El Gallo de Sinaloa

Jugado en varios palenques
no es porque yo les presuma
me sigue la bueana suerte
a lo que yo me dedico
traigo cerquita la muerte

Yo me la paso en la sierra
Ciudades y Rancherias
Si dicen que al gonzales
lo busca la policia
se va pa estados unido
para perderce unos dias

Los de la DEA me persiguen
por la invasion traen permiso
se llevan la mejor parte
si es que hay un decomiso
Los gringos nunca la queman
la mayoria son masizos

Yo traigo un Cuerno de Chivo
y una Super bien bonita
me limpian bien el camino
y del peligro me quitan
Si me ven en un aprieto
luego la muerte gomita

Amigos en reclusorios
tengo en el norte y oriente
porque los han detenido
correron con mala suerte
otros estan en el sur
porque confian en la gente

Si alguno le quiere entrar
es peligrosa la cosa
cuando es el hombre derecho
siembra, cosecha y la gosa
mas si se vuelve culebra
muy pronto cae a la fosa

Being a mobile Taquero is not easy. While most people see you a convenient source of delicious tacos, clayudas, and other tasty treats, a treacherous few see you as a moving cash machine, a Brinks truck with no armor and sacks of easy loot at the end of a hard night.

LA Now’s Ruben Vives reports that a

tagger crew has robbed at least 22 taco truck vendors at gunpoint over the last two months along busy commercial streets in the Eastside.

The robberies have rattled the taco truck community, and officials said some vendors have been reluctant to report them for fear of retaliation from the perpetrators and possible immigration problems from authorities. As a result, detectives believe there may be more unreported robberies.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department today sought the public’s help in tracking down a 21-year-old man it says is connected to the robberies.

Sgt. Ruben Nava said Nery Perez of East Los Angeles was tied to at least 22 robberies of taco truck vendors along Whittier Boulevard, Olympic Boulevard and Cesar Chavez Ave. “He’s got green eyes and a tattoo of a bat on the right of his neck,” Nava said. “He has a very distinctive look.”

The total haul is estimated to reach $7,000. The Lonchero Association is working directly with the Sheriff to help combat this and other crimes against their brethren. Tonight when you’re out at your favorite taco truck, remember the perils of the industry, and spring for some extra tacos, you know they’re worth it. And to the enemies of the Loncheros– you are also the enemies of the taco lifestyle.

Tacos Arizas is a favorite among Echo Park residents and visitors attending shows at The Echo, which is located around the corner from Arizas’ Logan St. spot. The Eastsider LA reports that:

Negotiations were set up involving Council District 13, LAPD, the truck owners and the Asociacion de Loncheros, a catering truck business group. The council office wanted the truck to move to a location away from apartments and homes. The truck owners, of course, wanted a spot nearby so they wouldn’t lose their existing customers. “As long as people know where they are, it will be okay,” said Alfredo Magallanes, an advisor to the catering truck association.

After the discussions, the owners of Arizas agreed to move the truck about a block north to the other side of Sunset Boulevard next to the Sav-A-Lot market and away from apartments and homes. “This was the first time we worked with a taco truck to have them voluntarily move to a location to address concerns of local residents,” said Garcetti’s spokeswoman, Julie Wong.

Not quite as convenient for concert-goers, but even more visible for the general public and a lot less loud for neighbors on relatively quiet Logan Street. It seems that the Lonchero association is using its newfound heft and popularity to help mobile Taqueros negotiate the sometimes hazardous road weaving through neighbors, businesses, and the City.

Hot Rod is a hidden gem in plain sight in West LA. Located North of Pico on Westwood Blvd on the West side of the street. There is a weed dispensary nearby that I haven’t checked out yet but would be quite convenient for shopping purposes when on the west side. They have clothes, decks, accessories and other items but the highlights are the shoes and especially the collection of Nike SB– they carry every release and have been doing so since 1994. Hot Rod is 100% pura Los Angeles and represents our city to the fullest with their line of clothes featuring LA legends and iconography. A video tour of the store is above… if you stop in, tell ‘em TACO sent you.

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that:

A businessman who led police on a more than three-hour chase in a luxury Bentley sedan shot himself to death early today after more than a dozen police cruisers surrounded his halted vehicle near Universal City, a source close to the Los Angeles Police Department said.

He was taken to a local hospital, where he later died, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

What they didn’t mention was the circus-like atmosphere that developed at the scene in North Hollywood, as rubberneckers, the paparazzi, and the media were joined virtually by thousands of Twits furiously posting their thoughts (in 140 characters or less), speculations, jokes and unbridled glee at being part of the surreal, and ultimately tragic, scene.

Because the suspect was in an expensive automobile and there was speculation he was actually singer Chris Brown or DJ Khaled, the public’s attention was piqued. Local TV news drones tried to fill space with comments on the chase and users of Twitter posted speculative thoughts and jocular updates, even as it became clear that a tragedy was unfolding under the helicopter spotlights.

Twitter is a lot of fun and very useful, but let’s not pretend that the twits tweeting away are somehow different or more interesting then people taking pictures at a car crash, or vacant news reporters talking to fill up dead air while watching a dangerous chase unfold from high above the city. Those who participated in the twit-fest as the chase went on were patting themselves on the back, marveling at the speed of their updates and the number of people virtually chasing the chase as speculation and rumors flew past at internet speed. Rubberneckers on the side of the road, real or virtual, are a fact of life and not something to be proud of, regardless of the technology involved.

Founded in Montebello in 1970s, the Mongols MC is an outlaw Motorcycle club that is now the target of the FBI. They want to not only bust what they call the Mongols’ illegal activities, but also take away their logo, which they trademarked. Reuters reports:

Federal agents and police in seven states arrested more than 60 members of the Mongols motorcycle gang on Tuesday in a sweep that also targeted for the first time an outlaw group’s “intellectual property,” prosecutors said.

The arrests cap a three-year undercover investigation in which U.S. agents posed as gang members and their girlfriends to infiltrate the group, even submitting to polygraph tests administered by the bikers.

Those arrested were charged in an 86-count federal racketeering indictment accusing the California-based gang of engaging in criminal acts ranging from murder and robbery to extortion, money laundering, gun trafficking and drug dealing.

News that many had heard about, but is now confirmed by the Los Angeles Times this morning:

But more than 10 years after Boccalero died, her Franciscan order and the Los Angeles Archdiocese have sold the Self Help property to a private investment firm. The arts center may have until the end of the year to move from the site it has occupied since 1978.

“It’s a huge loss for the community,” said Patssi Valdez, a prominent artist of 30 years whose first exhibitions took place at Self Help Graphics & Art. “I’m hoping there will be something in the future that can replace it or compare to it.”

Sister Carol Snyder said it became untenable to support a venture that did not make money. The center’s budget plunged from $708,000 six years ago to $231,000 last year, relying mostly on sales from its renowned print shop after failing to secure government grants and corporate sponsorships.

Earlier this year, the Order of the Sisters of St. Francis, based in Redwood City, Calif., transferred the deed to the 15,000-square-foot building to the archdiocese and asked that it be sold.

Here at TACO we love LA and we love LA history. The best thing about history in this town is that it’s all around us, all the time, but often incognito. For example, you’re cruising down Wilshire Blvd. and see an old, cool looking building but have no idea what it is, who built it, why it might be significant, etc. This interactive map from the Los Angeles Conservancy is impressive as it gets, you can click and drag your way down Wilshire from downtown to the beach and get info and pictures on all the landmarks on the way. Check it out…

Curating the City: Wilshire Blvd.

The AP has the updated story:

A singer and two members of his staff were found tortured and killed just south of the California border, apparently the latest victims in a string of slayings of Mexican musicians, state prosecutors said Wednesday. Jesus Rey David Alfaro Pulido, 26, known as “El Gallito,” was found strangled and shot in the head last week in Tijuana, said a spokeswoman for the Baja California attorney general’s office who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter. His body was apparently frozen, the spokeswoman said.

Reports had first emerged of the deaths of Alfaro, manager Israel Flores, and his assistant, Jose Guadalupe Topete on Friday. Prosecutors confirmed the deaths on Wednesday. The killings may have been linked to three others in Tijuana last week, including that of a municipal police officer, the attorney general’s office said in a statement.

Many of the bodies bore signs of torture and were left with written notes common in execution-style killings. No arrests have been made in the killings. Alfaro was the latest Mexican musician killed in a string of murders that include the December death of Sergio Gomez, lead performer for the top-selling group K-Paz de la Sierra, and the November 2006 slaying of Valentin Elizalde.