Category Archives: East Los

Free fruit trees @ Proyecto Jardin this Saturday

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This is “Hank.” I adopted him in 2007 at Placita Olvera during some event. This was through the cities tree give away program. I still have “Hank” with me and in a bigger pot because he’s growing up before my eyes. I remember when he was just a baby. I would water him after I fed the dogs and put him in sunlight if the day wasn’t to brutal. I made a promise to “Hank” that I would plant him when I have a place of my own, so far no luck yet. But if you want your own tree to name head over to Proyecto Jardin this Saturday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to pick up your choice of an apple, apricot, nectarine, peach, plum and citrus trees. However I will stress that the tree give away is intended for local area residents. There’s only going to be around 250 trees available and I would much rather see them around MY neighborhood than somewhere else. So, for those of you that live within the Boyle Heights, area come on down and grab yourself a tree. But don’t just come down like chusma, only people with available space to house the tree should come down. Other wise it would just be a waste of a valuable tree.  

Proyecto Jardin 

1718 Bridge St. 

Boyle Heights, 90033

Tricks Are For Kids 101: Arsons and Daughters

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Tricks Are For Kids is a series based on the ramblings of an LAUSD substitute teacher. A former “regular” teacher in East L.A., CT opted for the mercenary-for-hire approach, after realizing Saturdays and Sundays also did not belong to him. Less cash money but more time to waste, he means, for himself. Tell him the options, again? He made his choice and there is no going back. “I’m going in!!” Now, live and uncut, so far, a drop-out teacher drops dime on the nonsense.

Dumb Interviewer: You’ve been in show business for awhile, so how old are you?
Dana Carvey: I’m 33 but I read at a 35 year old level.

So, the Miss had to leave prematurely due to a health situation. Old-school vet of some thirty years, most of ’em at Rooselvelt.

Could be seen as stoic and in fact some students, mainly girls, described her as this curmudgeon. Most boys got along fine with her. Her stoicism, when broken with a gigantic smile, was funny. I never really got a grip on her background but believe she had some Eastern European blood (thinking Serbian), and her manner sometimes reminded me of Eastern European Olympic athletes.

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Dear Gato 103.1

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Dear Gato 103.1,

Is it true? Are you really gonna play cumbias? Because lots of stations have said they were and ended up in a funky morass of Durangense and Marco Antonio Solis.

There are a few tears for the former station that came before you, perhaps it’s because those folks haven’t really learned to appreciate the beauty and the glory of what’s called (in English) Mexican Regional Music but what we call Norteñas, Rancheras, Banda, Corridos, Cumbias and yes, even Duranguense.

I promise to love you Gatito if you play my two favorite songs on Los Angeles radio at the moment:


Los Picadientes de Caborca – La Cumbia del Río


Banda MS – EL Mechon

Con Mucho Cariño,
chimatli

Links to the real videos (embedding disabled, how dare they?). La Cumbia del Río is one you should especially check out as it shows real Los Angeles residents dancing about their places of employment in a humorous and entertaining way!

Los Pikadientes De Caborca – La Cumbia Del Río

Banda MS – El Mechon

Otomi ~ Japanese Food in Boyle Heights ~

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I have loved Japanese culture ever since my mind was warped by The G-Force, Astro Boy, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon and of course The Power Rangers..… Laugh it up all you want….Ok so that childhood love kept growing and I love Japanese food, except sushi. Don’t know why, just don’t ok. Anyway, Japanese is delicious and I love that it’s so close to home. I use to go to Little Tokyo, but then me puse las pilas and I remembered about Otomi.

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Mas Revolucion!

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VIVA LA REVOLUCION!
–Official Message from Department of Homeboy Security–North Eastern Division, to the Eastside Front
This Latest Communiqué from the Headshopquarters of General Chavo!
→All Troops to Remain on Brown Alert!

  • Warm up the Armored Taco Trucks!
  • Alert the Fundamentalist Eastside Radical group “The Tacoban” (AL Pastor is Great!)
  • Load the Elote Launchers!
  • Confirm enemy spy sighting rumors- (Huell Howser)
  • Beware of infiltration by over-rated Westside Street art! (Shepard Fairy)
  • Lindsay Lohan sightings
  • Confirm rumors that someone has asked if the Tortilla Chips are “Organic” at El Mercado on First Street.
  • Aprehend any persons working on their Laptops while sitting in the patio at “El Tepeyac“

In case of enemy invasion=retreat to the secret caves located in the Montebello & Rose Hills! General Chavo is to be Frozen Cryogenetically as a Giant Paleta de Nués to be thawed out at a future date!
Please Report immediately to command post if you observe any of the following suspicious activities taking place in the Eastside!:

  • Increased number of Dog Walkers on the Eastside and purebred doggy poop landmines
  • Sightings of baby strollers costing more than $9.99
  • 2 year olds wearing designer Dr. Marten’s shoes
  • Ask for Identification of anyone wearing a Tommy Bahama shirt
  • The opening of one-word named boutiques
  • Be suspicious of anything with the faux distressed look (highly redundant to E.L.A.)
  • If you are captured, eat this message cooked in a spicy Mole Poblano Sauce!—End Message—

The cityhood train marches on

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One hurdle on East L.A.’s path to incorporation was cleared on Friday. The County registrar certified the signatures on the cityhood petition, all 11,000-plus. What’s next? The fiscal study on the feasibility of cityhood, which should be complete by September 2009, according to the timeline in the official cityhood website. An initial study conducted in 2007 showed the possible City of East Los Angeles would be economically feasible.

If the new study finds East Los Angeles to be economically feasible, a cityhood vote would be held in 2010 and the city would be incorporated in 2011. If anything, the Gold Line will work in East L.A.’s favor.

My favorite part of this drive for cityhood is explained in this statement by Oscar Gonzales, the President of the East Los Angeles Residents Association:

Gonzales says the 140,000 residents are represented by a county supervisor whose district covers 2 million people.

State Senator Gloria Romero currently supports this process and Supervisor Gloria Molina has stayed quiet. I wonder when she’ll speak or abstain. Very interesting…

I know we got urban planners/awesome people who read this blog. Please, give your insight into East Los.

Image above taken from Cityhood for East L.A.’s Flickr. To learn more, visit their official website.

My Favorite Burrito: Al and Bea’s Chile Relleno

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The sign says it all, “Specializing in Burritos.” Al & Bea’s here been here in Boyle Heights for more than 40 years and just like anything else in life, it gets better with time. My first time going to Al & Bea’s was a few years ago when a friend asked me if I’ve ever been there. “No I haven’t” I said and we were on our way there in no time. Coming from the taco truck lifestyle I was expecting the more traditional burrito de carne asada and the cliche menu that accompanies it. I get to the window and don’t even bother to look at the menu because I’m used to ordering the same thing give or take. I ask for carne asada and the guy taking my order says they don’t have carne asada. In my bewilderment, my friend stepped in and ordered for me, an Al & Bea’s special. I dove in and thought to myself, “this burrito is good, but I wouldn’t call it Mexican food,” even though the guys preparing the food are Mexican or look it. Since that faithful day, I have been going back and fourth to Al & Bea’s trying out the menu and learning to appreciate it for the great food it has, Mexican or not. 

Enter the burrito de Chile Relleno(bell pepper stuffed with cheese and fried). I’ve had most of the menu already so when I decided to go for the Chile Relleno, I was kinda hesitant. The last time I went out on a limb like that I tried their potato burrito, which turned out to be a burrito full of french fries. I threw caution to the wind and went for it. For those of you who hadn’t had the pleasure of spoiling your taste buds with the burrito, it consist of a Chile Relleno wrapped in a tortilla and smothered in beans. It was good !!!!! So good that’s the only thing I’ve ordered the last few times I’ve been there, aside of taquitos with guacamole goes well with it too. Chingado now I’m hungry.   

Tamale Casserole

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Some of the greatest ideas in life are the simplest ones, take for example the Tamale Casserole. Being the son of a Tamalera, I know tamales and when I laid my eyes on that concoction in the aluminum pan, I questioned it and it’s taste. Low and behold I was surprised by it great taste and ingenuity. Curious about the casserole, I asked the chef about it and she told me that it was a recipe her grandmother created back in the day. Chimatli dates it back to the ’50s, but this is the first time I laid eyes on something so clever and tasty. 

This particular casserole was of rajas and it had monterey jack and goat cheese making for a unique combination to say the least. The japalenos gave it a nice kick too and some extra flavor. Again letting my curiosity got the best of me and I asked how she prepared the casserole. In a nutshell, you take masa and put it on the bottom of the pan, add your toppings of choice and lay another layer of masa on top of that. Pop it in the oven for about 90 minutes and bingo bango, a tamale casserole. Over the holidays I’ve been exposed to a variety of tamale variations including vegetarian tamales. For years I thought that rajas, chicken red/green sauce, pork red/green sauce and pineapple and strawberry were the only ones available. My pallet is forever changed and I’m grateful to have been exposed to such culinary delights.

The 2nd Annual Gran Posada del Pueblo

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In the spirit of the season, Boyle Heights residents came together to celebrate Las Posadas with family, friends and of course great food. The East LA Community Corporation and Company of Angels Theater Company helped sponsor the posadas that included a turkey giveaway earlier a couple of days before the posadas. This years celebration, the Company of Angels Theater Company help put on a play, Los Peregrinos del Este, written by Xavi Moreno, Directed by Armando Molina and a dramaturgy by Ricardo Brancho featuring members of ELACC “neighbors building neighborhoods action committees. The play and posada were intertwined as it began at First and Boyle at the mariachi plaza and continued down Boyle to the ELACC head quarters with a few stops along the way.  

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Eastside 101: Tamal Row

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It seems that it’s about time for another installment of Eastside 101, that series that showcases places East of the river that contribute to the unique way of life over on this side of town. Lately there’s been a whole bunch of new fools using the term to give themselves some urban-ness and grit to differentiate themselves from whence they came, even as they look towards the Westside for approval. Yer all sad. Keep it up mofos, we can keep it up longer! Eventually you’ll have to relocate to follow that next media or publishing job and your fake ass “Eastside” will be forgotten. I’ve seen it happen.

But enough about the wannabes, I’m here to present you with a quick roundup of everyones favorite holiday treat: Tamales! There’s a small stretch on Brooklyn with a few different tamalerias which I’ve dubbed Tamal Row, but if there’s another name for this area (Maravilla?) I’m not going to stubbornly try to rename it, just let me know, okay? I figured I’d make it a day trip to compare and contrast their wares! Quieren ver? Pues a la proxima hoja!

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Newport Coast: The tragic underside of the census. A piece of satire.

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So sad!!! The lack of diversity is killing them inside.
So sad!!! The lack of diversity is killing them inside.

Newport coast, it turns out, has become even less black and brown. Newport Coast was so undiverse that in 2001 it attached itself to Newport Beach as to not look so oddly white in a quickly changing multicultural world.

You can’t even find out how white it is, because it’s not only white, but rich and rich people don’t want you in their business.

A lot of us Angelenos take Orange County for granted. Continue reading →