From: booter@Autodesk.COM (Elaine Richards)
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
Subject: Booter Visits the Interzone
Date: 6 Oct 92 00:07:55 GMT
Organization: The Autodesk Ant Refuge


Ever read about the Interzone in Heavy Metal? I found one of them on Earth.
Its called Tijuana. I walked through this clanking metal gate and saw
another one 100 yards ahead of me and, thinking one was the gate from the
U.S. and the other to Mexico, I wondered what country I was in.

Peeve: Teeming masses. I have never seen so much hustle and bustle.

!Peeve: It was so colorful, that it became humorous. 100 cabs all parked
with earnest me asking, "Taxi?" "Uh, no thanks, I just ate."

Peeve: The place looks like it was built in 1960 and then promptly
forgotten. I had a sketchbook and camera and there seriously was
nothing beautiful to draw. It was not squalid, but sordid. Being the
shopper that I am, I checked the merchandise and

Peeve: everything was the same. It was the same blankets, the same knockoffs
of designer labels, MacDonalds, Denny's, and the same same same.  I decided
to pretty much ignore the shopping and the grotty architecture and just

!Peeve: get into people watching. What a colorful bunch. Everyone was
hustling, from the kids to the old folks. Most of them had their patter
down and were either funny or flirtatious. Sometimes, they were both.
"Miss America! Come check the jewelry", "Hey blondie, yeah, you there,
come to the back!" (they had me on video camera), "Hey NEW YORK!" (my
travelling companion had a New York tee-shirt on - a reason I never put
lettering on my chest), and so on. There were people carrying jewelry,
guitars, cellos (one little girl had an accordian), and big stacks of
fake flowers. There were birds in cages everywhere. A few blocks from
the tourist scene were crowded streets with shoeshine stands
everywhere. One had a graceful looking man sitting back in it - he
looked like a Santo in a tritypch. Away from Tourist Land, the streets were

Peeve: bad and the sewer smell told me that sewage treatment was not
a concept here, nor were separate storm drains regarded as a Neat Idea.

ObServation: The hookers don't look as worn out there as they do here.
Since I don't need one, unless she will clean my house, I cannot say if
that is a peeve or not. The buses were funky in a neat kind of way. But
after a few blocks,

it was back for a snort at the Hard Rock, Tijauana, where I

!Peeve: did not buy souvenirs and the margarita was way strong.

It was great until my friend panicked about my getting my 14 year old
Nikon FE back across the border. It seriously bummed me on shopping and
I did not buy any ca-ca except that I found

!Peeve: Cuban rum. You just cannot get that here. I can't wait to sit
and try it. I wonder how many brain cells I will nuke.

The laws/imports are different. Accutane is sold over the counter and its
incredibly tightly controlled here (they may pull it off the market because
its teratogenic). I did not enquire after other substances. THe rum will
be enough for me, thankee.

Peeve: I need to brush up my Spanish. I think I want to try Mexico City
and see Frida Kahlo's house. ( I already saw O'Keeffe's house in NM)

ER
-- 
E. Richards  fernwood!autodesk!booter or booter@Autodesk.COM

"A mere corroborative detail to add artistic verisimilitude to
 an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative."