espinazo del diablo

never again that sierra occidental mountain road crossing. still weeping tears of fear. worst road on planet.
wouldn´t be so bad if I was driving but taking a bus was brutal. like a 6 hour roller coaster ride in a curving tunnel where you can´t see what you are about to hit. the floor was wet with vomit but I managed to hold  my lunch down.
the return trip will be los mochis to Chihauhau on the train.

Torreon

big  bandera on the south side of rio grande

tortas de lechon

jesus and jarritos belt buckle

the keyboardss are rough here so forgive
I have grown weary           of my own failures.
>Kerouac                      came to mexico to write. Cassady came for cheap drugs.
oggy  is learning about his world.
there  are more single cylinder motorcycles  here than    Vietnam.

Bongo Tour

"Esta Machina Mata Drogistas"

I tried to thwart my destiny with piano fantasies but the river always leads to the source and I am undertaking a "Woody Guthrie Memorial Bongo Tour" of Mexico with the intention to sow the seeds of sobriety in the insane drug war. It has to end and like Booth thought he could take revenge for the humiliation of the south, Oggy is going to man up and meet the problem face to face. That can't be done in the van because it will seem presumptuous and haughty. No, I will travel with the people, I will drink their beer, but I will insist this insane cocaine trade must end. They have the power and maybe they are operating under some kind of sabotage theory that will destroy America from inside as we snort more and more cocaine but I don't care. It has to end. Yes, hydro fracturing is much worse overall than snorting cocaine but we have to start somewhere and maybe the cocaine is keeping our brains addled. I don't say I have the answer but I know what information I need to find the answer...and that's in Mexico as a bongosero disguised as an aging gypsy. If I die, then say I did it for love.

Don't Get Around Much

This song is too excellent. The descending melody followed by a stepwise ascension in the bass is so simple like the garden of Eden birds singing a contrapuntal melody of grief.
I don't get around much anymore...a confession and sad refrain from a broken man trying to keep his dignity. The song is from 1940 post- Cotton Club era Duke...it was republished in 1973 and that's the copyright.

Warfare

"Then you are a fool."

Kurt Vonnegut once asked the anthropologist Margaret Mead when men were most happy. I'm sure it had something to do with happiness eluding Vonnegut for most of his life. Mead not only studied many cultures I think she was predisposed to observe objectively, not buy into the Walmart sales bargain propaganda of the world. But some people are not hung up by the endless lies, they see patterns in the lies and truth in the horror...they see it all as destiny and humanity in an endless array of variations with some common traits. That's anthropology. Vonnegut (an anthropology major but not a very objective anthropologist) thought men should be motivated by reason. Mead probably saw this as totally naive. In general, men are not motivated by any one thing...but culturally we find meaning in completely different goals. But there is overlap and correlation. The trouble starts when the culture and the man do not match and Vonnegut is a good example. Another example is T.E. Lawrence. Oggy struggles but weakens in his scar tissue and flagging belly rolls.