Stuff your eyes with wonder;
live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds.
See the world.
It's more fantastic than any dream made
or paid for in factories.

Ray Bradbury

Photo by Hugo Bierschenk 

HANDMADE --Things made by hand are special.
They take longer to make, feature good materials,
represent the maker's best effort. And they are obviously
made with love. Why else would anyone bother? People
who earn a living from making beautiful things deserve
support and recognition.

Here is one of them.

THE GUITAR MAKER
or how a croc bite led to something awesome

 Pictures courtesy of crocbiteguitars.com

In the "jungles" of Frederick
County, Maryland, as he likes
to refer to his neighborhood,
Harry Harne III makes stringed
instruments.

Working with his
hands, he fashions
mandolins, banjos,
six string guitars,
ukuleles, and cigar
box guitars. (A cigar
box guitar is exactly
what it's name implies:
a stringed instrument with a body made from an empty cigar box which, as anyone who collects them will attest, are quite
lovely.)

Harry was in the fifth grade when he made his first instrument but it
wasn't until 2010 that he decided to turn his talent into a full-time
career. And the credit for that goes to a crocodilian.

 "Some years back I was bitten by two things: a love for stringed
instruments and a three foot spectacled caiman. There was some
nerve damage and I had a hard time making a tight fist for a year.
During this time I said that when I got full use back, I'do something
really awesome.

"It got better, I started building guitars. Trust me, you never forget
a CrocBite."

Choosing CrocBite as the name of his one-man operation fully
expresses his personal appreciation of the instruments he makes.

"I like the name CrocBite because my guitars are tough, they
are primitive, they are effective. Like crocodilians," he said in an
interview conducted by e-mail.

His instruments stand out for their decorative elements, the exotic
woods used, their striking looks. More recently, he began to make
instruments whose shape reflects the outline of the person who
will be playing it.

Harry's instruments are beautiful. If you go to his website, you'll
be able to admire many samples of his work that reflect craft,
versatility, wit, and a gift for using quirky, unusual elements to
create a one-of-a-kind instrument.

Take his Bocote Banjo (seen in above pictures) which recycles
a VW hubcap to great effect. It features "a solid one piece bocote
neck, a bamboo body, black water buffalo horn nut and bridge,
resonator cone, cover and tailpiece by Old Lowe, Waverly tuners,
and a VW hubcap back," as described on his website.

"I prefer to use exotic woods for my guitar necks, both for
unparalleled beauty, and durability. Another reason these woods
are ideal is for their ability to be played 'raw,' which means no hard
finish at all," he says on the website.

"Many people, myself included, think that raw necks feel better
and faster in the hands, sound amazing, and better honor the tonal
qualities of the wood. If you have never played a raw neck, I think
you'll be surprised."

The exotic woods he favors have enthralling names like Bubinga
(African rosewood), Padauk, Canary, Ipê, Cumuru, Jatobá (Brazilian
cherry), Caribbean Rosewood, Purpleheart, Ziricote, Bocote. He
describes each one in his site, specifying its qualities and the
reasons for liking it.

What does a handmade instrument
have over a factory made one?

"Handmade instruments have more
heart, and more attention is paid to
details. With each instrument being
made completely by hand, there is
variation between instruments. It
also allows for custom tweaking to
any and all steps, as desired," he wrote.

"Working with a customer to build something unique for them is
a great joy."

Though self-taught, Harry said he is not afraid to ask for help or
advice from more experienced people. The hardest part about
making an instrument is "parting ways with it, once it is complete.
And also some of the math involved in fretboards, but it's math, so
it works."

A picture on Harry's website shows him tuning one of his
cigar box creations: he wears glasses, has a beard and projects an
easy going, amiable personality. At 31, he has built a life devoted to
his passions, which include "making and admiring music, reading,
growing rare plants and orchids, brewing beer and  wine, and
listening to Guided by Voices loudly."

Making instruments is his livelihood, however.

"I don't only build commissioned pieces. I spend winters usually
 building an army of CrocBites to unleash upon the world. Spring
 and summer I build, and travel and sell them. Then as Christmas
approaches, my custom orders start flooding in and I build mostly
customs.

"Between the custom work, and building and selling in music stores,
festivals, and such, I do alright. Some months I don't sweat any
bills. Some months I might.

"But I do what I love and love what I do."

How much does it cost to commission a musical instrument?
"A simple cigar box guitar can be built for $100, or I could build
a mandolin or banjo for ten times that. Pricing is very dependent
on the wood types used, and the hardware choices," said Harry.

"I usually tell people that around $400 will land them a very sweet
CrocBite.

" I always try to give people more than what they paid for."

www.crocbiteguitars.com




                            A SIMPLE TIP 

Those large plastic contairners 

used to market produce are
highly suited for temporary

storage of scraps heading to
the compost heap.
Keep the container close
at hand in the kitchen
while chopping veggies and
then store it in the fridge
until it is completely full,
at which time you can dispose
of its content.

"Sunset in Southern Illinois someplace"
by Bill Santiago

"If you stop, you die;
if you keep going, you live."

Manoel de Oliveira

ⓒ 2014 by Lorraine Blasor, all rights reserved ☂

ART enables us to find ourselves
and lose ourselves at the same time.

--Thomas Merton

Photography by Denise Blasor 

Consuming ART

In times like ours, of war, uncertainty, and economic blight,

the arts offer refuge and respite, a safe place from which to look
at the world anew.

Art is food and feeling and thought. And the life force at its core
is such that it can even rekindle a sense of hope and optimism.
Which is why supporting the arts is a way to promote creative
endeavors that can sustain and motivate society towards change
and progress.

Here are a few artists worth supporting:  

Isabel Batteria writes short stories and essays. For several
years, she and her husband Áxel Alfaro ran the literary magazine
Derivas as a forum for Puerto Rican writers and a venue for new
work, including translations (www.derivas.net).

Batteria's most recent effort is two handmade, brown-paper covered
books slightly larger than the palm of your hand (2" by 3 1/2")
and bound together with a piece of white string. "Taft 58" and "Villa
Mimoso" contain short essays with evocative descriptions of the
feelings and thoughts elicited by different buildings in which Batteria
has lived.

The writing, in Spanish, is crisp, clear, reflective.

"Esta semana cumplo un año desde que me mudé. Todavía
descubro y documento nuevos ruidos. Los ruidos son, para mí, una
característica importantísima de donde uno vive, una parte de su
esencia." ("This week marks a year since I moved. I am still
discovering and documenting new sounds. Sounds are, to me, a
very important characteristic of where one lives, a part of its
essence.")

Occasionally, a wild conceit breaks through.

"Una casa es un pedazo de piedra gigante. Pero por muchos años
guardé piedras en una canasta." (A house is a gigantic piece of
stone. But for many years I kept stones in a basket.")

These little books, so pleasurable to hold between your hands
and yet almost fragile, are a perfect metaphor for the evanescence
of experience captured in Batteria's cool, spare prose punctuated
with touches of humor. They invite you to reflect on your own
experiences living in a certain place and a certain neighborhood.

Soon, they will be joined by another two companion miniatures,
"Hebe" and "De la Vega," to make up the edition titled
"Santurce, PR 00911."

Available through Etsy ($10 plus shipping). Go to:
www.etsy.com/listing/162228336/ Author's Edition:
"Santurce P.R. 00911" or look up isabatt in the
search box.

Mural detail

Paula del Toro
is an earnest 25-year old
graphic artist who creates
figures at once cartoonish,        
wildly imaginative, and
amusing.

 "I was always drawn to
drawing and caricature, and the
friendships I cultivated at
the university (of Puerto Rico)
strengthened my interest towards the arts as an activity
for interchange and self-empowerment," says del Toro, who
works full-time at a hospital, a job that cuts down on her
creative time but allows her to support herself.

"Fantastic, congenial, fun," is how del
Toro describes her art. "It is simple and delicate."

She likes the power of a straight line
done with a ballpoint pen and sees a
connection between her work and that
of the late Keith Haring.

 "Like him, I have an assured and
brisk stroke and to a certain extent,
innocence. He, however, also
worked social, political, religious
and other themes. I don't do that
yet, though it interests me," says
del Toro, adding that she still has
a lot of learning to do.

Del Toro's commercial work
includes commissions to decorate
tote bags sold at Concalma in Old
San Juan and creating her own line
of t-shirts with felt appliquées,
which she sold on her own. She also
draws figures with color markers to
create stickers using adhesive
papers which she then sells at
musical or art events.


She does have one preference: "I
like to do murals in gardens, and to add a certain mysticism to
neglected spaces...I could do murals forever, if that were the
only thing to do."

To view del Toro's artwork, go to
http://www.flickr.com/photos/naricesabajo/8196527134/
For a mural commission to enhance your garden or your home,
contact the artist at pdeltoro@outlook.com/

Bill Santiago
is smart and funny. He used to be a reporter but when the
muse of comedy came calling, he bid adieux to editors and
colleagues in Puerto Rico and set off across the sea in fast
pursuit of laughter. Since then he has crisscrossed the United
States more times than you can count to appear in venues high
and low, at comedy clubs, university and commercial theaters,
on Comedy Central and even CNN as, what else, but a comic
commentator.

His brand of comedy relies on smarts rather than smut and his
word plays can often be so nimble that you really have to be on
your toes to keep up with him. Besides being very funny and an
astute appraiser of the political landscape through occasional
columns on Huffington Post,  Santiago is also the author of
"Pardon My Spanglish."

To catch him in action this week in New York, head to La Casa
Azul Bookstore on Thursday, Sept. 12, where he will be performing
beginning at 7:30 p.m. For a complete list of performing venues,
go to billsantiago.com and look up his tour schedule.

La Casa Azul Bookstore 
143 East 103rd St., New York city
between Lexington & Park Ave.
close to # 6 train - 103rd St. stop
212.426.2626

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIETTE BLASOR

Death is forever, irreversible and final.
Once it happens, nothing can change it.
Forever is the end of all possibilities,
where no wrongs can be righted and
no regrets can be pardoned.

DIANE WEI LANG
"THE EYE OF JADE"

 ☛ EYE ON PRODUCTS: KISHU

If you are concerned about heavy metals in your water, you might
want to try out a product called Kishu, an activated charcoal from
kiln-burned branches of sustainably harvested white oak trees. It 
comes in stick form and absorbs toxins in tap water such as lead, 
mercury, cadmium, copper and chlorine. 

All you have to do is drop a Kishu stick in a large pitcher and add
tap water. Kishu begins absorbing impurities right away but for 
optimal absorption it is recommended that you wait several hours
before drinking the water.  The stick, which lasts 6 months and is
compostable, also imparts healthy minerals to water such as calcium,
phosphates and magnesium.  Retails for $13 and  $18;  sticks 
for water bottles sell for $9.

Available online at kishucharcoal.com or call 303.810.8206. 
Also at Amazon.

Photography by Denise Blasor

Something in this world
man must trust.
Not everything - but something
One cannot live and doubt
everybody and everything.
Somewhere in this world, and not beyond it,
there is trust, and somehow trust
leads to joy.

W.E.B.DuBois

A SIMPLE TIP
If you have some leftover soup, don't discard it. Instead, use it
either as the base for a new soup (all you need to do is add
more water and vegetables to the mix) or to add flavor to one
you start from scratch.

Photography by Denise Blasor

 © 2013 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved                                                        

           Art & Chocolate at Casa Cortés
                                    

"Shock & Awe"
by Puerto Rican artist José Morales

Chocolate. Art. On their own, each promises a distinctive sensorial delight. Combine the two and you have a terrific new gallery in San Juan: Casa Cortés.

Casa Cortés holds the private collection of chocolatier Ignacio Cortés Gelpi. This
is not the first time it has been on public display. A few years ago Cortés celebrated the 70th anniversary of his company, Empresas Chocolate Cortés, by lending the collection to the Caguas Art Museum. The exhibit was such a success that he and his wife, with encouragement from different people, including artist Antonio Martorell, decided they ought to share their art with the public on a more permanent basis. And given that chocolate is the family business, why not throw in chocolate into the mix as well?

"Geometry"
Omar Rayo, Colombia

The answer was to transform a three-story building on San Francisco Street, in old San Juan, into a combination choco-bar and art space. The choco-bar, still under construction, occupies the ground floor while the second and third floor are devoted to art.

The hip design of the building's interior, conceived by local architect Evelio Pina, creates a sophisticated background for what is a very exciting, high-grade collection. The works on display, 58 paintings by 51 artists from the Caribbean and Latin America, are but a small part of a larger collection that encompasses paintings, watercolors, drawings, photography, videos, collage, assemblages, boxes, sculptures, ceramics, African tribal art and anthropological pieces. Cortés started collecting as the age of 18. He describes buying art as falling in love. In choosing a piece, "There is a basic, essential element," he said in an interview quoted in the show catalog. "It is when I stand for the first time in front of a piece and immediately some alchemy occurs, it's love at first sight."

"Dialogue 2"
Alexandre Arrechea, Cuba

There are so many good pieces on display that one can easily understand how an art lover could get carried away and keep buying art. The works resonate with humor, pathos, irony,
nostalgia, political awareness. There is sex, and wit, and craft. As you progress from one work of art to another, you get the sense of lively imaginations at play in the fields of color. Two small paintings by Haitian artists stand out amid their more contemporary company: one is an intriguing surrealist night scene from 1965 titled "A Big Meeting with the King of the Night" by Edger Jean Baptiste, and the other, "Bathers at the Stream" by Castera Bazile, is a charming and unusual take on the common painterly theme of women bathing, except that in this case the artist tweaked things a bit: he shows a woman peaking behind a tree at a group of men happily frolicking in the water during a break from work. It was painted in 1951.

Some of the stronger pieces in the collection include the magnificent black and white "Geometry" by Omar Rayo; José Morales' "Shock & Awe," an explosion of big and small dots whose bright colorfulness belies the irony that all those dots are meant to portray bombs exploding in Iraq; "Fantasmas (Ghosts)," by Cuban artist Alexis Leyva Machado, a powerful evocation of the Cuban sea exodus in a subdued palette for maximum effect; the beautiful pointillistic aerial view of a city ("A walk in your city") painted by Gustavo Acosta; Rafael Ferrer's "The Red Bandana," a big, sensual image of two women wading in ocean water that seems in perpetual flux; and "Sighting Series," by Jorge Lopéz Pardo, a large, magnificent drawing on canvas that portrays a solitary house that seem to offer no protection against the surrounding dark world and, in fact, seems to be in the process of unraveling.

"Who Are You?"
 Iván Girona, Puerto Rico

Casa Cortés is located at 210 Calle San Francisco, one block away from Plaza de Armas. It is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no admission charge. Director/ administrator Adelisa Gonzalez-Lugo said that the gallery is available for private functions. For more information, call 787.523.4642.




On Saturday, Casa Cortés will host a guided tour by Antonio Martorell. It starts at 2 p.m.

 ☛A SIMPLE TIP


For those of you who like to bathe

in a tub, this simple advice from Sarah
Busco, founder of Earth Tu Face organic
beauty products: Fill a muslin bag with
oatmeal and infuse in bath water until
the water turns milky.

Says Busco: "It makes your skin soft
and smooth. Also, baking soda. It can be
used for so many beauty tips -- you can
even wash your hair with it."

Photography by Juliette Blasor

Silence and feeling alone can frighten and liberate. It gives
you the space to think and feel but you want to think that there
is the possibility that someone might interrupt you without
it actually happening. When there's no chance of the
solitude being broken, the being alone is of a heavier weight.

Bill Santiago

Copyright ©2013 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved☂

The Flavor Merchants 

Love the Kitchen Heat

Chefs Mercedes Oliveras and Victor Merced
get ready to serve their pièce de résistance: Paella.
 Courtesy of The Flavor Merchants

IN good times and bad times, celebration is a part of life. And what kind of celebration would it be without food! But being able to entertain and also feed a crowd can sometimes drive a host or hostess to distraction, which is why catering is such a popular service.
YOU don't have to travel far to find a caterer in Puerto Rico where most restaurants are only too glad to provide the service. Another option is hiring an individual caterer and to find one your best bet is to ask around; sooner or later someone will lead you in the right direction. Food preparation is an art form and not without its dangers, what with foodborne illnesses so prevalent nowadays, so make sure the caterer you select has the proper licenses and food safety training.
AND then there is The Flavor Merchants, three partners with plenty of experience in the food industry (a combined 60-years worth), enthusiasm and passion for food: Corinne Font, Victor Merced, and Mercedes Oliveras. The team handles corporate and private events: galas, social gatherings, cocktail parties, you name it. It even offers seminars and workshops on everything food and beverage related.
"WE really thrive when people are happy" said Oliveras, a CIA graduate (not that CIA, but the Culinary Institute of America based in New York City) whose career credits include working as executive chef at the San Juan Grand Hotel and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Her last job was overseeing the operations of Ponte Fresco, a popular restaurant operator with seven eateries in the San Juan metropolitan area. She is also a certified Kosher chef and has an amazing knack for remembering past menus which, she says, is easy "if the menu means a lot to you."
ONE of The Flavor Merchants' specialties is paella, that spectacular one-dish sensation from Valencia, Spain, in which rice boogies with seafood or meats. The team cooks it right in your own home and serves it in the traditional "paellera," a stainless steel, porcelain enameled flat pan manufactured in Spain. Or you might opt for a parillada (grilled meats) or a buffet menu. There are plenty of menu options for clients who also benefit from the team's advice regarding what is best to serve at a particular event. 
NO catering is too small, or too big, for the Flavor Merchants who have no trouble whipping a dinner for a group of 10 or 20 people, a breakfast for 300, or feeding a few thousand people at a product sampling. "We work with all budgets," said Merced, a graduate of the Puerto Rico Hotel School who went on to work in hotels and, in the 1990s, sharpened his business skills by running a business called The Spice of Life. Catering prices range from "$12 per person up to $500 per person, it all depends on what the client chooses," he added.
SINCE prepping for an affair can take up to a week, all three partners make sure to divide chores and get additional staff to help out (When not pitching in with the cooking, Font's main task is handling customer service. Her career credits include working for the exclusive Sheraton Bal Harbour Beach Resort in Miami). Large catered meals are cooked at the company's own kitchen in Caimito which is equipped with an oversize, stainless steel Vulcan stove (two ovens and 12 burners!), and then ferried over to the party. "I like to work against the clock," said Merced, a man who smiles easily and projects an easy-going manner. Is he that cool in the kitchen? Seems so. " "There is always stress in the kitchen but you have to be objective in how you deal with it. In reality, " he said, " we take turns between the three of us in handling stress ."
DESPITE the slow economy, Merced is pleased at the way word-of-mouth publicity is helping to attract new clients, even from beyond Puerto Rico. Like the statesider who recently hired the company to cater a wedding that will take place on the island in the fall. And though only a year and a half has gone by since The Flavor Merchants got off the ground, the trio is already working on its most ambitious endeavor up to date: launching a line of sauces, food seasonings, and dressings featuring Puerto Rican ingredients and bearing the company name. For these three amigos, the kitchen is definitely not too hot!


The Flavor Merchants 787.791.6904 www.flavormerchantspr.webs.com

At the Tate Museum in London
Photograph by Jack Bierschenk

Can life still have meaning despite insignificance? Does personal meaning have more power than cosmic insignificance? Is that really what it's about, the triumph of personal meaning over cosmic insignificance, for one brief heartbeat?  -- Comedian Bill Santiago  

                                                                                                                                    

PIOMU: THE ECO FRIENDLY KID STORE

In the cloth versus disposable diaper debate, the jury is still out. In the meantime, those who opt for going green have a resource in PIOMU, a store in Garden Hills Plaza that retails the gdiapers brand which combines a washable outer pant in a gamut of colors ($17.99) and two types of inserts: 100% biodegradable, or washable. While somewhat costlier than regular diapers, washable inserts --available in different sizes at a cost of $30 for a 6-pack -- can be used again and again which means you save money, according to Glorimar Ripoll, who started PIOMU as a web store in 2009 and inaugurated the physical location in April this year. Gdiapers are free of plastic, chlorine, latex, or perfume. The biodegradable refills (also available in different sizes and packs) are flushable and cost $15.
The store also sells clothing, bedding, food and toys, primarily aimed at babies and toddlers. Products are mostly made out of organic products or recycled materials. " I was inspired by a genuine desire to provide safe and healthy alternatives for children," says Ripoll in a statement found on her company website. An information technology professional, she founded the company with her husband Luis Benitez, an electrical engineering grad from MIT who works as a consultant and social software "evangelist." "Most people are not aware of the presence of toxic chemicals (in children's products) and the dangers they pose to the health of children."
PIOMU (Spanish for the sounds made respectively 
by a chick and a cow) donates 1% of its sales to environmental
organizations. "Our vision is to provide children with
optimal development

This cute pig is made of
organic maple wood.
PIOMU, $6.99
 

opportunities that minimize our impact on the planet's resources and the incidence of childhood
disorders caused by exposure to toxics found in some common children products. And of course, we want them to have fun!"


PIOMU 1365 Luis Vigoreaux Ave. Garden Hills Plaza 787.273.1337 www.piomu.com

Photograph by Denise Blasor
Cooking is like love. It should be
entered into with abandon or
not at all. 
Harriet Van Horne

Copyright 2011 © Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved