![How to Spend a Week Around Santa Barbara [Summer Travel 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/lede-Santa-Barbara-and-Lotusland-credit-Claudia-Schou-3-348x180.jpg)
When my wife took a job working for a Santa Barbara hotel, she arrived at the worst possible time—rainy season. Although she was able to live at the hotel for the first few weeks, she had to find more permanent housing nearby and wound up renting a room in Montecito, where just as she was […]
Longform
![And You Thought Zoners Were Funky . . . Check Out Phoenix’s Mystery Castle [Summer Travel 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/lede-mystery-castle-credit-Matt-Coker-348x180.jpg)
And You Thought Zoners Were Funky . . . Check Out Phoenix’s Mystery Castle [Summer Travel 2018]
During a visit with family in Arizona, my grown son talked us into checking out Mystery Castle (800 E. Mineral Rd., Phoenix, Arizona; www.mysterycastle.com), located in the hills overlooking Phoenix International Airport. I had been going to the Valley of the Sun to see my aunt, uncle and cousins since I was a wee one, […]
![What’s Left of Vintage Las Vegas? [Summer Travel 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/lede-Las-Vegas-credit-Dick-Slaughter-5-348x180.jpg)
What’s Left of Vintage Las Vegas? [Summer Travel 2018]
To live in an extreme environment, you need two things: water and adaptability. Las Vegas has learned how to not only survive, but also thrive in the relative dead center of the Mojave Desert. How do they do it? Water and adaptability. The town got its name from the water and its fame from the […]
![Exploring the Calmer Side of Encinitas [Summer Travel 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/lede-Encinitas-credit-Lisa-Black-2-348x180.jpg)
Exploring the Calmer Side of Encinitas [Summer Travel 2018]
Whenever life gets too heated, head south to Encinitas until things cool down, even if just for a day. Denizens of Los Angeles and Hollywood began seeking solace here in the early 20th century. The soothing effects can still be had in the 21st, especially if you start your trip with the three swamis. In […]
![Viva Nerd Vegas! Geek Out at These Museums [Summer Travel 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/lede-Nerd-Vegas-Bettina-May-1-348x180.jpg)
Viva Nerd Vegas! Geek Out at These Museums [Summer Travel 2018]
If you’ve read a dead-tree edition of the OC Weekly, you know we’re no strangers to sleaze. Hell, we love it! As such, our lowbrow tastes are well-represented in a city such as Las Vegas. But rather than give you a run-of-the-mill walk-through of the Strip (and to compliment Hellcat Hamby’s own coverage of Sin […]
![East of Eden: A Road Trip to Steinbeck Country [Summer Travel 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/lede-Salinas-and-Monterey-courtesy-of-Monterey-Bay-Aquarium-3-348x180.jpg)
East of Eden: A Road Trip to Steinbeck Country [Summer Travel 2018]
If you’re an arts and culture snob, a road trip to Salinas and Monterey can connect you with literature, history and the fine arts. The six or seven hours it takes to get there (minus rest stops) are relatively painless. Once you’ve made sure your car is loaded with snacks and beverages, get on the […]
![Kim Valentine Remembers What It Was Like to Be Homeless [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/news-kim-valentine-credit-John-Gilhooley-3-348x180-1527174478.jpg)
Kim Valentine Remembers What It Was Like to Be Homeless [OC People 2018]
“I still look for places to sleep. Where could I go for the night? It’s been so many years, and I have a home, but I still look. That never goes away.” It’s been 37 years since Kim Valentine left her family. She was just 14, a straight-A ninth-grader who was on the student council. […]
![The Cog•nate Collective, Amy Sanchez Arteaga and Misael Diaz, Create Art Through Research [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/culture-cognate-collective-credit-John-Gilhooley-1-348x180.jpg)
The Cog•nate Collective, Amy Sanchez Arteaga and Misael Diaz, Create Art Through Research [OC People 2018]
As artists in residence at Grand Central Art Center (GCAC) for four years, Amy Sanchez Arteaga and Misael Diaz (a.k.a. the Cog•nate Collective) have established a presence beyond the gallery through a series of public interventions in Santa Ana, Tijuana, Los Angeles and Mexicali. The two have focused their practice on sparking dialogue on issues […]
![Orange County’s Original Coffee Man, Martin Diedrich, Moves His Family’s Java Legacy Forward [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/food-martin-diedrich-credit-John-Gilhooley-1-348x180.jpg)
Orange County’s Original Coffee Man, Martin Diedrich, Moves His Family’s Java Legacy Forward [OC People 2018]
Tucked in a nook on the western side of Costa Mesa is Martin Diedrich’s wholesale coffee roastery, the place where all Kéan Coffee’s beans are roasted prior to being sold in grocery stores and other retailers. If you close your eyes and inhale through your nose, it smells as if you’re swimming in a cup […]
![Every Week Is Shark Week for Dr. Chris Lowe [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/news-chris-lowe-credit-John-Gilhooley-1-348x180.jpg)
Every Week Is Shark Week for Dr. Chris Lowe [OC People 2018]
Dr. Chris Lowe specializes in all things sharks, especially great whites. The director of Cal State Long Beach’s Shark Lab—who is well-known for his appearances on National Geographic, BBC and the Discovery Channel—can tell you more about this reclusive species in one half-hour conversation than you would get in any Shark Week program or documentary […]
![Glenn Brumage Spreads the Stoke as the Ambassador of Surf [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/culture-glen-brumage-credit-John-Gilhooley-2-348x180.jpg)
Glenn Brumage Spreads the Stoke as the Ambassador of Surf [OC People 2018]
Long before Glenn Brumage began serving on Surfing Heritage and Culture Center’s (SHACC) board in 2014, he had been fulfilling its vision to “spread the stoke” of surfing with the world. As of January, he became the San Clemente nonprofit’s executive director and gets to focus full-time on its mission of sharing the sport’s history […]
![David Valdez’s Beatnik Bandito Is a Slice of Old California Culture [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/music-david-valdez-credit-John-Gilhooley-2-e1527181281606-348x180.jpg)
David Valdez’s Beatnik Bandito Is a Slice of Old California Culture [OC People 2018]
There’s something immediately familiar about Beatnik Bandito Music Emporium. On the racks and walls of this record shop are not only clothes, records and guitars, but also the spirit of a different time—an old-school roadhouse around the corner from Santa Ana’s rampant revamping of its historical downtown. While most newer businesses rush to slap a […]
![Photography Has Taken John Gilhooley Places [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/backpage-john-gilhooley-credit-John-Gilhooley-1-348x180.jpg)
Photography Has Taken John Gilhooley Places [OC People 2018]
With more than 100 cover photographs to his name, John Gilhooley is easily the most prolific and recognizable photographer whose work has graced the pages of OC Weekly during the past two decades. Born in LA and raised in Glendale before moving to Huntington Beach in 1988, Gilhooley’s career has taken him to the heights […]
![L. Song Richardson Continues to Defy Expectations [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/news-l-song-richardson-credit-John-Gilhooley-4-348x180.jpg)
L. Song Richardson Continues to Defy Expectations [OC People 2018]
You’d be forgiven if you believed some of the sculptures filling L. Song Richardson’s sprawling office on the UC Irvine campus were picked up during world travels. After all, her mother was born in Korea, where she met Richardson’s father, a U.S. military officer at the time. Because of his orders, the Richardson family resided […]
![Stacy Butler Keeps the House of Blues Red-Hot [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/music-stacy-butler-credit-John-Gilhooley-3-e1527181949238-348x180.jpg)
Stacy Butler Keeps the House of Blues Red-Hot [OC People 2018]
Running a venue like the House of Blues in Anaheim requires more than just the skills of a typical general manager. Overseeing one of OC’s largest, most iconic venues means you have to be a music junkie, an expert planner and statistician, an innovator, a star wrangler, a night owl, and a people person. All […]
![Santa Ana Librarian David Lopez Is Putting His Hometown on the Global Map [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/news-david-lopez-credit-John-Gilhooley-2-348x180.jpg)
Santa Ana Librarian David Lopez Is Putting His Hometown on the Global Map [OC People 2018]
“Everybody always asks me the same questions,” David Lopez says of his profession. “It’s hard to not look at me and say I’m a sexy librarian!” If the 32-year-old senior librarian at Santa Ana Public Library had to catalog every stereotype about librarians and the city he gets, it’d take the Dewey Decimal System to […]
![Rich Mead Leads the Farm-to-Table Movement By Example [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/food-rich-mead-credit-John-Gilhooley-2-348x180.jpg)
Rich Mead Leads the Farm-to-Table Movement By Example [OC People 2018]
Early every Wednesday, chef Rich Mead’s day begins with a trip to the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market, where he has cultivated long-lasting relationships with the growers to create a menu around freshly harvested ingredients for his restaurant, Farmhouse at Roger’s Gardens. It’s all part of his guiding principles, a blend of two philosophies: fresh and […]
![Robert Williams Lives the Dream as Big Sandy [OC People 2018]](https://www.ocweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/music-big-sandy-credit-John-Gilhooley-1-348x180.jpg)
Robert Williams Lives the Dream as Big Sandy [OC People 2018]
“I never imagined in a million years where the music would take me to or the places it did,” confides Robert Williams, dressed to the nines in a crisp, black, 1950s suit with a subtly rainbow-flecked vintage shirt he picked up from Elsewhere Vintage in the Orange Circle. His hair is neatly combed and slicked-back, […]
How an OC Murder Is Connected to a Shadowy Nationwide Neo-Nazi Group With Troubling Ties to the U.S. Military
Produced by journalists with ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative news operation, and Frontline, the PBS documentary series, this report focuses on Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group with a direct link to Orange County. County prosecutors have charged Atomwaffen member Samuel Woodward, 20, with the January murder of Blaze Bernstein, 19, a gay Jewish college student whose […]
SoCal Murder Victim’s Husband and Killer’s Attorney Form Unlikely Bond
CHAPTER ONE Having waited nearly four years to see punishment for the unhinged, heavily armed man who in 2011 murdered his wife and seven other people in Orange County’s worst mass shooting, Paul Wilson stood before Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Goethals on March 20, 2015, incredulous that People v. Scott Dekraai would take more […]
Newport Beach Film Festival Presents Its Funniest Lineup in 19 Years
I have sat through so many films while on the Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) beat. Because so many friends and family members know that, I am invariably asked to name my favorite NBFF film. It beats the hell out of me; that would be like choosing a favorite toe. However, to deal with the […]
