Around Our Town: Where to go, what to do over the July 4 long weekend

elotessignFIREWORKS: Mission Pocho Viejo American Legion Post 536 once again presents their Annual Fireworks Extravagonzo Saturday at sunset.

This year the pyrotechnics come from Los Light & Loafers Sparklistx with their presentation Rainbows of Love. Watch out for the confetti and glitter bombs!

Moms: Bring your blankets and sit the kids six feet apart on the grass at Sotomayor Stadium.

Dads: Do NOT bring your own fireworks like last year.

Mas…Around Our Town: Where to go, what to do over the July 4 long weekend

Around Our Town: Where to go, what to do over the July 4 break

elotessignFIREWORKS: Mission Pocho Viejo American Legion Post 536 once again presents their Annual Fireworks Extravagonzo tomorrow at sunset.

This year the pyrotechnics come from Los Light & Loafers Sparklistx with their presentation Rainbows of Love. Watch out for the confetti and glitter bombs!

Moms: Bring your blankets and sit the kids six feet apart  on the grass at Sotomayor Stadium.

Dads: Do NOT bring your own fireworks like last year.

Mas…Around Our Town: Where to go, what to do over the July 4 break

Around Our Town on St. Paddy’s Weekend: Where to go, what to do

LUCK OF THE IRISH: Look for a pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow all weekend long at Gustavo O’Grady’s Bar y Grill on East Olmos Boulevard.

The popular hangout will serve corned beef tacos, potato-stuffed chiles rellenos and beer-marinated enchilada irlanda sliders at $1 each during Happy Hour.

Happy Hour, you lucky leprechauns, lasts all weekend long, and GO’G’s always keeps 100 bottles of beer on the wall.

For $144 and a signed damage waiver, you high-rollers can try GO’G’s One Night in Dublin Lifestyle Tasting Menu — generous pours of Guinness and Jameson’s followed by a course of impassioned story-telling and poetry, more pours, then a rich hour of melancholy singing, pours again, all capped off by your choice of a bar fight or vomiting in the alley.

Wear a wee bit o’ green and Gay Gus O’Grady himself will kiss your Blarney Stone.

Mas…Around Our Town on St. Paddy’s Weekend: Where to go, what to do

Neighborhood Guatch: Where to go, what to do on St. Patrick’s Day

LUCK OF THE IRISH: Look for a pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow today at Gustavo O’Grady’s Bar y Grill on East Olmos Boulevard. The popular hangout will serve corned beef tacos, potato-stuffed chiles rellenos and beer-marinated enchilada irlanda sliders at $1 each during Happy Hour.

Happy Hour, you lucky leprechauns, lasts all day long, and GO’G’s always keeps 100 bottles of beer on the wall.

For $144 and a signed damage waiver, you high-rollers can try GO’G’s One Night in Dublin Lifestyle Tasting Menu — generous pours of Guinness and Jameson’s followed by a course of impassioned story-telling and poetry, more pours, then a rich hour of melancholy singing, pours again, all capped off by your choice of a bar fight or vomiting in the alley.

Wear a wee bit o’ green and Gay Gus O’Grady himself will kiss your Blarney Stone.

Mas…Neighborhood Guatch: Where to go, what to do on St. Patrick’s Day

‘Highland Park’: Binge-watch all the episodes right here! (NSFW videos)


Have you been watching Highland Park on the YouTube? We’ve got all the episodes right here for your binge-watching convenience. You can start with this trailer (above), or dive right in (below). [NSFW. Adult situations, language.]

In Episode 1, Los Angeles locals Juanita and Diego had a holy vision in Highland Park. Who knew Tonantzin, Aztec mother goddess, had a cousin named Concepción?

Mas…‘Highland Park’: Binge-watch all the episodes right here! (NSFW videos)

To live and die in CA: Your ZIP Code determines life expectancy (video)


Deb and Maria are the same age, each has two kids, and they live just a few miles apart. Deb, however, will live, on average, 15 years longer than Maria. This public service video from The California Endowment — narrated by George Takei — explains the discrepancy:

What determines how long we live? The surprising thing to us was that adjacent communities can have a 15 year-difference in life expectancy.

Mas…To live and die in CA: Your ZIP Code determines life expectancy (video)

Around Our Town on St. Paddy’s Day: Where to go, what to do

LUCK OF THE IRISH: Look for a pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow today at Gustavo O’Grady’s Bar y Grill on East Olmos Boulevard. The popular hangout will serve corned beef tacos, potato-stuffed chiles rellenos and beer-marinated enchilada irlanda sliders at $1 each during Happy Hour.

Happy Hour, you lucky leprechauns, lasts all day long, and GO’G’s always keeps 100 bottles of beer on the wall.

For $144 and a signed damage waiver, you high-rollers can try GO’G’s One Night in Dublin Lifestyle Tasting Menu — generous pours of Guinness and Jameson’s followed by a course of impassioned story-telling and poetry, more pours, then a rich hour of melancholy singing, pours again, all capped off by your choice of a bar fight or vomiting in the alley.

Wear a wee bit o’ green and Gay Gus O’Grady himself will kiss your Blarney Stone.

Mas…Around Our Town on St. Paddy’s Day: Where to go, what to do

Gentrification Notes from Technotopia, SF:
 On the Cruelty of Indifference


taxtherich

By GUILLERMO GÓMEZ-PEÑA

Dear Ex-local artist, writer, activist, bohemian, street eccentric, and/or protector of difference…

Imagine a city, your city and your former “hip” neighborhood, being handed over by greedy politicians and re/developers to the crème de la crème of the tech industry. This includes the 7 most powerful tech companies in the world. I don’t need to list them: their names have become verbs in lingua franca; their sandbox is the city you used to call your own.

Mas…Gentrification Notes from Technotopia, SF:
 On the Cruelty of Indifference


Around Our Town: Where to go, what to do over July 4 weekend

elotessignFIREWORKS: Mission Pocho Viejo American Legion Post 536 once again presents their Annual Fireworks Extravagonzo Friday at sunset. This year the pyrotechnics come from Los Light & Loafers Sparklistas with their presentation Rainbows of Love. Watch out for the confetti and glitter bombs!

Moms: Bring your blankets and sit the kids on the grass at Sotomayor Stadium.

Dads: Do NOT bring your own fireworks like last year.

INK AND DRINK: Two businesses in the El Rancho Pocho Downtown Historical District are getting together for a patriotic combo deal that’s hard to beat.

Get any flag or patriotic tat at Inky Dinky’s House of Pain on Porciuncula Place Friday through Monday and Inky will slide you a $10 pre-paid bar tab for the Loco Lounge next door.

And guys, if you like thick chicks, you’ll love new tattoo artist Salma’s Fernando Botero-inspired portraits of your true hyna, right over your heart.

Mas…Around Our Town: Where to go, what to do over July 4 weekend

The plastic yellow car, a (true?) story

yellowcar“Okay, podemos ir a caminar pero si te cansas, es tu problema. No cargo bebes,” Lina says meanly to her four-year-old cousin.

“I’m not a baby!” says Teresita predictably but then insists on bringing her large plastic car, a hideous yellow contraption with giant painted eyeballs instead of headlights. Teresita gets in the toy car and looks at Lina expectantly. Lina sighs and begins to push her down the street.

“This is just a stroller, you know.” Lina grumbles. “You’re not making any progress into becoming a real person.”

Teresita either does not hear or pretends not to understand the English sentence. Lina suspects that rather than being a child “confused by the dichotomies of her bilingual upbringing” as the pre-school teacher suggested, that Teresita is just selectively deaf.

Mas…The plastic yellow car, a (true?) story

Around Our Town on St. Patrick’s Day: Where to go, what to do

LUCK OF THE IRISH: Look for a pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow today at Gustavo O’Grady’s Bar y Grill on East Olmos Boulevard. The popular hangout will serve corned beef tacos, potato-stuffed chiles rellenos and beer-marinated enchilada irlanda sliders at $1 each during Happy Hour.

Happy Hour, you lucky leprechauns, lasts all day long, and GO’G’s always keeps 100 bottles of beer on the wall.

For $144 and a signed damage waiver, you high-rollers can try GO’G’s One Night in Dublin Lifestyle Tasting Menu — generous pours of Guinness and Jameson’s followed by a course of impassioned story-telling and poetry, more pours, then a rich hour of melancholy singing, pours again, all capped off by your choice of a bar fight or vomiting in the alley.

Wear a wee bit o’ green and Gay Gus O’Grady himself will kiss your Blarney Stone.

Mas…Around Our Town on St. Patrick’s Day: Where to go, what to do

Cheap Chinese chanclas choke Chuy’s Choo Repair

chanclaszapatero(PNS reporting from CHICAGO) Chuy’s Choo Repair on Ashland has been fixing heels, stretching boots and giving new soles to tired oxfords since 1956, but owner Eddie Calderon doesn’t know how long he can keep his shop open.

Calderon (photo, right), whose father opened the business when he returned to Chicago after the Korean War, says he can’t keep up with cheap imported shoes flooding the country.

“Look at the pinches chanclas on sale at the Dollar Store!” Calderon told PNS as we toured the neighborhood (photo, top.) “If people can buy new Chinese chanclas for 60 cents at the stupid Dollar Store, why would they want to get them repaired if a strap breaks? It’s not worth it!”

Mas…Cheap Chinese chanclas choke Chuy’s Choo Repair

Around Our Town: Where to go, what to do for July 4th weekend

FIREWORKS: Mission Pocho Viejo American Legion Post 536 once again presents their Annual Fireworks Extravagonzo Friday at sunset. This year the pyrotechnics come from Zamboni Bros., new to California, with their presentation Hella Hockey Holiday – a tribute to the Estanley Cup World Champions, Los Reyes de Los Angeles.

Moms: bring your blankets and sit the kids on the grass at Sotomayor Stadium. Dads: Do NOT bring your own fireworks.

INK AND DRINK: Two businesses in the El Rancho Pocho Downtown Historical District are getting together for a patriotic combo deal that’s hard to beat. Get any flag or patriotic tat at Inky Dinky’s House of Pain on Porciuncula Place Friday through Sunday and Inky will slide you a $10 pre-paid bar tab for the Loco Lounge next door. And guys, if you like thick chicks, you’ll love new tattoo artist Salma’s Fernando Botero-inspired portraits of your true hyna, right over your heart.

Mas…Around Our Town: Where to go, what to do for July 4th weekend

Around Our Town: Where to go, what to do Columbus Day Weekend

diadelaraza2013FOODIE FIESTA: It’s cross-cultural cuisine fusion this weekend in the Downtown Rancho Pocho Historical District as Marco Pollo on East Olmos Boulevard offers culinary explorers a trip around the world with spaghetti tacos, eggroll rellenos, carne asada pho and kimchee pupusas.

Enjoy the all you-can-eat buffet and pitchers of Mexican Bellinis (beer and peach juice) at special Dia de La Raza/Columbus Day prices.

Mention this scribe, Chale Knickerbocker, for a sweet dessert surprise. Hint: I’m a Flan Boi!

Mas…Around Our Town: Where to go, what to do Columbus Day Weekend