About El Random Hero

Bailo tango, masco chicle, pego duro, tengo viejas de a montón, tururú...

Dirty deeds done dirt cheap

If I remember correctly, my very first post on this here blog was about a police sobriety check in the heart of Boyle Heights in June of last year. Hmm more than a year later, the economy in Califas is tanking, the city is looking left and right and underneath every couch cushion to save money and bring in more revenue, like raising sales taxes to 9.75 percent and other various  measures. It’s getting tight in this city, real tight. The kind of tight that when I was growing up, frijoles, huevos and tortillas were what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with maybe some queso de piez sprinkled on the beans to add a little variety.

Needless to say, it’s not hard to connect the dots on the current situation out on the streets of L.A. right now, with all these holiday sobriety check points to keep drunk drivers off the streets. This is an invaluable service by the police, however we all know that’s not the case right ? I mean come on !! This is way over the line, even for the L.A.P.D We all expect and know these holiday sobriety checkpoints are around, but as of late, the amount of cars getting pulled over and of these check points is bordering on abuse. Nah, you know what, it is abuse.  “Ohh but you’re just exaggerating because you blah, blah, blah” hell no I’m not exaggerating. Sunday of last week me and VD were kicking old school on our way to the barrio when we see a car pulled over on Sheridan. Then we see another car pulled over two blocks further down and then another car pulled over on Chavez and Soto. Not to mention that I average out one text per day informing me of where there are check points taking place. This isn’t the police checking for drunk drivers and keeping the streets safe, this is the police being abused by the shot callers who need to come up with more feria to cover the cost of their business expenses and trips to Mexico to represent L.A. in a book fair. Really !? A book fair !?

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One more thing to do this weekend:Maravilla handball tournament

~ Courtesy of Tommy Nishiyama, Sr. ~

“Handball is a pride sport. It’s not about winning money, it’s about pride. It takes the skills of a boxer and the mind of a chess player to win.” In the barrio, sometimes pride is just as important as money. ~ United States Handball Association national champion Elias Barajas

Pride is more important than money, other wise we wouldn’t be here, but that’s just me. I was sent this info to pass along and post via Chuy 90023 and a friend of his who sent me the info. Thanks guys 🙂 This weekend, as if there wasn’t enough things to do already, the Maravilla Handball Court will be holding a co-ed youth tournament this Saturday and Sunday. Here’s the info: The first-ever co-ed handball tournament for youth at the historic Maravilla Handball Court, the oldest handball court in East Los Angeles. The court was built brick-by-brick by East L.A. residents in 1923 and reflects the rich layers of history common in Los Angeles. The Old Timers—former members and veteranos of the Maravilla Handball Club, which was once open to men only—will attend the tournament to mentor and train a new generation of handball players. The junior singles tournament has four divisions: ages 17 and under, 15 and under, 13 and under, and 11 and under.

Maravilla Handball Court Sat & Sun December 19 and 20, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
501 N. Mednik Avenue (between Hammel and Dozier)
East Los Angeles, CA 90022

COST:
Free for spectators, $4 entry fee for participants with proceeds going to the Maravilla Historical Society

For more info and some of the history of the handball courts, click here.

Things to do this weekend

back seat of bus

Is it me  or am I doing these, “go check this out this weekend” post more and more often. It’s just me because these are all events YOU HAVE TO GO CHECK OUT THIS WEEKEND. I’m serious. A lot of them are free or relatively free. This weekend though, I will be part of one 🙂 See that picture of people on the bus, I made that 🙂 No too shabby if I say soo myself. The event where my stuff will be on sale is on the list of events so check it out if you can 🙂 The list is going to be broken down by day, since these events are  starting Thursday and ending on Sunday.

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Keeping kids in check

The L.A. Times published a story today about how some teachers can’t control their classrooms and how it makes for a horrible learning environment. The story focuses on how teacher school doesn’t teach teachers how to  handle discipline problems because it’s all circumstantial and what may work for one class won’t work for another. The story didn’t shed any light on anything we already didn’t know really. So, since I am a product of the LAUSD system and have seen a lot of shit, even in my day, I’m going to chime in with my own two cents and offer my suggestions to would be LAUSD teachers on how to deal with the discipline issue of teens.  Also, if teachers, former and current, can chime in with their war stories and what worked for them, anonymously of course, it will be greatly appreciated.

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Childhood games

canicas

Growing up as a kid, I loved playing games with all the other neighborhood kids and more often than not, cousins too. A lot of the games we played are your standard stuff like hide and seek, tag, freeze tag, trompos, canicas, soccer, going on long bike rides around the hood, hitting rocks with a stick, throwing stuff at RTD buses passing by, you know, those kind of games. The ones were all you needed was a bunch of friends and a sunny afternoon. Since we were all from low income families back in the day, course we didn’t know it at the time and speaking for myself, still am, we created our own fun and those were some of the best times I had in my childhood. I was even caught up in the whole pog craze. Then I got swept up in the yo-yo craze tambien. One of the best games I remember playing with my cousins was getting two sticks. A short, thick one and a long skinny one. We would dig a hole in the dirt and place the small stick over the hole. We would then used the longer stick to chuck the short stick as far as we could,  the way you hit a golf ball with a club. The winner was who ever threw it the fardest. We had some good times playing with two sticks and a hole in the dirt. So, I wanna know what games you guys/gals played when you were a kid. Was it made up ? Did someone get hurt from the game ? Were you emotionally scarred for life like I was when you were picked last at everything because everyone thought you’d suck, but then you’d be the one kicking ass ? Do you even remember how to play those games ? (cause god knows I can’t remember how to play canicas anymore) Have you taught your kids, nephews and god children to play those same games ? Dime… AND please keep any crazy stories about playing house and doctor to yourself, this is a family site. Unless they’re really good, then please share them by all means 🙂

Anti-establishment shopping

It’s that time of year again. One way or another we all end up shopping for ourselves or for others. There’s no denying it. So why not spend your feria in your local communities and support local. Buy some great home made jewelry that is ONE OF A KIND, art, clothes and even light switches. I gave one to Aldesmadre last year :-) There’s IMIX in Eagle Rock, which Chimatli wrote about and Nahui Ohlin in Echo Park tambien, but there’s also a few sales that are popping up. So buy local and support artist who do their thing and if you see something nice, don’t think twice about getting it because chances are you’ll never see it again. A mistake I won’t make again. And remember, if you know of something going on, put it up on the comments. Happy HoliDAZE !!

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Continuing to preserve Wyvernwood

Wyvernwood_english_final

This Thursday, residents from Wyvernwood will be giving visual presentations on the importance of the community there. This looks like it’s going to be a great event because as the flier says, this is all from the residents themselves. If you need to catch up with what’s going, read Chuy’s 90023 blog spot about it. Here’s more from their statement:

The Wyvernwood Garden Apartments was developed in 1938-39 and was the first large scale garden apartment complex in Los Angeles. Determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, not only is Wyvernwood architecturally significant, but it also reflects the cultural heritage of the neighborhood, where the residents have created a strong sense of place and belonging. The original design intent has been realized, having fostered a close-knit, multi-generational community among its residents, many of whom have stayed for decades, intermarried and started their own families. As in many parts of the city, the apartments were racially segregated for decades, until the first Latina/o family moved in during the 1960s. Today, Wyvernwood is predominantly Latina/o.

However, residents are in danger of losing their homes. In January 2008, owner Fifteen Group announced plans for a $2 billion development that would replace all 1,100 rental apartments and over twenty acres of open space with four times the density, including new condominiums, rentals, retail and commercial space. Come out to show your support of the Wyvernwood community and participate in a unique event where residents will be sharing their own stories and oral histories through multi-media presentations. Comité de la Esperanza (an active resident group of 25 years) will lead a procession/vigil to the event starting at 6pm, which will begin on-site at Wyvernwood at 2802 Camulos Place (near 8th and Soto). The presentations will follow at 7:30pm inside gymnasium at the Costello Recreation Center (3141 E. Olympic Blvd). At 9pm residents will return to Wyvernwood in procession.

Sign the petition for the Breed St. food vendors

photo

Notice anything out of the ordinary here? Well if you ate here, you would know that a few hundred people eating some of the greatest soul food around are missing. Over the last few weeks, the vendors at the street food oasis have been getting raided by the police. Normally, they would disappear for a while only to come back in full force as if nothing ever happened, but something did happen. Things got out of control and the oasis got burned, big time. First it was the L.A. Times a few years ago, as Chimatli tells me, and fellow bloggers putting it on blast and telling everyone to go check it out. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but because this was an under the table operation, there was a need for a level of discretion that helped the vendors make a living and kept the cops at bay. That harmony is now gone and so are the vendors.

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Ain’t no party like an Eastside party

opening

Who here likes to parrrrtaaaayyyy !?!?!? Too much ? Well I can’t help be excited about the Linia de Oro opening this SUNDAY ! The day is finally here and both Metro and local council-member Jose Huizar are going to be throwing parties at different gold line stops. Did I mention that you can ride the train for free all day Sunday on the eastside line ? Well you can !!!

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