Little India is a small neighborhood within Artesia centered on Pioneer Blvd. However, since the population of Artesia surrounding Little India is more Mexican, Filipino and Chinese (not to mention home to smaller but significant number of Koreans and Vietnamese), the city council and mayor rather lamely compromised, officially designating it the "International and Cultural Shopping District." Catchy, huh? That silliness suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of what a designated ethnic enclave is... that is, a community that retains a cultural distinction from the larger community. Oh well, everyone knows it as Little India, whether it's official or not.

EARLY ARTESIA - DAIRYLAND

Artesia, named after the area's artesian wells, was primarily developed in the 1920s and '30s by mostly Portuguese and Dutch dairy farmers. Later came Dutch-colonized Indonesians. The character of Southeast Los Angeles became increasingly suburban after World War II and most of the homes in the immediate area date from the mid 1940s to the early '50s.

Australian producer/remixer/mash-up master Wax Audio supplies this week's brilliant mash-up of the week. He effortlessly melds metal with Bollywood in "Maiden Goes to Bollywood (Iron Maiden vs Dhoom 2)." "Let Bruce Dickinson and the boys, along with a stunning cast of Bollywood studs and starlets, get you doing choreographed gyrations and headbanging all at once as Iron Maiden meets the crew from Dhoom 2," says Wax Audio. He finished producing this brand new video in the past week, and it was made to match the mash-up audio track he produced two years ago.  The track can be found on his Mashopolos release and can be downloaded for free (along with others by Wax Audio) on his website.

A continuation of yesterday's theme, I've decided to include a clip from the film Kranti, as the movie deals with the beginnings of the Indian struggle for independence from colonial rule. Yeah, nationalism is a main theme in Bollywood film, but Kranti is especially inspired. Enjoy!

I've been sitting on this collection of Bollywood soundtrack covers for some time now and I figured that India's Independence Day would be a great time to launch the gallery. Bollywood soundtracks are always a great listen; my experience is that even the more average LP will have moments of brillance. The cover art is usually quite intriguing, even if on some it's just the fontage used for the titles. I've included some stellar youtube footage from a few of the featured movies.