Tumescent Dueling Phallic Flags in Laredo, Texas USA and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico

...a quick newsbreak from Laredo, Texas where I am hiding out from my job as Chair of literature.sdsu.edu and touring in support of Seductive Hallucinations of the "Mexican" in America.

There are Freudian flags dueling here in Laredo--a massive Peter North-esque American flag on the Laredo side; and an even more, um, tumescent John Holmes-esque flag towering over los dos laredos on the Mexican side of the border in Nuevo Laredo. More here as well.

When I get back to San Diego next week I will try to post pictures and a little film of this semiotic, warring crossing of the swords, here deep in the penumbra, or, the pudenda, of South Texas.

Holy nationalist erection, batsman!

"Next Stop Cucamonga": A Texas & California Odyssey!

Every now and then someone slips up and leaves the cell-door open and a professor gets to excape her or his host asylum to hit the road and go "on tour," sort of speak.

Ok, it's not quite the Frampton Comes Alive tour or Cheap Trick, Live at Budakan sans groupies, but it's as close as us mortar-board wearing, would-be / wanna-be, band-on-the-run, robe & hood sporting wonks are gonna get to that legendary life of tour-buses, champagne, and debauchery.

So it is with great pleasure that I let slip to occasional readers and random image-safari visitors that I am visting Austin (The University of Texas at Austin, UT, November 1), San Antonio (The University of Texas at San Antonio, UTSA, November 5), Los Feliz (at Skylight Books, November 7), Los Angeles (The University of Southern California, USC, November 8), and Santa Cruz (at the Felix Kulpa Gallery, The University of California, Santa Cruz, UCSC, December 7) in support of Tex[t]-Mex.

If you are near one of the readings come out and say hola! Mil gracias a La Bloga for the shout-out regarding this tour!

The poster (below) that Michael Buchmiller did for the Texas gigs is nothing short of amazing--gracias to genius Buchmiller for his savvy graphic eye. Guillermo Nericcio García, rogue, semiotic, imagemeister from memogr@phics designcasa, came up with one as well (left) for the USC reading. Each appears here in living color.

Arrivaderci!