I suppose it shouldn’t be unexpected that there might be a traffic jam at an LA cemetery, but it was still kinda surprising to run into this long line of cars trying to make their way to some loved ones grave. Crazy.
Click ahead for some more pics of Resurrection and a human traffic jam at SHG.
The great thing about Halloween is that it’s a non-commital holiday; everyone loves the day but you don’t have to spend it with your boring family, unless that’s your decision. Religious and traditional holidays were you can’t really escape, now those are a chore, but this one you get to decide what you want to do! I didn’t have any set plans but I did have some stuff to do, so I brought my camera along and took some pics. Wanna see what I saw? Click ahead fool!
Last year I was lucky enough to be in Mexico around this time and got to see many of the Dia de Muertos festivities AND their incorporation of Hallowin (jaja!) into the season. If Frankenstein’s Monster can get into the spirit by sharing a big ass Pan de Muerto with his ghouly friends, then surely we can do a little cross cultural pollination of our own, que no? Have fun mixing it up this weekend!
I read about this new veggie spot called Doomie’s recently at To Live and Eat in LA and was quite surprised to find out about some veggie/vegan options in Chinatown, that’s a pretty close by. On the way back from the LA Archives Bazaar we took a detour to check out this new veggie spot, and I’m glad we did because this is going on my short list of regular joints to visit!
Los Angeles, you are in luck! If you haven’t been able to make it to Chicago for the past two Latino Punk Festivals, this time around you’ll only have to figure out how to get to Montebello cuz it’s taking place here! I don’t have much else to say about this event because I haven’t been to the previous ones but I’m quite sure it’s the largest festival of Latino Punk bands in the US. (Err, maybe it’s the only one?) It’s also appropriate that the Fest take place in LA, easily the city with the biggest Latino Punk scene, not that anyone outside of the Eastside would notice. For more info about the event, check out their FAQ where they have helpful info like this great tip:
4. I get out of work late, what can I do?
–If you can afford it, call in sick or take the day off! How many fest like this one will you have an opportunity to attend in your life time? A lot of the bands playing the fest are traveling from out of town so there will be all kinds of shit going on all day, each day, where you can hang out!
Ditch work, nice! You can check out the full 3 day schedule here, though I think most punks are gonna try and get into the Saturday show to see the reunion of Los Crudos, or cuz they just want to get a glimpse of a band that would name themselves “Cara De Mil Putazos“, certainly one of the best band names ever! Hopefully we’ll have some coverage of this event to report back, there’s some young and not-so-young punks here on the staff of LA Eastside!
Latino Punk Fest 3 October 23-25 (Thursday thru Saturday)
All happening at:
Terraza Jamay 104 S. 10th St. Montebello, CA 90640
Click here for google map.
It’s silly. Stupid. Juvenile. Crude. And maybe just a bit wrong, but I still get a kick when I catch a glimpse of this sign of a bolt chasing a screw nut (or are they both just running to help out at some new construction project?) from the 5 freeway, near the corner of Telegraph and La Verne, technically in City of Commerce. It’s been there for as long as I can remember, since back when I was an esquincle and much more of a mocoso. I bet you’ve all seen it.
Man, that’s such a dumb advertising sign. Thumbs Up!
Here we see a Lincoln Heights street corner during the day, an average mini-market with the usual fare and the occassional pedestrian stopping in to pick up some snacks. Click ahead to see what happens to this sleepy corner at night!
I hadn’t been to any of the previous ones but since a couple of friends had glowing reviews of last years Eagle Rock Music Festival, I figured it was time to check it out. They were right, it’s a very fun festival with a good mix of bands, food, booths, and most notably, people. (It’s kinda like the Sunset Junction used to be in the early days which just reminds me how bad that “festival” has become.) I was only there for a short time, but click ahead if you want to see what I saw!
I ran into the Lincoln Heights Sidewalk Sale quite by accident today and I took just a few pics to capture the vibe of this one. Click ahead if you want to see!
(In LH, it’s not a real holiday until you see these paintings show up in the shop windows, done by some guy I’m told is named Picaso. Bring on the Halloween!)
I was looking for a quote from a Norman Klein book on google when I found this passage instead (in a book about TELACU by John Chavez published way back in that ancient era of 1998) which mentions the vague boundaries of the Eastside:
The Eastside as Homeland
Though the federal government once confined TELACU to a clearly delineated “special impact area,” the Eastside as a whole has vague boundaries. Most observers would agree that it includes at the least Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, and East Los Angeles; … Others would add Highland Park, Commerce, Montebello, and even Monterey Park. … Though not initially within TELACU’s purview, Eagle Rock, Vernon, Maywood, Huntington Park, and Bell also merit consideration as parts of the Eastside. … This political fragmentation is nevertheless obviated by a high degree of demographic and cultural unity, for the Eastside shapes distinctly Mexican-American Los Angeles. TELACU’s founders dedicated the institution to the recovery of this “homeland” in 1968.
Click here for a link to this text
I guess back in 1998, when we still hadn’t received the latest “fluidity” memo the boundaries were also vague, but oh so very far from Echo Park and Silver Lake. And a history lesson from 10 years ago? C’mon Mr. Chavez, new people just moved into the city a few years ago and they want to try their hand at defining their new playground. Who are we to dare such a minor resistance to this “erasure of memory“?
Speaking of resistance, the person that made the “This is Not the East Side” stickers got in touch with us and gave us a small stack (thanks Comrade!) which we plan to share with you, dear readers! Send us a mailing address via our contact page and you’ll get a few of your own.
I told Chuy90023 that his comment on Daniel Hernandez’s post regarding his flip-flop on the Eastside definition was worthy of it’s own post, and being the typical humble Eastsider, he put his response in the comment of a previous post. Vato, you need to learn from these paid journalists; the only thing that makes their words more meaningful is that they act like their words have more meaning. And since I know Chuy’s words really do mean more than those of guys that get paid to write, I’m reposting his comment here as its own post, on a website that doesn’t rely on web traffic as a source of revenue.
I posted the comment below on Daniel Hernandez’s Intersections yesterday but el Chavo and I thought I’d repost it here since probably not a lot of LAEastside.com readers visit the other site:
Really? Really! At least according to LA City Beat, which picks “the best things in your neighborhood” in it’s latest issue. Who is it? Why, it’s Ron Gormon…whoever the fuck that is. Since you probably don’t know him either, here is the fascinating entry:
Boyle Heights
Ron Garmon
There used to be a real swing to Boyle Heights, they tell me. Most of this was just a quick whoosh of air from people ducking behind walls and flowerpots and lampposts and fat people when they saw Hunter S. Thompson coming toward them. Oh, it was also the case that Thee Midniters and Los Lobos brought wild nights and neighborhood pride to clubs that have since (of course) been murdered most foul. These days, there is little to commend in the sad, dingy nabe – except for one bright shining star: our very own Mister Ron Garmon.You can see him, with his gleaming pale mull-hawk and fierce blue peepers, striding purposefully for a bus. (Just look for the guy who looks like Sting, or Rutger Hauer, or Rod Stewart, but mostly Sting.) You can see him, focused furiously on a far horizon, mostly because he’s on drugs. You can befriend him! He has many friends! He is kind, and handsome, and a man of talent and taste. Ron Garmon? So recommended. 5209 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., (323) 938-1700. (RS)
Oh, I guess he writes for them. Hey, and checkout his handsome face. Ay que chulo! Now I know who to congratulate for being the best thing someone could scrounge up about that “sad, dingy nabe” where I grew up.
Is this supposed to be a joke? Jaja, muy chistoso cabron. If the media, blogs, westsiders, and newbies weren’t so consistently dismissive and confused about this part of town, maybe I’d laugh too. But reading such Dude-Bro humor as I was trying my first PinkBerry dessert (cuz I want to understand you Westies and your ways) just made me want to spit my yogurt out as an act of defiance. Thanks LA City Beat, you really made my day!
PS. The yogurt was good, but you Westies go crazy over nothing.