What Else Would Speedy Gonzales Be Chasing?

Every time I relent and decide to reconsider the value of the criticism I have received for "outing" Speedy Gonzales as a handy purveyor of "Mexican"-ness in the Americas, I run into something like the bumper sticker below. The thesis of Tex[t]-Mex is pathetically simple: that the more you study it, the more you realize the semiotic history (and, unfortunately, destiny) of "Mexicans" in the Americas--"Mexican" are nothing more and nothing less that the choice U.S.A. synecdoche (part for whole, as in "all 'hands' [sailors] on deck") for criminality and sexuality.



Still and all, I love the little bugger and this bank does not totally suck!

Rita Hayworth

Just time for a posting of new publicity still that has come to light:

The Confederate States of America

Contributor David O. García writes in with a link!

This is a ‘what if’ historical documentary--produced by Spike Lee--that shows what might have happened if the South had won the Civil War. It includes commercials, news, and interviews and covers Mexicans and how they would be treated once the C.S.A. conquered Central and South America. It’s on IFC regularly. Check it out if you haven’t’ seen it.
Best and happy 4th,

David

Are You There, Vodka?

Gustavo Arellano, most famous for his weekly Ask-a-Mexican column in the OC Weekly and now, more infamous, historian for Orange County, writes in with a request for us to archive this monstrosity to your left hovering there, by "Chelsea"--its available here for purchase should demonios invade your cranium. While fetishism for midgets and little folks south of the Rio Grande are well documented, see Arellano's first book for example, the incorporation of said diminutive Latinos in schlocky gabacha publications is new terrain!

On another note, Barnes and Noble is collaborating with Arellano in shilling his hot new OC tome!  Check it out and dig the moving musica!

Charo Makes a Tex[t]-Mex Cameo!

Yet another omission from my gallery of Latina/o celebrity trope/types that I forgot to include in Tex[t]-Mex!? Charo!

More on this soon!

Independence Day Tidings, Geraldo Rivera, and the Curse of Narcissus!

Uncle Sam, or Tio Samuel, as we call him around here, has sent me a gift out of the karmic ether. On July 4, 2008 I awoke to the spectacle of Tex[t]-Mex outselling Geraldo Rivera's His Panic on Amazon.com! At least as of 11:23am at July 4, 2008! Gracias, gracias, gracias!

"Mexicans" that Invite Eyegienic Inquiry, the 1st in a Series!

source

New Working Logo for the Eyegiene Project

A Meditation on the Floating Signifier or Moustaches Rule!

source

Steinbeck Redux en Califas.

Just a quick link to an eloquent posting!

Halloween is JUST Around the Corner...

You know you NEED to channel your inner "Mexican" come this October! Word to the wise: NOT the costume to wear to your local Dia de los muertos celebration!

Not to be outdone? 

CostumeCraze.com--that's where I am buying Gustavo Arellano his Carmen Miranda costume (bananas or mixed fruit 'Tavo?) this year!  

ps: don't forget your pets! 

pps: Miss Matador and Pablo the Mouse, are to die for!

Beverly Hills Chihuahua: Why There Needs to be a Sequel to Tex[t]-Mex

No, I don't make this shit up; damn! Every Mexican trope in the book that Hollywood can cook up--rendered canine-ickly! The "Warrior"/bandit; the hypertropic sexuality of the "lover".... a brilliant case study for 21-century Tex[t]-Mextian surveyors!

Heady News! Headsup!

source; more info.

And Yet Another Chapter in the History of Comedy and Race in the Americas

source

Slavery by Another Name

Another Heady Chapter in American Racism

Kudos to Michael Wyatt Harper for the headsup on this Wikipedia posting from the archives of the Library of Congress.

Reed Johnson on Daniel Lezama in the LATimes

Advances in Eyegiene

Somehow, while moved, I am not quite as positive and optimistic about all this as Blaise Aguera y Arcas; but I am very much intrigued.