Monthly Archives: September 2015
Alamo City Comic Con Experience 2015
Story by: David A. De La Rosa
Photographs by: Joseph Martinez & Ramon Hernandez
Alamo City Comic Con Experience 2015
I have for a full year been greatly anticipating the third installment of the Alamo City Comic Con. I’ve missed the excitement, and festival like atmosphere of this event. I was very pleased with the event as a whole, and everyone who attended I’m sure were not disappointed.
For those people who have never attended a comicon, let me reiterate for past articles I’ve written on this topic. This is an event where people are encouraged to dress up in costume as their favorite superhero or villain. For the record my observations for this year’s most worn costume was a tossup between Deadpool and Harley Quinn.
There were many celebrities that attended this event for autograph and photo-op sessions. Any comic con attendee can meet with some of their favorite TV, and film stars with certain VIP passes. Fans can go into an auditorium for a Q&A panel (i.e. Stan Lee, The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, etc.), and speak with some of their favorite film or television personalities. I myself sat in on no less than six panels all of which were very informative and entertaining.
There are vendors there selling merchandise that run the gambit between inexpensive pin back buttons to high end statues of superheroes. I personally get a kick out people buying awesome looking replica light sabers. There were also many published artists selling signed prints of their artwork.
This year I was glad to see that there was a children’s area sponsored by local educational institutions (i.e. The San Antonio Public Library, The San Antonio Zoo, and The Witte Museum). Last year some of these groups were in attendance, but they didn’t have the interactive children’s activities they had for the con this year. Along with the interactive activities there were huge moon bounces, for the kids to play in; this was a great rest area. We all know sometimes the little ones get disinterested, and parents need to rest their feet.
This year had live wrestling courtesy of River City Wrestling, (an organization with no affiliation with our website), and matches were performed periodically throughout the three days of the con (https://www.facebook.com/rcwforever). I enjoyed the matches that I saw, and it reminded me of when I was a kid and went to see wrestling at the Freemen Coliseum. I hope next year’s con will have more RCW.
I enjoy many aspects of this comic con people watching, shopping for merchandise, viewing artwork. The one thing I love above all of these aspects of this show is attending Q&A panels. The panels are great for people who can afford a ticket to the con, but cannot afford a VIP pass this is their opportunity to get access to their favorite stars. As I stated before I attended no less than six panels, all were entertaining and gave me new insights on the celebrities being paneled. The one Q&A session that stood out, was the one that I half heartedly attended.
The Edward James Olmos panel blew me away, and a more in depth separate article will be posted on our website about this panel experience. Mr. Olmos was a very charismatic, animated, intelligent man; he answered every question eloquently and fully. He spoke to the panel audience about politics, his Latino experience in Hollywood, and his film career. I have been a fan of his for years, and I have much respect for him because of his leading role in the Battlestar Galactica reboot. I never expected such an authentic discussion, and that was the only reason I didn’t pay much attention too attending that panel. A little advice to the organizers of the Alamo City Comic Con who might read this piece, please invite Mr. Olmos back for next year’s con, he was awesome.
I can see that this event has grown in scope and popularity as a premier comic con destination since its inception. I like some of the changes that have been implemented in this con. There was a major improvement with announcing scheduled events and changes with a free downloadable AP. The layout of exhibition halls were more spread out with regards to the artist tables any observer can see foot traffic moved more steadily than in the past conventions. I thought this made the attendance seem smaller in number as compared to last year but that was only my perception, because of the lack of crowd clutter. To my knowledge attendance records have not been released yet.
I did have one major criticism with regards to the major Q&A panels, and that was the location. In the past two comic cons the major panels were held in the rather large Lila Cockrell Theatre stage. The major panels this year were held in ballroom B, which according to a comic con official had a seating capacity of 1,250 seats. I believe individuals like Stan Lee an American icon deserves the large stage. That same large stage is better suited to accommodate a large ensemble cast of some of our favorite television shows.
I know the reason for this switch was made to accommodate screening films for the Alamo City Film Festival which was running concurrently with the comic con. My humble suggestion is that maybe the film festival could run films everyday all week long, and the weekend the theatre stage can be used for the comic cons major panels. I think that expanding the film festival to run all week long could attract more films and stars to the comic con, as well as utilize the theatre stage for the con.
I enjoyed attending this convention and I look forward to the continual grown of this event. I think that we have much to be proud of here in San Antonio, and this event reflects well on all of us. All the visitors form different parts of country if not the world have gained a better appreciation of what San Antonio is all about, because of an event like our Alamo City Comic Con.
Roxanne is Divine
Roxanne is Divine
By Ramón Hernández
Roxanne hails from Devine. She is a fox and is delightfully divine.
The adjective is also fitting because this young songbird has truthfully and honestly been the recipient of lifesaving divine intervention, but more on that later.
For starters, Henry Balderrama of La Patria is her maternal cousin and his son, Rick, is her second cousin. Therefore, she was born into a musical family.
“Henry lived in Castroville, but I was five and living with my grandmother, Arcilia Balderrama née Guajardo Gonzales in Devine when his entire band would show up for backyard barbeques, set up and perform. And I was always amazed with the sound they created because their style was first, second and third voices. So I was just in awe of their harmonies,” Roxanne said during an interview at the Hispanic Entertainment Archives.
Growing up, she loved to sing as she cleaned her room, but she did so with her door tightly shut; and it was not until Christmas Eve 1989, when her little sisters and cousins put on a show for the family, and as they finished, they pointed to her and said, “It’s your turn.” Then, to entice her, they started pulling out money.
“I chose to sing ‘Crazy’ by Patsy Cline. However, I sang with my back to them because I was that shy. When I finished, everyone was very quiet and I was thinking, ‘say something, do something’ because I didn’t know what to think of their silence. Then they burst out clapping,” Roxanne said of the evening her family found out God had blessed her with a voice.
Highly impressed with her vocals, her mother’s brother, Albert Gonzales, who played bajo sexto with El Conjunto de Beto Sáenz brought her some David Lee Garza tapes and numerous Tejano records; and after listening to them was influenced by Laura Canales.
“He told me that I needed to sing Tejano because it was hot, yet I never imaged myself singing, much less in Spanish,” Roxanne recalled.
Two months later, the then 11-year-old warbler auditioned for and was hired by Brown Image, a country-and-western group founded by the four Gonzales brothers.
Recalling the first time she sang in front of an audience, Roxanne said, “That moment you set foot on stage, you forget all about the entire world because it’s just you, the microphone, the crowd and the vibration of the live music behind you motivating you, giving you the drive and the energy that music brings to you. And I love to dance as I sing. So I’m all over the stage.”
In October 1990 and now 12, she became Roxie T., the lead vocalist for Cariño, a Pearsall, Texas-based Tejano band featuring David Rios, bandleader and drums; Tony Gonzales, accordion; Fernando Ortega, keyboards; Manuel Del Toro, guitar; and Albert Valdez on bass.
“It was complete dedication and good preparation for what was ahead, so I practiced even if I was sick, but I never neglected my studies and still did my homework.”
A year later, when Tejano music was in full bloom, she recorded “Con Permiso Por Favor, “written by her cousin and vocal coach Jesse “Chuy” Flores. Also “La Lamparita,” as a demo for Manny Guerra. It was so good that a week later, Manny asked her mother, Hazel, if he could sign her.
“I always had my books with me and he could see that my education was very important to me. So he thought about it, decided I was too young, that I should finish school because there was still plenty of time for the music.”
In 1992, the now 14-year-old female vocalist joined La Distancia, another Pearsall-based Tejano band. This one featured Rick Chávez, keyboards; Art Rodríguez, guitar; Albert Valdez, bass; and Leo Ortegon on drums.
Next came a six-month stint with Latin Sounds and after this, her fourth band, in late 1994, she decided to form her own group with Tony Gonzales, accordion; Joe Rángel, keyboards; Del Toro, guitar; Moses Garza, Jr., bass; and Ortegon on drums.
By 1995, her band had evolved into Rudy Cortez, accordion; Jessie Martínez, keyboards; Jessie Flores, guitar; Art Hernández and Leonard Esquivel on bass; Javier Villarreal, sax; and Jimmy Edward Treviño, Jr. on drums and Manny released “Descubreme” (“Discover Me”). The single made #1 in Lubbock, where it stayed on the charts nine weeks.
Roxie T and her hit generated a lot of press as the San Antonio Tejano Review and the Corpus Christi Tejano Review wrote rave reviews on the record and full-page articles on who was then, the president of the Business Professionals of America and high school percussionist.
La Prensa de San Antonio’s write up described her voice as sweet and her spirit free … “The moment you hear her sing, the second you see her energetic performance, you’ll agree she’s going to make it big in the Tejano music world.” Then the article ends with “Watch out, because with a wink, a smile, and a song, Roxie will steal your heart.”
In May 1996 and as can be expected, the National Honor Society member graduated from Devine High School with honors. Now she was free to pursue her dreams and goals. The Tejano market was in a slump, but she forged ahead despite fewer venues.
In 2002, the voluptuous singer replaced Missy García as the lead vocalist for La Ralea, which was made up by the former musicians from Cariño and La Distancia – Gonzales, Rángel, Rodríguez, Valdez and Ortegon – in what seemed to be divine intervention.
Then came that inevitable, fatal day on July 31, 2003 when she was jogging and struck down by an F-350.
“A couple that stopped to help the driver look for me found my tennis shoe in the road, but they couldn’t find me. After the police and sheriff’s deputies arrived, they led volunteers on a search party and it took them three hours to find me on the other side of the road. I had landed on a fire ant mound and it served as cushion for my head, but the ants were crawling all over my face and neck. My left leg was broken in three places, I had bled out through my femoral artery and my left arm was pretty bad.
“I was also DOA when they found me. The lady who stopped to help happened to be a nurse and revived me with CPR. Air Life was called, than up in the air, in the helicopter, my heart stopped again and flight nurses revived me again. I was flown to University Hospital where my heart stopped one more time,” Roxanne said.
“After I was revived a third time, a team of doctors decided my body needed to rest and induced me into a coma. After a few days they gave me a blood transfusion and I woke up all by myself.”
When she was released, doctors told her that she would not walk for two to three years and eight months later she proved them wrong by taking her first steps that led to her full recovery.
God had given her the precious gift of life four times. Now he touched and healed her physical ailments. What we do with his gifts is up to us, we just have to keep on praying and never lose hope.
Faced with medical bills, living expenses, other mounting bills and being unable to perform, much less walk, it was time to reassess her priorities and decide how to take care of her earthly problems.
“I’ve always been very spiritual, but when something like this happens, you have to stop to reflect. Every test builds character and I’m a work in progress,” Roxanne said, her words coupled with a sweet smile and a mesmerizing gaze.
“I got home and immediately started researching nursing schools and determined I could become an LVN in one year as opposed to going for RN, which requires three to four years of studies. In winter of 2006, I passed the boards, was certificated and went to work for Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a civilian nurse for STDC (the South Texas Detention Complex).
“After I became an LVN, it was not a question of never singing again. It was going to get done.”
Fate stepped in 2010 when Randy Caballero included Roxanne in two recordings in the movie soundtrack of “In Search of the American Dream.” She sang “Bello Amor” with actor-scriptwriter-director Baldemar Rodríguez plus co-wrote and sang “What It Takes” in duet with Hugo Guerrero.
The following year she rejoined La Ralea with whom Roxanne stayed until 2012. Then the band started to record, but the project never came to fruition, so in September 2013 she decided to take action and entered Gilbert Velásquez’s studio. The curvaceous songbird performed a couple of her new tunes at the 2014 Tejano Music Convention in Las Vegas and her compact disc, which was released on J-Rod Records, was released last October. A month later, she sang alongside Rubén Ramos and David Marez during the grand finale at the Tejano Music Awards.
Not one to procrastinate, she formed her own band with Marcelo Gauna on accordion; Chris Guerrero, keyboards; Jimmy Castillo, guitar; Red Balderrama, bass; and Joe Posada, Jr. on drums; immediately after the awards show.
“Siete Dias,” the first single off this singer-songwriter’s “Desperté Soñando” CD is presently on KXTN’s playlist and now she is promoting “No Te Voy a Rogar” all over Texas and the rest of the United States.
This writer’s personal picks are her heartfelt renditions of Henry and Ricky Balderrama’s “Perdonarte No Puedo” and the poignant “Lo Que Me Lastimaste,” her own composition.
“Today I look at myself in the mirror and I think that God was good to me. I love what I do and my hope is to go as far as I can go, to go above the bar because what I bring to Tejano music is that I sing each song as it has been lived. That’s why I picked tunes that I could relate to for the album, because I want every song to be believable to my audience. I want to make them feel the hurt, the happiness or the passion in every word that comes out of my mouth.
For an insight into Roxanne’s psyche and credo, one must read the inspiring liner notes in her CD which began with “All honor and glory belong to our heavenly Father … for always being there and shinning a path to this unbelievable place … This project began in a dream and He did the rest.”
“I’ve lived all kinds of different situations and circumstances; and because I’m a survivor, I want to incorporate my nursing and visit hospitals and help people. In fact, I’m starting a health blog on YouTube. It’s called Cardio Cumbia and Wellness combining activity and diet,” the thirty-something starlet added.
Roxanne has had her share of discouraging setbacks, but thanks to God, has conquered countless difficulties and obstacles, therefore we at StreetTalk & River City Attractions know that with her tenacity, determination, and perseverance, Roxanne is going to achieve the stardom she deserves.
So there’s much more to Roxanne, but only a few inches of newspaper space to share so much more, as the fact that in spite of her youth, she has a son, Daniel, who plays guitar, has a pretty good vocal tone and will most likely follow his mother’s footsteps.
If you’ve never seen her in action, Roxanne will be performing at the First Annual Hunter’s Festival Friday in Pearsall, Texas on Friday, September 18.
For bookings, contact Hernando “Spiderman” Abilez at (210) 772-1271. You can also e-mail him at dj_spyder2002@yahoo.com.
Cruising with Sunny
Cruising with Sunny
Story and photo by: Ramón Hernández
Remember the mid-1970s when la palomia started cruising in downtown San Antonio in their lowriders and other vehicles with their speakers blaring out Sunny and the Sunglows/Sunliners hits being played from their “8 Track” & cassette decks. “Back then there wasn’t ITunes, mp3’s, Cds”. With a cassette deck we created something that should have been called “MY TUNE”s !
The same was happening from El Paso to Odessa to Corpus Christi, only the name of main drag changed, but the music was the same – “Talk to Me,” “Put Me in Jail,” “Runaway,” “Smile Now, Cry Later,” and other great lowriding rolas.
Now Sunny Ozuna is taking his fans on a different cruising scene — on a Carnival ship that sails from Galveston on Saturday, January 9 and returns on Saturday, January 16.
“This will be my first cruise, so I’m excited, especially about the places that we’re going to see,” the Grammy Award winner said during an interview at his Northeast San Antonio home.
The Caribbean Sea port calls for this cruise are the Mahogany Bay silky sand beaches and diamond-clear seas in Isla Rotan; Honduras; Belize, a former British colony on the eastern coast of Central America; and Cozumel, off the eastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
“We (Sunny and his wife, Janie) were just in Las Vegas and for the first time caught a couple of burlesque shows and I understand the ship features some Vegas-style shows, so we also look forward to seeing those at sea.
During this cruise, Sunny and every artist will be backed up by Calle Seis, the official Tejano Cruise band. Jimmy Edward had nothing but great things to say about his experience, solo que con mas ganas quiero hir (that’s all the more reason I look forward to going).
Another piece of good news is that this Tejano music hall of fame inductee is already in the studio working on his next album and hopefully it will be out in time to buy it as a Christmas present.
Remember when he would release an English album followed by a Spanish album and vice versa; and when he had various titles? i.e. “Little Brown Eyed Soul,” “El Monito de Chocolate,” “The Versatile …,” “El Charro Chaparro,” Young, Gifted and Brown,” “El Internacional,” “El Preferido,” and “El Orgullo de Texas.” Well, this one is titled “El Cancioncero” for his own Keylock record label.
“Es todo (It’s all) Mexicano and a little mariachi, like ‘No Te Vayas Palomita,’ which I originally wrote for Jimmy Edward. Joe Revelez did all the initial tracks on this variation of mariachi, conjunto and Tejano. Then there’s a great beer drinking song titled “’Botella Maldita.’ That means it will have horns with a little bit of accordion,” Sunny explained.
“It certainly has to have actual instruments because electronic generated sounds can never replace what a human musician can produce with has fingers. So when people hear, as an example, ‘Los Chismes,’ which I also wrote, they will go, wow!
“While I prefer the human touch, I want to go into a different level with some of the instruments. So the flutes and some voices will be duplicated electronically for a different upbeat effect that again, will have listeners going, wow. How was that sound created?”
This should whet your appetite on this production. As for the “Gira de Las Leyendas 2015” with Freddie Martínez, Augustine Ramírez, Carlos Guzmán and Joe Bravo, if you or any of your friends missed any of their shows in Texas, they will close out the year with a New Year’s Eve Dance at Casino del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.
The legends would also love to perform in your state, and/or area. All you have to do is to call Freddie at (361) 992-8411 or Sunny at (210) 653-4802.
In closing, don’t forget that you can get up close and personal with Sunny at the meet-and-greets, the question-and-answer sessions, photo ops, autograph parties, and after each performance during the Carnival Tejano Legends seven (7) day cruise, hosted by two-time Grammy Award winner, Raulito Navaira.
Other Tejano artists slated to perform during this cruise are Grammy Award winners, Rubén Ramos, Hugo Guerrero, Ricardo Castillón, Chente Barrera and Jess López; Latin Grammy Award winning Joe Posada, Grammy Award nominee Jonny Martinez, Latin Grammy Award nominee David Marez plus Anselmo Martínez, Patsy Torres, Joe Jama, René and Jessy Serrata, Chris Rivera, Nikki López and Crystal Caballero.
For more information, go to www.cruiseconnectionlive.com, call (512) 375-5711 or email media@cruiseconnectionlive.com.