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- The Center Theater Part 2; A Date With Destiny

The Center Theater; A Date With Destiny. Commemorating the 38th Anniversary of the E.L.A. Chicano Moratorium Demonstrations and the Murder of Ruben Salazar on August 29th 1970.
It was a roasting, sweaty Saturday. I was on summer vacation from elementary school. Mom had been edgy all day with all that news coming over Canal 34 and KWKW radio about the “Chicano Riots” coming down Whittier Blvd…. Continue reading

Memories of a Lost Boulevard: The Center Theater

Memories of a Lost Boulevard Series, A Tribute to Whittier Boulevard
Whittier Boulevard Movie Theaters, Part 3.

THE CENTER THEATER
4762 Whittier Blvd.
East Los Angeles, CA

955 South Kern Avenue, just south of Whittier Blvd. is where I lived for most of my early childhood. It was a warm, kid friendly, suburban neighborhood where everything you needed was a skip away. I fondly remember living like a Mexican “Leave It To Beaver” episode on that sweet tree-shaded avenue. Continue reading

REPORT FROM SAN DIEGO COMIC CON- The Final Days Cometh

REPORT FROM SAN DIEGO COMIC CON
Days Three, Four, Five, Six, – Quien Chingáos Sabe?……
By Al Desmadre
San Diego, CA, Sunday July 27, 2008

Ahh, another year, another Comic Con come and gone. Only sweet memories remain, lingering like the pungent aromas of the Nerd Herds even now fading from these Cheesy Nacho littered halls of the great San Diego Convention Center…. Continue reading

REPORT FROM SAN DIEGO COMIC CON- Day 2

San Diego Comic-Con 2008, Day Two,

Thursday July 24, 2008

By Al Desmadre

San Diego, CA.

Complete sensory overload compounded by unyielding waves of costumed humanity funneling themselves through row after row of vendors, mobbing displays containing everything imaginable from the worlds of Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Games, Toys, Posters, Books, Clothing, Jewelry, Art, Television, Movies and Comic Books. Presentations for every upcoming multimedia release and more promotional swag than you’ll ever know what to do with. And if you try to see it all in one day, you’ll go Mad. Continue reading

REPORT FROM SAN DIEGO COMIC CON

San Diego Comic-Con 2008, Day One,
Wednesday July 23, 2008
By Al Desmadre
San Diego, CA.

The first thing that strikes me about coming to Comic-Con in San Diego, is the stark human contrasts one sees in everyday settings during this week. Generally speaking, San Diego is a conservative, laid back, kind of military oriented type of town. At my hotel, mainly you see a lot of old white guys smoking cigars and talking about golf and boats. Continue reading

Barbie vs. Bratz

Mattel prevails in Bratz copyright trial

Jury rules toy maker owns original drawings for doll’s design

LOS ANGELES – Barbie and Bratz dolls are sisters, a jury has decided in a major victory to Mattel Inc., the world’s largest toymaker, in its copyright infringement lawsuit against rival MGA Entertainment Inc.

The federal jury decided Thursday that the designer of MGA’s Bratz characters conceived the idea for the dolls while working for Mattel — a ruling that could mean millions of dollars for the Barbie maker when the jury considers possible damages during a separate proceeding.

Mattel filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Riverside against MGA, which began marketing the hugely popular Bratz line of sassy urban dolls in 2001. Mattel has claimed it owned the rights to the Bratz line because its creator, Carter Bryant, came up with the concept while working for El Segundo-based Mattel.(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25727928/) Continue reading