“Crossing”

Posted on November 28, 2013 by John Biggs

“Crossing” was published by Deepwood Publishing in the Ruined Cities anthology on Thanksgiving Day, 11/27/13.

Opening Paragraphs:

Who’d have thought there’d be so many wrecked cars on the Oklahoma River Bridge? Rusted out hulks, left over from the riots when people didn’t know which way to run. Mary makes the sign of the cross; the way old time Catholics did when things might go terribly wrong.

“In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.” She synchronizes the words with the motion of her hand—exactly like Raj showed her before he went away.

It feels good to be in control of something, even if the something is a ritual from the olden times. There’ll be so many things Mary can’t control when she starts across the bridge. Every wreck is a hiding place for something deadly: a wild dog, a coyote, a man left over from the olden times.

A bad man; is there any other kind, now that Raj is gone? Mary crosses herself one more time, sucking up to God just in case he’s real. She whispers a silent prayer that there are men like Raj on the other side of the bridge. Exactly like him, only less dad-like. Men the right age for Mary. Good looking men who aren’t solitary killers or members of misogynist boy-gangs who give a whole new meaning to the idea of one night stands.

You can buy an electronic version of Ruined Cities, which includes “Crossing” and fifteen other stories at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Kobo.

When Classic Cars Die They Go to Cuba—Not Heaven

Posted on November 26, 2013 by John Biggs

Vintage American cars are a means of earning an income in Cuba.

Some of the best maintained classic American automobiles in the world are still on the streets in Cuba. Everybody has seen the pictures. Chevys and Fords from the fifties in their original colors, buffed to a mirror shine, running on leaded gasoline imported from Venezuela. How do they manage to keep those old cars pristine in a country surrounded on all sides by salt water, and with no access to replacement parts?

Cuba a nation of shade tree mechanics. They make things work because they have no choice. Entrepreneurs manufacture their own replacement parts, which they sell in the

Vintage U.S. cars can be more valuable than a home.

underground economy. Some of them have figured out how to refit the old Detroit cars with engines from Russia and Korea, and China. Some of those old automobiles look like they just came off of the showroom floor. Others look like an American teenager’s auto shop project. They are all a work-in-progress by necessity.

The old cars are a status symbol. A means of earning income as taxis. Back in the bad old days when Cubans were forbidden to leave the country, some of them sealed their cars in plastic—I’m told—and tried to float them to Florida. Now Cubans are permitted to travel abroad if the country they want to visit will issue a visa. (Most of them won’t, because of the fear they won’t return.) The plastic wrapping option is still available if they want to take their cars with them.

I imagined the fifties museum pieces would be worth a fortune in the United States. “They would,” our guide told me, “But they’re worth more here.” In a country where

Delivery bike equipped with Cuban rum.

automobiles are a rarity, the U.S. classics cost more than a home.

There is no public transportation in Cuba other than taxis. There are the old classic taxis—of course—and in Havana there’s a fleet of tiny yellow cabs large enough to transport one or two passengers at most. There are also taxis powered by men on bicycles, and many that are pulled by horses.

It’s not uncommon to see men on horseback in Cuba—mostly young men, just as you’d imagine. If you’re desperate, you can buy a ride with one of them, but the most

Horses are still a major means of transportation.

popular means of long distance transportation is hitch hiking. People stand beside the road holding up Cuban pesos (CUP’s) to show a willingness to pay. One of our local guides had our tour bus drop her at a popular intersection where she could “catch a ride.” That surprised me, because tour guides are some of the highest paid workers in the country.

Che–not just another pretty face

Posted on November 23, 2013 by John Biggs

Your example lives. Your ideas endure.

Say what you will about Che Guevera, he was one good looking guy. I’m convinced that’s why his face and not Fidel’s has become the symbol of countercultural revolution around the world. He looked great in a beret—not an easy task for any man—and he developed a sensitive dangerous look that has kept him popular on T-shirts and posters. If good looks and style weren’t enough, Che died a young and violent death. This is the stuff of legends.

Ernesto “Che” Guevera was the eldest of five children in an Argentine family of Basque and Irish decent. I don’t want to get into a nature vs. nurture argument, but when you combine Che’s birth order with his genetic inventory, he really had no alternative but to overthrow a government somewhere.

We want you to be like Che

He met with Fidel and Raul Castro in Mexico City, joined their 26^th of July movement and set sail on the yacht, Granma, with the intention of overthrowing Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. He rose to prominence among the insurgents and was promoted to second in command by Fidel, over his younger brother Raul.

After the revolution, Fidel put Che in charge of the national bank. An interesting position for an ideological communist who didn’t believe in money. His single word signature, Che, is on bank notes displayed in his memorial, along with mementos from his days as a medical student, rugby player, chess master, and motorcycle enthusiast.

Che instituted a national literacy program in Cuba and then wrote a manual on guerilla warfare. Some would say that is a dangerous combination. He exported the Cuban

OK, this isn’t actually graffiti, but you do see Che’s face a lot in Cuba.

style of revolution described in his book to Congo-Kinshasa, where it failed, and later to Bolivia where he was captured and summarily executed. The manual has been rated 3 and ½ stars on Amazon but to my knowledge has never been reviewed on Goodreads.

Guevera is both a revered and reviled historical figure. There are countless biographies, films, documentaries, and songs that portray him as a martyr to world wide class struggle or alternatively an international trouble maker. Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the twentieth century. His iconic photograph, Guerrillero Heroico, taken by Alberto Korda on March 5, 1960 was cited by the Maryland Institute College of Art as the most famous photograph in the world. Incidentally, the photographer never made a dime from Che’s photo—as the revolutionary would have wished.

Why Is There No Graffiti?

Posted on November 20, 2013 by John Biggs

OK, this isn’t actually graffiti, but you do see Che’s face a lot in Cuba.

Is it art or is it vandalism? A more appropriate question in Cuba is: Where is all the graffiti?

Are people satisfied with their government?

Cubans are proud of their educational and health care systems but are almost universally unhappy with shortages of meat, vegetables, and most consumer goods. They desperately want to normalize relations with the U.S. and are anxious to say so to any American they see. One elderly Cuban man told me, “Every night when I go to sleep, I dream we are friends with America again.” Despite all the complaints no taggers paint those sentiments on the walls.

Are the police hyper vigilant?

Just the opposite. There was no overt police presence anywhere I visited in Cuba. I saw soldiers now and then, but they were usually young men serving their mandatory stints in the military. No police cars or sirens. No uniformed men walking beats.

This is one of two pieces unofficial graffiti I saw in Havana.

The legal drinking age in Cuba is sixteen, and there is apparently no restriction on drinking beer and rum in the streets. The young people were often loud, but not unruly. If American teenagers had free access to alcohol, I suspect our streets would be covered with blood and our buildings would be covered graffiti.

Do they have no spray paint?

That is definitely part of it. Admittedly I didn’t see every bit of Cuba, or even every bit of Havana, but I saw a lot. As far as I could tell there were no hardware stores or department stores of any kind. Cubans buy almost everything they need in street markets. Groceries that don’t come from ration outlets are purchased in storefront markets that look like convenience stores. Fruit is purchased at open-air markets, and meat and vegetables—well good luck finding those.

Cubans have very little disposable income. If they can afford spray paint, they are likely to use it sprucing up the antique American automobiles that are the most desirable means of transportation in the country.

A local ceramic artist helps dress up his neighborhood

Definitely art.

Some streets in Havana have been converted to outdoor art experiences. Some of these places are “business districts” and some of them are residential neighborhoods dressed up with sculpture niches and mosaics. There are wall paintings in these neighborhoods too, but there is no question they are art.

Cuban Santeria

Posted on November 14, 2013 by John Biggs

Seawater offering to Yamaya / St. Mary

Santeria was originally a disparaging name for Christians who misunderstood the doctrines of Catholicism and worshiped the saints. Now it is the name of a Catholic / African fusion theology that has spread throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America, and is the largest and fastest growing religion in Cuba.

From the 16^th century through most of the 19^th century, the Spanish brought slaves from West Africa to Cuba to work the tobacco and sugar fields and the slaves brought their Yoruban religion. The plantation owners suppressed the animistic theology and did their best to replace it with Catholicism.

Yamaya represented by African doll with white Christ Child.

In order to continue their traditional rituals and offerings, the Yoruban worshipers “syncretized” each of their gods with a saint and pretended conversion to Christianity.

Yamaya (Goddess of the Ocean, protector of women, queen of the sorcerers) is represented by the Virgin Mary. Her preferred food offerings are seawater, pork cracklings, and watermelon. Her preferred animal offerings are roosters, lambs, and fish. When Yemaya is not represented by St. Mary, she is often portrayed carrying a spirit to Africa or possibly to heaven.

Chango (God of fire, lightning and thunder) was the Warrior King of the Oyo nation before his posthumous deification. This masculine lustful god is syncretized with a female, St. Barbara (Saint of danger, thunderstorms, and sudden death). When he is represented in his Yoruban personna, he often holds a double bladed axe. Chango’s offering animals are pigs, roosters, goats, rabbits and sometimes horses and bulls. His offering foods are corojo butter, cactus, corn meal, apples, and red wine.

Babalu Aye represented with crutches and two dogs

Babalu Aye, Chango’s compassionate brother, helps the poor and the sick. Cubans are surprised to hear that Cuban American performer, Desi Arnaz, was famous for singing a song entitled “Babalu”. According to the song lyrics, the singer is trying to decide what to do with a statue of Babalu Aye after it has been used in a Santeria ritual.

The Yoruban god is syncretized with St. Lazurus. His offering foods are coffee, corn meal, cigars, and pond water. His offering animals are roosters snakes and goats. When he is not disguised as a saint, he is pictured as an old crippled man with two dogs and sores on his skin.

Aspects of Santeria have become integrated into Cuban art and music. Community religious leaders, Santerios(as), are within walking distance of most neighborhoods, and are ready to offer rituals and advice to solve most ordinary problems. If more powerful magic is needed a Babalu (priest) is consulted. A Babalu is also involved in a believer’s initiation into the religion and the selection of the devotee’s Guardian deity.

Santeria shrine in government owned Havana urban organic farm

Each follower of Santeria has a Godmother and Godfather assigned to provide guidance. Most have also been baptized into the Catholic religion.

My novel, Owl Dreams includes a character, “Big Shorty”, whom the protagonist believes is Baron Saturday, the guardian of cemeteries in the Haitian version of the Yoruban religion. Some details of the African theology blend well with Oklahoma Native American mysticism upon which the story is based.

“Good Enough for Jeorgia”

Posted on November 14, 2013 by John Biggs

“Good Enough for Jeorgia” was published by Bleeding Heart Publications in Transfusion edition 2, in October, 2013.

The accident left Jeorgia Bailey with a gray front tooth and a little stumble when she walked. Still pretty in a use-to-be-graceful sort of way—at least as far as Jack could see through a pair of birding binoculars. One hundred feet is a long way off, but that’s what the restraining order said.

Jeorgia dropped something. Too small to identify from Jack’s court mandated distance; when she bent over to pick it up, he snapped a digital photograph.

Beautiful, a little disrespectful, absolutely perfect.

Jeorgia Bailey was the only girl in the world for Jack Winston, always and forever. That’s what they called Endless Love on KLUV, Jack’s favorite radio station, and stalking by the family court judge who ordered him to admire Jeorgia from afar.

You can find “Good Enough for Jeorgia” and other stories in the Kindle version of Transfusion ed. 2 on Amazon, here.

John Biggs

author

Monthly Archives: November 2013