Cultura

It’s Not News to Us

[Chamber music for chipsters] Dorian Wood: ‘La Cara Infinita’ (video)

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Dorian Wood is a Los Angeles-based avant garde (“alternative” is not a big enough word) composer and performer who publishes his own compositions via a company called Why Are You Doing This Music which maybe gives you a hint of what to expect from his self-produced album Rattle Rattle. This version of the Echo Park homie’s original song La Cara Infinta (on the album) was recorded live on July 5 at the MorYork Gallery in L.A. That’s Ms. Eddika Organista on guest vocals. Just wow.

You want more, right? Here’s the complete audio for Rattle Rattle:

Mas…[Chamber music for chipsters] Dorian Wood: ‘La Cara Infinita’ (video)

In Long Beach, an empty lot became a theater for the people (video)

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“On a Saturday afternoon in late summer, in the midst of a Long Beach multicultural neighborhood inhabited mostly by Cambodians, Latinos and African-Americans, an empty lot came alive. Families walking with their children, teenagers running on skateboards and curious drivers slowed down their pace to watch live performances by an Hispanic theater group made up of day laborers, and by a group from CSULB’s Dance Department.” — Filmmaker Rick Meghiddo.

Your childhood cartoon heroes — where are they now? (toons)

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Mia McKenzie writes:

So, a couple of weeks ago, there was this link going around that depicts certain 90s cartoon characters “taking on” New York fashion week in trendy outfits. Among them are Lisa Simpson and Daria. When I saw this, the first thing I thought was, Ugh. Lisa Simpson, proud feminist with so much to say about gender roles, body shaming and capitalism, drawn in this hyper-thin, rich girl way? Why, baby Jesus? Why? My friends had the same question, plus not-so-thrilled reactions to Daria. You know Daria, who once said, …”edgy” occurs when middle-brow, middle-aged profiteers are looking to suck the energy–not to mention spending money–out of the “youth culture”? Yep, that Daria is depicted in overpriced clothes, standing in front of a Mercedes dealership. Yuck.

Mas…Your childhood cartoon heroes — where are they now? (toons)

Twin Tragedies in AZ: Hispanic Heritage Month, Banned Books

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arizonawebtoonIt’s Octember! Or is it Septober? It’s the time of the year when the weather starts getting cooler, politic shenanigans get ignored and eyes begin to glaze over from lethal injections of sports, beer and chicken wings.

‘Merica.

Septober is also the pseudo-month that we deal in tragedies of two kinds: “Hispanic Heritage” and banned books. Interestingly enough, both tragedies cross paths in Tucson, AZ, ground zero for censorship in the 21st century.

The ballad of Tucson is a long and sad corrido. It will make you laugh and it will also make you cry. If all the world is a stage then Tucson definitely has its players; many of them clowns but most of them sad, voiceless puppets manipulated by a system hell-bent on pushing an agenda of whitewashed ambivalence.

Mas…Twin Tragedies in AZ: Hispanic Heritage Month, Banned Books

Unsung Heroes of Hispanic Heritage Month: Sophie Wasserman, Ph.D.

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They were just ordinary people, living ordinary lives, until one singular sensation of circumstances conspired with fate to make them UNSUNG HEROES OF HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH.

Sophie Wasserman, Ph.D., (1923-2001) was a DuPont chemical engineer and the chief scientist behind the petroleum polymer extrusion technologies used to manufacture smooth sheets of soft and flexible plastic “fabrics.”

One of her innovative new materials was branded as Corinthian Leather, the  Chrysler Cordoba luxury feature that led to fame and fortune for Ricardo Mantalban, the Most Corinthian Man in the World:

Mas…Unsung Heroes of Hispanic Heritage Month: Sophie Wasserman, Ph.D.

New Hope Sandoval/Mazzy Star: ‘Season of Your Day’ (audio)

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bigmazzyMy girlfriend, East Los pocha Hope Sandoval, and her band Mazzy Star, are BACK BACK BACK with a new album. Hope has the sexiest voice in music, always identifiable, always mysterious, smoky and blue.

NPR reports:

Mazzy Star came out of the Los Angeles neo-psychedelic indie-rock scene of the ’80s — a spin-off the band Opal, which dissolved after lead singer Kendra Smith bailed. Hope Sandoval was essentially her replacement; as she murmured over the group’s woozily tuneful folk rock, with a brighter vocal style and dusky fashion-model looks, she emerged as a sort of goth-pop priestess, a mysterious feminine analog to R.E.M.‘s Michael Stipe (see the minor hit “Fade Into You” and “Sometimes Always,” her duet with The Jesus and Mary Chain‘s Jim Reid).

Mas…New Hope Sandoval/Mazzy Star: ‘Season of Your Day’ (audio)

UPDATED: GTA5 TV: Learn Spanish with ‘Paco the Taco!’*

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*UPDATED WITH (POTENTIALLY NSFW) VIDEO 4:40 PM PDT Sept. 19, 2013:

tvingtavTired of jacking cars? Committed enough crimes for today? Come on home, sit on the couch, spark a blunt and learn everyday Spanish with Paco the Taco, new on Grand Theft Auto 5 TV.

WTF? Your cable company doesn’t carry GTA5? Huh? You have a Glock, don’t do you? This is Los Santos, holmes.

Take a look at these exclusive screen grabs to see how Paco the Taco makes learning Espanol easy AND fun!

pacothetaco

Mas…UPDATED: GTA5 TV: Learn Spanish with ‘Paco the Taco!’*

Did Uncle Sam kill Tupac Shakur and Michael Jackson? (video)

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Did the United States government kill Tupac Shakur and Michael Jackson as part of a plot to “control African-American youth through their music?” Former Defense Department operative Robert Connors says we’ll find out Monday next week! [Note: We tried to run a copy of this video earlier today but it was removed from LiveLeak just after we published our story at 7:30 AM. Please email editor@pocho.com if you see a ‘video no longer exists’ screen before we notice it. Gracias.]

Breaking: Area man stunned by woman’s verbal assault

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tobacco-road-miami(PNS reporting from MIAMI) Frequent catcaller Ruben Torres was stunned Monday evening when a woman he was ogling and taunting at an area dive bar flipped him the bird and berated him in front of his friends.

“I can’t believe she did that to me, man!” he said tearfully in an exclusive PNS interview. “Why would she be so mean?”

Clarissa Cortés told PNS she was “just not having it,” after a 10-hour day balancing the books at Ponce de Leon Wholesale Rejuvenation Supplies and then fighting the traffic on the Palmetto Expressway. She just wanted to leave Tobacco Road on South Miami Avenue and go home to Brickell. Torres’ catcall was the last straw, she said.

“Oh hell no, not after the day I had,” Cortés said. “So I turned around, flipped him the bird and told him that he was an hijo de puta!”

Mas…Breaking: Area man stunned by woman’s verbal assault

Ramiro Gomez: ‘Silvia waiting for her check’ (toon)

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silviawaiting640Artist Ramiro Gomez — whose work aims to make visible the usually-invisible immigrant laborers who keep Los Angeles running — writes:

Painting directly on the magazine is therapeutic for me to express the brief moments in life I see at the end of a long work day in private households.

I ask myself many questions without answers, and let myself feel the weight of what I see. There is definitely anger at the purposeful omission of those who maintain the luxury being sold in the magazine, but an angry protest will only receive an angry response.

I am whispering. Sometimes a quiet image can be louder than words.

Here’s the full version of Silvia waiting for her check (9″ x 11″ acrylic on magazine — click to enlarge):

Mas…Ramiro Gomez: ‘Silvia waiting for her check’ (toon)

Breaking: Japanese actor Bad Badtz-Maru cast as Chicano

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angrybirdog(PNS reporting from TOKYO) Japanese character actor Bad Badtz-Maru will star as a gang-banging, tagging Chicano in a new animated feature called Angry Bird O.G., PNS confirmed on Sunday.

This could be a comeback role for 20-year-old Badtz-Maru (バッドばつ丸). The spiky-haired method actor has found little work since playing the mascot at the 2006 FIBA World Championship of Basketball here.

Mas…Breaking: Japanese actor Bad Badtz-Maru cast as Chicano

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