No comments about New Mexico Wild & Beautiful.

3 comments about Oaxaca in the Heart of Mexico.

1. Of course I haven't been able to look at all that this CDrom contains, but I have enjoyed part of the music, part of the gallery of portraits, part of the maps from the Archives of India and almost part of everything.
   It is technically excellent and full of information for everyone who wants to travel to Oaxaca or wants information about this wonderful part of Mexico.
   Oliver Sacks with his Oaxaca Journal will enjoy going back through this CD.
   Congratulations

   Martin Ruiz Camino




2. It is important to note that rarely is the enthusiasm and devotion that goes into a work/project so clearly translated into a vibrant and engaging experience for the novice. A common pitfall is that the end product tends to struggle under its own weight and over-arching ambitions, whether the intentions are honest or not. This is not the case with "Oaxaca in the Heart of Mexico". Its author and those who contributed to its articulation at every stage of the creative and productive process have managed to not only show the multi-faceted aspect of Oaxaca, but also enliven the whole interactive experience using a whole array of devices which do not hinder but accentuate the affection and fondness with which the whole project has been encapsulated. It is this contagious tendency which leaves some traces of sub-conscious emotive residual on those who explore this CD-rom, and which will remain until evoked once again in the pysical context of Oaxaca itself. For that is where this touristic opus leads one in the end, and the location the author himself would like others to see for themselves. One could not ask for a better introduction than the one that Antonio Ruiz Zwollo and his team have presented here.



3. This is probably the most brilliant CD-ROM I've ever seen for a travel destination. The Spanish to English translation is incredibly good (the translation team must have been geniuses), and what a well designed product.
   
   Highly recommend this one.

5 comments about Rand McNally 2008 United States, Canada, Mexico Road Atlas: Vinyl Covered (Rand Mcnally Road Atlas: United States/Canada/Mexico (Vinyl Covered Edition)).

1. Good atlas, no frills, concise and useful. It was flimsier than expected; within a week, one of the first pages already acquired a tear in it near the binding after only minimal use due to the thin paper and awkward staple. However, it was worth the price.



2. The content of the product is of course very good but the extra weight of the plastic cover on the Atlas immediately pulls the inside cover away from the staples they have used to bind this Atlas. You will lose the cover very quickly unless you rebind it.



3. After viewing a colleagues copy of this road atlas, it made sense to acquire one of my own seeing we were holidaying in the States and in particular the West Coast- California and Arizona. We found the map and information of significant help in planning our route and would definitely recommend this to anyone who is thinking of travelling to the States. You will not be disappointed.



4. I was loaned a previous copy of this atlas by my travel agent to help plan my upcoming US trip. Found it so easy to use that I decided to purchase my own. Would recommend to any visitor coming to the US.



5. This is a very nice and useful road atlas. The plastic cover is nice to have since the atlas gets a lot of wear both in the car and in the house. The reason I did not rate it higher is that the staples used to hold the pages are beginning to tear and will soon need some reinforcement. Rand McNally should consider improving this aspect of the atlas.

No comments about One Hundred Mile Summers: Hiking the Pacific Coest Trail from Mexico to Canada.

1 comments about The Deserts of the Southwest: A Sierra Club Naturalist's Guide (Sierra Club Naturalist's Guides).

1. We camped for a week in the Davis Mountains in west Texas in a section of the Chihuahuan desert last summer. This was not our first desert experience - we have hiked and camped across much of the Southwest over the last twenty years or so. This was an unplanned trip as we were headed toward southern Colorado, but we became fascinated by the Chihuahuan desert and somehow we never drove any further.

   We were similarly quite lucky to find a copy of the first edition of Peggy Larson's Sierra Guidebook in a bookstore in Alpine, Texas. She presents the deserts of the American southwest (and northern Mexico) in a literate and educated fashion. She manages to discuss individual plants and animals in some detail while painting a large scale, beautiful portrait of the four major deserts of North America. Detailed ink drawings - landscape, geology, plants, and animals - are scattered throughout the narrative and add considerable value. She knows her subject and shares her knowledge in an intriguing fashion. She effectively uses scientific names of desert plants and animals interchangeably with common (but less unique) names without intimidating the reader. This is not a novel and it is quite possible to skip to selected chapters of personal interest, but I highly recommend exploring all chapters, all topics. Peggy Larson's style is really quite good.

   If you are already familiar with the American deserts, you will find "The Deserts of the Southwest" a rewarding visit with an old friend. If you are somewhat new to the deserts and possibly have only sampled the deserts from a highway perspective, I suspect that after reading Peggy Larson's book you will likely change your travel plans to include a personal visit to an American desert.

No comments about Waterway Guide Southern 2007: Florida, the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas.

2 comments about Eating Out in Santa Fe: All the Best Restaurants, Cafes, Markets, Bakeries & Street-Eats.

1. First, I really enjoyed reading this book, with all of the history she included about each restaurant, cafe, market or bakery. It was published in 1997 and most of the establishments are still there. We just returned from visting in Sante Fe and used the book everytime we were going out to eat. It was fun to read her explaination before entering the door. She was correct with her rates on every one we frequented.I recommend reading this before your vist and using it while you are there.



2. I do not appreciate you making comments about our food in such a way. So many of the recipes that are such a raving success now are still made from old recipes from the old dirt roads of Santa Fe. The recipes that are new don't taste the same way our native food is made. People that don't know any better go for it because of all the hyp on it. Native Santa Feans and their decendants know the difference of today's foods and the originals. Please don't make such a comment that until these chefs came along that no one knew how to cook...we are the ones that taught the likes of them.

1 comments about William Henry Jackson's "The Pioneer Photographer".

1. I've just started reading the book, the biographical sections are extensive and interesting. They might, in fact, be the best part of the book (together with the update/ annotations).
   I was hoping for a large collection of Mr. Jacksons photographs but instead got more text than anything. You do get some photographs but they tend to be small, not full page (they are interesting). I didn't count them but believe that there are more sketches and paintings than photographs of the man's subjects.
   One thing I noted was that the editor of this edition writes that many of the photographs are "attributed to", meaning either no one is certain of the photographer but think he did them or even that an employee actually did the work.
   If what you really want are 1870's photographs you'll have to find another Jackson book somewhere to get many of them.

2 comments about Mexican Churches.

1. Contiene una amplia colección de fotografías que muestran la gran variedad y riqueza arquitectónica de las iglesias de México, algunas de las cuales son poco conocidas, y que en cierta medida deben su esplendor al sincretismo cultural hispano-indígena. Las fotografías fueron tomadas alrededor de 1956, por el excelente fotógrafo, sobre todo de paisajes, Eliot Porter (quién abandonó la fotografía por la medicina).

   It contains a large colection of photos that shows the great variety and arquitectonic richness of Mexican churches, some of them are not well know, and their splendor is in certain way product of the cultural hispano-indian sincretism. The photos were taken around 1956 by the excelent photographer, landscape specialist, Eliot Porter (who quit medicine for photography).




2. This is a book of photographs of the interiors of Churches in Mexico, and their shrines and alters, and saints which adorn them.
   
   Porter's photographs capture a religious grace which is direct, simple, beautiful, and moving. Seeing these pictures gives an outsider into a window on a world in which life may be difficult, but heart and faith are celebrated and strong.

No comments about Houses in Time: A Tour Through New Mexico History.