Ernest Hogan's Blog, page 53

CHICANONAUTICA LOOKS AT L30, COSTA RICA, AND THE FUTURE

Chicanonautica reviews Luis Chacón Ortiz's novel Ciudad Radiante, over at La Bloga:
Of course, Americanos see the future as America:

In Costa Rica, things are different:


Ciudad Radiante is about L30, a far more advanced version of this:


Futuristic Latin America, gotta love it:

LIVING DAMNEAR APOCALYPTIC ON A FLOTILLA

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Another Young Adult novel. I'm not a fan of the category. Back when I was in high school, during the Nixon administration, the YA label meant you were in for a propaganda piece that was designed by parental authorities to make you see the error of your ways and cut your hair, stay away from drugs, study hard, and become a productive member of society. So, of course I would run like hell and find something like Dangerous Visions, Zap Comix, or Tropic of Cancer to read.
I didn't know what to expect from Daniel Haight's Flotilla . My prejudices had me hesitating. Then the author told me to prepare to have my mind blown.
I like having my mind blown. It's what I look for in good entertainment. This guy thinks he can blow my mind with his novel? Let's see . . .
Well, I'm happy to say that Flotillais a certifiable mind-blower.
The teenage alcoholic hero, fresh out of rehab, goes working for, and with, his dad on Colony D, a mariculture complex of linked ships cruising the Pacific, both cultivating and harvesting fish. It's a fantastic world of its own, spawning rowdy subcultures. It's one of the most original and believable – you can practically smell it – visions of futuristic society I've seen in a long time, and I'm a bit of a junkie for these kind of things.
And it's all about people who work for a living. Not just the sort of jobs nice kids from good families have to dress up in nice clothes for; these folks get dirty, soaking wet, and risk their lives. Working class science fiction! I love it! Haight describes himself as a “working class geek” – we need more like him.
And if I can offer some advice to you youngsters out there, this is a good book to read right NOW. It shows how to survive in an ever-changing world, and deal with personal problems, and family. And when things get apocalyptic – it keeps happening, get used to it – you've got reflexes in place that will keep you from freezing up, maybe help you create a brave new world that's better than the one that's collapsing around you.
You'll need those reflexes. No matter who wins the election.

CHICANONAUTICA SEZ AZTLÁN IS THE WILD WEST

That's right, in Chicanonautica at La Bloga, and it's all because I've got a Aztláni western in Lost Trails 2: Forgotten Tales of the WeirdWest .
It really is:


And it's Chicano, too:


But of course, these are modern times:


No telling how far-out it could get:

A WAY-OUT WILD WEST WEEKEND

On the way up, the wide-open spaces did their usual psychoactive number on my head. Fragments of my new project -- another Aztláni westernstory/novel/whatever -- danced across my sparkling synapses. Fresh signs warned to watch out for burros and elk, and a huge flock of hawks patrolled near Black Canyon City. 
In Sedona, the Bell Rock Inn was brimming over with funky western art. James Darum cowboys lined the halls, a print of Roberts Shields'Southwestern Robots hung in our room. There were also cartoony coyote cowboys, nearly-psychedelic desert/mountain landscapes, and much, much more!


In the bathroom of one of Sedona's many tourist information centers, I saw an example of Navajo graffiti: HÓZHÓ. I dutifully wrote it down and photographed it, figuring that I had some research to do. When I showed it to Emily, she knew it meant “balance.” Maybe it needs to be written on more walls.


I wondered what kind food they serve at Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill, but we had some favorite restaurants to visit, like the Coffee Pot. I had buckwheat pancakes the first morning, and huevos rancheros the next.

In Flagstaff antique stores Emily got a camel saddle – she'd been looking for one for twenty years – and a statue of an Asian deity of mysterious gender. I got an old bullfighting novel, The Brave Bulls, written and illustrated by Tom Lea, reminding me that I have to get back to my unfinished science fiction bullfighting novel.


As we went down Route 66 to the Galaxy Diner, Bob Dylan's The Times They are A-Changingleaked out of an open-air cafe.

Back in Sedona, we investigated a place with a giant white rooster in front of it. It's officially called Silver Son West, but Emily wants to call it the White Rooster. It had roosters, dragons, calaveras, buddhas, dinosaurs, and other things that would make great décor for an the wildest western of all time. 

I had a vision of a vampire being chased through such a place, crashing into a wall of ornate metal crosses, bursting into flames . . . now if I can just come up with a story or something I can use that in . . .


In Oaxaca – one of our favorite Sedona restaurants – there was a Mick Reber painting: Small Dreams of City Streetlife. I was surprised to see guns, in a contemporary setting, with a hint of social commentary, instead of props in Wild West myth. Maybe the times really are a-changing.
The next day, we took highway 89A through Jerome down to Prescott where we had lattes at the Firehouse Coffee Co. on what was known as Whisky Row. These days there are more antique stores than saloons. There was a wonderful Tom Mix mural, and I wondered what the hell is Dave's Total Insanity Sauce, and why would they be selling it.

In the footsteps of ancient cowboys, Emily found just the piece of furniture to go next to our front door, and just under the androgynous deity. I found a Buckminster Fuller book, a Hopalong Cassidy novel, two Bomba the Jungle Boy novels, travelogues about cannibals and head-hunters, and Christina Garcia's The Lady Matador's Hotel, a recent bullfighting novel that has been tempting me.

Could it be my own bullfighting novel is demanding to be finished?

And then there are all those other unfinished projects. Guess I better get to work.

LOST TRAILS 2 AVAILABLE!

Now available! Lost Trails 2: Forgotten Tales of the Weird West , edited by Cynthia Ward, featuring my Aztláni western, "Lupita's Hand," and stories by some of best damn writers around!

CHICANONAUTICA RETURNS TO ARROYO GRANDE

Chicanonauta reviews Return to Arroyo Grande, at La Bloga.
It's the latest book by Jesus Salvador Treviño:

And has phenomena like ghosts . . .  

Mariachis, zombies . . .

And it's not all that he's up to:

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE (SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED)

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in2016 is really freaking people out, and it's just getting started. Change is happening fast. It feels like the future is coming in way ahead of schedule. But like that great futurist Yogi Berra said, “The future ain't what it used to be.”


Next year is going to look like a different world.

Agendas are in order, Afrofuturistic and otherwise.



But then, the problem with the future is, it's always more than you can keep up with.

CHICANONAUTICA MEETS KUNDALINI NOIR ON PLANET PLEASURE

Chicanonauticareviews Mario Acevedo's Rescue From Planet Pleasure over at La Bloga.


It's a fun book with vampires:



UFOs:




Coyote:



And La Llorona:

THE MYSTERIOUS DOCTORA LUNA AND HIGH AZTECH

Contrary to what some of my fellow Arizonans believe, there is a difference between Mexican and Chicano. There’s also a difference between Chicano in California, and Arizona, and other parts of Aztlán. What kinda Spanglish da your familia hablan, ese?

This was something I needed to deal with in writing High Aztech . I couldn’t just do the same Chicano sci-fi that I did in Cortez on Jupiter . I had to get into a Mexico City state of mind, call up memories of my mind-altering visits there, and more: I made a point of reading books, magazines, and newspapers from Mexico -- and yeah, I dusted off mis historietas -- tuned into a lot of  TV from Mexico and local Spanish-language radio.

This was back when they were trying to establish an English Only law in Arizona. Did these people realize that in the Metro Phoenix Area radio waves carrying the Spanish language was constantly passing through their bodies, jiggling their DNA? Maybe a religion virus wasn’t necessary . . .

I made a point of tuning into a Spanish station while writing High Aztech. Get the rhythm of la idoma as well as the music dancing in my synapses, absorbing songs lyrics, DJ chatter, news, and occasionally, something truly different.

I forget the station, but now and then there would be an echoing countdown: “Diez . . . nueve . . . ocho . . . siete . . . seis . . . cinco . . . cuatro . . . tres . . . dos . . . uno . . .”


Then I would hear sci-fi blast-off sound effects, and a male announcer would announce that Doctora Luna was on the air. He invited the listeners to call in for advice on heath, spiritual matters, and amor!

The first time I listened carefully, and was shocked buy what I heard, or rather didn’t hear.

Doctora Luna had a radio show, but her voice was never heard. She was only “on the air” in the sense of being available to take calls, off air. I assumed that this was probably because the nature of her advice had less to do with medical science than with a kind of curanderismo.

The FCC probably has regulations against broadcasting such things. Maybe it’s better that I don’t remember that station.

During her program the countdown and solicitation for calls was repeated, then they would alternately play two different Spanish translations of the song Love Potion No. 9: Pócima de Amor:


And Bola de Cristal:


Repetitious? Sure, but it was weird, just the sort of weirdness that slammed my brain into the world of High Aztech.

Doctora Luna was a big help in writing High Aztech. She also inspired my story “Doctora Xilbalba’s Datura Enema.”

Doctora, I would like to thank you. You probably have good reasons for protecting your identity like Zorro, the Lone Ranger, and the enmascarados de lucha libre. I hope that you are still out there, working that magic.

I also remember that my Spanish got pretty damn good back then. I should do it again. In fact, I wrote this while listening to an Austin TexMex station via iTunes.

(Originally posted as a Chicanonautica at La Bloga.)

CHICANONAUTICA REVIEWS THE NEW GARZA TWINS BOOK

The new Garza Twins book gets reviews in Chicanonautica, over at La Bloga.

The first in the YA series won an award:

It its about teenage naguales:

The new one features the underwater world of Tlaloc, who the Germans honor in this ritual:


And merpeople: