I was walking downtown in D.F. on my first day in town, shopping for cowboys shirts and bootleg electronics, and I ran into Teija, one half of Pekka and Teija Isorattya, the duo of Finnish artists who who have been touring with Polka Madre. In a city of 24 million, to run into someone you know on the street like that seemed like an absurdity, so I followed her back to the Hotel Villreyes, where they have made a makeshift art studio in their room.
This is Chicharona, a life sized marionette they made completely out of pig skin.
Do you sense sparks between us? Because i did.
Raymundo, the drummer from Polka Madre showed up and started helping them assemble the Caja de Toque. This will take some explaining: if you go to Via Gharabaldi or any other place in Mexico with Mariachi and a macho atmosphere, you might encounter hombres with Cajas de Toques. They are electrified boxes with metal grips that give you a mild electrocution. The operator can adjust the voltage depending on how drunk or macho you are. People pay 10 or 20 pesos for this service. There's always been talk about where we could buy one of these things, we hoped to get one for the US tour last year, but it seemed impossible. Somehow, Pekka was able to buy one, albeit a plastic one, not the egraved, antique wooden kind you will see in Plaza Gharabaldi. Pekka had Raymundo assemble it so that he could bring it back to Finland and give it as a gift to his 10 year old cousin! Instant best-uncle-ever status.
They hooked it up and plugged it into wall, rather than putting in the batteries, which made it dangerously strong. Even Ray couldn't handle it. After this the whole party held hands and got shocked together.
I gave my new sunglasses as a regala to Johnathan, AKA Don Gala.
Pinche Andrew and Tanya showed up.
Raymundo's bother David and his novia, who had made an awesome cake.
We played Loteria, which is a Mexican game that Pekka and Teija had translated into Finnish to make it more confusing for us.
David and Bowie.
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