Orange County's Leading Source Of News, Culture And Entertainment
Orange County's Leading Source Of News, Culture And Entertainment
Something ThatNll Never ChangeCris Kirkwood on being back with the Meat PuppetsBetween their connection to Nirvana and N90s near-hit “Backwater,” itNs tempting to get all nostalgic when thinking about the Meat Puppets and listening to several decadesN worth of their records. The grizzled trio have even courted that somewhat by…
Remembrance of Demons PastThe Unborn raids the modern horror memory bank, from The Exorcist to AuschwitzFor as long as it forges ahead without explanations, The Unborn works in its way, as a series of snap-cut gotchas introducing each new contestant in its pageant of cold-sweat set pieces. Often, this involves…
Just about every girl has a horror story about childhood perms—usually involving some sort of evil-mother-type who thought a head of tight curls would look best on her offspring. Rest assured, perms have come a long way from those ’80s poodle nightmares that took years to grow out, damaged your hair and were about as …
Secretary of AquacultureEverybody’s talking about Mariscos Puerto Esperanza (but few are listening) As a longtime member of the Chowhound message boards, I can recognize when there is genuine excitement over a subject. First, a lone poster will gush on a discovery they’ve made. If the lead was legit, more people will follow up, reaffirming with …
Old Man PittThe curious case of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is certainly curious—a modest F. Scott Fitzgerald story, about a man born in the twilight of life and gradually regressing toward dawn, that has been adapted into a 2-ton, Oscar-season white elephant. Directed by David Fincher from …
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The LA Times, industry publications the Wrestling Observer and Sherdog and plenty of other sources report that autopsy results are leading authorities to believe that the deaths of an Orange County professional mixed martial arts fighter and his wife were exactly what they appeared to be when news broke yesterday: a murder-suicide. Justin Levens, 28, …
Continue reading “Deaths of OC MMA Fighter, Wife, Suspected to be Murder-Suicide”
You don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were demolished by a Midwestern black man, and gender barriers …
Continue reading “Hitsville: The Year in Music, by the Numbers”
Something seemed fishy yesterday when the County Board of Supervisors voted to reject health department and grand jury recommendations for more user-friendly signs displayed in restaurant windows to warn the public of potential health safety violations (the board had already rejected the supremely helpful A-B-C grading system visible in the window of every eatery in …
Continue reading “Supervisor Janet Nguyen's Ties To Vermin Happy Restaurants”
Southern California's got a few neighborhoods known for their festive (or overkill, whatever you want) holiday displays, where entire blocks of houses do their very best to outdo and outlight each other: There's Candy Cane Lane in Torrance, Brea's got one off the Lambert exit of the 57, the Naples Canals in Long Beach. But …
Baked On CatfishThien An’s meat-heavy meals are more like belly-busting endurance contests Thien An might be one of the most expensive Vietnamese restaurants in OC. But when a typical Little Saigon dive has $3 phos and $2 bánh mìs, “expensive” is a relative term. Actually, the prices at Thien An are on par with a …
If your shiny new camera has permanently replaced your dust-collecting old digital point-and-shoots, consider donating them to a good cause while simultaneously supporting the arts. Founded by Stacie Krajchir, along with tsunami orphans from Thailand, the See and Sprout Project is an international creative collective that brings cameras to Third World regions, puts on children's …
Fearful SymmetryThe Sisters of Mercy and The Birthday Massacre represent two sides of the Goth coin Any genre or style that lasts for any length of time eventually has practitioners who play out an identity crisis—should they continue in familiar territory, or figure out something new? And what do the younger artists following in the …