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Lotus Festival Rumored to Return

Militant Angeleno is reporting that the Lotus Festival will indeed return again despite another year of, well, a lotus-less lake. Last year the Lotus Festival was canceled due to budgetary cuts, and instead turned into the first Echo Park Community Festival.

According the Militant Angeleno blog, L.A. Lotus Festival, Inc. filed the paperwork for the event, which is scheduled for the weekend of July 10-11, 2010. While this year’s festival won’t coincide with the blooming of the lotus flowers (once the largest bed outside of Asia) since the flowers have stopped growing, it will as always be a great opportunity to celebrate the Asian/Pacific Islander culture, eat some food, and enjoy fireworks.

This may be the last chance for a Lotus Festival before the Echo Park Lake Rehab project shuts down the park in April 2011; hopefully the revived lake will bring the lotus flowers back!

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Clouds on the horizon

Clouds are looming on the horizon, and rain is in the forecast for the Los Angeles area. Bring your umbrella, and it’s a little windy outside so watch out for those flying palm fronds!

Let’s also hope the weather is favorable for tomorrow’s Dodger game against Cleveland.

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April Events At Echo Curio

Once again Echo Curio has a lot of shows lined up to entertain the neighborhood. All shows are at 9pm unless otherwise noted. A $5 donation is asked for at the door.

Echo Curio is located at 1519 Sunset Blvd (at Laveta Ter).

Thurs, April 1st – CHRIS CORSANO + WARM CLIMATE + KOLOVOS / SILBERMAN DUO

Wowee-wow-wow-wow… we’re extra psyched for this show, as we all know the
CORSANO-FLAHERTY DUO, or possibly his work with Sunburned Hand of the
Man, Michael Flowers, Bjork or Jandek, and some of us will have experienced the
CORSANO-KOLOVOS DUO, but most of us have not seen Mr. CHRIS CORSANO
solo.  This drummer experimentalist will no doubt take us into realms undreamed
of.  As will our good friend Seth and his WARM CLIMATE project, whether it be in its
solo form or three piece mammoth form.  More to come on this show!!!

www.cor-sano.com
www.myspace.com/warmclimate

Fri, April 2nd – LAURA GIBSON + ETHAN ROSE perform BRIDGE CAROLS + NOVI SPLIT + DANIEL AHEARN + CMG AND THE NIGHT

BRIDGE CAROLS was born of both LAURA GIBSON’s (amazing songstress for
HUSH) and sound artist ETHAN ROSE’s separate disenchantments with the written
and spoken word.  Together they have created an almost Gysin-esque way of
chopping and rearranging word and tone in new and challenging formats.  The
other three bands pretty much go about the same old way that everybody else
does, but man, do they do it beautifully.

www.bridgecarols.com
www.myspace.com/danielahearn
www.myspace.com/cmglovesyou
www.myspace.com/novisplit

Read more

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Echo Park’s Missed Connections

“Ships that pass in the night and speak each other in passing; Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness…” Oh Henry, if only you were alive to witness the poetry of these modern-day words of longing.

from Space Penciler X's Flickr

March 27, 2010: You: “There’s A First Time For Everything!” – m4w – 30
You made the cardinal mistake of going to a party: Don’t bring your own cock blocker! My gf and I tried to get you to come home with us but you didn’t drive yourself to the party and it would have been AWkard!

You giggled “There’s a first time for everything…!”  Is there? =)

March 27, 2010: Green Dress Around The Fire Pit! – 49
You asked me if I was going to try to sell you a used lamp on Craigslist. I have something way more interesting in mind.

March 27, 2010: Shortstop Friday Night – m4w
You were devastatingly cute. Brea (Bria?). Wish I could’ve ditched my friends and chatted. God, you’re adorable. I’ll be back looking for you.

March 26, 2010: Taix thursday night – m4w – 30
sitting outside when you came out for a cigarette. had a brief conversation about music, buses, and merlin and guinevere. i regret not asking for your phone number before you went back in. maybe you’ll see this?

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Weekly Events

Monday

Monday night residency at the Echo: A resident band is chosen and will play every Monday for an entire month. The event is FREE, 21+ and doors usually open at 8:30pm. The Echo is located at 1822 Sunset Blvd.

All-You-Can-Eat Pizza for just $12, starting at 5:00 pm at Mohawk Bend. Vegan pizzas available!

Tuesday

Speakeasy Tuesday at The Park restaurant (3 courses for $15).

Tequila Night Tuesdays at Allston Yacht Club: $5 gets you a Jalapeno Margarita, a shot and sangria, or a chosen daily special.

Origami Vinyl hosts Record Club at El Prado every Tuesday at 9:00 pm. Bring your favorite 45’s to spin – it’s first come first serve, and one full side of the record is played.

Wednesday

StoryTimeFunLand kids’ party train meets every Wednesday on the Stories patio, and includes songs and stories and a little sunshine for kids. You can also get Café discounts during STFL. 4:30pm. Stories is located at 1716 Sunset Blvd.

Wicked Wednesdays at Allston Yacht Club at 5:30 pm ($5 plates).

$5 Burger Night, Wednesdays at The Park restaurant.

$2.50 Margarita Wednesdays at Barragan’s.

Dub Club at the Echoplex. Djs spin classic reggae, dub and dancehall. Special guests and musicians sometimes perform. The event is 21+ and doors open at 9pm. The regular price is $5 but this may increase if there are very special guests performing. The Echoplex is located at 1154 Glendale Blvd.

Thursday

Tarot card reading on the patio of Stories Bookstore with Marcela. $20. Stories is located at 1716 Sunset Blvd.

Thursday night special at Allston Yacht Club: $5 for their “ball of infusion” (Fig Bourbon in their “Yacht Club Old Fashioned,” Peach-Steeped Dark Rum in the “AYC Dark and Stormy,” and Blueberries, Ginger, Dragon Chili and Polish Vodka in a Collins)

Friday

Friday Night Knits at Stories Books and Cafe at 7:00 pm. Tina Marin and Michelle Tritten host a non pressure “stitch & bitch.” Bring your knitting, get some coffee and knit one/purl two.  For those of you who know your way with yarn and for those of you who end up in knots. Stories is located at 1716 Sunset Blvd.

Club Underground: UK Pop/Indie club. The event is 18+ and doors are at 9:00 pm. It costs $5 if you are over 21 and $7 if you are not. Prices may change if there are very special guests. The Echo is located at 1822 Sunset Blvd.

Saturday

Bootie LA at the Echoplex is every first Saturday of the month. A Plus D and DJ Paul V. present LA’s original mashup bootleg dance party, spinning only the finest bootlegs and bastard pop.

Funky Sole at the Echo. DJs spin funk music. The event is free, 21+ and starts at 10pm. The Echo is located at 1822 Sunset Blvd.

Sunday

1/2 off Sundays at City Sip (applies to all open bottles after 9:00 pm). 2150 West Sunset Blvd.

UnBrunch Sunday at Allston Yacht Club: All food and drinks on the menu are $5, includes tap beer, wines by the glass, mimosas and Bloody Marys from 4:00-9:00 pm.

Part Time Punks at the Echo, as described on their website: Part Time Punks is a club that takes over noted Echo Park live music venue, The Echo on 1822 Sunset, every Sunday night. The night focuses heavily on obscure and classic music coming out of America, the UK and Europe in 1978 to the present: Punk, Post-punk, Punk-funk, New Wave, No Wave, Hardcore, Indie-Pop, Twee, Grunge, Electro, Minimal-Synth, Shoegaze, Baggy. The event is normally 18+ and starts at 10:00 pm. The price usually is between $5 and $10, depending on whether special bands are playing.

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DIY Gallery: Pretty Rad

Aaron Williams & Zach Taylor // Pretty Rad: New Collaborations
Closing Reception April 10 // 7pm (Valet parking available)

Pretty Rad is an eye candied Pop Art painting and cleverly industrial Textual sculpture collaboration between Aaron Williams and Zach Taylor.

The entire show is a result of total collaboration in which not one piece is a solo work, each one requiring up to 3-4 months of work to complete. The artists took turn adding to and/or taking away from the previous artist’s contribution, the last of which was finished as the show was being hung.

The duo, both MFA graduates from The Chicago Art Institute, shows the range of their formal technical skills, ability to break free from said abilities when needed as well as their strength as a creative team. The two have been friends and collaborators for almost 3 years. The gallery represents both artists.

After Pretty Rad’s closing reception, the show is headed to Art Chicago, The International Fair of Contemporary and Modern Art at The Merchandise Mart, April 30-May 3 2010.

The show also marks DIY’s move from their former space at 1218 Temple St to the new Sunset Blvd location, a space previously occupied by Bandit Gallery.

DIY Gallery 1549 Sunset Blvd, LA 90026 (213) 977-9602
Gallery Hours 12-6,  Tuesday – Saturday
http://www.diygallery.info

*** Bloggers Note: We have expanded our Guest Blog week through Monday because we had some technical issues this weekend and these posts didn’t make it out in time. We apologize if the blog slows down for a couple of days while we work things out. Echo Park Now would like to thank the wonderful and talented Dale Dreiling for pitching in last week. Go see his work at Chango and at The Echo Country Outpost during the art walk!

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Echo Park On Apartment Therapy

Head over to Apartment Therapy LA to read their list of ten design inspirations based on life in Echo Park. It is a beautiful little ode to the neighborhood. Read the whole article and see their pictures here.

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Waved Out Pics

Two Boots

Best Coast 1

Best Coast 2

Turbo Fruits

Black Iris, White Adidas

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The Onion and The AV Club present “Our Dumb Book Event”

The Onion and The A.V. Club present:

OUR DUMB BOOK EVENT

with Division Day, Tom Lennon, Ben Garant, and Megan Ganz

At the Echoplex, Thursday, April 1
7:30 pm
$10, 18+

Posted on The Echo website:

Beautiful people of Los Angeles, reschedule your Botox appointments. Put that anal bleaching on hold. Stop doing whatever other lazy L.A. stereotype we can’t think of, and point your Prius in the direction of Echo Park: We’re coming to see you.

That’s right, the multimedia caravan around our Inventory book is coming to the Echoplex on April 1, and this time we’re bringing with us our siblings, The Onion—who have their own awesome book to promote. (Buy them together for a low low price here!) For one night only, staff members from both publications will be on hand to read, show videos, talk, and generally goof around for your enjoyment.

And we won’t be alone. Joining us will be Tom Lennon and Ben Garant (of Reno 911!, The State, and a bunch of other stuff), reading their guest lists from Inventory, Important Things With Demetri Martin writer—and former Onion scribe—Megan Ganz, L.A. band Division Day, and others TBA. It’s going to be crazy and fun, and you should most certainly come.

The Echoplex, located at 1154 Glendale Blvd.

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Pictures: Human Rights Rally at the Lake

Hundreds of people gathered at the Cuban human rights rally today at the lake in Echo Park.

Quite a few gatherers dressed in white at the rally

George Lopez & Perez Hilton at the rally (via Twitpic)

Sunday vendors managed their usual spots despite the crowds

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Tonight: Part Time Punks at the Echo

Part Time Punks this Sunday March 28 at The Echo is featuring the Slumberland Records 20th anniversary show. Featured bands include: Boyracer, Brown Recluse, Devon Williams, Go Sailor, Henry’s Dress, Neverever, Pants Yell!, Summer Cats, and The How.

The show is $15 and all ages; doors at 7:00 pm. Click here to purchase tickets in advance.

The Echo is located at 1822 Sunset Blvd.

In case you’re wondering what Part Time Punks is, from their website: Part Time Punks is a club that takes over noted Echo Park live music venue, The Echo on 1822 Sunset, every Sunday night. The night focuses heavily on obscure and classic music coming out of America, the UK and Europe in 1978 to the present: Punk, Post-punk, Punk-funk, New Wave, No Wave, Hardcore, Indie-Pop, Twee, Grunge, Electro, Minimal-Synth, Shoegaze, Baggy.

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New Painting (part 2)

Echo Park, El Carnal (pt.2) Acrylic on 7.5″ x 10″ panel.

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Street Art Collaboration

As seen from the parking lot south of Sunset, between Logan and Echo Park Ave.

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EP Film Center Class: Intro to 16mm and Hand Processing

On Sunday, March 28 the Echo Park Film Center will be teaching a workshop for adults entitled “Intro to 16mm Cinematography and Hand Processing.” They will be teaching basic camera operation, shooting techniques and hand-processing. No previous filmmaking experience necessary. All equipment and materials will be provided by EPFC. Cost is $75 or $60 for EPFC members. The class starts at noon and goes until 5:00 pm.

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New Painting of Glendale Blvd

Glendale Blvd (Los Corredores) acrylic on 14.5″ x 13.5″ panel. This is my most recent painting, the second I’ve done since 2010. Before my guest blogger spot is up (ends this Sunday), I plan to get one more painting completed. Enjoy!

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