Colombiana Catalina Sandino Moreno: Latina Bombshell Redux

source: New York Magazine, August 27, 2007

The Fall of our Ugly, Toadying Mexican Attorney General

He might have been the face of all our tomorrows--the 7nth wonder of the Chicano/a universe.

In the best of all possible worlds.

Instead, he was a sycophant and a stooge; a creep and a cretin; a criminal and a fool.

As Alberto Gonzales rides off into the sunset, the shadows of Abu Ghraib lighting the way, let us pause for a moment of silence.

Of all the least seductive hallucinations of a "Mexican" in the imagination of America, let this one fade and fade fast.

adios Gonzales, pinche buey!

Memo

UPDATE

A great, short piece regarding Justice Department employees response to Gonzales's exit is now online.

Classic and Cutting Edge Mexican Semiotic Bonbons from BoingBoing.Net

BoingBoing.net's editors have a discerning eye when it comes to the figuration of Mexicans in visual culture; sample the video below and then take the Time Tunnel here to a posting with a smorgasbörd of delights from the past--and a free and downloadable album of Agustin Lara classics to boot!

The End of the Weekly World News and Noticias Del Mundo

I cannot confirm it, but I suspect the death of the Weekly World News will mean the end of Noticias del mundo--you can see a fantastic flickr archive of choice, delicious Noticias del mundo fotos here. Journalism may never be the same as these two purveyors of the semiotically perverse and factually ersatz bring down their curtains.

SUNY New Paltz and Identity Politics

Who would have thought that the in-house style guide at the State University of New York, New Paltz, would be cutting-edge when it comes to Chicano/a onomastics; I quote:

Chicano, Hispanic, Latino, Mexican American These terms, which should be capitalized, have distinct meanings that depend, to a large extent, on the interpretations and preferences of individuals. According to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, a Chicano is an American of Mexican descent; however, persons of Central and South American heritage may also consider themselves Chicanos. Chicana is the feminine form of Chicano. Plural forms are Chicanos and Chicanas. A Latino (feminine form: Latina) is a person of Latin American lineage; according to Webster's New Collegiate, Latin America consists of all the territories in the Americas south of the United States, but some Mexicans may prefer to call themselves Chicanos or Hispanics rather than Latinos. Plural forms are Latinos and Latinas. The term "Hispanic," according to Webster's New Collegiate, relates to the people, speech or culture of Spain, Portugal or Latin America. The plural form is Hispanics. A Mexican American is a native-born or naturalized American of Mexican heritage. Since Mexican American is a proper noun, do not hyphenate it, even when used as an adjective: A collection of Mexican American historical artifacts.

Not bad. Not bad at all. Any suggested edits? Leave a comment!

Before Tex[t]-Mex: Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Save for a dig at him in an early version of this blog (it's near the bottom of the page, you will have to scroll and scroll), the Tex[t]-Mex Galleryblog has NOT come clean about its debt to John Leguizamo. Say what you will about the man, it was his New York one-man show MAMBO MOUTH, that blew away this wet-behind-the-ears assistant professor from the University of Connecticut--a riveting performance that opened my shuttered eyes to the velvety richness and intoxicating diversity of Latino and Latina stereotypes in the universe.

The 'and'?

Leguizamo gives great drag!.

Here's a 1991 Time Magazine piece on MAMBO MOUTH. A retrospective of scripts from his shows arrives in November from Harper Collins. Here's a couple of YouTube captures of Leguizamo in action:




Here's a decent interview with Leguizamo.

Lupe Vélez and Her Gringa Proxy

Not much of a new entry today, but during my trawl of the world wide waste of time, aka the world wide obsession, I stumbled on an eBay auction for a photo of Mexican phenom Lupe Vélez and her impersonator. Dutiful perusers of this space and of my book, Tex[t]-Mex already know of my Jean Baudrillard predilections, so I may be forgiven for forwarding this image with its implicit and explicit ironies to you.

An Odd Web Sighting...

...but a "good" odd.

What do I mean?

Imagine a blog by a Norwegian, living in Mexico. He's a programmer. No, he's an actor who is crazy about movies.

What do you get? Mexploitation--a curious blog that is totally up the alley for those of us, the semiotiholics, who fetishize the display of all things Mexican.

Check it out!



Even more tawdry mexicanesque eyecandy is here.

Rita Hayworth Overload

The chapter on electrolysis as a proxy for the existential, my homage to Rita Hayworth, is one of my favorite chapters in Tex[t]-Mex. I just stumbled on a site that archives snapshots from various sources of Rita, aka Maria Dolores Carmen Cansino. Go here for a Ritarcheology visual trough.

Dora & Diego Versus Speedy Gonzales

Our August 12, 2007 entry below, wherein AT&T waxes eloquent regarding the beauty of a monolingual world in a 1920 advertisement provides the perfect segue to our next galleryblog installment, wherein a recently-hitched, Hollywood, Tejana celebrities start piling on Speedy Gonzales while giving themselves over to reverie regarding future the issue of rugrats, something like "hope" evanesces on the horizon of tomorrow! Click here for a tale that fuses celebrity, multi-lingualism, procreation, Hollywood, and an animated tag-team match wherein Dora and (Latino Himbo) Diego get medieval on Warner Brothers' ratoncito.

One Policy, One System, Universal Service--The Joys of Monolingual Fascism

Implicit in the critique of stereotypes in Tex[t]-Mex is the revelation that race-hatred, ethnicity-phobia, and malicious scapegoating all dovetail like randy lovers with ignorance, boredom, stupidity, etc. And it may get worse before it gets better. At the very least it is nice to know that at least it is not a new invention. Journey with me now to 1922 and the monolingual wetdreams of AT&T.

Home Town "Boy" Makes Good: A Tale of Laredo, Texas

It took 45 years, but I finally had a brief feature published about me and my book in my hometown newspaper, The Laredo Morning Times. If you read the story, do please note that I told the interviewer a couple of my students had troubles with their "blogs" not their "log[s]." The ironies abound.

A .jpg version of the story is available by clicking the image here to your right.

Dry Those Tears Rachel! Mexico Kisses Uncle Sam's Butt

Previously, as devoted readers/viewers know, our valiant blog covered the spectacle of Miss USA's stumble at the Miss Universe pageant--an event so crucial that the NYTIMES saw fit to hold forth on the controversy. Now it seems that Mexico, feeling remorse (not to mention the loss of tourist lucre), and has issued an apology--dios mio, por favor!

I Moved My Cheesy Movie to the Second Page

Some people HATE music in the background of web page, so I have moved my cheezy movie to another page of the blog here.

Zorro in Hell | Culture Clash in LA!

I caught the La Jolla Playhouse version of Culture Clash's ZORRO IN HELL last year and it knocked my socks off. Now the trinamic trio of Latino Three Stooges is heating up the boards in LA with a revised and updated staging of their heady comic meditation on California stereotypes. Check it out if you get the chance. Here's a somewhat severe LAWEEKLY review of the show; the LATIMES gives more love here.