You might be thinking "man this is gonna be one of those back-in-the-day" posts well yeah it is, but let me start by saying Cinco-De Mayo is a holiday for beer companies! Even in El Paso the most Mexican city in America, C-D-M was just another day, no day off no street party! Even in Mexico it is not that big a deal!
It kinda reminds me of St. Patricks Day! The true meaning lost, replaced with beer specials and 2 for 1 tacos! I mean does some dude in St.Paul or even Dallas know what C-D-Mayo is? Well I do and here is it in a nut shell and you can tell someone over a Corona and nachos!
So Mexico, as is it's wont had just been through a couple wars, one with us ( U.S.A./ Texas), a Civil War, and another war called the Reform War(?) So needless to say they were strapped for cash. Benito Juarez decides to tell his debtors ( mainly France, Spain and England) to fuck off for a couple of years until he and his cronies can come up with some bread! As you can imagine no one tells those 3 bullies to fuck off, especially a former colony in a the "new" world. You think the big three would have learned from the American Revolution, but noooo, a Napoleon was still running the show in France and you know how those little dudes can be so Napoleon the III send an armada to Mexico to a.) get his cash and b.) set up a new French colony in the Americas, because that is what any self respecting-empire-building-tyrant does! 8000 French troops land in Veracruz and proceed to march toward Mexico city....at Puebla they encounter 4000 Mexicans and got their ass handed to them, the end.... well not really the Frenchys actually took over Mexico a year later and ruled the Mexicans for a whole three years until, stop me if you've heard this one before..the good old U.S.A. thought it was time for a regime' change. We sent money and arms and probably an "advisor" or two and rid Mexico and N. America of French food and tongue kissing for the foreseeable future! Let Freedom Ring bitch!
Now we know why they are called tortillas and not crepes!
So C-D-M is celebrated in the USA because we really, really dis-like the french? No it is a marketing tool drenched in stereotype and half-veiled bigotry! Used by big business to push their crap..another guilt tool so white yuppies will think they are helping their brown friends by buying Pace, Tostitos and Tecate or going to Applebees and Target, etc. etc. e...t...c.....
Proof! What the???
How kick ass! Jorge looks like Iommi!
This is bitchin'! Rolie and Shrieve on drums!
I grew up across from the park, the park is a special place for Mexicans, American and Mexican variety! I don't know why, its a cultural thing, I read in a piece about the Lowrider culture once and they claim it goes back to the days when young men would dress up their horses, put on their finest clothes and circle the town square, more or less parading themselves for the chicas..."look at my horse, my fine clothes, I can provide!" Whatever the reason on real holidays like Easter or The Forth of July, the park would be packed! People show up early and stake out some shade and in El Paso that is the most important part you could be on a hill, your floutas and babies could be rolling down it but if you are in the shade you got it made! Anyway so as a kid things were really exciting on said holidays, my love for cars is well chronicled and the park we lived in front of was in the middle of a Lowrider revolution in the early 70s. I'd sit for hours watching the car go by me and my buddies would thumbs up the cool lowriders, 50 Chevy's Bombas with candy and pearl paints and laugh and jeer at the wanna-bes, dudes in beat up station wagons on 13 inch trailer wheels and bags of concrete in the back to make it drag and spark! Only problem with this was that it was sooo crowded that cars wouldn't move to far and sometimes a pissed off dude or his buddy would get out and start to chase us! Scaring the shit out of us and then laugh their asses off! Next time by they'd flip us off and we'd flip them off, even Steven!
First generation Monte Carlos are the epitome of lowrider in the 70s.....
Bombas were fairly rare when I was a kid most were just old cars but when we saw one it was always Primo!
I Love 66/67 Riviera as a kid there was a guy who rolled one around my neighborhood...it was the shit! ( this is from....Japan!) I bet the Japanese celebrate CDM more than Mexico!
If you find a deal on Mexican Beer buy it, buy it cause it is cheap and taste good not cause Walmart says!
Via con dios!
El Tank...y Que?
