IMIX Bookstore

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So let’s say despite all the good critiques of avoiding a consumer driven holiday season, you decide you still want to buy some gifts for a few folks. If you’re like me, you avoid anything that has the word “mall” or “Americana” in it. Or perhaps like me, the millions of holiday craft fairs around town have let you down – what to do? One place I always like to pay a visit to around this holiday time (and other times throughout the year too!) is Imix Books (pronounced EE-MEESH) in Eagle Rock. Proprietor Elisa Garcia-Rodriguez is a true bookseller by trade having worked in fabled bookstores like Midnight Special before branching out on her own to start Imix.  She has worked tirelessly to create a beautiful community bookstore featuring the latest in Chicano/Latino titles, radical literature, cool handmade jewelry, artist produced tees, author readings, a special collection of children’s books and local artist shows in the store’s gallery.  This cozy bookstore, nestled in between the ever changing trendy boutiques on Eagle Rock Blvd, has been able to hold out despite the fluctuating economy and the domination of Amazon (which has caused many an independent bookstore to close). Unlike many other businesses, Elisa has always been supportive of other independent enterprises, bookstores, artists and groups and has many a grateful friend in the community. Bookstores like hers are a rare treat in this day and age, stop in for a visit!

IMIX Bookstore
5052 Eagle Rock Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(323) 257-2512
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Eastside 101: Tamal Row

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It seems that it’s about time for another installment of Eastside 101, that series that showcases places East of the river that contribute to the unique way of life over on this side of town. Lately there’s been a whole bunch of new fools using the term to give themselves some urban-ness and grit to differentiate themselves from whence they came, even as they look towards the Westside for approval. Yer all sad. Keep it up mofos, we can keep it up longer! Eventually you’ll have to relocate to follow that next media or publishing job and your fake ass “Eastside” will be forgotten. I’ve seen it happen.

But enough about the wannabes, I’m here to present you with a quick roundup of everyones favorite holiday treat: Tamales! There’s a small stretch on Brooklyn with a few different tamalerias which I’ve dubbed Tamal Row, but if there’s another name for this area (Maravilla?) I’m not going to stubbornly try to rename it, just let me know, okay? I figured I’d make it a day trip to compare and contrast their wares! Quieren ver? Pues a la proxima hoja!

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WWECD? (What Would El Chavo Do?)

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A New Mexican Food Joint has just opened in my neighborhood this week, and I happened to be walking by the other day and thought I’d check it out. I studied the menu and wondered “What Would El Chavo Do?”
I had noticed the construction and renovations going on for some time here, and it seemed to me that this spot had been serving food before, but primarily in connection with an adjacent storefront church. Now I found myself at the Grand Opening of a spanking new Westside place by the name of TARASCOS.
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A View of the 1st LA Anarchist Bookfair

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Panel on Anarcha-Feminism

This last weekend, on Saturday I went to the first annual Los Angeles Anarchist Bookfair at the Southern California Library. I’ve been to a few Anarchist Bookfairs up north in San Francisco, so I was very interested in seeing how this would turn out.  I couldn’t make it to all the workshops/panels but I did make it to a few.

More after the jump.

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Newport Coast: The tragic underside of the census. A piece of satire.

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So sad!!! The lack of diversity is killing them inside.
So sad!!! The lack of diversity is killing them inside.

Newport coast, it turns out, has become even less black and brown. Newport Coast was so undiverse that in 2001 it attached itself to Newport Beach as to not look so oddly white in a quickly changing multicultural world.

You can’t even find out how white it is, because it’s not only white, but rich and rich people don’t want you in their business.

A lot of us Angelenos take Orange County for granted. Continue reading →

2nd Annual Jayden’s Wish Charity Event

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Photo by Google of Tijuana Orphans

As a special gift to her son Jayden my friend Krys is having the 2nd Annual Jayden’s Wish Charity Event.
Please come join us this Thursday in downtown Los Angeles for a special charity can drive benefiting the children of ” Casa Hogar La Immaculada” In Tijuana, Mexico.

La Casa Immaculada is an orphanage with over 100 abused and abandoned kids, this event will help donate the much needed food to the orphanage.

Everyone is welcome to come spread the word!

There will be food, drinks, music and a  performance by Jeprocket

Sticks and Stones Magazine will also be shooting photos for their upcoming issue.

Two can minimum entry fee

non-perishable items also taken

December 18, 2008
7 p.m to 10 p.m

Geisha Studio
548 South Spring St #B7
Los Angeles Ca 90013

(562) 230-5417

click to see flyer

“Los Cerebros Infernales”

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Growing up on Lucha Libre was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. My father was a luchador in his time known as “Chamaco Moctezuma” and he would have made it to the big time if some idiot didn’t dislocated his shoulder because of jealousy. Plus the fact that he had a family to support, he left that life behind, but he never stopped loving it. I still have feint memories of those years in which my father was wrestling his heart out. Memories of going to matches to even meeting other wrestlers come and go, but his love and passion for the business was instilled in me. Wrestling in Mexico is a phenomenon in itself and regarded with much more respect and love than here in the U.S. Luchadores like “El Santo,” “Blue Demon,” “El Perro Aguallo,” “Tinieblas,” “Atlantis,” “El Rayo de Jalisco,” “Mil Mascaras” and “Mascara Sagrada” are my heroes to this day because I have a devout love and passion for Lucha Libre. Part of that passion was instilled by not only watching their matches, but from watching their awesomely bad movies.

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Mariachiando: La raíz

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Mariachiando will be an ongoing series of posts at L.A. Eastside and my blog about my experience as a mariachi musician throughout Los Angeles. The posts will not be in chronological order in order to fully document these experiences and create a narrative. To follow these posts here at L.A. Eastside, visit the Mariachiando category.

My paternal grandfather was a mariachi musician in México. in the weekends, my grandfather often left for a whole day or a weekend with his violin, guitar, or vihuela, to play with compadres in other pueblos around los Altos de Jalisco. Often, he’d be in the plazas, playing and singing with friends. When he came to the United States to work in the 1970s, he spent time working, but eventually quit and spent the rest of his time in East L.A., playing throughout the area with other mariachis and friends.

Meanwhile, my dad and siblings grew up listening to my grandfather’s music and the music that filtered to their pueblo’s radios from Guadalajara. When they had some time to themselves, either when they walked from their rancho to the pueblo, they played games or sang. While none of my grandfather’s children became mariachis themselves, they all sang, a few of them very, very well and my dad learned to play the guitar.

My dad is the third-oldest male and the fourth-oldest child. The eldest three males immigrated first to the United States in the late-1970s. They originally lived in East L.A. & Boyle Heights, but moved to South Gate in the early-1980s. All the siblings eventually moved out to the Bay Area, the last one, the oldest male of the family, leaving South Gate in 1989 and his stove to my dad (which is still in operation today). Continue reading →

First in line !!!!!

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Maria Gonzalez(From left) , Garcia Enedina and Pablo Torres arrived at 10 a.m. Friday morning to be the first in line for the 27th Annual Miricle on 1st Street Toy give away. Sponcered by the Hollenbeck Youth Center, the give away helps out local residents in Boyle Heights by giving away gifts donated from various corparate sponcers. Gonzalez said that her family have been coming to the toy give away since they were kids and this year marks their 20th year coming. Even as La Crisis keeps getting worse, more families are expected to come and wait in line to compensate for their gifts. Gonzalez her family and other people waiting in line are going to be camping out over night in the freezing cold to keep their space. Of course their efforts are going to pay of in the morning when they’re one of the few families who will recieve a Nintendo Wii said Gonzalez. The gift giving starts at 10 a.m. and of course the line will be TONS of families there creating a mob scence.

La Crisis: One Suggestion For the Season

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Image from Amor Y Resistencia!

It’s that time again, when custom dictates you give friends and families “gifts” comprised of trinkets you go out and purchase, but this year you can’t even figure out how the hell you’re gonna make the rent on the first of the month, so what is to be done? You could hit the 99¢ store and try to scrounge up the best looking items that DON’T look like they came from the 99, but who are you kidding? Economists and Politicians keep repeating the mantra that we must buy-buy-buy to save the economy but that’s getting a bit boring. Besides, they messed things up anyways, let them fix it. They’re already tapping into our wallets for those stupid bailouts of banks and car companies but I don’t think we should help them any further. Thus I give you the practical suggestion for saving lots of money this season: Don’t buy anyone nothing! (Sticklers for grammar can substitute that last word with “anything”.)

Why not rethink the concept of the gift? It doesn’t mean much anyways when you give or get random STUFF at the end of the year, maybe save your gift and turn it into a nice surprise in May? Skip the credit card debt-spree and do something corny but nice for your pals, like a nice homemade meal or some help with the garden. Besides, if all they want is some plastic crap from you then maybe they shouldn’t be your friends or family. You might have to make an exception for your significant other or somebody else but the idea is to feel free to NOT give things this year. Run with it.

Man, that sure was a crappy post. But I really just wanted a reason to share that picture above with you! Enjoy!

WE HAVE A WEENER!!!!

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Ajua! Someone has correctly answered all of the questions on the
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN AN EASTSIDER? Quiz!
One very Eastside Culture savvy contestant has demonstrated a profound
knowledge of all things Eastside, and has proven to be  truly deserving of the Grand Prize! A certificate good for Dinner for Two from:
EL CONQUISTADOR RESTAURANT in Silver Lake!
(I wanted the prize to be a trip far away from THE EASTSIDE so I picked the very self-proclaimed hip Westside town of Silver Lake!) Que Gácho! Anyway, here are the answers to the quiz: Continue reading →

Botanitas: last minute update

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A Virgen de Guadalupe admirer all the way from Switzerland! La Placita Olvera

Oops! Forgot to include these…

Virgen de Guadalupe Feast Day

The word on the streets is the flower market has sold out of all their red roses and if you’re Mexican, you know why. Today is the day Mexicans and Catholics all over the world venerate the one religious figure that can outshine Jesus: La Virgen de Guadalupe. December 12th has always held special memories for me because it is my great-grandmother’s birthday, a woman who long after her death is still remembered to this day at a local Eastside church. She was the founder of the parish Guadalupanas club and celebration feria. As a child,  I was always dazzled by the mountains of buñuelos she made in her tiny Eastside kitchen for the yearly carnival/feria. They were so numerous, the piles seemed to reach the ceiling.

While many churches have their individual ceremonies, the biggest celebrations in Los Angeles take place at La Placita Olvera Virgen de Guadalupe shrine. A throng of worshipers crowd the streets around La Virgen’s tiled mural and the flowers and offerings spread out from the altar into the streets. I’m not sure what time the ceremonies start or perhaps they’ve already passed. I’ve spent a few hours looking for details on this important Los Angeles tradition. There’s nothing I could find in the Los Angeles Times but I did find this article from the San Fernando Valley Sun: Celebrating la Virgen de Guadalupe.

Lincoln Heights Christmas Parade

This Sunday, December 14 on North Broadway 11am-1pm. Check it out! (thanks, Julio!)

From the Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council:

Residents of Lincoln Heights take pride in their annual Christmas Parade, which will be held this year on December 14, from 11am to 1pm. Participants will line up at the Department of Motor Vehicles, proceed North on Lincoln Park Avenue, turn West on North Broadway to Avenue 24. At the end, there will be a celebration for the whole community in the parking lot behind the Bank of America with Santa, snow, Christmas gifts, music and food for all. Thousands of spectators are expected to crowd along the Parade route. For over two hours they will be treated to a seemingly endless line of colorful drill teams, dance groups, bands, classic cars, dignitaries and large and small floats. The Miss Taiwan entry will grace an antique fire truck from Fire Station #1.

Please read the comments below for more holiday activities on the Eastside–>>