‘Occupy Irvine’ Pep Rally Today! (Honest to God.) Now with Sign-Making!

By
Greg Diamond
– October 14, 2011Posted in: Fresh Juice, irvine, OCCUPY Movement, Wall Street Protests 2011

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I’ll be writing a bit today, probably in multiple posts after this one, about “Occupy Orange County – Irvine” (which I’m just going to call “Occupy Irvine” or occasionally “Occupy Orange County (Irvine Synod).”  We lefties can make fun of ourselves, after all.)  I will start with something lighthearted and timely:

Occupy Irvine is having a “pep rally” today — yes, the use of that name seemed to surprise even those who came up with it, but people decided to call it what it is — so you can get your pom-poms over to San Marco Park (about a half mile southwest of City Hall) at 3:00 for 3-4 hours of talking, marching, and making signs for Saturday’s big rally.  Part of the purpose  is to get a sense of how many people will be showing up and making sure that people understand what’s going to happen on Saturday (what to bring, what not to bring, etc.)  Also, people are excited and just want to hang out together.  (Rah! Rah!  Goooooooo Occupants! Beat the Oppressors!  Non-violently!)

 

"Cheerleader in Fawkes Mask"

Everyone cheer for the underdogs! This one looks like it may go into overtime! What a game!

Occupy Irvine Mini March and Pep Rally to Irvine Financial District

SIGN MAKING PARTY/Today, Oct. 14, Day Before Occupation Pep Rally

3-6 p.m.: Starts at San Marco Park (1 San Marco, Irvine) with a march to Main Street to the intersection of Main Street and Von Karman Avenue.

Here’s what those coming today are asked to bring:

  • Already-made signs (to wave at people)
  • Markers, cardboard, poster boards (stuff to make signs)
  • Walkin’ shoes, if you have them
  • SPIRIT!!!  (Note: not an official request, I’m just adding this.)

As the Facebook page puts it:

This event is right before the big occupation on the 15th. This event is NOT the occupation, but a pep rally to garner support and awareness for the next day’s big Irvine occupation on the 15th.

We will meet at SAN MARCO PARK in Irvine. Start arriving at the park at 3:00PM. We will start the sign making party at that time. At 3:30, we will start to make our way to Main/Von Karman street. As one big group, we will walk down HARVARD AVE., make a right onto MAIN STREET and keep going until we hit VON KARMAN AVENUE. That’s where we will stay and protest until 7:00PM. This is where the financial district is located.

Parking will be available at San Marco Park and across the street at San Carlo Park. Bring your own signs (!) and some good walking shoes. We will be walking a lot. Remember, this is all to get people excited about the next day, which is the big Irvine occupation.

You can generally find out what’s happening at Occupy Irvine through the above Facebook page.  The Occupy Irvine website is at http://www.occupy-oc.org/.

(Note that “occupyoc.org” (without the hyphen) will forward you instead to “occupyorangecounty.com,” which is for planning the Santa Ana Rally and Occupation on Oct. 22.  This schism, familiar to most involved in Orange County political events for some time, will be addressed in a future post, tentatively entitled “Could activists from Orange County please stop acting like activists from Orange County?”  As a member of Team Irvine, though, I must point out that “Occupy Orange County” is 6+6+6 letters — and you all know what that means.  Also: the hyphen is humanity’s greatest invention.  (Note to Santa Anans: I’m joking here.  Irvine loves you and wishes you well.))

I’m going to be writing later today about my own adventures with Occupy Irvine over the past few days.  This post is so light-hearted because the subsequent ones will not be.

About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)