Cemitas y Tacos, Cinco Puntos-East Los Angeles
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!
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Oh look, that newspaper subscription I keep meaning to cancel has put out a new magazine. Hmm, maybe this time it’ll be a little more reflective of the larger Los Angeles and stop being so Westside Provincial? Haha. As the cover says: Dream On!
I will write a trip review later, but this is for the now.
I will be on KPCC 89.3 FM today between 5 and 6 pm. Tune in! Below is info from their website.
Don’t forget our upcoming panels:
Saturday August 23rd Panel #5 at Adrian’s house 420 Boyle St. 6:30pm, ARTIST AS DJ
Wednesday August 27th Panel #6 at G727 6:30pm, POWER TOOLS mixshow Panel and 16 th Birthday Party
* KCET Web story “Backyard Parties: A Brief History of DJ Culture in Southern California”
from:
89.3 FM KPCC
Gallery Exhibit Explores East Los Angeles D.J. Culture
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
August 22, 2008
DJ culture, with its turntables, record scratching, and fashions, is ever-present in mainstream television, movies and advertising. An exhibit at a downtown L.A. gallery argues that East L.A. DJ’s as far back as 30 years ago and the Eastside parties where they played constitute an overlooked chapter of DJ culture. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reports about the gallery’s efforts to unearth cultural history
Rolo submits this video asking the obvious question, what exactly do worms have to do with organ donation? I can’t figure it out. DMV- leading the way in surreal advertising.
Coelhos Negros-Belo Horizonte, Brasil
I know a lot of people hate on myspace and for good reason, there are millions of kids, teenagers and adults who spend waste way too much of their computer time on the site. But like all things in the world, things are what you make of them and personally, I’ve been able to use myspace for what it was originally intended to be, a social networking site. In fact through one of my numerous myspace pages, :dos lunares, I’ve met and visited Gypsy music fans in Mexico City and hosted Gypsy music DJs from Switzerland here in Los Angeles. Besides using the site as intended, it’s also allowed me to pursue some of my not so flattering tendencies. I can be, how would one put it, extremely curious (okay, nosey) and a tad bit voyeuristic. And I must admit, myspace can provide hours of satisfying entertainment. What I often search for are the strange little subcultures that exist in the world but are not widely known. I’ve spent many a night visiting pages of friends and friends of friends that have included: almost-out-of-the-closet cholos, bizarre art groups, French nu-ravers, Romani gangstas and hardcore Anarchists. And I have to say, I’ve learned so much!
“Amazonas, que viva America Latina”
REPORT FROM SAN DIEGO COMIC CON
Days Three, Four, Five, Six, – Quien Chingáos Sabe?……
By Al Desmadre
San Diego, CA, Sunday July 27, 2008
Ahh, another year, another Comic Con come and gone. Only sweet memories remain, lingering like the pungent aromas of the Nerd Herds even now fading from these Cheesy Nacho littered halls of the great San Diego Convention Center…. Continue reading
San Diego Comic-Con 2008, Day Two,
Thursday July 24, 2008
By Al Desmadre
San Diego, CA.
Complete sensory overload compounded by unyielding waves of costumed humanity funneling themselves through row after row of vendors, mobbing displays containing everything imaginable from the worlds of Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Games, Toys, Posters, Books, Clothing, Jewelry, Art, Television, Movies and Comic Books. Presentations for every upcoming multimedia release and more promotional swag than you’ll ever know what to do with. And if you try to see it all in one day, you’ll go Mad. Continue reading
San Diego Comic-Con 2008, Day One,
Wednesday July 23, 2008
By Al Desmadre
San Diego, CA.
The first thing that strikes me about coming to Comic-Con in San Diego, is the stark human contrasts one sees in everyday settings during this week. Generally speaking, San Diego is a conservative, laid back, kind of military oriented type of town. At my hotel, mainly you see a lot of old white guys smoking cigars and talking about golf and boats. Continue reading
I found a new phrase.
Hipster Racism, I found it at Racialicious, the ladies over there are so smart.
“I define hipster racism (I’m borrowing the phrase from Carmen Van Kerckhove) as ideas, speech, and action meant to denigrate another’s person race or ethnicity under the guise of being urbane, witty (meaning “ironic†nowadays), educated, liberal, and/or trendy.â€
AJ Plaid, Racialicious
I used to just call it the “tattooed, pseudo progressive, over-educated, asshole” problem, but this is much better.
Back in the day (the 90s) an ethnic minority in Los Angeles only had to stay away from Republican areas and never visit the Southern part of the United States (or the South Bay, oh let’s throw in Covina and Tujunga too) and they would be shielded from being openly mocked owing to what they were ethnically (not from being harassed by the cops, they will always be a problem), but those days are over.
We can now enjoy being mocked by Obama supporting, vegetarian diet, Ivy League graduate liberals, with “multi-colored” sex partners. Well thank god. We’ve come so far.
Continue reading
I got my yearly “water quality” report from the DWP a few days ago, which is now in newspaper size print. Okay, seems a bit excessive for this lil’ gripping page turner, but what do I know. But did they really need to use a picture of Echo Park and the missing lotus flowers, considering that “poor water quality” is one of the possible reasons for their disappearance? I would have gone with a different image, one that doesn’t make me look at my glass of water suspiciously. But what do I know.
Speaking of Latinos on film, Check out these stills of the versatile BENICIO DEL TORO as CHÉ GUEVARA… Continue reading
“And_then_there_were_none With so many good people leaving the paper, it seems unfair to single anyone out. But readers of this blog have come to know Jesus Sanchez, to seek him out for his sly and dry wit, his knowledge of the city where he was born, and his uncanny ability to find and tell the quietly great story. It would be wrong to have his photo vanish from this page without letting you know Jesus has been laid off. “ Veronique de Turenne, LA Now, LA Times, Thank you Jesus.  July 15
It to me is amazing in regards to who is staying and who is going, this is a sad time for LA print media.
Browne
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