Baeza in Three Dimensions. Holiday Notes. Bermejo at Latinopia. On-line Floricanto for Mid-December

Sculptor Meets 3D, Wowed
Michael Sedano

Armando Baeza welcomes visitors to his studio in 2015

During a studio conversation last November with Armando Baeza (link) , the sculptor emphasized the difficulty he experiences to change the size of a successful piece. At the same time, the soon-to-be 93 years old artist lamented the impact of age on his hands and fingers, how he grows fatigued in the process of carving mud and wax to fashion the molds he takes to the foundry to be cast in bronze.

Mario Guerrero offered a technological solution: scan the work and let 3D software enlarge, or shrink, the object. Print the file on a 3D printer and use that to make the mold. The east LA native said, “show me.” Recently, that’s what Guerrero did, joined by his wife Angel, along with Mario Trillo and Michael Sedano, when Raul and Armando Baeza came to Casa Guerrero to experience 3D technology.

Raul and Armando listen intently to Mario's overview of the 3D system

Guerrero, an industrial educator and CAD/CAM software industry veteran, explains he’s still in the process of mastering the software and affiliated hardware, but has advanced to a point he and Armando can collaborate on a scanning and printing project.

The weekday meeting illustrated the start-to-finish process by scanning a bust of Armando, crunching it in various software packages, and launching the 3D printer.

Armando Baeza, inspired by a 3D printed bust, brainstorms possibilities to Raul Baeza and Mario Trillo.

Earlier in the week, Guerrero had printed a scan of his grandson, which he handed to Armando. The sculptor immediately began a wish-list of projects: "What have they done to the rain?", the monumental fountain at Pico Rivera city hall made small, Baeza’s “Emerging Power” made large, a new cast of the complex two-figure sculpture awarded to the bilingual educator of the year, pure silver—or gold--mini-figures for charm bracelets and jewelry. The others chimed in with favorite ideas of their own. All agreed this technology will serve delightfully to advance Baeza's art.

Mario Guerrero scans and Armando's 3D image populates the computer screen

Using a hand-held scanner, Mario created a bust of Armando. Raul, who is his dad’s apprentice, shared the excitement at the possibilities of the technology and the advantages over the existing state of the art.

Scanned data whizzes into the computer and in a few seconds the screen populates with a three-dimensional virtual object that rotates with a finger touch. This software allows the operator to edit out random noise and provide clean edges.

Raul rotates his dad's 3D scan as Armando takes a foto

The image is processed in preparation for printing

Guerrero transfers the image file from that first computer to a second device where the data are compiled into a format that he feeds through a third software bundle that prepares the file for the printer. Mario transfers this file to a thumb drive that he plugs into the 3D printer. Depending on the resolution in the file and printer capacity, the printer lays down the figure in layers of plastic material that can be .0006” high.

During 2015 studio visit, Armando displays a hard wax work-in-progress

As currently set up, Armando hand sculpts several versions of a figure over hundreds of hours, until the final modèle goes to the foundry. When he enlarges a work, Armando notes he inevitably changes features of the piece so the two are never identical. Sometimes that's good, other times not as satisfying.

Using 3D technology, the sculptor can fashion a single version, scan it, edit it, print it, and make the wax modèle in less than a week. Reproducing a finished bronze piece would require a single day to scan and print at the desired size. And they would be identical, except for size.

An intriguing possibility is no clay sculpting. Guerrero has acquired a haptic mouse that trained hands like Armando’s can learn to manipulate and sculpt in empty space, the image appearing in three dimensions on the computer screen!

Angel photographs Armando photographing Michael photographing Armando and Angel

News 'n Notes
New Year Poetry Planning Advisory

Featuring:
Don Kingfisher Campbell
Jessica Ceballos
Beverly Collins
Seven Dhar
Pauli Dutton
Richard Dutton
Gerda Govine
Dorothy Randall Gray
Luivette Resto
Karineh Mahdessian
Dorothy Skiles
Thelma T. Reyna

All these poets were published in the national award-winning Altadena Poetry Review: Anthology 2016, winner of 2 national book awards in 2016.

Event hosted by Editor/Publisher Poet Laureate Emerita, Thelma T. Reyna, Golden Foothills Press: Pasadena, CA

Holiday Sale This Weekend in Frogtown

Holiday Neighborhood Market on Saturday, Dec. 17th in Los Angeles' Elysian Valley, or Frogtown as  local gente have always called it. This includes Ron Arias, whose collection The Wetback and Other Stories features this riverside enclave. Arias will be at the sale with The Wetback.

Living Room Floricanto: Bermejo's Posada at Latinopia

Poetry readings belong in living rooms and back yards, they need not confine themselves to galleries and coffee houses. Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo proves the point in this reading (click here for  link) videographed by Jésus Salvador Treviño in a Pasadena living room.



Be sure to explore Latinopia's front page. There's another Bermejo reading, the touching "Our Lady of the Water Gallons," performed in a back yard Floricanto.

Mid-December 2016 On-line Floricanto

Kai Coggin, César L. de León, Iris De Anda, Jackie Joy, Jo Reyes-Boitel.

“The Rock Remains Standing (for the Water Protectors)” Kai Coggin.
“Stormcutter” César L. de León.
“Mni Wiconi” Iris De Anda.
“So Tired Of Being Mad” Jackie Joy.
“We Move Like Stone” Jo Reyes-Boitel.


The Rock Remains Standing
(for the Water Protectors)
By Kai Coggin

Tonight
the Rock remains Standing
defiant
in its grace
I can hear the drums
in
the
four
winds
echoing
off the river’s moving heart
the sound
of victory song chanting
the black snake will not burrow its
poisonous mouth
beneath the ever-stream of life
and the bodies of Water Protectors
will sleep in the warmth of knowing
a shift has been made
smoke rises a new consciousness of hope in chaos
a triumph with rippling implications
there is no going back from this
this is a new treaty of hope
this is a white buffalo woman tilt on the side of light
the scales weigh heavy tipped dark
but tonight
there is movement
there is dance
there are drums
a circle of peace warriors cry freezing tears of joy
upon each others’ tired shoulders
a country’s history
looks
350 native tribes
in the eyes
and for a moment
mouths the words “I’m sorry”
through the lines of permits and political statements
the black snake is blind for the night

this battle is won
the war continues
nothing can penetrate
the peaceful will of the water protectors
not rubber bullets
not pepper spray
not water cannons in hypothermic conditions
not incoming (un)presidential corporate figureheads
not militarized attacks on unarmed patriots of the planet
let it be known
the water protectors are protected by a higher force

these sacred keepers
these ancient warriors have returned
to claim the land of their people
yes it’s true
many have faltered against the forces of greed
but as a whole
there was more resilience
there was a battle cry that echoed worldwide
there was the coming together of tribes
who lit a fire of change so bright
it lights the way for humanity
tonight
earth mother
lays her hands upon
the Oceti Sakowin Camp
she hums the vibration
of the planets and stars
into tepees and yurts
the children
smile in their sleep

the snow that blankets
beneath the feet
of these indigenous warriors of light
holds the vibrations
of conflict and coming together
of pain and of promise
of prayer and of deliverance
this snow
is the foundation
of a long winter’s falling piling up
the waiting of a nation
witnessing the changing of the guard into
what may be the darkest times
but come spring
the snow at Standing Rock
will
melt
will
become the water
so desperately fought for
the water
which holds a story of solidarity
that will rush down through
all the rivers and tributaries
rush to the lowest points of creation
and
lift up again
into the ocean of man’s collective consciousness

a story of overcoming
a story of fighting peacefully the good fight
a story of listening to the wisdom of elders
a story a prayer and protectors (not protestors)
a story of men and women with hearts of eagles
a story held there now in the collecting winter snow

the crystals of ice
became mirrors of (in)humanity
the indignity offered to our brothers
did you offer
your hand
your voice
your body
your heart

the snow
at Standing Rock
will become
a water history
that runs its path
that rises to the sky
that moves through us
that we breathe in and back out
that will evaporate into the clouds
and rain down in particles of truth
telling us that we are in this together
that earth is a finite home unless we stand in her defense

tonight
I can hear the drums (my heart)
in the four winds
water
moves
through us
with each breath
the Rock remains Standing for us all

Min Wiconi
#NoDAPL #Waterislife




Stormcutter: The Morning After the Election
By César L. de León

What now? Do I go back into the closet? Build a secret door I can escape through on holidays? Let friends in if they know the secret password? How will I know they are friends?

I've heard people have begun wearing a safety pin on their shirts to identify themselves as allies for LGBTQ, Muslims, immigrants, and refugees.

Do I buy safety pins? Wear one when I go out and about? Is that enough? Will this mark me as a target?

Do I buy a gun to protect myself, my loved ones? If I go buy one should I wear something camouflage? Do I accessorize with an American flag? Is a Confederate flag too much? Do I eye everyone suspiciously when I walk into the gun store? Or do I joke about niggers, fags, wetbacks, and ragheads?

I've never shot a gun in my life and last night I dreamt I shot a man, shot him right in the mouth. He bled waves of black oil.

Do I shave my head? Shave my dark mustache and beard? If it was blonde I wouldn't be asking. Do I cover my skin and let it pale under layers of clothing this winter? Do I cut the hoods out of all my hoodies?

Do I cut out my tongue so it doesn't betray me through mispronounced words and dangerous accents?

Do I cut off my feet so I don't run if they chase me? They can't say I was fleeing or resisting if I don't have feet. Can they? They can.

Do I pluck out my witness eyes?

Do slice the fingers off my writing hand?

Do I lock myself up in the closet like mamá did when we were young and storms got bad?

No.

I remember grandmother telling us that when she was young and storms threatened the farm they would take the sharpest knife they had in the kitchen, walk outside into the wind, and draw an X with the blade across the darkest part of the storm, yelling "aquí no!"

Cortar tormentas she called it.
That is what I will do.




Mni Wiconi
By Iris De Anda

There is a black snake

slithering in the shadows

of sacred stones

There is a white people

sleeping in the illusion

of oil oblivion

There is a rainbow warrior

rising in the sun

of pachamamas prophecy

There is you & I

at a crossroads

so choose

water is life

Agua Es Vida

mni wiconi




So Tired Of Being Mad
Jackie Joy

I am so tired of being mad
fighting for a space in this all white America
thinking I had a voice
but every time I spoke
I could hear the pitter patter in the distance
of someone typing,
"Well, actually...."

I want to say
that being a child of immigrants
that being a woman
after fighting the last 6 years
for better education
for the environment
for women's health
that

I am so tired of being mad
I just want to exist
without explaining
and not be mad
and just live in an America
where half an America doesn't hate
the idea of me
a college educated, liberal
who is also a woman of color
a child of immigrants
a poet and an activist.

I am so tired of being mad
here, you can have it
my anger, my sadness, my fight
because I am so tired of being mad




We Move Like Stone
Jo Reyes-Boitel

we move like stone
through our days

stone
cracked into fire

   uncontrollable wilderness
falling from the edge of our land
into sand crystals

in all that is allowed of us
we are crushed, split open
like pomegranate

our hands separate
into fingers
tips lose themselves
and we crumble into softness

our voices
a roar of water
striking the beach




Meet the Poets
“The Rock Remains Standing (for the Water Protectors)” Kai Coggin.
“Stormcutter” César L. de León.
“Mni Wiconi” Iris De Anda.
“So Tired Of Being Mad” Jackie Joy.
“We Move Like Stone” Jo Reyes-Boitel.

César L. de León is a lifelong resident of the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. His poetry has been published in various anthologies and journals. In 2014, César was awarded 2nd place for Literary Magazine Poem from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association, and in 2012 he was awarded 3rd place in the Golden Circle Awards from The Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Currently, he is an MFA candidate in creative writing with a certificate in Mexican American studies at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Jackie Joy Ho-Shing is a bi-Racial, Multi-Cultural vegan, feminist, writer, animal and human lover, living life one nap at a time. Border Texan born and raised who loves pop culture, coffee and taking pictures of her food.

jo reyes-boitel ~ poet and writer – third world latina mezcla - working class graphics designer - music researcher - libertada y realizada.

Studio Tour: Armando Baeza. Martín Espada Blesses Truth-tellers. On-Line Floricanto

Sculptor Armando Baeza at 89, Niños del Sol 55

Michael Sedano

Mario Trillo and Michael Sedano enjoy a delightful lunch with Alice and Armando Baeza to honor his 89th birthday.

Sculptor Armando Baeza celebrated his 89th birthday in February. To wish him a happy birthday, artist Mario Trillo and I drove over to share lunch with Baeza and his wife Alice. It was our good fortune to find Armando in the finishing stages of “Niños del Sol”.

No one can buy “Niños del Sol,” the sculpture must be earned. Baeza’s sculpture, mounted on walnut base, comes with an engraved plate for the recipient. The Los Angeles County Bilingual Directors Association recognizes individuals who make remarkable contributions to improving English Learning and for supporting Bilingual Education.

“Niños del Sol” poses two figures back to back, each looks to her left, together suggesting Janus-like perspective. The smiling figures appear to delight in their pose, beholding what lies just within their reach.

The hands and extended arms are a key element. In one pair, a figure holds her arms out shoulder high while her counterpart thrusts her arms toward the earth. In another pair, both figures lean backward supporting one antoher, holding open their inclined arms at contrasting angles.

Such alterations reflect aesthetic decisions that emerge in the sculpting process, as well as Armando's desire to produce a smooth finish in the cast work. Bubbles in the molten bronze rise through the angle of the limb. If a bubble lodges in its path and doesn’t properly evaporate, it mars finish and obscures detail. Corrective rework leads to extra labor and delays bringing the art to its audience.

Armando Baeza shows Mario Trillo "Niños Del Sol." Baeza says another two weeks work may have the model ready to be cast in bronze.

Armando Baeza inspects the model Niños Del Sol." He makes the model in two sections to ensure a cleaner cast.

Armando Baeza explains he's repositioned this hand of "Niños Del Sol." Bubbles in the fingers of an earlier edition forced today's redesign. Baeza remarks that numerous changes over the editions stem from effort to control errors and reduce repair time in the finishing stages of producing "Niños Del Sol."

Armando Baeza holds the model for "Niños Del Sol" in the current state. He is working on the 55th edition since its 1977 debut.

Armando Baeza uses a hot tip to add or remove tiny amounts of wax as he sculpts "Niños Del Sol". Baeza points out he creates the original model in clay or Plastaline. He applies pink wax to finish the small minute details. He then molds this in red wax, and that goes to the foundry.

Armando Baeza shows Mario Trillo how Baeza sculpts the contours of "Niños Del Sol," adding a bit of wax. Baeza uses a cottage cheese container to extend the reach of his exhaust system. The wax emits toxic gas as it melts.. Baeza reminds that all such wax products require effective ventilation. Safety counts.

Armando Baeza sees the final form and uses the hot iron tip to give the wax the finished shape. Baeza eventually will mold and cast a thin hollow model in a special red wax that does not leave residue.

He encases the red wax model in a homogeneous heat resistant material. Pouring molten bronze into the wax produces the sculpture in bronze.

Armando Baeza displays "Apache Horn Player" work in progress.

Armando Baeza examines "Apache Horn Player" work in progress. This is a difficult figure to cast owing to tiny detail in the fingers.

Mold and red wax cast of "Apache Horn Player" foto © Armando Baeza

Armando Baeza points to his workbench. He points out he sometimes works 8 to 10 hours nonstop. He's equipped the studio with key appliances like the heater behind him, a stereo, refrigerator, and cable television.

Armanno Baeza poses with Gil Cedillo's presentation copy of "Niños del sol." Foto: ©Armando Baeza.

"Niños del Sol", the artist's workbench, tools. Foto © Armando Baeza.

Oracy Notebook
Martín Espada Reads Jack Agüeros poem "Blessed Be the Truth-tellers"

When I conduct a "Reading Your Stuff Aloud" workshop I emphasize the importance of going out of your way to attend readings. Assess what others do that moves you, and copy that, adapting to your own comfort range.

La Bloga friend Martín Espada, whose reading of his own stuff marks him as one of the nation's three most effective oral interpreters of their own work, offers a workshop of vocal animation, pause, and phrasing in his reading of "Blessed Be the Truth-tellers," Espada's tribute to Jack Agüeros--the first writer Espada met.

Espada recently shared several performances with public television's Bill Moyers. Moyers' "Poets in Performance" segment features a diverse line-up of US poets. La Bloga readers will find a rich archive of superb readings at Latinopia.






Mailbag
Diosa Workshop in Highland Park

La Bloga friends Vanessa Acosta and Naomi Quiñonez email to share news of their workshop, Women, Poetry And Spirituality. A Poetry Workshop for Tapping Into The Sacred Feminine.

Poet-scholar Naomi Quiñonez promises a workshop that will help women tap into their Sacred Feminine (La Diosa in every woman) through the creative medium of poetry. Participants will be guided to recognize their creative and divine powers through readings, discussions, meditation, writing exercises and writing poetry. The workshop will support each woman in realizing her true value and worth within herself, her family and her community.

The $45.00 registration assures full participation in Dr. Quiñonez' workshop and the reading. Poet, educator, activist Quiñonez practices Mestiza spirituality fusing indigenous and Buddhists practices. She creates and facilitates moon circles and ceremonies principally for women of color. Quiñonez holds a Ph.D in American Studies from Claremont Graduate University and is the author of several collections of poetry and articles on Latina/os in the United States.

The Sunday, March 10 workshop begins at 7:00 p.m. at the American Indian Families Partnership on North Figueroa. Direct queries for more information and student rates to Naomi Quiñonez or Vanessa Acosta or telephone 323.602.6899.

Mailbag
¡Presente! Calling the Names of 28 Deportees

La Bloga friend Tim Z. Hernandez talks about the incredibly interesting idea for his current work-in-progress, recounting the lives of each of the "Mexican Nationals" killed in the Los Gatos plane crash memorialized in a Woody Guthrie song, Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (The Deportee Song).

Hernandez seeks to raise $10,000 to install a cemetery stone with the 28 names. Read details at Hernandez' website.


La Bloga On-line Floricanto First of Five for March 2013
Patrick Fontes, Richard Vargas, Andrea Mauk, David Romero, Mario A. Escobar


You Cannot Deport Their Spirits by Patrick Fontes
not a medal, but a poem by Richard Vargas
Bless Me, Grandmother Moon by Andrea Mauk
An Open Letter to Edward James Olmos by David Romero
The Cucaracha by Mario A. Escobar


You Cannot Deport Their Spirits
By Patrick Fontes

At twilight mantled candles beckon prayer
glimmer ghost dancing shadows flit across walls
healing a modern man's toil-wearied heart
resting my mind meditation empty of time
and space across the veil invoking haunting touch
two great grandfather Yaquis to possess
my awaiting body yielding pliant on edge
for imparted ancient unspeakable truths
without papers illegal to the racist state
bisabuelo Luna tall strong hands resurrected
Sonoran Rodriguez dark morose thinker
on both sides whispering “Miiiijoooooo eeeescuuchame”
Apache bisabuela rising against a Phoenix sunset
blowing through brilliant hued Arizonan ravines
banshee-like screams at the sight of dessert dead
flies across borders to visit her hijo
dead silence except wise ancestors who rise
across generations traversing barbed frontiers
freely floating cutting through wired parcels
no gringo harassment grabs hold arrests
our native ancestors who do not recognize
arrogant drawn political lines across their lands
no walls hold back their native force
joining me in my sweetest pillowed dreams
boldly crossing national borders rendezvous
a secret hushed ritual fills me
with ancient Yaqui Apache wisdom
each night beginning at phantom Twilight



not a medal, but a poem
by Richard Vargas

these children of the high desert
dressed in their best clothes
chasing each other around
tables and chairs where the
wedding party sits surrounded
by family and friends
this day to celebrate and remember
turned to grief and shock with
a flash a boom a puff of smoke
a little shoe flying through the air

these families with mud brick homes
demolished into dust and rubble
where bodies crushed and mangled
were pulled out only to be covered with
the same blankets they slept under
only a few hours ago
smothered in their dream
of malevolent angels
soaring above

these uniformed video game junkies
sitting in rooms across an ocean
and in the middle of another desert
surrounded by monitors
keyboards and hi-tech joy sticks
where words like “alleged” and
“probable” increase the pressure
of a thumb on a trigger button
until a child obliterated is written
up as the equivalent
of a dead goat

for actions degrading our humanity
and standing in the global community
uncle sam
i pin this poem on your chest
sorry for the prick
it will only bleed
a little bit



Bless Me, Grandmother Moon
By Andrea Mauk

I look at you
and you smile
as always.
We understand each other
both living with our heads
bobbing in the sky.
I am ragged today,
and I want you to bless me.
I kneel beneath you,
let your light bathe me in blue,
touch the tips of my hair
and the depths of my heart.
I want to live, Coyolxauhqui.
I have so much to do still,
and I am scared.
There is pain even when I breathe
and I am a giver,
so how can I ask for my energy back?
Where would I begin?
I fill the bathwater,
the old clawfoot tub
and add a cheesecloth sachet of
basil and white sage,
just enough herb-of-grace,
let it seep like té.
I add the seeds of luna rosa
so beauty can take hold
around me.
Tides flow through my core.
I soak and release
The walls of my house lie down.
The roof is retracted.
Now it's just me
and Grandmother Moon
and sleepy stars watching
high above my rose garden.

Forgive me and cleanse me,
Creator of life,
surround me with the guardians' auras
of light, love, healing, protection
and wisdom,
help me let go of all
that I no longer need
and open to destiny,
open to love, unselfish and true,
let go of hurt and anguish,
feed me clarity and harmony,
spirulina and chia,
let me touch the faces
of the ancestors that dance
in the sky.
Let copal smoke clear
the stale air,
let Grandmother Moon's
hands coax healing waves
upon the oceans
and massage the lands
until we are clean
and there is only love.
I want to live,
Coyolxauhqui.
There is so much to do
and I've barely begun.



An Open Letter to Edward James Olmos
by David Romero

Dear Edward James Olmos,
It has come to my attention
That you took a private jet
With Jan Brewer from the Super Bowl
Back to Arizona
I may have been deceived
Because
You are such an accomplished actor
But
It would appear that was your arm
Hanging over plush and white cushions
Draped over Brewer’s slippery shoulders
I may have been deceived
Because
You are such an accomplished actor
But
It looks like you two
Are smiling like old friends
In your Instagram
Picture together
#EdwardJamesOlmos
#ChicanoNoMore
Como se dice “Sell out?”
Como se dice “Race traitor?”
Como se dice
“Got-what-he-wanted
Then threw-us-under
The-freedom-bus
Headed for Arizona?”
Sounds like Moctezuma
Looks like nostrils flaring
Feels like saliva and mocos
Gathered up in mouth
And hurled at your feet
You have betrayed us
Edward James Olmos
“Now boarding”
Did you feel something
Deep
In the marrow of your bones
Telling you not to get on that plane?
Stories of corpses haunting the desert?
Of Minutemen patrols?
Did their victims give you pause?
Could you feel something
Tugging at your heartstrings?
Those violins
Serenading another funeral party
Did they move you?
Could you feel something
Like a knife stabbing into your traitor’s belly?
Did it stab into you like you were driving home
Stopped
In front of red and blue lights flashing
Frozen in terror
Watching as they came?
Did it hit you
Edward James Olmos
After you took the photo?
Did you excuse yourself?
Did you wipe the sin off of your hands
And lose yourself in a swirling drain of remorse?
Edward James Olmos
No
Of course you didn’t
Chale…
Edward James Olmos
You felt fine
Flying high
Jan Brewer never gets stopped
Governor Bruja can fly over borders
She gets what she wants
Travels with impunity
Because she owns the law
And besides… what’s the plight of your people
When you get an easy flight
Back from the Super Bowl?
Edward James Olmos
Chicano actor
Activist
What will you tell us?
That in that cramped airplane compartment
You maneuvered through niceties?
Dialogued about racial understanding
And social policy?
Or, will you tell us that you cursed her
Through those smiling teeth of yours?
Is that what you did?
No
Edward James Olmos
Because that would take… ganas
Ganas you apparently left in New Orleans
But if we are to tell stories
Here is one for you
Your plane never touched down in Arizona
It was grounded
It fit a profile
Of the 1%
Politicians
And sell-outs like yourself
A loud voice boomed
“Freeze
We need to see your papers and ID”
Jan Brewer was escorted from the plane
Belligerent and brought out in handcuffs
Tried
For her crimes against humanity
And you, Edward James Olmos?
We stripped you of your zoot suit
Of names we had held close to our hearts
For so many years
Adama
Gonzalez
Santana
Escalante
El Pachuco
Edward James Olmos
All we were left with
Was your sad carcass
An empty plane
And the realization
You had never been
The first Chicano
Anything.



The Cucaracha
by Mario A. Escobar

You survived the heat of the desert
Nature’s microwave
Nothing interrupts your breathing
Bloomed brown jasmine
Running through the devil’s garden
Between the empty bottles of the century
Running through Dante’s nine circles
While singing the journey with madness,
In silence hissing the chemical trail
Because no matter how many times
The boot oppresses
A new generation is born to follow
The wheel of dreams


Bios
You Cannot Deport Their Spirits by Patrick Fontes
not a medal, but a poem by Richard Vargas
Bless Me, Grandmother Moon by Andrea Mauk
An Open Letter to Edward James Olmos by David Romero
The Cucaracha by Mario A. Escobar

Currently I am a PhD candidate in history at Stanford University. My research
involves border issues, Mexican religion, the Virgin Mary, immigration into the
Southwest, and the criminalization of Chicano culture.
I grew up in Fresno, in a working class Chicano home. My father was a
construction worker, my mom, a waitress. My father grew up in makeshift tent
communities, picking crops up and down California in the 1950s and 1960s.
During the Mexican revolution my great grandfather, Jesus Luna, crossed the
border from Chihuahua into El Paso, then on to Fresno. In 1920 Jesus built a
Mexican style adobe house on the outskirts of the city, it is still our family’s
home and the center of our Mexican identity today. Nine decades of memories
adorn the plastered walls inside. In one corner, a photo of Bobby Kennedy hangs
next to an image of La Virgen de Zapopan; in another, an imposing altar to
Guadalupe.
The smells, voices, sounds, hopes and ghosts of familia who have gone before me
saturate my poems.

Richard Vargas was born and raised in So. California. He has published two collections of poetry: McLife, 2005, and American Jesus, 2007. He graduated from the University of New Mexico Creative Writing program with an MFA/Poetry, in 2010. His poetry has appeared in various literary journals, reviews, and anthologies. He was recipient of the 2011 Hispanic Writers Award / Taos Summer Writers Conference. He also was on the faculty of the 10th National Latino Writers Conference, May 2012. He just edited/published the 6th issue of The Más Tequila Review, a bi-annual poetry magazine featuring poets from across the country, and a few from beyond. He currently resides in Albuquerque, NM, looking for a job and a publisher for his third collection of poetry, Guernica, revisited. For more about Richard, check out his website http://rvargas54.wix.com/rvargas54

Andrea García Mauk grew up in Arizona, where both the immense beauty and harsh realities of living in the desert shaped her artistic soul. She calls Los Angeles home, but has also lived in Chicago, New York and Boston. She has worked in the music industry, and on various film and television productions. She writes short fiction, poetry, original screenplays and adaptations, and is currently finishing two novels. Her writing and artwork has been published and viewed in a variety of places such as on The Late, Late Show with Tom Snyder; The Journal of School Psychologists and Victorian Homes Magazine. Both her poetry and artwork have won awards. Several of her poems and a memoir are included in the 2011 anthology, Our Spirit, Our Reality, and her poetry is featured in the 2012 Mujeres de Maiz “‘Zine.” She is a regular contributor to Poets responding to SB 1070. Her poems have been chosen for publication on La Bloga’s Tuesday Floricanto numerous times. She is also a moderator of Diving Deeper, an online workshop for writers, and has written extensively about music, especially jazz, while working in the entertainment industry. Her production company, Dancing Horse Media Group, is currently in pre-production of her independent film, “Beautiful Dreamer,” based on her original screenplay and manuscript, and along with her partners, is producing a unique cookbook that blends healthful recipes with poetry and prose from the community.

Mario A. Escobar is the author of Gritos Interiores (Cuzcatlan Press, 2005), a book of poems written in response to California Proposition 187 and the novel Paciente 1980 (Orbis Press, 2012).His work has been featured in the anthology of poetry Desde el Epicentro(2008), and Underground Undergrads (UC Press, 2007), La Bloga (2012), Beltway Poetry Quarterly (2012). Born in El Salvador, he is a child of civil war who came to the US at age 12 and was raised in South Central and East Los Angeles, attaining asylum in this country in 2006. He holds a BA in Spanish Literature and Chicano Studies from UCLA, a Masters degree from Arizona State University. Escobar has lectured on the trauma of child soldiers at the University of Santa Barbara, the University of Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, and Arizona State University.

Multi (bits) cultural (and pieces)

Michael Sedano

Over thirty years ago when I was doing some academic research in Chicano literature, I happened across a journal called MELUS. A beautiful journal, indeed. Over the years, I've been happy to see the MELUS--Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States--organization sustain itself. As with any academic endeavor, however, access remained closed to all but a few members and subscribers.

I was happy recently learning that MELUS democratized itself and has now taken on a web presence at http://melus-newsnotes.blogspot.com/. Here's something of note about the organization's upcoming conference.

Theme: Towards a Confluence of Multi-Ethnic Arts and the University

Confirmed Speakers: Luis Rodriguez, Jr., will give a reading and workshop on Thursday, March 27, 2008. Rodriguez is the author of Music of the Mill: A Novel, Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A., and The Republic of East L.A.: Stories, among other works of poetry and prose. The plenary address will be given jointly by Monica Brown and Guisela Latorre. Brown, Associate Professor of English at Northern Arizona University, is the author of Gang Nation: Delinquent Citizens in Puerto Rican, Chicano, and Chicana Narratives (U of Minnesota P, 2002) and the award-winning author of numerous multicultural children’s books. To learn more about Brown, visit http://www.monicabrown.net/. Latorre, Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at The Ohio State University, is the author of Walls of Empowerment: Chicana/o Indigenist Murals of California (forthcoming, U of Texas P).

Speaking of conferences, la literatura Chicana is the annual focus of the National Latino Writers Conference. The upcoming edition will be held in Albuquerque, May 21-24, 2008. La Bloga will keep you posted on this event. Here is the intial Press Release on this year's conference.

Nationally recognized and successfully published poets, writers, playwrights, journalists and scriptwriters will offer workshops on writing in their respective genres. Every two years the NHCC also awards a literary prize. Past winners include Rodolfo Anaya, Denise Chávez and Pat Mora. This year’s winner is poet and university professor, Martín Espada. Called, “ the Latino poet of his generation,” and “the Pablo Neruda of North American authors,” Espada has published 16 books in his career as a poet, editor and translator. His eighth book of poetry, The Republic of Poetry was published by Norton in 2006, received the 2007 Paterson Award for sustained Literary Achievement and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 . Among the faculty for the 2008 conference are: poet, Martín Espada; novelist, Helena María Viramontes; screenwriters, Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Frank Zuñiga; novelist and poet, Benjamin Alire Saenz; journalist, Alfredo Corchado; fiction writer, Kathleen de Azevedo; and mystery writer Rolando Hinjosa-Smith. Attendees can have samples of their work reviewed by these noted writers and commentary given that will help them develop their writing style. Workshops also include hands-on exercises. The conference will be held on the NHCC campus and registration includes meals and social events as well as the instructional workshops. In addition to workshops there will be panels featuring editors, publishers and literary agents. Registration is $300. For more information, contact Katie Trujillo at the NHCC 246-2261, ext. 148, or Danny Lopez, Marketing Director at extension 120.


Sculpture Big Hit in LA Show

I'm rarely tempted to touch a painting, but sculpture is an entirely different matter. Sculpture must be handled to develop its patina. I am fortunate to own a few small bronzes by master sculptor Armando Baeza, that I can touch all I want. I hold my year-old granddaughter up to the work and let her handle the small pieces, too. Click the link above to see the artist's work in context of its initial showing in 2004.

My favorite is "Emerging Power," at right, a totally wonderful piece. My version is only 6" high. I say "only" because Mr. Baeza has recently completed an edition of this figure 21" high. Twenty-one inches! It's absolutely marvelous and on view at Los Angeles' Municipal Art Gallery housed in lovely Barnsdall Park as part of a show, "Spirits of LA" curated by painter Raoul de la Sota.

Armando made a few alterations in the sized-up edition--most obviously the simplified coif--which you can see in the detail in the composite. You can see another view of the piece, and other Baeza work, here.

Spirits of LA runs through April 19. Barnsdall Park is located in east Hollywood west of Vermont on Hollywood Boulevard. Admission and parking are free.


All Things Come to S/He Who Waits, Eventually.

Last year, La Bloga shared news of Aaron Michael Morales' upcoming chapbook out of Notre Dame's Momotombo Press, From Here You Can Almost See the End of the Desert. Planned for release in 2007, I recently received word that the work, with an introduction by Luis Urrea, now is available directly from Momotombo, from Tianguis, and at a Chicago afternoon reading on February 23. Sadly, I don't have details yet on that reading, nor Tianguis. I hope Aaron or someone from Momotombo will comment con los datos.

Retirement Project Update

Last January, I was planning my retirement from the world of work, and shared one of my plans to be an illustrated book collecting excerpts from Los Angeles-set Chicana Chicano novels. That column generated some enthusiastic comments and a host of suggestions. The time has come, the walrus said. My last day in the warehouse was January 28. Today I began the project at the Pasadena Public Library, checking out several of the titles in my plan. Adelante! Here I go.


And that's the word from Tuesday, February 5, 2008, a day like any other day, except we were here. And we all went out and voted if we lived in a Super Tuesday state. Speaking of which, Chon Noriega from UCLA reportedly* notes Mitt Romney could be the last Mexican American candidate in the prexy race!

So what about Mitt Romney? It turns out his great-grandfather was a polygamous Mormon who evaded prosecution by crossing the border into Mexico with his family, including his son Gaskell, Mitt’s grandfather (see reference). George Wilcken Romney, Mitt’s father, was born in 1907. The Romneys re-entered the United States in 1912, during the Mexican Revolution (although some relatives still live there). In other words, the Romneys violated federal law, and rather than face the music they fled the United States, crossing illegally into another country, where their Mexico-born descendants acquired the rights of citizenship in the host country. Sound familiar? Since the Mexican constitution now allows the children of Mexican citizens to petition for Mexican citizenship, Mitt Romney could become not only the first U.S. president of Mexican descent but also the first U.S. president to be a citizen of another country! I raise this possibility not as a constitutional question, but rather as one about the need for some perspective on immigration. The gander expects something that it denies the goose; but on this issue, they’re both cooked. (CSRC Newsletter, *reportedly because the current issue is not up yet for review.)

Chon, give me a break! See you next week.

mvs