Thursday, July 27, 2017

El Paso: Sunset Over Juárez



Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


July 2017.


One of the things I love about El Paso is its abundance of scenic views. Of mountains, plains, the two cities, the moon, stacking afternoon clouds ....


Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


A UTEP parking lots serves up a delicious sunset over Juárez.

Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.

Look at that fingernail moon hanging there so daintily.

Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


I like to think about driving up that wide road in Juárez.


Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.



Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


What's on the other side of that pass?

Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.

And, look, you can even see Cristo Rey:

Sunset over Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, from UTEP parking lot, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.




Friday, July 21, 2017

El Paso: Alabama to Magnetic


View from Magnetic Road, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.



Go far enough east (north?) on Alabama and the road name changes to Magnetic.

When I took this route to an outdoor music venue one day, I was completely unprepared for the loveliness of the road and the grand view of the plains.


View from Magnetic Road, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.



I don't have any photos of the road, which would include graceful, uplifting garden spaces in the medians.

I do, however, have some plains views.


View from Magnetic Road, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


El Paso is a city of pleasing surprises.


A tiny video:

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

El Paso: The Fountains: Kiss Me Lots


Viva las Vegas! Music on the Lawn at The Fountains, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.



July 2017

El Paso has several outdoor music venues during the summer - Music Under the Stars, Alfresco Fridays, Cool Canyon Nights - and Music on the Lawn at The Fountains.

The El Paso Live Music Meetup has met at all of them at least once. On this particular night, we gathered for Music on the Lawn at The Fountains.

On tonight's menu was a gumbo of reggae, rockabilly, punk, and ska.


Viva las Vegas

Oooh, Viva Las Vegas, out of Juarez, put its rockabilly mojo on me.

Viva las Vegas! Music on the Lawn at The Fountains, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.



Damn. It. I do love the double bass. Below is the group doing its take on the classic Besame Mucho (Kiss Me Lots):




Dulce Mal (Sweet Evil)

Some reggae!

The guitar player's smile makes me smile, too.

Dulce Mal, Music on the Lawn at The Fountains, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


Here's one of their tunes from the concert:




Penumbra Rabia (Rage in the Shadows)

I'm trying to be poetic in my translation of the band's name. You get what you pay for on this blog.

Penumbra Rabia, Music on the Lawn at The Fountains, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


Here's a taste:




One of the things I like about all three of these bands - they are "border bands."

What a gift. For one's artistry to flow in and out and in and out between the United States and Mexico, between Texas and Chihuahua, between El Paso and Juarez. Between Spanish and English. In Chuco English, Chuco Spanish. No Iron Curtain contains the fluidity.


A slide show below:

El Paso Music on the Lawn, TX




Tuesday, July 18, 2017

El Paso: On Paisano From UTEP to Chamizal


On Paisano en route to the Chamizal, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.



July 2017


Get in the car! Come for a drive with me. It won't take long; we're just going to the Chamizal from UTEP, near my place in Sunset Heights. Forget the highway. We'll take Paisano Drive.

From UTEP, take a left onto Paisano to get to the Chamizal. El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


Got your seat belt on? Good! Oh, forgot to tell you, Beau Jocque is coming, too, so just open a virtual arm vein and wait for his IV push directly into your bloodstream.  Let's go:




That tall, metal fence on your right? Yes, that's our Iron Curtain Wall. Yeah, I know, you can almost touch it from your passenger seat. But keep your hands inside, please.

And don't worry: The Wall is there to keep people from coming in. It's not there to keep us from going out. Not today, anyway.


My camera is clever. It enjoys surprising me with little gifts. Like this gritty, cinema verité sort of stop-action film of part of our trip:



The silence enhances the visual experience. The rainbow and clouds stand out. As does the man walking on the sidewalk - the slo-mo. Drama. Well done, camera!

We're here.

Arrival at the Chamizal via Paisano, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.



Monday, July 17, 2017

El Paso: Music Under the Stars: Chuco Soul Project



Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


July 2017
Music Under the Stars at the Chamizal National Memorial



Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


The Chuco Soul Project! I have sentimental feelings for this band. It grabbed me at the Bad Ass Mountain Music Festival in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, back in July 2013. Oooh, this video:




And here they are at their July 2017 Music Under the Stars performance:





A smoooooth sway for a summer evening.


Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


Sometimes when I listen to music, I think about the special cruelty of cultures that forbid music, song, dance. Such strictures have nothing to do with any deity. In fact, these rules of oppression defy the laws of nature, in which virtually every living creature engages in some form of song and rhythmic movement. Even the wind sings.


Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


And then I feel gladness to be in a place and a culture that celebrates music and how it unifies souls.


Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.

Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


The night was beautiful.


Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.

Seeing El Paso's star on the mountainside was a special treat.


Chuco Soul Project, Chamizal National Memorial, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.

Here's a lagniappe from the evening:



Saturday, July 15, 2017

El Paso: Alfresco Friday: July 14 2017

Sayverse, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


El Paso has several music series that take place outdoors. One is Alfresco Friday, which runs May through August.

Sayverse, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


The venue is the shared patio outside Abraham Chavez Theater and the Convention Center.

El Paso, Texas. July 2017.



For Alfresco Fridays, I have the privilege to be able to walk down from my apartment in Sunset Heights, passing through  my candy-box of architectural sweets, over Interstate 10, past the sphinxes of the Scottish Rite Temple, past the History Museum, and past the Chihuahua ballpark.

Sayverse, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.

 
On this night, clouds brooded theatrically over our heads.

El Paso, Texas. July 2017.


The band, Sayverse, performed.

I was in excellent company with fellow members of El Paso's Live Music Meetup group, hosted by Yadira (a musician herself), who does all of the heavy lifting in deciding which venues we visit and what we might do afterward. All we have to do is say, "yeah!" and show up.

Sayverse, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.

Sayverse, Alfresco Friday, El Paso, Texas. July 2017.



Wednesday, July 5, 2017

El Paso: Independence Day at the Chamizal



Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.


Independence Day 2017.

My go-to Meetup group, El Paso Live Music, hostessed by the gracious Yadira, got together at the Chamizal National Memorial for the combo Music Under the Stars and Independence Day celebrations.

Although I arrived fairly early, it wasn't early enough to avoid the need to park many, many, many blocks away. Fortunately, this enabled me to discover a tidy, interesting neighborhood.

Two other members of our group, Sara and Duane - constant early arrivers like me - found each other and we set up our homestead in readiness for later arrivals. Sara knows I love jicama and she thoughtfully brought fresh, juicy, cold, crispy, crunchy slices with her. Plus Tajin, of course. Mmmmmm.

A video of the fireworks below before I get distracted:




The band for the night was Neon Circus, a Brooks and Dunn tribute band.

And here is a good place to suggest that El Paso might be the center of the tribute-band universe. Which stands to reason, I guess, because El Paso is kinda off in a corner geographically (and US-centristically, it goes without saying), so we're more likely to attract tribute bands than the real thing.

Our Meetup group was in a shady spot faaaaaaar away from the stage, so our own conversation among the cool grass and leafy trees, along with the ambient energy of thousands of chuckling, amiable families around us, stole the show, so to speak.

And then when I swam upstream to the stage for some snaps, I was more taken with the genius body language of one of Neon Circus' lead singers than the music. Damn photogenic.

Neon Circus, Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.


 The swollen, close-to-full moon added drama.

Neon Circus, Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.


I couldn't choose just one photo to post here.

Neon Circus, Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.


Preach!

Neon Circus, Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.


Oh. Yeah, there were fireworks, too.

Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.

Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.

Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.

Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.



I leave you with a video of the finale:




No, now I'm really leaving you. This time with a warm glow of fireworks and humanity:

Independence Day at the Chamizal, El Paso. July 2017.



Tuesday, July 4, 2017

El Paso: Steps to Nowhere #3: Eve of Independence Day


View from the steps to nowhere, El Paso, Texas. July 3, 2017



On the eve of Independence Day, it was a big baseball game, hot dogs, and fireworks at the Chihuahuas' ballpark!

I walked smartly down from my apartment to the steps to nowhere so I could snag a good spot for watching sparklies burst over the stadium. 

View from the steps to nowhere, El Paso, Texas. July 3, 2017


I wasn't the only one with this sweet spot in mind. 

View from the steps to nowhere, El Paso, Texas. July 3, 2017


But I arrived in time to plant myself on a fine bit of real estate.

View from the steps to nowhere, El Paso, Texas. July 3, 2017


I felt for a woman who inadvertently chose land already settled by little bitey ants. Oooh. Ouch.


View from the steps to nowhere, El Paso, Texas. July 3, 2017


The steps to nowhere. A good place to watch El Paso.

The fireworks video below, featuring my bridge over I-10. Oh, how many times I've walked over that pretty bridge!