3rd Fridays Twilight Walk
If North Pine Avenue could have an open house, this is sort of what it would be like. From 3rd Street to 8th Street, Pine metamorphoses into a something of a bustling street that you’d stumble upon in Soho, New York—dense with artists, poets, and DJs taking over storefronts, open cafes and the occasional live band (this week, The Lubricators). Every Twilight Walk is different and scheduling is fairly informal so expect anything. Kids are welcomed, but from what I’ve seen in the past, Twilight Walk is more of an adult event.
Where: Pine Avenue, between 3rd St. and 8th St.
When: Friday, June 21, 7PM-10PM
Website: www.hopalb.com/
Admission: Free

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I Am Breathing: Documentary Screening
An intense doc about the few months of you knowing you get the news you’re about to die and death. Within a year, 34-year-old Neil Platt goes from being a healthy young dad to becoming completely paralyzed from the neck down due to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). A moving piece of work that’s already getting high critical acclaim. As part of Global Awareness Day for motor neurone disease, this sole screening will take place on the same day as one-off screenings in more than 20 countries including Iceland, Russia, Estonia, Poland, China, India, Kenya, and Mexico.
Where: WE Labs (Work Evolution Laboratories), 235 E. Broadway, Ste. 800, (562) 264-5883
When: Friday, June 21, 8PM
Website: http://welabs.us/
Admission: $10

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2013 USA Jump Rope National and Grand National Championships
Remember double Dutch? If you do, you’re an ‘80s kid. Damn, that was the one of the pinnacles of playground status, wasn’t it? If you could double Dutch—ropes whipping in synch with each other—just waiting to slap your ankles and sweaty brow with one bad hop, you were a schoolyard god. But this childhood pastime has grown. It’s so big, New York City public high schools offered double Dutch as a varsity sport in 2009. This annual event, the granddaddy of all jump rope finals, returns to Long Beach to crown the best male, female, and group in singles, relays, speed, and of course, double Dutch.
Where: Long Beach Convention Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd.
When: Sunday, June 23, All day
Website: http://www.usajrf.org/
Admission: $8
What else?: Bring ear plugs—this event gets loud—high-school-football-rally loud.

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The Muffs
Who else used to see The Muffs destroy and conquer the stage at the old Fender’s Ballroom? Every song was a two-minute wall of three-cord distortion with about a third of said songs ending with lead singer Kim Shattuck (an Orange, CA native) head-butting the gangly Ronnie Barnett, the bassist who glasses would fly off his face at least once a show. This was before Hole, before Courtney Love took Shattuck’s baby doll dress look—before grunge (the Muffs 1995 LP Blonder and Blonder was even named after her fights with Love). The breakneck sets are gone—probably—who’d know? A Muffs concert is rare these days—they only play a handful of shows a year now.
Where: Alex’s Bar, 2913 E. Anaheim St., (562) 434-8292
When: Saturday, June 22, 9PM
Website: www.alexsbar.com
Admission: $10
What else?: This will sell out—if you’re thinking of going, buy your tickets now.

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The Three O’Clock Live In-Store
What’s more rare than a Muffs concert? A Three O’Clock performance. Ask any musicologist about L.A.’s jangley mid-‘80s Paisley Underground and the first band they’ll mention is the Three O’Clock—with adoration. The Three O’Clock split in 1988 after a bad deal with Prince’s Paisley Park record label, which didn’t help the backstage inter-band fisticuffs, but after a reunion at this past Coachella festival, enough interest was stirred up for a Freakbeat Records compilation filled with classics, rarities, demos, and alternative takes from ’81 to ’86 (the pre-Prince years). This in-store is the kick-off to that release and Fingerprints’ guest list will fill up so call them up as soon as you finish reading this sentence.
Where: Fingerprints, 420 E. 4th St., (562) 433-4996
When: Monday, June 24, 7PM
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/165487360289884/
Admission: Free
What else?: Get there early, the band’s bringing along a small stack of limited-run event posters for this in-store.