August 31, 2012

If a piano is being played in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? (more…)

Big Fish – August 29, 2012

David Lynch said, “Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish you have to go deeper.”

I like to believe that I can dive deep, and I have. But I feel that lately I’ve just been surface dwelling, kicking around the superficial contents of my brain, messing around with a few guppie ideas. No blue whales here.

I should probably follow the Lynchian approach and finally take the time to practice Transcendental Meditation. Will I find the big fish with 10 to 30 minutes of introspection a day? Quien sabe? (more…)

June 13, 2011

today nothing matters
there are no rules about staying inside the lines
your socks don’t match and my hair is disagreeable
we eat bread that might not be kosher with our diets
and say, “fuck it”
as we chug pinto beans out of styrofoam containers

June 05, 2010

my vessel’s here, but
in this dream i go nowhere
a gust of wind please

June 01, 2012

mírame mamá
traigo aquí conmigo
los espíritus

Ray Ricky Rivera finally premiered his new video for his song “Boom Box Bounce” to a full house at The Little Temple last Sunday. If you missed it, check out the video and his bio below.

In this song and video, Ray has captured the playful side of a day in LA. Together with the director and camera man they give us a beautiful visual document of his neighborhood. This video shows Ray in his elements;
hip hop, projects, music, LA.

Enjoy!

The Boom Box Bounce
by Ray Ricky Rivera
Director: Manuel Huerta
Camera: Jerry Henry
Triumphant Records LLC., 2010
__________________________________________________________________________________

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The LA-Artist Documentary Project is dedicated to people working creatively in and around Los Angeles. The ongoing, collaborative project aims to document LA’s artistic diversity by producing a range of informative films alongside an online archive of ArtCards that bring voice to the city’s varied and eclectic creative framework.

The project, as a whole, is looking to lay bare Los Angeles’ artistic diversity, processes, influences and draw attention to everyday artistic talents. They plan to do so with a series of 12 episodic films which engage these topics, and through the ArtCard postal service project.

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This Sunday, December 20th, after all your Christmas shopping madness, come down to Eastside Luv in Boyle Heights at 8:00 p.m.  Relax, order yourself a beer or wine and allow four distinctive writers to entertain you with some new literature.

Books and Beers is attempting to create a venue for independent writers. An outlet where man/woman can read with no holds barred on subject matter or language. It’s only proper to hold such an event at a bar. (more…)

Click on the image to view slideshow.

Not really in the Artwalk “mood” last night, I took a long stroll along Broadway and got some pictures of a few things that caught my eye. One of those things was the Gary Leonard studio. You know the dude from the LA Weekly, “Take My Picture Gary Leonard” photo column. I’ve been a fan of this guy for years. I walked inside and met the fella. Very cool dude. They had complimentary MGD, but like I said, I was not in the mood. I saw the exhibit, said thanks and walked on.

It was the best walk I’d had in a long time. Crisp cold air swept the lonely street. The old theaters of the Golden Era followed me with their eyes and studied my gait, slow and methodical. I snapped a few shots and continued. Every block had at least three people waiting for a bus. No one spoke. No one looked up to see me. Anonymous worker bees heading home.

Below are the images I captured from that stroll or you can click on the image to the right to see the slideshow.

When I made it back to the Artpark, I did manage to get some people in my frame. But mostly I just let the camera hang on my neck and I chilled. (more…)

Olmeca completed his second CD titled “La Contra Cultura/ Counter Culture” and celebrated the release at Self Help Graphics last Friday December 4th with a packed house of loyal fans. Perfomances by Pachamama (I missed them), Las Ramonas and MC76 also blessed the stage.

I picked up a copy of the CD and It’s been bumping in my car since. His music reminds me of what I felt like when I was in my first Chicano Studies class. Reminds me of when I first heard Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine and Aztlan Underground. It’s a sense of pride mixed with anger. Like when I first heard Richard Montoya scream, “I’m confused and full of rage!”
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