Category Archives: Eastside

Got Towed?

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Predators attack for personal gain. Parking on an Eastside street I naively thought that a city sanctioned tow company would never attack for personal gain. I now feel differently.

Here’s a taste. I park a car a block from my house late one night. The next day it is gone. I report it as stolen to LAPD and wait. Three week later I get a call to call the towing company–the car has been found. Total to recover just under $900. As the clerk is doing paper work I discover that the car was found the same day it went missing on the same block where it was parked. Strange? When I ask why it toke three weeks to notify me if the car was found the same day, the clerk stares back in silence. Still strange? To make this even stranger I had locked the steering wheel with a Club, which was still attached at the pick-up yard. Strange, strange, strange? No, I think scam!

I feel violated by my city, my family attacked–emotionally raped in a way. Power makes people do deranged things. I wonder if anyone else has had similar experiences with Viertel Towing?

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submitted by M. Saldivar Galindo

Welcome to El Sereno

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Even more unknown to Westsiders than my hometown of Lincoln Heights, is my current neighborhood of El Sereno. I’m sure many have driven through it at 40+mph since it’s cut in half by the grand highway of Huntington Drive. Waiting for the 78 in the morning I can attest to how much traffic this neighborhood gets.

Yesterday after having picked up my bicycle from Gabe’s Bicycles for a much needed tune-up I saw this new monument to El Sereno, complete with green rolling hills. On its left it denotes the fact that El Sereno sits right on what was Historic Route 66; on its left it also shows that it also is on what was El Camino Real.

Random’s Rundown: Puro Pinche Pari

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Except for my horrible farmers tan, I love summer. Hot days, cold drinks, long evening bike rides through Los Angelestitlan. The electricity in the air, waiting to spark a blaze of social upheaval. You can literally feel it in the air. Social unrest, riots waiting to happen. Not too worry though, we all need to relax and have a good time every once in a while, por que si no, it get’s ugly. So even though the week isn’t over, the weekend is already getting started.

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2 Random Minutes on Brooklyn and Soto

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And the accolades just keep pouring in! The 2 random minutes of action on some LA street corner is making a lasting impression on people. Oh, what an impression.

Today we bring you a corner I know very well, having spent many hours waiting for the 251 to take me back home. On this Saturday morning the traffic and peds were light, not the usual crush of humanity that it once was. There used to be much more street vending which made the place lively and interesting, but the bad planning dept has made sure they get their way. With the bad planning.

On this corner I’ve seen many, many checkpoints, where cars get impounded in the middle of the night and a family of 6 has to figure out how to get home to Huntington Park, I’ve had cholos tell me that they used to kill people and take lots of drugs but cuz of Jesus they don’t do that anymore, I’ve battled for sitting space on the window ledge with the nopal vendor, I’ve seen the buses pass us up cuz they don’t want to bother with the large crowd, I’ve seen murals tagged up and sometimes restored, and I’ve heard my fair share of annoying evangelists with a bullhorn.

Since they moved the bus stop to the Payless, its no longer as busy. But still, its a nice corner.

Eastside 101: Off The Map!

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When I took my first trip to Europe I did what everyone does and checked out some travel books for some information and ideas. They’re useful in giving you a general sense of a place. On a whim I thought “let’s see what they say about Los Angeles” and man was that a bucket of hot water: this travel book racket is run by fools with money. Or sometimes just fools. I quickly realized that those that portray our city, in all the various ways you can, tend to do so either for money or because they have the money to do so. Its pretty messed up. My consternation to the lousy representation of our city is one of the main reasons I started my shitty website CHANFLES! (and later an even shittier blog) a decade ago. Who am I to decide to document this supposed glamorous city? I am a nobody in a metropolis that believes celebrity is a life-force. But I’ve learned through the process of experience that those that feel entitled to represent our city, no matter how many months ago they arrived, have nothing better to offer. My take can’t be that bad, can it? And therein was my mistake, trying to present an alternative understanding of LA to the ether, before becoming a somebody. Cuz nobody cares unless they care about you. Nobody cares what the nobodies think.

And then it’s time for the Cosmic Flip concept that my long lost friend Heriberto was fond of discussing : maybe the lack of importance makes it super important. I won’t delve into this serious filosophizing, but it was something to that effect. In any case, I think I’ve done my small part in describing my city. But in the end, the bastards with the money still own the bullhorn: they get to blurt out their inanities all over the place. I’ve been keeping watch.

So finally, the point of this post. I’m going to show you a sampling of travel books/guide books to LA to see how they deal with our lil’ historic community known as the Eastside. How do you think we will fare?

BTW, there’s a bunch of pics ahead, so plan your reading accordingly.

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Peel Here 2010 “Brace Yourself”

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Read my review for Peel Here 2007 here

Read my preview for Peel Here 2008 here

PEEL HERE is an unbiased forum for sticker and paste-up artist, we feature large scale sticker art in a gallery setting, along with interactive modules for our guests to slap stickers and add their tag. We will feature a MASSIVE STICKER WALL, STREET FURNITURE, STICKER TRADING ZONE, as well as “Open Call Submission” Sticker Installation.

This year our theme is “BRACE YOURSELF!” which is inspired by and focuses on the current social, political, economic and environmental climate we live in today. Brace Yourself! the urban underground speaks. It’s time to get sticky.

Saturday, July 17th, 6 p.m. to midnight. The Exhibit will run through July 31st at Self Help Graphics and Art

Featured Artists:
ROBBIE CONAL – THE LONDON POLICE – GERMS – SMEAR – ASHES57 – MAN ONE – OLIVE 47 CHAZ BOJORQUEZ – BRANDY FLOWER – ENIK ONE – TIMOI – VYAL ONE – ERNESTO YERENA – SAND ONE – FAVIANNA RODRIGUEZ – SHARK TOOF – CAT CULT – CHOICE ROYCE – TOOFLY- DR NUSE 89 – DMN – JESSEROBOT – SKET ONE – STICKY BANDITS – SPRFKR – BRIAN EWING – AKO – JAXIE JAX – MCA – DEWEY TAFOYA – KATHIA DUNGPLATA – DOUGLAS MILES – MAD ONE – EVOKER – SHARK TOOF – ROBOTS WILL KILL – MODERN DAY MONSTER – RAH TEN – FLYING FORTRESS – VINCENT VALDEZ – NOMADÉ

Brace Yourself Installation by PHANTOM STREET ARTIST

Live Art Paper Fashion by
DIANE GAMBOA

Live Screen Printing by
HIT & RUN CREW

BRACE YOURSELF! Installation by
THE PHANTOM STREET ARTIST

Come out and enjoy the live music and DJ’s:
DJ TOKS
DJ BROHMEINI
AC The PD

Bands:
THE SIRENS
THE LEAF BLOWERS
TURBO MEX
FOUR WAY HIT
ELECTRIC CURRENT ECCENTRIC KAOS

Admission is $5 – all ages
First 100 guests receive a free Stick Rick’s gift bag

Bring stickers to add the to the MASSIVE STICKER WALL and trade with new friends in the PEEL HERE TRADING ZONE!

OVARIAN PSYCHOS/CYCLES.. wombyn’s cycling krew

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RIDE IT TIL’ DA WHEELS FALL OFF FRIDAYS

Sometimes our ovarian cycles make us turn into ovarian psychos. Come ride off the stress and work out while connecting with other wombyn on the streets of Los Angeles. OVARIAN PSYCHOS/CYCLES.. wombyn’s cycling krew.

We meet every first and third Friday of the month at:
Corazon del Pueblo
2003 East 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90033

First meeting is this third friday JULY 16th at 6pm
(Corazon del Pueblo is providing child care for wombyn who need it!)

Eastside Lakers Street Party Part 1

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After the Lakers won the championship last year, I watched the news coverage of the street celebrations that took place on the Eastside.  I decided that day, that if the Lakers won the NBA crown once again, this time I would witness the street celebrations firsthand from the “Belly of the Beast.” Continue reading →

Save the Spring Street Bridge!

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Photo courtesy of Bridgehunter.com

Despite the city going through one of the worst financial times in it’s existence, they are pushing forward on tearing down the perfectly fine historic Spring Street Bridge to spend tons of city funds to build a brand new one. Very few folks who live in the adjacent communities support this project but despite their protests and objections, the Board of Public Works approved the bridge demolition. It’s now up to the City Council Transportation Committee to approve the project. The Los Angeles Conservancy is asking folks to show up at a hearing tomorrow to protest this unneeded new project and to call for the protection of our beloved little Spring Street Bridge.

Here’s more info from the Los Angeles Conservancy:

The city’s Bureau of Engineering (BOE) is rushing to approve a project that would dramatically widen the 1929 North Spring Street Viaduct — nearly doubling its width, stripping away all historic ornamentation, and eliminating the bridge’s eligibility as a city landmark.

After years of inaction, the BOE is now scrambling for quick approval of this project in order to qualify for $5 million in state funds.

The Conservancy has been advocating for an alternative that would retrofit the historic bridge and construct a separate pedestrian-cyclist bridge alongside it.

The Conservancy, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission, and residents from communities on both sides of the river are protesting the project. Yet our voices have been largely excluded from the planning process.

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