I have no idea, but I’m about to find out. So stay tuned for a full report Wednesday (or Thursday if the hangover turns out to be brutal and/or the owners decide to kick me out of there before the beer tasting begins.)
Category: Latin America
Obama Arrives Late at Meeting With Latinos
President Obama on Wednesday made history by answering questions from U.S. Latinos during a live Webcast from The White House (or as he likes to call it these days, La Casa Blanca.) And because the meeting was with Latinos, he dared show up 10 minutes late, which was cool with me ’cause I was taking a nap anyway.
Mexico Beats Its Own Taco Record; Lacks Funds to Register Such Feat
So you guys thought I was joking when I said we (the Mexicans) know how to make the world’s largest and spiciest tacos, ever!
Not only New Mexico couldn’t beat regular Mexico with their huge navajo taco the other day, but regular Mexico has done it again, beating its own world record, by cooking a 50-meter long taco filled with an “indeterminate” volume of onion, rice, cilantro, pork cracklings, beef, chicken, eggs and sausages.
Alas, such an achievement could not be registered in the Guinness Book of Records, simply because sufficient funds were not available.
“We’re in the process of registering it, but it implies an expenditure that can’t be contemplated right now of more than 400,000 pesos (some $33,000),” municipal official Agustin Torres Pérez told EFE.
So hereby this blogger is launching a campaign for the officers over there at the Guiness Book record-thing to stop the nonsense and give my people a well-deserved discount. Or, perhaps, they will let us pay them in kind, with some delicious taquitos?
It’s Official: Mexicans Take Over New York City
In yet another sign that Mexicans are indeed taking over the Big Apple, a trajinera has been spotted in and around Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
See? We, mexicans, don’t only want our carnitas here, we also want to move around in our traditional means of transportation.
Well, actually, the trajinera thing is a piece of moving art that is part of this year’s Celebrate Mexico Now Festival. Never seen one in real life? Here is your chance, newyorkers!
Photo: Stolen from the Web site of the Queens Museum
Miss Venezuela 2011 Contestants Want to be Hashtagged, Retweeted
Didn’t watch this year’s Miss Venezuela contest? Shame on you.
But just because I’m so very buena onda, here’s the highlight of what you missed.
Hat tip to @LParavano, whom I know for a fact loves to be hashtagged, and retweeted
Columbia or Colombia? That Is the Question…
After years of living in the U.S. and hearing such wonderful things about Columbian stars, Columbian telenovelas or the Columbian economy, I made the wise decision to move close to the neighborhood. Alas, all I found there was a bunch of young people carrying books, going up and down some stairs and looking quite anxious about something.
Then I realized there was yet another Columbia, one that apparently is farther away, but promises to be a bit more fun.
Colombia, it seems, is actually a country in South America (whoa!) so this blogger is determined to give that one a chance.
My sources tell me I will not be able to find Queso “columbiano,” over there, but I think I’ll manage. [You cannot have your queso and eat it too, right?]
All this to say: This blog will be on vacation for a while, though I promise to check back real soon and let you know if the other Colombia was worth the wait.
Yeah! Latinas Sweep up Hollywood
When was the last time you saw a Latin actress portraying a surgeon or an architect in a Hollywood movie?
…. exactly!
Here’s one of my favorite print ads promoting this year’s New York International Latino Film Festival.
To see the entire print campaign here.
Via: Wing
‘Captain Mexico’ Kicks Hitler’s Ass. Shields Himself With Huge Sombrero
First it was Burger King and its now infamous Texican Whopper. Then came Cadbury Schweppes with its mariachi-shaped flu protection device. And now Jimmy Kimmel is pissing off some touchy Mexicans with Captain Mexico, starring -who else?- Kimmel’s sidekick Guillermo, a native of Zacatecas.
Captain Mexico kicks Hitler’s ass and shields himself with a huge sombrero, because, really, what else was he going to protect himself with?
Watch, enjoy and let the madness begin.
Otro hat tip al manito, que parece que sólo me da hat tips de sombrerazos
Understanding the $71-Billion ‘Multicultural Tourist’
I just learned today that when Latinos and African-Americans travel we contribute to some huge, rapidly growing market known as “multicultural tourism.”
At least that is according to Kim Hunter, the CEO of Lagrant Communications, a P.R. and marketing firm. As Mr. Hunter informs us, “African-American and Hispanic traveling behaviors have steadily been on the rise.”
But that is not all. Some research (somewhere) also shows that:
“Hispanics were also willing to spend $71 billion in traveling.”
This, I guess, is mostly because when it comes to our vacation, we are a very willful bunch.
But if marketers really, really want to take advantage of such an important market, they’d better start by understanding that we do not travel like everybody else. No, señor: While both, African Americans and Hispanics want to go somewhere “they will be accepted,” African-Americans travel with their churches, while Hispanics travel with their children.
[I suppose this leaves non-Hispanic whites making the pilgrimage to Cancún, childless and mostly willing to get wasted on bad tequila shots.]
Attention Food Marketers! Delfín Will Make Your TV Commercial Truly Sublime
If you are in the advertising, or food marketing business, you’d better get acquainted with Ecuador’s singing sensation El Delfín, whose “Andean techno-folklore” style will help your next TV spot truly unforgettable.
Behold this advertising jewel via Maruri Grey, which –not surprisingly– has earned plenty of advertising awards in its native Ecuador.
McCormick Launches Major Hispanic Push. I Suggest They Hire Pedro Solá as Spokesperson
If food giant McCormick is serious about its recent Hispanic marketing push, it should seriously consider bringing Ventaneando’s Pedro Solá as spokesperson. Just watch him trying to spice up his salad with McCormick, ahem, Hellman’s.
What to Call a Mexican Ice Cream Chain in New York
If you are remotely familiar with La Michoacana, and its über successful chain of ice cream parlors throughout Mexico, you’d understand why this is one of the most brilliant monikers, like, ever.
Photo: Laura Martínez. Chelsea, NYC. June 26 (Gay Pride)
Why Carstens Might Not be Ideal for IMF Top Job
I always thought that one good thing about having Mexico’s Finance Minister Agustín Carstens replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn as head of the IMF, is that he would spend more time eating than groping chambermaids in hotel rooms.
But upon refreshing my memory with this picture from a recent Mexico visit by the Sarkozys, I became increasingly anxious at the possibility.
It seems our finance minister has a knack for both, eating and ogling women.
Ay, caramba!
¡Síganlo los Buenos! Chespirito is on Twitter
I guess it is never too late to start tweeting. Take 82-year-old Roberto Gómez Bolaños (aka Chespirito) who on May 28 sent out a very amusing first tweet ever:
“Hi, I am Chespirito. I am 82 years old and this is the first time I tweet. ¡Síganme los buenos!
Barely a day after that first tweet, Chespirito has already amassed over 206,000 followers, this blogger included of course!
(Not bad for a guy who has been killed several times already by the Twitterati.)
¡Bienvenido, pues!
U.S. to Visa Lottery Winners: ¡Lástima, Margarito!
If you were among the 22,000 chosen people to receive a green card through the process known as the U.S. visa lottery, you’d better put that bottle of champagne down. Due to a “computer glitch,” the results of a green card visa lottery on May 1 have been ruled invalid.
According to the U.S. State Department, a computer error meant that 90% of the winners had been selected from the first two days of applications rather than from the whole 30-day registration period. In a brief statement, U.S. officials simply said:
“We sincerely regret any inconvenience or disappointment this problem might have caused.”
Or, as Johnny Latino would have told his eternal game-show loser guest: ¡Láaaaastima, Margarito!
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