Category Archives: Eastside

Self Help Graphics Day of the Dead Community Art Workshops

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Self Help Graphics & Art is pleased to offer the following arts workshops for the whole family in October 2010.
All workshops are FREE!

All children must be accompanied by adults.
No reservations necessary!
Email: volunteer@selfhelpgraphics.com if you would like to volunteer!
Dates: Saturdays, October 2, 9, 16, and 23
Time: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Art Workshops:
• Paper Flowers
• Papel Picado
• Calaca Paper Mache Masks
Participants must attend 2 Saturdays to complete their calacas.
• Calaca Paper Masks
• Paper Mache Calavera Figures
Participants must attend all 4 Saturdays to complete their calaveras.
• Miniature Shoebox Altars
This workshop is only held on 3 Saturdays: 10/2, 10/9, and 10/16
Participants must bring their own shoebox.

SELF HELP GRAPHICS & ART

3802 Cesar Chavez Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90063

(323) 881-6444 / info@selfhelpgraphics.com

September Sky

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Photo taken minutes ago in Lincoln Heights. Threat of lightning present.

This evening’s lightning, thunder, rainbows and warm rain brought the neighbors out of their houses for an impromptu celebration of the change of weather.

I would put up with another day of brutal, mind-numbing heat if it was followed by the gorgeous, bruised looking skies we have right now.

Bonus photo!


September sky view from Angelino Heights. Photo by Jon

A VIEW TO DIE FOR

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A worker installs panels in the array, which will be about the size of a football field. (Christina House/For The Times / September 19, 2010). A photo from the LA Times article about the installation of 1400 large solar panels on the hills above Griffin Ave.

The project on property belonging to the Christian Science Convalescence Home has been temporarily halted as public outrage over the ugly scaring of the hills is discussed further.

The owners of the old folks home have all the permits and legal rights to complete the project but is the eyesore and desecration one of the remaining undeveloped hillsides going to be allowed? At what price does solar energy and energy savings to the owners have on not only the aesthetics of the community but also the future of the birds and animals that reside in those hills?

Solar energy is a viable and resourceful way to combat the oil industry and it’s dirty poisonous effects on Mother Nature but does this justify the destruction of nature and habitat that is becoming so rare in Los Angeles nowadays?

As a roofing and construction professional of many decades I would ask why we in the USA don’t mandate the use of roofing materials that use solar collector cells integrated into the membrane as is so popular now in Europe.

Imagine if almost every roofing surface in Los Angeles was covered with a solar energy efficient material that turned solar energy into a power source, on most days peoples electrical meters would run backwards and ugly solar collector panels and giant wind turbines wouldn’t be ruining the aesthetics of the landscape.

Spokes & Words Back to School Ride

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With summer  at an end and school starting up again for students, this ride is dedicated against all the bullshit everyone has to put up with in the institutionalized educational system. After all, all we wanted was a Pepsi.

Join up with the Spokes & Words riders as we share poetry, words and stories at Self Help Graphics, Cal State L.A., East L.A. College, Salazar Park ending the ride at Corazon del Pueblo.

Meet up at Maricahi Plaza on First and Boyle at 6:30 and ride out at 7 p.m.  this Thursday.

Make sure you also “like”” the official Spokes & Words facebook page to stay up to date on rides and connect with fellow riders.

TO ALL PARTICIPANTS, MAKE SURE YOUR BIKE IS IN WORKING ORDER. MAKE SURE TO BRING EXTRA INNER TUBES, TOOLS ETC. IN CASE ANYTHING HAPPENS. THE LAW REQUIRES ALL BIKES RIDERS TO HAVE BOTH BACK AND FRONT LIGHTS AND ANYONE UNDER 18 TO WEAR A HELMET.

ON THE DAY OF THE RIDE WE WILL QUICKLY GO OVER THE RULES OF THE ROAD FOR SAFETY REASONS. HERE IS A QUICK LINK

Here is the google maps link to the bike route

100 Years of Food & Revolution

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Self Help Graphics & Art begins celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the Mexican Revolution with a dialogue, art, performance, pan dulce y chocolate!

Saturday, September 18, A free screening of Like Water for Chocolate/Como Agua Para Chocolate at 5pm, where delicious Mexican cooking and La Revolución fuse into mood enhancing cuisine. read more The film screening is followed at 7pm with light refreshments of pan dulce y chocolate and a short talk with CSULA History & Latin American Studies teacher Enrique C. Ochoa, whose main focus are issues of power & culture in the tortilla industry and revolución.  He is the author of Feeding Mexico: The Political Uses of Food Since 1910.

After, please stay and enjoy the fiber exhibit of 100 Years of  Food & Revolution until 11pm. The exhibit artists are:  Leslie Gutierrez Saiz, Poli Marichal, Victoria Delgadillo & Yolanda Gonzalez.  This collection of art celebrates the Mexican Revolution Centennial and acts of revolution in and out of the kitchen.  The 100 Years of Food & Revolution exhibit runs from September 14 to October 15.  Come feed your mind and your soul.

Tuesday September 21, catch an interview (en Español) of 100 years of Food & Revolution co-curator Victoria Delgadillo,  Artist Poli Marichal and Erendira Bernal of Border Corps on Radio Insurgencia Femenina, 9pm to 9:30pm,  KPFK 90.7 FM.
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The Virgo Celebrations

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Ah, so I missed commemorating Los Angeles’ birthday this past Saturday, September 4th. Ooops! Well, happy belated birthday great City of Los Angeles! I am your daughter by four generations, my body is filled with traces of your asphalt, the smog of your skies and the dust of your palm fronds. I am truly of this city.

Anyways, I’m here to remind you of another celebration, and this one I only remembered because a co-worker asked me “Chimatli, vas a ir a el desfile en East LA este domingo?” “Huh, cual desfile?” I told you in my last Botanitas post that I’ve been hopelessly removed from the social scene. “El desfile de 16 de Septiembre” she shakes her head and smiles slightly, the same disappointing gesture she makes when my tongue turns Spanish all mushy. Well, in case you don’t know either, this year Mexico turns 200 years old. There are grand celebrations being planned all over the Mexico but you don’t need to travel very far to take part in the commemorations because the Eastside is having it’s very own Mexican Independence Day Parade!

Don’t miss the Bicentennial Mexican Independence Day Parade and Festival showcasing celebrity grand marshal operatic tenor Plácido Domingo on Sunday, September 12 in East LA. Watch top Latin stars’ performances, play games, ride attractions and enjoy delicious food. The parade begins 11am at Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Indiana Street and travels to Mednik Avenue, ending adjacent to at Belvedere Park with a festival.

-from the Metro LA site

Placido Domingo is the grand marshall which is pretty impressive for East LA. Though nothing can compare to the spectacle I witnessed when Juan Gabriel was in the parade. Hordes of fans mobbing his float, filling the sidewalks and streets so that even us spectators were crushed in the crowds. That was pure insanity and madness the likes of which I will probably never see again.

Read more about Mexico’s bicentennial celebrations here.

photogRAFA:365

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January 1

For 2010, Rafael Cardenas set two personal goals for himself for 2010: write a short story once a week and to take a picture once a day, while learning photography techniques and mastering his cameras settings along the way. Nine months later, what started as a personal endeavor for Cardenas has morphed into its own entity. His Canon D10 is always within an arms reach, ready to seize the moment in front of him at 1/250th of a second. People going on about their day, landmarks and moments of serenity are just some of the subjects Cardenas has captured since starting his photogRAFA:365 project.

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The Inside Story of The Night Stalker’s Last Run by Lt. Gil Carrillo

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During my research for the 25th Anniversary Night Stalker Walking Tour,I contacted Retired Sheriff’s Homicide Detective, Lt. Gil Carrillo for an interview. He cordially agreed and I arrived at the East L.A. Sheriff’s Station one morning for my highly anticipated meeting. Listening to the man speak about one of the most infamous criminal cases in Los Angeles history was both mesmerized and enlightening. Teamed with Det. Frank Salerno, Carrillo was the lead L.A. County Sheriff’s homicide detective assigned to the Night Stalker case in 1984. During our interview, I saw the human side of a man assigned to track down and capture one evil son of a bitch. This was his job, but it was one assignment that got under his skin like no other. By learning about the evil that men do, I also learned about the sacrifices that men make. I learned what it is to give pieces of yourself away in order for the greater society to not have to. I learned what it means to make a difference in humanity’s never ending struggle against the ebb and flow of good vs. evil.  This was a story of horror and heroism with a happy ending. Another dark player eliminated from society’s sick game. A game that never ends ands picks it’s players randomly every day. I also wondered about some higher powers at work here, and how we, as mere individuals must often find ourselves taking on battles that may seem beyond us and may require us to set aside every natural fear that makes us human. For me,…that is heroic. And it’s those singular acts that define and shape our collective fate in a world that can only hope to contain it’s fear and lust for violence. Hurray for the heroes.

Spokes & Words

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In the spirit of creativity, Spokes & Words is focused in bringing together spoken word with bike riding. As Julio commented on facebook, riding a bike is poetry.

There are six designated stops in which anyone can share words, poems and stories. Each location will have two/three people sharing and we will ride on to the next stop.

All poets, artist, riders and anyone who has an appreciation for poetry, spoken word and riding their bike around town is welcomed. Since this is the first ride, it’ll be an easy one. We welcome input from everyone on rides, routes and locations to include in future rides.

TO ALL PARTICIPANTS, MAKE SURE YOUR BIKE IS IN WORKING ORDER. MAKE SURE TO BRING EXTRA INNER TUBES, TOOLS ETC. IN CASE ANYTHING HAPPENS.

ON THE DAY OF THE RIDE WE WILL QUICKLY GO OVER THE RULES OF THE ROAD FOR SAFETY REASONS. HERE IS A QUICK LINK,

http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm

We will meet at Mariachi Plaza this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and ride out at 7 p.m. West, stopping first in Little Tokyo by the Japanese National Museum. We will continue on 1st. stopping at the Walt Disney concert hall, then continuing on stopping under the bridge on Beverly and Glendale, in front of the long gone Belmont tunnel, riding up Glendale stopping at Echo Park Lake and riding down Sunset, finishing of at the Chinatown Gold line stop and riding bake to the Eastside.You can view the route on google maps,

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=101988524258856390304.00048d6d80c30bdc35945&ll=34.060126%2C-118.238468&spn=0.031856%2C0.053902&z=14&lci=bike