Three Louies. Comic con in NELA.

The Three Louies in Grand Performance

Michael Sedano

Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles is a grand venue but that’s not where audiences enjoyed The Three Louies in a rare appearance, sponsored by Grand Performances.

California Plaza, down the street from Disney Hall and the Music Center, is an oasis of water and granite linking the glass towers of Bunker Hill’s Wells Fargo Plaza. Here, at the southern slope of Bunker Hill, Grand Performances hosts its free series. I’d visited, in past years, to enjoy a collection of Robert Graham sculptures exhibited in the tropical atrium of a skyscraper. But I’d never thought of the area as a destination.

For The Three Louies performance, parking worked out to be free. Although Grand Performances worked a deal to reduce the $30.00 parking fee to $8.00, when I fed my validated ticket into the automated cashier machine, it waived any fee.

The Three Louies come from a variety of literary arts. Luis Torres is familiar to millions of radio listeners who remember hearing Torres’ familiar baritone voice signing off, “This is Luis Torres, KNX News.” Luis J. Rodríguez writes poetry, short fiction, and novels, runs for governor of California, is the sitting 'Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, and operates Tía Chucha Press and cultural center in Pacoima. Louie Pérez is familiar the world over as a lyricist and founding musician of Los Lobos.

None of them is a spring chicken any more. They are elders, veteranos. Rucos, Torres emphasized. Each has been around a lot. And seen stuff, and done stuff. Louie has lived sixty-some years with a raconteur’s eye for detail, a writer’s discipline an artist’s determination. And each has a mouth.

People want to hear what these vatos say and think, about things that matter, or just to watch them pull some pendejadas out of their hats. Whichever comes first.

The stage protrudes into a reflection pond where two planter islands form a "back wall." In the audience, people claim all the space they need on the wide concrete terraces that make up a 300-seat amphitheater. The plaza spreads beyond the glistening surface where a larger amphitheater stands unused, an empty expanse of curving granite benches. Pedestrians course through the complex beyond. California Plaza is a fabulous site, full of promise for big events.

The night’s Grand Performance comes as part of a series called Evolución L.A.tino. The series,  according to publicity, explores Latino and Chicano culture, power, influence and experiences from a local and global perspective through music, theater, film, culinary arts, and expert panel/lectures. Supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and Sony Pictures Entertainment, the programming reflects solid leadership from the organization’s Executive Director, Michael Alexander, who emceed the evening.

Michael Alexander, Grand Performances Executive Director

Staged for the conversation, the production values are high with effective mic’ing and crisp loudspeakers, beautifully lighted simplicity against the minimalist landscape set a contemplative mood.

There’s a bit of theatricality when each Louie enters to take a chair behind an ankle-high table bristling with stubby water bottles. The conversation follows its own path until the three Louies arrive at their agreed-upon close; a tribute reading of the iconic Chicano anthem, José Montoya’s “El Louie.” It's a heartfelt reading that could have used more energy and one more run-through.

Pérez opens the night reading an extended poem. This sets the tone for the audience: The Three Louies are going to talk, they’ll stop to read stuff they've written, they’ll trade remarks. It's supposed to be fun.

As the three begin to relax they begin to shut out the audience, strip off the cloak of their notoriety, and talk as three artists who’ve known each other and shared similar experiences. It's what the people have come for.

Luis J. Rodríguez

Luis Torres

Luis, Luis J., and Louie take turns with the conversational ball, keeping to their seats, reaching out in widespread gestures. Animated and engaged with one another, they are aware of the setting. To ease their way out of the stultifying awareness of audience, the Louies talk about audiences. It’s a fascinating subject they treat too briefly before segueing to a discussion of growing old, memory and physical deterioration.

With a laugh. As when Louie Pérez doffs his baseball cap and tousles his grey greña, remarking he'd grown into a cue-tip.

Louie Pérez, right; Luis J. Rodríguez

This is what the audience has come for. Let the sharp wit, word play and elegant expression flow.

Discussion turns early to Donald Trump before quickly moving on. The candidate sucks out all the joy that motivates satire, no amount of hyperbole nor reductio can challenge the bathos of the New York developer’s ethos. Liberated from that obligatory detour, the Louies let themselves wander with increasing relaxation.

With a willing audience, a listener can think of the night as watching three vatos charlando around the backyard fire, drinking spring water, talking about the things that veteranos talk about. With a difference. Each performs a monologue. Torres reads an essay, Rodríguez a poem, Pérez a poem. The breaks structure the talk into its first act, the second, the grand finale.

Enthusiam raises the stakes for the Louies. Laughter says “they got it!” and this sets the Louies to reach into the general outline they carry, seeking more resonant expressions. For the audience, the wonder comes from impromptu eloquence. Insightful spontaneity yields statements that delight the ear as they touch cultural engrams, like word pronunciation, or Pérez’ story on the Azteca origin of the chancla. As the conversation got up to speed, a Mexican dicho seemed to spark in their minds, más sabe el diablo por viejo que por Diablo.

In this case, a montón of accomplishments helps inform the night’s platica. Torres freelances, writing essays, op-eds, authoring books. Rodríguez’ stint as Poet Laureate of Los Angeles winds up in the Fall. He’s writing, editing, and publishing. Pérez traveled the world making music for generations of music listeners.

Denise Sandoval, Ph.D., is Professor of Chicano Studies at Cal State Northridge

Closing out the evening, the three Louies welcomed Denise Sandoval to moderate the Q&A. Sandoval, an expert on lowriding, didn't get to do much. The ever-loquacious Louies took questions and tributes and ran with them.

Some enchanted evening it was. Upoming at Grand Performances is an escabeche workshop and music from Mexcrissy.

The Louies wrap the evening's talk.

California Center and Grand Performances have joined the roster of LA arts destinations. Public transportation can get you there if you're able-bodied. Arrive downtown LA early and plan to stay late after parking on Olive Street. Wear sturdy footwear. Take the elevator to the plaza level and plan to walk along Grand Avenue. You might catch a recital at the Colburn School, or enjoy a stroll through the plaza at the Museum of Contemporary Art on your way to Disney Hall, where you can grab an espresso at the REDCAT coffee house, or a snack at Disney Hall.

Frst ever, Highland Park COMIC CON Comes to Avenue 50 Studio

Featuring comic book publishers & artists, The Highland Park Comic Con is co-sponsored by The Latino Comics Expo and will exhibit the work almost twenty artists and graphic novel creators.

Click here for link to Avenue 50 Studio.

Upcoming Casí Now! Poets Workshop.

La Bloga friend Vanessa Acosta of Cultural Arts Tours & Workshops will be sponsoring an extensive series of workshops and festivals for writers and artists. The first workshop event comes this weekend at Church of the Angels at 1100 Avenue 64, Pasadena, CA 91105.

Naomi Quiñonez, noted poet and scholar, conducts the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. workshop. Enrollment continues through the day of the event, but reservations strongly advised as Dr. Quiñonez prefers a small group and will close registration at 15 poets.

Writers who have been writing poetry and are comfortable with their voice and satisfied with their themes and style are encouraged to attend. The workshop will help writers develop their language use as a tool to create stronger and more powerful metaphors, symbolism and imagery and to create awareness of how language serves to establish tone, enhance themes and improve style.

For details, click the images below, or call / email Vanessa at 323.300.0060 / vacosta916@yahoo.com .

La Palabra Poets

Michael Sedano

"4th Sunday of Every Month," the email taunts me. Taunts, because invariably my good intentions of attending a La Palabra Monthly poetry event run afoul of some other commitment. I have subscription seats to Sunday concerts for LA Phil at Disney Hall and Coleman Chamber Music Association at Cal Tech. Often our tickets fall on a fourth Sunday. 

Or sometimes I start an early morning project that grows like topsy into the afternoon, and 2:00 p.m. comes and I'm covered in dirt or chicken poop and would make a poor seat mate to some hapless poetry lover.

And poetry lovers are whom one meets at La Palabra's monthly poetry celebration. At any rate, that's how it turned out for me when I was able to get cleaned up early enough on Sunday the 23d of November (tempus fugit!), to arrive unfashionably late.

I'm so late that I don't get a program and can show only the portraits of the gente reading their well-crafted work. I cannot tell you the names of these poets.

La Palabra evidently holds Open Mic readings to launch the afternoon, followed by scheduled poets. The Emcee pictured here with a close-up of her Open Mic sign-up board is most likely the Co-Host of La Palabra, Laura Longoria.

Despite the sign-ups of three men and a woman, one of the poets either did not perform, or, owing to my tardiness, she read before my arrival, and I missed her work.

So I am treated to readings by the three Open Mic men. It's an intimate setting, a white-walled space with twenty or so plastic chairs arranged three rows deep. Being a photographer, I zig and zag myself through the chairs to take an empty seat in the front row. The space is small enough that every word would likely be audible from the back row. This adds to the enjoyment of the verse, not straining to make out the words.

 

One gentleman, weara a "Poetry Daily" t-shirt publicizing the website of the same name.

Another reader announces he's just written the piece he'll read. He reads his work off the back of the program. 

Dog gone it, I wish I could tell you the name of the Cubana who reads several pieces about her cultura and growing up in Habana with Orishas and Yemeya and Babalaos. She weaves an entertaining narrative between her formal pieces, playing a vinyl disc and a CD that illustrate her work. Fabulously entertaining, she doesn't, or cannot, stay at the lectern but moves about. At one point she dances to the infectious beat of island drumming.

Next up is Don Newton. I can tell you his name because he's one of the sponsors of La Palabra, and Don's and Emcee Laura's name is on the publicity posted at Avenue 50 Studio's homepage, the host of the event. Don shares some autobiographical work recounting events growing up in New Jersey, Mexico, and Brazil.





It's clear that Don and la Cubana are close friends. I'm sure their bonds aren't the sole reason they read today. Obviously both enjoy the process of reading and performing their poetry.

I am relieved I finally had the opportunity of a free fourth Sunday. Here all this time I'd been castigating myself thinking I was missing a grand experience. And I was right, La Palabra is a grand experience, not to be passed by under ordinary circumstances.

Now if the Phil or Coleman would just cooperate and not schedule competing events, I'd have no conflicts and could happily attend every La Palabra. Who knows, maybe next time I have a conflict, I'll give away my concert tickets and sign up for the Open Mic.

Flor Y Canto Progress Report

I spent last week at the University of California, Riverside Tomás Rivera Library Media Center, digitizing the library's collection of U-matic video cassettes. This is a time-consuming process that is 25% completed. Next week I'll post a few snippets of work, for example, Omar Salinas, whose readings would have been the ideal accompaniment to Karen Harlow McClintock's touching eulogy of her friendship with the poet.

I am happy--make that overjoyed--to report that USC, as the Copyright owner, has granted me permission to make these copies and share them with La Bloga and Read! Raza visitors.  Rest assured I'm no Digital Millenium Act scofflaw.

I'll be conducting  a workshop in "reading your stuff" at next year's National Latino Writers Conference, and am integrating selections from some of these 1973 Festival de Flor Y Canto readings as part of my lesson plan.

With the creation of DVDs of these historic performances, planning for the 2010 Festival de Flor Y Canto is making great progress. Click here for the Call for Writers to that event. If you're an alumna alumnus of that 1973 Festival, please contact me for an invitation to the 2010 reunion!

That's the final Tuesday of November 2008. It's the week for tofu turkey loaf, if you're so inclined, or real roasted bird. My grandmother, Emilia Macias, was the best poultry dresser of the Inland Empire. People used to drive from all over southern California to DeYoung's Poultry in Redlands to get a bird prepared by my grandmother. Granma, you wouldn't recognize what they do to coconos nowadays.

Happy Thanksgiving, whether you're having tamales or turkey or tofu. See you next week, December 2, with some of those 1973 readers.

Ate, les wachamos,

mvs

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Two Bits, One Sad Piece, and Poets from the Kansas Heartland.

Review: Primera Pagina. Poetry from the Latino Heartland.
Kansas City, MO: 2008
ISBN 978-0-9791291-1-7

Michael Sedano

A few weeks ago, at the National Latino Writers Conference, I had the pleasure of hearing several of the women read their work included in this welcome anthology coming to us out of Kansas City, Missouri. These are effective, competent voices that fit well into the encompassing genre of "Chicana Chicano" arts.

"Latino" in the subtitle lets the collection cover a lot of ground, but principally this collection features Chicana Chicano poets. Which is to say, the poems reflect many of the themes and images that have populated poesía chicana over the years.

Among the preponderant themes echoed in this collection is the "lost and ruined homeland" that evokes places like barrios or Aztlán. Here, the subtitle, "from the Latino Heartland" places all the works into that geographic perspective. We may write in Kansas, the theme suggests, but we're from someplace else, the same place as the rest of you, the rest of us.

One expression of place is Gabriela N. Lemmons' "Kansas," where the poet declares, "I know when they harvest winter wheat,/ when corn needs to be planted, and how/ close to God people think they are. / But I don't know one multi-tongued latino, / where I can buy pumpkin empanadas, / dulce de leche and De La Rosa Mazapán. / Whether La Llorona roams in white or black /in these parts and what creeks she frequents? / I cannot remember how/ a wetback smells anymore, / soon after he crosses el Río Grande-- / the vein of my roots meandering / in hues of azul."

Lemmons adopts a tactic of footnoting all her Spanish phrases for the English-only reader. Empanadas (italicized in the note, not in the poem) are pies; dulce de leche is caramel; mazapan (sans diacritic) is peanut butter candy; La Llorona is the legendary wailing woman (Mexican Tale); azul is blue.

Another commonly read theme, the Anglo as devil, the exploitation of gente by officialdom, comes in for an interesting twist in Chato Villalobos' "Brown Eyes in Blue". The twist is the poet writes in the voice of a police officer who believes his presence brings security and justice to his pueblo. Aware of the contradiction, the poet writes, "I hesitate before looking in the mirror / That's when visions of Malinche appear / Because nothing really looks out of place / Until I see the brown skin of my own face." Pride of position overcomes fear of contradiction as the poem resolves with the thought, "The barrio calls for me I can't refuse / 'Cause I know they'll be safe with brown eyes in blues."

Not every writer attempts to put an ethnic or cultural gloss on their work. For instance, José Faus' work covers 28 pages of work that defies its placement in a "Latina Latino" collection. In contrast, Xánath Caraza writes facing-page bilingual poems. Speaking of language, English is the mode of expression for these pages.

Primera Página is a delightful collection of relatively new voices--the opening poet is San Diego's Taco Shop Poet, Tomas Riley. Aside from the pleasure of finding promising new poets, I found an excellent approach to these poets is reading the women first, then the men. An opportunity for dialog emerges from this approach. Some women expose the brutality of abusive men, as when Linda Rodriguez' "P.O.W." recounts the savagery of sexual abuse of a 9-year old girl by her father. The men are oblivious to these charges. To them, women are objects for play and seduction, as in Andrés Rodriguez' "Chronicle of a Salvadorian Girl," whose saving grace is the man and woman are clueless together. I would think the follow-up volume will bring these disparate points of view into confrontation. Since the anthology is product of a collective, I hope they'll do this and let us see what emerges.


One Bit: Printmaking and BBQ in Highland Parque.

Grand Opening

Sunday, June 22, 2008 @ 5:00 pm



Sonia Romero’s Printmaking Studio




Museum of Traffic, LLC



 and 

Launching of community partner LACommons’s website (www.lacommons.org)





Sunday, June 22, 2008 starting at 5:00 pm



Please join us for a barbeque/barbacoa afternoon as we celebrate the new at the Avenue 50 Studio
 
Food ~ Music ~ Art

Plus, a demonstration of printmaking by Sonia Romero
 


We invite you to join us and bring a refreshment or food in celebration



Avenue 50 Studio(s), Inc.

131-135 No. Avenue 50

Highland Park, CA
90042

323/258-1435


Bit Two: Latinos in Lotusland reading and book signing.
Among the major independent booksellers on the eastside of the Los Angeles basin is Vroman's, in Pasadena. The two locations don't stock a lot of Chicana Chicano literature, so it was a pleasant surprise to read that the store was to host an evening of writers featured in the Daniel Olivas-edited anthology.

It was a pleasantly full house of readers and writers who attended to enjoy some stimulating presentations. Most encouraging was the energetic jostle after the readings and Q&A. Vroman's must have sold a goodly number of the increasingly popular title. I hope the attendance and sales persuade Vroman's to host more Chicana Chicano Latina Latino writers.

Sandra Ramos O’Briant. Lana Turner Slept Here.
O'Briant clearly practiced her reading, plus she's an effective reader. But beyond that, O'Briant went to the extra effort to pare her story down to what she felt was a manageable time, and read from a typescript rather than the book. Two strangers in a chance encounter share painful marriage stories and learn that caring for others has a price, and it's probably worth it.

Victorio Barragán. Daylight Dreams.
Barragan shared his first published work, a tale of bitter irony and crashing expectations. A shy man has admired a cute woman who rides his bus. He's worked up a romantic fantasy about the stranger. Today he will talk to her. In his dreams she will instantly respond and a long, happy relationship will come of it. Dashed. A slick jerk steals his woman from him and the bus pulls away with the woman happily flirting with the other guy. Carpe diem, loverboy.

Conrad Romo. The Cement God.
Romo's powerful voice enhances this gem of a boy-fatherhood story. Capturing small details of a boy's front stoop conversation with his grandfather, a master cement finisher, the tale sparkles with genuine warmth. The story favorably evokes the powerful cement-pouring scene from Richard Vasquez' novel, Chicano. In fact, Olivas has included that scene as the final entry of the anthology.

Lisa Alvarez. Sweet Time.
Alvarez' mother-daughter-stepsister story carries the tension of a mother's final stay in the hospital. The writer successfully conveys the distance that grows between families split apart by serial monogamy and alcoholism. Alvarez' dry humor gives the story added zest, transforming what could be a dreary tale of regret into something positive.

Daniel Olivas. Bender.
Olivas' metaphorical critter story has a lot of sexuality packed into such a tight space. Reprinted from his collection Devil Talk, it's a gem of perplexity that will have readers going back to page one to reassure themselves they've grasped what the writer told them. "Bender," as the other stories read that evening, is a delight.

I'd like to encourage authors to develop fuller eye contact with the house. O'Briant's strategy of practicing and using a typescript allow her the luxury of pulling eyes off the page and looking out at her listeners. Too often a reader briefly glances up--I wonder if they even see what's before them--then glues the eyes to the page. Lecterns are unfriendly instruments. The slanted desktop makes it difficult to display the book. Any photo of an author reading will benefit from including the cover in the shot.

A Sadness in This Piece.

This email comes from Oscar Garza, Editor In Chief of Tu Ciudad Magazine.

Friends, sorry for the mass e-mail, but I have a lot of people to reach out to. If you have the June/July issue of Tu Ciudad—our third anniversary issue—hang on to it: it's the last one that will be published. Last Thursday, Emmis Communications announced that it is "suspending" publication of the magazine, which means that they're pulling the plug. Emmis is not to be blamed because, in fact, the company went far beyond the financial commitment they originally made to Ciudad. We simply couldn't sell enough advertising to succeed. For the past 14 months our Founder/Publisher, Jaime Gamboa, has been seeking additional investors, but his efforts—which continued even until last week—have been unsuccessful.

The media business is undergoing a revolution. Print, in particular, is in trouble (e.g., Los Angeles Times). The notion of killing trees to print words and pictures is increasingly archaic and expensive—as is the cost of mailing a magazine, which we were doing (for free) to 85,000 households.

That said, I am proud of what we produced at Ciudad and for the contribution we made to Latino cultural history. The most common response I heard from readers was: "Finally! I've been waiting for a magazine like this for a long time." And it was especially touching and bittersweet to hear such sentiments during the past few weeks while knowing that our possible demise was imminent.

My own future is undetermined at the moment. I have a few options and I'll let you know where I land. (This e-mail address will be operable until June 20. After that you can reach me at: oggarza@sbcglobal.net.) But the first thing I'm going to do is wean myself off Tylenol PM, which I got hooked on to combat sleepness nights of magazine-related worry. (Maybe you'll see me on VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab.”)

One of my favorite magazines is No Depression, which celebrates all styles of American roots music. Coincidentally, it just published its final issue—a victim of two industries that are in flux. That magazine took its title from the Carter Family song, "No Depression in Heaven." And I too will take my cue from the song: there's no depression in the closing of Ciudad, only pride and gratitude.

Thanks to all of you for being loyal readers and supporters.


That's it for June's third Tuesday. Next week, I'll be looking at Akashic's Trinidad Noir, another in the publisher's growing noir series. So far, so good, but then, I've just started it.

ate,
mvs

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Pieces & Bits

Michael Sedano

Better Late Than Never - Rudolfo Anaya Bless Me, Ultima Sculpture Park Opens in Santa Rosa New Mexico

La Bloga received an email from Chuck Braithwaite, Editor of the Great Plains Quarterly, whose issue on the television program "Deadwood", received

accolades from the author of Bless Me, Ultima. Anaya appended the P.R. announcing the March 1, 2008 dedication of the writer's and novel's eponymous sculpture garden, including a photo of the writer and sculptor (left, right).

The announcement describes the sculpture, by Reynaldo Rivera with an eye to what visitors to the park will see: The “Bless Me, Ultima” public artwork consists of a two-part bronze sculpture - one being a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of Rudolfo Anaya and the other a bronze bas-relief plaque set in a rustic adobe wall depicting historic representations of Santa Rosa, Route 66 and Guadalupe County, with the “Bless Me, Ultima” characters – Ultima and Antonio at the center of the piece. The landscape park will also feature a natural stone waterfall and a shallow pool with a golden carp tile mosaic, benches and sidewalks.

Next time you take a trip on Route 66, plan to cruise by Santa Rosa NM's Park Lake, where, near the north entrance, you'll come across the sculpture park. For more information, contact Richard R. Delgado, 575-472-3763.

Clarification on Readership for How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Children / Cómo Criar Niños Emocionalmente Sanos.

Last week I shared news of a project I am engaged in, recording Dr. Gerald Newmark's important and useful book into an audiobook, in an effort to increase its accessibility.

In our conversation, Dr. Newmark had recounted a few anecdotes of people telling him they "hadn't gotten around to reading it yet." We'd discussed that many people are hooked on what Marie Winn calls "the plug-in drug" and have lost interest in reading books, and our mutual belief that our culture is growing away from books and toward other media.

Out of this nexus came my unspecific remarks that gente were not reading the book after gaining possession of one. The Newmarks were upset that such an impression had been miscommunicated, after all, over 300,000 copies are in circulation, and the book provides the core for numerous parenting programs across the nation.

Of course folks are reading the book! But more need to read it, hence the audiobook project I described last week. Much as I bemoan people not reading, there's no reason not to make the information available through their ears and the four CD discs comprising each set. After all, a book in the CD player is worth one on the "haven't gotten around to it yet" list.

Sometimes It's Better Not to Pay Attention to the Ads.

So I'm reading through my electronic NY Times and click on the horror story from Austria, a freak imprisoned his daughter in a basement, impregnating her multiple times. I'm about to click away from the text when I notice the ad bug running below the email this link, to the right of the text. "Love knows no boundaries" it reads. I wonder if this is an example of technology run amok context placement, where the ad robot "reads" text in the article and places advertising congruent with the lexical data. I browse a few more stories in the Grey Lady, and different stories have different ad bugs. So who knows how this happens, but criminy, I'd think the Times might want to hire an editor to avoid such unfortunate ironies.

Oaxaca Wood Carver Jesus Sosa Calvo at Avenue50Studio. Speaking of sculpture, Oaxaca produces some of the most delightful exemplars of sculpture. These critters beg to be handled, smiled at, given to someone who deserves them. When I received an email Highland Park's (Los Angeles) Avenue 50 Studio was hosting a trunk show featuring the work of master wood carver Jesus Sosa Calvo, I looked at my calendar with trepidation, hoping not to find a Taper show or Disney concert or some other obligatory fete that would keep me from enjoying the array of delights sure to be seen at Avenue 50.

I arrived early enough to take my time enjoying the current exhibit, "Natura: Mythology, Spirit, Memory," featuring paintings and assemblages by El Lay artists Pat Gomez, Karen Bonfigli, and Andrés Montoya. Intriguing work like this deserves leisurely involvement of eye and mind.

Jesus Sosa Calvo arrayed dozens of totally affordable pieces. I bought the two silver colored gatas shown in the upper left quadrant of the photomontage above. And as I was driving home I regretted not buying several of the gatitas in that photo. I have no idea why I didn't; maybe because the silver cats had so arrested my eye.

Sosa carves his figuras de madera copal. I asked if it were the same copal tree that gives incense, and he replied yes. But there's a difference. The copal negro is the resin-rich one that yields the aromatic sap. The copal blanco produces less resin and is the wood Sosa uses for his sculpture.

I asked him if he had access to the internet so I could email him the photos and he replied "it's an internet world." Of course he has correo electronico at home in San Martin Tilcajete, Ocotlan, Oax.

Folks planning to attend one of Avenue 50's outstanding events, such as the 4th Sunday of every month's poetry reading, "La Palabra," or the Saturday, May 3, 2008 poetry event, The Black/Brown Dialogues: Inspiration House Poetry Choir at 7:00 p.m., should arrive early enough to park behind the gallery, as the Avenue 50 events attract energetic crowds. From Avenue 50's website: Commissioned by Kathy Gallegos, Director of Avenue 50 Studio, “The Black/Brown Dialogues”, featuring Inspiration House PoetryChoir, honors healthy and ethical cultural dialogue between the African and Latino communities, at one of Latino LA's most important independent galleries. Using the Inspiration House PoetryChoir format, poets read their work while master musicians improvise musical responses to the poetry, blending words, intonations, audience responses, and dynamic silence into a sonic tapestry that's entrancing and exhilarating. The poetry series is curated by Peter J. Harris, artistic director, Inspiration House, which produces work dedicated to leaving its audiences renewed and recommitted to cultural work that contributes to the creation of a humane society.

Read! Raza. Buy! Raza. Support Your Local Indie Bookseller / Support Your Local Raza Bookseller!


Yesterday's Daniel Olivas column carried the dismal tidings of the impending shuttering of Orange County's Libreria Martinez. For most small businesses, the only remedy to this type of bad news is sales. People need to patronize these businesses and buy books there. Not at Amazon, not at some internet joint, but at a brick-and-mortar concern, or the internet outlet of a real bookseller, like Libreria Martinez.

Please comment, tell La Bloga's readers where you buy your books in your community. The greatest resource in your city could be around the corner from a reader who doesn't know it.

If you're in Los Angeles, you will want to buy your books at places like IMIX in Eagle Rock, or out in the Valley, at Tia Chucha. Support your local bookseller, buy books, buy art, buy curios, buy jewelry, buy coffee...whatever they're selling, be a customer. Please.

So it goes, this April's final Tuesday.

It's springtime. La Chickenada continues productive outlay, a reliable four brown blanquillos daily.

My Salmon Epiphyllums are blooming with spectacular gratification. the red epis are covered with blossoms promising a fabulous next two weeks' show.

Today, the first Aster opened a deep magenta bud. Giant blooms coming this weekend. And if California's 90 degree days continue unabated, I'll wilt as the flowers thrive. All in all, a worthwhile tradeoff.

See you next week!
mvs

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