tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6415180815155735142011-11-27T16:30:40.573-08:00Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-66230669355266568242008-08-03T19:57:00.000-07:002008-08-19T12:06:56.995-07:00

Según yo, there's no other place on earth more beautiful than Los Altos in the middle of the rainy season. Although the turquoise agave fields outlined with rust-colored soil are marvelous to behold, it's the generous and hospitable people that really make it worth the trip.

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-10169144084878927782008-07-28T17:50:00.000-07:002008-07-28T17:59:09.705-07:00

This is the most frightening piece of advertising I have ever seen from any county, or any known universe whether parallel or otherwise. I think the Herdez people have been eating too many jalapeños.

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-18826245475817757542008-07-23T15:34:00.000-07:002008-07-23T15:51:35.918-07:00

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-59198538910252564182008-07-10T18:15:00.000-07:002008-07-10T18:36:52.527-07:00

Tonight I was supposed to go watch The Shining at The Ex Convento Del Carmen with a friend but she got stuck in traffic. I was too scared to watch Jack Nicholson wield an ax by myself, so I decided to roam the city. Instead of watching a creepy Stanley Kubric film, I got some great shots of shiny, happy Tapatíos. This homeless man, who looks strikingly like Tracy Morgan's Woodrow the Bum

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-5401461100027245222008-07-08T18:56:00.000-07:002008-07-11T14:36:51.790-07:00

Contrary to popular belief, there are hippies in Mexico.They just get stared at and mocked by small children.On Saturday Mexico's Environmental Ministry orchestrated the planting of 9 million trees across the country.Organizations like Greenpeace are saying it wasn't good enough. I'm saying, it's one giant freaking leap. I wanted to celebrate the tree planting by going out and buying a canvas

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-34786795912056550892008-07-08T18:46:00.000-07:002008-07-08T18:56:33.383-07:00

Here's a group of Aztec warriors in their street clothes. Every year the Grupo Ritual Azteca de los Hermanos Placencia practices three nights a week for three months to prepare for the tribute to the Virgen de Guadalupe in Zapopan. I promise I'll get better at video soon!

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-74616600514919490382008-07-02T12:15:00.000-07:002008-07-07T11:34:47.465-07:00

You know me, always willing to put my life on the line in the name of journalism. After reading report after report about people freaking out about the salmonella tomatoes coming from Mexico I decided to be like "12 on Your Side" and take action. Alegría Tapatía went to the streets to see what it's actually like to eat a sandwich filled with killer Mexican tomatoes.The sandwich in question,

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-40078238833568875252008-06-22T15:51:00.000-07:002008-06-22T16:08:59.533-07:00

I wanna know what love iiiiiiiis and I want you to show me!In case you were wondering, "Foreigner Unplugged" is even better in a pimped out Guadalajara Taxi cab. Thursday I was lucky enough to hitch a ride with Aaron, the coolest taxista this side of the Sierra Madres. Not only did he have a sweet DVD player and a mountain of music videos at the ready, but he also had enough woofers and tweeters

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-64622527966703135392008-06-16T18:11:00.001-07:002008-06-16T18:31:57.752-07:00

After long days of staring at my computer screen, my favorite activity is going out and wandering the mean streets of Guadalajara.According to my new friend, Jesus the house's maintenance man, the house belongs to the Jalisco Secretary of Tourism. When I asked him what the significance was, he said, "I don't know I don't speak English." I'm still intrigued, and I'm going to try to find out

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-22011327440934103912008-06-11T19:52:00.000-07:002008-06-11T19:56:54.338-07:00

This...is why I'm back in town. Why was the cast of "Cats" hanging out in the middle of the street? I don't know and I don't care.

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-63648043928837980882008-06-11T19:35:00.000-07:002008-06-11T19:52:36.618-07:00

So, today I went of Oficina Depot to get a new keyboard because I've been writing so much on my tiny iBook that my wrists were starting to feel like peanut brittle. There were several keyboards I was considering and I wanted to take the ergonomic one out of the box and try it out before I spent 367 pesos. So, I approached two salesmen, but I guess I interrupted their heated discussion because

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-5014963550165322182008-04-15T14:10:00.000-07:002008-04-16T11:00:55.084-07:00

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade, or like at my uncle Jesus' birthday party, squeeze them up and put them on the pollo rostizado. This week, Mexico's travel industry was handed a giant basket of lemons when the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for the U.S.-Mexico border region. So, where does the limonada come in?Well, now is the perfect opportunity for those folks who

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-48924288542781066762008-04-08T23:27:00.001-07:002008-04-08T23:38:54.880-07:00

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-9493923777974664172008-04-08T14:20:00.001-07:002008-04-08T23:39:37.755-07:00

The powers of American Apparel, the official San Juan color pallet and my keen eye for the ridiculous have come together to create this once in a lifetime opportunity. Yes, I matched the building.This guy sells some darn good sesame seed candies.A view of the Governor's Palace. Not a bad pad for a guy charged with 19 criminal counts.They really dig the mint mojito color scheme here.

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-72782974486164563982008-04-07T11:15:00.000-07:002008-04-07T11:55:18.850-07:00

It seems whenever you go on a tour there’s always that one person who the rest of the group scoffs at for being a true fool. The lady who goes out on an eight-hour boat ride, forgets her sunscreen and ends up being mistaken for lobster dinner or the guy who takes a call from his divorce lawyer in the middle of a serene cathedral. “I want you to fry her ass!” Well this time the schmuck was

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-16503699378202960852008-04-01T12:21:00.000-07:002008-04-01T12:43:10.856-07:00

Three goals for three days in San Juan:1. Ricky Martin Sighting2. Use the phrase "No me importa que te gusta Coldplay" in casual conversation.3. RUM!I leave tomorrow and I'll keep you posted. In the mean time, enjoy my special PR mix.

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-7090709909056994362008-02-27T22:41:00.001-08:002008-02-28T21:24:20.941-08:00

Two days before I arrived in Tijuana, a car chase ended with a pick-up truck crashing into the international airport. There was a shoot-out resulting in at least one death and from what I read there were drug dealers involved. I had no idea about this until I was back across the border in San Diego. Good thing, 'cause when I arrived at the same airport I already had all sorts of images of severed

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-85209193768306706792008-02-26T14:59:00.000-08:002008-02-28T16:17:33.653-08:00

Everyone I talked told me that I went to Los Cabos I just had to make a trip out to Todos Santos. Like, OMG you haven't lived till you've scene how AMAZING it is. Well I didn't make it quite that far, but thanks to Baja Outback Tours, I was able to make it to La Candelaria, a little pueblo oasis that's usually a pit stop on the way. If Todos Santos is anything like La Candelaria, I'll have to

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-36437576413635632202008-02-26T13:44:00.001-08:002008-02-26T16:06:22.989-08:00

San Jose del Cabo is to Cabo San Lucas is what Norah Jones is to Brittany Spears. You can only hit me baby so many times before you need to immerse yourself in some serious adult contemporary culture.One of San Jose's many artisans working in sweatshop-like conditions just to fill the walls for EVIL gallery owners.These were taken in downtown San Jose's burgeoning gallery district. For me, not

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-73613106588192745912008-02-25T14:36:00.000-08:002008-02-28T16:21:12.723-08:00

I recently returned from a research trip to Baja California where I was doing research for a chapter in the 2009 Frommers Guide to Mexico. Just as I suspected, there's a lot more to this tourist-friendly peninsula than Cabo Wabo and Zebra-striped donkeys. Taking a departure from the style of my earlier posts, these next few will let the photos do a majority of the communication. Enjoy!

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-72193963779244555642008-01-16T12:34:00.001-08:002008-01-16T12:34:32.825-08:00

Laura Wood Roldan was visibly pregnant with her first son went she tried to cross the Rio Grande in an inner tube. If she had been successful in crossing the border that time, perhaps she could have been living her life with her husband and two little daughters, happily ever after.But, Wood got caught, went back to Ameca, a small pueblo in Los Altos de Jalisco, and started planning another way to

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-72291258408320940972007-12-05T13:37:00.000-08:002007-12-07T13:36:16.705-08:00

For a devout Catholic, finding the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is the opportunity of a lifetime. Doña Natalia Robles has been fortunate enough to see the image of the “Empress of the Americas” twice; first on the metal panel of a public telephone and second on a postage-stamp -sized piece of tortilla.
Robles, a mother of 15, first gained notoriety five years ago when she discovered an image

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-5978267036332073802007-12-05T13:12:00.000-08:002007-12-05T13:33:14.494-08:00

With their luggage full of their best clothes, and their imaginations brimming with dreams of America, 40 of Tequililla’s most optimistic citizens waited for the bus they had been told would take them to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez where they believed they were to pick up their entry visas. But the scheduled arrival time of 1 a.m. came and went. And with each passing hour, the group

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-1476215244905753342007-12-05T13:08:00.000-08:002007-12-05T13:35:44.877-08:00

Followers of Mexico’s cult of death are upset at an extreme makeover that has seen the saint’s image change from a creepy-cloaked skeleton to an angelic Elvira look-alike in a golden gown.
Santa Muerte (Saint Death) has adherents across Mexico and Latin America but is not recognized by the mainstream Catholic Church. They visit her shrines leaving offerings of tequila and roses, and pray for

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-28021851225104390052005-05-10T12:37:00.000-07:002007-12-10T12:48:36.093-08:00

The story of Macau is a story of East meets West - meets East and West again. This peninsula and surrounding islands in the heart of the Chinese Pearl River Delta were inhabited by native fishermen before being returned to China as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) in 1999. Now, as Macau is gearing up to become the home of Asia’s own Las Vegas strip, complete with Western backing

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-7085489185371960922004-01-10T12:50:00.000-08:002007-12-10T12:54:50.520-08:00

Bob Hoag loves to rip on Nickelback."They suck!" shouts Hoag, high-profile Valley producer, musician and Technicolor oddball. He whips off his horn-rimmed glasses, flares his nostrils and launches a dead-on impression of Chad Kroeger, the grunge band's dawn-of-man- looking lead singer."And this is not for real, you're wasting my time!" Hoag screeches, unmistakably imitating Kroeger for two

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-71559060288739860872003-11-13T13:16:00.000-08:002007-12-18T10:45:02.052-08:00

Atkins, Jenny Craig and Simmons can take a hike; DDR is here published in The State Press on Thursday, November 13, 2003Richard Simmons had it wrong all along, and I'm not just talking about those sparkly Hooters shorts he wears all the time. I'm talking about Sweatin' to the Oldies: What a boring waste of time. Perhaps if he'd met Mike Rak, Richie would have learned that Oldies ain't got nothin

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-81278902189178500422003-09-25T13:20:00.000-07:002007-12-18T10:46:10.996-08:00

Don't I Know You? Party ThrıllerThis skinny white guy sure can move published on Thursday, September 25, 2003Ryan Britt, party crasher extraordinaire, shows off his "Bad" moves. advertisementIf stealing attention is a crime, Ryan Britt is the smoothest criminal of them all. Britt, a Mesa Community College student transferring to ASU in January, spends his weekends crashing parties with Michael

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-43061921625124388412003-04-03T13:24:00.000-08:002007-12-10T13:27:08.624-08:00

published in the State Press on Thursday, April 3, 2003Where was Bend It Like Beckham when I was 10 years old?In 1991, I was an awkward-ass, softball-playing tomboy. I had thick bangs, I was about a foot taller than my best friends in our fourth-grade class, and my favorite thing to wear to school was a manly pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt that read, "Snickers, reach for satisfaction!" I didn't

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-53175393750589738912003-03-27T13:30:00.000-08:002007-12-10T19:06:49.850-08:00

Almost hardcoreThe battle between Mother Earth and the human race rages on in 'The Core.' by Joy Hepp Published in The State Press on Thursday, March 27, 2003The earth is angry. Something has violated her inner core and she is having a bitchfest. Birds fall out of the sky and cause traffic accidents, there are horrific lightning storms, and people with pacemakers are dropping dead all over the

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-50012772951651895792003-03-10T13:04:00.000-08:002007-12-10T13:08:17.646-08:00

My dad sells coffee for a living. Joe Sumner's dad just played halftime at the Super Bowl. My dad goes to church every Sunday. Joe Sumner's dad owns a yoga studio. My dad's name is Mark. Joe Sumner's dad goes by Sting. Joe Sumner's band, Fiction Plane, just released an album called Everything Will Never Be O.K. on MCA. I'm just writing about it.To the band's credit, there is no mention in either

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-31113466589963301702003-02-27T13:33:00.000-08:002007-12-10T13:36:45.772-08:00

Originally published in The State Press on Thursday, February 27, 2003"I take my flute case with me to school everyday and every time I look at it I just want to open it up and start playing," Diana Solorio gushes. Rosie’s House founder Rosabell Schurz plays the cello while 12-year-old Myra Sandoval accompanies her on the violin. Young musicians sit in a somewhat-straight line in a place where

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-641518081515573514.post-35321043509018894352003-01-23T12:54:00.000-08:002007-12-10T13:02:32.600-08:00

I read The Catcher in the Rye about seven times before I realized that it depicted Holden Caulfield's spiral into depression. Initially, I thought he was just a caustically sarcastic son of a bitch with a love for alcohol. When my 10th-grade English teacher pointed out that Holden was telling the story from a mental hospital, I read the book again.Melora Creager is a lot like that teacher.

Alegría Tapatíahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16093779428583196210noreply@blogger.com