A tall building takes a sizeable square of land and transforms it into multiple cubes of habitable space — story after story rising — converting once-empty sky into a series of interior chambers and environments. …
August 24, 2006
News & Stories
Economics and ego build downtown San Diego's skyline – higher and higher.
Malbec at the Oasis
I don't want to be a bar. I want to be a hangout - an oasis away from those bars.
August 24, 2006
Two for the Ages
'It's so easy to fall back on dirty humor or fart jokes than it is to actually put together truly clever and memorable scenes, like the boys did," says John Field, the Grand Sheik of …
August 24, 2006
Canyon Springs Church
"When the music fades/ All is stripped away/ And I simply come, longing just to bring/ Something that's of worth," sang Trevor Davis. "I'll bring you more than a song..." But songs were exactly what …
August 24, 2006
“I’m not a murderer or something. I just wanted a cigarette.”
The Volunteers of America at 1111 Island Avenue is in trouble. The wrecking ball is waiting in the wings. You can almost see its shadow from Market Street. It's the only detox facility in town …
August 24, 2006
Bulb Burnout
Hi Matt: Why do light bulbs go poof when you turn them on, never while they're turned on and burning and having been on for hours? Maybe some expire in use in an abandoned garage, …
August 24, 2006
What's the Master?
Matt: At what age do you discontinue use of the term "Master" to address correspondence to a young man? Thank you. -- Roseann Schoen, the net Ms. Schoen, I'd say when you get to 95 …
August 24, 2006
New Planets? Horror-scope!
Help, Matt: Every day I read my horoscope in the paper. But I've just heard that somebody's discovered many new planets. Does that mean that everybody's horoscope is now wrong? What am I going to …
August 24, 2006
The Reader's Eye on Television
Me: Why are you watching the Teen Choice Awards? You're 27. Her: I just want to see Nick Lachey win an award for his new song. Because, to hell with Jessica. Me: You're a good …
August 24, 2006
Homecoming
Last week, while working on a column about the NFL Network and its greed war with Time Warner Cable, five hours before deadline, I was run over by a freight train of something resembling a …
August 24, 2006
Little Star of Bela Lua: Stories from Brazil (P.S.)
Little Star of Bela Lua: Stories from Brazil (P.S.) by Luana Monteiro. Harper Perennial Paperback, 2006, $13.95, 256 pages. BOOK DESCRIPTION: A luminous fish appears in an impoverished village like a sign from God and …
Watch evening shadows race across Borrego Valley from Panorama Overlook.
Off-season (a.k.a. "summer") camping in the Anza-Borrego Desert isn't as outlandish as it may seem -- particularly if you confine your visit to the darker two-thirds of a 24-hour day. On just about any August …
August 24, 2006
Psychoanalysis
No Control Perhaps the biggest event of my upbringing that affected who I am today was my move from North Carolina to California when I was 11 years old. Previously shy, comfortable with my several …
August 24, 2006
I Made an Alligator
When I go to an art party, I never know what to expect. Sometimes the art is interesting. When it's not interesting, I say it's not my cup of tea. I was invited to an …
August 24, 2006
Industry People
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. -- T.S. Eliot 'I just got word that the pilot's being picked up," said a voice …
August 24, 2006
Seeking Paradise
There's a new blossom unfolding at the Flower Hill mall. Barely six months old, Paradise Grille brings fresh fragrances and flavors to Del Mar as chef Justin Hoehn hones his mixture of Caribbean, Polynesian, and …
August 24, 2006
Use Everything You’ve Got
'We recorded one of our live shows at Lestat's and mixed two video feeds along with audio," says Big Toe singer/guitarist Dave Gilbert of the tape that landed them on NBC's Star Tomorrow on July …
August 24, 2006
Cholesterol lowering products
High cholesterol doesn't run in my husband's family, but he has become an exception. Last month he returned from a yearly physical looking glum. "Doc has given me three months to take some weight off …
August 24, 2006
Sunny Somani in Bangalore, India
Sweet Tea The air hostess didn't ask him if he'd like his tea remade. He was reclined in his seat, eyes closed, iPod playing; the teacup held by both his palms and a smug smile …
August 24, 2006
Payable On Death or Departure?
"I knew it was coming a couple months ago," says Accident Experiment guitarist Marcos Curiel of Atlantic Records' decision to drop P.O.D. from its roster. With drummer Wuv (Noah Bernardo Jr.), Curiel cofounded the South …
August 24, 2006
"It's Time to Face My Demons"
"It's Time to Face My Demons," said 91X DJ and music director Marco Collins. Last week, he left San Diego to spend six to eight weeks at a live-in recovery center in Georgia. "I have …
August 24, 2006
In the Thick
"They didn't knock. My girlfriend and I were still in bed when around 20 cops came busting in full-force with guns and a search warrant," says Thicker Than Thieves singer Jamin Hazelaar of the recent …
August 24, 2006
Chicks Dig Boats!
"I love the ocean, and I love the water," says Ray Raposa, whose sailboat tour (with his band the Castanets) began on Saturday. Raposa, who was raised here and surfed competitively as a teen, still …
August 24, 2006
He-Mahn vs. Skeletor
"They didn't like my appearance because I didn't dress in 1983 Metallica fashion," says guitarist Chris Knowles of his brief stint with Skeletor (named after the villain in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe …
August 24, 2006
Hey, Man, It Wasn't Me
"There was an article in [the Reader] about a guy living in a trailer who was supposed to have been the drummer for Strawberry Alarm Clock," says Randy Seol, the band's drummer in the heyday …
August 24, 2006
Cortez Hill Condo Owners Rebel
Beginning in 1927, the El Cortez Hotel was the most beautiful building in downtown San Diego as well as the watering hole of the Beautiful People. But it deteriorated and in 1978 was sold to …
August 24, 2006
Where Beachfront Living Is a Bargain
Northern Baja's "Gold Coast," from Rosarito to Ensenada, is enjoying a real estate boom as American buyers search for oceanfront homes at prices they haven't seen in Southern California in more than ten years. Though …
August 24, 2006
How tall is tall?
According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a high-rise building is any structure over 35 meters (about 115 feet) in height that is divided into regular intervals with occupiable levels. To be …
August 24, 2006