San Fernando Valley

Huge Decline in LA County Porn Shoots is Not Orange County's Gain ... Yet

A Los Angeles County law requiring the use of condoms in porn shoots is being blamed/credited for a migration of adult productions elsewhere--although not, apparently, to adjacent Orange County.Ventura County, where new development foes have moaned about not wanting to become the next (nearly built ... More >>

Dale Wayne Ziesmer, Honored LAPD Cop, Has Domestic Violence Case Against Him Dismissed

An LAPD cop, who Orange County prosecutors sought to have jailed without bail "based on the nature of the criminal threat" the San Clemente man allegedly posed to his wife, had his case dismissed last week because the Mrs. refuses to testify.Orange County Superior Court Judge Steven Bromberg on Mar ... More >>

America's Porn Paradise!

Jenna Haze, Aurora Snow, Dani Daniels and more of the 20 greatest adult film actors and actresses in OC history

On the Line: Raquel Jubran of the Attic, Part Two

If there is one thing diners should know about cuisine at the Attic, it's that it is an all-scratch kitchen. Sometimes it takes a little longer for food to come out of the kitchen. There isn't a walk-in freezer or pantry full of cans, and the staff put out breakfast, lunch and dinner. For example, e ... More >>

Long Beach Lunch: Chicken Dijon

There are a lot of casual-quickie restaurant chains that have made an entire empire out of serving rotisserie chicken combo plates and assorted comfort-food sides. In Southern California, they seem to be all over the place: Santa Monica's Koo Koo Roo, California Chicken Cafe in the San Fernando Vall ... More >>

Notorious Mongols Gangster Admits RICO Guilt in Federal Court

Federal prison will soon get a little bit heavier for many years.A 6-foot-4 and 380 pound, onetime gang leader of the Mongols Nation Motorcycle Club--a rival to the Hells Angels--has admitted he repeatedly violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) including during a ... More >>

Is That a Lightsaber in Your Pocket or is the Force with Star Wars Porn Parody Maker?

Apologies for crossing the Star Wars lightsaber and Star Trek phaser streams, but a media watcher has gone where no media watcher has gone before when it comes to a fresh angle on the blockbuster Lucasfilm-Walt Disney Co. deal. As the Mouse produces the seventh Star Wars episode scheduled to be rele ... More >>

Imperial Stars Plead No Contest For Traffic Jam Stunt

Two years after pissing off countless L.A. motorists with a publicity stunt that created a massive traffic jam on the 101 freeway, Garden Grove rap-rock band Imperial Stars pleaded no contest Monday to several charges, including conspiracy. They were each given probation sentences but no jail time. ... More >>

Dale Wayne Ziesmer, Honored LAPD Cop, Charged for Violent Threats Against Woman

A Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer who was recently recognized for helping find emergency mental health services for people on the streets was charged today with making a violent criminal threat against a woman he lives with in San Clemente. The Orange County District Attorney's office ... More >>

Long Beach Lunch: Porky's BBQ (and Muggie's Chicken and Biscuits)

Going to high school in the suburban San Fernando Valley is a terribly lonely adventure and so I often took the Blue Line down to Long Beach to visit friends. One day, we hopped on a bus down to Redondo Avenue, following a local rumor floating around that said Snoop Dogg's mom had opened a soul food ... More >>

Top Five Movie Soundtracks Made By Handpicked Rockstars

When a film is made, part of the main process of getting the soundtrack together is finding the right musician's to play for the album. Sometimes it's a single song or it is an entire soundtrack. These top five albums made for a movie by handpicked musicians have been, for the most part, nominated ... More >>

Little Saigon Loses 57 Pounds of Cocaine

A federal grand jury in Southern California has indicted two men for their alleged cocaine distribution network between Little Saigon in Orange County and the Panorama City in the San Fernando Valley.According to the indictment, Tung Le and Everardo Mendoza*** conspired in May 2011 to transport a bo ... More >>

Back From the Future in 'Sound of My Voice'

Brit Marling preaches end times

Free Screening of "Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone" in Huntington Beach

The story of Fishbone, the alternative band that formed out of Los Angeles in 1979, deserves to be told far and wide. The "disparate, all-black oddball crew" emerged to blend punk, ska, funk, soul and rock musical influences achieving its high water mark of commercial success during the late 80's an ... More >>

Irvine Gets Three New Pho Shops

Edwin Goei​At my count, Irvine has about eight pho/Vietnamese restaurants. Before long, this number will increase to 11, with new entrants La Pho in Quail Hill, Pho Saigon Pearl at Diamond Jamboree, and Pho So 1 in Westpark.La Pho and Pho Saigon Pearl are already open; Pho So 1 plans to debut soon ... More >>

Magnolia

Regency South Coast Village

[UPDATED with Judge's Affirmation:] Armando Macias: DEATH!

Courtesy of OCDAArmando Macias​UPDATE, SEPT. 1, 1:26 P.M.: Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno today affirmed the death sentence for gang member Armando Macias, the triggerman in a bizarre family murder plot in 2002.A jury that convicted Macias in April for his role in the slaying followed up ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Onicks and a Dark Side of Pop Music: 'My Fans Can Expect a Massive Show with a Sinister Feel to it'

​What happens when you mix the unique characteristics of a stone like onyx with pop music? You get Onicks, an up-and-coming artist originally from San Fernando Valley who is making his way into Orange County. The edgy, glamorous artist talks to OC Weekly about his road to the world of fame and mus ... More >>

Tortilla Tuesdays: Vallarta Market

Dave Lieberman​I love Vallarta Market. When I made the San Fernando Valley my home, it was my local store, replacing a late-but-not-lamented Lucky and a Jons. I was excited to hear that a Vallarta is finally making its way to Orange County, land of Northgate and El Metate. I love the tres leches c ... More >>

Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello Reminisces on Their Early Days (20 Years Ago!): Competition with Tool and Listening to Nirvana, Ice Cube and Soundgarden

Andrew Youssef/OC Weekly​Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine's guitarist, continues the LA Rising video series with a heavy dose of nostalgia: he talks about the beginnings of Rage Against the Machine 20 years ago in a small rehearsal space in San Fernando Valley, in August 1991.When they starte ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Infantree

Fingerprints

[UPDATED with Sentence:] Armando Macias: DEATH!

Courtesy of OCDAArmando Macias​UPDATE, MAY 19, 6:08 P.M.: A jury today recommended that gang member Armando Macias, 35, of Lancaster, receive the death penalty for his role in a bizarre family murder plot in 2002.It was Macias who "executed" 44-year-old David Montemayor, who was fleeing after bri ... More >>

[UPDATED with Conviction:] Armando Macias Faces Death Penalty for Bizarre Family Murder Plot

Courtesy of OCDAArmando Macias​UPDATE, APRIL 21, 5:56 P.M.: A jury in Santa Ana today found Armando Macias guilty of murder--a conviction that could bring the 35-year-old Lancaster gang banger the death penalty.Macias was part of the family murder plot of businessman David Montemayor, 44, of Buena ... More >>

[UPDATED] Armando Macias Faces Death Penalty for Bizarre Family Murder Plot

David Montemayor​UPDATE, MARCH 28, 9:34 A.M.: The Orange County District Attorney's Office (OCDA) today goes for a third death penalty conviction and sixth and final conviction overall in the 2002 murder of a Buena Park man that was set in motion by his sister, who was jealous he was being handed ... More >>

Bravo's Andy Cohen Says They're Done Expanding the Real Housewives Series

Andy Cohen​About time! According to OK!, Bravo exec Andy Cohen confirmed that Miami has gotten the last gaggle of Real Housewives. "I really feel like we're done," he told the magazine, indicating the franchise won't be expanding with new cities. Sorry, Boise.

Why Orange County Is the Capital of Bolivian Cuisine in the Western United States

Order of salteñas from Rollie's--SO good...​I was surprised to read last week's installment of "Ask Mr. Gold" in our sister paper LA Weekly. In it, someone asked the Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic of he knew where to buy salteñas, the legendary empanada originally from Argentina but long cla ... More >>

WAR Is the Answer (and the Question) for Lonnie Jordan

The leader of the multiracial, multigenerational, mulitgenre funk outfit has another declaration to make

UPDATED: Yes, the Cellar in Fullerton is Haunted. Seriously.

However, I did not see this ghost girl.​UPDATED: Includes electronic voice phenomena (EVP) sound clip!  The Cellar hosted a paranormal investigation last night, just in time for Halloween, and it turns out the place really is haunted. Well, I'm convinced, anyway. The ghost hunt was led by Eri ... More >>

Jamming on the 101: Local Hip-hop Band Imperial Stars Give New Meaning to the Term 'Block Party'

www.imperialstars.com​UPDATE: Do you want to have dinner tonight with Imperial Stars? Check out more recent developments here!Hardcore hip-hop band Imperial Stars will be the most popular band you've never heard of; this morning, the Garden Grove trio blocked the 101 Freeway in Hollywood during r ... More >>

Rodney King Can Just Get Along With Juror He's Marrying After Newport Beach Hook-up

RadarOnline.com​From the Strange Bedfellows File comes word that Rodney King--yes, that Rodney King--has found love with a juror who awarded him a multi-million dollar settlement in wake of the infamous 1991 beat down he took from LAPD officers.In fact, the love birds are getting married.But here' ... More >>

It's a Quick Read 26: Weekend and Monday Dealie

Orange County Register: Local law-enforcement officials, business leaders, lawmakers and educators meet at Chapman University Tuesday to wipe out a scourge on polite Orange County society: "sexting." . . . The first pitch of the Angels' season is thrown tonight, and Jeff Miller columnizes ... More >>

What the hell is the OC Music Festival?

Got a pamphlet in my mailbox today about next year's OC Music Fest, slated for the weekend of May 8-10. Never heard of it? Neither had I, but whoever's behind the fest sure has some grandiose plans. Here's what's being promised: 10 "A-List" acts (and allah only knows what'll define an "A-list" ban ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

[¡Ask a Mexican!®] Muy Caliente Summer Edition

This Is Their Brain On Drugs

Cassavetes Jr. and Justin in a box Timberlake team up for real-life tale of killer potheads

Local Girl Gone Gonzo

Ladies and gentlemen, Jenna Haze

New Reviews

A Good Woman; Imagine Me & You; Manderlay; Rang De Basanti; Something New; When a Stranger Calls; The World's Fastest Indian

Sex and the Pocket Protector

The 40-Year-Old Virgin goes deep

It Must Have Been One Hell of a Party

Light & Space playboys come to Irvine older, richer

!Ask a Mexican!: The Muy Caliente Summer Edition

Dog Day Afternoon

Pet Star TV auditions were ruff, I tell ya, ruff

Look Homeward, Porn Angel

Devinn Lane returns to OC, sucks down a few frozen bananas, and talks about life before she became the den mother of porn

Much Mangia

Big food in Little Italy

Aint No Sin to Be Glad

Jungle Boogie are committed deeply to something shallow

Perv Alert!

Tyler Stallings gets down in Beefcake/Cheesecake

Its a Living

You think your jobs tough? Try being the Ty-D-Bowl Man for Huntington Beach

News for Nerds

And other great news sites

Viva Anti-Radio!

Poorman's local-band show returns