Bakersfield

FBI Agents Don't Fall For Fake Compartment Trick In Narcotics Loaded BMW

Late one December night in 2009, three individuals riding in a black 1997 BMW 528i on I-15 in San Bernardino County believed a CHP officer stopped them merely for weaving out of a lane, but in truth they'd been under surveillance for hours by a team of undercover FBI agents.Driver Lindberg Villalobo ... More >>

[UPDATED with BET Analyst Weighs In:] Were Rossmoor Bottle Bombs a Prank or Hate Crime?

See the update at the end of this post where a BET commentator wonders about links between the Roosmoor incident, a black family leaving Yorba Linda and OC skinheads.ORIGINAL POST, DEC. 5, 6:06 A.M.: Are the bombs of Rossmoor pranks, racist messages or prank racist messages?Inquiring minds want to k ... More >>

Report: Anaheim Angels in Talks to Move to City of...Industry?!

After all that has been said and done, I gotta say that the jury is still out on whether Arte Moreno is the best owner your Anaheim Angels could have. Yes, he's spent hundreds of millions of dollars on marquee free agents...yet the Halos haven't been to the World Series since he bought the team back ... More >>

The 'California Accent' Is, Like, Totally Real

Though we probably don't notice it because we're too busy giving hella directions to The 405, Californians have an accent. Like, for reals. A team of linguistics researchers from Stanford University has been studying the elusive dialects of the Golden State, which have never been given the same ... More >>

OC Pioneers Who Were Klan Members: Albert Ore, La Habra Pastor

The dirtiest secret about the Ku Klux Klan in Orange County during the 1920s--more than all the councilmembers and trustees and city fathers put together--is that one of the most-represented professions among their ranks were ministers.You had virtually every Protestant denomination represented--Con ... More >>

Merle Haggard at the City National Bank Grove of Anaheim, Feb. 29, 2012

​Merle Haggard City National Bank Grove of Anaheim Feb. 29, 2012 Throughout his 74 years, Merle Haggard has seen it all. From his stint in prison as a teen to hard living to dealing with bankruptcy in the early '90s to his recent comeback, Haggard has dealt with every obstacle and seen everything ... More >>

"Celebrate Gospel" Returns to Disney California Adventure

​ Do you like gospel music? What about Disney California Adventure?Well, if you like both prepare to have your mind blown, because those two worlds are about to collide when "Celebrate Gospel" (an annual celebration of gospel music... duh) makes its way back to the park this Saturday.Lea ... More >>

Taco Bell Testing Out Chipotle-Style Menu

​We reported last week that Taco Bell was adding breakfast to its repretoire of chalupas and MexiMelts®; but apparently the Irvine-based company isn't settling with just eggs and cheese in an attempt to revitalize their brand. If things go according to plan, 2012 might see the most sign ... More >>

Social Distortion at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Last Saturday Night

John Gilhooley/OC Weekly​Social DistortionOct. 22, 2011Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, IrvineMike Ness took a scan of the audience after the opening song, "California Hustle and Flow," and said, "There's a little more people here than we played for at the Fullerton Pub. I remember one fucker t ... More >>

A Brief History of Tamales in Santa Ana

​You know that book about the history of Mexican food in the United States that I mention in every other post? I released a brief, brief preview of it in the Food section of today's Los Angeles Times, specifically on the tamale wagons that ruled the streets of Southern California in the late 1890s ... More >>

Rick Perry to Bring His Anti-Social Security Message to Orange County's GOP Social Security Recipients

​The day after the Sept. 7 Republican presidential debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Texas Governor Rick Perry will navigate the Southern California freeway system (or probably fly over it) for private meetings with fat-cat donors in San Diego and Newport Beach.But worry not, mortgaged ... More >>

[UPDATED with New Kern County Stink:] Courts Weigh Orange County Poop

​UPDATE, MAY 26, 12:42 P.M.: There's an interesting nugget about Orange County and the Carlyle Group in coverage of the ongoing court battle over human waste from Southern California spread atop farmland in Kern County.Anyone trying to put the Bush 43 years behind them may have forgotten about the ... More >>

[UPDATED with Plea from Tousignant Family:] Arnold Schwarzenegger Love Child Scandal Rocks OC

Tammy Tousignant​UPDATE, MAY 19, 4:12 P.M.: The attorney for Brea's Tousignant family, which earlier this week found itself at the center of the media speculation over the identity of Arnold Schwarzenegger's love child, has issued a statement with a simple message for that same media:Leave the Tou ... More >>

Lakers Return to Honda Center Oct. 19

​The Lakers are down 2-0 to the Mavs, and if they lose tonight in Dallas all hope will be lost for a three-peat.Speaking of elimination, the Honda Center in Anaheim won't be the home of an NBA team for at least another season.Are you ready for some basketball?

2010 Census Doesn't Care About OC White People

​The Mexican earlier riffed on the 2010 U.S. Census and African Americans in Orange County. As he mentioned, the number of white people is down here, but the number of people overall is up. The number of brown people is up countywide but down in Santa Ana (which would still have enough Latinos to ... More >>

5 Requests to Drunkenly Yell Out to John Doe at Detroit Bar Sunday Night

Autumn De Wilde/Yep Roc RecordsJohn Doe, poor little X front man, on the road . . . to Detroit Bar.​I still remember the day the Knitters' LP Poor Little Critters On the Road landed on the desk holding my outstretched legs in a Southern California newsroom in the mid-1980s. "What in tarnation is ... More >>

UC Irvine Soccer Wuz Robbed

​The UC Irvine men's soccer team finished 14-3-3, won the Big West Conference regular-season title, were ranked No. 1 in the West Regional rankings most of the season and were in the national top 10 for the final six weeks of the regular season.So, how were the Anteaters rewarded? With another ... More >>

Five Reasons Why Orange County Should Thank Mexico Today

​Today, as Orange County Register readers know too well, is the official marking of Mexico's bicentennial. SanTana will become one massive fiesta this weekend, although the elites marked their own celebration last evening at the Bowers Museum. With all the arribas in the air, what better time to d ... More >>

The New Limb Tour Diaries: Days 1 & 2

​(Alt-pop four-piece the New Limb went on tour for the first time EVER this week, so they're sending Heard Mentality missives from the road. They're going to take turns guest blogging; first up is lead singer/guitarist Joey Chavez about Santa Cruz and San Francisco--Ed.)These past two days have be ... More >>

Benefit Bailongo! With La Santa Cecilia

anasaldana@the creativeartsclinic.com​LA's La Santa Cecilia is coming down to Santa Ana today for a benefit bailongo. The six-piece's cross-generational appeal brings its mesh of various Latin American musical genres to a community dance party at Taco Adobe. They're lending the OC their talents, ... More >>

Balls Afire! Glen and the Sunshine Gang Are Serious About This Joke Band Thing

www.myspace.com/glenandthesunshinegang​Few rock groups have balls big enough to doggedly pursue the status of a joke band. That's not the case for Orange County's Glen and the Sunshine Gang; their candor regarding their faux status is like two massive glowing orbs dangling between their spandex co ... More >>

Wild Rivers to Finally Close and Become... A Water Park

​We missed this item on the LA Times's Funland blog on Monday. Apparently, Irvine water park Wild Rivers, which has spent the better part of its decade proclaiming it would soon shut down but never actually doing so, may finally see its last day in 2010.In its place would be a seemingly identical ... More >>

Long Bitch

Long Beach was voted a top city again. And no, this time its not because the city has the dirtiest water in the state, you cynical bastards. It's because Long Beach has the unhappiest women in the country! Hooray! According to Self Magazine's December issue, which hits stands today, Los Angeles-Lo ... More >>

Sunday's Headlines & Surprises: OC Inspired Space Travel?

California's Police State: Imagine you are a suspect and the police take your entire statement out of context by secretly recording only snippets that seem to incriminate you in a crime. Can’t happen? Think again. California police officers have won the right to selectively tape you. It’s the R ... More >>

New Reviews

We recommend: Americanizing Shelley, Civic Duty,

Letters

'You reduce yourselves to the blogs of housewives with a useless degree in art or literature when you write such cleverly worded nothingness. Fuck you'

Diary of a Mad County

Feb. 14-Feb. 20

Cuzz Yore So Sweet

Dec. 21-Dec. 28 Get Out! Nightlife and More

Oily characters

The holidays are a time for celebrating tradition, and a story from The Associated Press reminds us of one of our country's greatest traditions: corporations screwing the public and lying about it. Confirming what you've suspected as you stand at the self-service gas pump, swearing under your breat ... More >>

Dispense the Weight

WEB EXCLUSIVE! Totimoshi nice notes and everything

The New Crips

An ex-drug dealer and burglar leads a wheelchair posse terrorizing Southern California businesses. Would you believe he has the law on his side?

Sprayed-On Jeans

Dwight Yoakam

Lit Up

Theyve faced the decline of hair metal, the rise of rap, the transformation of the record industry, even death. Meet this summers real superheroes, Fullertons own Lit!

Monster's Ball

Feds, Aryan Brotherhood come to paint the OC courthouse white

Hit Me With Your Chastening Stick, It's Nice to Be a Lunatic...

The year's not over yet, but the funniest thread EVER can be found right now at Democratic Underground. But first we gotta back up--AND BEND OVER, MAGGOT! It seems there is this Internet company run out of a couple's garage in that enlightened burg of Bakersfield, known previously as the place where ... More >>

Brea

Its All Geek to Me

Dekes Guitar Geek Fest sparks the NAMM show weekend

Someone Else Would Dream a Song

Chapter and verse on the Flatlanders

We Want You Seed!

Uncle Jims summer activity guide

Bad Rap, Vol. II

Big J-Mos best friend says hes ready to testify for the defense

Beer! Porn!

The baby-sitter economy

Fight Night!

Chicks, violence, implants and fists of fury!

Kick Out the Jams!

A flood of seriously good new roots CDs

KNIGHTS BRIDGE

Re-creating Tudor England

The Iceworker Cometh

Andres Montoyas poems for the rest of us

Peeling Korn and Eating Zombie Flesh

The Gaff Is Back

And he's brought his Cold Hard Facts, too

A Selected OC Rock History Time Line