CHICANONAUTICA PRESENTS DIEGO AND PABLO

 

Chicanonautica is all about Hispanoid art, over at La Bloga:

As in Diego Rivera:

And Picasso:

That's Diego:

And Pablo:

BEYOND THE BOOKSTORES IN ARIZONA

 

The season of deadly heat had begun when our nephew arrived from California to bask in Aunt Emily's and Uncle Ernest’s vast knowledge accumulated by being professional writers. Too make sure he survived the visit we took him up north.

It was cooler up in volcano country. A less threatening environment for an aspiring young writer. Em had researched bookstores in the area, and the lad could use a quick course in cherchez le weird and zen and the art of the road trip.

As we approached Flagstaff, there was a sign: ICE MAY BE PRESENT ON THE ROADWAY.

And in front of a hotel: NO TRAIN NOISE . . . MARTIANS WELCOME.

We stopped at Montezuma’s Castle and Well, even though both were abandoned long before the Aztec emperor was born. Looks like the names have been changed to protect the ignorant.

And we avoided the town with rumors of white supremacists, human sacrifice, and cannibalism.

It was hot rod night when we had dinner at the Galaxy Diner. There was also a singing cowboy on duty.

The next morning in Sedona, we had breakfast and I got my buckwheat-pancakes fix at the Coffee Pot. Part of the snake that one of the kachinas was holding was broken. They either need to have it repaired, or paint the ends red, and put another drop near the kachina’s mouth.

Later, in Prescott, I saw some bathroom graffiti: PEACE 2 THE WORLD.

Montezuma St., AKA Whisky Row, is now hipster central. The ghosts of the rowdy cowboys who raised hell in the saloons that once lined the street would be amused. Now there are a lot of antique shops, and places to eat and drink. We had iced tea and root beer floats in a place called the Devil’s Pantry.

We stood at the Apache Lodge, a relic from the pre-motel and interstate highway days. It was built to look like an adobe outpost in 1946. Wooden Indians guarded the front door, and ancient prostitution licenses decorated the office.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the Lone Spur Cafe amid the murals and Wild West artifacts. A stuffed buffalo head watched over us. I recommend the huevos rancheros.

We took the scenic route back to Phoenix. The car was overflowing with books. It was a successful trip. 

Our nephew proved to be at home in places arranged to accommodate stacks of books rather than human bodies. Once he found the classics and literature he was happy. His tastes are more highbrow than mine—I usually turn to that stuff when it appeals to prurient interests. 

He does also like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Edgar Wallace.

We even found some more bookstores once we got back to Phoenix. 

By the time we took him back to the airport, we were headed for more record-breaking temperatures.

CHICANONAUTICA VISITS FRIDA AND DIEGO IN PHOENIX

Chicanonautica, over at La Bloga, visits the Heard Museum:

And finds Frida and Diego:

That's Frida:

And Diego:

DÉJÀ VU SCI-FI DIVERSITY RIDES AGAIN

One of my most popular Mondo Ernesto posts is DéjàVu in a Sci-Fi Divesity Time Warp. It's gotten a lot of hits over the years and people keep checking up on it. I’m not sure why. It could be that the whole sci-fI diversity thing is still a hot topic--echoing the déjà vu all over again.

 

It could also be that one of the images used to make my point went missing, and a handful of determined readers keep checking to see if it’s back.

I’ve been checking too, and for years there’s been no sign of it in the interwebs.

We can only speculate as to why.

Fortunately, I found, and bought a copy of the first edition of Steve Barnes’ Streetlethal, I scanned it myself, and put it back on the post, so once again we can see how the hero was de-Africanized.

Are we diverse yet?

CHICANONAUTICA CULTURALLY APPROPRIATES THE TACO

 

It's all about tacos in Chicanonautica, over at La Bloga:

Another excuse to post my favorite taco song:

And spread the knowledge:

This is how real pros do it:

Of course, it can get weird:

CHICANONAUTICA GOES TO THE UNIVERSITY OF DOOM

 

Chicanonautica takes La Bloga to the University of Doom!

I love it when they have their own videos:

It's a young adult novel about mad scientists:

This Dr. Frankenstein and his teenage son are Mexicans:

And watch out for the Vampira/chola/goth girl:

ALTERMUNDOS HAS LANDED!

 

These are my contributor copies of Altermundos: Latin@ Speculative Literature,Film, and Popular Culture edited by Cathryn Josefina Merla-Watson and B.V. Olguín. It features my artwork and “Chicanonautica Manifesto”--in which I declare that “Chicano is a science fiction state of being”--plus Daoine S. Bachran's “From Code to Codex: Tricksterizing the Digital Divide in Ernest Hogan's Smoking Mirror Blues” and other essays that mention and discuss my work and otherwise make me look like somekinda Chicano sci-fi chingón.

It's also cock full of stuff that proves that visions of the future and traditions of wild imagination aren't the intellectual property of English-speaking heterosexual white men. I've started reading it, and am hooked. I'm also rethinking my concepts of the directions and possibilities of Latinoid civilization in the 21^st century.

Maybe the Intergalactic Barrio is only the beginning . . .

CHICANONAUTICA LOOKS AT MY UNFINISHED NOVELS

  

My unfinished novels are discussed in Chicanonautica,over at La Bloga.

One's about a Mariachi on Mars:

My alter ego Victor Theremin runs amok in another:

Then there's the the one about bullfighting:

And weird ass western:

FIVE TO THE FUTURE—THE PAPERBACK

 

Even in this age of the ebook, there's nothing like feeling a book in your hands with your words in it. That's why I'm delighted to announce that Five to the Future, is also available in paperback, and in stock at Amazon.

It includes a new novelette—both a dystopia based on current events, as well as a phantasmagorical Chicano futuristic vision--by me.

There's also one by my wife, the fabulous Emily Devenport. And Cynthia Ward, Arthur Byron Cover, and editor M. Christian.

(And, pssst! Don't tell anybody, but for the time being, if you have Kindle Unlimited, you can get the ebook for FREE!)

If you're interested in reviewing it, please do. You can still be the first to do it on Amazon. Or get in touch with M. Christian.

I'm reading it right now, and would be praising it, even if I weren't a contributor.

CHICANONAUTICA GIVES A POST-CINCO DE MAYO REPORT FROM TRUMPTOPIA

Chicanonautica looks back at the first Trump Era Cinco de Mayo, over at La Bloga:

As usual, a history lesson is in order:

For those of you who don't believe in the gun-toting, blackfaced transvestites:

Meanwhile, corporate recomboculture mutates on:

And there is fear, and loathing: