CHAMPION

"Champion" documents the life story of Danny Trejo a.k.a. Machete. I've always thought he was pretty bad ass, but after watching this film I have to give him mad props for getting his life together, and becoming a dope actor, for helping troubled youth, and for showing all these gringos in Hollywood what's up! Now they know not to fuck with Danny Trejo, cuz if they do they just fucked with the wrong Mexican! haha No, but for reals, I highly recommend this film. I'm not sure if you can get the dvd, but it's on instant Netflix if you have that, that's how I watched it. This film is Breezy Approved!!!

DEADEND MAGAZINE CRUISE NIGHT

The homies Juan and Jesus Espinoza from Deadend Magazine made this sick lil video of their cruise night that happened a couple of weeks ago in Watsonville. I had a previous engagement that night, and was pretty bummed out we didn't make it out this time... but I'm so ready for the next one. The Espinoza brothers are hella down for their town, their cars, and their homies, and I can definitely respect that. Mad props to them for rep'n for Chicanos in the kustom car community, and for keeping it real!

HOMEGIRL PURIKURA

The homie Rio Yañez, and I are currently collaborating on an art series he's been working on for a while now... here's a peek into the awesomeness that's to come:

Homegirl プリクラ is a collaboration between artists Rio Yañez and Mayra Ramirez. It is the next phase of Yañez' art series examining the relationship between Japanese youth emulating Cholo and Chola culture and their counterparts in the United States. Homegirl Purikura reverses the appropriation of visual aesthetics and uses Japanese photobooths (Purikura) to create portraits of Cholas. The use of Purikura enables Yañez and Ramirez to create a hybrid visual presentation of portraits decorated in Chola cultural references but using uniquely Japanese visual tools to do so.

See the full gallery of images from this project HERE.

DR. LAKRA

I'm obsessed with Dr. Lakra (Jeronimo Lopez Ramirez)!!! He's an artist and tattooist based in Oaxaca, Mexico. He uses 1950's vintage imagery, and embellishes them with his dope sailor/cholo/prison tattooes, and the results blow my mind, makes me wanna shed a tear ayyyy! He's a pretty hard person to track down, and tends to disappear here and there. But he's in town (SF) for a few days tattooing, and my boss is getting some work done by him tomorrow night, and although I wish it was me getting tatted by him, at least I'll get the chance to meet him!

SUMMER TIME!!!

Summer time is here... and you know what that means? Time to relax is the sun, with a cold chela, BBQing con los homies y la familia, and cruising down the Blvd. with the top down ayyyy! Here's a few music videos to get you in the mood...

LOCAS

I've never really been a comic book enthusiast, I've read some here and there... I can appreciate all the beautiful artwork, and hard work that goes into creating these... but for me to go into a comic book store, and browse for a few hours, and spend a bill on these little books was unheard of, until now. Mi novio Angel is an artist, and enjoys going to comic book stores to check out whats new, so a couple of weeks ago I tagged along and was super surprised to find a comic book series that spoke to my soul.

LOCAS: The Maggie and Hopey Stories by Jaime Hernandez, is a series of short stories, graphic novels collected from the pages of Love & Rockets (volume 1, 1982-1998), that follow the drama filled lives of a group of primarily Latina characters, from their teenage years in the early days of the California punk scene to the present day. The two main characters in Locas are Margarita Luisa "Maggie" Chascarrillo and Esperanza Leticia "Hopey" Glass, whose on-again, off-again, open romance is a focus for many Locas storylines.

The artwork done by Jaime Hernandez is amazing, and I love all the chisme going on in these two queer Chicanas lives... the stories will suck you in, and you won't wanna drop the book. Plus, Hernandez is from Oxnard, Califas where I lived most of my childhood, so I love him even more!!! I highly recommend this comic book series, it's the shitzznit!!!