Monthly Archives: June 2009

Landscape Architecture 101

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It sometimes is good to have friends.  A couple of years back I was doing some paperwork in my ranfla down by one of my favorite places to access the LA river (EC has to know this one) when something caught my eye:

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Little neatly carved steps cut out of the clay earth that would easily be skipped by most.  Actually I skipped it for years, as I had been coming down here for decades and never noticed one of the places that makes LA so great.  So I got out of my carucha to investigate, because as many an Eastsider will tell ya: the river makes for good stories, even the most boring river moments are never dull.  As I walked over to the stairs I noticed a peculiar sign:

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This is the edited sign that is more public-friendly.  The original one I first saw read “don’t piss, shit in bamboo fucken crackhead assholes, no rocks here,” or something to that effect.  By this time I was enamored, the socio-barrio-urbanophile meter in me was registering off the charts, which has never let me down.

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One small step for a man, one giant leap for lunch trucks

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As some of you might have read in the L.A. Times, the taco truck wars continue to rage on, but on this fine day the Asociacion de Loncheros La Familia Unida de California had two reasons to celebrate. Not only did they get that BS over turned with the help of some UCLA grad students, but on June 11, 2008 the union embarked on a long journey that has resulted in  an official union in the state of California. How freaking awesome is that ?!?!?!?! One year later and not only are they making progress, but they are making strides in bringing respect and dignity back to the lunch trucks, its workers and its owners.

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Lakers Fans In Eastside Riot!

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Some Lakers fans went a little bonkers last night in the Eastside as they celebrated a victory over the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. This video shows them at the intersection of Atlantic Ave. & Whittier Blvd. where they proceeded to physically rock vehicles stopped at the intersection in their frenzy. No major damage was reported, but they did manage to scare the shit out of some poor viejitas who were cruising by. I interviewed a distraught “La Tia Concha” at the scene who had her churro wagon overturned; “These Vatos were crazy, homes!“, she added, “They were rocking all of these vehicles back and forth! I thought it was LA Migra trying to shake any illegals out of the cars!” Some local news reports announced: “These Lakers fans can’t count! the team has only won 3 games!” But I believe that this is just another case of typical L.A. sports fans who want to get their rioting done early and beat the traffic.

Roots that grow in the LA Eastside

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Interesting article in the El Paso Times about the 1949 Texas State Baseball Champions from the famous Bowie High School in El Paso.  They endured and became champions in  spite of the oppressive discrimination and prejudice in Texas. Many of our Eastside families have roots in El Paso/Juarez and for many years several bus loads of LA Eastside  residents would head back to El Paso for the Bowie High School Reunions. The area of El Paso where Bowie High School is located is called by many “Little East LA.” And every time I’m in El Paso I visit friends in this area and I’m amazed at how similar it is to the LA Eastside, although on a much smaller scale. Great food to be found there too.

Bowie ’49 title team rooting for Socorro – By Bill Knight / El Paso Times

EL PASO — They got off the bus, one by one. A small crowd waited for them at the bus station. View Full Story

For The Record…..

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In regards to this whole Eastside vs. Westside discussion, I want to restate something that keeps getting ignored and lost in the scuffle. I have said this many times in the past, but I thought perhaps, this merits it’s own post. SOME people seem to need to have things plainly spelled out for them (and even then, ‘stan pendejos sometimes!). I shall repeat this for the LAST TIME. Speaking for myself, my point of view and belief is that…..

THIS IS NOT AN EASTSIDE CHICANOS vs. WHITE PEOPLE THING!

THIS IS NOT AN EASTSIDERS vs. WESTSIDERS THING!

THIS IS NOT AN EASTSIDERS vs. NEWBIES THING!

THIS IS AN EASTSIDERS vs. A FEW IGNORANT AND/OR INSENSITIVE SCHMUCKS THING!

…THE LAST TIME I CHECKED, I FOUND THAT ABOUT 90% OF WHITES AND WESTSIDERS (and even most NEWBIES) HERE IN L.A. ARE TOTALLY COOL HUMAN BEINGS WHO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ALL OF THIS!

I hope this provokes some of you to rethink your oversimplistic conclusions. As for the majority of you readers who do get it, Thanks! 🙂

EXTRA! BREAKING NEWS ON EASTSIDE-WESTSIDE CONTROVERSY!

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Al Desmadre here, reporting from Silver Lake, CA. This evening, (Wed. June 10, 2009 at approximately 7:00pm PST) at a public meeting of the SILVER LAKE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION held here in Silver Lake, 4th District City Councilmember Tom LaBonge made a stunning and revealing statement that I believe calls for an L.A. Eastside Extra! AY! Witness News Report!

But first, a little background on Councilmember LaBonge.….

Thomas J. LaBonge born in Silver Lake, Ca., he is a member of the L.A. City Council and represents the 4th district. His district stretches from North Hollywood to Hollywood and Griffith Park and Wilshire Blvd. He is Chairman of the Arts, Parks, Health and Aging committee, Vice Chairman of the Public Works Committee, and member of the Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee and the Ad Hoc River Committee for our city. Before he was councilman,  Tom LaBonge was Director of Community Relations at the Department of Water and Power, Special Assistant to Mayor Riordan, and Chief Deputy to Council President John Ferraro. Tom LaBonge calls himself the Cheerleader of Los Angeles. His reputation for adding history lessons in City Council meetings is well known. A graduate of John Marshall High School, Tom LaBonge received his Bachelor degree in sociology from Cal State L.A. Some call him “Mr. Los Angeles“. Believe me, this man knows and loves this city like no other.

So, tonight, as Councilmember LaBonge spoke to those of us in attendance describing how a number of Westsiders have been moving into his and Councilmember Garcetti’s 13th District, he was heard to announce;

“By the way, THIS IS NOT THE EASTSIDE!, Silver Lake, Los Feliz,…That is not THE EASTSIDE.”

WOW! HA! HA! Well, you could have knocked me over with one of the empty paper cups from INTELLIGENTRIA Coffee Shop that I find strewn on my lawn every day!!!… So- I couldn’t wait to spill this news here! Requests have been made to Mr. LaBonge to follow up on his statement, and I will add any additional info from him as it becomes available. In the meantime, all of you hipster wannabees in SL/EP/LF calling yourselves eastsiders, can continue to BITE ME! 🙂

What happened to Broadway?

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I am kind of sick of all this gentrification speculation about the Eastside being white-washed. It will take a lot more Clorox and wood-fire baked pizza to change East Los than yuppies have yet to offer in the American Southwest, so I don’t sit at home biting my nails that Nana will be evicted (well actually, she won’t, the house was paid for by Tata’s VA loan for pre-storming Normandy in WWII).  Even so, chuppies (chicano yuppies, a.k.a.  chicanos with degrees) have already gentrified these areas, but they are ingrained in the cultura and still buy elotes, so it isn’t as much a hard fit (in fact, I would say the same about Whites who are genuinely down with these areas).  Not that the genuine concerns of locals doesn’t matter or isn’t valid, but I think we need to focus on the tangible changes gentrification has already brought to the Latinoscapes of Los Angeles, specifically the Eastside’s center of gravity: Downtown.

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I am actually ALL for the demographic diversification of Los Angeles; even my beloved Eastlos with all its sheltered ethnic enclave delights.  The truth is the quality of life in East Los has degraded since its multicultural times of yore, and although ignorant pundits of conservative mantras have tried to pin it on Mexicans since the decline coincided with the rise in Latino immigration; it is much more obvious that the downward slide had much more to do with the middle class drain on the community that began with White Flight and continued with the ban on segregated housing covenants in 1955 (thats when my grandparents moved to the newer Maravilla housing tract on the Monterey Park/East Los border, as did many East Los middle class residents).  Along with the decline in more economically stable residents, came the decline and eventual outright withdrawal of Corporate America, and the amenities that come with them, from this area.  This decline in economic revenue as well as citizens with the resources to devote their extra time and energy to improving the community had a devastating toll on the community.

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My solution for June gloom

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Huevos Rancheros. I took a page from Chavo as I was feeling all bleh because I had to go to work. So I decided to get up an hour earlier and I made my way to Jim’s Burgers. I didn’t feel like pancakes that morning so I thought to myself, What would Chavo Do ? “Buenos dias muchacho, que le doy ? ” Buenos dias, deme uuuuunnnnnnnoooooossssssss huevos rancheros con un cafe grande por favor. Damn did they ever hit the spot. They may look like a nuclear accident, but don’t judge a book by its cover. These huevos were good. The tomato sauce and healthy helping of cheese made it a messy meal, but damn worth it. The rice and beans were fine and the tortillas as well. Nothing fancy there. But if you’re looking to get rid of that June gloom and eat something so wrong that it feels right, call me up and we’ll meet at Jim’s.

LA Hungry 4 Education

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The flyer pretty much sums it up ; Lincoln High School Teachers/Faculty and more are protesting @ Lincoln High School through the evening…and into the morning. This is late notice but  be sure to spread the word that such an ACTION is happening. These sort of ACTIONS lose any power if no one knows about them! This also late news but bestselling writer, Luis J. Rodriguez, author of “Always Running” will be there at 8pm tonight!

Follow this link for more info.

The Los Angeles Derby Dolls

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Ever since I first got word that there was a roller derby league in Los Angeles a few years back, I embarked on a quest to experience the awe inspiring, fast paced action that is the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. The derby dolls are some of the toughest women I have ever seen because this is a FULL CONTACT sport. They put themselves on the line every game and they give it everything they have with every jam.

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Free Clothes and Donuts!

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This is a reminder that Plaza Community Services FREE clothing event is on schedule and will occur RAIN OR SHINE! A big tent will be in place to make sure everyone is comfortable. The event will take place at 4018 City Terrace Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90063 from 9am to noon. We recommend individuals be in line before 9am. Call Cecilia Mercado at (323) 267-9749 or e-mail her at cmercado@plazacs.org for questions.

Good news! A donor was kind enough to provide FREE donuts; coffee and milk to every person in line. 5,000 clothing items have been collected and we’re excited about giving it all away! We want to make sure everyone that needs clothing knows of the event.

Where was that?

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laehealing
(Look what I found today: our very own healing center!)

If you read the comments on my post mentioning the LA Times article regarding the location of the Eastside, or the comments at the LAT article, the public seems squarely to agree it’s East of the river. A few wackos still think it’s somewhere near Hollywood but for the most part, the people are knowledgeable. Maybe it’s cuz all the hipsters and real estate agents were too busy styling their hair to leave comments!

Ahh, that was cold. And mean. I apologize.

Better yet, since they didn’t get a chance to voice their opinions, I’m going to do something really brash and irresponsible: I’m going to let Democracy work its magic!

Using the basic principals of the democratic process I’ve conjured up this poll below where you can all decide for yourselves, without having to leave the comfort of your milk crate, the location of the Eastside. Yes, I’m going to get into BIG trouble for arbitrarily renaming a place but whatever, I just want us all to heal and for Los Angeles to be as united and understanding of each other as we’ve always been. Maybe we can even schedule a hug-fest over on the 6th St bridge?  I’m getting carried away, choked up, and ahead of myself thinking about the rekindling of our friendships. So let’s get started! For the last and final time, winner takes all, decide: Where is the Eastside?

[poll id=”1″]

Oops, looks like the poll plugin messed up the commenting option! Working on it…

Update: Should be fixed, let the healing comments continue!