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.

Burlington Carnival Time

Happy Thanksmas: Paisanos, Posadas and Party People

(from the archives)The following article was first found on the now defunct DeLaredo.Net, but its subject matter is still relevant today. Initially, I wrote it several days after Thanksgiving 2007. Please keep that in mind as you read the short opinion piece.

Happy ThanksMas: Paisanos, Posadas and Party People
by DeLaredo

Another holiday season is here upon us, and with it have arrived the long lines at the international bridges and the jam-packed crowds at the mall that makes shopping unbearable. Also, it's the season of endless posadas and a flooding of champurrado that brings smiles to even the most hardened Scrooges. Still, as much as I love this season of joy and giving, it seems that every year the Christmas season is extended and exploited further and combined into a two month extravaganza.

All around my subdivision, some of my eager neighbors have already put up their Christmas decorations right after Halloween. Turkey Day has not even passed and they are already looking forward to Santa. To them, it seems as if Thanksgiving and Christmas have been combined and intertwined into one mega-sized holiday that I call "Thanksmas". Even retail stores, in their greed and savvy business tactics begin to push all their Christmas items in mid-November. But what is all the hurry? Why don't we take it one holiday at a time? That way we can savor each holiday for what it is. They are not interchangeable and both have wonderful elements within themselves.

Still, things such as "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" seem to turn the season into nothing more than an empty and soulless materialistic grab-bag in which we, as consumers, seem to be bamboozled by the big media, into robotically attacking the malls in hordes like the zombies in Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Surely there is more to the holidays than buying senseless gadgets and spending hours of dead time in a mall and running around like ants in a rainstorm. But, don't get me wrong, I understand fully the need of buying and selling for our economy to remain robust and healthy, still, it seems that in the process we have to sell our souls to corporate giants that turn the importance of Christmas (xmas?) into sales, receipts, gift cards and mark-down prices.

Missouri-Pacific Station circa 1978

Looking on Google, for old Laredo pics, I ran across this sweet gem of a picture, of the Missouri Pacific station, taken sometime in 1978. The scene just looks so tranquil, even with the locomotive zooming by, noisily in the background. What I would give to have experienced Laredo, in all its glory, that year. TooBad.com

Pare de Sufrir

(photo: Church on Guadalupe and Bartlett)

Faith can sometimes be expensive and in these trouble times, remedies to all our ills are just a couple of bucks away. This church, Pare de Sufir, called a quasi-Christian sect by a Baptist friend of mine, has always captured my attention. I've never belittled someone else's beliefs, but the 'infomercials' done by this particular denomination are quite intriguing. I've been meaning to walk in to a service, just to experience the place. Maybe one of these days I just will. I don't frequent 'maquinitas', but these days church is even a bigger gamble.

West Express Video

One of the last remaining local video stores, West Express, located on Guadalupe St, has an excellent selection of movie titles available. Check out their great selection next time you are staying in for a movie night.