February 8, 2018 – OC Weekly

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Rebel Running for OC Sheriff Underdog Dave Harrington says it’s time for new, honest agency leadership

A

ddressing a Westminster gathering on a Saturday morning in February, Dave Harrington—one candidate hoping to replace retiring Sheriff Sandra Hutchens—recalled a 2017 Sacramento visit to lobby State Senate leader Kevin de León on a public-safety issue. Harrington’s story went like this: De León, a Los Angeles Democrat, walked into the room and said, “Is this the Orange County delegation? Y’all crazy! The Earth is round, not flat! And confidential Travis Allen [the Huntington Beach Republican assemblyman seeking the governorship] is loco in the cabeza.”

A retired sheriff’s deputy and the curr scott rent mayor of Aliso moxley Viejo, Harrington, who looks like a no-nonsense army drill sergeant when displeased, didn’t appreciate the swipe at Orange County’s historic right-wing reputation. “I’m like, ‘Seriously?’” he recalled thinking to himself. “People with me there said, ‘Dave, please don’t say anything.’”

The Republican audience chuckled at the line.

“It was hard [not to confront De León],” he added. “Look, I’m a limitedgovernment conservative, but I’m big on using common sense, and I will talk to everybody. I’m ready to fight for what I believe in.”

In the two-person race for sheriff, the differences between Harrington and Don Barnes, the current undersheriff, are pronounced, though both candidates boast nearly three decades of law-enforcement service. Barnes is the well-groomed insider who changed party affiliation to Republican before launching his campaign. He often speaks robotically with rehearsed lines intended not to offend the wealthy establishment players flooding him with contributions. He insists Hutchens has done “a great job,” bolstering that fib by keeping his campaign website devoid of any mention of the department’s scandals that have earned national embarrassment.

By comparison, Harrington is the gregarious underdog outsider willing to utter unpopular stances when he sees ineptitude or vice inside an agency with an annual budget approaching $1 billion.

He’s mature enough to poke fun at himself, too. On the criminal-justice policy front, he believes California propositions 47 and 57, which reduced penalties for

moxley

» .

certain crimes, bring “unintended consequences” that jeopardize public safety by putting criminals back on the streets before they’ve experienced adequate rehabilitation. But he’s most passionate talking about what he sees as repeated, unforced “failures of leadership” at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) under Hutchens and Barnes.

“People know something is wrong with the department now, and I’m trying to get people interested in the issues,” Harrington said. “That’s the challenge. I’m working every day to break through. We need to change the culture [at OCSD].”

He’s quick to say “personal animus” wasn’t the motivation for his candidacy announcement last May. He praises the sheriff for her lengthy career in a testosterone-dominated work environment and labels her underling “a nice guy, but a bureaucrat.” However, he mocks that duo’s refusal to accept responsibility for the chronic ethical and management scandals that have plagued OCSD. Worse, Hutchens entered office promising to create a department dedicated to transparency, accountability and honesty in the wake of Mike Carona’s corruption, which led to a 66-month federal prison trip and criminal convictions for his two assistant sheriffs.

“Hutchens was initially very calming,” Harrington explained. “But that didn’t last long. There’s been this constant drip of scandal. They blame an unfriendly press.

The press isn’t the problem.”

Or, he notes, they fault inanimate objects for their messes. Take the January 2016 escape from the county’s maximumsecurity jail by three dangerous inmates— one of whom has been called the Hannibal Lecter of Orange County. Hutchens first tried to imply the escapees were miracle workers, then she found a better villain that allowed her to demand massive budget increases: the jail itself.

“That’s a completely misleading excuse to give the Board of Supervisors and the public,” Harrington said. “It wasn’t the building’s fault. It was another failure of leadership. [Deputies] weren’t doing the plumbing-tunnel checks like they should have been. If they had, the inmates would have never gotten out.

This isn’t brain surgery.”

To highlight his concern, he pointed to OCSD’s reaction to the infamous jailhouse-informant scandal that has presently wrecked 18 felony cases. The agency ran illegal scams to trick pretrial, in-custody defendants into making selfincriminating statements in violation of the U.S. Constitution; approved of document destruction and perjury to cover up

HARRINGTON: WHY CAN’T HUTCHENS AND BARNES BE HONEST?

R. SCOTT MOXLEY

the cheating; and refused to comply with lawfully issued court orders to surrender related agency records.

“Hutchens had two choices: accept the judge’s orders or try to win an appeal,” said Harrington. “Hiding or destroying records isn’t an option. You can’t be a legitimate law-enforcement official while you’re violating the law.”

He says the core of OCSD’s problem is a twisted mindset. Too many employees “just want rank” and pretend nothing is wrong to angle for promotions. If elected, Harrington will prize “doers,” deputies who are not afraid to act in a crisis and challenge the status quo when it’s not working. “The problem is inaction,” he said. “Everybody is going to have problems, but it’s how you respond to them.

Don’t sit on your hands. Be honest.”

Policing wasn’t always his aim. The 54-year-old, who grew up in a military family in Garden Grove and Buena Park, thought in college he’d become an accountant, but he changed his mind after participating in a 1984 civilian ride-along with a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department patrol unit that happened to answer a violent robbery call. The excitement impacted him immediately. “I knew this is what I wanted to do,” he said. “I wanted to chase bad guys.”

In 1985, at the age of 21, Harrington joined OCSD to begin a career that would produce more than 1,000 arrests. He worked patrol, investigated economic and sex crimes, guarded inmates, monitored

criminal street gangs, performed trainings, and hunted fugitives. The department awarded him the Medal of Merit in 2012 for his innovations.

His family loves public service. Harrington has coached youth sports teams, helped Habitat for Humanity and founded a charity. His wife, Michele, who owns a real-estate company, is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. One of his sons fought in Afghanistan and is now a deputy sheriff in LA. The couple adopted two kids from Ethiopia several years ago.

After retiring in 2013, Harrington entered local politics, even though socalled experts told him he had no chance of winning a City Council seat. He won in 2014 largely because, with his wife’s encouragement, he exhaustively reached out to his neighbors during a walking tour.

Three years later, the council named him mayor, an honor renewed in December.

He is praying for a second electoral upset. “The sheriff’s department should be a well-oiled machine that does things right,” Harrington said before nodding at me, an investigative journalist who has revealed OC law-enforcement corruption.

“If we do, we put you out of business.”

Appreciating his good intentions, I momentarily pondered OCSD’s selfinflicted disasters that inspired hundreds of reporting exposés, smiled and, stealing a line from Liam Neeson’s Taken, responded, “Good luck.”

The election is June 5.

RSCOTTMOXLEY@OCWEEKLY.COM

Money Matters

» matt coker

about the fundraising advances made on incumhe main headline and subject of the large bents such as Rohrabacher: photo under it explain everything about the Republican strategists stressed that falling state of the 48th Congressional District race. behind in cash on hand—the amount sitting in a “Panic Time” is the banner over Monday’s member’s bank account—is a serious problem Politico story. Below that is a closeup of the because “the only thing that matters is cash on 48th’s 30-year incumbent, Representative Dana hand, and the Republican incumbent members Rohrabacher (R-Putin’s Tree Swing), with his who have Democratic challengers with a cashhands spread wide as if to illustrate on-hand advantage need to work harder the growing gap between the and raise more money,” said Corry money raised by his Democratic Bliss, the executive director of the opponents and that of his reCongressional Leadership Fund, the election campaign. Politico’s flagship outside group tasked with Elena Schneider writes: maintaining the GOP’s majority in Dana Rohrabacher the House.

(R-Calif.), who’s cruised That’s particularly to re-election since the telling when it comes to late 1980s, is facing two entrenched politicians well-funded Democrats. such as Rohrabacher, who Harley Rouda, a businessis likely out of practice when man, and Hans Keirstead, a it comes to pounding the phones stem-cell researcher, topped for donations.

Rohrabacher in fundraising last This being politics, there are quarter, while Rouda now holds caveats. Rouda’s fourth-quarter haul a cash-on-hand advantage over included a $500,000 personal loan he bOb Aul the congressman. Rohrabacher’s made to his campaign, following up on a traditionally Republican seat in Orange County $175,000 loan the previous quarter. Also during narrowly backed Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Q4, Siddiqui loaned himself $200,000, pushIt marked the second straight quarter that ing the total amount of personal money in his Democratic challengers raised more than the campaign war chest up to $458,497. Keirstead 15-termer out of Huntington Beach. According chipped in a $165,000 loan over the same to Federal Election Commission reports, for the period, while a fourth Democrat, Michael fourth quarter of 2017: Kotick, gave himself $55,000 and loaned him• Rohrabacher raised $271,969 and ended the self $60,000. year with $713,144 in cash on hand.

A big unknown is how much these Democrats • Rouda raised $626,254, ending the year with will spend picking one another off rather than $833,687 in the bank.

Rohrabacher, whose party is banking on benefits • Keirstead raised $402,140 to wind up from the Trump tax bill being popular with voters with $490,436.

by Election Day. MCOKER@OCWEEKLY.COM • Omar Siddiqui raised $254,194 to get Got Dana Watch fodder? to $540,251.

Schneider reveals why the GOP is freaked out Email mcoker@ocweekly.com.

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to the end. Back up, wait until the people in front of you are done unloading their groceries, and they’ll drop the divider for you. Your Hungry-Man dinners aren’t defrosting yet.

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Inside the Overwatch

| |

League

| |

How Irvine’s Blizzard Entertainment is changing the landscape of competitive gaming

SAEBYEOLBE GREETS HIS FANS

by josh chesler | Photos by Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

Although watching people play video games may seem foreign to those across a generation gap, game-centric streaming services such as Twitch, as well as mainstream platforms such as YouTube and even ESPN, have proven that a huge audience around the world is eagerly watching high-level esports.

In January, esports reached another milestone with the birth of the most prolific professional gaming promotion to date, the Overwatch League. After 18 months of international competitions such as APEX and the Overwatch World Cup, Blizzard separated this megahit from the bunch. Rather than condensing the tournaments into a few days or weeks, the Overwatch League offers an ambitious schedule, running every Wednesday through Sunday for the first half of the year.

“The Overwatch League is about taking an incredibly successful game that has more than 35 million players around the world and building a league around it that’s modeled after traditional sports leagues in many ways,” says Nate Nanzer, Overwatch League’s commissioner. “It started as an idea of taking what we could from traditional sports and applying it

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

| ocweekly.com |

So far, Kaplan’s vision is working. As seen in fan art and merchandise, both casual and competitive Overwatch aficionados have found characters worth loving. From the intimidating dual-wielding Reaper to the angelic healer Mercy, the differences in heroes’ looks, play styles and origins have drawn plenty of fans to Overwatch, even if they’re not otherwise interested in video games.

But the best characters and level design wouldn’t save a crappy game. Thankfully, the Overwatch crew used their “easy to learn, impossible to master” motif to create one of the most entertaining gameplay experiences in recent history, according to critics and fans alike. After dominating the 2016 video-game awards shows— including more than 100 Game of the Year awards at events such as the Game Awards and Game Developers Choice Awards—Overwatch’s popularity continued through 2017, picking up some extra trophies in categories such as Best Ongoing Game and Best ESport.

For the uninitiated, “esport” is the term used for competitive gaming—and it’s among the fastest-growing industries in the world, the perfect cross-section of sports, entertainment and technology.

Febr u arhyx0x– 9-x 15, m ont x , 2201 0184

maps, characters and weapons in Overwatch are bright and colorful enough to provide a more positive feeling as the 12 competitors work to destroy one another.

“I know it sounds bizarre, but one of our goals was making the world bright and inviting instead of postapocalyptic and oppressive,” says Jeff Kaplan, Overwatch’s lead designer. “If you’re going to spend hundreds of hours in an experience, having it be an oppressive experience is not what you want. If you look at our maps, we wanted to create these places that people always wanted to go to in the world—including places that don’t exist but we wish to see someday, like ‘Oasis’ in Iraq rather than the cliché version of Iraq that you’re used to seeing in video games.

“The other thing we wanted to focus on was variety,” Kaplan continues. “When you play a video game, you identify with whatever character you’re playing. In a single-player game, you’re forced into it, where you either feel like you are the protagonist or you’re not. Even in games with very limited selection, we tend to gravitate toward one character more than the others. By introducing such a wide variety— we’re at 26 heroes now—it’s almost hard to find somebody you don’t identify with.”

|

T

he 15-foot-tall statue of Tracer— a slender young woman with a brown pixie cut and futuristic flight suit—seems misplaced at the Blizzard Entertainment campus in Irvine. Surrounded by equally massive statues of orcs, demons and other fierce warriors of Blizzard’s iconic video games, including World of Warcraft and Diablo, the face of Overwatch isn’t as intimidating as her neighbors.

But while the Pixar-like gunslinger isn’t the scariest beast the company has created, the amount of fanfare she and her fellow Overwatch heroes have earned since appearing on gaming consoles and computers in May 2016 is unlike anything ever seen.

In many ways, Overwatch has taken competitive gaming out of its niche circles and into the mainstream more than ever before.

Overwatch is an online first-person shooter in which two teams of six battle for control of stationary target points and/ or a moving vehicle. Genre-wise, it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before (see classics such as the Call of Duty games and the competitive-shooter standard of CounterStrike: Global Offensive). But rather than sticking with the grim visuals of war—in the present or future, such as in Halo—the

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OVERWATCH LORDS KAPLAN (LEFT) AND NANZER

INSIDE the OVERWATCH LEAGUE » FROM PAGE 9

to what we were doing with competitive gaming. We looked at the structures of all the American sports leagues as well as some leagues across Europe and Asia, and we were able to pick and choose the things that we thought fit best for what we wanted to achieve.”

When development began on Overwatch in 2013, it wasn’t meant to become a massive esport. Launching a brand-new game into a market saturated with popular series is a risky enough venture ( just look at Battleborn, an ill-fated game similar to Overwatch that released the same month), and most franchises are around for several years before succeeding in the competitive world. But even while emphasizing the creation of a game appealing to the widest range of players, the competitive nature of the shooter quickly became apparent within Blizzard’s office.

“Early on, we were just focused on making a world-class team shooter—we weren’t putting a lot of focus on making it the world’s biggest esport,” Kaplan says. “But as we started getting heroes into the game and playing, just watching the team naturally get super-competitive was kind of hilarious.

It was to the point at which we hadn’t even announced the game yet and the team was getting so competitive with the game that we started running tournaments.”

The competitions among the 60 people working on Overwatch soon evolved to include a couple of voluntary commentators—or “shoutcasters” in esports vernacular—analyzing and cracking jokes during every match. Even on the smallest of scales, it was evident that what the team had created was bound to become an incredible esport. By the time the public learned about it at BlizzCon in November 2014, the Overwatch crew already believed they had a winner on their hands—even if they were still secretly hoping that people wouldn’t hate it.

“It’s been extremely humbling for us to see how people have adopted Overwatch because when you’re making something, you obviously love it,” Kaplan says. “You wouldn’t make it if you didn’t believe in it, but I think all creative people have that doubt in them, and our team is no different. We all loved it, but we weren’t sure if anyone else would.”

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estled in the Hollywood hills along the route of too many celebrity-sightseeing tours, the New York Excelsior (NYXL) house is a clear reminder that the vast majority of Overwatch League players are still the right age to attend college if their gaming careers don’t work out. With eight players on the active roster, as well as a small coaching staff, approximately a dozen loose pairs of sneakers line the foyer while a sink full of dishes waits in the kitchen.

By no means is the NYXL house a pigsty, but having a housekeeper come every few days is a necessity when most inhabitants have only ever lived with their parents or teammates. It’s not the only one either, as all 12 Overwatch League teams found homes for the players and coaches spending the season in Southern California. Whether it’s one large house, some apartments or a high-end compound akin to one the Los Angeles Valiant are working on, pockets of the esports industry have popped up in several neighborhoods within Uber-ing distance of the league’s Burbank headquarters.

One of the biggest differences

between NYXL and other houses full of young men is that America’s top-ranked Overwatch team—among the best behind the dominant Seoul Dynasty—is composed of former teammates from South Korea’s massive esports scene. Whether they competed together as part of the respected LuxuryWatch teams or shared a World Cup experience representing their country, this isn’t NYXL’s first rodeo as teammates. But while they’re used to sharing an Overwatch map, the team’s adjustment to American culture—including their daily English lessons—is still a work in progress.

“I’m enjoying everything in American culture so far,” says 22-year-old Park Jong-yeol, a.k.a. Saebyeolbe, one of NYXL’s primary damage-dealers. “You’ll talk to a stranger, and they’ll ask you, ‘How are you doing?’ With small things like that, I feel like people are more courteous here than in Korea.”

“I like everything except for the food, which is very salty,” adds 20-year-old Hong Yeon-joon, a.k.a. ArK, the team’s star support player.

With the same speed as ArK and Saebyeolbe are adjusting to American culture, the western world is learning about esports. After spending many years underground, its rise into the American mainstream has received coverage across major sports, entertainment and technology outlets. And while Overwatch and Dota 2 (the popular sequel to Defense of the Ancients, which spawned from Blizzard’s Warcraft III) aren’t

exactly making it to ABC or NBC just yet, they’re considered every bit as legitimate as any sport in Korea.

“When you have something that is so ingrained into the culture the way video games have been in our culture for the past 15 or 20 years, it produces an age gap to where people who have grown up with it their entire lives have an intrinsic understanding of it,“ says Scott Tester, NYXL’s director of player personnel.

“Video games and esports have been a major part of the culture for decades now in Korea, and you’re starting to see that grow more and more here. Fifty years ago, people had baseball and basketball and football as their leisure activities, but now you have an entire generation of people who have grown up with video games.”

As Tester—who worked on Overwatch for Blizzard before getting the offer to build NYXL’s roster—points out, Seoul lent itself to esports early on because of its infrastructure. The city’s tightly packed geography made it easy to get high-speed internet to the majority of gamers (an issue that plagues some current Overwatch League houses), and indoor esports venues such as Nexon Arena offered a massive stage for the nation’s pastime. Coupled with lackluster interest in traditional sports, it’s obvious why the Overwatch League is packed with players from Korea.

But for the new California-based venture, many of the details will look more familiar to Americans than they would to Asians. The owners of NFL organizations such as the Patriots and Rams own teams in their home cities, and NYXL’s backers also own the New York Mets. Although the Overwatch League might’ve survived without the support from traditional sports franchises, the ability to reach fans outside of tech and video-game circles has been paramount for the global spread of esports.

Aside from gaining wellknown owners, the Overwatch League also took massive steps to improve the professionalism of esports. From guaranteed health care and salaries to penalizing players for inappropriate actions

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rom a commuter’s point of view, there’s no reason why a few hundred loud millennials—some carrying signs and other props—are

pouring into the Burbank studio that once hosted Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. But while the opening night of the Overwatch League at Blizzard Arena may be a strange sight for those heading home, the energy inside this Wednesday is unlike anything the passersby have likely experienced.

Falling between a college sporting event and a 500-person Bernie Sanders rally, the electricity in the air is more palpable than the insane voltage flowing into the dozen computers onstage or the massive monitors hanging around them.

The colors and logos of each team can be spotted throughout the tense crowd, and a little polite trash talk is already forming between the gold-clad Valiant fans and the purple Los Angeles Gladiators section.

“I think both [LA] teams are excited and worried about the rivalry because season one is really going to set the pace, and both teams are working hard to get that position as the LA team,” says the Gladiators’ Aaron “Bischu” Kim. “I’m not going to lie: I’m very happy about our team colors. The purple is looking great, and it’s easy to tell when our fans are there because people aren’t usually just wearing purple.”

The importance of winning over a home market isn’t lost on the Gladiators or the Valiant. The international London Spitfire, Shanghai Dragons and Seoul Dynasty all have entire countries to themselves, but Los Angeles has multiple teams competing for local hearts right from the start.

For Bischu, capturing fans would be great for the first Overwatch League season, but it’s also far from his top priority.

The former professional League of Legends player knows how far the industry has come in recent years, and he’s excited to prove he can hang with the best on the biggest stage yet. “I just want to make the fans and my family proud for supporting me through this video-gaming adventure,” he says. “My parents really wanted me to go back and work in the family

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during competitions or on streaming and social media channels—which is already a topic of discussion this season—the league’s implementation of rules mimicking those of mainstream sports helped everything launch smoothly. And in their capturing of regulations of successful sports promotions, the Overwatch League also took a geographical trick to help draw in some extra fans.

“I think the biggest thing that’s different about Overwatch League that attracts a lot of people is that it has city-based teams,” says Kim Phan, Blizzard’s director of esports operations. “That’s something that a lot of people can relate to, and no other esports have done that. Usually, there are just teams with team names, but Overwatch League having teams backed by well-known faces in each city has brought a really interesting appeal. For me, personally, having a team from my own hometown makes me just want to cheer for that team regardless if they’re good or bad.”

Beyond city-based allegiances such as Phan’s to the Dallas Fuel, the Overwatch League is using the Olympics’ playbook and promoting the backstories of interesting players as well. Although it may not have found a Pita Taufatofua just yet, Blizzard gives each competitor a fair chance to become the Tongan flag-bearer of the sport.

“Even when you’re talking about regular sports, there are stories that people love to follow about the competitors that allow them to relate to that individual,” Phan says.

“I think because so many of the viewers are also players, being able to relate to the professional players because of where they’re from or their play style or the type of heroes they like to play makes it more interesting.

Just to hear the journey of each individual player draws people in and gives people specific players to cheer for.”

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THE SCENE INSIDE THE ARENA

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INSIDE the OVERWATCH LEAGUE » FROM PAGE 11

business after college, but I begged them to give me one more year. When I got this chance, they were really happy for me, and I was really happy for myself because video gaming is a lot more fun than making ingredients for cement back in Korea.”

But players such as Bischu aren’t the only ones banking on the Overwatch League catching on. Although neither LA team wants to be relegated to the role of the Clippers, those coming from the world of traditional sports know how much a crosstown rivalry could help both teams.

“I’m a big believer that a rising tide lifts all boats,” says Ari Segal, the president and COO of the Valiant who came over from the Anaheim Ducks. “Growing up, it was fun to be a Yankees fan and have friends who were Mets fans—or the Giants and Jets—and that’s something that goes back for generations in New York. From a storytelling perspective, we can really benefit from having a local rival.”

Perhaps even more than the Gladiators and Valiant, the player most concerned with the local turnout of the Overwatch League is on the Boston Uprising. JonaNEW YORK EXCELSIOR SHAKES HANDS WITH THE BOSTON UPRISING

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than “DreamKazper” Sanchez is Southern California’s lone representative in the league, and the Hemet native has become a hometown hero among his family and friends. “It’s pretty nice that my family is close enough that they can come watch me,” Sanchez says. “Before, no one thought that this could really be a career or even seen as a sport, but now that it’s starting to grow pretty big, everyone sees that it’s cool. All of my friends who used to know me think it’s cool that this is so much fun to watch.”

Even with DreamKazper as the only local Overwatch League participant this season, the amateur competitive scene is plenty strong across SoCal. Local tournaments, with battles as fierce as you’d see on Twitch, regularly take place in many cities. And the local circuit has a more diverse playing field, with women such as Kelsey “ricemilk” Ziff ranking high on scoreboards, as opposed to the all-boys club of the Overwatch League.

“I think there’s kind of an assumption that girls aren’t as good or only play support characters, so you have something to prove going into it,” Ziff says. “It’s where I get to live out my fantasies of destroying all the boys.”

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ritual: An Alternative Valentine’s experience

—SCOTT FEINBLATT

[CONCERT]

Space Sounds Majid Jordan

Majid Al Maskati and Jordan Ullman came upon musical fame the way producers and musicians usually do: after a chance meeting at the University of Toronto. They practiced and wrote music together in dorm rooms and parents’ basements, later more uploading their online finished tracks OCWEEKLY.COM to Soundcloud.

Majid Jordan’s synth-laced R&B and electronic beats caught the ear of fellow Toronto artist Drake, who signed them on to his OVO label in 2014. Since then, the duo have amassed a major worldwide audience who have embraced their fresh, innovative and soulful sounds. Now currently on their Space Between tour, the two will be uplifting crowds at the Observatory tonight, giving us all a much needed boost of sensual energy.

Majid Jordan with STWO at the Observatory, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 957-0600; www.observatoryoc.com.

8:30 p.m. $35. —AIMEE MURILLO

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[CONCERT]

Audio Seduction!

WAVe Love Affair

What’s better than playing some romantic love songs for your boo?Taking them to a concert to hear those love songs played live! Eternally sensuous station the WAVE hosts tonight’s caravan of soul and R&B acts to arouse your amorous side with some grade-A baby-making music. On the bill tonight are disco heavyweights Rose Royce, Manhattans and Tavares, along with Bloodstone (whose songs “Natural High” breaks through even the iciest of hearts), Blue Magic, Eddie Holman, Deniece Williams, the Persuaders, Lenny Williams, Mad Lads andTawatha of Mtume. Any one of these artists serenading you live would make someone’s night, but a stacked lineup such as this is bound to make anyone melt (and maybe Google the nearest hotel room, too—you feel us?).

WAVE Love Affair at Honda Center, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim, (714) 7042400; www.hondacenter.com. 7:30 p.m. $34-$79. —AIMEE MURILLO

NICE VIEW! NORMAN WONG

[LIBRARY]

Nerd Out!

AnaCon: Comics and Sci-Fi at the Library Somehow, Anaheim Public Library became cool. Okay, maybe it was always the hip place to be, but now it’s even more happening thanks to such awesome literary events as AnaCon. The second-annual AnaCon is a celebration of science fiction and comic books and may just be what’s needed to beat the blues of sci-fi legend Ursula Le Guin’s recent passing. Aficionados of the genre have the opportunity to meet authors and illustrators and buy a book or 10! Panel discussions on how to get comics published and writing the future in the dystopian present will inform and tantalize. Meet young adult authors such as Stephanie Diaz and Romina Garber, who are bringing sci-fi tales to the next generation.

There will even be a Star Wars photo booth.

Cosplayers are welcome, so dress to impress!

AnaCon: Comics and SciFi at the Library at Anaheim Public Library, 500 W. Broadway, Anaheim, (714) 765-4311; www.anaheim.net/902/library. 11 a.m.

Free. —GABRIEL SAN ROMÁN

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Bored of the same old evening out with your partner? In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, why not take the love of your life to a burlesque show at Harvelle’s Long Beach? Billed as an experience, a dark cabaret as well as an initiation, Ritual: An Alternative Valentine’s Experience promises performances by a number of modelesque ladies. After the cabaret is over, guests are welcome to dance to dark wave, Goth and industrial music.

But don’t come casually dressed; black and red attire is required. And if you don’t have love in your life, limited individual tickets may still be available.

Ritual: An Alternative Valentine’s Experience at Harvelle’s Long Beach, 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach, (562) 269-5230; harvelles.com. 9 & 11 p.m. $15-$100, plus two-drink minimum. 21+.

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sun/02/11 per and Dirty Heads, and Sunday is topped by Nas and Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, so fans of reggae and hip-hop can hang out and relax to the cool, swervy vibes. With so many generic lineups lately, One Love Cali provides a proper alternative that can unite music fans to see a carefully curated event with a linear theme that’s refreshingly outside the festival-industrial complex.

One Love Cali Fest at the Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Hwy., Long Beach, (800) 5948499; www.onelovecalifest.com. Noon. $70-$275. —WYOMING REYNOLDS

[CONCERT]

Feel the Love

One Love Cali Fest February isn’t a month generally associated with festivals. However, the latest micro, genre-specific festival booked by the Observatory would be the highlight of any festival season. Moving away from its Santa Ana grounds to the Queen Mary, this two-day event is wellbalanced and features equally strong lineups: Saturday features headliners Rebelution, Pep-

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Card Making and Beer Tasting Just because you’re well past second grade doesn’t mean you can’t partake in the lost joy of giving and/or receiving Valentine’s Day cards. Santa Ana artist Dino Perez has

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THIS FRI FEB 9

Created by Chad Michael Hall and John Toenjes, “INTERFACE: Alternate Reality” takes over the Experimental Media Performance Lab at UC Irvine this week, sending audiences down the rabbit hole.

But it’s not drug-laced cookies that make things big or small; it’s your smartphone.

Through interactive media, guests can control how art and dance pieces develop.

How’s that? The installation “combines organic spaces and places with cyberspace and virtual and augmented realities, creating an immersive and haptic theatrical experience.” Sounds trippy.

“INTERFACE: Alternate Reality” at xMPL at UC Irvine, 4004 Mesa Rd., Irvine; www.arts.uci.edu. 7:30 p.m.; also Tues.

Free, but reservations are required.

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sold his vintage-inspired Valentines for years, and today, he offers a DIY workshop to help individuals lay out their emotions through artsy cards. Admission price includes art supplies and a beer tasting to maximize your creativity.

Card Making and Beer Tasting at Alta Baja Market, 201 E. Fourth St., Santa Ana, (714) 783-2252; www.altabajamarket.com.

2 p.m. $25. —AIMEE MURILLO

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Jazz It Up! Fat Tuesday

If you’re going to celebrate Fat Tuesday in Orange County, it should be at a place like Ralph Brennan’s, where there’s plenty of hot jazz, food and festivities to tide you over for Lent (or whenever, for those not observing). This family-friendly celebration provides live music on two floors and drink specials, plus it invites guests to come decked out in their Mardi Gras best, with a costume contest happening on the main stage. There’s also the crowning of the Jazz Kitchen King and Queen—and Best Dressed Prince and Princess for the junior revelers.

Fat Tuesday at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen at Downtown Disney, 1590 S. Disneyland Dr., Anaheim, (714) 776-5200; www.rbjazzkitchen.com. 6 p.m. Free.

—AIMEE MURILLO

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Antivalentine’s Bash THE CRITERION COLLECTION

[FILM]

Not Your Usual Love Story Harold and Maude

This joyfully perverse coming-of-age film focuses on an alienated, precocious, depressive man-child and his unlikely girlfriend.

Serious cinephiles have called director Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude both iconic and iconoclastic; with music by Cat Stevens and a lovingly shot Bay Area backdrop, it could only have been made at its exact cultural-political moment. This 1971 fable clearly influenced contemporary auteur Wes Anderson, with its playful yet sincere elevation of transgression as freedom, ironic if urgent engagement with love and romance, and, yes, affection for humans as celebrated by the mischievous and anti-fascist Maude, who certainly has a way with people. A perfect Valentine’s date for young and old.

Harold and Maude at the Frida Cinema, 305 E. Fourth St., Santa Ana, (714) 2859422; thefridacinema.org. See website for show times. $7-$10. —ANDREW TONKOVICH

Love: It’s strange, it’s dangerous, maybe it’s even a hurtin’ thing, depending on what song you might be listening to.

But this Valentine’s Day—sorry, Singles Awareness Day—love can stay the more hell out of the online Vintage Cock- OCWEEKLY.COM tail Lounge, where the festivities are reserved for the proudly or at least publicly solo. Instead of drowning your sorrows, why not supercharge your self-esteem with specials on whiskey therapy and “anti-Valentine” cocktails, which may not but could include things such as a Screw-You-Driver,aTequila Sour-Grapes or a No Sex On the Beach?

Plus, there’s music about love and all the bad things that go with it—like how it stinks—and a grand piñata finale, during which you can ideally smash Cupid with a club until some bitter bone-white heartshaped candy spills out. Because it is an Anti-Valentine’s Bash, after all.

Anti-Valentine’s Bash at Vintage Cocktail Lounge, 8550 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove, (714) 462-6102; www.facebook. com/thevintagecocktaillounge. 7 p.m.

Free. 21+. —CHRIS ZIEGLER

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thu/02/15 Ain’t Love Grand?

Hearts On a Roll

Move over, Rudolph Valentino, there’s another silent cinema star we’re swooning over this Valentine’s holiday. Buster Keaton— that bug-eyed, stone-faced dreamboat who made us laugh with his extreme physical comedy and slapstick chops—will be the object of our affections at the Muckenthaler Center’s screening of Seven Chances. The film, directed by and starring Keaton, follows our hero as he scrambles to get married by 7 o’clock on his 27th birthday to receive a $7 million inheritance. His efforts sow rejection until his friends post an ad in the newspaper; soon, women all over town aggressively chase after the young man to marry him. Pianist Michael Mortilla accompanies the film live.

A Buster Keaton Valentine at the Muckenthaler Center, 1201 W. Malvern Ave., Fullerton, (714) 738-6595; themuck.org.

7:30 p.m. $25; members, $12.50; students and seniors, $16. —AIMEE MURILLO

Love is in the air—and quite likely thrusting your wheels forward in today’s light and breezy rollerskating party at Bayshore Rink. This Long Beach roller rink regularly offers classes and scrimmages for the community, but today, it’s making way for lovey-dovey couples, friend groups and whoever else is looking for a fun Valentine’s-themed evening. The Facebook event page promises more details to come, but expect a DJ spinning amorous tunes, a snack bar and a raffle for prizes, all while you and your beloveds twirl around an outdoor rink under the stars. The perfect condition to celebrate l’amour, no?

Valentine’s Heart On Wheels Party at Bayshore Rink Party, 14 54th Place, Long Beach; www.facebook.com/bayshorerinkparty.

6 p.m. $8. —AIMEE MURILLO

A Buster Keaton Valentine

Valentine’s Heart On Wheels Party

2/9 2/10 2/11

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THE MUSICAL BOX SIDE DEAL (Members of Train, Sugar Ray, & Pawnshop Kings) feat. Skunk Baxter OTTMAR LIEBERT & LUNA NEGRA 2/15 DAVE MASON 2/16 THE 5TH DIMENSION 2/17 THE DAN BAND 2/18 KATE VOEGELE TYLER HILTON 2/11 2/21 SHOVELS & ROPE SIDE DEAL 2/23 AMBROSIA 2/24 MARC SEAL 2/25 ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION / FIREFALL 2/28 TINSLEY ELLIS 3/2 KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD BAND 2/16 3/3 SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS THE 5TH 3/4 KEIKO MATSUI DIMENSION 3/6 KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD BAND 3/8 G LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE 3/9 GARY PUCKETT & THE UNION GAP 2/18 3/10 WALTER TROUT KATE VOEGELE 3/11 COMEDY NIGHT TYLER HILTON 3/16 STEVE TYRELL 3/17 ST. PATRICK’S DAY WITH THE FENIANS 3/18 JIM MESSINA 3/23 BEATLES vs STONES 3/24 CARL PALMER’S ELP LEGACY 2/21 3/25 MARTIN SEXTON SHOVELS 3/29 YONDER MOUNTAIN & ROPE STRING BAND 3/30 THE TUBES 3/31 MISSING PERSONS 4/4 ARLO GUTHRIE 4/6 BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY 4/13 MARC COHN 2/28 4/14 MELISSA MANCHESTER TINSLEY 4/15 LOS LONELY BOYS ELLIS 4/19 URIAH HEEP

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Itinerant chef Cody Storts settles down with Wreckless in Fullerton

By EdWin GoEi

B

efore I talk about the food I tried at Wreckless, the new restaurant in Fullerton by chef Cody Storts, I must mention the branded merchandise. There was an entire wall of it: T-shirts and trucker hats, shot glasses and flasks, iPhone cases and money clips, even lapel pins and socks. The Wreckless logo, a “W” formed by the tines of a fork dripping with blood, emblazoned everything that was on sale.

It was a bit confusing. After all, this isn’t some established institution such as In-N-Out or a clothing-brand-turnedrestaurant such as Tommy Bahama.

Open scarcely two months, Wreckless is just the latest trendy eatery in a town that has seen a lot of trendy eateries. To me, it all seemed kind of presumptuous.

It would make more sense if those T-shirts had Storts’ name on it. The chef himself is something of a name brand.

He is, at this point, quite well-known in foodie circles because he has cooked at as many restaurants as a twentysomething has Tinder dates.

If you’ve dined anywhere in Orange County in the past five years, chances are you’ve eaten his food. He’s jumped around so often and spearheaded so many concepts, it’s hard to keep up.

The last time I encountered him was three years ago at Grits Fullerton; I went because I knew he was cooking there.

Since then, he’s served a stint as the executive chef at Tempo Urban Kitchen and Salt & Ash after that before settling at Wreckless, where he’s currently listed as the executive chef and co-owner. That noncommittal currently isn’t my word choice, by the way; that’s actually what it says on his bio on the restaurant’s website.

So when my server started to explain that everything on the menu might not be here tomorrow, I began thinking it could also apply to the chef. That would be a shame because in Wreckless, Storts has created a restaurant that feels as if it’s meant to stand through the ages. Or at least that’s what I saw. The bar is decked out in expensive Italian marble, and the restaurant’s name is etched on all the plates and cutlery. You have to be pretty damn sure of your staying power if you’re going to do that.

Judging from the night I went, Wreckless’ confidence is not misplaced. It was packed. People without reservations were being turned away, which is noteworthy because Wreckless is not an inexpensive restaurant. A 28-ounce porterhouse here will set you back $75. A dish of egg noodles showered with Italian truffles runs

CHOWDAH!

Funky Suds THE GOOD BEER CO. 309 W. Fourth St., Santa Ana, (714) 7142988; www.thegoodbeerco.com.

F

EDWIN GOEI

$45. It’s the kind of place where you can and should order ahead your chocolate soufflé dessert.

If it seems that Storts is going for broke here, it wouldn’t be the first time. From what I remember of his cooking at Grits, he’s a risk taker who isn’t afraid to experiment and turn things inside-out. A dish called “escargot toast” is exactly what I expected to see on his menu.

He starts with a thick slice of soft brioche crusted with pecorino—a cross between the cheese toast at Sizzler and something you drown with maple syrup for breakfast. Then he douses the bread with a sauce made of herbs, garlic, shallots and lemon, topping it with about a half-dozen pieces of the snail meat.

If I didn’t end up liking the escargot as much as the toast, it’s because the snails weren’t dripping in the butter and garlic that usually masks their muddiness. But in an appetizer that costs $21, I realized it really shouldn’t have been the bread that I enjoyed more than the featured ingredient.

For a buck more, I could’ve ordered another plate of the smoked pork belly, one of the cheapest dishes Storts makes.

Weighing at least a pound and meant to be eaten as a steak, it’s the biggest slab of belly I’d ever seen served in a restaurant.

It’s also the tastiest. Brined, smoked, then crisped so that the attached rind crackled, this was baby back ribs with benefits.

And when I ate the blubber as though it were pig Jell-O, a guilty tingle went up my spine—both from pleasure and the realization I just ate the equivalent of 12 slices of bacon.

If you want your money’s worth in ocean critters, the seafood chowder has almost all of them, including a deep-fried softshell crab on top of soup containing more species than I care to name. It, too, comes in a custom bowl with “Wreckless” printed on it. I hope Wreckless lasts with or without Storts because if it doesn’t, it’ll be impossible to auction off any of that china.

WRECKLESS 136 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, (714) 519-3179; www.wreckless.us. Open Tues.-Thurs., 4 p.m.-midnight; Fri., 4 p.m.1 a.m.; Sat., 9 a.m.-1 a.m.; Sun., 9 a.m.11 p.m. Entrées, $22-$75. Full bar.

rom the outside, the Good Beer Co. in downtown Santa Ana resembles a nondescript storefront, but walk inside the former Phillips Block livery stable, and you’re suddenly in a working brewery with stacks of wooden barrels and towering vats of beer, all surrounded by beautiful exposed brick. Dating back to the 1800s, the space was once home to horses, then abandoned and boarded up in the 1980s. But thanks to husband-andwife team Brandon Fender and Robyn Spevacek—and the resurgence of chefdriven restaurants, coffee shops and food halls—it’s now found a new life.

When the couple opened Good Beer in September 2014, West Coast-style IPAs were all the rage, but Fender took a different route, brewing mostly farmhouse, Saisons and sours. This being a working brewery, customers have the chance to watch Fender and his crew chopping and slicing vast amounts of fruit for brews; whether it’s apples, oranges or nectarines, Good Beer doesn’t skimp on the amount or quality of its ingredients.

While Same to You—a 7 percent ABV IPA using Citra, Centennial and Columbus hops—is full-bodied and deliciously hoppy, with enough bite to satisfy, everything else on Good Beer’s menu is on the lighter side. I tried the extremely smooth Viejo, a 5 percent ABV farmhouse ale that uses copious amounts of Cara Cara oranges for a refreshing complexity. And the Solera is a 5 percent ABV farmhouse that is aged in oak barrels with lemon and lavender.

Open Thursday through Sunday, the Good Beer tasting room is comfortable and equipped with plenty of board games.

Plus, you’re welcome to bring in your own food; Fourth Street Market offers plenty of choices, but Calle Cuatro is a foodie paradise, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding something to nosh on.

LETTERS@OCWEEKLY.COM

ROBERT FLORES

BRUNCH SO HARD.

RICE WITH SPICE

CYNTHIA REBOLLEDO

SATURDAY, MARCH 10TH FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS LAGUNA BEACH

Of North and South

Southern spice and Indo-Chinese food at Godavari

W

HoleInTHeWall » cynthia rebolledo

CREBOLLEDO@OCWEEKLY.COM GODAVARI 24416 Muirlands Blvd., Lake Forest, (949) 273-3327; www.godavarius.com.

TRES LECHES FRENCH TOAST

TICKET PRICES INCREASE SUNDAY FEBRUARY 11TH

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carrots, cashews, potatoes and herbs, then cooked in rich curry and almond cream sauce) are great for sharing.

Godavari also offers a variety of biryani.

Choose the hyderabadi mutton dum— mutton and rice slow-cooked, dum-style (steaming the layers of meat and rice in a pot sealed with dough)—for aromatic flavor; it’s served with raita and coconutcurry sauce. The konaseema royyala biryani’s fluffy, long-grain rice conceals plump shrimp in a spicy masala gravy— mix it all together for the perfect bite.

For layers of umami, order the Szechuan-style chitoor Chinese noodles, which incorporates fiery red chicken, Chinese broccoli, dried chiles, red chile paste and homemade egg noodles. (Be ready to suddenly have the sniffles!) The Shanghai chilli paneer is another great Indo-Chinese option: Indian cottage cheese cooked with Chinese sauces, sautéed onions and cashew nuts.

By the time you’re done eating, the capsaicin should have fully kicked in, so we recommend ending your meal with a mango lassi to tame the warmth from Godavari’s menu. Godavari’s spice-fueled ode to Indian classics, complete with complex flavors, textures and spice, hurts so good.

Febr u ar y 0 9- 15, 2 01 8

hen I asked the person I was dining with what he thought of the food, he responded, “If I stop eating, my mouth will be on fire,” referring to Godavari’s fiery fusion of IndoChinese flavors.

While most Indian restaurants specialize in Northern Indian dishes, Godavari features spiced Southern Indian cuisine, cooking up a menu of signature plates from across India—including street food and vibrant specialties native to the Indian city Kolkata and parts of Mumbai.

As you walk in, you’re welcomed into what feels like an elegant hotel lobby by smiling staff. The sprawling dining hall is filled with tables for various party sizes to accommodate the lunch buffet (available seven days a week, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.) and grand weekend buffet (noon-3 p.m.). With 33 varieties of South Indian dishes, both are a great way to sample an assortment of flavors.

The dinner menu is an encyclopedia of vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian à la carte plates served family-style.

Munch on complimentary papadum (crisp Indian wafers made from lentils) served with tamarind and mint chutney as you work your way through the menu. A great starter is rasam idly (a.k.a. idli), a soft and pillowy steamed rice-and-lentil cake drowned in rasam, a south Indian curry soup made with tamarind, tomatoes, pepper, cumin, garlic and lentils. This dish, along with chicken lollipops (marinated chicken wings deep-fried, then sautéed with herbs and spices) and malai kofta (handmade dumplings stuffed with cheese,

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H u n t i n g t o n R A M E N & S U S H I food»

Grand Opening

SEPARATE BUT EQUAL ERAN RYAN

Classic and Delicious

OPEN:

“

55 Chevy burger at the American Dream View our menu at HuntingtonRAMEN.com

Mon-Sat 11:30A - 11P 1325 E Chapman Ave Fullerton 92831 Sun 11:30A - 10P 714-213-8228

All soups are cooked for a minimum of 12 hours. Quality ramen & sushi for a fair price.

”

EatthisNow » eran ryan

as the ocean view from the eatery’s patio.

Fries don’t come with your burger, so you’ll have to order a basket of crisp potato goodness separately. If you possess more of a glass-half-full mentality, then consider it an excuse to keep them all for yourself—no judgement here.

THE AMERICAN DREAM 21058 Pacific Coast Hwy., Ste. M-130, Huntington Beach, (714) 374-1330; www.theamericandreamhb.com.

DriNkofthEwEEk

The Perfect Choice for...

Lunch

D

espite all the Instagramable food trends out there, we still yearn for traditional comfort dishes, and thankfully, the American Dream in Huntington Beach offers a classic cheeseburger with just the right amount of nostalgia while flawlessly keeping it straightforward and delicious.

Rightfully bragging about its ode to simplicity is the 55 Chevy burger. The generous helping of tender chuck beef brisket, fresh tomatoes and tangy sliced pickles is topped with melted cheese and creamy Thousand Island dressing.

Though grand in appearance, the familiar combination of flavors is anything but excessive, with each bite bringing you back to yesteryear with as much wonder

» eran ryan

Dinner

Nick of Thyme at the Blind Donkey

L Pasta Alla Vodka

Tuscan Grilled Pork Chops

EAT • REPEAT • REWARD —A MyBRIO BENEFIT—

IR VIN E SPECT R U M CE N T E R 774 SPECTRUM CENTER DR, IRVINE, CA 92618 949.341.0380 | w w w.brioitalian.com

ocals and non-locals alike flock to this underground oasis of arcade games and heavy-handed bartenders. Downtown Long Beach’s Blind Donkey offers some of the best brews and whiskey options around.

But for those willing to step away from neat pours of dark liquor, the Nick of Thyme is the way to go.

THE DRINK Blended with spicy ginger beer and an herbal fusion of honey-thyme syrup, this bourbon-based beverage tastes like a Lemonhead fell into a Long Island Iced Tea: refreshingly sweet and zippy. The summer-y cocktail will warm you up in an entirely different way than the old fashioneds and whis-

ERAN RYAN

key-gingers everyone else is drinking—and why would you visit without trying the Blind Donkey’s bourbon in every way possible?

THE BLIND DONKEY 149 Linden Ave., Long Beach, (562) 247-1511; www.theblinddonkey.com.

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S

hortly after I arrived for what would prove to be a glorious summer living, working and partying in Hawaii as a 19-yearold, a mostly Polynesian co-worker at the airport car-rental lot warned me, “If you are driving at night and see a lady in a white dress alongside the road, don’t pick her up.”

Years later, when I got around to investigating the urban legend, I discovered it was bum advice. Pele, Hawaii’s goddess of fire, is the lady in white, and you are supposed to give her a ride because she will disappear as you drive off but leave behind good luck.

There are similar apparition legends around the planet, including in Taiwan, where “The Little Girl in Red” has been spun into two successful horror films. The Tag-Along, which premiered in November 2015, became the island nation’s best-selling horror film. The Tag-Along 2, which was released last August, not only surpassed its prequel at the Taiwanese box office, but it also became the top domestic hit of 2017.

It arrived here Feb. 6 on digital and on demand and is to be released April 3 on DVD in the States.

Having not seen The Tag-Along before being offered the opportunity to watch the sequel, I accepted an offer to take in both from Cinedigm, which is distributing them in America. The Tag-Along 2 stands on its own, although if you do see the two films in order, you will better appreciate the struggle of Shen Yi-chun (Hsu Weining), who appears in both.

In The Tag-Along, Yi-chun is a modern, liberated radio personality who resists the idea of settling down with her boyfriend, Ho Chih-wei (River Huang). That’s largely because of her lack of desire to have children and her property-agent boyfriend’s clinginess to his live-in grandmother, Ho Wen Shu-fang (Liu Yin-shang), whom Yi-chun is convinced hates her.

One day, Grammy disappears, but her domestic duties—laundry, house cleaning, meal making—mysteriously continue to get

The Tag-Along 2 makes the most of a legend

BY MATT COKER

done. As Chin-wei tries desperately to find Shu-fang, he discovers on video from a neighbor’s camera that while the grandmother was on a hike, she was being trailed by a little girl dressed in red. Later, on homesecurity footage, a similar-looking young figure is seen leading Shufang out of her yard.

But suddenly, Grandma returns, and Chin-wei goes missing. That sends Yi-chun on a search that leads her to the Red Forest in the nearby mountains, “The Little Girl in Red” legend and the horrors that accompany both. I won’t give away The Tag-Along’s ending but will note a sonogram image that pops up during the end credits sets up The Tag-Along 2.

The sequel begins by focusing on different characters.

Li Shu-fen (Rainie Yang) is a social worker who discovers during a welfare check that a mysterious woman is hiding her young daughter. Lin Mei-hua (Francesca Kao) and her little girl are covered with spells written on their skin, and the mother screams bloody murder—as in that’s what will happen to her daughter—when Shu-fen forcibly separates them.

She later discovers her own daughter, teenager Li Ya-ting (Ruby Chan), is pregnant, giving the mother two mysteries to solve: Who is the daddy, and what’s up with Mei-hua, her kid and the body art?

That’s soon followed by a third mystery: Where did Ya-ting disappear to?

The mother’s search takes her to the mountains, where she discovers dad-to-be Lin Chun-kai (Wu Nien-hsuan). At least he already has a job: As the Tiger Lord, he

BEWARE THE GIRL IN RED!

COURTESY OF CINEDIGM

the movies. In 1998 Taichung, a family looking at video of a relative who had since died saw that person being followed by a little girl in red. The family member who provided a TV station with the video died shortly thereafter in a car crash. That same year in the same area, a driver followed a little girl in red, but she suddenly disappeared in heavy mountain fog. The driver almost careened off a cliff after a sharp turn. A massive search was launched in Hualien in 2014, when an 80-year-old woman went missing during a trip. Found under a giant rock five days into the search, the woman explained she had been taken there by a little girl in red.

Keep your good luck; I ain’t picking up anybody.

MCOKER@OCWEEKLY.COM THE TAG-ALONG 2 was directed by Cheng Wei-hao; written

by Chien Shih-keng; and stars Rainie Yang, Francesca Kao and Hsu Wei-ning. Now available on iTunes, Amazon, other digital platforms and cable-TV on-demand.

| OCWEEKLY.COM |

writhes around on all fours like a bloodhound, uncovering metaphysical clues— and one of Ya-ting’s shoes. That leads Shufen to an abandoned hospital, the pregnant and formerly missing Yi-chun (’member her from the prequel?), and the sad news that Chin-wei and Shu-fang had died.

A babbling mess when Shu-fen meets her, Yi-chun will join with Mei-hua to help Shu-fen find Ya-ting at—where else?—the Red Forest.

The casts of both films make the worldly and otherworldly believable. In these #MeToo, Time’s Up, post-Weinstein days, it’s refreshing to see the three main characters of The Tag-Along 2 are women, and none is called upon to be a sex symbol. It helps that the actors have, in Cheng Weihao, a director who in both films expertly amps up the human emotion, supernatural surprises and assorted freakiness. Credit also the imaginative scripts from Chien Shih-keng, who got an assist from co-writer Yang Wan-ju on the prequel.

Perhaps the most frightening thing of all are the true-life incidents that informed

MO NT H X X – XX , 20 14

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Girl (in Red) Power

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» aimee murillo

Trash Can Scholar

A crucial space for projects inhabits the lower level of the Santora Arts Building in Santa Ana

BY Dave BarTon

“I

don’t have time to go to LA,” admits Christian Ramirez, by way of explaining that curating is a “selfish” art. “Managing a gallery, I can curate shows for the work I want to see here in Santa Ana.” Ramirez is speaking about Basement Projects, the gallery he runs in the lower level of the Santora Arts Building, though he doesn’t use that word to describe it. To him, it’s a “space for projects”—sometimes visual, sometimes performance. He leaves it open to whatever seems right at the time.

Clicking on the “new work” link of at www.christianramirezstudio.com leads to a dark self-portrait, Ramirez’s eyes resembling two chunks of coal resting in the sockets of his bearded face, and knife fight, with its two brown arms locked in a swastika of blades and leather gloves. Go to his blog or the “BASEMENT PROJECTS” link, and the scope of what’s been done over the past 14 months is pretty impressive. He has hosted 13 events, including music, zines, pop-ups, sculpture, solo and group shows, but here’s the impressive part: 47 women artists have taken part, as opposed to 43 men, with a third of the artists people of color.

Subsidized by his full-time job as the Laguna College of Art + Design (LCAD) associate director of admissions, he’s not getting rich running the space. “Making money is something in the future,” he tells me, nonchalantly. Any remuneration he receives is from doing the work to highlight the artists he sees on studio visits, as well as the chance to expose newly established LCAD students after they’ve graduated.

I’m meeting with Ramirez and his colleague Vonn Sumner a week before the hang of their show “The Trash Can School,” and the space is still empty. It’s just concrete floors and clean white surfaces, their words ping-ponging against the walls as they speak.

A

COURTESY OF BASEMENT PROJECTS

Ramirez doesn’t give up: “Okay. A curator with a small ‘c’!”

He worked as an assistant to artist Wayne Thiebaud, whom he considers a mentor, as well as a kindred spirit in the light touch he takes with his paintings.

(Based on his website, Sumner’s work is primarily figurative, many of the images parodic self-portraits. Filled with props such as odd hats, masks and even cigarettes, they resemble a commedia dell’arte with brushstrokes and are right at home with the whimsy of Thiebaud’s gumball machines and clown-faced ice cream cones.) “[He’s] a great example of someone teaching, not just picking up a paycheck,” Sumner says.

“Wayne is one of those people that cares about the subject, the student, the process.”

Sumner and Ramirez finally settle on a description of themselves as “working artists”: people that work a day gig, but still have a studio practice.

S

umner took his inspiration for “The Trash Can School” from the Ashcan School movement of a century prior. The artists from that group focused on social issues and the working class, and they had a strong affinity for the disenfranchised, primarily immigrants, a subject close to Ramirez’s heart. It also played well with Sumner’s fascination with garbage bins: “I like their beat-up patina.” Nineteen artists, including local favorites Averi

Endow, LG Williams and Thiebaud, were invited to participate and given free rein to paint what they wanted, just so long as it included a trashcan. “Some people took that more literally than others,” he says.

The can is more than just Sumner’s obsession; it’s a symbol of conspicuous consumption, what happens at the end of a process in which we buy and accumulate, then have to eliminate what we’ve gathered around us . . . or have it taken away from us. Ramirez reminds us of the recent reports from Credit Suisse that the 1 percent of the world’s super-rich now have half of the world’s money, a rise of 7 percent since the 2008 market crash. That subject—money-making or the lack of it—rears its head again, as is often the case when talking with creatives, even when it’s someone as established as Sumner, who has a pretty full career as an exhibiting artist. “You do it for the love of the thing, and I love artists,” he says. “It’s like food—make it with love, [and] it’s going to taste better. [Do it, and] my faith is that some of that will show up.”

“THE TRASH CAN SCHOOL” at Basement Projects, 207 N. Broadway, Santa Ana; www.basementprojectsdtsa. com. For more information or to view the show by appointment, contact info@ basementprojectsdtsa.com. Through Feb. 24. Free.

W

ith the short winter season good as gone, we’re already looking ahead to spring fashion forecasts; the first release to make news this year is the collaboration between Herschel Supply Co. and Mission Viejo-based textile manufacturer Hoffman California Fabrics. The old-school accessory retailer recruited the legendary Hoffman to bring a stylish, retro-surf vibe for its Spring ’18 collection, which includes duffel bags, wallets, hats, outerwear and backpacks.

Hoffman, which is celebrating 90 years in business, designed three different colorful patterns for the collection—wavy zigzag, crossword and screenprinted surfer images.

With their neon color schemes and juxtaposition on the fabric, they harken back to ’80s surf culture. As Herschel Supply’s Design Director Jon Warren said via press release, though the company aimed for a Hawaiianinspired look, it opted to stray from the Magnum P.I. clichés to instead “reflect the neon and pattern-clashing of that time period.”

Although the overall collection screams more Southern California than Hawaii, I’m loving it for its bright colors and pattern medley. The merchandise itself is typical of Herschel’s regular rotation of well-crafted, functional products, especially when it comes to accessories. The Strand duffel bag allows the Hoffman patterns to be on wider display; its slim, boxy shape allows for easy storage, yet features multiple pockets and compartments for maximal use. The various wallet styles each include an RFID-blocking layer to prevent scammers from wirelessly stealing valuable payment-card information while you’re on the go.

The entire collection is available online (www.herschelsupply.com), but its official launch happens with a party this Saturday at Curl Surf in Downtown Disney. Get there early to nab your favorite accessories, as the first 200 guests will receive an exclusive limited-edition tote bag, while others can vie for a custom Herschel x Hoffman surfboard emblazoned with the zigzag print, take Polaroid photos and listen to live music. Now, that’s how you make waves!

AMURILLO@OCWEEKLY.COM HERSCHEL X HOFFMAN LAUNCH EVENT at Curl Surf, 1570 Disneyland Dr., Anaheim, (714) 772-2410; curlsurf.com.

Sat., 1-9 p.m.

COURTESY OF HERSCHEL SUPPLY COMPANY

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professor of painting at Fullerton College, Sumner was invited by Ramirez to curate a show. With limited experience, Sumner gave the idea some thought, then agreed because artists make better curators.

I toss out the idea that I don’t know how true that is, since artists routinely don’t know how to talk about their own work, and a curator’s job is to basically, well, talk about the work they’re curating.

“You’re a curator now,” says Ramirez.

“No, I’m a painter . . . and a curator,” argues Sumner.

CANNY OR UNCANNY?

Surf Fashion’s Up!

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music»artists|sounds|shows KING OF QUEENS

Humbled Before the Throne

ANDREAS NEUMANN

Through highs and lows of rock-stardom, Josh Homme refuses to quit

By Jimmy AlvArez

J

osh Homme has been in music since he was a baby. He formed his first band at age 12, and since then, he’s worked with some of the biggest names on the planet.

In 1996, Homme founded Queens of the Stone Age, and in ’98, the band released their self-titled debut. The first single from their third album, Songs for the Deaf, was “No One Knows,” but their first mega-hit was “Little Sister,” from their fourth album, Lullabies to Paralyze.

The band—Homme (lead vocals, guitar), Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar, keys), Michael Shuman (bass), Dean Fertita (keys/synthesizers) and Jon Theodore (drums)— have been described as a bubbling cauldron of alt-rock, stoner rock, alt-metal, hard rock and, by Homme, “robot rock.”

While Queens might be Homme’s most famous project, he’s been involved with numerous other bands, including Arctic Monkeys and Biffy Clyro. In ’98, he cofounded Eagles of Death Metal (EoDM) with his close friend Jesse Hughes.

(Homme now drums with EoDM only occasionally because of other commitments.) In 2009, Homme, John Paul Jones and the biggest Foo of them all, Dave Grohl, put together Them Crooked Vultures; the trio won a Grammy for Best

Hard Rock Performance. The only thing that could possibly top that was working with his childhood idol Iggy Pop on the punk legend’s seminal 2016 Grammynominated release, Post Pop Depression.

Anyone can be the coolest dude on earth when everything is going their way, but it’s the challenges that bring out character. In 2010, Homme suffered from complications from a botched knee surgery. During that procedure, his heart stopped from asphyxiation for about 10 minutes; a defibrillator was needed to revive him. As a result of this life-changing experience, he was bedridden for four months. During that time, he plunged into a deep depression and considered giving everything up.

He also contracted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an infection his immune system could not fight because of stress. Homme credits his support system and transcendental meditation with helping him to recover.

Perhaps it was his near-death experience that made Homme acutely aware of the fragility of life. Or maybe it was trauma from the horrific terrorist shooting at the Bataclan Theater in Paris during an EoDM performance in 2015 (though he actually wasn’t there at the

time, he worried for the fate of his band mates and concert-goers). Whatever it is, he displays character when character is needed—and he does so while playing kickass rock & roll.

Queens’ seventh studio album, Villians, was released on Aug. 25, 2017, and offered the über-hit “The Way You Used to Do” and “The Evil Has Landed.” Its producer, Mark Ronson, is best known for his work with artists including Amy Winehouse and Bruno Mars. The tunes are slick and danceable.

What’s the takeaway from all this? Suffice it to say, there are a bazillion bands that would be so lucky to have the career Queens have had. This didn’t happen overnight, it took years of hard work.

It’s relatively safe to say life is good for Homme these days. He married rock goddess Brody Dalle, best known as the founder and lead singer of the Distillers.

The couple live in Palm Springs with their three kids. They believe their good fortune is a process they’ve worked on, not a state of being that was just handed to them.

As fate would have it, life took a turn for Homme last year that made him his own worst enemy. During Queens’ performance at the KROQ Acoustic Christ-

mas show at the Forum in Los Angeles, Homme kicked photographer Chelsea Lauren. Shortly after the show, he apologized for what he did. However, it came across as somewhat dismissive and insincere. The intent may have been heartfelt, but the delivery flopped. Homme received a ton of backlash for the incident and the lack of remorse in his message.

In another apology, this time delivered directly to the photographer, Homme said, “I was a dick, and I’m truly sorry, and I hope you’re okay. . . . I don’t have any excuse or reason to justify what I did. . . . I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, and last night was definitely one of them.

And I apologize for that to you.”

Homme has lost some business deals after this event, but the personal impact is what he reflects on most. He took responsibility for his actions, and he gave a heartfelt apology. Hopefully, this will be a learning experience for Homme, and in time, we can all go back to talking about his music.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE perform at the Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, (310) 330-7300; theforum. arenainglewood.com. Feb. 17, 8 p.m. $34-$59. All ages.

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music»

WESTMINSTER ROCKERS

Rolling Heavy

COURTESY OF BIG RIG DOLLHOUSE

Big Rig Dollhouse have no choice but to be rock’s next big thing

R STEEL PANTHER • 3/2

X AMBASSADORS • 5/11

ob Castle had no choice but to go big, especially after he decided he’d never go home. The heavily tatted, 31-year-old rocker from Southampton, England, is following his musical dreams into oblivion on the hope that things may not work out perfectly, but sometimes better than expected.

For his band Big Rig Dollhouse, that has certainly been the case. What started as a long-distance relationship between Castle and an American girl turned into a Stateside living situation for the singer/ guitarist. When the relationship ended, he decided to stay on this side of the pond, visas be damned. “I ended up saying, ‘Fuck it; I’m staying, whether it’s the proper way or not,’” he says.

He’d had a fine life as a musician back in England, but by the time he decided to settle in the U.S., he was ready to give up music to focus on his self-made business making leather crafts for rock stars such as Ozzy Osbourne and Billy Idol, something he fell into through various connections in the music industry. “It was fight or flight because staying here, I could either be a construction worker or try to put my artistic stuff to some use,” he says.

It wasn’t until he moved from Hollywood to the hippie haven of Sunset Beach that the members of his current band wandered into his life and inspired him to sing and play again.

After a little more than a year together, Big Rig Dollhouse’s ’70s rock has busted through the boredom of dozens of local bars and clubs from LA to OC. Castle and his crew (guitarist Jarett Glodt, drummer Brian Dropkin and bassist Ty Tryon) shacked up in Westminster to write songs and eventually booked 125 shows in the past year to help them make a name for themselves in the rock scene. “We’ve only just now got a record together. . . . I guess we sorta forgot about that,” says Castle, referring to their

By Nate JacksoN recently released EP, The Moon, which was produced by Cameron Webb, Motörhead’s longtime man behind the boards.

Their sound doesn’t so much reinvent the wheel as it uses its heaviness to steamroll the band’s way into positive opportunities.

Webb was one of the first people in OC to realize their potential. Castle had met him while visiting his pal and fellow Englishman Lemmy Kilmister at Webb’s Maple Studios in Santa Ana. “I would speak to Lem briefly in the studio, but what I was always in awe of is what Cameron could do,” Castle says.

“He was just able to bring something out in someone that made them believe in themselves more than they already did.”

For Big Rig Dollhouse’s EP, Webb and the band cranked out songs that run the gamut from catchy rollickers such as “Hell to Me” to the somber “The Moon,” which Castle says was inspired by being away from home.

Though it seems out of character for a wild rock band to name their album after their slowest song, it’s a style choice that rings true to the band.

“Everything will become apparent when we release the rest of the record,” Castle says, hinting at an impending LP release. “There’s a certain aspect of mysticism we like to keep that keeps everyone on their toes.”

With a swath of shows, new music and record label interest on the horizon, Castle’s decision to go big with the band is getting more real every time they hit the stage.

“We do wanna be the best rock & roll band and be like an atom bomb waiting to go off,” he says. “I’m in a position where I can’t go home, so I do wanna make a big explosion, and I wanna be able to bring it on home.”

NJACKSON@OCWEEKLY.COM BIG RIG DOLLHOUSE perform at the Regal Inn, 6763 E. Carson St., Lakewood, (562) 425-9038. Fri., 7 p.m. Free. 21+.

AYALA: SQUEEZE BOX ROMEO?

Friday

THE BASHDOGS; SPENDTIME PALACE; PROFESSOR COLOMBO: 8 p.m., $7, all ages.

Constellation Room, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 957-0600; www.constellationroom.com.

BLACK PUSSY; THE FREEKS; VULTURES UNITED; GRAND OLD EVILS: 8 p.m., $5, 21+.

The Wayfarer, 843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa, (949) 7640039; www.wayfarercm.com.

THE KILLERS VS. THE STROKES: tribute bands, 7 p.m., free, all ages. Slidebar Rock-n-Roll Kitchen, 122 E. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, (714) 871-7469; www.slidebarfullerton.com.

MAJID JORDAN: 8:30 p.m., $35. The Observatory, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 957-0600; www.observatoryoc.com.

NEW AMERICAN; OF LIMBO; DRUGS IN THE ALLEY: 8 p.m., free, 21+. Slidebar Rock-n-Roll

Kitchen, 122 E. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, (714) 871-7469; www.slidebarfullerton.com.

UNA NOCHE ROMANTICA CON RAMON AYALA Y LORENZO MONTECARLO: 8 p.m., $50-

Saturday

THE DELTA BOMBERS; RESTAVRANT; HARDSHIP ANCHORS: 8 p.m., $10, 21+. Alex’s Bar, 2913 E. Anaheim

St., Long Beach, (562) 434-8292; www.alexsbar.com.

THE HIGH CURBS; TUNNELS; INDIGO STATE; BEAR CALL: 8 p.m., $5, 21+. The Wayfarer,

843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa, (949) 764-0039; www.wayfarercm.com.

LOVE AFFAIR CONCERT, WITH THE MANHATTANS; DENIECE WILLIAMS; ROSE ROYCE; BLOODSTONE; AND MORE: 7:30 p.m.,

$30-$75, all ages. Honda Center, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim; www.hondacenter.com.

1126 Queens Hwy., Long Beach, (877) 342-0738; www.observatoryoc.com.

RIVALS; HAIL SAGAN: 8 p.m., free, 21+. Slidebar Rock-n-Roll Kitchen, 122 E. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, (714) 871-7469; www.slidebarfullerton.com.

UNA NOCHE ROMANTICA CON RAMON AYALA Y LORENZO MONTECARLO: 8 p.m., $50-

$60, all ages. House of Blues at Anaheim GardenWalk, 400 W. Disney Way, Anaheim, (714) 778-2583; www.houseofblues.com/anaheim.

BEER & HYMNS: 6:30 p.m., $10, 21+. The Wayfarer,

843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa, (949) 764-0039; www.wayfarercm.com.

LAURYN HILL: 11 p.m., $60, all ages. The Observatory, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 957-0600; www.observatoryoc.com.

ONE LOVE CALI REGGAE FEST, WITH NAS; BEN HARPER; IRATION; AND MORE:

11 a.m., $70-$275, all ages. Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Hwy., Long Beach, (877) 342-0738; www.observatoryoc.com.

Monday

CAIFANES: 8 p.m., $75, all ages. The Observatory,

3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 957-0600; www.observatoryoc.com.

LANITARIANS; THESE PILGRIMS; JERRY & THE REST: 8 p.m., free, 21+. The Wayfarer, 843 W.

19th St., Costa Mesa, (949) 764-0039; www.wayfarercm.com.

WedneSday

ANTHRAX; KILLSWITCH ENGAGE: 6 p.m., $35, all

ages. House of Blues at Anaheim GardenWalk, 400 W. Disney Way, Anaheim, (714) 778-2583; www.houseofblues.com/anaheim .

CAIFANES: 8 p.m., $75, all ages. The Observatory, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 957-0600; www.observatoryoc.com.

DOROTHY: call for show time, $20-$70, all ages. The Observatory, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 957-0600; www.observatoryoc.com.

MALIA CIVETS; L.A. EDWARDS; TAYLOR CRAWFORD: 8 p.m., free, 21+. The Wayfarer,

843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa, (949) 764-0039; www.wayfarercm.com.

thurSday, Feb. 15

CHASE RICE: 7 p.m., $30-$35, all ages. House of

Blues at Anaheim GardenWalk, 400 W. Disney Way, Anaheim, (714) 778-2583; www.houseofblues.com/anaheim.

CHUCK RAGAN: 8 p.m., free, 21+. Slidebar Rock-n-Roll Kitchen, 122 E. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, (714) 871-7469; www.slidebarfullerton.com.

KIMBRA; KING; ARC IRIS: 8 p.m., $30, all ages. The Observatory, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 957-0600; www.observatoryoc.com.

VALLEY QUEEN; JOACHIM COODER: 8 p.m., $12, 21+. The Wayfarer, 843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa, (949) 764-0039; www.wayfarercm.com.

| ocweekly.com |

ONE LOVE CALI REGGAE FEST, WITH REBELUTION; ATMOSPHERE; IRATION; AND MORE: 11 a.m., $70-$275, all ages. Queen Mary,

COURTESY OF RAMÓN AYALA

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$60, all ages. House of Blues at Anaheim GardenWalk, 400 W. Disney Way, Anaheim, (714) 778-2583; www.houseofblues.com/anaheim.

Sunday

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Showing Up How does one get into the gay BDSM bottoming and leather scene?

Seeking Answers Concerning Kink One shows up, SACK. “Eighty percent of success is just showing up,” someone or other once said. The adage applies to romantic/sexual success as well as professional success, SACK, but showing up easily accounts for 90 percent of success in the BDSM/ leather/fetish scene. (Being a decent human being accounts for the other 110 percent*.) Because if you aren’t showing up in kink spaces—online or IRL—your fellow kinksters won’t be able to find or bind you. But you don’t have to take my word for it. . . .

“The leather scene is a diverse place with tons of outlets and avenues, depending on how you navigate your life and learn,” said Amp from Watts the Safeword (wattsthesafeword. com), a kink and sex-ed website and YouTube channel.

“When I was first getting started, I found a local leather contingent that held monthly bar nights and discussion groups that taught classes for kinksters at any level. It provided an easy way into the community, and it helped me meet new people, make new friends and find trustworthy play partners. If you’re a tad shy and work better online, these contingents have Facebook groups or FetLife pages you can join. And YouTube has a channel for everyone in the kink spectrum from gay to straight to trans to nonbinary and beyond!”

“Recon.com is a great option for gay men,” said Metal from the gay male-bondage website MetalbondNYC.com.

“It’s a site where you can create a profile, window-shop for a play buddy and ‘check his references.’ Even better, if you can, go to a public event such as IML, MAL or CLAW, or to a play party such as the New York Bondage Club, where you can participate in a monitored space with other people around, or just watch the action. Don’t forget the motto ‘safe, sane and consensual,’ and be sure to have a safe word! And if you do want to explore bondage, take precautions. Never get tied up in your own home by someone you don’t know. If you go to his or her place, always tell a trusted friend where you are going. And when hooking up online, never use Craigslist.”

“Be cautious,” said Ruff of Ruff’s Stuff blog. “There are people out there who view ‘kink newbies’ as prey.

Any time anyone—top or bottom—wants to rush into a power-exchange scene, that’s a red flag. Always get to know a person first. A good-quality connection with any potential playmate is achieved only through communication. If they are not interested in doing the legwork, they’re not the right person for you.”

Follow Metal on Twitter @MetalbondNYC, Amp @Pup_Amp, and Ruff @RuffsStuffBlog. * Math is hard.

I’m a 28-year-old bi-curious female, and I ended a three-year straight LTR a month ago. It’s been tough— my ex is a great guy, and causing him pain has been a loss on top of my own loss, but I know I did the right thing. Among other things, our sex life was bland and we had infrequent sex at best. Now I want to experiment, explore nonmonogamy, and have crazy and fulfilling sex with whoever tickles my fancy. I met a new guy two weeks ago, and the sex is incredible.

We also immediately clicked and became friends. The problem? I suspect he wants a romantic relationship.

He says he’s open to my terms—open/fuck-buddy situation—but things have quickly become relationshipish. I like him, but I can’t realistically picture us being a good LTR match. I’m hoping we can figure out something in between—something like a sexual friendship in which we enjoy and support each other and experiment together without tying ourselves down—but I have found very little evidence of such undefined relationships working without someone getting hurt. I am sick of hurting people! Any advice?

Hoping Open Peaceful Experiences Feel Unlike Loss

SavageLove » dan savage

If “someone might get hurt” is the standard you’re going to apply to all future relationships—if it’s a deal breaker— then you shouldn’t date or fuck anyone else ever again, HOPEFUL, because there’s always a chance someone is going to get hurt. The fact that hurt is always a possibility is no excuse for hurting others needlessly or maliciously; we should be thoughtful and conscientious about other people’s feelings. We should also remember that no one is clairvoyant and that someone can hurt us without intending to. But there’s no intimate human connection, sexual or otherwise, that doesn’t leave us open to hurting or being hurt.

So fuck this guy, HOPEFUL, on your own terms—but don’t be too quick to dismiss the possibility of an LTR. Great sex and a good friendship make up a solid foundation. You’re aware that nonmonogamous relationships are an option— and couples can explore nonmonogamy together. If you can have this guy and have your sexual adventures, too—this could be the start of something big.

I’m a mid-20s, above-average-looking gay dude into spanking guys. The weird thing is, the only guys I can find to spank are straight. It’s not that they’re closeted—most of them go on to have girlfriends, and that’s when we stop—and they make it clear they don’t want anything sexual to happen. No complaints on my end! But why don’t they want a woman spanking them?

Seriously Perplexed And Needing Knowledge How do you know their new girlfriends don’t start spanking them when you stop? And how do you know they aren’t closing their eyes and imagining that you’re a woman when you’re spanking them? And how do you know they’re not bi—at least where spankings are concerned? (Also: There are tons of gay guys out there into spanking, SPANK. So if you aren’t finding any, I can only conclude that you aren’t looking.)

I’m wondering about the application of the term “bear” to a straight man such as myself. I’m a bigger guy with a lot of body hair and a beard. I love that in the gay community, there is a cute term for guys like me reflecting body positivity. For us straight dudes, however, being big and hairy means getting thought of as an ape—big, dumb, smelly oafs. While I can be dumb, smelly and oafish at times (like anyone), I’d also like to have a way to describe myself that is masculine yet attractive. Bear is a great term, but I’m concerned about being insensitive in appropriating it. I haven’t asked my gay/bear friends about it (though they’ve referred to me as a bear on occasion) because I’m afraid I won’t get a straight answer (no pun intended).

Would it be okay for me to refer to myself as a bear, or, as a highly privileged straight cis male, do I need to accept the fact that I can’t have everything and maybe leave something alone for fucking once?

Hetero Ape Inquiring Respectfully, Yup “If you want to be a bear, BE A BEAR!” said Brendan Mack, an organizing member of XL Bears (xlbears. org), a social group for bears and their admirers.

“DO YOU! There isn’t anything appropriative about a straight guy using the term ‘bear’ to describe himself—it’s a body type, it’s a lifestyle, and it’s celebrating yourself. Gay, straight, hairy, smooth, fat, muscled—bear is a state of mind. It’s body acceptance.

It’s acceptance of who you are. So if you want to be a bear, WELCOME TO THE WOODS!” Matt Bee, the promoter behind Bearracuda Worldwide (bearracuda.com), seconded Mack.

“The term ‘bear,’ like any other animal descriptor, is a pretty playful one to begin with. Please, by all means, use it and any other well-meaning word to describe yourself!”

On the Lovecast (savagelovecast.com), the robots are making your porn! Contact Dan via email at mail@savagelove.net, follow him on Twitter @fakedansavage, and visit ITMFA.org.

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alt med» TOKEOFTHEWEEK » MARY CARREON

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The Scratch & Sniff Book of Weed here’s a lot to know about weed, but reading small-print books about the techTnicalities of the cannabis plant isn’t always

COURTESY OF MATLINS & EPSTEIN

hybrids. Several nug pictures have scratchand-sniff stickers. When I opened up to the page, it smelled so much of weed that I actually thought it was the herb I had nearby making the stink—not the book.

Matlins and Epstein also cover why cannabis gives you the munchies, how weed affects your sex life, the role of cannabis in culture and how smelling peppercorns can apparently hack your THC buzz. With hilarious animations of activists holding signs that read, “Weed is safer than McDonalds,” The Scratch & Sniff Book of Weed is a lighthearted primer for herbal newbies.

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easy (or alluring) when you’re stoned. Thankfully, a tome now exists that activates multiple senses, making it easy to stay engaged, even if you’re more lit than a birthday cake.

On the surface, The Scratch & Sniff Book of Weed by Seth Matlins and Eve Epstein (available via Amazon, $17.96) seems like a children’s book, with its colorful, thick, cardboard pages. But the content is actually informative—like, really informative.

It starts by giving a brief history of the herb, dating back to 2700 B.C., when pioneering herbalist and emperor Shen Nung first classified cannabis in his prehistoric Chinese pharmacopeia. It touches on the Gutenberg Bible of 1454, which was written on hemp. The timeline mentions that cannabis was used to relieve pain in America in the 1900s, but in 1937, the “Marihuana Tax Act,” written by Harry Anslinger (the enemy), was enacted, making weed a federal offense. A few pages later is a diagram of different strains divided by sativas, indicas and

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195 Position Wanted Architectural Drafter Analyze bldg electrical, technical rqmnts, mechanical plans & integrate them in architectural, space designs.

Prep drawings for bldgs. per sketches, electrical engineering calculations, specs sheets, data. Lay out, coordinate UPS & HVAC equipment installation using CAD & software.

Bachelor in Architecture/Architectural Engineering + 1 yrs. exp. on the job. 40hrs/wk. Fax resume to (949) 888-2416. Fakouri Electrical Engineering, Inc., Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. International Logistics Manager: direct logistics activities, BA/BS in busi. admin., acctng. or rltd; 40hrs/wk; Send resume to Friendship Transport, Inc. Attn: HR, 370 Amapola Ave., Ste. 218, Torrance, CA 90501 Interested candidates send resume to: Google Inc., PO Box 26184 San Francisco, CA 94126 Attn: A. Johnson.

Please reference job # below: #1615.10210 Exp Incl: C++ or Java; Unix or Linux; data structures, algorithms, & complexity analysis; SQL; HTML, Javascript, XML, or PHP; & sw dev.

Assist Sr. Accountant w/ financial document preparation. Req’d: Bachelor’s in Accountancy. Mail resume: JP Accountancy Co., Inc., 6281 Beach Blvd., #215, Buena Park, CA 90621

Senior SAP Solution Developer sought by Applied Medical Resources Corporation, a medical device dvlpr & mftr (dsgn/dvlp/ responsible for full life cycle implmtn of Web DynproABAP). Bach's deg in Comp Sci, Mgmt Info Systems or related IT field or related w/ 5 yrs exp. Job loc: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. E-mail resume to SAPCAREER@ appliedmedical.com.

Industrial Engineer (Cypress, CA) Plan and establish utilization of resource for industrial/commercial energy saving products.

Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering. Resume to: OMNI Imagine Inc. 10701 Holder St, Cypress, CA 90630 Chief Editor: F/T; e-Sports Magazine: Responsible for the final production of the company; Req. 3 yrs of exp. in job offered or related; Mail resume to: Inven Global English, LLC, 1621 Alton Pkwy Suite 250, Irvine, CA 92606 Speech-Language Pathologist, mail resume to Progress Speech and Language Pathology, Inc., 217 W. Cerritos, Anaheim, CA 92805.

ADATA Technology (USA) Co., Ltd. seeks Product Marketing Analyst. Mstrs. in Bus. Admin., Mktg., Communication or IT reqd. 12 mth. exp. in any job title involv. product analysis of computer peripheral devices. Collaborate w/ HQ re product design. Work site: Brea, CA. Mail resumes to: 880 Columbia St., Brea, CA 92821 Siya Inc. d/b/a Sona Enterprises seeks Computer Programmer. BA in CS reqrd. 6 mth exp. in any job title involving working w/comp. algorithms reqd.

Automate bus. processes, update comp. programs, fix errors. Work site: Santa Fe Springs, CA. Mail resumes to Sonal Patel, 10233 Palm Dr., Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670.

Accounting Clerk: Compute, classify, record accounting data into ledger. Req’d: Bachelor's in Bus. Admin., Accounting or related. Mail Resume: Core Pro Advisor 6281 Beach Blvd., Suite 305, Buena Park, CA 90621 CH2M Hill, Inc.; Geotechnical Engineer, Santa Ana, CA: Geotechnical engg include planning & site characterization, design of facilities, & construction inspection.

Mail resume to: Shelly Saitta, CH2M HILL, 9191 S. Jamaica St., Englewood, CO 80112; Job ID: 17-CA2102 BRANCH OPERATIONS MANAGER Kaeser Compressors, Inc. seeks Branch Operations Manager. Job is located in Cypress.CA. Must have B.A. degree or equivalent in Business Administration or related field. Apply at www.us.kaeser.com. Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/Disability Market Research Analyst: Apply by mail to JS Alliance Corp., 540 Porter Way, Placentia, CA 92870, attn.

President.

Graphic Designer: Design mktg & ad materials for co.

Req’d: MA in Graphic Design, Design, or Visual Comm.

Design. Mail resume: Ho Jung Kim DDS, Inc. 444 N Harbor Blvd #240 Fullerton, CA 92832 Fashion Merchandiser: Buy fashion merchandise according to latest trends & preferences. Req’d: Bachelor's in Fashion Design, Fashion Merchandising, or related. Job Site: Garden Grove, CA Mail Resume: DMLK INC. 460 N. Euclid St., Anaheim, CA 92801 Systems Engineer Design and develop software applications for municipalities, solve complex applications problems, and system administration issues. Perform systems management and integration functions. BA+5yrs Exp. Job & Resume: Maintstar 28 Hammond, #D, Irvine, CA 92618 Procurement Clerk: Prepare P/O & maintain purchasing files. Req’d: Any BA/BS. Mail resume: Global Engineering Corporation 6281 Beach Blvd #200 Buena Park, CA 90621

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Veterinarian (Newport Beach, CA) Examine animals to detect & determine the nature of diseases/injuries;Treat sick/ injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery; Inform & advise owners about the general care and medical conditions of their pets. 40hrs/wk. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine & Veterinarian License in CA or All requirements for CA Veterinarian License except SSN shall be satisfied. Resume to Companion Animal Medical Care, Inc. Attn. Young Joo Kim, 3720 Campus Dr. #D, Newport Beach, CA 92660

Software Engineer ChasePay Inc (Irvine, CA) seeks a Software Engineer to analyze user reqmt. develop & maintain product payment gateway service.

Mail resume to: President, ChasePay Inc – 15440 Laguna Canyon Rd., Ste. 210, Irvine, CA 92618

Director of Pharmacovigilance (Job Location – Irvine, CA) Provide safety strategy to deliver benefit-risk profile; signal detection, evaluation, risk-benefit evaluation, risk management; ensure processing of expeditable adverse events meets reqd standard; manage PVG grp.

Reqd. MD & 2 yrs exp. Send Resume to: Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. 11500 S. Eastern Ave, STE 240, Henderson, NV 89052.

University of California Irvine RESEARCH DIRECTOR sought by UCI Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing in Irvine, CA. Organizing, planning, and directing the operations for multiple million-dollar research projects ( currently consisting of NIH funded grants ) with minimal supervision from the Principle Investigator of the research projects. To apply send your resume to kheck<\@>uci.edu reference Job Number 2017-1092. UCI s an E)/ AA Employer.

Software Engineer (La Palma, CA) Develop, redesign software applications and programs for e-commerce platforms.

Bachelor's in Computer Science/Engineering related.

Resume to: Cicindelae Inc. 4 Centerpointe Dr #330, La Palma, CA 90623 Sr. Auditor: conduct audit, review & prepare reports; BA/BS in accounting; 40hrs/ wk; Apply to Hall & Company CPAs and Consultants, Inc. Attn: HR, 111 Pacifica, Ste. 300, Irvine, CA 92618.

Engineering Manager in San Juan Capistrano, CA: Create detailed plans for the development of new products and designs; direct, review, and approve project design changes. BS+5yrs exp. Mail resumes: Regatta Solutions, Inc., Attn: Job ID 6355.01, 27122 Paseo Espada #901, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675.

Market Research Analyst: Conduct market research to identify potential markets.

Req’d: Bachelor’s in Bus. Admin., Econ. or related.

Mail Resume: Game Cafe Services, Inc. 2152 Dupont Dr., Ste 280, Irvine, CA 92612 Software Engineer (La Palma, CA) Develop, redesign software applications and programs for e-commerce platforms. Master's in Computer/Electronics Engineering or related. Resume to: Cicindelae Inc. 4 Centerpointe Dr #330, La Palma, CA 90623

525 Legal Services SHAREHOLDER OF BR4SS, Inc.: YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that BR4SS Inc., a California corporation (the “Corporation”), has voluntarily elected to wind up its affairs and dissolve in accordance with California Corporations Code § 1900 et seq.

YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the winding up of the Corporation commenced on December 12, 2017, by the signing on that date of a written consent to the voluntary winding up and dissolution of the Corporation by the shareholders of the Corporation representing 50 percent or more of the voting power. This written consent was emailed to you; however, we received no response from you.

According to our records, you may have a claim against the Corporation. Under normal circumstances, the Corporation would liquidate its assets and distribute them accordingly to its creditors. However, the Corporation does not have any assets to liquidate. As a result, it is not necessary to send a claim to the Corporation or file a claim against the Corporation for amounts you are owed. Unfortunately, there will be no distributions.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Kind regards, BR4SS, Inc. A California Corporation

Sr. SAP MM Consultant, MS deg. in CIS, IT, MIS or related & 1 yr exp. Exp. in Supply Chain Optimization. Skills: SAP MM, Tableau Reporting & Analysis ,VBA, SQL, MS Visio, Six Sigma Methodology. Travel &/or reloc. throughout the US req'd.

Mail resume to Morris & Willner Partners, Inc., 201 Sandpointe Ave, Ste. 200, Santa Ana, CA, 92707 Accountant: Prepare acct. rec’d & financial rpts & tax returns. Req’d: BA/BS in Bus. Admin., Finance, or Acct. Mail resume: Kim & Co CPA, An Accountancy Corporation 1214 W Commonwealth Ave Fullerton, CA 92833 Sr. Financial Analyst, F/T, Min Master Degree in Finance or related; Job & Interview in Santa Ana, CA; Mail Resume to: AG Appliance Repair, Inc. 2716 South Grand Ave. Santa Ana, CA 92705.

Pacific Quality Packaging Corp. seeks Process Engineer.

Mstr. in Engin. reqd. Improve manuf. processes, resolve production problems. Work site: Brea, CA. Mail resumes to 660 Neptune Avenue, Brea, CA 92821.

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Business Analyst ((Costa Mesa, CA). Analyze and develop procedures and templates involving use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) cloud system to improve operations.

MBA or related degree. 6 months experience as Business Analyst or Consultant.

Experience must include work with technology commercialization. Education should include minor or concentration in Information Technology or related field. Mail resume to Janet Theis, Manager, Touchtone Corporation, 3151 Airway Ave., Suite I-3, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.

Auto Finance Solutions LLC is seeking a Risk Management Specialist in Irvine; Req.: Bach Deg in Finance + 5 months exp in lending/ finance. $48,069.00/ year.

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Operations Director: F/T; eSports Magazine; Plan & direct operational strategy of the company; Req. Bachelor's Degree in Journalism or related; Mail resume to: Inven Global English, LLC, 1621 Alton Pkwy Suite 250, Irvine, CA 92606

DNA Biological Technician (Irvine, CA). Provide expert services in chemical sequencing analysis, DNA extraction, and molecular research. BS in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, Chemistry or related engineering field and University coursework in Developmental Biology Lab. Mail resume to Angela Kim, M.Sc., HR Mgr, Zymo Research Corporation, 17062 Murphy Ave., Irvine, CA 92614.

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PCB Design Engr (Job code: PDE-SB) Design & layout complex, multi-layer PCBs using Altium 16. Reqs BS+2yrs exp. Mail resumes to Boundary Devices, Attn: HR, 21072 Bake Pkwy, Ste 100, Lake Forest, CA 92630.

Must ref job title & code

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System Integration Analyst (Tustin, CA) Develop, create, and modify computer software for efficient system integration and operation. Master's in Info System/Engineering related.

Resume to: Woongjin Inc. 335 Centennial Way #200, Tustin, CA 92780

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Senior SAP Solution Developer sought by Applied Medical Resources Corporation, a medical device dvlpr & mftr (dsgn/dvlp/ responsible for full life cycle implmtn of Web DynproABAP). Bach's deg in Comp Sci, Mgmt Info Systems or related IT field or related w/ 5 yrs exp. Job loc: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. E-mail resume to SAPCAREER@ appliedmedical.com.

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| classifieds | music | culture | film | food | calendar | feature | the county | contents | Fe br ua ry 0 9- 1 5, 201 8

“T

By Jim WaShBurn ONE ANGRY WHITE MAN AGREES

GAVIN TUREK

years of figuring out how to screw the talent. I sell my old guitars and records. And, instead of journalism, where you always have to invoice and hound publishers to pay you, I spend hours writing on Facebook, where you don’t have to worry about getting paid. I love that little digital community.

And though I’m not much of a joiner, sometimes you’ve got to put your solitary rants aside and join the masses, to be one dot in the pointillist painting of our times.

I did that a few weeks ago, joining other Costa Mesa friends at the Women’s March in Santa Ana. It was a fine morning: warm in the sun, cool in the shade, and lots of women with signs they’d made—“This is my resisting bitch face,” “Trump Don’t Surf,” “The Fempire Strikes Back,” “Orange Lies Matter,” “Pussy Power,” “It’s Mueller Time,” “Fuck You, Cheeto Voldemort.”

Some countians, such as one letter writer to the Daily Pilot, were irked that this Women’s March, which they perhaps expected to be a cakewalk or cotillion, was a teeming anti-Trump rally.

Which rather misses the history and point of the thing. Let me mansplain it to you: Women have a pantsload of reasons to join together and rise up, but those complaints were brought to a head by the election of Donald Trump and his anti-woman, anti-future policies.

A lot of women do not like the cut of his jib—by a lot. Last year’s nearly spontaneous Women’s March dwarfed Trump’s inaugural crowd. This year’s gathering in scores of cities has been tallied as the largest mass

protest in human history, not that it will make a whit of difference to the entitled ideologues in Washington.

The Santa Ana Police Department estimated there were 24,000 people at our particular march, but my crowd-wizened eye thinks it was more. Whatever the number, it was larger and friendlier than any of the past anti-war, anti-nuke, anti-Contra, antiwhatever-you’ve-got marches I participated in during the golden days of protesting. I’m a big baby and teared up a few times seeing the streets packed 15 people across, stretching on for blocks and blocks here in what used to be called the heart of Reagan Country.

Was the march perfect? Well, it could have been brisker, for those of us who could use the aerobic benefit. It could have used a marching band. And it could have started sooner, instead of everyone standing in place for an hour while “empowering” speeches rattled on over a distant PA system. If you’ve got thousands of folks foregoing their hour of coffee to stand in the street with handmade signs, chances are they’re already plenty motivated. Just push “Go.” But these are minor quibbles compared to the tear-gas-tainted days of old.

The following weekend, I was marching around the NAMM show at the Anaheim Convention Center. I’ve gone since 1977, and for many of those years, I convinced my editors that the musical-instrument trade show was an important windsock showing where our culture and economy was headed. Sure, but mainly it was an opportunity to meet up with old friends, to

see how many more variations on a Fender Stratocaster the public can stomach and to again wonder what the hell the Jägermeister Girls have to do with music.

The takeaway this year? Don’t expect the hardware to save us. There is such an overabundance of instruments, effects, tutorials and home-recording solutions that if you can’t come up with something as profound as Memphis’ Stax studio did with a twotrack reel-to-reel recorder and $3,000 worth of instruments in 1965, the lack isn’t in the equipment.

I also took in the NAMM-concurrent vintage-guitar show at the OC Fairgrounds.

The takeaway there is that more people were taking things away: The sellers I know were selling a lot of rare guitars. Credit the blip of hope offered by the tax cuts, or credit eight years of an improving economy.

Credit people who need a distraction from our inharmonious political climate.

One galling thing for years at the guitar show was that it drew a miniscule attendance, while the gun show next door had lines of folks waiting to get in and exiting with more guns and ammo than any sane person could carry.

I chatted with a gun dealer as he was packing up in the parking lot—as close as I come to doing actual journalism these days—and he said most of the dealers were bitching about weak sales this year. That’s the problem when you don’t have a black president to scare buyers with anymore.

Better luck three years from now.

LETTERS@OCWEEKLY.COM

| ocweekly.com |

onight, I shall make the moon disappear!”

If I were Donald Trump’s speechwriter, that would have been the sole promise of his State of the Union speech, followed by 80 minutes of Kentucky Fried Chicken farts, to keep his base happy until they were cowering at his might under the smudgy Super Blue Blood Moon.

But I’m not Trump’s speechwriter.

Instead, I’m right back where I started, writing the Lost in OC column for the OC Weekly.

It was long ago when I last did that, so let me tell you a bit about myself: I’m old.

I’m older than rope. I’m so old that even the benchmarks by which I measure age are archaic. Remember Wilfrid Brambell, the actor who played Paul McCartney’s “very clean” and horribly old grandfather in A Hard Day’s Night? Of course you don’t— because you’re not old. Well, I was 9 when I first saw that film, and Brambell seemed as craggy and desiccated as a mummy. So it is not a cheering realization that I am 13 years older now than Bramble was then.

When the OC Weekly launched almost 23 years ago, I imagined myself to be a crusading young journalist manning the barricades with my peers. Decades later, I got my peers’ perspective, in the Weekly’s 20th-anniversary edition: “Jim was by far the oldest person any of us ever had worked with. It kind of gave us the creeps.”

As well it should. Those Weeklings are old enough now that they’ve also begun to wilt and sag and to get that sad, despairing look of a dog who’s been in the shelter too long. Time will get you, too, my pretties.

So here I am to give you that underserved voice in the American conversation: the angry, old, white man. I’m angry that so many of my fellow old, white men are angry about the wrong stuff. I’m angry that 55 years after I cried my 8-year-old eyes out over John F. Kennedy’s assassination, a heartless comic-book villain is lurking in the White House. I’m mad that he and a conclave of other angry, old, white men think they get to decide what women do with their bodies. I’m mad that nuclear bombs are hip again. I’m mad that American Nazis and the Klan not only are still around, but also have fans on Pennsylvania Avenue. I’m mad that Republicans are poised to gut Social Security and Medicare just as they’re about to do me some good. I’m mad that every week is a new constitutional crisis. I’m mad that the checkout guy asks if I need help getting my purchases to the car. Jesus, buddy, it’s just weed!

So what do I do? I write the occasional book, allowing me to occasionally be reminded that the publishing world is like the record business, but with 600 more

Once-old Weekling is still old, still protesting

m ont h x x– x x , 2 01 4

| ocweekly.com |

Still Lost in OC

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