September 25, 2007

"It's a shame what they did to those people who lived there."

If I haven't said it already, but I am a Dodger fan. Yet, sometimes I have to wonder about what was once underneath Dodger Stadium. Chavez Ravine was at one point a poor, mostly Latino neighborhood. Both my parents were raised in the area just downhill from the stadium in an area that, to this day, I have difficult time describing to someone. It’s nestled between Elysian Valley and Echo Park, but I always remember it being called its barrio name--"Frogtown." Some people get, some just get more confused.

Raising my father is this neighborhood, my grandmother remembers Chavez Ravine quite well. I always remember she would say, "It's a shame what they did to those people who lived there."

Some have forgotten what the city destroyed to build Dodger Stadium. However, some are making sure it’s never forgotten. In an article in the L.A. Times, Vincent Valdez documented the event in his artwork, but not on canvas. Try a '53 Chevy lowrider ice-cream truck.


September 7, 2007

A goldmine of humor


Ah, the internet. What wonderful things we find. It can shock us, make us cry, sadden us and, most important, make us laugh. I have stumbled onto a goldmine of humor - enter Wikiality. This spoof of Wikipedia was born from Comedy Central's Colbert Report. What a wonderful site it is.
Just to get the ball rolling, check out these links: Conservatives, Liberals, American, George W. Bush.
Warning: These are not for those easily offended.