Yuridia will have a marathon-like trip through Costa Rica on a visit to promote her latest recording material, “Nada es color de rosa” (Nothing is rosy).

The young woman from “La Academia” (The Academy), will arrive from Mexico’s Federal District or Tuesday and she will be available to meet the press, whether TV or radio, during her four-day stay in the country.

“She will be staying at the Courtyard Marriott in Santa Ana.  She will meet with the media.  She has a tight schedule, but we are trying to open a space so she can spend some time with her fan club,” said Kattia Picado, press officer for Sony Music in Costa Rica.

According Picado, it will depend on whether the singer of “Angel” has time any time left over to do some other type of activity such as taking a trip to another zone in our country.

The Mexican is releasing her third production, which took six months to develop.  The first single is “Irremediable” (Hopeless).  You may have Previously heard “Habla el Corazón” (Speak from Your Heart) and “Entre Mariposas” (Among Butterflies).  This will be her second visit to Costa Rica because she gave her first concert outside of Mexico in 2007 at the Palacio de los Deportes (Sports Palace) in Heredia.

Therefore, if you are a Costa Rican fan of this great singer, you would have to wait and see if you will get to spend any time with her.  We hope that you can because her fame depends on her fans and not on the media.

Luis Lauretta, one of the VJs on the VM Latino in Costa Rica channel, wants this year to end soon because he has not fared well in terms of health.

He was hospitalized for two weeks in a private clinic because he had bacteria in his lungs.  “It was about to turn into pneumonia.  Thank goodness that the medical care was very good.  I am currently in treatment,” said the rock connoisseur.

That’s not all, a few months ago he had a major high blood pressure crisis and he was diagnosed with hypertension.  “Life is like that.  You can die overnight, without notice,” he said. 

Due to his various ailments, he has lost about 9 pounds.  “Thankfully, my family cared for me.  This is where you find out that love does not exist because not one of my former girlfriends called me.”

Well, at the very least, 2009 is winding down.  Perhaps 2010 will have much better things in store for this Costa Rican VJ.  In the meantime, perhaps he should take some time off and go to one of the many beautiful beaches in Costa Rica.  After all, it is almost the end of the rainy season and time for fun in the sun in this part of the world.

The world financial crisis is not all bad news.  There have been some sectors of the economy that have not been affected and others have even managed to grow.  For Costa Rica, as we have stated time and again in our TicosLand.com Internal Costa Rica blog, it is a fact that tourism has declined in a big way.  While this is bad news for Costa Rica, it should not be bad news for those thinking about traveling to Costa Rica for vacation.

The fact is that there are great deals to be had because of the low occupancy rate in hotels.  From now until the middle of November, which is the tourist low season, you are likely to find deals that might include up to 50% off some hotel rates, even those that offer everything included in the price of the room.  Some hotels, such as the DoubleTree by Hilton in El Roble, Puntarenas and Barcelo in Playa Tambor are offering great reductions in their prices in order to fill room vacancies.  If you are more adventuresome, there hotels near the volcanoes that are offering great reductions.

Therefore, take a look at Costa Rica if you are planning to take a tropical vacation.  You might be pleasantly surprised by what you find.  You might also want to visit the TicosLand.com internal Costa Rica blogs and read more about what is going on with the Costa Rican economy and see if there is further news about rate reductions or travel packages.

We took a break from our blog so that we could improve the TicosLand.com Costa Rica website and make it a full reference site.  You can find all sorts of information about Costa Rica on our website now.  You can also post in our internal blogs and forums.  We are glad to be back and we will certainly be keeping you abreast of what’s going on in Costa Rica and the World.

We are also intimately involved with abdicar.com, TicosLand.com’s parent company.  TicosLand.com is an Internet project by abdicar.com.  abdicar.com is an hosting company offering some of the leading prices on the Internet.  Go ahead and take a look and you might find it more profitable for your business to switch hosting and take advantage of all that abdicar.com has to offer.

According to the Associated Press, actress Farrah Fawcett is being treated for anal cancer that has spread to her liver, a producer who worked with the actress said Monday in detailing a more serious situation than has previously been described.

Fawcett’s producer and her doctor said that Fawcett is in a Los Angeles hospital, recovering from complications from a medical procedure in Germany, and is “not on death’s door,” as the producer put it, in separate phone interviews with The Associated Press.

“She had a minor procedure. That procedure led to a small amount of bleeding into a muscle in her abdominal wall,” which created a sac of blood that caused pressure and pain, said her Los Angeles cancer specialist, Dr. Lawrence Piro. It was “a simple procedure” and a standard one, although Fawcett also has pursued experimental treatments in Germany, he added.

“She’s on the mend and will be going home very shortly,” said her producer, Craig Nevius. “She’s doing fantastic. Her fight goes on. … She’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”

However, confirmation that the cancer had spread to such a distant site was dire news. The 62-year-old “Charlie’s Angels” star was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, and originally was treated at UCLA with chemotherapy and radiation — not surgery as some have reported, Nevius said.

She was declared in remission on Feb 2, 2007, but three months later, scans showed “not only had it recurred, it metastasized to her liver,” Nevius said.

The latest treatment in Germany tried to address the cancer’s spread to that organ, he said.

Nevius would not say where in Germany she was being treated, just that it was a clinic affiliated with some hospitals. He also would not give details on her treatments there, but said media reports that she was getting stem cell treatments were false.

“It’s never had anything to do with stem cells,” or alternative treatments like shark cartilage, coffee enemas or unproven “detoxification” diets, Nevius said.

“It’s much more scientific than that. It’s not a fringe treatment,” he said, and the doctors have “multiple, multiple degrees.”

An upcoming documentary Fawcett has worked on for several years, “A Wing and a Prayer,” co-produced with Nevius and others, will air on NBC soon and give details, he said.

After the procedure in Germany, Piro said Fawcett flew back to Los Angeles because she was anxious to come home. “It turned out that the procedure caused a small amount of bleeding in one of the muscles of her abdomen, making a hematoma, which was quite painful.”

Piro, who said he regularly consults with her doctors in Germany, said in a statement released on Monday that Fawcett was using a wheelchair because it was painful for her to walk. “That pain, which was coming from the hematoma, had nothing directly to do with the cancer.”

Added Piro: “She remains in good spirits with her usual sense of humor. She’s been in great shape her whole life and has an incredible resolve and an incredible resilience.”

Nevius said Fawcett is expected to leave the hospital in a few days. He said her support system includes former partner Ryan O’Neal , her father and “Charlie’s Angels” co-stars Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith.

“Let me tell you what she’s not,” Nevius said. “As previously reported by everybody, she’s not unconscious. She is not on death’s door. The family has not gathered to say goodbye.”

Anal cancer is relatively uncommon, but occurs a little more often in women than men. An estimated 5,070 cases were diagnosed in the United States last year, leading to about 680 deaths, according to the American Cancer Society.

Meanwhile, Redmond O’Neal, Fawcett’s son with Ryan O’Neal , was arrested Sunday on suspicion of bringing narcotics into a jail facility and was being held on $25,000 bail.

A deputy at a jail in Castaic, north of Los Angeles, was doing a security sweep of the jail’s parking lot when he stopped the 24-year-old, who admitted he was carrying drugs and was apparently at the jail giving a ride to a friend, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

A phone message left for O’Neal’s attorney wasn’t immediately returned.

O’Neal was arrested along with his father last year at the actor’s Malibu home on suspicion of having methamphetamine while on probation for a previous drug conviction. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.

At Ticosland.com in Costa Rica, we will never forget her for her work in Charlie’s Angels and we wish her the best in these trying times.

Before committing suicide, a gunman barricaded the back door of a community center with his car and then opened fire on a room full of immigrants taking a citizenship class Friday, killing 13 people, officials said.

This was at the very least, the fifth mass shooting in the United States in just the past month and investigators said they had yet to establish a motive for the mass murder.

It was just after 10 a.m. when the attack came at the American Civic Association which is an organization that helps immigrants settle in this country.  The gunman parked his car against the back door, “making sure nobody could escape,” said Police Chief Joseph Zikuski.  The gunman then stormed through the front, shooting two receptionists, apparently without a word.

It is believed that murderer was a Vietnamese immigrant himself, who then entered a room just off the reception area and fired on a citizenship class.

The police chief added, “The people were trying to better themselves, trying to become citizens.”

Four people were critically wounded, a receptionist was killed and the other one, who was shot in the abdomen, pretended to be dead and crawled under a desk and called 911.  According to the Police, they arrived within two minutes.  Unfortunately, the rest of those killed were shot in the classroom.

Authorities said that the Vietnamese immigrant who is believed to have carried out the attack was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an office, a satchel containing ammunition slung around his neck.  Police sources added that there were two handguns found by Police – one was a 9 mm and the other a .45-caliber – as well as a hunting knife.

According to Willima Kates, AP Writer, thirty-seven people in all made it out of the building, including 26 who hid in the boiler room in the basement, cowering there for three hours while police methodically searched the building and tried to determine whether the gunman was still alive and whether he was holding any hostages, Zikuski said. Those in the basement stayed in contact with police by cell phone, switching from one phone to another when their batteries ran out, Zikuski said. Others hid in closets and under desks.

Police heard no gunfire after they arrived but waited for about an hour before entering the building to make sure it was safe for officers. They then spent two hours searching the building.

At one point, police led a number of men out of the building in plastic handcuffs while they tried to sort out the victims from the killer or killers.

Most of the people brought out couldn’t speak English, the chief said.

Alex Galkin, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, said he was taking English classes when he heard a shot and quickly went to the basement with about 20 other people.

“It was just panic,” Galkin said.

Zhanar Tokhtabayeva, a 30-year-old from Kazakhstan, said she was in an English class when she heard a shot and her teacher screamed for everyone to go to the storage room.

“I heard the shots, every shot. I heard no screams, just silence, shooting,” she said. “I heard shooting, very long time, and I was thinking, when will this stop? I was thinking that my life was finished.”

Gov. David Paterson said the massacre was probably “the worst tragedy and senseless crime in the history of this city.” Noting mass killings in Alabama and Oakland, Calif., last month, he said: “When are we going to be able to curb the kind of violence that is so fraught and so rapid that we can’t even keep track of the incidents?”

The community center was holding class “for those who want to become citizens of the United States of America, who wanted to be part of the American Dream, and so tragically may have had that hope thwarted today,” the governor said. “But there still is an American dream, and all of us who are Americans will try to heal this very, very deep wound in the city of Binghamton.”

The suspected gunman carried ID with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong of nearby Johnson City, N.Y., but that was believed to be an alias, said a law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A second law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two handguns were registered to Jiverly Wong, another name the man used. Both officials were not authorized to speak publicly.

Initial reports suggested Voong had recently been let go from IBM. But a person at IBM, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said there was no record of a Jiverly Voong ever working at the company.

The police chief would not confirm the name of the dead man with the ammunition satchel, saying authorities were still trying to establish with certainty that he was the gunman.

“We have no idea what the motive is,” Zikuski said. He said the suspected gunman “was no stranger” to the community center, and may have gone there to take a class.

A woman who answered the phone at a listing for Henry D. Voong said she was Jiverly Voong’s sister but would not give her name. She said her brother had been in the country for 28 years and had citizenship.

“The police just called me and said he got shot,” she said. Asked if she was aware that he might have been involved in the shooting, she said: “How? He didn’t have a gun. I think somebody involved, not him. I think he got shot by somebody else.”

“I think there’s a misunderstanding over here because I want to know, too,” she said.

Friday evening, police searched Voong’s house and carried out three computer hard drives, a brown canvas rifle case, a briefcase, a small suitcase and several paper bags.

Waiting outside a Catholic Charities office where counselors were tending to relatives of victims, Omri Yigal said his wife, Delores, was taking English lessons when the gunman attacked. He had no word on what happened to her.

He finally left the center feeling sullen shortly before 8 p.m.

“They told me they don’t have much hope for me,” the Filipino immigrant said before going home to wait for a telephone call.

The American Civic Association helps immigrants in the Binghamton area with citizenship, resettlement and family reunification. The shootings took place in a neighborhood of homes and small businesses in downtown Binghamton, a city of about 47,000 situated 140 miles northwest of New York City.

The Binghamton area was the home to Endicott-Johnson shoe company and the birthplace of IBM, which between them employed tens of thousands of workers before the shoe company closed a decade ago and IBM downsized in recent years.

A string of attacks in the U.S. in the last month left 44 people dead in all.

A gunman killed 10 people and himself in Samson, Ala.; shootings that began with a traffic stop in Oakland, Calif., left four police officers and the gunman dead; an apparent murder-suicide in Santa Clara, Calif., left six dead; and a gunman went on a rampage at a nursing home Sunday, killing seven elderly residents and a nurse who cared for them.

This is a phenomenon not yet seen in Costa Rica by TicosLand.com.  In this hour of grief, we send our condolences to the friends and family of those whose lives were cut short by another unspeakable act of violence.

Educational Centers with Blue Flag

On Tuesday, awards were handed to those in Costa Rica who are fighting for environmental conservation and are generating actions to care for resources such as water.

This year the National Blue Flag Program awarded 406 prizes even though 601 centers had registered to participate.

High School students receive university counseling.

In Costa Rica, some universities apply community services as a requirement for graduation.  It is under this scheme that psychology and social work students are carrying out their community work in high schools.

The initiative is by fostered by the Youth Action Foundation, benefiting 1186 high school students.  The university students must spend 150 hours in community service, and it is students how are on scholarship from the Venture program of the Ministry of Public Education who benefit.

Costa Rica Besieged by Paparazzi

If you are wondering why the paparazzi want to come to Costa Rica, this is due to the second marriage between the world’s best paid model Gisele Bündchen and football player Tom Brady, which will be done in the country and is making hundreds of agencies around the world send their paparazzi to the area of Santa Teresa, where the Brazilian has a home.

You can read this and much more about Costa Rica in our TicosLand.com internal blogs and forums.

In an effort to try to rise from the ruins once again, Chrysler LLC has reached a framework agreement on a global alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) which has the U.S. Treasury’s support, Chrysler’s CEO Bob Nardelli said on Monday.

Nardelli said in a statement, “We appreciate the willingness of the (autos) Task Force, along with industry and financial experts, to consult closely with us in order to achieve this significant step.”

Private equity Cerberus Capital Management owns Chrysler, but it was deemed not viable as a stand-alone company by the task force and was given 30 days to complete an alliance with Fiat or be cut off from U.S. government funding.

The U.S. Treasury would consider investing up to another $6 billion, if Chrysler can complete an alliance with Fiat and cost-saving arrangements with creditors and its major union.

People who have knowledge of the discussions have said that the boards of Chrysler and Fiat have given executives approval to complete an alliance that now hinges on the terms for additional aid for Chrysler.

For those who don’t remember, Chrysler was saved from the brink of bankruptcy in the period from 1979-1981 and perhaps reshaped the automotive industry and business-government relationships, which is perhaps we are right back where we started from.  In July 1979, then Chrysler Chair man John Riccardo went public with Chrysler’s problems.  He admitted in a press conference that Chrysler was so deep in the red that Chrysler owed nearly 10% of all US corporate debt ($4 billion).  We all know the ending, losses kept mounting, Chrysler cars remained unsold in car lots, and in stepped Lee Iacocca to save the day.

Perhaps that oversimplifies things, but it gives a general idea of the situation which is really not that far from what is going on today.  It was Jimmy Carter who had to fight with Congress over the amount of the bailout bill.

One can look at Iacocca’s warnings back then…”the need for assistance is very real” and it is essential that the legislation move through Congress as quickly as possible,” and see them reverberate globally.  Lest we forget, it was then GM Chairman Thomas Murphy who said, “I do not think that is (the bailout) in accordance with what made this country great,” but they came calling at the government’s door some 30 years later.

At TicosLand.com, we like to keep our readers in Costa Rica and all over the world informed.

According to the London Times online, Sean Penn is set to perform slapstick as one of The Three Stooges.  The two-time Oscar winning actor is said to be in line to play the part of Larry Fine in a feature about the famous vaudeville trio.  The Three Stooges have always been popular with kids and adults alike who never get tired of watching Moe poke, slap and otherwise try to maim Larry and Curly, yet never managing to do so.

It is alleged that Penn will appear with Benicio de Toro as Moe and Jim Carrey as Curly.  We don’t know how likely that is, but it sounds like a stellar cast.  However, it leaves TicosLand.com wondering just how well the Stooges’ slapstick and inimitable timing will carry over to this new age of gizmos and effects.  The Stooges were not about effects.  They were about as vaudeville and slapstick as you could possible get.

In any event, the film is set to be directed by the Farrelly brothers of Dumb and Dumber, Stuck on You and There’s Something About Mary fame, among others.  They are said to have wanted to make this movie for more than a decade.  It was originally intended to have three Stooge-type shorts, but it appears that they are going to make it a feature film.  However, it will not be a biopic but a comedy based on the lives of the popular trio, Variety magazine said.

It’s still up in the air as to who will play Curly because Jim Carrey is still in negotiations to star as the Stooge of Stooges, who was known for his hitch-pitched voice and his “nyuk nyuk nyuk” catchphrase.  However, at TicosLand.com Costa Rica, we are hoping that everything comes together and he takes the part of Curly because we believe he would be someone who could possibly do justice to the role.  It might help that Carrey has done movies with the Farrelly brothers twice before.  He is reported to have begun planning to gain the 40lb needed to play Curly.

I am sure that we all remember the fantastic scenes with Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) and Mr. Arnold Hand (Ray Walston, My Favorite Martian) in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  Even though Penn has been playing in dramas since 1989 (We’re No Angels), he is a comedic talent.

We talked about Danica McKellar getting married yesterday.  Anyone who watched the Wonder Years from 1988 to 1993 can’t help but remember Winnie Cooper and Kevin Arnold’s on again off again puppy love affair.  Have you ever wondered what happened to the rest of the cast?  You can go ahead and find out on the AOL television web page.  And just to put an end once and for all to the urban legend that Josh Saviano, aka Paul Pfiffer, is Marilyn Manson, you can catch up with him on AOL.  It’s even scarier than you thought.  He is now an attorney.

And while we are catching up on former TV stars, did anyone catch Valerie Bertinelli wearing a bikini on the People Magazine Cover?  Take a look.  Those of you who remember the 70s can’t help but remember Valerie on One Day at a Time. The series ran from 1975 to 1984 and she was on all but two episodes.  For those of you who don’t remember, she was Barbara Cooper Romano on the show.

She is also famous for having been married to Eddie Van Halen at the peak of the Van Halen years.  They were married in 1981.  They had a son, Wolfgang William Van Halen on March 16, 1991.  However, on July 9, 2002, they announced that they had been separated since October 2001.  She filed for divorce on December 5, 2005 and it was finalized on December 20, 2007.  Sorry guys, but she has been involved with Tom Vitale since 2004.

Anyway, it seems that Valerie had not worn a bikini in public for almost 30 years.  Nine months ago, she was carrying 172 pounds on her 5′4″ frame.  She decided to go on Jenny Craig and start exercising and she lost 40 pounds to get to her photo shoot weight of 132 pounds.  There are a lot more Valerie Bertinelli pictures on the Interne t so you can really see the transformation.

It’s great, from time to time, to take a look back and remember the great TV shows and ask whatever happened to…?  At TicosLand.com in Costa Rica, we hope to do this every once in a while and keep you informed and abreast of what’s going on in entertainment.