The rotund, oft photographed mariachi in fisheye format.

Fish for sale in Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico.

Close up on an altar for the día de los muertos 07 in Casa Escorza, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Title suggested by P.I.B.E. off of Flickr.

One of the most Mexican of festivals is approaching, el Dia de los Muertos.

Pulque, fermented agave juice, has the consistency of watered-down phlegm and the taste of sour milk. But is strangely drinkable. Believed to have magical powers for healing and preparing for battle. Your mileage may vary. This photo’s from a family-run pulqueria near Tapalpa, Jalisco, Mexico.

*EDIT* Mumpsimum Forum peeps! First off, Welcome! Secondly, there’s a few more pix of this rustic place over at my Flickr site. Pulque tastes NOTHING like tequila but as its pre-distilled ancestor is an important part in its history and ought to be tried. Pulquerias tend to find inventive ways to serve it to make it more palatable, orange juice, chopped jicama, lime and chile being the most common in my limited experience…

I made the beginners mistake of not changing the ISO to something sensible hence the grainy detail… But I’m putting it here anyway because it was a very interesting trip to the bottle factory. The guy here is putting the finishing touches to a bull shaped bottle. The whole set’s over at Flickr.

These guaraches de chicle were a present from Ana V. to us. They’re look better than they taste though. I think they’re traditionally made in Mascota, Jalisco.

Zacoalco, Jalisco, Mexico, is home to many artesanal hand-made traditional chair “factories” (with two or three people bending, sewing and tying). It involves lots of different types of wood, string and leather.

At the end of one of the many tentacles of the baratillo Sunday market in Guadalajara there was a section for practically antique fairground rides and games. Here’s a close up of the table football (know as foozball or summink equally unlikely in the USA)

There’s more street art than you can shake a piñata at in Ajijic, Jalisco on the shore of Lake Chapala. Thanks largely in part to a large group of relatively well off upper North American retirees and local artists.