East Africa

Girl Rising

Westpark 8 Theater

Q & A With Marcus Samuelsson

We literally had six minutes to converse with visiting chef Marcus Samuelsson before he went downstairs to commence his cooking demonstration. Instead of discussing his memoir or line of cookware, we kept digging. Were we able to learn more about him than his Facebook, website and Twitter feed? Yes. ... More >>

Feast of Appetizers

Gorge on this year's Oscar-nominated short films

[UPDATED with Award Winners:] That Oscar Buzz You're Hearing May Be Coming From the Irvine International Film Festival

See Update No. 2 on page 2 with the IIFF award winners.See Update No. 1 on the next page identifying the nine IIFF selections among the Oscar nominees. ORIGINAL POST, JAN. 4, 5:18 P.M.: The lineup for the second annual Irvine International Film Festival running Jan. 17-21 at Edwards Westpark 8 inclu ... More >>

The Irvine International Film Festival Shows Off Its Good Eye

The rambunctious lineup includes nine Oscar nominees

Share & Do Good Is Consciously Fashionable

[Trendzilla] Lilly Tokuyama's Fullerton boutique sells cute products to help fund charities worldwide

Racial Controversy Surrounds Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwiches

PB&J. We always thought it was a neutral--albeit boring--lunch option. Seemed like the type of food that would stay out of trouble.We were so wrong. 

Video:Chapman's GLOWbal Charity Bash Goes Big, Several Students Hospitalized

Rarely do you hear us talking about drunken mischief at Chapman that doesn't involve students running around in their underwear. But last Saturday's packed GLOWbal event sponsored by a university charity and Chapman Radio inside the Harold Hutton Sports Center grabbed plenty of attention when the ma ... More >>

No. 46: Any Vegetable Platter at Tana Ethiopian

We are now more than halfway through our march toward our favorite dishes in Orange County. It's run the gamut from Japanese to Mexican, from American comfort food to post-Ramadan fast food. When we get to the end, you'll know it's time to go pick up your free copy of this year's Best Of issue i ... More >>

Soccer Camp For Refugee Youth Arrives in Anaheim

Anaheim is not only the scene of protests surrounding officer-involved shootings, but in recent years, it has become the site of a mass influx of refugees, mostly from Iraq. California receives the largest number of refugees after Texas, and while it's not clear how many settle in Orange County, a ... More >>

The Little People's Park Riot of 1978

The scene that set the stage for Anaheim Latinos' eternal mistrust of police

Irvine Man Wants Off 'No Fly List,' Sues FBI

It's easy to complain about air travel, especially when TSA agents feel you up like it's prom night and then the guy behind you plops his flaking feet on your arm rest. But typically, the end reward is getting where you want to go in a conceivable amount of time. Not for Stephen Persaud. On May 11, ... More >>

Ten Great Vegetarian Restaurants in OC

​Orange County, for all its Republican, meat-and-potatoes reputation, has a fantastic array of vegetarian restaurants; not just vegetarian, but vegan, and from a wide variety of ethnic traditions. We have little patience with hippy-dippy vegetarian places that skimp on flavor in order to emphasize ... More >>

Eating in the Horn of Africa: Abyssinia Ethiopian Cuisine

Dave Lieberman​Anaheim is continuing its reputation as the most multicultural city in Orange County; it's hard to think of another city that is home to so many ethnic enclaves, from Middle Eastern to Samoan, from Korean to Mexican.One of the growing communities in West Anaheim is what I'll call Ho ... More >>

Davan Maharaj, Former Times OC Reporter, is New Editor of the Los Angeles Times

Maharaj​The Los Angeles Times announced today that Russ Stanton is stepping down as editor and being replaced by Davan Maharaj, who started with the Times in 1989 as an Orange County reporter.Maharaj, who will become the 15th editor of the Times, has been managing editor since May 2008, overseeing ... More >>

Kristoffer B. Domeij, Fallen Army Ranger and Santa Ana Native, is Praised and Damned

Hero of villain?​The death by roadside bomb of Santa Ana native and Army Ranger Kristoffer B. Domeij has drawn two very different reactions. Controversial conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart's Big Peace site wonders if Domeij's death proves the U.S. military is spread too thin as  he was on ... More >>

Discoveries at the San Diego Music Thing: Nico Vega, Developing a Social Media Plan and Flavors of East Africa

This year's San Diego Music Thing, held last weekend, was again an impressive gathering of trade music folks, industry experts and up-and-coming musicians. Held again at the Lafayette Hotel in North Park, there were some changes from last year's event (then called the North Park Music Thing) that we ... More >>

Whaddaya Call a Half-Mexican, Half-Something Else?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] In this classic list of reader responses, you tell a Mexican!

What's So Wrong With Calling Santa Ana a Latino City?

​Man, SanTana cracks me up sometimes--okay, ALL THE TIME. The Orange County Register's Andrew Galvin wrote a good piece yesterday ostensibly about efforts by Latino activists to try and persuade the SanTana City Council at this past Monday's meeting to ask its police department to stop impounding ... More >>

Gendershe Has Bur, Baby, Bur!

[Hole In the Wall] Orange County's first Somali restaurant impresses with its fried bread and other specialties

[BREAKING] Pentagon: Former Newport Beach Couple Killed Aboard Yacht By Somali Pirates

The Adams​UPDATE, FEB. 22, 6:51 A.M.: The Pentagon reports all four passengers aboard a  yacht that was hijacked by Somali pirates are dead, including the former Newport Beach couple that owned the S/V Quest.A Navy warship was following the S/V Quest and U.S. officials were negotiating with t ... More >>

OC Anti-Christian Persecution Group Slams North Korea, Islamic Nations

He's ill.​What's the most dangerous place for Christians to practice their faith?No, it's not San Francisco.Or Miami's South Beach.

Orange Bits: No Doubt, The Aquabats, Local Natives

The Aquabats​This week's edition of news we didn't write involves our mainstays (who else?) the Local Natives, No Doubt's Adrian Young and Bayside...read on after the jump.

Free Ticket Tuesdays: K'naan, Johnny Vatos Tribute To Halloween and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

​This week, Heard Mentality is giving away a pair of tickets each to K'naan at the House of Blues, Johnny Vato's Tribute to Halloween show and Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros at the Grove.Find out how after the jump.

Racist OC Register Reader Fustercluck of the Day

​Headline: Poll: What Should Muslim Disney Worker Do?Comment by Free Wheeling Franklin: Put her in a veil and harem pants and stick her in It's a Small World.Comment by gimmeabreak: Why is the model illustrated wearing a smile? I don't believe I've ever seen a muslim woman smile.............no, I' ... More >>

Racist OC Register Reader Fustercluck of the Day

​Headline: Muslim Employee Accused Disney of DiscriminationComment by caseclosed: She needs to get off her camel and wipe the sand out of her eyes she's in America now.Comment by bg: If I saw someone dressed in Islamic garb working anywhere (and that includes Disneyland), I'd run and duck for cove ... More >>

Sly and the Family Stallone

Action all-stars cast get nostalgic for their legacy of brutality in 'The Expendables'

TONIGHT: The Expanders at Commonwealth Lounge

The Expanders​Even though most local venues don't host too many old school rock steady or dub groups, we've been shown time and time again that when clubs like Commonwealth slam our ears with island sound, it's usually in the biggest way possible. Or, at least with the biggest groups possible. Ent ... More >>

Jeff Duggan of Portola Coffee, Part Three

John Gilhooley​Yesterday, we called Jeff Duggan a coffee geek. This, it turns out, was not 100% accurate; he is really more of a coffee mad scientist, the Dr. Emmett Brown of java, except, you know, with better hair. On the Line usually features a recipe from the featured chef on the third day; si ... More >>

Jeff Duggan of Portola Coffee, Part Two

John Gilhooley​Jeff Duggan is a coffee geek, and the county is better for his efforts. Those efforts will soon be redoubled; Portola will be opening later this year in Costa Mesa's ersatz Ferry Building-type gourmet marketplace, the MIX (currently called "South Coast Collection", over west of IKEA ... More >>

Exquisite Corpses at the Bowers

The multicultural mummies of 'Secrets of the Silk Road' don't disappoint

David Kesler of the Cellar, Part Two

Courtesy of the Cellar​Executive Chef David Kesler of Fullerton's The Cellar Restaurant is on the line this week. Here's a random fact for the readership: people who excel at both cuisine and pastry are rare in the extreme. Every culinary arts student studies pastry, but it's like being both an ou ... More >>

Quang Pham's Memoir Is Coming Out In Paperback

Pham: come along way after a sergeant called him "Fang, Fong, Fam!"​In time for the 35th anniversary of the fall of Saigon at the end of the month, Random House is publishing a $15 paperback version of "A Sense of Duty: Our Journey from Vietnam to America" by Mission Viejo resident Quang Pham.Pham ... More >>

[¡Ask a Mexican!] Is Mexican Pride the Latest Casualty of the Country's Narco-War?

Mountains of Faith

Bowers Museum

[Hole In the Wall] Savannah Smiles at Kenyan Cuisine

[Hole In the Wall] Get Wrapped Up in the Signature Café

K'Naan

Ragga Muffin Festival

[Special Screenings] Local Showings of 'A Hard Day's Night,' 'The Big Lebowski,' 'A Christmas Story'

Doctors Without Borders' Mary Jo Frawley Lives in OC, But Her Heart's in Sri Lanka, Somalia . . .

Special Screenings

Movie of the week: The Sophisticated Misfit

!Ask a Mexican!(r)

SPECIAL HALF-BREED EDICION

Virunga Roots

Samba Mapangala

!Ask a Mexican!

Three-question edition

Merhaba Restaurant

Way Out There With Them!

Columnist Michelle Malkin finds home amongst local immigrant-bashers

Down Satans Fiery Nostril!

Always bizarre, TBNs Crouches are on a crazy roll

Gaza Strip Mall

Meating the paste in northwest Anaheim

Taps Dancing

Stop calling North County Ethiopiav