Mis pensamientos y fotografía - ChristinaBurke's Blog - Victoria Advocate http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke As a journalist I have always felt like I have a back stage pass to people's lives. Now here's your chance at mine. In this blog you will see images I've made while on assignment in Victoria, Goliad, and Refugio and surrounding areas. As a journalist I have always felt like I have a back stage pass to people's lives. Now here's your chance at mine. In this blog you will see images I've made while on assignment in Victoria, Goliad, and Refugio and surrounding areas. en-us Road Trip: La frontera http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/8397 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/8397 <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: Gungsuh; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">The sky is an ethereal bluish green just before the dawn.&nbsp;From the back seat of this minivan I could easily be on an airliner looking out over the clouds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The sky is all there is to see.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: Gungsuh; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">But we are now heading away from the sunrise into the darkness. Fog blankets over the brush and I wonder are there people in that wilderness? Or riding that train we just passed? I watch it, inspect every car but its moving to fast.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: Gungsuh; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">It might have looked like this that morning when first responders were at the scene on Fleming Prairie Road five years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: Gungsuh; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">It's 5:40 am.&nbsp; Three journalists and I are on the road to the border working on a series of stories called Fatal Funnel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>We&rsquo;re on Highway 77 on southbound trajectory.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: Gungsuh; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Here's a run down of the characters in this cast.... There&rsquo;s Bill the videographer and technician who enjoys explaining not only the technical workings of the GPS but the engineering behind it as well.&nbsp; Please watch the road.... that&rsquo;s the center stripe we're driving on top of now...Mommy!!!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: Gungsuh; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Next there's Gabe.&nbsp; He's the mastermind behind this scheme to work 16-hour days in the mosquito infested southern region of the state known as &ldquo;the valley&rdquo;. He&rsquo;s responsible for the ideas, the rest of us are just trained monkeys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>ohhh&hellip;eeehhh&hellip;ahhhh...(that was a monkey)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: Gungsuh; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Oh Mama Mia! That was the drunk bumps&hellip; Wake up Rubi, the drunk bumps!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Watch it Billy I&rsquo;m a nervous backseat driver. Did I mention that we are on the road?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: Gungsuh; mso-bidi-font-size: 7.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">The final character in this cast of crazies is Rubi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The newest addition to our staff at the Advocate she&rsquo;s bright, funny and a talented writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I&rsquo;m thankful for her company.</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; FONT-FAMILY: Gungsuh; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p>


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 blog_1.jpg ChristinaBurke blog_2.JPG ChristinaBurke blog_3.JPG ChristinaBurke Do we need a new dictionary? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/8297 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/8297 <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">Do we need a new dictionary?</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">Over the weekend I played boggle with my family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If you&rsquo;re not familiar, it is a word game similar to scrabble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>After shaking up die, that have letters on them, players have one minute to form words. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">My mom wrote the word &lsquo;poi&rsquo; and to verify that indeed it was a word (and spelled correctly) my 11-year-old niece looked it up in my parent&rsquo;s very outdated dictionary from the 1960&rsquo;s. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">Poi, it seems, was not a word and would not be counted in this game of boggle.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>Today&rsquo;s modern dictionary, however, includes poi as a word coming from Hawaiian and Samoan cultures.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">That got me to thinking, do we need a new dictionary to reflect the growth of the United States as multicultural society?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Conversely, are there words we use that may be outdated?</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">Lets look at the examples Colored and Spanish that I hear quite frequently.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">The term black or African American are more acceptable these days than something from generations past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If you&rsquo;re still saying colored people I think its time you update your dictionary.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">As for Spanish, unless you&rsquo;re talking about someone or something from the country of Spain on the continent of Europe, then Spanish would not be the right description. Words like Latino, Hispanic, Mexican American, Guatemalan, Honduran, Brazilian, or Peruvian that include country of origin would make more sense than Spanish.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">Hopefully we&rsquo;ve advanced enough as a society that we omit the use of words and racial epithets such as the N word or wet back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Words such as these are expressive of racial hatred and bigotry according to my modern dictionary and are clearly labeled as offensive. If you&rsquo;re still using words like these, that may mean you haven&rsquo;t opened a dictionary in decades, if in fact ever. </font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></font></p> Dora la exploraDora http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/8228 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/8228 <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">A blue-eyed blonde-haired toddler attends a preschool that is filled with students of multinational origins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>They learn about other cultures and the meaning of diversity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">Oh, and, she is crazy about Dora the Explorer. If her birthday cake this year isn&rsquo;t decorated with the popular Dora from Dora the Explorer her parents will have a serious melt down to look forward to. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">That toddler is my niece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>She is one of four pint-sized children in my family who, although separated by miles and miles geographically, they are unified by a cartoon character who teaches them life lessons, friendship and a new language. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">The character, Dora, just happens to be Hispanic. My nieces and nephew love learning Spanish thanks to that cartoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">Their innocence has not yet been corrupted by bigotry or the all too common phrase, &ldquo;We are in the United States of America&rdquo; that is used as an argument for English only. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">Is cultural diversity not what makes the United States of America great?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">So why does it seem we are less united than ever?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">When will the racist ideas, xenophobia, and ethnocentricity be a thing of the past?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode'">A word defined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Xenophobia-an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange. (dictionary.com) </span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: &quot;Book Antiqua&quot;; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> Paying attention http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/8124 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/8124 <p>As I worked on a story about Texas native chile peppers I heard an unusual rustling in the leaves.&nbsp; Turns out it was this colorful critter who seemed curious about me.&nbsp; Had I written off the sound I would never have seen this amazing little rainbow of a reptile.&nbsp; Being a journalist you're taught to pay attention to your surroundings, engage your brain before you engage the shutter.&nbsp; </p> <p>Now that we are embarking on the new frontier of multimeda journalism I'm teaching myselft to pay more attention to the audio and visual cues of life happening around me.&nbsp; </p> <p>'New media' as it's termed in the newspaper industry could be likened to a mixed&nbsp; media collage. It possess elements from still photography to audio recordings, writing to video.&nbsp; With the wild wild world of the web expanding&nbsp;new media is taking center stage.&nbsp; </p>


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 Lizard Texas,Lizard, Goliad ChristinaBurke Lizard2 ChristinaBurke Mexican or Latino? http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/7758 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/7758 <p>How do you know when to say Mexican?&nbsp; Do you base it on the color of someone's skin?&nbsp; On the fact that they speak Spanish?&nbsp; Or do you know that their heritage is actually Mexican?</p> <p>Time and time again I hear people make comments using the word Mexican in the wrong context.&nbsp; For example, 'I don't speak Mexican' or 'I don't listen to Mexican music'. Is it a sign of ethnocentricism or just plain ignorance?</p> <p>Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't the term Latino be used instead of Mexican?&nbsp; </p> <p>Viva Mexico!&nbsp; But that is not the only country in the world where Spanish is spoken.&nbsp; In fact there are more than a dozen countries in which Spanish is spoken that have no geographic relation or cultural semblance&nbsp;to Mexico.&nbsp; </p> <p>Places such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru, Spain, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala have thier own distinct cultures, histories and ethnic groups.</p> <p>To lump all Latinos in South Texas into one specific nationality would be incorrect.&nbsp; </p> <p>There is a wonderful map of the world that shows a breakdown of the countries at the following website:</p> <p><a href="http://www.cincinnatispanishacademy.com/images/spanish-speaking-regions.gif">http://www.cincinnatispanishacademy.com/images/spanish-speaking-regions.gif</a></p> Nature's Logger seen in Fredricksburg http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/7727 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/7727 <p>I recently wrote a piece about an elusive beaver.&nbsp; Find it here at <a href="http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/793/story/259833.html">http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/793/story/259833.html</a></p> <p>In response to the article Mary Long wrote me and shared with me her wonderful up close and personal photos of a beaver she saw in Fredricksburg.&nbsp; </p> <p>Hippos used to be my favorite animal, but now I think the beaver has taken their place.&nbsp; </p> <p>Thank you Mary for permission to use these fabulous examples of North America's largest rodent.</p>


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 beaver_1.JPG Mary Long beaver_2.JPG Mary Long beaver_3.JPG Mary Long beaver_4.JPG Mary Long beaver_5.JPG Mary Long Presidio http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/7361 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/7361 Goliad is home to Presidio la bahia Espiritu Santo.&nbsp; The historic stucture is a gold mine for interesting visuals.


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Caption: OUR LADY OF LORETO CHAPEL LA BAHIA, GOLIAD
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Caption: A mexican soldier dressed up for the reenactment of the Massacre at Goliad.
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Caption: A mexican soldier dressed up for the reenactment of the Massacre at Goliad.
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 cb_flower_033008.jpg Presidio la bahia detail ChristinaBurke Maria OUR LADY OF LORETO CHAPEL LA BAHIA, GOLIAD Christina Burke Candado PRESIDIO LA BAHIA, GOLIAD Chapel OUR LADY OF LORETO CHAPEL LA BAHIA, GOLIAD Christina Burke Spur A mexican soldier dressed up for the reenactment of the Massacre at Goliad. Christina Burke Texas Pride http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/7360 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/7360 <p>Texas pride is something I learned about from hipster friends while I was in school in Austin.&nbsp; They had the tats, drank Lone Star Beer, and had Texas flags to block out the light of day.</p> <p>From flaming jalapenos to flags, nothing can beat this image that is truly Texan.&nbsp; I shot it at the Goliad Cinco de Mayo fiesta.&nbsp; It was plastered on a mobile barbecue pit.</p>


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 armadillo.JPG ChristinaBurke Signs of Spring http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/7099 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ChristinaBurke/7099 <p>If not for the changing tilt it would be eternal spring.&nbsp; The grass is greener, its true on this other side.&nbsp; As the celestial forces move our globe closer to the dessicating force of sun, I try to grasp every last moment, lest it fade away with the coming of summer.</p>


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