CCLaP Journal #5

In fact, none of us are here in this room right now. So Sean, will you talk to the boys?

He’ll tell you every step, boys, and you’ll be set up with a couple of voter registration booths. Sean has nothing to do with this either, by the way. You guys are old highschool buddies having a good time. Reminiscing. Stuff like that. Now, thank you very much for meeting with me, Basilio and Claudio. Remember to vote and to stay out of trouble, please...”

That afternoon the Lunapeza brothers, along with Sean Lovegren in the back of their pickup, cleaned out the Pronto Mart of every one of their Mickeys Malt Liquor forties and grenades. Sean Lovegren had been given a modest cash budget to get the project rolling with the members of Bread8 and volunteered some cash for this cause.

Reluctant at first, Sean Lovegren eventually accepted one of the forties. When Claudio sparked up a bowl in the trailer as Sean Lovegren explained to the brothers the details of the phonecalls that needed to be made, he took the pipe when it came his way and hit it like a champ—it came back like an old college reflex, and it was the first time in a while that Sean Lovegren felt loose like that in the Halfway through the set, the middle of the afternoon. lead singer, who goes by Cloud,

With the help of a nonprofit knife in hand, begins to stab at group called Youth of the Valley, Basilio made the move to reserve the cutout of Copal Brandt with the McAllen Recreation Center for a lion’s passion. Out of nowhere a benefit show to try to get the local blood is produced and Cloud youth registered to vote. They were warned that there could be no open proceeds to rub it all over his alcoholic containers in the Pavillion. own face and body, then on his Also, there was no smoking, even own bandmates. Afterwards he outside, and the event had to be friendly and accommodating toward roars into the microphone, ‘Do families and people of all ages. you know why we’re doing this,

The Lunapeza brothers, McAllen? We’re doing this FOR however, were told nothing about cleaning up their act. It was almost NO PARTICULAR REASON!!!!!!!!!’ as if the people at Youth of the Valley didn’t know of their music or what was going on in the city at all—they were just enthusiastic in endeavoring on a project that might actually get people to come out, and so close to election time.

The event would last three hours and they could only invite one other band to play.

There would be a few booths with people handing out voter registration forms and aiding the public with filling them out—also, there would be brochures about voting and the different voting precincts, and information on finding out which precinct you belonged to, and that they were at any time subject to change.

It was Basilio’s idea that the event also be used as a screening of Julie Evans’ documentary, The Cebolla Protest. As far as Basilio was concerned, he probably owned one of the only existing copies of the film and he didn’t plan on returning it to the University Pan American Library.

Basilio called up his friend Roly and asked him to bring his projector; he called his friend Goodbar in Edinburg South and asked if he could borrow his PA for the event.

140 | The CCLaP Journal