Selena on BlinkBox

Another glaring omission in Tex[t]-Mex? Selena! The celebrity and the movie--to assuage the guilt and the angst, here's a series of clips from Selena courtesy BlinkBox!

Retiring Salma!

Owing to requests from two prickly readers, I am putting my new Salma Hayek-climbs-a-cool-40s-car logo on hiatus; if more than two people write me clamoring for more Hayek, I may, I repeat "may" just have to bring it back!

Junot Diaz on Colbert

Certainly not Colbert's finest moment; however, Diaz reveals himself to be a mensch! I am teaching his Pulitzer Prize winning novel this Fall 2008--the class website is here.

A Finer Shade of Brown: Jessica Alba, Revlon, and Dial-Up Color

Revlon's Custom Creations foundation lets you literally dial-up your skin tone to match the wonders of moreno/a loveliness you were born with. Sometime Latina, Jessica Alba, just started shilling the stuff on national TV. Somehow this reminds me of the Band-Aid, melanin-enhanced product I wrote about here eons ago. Here's the video:



Brown is new white, these days as corporate America jives and jukes its way into Latina/o wallets. More on this to come.

Eyegiene: R.E.M.'s Bad Day

one more for the road from an old r.e.m. fan!


R.E.M. - Supernatural Superserious from Alexander Newton on Vimeo.

Obama in the Window

Ellen Von Unwerth and Salma Hayek

click to enlarge

I just stumbled across a site that archives photographer Ellen Von Unworth's shots of Salma Hayek--for meditations on 20th and 21st century figurations of the "Mexican" in the Americas, they are priceless. Like Steven Meisel, Von Unworth will figure in a future chapter of my working Eyegiene project. I love the power and passion and everydayness (the chips, the tv) in this shot of Hayek--you can see the playful drive that drove her to play Frida; I just wish she had brought more of this bravado to the film (I blame Hayden Herrera for that, however; you just can't tell the outrageous story of Kahlo by relying on her touted bio).

Trek Thunder Kelly, XicanOSMOSIS, Frida Kahlo, and Calvin Klein

Just a quick post of a painting (below) and a link to a site by an artist whose canvas grooves and pulses with XicanOSMOTIC verve and wit.

We, the People...

Pathogenic Virus: Walmart

Litter, Signs, Racism and More

Palooka!

My Lupé Vélez chapter in Tex[t]-Mex (a version of it also appears in Bananas to Buttocks) has a close reading of Palooka! Now you can see the whole film online and free! The link is here or click the image above.....

Zorro

The definitive Textmextian take on Zorro in American mass culture comes from Culture Clash--but here's cool image courtesy of regular in-box violator Michael Wyatt Harper.

Yet Another Ersatz "Mexican" for your Bestiary of Simulated Human Wonders

Who knew!? Maria has a little bro!

Yet another representation of global stereotypes--this time from the bay of an 18-wheeler; thanx to MWHarper for the link! The Mexico one is, er, curious.

Homies-style Xicanosmosis!

Spare and intense...

Spare and intense, this blog merits careful scrutiny; a post from last month with music to sooth...

More "Rich" Harvests from the Seeds of Hate

More hate. More tragedy.

The "Harvest" Begins from the Seeds of Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, and Rush Limbaugh's Hate Speech Against Mexicans

update

...from Hasta Los Gatos


original posting: July 25, 2008


Click the image for the story; thanks to Marc García-Martínez for the link.

Ilan Stavans Goes to Bat on Mr. Spic Goes to Washington

There's a new blog in town and it's already tipped me to something off my radar but right on target for Tex[t]-Mex: Ilan Stavans' new book, Mr. Spic Goes to Washington.

source: tejaztlan.wordpress.com

Musical Motifs: From the Tijuana Brass Yesterday to Russell Porter and the Hot 8 Brass Band Today!

source: boingboing.net

Ersatz "Mexicans" R Us! Tales of the Tijuana Brass!

My new BFF via blogs and such, Josh Kun, is working on a new book that will feature, among other things, meditations on Tijuana and, hurrah!, a piece on Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass! And so, the Fates are listening, and they throw us a piece today on the 'Brass in the LA Times--the full story is here. You can pick up a discounted copy of the band's first hit album, holy whip cream, Batman!, by hitting this link!

Last? What else but a YouTube video of a 1966 video--very cool, hip, and cinematic!