CHICANONAUTICA MEETS KAIJU MEXICANA

Chicanonautica reviews Lords of the Earth, the first Kaiju Mexicana novel, at La Bloga.

Kaiju being the Japanese monster movie tradition:

And there have been Mexican monster movies:

And Hollywood monster movies set in Mexico, old:

And recent:

A SUNDAY IN TUCSON

The crescent moon and Venus blazed over the predawn glow as we left Hacienda Hogan for the Tuscon. Soon the sun rose as we made our way down the I-10, sipping coffee with donut fallout all over our clothes. Emily was scheduled to be on two panels, about “Spaaaaaace,” and “Rebellion,” at the Tuscon Festival of Books. And talk about Medusa Uploaded and it's soon to be released sequel Medusa in the Graveyard.

We arrived early at the campus of the University of Arizona (for a guy who hated school, I keep ending up on campuses), as settled in to the Author's Hospitality Lounge in time to hear a distinguished professorial-type refer to the President of the United States of America as “that fuckhead.” 

The Student Union Area, a campus in itself, was like mall. I've been having dreams about college/mall hybrid places. Could this be the next step of post-urban evolution now that traditional, twentieth-century mall culture is crashing? The education and entertainment industries do seem to be merging . . .

The classroom where Emily's panels took place was at the bottom of an subterranean labyrinth with a lot concrete stairs leading to an underworld left over from another era.

The desks, really a long, bar-like structure, had electric outlet/internet jack fixtures built into it. Students asked questions about philosophy and morality. Another brave new world.

The festival was gigantic. Good to see thousands of people milling around in the sun, looking at displays of all kinds of books. Kinda civilized.

A even found an interesting statue to photograph: “Another Martyr #4” by Fritz Scholder. The ghostly native American figure loomed over the festivities. 

 

Afterwards, in anticipation of the two hour drive back to Phoenix, we cruised Speedway Blvd. in search of food. Strangely there we saw more Asian joints than Mexican restaurants—one was empty abandoned shell. What's happened to the Old Pueblo?

Finally we went to La Parrilla Suiza (“Authentic Mexico City Food! CALL OR STOP BY ANY OF OUR LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT ARIZONA!” according to their website). There were a lot of customers, most of them “Mexican.” And the tacos were good.

Like I've said, when I smell tacos, I know I'm in civilization.

CHICANONAUTICA GOES BEYOND THE SFF LATINX BUNDLE

The SFF Latinx Bundle deal is history, but Chicanonautica  goes on, at La Bloga.

It is the end of one trail:

But the journey goes on:

Latinx cultura keeps on selling:

And the future is looking good:

SCENES FROM A NATIONAL EMERGENCY

The inflatable dinosaur, toothy mouth wide open in a silent scream, tried to attract business to a gigantic car wash. It made me smile. I took a picture. Put it on Facebook and Twitter.

Maybe it’s the spirit of the times, or some kind metaphor. 

Mostly, it's kind of funny.

Is this what a national emergency looks like?

Forget the wall. The monsters are already here.

Silly, but here.

A week later, the dinosaur was deflated, a pile of rumpled fabric with teeth and claws.

Maybe that’s what a national emergency looks like.

What could have happened? Random gunfire? A switchblade attack? Orders from headquarters?

Everything becomes extinct eventually. Even silly national emergencies. Hopefully, it will at least provide us with some interesting artifacts to look back on.

Maybe it's art. At least it's amusing.

CHICANONAUTICA GOES LIVE AT THE SFF LATINX BUNDLE

Chicanonautica promotes the SFF Latinx Bundle, over at La Bloga.

Strange Tales of Science Fiction is evoked:

In the name of Latinx science fiction:

. . . and fantasy:

Because you never know where the Latinoid imagination will take you:

HIGH AZTECH IN THE SFF LATINX BUNDLE

High Aztech is now available as part of The SFF Latinx Bundle!

Some of you may have some questions:

What's SFF? It stands for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Way back when I was a teenage fan we used the abbreviation sf, and kept it lowercase, so people didn't think you were talking about San Francisco.

What's Latinx? Latino, only trying to reach beyond Español o/a gender thing.

What's a bundle? As in Story Bundle. For of $15 you can get eleven ebooks. Not just High Aztech, but ten other Latinx SFF books! A great way to catch up on some of the Latinoid sf/fantasy out there.

For a limited time only! Get it now!

I'll be writing more about this in Chicnaonautica at La Bloga, soon!

CHICANONAUTICA WRITES A LETTER TO 1969

Chicanonautica writes a letter to 1969, over at La Bloga.

It was the year of the first moon landing:

And Woodstock:

"Normal" life went on:

And some things got extreme:

DOODLING, DRAWING, AND NOODLING

I'm an artist as well as a writer. Maybe I'm more an artist than a writer. I'm more visually oriented than verbal. When I write, I set out to put images in the reader’s mind.

For some reason I can't fathom, I've been drawing less in recent years. Maybe it's because I’ve had more success with writing than art. Maybe it's that I keep getting distracted by all kinds of stuff lately. Maybe I'm getting lazy in my old age.

Since it's a new year that is already getting weirder than the last, and I've decided to make a heroic effort of finishing Zyx, Or; Bring Me the Brain of Victor Theremin before 2020 gets here, I've also decided to make a point of purposely drawing more this year.

And it's already producing results.

I've revived my old habit of doing quick, semi-abstract/surrealistic sketches as a warm-up for creative work. Noodling around helps get the juices flowing.

I’ve also been dusting off the drawing board, and working on my long overdue project for Claude Lalumiere's Avatars of Adventure, the Aztec Eagle.

Another old habit of mine that I'm diving back into is doodling. I used to do it all the time in school--it kept me from dying of boredom. These days I use a notebook (not to be confused with my sketchbooks) to keep track of all my projects. 

Somewhere along the line I stopped the doodling. I’m not sure why. Maybe I was trying to be a professional or an adult or some other pretension.

I'm so glad I'm now too old for that grown-up nonsense.

The doodling may have helped me in school. I've heard that it helps you remember things. I'm not sure about that, but I know that drawing does good things for my brain. I feel better, and dealing with all the madness gets easier.

I haven't been doing enough of it, and I need to get back to it. This is because all creativity comes from noodling around with your brain, tossing around the images, words, ideas, whatever, to the music in your head.

Excuse me. I have some important noodling to do . . .

CHICANONAUTICA GETS SEDUCED AND HALLUCINATES TEX(T)-MEX

Chicanonautica reviews Tex(t)-Mex, over at La Bloga:

So, here's a touch of evil:

A look at Rita Hayworth's Latin roots:

What has Speedy been smoking?

And a Maoist report on the Frida Kahlo Barbie:

ERNESTOMANIA 2019

Once again, the new year begins like crash-landing on an unknown planet. Only this time there's all kinds of weird apocalyptic shit around the smoking crater. The natives are too busy figuring out their new realities to notice me crawling from the wreckage.

There are a lot of new realities in 2019 . . .

So, what do I do now? If it wasn't for all the holidayization of the calendar, I'd just keep on, head down, full speed ahead, but culture puts its rituals in the way, interrupting my program.

Think I'll make a public spectacle of finishing my novel, Zyx; or, Bring Me the Brain of Victor Theremin. I've been thrashing away at it for a few years, and it's finally taking shape in brain, which should have serious effects on my behavior. I could use a excuse, and it could be entertaining.

I also should sit down at my drawing board, and finish drawing that Aztec Eagle (a masked, Mexican wrestler) comic based on the script that Claude Lalumière wrote for his Avatars of Adventure project. It keeps getting derailed my writing career, and getting tripped up on technical aspects. I should just get down to doing some old-fashioned cartooning.

Also, I should stop letting the drawing board get dusty. I need to draw more, if just for the way it makes me feel.

There's also some unsold short fiction. They've all reached the point where they've been turned down by most markets, so I have to go hunting in the outer reaches to find homes for them. As if I didn't have enough to do. But how are people 

supposed to read them if they don't get published?

I also have a Pancho Villa's Flying Circus, story collection

that I should start working on . . .

Funny, how I'm never short on stuff to do.

Also, I need to expect the unexpected, and invite inspiration, which is basically, the way I lead my life. I come up with these crazy ideas, and that's why it's so disorganized. Or is it just organized in an eccentric manner?

Is it possible to be a writer and an artist, and be normal?

Meanwhile, new things rain down. While driving back from Sedona last week, Emily told me about a dream she had that would make a good fantasy novel. I made a few suggestions, and she asked, “Would you like like to write it with me?”

Just what I need, another project.

But I could not resist.