Volume II, Issue 5

Morning is their favorite time together. It is the only time of day when the east-facing window gets direct sunlight and the fresh upslope wind blows from the city below, entwining their foliage in an intimate wind dance. Juan, a spider plant and Rafael, an ornamental palm, are friends and have been growing together on… full story HERE »

Recently a New Mexico man was denied his petition to legally change his name to “Fuck Censorship.” The three judge panel ruled that they were not interfering with his freedom of speech, noting that he could call himself whatever he liked, but that the state had a compelling reason to deny the change because… full story HERE »

As Midsummer’s Night is near in the rearview mirror it might be appropriate to quote the Bard’s best farce. “If we offend it is with our good will. That you should think, we come not to offend, but with good will, to show our simple skill. That is the true beginning of our… full story HERE »

When my dad first told me he wanted a pedal-steel guitar for his birthday nine years ago, I scoffed. Not only because I knew he wouldn’t tear himself away from watching golf long enough to learn to play, but because I couldn’t possibly think of a more ridiculous instrument. It might have been great for… full story HERE »

Not a small number of readers have written in to inquire about the ethnographic content of Nim Po’t’s (charming) advertisement in the last issue of La Cuadra. Well, in the first place it all goes to show that participant observation can be a grueling experience in the contested, multivocal and polysemic sociopolitical reality of the… full story HERE »

You could say that my Magic Jew arrived via freak accident, one of those bizarre physical embodiments of ‘shit happens’ that strike with nose-thumbing defiance of all laws of logic. And while many freak accidents can make for deliciously cruel entertainment on YouTube or in newspaper columns invariably called ‘This Wacky World’, their ‘holy fuck’… full story HERE »

You know the famous Edvard Munch painting, The Scream. Well that’s me. I’m standing on a bridge, mouth agape, hands pressed to the sides of my head, looking like some agonized ET. Behind me is a smeared, blood red sky. I contemplate jumping.

Then I look down and ask myself, “Do I really want to be… full story HERE »

Do you know the old joke, “What’s the definition of Irish foreplay?” It’s when the stern husband looks at his guilt ridden wife and says, “Brace yer self, Bridget, this might get a bit rough.” Now the Surly Bartender can attest – and, if necessary, provide medical records to prove – that this provincial, view… full story HERE »

Ricky Lopez Bruni is a fortunate artist in that his great talents are amplified by the beauty of his closest muse and model, Guatemala.

Mr. Lopez is best known for his photographic books documenting the visual power of his homeland. His work is famous throughout Latin America, and beyond, for the skill with which he captures… full story HERE »

When Venezuelans amassed in the streets of Caracas and loyal military units faced down rogue superiors in April of 2002, they may have symbolically ended more than just the coup d’etat against their republic’s constitutional government. Though conflated by Western media as an internal conflict spurred by the precipitous, firebrand ways of president Hugo Chávez,… full story HERE »