Elvis Tortilla ©2012 Kevin McCloskey
The ELVIS Tortilla is a fake, a hoax! I made it to publicize the lecture, Rockin’ Las Americas. I apologize if anyone takes offense. I am a big fan of Elvis and of Mexico. The Elvis Tortilla wasn’t easy. Jesus and Hello Kitty are easy; they make toasters especially for their fans. Elvis takes real effort. (See Below.)
Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture is a fascinating book about Elvis’s influence on Mexico’s Rock scene. It’s published in Mexico with a less catchy title: Rebeldes con causa: La contracultural mexicana y la crisis del estado patriarcal, (Rebels with a cause: The Mexican counterculture and the crisis of the patriarchal state.)
Refried Elvis, published by University of California Press.
Author Eric Zolov is coming to Kutztown to give the 2012 Esther Willits Lecture on April 3. Dr. Zolov is a Professor of Latin American History at SUNY, Stony Brook. He may be the foremost academic expert on what Mexicans call “La Onda” (The Wave) the music-driven counterculture that swept through Mexico and Latin America beginning with Elvis. That’s why I went to the trouble of creating the Elvis Tortilla.
Failed attempt to cut a tortilla frisket.©2012 KMc
My first try involved sketching Elvis at 8 inch tortilla scale. I placed a profile cut from one tortilla on a second and tossed them in the pan. I went with wheat tortillas, corn might have worked better. When I tried to remove the profile, the base tortilla came apart. That’s when I resorted to Photoshop. 
I burned a tortilla until it was as black as Elvis’s hair. I put that on the scanner along with a lighter tortilla. Then I fashioned a mask based on my original sketch. I had trouble masking, but I sat in the student lab alongside Photoshop pros, Jerry Cavill and Mike Mangigian, who helped me out.
Below is the final poster with the Photoshopped tortilla. Dr. Zolov’s lecture should be fascinating; I hope he brings some records. Tuesday, April 3, 261 Beohm, 7pm. Kutztown University. Hasta Pronto!
