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Chris Alfaro, putting on airs. Santa Ana musician/DJ/entrepreneur Free the Robots (Chris Alfaro) alerts us that his soon-coming club/restaurant The Crosby now has a video blog (wittily titled Kenny Bloggins) that will provide several entertaining hours of “mindless escapism.” It includes the first episode of Free the Robots Cribs: Essential viewing. And it's not like …
Fight Club
Our favorite OC boxer, Ronny Rios, came home this week after a decisive and controversial loss at the Olympic trials in Houston. The potent, artful boxer says he's ready to refocus, turning his sights to his pro career and to finishing out his senior year in high school. “It's time to move on,” he says. …
Busywork, Detroit Bar, August 29, 2007
The Pity Party (photo by ionnehendrix) The Pity Party are in mid-set as I arrive at Detroit Bar, projecting an LA-hipster refraction of the White Stripes—on first impression. But female drummer/vocalist/keyboardist Heisenflei and guitarist/vocalist Maurice-Robert quickly quash that knee-jerk reaction with an approach to rock that's far less trad than Jack and Meg's. The Pity …
Face Off
If anyone had watched Tina Thi Tran open the front door of her nondescript rented house on Forrest Lane in the heart of Little Saigon at 12:15 p.m. on June 14, 2005, they wouldn't have guessed they were looking at an undisputed giant among Orange County's criminal masterminds. Why should they? Standing at 4-foot-8, Tran might …
Love's Labor Lost
“Down with communists!” yells the Vietnamese man with the wide-brimmed hat into a bullhorn. “Down! Down! Down!” respond a line of flag-waving folks, some holding umbrellas bearing South Vietnam's red stripes to shield themselves from the late Sunday sun. Had you been on historic Main Street in Garden Grove any Saturday for the past month, …
Sol-T Makes URB's Next 1000 List
LA-based mag URB has included Orange County MC/producer Sol-T in its notorious Next 1000 feature. Sol puts a fresh, funny and raunchy spin on old-school hip-hop, both on the mic and the MPC2000. You can read the blurb (as well as the recent OC Weekly feature on him) on his MySpace page. Sol-T plays at …
No Street Cred
The county's biggest public worker union called on all OC factions — Republicans, Democrats and all those in-between — to join them in a countywide recall effort to remove County Treasurer-Tax Collector, Chriss Street, from office. The County's money manager is under investigation by the Orange County DA's office, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Department …
Abstract Workshop, Detroit Bar, August 25, 2007
DJ House Shoes and Brian Gillespie at Detroit Bar. Photo by DJ Edouble First thing I heard as I approached Detroit Bar was Seals N Crofts’ 1973 hit “Diamond Girl.” At Abstract Workshop, one of OC’s preeminent hip-hop nights? I didn’t think baby-boomer nostalgia was part of its equation, but when I actually slipped inside …
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Photos: Slayer/Manson in Irvine
“SLAYERRRRR!!!” That drunken battle cry, which sounded at around 7:30 p.m. Friday, should have been warning enough. But we silly photographers stood in the aisles of the outdoor Verizon Ampitheater tinkering with our cameras without a care in the world. Then the lights went out and the ruckus onstage turned the audience into a barbaric …
Souled Out, Now with Many More People
So I strolled into Memphis Café last night to check out Souled Out, curious to see if this week's Sprawl of Sound column had any effect on the turnout. What I found boosted my spirits—and those of DJ TSC1 (Sean Harris), the long-time host of this stellar night. Compared to the last few visits here, …
Because You're Ugly: A Discourse on the Man Purse
Friend: i ALMOST am THIS CLOSE to wanting a man purse à la Tumi Friend: AND I WANT TO WEAR IT ON MY SHOULDER Friend: ALMOST Me: well, it looks like a duffle bag. Me: that's not so bad. Me: would you wear it all the time though? Me: and not just to work? Friend: …
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