Raven Jake Dawes

Mexico town's pointy boots create a craze

You've gotta love this (and no, I ain't wearin' a pair of elf boots anytime soon) Mexico town's pointy boots create a craze. Make you smile, though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Culinary Historians of So Cal Events

Folks, I wanted to take a second to promote a couple of things the Culinary Historians of Southern California have coming up - one is their big fundraiser used cookbook sale

Sun, August 21, 8am – 4pm at the Hollywood farmers’ market

map They're starting at 8 and going til they run out of books, so show up early.

Charles Perry on L.A.’s 230th birthday

Sat, September 10, 10:30am – 12:00pm

Barbara Ghazarian on "Simply Quince" (Armenian food)

Sat, October 8, 10:30am – 12:00pm

Kirstin Olsen on 18-19th century England

Sat, November 12, 2011, 10:30am – 12:00pm

To Be Announced

Sat, December 10, 2011, 10:30am – 12:00pm

Programs, except where noted, are 10:30 a.m. at the Mark Taper Auditorium, Central Library, 630 West Fifth Street, Los Angeles 90071-2002. For more information, please call (213) 228-7241. Parking at the Central Library on Saturday and Sunday is $1.00 during library hours at 524 S. Flower St., with a library card and validation from the Information Desk in the library. Library cards are free.

Programs are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.

You do need to bring an id to get your library card, but an LA City Library card, besides the fact that you can use it at a bunch of locations, also gives you access to a bunch of internet resources. Well worth having.

América Tropical Mural on Olvera Street

Apparently the Getty has been working on restoring América Tropical for a while and I, for one, will be pleased to see it come back!

 

This is Robert Bredecio, one of David Siqueiros' associates standing in front of the mostly-completed mural back in 1932. Here's the official scoop:

 

 
An ultra-saturated re-imagining, but you get the idea...

 

Charles Perry at the Arboretum June 26 - POSTPONED

 Unfortunately, folks, this one has been postponed 'til fall:

 
Now one of my resolutions for the summer is to get a little more proactive about posting and maybe promote some events before they happen instead of writing about it months after. Case in point: The Californio barbecue thing.

So Charles Perry has another event coming up, that I'm sure will be of interest to a few people reading this blog, and that's "Of Beer and Baseball with Charles Perry," at the LA County Arboretum on Sunday, June 26.

Here's the skinny:

A lecture by Charles perry followed by a tasting of several craft brews from local breweries, among them Craftsman Brewing Company and Eagle Rock Brewery.

When: Sunday June 26, 2011 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Cost: $25 for members/$30 for non-members

In 1850, Los Angeles was a wine-drinking Spanish pueblo, but as Yankees filtered in, they soon started breweries, despite the lack of ice or cool caves for aging lager. By the end of the century a thirsty, fast-growing city had made Bavarian immigrant Joseph Maier one of its leading citizens. The Maier family promoted public entertainments, above all baseball – Eddie Maier pitched for numerous local teams before taking the helm at Maier Brewing in 1909 and organized his own Pacific League team, the ultimate ancestor of the Hollywood Stars of 1938-’58.

Along the way, Eddie lived life on the grand scale, organizing car races that set world records and throwing barbecues for 4,000 at a time at his Simi Valley ranch. The Maier Brewery closed in 1974, but the 101 Freeway still makes a jog just east of Alameda Street, where the brewery stood when the freeway was built.

Charles Perry is the president of the Culinary Historians. He has written and spoken widely on food history and is the co-author of Medieval Arab Cookery and Spuds, Truffles and Wild Gnocchi: The Patina Cookbook, and the author of The Haight-Ashbury: A History.


To register please call 625.821.4623

 

LA's Turning 230 on Sept 4

Sunday, Sept. 4 is going to be LA's big 230. Well, no I ain't picked out my outfit yet, but it's bound to be pretty Raven-Jakey, as usual.

I was down at Olvera St. last week to meet up with some of the Spainish Trail people, then headed over to Our Lady; it happened to be Ascension Day and the church was packed.

I'll be honest, I just wanted to check out how Joseph Chapman's ol' church was doing (close to perfect, actually) and wasn't aware of the subtleties of the Catholic Calendar. I have to say that being partly raised that way myself, I would've paid more attention in Sunday School if it had featured drumming and Aztec Dancers like the service we caught. 'Course maybe that's just for Ascension Day.

Now that got me thinkin' on the original settlers. The Tongva, of course, had a village right there, Yang-na, which is undoubtedly why the Spanish pegged it as a viable location. But how about those folks that they got to make that hard, dangerous trip for the "privilege" of subsistence farming some place else? I grabbed this off the LA City website.

Original Settlers (Pobladores) of El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles, 1781

Recorded Family Head	Age	Race	Birthplace	Name, Age & Race of Spouse	Children***
Manuel Camero*	30	Mulatto	Nayarit	Maria Tomasa (24, Mulatta)	None
Jose Fernando de Velasco y Lara	50	Spaniard	Spain	Maria Antonia Campos (23, Indian)	3
Antonio Mesa	38	Black	Sinaloa	Ana Gertrudis (27, Mulatta)	2
Jose Cesario Moreno*	22	Mulatto	Sinaloa	Maria Guadalupe Gertrudis Perez (19, Mulatta)	None
Jose Antonio Navarro	42	Mestizo	Sinaloa	Maria Regina Dorotea Glorea de Soto (47, Mulatta)	3
Luis Manuel Quintero	55	Black	Jalisco	Maria Petra Rubio (40, Mulatta)	5
Pablo Rodriguez	25	Indian	Sinaloa	Maria Rosalia Noriega (26, Indian)	1
Alejandro Rosas*	19	Indian	Sinaloa	Juana Rodriguez (20, Indian)	None
Jose Antonio Basilio Rosas	67	Indian	Durango	Maria Manuela Calixtra Hernandez (43, Mulatta)	6
Jose Maria Vanegas**	28	Indian	Jalisco	Maria Bonifacia Maxima Aguilar (20, Indian)	1
Antonio Clemente Felix Villavicencio	30	Spaniard	Chihuahua	Maria de los Santos Flores (26, Indian)	1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

*Married just prior to leaving for the new pueblo because new settlers were required to heads of families.
**Vanegas was appointed to be the first alcalde (mayor).
***Children at the time of the settlement of the Pueblo. Some of these settlers went on to have other children.

A twelfth settler, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez, a 50-year-old Filipino, and his 11 year-old daughter were also slated to settle in the new pueblo. They set out with the rest of the pobladores in early 1781 enroute to their new home. While in Baja California, however, they were among those who fell ill to smallpox and remained there for an extended time to recuperate. When they finally arrived in Alta California (the present-day State of California), it was discovered that Miranda Rodriguez was a skilled gunsmith. He was subsequently reassigned to the Santa Barbara Presidio in 1782 to be an armorer.

Maria Guadalupe Gertrudis Perez, wife of Jose Moreno, was the last surviving original settler. She died in 1860, having lived almost 100 years.
Her granddaughter, Catalina Moreno, married Don Andres Pico, brother of Pio Pico and Mexican military commander at the Battle of San Pascual.

 Whatever Happened to the Original Settlers?

Antonio Clemente Felix Villavicencio - Moved to Santa Barbara in 1797. Died there in 1802.
Jose de Velasco y Lara- Received permission to move to Ventura in 1782 to establish the Mission San Buenaventura and later to Santa Barbara to establish the presidio. Died in Nayarit on an unfortunate return trip to Mexico in 1783*.
Luis Quintero- Received permission along with Jose de Velasco y Lara to move to Ventura in 1782 to establish the Mission San Buenaventura and later to Santa Barbara to establish the presidio. He may have wished to be near his three daughters who had married soldiers stationed at the presidio in Santa
Barbara. Died in Santa Barbara in 1810.
Antonio Mesa - Apparently became disillusioned with the hardships in Alta California and received permission to return to Sonora, Mexico in 1782.
Jose Antonio Navarro- Sent to San Jose in 1790 and later to the Presidio in San Francisco. Buried at the Mission Dolores in San Francisco in 1793.
Pablo Rodriguez - Moved to San Diego in 1796 then to San Juan Capistrano. Buried at the Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1816.
Jose Vanegas- Remained in Los Angeles for 20 years during which he served as its first alcalde (mayor). Upon the death of his wife in 1801, moved to San Diego and the Mission San Luis Rey.
Manuel Camero- Remained in Los Angeles. Served as a Los Angeles regidor (councilman). Died here in 1819.
Jose Moreno- Remained in Los Angeles. Served as a Los Angeles regidor. Buried at Mission San Gabriel in 1806.
Alejandro Rosas- Remained in Los Angeles. He and his wife died here only a month apart in December 1788 and January 1789.
Jose Antonio Rosas- Remained in Los Angeles. Buried at the Mission San Gabriel in 1809.

• Jose de Velasco y Lara was ordered back to Mexico by the authorities when he confessed to Father Junipero Serra that his first wife, whom he had maintained had died, might actually still be alive. He was already remarried with children. He unfortunately never returned to see his second wife and children in Santa Barbara, having died not long after returning to Nayarit.

In short, their lives sucked. Brutal and short and most of them couldn't wait to move someplace else. Vanegas did alright by himself, in a regional way, but none of these other folks went on to found great dynasties and receive absurdly huge land grants. Still, Los Angeles persevered.

There are around 250 descendants in an organization called Los Pobladores, who are planning a huge 'do on Sept 3 with a special mass and everything. Rosary starts at La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles at 4:30, Marian parade, bagpipes, Spanish costumes, Knights of Columbus: the works.

It's also pretty common (at least some years) to make that final walk from the San Gabriel Mission to the Plaza in commemoration of the journey's last nine miles - takes about three hours, 'cause this ain't a fun run and speed ain't a factor. My plantar fasciitis says "no" to the walk, but maybe I'll roll through in a wheelchair or do a special car caravan or something. Anyone down for a Pobladores stroll & roll with Raven Jake?

New Renderings for the Michael White Adobe

So there's been a lot of discussion about how the Michael White Adobe could best be utilized by San Marino High school as an on-campus history lab, and the idea that's taken hold and seems to make the most sense is that rather than creating a house museum, the space could be a hall of fame for the Three A's - Acadamics, Athletics, and the Arts.

This house has served a lot of functions in it's 165-year history, and one of the keys to its restoration is that it be used and enjoyed by the San Marino High School community.

These renderings give a sense of what the adobe could look like - historic yet contemporary, and very functional with a minimum of change to the existing structure.

Raven Jake at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire

On Saturday, we took a little trip on over to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire which,  unfortunately, ended today. I'll make it a point to get over there earlier next season, which generally translates to April - May.

Over to the right, I'm in the stocks. Someone else got "naughty" as their crime description - I got the second best, Pig Thief. Know what? I didn't see your name on it, friend.

I haven't actually been to the Faire in years, and I'm pleased to see that it's grown a bunch. And ladies, there's nothing wrong with being a healthy mammal, so go ahead and flaunt it. I will be offering my quiet support.

Over here on the left, we have the Poxy Boggards, one of my favorite "specialty bands" - actually, they self-describe as a "drinking band with a singing problem," and that sums it up pretty neatly. Just in case you're not hearing all the innuendo and off- color references, there is a sign language interpreter to the left of the stage to illustrate all the lyrics in vivid detail. Yes, they have a PG-rated act as well, but we were short of time and ended up in the NC-17 area. Just in case you were under the impression that life was boring in the 1500s - it wasn't. Read Chaucer.

Also on my exciting firsts list - jousting.

That stunt crew surely earns it, what ever "it" is. Knights in full armor knock each other off their mounts, then have at it with a variety of medieval weapons. The fact that no one has been brained with a morningstar is rather amazing, all things considered.

Of course, there's the shopping and the beer, the leering and the educational displays and the Queen and the historical reenactors.

So there's something for everybody. The dress code is pretty darned eclectic too. Got your hard-core Renaissance realists, the steampunks, the retro-goths, the pirates, the faeries, the barbarians, and some looks that just defy genre. So come as you are or want to be, and have a good time.

 

MWA to Present at California Preservation Foundation

Jane Pojawa, my lovely wife and Communications Director of the Friends of the Michael White Adobe, will be participating in a panel discussion at the California Preservation Foundation, regarding social media and historic preservation. 

 

iPreservation Using History.com & E-advocacy Monday, 5/16/11, 2:00-3:30 PM

This session examines media beyond the edge of websites and explores trends in preservation marketing, advocacy, engagement, and outreach using new media. Panelists will cover innovative new programs, smartphone apps, and interactive advocacy. The session includes case studies of successful blogs, apps, projects, and programs using social media, the internet, and smartphones with GPS. The interrelation of a communications “brand” and “media synergy” that boosts the performance of all communications tools will be covered throughout the session.

Education Level: All

Moderator:  Stephen Schafer, President, San Buenaventura Conservancy

Speakers: Cindy Olnick, Director of Communications, Los Angeles Conservancy

Jennifer Emmer, Founder, Beautiful Buildings Blog

 Ninan Kurien, Founder, 29GPS/29HD Network

Jane Pojawa , Friends of the Michael White Adobe

 

http://www.californiapreservation.org/about_2011.shtml

More about the Conference "Preservation on the Edge:"

Sunday, May 15 - Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows Santa Monica

Conference Highlights

• More than 30 Sessions, Tours, and Workshops on issues facing California's historic, cultural and natural resources - taught by over 100 expert speakers, plus continuing education units are available for AIA, USGBC, MCLE, and AICP!
• Exclusive Tours that highlight Santa Monica's architecture, landscapes, history, culture and more!
• Special Events at some of Santa Monica's most historic and architecturally significant venues - including CPF's signature event, the Three-Minute Success Stories!
• Annual Silent and Live Auction - buy something cool or donate an auction item while supporting a good cause! Items often include artwork, antiques, memorabilia, gift baskets, or gift certificates for restaurants, hotels, tours, museums, theater and much more.

RIP Alberto and Alejandro Jimenez

 
Andy Colvin, aka Mothman's Photographer, was casting around for the best conspiracy/paranormal stories of 2010, and I thought I'd throw in my two cents. Now y'all know that as a rule I stay away from conspiracies. I'm just not that kind of a blogger. But the double murder of Alberto and Alejandro Jimenez was a tragedy that had a lot of folks scratchin' their heads this past July.

Here's how it goes:  Dwarf twin Mexican wrestlers Alberto and Alejandro Jimenez (May 15, 1975 - June 29, 2009) were killed by a 65-year old hooker and an accomplice who spiked their drinks with eye drops.

Alberto and Alejandro were 35 (and 4'7") and were popular luchador enmascarado (masked wrestlers) who worked in the mini-estrella circit. Alberto went by the moniker  "La Parkita" – or "Little Death" – he wore a skeleton costume in the ring, and  Alejandro was "Espectrito Jr,." which seems to mean something like “the little specter” – Spanish speakers help me out here – his mask and wig didn't make a lot of sense either.

Why a conspiracy? Well, at first it was believed that they were assassinated, possibly by rival Mexican midgetwrestlers.  Alberto had some issues with the circuit, including la Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). The hotel played a part by trying to cover up the double murder, and only reluctantly parted with the surveillance tape. But naturally, all the exotic theories dissolved and it all came down to the comparatively banal reasons of greed and poor judgement (responsible for 90 percent of  the world's problems, if you ask me) The hookers claimed that they only wanted to incapacitate the brothers while they robbed them, but then things went terribly wrong and they freaked out.

Here's one account of the incident: 

Alberto and Alejandro Jimenez, two Mexican wrestler brothers, known by the names La Parkita and Espectrito II, have been found dead in their hotel room in Mexico City.

The District Attorney's Office said the mini wrestlers were victims of a drink spiked with chemicals that killed them. When the wrestlers entered their room they were in the company of two women, possibly prostitutes. They were found unharmed [except for the dead part], but no personal belongings were found in the room, suggesting that they had been robbed.

  Their drinks turned out to contain a mixture of alcohol and eyedrops, which is often used as a date rape formula.

 The CHIKARA Pro Wrestling Organization made this statement on their website:

“For a few years, this Parkita lived in Kennett’s Square, PA. He rarely wrestled after a falling out with AAA over the rights to be the only Parkita (there have been several.) Based on conversations had with him after “Maximum Overdraft,” it is entirely possible that his final match was his sole CHIKARA appearance from August 5, 2007. When or why he returned to Mexico is not known to us at this time.

“Everyone at CHIKARA wants to express their sincere condolences to his family.”

 

  They were buried in their costumes, and many of their fans also came to the funeral dressed as La Parkita and Espectrito II. Other weirdness? They started out their careers 17 years ago as members of the tag team The Small Devils. One of their brothers, Mario, (normal size) was a pro wrestler who went by Espectrito.  What about the women? Apparently they are "fake" prostitutes, part of an organized crime ring called  "La Filtracion." Estela González Calva, alias La Tía, the 65-year-old was busted easily by tracing her cell phone. María de Los Ángeles Sánchez Rueda, alias La Gorda,  44 years old, was traced to Hidalgo. They both got 47 years, because in Mexico the wheels of justice turn quickly and brutally. What's the moral? Don't pick up hookers named Auntie and Fatty, and if you do, don't let them mix the drinks.

Needless to say, our condolences to their family in these trying and tragic times.

 

Sailing With Captain Tim

Shout out to our friend Tim Ream for taking us sailing about a month ago. Tim's recently arrived from Oregon and has been taking sailing lessons. Now I don't think I've ever heard someone describe sailing as being a real bargain, but when you think about it, the expense is in buying and maintaining a boat - not in buying fossil fuel, and there's no damage to the environment. You're just zipping along using wind power. Anyway, Jane and I jumped at the change to go for a ride with Captain Tim and lovely First Mate Kylee for a very enjoyable Saturday cruise around Santa Monica Bay. Wildlife sightings included sea lions and Pelecanus occidentalis californicus, the endangered California Brown Pelican. Saw a whole flock of them off the Santa Monica Pier and then again hanging around on the breakwater. Tim has an unusual capacity for gull discernment, and I highly recommend him for all bird identification projects, should the need arise. Tim's off on a three-day cruise to Catalina, getting more accreditations, so we wish him a lucky albatross on his journey.