Portland, Maine 2010 (title of post from walt whitman’s “song of the open road”)
¡Bravo¡ LoLa ¡Bravo¡: The Long Brown Path Before Me, Leading Wherever I Choose.
Reply
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Resistance Is Fertile: The Right To (Be) Merry aka “Uh… Yeah, What He Said.”
politicians are full of shit. that is not up for debate. but, when one of those leeches gets a little tipsy or isn’t busy trying to fondle little boys or decides not to run for re-election, he can say the “darndest” things. last week, new york senator roy or ronald or whatever mcdonald, said he would vote against his party. he released this statement to the press:
“You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing . . . You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don’t care what you think.  I’m trying to do the right thing. I’m tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.â€
if he had read that statement at a press conference, i’d still be laughing.
link
Anarchy Weekend!
Saturday, June 25th
11am – 6pm
Art Share Los Angeles
801 East 4th Place
Los Angeles
anarchistbookfair.com
Some of you may be thinking “An anarchist bookfair? What is that all about?” Well, head on down to Art Share in the Arts District Downtown and find out! Radical and independent book publishers will be there selling their provocative pulpy wares including books you can’t even find in the library! (Okay, maybe in academic libraries or the Kate Sharpley Library but not in public libraries.) Publishers such as AK Press, PM Press, Tam Tam Books, C.A.L. Press and many others will entice you with their dazzling display of timely tomes on such diverse topics as radical politics, environmental issues, critical race studies, animal rights, counter-culture/subculture themes and other topics of interest to LA Eastside readers. LA Eastside will be set up with our own little puesto where we’ll have a contest going and will be giving away LA Eastside t-shirts as prizes. If you read this blog on a regular basis, the contest will be super cinchy for you.
When you get tired of book browsing, there are a number of engaging speaker panels, lectures and readings also happening at the bookfair. One presentation that looks particularly interesting is Crisis in California: Everything Touched by Capital Turns Toxic. Check out the full schedule here and plan your day accordingly.
The next day is a full day of activities happening in conjunction with the bookfair including a day-long Skill Share Free School.
Skillshare info:
Branching out from the DIY tradition of skill-sharing, this is an autonomous self-organized free school providing access to education free for all.
On June 26, 2011 the Centro Cultural Papalut along with the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Anarchist Book Fair will host a space of free knowledge exchange and skill-sharing with hands-on workshops and classes throughout the day.
Location:
Centro Cultural Papalut 3201 Maple Ave. L.A. 90055 C.A.
For a full schedule of all the exciting skill share workshops (lock-picking! stilt-walking! guerrilla theater!), see here.
And for those who are more theoretically inclined, The Public School in Chinatown will be the site of a number of thought-provoking presentations also happening in conjunction with the Bookfair weekend.
First up on Friday night, join Colectivo Acratas Los Angeles for a lively presentation and discussion featuring co-editor of Anarchy Magazine, Lawrence Jarach, Friday, June 24, 2011, 8pm. Topic of the evening: What is Post-Left Anarchy? An outline and development in modern anarchist theory followed by Q&A
Check the calendar for another series of talks on Sunday.
The Public School
951 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Need more info? Wondering where to eat and drink in the Bookfair vicinity? Interested in finding out more about radical and anarchist projects in Los Angeles? Check out this nifty little website: A Radical Guide to Los Angeles.
Pictures and review of last year’s bookfair here.
Rambling On My Mind: South American Edition: Manizales, Colombia Where The Score Is Vishnu 3 Jesus Cristo 0
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
got up, gotta do some good byes cuz i’m blowin out of medellin. visited new friend at kiosk in plaza botrero, went back to vegetus for breakfast. went to arbol de la vida for dessert and just to say thank you for existing. the owners were so gracious and wished me a safe journey. hung out in downtown and took some pics. checked out some english language schools just for the hell of it. lexicom folks were kind of rude. went back to el poblado and said bye to my new friend at chinese place. all was good again with his wife, seemed happier. final walk to hostel up the street, paid up. 60 bucks for about a week. not bad. took a taxi to the terminal and i made the 7:30 bus to manizales, a place i decided to visit a few hours ago. you see, how much planning goes into this?
Continue reading
Cure for the Summer Time Blues
Have you ever had to say the words “¡Pinches chavalos cabrones!â€? That was me yesterday. My car is in the shop, so I am on the metro–and you got to get up a little earlier. The bus waits for no man. As I was walking out of my house—my whole front retainer wall is tagged in HUGE letters including FU (spelled out). I run back inside to quickly paint it myself. I locate a full can of stucco paint and open it—I find that it’s dark purple (I need beige). Double urgh! Quickly I go on line and shoot a message to the city’s graffiti removal program. As I walked towards the bus stop, I see that my neighbors got it too.
As an artist, I know that it’s just a case of Summer Time Blues. Urban kids out of school for the summer looking for something to do. Marginalized from any age appropriate community spaces. Urban kids got it tough. It has been proven time after time that this amateurish scratching, marking, etching, spraying could be an artist taking baby steps.
My friend tells me that I can get a $1000 reward for catching the culprits. Last time I saw the kids doing this, I yelled “Why don’t you take an art class? You don’t even know how to do it right. It looks ugly!†That moratorium on tagging my street lasted a few years.
Continue reading
BREAKING: Rogelio Bueno Switches to Plastic
In a move sure to to upset Señoras and Cheapskates everywhere, Mexicorp, the company that distributes Rogelio Bueno mole in those useful and reusable cute little glasses has decided to give the finger to the Earth and will now pack their product in ugly ass plastic containers.
The End of an Era. The end of free vasitos.
Intersecting Realities: Visions of Immigrant Narratives
Save the date for June 18th 6 p.m. for what will be one of many art shows that looks at the Dream Act movement from the point of view of the individuals who make it up. This is a show that has been a long time in the making and through a collective effort of individuals and artist, a space has been created in which the movement will be seen a little differently that the normal political context. Seen the way we see it ourselves everyday going to work, school, being activist, artist, brothers, sisters, daughters,sons … human beings making the best of what was given to us.People see us as the students, dreamers, activist and youth, but rarely do those same people get to see the other sides of our lives outside of these spaces. Truly, a persons personally is like a kaleidoscope, perpetualy changing, sometimes too fast to notice.
Film Festival on the LA Metro!
Those of you who ride the metro to work and around town, you’re in for a unique treat this month. Starting June 13 there will be a continuous loop of short films created about Los Angeles and especially for those who ride the metro. This collection of films is called “Out of the Windowâ€. The Los Angeles Weekly got the jump on the details of this event last week. If knowing whose idea this was and who is funding this film festival click here for all those details.
My 2 minute film “LA Woman†was selected to be a part of this first group of films created by 30 professional artists and teams of teen filmmaking students. The films will be shown on 2000 LA Metro buses over 4000 square miles of LA County—wow! I’ve never been in such a mega media blitz before. The buzz was that there were an overwhelming amount of ‘car culture’ themed entries. Well, hell LA is all about how you get around the city–whether it’s on the metro, bike or car—it’s one our our daily preoccupations. My film is all about cruising. This festival will be interactive too. Films will end with a question prompting metro riders to text their response. My film question is “Who is your favorite LA woman?â€. Simple, because I like to keep it easy-breezy-lemon-squeezy.
On Sunday, June 12, all the student entries will be screened followed by a reception at Inner City Arts, 3pm. This is such an exciting project for these young Cecil B. DeMilles in-the-making. [I’m more of a Godard.]
Continue reading
Bordering on Love
~ Gay Beauty Pageant Contestant Antoinette (TJ O’Connell) and stylist Marilu Molina (Silvia Tovar) Photo courtesy of Xavi Moreno
The love between a straight man and a straight woman is what has always been defined as a ‘legal’ marriage in polite society. Alas, what if that same love was shared between a gay man and a straight woman ? A rose by any other name would still smell the same, so why wouldn’t their love have the same bearing as any other couples, regardless of sexual orientation ? “Bordering on Love,†the newest production at the Company of Angels deals with that very question, when that line between what is love and what is love as defined by the federal government cross each other. Playwright Evangelina Ordaz and director Armando Molina question the governments policy to only define marriage when it applies to couples who are immigrants and/or gay, “exploring the futility of attempting to regulate human need or emotion†says Ordaz.
Panthers on the Eastside?
In remembrance of the passing of Geronimo Pratt this past week, I’m posting this clip of the 1995 movie Panther by Mario Van Peebles. Most of the film was shot in locations around Lincoln Heights. How many places can you name/spot?
Resistance Is Fertile: Hunger And Poverty Never Need A Permit aka ¡Fuck The Poor!
¡Bravo¡ LoLa ¡Bravo¡: Sittin’ In The Park
Parque Santander (De Los Novios), Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia