Charity Poker Tournament - Newport Beach, CA

Charity Texas Hold 'Em Tournament! REGISTRATION REQUIRED (Details below) Sat. Nov 1 (12pm – 5pm) Newport Beach Marriott 500 Bayview Circle, Newport Beach, CA 92660 Hello food fans! This is a cross-post from Chubbypanda.com. It's not really on-topic, but it's for a good cause. One of my friends is helping set up a huge charity poker tournament this Saturday from 12pm-5pm at the Bayview Marriott in Newport Beach. The buy-in is a $50 donation, which doubles as your entry fee. Food and snacks are provided, beer is available for sale. Big screen TVs will be showing the college football games so you won't miss a single minute of the action. All the proceeds go to the Children’s Miracle Network and the American Cancer Association's Relay for Life. The winners can cash their chips in at the end for some fab prizes. Some of the prizes are: Several weekend stays at some fantastic Marriott Hotel properties. Different iPod models. Fantastic wines. More to be announced. Plus, everyone wins the satisfaction of donating to two worthy causes and they get to have a great time playing poker. Please register ASAP as remaining space is limited. To register, click on this link, which will take you to my friend's Relay for Life page. It is a completely secure site hosted by the American Cancer Society. Click on the Donate button just below "Welcome to Susie Hunnel's Personal Page". Select a gift amount. Your donation is your registration fee! $50 is the minimum, but feel free to donate more if you like. Select One-time gift for "gift type". Click the Calculate button. Click the Next button to go to the payment page. After you pay, print out the receipt page and bring a copy to the poker tournament on November 1. This is your registration confirmation. You will not be allowed entry without it. If you have any questions, please post them here and I will forward them to the event organizers. There are some great charities that could really use our help. Hope to see some of you there!

Alice's Breakfast in the Park

Alice's Breakfast in the Park 6622 Lakeview Drive Huntington Beach, CA (714) 848-0690 Official Site Winner of OC Weekly's "Best Place to Eat a Cinnamon Roll and Feed Ducks . . . While It Lasts" In my public life I function as a mild-mannered, usually bespectacled, partially employed web developer of meager skills, modest enthusiasm, and heaps of good ol' down-home sincerity punctuated by bouts of binging on the good comida de Mexíco but in my secret life I lose the glasses, let a curly lock of hair drop down over my forehead, put on a superhero uniform with flashy colors and a wavy cape and fight for truth, justice, the American way and little mom and pop shops that are being threatened with closure by big meanie city councilmen. You see, the long-standing Alice's Breakfast in the Park on the west side of Huntington Beach's Central Park is being threatened by the Huntington Beach City Council with closure so they can make way for a new Irvine Spectrum or Cheesecake Factory or some other such corporate monstrosity. Read about the matter at the HB Independent's site. I've been sitting on these pictures for a while. My last visit there was actually in January but I feel like I better finally give this place a big mention. Don't let its name fool you too much because you can actually get lunch there too up until 2pm when it closes and the park returns from pretty quiet to really quiet. Situated in a rustic oasis amidst suburbia, Alice's lets you relax and enjoy some straight up, no nonsense American food outside with nature where you can let the waves of tranquility wash over you. Or, if you prefer to eat inside, you can check out the numerous arts and crafts on display. When I was there, and I got there shortly before they closed, I had a nice toasty club sandwich and some made-on-the-spot potato chips. Don't be surprised if a flock of ducks amble by while you eat (food for the ducks can be purchased inside). I'll be going back for the huevos rancheros sometime and they also have great cinnamon rolls among their other menu items. Show your support for Alice's by showing up for breakfast (or lunch) sometime soon. Just be sure to bring some good old-fashioned cash with you as they don't take credit cards. And be sure to feed the ducks while you're there. View the complete photo album at flickr. UPDATE (October 12, 2008): An article in the Register today gives some hope to Alice's situation.

OC Weekly's Best of OC Bash on Oct. 9 at iLounge

A short upcoming tidbit for y'all to nibble on; thanks to I Nom Things for heads-up about Best of OC Weekly's Party on Oct. 9, 7pm at iLounge in Irvine. Hors d'oeuvres and alchy will be provided along with live performances. FYI, there's a "strictly enforced" dress code of upscale-chic for this event. I don't see an RSVP requirement and am assuming that it's free (no costs provided on the Web site), so plan and prepare appropriately...