Category Archives: Greater Los Angeles

The Day After

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The campaign-less streets of Lincoln Heights

Despite my skepticism of the efficacy of electoral politics, I concede that the election of Barack Obama has brought demonstrative joy to the city of Los Angeles. Yesterday, I observed people smiling, celebrating and in an overall giddy mood*. I heard of workplaces having impromptu parties complete with champagne. Secret Obama supporters finally admitted their presidential choice and even some McCain supporters I know seemed buoyed by the energetic feelings around them.

A few overheard conversations from yesterday:
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The Brewery, La Mano Press, City Hall. Walking in L.A.

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A special van.

A special van.

Every year I go to the Brewery. It’s an automatic pilot type thing. I have very few traditions. In fact I have only two traditions. I go to the Hollywood Christmas Parade every year (if I’m in Los Angeles) and I go the Brewery Art Walk. I’ve been going to both of these events longer than I can remember. I’m so obsessed with them that I will actually go by myself. I remember two years ago I couldn’t trick anyone to come with me to the crappy Hollywood Christmas Parade, even my boyfriend refused to do it, “It’s lame why do you do this every year.”
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Some Stuff I Saw on Halloween

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The great thing about Halloween is that it’s a non-commital holiday; everyone loves the day but you don’t have to spend it with your boring family, unless that’s your decision. Religious and traditional holidays were you can’t really escape, now those are a chore, but this one you get to decide what you want to do! I didn’t have any set plans but I did have some stuff to do, so I brought my camera along and took some pics. Wanna see what I saw? Click ahead fool!

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Doomie’s Home Cookin’: A New Veggie Option in Chinatown

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I read about this new veggie spot called Doomie’s recently at To Live and Eat in LA and was quite surprised to find out about some veggie/vegan options in Chinatown, that’s a pretty close by. On the way back from the LA Archives Bazaar we took a detour to check out this new veggie spot, and I’m glad we did because this is going on my short list of regular joints to visit!

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Archives Live! The 3rd Annual L.A. Archives Bazaar

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It used to be called the Westside – my grandmother at Echo Park Lake, 1957.

This Saturday the 3rd annual LA as Subject Archives Bazaar will be taking place at the USC Davidson-Conference Center. I’m sure you can find an old-timer there that will corroborate my statement above, as well as inform you of thousands of other historic facts about this great city of ours. I’ve attended every year and often discover new sources for research and different perspectives on our city’s history.

More on the bazaar:

What Is L.A. as Subject?

Hosted by the USC Libraries, L.A. as Subject is an alliance of research archives, libraries, and collections dedicated to preserving the rich history of the Los Angeles region. L.A. as Subject is working to increase the visibility of local archives and improve access to them for students, researchers, K-12 educators, and everyone else with a stake in Southern California history. L.A. as Subject promotes tools and mentoring to help its members with everything from preserving and cataloging materials in their collections to fundraising and public outreach.

To support this mission, L.A. as Subject organizes an annual Archives Bazaar and bimonthly Archives Forum. These events raise public interest in local history while providing opportunities for educators, community archivists, librarians, and historians to share ideas and help one another preserve the L.A. region’s diverse cultural heritage. The research alliance publishes an online directory of 288 local archives–organized by topic–guiding students, researchers, and the public to resources that can help them explore the complex subject that is Los Angeles.

Building on the USC Libraries’ commitment to preserving Southern California and Los Angeles history, L.A. as Subject is developing a variety of new resources to support L.A.-area historical collections and strengthen the involvement of local communities.

Book signings by Jonathan Gold, Jervey Tervalon, William Estrada, J. Michael Walker, Carina Monica Montoya and Icy Smith.

Film Screenings: Chicano Rock!, Chinatown Remembered, The Eastsiders and The New Los Angeles.

See you there!

Just added: Schedule—->>>
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720 to Crazyland. Cocktail race relations.

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I took the Purple Line to the 720 to an art event on Sunday.

And this happened:

I was pouring myself some wine and a woman said, “That’s a beautiful dress you have on.”  I said thanks. She went on to say it was the first time she had been at this particular establishment on Wilshire Blvd. I told her I went to this particular establishment all of them time, well rather used to.

I said the place had lots of events. Art talks, poetry, jazz…she then stopped me.

“Oh I like jazz, but I don’t like rap music, sorry. I don’t like it.”
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Latino Punk Fest 2008

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Los Angeles, you are in luck! If you haven’t been able to make it to Chicago for the past two Latino Punk Festivals, this time around you’ll only have to figure out how to get to Montebello cuz it’s taking place here! I don’t have much else to say about this event because I haven’t been to the previous ones but I’m quite sure it’s the largest festival of Latino Punk bands in the US. (Err, maybe it’s the only one?) It’s also appropriate that the Fest take place in LA, easily the city with the biggest Latino Punk scene, not that anyone outside of the Eastside would notice. For more info about the event, check out their FAQ where they have helpful info like this great tip:

4. I get out of work late, what can I do?

–If you can afford it, call in sick or take the day off! How many fest like this one will you have an opportunity to attend in your life time? A lot of the bands playing the fest are traveling from out of town so there will be all kinds of shit going on all day, each day, where you can hang out!

Ditch work, nice! You can check out the full 3 day schedule here, though I think most punks are gonna try and get into the Saturday show to see the reunion of Los Crudos, or cuz they just want to get a glimpse of a band that would name themselves “Cara De Mil Putazos“, certainly one of the best band names ever! Hopefully we’ll have some coverage of this event to report back, there’s some young and not-so-young punks here on the staff of LA Eastside!

Latino Punk Fest 3 October 23-25 (Thursday thru Saturday)
All happening at:
Terraza Jamay 104 S. 10th St. Montebello, CA 90640
Click here for google map.

Click to hear a preview of some of the bands.

El Pan de Muerto

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Pan de Muerto from El Pavo Bakery, $2.50

It’s that time of year, Pan de Muerto is now available at your local panaderia. Every panaderia seems to have different kinds, although the bone symbolism tends be the most prevalent. Sometimes you can find some with names of the departed – a few years ago I spotted a piece at the King Taco bakery in Lincoln Heights with the name “Bush” on it. A baker with sense of humor, nice!

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La Crisis: Your “eccentric” and “stylish” options.

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I had written this serious post about crap you already know. Coupons, going back to school, roommates, moving back in with your parents and then I thought of something. We’re in La La Land.

Image is EVERYTHING!!!

This is why so many of us get in a hole in the first place, so I decided to give you advice on how to survive economic harsh times, yet keep your rep firmly in place. Being eccentric and bat-shit crazy always sounds better on paper than just poor.

If you are going down the economic ladder, do it with insane style!!!

One thing you can do is join a cult. Cults are always accepting new members. And many cults have a crash pad. When you have no money you isolate yourself from your friends and family anyway, so you’re ripe for a cult. Yeah you might have to do animal sacrifices, but if you aren’t a vegetarian this won’t be a problem and also there are animal friendly cults that just sacrifice people, though those kinds of cults are Continue reading →

A look back

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With the Dodgers so close in the playoffs, Angelenos are anticipating for their beloved team to bring home another World Championship!

It was 1988 when the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Oakland Athletics four games to one. It was by far an exciting time in Dodger history, but that was well over twenty years ago it’s time for for another well deserved victory!

Photo

I got to thinking what ever happened to the old Dodger Championship Mural that was located next door to The Original Texas BBQ KIng on N Cesar Chavez and Figueroa. I remember always looking and seeing the old faded mural when ever I passed by. Artist Peter Quezada painted the mural in 1988 shortly after the Dodger victory.

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Calling all [whatever is the preferred P.C. term because I’ve received complaints about the original name]!

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I’m in college and I am writing a research paper for a class on America in the 1950s. After giving it much thought, I’ve decided that I want to write it on Mexican women in Los Angeles County in the 1950s. If you know any women who lived or grew up in Los Angeles anytime the 1950s, let me know because I’d like to interview a few for this research paper!

What exactly am I looking for in these interviews? I want to ask about what they did for fun, their jobs (and if they ever felt any barriers in attaining jobs), the role community groups served in education, politics, job attainment, and other details. I am especially interested in anyone who moved around in the 1950s and why they did it.

I know some of you are anonymous, but don’t worry about that. You don’t have to tell me your relationship to the person I interview, I’d just like names and contact information. Contact me over at my site’s contact page.

EDIT Oct. 15, 2008: I forgot to mention this, but it is not relevant if they were born in Mexico, Los Angeles, or some other part of the United States. If they are of Mexican descent and were raised or spent part of the 1950s in Los Angeles, I am interested in interviewing them. Interviews would probably occur face-to-face in late-December or over the phone.

Image taken from UCLA’s Digital Collection.