Longtime RGV newscaster Darrell Davis uploaded some dainty 1982 KVEO 23 TV-Promos that are making me nostalgic for a time period in which I wasn't even born yet. The first set of promos has a breakdown on the KVEO programming schedule and of the different news personalities. One of the vignettes that caught my eye was a locally produced series called "Valley Magazine". If some footage exists of that it would be great to see some more vintage Valley footage. Also, the novela highlighted here looks so deliciously tacky.
Now, here's the opening intro and closing video of the KVEO News 23 program. The 1980s aesthetic is way too charming. I love the sounds of the closing bit, it brings back memories of Atari 3600.
When I was a young lad, I loved visiting Moreno's Feed & Pet Store in Pharr, TX. I was filled with so much joy when I looked over the ducks and all the various animals there. But the back of the store, that was a different albeit more Fellini-esque story. To enter the back area you had to pay an admission fee, as it was a genuine state of the art "freak zoo". This sideshow was heaven if you wanted to see gigantic snakes, 3 or 4 legged chickens, weird memorabilia, cows with two heads, and tiny adult animals. You have no idea how much I loved these incredibly bizzare and unusual animals when I was a kid. Seriously, as a Pharr kid, I would have done anything to be able to own one of these awesome animals as a pet. Lately, I've started thinking of this forgotten place, and I was wondering if I could find any information about this wonderful sideshow attraction. So when I found out some informartion, I was surprised that the information I found was on corridos and accordion icon Ramon Ayala's wikipedia:
In 1990, Ramon Ayala wrote and recorded "Cumbia del Zoologico" (15 Cumbias Legendarias Album), a song about Danny Moreno's mini zoo and museum in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, which sold over 1 million copies. "Doctor" Danny (his show name) exhibited over 75 freak-mutant animals including "two pigs with human-like heads," hundreds of hard-hitting collectibles and memorabilia including: two Elvis Presley jackets, Mother Teresa hair locks, and meteorites from the moon. Autographs include: Pope Paul II, M. L. King Jr., etc., all with certificates of authenticity. On major TV shows, Danny wrestled seven giant snakes exhibited in the mini zoo. (his "Cage of Death" dare devil stunt act). Ayala mentored Danny for years about promotion, networking and show business. The young student and apprentice "Doctor," Danny and Ayala were featured on Good Morning America, Ripley's "Believe It Or Not," Ocurio Asi, Hola America, tabloids, La Alarma, in over 300 newspapers, radio shows, etc. Ayala had the vision to promote the museum to international status which turned into a total "media frenzy" and "media circus" that converted the museum into the most jaw-dropping "phenomena" and "legend" to ever hit the Valley. "Doctor" Danny operated a five-star feed and pet store next to the museum, and was the original "exotic animal health care consultant" for Ayala's private famous ranch, "Rinconcito En El Cielo." Tejano Superstar Selena initially consulted Danny with fashion ideas for his "freaked out" wardrobe. Over 550,000 visitors toured the museum in the nine years it was open, Due To Ayala's Cumbia About The Museum.
Now I'm flabbergasted, how could no one have told me that Ramon Ayala had created a song about Pharr's Moreno's Feed & Pet Store?!?!? Also, yes, this song is fantastic! Ramon Ayala captures the true essence of what it was like to be at the sideshow freak zoo inside Moreno's Feed & Pet Store. Ayala does have some really over the top exaggerations, but he could pull it off because he's the grand Rey del Acordeon. Also, I never knew Danny Moreno wrestled the gigantic snake, that must have been so epic. Here's the amusing song for all of you to enjoy:
A gentleman with the username videostejano uploaded some really wonderful videos on his YouTube account. These videos have such a unique place in South Texas history, he's doing a great service to us all by providing these videos of major acts on the classic Johnny Canales show. I've only watched a few videos so far, but I've looked over his uploads library, and I'm so excited to go over each one. I found his account by stumbling upon this video of San Benito's own Freddy Fender and the legendary Valerio Longoria.
Valerio Longoria is an incredibly influential musician, he first picked up the accordion at the age of 7 years old here in the Rio Grande Valley. Valerio often gets credited for being the first musician that combined lyrics to Conjunto and accordion music. When he was a teenager, Longoria was known for playing his unique sound at weddings in the Valley, specifically in Harlingen, TX. Little Joe Hernandez remarked in the great documentary "Songs of the Homeland" (which airs on PBS every once in a while) how one of the noteworthy things Valerio did was to incorporate a drum set into Conjunto music in late 1940s. So enjoy seeing a couple of South Texas legends on The Johnny Canales Show.
Way before we had South Texas Fighting Championship putting on very entertaining Mixed Martial Arts events, the Valley was host to a couple of shows put on by ES - Extreme Shootout. The shows had a few names that would be familiar to longtime fans like Shannon Ritch and Aaron Riley, but I thought I should bring attention to the most accomplished fighter that fought for this promotion here in the Valley. Yves Edwards was at one point a world class fighter, who is revered for unleashing some of the most spectacular KO's in both the UFC and EliteXC. Also, unique circumstances led Edwards to being hailed as the uncrowned UFC world lightweight champion.
At UFC 41 (2/28/03), we had BJ Penn vs Caol Uno in the finals to a lightweight tournament that was set to crown the new UFC lightweight champion. But since the fight was ruled a draw, the title continued to be vacant and the idea of crowning a champion was scrapped for a few years. During this title-less time period, Penn moved up to welterweight, and after winning the title there in a shocking upset over Hughes, he left the promotion for K-1. Uno, after getting KO'd by Hermes Franca at UFC 44, left the promotion to compete in Shooto and K-1. So when all this was going on, Yves Edwards bounced back from his first two UFC loses (Serra and Uno), and started building an impressive string of victories in the octagon. Yves scored strong wins over Nick Agallar, Hermes Franca (who was fresh off knocking out Uno), and Josh Thomson. At the end of 2004, Edwards' was the #1 lightweight in the UFC and the uncrowned UFC lightweight champion.
But this was years before he could claim to be the top lightweight in the top mixed martial arts organization in the world. This is at the Villareal Convention Center in McAllen, TX, and he's fighting Anthony Holiday, a fighter whose only two professional fights took place in McAllen. It's not much of a fight, it's Yves Edwards displaying his beautifully violent knees from the clinch and destroying Holiday in bloody fashion. This is also interesting to see just to witness how much MMA has grown from what it was in the 1990s to now. These two guys were fighting with no gloves on AND after the fight, the ring announcer is asking if there is a medic in the house to take care of some of the injuries the fighters had sustained. Also, keep a sharp look out to see who happens to be the referee for this fight. Here's a clue, he's a Hall of Fame-level fighter that ruled the light-heavyweight division from 2000-2003...
Yves Edwards vs Anthony Holiday (ES - 6/25/99)
This guys whole YouTube account is worth checking out, but I'm still puzzled as to how this France native got a hold of McAllen MMA? Also it's worth noting that tomorrow night in Austin, TX, Yves Edwards is finally making his return back to the UFC after a lengthy four year absence.
It's still early in 2010, but one of the most amusing rivalries of the year is the Rave Scene vs KRGV Channel 5, which should win Feud of the Year for 2010. The anticipation was building quite strongly and a buzz was in the air when this promo started airing on KRGV Channel 5. 18 and 19 year old kids that would never dare keep up with the local news were all calling each other on the phone to make sure they would at least see this news program.
The great Will Ripley released this statement on his twitter:
"Been getting some hate mail and threats about the Raves and Ecstasy investigation. It airs tonight at 10."
Dos', the promoter of the raves in question, knowing how terrible he looked in the upcoming Channel 5 News report, announced this statement on YouTube:
Then the video that got everyone all heated up, from parents worried about their kids to kids feelings that their scene was being morally judged, aired on February 4th, 2010 at the 10:00 PM newscast, and it made a shocking announcement that there is a connection between RAVES and DRUGS!?!?! Ok, I'm sure anyone that has even the most limited knowledge of raves would be aware that there is a connection with ecstasy and raves. But apparently, this was the worst thing in the world cause the scene thought they were being unfairly picked on and how dare they criticize something that involves electronic music.
Dos: "You know what dude, to tell you the truth....can I talk to you myself. I really, really don't fucking appreciate you guys coming out here, its fucking offensive. This is the only way we could expose eletronic music to the masses here in the Valley, so...we're trying to do our part."
Will Ripley: "So do you think the drug stuff is just an unfortunate side effect for that."
Dos: "Why the fuck do you keep bringing that up?"
Seeing Dos' react so immaturely in that Channel 5 newsreport, makes me wonder, who wrote his "official statement" for him on his little YouTube announcement. Seriously, he reacted worse than when Vince McMahon was being interviewed by Armen Keteyian on HBO Real Sports. The rave scene was up in arms, furious over Channel 5 questioning their lifestyle, and it was pretty hilarious. But now, this has turn from funny to downright lame with this myspace website that was created by a bunch of thin skinned ravers:
http://www.myspace.com/fukkkchannel5
Maybe Dos', his followers, and the rave scene should follow the advice on Dos' t-shirt in his official YouTube response, "Don't get emo". Seriously, the people that are so deeply hurt about Channel 5 reporting on them should stop playing the victim, it's pretty embarrassing. I heard Will Ripley got a promotion based on this, good for him.
This is amusing, Channel 4 reports on a local faith healer and his tales of exorcisms. Highlights include footage of "exorcisms", and footage of The Exorcist intercut between interviews:
I'm on the search for more information about this, but this is all I got now. This was a church in the late 1980s in Pharr, TX that caused major hysteria in the town and freaked out an alarming amount of parents. One of their major fears was that their child was somehow going to be harmed by this church in some sort of ritualistic ceremony of sorts. I've heard conflicting reports about the nature of this church, some swearing it was a Satanic church while others positive it was a Christian church that was mistaken for a Satanic church due to its name. Jenny Martinez from the local KRGV Channel 5 did a report on the Church of Fire around the the time of this infamous public outcry, and had her house burglarized shorty after the report had aired. Some conspiracy theorists would like to make the claim that the Church of Fire was responsible or that they were in some way connected, but to be honest, I'm not the type to make such an assumption. Dr. Shawn Carlson claims that one of the reasons why the people of Pharr panicked about this Church of Fire is that they "began to hear rumors that blond-haired, blue-eyed children were to be ritually murdered" in the Church of Fire. But, that makes no sense and sounds like a falsehood to me. That rumor might work in a northern Texas town, but I doubt Pharr parents would be scared about hearing such a rumor. I think what would scare Pharr parents the most is that "dark-haired, dark eyed children were to be ritually murdered". That sounds more plausible and makes much more sense given the demographic. All kidding aside, they probably just heard that kids were going to be harmed and no racial or physical distinction was made Dr. Shawn Carlson!
Long story short, the town of Pharr was furious, and the Church of Fire ended up being burned down and destroyed forever. From my limited understanding of this story, no one was ever charged with this act of arson.
A very brutal documentary on the Tri-City Bombers and their violent effect on the Rio Grande Valley. I must admit, I always knew las bombitas were pretty bad but I didn't know they were this horrible. I dismiss those complaints that this is going to make South Texas look bad since it's a very fascinating look at modern gang warfare in these bordertowns and the terror they've caused with knives, frying pans, AK-47's, and hand grenades. Any information, whether positive or negative is good information. I did have a few complaints, like they framed the story from Brownsville at the beginning and they didn't mention that they were at one point considered a break dancing crew in the 1980s. Why would they frame it from Brownsville when this story begins in Pharr-San Juan-Alamo? They briefly mentioned the Po' Boys in passing, and I wish they would have gone more into detail with their bloody rivalry. But maybe that's just me since I attended LBJ Middle School and PSJA North High School and I knew students that dreamed of one day being members of either the TCB or the Po' Boys. There was some other assumptions that were made and issues that could be interpreted differently to people that are not from the Valley. Nevertheless, I wasn't aware of a lot of information presented in this documentary, like what led to the creation of rival gang The Chicano Brotherhood, some of the violent local incidents, how far their influence reaches, the ranking system of the gang, and the role of these gangs in Texas Prisons.
Now that I saw this documentary, I'm very interested to search if someone has written a history on this topic. This is an interesting primer to watch but I now think a book about this subject could be incredible and could do a better job telling this story.
