Just a little background on... Marfa

The NY Times has a nice article about the art scene in that little place called Marfa. It also contains some info on just basic city activities, some of which I've posted. The piece on Donald Judd is worth some spare time however. Enjoy!


http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/travel/tmagazine/20TMARFA.html

The article contains gems of info like:


"Until fairly recently, Marfa was known for only two things: the Marfa Mystery Lights, which allegedly resemble headlights dancing in the night sky but have no known cause -- and which I am afraid I did not see; and the 1956 movie ''Giant,'' for which the town served as the setting for James Dean's last cinematic appearance. (Memorabilia commemorating both phenomena are widely available in town.) Things began to change in 1971, when the Minimalist artist Donald Judd sought a refuge from New York in more open Western territory and settled on Marfa as a congenial locale."

Our Hotel is described as:
"Thunderbird Hotel (432-729-4326). Just remodeled, it is the cutting edge of Marfa hipness. $79 to $105 a night. "

Finally, the dining options:

"Carmen's Cafe (432-729-3429). If you're lucky, when you go to breakfast the doughnuts will just be coming out of the fryer. Otherwise, console yourself with huevos rancheros. $8 for breakfast.Maiya's (432-729-4410). Could have been airlifted from South Beach. It has an excellent wine list and the most ambitious food in town. $50 a person.The Pizza Foundation (432-729-3377). The thin-crust pie may be the best food in Marfa. B.Y.O. wine or beer. $10 a person. "

We end with the peculiar image of Prada: Marfa.

Temporality and Maquiladoras

This little article begins to illuminate potential issues surrounding maquiladoras and the individuals occupying them.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14511

Border Buildings

Interesting blog about border crossings and the ways that architects have chosen to represent the experience. It shows several projects that interpret it in different ways...whether it be building, bridge, etc.
http://blog.buildllc.com/2007/11/16/border-crossing-architecture/

US - Mexico Border RSS Feed

I put a RSS feed on the right side of the web page titled US - Mexico Border News Feed. It updates with articles about the border and immigration issues from the New York Times. Its right before the weather gadget.

High Resolution Maps

I found this while looking through the blog that Ayesha posted about but its a link to a bunch of high res maps of the border region. Might be useful later on.

Check out the other maps in their collections. There are a lot of really interesting ones and they are very accessible.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/us_mexico_border/index.html

“Guide For The Mexican Migrant”

I found the Mexican government's guide for crossing the border illegally. There is a color pdf and a black and white pdf. There is also a translation of the text that are all linked from my mfile.

COLOR PDF
B&W PDF
TRANSLATION

Addressing the Enviroment

This article from the NY Times talks about the plans to put money towards the environmental damage that the building of the fence caused. Environmental groups see the effort as too late. Plans are explained:

"That compensation could include modifying the fence to curb flooding and to accommodate threatened and endangered species or restoring their habitats, but officials have not worked out those details and it will vary depending on the area."

The most interesting part of this involves the prior government:

"The agreement between the two departments has been in the works since April, when the homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, to the dismay of environmentalists and some scientists in the Interior Department, used his Congressionally authorized power to waive environmental laws to speed access to broad swaths of land."


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/17/us/17border.html?_r=1