Viva La Causa: This Saturday at the Yost Theatre

This Saturday, April 4, Fiesta Marketplace and the Dolores Huerta Foundation present a free showing of Viva La Causa, starting at 6PM and running until 8PM.

Here's the skinny from the back of the flyer:

On a warm evening in 1965, hundreds of Mexican farm-workers packed into a church hall in the small farming town of Delano, California. A momentous decision lay before them–should they join a strike against California grape growers started 11 days prior by their Filipino counterparts?

Would this improve their appalling working conditions in the fields and help them earn enough to feed their families?

Viva La Causa tells the story of how the powerless stood up to the powerful and gained their victory, not by violence and weapons, but by their strong will.

I love a good story when people from different races come together for a greater cause.

The Yost Theatre is located at:
307 N. Spurgeon Street
Santa Ana, 92701

It's like a 10 minute walk from our place, no need to drive folks.

When the show is over, don't forget to check out the Downtown Santa Ana Art Walk.

Sloppy Sloping

Over the long weekend, a neighbor and I headed up to the top of his building to see how the sloping roofs were holding up after the recent rain.

Neither of us are experts when it comes to roofs nor standing water, but what we saw couldn't have been good.





In the second photo from the top, we took a ruler and dropped it in at a random spot and the water was nearly 2 inches deep. Other spots looked deeper, but neither of us really wanted to get our shoes soaked.

The bottom two photos show that the sloping roof does indeed work–the problem is that the slope ends below the level of the drainage pipes on the façade.

Lennar backs our roofs with a ten year warranty, but just imagine the inconvenience should the roofs begin to leak. Dry wall repairs, mold inspections/remediation, damage to flooring, furniture or electronics are just a few things one would most likely deal with.

In the mean time, I would suggest to everyone to inspect their roofs (yeah, even though the CC&Rs restrict you from going to the roof, I think when it comes to inspecting for standing water the HOA can look the other way).

If you find that your roof does indeed suffer from poor drainage, bring a broom to the roof and sweep off any excess standing water through the drain.

Hopefully we can get Lennar to take another look at the roofs before they pack it up for good here at the Santiago Lofts and leave this potential headache to be dealt with at the homeowner's expense.

**Update**
I ran into Eddie the other day and he told me that Lennar is bringing the roofing contractor back out to fix all of the drainage issues.

And that folks, is why Lennar is one of the best home builders out there.

Danny Maika–Music Worth Sharing

A few months ago, a group of Santiago Loft residents stopped in for open mic night at the Vault located below the OC Pavilion/Ambrosia Restaurant.

After a decent amount of painful performances, Danny took the stage and wowed us all with his set and stage presence. I remember saying to the wife on the way home: "I'm sure glad we stuck around to hear that guy!"

Since that night, we've crossed paths with Danny on several occasions including an amazing performance at the Irvine Spectrum Mall on the day after Christmas, and most recently, just a few doors down while performing in a neighbor's first floor studio/workspace.

Aside from his fantastic voice, Danny just has a wonderful persona about him where you'd love nothing more than to see this guy make it.

Perhaps when the weather gets warmer and the Santiago Art District Art Walk picks up again, maybe we can get him to do a live show.

Until then, check out his website or his MySpace page for some soul-warming tunes.

Pub Crawl and Fiestas Patrias This Weekend

Hopefully you have a comfortable pair of walking shoes for the fun-filled packed weekend Santa Ana has in store for you.


First off, we've got the monthly Pub Crawl taking place this Saturday, September 13th starting at 5PM. Since last month's Pub Crawl, we've added the swankiest joint in Santa Ana, Tommy Pastrami, not to mention Original Mike's asked to join the party this past week. That makes 8 locations to hit before you complete your crawl, and a chance at some really sweet prizes–good luck suckas!

Also this weekend, Santa Ana celebrates Fiestas Patrias–a festival celebrating the Independence Day of Mexico (as well as other Latin American countries). The festival will take place on Flower Street, between Civic Center Drive and Santa Ana Blvd, in front of Santa Ana Stadium.

On a final note, those of you looking to get a double-dose of booze on Saturday, sorry to say, but you won't find any at the Patrias Festival (I'm bummed too).

Association Meeting Thursday (07/17) @ 6PM

When: July 17/6:00PM
Where: Santiago Street Loft Sales Office

Landscaping, lighting and window washing to be discussed.
I'm hoping that Lennar will make a graceful exit once they've completed the final phase with a courtesy window washing.

Can't make the meeting but have an issue with our Association?
Go ahead and leave a comment on this thread or the community Google Group and it will be addressed.

Goodbye George Carlin

Video NSFW. Watch at your own discretion.
Gotta love the First Amendment–unless you're the FCC.

Santa Ana Propaganda

You would never think that the Santa Ana featured in this clip is the same Santa Ana you read about in the OC Register. It’s amazing what good stock footage, editing using quick cuts, and super-saturating the footage can do for your city. Still, there's nowhere else in Orange County I'd rather live than here in Santa Ana.



Zapfino is arguably the worst typeface–EVER.

Strangers in a Strange Land

I’m a huge fan of mass transportation when I’m not in Southern California, so when my good friend/neighbor suggested we take a Sunday day trip to Los Angeles via the Metrolink, the wannabe New Yorker inside of me jumped for joy.

Even though downtown Los Angeles is only 35 miles away from the Santiago Lofts; I personally can count the times I’ve been there on one hand.

Perhaps it’s been the dreaded (potential) 2-hour crawl up the 5 freeway that makes me turn the other way and drive to my hometown of sunny San Diego.

But, with a train station in our backyard, and gas prices running at an all time high, it would be foolish to not take advantage of the Metrolink.

A weekend roundtrip ticket to Union Station and back runs you $11.50. Being that most cars average around 25mpg, not to mention the reduced stress of not having to drive on California’s dangerous cell phone-plagued freeways, this price is a steal.

Our trip began with the 10:49AM train departing the Santa Ana station–which if you don’t know, is a Nerf football’s throw from the loft sales office on Santiago Street.

The hour-long trip passed quickly and in no time our train arrived on time at Union Station at 11:50AM. From there we stopped for lunch at Philippe’s for some delicious sandwiches (you can read Elmo Monster’s wonderful review of the restaurant/adventure here) just a few minutes walk from the train depot.

Are you taking notes here City of Santa Ana?

After lunch, we headed back to Union Station and took the Red Line Subway (free with the Metrolink ticket, though no one ever stopped to check us) to 7th Street and walked a few blocks until we arrived at the South Park Flea Market.

Unfortunately, the flea market was just a small showing of vendors so what we thought would be an all-day event ended up being thirty minutes, at most.

So we headed back to the 7th Street Station where we reversed course and took the Red Line back to Union Station where we walked across the street to check out historic Olvera Street.

The piazza had live music that packed in many spectators and the street (cart) vendors were out in full force. It seemed like this was business as usual and weekend events held at Olvera Street are wonderful tourist traps–something our own Fiesta Marketplace could learn a lot from.

After some quick shopping, the Santiago gang ventured up Cesar E Chavez Avenue where we eventually found ourselves in Chinatown.

Our group ventured into the middle building pictured above to pick up some delicious "snackies" while escaping the 90-degree weather.

Afterward, we decided it was time to head back to Union Station where we caught the 4:30PM train back home, arriving promptly in Santa Ana at 5:20PM.

The simplicity, comfort and convenience or the Metrolink is one of those luxuries I’m hoping to take advantage of more often. Though I don’t think I’ll ever be able to 100% do away with my car in California, it’s definitely a goal worth trying.

California’s car-culture has a tendency to make us forget that some of life’s best adventures aren’t always the destination, but the journey itself.


If you're thinking of planning a car-free weekend trip, check out the Metrolink schedule here.

Trash Talk

Many residents struggle to fit their two 96-gallon trash/recycling bins into their garages here at the Santiago Street Lofts. Although Association rules state that the bins need to be stored within the garage on non-trash pick-up days, for one reason or another, some folks just can't make space for the two large bins.

If by trash day your 96-gallon bin is only half way full, you might want to consider downsizing to a 64 or 32 35-gallon receptacle.

To do so, contact Waste Management of Orange County's customer service at (714) 558-7761. On trash day, your bins will be swapped out for your chosen size.

Holiday Schedule
Waste collection does not occur on the following days:

• New Year's Day
• Memorial Day
• 4th of July
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

Our normal trash collection day is Friday, but during the week of the listed holidays, collection is on Saturday (unless the holiday falls on a Saturday).

Trash (maroon) Bin
Items that can be placed in trash containers:

• Disposable diapers
• Drinking glasses
• Pet-soiled paper
• Window glass
• Pet waste
• Auto glass
• Soiled/greasy paper plates or pizza boxes
• Mirrors
• Napkins
• Paint cans (empty)
• Waxed and coated paper
• Oil cans (empty)
• Aluminum foil
• Rubber/latex items
• Microwave dinner trays
• Plastic bags (grocery or dry cleaner)
• Butter tubs
• Taggers
• Potting containers
• Clothing
• Styrofoam
• Foam padding
• Toys
• Carpeting
• Steel items
• Ceramics
• Palm fronds

Recycling (gray) Bin
Items that can be placed in recycling containers:

• Glass bottles/jars (all colors)
• Cardboard
• Mixed papers
• Junk mail/magazines
• Newspapers
• Plastic bottles/jars (CRV# 1 & 2)
• Plastic milk containers
• Metal cans
• Plastic beverage bottles (CRV# 1-7)
• Frozen food boxes
• Cereal boxes (with plastic liner removed)
• Empty paper towel and bath tissue rolls

Items that should NOT be placed in recycling containers:

• Paper towels and tissues
• Plates and napkins
• Styrofoam
• Plastic/paper cups
• Aluminum foil
• Pizza boxes
• Cardboard milk containers

For more information, download this flyer or visit the Waste Management website here.

04/17 Association Meeting

In case you missed the notice in your last HOA statement, there's an association meeting tonight at 6PM in the loft sales office.

UPDATE: Meeting Notes

Parking
The abuse of guest parking was addressed.
Painting the curb to read "Visitor Only" is the first step to deter residents from using those spots.

The next step (if needed) will be to tow vehicles as stated by Lester Tucker (OBAMF) of Lennar.

Landscaping
Although during the last meeting it was stated that Villa Park was "out", they've shown some improvement and OBAMF is willing to give them another 60 days.
Villa Park will also be spraying the bamboo trees for those little fruit flies(?) that invade your house when you open your windows.

I asked if the gardeners can let the bamboo and wall-climbing vines grow a little and not butcher them like a Marine's haircut when they do trim them--
(Gary from Villa Park told me this morning that they keep the bamboo short being that it was a requirement by the fire dept. and the vines short cause his guys can't reach if they get too tall...hmm).

Signs and Banners
The SSL banner on DiRienzo's building and the one missing in front of 704 Santiago are to be repaired/replaced immediately as stated by OBAMF.

Stucco and Paint Damage
The red building facing Civic Center Dr. has had stucco damage for quite some time now.
Eddie "The Man" Cano should be looking into this soon.

I believe that covers the gist of it.

The 2008 Downtown Mixer (04/03)

Delilah Snell, owner of the eco-friendly Road Less Traveled Store, and Board Chair of the the Downtown Santa Ana Business Council asked me to pass along this invite to residents and friends of the Santiago Street Lofts.

This is an invitation to the Downtown Santa Ana Business and Neighborhood Mixer. Come and meet the many people who make Santa Ana a great place to live and work. Bring information about your business to share and sample delectable appetizers from Jason's Downtown Restaurant and Wine Cellar complimentary of the Downtown Santa Ana Business Council.

• see upcoming branding and marketing images for the area


• interactive website launching


• receive a copy of the area's new map for visitors


• view a list of 2008/09 events


• share your thoughts with business owners, community leaders and residents
  

When: April 3rd from 5-8pm

Where: Jason's Downtown, 416 West 4th Street (across from the Ronald Regan Courthouse)

Who: you and others that you know, please pass this along!

Contact: Delilah Snell, 714.836.8727 for more information.

Muerte en el Agua

I inherited my father's curly hair and my mother's thumb–green thumb that is. She could pretty much resuscitate any dying plant or drop any random seed in a pot of soil and within a few weeks, we'd be looking for a permanent place of residence for the fresh sprout in the backyard.

Before moving to the Santiago Street Lofts, I had a small collection of potted plants. Some of them were store bought and others were grown from seeds that I bought at Home Depot. All of which were flourishing with basic maintenance and water straight from the tap.

Unfortunately, the move to Santa Ana ended up costing me the lives of many of my dear and longtime (plant) friends. I'm not sure whether it's the hardness of the water, the chlorine, or whatever mysterious funk seen in this video, but the water in Santa Ana has been deadly to my plants.

The only plants to have survived were my water "lucky" bamboos (insert pun).

After reading up at various sites and consulting with Poison Ivy herself (my Mom), the best option for growing healthy houseplants in Santa Ana would be to switch to distilled water. Turns out that hard water contains minerals that can be very harsh on houseplants.

Another option if you don't want to go distilled is to fill your watering container and let it sit for a minimum of 36 hours. By this time, the chlorine should have dissipated and be a little safer for your babies.

If you go the way of a water softener, remember that this water contains heavy concentrations of salts. The salts will hinder the growth of your plants, or even worse, pull a 187 on them.

Finally, when watering your plants, make sure the water is at room temperature. Very hot or very cold water can shock the roots and damage, or even kill your green friends.

Here is a great site about watering houseplants.

Sign Unveiling Ceremony at Chepa's Park

This Saturday, March 8, city elected officials and community members will join the family of the late Mrs. Josephine “Chepa” Andrade during the sign unveiling ceremony for the recently renamed Logan Park.

Chepa's Park is located at 1009 N. Custer Street, just 1-2 minutes walking distance from the lofts within the historic Logan neighborhood.

Neighborhood 6

Last week, construction began on 3 new buildings at the Santiago Street Lofts. Known as Neighborhood 6, this development will consist of five adjacent "Plan 3's" in the interior building and five adjacent "Plan 5's" facing Poinsettia Street. The third building, the last to be built on the highly trafficked Santa Ana Boulevard, will consist of one "Plan 4", one "Plan 3", two "Plan 2's" and two "Plan 1's".

I'm hoping that the façade of this building will be the one with the brick stone finish. So far, the only one with this exterior is the building located on the Southwest corner of Santiago Street and Santa Ana Boulevard. Do we really need any more blue buildings?

Here are the prices from the price sheet I grabbed while at the sales office:

Plan 1 (1,584SF): From $435k
Plan 2 (1,793SF): From $460k
Plan 3 (1,886SF): From $479k
Plan 4 (2,321SF): From $656k
Plan 5 (1,563SF): From $430k

In addition, Lennar is offering $15,000 buyer incentive.

Are You Owed Money?

My sister sent me this link this past weekend to the State of California's Controller's Office. This site has a search field and database that's updated weekly of Unclaimed Property that already has been sent to the State for safekeeping.

From the website:
State law requires businesses to send to the State any property that has remained in their possession without any activity on the part of the owner, generally for three years or more.

Is today your lucky day? If not, maybe in a week.

While We're on the Subject of LOST...

Did you guys notice the change in the photo frames in Miles' flashback?

Before he went upstairs to perform the exorcism, the frames on the wall looked like this:

After Miles did his thang upstairs, the frames changed to this:

The attention to the photos on the wall was too deliberate, so I'm going to rule out the notion that this was just a simple prop error but rather another Easter Egg.

But then, what could this mean?
It's only a matter of time before Miles and Jacob have a little pow-wow of sorts.

Photos courtesy of lost-media.

Phoenix House & Toys for Tots Event

If you've been looking to spread some holiday cheer this year, the Phoenix House could use your help.

Located just down the street from the Santiago Street Lofts, The Phoenix House is a residential substance abuse treatment program for adolescents and adults where residents take an active part in their recovery, and accept the support and insight of their peers under the guidance of dedicated, trained professionals.

This Saturday, The Phoenix House in conjunction with Toys for Tots, is hosting an event where children and families of those in recovery will be given Christmas gifts by Santa Claus himself, played by California State Senator Lou Correa.

So how can you help?
Well, as with any event of this size, volunteers will be needed to help the event run smoothly. In addition, Old Saint Nick could use a few more elves to help with the gift giving.

Also, there is currently a huge shortage of toys for kids (mostly for boys) ages 12 and up. If you drop off a gift by this Friday or before, The Phoenix House will take care of the gift wrapping. If you bring a gift with you to the event this Saturday, please wrap and label your gift so the elves and Santa will know what’s being given.

All gifts given are tax-deductible.

The Phoenix House/Toys for Tots event takes place:

Saturday, December 22, 2007
9:00am to 12:00 noon
1207 East Fruit Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701

For more information on how you can help out, or to sign up as a volunteer, please contact:

Geoff Henderson, M.S.
Senior Program Director
Phoenix Houses of Orange County
(714) 953-9373, ext. 4811 (or his assistant Cathleen at ext. 4812)
ghenderson@phoenixhouse.org

Visit the Phoenix House website.

Proof That There's Still Hope

Thursday night’s meeting had an awesome show of support from not only Santiago Street Loft residents, but from Santa Ana Police Department, Santa Ana's Community Development Agency, and many prominent leaders and friends from around the city.

The success of our development is key for the brighter future that awaits the city of Santa Ana. Proof of that was reflective in the support we received from the likes of community leaders from all over Santa Ana including: Councilwoman Michele Martinez, Thomas Anthony Gordon from The Orange Juice Blog, Carl Overmyer, President of the NRA Members Council of Orange representing WECOP, Julie Stroud of the Parks and Recreation Commission, Scott Kutner and Rafael Navejas from Santa Ana Community Development Agency, and Doug Irving from the Orange County Register.

Like Detective Eric Rivas said, our loft community is much like the early pioneers of the Old West in these rough lands. Every now and then, we will need to circle the bandwagons to watch each other’s back. Last night was a great example of such.

And while this was the first meeting between our loft community and the Santa Ana Police Department, the strength and survival of our community relies on it not being the last.

Special thanks to SAPD including: Corporal Matt Brown of Northeast Directed Patrol, Corporal Tino Gallo of Civic Center Patrol, Graffiti Detective Eric Rivas, Officer Mona Ruiz from the Graffiti Task Force and Police Service Officer Gabriela Alday for bringing this meeting together.

Police Meeting Tonight @ 6:30

Tonight, December 6th starting at 6:30PM, the Santa Ana Police Department will be hosting a community meeting specifically for residents of the Santiago Street Lofts, and any surrounding neighborhood communities.

The meeting will be taking place on the 5th floor in the Santa Ana Train Depot tower. Elevator access is available to the floor if needed.

Michele Martinez and Thomas Gordon have notified me that they will also be in attendance.

Original post available here.

Support Thomas Anthony Gordon Tonight

Sometime ago, I was in a serious rut due to the hazards of living in Santa Ana for the last year and a half. From having our windows etched by taggers, homeless people throwing their garbage on our porch, to the serious lack of the “play” element that Lennar sold us on before moving here, I felt myself slipping down a dark and hateful path.

What started off as a simple personal chronicle for living in this city, blogging only made me even more frustrated with how poorly the city of Santa Ana is progressing in management, development and the addressing of serious concerns that have infested the city for years.

One day, my wife noticed that a Thomas Anthony Gordon of the Orange Juice Blog had picked up one of my articles and reposted it on their high-traffic Blog. I was shocked and surprised to see that someone not only took the time to read and hear my concerns, but also offered to help find a solution.

Soon after, phone calls to the city were getting returned, emails answered and hope returned to this humble soul. This Thomas guy gave me the soapbox I needed to make this city a better place, and I wanted to thank him.

I did my research on Mr. Gordon and found out that not only was he a strong and level-headed voice writing for the Orange Juice Blog, but also an appointed member of (EPIC), the Early Prevention and Intervention Commission working to reduce crime, gang activity and graffiti in Santa Ana.

After a city council meeting, I asked Michele Martinez, our ward representative/council member to help make the introduction. She pointed in the direction of the man who stood as tall as a Viking, but was as friendly and personable as someone I've known for years.

Staring me straight in the eyes with a firm handshake, I knew from the start that this guy meant business. I asked for advise on how he has been able to not let the city drain him emotionally as it has been doing to me. The more I tried to make the city of Santa Ana a better place, the more I felt my soul being sucked away, I told Thomas.

Thomas was quick to commend the blog and encouraged us as a community to not give up hope. He spoke of the many great things in Santa Ana that I have yet to experience, opening my eyes to future adventures. As a fellow food-lover, Thomas was quick to suggest restaurants for me to visit and review, thus helping local establishments attract new customers. Finally, Mr. Gordon enlightened me to several steps I could take to strengthen our community and to help build relationships with the neighborhoods adjacent to us.

After a two-hour conversation with Thomas Gordon, I felt rejuvenated and recharged. The excitement about living in this city returned to my heart. I was once again glad to have made the move here.

This morning, I was shocked to read that on the city council’s agenda tonight is an effort to remove Mr. Gordon from his position. This is just another example of the back door shenanigans that our dysfunctional council tries to pull for what seems to be only political reasons, and nothing else. I invite all that read this Blog to come support Thomas Gordon who has been championing our voice here at the Santiago Street Lofts for quite some time.

The city council meeting takes place tonight, December 3, 2007, starting at 6:00 P.M. and will he held in the City Council Chambers located within 22 Civic Center Plaza.

You can read more about the story at the OC Register and also at the Orange Juice Blog.

Thomas Gordon was there for me when I was about to give up my efforts to make this city a better place. Tonight I will be Tivo’ing Heroes to help stand up for a real one.