New to DTLA on Tuesdays, Club Dirt Bag kicks off with ITS CASUAL performing live!

To Commemorate The Release of the “Redline” video directed by Rick Kosick of Jackass, It’s Casual will be playing a free show at La Cita Bar on Tues 1.31.12!  Directly across the street from you guessed it! The Pershing Square Redline!

Bands start at 1030pm.  DJ Organ Donor spinning punk, metal, new wave and more!  21+ Free Show!

It’s Casual FB

La Cita Bar   336 S. Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Prepare yourselves to be tossed into a feverish ocean of strange and bemused excitement August 17th when MALABOMBA! brings you a lucha libre cumbia fiesta all the way from Mexico City!

La Cita Bar, 336 S. Hill St, LA 90013
FREE admission before 9:30
Only $5 cash after
FULL BAR FULL BOMBA!

A judge has ruled that California’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.  The ruling was made today in a lawsuit filed by two gay couples who claimed the voter-approved ban violated their civil rights.

via Associated Press and KPCC.

SAN FRANCISCO — Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker has ruled Proposition 8 is unconstitutional “under both the due-process and equal-protection” clauses.

His verdict comes in response to a lawsuit brought by two same-sex couples and the city of San Francisco seeking to invalidate the law as an unlawful infringement on the civil rights of gay men and lesbians.

Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriages in California five months after the state Supreme Court legalized them, passed with 52 percent of the vote in November 2008 following the most expensive campaign on a social issue in U.S. history.

Attorneys on both sides have said an appeal was certain if Walker did not rule in their favor. The case would go first to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then the Supreme Court if the high court justices agree to review it.

Anticipating such a scenario, lawyers for the coalition of religious and conservative groups that sponsored Proposition 8 in 2008 filed a legal brief Tuesday asking Walker to stay his decision if he overturns the ban so same-sex couples could not marry while an appeal was pending.

“Same-sex marriages would be licensed under a cloud of uncertainty, and should proponents succeed on appeal, any such marriages would be invalid,” they wrote.

Walker presided over a 13-day trial earlier this year that was the first in federal court to examine if states can prohibit gays from getting married without violating the constitutional guarantee of equality.

Supporters argued the ban was necessary to safeguard the traditional understanding of marriage and to encourage responsible childbearing.

Opponents said that tradition or fears of harm to heterosexual unions were legally insufficient grounds to discriminate against gay couples.

David Wilson of Mission Viejo says his marriage shouldn’t matter to others.

“I may be married to a man, but I’m married nonetheless. If they can’t handle that, that’s not my problem,” he said. “Even before I really realized I was gay, I’d always had a strong belief in equal rights, and that some aspect of a person’s life that’s wholly out of their control — gender, race, sexual orientation, what have you — shouldn’t preclude them from being able to have the same rights as someone else.”

The public responded to questions about Prop 8 and same-sex marriage posed to people in KPCC’s Insight Network of news sources and to the social media channels Facebook and Twitter.

The city of Los Angeles approved a resolution to declare August as Immigrant Pride Month as a counter to Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 that gives law enforcement the power to questions one’s legal status.

“This is a city that celebrates all people wherever they come from,” said Councilman Jose Huizar, one of the author’s of the proposal. “No one should be held to a higher standard simply because of characteristics someone may think they have that is different from the norm, whatever that norm may be. That norm is very diverse, it comes in different colors, different flavors, and so, we hope this law is struck down.”

Although this only applies to August 2010, it is clear the city of Los Angeles is trying to celebrate its diverse roots, even though it still does some business with Arizona;  working with an Arizona-based company that has the dubious distinction of operating our red light cameras at intersections and a lesser evil, SuperShuttle.

via the LAist.com

August 6 – 29, 2010
Fri & Sat @ 8pm
Sun @ 5pm

Get ready boys and girls for another thrilling episode of El Verde! Born as an alien from the not so far away world of Mexico, mild mannered Arturo Sanchez came to the United States to live an ordinary life. But after a freak elote accident, Arturo became… El Verde!!

www.casa0101.org for tickets and info.

Had the pleasure of seeing Plutocracy in LA for the first time since the 90′s…  back when I was living in the Bay Area and going to shows in teen centers and various all ages venues.  If you are a fan of NO LE$$, Kalmex and the Riffmerchants, ETO, Spazz, Agents of Satan then you know what I’m talking about.  Their set was fast and intense in a crowded space fogged with blood, sweat and flying fists.  Bastard Noise of course put on a great display of power and noise.  Definitely the loudest band I’ve seen in a while.  If you haven’t been to The Blvd Cafe on 2631 Whittier you are missing out.  Be sure you get there early, the set times are all off.  I missed Lack of Interest but I was able to snap a photo of the Legend himself:

At 83 he’s still grinding.   No one can ever tell me they’re too old for this shit.  See you at the next show.

JULY 22, 23, 24 AT ROY & EDNA DISNEY CAL ARTS THEATER

Los Angeles – Killsonic, a 30-piece musician’s collective, will be performing a 35-minute scene from their original opera Tongues Bloody Tongues as part of the New Original Works festival on July 22, 23 and 24 at REDCAT, a contemporary performance space that is part of the Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles.

The three performances will take place at 8:30 pm on Thursday, July 22nd; Friday, July 23rd and Saturday, July 24th at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater in downtown Los Angeles. 631 West 2nd St Los Angeles, CA 90012. Admission: $14.

www.tonguesbloodytongues.com |   www.killsonic.org

For more information, please contact killsonicband@gmail.com

Hollywood Walk Of Fame’s 50th Anniversary festival is coming up and promises to be filled with entertainment and festivities from 11am to 6pm.  Although I have a feeling none of the old street performers and characters will be invited since they’ve already been shooed off the Walk.  Who knows, maybe they’ll be able to make a cameo and actually bring some lighthearted laughs back to the street.

From the official website:

Drawing inspiration from these visitors, the next milestone in the year-long celebration of the Walk of Fame is the “Walk the Walk” community festival on Sunday, July 25.  From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. there will be free entertainment and activities throughout Hollywood honoring the five categories of the Walk of Fame – Motion Picture, Television, Radio, Recording and Live Theatre.  There are four anchor locations for the celebration – Hollywood & Highland Center and the TV Guide Studio located there, the Egyptian Theatre, Capitol Records building and the Montalban Theatre.  Beyond these four, businesses and attractions throughout the area are joining in the festival creating their own specials honoring the 50^th Anniversary of the Walk of Fame.  More information can be found in the Community Festival section which will be updated regularly including a schedule of entertainment and events and listings for participating businesses.

http://www.walkoffame50.com/