Greeting a new year and a new Decade

"Now everyone is talking about this new decade

Like you say the magic numbers
then just say goodbye to the stupid mistakes you made,
but my memory serves me far too well."

New Years Eve is here, and along with it comes a heap of expectations. Finally, with the start of a new decade, I can start afresh and "say goodbye to the stupid mistakes I made". 2010 promises to be a good year and I brand new decade for me, for this blog, for Laredo in general.

I recall how 10 years ago, with the Y2k scare, right about this time I was loading up on bottled water and Cheetos. With all the hype I though it would be wise to stock up on on essentials, for, "just in case". That was 1999. I was a kid, surfing the web on my WebTV, going to LCC and and eating Dunkin Donuts. But, there is no looking back. The 00's are over. They were not kind to me at all, so now it's time to start over again in the 10's. This will be my decade. Watch and see.

Super S Foods on Santa Maria

Very few stores are as fun as Super S Foods. Here, you can find the total "Laredo experience", especially on Sunday afternoons, when it seems as if the entire west side congregates here to snatch up the required essentials for the obligatory Sunday carne asada reverent feast.

I ventured out to this supermarket, not so long ago, and took some snapshots, just for you my eager and faithful audience. What I found, and what I suspect that half the west side projects are already aware of, is the vast superiority of Super S over other chains such as HEB and Narvaez. Before you begin to throw tomatoes at me and spit out your Bud Light in a bitter rage, take a peek at the evidence below.

Super S has it all: (picture above)
1) Obligatory west side residents giving you hard stares: Check
2) Obligatory Mexican Cd's for sale outside store: Check
3) Obligatory pirated DVD's for sale outside store: Check

Great store, ample parking. Friendly locals. Fast checkouts. Looks like I will be dumping HEB soon.

Guy with big onions (above)

Another great point about Super S Foods is their fresh produce section. This store has no peers when it comes to fruits and vegetables. Consumers from all over the county are well aware that this store is unparalleled in its freshness and authentic selection of exotic fruits and veggies. Just look at the customer above. He has two gi-normous onions found only at the Super S.

Cotton Candy in a Bag (above)

Super S Rocks. They have all the essential groceries. Cotton Candy in a bag. Genius. Fluffy stuff on the go.



Awesome beer selection (picture above)

Super S has all your favorite beer. Their variety is so extensive it's almost scary. Bud Light for everyone. As well all know, Bud is Laredo's favorite and official beer, and Super S is eager to comply to our great thirsts for the good stuff. Some people love to drink piss water. To each their own, I guess.

Awesome beer selection part 2 (picture above)

Besides Bud Light, Super S also carries an extensive amount of the other 'official' Laredo beer, Natural Light. God forbid they run out of this beer; they have a complete refrigerator well-stocked and bursting at the seems, with this drink from the Gods themselves. For your next carne asada, Super S Foods is the place to go to gather the essentials. Don't believe me? Head down there yourself this weekend. But hurry, before they run out of Natural Light!!

Stryper Sucks!

Stryper sucks, but apparently the guy that wrote this in this bathroom stall style didn't get the memo.

Gas station near Laredo, TX

I found this priceless picture on flickr. It has every stereotype in the book. Old junked cars on the side. Check. Mangy dog on porch. Check. Obligatory car seat as porch furniture. Check. The place is priceless.

(note: Go here for original picture as found on flickr)

Shopping Downtown (en el centro)

Its been a while since I have gone shopping downtown. I'm not too sure why I haven't gone either. When I was in my teens, I used to enjoy going to the downtown shops and browsing around, or just hanging out and enjoying the sights and sounds. At the time, I used to ride the Metro. Now that I drive, it's harder to go downtown. Parking sucks. Nonetheless, I made it a point to go downtown this Saturday afternoon and take some snapshots. I'll catch the locals in all their glory. Come back on Sunday for some good pictures of downtown Laredo.

(note: the picture above was found on Flickr)

Iglesia Bautista, Nueva Vida

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about a church that I spotted over by Malinche and Guadalupe, behind la pulga. The church, Pare de Sufrir, has faced all sorts of criticism and has been called everything from 'charlatans' to outright 'liars and heretics' by other, more conservative groups (read a quick article here, in Spanish).

I had meant to visit this particular church, just out of sheer curiosity, but I thought twice about it after reading some articles on this particular religious group, labeling them a 'dangerous sect'. They belong to a larger group that calls itself, La Iglesia Universal del Reino de Dios, and are based out of Brazil. The more I began to read on this group, the more interested I became in visiting their temple and seeing first hand, just what they are all about.

Now, I believe myself to be a 'freethinker' and I think I have a 'to each his own' mentality. I'm not trying to knock this particular group. I am, however, intrigued, by their infomercials and commercialism. So, I hope to be able to witness one of their 'services' soon.

Across the street from Pare de Sufrir Church, is another church, with a different set of beliefs altogether: La Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida en Jesus. Its located on Corpus Christi and down the block from the competitive, Pare de Sufrir. I've never been in this one either, but maybe soon I'll get a chance to visit. Maybe they have free sweetbread after service?? I'll keep you posted.

Wings and Mas

I hadn't noticed it, but Wings and Mas is no mas. Sorry to see them go. Let's see what opens there this time.

Laredosun.Us

I stumbled upon El Manana's blog, www.laredosun.us and even though it has lots of shortcomings, I guess its better than not having an online newspaper at all. The blog does leave a lot to be desired, but as El Manana editors state on their site, the blog is "still a work in progress and although we try to bring the latest breaking news from our local frontier, and around the global, we are still working out a few bugs."


I guess then, that I will remain patiently waiting for those bugs to get creased out, as LMT abandoned their online format months ago, and are now on a pay basis only for local articles. In the mean time, I will try to put up with Nuevo Laredo's English version blog. Seems that they are trying to fill that niche of readers that LMT lost when they went to pay-only format. There are a lot of us out there, that are looking for Laredo news online. Maybe in the future, LaredoSun will be that source we seek. Until then, I wait.

Random Laredenses pt. 5

BorderTown Blunder

I was redesigning the blog a week ago and several things were accidentally deleted. Therefore I had to start again on several blog gadgets, and I still haven't been able to fully correct them.

Also, I hadn't noticed that one of my compadre blogs was linked incorrectly. It seems that I somehow goofed on the link for Bordertown Blues blog and it was directing to another page which seems like it belongs to some sort of musical starlet. Oops. In any case, the correction has been made...but hmm, this other page does look interesting. Maybe there is a connection between the two sites. Anyone know of it?


I'm sure this blonde bombshell is also an intellectual. You might be surprised.

Chelas Original Fried Pies

I found the following flyer waiting for me at my doorstep when I got home from work today. It seems a new business, over on the Loop by Century City, with the name of Chela's Original Fried Pies has just opened up. The place sounds promising. I might just go check it out and report back to you here, as to just how good those pies are. I'll keep you posted.