February 27, 2009
Kudos
This isn't an official BlackBerry Ad, But Kudos to the creatives who put this together.
Great Concept..
BUT.... the Copy Writing was WAAAAAAAAAAAY OFF..
"Nothing can touch it" - Really?? LAME
February 22, 2009
First Published Photograph
Yeap...
So I have my First Billboard in the bag.
Now I can add my first Published Photograph.
This picture, titled Stone, Wood, Metal is going to be featured in a photography book. Not only that, it is going to be one of a select few who are going to be featured as the Opening Photographs for each Chapter.
I'm Excited!
I took this picture while walking throughout the streets of Monterrey, Mexico back in July.
Downtown McAllen
I've been rather bored lately. Last weekend I decided to venture to downtown McAllen. :/ Formerly known as the bad side of town, It seems to be evolving due to gentrification by younger, hipper peeps. For example, 17th Street has been completely transformed. It now resembles a miniature version of 6th Street in Austin. Plans indicate that the downtown area will only continue to transform into the "hip" part of town. A lot of new Clubs and restaurants have opened shop to cater to the emerging art scene. The Art Walk, held every First Friday of the month, is as strong as ever. Historic Cine El Rey seems to be holding many of the coolest concerts in town. Things are looking good for downtown McAllen.
http://www.mcallenheartofthecity.com/
February 21, 2009
Demi Lovato en Español
Demi Lovato has just debuted a new music video, and its called "Lo Que Soy". It's the Spanish version of "This is Me" from Disney's Camp Rock. Lo Que Soy is the featured Bonus Track on Demi's Re-release of Don't Forget (Deluxe Edition). I think we will be seeing a lot more of Demi Lovato in the future, both in the Hispanic and General Markets. The kids love her....
Lo Que Soy:
La La Land:
February 19, 2009
February 18, 2009
First Billboard
So this was the final design for my first billboard. The client loved it. Me.... not so much. It just seems to noisy, crowded, and messy. I really went out of my element designing this. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices to make the client happy. :/ The ad was displayed on three billboards all across the Valley.
Thoughts... Comments
February 16, 2009
Tokyo!
I am extremely excited for this movie. It follows the styles of Paris Je T'aime and New York, I Love You, two films that I highly recommend. By the looks of the trailer, it seems like the directors are moving towards the Magical Realist artistic route. After taking a course on Mexican film, I quickly became a huge fan of Realismo Magico. Magical Realism has been a strong element in Mexican and Spanish film and literature.
A Magical Realist film I recommend : La Science des rêves - The Science of Sleep (Michael Gondry)
Who wants to go see TOKYO! with me?
February 15, 2009
February 09, 2009
¡Feliz cumpleaños Mariano!
Este fin de semana celebramos el cumpleaños de Mariano en el Cimarron en Sharyland. Estaba muy divertido, aunque perdi en Beer Pong. Me la pase bien con todos! Esto es lo que resulta cuando combinas 2 botellas de Tequila, una de Vodka, y un poco de Bud Light:
Pastel de Oreos.
Se lo terminaron antes que pudiera agarar un pedaso.
Monica y yo.
Esta chika es muy divertida y de buena onda.
Cake in yo face!
La cachucha tambien fue victima de la mordida.
Los Tres Amigos
Cliche, lo se.
Monica, Andrea y Mariano.
La Gaby
Que Ondeux?
De quien es esa mano?
Donde estoy mirando?
Creo que Andrea tambien estaba tomando una foto.
Pastel de Oreos.Se lo terminaron antes que pudiera agarar un pedaso.
Monica y yo.Esta chika es muy divertida y de buena onda.
Cake in yo face!La cachucha tambien fue victima de la mordida.
Los Tres Amigos
Cliche, lo se.
Monica, Andrea y Mariano.
La Gaby
Que Ondeux?
De quien es esa mano?
Donde estoy mirando?Creo que Andrea tambien estaba tomando una foto.
Fin
February 06, 2009
Mexico = Best performing economy? Thats Right.
When the New York Times reached out to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim for a $250 million loan to keep the newspaper afloat, it became clear to the world what Mexicans already knew: Mexico had been able to avoid the worst of the U.S. economic crisis. Mexico's stock market fell 23 percent in 2008, the "best" performing major index at a time when the U.S. markets fell 38 percent. Here's how they did it.
MERIDA, Mexico – The economic crisis sweeping the globe has spared no nation, but some are showing remarkable resilience. Mexico's economic performance, for example, has shown tremendous strength. When the U.S. Federal Reserve extended a loan of $30 billion each to the central banks of Brazil, South Korea, Singapore and Mexico, Mexico did not touch those funds. It simply reinvested them in Treasury bonds, leaving them in accounts in New York.
This is no accident. It stems from prudent economic policies implemented after the December 1994 devaluation of the Mexican peso that sent the economy into a tailspin. At that time, President Ernesto Zedillo had been in office a few days, and his entire agenda was thrown into disarray by the crisis.
The Clinton administration had to issue an emergency $50 billion loan –- which Mexico paid back ahead of schedule and with interest -– and the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, helped craft a recovery program. It was a painful adjustment as budgets were slashed, fiscal restraint was implemented across the board, and the Mexican people saw their investments and savings diminish.
That was 15 years ago, and the lessons learned the hard way are now paying off: Mexico's stock market fell 23 percent in 2008, the "best" performing major index at a time when the U.S. markets fell 38 percent and Russian markets collapsed by an astounding 70 percent.
Last fall, some feared that the Mexican economy would not be able to escape the turmoil engulfing the United States, and the Mexican peso fell almost 30 percent vis-à-vis the American dollar. It has since recovered, although it has suffered a 20 percent devaluation since the economic crisis began last summer. These currency fluctuations reflect the fact that, because of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, neither Mexico nor Canada have "decoupled" from the U.S. economy.
There are several reasons for Mexico's economic resilience. One is the fiscal restraint that Zedillo initiated and that his successor, Vicente Fox, continued.
Fox, a former corporate executive, made significant strides in eliminating Mexico's foreign debt. Mexico's current president, Felipe Calderon, has kept spending in line, even as revenues have increased. When disaster struck, Mexico had a balanced budget, almost no foreign debt and rising federal revenues, allowing it to intervene to stabilize prices.
Mexico also dodged the housing speculation that brought its neighbor to its knees. Mexico's financial system has always been stringent in extending credit. Americans roll their eyes at the bureaucracy this entailed –- two forms of ID are required to open a bank account in Mexico; when customers request checks, they have to pick them up at the bank, where their signature and ID are verified; credit card applications must be made in person at the financial institution, and not over the phone or through unsolicited mail-in applications. As a result, "identity theft" is almost non-existent in Mexico, and it was nearly impossible for a housing bubble to emerge there.
Another factor is the windfall oil profits – despite the sudden drop in oil prices. When oil peaked at $147 a barrel last summer, there was disbelief around the world: Would it shoot up to $200 or fall back? The conventional wisdom was that $100 a barrel for oil was the new reality going forward, and there was a frenzy to lock in prices through futures contracts. Mexican officials at Pemex, the state-owned oil monopoly, didn't believe that price was sustainable; their economic models indicated that, with slacking demand due to the recession, a price range between $60 and $80 was "sustainable." Other countries -– most notably Venezuela and Russia –- were more ambitious, and reckless. Both countries let spending explode, believing that they could finance anything they wanted. The economies in both countries today are in freefall.
Mexico, by comparison, was prudent, saving the oil windfall, and Mexican traders implemented a strategy that hinged on the price of oil falling below the $60 to $80 range. "They're great traders," Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp., said of Pemex futures traders. "If the economy continues to slow, they're looking like geniuses."
The world economy has more than slowed: It has hit a wall. And Mexico is collecting $90 to $110 per barrel today, for oil that is trading in the $38 to $45 range at the beginning of 2009. Having hedged its exports, Mexico is getting a premium, and a significant windfall that will total several billion dollars this year, enough to sustain social spending without massive federal deficits.
Will this be enough to prevent Mexico from slipping into recession in 2009? Probably not, but the fact that it has managed to escape a debilitating slowdown –- the United States is in its 14th month of official recession –- suggests that whatever economic slowdown there is will be relatively mild, considering the global situation.
"The U.S. needs to show some proof they have a plan to get out of the fiscal problem," Ernesto Zedillo told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week. "We, as developing countries, need to know we won't be crowded out of the capital markets, which is already happening.
New America Media, News Report, Louis Nevaer, Posted: Feb 06, 2009
MERIDA, Mexico – The economic crisis sweeping the globe has spared no nation, but some are showing remarkable resilience. Mexico's economic performance, for example, has shown tremendous strength. When the U.S. Federal Reserve extended a loan of $30 billion each to the central banks of Brazil, South Korea, Singapore and Mexico, Mexico did not touch those funds. It simply reinvested them in Treasury bonds, leaving them in accounts in New York.
This is no accident. It stems from prudent economic policies implemented after the December 1994 devaluation of the Mexican peso that sent the economy into a tailspin. At that time, President Ernesto Zedillo had been in office a few days, and his entire agenda was thrown into disarray by the crisis.
The Clinton administration had to issue an emergency $50 billion loan –- which Mexico paid back ahead of schedule and with interest -– and the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, helped craft a recovery program. It was a painful adjustment as budgets were slashed, fiscal restraint was implemented across the board, and the Mexican people saw their investments and savings diminish.
That was 15 years ago, and the lessons learned the hard way are now paying off: Mexico's stock market fell 23 percent in 2008, the "best" performing major index at a time when the U.S. markets fell 38 percent and Russian markets collapsed by an astounding 70 percent.
Last fall, some feared that the Mexican economy would not be able to escape the turmoil engulfing the United States, and the Mexican peso fell almost 30 percent vis-à-vis the American dollar. It has since recovered, although it has suffered a 20 percent devaluation since the economic crisis began last summer. These currency fluctuations reflect the fact that, because of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, neither Mexico nor Canada have "decoupled" from the U.S. economy.
There are several reasons for Mexico's economic resilience. One is the fiscal restraint that Zedillo initiated and that his successor, Vicente Fox, continued.
Fox, a former corporate executive, made significant strides in eliminating Mexico's foreign debt. Mexico's current president, Felipe Calderon, has kept spending in line, even as revenues have increased. When disaster struck, Mexico had a balanced budget, almost no foreign debt and rising federal revenues, allowing it to intervene to stabilize prices.
Mexico also dodged the housing speculation that brought its neighbor to its knees. Mexico's financial system has always been stringent in extending credit. Americans roll their eyes at the bureaucracy this entailed –- two forms of ID are required to open a bank account in Mexico; when customers request checks, they have to pick them up at the bank, where their signature and ID are verified; credit card applications must be made in person at the financial institution, and not over the phone or through unsolicited mail-in applications. As a result, "identity theft" is almost non-existent in Mexico, and it was nearly impossible for a housing bubble to emerge there.
Another factor is the windfall oil profits – despite the sudden drop in oil prices. When oil peaked at $147 a barrel last summer, there was disbelief around the world: Would it shoot up to $200 or fall back? The conventional wisdom was that $100 a barrel for oil was the new reality going forward, and there was a frenzy to lock in prices through futures contracts. Mexican officials at Pemex, the state-owned oil monopoly, didn't believe that price was sustainable; their economic models indicated that, with slacking demand due to the recession, a price range between $60 and $80 was "sustainable." Other countries -– most notably Venezuela and Russia –- were more ambitious, and reckless. Both countries let spending explode, believing that they could finance anything they wanted. The economies in both countries today are in freefall.
Mexico, by comparison, was prudent, saving the oil windfall, and Mexican traders implemented a strategy that hinged on the price of oil falling below the $60 to $80 range. "They're great traders," Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp., said of Pemex futures traders. "If the economy continues to slow, they're looking like geniuses."
The world economy has more than slowed: It has hit a wall. And Mexico is collecting $90 to $110 per barrel today, for oil that is trading in the $38 to $45 range at the beginning of 2009. Having hedged its exports, Mexico is getting a premium, and a significant windfall that will total several billion dollars this year, enough to sustain social spending without massive federal deficits.
Will this be enough to prevent Mexico from slipping into recession in 2009? Probably not, but the fact that it has managed to escape a debilitating slowdown –- the United States is in its 14th month of official recession –- suggests that whatever economic slowdown there is will be relatively mild, considering the global situation.
"The U.S. needs to show some proof they have a plan to get out of the fiscal problem," Ernesto Zedillo told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week. "We, as developing countries, need to know we won't be crowded out of the capital markets, which is already happening.
New America Media, News Report, Louis Nevaer, Posted: Feb 06, 2009
February 04, 2009
Interview Part Three
I applied for a job two months ago. Got a call last week. Got an interview last week. Got another interview last week en Espanol. Got my background check done. I have another (hopefully final) interview later today.
More info about the job later. (If I get it.)
But here are a few clues: Chicago, Spanish, Verizon
Estoy emocionado!
More info about the job later. (If I get it.)
But here are a few clues: Chicago, Spanish, Verizon
Estoy emocionado!
February 03, 2009
The Valley in all its Glory
I usually cringe when I see local TV ads. They are plain, simple, and not very creative. REGARDLESS! (inside joke.) Today, this spot caught my attention. Its perfectly shot, grabs your attention, and portrays the essence and spirit of the valley.
Check it out.
Check it out.
February 02, 2009
Projector!
So my finally finally came around to buying a projector yesterday. Yes... The super bowl actually played a huge factor in that decision. We have had a retractable screen installed for a little over a year now, but never got around to buying a projector. I guess my parents were waiting for the latest and greatest?
Well, last night the projector was effin sweet!
Can't wait to use that baby for Guitar Hero Parties...
:)
Well, last night the projector was effin sweet!
Can't wait to use that baby for Guitar Hero Parties...
:)