Thursday, April 10, 2014
Alison and Dan in the Kibitz room
Dan Castle and Alison performing an unrehearsed song in the Kibitz Room.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
A Night in a L.A. Rock & Roll Mecca
Marshall
Nico
Mark and Chicago Red
Dan Castle
Dan Castle and Alison
A Night in a L.A. Rock & Roll
Mecca
Tucked next to the landmark
Canter’s Deli in Fairfax Avenue, was a tiny, dark and nondescript bar. It’s not
that great if you consider the atmosphere or the drink selection or the layout
of the bar. Right beside the bar was what looked like a raised surface that
stood for the stage, a couple of speakers and a couple of hard lights to
illuminate it and maybe six tables for patrons—that’s it. But some serious
musicians had passed through this hidden gem called the “Kibitz Room”. The
Doors, The Wallflowers, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers had come and hang
out here and maybe played a song or two. On Sundays local musicians would
religiously come here to play on open mic. My friend, Independent Film
Director, songwriter and musician, Dan Castle said: “This is one place where
you don’t have to be what you don’t wanna be”.
I must be the dumbest person to
converse with about Rock & Roll, I wouldn’t know the band, the name of a
song, the lead singer, what year which member left, but I know beautiful Music
when I hear it. All musicians who performed on open mic wrote their own songs
and boy do they have talent. Blues, Country, Folk, Bluegrass—they played it
unrehearsed, unpolished but with heart and soul. I was very, very fortunate to
have heard the music of Mark and Chicago Red. Blues was something I would skip
while scanning radio stations but when I heard those two played I became a
convert. Nothing like hearing Blues played live in a jam session—like how it’s
intended—It made me imagined hanging out in a porch in Mississippi on a lazy
Saturday afternoon. Dan Castle and Alison played an unrehearsed Country/Blues
song raw. Alison’s voice was dripping-wet-sexy and it was hot with passion like
a sticky, steamy, South Carolina summer.
“I come here every Sunday. This
is church for me and most others. Most of these musicians probably didn’t
matter much to the outside world” Dan Castle said somberly while we were
walking back to our cars. I thought to myself that maybe…maybe these musicians
probably didn’t amount much to anything…but in the Kibitz Room they were
demigods. Dan Castle was right, people go to perform in that bar not to be what
they don’t wanna be.
Written by RG in the spirit of
spontaneity.
“I couldn’t jam with a guitar but
I could at least try to jam with them with words”.
For the Musicians who come to Canter’s
Deli, Kibitz Room, on open mic.
4/15/14. Correction on my post on A Night in a L.A. ROCK AND ROLL Mecca. Alison and Dan Castle performed "Take Me Home" by Concrete Blonde. It was not written by Alison.
All photos and Article are copyrighted
Copyright 2014 RG Los Angeles Stories
Also see:
www.SurvivorsBook.blogspot.com
www.3RPhotography.blogspot.com
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Plugging my Book "Survivors"
The 2nd
Mexican-American War will take place in 2090-2100.
What would you do if
it happens now? That’s the driving force behind my novel “Survivors”.
More updates to come.
Photo by: Maikel
www.n4i.es Retouch by: 3R Photography / Three R Photography
COPYRIGHT 2014 R.G.
GALLARDO
The 2nd MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR and Latino-American Rebellion
will take place in 2090-2100. I based this conclusion on the analysis of George
Friedman, CEO of Strategic Forecasting, Inc. and author of the “The Next 100
Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century” (please see www.stratfor.com).
According to Mr. Friedman’s projections “by 2060, after
thirty years of policies encouraging immigration (the U.S. will actually
encourage immigration of Mexicans into the country)…areas that had been around
50 percent Mexican will become almost completely Mexican and areas that had
been 25 percent Mexican will move to over half…the borderland (Texas,
California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah) will become predominantly
Mexican”.
There are many geopolitical factors and triggers that would
result in Mexico challenging the U.S. in 2090-2100. I will not spoil it for
you, just read Mr. Friedman’s book.
But here are the facts:
Hispanic Americans By the Numbers
From the U.S. Census Bureau
by U.S. Census Bureau
Population
53 million
The Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1,
2012, making people of Hispanic origin the nation's largest ethnic or racial
minority. Hispanics constituted 17 percent of the nation's total population.
1.1 million
Number of Hispanics added to the nation's population between
July 1, 2011, and July 1, 2012. This number is close to half of the
approximately 2.3 million people added to the nation's population during this
period.
2.2%
Percentage increase in the Hispanic population between 2011
and 2012.
128.8 million
The projected Hispanic population of the United States in
2060. According to this projection, the Hispanic population will constitute 31
percent of the nation's population by that date.
2nd
Ranking of the size of the U.S. Hispanic population
worldwide, as of 2010. Only Mexico (112 million) had a larger Hispanic
population than the United States (50.5 million).
65%
The percentage of Hispanic-origin people in the United
States who were of Mexican background in 2011. Another 9.4 percent were of
Puerto Rican background, 3.8 percent Salvadoran, 3.6 percent Cuban, 3.0 percent
Dominican and 2.3 percent Guatemalan. The remainder was of some other Central
American, South American or other Hispanic/Latino origin.
Read more: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb13-ff19.html
www.SurvivorsBook.blogspot.com
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Surivors a Novel
www.survivorsbook.blogspot.com
The 2nd Mexican-American War will take place in 2090-2100.
What would you do if it happens now?
A Novel Inspired by the book “The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century”
Photo by: Maikel www.n4i.es Retouch by: 3R Photography / Three R Photography
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Interview with Michelle Aquino (The Passion Behind L.A. Fashion)
Michelle Aquino
Founder and Designer of M Dot Design
This post is part of The Passion Behind L.A. Fashion series. A celebration of the talents behind L.A.'s fashion industry.
M Dot Design Show at the W Hotel in L.A. Fall 2013.
The upscale W Hotel in LA was
crawling with very fashionable and sophisticated people. Interns from the M Dot
Design Studio were busy corralling fashion correspondents and fashionistas into
their seats. It was the 17th of October 2013, at the height of Los
Angeles Fashion Week, and the pool side venue was packed to maximum capacity.
Guests were captivated with the collection. The design and cuts were clean,
chic and refined; the color palettes were from a subdued ivory, sophisticated
black and glorious and shimmering gold. After the finale I knew this was a
story worth writing, I was fascinated with the designer. There’s something
about Michelle Aquino that makes her intriguing and inviting. She exudes a calm
and quiet confidence and she flashes an easy and genuine smile. It took a
couple of months to work up the courage to ask for an interview, I after all
knew nothing about fashion.
I felt Michelle was expressing
something from that 2013 Fall Collection and I knew that it is the first question
I would ask. In fact, two months later during our January 2014 interview, even
before I asked the pertinent question of what is the meaning of M Dot label, I
asked the inspiration behind her last year’s collection instead. I knew from
her website that the Collection was entitled “I Am” and was inspired by Silvia
Plath’s “The Bell Jar”.
Sylvia Plath’s novel was a
depressing and disturbing one. Right at the very beginning of the first page
you’d feel how disconcerting and upsetting the novel is going to be. The author
started the first chapter of the book wherein the main character, Esther, was
musing on the execution and electrocution of the Rosenbergs. “I love Sylvia
Plath, I love the character Esther, I love how she moved to New York to pursue
writing—in a time when men dominated that occupation—I’m fascinated with the
character’s personal struggles…her mental instability…I envisioned what would
Esther be like and what would she be wearing in our time instead of hers and I
believe she would’ve been different” Michelle explained breathlessly. So why was
Michelle, probably one of the most delightful persons I ever met, so attracted
to probably one of the most depressing literary character ever written?
Talking about her 2013 Fall
Fashion Show, Michelle explained with enthusiasm how the muted colors
translated to the introverted Esther, the shimmering colors of gold and silver rendered
as the peak of Esther’s creativity, the mournful black colors represented the
character’s mental breakdown and finally the mixture of all the different
palettes depicted Esther’s struggle with her “highs-and-lows”. “Even though I
was fascinated by the Novel’s time and setting if the book was set in our
decade, I envisioned Esther to be a more confident and successful woman”
Michelle said with so much hope in her voice as if Esther was a real person.
Michelle Aquino at her M Dot Design Studio displaying her favorite book "The Bell Jar" the inspiration of her Fall 2013 show.
M Dot Design Studio.
Perhaps Michelle sees a little
bit of herself in Esther, a woman who went against conventions and did her own
thing. “I think I identify myself more as a seamstress rather than a fashion
designer since my Lola (Filipino for Grandmother) was one and I was assisting
her, and trained as a seamstress with her supervision, when I was fifteen…my
parents were traditional Filipino and they expected me to get a career that
would be more stable and less risky…I have a degree in Respiratory Therapy but
fashion is something I cannot shake” she said laughing to herself.
Michelle knew that the path she
had to take wasn’t an easy one. She struggled to find her own style “People
kept giving me advice and I generally listened but I kind of lost my own
identity in the process. I said to myself: ‘If this (design) is not something I would
wear why should I create it?’ so from then on I followed my own and I figured
out that I like to make sophisticated clothes rather than edgy”.
Michelle learned her craft
informally, she researched and followed designers and studied their different styles.
“I realized that I needed to complete my first line and put on my first show.
The venue where I was planning to launch my line cancelled the week before the
event—it was a disaster! I have already booked and paid the models! I ‘cold’
call everywhere and begged. Andrea Ebbing, the Marketing Manager at the W Hotel
in San Diego accepted to meet with me. The asking price to set up an event at
the hotel was $8000 but she let me do it for free once she saw my collection”
Michelle recounted wide-eyed as if it just happened yesterday.
Michelle’s M Dot label and the W
Hotel started their fruitful collaboration after the designer’s debut. M Dot
Design began doing fashion shows and pop up shop events at the different W
Hotels in California and Arizona, “That’s why I moved here to LA, I kept getting
invited to do shows here. My main goal is to have a retail boutique here in LA
and one in New York that’s it. I would want to supervise a handful of trusted
seamstresses because I’d rather work with a loyal few. I do not put up with
(interpersonal) conflicts and back stabbing” Michelle said sincerely. It appeared
that Michelle is trying to cultivate a creative environment that is based on
cooperation rather than competition “I trained my interns to be kind…to work
together…I like a harmonious place”.
If I would hazard to give a
description on Michelle’s line, aesthetic and style I will describe it as this:
Her designs are very limited edition clothing that would be perfect in informal
picnics or dressy cocktail parties. One cannot feel too underdress or overdress
in Michelle’s clothes. Her design doesn’t just make you look chic—it makes you
look witty (a combination of “smart” and “fun” in my own definition). Throughout
the interview it occurred to me that Michelle’s whole endeavor hinged entirely
on her wits—it reflected not only on her clothes but the name of her label as
well. “I intended to call my label M. Aquino…when I was thinking of the website
address I needed to have the ‘dot’ for the URL and I realized just to go with ‘M
Dot’” she said happily. Very witty indeed!
Edited by: Paul Remy, CEO of Nxup Magazine http://instagram.com/nxupmagazine/
For more photos of M Dot Design, check out
www.3RPhotography.blogspot.com
Also check out
www.ThreeRPhotography.blogspot.com
All photos and article are copyrighted
Copyright 2014 RG Los Angeles Stories
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Ms. Los Angeles County 2014 Eliza Green
Eliza Green
Ms. Los Angeles County 2014 and
Inspirational/Motivational Speaker
Ms. Los Angeles County 2014,
Eliza Green, passed through in-between two huge rose bushes at the Rose Garden
at the Science Center in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park, walking tall, confident
and smiling. I thought I have died and seen an angel but her Ms. Los Angeles
County sash told me I am still breathing. At 5’10”, this tall, dark and
beautiful woman made me feel diminutive but she made me at ease right away. She
made the interview felt like a meeting between two long lost friends. I should
be the one doing that since I am the interviewer but I sometimes get all
weak-kneed when I find myself face-to-face with a gorgeous woman.
Eliza’s family history has so
much in common with so many families making up the diverse demography of
California. Like most immigrant or mixed race families, her family’s story is
complicated. Eliza’s mother is Mexican and her biological father,
African-American. Her mother and grandmother raised her in Tijuana Mexico until
they migrated into Los Angeles California when she was five. Her adjustment
into her new surroundings proved to be a challenge; she was treated as an outsider by her
peers for she had a darker skin tone than most kids that considered themselves
Mexicans. “I was bullied early on…they called me ‘La Negrita’…I didn’t understand
it because I thought I was Mexican until my grandmother told me that I am also
black…” Eliza recounted as if she found her innocence silly “…it never occurred
to me (that) I was different…I didn’t know I stood out in the (Mexican)
community”.
She studied in different schools
from Elementary to High School and had encountered the same “outsider” feeling
whether she was in a Mexican or African-American Community. There were a lot of
Ups-and-Downs throughout her school years but she felt truly at the bottom when
she turned 18. “I hang out with the wrong crowd…at one point I was homeless and
was squatting” She recalled sounding amused.
Eliza exuded positive aura
throughout the interview—full of enthusiasm—like she has been freed from a
lifetime of captivity. In fact she did say that things started to turn great
when she discovered a “Self-Help” Inspirational movie; “The Secret” a movie
about “Law of Attraction” a theoretical and spiritual concept concerning the
practice of positive thinking. From then on she only entertained positive
thoughts and feelings, in her mind and heart, and has meditated daily. Offers
of work came with so little effort, first as a paralegal then an executive
assistant to an oil businessman. At both times she decided on seizing the
moment. “Wish for what you want…for the opportunity…and once it’s there you go
grab on to it—do not hesitate!” Eliza seemed tireless as she also started Green
List Productions, a promotional agency, while doing her regular jobs.
Her positive attitude reflected
on her interests as she co-founded The Inspiration Booth with her cousin Venice
Trippetti. It is a social event wherein Eliza and Venice sets up a booth in
parks and create positive slogans and signs, such as “I am Happy”, “Love”,
“Joy”, etc., on brilliantly colored cardboard and have the participants wear it
as a plaque. The participants then go on a quick walk, jog or hike. From there
Eliza has created what she called “Inspired Jewelries”.
Her consistent and passionate
approach to spreading happiness and positive thinking is what she believed
helped her win the Ms. Los Angeles County 2014 title. She was invited to join
the pageant a mere week before the event, and as always, she went for it. Eliza
did not hesitate to divulge her personal history to the pageant organizers, the
“dark days” of her life, stories that would make her ineligible from most
beauty pageants. But Eliza’s personal tragedy is eclipsed by her commitment to
better herself and promote positive mental attitude in the community. She sets
up “Empowerment” workshops in corporate and non-profit organizations and has
spoken at length on self-improvement and against sex trafficking and bullying.
When asked what she would do next she responded with the same eagerness and
positive thinking “Whatever that would inspire me I will go for it!”
Edited by Paul Remy of Nxup Magazine
For more photos of Ms. Los Angeles County 2014 Eliza Green, check out www.3RPhotography.blogspot.com
All photos and article are copyrighted
Copyright 2014 RG Los Angeles Stories
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Eion & Kendra
Eion & Kendra
My brothers, Reyvin and Reycie, and I created a photography team called 3R Photography.
Last November of 2013 we helped Nxup Magazine to cover the RAWartists LA RAWards show.
Please check out the video interview with artist of the year Eion & Kendra by NXUP magazine.
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