The infamous tumbleweeds of Lincoln Heights. This one was found at the foot of Holgate Square.
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!
Read below for ten-cent conchitas, North Broadway nightlife, CNN tacos, the Eastside extension, details on who is Taking Over and a bonus guilty pleasure!
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It took a full year, but the I-TAP is finally here and I got mine. Browne and Bustard also blogged about their expirience with the new bus pass and since I finally got mine, I’d figure I’d do the same. For $15 I have a bus pass that’s good for the next six months saving me $216 in total !!!! How awesome is that. I’m still broke as a joke and my future is uncertain, but I have a bus pass for the next six months. On my first day out using the pass, I twist my ankle jumping outta the bus as I was getting off. Now it’s super swollen and throbbing. Nice way to start things off right ?
  ~ Picture Courtesy of MTA ~
Back around the time I attended Griffith Jr. High School in E.L.A., I recall that Hickeys were all the rage. A sort of Red Badge of Dishonor if you will. Some kids would wear them proudly,… Continue reading
Lately I’ve been going to work early in the morning, 6 a.m. early and that’s WAY too early for this hibernating bear. Even though I only work three days a week thanks to “La Crisis.” That’s why I stop at Jim’s Burgers and grab myself a sunrise burrito and a cup of joe. I know I’ve mentioned them before, but the burrito is soo good that it deserves a post of its own. Sometimes it’s so cold in the morning that I can see the steam float from the burrito at every bite. Almost as if the taste/aroma of the burrito is enticing me to take another bite outta of it, like in old looney toons cartoons when the aroma would form a hand and grab the character and smack them up side the head. That’s how it feels eating a burrito of this caliber so damn early in the morning. Hell, by the time I get there, there’s already a few old timers eating and talking shit like it’s just another day on the job. Last week as I was scarfing down my burrito, I noticed a father and son walk outta the place together. The kid was about seven to 10 years old. Both him and his dad got into their truck getting ready to deliver tortillas. Just watching them pass me by like that took me back to the days when my father and I were hustlin’. Getting up early to beat the traffic, getting our shit together and grabbing a bite to eat before we had to handle the days business. Amazing how the simple act of eating a burrito early in the morning can evoke such powerful memories and emotions. Damn that burrito is good. Â
1901 E 1st St.
Los Angeles, CAÂ
(323) 266-3886 Â Â Â Â
Before Flaming Hot Cheetos, Eastside kids coveted these – especially the saladitos with chile. They were sometimes eaten a little at a time and some of the macho kids bravely managed to consume them whole. I’m sure you can still find these all over the place but this package was bought at one of the last Japanese-American markets in the South San Gabriel area, Tozai Foods.
Unfortunately, Today I saw Spiderman in Santa Monica, and it looked like LA CRISIS had got to him!
He was twirling a sign outside of an Auto Stereo Store! (And his zipper was down! Sheesh!)
I was out driving a few minutes ago, when I started noticing an aroma not unlike someone cooking Chinese Food. I kept looking around at the storefronts, sniffing and asking:
“Maybe there’s some kind of big outdoor Stir Fry Wok Style BBQ going on around here“. Always on the prowl for any new sources of Tragazón, I became more intrigued.
It all got stranger as the aroma continued to fill my car as I drove further on. After a couple of miles more, I was really puzzled until I looked at the car in front of me and figured it out. It was one of those old Mercedes with the Bio-Fuel converted engine. The exhaust smells like old cooking grease. Fooled again!
I see quite a few of those cars around my Westside neighborhood. I’ve heard that it costs as much or more than gasoline to run them and that you don’t always pass the Cal Smog Check with the converted engine.
I hope they’re helping the environment anyway. And I hope we can start coming up with more alternative energy cars real soon. We could use them.
Before the Gold Line extension opens, we must ensure we have transportation to infiltrate the enemy. We have expertly placed troops throughout various points in the Westside, always vigilant. However, we need more troops in the Westside to relieve some of the stress on our exiled troops. The Eastside and allied neighborhoods are some of the densest in the United States and we can afford to send more out west. Let’s call it Manifest Destiny.
We can encircle Silver Lake (two words, cabrones! If you live in the neighborhood, learn to spell it! I’ve seen way too many write it as Silverlake), but we have to move people over the Westside as quickly as possible. With no direct train out west past Western (unless you go northwest to Hollywood) and the 20/720/920 packed as ever on Wilshire, we must use our horseless carriages, especially for reconnaisance. If you’re not a member of Midnight Ridazz 2 or a paisa on a bici to work, you shouldn’t be on a bike over there for fear of being followed by the Neighborhood Jura. Even if you’re a paisa on your bici to work, ¡aguas!
I present to you the avant garde and fastest way to transport large numbers of people: the car trunk kept down with rope. Riding in trunks is no longer something you do when you’re drunk/high/desmadroso or to make it past Oceanside to Orange County. with this new technology, it will be a snap to release those in the trunk, just use a scissor or knife to cut the rope and BAM! you’re out! With a number of old Lincoln Town Cars/Ford Crown Victorias/Chevy Caprice, the Eastside will infiltrate the Westside with relative ease.
With enough Eastsiders/sympathizers in the Westside, we could hotwire their Prius’s GPS to talk like this:
This post was an excuse to use that picture. With La Crisis on us, people just can’t afford to drive to a junkyard and get a lock for their car. Sometimes the easiest way out is the best way out.
VIVA LA REVOLUCION!
–Official Message from Department of Homeboy Security–North Eastern Division, to the Eastside Front
This Latest Communiqué from the Headshopquarters of General Chavo!
→All Troops to Remain on Brown Alert!
In case of enemy invasion=retreat to the secret caves located in the Montebello & Rose Hills! General Chavo is to be Frozen Cryogenetically as a Giant Paleta de Nués to be thawed out at a future date!
Please Report immediately to command post if you observe any of the following suspicious activities taking place in the Eastside!:
VIVA LA REVOLUCION!
¡AtencÃon Pueblo Eastside! Ahi Viene-la-plaga ¡The MTA Gold Line Train is Coming!!! Continue reading