Cultura

It’s Not News to Us

A young family, divided by the border, lives ‘Through the Wall’ (video)

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Undocumented immigrants Abril, brought to the U.S. as a child, and her 2-year-old boy Julián live near San Diego. Julián’s father Uriel was stopped by police for a minor traffic ticket and deported to Tijuana. In order to see each other, Uriel, Abril and Julián must cross difficult terrain to reach the border to spend time together the only way they can — Through the Wall. [Video by Tim Nackashi.]

In 1959, this country singer just loved ‘Tiquela & Mexican Beer’ (video)

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bryanrecord45In 1959, country singer Larry Bryant released a 45 celebrating his love of Tiquela & Mexican Beer. Music trade magazine Billboard called it “interesting” — not a good sign — and the record never made much of a splash.

But the original 45 (#101 — the first release?) on Santa Fe Records is a $25 collector’s item these days, so Bryant and friends were validated over 50 years later.

And even though his speeling is owlfull, we’re 100% in agreement with Larry’s high opinion of the aforementioned beverages, as well as his love for Mexican señoritas, tacos, tortillas and beans.

Mas…In 1959, this country singer just loved ‘Tiquela & Mexican Beer’ (video)

Japanese students in San Diego try a ‘sushirrito’ (video)

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When Japanese students at the Q International School in San Diego tried an unlikely All-American Mashup, a “sushirrito,” they were surprised.

At first, they noted, the colors weren’t right, there was no mustard and it lacked ketchup and hamburger. On the other hand, nom nom nom!

We weren’t surprised. In SD, burritos have explored new culinary and multicultural frontiers — they come with French fries:

Mas…Japanese students in San Diego try a ‘sushirrito’ (video)

‘Meet an (orange is the new black) Immigrant’ (video)

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Thought experiment? Guerrilla theater? A prank?

When Sergio Mieja (he’s @SMieja95 on the Twitter) got the idea for this video, he didn’t know exactly what the message was. He just wanted to see who supported Donald Trump.

“But as I was filming it,” he explains, “many of the people I met expressed their feeling and emotions towards this subject and it was then I knew what the purpose of this video was and realized it had a much more significant meaning. Please share this message with your friends and family.”

Narco corridos are so over! El Chapo has a narco juego (video)

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Was it inevitable? Nevertheless, here it is: El Chapo Fat ‘n’ Furious, a new smartphone video game.

We’ll let the creators tell the story:

In a 16-bits graphic vintage style, which perfectly syncs to the shifted-tone gameplay, the player finds himself in the shoes of El Chapo on the day of his escape. As he gets on his bike the mad rush begins!

Mas…Narco corridos are so over! El Chapo has a narco juego (video)

True Story: I was a teenaged guera, white like Jesus too

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bigblondejesusIn 1969, my mother registered to vote as a member of La Raza Unida, an independent “third party.”

When she came home and shared the news with her father — declaring that she was a “Chicana” — he grew angry.

He told her never to use that word, since “Chicano” was a derogatory term when he was growing up.

Despite my mother’s defiance of the patriarchal family regime that day, she never talked much about the importance of our Mexican heritage or exploring the values of Xicanisma.

Mom did send me to an all-girls Catholic high school, however, and maybe that was an attempt at showing me empowerment for women. The school was in 75% white Glendora, though, so our Jesus statues were white (photo, above), just like our feminism. 

Mas…True Story: I was a teenaged guera, white like Jesus too

Manitoba MexiMetal: The Mariachi Ghost’s “Susana” (video)

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Electric guitar? ✔︎ Vihuela acoustic guitar? ✔︎ Guitarron? ✔︎ Trumpet? ✔︎ Soaring harmonies? ✔︎ Grunge synthesizer? ✔︎ Neo-charro outfits? ✔︎ Dia de los Muertos makeup? ✔︎ Hypnotic masked dancer in a red bandanna? ✔︎

Winnipeg, Manitoba, is the home of The Mariachi Ghost, the world’s best Mexi-Canadian progressive metal band. This live performance of Susana shows why. We don’t always feature 7-minute-long music videos, but when we do, they’re MexiMetal. 🙂

PREVIOUSY ON THE MARIACHI GHOST:

Mas…Manitoba MexiMetal: The Mariachi Ghost’s “Susana” (video)

Pocho Ocho top ways to tell that Spring has finally esprung

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Spring began at 9:30 PDT Saturday night as the Northern Hemisphere marked the Vernal Equinox. But if you’re not looking at a calendar, how would you know?

Here are the Pocho Ocho Best Ways to Tell that Spring has Sprung:

8. Chipotle Mexican Grill introduces Fresh Seasonal Virus Menu

7. KKK members don short-sleeved sheets and start work on their tans

6. Sarah Palin switches from bourbon to gin

Mas…Pocho Ocho top ways to tell that Spring has finally esprung

A professor visits migrants at the border near Nogales, Mexico

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border_immersion_morenoBy the time the two young women walked into the shelter, the other migrants were mostly finished with their meals. They stood out as two women among dozens of recently deported men enjoying a meal before continuing on their way. I did what I had been doing all that January morning: I served them each a glass of hot chocolate and a plate of food.

We were volunteering at the Kino Border Initiative (KBI) in Nogales, Mexico, as part of the Center for Social Concerns’ Border Immersion Faculty Seminar. For several years, Notre Dame students have participated in this seminar, but this was the first time it was being offered to faculty and staff as well. As a professor of U.S. Latino literature who studies and teaches about the border, this was an opportunity for me to experience the border in a different way.

Mas…A professor visits migrants at the border near Nogales, Mexico

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The San Patricio Batallón: Irish heroes of Aztlan (4 music videos)

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This corrido by Orange County Celtic-rock homies The Fenians tells the tragic story of the San Patricios, the St. Patrick’s Battalion.

The unit of 200 mostly Catholic Irish immigrants deserted the United States Army and fought with the Mexican Army against the U.S.A. in the Mexican–American War.

Scots-British post-punk The Wakes Band offer their version of the story next. The video’s not much to look at but the lyrics are killer, so read along below:

Mas…The San Patricio Batallón: Irish heroes of Aztlan (4 music videos)

Around Our Town on St. Paddy’s Day: Where to go, what to do

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LUCK OF THE IRISH: Look for a pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow today at Gustavo O’Grady’s Bar y Grill on East Olmos Boulevard. The popular hangout will serve corned beef tacos, potato-stuffed chiles rellenos and beer-marinated enchilada irlanda sliders at $1 each during Happy Hour.

Happy Hour, you lucky leprechauns, lasts all day long, and GO’G’s always keeps 100 bottles of beer on the wall.

For $144 and a signed damage waiver, you high-rollers can try GO’G’s One Night in Dublin Lifestyle Tasting Menu — generous pours of Guinness and Jameson’s followed by a course of impassioned story-telling and poetry, more pours, then a rich hour of melancholy singing, pours again, all capped off by your choice of a bar fight or vomiting in the alley.

Wear a wee bit o’ green and Gay Gus O’Grady himself will kiss your Blarney Stone.

Mas…Around Our Town on St. Paddy’s Day: Where to go, what to do

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