Watch the ‘Smooth Criminal’ salsa version you crowdfunded
Peruvian-born percussionist and wannabe record producer Tony Succar heard a dream that included a salsa-style big band fronted by Boricua singer Jean Valdez performing Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, a dream you could help him realize if you would only please please CLICK HERE TO DONATE $10,000 on his crowdfunding website. And you did, so here you go! People who like this kind of thing will probably like this kind of thing.
Mexico City street art is full of anger, longing, regret (photos)
Over at FUSION, Rafa Fernandez De Castro curated a nice photo gallery of street art in Mexico DF — beautiful and haunting and angry. Here are some of the photos she found that we especially liked.
Mas…Mexico City street art is full of anger, longing, regret (photos)
Watch: Moms in Peru punk sexist street harassers (video)
Fed up with ignorant cat-calls, lewd, rude and suggestive remarks from sexist men on the street, women in Lima set up hidden cameras and — dressed up as “MILFs” — went for a stroll down the calle…walking right by their ignorant, lewd, rude and suggestive…WAIT FOR IT…sons.
What are you doing? What am I doing? Be careful out there!
“What are you doing?” I asked the teenage boy who was gleefully tagging a repainted space at Santiago Park in Santa Ana. Alarmed, he jumped down the small ledge to look up at the bridge where I was standing.
Others emerged from beneath the bridge to see where the stranger’s voice was coming from. There were probably five or ten of them altogether.
They looked so fresh-faced, ranging in age from perhaps 15 to the early 20s. A young adult with shoulder-length crimped hair appeared to be a leader. He wore a wide grin on his face.
A wave of sadness and great disappointment washed over me. These kids belonged in a boy band, or on a soccer team, or part of a visionary group that would put a person on Mars. Instead they were misusing their talents and potential to deface public property.
Mas…What are you doing? What am I doing? Be careful out there!
Mexican volcano video way more dramatic with orchestral strings
If you’re going to upload a Mexican volcano webcam video of Colima exploding on January 21, be sure to add tension and release with a dramatic soundtrack featuring orchestral string and horn sections.
Srsly! Check out the same volcano-cam video uploaded by news channel RUPTLY without the music:
Mas…Mexican volcano video way more dramatic with orchestral strings
The sad true story behind ‘Spare Parts’ (videos, audio)
In 2004, an Arizona high school team beat the odds by topping M.I.T in an underwater robotics competition. The undocumented team members’ stories inspired a book, a documentary, and now a feature film produced by and starring George Lopez. Spare Parts (trailer, above) is in theaters now.
This interview with two original team members by Antonia Cereijido for LatinoUSA explains what REALLY happened before and after the events dramatized in the film. Is it our imagination, or does one of the guys almost break into tears at the end?
Watch! Al Madrigal: ‘Half Like Me’ (Al meets with a Minuteman)
POCHO Migrant Editor Al Madrigal’s new docu-comedy Half Like Me went live on FUSION Thursday night. In this clip, Al meets up at the US-Mexican border with a patriotic member of the Minutemen. Also, Borderlandia looks familiar somehow.
PREVIOUSLY ON HALF LIKE ME:
Mas…Watch! Al Madrigal: ‘Half Like Me’ (Al meets with a Minuteman)
Ask A Mexican: Here’s an idea – Learn to love hipsters (NSFW video)
In between the Mexican curse words, Gustavo Arellano has a modest proposal: Learn to love your local hipster and/or chipster. We’re still trying to figure out what and who ¡Asked A Mexican! That cartoon, though! [NSFW adult language.]
CHIPSTERS?
Are you a Chipster (Chicano + hipster)? There are Pocho Ocho ways to tell. You might be a Chipster if…
Mas…Ask A Mexican: Here’s an idea – Learn to love hipsters (NSFW video)
Pocho Ocho top reasons Obama’s State of the Union gave us a sad
Despite the his many significant accomplishments and chingon new proposals, we were disappointed by what President Obama didn’t say at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.
Here are the Pocho Ocho top reasons Obama’s SOTU gave us a sad:
8. Still no federal funding for Flying Trocas research.
7. Didn’t announce plan to make Ted Cruz first U.S. ambassador to Cuba.
6. No tax cuts for tamale entrepreneurs, thus no Pedro Herrera III in the audience to give a shout out to.
Mas…Pocho Ocho top reasons Obama’s State of the Union gave us a sad
Bananas! How Uncle Sam raped Latin America for cheap fruit (video)
Why are imported bananas so cheap while apples grown next door are expensive? I’m Chiquita Banana and I’m here to say: I’ve got your answer and it’s CIA.
Mas…Bananas! How Uncle Sam raped Latin America for cheap fruit (video)
#TBT Throwback Thursday Frank Zappa ‘Cucaracha’ (1970s audio)
ESTRANGE BUT TRUE:
It was the tail end of the 1960s and Frank Zappa of the Mothers of Invention was making Public Service Announcements for “underground radio.” Few examples survive, but this short audio segment warns impressionable young people about a popular Chicano-themed cartoon that had not even been invented yet — a subversive cartoon that could “rot your mind!” Let’s listen in to see what Zappa has to say…
Out of F-bombs, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl puts ‘Chile Olé’ in a song
At a concert in Chile last week, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters ran out of F-bombs to drop on stage, so he turned the adoring crowd’s Chile Olé chant into a new song. [NSFW F-bombs.] H/t Remezcla.
PRO TIP FOR ROCK AND ROLL CONCERT PROMOTERS
WHO WANT TO BOOK THE FOO FIGHTERS:
THE BAND IS VERY PARTICULAR ABOUT ITS MEXICAN FOOD REQUIREMENTS,
SO READ THIS TOUR “CONTRACT RIDER” CAREFULLY!
Mas…Out of F-bombs, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl puts ‘Chile Olé’ in a song
(Jo) Raquel (Tejeda) Welch: ‘One Million Years B.C.’ (1966 video)
This sci-fi fantasy B-movie trailer is so old-school it’s prehistoric! Pocha pin-up (Jo) Raquel (Tejeda) Welch co-stars in One Million Years B.C.
Mas…(Jo) Raquel (Tejeda) Welch: ‘One Million Years B.C.’ (1966 video)
Heavy Rain to Hit Houston, Texas, Thursday, January 22, 2015 (video)
Here’s Thursday’s weather forecast for Houston, Texas, via Nova Scotia, Canadia, provided by Internetz Weather Expert FRANKIE:
Heavy Rain is on its way for Houston Texas on Thursday January 22, 2015 and it will bring 30+ mm of rain and the Heaviest Rain will be in Southeastern Texas Including Houston and Galveston and the Center of the Low Pressure System is Heading into the Gulf of Mexico that will cause a lot of Rain in Houston Texas and the Surrounding Areas and it will be a lot of Rain in Southeastern Texas Including Houston and it will bring Windy Conditions and the Thursday will not be a good day to Head to the Beach in Galveston Texas and it will bring Windy Conditions in Houston Texas and the Surrounding Areas and People in Houston Texas Be Prepared have your Rubber Boots, Rain Coats and Rain Suits Ready and when you are walking Wear your Rain Gear, Rubber Boots and Rain Coats to keep you Dry and have your Umbrella Ready and Don’t Walk Through the Puddles and Avoid the Puddles when you are going for a walk and it will be Very Wet Conditions in Southeastern Texas Including Houston on Thursday January 22, 2015 and it will Not be a Good Day to Head down to the Beach to Go Swimming in Galveston Texas and Order your Pizzas and Chinese Food and Buy cases of Pepsi and Coke and have your iPads, iPods, Cell Phones, Laptops and Tablets Charged and have your 3G and 4G Internet Ready since it will be Very Wet and Rainy down in Houston Texas on Thursday and if you have anybody living in Houston Texas Be Prepared for the Heavy Rain on Thursday January 22, 2015 Take Care and Stay Safe and Don’t Get Caught in the Heavy Rain Stay Dry and Be Safe.
Reies Lopez Tejerina, One of the Chicano Movement’s Four Horsemen
Reies Lopez Tijerina? Read the obituary of this controversial activist by our friend Russ Contreras of Associated Press.
Ask A Mexican: Why do politicians hate taco trucks so much? (video)
Even in Santa Ana, Orange County, Califas (it’s actually “Santana,” Gustavo Arellano notes), the Latino-controlled city council dislikes taco trucks. To find out why, it seems prudent to once again ¡Ask A Mexican!
Expect these Pocho Ocho surprises in tonight’s State of the Union
Washington insiders all know tonight’s State of the Union address — like every one before — will bring a few surprises.
We asked around town, and our peeps say these are the top eight to watch for:
8. First use of the Booger-Cam™ captures candid live video of bored Republicans
7. Warmup act Oprah Winfrey to Congress: “You get a drone…and you get a drone. Everybody gets a drone!”
6. Obama cruises to the Capitol in a clean 1953 Packard limousine, a gift from the people of Cuba
Mas…Expect these Pocho Ocho surprises in tonight’s State of the Union
‘Testimonios’ of the undocumented (Lalo Cura music video)
Testimonios tells the stories of undocumented immigrants and the “American Dream” — soulful rock en español from Lalo Cura. No one is illegal.
Lalo Cura is Sonny Carreño on drums, Adam Carter on guitar and backup vocals, Rafael Chávez y Moreno on guitar and vocals, Adam Hartung on bass and Sam Que on sax and backup vocals. Video by Sophia Vergara. Music and lyrics by Rafael Chávez y Moreno.
Los Pollos Hermanos – one taste and you’ll know! [sponsored video]
The Chicken Brothers use only the finest pollos and hermanos. One taste and you’ll know!
POCHO History 101: Public Enemy, Arizona, MLK Day (video)
In the final decade of the 20th Century Public Enemy‘s epic By the Time I Get to Arizona spotlighted the Hate State of Arizona’s failure to implement the Martin Luther King Day holiday.
#blacklivesmatter
America pauses for Ricky Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2015
(PNS reporting from WASHINGTON, D.C.) America will pause Monday to remember the life and message of Ricky Martin Luther King Jr., whose Tengo a Dream y Dance! speech changed the nation forever.
Post offices and other public facilities will be closed, banks and stock exchanges are taking the day off and salsa picante and sweet potato pie – his favorite snack combo – will go on sale all across America. Monday’s holiday honors RMLK’s 39th birthday.
Despite his tragic death in 2007 (he was shot and killed by the president of his fan club before an appearance in Dallas) King’s promotion of “love, equality, justice, innocence, malice, refuge, oppression, freedom” has continued to resonate for confused African-Americans, Latinos, Afro-Latinos, Chicanx and Anglx alike.
Mas…America pauses for Ricky Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2015
Pocho Ocho worst Twitter #JeSuisCharlie hashtag fails
Some Twitter users are just unclear on the concept, especially when it comes to the appropriate use of the #JeSuisCharlie hashtag, the most popular ever (“heat map,” above). The viral slogan — coined after the massacre at Paris satire magazine Charlie Hebdo — affirms support of free expression.
French-deficient? “Je suis Charlie” means “I am Charlie.”
The Pochodores combed the Internets for these Pocho Ocho top Twitter #JeSuisCharlie hashtag fails:
8. 
Feets don’t fail me now: Quebradita dance-off in Zacatecas (video)
A nine-year-old niña with dirty-blonde hair and commando pants wins the Quebradita competition in Quebradita, a Mexican analog to Square Dancing. She enters with her 26-year-old partner at 0:35, at least according to video uploader rubicon_cube.