Lydia Gil & Mario Acevedo

de Lydia Gil en Argentina:

Saludos from Buenos Aires, where I've been for the past weeks with a group of University of Denver students.

This is not your typical tango-and-mate type of class. We're here to meet with witnesses, writers, and human rights activists to explore the various dimensions of the military dictatorship, among them, the testimonies of the disappeared and the projects of memorialization.

There have already been many heart-ripping moments in the few days we've met as a group: reading on a fragment of an excavated wall from a clandestine detention center the following carving--probably made with the edge of a spoon--"Ayúdame Señor". And listening to the roll call of the disappeared... after each name, the crowd shouts: "Presente".

Tomorrow is International Human Rights Day and today, for the Marcha de la Resistencia, the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo will march nonstop from noon until midnight. We wonder if now, three decades later, their march has become a memorial... Who will march after they are gone?

_______________________

de Mario Acevedo en Denver:

Here's info on the signing for my graphic novel.

Sunday, Dec 12, 2010, 3PM
Broadway Book Mall
200 S Broadway, Denver, CO

Science Fiction/Fantasy writers Win Scott Eckert, Alastair Mayer, Warren Hammond, David Boop, Laura Reeve, and Mario Acevedo will be signing their new works.

Mario will be debuting his graphic novel, Killing the Cobra, in which his detective/vampire Felix Gomez battles the Han Cobra heroin smugglers.

Free parking in back and across the street at the post office after hours. Bring a canned food donation to be entered in a raffle for door prizes. More info here.
_____________________

From Su Teatro de Denver:

Here's information on this year's holiday program.

"To Colorado on a Christmas Night"

Presented by Su Teatro at the Denver Civic Theatre, 721 Santa Fe Drive. Through Dec. 19. 1 hour, 40 minutes. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. $17-$20. For more info: 303-296-0219 or suteatro.org.

Read the Denver Post review - (two out of four stars?)

Bandas, Arizona, vampiros & René's apellido

Música, tirando chancla, Denver style

As Ramos mentioned yesterday: "I'll see some of you at Part 2 of the Colorado All-Star New Mexico and Tejano Music Festival at Denver's Edelweiss Club, featuring Next In Line of Commerce City, Richard Baca & Sierra Gold from Pueblo, and The Rick Garcia Band."

My wife Carmen and I did see him, and his wife Flo there and the vato wasn't kidding--it was a kick-ass baile. We left at 11:00 before the third band, but my legs were already worn out from trying to keep up with the hot sounds, anyway. Next up will be The King of New Mexico Music, TOBIAS RENE. Tickets available at EDELWEISS CLUB, 6495 Monaco, Commerce City Colo. and RICK'S TAVERN, 6762 Lowell Boulevard, Denver, 303-427-3427

Ramos also mentioned, "I may bump into some of you at the driveway party Saturday night." I'm probably going, but need some help. Anybody know where I can get some permanent marker chalk to christen that new driveway?

Alarcón (& La Bloga) strike deep in the Ariz. heartland

Mari Herreras of the Tucson Weekly ran an interview this week of Francisco X. Alarcón:
"Moved by student protests in Phoenix against SB 1070, Alarcón created a Facebook page called Poets Responding to SB 1070. Many of the poems from the page have been republished on La Bloga at labloga.blogspot.com.

In the interview, Alarcón explains: "Michael Sedano from Los Angeles is an editor of La Bloga, a blog for Latino/Chicano artists, poets and writers. The past eight weeks, we started to select poems, and every Tuesday, five to seven poems are selected and posted on La Bloga. Now we're hitting a critical mass of poets, so we want to do a hard copy. The University of California Press has expressed an interest, but I haven't presented them with a proposal ... but we've come to a decision that this is the next step."

Any billionaire out there want to underwrite free copies for anybody with an Ariz. driver's license--regardless of what kind of shoes they're wearing?

Vampiro comic Issue #2

Saturday, July 17, 7:00pm – Authors Mario Acevedo and Jeanne Stein will be the featured speakers at the monthly meeting of the Denver Area Science Fiction Association. Mario will sign Killing the Cobra #2, his latest comic book featuring Felix Gomez, the vampire P.I. hero of Mario’s novels. Broadway Book Mall, 200 S. Broadway (one block north of Alameda), in Denver; 303-744-BOOK (2665).

René's last name not culturally sacred aquí

Regular La Bloga readers know about René Colato Laínez's book René has two last names/René tiene dos apellidos. One would think that in this age of reputed "border security" and with all the anti-immigrant propaganda, keeping accurate track of the Spanish surnamed would be mandated. Not so.

For instance, at my last public school--when I still had a job--I noticed that this year my new list of students, 23 in all, ALL had their two last names hyphenated. In fact, there is not ONE method to putting names on birth certificates. Sometimes it will read: "René Colato Laínez", without a hyphen, while another kid's may read " René Colato-Laínez", with a hyphen. When I brought this to the attention of the powers-that-be, I was told not to worry about it, that it was no big deal. Given that I knew my own job was already in jeopardy at the time, I took the muy huevón approach and kept my mouth shut. I still regret that, no matter that it didn't help keep my job.

Whatever the thinking of Denver schools' administration, blankedly hyphenating all the Spanish-surnamed not only shows cultural ignorance and insensitivity, it's probably illegal, since hyphenating a name that isn't so on a birth certificate is probably considered a legalistic no-no.

What the practice reveals is the contradiction within not only the school systems, but the country as a whole. Cultural hegemony hyphenates all the Spanish surnames in one school, on the one hand; but on the other hand, political anti-immigrant hysteria demands accurate tracking of the same Spanish-surnamed.

The result will be a lot of Spanish-surnamed lost in the system. I don't mind this. I laugh thinking how one day the system will find out it can't find Colato Laínez because some school system hyphenated his name along with all the others in his school. And who's next? How about, President Barack Hussein–Obama?

Es todo, hoy
RudyG

Denver author signings missed

The hot Chicano comic

From Chicano vampiristico (sic?) Mario Acevedo, comes this note:
"To read about the new Felix Gomez Comic Killing the Cobra, in a special edition newsletter, click this link."
Happy fanging,
Mario"

There's two covers to this issue and I have to disagree with Mario's pocho tastes and say this one ain't the winner. Reminds me of Charlie's Angels, the vata vampira edition.

Here's the Cover B version. I'll take votes from all readers, whether you're registered, a resident or even don't look like your legal.

Anyway, I missed Mario's debut signing in Denver--pinche! I also missed Manuel Ramos's Denver debut Tattered Cover Bookstore signing of King of the Chicanos. Still down about being job-less and had hundreds of computer entries to make on grades, tests, etcetera. (At least my wife went and got me four copies I can Ebay to subsidize my unemployment checks.)

Anyway, I'm sure you'll find something about Mario's event on his website soon and he will have another signing for the comic book, 3pm, June 6, at the Broadway Book Mall, 200 So. Broadway, Denver. He'll do a PowerPoint of how the comic came together, with more pictures than what he presented my first grade class that had them totally fixated on doing their own comic.

And Ramos posted a piece yesterday about what my wife told me was a huge, great event. Tattered sold out of all the copies they had, which probably means King will make Denver's bestseller list for awhile. I'm just finishing the novel and suggest you get one before all that's available is the 2nd, 3rd or 4th editions.

Borrowing from the master, Lalo

Inspired by and patterned after the classic poem "Stupid America" (1969) by the late Abelardo "Lalo" Delgado (QDEP), an old friend and academico Donaldo Urioste sent us this piece about Arizona and its recent anti-immigrant/anti-Mexican mania.

Stupid Arizona
See that Mexican
Walking the streets of your cities
and the barren lands of your countryside.
He doesn't want to harm you,
he just wants to work
and earn a decent wage
but you won't let him.

Stupid Arizona,
hear that Latina
Speaking Spanish and broken English
throughout your callous communities.
She is a future scholar
of Ethnic Studies, Chicano history, Chicano literature
whose potential will perish
Because of your draconian policies.

Stupid Arizona,
remember that Chicano
detained and vilified
by ICE and your local police agents.
HE is the rising Phoenix
of the Great Southwest,
But in Arizona
His ashes will expire
never again to glimmer in the horizon.

donaldo urioste, 5/10
Professor of Spanish & Chicano Literature
School of World Languages & Cultures
California State University, Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA
durioste aT csumb.edu

Funds to research your book

From Marcela Landress's Latinidad website comes this info:

"Working on a book that requires travel and/or research you simply can't afford? Apply for a writing grant. An excellent source is the NALAC Fund for the Arts; past recipients include Angie Cruz, Nelly Rosario, and Sandra Rodriguez Barron. Application forms will soon be available on the NALAC website. Read this month's Q&A with NALAC Executive Director Maria Lopez De Leon to learn more.

Getting ganas from estudiantes

On an upnote about my last week as an employed 1st-grade bilingual teacher, 35 of my present and former students gave a chingón presentation at the school talent show. Here's the content of the chant/dance they did, something we use year-round:

¿Por qué estás aquí?
¡Para aprender!
¿Por qué quieres aprender?
Para subir, de nivel,
y ser, más inteligente.
¿Más inteligente?
¡Sí! para ir,
a la universidad.
¿Para ser?
Para ser doctora! Para ser astronauta! etc. . .

You had to be there to appreciate the chanting cadence, the hand-clapping, finger-snapping, foot-stomping, strong-voiced spirit that comes from estudiantes con ganas.
Especially when their Para Sers at the start of the year consisted of mesera, carpintero, mamá, but now end with several,
¡Para ser maestro!

Es todo, hoy
RudyG