Huevos Divorciados at Liliana’s on the Eastside.
Huevos Rancheros at Flore in Silver Lake.
The Eastside is still east of the river. Never Forget!
Just A Reminder
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Category Archives: Greater Los Angeles
Cinco de Mayo: A Cultural Holiday
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We were driving thru the Westside today, somewhere along the border of Silver Lake and Echo Park, when we thought we saw something stupid headed our way. Sure enough, and cuz I had my camera handy, we were able to take a picture of some innocent dolt dressing up as a Mexican captain of sorts on his way to some shitty place to drink his shitty Tecate beers. Oh yeah, it’s Drinko de Mayo! We of the Chicano variety are not so learnededed on this American holiday so we decided to seek out an experience. Might as well get to know the Ethnic people that live in your city and figure out why they do the things they do.
The Price of Beer
As a 20-year-old coed at UCSD the newness of each day as an adventure, still had its momentum. The first female in my family to go to college, to move out at 18-years-old was at once my second-generation-immigrant family’s dream and nightmare. My first year of away-from-home loneliness was defeated by my freedom. I sucked it up, and watched other ingénues file out one by one—until there was 1 Chicana for every 17 Chicanos in my class of 100 in a sea of 7000 students. Freedom meant learning to think and speak critically, handling finances, self-management, validating my culture, being creative, making wise choices, defining myself and not appearing to have been too sheltered by my Christian-freak family.
Being away from family also gave the freedom to live completely bacchanalian, if one chose it. It was an undergraduate rite of passage “to thy own-self be true†and part of the experience needed on the road to where you were headed. By the time some of my high school friends became freshmen, I was their mentor and resolver of all acculturating problems.
I’m not sure how the situation came about–my high school friend Danny taunting me into asking Jose a 22-year old senior to buy us beer, because we were too young. I was uncomfortable, knowing that I would owe Jose some favor that I could not pay back—because he was obviously interested in me. The night ride down Torrey Pines Road in the back of a dark VW bus with Jose and my napping, assigned-sentry Raul, with John as shot-gun and Danny driving, seemed excruciatingly long. Occasionally Danny would pull back the blue Hawaiian print curtain that divided the cab from the carpeted surf den to say, “Is everything ok back there?†followed by a wink and grin at me. He knew I went reluctantly and this was his silly gesture to make light of it, while protecting my honor. Continue reading
South Central Art Walk
Around January this year I started a monthly South Central walk. We walked different main streets each month until about summer time. It was basically just me and whoever wanted to join. There is so much to see and learn in such a controversial part of the city. Great photo shots, art, street food, mom and pop restaurants, old houses, industrial and more. My friends who love the grimy aesthetics of SC enjoyed the walks. I will call this post the first SC art walk…more to come, and if you are interested in ever walking along hit me up!
Beautiful use of colors
Miracle Books
A good reason to subscribe to LA Eastside’s rss feed and twitter page is that Chavo and Chimatli have some killer articles to share and instant moments on the eastside ‘you’d have to see for yourself”.
I got this cool impromptu notification from some literati friends (more like book lovers) who give back to the community by handing out books—free. I love free! They are called The Miracle Bookmobile. “Bookmobile”–well, that’s a word I have not heard since I was in grammar school and I lived in an area with too many kids and not enough libraries. Ergo, some funky bus used to roll up on Chollas Elementary School and 4 or 5 of us could climb aboard for 20 minutes and quickly choose books to check out—a ritual that was repeated for about 20 to 30 kids once a week. It was a kid-friendly library, nothing in a shelf higher than 5 feet (I think).
Tonight, Saturday, October 22, The Miracle Bookmobile will be in downtown Los Angeles beginning at 7pm in front of Exilo Studio. Exilo is located at 435 S. Broadway, 90013. They have a lot of great new literature from LA and Oakland and they invite you to “c’mon out and get some!”
Out the Window
L.A. Woman from Out the Window on Vimeo.
A while back, Victoria wrote about the Freewaves project, “Out the Window.” Well, the videos are finally up and running on Metro buses and they’re online for folks to check out as well. I hate riding the bus, so I’ve been checking them out online instead. Way easier and with none of the awkwardness that comes with public transportation.
Aside from VD’s “L.A. Woman” vid, other submissions that made the cut include a piece on the Maravilla Handball Courts,by Manuel Huerta, Raul Baltazar as Tochtli 7 (the Aztec Bunny) and his adventure at the Chinese New Year Parade and Boyle Heights, as seen by Allen Colombo.
There are 60 different artist participating in total and the videos will be featured from October to November. A different 2-minute video will play each day, appearing once per hour, every hour. Check out their website to stay up to date on the newest videos they feature, an interactive map of L.A. that highlights where some of these videos were produced and the subjects in them. The project was a collaboration between Freewaves and UCLA REMAP.
Fresco Community Market Is Worth A Visit
North East Los Angeles is full of wankers. Well maybe not full but teeming at the very least. They like to bitch and complain about how this area is great but if only it had this or that particular amenity they had grown accustomed to back in their old fancy community or generic suburb. Whenever I hear them whine (or mostly when I read their laments online) I want to poke them in the eyes, 3 Stooges style. Because for all that griping they are still never happy even when they get what they want. That seemed to be the case today when I finally visited this fairly new market in Hermon which was incredibly nearly empty of customers. Yes, I am arbitrarily going to use this visit to make some wild generalizations and to argue that catering to the monied hill people is a losing proposition.
Memorial for Gilbert “Magu” Lujan
Artist Vibiana Aparicio stands in front of the altar for Magu created by his family.
This afternoon a community memorial service and life celebration was held at the East Los Angeles Civic Center for artist Gilbert Magu Lujan. Emceed by Richard Montoya of Culture Clash, with ceremonial nahuatl dance and music led by Martin Espino, a poignant opening by curator and art historian Tere Romo, a touching letter to Magu written and read by muralist Wayne Healy, a special “Haiku for Magu” by Ruben Guevara, filmmaker Jesus Trevino‘s observation of Magu as the spark that invoked a new art movement, as well as numerous other friendship, family and historical moments were publicly made today.
Guests added momentos to the altar "Tree of Life" for Magu.
The Best Part Of The Suburbs Are The Toilets
Beneath the average American City exterior the suburbs try to present, I know for a fact that all the worst things in the world come from these disconnected living environments: Rent-To-Own, Automatic Sensor Faucets, Baseball, Individual Retirement Accounts, The Grilled Cheese Truck, “I have to use some vacation hours or I will lose them”, Plastic Mole Jars, Self-Checkout Cashiers. I bet all of these modern evils have been thought up in some suburban kitchen or den, by some equally evil people. Yeah, it has to be true.
But I do like getting invited to the pool parties. Today I found out that these bastard suburbanites also enjoy some outstanding tinkle stations.
Libros Schmibros at the Hammer Museum
Photo credit: Anne Cusack/LA Times
Literature pimp David Kipen and his libros volunteer crew are making their way west, as the newest artist in recedency at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. From now till October 9, the lending library will be posted up at the lobby gallery pretty much doing the same thing it does at the eastside store front, sharing the gift of literature with folks across town. According to the museum, “Westwood has also seen the closure of several bookstores recently, as well as a reduction in some hours at nearby libraries. Libros Schmibros at the Hammer will increase Westwood’s access to books, while serving as a public square where visitors can check out, acquire, or donate books, and interact with Kipen, his team of volunteers, and other visitors.”
Chilenismos
A fellow artist and friend started a blog with her brother called Fundi2. Its a new go-to place for the Los Angeles Chilean community.  They plan on interesting POVs, cultural gathering info and related political discussions. Interesting to see how our worlds collide in a city where everyone is trying to find their voice and place.
I (heart) Carmageddon!!
A few years back when we had the Day without a Mexican in LA (May Day Immigration March) with a million strikers marching down Wilshire Blvd, a westsider said to me that they loved being able to get to all their appointments on time that day. There was no traffic.
Well, today I can relate to that. I made it from Boyle Heights to the Fairfax exit in 15 minutes!! Woo hoo!! I think I broke the mythical record of “Everything in LA being 20 minutes away”.
Also I love the Metro’s advice to westsiders “Plan ahead, avoid the area or stay home.” LOL!