Even though I missed this years fashion show at Tropico de Nopal, which I continue to kick myself for, I found some pics on flickr from photog LA-dude-taking pics. He got some great shots from behind the scenes tambien, which I would do anything to be able to go back stage and do what he did. Anything !! Any-who, I noticed the new pics that were uploaded on the LAEastside flickr pool.
Off Valley Blvd and Eastern Avenue, East Los Angeles
I missed out on Halloween in LA again this year, but I ended up getting a bit of a taste of it down south in Mexico. Like WALT! I’ve always been a fan of the holiday, mostly for the trick or treaters, and until just a few years ago, the trick or treating! Yeah, IÂ was older than the average TOT and people laughed at me, but it has always been fun getting a chance to pester people at home and harass them for some goods. I was once chased off a porch by some old fart with threats of calling the police. He thought I was too old for candy and didn’t see the humor of me cursing his home and hexing the family with a year of bad luck. Serves him right. Then there’s that lady in Lincoln Heights that deliberately makes her house seem open for trick or treaters every year only to trap people with some BS about “Jesus injections”. My tirade against her was even more special, but let’s just leave it at that.
Now it must be said that many proper Chicanos and Mexicans see the spreading of the Halloween tradition down south as a form of Cultural Imperialism, and they claim it will displace the traditional practices of Dia de Muertos in the country. I disagre. Mexicans have taken the holiday and interpreted it in ways that fits their needs, making it their own. If anything the two different traditions have mingled to make it a season that the whole family can look forward to, instead of just the adults. Anyone that claims they “enjoyed” Dia de Muertos as a kid, which basically means going to the cemetary and watching the grandparents do their thing, is a fucking liar. Yeah, you heard me. I can appreciate it now as an adult but someones gotta stand up for the bored kids!
I’m gonna get some shit from the Chicano Militants about how wrong I am but they’ve been telling me that for a long time, y me vale. Halloween has made its way to Mexico and its going to stay. Make your piece with that aspect of a changing culture and your traditional practices will only get stronger. I’m more worried that it will disappear in LA with it becoming more of a party night for adults that want to play dressup WITH ABSOLUTELY NO TRICK OR TREATING INVOLVED! Or worst, just another consumer holiday where you buy all your props and costumes, and go to safe environments like the Shopping Maul to pretend to participate in an ancient tradition. Now that’s the sort of cultural imperialism I worry about. If you can’t be creative on Halloween you are hereby ordered to soap your own windows.
Ok, all that useless text just to show you some pics of some Trick or Treating in Patzcuaro, Mexico. A little late, yes, pero que se le puede hacer?
Dinero, dulces o trucos: queremos nuestro Halloween!
An LA Eastside reader submitted a response to Target’s Illegal Alien costume:
Hey Folks! Forget about ordering your ILLEGAL ALIEN costumes from Target, Amazon, Walmart or anywhere else ’cause Menoman Costumes has them all on the cheap! Samples shown above.
-Menoman
NE corner Bonnie Beach Pl and Worth Street, East Los Angeles
620 women murdered in Ciudad Juarez since 1993.
The Vex, Willie Herron III and Punk Rock. Three interesting subjects. All are respected (by me) but sometimes maligned (by others). It’s a Saturday afternoon, why not entertain the three? Continue reading
So this is what it looks like when the Eastside becomes a demographic. I first spotted this campaign in a men’s magazine and I was like “Whoa, finally representing the kind of people who actually wear Dickies!” Thanks to LA Eastside reader Perry who passed on the video link, much appreciated!
When I was a teen, I was into the hardcore punk scene and interestingly our fashion wasn’t all that much different from the vatos in the neighborhood. We’d wear Dickies, those canvas shoes you could buy at Woolworth’s or Thrifty’s (both stores now defunct) and plain black cotton jackets. The difference was, we were all a lot scruffier looking and had colored hair. I’ve shopped many a dime store aisle with a vato/vata next to me.
Nowadays, my friends will head to Cesar Chavez, North Broadway, Figueroa, Huntington Park or swapmeets for their Dickies wear. You can cut them off at the knee for the classic vato look, wear them to work a la your favorite mechanic or even pass them off as dress slacks. I remember once Dickies even had a “Working Class Hero” contest which I thought was hilarious! As for me, I’ve since moved on to girlier clothes.
Tired of all those soap, egg, and gelatin concoctions you keep trying to perfect those liberty spikes? Well say hello to moco de gorila, imported from Mexico this is “el producto para todo tipo de peinados exagerados.” I got myself a bottle of “estilo punk” but haven’t tried it yet, I’m waiting for the weekend to turn into a punk. Cuz everyone loves weekend punks.
I’m sorta amazed that someone rubbed some gorilla snot in their hair to find out it made for a strong gel. But what I really want to know is how they collect the stuff! Now available at your local Big Saver for $2.50, in the dripping moco shaped bottle.
He: Babe, I don’t have anything to wear to the Death Cab for Cutie show tonight at the Hollywood Bowl.
She: You should wear my pants. I don’t need them.
He: Thanks!
Please join us as LoveGalo & Jun-Keez proudly present:
FIN DE SEMANA
Art exhibit & photographic journal of an FDS Collaborative Piece Production
Featured artists
Envy, Krys, Kween, Opia,
Perl, Secret, Suny, Swoe, Yikes
Photography
Eriberto Oriol
Music/Live Performance
DJ 215 aka Charles X
The Leeches (7PM)
When
Saturday – June 20th, 2009
5PM – 9PM
Where
Jun-Keez
3908 Tweedy Boulevard
South Gate, CA 90280
Info
(323) 569-4020