I had taken eight or nine guided tours of San Diego in two weeks when a friend asked if I was tired of sightseeing. I had to say no. Being out on buses and boats …
October 26, 2006
News & Stories
A guide to San Diego's guided tours
“Look, I’m saving your little teeth this year, maybe saving you from freaking diabetes.”
Sitting at the child's classroom desk I use at home, allowing my eyes to find focus where raindrops bash themselves against the screen to dissolve dirt into rivulets and make archipelagos of gritty islands against …
October 26, 2006
The Reader's Eye on Television
"It has to be fresh, you know," the receptionist tells me over the phone. "You can drop it off anytime after 1 o'clock." At 12:59 I'm standing at the counter. Let's get this over with. …
October 26, 2006
Mightier Than the Sword
The more you know about an event, the more tainted it will get.
October 26, 2006
Pride of Baghdad
Pride of Baghdad WHAT THE PUBLISHER SAYS: From one of America's most acclaimed comics writers -- a startlingly original look at life on the streets of Baghdad during the Iraq War inspired by true events. …
Back When
Thirty Years Ago Contreras's headquarters is the Centro Medico del Mar in Playas de Tijuana. After waiting an hour or so, I was ushered into a small office where Dr. Contreras greeted me. I learned …
October 26, 2006
Hosp Grove in Carlsbad features easy hiking and a chance to spot migrating monarch butterflies.
For better or worse, eucalyptus trees from Australia have become a major component of San Diego's contemporary "urban forest." More than a century ago, in locales such as the UCSD campus, Rancho Santa Fe, Scripps …
October 26, 2006
St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral
At the Mass's opening, Father Felix Shabi's voice sounded from behind the red curtain concealing the Sanctuary. "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." The curtain hung …
October 26, 2006
Three-Hour Tour
This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it. -- Dorothy Parker It's not fair to say I was dragged here. The embarrassing truth is that I came …
October 26, 2006
Cracked Streets, Crooked Pols
Financially, the City of San Diego is going down a rat hole. Make that a pothole. That's because years of infrastructure neglect -- both the shirking of maintenance duties and the shelving of critical construction …
October 26, 2006
An Issue of Public Safety
The San Diego Police Department is either resuscitating affirmative action or its promotion practices are meant to reward "team players." So thinks Sergeant Mark Sullivan, whose highest possible promotional rating of "exceptionally qualified" the department …
October 26, 2006
Special-effects Detail
Last year's Halloween festivities involved policemen of the wrong sort: instead of water guns and plastic badges, we got the real thing. My dear friend Bernice was summoned down to the station to pick up …
October 26, 2006
Trick or Treat
The partisan infighting that has marked this year's school board race between nominal Democrat Katherine Nakamura and the GOP's Michael McSweeney was ratcheted up considerably last week when the AFL-CIO's San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council …
October 26, 2006
In the Lobby
Big-name Washington lobbyists have been chipping in to Brian Bilbray's congressional campaign. Fellow-GOPer Susan Molinari, the former New York congresswoman, now a lobbyist and TV commentator, gave $500. Another donor was Jean Denton, who at …
October 26, 2006
Pension Fund Correction
Two weeks ago it was incorrectly reported here that county retirement fund chief Brian White received gifts from financial-services firms doing business with the fund. The actual recipient of those gifts, according to a financial …
October 26, 2006
Eating Dangerously
“But if it’s so bad for you, how come every single Mexican hasn’t died of a heart attack?”
October 26, 2006
Simone Angel in Belize
Ball Foot "So what is this ball foot you are talking about then? Is it some kind of game? We don't have any games where we're from." Was this man kidding? I looked over at …
October 26, 2006
Dutch Saw It All
4th & B opened for business in 1995. Since then approximately 1900 shows have taken place, and almost two million people have walked through its doors. Through it all there was "Dutch," Doug Schultz, who …
October 26, 2006
Russians
I had to interview a bartender in PB for an article that I was working on, and as I walked back to my car around 9:00 p.m., I overheard a group of people talking about …
October 26, 2006
They've Come a Long Way since Lincoln
'Log homes aren't just built in the woods or in the country -- I've talked to people in Southeast San Diego who wanted to put one down in Logan Heights," says Pam Churness. "You either …
October 26, 2006
World Series Special
Often, when national sporting events take place (Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series), the Box goes to the people for analysis and commentary. And if there was ever a time to have …
October 26, 2006
Who Killed Ramonastock?
"This is party central," says 20-year-old Jim Portinga of Ramona. "Everyone you talk to says, 'Where's the party?' There is a big drug epidemic up here. I would say 70 to 80 percent of the …
October 26, 2006
Crabs
John Monteagudo spent four years and $10,000 on ...at the street level, a documentary of San Diego's music scene between 1996 and 2000. The interviews and performances feature P.O.D., Sprung Monkey, the Dragons, Buck-O-Nine, Ghoulspoon, …
October 26, 2006
Thanks, Bums
"We had the practice place for about a year," says drummer Josh Arend of Morning Riot, a four-man punk-rock band based in Encinitas. "We couldn't afford the single room for $500, so we split it …
October 26, 2006
Appalled, I'm Sure
More local performers with content on their MySpace sites some might find objectionable: Bands with misogynistic names include "Dig a Ditch and Bury the Bitch" and "Snuff That White Bitch" (the latter band featuring photos …
October 26, 2006
More Tuba
Steven Kendrick, tuba player, local comedian, and host of Winstons Friday-night Ocean Beach comedy shows, was stoked to hear that Banyan would be performing at the club on October 14. Kendrick had filmed the jazz/funk/rock/experimental …
October 26, 2006
Pints for the Pirates
Jimmy Buffett, who appears at Coors Amphitheatre tonight, requires in his dressing room a case of Coronitas beer and four Balance Bars. He wants another half case of Corona at stage left, and the band …
October 26, 2006
Where the Air and the Water Are Free
Hey, Matt! Why is it that most service stations around here don't offer free air and water? Isn't it California law that gasoline retailers must offer free air and water? Pissed I have to pay …
October 26, 2006
It's the Opposite of a Caribbean Minute
Heymatt: This week our local paper had in its sports headline something about the Mets and a New York minute. What is a New York minute? Are there only 58 or 59 seconds in their …
October 26, 2006
The Life Expectancy of Germs
Hey, Matt: I was paying bills and realized that because I had a bad cold, maybe I'd be giving my germs to people on the receiving end. Can my bad germs affect them after a …
October 26, 2006