Switzerland

What Do a Santa Ana Artist, Ex-Surf City Art Center Director, Leonardo da Vinci and Citizen Space Exploration Have in Common?

A Santa Ana artist who has created an institute dedicated to the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci has joined visions with a former Huntington Beach museum director opening a new exhibit on citizen space exploration "to dream, conceptualize and build the world of tomorrow." You can't see the fruits ... More >>

Tacos de Pescado Los Originales: Naked, Flaked, and Sacred

It's time to take back the fish taco.Enough with the soft, mushy, grilled "healthy" fish tacos. Find a different name for it--tacos de guacareada come to mind--and leave the original tacos de pescado estilo Ensenada alone. A real fish taco is a piece of deep-fried fish--preferably shark, but any moi ... More >>

Igor Olenicoff of Laguna Sued by Ex-Banker Who Helped Billionaire Hide $200 mil from IRS

It's getting so you can't keep track of the Igor Olenicoff lawsuit related to his investments with UBS AG bank without a scorecard.In the latest twist, the billionaire who lives in Laguna Beach and oversees Olen Properties real estate in Newport Beach is being sued by the bank employee who helped hi ... More >>

Igor Olenicoff, Billionaire Tax Felon, Has UBS Influence Excuse Confirmed by Whisteblower

Bradley Birkenfeld helped the wealthy dodge taxes, went to prison and is now reportedly getting $104 million from the IRS for whistleblowing on some clients. Among them: billionaire Igor Olenicoff, who lives in Laguna Beach and oversees Olen Properties real estate in Newport Beach. Interestingly, Ol ... More >>

Whipped Cherry Pie At JT Schmid's, Our Drink Of The Week!

​Truth be told, when friends want to meet for drinks, our Switzerland is BJ's. Yet we found ourselves at The District one happy hour, and negotiations concluded at this other brewhouse. After scanning JT's booze options, the most intriguing choice also doubled as my "least likely to request". The ... More >>

Ronald Reagan Statue is Not Enough: 5 More Ways Park Can Honor the Gipper

​A bronze statue of Ronald Reagan was dedicated at Bonita Canyon Sports Park in Newport Beach Sunday. (Bonita Canyon Sports Park, where have I heard that name before? Oh yes, HERE, in a post about Newps dumping its former city attorney for allegedly getting in a DUI wreck near the park.)Dana Rohra ... More >>

On the Line: Azmin Ghahreman of Sapphire, Part One

Photo Courtesy Sapphire Laguna​Before opening the much-beloved Sapphire in Laguna Beach, owner and chef Azmin Ghahreman was the executive chef of the four restaurants at St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point. Before that, the well-traveled, Iran-born chef studied at Collège Du Là ... More >>

Anthrax's Scott Ian to Skip Touring Due to Birth of First Child

​Scott Ian, Anthrax's rhythm and lead guitar player, just announced he's not going to be touring with the band he formed 30 years ago due to the upcoming birth of his first child. He said, "This decision to miss these shows was a deeply personal one. I co-founded this band July 18, 1981, and for ... More >>

What Are the Origins of Mariachi?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And should the United States deny birthright citizenship?

UCI Presentation Explores Designing, Sharing and Customizing Video Games in Your Browser

​An academic from Switzerland will be at UC Irvine this afternoon advocating a web-based game-design program aimed at the general public.Navid Ahmadi, who is on the faculty of Informatics at the University of Lugano, Switzerland, will present AgentWeb, a first-of-its-kind web-based game design and ... More >>

Elia Suleiman's Arab-Israeli War Within

The director's lifelong identity battle is played out onscreen

Seven Most Memorable Musician Deaths in 2010

Courtesy of Sanctuary RecordsRonnie James Dio, we thank you.​With the news of the death of Teena Marie over the weekend, it seems 2010 still hasn't quite finished its toll yet. In 2010 we saw some truly tragic losses to the world of music--Lena Horne, Kate McGarrigle, Marvin Isley--but here's our ... More >>

Bookworms

White-nationalist reads in the United States and Europe reflect anti-migrant hatred in a grim economy

System of a Down is Reuniting, European Dates Announced (Is a US Tour Forthcoming?)

​ When news broke that our beloved System of a Down was reuniting and playing in Europe for two weeks in June 2011, my brain started shorting. After going on indefinite hiatus in 2006 (just a few months after releasing their fifth album, Hypnotize), System of a Down left a discernible gap in ... More >>

"BoardHeads" Meet Homeboys in HB

A homeboy shares the stoke in BoardHeads.​Homeboy Industries, whose mission is to take former gang members off the streets and show them there is more to life than gang-bangin', brought young men and women from Los Angeles to Huntington Beach last summer for surf lessons.

Malcolm McLaren, Former Manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls, Dies

Flickr user ...stormy???Malcolm McLaren, 1946 - 2010​Malcolm McLaren, punk impresario and former Manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls, died today in New York after a long battle with cancer at the age of 64.EDIT: 8:15 P.M.--Turns out Les Molloy, who the British media had thought was M ... More >>

SideDoor Is Gastro-Sensational

May all of OC's many, many gastropubs-to-be follow this Corona del Mar highlight's lead

Fritz Suter Exhibit

Demossa Gallery

Fritz Suter Opening Reception

Demossa Gallery

Eight Questions with D-Strutters

​Long Beach has a lot of bands, but none of them exemplify pure rock 'n' roll as well as D-Strutters. The group--singer/guitarist Joe Roads, guitarist George Velvet, bassist Tony and drummer Heath--leave all pretense behind for a straight-ahead bombastic blast like the Stones would be writing if t ... More >>

How the Brotherhood of Eternal Love Is Connected to the Weather Underground Via the Black Panthers

Showgazing: Jeremy Ellis at The Continental Room

​Sure, walking into a dark barroom on a Tuesday trying to catch a few beers after work doesn't sound like a set up for one of the craziest musical experiences you've ever seen. But last night at the Continental Room proved me wrong and if you were there, you would agree. It was the second time I h ... More >>

Local Billionaire/Tax Felon Says His Swiss Banker Made Him Do It

Amid President Barack Obama's vow to end off-shore tax breaks for U.S.-based multinational corporations and individuals within a decade, billionaire Igor Olenicoff, who owns homes in Laguna Beach and Florida, says from his Newport Beach office that his Swiss bankers led him to lie about his foreign ... More >>

First Crop of SXSW Acts Announced, OC/LB Bands Conspicuously Absent

A certain music festival and conference held annually in the sleepy hamburg of Austin, Texas announced their initial slate of performers this year, and there's not an Orange County or Long Beach band among them. We had several acts in last fall's CMJ Music Marathon, so this is kind of a bummer. Keep ... More >>

The Border Patrol Gets Pimped Out On Reality T.V.

If you didn't think reality television could get any more crass than the grating weekly doses of collagen-injected OC busybodies, guess again. ABC is scheduled to air its new border patrol  reality T.V. show during the same time slot as our desperate little OC housewives beginning in January. T ... More >>

What Is It Good for

Sandow Birk goes to war

OC Tied to Alleged Seattle IRS Scam

The Associated Press in Seattle reported this morning that IRS agents recently busted a massive tax-shelter scheme with potential ties to Santa Ana and Fountain Valley. According to federal court documents unsealed yesterday, Robert Arant created a "warehouse bank" that allowed "people who wanted t ... More >>

Spencer's Gifts

Electric Six are still pumping irony

Brenda Ross

The Laguna Woods City Councilwoman shares some of her favorite things

A Touch of Jazz

Bobbi Humphrey struck by lightning

Tamed Swedes

Nature Benefit

Garbage a Go-Go

DJ Filthy Rotten Wes

Caraz Dulzura

Diary of a Mad County

Two-Faced

Akris hidden seams are simply beautiful

Disaster and What Comes After

Out on the street with Rye Coalition

Call Me Irresponsible

Yes, Its Undeniably True

More Guidebook Than Manifesto

The Motorcycle Diaries follows a young Che Guevara on a lengthy detour

Geek My Mail

Netizens swap treats, immortality, even husbands for coveted invitations

Let It Snow

Warren Millers Journey kicks off another ski season

Perfect Patsy, Too-Perfect Parent

Denzel Washington in Out of Time, Olympia Dukakis in The Event

Give Blood, Replenish with Merlot

How to live during the summer of our discontent

It Aint Easy Being Cheesy

Takin a dip with Berlin Jim at the Melting Pot

Like a Prayer

The Naked Ambition of Balthus

Worlds of Wonder

Rings soars, Monsters whores, Majestic bores

Huntington Beach

Look hard

Dalat

Welcome to Vietnams Disneyland

Letters

Loving Lost Labors

Hurray for the four-day holiday!

Letters