A heartbreaking job among the innocent and challenged.
February 23, 2006
News & Stories
Moms pregnant with Down's Syndrome baby should visit ARC
Parker Nut Farm
Aretha Franklin thought there should have been more Motown artists performing at this year's Super Bowl in Detroit, but I think it was fitting that the Rolling Stones played the halftime show -- the band …
February 23, 2006
Columnist and Advocate
"I haven't really come to the point where I'm a wine critic."
February 23, 2006
Positive Publicity, Negative Returns
'Who is Woody Norris? Quite simply, Woody Norris is a visionary, a futurist." Those are the opening words of the website www.woodynorris.com. It is exaltation and exultation, paean and panegyric -- all for Elwood (Woody) …
February 23, 2006
Sci-Fi Troopers
'The general rule has been that no one can kill off somebody else's character without their permission. Everything I do is owned by George Lucas, so technically [Lucas Films doesn't] need our permission to do …
February 23, 2006
Sensitive Riders
He started to notice the problem while driving at night. "Quite rapidly my eyes deteriorated," says Art Seamans, professor emeritus of literature at Point Loma Nazarene University, "and I drove when I shouldn't have. Finally, …
February 23, 2006
Breaking Stories
Old moneybags Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the richest San Diego city council aide of all? Based on recently filed financial disclosure statements, that honor goes to Geoffrey W. Lipsey, a "council representative" for …
February 23, 2006
“So good luck with your Wall of Shame.”
Spending a Friday night in Tijuana may have once sounded like a good time, but if so, distanced enough in memory to seem now a confabulated desire, a state of mind impossible to reconstruct. Still, …
February 23, 2006
Santa Ynez Canyon above Pacific Palisades hosts an agreeably melodious waterfall.
Twisted live oaks and sycamores and pungent bay laurel trees highlight the brief trek up the L.A. coast's most easily accessible waterfall-bearing canyon. The goal is an 18-foot cascade tucked into an upper branch of …
February 23, 2006
Poor Beast
Little kids are fascinated by animals as soon as they become aware of the world around them. I was no different, but I did have more to go up against than many kids because my …
February 23, 2006
Harbor Presbyterian Church
"You are our shield and protector, the lifter of our head," prayed Site Pastor Mark Maliepaard, quoting the song that the band -- guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and saxophone -- had just finished. "We thank …
February 23, 2006
World Baseball Classic
It might be interesting, but not for the reason they think. I'm talking about the World Baseball Classic, an oddball tournament set to begin during MLB's spring training, to the disgust of Major League executives, …
February 23, 2006
Mysterious Elvira
Matt: I was recently looking on-line at the Yahoo Maps map of the intersection of I-5 and Highway 52 and found the single word "Elvira." Then I was on a jog under this very intersection, …
February 23, 2006
Write Right
Heymatt: Being right-handed it seems natural that I write from left to right on the page. This way I can see what I've written. And since most people (at least in the Western world) are …
February 23, 2006
Cheaper Concert Tickets Soon?
Besides its downtown nightclub, House of Blues Concerts owns and operates Coors Amphitheatre. The company books the headliners at SDSU's Cox Arena and Open Air Theatre. Two weeks ago, in an agreement with 4th & …
February 23, 2006
Bad Gutter Hippie?
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Patrick Harmon played the popular Tuesday open-mike night at E Street Café in Encinitas a month ago. Two of his protest songs spoke out against "...religion and control," says Harmon. "Both songs had the …
February 23, 2006
The Reader's Eye on Television
"Dice are out!" the stickman hollers. "Same lucky shooter, number's eight, point eight, hard or easy." "Two bucks on hard eight," a black transvestite yells and tosses down two blue chips. She makes eye contact …
February 23, 2006
Frantic Transmissions to and from Los Angeles: An Accidental Memoir
Frantic Transmissions to and from Los Angeles: An Accidental Memoir by Kate Braverman. Graywolf Press, 2006; 218 pages; $15 FROM THE DUST JACKET: Kate Braverman grew up in Los Angeles in the late 1950s at …
February 23, 2006
Download Lowdown
Mark the CD Trader, a shop in an Oceanside strip mall that had been open for over a year, closed last month. Rhino Westwood, in L.A., pulled the plug last month after 30 years. Aron's …
February 23, 2006
Gratitude for Switchfoot
On the way to town last year, Gratitude's van broke down in a Ralphs parking lot about 30 miles from their show at Mira Mesa's Epicentre. "An axle had broken on our trailer, or something …
February 23, 2006
It's the Stupid Music, Stupid!
At the CMJ New Music Festival in New York City last fall, Loud and Clear Records owner Brad Lee got a rude awakening after trying to explain to industry execs why music sales are down. …
February 23, 2006
Not Strange Bedfellows At All
OB's Defamation League calls itself "the official band of the Bryan Barton for Congress Campaign." The onetime Arizona Minuteman volunteer hopes to win the seat to represent California's 53rd District. "Barton's opponent is [incumbent Democrat] …
February 23, 2006
Pauper's Ransom
Mick Miller operates a recording studio out of his two-bedroom apartment in North County. The studio consists of a Mac and a PC, a Pro-Tools software program for digital recording, and a collection of microphones. …
February 23, 2006
Morenike Akinlawon in Rhode Island
Caramel Kid Jacob came home from school and asked me what color he was. Since the day he was born, I knew this day would come. I consider myself to be an honest person, and …
February 23, 2006
Party Pushers
I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their own happiness or satisfaction. -- Dalai Lama 'I need your advice," I said. Jennifer and Grace …
February 23, 2006
Topic: Cleansers For Kids' Grafitti
Every mom seems to have a marker catastrophe at some point in her mothering career. It's natural that childhood curiosity should seek to explore different mediums and uses for the coloring utensil. "Why draw on …
February 23, 2006