Border Blogs: Expressing our Border Culture

It's my favorite time of the year. Time for Sun Bowl videos. I hope you enjoy these. Let me know what you liked or didn't. And, don't worry, Leonard will have video of the Y.M.C.A. dance later today.

First up, here's this year's version of Sun Bowl Burning Questions, filmed the morning of the game around the Sun Bowl:

And here is the video from the Sun Bowl Fan Fiesta on Tuesday night:

Sito Negron is in Texas Monthly (Congratulations, Sito!) comparing Juarez to Baghdad.  

My own paper has betrayed me by telling tourists to stay away from Juarez.

But, to update you anyway, the Uno Sportsbook in Juarez was hopping on Saturday. There used to be two Unos, but now there is only uno Uno, and it gets packed. I've never seen a Juarez sportsbook so busy. My friend and I couldn't even find a seat for a while. Makes for a good party atmosphere.

If you are looking for a more quiet atmosphere, the Caliente Sportsbook about five blocks down is much less popular for some reason. Maybe people are afraid to make the walk. So, there's your sportsbook update.

But speaking of walk, here's a video walking tour of Juarez I produced for the brave.

Among the hundreds of P.R. news release I get each day, there were two today I thought might be of interest to some of you.

First up, the FBI has created a code for all you amateur cryptanalysts to attempt to break. Just tell the boss you are working on the budget.

And another e-mail sent me these New Year's Eve drink recipes. Enjoy.

I just want to give a Merry Christmas shout out to all those working on Christmas.

My wife and I took a lunch break at Village Inn, and we were glad they were open for us. So, thank you Village Inn folks, for working so the rest of us can enjoy Christmas. I noticed Taco Tote and Sonic were open on Mesa, as well. Much love to all of them.

Do you know somebody working on Christmas? Give them a shout out in the comments.

Of course, I'm working, too. And, so, I have all kinds of good stuff for you this Christmas Day. I hope you can check some of it out.

First up, listen to this Sun Bowl preview podcast. John Erfort and Pablo Villa join me as we talk about Pittsburgh's size, Oregon State's injury issues and even where to eat while in El Paso.

Leonard Martinez offers a video look at the nightlife on Cincinnati Street and the expatriates in town to check it out. Watch that video here.

Candi Lopez has an interview with Sheriff Jimmy Apodaca. Watch that video here. And you can read the related story here.

Leonard Martinez comes back at you with an interview with Ernest Raya, the El Paso Times 2008 All-City Football Team MVP. Watch that video here. Or read the related story here.

Christmas Day marked the beginning of a special report, Margaret's story. To follow those stories, videos and photos as the project continues, go to www.elpasotimes.com/margaret.

And, finally, late Christmas night, the Oregon State Beavers football team arrived in El Paso. Watch video of the arrival right here.

Meanwhile, a certain little site that all of you try to tell me is going to replace the Times, they are soooo cool, well, they haven't posted a thing (not one thing!) since Dec. 23.

I'm outworking them all by myself.

UPDATE: It's now the night of the 26th. I've posted another fly video, but I'm still waiting for something, anything, from the supercool site.

Many didn't understand my post below on Christmas spirit was a parody. Hey, I'm a bad comic. But it's also because real-life crazies so quickly venture into self-parody.

Did you see Tuesday's Letters to the Editor? If you missed them, you can catch up here. I read them after I had written my post, but how can any parody compete with Ruben Ochoa, who says, in part:

The politically correct crowd is at it again this Christmas season. The Ysleta Independent School District and El Paso Independent School District have decided to rename Christmas break Winter Break on their school-year calendars.

We have to ask ourselves why they have chosen to insult the great majority of El Pasoans who celebrate Christmas.

The answer to this decision is simply because many of the administrators in these districts are left-leaning liberals who want to erase any mention of Christ and destroy the Judeo-Christian traditions of this country.

It is only a matter of time before they ban the word Christmas in classrooms and punish students and staff for saying "Merry Christmas" on school property.

Insane! Yeah, Ysleta administrators are out to destroy Christianity ... by giving children a winter break! "Why have they chosen to insult" El Paso Christians? You are telling me this isn't parody? That Ruben is REALLY insulted by winter break? OMG LOL.

Why spend Christmas contemplating the birth of your savior, or how you can help others less fortunate, when you can instead spend it being insulted by "winter breaks" and "happy holidays?"

Meanwhile, though the Times saw fit to publish Ruben Ochoa's insane drivel, they wouldn't publish President Bush's farewell letter to the nation. But that's why I'm here. You can read it here.

We've created a video guide to El Paso for tourists coming to the Sun Bowl. I thought my readers might particularly enjoy the Juarez tour video.

You can check out the package by clicking here.

I'm really feeling in the Christmas spirit this year, so I'm going around spreading Christmas joy the only way I know how: By yelling at anybody who dares tell me to have a "Happy Holiday."

One of my sick and disturbed co-workers here at elpasotimes.com finds something lurid in the portrait of first lady Laura Bush unveiled today.

He even goes so far as to write me that it "might be worth a follow up to see if there are people mad about it, like maybe Laura Bush among others."

I think he's insane, but I'll put the question out there anyway. Anybody else (I mean besides Hellraizer. He's as perverted as my co-worker.) see anything wrong with the portrait? 

(Click on the portrait to view it larger.)

Ever walk Downtown?

Go spend an hour trying to find a photo of yourself over at: 109 North Mesa Street.

On Monday, I took my daughter to the $2 theater to watch Igor. (I also made the bad mistake of buying a $1 hot dog at the $2 theater. I'm still paying for that mistake, but that's a different story.)

Anyway, I am often amused by all the wild theories tying together movies and such to the Bush administration. I usually don't see it. But when Igor declares at the end of the movie, after overthrowing the king, "He made us believe we had to become evil to survive. But we don't!" ... I immediately thought, This is about the Bush administration!

And Igor's creation Annie ... who is at first nice, then evil, then nice again ... that had to be a Hillary metaphor.

(And, yes, this may be my dumbest post ever.)

Everyone seems so worried about where the government is going to get all the money for bailouts, rescues and such. Never fear. As long as the government can print money, we can bail out the universe, let alone a few...

I'm going to return to my favorite topic, visiting Juarez, because the topic got some good comments in the previous post.

"Citizen Joe" says he wouldn't visit Juarez, and links to the Mexico Travel Alert from the State Department.

Actually, Citizen Joe, I don't disagree with anything in that travel alert. An important excerpt:

Common-sense precautions, such as visiting only legitimate business and tourist areas, avoiding areas where prostitution and drug dealing might occur, and exercising prudence in where one visits during the evening hours and at night, can help ensure that travel to Mexico is safe and enjoyable.

Exactly. I think tourists and El Pasoans who follow common-sense precautions will find Juarez both "safe and enjoyable."

Maybe when I write about how safe I think it is, you guys think I'm wandering all over without a care in the world. But I ain't a fool. I realize there is some danger, but I take commen-sense precautions to reduce that danger. I haven't been in Juarez at night in many years, for instance. I don't drive. I walk over the Santa Fe Street bridge, then stay in the safe tourist areas on Avenida Juarez and 16 de Septiembre.

Do that, and I think I can safely say you'll avoid trouble.

"Mike" says:

Don't B.S. us, man. Why would you go to Juarez "nearly every week"?

Also, did you see the FRONT PAGE of EPT ONLINE today or what? I thought you were the online editor. An American woman died after being shot in Juarez.

Was she a tourist? I don't know, but she wasn't the first American to die there this year and being caught in the crossfire doesn't sound any more appealing than being targeted.

It cracked me up that Mike has such a wild vision of Juarez that he simply cannot believe I go over nearly every week and survive. But I will admit that I only go "nearly every week" during football season. Me and a copy editor here at the Times meet at one of the three sportsbooks on Avenida Juarez, place our bets, then go have lunch somewhere. It's always enjoyable and I've never caught even a whiff of danger.

Juarez is a city of 1.5 million, and life goes on. People don't spend their days cowering in their homes.

The story Mike is referring to is this strange one where the identity of the woman is still in question. But, originally, she was thought to be the third U.S. citizen to be shot in Juarez this year.

I don't see how that stat freaks so many people out. None of the three were in tourist areas when they were shot. And do you know how many U.S. citizens have been killed on El Paso's highways and streets this year? There have been 56 traffic fatalities as of last week in El Paso. Yet, somehow you Chicken Littles still find a way to get behind the wheel and drive to work, right?

Tillzen says,

Jay, Let's be honest, I see a video camera and then I see YOU, I think "Geico Commercial."

I don't even know how to respond to that one.

I'll try to be back later today with a real post, probably about why I feel safe in Juarez, but for now, I wanted to make sure none of you were missing all the drama with Paul De La Pena, executive director of the Voter Education Project.

I have no dog in this hunt (I mainly say that because I'm lazy and don't want to Paul calling me to complain), but here's all the good reading.

Part one, from The LionStar: The Paul De La Pena I Know & That You Should Be Aware Of.

Part two, from The LionStar: Open Letter to Paul De La Pena.

Part three, from The LionStar: Frank Lopez, Community Leader and a Stand-Up Guy.

Part four, from Refuse the Juice: I Told You He Was a Loser!

One other thing

Also, if you are really desperate to read more of my wisdom, I've done a few posts over at Turn Up the Orange.

Paul Buker from Behind the Beavers blog fame is now trying to chill out a little bit about his distaste for El Paso. (A hat tip to Leonard Martinez and The Wiz of Odds for keeping me up-to-date on El Paso-hater news)

First he talks to John Folmer of the Sun Bowl in this post. A quick excerpt:

As we have said, vociferously, in a previous post, the idea of an Oregon State-Notre Dame matchup turns our stomach.

Folmer puts it this way ... "Everybody in the world wants Notre Dame, even at 6-6. ... I don't know what the problem is. Yeah, I do still think they're an attractive team. Are you kidding me? Notre Dame is Notre Dame. We've played (this game) for 75 years and we've never had Notre Dame. So you've got to consider them, just because of who they are.''

When I said, "yes, John, but they're TERRIBLE,'' he blew right by that statement, indicating that everything else Notre Dame brings - millions of alumni, national attention, etc., etc. - overshadows the fact it might not be the most worthy opponent for a team like OSU.

And then today, in a post titled, Acceptance is a good thing ... let's start getting juiced about El Paso, he had this to say:

This morning, I learned the temperature in El Paso was 72 degrees and it was partly cloudy in the city that boasts more days of sunshine than Eugene and Corvallis and Desolation Row (my area) combined. ... hey, and it was only 67 degrees at 9 a.m. in Beverly Hills.

During your stay in the area, as you FAITHFULLY follow your Oregon State Beavers, be mindful that crossing the border into Juarez would be like jogging through the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan in a USA T-shirt. It would not be a good idea. It would be extremely dangerous. Unless you are packing Plaxico-type heat (and lots of it), AVOID MEXICO.

To that, I'll just point out that, although a lot of people think I'm crazy, I still visit Juarez nearly every week. There hasn't been a tourist yet caught up in the violence over there. If there had been, the Chicken Littles would be all over this blog telling me about it.

In fact, I recently shot and edited a video for a Juarez walking tour that elpasotimes.com will launch for Sun Bowl tourists as game day gets nearer. So, even walking around the streets of Juarez with a video camera proved safe for me.

I'm going to e-mail Paul Buker and offer him my walking tour of Juarez while he's in town. Maybe a tour of El Paso, as well. So, give me some advice. What are the sites I should show him in El Paso?

It's that time of year again. The time of year when sportswriters who may have to visit the Sun Bowl start ripping on El Paso.

This time it has started with Paul Buker, who covers the Oregon State Beavers for the Oregonian newspaper in Portland.

The latest ESPN Bowl projections have Oregon State playing Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl, and Buker doesn't like it. Late in this blog post about the Oregon-Oregon State game he writes,

I have no rooting interest in this game, except for the fact I'm rooting like hell for the best story possible (you figure that one out). ... and again, if there is a God, he will not make me go back to El Paso.

Now that God has let him down again, Buker had a lot more to say in another blog post. Excerpts:

A grown man, especially a dude in his mid-50s who should know better, has no business driving home in a pout just because his worst nightmare - the Sun Bowl - is once again coming home for the holidays. ... I know I will feel better about this in a few days, but right now El Paso does nothing for me. And lord knows, I would never come back from Juarez. All they would find is my laptop.

I have deliberated on what would constitute enough of a crisis to avoid taking this trip (strangely, there are few volunteers in the office). ... I have to go to rehab? I am a conscientious objector? I don't like El Paso? ... I flat REFUSE to cover this bowl game? (not a good idea, in this economic climate).

And there's even more from Buker today:

No matter the foe on Dec. 31, I don't envy the people trying to sell travel packages to El Paso. ... I mean, seriously, I spent an hour outside the house this morning in gym shorts and a T-shirt, hoping I would catch my death of cold so I could tell the bosses I'm a scratch for this baby.

Don't like all that. Here's some info for you: Paul Buker, 503-221-8167; paulbuker@news.oregonian.com.

My thoughts? Hey, I lived in Oregon for nearly four years. And I don't plan on moving back anytime soon. I much prefer El Paso.

BUT, I'll admit, living in El Paso is different than vacationing in El Paso. I think El Paso is one of the best cities in the nation to live in. But vacation? Yeah, I can see the dude's point there, I reckon.

A New Jersey Star-Ledger columnist has called KVIA's Darren Hunt "clueless or just plain lazy."

Although he's mainly mad at Sun Bowl Chairman John Folmer for dissing the Big East. To read the full column, click here.

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