Wil Dog talks to Bianca, Josephine and Oscar
On June 15, the kids at 826LA’s Monday night journalism class got a special guest: Wil Dog from local band Ozomatli! The bassist spend the entire time with the students who listened and asked questions about his life and his time with the band. Check out our photos below!
They hung out at the Time Travel Mart after the session ended.
Ozomatli’s ‘City of Angels’ is a Tour of LA
By Alanis
The Ozomatli album “Don’t Mess With the Dragon’’ has a cool song called “The City of Angels.” It is awesome because it talks about Los Angeles and it’s awesome because it talks about different places in L.A. like Silver Lake, Fairfax, Bell [Gardens], Carthay, Crescent Heights and Hollywood. The song is also about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie being on the front page of the newspaper and how “Brad Pitts cheatin’ front page reality.” It was like more of a rap than an ordinary song.
Places that Ozomatli performed this album are:
India, Nepal, Tunisia, Jordan , Egypt, the show Late Night with Conan O’Brien, the jazz festival in New Orleans, and at the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee.
So last night, the staff and editors of 826LA’s Good Times decided that local music would make a fine issue. To keep you entertained while we prep the print edition of the Good Times, here’s what our staff wrote about local musicians Beck and Castledoor.
Beck is looking for his Girl
The song “Girl” by Beck, was released on Guero on March 2005. The song is about a guy talking about a girl that he likes. I didn’t like the video because the story doesn’t go with the song that’s he is singing. The song is about a girl but in the video it only shows stuff, like a car, a map, a brochure, a hotdog stand and the TV screen dividing in half. Beck is walking through LA and in the video they don’t even show the girl that he is talking about. They show men playing instruments most of the time.
- By Miguel
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Beck’s “Loser”
It’s funny and it has a good beat. In the lyrics he says “I’m a loser baby” in Spanish. He sings the chorus – “Soy un perdedor / I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me” – backwards. The music video made me feel like I was in juvenile hall because it sounds like when you walk inside jail. It’s also funny when the cheerleaders dance silly. The video is set in the forest of LA It’s funny when the guitarist is on the roof playing the guitar, because that’s what I would do. The song is about how he’s a loser and why won’t you kill him.
Beck used to be in a comedian show, and he cut his hair.
- By Bianca
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The Echo Park/Silverlake band Castledoor’s album is called Shouting at Mountains. This is a good name for it because it makes you think of happiness. My favorite songs are Skipping Stepping Stones, Fifth Tambourine and Dumpster Diving. The music in “Dumpster Diving” sounds happy, but the words are romantic. They’re about a date diving in a dumpster and finding stuff. That sounds like a weird, stinky and dirty date to me. The video for this song is awesome because as first I thought they were going to be dressed like hobos, but actually they dress fancy and take care of each other. They brush their teeth, but then they jump in the dumpster and fly in this universe and they land in front of their instruments and start to sing. I like the guy’s voice. It’s a good voice, and a romantic voice. It would be good music for your iPod or your car because it makes you sing it out loud. “Fifth Tambourine” seems sad, actually sad and happy at the same time. My favorite part of this song is the drums. They’re pretty good. Their songs feel long. I like the squirrel on their poster.
- By Alanis
Staff of 826LA's Good Times interviewed a reporter from La Opinión.
La Opinión reporter Brisa Lopez dropped by the Good Times newsroom a few weeks ago to talk to the staff about her experiences in journalism. But the kids of 826LA turned the tables on her — and peppered her with questions, too. The full story will be published in our second edition of the Good Times, but here’s what some of the 826LA journalism kids learned from Brisa and her journalism pointers:
Chad
You always need to ask them the easy question, then ask something harder and they will start to like you! I even learned to show eye contact to learn more about their personality!
Alanis
I learned about interviewing and how to make them feel well. You have to make them feel good at first. Then you go with the other questions. Don’t be annoying to them. Make them be expressed good from you.
Josephine
I learned how to interview people! I interviewed Chad. Now I know how to interview someone. I learned from Brisa Lopez. You can be annoying if you want.
Bianca
The stuff I learned today is how to interview someone.
Oscar
I learned that Brisa Lopez works at La Opinión. She has interviewed a lot of people. Her favorite color is pink and she is 32 years old. She works on the newspaper.
Fascinating, no? Well if you can’t wait to hear more about Brisa, check out the next edition of the Good Times, which will be out the week of June 8!