But Oh, Those (Chinatown) Summer Nights

On Saturday the Militant rode into Chinatown for the long-awaited Chinatown Summer Nights (not to be confused with Mayor Villaraigosa's Summer Night Lights program, the annoying karaoke anthem "Summer Nights" from Grease, or Richard Marx's "Endless Summer Nights"). It's a weekly nocturnal event put on by the CRA, Community Arts Resources, KCRW and various cultural and business organizations based in Chinatown to promote nightlife in the Chinatown Plaza vicinity between 5 p.m. and midnight.

It seemed like a decently-attended event, although by the time the Militant arrived a little after 10 p.m., some aspects were already shutting down. All of the energy seemed to be at either the existing bars. the outdoor dancefloors pumping music from various KCRW DJs, or the line of food trucks queued at the Lei Min Way alley. The areas in between, thought, were largely empty.

Most absent, and the biggest bummer for the Militant was the no-show of the promised Night Market feature of the event, as he previously reported in This Here Blog. The Militant got to the bottom of this, and found out that due to budget reasons (remember, kids, anything that doesn't happen in life can easily be blamed on a budget issue), the Night Market (also described as a "Craft Fair") will only be running for two out of the four Saturday of Chinatown Summer Nights: On the 14th and on the 28th. And unlike the original plan, which called for vendors located all over Chinatown Plaza, Chung King Road and the Bamboo Lane Alley, the Night Market will only occupy the parking lot space off of College Street between Hill and Broadway.

Yes, as expected, CSN was populated by Hipsters and HipKids (read: multi-ethnic 20-something locals who are into the same things as hipsters are but do not live the hipster lifestyle), and the Militant won't waste your time bitching about that as usual, but it would be nice to see more families and over-40 folks in the mix, as CSN seems to be targeted to a general audience. After all, the whole point of this event was to promote Chinatown's nightlife to folks who normally don't drop by these here parts when it's not time for the Golden Dragon Parade. And people already go to The Mountain Bar or the nearby art galleries.

The other big gripe was the seeming lack of anything Chinese or Chinese American going on in the added nightlife activities, at least by the time he got there. The Militant heard there were some performances and cultural- and food- demonstrations earlier in the evening, but dude, this is Chinatown. Represent!

This past Saturday's attendance, though, might have been heavily influenced by spillover crowds from the HARD Summer Music Festival going on at the Los Angeles State Historic Park next door. Which means this weekend's crowd could be anybody's guess.

One cool thing was the free bike valet provided by the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. They will be there all four weeks of CSN and they're located towards the Hill Street side. Do take advantage of it when riding down there. The Militant may or may not have!

So drop by this Saturday. You may or may not see the Militant!

Night Magic Comes To Chinatown

As announced on Friday, the Militant went to the Chinatown 72nd Anniversary Festival on Saturday night.

It was a modest festival, which generally featured Flattop Tom and his Jump Cats playing 40s-style swing music, with a dance floor full of locals and visitors cuttin' up a rug (okay, well a linoleum dance floor) in the middle of Chinatown's central plaza, in the presence of the bust of Chinese hero Dr. Sun Yat Sen. There were probably only a couple hundred people there, and some of those were probably already there to visit the Mountain Bar or the Grand Star Club. The supply of the much talked-about strawberry cakes were already long gone for the night, though the Militant was able to run into some of his operatives who were in attendance.

But the most amazing thing the Militant saw there was foretold in that great Los Angeles invention and Chinese American icon: the fortune cookie.

No, really.

See, a booth run by the Chinatown Business Improvement District had a plate of wrapped fortune cookies on a plate, and the Militant, who loves anything and everything free and swaggy, instinctively open and ate one. It read:

Summer Light Festival & Night Market
Every Saturday in August 2010
www.ChinatownLA.com

A night market? No way!

See, the Militant may or may not have traveled the world and may or may not have been to Hong Kong, which boasts a legendary nocturnal bazaar in its Kowloon district. Everything from souvenirs to clothing to knickknacks to arts & crafts to electronics to, yes, pirated music, movies and software are sold there. "What an awesome thing to possibly have in Los Angeles (sans the pirated CDs and DVDs, of course, heh)," the Militant thought...er, assuming that he did, in fact, ever visit Hong Kong.

The Militant chatted with one of the Chinatown BID representatives there who gave him the skinny: In August, every Saturday night will feature an outdoor night market bazaar located in Chinatown's Central Plaza (between Broadway and Hill Street), West Plaza (Chung King Road, where the art galleries are concentrated) and Bamboo Lane alley (where the Phoenix Bakery is located). There will be arts and crafts vendors, food demonstrations, food trucks and other merchandise vendors there. Hours are yet to be determined. There will also be live entertainment. If successful, the Chinatown BID, who is organizing the night market, may establish the night market year-round, or at least for a longer period of time. The info on the night market is not yet on the ChinatownLA.com website. For those of you who go to the monthly Downtown Los Angeles ArtWalk, the night market atmosphere is expected to be similar to the activity on the parking lot near 5th and Main.

This is pretty awesome stuff, folks. You heard it here first from The Militant. We need more public night events like this to keep our streets vibrant, this is definitely a step in the right direction. Let's hope this fortune becomes good fortune for Chinatown and our City in general.

Some 'Luv' For The Eastside

Helloooooo, 2010!

Well, 2009 was a landmark year for The Eastside (that's in The Real Eastside, you geographically-challenged hipsterfool), namely the (M) Gold Line's opening in November to Boyle Heights and Eastlos that brought places like Old Pasadena, Universal City, Koreatown and Downtown Long Beach just a swipe of a TAP card away. It was not just a light rail line extension, but an extension of the mainstream consciousness of Los Angeles finally recognizing The East Side, note the foodies of the world arriving past the eastern bank of the Los Angeles river to get their squash blossom quesadilla fix. Hopefully 2009 will go down in history as The End of the Erroneous Eastside Era, as now more correct terminology like "East of the Westside"are starting to come into use - a term the Militant can perfectly tolerate.

Since this is the first post of twenty-ten, the NEw Year is a great time to start new traditions, so here we go. Today's destination is an awesome bar in Boyle Heights called Eastside Luv Wine Bar y QUEso that simply blew the Militant away during his first visit last month. Located on the corner of 1st and Bailey right in the heart of the Mariachi Plaza district, they couldn't have picked a more appropo name.

Started in 2006 by five lifelong friends in their late 20s-early 30s from nearby City Terrace (who may or may not be friends of one of the Militant's operatives) who bought the former Metropolitan bar and gave it a re-do, according to their website, "to communicate the LOVE we have for our Chicano/Pocho/Latino EASTSIDE experience." They also re-designed the interior "to look and feel like many of the beautiful turn of the century Victorian and Craftsman Bungalows that dominate Boyle Heights... only a bit sexxxier." A dumpy ghetto dive this place definitely is not!

Inside, the walls are adorned with Lalo Alcaraz (of "La Cucaracha" fame) artwork, and a Cheech and Chong flick circa late 1970s is projected up high (no pun intended) on one of the walls. The reddish, velvety room centers around the bar, which is actually waist-high and the bartenders work below floor height. Instead of stools, there are lounge chairs.

The bar also doubles as a performance stage; the big draw is their Mariachi-oke nights, on the first Sunday of the month, where an all-female 3-piece Mariachi (who sound like there are more than three people playing) will accompany anyone who wants to get their canciones on. And yes, the cultural fusion of people singing Mexican songs in a format that was popularized in Japan, in a bar in Boyle Heights (once one of the largest Japanese American population centers of the City) was not lost on the Militant at all.

Hey wait...(looks at calendar) this is the First Sunday of the Month! The Militant may or may not be there tonight (if you do see him, or think you do, raise a fist!)

Of course, for you hardcore drinkers, this isn't a full-service bar. They specialize in beer and wine. But this place is all about the vibe, the experience. It's classy, but not snooty, it's just real. It makes the Militant feel at home. But if you do wanna get borracho, the train can take you there and back, no need to worry about parking (or DUI checkpoints).

But if you do want that Eastside ghetto dive experience, just go next door to Las Palomas bar. Winnie seems to dig it. Maybe a little too much.

Eastside Luv Wine Bar y QUEso
www.eastsideluv.com
1835 East 1st Street, Boyle Heights
Open Thursdays through Sundays until 2 a.m.
(M): Marichi Plaza Station

An Evening of Walk-Offs and Art Walks

Who says "Nobody Walks In L.A.?" Who says Los Angeles is not an exciting place? Not the Militant!



Part I: Walk-Off FTW.

The Militant probably doesn't have to tell you that the Los Angeles Dodgers won game 2 of the NLDS, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Thursday with a come-from-behind, walk-off hit in the bottom of the 9th. But he will.

First off, the 3:07 p.m. game time was a concern for the Militant. Not personally, but the fact that many people couldn't come to the game due to school or work schedules (and even a few operatives trying to sell their tickets). He feared a relatively empty Stadium shown on national television would be more diss fodder for all the Los Angeles out there. This was clearly a conspiracy created by the East Coast hegemony. And with the Atlanta-based TBS cable network broadcasting the game, the Militant rests his case.

Alas, only 51,000 showed up, with the outfield reserve bookends of The Stadium clearly empty.

But fear not, as dullsville, Dodgertown definitely was not.

The night simply oozed Los Angeles all over: The locally-raised rock guitarist Slash (born Saul Hudson, no relation to Orlando) performed the National Anthem and "God Bless America" on his (Kirk) Gibson Les Paul axe. Then came Mission Hills native, comedian George Lopez (donning a Fernando Valenzuela jersey), pitching both the ceremonial first ball as well as his new TV show on (surprise!) TBS. Finishing off the game was the dramatic walk-off RBI by the Santa Monica-born, Arcadia-raised Mark Loretta. RE-PRE-MUDDAFUGGING-SENT!

This Is My Town, indeed.

And after the score had been settled, the 51,000 fans that did come for the weekday afternoon game didn't want to leave. Whoops and hollers were heard all over the stadium for over an hour. Fans chanted, "SWEEP! SWEEP! SWEEP!" and perfect strangers donned in blue enthusiastically exchanged high-fives on their way out. They don\t call this "Blue Heaven On Earth" for nothing.

The parking lot also became a party zone, with horns honking in celebration, rather than agitation. The sound of cheers, chants, screams and whistles turned the parking lot into a party zone. Dodgertown was alive!


Part II: Art Walk OMG!

The Militant didn't feel the night was over just yet, so he set out towards Downtown Los Angeles to sample the second-Thursday-of-the-month Art Walk. Obviously not a totally new thing, having been a DTLA tradition for the past five years, it was still a new thing for the Militant.

Surely the hipster thing was a deterrent for the Militant all this time, and possibly just plain apathy, but after he got over the apparent hipsterness of most of the crowd, it really became a pretty cool event.

Certainly for the first-time Militant, walking into the Art Walk would lead one to say, "This is a hipster thing, let's GTFO of here." But after sticking around a while, the crowds are really a little more diverse than at first glance. The art aspect wasn't as much a huge deal for the Militant as was the urban scene, with upwards of 10,000 people roaming around the Gallery Row district at night, creating an undeniable energy not too unlike the one at the earlier sporting event. Galleries, restaurants, bars, cafes and some shops were open, with much of the action going on from 7 p.m. to midnight.

The local squadron of teh tr3ndy food tucks represented, such as Nom Nom, Don Chow Tacos, Skewers On Wheels, India Jones, Coolhaus Ice Cream and more (BTW, the Kogi BBQ truck was too cool for Artwalk, and had other plans tonight). A few trucks were on Spring Street, between 4th and 5th streets, with another set a block east on Main. In fact, no other local event brings so many of them to one place.

The interesting parking lot arts/crafts/food outdoor bazaar on Main near 5th brought back memories of Hong Kong's Night Market, something that Los Angeles really needs.

There's also music performances on the street, which is mostly of the lo-fi, sub-par style the hipsters just love and the Militant really doesn't care for, but that's a small price to pay for such buzzing nocturnal street energy. It's the kind of event you'd want Westsiders, suburbanites and those originally from those so-called "real" cities to come check out.

The Art Walk is definitely something to see, if even just to sample the street vibe. Besides, it'd make an awesome locale for a flash mob (But you didn't hear that from the Militant...). The next one is slated for November 12. The Militant may or may not be there!

Taco Thursday: Kike's - Politically-Incorrect Al Pastor?

Welcome to the Militant's Taco Thursday (gee, the Militant sure loves these special series things, doesn't he...), where the Militant Angeleno will highlight a taco joint (be it building, cart, truck or stand) in Los Angeles.

Taco stands are a regular fixture in this City, but those of you who have driven to or from Downtown Los Angeles via the 2nd Street Tunnel at night may or may not have seen a particular stand, under the lights of the Downtown skyline, on an empty parking lot on 2nd Street and Beaudry Avenue that would catch your eye.

"KIKE'S TACOS"

You might have thought, "WTF?!" or "No way" or "Did I just see what I just saw?" or even an "Oy Vey!"

A taco stand with the same name as a dated slur used against Jewish people might be very odd, especially in a city as culturally diverse as this one (which, despite its historical bouts of tension between various groups, is still miles ahead of the rest of the country, which is still fascinated with the played-out white vs. black racial dichotomy, yawn...). Even more suspect is the fact that it stands on a street named after a wealthy merchant and former mayor who was once known for his anti-semitic views.

But relax, the Militant asked what was up, and discovered it's all a cultural misinterpretation. Like customs, mannerisms and traits, names and words can be construed in different ways, much like a Rorschach Test.

The taco stand is owned and operated by a gentleman named Enrique. In many Spanish-speaking countries, where people use nicknames as a term of endearment, the popular nickname of "Enrique" is "Quique" or "Kike" (both pronounced "KEE-kay"). So you see, "Kike's Tacos" really means "Enrique's Tacos" (The Militant is sure there's another "Enrique's" or "Quiques" somewhere in town...).

And their tacos, they serve the popular carne asada, pastor and pollo varieties, but also serve chorizo, buche (fried pork stomach) and lengua (beef tongue) as well. A little on the greasy side, but sometimes you need that grease to be tasty. Best of all, they're all for the right price of $1 each! Can't beat that!

Kike's Tacos is there Sunday-Thursday from 8 p.m. to 12 midnight, and Friday and Saturday nights from 8 p.m. to around 2 a.m. Late night taco fix? Not much cash? Drop by Kike's sometime...just remember to pronounce it correctly.