2017: A Militant Preview

Whatup and Happy Militant New Year! Congratulations on surviving 2016 -- you've made it! We have a year ahead of us that may or may not be the greatest or worst year ever (of course he says that every year)!

Here's a calendar of upcoming events and milestones in Los Angeles to look out for in the year ahead. Of course, in between them will be the new and the unexpected, which will seal them in their own places in history.

JANUARY
16 - Kingdom Day Parade
Los Angeles' 32nd annual celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday gets underway on the 16th along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Crenshaw and Western, and then south on Crenshaw to Vernon (it's broadcast live on KABC Channel 7 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.). It should be interesting as the parade will end in a construction area, as Crenshaw Boulevard is currently undergoing the building of the upcoming Metro Crenshaw/LAX Rail Project.

18 - El Segundo's 100th Anniversary
The legendary South Bay city just below LAX, named after an oil refinery and the mythical place where countless A Tribe Called Quest fans have left their proverbial wallets, is turning 100 years old. Incorporated on January 18, 1917, the city will hold a Birthday Bash at El Segundo Library Park on Wednesday the 18th from 3-5 p.m. The city will also throw a Centennial Ball formal at the Automobile Driving Museum on Saturday, January 21st. Gotta get, got gotta get it.

28 - Dodgers 2017 Fan Fest, Dodger Stadium
Yes, we miss Dodger baseball. Yes, we miss Vin Scully. Yes, we came pretty damn close to our first World Series visit since '88. Yes, there's some [sighs] unfinished business from last season. But the core of last year's team is pretty much intact heading into '17, and hey, this free event at the Stadium will give us all an excuse to wear our Dodger Blue for the day.
 
29 - 2017 NHL All-Star Game, Staples Center
Staples Center again hosts the NHL's All-Star Game (perhaps the most inconsistent and confusing in format in all of professional sports), this time with the league celebrating its 100th anniversary. 

FEBRUARY
4 - 118th Golden Dragon Parade, Chinatown
The streets of Los Angeles' Chinatown will be alive with drums, firecrackers, lion dances and those confetti bazookas everyone loves to fire off as the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration takes place in Los Angeles for the 118th year. This year will be The Year of The Rooster (hopefully Huy Fong Foods will be a sponsor as its legendary Sriracha sauce was born on the streets of Los Angeles Chinatown), or, taking into account who's going to be in charge of this country in a few weeks, The Year of The Cock.

MARCH
5 - 626 Golden Streets
The San Gabriel Valley was all set to have a mega ciclovia event of their own on June 26 of last year (6/26, get it?), but the smoky side-effects of the San Gabriel Complex wildfire unfortunately put BikeSGV's plans on the back-burner (pun intended). Fortunately, it was re-scheduled for the much safer (and much cooler) 3/5/17, when fire danger is extremely low. This route will connect the SGV communities of  South Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa, and will be accessible via Metro Gold Line, of course.

8 - Wilshire Grand Center Grand Opening
At 1,100 feet at its tallest point, it may or may not be the tallest building in Los Angeles, or the West Coast, but it looks pretty damn awesome so far. Once the site of the World's Largest Concrete Pour, this building will open its doors as DTLA's newest hotel and be a shining new jewel in the city's skyline.

19 - XXXII Los Angeles Marathon
Running 26.2 miles from Elysian Park to Santa Monica, the Marathon this year is moved a month later to a less-rainy mid-March date, just before the Spring Equinox.

26 - CicLAvia - Culver City Meets Venice
The (count 'em) 20th CicLAvia will take us back to Culver City and Venice on a redux of the August, 2015 route. Only this time around, the folks at Tito's Tacos will not have a shit-fit at the idea of Washington Place being closed for the day and will enjoy the throngs of crunchy taco-munching cyclists queuing up on the sidewalk.

TBA - Los Angeles State Historic Park Re-Opening
Don't call it a comeback. Okay, call it a comeback, but it's been here for years. The former Southern Pacific freight train yard known as The Cornfield (due to corn sprouting out from seeds spilled from hopper cars), after much public wrangling, became Los Angeles State Historic Park in 2001, but was closed in 2014 for renovations and improvements. The park, which will re-open in Spring of this year, is guaranteed to knock you out. 

APRIL
3 - Dodgers Opening Day, Dodger Stadium
It's tiiiiime for Dodger baseballllll, at long last. Welcome to the post-Scully era. Don't worry, we will brave this together. At least we know our Boys in Blue will be Playoff Material once again this season (here we go again!). This year the season opens with the very sad (and Kemp-less) San Diego Padres in town.

22-23 - Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, USC
Los Angeles' favorite annual literary event is back in April as the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books returns to the University of Southern California campus for the sixth time (and the first time Westsiders can travel to the bookfest via the Metro Expo Line).

29 - Los Angeles Riots 25th Anniversary 
April 29, 1992 is more than just a Sublime song. This year, in a world without some of its major players (Rodney King and Darryl Gates are now gone), and in an era where the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the Trump Administration inevitably clash, whereby the mass media will again talk about race relations as a black-white binary yet again, whereby nothing has really changed. But The Militant digresses.

JUNE

2-4 - Lummis Day Festival, Highland Park 
The 12th annual Lummis Day gets underway during the first weekend of June, celebrating the history of the Northeast Los Angeles area. This is the one time of the year where all the new hipsters in the neighborhood will learn who exactly Charles Fletcher Lummis is and pretend to care.

11 - CicLAvia - Glendale to Atwater
Ready for an all-new CicLAvia route? The second big Cicla this year will take you between Atwater Village and the city of Glendale. This must mean one thing - there will be an all-new Epic Militant CicLAvia Tour guide post to research and write! WOOT!

25 - Militant Angeleno's 10th Anniversary! 
Ten years ago, a bored, frustrated and freakishly anonymous native Angeleno (with a penchant for referring to himself in the third person) took matters into his own hands and created what may or may not have been a cultural phenomenon with the debut of the Militant Angeleno blog! The city has or has not been the same ever since. But one thing is for certain -- his true identity has managed to remain a secret all this time! Celebrate with The Militant online and what may or may not be The Militant's first public appearance ever! Stay Tuned and #StayMili10!

JULY

8 - 9 - Lotus Festival, Echo Park
Having attended these since he was a Lil'Mil, this is one of The Militant's favorite annual city festivals, taking place in the middle of the year, during the Summer, next to a lake with a wonderful view of the Downtown skyline. This year's 37th Lotus Festival will feature the culture of Bangladesh. With the issues of budget, lake renovation and the dearth of lotus plants now behind us, we can all focus on trying to get the fireworks show back on the festival's Saturday night. The festival is just not the same without it!

SEPTEMBER
1 - 24 - Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona
The best fair in all of Los Angeles County (well, okay, it's only county fair...) gets underway on September 1st. An annual tradition since 1922 (with the exception of the World War II years), it's time once again to load up an all that fried food.

4 - Los Angeles' 236th Birthday
Our beloved city turns 236 years old!

17 - Judgment Day for the Los Angeles 2024 Olympic Bid
The International Olympic Committee convenes on this date in Lima, Peru to decide the host city of the Games of the XXXIIIrd Olympiad, which will take place in 2024. Will Los Angeles or Paris get to host the summer games for a third time? Or will the IOC give it to first-timer Budapest? Stay tuned...There will be a public rally that day for Los Angeles 2024 supporters (of which there are many) to celebrate or not celebrate. The Militant, of course, may or may not be there.

20 - Culver City's 100th Birthday
The city that gave the world the Helms Bakery, the Spruce Goose, Drew Barrymore, MLB Hall of Famer Gary Carter, Tito's Tacos and The Wizard of Oz turns a century this year, having been incorporated on September 20, 1917.  Whatever or whenever's planned, at least we can all ride the Expo Line to the big party.

OCTOBER
26 - Metrolink's 25th Anniversary
Believe it or not, this year, we will have regional commuter rail for a quarter century. Opened October 26, 1992, the system grew from three modest lines into the 'burbs into a seven-line, 534-mile network. Expect some 25th anniversary events, or at the very least some 25th anniversary logo sticker slapped on the commuter coaches.

27 - Grand Central Market's 100th Anniversary
Opened to the public on October 27, 1917, the granddaddy of Los Angeles food courts has been embedded into the historical and cultural fabric of our region. Hopefully the folks who run the market won't be too busy kicking out its longtime tenants to celebrate an entire century of feeding generations of hungry Angelenos.

TBA - CicLAvia - Heart of L.A.
It's October, which means its time for the classic "Heart of L.A." route, emanating from Downtown into Westlake and the Eastside. Celebrate CicLAvia's 7th birthday on the streets where it (mostly) all began.

DECEMBER
All Month - Holiday Light Displays
"Tis the season - again! In addition to the Los Angeles Zoo's annual holiday light display, there are a number of neighborhoods around town that put up ginormous Christmas light displays on their houses and yards. Take your pick from Christmas Tree Lane (Santa Rosa Avenue) and the Balian Mansion in Altadena,  Christmas Tree Lane (Daisy Avenue) in Long Beach, Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills, another Candy Cane Lane (Acacia Avenue) in El Segundo and Sleepy Hollow (Calle Mayor) in Torrance. Before you know it, we'll be doing this all over again, this time, looking ahead to 2018...

30 - The Forum's 50th Anniversary
Envisioned by Los Angeles Kings' daddy and former Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke as the regions premier indoor sports venue. the once-and-always Fabulous Forum has witnessed NBA championships, Olympics and countless concerts and events. On December 30th, The Forum celebrates half a century of its fabulousness.
 

6TH STREET (BRIDGE)...WE LOVE IT!

A vision of the future on the past and present.

On Saturday, the 6th Street Viaduct got some major love with a big-ass farewell shindig on the bridge itself in the form of the 6h Street Bridge Festival. Most of you were there so The Militant will spare the big explanation. But it was hosted by Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar (who never sounded more amp'ed up, and had some cool live music performances, culminating with a free concert set by Los Angeles' very own WAR. The bridge will be closed on the first week of 2016, so make your last visits now!

The bridge was immortalized in art.

Lowrider heaven. Just to let you know you're in The Eastside.

Los Angeles' contribution to funk music, the band WAR, playing all of their hits (though they skipped "The World is a Ghetto").

LED lighting and a smartphone-bearing crowd. What could look more early 21st Century than this?

Fireworks end the night. But the bridge will remain for the rest of the year.

Happy New Year...HERE'S THE PARTY!

Three hundred and sixty-six days ago, The Militant wandered the streets of Downtown Los Angeles in search of a place to celebrate the end of 2012 and the start of 2013. He opted for Grand Park, which opened that summer to much fanfare, and waited for the big celebration to happen.

But it didn't happen.

He challenged the Grand Park Grand-Poobahs to plan a New Year's Eve celebration a year later or else. So when he wandered onto the park one early December noon, he saw a cryptic poster that read, "NYE LA," which either meant A Certain Science Guy Named Bill was either going to do a lecture, or a dance routine (or both), or that The Militant's year-long wish had finally come true.

Time to update the business cards: The Militant Angeleno: Blogger. Historian...Prophet.

2013 was an interesting year of contrasts. It was, in some ways, a dark year, which began with the loss of the great Huell Howser. Then a rogue cop went on a murder spree and was hunted down. And a young man opened fire on a local college campus. And another young man opened fire in an airport terminal. And little rain did fall. The year also brought a change in the guard at City Hall, the return of Echo Park's namesake recreational space, the beginning of the rebirth of the Los Angeles River, a CicLAvia to the sea (which still wasn't long enough in terms of hours...), and with that, a sense of the city's urban maturity establishing its influence. And with that...

It's finally time to par-tay.

BOOM! No more empty wasteland!

The Militant already felt it when he hopped on board his (M) Red or Purple Line train, which was still before the 9 p.m. freebie fare gate unlocking unlatching period -- The Militant didn't want to get there too late. On board the train, people were already feeling festive, some wore party hats, while others started whooping on the train even before it had even pulled into Downtown. A few folks got out at 7th/Metro Center, partaking in the private parties at L.A. Live and the 7th Street corridor. A few folks got off at Pershing Square. But the train unloaded once it hit Civic Center.

The Militant got disoriented or a second, surrounded by chain link fencing once he got up to street level, but soon found out we all had to walk north to Temple and make a U-turn through Hill Street  to the proper entrances. Once in, the bevy of mobile gourmet vending vehicles and their associated lines made it known that Los Angeles is still the undisputed food truck capital of the universe.

Already people felt relaxed and excited, if not for the promise of renewal from the change of the calendar, then for the opportunity to finally gather in a public space to usher in MMXIV with thousands of other Angelenos. A group of people were gathered at the Court of Flags to watch the NYC Times Square Ball Drop projected on the Hall of Records building at 9 p.m., something that would usually annoy The Militant, but the mood in the cold winter air was so upbeat, he didn't care.  Later, the same wall projected a list of Los Angeles County cities (and Los Angeles City  communities), which made The Militant smile. He also ran into a few Operatives along the way, who joined him at various times, checking out the main stage below City Hall, the "L.A." photo-op letter balloons, the rather creative "2014" hanging sphere structure and watching grown adults traipse onto the Arthur Will Memorial Fountain's water court for a change.

As The Moment Of Truth approached, the crowd headed towards City Hall for the highly-anticipated 3D display show, projected on the west face of our city's 1928 municipal center (Were the crumbling, twisted images of City Hall a political statement of some sort? Makes ya wonder...). When the crowd counted down to one, The Militant made a conscious decision to not make any video recording of it, but rather savor it with his own eyes (Surely at least 12,000 of you recorded and uploaded your own countdown videos on to YouTube, right?). And then all of Los Angeles counted down to Twenty Fourteen.

And it was wonderful.

Well, mostly. Not to nitpick at all, but the Biggest Moment Of The Night was a tiny bit anticlimactic - ya feelin' The Militant? No, it wasn't a dud, and everything went off without a hitch, but, eh, still, there was something...missing. So with that:

12 WAYS FOR THE GRAND PARK NEW YEAR'S EVE COUNTDOWN TO IMPROVE FOR 2015 (Yes, how BuzzFeedish, but The Militant has to go there):

1. The 3-D projection was awesome! Everyone was enthralled with it, but we all sort of got lost in the visuals for a while and...OH BTW WE GOT 10 SECONDS LEFT TO GO FOR THE YEAR. That kinda came up suddenly on us. Next time, either start counting down early, or give us a visual/audible crescendo that leads us to the main count.

2. Eh, change the font on the time clock. Looks like an oversized cellphone or something.

3. For everyone west of Broadway, we could hardly hear anything. We heard the countdown, people screamed, "Happy New Year!" and we kinda heard...nothing. Judging from people's videos, apparently a band played "Auld Lang Syne" after midnight. But The Militant, standing in the Court of Flags, didn't hear nothin'. Maybe put some additional speakers there, and in the other sections of the park.

4. Consider expanding the Party Zone to 1st Street. Then we'll have our OWN "Times Square." Los Angeles Times Mirror Square, that is.

5. Obviously give us different visuals next year. But keep the multilingual "Happy New Year" greetings. That was a nice touch, and no other city in the world can really pull that off.

6. Push the stage up to the City Hall steps and use Spring Street as part of the Party Zone.

7. FIREWORKS. Come on. At the stroke of midnight, we expect to start the new year off with a literal BANG. Your Fourth of July celebration proved that even a small-scale pyrotechnic display can be effective. Don't wuss out on us. Go for the gusto! Let's see fireworks shoot out of the north and south wings of City Hall! Let's see some sparklers shoot out of the Tom Bradley Tower! It doesn't have to last too long. Come on! You can do it!

8. Um, what happened to the Charles Lindbergh Beacon? You know, that big white spotlight that rotates around the top of City Hall starting at Christmas and on to New Year's? WHY was it not illuminated last night? Why wasn't it illuminated during this holiday season? Why was it not even turned on once since Eric Garcetti became mayor? Hmmm? THE MILITANT WANTS ANSWERS!

Leaving the Lindbergh Beacon off during the holiday season makes Huell Howser's angel cry.

9. FIREWORKS, again. For emphasis.

10. As soon as midnight came, EVERYONE headed for the exits. Subway stations were packed, and traffic jams came up on nearby streets. How about an event that goes on until 1 or 2 a.m. that allows people a window of time for people to leave?

11. Please alert the Little Tokyo bars and restaurants that you have a celebration on New Year's Eve. There were several mass exoduses of hungry revelers leaving Grand Park, heading east on 1st Street, only to discover a paltry number of restaurants were open and that they would have to get their first meal of 2014 elsewhere. Tsk, tsk.

12. Did The Militant already mention FIREWORKS?

Okay, he's finished with the list.

But in all seriousness, thank you and congratulations Music Center, County of Los Angeles and all at Grand Park for putting on the central, public New Year's Eve celebration that Los Angeles has been asking for decades, and the time was right to make it happen. The Militant looks forward to returning in 364 days, and he hopes you address all of his recommendations in some way. The Militant gives a virtual high-five to all 20 to 30-thousand Angelenos (It's like an entire Staples Center crowd emptied into one place) who came down to be a part of history. And best of all, everyone was happy. Remember, Grand Park is not just a public space. It is a magical energy field. The New Year's celebration can and will only get better with time.

And speaking of large public celebrations at Grand Park, here's one random sign-carrying dude at last night's party who hopes to return to our magical energy field come late October or early November, if you know what The Militant is talking' about...

Happy New Year, and Stay Militant in da Twenny-One-Fo'!

Happy New Year...Where's The Party?

Uh, like, where IS everybody?

Where did you spend your last moments of 2012? At a house party? At a bar? Freezing your ass off on Colorado Boulevard?

The Militant was all set to have a festive New Year's Eve in Downtown Los Angeles last night. After all, there were a plethora of NYE activities in DTLA. He set out at 9 p.m. to take advantage of the free Metro fares until 2 a.m.. Then, he went out to Angels Flight for a couple of one-cent rides for its 111th Birthday, and ended up as the last rider of the year (for two out of the last three years!).

He then walked due north along Hill Street to Grand Park. As you may or may not know, it opened last Summer to much fanfare and soon became a popular gathering spot for CicLAvias, concerts and even election night observing.

So surely they'd have a big New Year's Eve celebration where Angelenos can finally count down the last seconds of the year. Right? RIGHT?

Welp, The Militant got there at about 10:30 p.m. and found the place...empty.

He first thought it was just a classic case of Angelenos showing up late. But as it turned into 11 p.m., he started to get worried. Shouldn't there be like a program or something? Maybe it was a poorly-publicized event. But even then there would be a few people hanging around....there was nada.

Maybe it was a smaller event at another part of the park! He walked due west and went to the court of flags plaza thingy. Maybe they were all there!

Is this some sort of bizarro 'Twilight Zone' episode or what?

Nope.

Okay, maybe it was by the Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain. Like the fountain would turn all sorts of funky colors at the stroke of midnight and it would shoot out silly string or marshmallows or free tamales or something...

(Notice how the Comic Sans font actually looks good when used in the proper context)

Damn. Whatup with that?!

It was like 11:30 already and The Militant walked over to the bar by The Alexandria Hotel, where he got frisked and was treated to some really awful douchey rap songs from 2005-2008. At the stroke of midnight we were forced to watch a 3-hour old broadcast of an illuminated ball drop some 3,000 miles away. Whoop, whoop.

Okay, folks. Every New Year's Eve we get the same old thing. Time Square Tape Delay, or if we're online, we get shown a slideshow of various cities around the world ushering in the new year, which usually involves an assload of pyrotechnics shooting out from some of its most famous landmarks (Hmmm...imagine if the Hollywood Sign did that. Hey, why the big frown Mr. LAFD Fire Chief?).

So here's the deal. Grand Park Peoples, County Supes and Erryone In Between: In 364 days, please give us Angelenos a public New Year's Eve celebration we so long deserve. And make some fireworks shoot out of City Hall (That...would...be...Bad...Ass). Okay, okay, scratch the City Hall fireworks, we all know the City won't have the budget for that. But give us something on 12/31/13.

Pwetty Pweeze?

If not, The Militant will have his OWN New Year's Eve celebration at Grand Park, AND YOU'RE ALL INVITED!

Happy New Year, and Stay Militant in da Twenny-One-Tray!

The Militant's 2012 Lotus Festival Report!

This past weekend, The Militant, along with thousands of other Angelenos, enjoyed a weekend in wonderful Echo Park for one of Los Angeles' best outdoor Summer traditions - the Lotus Festival. The Militant has covered it year after year, and this year is no exception!

Though it was kind of humid the entire weekend, that didn't stop Angelenos from going to Echo Park and partaking in Asian/Pacific Islander culture for the weekend. There were wonderful music and dance acts that wowed the crowd the entire day.

As you can see below, a large number of people sat on the grass being entertained, while a row of clothing and crafts vendor tents stood between them and the northern edge of the lake, with the park's trademark lotus flowers in full bloom! Don't they look beautiful?

Unlike past years, The Militant made it a point to get to the festival early enough to catch one of the festival's most cherished traditions -- the Dragon Boat Races!

Here's an action shot of a couple of dragon boats skating across the water, their respective team members fiercely and passionately rowing away:

The Lotus Festival is pretty much the same every year, but the smiles on the diverse array of Angelenos' faces never gets old on The Militant. And to see an urban jewel such as Echo Park Lake shimmer under the summer sun, with tens of thousands of people encircling it, it's such a sight to behold. May we never see anything that strays from this sheer beauty.

LotusNotes 2010: A Frugal Fest Of Firsts

When the Militant first heard that the 2010 Lotus Festival was a go (first reported on this here blog back in March), he was excited to hear that one of his favorite City festivals made its return from its 2009 hiatus due to That City Budget Thing.

So the Militant hauled his ass down to Echo Park on Saturday and observed as such:

• This was the 32nd Lotus Festival to take place, although the inaugural festival took place in 1972, which means there were no festivals for six years (1978, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 2009) during that 38-year history.

• This was the second Lotus Festival where there was an total absence of the eponymous aquatic flora in Echo Park Lake (pictured above).

• This was the first Lotus Festival to be organized independently from the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, this time organized by the nonprofit LA Lotus Festival, Inc., based in nearby Historic Filipinotown.

• This was the first Lotus Fest in the Food Truck Era; The Lee's Philly truck was parked inside the food vendor plaza, while The Manila Machine Filipino truck was parked in the lake's vicinity.

• This was also the first Lotus Festival where it rained. You heard right. Rained. At about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, the normally-hot, sunny Lotus Fest weather on that day was a cloud-covered, humid atmosphere, and drops of rain (no metaphor here, it's the drops-of-water-falling-from-the-sky kind) fell down for about 15 minutes. So let this go down in history: 2010 was The Year It Rained On The Lotus Festival.

Though the Festival was back, the looming shadow of That City Budget Thing was plainly visible everywhere. There were no Dragon Boat Races (a traditional aquatic competition held on the lake pitting City departments, offices of elected officials, nonprofit groups and local businesses against each other) and most unfortunate of all, there was no Saturday night fireworks display (So if you missed your July 4 pyrotechnics last weekend, you're S.O.L. this time around). Efforts by the Militant to confirm the fireworks yielded ambiguous answers, though it should have been obvious when he discovered that the Yoki Daiko taiko drum ensemble was not booked as the finale act on Saturday evening.

But despite the Lotus-Fest-On-A-Budget this year, it was a real Lotus Festival, the same one that celebrated Asian/Pacific Islander Cultures (this year, China was the featured culture) and not the surrogate Echo Park Community Festival, which, judging from its entertainment, was more of a celebration of the newly-established gentro culture in EP.

Still, none of that was able to stop the Militant from having a good time, hanging out with operatives, enjoying great music and dance performances and getting all freaked out when the rain came, all in the company of several thousand fellow Angelenos (though attendance was markedly down from 2008 - as evidenced by the very short food lines in the booths).

As you may or may not know, starting next year, Echo Park Lake will undergo a two- to four-year , $84 million renovation process, which will result in the draining of the lake (which was originally a natural lake, having been fed by a nearby underground spring) and closing of the park. The intention is to improve water quality, which will ultimately mean the re-planting of the lotus bed, once the largest outside of Asia.

But this also means next year's Lotus Festival may or may not still happen. According to LA Lotus Festival, Inc. organizers, they are currently looking into temporarily moving the 2011 (and later) Lotus Festival(s) to another location, such as Lincoln Park or nearby MacArthur Park.

Hmm...A Lotus Festival in The Real Eastside? Or Go Metro Rail To The Lotus Festival in Macarther Park? What would you prefer? Stay tuned, Angelenos!

MA Pays His Respects To MJ

As mentioned yesterday, the Militant was one of some 21,000 people able to witness the huge Michael Jackson Memorial event on Tuesday at Staples Center.

After a quick Red Line ride to Downtown, he got off at 7th Street/Metro Center, met up with one of his operatives, and walked down Figueroa, past the slew of vendors and onlookers (but not as big of a slew as people anticipated). Once we crossed the demilitarized zone (i.e. Olympic Blvd) and produced our wristbands, we were in the clear.

But right after rounding the ESPN Zone corner and onto Chick Hearn Court, there it was, the big-ass media circus, set up in LA Live's courtyard, and farther west down CHC. It was a visually crazy scene, but as for the folks, it was no different than lining up for a concert here, even though it was 9:30 in the morning.

Inside, the sounds of Michael Jackson's mellower tunes echoed through the arena, which set a somber, respectful mood. After a 40-minute delay due to waiting for the Jackson family to arrive, as well as a minor audio problem, the program began.

The Militant never saw Staples Center so full, yet so silent. Even the expected conversations between thousands of guests were muted murmurs that didn't even sum into any audible roar. The Militant was impressed, and in awe.

The Militant needn't reiterate what happened. You all saw it, on TV, online, and repeated hundreds of times in clips afterward. We heard from a Queen and a pair of Kings. There was a congresswoman and a Mayer. There were Michael's Motown bretheren (as well as the label's patriarch), and of course his biological bretheren. Many of the speeches and eulogies quoted MJ's universally-familiar lyrics and song titles.

There was laughter, there were tears, there was music -- the way life should be.

And of course, there was that moment:

The musical performances were wonderful, especially hearing Jackson's own material, sung by his pop star peers. The only thing better would have been to hear The King of Pop sing them himself...

...And it was then the Militant realized that Michael Jackson was actually gone.

The crowd left quietly, in a relaxed manner. Many of them stuck around at the few LA Live establishments that remained open. Some went back to their offices nearby. A few were instantly hounded by the media circus to get their soundbite reaction. Some international media waved or draped their respective country's flags to identify themselves.

Up above, a skywriter attempted to draw a heart in the sky, with the letters "MJ" inside. And nearly a dozen helicopters hovered like mosquitoes in the cloudless blue Summer sky.

The Grammy Museum, which the Militant visited earlier this year, showed any and all previous Grammy Show footage with Michael Jackson in it. They are also featuring an exhibit of his Grammy show wardrobe, and have also reduced their adult admission to $10 until September 30.

Outsize the demilitarized zone, there was still a crush of people, reporters in front of cameras, pointing their logo-adorned microphones at soundbite donors, and there were people selling items, mostly cheaply-screened Michael Jackson t-shirts, on the sidewalk. A few sold framed portraits, one even sold an iconic glittered glove.

Of course, with the executors of his estate still yet to be finalized, none of this money will be going towards the singer's massive $400 million debt. The Militant also has very mixed feelings on people trying to profit off someone's death. Come on now (though, admittedly, a $10 glitter glove was rather tempting).

Here's some video of the memorabilia vendor circus along Figueroa Street:



In contrast, there was also a humble street musician who played a simplified rendition of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" on his guitar and harmonica:




Then of course was the question of Who Was Gonna Pay For All This. The Militant certainly hopes that enough tourist revenue will be spent in this City to make up for the cost in this Budget-Cutting era (And if you are a tourist from outside Los Angeles reading this, please look at the Militant's Michael Jackson Los Angeles map and visit some of these sites, and spend your tourist dollars generously!).

All in all, the Militant was proud to witness another page of Los Angeles HIStory.

More pics:

Fox 11's Jane Yamamoto interviews Memorial attendees.

Media Circus at LA Live.

The camera's eye and hearts in the sky.

Viva El Rey de Musica Popular!

They just can't stop loving him.

Michael Jackson Memorial - The Militant WILL Be There!

The Militant woke up this morning and got the email.

No not that email. He already got the one that read:

Thank you for your registration.


Sorry, we regret to inform you that your registration to attend the Public Memorial Service for Michael Jackson was not selected.


Hundreds of thousands registered, but only a few can be in attendance.

No, this was a different email. One from an operative, who asked if the Militant wanted to go to the big Michael Jackson Memorial on Tuesday at Staples Center. "Of course!" The Militant replied. The operative, though, could not retrieve the tickets between the 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. pickup time at Dodger Stadium. So the operative forwarded the voucher (pictured left) to the Militant, who printed it out, and he volunteered to retrieve them at The Stadium.

Knowing it may or may not be a traffic snafu there, the Militant rode on his bike and was able to get in and out in a flash (if you saw a bike riding though the Dodger Stadium parking lot - it may or may not be the Militant himself)!

After riding in the main Sunset Gate where is voucher was scanned, he followed the auto traffic to a spot at Dodger Stadium Lot 3 near the Golden State Gate, where he ran into a section of the lot divided into several lanes by traffic cones. The first person he met asked to see his voucher and put a golden wristband on his arm. Yes, he has to wear this thing for the next 19 hours and use it to gain entry into the cordoned-off area surrounding Staples Center. A second wristband was handed over to him.

He was ready to leave, assuming they were the "tickets," when he decided to take more pictures of the goings-on. A few newsvans and police officers in cruisers and bikes (really, did there need to be that many?)were also in the house. Then he noticed staff handing out paper tickets and he wanted to know what was up.

Duh. So the Militant rode his bike to the end of the lane, where they took his voucher printout, tore it up, discarded it in a recycling bin and handed him a pair of purple tickets for the event.

Score! (Seat location and barcode pixelated out to maintain the Militant's anonymity in top picture)

As a long queue of cars waited to exit the Golden State Gate, the Militant rode on through on his bike, unencumbered. So long, suckas!

Now, the Militant knows what you're all thinking. "What's the deal with MJ, MA? It's soooo mainstream. Have you sold out?"

The Militant admits Michael Jackson is as far from the Militant as one can get (well, actually, not quite). He's never been to a Michael Jackson concert, never had a glitter glove, never had Michael Jackson posters in his room, never owned a red zipper jacket.

But the Militant, in his 30somethingness, can't deny MJ played a large role in his '80s music memories. He does own three unspecified Michael Jackson albums, two of them are on vinyl LP (You can pretty much take a wild guess at what one of them is). And the day the "Thriller" video came out, it was nonetheless a cultural event the day the Militant's dad came home from The Wherehouse and popped the tape into the old Betamax (The Militant certainly hopes no pictures of a 12 year-old Militant in a red zipper jacket ever surface).

But in the interest of Militancy, the Militant sees it this way: On Tuesday, July 7, 2009, the entire world's eyes will be focused on Los Angeles. At least for a few hours (again). we can lay claim to being the center of the world. In an age where collective consciousness is splintered into various niches, thanks to the Internet and specialized media, it's a rare sight to see such a major cultural event take place, the Militant will be there to witness it, and it's right here in our backyards.

The Militant will, of course, either be riding his bike or riding the (M)etro there. If you're going to the memorial at Staples Center Tuesday and don't, not only will you suck, but you're gonna make millions of other people's lives suck as well. The Militant can never suck!

The Militant will be Twittering (depending on signal quality) from Staples Center! Follow him at http://twitter.com/militantangleno!

A Silver Lake Kind of Day

The Militant ventured out on two wheels on a warm early Fall Saturday to nearby Silver Lake (remember, two words, not one...) where he discovered he had landed in the middle of a bevy of events for the community. A one-day only trial DASH shuttle bus service ran, free of charge, to test out a proposed Silver Lake DASH route and to provide intra-community transit to various events on a day the community dubbed, "Silver Lake Day." The circular bus route took riders to the groundbreaking ceremony of LAPL's new Silver Lake Branch Library on Glendale and Silver Lake boulevards, the Silver Lake Farmer's Market on Sunset and Griffith Park and two polling places for an election of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council - at Micheltorena St. Elementary School and Bellevue Recreation Center (of course, the fact that the actual vehicles used in the service were those vapid faux-"trolleys" irked the Militant, who staunchly believes that buses should look like buses and not made to "cross-dress" into cutesy wannbe trolleys -- which lack steel wheels that run on actual tracks and an electrical pickup trolley pole (which is what an actual "trolley" is named after), but since it was just for a day only, the Militant will let it slide).

The Militant, being a community-minded kinda dude, was curious as to this election and decided to drop by and check it out at the Bellevue site. A side room of the rec center was converted into a polling place (pictured right). From the looks of things, it was primarily longtime community folk who participated in the voting process and not the everyday Silverlake [sic] gentrohipster types usually seen roaming Sunset Junction and getting their Intelligentsia Coffee on. Of course, the hipsters probably think they're "too cool" to care about the neighborhood in anything beyond a superficial manner anyway, so no big loss there. The Militant cannot divulge whether or not he was a qualified stakeholder of the neighborhood council and participated in the election, but hypothetically speaking, if he indeed was, he would have no doubt casted his vote. Of course, like one of his trusted Silver Lake-based militant operatives, the Militant would only vote for candidates that would spell the community's name properly.

Saturday In The Parks

SIKE!

The Militant was able to check out the Beverly Union Park grand opening in Historic Filipinotown after all, as his accident injuries have healed faster than expected. Even still, as an extra precaution, an unspecified number of militia decoy operatives were deployed to "cover" the event so as to confuse and/or distract anyone present who might deduce who the Militant is.

But when the Militant arrived, the formerly idle plot of land was alive with families from the community present, children running around, playing on swings and jungle gyms, volunteers doling out free pizza, water and cookies and the sound of cumbia music throbbing from a P.A. system, under a sunny and warm - but not uncomfortably hot - late summer Saturday in Los Angeles. Nestled between a view of the looming Downtown Los Angeles skyline and a large Filipino history mural, Beverly Union Park suddenly became a crown jewel in the neighborhood, a place where not only kids can play but families can barbecue or have a picnic - places more well-to-do communities undoubtedly take for granted (especially in HOA-controlled communities, where the happiness of children is strictly prohibited for the sake of preserving property values).

The Militant chatted with a staff member from the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to build and run new city parks where the City of Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks could not.She told the Militant that the park was planned and designed by members of the community who offered their input. Furthermore, the park is also operated and maintained by members of the community, who also are paid for their work, further stimulating economic development in the neighborhood. The Militant also chatted with a Belmont High School teacher and one of the parents in the community and found out about their individual perspectives of and activities in their community.

Echoes of Shared Cultures

After briefly consulting via phone with one of his operatives, the Militant was informed that there was a cultural festival in nearby Echo Park. Because the Militant supports both parks and cultural events, he proceeded due north on Glendale Blvd.

Of course upon arrival the Militant surveyed the lotus bed and noticed that though there was new growth since July, it still was hardly 1/3 of its full capacity.

The festival was a Filipino regional fiesta held in honor of a patron saint, the American version of one held every September in the eastern Philippines. According to one of the people in the festival, the Echo Park version, celebrated by immigrants from that particular region of the country, has been an annual tradition for 36 years. Unlike the FPAC festival which the Militant went to last weekend, this one is largely attended and organized by older-generation immigrant Filipinos and their families to coincide with a feast day. But also unlike last weekend's festival, the food here was free! The Militant took out his wallet when a woman in a booth offered him a piece of cake and a can of iced tea. But the Militant learned that in such fiestas in the Philippines, total strangers are welcomed into people's homes and offered that sort of hospitality. Unfortunately, the Militant had learned from a festivalgoer that most of the food had already run out earlier in the day.

The Militant did discover a group of four Latinos roaming the festival site with much curiosity, no doubt already discovering the similarities of Filipinos to that of their culture. The Militant soon sat in on a conversation between two 50-something-aged men, one of them from the Philippines, the other from El Salvador. The latter was in the neighborhood as he and his wife visit her elderly parents, who live nearby, each weekend and the festival piqued their interest. The former has been attending the festival for the past 20-plus years with his wife and children, who were elsewhere in the park at the moment.

The two men had a conversation about their cultural similarities -- everything from their patron saint fiestas to their Catholic faith to the after-effects of Spanish colonialism to family traditions and the roles of the elderly, political corruption and the weakening economy in their respective countries. The Militant found this fascinating -- where the evil East Coast mainstream media emphasizes on cultural differences and tension between ethnic groups, the Militant, right before him sees two people engaging in an enlightening chat on their cultural similarities.

The Militant found this so refreshing and fascinating, he joined in on the conversation. It was quite a sight to see, with three people of different ethnicities -- Filipino, El Salvadoran and Unspecified -- sharing the experiences of their own cultures and each learning from them. Can't everyone else be like this everyday?

The two gentlemen asked each other their names. The El Salvadoran said his name was "José." The Filipino said his name was "Joe."

"We have the same name!" Joe exclaimed.

Throughout their conversation he held a rolled-up goldenrod-colored t-shirt of the fiesta event that was given to him by the organizers. Joe told José that he was more than welcome to come back next year -- on the third Saturday of September -- to his festival. José said that it was close to El Salvador's independence day, which was today, September 15. Then before he left, Joe gave José his fiesta t-shirt.

"I want you to have this, so you'll remember," said Joe.

Because this festival was borne from religious tradition, there was a Catholic Mass held in the tent where there were karaoke and dance entertainment earlier in the day. Already acclimated to Filipino hospitality, José and his wife decided to join the 150 or so people and one duck (pictured left) for the service, conducted in English.

The Militant rode home on his bike along Sunset, and even rode past the same site where just three days prior he took his spill. This time, there was no insect, and even if there were, the Militant would simply pull over and flick it off.

There are lessons to be learned every day in this city, both simple ones and difficult ones, in its parks and on its streets, but the one constant is that learning never ends.

A Park Grows in Hi-Fi

The Militant is all about more parks and open space for the people, especially as developers and the LAUSD are grabbing up every single open parcel of land we got (and just wait after the next big quake when lots of properties get condemned...).

So the Militant is pleased when one of his City-staffer operatives informed him of the grand opening this Saturday of Beverly Union Park in Historic Filipinotown, just a few blocks west of Belmont High School (no, not that Belmont) at 1644 W. Beverly Blvd, by Union Avenue.

The park, a project of Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust and Council President Eric Garcetti replaces an old community garden and is situated next to a large mural by artist Eliseo Art Silva depicting figures and events in Filipino American history. The park sports a children's jungle gym area, basketball courts and open space.

Saturday's park dedication will (in addition to the expected speeches by a multitude of civic officials who like to take credit for it), FREE FOOD, martial arts demonstrations, arts and crafts and Filipino and Latino entertainment. The festivities run from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

If you live nearby, whether you live in Silverlake, Historicfilipinotown, Picounion, Echopark or even Downtownlosangeles, please pay the park a visit for the Militant as he heals from his recent injury (getting a little better...),