If you haven’t heard of this group, you’ve been living under a rock!
Grupo Fantasma, a group with members from all around Texas (Laredo, El Valle, Houston, Eagle Pass) and whose lead singer is from Nicaragua, has been around for a few years now here in Austin.
They most recently went on a mini-tour with Prince, with the highlight coming in the form of Prince’s band at Super Bowl XLI during the halftime show.
OK. So now to the music. What does it sound like, you ask???
GF would probably tell you that it’s in a genre of its own! They blend all sorts of music together: cumbia, rumba, salsa, and FUNK…pretty much anything that will make you get up and dance!
They recently performed and headlined at Austin’s semi-annual Pecan Street Festival. The cool thing is that their crowds are not just Latino. Maybe it’s just Austin, but I think virtually every shade of human being supports GF!
We were having friends over for dinner, so I recently went to Spec’s to pick up some wine. When I walked in there was a big display (not the fancy kind, the kind the store would put up by stacking a bunch of boxes of wine and posting a small write-up with the price). They were featuring an Argentinian vinyard called Finca El Retiro.
While reading through all the write-ups, one of the Spec’s people came by and started telling me about the wines. He was a huge fan, raving about how there was no better wine at the price-point, going through their various taste profiles, etc.
On his recommendation, I ended up picking up several bottles of malbec, tempranillo and merlot. Some were the regular bottles (in the $8 a bottle range) and some were the reserves (in the $12 per bottle range).
Turns out, the Spec’s guy was right. These wines were amazing. The non-reserves were respectable, but the reserves, especially the tempranillo, were fantastic.
I’m no wine expert. I know what I like and I love to try new bottles. If you’d like to know the specific flavors and smells of these wines, pull up a few of the review sites on The Triple W.
After you do that, if the wine sounds like something you’d like, go buy a few bottles, you won’t regret it.
I’m a new intern at the Mambo; I like to write about random musings that translate into bigger cultural ideas.
The blistering heat that swept across Austin yesterday got me thinking about what I used to do as a kid to combat those hot Texas summers.
When that magical mix of leather and sweat begins to paralyze you to your car seat, you know there’s nothing powerful enough to break that superhuman bond like a snow cone. With a sparkle in his eye, my dad would sing, “Who wants a raspa?!” before veering off the road to our local snow cone stand. Leche canela always trumped other flavors.
Mi abuela had her own concoction to ward off the heat: vanilla ice cream and crushed fresh strawberries topped with sweetened condensed milk. One styrofoam cup of that and it was off to the backyard once again.
My great grandmother didn’t have air conditioning in her lime green house, so she created her own: lo ultimo homemade iced tea. Sorry if you’re drooling.
We’d sit in her tiny kitchen, eat Nacho Cheese Doritos and play a round (or two) of dominoes.
This summer, seek out the cositas that help you beat the heat. Chances are, when you think back, it’ll be the memories that stick out in the forefront. And the heat, just a distant detail in the background.
The Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo are a group of “grandmas” dedicated to making a positive and meaningful impact on their community. This group of non governmental human rights activists have been dedicated to fighting for the promotion of human rights for the past 30 years.
Since 1977, their ultimate goal has been to find the children kidnapped because of the political repression that took place in the Argentine republic during the last military dictatorship.
They fight to return these children to their legitimate families and create conditions to insure that this terrible violation of children’s rights never happens again, seeking punishment all those responsible.When they celebrated their 20th anniversary in 1997, 59 children had recovered their identities and their families.
The abuelas have been recently recognized for their hard work and nominated for the Nobel peace price. You can show your support to their nomination by writing to nobelabuelas@gmail.com and also by sharing their story with friends and family. Visit their website for more on their amazing story story and view their nomination letter.
Better yet, instead of having the Taco Stand outside of the Ultra-Lounge, Nortec has managed to pull that 2-ton piece of steel (carnitas and all) up the stairs and right into the middle of the dance floor.
It’s great to hear their new album. Crown Royal partnered with Nacional Records last year and highlighted Nortec Collective as part of a 3-city Texas Tour.
Cup O' Mambo is written and maintained by the folks at Mercury Mambo, a Hispanic Experiential Event Marketing, Sales Promotion and Branding Agency based in Austin, TX.
If you haven’t heard of this group, you’ve been living under a rock!
I’m a new intern at the Mambo; I like to write about random musings that translate into bigger cultural ideas.
