Not-blue Monday: Andrew & the BROTS EP Release, It's A Monster World Puppet Show

On the Internet: Andrew & the BROTS' first EP is here! Get it from Andrew and the BROTS on Bandcamp. You know I'm excited. I love this guy.

And I love whoever designed this graphic. All the colors and the excitement on Andrew's face is pretty representative of what he's like on stage. And in your ears.

In West Hollywood: Some friends of mine are in Puppet School, and they have a show tonight at 7:30p West Hollywood Park Auditorium. I bought my ticket last night on their website. It's going to be so much fun! The drive over from East LA, not so much, probably-- but it'll be more than worth it.

It's a good Monday, Los Angeles, yes it is.

More Los Angeles DREAMS: Exhibit at Chinese American Museum

The 111th Congress adjourns on December 17th. If the DREAM Act isn't passed by then, the fight to get it passed in the Republican-dominated 112th Congress will be all but impossible to win. AB540 here in California helps undocumented students get higher education, but without a path to citizenship and legal employment status, the future holds more struggle. Somehow, the DREAM Act and immigration reform must pass.

Read more:

• We Cannot Afford Not to Pass the DREAM Act: A Plea from Immigration Scholars [Huffington Post]
• Congress takes up DREAM Act [LA Times]
• For Proof the DREAM Act’s a Good Idea, Look at Cuban Americans [Colorlines]
• Democrats fight to save DREAM Act immigration bill [Politico]

On Thursday evening, I'm heading over the Chinese American Museum for the first time to see this new exhibit dealing with immigration:


DREAMS DEFERRED Exhibit at the Chinese American Museum
December 10, 2010 - May 22, 2011
Opening Reception | Thursday, December 9 | 6:00p - 8:30p

The Chinese American Museum (CAM) and El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument is proud to present Dreams Deferred: Artists Respond to Immigration Reform opening on December 10, 2010. This exhibition will showcase local artists exploring the tensions, repercussions, hopes, and dreams of immigrant communities in the face of new immigration legislation, through a broad spectrum of art including street art, graffiti art, sculptures, painting and multimedia installations.

U.S. immigration laws have long reflected a lasting legacy of racial exclusion starting with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, the first legislation to restrict immigration based on race and ethnicity. This legacy of immigration legislation targeting immigrant communities has since reemerged in the recent decades with California's Proposition 187,and Arizona's Senate Bill 1070, as attempts at inhibiting the livelihoods of undocumented immigrants. 

Dreams Deferred continues the current national dialogue about immigration, kicked-off by the recent opening of CAM's Remembering Angel Island, an exhibition commemorating the 100th year anniversary of the opening of the West Coast's first immigration station. Both exhibitions will serve to shed light on the parallels of past and current immigration policies and reform, and how Los Angeles' diverse immigrant communities collectively share not only their immigrant histories, but also many of the challenges facing new immigrant communities today.

• Read the Press Release for more. 

Andrew Figueroa Chiang is a Blazing Ray Of The Sun

Twitter's #MusicMonday is over, but I had to share this recent post from Andrew Figueroa Chiang about his growth as a musician: Time is a Healer. 

He is releasing his first EP next Monday, December 13th. The post is about what the process leading up to this has meant to him and how his music has been affected. One of the things that comes through most, to me, his sincerity:

In many ways, I’m glad that it’s taken this long to release my first album. From the time I started playing music to this very day, I have been developing into a more consummate performer, musician, listener, band leader, and recording artist. These days, I am learning always.

Los Angeles DREAMs

I had an eerily calm commute from Downtown LA to my current residence in the South Bay yesterday. Heading south at two in the afternoon on the 110 through South LA has not been that clear on a weekday in-- ever. No congestion passing USC, no slowing-down at Gage or Manchester. 

One thing about having a commute is that I've come to appreciate Los Angeles public radio much more than before. I'm not a big podcast-listener so I never subscribed.

Today I was listening to KCRW when UnFictional came on. I got to hear American Dreamer, the story of a talented jazz saxophonist who could not gain admission to college because of his undocumented status. It was a timely broadcast-- this week is a DREAM Act Week of Action to pressure Congress to finally pass the DREAM Act, giving undocumented students a path to citizenship. 


A few of the actions happening in Los Angeles:

Wednesday Dec. 1, 2010:
* Phone Banking at the “I Believe in Dream Act in 2010″ Call Center
Morning Shift: 6AM- 10AM
Evening Shift: 6PM-10PM
Asian Pacific American Legal Center 1145 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Thursday Dec. 2, 2010:
Press Conference and Rally
* “Nation supports Dream Act and Trutanich wants to punish supporters?!”
8AM
210 W Temple St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Friday Dec. 3, 2010:
* Coming Out in Support of Wilshire Dream 9 Allies
8AM
Press Conference and Rally
210 W Temple St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Read more:

• Daring to DREAM: In Memory of Student Warriors Tam Tran and Cynthia Felix
• DREAM Act could generate $1.6 trillion (I'm not one for number crunching, but whatever gets this passed.)
• Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa Announces Support for DREAM Act
• CA already has legislation in place to assist undocumented students