That’s right folks.  The legendary Kogi BBQ, which has made quite the name for itself in Los Angeles for having amazing Korean BBQ with a bit of a Mexican flair (Korean short rib taco anyone??), and also for utilizing their Twitter account @kogibbq to tell folks where they are at the last minute, is here in Orange County!!!  A special thanks to Jodi from LA Metblogs for pointing this out to us. Their newest truck, affectionately named Naranja (”Orange” in Spanish for you multi-lingually challenged), is making it’s way around our fair side of the curtain.

It looks like they hit up 2 locations each night.  They have the week ahead planned on their website, but it is strongly suggested you follow them on twitter as the locations can change or as I’m reading, sometimes the addresses aren’t quite right.

I don’t know about you, but I am SUPER DUPER excited about this!!!!!  It looks like they’ll be at “Prim Jewelers – 1736 E. Meats Ave, Orange”  from 10:30-Midnight this Wednesday, you’d better believe I’ll be there!

Thank you Kogi!!!

Camaro and a Transformer from the movie.

Love them cars and auto shows.  The OC Auto Show is one of my favs as it is small enough you can see it in one afternoon and still have seen it all.  The other nice thing about it is that it isn’t all concept cars so you have plenty of opps to kick tires, slam doors and sit in your favorite cars.  Well, mostly you can do that.  The exotics are still behind bars where you can only ogle them and lust deeply in your heart for a chance to place your rump in them and imagine the pure enjoyment of running one through the gears.

Probably the most popular showcase was the Transformer Camaro.  At that little spot people are qued up 20-30 deep waiting for their turn for a quick pick in front of the group.  On the sidelines were people equally deep trying to sneak in their own pic without the line.  What ever if you don’t mind other people in the pic with your loved one if it works for you it works for me. (more…)

The better half came home with a list of museums from her HR Department with FREE admission this weekend.  Its part of the MuseumsLA.org event that Chal over at LA Metblogs already posted.

My dilemma here is which museum do I visit.  Both the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art or Orange County Museum of Art will have no admission this weekend.  I get into great modern art installations almost as much as I enjoy great collections of old impressionists art.  With them both being free and only one play day this weekend I don’t which to chose – which do you recommend?

It’s not too late!  You can still sign up here to keep our world-famous, beautiful beaches of Orange County clean.

And yes, that should include the nudists, too! ;)

(photo courtesy of DHN via Wikimedia Commons)

Are you an artist? Do you live in Southern California? Do you have a recent work that hasn’t been shown at the IFAC? If you answered “yes” to all of those questions the Irvine Fine Arts Center just might have the exhibition you’ve been waiting for.

The Irvine Fine Arts Center presents All Media 2009, a juried exhibition open to Southern California artists. This show will feature two and three-dimensional art, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and digital media. The deadline for submissions is Monday, September 28,2009.

Click here for more more information regarding submission requirements and the entry form.

The All Media 2009 exhibition will run from November 20, 2009 through January 16, 2010 (or the 23rd … depending on which document you look at). The IFAC is located at: 14321 Yale Avenue, Irvine, CA 92604.

If your work is accepted to be part of the exhibition, please let us know. The OC Metblog readers and posters alike would love – I’m sure – to come out and show our support.

Not much gets past Jay Louis, the owner/author of the Hot Chicks With Douchebags blog. He even took notice of our little post a while back taking quasi-umbrage with his placement of OC as one of his “top five HCwDB areas”. So it should be no surprise that he (and his readers, of which I am one) found amusement in a bit of spam masquerading as reader-mail from the great city of Anaheim. He writes…

Reader Mail: Unclear on the Concept

[Image via HCwDB]

I’m very impressed with your bags. I think they’re perfect for the department stores, apparel and accessory retailers, gift shops and large chains we work with. If you can offer good pricing and if you’re interested in selling your bags to more stores visit us at

http://www.intostores.com/sellers.php

Sincerely, Kevin Sanderson
VP Merchandising
866-788-5799 (extension 3)
IntoStores.com
5753 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road
Anaheim, CA 92807

Hahaha. I feel the need to hang my head in shame, for I am from A-Ville and apparently, not only are we douche-ridden but we’re completely inept at spamming people. Of course, if it isn’t spam then I would love to see how they plan to sell these ‘bags’ in local retailers. I almost called to ask but alas cooler heads prevailed. Besides, I’m pretty sure you can already rent them by the hour but the cost to buy one outright is going to send you well into six digits.

[via HCwDB]

If you are looking for a nice day trip, from Orange County, and like the outdoors I recommend a trip to the beautiful Mount San Jacinto State Park in Palm Springs, to hike around on the trails. This is exactly what the husband and I did this past Sunday.

The hiking trails are easy, especially if you are just meandering and allowing all of your senses to fully absorb everything the forest has to offer. The senses go into overdrive the minute you step on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, this is especially true if you have a height thing, which I do.

Follow me after the jump for more photos and commentary.

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Last Saturday, I was to meet my wife in Burbank in the afternoon, so we could go out in L.A. The problem was she already had a car, so if I drove, we’d have to take 2 cars home. I could have driven her up there at 7am, but who wants to do that? Luckily, Metrolink had a few trains running, several of which would get me up to L.A. right at about 4 o’ clock, which is when she would be done! I saw this as a nice opportunity to document what worked and what didn’t for those of you who may be a little weary of the trains. I made a video for your viewing pleasure. Here are a few things to note about the trains and the video before you watch:
-I’m sorry the walking bits are so shaky. It’s not easy to hold the camera steady when you’re rushing to catch the trains.
-Once you figure out how to read the train schedule, it’s fairly simple to figure out connections and the like, but there is definitely a bigger learning curve to Metrolink than say, New York MTA.
-The trains are NOT marked! The first time I attempted Metrolink travel I ended up on my way to the I.E. instead of Los Angeles! If there are trains departing just minutes from each other, ask the other riders around you to make sure the one at the station is the right one.
-Union Station need to label the trains better. According to the schedule online, my train to Burbank ended in Burbank, yet it was labeled the Lancaster train! I just made my train by literally less than a minute. I’m sure trains have been missed because of the same problem.
-Remember, if you plan to leave for home after around 7pm, don’t plan on the train. They don’t run at night.

And now, the video:

4 ounce tasting mug

As many of you know, the Orange County Beer Festival was held yesterday at Irvine Lake. As promised there were lots of breweries, lots of beer to drink and plenty of heat.

Since it was so hot – the thermometer in my car showed 100 degrees – I was shocked at how many people had on jeans, closed-toe shoes and dark shirts. However, most people seemed to be aware we were in the middle of a heat wave and dressed as such. Thankfully there was shade to be had and the vendors that happened to be in the shade produced a crowd.

Our purpose was to try beers we’d not had before. I sampled 14, but did not entirely drink them all. Some were just too heavy for such a hot summer day. I tried to stick to lights, wheats, whites, etc. plus that’s what I tend to prefer. Although, one of my favorites was none of those, exactly. MateVeza an organic beer with caffeine.

More photos and commentary after the jump.

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As I was passing over the 5 tonight I saw this……..

This picture was taken above the “Orange Crush” where the 5, 57, 22 and 55 (kinda) all meet. That’s right…..the fire in L.A. the San Gabriel Valley is so large, you can see the flames from Orange County.

As Gina said, we know what you’re going through. Stay safe folks!
(More pics after the jump: (more…)