viewfromaloft

BBQ, BURN, THEN SOME BEERS

'GREETINGS FROM EASTSIDE': Over Labor Day Weekend, an secret cell of Eastside bloggers held a BBQ meet-and-greet that included the burning of an effigy. On the grill, next to what appears to be husks of ceremonial corn, a stack of Maphawk's 2008-2009 "map and guide to the eastside" are on fire while eastside operatives offer greetings to the publishers.

The guide redefines the eastside as Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Downtown, Chinatown and West Hollywood. Not included on the map, that list goods and services, are the neighborhoods of Lincoln Heights, Boyle Heights, and East Los Angeles. In fact, the furthest point east is Downtown item 466; a yoga studio that is located on the west side of the Los Angeles River.

ABOVE:  Eastsiders in undisclosed backyard, photographer unknown. BELOW: Eastside Los Angeles map. Eastside Los Angeles Map.

Another Candidate

The candidate's signature means El Vez approved this message found on the side of Bloom's General Store.

Two to Ponder

L.A. Eastside's AlDesmadre takes a look at the events and places that mark August 29, 1970; the day L.A. Times columnist Ruben Salazar was shot by a L.A. County Sheriff. [view]
CurbedLA links information on the yet to be named RFK memorial pocket park. [view]

Cultural Fusion

A defaced Obama/Lincoln poster sits defaced on the wall of Zip Fusion.

Powerful Political Marketing: Barack Obam entered the race on the weekend of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Today is August 28, the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream” speech, and Barack Obama is getting ready to address the Democratic National Convention inside Denver’s Mile High Stadium, the mountaintop.

Ron Wilson's Popaganda [view]
Obama Poster [view]

What is Downtown Los Angeles?

"It's a small town with tall buildings." - Eric Richardson. [view]
Photos: VFaL

Missing Wall Art Found on Tape

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Pound' is a short film that by chance archives the logo that was once on the wall in front of Bloom's General Store. Arts District loyalists still wish the Bloom wall was there. "Pound" Directed by Evan Bernard

One extra pic

Downtown Art Walk: 7th + Fig shoppers stop in their tracks for the James Rojas model of Downtown during last weeks ArtWalk.

Strip Club Reopens

Back on Top: A new banner tops the strip club located at Vignes and Commercial and yes, it's the same Little Tokyo, Arts District adjacent enterprise that was briefly open last year. If you remember, the club was first planned to be a 21+ with VIP rooms and backed by Penthouse Media Group. Then protests from the Little Tokyo community, LAPD and LAFD caused the owners to lose their liquor license. PMG bailed and the owners opened as an 18+ club named "Little Tokyo Showgirls" while attempting to sue the city. Since then, the building has been sold, and renamed Platinum Gentlemen's Club by the new owners. It opened earlier this month as an 18+ over club with, dare I say it, a soft opening. Previously: [Club Loses Appeal] + [Our Topless Story] and DTN + Rafu + Curbed + KNBC + WireServices

Party Culture

g727 Gallery during August's Downtown Art Walk.

Turntablenistas: When 'party' became a verb during the 1970's, D.J.s began mixing year-round soundtracks in southland backyards and the L.A. based culture of lawn killing with music and dancing never ended. It's being surveyed in “Featuring the Lightz and Soundz of..” at g727 gallery. That same exhibit has been sampled for KCET's Web Stories: Cultural Journalism and the Southland” and the website will be kicked off in a panel discussion on Saturday, August 23rd with Cindy Bravo, visual + sound artist, Roberto Freeman, photographer + sound artist, and Sergio Zenteno, visual + performance artist. The evening look at what's dubbed "turntablism" will be moderated by Adrian Riva on a Boyle Heights front lawn.

ELADJPM Panel 5 and KCET WEBSTORIES Launch Party / Saturday August 23 / Arrive at 6:30 pm
Panel starts 7:45 pm. Backyard Party starts at 9pm / 420 South Boyle Ave. (near corner of 4th and Boyle) / For more information, call (323) 683-6640 / Other info: "The audience is encouraged to bring a blanket or a lawn chair for this event. Tamales and Tecates will be served. BYOB is also advised for all you folks that don't like Tecates." / Free Parking available across the street at PUENTE Learning Center  (501 S. Boyle Ave)

Party Crasher: Backyard youth culture-speak may be leaking to politics. Sí TV offers Crash the Parties With VotoLatino, a political coverage website with the tagline  'It's your country . . . represent!"

Los Angeles County Young Democrats (LACYD) send-off party last night for Convention Delegates also honored LACYD Board Member Wendy Carrillo.  Carrillo was recently selected by Sí TV & Voto Latino to be a correspondent for the Democratic National Convention being held in Denver, Colorado, August 25-28. Carrillo is also a fixture at Eastside blogger revolution meetings, and hosts her own radio show "Knowledge is Power" on KPRW, Power 106. She blogs at "The World According to Wendy."

Festival Weekend

About to End: Downtown Film Festival L.A. [view]
About to Begin: Nisei Week Japanese Festival [view]