Mexicans are very, very protective of their flag. Within the country there are laws protecting it, preventing this sort of desecration. And this is legislation that goes too far in my opinion. A flag is just a piece of cloth with some colours and perhaps symbols on it. It means many different things to many people. It can be respected, mocked, loved and hated all at the same time, and no law will change that. A flag should never be taken too seriously.

But it’s a complicated issue, and I have mixed feelings. I can easily contradict my own beliefs when it comes to concepts of freedom. The freedom to say what you want and express yourself without interference are important values in any society, but different societies undeniably place different values on those concepts.

In the United States in particular they are often championed, usually by those with something hateful or prejudiced to say, as absolute values. Which is nonsense. Unless you live on an island with a population of one, isolated from all other civilisations, there are no absolute values, full stop. There are only compromises. It is okay to offend someone to make a point. But it’s not necessarily ok to offend someone for the sake of being offensive.

It is my belief that the law regards free speech and expression are too lax in the US. And, if I may be forgiven for being a little controversial, this is because I believe most people a stupid. Each and every one of us alive on planet Earth can be stupid sometimes. But there’s just far too many people who are stupid in the general sense of the word.

By providing a lawful platform for hate mongers, racists, homophobes, sectarianism, xenophobia and bigotry in general, US legislation contributes to the continuation of ‘stupid’ and impedes on the freedoms of other people each and every day. We all all influenced by influencers and when those influencers preach a poisoned message there are consequences. Because, as I mentioned, there are no absolute freedoms. There are many different types of freedom, and they are all competing concepts.

On the other hand. If I might be forgiven for contradicting myself. I like and respect the American approach to freedom. Put it out there. Say what you want. People will learn not to be so easily offended. With all the information, people can make up their own minds. It avoids the impossible task of trying to determine where lines must be drawn, and protects society from those lines being moved by those in power for their own ends.

It’s tough. I personally have settled on championing Responsible Speech. I do believe in holding people accountable for what they say, and restricting the abilities of those who want to say extreme and dangerous things that are likely to cause incitement.

But back to the flag. In England we seem to be a nation that is afraid of showing the English flag. It’s a controversial issue. Or so it seems, if you read the Daily Mail and other pathetic rags that pass themselves off as newspapers. Every time a World Cup comes round, the Daily Mail and others will splash stories across their front pages about how the English flag is being repressed around the country by zealous councils, companies and bosses who are scared of being seen as racist, or of offending ethnic minorities in the workplace.

And the Daily Mail, being an influencer, has lead the people, being ‘stupid’ to believe this. When actually there were just a couple of cases in a country with a population topping 60 million. And so the resentment builds. The conflict starts. Xenophobia and racism are encouraged. This is not Responsible Speech. It is a strong piece of evidence, in my opinion, that most people are stupid though.

Mexicans should be proud of their flag. It’s one of the best flags in the world in my opinion. But in that blurry world of deciding what is and what isn’t acceptable, cartoons like this shouldn’t be up for discussion. This is such a non issue. It’s a cartoon, nothing more. It’s a flag, nothing more.

Daryl Cagle is an excellent cartoonist who produces witty and intelligent artwork that inspires and instigates intelligent debate and discussion. I support his right to create such a cartoon, and have posted it below for you to enjoy. If you are Mexican, I cannot stop you from being offended, if you so wish. Because it is a choice you make, to be offended or not. And I won’t not post this cartoon to avoid offence.

But it isn’t my intention to deliberately offend you. It is simply my intention to state where I stand on the issue, and maybe, hopefully, to start a conversation about it. The cartoon is powerful symbol of what is happening in parts of Mexico. And that, not the rights or wrongs of drawing a shot eagle, is what should be up for discussion.

Bob and Homer are now a whole five years old. I have far more photos of Bob. Homer tends to spend his life hiding under the basking rock. Bob has more character too. Has had more adventures, more stories to tell.

But getting old they are, and big too. It’s almost time for them to find a new home. A pond in someone’s backyard, or a lake? That’s the question. There are dangers with both. Bob could have another 35 years in him….will a new human owner give him the TLC he needs for that long?

There is the risk of a predator finding him in a lake, but at least he’s in a natural environment. He can take his chances. I’d be happier knowing he met his maker as part of the food chain in the natural cycle of life, rather than die a miserable death in a dirty pool, neglected by his owner.

I have found a couple of candidate lakes in Mexico City. I am investigating one of them tomorrow….

It’s a Micro Four Thirds camera, a format that most people are still not terribly familiar with. Basically, it takes a DSLR, removes the big mirror that makes a DSLR so chunky, but keeps all the important bits that help DSLR’s take photos of such high image quality. In essense that is the large sensor.

The video I’ve posted below is an advert for the camera, and there is another one on YouTube here. Both highlight the superb video quality of the camera, and there is another short video showing how the commercials were made. Olympus also produced a series of videos to explain what the E-PL1 can do, as well as some tutorials.

There’s also plenty of other stuff on YouTube about the Pen E-PL1, including hands on reviews by Which?, DigitalRev TV, What Digital Camera and Weird Hairy John, who I think normally goes by the name Photo John. There’s a pretty indepth review from Geekanoids and their odd voiced presenter – parts 1,2,3,4 and 5.

Have I plumped for the Panasonic FZ100? Nope. I also looked at the new Canon S90. And the new Panasonic LX5. Both nice cameras. But I’m not getting either of those. The new G12 is just round the corner, and the rumoured specs sound nice. But nope. Never really been a fan of the Canon G series cameras.

So what have I chosen? It’s uber cool. I’m very excited. Less than two weeks till it arrives! Can you tell what it is yet? Sigh. That little game didn’t last long. It is, as John says in the comments, an Olympus Pen E-PL1. Dan also got it right at the second attempt via email.

]]> http://garydenness.co.uk/2010/08/31/its-coming/feed/ 8 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 garydenness olympus-pen-e-pl11 http://garydenness.co.uk/2010/08/30/museo-de-arte-de-carrillo-gil-3/ http://garydenness.co.uk/2010/08/30/museo-de-arte-de-carrillo-gil-3/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:13:51 +0000 garydenness http://garydenness.co.uk/?p=4418 Continue reading →]]> I’ve been to this museum many times before, and have existing posts about it. But I’ve never added it to my fancy pants Bing map, and it’s worth putting up there. So now it is – map no. 34. It’s a nice place to head on a Sunday. There’s a goodly collection of paintings by Rivera, Siqueiros and the gang.

San Angel, the town it’s in, has some nice quiet streets, parks, markets, convents and restaurants. The prices can be exhorbitant. Or worse – we went into a few little stores peddling traditional painted boxes and alebrijes that were marking up the retail price by as much as 1,000%. Some nice wooden boxes that can be had for a few hundred pesos elsewhere had tags on them demanding 8,000 pesos. Rip off? Virtually criminal….

I wandered around this massive hospital but could find nothing. So I asked a chap at the gate. He pointed inside. Oh dear. But I’d come so far, it seemed silly to give up now. So in I went, for a good wander until I found them. I have to confess, it feels a bit creepy to be a tourist wandering about an extremely busy hospital, stepping over the sick, pushing past the elderly and infirm, and hiding the sight of the dismembered with an outstretched palm!

But I have few morals when it comes to photographing murals. I ploughed on regardless, oblivious to the odd looks I got, and eventually found the right room. Now there are supposed to be murals by Rivera and Siqueiros, and I found only one. Did they work together, or was there another I missed? And if the latter, which of the two gents was responsible for this one?

If I were to use my artistically challenged eye to guess, I would lay responsibility firmly at the feet of Rivera. It looks so much like his style of bold yet sometimes simplistic painting. And yet there are touches, here and there, of the more sophisticated, futuristic and stylish artwork I’d associate with Siqueiros. Someone who knows will hopefully stumble along and tell me. The photos, and the short video which is embedded below, are all on Flickr – click here.

That pretty much set the standard for Mexicans in the Premier League*. It is a tough league, arguably the toughest. Not only according to skill and speed that is required, but the game tends to be a little more physical in England. Which doesn’t tend to suit Mexican footballers.

Giovanni Dos Santos signed for Spurs a couple of years ago, flopped and was sent to Turkey on loan. Although he is back at Spurs this year and did play the other day, so many it’s too early to write him off as a failure. Unlike Guillermo Franco who played last season for West Ham and scored even fewer goals from more games than Borgetti. Needless to say, he’s not with them anymore.

Carlos Vela was a hot talent who was signed by Arsenal a couple of years ago. And has in two seasons scored just two league goals. He’s running out of time to prove himself. I have little faith in him doing that, I’m afraid. Like Franco, his partner for Mexico in the World Cup in South Africa, he’s so far proven to be consistent only at missing the target.

In the summer two more Mexicans went to England. Barrera went to West Ham, who frankly look terrible so far. Which doesn’t bode well for the former Pumas star. The biggest signing though was Javier Hernandez for Manchester United. He’s made a bright start for them, although he did earn a certain amount of ridicule for his centre circle prayer ritual last weekend. The English ‘don’t do god’.

Have I missed anyone out? There’s just one more that I can think of. And he signed today. Carlos Salcido has had a lot of success over the last few years in the Dutch League with PSV Eindhoven, but he’s now signed for Fulham. The London club are a small outfit, but have a half decent manager and a pretty decent squad. They got to the Europa League final last season.

I think Salcido is a fabulous player. There were rumours my own team, Liverpool, were going to sign him, and I’d have been happy if they had. He’s very much a complete player, and was in my opinion, Mexico’s best player at the World Cup. He has pace, strength, the skill to beat players, the ability to tackle and a great shot. He’ll run up and down the wing all day, and he definitely has a pair of cojones. If a Fulham fan should wander across this post, be rest assured you have a quality player.

*The criticism is fair, but the videos I’ve linked to shows they have had their moments of glory!

Look at these photos of the Monumento a la Raza (map – no.33) by Luis Lo taken of a beautiful, blue sky, fluffy white clouds sort of a day. And then check out mine on Flickr. Grey stone and grey car fumes against a grey sky is a dreary combination indeed. So dreary I felt compelled to add some fake blue sky into a couple of them, and run a couple more through some creative filters to bring a little life to them.

I ran across an old photo of the monument the other day when looking through videos for the Mexican Vintage Video post. For the life of me I can no longer find it, which is a shame. The monument hasn’t changed much – stone is like that sometimes. What surrounds it, Insuregentes Norte  has metamorphosed from pleasant looking avenue into monstrous multi lane concrete and steel road, with underpasses, footbridges et al.

Which is a shame, because it’s positioned in a nice little bit of park and should/could be a little haven of tranquillity. As it is, it’s slowly crumbling away here and there. The statues particularly. Most are still in reasonable condition, but several have crumbled feet or missing foreheads.