Esto NO es un Diario, bueno si

Since I’ve discovered what comfort food is, I’ve been adding items to my list of yummy things that make me forget, at least for a while, crappy stuff that I might be going through. Reinforcing, of course, my ability to change feelings into food and eat them, and consequently get rid of them. Yes, I just compared emotional health with proper bowel movements, classy.

Anyways, one of my favorite things to have for breakfast is a cream cheese bagel with jam and a cup of coffee.

The first time I had a bagel was summer of 2001, in New York. I’ve always wanted to see what the whole buzz was about, so I had one. It was great, ever since I’ve associated NYC with a cream cheese bagel.

Yes, I know pizza would’ve done the trick too.

The story behind this is that whenever I have a bagel I remember one of the most amazing trips I’ve done. Picture this, I was about to enter college, I was hooked up on Broadway shows (I saw 7 of them in 5 days, can you say matinee?) and I caught myself thinking: “Pff, I can do that!”

Eight years later, I’ve been on several stages, doing what I love and enjoying every minute of it.

So, what I guess I’m trying to say is, don’t give up your dreams. Be passionate, eat the bagel.

Hey everyone!

It’s being a long time since I posted anything in English and the reason for today’s post is that I’m about to present you 5 stand up videos from some funny ladies I found at the Rooftop Comedy site and they’re in English, duh!

I handpicked this videos thinking about you guys, who are stressed and need a laugh and some eye candy (or maybe just the first). Because I think there’s nothing hotter than a women with a good sense of humor, except maybe for a naked woman with a sense of humor. Anyways…

The following lines go to Amy Schumer, so feel free to skip this if you want…

Dear Amy: you were supposed to be on this list, but since you don’t have any videos on Rooftop’s site you didn’t make the cut. I know you are amazingly hot and funny, but I’m sorry. I had to throw in a black comic, a lesbian and Natasha Leggero to fill that void. Please create your Rooftop Comedy profile.

Thanks. XOXO. Walther.

Funny Ladies this way, just click on the picture and it’ll take you to the video. Enjoy!

Marina Franklin		Natasha Leggero
Andi Smith	Andy Erikson	Cameron Esposito

This post is to celebrate my 1000 updates on twitter. Now, I’m not going to bother in explaining what it is and how it works since other people have done that already. I want to look back and share with you some of my favorite twitters with you. Some of them are in Spanish, since I twitter in spanglish, so bear with me.

First of all, I want to thank Otto for introducing me into the twitter world. At first I wasn’t so sure I wanted to have a twitter account; but then I realized I like getting attention. Plus I’m an actor, and kind of exhibitionist, in a good way.

I started twittering back in November 2008, mostly about what I was drinking. Since I always have the same thing when I go to Starbucks, this tweet shows what happens when I think out of the box, sort of. And what happens when the barista doesn’t hear your name properly?

Now, conversations are my specialty, I think. I can either bitch about people. Make fun of them in random situations or even have “serious” debates.

I also provide wisdom to the masses especially on Fridays. Some of them are totally random. Sometimes I can’t find things. Others I remember the good times.

So now you know what I’ve been doing when not blogging. So, feel free to follow me on twitter or open your own account.

Happy Twittering!

I have to confess I was tempted to read the book before watching the movie. I came across the novel of John Boyne at the airport, but it was in Spanish, and I think translations are not as good as the original work of the author; details might be lost while translating. Few days later, I was at the movies waiting for this story to be told.

This is the story of Bruno (Asa Butterfield), an 8 year-old German boy; fan of adventure books and playing with his friends to fly like planes attacking each other. Bruno’s father, Ralf (David Thewlis) a Nazi officer takes the family to live in the country; which bums out Bruno and his sister Gretel (Amber Beattie).

Once there, Bruno gets real bored since he’s only allowed to explore, as he says, around the garden. Having no other kids to play with he looks out of his window and spots what he thinks is a farm. But in reality is a concentration camp. Then Bruno asks her Mother (Vera Farmiga) why those farmers wear pajamas. Bruno’s father prohibits him to go near the farm, stating that Jews are not really people, being a little bit weird judging on the way the dress.

These ideas are strongly taught by Herr Liszt (Jim Norton) who is hired as a tutor for Bruno and Gretel. Gretel’s transformation from being a girl playing with her dolls to having propaganda posters of Hitler on her room is really breathtaking; specially the scene where Bruno, looking for his football finds all Gretel’s dolls without their dresses forming a pile. Resembling scenes from other holocaust movies where they show piles of naked bodies.

Bruno sneaks out the house to the camp and finds a little boy, named Shmuel. They develop a friendship as Bruno visits him every afternoon. Bringing food or playing checkers trough the fence.

The subtle hints of the horrific things that happened on the concentration camp were what amazed me the most. Ralf saying that the ovens served for burning ‘rubbish’ on them or Lt Kotler (Rupert Friend) telling Elsa, Bruno’s Mother that “they smell worst when they burn” really sets the image on your head, rather than showing you explicitly.

Shmuel tells Bruno that his father is missing and Bruno offers to help finding him. So the next day Bruno arrives to the fence where Shmuel had a pajama ready for him to wear. He digs a whole to pass under the fence onto the camp and they run together trying to find Shmuel’s father.

Now this last scene is simply marvelous. Bruno’s missing; the sky begins to get darker and darker. Elsa and Gretel follow the trail Bruno walked everyday to the Fence. It starts to rain. Whistles blow, a march is on their way; Bruno and Shmuel run in between the men from the camp until they reach a chamber. The rain pours heavily. Ralf and his subordinates arrive to the camp. Inside the chamber, a man tries to calm down everyone saying “It is just a shower”. Elsa and Gretel find Bruno’s clothes outside the fence. Light shows on the roof of the chamber, it shines over the two boy’s faces. They hold hands. Then everything’s dark. Close up on Ralf’s face, he just realized what happened.

What would happen if you could only say “Yes” to everything you’re asked? Well if you are Jim Carey, a lot of hilarious stuff, apparently.

This is the story of Carl Allen (Jim Carey) a really negative bank employee, hooked up on his favorite word “No”. Until he attends “Yes!” a motivational seminar where Terrence Bundley (Terrence Stamp, Bernadette Bassenger in “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”) makes him take a covenant to always say “Yes”.

So the chain of situations triggered by Carl saying “Yes” to everything leads him to do everything; from Guitar Lessons, Bungee Jumping, Bar Fighting to meeting Allison (Zooey Deschannel, Jovie in “Elf”) a scooter-driver/indie-musician/jogging-photographer that helps Carl get to his fuel-less car and loosen up a little bit.

One of the best things in the movie is “Münchausen by proxy” the fictional band where Allison is the lead singer. Carl gets to the bar where Allison was about to perform by saying “Yes” to the band promoter.

My favorite part of the movie was when the band starts to play and they salute the crowd by name and you can see 4 groupies dancing. The songs are not that bad at all, funny as hell.

In “Uh-uh” Allison sings about a break up and how a computer hacker helped her delete her ex’s myspace and facebook pages adding this memorable quote:

Happy networking, asshole.

Then on “Sweet Ballad” she sings:

Not you’re late night booty call. Don’t call me passed 11 p.m. It won’t happen again. You can call me at 10:59 but don’t call me at 11 ’cause that’s my rule.

simply hilarious.

Saying “Yes” to learning Korean, flying lessons, having a Persian mail-order bride and taking last minute trips to random places raises suspects of terrorism activity. So Carl gets arrested by the FBI. Pete (Bradley Cooper) who is Carl’s best friend/lawyer tells the FBI about the covenant and explains he has to say “Yes” to everything; which upsets Allison, since she doesn’t know if Carl really wanted to do all the stuff he said “Yes” to, including moving in with her.

At this point you notice the romantic comedy part of the flick.

Carl wants to get out of the covenant so he sneaks up on the back seat of Terrence’s car and begs him to break the spell. Then Terrence reveals the truth to Carl, there was no covenant, he made it up so he won’t be embarrassed in front of the whole seminar. Knowing that, Carl runs up to Allison and tells her he doesn’t want to move in, but also tells her he loves her for real.

What I learned from watching this flick is to open up to new things. Saying “Yes” to new opportunities and have fun with it. Because that’s what life is about, here today, gone tomorrow. Man, I’m such a poet… wait, that’s a Ramones song… anyways.

OK, since my desktop has been fucked up out of service for quite a while now and I don’t have an iPhone (yet) to access Facebook and a very special (yet really persuasive) person tagged me in her “25 random things about me” note and asked me to do my own; I decided to make it a post.

The rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.

1. I still watch cartoons on T.V. specially Spongebob Squarepants.
2. I was a boy scout from 1994 to 1998.
3. I’ve never been to Argentina yet I’ve managed to adopt Mate culture.
4. Though, I hope to be in Buenos Aires some day.
5. Patricio Arvizu is the one to blame for me becoming a comedian, it all started with a dare.
6. I’ve had my share of romances but no girlfriends.
7. I have a pile of books on my desk waiting to be read.
8. I’m a big fan of The Beatles.
9. I don’t dye my beard; it naturally grows in a reddish tone.
10. I’m a family guy (not the cartoon) meaning that I love my family and being with them.
11. Living my life as an engineer/actor has been the biggest blessing of all.
12. I believe in love as in “All you need is love”
13. Quoting Tower Records Slogan: “No Music, No Life”
14. When I was a little kid I had really curly hair.
15. My favorite flavor in sweets is Chocolate, in all its varieties.
16. I’ve lived almost all my life in Monterrey, Mexico. Except for those 6 months when I lived in Finland and traveled around Europe.
17. The best New Year celebration I’ve had: Receiving 2005 in Paris a la tour Eiffel.
18. I enjoy both Hollywood and non-Hollywood movies.
19. I love music, no matter genre, nationality or language. Always open for new things to hear.
20. I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was 4 years old. My dream became kind of truth when an uncle of mine gave a toy triceratops with a small rock, certified as a genuine fossil.
21. My favorite Disney character is the Genie from Aladdin.
22. I enjoy food, a lot. Except for eggs, I don’t eat that.
23. I’d love to live in Europe for a while. Not sure in which country.
24. Christmas is my favorite holiday (for obvious reasons) along with cold weather.
25. I don’t enjoy horror movies, horror houses or roller coasters with more than 4 Gs.

My chinese friend from the office, Jennie Xu, celebrated New Year yesterday. She told me this one is the year of the Ox and that there are 12 animals that rotate each year.

So I had nothing better to do than see what animal was in turn when I was born. Thanks to wikipedia I found out I’m a pig. But more like a boar or a warthog, fierce, but still a pig.

This is what wikipedia says regarding those born under the Pig Years:

According to Chinese astrology, someone born in the year of the Pig is usually an honest, straightforward and patient person.

I will give them the honest and straighforward thing, but patient? Next!

They are a modest, shy character who prefers to work quietly behind the scenes.

False! I love me. I’m great. I might have a hint of shy, but like 5 miligrams of my whole being and I love the spotlight. Next!

Polarity: Yin. Yin is usually characterized as slow, soft, insubstantial, diffuse, cold, wet, and tranquil. It is generally associated with the feminine, birth and generation, and with the night.

Negative Traits: Materialistic, self-indulgent, malicous, childish, quick-tempered, stuck up, too sensitive, vulnerable.

Recap: The Chinese astrology is trying to tell me that I’m a feminine quick-tempered materialistic stuck up and sentitive pig. Ergo, I’m Miss Piggy from The Muppet Show.

How dare you chinese astrology!?

Went to the movies to see Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. This is the third Woody Allen movie I’ve seen (other two are Annie Hall and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion) and I’ve enjoyed this cinematic adventures quite a lot I have to confess.

This one tells the story of Vicky(Rebecca Hall) who is engaged and apparently everything works out fine for her, in love terms and Cristina(Scarlett Johansson), who just ended a troubled relationship. They are both about to spend eight weeks in Barcelona for a summer. So far, so good.

Enters Juan Antonio(Javier Bardem), spanish painter with a background of violent-fights with ex-wife Maria Elena(Penelope Cruz), approaches the girls at a restaurant one night and eventually has sex with both of them and the ex-wife as well. Of course there is a lot of other things in the movie but don’t want to spoil for those who might see it. There is a whole lot more to sex in the movie, but I used this cheap resource to get your attention and make you read the entire post.

So, I tried to rescue some of the pearls of wisdom displayed on this movie. This is what I’ve found:

• Women: Even if you are engaged, you can go on an eight week trip to Europe with your best girlfriend, have sex with Spanish Painters and your husband-to-be won’t know because you can hide those feelings quite well. Don’t forget to take your cellphone with you to be reachable wherever you are.
• Men: If you are sensitive, passionate and honest, you can request for sex up front and eventually get it. It helps to take american tourists to small towns and get them drunk at the local bistro.
• Women: It is OK to not know what you want. Lesbian experiences and menage-a-trois are OK, you are searching for your inner self. It is also OK to know what you don’t want… but after the lesbian thing and the menage-a-trois what else would you want, right?

Well, that’s pretty much what I did learned. Of course for this to work you would have to be an imaginary character living in the mind of Woody Allen, Spanish or a very liberal, open-minded girl(if so, contact me). Though the sensitive-passionate-honest gimmick it’s worth the try.

Anyways, the movie is great If you have seen it and agree with what I’ve learned from it, please share your thoughts with a comment. If not, go to the movies and then back to the computer and comment. And if you happen to go to Barcelona stop by this bar.

Adeu.

Manju and Rashmi, two of my Indian friends from the office invited me and some other mexicans over for a New Year’s lunch. It is amazing how good hosts Indians are, and they are also really good cooks. And since I love food and trying new things, this was right down my alley.

The girls prepared a complete meal with snacks, main course and even desert. All vegetarian.

So, let’s start the appetizers or snacks:

• Bonda: Small balls of pureed Dal covered in a gram flour batter and deep fried in oil.
• Vathal: This are rice flour chips, also deep fried in oil.

Base:

• White Rice: I think this one is self-explanatory.
• Tortillas: Mexican wheat flour tortillas can work as Indian Roti or Chapati.
• Aachar: The mexican equivalent to this is salsa. This time we had Mango Aachar.

Dishes:

• Sambar:This has dal, carrot, potatoes and other vegetables cooked with SambarPowder of course.
• Gobi Mutter: This has cauliflower an peas with corresponding masala.
• Palak Paneer:This has cheese, spinach and corresponding masala.
• Tomato Curry: Self-explanatory.
• Rasam: This is a soup made of tomato, tamarind, pepper and some other spices.

Desert:

• Carrot Halwa: This has carrots mixed with milk and sugar, you can add almonds on top.

Of course all this dishes were eaten the traditional Indian way, that is with no spoon or fork but with the hand. Takes several attempts to get it right but it is manageable.

Although some of the dishes were really spicy, everything was really good! My taste buds got to experience all this new food, for what I’m thankful

Namaste.