Arizona rally against SB1070... May Day 2010

I woke up on Friday April 30^th and felt a little festive knowing that the following week was Cinco de Mayo and there would be some great celebrations to attend or great Mexican Food to be served at someone’s home… but I also felt an urgent need to get involved, so I decided to attend the May 1^st rally downtown Los Angeles to show my support for the thousands of immigrants here both legally and illegally that would be subject to racial profiling with the passing of Arizona SB1070.  Now I am not stating that I am in favor for others that come here illegally from Canada or China undocumented and stay longer than their visas allow them to as I believe everyone wanting to become a US Citizen should do so by the rules, so either you come from a rich and powerful family which allows you to buy your citizenship or you pay someone to marry you who you don’t really know and have to memorize EVERYTHING about that person including what doors he puts his/hers chonies in and what their favorite food is.

What is the legal way?  Has anyone ever done a documentary on the process it takes to become a LEGAL US CITIZEN?  Are there handbooks that out line the process?  I remember those educational books we first read when we were just wee radicals once upon a time…  “See Spot Run… Run Spot Run”.  I am beginning to understand why Spot was running… Poor Perro didn’t have his papers!  As my grandmother Armida Acosta would say “Ayi Dios mio”.

I once had a friend who insisted that I was Anglo as I was born in the United States of America.  “I am Mexican/American,” I proudly would say.  “No you were born here so you are American”… my come back, “well I was born in the United States so shouldn’t I be a United Statistician?”  I quickly explained (the best way I could) by using the old dog theory…. “If you were a French Poodle and were bred to another French Poodle and the bitch gave birth in El Monte…. Are you a French Poodle or a American El Monte Poodle?”  I think he understood.  We are all from somewhere was my point.  Different backgrounds, different countries, different cultures.  Our blood is made up of many others from different parts of the world.  I am American, I am a United States Citizen, I am also XICANO and Mexican American… that is my blood, I can’t change that, but first and foremost I am a proud United States Citizen.

What makes me proud is that I live in a country where I have the right to freedom of speech (well at least some).  But with freedom comes respect, we must respect the other person and realize that we are not always going to agree with them.  Disagreement is OK, not accepting other views is OK but trying to push your values or them trying to push theirs upon you is not acceptable.  Many people, many opinions that is what makes the world go round.  So I respect my freedom and those of others.  I chose to support my fellow brothers and sisters on May 1^st.  No one should live in fear, no one should be stopped because they don’t look like you or talk like you. 

A newsflash to those who support this kind of hate, it’s the terrorist and crazies we should be concerned with, not the many that clean up our tables, clean our homes, cut our lawns, pick our fruit, nanny our children, work in our kitchens… these people are important to the many businesses that we patronize everyday.  They are not thieves, drug addicts nor the criminals that angry Americans paint them to be.  They are hard working people.  And if a recession causes those who are out of work to become angry and blame the illegal for taking jobs, well I suggest you walk your sorry self down to McDonalds and put in your application, or better yet but on your $150.00 designer jeans and take a bus up to farm land and help pick what is going to be on your dinner table that night.  No one wants those jobs, but these people are doing just that.

Women, Women, and oh yah Women!

Oh my, I often reflex back on this picture when I am having a hard time creating. For those of you too young to remember what a production room looked like in the days before MACs and PCs…. Well here you are! Days and nights of typesetting, waxing, paste up; rub down type, sizing photographs’ for veloxs or color separations. I can’t believe we were able to put out a monthly magazine with all the things we had to do (by hand) before it went to print. No access to spell check, once you made the mistake it had to be re-typed then cut-in to replace the misspelling or correction (God forbid some crazed out editor went crazy on editing!)

We also do not have the luxury of Photoshop or Illustrator. We had to use air brushers to take out or alter backgrounds and clean up faces. Taking tracing paper to lay over the photograph then penciling or drawing what you wanted as the end result and pray it came out to your liking. Most air brushers were true artists so most of the time what you wanted came just the way you wanted it. I think air brushers had their heyday in the Disco era… remember all those crazy airbrushed Disco LP covers? Now that was art!

From this photograph you can also tell the era in which it was photographed…. Early 1980’s! Look at our Ms. Joan Jett jumping high up in the air rocking away, and that famous B-52 LP Whammy! Oh yes what a mess the production room was at the end of a deadline.

JENNY LENS

Talked to my friend Jenny Lens (jennylens.com) today, I must admit she is the ONLY person I will stay on the phone with for more than 30 secs! Only will good Chisme keep me on longer and Jenny often has some juicy stories. It’s nice to see that though many years of shooting almost everyone in Punk, that others are now enjoying looking back at punk history. I hope one day Ms. “Girl with the Camera Eye” does a follow up to Punk Pioneers. There are so many other photos she took besides punk. I told Jenny how strange it is these days to have movies and premiers of people we hung with or knew. All the fun seems to be missing from these events. Heck, if the Runaways movie had premiered in the days, not only would you have had the remaining group play, but all the important people from that era would have been invited (famous or not) and been rockin-it-up with them! Remember the Ramones party at the Santa Monica Pier?

Maybe I will write a book, but I would (of course) have to change the names to protect the guilty!

JOSEFINA LOPEZ

Speaking of guilty, it’s National Womens' History Month (March) and I want to apologize to all the females in my life that I might have offended in someway through my life. Even though I am Gay, I must remember to at all times respect the Women of the world. This though was brought upon from an  email I got today from my friend Josefina Lopez (it’s her b- day this weekend!) And she sent me this lovely quote:

"I too have a dream that one day women will be judged by the content of their character, their creative and intellectual contributions to society, rather than by the color of their hair, the size of their waist or the perkiness of their breasts."

Josefina Lopez

If you never been to one of her numerous events she puts on over at Casa0101, I suggested your check out their schedule of plays and events, visit Casa0101.org, treat yourself to some of Los Angeles best plays put on by some pretty amazing and talented people.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PLEASANT!!!!

A BIG BIG BIG Feliz Cumpleaños (Happy Birthday) to my dear friend Pleasant Gehman…. Another talented and amazing women who should be celebrated this month of March! Actress, recording super star, punk pioneer, and well, I can’t really mention all without her permission… but one swell gal.

NATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH - MAY

And let’s not forget the upcoming National Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which is May. You can go to Diversity Graphics and order your posters to help celebrate [AP10].

Ok that’s it for now, more later, it’s gonna be along week so I should have lots of Chisme!

Mandog

New Facebook Group and Mas!

THE STAR~  Pleasant Gehman with Ronn Savala

OK, I decided that I am going to move forward and take my good friend/adopted sister Jenny Len’s advice and tell the world my stories and accomplishments and get my brown bootie in gear!

I created a group on Facebook entitled “STARVING ARTIST/CHISME”.  The focus of this group is to promote myself as well as fellow artist (in any creative form… even from beyond the after life if the is such : )~

The idea is to let our friends, family members, lovers, partners, husbands, wives, ex-loves, ex-partners, ex-husbands, ex-wives…(you get the point) and the world what we are doing and how we can help each other.  I am blessed to be surrounded by so many gifted and talented people.  I can honestly say my life has been better than any trip to Disneyland!  With sooooo many crazy and wild experiences in my life I know that these have shaped me into the person I am today.  Creative, fun and really, really, really loving every minute of my life... well except when UCLA loses in football and basketball.

So I will be faithful to this venture and hope that people are reading it and will participate in the great fun and interesting things we can find out about each other.  I always wanted to write a book so I guess this would prep me for that part of my future.

Here are a few pictures from my long time friend Pleasant Gehman’s movie screening of “STUCK” on February 3^rd, 2010.  It was an honor to be with such fun people!  Karen Black, Jane Wieland… to name a few (I wonder if Jane would remember me if I walked up to her that nite).

The gang as we wait for the Gold Line before the big screening ... Ronn Savala, Jonnie Carrillo (the up and coming hair stylist to the stars), and the well educated James Szabo... what a mug!

Jonnie Carrillo, ME (Mark A. Martinez) and Mr. James Szabo in the mug shot line!

Won't you be afraid to run into this characters at your local Costco?

Chh, chh, chh, CHERRY BOMB!

Boy does that bring back memories. “The Runaways” soon to be shown at the Sundance Film Festival… back then who would have known! It seems like yesterday I was running home from school (I was 17 then), jump in the shower and get all dolled up for a trip to the Sugar Shack to dance my ass off. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights- as many nights as we could go. It was the only place I could dance and be myself with other creatures and strange fellows like myself.

Attitude dancing, that’s what I called it. You had to have the right attitude when dancing to the song playing. Bowie, Suzie Quatro, Rocky Horror– the Runaways you name it these songs had a style that you danced with. That’s what made it fun. If you EVER wanted to be a singer/actor, these were the groups that made you strut your stuff too and make sure EVERYONE knew you were someone special! As you paid your $3 dollars to get in you then proceeded to the left to see what Sid was up to as he checked your coat (if you were warning one) then to the right to see what mood Danny the bartender was in (he could be such a queen!). If Danny had too much bitch in him you would pay no attention, as Vicki was always smiling and ready to tell you what was going on that night.

I think many times when I tell these stories of the people we hung with (or knew) that people think I lie or I'm crazy. We did so much as teenagers. We were fortunate to grow up just 15 minutes from Hollywood. Hollywood… I think it lost its shinny star after the 80’s and the MTV generation. Kids back then didn’t have video games or cell phones to get our kicks. We had FRIENDS and adventures. Friends and adventures that would take us on a roller coaster ride for many years. New music, new art and new experiences.

I certainly hope the Runaways movies are more to truth than the Germs movie (What we do is secret) was. I often see high school kids wearing a germs shirt. Every now and then I pull up my sleeve and turn over my wrist and show them my Germ Burn, they know what it is which always surprises me. I guess that burn is in someway a mark that will forever have a story to tell of friends we once knew and hung with.

Currie Currie, Sandy West, Lita Ford, Jackie Fox, Vicki Blue (she counts too as she played bass I believe the longest and was in the band longer than Cherie) and Joan Jett… I hope the story is strong and truth, no sugar coating. For God’s sake at least wear Chemin der Fers!

Finally, I now have nieces that are of the age when we ruled the streets of Hollywood. It always puts a smile on my face when they want to hear the Runaways, X, Germs, Weirdo’s, Iggy… there is no generation gap here. Music is an important part of our lives. From my mother dancing to the Stones in the early 60’s, my chola cousin strutting to Motown in the mid 60’s, to me dancing to disco and punk… to my nieces dancing and playing guitars in the 2000’s, music is part of us. It good when my friend’s children are playing an instrument. My friends Oralia and Jamie Jimenez have a very talented son Kyle. Kyle played his sax for us the other night, very nice but all I could picture him doing was taking that sax and blowing away with some crazy Avanade Garde group… “like crazy man!”.

P.S. If you want to see some GREAT photos of Punk and the Runaways then visit JennyLens.com!

And P.S.S. Visit RonnSavala.com and order your product.. don't you want to look your best?

Mandog!

Pictured from top to bottom:'
JOAN JETT and ME (picture by Jenny Lens)

STEPHINE SERRANO (my niece) ROSA RAMIREZ (my sister) & BETO (my brother-in-law)

NINA GONZALEZ (my niece)

ALICE MARTINEZ (my sister)

Happy 2010 to all... Now let's CELEBRATE!

2009 for many of us was not the outbreak year we needed in these tuff economic times.  But we must all keep our heads up high, stand together and help one another and together we will make 2010 a banner year.  I am thankful for all the GREAT friends that pulled us through 2009, your friendship and belief in my work are appreciated more than you will ever realize.

I want to plug my Diversity Graphics store for the next few weeks as there are many important celebrations in the coming months starting with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day which is January 18th.  We have a new poster [MLKP09] as well as new buttons and bookmarks to help celebrate a great man, leader and visionary... the steps he laid are still well traveled.  His dream was finally a reality when history was made during the 2008 Presidential election.  Not only did we elect our first Black American as President in Barack Obama but we also showed that women now are important players future Presidential races as Hillary Rodham Clinton got millions of Americans out to the voters booths.

February 2010 is National Black History Month.  This year’s theme is “The History of Black Economic Empowerment” and our poster ask the question “Who is an Economic Leader?”   The answer is people who make choices that lead to changes in the kinds of opportunities people have.  With so many important figures in Black history we listed a few both past and present and know that many more names will be added to this list as Black Americans continue to make decisions and changes that will effect the multiple cultural landscape that make America.  This poster is also available from Diversity Graphics [BP10].

March 2010 is National Women’s History Month and 2010 marks the 30^th Anniversary of women being recognized for their achievements and impact both past and present.  This years theme is "Writing Women Back into History."  This poster [WP10] gives a brief history of some important figures that help write history in the 30 years this celebration. Visit Diversity Graphics to order yours.

Finally we hope you pass this information to your friends and business associates.  The importance in showing our support for the people that have made a change in world is more important then ever.  The need for cultural diversity is an ongoing lesson.  By displaying your support is the first step in understanding the many backgrounds that make up our home, the United States of America.

More stories from Costa Rica!

Costa Rica trip more….

Thinking back on some stuff we did that I forgot to mention. There is a restaurant call “Trio” in Monteverde. The food there is EXCELLENT, great steaks and veggies. The owner must be an experienced chef and the food was nothing like any other restaurants here. It’s right when you pull into Monteverde on the left hand side… before the super market.

While in La Fortuna, Arenal make sure you stop by the Lava Lounge Bar ‘n Grill owned by Mr. Scott Bradley… we found out he is a local from Santa Monica! He was very kind in coming up to our table to chat with us. He also helps stray dogs (which are many) by feeding them and taking them off the streets in La Fortuna. Good guy. The food at Lava Lounge is excellent. Good variety and tasty. Anything from salads to steaks, even spicy tuna rolls.

The owner of the Cabinas Las Palmas is Francklin Valerio (I spelled Francklin right that is the way he spells it). These guys know their stuff and the area well as they are locals. They can tell you the history of this area and when using them, as tour guides will go the extra mile to make sure you enjoy the sites.

Soon it was time to say good-bye to our new friends Marthe Fischera and her boy friend Henning, meeting nice people such as these two make any journey away from home nice. We got in our shuttle and headed to Montezuma. The cost was the same $39.00 each person which included the ferry across to Montezuma. The ferry was packed but comfortable. While we were onboard Ronn Savala ran into our friends from Monteverde, Ziggy and her traveling mate. Small worlds when you’re traveling.

Once on shore in Montezuma it was time to find a hotel. Before we left Marthe and Henning suggested the hostel Pargo Feliz that is on the beach. We checked it out but they only had a bottom room left and it was way too small for 3 of use, so walked up the street and sat in a Café that had the internet so we could find another. Ronn had ventured up the street and came back with good news… nice hotel just stones throw! The Luz de Mono Hotel. This hotel was $70.00 per nite for 3 people and had hot water. Oh joy!~ The room was EXCELLENT and the stay include breakfast. Most of the hotels in Costa Rica provide breakfast, which is nice, as you want to start your day with food in your stomach. And the food is good, not donuts, cereal or those packaged tarts they give you in the U.S., but rather a good choice, which always includes their traditional rice and beans.

There is not a whole lot to do in Montezuma itself unless you like surfing. There are tours that take you to various places but we were really tired and just wanted to relax… so we did. Took a short walk on the beach, Ronn ventured 10 minutes down the beach to the resort Lang Lang (I think that is how you spell it). He said it was very nice. A bit more expensive but lots more relaxing things to do there. This small town by the beach is pretty much like being at home and visiting Venice Beach. There are lots of hippies and Rasta’s. EVERY place you hear Bob Marley! Its nice that they love his music so much, but 24/7 gets pretty boring. I wondered why they weren’t playing the native Costa Rican music, would be nice so those that are visiting will learn the sounds of the native. But Bob Marley it was so is it.

Aside from hippies and Rasta’s we saw a lot of critters, monkey’s, geckos, Iguanas, and various birds… one in particular that loved attacking people as they ate their breakfast. I think it’s called a TOUCANCILLO. Bluish bird with a pretty head but very aggressive when it wants your food! There was a couple sitting by us eating, the man had shaved head, I guess the bird thought it was a coconut as it kept landing on his head and trying to peck at it!!!! It eventually gave up… so did the man trying to eat. At some point the Toucancillo landed on Ronn Savala and started to peck and pull his hair! Ouch! Poor Ronn!

Our stay in Montezuma was only 2 days. The second day we booked a speedboat to take us from Montezuma to Jaco where we would take a shuttle down to Antonio Manuel. The packaged cost us about $72.00 per person. This was (once again) well worth it, as we didn’t have to take the public bus and is much faster. The trip didn’t get off as expected though. We all wrapped our stuff in plastic bags so they won’t get wet and hopped aboard ready for the trip. About 10 mins into the voyage another boat flagged our ship down… it was the Costa Rican Coast Guard! They pulled along side of us and started talking to the operator of the boat. Basically he was being sited for not having a number on the boat but soon came other citations such as him not make us wear life jackets amongst other stuff. It was a long wait while this guy was citing him and the smoke from the Coast Guard exhaust started making us sick! Thankfully I didn’t barf but wanted to several times! The sun was blaring down and when we put on our life jackets it got even hotter! There were three others on the boat, a young local woman and two French Canadian women. The Coast Guard asked us our Nationality and if we wanted to driver to follow him towards the North or have him take us back… we all said BACK.

When we got back to shore we were told that another boat would pick us up in 25 minutes… it was more like 2 hours and 25 mins! But the wait was fun. We sat on the beach in front of a local bar/hotel and drank some beers… the two French Canadian ladies made us laugh as they started to sing the theme from Gillian’s Island! We happily joined in. Finally the replacement boat came and we all boarded. This boat was a little bigger and went MUCH faster. Mainly because they were behind schedule and a rainstorm was catching up with us. The ride was really fast and bumpy. Sometimes harsh on one’s back. About 45 minutes later we landed in Jaco.

Our crew helped us to shore and gave us our luggage still wrapped in plastic bags. We left it in the plastic until we boarded our shuttle as the sand was not really clean and there was dogs taking dumps and peeing everywhere. It was amazing to see all these people lying around and dogs doing their thing right next to them! Icky. Locals in the other places we visited told us the Jaco was no a pretty place. Mainly tourist, Casinos, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Mc Donald’s, Ladies of the nite (which is legal in Costa Rica) and some pretty interesting characters. It looked nice but nothing at all like the rest of the places we have been. A place I guess that people go for drinking and picking up the ladies of the nite.

The shuttle ride to Antonio Manuel was nice. Lots of green all around you and a smooth road. We were actually 3 days early arriving and the condo we rented (Casa Azul) was not yet ready. We found online a nice place called Hotel Flor Blanca, a moderate hotel on the main drag and were $55.00 for a room with private bathroom/shower with 3 beds. This included breakfast. We stayed there 2 days as we got a hold of the condo owner and made arrangements to stay at the condo 2 extra days. Ironically we found while sitting at poolside at Hotel Flor Blanca, that our condo was right behind us on the hill behind the hotel!!!!!! That was pretty good luck!

OK more soon, time to enjoy the sun and then head down to the beach!

Costa Rica... A trip of a trip

It’s day 9 of our 15-day adventure to Costa Rica.  I must say so far the first part was pretty much the most fun.  We started our vacation by realizing the Ronn’s passport was under his DBA name and not this birth name…. I realized that the day before we were leaving and then ALL of us realized that we were leaving on MONDAY morning at 12:40 a.m. NOT Monday!  Sounds crazy, well we thought we were leaving on Monday and then realized it was Sunday nite forgetting that the day changes after midnite! Boy what a start.  We landed in San Jose (that was an adventure within itself!).  At first they were not going to let Ronn in Costa Rica as they said he had no return ticket back.  That was not true and thanks the powers that be I had the itinerary to prove he did.  So we got passed that.  We then too a taxi to the bus stop in downtown San Jose to purchase a bus ticket to Monteverdi (that cost us a whole $5.00 bucks each).  The bus did not leave until 2:30 p.m. and it was about 10:00 a.m. so we decided to talk a walk down beautiful San Jose.  Well much to my surprise the part that we were walking down was a little shabby and much like being on skid row.  But once we found the center of town it was pretty nice.  We found a little place to have a bit to eat and a beer.  We then ventured back to where our bus was to take off.

At first the thought that we saved so much money taking the local bus up to Monteverde was the bargain of the century… how cheap! But as the bus headed outside of San Jose the roads became more rural and a lot rougher! Along with way the bus driver would stop every now and then a pick up someone that was selling food or drinks then let them off a few stops down.  As we got more into the country part of the trip the stops were less and the roads narrower.  Then it got dark and pretty intense as the winding road to Monteverde barely enough room for the big bus let alone the cars coming from opposite direction to pass.  Well 6 hours later came rolling into town.  When the bus stopped and let us off and local was there offering $10.00 a nite hotel stays!  We were all tired and at first the idea sounded good but then our heads where placed back on us and we decided to check it out first.  It was a Hostel and actually VERY nice!  The name of this place is “The Tucan” and for $10.00 each we got a huge room with 4 beds and the restroom right next to it.  After putting our stuff in the room we went to eat dinner at a very nice joint called “The Tree House” where the is an actual tree growing out of the place!  The food was very nice and inexpensive. Soon we were settled for the nite and happy to lay our heads down on a nice soft bed.

The next morning we took a walk (which is not far as the town is pretty small) and decided to spend one more nite so we can take the canopy walk which was $25.00 each (that included the ride up to the site).  I wished we had done the zip line but next time.  The canopy walk was very nice and the sites were so amazing.  If you do this you will get wet and it will rain so come prepared! 

We soon headed back to our bargain hostel were we met some really fun people.  I don’t remember all their names but Ziggy (nice German girl) and Mark E. Russell (nice British chap) I do remember.  Ziggy and her girl friend (both in their early 20’s) were finishing up a school project, which they were traveling for 6 months through South America.  Mark had just sold his home and decided to see the world with his earnings…. A brave man and I tip my hat off to him.  There was a young man from Israel who also was traveling through Costa Rica.  We all shared a beer or two and since I had my wonderful laptop I showed the German girls some HEDWIG from you tube… I don’t know if they got it but I tried to explain it to them the best I could.

So day three and we are off to our next venture…. The Arenal Volcano.  The guys at the Tucan gave us a package deal for that part of the trip.  For $89.00 you got the jeep-boat-jeep deal!  Which is a ride to the lake, a boat trip across the lake and then a jeep ride to La Fortuna (the jeep is actually a shuttle van) and to top it off this included the hotel for the nite AND a day at the hot springs and a volcano hike!!!!   This took about 3 hours.

When we got to the hotel Cabina Las Palmas, we were amazed that the hotel was actually new had a nice big room with a private bathroom.  Our host at the hotel was also our tour guide for the rest of the day.  He gave us the option of going at 1:00 p.m. to the hot springs then at 3:00 they would pick us up and take us to the volcano walk and then back to the springs… OR leave at 3:00 to the volcano then to the springs where we would stay for about 4 hours and that included dinner!  Well of course we choose the latter. 

We met some really nice couple at the Cabinas Las Palmas, Henning and Marthe, two Bulgarians backpacking it through Costa Rica for the Holiday.  We had a most enjoyable time with them as they were on our same tour for this part of our trip.  The volcano hike was great.  It was very humid and wet but still very nice.  We hiked down to a waterfall.  Along with way our tour guide explained many things about the nature here and what kinda wild life was in this part of the rain forest.  He also showed us craters where the past eruptions had thrown large parts of earth to the ground thus leaving its mark forever in the ground below. 

As we finished are hike to the waterfall we stopped at the volcano observatory to rest and kicked back to view the Arenal volcano itself hoping to see some lava flow (as it is still active) but nothing… less the moon rising was beautiful.  We then headed to the springs for a long evening of some good food and lots of soaking in hot water!

Once inside the springs we found there was all kinds of unusual pools to try and even some pretty crazy sides.  I went down the 2^nd scariest, it was a long twisted tunnel of pouring water that shoots you out on the other end like a flying rocket!  I then thought that since that was not so hard to try the not so hard one (which was just a slide without the enclosure) that was a mistake!  I was doing fine until the last drop…. It spit you out into the water but what I was not aware of was the force of the entry into the water, I had my arms spread and because of that it when I hit the water, it felt like my arms were being torn off!!!!!!  It still hurts this being the 9^th day!

More soon I am tired and ready to hit the hay!