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Park Advisory Board meeting tonight canceled

The Park Advisory Board meeting for tonight has been canceled, a new date has not yet been set for the meeting. There are some new things going on with PAC, however, including new director! Dan Hammett took over recently, and we look forward to meeting him at the next meeting!

Some other news coming up:

Heal the Bay at the Echo Park Farmers Market

Friday, July 30 from 3:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Heal the Bay will have a booth at the Farmers Market to share information on:

  • Marine Protected Areas
  • Banning of Plastic Shopping Bags
  • Gulf Oil Spill

California Coastal Clean Up Day in Inland Echo Park

Saturday, September 25, 2010 from 8:30 am – 12:30 pm
751 Park Avenue at Park Avenue and Lemoyne
The  community is invited to join this clean up extravaganza. 80% of trash found on beaches comes from an inland source. Echo Park is one of 80 sites organized by Heal The Bay. Site Co-Captains in Echo Park are Central City Action Committee and Echo Park TAP (Trash Abatement Project).

To register: Call Central City Action Committee at (213) 241-0908, or Heal the Bay at 800-HEAL BAY or www.healthebay.org/CCD

There will be more events coming up in August and September, stay tuned for more info on Echo Park Now!

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Fretted Frog’s First In-Store Concert

Fretted Frog recently opened its doors, and on Friday, July 30, the store is having its first FREE in-store concert. Here’s the lineup:

Walter Spencer (Folk/Americana/Roots)
Haroula Rose (songwriter/Indie/Folk) with Aaron Robinson on guitar

  1. Friday, July 30 from 6 – 8:00 pm

Sometime in the future, Fretted Frog also expects to also host open mic nights and guitar clinics, check the website for those events.

Fretted Frog is located at 1200 N. Alvarado St.

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826LA’s Spelling Bee for Cheaters

The event is still almost three weeks away, but fundraising and pledging has already been going on for several weeks in preparation of 826LA’s Spelling Bee for Cheaters. Here’s how it works:

  1. Sign up in teams of two or more. It’s free and anyone can join!
  2. Raise money for your team.
  3. On Saturday, August 14 each team sends one member to represent them at the spelling bee. You can use the funds you’ve raised to order from a menu of cheats. The more money you raise, the more you can cheat!

All the money raised will go towards 826LA’s free writing and tutoring programs for kids.

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. Will YOU be there to out-spell and out-cheat the competition?

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July Library Programs and Fun

Now that it’s really feeling like summer out there, give your AC a break and cool down at the library for a change! Both the Echo Park and Edendale Libraries have some FREE special programs for kids, teens, and even some for adults all summer long. It might be nearing the end of the month, but there are a ton of things going on, so here are the remaining events for the month of July:

For Kids

  • Knight Time Reading: Every Wednesday at the Echo Park Branch from 3 – 4:00 pm. Stories of dragons and other magical creatures. Create a fire-breathing dragon to take home.
  • LA Kings Hockey Mascot Storytime: Wednesday, July 28 at the Echo Park Library from 3 – 4:00 pm.
  • The Reptile Family: Animals to see and touch at the Edendale Library on Thursday, July 29 at 2:30 pm.

Other great activities:

  • Family Playtime at Echo Park Branch: Mondays from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
  • Infant & Toddler Storytime: Tuesdays at Edendale from 10-10:45 am
  • Bilingual Baby & Toddler Storytime at Echo Park Branch: Tuesdays from noon – 1:00 pm
  • Making Books Fun at Edendale: Every Tuesday at 2:30 pm
  • Stories & Crafts: Thursdays at Edendale from 2:30-3:30 pm
  • Book Buddies at Echo Park Branch: Thursdays from 3 – 5:00 pm

Read more

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Sunday: “LAB” at Fix Coffee it Echo Park

It’s that time again! Fix Coffee in Echo Park is hosting another Local Artisan Bazaar (LAB) tomorrow (Sunday, July 25).

Local artisans and crafters will be selling their wares, sidewalk chalk artists will be coloring up the area, and band African Cowboy will be playing starting at 4:00 pm. Bring your families, friends, and even dogs are welcome. For the kids, they have sidewalk chalk and a face painter.

The monthly bazaar is free, goes from 2:00 – 8:00 pm.

For more information, please contact Veronica Hunt at screamingchica@mac.com

Fix Coffee is located at 2100 Echo Park Ave (at Baxter).

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Super Summer Explorer starts at Vista Hermosa Park

In addition to holding Family Campfire nights, the The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority have teamed up again for the Super Summer Explorer – to be held every Thursday at 4:00 pm at Vista Hermosa Park. The Explorers will meet at the Grotto Amphitheater, and will last 1.5 hours.

Start collecting your merits for the Super Summer Explorer. Each week we will perform scientific experiments, explore natural phenomena, or investigate more about our park and its inhabitants. Collect 6 merit stickers in your passport by the end of summer and earn your Super Summer Explorer certificate.

All programs offered are free of charge!

For information contact Judy Perez Soto at (213) 250-1100 and judy.perezsoto@mrca.ca.gov

Vista Hermosa Park is located at 100 N. Toluca Street (near Glendale and Beverly Blvd.)

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Echo Park’s Week in Music

For the week of Tuesday, July 20 through Sunday, July 25.

Tuesday, July 20
Grand Archives, S, Kaiser Cartel @ Echo
Poison Control Center, One Trick Pony, The Faraway Places @ Echo Curio

Wednesday, July 21
Dub Club with Echodelic Soundsystem, Mcpullish, El Tambor, Jah Faith, Ron Miller @ Echoplex and Echo
The Tough Cats, Crooked Paw, The Sundowners, 100% Good Time Solution Band @ Echo Curio
LA Record 100 presents: Whoa Hunx, Cowabunga Babes @ Origami Vinyl

Thursday, July 22
Barrio Tiger, Neighborhood Bullys, Stab City @ Echo
Down And Derby Roller Disco @ Echoplex
Upsilon Acrux, Voice On Tape, Megasquid @ Echo Curio

Friday, July 23
Club Underground Presents Jared Dreams of Far Out Things, John Carpenter, Kisses (DJ Set) @ Echo
Tan Dollar, Weed Diamond, Dash Jacket, Slow Animals @ Echo Curio
Standing Shadows @ Origami Vinyl
Papermade Records Presents: Canyons, Bear Flag Republic, Black Elephant, Ostrich Eyes @ Pehrspace
Rock ‘n’ Roll with Dan Daniels and the Southern Gents @ Tribal Café

Saturday, July 24
Wild Records – A Night of 1950s-style Punk with Luis & The Wildfires, Omar & The Stringpoppers, Don Juan y Los Blancos, The Desperados, The Rhythm Shakers, Santos & More @ Echoplex
Heather Woodbury’s “As The Globe Warms”, followed by the official closing party for “Geography of Somewhere” with movie screenings and surprise guest @ Echo Curio
Funky Sole @ Echo
James Apollo @ Origami Vinyl
Signal Hill, Silian Rail, Death House Chaplain @ Pehrspace
The Omegans, The Graven @ Tribal Café

Sunday, July 25
The Spits, No Bunny, Audacity @ Echo
Part Time Punks – Smiths/Morrissey Nite @ Echo
Father Figures, Phil Musra, Manhattan Murder Mystery @ Echo Curio
Slow Animal @ Origami Vinyl
Los Angeles Loves…A Summer Soiree, Elle King, Ema and the Ghosts, Miniature Houses, I Hate You Just Kidding @ Pehrspace
Michael Whitmore, Gus & Friends, Ray Charles Manson, Surveyor, Paper Rainbow and more @ Tribal Café

For more information on weekly musical events like club nights, see our community resource pages.Visit the venue website for more information on the cost and times of shows. Venue information can be found in our community resource pages.

This list may not represent all the musical events happening in Echo Park this week – feel free to add more events in the comment section. All events listed are subject to change at any time. New events announced for the week after this posting may not be included.

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Echo Park Time Bank Fundraiser at 1642 Bar

1642 Beer and Wine Bar is hosting an Echo Time Bank Fundraiser on Saturday, July 17 from 8:00 pm – 12:00 midnight.

Special musical guests include: Karen Ramos, Les Shelleys and Angela Correa.

They will hold a raffle at 10:00 pm with prizes from Skylight Books, Fix Coffee, Masa and more!

$5 suggested donation.

1642 is located at 1642 West Temple St.

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LA Flea Market: Grand Opening at Dodger Stadium

LA Flea Marketing Rendering

As we wrote about last May, the LA Flea Market will debut this weekend, on Sunday, July 18 in the Dodger Stadium parking lot, and will take place every third Sunday of the month when there’s not a home Dodger game.

This Sunday is the grand opening and will feature radio personality Rick Dees, who will be holding a Hollywood Yard Sale to benefit the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center. He will be auctioning off celebrity items, one auction at 10:00 am and another at 1:00 pm. Throughout the day, you can expect approximately 400 vendors including live bands, food trucks, and sellers with items like vintage goods, antiques and collectibles, sustainable goods, and other new merchandise.

The LA Times published on Tuesday an interview with organizer Phillip Dane, some notable mentions from the interview include:

  • Food and music: The goal is to have a more upscale version of the Rose Bowl Flea Market by offering some extra amenities to the mix. “Bands aren’t just meant to be background music. Our food court will be unsurpassed with 18 of the most tweeted gourmet food trucks,” he told the LA Times. Committed food truck participants include: Ahn-Joo, Cool Haus, Fishlips, Slice Truck, The Munchie Machine, Mandoline Grill, India Jones, Border Grill, Tropical Shave Ice, Del’s Lemonade, Canter’s Deli, Fresh Fries, Willoughby Road, Komodo, Dosa Truck, Crepe’n Around, Gourmet Genie. See below for the band schedule.
  • Arts and crafts will have a presence: “Quite a few vendors came to us through Etsy. They will have a team block of eight spaces with 22 members.”
  • Homeboy Industries will staff the event: “I put together an application for Homeboys on our website, and we had 50 applications in one day. All I did was ask for their name, phone number and for them to tell us about themselves. Some of the stories were so moving. People wrote, ‘I’ve been out of prison but no one will hire me because I have a record or too many tattoos.’ We went down there last Wednesday for interviews and it was fantastic. These are men and women who really want to work. We are going to hire around 40 people to start. They’ll be trained in the logistics of the event, handle parking, directions and greeting the vendors when they arrive early in the morning. I’m also donating booth space to them so they can exhibit their artworks. There will be a whole Homeboy section where they can sell their merchandise and help keep Homeboy going.”

General Information:

Read more

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Urban Hikes: Discover Echo Park to Poetry

Get your tickets now for Urban Hikes: Forgotten L.A. with Mike the Poet and explore unexplored cultural and architectural parts of Los Angeles, along with walking poem performances by Mike the Poet.

Echo Park: Sunday, July 18 at 11:00 am
First 10 hikers to purchase a ticket will receive a free copy of The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse. Hikes last an hour and a half.
Three-Tour Package | General Ticket | Student Ticket | A+D Members FREE

MacArthur Park: Sunday, August 1 at 11:00 am
Featuring: A tour of the MacArthur Park Bandshell, hosted by the Levitt Pavillion and an inside peek at the Park Plaza Hotel. Hikes last an hour and a half.
General Ticket | Student Ticket | A+D Member FREE

LA River, Confluence Park: Sunday, August 8 at 11:00 am
Special Guest: Mia Lehrer, Landscape Architect for the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan. Hikes last an hour and a half.
General Ticket | Student Ticket | A+D Member FREE

Tickets are $30 for the three-tour package, and $15 general price per tour general price per tour ($5 for students). Architecture and Design members are FREE (email info@aplusd.org to RSVP). They request you purchase tickets by the Friday before each hikes.

Here’s the full info from the event organizers:

Los Angeles poet and native Mike Sonksen, aka ‘Mike The Poet’, performs his poems live and loud while providing a cultural, historical, and architectural tour exploring the forgotten and hidden gems in our City of Angels.

Mike is widely acclaimed for his live performances, contributions to international publications and legendary city tours with A+D Museum, Red Line and The Museum of Neon Art. Poet, journalist, historian, tour guide, and teacher, Mike is published in Citybeat, O.C. Weekly, New Angeles, L.A. Weekly & many others. A third generation L.A. native, Mike graduated from UCLA in 1997. His book I AM ALIVE IN LOS ANGELES! has been added to the curriculum of several universities and receives rave reviews.

Email the event organizers with questions at info@aplusd.org or call 323.932.9393

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Lotus Festival 2010 is this weekend

Flickr Photo via citta-vita

While the Lotus Festival isn’t going to coincide with the blooming of the Lotus flowers in Echo Park Lake this year,  have to admit we are a little excited about its return this weekend. In 2009, the Lotus Festival was canceled due to budgetary cuts, and instead turned into the first Echo Park Community Festival. This year marks the 32nd celebration of the Festival, and is sponsored by L.A. Lotus Festival, Inc. and the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

For those of you who have never been to a Lotus Festival and are new to the area, it’s basically a medium-sized fair around the Lake with vendors selling clothing, jewelry, and other knick-knacks, along with a variety of festival-style food. There’s also a stage where entertainment takes place – we’ve seen some impressive taiko-style drumming, traditional dancing, and other great music.

All this is designed to promote an “atmosphere of understanding in which Asian and Pacific Islander communities in Southern California are brought together for two days of cultural sharing.”

Also in past years, there used to be a Dragon Boat race, where teams applied and paid to race each other in the lake. It seems due to some cutbacks, the races are canceled this year. From the Lotus Festival Dragon Boat Races website:

After much discussion and deliberation, HAP, Inc. has made this difficult decision to cancel the races. Since, we are a not-for profit organization, our primary goal is to provide scholarships to graduating high school students to further their higher education aspirations. Due to unforeseen complications and in the best interest for those most in need of our scholarships, this year races have been canceled.

Read more

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SurveyLA and the History of Barlow Respiratory Hospital

Barlow Hospital in 1910

This Thursday, June 24 at 7:00 pm, SurveyLA and the Los Angeles City Historical Society are teaming up to raise awareness of their mission and to give a talk on the history of Barlow Respiratory Hospital.

Funded by a grant from the J. Paul Getty Trust, SurveyLA’s goal is to more thoroughly identify and document Los Angeles’ historic landmarks. At the end of its six-year survey (the second year of research includes Echo Park), the organization will present its findings to the city, homeowners, preservation groups and neighborhood groups so that both developers and property owners are not “surprised or exasperated by eleventh-hour preservation efforts.”

On Thursday, Flora Chou from the Los Angeles Conservancy will be giving a brief talk on the history of Barlow before Janet Hansen discusses the SurveyLA project (“what it is, where it’s happening and how all of us can contribute“).

The talk will be at Williams Hall at Barlow Respiratory Hospital (2000 Stadium Way) at 7:00 pm. Parking is free. Light refreshments will be served.

Click here to download the flyer.

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Roller Derby this Saturday: L.A. vs AZ

You think there’s gonna be a protest against Arizona’s new immigration law?

This Saturday, June 12, the Los Angeles Aftershockers face off against the Arizona Derby Dames at 1910 W. Temple St. Cost of admission is $17.00 online and $20.00 at the door. They suggest that you purchase your tickets online as they “WILL SELL OUT.” Doors open at 6:00 pm. Cash only at the door. Event is 21+. Parking is $8 at the Silverlake Medical Center.

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Echo Park Film Center Screenings and Workshops

Thursday, June 10 @ 8:00 pm – SAN FRANCISCO’S EXQUISITE CORPSE & INTIMATE OBSERVATIONS
Super 8 films from San Francisco! Intimate Observations is a collection of moving collages, left-field narrative and cinema vérité committed to the confines of small gauge celluloid. Filmmakers include Phoebe Tooke, Christian Bruno & Natalija Vekic, Paul Clipson, Daniel Gorrell, Jim Granato, Miles Montalbano, Douglas Schultz and “King of Super 8” Danny Plotnick. The second half of the show will feature Exquisite Corpse films. Each of these films was created using a 3 minute cartridge of Kodachrome super 8 film and was assigned a topic chosen by the group, with six 30 second opportunities to describe the subject. The filmmakers edited their contributions ‘in camera’ and the films are presented as they w ere shot. Live music by Don Black of GHIANT and Eric McCann of the New Amsterdams will be featured to score the 2nd half of the show (Exquisite Corpse).

Saturday, June 12 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm – SENIORS DIGITAL DROP IN CLASS
EPFC invites neighborhood seniors to join us for our FREE Introduction to Digital Filmmaking Drop-In Classes. Learn how to use digital cameras and basic computer editing software to make your own movie in a relaxed and informal setting. All materials and equipment are provided by EPFC. No previous filmmaking experience necessary.

Saturday, June 12 @ 8:00 pm – ARMCHAIR ADVENTURES III: AN EPFC ANALOG ANNEX EVENT
Another evening of bizarre, surreal, and wonderful animation from around the globe presented by John Cannizzaro and Cosmo Segurson. This evening’s screening will feature work by local animators including Colin Barton, Norwood Cheek, Nancy Jean Tucker, and co-presenters Segurson and Cannizzaro; as well as rare, 16mm classic animated films including THE HAND (Jiri Trnka 1965), CANON (Norman McLaren 1964), SCIENCE FRICTION (Stan Vanderbeek 1959); as well as LIVE MUSIC and refreshments. EVENT IS AT THE NEW EPFC ANALOG ANNEX… CALL OR EMAIL FOR DIRECTIONS!

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Woodsist Festival

Tuesday, June 15th

Echoplex

6pm

$10 advance, $12 day of show

18+

Real Estate
Woods
Kurt Vile
Abe Vigoda
Art Museums
The Mantles
Nodzzz
Sun Araw
All Saints Day (Katy from Vivian Girls + Greg from Cat Power)
The Baths

Buy tickets here.

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