North Broadway, Lincoln Heights
There is much history to be found on the sidewalks of the Eastside. From old bits of used gum to inscriptions from lovers to plaques inlaid decades ago.
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Psst, it was once a theater
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Category Archives: Photos
Saving Los Angeles from Becoming a First World City
Many of America’s cities are in the crapper thanks to years of policy that’s favored suburbanites and their wasteful consumption habits. And LA has suffered the glut of gentrifying jerks looking for a lifestyle instead of a place to live. Buildings turned into condos, markets turned into fancy t-shirt shops, restaurants with one word names. It’s like some invasion by rich asshole foreigners, quickly turning Los Angeles into a First World City, instead of an American city. But this trend is reversible and the opportunity to clean up this city, and get rid of all the cleaned-up-ness, is achievable.
What’s the difference between a First World City and an American City? Let me show you the signs.
Westside 10A: The Boot
Over on this side of the river, a boot on a car for failure to pay the “I don’t own a garage” tax otherwise known as a parking ticket, is quite the common sight. Occasionally, you even see people contemplating if they can take it off themselves, looking at the lock, checking out where it’s clamped. When the money is low the last thing you want to do is throw it away. Which is the reason you never paid your tickets, which lead to the clamp that’s gonna cost you an extra $150, which if you don’t pay in time is gonna mean your ride will get towed and then you are truly jodido. The non-poor rarely realize how expensive it is to be poor. And no, being broke is not poor. When you can no longer call the parents or your other unspecified “resources” to bail you out, then you’ll start finding out what it means to be poor. And by the looks of this fancy BMW/Benz/whatever the fuck it is with a boot, seems people will start getting acquainted with the concept of without fairly soon!
(Update 3/28: Another picture to admire added to end of post!)
Neighbors: your best source of information
Last Sunday as I was heading home, I noticed the increasingly familiar sight of a helicopter swooping in circles around the heights area of Lincoln Heights. Things have been heating up around Northeast LA and by things, I mean gangs and related activities. They usually confine their exploits to the wee hours of the night so I was surprised at all the commotion on a Sunday afternoon.
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THEY’VE F@#*ED IT UP!
The landmark street sign for long time Eastside favorite “CHRONI’S FAMOUS SANDWICH SHOP” recently fell victim to a “hostile makeover.”
The former original version had featured a flickering neon outline that animated the doggie’s wagging tail and tongue. The new flat paint job reduces the sign to a shadow of it’s former self. By simply filling in the original outlines with bright primary colors instead of attempting to restore the original design, the management continues to further alienate us purists by continuing a string of Chroni’s atrocities such as putting lettuce in the hamburgers.
As an avid preservationist and historian, I lament yet another loss of our city’s original flavor. My only consolation at this point is that I had managed to document images of the original version.
The original Chroni’s sign now becomes yet another bit of L.A. history that we’ll have to find in some future coffee table book. (Sigh) At least we’ll have the pictures, and the memories…………….
A Boyle Heights Sunset
Boyle Heights  by Los Poets Del Norte. Check out their myspace for their music and their new B-sides mix.
Mexica New Year 09 @ Self Help Graphics
Me : Hey ! I saw Rosannas facebook and it said there’s aztec dancers at Self Help right now, is it still going on?Â
Victoria : Yeah dude I was there earlier it was crazy.Â
Me  : So why didn’t you tell me or announce it !?
Victoria : I forgot. I’m too busy writing up blog post that I can’t keep track of everything.Â
Me : Yeah cause you post SOO much hahahah
Victoria : Anyway I though you worked on the weekends ?
Me : I do, I just got out and I was checking facebook through my phone at work. So i’d figure I’d call you and get the down low.Â
Victoria : Well go down and check it out. I bet your girlfriend Pachuco 3000 will be there. I know you guys hang out together as if your lovers.
Me : Sigh…just cause we hang out every now and then doesn’t mean we’re lovers. Besides I’m sure he’s up to something already.Â
Victoria : Ohhh I see.
Me : So did I wake you up just now ?
Victoria : Not really. I was taking a power nap because I rode my bike six miles today. Man my ass hurts.
Me : Damn !! you rode around that much ?!?!
Victoria : Nah, I have an exercise bike in my house. My knees are killing me tambien
Me : Ohh so is there anything else going on tonight ?
Victoria : Umm I’m not sure, but I’ll just end up staying home or doing something.
Me : Aight. I’ma head down to self help then and go take pictures.
Victoria : Ok puez. Give us your report about it. Â
Follow the link to see my report….
Caca o Deli?
Is it just me, or does this soon to open Mexicatessen place in Eagle Rock have a name that’s bound to be a source of many jokes, especially for those that speak Spanish? Or am I the only simpleton with a Jr High sense of humor? I’m just saying…
Mural painting in Cypress Park
 
I have mentioned that I paint murals to make up for karmatic wrongs and have something to talk about at bus stops, maybe one day when i dont have 2 screaming monkeys keeping me from blogging I can elaborate.
Here are my 2 chongos, and their primos whom I am sole zuramaro of:
(PS, the trouble of taking this pic for tia/mama was the foundation for cleaning up Downtown on weekends when they get older, i primed them with LA river cleanups already)
 Me and my wife started a small nonprofit about 7 years ago that paints murals and promotes art awareness in working class comunities, blah, blah ,blah…
So Ive been busy the past week or so securing the permits and painting a mural regarding watershed and indigenous philosophy in Cypress Parque on Macon st. and San Fernando Road. The mural theme is Tlaloc, the aztec deity of water, creating rain on the city of LA (behind tlaloc is map with the LA River and Arroyo Seco highlighted) which flows into the LA harbor.
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Purim in Los Angeles
Hey, it’s St. Patrick’s Day so I thought I’d share a few pics of that other drunken ethnic holiday: Purim! For those not in the know, which includes me, it’s apparently a Jewish day of celebration and required drunkeness. So where’s my invitation?
At one point, this holiday must have been common in Boyle Heights. Now it’s probably only big on the Westside. Click ahead for a few pics.
EASTSIDE MEMORIES: Who Remembers?….
Lalo’s Place. Lalo Guerrero’s Eastside nightclub on Chavez & Marianna Ave. Here’s a look at what some special Eastside places look like today…..
Carwash Compadres
Assumption youth group, Boyle Heights (1970s)
My parents met in the early 70s when they were both active members of the Assumption Church youth group and choir. They never left the tight-knit group as some of the members were their own siblings and became lifelong friends and compadres.
When they got married in 1977, several of the kids from the group got all dolled up and joined the large wedding party. Thirteen couples! I think my mom was still sore about not having a quinceañera.
Late the next year, my parents welcomed their first son, Danny. Of course, he had to be baptized. Danny’s padrinos were los Padilla, a couple my parents had met and befriended in the youth group. He was baptized at Assumption, as were the rest of us kids even though our home parish was in Hacienda Heights. They were now more than friends, they were compadres.
Growing up, I saw the youth group members — whom my parents called los Marcianos — frequently for birthday parties and camping trips. Somewhere along the way, the visits became less frequent. The last time I saw many of the Marcianos (save for my tÃo Johnny, seated in red) was for my Madrina Bertha’s funeral five years ago. Los Marcianos and their now grown children gathered at a church in Lincoln Heights for the Mass. They recreated the choir of their teens and early 20s, but this time the songs were much sadder. It was quite the bittersweet reunion.