Random Lyric of the day

"Oye la gente,
hablan, gritan, como dicen,
comentan,
de todas esas canciones que yo hize.
A boom, boom, bam, bam
muchos vienen y se van
pero yo me quedado 
y los otros DONDE ESTAN!"


My favorite song. Dedicated to Elena. Hear it here.

"You Can Fight City Hall"

"You Can Beat City Hall" Bill Moyers CBS News 1978 from rsal on Vimeo.

Fall, Flags and Football

Fall, Flags and Football

by Maria Cisneros

Every school year, around this time, I start hearing drums whenever I wake up in the morning. I even hear them when I get home from work. At first I think it’s all in my head, but then I start looking around my little neighborhood and notice that off in the distance a group of people are gathered. I see them pause and then I see them follow a leader. The leader is armed with a whistle and a baton and then that’s when it all clicks: marching band season is on and the football games are coming up. Aside from the fact that I should already be used to this (I’ve lived here for over fifteen years) listening to the whole array of musical instruments makes me feel like it’s already mid-October and football season is already in full swing. It blurs the fact that it’s still August and hot as hell outside. Let me tell you one thing about me: I love football but I especially love what the season entails. It marks the beginning of my yearly trek down memory lane. Let me explain a bit:

Shortstop Burgers and Golden Chicken

When I moved down to Laredo in 1992, two of my favorite places to eat were Golden Chicken and Shortstop Burgers. Don't blame me for terrible taste in food. Rather, blame my aunt and uncle. They would always drag us down to eat at these two places during the weekends. Now, these places have both closed down or changed names, but the bitter taste of their flavore still remains in my mouth years after.

Shortstop Burgers had a location, that I can recall, on the intersection of Zapata Hwy. and Loop 20. Their burgers would always be semi-burned and their salty fries were always a nuisance to my taste buds. But because they were inexpensive, Shorstop Burgers always had a long line of waiting customers, especially on Friday nights. They closed down sometime in the mid 90s, I believe. Now, a Tortas Yukon stands where the famous Shortstop Burgers were once located.

This is similar to the one I remember. Not the exact one though.

The other eatery that I cherish from my terrible teen years, was Golden Chicken, located downtown across the street from Int'l. Bridge 2. Again, as kids we were taken there because of its inexpensiveness. The chicken at said restaurant was so greasy, it made Church's look like a healtshake. I even recall that Golden Chicken had this cheesy TV commercial, a parody of Ghostbuster's "Who you gonna call":

"Dime a donde vas. A Golden Chicken!  Pollito Caliente. Sabor Diferente. Dime a donde vas. A Golden Chicken!"

I don't recall the exact lyrics of the TV commercial, but from what I recall, I would see it on KLDO back sometime in 92' or 93. Every wedding or Quincera that I attended between those years, had the obligatory Golden Chicken as the food of choice. I miss the 90s.

Random Lyrics pt. 7

"Elvis, was a hero to most
but he never meant shit to me you see
straight up racist the sucker was
simple and plain
motherfu** him and John Wayne."

Y2K Compliant

I went to the doctor a week ago for a routine check-up. This doctor had the latest equipment. So much so that all his equipment, including the examination table is Y2K ready. Good! That makes me feel at ease.

Life's Expectations, and other Shortcomings

(DeLaredo is pleased to announce that we have added a columnist and featured contributor to our silly blog. Meet Ms. Mary C. Read her initial work, Life's Expectations, below.)

When we’re younger and naïve, we have certain expectations about our life and how we want it all to turn out. When you get older and the veil starts to slowly slip away, you notice that things in life almost never turn out the way you want them to. Sure, they may come out close to how you want them to be but never exactly the way you planned. I remember when I was younger and was constantly writing about what I was going to do with my life and who I was going to spend it with. I knew exactly where I wanted to attend college and exactly what kind of guy I was going to marry. I even had it down to what age I was going to get married and at what age I was going to have my first baby. Yup, didn’t turn out like that at all. I know the saying goes that things happen for a reason. Sure they do. Let me tell you what I had planned out for myself: