Sunday 20-May-2012. A solar eclipse passed directly over Albuquerque an hour before sunset. There were viewing parties all over the city. We headed out to the west edge of the city, along the top of Nine Mile Hill, expecting to have a quiet evening with a few coworkers. We weren’t anticipating hundreds upon hundreds of cars lined up along the barb wire fence. Some people had high-powered telescopes, others had pinhole cameras made from boxes of cream cheese. I was armed with my Nikkor 70-300mm lens and a Variable Neutral Density filter.
There are plenty more photos, but for now, here is the money shot.
Posted 1 day, 14 hours ago at 10:11 pm. Add a comment
Every year in December the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens transforms at night into a museum of light sculptures. Some pieces are animated and even animatronic. Krista and I have been meaning to go for years, and finally went with our friends Michael and Lauren.
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago at 4:14 pm. Add a comment
El Kookooee
New Mexico has its fair share of boogeymen: La Llorona, the wailing woman; Zozobra, ”Old Man Gloom”; the Chupacabra, the goat sucker; and El Kookooee, the Boogeyman. These supernatural apparitions bring with them bad luck and ill will. New Mexicans respond by burning them in effigy.
The burning of Zozobra, marking the beginning of Fiestas in Santa Fe, has grown into a major event that draws thousands. El Kookooee, though much smaller, has grown quickly in recent years. The event takes place on the last weekend of October, deep in the south valley of Albuquerque. Schoolchildren design the effigy each year, and each year local artists construct the boogey man per the children’s specifications.
El Kookooee, like Zozobra, is blamed for the ills of the world, and people are eager to place their fears and worries at his feet to kindle his flame.
I, though, think of Kookooee less as a demon and more as a vessel, a sacrificial lamb. As he ascends to the night sky as embers and ash, he carries our worst habits away with him.
Thanks, Kookooee, for bearing our burdens for us. We will meet again next year, when we Burqueños have amassed another heap of problems to unload onto your fiery altar.
Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago at 7:54 am. Add a comment
Walking around downtown Albuquerque at lunchtime, I found this on top of a traffic signal control box at 3rd and Copper:
Must’ve been one hell of a weekend. Keep it classy, Burqueños.
Posted 1 year, 5 months ago at 4:03 pm. 1 comment
Every year, the National Hispanic Cultural Center has a community event for Dia de los Muertos – the Day of the Dead:
Each year in observance of Día de Muertos, the NHCC invites students, teachers and general public to create and display ofrendas (altars) in honor of loved ones, pets and community leaders who have passed away. This installation of ofrendas is always beautiful, engaging and respectful of the traditional celebration. This year, the installation includes an ofrenda created by artist, Jacobo de la Serna in remembrance of bicyclists that have lost their lives on New Mexico roads. Artist, Catalina Delgado Trunk designed an altar for the community to bring their offerings and remembrances on the evening of November 2.
In addition to the ofrendas, the event had an arts and crafts portion where attendees were invited to decorate sugar skulls, make papercrafts, and to screen print their own tshirts. Here are my photos. All were taken with my dad’s 50mm lens. Even though it’s 30 years old, it still takes some amazing shots.
Posted 1 year, 7 months ago at 12:42 pm. Add a comment
I took this photo back when the whole “Double Rainbow” video was going viral.
Posted 1 year, 7 months ago at 1:00 am. Add a comment
I’ve added a new photo gallery for the 2010 Albuquerque Pride Parade that took place this June.
Posted 1 year, 7 months ago at 12:29 am. Add a comment
A cholla cactus in full bloom in Albuquerque
A cactus blossom burns deep red on an Albuquerque afternoon
Posted 1 year, 7 months ago at 11:54 pm. Add a comment
A few weekends ago I was tabling for BikeABQ at Coronado Mall. The event was focused on kids’ fitness, and so in addition to our ragtag bicycling outfit, there were people promoting exercise, dance, and even gardening.
There was a little dance troupe of about ten kids dancing around in various traditional costume, and they had some great facial expressions.
The boys in the troupe in general didn’t seem especially enthused to be dancing with icky girls, but when they were free from the risk of cooties, they hammed it up a bit.
The one little guy on the end in particular had some great facial expressions.
After the performance, the crowd milled around a bit. Next to me was a booth for the Rio Grande Community Farm, where Sara was helping kids plant seeds in ingenious little planters made from recycled newspaper. Lobo Lucy watched carefully.
Meanwhile, UNM mascot Lobo Louie was chatting it up with the ladies.
That wolf sure knows how to howl! Of course, he and I got into a bit of trouble with Mall Security when I started riding him around the mall on my Xtracycle. Though that didn’t stop the head of security from taking a picture for his kids with his phone.
Posted 2 years, 1 month ago at 11:36 pm. Add a comment
