Santa Barbara

Airstream It Up

[Trendzilla] Rent An Airstream lets you reserve one of the classic campers without the hassle of buying one

Fourth Annual Orange County Food and Wine Festival

Lyon Air Museum

MusInk Days 2 & 3 - OC Fairgrounds - March 9-10, 2013

MusInk Days 2&3 OC Fairground March 9-10, 2013 The art of ink slinging took over OC this weekend as the sixth annual, three-day Musink Festival came the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, in what was turned out to be a 72-hour celebration of body art(including tattoos and piercings), ... More >>

UC Irvine Men's Volleyball Starts the Season in a Rare Place: No. 1 in the Country

When UC Irvine men's volleyball team was ranked No. 1 nationally in a preseason coaches poll, the campus sports information office noted that honor in a preseason poll was a first for the team, which was ranked second in the country each of the past three years.That's quite an achievement--well ... More >>

The Lost Bean Wine Bar Now Open In Tustin

Back in July, Edwin reported news of a local coffeehouse expanding. We assumed it would be more seating for the cozy Lost Bean. We even experienced some of the demolition first hand, as dishware crashed from a shelf while they pounded on walls. However, they had something else in mind (not that we'r ... More >>

Jenna Milburn-DiPasquale, OC Cybersitter Marketer, Sees Red Thanks to China's Hackers

Jenna Milburn-DiPasquale was working on the computer in her Orange County home office in June 2009 when she received an email from her father. There's nothing strange about that since she does all the marketing for her Santa Barbara-based dad's eight-person company, Solid Oak Software, best known fo ... More >>

The Five Best Shows in OC This Week: Tropicool, Voodoo Glowskulls

Monday, October 22Harvelle'sFunk Jam Hosted By Delta NoveLong Beach band Delta Nove bring the good kind of funk to Monday nights every week at the underground lounge and nightclub Harvelle's. This live music funk jam (plus special guest DJs weekly) is a sure fire cure for any leftover traces of w ... More >>

A Tijuana Virgin On His First Visit: No Shootings, No Narcos, Amazing Food Galore

​I didn't get shot. Not once, not at all. As silly as that sounds, after all of the travel warnings I've read and horror stories I've been told, a tiny part of me kinda thought the moment I arrived in Tijuana I would be stopped by the cartels and taken out. I admit I'm not much of a traveler, but ... More >>

Telemarketer Who Scammed Job Seekers Ordered to Give Up His Surf City Condo

​An executive with a sales company that scammed job applicants out of money through online want ads, has been forced by the Federal Trade Commission to relinquish his half-million-dollar Huntington Beach condominium.Technically, the FTC imposed a $13 million judgment against Santa Barbara-based te ... More >>

Berkeley Dogs Hot-Dogs It

[Hole In the Wall] The East Bay transplant brings its luscious wieners as part of our wave of outside regional chains

Bobby Martinez's Rebel Cry

Can the enfant terrible's harsh words and crisp moves reform the corporatized surf scene dominated by Orange County's action-sports industry?

Toad the Wet Sprocket

The Coach House

Baja Culinary Fest to Take Place Oct. 5-9

​A huge column of smoke rises from a charcoal grill set into a counter; the air fills with the scent of beef grilling and the sound of fat spattering onto the fire below. It takes just a minute or two, and I'm fascinated. My rapt gaze is lost on the taquero, for whom this is not new. He hacks the ... More >>

[UPDATED with Murder in OC Confirmed:] Douglas Brian Galvin, OC Homicide No. 36: Nephew Held for Killing and Burning Uncle

​UPDATE, AUG. 8, 12:10 P.M.: The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) just confirmed that Kirk Michael Galvin has been charged with murdering his 58-year-old uncle, Douglas Brian Galvin of Buena Park, in the La Palma apartment of the 23-year-old's father (and the victim's brother). Kirk ... More >>

[UPDATED With Criminal Charges, Another Incident:] Boat Carrying Mexican Nationals Capsizes Near Crystal Cove State Park

​UPDATE, JULY 15, 4:17: Four of the fourteen Mexican nationals who were onboard the panga boat that capsized near Newport Tuesday have been charged as criminals -- three for "conspiring to bring illegal aliens to the United States" and the other for illegal entry. The three alleged consp ... More >>

KFC Celebrates National Fried Chicken Day With SoCal Special

KFC website​Have you gotten your fill of All-American fare yet? Hot dogs, hamburgers, apple pie, indigestion, etc.? If you haven't, well, this deep-fried bargain has your name all over it.TODAY is National Fried Chicken Day, and the Kentucky Fried family is looking to draw your artery-clogged self ... More >>

Why Shouldn't Mexicans Speak Proper Spanish?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] Is Spanglish something to celebrate?

Eddie Vedder Announces Solo Tour With Three SoCal Stops

Jon Gitchoff/Riverfront Times​Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder today announced a tour to support his soon-to-be-released solo album, Ukulele Songs. He's performing at the Long Beach Terrace Theatre on July 6 and The Wiltern on July 8.

[UPDATED:] Lucas Ransom, 19, Killed by Shark off Santa Barbara Coast

​UPDATE AND CORRECTION: Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown originally identified the victim of this morning's shark attack at Surf Beach as a 20-year-old Cal State Santa Barbara student who hailed from Orange County. The victim has since been identified as chemical engineering major Lucas Ran ... More >>

Jack Marshall Shimko, Cancer Survivor Paddles So Others May Live

​Perhaps you've seen stand-up paddlers on boards at local harbors and beaches. Jack Marshall Shimko prefers to use his hands to paddle while kneeling or lying prone on his board. In fact, starting tomorrow, he'll use this method to paddle 150 miles, from Santa Barbara to his native Newport Beach. ... More >>

Kent Kelley, Laguna Beach Shopkeeper, Arrested in "Largest" Marijuana Raid in Santa Barbara History

​​​​At about 8 a.m. on Aug. 12, more than two dozen Santa Barbara County narcotics detectives raided a 50-acre property just above the 101 Freeway near the Dos Pueblos Ranch. Inside nine large greenhouses they discovered between $40 million and $80 million worth of marijuana plants and anoth ... More >>

Blue Whales Amass Off an Orange Coast

​Veteran whale watchers and sports-fishing operators report dense numbers of blue whales--the largest animals ever known to have existed--frolicking off the Southern California coast, from Santa Barbara to southern Orange County.Thank our unseasonably cold weather: chilly water favorable to the sh ... More >>

Beware of Bodysurfing Maneaters in the Breaks

​What the freak is happening off our beautiful, sin-kissed coast?There was the giant squid invasion this past winter. There was the rare sighting of Orcas earlier this week (with a giant halibut thrown into the cioppino for good measure). And there's the constant threat by that sea monster the egg ... More >>

Mexican-Hatin' is Sweeping the Nation!

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And everybody has a different, not-so-endearing nickname for the Brown Menace

Fiddlehead Cellars Sauvignon Blancs

Chris A. Michaels/ / CC BY 2.0Santa Barbara Vines​If there was a moment for California wine--one in which it went from being something that only came from Napa and Sonoma or was just two buck chuck--and became something relevant in pop culture, it was the release of Sideways.

Jack Johnson Announces Tour Dates, 98 Percent of Orange County Celebrates

Christopher VictorioJack Johnson, wearing a Save Trestles T-shirt, performing at the Irvine Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on August 29, 2008.​​Chief mellow music maker Jack Johnson has announced a new slew of tour dates for his upcoming To The Sea Tour, spanning from early July on the East Coast ... More >>

Shamrocks and Shenanigans at Sharkeez, TODAY!

​Is it just us, or is this what every St. Patrick's Day should look like? Snicker-worthy stereotypes abound on this flier for shamrocks and shenanigans, a St. Patty's celebration full  of drunkenness and leprechaun debauchery over at Sharkeez.Aside from the fact that Sean Connery looks really ... More >>

The Habit Burger Grill Probably Won't Become One

​The chica's parents bought me a Barnes & Noble gift card for Christmas, so this cheapskate finally splurged on Mark Kurlansky's The Food of a Younger Land, which collected excerpts from a long-forgotten WPA program that sought to capture America's regional food traditions. It's a great read, ... More >>

The Ataris

Chain Reaction

'Wicked' Composer Stephen Schwartz Readies First Opera

Kristin Chenoweth in 'Wicked.'​You've probably heard his catchy songs from that best friend of yours who loves Wicked, or from the mouth of Amy Adams in Enchanted. And you can't help but sing along, even if you don't like musicals.Stephen Schwartz, the composer of Wicked, as well as the lyricist f ... More >>

Wax On, Wax Off: Oil and Water - Surfrider Foundation Defeats Tranquillon Ridge Project

John Wiley​Ever since the State Land Commission shut down the proposed Tranquillon Ridge Oil and Gas Project in a 2-1 vote in January, a battle has raged between its opponents and proponents. On friday, while we were chasing the big swell around, our reps in the California State Assembly scored a ... More >>

TONIGHT: Dinner with Dave and We Are the Pilots

Yes, it's time for another twice-monthly installment of Dinner with Dave, where Dave Mau cooks up some free food, a local DJ spins, and a local band plays. Tonight it's two dear Heard Mentality favorites, DJ Oldboy and Anaheim's We Are the Pilots, pictured. WAtP bassist has referred to it as "the fi ... More >>

KCRW's Jason Bentley to Appear at...South Coast Plaza?

Jason Bentley (seen looking very sly in that picture over there) took over as host of Morning Becomes Eclectic--and KCRW music director--on December 1 of last year, but though the taste-making Santa Monica-based public radio station's signal covers Orange County comfortably, Bentley hasn't had the c ... More >>

This Week In Food

Starbucks and Subway inexplicably made it to the top of Zagat's latest fast food and chain list.There was news of another OC Restaurant Week in September. Can't wait!More stuff to look forward to: Stars of Santa Barbara--complete with top DJ!--at South Coast Plaza, and SOL Cucina in Newport Beach.An ... More >>

Stars Of Santa Barbara--And Other Upcoming South Coast Plaza Wine Events

Charlie Palmer's monthly 50 for 50 sell-off, with bargains aplenty, has come around again. It's this Saturday, June 13, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, in the Next Vintage Wine Shop.Antonello Ristorante has started a "wine mixer" once a month, featuring eight wines for $30 per person, followed by a sale of w ... More >>

[Special Screenings] Local Showings of 'Citizen McCaw,' 'Absurdistan,' More

"Citizen McCaw" Comes to Chapman. Sue Paterno is Ready

Citizen McCaw, a documentary on the journalistic war (or war on journalism) in Santa Barbara, is heading down coast to Chapman University, which counts one of this war's correspondents among its faculty.McCaw would be Santa Barbara News-Press owner Wendy McCaw, whose bizarre publishing reign came to ... More >>

Chapman Journo Professor Defeats Wacky Santa Barbara Publisher

In these days of horrible news, something great: Chapman University School of Journalism professor Susan Paterno successfully defender herself against a libel and defamation suit filed by Wendy McCaw, the controversial owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press and a rag owner that makes Hearst look like ... More >>

Radiohead's N. American Tour Dates Announced

Closest the British mope-rock kings come to OC is a two-date run at Hollywood Bowl, Aug. 24 and 25. Pre-sale tix are available April 9 and general on-sale April 12. Grizzly Bear support Aug. 3-15, Liars Aug. 19-28. Radiohead have good taste. August 1 - Lollapalooza - Chicago, IL August 3 - Verizo ... More >>

Where be the Bird Man?

The Wrath of Wendy

Chapman University professor fights lawsuit filed by controversial newspaper owner

Hear The Earth Move

Via the excellent BLDGBLOG: German artist Florian Dombois translates the subaudible sound of plate tectonics into something the human ear can hear, revealing unique geological characteristics of brewing earthquakes around the planet. Says Dombois: Usually seismic waves have a frequency spectrum b ... More >>

Not the Missionary Position

Some people visit California's old Spanish missions for spiritual reasons. Some visit just because the old places are beautiful. And then there's Alfred Thomas Steven of Huntington Beach. KSBY, the NBC affiliate in for Santa Barbara [added: and San Luis Obispo], reports: Santa Barbara County sher ... More >>

What I Miss About Drinking

No more Crazy Rita, but a grave, sober scrapbooker

Aug. 11 - Aug. 18

Mission Impossible

Writers on the Storm

Flying around with the Bill Simon press corps

Diary of a Mad County

The Zine Scene

Highlights from the low life

Up in Smoke

My mama said it's good to be natural