Cypress Park's Underground Art Scene

Welcome to the Cypress Village Tunnel!

Los Angeles' subway tunnels have become known for their public art -- but there's another kind of tunnel in town that's known for its artistic installations as well.

The City of Los Angeles has some 100 pedestrian tunnels, which were initially built in the 1920s near elementary schools, as a way for schoolchildren to safely cross the street and avoid the dangers of automobiles and streetcars (sort of like the 20th century version of Safe Routes To School). Since the 1960s, though, these tunnels have become magnets for crime, tagging, public urination, garbage dumping, drug deals, and any other thing parents wouldn't want their kids to get near, so many of them got locked up for good, only to become oversized trash pits and general urban blight. Some were filled in and removed altogether.

In the Northeast Los Angeles community of Cypress Park, local Yancey Quinones, owner of nearby Antigua Coffee House on the corner,  worked with then-councilman Ed Reyes and the City's Public Works department to convert one of these abandoned pedestrian underpasses, located on the corner of north Figueroa and Loreto streets, into a public art gallery, known as the Cypress Village Tunnel Art Walk. The tunnel is the focus of monthly Art Walk events, which take place on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

A block party on Saturday to celebrate the tunnel's 1st birthday as an art space.

This past Saturday, Loreto Street was closed down for a mini-street fair to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the opening of the tunnel. There was music, poetry, an arts and crafts fair, and an overall Eastside-centric good time.

The Militant also got to go into the tunnel for the first time, and was fascinated by not just the temporary art on exhibit by local artists, but by the permanent art painted on its walls (the western end even has an homage to the Los Angeles River culvert cats!). The cubbyholes where the light fixtures go into are also part of the exhibit, used to not only hold lighting, but other art pieces.

But the most impressive thing about the tunnel is (aside from the noticeable absence of urine or any other offending odors) the comforting quiet, despite the cars, trucks and buses speeding along Figueroa Street just a few feet above you. That, and being with others who are not just enjoying the art but the odd serenity of the tunnel space. Something certainly never felt in such a utilitarian structure before.

The tunnel has also inspired other pedestrian tunnels in the city to be converted into art spaces, such as one in El Sereno. Man, the Eastside has got it goin' on!

Volunteers continue to decorate the tunnel

If you want to experience the Cypress Village Tunnel yourself, check out the next art walk event on Saturday, June 14 (the second Saturday of the month), from 6 to 10 p.m. The tunnel floods during rainstorms, so art walk events are usually cancelled in the event of rain (We're in a drought right now, so we wouldn't have to worry about that for a while, heh...).

The Militant just loves these kinds of transformative projects, done by the community and for the community. Does your neighborhood have a tunnel that can serve this kind of purpose?

The Militant's 'Levitated Mass' Playlist!

Here in Los Angeles, we commemorate the anniversaries of earthquakes and point out our faults (pun most obviously intended, be warned, this post is full of 'em...), but never before has geology otherwise been the talk of the town for an entire week.

Tonight is the final trek of Levitated Mass' hundred-mile journey (at five miles an hour, so everybody sees you) from its birthplace in a Riverside quarry to its new home at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Miracle Mile. There are celebrations anticipated tonight for the big-ass rock's arrival. There's even a 3K footrace and a group bike ride (Critical Levitated Mass, anyone?) You can say an entire city has been...stoned. You can say that we've been bouldered-over. You can say that this event has Levitated Mass appeal. You can say...uh-oh, the Pun Police are coming.

Now, some people have scoffed at the $10 million cost of bringing a big-ass rock through city streets. But think about it for a second: With roughly 10 million people in Los Angeles County talking about this thing all week, it's a genius marketing campaign to get people to visit (and possibly become donors) to LACMA -- at a cost of $1 a person!

To honor the arrival of LM tonight, DJ Militant Angeleno has cooked up a music playlist of appropriate tunes to celebrate the journey. Feel free to play these tunes at full blast from your car stereos, boom boxes or those mobile bike trailer sound systems!


"Like A Rock" - Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
You're probably more familiar with this song hawking Chevy Trucks back in the '90s, but imagine the kinetic energy building up as Levitated Mass begins rolling on along north from Figueroa and Gage tonight. It's making its declaration after spending all day in the 81-degree sunshine:

Stood there boldly
Sweatin' in the sun 
Felt like a million 
Felt like number one 
The height of summer (-like weather)
I'd never felt that strong 
Like a rock..


"I'm Stone In Love With You" - The Stylistics
Art Laboe would approve of this slow jam classic. An entire city has fallen in love with a 340-ton boulder. Need The Militant say more?


"Rock On" - Michael Damian
Yes, so it's the cheesy '80s cover version of the 1973 David Essex hit, but come on.

Where do we go from here?
Which is the way that's clear?

North on Figueroa then west on Adams, that's where. And thank your lucky stars the Metro Expo Line was built underground through here so as not to interfere with the height of the rock and its ginormous transport machine...otherwise we'd have to wait until like 2014 for the thing to open.


"Rock With You" - Michael Jackson


"Rock Me Tonite" - Billy Squier


"Rock Around The Clock" - Bill Haley and the Comets


Moving a big-ass boulder around town takes a long time, and is an operation performed in the wee hours of the night.   And besides, if MJ were still with us, he'd probably buy a Levitated Mass of his own.


"Planet Rock" - Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force


"Rockit" - Herbie Hancock

Break off a piece of the surface of the planet and fault it a hundred miles to be displayed at a museum? Well, whip out the cardboard, 'cause here's some breakdance classics to celebrate L.M. Rock, yo!


"Solid" - Ashford and Simpson


Levitated Mass is the hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hottest thing in town!


"Rock Of Ages" - Def Leppard

Rise up, gather 'round...this Rock of Ages is still rollin'...towards LACMA.



"I Wanna Rock" - Quiet Riot

You're sure getting one.


"Can't Stop The Rock" - Apollo 440

Props to fellow local blogger (and Tweeter) Will Campbell who chose this '90s breakbeat anthem as LevMass' theme song. And look for him doing a time-lapse video of the move.


"We Will Rock You" - Queen

Can you feel the excitement in the air? Levitated Mass its just about to arrive at LACMA, with a large crowd gathering there for its much-heraleded arrival. And can you imagine those throngs of Angelenos (or at the very least, LACMA staffers), in unison, doing a "Stomp-Stom-CLAP" and chanting, "We Will, We Will ROCK YOU!"?



"Party Rock Anthem" - LMFAO

The big moment has arrived! It's a party atmosphere here at LACMA! This Party Rock is definitely in the house tonight! What better song to celebrate than this dance track fro, Los Angeles' own LMFAO? The Militant expects you all to be shuffling. SHAKE THAT!

#OccupyArtWalk

Two years after The Militant first visited the Downtown Los Angeles ArtWalk, he decided to take advantage of the very warm Summer Autumn evening on Thursday night to visit some food tru...er...art galleries. Yeah, that's it.

On his Red Line ride downtown, he eavesdropped on a conversation between a woman and a young cyclist, who was apparently just released from the hospital wearing a splint on his right arm. Apparently he was riding with some friends in Griffith Park and hit a car that stopped suddenly in front of him. His injuries apparently were limited to his arm, but his bike was bent to an unrideable condition. Please tell your motorist friends to be more aware on the streets (and get off that f'ing cellphone)!

His first, er, gallery stop was the Waffles de Liege gallery, where he purchased a delectable...sculpture for $7 created with a grid-baked pastry and painted with frozen flavored milk cream medium.

Okay, okay, The Militant did check out some actual art. One of the Militant's fave galleries, Crewest, was closed by the time he passed by, but he walked into various unspecified galleries on Main Street. Just next to the Pacific Electric Lofts Building, there was some commotion on the sidewalk and a sign-spinner bearing an arrow placard, reading, "HIPPOS!"

Sure enough, behind the glass entrance doors on 632  Main Street, there they were...

Click to watch the video of the ArtWalk hippos!

Okay, so it was an esoteric performance art piece, with a quartet of people wearing hippopotamus masks over shirts, ties and slacks, confined to a room with a bed, an adding machine and oscilloscope, cables and toilet paper, among other items. It was so absurd it was awesome. ArtWalk needs more performance art like this!

The Spring Arcade building was fully lit inside and was a kickin' bazaar of art, clothing and artisanal (art- is-anal?) food. But The Militant was most blown away by the Angelesque photoillustrations of native Angeleno artist Mitch Reiter (pictured left). MILITANT APPROVED!

A few minutes later, on Spring Street, the sight of hundreds of people matching down the street and the chanting of, "Who's Streets? Our Streets!" grabbed the attention of many. It was the #OccupyLA protestors who came down from City Hall! A bunch of ArtWalkers joined them as well, down Spring to 7th then back up Main again. LAPD officers on foot, car and bike followed close behind, but allowed them to continue as long as they remained on the sidewalk. In all, just like the daily City Hall sit-in, the #OccupyArtWalk march was pretty chill. Hey, demonstration is an artform in itself!

The Militant stayed with the marchers up until the LAPD Administration Building, where he just decided to chill in the great public lawn plaza, while snapping pics of City Hall, The Times Building and the DTLA skyline before hopping back on the last Red Line ride out of Downtown. It almost felt like being in a town square in a different city. Are we there yet? Almost.

U Can't Miss This - The Lyrical Map Of Los Angeles (Stop...Hammer Time!)

Last week, The Militant stealthily slipped into Westwood's Hammer Museum to attend a cartographical conversation by Los Angeles In Maps author Glen Creason and artist J. Michael Walker, best known for his All The Saints In The City Of Angels artwork based on saintly city street names.

The artist took his geographical themed creations to another level by creating "City in Mind: a  Lyrical Map of the Concept of Los Angeles" a 23-foot long colored pencil-on-butcher paper illustration of a Los Angeles map highlighted by quotes and drawings of literary and lyrical figures through the ages, centered on various written perspectives of Los Angeles.

Everyone from Fr. Juan Crespi to Raymond Chandler to Joan Didion to Octavio Paz to Charles Bukowski to Jonathan Gold to Tupac Shakur gets quoted here, in a horizontal swath cutting from The Eastside to The Westside, which, incidentally, was direction the City proper expanded.

The illustration, which the artist contends, "still isn't quite finished yet" (there's a good amount of empty real estate and some more quotes to add), involved months of his own literary research, but only took days to draw.

Obviously something like this is MILITANT APPROVED! You must check this thing out! The Militant commands you!

The map is on display until Sunday, October 9 (which is also a CicLAvia Day) as part of the Eastside-based Libros Schmibros' temporary Westwood bookstore, located in the lobby of the Hammer, also until 10/9. There are also a number of interesting lectures that Los Angeles geeks like The Militant and some of you reading this may or may be interested in, so check their site for the full schedule of events. The temporary bookstore is FREE to visit and does not require museum admission.

Will Rogers said it right, even back then.

The Militant hates Westwood traffic with a passion, but fortunately, Metro's Rapid Line 720 stop is right outside the Hammer's front door, so save yourself a headache or two and load up that TAP card!

(Who's Afraid Of) The Art Of Transportation

The Militant celebrated four years of blogging with a nice bike ride on Thursday around Downtown Los Angeles. He felt inspired.

Transportation -- of any and every kind -- is perhaps the most consistent visual motif in Los Angeles. From bikes on the streets to bus lines on the boulevards to cars on the freeway to trains underground to airplanes overhead, we're all about coming from somewhere and going somewhere, with several million reasons, feelings and stories interspersed with every block, exit, stop or station we encounter. Transportation inspires us to react -- whether we cuss, relax, pedal harder, Tweet, blog or even create art.

Donwtown Los Angeles art gallery Crewest, which specializes in modern urban art, is currently exhibiting "The Art Of Transportation," featuring the works of over 30 artists, all depicting visual art on or inspired by various transportation vehicles: from trains to planes to automobiles (buses, bikes, trucks and freeway infrastructure are well-represented too).

Many of the pieces are works of graffiti artists who do pieces on railroad freight cars, some of which are photographs of their pieces. But a few of them have put their pieces on model railroad cars, which are part of the exhibit as well.

One of the artists, Benny Boggs, who goes by the graffiti name "Diar," has a few pieces displayed on G- and HO-scale boxcars (pictured left). What makes his story remarkable was that he was paralyzed from the neck-down in a car accident in 2008, but that didn't let him stop his desire to create. Since then, he's done paintings and model train graffiti pieces -- painted with a brush guided by his mouth.

Aside from a couple paintings and models of graff'd-out NYC subway cars, this exhibit is undeniably Los Angeles, with the familiar local images of miniature freeway signs as a canvas, photos of Metro Rail trains, local freight railroads, even a painting of an old-school RTD bus (That's Metro's predecessor agency for all you newly transplanteds). Best of all, most of the artists are native Angelenos/Southern Californians, so they ain't frontin'!

In case you don't know, this exhibit is MILITANT-APPROVED and y'all should check this out before it closes down on June 26. Crewest is a little east of Gallery Row, around the corner from Blossom Vietnamese restaurant on Main. It's a 4 1/2 block walk from the (M) Pershing Square station. Or you can just bike in -- they were even cool with The Militant bringing his bike inside!

Yo, No Ho!

The Militant spent most of his Monday in North Hollywood, visiting an unspecified operative about a mile from the (M) Red Line terminus, which he took along with his bike. After the operative he decided to embark on a bike ride around the place for the next nine or so miles.

Though it was the middle of Summer, it was uncharacteristically warm (as opposed to freaking SFV hot), and by the time the Militant left the operative's house at around 6 p.m., he was more struggling to feel the warmth of the Sun's rays rather than submitting to them (remember, the Militant is solar-powered, after all).

He rode west on Burbank, then up the Lankershim diagonal (which is in serious need of a re-paving, at least from a cyclist's perspective) until Victory, then followed the Sun west to Coldwater Canyon, where he went shopping at an unspecified store.

Heading south on ColCan, in what may or may not be North Hollywood (technically Valley Glen, though isn't that kinda redundant?) he happened upon the Tujunga Wash, one of the Los Angeles River's major tributaries. You may or may not know that the westernmost wall of the Tujunga Wash is adorned with one of the longest (at 2,754 feet) murals in the world - The Great Wall of Los Angeles (pictured above). Created in the mid-late 1970s by Venice-based community arts nonprofit SPARC (the Militant rode by their arts center on a Westside ride a couple years ago), the mural details Los Angeles history from 20,000 B.C. to 1984 (though everything from the 60s to '84 has been abruptly summarized). Most of the wall depicts the achievements and struggles of our ethnic and immigrant communities during the 20th century. The mural will be undergoing a three-year renovation which will also include a more detailed update of local history from the '60s to today.

Interesting thing, as the Militant crossed Burbank Blvd on his bike, he couldn't help but notice the cars making a left turn westbound from Coldwater Canyon seemed noticeably less courteous and considerate to this cyclist than other parts of the City. Hmmm. So there you go, Westsiders, Eastsiders and Centralists - you all treat cyclists much better than them Valley folk!

After evading being mowed down by SUVs, the Militant continued on his way south and headed due east on Chandler, with the whirr of silver-colored Orange Line buses passing him every few minutes. Returning back to Lankershim, the question went before him: Head back to the compound now on the subway, or bike down to Universal City?

The latter won out, of course. But not before noticing a little something in the NoHo Commons building: A memorial (pictured right) to LAFD firefighter Thomas G. Taylor, who died in the line of duty while fighting an arson fire on this location (then Cugee's Restaurant) in January, 1981. People put their lives out on the line in this City. Recognize.

Just south of there, the Militant, in search of any hole-in-the-wall sammich shop, happened upon a curious structure spanning Lankershim. He couldn't quite make it out. It said...

"OH ON" - But with the "N" reversed - Must be some Russian thing. The Militant wasn't aware the Russian community in North Hollywood was that big.

No wait...
Ohhhhhhhhh...it says, "NO HO." Duh.

This must be the infamous No Ho Gateway, erected a year ago (No, this wasn't the first time the Militant saw it, but let's just pretend that it was). What does the Militant think? It's...interesting.
But in all seriousness, it is art, and one of art's responsibilities is to provoke, and that it does. Besides, the locals hated this thing in Paris when it first got built, and much more recently and closer to home, a lot of Angelenos initially weren't so hot on this thing, either. But both are now icons. So if history is an indicator, eventually, people will tolerate and eventually accept the thing, just you watch.

Failing to find a suitable sammich shop, the Militant settled for Pita Fresh on Lankershim, where he found him a-good-but-not-awesome (because there's better pita joints in the areas not too far from the Militant's compound) chicken kebab pita plus a drink for $7. Funny thing, most of the people at Pita Fresh were not chomping down falafels, but visiting Facebook on their laptops (they do have free Wi-Fi though).

Soon after the Militant and his bike descended the elevator taking him deep below the ground at Universal City where he boarded the southbound Red Line train and spotted a dude in his car who looked a lot like Sam Hall Kaplan. But like any other people who may or may not be recognizable figures, the Militant just dismisses the person as some random dude who just happens to resemble the local writer and reporter.

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!

Tickle Me St. Elmo - Drums, Blues and Jazz Fest This Weekend

Most people pass up the Mid-City section of Los Angeles as some random ghetto nothingness, but on the way along everyone's favorite non-freeway route to LAX, just southeast of Venice and La Brea, lies a small artists colony that's been practicing sustainability before it became a buzzword.

The place is St. Elmo Village, and if you have even the slightest inkling of Angeleno militantism, you will join the Militant (who may or may not be there) this weekend as the village celebrates its 40th anniversary.

This Saturday and Sunday, May 23-24, from 12 noon to 7 p.m., the village is throwing its annual Drums, Blues and Jazz festival, featuring an aentire weekend of music and good vibes all around. Sunday, jazz artist Dwight Trible, a familiar name and face to those familiar with the Leimert Park scene, will perform. St. Elmo Village is nestled in a residential neighborhood at 4830 St. Elmo Drive, just east of La Brea.

The Militant, of course, recommends biking (via from the nearby Venice Blvd bike lane) or taking Metro Local 212 down La Brea, because it's a residential neighborhood, and the locals will undoubetly get pissed if you take away their parking spaces. If you absolutely need to drive, park at the Mid-Town Shopping Center at Venice & Rimpau, and a shuttle will transport you to the village.

For those of you who have never been there, it's quite a sight, with painted walkways, uniquely designed gardens, and a commons area where human interaction isn't only encouraged, it's mandatory. One of the Militant's operatives even lived there an unspecified number of years ago.

The place was started in the late '60s by local artist Roderick Sykes and his late uncle Rozell as a community meant to inspire, foster and nurture people's creative and artistic spirit, especially in light of a tumultuous era both the City and the country as a whole were facing at the time. Those conditions are gone, or at least have changed, but St. Elmo's Village still remains.

So check it out and see a totally unique slice of Los Angeles. And if you do spot the Militant, quietly give him a "Stay Militant!" raised fist. He may or may not respond back.

Talkin’ ‘Bout My Gentrification: Danny Hoch’s ‘Taking Over’ at the Kirk Douglas Theatre

Now the Militant, in his infinite Militant Angeleno-ness, usually does not lavish any sort of praise on a native New Yorker (Vin Scully and the Dodgers exempted, of course).

But when he was given a chance to see a preview performance of Danny Hoch’s one-man play Taking Over at Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, the Militant was simply floored.

For those not familiar with Hoch, he’s a Gen-X-age writer, director and actor from Bwooklyn (his accent is expectedly blatant) known for his “Hip-Hop Theatre” productions, like 1998’s Jails, Hospitals & Hip Hop, where he plays a myriad of diverse characters endemic to his native borough environs, while exploring issues of race, class and societal issues in the story.

His current play, which explores gentrification in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg (think of the east coast equivalent to Echo Park/Silver Lake) through the portrayal of several characters: A Puerto Rican graduate student, a 60-something African American woman, a middle-aged Jewish landlord, a Dominican immigrant taxi dispatcher and a 20-something white hipster chick, among others.

Although the Militant has been to NYC a handful of times before, he’s never set foot in that particular part of Brooklyn, yet he totally identified with the subject matter.

For others, not so much. One performance earlier in the week had someone, visually offended, walking out of the theatre. In one scene the actor plays himself in an epilogic scene where he reads aloud some of his “hate mail.” Hey, art, after all, is supposed to elicit a reaction.

Though the Williamsburg situation seems more hyperbolic and extreme (million-dollar condos have not come to Echo Park – yet), and one of the characters’ indignant provincialism, though obviously well-intentioned, seemed a bit off-putting to even this Militant (or maybe us Californians are just more accommodating creatures, dunno…), in spirit, it was not a totally alien place for the Militant. Issues of how the locals enjoy things like safer streets and the availability of soy milk, only to discover that those trappings were not designed to be meant for them, or how one character is totally ignored by the hipster newcomers, are all too familiar themes for this Militant.

All is not heavy and brooding at all – a great deal of the play is presented as clever humor and well-executed comedic monologues (the reading of a coffeehouse’s weekly Calendar of Events is true comedy gold in its accurate portrayal of hipster entertainment). But some may find out that they are the ones being talked about here.

The Militant had a brief chat with Hoch after the show - one hardcore native New Yorker and one hardcore native Angeleno – and though they may not agree on sports or food, they both came to the accord that hipsters are a universal problem, and that it’s not just enclaves in New York and Los Angeles getting gentrified. One scene even confirmed the Militant’s belief that rampant gentrification can leave even the hipsters as victims of neighborhood change, as they get replaced by more upscale types.

Another aspect the Militant believes is praiseworthy is not just Hoch’s performance, but his endurance. The 90-minute play runs without any intermissions, and the actor has but seconds to transform from one character to the next. His voice was so thrashed after the show that when the Militant had his conversation with him, it was kinda like chatting with a mime.

Anyway, despite its NY origins, this play turns gentrification into a more universal issue. So with that, Danny Hoch’s Taking Over is 100% MILITANT APPROVED!

The show’s official premiere night is tonight, January 23. So run, don’t walk, to the Kirk Douglas Theatre by February 22. YOU. NEED. TO. SEE. THIS. And aside from spreading the word through this here blog and on his Facebook profile, he will also drop some flyers for this play at Intelligentsia Coffee in Silver Lake and at the American Apparel store in Echo Park. Heh heh heh...

East Is East: The 'East of Eden' Art Exhibition At Barnsdall Park

The Militant isn't an art scenester, but he does appreciate a good exhibit when he sees one. When one of his operatives told him to check out this weekend's exhibition at Barnsdall (don't pronounce it "Barnsdale") Art Park's Municipal Gallery, a multi-gallery show entitled East of Eden, he decided to do some Militant research. So off to the website he went.

And there went the description:

"East of Eden will focus on contributions of Los Angeles galleries, the cultures from which they draw inspiration and the eastside of L.A. as an important source for contemporary art."

Uh-oh. The "E" word.

Then he did further research on the galleries represented: places like La Luz de Jesus in Los Feliz, Black Maria in Atwater Village, Ghetto Gloss in Silver Lake, Bert Green Fine Art (now why does that name sound awfully familiar? Hmmmm.... ) in Downtown...

Oh you know where this is heading!

But the Militant thought that raising a ruckus at this event over "The 'E' Word" would be self-defeating. Especially since ir would be that much easier to unmask the Militant. Bleah...

But the Militant went anyway, trying to apprehend the situation with an open mind...

...Disregarding the incessantly-annoying "'E' Word," the bigger question was...does this art represent contemporary Angeleno art? Or is it just a smattering of ironic hispter fodder?

The Militant is no art critic, nor does he claim to possess an art critic's vocabulary, but in short, the art was very representative of contemporary Los Angeles art. There were pieces that had obvious iconography or images like palm trees, coastal Malibu seascapes, or a painting of a trio of cholas hanging out, but even outside of that, on a more visceral level, there was an attitude that the Militant didn't have to find a challenge to identify with.

The biggest complaint was the duration of the exhibit. It opened on Friday and by the time most of you read this, it had already closed. Which is unusually for Barnsdall exhibits, which usually last a good three months.

The Militant hopes they do this again. He understands their intention is to promote the (cough, gag, ack) Not-Really-The-Eastside art scene as a reaction to the Westside arts "establishment." But Westsidecentrism is soooo late 20th century. Why not drop the "Eastside" thing, these artists can basically stake claim on the whole City now, Westsiders be damned.

Oh yeah, one more thing before this post closes. One of the pieces gave the Militant a "giant" smile:

Word.

Live From Little Tokyo, It's Tuesday Night...

Though still towards the start of the week, Tuesdays seem to be ripe for variety and artistic expression. The day isn't normally tied with any regular athletic, commercial or religious ritual, so anything goes on Tuesdays really. You can go to a Highland Park farmer's market on that day, and Sheryl Crow and friends found Tuesday nights lucrative enough to jam together at a Los Angeles recording studio in the early '90s and make a Grammy-winning album as a result of it.

Last night, the Militant recently stumbled on a Tuesday night activity in Little Tokyo - A bi-monthly event called Tuesday Nights at the Cafe, which takes place at the Aratani Courtyard in front of the Union Center of the Arts on Judge John Aiso Street (the northern reincarnation of San Pedro St on the other side of of 1st). This event, which attracts a predominantly twenty/thirtysomething-aged Asian American crowd, is a showcase that offers a mix of artistic expression, entertainment, multimedia and community activism, so naturally the Militant just had to check it out.

The locale is interesting in its own right; the Union Center is on the site of the former Japanese Union Church of Los Angeles, built in 1923 for its Japanese American Christian congregation. After World War II broke out, You-Know-What happened and the congregation vanished. Slated for demolition in the decades following the war, the community rallied to save the Classical Revival-style brick building, though the 1994 Northridge Earthquake did some foundation-shaking of its own. Renovated in 1998, it immediately got an adaptive reuse as a theater and home base to three arts-related non-profit agencies. The steps of the center form the stage, and the entire area sits in the shadows of LAPD's Parker Center and City Hall, no less (symbolically, of course, as there aren't really any shadows at night...).

The "Cafe" the event's name refers to is the Tokyo Cafe (though the organizers of the event
mentioned that it's changed hands and names over time since the event started 10 years ago), which lets out into the courtyard. Most of the customers, though, don't come for the coffee, but its offering of Japanese food and inexpensive beer ($5 for a large bottle of Sapporo? HAI!)

This past Tuesday night's event featured a singer-songwriter, a taiko drum ensemble (pictured left), spoken-word poetry, a classical guitarist and an avant-garde electronic duo on guitar, shakuhachi flute and laptop. Numerous references to Japanese American, Filipino American and Vietnamese American culture were represented in the performances.

The event was also tied into a community awareness angle, spotlighting the efforts of a group called J-Town Voice, which seeks to preserve Little Tokyo's Japanese American traditions in the face of current commercial and residential gentrification. The event's host even exclaimed at one point, "Let's stop these hipsters from taking over the world!" You know that brought a smile to the Militant's face (On the other hand, the Militant did take issue with their group's action of "Resistance," which emphasizes eternal victimization. Though the Militant agrees with their goals and vision, the Militant eschews tired, old, activist model of victimization in favor of all-out empowerment, which means asserting ownership of the community, and making, even forcing, others work with you on your terms, rather than the sociopolitical equivalent of crying "mommy." Insistence works better than resistance. Try it sometime. But the Militant digresses. Anyone can be radical, but few can truly be militant...).

Nevertheless, the event is a great way to spend a warm Summer Tuesday evening, and seeing true local artists perform and express themselves, from a cultural perspective almost never seen in the mainstream (or even the mainstream underground), in a public space Downtown. Tuesday Nights at the Cafe occurs on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month from March to October. The next installment of Tuesday Nights At The Cafe is on September 2nd.

GLOWing or GLOWering?

Yes, the Militant was one of the 45,000 or so people who packed the Santa Monica pier area on Saturday night for GLOW. He was there between 1 to 3 a.m., and though he seriously considered riding his bike there (he's biked from his compound to the coast more than once before), he hopped in the car, which was a nice ride up until right by the Lincoln Ave exit on the 10, where he was a few feet away being rear-ended.

Yes, parking in Santa Monica was nucking futs on Saturday night, even at 12:30 a.m. He finally found the open lot at Santa Monica College's Madison Campus on Santa Monica and 11th Street which was openly accessible to the boulevard yet only had about a dozed cars parked in it. Serenipitously, the Militant saw an approaching Metro Local Line 4 bus right away, and, armed with his TAP card, hopped aboard for a quick ride to the Promenade area.

The automobile traffic was really nothing compared to the pedestrian traffic, as the intersection of 2nd and Colorado had over a hundred pedestrians at all four corners, anxiously awaiting clearance by a traffic cop. Yet, that was still nothing compared to the multitudes stuffed on the Pier itself (pictured left), which was closed off to people entering it at around 1 a.m. The sound of emergency vehicles entering the Pier wasn't encouraging at all, and the cautious Militant wondered at the potential loss of human life in the event of a sudden stampede. If you were a terrorist plotting to set damage to the Pier, you would have had a total field day on this night. So the Militant got his camo-covered ass out of there and onto the way less-congested Palisades Park.

Other blog accounts will talk about the art and the experience. The Militant conservatively estimates that perhaps 20% of the entire crowd, most of whom are between age 20 and 40, has their own blog of some form. That's about 900 blog posts on this event, and you've probably read 20% of that already by now. So the Militant will take another angle.

Standing on the cliffs of Palisades Park, looking out into the beach area, and wanting to reach the exhibits and events there, he noticed that Pacific Coast Highway formed an inaccessible moat where the only nearby entry points were the Pier and the PCH pedestrian bridge, also experiencing heavy foot traffic (ironically, it seemed the easiest way to reach the seaside activities were by swimming there). The Militant was eventually able to reach the beach, and likened the whole experience to Grad Night at Disneyland, where a familiar place normally visited during the daytime takes on a whole new context in the early morning hours.

The success of the event was also its inherent failure -- the limitations of automobile transport. The existing parking infrastructure was too burdened that it eventually became an inconvenience to go to as well. The only transit modes there -- Metro and Santa Monica Big Blue buses -- were at the mercy of their infrequent late night schedules (though the buses coincidentally came when the Militant needed them that night) as well as the fact that they, too, can also be stuck in traffic. Also, in this era of $4+ gas, looking around for parking also burns fuel you could have used for more worthwhile uses.

Case in point: The Songkran Thai New Year Festival this past April in Thai Town had even more attendees -- over 50,000 in fact, in a slightly smaller time frame, yet because of the adjacent Hollywood/Western subway station being, like right there, a large number of them took the (M) Red Line to that event. And though that created problems of its own, it still did not substantively impact street and freeway traffic in the same manner that GLOW did.

So perhaps the City of SaMo and the Santa Monica Arts Foundation should consider the following for future GLOW events:

• A satellite parking/shuttle bus system a la Hollywood Bowl
• Implementing a water ferry system from other beach cities to Santa Monica
  
• Moving the whole damn event to the nearest Metro station (Washington/National Expo Line station in Culver City? Blue Line/Downtown Long Beach?)
• Postponing the next one until the Exposition Line reaches Santa Monica (because you know that Subway To The Sea thing is gonna take a while...)

Despite the whining and grumbling, the Militant took interest inj this event because it sounded like a clever deviation from the norm -- the beach open all night, this amazing (over?) use of public space, the visual impact of it all -- and even for that the Militant thought it was a great event. Besides, randomly running into some of his operatives there was rather rewarding as well (those things usually happen if you grew up here, or lived here for a very long time...). But yes, crowd control and planning do make for everything.

The Militant looks forward to the next GLOW, and for that one, he's gonna remember to ride the bike there.

The Militant's Emo Ride

The Militant, who has been rather upset at an unspecified person in his life (or at least someone he wants in his life [WARNING: TMI ALERT! CEASE AT ONCE!]) decided to handle this situation the only way a Militant can...

...with a bike ride.

Besides, he also wanted to test out his brand-new, like totally bright LED headlight, which replaced the one that got stolen recently.

So the Militant Angel-emo, pouting and pedaling, set out on the streets of Los Angeles on a 12-mile, one and a half-hour journey to collect his thoughts (and brought the Militant Cam just in case there was something along the way that would make great blog fodder).

He wanted to cheer himself up with some nonfat, non-berry-suffixed frozen yogurt, so he went off to the Miracle Mile Red Mango (lameberries bow down), making his way from the compound to the vicinity of Western Avenue, where he took his favorite new north-south route of Oxford Ave., which makes an excellent Western alternative between Hollywood and Koreatown).

Then he headed due west on the 4th Street Bicycle Boulevard Bikeway, enjoying the solace of the nearly-car-free street, the aroma of the flora, and the sight of his new illuminated toy creating a flashing oval on the road as he traveled.

He approached his yogurty destination, but alas, it was three minutes to closing time, and the froyo-istas where packing up their containers of sliced fruit, nuts and cereal. No Red Mango fro-yo fo' this mofo. Oh well, time to move on.

So the moping Militant continued west along Wilshire past La Brea, hoping for some miracle to happen along this mile, recalling the time earlier this decade when he may or may not have worked at an unspecified company in the area, now realizing that it only takes about half an hour to get there by bike and that maybe his job might have been a lot less stressful had he pedalled it to work back then. But that was a different era, and the Militant, though still unabashedly Angeleno back then, was reluctant to ride his bike outside of the coastal South Bay Bike Path, much less as a means of commuting. My, have times changed.

It was at that point the Militant finally saw the light.

Or rather a whole damn lot of them. Some 200 of them, in fact. Right in front of the newly-renovated LACMA campus, stood artist Chris Burden's landmark Urban Light (pictured above) installation (looks familiar though), so the Militant just had to take a gander. Awe-inspiring for this urbanite, who walked his bike amidst the field of cast iron soldiers standing at attention on Wilshire. As the security guard minded his own business several yards away, the Militant immersed himself in the illumi-nation, snapped a few photos and continued his journey.

But not before taking just one more pic. Much respect and all apologies to fellow Angeleno blogcyclist extraordinaire Will Campbell, the Militant just couldn't resist getting his own version (pictured right, bicycle partially pixellated for security reasons) of this shot taken last weekend by the Will Cam (Sorry Will, the Militant just had to do it...besides, it was a fitting way to celebrate the Militant's new headlight).

Back on the road, the Militant did reflect back on his little dilemma, and sight puns aside, he did, just a few blocks later, at the ride's aphelion, decide on a course of action towards handling this situation.

Taking yet another Campbellesque cue, the Militant decided to test out the bikeability of Crescent Heights Boulevard, and that he did from Wilshire up to another bike-friendly corridor -- Willoughby Avenue, which he headed due east back to the general vicinity of the compound.

Back at the compound, the emo-ness had worn off, he had taken in some new sights and routes and felt somewhat better about himself. The fro-yo can wait another day. The physical exertion of the ride melted away summa dat stress. And most importantly, the Militant had something to write about.

So take a ride sometime. It's good for the mind, body and soul.

Islands In The Street, That Is What They Are

The Militant has to be very careful when writing anything Downtown-based. Why? Because but a few seconds after clicking on "Publish Post," any one of the various Downtown Los Angeles-based bloggers will be ready to pounce on you with a "Been there, done that" and a link to their post, perhaps written decades ago, covering the very same topic. But hey, the Militant is citywide, and means to stake no claim into their urban fiefdom, and his likewise citywide (even statewide, heck, nationwide) readership are there specifically to read about the Militant's take on a little slice of El Pueblo.

So enough of the needlessly lengthy intro...

The Militant, who was in DTLA late last week, took a little jaunt from Little Tokyo to Union Station and happened upon this curious brown sign (pictured above) on a traffic island at Alameda and Aliso streets, right in the shadow of the (M) Gold Line Eastside Extension aerial bridge.

It read, "ISLANDS OF LA NAT'L PARK" along with a url fo' mo' info fo' all yo' mofos.

The www.islandsofla.com website explains that it's all part of a DIY idea for, "revitalizing public space by turning traffic islands into territories of art...The intention is to use art as a vehicle to promote community, discussion and cultural interchange as well as explore the use and availability of public space."

Sounds kinda familiar. don't it? But hey, it's a 21st century thing. The Militant, who has roamed these environs for nearly four decades will let you know that this whole public space-public art synergy is something that's only been talked about in the past few years. Back then, "public art" was just a mural, and not anything conceptual or three-dimensional.

The project even has its own blog as well, which exists mostly for the purpose of discussing public art/space issues and add a literary bent to some of the created and proposed traffic islands in the "National Park" (wonder if the U.S. Dept. of the Interior knows anything about this...).

The Militant doesn't have to tell you what he thinks (but he will anyway). This gets the Militant's Seal of Approval. As someone who's dabbled in public art as well, the Militant looks forward to more, and perhaps seeing more of these islands citywide.

Scritti Politi

The Militant went on a secret mission to Downtown Los Angeles on Friday and ended up walking down Grand Avenue with one of his favorite female operatives who has previously accompanied him on walks through other parts of town. Before the Militant hopped on his Red Line ride back to the compound, he stopped by the Los Angeles Central Library (The Militant has omitted the name of a certain former mayor intentionally) just before it closed for the day.

He discovered the little 1st-floor hallway nooks that host mini galleries is currently displaying artworks from legendary Angeleno artist Leo Politi.

The Italian American and California native artist's works, which are primarily watercolor paintings portraying depictions of middle-20th centruty Angeleno life in locales such as Bunker Hill, are on display at the library's gallery and coincides with Politi's 100th birth annivarsary this year.

The Bunker Hill paintings on display are rare "outtakes" from his illustrated books on the famed Downtown neighborhood. Colorful and lively, many of them seemingly depic the inclined green space that ran above the 3rd Street tunnel as the virtual center of the universe, with pedestrians, automobiles, trolleys and the Angels Flight funicular all going about their business. His paintings, which are largely composed of lively contrasting shades of green, orange and various earth tones show a slice of Los Angeles life so vividly, one would expect an animated scene play out in front of their eyes. Indeed, some of the paintings resemble a cross between classic Walt Disney animated cels and an Al Hirschfeld illustration, a stark contrast from the more utilitarian look of the senior living condominium that replaces that exact same scene today.

Most of all, his paintings reflected the community and diversity that was present even back then, as the Bunker Hill paintings feature the residences of his former neighbors, accompanied by an anecdote and a character description of some of the residents.

Politi's, who died in 1996, was also famous for painting scenes from Olvera Street, Angelino Heights and Watts, as he illustrated the towering work of his old pal, Simon Rodia.

The Los Angeles Central Library's Bunker Hill by Leo Politi exhibit lasts until June 14. It's free, of course. Politi's 100th birthday would have been on Novbember 3 of this year and his official website, run by members of his family, describes several other events scheduled throughout the year to commemorate his centennial.

Things To Do During Limbo Week - Wednesday

Greetings, Angelenos! Hope you had a great Christmas. This is the time of the year where we're faces with two holidays within a week of each other, and we're either on a short vacation/break or forced to go to work with very little activity, much less productivity. The Militant calls it...Limbo Week!

For the rest of the week, the Militant will offer suggestions on how to bide your time, whether you have the whole week off, or whether you're forced to hold down the fort at the office. True to Militant style, the following suggestions are either free or come at very little cost (you need it since you've probably accrued additional credit card debt the past few weeks anyway).

Wednesday's Vacation Option: humor us Exhibit at Barnsdall Park's Art Gallery

Whether you got some free time on your hands, or want to entertain out-of-town guests (remember, people might have left town, but others have come back home for the Holidays), go check out an exhibition called humor us at Barnsdall Art Park. It's a multi- and mixed- media exhibit of over 100 works by twenty Asian American artists with ties to Southern California, which explore the all facets and interpretations of humor, while exploring issues of cultural identity, race and representation. According to the exhibit's literature, "Often the butt of jokes or the comic relief within mainstream media - from Fu Manchu to William Hung of American Idol notoriety - Asians and Asian Americans are often stereotyped as eternal foreigners, model minorities, inscrutable, nerdy and yes, humorless."

The works consist of everything from paintings, photographs, sculpture, industrial art, videos, audio and even a large snail rollercoaster and a rock that thinks via an LED thought bubble. Interesting stuff that's very scant on the usual cliches of this kind of art, and most of all the Militant doesn't know any of the artists personally, which means that it the exhibit won't suck.

humor us is free and runs until December 30.

humor us
Municipal Art Gallery
Barnsdall Art Park
4800 Hollywood Blvd
Los Feliz/East Hollywood DMZ
Open daily, 12 noon-5 p.m.


Wednesday's At-Work Option: Check Out the UnHipLA Blog

Stuck at work? Workload is close to nil? Wondering why you're even there in the first place? Open your browser and check out a new blog! Thanks to a tip from one of his most trusted operatives, the Militant adds another approved guerrilla faction to his blogroll in UnHipLA, written by a SGV-based Un-Hipster who has actually been blogging for a little over a year and covers largely food, shops and events in The Other Valley. Recent entries: 90-cent pumpkin empanadas, the new Whole Foods Market in Pasadena and a little-known, but mega-affordable Taiwanese street food eatery in San Gabe. The blogger also makes a lot of allusions to biggestmenu.com, which is also the reason for the abundance of food-related topics (though it's UnHipLA is not strictly a foodie blog). It's also not strictly an SGV blog either, as some of the posts also cover events and places in Little Tokyo, Historic Filipinotown, Miracle Mile and even Hong Kong.

In some ways, it's kind of like the Militant's blog, minus the activism and militancy and plus more food and 626-related subject matter. Drop on by and tell UnHip the Militant sent ya!

UnHipLA (www.unhipla.com)