Although some Dia de los Muertos events were held last weekend, most notably Hollywood Forever and Festival de la Gente, most events will take place on November 2nd, following the traditional date. more ›

Riders in the Sky @ Hollywood Bowl more ›

The cool thing about that Atomica Magazine Enter the Dragon party wasn't just that they did actually play Enter the Dragon on the screen or the odd dancer on the 2nd floor dressed in a prom dress and seemingly only aware of her own shadow or the really cute couple that came out of nowhere and danced hip to hip to Janet Jackson's very sexy "That's the Way Love Goes" with huge smiles on their faces. No, the coolest part was that we were directly behind the "CHINATOWNLAND" sign in the Chinatown plaza, an area of the city that we don't visit nearly enough. more ›

If rumor and innuendo are to be believed, the nonprofit Self-Help Graphics and Art has been shut down. Artist/blogger Mark Vallen has the story of the state of the East LA landmark, which was founded by Chicano artists in the early '70s and became a center of the Chicano arts movement (punk rock, too). In recent years Self-Help Graphics has featured a gallery, gift shop and community arts classes in addition to its silkscreen studio. While their website mentions nothing of the closure (in fact, it loudly announces a search for a new Executive Director beginning this April) nobody's anwering the phones, and the gates have clearly been locked. The Board of Directors will meet with interested members of the community for a discussion on Tuesday the 28th at 7pm. The location, the Ave 50 Studio in Highland Park, is neither near East LA nor any bigger than your average Starbucks. The call is on for concerned artists and activists to show up and convince the board to reopen Self-Help Graphics' doors; look for the artsy, agitated mob on the sidewalk and you'll know you're in the right place. more ›

The community arts center, founded by Sister Karen Boccalero, not only promoted Chicano artists but also nurtured the LA punk rock scene in its infancy. Willie Heron of the band "Los Illegals" and Joe Suquett persuaded Sister Karen to let them found the Club Vex, a twice-monthly punk-rock club, at the Self-Help Graphics' hall. more ›