last night i got a call from friend "darrell" and he says that the "tribal cafe" is open and that it was pretty happening and that there were alot of ex- "onyx" regulars hanging and patronizing the place.  darrell, (which is not his true name), gave me pure B.S. that when i got there (corner of union and temple. yep, in l.a.'s historic filipino town), there were tables with chairs on them at the corner of the huge room and drop cloth(s) not to mention the smell of paint. joshua jose wasn't around but DAVID ROCKELLO was. david was coordinating the painters on what color/texture blah.blah paint goes up on the wall. let me rephrase. more like artists painting their own murals in segments of the wall. i personally liked them. i thought this cafe is just going to be one of those regular coffee joints where you can have a cup of coffee and donuts then split. NOPE, based on what i've seen of the place, i was wrong. I WONDER IF HE'LL SERVE CAFE BUSTELO?