You have in your hands issue 8 of Magazine X. A magazine by artists for artists and those who appreciate art in all its different forms. Our mission? To boldly go where no other South Texas Magazine has gone before and have fun doing it. Boldly going anywhere that hasn’t been charted is getting much harder to do lately with the sudden surge of magazines flooding South Texas. There are several notable ones out there, and there are several that are just taking up space. Last count there was 58. Some Religous, Some Political, some about Cars, some about WEIRD stuff.
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INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN MAG X? WANT TO SUBMIT A STORY OR ARTWORK? CONTACT US AT MAG X • 601 W Pecan Suite 2, McAllen TX 78501 956.661.9595 Read it every month @ magxonline.com Distributed by South Texas Circulation 956.566.1157
And then there is Magazine X... ...the little engine that could. The magazine that is the voice of artists, musicians, extreme sports athletes, and the film & book lovers of S.Tex. You may notice that our Artist profiles are written by the artists themselves with a few exceptions. This is not due to the laziness of our staff, but because we want you to have a glimpse into the minds of these artists. We want you to know, IN THEIR OWN WORDS, what their art is all about. It’s one thing to sit here and tell you OUR interpretation of their art, but that would hardly be fair. Art is subjective, and in my mind, the closest way to see what the artist sees is to hear it from them. To hear in their own words, what drives them, what compels them to create the way they do, to find out what makes them tick. That means more to me that anything anyone else can write about them. With all that being said, we appreciate the fact that you are reading THIS magazine when there are 58 + other mags out there. And as always, This magazine is meant to be the voice of our community. If you have anything you would like to submit, be it artwork, a story, a review, let us know. -ramsey
READ ALL OUR PREVIOUS ISSUES ONLINE @ MAGXONLINE.COM
ramsey Publisher
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Contributing Writer
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MySpace Guru and Writer
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God of Grammer
We went to Harlingen in search of Music and some Grub and we were pleasently surprised with what we found at City Lights Bar & Grill, 1601 W Harrisson in Harlingen. We had the pleasure of sampling some of the great food and great music they offer. We entered about 10pm on a Monday Night Open Mic Night where Musicians are given a stage and a P.A. to express themselves to an audience hungry for music. We entered just as a Harlingen band called “The Buds” were finishing their set and several of their fans cheered them on. During the intermission between bands, we placed our food order. I had a burger called “The Works.” 8oz of Pure Angus Beef topped with Mushrooms, Bacon & Cheese with a side of City Light’s Signature Fries. Adrian, my dining review buddy ordered the “Nachos Fantasticos” and an order of Fired Mushrooms to get us started. As we finished ordering our food, The 1-man-band Tonight A Fire took the Stage. We sat back and enjoyed the music which we agreed was of the “Indie” variety and tried not to get caught staring at the pretty girls drinking their Corona Beer not too far from us. Our Mushrooms arrived shortly and we made short work of them. Not long after, our food arrived in big portions and we realized that we may not be able to finish it all, but we sure were gonna try. The Burger was great, juicy cooked to my specifications (medium well) and topped with plenty of mushrooms and bacon. The fries were great, a nice break from those skinny fries all the fast food places serve. The nachos (according to Adrian) were “Fantasticos!” I guess they name “Nachos Fantasticos” suites them well. Adrian didn’t say much after that since he was busy devouring everything but the plate they came on. I took that as enough proof that he loved them. So I continued eating my burger and enjoyed the rest of Tonight a Fire’s set. City Lights has Live music All week long. make sure you stop by and check it out and Tell em Mag X Sent ya!
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MOre free stuff to whoever can guess the identity of these cd covers...
You must name the title and artist to win.
The BOOTY....
YOU will NOT win this contest!!!
Wow, it seems we titled this contest correctly. No one, I mean no one guessed the questions right. Ok, this time around we have given you the EASIEST questions we could come up with. Good luck and special thanks to Rick from Methmare for question #2.
PRIZE: A new release DVD of your choice. 1. Name the (3) wrestlers that appear in Ong-Bak? Hint: they are wrestlers. 2. In what films does Henry Hill appear in? 3. In what film does an O.C. hottie ask cole for help?
this month we’re giving away a few Jagemeister Music Tour Cd’s SOme MagX S.TEX CD’S, ANd some Autographed stuff. SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO... LAST MONTH”S ANSWERS!!! 1. Hu-Li/ Inspector Lee- RUSH HOUR 2. Inigo Montoya/ his father - THE PRINCESS BRIDE 3. 350/ Athena- THE GIRL NEXT DOOR.
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It’s no secret that everyone here at Mag X is addicted to the internet. We can’t go 10 minutes without checking our myspace.com accounts, let alone all the other wonderful things the world wide web has to offer. So this month we bring you more...
By:Frank X
with a whole lot more state of the art features.
1. youtube.com - rare videos as well as free video hosting by all your favorite musicians and other stupid crap.
4. stumbleupon.com - So why is Stumbleupon the most useful web site on the Internet? Wouldn’t Google be more useful? Well folks, as good as Google is, it is a keyword search tool. Stumbleupon is the collective recommendations
rotary engine functions, and how bulletproof armor deflects bullets. I wish I had teachers that were as clear and vivid as this web site! 7. lifehacker.com - Yes, net junkies... Lifehacker is an online community dedicated to people thinking 21st Century. Here is where
2. mega64.com - ever wanted to see your favorite video games acted in real life? Now you can and mega64.com is how. 3. tagworld.com - tired of myspace? start a new online life over at tagworld offers same main idea but
9. wagenschenke.ch/site/ index.htm - The “Home Run” Flash game is silly, dumb, and absolutely addictive! You’ll laugh. You’ll cringe. You’ll want all your friends to try to beat your score. World Record to date is somewhere over 500 meters. Guaranteed to fight boredom or your
of thousands of hours of searching by web users who share your interests. 5. break.com - videos that’ll make you laugh so hard you fall out of your seat! 6. howstuffworks.com - This web site is amazing! See how breast implants are made. Learn how a hurricane really forms. See how a Mazda
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yourself with your mouse bored...
money from this mag back... you get digital knowledge and life knowledge, all in one place! 8. i-am-bored.com - This is such a great time-waster site! Thousands of users vote on what they think are funny and pleasureable places to visit on the Internet. For those days when you are beat
10. happypencil.com - website of artist extrodinaire Cam De Leon you may recognize some of his twisted creations from the Tool video for “Schism” Check out the rest of his works and get ready to be completely freaked out.
Artist ProďŹ le
Hector Perez By: Claire Marquez
Photo of Santos, Vocalist for Flood 23 By: Hector Perez
“I can’t honestly say when my interest for film making began. I’ve always seen images or scenes in my own point of view to appeal interesting and unique. I have always loved watching movies though, they are my foundation of learning the technique of film. At times I am not even paying attention to the actual movie because I’m too busy studying the progressions, transitions, cinematography, etc...My mind is just immersed in the whole process. I love what I do, whether it be with short films, photography, or anything creative in general. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I want to be able to illustrate the purpose of a story and show your eyes and mind what it is I see. I want to be able to create a music video for a band that takes who they are on stage and put that into the hands of their fans. My purpose is to fill my heart with what I love doing...My eyes and vision of perception is what keeps me going, and I will not stop till the day my eyes close forever.” - Hector Perez, 2006
Flood 23- Video Stills
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A New Site For Local & Unsigned Artists
Musicoutlaw.com is for unsigned artists, the venues where they play, and the fans that support them. The goal is to create a site where someone can go to find a good band playing near them, find out about the band, where they are and how to get there. The site is the work of Mark B Rogers and Marco Rios. Rogers came up with the initial ideas, and focuses the direction of the site. Rios helps and creates the site based on those ideas. Currently, musicoutlaw.com has the ability for an artist to create a listing with their name, location and genre. Any registered user can give that artist a rating, which is averaged with the other ratings they have received. In the future, we are planning to have available show dates, song clips, links to sites where you can purchase artists’ music, and a webcast station.
Check it out @ www.musicoutlaw.com
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Artist Profi le
Photos & Interview by Leo “Krayola” Noyola
Hanging with Bentsen Groove Lab @ the Bentsen Groove Lounge was a Riot. Drinking Tequila, Shooting Pool, & watching Jake trying to fart on Albert. No one told me interviews were this fun! Read the Exclusive Story Here!
MagX: Introduce Yourselfs? Jake Cardenas: I play Drums/Percussion Albert Gonzalez: Guitar & Vocals Ronnie Luna: Bass Sam Reyes: Horns (Stand in) MagX: what’s behind the Name Bentsen Groove Lab? Jake: When we mention our bands name to people they are usually like “Huh? What? Huh?” but it’s quite simple really. The “Groove Lab” is our studio where we practice our hit songs and come up with super catchy melodies. The “Bentsen” part of it comes from the simple fact that it’s located on N. Bentsen Rd. in McAllen. MagX: How did BGL meet? Al: Man, Jake & I have known each other for, sh*t how long Jake? Jake: Way too long. Al: Like 10 years almost. All we ever talked about was playing music and making music & loving music. Jake: You’re Gay. Al: We used to make bathroom recordings on stereo tape recorders and mess around with several different instruments but never had a full functioning band. I met Ronnie at a jam session where he played the bass while I
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played the drums. We were both able to collaborate so well that I had to ask him over to Jake’s. I told him “Bring your bass & your soul.” Fortunately he gladly accepted our invitation & has proven to us that he can be a great friend as well as a great musician. MagX: What’s the song writing process like? AL: I wrote all the music. Some songs were written recently & some very long ago. I’m basically a storyteller, I write about everything. expirence, people, events, highs, lows, my wrongs, my rights. I always change it up. There is one song that was co-written with the help of our cool friend Scarpoetica for “Make it Disappear.” She & I have a Lennon/McCartney battle over the song now. MagX: What’s going on with BGL? Jake: I smashed my toe break-dancing. Al: I didn’t know you knew how to break dance. Jake: I don’t. (Laughing) Anyway, we just finished recording a 3 song demo that sounds pretty damn good. We recorded with our good friend Kiddo over
@ Green Flame Studios We’ve always been fans of his projects ( Kactuz/Bread 8/Melmacs/Faves ) growing up. So working with Kiddo was a great pleasure. We will also be playing a 4/20 Bread 8 Reunion Show @ Club Onyx, so check out our site for details. Ron: Our buddy Eman is working with us on a Music Video & has got some very creative ideas for our song “Mid-Summers Night.” It’s going to be a trippy video. MagX: What do you guys do for fun? Ron: I don’t think it’s legal to mention. Jake: Hang around the 1800 bottle paired with ny-
lon acoustic guitars @ our very own “Bentsen Groove Lounge.” Al: Jake is always farting on me. He thinks that’s “fun.” MagX: Niiiice...What’s in your cd player? Al: Foo Fighters Jake: Kings of Convenience Ron: None other than Bentsen groove lab. MagX: If Bentsen groove lab were an animal what would it be? Jake: A Liger, bred for its skills in magic.
New This Month on W.T.F.I.O.? (What the F**k is On?) we take a look at South Park & Comedy Central & MTV2’s Sic’Em Fridays.
Wonder Showzen & Andy Milonakis Season 2 on MTV2
Wonder Showzen is a delightfully dark, yet smartly subversive comedy/variety show, spiked with a team of puppets, kids, cartoons, oldeducational films, and political and social satire. Since premiering on MTV2 in March 2005, it has received glowing accolades from top critics and was recently honored on several 2005 Best of Television lists including Entertainment Weekly and Time.com. Matt Groening, Creator and Executive Producer of The Simpsons, said, “Wonder Showzen is so weirdly funny the top of your head will burst and your skull will fly out.” Arrested Development’s David Cross called the show “the funniest, most subversive comedy on American T.V.” Created by Vernon Chatman and John Lee, Wonder Showzen takes your favorite things about watching TV as a kid and then turns them into a twisted nightmare. Don’t miss Wonder Showzen on Sic’Em Fridays 8:30pm central on MTV2 returning March 31st. Honorable Mention: The Andy Milonakis Show goes into it’s second season as well. Make sure & check out the celebrity cameos.
OH MY GOD, THEY KILLED CHEF!
South Park’s 10th Season premiered & no episode over the last 10 years has drawn more controversy then the Season Premiere & last November’s Trapped in the Closet episode a.k.a. the “Scientology episode” which led Isaac Hayes (the man behind Chef) to stop lending his voice to South Park. Matt Stone (SP Creator) says “This has nothing to do with intolerance and bigotry and everything to do with the fact that Isaac Hayes is a Scientologist and that we recently featured Scientology in an episode of ‘South Park.’ In the ten years and over 150 episodes of ‘South Park,’ Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of other religions, but all of a sudden he gets a case of “religious sensitivity” when it was his religion featured on the show. To bring the civil rights struggle into this is just a non-sequester. Of course we will release Isaac from his contract and we wish him well.” So with Its 10th season premiere Show, the lovable Chef was killed off in a rather spectacular fashion: He fell from a burning bridge, was impaled on a tree stump and then viciously dismembered by a lion and a bear. Make sure to see how far South Park takes it this year. New Episodes on Wednesdays @ 9pm on Comedy Central.
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Artist Profile
“If my photography can influence and inspire, I’ve known I’ve made a difference. Art has the ability to make people motivated and emotional. To be a successful photographer, you have to be one with all your heart. It was after I started filmmaking that I drifted into photography. I hope to achieve a better sense of who I am as a person, as well as the environment around me. As long as I am around people with human emotion and tragedy, I will continue to learn about the subject as the lens sees it, and it will place me a cut above the other shooters.”
www.lnruiz2003.deviantart.com or email her at linda_ruiz03@yahoo.com
By: J3S
The anatomy lesson The MagX crew headed over headed into our local theater to view the muchanticipated V for Vendetta. The movie turned out to be a great one, the type you need to watch from beginning to end with out interruptions. Action, sharp writing, and great acting. Leaving the cinema, with mad anarchistic thoughts running about me head, I thought about writing a bit piece on the man responsible for this amazing tale. His name is Alan Moore. Alan Moore has been credited for bringing a mature outlook on a genre largely considered juvenile. His writing encompasses a sense
of eloquence and thematic elements used before in the comic book medium, but not with such monumental impact. Already an accomplished writer in England, with such books as V for Vendetta, and Marvel Man Moore was offered in the early 80’s a chance to play in DC comics’ sandbox. Moore wove his style on everyone from SUPERMAN, to The Swamp Thing. Twisting and resculpting existing DC characters using adult themes, experimenting with both the taboo, and the controversial. He crafted stories, which blew comic book fans away, and opened the eyes of the entire industry to a whole new ball game. He has since written for just about every major comic company in the industry. I could try to explain the stylings of his writing, his narrative tricks. But that would not adequately prepare you for his books. Moore’s work can only be appreciated in its rawest form, it needs to be read. No movie on screen with a multi-million dollar budget, no star actors. Sadly it was in the mid 80’s that Moore wrote what would be
one of the defining books of all time WATCHMEN. Comic readers hailed it as a masterpiece, but WATCHMEN would also be misinterpreted. Bringing in an extremely dark and violent era to comics. Fortunately for his fans, Moore has not stopped producing work. For anyone out there who is curious, wondering if there is another world of comics that are not your typical “flights and tights”. There is, the world of Alan Moore MagX Reading List: WATCHMEN V FOR VENDETTA FROM HELL BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY MEN AMERICA’S BEST COMICS SWAMP THING MIRACLEMAN/ MARVELMAN
The Bat Tat I had for a while wanted to get a tattoo, but what would be my first choice? Hmm a name of a person? A religious image? Two roosters fighting with a Mexican flag beneath them? Yeah right, it would be BATMAN of course! So we headed over to White Buffalo Tattoos to get me my first ink. Frank greeted us and explained the rules to get a tat. So we started, and 1 1/2 hours later I had the yellow/ black bat symbol on my arm forever! Do I regret it? Hell no, this is my first of five tattoos. Now let’s answer those questions you might have… no it did not hurt, seriously it didn’t. Felt kind of good actually, hmm I might have some issues there. Yes, it is true that they are addicting. And yes I am a geek for getting a BATMAN tattoo. Thanks again to Frank, Eddie, and all the rest of the crew at White Buffalo Tattoos on Pecan in McAlen.
A countdown to summer blockbusters Contest! There are two major movies coming at us this summer, SUPERMAN RETURNS, and XMEN 3. And by the time you read this it will be less than 60 days for both of them. So the countdown has begun, MagX and the fine folks at Cinemark theatres On Nolana (Hollywood USA) have gotten together to give away (2) uncanny prize packs for X3! The prizes include (2) tickets to the very first showing of XMEN3, and a set of promo buttons with the characters of the film. How cool is that?! All you have to do is answer the (3) SUPER easy questions we have for you. The first two winners to e-mail us win. It’s that simple. Winners will be posted here next month. Good luck and don’t forget to TRY to win our other contest. We’ll see everyone at the premier of X3 & Superman returns at Cinemark on Nolana! X3 Contest 1. Who plays wolverine? 2. What was Patrick Stewart character name on Star Trek TNG 3. What color is Beasts’ fur?
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