Diary of a Mad County

Wednesday, Sept. 14 Local entrepreneur the Walt Disney Company announces its film unit has lost up to $300 million for the current quarter. Chief financial officer Thomas Staggs said the studio's performance is “considerably worse than we anticipated,” which is saying something, since people have been anticipating the worst from Disney films since it released …

The City That Bush Forgot

Though it was censored from the West Coast broadcast, you've doubtless heard Kanye West's unscripted comment during the Sept. 2 NBC Hurricane Katrina benefit: “George Bush doesn't care about black people.” Like others, I found that remark needlessly divisive. He should have said, “George Bush doesn't care about people.” There's a sort of “great man” …

Passion, Served Cold

Photo courtesy OCPACChinese film director Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers opens with a drop of blood splattering against white rice paper, an image as crisp and cool as a knife's edge. The filmmaker's first take on classical ballet, on view at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, is just as cutting, and perhaps equally …

Diary of a Mad County

Photo by Tenaya HillsWednesday, Aug. 24 Christian strongman Pat Robertson apologizes for calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez; something he at first denied saying, then said was misinterpreted, claiming his call for the CIA to “take [Chavez] out” was simply a request for the agency to accompany Chavez to an affordably priced …

Justice Takes a Beating

Last month, on the other side of the planet from Abu Ghraib prison and 3,200 miles from Guantanamo Bay, right here in Orange County, five jail deputies handcuffed, hooded, beat and tortured a 38-year-old San Clemente businessman, according to a claim filed this week. Still in pain three weeks after the July 17 incident, Greg …

A CLOCKWORK NARANJA

Clockwork Coker is back! The Mexican is about to get deported. So buy me a pinche driver's license, for chrissakes!: GA*******@******LY.COM Posted Monday, August 22, 10ish ORANGE COUNTY BUREAUCRATS TO VILLA PARK: DIE A couple of weeks back, we were driving through east Orange on the way to a party hosted by hot Orange County …

This Week in Doran

Hi! My name is Doran Walot, and I'm interning this summer at the Weekly. Gustavo was too busy so he had me take over Grub Guide for the week. Fear not, though: given my 17-odd years OC dining experience, I'm more than qualified. Besides, Gustavo will be back next week, so take this opportunity to …

HOT AS IN GOD

THURSDAY,JULY7 So when CorrosionofConformitydumped their Slayer-on-Void speed-metal in the early '90s and slowed way down, serious thrashheads was bummed: What the fuck was this Allman Brothers shit? Well, we never changed, Corrosion (paraphrasing) told fans on HeadbangersBall,a now-notorious not-a-crook moment that still rankles several red-eyed guys who don't own any collared shirts. Instead (paraphrasing still) …

Ungainly Bedfellows

Photo by Deidre SchooUngainly bedfellows at best, rock N roll and musical theater have bumped uglies scores of times since the late '60s. The results have been sketchy. That's only natural, since blending a sophisticated bourgeois medium like theater, which for the most part reinforces middle-class values by either championing or ridiculing them, with the …

Internal Affairs

This is a story about a famous LA porn star, a suspicious detective and a frustrated Orange County sheriff. It's also a story about ex-Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo, who is—by his own reckoning—a devoted family man, a hard-working immigrant, and a Mormon who doesn't drink alcohol or smoke. He is, he says, a “genuinely nice …