Happy Rosh HaShanah from the Jews of Tijuana! Happy 5776! (video)

tijuanaMexico, like the United Estates, is a “nation of immigrants.”

In the 1900s, Tijuana welcomed Jewish refugees fleeing wars, hate and poverty in Europe, Asia and the Mideast.

Tijuana Jews, the story of the extended Artenstein family, has become a POCHO Rosh HaShanah (New Year) tradition ever since we noticed rosh-ha-shanah rhymes with Tijuana.

The Jewish year 5776 begins at sundown Sunday, September 13. We wish all who celebrate a happy, healthy, peaceful, loving, prosperous, and sweet New Year. In Ladino — the hybrid Spanish-Hebrew language Jews spoke in Andaluz before the Inquisition — that’s ANYADA BUENA I DULSE!

Mas…Happy Rosh HaShanah from the Jews of Tijuana! Happy 5776! (video)

Tlaloc, sweetie, you get a little hostile when you’re hungry (toon)

Sometimes you feel like a nut, and sometimes you don’t!

Para reír un rato.

Posted by Teotihuacan on Thursday, September 3, 2015

 

Mas…Tlaloc, sweetie, you get a little hostile when you’re hungry (toon)

It’s almost as if Escher animated a Kafka story: ‘The Guardian’ (video)

guardianA wandering Everyman arrives at a metaphysical gate, controlled by a fearsome Guardian. He tries to pass through, but is denied.

Everyman and Guardian, however, are the same person. Each of us must confront his own fear, or else the shapeless Guardian who controls us will close the doors on the possibilities of our lives. We have nothing to fear, tu sabes, but fear itself. (Also mind killer.)

Mas…It’s almost as if Escher animated a Kafka story: ‘The Guardian’ (video)

Tunnels from 1531 discovered under streets of Puebla, Mexico (video)

pueblatunnelsThe urban legend is true.

There ARE massive tunnels underneath the streets of Puebla, one of the first major cities of Spanish-era Mexico.

RT reports:

“…authorities have now confirmed their existence, and say the secret passageways could date back 500 years. The city hopes to turn the tunnels into an attraction.

The underground passages, which measure approximately seven meters high and three meters wide, were discovered during public works in the colonial city.

Mas…Tunnels from 1531 discovered under streets of Puebla, Mexico (video)

Clip y Save: Fall screenings of ‘Bordertown,’ maybe near you *UPDATED

bordertownIf you follow POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz and me, POCHO Associate Naranjero Gustavo Arellano, you know that we’ve been shamelessly promoting the upcoming FOX animated cartoon, Bordertown.

In case you’re just some random Googler who stumbled across this page, here’s the synopsis: BORDERTOWN satirizes life on the U.S.-Mexico border — la migra, changing demographics, religion, the drug war, and so much more.

Yeah, part of it is shameless self-promotion — I’m a consultant, while Lalo is a staff writer. But we’re doing it because we truly do believe this series is the Great Brown Hope: the network program that will finally show raza in all our hilarious, proud, chingón glory and that will become a ratings smash that’ll allow the beginning of #televisionreconquista.

Mas…Clip y Save: Fall screenings of ‘Bordertown,’ maybe near you *UPDATED

You can like this 2012 Cuban a capella ‘Hotel California’ video now


In case you missed it: This is a clip from a 2012 concert that’s been online for over two years and it’s suddenly popular all over again. We think Cuban a capella group Vocal Sampling does a great version of the Eagle’s Hotel California. We’re also pumped it’s finally OK to like Cuba and Cubans and Cuban musicians now. Unless you’re Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio, of course.

Based on a true story: The adventures of ‘El Coyote’ [NSFW]

coyotetopEvery day, twice a day, Monday through Friday for six months, the coyote (or human smuggler) concealed and transported migrants across the border from Mexico to Los Estados Unidos. El Coyote — based on a true story — has some NSFW words in Spanish and English. There’s lots more about filmmaker Javier Barboza and the making of this stop-motion and animated video at Barboza’s website.

Mas…Based on a true story: The adventures of ‘El Coyote’ [NSFW]

How to make Mexican tortillas|Cómo hacer tortillas mexicanas (video)


Este vídeo fue grabado en Chiapas, México. En él podemos ver la forma tradicional de hacer las tortillas, hechas por los mismos miembros de la comunidad de Petalcingo. Vuélvete un experto e impresiona a tus amigos. // This was recorded in Petalcingo, Chiapas, Mexico. We can see how native people of this community prepare traditional tortillas. Tortillas are typical in the Mexican gastronomy, so, if you want to become an expert and impress your friends, pay attention.

How gringas, gringos, gabachas y gabachos can pass as poch@s

olmosmemeIf there’s one thing I’m pretty experienced at, it’s navigating between Gringolandia and Mi Raza.

“Osea,” being pocho.

As the racial landscape of our country darkens, for the better, and Latinos become the majority, proving your pocho-ness will become a valuable skill for all gringos, whether Trump likes it or not.

Follow these three simple steps next time you need to pass as pocho.

Studies have shown the more pocho you are, the easier it is to get into law school, get that promotion or land that Hollywood role of a lifetime.

Mas…How gringas, gringos, gabachas y gabachos can pass as poch@s

That time when Sylvester Stallone was a Mexican cover boy (toons)

argosythrillfWith all the press he is getting, you would think that Pendejo-of-the-Century Donald Trump had invented all the twisted tales of Mexicans floating on the interwebs.

But our pasty-faced, combover fatboy is not the first and not the last of the foolios who will get rich (and famous) for spouting hate-laced bon mots on the hygiene, sexual practices, and criminality of Mexicans or any other Latina/o for that matter.

Here, in some graphics from the 30s, we see some early 20th Century meditations on Latina/o/Hispanic subjectivities from the pages of Argosy Weekly.

As you can see, pulp magazine editors and illustrators were not ethnographers and whether the subjects depicted are Spanish, Argentine, or Mexican (or Italian — Sylvester Stallone?) is impossible to determine — though I am pretty sure the Buzzard Bait issue features some prehistoric Califas bandidos, and Señor Flatfoot’s “pampas” rogues look like they stepped out of the Mexico conjured in John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (which had not been made yet! Time travelers?)

Mas…That time when Sylvester Stallone was a Mexican cover boy (toons)

SPONSORED: Take the worry out of gentrification – with GENTRÍFIA®

Gentrification is TERRIFIC with GENTRÍFIA®!

“I used to worry about gentrification squeezing out local businesses,” says Monica Galvanes of Eagle Rock, a Los Angeles neighborhood in transition. “And then I heard about GENTRÍFIA®. Now I don’t give a shit!”

Her reaction explains the great success of GENTRÍFIA®, according to its manufacturer, STFU PHARMA.

Carlos Robles up in the East Bay is also enthusiastic:

Mas…SPONSORED: Take the worry out of gentrification – with GENTRÍFIA®