Sunday, April 26, 2009

Evaluation

As my last blog assignment for the semester, I thought that I would end by giving a quick overview of my thoughts about Borderbeat and the class as a whole.

For me personally, Borderbeat has been one of the only journalism classes that I can actually say that I have enjoyed myself in. Though in journalism there is always a certain amount of pressure, our professor, Jay Rochlin, allowed us to have fun with whatever we were working on. Realizing that there doesn't always have to be stories done on serious topics, we were allowed pretty much free reign with our stories, allowing our imaginations to run wild.

Though I got off to a slow start, I eventually got really involved with the class and began to enjoy learning how to write for an online news website. Once I got familiar with it, it became easy and, I daresay, fun to put a story together, complete with some sort of multimedia like pictures or an audio piece.

I think my favorite part of the whole process, however, was to see the finished product up online for anyone and everyone to see what you spent so much time working on.

It is one thing to cover a city council meeting and write up a story and turn it in for a grade, but it is a whole other thing to make up your own idea and do all the follow up to make sure you have a great story and then see it published. It's just a great feeling.

I also enjoyed the ability and option to work with one or more reporters on a story. As they say, two heads are better than one, and it is nice to be able to work with other people every once in a while to learn from them and learn more about yourself.

I opted to be a part of the editing team and I must say that it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it might be. We are all pretty willing to help each other and, at least for me, it has worked out pretty well. It was also a great thing to put on my resume and I believe it helped get me into a graduate program that I had applied to.

Overall, the experience and knowledge that you gain in this class is not only vital, but Jay tries very hard to make it fun and worth while.

I am very happy that I chose to take this class and think that it will greatly help me in the future.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Concerts!

Want to fire up your weekend? Check out these concerts coming to Tucson!

Check out the Tucson International Mariachi Conference Espectacular. A weekend-long extravaganza, the Mariachi Conference kicks off on Thursday, April 26 at 6 pm located at Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave., Downtown Tucson. It only costs $10!

The fun continues on Friday at 7:30 pm, at the Tucson Arena, also at 260 S. Church Ave., Downtown Tucson. Though it costs anywhere from $45-$85, some of the best Mariachi bands in the world are performing.

The last day of the Mariachi Conference is on Saturday, April 28, and lasts all day long. From 10 am to 10 pm, only $5 will get you an all day pass to listen to a myriad of bands on two different stages.





On Friday, May 1, Los Lonely Boys are performing at the Rialto theatre. Los Lonely Boys have had multi-platinum albums. The trio are from Texas, and are known for their rock music with a little of their own Latin and Texas flavors. The band won a Grammy Award for their song "Heaven", and just released another album called "Forgiven" in 2008. To get a sneak peak at their music, check them out on iTunes, where all of their music is available for purchase.




The Rialto Theater is also hosting the band Calexico on Saturday, May 2. This Tucson-based band has worked hard to get to where they are at and are very proud of the music they have written. They have a unique style of some Tejano music mixed in with a little bit of indie rock, and just a splash of mariachi. This six member band is named after the border town of California and Mexico called Calexico. They currently have six records out, with the latest one titled "Carried to Dust" just released in 2008.


Sunday, April 12, 2009

Ritmo Tejano


Ritmo Tejano is a Tucson-based musical group. Formed in 2000 by Frank Romero and Dan Corral Sr., this group has now grown to be well known in the Tejano music industry.

Tejano is a genre of music that originated from Hispanics living in Southern and Central Texas. However, they also add some Tex-Mex and Conjunto music with "a little Latin variety, funk, country, and oldies."

The now four member band consists of: Frank Romero, lead vocals, bass guitar, and manager, Robert Rangel, vocals and lead guitar, Rick Flores, drums, and Bill Scott, vocals and keyboard.

The band is very influenced by other Tejano artists such as Ruben Ramos, Groupo Vida, Johnny Martinez, and Selena.

Though they currently do not have an album and are not signed with anyone, they do write and create their own original music, taking traditional tejano music and updates it with electric guitars and high harmonies.

They do anything from private parties, to quinceaneras, to clubs and concerts. In fact, you can catch them April 18 at 8:30 pm at Oracle Inn, or at 10 pm at the Spring Club Crawl 2009 on Congress Street in Downtown Tucson. To keep up with their performances, check out their myspace page.

You can also purchase Ritmo Tejano apparel on their myspace page as well.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Los Nawdy Dawgs


Los Nawdy Dawgs is a local Tucson band. They began their journey in Nogales, Arizona, but now they play throughout Arizona.

Los Nawdy Dawgs are passionate about playing their music and pride themselves on playing their own instruments.

Considering themselves to be a Latin Rock band, they combine Latin blues and rock and sing in both Spanish and English.

The band's main influences are the Beatles, Carlos Santana, Mana, and the Yardbirds, and claims to be a mix of Mana and the Yardbirds, with a little bit of El lMariachi.

The three band members are George "The Rev" Landa, "Chulo" Kenny Deines, and Edward James Manfield, III. The Rev plays the guitar and keyboard, Chulo plays the bass guitar, and Eddie plays the drums and is the lead vocals.

Los Nawdy Dawgs were just featured in the recently released film The Last Man, directed by James Arnett. All three of them were zombies in the film, and their music was also featured in the film.

The three are also being featured in a documentary that is currently being filmed in New York. Some of Los Nawdie Dawg's music is also being featured in this documentary.

The band is also in the studio recording new songs. They are also busy doing performances and on April 18th you can see them at Casino del Sol at 8 pm, or head downtown and catch them at Sharks at 10 pm.

Check out iTunes to listen and download their music.