yod.ca

I plum ran out of energy.
I did manage to make it through the crowds at Plazuela Machado where I bought the mask shown below.

Ash Wednesday calls
Carnivals last night, and I
Can sleep at long last.

Tonight I caught the full set of my favourite band of Carnival: “Grupo Sihuey”.
They do a great set. Pro musicians, excellent rhythm section, fantastic singer. They do a lot of Cumbia and Merengue music and they do it well.
They have the crowd dancing and they also have the Pacifico girls on stage dancing sexy cumbia moves and throwing trinkets to the audience.

It’s hard for me to convey what this part of Carnival is like. The street I live on is gated off and there are 10 stages set up.
Tens of thousands of people show up every night for 6 nights and wander around, drinking, eating, dancing. People of all ages come from all over Mexico. Some sling their kids over their shoulders and move through the sound. The kids aren’t bothered by the noise.
The bands are all very good and there is a mix of Norteño, rock, cumbia, and of course Banda music. It is loud and boisterous. Every stage is at full volume.

I am obliged to go out and look around every night. It’s sometimes hard being one of very few gringo’s in the crowd, but people are friendly.
I also notice that a lot of the bands play a lot of the same songs. The hits of 2009 and the ever popular songs of Sinaloa (the state that Mazatlán is in (actually Mazatlán is in the state of Carnival chaos right now, but I digress)).
When I get home the music from all 10 stages seems to channel up the hill and swirl into a potent mix. Like 10 radios turned to 11. Until 4:00am or so every night…

I am happy and honoured to have the experience, but I also look forward to Ash Wednesday and the end of Carnival.

My 12 sec video of Grupo Sihuey:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7934667150626010328

Myspace official Grupo Sihuey video:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=37645407

The swirl of music from my balcony:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-218996591581135829

Busy Day.
Exhausted…
Woke with a cold at 4:00am (oddly enough after all the music had stopped).
Helped Juan move a ton of bricks (separate post on that)
Went to parade.
Watched movie.
Went to Carnival
Put in earplugs. Crashed.

Some pictures from the Carnival parade…

Carnival continues in all it’s splendor. Tonight was a big night, with the Quema Mal Humor (burning of an effigy of the villain of the year) and the Combate Naval. The reenactment of the French invasion of Mazatlan in 1864 is played out in fireworks. Lots of them. Lot of people gather to watch. When it ends the party really heats up.

Carnival has started in earnest. Olas Altas is packed with people and stages. Here is the best shot I could get of one banda. 3 trombones, 3 trumpets, 3 drummers, 3 singers, 2 clarinets. The music starts at 9:00pm and there are about 10 stages. It runs until 4:00am or so. I don’t expect to get a good nights sleep until Ash Wednesday. But I will enjoy it!

Banda El Recodo were this year’s Coronación Rey de la Alegría
They performed a magical concert - with fireworks and glittering chaff + balloon waving fans.
What a blast. Full on. The best banda Sinalonense rocked the crowd - more than 10000 gente.
What a perfect start to carnival. It promises to be the best!!!
My picture is through binoculars.

llena lunas rise
ilumina vendetta dome
purple sky, palm tree

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6893157713716122501
I took this zoomed in video from my still camera so it is very pixelated and abstract.
This is also an excercise in posting video to a 3rd party web site, instead of storing all those huge files on my site.

The Venado (deer) image is from within the Mazatlán Sinaloa coat of arms.
The voice balloons indicate that this is a talking deer, I think.

An old video that I shot in November.
I love this group of Taiko drummers from Japan.