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Anti-litter banners return to Echo Park

Photo via the LA Stormwater website

While you’re enjoying this weekend’s Echo Park Community Parade, you may notice some new-ish signs donning the light poles around Echo Park. Lotus flower-themed anti-litter banners have returned to the community, reminding you to “Love Echo Park Lake, Don’t Litter.” The signs will be around for about 60 days, and are the same ones that were installed back in 2009.

A beautification grant from Council District 13 Eric Garcetti’s office has given grassroots organization Echo Park Trash Abatement Program (TAP), led by Ida Talalla, the tools to keep beautification of the neighborhood on the forefront. TAP just recently unveiled the neighborhood’s first solar trash compactor (Big Belly) this Fall. And last Saturday morning, TAP organized a community cleanup of Sunset Boulevard, an effort which received a matching grant from Garcetti’s office for the banners.

The Eastsider LA asked the question in late October when the banner proposal came up in the City Council: Is it too late for Echo Park Lake? For one thing, the lake is in the middle of a $65-80 million renovation project that literally unearthed a plethora of muck-covered goodies. But one thing that Echo Park TAP will always remind us is that trash on Sunset Boulevard, on Echo Park Avenue, or even up on Glendale Boulevard ends up in the lake, drained or not. Keeping the neighborhood clean is one positive step toward keep Los Angeles watersheds clean!

And it helps – according to the LA Stormwater Blog, TAP and Los Angeles’ Conservation Corps’ Clean and Green collected more than 60 bags of trash last Saturday. Let’s hope the signs help deter some littering so that the next TAP cleanup (on January 7, 2012) volunteers don’t have to work so hard.

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Echo Park Community Parade on Saturday!

It’s time for the annual Echo Park Community Parade! The parade takes place on Saturday, December 10, and starts at 10:00 am (ending at about 1:00 pm) and goes along Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park, starting at Elysian Park Avenue and ending at Park Avenue.

This year’s theme is “‘Tis the Season.” Each year, young students from the area participant in art contests held at different venues such as the Central City Action Committee (CCAC) and the Echo Park Farmers’ Market, and a panel of judges chooses three winners from varying age groups to have their artwork displayed on the parade flyer, poster and banner. So keep your eye for all the different contributions from area students on these pieces!

In addition to local schools, drill teams, cheer squads, and elected officials, we’ve got a few Echo Park businesses and organizations participating in the parade lineup. Amongst those are The Echo Park Time Bank, Edendale Library Friends Society (ELFS), The Warehouse & The Classroom, Mi Alma, 826LA, and more!

We know that Mi Alma will be bringing in a lot of color to the parade with a piñata-themed float. And The Warehouse LA/The Classroom LA will be sporting a nice big trailer with a live jazz singer and back up dancers. And of course there will be Santa!

Also in the parade lineup, Mitch O’Farrell from Eric Garcetti’s Office is this year’s Grand Marshal. Parade Ambassadors include Holly Calhoun of the Echo Park Farmers’ Market, the Echo Park Improvement Association, Masa of Echo Park Bakery & Café, and Albert Torres of Recreation & Parks.

You might find us sipping mimosas at either The Park Restaurant at Douglas and Sunset, which has a reallllly pretty brand new look to the patio, or keeping a seat warm at Lot 1 Cafe drinking mimosas, where they’ll also be offering hot chocolate and cinnabons.

After the parade, be sure to support your local businesses and shop local! The annual holiday Echo Park Shop Hop is going on, as well as lots of holiday parties at Mi Alma, Tavin, and more!

And lastly my shameless plug: We are so excited to be participating a little bit this year by designing all the new graphics for the flyer, parade program, and all those festive, red posters in the windows around town (hey, it’s our day job!).

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The Echo celebrates 10 years through December

A hearty happy anniversary goes out to The Echo – the long-time music venue that has hosted pretty much every type of band is celebrating 10 years in the ‘hood. They’ve been posting pictures and videos of their fave shows from the past 10 years each and every day of December on their Tumblr site. In the meantime, there are some great shows for the month, which we’ll also continue to post in our weekly Echo Park’s Week in Music updates.

Tonight is Allen Stone and ZZ Ward, and Saturday is the return of the “Irregular Wine Tasting,” during which you’ll get to enjoy six West Coast wines from Darcie Kent Vineyards and Duck Pond Cellars while watching 1988 flick Miracle Mile (somehow the tasting is timed with the movie). Tickets are $20, click here to purchase and for more info.

The lineup for the rest of December includes:

Caveman, Races, Hands on December ember 8
The Soft Pack, Abe Vigoda, Slang Chickens, So Many Wizards on December 9
Kind Hearts & Coronets, Black Flamingo, Seasons, Virginia Reed, special guest DJ Devendra Banhart on December 13
White Arrows, Youngblood Hawk, Pollyn on December 15
Hang the DJs vs Club Underground with Yip Deceivers December 17
The Fling, Yukon Blonde on December 22
The Growlers (closing the party out with three nights) on December 28, 29, and 30

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Echo Park TAP community cleanup on Saturday

Trash from the EPIA community cleanup in November

The Echo Park Trash Abatement Program (TAP) organization that brought us the Big Belly Solar trash compactor to Echo Park Avenue and Sunset Boulevard is organizing a couple of neighborhood cleanups for you to join. The first is tomorrow, Saturday, December 3, just in time after the “big winds.” The hours dedicated by volunteers like you will be used to meet the required “Match on Grant” (possibly the Clean & Connected Communities grant) awarded by CD13 for the anti-litter banners that will soon adorn area light poles.

Here are the details for both cleanups:

Saturday, December 3, 2011 from 8:00 am – 11:00 am
Meet on Sunset by Metro Bus Stop between Echo Park Avenue and Logan
Dress for weather. Bring water as needed.

Saturday, January 7, 2012 from 8:00 am – 11:00 am
Meet on Sunset by Metro Bus Stop between Echo Park Avenue and Logan
Dress for weather. Bring water as needed.

See you there!

UPDATE:

Unrelated to TAP but related to community cleanups Elysian Heights Elementary School will also be cleaning up the post-storm madness on Saturday morning. The school doors will open at 7:00 am with Mr. Maldanado at the helm and Friends of Elysian Heights Elementary working along-side. Bring the whole family (and some coffee) and help the cleanup efforts!

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After the wind, the cleanup

In Atwater Village

We might still have no Internet, and there are still thousands of Northeast LA residents without power (including Atwater Village, Los Feliz, Silers Lake, Highland Park, etc.), but the cleanup has begun.

At last night’s Echo Park Improvement Association town hall/holiday potluck, CD1 field deputy Richard P. Reyes told residents (which occupy both CD1 and CD13) that all field deputies had been going around the districts all day yesterday taking note of fallen trees and anything blocking streets, driveways, sidewalks, etc. Apparently there were a LOT of smashed cars and blocked streets. And last night we even had trouble getting home back to Echo Park, running into road closures on Riverside, and fire trucks up on Landa responding to a house fire (resulting in a 15-point turn by myself and four other cars on the narrow, windy road).

As far as we know, 311 is still operating 24 hours a day for non-emergencies. Call 911 for emergencies, and don’t touch any fallen power lines even if it appears the power is out.

Now what to do with all the debris? The LA Times reminds us that while Pasadena will have to deal with all those palm fronds in some other way, Los Angeles neighborhoods are allowed to recycle them in the green bins. If you can, just try to chop them up a little so they fit in the bin.

A couple of more tips from the LA Times blog series on what you can recycle:

  • Palm tree seeds are not recyclable, and should be placed in the trash bin
  • For any palm fronds that are on public sidewalks or streets like in the photo above, dial 311 and hopefully eventually the Bureau of Sanitation/Street Services will collect them
  • Call your field deputy or council district representative if there’s a fallen tree blocking a road, driveway, etc.
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December blows into Echo Park

While the wind storm last night didn’t exactly do any damage to our rental property, we struggled to sleep most of the night, worried the roof was going to blow off, or the windows were going to explode, or something was going to come tearing down Sargent and Scott into the new care.

The “my roof is going to blow off” worrying aside, the incredibly bursts of wind versus crappy rental windows, doors, and overall framework was borderline frightening. And it ain’t over yet – high winds will spur up again early tonight through Friday morning, with 60-80 mpg gusts in the mountains and coastal areas. 40,000 residents are estimated without power in the eastside, Atwater Village, and other neighborhoods in northeast LA, and while we’ve got power at home there’s no Time Warner cable or Internet (how are we going to live?!).

Delilah Bakery's new overhand took a beating

Pictures are popping up all over the social media networks, with businesses and residential homes sustaining quite a bit of damage. Delilah Bakery’s new patio awning took a tumble, but they are still open today. Masa Bakery & Cafe lost its sign last night, thankfully not landing on anyone outside the restaurant after dinnertime (the sign is carefully tucked away behind the restaurant, but don’t think Masa has closed down as it’s still open for business!). Just don’t go to Griffith Park – these crazy Santa Ana’s closed down the park due to fire danger.

Don't let the missing sign confuse you - Masa is still open!

Twitpic via lagueratamalera

Related articles:

Eastside gets windwhipped. The Eastsider LA, December 1, 2011.

High winds give scare to Echo Park residents in 100-year-old home. LA Now, December 1, 2011.

Windburn in Atwater Village: Palm frond-ocalypse. Atwater Village Now, December 1, 2011.

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Holiday shopping guide: Check out the Angelino Heights Craft Fair

Click on the flyer for details

 

‘Tis the season! Pick up some holiday gifts crafted by local designers this weekend at the Angelino Heights Craft Fair. Looks like some pretty cute stuff!

The Craft Fair takes place on Saturday and Sunday, December 3-4, 2011 from 1-5:00 pm at 1461 Carroll Avenue in Angelino Heights.

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Holidays bring the traditional Elysian Park tumbleweed snowmen

Flickr photo via Non Paratus

Hard to believe it’s Christmas time again, and the only thing that really makes us feel like it’s the holiday season are the neighborhood Holiday decorations!

The Eastsider LA reminds us that Elysian Park staff members are ready for yet another season, and are organizing volunteers to help put together the traditional tumbleweed snowmen/women for the park’s entrance on Stadium Way. We almost didn’t have the decorations last year when city budget cuts left Elysian Park without the money for staff and decorations. But volunteers stepped in and the snowmen were up!

While we do miss the snowman that frequented the corner of Scott Avenue and Stadium Way, but we know it takes a lot off effort – volunteers help to trim and put together the whole outfit made from recycled materials for each one.

If you’re interested in volunteering, snowman assembling is on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 10:00 am at the park maintenance yard (Academy Road and Solano Canyon Drive). Email hello@TheEastsiderLA.com for schedule changes.

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Screenings and celebrations for the Echo Park Film Center 10 year anniversary weekend

“Sell your TV and come to the cinema” is the defining phrase on the Echo Park Film Center website, and while we’re keeping our TV (just got rid of cable) we are very excited for its upcoming 10 year anniversary weekend, which takes place from Friday, December 9 through Sunday, December 11. In celebration, the Film Center is organizing some live music, food, receptions, speeches, selling new merchandise, and of course hosting a lot of film screenings in various locations (including the Vons parking lot!).

Here’s the scoop from the website:

Friday, December 9 from 8–11:00 pm
Libations, live music and films at Stories Books & Cafe, 1716 Sunset Boulevard.

Saturday, December 10 from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Family filmmaking workshops and open house at Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N. Alvarado Street.

Saturday, December 10 from 7–10:30 pm
Filmmobile silent films screening in the Vons Parking Lot, 1342 N. Alvarado Street.

Sunday, December 11 from 2–6:00 pm
Punk Rock Songs & Cinema at The Smell, 247 S Main Street.

Sunday, December 11 from 6:30–10:30 pm
Reception and the Premiere of City of Angels 11: An EPFC Youth Film Project at Downtown Independent, 251 S. Main Street.

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Echo Park’s Week in Music

For the week of Monday, November 28 through Sunday, December 4, 2011

Monday
Rock and Roll Exposed (a documentary on the photography of Bob Gruen) @ Echoplex
The Chain Gang of 1974, American Tomahawk, Hot as Sun, Cassettes Won’t Listen @ Echo
Lianne La Havas, Little Hurricane, Driftwood Singers, Count Fleet, LA Font @ Bootleg Bar
Sexting, Cave, Jealousy, Bachsung @ Pehrspace

Tuesday
Downtown/Union, Tumbleweed Wanderers @ Echo
Sonos, John Gold, Liz Pappademas @ Bootleg Bar

Wednesday
Cass Mccombs Band With Lights By Jake & Mollie, White Magic @ Echo
Dub Club @ Echoplex
Duniven, Broadcast Station, Liquid Love Letter, Bixby Knolls, Lost And Found @ Bootleg Bar

Thursday
Jamie Woon, Oregon Bike Trails @ Echo
Kick off party for The Echo Ten Year Anniversary month with Dan Deacon, Xbxrx, Juiceboxxx, Freezepop, DJ Franki Chan @ Echoplex
The Entrance Band, King Tuff, The Abigails @ Bootleg Bar

Friday
Allen Stone, Zz Ward, Thee Rain Cats @ Echo
Indie1031.Com presents Girl in a Coma, The Dead Ships, Fences, Kate Crash @ Echoplex
Nick Waterhouse, Allah Las, Ana Egge @ Bootleg Bar
Org Music Presents: First Fridays @ Lot 1 Cafe
Saint Motel @ Origami Vinyl
American Clit Legend, I Hate You Just Kidding, The Wind Chasers Club, My Brother My Double @ Pehrspace

Saturday
KCRW’s “Are Friends Eclectic?” Holiday Show With Iron and Wine, Jimmy Cliff, Brett Dennen, Other Lives, The Belle Brigade, White Denim, The Secret Sisters, Anna Calvi, Mia Doi Todd, Zee Avi plus special guests @ The Orpheum Theatre
The Echo Ten Year Anniversary with: Extreme, Irregular, Unidentified Wine-Tasting Object @ Echo
Bootie La Holiday Mashup Party @ Echoplex
Funky Sole @ Echo
Swahili Blonde, Siddhartha, Lady Lazarus, Crooked Cowboy & The Freshwater Indians @ Bootleg Bar
Feed Your Head Presents: Seasons, Azaliasnail, Now, The Happy Casualities @ Lot 1 Cafe
Fonda @ Origami Vinyl
Derde Verde, Fern Lane, Sanglorians, College Kids @ Pehrspace

Sunday
Part Time Punks Presents: Siouxsie & The Banshees Nite With Guest DJ Boss Harmony (Punky Reggae Party/Dub Club) @ Echo
Judson McKinney, Count Fleet, The Lonely Wild, Fort King @ Bootleg Bar
Foolproof Four @ Origami Vinyl

Visit the venue websites for more information on the cost and times of shows. Feel free to add more events in the comment section. All events listed are subject to change at any time, and new events announced for the week after this posting may not be included.

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Will Echo Park benefit from a city ordinance regulating murals?

"Cine de Oro" by Ernesto de la Loza on Sunset and Mohawk in Echo Park

Last month, City of LA committees and departments held a public hearing on a possible new city-wide mural ordinance – one that would hopefully protect/preserve the city’s murals from land-use issues and graffiti, as well as foster an environment where new murals can be created. Long story short – the mural thing has been an issue for a long, long, long time in Los Angeles, involving law suits and billboard laws and unhappy artists. Echo Park has been a wonderful hub for colorful murals and activist art, including new artists like the French street artist JR, Cache, Banksy, and others (we even got a tour earlier this month of some of the city’s best and oldest street artists decorating the walls of Keystone Studios on Glendale Boulevard). And because Echo Park is historically a friendly environment for these murals, the new mural ordinance will definitely affect our neighborhood (and hopefully in a good way!).

Last week, Open Culture released nice summary of the mural issue (link via Curbed LA), along with a short documentary by Oliver Riley-Smith on the sad state of murals in Los Angeles in the face of graffiti and the white-washing of neighborhoods in the name of “redevelopment” (aka gentrification). The documentary features artist and activist Ernesto de la Loza, who has been fighting for years to save the city’s murals (of the 42 murals he painted over the last four decades, on nine remain). We believe he still lives in Echo Park (at one point his studio was also located here) and he once had several murals in the neighborhood – you can see his remaining piece, called “Cine de Oro,” on Sunset Boulevard and Mohawk Street (pictured).

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What they found at the bottom of Echo Park Lake

Photo from Above The Lake blog

We’re a few months into the Echo Park Lake rehab project, but besides the torn up sidewalks and construction vehicles, you wouldn’t really be able to tell the lake had been drained after the recent heavy rains. In addition to a few photos by Angelino Heights resident Steve (who took the above photo and posted it on his blog, Above The Lake), we have the official list from the city of what (and how many) was found in the lake after the draining. We’re not really surprised they found a couple of guns, but a telephone booth?! Check out the list below:

Park Trash Cans – 20
Construction cones – 36
Shopping Carts – 7
Portable Stereos/Boombox – 3
Pay Telephone – 1
Skateboard – 6
Parking Enforcement Boot – 1
Toilet – 1
Glass bottles – Hundreds
Model Boat – 2
Frisbee – 20
Weapons (guns) – 2
Office Chair – 6
Miscellaneous toys, Trash, Debris – Hundreds

Of course you can’t count every single thing, and once they start dredging the lake, they’ll probably find more items in the muck.

Check out more photos of the Echo Park Lake rehab project on our Flickr set.

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Thanksgiving in Echo Park brings sounds of… fireworks?

July 4th, 2011 fireworks

Thanksgiving dinner with the family last night was accompanied by an unusual noise this time of year – loud popping sounds coming from somewhere nearby in Echo Park. I immediately concluded the sounds were fireworks, not having the heart to tell my family it maybe, perhaps, could have been gunshots (I’m apparently not so good and telling the difference right away).

We figured it wasn’t the latter, but resident Jeanne did some digging of her own, and apparently the dinner-time fireworks we heard weren’t the only ones. Jeanne emailed us the official word this morning:

Bizarrely, per northeast division desk sargent: some adolescent thought it would be entertaining to light fireworks in the wee hours of the morning in the 1300 block of sunset.

So for once, the large explosive noises were not gunfire-that-sounded-like-fireworks, but actually fireworks.

A relief i guess for it not to be shooting…

Here, here!

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Giving thanks to Echo Park Fire Station 20

I recently had a great opportunity to help organize the Thanksgiving Day “adoption” of the Echo Park Fire Station 20 as a member of the Echo Park Improvement Association (EPIA). We sent out a call for help recently to our EPIA subscribers, asking for donations of Thanksgiving meal dishes to take to our local fire station, since they all had to clock in for work today while most of us get the holiday off.

And we had a great response! Echo Park is a community full of caring people, and everyone came together at the fire house today bearing cranberry sauce, rolls, pies, turkey, and all the fixin’s. A few families came out to hang out with the crew as well, and the kids had a great time climbing in the fire trucks.

Thank you to everyone who brought the food, and to Andrea Barbosa and family for the idea and making it happen! Thanks also goes to Echo Park Patch and The Eastsider LA for helping spread the word about the event.

More importantly, thank you firefighters! With all the budget cuts going on, we know you’re working very, very hard to keep us safe. Happy holidays!

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

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Shop local: Echo Park holiday events and sales

By tradition, we’re looking for the great deals this Thanksgiving weekend, so while you’ve got the turkey in the oven feel free to peruse the following Echo Park sales and events in honor of Black Friday, Small Biz Saturday, and Cyber Monday (we’ll try to add more as we come across new sales/events):

Villainy Saturday Event

Villainy General Store at 1519 W. Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park is hosting “Saturday is the new Black Friday” with holiday cocktails, coffee and treats. Of course there are great gift items to snatch up, which you can read about on our previous post.

Montana Cans Black Friday Super Sale

The 10 hour sale on Friday, November 25 includes 20-60% off store items (spray cans, markers, etc.). Store hours are 10:00 am – 8:00 pm, located at 1528 1/2 West Sunset Boulevard.

Post-Thanksgiving Epic hike

The Big Parade creators are hosting this 15 mile street, stairs and trails walk on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Starts at the Chinatown Metro Gold line at 9:00 am, and according to the Facebook invite there’s an “eay bailout point” halfway through if you want to hop on a bus and head back. Great way to work off that 2,000 calorie meal you gobbled on Thanksgiving – and for free!

Tavin Boutique Weekend-long Sales

There’s a 10% off sale at Tavin Boutique if you’re looking for some unique gifts or a party dress for yourself (they’ve got some seriously cute stuff starting at $20). The sales at Tavin last through the Thanksgiving weekend, Friday through Sunday. Also be sure to save the date for the store’s holiday parties on Saturday and Sunday, December 10-11 from 3-7:00 pm.

Feeding Birds Sales

Always some great vintage finds at Feeding Birds, also great “Echo Park” tees. They are closed Thanksgiving Day and Friday, but be sure to stop in over the weekend and check it out. If you shop online on the Etsy store on Black Friday and Cyber Monday you get a free screen printed tote bag.

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