When Limos Die

Posted on July 7, 2006 by EL CHAVO!

Click for larger pic!Click for larger pic!

Anyone that’s been in LH for any amount of time has surely seen this grand Limousine at some point. I first spotted the limo hanging around Ave 43 and Griffin, back in the day when it sported a sign advertising its services and the number you should dial next time someone was headed to a prom, wedding, or some other pachanga. Nowadays, based near Broadway, it seems to only be moved twice a week to avoid the wrath of the dreaded parking-ticket barons, always eager to enforce the law in the name of clean streets, or so they would have you believe. In a day when party-goers tend for the ridiculously long Hummer limos, this one is looking like it’s days are numbered: rusting doors, bondo streaks, and plastic sheets taped to the roof are rarely the choice for teens trying to flash the cash. This car is testament to the common practice of the poor: if it’s kinda broke but still functions, don’t throw it away! That’s a popular concept, possibly universal, yet somehow lost on the rich that can toss things just because they’ve gone beyond the expiration date by which others judge you favorably.

Hmm, I think I would like to take it for a spin if they put it up for service again, maybe take it to the valet of some swank westside grubbery, have them open the door, and plop out with a rag-tag team of punks, taggers, and other ne’er do wells. I bet I can imagine the reaction, as it’s happened once before. Moons ago while a group of friends were checking out the fine beers at Gordon Biersch (cuz even ghetto kids can develop a taste for good beer!) we were asked by the waiter what “film set we were working on?” apparently because our getups, known to us as regular clothes, were too odd for the choice clientele and could only be explained by something related to movies. We laughed at him, realizing he was cementing our distaste for life on the right side of the tracks.

Posted in Fotos, Lincoln Heights | 5 Comments

Crispy Cone

Posted on July 1, 2006 by EL CHAVO!

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Recently I made some disparaging remarks about a new food item-concept in a post about the taco truck ban, lamenting that the crispycone was all we had to look forward to in a world without our Mexican mobile eats. Mind you, that may still be true but then I thought, have I become such an old man that I’m knocking things before I try them? Maybe the lack of street food is better for our collective health. Maybe modern technology has come to a point where they can invent quality sustenance for the masses, in a tasty portable design. And why not have the marketplace dictate what we eat, let the “natural” laws of supply and demand sort out what we really need: have they ever been wrong before? So in an effort to “expand my horizons” I said, por que no, let’s have a go at the Crispycone! Click here to read the delicious results!

Posted in La Comida | 6 Comments

El Mundial: Free Beer update

Posted on June 27, 2006 by EL CHAVO!

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We seem to have come across the perfect place to see World Cup matches: a little hole in the wall that offers, get this, free food, free valet parking, free foosball table games, free stadium seating for 250 people, huge screen to see the match, and finally, free beer! though it is bottom of the barrel selections with either Corona or Bud-Light, oh well. But it’s free, I kid you not! Better than that though is the huge main projection screen and lots of other tv’s around the space (they even have one in the bathroom) to keep an eye on the game at all times. How could this be? It turns out to be some Nike sponsored venue (boo, hiss) which I assume must be some temporary marketing scheme, figures. Despite that, even without the freebies, it’s a good place to check out the remaining matches. We got to see France eliminate España (can you believe it?) with a mostly Francophone crowd that buried the notion that only Mexican football fans are louts. Here’s a short video clip after the 3rd goal and after the beer spilling died down. Even though I was rooting for the country that imposed one of its languages on the Americas, giving us countless opportunities for creative mangling, it was still fun seeing the fans of le France get excited about a decent win: the guy next to me was twitching his leg just as fast as I was last week watching Mexico play, nervousness is quite universal.

If you want to check out the spot, here’s the address: Football Club 7018 Melrose Ave. Don’t tell them I sent you, they might not let you in!

Posted in Futbol | 3 Comments

Nopal

Posted on June 25, 2006 by EL CHAVO!

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I thought I’d force myself to take a break from all the World Cup posts so I took a pic of a nice looking nopal, it’s so old it’s starting to look like a tree. How are people supposed to break off the paddles to eat them? With ladders and sticks? This one is covered with the small white insect known as a cochineal. If you were to squish it, the insides would burst out in a flow of vibrant red, and for this very reason this lil’ bug is harvested, it’s even in that glass of Tropicana Ruby Red Grapefruit juice you just poured. Doesn’t it suck to live in a time when even fruit juice is not vegetarian? Now I understand why the nopal is part of the Mexican flag: the cactus is green, the insects are white, and their squished bodies are red, Tri-Color! Speaking of the Tri-Color, they were eliminated from the World Cup yesterday in an amazing nail-biter of a game, with Mexico scoring the 1st goal and Borgetti helping in the 2nd goal as well. They could have won it, no doubt, but they leave the games playing an inspired match, and the game winning goal in overtime by the Argentino Maxi Rodriguez was beautiful: losing to such an amazing goal is easier to handle. Oh fudge, did I just mention the World Cup again? I guess I did! Oops.

Posted in Fotos | Leave a comment

El Mundial: Be The Reds Update

Posted on June 23, 2006 by EL CHAVO!

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So I went to Koreatown to check out the S. Korea vs Switzerland match: turns out the Suisse and the French go thru to the next round. Click on the pic above to see more about the event. I was mostly enthralled by the difference between the Koreatown approach as opposed to the Huntington Park clamp down: one works with the fan energy to maximize the situation while the Huntington Park way is to stomp down with a heavy-ass boot of extra repression. They’ve already issued parking bans for tomorrows game of Mexico vs Argentina, they’ve even told businesses to shut down, yet again, while fans fill the streets. Hmm, what a fucking stupid thing to do. Therefore, I do proclaim, that the City of Huntington Park, in the Los Angeles County area, hereby is declared the Stupidest City in the World. Let me make it clear: Huntington Park is a Stupid City! If that’s not yet been made clear for the google bots, Huntington Park is a backward city that hates its citizens: Huntington Park hates sports fans, Huntington Park hates people, Huntington Park hates business, Huntington Park is a city run by idiots, Fuck Huntington Park, Huntington Park Sucks, I hate Huntington Park, Only Assholes visit Huntington Park, Huntington Park is a backward town waiting for a ticket to the next century. I hope that helps HP make the proper lists! Cuz really, Huntington Park is a shit town.
Yes it is. They fight against a popular, joyous energy that embraces worldly sportsmanship with a heavy-handed repression worthy only of the worst dictatorships, I kid you not. They even forced out a business owner from his own shop because he was wearing a Mexico jersey. Instead of taking advantage of the situation, getting a huge influx of fans with money, which any other city would love, you turn it around and ask for hatred against your shit-ville. You deserve all the crap that is surely heading your way!

In other words, Chinga tu Madre pinchi mendiga ciudad de Huntington Park en Los Angeles, California. Se joden por ser tan pendejos!

PS. Actually, it is a cool place with decent people, but the bastards that run the city are total jerks.

Posted in Chanfles, Futbol | Leave a comment

Urban Gardens

Posted on June 16, 2006 by EL CHAVO!

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I did the above graphic as a mild and quick critique of the way the Farm situation has played itself out, there’s a much more intricate one floating around in my head but there’s really no point in hammering it out since it’s easier to sum up that the landlord Horowitz is a jerk; ’nuff said! “Property rights” always boil down to this: those in power and their friends decide who gets what. Rules and Laws regarding ownership of land are conveniently fluid when someone wants you off it, and if they have enough pull, you’d best be packing your bags. Even the Supreme Court sez your shit ain’t nothing to them. The actual farmers at the south central farm seem to understand this universal truth, so they smartly let the liberal activists do the symbolic fight for the farm. To truly defend your land requires a level of commitment that comes from years of growing real roots, from a significant attachment to the outcome, and the people of Atenco showed that it can be won. The immediate bulldozing of the gardens makes clear the sinister and vindictive streak of those that get challenged, which comes as no surprise. At the very least, this situation displays perfectly that you can never trust an elected official to help you out: Villaraigosa has tried to straddle this issue and it’s now obvious that he is not on the side of the farmers, it’s just expedient to appear so. I do hope they get back the farm, preferably without paying the “owner” a single penny. There’s got to be a way, time to think creatively!

But if they don’t get it back, might I suggest massive ripping-up-of-lawns, be it your own or someone elses, to make room for veggies? That would guarantee an even larger base of gardening operations. Many of my LH neighbors have been at this process for awhile with impressive results. As the saying goes, if your landlord bulldozes your lemon tree, plant more of them! Or something along those lines.
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Posted in La Politica es un desmadre.. | Leave a comment