Los Angeles ~ CA

Pacific Coast Highway ~ Redondo Beach

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Friday, October 27th

Destroy All Music @ Drkrm ~ 2121 San Fernando Road, Los Angeles ~ Photographs from the early L.A. punk scene. Closing Oct. 27th ~ 11am - 5pm

Saturday, October 28th

Mass Protest & Die-In to ‘End the War Now!’ @ Olympic & Broadway ~ Coordinated with regional protests across the country. March to downtown Federal Building for Rally. ~ 12 noon.

Clive Barker @ A Different Life Bookstore ~ 8853 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. 310.854.6601 ~ Book signing of “Mister B. Gone” ~ 7:30 pm

Rocky Horror Picture Show @ NuArt Cinema ~ 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. ~ 11:55 - 2am

Sunday, October 29th

Halloween Mourning Tour @ Heritage Square Museum ~ 3800 Homer St. Lincoln Heights/Highland Park ~ Learn about the history of Victorian mourning practices in America during the early 20^th century. Guests will visit a house in mourning, about the origins of Halloween and the Victorian fascination with ghosts and spirituality. ~ Sat. & Sun. ~ 12 -4pm ~ $$

The air is thick with smoke, but crime marches on. Here are the stories making headlines in criminal LA.

NUMEROLOGY: 18 Members of 18th St. Gang Indicted
ATWATER MONSTER: Gang Leader Convicted of Four LA Murders, Rap Lyrics Key
PYRO: Unsuccesful Arsonist Booked
MISSED: Officers Shoot at Attacking Pitbull
SHH!: Librarians Battle Thugs, Vandals, Troublemakers
POET: Rug Merchant and Poet Killed in Robbery

Crime Video of the Week: Bandits Nab Puppies in Home Invasion

B.I.B.C. ~ 1227 E. Artesia Blvd. ~ Long Beach ~ (562)422-3005

Signal Hill Elementary School ~ Signal Hill

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Yuca’s ~ 2056 Hillhurst Ave. Los Feliz, CA 90027 ~ (323) 662-1214

Wherein I get to one of my top favorite taco spots, the tiny orange-on-brown wonderhut dubbed Yuca’s on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. Bound to an unattractive parking lot, Yuca’s legend is truly an example of how tacos change lives. Opened in 1976 by the Herrera family with loot from an accident suffered by el dueño, Jaime, the early days saw Jamie Jr. flagging down cars offering ‘you don’t pay if you don’t like it’ promotions to get Yuca’s tacos and burritos into people’s hands.

In time, ‘Mama’ Socorro’s delicious food brought people in droves, with a boost by an early article in the Times. The Herrera hustle endowed the family with enough cheddar to see their kids (including daughter Dora) off to Ivy League business schools, then return to bolster the family company. Today, Yuca’s is a heavy-hitter on the world taco scene, having even won the prestigious James Beard Award for excellent eats in 2005.

There’s always a little line at Yuca’s, but a quick and efficient turn-around. You leave your order with Mama herself who scrawls it on a paper plate and passes it to the wee kitchen. A few minutes later your food emerges wrapped in foil, and you scramble, search, or beg for a place to sit. Many brown-bag it from the deli next door. I had my feast on my hood, which helps keep the tacos warm.

I got a sampling of each of Yuca’s four tacos (well above market averages at $2-$2.25, but hearty). The secret seems to be a recipe that has the meats exploding with natural juice and super-buttery flavor. It’s almost as if the animals had spent their short lives swimming laps in butter trofts.

The asada has the toughest texture of their meats, although it still delivers on the tender, juicy standards of Yuca’s, bleeding buttery goodness along with a complex medley of flavors. The tacos contain no fatty bits, providing big meatty mouthfuls with a rough-chopped pico de gallo providing some crunch. The machaca was not so tough and kinky, as machaca tends to be, but came very moist, with a heavy hint of black pepper and a taste of something sorta sweet permeating the mix.  Opening up Yuca’s tacos, there’s that definite blunt-wrap effect, a narrow fill of shredded, stewed meat in a straight line, rolled tight.

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