Since I was 10, I’ve been looking for chola bracelets, you know those black rubber ones that were the ultimate chola (and punk rock) fashion accessory in the 70s and 80s? Well, imagine my surprise when I spotted a colorful pack of them at Target being sold as some kind of Halloween costume. Where’s the scary chola costume to go with it?
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Gwen Stefani “borrowed” the look for many years.
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My grandmother Teresa Martinez and my father (in the background) at Prospect Park in Boyle Heights, circa 1949.
Nimbooda from the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
For a long time after watching this video, I was obsessed with creating my own Chicana version of a Bollywood musical number. I imagined made up cholas and chachas dancing in the Lincoln Mini-Mall, Bollywood style. Afterall, the Indian women on the screen didn’t look all that much different from the Latina women in my neighborhood. I asked around to see if some film student would be up for the idea, but no luck.
This video for Nimbooda (Hindi for Little Lemon) is one of my all-time favorite Bollywood scenes. The costumes are beautiful, the choreography amazing and the song extremely catchy. It features Aishwarya Rai, considered by many to be the world’s most beautiful woman (too bad she wears blue contact lenses) and is from the excellent film ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.‘ It’s the usual Bollywood story of forbidden and unrequited love, deliciously enjoyable and equally frustrating!
Los Angeles Riots, 1992 (somewhere in Pico-Union)
Next Saturday, The Second Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar will be taking place at The Huntington Library in San Marino. I went last year and was fascinated by the various groups represented and the amount of resources there are for even amateur, wannabe Los Angeles historians. Check it out if you can, and don’t eat beforehand. They’re offering free lunch too!
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Fairfax High School, 1980s
I’ve been scanning in old photos and decided to post the more amusing ones here.
This one’s a picture of my punk friends and I in high school. We tried our hardest to be anti-social and chose this remote spot of the school to sit at during lunch. We wanted far away from the crowds of students and from the other, mostly male punks that were misogynist enough to get on our nerves. We were an ethnically diverse bunch: Portuguese, Jewish, Cuban, Colombian-Irish, Finnish-Jewish, Chicano and Mexican.
C’est Comme Ca-Les Rita Mitsouko
I first came across this video on the Tam Tam Books myspace page. I was intrigued, was this video recent? The music sounded a bit retro but I couldn’t tell. In any case, I’m a sucker for thespian chimps. Equally compelling is the awkward style of dancing by the singer, Catherine Ringer, a herky jerky, stiffed backed series of rhythmic lurches. I did a bit more investigating and found out the video was from 1987. Imagine that? A full 20 years later and the Emo kids are still rocking Catherine Ringer’s look.
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From the random photos series, an ode to the potato! I took this photo (apologies for the quality) at The People’s Palace in Glasgow. It’s an awesome museum dedicated to documenting the lives of average Glaswegians. Highly recommended if you ever find yourself in Scotland! Beware of the Branston pickles.
On another note, I’ve been playing with the theme of this blog as the previous one wasn’t compatible with all browsers, so please excuse my mess. 🙂
The Pandoras-First EP
The recent talk of post psychedelic music got me thinking, when exactly did my interest in psychedelic inspired music start?
Much credit must be given to Rodney on the Roq, which I would listen to religiously as a kid. Sunday nights were always a bit depressing, as school was the next day. Falling asleep to Rodney, made me momentarily forget the dread of the impending school week by losing myself in the amazing music he’d play.
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The Hipster Showdown
Favorite line: “It’s so passe, you know…What am I like every other person in fucking, the history? You know, like…it’s like who hasn’t fucking moved to New York? I dunno, I’m just kinda over it.”
Vintage soap trays from Craftsman home-$4
A friend and I went yard sailing today. She was looking for materials for an ongoing art project. I’m always up for a good yard sale, it simultaneously satisfies my consumer and voyeuristic vices in one swoop. Visiting the various locations on our list was ripe for an art project in itself, or perhaps an essay on class, consumption and the real use value of objects.
