Chuco-town Chulo #2....CODY

We found ourselves on the right side of the tracks when we ran into Cody.

Stationed here at Fort Bliss, this 21-year-old GI guy is the definition of American military-boy unabashedness. Upfront. Poised. Ready for action.

Sun City Roller Girls

The pack is a tight pride of lionesses prepared to pounce. The stadium buzzer signals the start of the bout and the ladies launch into the hunt. A svelte and speedy jammer races ahead like a mechanical rabbit on a greyhound track. This is the moment thousands of El Pasoans were waiting for in lines snaking around the parking lot of the county coliseum.

The May 14th Friday night bout was a culmination of the energy and support SCRG has been garnering these past two seasons. The blaring lowrider With the revving engine that ushered in the girls, as well as the fire dancers before the match hit its mark in its aim to please the crowd. With toxic-green tulle skirts, wicked witch of the eastside-style striped tube socks, these girls are skating their way to putting El Paso on the derby map.

And with cheeky, culturally-relevant teams monikers like Las Catrinas, Chuco-town Chulas, and Las Pistoleras, these ladies are proud to show they are home-grown and borderland-identified. SCRG events are as fun, inclusive, and family-oriented as a Diablos baseball game. The difference of course is the rockabilly hipster edge that derby brings to the competition.

What's also striking and refreshing is the empowerment of the ladies on the floor, as well as the ladies and little girls watching from the stands. Roller Derby women are fast, rough-and-tumble, elbowing, aggressive competitors. Many wear glitter-gloss, booty shorts, and fish-net stockings but escape objectification because their display is on their own terms. That's why so many of them look like punked-out ballerinas and gothic cheerleaders-to project an image of athleticism, beauty, and fuck-it attitude.

This has also led to a very open, supportive environment for ladies into ladies. Wether teammates, fans, or officials, the kick-ass spirit of SCRG doesn't discriminate.

*COOL-O* spoke to a few awesome ladies and asked them what derby means to them, El Paso, and if they had any words of wisdom for any young lesbians in high school who may be feeling isolated and invisible.

Euthanasia of the Sexecutioners

"It's a great sisterhood. There's no discrimination. When I came out and was skating with my team they were so cool. They were like, do you have a girlfriend, let's hook you up! They were so supportive. I love it. I think gay people have a bad rap in this city. I think RCDG helps people be more accepting of us. As for young girls out there, don't give up! There are other girls like you. Just wait. When you find each other, it'll be great. You'll love it. And come to derby games, it's very accepting."

Cuata Fuck

"Thia ia a tough sport that makes you feel powerful. It's a place where people can be themselves. It's nice to see lesbians out in the open where no one will judge you. To girls in high school, I say tough it out. High school is only four years after that, it's a whole new world full of lesbians and adventures and you'll find yourself out there one day soon".

Adrian Lopez-Senior Art Show-Olo Gallery

With its warehouse loft-style ambiance, Olo Gallery's industrial interior enhances the feel of Adrian Lopez's senior art show- No Pause, Just Play-very nicely. Warped cranes, bridges-to-nowhere, extracted, rusted railroad spikes are just some of the many images Lopez uses to construct motifs of deconstruction. This is always satisfying to see in a senior art show. There's something triumphant about an art student showing us that he has mastered his craft, and now he's knowledgeable enough to take it apart and has the balls to make it his own. And Lopez does just that.

He takes found construction materials and architectural concepts and turns them personal and organic by juxtaposing them with rosaries, silhouettes, and messy, winding lines that spill onto the floor. His emphasis on bare foundations comprised of broken and missing pieces, strong and solid materials, lends itself well to the surprisingly personal stories Lopez shares in these works about his family.

One intimate installation is comprised of makeshift walls that create the dimensions of a teenage bedroom. The surfaces are scrawled with barely legible layers of repeated Lupe Fiasco lyrics lamenting the untimely loss of a father. The cursive handwriting spells out how personal the feelings being expressed are, while the layering seems like an attempt to obscure the pain. The repetition and surrounding of the text around you in that enclosed space lets you imagine or relate to the fixation of yearning.

Prints inspired by the artist's uncle offer poignancy and an homage by the artist to the relationship with his mom is warm. But as open and confessional as Lopez gets, he gives you a sense that he's holding back and keeping something for himself. There are hiding spaces behind frames. There are profiles behind translucent materials. There are pieces with busy distractions to draw you away from quieter, more telling elements to the work. Then, there is the highly audible but unintelligible recordings of Lopez's murmuring voice playing on repeat. All this leads you to believe there are secrets hidden in his art. These secrets sometimes seem playful, sometimes heavy, but never dark or menacing. The kind of secrets a guy remembers from his boyhood.

Whatever Adrian Lopez is holding back, it only leaves us wanting more.

Delta Lambda Phi's 2010 Gala

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Having wrapped up a successful year, the blokes at DLP celebrated with a not-so-silent auction for their 2010 fundraiser. After all, frat boys will be frat boys. With fierce and explosive drag performances, a Bollywood dance routine to make any slum dog millionaire envious, and cheeky classic rounds of Loteria, the men of Delta Lambda Phi are well on their way to becoming a fully fledged chapter. And *COOL-O* magazine raises it pomegranate martini to them. All the best to Alex Lucero, Jesus Valles, and Carlos Gonzales.


DLP President, Alex Lucero, is quite the charmer.


In the immortal words of RuPaul, "Lip sync for your life!"

Chuco-Town Chulos.

Meet GUS.

Gus has the mischievous smile of a little boy who wakes up too early on Saturday mornings when the rest of the house is still asleep.


He makes us want to lay around in our under-roos with him and eat Trix cereal like popcorn together.

BOYCOTT HATE CAMPAIGN

The new law enforcement measure passed by Arizona would make it mandatory for police officers to ask for identification from any suspected illegal immigrant in their state. If a "suspected illegal alien" can't produce papers on the spot, they are arrested until someone can come to the station to prove that they in fact reside in the U.S. legally. If they don't have papers, they are deported.

This new bill is backward, unjust and impractical. But then again, so is the whole state of Arizona. It's just a dustier, uglier, unfriendly version of New Mexico. And sure, it's crown-jewel Phoenix is a fun city. But it's a gross, wasteful superficial fun that comes from a prefabricated desert metropolis that gorges itself on water resources and energy of the surrounding region. At least Las Vegas is a world-renowned tourist destination that embraces it's values of excess and hedonism. Las Vegas is a neon mirage, an entertainment oasis. Phoenix is a golf course.

Anyway, tomorrow, MONDAY MAY 10th, 2010, take part in a symbolic gesture against the misguided, short-sighted and...uh, wing-righted (?) new bill.

Go to David Quintanilla's Haus of Photography between the hours of 11am and 7pm for a free photo shoot as part of his Boycott Hate campaign.

The shoot it totally FREE.

The studio is located at

1528 Souix Dr Suite D (Off Montana, near Airways).