Google used KPBS as a case study for the Google Map we created during the San Diego wildfires in October 2007. They stopped by the studios to interview some of us who worked on KPBS’ fire map.
Author: Nathan
From left: Panóptica (Roberto Mendoza), Bostich (Ramon Amezcua), Hiperboreal (P.G. Beas), Clorofila (Jorge Verdin), Fussible (Pepe Mogt)
A few weeks ago, the progressive Tijuana magazine ZETA published a candid interview with Pepe Mogt (Fussible). In the interview, he expresses his outrage that fellow Nortec Collective member Roberto Mendoza (Panóptica) individually trademarked the name “Nortec” as his own:
Nortec isn’t something between just the five of us. Nortec is part of the same people of Tijuana that made it possible to define the sound and its own cultural movement. Nortec is a sound. Nortec isn’t a brand, nor is it something that belongs to one person alone, or a specific group of people. At least to those of us in the collective it’s ours in the musical sense, but Nortec came from many people that gave an aesthetic and musical life to this movement; and if we have to mention names, we’d say Torolab, Acamonchi, Ãngeles Moreno and an uncountable group of others. (Translation of Pepe Mogt’s comments in ZETA)
Mogt describes the name Nortec as an abbreviation of “Norteño Techno.” He clarifies that the collective registered the name “Nortec Collective” for international distribution, but says he’s unsure of the legalities in Mexico. He says this all came out of nowhere; he was notified on paper and hadn’t yet spoken to Mendoza.
Another collective member, P.G. Beas (Hiperboreal), blogged about the controversy. He confirms the group had no plans to tour in 2008 as each member works on individual or duo projects.
I haven’t the least idea of Robert Mendoza’s plans with his band named Nortec Panóptica Orchestra. The use of the name Nortec like this pisses us off; it’s already disingenuous that a band that isn’t the Nortec Collective uses the name Nortec. It’s obvious that no one in the collective knew that Robert Mendoza would register the name Nortec in Mexico as his own. This would seem obvious, but in some news it wasn’t made clear. Another thing that would seem obvious, but I’d like to underline it, is that we have said a thousand times that without Tijuana, Nortec simply wouldn’t exist. It would be nothing. (Translation of P.G. Beas’ blog post)
Bloggers (BeamTV, Xeelee) clearly agree with the anti-Mendoza sentiment, using words that just don’t have the same ring in English :)
Take a look at a high-definition version to see all the detail. It’s pretty amazing how much activity you can see. Looking at this makes me wish I’d been shooting time-lapse videos of every scene I’ve shot in Tijuana.
I just got a new camera gadget, the Canon Timer Remote Controller TC-80N3. This is the main tool that Ross Ching uses to make really amazing time-lapse videos. Check out Eclectic, Eclectic 2.0, a behind the scenes video, and some great press he’s been getting.
I had my camera at my desk after taking a photo at work and decided to test out the new timer. The video spans two hours in 20 seconds. I was listening to the Citizen Voices interview from the photo, working with Kelli Enger on producing web videos about the authors of Three Cups of Tea, talking with Angela Carone about future projects, and having birthday cake and ice cream for Gloria Penner’s birthday and mine.
The first time I met someone in person after first meeting online, I approached David at a bar on our way into a Beth Orton concert. It was quite a date for two straight guys. He later introduced me to a few other bloggers, Xoloitzquintle, HP and Cindylu. All four bloggers have unique perspectives on Mexico and the U.S., leading to some fascinating conversations.
Having spent quite a bit of time in Tijuana, I’ve spread my photos across various Flickr groups. When one of those groups decided to have a face-to-face meetup, I was excited. It would be the first time to meet Flickr contacts in Tijuana. And if past experience was any guide, it had promise.
I couldn’t make the 4 p.m. Friday gathering time, but knew they’d be at Playas de Tijuana until sunset. I arrived around 6 p.m. and cautiously walked to the meeting place with my gear. I wandered about a bit looking for a group with cameras, taking a few photos along the way.
Approaching the group, I recognized a few of them from their photos. After brief introductions, it was a relatively quiet walk along the beach. Noesh, even smaller than her “chiquita pero picosita” tagline, tripped over her son and Vanezia’s son at the water’s edge. Unbeknownst to me, I was at the front of a meta chain. I did my best to impress them with my Spanish, even though everyone is likely bilingual. It was a beautiful sunset and nice to chat a bit with these Tijuanenses.
Following the walking tour, Isha.Net* created a new group for Flickr meetups across Baja California. I’m looking forward to future meetups and the chance to meet those who weren’t able to make this initial gathering.
To each of you, Sërch, Gioser_Chivas, Xeelee, Isha.Net*, JoVaNnItA, Vanezia, Noesh, Griselda, Liam, Ibrahim, it was great to meet you.
For a few days in November of 2006, we visited Guanajuato. In this video, Rosario reminisces about her first childhood trip to the state’s capital city.