Saturday, June 28, 2008

Block Party

We live in Santa Monica's Dogtown.
It used to be the nefarious part of town -- but also the cradle of skate and surf culture in Southern California. Now it's a mix of bums; long-time tenants enjoying rent control; long-time liberals who bought craftsman cottages for a pittance in the 1970s, and are now enjoying their multi-million dollar homes and the post-hippie bourgeois life they bring; and young yuppies from the local high-tech hub, who are content to pay several thousands dollars a month for semi-buried studios in pastiche "multifamily" developments.

All these different worlds came together in today's Block Party, yet the heavy lean towards white trash drove the yuppie/bourgeois types away pretty quickly. Above are snapshots after three hours: the faux-Chippendale cook; tarts on the prowl; our local unemployed local writer (yes, that one); and bad bikini figures (mortels, ces bourrelets-malbouffe!) After five hours, the party moved right across our bedroom for another five, with some doping and groping in the bushes on a loud background of drunken karaoke. Dogtown forever it is. No wonder our local Council, whose members inevitably live north of Montana, cannot think of anything better than turning our "characterful" part of town into a new Grove or Marina del Rey.
photos LA Frog