East Los Punks

Animal, Fruit Punch and Sed

Sed, Fruit Punch and Animal

This is Sed, Fruit Punch and Animal. This is a Photoshopped/Illustrated version designed by friend and local artist, Benny Gonzalez. We’re planning to make stickers, patches and shirts.

I found these guys on First Street near Evergreen Cemetery. It was winter – January of 2008 – in sunny Boyle Heights . While driving east on 1st, I spotted the trio walking past Haru Florist with their $5 pizza from Little Caesar’s. I just so happened to have my digital point-and-shoot camera and turned the corner to stop this fashionably dressed bunch for a photo op. I remember the conversation vaguely but it went something along the lines of this.

Victoria: “Hey guys. Can I take a picture of you? I know it may seem weird but I saw you walking from like 50 feet away and I just had to stop because you guys are dressed so freakin’ cool.”

Fruit Punch: “Yeah. Sure.”

Sed: “Yeah, so how do you want us to pose?”

Victoria: “However. Just stand against the wall. So are you guys off-track? You go to Roosevelt?”

Fruit Punch: “Nah… (laughs)”

Animal: “Yeah, we go to another school.”

As I took their picture, I wondered what minority laws I was breaking by taking their picture. I also wondered what laws they might have broken. I wonder what laws I’m breaking now by posting their picture.

Link to original photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/victoriaemk/2657976077/in/pool-laeastside

23 thoughts on “East Los Punks

  1. Awesome! I love that they had a Little Cesar’s pizza too, oh to be young again!

  2. Damn it all, just post them photos.

    These sort of punks always look better (fashion-wise) than crusties, even though I was much more partial to the crusty/peace-punk look. Although it _is_ just fashion.

  3. Your stickers, patches and shirts will definitely sell like hot cakes (w/soy milk, of course). That is a great image and cool idea. I can see that type of conversation going down too, just as you described. Plus, how can you lose with someone called “Fruit Punch” and “Sed” much less “Animal.” Makes me think of this guy up here in CT who was called “Washing Machine.”

  4. awesome image. if you see them after you sell out of shirts, buy them some more little caesars. that’ll probably make it legaler.

    on a totally tangential note, i had to type this into my computer at work yesterday:

    sed ‘s:/home/\([a-zA-Z]+\)$:\1:’

    wonder what the spiky-haired dude would think of that.

  5. sed ’s:/home/\([a-zA-Z]+\)$:\1:’
    can’t read it. are they some kanji or Star Trek lingo characters?

  6. i don’t know what you mean by legal issues but one of those guys is a friend so ur an idiot for trying to profit off someone else u dont know when they were nice enough to give u their picture.
    by the way just cuz i’m nice i’ll let you know i sent this page to my friend and we’ll see if he likes being exploited.

  7. Chill-ax, Christa. Your friend is not being “exploited.” No paraphernalia has been produced or sold of this image. I even told the trio that their picture would be on a blog one day. If anything, you should be happy for your buddy making it on the world wide web and people actually liking it and talking about it.
    Exploitation is a strong word, especially in the manner you’re using it. Look it up, Christa. You know what, I’m going to look it up online for you on Merriam Webster.

    exploit
    1 : to make productive use of : utilize
    2 : to make use of meanly or unfairly for one’s own advantage

  8. no need for your stupid definitions. i read all of the comments on here and my retort is completely relevant. many comments between you and others are of selling the pictures and using them to produce patches and shirts. you can’t blame anything but your own carelessness for my response.

    even in your original post you bring up the legality of you using the picture. here are TWO things you say that made me think this.- COMMENTS ASIDE.

    “As I took their picture, I wondered what minority laws I was breaking by taking their picture. I also wondered what laws they might have broken. I wonder what laws I’m breaking now by posting their picture.”

    “We’re planning to make stickers, patches and shirts.”

    your defining the word exploit, doesn’t change a thing. i have not used the word wrong at all. by you idicating that you MAY produce t-shirts and patches without permission, you WOULD be unfairly for your own advantage utilizing someone.

    so, don’t belittle me for speaking out when you had it coming. most of these comments on here also point in that direction. They are obviously not in the interest of those kids, so why not assume it is in your own interest? if anything you’re making fun of them for being nice and giving u their picture so fuck you

  9. There’s such a thing as sarcasm. If you read regularly – not just blogs and myspace comments – witty humor in writing for the sake of being witty and humorous is quite prevalent in many, many publications out there. And on TV, too.

    Since you take everything you read literally on this blog, rest assured, there will literally be no profits made off the image of your friend and I will literally stop responding to your pissy and rude comments.

  10. okay…sounds like you should have just done that in the first place.

    you telling me about ‘blogs’, ‘myspace’, and ‘not reading regularly’ just shows that you are pretentious and that u know you’re wrong. you’re resorting to a petty argument since you have no way of knowing anything about me. even if i was in this stupid yuppie, blogger, wannabe-intellectual crowd, it would have no relevance to the validity of my viewpoint or the rational of your argument in any way.

    i’ll stick to the actual point without attacking your character since i don’t know you, although u seem to think u know me.

    just because you have a sarcastic style and way of speaking, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have to fess up to the consequences of your actions.

    sorry if i don’t understand the ‘internet ethics’ code or something. if you want to be so artful and use such ‘witty’ writing styles, you may want to keep your topics fictional where real people aren’t involved so they will be more likely to see it for what it is.

    sorry i did not see the joke. i guess i subscribe to a different brand of humour. Oh, and it wasn’t very nice talking with you either.

  11. ROFL! Actually my nickname was Animal not fruit punch and the pizza boy was Aztec. I remember that day! & Whoever that Christa chick is or was don’t know you don’t care and don’t really give a fuck what was or will be done with this pic. Definitely some goodtimes….

  12. ROFL “Fruit Punch”! I remember this day…..Goodtimes XD
    BTW I can’t help but wonder who the fuck that Christa chick knows/knew. Like the photoshop pic too make me a patch XD

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