Pink lotus blossoms blooming under netting to protect them from birds.

What are those pink things floating above the water in the northwest corner of Echo Park Lake? That’s, right. They are lotus blossoms. About five years after the old lotus bed died off mysteriously, the light pink-and-cream colored petals of newly planted lotus are  now opening up over floppy green leaves.  Are the blossoms a bit early? It’s been so long it’s hard to remember when the pink petals began to unfurl.

This new generation of lotus were planted in February as part of the clean up and renovation of Echo Park Lake, which is scheduled to reopen to the public by June 15. Aquatic plant supplier Randy McDonald, who grew the plants from a cutting taken from Echo Park Lake a few years ago, had predicted that the new plants would be blooming by this summer.  He was right. The lotus, which for now are growing under black netting to protect the young plants from birds, now share the lake with other aquatic plants, including smaller water lilies that bloomed earlier this spring.
The large lotus plants and flowers  – a variety of nelumbo nucifera -  have been growing in the lake for decades, with the plant serving as an icon for Echo Park and an annual Lotus Festival held in the park.  The Lotus Festival will not return until next year but these blooms will greet the public when the park reopens next month.

Looks like some albino lotus have snuck into to the pink lotus patch.

Anthea Raymond, center, at Echo Park Art Walk/Art Needs Freedom

Anthea Raymond, Editor of Echo Park-Silver Lake  Patch, announced Thursday that she would be leaving the neighborhood news website. Raymond, who lives in Silver Lake,  posted this message to her readers on the Echo Park-Silver Lake Patch Facebook page:

Goodbye Patchlandia. It has been a wonderful time for me serving as your editor at the Echo Park-Silver Lake Patch but I have been asked to move on. I will still be your neighbor, however, and look forward to sharing wonderful times in the community.

Raymond said she thinks Patch, which is owned by AOL and operates hundreds of community websites nationwide, will move people around to fill her position.  Several weeks ago, the editor of Highland Park-Mt. Washington Patch, David Fonseca,  left the site to become an associate producer at HuffPost Live.   Ajay Singh, who is the editor of Eagle Rock Patch, has also been serving as editor of the Highland Park site.

AOL announced last week that it would be trimming 3% of its staff as part of an effort to cut costs and turn a profit.

The Eastsider competes with the three Patch sites for stories and advertising. But we have also exchanged links and credited each other for breaking stories as part of our individual efforts to cover our communities.

Good luck, Anthea!

By AndrewXu/Flickr

Welcome to The Listening Station, The Eastsider’s  dose of must-listens from local bands. Get to know your community by getting to know the music they are making.  Feel free to let us know what Eastside bands or performers – in any genre- you are listening to by sending an email to hello@theEastsiderLA.com

1. “The Walker” – Fitz & The Tantrums

If Motown was injected with a dose of HGH and a splash of New Nave, Fitz and the Tantrums is what you would get. A genre whose sound bites a little harder, has a backbeat which swings more aggressively, and lyrically, waxes substantially darker. This Silverlake-based sextet recorded their critically acclaimed 2010 Pickin’ Up the Pieces (released via local Dangerbird Records) in the Silverlake abode of frontman Michael Fitzpatrick after pounding the pavement at Eastside venues. Now with their sophomore album More Than Just a Dream, the band’s acclaim has reached beyond the confines of SunJunct but their ode to The Silver Lake Walker shows their roots are strong.

Soundcloud:

2. “The Crone” – Many Distant Cities

This Highland Park-based folk outfit brings a playful brand of self-described ‘murder ballads and songs of love and hate’. These multi-instrumentalists played the patio earlier month at Stories Books & Cafe in Echo Park and features delightful harmonies with horns and surprising tempos which also nod wonderfully at Los Angeles’ Mexican musical heritage.

Soundcloud:

3. “Heavy Feet” – Local Natives

Once Silver Lake’s best kept secret, Local Natives have been the darling of the indie rock world now for some time. The band’s touchstones are tribal-inspired beats, genuinely haunting vocals, and inescapable, soul-melding melodies which meander for days. Earlier this year they released their second album, Hummingbird and this week embarked on a world tour.

Soundcloud:

4. “Visions” – Silverhands

This electro-dance duo is one part LA (Liz Wight), one part Frisco (Drew Marcogliese). Eastside mainstay Liz Wight may also be known around town for her previous Love Grenades alter ego, but is now exploring the winding roads of an electro-funkadelic sound-scape. “Visions” is bolstered by Wight’s vocals, a hearty timbre that paints in the boldest of strokes. Envelop yourself in the spell of this transfixing tune.

Soundcloud:

5. “Let me Back In” – Rilo Kiley

The Silver Lake music scene wouldn’t be what is today without the influence of proto-indie bands like Rilo Kiley in the early 2000s. Though they have since disbanded after a decade together, they recently released RKives, a collection of B-Sides and rarities that track the band’s ascendance from lo-fi, folk beginnings to their status as consummate storytellers and indie’s archetypal rock band. “Let Me Back In (I Love LA)” is Rilo Kiley’s penitent love song to the city that borne them.

Soundcloud:

Marni Epstein is a freelance writer and music journalist who has also worked in both the film and digital media industries.

Mitch O’Farrell addresses reporters at City Hall./Tony Cella

City councilman-elect Mitch O’Farrell addressed a small number of reporters and campaign supporters on the steps of City Hall this morning to discuss his top priorities for Council District 13 and also the contentious campaign with  rival John Choi.

“CD 13 is on the rise,” said O’Farrell, who will replace his former boss, term-out councilman and now mayor-elect Eric Garcetti, as representative of a district that includes Atwater, Echo Park, Silver Lake and portions of Hollywood. “It’s a place people all over the world will come to make a better life for themselves.

Some of the major points that came out of his address this morning:

• The former Garcetti staffer – who promised to fill pot holes, clean the streets and resolve other quality of life issues-  targeted the East Hollywood and Echo Park segments of Council District 13 for infrastructure improvement.
• He denied the allegations of electoral fraud by the Choi camp, and his campaign staff said they haven’t been contacted by officials regarding the matter.

• Campaign manager Renee Nahum said no one from Choi’s campaign has contacted their office.

• The candidate elect planned on reigning in run-away production to benefit the businesses in Hollywood. “I want to bring the shine and glitter back to Hollywood,” he said.

• O’Farrell continued his critique of the Hollywood Millennium Project, saying it was too tall, but also that something had to be done with the empty lot. He said community oriented development that respected the character and culture of neighborhoods was important and promised to maintain an open door policy as well as regularly scheduled neighborhood walks.

Despite being outspent more than 2 to 1,  Mitch O’Farrell , a former dancer and council district adviser, emerged victorious over Choi, a labor organizer and former Public Works Commissioner. With 100% of precincts reporting,  O’Farrell captured 53.05% of the vote compared to 46.94% for Choi, according the City Clerk’s unofficial  tally of the votes.

During the campaign,   O’Farrell touted  his deep roots in the district and extensive knowledge of neighborhood issues while Choi called for a broader vision and the ability to work across council district boundaries to improve conditions.  But in the final weeks of the campaign, the focus shifted away  issues as  tension rose between the two campaigns,  which have traded charges of voter fraud and race-baiting.

He dismissed the allegations of electoral fraud, and his campaign staff said they haven’t been contacted by officials regarding mail-in ballots. O’Farrell denied any wrong-doing during the election and promised to use his experience as a coalition builder to heal the divisions birthed during the campaign.

He mentioned Echo Park as another focal point for his first term, pointing to the recent completion of the lake as a sign of “momentum” in the neighborhood. He also plans to use the diversity in the neighborhoods as a conduit for tourism.

The new council member also pointed to enhanced public transportation as a means to alleviate the city’s world famous traffic congestion, create an affordable housing plan in the city and focus on “smarter” police work.

The elected councilman also promised to leave his cell phone number on his business card, keep regular office hours and host neighborhood walks.

“That’s my style,” he said. “You’ll see me on the street. I’ll pull over and we’ll have a conversation.”

Tony Cella is a freelance reporter that has covered crime and grime in Los Angeles, New York City and the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.  Click here to contact Cella with questions, comments or concerns.

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Photos by Kelly Erickson

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Rafael Serrano at K-York Studio/Nathan Solis

The life of an artist is difficult. The art scene is fickle. Rafael Serrano of Highland Park knows that first hand.

“I should be much further ahead in my career today. If only I didn’t drift away for those twelve years,” artist Rafael Serrano says inside K-York Studio in Highland Park, reclining on a couch, surrounded by elegant furniture and his most recent art.

Like his collage’s, Serrano’s career was scattered about up until a few years ago. In the ‘80s, he was an up-and-coming artist who worked with photography, made the shift to painting and began to show in world renowned galleries. In the mid ‘90s the praise he received began to wane as the art world began to ignore more traditional artists and by the early 2000s Serrano was done with showing his work. One of his last solo shows was at a hair salon in Woodland Hills.

“The scene moved away from realism,” said associate editor of Fabrik magazine Peter Frank. “It wasn’t cool to be a painter anymore.”

Now that 58-year-old Serrano is drifting back into the art scene, he’s styling a comeback from his own backyard – local gallery show in his neighborhood, his newest work posted to his Facebook feed, along with a self-portrait and a picture of his dog.

With Nidhi Agarwal and Ritu Aggarwal/Rafael Serrano

His recent paintings are like a series of personal conversations, colorful, unique painting/collage and similar in their presentation, unlike Serrano’s paintings from the ‘80s, which were life-size, grand canvases that reached to the ceiling or his photography of stylized miniatures that looked like mysterious landscapes, places he wished he could visit. He stayed in Los Angeles, built a name for himself.

“He was ahead of his time,” says art curator Robert Berman of Serrano’s set pieces and photography. “He was working at an interesting place, doing work that spoke to a lot of people, and is still influencing them today.”

Around 1982 Serrano’s paintings were morphing from hyper realistic to a more abstract style. “When I can’t paint something I photograph it, and when I can’t photograph it I paint it,” Serrano said.

There were a series of shows after college that featured his photography work, including a show at the L.A. County Museum of Art.

“I was so excited for that show,” said the Cuban-born artist who speaks with a slight accent. “I called my mom up and told her, and she was proud, of course, but my family are all in the medical field. They knew I was in art school, but they never saw what I was doing. Then came the show at the county museum,” Serrano said with enthusiasm.

His paintings began to grow larger, set in mystical landscapes, with phallic allusions to war and bombs. A picture of Serrano at the time would look like an artist enjoying his fame, the recognition he received, his smile pulled taught across his face.

“I certainly partied. We were all making art and expressing ourselves. It was drinking, taking drugs, letting it go to our heads. It was ego. We were putting ourselves up on the canvas so to speak. We thought we were invincible,” Serrano says.

When he left the art scene in the 2000s, Serrano continued to create art, but he didn’t show his work to many people. For some time he was depressed, anxious about his work, nervous about his craft deteriorating. He began using up a digital camera, wrote political poetry, and became a father. Serrano attributes the birth of his son to getting his career back together. He started off small – sketches, a few photographs, some interesting collages.

Several times during our interview Serrano says, “I feel that I have some catching up to do.” And he makes this claim as though some other artist were arriving at the same ideas he should have had years ago.

His current work ranges from monochromatic to colorful. Some pieces are busy like biology diagrams of plant cells, while others are bleak and speak to that period where Serrano was battling depression. “I find myself much more happy with my current work,” he says.

“Collage is good to me,” Serrano says, “But I have a lot of catching up to do.”

Serrano’s work will remain on display at K-York Studio through June 7.

Artwork by Rafael Serrano

The Garden of Unearthly Delights/Rafael Serrano

Rafael Serrano in 1986

Nathan Solis is a Highland Park resident who writes about and photographs the L.A. music scene. You can find more of Solis stories, reviews and photos at Smashed Chair.

After a neighbor’s car was keyed six months ago, an Atwater Village couple living on Edenhurst Drive north of Los Feliz Boulevard  installed a surveillance camera to help protect on their property. That camera may did not prevent  a crime but it did capture images of a man who earlier this month vandalized two cars parked in couple’s driveway.

Lauren, who did not want her last name revealed, said estimates to repair  the damage to the Infiniti G35 and Nissan Murano have ranged from $2,200 to $5,000.  She and her husband have filed a police report of the crime, which took place at about 2 a.m. on May 1,  and have also posted a copy of their surveillance video on YouTube to alert other neighbors of the vandalism.  The couple is aware of about 20 vehicles that have been keyed in their section of Atwater during the past three years, she said.

“Our block has been getting hit with cars getting keyed,” said Lauren. “The more aware everyone is, the better the chance we’ll get this guy off our streets!”

Here Come the Kayakers…Maybe? | Martha Benedict

Rangers will help manage river recreation area./Brenda Rees

This weekend, the L.A. River will no longer be something to contemplate from only the shorelines, bike paths and freeway bridges.

In an experiment that could change Angeleno’s perception of the river, The L.A. River Pilot Recreation Zone officially kicks off on Memorial Day, Monday May 27, allowing the public to walk, watch birds, kayak and fish (with permits) on a 2.5 mile stretch of the Glendale Narrows waterway in Elysian Valley.

The summer-long program runs during daylight hours until Labor Day (September 2) and anyone can access the river free of charge for a Class I river rapids ride that will take about 2 ½ hours. (Note: organized groups will need a permit and that can take up to five days to secure.)

Only non-motorized, steerable boats – like kayaks and canoes – are permitted on the river. Sorry inner tubes and inflatable rafts, back to the pools with you.

Vendors offering guided excursions are hoping that Northeast Los Angeles gets bitten by kayak fever and sign up for an upcoming tour (most vendors will start their tour season on the weekend of June 1). Indeed, many challenges face individual kayakers who want a L.A. River experience:

• You’ll need two cars – one at the put-in location at Rattlesnake Park and one at Confluence Park near the take-out.

• There are only 40 parking spots at Rattlesnake Park that stretch from Ripple to Riverside off of Fletcher Avenue. You may have to portage your kayak across busy Fletcher.

• The trail from Fletcher is narrow and steep, especially when you are carrying a kayak.

• Kayakers must pull-out at Steelhead Park on Oros Street. You’ll have to walk up a steep trapezoidal slope, cross a bike path, pass through the small parklet and down a block to reach Oso Park.

• From there, you will leave kayaks to board a shuttle bus – which runs every 15 to 20 minutes – that will take you to the parking lot at Confluence Park (near the Home Depot parking lot on San Fernando Road). You will pick up your car and then drive back to Oso Park where you will load the kayak into your car in the five-minute loading zone.

• The river itself can be difficult. The flows are between Class I and II but water conditions can change overnight. You might have to walk kayaks over low flow areas. Other spots can be 6-feet deep. Even if you scout ahead – or study the river map – there are no guarantees the river will be flowing the same way the next day. Rain cancels all river activity.

With such a complex and exhausting process, river kayakers may consider signing up for a guided tour which should eliminate many obstacles. Just a heads-up: you may still have to do your share of portaging.

Ducks will have to share the L.A. River with people this summer./Martha Benedict

For two years, summertime kayaking on the L.A. River was offered at the Sepulveda Basin area and kayak organizers there  seeing kayak opportunities in the Elysian Valley section of the river.

“The first year we had a few hundred people, but once people realized what we were doing, we sold out tours that second year,” says George Wolfe of L.A. River Expeditions. “Between our group and Paddle the L.A. River [another kayaking organization], we had close to 3,000 people kayaking on the river last summer.”

For Wolfe, exploring the Glendale Narrows section of the river will be a treat because of the moving water. “It’s going to be sportier and not just flat water,” he says describing most of the run at Sepulveda.

“This will have more rifts and rapids with more obstacles. It’s going to be a longer ride also. I think people are going to love this,” says Wolfe. “It’s going to be a lot of fun and a great way to spend a summer day.”

Wolfe’s experiences at Sepulveda Basin parallels the build-up to opening day, with community members worrying that the river program would bring in more traffic, trash and parking problems. “We did encounter a bit of NIMBY but we sought to find a way to make a solution to make everyone happy.”

The Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) – the organization administering the Glendale Narrows pilot program in cooperation with city and county of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Flood Control District and the Army Corps of Engineers – has, in Wolfe’s opinion, been very “sensitive to the issues of safety and security [in Elysian Valley]. In the end, this program can only be a boon to the area.”

In addition to potentially more traffic in the area, Elysian Valley residents are dismayed that dog walking down by the river won’t be permitted in the recreation zone during the pilot program. “People will still be able to take their dogs alongside the bike path and into the parks,” says Fernando Gomez, chief ranger for the MRCA. “But we can’t have them bring the dogs into the water or five feet of it.”

Gomez says that the MRCA will be monitoring the recreation zone from sunup to sundown daily once it is opened to the public. One MRCA ranger as well as up to a dozen  MRCA volunteers will be on patrol duty either on foot, bike or boat. “The LAPD will have the initial authority and city police will respond to any calls, but we will also be on hand to assist if necessary,” he says.

Oso Park sculpture./Martha Benedict

The extra security should be welcomed in the neighborhood where recently a biker was attacked on the bike path.

Still, the question remains: Will Anyone Kayak the River?

“Everyone that I know is excited about it,” says Steven Appleton, president of the Elysian Valley Riverside Neighborhood Council who, along with being a professional artist, will soon be adding kayak guide to his resume.

Appleton, along with fellow Elysian Valleyite Grove Pashley, will be leading L.A. River Safari kayak tours, an operation that will give Appleton a chance to introduce people to the history, nature and community of his neighborhood. “There are some places in the river you really have no idea you are near downtown L.A. Herons, egrets, carp jumping up. It’s mind-boggling.”

Appleton intends on employing and training local youth to help with the operation. In addition, he plans on reaching out to community and youth groups, offering them river trips at reduced rates. (Both L.A. River Expeditions and L.A. River Safari trips will run about $60-$70 per person.)

Both vendors will employ a novel way for kayakers to return to their parked cars at Rattlesnake Park. Once they are back on land at Confluence Park, participants will jump on bicycles and cruise the river route from a different perspective.

All in all, opening day of the recreation zone will write a new chapter in the continuing saga of the L.A. River.

Like many, Appleton is an optimist that a river experience can be radically energizing.

“I think once we bring people to the river and show them what it is, they will fall in love with it,” he says. “It really can be a river for all of us.”

Click here for more information about the L.A. River Pilot Recreation Zone.

Sorry, no dogs will be allowed in the river. Dogs will be allowed on path at the top of the river channel./Martha Benedict

Bird watchers will have plenty to look at along the river./Martha Benedict

Kayakers will have to navigate around some urban obstacles./Martha Benedict

L.A. River path runs along the Elysian Valley side of the waterway./Martha Benedict

Steve Appleton at the River Access point on L.A. River Recreation Zone./Miguel Luna

Brenda Rees is a writer and resident of Eagle Rock. Martha Benedict is a photographer and resident of Montecito Heights

Photo by C.J. Salgado

Street Faces, Silver Lake | Atwater Village Newbie/Eastside Flickr Pool

• Silver Lake church-to-hotel development removes roof top bar from plans.
• Taste of Boyle Heights features street vendor cuisine.
• Eastside holds Memorial Day ceremonies.
• Bloggers don’t live on comments alone! Support the Eastsider today with a Reader Sponsorship.

Today’s links gathered from Curbed L.A. and  EGP News