Ben Quiñones

(Photo by Gregory Bojorquez)

Argelia Atilano

Ben Quiñones
{mosimage} “¿Que te pone de mal humor en la mañana?” What puts you in a bad mood in the morning?Wearing headphones, Argelia Atilano asks the question as if she were talking to a best girlfriend, but she’s speaking into a live mike from the studios of KLVE-FM (107.5), overlooking Glendale......
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City of Gods

Ben Quiñones
“Iwant to be the voice of L.A.,” says Latin lyrical assassin Omar Cruz, sitting inside a fortified warehouse just east of downtown. His black T-shirt sports a woman’s ass, a classic shot by Latino photographer Estevan Oriol: She’s got the word “West” tatted on one cheek and “Coast” on the......
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Pimp My Geo

Ben Quiñones
Xzibit . House of Blues . Sunday, October 15 “Hey, you look like Xzibit.” “Ya, just waiting on my food.” “You look like a baller, you a baller?” “Hey, man, I don’t really want to talk right now ’cause I’m tired.” “Well this is my fuckin’ neighborhood, and I say......
(Illustration by Ronald Kurniawan)

Best Way to Reclaim the Airwaves

Ben Quiñones
Best Way to Reclaim the Airwaves Full disclosure: Fuck the FCC! According to the federal government, radio stations must be licensed by the FCC. The only problem is that commercial radio has been concentrated in the hands of a few corporations, especially after the 1996 Telecommunications Act, creating media monopolies......
(Illustration by Ronald Kurniawan)

Best Lost East L.A. Cinema Gems

Ben Quiñones
Best Lost East L.A. Cinema Gems GROWING UP IN EAST L.A., I was lucky enough to live near Whittier Boulevard and the corner of South Record Avenue, where the El Pedorrero (The Farter) muffler shop, now also a museum, continues to backfire. When I wasn’t swimming at Ruben Salazar Park......
(Illustration by Ronald Kurniawan)

Best Place to Party Like a Pirate

Ben Quiñones
Best Place to Party Like a Pirate Looking for the best place to practice your pirate swagger and drink ’til you shiver your timbers? Well, look no farther than 20 miles off the coast of L.A., on Catalina Island. For the last two decades, on the first Saturday of every......
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(Illustration by Ronald Kurniawan)

Best Pirated-Loot Spots

Ben Quiñones
Best Pirated-Loot Spots It’s no secret Los Angeles is a major hot spot for music and film piracy. The Recording Industry Association of America and Motion Picture Association of America estimate their losses at hundreds of billions of dollars a year. The two organizations have teamed up with the Los......
''I'm like the quarterback- slash-marriage-counselor

Moment of Truce

Ben Quiñones
Here in Elysian Park, on a cool Earth Day afternoon, Snoop Dogg and his reunited brethren in Tha Dogg Pound are gathered for their first video shoot in years. But, this being a Snoop joint, the shoot/picnic is much more than a reunion for Long Beach’s most beloved rap posse......

9 Reasons UCLA Will Beat USC in 2006

Ben Quiñones
As former UCLA football coachRed Sanders said of the famed crosstown rivalry: “It’s not a matter of life and death; it’s more important than that.” This year was an embarrassment for UCLA and an embarrassment of riches for USC, but a year’s a long time. 1. Heisman winners Matt Leinart......

Top Dog

Ben Quiñones
The sign reads: “Beware of Dog.” But don’t worry about the rottweilers, pit bulls or German shepherds; it’s the two-legged top dog, 36-year-old dog behavior specialist Cesar Millan, who runs this kennel. Originally from Culiacán Sinaloa, México, Millan grew up on a family ranch surrounded by dogs. Inspired by his......