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My good friend Eric "El Brindador" came to San Francisco for his honeymoon. He played at Amnesia with Conspiracy of Venus' Deborah, his friend since they were both living in Bordeaux (France).

It was beautiful to see them playing together in the Mission.

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The Bronson. Hamburguesas.

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On Treat St. and 17th St.

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Again, my project about female Mexican wrestlers. And also on BUST Magazine: La-La-Luchadoras! Documentary Shows the 'Ladylike' Side of Lucha Libre

Check it out at www.lasluchadoras.com

Mexico’s Female Wrestlers Do It for the Love

At this point lucha libre, Mexico’s version of professional wrestling, is famous the world over—the superheroesque masks, the muscled men preening and acting out storylines in the ring, the acrobatic aerial maneuvers. But what’s not as well-known is that the sport isn’t exclusive to dudes. Luchadoras, masked female competitors, are becoming more and more prominent in Mexico, and not just as sexy sideshows. Journalist Marta Franco followed a handful of these women through Mexico City’s pro wrestling scene and used the material she gathered to create her graduate-school thesis, “Las Luchadoras,” a series of videos that documents and celebrates these women’s role in lucha libre as well as their difficulties acheiving the same recognition as men.

Mexican women have been invovled in pro wrestling since the 1940s, but they were barred from competing in the county’s capital until 1986. At first, many entered the ring as eye candy (they were there to “blow kisses and show off” to the crowd, one luchadora told Marta) rather than actual competitors. It’s only recently that the sport has allowed women to fight men. Yet there’s still widespread discrimination despite the efforts of luchadoras and their fans. I recently sat down with Marta in San Francisco to talk about her project and what place women occupy in lucha libre.

VICE: Where did you get the idea to do this story? Marta Franco: I’m from Spain, and we don’t have lucha libre or anything like that. Everybody knows the aesthetics—the masks—but it’s not something I’d seen until I moved to San Francisco, to the Mission District, two years ago. A Mexican friend of mine told me there was a lucha libre show in the neighborhood, we went, and I loved it. At another wrestling event, I heard a woman in line telling some people about her friend, who was a wrestler and a woman. That’s where I started thinking, A woman? Who are these women? Where are they? How do they fit in something that, at first sight, looks like such a macho world?’

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VICE interviewed me about my project Las Luchadoras. Check it out here.

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I really had a lot of fun during Phono del Sol. What a cool festival.

More on Mission Local and SFCritic.

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At the San Francisco General Hospital, Sunday.

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San Francisco General Hospital, Sunday. One day after the Asiana Airlines crash.

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Sometimes I enjoy being a journalist. Sometimes I don't.

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When I first saw the video about the "naked BART guy" I thought, come on, don't people realize this person is either on drugs or has some kind of mental problem? Isn't it clear that he doesn't really know what he's doing? What are all these hateful comments about?

I didn't realize until later that I had already met him a few months before, while I was taking photos of a show he was working on.

He was really sweet. Not a monster, not a weirdo. Just a nice guy doing circus. So I tried to find out what had happened.

The story is here.

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Here I am, miking Allan. Or micing? Mic'ing Allan?

Putting a mic on Allan.

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Almost a year ago, Valerie and I went to the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island. We picked our outfits carefully and didn't care at all about the fact that everybody went there to be seen. Including us.

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Pride cookie.

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I made a video about the SF Mime Troupe and how they saved the season for Mission Local.

They have an amazing space in the Mission and I had a lot of fun shooting this.

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I photographed the party before the Dyke March on Saturday.

More here.

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Diane Sabin and Jewelle Gomez at San Francisco's City Hall.

We covered the DOMA and Prop 8. rulings for Mission Local.

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I made a video about the people who fight homelessness through soccer. People took this program as a crazy idea by Bevan Dufty, but it's neither crazy, nor his idea.