Latin America

Ask a Mexican: What's up with Mexicans and boogers?

Ask a Mexican: Why do Mexicans call people with curly hair chinos?

Changes at Daily RFT

Just an FYI to our regular readers. Today is Nicholas Phillips last day manning the Riverfront Times news blog. But don't despair. Phillips still plans to write for us on occasion until he leaves St. Louis this spring to pursue a career as a freelance writer in Latin America. You read that right. ... More >>

Ask a Mexican: Why do Mexicans boycott Columbus Day?

Ask a Mexican: Why do Mexicans love "Crystal Blue Persuasion" so much?

The Latin Sound of Missouri's David Wax Museum: Jarana Jarochas, Quijadas y Mas

For as stiff and coy as the band's name may be, the David Wax Museum's hybrid of indie pop, folk and folkloric music flares with smart sonic ideas and timeless and in-the-moment images. Born and raised in Columbia, Missouri, Wax (that is his last name) still has family in University City and still h ... More >>

Ask a Mexican: Why do Chicano Studies professors always wear guayaberas?

Witness a Banging Birthday

St. Louis Aerotropolis Partner Arrested for Child Porn

kveo.comRobert Hedrick was denied bail, so maybe he still has available that $50 million for St. Louis Aerotropolis.​Wow. Rough couple weeks for St. Louis officials hoping to turn Lambert Field into a major cargo hub with China and Latin America. First, industry experts assail the project (Exhibit ... More >>

Vargas Llosa Wins St. Louis Literary Award

image via​It's really hard to top a Nobel Prize, but once you've won that, what else are you going to do? Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian novelist who won the big prize last year, has elected to keep on collecting awards, notably the St. Louis Literary Award, presented by the Saint Louis Univ ... More >>

Tilapia: You Can't Spell Bland Without Bad

Image via​Historical Curiosity Update: (Monday, May 2, 3:30 p.m.) This article was slated to be on the front page of today's New York Times until the death of Osama Bin Laden caused someone to -- literally! -- shout, "Stop the presses!"(h/t: Gizmodo)---And here I thought the problem with tilapia i ... More >>

Ask a Mexican: Very Superstitous: Why do Hispanics believe in ghosts?

Danielle Nierenberg: Former Resident of Defiance Reports on State of the World from Africa

image viaDanielle Nierenberg in Arusha, Tanzania.​Danielle Nierenberg, a former resident of Defiance, Missouri, now a project manager at the Worldwatch Institute, a think tank in Washington, DC, spent the past year and a half traveling through sub-Saharan Africa as part of a project called Nou ... More >>

New Release Highlights for October 19: Bob Dylan Releases The Witmark Demos and The Original Mono Recordings

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below.) Bob Dylan's The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964​*Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 Guardian said of the Witmark Demos: "The latest Christm ... More >>

Peruvian Band Highlights Hispanic Celebration Tomorrow at Ethical Society

www.incason.comLove the pan flute? Get your fill today and tomorrow.​ATLA -- Arts and Treasures of Latin America -- is celebrating its thirteenth year of hosting programs and cultural events in St. Louis with a performance tomorrow at the Ethical Society.Thursday's concert, featuring music by the ... More >>

Review Setlist Photos: Vampire Weekend, The Very Best and Beach House at Chaifetz Arena

Jason StoffVampire Weekend performing at the at Chaifetz Arena.​Click here for a full set of photos from the show.It's extremely difficult to write about a band that does everything right, as Vampire Weekend did last night at Chaifetz Arena. Even the band's ghastly novelty songs about punctuation ... More >>

JoBros a No-Go for St. Louis

​Boy, it's a bad day for fans of pop music in St. Louis: The August 6 Jonas Brothers show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater is canceled. Says a press release: Jonas Brothers released today an all-new world tour schedule that now includes additional shows in both Latin America and Europe. ... More >>

One Night Only! Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth Come to a Movie Theater Near You

Todd OwyoungJames Hetfield in St. Louis in 2008. More photos here.​Tickets are on sale now for what's being dubbed The Big Four Live -- a.k.a. the June 22 movie-theater simulcast of the Sonisphere Festival appearances of thrash legends Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. (Now I can't stop ... More >>

The Royale Takes a Respite for Spring Cleaning

From the Royale Facebook page.They're taking hammers to floor of the Royale, which will be closed until Wednesday.​Got a hankering for a Kingshighway, Juniata, or Sub-Continental? You're going to have to wait until Wednesday. The Royale's closed today and tomorrow for spring maintenance. Accor ... More >>

Ask a Mexican: English as a Second Language: The rest of the world knows English; are a few signs for Mexicans too much to ask?

Anheuser-Busch Sends 350,000 Cans of Water To Haiti.

Image via Flickr​No, it's not actually Bud Light.As the brewer has done in the past when there's been a natural disaster and clean water is hard to come by, they ship in drinking water in what looks like plain white beer cans. As memory serves, last time they did this was after Hurricane Katrina.T ... More >>

Java Enabled: Lo Mejor de Monserrate

Lo Mejor de Monserrate. It means, "the best of Monserrate." This perhaps presumptuous claim is the name of a tiny cooperative nestled high in the mountains of Colombia's Huila coffee region. Last month Tyler Zimmer and Mike Marquard of Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company visited Monserrate. This was a r ... More >>

The View from Above

Croatian Sensation

Ana Vidovic's six-string thing

Labor Pains: St. Louis landscapers worry they'll be short Mexican workers to mow lawns and bag leaves

Necaxa defeats C.D. Honduras in Amateur St. Louis Soccer Championship

Peru and You

It's time to bond

Ask a Mexican: "La Raza": Explaining this term's a marathon, not a sprint

League of Nations: Immigrant soccer players from across the globe go balls out at a tiny park in north St. Louis

The Cards aren't likely to challenge for the pennant this year. In a way, that'll make them all the more interesting to watch.

The end of "Mamalogues" brings on many RFT blog monologues

Petur Ben at the Schlafly Tap Room, Tim Rakel and David Rovics at Black Bear Bakery

Special Día de los Muertos Edition

Don't let not a little thing like not being Mexican stop you from buying those sugar skulls!

A Mathews-Dickey coach does all he can to take black kids out to the ballgame.

African-American ballplayers are getting rarer than a triple play.

The Mexican Sandwich: The best sexual harassment you'll ever experience.

Week of December 14, 2006

World Beat

Naked Chef

(But still wearing clothes, alas)

South of the Border

Just west of the Mississippi

International Funtastical

Tower Grove celebrates

Letter Perfect

We analyze Billy Corgan's catalog, count our Ps and Qs with They Might Be Giants and remember Joe Strummer's humble beginnings

Second City in the River City

Still funny after 45 years

The Best Movies of the Year

We've picked our favorites -- let the debates begin

Jazz Hands

Nineteen "monsters" of music come together in the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra

Tom Russell

Thursday, March 25; Off Broadway

Kung Fu'd

Or, what does Miramax have against Asian films?

Film Openings

Week of May 14, 2003

Children of a Lesser State

A contractual snafu keeps kids from their foster and adoptive parents

Best Film Series

Webster University

Fiesta, Then Siesta

Ay caramba! Union Station's Latin American Festival promises fun, food and frenzied footwork

The Tragic Christian

Father James Carney left St. Louis to work with the poor in Honduras, putting him at odds with both church and state. Fifteen years after his mysterious death, a new CIA report raises more questions than answers.