Consumer Products and Services

Clock is Ticking on $156k Mega Millions Lottery Ticket Bought in Dana Point 3 Months Ago

It's out there somewhere.A California state lottery ticket worth $156,712 was purchased at Super Stop Liquor, 34469 Golden Lantern, Dana Point, and has not been claimed three months later.Better check those coat pockets.

Five Ways To Celebrate American Craft Beer Week In (Or Near) OC

Next week is American Craft Beer Week, a celebration of brews made in the U.S. of A. Local breweries and restaurants are taking part in the national party. Here's where to go to grab a pint.

Fourth Annual Orange County Food and Wine Festival

Lyon Air Museum

[UPDATED with Cinema Spat Ends:] Iron Man 3 Dispute Between Theater Chains and Disney Doesn't Rust Disneyland Exhibit

See the update at the end of this post on the warring theaters reaching an agreement with Disney that has them selling advance Iron Man 3 tickets.ORIGINAL POST, APRIL 16, 3:27 P.M.: For an idea on how psyched Disney is about the Iron Man movie franchise, you needed only to go to the Anaheim theme pa ... More >>

Record Store Day

Fingerprints Records

33rd Annual Wine Extraordinaire

Anaheim Hilton

Rand Foster: The Vinyl Prophet

See our full OC Weekly 2013 People Issue

Frito-Lay Gets Huge Bill In California Sales Staff Wage Cheating Case

Frito-Lay, makers of the popular Fritos, Tostitos and Doritos chips, routinely cheated more than 2,100 sales employees out of money owed for overtime work in California, according to a class action lawsuit. Earlier this year, the Texas-based snack food company agreed to settle the case before a ... More >>

Roberto Gonzalez Barrera, Founder of GRUMA/Destroyer of Mexico's Tortilla Industry, Now Rotting In Hell

See Also:* "Five Reasons to Hate GRUMA, Makers of Mission and Guerrero Tortillas, Maseca, and Other Tortilla Evil"* Read about REAL tortillas in our weekly feature: Tortilla Tuesdayst's amazing--scratch that. It's disturbing as hell how ill-informed the mainstream media is and how damn laz ... More >>

The Unmanageable Heiress of 'Brave'

Pixar delivers the rare family film about courage that actually has some

The Bruery Goes Global: Bottles Spotted In Netherlands--Ishn't Dat Vierd?

We all know the Netherlands is the place in Europe to get great pot and decent-looking legal prostitutes, but bottles from Orange County's own craft beer creators (and subject of last year's cover story) The Bruery? Yup.

Cool Films to Watch When It's Hot Outside

[Summer Guide 2012] Your guide to the good stuff

Beverage Giant Diageo Screws Independent Brewer At Scottish Awards Show

What do you get when you're a hugely successful independent brewer headed to an awards show you're expected to win at?Well, if the awards show was partly sponsored by Diageo, the largest distiller in the world, the answer is "not the trophy you actually won."

Creme Tangerine's Parker Macy Talks Record Store Day 2012

Miguel Vasconcellos/OC WeeklyParker Macy (top) and Jonathan Staph (bottom) As you can see above, Creme Tangerine is not like most independent record stores. They took a niche market and made it even quirkier by selling vinyl out of a baby-blue trailer. Creme Tangerine, and it's owner Parker Macy is ... More >>

Record Store Day: Good for Only a Few Stores?

Did the annual event really save the vinyl record industry?

5 Reasons To See Jiro Dreams of Sushi, in Theaters TODAY

​​​Jiro Dreams of Sushi is the exquisite documentary about Jiro Ono, the 85-year-old chef at the famed Tokyo sushi restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro. (Read a Q&A with director David Gelb here.) Need a reason to drive out to L.A. to catch the film, which opens today? Here are five delicious ones. ... More >>

Barbie v. Bratz, Part XVI: Mattel Wants Off the Hook for MGA's $310 Million Payday

​We told you earlier in the week that a federal judge in Santa Ana rejected MGA Entertainment's claim for a $1 billion judgment against Mattel, which the same jurist had previously ordered to pay the smaller toy company $310 million for stealing trade secrets involving Bratz dolls. Now, the maker ... More >>

Google Music Store Rivaling iTunes Expected To Be Unveiled This Afternoon

​Google is expected to unveil a new online music store featuring songs from three of the world's four biggest music companies today, according to reports.

Stone's Greg Koch To Sign Books and Share Rare Beer Flights at The Bruery Provisions on Thursday

StudioSchulz.com Koch​The founders of Stone Brewing Co., Greg Koch and Steve Wagner, have written a book on how they built SoCal's biggest and arguably best-known craft brewery. The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. reveals the 15-year history of the Escondido-based brewer, and includes recipes for ... More >>

Huffington Post Gets Punked by Fake Ben & Jerry's Arrested Development Ice Cream Flavor

​It is amazing (and hella disturbing) how most people even bother to scan, let alone read a story anymore before spreading it around the Internet. Sign of the times, I guess. But when the offending organization is the Huffington Post (which carries my ¡Ask a Mexican! column), such a rush for web ... More >>

Three Reasons the Michael Jackson Trial App Feels So Wrong

​So yes, there is such as thing as a Michael Jackson Doctor Trial App, a mini "media center for the iPhone and iPad and Android devices." Released by Fox Television Stations, the app includes live video of the trial proceedings, recorded local news segments, photo galleries and biographies of thos ... More >>

AEG Wants to Build an NFL Stadium in Downtown LA (What Traffic?), OC Supervisors Want City of Industry

AEGA stadium will be built ... somewhere in LA County.​An NFL stadium is coming to the greater Los Angeles area, at some point. The sponsorship deal with Farmers Insurance has been sealed, the promotional propaganda has been spread, the LA city council has voted unanimously in favor of a tentative ... More >>

[UPDATED with $315 Mil Bond for Mattel:] Bratz Maker MGA's Total Take From Barbie Sugar Daddy Mattel? $310 Million

​UPDATE, AUG. 17, 5:21 P.M.: In federal court in Santa Ana today, Judge David O. Carter ordered Mattel to post a $315 million bond while the El Segundo-based toy manufacturing giant fights a $310 million award to MGA Entertainment.It's the latest twist in the trade secrets legal battle the makers ... More >>

Final D23 Expo Details Revealed: Sneak Peeks, Pixar Stamps, Screenings

​D23 is now just one week away and, oddly enough, I find myself getting excited. Of course, I am a Disnerd, but what I'm not a fan of is being stuffed into a room for hours on end with folks who go above and beyond being simple fans. Many D23 attendees will live Disney, much in the same way I live ... More >>

Anheuser-Busch Wants the 713... and the 714?

Flickr user tsandHow is drinking Bud Light 713 Beer like having sex in a boat? Both are fucking close to water.​Our sister blog, Eating Our Words over at the Houston Press, reported that Anheuser-Busch's parent company, AB InBev, has applied for trademarks on the number 713--which just happens to ... More >>

Mid Year Music Sales Numbers Are In--and Up

​Nielsen Soundscan's mid-year numbers are in, and despite the economic doom and gloom being reported by news outlets across the land, it would seem Americans have a lot to be optimistic about. Soundscan is the music industry's data information service and tracks sales at the point of purchase. It' ... More >>

Q&A: Mike Altman, Technical Director for Pixar

​A little over a decade ago, Mike Altman and I were both attending the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) in Columbus, Ohio. Today, Mike works at Pixar as a Technical Director, and I'm interviewing him for "OC Weekly." He wins!Mike worked for animation houses DNA Productions in Dallas and ... More >>

How 'Born This Way' Went All the Way to No. 1 Told in Lady Gaga Gifs

​Lousy album cover aside, Lady Gaga's sophomore release Born This Way sold 1.1 million copies in its first week and is No. 1 on the Billboard charts, the biggest since 50 Cent's The Massacre.

Lady Gaga: DNA Perfume, Camera Glasses, a Laptop with Her Face on It--the Best Slices of Her 360 Deal

This whole week we've been inundated with everything Lady Gaga. (Seriously, I've read more stories about Born This Way's album release than the tornado in Joplin.) From Amazon's 99-cent download to GagaVille to appearances on American Idol and Letterman, it's hard to go on the Internet without seein ... More >>

Patrick Rue Is the Brue-master

From a Placentia industrial park, Patrick Rue and his Bruery have revolutionized craft-beermaking in Southern California

[UPDATED with Award Proposal:] Bratz Maker MGA Wants $339 Million From Barbie Sugar Daddy Mattel

​UPDATE, MAY 25, 9:30 A.M.: Analysts agree that in the seven years since Barbie-maker Mattel first went after Bratz manufacturer MGA Entertainment in court, the smaller company's fortune dwindled while Mattel remained a toy industry giant. MGA is hoping to retrieve $339 million of that fortune in ... More >>

As Food Prices Rise, is an Economic Slowdown Our Only Hope?

​Well this is a great story: mega-chains ranging from McDonald's to Nestle, Cracker Barrel to Whole Foods, are raising their prices, not because they're trying to milk you dry, but because the cost for food is going up, up, up. Yay!The United States Department of Agriculture had already forecast t ... More >>

Press-Telegram Kills Sports, Photo and Features, Allows Staffers to Reapply at Daily Breeze

​The Long Beach Press-Telegram, whose history extends back to 1897, is reportedly eliminating its sports, photo and features departments.In Long Beach, anyway.Some members of those departments will be swallowed up by the Torrance Daily Breeze, which shares news the P-T and other MediaNews Group pa ... More >>

[UPDATED with Mattel Getting Bitch-Slapped:] Chick Fight! Chick Fight! Barbie vs. Bratz

​UPDATE, APRIL 21, 12:31 P.M.: The sluttier, younger chick wins!A federal court jury in Santa Ana not only rejected claims that MGA Entertainment's popular line of Bratz dolls violates the copyright of Mattel's Barbie, but the panel awarded MGA $88.4 million for trade secrets misappropriated by M ... More >>

What's Happening in OC/LB on Record Store Day? Your Handy Event Directory

​Since its inception in 2007, the fandemonium over Record Store Day has only grown. Drak, owner of Vinyl Solution in Huntington Beach, expressed his awe of fans last year who flooded into his store "like mice after a piece of cheese. It's amazing." It's no wonder they do--each year on the third Sa ... More >>

Beer Makers Raising Prices on Budget Beers to Make Consumers Buy More-Expensive Brands

​Better load up on the Pabst Blue Ribbon, Keystone Light, and other budget brews that help this Great Recession go down a bit smoother: the nation's beer cartel is openly raising the prices of such beers in a blatant effort to squeeze consumers into buying their more-expensive brands. So much for ... More >>

Foo Fighters at Fingerprints!

[Mental Notes] Record Store Day, Andrew W.K. and Honeypie at Detroit Bar

Carl's Jr., Hardee's to Sell Turkey Burgers--Chain Finally Going Healthy?

Is this burger going the way of Carlos Jr.?​Carl's Jr. has spent most of the last decade boasting of its waistline-busting burgers, proudly proclaiming their entrees are for sloppy guys who think a salad and any thought of health is one fey thang, hanging their hat on 1,000-calorie-plus creations ... More >>

Lupe Fiasco, 'Lasers,' and Artistic Freedom

lupefiasco.com​ Lupe Fiasco's Lasers, one of the most embattled albums in recent hip-hop history, finally finds its way to shelves and digital downloads today. It took a fan organized protest deemed "Fiasco Friday" back in October to force Atlantic Records to preemptively announce a release date f ... More >>

Ozzy Named 'Ambassador,' Bats Cry Foul

​On April 16, the annual Record Store Day event will be hosted by independent record stores to recognize great music and the artists who play it. Ozzy Osbourne was named 2011's Record Store Day Ambassador, following in the footsteps of such honorees as Jesse Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal in 20 ... More >>

Lily Allen Starts Label Through Sony Music

​The 25-year-old actress/musician Lily Allen is launching new boutique label "In the Name Of," which will receive financial backing from Sony Music. The first signing for the label is Brooklyn electro-pop duo Cults, whose debut album will be released later this year.

New Rumors of a Merger Between Freedom and MediaNews

​Yesterday, Dean Singleton, the controversial chairman and CEO of MediaNews Group, which owns dozens of newspapers including the Denver Post and LA Daily News, announced he was stepping down from his longtime post. Now, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, two new members of the board of director ... More >>

Chick Fight! Chick Fight! Barbie vs. Bratz

​Considering the preponderance of plastic, empty-headed bleach blondes one finds around these parts, at least a few have likely found their way into the federal courthouse in Santa Ana. But the two fitting the same description going before a judge at the Reagan today have achieved icon status with ... More >>

Toyota's Record $32.4 Million Fine Settles Federal Probes But Not Suits Brought by OCDA and Others

​Toyota's agreement to pay a record $32.4 million to settle U.S. Department of Transportation investigations into the giant automaker's handling of two recalls does nothing to resolve civil lawsuits brought by the Orange County District Attorney's Office and the families of those killed or injured ... More >>

A Gimmick From Record Stores and Slayer on Black Friday? No Way!

​Thanksgiving, Schanksgiving. As a music geek who lives to shop, Black Friday gimmicks are near and dear to my heart.This year has a bunch of Black Friday gimmicks that sound pretty interesting.

Comic-Con International 2010: Mostly Underwhelming Weekend Highlights

At Comic-Con International 2010, the nerds kept multiplying overnight. This year, the panels were separated into two types: the must-sees and the if-I-get-a-chance-tos. Friday was a bit of the latter--and by Saturday, the stench of nerd BO had officially taken over the building. Aside from the stab ... More >>

Comic-Con International 2010: Day One Highlights

Comic-Con International 2010 kicked off yesterday, and the first day of the yearly pilgrimage for nerdery in film, comics, games and more include Angelina Jolie sightings, a Jackass in 3D and updates on many many movies that geeks like. Check out our slideshow here.Christopher Victorio/OC WeeklyThe ... More >>

Playing Hive and Seek With the Backyard Beekeepers

The Irvine Company LOVES its Cheap Santa Ana Mexicans!

Nothing made for funnier reading this holiday season than an article in CityLine, a newspaper put out by what was once known as the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce but now calls itself the Greater Santa Ana Business Alliance so they can justify holding mixers outside of their beloved city. Under the h ... More >>

Toys from Hell

In China, Santas elves labor in a Dickensian workhouse