Ken Burns Hates Mexicans

Don't Order the Chile Relleno

Clicking through Salon.com this morning and came across this piece about how a recent chef's suicide may be linked to the guy's participation on the reality cooking show Kitchen Nightmares. Turns out the guy's the second suicide of a contestant from the show. The common denominator of both suicidal cooks: they were berated on national TV by the star of the show, asshole celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey. Apparently the top chef's such a bully he drives contestants to take their own lives.

Of course I quickly YouTubed Chef Ramsey to witness the hullabaloo myself. I was not disappointed. The guy is truly a screaming jerk. No soothing voice of Padma Lakshmi here. Check out Chef Ramsey's visit to a Mexican Restaurant. I'm on the fence about this one. Yes, Ramsey's an unrepentant jerk who may or may not have driven two people to their deaths. But putting stale tortilla chips that have been handled by a table of grubby kids BACK into the chip warmer? You go, Gordon!

Connect the Dots

"Do you want some horchata?"And thus began Season 2 of Parenthood, the NBC drama about an upper class white family in the Bay Area. Typing this, I realize saying a TV family is White is way redundant. But I emphasize the point because of the incongruous nature of the tasty Mexican rice drink smack dab in a gringo kitchen. I mean, a buck-fifty street corner drink whirring about in a fancy blender amongst the Pottery Barn decor? Crazy. What, were the Bravermans out of wheat germ for their morning smoothies?

Still, the Horchata line was, from my perspective, a bizarre and gratifying moment. Wonderfully strange because of the aforementioned discordant presence of Mexican drink in a Norman Rockwell household: cheeky; gratifying in its suggestion that Latino culture is seeping, slowly -- horchata glass by horchata glass -- into the so-called mainstream of America. Well, at least into its one-hour drama scripts. Which, again, from my perspective, is not a bad thing at all. I love television. All of which is an admittedly long-winded intro to theme of this week's episode of Connect the Dots: the fall TV season has begun. And lots of Phantom sightings of Brown people among the pilots, second season repeats, and sitcoms.

First up, famed African American actor Blair Underwood plays a Cuban on NBC's The Event. Billed as 24 meets Lost, the intentionally puzzling show is under scrutiny because of it's unintentionally puzzling casting decision: Underwood plays a Latino. An Afro-Cuban to be precise. A color-blind casting choice which has left more than a few Latinos-Who-Care-About-Such-Things angry, because, well...probably because Blair Underwood isn't Latino. Nor is he Cuban (Afro or otherwise). He's not Dominican, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Venezuelan, Brazilian, or even from South Central. Jose Vasconcelos' utopian theory of La Raza Cosmica notwithstanding, I'm going to have to side with the angry Raza on this one. Not so much because it's the same old story of Latinos not getting a chance to actually play a Latino (which it is), but Blair Underwood as a Cuban? Puh-lease. Check out the Latino debate here. And the Latina mag story, glossing over the controversy, here.

Two new judges picked for American Idol. Simon Cowell out, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and Selena impersonator Jennifer Lopez in. I am a big Aerosmith fan from waaaay back in the day. And I'm not talking the corny "Crazy" 90s era Aerosmith, with the Alicia Silverstone jailbait videos, I'm talking "Dream On," "Toys in the Attic" badass early 70s Aerosmith. Not sure, though, how I feel about J-Lo's legitimacy as a judge for a singing competition. At least one in which contestants actually have to sing and not have their voices layered, over produced and digitally processed to hit certain notes. Go here for an unadulterated version of what Lopez sounds like before the sonic magic of Pro Tools. Be forewarned. It ain't pretty.

 Speaking of judges, the one new TV show with an actual Latino in the lead is Jimmy Smit's Outlaw, also on NBC. Smits plays Cyrus Garza, a conservative Supreme Court Justice who in made up TV world was appointed by George Bush. (I'm guessing Will Smith was not available to play the Mexican American character.) The right-wing Garza's got daddy issues since his lefty Chicano father was buddies with Cesar Chavez and RFK back in the radical 60s. A quick scene of Garza watching Papi and his 60's New Left amigos on YouTube and ten minutes into Episode 1 the now remorseful Garza quits the Supreme court over a death penalty case. Great. The first Latino Supreme Court Justice on prime time TV and the vato quits before the first commercial break. How's that for a role model right at the start of High-spanic Heritage month? Oh, and did I mention homeboy's depicted as a playboy and degenerate gambler? Big deal. So the producers got some stuff right. Thankfully, in the real world, we've got salsa loving Sonia Sotomayor for our heroes. She's a badass. And probably would have made a better American Idol judge than Jenny from the Block.

"Do you want some horchata?" 

 Did I mention the words were spoken by actress Sarah Ramos (picture above), who plays the eldest Braverman kid? Apparently Miss Ramos is Latina. I didn't know that. She's featured this week among the young Raza celebrities in Latina mag's 25 Brightest Latino Stars Under 25. I would have probably guessed wrong on the Latinoness of many on the list. Sara Paxton? Jake T. Austin? Ni modo. These actors, and others of the Bright 25, claim their Raza bonafides by having one parent Mexican, or Argentinian, or Spanish, or a mixture of all of the above. And who am I to disagree. Talk about the future is Meztizo. La Raza Cosmica indeed. Still, one name on the list stirred the rabid cultural nationalist in me: Levi Johnson? Latino? C'mon, we have to set some kind of standard here.

Finally, the Senate Republicans in one fell filibustering swoop prevent the Defense Authorization Act from making it to the Senate floor. That's right, they didn't vote against it. They voted to not even let it be debated and voted upon. Amongst the casualties in the bill's failure are Don't Ask Don't Tell and the Dream Act, amendments added to the bill. Both measures affect millions, and both are significant to America's future. DADT deals with a wide section swath of U.S. citizens spanning all economic groups, a lot of them rich, organized, and politically connected. The Dream Act deals with a bunch of non-voting, illegal Brown kids wanting to go to college. How does this news fit our TV theme post? No surprise which group affected by the rejection of the Senate bill got the media's attention the next day. On Rachel Maddow's cable show, for instance, nearly 4/5ths of her progressive show dealt with DADT. The Dream Act? Two brief mentions totally about 15 seconds in the 60 minute show. A quick glimpse of the headlines in papers across the country reflected the same invisibility. Tavis Smiley, at least, addressed this very issue. Props to him. But the discussion took place on his radio show. And so who did Tavis feature that same night on his popular nationally broadcast PBS TV show? Ken Burns. 

Do you want some horchata? Yes, please, with a shot of Tequila in it...

Make it a double.

Does ABC's 'Modern Family' Hate Mexicans?

Was all set to blog about the dreaded Texas Rangers (the police force, not the baseball team), when I came across a scathing review of the new ABC TV show Modern Family. Seems my fellow raza in New York didn't like the new sitcom as much as I did, in fact they absolutely hated it, articulating their reasoned position and thoughtful critique with lines such as "fetid shitstorm," "loathsome," "oh Jesus Fucking Christ," and not just one "Ugh!" but two, the second in all caps. Wow. Were we watching the same show?

For those without TiVo and who, presumably, spend their cultured evenings reading books and going to the cinema, Modern Family is a single-camera sitcom, faux doc style, a la The Office, about three contemporary suburban families: one "traditional," one gay, the last a second marriage between an older white guy and a younger Latina with a kid named Manny. Seems the depiction of Manny's father, Javier the Latino (Guanabee.com's words, not mine), the "deadbeat dad" who didn't take his kid to Disneyland (pobrecito!), really upset the folks in New York. Setting aside the fact that Javier the Latino is actually Javier the Implied Latino Who Is Only Talked About And Never Actually Seen, their main beef with the show seems to be offensive stereotypes and what they see as boring, one-dimensional characters. I disagree.

To cherry pick and then highlight the so-called faults of only the Latino characters ("deadbeat dad") while not acknowledging equally offensive faults given to white characters (being racist, for instance) misses the point of the show entirely and makes for a disingenuous review. EVERYONE is held up for scrutiny, ridicule, and, consequently, complexity. Gays, cranky old gringo grandfathers, infantile white dads, Colombian trophy wives: they all receive, with equal opportunity of offensiveness, the same satirical treatment. What makes the show interesting, besides the funny writing, great acting, and the innovative way the writer's use and then subvert stereotypes, is including a Brown element to what has pretty much been a white depiction of what it means to be an "American" sit-com family. It's an organic inclusion, so far, that doesn't relegate Latinos to second-tier status, nor condescend to them with sappy PC reverence (you know, where their humble, hat-in-hand, immigrant asses get saved by the white guy).

Latinos-Who-Care-About-Such-Things complain when we're cast in movies and TV as maids and gangbangers. Fine. I do too. But to then complain that the few attempts at complex depictions are characters not all noble and without blemish is trying to have it both ways.

Sofia Vergara in particular, should be singled out for her performance as Gloria, the hot Latina trophy wife. Vergara takes the usual and tired depictions of TV Latinas, knowingly embraces the cultural stereotypes, and then spins them on their head in, yes, brassy assertions of power and pride. Very badass. And regarding Vergara's part in the abysmal Chasing Papi? All is forgiven. 

Go here for a review that applauds the gay representations in the show, for positive industry review go here, and for the Metacritics view go here.

Song of the Day

I'm hearing this song a lot these days a lot on the always badass Indie 103, 'Electric Feel' by MGMT, one of those tunes that keeps playing over and over in your head even when the radio's turned off. Not that the world needs another white boy hipster band outta Brooklyn but check out the video anyway, here, and I dare you not to bop your head in delight.

I'd post the song myself but embedding for the video has been disabled. Bastards. What I am able show, however, is a clip documenting the making of the music video. Watching the clip I learned that the song is about a woman from the Amazon "who has the power to shock people with electricity that runs through her veins." Hm. Maybe certain pop songs, like the making of sausage, should be a process best performed in secret. Oh well, at least it's a catchy tune and great to dance to.

MGMT is one of those bands who have managed to find career success in this post-radio, everything-downloadable, CD unfriendly music busines environment. An environment where songs reach the masses not via Casey Kasem and Top 40 (Kasem, for those of you under 30 40, homeboy was an old school DJ with a national radio show not to mention the voice of Shaggy on Scoobey Doo), but instead songs gain mass popularity through stretegic placement on teen friendly TV shows like Gossip Girl. According to Wikipedia, MGMT has had their songs played on, among many other shows and films, the premier episode of the new Beverly Hills 90210, Skins, the video games Midnight Club Los Angeles, FIFA'09, and Shaun White Snowboarding...not to mention, of course, the season finale of Gossip Girl.

What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Cable TV Talk Shows

"Rock critics," David Lee Roth once famously quipped, "admire Elvis Costello because rock critics look like Elvis Costello." Diamond Dave said this back in the day when the Van Halen singer actually had hair, fronted the most famous rock band in the world, and yet suffered the ignominy of having much of the positive critical reviews from both sides of the Atlantic going to the geeky, Buddy Holly-looking Costello. While there may have been a whiff of truth to Roth's observation, there's no denying Costello's genius and place in rock and roll history.

Straight outta the late 70s London punk scene, Costello snarled his witty, literate, and dense lyrics over pop music energized by the scene he emerged from. On a personal note, as a geeky critic type myself, Costello was always a favorite of mine.

Tonight the Sundance channel debuts Spectacle, Costello's new talk show. From the early reviews look forward to a engaging hour of television. Here's how Salon describes the show:

This is what heaven must look like for songwriters. You wander into the middle of a lively conversation between close friends Elton John and Elvis Costello, discussing the virtues of songwriting greats from Leon Russell to Laura Nyro. Next, Costello plays an odd acoustic version of "Femme Fatale" by the Velvet Underground, and Lou Reed wanders in to demonstrate the correct riff from "Sweet Jane," then confesses that his secret dream is to write a New York detective novel. Later, Tony Bennett, Rufus Wainwright and the Police stop by.

Heaven indeed. Tivo this sucker. Until then, enjoy the rare clip above from Costello's infamous December 1977 Saturday Night Live appearance. Costello was a last-minute replacement for the Sex Pistols who had cancelled due to visa problems (not to mention manager Malcom McLaren's propensity for media hype). Under no circumstances, Costello was ordered, was the singer to play his hit single 'Radio, Radio,' a biting critique of corporate-owned, soul-sucking radio (that you could dance to). Of course, live, that Saturday Night, a few notes into the agreed-upon rehearsed song of 'Less Than Zero,' Costello stopped the music and promply went into the controversial song. SNL producer Lorne Michael's went nuts and banned Elivs from appearing on the show for the next twelve years. Cheeky.

GIAC Update

Been busy the past week with my ongoing documentary project on the San Anto rock band Girl in a Coma. Vidotaping. Photographs. Interviews. Watching Dancing With the Stars with them. The band finished their tour with Tegan and Sara with four sold out shows at the Henry Fonda theater. Not only did I get to see Tegan and Sara rock out, but I was struck by the Canadian bands diverse, multi culti fans. Impressive. As my man (and fellow Texan) Steven Stills says, there is, indeed, something going on...

Other GIAC news...the new GIAC music video I directed will be uploaded by the label very soon. I'll keep you posted. Till then, I leave you with this in-store appearance by the band at Amoeba Records in Hollywood. Check out a rebroadcast of the live stream of the half hour set below. Standout performances include Their Cell (third to last on the set list, if I remember correctly) and the Girl's last song, Ven Cerca. Astute viewers will spot me in the red shirt snapping pictures like a dork. Rock on.

UPDATE: As you've probably noticed, clicking the video below won't work. Seems Amoeba only posts the video for 24 hours. But they assure me as soon as the edited version is up they'll let me know, and I'll post that link. Until then, go here to see GIAC playing live at the Southpark Mall, San Antonio, Texas. Rasquache for days, I love it.

Set Your TiVos for Some Secret History

Since my favorite rock and roller of all time is probably Alejandro Escovedo, I'm sure you've read the various gushing fan boy posts I've scribbled on the Texas native these past two years on KBHM. Apologies for repeating myself, but the guy is fucking badass. I caught him this past Monday night at the Troubador in L.A. (Variety review here) and homeboy did not disappoint. Big guitars for days, references to Mott the Hoople, Iggy Pop -- and when was the last time you heard someone who used to hang out with Sid Vicious at the Chelsea use the word Chicano in a joke criticizing both George Bush and the stupid wall our government is building on the border?

Opening for Alejandro were Carrie Rodriguez, Austin transplant now living in Brooklyn, and fellow alt rocker Texas native David Garza, who joined Escovedo for his encore songs, including a weird and wonderful version of the Stones Beast of Burden. Talk about a post-brown boho lineup. Ed Morales would be proud.

After thirty plus years of under-the-radar cult acclaim, and a reputation as a musician's musician, Escovedo recently signed with Springsteen agent Jon Landau. In record time, a YouTube clip of Al jamming with the Boss began making the rounds, he's getting some mainstream press, NPR interviews, a gig at the Democratic National Convention (very badass first person account of the night here), and tonight Escovedo will perform on the tonight show. All good things come to those who wait, even 57 year old rockers. I leave you with a two clips of Alejandro, first from 1997 and a performance of his song Gravity, and second, a thrashing cover of Iggy Pop's I Wanna Be Your Dog. Rock on.

Blame the Wetbacks

Not that anti-immigrant hysteria in the media is anything new, but it's sobering, sometimes, to see the venom edited into one three minute clip.

Game 1

Hero of the Day

Geraldo Rivera is a badass. Lou Dobbs sucks. Go here to watch.