I've flown over the Salton Sea many times. From the air, it doesn't look real. The blue expanse and the green fields of the Coachella and Imperial Valleys that butt up against the sea's northern …
May 18, 2006
News & Stories
A proposition for Salton Sea and its far ripples.
Mystery Label
'It's old-world style - very dry, a little bit of an earthy, peppery streak.'
Negative Strip Tease
'In the early '90s I had a tongue piercing, before most people knew what they were," says "extreme artist" Scott Nelson. "I would go to bars, take a nail, and nail my tongue to a …
May 18, 2006
Thousands of Jars of Mayonnaise
I was invited to a Cinco de Mayo party at the Wave House in Mission Beach. The producer of a radio show on Free FM 103.7 called and told me that I would be able …
May 18, 2006
Emerald Canyon in Orange County's Laguna Coast Wilderness Park attracts hikers and mountain bikers.
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park is a spacious Orange County preserve covering several thousand acres of natural landscape adjacent to Laguna Beach. Emerald Canyon, one of its finer natural features, carves its way down a three-mile …
May 18, 2006
Invertebrates Make a Play Date
Hey, Matt! Baby animals are so cute I am sad when I eat them. It's fun to watch them play. What about the birds and the bees? Do hatchling insects, ornithoids, and reptilians play? Fireball, …
May 18, 2006
Story Time
Can you bring to mind the best story you've ever heard? On demand? Here's mine? David was a curiosity. First, his appearance, which begins, and it will stop you, with thick spectacles, the thickest glasses …
May 18, 2006
Big Bird Comes to North Park
Our great national spokesman, Chuck Berry, pictured our country as one "where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day." He wrote those words back in the pre-Golden Arches USA, when burgers didn't come …
May 18, 2006
The Reader's Eye on Television
One time I got a haircut in a Polish train station. I wouldn't recommend it. The woman who gave me the cut must have been an amateur ornithologist because she fashioned the side of my …
May 18, 2006
Tossing Possible Names
TRAVEL AGENTS "The name was adopted from a classic Dragnet episode that dealt with psychoactive drugs like LSD, and 'travel agent' was a term for someone who guided you on your trip, so to speak. …
May 18, 2006
Mr. Bling
"I grabbed the palm-sized, diamond-studded medallion hanging from a platinum chain around his neck and said, “I see you brought your bling."
May 18, 2006
Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilization
Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations by J. Edward Chamberlain. BlueBridge, 2006; $24.95; 288 pages, including 25 black and white illustrations. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Ever since the dawn of human history, horses have …
May 18, 2006
A Tale of Two Sandwiches
“It’s so strong, they have banned it on Paris public transport.”
May 18, 2006
Foothills Christian Church, El Cajon
"This is what I like worship to be like," said one teenaged boy to another before the service began. "A guitar solo in every song." He was right. The opening 25 minutes might have been …
May 18, 2006
Faces of God
When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. -- G.K. Chesterton "I spare no expense when it comes to my girls," Dad said …
May 18, 2006
Jeremy Menning in Providence, Rhode Island
At the Queen's Table My grandmother once told me, "Through 59 years of marriage, Jeremy, I never once considered leaving your grandfather." She shrugged her shoulders, folded her hands, and added, "I did consider murder …
May 18, 2006
Punx, Unite!
After being burned in a pay-to-play ticket scam, Troy Troyus of the Abrasives formed Punx Union to organize shows for local and touring acts. With the help of his band members and other musicians, Troyus …
May 18, 2006
"They contacted us."
Strangers Six guitarist Luke Johnson said his three-year-old local band didn't have to lift a telephone to get on MTV2. "They were following how many hits we got on purevolume.com. That and myspace.com." Based on …
May 18, 2006
High Impact
Metal Blade Records' all-metal roster of 20-plus bands was known for death metal (Cattle Decapitation, Cannibal Corpse, Goatwhore), progressive metal (Fates Warning, Psychotic Waltz), and hard-rock names that go back to the 1980s (Armored Saint). …
May 18, 2006
Heavy Metal Taxi
"People like to keep the party going between clubs." To pay the rent, metal drummer Kurt McCracken drives a cab for San Diego Taxi. He says 60 to 70 percent of his clients are regulars …
May 18, 2006
Teak Furniture
Bernice's furniture has had a hard year. Half of her dining room chairs collapsed. "I think it's because of my hubby's beer belly," she jested. A few months later, the dining room table lost a …
May 18, 2006
Walls Have History
The Kraken in Carlsbad celebrates 30 years' operating in the same locale on Saturday, May 20. There will be an afternoon barbeque and Blue Heat and other local bands performing in the evening. "I opened …
May 18, 2006
"New Yorkers really like San Diego music"
"New Yorkers really like San Diego music," says Grams guitarist Chuck Schiele, who has played or promoted around a dozen NYC shows during the past year. "They came. They clapped. They bought CDs. All the …
May 18, 2006
Sanders Reps Our Town in Big Apple
During last fall's election campaign, Jerry Sanders told voters that if elected mayor he would take a positive message abou San Diego on the road. In late March, Sanders traveled to New York and Washington, …
May 18, 2006
Bad PR
A popular part-time teacher of advertising in the School of Communication at San Diego State University has been dumped, and he claims it's because old-line professors were upset that he criticized the system that guarantees …
May 18, 2006
Droopy
Despite a bit more reportorial enterprise and jazzy Sunday front pages, circulation at the Union-Tribune continues its long decline. According to numbers released last week by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, in the six-month period …
May 18, 2006
Pro Football Too Corrupt for Sin City?
Las Vegas is trying to woo the Chargers. Sports reporters say there could be a roadblock: major professional sports leagues claim they are reluctant to see teams relocate to Sin City. The gambling industry might …
May 18, 2006