Frida Kahlo's House

We went there the other day. Moya wasn't crazy about it because the show that was up was all about Frida's corpulent, froglike, womanizing husband Diego Rivera and how devoted to him she was. The courtyard was quite pretty, though.

The Sharkey Zodiac

I have to admit I haven't loved everything that my friend Sharkey has been writing for Vice magazine thusfar. His sneering, bitter-record-store-clerk tone can be too much, especially if you know him for the sweet, Crimpshrine-loving boy he once was. That being said, some of it is great, like the interview he did with his dad the air-traffic controller, and these horoscopes he wrote for Vice Australia, which are so very funny that they made me say "LOL!" out loud. Here's a taste:

CANCER June 21 - July 22: You will simply and certainly beat the living shit out of your wife and kids because you’re Italian.

BTW, Sharkey's band Clockcleaner are having their last show in April, but if you want to attend you have to apply for 2 of the 120 available tickets in writing. I'm serious. Go Shark!

Huitlacoche

Back in D.F., Moya and I took advice from a friend of hers and, while checking out lovely Colonia Coyoacan, stopped in the market there for Quesadillas Huitlacoche. Huitlacoche is actually a fungus that grows on corn. Sauteed up in a quesadilla with plenty of fresh Queso, it has an amazing smoky-earthy flavor, sort of like truffles. So good!


Quesadilla love.

My Girls Give it 2 Me

I've never gotten into Animal Collective: I wasn't into all that atonal chanting and I certainly don't care what some Brooklynites think about modern primativism or spirit animals or anything, but this new single is a jam! Is this a big hit in the states yet? This sounds like "Sloop John B"-era Beach Boys up in the club. All it needs is a more consistent 4X4 kick and snare and I think this would work in many club settings. This video sucks, though: It looks the Blue Man Group doing blackface inside someone's colon.


Also, I heard this song in the market the other day- how did I miss this when it came out? I can't believe I was forced to play "4 Minutes" 20,000 times this summer while Djing but I didn't even hear this one. The Pharell beat is just awesome- sounds like a DFA production with some Danjahands synths. And I really can't hate Phreezy muggin all over the video. Who is this lackluster soccer Mom that's singing , though?

More Oaxaca

Bien Crudo
A bowl of coffee

Oaxacan Breakfast

Not only do Drug Stores in Mexico usually blast techno all day, but sometimes they have big crazy scientists dancing outside. Are they trying to advertise "We have drugs" by giving me a bad trip? (Video of this soon)

Periodicos. Look at Zach Beirut- "folk sin fronteras", lol. Hes coming to play in Mexico city this weekend, I just might go.



This was at a cafe called "La Neuva Babel". Luchadores wearing Sombreros- is there anything more Mexican than that?

This is what my lifestyle is like these days




The chocolate factory is not just an R Kelly Album

Una Bruja.

This was literally one of the best sandwhiches I've ever had. A chile stuffed with Picadillo, which is a sweet/spicy BBQ kind of pulled pork with raisins, breaded and fried, with cheese, refried beans, tomatos, lettuce, mayo and jalapenos. Oh snap.

The food and drinks at La Biznaga are sooo good. I can barely describe what is going on here. A few hints: that red stuff is not beets, it's sauteed flor de jamaica- i.e. hibiscus. And the green leaf wrapper at top left? It's called Herba Santa and I've never even seen it in the US. It was stuffed with Oaxacan cheese and flor de calabaza.

Here's what the food at La Biznaga makes you do:

Bad News

My literary career has hit a bit of a snag. Last Friday I sent off a rough draft of my manuscript for Eat, Pray, Love and Die in a Fire to my editors at Doubleday, the same publishing house which produced such Chick Lit classics as The Devil Wears Prada, Confessions of a Shopaholic and OMG, Do you Think I Should Marry this Handsome Rich Prick with Short Hair or This Handsome Starving Artist with Long Hair? I'm So Confused, Gimme Some Chocolate!
Yesterday I received an outraged email from my literary agent, saying that the editors at Doubleday had called my first draft "misogynist" and "juvenile". An unnamed female intern said that my ideas would be "appalling even in a Muslim country". They also said the long passages of the book which were written in Rhyming verse and ghetto vernacular were "crude and unconvincing".
"You can't just keep rhyming 'bitch' with 'bitch'!" was a direct quote.
Considering that my literary reputation is on the line, I've taken a few of their notes and I'm considering their suggestions for a new, gentler title, some of which are Eat, Pray, Love and get a Bad Sunburn and You're Definitely Gonna Step in Yak Shit.
As for my telenovella, they've brought in a hackish script doctor who is changing the whole script. He's added a subplot about narcotrafficantes, several dozen more love scenes, and a pair of twin brothers, one of whom may or may not be a robot. I'll get back to you on that.

Tocar en Oaxaca

On Valentine's Day I got to DJ at Cafe Central in Oaxaca, which is defintely the best venue in town. The Ginger Ninjas played first, they are a band from Cali who use stationary bikes to power their musical equipment. Pretty rad. They crowd was really good, mixed Mexican and backpackers, and people were getting down until well after 4am. Moya was there and hooped onstage in front of hundreds of people and they loved it. I played Cumbia, Hip Hop, and Dancehall early on, then switched to a mix of Balkan-Gypsy club remixes and House tracks that sample Cumbias and other latin music. Late in the night I went straight-up Club bangers, which wore everyone out pretty fast. The word from the floor was "we want salsa!". I played the few tracks that I had, but Yadira, the manager had to step in and close out the night with some classic salsa tracks that had people dancing like mad! Moya and I finished the night with a shot of the house Mescal, both got payed, and the owner said that we had brought the vibe of Mehanata, the famous Bulgarian club in NYC, to Oaxaca.

More San Cristobal

Some lovely houses on the outskirts

These kids were collecting straws in the market and we wanted to know why, but they were giggling too hard to answer. Cute factor X100,000.
Sometimes I think this blog should be callled "The Taco Diaries"
Sneaky photographs can work sometimes.
We went to the market so much in San Cristobal that we had to move up to going to the wholesale market- which is where the vendors buy their stuff.


It was cool and I think tourists never go there. These guys wanted to talk to us about how they think there are no farms in America, just computers. I had to agree.

Some of his sweet peas. He was very proud.


On our last night went went to have wine and tapas with our German friends Enis and Patricia.


On the wall was a framed copy of the New York Times article by my friend Matt Gross. What up, Matt! U Famous Homie!