Ever since I first got word that there was a roller derby league in Los Angeles a few years back, I embarked on a quest to experience the awe inspiring, fast paced action that is the Los Angeles Derby Dolls. The derby dolls are some of the toughest women I have ever seen because this is a FULL CONTACT sport. They put themselves on the line every game and they give it everything they have with every jam.
~ Pan American Unity 1940 ~ City College of San Fransisco Click pic to enlarge.
This semester I have been taking a Chicano Studies class on modern Mexican art and muralism at ELAC. It is only after taking in soo much information about the art that preceded the work Diego, Orozco and Siquieros accomplished, that I am able to see how things were back then and the tremendous influence they’ve had on artist today Chicano or not. Knowing that the foundation for their work was layed out by artist such as Jose Maria Velasco and Jose Maria Obregon using the European style to show a sort of reimagining of how things might have been during precolonial times. This type of indigenismo continued on to the 19th century and peaked during the Mexican revolution when shit was going down. It wasn’t until the dust settled from the war that Diego returned to Mexico from Europe to do his thing.
With that being said, I cannot wait to see what his murals will look like when they’re projected to life size proportions Saturday at the Ford Amphitheatre. At the same time former Director of the Museum of Latin American Art, Gregorio Luke will be giving a lecture about Diegos life and his works. I looked it up and he’s being doing these lectures the last few years. There’s no way I’m letting this opportunity pass me up again, especially now that I have a better understanding of the art and Diego. I have a love for murals, which is pretty evident in some of my post, yet i still have soo much more to learn and take in as the history influences the future. The serious is going to start off with Diego then with Rufino Tamayo in July and finish it off with Miguel Covarrubias in August. An interesting fact that I learned in class was that Rosa Covarrubias, Miguels wife, inspired and mentored Frida. Rosa wore the tejuana dress and influenced Frida and her fashion choices. None the less, this is going to be an amazing experience to see the murals outside of a book or a computer screen.
Click on the link to see a you tube video.
~ Jose Guadalupe Posada ~
I just got this info literally handed to me five minutes ago. P3000 asked what it took for people to get angry, well students from ELAC and other community colleges are coming together to fight the class cancellations, Cal Grants and EOPS cut backs, health care for the lower income, health insurance and everything else that is going to make life unbearable for a lot of people. Here’s the message I got handed, “Due to the economic crisis all of Los Angeles Community Colleges are cancelling summer school and winter session! Come and support our students !!! Monday June 1, 2009 at 2:30 in Downtown Los Angeles. We will be protesting for our education. We need those classes to transfer to a four year university.” If you’re wondering if I’ll be there supporting my fellow students in fighting these injustices, no I will not. I’ll be at ELAC studying for my finals and taking care of business. We all do what we can with what resources we have at our disposal. There also getting students and supporters to sign a petition. This protest has nothing to do with the one going on at City Hall. FYI.
You can take that title two different ways. As in either poor quality food or just food of the poor. Sometimes it can mean both things. Which did you assume?
This was my lunch today. (Well, only half of it was, the rest went into the trash bin.) I was down on N. Broadway, thought I’d have some hot and sour soup from the new Chinese food place, as everyone knows that’s my favorite soup ever. Or now they do. Yes, even over menudo or sopa de zanahoria. Hmm, for only $2 more I can get the “combo”, seems like a good deal.
And that’s how it starts.
The Fiesta
The sun was gentle, the air clear, and the sky cloudless.
Buried in the sand, the clay pot steamed. As they went from ocean to mouth, the shrimp passed though the hands of Fernando, master of ceremonies, who bathed them in a holy water of salt, onions, and garlic. There was good wine.
Seated in a circle, we friends shared the wine and shrimp and the ocean that spread out free and luminous at our feet.
As it took place, that happiness was already being remembered by our memory. It would never end, nor would we. For we are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine, which is something everyone knows, no matter how small his or her knowledge.
-Eduardo Galeano
Botanitas is an ongoing feature bringing you stories and news from various sources, upcoming events and other bits of ephemera that might be of interest to LA Eastside readers. Suggestions welcome!
Please click below to read more on: Galeano in Los Angeles, our city on the brink of disaster, homeless evicted from empty space, blood cells that wear tiny conquistador hats, Latin Jazz performances and Secret Identities revealed!
Staring at 3 a.m. this morning, P3000, a cute friend of P3000 and I rode through the marathon route on bikes. P3000 let me borrow an extra one he had. Let me tell you that this city is something else in the middle of the night and early morning. At first this bike ride started as a personal challenge because P3000 says that my generation is a bunch of lazy guevones. That we can’t hang like he does. I couldn’t let this injustice go unanswered, so I grabbed the bike and I peddled my ass through the streets of L.A. Here are some of the pictures I got.
If you go by the raw numbers on the USGS.gov site, one might conclude that rich people felt the quake more than working class people, even though it happened in Inglewood.
The USGS.gov site has a cool feature where you can submit a quake report describing how it felt. You fill in your zip code, and some info about how much things were damaged, or not. During the recent quake on Sunday night, they collected more than 4,000 reports.
As you might expect, this received data was biased to come from upper-middle-class people, and probably younger people. I’ll leave it to the comments to speculate about biases. Details and links after the jump.
Continue reading
I wrote a post a couple of months ago about finding a full-on restaurant parked inside of a gas service station in Monterey Park.
Well, since then I’ve run across a few more. Check it out!….. Continue reading
You will have to excuse me for posting this here, as I usually put my HR reviews over on my personal site. (And you’ll also have to excuse the multiple colons and the terrible title!) But I thought this special offer was too good to keep to myself, especially in these times of La Crisis. And I’m not talking about the 50 cent tacos either, I’m here for the Mexican breakfast dish known as Huevos Rancheros!
Image from Understanding the Riots: Los Angeles Before and After the Rodney King Case, Los Angeles Times.
The events of April 1992 still remain fresh in my mind and it’s during the last few days of April that I pause and reflect on the state of our city. What’s changed? What remains the same? Being a fourth generation Angelena, this city is in my blood and my history is rooted in the streets, the asphalt and palm trees. I am part of this place for better or worse.
Last year’s post.
[audio:https://laeastside.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/12-ode-to-la.mp3]Los Angeles Times readers share their experiences here.
It’s extremely rare that I take a Saturday off because that’s when I make my money. However, since I had to call off work because I had an interview in the morning, I decided to make a day out of it and make my way over to the UCLA Festival of Books. I have never been to one and decided to see what it’s all about. I mean, I love reading books and comic books so this should be right up my alley right ? WRONG.
This years fiesta sucked ass !!! It will never be as I remember it when I was a kid, walking around with my parents and sisters getting in lines to get free samples of things we don’t need and taking pictures with celeb look-a-likes. What happened to you Fiesta Broadway ? How did you lose your heart ? Did you even have one to begin with ? I know that the corporate advertising is part of you, but companies use to give out WAY better things. Now, your lucky if you even get a stupid pamphlet telling you to buy some crap you don’t need. Sigh… this years fiesta really was no different than last years and Chavo posted a good photo essay, which was ok I guess. I think mine is better, but I’ll let you’se guys decide. Sigamen los valientes !!!!!!!