Today is Masa’s 8th birthday!
As part of their traditional celebration, stop by the Echo Park eatery and grab a piece of birthday cake all day today.
Masa is located at 1800 W. Sunset Blvd.
Masa of Echo Park is one of the great neighborhood establishments, where everyone knows your name (we’ve been going since 2005, before they even had a beer and wine!). And the hubby and I aren’t the only ones who frequent the bar stools at Masa, but our view is always the same – two framed photos on one of the pillars, one donning a blue ribbon with the title of “The Mayor.” I recently asked owner Rhonda about it because we kept seeing one of the guys at a neighboring stool, but she also published a great FAQ about the photos in the August Masa Newsletter
The two photos are of Tim and Eric (not related to the Tim & Eric Awesome Show) – two locals who frequent Masa on a daily basis and who were “checking in” on Foursquare. If you’re unfamiliar with the popular mobile app, it unlocks special deals if you check in enough at a participating venue along with the title of Mayor. The two Masa goers keep checking in on Foursquare, one usurping the other, a battle that’s been going on since 2009.
- The Mayor of Echo Park was Tim that day
So Rhonda put up the framed photos and changes the blue ribbon when the Mayorship changes. Most of the time you’ll find the ribbon alongside Tim’s image, as Eric no longer lives directly across the street. But you will occasionally see them dining next to each other at the bar, as the rival is a friendly one!
What’s their favorite thing about going to Masa?
For Eric, “the reason to keep coming back was because of the people working here. Masa is my ‘Cheers’ and was an important part of me feeling settled in Los Angeles.”
For Tim, “I was drawn to Masa because of the good food. I kept coming because of the inclusive and friendly atmosphere. I like to eat at places where people like to see me.”
We, of course, like supporting as many local businesses as possible. What’s your reason to go to Masa, or any other favorite spots in Echo Park?
For the week of Monday, August 20 through Sunday, August 26, 2012
Monday
Wildcat! Wildcat!, Rio Bravo, NO, The Union Line @ The Echo
Realization Orchestra, Redwound, Modern Concert, Harry Cloud @ Pehrspace
Meg Myers, Ertel, BUZZBANDS.LA DJs, Special Guests, Holly Conlan, Ryan Darton @ Bootleg Bar
Tuesday
Poliça, Supreme Cuts @ The Echoplex
Oneohtrix Point Never, James Ferraro, Rene Hell, James Ferraro, Rene Hell @ The Echo
Mike Viola, Taylor Locke, So & So, Scott Mellis, COYOL, Tim Bergstrom @ Bootleg Bar
Western Scene @ Origami Vinyl
Wednesday
Tashaki Miyaki, Residual Echoes, Pink Films, Night Control @ The Echo
Dub Club Presents: Pinchers backed by Echodelic Sound @ The Echoplex
Mike Andrews, Snowblink @ Bootleg Bar
Open Mic Night @ Tribal Cafe
Cigarette Bums, Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Eamon Experience @ Lot 1 Cafe
Thursday
Strictly Social with Joi, Jimetta Rose, Johnnie Heartbreak
Joi, Jimetta Rose, Johnnie Heartbreak & The Radical Legs @ The Echo
State to State, Jonny Polonsky, Even Oceans @ Bootleg Bar
Tyrants in Therapy @ Taix Lounge
Friday
Throne of Blood, Making Shapes, Rong Records take-over @ The Short Stop
Julia Holter, Raw Geronimo, Tes Elations @ The Echo
Shlohmo, Salva, LOL Boys, Groundislava @ The Echoplex
Quote Unquote, Judgement Day, Silian Rail, Kim Free @ Pehrspace
Robert Schwartzman, Jamestown Revival, Patrick Park @ Bootleg Bar
Double Naught Spy Car, The Edwardo Show @ Taix Lounge
Dime Runner @ Origami Vinyl
Plague Vendor, Drug Cabin, Wild Pack of Canaries, Frnch Cnt @ Lot 1 Cafe
Saturday
Echo Park Rising all day, all over Echo Park
Skamania Presents: Pat Kelly in LA @ Los Globos
Bootie LA Echo Park Rising After-Party @ The Echoplex
IE, Horsemeat, Pure Shit, Wimp and Shrimp, Suzi Star @ Pehrspace
Philly Moves @ Tribal Cafe
Sunday
DruMeditation + Concert with Marla Leigh @ Pilates & Arts
Funky Sole, Part Time Punks Presents: Whirr + Permanent Collection + Tennis System, Permanent Collection, Tennis System @ The Echo
The Blank Tapes, Kicking Spit, Mossbreaker, Brass Bed, Aram Arslanian (of Orphan Train) @ Bootleg Bar
Open Mic Night @ Tribal Cafe
French Toast Comedy night @ Taix Lounge
Brass Bed @ 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. Visit our Weekly Events page for more neighborhood events, shows and specials.
About 100 interested locals (including politicians, volunteers, and candidates) spent the morning in LA City hard hats amongst the dust and debris behind the fence of Echo Park Lake. Guided in small groups by project manager Marlon Calderon, our 9:00 am group (the first one!) got a close-up look of the North side of the Lake where Lady of the Lake statue will stand, the “boardwalk” alongside the wetlands and bridge, and the Boathouse – inside and out.
The project is about 60% complete, and come February, it should be full with water. The 60 construction workers are working on Saturdays to beat the rainy season, which will hopefully just fill the lake up naturally without any help from the city water sources. Our guide Calderon mentioned that with the Lake being the lowest point in the Silver Lake / Echo Park area, 26 million gallons of water can fill the lake in three hours – so there shouldn’t be any issues getting the water in there.
The Lake’s historic and widely known bridge
The Lotus plants will actually be planted in the next two months – a “berm” (like an under water dam) surrounding the Lotus bed on the North side of the Lake will keep all the water for that area in.
While many trees were removed due to disease, there are 400 trees currently being maintained and watered, and 200 more are expected to be added before the Lake’s grand opening in Spring 2013.
The Boathouse has yet to have an official concessions company, but the kitchen is high-end and fully stocked (leaving many of us to hope for something along the lines of Homegirl Cafe taking over). They’ll also be adding in a new boat dock, while bringing up the entire Boathouse to compliance to make it fully functional (that means paddle boats, people!).
More photos and info after the jump!
Echo Park Rising returns to the neighborhood for its second year of hosting and organizing free music, art and fun events.
After the sudden shut-down of Sunset Junction last year, Liz Garo (Spaceland Productions) and other community members decided to fill the void, offering bands and other artists a place to perform at different venues. Thus was born Echo Park Rising in 2011.
Now that the event organizers have had a bit more time to get organized this year, the festival has now become a grass roots neighborhood effort focusing on Echo Park’s arts, culture, music and small businesses.
So far, there will be music and/or DJs at: iam8bit, Fretted Frog, Raffa’s Lounge, Echo, Origami Vinyl, El Prado, Stories Books & Cafe, Sancho Gallery, Fix Cafe and Short Stop.
There will be a main stage in the Taix parking lot, and inside the restaurant. Lineup for the main stage includes Youngblood Hawke, NO, Dante Vs Zombies, Gothic Tropic, Hott MT, Robert Delong and Lavender Diamond.
The Echoplex will have a record fair, book fair, on site t-shirt silkscreening, and workshops on creating a fanzine plus more. The Echo Park Chamber if Commerce will be hosting a Movie Night Under the Stars on the Citibank roof at 7:00 pm that evening. Your $5 for adults, $10 for families donation goes to area youth groups.
Business that wish to participate should email neil@origamiorigami.com with information about what you’re doing (store discounts, music, etc.).
For more information, visit echoparkrising.com
On occasion I like to post about cool things filmed in Echo Park, but this one is particularly special because it’s the debut music video of our very, very good friends of Nude Data. Transplant Productions is the video production team extraordinaire, and we think they did a great job of highlighting some key Echo Park locations like Laveta Terrace, the bus stop at Sunset and Portia, Little Joy (briefly), and a local recording studio by the name of Out of Hand. The rest is Chinatown and Spring Street – all pretty cool locations.
So this is a bit of shameless promotion for my mates, but if you’ve got a music video or film of some kind that was filmed here in the neighborhood, drop us a line or share it on our Facebook page – we like to spread the love!
For the week of Tuesday, August 14 through Sunday, August 19
Tuesday
Antibalas, Very Be Careful, DJ Jeremy Sole @ The Echoplex
Whitey Morgan and the 78’s, Rainbow Jackson, Ben Reddell @ The Echo
Kelly Paige, Rene Breton, Divine Fits, Abe Vigoda @ Bootleg Theater
BUZZBAND’S.LA second tuesday with Fort King, College Kids, Doom & Gloom @ Lot 1 Cafe
Open mic @ Tribal Cafe
So Many Wizards @ Origami Vinyl
Wednesday
Ivan & Alyosha, Coby Brown, The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers @ The Echo
Dub Club @ The Echoplex
Mike Andrews, Lavender Diamond @ Bootleg Bar
Metal Hour @ The Short Stop
Vaudeville Comedy Show @ Sancho Art Gallery
Open mic @ Tribal Cafe
Thursday
A Celebration for Believer magazine’s music issue compilation cassette, Love Songs For Lamps With Laura Leif & Amber Phelps, The Memories, the Shivas, Mom, Katie & the Lichen, Calvin Johnson, Happy Noose, Sewn Leather @ The Echoplex
Cold Specks, RT N’ THE 44′S @ The Echo
BIG SIR featuring Lisa Papineau and Juan Alderete (Mars Volta), Alpine Decline, In The Valley Below @ Bootleg Bar
Free Show with Always Press Record, The Zermatts, Heart of Gold @ Lot 1 Cafe
Ghosts of Echo Park @ Taix Lounge
Open mic @ Tribal Cafe
Friday
Three Mile Pilot, Dramady @ The Echo
Papermade (TBA) @ Pehrspace
The Be Good Tanyas, Leftover Cuties, Willie Watson (Old Crow Medicine Show) @ Bootleg Theater
Morris Tepper, Tramp for the Lord @ Taix Lounge
Art show and music @ Tribal Cafe
Ugly Winner, Spaceships @ Origami Vinyl
Saturday
Shiner @ The Echoplex
Funky Sole @ The Echo
Hot TV, Le Cos, Traps PS, Whirlynn Pop @ Pehrspace
The Henry Clay People, Jail Weddings, Sanglorians @ Bootleg Bar
BalconyTV LA and MT Productions Presents: Wise Cub, Empire of One, King Washington, Armada @ Lot 1 Cafe
Belvedero @ Taix Lounge
Sunday
Grand Ole Echo with Dan Janisch
Jeremiah And The Red Eyes, Drunken Prayer, Cap Gun Hold Ups @ The Echo
Lee Fields & The Expressions, Boogaloo Assassins @ The Echoplex
Part Time Punks Presents: Seapony, Trixie’s Big Red Motorbike, Sweater Girls @ The Echo
Joy Kills Sorrow, The Well Pennies, The Dough Rollers, Busy Living @ Bootleg Bar
French Toast Comedy @ Taix Lounge
Open mic @ Tribal Cafe
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. Visit our Weekly Events page for more neighborhood events, shows and specials.
For the week of Monday, July 30 through Sunday, August 5
Monday
KXLU and Echo Present: Screening of Pass the Music followed by performances with Seasons, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Torches, Body Parts @ The Echoplex
Monday Night Residency: American Royalty, Jesse Woods, The Franks, The Miracals, Hit City USA DJs @ The Echo
Sean Carnage presents: Treasure Mammal, Clipping, Ezra Buchla/Corey Fogel, Essay, IE, Andrew Tholl with DJ sets from Vice Cooler, Kyle Mabson, and Jacob Cooper @ Pehrspace
JMSN, All Eyes West, Broadcaster, Astronautica (DJ) @ Bootleg Theater
Motown Mondays: Ghetto Blaster vs. Mom LA, special guest DJs Antwone, JPOE, Expo, Phatrick @ The Short Stop
Indians @ Origami Vinyl
Pam Shaffer, Tara Busch, The Singularity @ Lot 1 Café
Tuesday
International Pop Overthrow w/Jason Falkner + Cannoneers, New Maximum Donkey, The Hunting Accident, Lovers Drugs, SUNKEN SHIPS, King Washington @ The Echoplex
Origami Vinyl and KXLU Present: HOTT MT “Never Hate Again” Release Party with Oh Boy Les Mecs, Evrika, Cosmonauts plus very special guests
Oh Boy Les Mecs, Evrika, Cosmonauts @ The Echo
Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles, Natalie Angiuli @ Bootleg Theater
Southeast Engine, The Wild Reeds, Ethan Gold @ Bootleg Bar
Kraut Hop 3, Ben Cassorla (Belle Brigade), Denny Weston Jr @ Lot 1 Café
Wednesday
Alt J with Erika Spring (Au Revoir Simone), Something Died In Memphis @ The Echo
DUB CLUB @ The Echoplex
Mike Andrews, Nik Freitas @ Bootleg Bar
Open Mic Night with Victoria @ Tribal Café
Kevin Hull @ Taix Lounge
Brother, Pink Slime (PDX), release of Folk Owl Zine featuring readings by Chan Plet, Folk Owl Folk Zine Launch Party @ Lot 1 Café
Thursday
ONRA, Free The Robots, Matthewdavid, MNDSGN, Knxwledge @ The Echo
David Lynch hosts an evening with Chrysta Bell @ Bootleg Theater
Man Your Horse @ Origami Vinyl
Lila Lilamayi, Claire Cronin, Brandi Emma @ Taix Lounge
The Sensitive Side with Virginia Reed & TBA @ Lot 1 Café
Friday
89.9 KCRW Presents: New LA Folk Fest Kick Off Party with Beachwood Sparks, Tomorrows Tulips, DJ Kave-In (Kevin Fitzgerald) @ The Echo
Diamond in the Rough: – A tribute to Neil Diamond’s “Hot August Nights” @ The Echoplex
Skyline Pigeons, Ocean Grove, C O L O R @ Bootleg Bar
Carolyn Edwards Band, Adam Marslands Chaos Band @ Taix Lounge
First Friday by ORG @ Lot 1 Café
Saturday
Bootie LA Michael Jackson Mashup Night @ The Echoplex
Funky Sole @ The Echo
The Colourist, Kiev, Monsters Calling Home @ Bootleg Bar
Blonde Summer @ Origami Vinyl
DJ Thergood, Open Mic @ Tribal Café
Charles Ezell, Brian Spence @ Taix Lounge
Feed Your Head presents Saint Sea Hat, The WildBunch, John Seasons, Ryan Ellis @ Lot 1 Café
LA Folk Fest sponsored by Echo Country Outpost @ Zorthian Ranch
Sunday
Grand Ole Echo with Henry Wagons, The Hi-Ho’s, Stephen Sowan @ The Echo
The Drive Tour, College, Anoraak, Electric Youth @ The Echoplex
Part Time Punks Presents: DIIV, Part Time, Melted Toys @ The Echo
Warm Weather, Go West Young Man, Drug Cabin @ Bootleg Bar
Super Soul Sunday @ The Short Stop
French Toast Comedy @ Taix Lounge
Mimosapalooza: Ugly, Ugly Words, Lou Jane, Isabella Brent, Jayson Landon Marcus @ Lot 1 Café
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. Visit our Weekly Events page for more neighborhood events, shows and specials.
We can now count on a the city’s Metro rail service until 2:00 am starting tonight, giving non-drivers and alcohol drinkers a chance to hang out and explore Los Angeles a bit longer.
The extended hours will keep trains running every 20 minutes on Friday and Saturday nights on the Red/Purple, Blue, Expo, Green, and Gold lines. Additionally, the Orange bus line will continue until 2:40 am.
This means us Echo Parkians can go dine in Hollywood and catch the train back to Union Station after 11:30 pm. Or even from Long Beach, Culver City, and Pasadena. Our favorite train ride takes us from the Chinatown Station near Echo Park and up to Pasadena, just down the street from our favorite pub, Lucky Baldwin, where they serve some really strong beer and driving is not an option.
Blogdowntown quoted councilman José Huizar, saying, “In Downtown Los Angeles, Metro’s extended Friday, Saturday evening hours will allow more customers to enjoy the many exciting late-night venues we offer, as well encourage more people to use public transportation.”
The late-night rail hours will run on a trial basis, and may continue indefinitely depending on ridership numbers.
Click here for more information about the routes on the Metro website.
Another way to keep cool this summer and enjoy some family-friendly activities is not far from Echo Park in nearby Chinatown. Chinatown Summer Nights starts this weekend, July 28, and will continue for just two more Saturdays in August.
The event showcases food trucks, neighborhood shops, restaurants, bars and art galleries, along with cooking demonstrations and other cultural activities.
It’s a pretty easy bicycle commute from where I live in Echo Park, and they even offer free bike valet courtesy of Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. This weekend, there’s a cooking demonstration, family workshop with Chinese calligraphy, food trucks (including B Sweet Mobile, Crepe N Around, Flying Pig, Jogasaki Burrito, Munchie Machine, Pigs Feet Under, Tabom Truck, Trailer Park Truck, and Tropical Shave Ice), dancing and DJs.
And what’s a celebration of summer without beer? A craft beer garden on the corner of Meiling Way and Jung Jing Road will have Eagle Rock Brewery on deck with its Solidarity & Umlaut Kolsch brews, along with Golden Road Brewery featuring IPA and Hefe, and El Segundo Brewing Company featuring Blue House Pale Ale and White Dog IPA.
Click here for the Chinatown Summer Nights website to view the event map and full schedule.
Put this on your list of to-dos for Saturday: The Warehouse, located on the East (and up-and-coming) end of Echo Park, is throwing a remodel party!
Starting at 4:00 pm, there will be a huge sale on items in the store, music, food, drinks, and a demo class by sister store The Classroom LA. Stick around for a fashion show, store giveaways and a raffle starting at 7:00 pm.
The store will close starting August 1, with the plan to reopen with a new focus on unique items like estate vintage, local designers, high-end collections for stylists and rentals, and even an art gallery and event space.
Owner Justin Warwick and staff are very involved in the community, not to mention they throw great parties. They were also featured in a recent Echo Park Patch story about Echo Park’s East end, saying, “I feel like we’ve been really well received in Echo Park. I still have people that shop with me that shopped in my first store, three years ago here, that was a hole in the wall that was literally 500 square feet. Now we’re in 3,200 square feet and it’s exciting to have those same people still come back. They’re the reason we’re still open we couldn’t do this without the community.”
And we were one of those shoppers back in the day, so it’s great to see the store grow.
Click here for the event page and for more info. See you there!
The Echo Park Film Center kicks off its Filmmobile Summer Screening Series on Friday with a silent film tribute to Mack Sennett in honor of the 100th anniversary of Keystone Studios. The Studios, which was located where the Thriftee Storage is now on Glendale Boulevard and in what was then called Edendale, was the first silent film studio in Los Angeles. The Filmmobile will project a total of six silent films throughout the summer, so what better way to kick it off than at the actual location?
Tomorrow nights “A Solute to Sennett” includes special guest Brent E. Walker, author of Mack Sennett’s Fun Factory, and features The Hollywood Kid, Mabel’s Dramatic Career and Edendale Follies. The screening starts at 8:00 pm at 1710 Glendale Boulevard (across the street from the Jack in the Box). Food, free, and open to all!
Thanks to LAist for circulating this online gem: Some dude’s rant that, though hilarious and fairly well-written, describes Echo Park and Silver Lake (note the spelling on the latter) as self-absorbed tomboys without brains. And by well-written, we mean compared to all the other non-nonsensical, misspelled and downright bat-shit crazy stuff that comes to us via the Internets.
Here’s what he thinks us Echo Park girls are all about:
I used to have crushes on arty girls, like those that are in abundance in Silverlake and Echo Park. Those girls with their slender, tomboyish figures. Until realizing that this subgroup I refer to as “indie kids” are not like the people I met in college at all. It is painful to sit in a coffeeshop and listen to these sorts of people as they continually spout out cliche hipster nonsense that they seem to think is intellectual thought, but isn’t. It’s like the entire generation that these late-20s, early-30s come from are completely emotionally detached, intellectually stunted, and politically and socially disengaged — but they somehow remain completely self-absorbed. I mean, self-absorption was once solely the domain of the intellectual and artistic elite — Einstein and Picasso, for instance — but has now filtered down to those who don’t even have a reason to be self-absorbed. Hell, with the seeming nonexistence of rational thought, pragmatism, emotional maturity, or any sense of the world outside, I’m not even convinced there is a self to be absorbed in.
After seeing places in this world where people live in tin shacks with no electricity or running water and literally eat the sun-baked gravel for survival of the barest degree, I find the lifestyle and values of this group of people reprehensible. And the fact that there are so many publications and facets of the media — like the LA Weekly, for instance — that seem to not only cater to this subgroup, but lionize and proselytize about the shitty music and faux-art that they produce must be sure sign of the impending downfall of the U.S., if not the Western world as a whole.
We here have been given everything, there is no excuse for ignorance and apathy. None. Take your shitty music with no balls, your mumblecore films and sub-Warhol pop art bullshit and go back to Oregon, Washington or Minnesota. And tell your hipster douche bag boyfriends to buy a razor, a comb, and some pants that didn’t come off the girl’s rack – you fucktards. I’ll be laughing my ass off when you’re working in the mines for your Chinese overlords. Thanks for pissing an entire generation away.
So, Mr. “To The Girls of Echo Park”: Not all Echo Park girls are “emotionally detached, intellectually stunted, and politically and socially disengaged.” In fact, it sounds like that’s what you’re attracting with your negative attitude, so perk up and get over it. If you think too hard about what other people are doing with their lives, your brain will explode.
For those of you lucky enough to be outdoors today, the “rainbow in the clouds” event produced some impressive photos all over the social media networks. A savvy Facebook fan pointed out that the phenomenon is known as a “circumhorizontal arc,” or “fire clouds.”
A Wikipedia article has educated us on the phenomenon: Taking place usually when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, producing not fire nor a rainbow, but reflections from ice crystals in high cirrus clouds. This one wasn’t a full arc, but just a small, patchy fragment.
Check out the photos collected from various sources and followers below!
Near Chango. Instagram photo via fcvc
From the LA Dodgers Facebook fan page.
Twitter photo via @yyys0
Instagram photo via elphcstl
Flickr photo via funkgab
Tonight, the LAPD is having a sobriety checkpoint on Sunset Boulevard at the corner of Reservoir from 8:00 pm to 2:00 am. In addition to checking for those driving under the influence, they will be making sure each driver has a valid driver’s license.
There will be an increased amount of traffic because the Dodgers play the Padres starting at 6:10 pm.
Stay safe, leave the car at home if you plan on drinking!