Thursday, February 22, 2007

Seasons Change

December 10th, 2006 Happy truck out in the barren land of Montecito Heights.


February 20, 2007 Unhappy truck all tagged up and dirty outside the gate.


December 10th, 2006 Art piece, birthday party arrow, and a tagged up tarp.


February 20th, 2007 Barren telephone pole and ground. Arrow won, by the way.


Al Barry & The Cimarons “Morning Sun”
Beastie Boys “In 3’s”

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Box is a Box is a Box



They finally finished this house on the corner of the 900ish block of Montecito Drive. Seemed to take forever and always made that corner kind of dangerous with all of the work going on there.






Hey, look it turned out to be a nice box! And no room for a yard. It is 2784 sq ft on a 3615 sq ft lot. Hmmm. It can be all yours for 1.2 million. At least they tried to fix it up by planting some small flowers by the door.





Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash "Matchbox"
Cat Power "Enough"

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Spring Soon


Hasn't been one in awhile. Hope the occupants are okay. Or maybe it was just another stolen joy ride. This car has been here since at least Saturday night. You can see the weeds starting to grow up underneath even!

Kind of like Montecito Heights version of Puxatony Phil. If there is a car abandoned up on top of the hill before the end of February, spring will come early this year.

Anyone know the number to call to report this car?

Los Abandoned "Heavy"
Modest Mouse "Invisible in Your Car"

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Skankin'

Every Friday night, on the wonderful KJAZZ station, you could be transported back in time to the warm island sounds. Reggae. Latin. Cuban. Salsa. Ska. Rocksteady. Rare cuts. The show, The Havana Kingston Connection, was on the air for 5 years. Sadly I only found out about it for its last year or so. Hosted by Joey Altruda, it was a special place and you could tell the host really digged the music he was playing.

Tonight, at Little Pedros (now the Bordello) in deep downtown, you can see the master play live. Altruda has been playing around LA for years. His band, The Joey Altruda Riddim All Stars will be making all the hipsters skank to the beats tonight. It'll be good to have a little taste of his show back again. Plus they sell cheap Schlitz there.

The only tough thing about Los Angeles is, as we all know, public transportation. I want a few tonight and don't want to be on the road afterwards. Simple right, just take the Gold Line to downtown. Not that easy. I can take the Gold Line to the Civic Center stop and then still have to walk sketchily for a couple miles or cab it to Little Pedros. After the show, it gets even tougher. The last Gold LIne going East leaves at 11:50! The party will just be getting started then. So I will have to cab it all the way home or just drive and not drink. Los Angeles really makes it hard to take public transit. I miss San Francisco and New York, the ease of just going outside and getting across the City on a bus/muni.

I should just hop on my bike I guess. Could fix my flat and tighten up the seat, funny how at my old house this would be automatic. Am I nervous of the "new" area and driving over freeways, dodging cars, going through gang hangs? But seeing the rad culture and the trippy signs and the kickin' murals and old buildings and all that you can't see as well in a car. If it doesn't rain it would be a perfect night to go for a ride. It's about 5 miles according to the net.

Anyway, show should be hoppin' tonight.
901 E 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012



Joe Bataan "Subway Joe"
Joey Altruda "Tropical Espionage"