The Eastsider LA gets a nod from the LA Weekly & fans

LA Weekly’s Web Awards were published yesterday – celebrating the best of Los Angeles’ Twitterers, Flickr pools, business websites, activists websites and everything in between. Echo Park’s own community website, The Eastsider LA, picked up an award for the Best Neighborhood Blog! Here’s what the LA Weekly had to say:

“The Eastsider LA” were the first words out of pretty much everyone’s mouth when we mentioned this category. Jesus Sanchez covers the northeast corner of Los Angeles like only someone born in Boyle Heights could. His take on news and events in Echo Park and beyond give one of the city’s most bustling areas a decidedly small-town feel.

Congratulations to Jesus, and the entire team!

June 10, 2011/2 Comments/by Kelly

Announcements, Art & Music, Nightlife

Saturday: The Classroom LA grand opening party

We are very excited for the grand opening for The Classroom LA – a recreational class space created by Echo Park resident and uber entrepreneur Justin Warwick. Also a friend of ours, Justin is the man behind Warwick Vintage store, which used to be along Sunset Blvd., and now The Warehouse – a large vintage and DIY space filled with tons of treasures. If you haven’t checked it out – now’s your chance!

The Classroom offers inexpensive (only $25 each) classes from jewelry making and sewing to terrarium building. They also host private events should you want to take a private class as a group.

Gift certificates for both the store and the classroom are available for $35 – they include a unique and really cute terrarium. We got a peak at these last Saturday at the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park annual banquet, where two of them were donated and raffled off – they were pretty awesome!

The Classroom LA grand opening party takes place tomorrow, June 11 from 4-11:00 pm at the Warehouse, located at 1197 W. Sunset Blvd.

Please contact us (213) 482-4089 or info@theclassroomla.com for more information.

See you there!

June 10, 2011/2 Comments/by Kelly

History, Lifestyle

Zooming in on Echo Park: Early 1900s Los Angeles maps

Automobile Club of Southern California

It’s always interesting to find some historical pieces of Los Angeles on the big Internet, this one comes from Big Map Blog. It’s a 1915 road map of the entire Southern California area, commissioned by the Automobile Club of Southern California. And it’s a pretty big map – so we’ve zoomed in on the Echo Park area to show you our little area almost 100 years ago. Funny thing is, if you compare this map with a current-day Google map, it doesn’t look a whole lot different. But the landscape sure is: what was once a bunch of fields and open space now is one of the city’s most populated areas.

Another interesting map from the same blog – credited to Birdseye View Pub. Co.’s – of the Los Angeles area circa 1909. Incredible detail on this one – here’s the zoomed in version on Echo Park below:

Birdseye View Pub. Co.'s birdseye map of Los Angeles, California in 1909.

Both very, very large maps are made available for download on the Big Map Blog. See if you can find your house!

June 6, 2011/7,913 Comments/by Kelly

Art & Music, Nightlife

Echo Park’s Week in Music

For the week of Monday, May 30 through Sunday, June 5

Monday
Monday Night Residency: The Bixby Knolls, Cannoneers, Wake Up Lucid, The Icarus Line @ Echo
Ark Sano (Jazz Piano) @ Dinner House M
Maniac, Y Luv, Hello Vegas @ Bootleg Theater

Tuesday
Oh My Rockness Presents: Eternal Summers, The Beets, Seapony @ Echo
Iheartcomix, Media Contender, LA Record present: Check Yo Ponytail 2 with Stereo Total, Giant Drag, Batwings Catwings, Scarlet Casanova @ Echoplex
Eternal Summers @ Origami Vinyl
Shinya Kano (Piano & Vocal) @ Dinner House M
Them Howling Bones & Santoros @ Lot 1

Wednesday
Gruff Rhys, Y Niwl, DJ Andy Votel @ Echo
Dub Club @ Echoplex
Echo Park Juke Joint @ Lot 1
Eastern Block Party Featuring Ak and Her Kalashnikovs, The Shpil, Plotz!, Shoestring Trio, DJ Jason Savvy @ Bootleg Theater
Live Jazz Every Wednesday Night at 7:00 pm @ Downbeat Cafe

Thursday
Echo, Part Time Punks & Club Underground Present: The Undertones, Sweater Girls, Exploding Flowers @ Echoplex
Woodsman, Tape Deck Mountain, White Hinterland, Kissing Cousins @ Echo
Sister Rogers Residency @ Taix Lounge
Professor Calculus, Twin Steps, Wild Pack of Canaries, Vacation Dad @ Lot 1
Givers, Family of The Year, Caddywhompus @ Bootleg Theater

Friday
Gayngs, Dirty Beaches, Funky Sole DJs @ The Natural History Museum
KCRW, Echo, Club Underground present Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Ema, Oregon Bike Trails @ Echo
Abe Lincoln Story, Rough Church @ Taix Lounge
Rock Concert Teen Island, Socorro, The Seizure! @ Lot 1
Future Dancing Record Release, The Lonely Wild, Handshakes, Sea Of Cortez @ Bootleg Theater

Saturday
Bootie LL 6 Year Anniversary! @ Echoplex
Funky Sole @ Echo
The Globes @ Origami Vinyl
Bumtech and Guests, Seeing Thingz @ Taix Lounge
The Bird and The Bee, Alek Fin @ Bootleg Theater

Sunday
Grand Ole Echo, Part Time Punks (14 Iced Bears, Phil Wilso, Aberdeen) @ Echo

Visit the venue website for more information on the cost and times of shows. 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.

RIP our favorite Echo Park laundromat

About a month ago, we return from the honeymoon to the real world – lots of laundry and an empty refrigerator. Now, you might be a fan of Lucy’s – tempting you with Starbucks and Subway sandwiches and all. But we have a different routine along Sunset Boulevard. Sandwiched between Stories Books and Out of the Closet is (rather, was) a reliable 24-hour place to do the laundry. Better yet, its proximity to some of our favorite bars and restaurants gave us the excuse to have dinner and a beer or two at Masa while the our delicates spun in the washer.

But this time we arrive to a shuttered laundromat, and seeing the vending machines had been removed and mail piling up near the front door, we had a feeling it was for the long run.

Now, a month later, the favorite laundromat is still closed and collecting dust. No word on why it closed or what’s going to happen with the empty space, and our routine will have to change a little bit.

It’s not that there aren’t enough laundromats in Echo Park, but we’ll miss the routine of grabbing a beer in between loads. Perhaps someone should take over the space and turn it into a combined bar and laundromat (Like the ones they have in San Fran?)? The hipsters would LOVE it.

June 4, 2011/256 Comments/by Kelly

Announcements, Lifestyle

Echo Park resident geared up for AIDs LifeCycle ride

Tomorrow (Sunday, June 5, 2011), Echo Park resident Katherine Gladwin will embark on a seven-day, 545 mile bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The ride is in support of AIDS/LifeCycle, where participants raise money to help support the organization that provides HIV testing and treatment.

The timing for this event is perfect and purposeful: The start of the fund raising/informational tour on Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of the discovery of HIV/AIDs. Also, June is national LGBT month, and Los Angeles is kicking off the first ever LGBT Heritage month.

Katherine works at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center doing HIV testing and counseling, so it’s a very important cause for her. “I’ve been working in the field of HIV Prevention for over a year and I’ve been an avid cyclist for 7+ years now, so doing this ride is an awesome opportunity to raise life-saving money while doing something I love,” she says on her AIDS/LifeCycle profile page.

The ride ends in Santa Monica on June 11 for the closing ceremonies.

You can donate to our fellow Echo Park resident’s cause by clicking here. Also check out her fundraising video sent to us by director Car Nazzal. Notice all the great Echo Park shots!

KATHERINE AIDS.LIFE.CYCLE FUNDRAISING VIDEO from Car Nazzal on Vimeo.

June 4, 2011/619 Comments/by Kelly

Art & Music, Nightlife

Update: Why Dinner House M is closing

Flickr photo via mikeywally

We ran an article late last week announcing the closure of 24-year-old Echo Park/HiFi club Dinner House M. Today, the LA Times reports the closure is due to one of two (or maybe both?) factors: A revoked liquor license, and/or increased and unaffordable rent.

Apparently, the liquor license issue revolves around multiple citations for serving after 2:00 am. Sgt. Fernando Garcia of the Rampart Division told the LA Times: “It was well known as an after-hours club. They had their license revoked, they appealed, and they lost the appeal.”

However owner Miki Saito denies the license is being revoked, and told the LA Times that a rent increase is the issue.

Either way, the final send-off (with a four-piece jazz band and Miki at the mic) is next week on Wednesday, June 8.

June 3, 2011/181 Comments/by Kelly

Announcements, Community News, Lifestyle

Submit your theme ideas for the Echo Park Community Parade

Local school performs at the 2010 holiday parade

As were are upon the end of May, I’m reminded that the deadline is approaching for everyone to submit their theme ideas for this year’s Echo Park Community Parade (aka Holiday Parade).

The parade will take place on Saturday, December 10th, 2011 from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm along Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park.

Last year’s theme was “Echo Park: We Are the World.” The deadline for your recommendations and creative ideas is Friday, June 17, 2011. Tell your ideas to: Cindy Ortiz at (323) 664-2412, Maryanne Hayashi at (213) 241-0908, Robert Aguayo at (213) 483-6335, ext. 101.

May 30, 2011/634 Comments/by Kelly