Os Toiros!

In about 15 minutes I will be leaving for my trek into the Central Valley to a little island of Azoran Culture in the middle of a corn field:

GUSTINE
Bella Vista Plaza September 15 --- 8:00 p.m.
Our Lady of Miracles Celebration "Nossa Senhora dos Milagres"

Cavaleiro Joao Carlos Pamplona (Acores)
Cavaleiro Praticante Tiago Pamplona (Acores)
Cavaleiro Praticante Eduardo Costa (Los Banos)
Novilheiro Mario Miguel (Acores)

Forcados Amadores de Tertulia Tauromaquira Terceirense

Toros: Manuel Costa, Jr. (Los Banos)

It has been a terrible season for me, bullwise. I have missed way too many, but tonight should be great. I will be going with my friend Jared and will post a review of the festa later in the week.

To make up for it even more, I will be in Tijuana to see Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, who will share the sand with a couple of decent Tijuaense matadores, one of whom, Cesar Castaneda, I have seen do some great work (although he is often derided because he was a television actor before becoming a torero). I can honestly say that to see only Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza in a year would make up for seeing nothing else all year. He is magnificent. If you are anywhere close to the border you should go see him (even if you do not think you like bullfighting), and by close to the border, I mean anywhere from Portland, Oregon on down. He is really that good.

I even say this as a fan of matadores more than rejoneadores, but if all rejoneadores were like him, I think that I might go to the other side.

Tonight I am most curious to see Eddie Costa. He was really good last year, and I have not heard reliable reports from this year (nor have I seen him this year). However, there are many factors involved: the quality of the bulls, for instance, can break a performance.

Our Lady of the Miracle

Monday is one of the big California Bullfighting events of the year, the festival for Our Lady of the Miracle. Unfortunately I will only be able to get there in time for the bullfight on Monday night, so I can only report on that, but if you are in the Central Valley this weekend, I recommend you make the trip to Gustine.

I will give a bullfight report, which should be interesting, because two of the horsemem are from the Azores, as are the forcados. I do not like the ring it is in, because it is ovoid, but I like the venue overall. The best food is at Gustine, certainly.

As the Spanish Nationalist Air Force pilots would say before each mission: "Vamos al toros!"

Hermoso de Mendoza!!!

What better way to celebrate Columbus Day than with a bullfight featuring the world's greatest rejoneador? Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza will be in Tijuana on October 12. Even if you think you don't like bullfights, you should plan on going to this. I can think of no purer poetry than watching El Maestro. If any of my readers are planning on going, please let me know, and we can meet up for lunch at Chiki Jai or Costa's and ride together to the bullring.

Meyer Briggs Nonsense

I put this in the Bullfighting category, because it involves fighting the bull's leavings. I have been noticing people posting their Meyer Briggs Type Indicator on their blogs, and I find this disturbing. MBTI is quackery. It relies on a number of strange cultural assumptions that essentially are rooted in the 19th Century Romantic world view (for instance the false dichotomy between the craftsman and the artist). Our culture is suffering because of these quack notions (art schools that do not teach sound technique, instead loading down their students with banal theory). MBTI is basically the creation of a couple of Jungians who wanted to make something proprietary and marketable from the nuttiness of Carl Gustave Jung's goofy philosophy.

One would be much better served reading Aristotle than dabbling in MBTI.

Tonight!

Toiros tonight. I will not be going, but if you are so inclined and are willing to report I would love to hear how things went.

San Fermin Nude!

A big welcome to the person who found my site by searching for "san fermin" + nude.

Please note that I do not endorse running the bulls au natural.

In bullfighting a natural is a pass of the bull with the muleta in the left hand. It is one of the most elegant things a man can do. However, it would be absurd to do this nude, and would result in arrest by the Guardia Civil (at least it would have in the old days). Likewise, those running through the streets of Pamplona should wear clothes, preferably white with a red sash.

On another, more positive note, I see quite a few people finding this site looking for Zand's Pastries on Solano Avenue. I heartily endorse them, as I have in the past, and particularly recommend the Iranian pistachio baklava, an explosion of nuts, butter, honey and rose water served by really nice people.