FRIDAY, June 6

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Alec Mapa, your pride is showing. See Friday.

Comic/actor Alec Mapa once said, “I’ve been taking Pilates, nonstop, and I had a physical in between the year that I started and now, and I actually grew an inch. I am now the towering height of 5-foot-5. Truly, it doesn’t make a difference because all of my friends are over 6-foot-4. I always feel that I look like Maddox being picked up by Brad Pitt at the airport whenever I go out with my friends.” For Pride Week, Mapa brings a new version of his popular show, No Fats, Femmes or Asians, which promises to “take audiences on another wild ride through the ironies, lunacies and tarnished glories of the way we live and love.” Joining him are transgender star Calpernia Addams, Amy Hill, Jason Currie, Jamison Hebert and more. L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Renberg Theater, the Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place, Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., June 6-7, 8 p.m.; Sun., June 8, 7 p.m.; $20. (323) 860-7300 or www.lagaycenter.org/boxoffice.

They’re here; they’re loft dwellers; get used to it. Speaking of out and proud, a new subculture of Angelenos is emerging. You may even know one. They are the downtown dwellers, and they will tell you how faboo it is to live downtown, especially if you have to walk your dog at midnight — you might get killed! Come to their Downtown L.A. Open House 2008: A Weekend to Explore Living and Playing in All Our Neighborhoods, happening all weekend, and learn their ways. See where they dine, drink, shop and get cultural, and hear their special slang. (Please, don’t say, “This is so New York!”) All over the Downtown Business District; Fri.-Sun., June 6-8; www.­downtownla.com/openhouse/index.php/sponsor.

 SATURDAY, June 7

The music is fantastic — the Blasters, Dave Alvin, Junior Brown, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Wayne Hancock — and the tattoos are vein-poppingly amazing, so find whatever remaining empty skin you have and get onboard for the Ink-N-Iron Festival. Plus art, a car show, a “pinup” pageant, seminars and more. Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Hwy., Long Beach; Fri., June 6, 2 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sat., June 7, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.; Sun., June 8, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. $35. Buy tickets at the Queen Mary on day of event, or visit www.wanttickets.com.

 

SUNDAY, June 8

With legal gay marriage looming, it should be an extrajoyful 38th Annual L.A. Pride Parade, with more than 400,000 revelers cheering on floats, bands, performances, marching community-advocacy groups and pounds upon pounds of pride. The two-day festival features Joss Stone (Saturday) and Olivia Newton-John (Sunday). And speaking of leather dildos (we weren’t?), this is the only event this week that has a children’s area and men in chaps. Festival: West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd., W. Hlywd.; Sat., June 7, noon-mid.; Sun., June 8, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; $20, $15 in advance. Parade: Santa Monica Blvd. starting at La Cienega Blvd., Sun., June 8; starts at 11 a.m.; free. (323) 969-8302 or www.lapride.org.

 

MONDAY, June 9

Okay, the happy train stops here. Though Stephanie Klein’s Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp has enough Juno-esque slang and vibe to keep a humorous vein going, her story of being an overweight kid is pretty bittersweet. Klein will be at Book Soup, reading excerpts and signing copies of her work. Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., W. Hlywd.; Mon., June 9, 7 p.m.; free (book is $24.95). (310) 659-3110.

 

TUESDAY, June 10

He calls himself “an honest songwriter” even though people like to affix “political” to his name, but Billy Bragg just makes you want to wave a flag or a protest poster or even shake your fist at what’s wrong with the world. He’s also a passionate writer of love songs. Is there a Mrs. Billy Bragg? She’s lucky. El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.; Tues., June 10, 8 p.m.; $31. (213) 480-3232.

Film as a Catalyst for Social Change is brought to us by Facing History and Ourselves. L.A. Times critic Kenneth Turan, Blood Diamond director Edward Zwick and Diane Weyermann of Participant Media, the production company behind An Inconvenient Truth and Darfur Now, will take questions, such as “Should I prohibit my child from seeing Ice Age 3?” Directors Guild of America, 7920 Sunset Blvd., Hlywd.; Tues., June 10, 7 p.m., free. (626) 744-1177, Ext. 28 or www.facinghistory.org/events.

 

WEDNESDAY, June 11

Helvetica typeface turned 50 last year. Font heads gathered to sing “I Shot the Serif” and get into heated discussions about the banality of Times New Roman. You don’t have to be a graphic designer to appreciate Helvetica, Gary Hustwit’s film about the typeface some consider as important to the printed word as the Beatles are to music. “The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.” Mmm, maybe you do need to be a graphic designer to appreciate. American Cinematheque at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd.; Wed., June 11, 7:30 p.m.; $10. (323) 466-FILM.

 

THURSDAY, June 12

In our ongoing attempts to make Hoopla the go-to page for people seeking humanistic opportunities to help society right certain wrongs while also reviving the economy, we urge you to Tivo the season opener of Kathy Griffin’s My Life on the D-List and fork over the big bucks for the Marijuana Policy Project’s Playboy Party. Perry Farrell will deejay, Adrianne Curry hosts, and the party will still be raging when you get there after Nellie McKay’s show at Largo. Playboy Mansion, Holmby Hills; Thurs., June 12, 8 p.m.; $850 & $1,000 (think about how much you’ve spent on pot); www.mpp.org/campaigns/events/playboy/.

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