Moby I Feel It (Synthe Mix)

LOOOOVE this Moby classc. Going home and making a mix with this and other goodies

Elyisian Park

I grew up in Elysian Park. My mom's family had a home there and were forced out for development that never happened.

Then Dodger stadium came and took out others from the hills surrounding the park. I would be told stories of living there, the ghosts, the fun, the freedom, the people and animals.

I rode my bike as a kid all over that park. Hiked all its trails. Would have beers at the top above the reservoir or on the bridge high over the 110. It's a refuge full of memories, an escape where I can let my mind wander, and empty out what I don't need, sharpen what I'm looking for clarity on, and a good work out area when I need to get my heart and lungs pumping.

I have shared many great times alone, with friends and family there. These are pics from one path I recently walked. To all the people who've shared time with me there and others who know what I'm talking about, these little sights are for you. The park never lets me down.


The start or bottom of this path.














You can see a snow capped mountain, past the grass and trees

















Wide trails and thin ones


















The top and the flowers

Watching "Watchmen"

It was a premonition that I was defending my Star Trek love to Fran over at the Brooklyn and Boyle offices, hours before El Random Hero and I went to catch the 12:31 am screening of "Watchmen." Fran was picking on us for being such geeks and I said "You have no I idea how deep the geek hole I go." I admitted I had a Star Trek shirt and mentioned that I should go home and get it to wear tonight, just to up the geekiness of the night.

After eating at El Gran Burritto we got to the Arclight a 1/2 before our show to take in the sights of the opening of this much anticipated film.





As soon as we walked in my homie Brent came up said "Hi" and told me that Zachary Quinto was there to watch the movie. Ofcourse I told EHR that Sylar / Spock was in the house and too keep an eye out.

Near the cafe / bar they had on display three minature models of the USS Enterprise which are a part of an art show celebrating Star Trek. The art show will have some 40 different models from different artist interpreting the Enterprise. This one said it had Aztec influence. I don't see it, but it's dope nonetheless.















Next we took in some of the costumes from the "Watchmen" and some of the peeps dressed like characters from the film.

















We still had some time so we posted up where we could get a view of the room and soon enough Zachary Quinto was right in front of us.























I noticed next to Quinto was JJ Abrams, the creator of LOST. OMG
I immediately sent ERH to ask for his photo too and then I saw that Quinto was kickin it with some other pretty peeps. I asked Abrams if that was is Kirk, he said "Yes that it is my Spock, Kirk and Uhura." WOW the new Star Trek crew was in the house!

I stood there mentally kicking myself for not having put on my Star Trek shirt. I could have gone up to them and said something like "Hey I know we are undercover here, you know prime directive and all, but just letting you know, I'm with you." Then I could have flash them my shirt!

I once crashed a Midnight Ridazz ride dedicated to Star Wars while wearing my Star Trek shirt. A lot of people were mad at me. I would just respond with "When you guys figure out how to time travel, mess with the space time continuum and figure out transporters, talk to me. Til then I have restrictions on how much I can interact with primitive societies." Geek on ese.

Oh yeah the "Watchmen" movie. I liked it. I expected a lil more. The fans will like it. I don't know how many peeps who like a decent detective story with super hero costumes are out there. I hope there are a lot and that they come out and see the film.

Frank Del Rio 50 th B-day

A couple of weeks ago I went to Circus for an invite only b-day dinner party for legendary LA DJ Frank Del Rio.

Del Rio's DJ sets in the mid 1980's to 1990's at Circus Disco where he was the resident, as well as many other locations, were what helped shape DJ mixing styles and programming for many DJs.

He was one of the big name DJs that was both illusive and ubiquitous as only the best DJs are.

In high school I would hear about how he blended this song or that. After school I would run home to try to do the mix myself, if I even had the records. All us high school DJs, at that time, were in awe of him. To run into him, at Exodus Records in Montebello or at his record Cut Above Records on Melrose, was like bumping into a celebrity. Any record he said was cool, we would buy two copies. He was also one of the first remixers to come out of L.A. and was one of the first Latino names we got to see on the records us DJs were buying up in stacks. He let us know how far this DJ thing could go.

Of course there were other DJs we looked up to like Poison and Nemesis, but Del Rio was a resident at Circus and only the best DJs played there. Martin Rodriguez, Victor Flores, Henry De La Pe~a and Del Rio were the big four in our parlay. They set the standard for what a good DJ sounded like from spinning at Circus. To be honest us youngsters only heard mixed tapes or heard stories from people who were old enough to go to Circus.

The first time I heard Del Rio was at a 'Rock of the 80's' at Pico Rivera Sports Arena. He plugged in a reel to reel and started off with the theme from "The Twilight Zone." The rest was a seamless mix of pieces of songs I knew mixed with a lot stuff I didn't. Mind blowing, but I didn't know what the reel to reel was for.

Years later I heard him at The Red Onion in West Covina on two turntables. The night was going ok, the earlier DJ couldn't gel the crowd. As soon as Del Rio got on the sound got better, louder and the floor erupted. He had two copies of "Knock On Wood" and was looping the opening drums going back and forth between the copies. Flawless.

Years later Richard and I invited him to judge our annual Power Tools DJ contest. We hadn't seen or heard about Del Rio in a while and were so stoked that he showed up. We were more nervous than the contestants. I don't even remember who won that year.

Then Frank Del Rio disappeared.

Rumors of him living in Tijuana, going Christian, dieing, hiding out, selling cars; spread and changed over the years.

He actually got a bad case of diabetes, lost a leg from it and at one point was in a coma.
With the growth of the retro disco parties thanks to Back to Disco and other websites, Del Rio has come back and hosted his own parties with his girlfriend Annie.

When I got invited to his 50th B-day party was like being invited to the big kid's table.

As I sat there and listened to people speak on mic for all to hear about their memories with Del Rio at Circus and as a friend, while he sat on the stage surrounded by his family it really was an LA history moment. This man with the help of so many other players, promoters, DJs, lightmen, and others had really touched a generation of disco dancers from mostly the Eastside of L.A.
He is our Larry Levan, our David Mancuso, our Nicky Siano. Those guys shaped NYC DJ culture, we got ours.
Thanks Frank.

Taking Over

I saw Danny Hoch's "Jails, Hospitals & Hip Hop" back in 1997 and was totally impressed. He left a great memory of a great performer with a keen ear for voices and dialects. Something I like to do when I travel is to pick up on the accents and cadences of people, Hoch is a master at this.

Walking up to the theatre I ran into Richard Montoya of Culture Clash who also have done great work capturing moments in a localized area with their works: "Radio Mambo: Culture Clash Invades Miami," and "Bordertown." Like Hoch, Culture Clash got the characters, accents and flow of the residents of their chosen locales.

Many people and reviews pumped up this show and being a Hoch fan I was ready to be impressed, again.

The issue of gentrification has been a running theme in my life in general, so I was ready to hear his spin on it to gather some more verbal artillery in my debates and maybe some insights into what else may lay ahead in the near future.

"Taking Over" focused on the people on the victim side of gentrification. Kiko was one of my favorites because he is like my real friend Henry, supper humble and cautious around people he sees as having more than himself. When Kiko goes to calling a production assistant 'sir,' who is working on a film on his block, to get his attention it struck a chord in me on how racial hierarchies are embedded in us and how easy some of us slip into the 'si senor' or 'yes massa' mode to gain favor. Another point that was verbalized by Kiko, and several other characters, was the issue of being invisible to the gentrifying hoards. One black female character says she was able to go into one of their bakeries and walk out with two almond croissants and no one even noticed.

The most impressive monologue was the Dominican taxi dispatcher. Within this Hoch played on Puerto Rican, Mexican and Dominican issues of assimilation, the American dream, language, and tensions. Calling his compatriots 'hicks' for not knowing the city or for being afraid of picking up drunk, gay, white clients was one side of this character who would later scold his son for speaking Spanish to him. He didn't want his kid to be perceived as an immigrant. Deep if you know what I mean. I busted up on his play on the Mexican accent while scolding a cab driver for supposedly selling tacos out of his cab.

Other impressive monologues for me were the French realtor, the Jewish developer and the white girl selling Mexican handbags on the street. Forgot their names, but that is of course not the point. The point is all of them see where they are as something to be changed into what they want or need. They don't want to just be, they want to colonize. The French guy was already looking for the new lands to change, the developer had the plan (including free rent to desirable clients) to create 'the real world' where people are only happy when there is shopping to be had, and the white girl who came for authenticity, but loved the changes she was a part of more than the people already there.

The Williamsburg of "Taking Over" is much like our downtown LA. The development is at the luxury condo level. In the Eastside, we are at the letting 'desirable' businesses have free or cheap rents. We still aren't hosting overpriced cafes, although we do have an overpriced bar.

My hope and my dream is that the Eastside and Los Angeles in general, like it has usually done, will break the mold of what the powers that be have in mind and shape a new model. Mother nature helps us with her earthquakes that shake off those with shallow roots. Our history that is in the air, smeared on the walls and runs invisible to non native eyes always raises its clenched fist of rebellion, or our open hand of "come in, we know you won't last long." We will outlive them. Out-last them by over populating them. Out-funk them and out they will go, to Portland most likely. We aren't an island. Yes many have been pushed out to the Inland Empire, but I believe many will be back. Its like the waves on our coast, there are small waves, then there are big ones. Our numbers on one level and our roots in another cannot be ignored. WE won't be 'si senor' -ing nor will we be invisible.

At the end Hoch summed it, "Stay home." Although he can't stay home, because they don't pay him in New York to tell New York stories, he knows that it really is better at home.

On one level it IS an immigrant story as twisted as it may seem. Latinos leave their homes to get job opportunities or avoid death. Midwestern kids migrate to leave right wing politics and religion, or maybe just boredom. We can't seem to stay home and fix our problems in our own homes. Sometimes the problems are not of our making, and some are just annoyances we build up. Either way we pick up and leave and go somewhere else where we can be who want to be, not who we are. Sometimes we forget the difference, and come up with something new and good, and other times into something bad and destructive.

I heard these words recently and I think they apply: Despite our best efforts, nothing will get done. Despite our worst efforts, what is needed gets done.

It Began With...

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