Black Friday in Laredo

Black Friday is an early sales event that takes place the day after Thanksgiving. Viva Laredo was on the scene outside Target, Walmart, and Best Buy to witness the crowds of people lined up early Friday morning outside big retailers stores hoping to get a extraordinary deal on toys, electronics and other products before the holiday season. Coupons for big ticket items are usually handed to the first ten people in line, which is why many start camping out the day before. Hundreds of Mexican shoppers and Laredoans waited for stores to open at 5am, then rushed inside to grab whatever they could. Sales will continue until Cyber Monday, but only a few early birds got deals we won’t find anywhere else. The good news is no injuries have been reported in Laredo, unlike the the poor Wal-Mart empolyee in Long Island that was trampled to death by 200 unruly shoppers, or the pregnant woman that was knocked down. The deals are great, but remember to be careful out there Laredo!

Check out some the photos taken by Tigre earlier today.

www.flickr.com vivalaredophotos’ Live photoset

King Tut Exhibition in Dallas

If you’re traveling to Dallas over the holiday season, make sure you stop by the Dallas Museum of Art to check out the “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” exhibit which will run from October 3, 2008 to May 17, 2009. This exhibition is returning to the United States as part of an encore tour that will that will be launching in Dallas, then travel to Atlanta, San Francisco, and Indianapolis. Here’s a quick description of the exhibit taken from the website:

“Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” explores the figures who guided ancient Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. The exhibition focuses on the 18th Dynasty, a 100-year period when Egypt was at the height of its power and the “golden age” of Egyptian artistry. This was the era when Tutankhamun and his ancestors reigned. The extensive array of more than 130 extraordinary artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun and other ancient Egyptian sites features 50 of Tutankhamun’s burial objects, including his royal diadem and one of the four gold and precious stone inlaid canopic coffinettes that contained his mummified internal organs.”

Visit the King Tut website for more information. If anyone out there has already seen this exhibit, let us know what you thought of it.

HEB’s Feast of Sharing in Laredo

If there’s one thing Laredo prides itself in is in giving back to the community. HEB and the City of Laredo held their 20th Annual Feast of Sharing Thanksgiving dinner today at the Laredo Civic Center. This holiday event started back in 1988 in Laredo and Corpus Christi, and has grown into a hunger-relief program held in over 22 Texas cities and six ‘Posadas’ in Mexico. Richard Noriega hosted the merry event while local bands such as Groupo Escorpion and Group Dkolombia entertained the crowds. Our team was on the scene, and witnessed the long lines, happy faces, and all the volunteers’ hard work. Here’s a list of all the cities hosting Feast of Sharing events throughout Texas. If you have relatives in Eagle Pass, Austin, Killeen, and Rio Grande, let them know the Feast is coming to their city real soon.

www.flickr.com

Quick Links: Glam Rock, Laredo goes green and welcomes Mexican shoppers

• World Trade Bridge to extend operation hours next year to 24 hours a day,
  five days a week as part of a six month text program. (My
  San Antonio)
• Paper or plastic? Laredo to ditch both in favor of reusable green bags.
  (KGNS)
• Laredo is spending big bucks on holiday marketing in hopes it will attract
  Mexican shoppers. (Pro8News)
• Ed Hardy and Urban Decay will show off “street couture” at Joe
  Brand on Nov. 20-21. (LMT)

9th Annual Latin Grammy Awards list of winners

Juanes, swept the majority of awards at the ninth annual Latin Grammy Awards which took place at the Toyota Center in Houston.The Colombian rocker’s awards included Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Album. His “Me Enamora” was named Song of the Year and Record of the Year. On his final acceptance speech, Juanes congratulated American Latinos for electing a president who is “right for the world.” Juanes sang “Me Enamora” and “Odio por amor,” his new single, joined by American singer John Legend.

Meanwhile, Julieta Venegas, Cafe Tacuba, Kany Garcia, and Gloria Estefan won two awards each. Gloria Estefan was named Person Of The Year by the Academy. Later, she performed a medley with Carlos Santana and Jose Feliciano. Flex, from Panama, won his first Grammy with reggaetón hit “Te Quiero,” the Best Urban Song, while Mexican rocker Alejandra Guzman sang “Soy Solo un Secreto” and  “Hasta el Final” written after surgery for breast cancer detected on her earlier this year. Finally, Spanish singer Rosario closed the night with “No Dudaria,” joined by Juanes, Olga Tanon, Tommy Torres, & Belinda.

Winners:

Record of the Year- “Me Enamora” Juanes

Album of the Year- “La Vida… Es un Ratico” Juanes

Song of the Year - “Me Enamora” Juanes

Best Male Pop Vocal Album - “La Vida… Es un Ratico” Juanes

Best Short Form Music Video - “Me Enamora” Juanes 

Best New Artist- Kany Garcia

Best Female Pop Vocal Album-”Cualquier Dia”  Kany Garcia

Best Urban Music Album-”Los Extraterrestres” Wisin y Yandel

Best Pop Album by a Duo/Group with Vocals-”Fantasia Pop” Belanova

Best Urban Song “Te Quiero”  Flex

Best Traditional Tropical Album-”90 Millas” Gloria Estefan

Best Rock  By A Duo Or Group With Vocal-”Eternamiente” Molotov

Best Rock Song-”Esta Vez” Café Tacuba

Best Alternative Music Album-”Mtv Unplugged” Julieta Venegas

Best Alternative Song-”Volver A Comenzar” Café Tacuba

Best Salsa Album-”El Cantante” Marc Anthony

Best Ranchero Album-”Para Siempre” Vicente Fernández

Best Banda Album-”Ayer, Hoy y Siempre” Los Horóscopos De Durango

Best Tejano Album-”De Nuevo” Emilio Navaira

Best Norteño Album-”Six Pack” Siggno

Best Regional Mexican Song-”Estos Celos” Joan Sebástian, songwriter (Vicente Fernández)

Best Latin Children’s Album-”El Heredero” Miguelito

Best Long Form Music Video-”MTV Unplugged” Julieta Venegas

 

Writers Wanted

Viva Laredo is currently looking for experienced writers to regularly update our blog posts.  If you suffer from a combination of a good writing background, a little bit of leisure time, and a passion for words, we want you.  Our ideal writer will want to write about issues, news, and events affecting the Hispanic community in Laredo or in general.  Additionally, it doesn’t hurt to have had some real experience with blogging, whether that was frequently updating your personal blog or a public one like ours.

We do ask that you send us an authentic writing sample, as it is important to us that we deliver quality work to our audience. If you are interested or know of someone who might be the ideal candidate for this task, please email us at vivalaredojobs@yahoo.com.  As always, we look forward to hearing from you.

Rudy’s now open in Laredo

I was introduced to Rudy’s barbeque in Austin when a university study buddy set up a class meeting there. She swore that if liked barbeque, then I would looooove Rudy’s.  Upon arriving there, I was not sure what she meant, since at first glance, it appears that Rudy’s is no restaurant.  In fact, I thought it was a little weird that she had set up our study group at a gas station!  When I walked in, a friendly hostess asked if I had ever been to Rudy’s before.  Naturally, I shyly replied, “nnno.”  Read more

Julieta Venegas “El Presente” tour at LEC

The Laredo Entertainment Center and Global Groove London are proud to announce a special event at LEC Julieta Venegas “El Presente” Tour scheduled to help kick off the holiday season, the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 26, 2008 at 8 p.m.  Tickets go on sale this Sat. Nov. 8, 2008 at 10 am at the LEC box office and all Ticketmaster outlets.  Ticket prices are: $80, $60, $40 according to promoter Paul Magee “this will be a very intimate performance with only about 3,000 seats available,” and encourages everyone to come out and purchase their tickets early.

Mexican singer/songwriter Julieta Venegas has won two Latin Grammys and one American Grammy fluently speaks both English and Spanish and has a twin sister named Yvonne, who is a photographer. Julieta Venegas has 6 albums under her belt but becamed notoriously noticed with her third album Si(2003) a pop/rock album that included several chart-toppers followed by “limon y sal”(2006) album and most recently ”Mtv Unplugged”(2008).

Julieta Venegas leads this year’s 2008 Latin Grammy’s with five nominations.

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