Theodore Sanchez, the San Bernardino councilmember, was on vacation last month in Tokyo, Japan. Strolling through a glitzy mall, Miyashita Park, he was surprised to see, side by side in the food court, a McDonald’s and a Taco Bell.
“I thought, wow, both of these have their origins in my little town across the world,” Sanchez recalled.
McDonald’s started at 14th and E streets. Taco Bell’s hard-shell tacos were inspired by San Bernardino’s Mitla Cafe (but don’t hold that against Mitla).
On a lark, Sanchez went in and placed an order. Making conversation, he told the young woman behind the counter, who spoke English: “They started in my hometown in California. I’m from San Bernardino.”
A little confused why he was eating American fast food while on vacation halfway around the world, she asked politely: “Do you like it?”
“It was a little embarrassing,” Sanchez admitted.
Ordering food ironically is a hard needle to thread.
So how was his Japanese-made Taco Bell chicken quesadilla? “The food was identical,” Sanchez marveled. “The only difference was that they had beer.”
Summer in the IE
Remember when I asked you to reflect on what you like about summer in the Inland Empire? That was two weeks ago. Response was surprisingly light.
“Absolutely nothing,” reader Cristobal replied on X, as if he were channeling Edwin Starr in the song “War” (chorus: “what is it good for”).
Perhaps it’s hard to think positively with sweat trickling down your back. Still, let me try again.
What do you appreciate about summer in the Inland Empire? Is there a local activity, a tradition, a ritual that you like or can do no other time than our warm months?
Email me at dallen@scng.com, with a specific response and your city of residence, please. Then you can return to fanning yourself.
IE in LA
On a recent Saturday, yours truly took a Metrolink train to L.A. Union Station and from there saw some sights around downtown. Near Pershing Square, contemplating a subway ride back to Union Station, I instead decided to pivot and spend an hour at the L.A. Central Library a couple of blocks away.
A 65-foot panoramic mural by artists David Botello, Wayne Healy and Rich Raya, unseen publicly for 25 years, has a rare public showing at the Los Angeles Central Library through July 28. (Photo by David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
The 1926 library is grand as ever, of course, and worth a visit if you’ve never been. And right now, two museum-like exhibits, both ending shortly, are of local interest.
“East Los Streetscapers” (ending Sunday, July 28) is a tribute to artists and muralists David Botello and Wayne Healy, publicly displaying their 65-foot-long mural “Hacia Al Norte” (Northward), produced with Rich Raya, for the first time in 25 years.
As the LAPL summary puts it: “It captures the spirit of immigrant stories of Angelenos from Latin America, Asia and Europe. Spanish galleons cross the ocean, Mexico City’s Zócalo buzzes with traffic, Mayan temples rise from the jungle of the Yucatan, and a boy learns to use chopsticks from a new friend.”
Botello and Healy created a mural in downtown Pomona in 2021, where I met them, and paintings by each of them are in the collection of Riverside’s The Cheech. (In fact, in the new “Cheech Collects” show, which I saw Wednesday, each is represented by two paintings.)
“Layered Lands: Synchronous Stories of Greater Los Angeles,” the other library exhibit (ending Aug. 4), is a look at the complications of Southern California history and the difficulty in telling stories about it due to shifting perspectives.
The Ramona Pageant in Hemet is part of an exhibit at the Los Angeles Central Library about Southern California’s complex layers of history. (Photo by David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
As I walked through it, I noticed that Helen Hunt Jackson’s “Ramona” novel and the century-long “Ramona” pageant in Hemet are part of the display. Early photos and programs from the pageant and an original copy of the novel are shown.
The display text notes that Hunt Jackson’s story was viewed as a romance, with her social commentary about the status of Native Americans largely ignored.
This all reminds me that on vacation last month, I saw a mural at the Detroit Main Library by Claremont artist Millard Sheets.
Is the Inland Empire everywhere? Probably not. But I find it nearly everywhere I go.
Music in Pomona
My emcee gig for the Pomona Concert Band on July 18 went over fine and of course the band, in its 77th season, was great as always.
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True, during the song introductions my puns did cause groaning in the audience, but thankfully, no one required medical attention.
The band is at Ganesha Park at 7:30 p.m. each Thursday through Aug. 29. I’ll be back to emcee once more, on Aug. 22.
brIEfly
In our Riverside newsroom on Wednesday, an editor on a Zoom call was overheard saying: “They’re nine hours ahead in Paris.” I couldn’t help hearing that as “They’re nine hours ahead in Perris.” Set your clocks accordingly.
David Allen writes Friday, Sunday and Wednesday on IE Standard Time. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on X.
