For 12 days you voted for your favorites in Music, Nightlife, Shopping, Recreation/ Leisure. Find the winners by clicking here.

And just for fun, we at SqueezeOC compiled our Top 2 Dubious Distinction Awards:

Tattoos we’re tired of:

1. Sparrows

2. Tribal bands

SqueezeOC covers that pissed people off:

1. Rockabilly (June 29, 2007)

A calm but clearly irate caller from Corona del Mar took issue with the “transgender … with a whip” on the cover. To hear the call, go the SqOC box, “Loves us or hates us?” on the MP3 player.

2. Handball (June 22, 2006).

Armpit hair – ‘nuff said.

Degen’s baked goods

1. Cinnamon rolls

2. Apple pie

Zylius’ best sound effects

1. Chewbacca yawn

2. Squeeze ball squirt

Directives from the boss

1. “Come smoke a hookah.”

2. “Hey Steve, just buy a mannequin off the Internet.”

Expensed items

1. Mannequin (Jenny, our beloved silent staff member)

2. Ball and chain (a replica, natch)

Covers that almost were

1. A giant potato (we actually bought a 2-pounder!) on a couch with a party hat for New Year’s issue

2. Fire eater for Hot issue

Photogenic SqueezeOC staffers

1. TIE: Devin and Courtney

Popular keywords at SqueezeOC.com

1. “Jessica Peralta”

2. “Restaurants”

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Banning’s Bikes in Fullerton is holding a basic skills clinic for women August 11 - 12 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. both days. The two day workshop will cover bicycle riding skills, cornering, pacelines and drills as well as road side repairs, nutrition and training. Bring your (mountain or road)bike and riding gear, if you plan to participate in the riding skills portion of the clinic. Participants will be able to test ride women specific bikes and check out the latest cycling apparel from brands such as Felt, Look, Speedplay, Castelli, Sidi, Canari, Motorable and Northwave.
Banning’s Bikes is located at 205 N. Harbor Blvd. Fullerton, 92832, 714-525-2200

- LAILA D.

Post from: SqueezeOC Staff Blog

We want your VOTES!

To commemorate the upcoming two-year anniversary of SqueezeOC.com, we’re compiling a “Top 2” list of the best entertainment and lifestyle offerings here in Orange County.

But we need your help in making those final Top 2 decisions in a variety of categories, from restaurants to bars to spas and outdoor amenities. So please go to our online ballot here and place your votes for any or all of the categories.

You have until Aug. 15 to vote. Hop 2 it!

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Since today is officially 7-11-07, 7-11 stores are giving away free mini Slurpee’s in celebration of it’s 80th year in the business.

The free Slurpee offer ends at midnight tonight and is only while supplies (aka the mini cups) last!

If you’re craving something a little extra, check out the new Simpson’s inspired products. 7-11 is now carrying a special line of products like Squishee’s (instead of a Slurpee), Krusty O’s (instead of Cheerios), a special “The Simpson’s Movie” doughnut and a ton of Simpsons merchandise including pens, mint tins, cups and more.

Post from: SqueezeOC Staff Blog

The Road Less Traveled, an environmental store in Santa Ana, has knocked down a wall and branched out with the opening of its newly expanded “eco-home” space.

The larger store, which now occupies a storefront-and-a-half, offers a great selection of earth-friendly goods, including organic fashions, baby items, linens, non-toxic cleaners, and literature.

And now you’ll find those staple items you need for a “green” home or office, like organic cotton mattresses, furniture made from reclaimed wood and other materials, decor, and a spectrum of natural, clay-based paints that give off no stinky toxic fumes! And building supplies too.

The expanded space, which is painted in gorgeous lilac and avocado hues, serves as a showroom and a workshop area where customers can attend eco-classes and seminars. The space is also a design center, and home to local eco-designer Rachel Hulan, of Path Design, who offers eco-friendly architectural and interior design solutions.

****EXPANSION GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION****
What: Peruse the newly expanded eco-store while enjoying wine, food and music.
When: 4-9 p.m. Saturday, May 12
Where: 2204 N. Main St., Santa Ana
Info: roadlesstraveledstore.com

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In the huge shopping-industrial complex that is South Coast Metro, Edwards Village and Book Soup were notable for the way they prioritized quality over what sold best. Hearing that both stores were closing made me feel a little insecure about Orange County: Are we such a boring population that we can’t support two indie-minded businesses?

Edwards’ Village is pretty run down by megaplex standards. But its screenings of limited-release movie and “Flashback Features” (aka “Flashback Wednesdays”) of pop movie classics give the theater character. You can always find a good movie here, and it never gets crowded the way MetroPointe does.

I haven’t been to the Village in a while. I tried to catch David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” there earlier this year. To my disappointment, the theater used a DVD instead of 35mm film. The projection and sound were very poor, and half an hour into the show, the projector died altogether. That said, I have been to many other screenings when everything worked just fine.

Book Soup, on the other hand, is a place I actually go to on a regular basis. For such a small store (compared to Borders), it has a great selection of fiction, magazines and art books. You don’t see as many prominent displays of low-imagination bestsellers (e.g. “You: On a Diet,” romances, Food Network spinoffs). I love looking at the staff recommendations. When one of my best friends started a nightclub, I bought her a coaster-shaped card from the store. I went there yesterday to buy my 2007 planner. For Christmas, I received David Plotz’s “The Genius Factory” that had been bought from the store.

Mild consolations: Book Soup plans to have a big sale in the next few weeks to clear the store, and the company’s bigger, busier store in Sunset Strip is still open. Also, Edwards Westpark 8 on Alton Parkway and Culver Drive in Irvine will reportedly start screening limited release movies in 2007.

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It’s a shame that it takes a bad event for everyone to come together.
Tower Records is in its final weeks of existence (there’s still no official last day yet) and the company’s Southern California employees were all invited to Slidebar Café in Fullerton to reminisce and meet up with old friends.

Why Slidebar? Tower Anaheim hosted Lit’s CD release party in 1999. To return the favor, the Lit folks invited employees from the Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego county stores for free food and booze all night.

The restaurant was filled with a couple hundred Tower “lifers,” temps and alum. There was definitely a high school reunion vibe with everyone talking about the good ole days of Tower. Chasing shoplifters through the parking lot and ringing up porn customers topped our list of best memories.

Those porn shoppers were so creative with ways to cover their “Barely Legal” porn. Sometimes they would roll up the magazine. The most popular technique was covering the porn with a random gun magazine (gun mags were right next to porn mags at the Anaheim store).

I don’t know what’s worse. Buying a porn magazine by itself or buying a porn and gun magazine at the same time?

Here are a few of the folks I ran into last night.

From left to right: John Gump, Neil Raboy, JR Ross and Jamie Pendergrast

Jr again and Troy Clem. That’s the guy that hired me!

And you can’t forget the Tower love (even if it’s not that attractive).

Post from: SqueezeOC Staff Blog

Pioneer Electronics has opened its first retail store in the U.S., and kicked things off Thursday night with a private reception at its South Coast Plaza location.

Pioneer hosted the event for the Performing Arts Business Partnership and their guests, who filled the store and sipped wine while checking out Pioneer’s high-def flat-panel TVs and A/V units.

The store also sells some headphones, car audio/video, and accessories. But the emphasis is on flat-panel TVs. Videophiles will be glad to know that Pioneer is peddling its upscale Elite line of wares in the shop, located on the first floor of the mall by Macy’s men’s store and Saks Fifth Avenue. The Elite line includes Pioneer’s first Blu-ray player. Blu-ray, of course, is competing with HD-DVD to be the next standard in high-definition DVDs.

The presentations were quite good, with video of shimmering lakes and Blu-ray movies (also for sale at the store) looking splendid on the Elite plasma displays that were mounted to every wall.

Overall the store presentation is nice. It’s not a huge place, but it’s comfortable, with couches and other homey touches to make your TV-decision buying decision feel like it’s actually taking place in a house, not a big-box retail outlet.
The store operates on the mall’s hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Sunday. Get more info at the store’s Web site here.

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Also, found this at Inkwells Paperie, a great card and stationery shop in Corona del Mar. A 14-year-old boy from Newport Beach made a bunch of pencil cases using old ties. What do you think: cute or dorky?

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Post from: SqueezeOC Staff Blog