The Best 2012 Dia de los Muertos Guide, Los Angeles

Sheezz Louise! They did it again. Erick Huerta writing for L.A. Taco has come up with another fantastic list of the Dia de Los Muertos/Day of the Dead things to do in the Los Angeles area. If you want to celebrate the holiday, there is bound to be something on the list that suits your taste.

Many of the notable eastside musical acts will be playing the area at the events including Ozomalti, Upground, Las Cafeteras, Queztal, Quinto Sol, La Santa Cecilia, Very Be Careful, and El Vez as the MC for the event in Grand Park

So without furthu ado, click the link below to open up the possibilites….

THE BEST 2012 DIA DE LOS MUERTOS GUIDE TO EVENTS HAPPENING IN LOS ANGELES AND BEYOND!

 Ready for some FUN? Bands from all over the world are going to converge in Echo Park on October 3 -6, 2012, and play their hearts out at Filter Magazine‘s Culture Collide. This local festival  is a great way to discover new music and catch a listen to the sound of our collective heart beat. For 20 bucks, you get a wristband that grants you access to all the fun, exploration,  and international camaraderie.

The festivities begin on Wednesday, October 3 with the Kick Off Party featuring DJs at Taix on Sunset for an eclectic night of music. The DJ’s include members of Montreal, School of Seven Bells, Penguin Prison (live DJ set with vocals), and others.

You can see the bands play on the big stage at S.O.TERIK’s Sunday Block Party, or catch many of them in  intimate local venues during the week. The festival also has a Comedy Collide portion in partnership with the UCB Theater.

Where are these bands coming from, you ask? They are flying in from Brazil, Canada, Peru, United Kingdom, Hungary, Mexico, Thailand, Estonia, France,  and about 15 other far out lands. Some of the bands are big stars in their home countries, but relatively unknown to us in the US.

Below is a map of the venues and the bands playing each day. Visit CultureCollide.com for more information.

The picture above is not from a funky race in a bike-centric city like Salem, Oregon. No, this is a friendly bike ride in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles.

The concept for CicLAvia is simple –  10 miles of Los Angeles City streets are closed to cars for the day. Bring a bike, scooter, skates, wagon, or just your feet and take part in the pedestrian party. The picture above shows some of the over 100,000 people who thought that this sounded like a good idea. CicLAvia is a new way to experience Los Angeles.  You roll down the beautiful Los Angeles streets, avenues and boulevards that thought they were made for cars, but find they work even better for bikes, skates, and runners.

If you haven’t experienced it, picture this — you are surrounded by your neighbors. They are smiling and they whoop and holler often throughout the route. There are trikes and  lowrider bikes, skaters and joggers, rugged unicyclers and jump ropers, dog-driven bikes and pedal-powered bars, camera men and super heroes (pic 1, 2, and 3). They are all next to you, enjoying the sweet California day. Everybody is pleasant and ready to help if something goes wrong.

It is true that when they are in their monstrous metal machines, they are the same people that cut you off on the freeway or honk angrily at you when you are waiting for that parking space — but not today. Today, they are here to enjoy your communal company and to offer you oranges. You overhear time and time again, “Isn’t this great? Los Angeles needs to do this more often!” Sometimes that sentiment is coming from your lips.

Once you experience CicLAvia you will never forget it. This is the Los Angeles of dreams — the mixing pot where 100,000 Angelinos from every background imaginable ride together as one.

On this beautiful April day, not one arrest is made — people were too intent on enjoying their day.

It works. Los Angeles, the experiment, works. This is why people flock here from all over the world.

And the flock has bikes. Who knew?

~~~~~~~~~~~
Below is the collection of  best CicLAvia photographs we took on 041512…and don’t ask us what that couple is doing on the ground.

Want to use a photo? Contact us at info(at)EastsideScene.com.

We are overjoyed that Quetzal is back! Not only are they back playing in the local area, but Quetzal has a strong new album that will keep your toes a tappin’ and your mind a thinkin’. Quetzal’s  latest album, Imaginaries, was be released on February 28th, 2012. This album blends the Veracruz traditional sounds of son jarocho with modern rock and R&B sounds to create a fusion that is very Los Angeles and features tracks in both English and Spanish.

Javier Hernandez, the independent comic book creator known for creating EL MUERTO, the Aztec Zombie, will be releasing his newest comic, THE COMA, at GEEKS Comics in Whittier on Saturday, November 19, 2011.

Hernandez’s latest comic is THE COMA, which is about…nope, can’t tell you yet. You will get all that info below in the interview we did with Hernandez. Not only does he talk about The COMA, COMA CON, and COMA CAKE, but he also talks about his interest in comics, the movie that was made about El Muerto starring Wilmer Valderrama (El Muerto DVD link), and shares his advice for people wanting to break into the comics-writing world.

- Interview with Javier Hernandez -

What what were the first comics you remember reading?
My older brother Albert gave me stacks of his comics, which include late 60s/early 70s runs of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, FANTASTIC FOUR, DAREDEVIL, INCREDIBLE HULK, BATMAN, etc. A great sampling of classic Marvel and DC comics.

Who are your main artistic influences?

From comic books it’s artists such as Jack Kirby, Ross Andru, Go Nagai and Steve Ditko. From across the various mediums I’d list Jose Guadalupe Posada, Edvard Munch, Ed Wood, Dr. Suess, Clint Eastwood, Bill Bixby, Peter Sellers, Mil Mascaras, Ennio Morricone, The Smiths, The Beatles and on and on. As an artist, I can’t help but look at other works and learn and be inspired.

When did you make the first comic strip that you were proud enough to show off and what was it?
I made some back in elementary school. It was only a couple of pages, but it featured Spider-Man fighting some of his major villians (some of it was quite gory, too!).

What cool things happened with the publication of your last comic?
Back in May, I debuted WEAPON TEX-MEX VS EL MUERTO at the first-ever Latino Comics Expo (which I co-founded with Ricardo Padilla). It was great getting responses from people later on how much they enjoyed the story. And some artist friends I admire complimented me on the storytelling in the book, which is something I always try to approach with a fresh, innovative eye.

What is it like to have your comic turned into a movie?
Well, it was a true once-in-a-lifetime experience (but I’d do it again!). A month or two ago I saw a photo online of a teenage Polish girl wearing El Muerto face-paint! She was a fan of the movie (as we had a DVD release over there) and I wrote her a quick note to thank her for being a fan. She responded with a ‘OMG!’. I thought that was pretty cool.

It’s nice to see things like that come up every now and then. I always realized that once the movie had it’s release on DVD, eventually it would just end up in that great whirlpool of non-stop entertainment that plays on all over the world.

Tell me about this new comic, The Coma.
It’s about a guy, Damian Arkadian, who’s plunged into a coma after an encounter with an ancient demonic evil. Damian awakens in his mind, and discovers that he must prevent that demon from invading and conquering our universal, collective unconscious mind. I wanted to create a character that dealt with surrealism in a way that involved the dream world and the subconscious thoughts we all have and share. Ultimately, our bad thoughts are our worst enemy, so I spun a tale out of that involving an ancient evil, an elder tribe of space gods and The Coma.

Why did you choose to have this release party at this shop in Whittier?
I’ve had a great relationship with GEEKS, our local comic shop in Whittier, for a few years now. So it seemed like a natural to have a release party at my ‘home base’. It’s a great store, with a very spacious, welcoming environment to it. And they’re great supporters of independent comic creators like myself.

What should we expect at your release party?
Well, I’ll not only have THE COMA available, but also a companion art book called THE ART OF THE COMA. I’m finishing up a special full color print for the event as well. And I’ll even be selling original comic book pages, among other collectibles like buttons and such.There will be light snacks and refreshments, and I’m badgering my sister to make me a Coma cake. Also, LA poet Christopher Luke Trevilla will be debuting the first-ever public recital of his poem…’The Coma’!

Uptown Whittier has some great shops, plenty of restaurants and even a movie theater, so I invite your readers to visit us in Whittier, just East of the Eastside!

Lastly, for the kid that is constantly doodling in his notebook with dreams of one day sharing his scribblings with the world, what would you tell him? How does one start on the road towards comic success?
Well, they could take my comic book workshops which I teach at Pico Park in Pico Rivera! Or, they can continue to develop their drawing abilities. And more importantly, be creative and daring in their storytelling skills, because that’s what really defines one as a comic book creator, in my opinion. Tell compelling stories with imaginative characters, and stand strong in your belief that you’re doing exactly what you were meant to do.

_______

GEEKS is located at 6747 Greenleaf Ave, Suite A in Whittier, CA 90601

Learn more about Javier Hernandez at his blog, Javzilla.com

There will be an interesting talk at  Los Angeles County Museum of Art ‘s Bing Theater this weekend. Sandra de la Loza, Louie Perez of Los Lobos and Tomas Carrasco of the Chicano Secret Service comedy group will be discussing the influence of Chicanos and countercultural production in the Art Scene.

This will be a free talk. No reservations necessary.

LACMA is located at:
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90036
tel 323 857-6000
publicinfo@lacma.org

Dia de Los Muertos 2011

Have you made plans for Dia de los Muertos? This is a fun, yet reverent Mexican holiday that dates back hundreds of years. On this day, a National holiday in Mexico, people remember loved ones that have passed. Like Halloween, it is celebrated with costumes and candy. You will see many people who have painted their faces like a fanciful skulls. At many of the events, they will sell skulls made of sugar that you may decorate and eat.

Need some suggestions on where to go? Then, check out LA Taco’s incredibly comprehensive list of events in the LA area at http://www.lataco.com/taco/2011-dia-muertos-day-dead-los-angeles. As this is LA, there are some interesting offshoots from the traditional celebrations.

Among the highlights of the 30+ events listed on LA Taco’s guide are:

• Carnaval De Los Muertos in South Gate
• The LOS ABANDONED Reunion
• Mercado La Paloma’s 10th Annual Event
• MUERTOMANIA!
• MorrisseyOke™ @ Eastside Luv

It seems to get better each year.

** This was a post from a while back. Latino bloggers used to get together to hang out in the downtown Los Angeles area. Let me know if you are interested in having the bloggeros get together again at bloggeros(at)EastsideScene.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the past, the Latino/a Bloggers have met mostly at cafes and restaurants. This time we will shake it up a little and meet at the Far Bar in Little Tokyo. The Far Bar is a great place to kick back outdoors in a semi-enclosed area (bring a sweater) with good prices on drinks and a great atmosphere.

The Far Bar at Chop Suey Cafe is located at 347 E. First Street in Little Tokyo.

As the Far Bar closes at midnight, we will have plenty of time to discuss what ever come up.

Question of the night: Do any of you use Twitter? Eastside Scene recently signed up for an account.

If you are a blogger that cares about Latino/a American Experience then please come join the fun. No agenda. No pressure. No RSVP necessary.

See you there!

*

Today’s 5.4 magnitude earthquake that struck at 11:42 am in Los Angeles did not cause too much damage around the southland, although it was strong enough to shake loose some bricks from a downtown building. No one was reported to be injured by the flying bricks.

*