Centennial of the Mexican Revolution

For events scheduled January 2010--May 2010
City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs

Pass of the North (Juarez/El Paso) History
GET A FREE EDUCATION

Ask anyone today about what they know of the Mexican Revolution, and you'll find a lot of misinformation, speculation, and or dumbfounded stares. Seriously, ignorance runs the gamut. Ignorance on the subject runs through my own brain, and I have been fighting to get it out of there. It is too much to take in at once, this Mexican Revolution. I did attempt to read the Katz book on just the subject of Pancho Villa, but I fell at least a thousand pages short. I'll have to get back on that one when I have a year to kill. Sometimes when discussing this Revolution I'll hear comments about how there is a need for another Mexican Revolution. Right now. Others will tell you it is actually going to happen some time in this 100th Anniversary year.

An uprising of the oppressed people right here along our border? Again? What did the first one really accomplish if indeed there is to be a second? The more I've read, the more interested I become in this history of ours, yet it is often felt as a sore which I cannot nurture. What has passed is done, and tomorrow is another day, not meant for me to dwell on. I decide now, in this moment, to cease thinking of that perilous past in relation to the perilous future, instead listing some local history events for your own consideration. Learn something. I hope I can.

These are ongoing free events at El Paso Museum of History, UTEP, El Paso Downtown Public Library Border Heritage Center, with more to come.

Welcome


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Lectures


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LECTURES
The Mexican Revolution in the Greater El Paso Borderlands

The El Paso Museum of History, with funding from Humanities Texas, presents the second in a series of lectures that will highlight events of the Mexican Revolution.

The Significance of the Borderlands in the Mexican Revolution: A General Overview--January 21, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Presented by Dr. Oscar Martinez, University of Texas at El Paso.

Booker T. Washington in El Paso during the Mexican Revolution--February 18, 2020, 7:00 p.m. Presented by Dr. maceo Dailey, University of Texas at El Paso.

The Experiences of Children during the Mexican Revolution--March 25, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Presented by Dr. Yolanda Leyva, University of Texas at El Paso.

Each lecture is held at the El Paso Museum of History located at: 510 N. Santa Fe, El Paso, TX 79901. An R.S.V.P. is suggested for each event. Cost to attend the series is free. For more information contact Sue Taylor (915) 351-3588, taylorsl@elpasotexas.gov

Exhibits


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EXHIBITS

Pancho Villa and his involvement with the Mexican Revolution--
February 2010. The Border Heritage Center of the El Paso Public Library will display its rare book collections and periodicals from the Cleofas Calleros Collection: Cabalgando con Villa: Illustraciones de Luis Sanchez; Historia Grafica de la revolucion, among other Spanish titles. The exhibit is open to the public during library hours and is free. The Border Heritage Center is located in the Main Library at 501 N. Oregon St., El Paso, TX 79901. For more information contact Marta Estrada at (915) 543-5440.


Children of the Revolution--
March 2010. The Border Heritage Center of the El Paso Public Library will have on exhibit a Soldadera in costume along with photographs from the Mexican Revolution. The exhibit is open to the public during library hours and is free. The Border Heritage Center is located in the Main Library at 501 N. Oregon St., El Paso, TX 79901. For more information contact Marta Estrada at (915) 543-5440.

¡Viva la Revolucion! The Money of the Mexican Revolution--
March 18, 2010. The El Paso Museum of History hosts a traveling exhibition from the American Numismatic Association Money Museum. The bilingual exhibit features actual coins and currency produced across the Mexican States during this tumultuous time period. The exhibit is open to the public during library hours and is free. The El Paso Museum of History is located at 510 N. Santa Fe Street. This exhibit is free. Visit the Museum's website at www.elpasotexas.gov/history. For more information contact Barbara Angus, Curator at (915) 351-3588 ext. 7009.

The Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts Presents:

Up Against The Wall: Posters of Social Protest*
April 15--August 7, 2010. Rubin and L Galleries: Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at UTEP. An invitational exhibition that features a group of international graphic designers who use posters to engage important contemporary and social issues. The exhibition raises awareness about the role of graphic design in spreading the ideals of the Mexican Revolution. This bold and colorful display of 100 posters from a group of 12 high-profile graphic designers highlights the power of design to engage people in creative thinking about world problems.

Solidarity and Struggle: The Politics of Graphic Design in Mexico during and after the Revolution*
April 15--August 7, 2010. Project Space: Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at UTEP. The exhibit showcases historic posters from Mexico's foremost political workshop, Taller Grafico Popular borrowed from the collection of the University of New Mexico Art Museum. These will be on display alongside several copies from 1911-12 of the illustrated political magazine El Hijo Ahuizote from Special Collections at the Library of The University of Texas at El Paso.

*Opening Reception for Up Against the Wall and Solidarity and Struggle
Thursday, April 15, 2010, 5:00--7:30 p.m.

For more information contact the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, The University of Texas at El Paso at (915) 747-6151or via email: rubincenter@utep.edu. Visit their website at: http://rubincenter.utep.edu


Educational Events


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EDUCATIONAL EVENTS

The XV Contemporary Mexican Literature Conference (2010): "The Mexican Revolution in Contemporary Literature"
March 4--6, 2010. This annual event will focus on the impact of the Mexican Revolution on diverse literary and cultural manifestations produced in contemporary Mexico. cholars from the U.S., Mexico, and other parts of the world will meet at the University of Texas at El Paso to present papers on these issues. Panel discusiions will take place at the Thomas Rivers Conference and will be open to the public. The XV Contemporary Mexican Literature Conference is sponsored by BorderSenses, the Revista de Literatura Mexicana Contemporánea, and the Department of Language and Linguistics at UTEP. For additiional information please contact: Willivaldo Delgadillo at wdelgadillo@utep.miners.edu. (915) 747-7043 or visit www.utep.edu/rlmc

5th Annual Teacher Institute--Teaching the Mexican Revolution
June 25--26, 2010. The two-day teacher workshop will feature workshops with experts and tours of local sites significant to the Mexican Revolution. The Center for History Teaching & Learning at The University of Texas at El Paso invites all grade K-12 educators, including teachers, librarians and media specialists, and technology coordinators in public, public charter, private, or religiously affiliated schools, as well as home schooling parents. The Institute will take place at the El Paso Museum of History and is free. For more information contact (915) 747-5878 or visit www.utep.edu/chtl


Films


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FILMS

100th Anniversay of the Mexican Revolution Film Series

The El Paso Public Library presents the special film series. All films begin at 6:00 p.m. and are held at the Main Library located at 501 N. Oregon St., El Paso, TX 79901. Admission is free. For more information please contact Mike Payan at (915) 543-5446 or Gloria Aguilar at (915) 543-5412.

Old Gringo (1989)
January 13, 2010. A famous aging and dying American writer goes into Mexico to capture some of the anarchy that was revolutionary Mexico. (119 min.)

And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003)
February 3, 2010. Hollywood makes a deal with Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa to film his war and recreate his life, but he is rather shrewd and manipulates the media instead. (112 min.)

Zapata: Amor en Rebeldia (2003; in Spanish; 1st half of mini-series)
March 3, 2010.
Zapata: Amor en Rebeldia (2003; in Spanish; 2nd half of mini-series)
March 4, 2010.
Features the life of Mexico's revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata who works for the son-in-law of the dictator Porfirio Daz. He is in love with the daughter of a wealthy land owner and Zapata realizes that their relationship cannot be a lasting one as they face many problems. (258 mins.)

The Frozen Revolution (1973)
April 7, 2010. Mexico: Documentary presents a comprehensive socio-historical analysis of Mexico, and of the government's failure to live up to the promises of the revolution. (65 min.)

Mexico: Revolution and Rebirth (1999)
May 12, 2010. Tells the story of the Mexican Revolution that was waged by Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata and others, and the modern nation that was born plus the problems that face the nation today. (50 min.)

Museum of History screening:

Mexico Revolution Sites in El Paso, Volume 1
Saturday, March 6, 2010, 2:00 p.m. The El Paso Museum of History in cooperation with Jackson Polk will present a free screening of Capstone Production's video Mexico Revolution Sites in El Paso, Volume 1. The video features a walking tour with historians Leon Metz and Fred Morales of sites in El Paso that figured prominently in the Mexican Revolution. This event is free and open to the public. The El Paso Museum of History is located at 510 N. Santa Fe Street. For more information please contact Sue Taylor at (915) 351-3588 or taylorsl@elpasotexas.gov



Stakeholders


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Team Coco

Conan O'Brien image by Mike Mitchell.

Coco Pops (notice the eerie resemblance?)stolen from this site: The Start of Something

Female Coco de mer seed stolen from this site: wikimedia commons

Coco Monkey stolen from this site: darkhorse

Coco Krispies stolen from this site: The Retroist>

Go, go Coco!
Jay Leno sucks!
I'm With Coco

Artistic Endeavors

I've got 2 brothers with artistic talent up the ying yang.
Their artistic styles are actually like ying and yang.
Art is subjective, but artistic prowess runs in their genes.

My father earned his first award in art for a painting he did
called "Evening Chores" outside Spartan Mill in S.C.
but he never pursued a career in art, though he dabbled in it
over many years. I wish he had done more.
I was told that my mother also had artistic abilities.
Hell, maybe I've got the same genes lurking within,
but I didn't practice the craft my entire life as my brothers have.

The elder

My oldest brother Stan Turner resides in Las Cruces, New Mexico
and has been working as a graphic artist for too many years for me to count.
He's created designs for so many major companies it boggles my mind
(well, yes my mind is easily boggled, but pay that no never mind!)


I adore this painting he created of his lovely pit bull Heddy.
She was a loving and devoted family member for 11 years.
We all miss that pretty pooch.


Most recently I've seen his work for the Las Cruces
"Whole Enchilada Fiesta"
t-shirts and fiesta branding.
He also designed
High Desert Brewing Company's
new t-shirts and their website.
Stan has a knack for capturing puppy whimsy.
"Bloo & Earl" are a fine example of this.
For more about Stan's work and his freelance rates go here: Stan Turner

The younger

My youngest brother Sam Turner has a knack for hiding out,
being extremely difficult to track down,
and creating some wild and sick designs.
His claim to fame: "2008 NACCC champion of Foot Down"
Sam has been seen drinking from an artificial leg
riding a stuffed pink pony,
and being a cycle jerk all over the mile high city.

Here's Sam doing his infamous "Superman"

Last I heard he was working on some new art
and will have another gallery showing in Denver.
This may be one of my favorite works by Sam
although I do still have some early comic cats
he drew in 7th grade.



Sam spends most of his time on a bicycle, or sleeping.
It's a wonder he manages to get any work done,
but he did manage to create the "Fire up the Blades" cover,

and has done several poster and t-shirt designs for
Canadian metal heads 3 Inches of Blood.

Sam also creates designs for Never Summer
Snowboards, skateboards and apparel,
as well as his varying original designs with very limited print runs.
Sam and a couple of his buddies run
Denver's Track Shack @ 1338 Tremont.
The Plastisol Free For All is a yearly t-shirt design contest
run by Indy Ink.
Sam won the People's Choice Award for his overly sick
"Black 100" design in 2008.



I claim bragging rights.
Way to go bro's!

Taking a Bite out of Philly

Dallas managed to take a bite out of Philly on Sunday. 24 bites, if you're counting..and I'm counting! Those among our circle of friends who are Cowboys fans took several bites...delicious bites of cheese steak sandwiches.

When we gather to root for our team, it often becomes more about the food, and less about the outcomes. Ha ha...who am I kidding? It's ALWAYS about the outcome! Our friends Paul and Maria have an ongoing invitation to watch the Cowboys in their home. They are gracious hosts, week in and week out, for almost every game. We have a blast. Sometimes it's a potluck affair, others it's a pizza party experiment, or ribs are on sale and we smoke large slabs of 'em. You name it, we try to mix it up and sometimes the party starts at a different home, but we all manage to gather together and yell for our team.

This week with the Cowboys clan taking on the Eagles we decided to make some Texas style Cheese Steaks and take a bite out of Philly. Yeah, baby...I love a good cheese steak sandwich. No Philly green bell peppers for us, but we did use red peppers and plenty of jalapenos, onions, mushrooms, and 2 kinds of cheese.

Many years ago I worked at a little hole-in-the-wall joint called The Back Door Lounge. It was on Rio Grande at Mesa and it boasted an original cheese steak sandwich as created by Ala Haney and Dennis Calabrese. I learned to make some delish cheese steaks when I worked there; ask just about any local and they remember just how good that sandwich was. That's the place I actually got to play pool with Don Haskins (yeah he was merely placating me, but still...I'll never forget that). After 5 years of being away from El Paso, and returning in 2000 I found the Back Door beckoning again. Imagine my surprise when I found the restaurant had moved and was getting ready to re-open in downtown El Paso! I needed a job, and was right on time to start anew right where I had left off. This story is not so much about the Back Door Lounge as it is about good food...and specifically that cheese steak sandwich.

So Maria was worried about how to go about making cheese steaks for our Cowboy crowd this weekend. To make it easy, she wanted to make one huge sandwich and cut it up. No way, Jose! I told her in the typical George Lopez fashion "I got this!" Kids hate everything, some among us don't like onions, or peppers, or jalapenos, or they are allergic to mushrooms, etc., and etc., infinitum! I was willing to do individual order taking (short order cooking sticks with you once it's in your blood), but luckily there were plenty who wanted "the works" and others who wanted almost all the works without the hot jalapenos...then there's my uncle who cannot eat the mushrooms, and lastly the kids, who wanted meat, meat and nothing but meat. I was able to make several sandwiches in batches, and the rolls were real small and snack size...which made it easier to feed a bunch of us at once. Dang, I so enjoyed doing this. Imagine my surprise when everyone crowed about how good these sandwiches are! The kids? Them cute little brats liked 'em? LOL. That was truly shocking!

I had such a good time cooking, I forgot to take pictures! The ingredients I used to make our cheese steaks yesterday were not the same recipe as I knew from The Back Door Lounge, but without that prior knowledge to go on, I'd have never known really how to go about it. So here's to good people, good sportsmanship, good food, and a great recipe from a place I once worked at in El Paso, Texas.

Today I Took a Tumble

I am not a gymnast, nor am I a motorcycle daredevil...but today I pretended I was Evel Knievel and attempted to jump the gorge. Actually it was just a small hole in the ground, and I was really trying to avoid falling into it. Hey, a girl can exaggerate, can't she? Down I went, and I'm gonna be sore tomorrow. Hell, I'm already sore.

For a few years my husband and my brother have been talking about the dirt bikes they wanted to buy, and they finally started the hunt and actually bought a few last year. Next thing you know there's a slew of us with bikes and we've been tearing up the desert on 'em. There's nothing quite like flying across sand and hard pack with the wide open blue skies and mountains all around. Watching my nephews start out pretty scared and getting to the point of wanting to ride all day has been an experience. I'm very lucky to have family that gets along and enjoys one another's company. El Paso is just a fantastic place to live for all year outdoor fun. It was chilly and sunny out there, the best type of riding weather.


At one time I was very irresponsible (young, dumb and drunk) and I flipped off a 3 wheeled ATV right smack into my face. Damn near tore my bottom lip off. Of course I wasn't wearing a helmet, and I was tanked up on Budweiser. I told you- DUMBASS--that was me, and pretty much every other person riding that day with us some 25 years ago. The fact that I ended up in the hospital was a pretty compelling reason to not want to get on motorcycles again, except I know how much fun it can be.

Today we still see families out with their very small children riding with absolutely no protection for themselves or their kids. I want to scream at them all and show them that photo of my H.R. Pufnstuf, head which I forced my sister-in-law to take of me when I was battered and bruised in that hospital bed. It's one scary image, like some grotesque Halloween mask, but it was so real. I know, I lived it.

It's no fun having gravel scraped out of your tongue with a wire brush, or watching your breast skin get peeled off with your hospital gown from the weeping road burns that have adhered to the cloth. I spent the rest of my days in hospital with my perky boobs hanging out for all the world to see, cuz I was just not having that fire-ant sensation of skin removal again! I'm lucky I didn't break any bones in that wreck. I flew through the air like superman, but my arms never had a chance to break my fall; I landed on the backs of my wrists, then my lower lip hit gravel and began to peel and tear the skin at the edges of my mouth. I looked like a ventriloquist's dummy, (dummy being the operative word). My chest and shoulders were burned raw. Luckily my nipples were not scraped completely off. Are you getting the picture? Good.

Now I wear full gear. Helmet, goggles, riding boots, gloves, body armor, sunscreen, and lip balm! I do not drink any alcohol out there, and I have just about the most legal fun I've ever experienced. Sure, I fell today, and my arm hurts a little bit, but I got back up, got back on that little Yamaha and sped back around to see where I had made my mistake. Ah, that's the problem...I was following Brett, and he's a freaking maniac! No, it really wasn't like that at all, but this teaches me to be more wary on certain approaches, and try to improve my skills as a dirt-biking daredevil.



Life is good!

New Year, New Attitude?

Here's wishing a joyous and prosperous New Year to all!

Now to the meat of this message...what is it about a new year that invokes the desire to begin anew? As if we can stop being that undesirable individual, with all our flaws, extra pounds, procrastination, and any of the litany of our past faux pas, to become a new and improved us? What, indeed? As if by some miracle we can take this day and turn it into a fresh start. Eat some collards and black-eyed peas for luck, set goals and resolutions to not be us any longer, since we are obviously lacking, and need to improve! Do we find nothing but disdain for self, so much so that we are compelled to become something which we are not?

At what cost, this striving to be perfect? To have the bodies we and others can admire; to be healthy and fit? To have the minds we want; sane and unencumbered by stress? To give more, to exercise more, to eat better foods....It's obviously unattainable, this search for betterment, since year in and year out, we seek this "truth" only to find that we are utter failures, and in the end, we are what we are.

You've heard it a million times, you cannot change people, they have to want to change themselves. So true, and even when an individual deigns to attempt change within himself, her old habits will come creeping back in, the hard fought weight loss creeps back on and you are fat again! An ode to niceness becomes a glimmer of a ghost of that altruist within us, and our demeanor reflects what we have always known...nice is as nice does, though crab apples are hard and bitter until they ripen. Really, a new year does not give me any indication that I have ripened...so why bother with resolutions that will fail? When do we know when the time has come....when we are ripe enough to find success at resolutions?

With this in mind, I have resolved to make an effort to write in this blog, day in and day out. Something, anything, just for my own peace of mind. Writing is catharsis, and a way to de-stress and a way to stress myself out beyond belief. I will love grandly as I can, and will make no excuses for being me. I'm absolutely wonderful, in case you don't know it, and if you look deep inside yourself, you will find that you too are an awesome and wonderful person. I have no aims to lose 5 pounds, nor to get up and exercise, or attempt to change my evil ways. I will not pretend to stop looking on with disdain towards many of my fellow human beings. No, I have no such delusions set for today.

Today is my day to write. That I can do...and if I fail to keep up the charade, who will stand up and take notice?