Pete Souza/The White House In the photo that has hung in the West Wing for three years, President Obama looks to be bowing to 5-year-old Jacob Philadelphia, his arm raised to touch the president’s hair — to see if it feels like his. WASHINGTON — For decades at the White House, photographs of the president at work and at play have hung throughout the West Wing, and each print soon gives way to a more recent shot. But one picture of President Obama remains after three years. In the photo, Mr. Obama looks to be bowing to a sharply dressed 5-year-old black boy, who stands erect beside the Oval Office desk, his arm raised to touch the president’s hair — to see if it feels ... Continue reading →

Facebook | Courtesy of John Gonzalez San Antonio’s Tejano Conjunto Festival began in 1982. That’s also the last time brothers Flaco Jimenez and Santiago Jimenez Jr. shared a stage together. Flaco, 73, is conjunto’s crossover figure, the man who became known around the world for playing with the likes of Ry Cooder, the Rolling Stones and the Texas Tornadoes. Santiago Jr., 68, is the keeper of his elder’s more traditional conjunto style, right down to the two-button accordion. The two finally played together at this weekend’s Conjunto Festival, an eagerly anticipated performance that wasn’t a sure thing. As Hector Saldana of the San Antonio Express-News wrote, “the brothers’ relationship is complicated and mysterious. They’ve never been particularly close.” They made one record together, in 1960, ... Continue reading →

Pumping water for the family camels in #mongolia. Google ‘npr mongolia’ for pictures and stories about the mining boom there. (Taken with Instagram at South Gobi, Mongolia) Continue reading →