The Great Depression

The Lost Mexicans of the Bastanchury Ranch

80 years ago, officials deported hundreds of Fullerton residents—and Orange County has tried to forget ever since

Operation Stolen Treasures

Amid the nation's economic meltdown, financial-conspiracy theories fueled a tax-fraud case for the ages

Just Found Out I'm Half-Mexican. What Do I Do?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And why do Mexicans like to play in the street?

Diatribe with Dave: Still the Best Old Fashioned........Ever

Every second and fourth Wednesday night of the month, legendary bartender/chef/restaurant insider Dave Mau hosts Dinner with Dave at Memphis at the Santora, where he treats drinkers to a free meal and live music as the evening progresses. To remind ustedes of this great night, Dave treats us ev ... More >>

Isn't DACA Just a Ruse to Identify and Deport DREAM Act Students?

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And why might a Mexican family hate a wealthy Mexi-and-white couple?

Mexican Food Defeated America. Now, Mexicans in America Will Defeat SB 1070

[Crossing the Line] A cycle of justice that must be remembered

Sunset Strip: Newport Beach Film Festival Pick of the Day

It's taken a lot of celebs, dopers, hookers, runaways and other assorted freaks to make a mile-and-a-half stretch into a mecca for music, fashion and sex. It took San Diego-bred, LA-based documentary filmmaker Hans Fjellestad (Moog, Frontier Life) to put the at once glitzy and grimy Sunset Strip int ... More >>

President Barack Obama's Official Remarks in CdM--with Applause and Laughter Breaks

​The White House has released an official transcript of President Barack Obama's remarks at a breakfast fundraiser in Corona del Mar this morning--complete with laugh and applause breaks.Admission to the event started at $2,500 and rose to $35,800 depending on what kind of access one wanted to The ... More >>

Washburn, Arellano and Chemerinsky Are Ready to Get All Chautauqua! on Your Ass

​Amazingly, it was not our fearless leader Gustavo who shamelessly solicited a plug for an event he was participating in, but the Weekly's pre-millennium No. 2 man Jim Washburn--and justifiably so. Because Chautauqua!--which I can't say and can barely spell--sounds very cool indeed. While most of ... More >>

Gustavo to Give Mini-Lecture on History of Mexican Food in OC NEXT FRIDAY TOMORROW at the Samueli Theater!

​As you've known for years, 2012 is the year that my much-promised Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America finally gets published. The debut lecture here in OC is April 12 at the Fullerton Public Library--but you can get a brief, brief preview next Friday TOMORROW at the Segerstrom Center for ... More >>

Rapper Gillionaire: 'I tatted gwas across my chest--that's swag in reverse... so hoes can see that shit in their rear view mirrors.'

​On Oct. 18, I introduced two YouTube videos that are not only changing the face of music on the Internet as we know it, but are also re-shaping and re-defining the idea of swag. The songs ("Rifles Burs" and "Snacks") are so life altering, so hard ("Gunshots are the beat!") and so damn good that t ... More >>

Jeanie Newman "Jeanie" Bernstein, Longtime Progressive Activist, Dies

​After suffering from the effects of congestive heart failure for several months, longtime progressive and environmental activist Jean Newman "Jeanie" Bernstein died at her Laguna Beach home surrounded by her children and caregiver Angie on Oct. 22.She was 88.

Dana Rohrabacher and Loretta Sanchez Joined at the Hip on Afghanistan

​There was a time during the unresolved county redistricting process when it appeared the congressional districts of Reps. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) might melt into one.Maybe that explains why these Members of Congress are starting to sound like one ... More >>

[UPDATED: Recall Effort Dropped] Residents Petition to Recall Hacienda School Board Members for Supporting a Language Program Funded by the Chinese Government

Flickr user cleverCl@i®ê ​UPDATE, JUNE 7, 1:46 P.M.: Opponents of the Confucius Classroom, a Chinese culture and language school program, have stopped their efforts to recall the four members of the Hacienda La Puente Unified School Board who voted to implement it. A small group of resident ... More >>

Monopoly Board Game Documentary Returns to Anaheim, Where It Won Festival Award

​San Diego filmmaker Kevin Tostado's Under the Boardwalk: The Story of Monopoly took the top documentary prize from last October's Anaheim International Film Festival, which screened entries in UltraStar's UltraLuxe Cinemas at the Gardenwalk center near Disneyland in Anaheim.The love letter to the ... More >>

Residents Petition to Recall Hacienda School Board Members for Supporting a Language Program Funded by the Chinese Government

Flickr user cleverCl@i®ê ​Four members of the Hacienda La Puente Unified School Board have been targeted in a recall effort.  The basis for the recall? They support a middle-school Chinese-language-and-culture program funded by the Chinese government.

Sal Duenas Is a Handball Wizard

The Santa Ana native is king of Orange County's handball courts—but can he go further and bring the sport some much-needed respect?

Disneyland Jacks Up Ticket Price For Local Residents

​Attention Anaheim visitors:This time the unsavory character eyeing your wallet isn't a local hoodlum or a hooker.It's Mickey Mouse and he's profit hungry again.

To Kill a Mockingbird 50th Anniversary Celebrated Tonight at South Coast Village

​Fans of Boo Radley, crusading lawyers and middle school book report fodder unite!Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird was published 50 years ago, and the Regency South Coast Village Theatre in Santa Ana is celebrating with a screening of Robert Mulligan's much-beloved movie version, which came out ... More >>

KOCE Snags an LA Emmy for Bloody Thursday

​Bloody Thursday, a documentary about the struggle of the West Coast dockworkers during the Great Depression, has won a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award. The one-hour film debuted on Huntington Beach-based KOCE public television (channel 50).

Patriot Fame: 10 Captain America Moments That Make Us Proud to be Americans

Marvel/Marco Djurdjevic​Captain America has had a tough past five years. He led the losing side of a civil war, was murdered (well, not really, but everyone thought he was dead), and when he finally returned, he found out that Chris Evans is set to portray him in a movie next year.But that's ... More >>

Gettin' Made: Home Ec in Silver Lake Closing

Crafty friends, it's with a heavy heart that I share this news. Late last week, Jenny Ryan announced the closing of the brick and mortar side of Home Ec in Silver Lake at the end of July. Photo from the Home Ec website​ After the jump, details on the craft-class-slash-supply ... More >>

(UPDATED) The Text of Gustavo's UCLA Commencement Speech

​This is Gustavo, writing from the past. I've scheduled this post to go live at 6:30 p.m, probably just a couple of minutes after I gave this speech at UCLA commencement ceremony. These are my prepared remarks--I'm not planning to stray from them unless some people not happy with me say something. ... More >>

Try It, You'll Like It: A Conversation With ARTS OC's Rick Stein

Nicholas KoonRick Stein, Executive Director of ARTS OC​For many arts professionals, the administrative aspect of things is a creative death sentence, as time spent on personal projects drops by the wayside and artists get ground up in the gears of keeping an organization afloat. A quick look at AR ... More >>

Anaheim International Film Festival Previews With Temecula Wines, Short Films on a Loop and Super Sexy Manny Medrano

​A "historic moment" happened last night on the third level of the GardenWalk outdoor shopping mall (just follow the Disney Tower of Terror shadow)--historic not just for Anaheim but California and the whole world as we know it, according to Sinan Kanatsiz.www.facebook.com/anaheimfilmAIFF co-found ... More >>

Racist OC Register Fustercluck of the Day

​ Headline: Boat Found Abandoned at Crystal Covecomment by pcinoc: At least the migrants did not have far to walk to their new gardner [sic] and maid jobs in the Newport area.Editor's Note: The use of the term migrant is interesting. Old timers might remember that's what the lawmen and railroad co ... More >>

Obama, Economy, War, Swine Flu, Iran Election Crack Alamanac's Top 10 News Topics of 2009

Here are The World Almanac and Book of Facts Top Ten News Topics of 2009:​1. Obama Presidency Begins. With the U.S. at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and facing its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Barack Obama swearing in as the nation's 44th president Jan. 20 in Washington, DC.her ... More >>

Creepy DVD Releases Just in Time for Halloween

Is LA Times' State Capitol Columnist Implying Legislators Banging Lobbyists Accomplish More?

Skelton: Seen it all.​Los Angeles Times state Capitol columnist George Skelton begins his piece today on the Mike Duvall scandal much more tantalizingly than a typical George Skelton column.The Legislature had just wrapped up its annual session when a top aide invited me to a post-adjournment part ... More >>

Running Dry in the Cove

Crystal Cove

Imagine Amusement Parks Before Knott's and Disneyland

Carousel News & Trader--A Sun Valley-based trade mag for the mighty carousel industry--previews a book about Orange County amusement parks that pre-date Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. Early Amusement Parks of Orange County trades on author and former Disney/Knott's ride operator Richard Harr ... More >>

Ya Gotta Hang On

Annie Jr.

Filling Station Overpriced for Merely Good Meals

I promised milady a special breakfast this morning, but she's the kind of gal who wants things her way. I suggested Anton Schwager's Jagerhaus, La Galette Creperie in San Clemente; she demanded The Filling Station, an Orange institution even though it truly hasn't been around that long, which goes t ... More >>

[¡Ask a Mexican!] Special Guadalupe Edition

Video Savant: Curtis Mayfield's “(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going Go”

When the news gets especially grim, as it has in the last couple of weeks (another Great Depression looming? Environmental disaster on the horizon? Jack Johnson headlining Coachella? We're fucked, people.), I turn to Curtis Mayfield's mellifluous voice and uplifting funk/soul symphonies for relief. ... More >>

The Naranjero Blues

Emilio Martinez could have been Orange County's Woody Guthrie (and he still might be)

Gunkist Oranges

Wonder why Orange County trembles whenever its Mexicans protest? Welcome to the Citrus War of 1936, the most important event in Orange County history youve never heard of

The Tragedy of It All

Orange Countys own Hurricane Katrina: the Great Flood of 1938

!Babasonicos para Presidente!

How one group and its CD led to the rejuvenation of the Argentine Nation

The El Cargadero Social Club

How a Mexican ghost town lives on in Anaheim