Blog de El Editor de LatinoLA

Moving Forward...

2012-05-27T13:30:00.002-07:00

Didn't get into the second round of the Knight News Challenge. About 51 other projects did. Bummed? You bet! Moving forward... Development of LatinoCities delayed three months due to lack of staffing. Bummed? You bet! Moving forward... Sneak preview of LatinoCities for a few LatinoLA contributors last Monday at Sensis Agency. Good comments, suggestions, engagement. Elated? You bet! Moving forward... Stuck at deciding if and when to launch IndieGogo crowd-funding campaign. Confused? You bet! Moving forward... Always, moving forward...

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

2012-04-03T09:40:00.001-07:00

We entered the Knight News Challenge to help us fund our transition to LatinoCities. (Review our entry here.)

During the last couple of weeks, we've put a lot of effort into encouraging our readers and supporters to review our proposal and engage with it, by either liking, reblogging or commenting. I sent many Facebook direct messages to our friends.

Although the comment period officially ended March 29, we are still receiving positive responses and hope they continue to come in. So if you haven't had the opportunity to do so, here's the link again. Also, the Knight people are looking at Twitter engagement via the hashtag #newschallenge.

As of right now, our entry has enjoyed 37 Tumblr responses (Hearts, which equal "Likes", and/or reblogs), 217 "Likes" (recorded by clicking on the "Thumbs Up") and 64 comments.

Our goal was to be one of the top five entries in reader engagement. That way we would get to the next round automatically. But in viewing other entries, I found that a few received much more engagement than ours. So to get to the next round, it's going to be based mostly on the merits of our entry.

Initially, the organizers wrote that the entries going to the next round would be announced on April 2. Now, the website states, "By early April, we will select about 100 proposals for a second round of review."

After that, 10 or so entries will become finalists. Knight staff will spend the rest of April interviewing and conducting due diligence on that group and propose a group of winners to their board of trustees at its next meeting in mid-June.

So there you go. On to other tasks on our journey to launch LatinoCities...

Our Knight News Challenge Entry: LatinoCities

2012-03-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

LatinoLA.com has entered the Knight News Challenge. It's an opportunity to update our features and grow the LatinoLA concept to other cities. We call our entry LatinoCities.

Please read the entry by clicking here.

If you are on Tumblr.com, you can "heart" and "reblog". If not, please scroll down to the bottom of the page. If you like it, “Like” the thumbs up. You can choose to share via Facebook or Twitter. I hope you do.

You can also comment. Read them!

Deadline for "likes" and comments is March 29. Thanks!

- Abelardo

Still in My Sweats

2012-03-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

I've been doing great at being showered, shaved, dressed and fed by 8:25 am, then walk Linda to work at the Central Library. Today, I took the Scion to get serviced, just got it back, did a lot of things in-between and doing more now. But today, I'm still in my sweats, hungry and anticipating a road trip to Oakland to pick up Alicia from school for spring break.

It's back to completing LatinoCities entry to The Knight News Challenge. About 2/3rds there. But first something to eat.

I ate a burrito de cream cheese and salsa roja. Drank horchata. Got back to the entry, tightened up the answers and emailed team mates Richard Koffler and Nonny de la Peña for their feedback.

Now...shower!

Sometimes on Saturday

2012-03-04T20:34:00.001-08:00

After Saturday's household chores are done, El Editor sometimes goes out into the world. Yesterday's first stop was Amoeba Records in Hollywood. He decides how much to spend before going into the music superstore and stick to that amount, no matter what. $50 was the limit. There were lots of great new releases and the overwhelming assortment of classic albums on vinyl and CD that he's missed, lost, sold or just never heard of.

He walked away with a deluxe 2-disk DVD of Wizard of Oz, a gift for granddaughter Jewel; Let It Be, a collection of Beatles' remakes by Roberta Flack; Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan, which is a compilation of covers of benefiting Amnesty International (80 tracks!); and More of Other Worlds, Other Sounds by Esquivel, the imaginative Mexican composer and multi-instrumentalist who recorded in the 60's.

The soundtrack to our ride back home was the Roberta Flack. The songs are eclectic and imaginative; some are done in her familiar style -- warm and embracing -- and others are funky and jazzy. Her voice is still rich and full, although it sounded like a couple vocals were auto-tuned. Nice if you like classic Beatles songs. One surprise was "Isn't It a Pity", not really a Beatles song but one recorded by George Harrison after he left the group.

That was coincidental, in a way, because his next stop was the Grammy Museum, currently featuring an exhibit on the musical legacy of the group's lead guitarist and singer and songwriter of some of the Beatles' most well-known and loved songs like "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something". You know, his second wife was a Mexican American named Olivia Arias from Hawthorne.

Also on exhibit was a "Trouble in Paradise: Music and Los Angeles, 1945 - 1975." The guest curator is Josh Kun, and he and the Grammy stuff have put together an incredible display of music, photos, clothes and artifacts from a singular era of musical history. Plan on spending three hours plus, listening to music from iconic musicians like The Doors, El Chicano, Buffalo Springfield, Don Tosti and more. Great photos by George Rodriguez, too!

Two floors down is "George Harrison: Living in the Material World", an overview of the Beatle who's contributions to rock are somewhat overshadowed.

After dinner at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion on 8th and Figueroa (thanks to a gift card), El Editor made his way back home to watch "Q'Viva: The Chosen." His wife was surprised that he actually wanted to watch something with Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony. The show, a kind of "Latino American Idol" and travelogue mash-up, was fairly entertaining. A bit too much of J.Lo and Mark A. and their personal drama, though. But the music, dancing and personal stories of entertainers from Panama, Argentina, Mexico, Chile and other countries was thoroughly engrossing. Where else could El Editor have seen tango, salsa, acrobatic quebradita, bomba, malambo (a gaucho style of dancing performed by men), capoeira, and fantastic singing?

And then there was Sunday...

Facebook Question: What gift(s) would you like to receive for contributing?

2012-02-29T11:16:00.001-08:00

I asked another question, hoping to gain knowledge to help us grow. Hope you can answer.

"We are raising funds to grow LatinoLA! What gift(s) would you like to receive for contributing? For instance: "For $25 or more, you receive a LatinoLA t-shirt" or "For $1 or more, you get our sincere thanks!"

Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/LatinoLA/19824064298

It's all leading up to our Kickstarter fundraising campaign. I'd like to be farther along with it, but it takes not having a great idea of using our friends and readers to know more about our growth, but it also needs networking, organizational and tactical skills to get it done right. Whew!

At the Mexican Cultural Institute

2012-02-24T21:16:00.002-08:00

Located in the birthplace of L.A., El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, the Mexican Cultural Institute is a hidden gem where local and internationally-known painters, sculptors and photographers showcase their work to crowds of tourists and locals who visit Olvera Street.

It's also is a venue for musicians, dancers, authors, poets, historians and others who have something to share and knowledge to drop about la cultura Mexicana. It's where I spend a lot of time. I'm the executive director, a volunteer position.

Here is a photo from tonight's Dia de la Bandera / Dia del Chilango event, which included music, the opening of "El D.F. in L.A." exhibit and lots of platica about the upcoming elections in Mexico and the struggle of immigrant Mexicans for their right to vote.

The exhibit continues until April 1. Gallery hours are noon to 6 pm, Thursday through Sunday. Drop a $1 in the box, por favor.

Innovation

2012-02-23T20:24:00.001-08:00

A long, long time ago, I received an email from Politico, (not the Arlington, VA-based political info powerhouse, but an email developed by James A. Garcia that listed updates on Latino-oriented political issues and personalities). I don't know how I got on the list, but was glad to receive it.

Pretty cool...something I was interested it, sent over to my very own inbox.

Something else I was interested in at the time were the Latino-oriented events taking place in L.A. (Still am).

There was a small column in the L.A. Weekly that featured Latino events and scattered announcements in the L.A. Times. I'd pick up flyers and postcards from events I'd attend. But all that info in one easy-to-access place? No go.

I gathered the clippings, postcards, flyers, etc., listed them chronologically on an email, and sent it to a few friend and colleagues whose email address I got from their business cards.

That was the genesis of LatinoLA.com.

And the innovation continues. Let me know what YOU'D like to experience online.

Facebook Question: How has LatinoLA been a part of your life?

2012-02-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

Have you liked LatinoLA's Facebook page yet? Click here and join in the fun. It features every article and event that's posted on LatinoLA, plus links to articles, videos and more published on other sites, as well as postings by friends and colleagues who have items they want to share.

On Monday, I posted a question: How has LatinoLA been a part of your life? Kind of hokey, yes, but we've gotten a pretty good response.

If you haven't participated yet, please do so. If you have, enjoy the responses.

On Board with Latino Consultants and LatinoFoodie

2012-02-21T21:26:00.000-08:00

I've been friends and colleagues with Sara and Ara at Latino Consultants for many years and I go to them for assistance and advice on a regular basis. Today, I met with them in their offices in Pasadena for their input and advice on LatinoLA's next stage.

They were pretty enthusiastic and had some great ideas on raising awareness and engaging people. Plus, they turned me on to one of their clients, Nevarez Vineyards, a Latino-owned winery in Paso Robles that helps out a lot of local nonprofits with wine-tastings and donations.

Here's a vintage interview with founder Juan Nevarez to whet your palate.

On the way home, I spoke with Stephen Chavez, co-founder and editor of LatinoFoodie, a really cool blog that features recipes and culture. They've posted a few of their articles on LatinoLA and we're looking forward to posting more.

¡Salud!

Working on LatinoLA's Next Stage

2012-02-20T19:07:00.000-08:00

Since 1999, I've been posting articles and events on LatinoLA.com. Longtime readers have noticed occasional changes in design and technology, but they've been released few and far between. It's still a pretty simple site with a profound premise: an uncensored place where everyday people, especially English-speaking Latinos, can express their voices, lives and souls.

Now, a team that includes co-founder Richard Koffler, members of our Advisory Board and Sensis Agency are working on major changes. I'll be writing about them in the days, weeks and months to come. Every now and then, I'll ask for your comments on how we're doing.

We're also doing fundraising to help us as we move forward on this. We'll be using Kickstarter as our crowd-funding platform. I'll be letting you know how you can help, soon.

- Abelardo

Let Los Días de los Muertos Begin!

2011-10-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

LatinoLA is in the grips of Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday traditionally held on November 1 and 2 which focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends, family members and others who have died.

It's gotten so popular that fiestas, art exhibits, concerts and more are already taking place this weekend, including the Rose Hills Annual Dia De Los Muertos Festival & Marketplace. Check out our Calendario for other activities.

Are we concerned with the over-commercialization of this rich and spiritual belief? Not as long as the organizers maintain some authenticity and attendees come away with lasting insights on nuestra cultura.

While I have you here, check out my Abelardo de la Peña Jr. blog.

Weekend Warrior

2011-10-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

Weekdays are wall-to-wall work. Weekends can either be kick back or hectic. This one was a little of both.

Thursdays seem to be the start of my weekend. After settling my wife and granddaughter at home, I went to help set up the for the Multicultural Alliance of Entrepreneurs's presentation at the Mexican Cultural Institute (MCI) called "Latino Population and Business Trends." Then it was off to Pico-Union to do a drive-by at Centro for Latino Literacy's Manos Amigas Celebration. I stayed for a few minutes, but here you could read an entertaining article on the night's events, written by my partner at LatinoLA.com, Richard Koffler. Then, back to MCI for the clean-up.

Friday, my wife Linda and I drove over to Westwood to attend a performance of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at the Geffen Playhouse. We were invited by Valerie de la Garza, who is on the theater's community advisory board. Although the play, a powerful and hyper-kinetic carnival of words, music and professional wrestling, had a Latino-centric theme and is written by Kristoffer Diaz, there wasn't much outreach to Latino audiences. Thus, Latino Social Night, with invites going out to bloggers, writers, influentials and others (like us). They also bought some ads on LatinoLA! Very enjoyable experience. See it if you can!

Saturday, we got off to a late start (actually slept in a bit), then on to the home-cleaning. I left at about 4 to get ready for the Cucaracha Crawl at MCI, where Lalo Alcaraz was to present a slide show and talk about his exhibit: Lalo Alcaraz Heritage Month: 500 Years of History/Art/Satire. Light, but enthusiastic, crowd, but I got to talk with Lalo on some upcoming projects. The exhibit goes on until October 15.

Sunday morning: Back to the Mexican Cultural Institute, first to meet a group of Chicano Studies students from Cal State Long Beach, lead by their professor and the Institute's board chair Armando Vasquez-Ramos; then participated in the Dia de los Braceros presentation out in Plaza Olvera's kiosk; ending my stay with a brief visit to La Plaza de Cultura y Artes to hear a lecture on the America Tropical mural.

Headed home for a breather. My son Michael came over for a while, so we had a roomful of little girls (his two daughters and our other granddaughter Jewel, who stayed the night with us) laughing and screaming, jumping and dancing, and having fun with papa (me).

Finally, at about 4:30 pm we drove to Hollywood to see John Leguizamo's latest one-man play, Ghetto Klown at the Montalbán. This one was a riot, a chronological tour of his career in show business. He is a master mimic, a great dancer, fast and furious with his warts and all portrayal of his relationships, both personal and professional, and his successes and failures. Hilarious, nostalgic and confessional, it was frantic funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

Weekends aren't usually this Krazy, but when opportunity comes, it's time to suit up and enjoy.

Who I saw: Gloria Molina, Raquel Hernandez, Roy Jasso, Martin Albornoz, Yvette Doss, Kevin de Leon, Flavio Morales, Dyanna Ortelli, Baldomero Capiz, Valerie de la Garza, Cris Franco, Jose Huizar, Dan Guerrero (twice), Cisco, and a whole bunch more. If I didn't greet you (or forgot who you were), desculpame, por favor!

Back to School

2011-09-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

Class is in session! Amazing how fast summer zoomed by, and as usual, the first week of school is the hottest.

We sent off our youngest daughter to art school in Oakland (wasn't easy), enrolled our granddaughter in LAUSD's crown jewel, the Cortines High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, and applauded our oldest son, transferring from PCC to Occidental College. Not bad for a 40-year-old War on Iraq vet.

Getting into a good school is a challenge. Staying in any school is even harder. If you are in school, don't give up! If your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, cousin ... anybody you know ... is in school, give them support and encouragement. And lunch money doesn't hurt, either.

And me? Banning High in Wilmington's class of '71 just had our 40th reunion. Soy viejo, but I'm still learning.

"Luminarias" Illuminates LatinoLA 10 Years Later

2011-08-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago, LatinoLA.com was a fledgling website with a singular mission: To be the local go-to website to promote Latino arts, entertainment, culture and community, in the words of the writers, artists, musician and more who lived it.

Also ten years ago, a group of filmmakers released a feature movie that was as groundbreaking as it was entertaining. That movie was "Luminarias", written by Evelina Fernandez, directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela and starring a slew of outstanding Latino talent.

They're celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of "Luminarias" on Saturday, August 20 with a VIP reception and viewing at the L.A. Theatre Center. We are lucky to have one pair of tickets to give away.

Here's how to win: Send an email to info@latinola.com, with "Luminarias" as the subject, and tell us why you enjoyed the movie or why you really want to see it. Simple, eh? Best response wins. Good luck! The winner will be announced on the LatinoLA Newsletter next Thursday, August 19. Still haven't subscribed? Go here.

More great LatinoLA events here!

¡Free Summer!

2011-08-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

August is here -- the middle of summer, almost -- and LatinoLA is heating up. We're talking about music and movies, art shows and workshops, festival and fiestas ... and the best part is that many of them are for families ...and they're free!

Por ejemplo: Going on their seventh year is Caracol Marketplace, a unique bazaar-market where handmade crafts are sold by their makers. The free event combines music, art, health, wellness and amistad in an outdoor setting close to downtown LatinoLA: Tropico de Nopal Gallery-Art Space.

Come hungry and thirsty and open for new sights and sounds. It's free, but bring your wallet to buy their unique items, many of them home made by local artisans.

Also, thanks to all of you who have been "liking" the work of our fine writers and contributors, sharing them via Facebook, Twitter and more, and leaving your comments. Don't leave LatinoLA without having your voice heard! (scroll down to the end of the article or calendar listing and you'll know what I'm talking about!)

Sunday Morning

2011-04-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

I've been helping keep the doors open at the Mexican Cultural Institute for about 7 years now, as a board member and now as the director, both as a volunteer. It's time-consuming, somewhat gratifying and necessary. And overwhelming. I had a dream about it last night and I woke up shaking.

Visit it when you can. The website isn't up-to-date. If you want to learn more how you can help, let me know.

In downtown L.A., there isn't a good panaderia. I've found a couple nearby, some in the Pico-Union area, but nothing with as good a selection and quality as El Aguila in El Sereno. So every few months, I make the drive and pick out the cuernos de canela, empanadas de calabaza and bolillos dorados. Worth it.

After breakfast, I walked the dogs. A bus was stopped on Grand and 8th. Someone called my name. It was the bus driver. I'd met Jose about 10 years ago when he worked in security at the Home Savings building on Figueroa and 7th Street and I worked as a freelancer for Durazo Communications (now gone). Jose had a lot of personality and was very helpful. And he played good guitar, bringing in his six-string acoustic into our office to strum a few tunes every now and then.

I first saw him driving a bus when I lived in South Pasadena and it caught me by surprise. He looked good behind the big wheel.

Still does.

Back to Work

2011-02-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

After taking the day off (a sick day with the mattress shopping thrown in for good measure...by the way, we bought an Englander Level 1 pillow top queen size from Mattress City, supposed to be delivered within the hour), it was back to the job(s). I've been looking for a statistic on African American women and their time spent online, or the number of blogs they author, or their Twitter rate, or something, but no luck. Last piece of a puzzle for an article I'm writing.

Also uploaded a few interesting events (Justio Almario's birthday concert, a talk with LA's deputy mayor), check on on Calendario.

And programmed an exhibit and event at the Mexican Cultural Institute.

Plus, walked my daughter Alicia to a couple places where she could apply for work, try to comfort granddaughter Jewel who's sick at home and missing her mommy, and other stuff. Anyway, back to work.

President's Day Mattress

2011-02-21T22:46:00.000-08:00

Sick, spending a lot of time in bed. Realizing, this mattress is pretty worn out. TV ads, newspaper inserts proclaim: President's Day sales. Featured item: mattresses. We walked over to downtown Macy's yesterday and lay down on a few. One hour out of the house wore us out, but got a good idea that even with discounts, we weren't going to get out of it easy. Late today, girded ourselves to try again (after a bit of online research and more meds). Went to a different place, lay down on a few more mattresses. Delivery Wednesday. I asked sales guy: Why mattresses on President's Day? He wasn't sure, but if honoring presidents by spending a few less dead one passes for patriotism nowadays, I'll take it.

February Blues

2011-02-18T14:33:00.000-08:00

The newness of the year has worn off. It's cold and looks like rain. My wife is sick, I am, too. I am juggling too many projects. I'm trying to rid myself of bad habits. My daughter read my Tarot last night. Some good things, some not so good. My neck is sore. I have to walk to the post office to buy some stamps. I have to finish writing a lengthy article for my day job and pay some bills at the place I volunteer. Things seem heavy. Can't even get myself to listen to music, which usually cheers me up. But hey, I'm alive, it's going to get better and someone is going to smile at me and I will smile back. Or send me a nice email, like the one I got today. Thanks, Kat.

Thought About Closing Up Shop

2010-12-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

UPDATE:

I thought about it, and will continue to publish and grow LatinoLA in 2011 and beyond.

- Abelardo

I forgot I had this blog...really

2010-11-23T19:15:00.000-08:00

Hi, everybody, anybody.

I was uploading new stories and calendar listings on LatinoLA and I noticed that there's an item on the left hand navigation bar called "El Blog del Editor de LatinoLA.com". I remembered it was once there, but I thought I deleted it because of my infrequent postings. I clicked on it, and guess what. There it is...here it is. And I am here, too, right now at Starbucks in Pasadena across from Pasadena City College. I'm waiting for my daughter Alicia to get out of class. She's been going since mid-September. I drive her here from downtown L.A., where we are living, stick around, wait for her call, then pick her up.

Well, now that I know that I still have this blog, I'll publish on it more often. Or at least I'll try.

- Abelardo

Brazilian Carnaval 2010

2010-02-21T17:57:00.001-08:00

LatinoLA was media sponsor for Brazilian Nites Carnaval 2010. Great music and dancing. Thanks to Patricia Leao for producing a fabulous event at Club Nokia.

A Couple New Features on LatinoLA

2009-03-01T10:13:00.000-08:00

The Internet moves at lightening speed. LatinoLA doesn't. Our strategy has been slow growth at a low cost. Mainly, it's two guys running the show, a few people giving us advice and contributors who fill our pages with their great articles, insights, expressions and events. It's pay as you go, meaning the little expenses we have (phone bill, hosting fees, taxes) are paid with the small amount of advertising we bring in.

But sometimes we manage to make some adjustments to our look, our feel and our flow -- the design and the technology supporting it. It's all done in-house. Our finance usually don't allow us to spend for designers and tech support. But now we've gone and done it and used some of resources to bring to you a couple new features: A way for you, our readers, to post your comments on our articles and for you to email articles to your friends, colleagues, family, etc.

Check out any article page, say "Fists of Steel Still Motivates". Read the article and as you reach the end of it you will see" "This story has no comments or chisme. Be the first to write one!". Under that you will see four boxes, for you name, email address, email address again, and comment. That's where you come in. You could write something like: "This article is great!" or "This article is good, but not great!" or other words from your heart. After writing them, submit them, I check them on our administrator, correct spelling, grammer, take out the cuss words and post them. The next time you or someone else reads the article, the Comments area will say: "This article is great!" or "This article is good, but not great!" or something else. Go ahead, try it!

Another new feature is the ability to send articles via email to friends. Before, you may have copied the entire article and pasted it onto an email and sent it. Or maybe you copied the URL and sent it. Or maybe you ignored the whole thing. Well, now, if you look at the box underneath the small image on the top right hand side, you will see a box, with the second line showing an image of an envelope (for 'email'...get it?) and the words and the word "share". Click on that and you'll come to a page where you include your name, email address, your friend's email address, a a room for a brief message. Go ahead, try it!

I know you've seen these features on other websites for years. But like I said, LatinoLA may be slow, but we're still growing. And there's more to come.

¡Hasta luego!