Your one-stop shop for all things Latin/Hispanic/Mexican
Mexican dairy company Grupo Lala recently launched a limited edition of milk and milk-related products featuring – what else? – characters from Star Wars, which is kind of ironic considering most of us targeted by the popular franchise are now lactose intolerant.
I guess I just age myself, but I still want to get my hands on one of these, if only to drink with my Star Wars-themed tamales.
If you’ve ever visited Mexico, I’m sure you have noticed the ubiquitous organ grinders (known as organilleros,) that tend to gather around main plazas or outside churches to provide entertainment –and one of the most characteristic sounds of my country.
Nowadays, most of Mexico’s organilleros belong to a union (formed in the late 1970s) and wear their characteristic brown uniform and hats. But there are exceptions, of course, as this dude found by a friend in CDMX, who roams about the streets of the capital city dressed up as none other but The Grinch.
And this, my friends, is the most charming thing I’ve seen lately in this annus horribilis.
WATCH HIM IN ACTION:
In the latest chapter of Bizarre Marketing Endorsements, Luis Miguel (aka El Sol de México) has partnered with Alignment HealthPlan in an effort to celebrate a “commitment to vitality and wellness at every age,” because, as President & CEO Dawn Maroney says:
Together, we’re not just changing how you experience health care; we’re celebrating you. Welcome to a new era of aging.
I don’t know about you, but this thing leaves me feeling like 100 years old, especially when the last LuisMi-endorsed commercial I remember is when this hottie used to look like this:
Hat tip:@lechancle
Speaking of delicious tamales, watch the following never-before-seen footage of the dramatic moment Prince Harry runs for a Oaxacan tamales car during an important interview in Afghanistan.
Hat tip: pabloentijuana
It’s only been, like, a day, but brands are already jumping on the Hispanic Heritage Month action. Take Mattel’s most annoying toy, Barbie, who is celebrating by befriending a Latino dude named Rafa who teaches her to –what else? – how to salsa.
This clip is barely a minute, but it has everything I’ve come to expect from these kind of “homages,” namely salsa, abuelas, Tito Puente, Yolanda Rivera and the island of Puerto Rico, where Barbie & Rafa remind us they can travel to without carrying a passport!
Hold on to your sombreros: The 2022 Hispanic Hellish Month is just getting started!
hat tip: @LeChancle
Doña Ángela, the adorable abuelita behind the super successful YouTube channel De mi rancho a tu cocina, continues to reign on the video channel, where she has amassed (pun intended) over 4 million subscribers –and counting.
Doña Ángela is not TV famous, and her kitchen does not boast any Michelin stars, and that’s because she’s the real enchilada, cooking all kinds of delicious stuff from her humble kitchen in Michoacán. Watch her make everything, from juicy carnitas to cheese-stuffed chayotes (yum!)
But the best part of the whole thing (at least for this blogger) is that Doña Ángela continues to get way more pageviews than other folks pretending to cook online, including Martha Stewart (and her molcajete cat) and Gordon Ramsay, who once said dulce de leche tastes like shit (yup he did.)
Hat tip & chart: Latinometrics
The East Los Angeles-band Las Cafeteras has partnered with the New Georgia Project to create a Spanglish version of the iconic song “Georgia on My Mind” to support Black and Hispanic participation in the Georgia US Senate Runoffs.
“We re-imagined the song as a cumbia w/trap elements to build bridges among the changing demographics in the South,” said Las Cafeteras on their YouTube channel. According to NBC, the The Latino electorate in Georgia is relatively young, and many are U.S.-born children of immigrants. Latinos are about 380,000 out of the 7.5 million eligible voters in Georgia overall, per the Pew Research Center.
The runoff elections, which will take place January 5, are very important as they will determine if Republicans or Democrats control the U.S. Senate.
The catchy song was launched with a video directed by Roberto Escamilla Garduno and Giovanni Solis. It tells a story of all those who are looking to Georgia, travelling to the state “to amplify the voices of the people organizing to #FinishTheFight”
WATCH. DANCE. VOTE. HELP FLIP GEORGIA:
Via: NBC
If you have been paying attention, you’ll know by now that Latinos understand things better if they come in the form of music, whether it is to inform us about the perils of coronavirus; to let us know how great things would be under Bernie Sanders or how disappointed my people are with Donald Trump.
And so in keeping with the tradition, the Biden campaign has released the Todos con Biden salsa, a 3:30 minute long Spanish-language song with some “inspirational” words to help pitch the message of abuelito Joe among my people (i.e. The Latinos). Performed by Ander DeFrank (aka El Negro que Canta) the song kicks off by telling us that a Biden presidency will restore the nation by doing several things, including extending access to education and put an end to detention centers at the border, among many others.
For the monolingual, the chorus goes kind of like this…
Biden, Biden is the safe road
Let’s walk together, hand in hand
All for one, one and for all
Biden, Biden
Biden is a serious, honest and trustworthy man…
You get the drill. Now WATCH (if you can endure the 3-plus minutes of this thing; I’m off to make myself a drink.)
American Latinos United (ALU), a SuperPAC created with the sole purpose of defeating president Trump by activating Latino voters in key battleground states, has launched its first TV commercial, a sad reminder of the lessons being taught these days to our children –Latino or otherwise.
A joint effort by former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and entrepreneur Fernando Espuelas, ALU’s sole strategic goal is “to decrease President Trump’s share of the Hispanic electorate by a small percentage change that would thereby deny him an Electoral College win and re-election to a second term.”
While the elections are still a few months away, ALU’s commercial is a sad (and timely) reminder that what we have right now in the White House can’t be good for children and adults alike, regardless our ethnic background.
OK just WATCH
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a way to respond to haters.
As part of the premiere episode of Showtime’s Desus & Mero, the New York City native decided to show her critics that she’s not only a kick-ass politician but knows her way around a bodega and a taquería. Oh, and she will also mix you a margarita. And just so we have it clear: These people in Washington D.C. are “not smarter than a bartender.”
Watch Ocasio-Cortez as she joins her fellow Bronx natives, show hosts Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, on a tour of their home borough that includes bodegas, happy faces, burritos, margaritas, Bohemia beer and even Jarritos de piña.
Roberto De Jesús Escobar Gaviria, the brother of late Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, has joined the foldable phone fever with the Escobar Fold 1, a $350 device that comes unlocked and claims to be compatible with “all networks” worldwide.
I don’t know about you, but I’m too distracted by these models to pay attention on the thing’s specs, price, durability, gigabytes, chipset, etc. etc. But the ads are mesmerizing. Here are just a couple…
I think there’s a phone here, but I’m not sure…
Via: CNET
AMLO’s long pauses make you nervous? Worry not. I give you “Sitcom AMLO” where canned laughter will make everything so much better…
Via: Reddit Mexico
You probably don’t know this, but José José (né José Rómulo Sosa Ortiz) was not only one of my favorite Mexican singers; he was pretty much responsible for a lot of crying during my yesteryears. So many of my memories from Mexico are intrinsically linked to a José José song: The first time I got drunk (on a disgusting bottle of Padre Kino white wine;) my first kiss; my first heart break…
I don’t exaggerate when I say José José was the soundtrack of my family life back in Mexico growing up. And, just like Juan Gabriel, another Mexican grande who left too soon, José José was already a staple in my home way before the hipsters or younger people discovered his beautiful voice. Awwww, the parties in San Pedro de los Pinos with us singing out loud to the tune of No me digas que te vas, El triste, Gavilán o paloma or Si me dejas ahora, my mom’s personal favorite.
I’m not sure heaven exists, but if it does my mom is in for a big fiesta with two giants who –just like her– left us way too soon.
Go serenade my mom, príncipe…
Why make your 2020 presidential campaign goodies in the USA when you can make it for way less money in Mexico? WATCH as this little magnet reveals its true origins. LOL.
Note: A friend of mine sent me this video but didn’t want me to reveal her identity.
Eight years after the debut of La Reina del Sur, Kate del Castillo (Teresa Mendoza) is back as a badass mexicana as La Reina del Sur Season 2 premieres April 22 on Telemundo.
La Reina del Sur Season 2 is set eight years after Mendoza disappeared into the U.S. Federal Witness Protection Program for bringing down a Mexican presidential candidate. Now, she is coming out of anonymity and is determined to reclaim her throne as the Queen of the South –while whacking a few bad hombres in the process.
The controversial Del Castillo became world famous not precisely because of La Reina del Sur but because of her secret meeting with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera and the now infamous Sean Penn journalistic brouhaha.
WATCH as this Mexican sorts out all kinds of shit in order to get ahead of her game.
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