Al & Bea’s Chicharrón Burrito vs Vargas’s

By kiki

I paid a visit to the vampire at Norris Cancer Center early this morning, and after the vamp pulled its fangs out of my arm, I needed to look for a place to chow down. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I remember that somebody on Facebook had mentioned Al & Bea's on First St. in Boyle Heights, and since I was in the Heights, I decided to look for the place. I drove south on Soto St. to First St. I then made a right on First. I went a few blocks west past St. Louis St. As I drove under a freeway, Beto, one of my imaginary friends who was riding with me, said, "orale boss, you've just passed Al & Bea's," so I made a u'rie right in the middle of the block, "you're going to get a ticket" said Beto. Once we had passed back under the freeway, I pulled over and parked to see if I could spot the food joint. As I looked east and west, I noticed that I was parked right across the street from the Hollenbeck Youth Center, the same place that produced some outstanding amateur boxers (my son Tony fought there). As I was looking at the center, I noticed Al & Bea's was next door on the east end of the center. I got off my truck and slammed the door on Beto "hey, I wanna eat too," cried Beto. I then jaywalked across First St. I found Al & Bea's to be a small place with a few outside tables but no indoor seating that I could see. I checked the menu on the wall, and I found what I was looking for, a "chicharrón burrito" It was good, but not great; I'll give the Vargas's chicharrón burrito a slight edge:. (Vargas' is in Pico Rivera)…After eating, Beto and I headed east on First St. towards East Los Angeles. As we drove east, I tried talking to Beto, but he wouldn't talk to me; I think he was pissed at me for not letting him get off the truck to eat. As we were driving east on First St., I realized how much I miss the Eastside. Even though I was not raised as an Eastsider, I did run the streets of East Los as a young teen, plus Connie, the kids, and I lived at different times in different parts of ELA...I got back home to find Chata, the British Bulldog pissed at me, shit, first Beto, now Chata! By the way, Beto is still sitting in the truck; he said he wouldn't get off until I apologized; I tried telling him that I was afraid he would get run over because people can't see him. I let him sweat a while in the hot truck, then he was happy to get off.

Charles Laughton

By Kiki

Quasimodo

On the TCM channel, Connie and I watched the 1957 movie 'Witness For The Prosecution' starring Tyrone Power and Charles Laughton et al.. And we both said simultaneously, "remember the night Laughton was sitting behind us at the fights" Man! Talk about an old married couple thinking alike!!. 

Circa 1957, Connie and I were at the Hollywood Legion Stadium for the Pajarito Moreno/Tommy Bain fight. We were about 7-8 rows from the ringside for the new Mexican sensation KO artist Pajarito Moreno's Los Angeles debut. Sitting behind me was "Quasimodo" Charles Laughton had gained fame playing Quasimodo in the 1939 movie 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame.' 

As the first fight was about to start, Quasimodo tapped me on my shoulder and asked me, "Who do you got" I answered him, "The guy in the black corner" "a dollar; I'll take the guy in the white corner" I am not a gambler. Still, I wasn't about to lose a chance to bet with Quasimodo. So we waged the small bet. 

For the rest of the fights, we waged a dollar a fight, He bet the white corner, and I bet the black corner. I don't remember who came out a dollar or two ahead... I love to reminisce about the old days.

Charlie’s Retirement

By kiki

After many years on the job, my good friend Charlie decided he had had enough of the rat race, so he decided to retire before he got too old. Now I don’t wanna wish him a lousy retirement because, after so many years of back-breaking labor, he deserves some happiness in his golden years. But I’m afraid that Retirement may not work out well for him. So here is what I see happening to Charlie as he gets older and bored: he’ll turn into an old coot and hang out at the local general store with his fly open. And he’ll become known for goosing old ladies at Walmart. And in the end, he’ll become the town’s character.

Happy Retirement, ole buddy!!

1950’s Los Angeles Newspapers

By kiki

Sitting in bed this morning reading the Los Angeles Times, my mind raced back to my days as a newspaper-selling kid in the late '40's-early '50s. I used to sell three now-defunct evening newspapers: the Daily Mirror, the Daily News, and the Evening Herald-Express (morning papers were the Los Angeles Examiner and Los Angeles Times) at the corner of Washington Blvd and Maple Ave in Montebello, about a mile north of the Simons Brickyard. I had to fight the Simons bullies for the best corner a few times. The corners were on a first-come-first-served basis. A few times after securing the best corner by arriving early, one of the bullies would try to run me off. We would have a scuffle and get my butt kicked, but I would keep the corner by not backing off.

The best corner for the evening newspapers was the eastbound corner of the intersection. The evening eastbound traffic was heavy and the commuters making their way home to the many suburbs sprouting up all over the Southern California landscape were great tippers.

The papers at that time sold for 7 cents a copy, and we kids would get 2 cents per paper sold. But we made more money on tips. In all, we made enough money to go to the picture show where we would hold hands with any girl that wanted to…Nowadays, where you can read all the newspapers on the web, I still need the feel of the paper in my hands to read a whole article. I've tried reading newspapers online, and it's not the same as this old newspaper kid; that's why I still subscribe to the only major newspaper in LA., the Los Angeles Times. 

Buying A Bottle of Bud Light For Lunch

By kiki

When lunchtime came around, I decided to have a green chili burrito, so I called Burger Depot here in La Puente and ordered one. “It’ll be ready in five minutes,” I was told by the honey on the other end of the line. The Burger Depot burger stand is about half a mile from my house. I jumped on my truck, and I decided to have a beer with the burrito on the way there. So I made a beeline to the nearest juice store, liquor store to you AA members. After parking, I walked in and made my way to the store's back, where the beer fridges were. I grabbed a bottle of Bud Light out of a six-pack (I hate canned beer). As soon as I placed the beer on the counter, the dude working behind said counter, a Korean, told me, “No, can buy one, buy six-pack only.” I told him that I didn’t want a six-pack and that I was in no hurry to get drunk. I then asked him why I couldn’t just buy the one bottle that I wanted “Because nobody buys six-pack with five beers.” I then told him that he could just put another beer in the six-pack; I said, “But if you don’t wanna sell me the one bottle of Bud Light, I’ll just go down the street to another juice store, that Mexican dude will sell me the beer I want. His eyes opened real wide, well as wide as he could open them, and he said, “What juice store? That Messican dude is bad man, don’t go there, I sell you beer. After telling him what a juice store was, I walked out with a 12 OZ bottle of Bud Light…I don’t even know if there is a Mexican owned juice store down the street, but I guess there must be one because the Korean told me, “that Messican dude is bad man”

Hiroyuki Ebihara vs Efren "El Alacán" Torres

                                        Efren "El Alacán" Torres

By kiki

In 1964 I went to the Olympic Auditorium to see the Efren "El Alacán" Torres vs. Hiroyuki Ebihara fight. It was a great and very close fight in which Ebihara was given the nod by a split decision. No sooner had the decision been announced by golden-voiced Jimmy Lennon Sr. when all hell broke loose, the fans started to riot. They began by ripping the seats off the floor and starting fires, then the chingosos (fistfights) started. I tried to stay clear of the action, but it was hard as just about everybody was throwing chingosos. As I was trying to keep out of the way, one guy asked me who I thought won the fight; he then punched me in the face when I told him that I thought Ebihara had won. The dude then ran like a deer after landing that sucker punch. I would never catch that guy, so I punched the nearest guy throwing chingosos, then ran like a deer!!

They fought again in 1965 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Ebihara won by TKO in seven rounds. That same night Jerry Quarry made his pro debut.

                                                     Hiroyuki Ebihara