Fireworks Show Saturday Night at Lincoln Park- All day events from 2 p.m.- Eagle Rock on Sunday.

Well, Lincoln Park will be the site for the fireworks show on Saturday night, July 2, 2011.  Events, from politicians making appearances to actual entertainment will be happening from 2 p.m. onward until the fireworks begins at 9pm. 

Included is "Fault Line," a Latin jazz band, at 3:30 pm and 430 pm, for a couple of half hour sets. I heard this name before from many yearsback and they were a locally based band.  I recall that the version of that band that I heard was very good and I hope this version carries on that quality.

There are several other bands before and after Fault Line, and there should be something for most, if not everyone, to enjoy.
I am not able to show the flyer that's out now, but it's very basic and says it's presented by Council member Reyes, City of L.A. Dept. of Recreation and Parks, and the Lincoln Heights Chamber of Commerce, sharing the flyer space very equally in print.

The program has the listing of times for the day's events, with many bands. 

ALSO THIS WEEKEND- If you like fireworks shows, this is the weekend, with more fireworks on SUNDAY .
Fireworks at Eagle Rock Park, with the first of the Summer Concerts in the Park, Sunday, July3rd, 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with the Fireworks Showtime at 8:45 p.m.; there will be 4 more Sunday at 6 p.m concerts there this summer at 2 week intervals.
"Ronnie and the Classics" will be the band for this Sunday's concert.

Different approaches to promotion in the Council Districts.
This flyer, by the way, is just a top notch, glossy, colored two-sided item that, as usual for Council Distric 14, has the name of  "COUNCILMEMBER JOSE HUIZAR" displayed in the largest, all caps letters.  Have to hand it to Jose that he never misses an opportunity to self-promote, especially as there is one more term available to him as council member. 

Ed Reyes in CD-1 may be less concerned as he's termed out and will be looking for another office to occupy in the same year as the mayor, 2013, and or maybe he's just becoming a bit more frugal in handling expenditures.  Who knows?  And the other part unknown is any sort of breakdown of how much that is spent for each event is from specific funds  from tax money collected and how much is from any donations from private sector sources.  Some annual events this 4th of July have been cancelled due to budgets being very tight.  Views differ on what deserves spending of public money, but the deal's are done in these cases, so enjoy it while it's available, as next year you may be different.

But the "functional" vs. the "High Gloss" style is very apparent for the events that, above all, are supposed to be about celebrating the birth of this nation.   As things go, I really don't think that's something anyone really gives much thought to. That is, much thought if they were aware of the fact in the first place.  All part of the decline of the educational system and the interest given to history overall.

The Mayor visits Lincoln Heights with Martin Sheen at Downey's Pool(s_

In another tour of photo ops today, mayor Vlllaraigosa has Lincoln Heights on the list, as reported by The City Maven in her Morning Coffee items:

"1:30 p.m. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attend the kick off of Kaiser Permanente’s “Operation Splash” at Downey Recreation Center."

I don't know what this details of this are about, but then I don't think the mayor has much more information either, as long as there are cameras there to present himself.  He's a busy guy today with 3 other events to attend before this one.  Well, I suppose this is a lot more fun than dealing with the city's financial woes and seeing what the real job of mayor is about.

The Downey's pool was re-done a while back and I will still miss that No-diving shallow pool of a place where most of the neighborhood young people, at some time or another, went into the water during off-hours as the trains rumbled by on a regular basis, and back when there were just hoboes and not homeless living under bridges by the tracks. 

That was a long time ago when the city seemed to run well without all the daily scandals we are reading about these days. The mayor's had his share of those stories in the news, but he's termed out and auditioning for another job to occupy his time until July 2013 end of term.    I don't think he will be around much in the city with the new position of his, as if running the city was not a handful already.  If you haven't heard, keep reading.

Earlier this month, Mayor Villaraigosa spent the weekend on the East Coast to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Baltimore, Maryland where he was selected as president.  Well, I suppose the real condition of the city here is not known to the ones who chose him, or maybe that is irrelevant.  A real case of moving on in the wake of disasters.  A role model for all who otherwise would have figured there's not any hope for them- just trying to see the silver lining here.

The LHS Alumni Association meeting this Saturday

The meeting:   Lincoln High's Alumni Association monthly meeting.

More:
This Saturday, June 25, 2011 at The Cafe in the Heights, at 9:30 am, located on North Broadway, across the street from the campus near the Lincoln Park Avenue cross street.

Sample What's on "L.A. Radio.com." It's all free access until June 27th.

While Don Barrett is on a vacatioin for a while, he has made his LARADIO.COM available to non-subscribers to access it for free until June 27, 2011.  So you have until Monday in 9 days to check what this is all about.

Go back to see what's been on the web site and I am sure you will find something that will interest you, especially if you are of the older persuasion.   There's a lot about the present and future of radio as well as a lot of people and events of the past on this site.

The instructions are on http://www.laradio.com/ to get access- the password will be "free" by the way, as is the site for the next week.   Consider subscribing from an informed position of sampling the site.

See L.A. Dodgers' Tony Gwynn, Jr.-Today- Lincoln Heights' St. Vincent de Paul store- Noon

Here's the announcement that just came in by email this morning from KABC Radio AM 790.  This is kind of late notice to rearrange the Friday schedule for most, but here it is- you might pass it along.

"Today, meet L.A. Left Fielder Tony Gwynn Jr. Head over to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store from 12:00pm-1:30pm. Get your Dodgers stuff signed, plus 50% off for their Father's Day Sale. Located at 210 N. Avenue 21 Los Angeles, CA 90031   . more here."
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The last minute notice may be good to avoid presenting a temptation to ditch class to see a Dodger.   That might be one of the unintended consequences here, but I don't know how popular this appearance will be.  Now if it was Tony Gwynn, Sr., and 20 or so years back, I would probably work on visiting at noon.

If you are old enough, you might remember former Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda's radio ads for the Dodgers, "You can take a family of 4 to a game for $10, the best bargain in town."  Prices at the Stadium for the lowest general admission tickets are more than that for just one ticket now.

Times have changed.  Let's hope that the owners will be changing now.

The Passing of Another Figure from Our Past- James Arness, "Gunsmoke"

There's been more and more passings that I see now of the figures from the entertainment industry. Of course it's an eventuality for all of us.  From the times in school, maybe more so than now, there were lots of television, radio and music persons that had some long standing visibility, and were a part of the culture at the time.  That's what this sort of posting recognizes and I will make entries as more come up- maybe even go back to recall some who have already passed on, too.

James Arness, actor. and star of the western series, "Gunsmoke," that ran from 1955 to 1975, died last week at the age of  (May 26, 1923 to June 3, 2011) at the age of 88.    There's a summary that gives you a bit of information on the actor and the television show - "Legendary ‘Gunsmoke’ Actor James Arness Dies At Age 88."  http://www.etidbits.com/legendary-gunsmoke-actor-james-arness-dies-at-age-88=4600


As usual, Wikipedia has more details on Jame Arness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Arness

This was something of a classic show on tv that I remember watching over many years, with this show, Gunsmoke, being the longest running westerm amid a flood of western shows, many memorable and created during period in the 60s.   James Arness' brother was Peter Graves, a star in hsi own right, heading a cost of another show of major popularity, "Mission Impossible," and more recently known for the "Airplane" movies and "Police Squad" movies and television sitcom.

We all have memories from our younger days that came along with our time in school, from elementary to high school and beyond.   My school years now are moving back to an older era as each year passes, and that's the way for us all, even if we don't feel older.   The passings of entertainment figures reminds us of that aging and maybe gives us cause to try to enjoy the present even more now with whatever time we all have left.

More than a morbid view, this is to say we should all work to make a difference of some level, for our families or society.  And to be specific, it should be a "positive" kind of difference. We all know that there are loads of people who seem to have the purpose of making their mark on the day with criminal activity, too often considered by them and their peers as an "accomplishment."

So, from in my view, that's not what we are here for, and shifting the balance of things for our younger people, especially, to know that they have the choice of direction to go and the positive side is what is right.  Too often- and here's the school teacher kind of view coming out- parents don't get involved with even small things that can guide their children.  Leaving their children to learn all in school is not the way to go.  Would you let some strangers have complete control over your money decisions?  Then why drop out of the picture for your kids, something of more value than money, and let "someone else" show them what's important in life?

Teachers aren't supposed to be baby sitters or substitutes for parents but it's often what happens.  I have seen too many students looking for guidance that they are not getting from home.  We do help others, but family needs to be the big factor if you want to see success at any level of life.  Teachers and school can only help for part of each day. What parents and family are doing matters as a huge influence, and it can be a bad influence that's being shown, as you can see with some accepting gangster outcomes, or worse, encouraging it.

So, back to the passing of James Arness, and what this has to do with what I mentioned.  It was a reminder of the past when we were young and had a lot more choices than now and a reminder of the past when things seemed simpler and more innocent that today's life. 

We can't change the past that gave us our experiences and memories.  We can, however, affect the present and do that on many levels.  The first one needs to be our young people.  These will be the ones who will soon be taking over from us who are already, or will become, the older generation.  It would be a good idea to equip them with the tools and the "good" side of values to help them in the future decisions that they will make for themselves and for others.  Recognizing that the responsibility for that needs to be accepted by us will go a long way to improve life overall.