Photo: Doves, April 2007
By Martin Cox

Martin Cox sent me this picture of the much aforementioned doves of Echo Park Lake. I just heard from Mauri Avelino that there are still eight doves in the park. Maybe they're turning feral...which would be a good thing.

*Martin also reports that the doves have been in the park every day. He counts eight, too. Says they fly to nearby rooftops when "shooed away." Shooed away? You'd have to be a hard case. Or bird shy.

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Yesterday evening, a short two blocks from EP Lake found my husband and daughter and myself, along with our friends Paul, Ann, Eric and Rebecca at The Echo nigthclub and patio club. It was country music Sunday, no cover from 5 to 9 p.m., three bands and a cash barbecue out back. We almost didn't go in because the high noise level frightened our 2-year-old and 3-year-old daughters. And I didn't know The Echo had a patio. Except that, duh, who doesn't nowadays in the age of marginalized smoking? In a rush to get outdoors, we hurried past a band I would have liked to watch, four women in red kerchief-fabric, singing and playing their hearts out (Maybe the 5 O'Clock Somewhere band?). I heard that the lead singer is a bartender at the Shortstop bar, a few blocks east on Sunset.

And the patio, such as it is, turned out to be a good time. It's not pretty. The walls are painted black. The pavement slopes -- basically, it's just a fenced in parking area, called a patio. And water cost $3. But there was acoustic music, three-piece, which was a lot of fun, and there was a good crowd, which swelled over the hour to hour-and-a-half we were there. A few smokers, which makes me hesitate to recommend this nightclub for kids, but not so many that we inhaled smoke at close range. The air was better than when we're sitting outside at Chango or the Downbeat. But it was, in fact, all ages. Lots of hip middle 30s, 40s, 50s. People who squint at MySpace. Corss-referenced in folks in black, as well as some country glamour. And all-around-musician types. Urban rockabilly lovers, I would guess, too. By the time we left -- to have pizza at Masa a few doors down -- it was still daylight, and the club was crowded indoors and "patio."

The toddlers may have been in their element at The Echo -- where they jumped, danced and squealed to the music. But they tore the place up at Masa (where they were the only kids, which was not the case at The Echo). It may be a while before we show our faces there again. We'll have to order our deep dish pizza to go, and pick it up wearing Mexican wrestlers' masks.

Which makes me wonder what ever happened to Super Barrio?