About AlDesmadre

Al Guerrero, Artist/Humorist. Los Angeles, CA. Born in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and raised in East Los Angeles from the age of two, Al Guerrero grew up just steps from the famous Chicano strip, Whittier Boulevard. His youth experiences include witnessing and participating in the 1970 Chicano Power demonstrations, cruising cars on Whittier Boulevard, and graduating from Garfield High School. After dropping out of UCLA (with honors), he drew upon his lifelong passion for art and cartooning and pursued a career in graphic arts. During this period, he traveled overseas and found artistic inspiration from the masterworks he discovered within the European Art Museums. His career blossomed when he was eventually hired by the Walt Disney Company in 1995, where he worked as a creative artist for a number of years. Although the artistic work was rewarding, he eventually grew weary & disillusioned with the bureaucracy of the entertainment business, and left to work briefly in the educational field. His credits include producing a feature film with actor, Conrad Brooks of Ed Wood fame, founding and performing with the Punk Rock group “The Psychocats” at numerous L.A. & Hollywood venues during the 1990’s, and in 1999 he founded and created a hell-bent puppet cabaret show aptly named: “The Puppets from Hell”. As a long time active member of the Los Angeles Cacophony Society, Al “Quaeda”, as he was known, was involved in countless Cacophony Society pranks and events throughout the city. He also produced the “Incredibly Strange Cinema” cult film series as well as themed events such as the now infamous “Pornothon Movie Nights” and the satirical “Mexican Night: Noche De Tequila & Putas” shows at local nightclub venues. Throughout his art career, he has exhibited his canvas paintings at various local galleries, and has also written & illustrated numerous comic strips and Graphic Novel stories. Today, he lives in Silver Lake, California and works as a freelance artist and writer with numerous multi-media projects under his belt and in the works. His personal hobbies include collecting vintage toys and comic books, cinema history and Los Angeles City history. Contact: alguerrero@earthlink.net Al Guerrero P.O. Box 29697 Los Angeles, CA 90029-0697 www.alguerrero.com Myspace.com/thepuppetsfromhell

Memories of A Lost Boulevard; Ghosts of the Eastside

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The character of the E.L.A. that I knew growing up is long gone. Everything changes, evolves.
Those who lived there before me surely must have cherished their own “good old days” as much as I do mine. And twenty years from now, others will do the same.
We are beings that exist in that sliver of time between our past and future. Yet, if we were to somehow erase every memory from the past out of our minds, who would we be? The sum of our experiences, the memories of what we have lived before, are essentially the totality of who we are at this moment. So have my experiences and present memories of growing up in E.L.A. formed this person that I am today. E.L.A. is in my DNA.
It now brings me joy to reminisce, because I can relive those times. Many thanks to all of you out there who join me on these little journeys to memoryland. So let’s take another trip….

Cruisin’ Music

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LOVE THAT HAT!

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Thank you PATT MORRISON for telling it like it is in your usual style. Your OP-ED:In L.A., East is East was as refreshing and welcomed as an ice-cold Horchata drink on a summer day.  I would like to make an open invitation to you to please accept lunch on me, at the Taco Truck of your choice, anytime, anywhere, in the true East side of L.A.

I ATE CHINESE FOOD AND GOT GAS!

Today I pulled into this Gas Station I go to near ELA College on Atlantic Ave. & Chavez. (on the intersection where I can find some fave food joints I’ve frequented in the past, The Old Van De Kamps Cafe, The Hat, Hawaii Island BBQ, there’s even a Boston Market down the street that I like sometimes.) Normally, I just pay at the pump at this gas station and drive away, but today was different. The card swipe machine wasn’t working and I was obliged to see the cashier inside. So I walk in and…..Holy Egg Rolls!!! Continue reading

Whats Cooking?

I was out driving a few minutes ago, when I started noticing an aroma not unlike someone cooking Chinese Food. I kept looking around at the storefronts, sniffing and asking:

Maybe there’s some kind of big outdoor Stir Fry Wok Style BBQ going on around here“. Always on the prowl for any new sources of Tragazón, I became more intrigued.

It all got stranger as the aroma continued to fill my car as I drove further on. After a couple of miles more, I was really puzzled until I looked at the car in front of me and figured it out. It was one of those old Mercedes with the Bio-Fuel converted engine. The exhaust smells like old cooking grease. Fooled again!

I see quite a few of those cars around my Westside neighborhood. I’ve heard that it costs as much or more than gasoline to run them and that you don’t always pass the Cal Smog Check with the converted engine.

I hope they’re helping the environment anyway. And I hope we can start coming up with more alternative energy cars real soon. We could use them.