For the past 30 years, Larry has been traveling south of the border to party on his birthday. He and his friend Mary McDonald charter a bus and pile all their friends into it for …
March 23, 2006
News & Stories
Bus Bash
The Envelope, Please
'You know those circus peanuts? That's exactly what this smells like.'
March 23, 2006
Celebrity School
'Be brutally honest. Look at yourself and see if you look like you could be commercial," says Becky Rash, co-owner of Active Audio and Entertainment. "Ashlee Simpson is a little more regular-looking than her sister …
March 23, 2006
That Filthy Lucre...
John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten, formerly of the Sex Pistols) did a three-hour interview last week on 91X. According to 91X program director Kevin Stapleford, the station paid Lydon to record promotional announcements three months …
March 23, 2006
Of Mansions and Trailer Parks
"There aren't really any gangs out there," says 19-year-old Free Mind, who graduated from Poway High last year. "There are barely any Asians where I'm from. I kicked it with black people, so I was …
March 23, 2006
Album Special: $680
Brian Witkin owns Del Mar--based record label Pacific Records and a record/CD store located inside the all-age Epicentre in Mira Mesa. Now, following the McDonald's business model, Witkin intends to break into recording; he says …
March 23, 2006
These Knives Don't Sink
The former members of No Knife (who split in 2003) are turning up all over. Bassist Brian Desjean's new band, Get Your Death On!, played their first gig on February 19 at the Ken Club; …
March 23, 2006
Let It Bleed
If you pick up a copy of Zack Wentz's novel The Garbageman and the Prostitute, you might notice that William T. Vollmann is quoted on the front cover. Vollmann, author of Europe Central, The Atlas, …
March 23, 2006
And I was sure to be a cult classic...
David Sipnick is a bookseller, mostly online in recent years, but with some of his small press stuff from the 1990s, Oberon Books Editions, children's (boys', really) adventure stories on consignment at specialty stores around …
March 23, 2006
UCSD president Robert Dynes and the beginnings of Qualcomm
Close up on the man at the helm of our ten-campus university system.
March 23, 2006
Orange County's new Bell View Regional Trail offers wide views of far-flung suburbs and brooding mountains.
The Bell View Regional Trail, for hikers, equestrians, and cyclists, starts as a "community trail" threading through the suburban-edge communities of Rancho Santa Margarita and Coto de Caza. It then assumes a wilder character as …
March 23, 2006
Sweet Sixteen
The usual schools remain standing as the NCAA men's basketball tournament rolls through its second week. We have Connecticut, Villanova, Florida, Georgetown, Duke, UCLA, blah, blah, blah, and Bradley. Bradley. What is Bradley? Turns out, …
March 23, 2006
Gullibility Factor
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. According to a poll taken three months ago, 63.4 percent of city residents believe thatpolitics and government are no more corrupt here than in any other …
March 23, 2006
Steaming Rock Piles
'It was a very depressing scene," blogs Wasting June's keyboard player Jeff Domitrz about a summer gig at 'Canes (found on the band's myspace.com page). "A friend of mine described it as 'drinking beer at …
March 23, 2006
Passionate Local Filmmaker Passes
'Garrett Scott and Ian Olds," announced the actor Willem Dafoe after opening the envelope. The two had been chosen for the Truer Than Fiction Award, given at this year's Independent Spirit Awards, broadcast March 4 …
March 23, 2006
Breaking Stories
Triple bogie Call it a small piece of good news for San Diego taxpayers: a bid to renew the sweetheart lease of the Carlton Oaks Golf Course has been thwarted by a recently hired property …
March 23, 2006
St. John of Damascus, Orthodox Church
It took five years to hand-carve the screen that stretches across the front of St. John Damascus, and it shows. Besides its wrought wood, the screen displays a host of icons, their angular lines depicting …
March 23, 2006
The Reader's Eye on Television
Attention from a pretty girl is all any of us wants -- men, that is. There are volumes of slick magazines devoted to a monthly review of "What he really wants," when it's just that …
March 23, 2006
American Movie Critics: An Anthology from the Silents Until Now
American Movie Critics: From the Silents Until Now, edited by Phillip Lopate. Library of America, 2006; $40; 700 pages FROM THE DUST JACKET: American Movie Critics is an anthology of unparalleled scope that charts the …
March 23, 2006
Rosa Jurjevics in Boston
The Granddaughters Nanny is dead. It is Karen who calls to tell me this. It is Thursday, and I hear the phone and know, ducking out of class in what I hope is a discreet …
March 23, 2006
Invitation Only
Remember, our conduct is influenced not by our experience but by our expectations. -- George Bernard Shaw I was 14 the first time I learned there was a party held by one of my friends …
March 23, 2006
Hair Extensions
My gal pal Bernice turns 40 this summer. Her hubby Frank is taking her to Cancún to celebrate. Bernice has been preparing for the trip -- working out, dieting, and shopping for new outfits. "But …
March 23, 2006