Rodolfo Neri Vela is not only the first — and only — Mexican to have flown aboard a NASASpace Shuttle mission in 1985. More importantly he is the guy who gladly accepted to autograph a dirty napkin — upon his return to Earth — after my father told him I was a fan, and was studying high-school in Singapore….
— Singapore???! Neri apparently gasped, according to my dad, which was just awesome coming from a guy who had been somewhere out there, in space, you know, I think farther even than Singapore.
So there, I have a soft spot for the guy, so if he wants to be president of Mexico, I’ll take my ticket ASAP and cast my vote for him. He has no political experience whatsoever, but given the morons running our country these days… how bad can it be?
Netflix will now offer many hours of some of the most beloved and highly-rated shows from the Univision classics such as Teresa, Maria la del Barrio, Lo Que La Vida Me Robó, Por Ella Soy Eva, La Viuda Negra and Rosa de Guadalupe. The lineup also features some of the Top 20 novelas of all time including La Fea Mas Bella, Cuidado con el Angel and Rubi.
Kermit the Frog, the friendly frog that became so famous in TV shows such as The Muppets and Sesame Street is actually called “René” in Mexico and “Gustavo” in Spain. But I guess that’s just too much for an automated voice-recognition, translation program.
During a brief demonstration today of its voice search app, Google’s Senior Vicepresident Sundar Pachai, reached for his smartphone to ask Google — using his voice — on Google’s search app — “How do you say Kermit the Frog in Spanish?.
Google’s response “Kermit la Rana.”
Wait. What?!
As anybody who was not born in the United States, Kermit came to be known as René in Mexico and pretty much all Latin America, and Gustavo in Spain. And as far as this blogger can tell you, nobody in the Spanish-speaking world knows him (or her?) as Kermit.
Yet, I’ve found video footage of the poor thing (René/Hermit/Gustavo) trying to explain his identity problem.
Take Valentín González, aspiring Mayor of Netzahualcóyotl, who decided it was an awesome idea to drive around the impoverished municipality in his own Batmobile. Why? Simple, because it is the only way to fight crime and stuff so he can get elected and all that.
Per the campaign itself:
“The campaign will be accompanied by our emblem, which we decided to be a Batmobile, simply because in order to reach the Mayor’s Office we’ll have to fight criminals who for a long time have disturbed the peace of our citizens.”
During a brief trip to New York for Upfronts Week, Univision host Jorge Ramos took some time to interview John Oliver.
They touched on many serious — and not so serious — topics, including Oliver’s memorable interview with Edward Snowden, which led to the following exchange:
Jorge Ramos: Why do you think [Snowden] picked you, and not a respected journalist?
John Oliver: [LAUGHTER] I’m not a respected journalist, because I’m not a journalist, I’m a comedian!
Yet, my favorite part has to be when the pair set out to discuss the subject of electronic imperialism and how bloody frustrating it is when when automatic operators simply cannot understand us, the Mexicans and the British.
Ever wonder why my people (i.e. The Mexicans) are always saying “¡Órale! ¡órale!?” Well, that’s because it’s an awesome word that we’ve come up with to mean pretty much anything.
Donald Trump’s latest Mexico rant is too stupid funny to be ignored.
“Mexico will not be taking advantage of us. They will not be having open borders. And the greatest builder is me. And I would build the greatest all you have ever seen. The greatest. And just to finish, you know who’s going to pay for the wall? Mexico. With all the money that they have taken from us.”
Google’s Latino-specific domain, crafted specifically with us — “The Latin people” — in mind will soon have (Latin) company.
The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) has partnered with eCOM-LAC to launch yet another Latino-specific domain: .LAT, which according to its creators, is going to instill LATIN IDENTITY (yes, with bold and capital letters) to your Latino website targeting Latino people in this Latino world.
Keep in mind, though, that you must be a pretty wealthy LATINO, since the initial registration fee for a .LAT domain starts in “only” $75,000.
Venezuelan TV host Yuvi Pallares thought it was an awesome idea to get naked as she reported the news about Cristiano Ronaldo dating Playboy model Daniella Chávez.
Don’t be too shock, though. The stunt is fairly common — and pretty much the Raison d’être of Desnundando la Noticia, a Venezuelan “nude-delivering news service.”
NOTE: I’m filing this under Latin American TV journalism and saving my sarcastic remarks for later. (See? I’m busy NOT being that kind of reporter right now).
No matter how many bizarre holidays Americans come up with, Cinco de Mayo will forever be my favorite one. And not only because it’s an excuse to drink all day and yell ¡Viva México! while thinking it’s our celebration of Independence (it’s not.) But it is also the time of year that brings out the stupidest most creative marketing brains to sell Americans everything, from DIY printable fiesta kits and taquito shooters (whatever that is,) to senseless drink mixes, “ethnic food” and even life-size cardboard Mexicans as scene setters.
This time around, though, in honor of that amazing marketing took known as Twitter, I’ve put together a few tweets making their way to my timeline.
NOTE: We’re still a full week away from the actual fiesta and this list will be updated in the following days, but let’s get to it right away, shall we?
Last but not least, the King of Ruining Mexican Food, Taco Bell, has already announced plans to introduce a new hot sauce on Cinco de Mayo called Diablo. The sauce, says Taco Bell, will only be available for a limited time and it’s made with a variety of peppers, including ají panca, chipotle and chili. Here it is, in all its GIF glory.
April 26 marked the seventh month since the disappearance of 43 students in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, Mexico. And while the Mexican government has declared the investigation as “case closed,” Mexicans around the world continue to demand one thing: Vivos se los llevaron, vivos los queremos (They were taken alive; we want them back alive.)
I was there Sunday as people gathered in New York City’s iconic Washington Square Park before walking all the way up to the U.N. Building. I’ve been to all the Ayotzinapa events before in the city and this was — by far — the one that attracted the most people (around 500 by police estimates.)
I took some photos and wanted to share with y’all here:
I know this video has been going around for several days now, and that many of you have already seen it, tweeted it, instagramed it, facebooked it, etc.
Still, this blog had to make sure this footage also lives here, not only for ‘posterity’ but as a daily reminder of what should be the duty of many of us: Make corrupt politicians accountable for their [disgusting] actions or, as Jorge Ramos contends, demand their resignation when necessary, which – of course – applies to this case. Absolutely.
At some point during this five-minute or so speech at a TIME Magazine gala honoring the Univision anchor he says:
In any other country, with a little bit of rule of law, the president would have been forced to resign. Guess what?
After 53 years on the air, Univision today confirmed that Sábado Gigante, that weekly extravaganza featuring humor, music, contests and many, many scantily-clad Latinas will end its current cycle on Sept. 19, 2015, to coincide with the end of the 2014-2015 broadcast television season.
You know what this means right? This means no more Miss Colita or Miss Mamacita beauty pageants (i.e. no more fun for this blogger.)
Sniff, sniff
In all seriousness, he’s going to be missed, para bien o para mal. I also wrote this for when he was awarded to Lifetime EMMY achievement.
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