Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Casa Fraijanes







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

Read more at:
www.substancia.com.gt

Monday, April 27, 2009

The Perfect Cup of Coffee


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.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

My Thought of The Day

Money distorts creativity.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Early Works




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.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Espresso Testing II







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

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Tikal + Xunantunich













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

Friday, April 17, 2009

Coffee Excursion to Guatemala with Cafe P11


A very kind costumer took his time to taste our coffee and make this beautiful video, here i post it for your delight. Thank you CM!

View Coffeemessiah blog at:
coffeemessiah.blogspot.com

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Coffeehouses






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.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Designer Desk Lamp


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.

Read more at:
www.etsy.com

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Harriman State Park





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.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Holidays









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?

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Maya Traditional Music



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.

Read more at:
www.kojom.org

Quiero Saber



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.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Mesías


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.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Espresso Testing










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!