Tejano is Where the Heart is!

Little Joe and Eva Ybarra are just some of the musicians that I grew up hearing when we would have family gatherings. Tejano or Conjunto music hits home with me. One of my favorite memories as a child was dancing with my father to tejano.

It is interesting to understand the roots of the music of my Hispanic heritage: Conjunto and tejano music. The history is widespread and mainly stems from various types of Mexican music. Conjunto music is a mixture of Mexico and Texas. It combines mainland Mexican music, country polka music from South Texas, and German and Czech grounded tunes.

Conjunto music is different from other music because it is mostly heard by Hispanics and people related to the Latin culture. Many other types of music such as country, rap, and pop are heard by a variety of listeners. Though Conjunto and Tejano music has a variety of listeners as well, it is mainly in the hearts of Mexicans and Hispanics in South Texas. Hispanics grew with this music and at the same time made this music grow. It started with using tunes from brass bands and with Latinos who had an idea of the type of music that would express the type of work they were doing and the life they were living.

Conjunto and the accordion have risen in status because the modern day Hispanic has more freedom and confidence in their culture. It is no longer taboo to speak Spanish or to be Hispanic in South Texas.

Some particular insights in the dvd that interested me most was the famous musicians Lydia Mendoza, Valerio Longoria, Isidro Lopez, and Tony D Ela Rosa. Lydia Mendoza was known and the “Queen of Tejano” and Longoria is an accordion legend! These Latinos are role models to every person of Hispanic or Mexican background.

SAMA Expose!

The first composition I will discuss is Admiration by William Bouguereau (1825-1905). It is oil on canvas and fairly large. It was done in 1897 and is a classic nineteenth century academic painting. The subject matter of the composition is five women, surrounding cupid in what looks like a meadow, or the beginning of a forest. It has trees, grass, a few concrete buildings and a blurred vision of what looks like carriage pulled by a horse. There is sunlight streaming down from the brush and trees. From left to right the viewer first sees the center focal point of cup encircled by five women in this small area of nature. In the far upper left corner of the composition, there are a couple of concrete structures and they look like coliseum buildings of an older time. In the background, the viewer sees green trees, bushes, grasses and some trees. As the eye moves right there is something bright in the forest and, looking closely, the viewer sees a blurry carriage with a horse. After looking at the entire composition, the eye moves back to the center focal point. This piece has a glow around all the forms. There is radial balance in this piece. The reason I picked this piece is because it gives me a sense of peace and tranquility. This piece really looked as if it was articulated and precise when being made. It is so detailed, but still glowing or blurry. The difference between seeing a piece in real life as oppose to on the Internet is vast. In person, you see the work’s textures and different views from a different standpoint.

The next piece I would like to discuss is The Fried Egg by Antonio Rodriguez Luna (1910-1985). It is also oil on canvas. It is a very dark composition that is framed with a golden line around the work. The subject matter is a black table, a flat iron skillet, an egg, a whole garlic clove, two garlic pieces and a wall in the background. From left to right the viewer sees a black table with one whole grayish white garlic clove. Next to the whole clove is the flat iron skillet. The skillet is circular, black, and has two handles. On the skillet is one sunny side up fried egg with a yellow yolk in the middle and white surrounding it, and two white garlic pieces. The egg is a little to the left and one of the garlic pieces is directly right of the egg and the other is a little lower to the right. In the background is a brownish gray wall and in the left corner looks to be a hallway. This piece is much smaller than the first and had less subject matter. In terms of style, I think this piece is a simple black and white painting. There are some other colors but there is definitely contrast. The texture is rough and it looks like the paint was applied thickly. The egg is sitting on the canvas. It gives me a comfortable sense because it reminds me of my culture. In the Hispanic culture there is definitely a connection with eggs. There is not a lot of subject matter in this piece but it is still an excellent piece. As I said before, if I would have just virtually seen this piece I could have never experienced the magnificent texture.

Fame in Floresville!

There is a house on the 7^th Street in Floresville that has a story beyond belief to a small quiet town. A couple of years back, several years actually, this particular house was involved in a theatrical production. It was a small film, but the whole town knows about this house because of that insignificant film and we, “Floresville natives,” are flattered. It gives us great pride to be chosen by any production company to have even the minutest scene in the place that most of us were born. However, the point is not how the town feels, but just how extraordinary this house is.

The house sits on a bed of thick green grass. It is right off the side of the road and a couple of blocks down from the courthouse. It stands three stories high but not as wide as you would imagine. It is an average house in that respect and does not take the space of six lots. Only one lot surrounded with tall trees on both sides. You could imagine a old plantation house in the middle of a neighborhood just without the size and strength. The color of the home is white or it should be white, but time as left dirt and damage to make the home appear less grand. No matter. The magnificent beauty still shines threw. The entrance of the house is a strong black door. A cement path leads from the road to the door and there is a front porch with a classic scene of a rocking chair and door mat that yells “Welcome!” to all who visit. It is an ancient house with a lovely yard and a lovely scene. It is a private home so the interior has not been publically displayed but there is no doubt of the attractive possibilities.

If you ever take a drive south of San Antonio, go thirty miles down Highway 181to Floresville. Drive down 7^th Street until the street intersects with F Street and the next corner is the home. It is a charming experience.

Progress to Regress!

Human life requires food, oxygen, and water. The San Antonio City Council seems to think these variables of life are never going to run out. The city seems to think that polluting the major source of drinking water and cutting down a majority of trees which in turn takes away our supply of oxygen is not only acceptable but not a big deal. The series “Losing Ground” by the San Antonio Express News was an informative article on how the aquifer and the environment are being treated in San Antonio.

The problem is the “vested rights” law; the law stops cities from imposing new restrictions on a real estate project once a developer files virtually any kind of plan for it. This usually means that any sketch of a plan a developer introduces to city hall can be exempted from San Antonio Water System rules and regulations. Not to mention several ordinances can be ignored as well. So, why ruin the city due to these laws? Political aspects between the developers and the city are more than responsible for these intolerable transgressions. Developers put up the argument that if the city does not progress it will regress. The city seems to get caught in between the loop holes of what is right for the city and what is right for the cities economy. It is all about the money developers promise to bring in and the time the city does not want to spend standing over the shoulder of the construction of “progress.” So, the city might as well exempt them from any mandatory care for the environment and then no ones to blame. Unfortunately, our aquifer is being damaged and overridden with pollutants that will contaminate and ultimately destroy.

Another huge issue in this subject is the lack of knowledge that is put out to the citizens of San Antonio. I for one am enormously grateful for this particular series in the S.A. Express News. It gives people or even classes a chance to learn something new and dreadfully disturbing about what is going on with our city. What is great about the articles is that they are not being vague about the details. Each article involves specific cases with both sides of the story: the city and the developer. For example, in 1995, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to control and “limit development over the aquifers recharge zone.” However, “Since then, four out of five requests for exemptions over the recharge zone have been granted, according to records at the San Antonio Water System.” That is a ridiculous ratio to have if SAWS is really trying to save our water. It’s hard to blame the developers only, when they could be controlled if our government was stronger.

So what is the problem? Still a question unanswered in my mind. There is just too much greed and corruption in our city. There has to be something fishy going on in City Hall if council members are still allowing the deliberate destruction of our natural resources. They are fully aware of the consequences but are not paying full attention to the reality of this situation. This article is telling us the future of San Antonio’s water supply and we all refuse to see it.