Culver City

Coachella Rumblings

Shut Up and Take It

Joan Didions insiders guide to the insiders

2002: Diary of a Mad Year

Joan Didions insiders guide to the insiders

Give It Up for the Geisha

The exquisitely phony charms of the Asian bourgeoisie—Hollywood style

By Scott Foundas

El Chinaco's Pupusas Still Número One--Even Catered!

It cracked me up when commentator hungrymomma left this gentle scold regarding my taco review--hey, I'm a wab, chula! But I also laughed because I was planning to do a re-review of El Chinaco, the iconic Salvadoran eatery whose owner, Mirna Burciaga, famously took on the Minuteman Project a couple y ... More >>

Babylon Heights

Garage Theatre

Man Claiming to be FBI Informant Spins Quite a Tale

A location scout for a spy movie could not have picked a better location for my late December meeting with Craig Monteilh: a table outside a restaurant in a bustling Irvine shopping center. A lensman would appreciate the shadow-erasing clouds hovering overhead on the warm winter morning. And cen ... More >>

A Look at Craig Monteilh, Who Says He Spied on the Islamic Center of Irvine for the Feds

A location scout for a spy movie could not have picked a better location for my late December meeting with Craig Monteilh: a table outside a restaurant in a bustling Irvine shopping center. A lensman would appreciate the shadow-erasing clouds hovering overhead on the warm winter morning. And cen ... More >>

OCMA's 2008 California Biennial Is the Gift That Keeps On (and On and On) Giving

A location scout for a spy movie could not have picked a better location for my late December meeting with Craig Monteilh: a table outside a restaurant in a bustling Irvine shopping center. A lensman would appreciate the shadow-erasing clouds hovering overhead on the warm winter morning. And cen ... More >>

God Is Not In the Details of Jim Hornung's 'Archeo-Art' Show In Long Beach

A location scout for a spy movie could not have picked a better location for my late December meeting with Craig Monteilh: a table outside a restaurant in a bustling Irvine shopping center. A lensman would appreciate the shadow-erasing clouds hovering overhead on the warm winter morning. And cen ... More >>

The Weekly's Head Count of the 48 New Faces Who Want to Be Your Next Sheriff

A location scout for a spy movie could not have picked a better location for my late December meeting with Craig Monteilh: a table outside a restaurant in a bustling Irvine shopping center. A lensman would appreciate the shadow-erasing clouds hovering overhead on the warm winter morning. And cen ... More >>

Primo Proto-emo Dude Goes Pop

Ex-Gameface Singer Jeff Caudill Now Rolls with the Goodtimes Band

Not Too Late for a War Crimes Tribunal

He turns 91 this week, so its possible Ronald Reagan cant remember. But Jim Washburn cant forget

Monsters Ball

Not Halle Berry! Dave Grave!

Aural Reports

More Bang for Your Bukowski: MC/Producer Sol-T refreshes old-school hip-hop

Skot Armstrong

A long and harrowing account of how and where the artist grew up

CD Review

Piers Faccini , Tearing SkyThis Week in Thirty-two

The Happening

Give It Up for the Geisha

The exquisitely phony charms of the Asian bourgeoisie—Hollywood style

Best of OC 2004: Part 1

The exquisitely phony charms of the Asian bourgeoisie—Hollywood style

This Is Pop

And Eugene Edwards is your brain on pop

Mommy Not Know!

And Eugene Edwards is your brain on pop

Shaw In Tinseltown

Laguna Playhouses Mr. Shaw Goes to Hollywood

Diary of a Mad County

Laguna Playhouses Mr. Shaw Goes to Hollywood

The Terrorist Next Door

The U.S. says a former Anaheim resident is trying to kill us all

DWUS

Driving While a UCI Student

The FBI, the Islamic Center of Irvine and Craig Monteilh: Who Was Conning Whom?

Driving While a UCI Student

'Babylon Heights' Shows That It's Hard Out Here for a Shrimp

Driving While a UCI Student

Arellano Honored Nationally for ¡Ask a Mexican! Columns

Gustavo Arellano and his ¡Ask a Mexican! column was honored in the large ciculation category at last week's 2009 AltWeekly Awards presentation during the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) convention in Tuscon, Arizona. Arellano received honorable mention in the "Column: circulation 50,0 ... More >>

Dâm Funk? Damn Right

Gustavo Arellano and his ¡Ask a Mexican! column was honored in the large ciculation category at last week's 2009 AltWeekly Awards presentation during the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) convention in Tuscon, Arizona. Arellano received honorable mention in the "Column: circulation 50,0 ... More >>

Gettin' Made: Contreras to Popular Belief...

I'm really excited to share this indie artist and crafter with you; Melissa Contreras of Axelhoney is one of the reasons I got into the indie craft scene to begin with. We used to work together at t-shirt company Mighty Fine--while we we designed all kinds of licensed character tees during the day, ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

I'm really excited to share this indie artist and crafter with you; Melissa Contreras of Axelhoney is one of the reasons I got into the indie craft scene to begin with. We used to work together at t-shirt company Mighty Fine--while we we designed all kinds of licensed character tees during the day, ... More >>

Looking Back: 2009 Orange County Deaths

​Turn on the weepy, string ensemble music: It's time for us to look back on the year that (almost) was and remember some of the figures from Orange County who have left us. There was unexpected tragedy, there were some suspicious circumstances, there were rich legacies... there's even the possibil ... More >>

Dueling Dishes: Battle Empanada

Dave Lieberman​Empanada isn't a very specific word in Spanish. It just means something enveloped in dough, something "em-breaded". It doesn't prescribe the filling, the shape or even the method of cookery. Beef Wellington would technically be an empanada, as would a deep-fried pig in a blanket.Usu ... More >>

Hello Kitty + Skateboards = Art

[Trendzilla] Girl Skateboards all decked out, Sanrio-style

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

[Trendzilla] Girl Skateboards all decked out, Sanrio-style

Gettin' Made: Off the Strip Reception Friday Night

Make sure you leave room in your plans this Friday night to head up to Culver City to check out the Off the Strip art show opening at the WWA gallery! "Kent" by Ken Garduno​ Get all the details on this comic-strip based art show after the jump.

5 LA-Based Food Trucks That Should Come To OC More Often in 2011

Come on, LA food trucks. We know traffic on the 5 and 405 sucks, but if you make Orange County a regular stop on your weekly routes, you'd surely have lines waiting. Bonus: OC has more parking. Here are five of my favorites: 1. LudoTruck LudoTruck​I had a chance to try the very-hype ... More >>

Pork Overload at Yamada-Ya Ramen

ProfessorSalt.comKotteri Tonkotsu soup with kakuni​Even though Orange County has its share of first-rate ramen shops, I'm afraid we've just been demoted to second-tier losers. There's an escalating pork arms-race waged by the new-school purveyors of tonkotsu (pork bone) soup in the South Bay like ... More >>

[UPDATE] 5 Die in Long Beach Plane Crash. Tom Dean, Laguna Beach Developer, and Bruce Krall, Ladera Ranch Banker, Among the Dead

​UPDATE, MARCH 21, 4:10 P.M.: The doomed twin-engine plane pilot who died in Wednesday morning's Long Beach Airport crash has been identified as Kenneth Earl Cruz.The 43-year-old Culver City resident worked for Rainbow Air of Long Beach, had been a commercial pilot since 2003 an ... More >>

Delilah Snell Is a Patchwork Kind of Gal

[Trendzilla] The Santa Ana resident helps to run OC and Long Beach's largest indie craft festival

July 16-17: The Weekend of Culinary Desmadre

​Screw Carmageddon. The weekend of culinary desmadre in the Southland is ON. Since the original post, we've discovered that not only will OC be represented at Eat Real, but OC Weekly will--Gustavo is leading panels at 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday, and I will be demonstrating preserved lemons ... More >>

OC Weekly Honored By Los Angeles Press Club

Yay, Kelly!​Last night the Los Angeles Press Club held its 53rd Annual Southern California Journalism Awards at the ornately appointed Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. We know you have some burning questions: Did award presenter and Mary Tyler Moore Show thespian Ed Asner really ... More >>

[UPDATE: Now, Gringo Bandito to Participate!] Two Cool Gustavo-Involved Panels for this Weekend's Carmageddon Eat Real Festival!

​Update: Amy Scattergood unfortunately had to pull out of the "Future of Food Writing Panel" for Saturday, but we got a great guest for Sunday's panel on the Great Mexican Food Authenticity Debate: Matt McCollum, the main sales guy for Gringo Bandito. It'll be awesome to have Matt--a Dallas native ... More >>

3hree Things: Moonlight Graham

Watch out for 3hree Things every Tuesday, in which Riley Breckenridge, drummer of Orange County's favorite local alt-rock band Thrice, gives his take on life in Southern California as an OC native.courtesy of Moonlight GrahamGentlemen* of Orange County, 2200 square feet of absolute awesomeness ... More >>

Vela Scarves Blends Western Fashion With Islamic Tradition

Vela's signature piece, the ruffled "Mademoiselle"​"Victorian Lace," "Black Ruffle Prima Ballerina" and "Cat's Meow" are names of the top-selling products at Vela Scarves, a Fountain Valley-based online fashion company that produces high quality hijabs, or headscarves, for Muslim women."Vela is a ... More >>

Ramen Yamadaya Coming to Costa Mesa!

ProfessorSalt.comKotteri ramen at Yamadaya​When I heard the news, it was like Christmas in October. Yamadaya, the renowned LA ramen shop, will open store No. 3 in Orange County in late November. There are plans afoot to open a fourth location in Westwood in December, maybe in time for actual Chris ... More >>

LA Galaxy to Host MLS Cup Viewing Party at Olde Ship in Santa Ana THIS Sunday

​SO...my chica had one of her Patchwork festivals this past weekend in Culver City, and I saw someone I never imagined was into crafty stuff: Jaime Cárdenas, the PR guy for the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer squad. He's a pal, and a graduate of Cal State Fullerton. I congratulated Jaime on his team's ... More >>

Shuji's Top Five Restaurants for 2011

ProfessorSalt.comTacos & Carnitas Sahuayo​It's the time of year again when I select a short list of five favorite restaurants. I love places with a tiny menu, tightly focused on producing one thing or variations on the thing at which they excel. Often, that specialist is an ethnic hole-in-the ... More >>

First Taste: Ramen Yamadaya Costa Mesa

ProfessorSalt.comYamadaya's Kotteri ramen​They're finally open! Back in November we reported that Yamadaya's first Orange County restaurant was opening by the end of that month. They put up hand-written signs in their papered-over windows counting down the days. "8 Days," the sign promised, and ... More >>