Subject: Fourth of July

• 'D-port! D-port! D-port!'

  Illegal immigrants, legal immigrants, minutemen, and anarchist ninjas all gathered together, and the American flag was more popular than on the Fourth of July. The May Day rally and march in downtown Santa Ana drew a crowd of between 1,000 and 3,000 people, according to a police estimate. Cops on horses, motorcycles and in loud, low-flying helicopters looked to pounce on troublemakers. Protesters want more rights for immigrants from Mexico. From the signs waved by most of the demonstrators, dr

  May 1, 2007

• The Times and Me

  Pick up the Los Angeles Times today and read my essay on the boneheaded Huntington Beach Fourth of July parade committee that decided to dick with Sylvia Mendez of Mendez vs. Westminster fame. Then browse through the Times' archives and find their June 17 best-seller list, in which my ¡Ask a Mexican! book clocks in at No. 9 in the nonfiction hardcover section. Finally, buy The New York Times this Sunday, when the Sunday Style section profiles me. And always, always click it or ticket. Now, back

  June 21, 2007

• OC's Choice for so-called Conservative, Efficient Government

  A site to ponder about OC favorite George W. Bush on this Fourth of July is here.

  July 4, 2007

• To Do Tonight 7/3: Nightlife Edition

  Nightlife Edition: Because you don't have work on Friday* Peter Hook DJ Set, 9:00 p.m. Oh, for Joy (Division)! Detroit Bar 843 W. 19th St. Costa Mesa CA 92627 949-642-0600 Glam, 9:00 p.m. Break out those clear-heeled stilettos. Club Bravo 1490 S. Anaheim Blvd. Anaheim CA 92805 714-553-2291 Call Sick On Friday, 10 p.m. Call in sick? Not this week! Live set by The Year Zero and DJ sets by Josh One and Valdas. (Yay, Valdas!) Que Sera 1923 E. Seventh St. Long Beach CA 90813 562

  July 3, 2008

• God Bless America, Tom & Jerry Style

  While other websites post the Declaration of Independence for their 4th of July entry, we at the Weekly encourage a more palatable visual to the greatest country on earth: Tom and Jerry's Academy Award-winning Yankee Doodle Mouse. Make sure to blow up your illegal Mexican fireworks in parking lots, amigo!

  July 4, 2008

• The Bono - Jesse Helms connection

  From our good friends at Rock & Rap Confidential: "Jesse Helms died yesterday, the Fourth of July. The LA Times front page described Helms as 'the former U.S. Senator from North Carolina who for half a century infuriated liberals with his race-baiting campaign tactics.' President Bush described Helms as 'a kind, decent, and humble man. So it is fitting that this great patriot left us on the Fourth of July.' "Bono agrees with Bush. Bono called Helms a 'good friend' and took him out to dinner

  July 7, 2008

• OC Faux Pas of the Millennium!!!

  Setting: West Hollywood Book Fair, 'round noon, Librería Martínez booth. Protagonists: Me, Librería Martinez volunteer Jess Baudillo, and a gaggle of gals from the Mission VIejo Public Library. Scene: They had just invited me to speak at some author's festival they're proposing for next year. I, having a new book to hawk, graciously accepted. I told them I had a successful book signing a couple of weeks ago sponsored through Librería Martínez. Silence. "You've never heard of Librería M

  September 30, 2008

• The Art of John Gilhooley's Weekly Portraits

  Photographer John Gilhooley--whose portraits often grace the pages of OC Weekly and have also been seen in Long Beach's District Weekly, Seattle Weekly and the just-shuttered LA CityBeat--is showing some of his favorite photographs from the past year and a few big prints of "classics from previous years" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Memphis in the Santoro Building, 201 N. Broadway, Santa Ana.Subjects who have found themselves in Gilhooley's lensfinder include Born on the Fourth of July author Ro

  April 1, 2009

• [¡Ask a Mexican!®] More Shameless Self-Promotion (Buy Gustavo's New Book!)

  September 11, 2008

• Barbershop Harmony Society’s 71st Annual International Convention and Competition

  June 25, 2009

• Teabagging or Partisan Hackery?

  Hey, hey, hey, the beauty of all these anti- (take your pick) -tax, -deficit, -progress tea parties was that they were truly grass-roots, free from the partisan political hackery that many believe in responsible for the country's fiscal woes in the first place. Then what to make of the Saddleback Republican Assembly announcing it "is finalizing plans for Mission Viejo's July 4th TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party"? That sounds about as grass-roots as a monster truck pull.The actual party is expect

  June 30, 2009

• Hootenanny

  July 2, 2009

• Fourth of July Fireworks Dinner Cruise

  July 2, 2009

• Rocky Horror Picture Show

  July 2, 2009

• To Do Orange County: July 4th

  Looking for a way to celebrate Independence Day?  Take a look at the options below to ensure that you're not home alone when the fireworks are going off."I'M ON A BOAT!" 4th of July Queen Mary SpectacularThe pool opens at 11am and you can lounge, drink, and dance. Walk around the ship and check out the karaoke bar, comedy club, beer pong tournament and more. Then, watch the West Cost's Biggest Fireworks show happen RIGHT ABOVE YOU. Following that, the ship will turn into SoCal's top outdoor

  July 2, 2009

• Full Set Times for eVocal 'Freedom Fest'

  Happy 4th of July, duders! We've got the set times for today's "Freedom Creative Arts Fest" at eVocal in Costa Mesa, the venue's second-to-last show. Click on the jump!

  July 4, 2009

• What You Missed: Shwayze, Sutra's Freedom Party and Newport Dunes

  We know, we know--there's nothing more damn depressing than the end of a long holiday weekend. And it was a pretty perfect one at that: Sunshine, 80-something-degree weather, a cloudless sky. And now we're back to sunshine and 80-something-degree weather... but from behind your computer screen and your windowless cubicle. So. Sad. But one thing we learned this weekend: Costa Mesa on the Fourth? A total aural war-zone. But a pretty fun one at that. The upper crust (and Molly the dog, pictured)

  July 6, 2009

• Slideshow: Freedom Creative Arts Fest II at eVocal

  Unfortunately, I know not all of you made it out to the "Freedom Creative Arts Fest II" at eVocal this past Saturday. It was the Fourth of July, after all, and put together with pretty short notice. (The lure of driveway fireworks is a strong one.) But given that, it was still a remarkable event, bringing together some top-notch local acts, celebrating independent art and music and saying goodbye to the venue--it was eVocal's second to last show.I was there; here are my pictures. Click away!

  July 6, 2009

• Lineup for 4th of July Show at eVocal Takes Shape

  We've been following the story of eVocal's untimely closing all this week, and now we have some more information on what looks to be the Costa Mesa all-ages venue's second-to-last show. Dubbed "Freedom Fest," festivities are planned to go for a full 12 hours--from noon to midnight--with back-to-back local acts playing inside, and acoustic artists playing short sets in between while bands set up. Next door neighbor Avalon is also getting in on the fun, with DJs spinning (with records, not like, o

  July 1, 2009

• Five Questions with On Blast

  ​Long Beach (OK, technically they live in Signal Hill) quartet On Blast--multi-instrumentalist Andy Kiddoo, singer Josh Brown, guitarist Travis Raab and producer/bassist Tone Blair -- play Thursday night at Alex's Bar with Free Moral Agents and Mode and Friday night...at a bar mitzvah. After running into Kiddoo at a Long Beach grocery store, I caught up with him for a Q&A.

  September 23, 2009

• OC's Famous Desegregation Case Finally Gets Its Historical Due, But One Family Feels Left Out

  November 5, 2009