Salvadoran Art Exhibition

There will be an exhibition of art by Salvadoran artists Jaime Cruz and Jorge Guzman at Perlera Real Estate, located at 142 Meridian St. An opening reception will be held on November 4th from 6:00 p.m to 9:30 p.m. The exhibition will be open from November 4th through November 30th.

For more information contact Gloria Carrigg at 617-522-5204.

Candlelight Vigil Tonight.

There will be a Moveon.org candlelight vigil this evening at 6:30 p.m. in Maverick Square to mark the 2000th American death (now actually 2001 as of this morning) in Iraq. Participants are asked to bring candles with them. For more information, go here.

Thanks to Sandra Castillo of the East Boston Artists Group for the heads-up. :-)

Awwwwww.

Poor Vito. You are welcome back to Eastie any time you want to run with the big dogs again:

My Life is Bullshit: A blog from Vito.

--Hilarous post via Kate Jackson's Pointy Universe

All I have to say about this is

DUH!!! They really needed to do a study to figure this out? Did anybody actually think that wealthy, white communitites wouldn't have less hazardous waste sites? From the Boston Globe:

Poor areas seen more burdened by waste

The study found that 24 of the 30 communities with the most environmentally hazardous sites have nonwhite populations of 25 percent or more. Areas with minority populations of 25 percent or more also have more chemical pollution and hazardous waste and, as a result, poor and minority residents are more at risk of health problems, the study says.
Charlestown, East Boston, Hyde Park, and South Boston all ranked high for hazardous industries per square mile.
Chinatown, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the South End were pooled into one area that made the same list partially due to Big Dig pollution.
''I think that racial discrimination gets played out in a number of different ways, that has people of color concentrated in these areas," said Daniel R. Faber, a Northeastern sociologist who helped write the study. ''As communities become more diverse, there's almost a direct correlation between environmental hazards and the percentage of the community which is nonwhite."

Where the streets have no name.

I visited with nature yesterday and hid out in the desert--in Joshua Tree National Park to be exact. I'm not exactly nature girl, so this was a new experience for me, but the scenery is truly breathtaking. Contrary to U2's song "Where the Streets Have no Name" (Get it? The Joshua Tree album. hehe) the streets in the park do in fact have names. Here are some pics.



This is a Joshua Tree. So named because the early Mormon pioneers believed that the trees resembled Joshua beconing them to the promised land. Joshua Tree's only live in the United States and they only live at certain altitudes of the Mojave Desert. (That means they live in only 4 states.) Can you tell that I watched a fine educational film at the ranger station?



Another Joshua Tree. If you look on the tip of the rock under the arm of the tree you will see a tiny black dot. That black dot is actually a mountain climber who had just reached the top of the rock. Aparently the National Park is a primo site in California for rock climbers. I'm not really surprised as there are some spectacular rock formations in the park. You can camp for up to 14 days in the park, in some of the most beautiful locations I've ever seen. Perfect if you are a star gazer. Camp sites include toilets and picnic tables--you can get showers in the town of Joshua Tree.



Speaking of interesting rock formations. This rock formation is known as Skull Rock--for obvious reasons.



My friend Rachel rocking the Frida Kahlo look and communing with the desert.

A little slice of Mexico.

California is lovely, but I've discovered that too much sun is unhealthy for us New Englanders. Everytime we drive anywhere I fall asleep in the car and I've come to the conclusion that it's not because I'm sleepy, it's because of the sheer effort of squinting all the time. (Forgot my sunglasses.) We've decided that I'm going to return from to Boston looking 5 years older than when I left because of the crow's feet I am developing from squinting. Even when you avert your eyes from the direction of the sun you find no rest for your eyes, as every surface in Cali reflects the sun, white walls, light colored cement freeways, etc., etc. Anywho. . here are some more pictures





Here is my dinner of Carne Asada tacos at Tudy's, a little dive Mexican place in Corona. My friend assures me that this place is a "little slice of Mexico" with very authentic food. The food was delicious and cheap! We ate there two nights in a row. The tacos are 99 cents, a taco plate like the one shown in the picture is only $4.99. The second night I had a huge bowl of Pozole (hominy and pork soup) also only $4.99. My friend and I ate an entire meal for less than $10.00!





The Mission at San Juan Capistrano. This is the garden. In the background you can see the ruins of the old stone Basilica which was destroyed by earthquake in 1810. (I think. I was a history major, but I'm still lousy with dates.)





Another view of the garden at Mission San Juan Capistrano. (Can you see what I mean when I say every single surface reflects light?)





The old chapel, known as Serra Chapel for Father Junipero Serra, who founded the mission, is the oldest church in California. It is the only building still standing where Fr. Serra said mass.

I will never complain about the Big Dig again. . .

We in Boston may complain about traffic a lot and the T, but we don't know from Traffic. Los Angeles has some killer traffic. Basically, you can't go anywhere near L.A. without being caught in bumper to bumper. Two exits (about 2 miles) took us about 30 minutes.


On the 110 Freeway from Hollywood to Downtown L.A.

In local news, the T has broken ground on the new Maverick Station scheduled for completion in 2008 (read 2016).

It's Vegas baby!

Letter from Eastie will be coming to you from Corona, California this week. I'm visiting a friend of mine. Just got back from two days in Vegas. I took about a million pictures since it was my first time in Vegas. (That place is insane!!) Here is a sampling:



The freeway through the desert from Cali to Vegas.





Lion statue in front of the MGM Grand.





Real lions inside the MGM Grand.





The Vegas strip looking toward Paris and Bellagio.





My friend and I playing nickle slot machines in downtown Vegas.





Penny slot machines at downtown Vegas.