NELA Safari: A Little Surprise to Enliven My Walks

Recently, while taking the normal path I jog and walk around at the Glendale/Los Angeles border, I started to notice something: Little animals, strategically positioned among the trees, plants and grass. Was it just one? Nope, here's another. And another.

Given how monotonous jogging can be, it was a small delight. Something to look forward to, especially as I noticed more figurines (or maybe someone was constantly shifting them around?). Finally, I noticed one of them with the Twitter hashtag @NELAsafari. I checked, and it has two followers — and it's following just two others. 

Who is the mysterious ringleader behind the NELA Safari? During these dark times, I thank you for a fun diversion.

Celebrating Lummis Day and Northeast Los Angeles at Heritage Square

Victorian-era Los Angeles comes alive at Heritage Square, the collection of old homes and buildings parked in Highland Park. We were back there on Sunday for the 9th annual free Lummis Day event.

"Lummis Day" takes its name from pioneering L.A. journalist, librarian and leader Charles Fletcher Lummis, whose Lummis House, a Rustic American Craftsman stone house that he built in the late 19th century, is nearby and now a cultural landmark. Lummis Day is meant to celebrate the unique, diverse neighborhoods of Northeast Los Angeles.

Here are more pics from the Lummis Day events:


In costume inside one of the Heritage Square homes.






Kids gather for a puppet show at "Colonial Drug"


The puppets get down for "Scooter's Circus Adventure."


An old timey revue: Teatro Arroyo's "Dr. Madcap's Theatricum."


A model of Eagle Rock's Oinkster restaurant.

KCRW Examines L.A.'s Eastside/Westside Smackdown

KCRW is wading into Los Angeles' Eastside/Westside battles. According to the station's Which Way LA? blog, the radio show will enter the fray and devote an hour-long episode to our divided city on February 6. Details:

Which is better? The Eastside or the Westside? We want to hear from you and get your comments on air!

Venice, Santa Monica and Malibu used to be synonymous with West Coast creativity, and free-spirited living (think Venice artists, Frank Gehry and the Santa Monica architects, beach-inspired artists/surfers/musicians). But pricey real estate has driven creative Angelenos east, first to Silverlake and Echo Park, then to downtown, Highland Park, Eagle Rock and beyond. This has given rise to strongly held opinions and prejudices among a subset of Angelenos about which side is superior — from the perspective of the arts, multicultural relations, urban living, essential LA-ness and hipster levels relative to New York.

On an hour-long broadcast of Which Way LA?, airing on February 6, we are going to explore this Eastside-Westside rivalry with a knockdown, drag-out fight between listeners and invited guests from both sides of the argument, as well as a few voices from parts of town that are neither Eastside nor Westside and don’t know what the fuss is all about.

You know where our loyalties lie, as we proudly live East of the Los Angeles River and spend much of our weekends in either Eagle Rock or Atwater Village (or, lately, Highland Park). Viva la Eastside! (Well, particularly, Viva la Northeast Side!)

London Newspaper Visits Northeast Los Angeles

Colorado Blvd., shut down for the annual Eagle Rock Music Festival

Here's a place where travel writers usually don't venture: Franklin Avenue's own backyard, Northeast Los Angeles. The London Evening Standard visits Eagle Rock and Highland Park as well as Pasadena, and visits some of our favorite haunts: Swork, Cafe de Leche, The York and Galco's Soda Pop Stop, among others.

Of course, the paper plays in tired L.A. stereotypes and cliches on their way there... but at least there's an acknowledgement that L.A. isn't just a playground for the tanned and famous:

Just half an hour's drive north-east of the city, in the areas of Highland Park, Eagle Rock and Pasadena you'll find another LA where vintage clothes boutiques, cycle shops and tattoo parlours sit amid Moorish Gothic follies and Arts and Crafts bungalows. You'll even find that rare Los Angeles sighting - the non-collagen-implanted, surgically unaltered human being.

Eagle Rock has a history of attracting artists and writers and counts Aldous Huxley, John Steinbeck and Terry Gilliam as ex-residents. Not to mention a certain Barack Obama who studied at the local Occidental College. Along with Highland Park, this is now where artists, bohos and students, priced out of neighbouring areas such as Silverlake, have moved to, attracted by the parks, affordable housing and proximity to downtown LA.

The 1930s shopfronts, left over from when prosperous East Coasters first made the area a fashionable winter sunshine destination, are filled with a mix of workaday businesses like Hispanic bakeries and quirky, independent shops such as Eloelia's Boutique and Urchin - both selling vintage clothes - The Bicycle Doctor and The Glass Studio, which makes hand-blown jewellery.

OK, we can smack the writer for that "non-collagen-implanted, surgically unaltered human being" crack. But points for visiting this part of the city.

A Night Out at HM157 in Lincoln Heights

Maria and I found ourselves with another date night on Saturday night -- and no place to go. We'd just seen a movie last week, and given how rare our evenings out are sans kids, another movie seemed like a waste of precious babysitter time. That's when I remembered about HM157.

HM157 -- Historical Monument #157 on the California Historical Landmark list -- is an aging Victorian house in Lincoln Heights that has become the home to quirky music shows, art showings, movie screenings, discussions and other events. The LA Weekly even called it the “Best Underground Date Night″ in 2009 and the “Best Escape From Corporate Entertainment" in 2010.



On Saturday night, HM157 presented Summer de Amor y Obsesión, a revue headlined by vocalist Gabriela Crowe and backed by dancers, singers, flamenco guitarists, novelty act The Turtlenecks and The TC4, who also serve as backup for the 60s-style girl group The Damselles.

The show, directed by Shelly Lyons, featured a wide range of performances, including Latin boleros, opera, and 60s pop. It was all held in the space behind HM157. Before hand, Maria and I grabbed dinner at the Good Girl Dinette in Highland Park -- making it a Northeast Los Angeles kind of evening.

Some pics from our evening at HM157:

















Up next at HM157: On Aug. 27 it's The Petting Pantry, featuring live music, vaudville acts, movies, burlesque and more.