Art & Ideas
‘El Bandini is El Finito’ — The End of Great Taco Hunt
For many curious taco lovers in Los Angeles, the site GreatTacoHunt has been a bastion of knowledge and insight into the untold number of trucks, tables, stands and storefronts that dot the city. Run by a shadowy figure known only as El Bandini, Great Taco Hunt was a home for focused discussions about neighborhood tacos, including a proprietary taco ranking system, photos from the front lines and dispatches from across the internet that always helped to fill in the blanks.
The site began in 2005, with the simple mission of documenting as many L.A. tacos as possible. Since then, El Bandini has reviewed, mapped and photographed hundreds of locations, plus helped to put together the influential yearly Taco Madness tournament. Now, after seven years of tasting and talking about tacos, El Bandini is calling it quits. KCET got in touch with the mysterious eater to discuss his decision to pull out of the taco game after all this time, and to look back on his own influence in the food blogging culture that has pervaded this city.
Farley: You’ve always been known as El Bandini online. Are you comfortable giving us a little bit of information about the man behind the taco blog?
El Bandini: I’m Andy O’Neill and I’m a recovering taco-holic. And I’m almost 40. But I’ve never lived in a van down by the river.
Read more here.
A reblog for all other taco-holics out there.
GREAT photo! I loved seeing the LA Jesus when I lived there. One time he was standing peacefully at the corner of Sunset Blvd & Fairfax with arms outstretched, palms open. He must like salsa because I also saw him at a taqueria in Santa Monica. LA Jesus gets around.
Rock LA
I spontaneously woke up at 6 am with energy and decided to walk down to LACMA to see if they were getting ready for today’s big reveal of Levitated Mass.
Basically, it’s a big rock and great engineering. The hype alone has been crushing.
So, you see why I think I might see some pre-reveal flurry of activity.
I saw no activity at LACMA. No special banner or preparations. In front of the museum I saw a tiny little red tricycle locked to a bike rack with a HUGE chain that made me wish I’d brought a camera. I tiptoed past an elderly woman sleeping on the sidewalk next to her wheelchair that made me wish better for her. I admired a Rodin behind bars in the garden. I watched the gas bubbles at the Tar Pit.
I noticed my breath, the quiet street, the vacant office space and I wondered what if we spent our resources and money lifting up people instead of rocks?
hey… that’s in my neighborhood.. it’s Joan’s on 3rd in Los Angeles.
(Source: dustjacketattic, via tinywhitedaisies)
Saw this on CBS Sunday Morning (which is becoming one of my favorite shows) and wanted to link to it. From the LA Times: “On a Sunday morning CBS broadcast, news correspondent Bill Whitaker takes a tour through the 1,000 pieces of modern art on display at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.”
I loved how picky the hospital was about the art they accepted. It’s not a place for celebrities to “dump” the art they no longer want, explained Leonard Nemoy and his wife. Artists in their collection include Jasper Johns, AndyWarhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Frank Stella, among others.
I also enjoyed seeing the patients connect to different pieces or just enjoying the act of walking around and looking at the variety of the work.
Such a great story! Thx for sharing.
