Friday, May 29, 2015

CHICANONATUICA LEARNS ABOUT THE SECRET YAQUI APOCALYPSE



That's thanks to a documentary by Paco Ignacio Taibo II in Chicanonautica, over at La Bloga.

Hollywood has givien us its version of the Yaquis:


They are used in action-packed westerns:


And sexy stars have played them:


It's so difficult to see the real thing:

Monday, May 25, 2015

JOHN WATERS FINDS AMERICA


Riots in the streets. Conflicts spreading like viruses. And a presidential election looming. Looks like it's time to go searching for America again.

It's not that we lose America. It's more like we lose track of it. It's especially easy in this days of social media, when you can fine tune your input according to your tastes – then, oh, the shocks when your step out of your comfort zone onto . . . the road.

That's where you find the real America, on the road. Huckleberry Finn knew it. So did Jack Kerouac. And Hunter Thompson.

And so does John Waters.

His latest book, Carsick, is another fine example of the Great American Road Book. He tells of hitchhiking across America, and more.

Carsick is another work of American literature that straddles the borders between fiction and nonfiction. After an introduction, he presents two outrageous novellas: one presenting the best case scenario, the other the worst. Waters' own twisted utopian and dystopian visions. Magnificently outrageous. The kind of stuff that makes you fall in love with America as the fantastic place where anything is possible, the way it should be, if only so many Americans weren't afraid of everything.

This gets into speculative fiction territory, crashing through alternative universes and all. Maybe John deserves a Hugo award for this.

Then, he goes on to document his real trip. Celebrity hitchhiking in the time of interwebs. Real people that are strange in ways his imagination didn't expect. The amazing, mind-blowing thing is – and I'm fighting the urge to commit spoilers here – it leaves you feeling good, and hopeful about this country.

It's the sort of book we need right now. And it makes me once again think of John Waters as a Great American.

Friday, May 15, 2015

CHICANONAUTICA WONDERS ABOUT CHICANO ART



In Chicanonautica, over at La Bloga, I go from my art at Sector 2337, to the subject of Chicano art:


As in, what is it?


Are we fine art?


And who know's where could this lead?

Monday, May 11, 2015

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEWS CORTEZ ON JUPITER



Here's what they had to say:

Hogan's debut, first published in 1990, introduced the subgenre of Chicano SF to a startled, dazzled American audience. Now, 25 years later, the book's Spanglish prose and freeform plot still amuse. All Pablo Cortez cares about is creating art, whether it's humongous graffiti sprayed across Los Angeles or zero-gravity paint slinging in space. Uncool authorities and timid collaborators can't stop him. When he confronts the alien Sirens of Jupiter, who have zapped the minds of earlier explorers, he takes their overwhelming flood of bizarre images as subject matter for new masterpieces. Hogan keeps Pablo's obsessive rants from becoming too intense by working them into a collage of comments from friends and enemies, along with hefty chunks of Aztec mythology, as he builds a jangling, rambunctious picture of artistic genius. This is tons of fun for freethinking readers who appreciate heroes with cojones. (Mar.)

Note: PW called Pablo "Pedro" at one point, but I corrected the error.

Buy it now!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

ERNESTO ART IN A GALLERY



As if there weren't enough turmoil sweeping across the planet, it looks like not even the art world is safe. After years of being seen only in obscure publications, the interwebs, and on those rare occasions when I show off my sketchbooks in person, some of my drawings are making it into an art gallery.

To be specific, Sector 2337, in Chicago, thanks to Josh Rios and Anthony Romero.

From the web page:

On view in the Project Space from May 09-Jun 13 2015
Josh Rios and Anthony Romero will present Part Two of Please Don’t Bury Me Alive!—a project space installation that features various arrangements of the artifacts from their inaugural performance alongside other works that deal with Chicano centered imagery and histories. In addition, a suite of drawings by Chicano sci-fi writer Ernest Hogan will be on display. The collection of works on paper represents the smallest of fragments culled from Hogan’s vast archive of sketchbooks, notes, and drafts, which Rios and Romero are working to curate for an exhibition in the Summer of 2016.
Did I mention that said drawings will also be for sale?

Just what is the world coming to?

Friday, May 1, 2015

CHICANONAUTICA SIGHTS LOWRIDERS IN SPACE



Chicanonautica reviews Lowriders in Space over at La Bloga, and there's even trailer:


Used to be Mexicans in space were the stuff of comedy:


But lately, it's gotten serious:


And even on Earth, things are changing: