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
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Botanitas is an ongoing feature bringing you stories and news from various sources, upcoming events and other bits of ephemera that might be of interest to LA Eastside readers. Suggestions welcome!
Everyone’s Favorite Supermarket
Ozo on morning radio
Events
Anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium
Yeah, I know, this is old news, but it’s new to me: one of the ELAC parking lots has been outfitted with a whole bunch of solar panels and is now producing about 45% of the electricity the school needs. That’s a pretty good idea. And I bet it helps keep cars cooler. But even better, us swapmeeteros can now rummage through the goods without roasting our necks! Click ahead for a few more pics.
I will write a trip review later, but this is for the now.
I will be on KPCC 89.3 FM today between 5 and 6 pm. Tune in! Below is info from their website.
Don’t forget our upcoming panels:
Saturday August 23rd Panel #5 at Adrian’s house 420 Boyle St. 6:30pm, ARTIST AS DJ
Wednesday August 27th Panel #6 at G727 6:30pm, POWER TOOLS mixshow Panel and 16 th Birthday Party
* KCET Web story “Backyard Parties: A Brief History of DJ Culture in Southern California”
from:
89.3 FM KPCC
Gallery Exhibit Explores East Los Angeles D.J. Culture
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
August 22, 2008
DJ culture, with its turntables, record scratching, and fashions, is ever-present in mainstream television, movies and advertising. An exhibit at a downtown L.A. gallery argues that East L.A. DJ’s as far back as 30 years ago and the Eastside parties where they played constitute an overlooked chapter of DJ culture. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reports about the gallery’s efforts to unearth cultural history
Those of us close to E.L.A. and who know it first-hand are likely to view with pride the more positive aspects of our communities and recognize the successes rather than dwell on the failures. Nevertheless, we seem to perpetually suffer from dismal public perceptions that tend to focus on the negative. Continue reading
I’d been to this eatery maybe a year or so ago, when it was simply called La Tia and they were trying to specialize in tamales (no doubt to compete with the Eastside institution next door known as Tamales Liliana) but the food was just okay and it seemed like they were still getting things in order. About a month ago a friend told me that they now carried “all kinds of moles” and that it was under new ownership. Could it really be the same place? Only one way to find out!
“Por la Quince hehehehe,†sums up the latest installment of Casa 0101’s production of “El Verde.†That’s because “La Quinceanera,†played by Ramona Pilar Gonzales, steals the show in an unexpected turn of events. Gonzales does a terrific job of playing “El Verdes,â€Anthony Aguilar, most nefarious foe. Like any scorned woman, she is driven by the heart ache of a past lover, detective Johnny Angel, Gabriel Guillen. This is the fourth installment in this on going serious revolving around the origins of the shows major characters “El Verde†and “La Quinceaneraâ€.
I’ve dated a couple of vegetarians in my day, and they were the first ones I ever saw order tacos de papa. The first time I tasted them, I thought “They’re ok.” I was never into the tacos with the hardened / fried shell. My mom loves tacos with hardened / fried shells, but she never made tacos de papa. I began eating them at the monthly Caracol Marketplace. These are very good tacos de papa.
They got shredded cabbage, homemade guacamole, some cheese, sour cream and of course fried tortilla and papa. This weekend we stopped by for breakfast and my picky eater of a daughter loved them! So I decided I need to learn how to make my own. Here is what I came up with.
It has cilantro-jalape~o hummus, fresh sliced tomato, Tapatio sauce and of course fried tortilla and papas. It’s a gentrified taco de papa since everything except the Tapatio sauce is from Trader Joe’s. I hope she likes them.
Just who is “El Verde” ? How did he come to be ? What’s his favorite kind of tamal ? Those are all questions that will be answered when “El Verde” returns to Casa 0101 this weekend. I had the opportunity to interview Anthony Aguilar, who is the writer and actor behind “El Verde,” to explain some of the shows conceptual origins. For those of you who aren’t familiar with “El Verde,” the show follows the heroic/comedic escapades of Arturo Sanchez, who immigrated from Mexico to live a normal life, but had his world forever changed when he was involved in a freak elote accident, turning him into “El Verde.” Continue reading
 Say hello to my little friend, Passer Domesticus AKA chirpy-boy or as the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services knows him, A0968416  N  . I found chirpy-boy Friday night while walking back home when I saw him/her in the corner of my eye. Chirpy-boy was on the floor next to a wall. I walked up to him/her and instead of flying away, he/she bounced away and that’s when I knew something was wrong with him/her. I chased him/her a little bit more to make sure and he/she could fly away and he/she didn’t. I also noticed how small chirpy-boy is, so I knew he/she was still a baby. I managed to corner chirpy-boy and grab him/her with my hand. In my hand I could feel all of chirpy-boys body trembling and his heart pounding. It felt as if my whole hand was throbbing at a high rate. At the same time when I picked up chirpy-boy he/she screamed and bit my palm as hard as he/she could, it didn’t hurt. One thing you have to understand about me is that I’m an animal advocate,lover and owner of a black lab (Harley Quinn) that saved my life and helped me lose 20 lbs. Animals and advocating for their welfare is something close to my heart. I have written about the horrors of puppy mills/pet stores, at my schools news paper and have helped other’s realize/understand that if they decided to take in an animal, adopting is always the best bet. (This could go on for days so yeah, I’ll stop now). With chirpy-boy in one hand and my birthday cake on the other, I headed home and made arrangements for chirpy-boy spending the night until the morning, when I would take him to the North Central Animal Shelter.Â
I need some help. The man in the picture below is a complete mystery to me. He may look like an ordinary man riding his bicycle, but he’s not. I have come across this man before and I haven’t been able to get a clear picture of him, till now. Even though he’s missing half his arm and leg, you can get a good view of the man who rides around yelling and performing acrobatics/dancing on his bicycle.
Rudy Martinez a character on A&E’s Flip This House, along with his associate, Paul Pagnone comprise the Piedmont Investment Company, the development firm that recently purchased the historic Self Help Graphics & Art Building in East Los Angeles.
The Self Help Graphics & Art building, a visual art piece of tile work by international artist Eduardo Oropeza, has been a sanctuary for over 30 years to hundreds of marginalized artists. Through Self Help Graphics’ print ateliers, use of studio spaces, premiere instruction, use of gallery walls and mutual interchange—major Los Angeles artistic voices were born. It is not by chance that an overwhelming number of artists whose work is now exhibited in the Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement and the Cheech Marin collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) have a deep allegiance to Self Help Graphics.