A death and a birth

There are several signs that summer, though officially several weeks away, is already making its presence known in Puerto Vallarta.  We have had our first summer storms, and today is already overcast, humid, and threatening to rain.   That is summer in PV.  It is also the time of the year when the town is pretty much empty.  The seasonal residents have fled north and the hearty stream  of vacationers has been reduced to a trickle.  It is tough on the economy here, though as most locals know, they save up during the robust high season in order to limp along during the summer.  However, that will not be the case for one local, once thriving, historic business.

For decades, there has been one supermarket that has served the entire south end of Puerto Vallarta.  And it literally had the best selection of fresh food and imports of any store in the entire city.  Gutierrez Rizo Supermarket, known simply as Rizo's to the generations of shoppers there, charged more than anyone else.  But, it was convenient, it was local, and it knew its clientele, importing food items from the U.S. that gringos craved for and that you could not find anywhere else in town (think along the lines of horseradish, Libby's canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce).  This morning comes word in the PV Mirror that yesterday, Rizo's closed.  The employees apparently were told it will not reopen.

Those who live here and have depended on Rizo's have seen a slow decline over the past couple of years.  Once a two story market, the upstairs was shut down last year.  And the shelves became increasingly bare during this past season.  There would be days when you walked in and found three cases of canned bamboo shoots stacked in the middle of the store, but no bread or eggs or beer.   Some blame the infiltration of Wal-Mart which now has two super-stores in Puerto Vallarta and began stocking a better selection of products than Rizo's at lower prices.  Others blame it on poor management of Rizo's for their apparent inability to modernize while other more trendy grocery stores were opening elsewhere in town.   Whatever the reason, a landmark is shuttered, there are no large grocery markets on the south side, and we have lost an icon of what Mexico used to be.

But as Rizo's has died, life resurfaces for a scourge of the tropics.  It happens every few years, and apparently, this is one of them.  Locals tell us they are June bugs and they are among the most disgusting of insects I have ever encountered and they have once again invaded our neighborhood.  They are hard-shelled creatures that fly like mini-bombers, the smaller ones being the size of a dime, the larger ones more like a quarter.   They come out at sunset and stick around most of the night. And they must have terrible vision because they are constantly ramming you, ramming the TV if it is on, ramming walls and chairs and anything that is in their path.  You close the windows and doors and they still find a way inside.  And perhaps the worst thing about them ... they excrete a dark red fluid that looks a lot like blood and leaves a nasty stain.  And they've got to be really stupid.   They often end up on their backs, and despite the fact they have powerful wings, they don't use them to flip themselves upright.  They will remain on their backs for hours, wiggle their legs as if by magic that will upright them.   It is not uncommon to wake up in the morning and find an army of them on the patio, appearing as though they are doing calisthenics on their back.  The good thing is, they usually don't last much longer than a couple of weeks, but while they are here, they are among the most unwanted creatures we have to endure here.

So yes, it is summer in PV.  And unfortunately, we won't be here much longer to enjoy it.  Next week, we begin the three day trek northward, leaving behind memories of Rizo's and the crunchy June bugs.

*first photo courtesy of PV Mirror, Puerto Vallarta's leading weekly English language newspaper.

The Sickness Surrounding the Religious "Right"

Perhaps you've seen it, or at least heard about.  The demonic type sermon preached to the flock of followers  last week  of the Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, N.C. by Pastor Charles L. Worley. It is all over the Internet.  It has been played on CNN.  In case you haven't seen it, here is a link and an article from The Huffington Post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/22/charles-l-worley-north-carolina-pastor-gay-rights_n_1536039.html


 Basically, the good pastor ranted and raved for quite some time about filthy homosexuals.  He flat out stated that they should be put in camps surrounded by large electric fences, and left to die.   His exact words:  "Build a great, big, large fence -- 150 or 100 mile long -- put all the lesbians in there.  Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can't get out...and you know what, in a few years, they'll die out...do you know why? They can't reproduce!"   

Most logical and compassionate people would view Worley's comments as vile and contemptible.    Indeed, several human rights organizations have come forth calling for a protest at the church and the company that hosted his church's website has taken it down.    But silent are others who could make an even greater statement against this public call for annihilation of gays and lesbians.  Namely, other churches and pastors across America.

With one of their own spewing such rancid hatred and calling for the extermination of an estimated ten percent of the U.S. population,  why are we not hearing from other religious organizations condemning such volatile and unlawful actions.   The only religious leader that I am aware of who has publicly chastised Worley is Rev. Welton Gaddy, President of Interfaith Alliance.
Speaking to Anderson Cooper on CNN, Gaddy said,  "In one fell swoop this angry minister managed to discredit from his pulpit both the Constitution of the United States and the compassion that we find in the bible, and additionally he did a very dangerous thing by planting seeds of hatred in sick minds that in the right circumstances can act on them and do the kind of violence that has no place in our world."  

That's all well and good, but where are the Catholics? Where are the Mormons?  Where are the Presbyterians?   Where are the other so called religious leaders who espouse love and understanding?   Their silence on issues such as this can only be interpreted by many as an endorsement of Worley's views and desires (though I am sure others may argue that by addressing Worley, even if as a challenge, it would be legitimizing what he has said).

I do know some pastors who may address this issue in their sermons to their local congregations.  Though I have not talked with her, I can imagine a friend of ours in San Diego who leads quite a contemporary congregation would be outraged.   These are pastors who do not at all believe in what Worley stands for, and they have been vocal in their own ways to their smaller gatherings.  They are to be commended.   Still, it would be refreshing if some of them would contact their local TV stations and newspapers before this weekend's services, if indeed they plan to rebel against Worley's hatred.   Let them know the public is welcome to hear them lash out against the bigotry and hurt unleashed by this Baptist church.  It's the type of public religious backlash against this type of hatred  that so far we have not seen.
There's more.  In Worley's sermon, he attacked President Obama.   He told his parishioners, "I'm not going to vote for a baby killer and a homosexual lover!"    That's his prerogative, but since churches, including his, enjoy a tax-exempt status and pay absolutely nothing to keep the government operating, why should those churches have any say in the political process in the U.S.?   Clearly, the Constitution calls for a separation of church and state and when religious organizations become advocates for any particular party or issue, they have violated that separation.   It is time that the justice department began investigating the influence that tax-exempt religious organizations have on the political process (including the large amounts of cash that the Mormon and Catholic churches put into defeating same-sex marriage in California), and if investigators determine that these organizations are indeed advocates for one party, one candidate, or one issue, their tax-exempt status should be revoked, and they should be taxed on income just like any other business.

And when it comes down to it, isn't that what a lot of religion has become in the U.S.?  It is a big business, no longer concerned about helping humanity but rather chastising those who do not fit into their image of what society should be, and by doing so raking in huge amounts of cash.   We will likely never stop the lunatic fringe of religion, the so called "religious right," that has permeated part of America.  But it would be refreshing to hear more mainstream religious organizations denounce the sermons of hate, and bring some true faith back into what has become a dubious sector of Americana.

Donna Summer: Remembering the Last Dance

From city to city, the names would change.   In Stockton, it was The Casbah. In Modesto, the Brave Bull.  In Sacramento, The Powerplant and the Rose.  In Guerneville, The Woods and Fifes.  In San Francisco, Midnight Sun and Moby Dick and Badlands and End-Up.   All different clubs with one thing in common ... the music. 


It was the late 70s, early 80s, and disco was king.   And the gay dance clubs were the center of the universe for the disco divas.  And queen among them ... Donna Summer.
It didn't matter if you were in the greatest dance clubs in the world (like Studio 54), or the back alley bars in smaller towns (like Bogie's in Redding, California), inevitably along with Thelma Houston, Viola Wills, The Village People, Soft Cell, and Michael Jackson, Donna Summer would dominate the music.   Her timeless anthem "Last Dance" more often than not signaling that it was 1:45 AM and closing time was imminent.

Already popular in Europe, it was the DJs at the gay clubs in the United States that first introduced Donna Summer to the US.  From there, her sound moved on to Top 40 AM radio.  She was an instant disco star.   She had 14 Top 10 hits and four number one hits on Billboards Hot 100.

"Love to Love You," "Hot Stuff," "I Feel Love," "MacArthur Park," "With Your Love," "Heaven Knows," "Dim All the Lights," "On the Radio," "She Works Hard for the Money," all continue to be staples clearly representative of the dance era, and songs that even now receive ample airplay on 70s and classic dance stations. 

I do remember with surprise when Donna Summer, the Queen of (Gay) Disco, seemingly turned her back on the community which was largely responsible for her great success.  Becoming a born again Christian, she said "AIDS has been sent by God to punish homosexuals."  The comments at the time created a huge backlash, and though in later years she apologized, her image remained tarnished among many in the community.

But with her surprise passing today of cancer (which she had kept a secret from the public), I prefer to remember the good times she created.  Whether they be on the pulsating high energy dance floor at the Hexagon House at The Woods in Guerneville, the jukebox at Bogie's in Redding, or blaring away on The Big 610 with the top down on the car.    May she find peace in her last dance.