Stay Cool


LAFD misting attendees at Fiesta Broadway, 2008. Photo by El Chavo!

We recently asked our readers on our LA Eastside Facebook page to give us some tips on staying cool through this heat spell of ours. We received some helpful and interesting responses (I’ve already tested a few myself.)  The suggestions were so entertaining I decided to share them here.

Q: Any tips on staying cool? Sleeping on the porch? Ice cubes in a bucket? Cold cloth on the head? Don’t say air conditioner cause that’s cheating!

A:
-Sticking your head in the freezer, Ignacio
-Bucket of ice cold Pacificos, Ignacio
-Drink said bucket of Ice cold Pacificos in your chonies., Lu
-Ice cream!! Yummmmy!, Jenny
-The shape of my home creates a wind tunnel effect in my hallway when the window is open. So I sleep there instead., Jason
-In the mornings the houses are cool cause the shades are down a good suggestion would be to keep it that way oppose to letting the sun shine in which will eventually create heat. That’s one way to keep the house cool. To keep your self cool you can drink a lot of cold water through the day., Pierrette
-Get drunk and pass out, Jose
-Go to the store and use their air conditioning!, Elvira
-Sleep with a clean white towel on your pillow and another one under you., Joslan
-Misters on at the Audubon Center!, Jeff
-My in-laws always tell us that before they could afford an A/C they used to wet their pillow cases and put them in the freezer. Then sleep on them when they were cold., Salvador
-Wear wet clothes. Me and my bros would do that during the summer when we were kids. hehe, Elizabeth
-We use to head to Ensenada, with about 15 other families, Natalie
-Just turn on the air conditioner…..oops I’m in Texas we live with it on!, Sue

Ah, Sue you cheater! It’s okay, cool to know we have readers in Tejas!

So now’s your turn, give us some tips on how you’re staying cool this summer. By the way, today’s high will be 95 degrees.

9 thoughts on “Stay Cool

  1. I always heard you could be cool by staying in school. But its a myth since the bungalows are pretty damn hot. It stays quite tolerable under the freeway at Hollenbeck park, its like a 5 foot concrete parasol, with a bit of hazardous fumes for some light-headed fun!

  2. I usually miss out on the heat each summer because we blast the A/C at work. So famous for our A/C–we even had an afternoon film festival for seniors once. It was coooool.

  3. A couple of peppermint hard candies(the white ones with the red lines) in the mouth while sipping on a glass of water with lots of ice!!!

  4. I recall during the 1950’s many of the movie theatres downtown would have banners hanging from the marquee’s exclaiming “Refrigerated Air!” or “Cool Inside”.
    Many people would go to the movies just to get some relief from the Summer heat.
    I recall this scene many times, my Uncle Pete at my Abuela’s house, sitting in his favorite recliner chair watching the baseball game, a beer in his hand, and he would be sweating like the cold can he had his hand wrapped around,. Then he would announce to whoever was listening,”Oh man it’s hot in this little house, I’m gonna catch the bus downtown and go see a movie at the State or Orpheum, where it’s cool inside”.
    Someone would ask “what’s playing at the show?” and Uncle Pete would say loudly, “I don’t care whats playing, it could be Rock Hudson and Dorris Day for all I care, I just want to get cool”
    In those days some of the movie theatres would stay open all night and a lot of people like Uncle Pete would stay there and see the same movies two or three times, or just go to sleep in thier seat until they kicked them out in the morning to clean the joint up.
    Uncle Pete would do that all the time in the hot summer, then on the way back to the Eastside he would first stop at one of the beer joints around 5th and Los Angeles St, drink a half a dozen 15 cent glass’s of cheap tap beer, and take the bus back home. But he would always bring back a bag of those great greasy glazed donuts from that skid row Coopers Donut Shop on Main St,
    Stay Cool!

  5. I agree with your tio, DQ! The heat of these past few days I’ve seeked out the curative properties of a nice cold beer more than once!

  6. DQ-Cooper’s Donuts!!!!???, haven’t heard of that place in years!! I used to stop by during my produce years at 7TH & Kohler (Sunburst Farms) 1978……always some very interesting characters there, in the middle of the night.

  7. i have a very interesting thing coming up with downtown Cooper’s Donuts in it. Stay tuned…..

    As far a cooling off…i usually partake of a frozen chocolate banana on a stick, or a frozen GANSITO.
    🙂

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