This house built with a steel structure and glass walls with wood, bamboo, concrete and stainless steel details lets you in through a bridge of wood over a pond full of cobblestone. Light, natural and artificial plays a big roll in the facades. Built on the outskirts of Guatemala City, designed by Alejandro Estrada
The perfect cup of coffee is not about grinds or measures, is the one you drink in complete freedom of whatever you get attached to. The one that don't bother about time nor place. The one that you enjoy at the fullest, with no worries, no boundaries, just the pleasure of your coffee and you.
In 2000 I jumped into the world of art galleries with a body of work focused in nature, printed in small size (5" x 7") c prints. Three years later i began to focus my work of photography, sculpture and other media on objects that we collect around us. Here i show samples of those early days.
Today we did again our espresso testing, same place at midday, the atmosphere was noisy, full of people asking for a cup of coffee and something else. We brought our samples and three other "famous" brands to compare. After many proofs with grinds, cookie testings, roasting colors, etc. i was disappointed, from the last testing my bias was toward these samples and now i think i have to go back and set a new direction. I know coffee is a matter of taste and taste is subjective, BUT at least i want to be happy with my own perception, and by now i am not. So the road is turning to be harder than i thought. See also April 3 post
Maya regions of El Petén in Guatemala and Belice are very similar in weather and architecture, very tall pyramids topped with small temples in the middle of the jungle. One night at the hotel room a tarantula sneaked into kids dvd case, also we saw at the parks howling monkeys, anteaters, exotic birds but sadly we did'nt look any jaguar. As a part of the Ruta Maya these places are amazing and worth a visit. See also January 19 post
The weekend before Semana Santa i was wandering in Antigua, looking for something to shoot i found some coffeehouses that worth the pic, although to early to get some good atmosphere you can appreciate the interior decoration.
KOZO2/desk lamp is made of galvanized iron parts and an original innovative on/off tap light switch, combined with the electronics needed for it to house a 20watt halogen light bulb, KOZO2 is a unique functional light for your office desk, on your computer station or in any other place you need to reach for your coffee pot.
My friend Hugo Arrué from Princeton sent me this collaboration, i think is perfect to cool down my last post. Thank you Hugo.
Mid January is a great time to explore winter scenes at the second largest national park in New York: Harriman State Park, now a 46,613 acres (186.4 km²) property and located in the Appalachian Mountains region.
The Appalachians’ birth ranges some 300 million years ago, when different plate collisions ended up forming the big Pangea. The Appalachians were part of the center of the big continent. Later on, the whole region were split in several parts and interesting enough because North America and Africa were connected at that time, the Appalachians were part of the same mountain chain as the Anti-Atlas in Morocco. Now, exploring the different scenes you can track a long history of drastic changes including former sea floors and glaciers.
Harrimam State Park was founded in 1910, by the generosity of Edward Harriman and Mary Averell Harriman who owned 30,000 acres (120 km²) in Arden, New York at that time. A year after the death of her husband in 1909, Mary Harriman donated 10,000 acres (40 km²) of land and $1 million for the creation of the park and helping to put away the state’s idea to build a prison in that area. Now the park has a bigger extension.
The winter scenes give a good chance to see the place in a more pristine way, when only few humans have the craziness to hike the place during the coldest time of the year. But this action is paid off by far.
Beach at Costa del Sol in El Salvador were fine, the weather was nice, the atmosphere perfect, good company, seafood, P11 every day, kids played until midnight, what else can we ask for?
Since 1984 Samuel Franco has been traveling around Guatemala, visiting Maya towns and recording and filming its traditional music and rituals. In 1987 concerned with the fast disappearence of these valuable elements of the country's cultural heritage, he founded Casa K'ojom, a project he has been directing and developing since then.
In 1993 i joined a group that only played Gypsy Kings covers, i stayed almost two years. By then we enjoyed a lot the gigs because all the members had our jobs but played at parties and concerts just for the fun of it, now i miss those days and find these songs incredibly poetic. This pic is from the concert of Argentinian pianist Raúl di Blasio that we opened up at the Teatro Nacional de Guatemalain, March, 1995.
Ha nacido el Mesías en Nueva York anda en auto blindado por precaución el Papa le teme a algún despido en masa.
Viene rasurado y de Christian Dior para estar a la altura de la situación los judíos dicen que ese es el que esperaban.
Tiene un Penthouse en Manhattan y un piso en París un doctorado en Harvard y un affair con una actriz.
Toma un trago en el Village con Bill Gates oye un poco de jazz por distracción revisa la bolsa y le invierte a la Iglesia.
Hace un poco de jogging en Central Park aprende Kung Fu en China Town prepara un golpe y nadie sabe la fecha.
Tiene una escolta armada con tipos de Israel y una Magnum 45 para él.
Dicen que es el que vino y juró que iba a regresar que se hizo cirugía en las manos para disimular que es el enviado del cielo y que está en Manhattan y esta vez su estrategia, no es igual.
Tiene un socio en Japón, otro en Afganistán habla a diario con dios por el internet promueve un cambio y se ha ganado enemigos.
Ya compró CNN y está usando su espacio con discursos que invitan a quitarnos el velo y el caos impera y el planeta se espanta.
La Iglesia lo acusa de hereje y el pentágono de terrorista y en el filo de la navaja... la fe.
Dicen que es el que vino y juró que iba a regresar que se hizo cirugía en las manos para disimular que es el enviado del cielo y que está en Manhattan y esta vez su estrategia, no es igual.
Se ha suicidado un magnate en la Gran Manzana se lee en la portada del New York Times y una nube de dudas le hacen sombra al sol.
I have almost a year of trial and error with my espresso formula. I think i am close but not enough. Wednesday i was in Café León coffeehouse with owner Arturo Rodríguez who also is the owner of the roaster company where i pack Café P11. The coffeehouse is a very nice place located in downtown Guatemala City, with all its interesting blend of tourists, neighbors, bureaucrats and drop from the sky testers like us. We were there with the help of two baristas making tests over my espresso formula, by the way trying to make a drinkable espresso from a single origin coffee like Guatemala is a complete different story that trying to make it through the blend of coffees from around the world, here you have a lot less opportunities to get the characteristics that are easy to find in others origins. We did our proofs, checked different grinds, the cookies, the crema, and more. I think i am closer but need more time and more tests, we'll see. Semana Santa begins tomorrow so we will travel to El Salvador beaches to get some rest. Hope i could post something from there. Cheers!
Guatemala has a rich variety of complex soils. Its amazing diversity of microclimates delivers coffee with very singular characteristics. We have selected the best and carefully cultivated Arabica beans from our fertile Highlands, harvested by skillful hands; it is blended among selected Guatemala's coffee regions and roasted very tenderly to deliver an exotic drink with complex flavors and an incomparable aroma. P11 will delight you by giving you an opportunity to recognize the subtleties of premium coffees coupled with an intense sensory experience.
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