Reading Sandra Cisneros's recent novel Caramelo, set in Mexico City during the late 1950s, I wondered about the fotonovelas that are mentioned again and again over the course of the book: "The Awful Grandmother" locks …
May 19, 2005
News & Stories
Unapologetic from New Orleans
Sometimes there's a groove, and sometimes there just isn't. I have this theory that at any given time, there's a place that is the right place for you to be. it's not usually where you'd …
May 19, 2005
Wild Enemies
'We try to get the worst first...we've got a fair shopping list of plants," says Jim Harrison, river committee coordinator for the San Diego Audubon Society. "We hope that, over time, we'll be able to …
May 19, 2005
Popped
Twenty-two-year-old Michael Thomas Deshazer Jr. of the bands 2GO and the Beat Meters was apprehended by police April 27 on outstanding bench warrants in response to charges of statutory rape. Deshazer was convicted in early …
May 19, 2005
Hard Drive in the Hoosegow
"If they arrested every male who looks at pictures of naked women, there would be no free men left in our society," says attorney Sandy Troy, who's working pro bono in defense of singer/songwriter John …
May 19, 2005
Longhair Rules Over Jocks
"I coached him at Helix High from 1998 to 2001." San Diego's only known DJ/prep football coach, Mike Aitken, can brag that he coached former Helix High quarterback Alex Smith before he became this year's …
May 19, 2005
Combat Rocker
"We'd be in this converted chicken coop playing, and this mortar would come in. It was the loudest, most scariest thing you ever heard because you knew it came from guys who were trying to …
May 19, 2005
Dinky Crowd at Moby Appearance
M-Theory Music on Juniper in South Park gets interesting musicians to perform. In the past year, I've seen locals Louis XIV, Steve Poltz, and Gregory Page. National acts make it there, too. And You Will …
May 19, 2005
Pimp Hand by Playstation?
When Snoop Dogg plays RIMAC Arena tomorrow, May 20, he's only obligated to "play a minimum of 45 minutes.... Snoop Dogg, however, at his option may exceed the specified performance time without interference." There's also …
May 19, 2005
Wanted: Drug Addict
"We'll have to find a guy on the heroin diet." Guitarist Jeff Simpson says he's kidding about finding a strung-out singer for his Stone Temple Pilots tribute band, but he wants someone who looks like …
May 19, 2005
Rich getting richer
It looks as though more of downtown's endangered historic buildings are headed for the wrecking ball. This time the doomed structures are in Little Italy, where a Texas developer wants a $5.3 million subsidy from …
May 19, 2005
Minimalist Mantra
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. -- Hans Hofmann 'Only bring what will support your lifestyle," said the authoritative woman in red with an elegant Eastern …
May 19, 2005
A Barrel You Could Drive a Car Through
Last August, a crew of nine Southern California surfers -- seven from San Diego County, two from Orange County -- traveled to Indonesia for a two-week cruise to the surf breaks of the Mentawai Islands, …
May 19, 2005
Steve Peace Isn't Happy
'From what I have been through, I call this city 'The Banana Republic of San Diego.' It appears that we have a system of government not built on laws, but on relationships. That is the …
May 19, 2005
The Reader's Eye on Television
I was in terrible shape. My spirit was crushed. Not the soul. I don't believe in souls, but the spirit is hard to ignore. For 45 minutes in the morning I had to commute to …
May 19, 2005
Water Canyon in Chino Hills State Park serves up some sensuous foothill scenery on the edge of the L.A. Basin.
Chino Hills State Park spreads across some 13,000 acres of rolling, grassy hills of a sensuous, classically Californian nature. Down in the moist, hidden hollows between the swelling hills, live oak and California walnut trees …
May 19, 2005
Italian Spring
Fade to May 1990. I was on assignment for the WashPost and had been put up at the Hotel del Coronado, the subject of my piece. Several times, while out and about, I passed the …
May 19, 2005
The Poet of Tolstoy Park
The Poet of Tolstoy Park. Ballantine Books, 2005; $21.95; 274 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: "The more you transform your life from the material to the spiritual domain, the less you become afraid of death." …
Quietly Number One
Does it seem to you, that at some obscure hour, sometime during the past five years, the NBA season went year-round? We were never told, no one reported it, but now the merciless truth lies …
May 19, 2005
Curious Traveler
“They threw me in the kitchen as a dishwasher. Pretty soon, I was doing chef’s work.”
Chips and Nuts
Heymatt: Yesterday when I was driving real fast I found a peanut shell that had four individual peanuts it! Crazy huh? Anyway, I tried to explain to the CHP officer why I was speeding (late …
May 19, 2005
A Real Page Turner
Dear Mr. Alice: Why does the pianist have someone to turn pages of music when they perform? I'd think a cellist or trombonist would be in greater need of this help. -- FEH, San Diego …
May 19, 2005
Chicken Star
“Take the chop suey,” says the waitress. “Filling. It has vegetables as well as meat.”
May 19, 2005