826LA Good Times

There’s a sports monument right outside of 826LA. In fact, it’s right on Sunset Boulevard. Echo Park’s Walk of Fame honors local sports figures, and the Good Times journalists took a stroll down the Walk and then found out more about the people being honored.

Roy Campanella by Alanis

Roy Campanella (a.k.a. “Campy”) was a human who was the catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the ’40s and ’50s. He is on the Echo Park Walk of Fame because he was a good player and played in the Negro Leagues and the Mexican Leagues before playing in the Major Leagues with Jackie Robinson. He was also in the Major League Hall of Fame and won three MVPs. He only played for the Brooklyn Dodgers because he had an automobile accident before the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. We walked to Sunset Blvd., and when I heard his name, I thought about the movie The Sandlot: Heading Home.

Echo Park Plaques by Josephine

We went outside. We had some paper and crayons, and we colored some plaques in front of 826LA. One of them was for a golfer (Ralph Guldahl), one was for a runner (Jesse Owens) and one was for a baseball player (Roy Campanella). I’d never heard of Ralph Guldahl before. He played golf. He lived in Los Angeles. He’s on the Echo Park Walk of Fame because he was really good at playing golf. He won in Santa Monica in 1931. He was born in Dallas, Texas.

The plaques are called Avenue of the Athletes. That should be the name of the street. L. Andrew Castle put the plaques on Avenue of the Athletes so people would come to the shops in Echo Park. He had a camera shop. Avenue of the Athletes is on Sunset between Elysian Park Blvd. and Alvarado St. The plaques were made in 1974. There are 32 plaques on Avenue of the Athletes.

Taking a cue from Huey Lewis and the News’s best-selling album from 1983, the 826LA Good Times‘ staff of Echo Park tackles the issue of Sports in its latest edition. Our dutiful writers each took time to remember memories they have of playing sports—both good and bad. Here’s what they came up with:

• I used to be in a baseball team and got hit by the ball three times. First I was hit during a game, then I was hit during practice, and then in another game. I also tripped in practice once, and a person almost stepped on me.
• I remember when I was at my cousin’s house, and he kicked a ball in my face. I had a black eye for a week, and I was bleeding. But I didn’t go to the doctor.
• I remember when I was in school, and teams were being picked. One team chose all the good players, while the other team got all the lousy people. I was one of the lousy people. The game went badly for the lousy people.
• I found out that my school’s kickball and handball courts were slightly changing. The scary thing is my school, Dahlia Heights Elementary, never really changes. The only improvement I’ve ever noticed was the tetherball/handball court was under renovation last year. It turns out that the court’s wall paint was fading, and the kickball fence was bending. The more everything is used, the more it changes.

Unusual Sports

Good Times journalists Nickie and Marsden both know the conventional sports: baseball, football, et al. But what really caught their interest was the unconventional. The two did some research to dig up unusual sports played around the world.

• Man vs. Horse: In this sport, probably three-fourths of the time the horse will win the race.
• Wife Carrying: Hopefully it’s a short race. Do the guys ever drop the girls?
• Bog Snorkeling: The name says it all. Do you think the water is thick or smooth?
• Toe Wrestling: Again, the name says it all. It must be hard though. Feet don’t exactly move like hands.
• Fist Ball: It’s exactly like volleyball, except you don’t hit the ball the same way. It’s probably a good game for violent types.

Huey Lewis

And for our readers who are old enough to remember Huey Lewis, here’s a synth-filled blast-from-the-past track from the Sports album: “Walking on a Thin Line.”

Walking On A Thin Line (24-Bit Digitally Remastered 99) – Huey Lewis And The News

Some people think card games like poker are a sport. | Photo by gisur via flickr and a Creative Commons license.

The 826LA Good Times staff is hard at work on the upcoming issue about sports, which they found doesn’t always involve a ball or the outdoors. In fact, one of the journalists’ favorite sports is playing card games, including Speed and Poker. After a few rounds of Speed, Alanis and Josephine looked up the origins of cards, while Bianca and Miguel did some research on Poker.

Early Card History

By Alanis and Josephine

Playing cards come from 9th century China during the Tang Dynasty. There are four suits: spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. The design came from Mahjong tiles. T he first deck of cards were probably printed as a Chinese dominoes deck.

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Poker

By Bianca and Miguel

There are four variations of poker: Straight, Stud, Draw and Community. It was originally a 15th century German game called Pochspiel. In Poker, you have money to start. Every time you win, you get some chips, and you can exchange them for money. There are broadcasts of poker tournaments such as the “World Series of Poker” and the “World Poker Tour.”

My Favorite Card Game: Speed

by Bianca

I just started playing Speed, and it became my favorite card game. You play it with two, three or four people. To play, you have to put the card numbers in order. You put two cards down in the middle, then five on the sides. The rest of the cards are divided among the players. When all the players are ready, you flip over the two cards in the middle and start playing. Put the cards in number order. Or you can go backwards. If you have a joker, it’s a wild card and can be any number.

Sophie Heawood visits 826LA's journalism class.

London Times writer Sophie Heawood stopped by the Monday night journalism workshop at 826LA East on Aug. 24. We asked our kids to interrogate interview our guest, write a bio and let us know a difference or two between life in England and life in the U.S. And here’s what they found out:

Sophie Heawood is from London. She was born in 1976. She works as a journalist for The Times. She speaks five languages. The languages are English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and German. She likes to be in the sunlight. The difference between London and Los Angeles is that they eat difference kinds of food. From London, they eat fish and chips.
–Oscar

Sophie Heawood was born in London, England. She is a journalist and wanted to write about a new city. She is staying in LA for two months. She is 33 years old and eats Indian food. She eats fish and chips. She knows how to speak English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. She writes for the newspaper called The London Times. In England you can go to the hospital and they don’t charge, but in LA they do charge you.

She was born in London, England, in 1976. Sophie is 33 years old. She works at The London Times. She has stayed in Los Angeles for two months. She knows four languages (besides English): Spanish, Portuguese, French and German. She drinks black tea most of the time. In England, their popular dish is Fish n’ Chips. In England, all the health care is free from the NHS (National Health Service).
–Alex

We interviewed Sophie and found out that she works for The London Times. She was born on June 28, 1976. She speaks five languages and lives in London.
–Nickie

She was born in London, England, in 1976. She is a writer for The London Times.. She is 33 years old. She lives in London. She is visiting Los Angeles for only two months. She came to visit Los Angeles to write about a new city. In England, their popular food is fish n’ chips. Also in England, health care is free and called the NHS. NHS stands for National Health Service.
–Alanis

Sophie Heawood is 33. She works for The London Times. She is on vacation for two months in L.A. She really lives in London, where they have a queen instead of a president.
-Marsden

Sophie Heawood is from London, England. She was born on July 28, 1976. She writes for The London Times. She interviews famous people like Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. She speaks five different languages: English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. She lives in Hollywood, and she’s staying in Los Angeles for two months.
Sophie said, “I want to write about a new city for The London Times.” She likes going for long walks, but not on sandy beaches. Sophie said. “I hate walking on sandy beaches.” She likes walking in the canyons.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LONDON AND LOS ANGELES: 
In London, the health care is free, but in Los Angeles you have to pay for the health care.
 In London, there’s a queen, but in Los Angeles there’s a president. England has a parliament and in America, there’s a House of Representatives.
–Bianca and Miguel

Update on our workings at the 826LA Good Times. We’ve put the “movies” issue to bed, and boy is it a doozie! Steven Puri produces movies with Kurtzman/Orci for Dreamworks, the Hollywood studio. He tells us what makes a great movie, and *how they get made. And…Nickie and Marsden get some insight on their favorite films, with an animator from The Clone Wars and voice actors from Transformers. Learn about a few movies that were filmed right here in Echo Park, courtesy of Miguel. And hear Alanis talk to Alex about his debut as a screenwriter and actor in “Alex’s Trip to Mexico,” produced in conjunction with the Echo Park Film Center.

Look for the newest edition of the 826LA Good Times at a location near you! Try to Echo Park Time Travel Mart, Stories bookstore and cafe, or Two Boots Pizza.

We’re also laying the groundwork for our next issue. And the theme is: Sports!

A few ideas our intrepid reporters would like to cover:
baseball
basketball
volleyball
skating
BMX
cycling
soccer
football
cards
bowling
skateboarding
Vancouver 2010 Olympics

Who we might talk to:
players
Barcelona
coach
mascot
skateboarder
Lance Armstrong
referee

Tonight the students each picked topics and developed questions for possible interviews for the Movie Issue (with a heavy emphasis on Transformers 2!):

• Bianca and Josephine wrote interview questions for people with different jobs in the movies, like a best boy, set designer, boom operator.
• Marsden wrote questions to interview a voice actor from the Transformers.
• Nickie wrote questions for an interview with a Star Wars animator.
• Alanis wrote questions for an interview with Shia LaBoeuf; and
• Oscar wrote a review of the trailer for Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen.

If anyone can help hook us up with contacts for these interviews, please e-mail Julius at Julius@826la.org.

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