El Banquetazo

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Most of us know that East L.A. has a unique and colorful character all of it’s own. I thought I’d seen everything in Do-It-Yourself entrepreneurship in my old Barrio, until today. “La Crisis” has spawned so many forms of creativity to make financial ends meet that nothing really surprised me anymore. That is until I heard the latest “Chisme” while visiting my Mom in the Eastside. “Have you heard about those people down the street who are running a full on restaurant on their front lawn?” she asked. “Holy Crap!“, I gasped. “This I gotta see“….. Continue reading

Thee Eastside Theme Song Poll

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When you think of the Eastside, what song(s) do you think of? Is there one definitive tune that can be called the Eastside Anthem? I’ve been trying to find the answer to those questions and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are too many factors to consider before attempting to define a song that embodies the broad richness and historical flavor of our Querido Eastside. For one thing, we must consider the era that holds the strongest meaning to us. Would you favor the “Classic” Eastside era of the 60’s and 70’s or beyond? And of course we must also filter our choices by the unique tastes of the various subcultures and cliques found in our community. The Cholo types might  have certain musical preferences as would the Low Riders, Old Skoolers, Cruisers, Disco era types, Rockers, Punks, Hip Hoppers, Regionals and so on. Do we consider if it’s a cruising song? or perhaps a dance number or a song just for kicking it Eastside style? Continue reading

The last few years

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First they came for our taco trucks. Then they deported some family members, a few friends, and some other paisas that lived down the street. On the weekend they went to TJ and had some fun, it wasn’t so bad. Yeah, One Love. Then they paid us to mow the grass and wheel out their fucking trash cans. Sometime way before any of this they threw out some po-mo ramblings and tossed the Eastside moniker up in the air, up for grabby grabs, but I just remembered so this timeline might be off by a month or two. Afterwards they demanded we bring them the food already, cuz they’ve been sitting here for 10 minutes. Right around this time some asshole ran for mayor under the English Only/ Down with the Wetters platform. But the chittichangas were good with guacamole and they decided to forget that foray into the Old Ways. Then they decided that taco trucks were actually a good idea, maybe even kinda cool, and the proper people also liked them, so yeah, lets not enforce that arbitrary law. Then they wanted to do that whole 187 thing against children of immigrants again, you know, for old times sake. It’s part of that grab bag of ideas they put into rotation when things go bad; they’re just not that creative.

And now, dipping back into said bag, they want to ban roosters, again. This shit has got to stop. No pasaran. Stand for California. The buck is in the sand, the line stops near here, or something of the sort.

Let the chickens be.

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4th of July 2009

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If you’ve ever been fortunate to spend 4th of July on the Eastside (or in the vicinity thereof) you’ll know that shit gets crazy as soon as the sun sets. Of course people bring in the always popular  “safe and sane” fireworks that are available in some of the neighboring cities (like Alhambra) but there seems to be a preference for those very illegal fireworks, the type that fly and explode into a rainbow of colors. You know, the fun ones.

Some people complain about illegal fireworks and get all worked up about it, but it doesn’t matter: I’ve yet to see a 4th without these illegal fireworks. The video above is quite terrible in capturing this holiday and you can’t really hear the non-stop rumble of endless explosions, but it’s a sorta glimpse, via the bad-but-works video feature on my camera.

Click ahead for some after the fact pics from Lincoln Heights.

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The mural wars continue

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I see this mural and I feel nothing. No connection to the history it has, the images depicted on it and what it means to the community and t artist responsible for creating such a beautiful work of art. It’s been there longer than I have been alive and seen Boyle Heights change and grow over the years. Everything I feel and see in that mural nowadays I learned to appreciate it. I walk by it almost everyday and I understand the history behind the streetscapers and the legacy muralist are continuing since the  ’20s. My thirst for knowledge has shown me the rich legacy murals have in all of East Los and around the world for that matter, but that’s the trick. I wanted to know more about it. Then there are other residents that could careless about what they are, but appreciate it for what it is, art. At least that’s what I realized after Willie Herron III explained it to me from his point of view. He told me that even though I may not feel a connection to the images in the mural or understand it, we can all appreciate it. Murals like the “Corrido of Boyle Heights” may be the closest some residents will ever get to art. That alone merits appreciation in the murals, but mocosos still fail to grasp that. It’s the same arguments over and over again: If kids had a proper outlet they wouldn’t be doing shit like this or if the city had more arts programs for youth, taught them more history and appreciate their heritage etc. So does this post have a point? Maybe and maybe not. Maybe I just wanted to post up a picture of HOW STUPID PEOPLE ARE or ramble about a conversation I had today with Herron. Whatever the reason, the mural will survive. As Brandy Healy succinctly put it, “Well, at least its graffiti coated thanks to the restoration skills of Paul Botello & crew with support from CD 1 Councilman Ed Reyes. I hope the clean up folks come soon. Not only is this particular defacement completely void of any meaning or aesthetic, it’s just insultingly stupid.” And so the mural wars continue.

Piolin gives gas

Piolin, the excitedly animated morning radio host, loved by many and hated by just as many, picked up the tab at the pump on Monday at Pronto Gas station in Boyle Heights.

The line of cars waiting for their free prize was like the line of people waiting to get their free $1 dollar bill from that priest in Downtown on Christmas – endless and not worth the wait, but entertaining to deliberate what people would do for free things and why.

Pronto Gas Station - Soto y Wabash

Pronto Gas Station - Soto y Wabash

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LIVE TO RIDE, RIDE TO LIVE – Eastside Bike Ride 6/27/09

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(you might want to bring along a bike better than this one!)

One of our readers sent this info along via our contact us page. See, even you can get something posted here!

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“LIVE TO RIDE, RIDE TO LIVE”

EASTSIDE BIKE CLUB CELEBRATES 1ST YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH
COMMUNITY BIKE RIDE, OUTDOOR MOVIES, MUSIC AND FIREWORKS

On Saturday June 27th, the EASTSIDE BIKE CLUB will be celebrating our 1st
Year Anniversary with a community bike ride thru the streets of Northeast
Los Angeles.

The event starts at Lincoln Park in Lincoln Heights, just 5 minutes
Northeast of Downtown LA. Bike riders are invited to join our celebration
by arriving at Lincoln Park at 3pm to start to decorate bikes RED, WHITE
and BLUE (Weekend before the 4th of July), check air pressure on tires and
make minor adjustments to bikes.
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Boredom is…

boredom

On my daily commute to work I spotted this on N. Broadway.  Now this side of town is not without plenty of graffiti/bombs/tags but this meanders into other territory.  It’s not just a ‘tag’ but in a way someone trying to engage us and express his “boredom” with an act of creativity! Of course bored is spelled as borred, which makes one wonder as to whether this was intentional or not. And even the last “D” looks like a “b,” further changing an interpretation of this piece.

But frankly, on a purely visceral level I love this. Reminds me of all those million punk songs that sing about being young and bored. Even Søren Kierkegaard, Dutch 19th century existentialist, wrote about the nature of Boredom. For example he said in Either/Or,

Since boredom advances and boredom is the root of all evil, no wonder, then, that the world goes backwards, that evil spreads. This can be traced back to the very beginning of the world. The gods were bored; therefore they created human beings.

And also:

Boredom rests upon the nothingness that winds its way through existence

So, whoever did this is in good company in being bored…but as the Internationale Situationiste also said:

Boredom is counterrevolutionary.

OH! Who would’ve thought being bored had such existential implications!