Thurs/Jan 27
How pissed do you think the Vault 350, where Kool Keith performs tonight, is about the Blue Café advertising Indie Rock featuring the Unofficial Kool Keith After Party? I bet they're superpissed! With Prominent Sons and Loony Binn. 5:30 p.m. Call for cover. 21+. Blue Café, 210 The Promenade, Long Beach, (562) 983-7111;www.thebluecafe.com.
Fri
So how are my darling sweetling progressives supposed to choose between the Unitarian Church of OC's Progressive Potluck, with Julio Fernando Revolorio Illescas of the Guatemalan group Tierra y Pazdiscussing the 25th anniversary of the burning of the Spanish embassy plus a human-rights update on Guatemala(and how could you miss that?), and San Clemente Food Not Bombs' Anti-Bush Benefit Show, with former political prisoner Sherman Austin and Jacque Lauder of OC Code Pink speaking and Resistant Culture and Seven Generations playing that funky music? Do you suppose all our favorite groups could maybe conference call before they set their schedules? Unitarian Church of OC potluck, 511 S. Harbor Blvd., Anaheim, (714) 758-1050. 6:30 p.m.; San Clemente Food Not Bombs Anti-Bush Benefit Show, Saddleback College Student Lounge, 28000 Marguerite Pkwy., Mission Viejo, (949) 481-5478. 5:30 p.m.
Or perhaps you'll be one of the lucky few with a front-row reservation in Hell, in which case you'll want to do your politicking at the Orange County Young Republicans Mixer, with complimentary appetizers and a no-host bar. 6:30 p.m. $5-$10. The Fish Market at the Irvine Spectrum, 71 Fortune Dr., Irvine;www.ocyr.org.
Sat
I must—have to—recommend any event that describes The Camp (a very nice little Costa Mesa mall) as "one of Orange County's cultural hot spots." Do you suppose that could possibly be a reason we're mocked the world over as shallow, uninteresting, vapid and shallow souls? MAYBE?
Anyhoo, Over/Under magazine kicks off the release of its premiere issue at the Camp (one of Orange County's cultural hot spots) with Over/Under, Inside-Out, hosting music, art and a "cultural feast for those that find living behind the 'Orange Curtain' so uninteresting." Way to simultaneously flatter/condescend to your audience, kids! I'm there!
The CO-OP Kiosk, a student art movement, provides stuff to look at, and DJ Dan from Soul Pie and RootDown brings the tunes, along with local bands Stairwell and Pumba Drive, and Washington, D.C.-based Paperface. 9 p.m. The Camp, 2937 Bristol St., Ste. A100, Costa Mesa, (714) 444-4CMP; www.thecampsite.com.
Or you can go see "heavy spaghetti western" band Spindrift (former members of Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Warlocks and the Morlocks) and the dark '70s sounds of The Soundhead at The Revolver Project. It has bands, DJs, video and the Rock! Free! La Cave, 1695 Irvine Ave., Costa Mesa; www.revolverproject.com.
Sun
Jack Blue handbags and CD Designs have themselves a nice little sale—with snacks! The "offerings of beauty" of leather handbags, cowboy boots, jewelry, clothing, artwork, belts and lamps go on all the damn day, but do RSVP. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. 16341 Hollywood Lane, Huntington Beach, (714) 840-9719.
Mon
Special Long Beach Writers Group Open Mic reading for writers who'd like to read the work they've been working on. That's great. You do that. 7 p.m. Barnes & Noble, 6326 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, (562) 431-2253.
Tues
How can you miss a reception for "Wood Explorer, Urban Lumberjack" Fred Rose? The answer is, "You can't." Here's Michele Cairella, curator at Fullerton College Art Gallery: "Reminiscent of artists like Isamu Noguchi, David Nash, Giuseppe Penone and Martin Puryear, Rose captures a spectrum of traditions in wood from utilitarian woodwork to carved and assembled wood sculpture. He delightfully engages the viewer with a variety of intriguing woodwork techniques, of which the boundaries of each is often blurred. His apparently functional work, such as a wooden bowl, more often than not unexpectedly becomes a sculptural statement of the adaptive powers of nature and the human affects on our environment. Concurrently, Rose's clearly sculptural and assembled pieces act as visual poetry professing the nature of the physical world and the quirks of humanity." Aren't you glad we don't write like that here? Opening reception 5-7 p.m. Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fine Arts Building 1000, Gallery 1004, 321 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton, (714) 992-7329.
Wed
Ask the Chef at Santa Ana's superyum Green Parrot. Go ahead! Ask him! Wrinkle up your pretty little brain, figure out what you really need to know, and give Chef Hutchinson a call! (We'll be asking what he's wearing. Rrrow!) 2-4 p.m. 2035 N. Main St., Santa Ana, (714) 550-6067
Thurs/Feb 3
I don't have a single snotty thing to say about The Orange County High School of the Arts because I'm trying to get my son in there, and I have no idea if they have any sense of humor at all. Anyhoo, they're presenting Cabaret, the homo-written story of Sally Bowles ("a muddled romantic with an untidy sex life") and featuring performances by more than 25 students! Yay, Orange County High School of the Arts! 7:30 p.m. Call for ticket prices. The Orange County High School of the Arts, Symphony Hall, 1010 N. Main St., Santa Ana, (714) 560-0900.
