Yesterday I covered a John McCain event in Bensalem, PA. I was shooting for the Independent Film Channel. Like always, as I entered the event I received a press pass. I noticed a white sticker on the press pass but didn’t think anything of it. Often times the campaigns will use stickers to cover up old dates or indicate something special about the press pass (i.e. the sticker allows you on the press raiser or something like that.)

Today for some reason I decided to pull off the sticker and to my surprise, located right on the press pass was a picture of the Philly Phanatic sporting a “McCain Palin” shirt. Why is this so funny? Well one of the big lines of McCain’s speech was how he isn’t stupid enough to get involved with baseball between two swing states (referring to comments Obama made). He then linked Obama’s support of the both the Phillies and the Devil Rays to Obama’s general campaign approach.

Well, it looks like McCain was wrong. He does get mixed up in baseball between swing states!!!!

I was sick the first few days in Mexico (got a bad cold before leaving and the plane ride didn’t help) so we didn’t go out much the first few nights. Many people warned me about Mexico City at nighttime, and i’ll agree, you gotta keep your guard up but once we figured out the city a bit, we felt pretty safe going out. I also found dusk to be a great time to shoot photos. On the weekend the city really came alive, even on sunday night (when I shot the mariachi band photos).

Also, everyone warns about the taxis but I’ll say, depending on where you are going, you don’t even need to take cabs. We walked all around the city center with no problem. We also took the subway all over the city for the whooping cost of 2 pesos a ride (literally about 16 cents a ride). The subway system is incredible, but did get EXTREMELY busy during rush hour (the only time I made sure to keep a hand on my wallet). We were able to do and see everything we wanted without taking a single cab.

But back to the topic. Here are a few photos inspired by the great atmosphere at dusk and evening.

Mariachi Bands come to Plaza Garibaldi in Mexico City to pretty much “pimp themselves out.”

Plaza Garibaldi 2

Mariachi — Plaza Garibaldi

Mexican Flag at the Zocalo (this flag is HUGE!)

Konica camera store.

Lively alleyway at dusk.

Bug taxi.

Alleyway with a fainte image of a man pushing a shopping cart.

Cathedral at dusk.

Kid playing with a paper airline (yea yea yea its a bit toooo soft, i know i know)

Walkway across from the Zocale.

Finally a pointless, but nice lighting, picture of the street we were staying on. A block from the Zocalo.

I also visited Taxco while in Mexico. Taxco is an old silver town about two and a half hours southwest of mexico. Its located up in the mountains and is a beautiful hill town. We hit some bad weather, but had one of the best lunches while over looking the Zocalo (aka square).

The town had very tiny streets, much like a European hill town. There was a surplus of Volkswagen minibuses and bugs all over the place, almost constantly looking like they were going to crash into one and another. One of the most memorable experiences of the whole trip to mexico was when Katie and I decided to try and take a minibus up to the top of the hill to see a giant jesus statue (aka el cristo). The bus started climbing the hills but appeared to go no where close to the statue. When the driver suggested we get out and walk (down a dirt path) we decided to just stay in the van and go for the ride. We bombed up and down tiny cobblestone streets, dangerously passing other vans and cars. All the while a 90 year old looking lady was sitting next to us cracking up.

Taxco also had wild markets that ran up and down the small alleyways, all the way from the bus station to the Zocalo. Speaking of which, Mexico has possibly the best buses i have ever been on (which somewhat makes up for the fact they don’t have passenger trains). But seriously, the best buses ever.

The view from the bus en route to Taxco from Mexico City.

The Church in the Zocalo. (CLICK!!!)

Bugs and small streets….

Another view (composite photo, CLICK!!!)

Taxco in the rain.

This was the type of minibus we rode around in. There were about 12 people jammed in the bus while we were driving around.

Taxco Market (There were crazy markets all over the place, mostly covered by an elaborate blue tarp system.)

Taxco Market Two

Old Lady, Taxco Mexico

More Bugs

rain rain rain!!!