tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89995483085542695682024-03-12T18:45:13.869-07:00PachucovillePachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.comBlogger203125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-32384036806610106032014-06-26T11:15:00.002-07:002014-06-26T11:45:51.686-07:00Sedona, AZ., Airport Mesa VortexI had heard how hippie and new agey Sedona, Arizona is. I never thought of going until the last year or so. Various people told me of vortexes, vibrating on rocks, new insights into their lives and just how beautiful it is. I had a trip penciled in for this summer, but no solid plans to go. Within two weeks several people had posted on my news feeds pictures and stories of Sedona. I had to go. Now.<br />
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I flew to Phoenix, got a rental, and drove to an <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1300189" target="_blank">Air BnB condo</a> within in 4 days of deciding to go. Something was just pulling me, yelling at me to GO. <br />
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Upon arriving at Phoenix and getting my car, I wanted to stop in at <a href="http://www.carolinasmex.com/" target="_blank">Carolina's</a>, a spot we ate at on one of our trips to Arizona with Rudy Acu~a and CSUN students. We had two trips to have our students collaborate with AZ students over battles with Mexican American Studies. Carolina's was closed on this Sunday. So I ended up at a Yelp top rated spot called <a href="http://www.lasantisimagourmet.com/" target="_blank">La Santisima Gourmet Tacos</a>. It was very good. I got the Sure~o burrito, cuz well, I am from So. Cal.<br />
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My drive to Sedona was uneventful. Desert and more desert, but it did make me consider driving next time. The desert gets you in the mood for the desert. Listening to the radio on scan, I settled on a trippy little station out of Prescott that was playing a mix of classic instrumentals and some standards. It was like muzak, regular songs and music I felt like I had heard as a kid that my mom played for me. After hitting one rise in the road the first sign of the red rocks emerged. It was breathtaking. Amid all the blanched land and foliage, this massive red rock shot up and across, saying welcome. <br />
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Got to my condo, which sits next to the Oak Creek Golf Course, and took a nap. Got up to go catch the sunset at Airport Mesa. Airport Mesa is a vortex and is a very weird place to have a small airport. I parked up, near the overview, and started my hike down to the "vortex." Parking at the lower parking, nearest the vortex, was full. <br />
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Like I said, I had heard about these vortexes amplifying emotions or your state of mind. I had heard one friend had cried and cried at one vortex. Her mother had passed and she went to Sedona for peace and release and the vortex helped. Another friend felt they were vibrating on a rock and felt their intuition had reached a new level of acuity. This Aiport Mesa vortex is written up as helping to balance or strengthen the masculine energies. I was open to whatever it would offer me or not. <br />
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I felt good. Maybe it was the higher elevation; maybe the clean air; maybe the adrenaline of being on my first trip all alone; maybe the beauty of the landscape all around me; maybe the energy of the vortex.<br />
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After sunset, I went and had some Chinese food and watched the westside of Sedona shut down by 9pm. I walked around since I was so hyper. Found a market and got supplies to take back to the condo. <br />
Back at the condo I researched yoga classes, tours, hiking trails and made a plan for the next day(s). <br />
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<br />Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-86062343260400798872014-06-10T14:21:00.000-07:002014-06-10T14:26:38.173-07:00The Riff Raff Ride to San Marino July 5thI have written about my bike riding in this blog.<br />
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I ride alone and with various groups.<br />
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One group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eastside-Bike-Club/182771685090185?fref=nf" target="_blank">The Eastside Bike Club</a> based out of El Sereno and headed by Carlos Morales is organizing a ride to San Marino because apparently San Marino thinks its neighbors are sketchy or riff raff. <br />
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The story broke in the <a href="http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/general-news/20140607/el-sereno-resident-organizes-riff-raff-ride-into-san-marino-event" target="_blank">Pasadena Star News</a>. San Marino residents were kind of upset about proposed bike lanes running through their barrio. They figured it would give more access to undesirables. This pissed off my homie Carlos Morales and so he organized the Riff Raff Ride. “I just found it kind of racist. I found it discriminatory that here
we’re in the 21st century and people still think this way,” said
Morales, 54. “Our bike rides … it crosses all ethnic barriers as well as
financial barriers. We have people who are maybe homeless or students,
and we have people who are professionals — they are entrepreneurs.”<br />
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San Marino, apparently trying to stay off the radar, had also began pulling back on their Farmer's Market because that also attracted outsiders that can't afford to live there. <br />
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Dennis Romero at the L.A. Weekly <a href="http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/06/09/eastside-riff-raff-bike-ride-heads-to-rich-san-marino" target="_blank">posted this today</a>. Good summary of the pedo.<br />
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I'm tripping on it all. I want to ride, but this Mercury Retrograde also has me thinking about <a href="http://la.streetsblog.org/2014/05/28/gentri-flyer-sets-off-social-media-storm-in-boyle-heights/" target="_blank">that other bike ride </a>that was coming from that god forsaken side of the river over to my beloved Boyle Heights.<br />
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Of course that bike ride was put together by parasitic real estate developers that want to come, show and take our homes so they can still make it to game night at Wolf and Crane, without the ludicrous downtown rents.<br />
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The Riff Raff Ride is to show San Marino "We have people who are maybe homeless or students,
and we have people who are professionals — they are entrepreneurs." and this I don't get.<br />
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I want to ride to San Marino to tell them: <br />
"You can't hide muthafrakers!! <br />
You can't make 3rd Borders!!! <br />
I can ride and kick it wherever the frack I want!!!"<br />
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I don't want to ride to say:<br />
"Hey I'm just like you, I just don't have your amount of money, but I would like to.<br />
Let me show how nice we are and how you should let us kick it with you fine folk."<br />
NO. I really hope this is NOT the intention of this ride.<br />
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It is time we stopped trying to prove worthiness or acceptability and address xenophobia, racism, classism and white supremacy. Stop talking about how good enough WE are and start talking about how scared, stupid and fucked up the TYPE OF THINKING that assumes you can buy your way away from other humans you think are less than you.<br />
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Chris Rock says it best in this interview: <br />
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I will be at this ride Saturday July 5th at 8am. Check <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/472277099570261/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular" target="_blank">here</a> for more details. I hope to see you there. Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-63043385138368258582014-06-10T01:42:00.000-07:002014-06-10T02:18:55.855-07:00Los Five de La Loma Another family death whine.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Loma 6/18/2014</td></tr>
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The week leading up to Mother's Day I got a call from my cousin Lucy telling me that my uncle Kiko had passed away. He was the last of my uncles on my mom's side. My mom's only sister, my aunt Leli passed in October of 2013.<br />
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In the Estrada sibling tradition, starting with my mom, none had wanted any services. I wrote about my uncle Mike in this blog. His kids, never got a hold of me. Don't know if they had any services or not. When Leli passed in October, I didn't know about it until December or January. We are not a close family.<br />
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Lucy told me they wanted the military funeral for Kiko and that it would be in Riverside. "You know I don't drive that far, no way!" Lucy is at least 65 and refuses to drive "far." I asked her to text the number to Kiko's daughter who had contacted her, my cousin To~ia. Lucy don't text. Eventually, To~ia and I connected.<br />
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To~ia is a year older than me. Her, me and my uncle Mike's son Francis, make up the three youngest of the grand kids of my grandma Concepcion Estrada Contreras. Haven't spoke to Francis in over 25 years. Tonia in about 5-7years ?<br />
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To~ia told me my uncle Kiko passed well, surrounded by all his kids and grand kids. The services were yesterday June 4th. Turns out a lot of veterans are dying and they are doing 4-5 services a day at Arlington in Riverside. My uncle's Korean veteran generation is leaving.<br />
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My mom, tios and tia are now together with my grandma and grandpa in the next plane. <br />
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Kiko was the oldest and Leli was the youngest.<br />
My mom, the second oldest, passed on first, then Mike.<br />
My grandma, their mom, passed in '09.<br />
Their Dad passed when they were kids.<br />
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My grandma never re-married, never took off her ring. They were asked to leave La Loma to make room for the projects that were never made, another victim of the red scare that thought public housing was Socialist and bad for America.<br />
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They found a large Victorian two story, with a large attic, just south of the 10 fwy off Main St. The southern edge of LA's heart, where I grew up. <br />
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I went to the house I grew up in about three months ago. I got the last of my mom's ashes that my father and aunt had been holding onto. I put all the ashes together, and on Mother's Day, now knowing that Kiko had passed on too, I took those last ashes to be spread over the site of their beloved house on La Loma. I was hoping to see all of them there.<br />
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This is a photo of a photo that was in an album at my uncle Kiko's post funeral reception at his home, where I spent many days of my life at. It was good to connect with my cousins To~ia, Diane, Anita and Frank. We will see each other soon. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my young grandma</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandma and Grandpa</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">family tree</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mom, miguel, kiko, grandma</td></tr>
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<br />Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-66337337044234813052013-01-18T17:41:00.000-08:002013-01-18T17:42:35.901-08:00Glances. Ahead.Happy fucking 2013, as Dr. Rudy Acu~a posted on 1/1/2013, "One less year to live." <br />
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Many believe the Mayans were wrong because the world didn't end on December 21st, 2012. I say Columbus landed on October 12th 1492 and the world of the Arawak ended within the next few months. The world and city of Mexico Tenochitlan didn't end until August 13, 1521. Many Mayas and other groups knew their "world" was ending before 10/12/1492 and thus "left" (see the Anasazi and various Mayas, particularly in Tikal) and in some cases had mass suicides. A passing glance of the world we live in, where chasing zeros to collect in banks is the highest goal of most, our world has been doomed for a long time. We as humans need to evolve beyond this present state of material collecting and self exploitation/destruction.<br />
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I'm putting the finishing touches on new syllabi at Starbuck's, Monterey Park. Little Tokyo only gives me an hour of parking so here I am wired, working and procrastinating in the deep Eastside. Just a few pages of rules and expected standards to go.<br />
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I got new classes this semester that have me reading and gathering materials for tweaking minds into new levels of consciousness, hopefully. History of the Americas and US History from Reconstruction to the Present. Looking at the Mestizo Nation that stretches from Alaska to Patagonia and connecting economics, myths, counter narratives and cosmology to make sense of how we are where we are.<br />
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I got a great essay dissecting Speilberg's usual caramel covered Hollywood slop of "Lincoln" to Tarantino's visionary and revolutionary "Django." NO Chicano or Black director/writer could ever have written and directed "Django." Sorry homies, but that white boy did/does what we can't do, yes cuz of his skin, but also cuz he can imagine a film where every white person is decrepit, cruel, stupid and gets killed. Big ups to Tarantino for breaking all the rules and hiring more black people than anyone else; helping others come up in the game and still maintain and advance his style, with a bad ass soundtrack as always. <br />
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Lots of articles of praise and piss were generated cuz of DJANGO. Poor old Spike Lee said he was boycotting it. Mr. Lee is bad ass, but we all forgot, and thus he hasn't been pushing more than the usual Hollywood slop (done well) "Inside Man" puleez part 2 is being worked on as I write. Film students need to rediscover him and do like a retrospective and give him his props and then he can hopefully step up and write us something visionary and revolutionary, again. <br />
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All the talk about banning, regulating and collecting guns was the best PR the gun manufactures could ever have paid for. Gun sales are through the roof. Yes, other countries have less deaths due to their strict gun laws despite viewing the same violent films and playing the same video games, so? Most didn't build their countries on stolen Indian land, Black slavery and creating "races"to hate each other that fight over crumbs from the master's tables. We wouldn't be a country without guns and violence, it is our heritage and most likely our end if we don't evolve.<br />
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The conversation about why white men get so pissed off and go on killing sprees has still not reached, or is still too scary, for mainstream media, but there is a lot going on in academic circles that have been dissecting White Privilege for a while now. White men make up 30% of the population but are 70% of mass murderers. Needless to say if it were brown or black men killing at double their population numbers, I would probably have a tracking device in my skin and could NEVER buy a gun. The NRA only asked to tighten gun carrying laws when the Black Panthers started walking around with shot guns. When White men kill children and innocents, they scurry to make sure they can keep them. <br />
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Chose to take an FB break. I'm on day 18. I check in to see about private messages, but that is about it. I don't feel I am missing out as much as I thought I would. Got fed up with people's posts about "this is me before... during.. and after a night of drinking...", "come to my party it is going to be special...", and only getting an occasional good article or piece of information from a dwindling number of smart connected friends. I am so glad I missed the bowl game updates, the award shows updates, and the scores I don't care for at all. Yes, I need to get smarter friends who floss their brains in social media and not just their pics. Working on it.<br />
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R.I.P to <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/01/howser-had-difficulty-with-cancer-wanted-to-keep-working.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29" target="_blank">Huell Howser</a>. True story, I met him at The Aztlan Cultural Arts Foundation at the old Lincoln Heights City Jail back in like '94. We were hosting an Illegal Interns events with all the usual Chicana/o artists performing in the parking lot on the back of a flat bed truck. My boy Manglor spotted him and we chatted him up. He knew Aztlan! He was down!!!<br />
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Manglor and I invited him to follow us to The Dome, later that night, which was at Florentine Gardens in Hollywood, where we were doing weekly live broadcasts of Power Tools and rocking the place. He came along! After getting a few drinks in him, we took him to the stage. We were having a performance that night. He brought his drink with him which is a no - no cuz the place was 18 +, except in the bar area. Security stopped him and he just looked at him and pulled out his honorary Sheriff's badge and security stepped back. We had a great time introducing him to our dancers and various characters that made the night pop that night. He was fun. <br />
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Two days after Q was born in '96 we were coming back from a doctor visit and we stopped at Texas Original Bar B Que King on Figueroa and Sunset. It is now gone, replaced by gaudy apartments. Howser was there doing his "On The Bench" series interviewing people as we came up and waited for our food. He turned the camera on me and I of course pulled my little baby Q out of the car and showed her off. Too cool. Toast to you Huell Howser I know you had a helluva lot of more stories in you that you couldn't put on TV, so glad to have shared some space and time with him. <br />
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Recently I'm inspired by the work of the <a href="http://idlenomore.ca/" target="_blank">Idle No More Movement</a> that is making necessary noise and by artist <a href="http://visitor.benchmarkemail.com/c/v?e=255D2B&c=EDCB&l=5613C96&email=pAEjKYJxQ4xe+zd6bNiw8t4bTfzD%2Fgg1&relid=48332CA0">Guillermo Gomez Pe~a's</a> struggle back to health. He is well on his way. Of course <a href="http://harrygamboajr.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Harry Gamboa Jr. </a>my
friend and mentor inspires me weekly and he is set to go back to Europe
as the expansion of Aztlan consciousness continues to evolve and make
shards of the current state. <br />
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I have been able to spend great quality time with my daughters and I am so grateful to all involved in helping this be so. For this I feel ahead in life, love and the world. No matter what is happening, the smiles of my two daughters when they see each other, or that they each share with me cannot do anything but fill me with hope and love and the will to continue to strive for a better planet. I will give it my all to instill in my students care for each other and all our relations, to see beyond mainstream myths that support poison filled systems and to create new value systems that are concerned with the wealth and growth of the soul and our smiles. <br />
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<br />Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-63450768059826176322012-12-04T13:50:00.003-08:002012-12-19T23:54:10.058-08:00Daughters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My Q saved my life when she chose me over 16 years ago. I was running full speed down the road of life heading towards the edge of the abyss.<br />
My Vivi, at only 6 months old, has changed me in ways I still have no words to explain it all. My patience, understanding of trauma(s), and my ability to censor myself have grown with her.<br />
They are all I worry about in this world.<br />
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Que Que met Vivi on Thankstaking week. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I was there able to sit with my two loves, my two daughters, two souls I helped bring into this world. To watch Vivi reach out to Q instinctually, and witnessing Q's amazement at Vivi were truly magical moments on this blessed of days.<br />
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I look forward to sleep overs at my place where we will build beautiful castles of blankets and sheets. I look forward to walking the streets of LA showing Vivi the magic my Q still sees in the skies above the buildings, the sanctuaries hidden from most and the best food from all around the world. I look forward to trips where we will play games, sing songs, eat rich, and tell stories. I look forward to rainy days where Q and I will show Vivi how to find worms and watch them dance in the puddles. I look forward to talks about our futures, dreams and magic.<br />
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My precious daughters, you fill me with life and love. <br />
I am here to serve you, to give you my life.<br />
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p.s<br />
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<br />Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-63180353808462021392012-11-12T22:24:00.001-08:002012-11-12T22:27:35.404-08:00family death whineThis is the first holiday season I will have with both my parents dead.<br />
<br />
If you read back I'm sure you will find how much I hate the holiday season. I find it depressing, gaudy, fake, and totally plastic. I imagine Xmas being made by merchants as a way to get people out of their homes in the dead of winter to buy crap they don't need. ThanksTAKING is clearly a false celebration, yet I do recognize the idea of harvesting. You must harvest or it dies, cuz this is the dieing time.<br />
<br />
Our ancestors knew that the line between the living the dead was thinnest at this time of year because everything in nature is dieing. Getting ready for the dead of Winter before the rebirth of Spring, right?<br />
<br />
That is why we have Day of the Dead and All Souls Day, etc., cuz they are right here, near.<br />
<br />
I turned on my mini waterfall, lit some sage, a candle, and poured a shot of tequila in front of pictures of my parents. I felt them near.<br />
<br />
I have felt my dad more than my mom cuz he just left in March, but I began feeling both of them when I was cleaning some power stones for my new baby V. I was praying over the stones, wiping them down with an oil, over a candle, near some water and sage smoke. They stood by me. They let me know all would be ok with V in time.<br />
<br />
I asked Q if she would leave town with me on Thankstaking and she said she wanted to stay home with family. It hurt a little that she didn't just say "yes dad." Its my first holiday season with no parents. I don't want to be around family or families. I don't want to remember, this year at least, what it is to be in a family. I miss my parents, I miss Keta who always made things seem better.<br />
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I have seen what a family can do and it is beautiful. Not so much in my immediate family. In my family, we would just stroll in grab a plate maybe sit around together, eat and then split. Sometimes some members would just grab their food and go to another room in our big ass house. But I did get to see how others do it. Some like being around each other and make fun of each other, remembering stories of silly events. They laugh and laugh. Others pray and eat and then dance up a storm, kids and parents, in laws and all mixed up in a dance-a-thon all night. And others get together each bringing plates more amazing than the last, eat at LARGE tables so all can see each other and then play games together, all ages laughing. I felt so alien participating. I am so thankful I got to experience this at least once. I remember as a kid our parties were more fun but something happened over the years and we got boring and silent. I'm sad I remember the silence in my family more than the laughs and games. We never danced together. <br />
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I had imagined when V was born in May that all of us Q, V and I would spend Thankstaking together, somewhere. That Q would be holding V feeding her, me taking pics and being silly to make them laugh. Dance with both of them. Tell them the real meaning of Thankstaking and how we need to say "To All My Relations." Q n I singing songs to V I used to sing to Q when she was little and planning trips where us three could go and be. That doesn't seem likely.<br />
<br />
Thus I wanted to just get out of the way. I looked at flights to Mexico. San Luis Potosi, somewhere I had never been, where I would be lost. Where I wouldn't have time to think about here. But I always remember the line from Repo Man "No matter where you go, there you are." I can't run.<br />
<br />
This weekend Grandma Teddy invited me to her house for Thankstaking. I can't say no. We are both only children and share that bond. It will be her first season without her mom, Keta. She asked me to bring the wine. I know she wants Stella Rosa. Need to get to the San Antonio Winery this week. <br />
<br />
I shut down from now til the end of January. I go on cruise control. Let my grading pile up so I can bury myself in papers. I get it done in time for when grades are due, but I put myself in intense (or selective) isolation with a valid excuse, "I'm grading, can't do anything." I ghost myself.<br />
<br />
Yeah I am also hitting that age, when some of my homies are getting divorces after long drawn out marriages and they come to me for escape. I got nothing to say. I never got married, but I guess I've had my share of "divorces." One homie who's a few years older dropped it hard and true, "We are worth more dead than alive." Our kids will be not be without, except for us. We both know we need to stick it out for our kids. As little as we may get to see them, they know we are here. They know we are their fathers. They know we are watching and caring and waiting for them to just call our name.<br />
<br />
I know my parents are here. I know they are watching, caring, and pushing me to keep on despite the madness. Despite not getting the call(s). Despite anything.<br />
<br />
In what seems like another life, reading Casteneda about how children leave a huge hole in our energy field, I never wanted kids. I wanted to be a solid force of energy that could do amazing things playing with Power and the strands of reality. Being a dad, I now see how I am still playing with the strands of reality, but in other ways. In ways that cross life and death, space and time, probably more clear than if I was working solo. Working with my parents on the other side and my daughters on this side there is power and energy, and it needs to be cared and nurtured through thoughts, focus, and love. So I may seem like a ghost these days, but I will be working on other levels of energy for all of us, with all of us. <br />
<br />
See you on the other side....<br />
<br />Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-32257200750594418262012-05-11T13:09:00.000-07:002012-05-11T13:12:28.089-07:00Will it make it easier...<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kprazhF-VSY?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kprazhF-VSY?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
...all you got is hurtPachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-3413402991743757302012-03-29T00:24:00.011-07:002012-03-30T15:41:18.534-07:00213 FB Hikers<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5p5jN7CVQzM/T3YyXtqn8GI/AAAAAAAABBU/7Q_07Bzy4wU/s1600/hike1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5p5jN7CVQzM/T3YyXtqn8GI/AAAAAAAABBU/7Q_07Bzy4wU/s320/hike1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725819359224918114" border="0" /></a>Late last summer I saw that some of my friends were in a group called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/229301113778360/">213 FB Hikers</a>. I read their page and asked to join. The page said they hiked every Tuesday night and Saturday mornings in Griffith Park. The first night I went happened to be a full moon. It was also my first time hiking in the north side of the park and at night. It was beautiful. The moon lit up everything. We were about 30 people ranging from late 20s to about early 40s in a single file line. We started up a small dirt path. About 200 yards from the parking lot where we had started, I looked to the side of the small dirt path we were on, and there standing in all its glory in the moonlight was 6 foot tall deer. I was hooked.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p_eQAJBs-IM/T3Yy3YlExxI/AAAAAAAABBg/PMk2xbACWeI/s1600/hikedeer.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 184px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p_eQAJBs-IM/T3Yy3YlExxI/AAAAAAAABBg/PMk2xbACWeI/s320/hikedeer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725819903320311570" border="0" /></a>Since that first hike in late summer I have gone almost every Tuesday night. I went to one or two Saturday hikes, but I much prefer the night hikes. The first time I went it was a little tough. I had been going to the gym, but hiking works out other muscles, your balance and brain (especially at night) in ways you can't get at the gym. I didn't know how to breathe and my calves were burning from scaling a hillside. With people in front of me, that I didn't want to let get too far ahead of me, and people behind me that I didn't want to slow down, I had to keep up with the pace, so it was tough.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hMDcQqbn2Yw/T3YzMqEmfyI/AAAAAAAABBs/URxMmyYU4vQ/s1600/hike.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hMDcQqbn2Yw/T3YzMqEmfyI/AAAAAAAABBs/URxMmyYU4vQ/s320/hike.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725820268793200418" border="0" /></a>The leaders of the group encourage everyone to push themselves to their limit, to work it! They encourage us to try to move up in the group: if you are in the back, get to the middle; if you are in the middle get to the front, and most importantly, "we leave no one behind." The encouragement, kindness and patience given by the leaders of this group to people that are really having a hard time is another huge plus of this group. They keep a good steady pace, but if someone falls behind, because they are having a hard time, there is always someone in the very back with a walkie talkie communicating with the front lead to slow down or to wait up. I've seen a couple of people get picked up by their elbows and helped up some exceptionally hard parts for them. Thankfully I was not in that bad shape when I began. By the fourth week I was up in the front and loving it.<br /><br />Every week it gets a little easier and you get to take in more of the beauty of the park at night. The creatures all make appearances or sounds like the hoots of the owls, the coyote debates, the bats sonic beeps, the misunderstood potato bugs, the super cool rabbits and I heard about, but haven't seen any hairy, tarantulas. They should be out by the summer. I'm looking forward to catching the city lights come on around dusk.<br /><br />I have found a peace in these hikes and from the benefits of knowing the trails and gaining the ability to go through them with relative ease. The physical ease allows my mind to function on other levels. The Tuesday before my father passed I had to hike. I missed the week before because I was at the hospital with him. All week I had been there and that day was the last day he was most conscience. My body was racked with stress, my mind filled to its brim, my heart in pain, I needed to work my body. Pump my blood by breathing, pushing and pulling my self up those darkened paths.<br /><br />I was quiet. At this point no one knew my dad was in the hospital except for very close family. I flew up the paths like they were nothing. My body loved the challenge, and I stepped up to it. I pictured in my mind the 'strands of light' that Casteneda wrote about, pulling me up. My eyes in harmony with my legs, helped my feet land on the perfect spot(s) to launch from. At some points it felt like I was gliding up by pure will and thought.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XsmIhErTfe0/T3Y0oRm4cSI/AAAAAAAABCE/IPVlQPQy6Go/s1600/hikecolo.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 180px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XsmIhErTfe0/T3Y0oRm4cSI/AAAAAAAABCE/IPVlQPQy6Go/s400/hikecolo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725821842774061346" border="0" /></a>When I made it to the top, I knew my dad was with me. He had brought me up there as kid by scaling the south side of that same hill. The same hill I would climb up after Philosophy class at LACC to read my books and watch the largess of my city. Standing there that Tuesday night, I knew I would be ok. I knew my dad was going to be ok. All is as it should be. All is as it could be. All is as it will be.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sIBGZZAsunE/T3Yzbgos1JI/AAAAAAAABB4/RaKWbqXi0cE/s1600/hikegr.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sIBGZZAsunE/T3Yzbgos1JI/AAAAAAAABB4/RaKWbqXi0cE/s320/hikegr.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725820523958293650" border="0" /></a>213 FB Hikers rock! I've met some very nice people and each week new hikers join. Some return and some don't, but they all learn where they are hiking wise and usually it encourages them to get into better shape so that their next hike won't be so hard. Others get hooked and join other hiking groups. Those folks say 213 are the funnest and most challenging compared to other groups. For now I'm happy with the Tuesday night hikes.<br /><br /><br />(most photos courtesy and copyright David Negrete, all rights reserved)Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-82781060681686225222012-03-22T23:27:00.005-07:002012-03-24T12:26:13.575-07:00Film Review: "Casa De Mi Padre" A Mexican film that happens to have Will Farrell in it.When I saw an early trailer to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1702425/">"Casa De Mi Padre,"</a> about three months ago, I thought it was a Will Ferrell film where he will make fun of contemporary rachero/banda/narco culture. I was expecting a lot of racism and laughs at Mexican culture. I was expecting the worse. On my FB feed, a prominent scholar I look up to, posted about the film being racist based on their viewing of the trailer. They posted a scholarly article about how Hollywood makes fun of the Other's speech and builds films around that one joke. Other followers of this scholar's feed chimed in with their own thoughtful responses that also recognize this pattern in Hollywood of degrading cultures for laughs. After I saw "Casa De Mi Padre" I can say this film is not any of that. "Casa De Mi Padre" is a very Mexican film that happens to have Will Ferrel in it speaking Spanish as good as many (and better than some) Chicano/as.<br /><br />The mainstream reviews mostly dissed or gave it luke warm like at best. I read one review that said it was a big inside joke that they didn't get. Well in a way it is a big inside joke.<br /><br />To really understand the nuances and enjoy "Casa De Mi Padre" you need to have grown up having seen some 1970's Vicente Fernandez films and know the acting style and typical story lines of Mexican novelas. In other words, if you grew up with telenovelas and Mexican films playing in the background at your parents or anyone in your family homes then, this film will be <span style="font-style: italic;">chingon</span>!<br /><object height="315" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fOmNadRST5Q?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fOmNadRST5Q?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="315" width="420"></embed></object><br />You will remember/recognize: the hats, fancy suits and boots, cheesy sets with fake rocks, mustaches, thick sideburns, slow but loyal side kicks, <span style="font-style: italic;">rasquache especial</span> effects, bad editing, stiff or over the top acting, beautiful women and of course the cold machos and the sensitive machos. And if you enjoy Mexican retro disco chic, ala <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mas-Exitos/151677608182902?sk=info">Mas Exitos </a>, then you will love the soundtrack. Check this, there is a cameo by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Luis_Rodr%C3%ADguez_%28singer%29">El Puma</a>, for chrissakes!!! <span style="font-style: italic;">El Puma guey!</span><br /><object height="315" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ALny1SHu8QI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ALny1SHu8QI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="315" width="420"></embed></object><br /><br />Let's get this out of the way, Will Ferrell's Spanish is almost as good as Erik Estrada's when he was on <span style="font-style: italic;">"Dos Caminos, Una Mujer."<br /><br /><object height="315" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XByP7lNQVbY?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XByP7lNQVbY?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="315" width="420"></embed></object><br /></span><span><br />Mexican legend <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001917/">Pedro Armendariz</a>, new starlet <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1270009/">Genesis Rodriguez</a> (El Puma's real life daughter), and Mexi-Mega international film stars <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0305558/">Gael Garcia Bernal</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0526019/">Diego Luna</a> lead the Mexican majority cast.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span>Everyone plays it straight, so it is part homage, part satire. One witty scene gets socio-poli-critical and calls out America's drug addiction and reliance on Mexican suppliers. The seriousness of the massacres and violence of the Mexican drug wars needs to be addressed and comedy seems to be one way that hasn't gotten anyone killed.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span><span>"Casa de Mi Padre" is a pretty funny film in general. When I first saw it I immediately thought of "Austin Powers" and how that spoofed 70's spy films. If you did not grow up watching those films you may not have gotten ALL the jokes, but it was still funny. </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span><span>I also thought of other films that I have recently viewed that have come out of Mexico that are taking on current issues and putting comedic twists. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0461336/">"Saving Private Perez."</a></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span> is a spoof of gangster films, in a Mexican narco context -where the money and power allows for a mission to Iraq to find a kidnapped brother. </span><span><span>This is a funny film as well, but with the reality of violence and death in Mexico due to drug wars, cheering for a narco as a hero was a little weird.<br /><object height="315" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9JkJ2HCgiOg?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9JkJ2HCgiOg?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="315" width="560"></embed></object></span></span><br /><br />Might be a trend?<br /><br />I've always imagined writing a Western with strong Mexican or Chicano male characters in the vein of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065214/">The Wild Bunch</a>, or any of Clint Eastwood's westerns. A majority of Westerns are informed by the years surrounding the Civil War. There are also many stories that need to be told surrounding the Mexican-American War or Manifest Destiny on the West Coast. How did Mexicans, Natives, Mestizos, Mulattos, Blacks and Asians cope with the transition from being part of Mexico to being part of the US, the Gold Rush, violence and racism? What were those encounters like? The trickle of Hollywood films with Latino majority casts and relevant story lines has not improved much. Films such as the above serve a purpose. Think about the impact that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalino_S%C3%A1nchez">Chalino Sanchez</a> had on Chicano youth in South Central Los Angeles.<br /><br />Sam Quinones wrote in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Tales-Another-Mexico-Quinones/dp/0826322964">"True Tales From Another Mexico"</a> an essay on how Chalino Sanchez gave Chicano youth a strong role model that was street (and rancho) tough, carried a gun, had a distinct fashion, attitude and street power. Up until Chalino, Chicanos in South Central LA had black rappers as the only male figure they see daily on their streets and in the media. Many Chicanos in South Central adopted Black South Central LA hip hop culture to the point that they were known in the vernacular as Blackxicans. When Chalino offered another male figure with street power Chicanos flocked to him to reclaim their Mexican-ness and now have a male figure, for better or for worse, that they can see on their streets and in the media.<br /><br />"Casa de Mi Padre" with its SNL and Mexican lineage has hit a mark that I hope will continue to provide relevant stories with talented Mexican/Chicano actors in the lead roles who offer something more than the typical, yet familiar to many. Mexicans in media are usually portrayed as immigrants from ranchos, what media ignores is the generations of Chicanos living in the US and the many Mexicans that migrated from Mexico's large urban cities. There are big differences between the Rancheros and the Mexican urbanites. Maybe that could be another film. For now go see "Casa de Mi Padre."Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-3530493080427966672012-03-19T01:01:00.004-07:002012-03-20T23:31:35.652-07:00Gracias Papi, 3/9/2012<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-njdI1quDt4I/T2b0-doOhJI/AAAAAAAABBI/-lhNHw9TsgE/s1600/aaadadbch.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-njdI1quDt4I/T2b0-doOhJI/AAAAAAAABBI/-lhNHw9TsgE/s320/aaadadbch.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721529730563212434" border="0" /></a><br />When I wrote about my mom crossing over in <a href="http://pachucoville.blogspot.com/2009/08/8209-thanks-mom-goodbye.html">Aug of 2009</a> circumstances were very different. I was in a holding pattern. I had left Power Tools to have more time with my mom as she had chosen no more treatments for her cancer and just wanted to stay home and await death. Today life has been hitting from angles. A new baby on the way. Death struck here at home in December as Great Grandma Keta crossed over on December 26, 2011. Work has been hectic as the economic strains wear on everyone and people are on edge. The end of 2011 and 2012 have been kicking my ass.<br /><br />My father began his final battle with cancer in September. We had been through it before, but this time we were going to do it <span style="font-style: italic;">solitos. </span>I went with him to most of his appointments, especially the chemo ones. He had been living out his life, going out with friends, dancing and hanging out with the neighbors. I imagined he was happy and ready to beat this round with cancer again. The chemo didn't effect him much. He would get severe hiccups and not much else. We would go out to eat every week and to special events. For his birthday in October I took him to a work party, a party on a roof top where I DJed and to dinner.<br /><br />Come Thanksgiving I noticed he started to slow down a little. He got very quiet. He was always quiet, but now even more. I figured it was just with me because I still saw him on the phone chatting away with friends and relatives. In December he said the doctors said all was good but wondered why they wanted two more chemos when all was supposed to be ok. By late January he needed pain medicine but he would say it was only once in great while when the pain would come. By the time we got to February he was declining fast. Not eating and tired he made a lot of excuses. When my aunt spoke to me she told me that he had said he was done, tired and ready to die.<br /><br />He entered the hospital on the 24th of February. I was in Arizona with 60 students on a bus. I had arranged for my aunt to come be with him since I was leaving town for the weekend. When I got back Sunday night he was in West LA hooked up to an IV that was keeping his blood pressure up for him, keeping him alive. He was alert and chatting. All week the doctors spoke of a gall bladder infection, never anything about the cancer. Western medicine in its linear mode of thinking is so wack. Either way, when my aunt and my dad's best friend both told me that he told them he was ready to go, I knew he wouldn't be leaving that bed.<br /><br />A parade of people came through telling him to fight, and how he will win, and how they will go out again, and toss some back, and dance, and hang out. I wanted to tell them to say good bye because he made up his mind.<br /><br />I was angry on one level and sad on another. I was angry for him not being honest with me and telling me how he was feeling and thinking. I was sad because, like with my mom, I was power less they made up their mind to leave. The social worker spoke to me about long term care, maybe it is routine, but I knew he wasn't leaving the hospital.<br /><br />My favorite uncles Chelo and Manuel, aunts Elsa -the nun, Olvia and Elva, sat with me in the hospital watching my dad, their big brother, fade away. The last three nights I slept over in the hospital, when someone would arrive I would go home to shower and come back. I learned so much from them in those two weeks. In a way I learned more about my family and father than I did my whole life. I promised my daughter that would not be the case with me and her. I want her to know me, all of me, not from others, from me.<br /><br />The last three days he couldn't communicate. He could hear some but could not respond. He left quietly in peace. Chelo and I were in the basement cafeteria when it happened, I will never forget his face as he put his coffee down after answering his phone.<br /><br />I haven't been able to go back to work. I barely speak to anyone about it much. I have so much to say but no one to say it to so here I am trying to keep it interesting in text.<br /><br />There was relief of course. Sadness and pain of course.<br /><br />One day I went to go pick up my dad's wallet at his house. When I walked in it felt like that dream I wrote about in my blog about my mom passing. Like my parents had moved away and forgot to tell me. I was all alone. My dad said when my mom passed, <span style="font-style: italic;">ahora estamos solitos</span>, as I stood there in the house where I grew up I really felt <span style="font-style: italic;">solito</span>. I hadn't been back there more than five times since my mom passed. I would pick up my father outside or he would come to my place when we would go out. There I was looking at the mirror that watched me grow, the corner in the kitchen where I would bump my head when I ran in the house, the doors I would slam and hide behind, everything about my past looking so distant and close for the last time. I am so afraid of having to go and clean out the place.<br /><br />My dad was the eldest of 11. He was beat if he was caught with a ball, because as his father told him, he was here to work not play. His grand mother raised him for the most part. He had tenuous relationships with some of his siblings that didn't buy into the elder brother attitude he threw around. He loved going back to his tiny little town every year, despite my and my mom's dismay. He did work his whole life. At 17 he came as a bracero and would go back and forth until he decided to stay in the late 60's. He was a welder, shipyard worker, construction,...physical labor. He would come home with a gash, a bruise, limping, covered in dirt or dust, but he was always ready to play with me. I would jump on his shoulders as he came in the door. He would shower, eat and come and play more. Some days I would beg him not to leave to work or to Mexico by holding on to his leg. He always had to go. He would tell me to study so that I didn't have to use my body for work, so I could use just my mind. He taught me we are all connected to everything on this planet. We all breathe the same air and need water. Everything. From the smallest to the largest. He taught me about 'all my relations.'<br /><br />We all lose here. We will lose everything and everyone, eventually. Knowing this does not make it easier.Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-82049000044642256092011-10-09T23:18:00.000-07:002011-10-09T23:51:03.934-07:00ChangesThe world is going through major shifts politically and economically.<br />People are questioning power structures and challenging them.<br />There are so many layers to the problems that simple solutions can not apply.<br />It is an exciting time to be alive.<br /><br />Haven't been writing here much for a variety of reasons including feeling like there are so many new things happening each and everyday, and people are so connected to their own social media, how could my words matter or even register? I also feel blogging is kind of over. I saw the film "Contagion" and in it a character said, "Blogging is like graffiti with punctuation."<br /><br />With that said, here I am sorting through my thoughts after CicLAvia, Occupy LA, my dad's 71st bday, DJing with old friends, connecting with colleagues outside of CSUN, witnessing so much bad ass Chicano/a art (via Pacific Standard Time) including the amazing ASCO show at LACMA, the deaths of two raiders: Al Davis and Steve Jobs, and wondering what else I can bring to my classes to help my students to love to learn.<br /><br />some good things don't change<br /><object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lhab7AJqZm4?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lhab7AJqZm4?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />oh yeah and happy colonizer day<br /><object height="315" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h_KosoVMKd0?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h_KosoVMKd0?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="315" width="420"></embed></object>Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-63460619804636422542011-06-05T11:09:00.000-07:002011-06-05T11:30:53.803-07:00Food: Guisados<a href="http://www.guisados.co/">Guisados</a> is one of the latest food joints in BH. Sitting on the corner of Chavez and St. Louis it is in a primo location. Passing by it for the last few months I noticed the tacos were $2.50, and a drink $3, kind of high for this area. Thus, I never saw too many locals sitting in there eating. I usually saw peeps that don't look like BH residents running from their cars into Guisados and back.<br />Finally I decided to try it out.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u7qO7pQHztc/TevJNADlQFI/AAAAAAAABAQ/9sWocWXCRfk/s1600/IMG_1063.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u7qO7pQHztc/TevJNADlQFI/AAAAAAAABAQ/9sWocWXCRfk/s200/IMG_1063.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614802585637961810" border="0" /></a><br />The taco sample plate at $6.50 offers 6 mini tacos and is the best deal. All the tacos are very different and you can taste the care that went into finding the perfect blend of spices with the meats, down to the black beans and fresh made corn tortillas.<br /><br />The owner of Guisados is related to the carniceria next door, so they get fresh corn masa, grounded and mixed, fresh every 30 min.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xK8yEou6sfo/TevJ7eEtK_I/AAAAAAAABAY/n41YB4_a5ZI/s1600/IMG_1064_2.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xK8yEou6sfo/TevJ7eEtK_I/AAAAAAAABAY/n41YB4_a5ZI/s200/IMG_1064_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614803383969721330" border="0" /></a><br />I also tried a tamale de mole. The mole sat on top of the tamale but was very tasty. Reminded me of how my mom made hers.<br />Overall it is very tasty and homemade-ish. Give it a try.<br /><br />I don't know if they will survive on just outsiders and the occasional local that wants to spend that much on a taco, but we'll see.Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-38898217200646393192011-06-03T09:54:00.000-07:002011-06-04T10:27:43.239-07:00June 3, 1943Sixty eight years ago today, the Sailor Riots began. Another race based riot started by whites fueled by the LA Times, the police and ignorance. The US had locked up the Japanese in concentration camps, but not people of German lineage, so they needed someone else to hate on and as usual Mexicans were targeted. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qqCkSLD-fVQ/TekTPtb7zBI/AAAAAAAABAI/WdzyfUhqSPk/s1600/img_0050.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 130px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qqCkSLD-fVQ/TekTPtb7zBI/AAAAAAAABAI/WdzyfUhqSPk/s200/img_0050.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614039571109760018" /></a><br />None of the sailors or members of the white mobs that joined were arrested. Mexicans and blacks were beaten, striped in the streets, arrested and women were raped. <br />(at 2:30 a scene about the riots begins)<br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3ZrKV4YV41k?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />This is a very clear example of how the white population would often attack communities of color based on misinformation from media, fear, lies and racism. All race riots up until the 1965 Watts riots were led by white people and targeted barrios, ghettos and other areas where people of color lived. In some cases entire towns were burned to the ground. <br />For more information go <a href="http://">here</a>.Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-5658563841558190972011-05-23T00:57:00.000-07:002011-05-23T01:14:25.429-07:00FinalsAnother semester in the can. It was a good one. Six classes altogether making me drive from the 405 to the 605. Lots to read still and grade, but the hardest part is over.<br />My culture classes had final projects. I gave extra points if they did videos and posted them on Youtube. So here are some of the best so far. I have another batch coming in this week.<br />I had them view lots of videos from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/HennesyYoungman">Hennessy Youngman</a>, ASCO, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/HahGam">Harry Gamboa Jr</a>., <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=guillermo+gomez+pena&aq=0&oq=guillermo+gome">Guillermo Gomez Pe~a</a> and former students videos from other semesters. This semester yielded the most video so far.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ULRgN60AnqI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />- funny<br /><br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AnFvmDlx5WM?rel=0&hd=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />- funnier and great camera work<br /><br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TbCPogYsWJQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />- a star is born<br /><br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U0Ynr4nH_jg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />- most creative<br /><br /><br />I hope they leave them up for awhile. I am very proud of them.Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-20262631932154119002011-04-27T15:10:00.000-07:002011-04-27T15:10:00.805-07:00Fight BackThis is how to take over a school board meeting<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tPZxCDMbZec?fs=1" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" width="480"></iframe>Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-18767106659801154562011-03-07T23:33:00.000-08:002011-03-08T00:25:54.151-08:00another one...Last night my uncle Mike, Miguel Estrada joined my mother, his big sister, in the afterlife.<br />At 3:30 in the morning he had a third and final heart attack.<br />This is all my father told me over the phone earlier today.<br />He also told me there would be no services.<br /><br />A month after my mom passed two years ago this August, my tio Chayo and month later my tia Rosa both on my father's side passed.<br />My dad had a rough year in '09.<br /><br />I barely knew Chayo and Rosa, but I grew up going to Mike's house in the hills of El Sereno. Up there I rode my bike with my cousins Micheal and Francis as their sisters Linda and Lulu played inside. I don't have their numbers to give them my condolences. We are not a close family.<br />I haven't seen them in years. Their mom, Mike's wife, passed three years ago after a long hard battle with diabetes.<br /><br />Readers here know I try to make sense of my life in writing about these things of life.<br /><br />I looked up to my uncle Mike as I look up to my other uncle Kiko, both on my mom's side.<br />I also look up to my uncles on my dad's side, in particular Chelo, Manuel, Adolfo and Abelardo. Even though I know Adolfo and Abelardo less, the few times I have met them and the stories my dad tells me, for better or worse, have left an impression.<br /><br />Miguel was the second to youngest of four. My mom, Kiko, Miguel and Leli, grew up in the Loma of Elysian Park/Chavez Ravine. They were displaced from the house their father had built, over the proposed building of public housing that never came to be. I grew up hearing them speak about their animals, trees, friends, games they would play, and the ghosts in those hills.<br /><br />My earliest memory of Mike was his big BMW motorcycle that looked like a cop bike. My mom said they never had problems in their south central neighborhood, where I grew up, because of that bike. He also had a cool dark blue MG. He worked for Lockheed in the Valley. He was married to my aunt Kitty, don't know if that is her real name. I grew up knowing her as Kitty. Lulu, Linda and Micheal were older than me, but his youngest Francis was born one day after me. We were tight as kids.<br /><br />Mike grew up in an LA where you had to hide your Mexicaness to get ahead. Even though they were all born here, their accents and burritos in their lunch pails announced they were not "American." Both Mike and Kiko served in the Korean War. Kiko actually went to Korea. In an issue of Stars and Stripes, there is a picture of Kiko standing next to a chalk drawing he did on a large stone of La Virgen de Guadalupe. I didn't know he was artistic. Mike got to serve in a local desert working on radios and other communication devices for the military. I didn't know he was techy like that.<br /><br />Mike was good man. Loyal. Family man. He took care of his wife til her last days going up and down the long flight of stone stairs that lead from the street down to his hillside home. I loved that house.<br /><br />He was always interested in what I was doing and learning. The last few times we talked we debated his newly found right wing politics that he picked up via AM radio. I was supposed to go to his house and bring him books and such that he could read and see my point of view. He said I worked at that radical hippy campus. LOL. I was going to take him a copy of "Addicted To War." I would always tell him "Just follow the money. Who benefits from the fear, the wars, the criminalization of people with no power?" It would make him think and he wanted to know more, but then he would get back to repeating the sound bites he heard on the radio. He was cool. I will miss his big hand shakes. His nose that looks like mine. The way he just was. He was my uncle.<br /><br />I hope my mom, grandma and grandpa are showing him around the spirit world. Maybe he can find some time to stop by and visit me. Check out my books. I will leave some out for him. I hope I get to see my cousins and just tell them he will always be there, just remember and feel.Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-10373986124828074792011-02-28T20:40:00.000-08:002011-02-28T22:34:11.687-08:00Mujeres de Maize Annual Month Long Celebration of Women<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tn0aVtSdLqY/TWx57k0kVKI/AAAAAAAAA_0/K71Vgo6VmeU/s1600/Picture%2B1.png"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tn0aVtSdLqY/TWx57k0kVKI/AAAAAAAAA_0/K71Vgo6VmeU/s400/Picture%2B1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578968102808605858" border="0" /></a><br />For the last 14 years <a href="http://www.mujeresdemaiz.com/">Mujeres de Maize</a>, an Eastside Xicana collective of artivistas, has organized a month of events that celebrate the power, creativity and beauty of being women. Each year more and newer faces respond to the call and share in many of the variety of planned activities. This is not just for women, men should be at these events to bare witness, listen and learn.<br /><br />I've been a fan <a href="http://pachucoville.blogspot.com/2008/03/mujeres-de-maiz.html">for many years</a>. I hope you can make it to any of these amazing events.Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-75313553947002237292011-02-24T09:35:00.001-08:002011-02-28T22:33:05.574-08:00One of Brisenia Flores' KIllers Gets Death Penalty, accomplices still at large, in office and on the radio<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0H1_i6YcrUU/TWai2Ear1aI/AAAAAAAAA_s/qTtY620PeNw/s1600/article-1350721-0CEC77C4000005DC-962_306x400.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 153px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0H1_i6YcrUU/TWai2Ear1aI/AAAAAAAAA_s/qTtY620PeNw/s200/article-1350721-0CEC77C4000005DC-962_306x400.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577324238327240098" border="0" /></a><br />This week Shawna Forde, <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/02/minuteman_vigilante_shawna_forde_convicted_for_brisenia_flores_murder.html">was sentenced to die at the hands of the State of AZ</a> for the brutal cold blooded murder of 9 yr old Brisenia Flores and her father Raul Flores Jr. Fordes accomplices that night <a href="http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110219/NEWS01/702199933/0/news01">Jason Bush</a> and Albert Gaxiola will have their trials in the Spring. Who is not going to trial is the politicians and their AM radio dimwits who spew hate and fear about Mexicans, and are just as guilty even if they were not physically there killing a family for being Mexican.<br /><br /><br />Forde, along with the two other <a href="http://www.justiceforshawnaforde.com/">dimwits</a>, posed as law enforcement and attacked the Flores home in May 2009 to rob and to kill them for being Mexican. They shot and killed the father, they shot the mother Gina leaving her thinking she dead and when Brisenia came out and asked why they shot her father, they shot her in the face at point blank range sending her flying across the room. The dimwits left and Gina called the police. She could hear Forde telling her fellow dimwits that they left her alive, to go back in to finish the job. Gina had by then found her dead husband's gun and when they came back she was able to turn them back.<br /><br />During the trial Forde's defense attorney tried to use <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-measure-madness/201102/shawna-forde-sentenced-death">Forde's history of being sexually and physically abused</a> as an excuse. Attorney "Jill Thorpe, told jurors that as a child Forde was abused physically and sexually. Before she was five years old Forde had lived in seven different households. She was molested by her uncle at the age of four, and later by another man until she was 12-years-old. Thorpe also explained Forde has been diagnosed with a personality disorder where she tries to make herself look like an important leader although she's not. Mental illness keeps Shawna Forde from saying <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110222/ts_dailybeast/12553_shawnafordearizonavigilantesentencedtodeath_1">she’s sorry</a>."<br /><br />Like Loghner who shot and killed a Federal Judge, another 9 year old girl and injured others, Forde's mental stability was fertile ground for the hate a spewed by right wing politicians and their legions of dimwits throughout the country on AM radio and mainstream media.<br /><br />Forde tried to be a member of the Minutemen but even they said she was too unstable. In any case the Minutemen, and anyone else Forde looked up, followed, or listened to, that promote the vigilante persecution of Mexicans, should be put on trial as accomplices. They spew hate and fear knowing very well that their message is heard by (and followed by) the drop outs, abused and low IQs, who will eventually act out. They get the fan mail, they see them at their rallies and hear their gibberish as they call in to the talk shows. They know people are on drugs or damaged in some way and yet they still have the gall to claim they are not responsible for actions based on their rhetoric.<br /><br />If you are on out there calling for changes in extreme ways, and someone from your flock acts out, take responsibility whether or not that sheeple of yours is stable or not. You put those thoughts in their head, they obviously needed love not more hate in their life.Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-54213346922299518462011-02-22T01:22:00.000-08:002011-02-22T01:37:35.777-08:00must see: Even The Rain (2010)Saw this the other night and just have to let you know to go see it. I assigned in all my classes, it is that good. It is one of those films we should all be talking about and being inspired by in these times of growing revolutions against capitalism run amok. <br /><br />It's about a film crew of Spaniards out to make a film about Columbus' early colonization of the Tainos, but they are shooting in Bolivia (to save money) during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Cochabamba_protests">"Cochabamba Water Wars"</a> of 1999 and 2000. The crew hires local Quechuas to play the Tainos and cast Juan as the lead indigenous rebel who is also deeply involved in protesting the privatization of his people's water. The Spaniards believe themselves to be so liberal and kind doing this film, but their actions in making the film ("it's always about the money") is more akin to their ancestor Columbus. It is a beautifully very layered film, with every shot and line exposing a nuance that opens doors to more ideas and questions of whose side are YOU on?<br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FbdOnGNBMAo?rel=0&hd=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-56185840941848498452011-02-01T22:10:00.000-08:002011-02-28T23:59:52.729-08:00munchies: T.V. CafeThe <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/tv-cafe-los-angeles">T.V. Cafe</a>, open 24 hours, on the corner of Olympic Blvd. and Alameda has been a truck stop diner for many, many years. When I was a kid it was one of the last "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo%27s">Sambo's</a>" restaurants before they went bankrupt. For the last twenty years as T.V. Cafe it has served all types of Pachucoville residents, but the majority is mostly working class Raza who during the day have lunch, or at night are stopping in on the way home from a club.<br /><br />Growing up in So. Central, I would pass that corner on my way to my aunt's in Boyle Heights or my uncle's in El Sereno. I remember when I was like 6 or 7 seven years old asking my mom about it when I saw the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Black_Sambo">little kid</a> as the logo when it was part of the "<a href="http://articles.cnn.com/1998-01-28/us/9801_28_sambo.revival_1_restaurant-negative-connotations-empire?_s=PM:US">Sambo's Restaurant</a>" chain. She told me that people were mad because it made fun of black people by calling them "Sambo" and showing a little kid with pancakes and syrup, and something about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima">Aunt Jemima</a>. At that age I didn't get it completely, but I knew peeps could get upset about stuff that others thought was ok to make fun of. We never stopped to eat there, even when it briefly turned into a Denny's.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nQrxdmO0ai4/TWylqwri5FI/AAAAAAAAA_8/cXMZkT1eGNA/s1600/aunt_jemima2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 195px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nQrxdmO0ai4/TWylqwri5FI/AAAAAAAAA_8/cXMZkT1eGNA/s200/aunt_jemima2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579016192445834322" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In my late teens my friend Manglor, a photographer, moved into some lofts on Molino off of 4th street. This was during the <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2001/aug/16/news/cl-34651">Al's Bar</a> era of the area. After one night of partying at Manglor's he suggested we go try the best vegetarian burrito in the world. So we piled in to the Fox and rolled up on T.V. Cafe. I have not stopped going there for the #31 veggie burrito since then.<br /><br />Manglor was also a fan of the "Works Burger." Over the years friends of mine like Johnny Blaze, love the breakfast that is served most of time at anytime. I have also tried their <span style="font-style: italic;">cocido</span> and it's pretty damn good. What seals the deal with T.V Cafe is their hot sauce. It is hot and tasty. Not for the weak.<br /><br />As the gentrification of downtown continues to ooze east, we'll see how T.V. Cafe handles the changes. During the day the corner is bustling with semi trucks and all sorts of commercial traffic. The Los Angeles Produce and Flower Marts are just two of the large industries orbiting Olympic and Alameda. There is also large swap meet/insta food court growing up down Olympic. In the last ten years, American Apparel opened their main factory and <a href="http://www.farmerboys.com/">Farmer Boy's</a> opened up down Alameda, and also open 24 hours, has given T.V. Cafe a higher profile.<br /><br />I go there to get away from B.H. There is always a family there eating when I get there. I sit alone and watch TV or listen in on conversations. I was once there for a small earthquake that made the lights sway above our heads. We all looked around and after a few <span style="font-style: italic;">Chingaos! Agus! </span>and an <span style="font-style: italic;">Aye Carey!</span> we all went back to our food.Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-5801295847875979682011-01-31T11:15:00.001-08:002011-01-31T11:32:29.359-08:0082Today my mother would have been 82 years old. Yesterday I wondered what I would do to commemorate her birthday. I tried reaching my father but no luck. He called me later at night but I missed his call. Most likely I will go to her <span style="font-style: italic;">loma</span> and have some silence. After that probably go have dinner with my father at a place my mom would have liked.<br /><br />My mom liked going to 'nice places' on her birthday. She never had a big birthday party. One year I did manage to get all her siblings together and some of her friends to come over, but pretty much we kept her birthdays pretty low profile. My dad had one big blow with over half of his 10 brothers and sisters, <span style="font-style: italic;">mariachi</span> and all for his 60th bday. My mom never liked the spotlight. She preferred just us, a nice meal, maybe a movie for her and I and that was it.<br /><br />I've missed her in new ways these last few months. I wondered what she would have thought of the new people in and out of my life, my friend's upcoming wedding in Hawaii, and recently my 24 hour battle with a 103 degree fever. It was weird to realize that I hadn't been really sick since my mom passed. I had my wisdom teeth pulled out which put me out for a day or so, but having fever that high (hallucinations and headaches) really brought back a lot of memories of my mom caring for me. I remembered my back going out on my about 2.5 years ago. I couldn't walk and with the help of good friends and my acupuncturist I made it home from the Valley. My mom heard from my neighbor how I crawled out of my car and was at my place within 25 minutes. Her and my dad brought a <span style="font-style: italic;">faja</span> for me to wrap my back in and then went and got various salves and herbs from the local pharmacies. She was always a great mom.<br /><br />Happy Birthday Mommy I hope you are having a big giant party wherever you are at : )Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-69452597737821761452011-01-25T22:24:00.000-08:002011-01-25T22:55:54.955-08:00Loughner Got His Target, or Conspiracy #2: Another Media WhitewashSo the media is gushing over Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the little girl that was killed. They push to the side that FIVE others were killed, including a Federal <a href="http://judgepedia.org/index.php/John_Roll">U.S. District Judge John M. Roll</a>. The shooting of <a href="http://www.gavelgrab.org/?p=16964">Federal judges</a> is very rare.<br /><br />Sure Giffords may have pissed off right wingers, and half brains by voting for health care, but Judge Roll had been under <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47277.html">Secret Service protection</a> after he ruled in favor of undocumented workers who sued a AZ rancher in 2009. Roll, and his family, were threatened after his ruling was discussed on right wing radio shows. All that hate from his fellow conservatives despite making the rancher pay some of the plaintiffs <a href="http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/01/judge_john_roll_not_far_from_p.php">$75,000 versus the $32 million</a> they were asking for. Over 200 phone calls were made surrounding this issue. Even though Roll was a Republican, and he had previously said the <a href="http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-in-national/judge-john-roll-arizona-shooting-victim-ruled-against-gun-control-brady-bill">Brady Bill</a> was unconstitutional, the new Right being led by Tea Partiers and Palin, leave no room for their own to make a sane decision of their own that doesn't tow their hateful line of thinking.<br /><br />Another bone to pick (or fear) that the Right had with Roll that he was the presiding judge on the Arizona case over the future of La Raza and <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/2011/01/08/federal-judge-assigned-to-ethnic-studies-challenge-killed-today-at-giffords-event/">ethnic studies</a>.<br /><br />Makes me wonder if Loughner got his target and Giffords was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-22093688897898349482011-01-17T19:17:00.001-08:002011-01-17T19:57:26.802-08:00MLK Day 2011<a href="http://disgrasian.com/2011/01/on-mlk-day-a-question-are-we-moving-forward/">Disgrasian</a> and <a href="http://field-negro.blogspot.com/2011/01/drking.html">Field Negro</a> have great MLK Day coverage. They cover the struggle to even get MLK Day, how some struggle still with it, how some school used the day to make up for snow days and how another didn't close because as the head of the school said, "It is ridiculous to take the day off when our students are so far behind."<br /><br />We all should know how our schools are more segregated today than in 1968. Drop out rates are the same. In fact there are a lot more problems today than back in the days when people marching changed (some) things.<br /><br />Today, the U.S. (and the world) puts millions in the streets to stop war(s) and to treat Latinos (immigrants) as humans, and today the U.S. is still at war with all brown people at home and abroad.<br /><br />Worst of all, today our right wing wackos have been given the center of our attention by a corporate owned, and controlled media, that is either in support of their illogical arguments (for monetary and/or ideological reasons) or are simply too dumb to know better.<br /><br />The Right wing's recent denial that their rhetoric of hate and fear had no influence on the Arizona shooter, has reached a sad new level. Their constant blaming of the weakest and most powerless as the root of all problems is typical for this xenophobic nation. They have not the brains or guts to see how their cable company, as a member of a global corporation, has more to do with their foreclosure, meth addiction, Jr. having ADD, no job, and the diabetes -than an immigrant looking to feed their family.<br /><br />And there it is, we are still not discussing the big issues. When King, and Malcolm, both began to talk about the big issues they got shot. The big issues of class warfare in this global capitalist world.<br /><br />Palin's followers need to wake up to the fact that the corporations they are hoping will make more jobs are not looking to make more jobs. Those corporations now own a part of the growing prison industrial complex and they need bodies with no jobs, no education, no use to fill those cells. It's not the immigrants stupid.Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-68590838138752005002011-01-16T23:35:00.000-08:002011-01-16T23:58:27.061-08:00oh yeah, Happy New Year or My First Conspiracy of 2011By now you should have read about the massive amounts of dead fish, and birds all over the world right?<br /><br />From <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/05/dead-birds-sweden_n_804600.html">Sweden</a> to Brazil <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/05/dead-birds-fall-from-sky-_n_804591.html">large numbers</a> of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/04/birds-fall-from-sky-louisiana_n_804196.html">dead fish and birds</a> have been found with no concrete explanation. Much like how most beached <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=beached+whales&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=beached+whales&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=L84&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivnsu&source=lnms&tbs=nws:1&psj=1&ei=0PEzTZLzBI3CsAO31e39BQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=4&ved=0CBQQ_AUoAw&fp=c72bee5a4a93f9a3">whales</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=beached+whales&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=pnP&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&tbs=nws:1&q=beached+dolphins&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=beached+dolphins&psj=1&fp=537f1e892d64f77a">dolphins</a> also unexplained.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Yqa8S-PK97E/TTP2h88q-YI/AAAAAAAAA-4/HkAognlK0h8/s1600/dead.birds_.and_.fish.map_.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Yqa8S-PK97E/TTP2h88q-YI/AAAAAAAAA-4/HkAognlK0h8/s400/dead.birds_.and_.fish.map_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563061027889412482" border="0" /></a><br />Apparently in Bali this is increasing. Pariama Hutasoit, an activist with the Beached Mammals Rescue Network (JPMT), said beached dolphins and whales were found on Bali’s southern coast all year round. “In 2010, more than 100 of these mammals were beached on Bali shores,” he said.<br /><br />Now with very little science in my education, I still know dolphins, whales, fish and birds use a type of "radar" to migrate all over the planet. This radar can be effected just like any radar, with magnetic fields and if <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1344899/Shift-magnetic-north-pole-affects--Tampa-airport.html">the planet's magnetic field is shifting</a>, well we are in for major changes.<br /><br />"The movement of the Earth's north magnetic pole towards Siberia are caused by rapid changes in the magnetism of the planet's core. The latest changes are the most dramatic in a century - the pole had been begun moving to the northeast at about 9 miles per year in 1904 but since 2007 has been racing towards Siberia by at least<span style="font-weight: bold;"> 35 miles each year</span>."<div style="overflow: hidden; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; border: medium none;"><br /></div>These animals mass deaths may be the first signs of disorientation, lack of balance, direction - our senses. Maybe our emotions can be affected. Our actions? hmmmmmmmmPachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999548308554269568.post-38883367687364537962011-01-14T15:19:00.001-08:002011-01-15T01:31:54.192-08:00Harry Gamboa Jr. to speak at Smithsonian in D.C.<a href="http://harrygamboajr.com/">Harry Gamboa Jr.</a> will be speaking about his body of work as an urban Chicano artist.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Yqa8S-PK97E/TTDafEX-DXI/AAAAAAAAA-w/Jyj2yFihqBo/s1600/gamboa%2BDC.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Yqa8S-PK97E/TTDafEX-DXI/AAAAAAAAA-w/Jyj2yFihqBo/s320/gamboa%2BDC.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562185767087639922" border="0" /></a>Pachuco 3000http://www.blogger.com/profile/17650790531408080300noreply@blogger.com0