José Clemente Orozco and the craft beer (background music included)

During down time I had the opportunity to travel to the second largest city of Mexico, Guadalajara.

For most of the time things were relax and slow.

I mostly dedicated time to reading, eating and drinking.

One thing I really enjoy was some craft beers that, by accident, I stumble upon. Most of them were mexican and the rest british.

2013-01-01 11.03.44 — From Left to Right: Newcastle Brown Ale, Hobgoblin, Calavera Dubbel de Abadía, Cucapá Clásica, Calavera American Pale Ale, Hidalgo Stout, Poe Brown Ale and Calavera Tripel de Abadía

As you can see in the picture above they were a few, but as my philosophy goes somebody had to drink them. The ones I enjoy the most were the Newcastle Brown Ale, Hobgoblin, Poe Brown Ale and Calavera American Pale Ale.

The other thing that required me getting out of bed was going to visit the house/studio of the famous mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco and believe me it was worth it. The house/studio only has one of his mural, it was originally made for a restaurant. When it closed the family bought it back.

There was also a temporary exhibition from another artist.

As I walk the house the caretaker told me that to really enjoy his work I should visit “Hospicio Cabañas” where he painted a massive mural in the former chapel of what used to be a shelter for orphan children.

The mural is an impressive work, and experts say that is the culmination of the artist themes . There are no words to describe it, so better judge by the pictures

It leaves you simply breathless to witness such raw power and execution. I’m not going even to attempt to describe it, words won’t do it justice.

On christmas eve I receive a very pleasant gift. My beautiful wife bought me some old vinyl records.

So I see a weekend full of music, excessive caffeine intake and of course lots of reading.

For now back to reading books No.2 and No.3

11 January, 2013 0

Book Shelfs, Part Two

I made a little progress in unpacking some of my books, that’s the good news.

Now I came to realize that I have a lot and that’s not the bad news, you can never have too many books.

What you can have is too little shelf room, that’s really the bad news.

So I had to improvise a little.

As you can see the space in the book case filled up rapidly, so I had to convert some cardboard boxes into temporary shelf.

I hope to finish this week so my reading space can get back to normal.

For now I will keep using the dinner table as my reading spot

7 January, 2013 0

Book One 2013, Suttree

I started this year of reading on the right track.

It’s only the second day of the year and I have already finish the first book on the list.

The first book on the list was Suttree by Cormac McCarthy, he is one of my favorite, it is a bit difficult to read but his style is truly a thing of beauty.

You visually, through the eyes of Cornelius Suttree, a ever-moving river fill with

life,death, humor and a cast of outcast trying to survive in the banks of the Tennessee River near Knoxville. Mr. Suttree has forsaken a life of privilege for a never peaceful life in a rundown houseboat. There he is witness to the harsh reality of living in the margins of society.

As always Mr. McCarthy style,deep and rich vocabulary takes you on a journey you will not easily forget. I can understand without a doubt why he is considered a genius. I highly recommend this book, it’s not easy reading a novel by Cormac McCarthy but it is something you should never pass the opportunity to do.

Now on to the next book, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.

So that’s 3809 pages down, 45,933 pages to go.

Total Pages 115,389 pages

3 January, 2013 2

Jonathan Strange,the 3,000 pages and a very long post

After a much deserved break is good to be back.

As you can imagine I have quite a few things to report.

First and foremost I finally finish reading one of my mountain book, “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” by Susanna Clarke.

The definition, in my view anyway, of a mountain book is simple, because they are difficult but rewarding reads, just like a hard climb, you may struggle to reach the top but when you get there the view is amazing.

Getting back to the book, it is an amazing fantasy story that intertwines the lifes and magic of two gentleman, Gilbert Norrell and Jonathan Strange, both destined to revive English magic all of this in the ever present shadow of the Raven King, the greatest magician of all time. It uses elements of that period of history, 19th century England around the Napoleonic Wars, and merges them with an expectional cast of characters, from mad magician to treacherous fairies.

This is one of the best fantasy book I have ever read, it will always hold a place next to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

I also finish reading another book, ” The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel: The Alchemyst” is the first of an six book series. It follows the story of twin brothers and how their paths came across the famous alchemyst. They are suddenly thrown into a world of petty magician and dangerous ancient gods. The most impressive parts are when the goddess Morrigan makes her appearance and the stunning presence of Yggdrasill-the world tree-.

In sum both of this books put me over 3,000 pages in Year Five of Lost in a Million Pages.

So that’s 3,338 pages down, 46,404 pages to go.

Total Pages 114,918 pages.

3 January, 2013 2

Carlos Fuentes and the 2,000 pages

Yesterday morning I finished reading one of the master pieces of latin american literature, La Región más Transparente by the now late mexican writter Carlos Fuentes.

It’s a sweeping chronicle of the post-revolutionary situation of one of the largest cities in the world, Mexico City.

Fuentes reconstructs this fractured city through the lives and memories of the different characters that inhabits it’s caotic street.

From a humble taxi driver to a influential lawyer Fuentes manages to capture the different layers of mexican society in a beautifully poetical and haunting way.

This has been one of the best books I have read in a long while.

The other news is that I have reach 2,000 pages on this fifth year of Lost in a million pages.

So that’s 2,248 pages down, 47,494 pages to go.

Total Pages 113,828 pages

8 December, 2012 0

Book Shelfs, Part One

The not so great part of moving is that you have to pack, in our case for the most part the boxes sitting around are fill with books, which is awesome but kind of a pain in the ass when is time to organize them.

The challenge is that back in the old apartment we had a custom made bookshelf on the wall of the living room that housed most of the books.

So what to do here.

IMPROVISE!!!!

3 December, 2012 0

First 1,000 pages

With the good news that I have reach my first 1,000 pages of this the fifth year of my goal, it was a bit slow but I have pick up the pace.

It also helped the I got some Graphic Novels that I haven’t read. Three great volume of the Goon series, written by Eric Powell, and Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity, written by the comic legend Matt Wagner.

So that’s 1,226 pages down, 48,516 to go.

Total Pages 112,806

25 November, 2012 0

Happy Birthday Neil

Today is the birthday of my favorite author Mr. Neil Gaiman.

I first read Neil’s Sandman around 1999 and started with Brief Lives, and to say I was hook is an understatement. His rich and deep worlds captured me and I have no plans to ever leave them.

It was is novel American Gods that consolidated me as a live long fan and is actually the last piece of literature that I plan to read to reach 1,000,000 pages (yeah that’s how much I love this novel).

In celebration I’m going to start reading (again) Absolute Sandman Vol. 1