the fertile coastal plains.” After having spent several holidays in Puerto Escondido, Cleaver and his family decided to put down roots. Mexico was hovering on the brink of economic collapse, but Cleaver decided to buy property and build a hotel. His Hotel Santa Fe is a sprawling Spanish colonial estate surrounded by tropical gardens, overlooking the ocean. “There was nothing but thorn bushes on the beach when I got here, not even a road to Zicatela Beach. I built the damn road,” says Cleaver, who also owns a farm a few hours away, which supplies the hotel’s restaurant.

Christopher SturmanA pier overlooking Manialtepec Lagoon just outside of town.

This kind of do-it-yourself spirit among the expats, who wanted to find a way to stay permanently, has created a micro-tourist industry. “If it wasn’t for the driftwood we found washed up the beach by Hurricane Carlotta, you literally wouldn’t be sitting here,” says Vicky Cano, who runs Lychee, certainly the only Thai restaurant in the area. She moved here about five years ago from Argentina with her husband, Luciano Venini, a trained chef, with whom she is expecting her second child. One suspects that if they hadn’t cobbled together their restaurant from the storm’s flotsam, the couple would have figured out another business venture. And the French-born Lihi Peretz didn’t set out to open Black Velvet Fish Taco & Beer, Puerto Escondido’s most popular restaurant. She came here to surf the Mexican Pipeline, and then married a professional surfer named Celestino Diaz. After Diaz died unexpectedly a few years ago, she opened a restaurant. The place, decorated with kitschy seashell-studded lamps and mobiles, and a flat-screen TV that plays an endless loop of surf films, is filled with tourists and locals alike. Next year, Peretz plans to expand with branches in Oaxaca City and Mexico City.

“When I first came here, I thought my mother was completely out of her mind,” says Brett Radmin, who now runs a vacation rental agency with his mother, Nancye. She came here in 2009 from New York City to switch gears after running the Forgotten Woman, a national plus-size clothing chain. “But after 24 hours I caught the bug and decided to stay. There is something about this place, something that is hard to put into words.”

For José Galán, a fisherman who owns the local seafood shack Restaurant Y Mariscos in Playa Roca Blanca, the area’s appeal is quite simple. Galán, who has been living shirtless under the sun for so long that his skin looks like it’s been stained a deep mahogany, can chat about anything: fishing trivia, surfing wisdom, regional politics. “I’ve been out here for 17 years, fishing and running this restaurant, and the government never did anything to help us when times were bad,” Galán says. “But Puerto Escondido always provides, and even when the season is low and the customers aren’t here, you can get by on waking up to this every morning.”

Mercado Virtual Pochutla

Photos from Thierry Patricia Becavin Domart's post in Mercado Virtual POCHUTLA

By: Thierry Patricia Becavin Domart

Treasury Star Parade Modern Scrooge 1942

← Guest Post from My Spanish Notes: Tortillera

ACA Bike 2013

DEC 4

Posted by TC  http://youtu.be/9E1_e6rtQlA

79 cyclists participated in ACA Bike on November 29, a roll of 382 kilometers from Toluca to Acapulco. The group left at 5:00 from Zinacantepec by Toluca and arrived 20 hours later in Acapulco at 1:30.

He'd climb after climb on the road between Acapulco and Chilpancingo, the last leg of this adventure. For me it was the most demanding. In each quick and long, when I could finally rest, fall always saw the lights of a car very forward and very high. wey Ay, there is another climb!

Despite the darkness, deep valleys and mountains were visible, blurred by the lights and shadows of the road. The road is wide, smooth and in good condition, although some work continued on the road due to landslides caused by the hurricane of September 20.

In many ups I thought about giving up. A voice in my head said, "Stop, stop, you can not bitch.You climb only 10 minutes in the van and then maybe you can get down ... "

But too often reminded that every path must have an end, even the ACA Bike, and after walking all day rolling cycle, finally I spotted the lights of the port of Acapulco in front of me. I knew I had made the final stretch and was about to arrive.

Thanks to Dad Maurice and his family and companions who followed me in his car, giving me light and water in the most recent 110 km. The increases were not as steep, but we were all tired after running from 5:00 in the morning. (I sat in the shot at 5:30 for Ex Bedrock, Villada and Avenida Las Torres in Toluca.)

I came to the last house. I reached to the group: cyclists and cyclists alike Tronados (some already Chelita above). All the staff was very friendly and helpful. From there we shot the last 20 minutes by Maxitunel hell with his heat to the street that follows the beach with its bars, restaurants and clubs in Acapulco.

For me, the shot had three distinct parts: from Toluca to Iguala, Chilpancingo and Iguala of the last part I just described, the goal of Chilpancingo.

I liked the cold morning. Toluca to shed Tenango went compacted with all our lights and reflective vests at a controlled rate. He gave me plenty of time to warm up and wake up.

The sunrise came the first climb after the plaza in Tenango. And he could see that it would be a clear day, no clouds, lots of sun. And with the sun, the sharp chill of the morning was, but still it was very cold, especially in the break up Ixtapan de la Sal

I saw many cyclists friends down with smiles and lots of excitement on the long road to Ixtapan downs. We crossed without stopping until Ixtapan lake in Mogote in Guerrero. There I took off my jacket and pants. We took the photo of the whole group in front and had breakfast.

I went through here in many workouts. I knew that we expected: a decrease with many curves and great scenery and the biggest rise after the shot, about 30 miles to Taxco in the hot sun.

But the climb really was not that hard and the way I exceeded my buddies workouts, although in practice this increase cost us a lot of work and sometimes we won. I think this time most of the group came to Taxco rolling.

We ate and rested for the house and then crossed Taxco below the city center. We enjoyed a very long descent with sharp curves and a less steep slope to Iguala, where compaction and did another little break at about half an hour at about 1 pm.

After I almost Trone Iguala. The sun and the dust of the road hit me cannon. I could not go fast, and walked more slowly as a good sweat.

Sergio Salinas (Andrew's dad) suggested me to get in his car because we were far behind, and even though it was only 5 or 10 minutes helped me tremendously. We caught up with Andrew and got me. He and I rolled together until the last 30 miles in this part of 120 km between Iguala and Chilpancingo.

We talked for about two three or four hours (net not know), and this also helped me a lot. By talking to Andrew, I forgot the heat and tired body and again enjoyed the scenery. I remembered that I was cycling on Friday instead of chambear and was a nice day.

But as the rim Andrés bike 30 km from Chilpancingo struck, I decided I was going to come up with his dad for the last part of the way there. I knew there was a half-brutal rise and I needed a break. Was also aware that we were far behind and have to catch up with the others. Cyclists in two vans were up more at this point, and we cyclists warriors continued to rise until the break in the OXXO on arrival in the capital of Guerrero.

We left at about 7:30 (or another time? Tell me please, because I really do not remember), again all with white and red lights, and reflective jerseys in a well compacted group, through traffic road that crossed the city of Chilpancingo.

And from there I started the most challenging part for me. In half of the first climb I left the group and I was alone. Lights batteries ran out and they had to lose half blind. Just before my bike shed fuck in a hole or butt or something. I almost fell, the amphora and the lights were flying, and struck my tire.

I fixed the tire on the car, and when I got off and I was not sleepy. I felt good and decided pissed. Nothing could stop me finish this shot on my bike. Pedaled as hard as I could. At first I did not feel so tired. But I thought the 100 miles and about 5 hours until ...

On the morning after shot ate some good tacos al pastor, and then on Saturday we had a great day with friends at the beach, in a restaurant with excellent seafood (diver's), by the pool, and a meeting of the delivery of t and medals.

Thanks to the staff, especially Gustavo Javo and my sweeper, and those who helped me along the way with water, projection lights, rides and motivation. Thanks to friends and other cyclists with whom I spent this great adventure.

And most of all thanks to Gallo for organizing Bike ACA and for being a great leader and friend.

This was my experience. Please put your in the comments below, and if you have a long history, publish in this blog with pleasure.

Thanks to Marco Garcia and Luz Quiroz for corrections

The Christmas Song By Sarah Darling

Spurs, Timberwolves to play in Mexico City By CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press Updated 10:19 pm, Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Spurs, Timberwolves to play in Mexico City

By CARLOS RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press

Updated 10:19 pm, Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Barefoot children belonging to an indigenous Triqui basketball team from Oaxaca state play with San Antonio Spurs' Manu Ginobili, right, during a practice session in Mexico CIty, Tuesday Dec. 3, 2013. The children, who recently won an international competition in Argentina, practiced with the NBA's players. Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs are in Mexico to play on Wednesday Dec. 4. Photo: AP

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The NBA is back in Mexico for a regular-season game, and the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves are learning there's an additional rival to conquer: The altitude.

During a practice game Tuesday, Minnesota's players looked noticeably exhausted.

"It was very tough getting through the sprints," Kevin Love said. "You lose your breath very easy in here, but it was a good practice. Hopefully we'll have our wind tomorrow."

The Timberwolves and Spurs will play Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. EST.

Sitting at 7,350 feet above sea level, Mexico's capital is at a far higher elevation than Denver, which is the NBA's highest venue at 5,280 feet.

"In Denver, which is the highest city in the United states, we can feel (the altitude) in the first five minutes," the Spurs' Manu Ginobili said. "I'm sure it will be much more difficult here."

Minnesota, which will be the home team, has never played in Mexico. During the practice, Love and the rest of his teammates looked visibly tired.

"We did not know the altitude would affect us so much but we were able to run a bit during practice," said Jose Juan Barea, who has twice played in Mexico for Puerto Rico's national team — in Cancun and Guadalajara.

"The trainer asked us to drink a lot of water because he wants to make sure we're OK," Barea said.

Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman said he plans to modify his strategy a bit to take the city's altitude into account.

"We have to be very aware on probably getting guys in earlier than we normally would," Alder said. "We had a scrimmage to get ready for it. Our substitutions will be quicker."

Spurs coach Greg Popovich said he won't change his substitution plan and simply hopes that "as the minutes go by, the (altitude's) effect will pass. I'm not planning any changes."

The game Wednesday will be the 21st played south of the border. Although, this will be the first regular-season game since the Dallas Mavericks faced the Houston Rockets on December 6, 1997, at Mexico City's Palacio de los Deportes.

The Spurs have played five games in Mexico, including one just a couple of years ago when they played a preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

"It's certainly different because now is a sum game," Ginobili said. "In preseason, it's for fun. Now we do not want to lose."

All but two of the 21 games have been held in Mexico City.

After their practice, the Spurs took their socks and sneakers off and played against a team of Trique Indian boys, who have earned acclaim in Mexico and abroad after sweeping through a youth basketball tournament despite their generally short stature and the fact that most play barefoot.

The team from the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca won all six of its games to become this year's champions at the International Festival of Mini-Basketball held recently in Argentina.

"It's a wonderful story," Popovich said. "They have good fundamentals. I was surprised to learn many don't speak Spanish."

They played a five-on-five that was won by the Trique Indian boys, 10-4.

"We ran, and we had fun," said Ginobili, who is from Argentina. "I know they did well in Argentina and it was pleasure to have had this experience with them."