{"id":4481,"date":"2016-07-15T23:21:48","date_gmt":"2016-07-16T07:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/?p=4481"},"modified":"2016-07-16T23:36:33","modified_gmt":"2016-07-17T07:36:33","slug":"eastside-101-odd-fellows-cemetery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/?p=4481","title":{"rendered":"Eastside 101: Odd Fellows Cemetery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many years ago, blogs used to be the way people discussed things online, kinda like the way social media does now. But it was a bit more subject oriented, based on some writing someone wrote plus the comments. That scene is dead now. Facebook and the like have taken over.<\/em><\/p>\n

Being one of the few LA based non-white “bloggers” (barf) back in the day, I got invited to join the Metblogs\/blogging.la<\/a> website in its heyday. It was mostly fun, but I was also using it to fight the Silver Lake-is-not-the-Eastside-fight, and to document the world I knew existed and was relevant and interesting on this side of the river. At some point after I left the site, some changes happened and my posts got all garbled and the picture essays I put much effort into lost all their image links. That’s just what happens when you put your “content” on someone else’s page. For example, all my fine content and excellent comments on Facebook have been frozen cuz some jerk face on the DTLA page<\/a> reported me for some sad reason and now Facebook wants too much info about me.<\/em><\/p>\n

As if!<\/em><\/p>\n

So now that I am saving time from being on Facebook, I can finally go about to fixing these old posts that nobody wants to read but that I don’t mind preserving. I started with this one because I looked up my old post when I checked out the Rafael Adames Commemoration<\/a> some time ago and realized all my shitty photos had disappeared and made my shitty post totes shit<\/a>. Even I have some standards. I plan to bring back most of my Eastside 101 posts to an acceptable level of shitty, feel free to skip these if you’ve seen them before. If you haven’t, why not waste some time at work?<\/em><\/p>\n

Old stuff ahead. You’ve been warned.<\/em><\/p>\n

August 17, 2007 at 12:45 pm in East Side <\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"odd_fellows1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the most prominent characteristics of the Eastside has to be the abundance of cemeteries, you can\u2019t keel over without plopping down on another muertito! That might be a slight exaggeration, but that\u2019s kinda how it feels when you get to know this part of town, you always seem to run into a graveyard. I was hoping to do one massive post, cover some of the different cemeteries with a few pics of each along with a bit of info, but I ruled that out since there were a bunch of snapshots I took on my first trip to Odd Fellows that I wanted to share. This resting ground also holds a special place in my heart but not because I know any of the corpses there, more on that in a bit.<\/p>\n

You all like pictures, right? Well I hope you do, otherwise feel free to not<\/em> click ahead.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"odd_fellows2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lodged between the Santa Ana Fwy and Whittier Blvd, the Odd Fellows<\/a> is the smaller and lesser known of the two cemeteries in Boyle Heights, the rest of them are in East LA proper. I couldn\u2019t find much info online, other than a mention that it might have been part of the old Los Angeles City Cemetery<\/a> and that it moved to its new and present location, bringing the buried with them<\/a>, back in 1890. And it turns out the meaning to the cool name<\/a> isn\u2019t even clear to the founding organization. Stop wagging your finger; I plan to get a library card, will attempt to comprehend books without pictures, and maybe find out some more info for my next cemetery post. But don\u2019t hold me to it, I ain\u2019t no damn reporter!<\/p>\n

\"odd3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Since most of the Eastside cemeteries are quite old, they still have that charming touch of personalized headstones. Not like the boring cheaper-to-mow-the-grass \u201clawns\u201d of the newer corpo-corpso<\/a> grounds that might truly deserve the slur of McDeath.<\/p>\n

\"odd4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Next to a large, decorative and informational headstone..<\/p>\n

\"odd5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

..you might find some simple ones that don\u2019t even mention a name.<\/p>\n

\"odd6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some were laid to rest awhile ago, like this one back in 1885.<\/p>\n

\"odd7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But many are much more recent, like this young guy, laid to rest just four years ago.<\/p>\n

\"odd8\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a mausoleum. Behind the trees, on the corner of Whittier and Esperanza, Tommy\u2019s<\/a> tried to expand into the Eastside. It didn\u2019t work out.<\/p>\n

\"odd9\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now for some random shots of the scenery.<\/p>\n

\"odd10\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Looking towards Whittier.<\/p>\n

\"odd11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Keeping extra cool under a tree.<\/p>\n

\"odd12\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Armenian surnames also present.<\/p>\n

\"odd13\"<\/a><\/p>\n

German too.<\/p>\n

\"odd14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019d never seen this before: small headstones in the space separating the rows.<\/p>\n

\"odd15\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And even some large ones in that same small strip.<\/p>\n

\"odd16\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This one is kinda sad: buried in 1918, he left some space on the marker for a partner. And if my calculations are correct, they should have joined him by now! I hope someone was just too poor to pay for the engraving.<\/p>\n

\"odd17\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Backwards baseball cap.<\/p>\n

\"odd18\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Today, Tomorrow, Forever. So reads the small balloon.<\/p>\n

\"odd_bonner\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hmm, where have I heard that name before?<\/p>\n

\"odd_campbell\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This one also rings a bell.<\/p>\n

\"odd20\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A DIY headstone. You\u2019ve gotta love that!<\/p>\n

\"odd21\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Offerings of Bud Light, Doritos, and something that must have been on the over turned plate.<\/p>\n

\"odd22\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A lamb.<\/p>\n

\"odd23\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Heart shapes.<\/p>\n

\"odd24\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There are a few of these that read \u201cHere rests a woodman of the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"odd25\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And there are also some that have badges and other symbols of law enforcement. Speaking of which, now might be a good time to explain why I\u2019ve always liked this particular cemetery.<\/p>\n

\"odd26\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Have any of you ever spent a warm summer night, back in those idyllic days of your youth, just hanging out at a local park with a few friends, relaxing, talking all kinds of bullshit, ONLY TO HAVE THE COPS SWOOP IN ON YOU, blaring shit out the loudspeaker about curfews and closing times, chasing you out, everyone running this way or that trying to find an exit, trying not to get caught, cops taunting \u201crun-cockroaches-run\u201d, bright lights messing with your eyes that just adjusted to the darkness of night? Does that sound familiar to anyone?<\/p>\n

\"odd27\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Well, it wasn\u2019t just a story to me, and no doubt some kids today are having a similar experience. I don\u2019t remember who it was amongst my friends that figured out a way to sneak into this cemetery but it sure did make hanging out on a Friday night much less stressful! There was an open lot on a side street that lead to an access point in the cemetery fence..<\/p>\n

\"odd28\"<\/a><\/p>\n

..and once you were in you could just head towards the center, where the sounds you planned on making would hopefully not carry to the neighbors ears, allowing for a night of hanging out without fear. Hmm, I can hear some rustling amongst the readers, scorning the thought of such extra-legal activities. All I can say is that in a city that makes no plans for accessible public space, the impromptu creation of the equivalent is inevitable and necessary.<\/p>\n

\"odd29\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sometimes the attempts at hiding out in the cemetery would go awfully wrong: it\u2019s a bitch trying to hide from the bright light of a police helicopter, hovering around looking for some pesky kids! That\u2019s not a pic of a copter, just an interesting looking headstone shaped as a large rock.<\/p>\n

\"odd30\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd ever near us, tho\u2019 unseen,
\nTheir dear immortal Spirits tread;
\nFor all this boundless Universe
\nIs Life \u2013 there are no dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"odd31\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And finally, easily my favorite headstone, this remarkable piece of ironwork in the form of a decorative cross.<\/p>\n

So that concludes this tour of the Odd Fellows Cemetery, a part of the Eastside landscape. I hope my attempts at pointing out places and aspects of life on the Eastside might budge some of those that would ignore our history to take a moment to reflect, think, and ultimately stop taking gigantic shits on top of our sense of place.<\/p>\n

Oh, wait, let me take one more picture to show you, it\u2019s kinda interesting..<\/p>\n

\"oddproblem\"<\/a><\/p>\n

.. I guess others are still sneaking in here as well! This guy calls himself \u201cproblema\u201d, someone is gonna have a problem with that mess you made of the wall.<\/p>\n

\"oddsign\"<\/a><\/p>\n

No mention if spray painting is allowed. Crazy kids.<\/p>\n

Okay, back to the car, cya later.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey! Oye tu!\u201d (Whistle) (Another loud whistle) \u201cEy! Ey!\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh-oh, looks like that graffiti was a warning to me! I take it as a given that if anyone is trying to get my attention from very far away, it\u2019s not going to be to tell me some good news. Nobody ever stops me with news that I just won a toaster, or that I\u2019ve been selected to participate in an all paid vacation-survey to Cancun; getting stopped means \u201ccan I see your receipt\u201d, \u201cwe\u2019ve had a report\u201d, \u201cdo you have a pass\u201d, or something of the sort. I\u2019m not about to stop voluntarily for cemetery workers suddenly making a dash towards me because they just realized I was taking a picture of the graffiti. Of course, they catch up to me.<\/p>\n

In Spanish-<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you take a picture of that wall?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, I\u2019m just taking a few pictures around the cemetery.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you have permission?\u201d<\/p>\n

(One thing I\u2019ve learned: until I know otherwise, I always have permission. Works for me.)<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Roberto said it was fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Puzzled, the guy mutters something about not knowing a Roberto and proceeds to get on the phone to call the higher ups. Now I really need to get going! Almost made it out when some crazy, old chola looking lady in business attire starts yelling at me to stop the car, making a big production of getting the license plate. I pulled over just to tell her yelling and making a scene wasn\u2019t necessary, but that just helped to turn up the volume. I caught something about private property, and \u201cdon\u2019t I know that blah, blah\u201d.<\/p>\n

The reaction was quite extreme, almost as if they had something to hide. The workers didn\u2019t seem to care when I was taking pics of the headstones, now all of a sudden this graffiti pic triggers a bunch of loony reactions. I don\u2019t know what to make of it, but if any of you plan to visit here, watch out for the crazy old chola!<\/p>\n

Odd Fellow Cemetery
\n3640 Whittier Blvd.
\nGoogle map of all the Eastside 101 locations here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Original link: Eastside 101: Odd Fellows Cemetery<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many years ago, blogs used to be the way people discussed things online, kinda like the way social media does now. But it was a bit more subject oriented, based on some writing someone wrote plus the comments. That scene … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eastside-101"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4481"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4526,"href":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4481\/revisions\/4526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chanfles.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}