Juan of Words

RodeoHouston Giveaway: PBR Series & Bar-B-Que Contest

Unless you’ve actually been, there aren’t any words to properly describe what it is to experience the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  There’s the music, almost any country music star you can imagine; the livestock – cows, chickens, horses, pigs, and so many more; the showroom with all the Texas lifestyle arts and crafts; and then of course the food!   The bar-b-que is amazing!  There’s no other way to describe it.  Totally serious here.  Everyone I know who goes to the rodeo always agrees that the Cook Off is the one thing you have to experience at RodeoHouston.  Outside of that, my favorite part of el rodeo  is the bull riding.

Brazilian Bull Rider Renato Nunes

Maybe it’s because we grew up around animals all of my life and we used to go to La Plaza México to watch the jaripeos and dance afterwards to live conjuntos that I’m so partial to the whole Texas and cowboy lifestyle, but there is just something about it that feels like home for me.  So when I was asked if I wanted to give away three pairs of tickets to the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series (PBR) (BFTS) show at the Reliant Stadium in a couple of weeks, my immediate response was absolutely!  I know you guys would enjoy attending this event, and on top of that this is the first time the best bull riders in the world are coming to compete at RodeoHouston.  Y’all know we can’t stop there, though… LOL!  Each ticket also includes a general admission ticket for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest.  Can you say yummo!?

So what exactly is the Professional Bull Riders Series

For the first time in history, fans in Houston will be able to watch the best bull riders in the world compete at RodeoHouston™ when the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series visits Reliant Stadium at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012.   The BFTS features the best, highest-paid bull riders on the planet, including PBR World Champion Silvano Alves.

Fans will witness thrilling 8-second rides and jaw-dropping wrecks throughout the adrenaline-soaked performance as the Professional Bull Rider’s insanely brave cowboys risk it all against monstrous animal athletes that can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds.

If you don’t win you can still get discounted tickets 

For a limited time, the PBR is offering a 20 percent discount on $35, $50, and $75 tickets, which will also include general admission for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest.  To redeem the offer go to www.Ticketmaster.com, and enter HOUPBR in the special discount/code section. The offer is only available for online purchases.  The offer is valid from Monday, Feb. 6 until Sunday, Feb. 19.

Here’s what you can expect at the show

How to enter the Giveaway

So now to the point.  In order to enter for a chance to win your own pair of tickets to the PBR Series & Bar-B-Que Contest please leave a comment here with your name and email address on or before midnight on Tuesday, February 13, 2012.  I’ll need your email address to notify you that you’ve won so if you don’t leave me an email address I won’t be able to include you in the random drawing that I’ll do to select the winners.  If you do win one of the three pairs of tickets I’ll notify you via email by Valentine’s Day, Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at the latest.

That’s it.  I want to keep it as simple as possible.

Good luck everyone!

Disclosure: The prize was provided by the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series (PBR), but PBR is not a sponsor, administrator, or involved in any other way with this giveaway. All opinions expressed in the post are my own and not those of PBR.

A Twitter Party con Benefits! Close Even If Far Away #CricketContigo

You know it’s a party when the piñata gets thrown into the mix.  Excuse me!  I mean a pachanga.  That’s what I’ll be co-hosting next week as the Only and First hombre to have ever been invited to soltarse el pelo and tweet-chat with the ladies of Latina Bloggers Connect.  What an honor!  Though, I’m still a little confused as to why they chose this schmuck to be their primero.  Como quien dice, don’t ask questions you don’t want to hear the answers to.  Mejor me quedo en el who knows?

Remember to RSVP for your chance to win.

But enough about me!  The pachanga, or virtual chat on Twitter, is really about a great topic: Cerca aunque lejos / Close even if far away, the painstaking process of being separated from your loved ones, but the hope of always feeling close to them no matter how physically far away you might be.  Growing up, this reality was always just a part of our lives.  Por suerte, my parents and us were never separated.

They unfortunately weren’t so lucky.

And sadly in those days it was almost impossible to communicate regularly with their familia.  It was expensive!  And in our rancho only two people had phones that worked cuando les daba la gana.  Half the time service was just unavailable, like the water and light too.  But we made do.  That’s why it was really cool to learn about the new things that Cricket is doing to bring families closer to one another across borders!  They’ll be telling us all about it at the fiesta.

And the mix of hosts isn’t too shabby either – joining me for the convo are @CuponeandoLive, @ohmariana, @spanglishbaby, @latinaish, and myself (@JuanofWords)  – the platica will be moderated by @lbconnect with special guest @micricket.

Just by showing up, you’ll qualify to win some pretty great prizes, including the aforementioned piñatas.  But you have to RSVP!

So sign up and see you there on : Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 at 7pm-8:30pm EST/6-7:30pm CST on Twitter. Hashtag: #CricketContigo.

(Read more about the chat and prizes here and then go HERE to RSVP to the #CricketContigo Twitter party!)

Disclosure: This is not a paid or sponsored post. My participation in the Twitter party itself will be paid. This post conforms to WordPress.com Terms of Service. As always, all opinions are my own.

¡Tan, Tan! & the Winners Are…

Drum roll please!  First and foremost let me say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the first ever Juan of Words Online Halloween Costume Contest!!  I could have never imagined how big of a success you all were going to make it.  In all, 80 entries were received from everywhere in the United States… and even Mexico, ¡Guau!  And the number of people y’all rallied to vote, also amazing!  So yes, I am truly grateful to each and everyone of you who participated in this contest, in any way.  I’d also like to give a giant shout out and and ¡AJUUA! to my definite better half, Anjelica (my wife)… who always has the most creative concepts to share with me, and of course to Ford en Español who made this contest possible with their sponsorship.

Y’all know I’m one broke-a&$ Meskan, LOL!

So sin más borlote… here are the results, and more importantly, I know this is what everyone wants to see, the winners of the Juan of Words Online Halloween Costume Contest:

First Place – Shirley with the Evil Cat Entry

Evil Cat

Second Place – Joseph with the Zombified Entry

Zombified

Third Place – Brooke with the Punk Fairy Entry

Punk Fairy

Congratulations again ladies and gent!!  I hope you all had as much fun with this contest as I did.  As I had specified on the contest outline, the winners walk away with 1st Place – $300, 2nd Place – $125, 3rd Place – $75 Gift Cards!  Enjoy!!

For everyone else, your entries were so amazingly creative and fun that I couldn’t help myself.  I wanted to do something special for all of you, and have created the below Spooktacular video with all of your entries.  Hope you guys enjoy it!!

Thank you once again, and stay tuned for more fun hopefully in the near future.

Ghosts, Goblins, and an Online Costume Contest for Halloween – Submit your pictures!

Here are some of our favorite Halloween costumes to date

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday!! For one, you get to dress up in whatever kind of costume or alter ego you want to.  Then, you can actually walk or drive to complete strangers’ houses and expect them to give you candy just because you’re wearing a costume… or once you’re closer to my age, because you’re escorting a cute kid around.  At the Bali Hai apartments, when I was a boy, they actually used to drive all of us kids in one van to the more upscale parts of town to collect more and better candy.  It was so much fun and the decorations there bien elaboradas.

Now that we’re adults, it’s just not the same.  Costume parties are fun and all, but the candy in a bag just doesn’t have the same thrilling effect anymore.  That’s why I’m so excited to announce the Juan of Words – Online Halloween Contest! That’s right amigos y amigas, I’m hosting my own online costume contest sponsored by Ford en Español, a member of the Ford Motor Company familia… and the prizes for this photo contest are way better than candy.

I’m talking actual dinero!

So here are the basics.  Anyone can participate.  I mean anyone, so long as you are 18 years of age and can legally claim a prize in the United States.  All you have to do is visit my Juan of Words Facebook Page (LIKE the page if you don’t already), click on the ‘Halloween Contest’ button on the left hand side below my profile image (it has a star next to it), upload your costume picture with a description, and then ask your friends to vote for you!  Or you can click on the link above that says Halloween Contest!

The top three people with the most votes by Halloween Day will win one of three prizes:

First Place: a $300 Gift Card
Second Place: a $125 Gift Card
Third Place: a $75 Gift Card

That’s it!  No other strings attached.

Voting will close at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, October 31, 2011, and winners will be notified shortly thereafter.  Así es que ya saben, GO!  Get creative!  Snap a picture of your best Halloween outfit/costume and get your friends voting.

That extra money would be great for my Christmas shopping if I could actually compete!

¡Buena Suerte a todos!

El Paso, Dallas & Houston: Enter to Win Tickets to the Screenings of “Warrior” and “Contagion”

Warrior

I’ll get straight to the point on this one.  If you’re in El Paso, Dallas or Houston and would like to attend the film screenings of two new movies – which to me look pretty good, by the way – next week on Wednesday or Thursday evenings, keep reading and make sure to follow the instructions on how to enter this particular giveaway from yours truly, in partnership with Checa LA movie.

There is no cost involved to participate, of course, unless you are like me and have to have the biggest bucket of popcorn and a jumbo sized coke to watch a movie agusto in the theater.  In that case, you’re on your own with the snacks.  Sorri for you!

But seriously now, the two movies that are screening in these three Texas cities are ‘Contagion’ and ‘Warrior’, which are set to hit the box office for the masses in a couple of days, but you, desde luego, would be the first ones in your cities to watch them before all of your friends and everyone else (just thought I’d throw that in, in case that is a factor for you).  So here are the dates and times for each city:

EL PASO
Warrior                 Wednesday, September 7, 2011 – 7:30 p.m.
Contagion           Thursday, September 8, 2011 – 7:30 p.m.

DALLAS
Warrior                 Thursday, September 7, 2011 – 7:30 p.m.
*sorry no Contagion screening here

HOUSTON
Contagion           Wednesday, September 7, 2011 – 7:30 p.m.
Warrior                 Thursday, September 8, 2011 – 7:30 p.m.

The goal is to give away the tickets to you in pairs, so if you’re interested in attending, here is what you need to do.  You must enter by Sunday, Sep. 4, 2011, for a chance to win tickets.  I will let you know if you received tickets to the movie by Tuesday, Sep. 6th at the latest.  Sin más borlote, this is what you need to leave in the comments section of this blog post in order to enter the giveaway:

YOUR NAME
YOUR CITY
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS (or a link to your Facebook or Twitter profile so that I can notify you that you have won)
HOW MANY TICKETS YOU WOULD LIKE
WHICH MOVIE, DATE & TIME YOU’RE INTERESTED IN

If you’re not in Texas, and would like a chance to win movie tickets to the screenings of these two films, check out my friend Teresa’s blog at: www.checalamovie.net for more screening dates and times.

Mucha suerte and maybe nos vemos en las movies!

CONTAGION OFFICIAL MOVIE TRAILER

WARRIOR OFFICIAL MOVIE TRAILER

We Might Not Have Won, But We Certainly Didn’t Lose. Gracias!

Houston, you made a big difference!

Pues como quien dice, you win some, you lose some… y esta vez, me toco perder, but not entirely.  In a lot of ways we all won.  Not only did we get the opportunity to showcase Houston as one of only eight cities participating in this nationwide competition, but we were able to pull together as a community (both online and offline) to raise awareness about the importance of supporting our schools.  When I was asked to put together a community event to as part of this challenge, I knew immediately that Denver Harbor would be the focus of our efforts.

This often overlooked, very historical, and bien Latino community has managed to steal my heart in the couple of years that I’ve called it home, and it was very rewarding to be able to give something back to precisely my neighborhood.

To everyone that voted for me, asked others to vote for me (maybe even harassed a couple of people, lol), donated items, attended our event, volunteered, or did anything else, no matter how big or small, to support my efforts in the Ford F-150 EcoBoost Challenge, thank you so very much por todo. I am indebted to you.  Anjelica and all of her family were wonderful, and I honestly don’t know how we would have pulled off this event without their support.  A very special thank you for that… it really meant a lot to me.  And then of course, so much gratitude to the Ford Motor Company, my new buddy Jackie, all of the marketing folks in Austin and Dallas, and the great people at the Harris County Department of Education for allowing us to sponsor local school Pugh Head Start, as well as hold our event there.  ¡Muchísimas gracias!

And now, without further ado, here are the pictures from our Ford-Denver Harbor Community Yard Sale & Back to School Benefit:

Tweety and Winnie the Pooh stole the show... for good reason. They were dancing tribal, LOL!

The shoppers were ready to shop, for a good cause, with more reason.

Our Official DJ, Element Entertainment really kept the house rocking. They're great, just FYI!

Y'all know Anjelica! On the right is my sister Irma, and on the left my sis-in-law Rosa.

The arts & crafts section of the event were a huge hit with all the kids... hasta uno que otro grandote!

As were the face paintings by this local artist who was kind enough to volunteer her time and creativity.

Once again, gracias a todos por el apoyo and all of the hard work!!