This American Life: Chris Garcia and his dad take a drive (audio)

chrisgarcia400POCHO amigo Chris Garcia, the man behind our wildly popular Mexican Mitt Romney for President music video, was a guest on radio’s This American Life, an episode on Things You’re Not Supposed to Talk About. One of them is the route you’re driving…

Garcia and his dad were driving home, listening to oldies, sharing a bag of chips. A totally familiar scene for them. They’d driven this route probably hundreds of time, but something odd was happening in the car, so Chris started recording their conversation on his phone. He tells producer Nancy Updike what happened.

Chris starts his story at 44:55 into the show.

Mas…This American Life: Chris Garcia and his dad take a drive (audio)

Mexclusive: Hollywood has called my bluff with ‘Bordertown’ at Fox!

bordetowntoonborderstereotypestweetFox has just announced the pickup of a new animated TV show called Bordertown, debuting in 2014. It was created by the showrunner of Family Guy, Mark Hentemann.

I was offered a gig writing and consulting on the show, and I happily accepted.

This will be the first animated prime time network TV show with a significant number of Latino characters.

Over half the cast will Mexican or Mexican-Americans or Chicanos. It will be historic.

Mas…Mexclusive: Hollywood has called my bluff with ‘Bordertown’ at Fox!

A fashion trend from the 1990s — chanclas with socks — is back

socks-and-thongs(PNS reporting from NEW YORK CITY) Some fashion trends from the 1990s have been back in vogue for a while — everything from flannel to baby doll dresses and chokers — but one fashion trend has insiders abuzz this Fall: Chanclas with socks, newly re-branded as Chocks.

Rebuffed by mainstream fashion in the 1990s, the once-criticized trend is finding its home in a world where Miley Cyrus’ trashy fashion thrives.

“Chocks are a spin on a traditional Chicano way of dressing,” said Marisol Mejia, a chola-turned-designer here who is making waves in the fashion world. “What you have to realize is that it’s all in how you wear it, not just what.”

Mas…A fashion trend from the 1990s — chanclas with socks — is back

Why Goth Latinos love Morrissey and other stories (audio, video)

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NPR’s LatinoUSA (with Maria Hinojosa) writes:

Goth culture. Is it in? Is it out? Do they even care? Hear the stories of three Latinos who found a sense of community in Goth subculture while we try to answer the question of the ages: Why are Latinos obsessed with Morrissey? It’s not just the Pompadour.

Here’s a video of Moz live at Staples Center in Los Angeles in March with the classic Smiths’ song The Boy With The Thorn in His Side. The audience knows all the words and sings along!

Mas…Why Goth Latinos love Morrissey and other stories (audio, video)

Don’t cry for me Argentina: How NOT to make a taco! (video)

mexikoshertacoThis is HOW NOT MAKE A TACO … NO NO NO NO

Chef Katsuji Tanabe of Mexikosher got all indignant on his Facebook page, and he wasn’t the only one. Why so mad? It’s that darn Argentinian Chef Maru Botana and her how-to-make-a-taco video.

Argentine Chef Maru Botana Crucified On Twitter For Mocking Mexican Food was the headline in the “Latin Times,” an English-language website despite its name. Maria G. Valdez reporting [*Latin translation by Google below.]:

Mas…Don’t cry for me Argentina: How NOT to make a taco! (video)

For the Vets: Anti-war poem from WWI: ‘Dulce et decorum est’

Today we observe Veterans Day, AKA Armistice Day, which marks the end of World War I.

Dulce et Decorum est is a poem written by poet Wilfred Owen in 1917, during the War, and published posthumously in 1920. Owen’s poem is known for its horrific description of chemical warfare and condemnation of war.

The Masters of War are not supposed to use poison gas any more but drone strikes aren’t much fun either.

POCHO dedicates this poem to all our veterans in gratitude for their service and sacrifice and with the hope no child will see war again.

Mas…For the Vets: Anti-war poem from WWI: ‘Dulce et decorum est’

Francisco Garcia Lopez wins ‘Most Mexican Man in the World’

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(PNS reporting from GUANAJUATO, MX) Francisco Garcia Lopez was named Most Mexican Man in the World in the final episode of Who Is More Mexican ? (¿Quién es más mexicano?) recorded here last night, PNS has learned.

Audience members exiting the taping at Teatro Televisio said that winner Lopez (publicity photo, above) had impressed the judges with his singular dedication.

Lopez, a 37-year-old bachelor attorney, “underwent extreme body modification, all the way down to his prickly pear,” one excited fan gushed.

Mas…Francisco Garcia Lopez wins ‘Most Mexican Man in the World’

Quinteto Latino: ‘Son de la bruja’ (live classical music video)


No, it’s not the Son of Jan Brewja. It’s the perfectly lovely (traditional Mexican) tune Son de la bruja (sound of/song of the witch) arranged by Jose Luis Hurtado, in magical 6/8 time. The Quinteto Latino is Diane Grubbe, Kyle Bruckmann, Leslie Tagorda, Shawn Jones, Armando Castellano. Shot at the Latin American Classical Musical Festival at the Old First Church, October 19, San Francisco.

Pocho Ocho ‘things educated Chicanos like’

salmahaeykWe found this blog called Stuff Educated Chicanos Like | Information on those kids from Aztlan and it’s like it was conceived and written about us here at Pocho, but no.

The blog started in 2008 and hasn’t been updated since 2011, but it still makes us LOL.

(We stole just eight headlines from the original 23 entries for this Pocho Ocho list, so you’ll have to read this post and find the link at the end for the extensive original story.)

¡Mira! Pocho Ocho things educated Chicanos like, with links to POCHO examples:

8. Salma Hayek

Mas…Pocho Ocho ‘things educated Chicanos like’

Explorers find pyramids of ‘Lost City of Giants’ in Ecuador rain forest

bigpyramidA team of explorers has found a gigantic stone pyramid (and gigantic stone hammers) in the Amazonian rain forest of Ecuador, an ancient complex which corresponds to a local legend about a City of Giants.

AncientOrigins.net reports:

At the discovered site there is one extremely large pyramidal type structure of approximately 80 metres square base and 80 metres height, with steeply inclined walls. This structure is made up of irregular shaped large cut stone blocks, each currently calculated to be approximately 2 tonnes in weight; many hundreds of such blocks make up the walls of the building.

Mas…Explorers find pyramids of ‘Lost City of Giants’ in Ecuador rain forest

Otra DREAMer in London – I’m a stranger in a strange land

tubelondonSix weeks have passed since my move to London; the start of new journey, a new dream. It is the first time in my life that I made the conscious decision to migrate. I did not have that choice at the age of nine when I was brought into the U.S. as an irregular migrant child, nor did I choose to return to Mexico when I was deported four years ago.

nancylandaThe excitement still lingers alongside a sense of exploration as I am afforded certain level of freedom to be able to reside in a foreign country legally to pursue a graduate degree. It took overcoming very difficulty challenges, but I did not do it alone. An entire community supported me along the way to be here. It is a privilege that I do not take lightly as well as a responsibility to represent the collective challenges of migrants who have gone through similar experiences wherever I am.

Mas…Otra DREAMer in London – I’m a stranger in a strange land

Tia Lencha’s Cocina explains El Dia de Los Muertos for you pochos

Happy Day of the Dead! Is Tia Lencha here. Many people ask me questions about Dia de Los Muertos. I answer the questions today.

Question numero one: Tia Lencha wass this Dia de los Muertos? Is it the Mexican Halloween?
Gwell, kind of, I say. Except that the Day of the Dead celebrations come from the indigenous pagan rituals that trace back 2,500 to 3,000 years ago. Way before Duane Reade sold Halloween candy.

Question numero two: Tia Lencha, wassup with the calaveras (“skulls” for you pochos)?
Bueno, before Jesus came along, people used to keep skulls of their loved ones (and maybe not so loved ones) as trophies. They showed off the skulls during the rituals as symbols of death and rebirth. Kind of heavy, no? I never say my history was all tequila shots and tacos.

Also, calaveras can be short poems, like epitaphs like to mock your friends. Like you can make fun of them on their tombstones. Like for mijo’s daddy, I wrote a calavera about him call “Oscar Meyer” because he like to stick his weenie ebrywhere! He no think it was so funny.

Mas…Tia Lencha’s Cocina explains El Dia de Los Muertos for you pochos