http://www.cubico.com/feeds/main.xml2007-07-16T15:14:25ZCUBICO Media7Daria Vyaersi

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are the epitome of opposites colliding and finding solace within such an occurrence and each other.

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are the epitome of opposites colliding and finding solace within such an occurrence and each other. They are devilishly charming in their basic human characteristics: they have a wealth of adoration, their performances thrive in popular venues and yet they do not appear to be ruffled or fully aware of this extremely flattering notice: They are rock stars without singing a single thing. These two bewitching creatures met in their youth in Mexico City, and their fate was sealed as they both shared a mutual disappointment for the lack of musical growth that was presently available to them. Both were also rejected entrance into the Conservatory in spite of their apparent musical intellectuality. Such hapless situations typically thrust artistic personalities into vigorous creativity and quite often breakthroughs, so a steady collaboration ensued. Rodrigo’s playing has a more subdued texture; you can feel Latin history permeating through the notes as he determinately converts his fretwork into an audible jewel. Gabriela performs with flawless tenacity and you wonder whether you see her hands shaking or if in actuality she is indeed plowing through the composition so effortlessly and with such astounding speed. She has a sincere fondness for heavier music and perhaps it is unwittingly done, but she utilizes her guitar as a percussionist may in a traditionally heavier genre. They can best be described as acoustic arrhythmia, irregular and switching from the singularly gentle and romantic pieces to intensely moodier ones with an apparent tribute to rock and metal. Visually their music sheets may very well resemble M.C. Escher’s steps and pathways in his impossible staircase. Together they enrapture and beautify the sense of sound, and we feel that suddenly we are experiencing the gift of hearing and that it is worthwhile to be cognizant. The atypical history of the duo spells gypsy romance, communing of like-minded beatnik roamers and that utter consistency in life that we think is rare, comprehension of our personal passions. A notable philosopher once stated that man must exist among other man for acknowledgment to exist, and thus the labeling of talent. In most instances, praising reviews (aside from the rare specimen who abhors solely instrumental pieces) and sold out shows prove without hesitation that they are utterly tangible and their skills are sophisticated and milestones above par. In 1999 Rodrigo and Gabriela made a decision for an impromptu tour to Ireland, Denmark and Barcelona. However, their version was stripped of the glitz; they had no label, painfully few resources and a fairly malnourished sum of monetary funds. The couple had no plan, but their loyalty to their music led them down an interesting storyline, not astray and into a joyless ending as one might fear. They appear to embody the reverse reactions that any other individuals may in their given situation. It is also worth mentioning they didn’t speak a lick of the primary languages in any of the given countries they busked at. In 2003 they had been personally requested by Damien Rice to perform as supporting musicians back in savvy Ireland, and after releasing "Re Foc" and "Live Manchester and Dublin" they were thrust into the music industry’s ravenous starry eyes. Respectfully their talents and personal inclinations towards the metal genre and acoustic takes on works by Led Zeppelin, Metallica and even Hendrix, has given them the opportunity to support for groups such as MUSE. While retaining their flagrant genre un-classification their fan base has grown, and though they may shy at the mention, regular appearances on late night show programs has given them a little nickname we like to call celebrity.6Daria Vyaersi

Mars Volta, A New Release

The beginning of what is now The Mars Volta might in itself be difficult to pinpoint, it depends on each individual fan’s perception of when the sound that possesses their heart strings first came along. There was initially Defacto, a small town band in El Paso Texas that relocated to Longbeach California and received notable success after their first 2 releases: How Do You Dub? You Fight for Dub, You Plug Dub In and Megaton Shotblast. The members: Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, and Jeremy Michael Ward, in 2001 Isaiah Ikey Owens became an additional member. They were also members of the well known sensation At the Drive-In, which can be credited with having developed much of their fan base. In time the central players went on to form a new experimental group called Sparta, Eva Gardner joined the project and the members of The Mars Volta were made official. At present there are 8 total members unleashing their gorgeous noise. At the dissolution of At the Drive-in, a fan base was split, either you admired the experimentation or you rejected them for straying towards their newly ambitious direction which is holding fast and further evolving throughout the years. Following the tragic demise of Jeremy Ward, in The Mars Volta’s debut album, De-Loused in the Comatorium, the loss of a sound manipulator becomes most evident. I wary at calling them attempts, but they are, the search to replace one person’s roles in a creative project, but as many fans have pointed out, they fall short. But perhaps also, the turmoil felt by the remaining band members made it’s translation into the album via the disorientation. The synthesized guitar wailing broken by interludes of sedated vocals and melodic juxtaposition are two alternate realities and compel one to choose which side of the road they belong to. Whether their personal taste and perception has them believe they hear lingering remnants of Led Zeppelin or a mash-up of genres that doesn’t quite fly. One begs to ask, how can there be grace while there is a gross lacking of fluidity. But does it matter? That’s the personal distinction, their salvation from the predictable, their perhaps unintended hallmark. Their music is a compilation of unordinary elements, the odd couplings of harsh rock, psychoactive and trippy new-age jazz. The usage of non-screamo instruments such as the saxophone and the occasional peppering of Latin language and rhythm. The obvious point is that it doesn’t sound ugly; they manage to make these possibly catastrophic unions work. This however is a source of delightful amusement for and fuels musicians with its apparent embedding and practice of advanced music theory. Amputechture was released in the fall of 2006, and is the most recent full length album release to date by The Mars Volta. It remains free-form and with no set narrative to lace the tracks together, each is truly existing in it’s own separate world. This habitual practice of album non-format, has given rise for critics to slash the band’s works with accusations of disassembly and musical schizophrenia. It has never been a secret that the group has a tendency to layer their lyrics, song and album titles in abstractions that we are fully aware hold a significant meaning to them, but that may escape the general public. That trait, along with their musicianship, is seeded in their desire to raise the bar in all of their pursuits. They are rebels who can have no comparison since they create new genre inclinations, and hence they are all the more difficult to judge, they are working on the outskirts of the outskirts of the mainstream. They are either dead wrong in their beliefs of what they feel and where they are going, or are simply another brilliance that more of society will be able to comprehend and lust after once they are bygone. At present the band is at work on their 4th album "The Bedlam in Goliath," slated for it’s release in the fall. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is producing it, whilst highly respected and aptly utilized Robert Carranza is mixing it up. There are too many mentionables to mention regarding this groups wild ways. So take it easy, have a listen and be prepared to press repeat to fully soak it all in.5JC MacMillan

Daddy Yankee is a classic example of the rags to riches dream of every struggling artist. Born Raymond Ayala in the barrios of Puerto Rico, his early ambitions had nothing to do with the music industry.

It may be surprising to hear that Latin Grammy Award winning Daddy Yankee was voted one of the top 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine in 2006. Joining the ranks with politician, scientists, entrepreneurs and religious figures, Yankee seems out of place. What has a baby faced, thirty year old reggaeton singer done that merits a top 100 ranking? But when you consider the scope of his influence, you'll realize like many of the elite music moguls, he has his name attached to more than just music. Daddy Yankee is a classic example of the rags to riches dream of every struggling artist. Born Raymond Ayala in the barrios of Puerto Rico, his early ambitions had nothing to do with the music industry. Ayala aspired to play baseball in the major leagues. But, at 16 he caught a stray bullet in his leg and turned to the only other thing he knew. Life in the barrios had given him inspiration for lyrics, and his natural talent of rhythm coupled with exceptional free-styling abilities primed him to become the main contributor in a musical revolution. He partnered up with DJ Playero and began exploring the boundaries of reggaeton. In 1993, Playero featured Ayala on his album Playero 37, and suddenly Daddy Yankee began drawing the attention of music lovers from all genres. Attracted to the force of his delivery, the witty lyrics and the salsa inspired reggaeton beats, even the most timid nightclub goers found themselves on the dance floor. Over the next ten years he was responsible for independently releasing four reggaeton albums: El Cartel de Yankee, El Cartel de Yankee 2, Los Home-runes and ElCangri.com. ElCangri.com would become the best-selling album in Puerto Rico in 2002. A year later it was overtaken by Los Home-runes, and before long Yankee was performing in front of crowds of 12,000. With momentum in his favor, 2004 arrived with unmarked success bringing songs like "King Daddy," "Oye Mi Canto" and club favorite "Gasolina." A few good partnerships with artists N.O.R.E and Nina Sky and suddenly Yankee's stock was recognizable throughout the Americas. Sean "Diddy" Combs approached Yankee to become the face of the newest Sean John collection. Shortly there after, other companies joined suit including PepsiCo International. With a newly marketed image Yankee set out for his first solo tour in August of 2005. Hitting cities like: Los Angeles; Miami; Chicago; New York, and South American cities Bogota and Quito, he set a new precedent as the first reggaeton singer to appear in arena concerts as the headliner. Meanwhile, hit music video "Gasolina" earned a nomination for an MTV Video Music Award. Yankee's success was snowballing, and with the December 2005 release of Barrio Fino En Directo, his first album released under Interscope Records by his label El Cartel Records, began a year that added exponentially to his impressive collection of awards. Barrio Fino En Directo was named "Reggaeton Album" of the Year, and Yankee won the award for "Latin Album Artist of the Year" and "Reggaeton Song of the Year" for "Mayor Que Yo" at the 2006 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Fifteen weeks after its release, Barrio Fino En Directo was certified platinum in the US, a few months later and it was certified double platinum. Other awards include the Silver Torch, a Gold Torch, and the coveted Silver Gull from Chile's Via del Mar International Music Festival. Yankee's star continues to rise, and as one of the most prominent Latino artists he is no longer at the mercy of the industry. But, like many well established singers he has diversified and invested creating a virtual empire attached to the Daddy Yankee name. The DY label now offers complete shoe, clothing and accessory lines. Yankee is also the executive producer and star of Talento de Barrio, a movie set to release late in 2007. Yankee also hosts "Daddy Yankee On Fuego," a syndicated radio show from ABC Radio Networks. But ask Daddy Yankee about his success and like any true musician it always comes back to his passion for people and music. Proudly waving his native Puerto Rican flag, Yankee's commitment to people and his heritage only begins with music. His humanitarian efforts include a successful campaign that brought Puerto Rican schools the support, funding and equipment they needed. Yankee created and continues to dedicate his time to the Corazon Guerrero Foundation, which "serves to help high-risk youths" in Central and South America. Yankee is also in the process of opening an orphanage in Santo Domingo. And, as a member of the Red Cross's celebrity cabinet, he has become a spokesperson for the Red Cross in Hispanic communities.7Daria Vyaersi

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are the epitome of opposites colliding and finding solace within such an occurrence and each other.

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are the epitome of opposites colliding and finding solace within such an occurrence and each other. They are devilishly charming in their basic human characteristics: they have a wealth of adoration, their performances thrive in popular venues and yet they do not appear to be ruffled or fully aware of this extremely flattering notice: They are rock stars without singing a single thing. These two bewitching creatures met in their youth in Mexico City, and their fate was sealed as they both shared a mutual disappointment for the lack of musical growth that was presently available to them. Both were also rejected entrance into the Conservatory in spite of their apparent musical intellectuality. Such hapless situations typically thrust artistic personalities into vigorous creativity and quite often breakthroughs, so a steady collaboration ensued. Rodrigo’s playing has a more subdued texture; you can feel Latin history permeating through the notes as he determinately converts his fretwork into an audible jewel. Gabriela performs with flawless tenacity and you wonder whether you see her hands shaking or if in actuality she is indeed plowing through the composition so effortlessly and with such astounding speed. She has a sincere fondness for heavier music and perhaps it is unwittingly done, but she utilizes her guitar as a percussionist may in a traditionally heavier genre. They can best be described as acoustic arrhythmia, irregular and switching from the singularly gentle and romantic pieces to intensely moodier ones with an apparent tribute to rock and metal. Visually their music sheets may very well resemble M.C. Escher’s steps and pathways in his impossible staircase. Together they enrapture and beautify the sense of sound, and we feel that suddenly we are experiencing the gift of hearing and that it is worthwhile to be cognizant. The atypical history of the duo spells gypsy romance, communing of like-minded beatnik roamers and that utter consistency in life that we think is rare, comprehension of our personal passions. A notable philosopher once stated that man must exist among other man for acknowledgment to exist, and thus the labeling of talent. In most instances, praising reviews (aside from the rare specimen who abhors solely instrumental pieces) and sold out shows prove without hesitation that they are utterly tangible and their skills are sophisticated and milestones above par. In 1999 Rodrigo and Gabriela made a decision for an impromptu tour to Ireland, Denmark and Barcelona. However, their version was stripped of the glitz; they had no label, painfully few resources and a fairly malnourished sum of monetary funds. The couple had no plan, but their loyalty to their music led them down an interesting storyline, not astray and into a joyless ending as one might fear. They appear to embody the reverse reactions that any other individuals may in their given situation. It is also worth mentioning they didn’t speak a lick of the primary languages in any of the given countries they busked at. In 2003 they had been personally requested by Damien Rice to perform as supporting musicians back in savvy Ireland, and after releasing "Re Foc" and "Live Manchester and Dublin" they were thrust into the music industry’s ravenous starry eyes. Respectfully their talents and personal inclinations towards the metal genre and acoustic takes on works by Led Zeppelin, Metallica and even Hendrix, has given them the opportunity to support for groups such as MUSE. While retaining their flagrant genre un-classification their fan base has grown, and though they may shy at the mention, regular appearances on late night show programs has given them a little nickname we like to call celebrity.6Daria Vyaersi

Mars Volta, A New Release

The beginning of what is now The Mars Volta might in itself be difficult to pinpoint, it depends on each individual fan’s perception of when the sound that possesses their heart strings first came along. There was initially Defacto, a small town band in El Paso Texas that relocated to Longbeach California and received notable success after their first 2 releases: How Do You Dub? You Fight for Dub, You Plug Dub In and Megaton Shotblast. The members: Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, and Jeremy Michael Ward, in 2001 Isaiah Ikey Owens became an additional member. They were also members of the well known sensation At the Drive-In, which can be credited with having developed much of their fan base. In time the central players went on to form a new experimental group called Sparta, Eva Gardner joined the project and the members of The Mars Volta were made official. At present there are 8 total members unleashing their gorgeous noise. At the dissolution of At the Drive-in, a fan base was split, either you admired the experimentation or you rejected them for straying towards their newly ambitious direction which is holding fast and further evolving throughout the years. Following the tragic demise of Jeremy Ward, in The Mars Volta’s debut album, De-Loused in the Comatorium, the loss of a sound manipulator becomes most evident. I wary at calling them attempts, but they are, the search to replace one person’s roles in a creative project, but as many fans have pointed out, they fall short. But perhaps also, the turmoil felt by the remaining band members made it’s translation into the album via the disorientation. The synthesized guitar wailing broken by interludes of sedated vocals and melodic juxtaposition are two alternate realities and compel one to choose which side of the road they belong to. Whether their personal taste and perception has them believe they hear lingering remnants of Led Zeppelin or a mash-up of genres that doesn’t quite fly. One begs to ask, how can there be grace while there is a gross lacking of fluidity. But does it matter? That’s the personal distinction, their salvation from the predictable, their perhaps unintended hallmark. Their music is a compilation of unordinary elements, the odd couplings of harsh rock, psychoactive and trippy new-age jazz. The usage of non-screamo instruments such as the saxophone and the occasional peppering of Latin language and rhythm. The obvious point is that it doesn’t sound ugly; they manage to make these possibly catastrophic unions work. This however is a source of delightful amusement for and fuels musicians with its apparent embedding and practice of advanced music theory. Amputechture was released in the fall of 2006, and is the most recent full length album release to date by The Mars Volta. It remains free-form and with no set narrative to lace the tracks together, each is truly existing in it’s own separate world. This habitual practice of album non-format, has given rise for critics to slash the band’s works with accusations of disassembly and musical schizophrenia. It has never been a secret that the group has a tendency to layer their lyrics, song and album titles in abstractions that we are fully aware hold a significant meaning to them, but that may escape the general public. That trait, along with their musicianship, is seeded in their desire to raise the bar in all of their pursuits. They are rebels who can have no comparison since they create new genre inclinations, and hence they are all the more difficult to judge, they are working on the outskirts of the outskirts of the mainstream. They are either dead wrong in their beliefs of what they feel and where they are going, or are simply another brilliance that more of society will be able to comprehend and lust after once they are bygone. At present the band is at work on their 4th album "The Bedlam in Goliath," slated for it’s release in the fall. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is producing it, whilst highly respected and aptly utilized Robert Carranza is mixing it up. There are too many mentionables to mention regarding this groups wild ways. So take it easy, have a listen and be prepared to press repeat to fully soak it all in.5JC MacMillan

Daddy Yankee is a classic example of the rags to riches dream of every struggling artist. Born Raymond Ayala in the barrios of Puerto Rico, his early ambitions had nothing to do with the music industry.

It may be surprising to hear that Latin Grammy Award winning Daddy Yankee was voted one of the top 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine in 2006. Joining the ranks with politician, scientists, entrepreneurs and religious figures, Yankee seems out of place. What has a baby faced, thirty year old reggaeton singer done that merits a top 100 ranking? But when you consider the scope of his influence, you'll realize like many of the elite music moguls, he has his name attached to more than just music. Daddy Yankee is a classic example of the rags to riches dream of every struggling artist. Born Raymond Ayala in the barrios of Puerto Rico, his early ambitions had nothing to do with the music industry. Ayala aspired to play baseball in the major leagues. But, at 16 he caught a stray bullet in his leg and turned to the only other thing he knew. Life in the barrios had given him inspiration for lyrics, and his natural talent of rhythm coupled with exceptional free-styling abilities primed him to become the main contributor in a musical revolution. He partnered up with DJ Playero and began exploring the boundaries of reggaeton. In 1993, Playero featured Ayala on his album Playero 37, and suddenly Daddy Yankee began drawing the attention of music lovers from all genres. Attracted to the force of his delivery, the witty lyrics and the salsa inspired reggaeton beats, even the most timid nightclub goers found themselves on the dance floor. Over the next ten years he was responsible for independently releasing four reggaeton albums: El Cartel de Yankee, El Cartel de Yankee 2, Los Home-runes and ElCangri.com. ElCangri.com would become the best-selling album in Puerto Rico in 2002. A year later it was overtaken by Los Home-runes, and before long Yankee was performing in front of crowds of 12,000. With momentum in his favor, 2004 arrived with unmarked success bringing songs like "King Daddy," "Oye Mi Canto" and club favorite "Gasolina." A few good partnerships with artists N.O.R.E and Nina Sky and suddenly Yankee's stock was recognizable throughout the Americas. Sean "Diddy" Combs approached Yankee to become the face of the newest Sean John collection. Shortly there after, other companies joined suit including PepsiCo International. With a newly marketed image Yankee set out for his first solo tour in August of 2005. Hitting cities like: Los Angeles; Miami; Chicago; New York, and South American cities Bogota and Quito, he set a new precedent as the first reggaeton singer to appear in arena concerts as the headliner. Meanwhile, hit music video "Gasolina" earned a nomination for an MTV Video Music Award. Yankee's success was snowballing, and with the December 2005 release of Barrio Fino En Directo, his first album released under Interscope Records by his label El Cartel Records, began a year that added exponentially to his impressive collection of awards. Barrio Fino En Directo was named "Reggaeton Album" of the Year, and Yankee won the award for "Latin Album Artist of the Year" and "Reggaeton Song of the Year" for "Mayor Que Yo" at the 2006 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Fifteen weeks after its release, Barrio Fino En Directo was certified platinum in the US, a few months later and it was certified double platinum. Other awards include the Silver Torch, a Gold Torch, and the coveted Silver Gull from Chile's Via del Mar International Music Festival. Yankee's star continues to rise, and as one of the most prominent Latino artists he is no longer at the mercy of the industry. But, like many well established singers he has diversified and invested creating a virtual empire attached to the Daddy Yankee name. The DY label now offers complete shoe, clothing and accessory lines. Yankee is also the executive producer and star of Talento de Barrio, a movie set to release late in 2007. Yankee also hosts "Daddy Yankee On Fuego," a syndicated radio show from ABC Radio Networks. But ask Daddy Yankee about his success and like any true musician it always comes back to his passion for people and music. Proudly waving his native Puerto Rican flag, Yankee's commitment to people and his heritage only begins with music. His humanitarian efforts include a successful campaign that brought Puerto Rican schools the support, funding and equipment they needed. Yankee created and continues to dedicate his time to the Corazon Guerrero Foundation, which "serves to help high-risk youths" in Central and South America. Yankee is also in the process of opening an orphanage in Santo Domingo. And, as a member of the Red Cross's celebrity cabinet, he has become a spokesperson for the Red Cross in Hispanic communities.7Daria Vyaersi

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are the epitome of opposites colliding and finding solace within such an occurrence and each other.

Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are the epitome of opposites colliding and finding solace within such an occurrence and each other. They are devilishly charming in their basic human characteristics: they have a wealth of adoration, their performances thrive in popular venues and yet they do not appear to be ruffled or fully aware of this extremely flattering notice: They are rock stars without singing a single thing. These two bewitching creatures met in their youth in Mexico City, and their fate was sealed as they both shared a mutual disappointment for the lack of musical growth that was presently available to them. Both were also rejected entrance into the Conservatory in spite of their apparent musical intellectuality. Such hapless situations typically thrust artistic personalities into vigorous creativity and quite often breakthroughs, so a steady collaboration ensued. Rodrigo’s playing has a more subdued texture; you can feel Latin history permeating through the notes as he determinately converts his fretwork into an audible jewel. Gabriela performs with flawless tenacity and you wonder whether you see her hands shaking or if in actuality she is indeed plowing through the composition so effortlessly and with such astounding speed. She has a sincere fondness for heavier music and perhaps it is unwittingly done, but she utilizes her guitar as a percussionist may in a traditionally heavier genre. They can best be described as acoustic arrhythmia, irregular and switching from the singularly gentle and romantic pieces to intensely moodier ones with an apparent tribute to rock and metal. Visually their music sheets may very well resemble M.C. Escher’s steps and pathways in his impossible staircase. Together they enrapture and beautify the sense of sound, and we feel that suddenly we are experiencing the gift of hearing and that it is worthwhile to be cognizant. The atypical history of the duo spells gypsy romance, communing of like-minded beatnik roamers and that utter consistency in life that we think is rare, comprehension of our personal passions. A notable philosopher once stated that man must exist among other man for acknowledgment to exist, and thus the labeling of talent. In most instances, praising reviews (aside from the rare specimen who abhors solely instrumental pieces) and sold out shows prove without hesitation that they are utterly tangible and their skills are sophisticated and milestones above par. In 1999 Rodrigo and Gabriela made a decision for an impromptu tour to Ireland, Denmark and Barcelona. However, their version was stripped of the glitz; they had no label, painfully few resources and a fairly malnourished sum of monetary funds. The couple had no plan, but their loyalty to their music led them down an interesting storyline, not astray and into a joyless ending as one might fear. They appear to embody the reverse reactions that any other individuals may in their given situation. It is also worth mentioning they didn’t speak a lick of the primary languages in any of the given countries they busked at. In 2003 they had been personally requested by Damien Rice to perform as supporting musicians back in savvy Ireland, and after releasing "Re Foc" and "Live Manchester and Dublin" they were thrust into the music industry’s ravenous starry eyes. Respectfully their talents and personal inclinations towards the metal genre and acoustic takes on works by Led Zeppelin, Metallica and even Hendrix, has given them the opportunity to support for groups such as MUSE. While retaining their flagrant genre un-classification their fan base has grown, and though they may shy at the mention, regular appearances on late night show programs has given them a little nickname we like to call celebrity.6Daria Vyaersi

Mars Volta, A New Release

The beginning of what is now The Mars Volta might in itself be difficult to pinpoint, it depends on each individual fan’s perception of when the sound that possesses their heart strings first came along. There was initially Defacto, a small town band in El Paso Texas that relocated to Longbeach California and received notable success after their first 2 releases: How Do You Dub? You Fight for Dub, You Plug Dub In and Megaton Shotblast. The members: Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, and Jeremy Michael Ward, in 2001 Isaiah Ikey Owens became an additional member. They were also members of the well known sensation At the Drive-In, which can be credited with having developed much of their fan base. In time the central players went on to form a new experimental group called Sparta, Eva Gardner joined the project and the members of The Mars Volta were made official. At present there are 8 total members unleashing their gorgeous noise. At the dissolution of At the Drive-in, a fan base was split, either you admired the experimentation or you rejected them for straying towards their newly ambitious direction which is holding fast and further evolving throughout the years. Following the tragic demise of Jeremy Ward, in The Mars Volta’s debut album, De-Loused in the Comatorium, the loss of a sound manipulator becomes most evident. I wary at calling them attempts, but they are, the search to replace one person’s roles in a creative project, but as many fans have pointed out, they fall short. But perhaps also, the turmoil felt by the remaining band members made it’s translation into the album via the disorientation. The synthesized guitar wailing broken by interludes of sedated vocals and melodic juxtaposition are two alternate realities and compel one to choose which side of the road they belong to. Whether their personal taste and perception has them believe they hear lingering remnants of Led Zeppelin or a mash-up of genres that doesn’t quite fly. One begs to ask, how can there be grace while there is a gross lacking of fluidity. But does it matter? That’s the personal distinction, their salvation from the predictable, their perhaps unintended hallmark. Their music is a compilation of unordinary elements, the odd couplings of harsh rock, psychoactive and trippy new-age jazz. The usage of non-screamo instruments such as the saxophone and the occasional peppering of Latin language and rhythm. The obvious point is that it doesn’t sound ugly; they manage to make these possibly catastrophic unions work. This however is a source of delightful amusement for and fuels musicians with its apparent embedding and practice of advanced music theory. Amputechture was released in the fall of 2006, and is the most recent full length album release to date by The Mars Volta. It remains free-form and with no set narrative to lace the tracks together, each is truly existing in it’s own separate world. This habitual practice of album non-format, has given rise for critics to slash the band’s works with accusations of disassembly and musical schizophrenia. It has never been a secret that the group has a tendency to layer their lyrics, song and album titles in abstractions that we are fully aware hold a significant meaning to them, but that may escape the general public. That trait, along with their musicianship, is seeded in their desire to raise the bar in all of their pursuits. They are rebels who can have no comparison since they create new genre inclinations, and hence they are all the more difficult to judge, they are working on the outskirts of the outskirts of the mainstream. They are either dead wrong in their beliefs of what they feel and where they are going, or are simply another brilliance that more of society will be able to comprehend and lust after once they are bygone. At present the band is at work on their 4th album "The Bedlam in Goliath," slated for it’s release in the fall. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is producing it, whilst highly respected and aptly utilized Robert Carranza is mixing it up. There are too many mentionables to mention regarding this groups wild ways. So take it easy, have a listen and be prepared to press repeat to fully soak it all in.5JC MacMillan

Daddy Yankee is a classic example of the rags to riches dream of every struggling artist. Born Raymond Ayala in the barrios of Puerto Rico, his early ambitions had nothing to do with the music industry.

It may be surprising to hear that Latin Grammy Award winning Daddy Yankee was voted one of the top 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine in 2006. Joining the ranks with politician, scientists, entrepreneurs and religious figures, Yankee seems out of place. What has a baby faced, thirty year old reggaeton singer done that merits a top 100 ranking? But when you consider the scope of his influence, you'll realize like many of the elite music moguls, he has his name attached to more than just music. Daddy Yankee is a classic example of the rags to riches dream of every struggling artist. Born Raymond Ayala in the barrios of Puerto Rico, his early ambitions had nothing to do with the music industry. Ayala aspired to play baseball in the major leagues. But, at 16 he caught a stray bullet in his leg and turned to the only other thing he knew. Life in the barrios had given him inspiration for lyrics, and his natural talent of rhythm coupled with exceptional free-styling abilities primed him to become the main contributor in a musical revolution. He partnered up with DJ Playero and began exploring the boundaries of reggaeton. In 1993, Playero featured Ayala on his album Playero 37, and suddenly Daddy Yankee began drawing the attention of music lovers from all genres. Attracted to the force of his delivery, the witty lyrics and the salsa inspired reggaeton beats, even the most timid nightclub goers found themselves on the dance floor. Over the next ten years he was responsible for independently releasing four reggaeton albums: El Cartel de Yankee, El Cartel de Yankee 2, Los Home-runes and ElCangri.com. ElCangri.com would become the best-selling album in Puerto Rico in 2002. A year later it was overtaken by Los Home-runes, and before long Yankee was performing in front of crowds of 12,000. With momentum in his favor, 2004 arrived with unmarked success bringing songs like "King Daddy," "Oye Mi Canto" and club favorite "Gasolina." A few good partnerships with artists N.O.R.E and Nina Sky and suddenly Yankee's stock was recognizable throughout the Americas. Sean "Diddy" Combs approached Yankee to become the face of the newest Sean John collection. Shortly there after, other companies joined suit including PepsiCo International. With a newly marketed image Yankee set out for his first solo tour in August of 2005. Hitting cities like: Los Angeles; Miami; Chicago; New York, and South American cities Bogota and Quito, he set a new precedent as the first reggaeton singer to appear in arena concerts as the headliner. Meanwhile, hit music video "Gasolina" earned a nomination for an MTV Video Music Award. Yankee's success was snowballing, and with the December 2005 release of Barrio Fino En Directo, his first album released under Interscope Records by his label El Cartel Records, began a year that added exponentially to his impressive collection of awards. Barrio Fino En Directo was named "Reggaeton Album" of the Year, and Yankee won the award for "Latin Album Artist of the Year" and "Reggaeton Song of the Year" for "Mayor Que Yo" at the 2006 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Fifteen weeks after its release, Barrio Fino En Directo was certified platinum in the US, a few months later and it was certified double platinum. Other awards include the Silver Torch, a Gold Torch, and the coveted Silver Gull from Chile's Via del Mar International Music Festival. Yankee's star continues to rise, and as one of the most prominent Latino artists he is no longer at the mercy of the industry. But, like many well established singers he has diversified and invested creating a virtual empire attached to the Daddy Yankee name. The DY label now offers complete shoe, clothing and accessory lines. Yankee is also the executive producer and star of Talento de Barrio, a movie set to release late in 2007. Yankee also hosts "Daddy Yankee On Fuego," a syndicated radio show from ABC Radio Networks. But ask Daddy Yankee about his success and like any true musician it always comes back to his passion for people and music. Proudly waving his native Puerto Rican flag, Yankee's commitment to people and his heritage only begins with music. His humanitarian efforts include a successful campaign that brought Puerto Rican schools the support, funding and equipment they needed. Yankee created and continues to dedicate his time to the Corazon Guerrero Foundation, which "serves to help high-risk youths" in Central and South America. Yankee is also in the process of opening an orphanage in Santo Domingo. And, as a member of the Red Cross's celebrity cabinet, he has become a spokesperson for the Red Cross in Hispanic communities.4Francisco "Pretzel" Garcia

Trevelen Rabanal saddles his latest creation, a growling and graceful beauty-piece built of copper, silver, iron, and nickel he’s christened Crazy Horse.

The highway road seems to have no end when stretched across the length of the red earthen canvas that makes up much of the great southwest desert lands. It’s the only strip of pavement around for miles, but more importantly it’s Trevelen Rabanal’s sole corridor to Albuquerque. He saddles his latest creation, a growling and graceful beauty-piece built of copper, silver, iron, and nickel he’s christened Crazy Horse. Emblazoned on each side of the bike’s Candy Root Beer Brown-painted fuel tank, the name stands like a placaso with stylish script as beefy as any title screen Tarantino can project across a movie theatre. The seat itself is press-imprinted leather, I say saddle because it’s style and design makes the ones used by northern Mexico vaqueros come to mind. Sporting locs, a dark flannel, the ’stache and goatee of an LA OG, and a head that seems to stay away from anything longer than a one-clip trim, this Easy Rider scene may seem more Eastside Rider than anything. Los Angeles-based indeed, Trevelen’s trip to Burque is part of his appearance in the televised Biker Build-Off series, a show in which craftsmen from the elite circles of chopper and custom-cruiser bike-building shops compete head-to-head for the best design. The destination spot for Trevelen is the actual competition event in which both bikes, one by his own Super Company Customs bike shop an the other by the boys at Indian Larry Legacy, will be judged against each other. It’s a 1,000-mile trip across the land intended to ’break-in’ each ride, a bike for which they each had only 10 days to build. Amidst the dust of construction and renovation that has yet to settle upon a quickly transforming downtown Los Angeles is located Trevelen and crew’s Superco Customs, makers of, as they put it, custom hand built death traps. It’s here on the triangle-tipped corner of 3rd Street and Alameda that you’ll now find the Biker Build-Off trophy, won earlier this year, residing. Housed under these roofs are the elder Chilly Willy along with Mansion Mike, Trevelen, Nicholas and Omar, together they span four generations of bike builders. Mansion Mike, who Trevelen watched build bikes when he was younger, is father to showroom and front office manager Tiffany, his eldest. Together, they all make up the LA establishment of chopper and custom cruiser design that is Super Company Customs. With names like El Peligroso, El Jefe, Dickies, and El Guapo, the creations coming out of the Superco shop are no doubt stylistically and aesthetically influenced by their geo-cultural locality. Like the art of Mister Cartoon, the photography of Estevan Oriol, and music of the Boo-Yaa Tribe, all folks that are listed as camaradas on the Superco website link page, the work of Trevelen and the crew is undeniably reppin’ it’s LA base brown-side of the concrete river banks to be exact. But more than just vato aesthetics, one good look at their collection proves that depth of knowledge and experience in chopper fabrication at large is at the foundation of their success. On the shop’s website, custom Impala, Caddy, and Buick Riviera ranflas are on display alongside the matas that have made a name for them. Spilling over and across the LA River from the eastside, lowrider culture is an integral part of barrio cultura, and not just in LA and San Jose. These days you’ll find pockets of lowrider aficionados decking out their rides as far out, or east, as Japan. In it’s early years, Trevelen’s shop use to have a niche in that very market, doing jobs for overseas buyers of LA-flavored good, before it began to focus mostly on bikes. But don’t get it wrong, this is no jump on the chopper bandwagon of some kind of right-place right-time success story. Shirts reading West Coast or Orange County Choppers abound these days, knock-off ’Chopper shop’ shirts line the 6-12 racks at dress-for-less department stores everywhere. For Trevelen himself there is more at stake in this business than just a bright idea. This bike craftsman’s father, Benji The Flyin’ Hawaiin Rabanal was a shop owner himself on top of bike racing pavement and dirt tracks. With the presence of his father and his father’s bike buddies chilling, Trevelen has spent his lifetime surrounded by bike culture at least as much as he has by lowrider cruisers and car clubs. Peep the collection of old school photos on his site and you get a glimpse as to the calling that Trevelen had in store for himself. Now, with this win against Larry Indian Legacy, a shop now run by the right-hands of a late and, some say, one of the greatest bike choppers that ever was, Trevelen is making his climb up to the platform of the elite. The eastside ride may be a little more rocky and dangerous, but this homie is likely to easy ride his way closer to his destination if he keeps churning out more of the same. 2Veronica Mendoza

America Ferrera and the character she plays in her new sitcom, "Ugly Betty," have many similarities. Both can be described as intelligent and hard working Latinas who seem to shine from the inside out.

America Ferrera and the character she plays in her new sitcom, "Ugly Betty," have many similarities. Both can be described as intelligent and hard working Latinas who seem to shine from the inside out. Salma Hayek, executive producer of "Ugly Betty," said she knew just from looking at Ferrera that she would be the perfect person to play the role of the sweet and lovable character, Betty Suarez. In a recent interview on "The View," Hayek said the first thing that came to mind when she saw Ferrera was, "Oh my God, this girl shines, she’s a superstar." At only 22 years of age Ferrera has already proven that she is well on her way to being recognized as a respected and talented actress. Ferrera has starred in several big films including, "Real Women Have Curves," and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." In her first lead role as Ana Garcia in "Real Women Have Curves," Ferrera won and was nominated for several awards. She won a Sundance Jury Award for Best Actress and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance and Young Artist Award for Best Performance for a Leading Young Actress. In addition Ferrera has starred in several independent films such as "Boy Immigrant," and "Steel City." Ferrera has even served as executive producer of the film, "Towards Darkness," by Antonio Negret. In addition to her success behind the camera Ferrera has also found success behind the books. She is currently a student at the University of Southern California where she studies International Relations and Theatre. Ferrera was also Valedictorian of her high school and was able to attend USC on a Presidential Scholarship. Besides having the same intelligence and motivation as the character she plays on "Betty the Ugly," Ferrera also has a similar family upbringing as Betty Suarez on the show. Like Suarez, Ferrera is a first-generation American. Her parents were both born in Honduras but she was raised by her mother in the U.S. Ferrera’s mother is a hotel executive and supervises maids, many of which are Latina. In an interview Ferrera said she saw how hard both her mother and the maids worked and this had a big influence on her as she was growing up. In her new role as "Ugly Betty," Ferrera has continued to prove that she really is a "superstar." When the show premiered it was named the most-watched show of the season. About 16.3 million viewers tuned into the first episode, according to USA Today. The show is a remake of a very popular Columbian novella called, "Yo soy Betty La Fea," which first aired seven years ago. Since then the show has been remade in a number of different countries around the world. Currently there is a Mexican novela based on the original called, "La Fea Mas Bella." Ferrera said in an interview on "The View," that the message of the show is not about being ugly. She hopes that the show’s viewers learn through Betty that being beautiful can not always be found just by looking at someone from the outside. One can definitely see that Ferrera really does have an inner light that shows she is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. It is that inner beauty that will have Americans keeping a close eye on her for years to come.1Daria Vyaersi

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a Mexican film director, who hit the big screen internationally with his film Amores Perros in 1999.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a Mexican film director, who hit the big screen internationally with his film Amores Perros in 1999, which won an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Film and the Young Critics Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. The popularity of Amores Perros is attributed to its vast relatabilty for many inhabitants of Mexico City, which happens to be the birth place of Inarritu. The story focuses on tragedy as a basis for human connection and shows how quickly terror can spread and how human life can be toxic and self-consuming. The plot involves 3 individuals living in a culture of prevalent violence, theft and poverty. Alejandro uses morbid metaphors to portray a torrid love-affair, in which the two characters remain involved simply to extend their chances of survival in such a bitter, dangerous world. Inarritu films encompass the human spirit. He is explorative by nature and his works portray him to be politically diplomatic because he never hesitates to cross any boundary as a means of conveying the power of hope. Though his films are often bleak, they allow us to keep in mind the frailty of human life and how our actions influence our existence--for better or for worse. Inarritu's most recent cinematic release in the United States was the 2006 film, Babel, which compresses two days in the lives of a cast of characters--including Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett--set in the various countries of Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan, into a 142 minute movie. The film's storyline is based on a tragic chain of events, in which the individuals in these separate countries are tied together by circumstance. This movie demonstrates the haunting realism of contemporary life and causes the audience to be visually enamored and dreadfully fixated on uncountable quantities of anxiety and suffering. This is by no means a film directed at a certain audience, since suffering in itself has no particular profile of faith or nationality and human life is unpredictable by nature. In his early twenties, Inarritu initially became known as an 80s DJ, which rapidly transcended to the film industry in 1988 when Inarritu was asked to compose music for six Mexican feature films. Under the mentorship of Ludwik Margules and Judith Weston in Los Angeles, he soon began delving into the arts of film making and directing--piece after piece, he gained more notoriety. At 27, Inarritu became one of the youngest artistic directors of Televisa, he also went on to found 'Zeta Film', a society for producing films and television programs. In 1995, he directed his first half-length television film, Detrás del dinero, and the rest is cinematic history. Inarritu's ability to present truth in such a riveting fashion is unquestionable. His blatent, realistic portrayal of the sufferings of human life leaves his audience in a state of open-eyed surprise. The power of his craft lies in his ability to capture the true essence of human nature in a way that few directors explore, simply because the subject matter is not aesthetically appealing to the external eye. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is storyteller through film expression, who captures the attention of audiences worldwide, causing his viewers to turn an empathetic ear in the direction of an all-encompassing vision of humanity.4Francisco "Pretzel" Garcia

Trevelen Rabanal saddles his latest creation, a growling and graceful beauty-piece built of copper, silver, iron, and nickel he’s christened Crazy Horse.

The highway road seems to have no end when stretched across the length of the red earthen canvas that makes up much of the great southwest desert lands. It’s the only strip of pavement around for miles, but more importantly it’s Trevelen Rabanal’s sole corridor to Albuquerque. He saddles his latest creation, a growling and graceful beauty-piece built of copper, silver, iron, and nickel he’s christened Crazy Horse. Emblazoned on each side of the bike’s Candy Root Beer Brown-painted fuel tank, the name stands like a placaso with stylish script as beefy as any title screen Tarantino can project across a movie theatre. The seat itself is press-imprinted leather, I say saddle because it’s style and design makes the ones used by northern Mexico vaqueros come to mind. Sporting locs, a dark flannel, the ’stache and goatee of an LA OG, and a head that seems to stay away from anything longer than a one-clip trim, this Easy Rider scene may seem more Eastside Rider than anything. Los Angeles-based indeed, Trevelen’s trip to Burque is part of his appearance in the televised Biker Build-Off series, a show in which craftsmen from the elite circles of chopper and custom-cruiser bike-building shops compete head-to-head for the best design. The destination spot for Trevelen is the actual competition event in which both bikes, one by his own Super Company Customs bike shop an the other by the boys at Indian Larry Legacy, will be judged against each other. It’s a 1,000-mile trip across the land intended to ’break-in’ each ride, a bike for which they each had only 10 days to build. Amidst the dust of construction and renovation that has yet to settle upon a quickly transforming downtown Los Angeles is located Trevelen and crew’s Superco Customs, makers of, as they put it, custom hand built death traps. It’s here on the triangle-tipped corner of 3rd Street and Alameda that you’ll now find the Biker Build-Off trophy, won earlier this year, residing. Housed under these roofs are the elder Chilly Willy along with Mansion Mike, Trevelen, Nicholas and Omar, together they span four generations of bike builders. Mansion Mike, who Trevelen watched build bikes when he was younger, is father to showroom and front office manager Tiffany, his eldest. Together, they all make up the LA establishment of chopper and custom cruiser design that is Super Company Customs. With names like El Peligroso, El Jefe, Dickies, and El Guapo, the creations coming out of the Superco shop are no doubt stylistically and aesthetically influenced by their geo-cultural locality. Like the art of Mister Cartoon, the photography of Estevan Oriol, and music of the Boo-Yaa Tribe, all folks that are listed as camaradas on the Superco website link page, the work of Trevelen and the crew is undeniably reppin’ it’s LA base brown-side of the concrete river banks to be exact. But more than just vato aesthetics, one good look at their collection proves that depth of knowledge and experience in chopper fabrication at large is at the foundation of their success. On the shop’s website, custom Impala, Caddy, and Buick Riviera ranflas are on display alongside the matas that have made a name for them. Spilling over and across the LA River from the eastside, lowrider culture is an integral part of barrio cultura, and not just in LA and San Jose. These days you’ll find pockets of lowrider aficionados decking out their rides as far out, or east, as Japan. In it’s early years, Trevelen’s shop use to have a niche in that very market, doing jobs for overseas buyers of LA-flavored good, before it began to focus mostly on bikes. But don’t get it wrong, this is no jump on the chopper bandwagon of some kind of right-place right-time success story. Shirts reading West Coast or Orange County Choppers abound these days, knock-off ’Chopper shop’ shirts line the 6-12 racks at dress-for-less department stores everywhere. For Trevelen himself there is more at stake in this business than just a bright idea. This bike craftsman’s father, Benji The Flyin’ Hawaiin Rabanal was a shop owner himself on top of bike racing pavement and dirt tracks. With the presence of his father and his father’s bike buddies chilling, Trevelen has spent his lifetime surrounded by bike culture at least as much as he has by lowrider cruisers and car clubs. Peep the collection of old school photos on his site and you get a glimpse as to the calling that Trevelen had in store for himself. Now, with this win against Larry Indian Legacy, a shop now run by the right-hands of a late and, some say, one of the greatest bike choppers that ever was, Trevelen is making his climb up to the platform of the elite. The eastside ride may be a little more rocky and dangerous, but this homie is likely to easy ride his way closer to his destination if he keeps churning out more of the same. 2Veronica Mendoza

America Ferrera and the character she plays in her new sitcom, "Ugly Betty," have many similarities. Both can be described as intelligent and hard working Latinas who seem to shine from the inside out.

America Ferrera and the character she plays in her new sitcom, "Ugly Betty," have many similarities. Both can be described as intelligent and hard working Latinas who seem to shine from the inside out. Salma Hayek, executive producer of "Ugly Betty," said she knew just from looking at Ferrera that she would be the perfect person to play the role of the sweet and lovable character, Betty Suarez. In a recent interview on "The View," Hayek said the first thing that came to mind when she saw Ferrera was, "Oh my God, this girl shines, she’s a superstar." At only 22 years of age Ferrera has already proven that she is well on her way to being recognized as a respected and talented actress. Ferrera has starred in several big films including, "Real Women Have Curves," and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." In her first lead role as Ana Garcia in "Real Women Have Curves," Ferrera won and was nominated for several awards. She won a Sundance Jury Award for Best Actress and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance and Young Artist Award for Best Performance for a Leading Young Actress. In addition Ferrera has starred in several independent films such as "Boy Immigrant," and "Steel City." Ferrera has even served as executive producer of the film, "Towards Darkness," by Antonio Negret. In addition to her success behind the camera Ferrera has also found success behind the books. She is currently a student at the University of Southern California where she studies International Relations and Theatre. Ferrera was also Valedictorian of her high school and was able to attend USC on a Presidential Scholarship. Besides having the same intelligence and motivation as the character she plays on "Betty the Ugly," Ferrera also has a similar family upbringing as Betty Suarez on the show. Like Suarez, Ferrera is a first-generation American. Her parents were both born in Honduras but she was raised by her mother in the U.S. Ferrera’s mother is a hotel executive and supervises maids, many of which are Latina. In an interview Ferrera said she saw how hard both her mother and the maids worked and this had a big influence on her as she was growing up. In her new role as "Ugly Betty," Ferrera has continued to prove that she really is a "superstar." When the show premiered it was named the most-watched show of the season. About 16.3 million viewers tuned into the first episode, according to USA Today. The show is a remake of a very popular Columbian novella called, "Yo soy Betty La Fea," which first aired seven years ago. Since then the show has been remade in a number of different countries around the world. Currently there is a Mexican novela based on the original called, "La Fea Mas Bella." Ferrera said in an interview on "The View," that the message of the show is not about being ugly. She hopes that the show’s viewers learn through Betty that being beautiful can not always be found just by looking at someone from the outside. One can definitely see that Ferrera really does have an inner light that shows she is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. It is that inner beauty that will have Americans keeping a close eye on her for years to come.1Daria Vyaersi

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a Mexican film director, who hit the big screen internationally with his film Amores Perros in 1999.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a Mexican film director, who hit the big screen internationally with his film Amores Perros in 1999, which won an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Film and the Young Critics Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. The popularity of Amores Perros is attributed to its vast relatabilty for many inhabitants of Mexico City, which happens to be the birth place of Inarritu. The story focuses on tragedy as a basis for human connection and shows how quickly terror can spread and how human life can be toxic and self-consuming. The plot involves 3 individuals living in a culture of prevalent violence, theft and poverty. Alejandro uses morbid metaphors to portray a torrid love-affair, in which the two characters remain involved simply to extend their chances of survival in such a bitter, dangerous world. Inarritu films encompass the human spirit. He is explorative by nature and his works portray him to be politically diplomatic because he never hesitates to cross any boundary as a means of conveying the power of hope. Though his films are often bleak, they allow us to keep in mind the frailty of human life and how our actions influence our existence--for better or for worse. Inarritu's most recent cinematic release in the United States was the 2006 film, Babel, which compresses two days in the lives of a cast of characters--including Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett--set in the various countries of Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan, into a 142 minute movie. The film's storyline is based on a tragic chain of events, in which the individuals in these separate countries are tied together by circumstance. This movie demonstrates the haunting realism of contemporary life and causes the audience to be visually enamored and dreadfully fixated on uncountable quantities of anxiety and suffering. This is by no means a film directed at a certain audience, since suffering in itself has no particular profile of faith or nationality and human life is unpredictable by nature. In his early twenties, Inarritu initially became known as an 80s DJ, which rapidly transcended to the film industry in 1988 when Inarritu was asked to compose music for six Mexican feature films. Under the mentorship of Ludwik Margules and Judith Weston in Los Angeles, he soon began delving into the arts of film making and directing--piece after piece, he gained more notoriety. At 27, Inarritu became one of the youngest artistic directors of Televisa, he also went on to found 'Zeta Film', a society for producing films and television programs. In 1995, he directed his first half-length television film, Detrás del dinero, and the rest is cinematic history. Inarritu's ability to present truth in such a riveting fashion is unquestionable. His blatent, realistic portrayal of the sufferings of human life leaves his audience in a state of open-eyed surprise. The power of his craft lies in his ability to capture the true essence of human nature in a way that few directors explore, simply because the subject matter is not aesthetically appealing to the external eye. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is storyteller through film expression, who captures the attention of audiences worldwide, causing his viewers to turn an empathetic ear in the direction of an all-encompassing vision of humanity.4Francisco "Pretzel" Garcia

Trevelen Rabanal saddles his latest creation, a growling and graceful beauty-piece built of copper, silver, iron, and nickel he’s christened Crazy Horse.

The highway road seems to have no end when stretched across the length of the red earthen canvas that makes up much of the great southwest desert lands. It’s the only strip of pavement around for miles, but more importantly it’s Trevelen Rabanal’s sole corridor to Albuquerque. He saddles his latest creation, a growling and graceful beauty-piece built of copper, silver, iron, and nickel he’s christened Crazy Horse. Emblazoned on each side of the bike’s Candy Root Beer Brown-painted fuel tank, the name stands like a placaso with stylish script as beefy as any title screen Tarantino can project across a movie theatre. The seat itself is press-imprinted leather, I say saddle because it’s style and design makes the ones used by northern Mexico vaqueros come to mind. Sporting locs, a dark flannel, the ’stache and goatee of an LA OG, and a head that seems to stay away from anything longer than a one-clip trim, this Easy Rider scene may seem more Eastside Rider than anything. Los Angeles-based indeed, Trevelen’s trip to Burque is part of his appearance in the televised Biker Build-Off series, a show in which craftsmen from the elite circles of chopper and custom-cruiser bike-building shops compete head-to-head for the best design. The destination spot for Trevelen is the actual competition event in which both bikes, one by his own Super Company Customs bike shop an the other by the boys at Indian Larry Legacy, will be judged against each other. It’s a 1,000-mile trip across the land intended to ’break-in’ each ride, a bike for which they each had only 10 days to build. Amidst the dust of construction and renovation that has yet to settle upon a quickly transforming downtown Los Angeles is located Trevelen and crew’s Superco Customs, makers of, as they put it, custom hand built death traps. It’s here on the triangle-tipped corner of 3rd Street and Alameda that you’ll now find the Biker Build-Off trophy, won earlier this year, residing. Housed under these roofs are the elder Chilly Willy along with Mansion Mike, Trevelen, Nicholas and Omar, together they span four generations of bike builders. Mansion Mike, who Trevelen watched build bikes when he was younger, is father to showroom and front office manager Tiffany, his eldest. Together, they all make up the LA establishment of chopper and custom cruiser design that is Super Company Customs. With names like El Peligroso, El Jefe, Dickies, and El Guapo, the creations coming out of the Superco shop are no doubt stylistically and aesthetically influenced by their geo-cultural locality. Like the art of Mister Cartoon, the photography of Estevan Oriol, and music of the Boo-Yaa Tribe, all folks that are listed as camaradas on the Superco website link page, the work of Trevelen and the crew is undeniably reppin’ it’s LA base brown-side of the concrete river banks to be exact. But more than just vato aesthetics, one good look at their collection proves that depth of knowledge and experience in chopper fabrication at large is at the foundation of their success. On the shop’s website, custom Impala, Caddy, and Buick Riviera ranflas are on display alongside the matas that have made a name for them. Spilling over and across the LA River from the eastside, lowrider culture is an integral part of barrio cultura, and not just in LA and San Jose. These days you’ll find pockets of lowrider aficionados decking out their rides as far out, or east, as Japan. In it’s early years, Trevelen’s shop use to have a niche in that very market, doing jobs for overseas buyers of LA-flavored good, before it began to focus mostly on bikes. But don’t get it wrong, this is no jump on the chopper bandwagon of some kind of right-place right-time success story. Shirts reading West Coast or Orange County Choppers abound these days, knock-off ’Chopper shop’ shirts line the 6-12 racks at dress-for-less department stores everywhere. For Trevelen himself there is more at stake in this business than just a bright idea. This bike craftsman’s father, Benji The Flyin’ Hawaiin Rabanal was a shop owner himself on top of bike racing pavement and dirt tracks. With the presence of his father and his father’s bike buddies chilling, Trevelen has spent his lifetime surrounded by bike culture at least as much as he has by lowrider cruisers and car clubs. Peep the collection of old school photos on his site and you get a glimpse as to the calling that Trevelen had in store for himself. Now, with this win against Larry Indian Legacy, a shop now run by the right-hands of a late and, some say, one of the greatest bike choppers that ever was, Trevelen is making his climb up to the platform of the elite. The eastside ride may be a little more rocky and dangerous, but this homie is likely to easy ride his way closer to his destination if he keeps churning out more of the same. 2Veronica Mendoza

America Ferrera and the character she plays in her new sitcom, "Ugly Betty," have many similarities. Both can be described as intelligent and hard working Latinas who seem to shine from the inside out.

America Ferrera and the character she plays in her new sitcom, "Ugly Betty," have many similarities. Both can be described as intelligent and hard working Latinas who seem to shine from the inside out. Salma Hayek, executive producer of "Ugly Betty," said she knew just from looking at Ferrera that she would be the perfect person to play the role of the sweet and lovable character, Betty Suarez. In a recent interview on "The View," Hayek said the first thing that came to mind when she saw Ferrera was, "Oh my God, this girl shines, she’s a superstar." At only 22 years of age Ferrera has already proven that she is well on her way to being recognized as a respected and talented actress. Ferrera has starred in several big films including, "Real Women Have Curves," and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." In her first lead role as Ana Garcia in "Real Women Have Curves," Ferrera won and was nominated for several awards. She won a Sundance Jury Award for Best Actress and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance and Young Artist Award for Best Performance for a Leading Young Actress. In addition Ferrera has starred in several independent films such as "Boy Immigrant," and "Steel City." Ferrera has even served as executive producer of the film, "Towards Darkness," by Antonio Negret. In addition to her success behind the camera Ferrera has also found success behind the books. She is currently a student at the University of Southern California where she studies International Relations and Theatre. Ferrera was also Valedictorian of her high school and was able to attend USC on a Presidential Scholarship. Besides having the same intelligence and motivation as the character she plays on "Betty the Ugly," Ferrera also has a similar family upbringing as Betty Suarez on the show. Like Suarez, Ferrera is a first-generation American. Her parents were both born in Honduras but she was raised by her mother in the U.S. Ferrera’s mother is a hotel executive and supervises maids, many of which are Latina. In an interview Ferrera said she saw how hard both her mother and the maids worked and this had a big influence on her as she was growing up. In her new role as "Ugly Betty," Ferrera has continued to prove that she really is a "superstar." When the show premiered it was named the most-watched show of the season. About 16.3 million viewers tuned into the first episode, according to USA Today. The show is a remake of a very popular Columbian novella called, "Yo soy Betty La Fea," which first aired seven years ago. Since then the show has been remade in a number of different countries around the world. Currently there is a Mexican novela based on the original called, "La Fea Mas Bella." Ferrera said in an interview on "The View," that the message of the show is not about being ugly. She hopes that the show’s viewers learn through Betty that being beautiful can not always be found just by looking at someone from the outside. One can definitely see that Ferrera really does have an inner light that shows she is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. It is that inner beauty that will have Americans keeping a close eye on her for years to come.1Daria Vyaersi

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a Mexican film director, who hit the big screen internationally with his film Amores Perros in 1999.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a Mexican film director, who hit the big screen internationally with his film Amores Perros in 1999, which won an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Film and the Young Critics Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. The popularity of Amores Perros is attributed to its vast relatabilty for many inhabitants of Mexico City, which happens to be the birth place of Inarritu. The story focuses on tragedy as a basis for human connection and shows how quickly terror can spread and how human life can be toxic and self-consuming. The plot involves 3 individuals living in a culture of prevalent violence, theft and poverty. Alejandro uses morbid metaphors to portray a torrid love-affair, in which the two characters remain involved simply to extend their chances of survival in such a bitter, dangerous world. Inarritu films encompass the human spirit. He is explorative by nature and his works portray him to be politically diplomatic because he never hesitates to cross any boundary as a means of conveying the power of hope. Though his films are often bleak, they allow us to keep in mind the frailty of human life and how our actions influence our existence--for better or for worse. Inarritu's most recent cinematic release in the United States was the 2006 film, Babel, which compresses two days in the lives of a cast of characters--including Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett--set in the various countries of Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan, into a 142 minute movie. The film's storyline is based on a tragic chain of events, in which the individuals in these separate countries are tied together by circumstance. This movie demonstrates the haunting realism of contemporary life and causes the audience to be visually enamored and dreadfully fixated on uncountable quantities of anxiety and suffering. This is by no means a film directed at a certain audience, since suffering in itself has no particular profile of faith or nationality and human life is unpredictable by nature. In his early twenties, Inarritu initially became known as an 80s DJ, which rapidly transcended to the film industry in 1988 when Inarritu was asked to compose music for six Mexican feature films. Under the mentorship of Ludwik Margules and Judith Weston in Los Angeles, he soon began delving into the arts of film making and directing--piece after piece, he gained more notoriety. At 27, Inarritu became one of the youngest artistic directors of Televisa, he also went on to found 'Zeta Film', a society for producing films and television programs. In 1995, he directed his first half-length television film, Detrás del dinero, and the rest is cinematic history. Inarritu's ability to present truth in such a riveting fashion is unquestionable. His blatent, realistic portrayal of the sufferings of human life leaves his audience in a state of open-eyed surprise. The power of his craft lies in his ability to capture the true essence of human nature in a way that few directors explore, simply because the subject matter is not aesthetically appealing to the external eye. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is storyteller through film expression, who captures the attention of audiences worldwide, causing his viewers to turn an empathetic ear in the direction of an all-encompassing vision of humanity.5Veronica Mendoza

Chilean-born Maria Cornejo has been known to like to dress "brainy women." Her designs like her personality seem to scream strength and independence.

Chilean-born Maria Cornejo has been known to like to dress "brainy women." Her designs like her personality seem to scream strength and independence. She said about her fall 2007 collection, "Sex is overexposed, I want to express sensuality in a subtle way." In an interview with ZOOZOOM online magazine she describes that she likes to design clothes that real women can wear and that she is influenced by contrasts such as incorporating men’s fashion into women’s clothing. "I am always working with the Ying and the Yang," said Cornejo. Since she moved to New York in 1996 and created her own line, Zero, she has been dressing smart and sexy women from throughout the world. Some of her most loyal celebrity clients include Cameron Diaz, Marisa Tomei and Sofia Coppola. Cornejo’s Soho shop in New York also doubles as her studio. You may often see Cornejo at her shop taking personal orders from her celebrity followers. Her line is also sold at stores around the world. Cornejo’s interest in fashion began as a young girl when her grandmother taught her how to knit. She made her first knit dress for a doll at the age of eleven and still keeps the doll along with the dress she made for her. Years later Cornejo is recognized as one of the top fashion designers in the country. She has recently received the honor of being awarded the Fashion Prize of the 2006 Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. The Award is to honor the best in American design in regards to Architecture, Landscape, Communication, Fashion and more. Cornejo is a leader and an innovator in the field of fashion and can be a role model for Latinas who want to be smart, sexy and bold like her fashion line.4Veronica Mendoza

anolo Blahnik’s shoes can be seen on the feet of rich and famous celebrities such as Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, Winona Ryder and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Manolo Blahnik’s shoes can be seen on the feet of rich and famous celebrities such as Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, Winona Ryder and Sarah Jessica Parker. In fact it was Parker’s character, Carrie Bradshaw, from the hit show "Sex and the City," who made Blahnik’s name famous to beautiful and rich women all over the world. In one episode of "Sex and the City," Bradshaw pleads with a mugger not to steal her shoes. She says, "You can take my Fendi baguette, you can take my ring and my watch, but don’t take my Manolo Blahniks." It is understandable why Bradshaw would ask the mugger not to steal her shoes. A pair of Manolo Blahniks can cost anywhere from $500 to $700. Although his name and shoes have only recently become well known, due to the episode, Blahnik has been making shoes to make women feel sexy since the early 1970s. Blahnik was born in 1942 in the Canary Islands to a Czech father and Spanish mother. It is his Spanish mother who Blahnik credits with introducing him to the world of fashion and shoes. As a child he would read his mother’s fashion magazines and would watch as she designed her own shoes using ribbon and lace. Blahnik was first introduced to the world of shoe making in 1971 when he met with the editor of U.S. Vogue, Diana Vreeland. He met with Vreeland in hopes of becoming a set designer but she enjoyed his sketches of his shoes so much that she encouraged him to be a shoe designer instead. More than 30 years later Blahnik is still making shoes and what is most impressive is that he alone designs every single one of his thousands of shoes. He has no apprentices or assistants and also self produces all of the sketches used to advertise his shoes. It is no wonder that PEOPLE en Español named him one of the"100 Most Influential Hispanics" this year. His shoes have helped thousands of women around the world to feel sexy and elegant for over thirty years.2Stefanie Chase

The moment Kehinde Wiley’s paintbrush meets canvas marks a time when hip hop and art history begin to have something in common.

The moment Kehinde Wiley’s paintbrush meets canvas marks a time when hip hop and art history begin to have something in common. Wiley’s brightly-colored and richly detailed paintings are influenced by 18th and 19th-century portraits, but the artist leaves the stuffiness of those portraits behind and adds his own twist. Wiley trades this frigidness in for something a little more relaxed and a little more representative of people as they are on a daily basis. Even though Wiley is influenced by the portraits from back in the day, he doesn’t want models that are obviously in their best suit and on their best behavior strictly for the sake of being painted. He uses real people—specifically African American people—and, according to what he told Thelma Golden in an interview on KehindeWiley.com, he gets these models from the streets of Detroit, South Central Los Angeles and Brooklyn. The artist started taking an interest in art at a young age. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Wiley started out taking free art classes at a local university at the age of 11. From there, he continued his art education and attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. According to Wikipedia, this led him to the San Francisco Art Institute for undergraduate school and on to Yale for graduate school. After all of his schooling, Wiley went on as an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Wiley shares with Golden that this was the perfect next step after graduating from Yale. "The Studio Museum provided the perfect environment for me to delve into my work without the concerns of professors or academic expectations. There was a big weight lifted—I was free to create without having to think about a day job or a gig. That allowed me to really throw myself into that studio and take risks that I wouldn’t necessarily take," Wiley tells Golden. Harlem seemed to prove to be the best place for finding Wiley’s ideal model. Wiley discovered a whole new culture that he had never been immersed in while living in South Central Los Angeles. "New York is more pedestrian, and there was a vibrancy that I found really interesting. The idea of walking down 125th Street has this runway element to it; there’s a sort of pomp that surrounds it," Wiley adds. So Wiley did what any other determined artist would do and walked up to these people and asked if he could paint their portrait. Wiley tells Golden that he didn’t get the response he was looking for from most of the people, but he came up with a plan that would help his mission: Wiley surrounds himself with a crowd, especially beautiful women, that will attract models and vouch for his credibility at the same time. He considers this sort of "flirtation" a must for his line of work. Once he gets people into his studio, the artist and the model each learn something about the other that builds comfortable conversation and makes the painting process smoother. The selected models see Wiley’s art history books and begin to talk about what they know on the subject. According to KehindeWiley.com, this made Wiley realize that the aspects his models found interesting interested him enough to, in some cases, allow the models to choose the own subject matter of their painting. Because everything in Wiley’s paintings are done up big, he needs models that are strong enough to hold their own on a detail-loaded canvas. According to KehindeWiley.com, some of his paintings feature "contemporary black men pos[ing] as angels, prophets and saints against richly colored swirls of ornate baroque and rococo ornamentation." Along with these, Wiley imitates some of the portraits of military men on horses with some of his models. These models, however, are not in military garb. Fans of 18th-century portraiture find features borrowed from some of Wiley’s influences. According to sfai.edu, his 18th-century influences include Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable. Gainsborough has a more obvious influence; with just a glance at his portraits, you can see some of the same techniques used to pose and paint his subjects as Wiley uses. Viewers see less of Constable, whose main subject was landscapes, but Wiley may have borrowed some of his attention to detail. As for what kind of models Wiley considers qualified: "I look for people who possess a certain type of power in the streets. You always look for that alpha male or alpha female character," the artist tells Golden. "But in the end it’s all about chemistry, and there’s this agreement that gets entered into," Wiley finishes. And chemistry, along with talent, seems to be what’s gotten Wiley this far. Chemistry with the models, with the audience and, most importantly, with the canvas. Look for Kehinde Wiley’s second solo show at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio starting this fall. 5Veronica Mendoza

Chilean-born Maria Cornejo has been known to like to dress "brainy women." Her designs like her personality seem to scream strength and independence.

Chilean-born Maria Cornejo has been known to like to dress "brainy women." Her designs like her personality seem to scream strength and independence. She said about her fall 2007 collection, "Sex is overexposed, I want to express sensuality in a subtle way." In an interview with ZOOZOOM online magazine she describes that she likes to design clothes that real women can wear and that she is influenced by contrasts such as incorporating men’s fashion into women’s clothing. "I am always working with the Ying and the Yang," said Cornejo. Since she moved to New York in 1996 and created her own line, Zero, she has been dressing smart and sexy women from throughout the world. Some of her most loyal celebrity clients include Cameron Diaz, Marisa Tomei and Sofia Coppola. Cornejo’s Soho shop in New York also doubles as her studio. You may often see Cornejo at her shop taking personal orders from her celebrity followers. Her line is also sold at stores around the world. Cornejo’s interest in fashion began as a young girl when her grandmother taught her how to knit. She made her first knit dress for a doll at the age of eleven and still keeps the doll along with the dress she made for her. Years later Cornejo is recognized as one of the top fashion designers in the country. She has recently received the honor of being awarded the Fashion Prize of the 2006 Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. The Award is to honor the best in American design in regards to Architecture, Landscape, Communication, Fashion and more. Cornejo is a leader and an innovator in the field of fashion and can be a role model for Latinas who want to be smart, sexy and bold like her fashion line.4Veronica Mendoza

anolo Blahnik’s shoes can be seen on the feet of rich and famous celebrities such as Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, Winona Ryder and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Manolo Blahnik’s shoes can be seen on the feet of rich and famous celebrities such as Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, Winona Ryder and Sarah Jessica Parker. In fact it was Parker’s character, Carrie Bradshaw, from the hit show "Sex and the City," who made Blahnik’s name famous to beautiful and rich women all over the world. In one episode of "Sex and the City," Bradshaw pleads with a mugger not to steal her shoes. She says, "You can take my Fendi baguette, you can take my ring and my watch, but don’t take my Manolo Blahniks." It is understandable why Bradshaw would ask the mugger not to steal her shoes. A pair of Manolo Blahniks can cost anywhere from $500 to $700. Although his name and shoes have only recently become well known, due to the episode, Blahnik has been making shoes to make women feel sexy since the early 1970s. Blahnik was born in 1942 in the Canary Islands to a Czech father and Spanish mother. It is his Spanish mother who Blahnik credits with introducing him to the world of fashion and shoes. As a child he would read his mother’s fashion magazines and would watch as she designed her own shoes using ribbon and lace. Blahnik was first introduced to the world of shoe making in 1971 when he met with the editor of U.S. Vogue, Diana Vreeland. He met with Vreeland in hopes of becoming a set designer but she enjoyed his sketches of his shoes so much that she encouraged him to be a shoe designer instead. More than 30 years later Blahnik is still making shoes and what is most impressive is that he alone designs every single one of his thousands of shoes. He has no apprentices or assistants and also self produces all of the sketches used to advertise his shoes. It is no wonder that PEOPLE en Español named him one of the"100 Most Influential Hispanics" this year. His shoes have helped thousands of women around the world to feel sexy and elegant for over thirty years.2Stefanie Chase

The moment Kehinde Wiley’s paintbrush meets canvas marks a time when hip hop and art history begin to have something in common.

The moment Kehinde Wiley’s paintbrush meets canvas marks a time when hip hop and art history begin to have something in common. Wiley’s brightly-colored and richly detailed paintings are influenced by 18th and 19th-century portraits, but the artist leaves the stuffiness of those portraits behind and adds his own twist. Wiley trades this frigidness in for something a little more relaxed and a little more representative of people as they are on a daily basis. Even though Wiley is influenced by the portraits from back in the day, he doesn’t want models that are obviously in their best suit and on their best behavior strictly for the sake of being painted. He uses real people—specifically African American people—and, according to what he told Thelma Golden in an interview on KehindeWiley.com, he gets these models from the streets of Detroit, South Central Los Angeles and Brooklyn. The artist started taking an interest in art at a young age. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Wiley started out taking free art classes at a local university at the age of 11. From there, he continued his art education and attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. According to Wikipedia, this led him to the San Francisco Art Institute for undergraduate school and on to Yale for graduate school. After all of his schooling, Wiley went on as an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Wiley shares with Golden that this was the perfect next step after graduating from Yale. "The Studio Museum provided the perfect environment for me to delve into my work without the concerns of professors or academic expectations. There was a big weight lifted—I was free to create without having to think about a day job or a gig. That allowed me to really throw myself into that studio and take risks that I wouldn’t necessarily take," Wiley tells Golden. Harlem seemed to prove to be the best place for finding Wiley’s ideal model. Wiley discovered a whole new culture that he had never been immersed in while living in South Central Los Angeles. "New York is more pedestrian, and there was a vibrancy that I found really interesting. The idea of walking down 125th Street has this runway element to it; there’s a sort of pomp that surrounds it," Wiley adds. So Wiley did what any other determined artist would do and walked up to these people and asked if he could paint their portrait. Wiley tells Golden that he didn’t get the response he was looking for from most of the people, but he came up with a plan that would help his mission: Wiley surrounds himself with a crowd, especially beautiful women, that will attract models and vouch for his credibility at the same time. He considers this sort of "flirtation" a must for his line of work. Once he gets people into his studio, the artist and the model each learn something about the other that builds comfortable conversation and makes the painting process smoother. The selected models see Wiley’s art history books and begin to talk about what they know on the subject. According to KehindeWiley.com, this made Wiley realize that the aspects his models found interesting interested him enough to, in some cases, allow the models to choose the own subject matter of their painting. Because everything in Wiley’s paintings are done up big, he needs models that are strong enough to hold their own on a detail-loaded canvas. According to KehindeWiley.com, some of his paintings feature "contemporary black men pos[ing] as angels, prophets and saints against richly colored swirls of ornate baroque and rococo ornamentation." Along with these, Wiley imitates some of the portraits of military men on horses with some of his models. These models, however, are not in military garb. Fans of 18th-century portraiture find features borrowed from some of Wiley’s influences. According to sfai.edu, his 18th-century influences include Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable. Gainsborough has a more obvious influence; with just a glance at his portraits, you can see some of the same techniques used to pose and paint his subjects as Wiley uses. Viewers see less of Constable, whose main subject was landscapes, but Wiley may have borrowed some of his attention to detail. As for what kind of models Wiley considers qualified: "I look for people who possess a certain type of power in the streets. You always look for that alpha male or alpha female character," the artist tells Golden. "But in the end it’s all about chemistry, and there’s this agreement that gets entered into," Wiley finishes. And chemistry, along with talent, seems to be what’s gotten Wiley this far. Chemistry with the models, with the audience and, most importantly, with the canvas. Look for Kehinde Wiley’s second solo show at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio starting this fall. 5Veronica Mendoza

Chilean-born Maria Cornejo has been known to like to dress "brainy women." Her designs like her personality seem to scream strength and independence.

Chilean-born Maria Cornejo has been known to like to dress "brainy women." Her designs like her personality seem to scream strength and independence. She said about her fall 2007 collection, "Sex is overexposed, I want to express sensuality in a subtle way." In an interview with ZOOZOOM online magazine she describes that she likes to design clothes that real women can wear and that she is influenced by contrasts such as incorporating men’s fashion into women’s clothing. "I am always working with the Ying and the Yang," said Cornejo. Since she moved to New York in 1996 and created her own line, Zero, she has been dressing smart and sexy women from throughout the world. Some of her most loyal celebrity clients include Cameron Diaz, Marisa Tomei and Sofia Coppola. Cornejo’s Soho shop in New York also doubles as her studio. You may often see Cornejo at her shop taking personal orders from her celebrity followers. Her line is also sold at stores around the world. Cornejo’s interest in fashion began as a young girl when her grandmother taught her how to knit. She made her first knit dress for a doll at the age of eleven and still keeps the doll along with the dress she made for her. Years later Cornejo is recognized as one of the top fashion designers in the country. She has recently received the honor of being awarded the Fashion Prize of the 2006 Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. The Award is to honor the best in American design in regards to Architecture, Landscape, Communication, Fashion and more. Cornejo is a leader and an innovator in the field of fashion and can be a role model for Latinas who want to be smart, sexy and bold like her fashion line.4Veronica Mendoza

anolo Blahnik’s shoes can be seen on the feet of rich and famous celebrities such as Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, Winona Ryder and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Manolo Blahnik’s shoes can be seen on the feet of rich and famous celebrities such as Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, Winona Ryder and Sarah Jessica Parker. In fact it was Parker’s character, Carrie Bradshaw, from the hit show "Sex and the City," who made Blahnik’s name famous to beautiful and rich women all over the world. In one episode of "Sex and the City," Bradshaw pleads with a mugger not to steal her shoes. She says, "You can take my Fendi baguette, you can take my ring and my watch, but don’t take my Manolo Blahniks." It is understandable why Bradshaw would ask the mugger not to steal her shoes. A pair of Manolo Blahniks can cost anywhere from $500 to $700. Although his name and shoes have only recently become well known, due to the episode, Blahnik has been making shoes to make women feel sexy since the early 1970s. Blahnik was born in 1942 in the Canary Islands to a Czech father and Spanish mother. It is his Spanish mother who Blahnik credits with introducing him to the world of fashion and shoes. As a child he would read his mother’s fashion magazines and would watch as she designed her own shoes using ribbon and lace. Blahnik was first introduced to the world of shoe making in 1971 when he met with the editor of U.S. Vogue, Diana Vreeland. He met with Vreeland in hopes of becoming a set designer but she enjoyed his sketches of his shoes so much that she encouraged him to be a shoe designer instead. More than 30 years later Blahnik is still making shoes and what is most impressive is that he alone designs every single one of his thousands of shoes. He has no apprentices or assistants and also self produces all of the sketches used to advertise his shoes. It is no wonder that PEOPLE en Español named him one of the"100 Most Influential Hispanics" this year. His shoes have helped thousands of women around the world to feel sexy and elegant for over thirty years.2Stefanie Chase

The moment Kehinde Wiley’s paintbrush meets canvas marks a time when hip hop and art history begin to have something in common.

The moment Kehinde Wiley’s paintbrush meets canvas marks a time when hip hop and art history begin to have something in common. Wiley’s brightly-colored and richly detailed paintings are influenced by 18th and 19th-century portraits, but the artist leaves the stuffiness of those portraits behind and adds his own twist. Wiley trades this frigidness in for something a little more relaxed and a little more representative of people as they are on a daily basis. Even though Wiley is influenced by the portraits from back in the day, he doesn’t want models that are obviously in their best suit and on their best behavior strictly for the sake of being painted. He uses real people—specifically African American people—and, according to what he told Thelma Golden in an interview on KehindeWiley.com, he gets these models from the streets of Detroit, South Central Los Angeles and Brooklyn. The artist started taking an interest in art at a young age. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Wiley started out taking free art classes at a local university at the age of 11. From there, he continued his art education and attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. According to Wikipedia, this led him to the San Francisco Art Institute for undergraduate school and on to Yale for graduate school. After all of his schooling, Wiley went on as an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Wiley shares with Golden that this was the perfect next step after graduating from Yale. "The Studio Museum provided the perfect environment for me to delve into my work without the concerns of professors or academic expectations. There was a big weight lifted—I was free to create without having to think about a day job or a gig. That allowed me to really throw myself into that studio and take risks that I wouldn’t necessarily take," Wiley tells Golden. Harlem seemed to prove to be the best place for finding Wiley’s ideal model. Wiley discovered a whole new culture that he had never been immersed in while living in South Central Los Angeles. "New York is more pedestrian, and there was a vibrancy that I found really interesting. The idea of walking down 125th Street has this runway element to it; there’s a sort of pomp that surrounds it," Wiley adds. So Wiley did what any other determined artist would do and walked up to these people and asked if he could paint their portrait. Wiley tells Golden that he didn’t get the response he was looking for from most of the people, but he came up with a plan that would help his mission: Wiley surrounds himself with a crowd, especially beautiful women, that will attract models and vouch for his credibility at the same time. He considers this sort of "flirtation" a must for his line of work. Once he gets people into his studio, the artist and the model each learn something about the other that builds comfortable conversation and makes the painting process smoother. The selected models see Wiley’s art history books and begin to talk about what they know on the subject. According to KehindeWiley.com, this made Wiley realize that the aspects his models found interesting interested him enough to, in some cases, allow the models to choose the own subject matter of their painting. Because everything in Wiley’s paintings are done up big, he needs models that are strong enough to hold their own on a detail-loaded canvas. According to KehindeWiley.com, some of his paintings feature "contemporary black men pos[ing] as angels, prophets and saints against richly colored swirls of ornate baroque and rococo ornamentation." Along with these, Wiley imitates some of the portraits of military men on horses with some of his models. These models, however, are not in military garb. Fans of 18th-century portraiture find features borrowed from some of Wiley’s influences. According to sfai.edu, his 18th-century influences include Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable. Gainsborough has a more obvious influence; with just a glance at his portraits, you can see some of the same techniques used to pose and paint his subjects as Wiley uses. Viewers see less of Constable, whose main subject was landscapes, but Wiley may have borrowed some of his attention to detail. As for what kind of models Wiley considers qualified: "I look for people who possess a certain type of power in the streets. You always look for that alpha male or alpha female character," the artist tells Golden. "But in the end it’s all about chemistry, and there’s this agreement that gets entered into," Wiley finishes. And chemistry, along with talent, seems to be what’s gotten Wiley this far. Chemistry with the models, with the audience and, most importantly, with the canvas. Look for Kehinde Wiley’s second solo show at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio starting this fall. 4

During spring 2006, the first chapter on the West Coast was established at the USC for La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated.

On April 1, 2006, ten dedicated men from the University of Southern California established the first chapter of La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. on the West Coast. We are socially conscious, politically active, and competent... LUL's Alpha Phi Chapter is socially conscious: LUL's PATHE initiative, La Fraternidad's National Philanthropy, is now locally partnered with USC's Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI). Alpha Phi Chapter mentors high school students from Foshay Learning Center and Manuel Arts High School in South Los Angeles throughout the year. Last year the Alpha Phi Chapter was awarded the Philanthropy Award by USC's Multicultural Greek Council for its effective community service programming. LUL's Alpha Phi Chapter is politically active: Last year Alpha Phi Chapter spearheaded USC's support of the march against Bill HR-4437. Alpha Phi Chapter continues to shed light on pertinent issues affecting communities of color through their E.L.I.T.E. (Exploring Latino Issues Through Education) Speaker Series Events in the Fall and programming in the Spring. LUL's Alpha Phi Chapter is competent: In an effort to exhibit and demonstrate a high commitment to leadership and professionalism, Hermanos of La Unidad Latina have held and continue to hold various e-board positions within organizations outside of La Hermandad including the Undergraduate Student Government, the Latino Student Assembly, Trojan Real Estate Association, USC’s Hip-Hop Congress, Latino Business Student Association, Annenberg Latino Student Assembly, Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, Chicanos for Progressive Education, Hermanos Unidos, and several other organizations on campus. Every Hermano is also required to undergo professional and/or academic development during the Summer. Hermanos of La Unidad Latina have held internships with Bank of America Securities LLC, Citigroup’s Investment Banking Division, Deloitte LLC, J.P Morgan, Capital Records, Warner Bros., and premiere architecture design and real estate firms. Furthermore, two Hermanos have conducted undergraduate research through USC’s McNair Scholars Program. Alpha Phi holds a 3.2 cummulative GPA as a chapter (the highest single GPA was a 3.8 with the highest cumulative being a 3.55). Respectfully submitted, Ramon Zepeda President-Alpha Phi Chapter La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. University of Southern California About La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated was established on February 19, 1982 in order to address the shortcomings of academic institutions in meeting and addressing the needs of Latino students in higher education. Founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated primarily seeks to take a leadership role in meeting the needs of the Latino community through cultural awareness, community service, and promotion of the Latino culture and people. Within the academic realm, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated continually strives to increase the representation of Latino faculty and students in higher education. Realizing that recruitment is only half of the solution, La Fraternidad places strong emphasis on academic programs that aid in the retention, guidance and improvement of Latino students in institutions of higher learning. La Unidad Latina is committed to developing its members and peers into mature, intelligent, socially active, and culturally conscious individuals, who, via mutual support, can excel academically and professionally. La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated is looking for individuals with vision, determination, pride, and a commitment to accomplish the goals it has set for itself. Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity Incorporated, Alpha-Phi Chapter Total number of members: 13 (all active) Chapter Accomplishments *Fixing the Leaks in the Latina/o Educational Pipeline *Machismo Gay Issues in the Latino Community *Shattering the Glass Ceiling of Corporate America *Black Panther and Brown Beret Movement *Neighborhood Academic Initiative *Women’s Recognition Event *Red Cielo Project *The Golden Premiere *Gold Rush Spotlight on: Red Cielo Project Type of Event: Service Venue: KIPP Academy of Opportunity - South Los Angeles Purpose: The purpose of this event is to impact the community via art and discussion. We hope to expose these at-risk students to alternative hobbies to keep them off the streets and focused on stimulating their minds through learning. Program Description: We are collaborating with Latinas Actively Taking Initiative through Networking, Academics, and Social justice (L.A.T.I.N.A.S.) from USC and the University of California at Los Angeles. In conjunction with L.A.T.I.N.A.S., there would be a total of 60 volunteers with 75 students participating in 4 days of workshops culminating in a final project. The workshops will consist of brainstorming and dialogue about their living environments and their attitudes towards their upbringing in the inner-city. In route to the final day, during one workshop, the students will draw on one piece of paper. This one image will represent how they feel about their childhood and upbringing. On the final day, Ernesto Cuevas Jr., the creator of the Red Cielo youth program, will piece together all the images and merge them into one portrait. He will then transfer this image onto a wall on campus. After which, the kids and volunteers will help paint that image and create a mural that will inspire change and dedication. For more information contact: Ramon Zepeda - Chapter President razepeda@usc.edu Check us out at: http://www.launidadlatina.org/chapters/alpha%5Fphi/ or www.myspace.com/aphilul1982 3

Kappa Delta Chi is a Latina Service Sorority, founded in 1987 at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Kappa Delta Chi is a Latina Service Sorority, founded in 1987 at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. The purpose of Kappa Delta Chi is to promote the traditional values of Unity, Honesty, Integrity and Leadership. Interesting Facts: Nickname : KDChi Values: Unity, Honesty, Integrity,Leadership Flower: pink rose Mascot: penguin Colors: pink and maroon Jewel: emerald Who is Kappa Delta Chi-Pi Chapter? Founded in 1998, the Pi Chapter of Kappa Delta Chi, is located at the University of Texas at Austin. Pi Chapter has won numerous awards including: *Most Outstanding Cultural Latina/o Organization 2007 *Best Unity Award 2006 *Most Outstanding Community Organization 2005 *Most Outstanding Kappa Delta Chi Chapter 2005 What makes Kappa Delta Chi –Pi Chapter different? There are numerous aspects of sisterhood that makes us unique. The one thing that always stands out is our unique programming some of which includes: Latina/o faculty/staff and student mixer (LFSSM)– The Latina/o Faculty/staff student mixer is KDChi Pi Chapter's annual fall event aimed at bridging the gap that exists between faculty and students at the University of Texas at Austin. One of the goals of the event is to establish a bond and network between the entire Latina/o community in order to increase the retention of Latina/o students. Homophobia in the Greek Community – Homophobia in the Greek Community is an annual workshop hosted during KDChi's founders week. Held in conjunction with Lambda Theta Phi, this interactive workshop is designed to address issues heterosexism within the greek community. The Latina Monologues – One of our most exciting events is The Latina Monologues also part of our founders week events. For more information scroll down to "Spotlight". Longhorn Leaders Day(LLD) – LLD is Pi Chapters annual high school conference. Every year Pi Chapter invites high school Latina youth to a day long conference. The conference is intended to encourage the women to attend college and explore issues of race/ethnicity and gender. Former keynote speakers include Gloria De Leon – Sister of KDChi Pi Chapter and co-founder and Vice-President of the National Hispanic Institute. Other events include – Dia de Los Muertos Celebration, KDChi Bowl a thon for American Cancer Society and Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Spotlight On: The Latina Monologues Produced and directed by Pi Chapter, the monologues aim to create unity within the Latina/o community by having women and men from all over campus participate in the monologues and to create more awareness of issues regarding Latinas. Monologues are a combination of reading from famous Latina authors including Sandra Cisneros, Gloria Anzaldua and Michele Serros; as well as famous Latina movie scenes. The combination of acting and multimedia use make the monologues cutting edge. Some of the issues addressed in the monologues include: * The Women in Juarez Murders * Interaction between Latinas and white women * The over sexualization of Latina women * Language and culture * Afro-Latina identity * Homophobia within the Latina/o community * Standards of Beauty within the Latina/o community For more information contact: Nina Rivero - Chapter President nrivero@mail.utexas.edu visit us at: www.utpenguins.org. 1Stacey Chapa

Alpha Sigma Omega Latina Sorority, Inc. was established April 26th, 1997 at Syracuse University by our two founding Mothers, Michelle Caba and Doris Maldonado.

Alpha Sigma Omega Latina Sorority, Inc. was established April 26th, 1997 at Syracuse University by our two founding Mothers, Michelle Caba and Doris Maldonado. Doris and Michelle set forth to create an organization that derived from and promoted female awareness, academic excellence, community-service, physical, legal, and political education. Currently we have 6 chapters and 1 associate division. Alpha Chapter is located at Syracuse University, Beta at Lemoyne College, Gamma at Fordham University, Delta at the University of Wisconsin Parkside, Epsilon at Eastern Illinois University, Zeta at William Paterson University. Eta Associate Division is located at Northern Illinois University. Alpha Sigma Omega as a collective has 72 members and half of the 72 have successfully completed their undergraduate education and received bachelors’ degree. Our alumnae are becoming a driving force within our organization and exciting and new initiatives are being created as a result of our high matriculation & graduation rates. We the sisters of Alpha Sigma Omega Latina Sorority, Inc. persevere to authenticate the emancipation, scholarship, unity, and endurance of all Latino and Caribbean people. Through solidarity we promote the tie that binds us all and those same ties that broke us free from slavery some time ago. In order to promote omnipotence our goal is to refrain from assimilating societal mannerisms. We achieve this through research, knowledge of our culture, our people, and conception. By knowing everything that we should and must know as women, we promote, practice and educate all others of the injustices that occurred Alpha Sigma Omega Sorority Latina, Inc. aspires to promote: The Empowerment of All Women. Authenticity through the Diversity of our Sisters and Unchallenged Commitment to our Youth and Community. Solidarity and the Relinquishment of All Prejudices, including but not limited to, Gender, Ethnicity, Religion, Age or Aspiration. Sisterhood by Learning, Acknowledging & Understanding one another’s Challenges, Concerns, and Aspirations, thus accentuating all of these through Acceptance and Support. Our colors are celestial Blue, White, and Black; our mascot is the White Bengal Tiger; our flower is the blue orchid; and our stone is the blue topaz. As sisters, we believe that True Sisterhood is the ultimate loyalty and support that one can attain. An Hermana, ideally, is someone who recognizes your faults and weaknesses and converts them into an unchallenged strength through encouragement and solidarity. Our support for one another is unsurpassed by societal restraints or preconceived notions. As Hermanas we believe that our sisterhood represents a tie that binds us beyond the millennium with an infinite understanding of commitment. There are a variety of activities that keep ASO sisters involved with the sorority, as well as active in their community, professional endeavors, more formal educational programs, and family responsibilities. ASO sisters are very diverse as a result of our life experiences and backgrounds. Many of our sisters are mothers, are married and or have significant others, so they have begun their journey into creating a family. Other sisters are seeking higher educational degrees varying from dental school, law school, masters’ degree, and doctorate studies. In the formal sense, undergraduate sisters individually as well as collectively participate in a number of community service outreach programs in the surrounding communities on and off campus, as well as taking formal leadership positions within the chapter in order to recruit new sorority members and develop the sisters in their chapter or associate division. On the national level, we have alumnae who devote their time to working as national board officers for the greater good and development of Alpha Sigma Omega. Would you like to join a group of strong and dedicated women who are determined to make positive changes in the community and beyond? Do you have a passion for life long learning, are you ready to contribute to serving your communities, do you want to make a commitment to continued personal development, and are you willing to develop long lasting friendships that will surpass this millennium? Visit us online: http://www.alphasigmaomega.org4

During spring 2006, the first chapter on the West Coast was established at the USC for La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated.

On April 1, 2006, ten dedicated men from the University of Southern California established the first chapter of La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. on the West Coast. We are socially conscious, politically active, and competent... LUL's Alpha Phi Chapter is socially conscious: LUL's PATHE initiative, La Fraternidad's National Philanthropy, is now locally partnered with USC's Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI). Alpha Phi Chapter mentors high school students from Foshay Learning Center and Manuel Arts High School in South Los Angeles throughout the year. Last year the Alpha Phi Chapter was awarded the Philanthropy Award by USC's Multicultural Greek Council for its effective community service programming. LUL's Alpha Phi Chapter is politically active: Last year Alpha Phi Chapter spearheaded USC's support of the march against Bill HR-4437. Alpha Phi Chapter continues to shed light on pertinent issues affecting communities of color through their E.L.I.T.E. (Exploring Latino Issues Through Education) Speaker Series Events in the Fall and programming in the Spring. LUL's Alpha Phi Chapter is competent: In an effort to exhibit and demonstrate a high commitment to leadership and professionalism, Hermanos of La Unidad Latina have held and continue to hold various e-board positions within organizations outside of La Hermandad including the Undergraduate Student Government, the Latino Student Assembly, Trojan Real Estate Association, USC’s Hip-Hop Congress, Latino Business Student Association, Annenberg Latino Student Assembly, Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, Chicanos for Progressive Education, Hermanos Unidos, and several other organizations on campus. Every Hermano is also required to undergo professional and/or academic development during the Summer. Hermanos of La Unidad Latina have held internships with Bank of America Securities LLC, Citigroup’s Investment Banking Division, Deloitte LLC, J.P Morgan, Capital Records, Warner Bros., and premiere architecture design and real estate firms. Furthermore, two Hermanos have conducted undergraduate research through USC’s McNair Scholars Program. Alpha Phi holds a 3.2 cummulative GPA as a chapter (the highest single GPA was a 3.8 with the highest cumulative being a 3.55). Respectfully submitted, Ramon Zepeda President-Alpha Phi Chapter La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. University of Southern California About La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated was established on February 19, 1982 in order to address the shortcomings of academic institutions in meeting and addressing the needs of Latino students in higher education. Founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated primarily seeks to take a leadership role in meeting the needs of the Latino community through cultural awareness, community service, and promotion of the Latino culture and people. Within the academic realm, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated continually strives to increase the representation of Latino faculty and students in higher education. Realizing that recruitment is only half of the solution, La Fraternidad places strong emphasis on academic programs that aid in the retention, guidance and improvement of Latino students in institutions of higher learning. La Unidad Latina is committed to developing its members and peers into mature, intelligent, socially active, and culturally conscious individuals, who, via mutual support, can excel academically and professionally. La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated is looking for individuals with vision, determination, pride, and a commitment to accomplish the goals it has set for itself. Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity Incorporated, Alpha-Phi Chapter Total number of members: 13 (all active) Chapter Accomplishments *Fixing the Leaks in the Latina/o Educational Pipeline *Machismo Gay Issues in the Latino Community *Shattering the Glass Ceiling of Corporate America *Black Panther and Brown Beret Movement *Neighborhood Academic Initiative *Women’s Recognition Event *Red Cielo Project *The Golden Premiere *Gold Rush Spotlight on: Red Cielo Project Type of Event: Service Venue: KIPP Academy of Opportunity - South Los Angeles Purpose: The purpose of this event is to impact the community via art and discussion. We hope to expose these at-risk students to alternative hobbies to keep them off the streets and focused on stimulating their minds through learning. Program Description: We are collaborating with Latinas Actively Taking Initiative through Networking, Academics, and Social justice (L.A.T.I.N.A.S.) from USC and the University of California at Los Angeles. In conjunction with L.A.T.I.N.A.S., there would be a total of 60 volunteers with 75 students participating in 4 days of workshops culminating in a final project. The workshops will consist of brainstorming and dialogue about their living environments and their attitudes towards their upbringing in the inner-city. In route to the final day, during one workshop, the students will draw on one piece of paper. This one image will represent how they feel about their childhood and upbringing. On the final day, Ernesto Cuevas Jr., the creator of the Red Cielo youth program, will piece together all the images and merge them into one portrait. He will then transfer this image onto a wall on campus. After which, the kids and volunteers will help paint that image and create a mural that will inspire change and dedication. For more information contact: Ramon Zepeda - Chapter President razepeda@usc.edu Check us out at: http://www.launidadlatina.org/chapters/alpha%5Fphi/ or www.myspace.com/aphilul1982 3

Kappa Delta Chi is a Latina Service Sorority, founded in 1987 at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Kappa Delta Chi is a Latina Service Sorority, founded in 1987 at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. The purpose of Kappa Delta Chi is to promote the traditional values of Unity, Honesty, Integrity and Leadership. Interesting Facts: Nickname : KDChi Values: Unity, Honesty, Integrity,Leadership Flower: pink rose Mascot: penguin Colors: pink and maroon Jewel: emerald Who is Kappa Delta Chi-Pi Chapter? Founded in 1998, the Pi Chapter of Kappa Delta Chi, is located at the University of Texas at Austin. Pi Chapter has won numerous awards including: *Most Outstanding Cultural Latina/o Organization 2007 *Best Unity Award 2006 *Most Outstanding Community Organization 2005 *Most Outstanding Kappa Delta Chi Chapter 2005 What makes Kappa Delta Chi –Pi Chapter different? There are numerous aspects of sisterhood that makes us unique. The one thing that always stands out is our unique programming