Monthly Archives: June 2008

Sunset Junction Street Fair 2008 Acts

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For those of us who like to plan our weekends over 2 months in advance, I’ve gotten hold of some advance chisme on the musical lineup for this year’s Annual Sunset Junction Street Fair taking place Saturday & Sunday August 23 & Aug 24 in Silver Lake (over on the Westside). Here’s some of the headliners for both nights….

Saturday, Aug 23

Hoover Stage

6:00pm Arthur Adams

7:30pm Michael Henderson

8:00pm Jeane Carne

9:30pm Isaac Hayes

 

Sanborn Stage

8:00pm Notch

9:30pm Antibalas AfroBeat Orchestra

 

Bates Stage

8:00pm Broken Social Scene

9:30pm Cold War Kids

 

Sunday Aug 4

Hoover Stage

7:00pm Jeffrey Osborne

8:00pm Stephanie Mills

 

Sanborn Stage

6:30pm Sister Nancy

8:00pm Kinky

 

Bates Stage

6:45pm Chk Chk Chk!!!

8:30pm Black Keys

 

 

My Sunday at the BEA

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Marcel Dzama

Last weekend was the Book Expo America, the book publishing world’s big annual convention where booksellers and librarians get to hobnob with authors and celebrities. It comes every four years or so to Los Angeles and for the second time, I was able to score a free ticket, yay! The perks of attending the convention are the free books, the author signings and the so-called parties. If standing in line for an hour to get Garrison Keillor’s autograph sounds like a good time to you, the BEA just might be your thing. Personally, I can do without the James Pattersons and Dean Koontz of the literary world and I had no inclination to listen to Anderson Cooper blabber on, so my quest was to search out the hidden booths of indie publishers, while trying to stay clear of the Harlequin Romance aisle. I scored a few good books along with some cool Marcel Dzama trading cards (above) from Mc Sweeney’s and a nice Bookforum tote bag.

Here are some titles I found at the event that looked promising, some are new and some have been around for awhile:

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¿Cómo están?

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Hello everyone!! I just wanted to introduce my self to all you LA East side readers and authors. My friends call me Lia or my swapmeet slash blog name is Doña Junta. I also post up with my elote carrito over on my blog st Swapmeet Chronicles

Before I get into blogging about the LA stilo and since I am new here, I wanted to share with you  all a few of my personal pictures from my  recent trip to Zacatecas, Mexico. It was my first time going back after 16 years, so I was super excited to actually appreciate the culture and not whine like I did the the last time I went as a kid. It was definitely soo much better as an adult and I hope to go back again soon!

I went to the little town of Tepechitlan, Zacatecas it is about 3 hours from the  city of Guadalajara. Both my mom and pops came from that same town but different ranches in the vicinity.

Welcome

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Tacos de Papa Round-up

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You meat eaters don’t know how hard it is to be a vegetarian wanting to go out for Mexican food; mostly the choices tend to be breakfast dishes, bean and cheese burritos, enchiladas de queso, chiles rellenos, or the always boring Vegetarian burritos which are basically the bean and cheese with some added lettuce. (Don’t even mention vegan, that gets much more difficult.) So when a place has potato tacos it feels like they care about us carrot munchers, but we know its just a cheap and easy item to include on the menu. But still, I always appreciate seeing these on a menu. So when I finally had the courage to eat at the place named “My Taco” (jajaja!!!) I was quite blown away with the tasty tacos de papa.

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One hour Walk-Out

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Working as a Teacher’s Aide at Lincoln High School I’ve been hearing a lot of talk of budget cutbacks as well as very probable layoffs for teachers. When I hear how many teachers may be layed off I wonder how the LAUSD supposes Lincoln High School will manage to function with less teachers in a student body of 3000+ kids! In response the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) organized a one hour walk-out for teachers, dubbed: One Hour’s Pay for Our Kids. Even though I am not in the UTLA I also participated out there on the sidewalk of Broadway. I am pretty sure that almost every teacher was out there, plus the support of some students!

After the jump, some photos:

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Laugh now

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Need some entertainment at work? Want to forget the Lakers’ loss but not enough to forget about the whole series and the next game this Sunday? Tired after waking from a nap under that nice, shady saguaro I’ve been eyeing all week and you’ve never left? [Ed. note: ¡Culero!]

Months ago, one of my favorite blogs, Guanabee, posted a music video of the song “Homegurlz” by Los Angeles-based singer La La. According to her MySpace, she’s from Van Nuys. I don’t know much more about her because I don’t follow her career.

Anygüey, Guanabee’s post featuring her video mostly poked fun at it by pointing out the clichés present in the video:

We appreciate her not missing one chicano cliché in this video, either. See if you can spot them all, won’t you?

In my infinite quest to do nothing of importance, I answered their call and wrote all the clichés I found after two viewings:

1. Raised by abuelita
2. Virgen de Guadalupe mural
3. Necklace with name
4. Those nails!
5. All the religious iconography
6. Mexican flag
7. Pictures of her friends around the mirror
8. The can of hairspray by her mirror
9. there’s a charro at the beginning
10. lowrider
11. Old-school baseball cap in your gang color
12. the Oldsmobile
13. the small meals with the large ass drinks
14. The single mamacitas reference (2:30)
15. rosary around the neck and that pompadour (I think)
16. All those damn gold bracelets.
17. The pristine white shoes. At the beach.
18. that purple sweater (go lakers!)

I just noticed the Barbie doll in the vestido tradicional at the beginning. I f****** love this video.

Other commenters at the site pointed out a few that I missed (namely, the Homies figures). Are there any more Chicano clichés you see in this video? Do share in the comments section. If we can’t laugh at our selves/former selves/community, then where do we turn for humor?

Watch the video here. I can’t seem to embed it. Boo!

Study says: Hispanic teens PARTY way too much…

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Seems we can’t get a break. We are looked at or portrayed as if we are undocumented, meek, sellouts, uneducated, gangsters, and now a study says our teens are doing more drugs, having more sex and most likely to commit suicide than other groups.

Hispanic teens try drugs, suicide at higher rates

By MIKE STOBBE – 22 hours ago

ATLANTA (AP) — Hispanic high school students use drugs and attempt suicide at higher rates than their black and white classmates, according to a new federal survey that shows a continuation of a disturbing trend.

(and then)

“In addition, Hispanic students were more likely than either blacks or whites to attempt suicide, ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol, or use cocaine, heroin or ecstasy.”

(and then)

“Experts were unable to come up with an explanation for why Hispanic behavior trends differed. However, they speculated that school environments many Hispanics face may differ considerably from what adolescents of other races encounter. Earlier research found that Hispanics and blacks more commonly attend highly segregated schools than whites or Asians.” Continue reading →

AGUAS, GUEY!!!

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…I read this item today from the Associated Press………

Hispanics dying on job at higher rates than others

By MIKE STOBBE (AP Medical Writer)
From Associated Press

June 05, 2008 11:46 AM EST

ATLANTA – Hispanic workers die at higher rates than other laborers, with 1 in 3 of these deaths occurring in the construction industry, a government study reported Thursday.

Hispanics tend to hold more high-risk jobs than those in other racial groups, but language and literacy barriers and poor training and supervision may also be factors, researchers said. The leading causes of death in recent years have been falls and highway-related accidents.

“Many of the Hispanic workers in construction are undocumented, and many of those who are recently arrived do face a language barrier,” said Rakesh Kochhar, associated director for research at the Pew Hispanic Center. “A language barrier hinders understanding of a job, or the risks associated with it, or safety precautions,” said Kochhar, who was not part of the new study”.

 

Hey, I would like to think that our Non-English speaking Paisano workers don’t need translated warnings such as: “No Atraviese el Freeway Mientras Vienen Carros”, or “No Se Tiren De La Azotea” in order to avoid accidents. I also don’t believe that a lack of English literacy equals a lack of common sense. I like to think that these guys have as much good sense and sufficient work skills & survival instincts as anyone else. Perhaps there’s just greater numbers of Non-English speaking workforce out there today with a greater exposure to hazardous working conditions? Or, more conspiratorily, perhaps worksite management isn’t as vigilant to all safety guidelines when these hard working, but non-english speaking, paisas are on the job? Who Knows? I just think that these workers deserve a little more credit than this study by some East Coast researchers would imply.

article: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/

 

Rolling in the Aisles at LACMA

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A few years ago I was wandering the halls at LACMA when I came upon the unmistakeable figure of Mr. Cheech Marin lounging nonchalantly among the art pieces. I stopped, trying to formulate how to put almost 40 years of personal gratitude and adulation into a simple, non-intrusive sentence, when he turned towards me, smiling, with his eyes squinting into those impossibly thin slits, and croaked: “What’s up, Dude”? At that moment, It dawned on me that all I had to say back to him was “What’s up, Man?” right back, and just let the sincerity and genuine affection in my voice speak for itself. There’s no need for ceremony when you meet a genuine “Dude”. And Mr. Marin is just that. Having read in JUXTAPOSE magazine about his intense personal collection of Chicano Art, I asked him about it, and he told me about having his collection on a nationwide traveling exhibition. The guy has great taste. Now, here’s a chance or us to see some of that classic Chicano artwork through Cheech’s squinty eyes.

pictured above: Chaz Bojórquez, Chino Latino, 2000, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 in., collection of Cheech Marin

Los Angelenos/Chicano Painters of L.A.: Selections from the Cheech Marin Collection

June 15, 2008–November 2, 2008 | LACMA West

The Cheech Marin collection is notable for classic examples of Chicano art produced from the inception of the Chicano movement to the present, with a concentration in painting from the 1980s and 90s. This exhibition will present significant paintings and works on paper by such Los Angeles-based Chicana/o artists as Carlos Almaraz, Chaz Bojorquez, Diane Gamboa, Gronk, Gilbert “Magu” Lujan, Frank Romero, John Valadez, and Patssi Valdez.

Discussion | Cheech Marin and Chon Noriega 

Sunday, June 22 | 2 pm

Chon Noriega, UCLA professor and LACMA adjunct curator, and art collector/actor/activist Cheech Marin discuss the current state of Chicano art. Additionally, they address the place of Chicano art in history, Marin’s own collection, and developing the Latino audience. This conversation is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Los Angelenos/Chicano Painters of L.A.: Selections from the Cheech Marin Collection, which opens June 15.

Bing Theater | Free, no reservations | Don’t go straight to this show

www.lacma.org/art/ExhibMarin.aspx

 

 

 

 

Más Éxitos @ The Verdugo Bar

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Being that there’s been so much drama-for-your-mama on this blog lately I thought I would post something that might cheer some of us up. A friend of mine, with a few friends of his own, has just started this event at the Verdugo bar with music, as he puts it, “belongs in the neighborhood.” The Verdugo bar is in Glassell park. I’ll be there. Enjoy.

Firme

Also, the Verdugo bar has an amazing beer selection on tap.