Este Jueves Vamos al Improv Comedy Lab!

Dear LA Amigos and readers, want to catch a free comedy show on Thursday at The Melrose Improv Comedy Lab?

Pues resulta que va a haber un “Tonight Show Showcase” del show del Conan O’Brian and our friend Bill Santiago (see post below) is going to be there. Let’s go! Here’s the info:

The Tonight Show Showcase: This Thursday, November 19, 8:30 PM @ the Melrose Improv Comedy Lab.  Hosted by Jimmy Pardo with Rob Delaney, Erin Foley, Chris D’Elia, Christina Paszitsky,  Freddy Lockhart,  Melinda Hill, Dov Davidoff, Julius Sharpe, Dwayne Perkins, & Bill Santiago.

NO COVER. NO DRINK MINIMUM.

Melrose Improv Comedy Lab

8162 Melrose Avenue (west of Crescent Heights)

Los Angeles, CA 90046

Street or valet parking.  Entrance is in the parking lot just east of the main entrance.

Vamos a echarle porras al Bill! See you there!

Improv Comedy Lab on Melrose. Photo from nationalvevet.com

Bill Santiago is my new favorite comedian and linguistics professor.

Bill Santiago es lo máximo en Spanglish. Read this book

This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting al Rey del Spanglish himself, Mr. Bill Santiago.  Bill had a great comedy set at the  Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, y después lo fui a saludar. I recently bought this excellent book called “Pardon My Spanglish, One Man’s Guide to Speaking The Habla,” which he wrote, and was intrigued to meet him.

Bill is the first person to accurately define what it means to be a Spanglish speaker. He describes, in very funny and clever terms, what it’s like to think and speak in 2 languages al mismo tiempo, all while conjugating verbs, mixing idioms, cultural references and even our little idiosyncracies. And the title says “Pardon..” pero no creo que sea muy apologetic al respecto. ¡Lo promueve con mucho gusto! So I was very happy he signed my book and gave me a copy of his dvd from his special on Comedy Central, clips you can also see here.

So here’s my recommendation to all of my Spanglish speaking amiguitos and visitors to this blog: Go get this book on Amazon. You will be laughing out loud with every page. It’s great writing. Very funny stuff!

This morning on the Gold Line Metro to Pasadena on my way to work, people were looking over probably thinking “¿Y pues ésta que lee?” Es que me moría de la risa, está super chistoso.

Back cover text menciona a Ponce de Leon, Ricky Martin, Cesar Chavez y Dora la Exploradora.

Here’s the link to Amazon so you can get the book.

You can also find it on  his website: http://www.billsantiago.com/ plus see his calendar and next locations for his standup.

Foto con mi nuevo amigo, Bill Santiago.

Riding the “Sushi-Torta” Express, Metro Gold Line

Finally Open!

No hay fecha que no se llegue ni plazo que no se cumpla, the saying goes, and after a five year, 898 million dollar investment, ¿que creen? Hoy fue el grand opening del Metro Gold Line Extension, que llega all the way to East L.A., desde Pasadena with stops in downtown and Little Tokyo. It was something to celebrate, especially after hearing all about it since the summer. I had a free afternoon on Sunday and curiosity to spare, so I embarked on an East LA trip, armed with my restaurant by the metro-foodie map courtesy of the L.A. Times (which had great coverage….and I must tip my hat to them because the term Sushi-Torta Express is used on one of their  articles online.)

Little did I know, everyone and their kids also had similar plans for a Sunday evening. Que voy llegando a Union Station…. Omaigod! Cuanta gente! The Metro Gold Line was packed with angelenos happy to finally ride the extension into the barrio, and happier to know there were free rides all day. There was a line about 60 minutes long, down the hallways of Union Station, then up the stairs through the tracks. It was almost as packed as any station in Mexico City, with the difference that you did not fear getting mugged. (Sorry D.F.)

First you stood in line, then went up the stairs to board the metro.

When you got to the tracks, it felt as if you were going to a party, well actually you were because at the Mariachi Plaza Station (yes, that’s one of the names) había kermesse y mariachis tocando en vivo, para hacerle honor al nombre. There were festivities all along the extension line, hasta llegar a Atlantic Boulevard, where people had to exit and make a line again to get back.

Más líneas, pero la gente estaba de muy buen humor.

Next time I have more free time, I’ll do the full excursion. I love eating sushi in Little Tokyo and Serenata de Garibaldi at First Street is one of my favorite places for Mexican food, and both are along the Gold Line, with many more places to choose from.

My favorite name along the route is “Maravilla”…isn’t that a nice name? Reminds me of a movie I like called “Next Stop Wonderland” that has a subway plot…pero me desvio del tema como siempre. If anybody wants to come along, let me know, a ver si nos vamos organizando un foodie tour.

Here are the links to the articles form the L.A. Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gold-line13-2009nov13,0,3095130.story

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-goldline11b-2009nov11,0,4084038.story

No, eHarmony, I really don’t want to meet Lupillo.

Internet dating…ahh the digital possibility of finding al amor de tu vida con unos cuantos clicks. Sorry to say it has not worked out for me, yet, even though I hear amazing love stories of destiny fulfilled, lovebirds finding each other on cyberspace and happy couples about to tie the knot. Last year, inspired by one of those cutesy, corny, white background filmed, “this will be” soundtracked TV spots with real couples, I signed up for eHarmony for the modest sum of $59.99 a month. (The Great Recession hadn’t hit me yet.)

I spent about 2 hours answering all the questionnaires con la idea de que realmente me iban a hacer “match” con mi soulmate. ¡Pero no! It didn’t take long to notice that I wasn’t obtaining the desired results, so I quit after 6 months…(you do the math! Ya quisiera esa inversión de petty cash hoy en dia, but that’s another story.) So I proceeded to delete all my photos and my account only to find out my info can’t be erased entirely.  Según yo, I had deleted everything I could, but somehow my profile still exists. And after 12 months, I am once again suddenly receiving annoying messages like this: MEET LUPILLO, from Santa Ana.

Actual eHarmony message, unsolicited and very annoying.

Needless to say, I’m not signing up for eHarmony again, but this made me laugh. The only Lupillo I know from Santa Ana is a bald, big mustached singer de musica regional mexicana a quien le gusta emborracharse on stage as he sings with mariachi and banda and curses to his hearts’ content. He also has a reputation for a few failed marriages and kids on child support all over the place. Además, if that weren’t enough, he has a very complicated sister named Jenni Rivera, who also sings with mariachi and banda, fights with other singers like Graciela Beltran only for publicity and wears tacky clothing. Finísimas personas, no? Imagine those family get togethers! So I think I’ll pass on this catch of the day… Although, People en Español named him one of the most beautiful people this year… Don’t ask me why…se acuerdan de este post?

Así que yo cuestiono, cuestiono mucho ese “scientific method” based on the “29 dimensions of compatibility” (en serio!!) that they advertise on their site. I think it’s a hoax, especially since all the matches I get are ” Juan” from Pico Rivera, “Jose” from the City of Duarte, “Carlos” from the City of Bell, “Francisco” from Lancaster…do you see a trend here?  Of course since my subscription is cancelled, I can’t actually meet any of these people, but I still get all those notes, y ahora hasta se me olvidó el password para entrar y volver a cancelar mi cuenta.

It’s Lopez Tonight…shouldn’t I be laughing?

I thought I was the only one who was trying too hard to enjoy George Lopez’  new show premiere ”Lopez Tonight” last night on TBS. But apparently, the reviews are in and they are mixed. Although he is beloved by many in the entertainment/celebrity world, it appears he has yet to convince us as his comedy routine tries to evolve from the latino/ethnic/lifestyle references. The “abuela” jokes are starting to get old. The stereotypes are also getting a bit rude, if you ask me.

I’m sure some diehard latino fans would beg to differ, but at least we get a chance to dissect him on late night tv. It is a good thing to have a Latino celebrity with his own tv show on a major network, don’t get me wrong, but it needs to be funnier if he’s competing with Letterman, Jay, Conan, etc. Otherwise it’s just bad comedy. With a Latino twist.

For the first show, Eva Longoria stopped by …yawn…(aren’t you tired of seeing her everywhere?) as did Kobe Bryant and Carlos Santana. Kobe’s cursing abilities en español are very impressive! He actually said “como me ch…ga este cabrón” to fellow Laker Derek Fisher, also on the show. Check out the link below on minute 6:31. It’s a long video.

Here’s a review by a blogger/writer I really like, Laura Martinez, who writes for AdAge magazine and also blogs on “Mi Blog Es Tu Blog”.

I Might Be Mexican, but I Don’t Have to Like ‘Lopez Tonight’
Comedian Trots Out Tired, Unfunny Ethnic Humor
November 10, 2009
https://adage.com/bigtent/article?article_id=140410

And the Hollywood Reporter says it has room for improvement: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/tv-reviews/lopez-tonight-tv-review-1004041415.story

Next week I have tickets to a taping of the show, so we’ll see how that goes and share more info then. Maybe he’ll do a better job with the jokes.

Día de los Muertos is alive and well in East L.A.

“El temor a la muerte, señores, no es otra cosa que considerarse sabio sin serlo, ya que es creer saber aquello que no se sabe. Quizá la muerte sea la mayor bendición del ser humano, nadie lo sabe, y sin embargo todo el mundo le teme como si supiera con absoluta certeza que es el peor de los males.” – SOCRATES **

Una de las costumbres más famosas de México está “vivita y coleando” en East Los Angeles, según vimos en el evento de Día de los Muertos que organizó Self Help Graphics el 2 de noviembre en el East LA Civic Center. A pesar de que era lunes, school night y que estaba un poquito out of the way, nos dimos una vuelta y nos encantó todo lo que vimos.

Whether you calll it “La Calaca”, “La Pelona” ,”La Flaca” o “La Huesuda”, you would never imagine just how much of a following Death and All Her Friends have in “eastlos”. People were super excited to participate. There must have been hundreds of families there, even little kids were unafraid of las calacas, los rituales y los símbolos de la muerte. It was good to see the spiritual and even metaphysical connection people demonstrated through art, music, food and the ambience in general to a subject we generally don’t like to think about. Just like they do in Mexico, here in L.A. Día de los Muertos  was more of a party, a celebration of life.

I took some pictures and promised to give out the names of some of the exhibitors. They had really great stuff and I wish I could have bought something at every “puesto”.

Congratulations to Self Help Graphics. They’ve been doing this for 36 years and are keeping the tradition alive. If you want to support them (please do!) here’s their link to the website: http://www.selfhelpgraphics.com/. I actually found out about it through a link posted by the wonderful Lalo Alcaraz, the author and creator of the daily synicated comic strip, La Cucaracha and other excellent carteles. Check him out at: www.laloalcaraz.com

**By the way, thanks to my friend Ed for this great quote, posted on his facebook page. Aqui estan las fotos:

Las calacas, face painting and full costumes. Very creative!!

2 de Noviembre: Music and art under a full moon. Gracias Self Help Graphics!

Something for everybody; Calavera bibs for babies and art for grownups.

Los puestos llenos y el ambiente cool.

Algunos recordaron con altares. Others made a statement in silence in honor of Las Mujeres de Juarez.

Yvonne Romo and her beautiful original creations. Contact her at yvonneromo@aol.com for more details.

Speedy Muertito had a booth. Rose Alarcon and friend sold cool t-shirts and hoodies. Website: www.SpeedyMuertito.com

Kids love Calaveras too!

Felted art handmade from recycled sweaters...me encantaron! Contact: trexesa@sbcglobal.net

Día de San Judas Tadeo

Hoy es 28 de octubre, y para los fieles devotos de San Judas Tadeo, un día especial por ser día de su santo.

San Judas Tadeo es el patrón de los casos difíciles y desesperados, y es uno de los santos mas populares. Es primo de Jesús, hermano del apostol Santiago, hijo de Cleofas (el hermano de San José, padre de Jesús) y aparece en los evangelios como uno de los apóstoles, lo que puede confundirse con Judas Iscariote, el que traicionó a Jesús (es es otra historia ya por todos conocida) pero son dos personas distintas.

Aquí les anexo un “little prayer” para que la digan cuando se les ofrezca. Está escrita como me la aprendí, con el castellano de España (asi la he dicho siempre.) Me ha funcionado, en cosas triviales y cosas serias. Por eso la comparto.

O gloriosisimo apostol San Judas Tadeo, siervo fiel y amigo de Jesús, el nombre del traidor que entrego al querido maestro en manos de sus enemigos ha sido la causa de que muchos os hayan olvidado, pero la iglesia os honra e invoca universalemente como el patrón de los casos difíciles y despesperados. Rogad por mi que soy tan miserable, y haced uso, os ruego, de ese privilegio especial a vos concedido para socorrer visible y prontamente cuando casi se ha perdido toda esperanza. Venid en mi ayuda en esta gran necesidad, para que pueda recibir el consuelo y socorro del cielo en todas mis necesidades, tribulaciones y sufrimientos, particularmente (AQUI hacen su PETICION) y para alabar a Dios con vos y con todos los elegidos por el resto de la eternidad. Prometo, glorioso San Judas, recordar este gran favor y honraros como mi especial y poderoso protector, y haced todo lo que pueda para fomentar vuestra devoción. Amen.

ENE-BE-A.com just in time for the basketball season

Ready for the basketball season to get in full swing? (Go Lakers!) Just in time for the season starters tonight, the NBA recently launched a new campaign to reach latino basketball lovers and make us part of the game. Por fin they realized just how much we follow the sport! The effort by the NBA to engage us en español starts off with a full Spanish website called: ENE-BE-A… which probably doesn’t make sense to your typical anglo or spanglish speaking buddy, but to someone in Chihuahua, Mexico or Valencia, Spain who follows the sport, and doesn’t speak English, it’s music to their ears.

What do you think of the name Ene-be-a? It is the literate and accurate translation of NBA (something you don’t see often in other translations) and at first the spelling is confusing, but I guess over time we’ll get used to proper Spanish (at least for this) and pronounce las siglas en español, como deberia ser.

The site is very well put together with interesting info and stats. You can tell they made the effort to get us to become fans and follow all the Hispanic players on the NBA. Did you know there are 18 hispanic players on different NBA teams? You can see their pictures and a little bio. Solo conocía a Eduardo Nájera, de México, los hermanos españoles Pau y Marc Gasol, y el argentino Manu Ginobili…pero hay más. Some cute ones too!

Here’s the link and a screen shot to the site. Now if you excuse me, I’m going back to the Laker opener. I feel a repeat this year, verdad Pau y Kobe?

http://www.nba.com/espanol/

All things basketball en español are now found on nba.com/espanol

 

¿Qué me pongo para Halloween?

Missed your chance to get the illegal alien costume before all the uproar? Not to worry, you’ve got a bunch of options that are way cooler and probably won’t offend anybody as much. Just in time for next Saturday’s trick or treat outing, party or masquerade ball, here are some outfits worthy of a photo and humilde blog post.

Thanks to my friend, the lovely Miss M, we wandered into one of the gazillion temporary costume shops that have popped all over the place. And we found some fun stuff!

For starters, this one is already taken, so you can’t have it… but I’m posting the picture anyways. I’m sure the Border Patrol Babe would make a lovely match with the illegal alien (and probably scare the hell out of some people if you don’t have your papers in order…) Lástima que esa parejita no puede ser. Pero más vale que no copien el disfraz! (If you live outside LA I guess it’s ok.)

Algunas personas se pueden asustar mucho con la Border Patrol Babe!

Then we’ve got the stereotypical, and frankly dumb, mexican inspired disfraces. I can’t imagine these would sell, but you never know.

Maybe someone wants to dress like this? Y que vaya de pareja con la Border Babe.

Not to be outdone, you’ve got the “I’m still an infantile/I don’t wanna grow up I’m a toys r us kid”  kind of thing which only works if your party is with 4 year olds.

Now you can sing: C is for Cookie and Cookie is for Me!

No puede faltar el típico chiste religioso, maybe this one could work? Nah… it’s too boring. I’ll skip this:

The Sor look is not going to cut it. Even though I've met some scary nuns in my lifetime.

But maybe I’ll try the “Sexy Sor” look:

For those following the tabloids, the Kate Plus 8 wig is in.. so you can annoy all your friends with this hairdo:

Tan odiosa! But she's available for Halloween.

Of course you can’t go wrong with the traditional witch. Always fun and always in style this time of the year. Just make it colorful and spooky and you’re set.

Happy Halloween Everybody!!!

Feliz Dia de Las Brujas!

Los Mejores Fish Tacos this side of the border!

I’m a fan of fish tacos, and somehow just can’t seem to find the place in LA to indulge. Es que pocos lugares saben hacerlos como deben ser…como los hacen en Ensenada, B.C. por ejemplo.

Pero anoche…OMG! Disfrute unos fish tacos riquísimos que hizo la mamá de mi amiga M….qué cosa mas deliciosa. Con todo y la cremita y la salsita to die for!! Hace mucho que no comía tacos así. So I just wanted to post a picture, and a shout out, to Mrs. Coronel. The best fish tacos in LA! Gracias por invitarme!

¿A poco no se les antoja? Y la Coronita cayó como anillo al dedo, con el calorcito de estos días….Deli!!!

Best.TacoCombo.Ever!!

Walking the Walk for AIDS Project LA

Now in it's 25th year, AIDS Walk LA had a great turnout for a good cause.

Ever wonder what it’s like to walk the streets of West Hollywood and West LA on a Sunday morning without having to worry about traffic and crossing the street? Last Sunday, about 10 thousand angelenos showed up to support a wonderful organization called AIDS Project LA (APLA) in it’s 25th edition of the AIDS WALK LA.  Everybody and their dogs made it a point to come and support. There were politicos (like Mayor Antonio Villarraigosa), celebrities, kids, seniors.. you name it.

I don’t need to tell you the statistics of this disease, but you might be interested in knowing that there are MANY things that still need to be done to create awareness, get help for people that need basic things like food and medical services, and of course, finding a cure! So with that mindset, all these people chose to walk and obtain donations that will go directly to the APLA.

The walk consists of a 10K (6 miles) and goes through major LA streets, which plenty of window shopping potential and entertainment. I had the good fortune of being invited by my friends Martha and Olivia, from Macy’s, sponsors of this event. As I’ve mentioned before, Macy’s does a great deal both financially and morally to support the fight against AIDS. They’ve raised over 28 million dollars in 20 years. So think about that next time you go shopping. This is a company that always gives back.

So enough about the plug…here are a few pictures of this great day when we did a 10K. We walked our socks off!

To start of the morning bright and early, Macy's hosted a VIP breakfast full of goodies and treats.

Mary Louise Parker from the tv show "Weeds" was at the breakfast event. She is wearing black...

The Macy's team in full, proud to represent and participate.

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also came to support.

Barbies are put to good use in this cool window display along the 10K walk.

Along La Cienega Boulevard, thousands of walkers doing their thing. There were a few crazy right wing protesters...but nobody paid any attention to them.

Doggies also care! 3 furry friends (and their owners) along the way, happy to be there. So many pooches showed up, it was also a dog love fest.

Water stations and generous volunteers made the day.

Finally! The finish line after a morning 10K walk. Very proud at the end.

Hey Target, that’s a dumb thing to do.

Generally speaking, I don’t like to get involved in political posts and commentary on the subject of immigration. This is the type of subject these days that tends to divide opinions among regular people,  as well as  provoke neurotic minutemen into shouting matches and threats ( like a certain CNN anchor, who shall remain nameless just as to not give him any free publicity.) But today I just couldn’t resist:

Target, yes, Target!! is selling an “Illegal Alien” costume for about 40 bucks on their website.  I found out about this through one of the links from a friend on Facebook (thanks Delia L.!) who was as shocked as I am.

The costume retails for 40 bucks. It is an orange polyester jumpsuit with the words “Illegal alien” across the chest,  similar to the ones used for people in jail serving time, with an alien mask, and a green card thingey that says “green card.” How stupid is that?

Makes you wonder about the clientele for Target. And just who is the distributor that makes these things?… Y también me pregunto quién será el pendejo (pardon my french!) que lo compre para su Halloween Party thinking he looks cool…jerk!

And a little note  to Target: You have many, MANY customers who just happen to be Hispanic, and who would definitely find this offensive.

Ok so that’s my rant for the day.

Here’s the pic and the link, en caso de que quieran hacer corajes: http://www.target.com/Illegal-Alien-Adult-Costume-

UPDATE!!!! This was on the 11PM news all over the place: ABC, NBC, Univision and Telemundo. Apparently Target found out soon enough and they removed the products and link.

¡Qué idiotas los de Target por vender este disfraz... de veras! Don't they know how this would potentially bug their Hispanic consumers?

Thalia pone a bailar a Obama con Amor a la Mexicana

The White House hosted a little get together this week for all famous Latinos. Aptly named Fiesta Latina (how original!) the party/PBS special invited the typical latino names de rigeur and usual suspects: you had your Marc Anthony’s and Jlo’s, your JimmySmits, el George Lopez, la Eva Longoria, los Estefan, etc etc. Los tipicos que nunca faltan y que tan bien nos representan (ok, most of them do a good job but I am so tired of having Jlo at every party.)

Pero la Thalia se pasó de lista! She knew she was going to be all over Youtube and CNN, not to mention Televisa, et al, when she politely asked Mrs. Obama if she could ask her husband to dance. Como no le encanta el baile al presidente, ¿pues cómo se iba a resistir?

You can tell Mr. Obama is a great dancer, and surely he checked Mrs. Mottola out while he was dancing. Something that did not go unnoticed by Michelle! (Don’t mess with her Thalia!) Si no chequen el video, cuando Obama regresa a la mesa,  and Michelle just gives him the cold smile/shoulder without looking at him. I can just imagine her inside voice saying “¿Ah si? Esperate nomas que lleguemos a la Casa (blanca)…ahorita vas a ver!”

Fiesta Latina special airs on PBS on Oct. 15th. Check your local listings!

And where does Thalia get off calling Obama a macho? Cómo se atreve? That is not a compliment, ok. What do you think?

Here’s the video from youtube:

UPDATE:: From Friday’s Jimmy Kimmel. I told you so!!

Jimmy Kimmel agrees!

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head…

¿Cómo la ven con este clima en LA? Our typical sunshine has all but disappeared, leaving us anxious for a rainbow.  Ahi les va una foto de hoy.

Downtown LA looks very scary like this.

There’s only one solution. Chocolate! I’m heading out for some hot chocolate around the corner from my office… para olvidar este gloomy weather.

Chipotle is the flavor of the year

El chipotle, or “Chee-puddle” como le dicen nuestros anglo speaking friends, es uno de los sabores mas populares del momento. It’s been a surprise to see it pop up in all sorts of products, recipes and a restaurant chain.

On Sunday afternoon I was driving along PCH/Sepulveda Blvd. by LAX and noticed 2 new locations of this Mexican American, TexMex inspired fast food place. Just as a little trivia, this chain was previously owned by McDonald’s Corp., but they have since sold it. Anyhow, both locations were packed, so I decided to do a little investigation. I stopped to take a picture and look inside. Y que creen? There was NO Latino person in sight. ¿Será que nosotros cuando queremos chipotle pensamos en una lata de la marca Herdez o La Costeña?

New Chipotle fast food restaurants are popping all over the place.

The very minimalistic menu features “Burritos, Tacos and More” and almost decided on trying their salad until I read what it included: “chopped romaine lettuce with choice of beans, meat, salsa and cheese with chipotle-honey vinaigrette. Calories 170-780″….What???? Cómo es que se van de 170 calorias hasta casi 800 con una ensalada? Meee no comprenday…

Therefore I skipped the taste test. Además, algo me decía que no me iba a gustar. Pero me acordé que hace rato vi unos anuncios en la tele de Jack in the Box y creo que también tenían alguna hamburguesa con chipotle. And then the little curiosity bug nudged me over to my nearest Jack location and lo and behold!  Que voy viendo que todavia tienen el mentado sabor incluido en su menú: Chicken Chipotle Ciabata. That’s a lot of CH’s.

Nevertheless, I also decided to skip it since I wasn’t about to spend all my daily caloric intake on the combo (imagine the calories on this one.)

This chipotle burger combo at Jack's will set you back $7.34.

So with all this research, como que me estaba dando hambre. Me fui a la Ralphs (a un costado de Chipotle, muy cerca del Jack) a ver que compraba. ¿Y adivinen cuales otras cosas me encontré? There are chipotle infused products galore. This is really popular stuff!

Yo no sabía, pero la famosa salsa Tabasco ya sacó otra versión y otro color:

Esta se la tengo que dar a mi papá porque no puede vivir sin salsa Tabasco.

Por si fuera poco, en Trader Joe’s (otro de mis supermercados fav’s) encontré algo que no pude resistir: Chipotle Chocolates!

Call this what you will, these chipotle chocolate cinnamon hazlenuts start out sweet y terminan on fire! Can only have one or two.

Y ya para terminar, también me encontré con esta marca de papitas, Kettle, que tiene las mejores combinaciones y disque son orgánicas (cuéntenme una de vaqueros!) Pero ahora si se volaron la barda con sus Chipotle BBQ Potato Chips. In the name of scientific investigation, a taste test was called for. Of course this experimentation was only made to further continue my unbiased recommendations (yay) or delete from my chipotle post (nay). So it’s a YAY all the way con estas chipotle chips.

Como verán son adictivas y tuve que abrirlas antes de tomarles la foto y probarlas mientras escribo (eso si no se los recomiendo.)

A que no pude comer solo una. Kettle chipotle chili bbq. Hecha para los anglos, pero recomendable para todos.

There are a few homemade recipes that I’m curious to make. I’ll ask my mom to give me her recipe for grilled chicken in chipotle sauce so I can share with you soon.

Margarita Zavala, por favor deja el rebozo.

Esta foto apareció en la revista Quien.com (online) con la nota de que Margarita Zavala de Calderón, la Primera Dama de México, saludo muy efusivamente a los principes Felipe y Letizia de España durante una cena para celebrar su estancia en Nuevo México. Los acompañan el gobernador Bill Richardson y su esposa (que digan lo que digan de él, Richardson me cae super bien y ademas ya comprobaron que no hubo nada chueco en su presidential bid.)

Tengo una pregunta, and I mean no disrespect: ¿Quién, pero quién te dijo, estimada Margarita, que los rebozos se usan con todo el guardarropa? Ya nos tienes acostumbrados desde que eres primera dama a que te vamos a ver con un rebozo para cada acto público, ¿pero realmente tienes que ponerte uno cada vez que te tomen fotos los de la prensa internacional? Ya sabemos que quieres resaltar lo “mexicano” pero hay otras formas.

No soy estilista, ni fashionista, lo admito, pero el rebozo y un business suit, do not go together! It does not make sense. Especialmente cuando tienes a la Letizia super arregladita con sus taconazos “letizios”enseguida. Yo sé que Margarita es muy culta, muy inteligente, muy sencilla, pero ya necesita un makeover, ahora que hay tantas primeras damas tan guapas como Michelle Obama y Carla Bruni. Esta dura la competencia! Y todavia le quedan como tres años al sexenio.

Pero bueno, es sólo mi humilde opinión.

Otra cosa: que onda con las barbas de Don Felipe y Mr. Richardson? Something’s up with those dudes!

Foto credito de Quien.com. Cena en honor a los Principes de Asturias en su visita a Nuevo Mexico, USA, por el gobernador Bill Richardson

Interesting News Articles on Being Hispanic and Speaking Spanglish

It’s always so cool to see a friend of yours featured on the front of the LA TIMES Sunday Calendar section. (This does not happen muy seguido asi que ya se imaginarán el gusto que nos da.) Especially when she’s a great friend like Yarel, who hosts her own TV show, Reventón on Mun2, plus DJ’s at KSSE Super Estrella, plus currently makes time to get her Master’s degree at USC. Yes she is beautiful and smart, thank you very much!

I have a hard copy from the Sunday LA Times (10/4) to keep at home, but she also sent a link so I’ll add it here. You should really take a look at it. It’s called “Latino personalities juggle a bilingual stage” and features Yarel and the Chicas Project: Yasmin and Crash.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-bilingual-tv4-2009oct04,0,6084675.story

Here it is as it arrived on my doorstep! Main Photo Caption reads: "New Generation: Yasmin Deliz, left,Yarel Ramos and Melissa "Crash" Barrera dish out programming that bridges a cultural gap."

Yarel also sent a link to a CNN feature by Tomas R. Jimenez, a top scholar from Stanford University, who researches what it means to be Hispanic in the US today. Su pieza editorial te hace pensar en lo “unique” que es nuestra comunidad y en todo lo valioso que somos para  este pais. Immigration debates notwithstanding, todos tenemos algo que aportar.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/10/06/jimenez.mexican.americans/index.html

Just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month, all of these media outlets are again fascinated with our lingo and our domain of Spanglish, it kind of makes you proud to speak it. Thank God we are moving past the “pocho” stereotype…poquito a poco, pero ahi la llevamos.

Y por fin se terminó…Mañana Es Para Siempre

Los maratónes de 3 hours plus on the couch in front of the TV generalmente me los reservo para los Oscares o alguna película “must” cuando estoy en piyamas, pero ya ni la amuelan estos programadores de Univision. There goes my workout, my dinner, my blogging plans…we’re running on 2 hours of the finale right now, we’ve got 1 more hour to go, and we’re still not sure of Eduardo Juarez/Franco Santoro lives happily ever after with Fernanda Elizalde…although, no sería novela de Televisa si nos mataran al protagonista. Pero bueno, so far so good. I usually reserve my praises only for Carla Estrada productions (which this isn’t) y una cierta Betty Colombiana. But Mañana Es Para Siempre totally rocks!

Algunas escenas del final de MEPS. 3 hours tonight and we still can't get enough.

Me encantó que le pusieron efectos especiales a todos los capítulos here and there… y esa escena de Fernando Colunga en la moto por todo el DF les ha de haber subido los insurance premiums al mil por ciento: “Look Ma! No helmet! and I’m doing wheelies por todo el periférico!” (Nice going Mr. Colunga, you daredevil you!)

Voy a extrañar odiar a la Lucero/Barbara/Rebecca y los outfits y el copete de la Fernanda Elizalde (Silvia Navarro) y los money shots de Colunga shirtless (le encanta lucirse y con justa razón) y el super gringo accent del “ESteve”(Mario Ivan Martinez)… pero bueno, ya fue mucho compromiso, casi un año de Tivo y 3 horas (too much!) para un lunes en la noche. Claro que mañana tampoco me pierdo el especial de Cristina.

¿Y ahora que haré con tanto tiempo libre? Hmmm, a lo mejor irme al gym, o leer un libro, o empezar algun holiday project… Who am I kidding? Lo más seguro es que voy a echarme la nueva novela “Sortilegio”. Oy vey…Here we go again!

¡Bienvenido Gustavo!

Los Angeles está poseido en estos momentos por la “Dudel Mania”. Tenemos meses viendo los billboards y letreros por toda la ciudad, y finalmente nos llegó el dia de conocerlo.

Gustavo Dudamel, el nuevo conductor del LA Philharmonic (LA Phil), presentó anoche su primer concierto como conductor en el Hollywood Bowl. 18 mil “angelinos” lo vimos y lo presenciamos totalmente enamorados de él y de la música. Empezó temprano conduciendo a los niños de la sinfónica YOLA (Youth of LA) quienes tocaron super contentos. Después más noche con el LA Phil, estuvimos “under a spell” con la interpretación de la novena sinfonía de Beethoven al aire libre y con luna llena. Esta fiesta en el Hollywood Bowl “was the place to be.”

Pocas veces me ha tocado presenciar tanta entrega, tanta pasión, tanto amor por algo, como el que este chavo venezolano de 28 años, al que llaman “Gustavo the Great” o “The Dude” (o como le dice mi amiga Martha “Gus the Dude” ) tiene por la música. Empieza la música y poco a poco te va jalando, te hace parte de la sinfonia. Tiene sus modos: se comunica con sus músicos obviamente con las manos, pero usa las cejas, los ojos, hasta los rizos del pelo para transmitir pura emoción. Estas viendo a un genio en acción y no puedes evitar sentirte feliz.

La música que escogieron para su primer concierto estuvo perfecta para LA. En una ciudad en donde todos tenemos lazos con otros lados, especialmente los latinos, el Himno a la Alegria, (“Ode to Joy”) con el que finaliza la sinfonía tuvo tanta energía que nos hizo sentir como hermanos. El coro y los sopranos cantaron en alemán, pero en la pantalla pudimos leer la letra en inglés y en español.

Al final, Gustavo nos regaló unas palabras, primero en inglés y después en español. Estaba muy emocionado y encantado con su nueva ciudad, pero nos dio un mensaje que todos apreciamos. “Todos somos americanos, aquí no hay norte, centro o sur, todos somos un continente.”  Y después de eso un encore, pero ahora con fireworks. En esta ciudad en donde nada nos sorprende ya, ver esa escena en vivo y a todo color, nos dejo fascinados y aplaudiendo como nunca se había visto en el Bowl. ¡Gracias Gustavo! Bienvenido a LA.!

La marquesina a la entrada.

Niños y familias pudieron dejarle un mensaje en su mural de bienvenida.

La Dudel Manía en una discoteca del Bowl.

Toda la publicidad es en español e inglés.

Las t-shirts dicen ¡Bienvenido Gustavo!

Así empezaba el concierto con luna llena in the background..

"The Dude" in action con 'Ode To Joy". Con subtitulos en español.

"Todos somos un mismo continente... unidos por la música y esta noche por Beethoven."

Fireworks at the end!!! Bravo!

El Tiempo Pasa.

Hoy me acordé de la canción de Ramón Ayala… “El Tiempo Pasa…” (Y no te puedo olvidar, te traigo en el pensamiento constante mi amooooorrrr…) ¿Sí saben cuál es verdad?… Bueno, no es porque me esté acordando de algun amor, pero la frase El Tiempo Pasa se me apareció en mi soundtrack mental porque hoy es (fue) 1 de Octubre y entramos a la temporada final del año. Las tiendas ya están saturadas de cosas para Halloween, y en el Big Lots ya empezaron con las decoraciones para Navidad (how wonderful!!!)

A unos les urge que se acabe el año, a otros les vale, a mi en lo personal ni me perjudica ni me beneficia sino todo lo contrario….(otra frase célebre). Digamos que a mi lo que me concierne (asi se dice “what concerns me”?) es que siento que alguien está apresurando el tiempo en otra galaxia, alguien o algo que quiere que nos apuremos en alcanzarlos, obviamente porque van más adelantados que nosotros. Esta es mi teoría:

Somebody in a galaxy far far away is speeding up the clocks, making time go faster.

No sé si a ustedes les pase, pero a veces me asusto cuando saco la cuenta y digo.. ya pasaron TANTOS años? Cómo??? El tiempo se ha compactado. Lo que antes parecía un mes ahora es una semana. Quince años se fueron como de boleto. Es que ni se siente el paso del tiempo…hasta que vez que alguien puso una foto tuya de hace mil años y te hicieron “tag” en facebook,  y te das cuenta que en verdad tus cachetes “babyfat” eran adorables. No por nada una tia suele decir “juventud, divino tesoro…”

But I digress. Antes de que me vaya más por la tangente mejor escribo mi brillante conclusión a la que llegué después de leer un artículo en el Huffington Post: El único tiempo que cuenta es el aquí y AHORA. Y lo quiero disfrutar más. O como canta José José (en letra escrita por Juan Gabriel:) Ya lo pasado, pasado… no me interesa.

Sabias Palabras.

Link al artículo de HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fawn-germer/confused-about-your-purpo_b_301205.html

¡Feliz Octubre!

Relojes vintage del siglo pasado, siguen en el tic-toc tic-toc...