I love L.A. and there is nothing I would change about this beautiful city, except maybe peoples attitudes but that’s another story. Gallery 727 and Department of Architecture at the Royal University Collage of Fine Arts in Stockholm and the Latino Urban Forum present what will be a great show on how L.A. can survive without fossil fuel.
I am ecstatic about the 15th Annual East LA Chican@ Film Festival, Cine sin fin this year. I never really heard about it until last year and from looking at past years, a lot of great movies have been screened here. This year all the movies that are to be screened are in one location in Boyle Heights, Casa 0101. See ya there. Bring Popcorn, tapatio and limon. 🙂
Screening Dates: Nov. 12, 13, 14, 20 and 21
Film and Event Program Schedule:
Thursday, Nov. 12th, VIP Reception, 7 pm
Special Screening: Casa Libre (Documentary – Dir. by Roberto S. Oregel) at Brooklyn & Boyle, 2003 East 1st St., LA, CA 9033
Friday, Nov. 13th,
Silent Shame (Feature- Dir. by Dalia Tapia) & Opening Night Party. 8 pm at Casa 0101 Annex, 2102 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Saturday, Nov. 14th, • Documentary Focus, 8 pm
Purepecha: Poorest of the Poor (Documentary Short – Dir. by Cheryl Quintanta Leader)
As Long As I Remember: American Veteranos (Feature Documentary – Dir. by Laura Varela) at Casa 0101 Annex, 2102 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA, 90033
Friday, Nov. 20, 8 pm
Reel Polemic (Short – Dir. by Elias Serna)
Intimidad (Feature – Dir. by Ashley Sabin) at Casa 0101 Annex, 2102 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Saturday, Nov. 21, 8 pm
Tijuaneros (Short – Dir. by Paul Bobadilla)
Between Stories (Feature – Dir. by Domingo Vara) at Casa 0101 Annex, 2102 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Contact:
A La Brava Producciones Revolucionarias
673 South Fickett St.
Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323) 265-2344
cinesinfin@gmail.com
www.alabrava.com
Even though I missed this years fashion show at Tropico de Nopal, which I continue to kick myself for, I found some pics on flickr from photog LA-dude-taking pics. He got some great shots from behind the scenes tambien, which I would do anything to be able to go back stage and do what he did. Anything !! Any-who, I noticed the new pics that were uploaded on the LAEastside flickr pool.
Off Valley Blvd and Eastern Avenue, East Los Angeles
Get ready boys and girls for a thrilling episode of El Verde! Meet mild mannered Arturo Sanchez, born as an alien from the not so far away world of Mexico and raised in the good old U.S. of A. All Arturo ever wanted was to live an ordinary life, but after a freak elote accident, Arturo became…El Verde!!! Join us as we go back, way back, to see how it all began. This November, TeAda Productions will present EL VERDE ORIGINS. Watch as Arturo becomes the superhero who fights for truth, justice, and the Mexican-American way! Then watch him as he battles the evil La Quinceaera with her ultimate plot to destroy the world.  Yes, EL VERDE is the live superhero show that’s fun for the whole family. If you’ve never been to an EL VERDE show before, be sure not to miss this one. EL VERDE ORIGINS is supported in part by a cultural grant from the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE !!!
| Miles Memorial Playhouse 1130 Lincoln Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90403 |
I missed out on Halloween in LA again this year, but I ended up getting a bit of a taste of it down south in Mexico. Like WALT! I’ve always been a fan of the holiday, mostly for the trick or treaters, and until just a few years ago, the trick or treating! Yeah, IÂ was older than the average TOT and people laughed at me, but it has always been fun getting a chance to pester people at home and harass them for some goods. I was once chased off a porch by some old fart with threats of calling the police. He thought I was too old for candy and didn’t see the humor of me cursing his home and hexing the family with a year of bad luck. Serves him right. Then there’s that lady in Lincoln Heights that deliberately makes her house seem open for trick or treaters every year only to trap people with some BS about “Jesus injections”. My tirade against her was even more special, but let’s just leave it at that.
Now it must be said that many proper Chicanos and Mexicans see the spreading of the Halloween tradition down south as a form of Cultural Imperialism, and they claim it will displace the traditional practices of Dia de Muertos in the country. I disagre. Mexicans have taken the holiday and interpreted it in ways that fits their needs, making it their own. If anything the two different traditions have mingled to make it a season that the whole family can look forward to, instead of just the adults. Anyone that claims they “enjoyed” Dia de Muertos as a kid, which basically means going to the cemetary and watching the grandparents do their thing, is a fucking liar. Yeah, you heard me. I can appreciate it now as an adult but someones gotta stand up for the bored kids!
I’m gonna get some shit from the Chicano Militants about how wrong I am but they’ve been telling me that for a long time, y me vale. Halloween has made its way to Mexico and its going to stay. Make your piece with that aspect of a changing culture and your traditional practices will only get stronger. I’m more worried that it will disappear in LA with it becoming more of a party night for adults that want to play dressup WITH ABSOLUTELY NO TRICK OR TREATING INVOLVED! Or worst, just another consumer holiday where you buy all your props and costumes, and go to safe environments like the Shopping Maul to pretend to participate in an ancient tradition. Now that’s the sort of cultural imperialism I worry about. If you can’t be creative on Halloween you are hereby ordered to soap your own windows.
Ok, all that useless text just to show you some pics of some Trick or Treating in Patzcuaro, Mexico. A little late, yes, pero que se le puede hacer?
Dinero, dulces o trucos: queremos nuestro Halloween!
Can you believe it’s time for the East Los Angeles Classic all over again ? I can’t because this year has just flown by. Serio. The other day I thought it was February. This year the classic is going to be turning 75 years old so both schools are going to be pulling out the stops.
The 36th annual Dia de los Muertos event was held at the East LA Civic Center on Monday, November 2. An incredible gathering of a few thousand, the use of green space around the lake and the lake’s floating stage gave East LA a taste of Woodstock – in my humble opinion – without the sex, drugs and Santana. Locals of all ages, families, friends, couples young and old, enjoyed the non-ticketed event’s music and various art activities and vendors. Beloved local bands OllÃn, La Santa Cecilia and Killsonic performed favorites. Texas trio, Girl in a Coma closed the event.
photo from "Cholo Writing"
“Cholo Writing: Latino Gang Graffiti in Los Angeles”
by Francois Chastanet with forward by Chaz Bojorquez.
This book gives Mexican-American ‘cholo’ writing its proper recognition and respect as “the oldest form of name graffiti of the 20th century.” Focusing on L.A. ‘cholo” writing styles from an aesthetic point of view, evident long before the explosion of tags and pieces of the early 1970’s.
Cover of "Cholo Writing"
Cholo writing is the oldest form of graffiti in the 20th century, evident in Los Angeles long before the appearance of tags and pieces in the early 1970s New York. It is a Mexican American phenomenom with a unique aesthetic based on blackletter typography, used for street bombing by the latino gangs. In the 1970s, Californian citizen Howard Gribble photographed examples of Latino gang graffiti over a wide geographic area in order to encompass a larger variety of styles, with the simultaneous idea of portraying Los Angeles. More than 30 years later, French typographer Francois Chastanet travelled to the same neighborhoods to photograph the inscriptions of today. (English text in this edition, also available in Swedish)
go to www.dokument.org for more info and to order
Some random dude walking near the Plaza de Armas, looking his ugly Angeleno best. I took this about 15 minutes ago, and posting via the free public wifi provided by the city in the plaza. And some people think Mexico is backwards.
I’ve got some more pics to share, I’ll do that later. I just don’t feel like sitting in front of a computer just now.