Recap: Good Morning, From Here, September 14 – 20
Monday
What a delightful reunion I had with the Kesslers last week. They have finally made the big, permanent jump from Simi Valley, California, to Vallarta. They will take their time perusing the myriad colonias to see where they will finally end up, but there is no rush. Barry Kessler’s long-running, informative podcast, The Puerto Vallarta Travel Show, will continue and we will likely put our heads together in a couple of upcoming projects for Vallarta Mirror and VallartaCalendar.com. Keep your eyes here for information as the ideas formulate and trickle down into whothehellknows?
Last night, I celebrated Mexico’s 214th “Cry of Independence.” The more or less exact reenactment took place at 11 pm across the country and anywhere in the world a Mexican happened to be standing. If she was by herself on a train in Asia, maybe a silent ¡Viva México! If, like us, tens of thousands on the Malecon in Vallarta raised our voices as one in a deafening roar of approval.
The City went all out with Arcano providing stellar eclectic entertainment before and after “El Grito,” and the fireworks were exquisite. It was probably my 30th Grito, and my fingers are crossed for another 30 to have the privilege to stand with my adopted compatriots and give my heartful thanks for being included in such unbridled joy.
It is rare, I think, to be so safe in such an enormous crowd with people of all ages and with alcohol in abundance, late at night (well), and be peacefully gathered together for hours, standing shoulder to shoulder, with absolutely no problems. I remember wanting to attend the first outdoor “Human Kindness Day” on the Mall, when I lived in Washington, DC, in the early 70s. I lost the toss and ended up at the Kennedy Center for a matinee of Madama Butterfly. Reading the Washington Post the following day made me happy I was not at the “free Stevie Wonder concert” with a couple of deaths (murders), multiple rapes, robberies, fist fights, and on and on. But here in our microcosm that is Vallarta, we live and play in peace and love. Thank you, México, thank you, Puerto Vallarta with all your warm and caring citizens, I love you. ¡Viva! From Here.
Tuesday
How was everybody’s puente (Long weekend, a ‘bridge’ in Spanish)? I spent all day abuzz from the night before. I caught some of the Independence Day parade coming home from the gym Monday morning. Lots of schools, the Red Cross, cadets, Civil Protection, ambulance personnel, firefighters, lifeguards, police, all the services that help keep Vallarta safe and to help in disastrous situations.
I am off this morning early to the tianguis in Coapinole in a desperate attempt to match fabric or get something so close the sleeves won’t look weird in my new jacket. Ugh. Always measure, then do it again, right, before you cut? I know.
Around noon, I will meet Mark Rome, Entertainer Director from the Palm Cabaret. We are going to have a look-see at Coco Cabaret, then sit down, and he will tell me everything that’s coming to both cabarets this season and when. I am so excited to see Coco Cabaret, the Palm’s sister venue. Imagine a six-meter-high stage!? We will have some serious indoor flights this winter!
Right after Scrabble on Wednesday, I will meet with Nat Moraga, the brilliant mosaic artist responsible for tiling Parque Lazaro Cardenas. It has been some years since we sat down for a long chat; I look forward to it.
Today, my kitty Bogie and I are celebrating four months together. Our idiosyncrasies are being ironed out peacefully these days. He is learning not to bite or scratch (can I get a hallelujah?). He is training me well, I must say. Bogie is not the least bit demanding, and I am completely and utterly smitten From Here.
Wednesday
I had a quick, fast visit to the Coapinole tianguis with a swatch of peach chiffon that went unmatched. There will be other Tuesdays.
As soon as I got home, dropped my bags full of new projects-in-waiting, crossed the footbridge by the municipal market, the Isla, the next bridge, and passed old Rizo’s locale and soon-to-be new condo for Rob Burton and Jan Dorland.
Half a block more put me at the exit doors to Coco Cabaret. Minutes later, Mark Rome and Hedda Lettuce (just back from summer in Fire Island) arrived, and we carefully tiptoed around piles of cement and skirted around the immense sound-proofing roof panels that were being assembled far, far overhead on massive steel girders. It is going to be spectacular! There won’t be any side views; every chair faces the stage, which will have storage for props underneath.
After the tour, Mark and I sat down for coffee and went over the “playlists” for both the Palm and Coco Cabarets. Still fine-tuning, of course, but some extraordinary new acts are coming, and some are not returning for various reasons, including being cast on Broadway. Standard (read Fabulous!) acts returning with new shows are Freddie Mercury, Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Pink and Beyonce. New duos – Elton John, Billy Joel; ABBA, and Roy Cruz and Nacho Granados. Both cabarets will tighten schedules so that shows start and stop on time. The Palm reopens around the 7th of October, likely with a by-invitation-only party – to kick off their 25th season in Vallarta. Unprecedented. Vallarta Mirror and Vallarta Calendar wish Coco Cabaret and the Palm’s owners, Adriana and Gustavo, the staff, and all the performers a helluva great season From Here.
Thursday
What is this, day five of no rain? The humidity has been negligible and average hot temps for September. I will have to water my garden today, a first in 30 Vallarta summers. And no hurricanes, for which I am endlessly grateful; wouldn’t it be lovely if that continued straight into winter? Keep the good vibes going, Vallarta!
I spent a delightful couple of hours yesterday with one of our city’s most competent and inspiring artists, Nat Moraga. I interviewed her for the Vallarta Tribune five or six years ago, just as she embarked upon mosaic-ing Parque Lazaro Cardenas in the Romantic Zone/Gayborhood. It was a massive endeavor that resulted in a public space oozing bright, spectacular colors that always offers somebody passing by a restful place to sit and reflect on the reflections all around.
Nat held small workshops (my sister took two!) that helped fund the project and created god-knows-how-many aspiring mosaic artists from all over the world. It was a delight to walk through while it was being glammed up and continues to draw oohs and aaahs, especially at night when mirrored bits catch any light and give it back like teeny captured stars. It is fantastic.
When her contract with the city was finished this Spring, she took a long overdue break, got married, took a cruise to Alaska, and spent time in Mexican wine country with her extended family. And now she is back with plans bigger than Parque Lazaro Cardenas that she could likely spend the rest of her life building.
Nat will build a sculpture park in El Nogalito about ten minutes south of her current sparkly legacy. The scope is in lofty realms a la Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi – to build an interactive sculpture park with classes (free for kids) and ongoing immersive monumental additions as land is acquired along the river.
Plans need to be merged and put on paper; Natasha is now in that convoluted process. She has spent months studying various sculpting techniques that will help her shape her vision and will add one more “must-see” attraction to Puerto Vallarta. Keep your eyes here for volunteer info and the groundbreaking ceremony. Onward and upward, Nat, From Here!
Friday
When I took over the PV Mirror almost a year ago, besides building a gorgeous website and teaching me a bazillion things, Kevin Feltner and I wanted to make the Mirror more than what it was. From many meetings, we realized the biggest puzzle piece missing in Vallarta was a calendar. Not just a list for the major events in the city, but for ALL EVENTS that require an audience of some sort. And so VallartaCalendar.com sprang into existence. The project was (is!) huge. The tricky online details Kevin sometimes tried to share with me. That’s when I would clap both hands over my ears and loudly sing, “LA, LA, LA…” Until he remembered I was a total techie moron.
So he has built this super easy-to-use calendar, and guess what? Everybody is using it! In less than ten months, Kevin has built it to be the second highest ranked “what to do in Puerto Vallarta” on Google. A miracle.
But now that the groundwork is finished, he will be taking time off starting October 1st sooooo, if you have an event, add it yourself to the Calendar. It’s easy. Don’t worry. I will remind you daily until the end of the month!
Now on to delicious reviews from Casa Karma with the Reunited Derek Carkner and Jordon Carnegie.
These two very different artists got together at Incanto, and last night was a mash-up of a couple of their weekly shows at that still-missed venue on the river. Where pianist Derek is calm as Christmas, vocalist Jordon is all about drama at Halloween. Of course, Hedwig came out for a quickie; she and “the Angry Inch” open at the Palm Cabaret on December 1 at 9 pm and will appear every Sunday all season. Jordon was born to play Hedwig and is extraordinary in the role. Derek has five shows, also at the Palm. I will remind you as we get closer to the dates.
The sold-out evening was represented by Teatro Sin Borders (Their play debuts November 20), with founder Sandi McDonald keeping company with Pamala Sheppard, actress, poet, painter, and her hubby John (writer on the hit TV series MacGyver.) Musicians like Nick Rogers (his show opens at The Palm on November 14), Dashs Robles, guitarist, and Jordon Rae Walker, singer, are available for gigs. I had the pleasure of sitting with Sunny and Rob Rossi, the Power Volunteer Couple behind the Vallarta Garden Club – she is President, the Third Annual El Dia de Los Muertos Festival on the Isla and RISE orphanage. These two have brought significant skills to Vallarta and use them to better our city.
Casita & Garden hosts the incredible magician Mauricio Andrade tonight at 7 pm. While other magicians use trickery, sleight of hand, etc., Mauricio relies on one pure thing – magic. See you there tonight From Here.
