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I don’t visit Spanish-language blogs, mainly because I don’t know many. But one recently caught my attention, especially because the recent publication of the following cartoon stirred many passions, mainly from Latin Americans living in the U.S.
What’s interesting though is that the author of the posting makes a good point: the above behavior is not exclusive to the United States; rather, he says, it’s the immigration policy of the fools.
Can you tell the difference between these two bottles?
It took me a while, actually. But it turns out the Chinese are producing -and exporting- Cerono beer, which looks and feels exactly like Grupo Modelo’s Corona beer. (Of course, the real one is quite tasteless but that’s not the point here).
Mexican anti-piracy authorities are fuming over Beijing-based Beijing Cerono Trade Limited Company, which last year sold more than one million cases of Cerono worldwide.
The problem does not stop there. The Chinese apparently have also come up with their own brand of “tequila” called Platinum Tequila Infusión, which is also being exported to the United States with the label “Made in Mexico.”
Univision’s board of directors is ready for a taste of salsa. Cuba-born Gloria Estefan has just been named to Univision Communication Inc.’s newly configured board of directors.
Joining the Latin crossover sensation is Henry Cisneros, former mayor of San Antonio and former president and COO of the network.
Looking at the rest of the list, comprised by CEO Joe Uva and representatives from each one of the private-equity firms involved in the buyout, I cannot help but wonder: what exactly do Estefan and Cisneros bring to the table? Perhaps, as my friend says, it’s more the desire to pick a high profile Cuban-American and Mexican-American for the board. ¿Será?
Clothes, furniture, paintings, jewelry and film memorabilia which belonged to Mexican screen legend María Félix next month will be auctioned in New York City by renowned auction house Christie’s.
The auction comprises over 600 lots, and it includes a Leonora Carrington portrait of María Félix that has never been publicly exhibited and is expected to fetch at least $500,000.
What bidders can expect to find:
–60 paintings, many of which are portraits of La Doña by artists such as Leonora Carrington, Diego Rivera and Antoine Tzapoff.
–Her first piece of Jacob Petit porcelain, a gift from her brother.
–30 lots of Christian Dior
–A pair of gold and turquoise enamel oversize snake earrings by Cartier (starting price: $5,000-$7,000)
–Ariel awards from her acclaimed films Rio Escondido (1948) and Enamorada (1946): $2,000-$3,000 each.
We can only wonder who will bid how much for which piece during the July auction. Stay tuned!
You might not care to hear about this, but Daniel Borrego, a 27-year-old Mexican this week was crowned the first-ever X-box 360 Pac-Man World Champion.
The Pachuca, Hidalgo native beat nine other finalists during a tournament held Tuesday in New York City. Competing in a final round, Borrego scored 222,160 points vs. 177,730 of Austrian gamer Robert Glashuettner.
The prize? a one-of-a-kind Pac-Man-inspired Xbox 360, with which he can keep improving his gaming skills.
Well, what else can you wish for when living in the Bella Airosa?
Earlier this week Univision made headlines by inviting the presidential hopefuls from both parties to take part in what would become the nation’s first Spanish-language presidential debate. But as it turns out, most have either turned down the invitation or are still “checking their schedules.”
According to the Miami Herald, Hillary Clinton has said she will have to turn down the invitation. Tom Tancredo, who last year said Miami was a “thirld world country” has said he is definitely not attending.
In fact, only the two Democratic contenders fluent in Spanish — Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut — committed to going to Miami in September for the debates.
I wonder if their command of the language was the deal breaker… That would be a terrific pitch for a Spanish tutor moving forward.
Trivia. What was the most watched TV show -among all U.S. broadcast networks- on the night of May 27 among all men ages 18-34?
Answer: the Mexican League Soccer final match pitching Pachuca vs. America, which was broadcast live by Azteca America and viewed by 2.2 million people in the United States.
In a statement the network said today that, following actual live start and end times, Nielsen revised its count to 2.2 million, up from the 1.9 million thought to have originally viewed the game. According to the new ratings, the Pachuca-America match attracted 1% more male 18-34 viewers than ABC’s May 26 NBA Conference Finals playoff match; 10% more than FOX’s Nascar Nextel Cup on May 26; over 40% more than ABC’s Indy 500 Race aired on May 26; and over 70% more than FOX’s Saturday Baseball Game of the Week on May 26.
As the originator of the missive said: “It may be time to reconsider America’s national pastimes.”
In a recent marketing pitch, Internet travel agency Expedia.com urges visitors to rush as there are only 3 days left to get “rock-bottom fares to Central and South America” flying with Taca.
The funny thing, though, is that the image Expedia picked to promote flights to Central and South America is a photo of the ancient Atlantes de Tula, the Toltec ruins located in the Mexican state of Hidalgo.
What’s more, once you scroll down the promotional newsletter, you’ll find Expedia is also inviting you to save while traveling to the following cities: Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and … wait, here’s the best one: Columbia. Not only none of the places mentioned above are cities, but Columbia? …
Some people would let this go without an itch, but not my friend Carlos, who actually sent Expedia an email pointing out the geographical inaccuracies in the newsletter. Expedia’s reply is only funnier than the original pitch:
“Thank you for contacting us about incorrect spelling. We regret that your experience with Expedia.com was not satisfying.”
As NBC’s Today host Matt Lauer prepares to broadcast live from Havana on Tuesday June 5, some disturbing details regarding a Cuba after Fidel have started to emerge.
For starters, according to an article by TodayShow.com contributor Peter Greenberg, all U.S. cruise lines are already preparing for Life after Castro. After all, he says, they are already floating hotels. For their part, U.S. hotel companies have been “prospecting”, doing handshake deals on properties throughout the island, signing quiet conditional deals to kick in the minute things change and they are allowed to do business.
NBC’s special Cuba coverage includes an online poll asking U.S. citizens if they would consider a Havana holiday should there be no traveling ban: at 10:00 PM (ET) Monday night, 42% had said: “No. There are other countries I’d rather give my money to.” What it’s not clear to me is: Doesn’t the question pertain to Havana only? What if these people are actually inclined to spend their money in, say, Varadero?
The TodayShow.com coverage also includes an invitation for visitors to pose questions to Lauer about Cuba. I have submitted mine, and cannot wait for the answer. Stay tuned.
If you thought Mario Kreutzberger (a.k.a. Don Francisco) was only about entertaining Latino families with Sábado Gigante and Don Francisco Presenta think again.
The popular TV presenter last weekend screened Testigos del Silencio a documentary about his family’s 2005 visit to the Auschewitz concentration camp, the Varsovia ghetto, a Polish cemetery, and the Majdanek extermination center for the 60th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust. The pilgrimage is part of an annual event known as Marcha por la vida (March of the Living.)
In an interview with Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, Kreutzberger said the point of the journey, said , “was to pay tribute to my parents who lived horrible moments.”
Though more than 400 people attended the screening on Saturday (when else?), Don Francisco says he has no plans for a wider release. And let’s hope it stays this way, or at the very least let’s hope it will stay away from the hands of marketers who are probably already ruminating ways to pitch their brands through some kind of product placement deal.
These days English is not the second language of choice for many immigrants settling in the United States. According to a nicely written front-page article in today’s Wall Street Journal, “Spanish- and Korean-speaking immigrants are choosing to learn each other’s language before they tackle English.”
The article, entitled “You say ‘Hola!’ I say, Ahh-nyung,” follows several Latinos and Koreans in Los Angeles who are learning the language of the other group; something born more out of economic necessity than mere courtesy.
One of the Korean entrepreneurs interviewed for the article, Han San Lee, told the Journal’s reporter that learning Spanish is crucial for growing his business. The reason? Mr. Lee is an acupuncturist whose clientele is increasingly Hispanic; mostly Latino construction workers suffering from back pain … what else?
Now that El Fogoncito, the Mexican chain of taquerias, has established itself in China, the Chinese can brace for some more Mexican stuff coming their way. But this time around it will not be good food, but bad TV.
Grupo Televisa this week said it signed a deal with the Chinese government to make Chinese versions of its programming, including reality show Bailando por un Sueño and its world famous telenovelas, which according to the network have been dubbed in more than 50 languages.
As for the logic behind the China effort, Televisa’s vicepresident José Bastón told the Associated Press that: “Chinese viewers have a similar demographic to the Mexicans. The difference is there are 1.3 billion of them instead of 100 million.”
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