DOLLARS RISING: The portrait on the cover...

DOLLARS RISING: The portrait on the cover of this month’s California Lawyer magazine is Charles Ng, in custody for 10 years awaiting trial for serial murder charges in Northern California. He’ll be tried in Orange County on a change of venue--but not before 1997 . The local public defender’s office says it needs the extra time because the case is so complex. . . . “How did the Ng case veer so wildly off track?” the magazine asks. Its own answer: Plenty of blame to go around among prosecutors, judges defense lawyers--and politicians.

THE OLD SOUND: It opened as a bathhouse in 1905, and as the terminus for the electric Red Car line. But in the 1930s the Balboa Pavilion became a favorite local hot spot for the Big Band sound. It’s also been a museum, a bowling alley and a gambling house. . . . Friday night, the Pavilion’s 90th anniversary will be celebrated with a return to the Big Band era, with the Stan Kenton Alumni Band playing in its ballroom. Tickets--$40--include a buffet dinner.

MORE MA: If you love classical music but the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa is a bit past your budget, you can see the great cellist Yo-Yo Ma for free this week. Besides his performances there Wednesday and Thursday nights, he’s giving a two-hour master class Thursday at Cal State Fullerton’s Little Theater of the Performing Arts. . . . The class is for the Pacific Symphony’s Youth and Institute orchestras, but anyone else is welcome to show up.

BEATS TV? Who’s buying violins these days? Violin makers Roger Foster of Orange and Rena Weisshaar of Costa Mesa (E1) both say Asian Americans seem to want the violin most. Weisshaar says nearly 80% of her customers are Asians, many buying for their children. “Without them we would not have survived these 20 years,” she adds. . . . Weisshaar has a guess about the appeal: “I think the discipline of practice, involvement with a teacher, having their children off the streets and off the TV, these are a lot in their minds.”