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Shots fired in Echo Park this afternoon

Things look pretty peaceful right now at Echo Park Lake, but The Eastsider LA is reporting that shots were fired earlier this afternoon near Laguna and Echo Park Avenue, leaving one man injured:

An afternoon shooting near Echo Park Lake left one man injured in what one resident described a “Wild West” scene, police said.  The victim told police he was fired upon by suspects in a car  on Echo Park Avenue, said Sgt. Michael Mabie with the Rampart Division.  Details are still sketchy but the man – who was shot in the leg and was grazed in the back by another bullet – was able to drive himself or have a relative drive him to a nearby hospital, Mabie said.  No suspects were in custody and police were still interviewing residents.

A resident commented on the article, saying, “First thing I screamed as I went outside is anybody hurt? It has been over 15 years since I have heard so many shots. Thanks to all the neighbors on Laguna for the descriptions given to the police.”

There’s a LOT of tagging on along Laguna Avenue near Laveta Terrace, but the Eastsider article says it’s unclear the tagging is related.

Click here to read the full article.

UPDATE:
The Eastsider LA reported an update last night, saying the shooting does appear to be gang related and that the victim is believed to be a gang member.

If you have any information about the incident on Sunday, call the Rampart Division at (213) 484-3400.

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Flashback Fridays – Early 20th Century Echo Park Lake

Panoramic view of Echo Park, looking north toward Mount Hollywood, December 1911

We recently found some photos in the University of Southern California’s Digital Library of Echo Park in the very beginning of the 20th century.

We’ve posted some of the pictures here for your enjoyment. The photo above was accompanied by a lovely account of the beginnings Echo Park Lake written by Jose Rivera.

Initially, the area we now know as the park was a natural arroyo that filled with water from a spring-fed stream that originated at Baxter Street and flowed down what is now Echo Park Avenue. In 1868 the Los Angeles Canal and Reservoir Co. dammed the arroyo to make a reservoir that aided in powering a woolen mill at what is now 6th and Figueroa (then known as Pearl St.) and was to eventually serve local residents, walnut orchards and vineyards to the south along Alvarado. The immigrants that worked these orchards and vineyards settled here and began to build small homes along Sunset Boulevard, between Echo Park Avenue and Lemoyne Street.

In 1875, the woolen mill closed and the reservoir land (then known as the Montana Tract) was sold off. Eventually, Thomas J. Kelley and Dr. W. Lemoyne Wills purchased the land for a business venture. In 1888, Mr. Kelley and Dr. Wills donated the land to the city for the expressed purpose of creating a public park for the enjoyment of the people of Los Angeles.

The first Superintendent of Parks for the city was an English immigrant named Joseph Tomlinson who was assigned the task of creating the park. One day, while overseeing the work, Mr. Tomlinson thought he heard his workers talking during a break, but he knew they were across the park from him. The park had an echo! He knew what the name of the park would be! The park was dedicated and opened to the public in 1895. The famous bed of lotuses that grow in the lake at the northwest end of the park, the largest stand of lotuses outside Asia, is a mystery yet to be solved. One legend says that evangelical Chinese missionaries planted them for use as food, but no one knows the real story. They appeared some time in 1923 or 1924.

Click below to view more photos.

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Sunday: Mishka Lunch Truck day!

Another Mishka L.A. Lunch Truck day this weekend! Sunday, August 15, from 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm.

This is a great opportunity to check out the Mishka store and try those mobile food trucks you never seem to get to. Mandoline Grill (Vietnamese cuisine), Lomo Arigato (Japanese cuisine), Frysmith (fries ‘n things), and Coolhaus (ice cream sandwiches!) trucks will be parked outside Mishka.

Mishka L.A. is located at 1547 Echo Park Ave.

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Blue Collar in Echo Park helping families in need

Do you have a neighbor with dogs who just lost their job? Perhaps you’re familiar with a homeless person with dogs on your way to work? There are a lot of needy people who have pets that are also in need, and Blue Collar in Echo Park is here to help out those who are experiencing true financial hardship by providing a tw0-week supply of nutritious dog food.

They have a limited supply of food, so it’s a first come, first serve basis. They’ve been running the program for four months now, and do have people who are in need coming in for the food. There are no forms to fill out or proof of hardship needed, but the store wants you to know it wants to help those who truly need it, so if you know that your neighbor might need some help feeding their dog, this is the place to go!

Blue Collar also has a new round of basic obedience classes starting up on Sunday, August 15 at 3:00 pm. The course is six weeks and costs $150, all you need is $50 to hold your spot! To learn more about this course, click here.

BUT if you or someone you know has a dog with some SERIOUS behavioral problem and you can’t afford any training, talk to Blue Collar. They will help those in need to get a trainer to work with you for free, as long as you’re 100% committed to doing what the trainer advices.

Blue Collar is located at 1533 Echo Park Avenue.

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Machine Project Gives Plants a Vacation

Photo by Machine Project

I had the pleasure of visiting Plant Vacation at the Hammer a few weekends ago. Machine Project has been doing all sorts of wonderful things at the Hammer recently as part of the artist in residency program. This new adventure is a month long vacation for your houseplants. I bet a lot of these plants came from Echo Park. The plants are spending the month of August being cared for and entertained by volunteers and artists. You can join in on most of the fun by checking the schedule below. I was surprised by how many people actually brought their plants. We even witnessed plant triage on the museum stairs when one couple’s plant broke. The pot shattered but they created a makeshift home out of newspaper. It was a wonderful act of plant love. The plants look beautiful on the Linbrook terrace in the museum against a long wall of windows. If you find yourself in the UCLA area you should check it out. Thursdays are free! If you go on a Saturday be sure to stop by the coat room near the entrance, also one of the world’s smallest theaters known as the Little William Theater. The music wafts through the lobby and into the courtyard of the hammer. For such a little theater, the sound is amazingly large. These performances are also brought to us by the wonderful minds that orbit Machine Project.

Plant Vacation Schedule:
* Saturday July 31st 11am to 5pm: Drop off at the Hammer Museum and plant portrait photography
* Saturday August 7th 1-4pm: Musical performances, dramatic readings, and psychic plant healing
* Friday August 13th 11pm-Midnight Plant Pornography screening (no humans allowed, sorry)
* Saturday August 14th 1-4pm: Musical performances, poetry, and psychic plant healing
* Saturday August 21st 1-4pm: Musical performances, historical accounts of botanical exploration and psychic plant healing
* Saturday August 28th 11am to 6pm: Plant pick up at the Hammer Museum

The Hammer Museum is located at 10899 Wilshire Boulevard.

Here are the numbers for Machine Project this week:

1) Plants lucky enough to be on vacation at the Hammer Museum will receive their second straight week of poetry, music, and psychic healing. From 1-5pm the plants will enjoy tarot card readings by Kristina Faragher, poetry by Anthony McCann and Kirsty Singer, a performance by ing, and an artist talk from self-proclaimed plant pornographer Jonathon Keats, more info here.

2) The Little William Theater Festival of New Music continues with duo accordion performances by Daniel Corral and Isaac Schankler. Each piece is under two minutes in length and takes place in the Hammer Museum coat room, 1-4pm.

3) The gallery-sized Camera Obscura by j.frede is currently on view at Machine through August 18th. The camera is on view 4-7pm on Saturday and Sunday, 12-6pm weekdays, or by appointment (only during daylight hours) by contacting machine@machineproject.com.

4) Rachel Schmeidler will be offering a presentation on 3D Photography Sunday August 15th at 1pm. She’ll be showing examples of her work, and answering questions about 3D Photography.

5) Machine presents a hands on Pinhole Camera Workshop taught by j.frede in conjunction with his Camera Obscura installation. The workshop will cover the mechanics of pinhole camera construction, as well as developing positive prints. This will be offered on Sunday August 15th from 4-7pm. Space is limited, register for the class here.

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International Playground Opening Party Tonight!

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Mohawk General Store departed Echo Park for Sunset Junction recently. Luckily, their old digs won’t become another for lease tragedy of the economy. International Playground, Johnny Pizzolato and Virginia Craddock’s New York boutique, has moved in.

Welcome International Playground to the area this Thursday (tonight!) from 5pm to 9pm. Enjoy Bandit wine, Babycakes Bakery yummies and a 20% discount.

Mention Style Section LA to get 25% off through August 21st.

International Playground is located at 1102 Mohawk St.

Mohawk General Store lovers: visit the new shop at 4011 West Sunset Blvd.

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Last chance to donate to Spelling Bee for Cheaters

Spelling Bee for Cheaters, a fundraiser for 826LA’s many programs that help kids in Los Angeles get free tutoring (among other things), is just two days away! Last chance to get your donations in to help the teams out – the money raised helps each team order from a menu of cheats, helping them do better in the competition and helping 826LA raise more money!

We do have some Echo Park residents participating in the event: Ashley Atkinson, along with two other Echo Park residents, belong to the group called “Marmoset There’d Be Days Like This.” So far, the team has raised almost all of its needed funds, but still needs a little bit more. To donate, you donate to an individual on that team, so to help our Echo Park residents I suggest you donate to Ashley by clicking here. A little bit goes a long way, so $10 or $20 will help!

The spelling bee will take place on Saturday, August 14 from 2:00 to 6:00 pm at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica. This year, Spike Jonze, John Krasinski, Judd Apatow, Dianna Agron, and others are scheduled to appear.

Click here to buy tickets to the event (admission is $25.00 plus online fees).

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Learn about album production at Origami Vinyl

Ever wondered about how to make picture discs, custom vinyl or specialty record jackets? Plan on releasing a vinyl record soon? Origami Vinyl is offering up a FREE panel discussion on the basics of album production on Sunday, August 15 from 7:00-9:00 pm.

“Getting Your Record Made: A Step-by-Step Look at Album Production” is a panel discussion with Q and A led by Origami Vinyl owner Neil Schield. On the panel is: Christian Dwiggins (mixing and mastering engineer from Engine Rooms Studios), Pet Lyman (owner and chief mastering engineer from Infrasonic Sound Recording), Kevin Smith (owner of Bill Smith Custom Records), Jennifer Freund (owner and CEO Dorado Music Packaging), and Benjamin Heywood of Summer Darling.

Along with beer, the event will also include some special offers and discounts from panel speakers on their record production services.

You do have to RSVP no later than TODAY, August 12, by emailing RSVPOrigami@gmail.com

Origami Vinyl is located at 1816 W. Sunset Blvd.

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David Yow show Opening Reception at DIY Gallery

The DIY Gallery (which took over Bandit on Sunset Boulevard), is hosting a new show with an opening reception coming up on Saturday, August 14. The gallery will be presenting David Yow’s one-man exhibition of paintings, collage and digital drawings starting Saturday through September 11.

There’s been a lot of excitement revolving around this show. David Yow is not only a cool artist, he is the former frontman for Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid, and Qui. The show at DIY Gallery in Echo Park is his first solo art exhibit and will be presenting (we’ve heard he will be there for the opening) his new collection of work along with a limited edition of posters for sale benefiting Eagles of Death Metal bassist Brian O’Connor, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

According to the press release, the artwork in the show “are rooted in Yow’s personal and psychological history, and feature a broad spectrum of mediums. From acrylic, pencil, charcoal, crayon, hair, bugs, collage, and tar on wood, to line drawings digitally combined with photographic textures, Yow reveals an uncommon artistic perspective.”

In addition to the exhibit, the DIY back patio will host drinks and projections, along with musical performances to be determined.

Opening Reception: Saturday August 14, 2010 from 7:00 pm-11:00 pm.

The exhibition continues through September 11, with a special event TBA for closing night.

DIY Gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday 12:00pm-6:00pm and is located at 1549 West Sunset Boulevard

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Free For All Festival at Echoplex This Sunday

Free For All Festival

Sunday, August 15
4:00 pm – 12:00 midnight
Echoplex
All Ages
Free! (Donations accepted)

RSVP for priority entrance if there are lines.

Live performances by:
Akron/Family || Listen
Langhorne Slim || Listen
Active Child || Listen
Old Man Markley || Listen
Roadside Graves || Listen
Sean Hayes || Listen
Frank Fairfield
Bad Weather California || Listen
Dustbowl Revival || Listen
Hi Ho Silver Oh || Listen
The Smart Brothers
Don Juan Y Los Blancos
Dreamcatcher
Mouse Heaven

Food by Chef Brian’s Comfort Truck and Lake Street Creamery.

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New to the ‘Hood: Echo Park Life

I recently met a couple of the Echo Park residents behind the new blog/community organizers called Echo Park Life at the Echo Park Improvement Association pot luck last week. What started as a few neighbors concerned with the direction of development on the western side of Echo Park, it turned into a website revolved around getting residents organized and educated.

Residents in what is called the “Washington Heights Tract” around Sunset, Alvarado, Elsinore, Mohawk, and Waterloo are currently concentrating their concerns on two major developments taking place in their part of Echo Park: the El Camino restaurant taking over the old Ramona Theater, and the Sunset Flats residential complex at Sunset and Reservoir.

Sunset Flats is a 64-unit residential complex that, in its original proposed state, will be a five-story complex with no parking provided to its residents. Echo Park Life organizers are concerned with the parking problem, the potential eyesore, and the demolition of six turn-of-the-century homes, among other potential problems.

The El Camino restaurant in the old Ramona Theater (which we’ve written about before) will also be off-street parking for its 200-person seated establishment (with the exception of a rumored limited car valet option). Echo Park Life worry about the parking, the bar open until 2:00 am, and the wood-fired pizza oven burning below their bedroom windows.

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, August 7), the GEPENC Planning and Land Use Committee will meet to discuss, among other things, the Sunset Flats project (if any new information is available, it might be the developer submitting some new design plans that will reflect past concerns). Echo Park Life is calling for residents to join them at the meeting to “get involved and come to a meeting to learn about the community issues going on in Echo Park.”

Go to www.echoparklife.org if you are interested in joining the discussion, and follow them on Twitter.

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Lost and Found: Animals of Echo Park

We get quite a few lost animal notices from Echo Park residents, and we hope you find your pets! You can also post your lost pet info on our local community forums such as the Echo Elysian Neighborhood Council forum and the Echo Park Animal Alliance group forum.

Lost:
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Princess of Wales Parakeet: Lost on Lilac Place near Sunset, Dodger Stadium and Elysian Park on Saturday evening July 31, 2010.

Click here for the Craigslist post and contact info

Found:
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Found near Clinton and Bonnie Brae wandering in the street at 11:00 pm Monday night, August 9

Click here for the Craigslist post and contact info

Need Homes:

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Workshop on the Business of Music

Hey Echo Park musicians! Need a little help with the business side of music? Bedrock Studios is hosting a workshop that can help you make sense of it all. The workshop is being presented by Josh Sanderson of Black Sand Music (a music placement agency).

Film and TV Licensing Workshop
What you need to know to get your music placed in Film & TV

Sunday, August 22nd
1:00-4:00pm

What will be covered:
DIY Pitching, Music Libraries, Placement Agencies & Publishers
The pros and cons of each, Exclusive vs. Non-Exclusive, and negotiating a great deal
Writer, Publisher and Master Splits & Copyright Ownership
You’ve written, produced and recorded a song. Who deserves to own what?
Master & Sync and Deal Points
The “Two Sides” of music licensing, and making sense of all the paperwork
License Fees vs. Performance Royalties
How are they different and how much should I expect to get paid?

The cost:
Save on course fees by registering by Sunday, August 15
Single: $99 (Save $50.00)
2-for-1: $149 (Save $75.00 each)
Three: $195 (Save $84.00 each)
Four+: $59 each (Save $90.00 each)
After August 15th all tickets are $149 each. Purchase with pay pal prior to event.

Click here to sign up.

Bedrock Studios is located at 1623 Allesandro St.
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Echo Park Cleanup at the Triangle

On Saturday, August 7, Echo Park TAP ( Trash Abatement Project) and the Los Angeles Conservation Corp/Clean and Green cleaned up the “triangle” island on the corner of Montana and Glendale/Lake Shore. The 28 volunteers cleared up 65 trash bags, approximately 1,760 pounds of trash, keeping trash from entering storm drains that discharge into Echo Park Lake. The difference is incredible!

Some time in the future, this small area might just be developed. Word is developers are going to be building a restaurant structure, but no proposals for design have been submitted. We are hoping for a building that fits in well with the traditional Echo Park landscape!

Twitpic photo via josesigala

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REWIND – The Recycled Electronics Store

REWIND: The Recycled Electronics Store is literally a Mom and Pop operation. When I walked in, Jen (The Mom) was playing with her two-year-old daughter while her baby slept in the back. Her husband, Oscar (The Pop), was away searching for treasures to bring into their inventory.

For several years, Jen and Oscar Carpinteyro have been salvaging items from estate and yard sales in Orange and Riverside counties. When they lived in Temecula, friends and neighbors would give them their used furniture, appliances and electronics when they moved away. At some point, they decided to start collecting solely electronics. Oscar’s dad would then fix whatever needed fixing, and Oscar would sell the stuff on Ebay. They moved to Los Angeles a couple of years ago, and purchased their current space on Alvarado a few months ago at Oscar’s suggestion.

Their small but lovely space at 1041 North Alvarado Street is stuffed with vintage and newer stereos, speakers, receivers, amps, radios, guitars, pretty much anything you can plug in. And what’s in the store is just a small part of their inventory. It’s one of those places where, if you don’t see it in the store, just ask them if they have it, and they’ll see what they can rustle up for you. They get the hook up from estate sales and get first pick of certain items before the general public. They will also fix your stuff for you, and they do FREE estimates!

They’ll be hosting a grand opening party (featuring Jen’s mom’s taquitos!) in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can visit them at the store or find them online on their website, their blog, or on Facebook.

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