Orange County's Leading Source Of News, Culture And Entertainment
Orange County's Leading Source Of News, Culture And Entertainment
Action sports and music are two entities that go hand-in-hand with Southern California culture. Spanning four days over Father’s Day weekend, a diverse mix of skaters, musicians, and fans descended upon the Long Beach Convention Center for Dew Tour 2019. With skateboarding being introduced as a sport to the Summer Olympics for Tokyo 2020, Long …
Continue reading “Skateboards and Warren G Dominate LBC’s Dew Tour”
The dog days have turned into the cat’s pajamas (not the first tired metaphor in this piece, alas). The summer used to rival December’s procession of lame feel-good holiday plays for the worst stretch in OC theater, but no longer. One of the most interesting sets of plays to ever grace OC stages are on …
Continue reading “A Refreshing Revue of the Summer’s Theatrical Offerings”
Used to be a few things in Orange County theater were as reliable as right-wing nut jobs winning re-election: the Crystal Cathedral’s Glory of Christmas leading even Jesus to say, “Fuck this overwrought mess”; Hal Landon Jr. starring in South Coast Repertory’s A Christmas Carol (this December marks his final turn in an incredible 40-year-tenure); …
Continue reading “The Troubador Theater Co. Brings Its Epic The Odd-Essy to Casa Romantica”
Recently, a health-nut friend recommended I do a master cleanse as well as add some more green juices into my diet. “No problem,” I thought, as those are the names of two cocktails offered at Newport Beach’s Gratitude Kitchen & Bar, a hip and airy place where the number of yoga instructors outnumber dad bods …
Continue reading “Eat & Drink This Now! Gratitude Kitchen & Bar”
Orange County’s District Attorney controls the largest database of DNA profiles not created by legislative act in the nation. The database, created in April 2007, is largely shrouded in secrecy. But a new paper by UC Berkeley Law Professor Andrea Roth sheds considerable light on the database. “[W]hile debate continues over statutorily authorized DNA collection, …
Continue reading “Law Professor Explores Secret OCDA DNA Database”
On the last day of May, the police accountability advocacy group Campaign Zero released a scorecard grading California’s 100 largest police departments. Using data from 2016 and 2017, the organization scored the departments on a range of factors to assess their accountability and willingness to discriminate and use violence. “Campaign Zero obtained data from state …
Continue reading “Campaign Zero Grades 12 OC Police Departments”
Tolkien. Dome Karukoski’s new bio-drama is about the formative years of the orphaned author J.R.R. Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult). Various theaters; fandango.com. Thurs., May 16; visit the website for days, show times and ticket prices; also at Art Theatre, 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach, (562) 438-5435. Fri.-Wed., 4 & 8:45 p.m.; Thurs., May 23, 4 p.m. $9-$12. …
Continue reading “What an Excellent Day for an Exorcism [Special Screenings, May 16-23]”
The best meal I had in Singapore was a dish called Hainan chicken rice. And as with all great food found in Singapore, I had it inside an unbearably hot-and-humid hawker center from a stand that made nothing but its chosen specialty. One of the men who worked there took a plastic bowl to scoop …
Continue reading “The Chicken Rice in Santa Ana Specializes in Hainan Chicken Rice”
What you know Patrick Warburton from may depend on when you were born. It could be as Lemony Snicket from the current Netflix show A Series of Unfortunate Events. From 2007 through 2013, Warburton starred as Jeff Bingham on the CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement. He also played the titular role on The Tick, but not …
Continue reading “Patrick Warburton Comes Home to OC to Read Letters from a Nut at Irvine Improv”
Attorney General Xavier Becerra called a late-April press conference in Los Angeles to celebrate a $150 million settlement with a Wall Street giant that allegedly abused state public employees on high-risk pension investments. After claiming he holds lawbreakers “accountable,” Becerra stated, “The California Department of Justice is watching.” The former congressional Democrat ended by emphasizing …
Continue reading “Will New DA Todd Spitzer Meet Deadline to Prove He’s the Anti-Tony Rackauckas?”
That a 20th anniversary Newport Beach Film Fest (NBFF) is happening Thursday, April 25 through May 2 is amazing when you consider the cinextravaganza’s humble beginnings. There had been a Newport Beach International Film Festival, which went belly-up in 1999 after a four-year run, leaving unpaid vendors, pissed-off volunteers and much ill will in its …
Continue reading “All Access: Looking Back on 20 Years of Covering the Newport Beach Film Fest”
Reading the menu at Playground is usually accompanied by at least one quick Google search that somehow turns up with one result: a link to the menu you’re already viewing. On my latest visit, there were two instances of food bewilderment that struck, so I asked. What the hell is a carrot urfa molly? And …
Continue reading “Eat & Drink This Now! The Playground’s Dry Aged Seafood”