NAZIS Found at White Power benefits at Anaheim rock club the Shack.
NEWHAN, ROSS He was an original Angel, if you count the fact that he was in the press box covering the team's first game in 1961. And he is the closest thing the Angels have to a representative in the Baseball Hall of Fame, if you count the fact that he was inducted in the Writer's Wing in 2000. He is the de facto team historian, through the newspaper pieces he has composed for the Los Angeles Times and the book he wrote about the team. He even bears a slight resemblance to the Rally Monkey. But Newhan is not a member of the Angels. He is a newspaper man, and one of the best, maintaining a professional distance, an admirable objectivity, a refreshing sense of analysis—and a residence in Placentia that makes him one of the best things in OC. NEWPORT BEACH Considering that Newport is one of the most beautiful cities in the U.S., its residents can be incredible complainers. They complain about the legions of tourists who flock to Newport's beaches and harbor during the summer. They complain about the lack of parking spots and the copious parking meters. They complain about traffic caused by new development. They complain about the noise from departing commercial airliners out of nearby John Wayne Airport. They complain about the loud and late-night parties at Dennis Rodman's Seashore house. They complained in early 1999 about the brief opening of Bad Ass Coffee on Balboa Island. Sure, it's easy to hate some of the more grotesque aspects of Newport: the yuppie hordes at Fashion Island, the $20 cover charges that plague the clubs on Mariner's Mile, a City Council wholly owned by the city's developers, what may be the highest silicone-to-flesh ratio in the nation. But Newport has some remarkably democratic traits. The city has an abundance of public benches and beautiful places to just sit and relax: Balboa Island, Via Lido, the entire oceanfront. And Newport may be home to the Irvine Co.'s corporate headquarters and its reclusive owner, Don Bren, but it's also the only city in Orange County that allows its citizens to vote on all new development projects . . . and don't forget the chicks.
NOISE NOISE NOISE
1. Costa Mesa Speedway at Orange
County Fairgrounds; next event:
Nov. 2, freestyle MX jumpers
(see www.cmspeedway .com).
2. David James is an amazing fellow, and
he has put together a luscious
little shop called Noise
Noise Noise that's stocked with an
impressive mix of new and used CDs and
vinyl (yes, new vinyl). He has all
the punked-up classics, a remarkable
used jazz collection and probably a swell
electronica/acid jazz
section, if we cared enough to check.
1505 Mesa Verde Dr. E.,
Costa Mesa, (714) 556-6473.
Photo by Keith May. NEWPORT BEACH BASKETBALL It might surprise you that this tony seaside home of yachters and surfers and diamond buyers is also home to the largest recreational basketball league in OC. No, we're not talking about the casabas their wives tote around beneath their T-shirts. We're talking about real basketball—320 teams of it on 11 levels. But what won't surprise you is that there are leagues specifically for doctors and lawyers. NEWPORT BEACH PUBLIC LIBRARY, BALBOA BRANCH This tiny branch library sits next to the fire station on the Balboa Peninsula and boasts one of the largest nautical reference holdings in the state of California, including books, magazines, videos and audiocassettes. 100 E. Balboa Blvd., Newport Beach, (949) 717-3800. NEWPORT TRADING AND ANTIQUE Fishing nets, lobster traps, dinghies, ship's wheels, anchors, cables, chains, blocks, all manner of brassware, tillers, oars, and of course those ventilation shafts that stick out of the deck and look like the business end of a saxophone. “I bought an anchor there once,” said a 23-year-old friend. No rust, solid steel construction—a quality anchor. But it begged the question: Why did she need an anchor if she doesn't own a boat? “I don't know,” she said, suddenly defensive. “I like nautical things. It wasn't like it was a big anchor. It cost me, like, $12. I think I ended up giving it to my boyfriend's dad.” 2810 Balboa Blvd., Newport Beach, (949) 723-9696.
NO LONGER THERE.
Googie architecture reached
its pinnacle—its fin-shaped, atom-referencing
zenith—in the Anaheim Wonder Bowl. Set up in
the early 1960s, Wonder Bowl was the setting for
televised pro bowling until 1986; two years later,
Disneyland Unimagineers knocked it down. For a
parking lot. For Disneyland employees. (Googie
historians say the wrecking ball scored a 7-10
split, followed by a spare.) Some'll tell you that, on
a quiet night, you can still hear the clatter of ten-pins.
But those are typically people who've been
prematurely released from County Health Services. NIXON, RICHARD Yorba Linda-born former president of the U.S. who a couple of years before he resigned in disgrace told his chief of staff, “See, the Jews are all through the government. And we have got to get in those areas, we've got to get the man in charge, who is not Jewish, to patrol the Jewish. . . . The Jews—the Jews are, are born spies. You notice how many of them are just in up to their necks?” NUDE Volleyballs aren't the only things bouncing around at the far end of Trail 6 in San Onofre State Park, where nude sunbathing is tolerated though not legal. Drawing an age demographic best suited for matching sweatsuits, not birthday suits, it's no wonder authorities look the other way (along with the rest of the beach). But more disturbing than the sheer number of crinkled wrinkles and their sand-carrying capabilities are the strange fashion statements—some nudies opt to wear shoes, some hats, some just shirts.
