Pancho Villa

A couple of weeks ago I was helping out my friend Rich at the book table for the El Paso Women's Club Antique Appraisal Fair. I met some very interesting people there, and really enjoyed my day. One of the people I met was Elias Bonilla, and he began talking about Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution. I know so little about both these subjects, and have felt remiss in my lackadaisical approach to learning all about my city and the rich history here. I seek knowledge, yet am very poor about retaining that knowledge, or even finding a way to approach certain subjects. I may love to learn, but I'm awfully lazy about just getting off my ass and DOING something about it.

After speaking with Elias, I went home and began reading a book I had on my shelf:The Paradox of Pancho Villa by Haldeen Braddy. Though the book was interesting, it was also rather dry, and not very in-depth. Elias suggested I read The Life and Times of Pancho Villa by Friedrich Katz, so I called up my Judge Marquez Lower Valley Library to see if there was a copy available. Things sure have changed for the Lower Valley branch since I used to visit the tiny library by my grandma's house over on San Jose. I was in luck, they had the book on the shelf, and I also had them pull David Dorado Romo's Ringside Seat to a Revolution: An Underground Cultural History of El Paso and Juarez, 1893-1923 and hold them for me.

I spent some time looking at the offerings by Cormac_McCarthy, but there seems to be a dearth of his titles at the El Paso libraries. Knowing I may become overwhelmed with the historical tomes I had in hand, I chose some fiction by Aaron Latham entitled The Cowboy with the Tiffany Gun. He's got a great way with words, and I rather enjoyed his Code of the West a few years back. Latham may single-handedly be responsible for the Cowboy attire craze that swept the nation in the early 1980's, since he wrote the screenplay for Urban Cowboy. I recall our dismay at the time, since we wore boots and pearl-buttoned shirts when they were not some trendy new fashion statement. Oh dear, now I'm referencing John Travolta and clothing fads in a post about Pancho Villa. Speaking of which, just how much did Travolta contribute to the platform shoe craze? pimpinshoes.com!

Well, as you can see, that's just how my scatological brain works. You read that right; scatological. Hahaha. I'll spare you the imagery.

I guess Pancho Villa started his own fashion trend when Frito-Lay decided to mimic him with their Frito Bandito. Which begs the question: Why does society demand to take everything in our cultures and create political incorrectness out of the simplest of things? Backlash over silly trivialities. Humor has become humorless with these racial special interest groups railing at injustices foisted upon them by clever and sanctimonious marketing ploys. WHATEVER! I loved my Frito Bandito eraser, and Speedy Gonzales, Pepé Le Pew, and the little leprechaun on my box of Lucky Charms. I'm not so sure about Ralph Bakshi's take on giving Mighty Mouse a boost of energy from sniffing some magic dust, but I digress.

Word is, Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution will be feted in 2010. It should be an interesting ride, and I'm going to try and get a first-class especial ticket to the festivities after I get edumacated on the history. I'll be sure to keep you posted.