Jogo Bonito

Lucho Pérez

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Yesterday, as I was walking aimlessly in the International Terminal at Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez in Mexico City, I bumped into the Mexican National Team on their way to play against Ghana.

All the other players ran ran away at the sight of a drunken fan, but thankfully Mexico’s (and Monterrey‘s) star midfielder Luis Ernesto Pérez was too busy buying a milkshake and couldn’t escape. Here’s the proof:


At least one of these two fine gentleman will go to Germany this summer.

By the way, did you know you could buy Indio beer for $29 pesos and then walk around with the bottle in the airport? Neither did I. What a pleasant surprise!

Around the world

Back from Mexico D.F.

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At around 10 PM last night I got back from a full of adventures, fun and exciting weekend in Mexico City. I saw many friends and family that I hadn’t seen in years. Moi and I are in the process of collecting the many memory cards filled with photos and will post them online soon.

Many of you know that as of Sunday I became the oldest member of my extended family who’s still single, on both the Kirsch and the Sandler sides. Some say: "the pressure is on". I say: "A picture is worth a thousand words".

Below: A crappy cellphone photo of my dad, sitting in a shoestore, holding my mom’s purse.

Random junk

Tomorrow: Mexico D.F.

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It’s past 1:00 AM. Tomorrow I fly to Mexico City for Eli’s wedding.

I can’t sleep. Not because I’m not tired, but because I haven’t packed. What in hell have I been doing?

10:00 PM: I still need to run some errands (and finish doing laundry). I want to have a new Sopranos DVD delivered by Netflix by the time I get back. But first I need to finish watching the one I have so that I can take it to the mail office.

11:20 PM: I leave home. I drop the DVD. It’s like a drive thru in a McDonald’s… very convenient. Now I need to go to my office. I left my iPod’s charger and cable there. I need to take it, and I need to sync all the phone numbers I need to take. Head to my office.

11:25 PM: I call Brody, who’s taking me to the airport tomorrow morning. Nothing important. Just to tell him that Arturito just got in town and give him the phone number.

11:40 PM: Go up to the sixth floor to my office. Pick up the charger. Then chat with Sastry, who’s always there. This guy should not pay rent for an apartment. Just bring his stuff over. He wants me to bring him Glorias. I explain to him that they don’t have those in Mexico City, only in the Northern states.

11:50 PM: Back to my car, Brody calls. Apparently, when I called him earlier he was already asleep. He thought it was his wakeup call and got up, then had breakfast. When he realized it was still today, he called me. He felt stupid about it, but not stupid enough to not tell me the story. I bet he didn’t expect me to post it here. As long as he doesn’t read it before my ride, I’m ok.

12:00 AM: Stop at Walgreen’s. My mother needs Neosporin. Not ointment:
cream. Comes in a yellow or green tube, she’s not sure. If it’s the generic brand,
that’s ok. But it has to be cream, not ointment. They promptly inform me that they close
at 12:00 AM. I ask: "What time is it?" and the lady answers: "12:00 AM". I did not know they close. Lesson: Not all Walgreen’s are 24/7. Crap.

12:05 AM: Back at home, fold my laundry. Then read the news. Aznar was in Mexico and made a mess with some remarks. They are calling Landin to play with the national team against Ghana. They’re calling Franco too. I hope he’s ok to play.

1:00 AM: Starving. Hmmm… quesadillas! Let’s perpetuate the stereotype. Beans too. I put way too much chipotle on these ones. Not good for my nails.

1:28 AM: Publish this post. I better start packing.

Falafel and more

Of cartoons, blasphemies and hypocrisy

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Everybody is now aware of the events following the publication of the danish cartoon. The cartoon depicts the prophet Mohammed with a bomb-shaped turban. The message of the cartoon (as I understand it) is that Islam is being used as a pretext to justify suicide bombings.

Islam prohibits drawings or sculptures of Mohammed. Judaism has similar prohibitions. Fair enough. The cartoon breaks this rule, and so it’s considered blasphemy by some muslims. Yes. The cartoon can be seen as offensive and distastefull. But 40+ dead? Violent protests against European countries? Burning embassies and consulates? It’s beyond ridiculuos.

Paco Calderón, one of the sharpest and most talented cartoonists in México made an excellent cartoon about the the whole thing (it’s in Spanish). It also shows the original images that started it all! (good, because if you haven’t seen them, you’ll have a hard time finding them now).

Andrew Sullivan, writer for Time magazine, had an essay in the February 13, 2006 magazine. When speaking about the fact that the non-muslim Danish cartoonist dared to draw Mohammed (gasp) he says, quote: "I eat pork, and I’m not an anti-Semite. As a Catholic, I don’t expect atheists to to genuflect before an altar."

Now, to close, I want to tell you about the hypocrisy part. Unlike the Danish cartoon, which was published by an independent newspaper in a country with full freedom of speech, the following links contain cartoons published in countries in which there is very limited or no freedom of speech by state-run newspapers. You look at them and judge which cartoons are more offsenive, libelous and unfair. I will tell you one thing: none of the following cartoons triggered mass protests, murders nor burning embassies.

Anti-Semitic Cartoons in Qatar’s Al-Watan.
Political Cartoons in the Arab Media.
Israelis/jews as nazis.
Israelis/Jews As Hitler
Israelis/Jews Controlling U.S. Government
Classical Anti-Semitic Caricatures of Jews
Cartoons from the Arab World
Major Anti-Semitic Motifs in Arab Cartoons

Enough. Remember, these are mostly recent cartoons, from the 1990’s and 2000’s. Some come from countries with peace accords with Israel and full diplomatic relations.

Feel free to use the comments section if you feel I’m wrong or innacurate. Or if you have some ideas for more cartoons.

From the tubes

Chipotle online

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I just ordered a burrito through Chipotle’s website. I am very impressed, it’s extremely well done (and to make things more impressive, it’s all done through Flash, I think). You can select every ingredient you want, just as if you were there but without the advantage of telling the mexican lady making it: "Échale más, como si fuere para usted, que estamos en confianza".

Notice the cool burrito picture with my nick on it in the confirmation page:

Brody is there, so he’ll pick it up for me.
Life of Marcos

The big toilet swap

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The toilet is the most important seat in a house. It’s where all reading is done. It’s where the daily meditation happens. It’s where Tetris records are shattered. A small, round, uncomfortable toilet is unacceptable and inhumane.

Alejandro Zepeda (a.k.a El Destroyer – hater of Peruvians), Gustavo Castro and I, sharp fellas as we are, know that. We are all victims of the small, round, uncomfortable toilet but decided to do something about it. Taking advantage of the excelent City of Austin Toilet Replacement Program (does your city have one?) we got the first two of six (for three houses) new, nice, oval-shaped, comfortable and efficient toilets. So not only do we get fresh new thrones, but they’re free and they save water. We installed the ones at Zepeda’s house today (and Sayuri made chilaquiles). I’ll be ordering mine next.

No catch whatsoever. I think.

Austin nights

Gustavo’s Bachelor Party

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 Last night we celebrated Gustavo’s bachelor party, as a reminder of the fun you get to have when you’re still single (even though about half of the people there weren’t). First we had dinner at Bone Daddies (see picture). From there, Gustavo, Chaparro, Katrina, Mota, Correa, Zepeda, Cetrulo, Cassandra, Andy boy, Jaramillo, Colibrí, Liza, Brody and others went back to Gustavo’s place to play a gruesome game of Monopoly. Andrés was lucky and snatched Boardwalk and Parkplace early in the game (double one?! what the hell?!?!?) and ultimately won the game. I had terrible luck with the die, but through my cunning business savvy and ruthless negotiation skills I was able to place a respectable, yet forgettable, third place.This is our story and we’re sticking with it.Gus, best wishes to you and Lucy.

No ugly people were harmed making this blog.