Corrugated tin sheets, rusted, dripped with paint, nipped into irregular rectangles, and fastened to each other in an unintentionally beautiful patchwork, stand as the long wall of a house. The residence across the alley from …
May 25, 2006
News & Stories
Ollie takes pals on vacation in Mexico
Run, Grunion!
'When they come up, the female [grunion] actually spiral down like a drill into the sand and lay their eggs in the sand, and the males drop the milt, or sperm, onto the eggs," says …
May 25, 2006
Maybe death is the ultimate Friday night.
May Gray is getting to me, or it could be that I ran out of my anti-depressants some time ago, or maybe it was the fact that on Monday I learned an old friend had …
May 25, 2006
Hot Topics
I didn't have to travel far to the firefighter party in Little Italy's Firehouse Museum, but firefighters came from all over the U.S. and other countries to attend this party. I was told there were …
May 25, 2006
Tour Kensington, one of San Diego's most gentrified neighborhoods, on a perimeter sidewalk route.
Civilized and gracious Kensington is one of the most interesting of San Diego's distinctive neighborhoods to tour -- especially by foot, on skates, or by bike. Kensington sprawls across nearly flat terrain, so skating and …
May 25, 2006
The In-flight Answer
Dear Matthew: On my way to work the other day, I was watching what I think were seagulls flying in a V formation. I've seen ducks and geese do this, but it suddenly occurred to …
May 25, 2006
Sweatin' in Santee
Hey, Matt: In the summer my thermometer in the open sun reads 110 to 120 degrees while the news reports 90 to 100. How do they get such low readings? Do they put their thermometers …
May 25, 2006
A Column In Two Parts
The May 4 issue of the Reader carried a reprint of a story, "How They Ended Up In Jacumba," that I wrote in 1990. Some readers thought the story was contemporaneous, written this year, describing …
May 25, 2006
Debt
Manny Farber was a friend of mine before we ever met. I recall exactly how I was introduced. I had read Pauline Kael's jeremiad on Andrew Sarris and the auteur theory, “Circles and Squares,” in …
May 25, 2006
The Reader's Eye on Television
When I was a little kid I underwent surgery to remove my tonsils. This is back in the early '80s. Tonsillectomies were common. Now, I think surgery is a last resort. I imagine the "last …
May 25, 2006
Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled, and More Miserable Than Ever Before
Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before by Jean M. Twenge. Free Press; April 4, 2006; $25; 304 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: The Associated Press …
May 25, 2006
Cheeky
'We just got back from a mini-tour up the coast," says Cheeky frontman Shant Salakian. "We went as far as San Louis Obispo. It was a new experience for us. It's the first time we've …
May 25, 2006
Confessions and Epiphanies
Journal writing is a voyage to the interior. -- Christina Baldwin I looked around for something to throw. The thought of lashing out physically caused my heart to skip a beat in anticipation of such …
May 25, 2006
Jeremy Menning in Providence, Rhode Island
The Best Men Before I moved to Providence a friend quizzed me on my plan to move 1,000 miles away. "Well I guess it will be me, a U-haul, and a car trailer." "Do you …
May 25, 2006
Making Preserves
The strawberry fields are calling again, and the family is answering the call. This time, though, we're not going to cram strawberries into our mouths until we swear we'll never look at another one again. …
May 25, 2006
Monkey Karma
After a rancorous fight with her landlord, Hot Monkey Love Café owner Alma Felan says her seven-night-a-week, all-age music venue has signed a lease for a new building. Hot Monkey Love will be moving out …
May 25, 2006
Big Foot
"They are good for 2500 to 3000 tickets." That's how one local promoter described Switchfoot's local box office draw at an all-age venue. But that estimation considers paying customers. How many fans would turn out …
May 25, 2006
Go Sit in the Corner
Solo vocalist Naomi learned what it's like to be an immigrant trying to work on a recent tour in England. "I got stopped at customs on my way in," says Naomi. "They were asking me, …
May 25, 2006
Bringing Down Pala Bowl
"When the ratio of skaters to metalheads gets out of whack, that's when everything gets put at risk." For four years an empty pool on the Pala Indian Reservation has been a haven for skateboarders. …
May 25, 2006
666 Postponed to Later this Summer
6-6-06 was supposed to see the reunited Slayer debut music from their first album in five years for around 11,500 fans at the Sports Arena. Unfortunately, this first date of the "Unholy Alliance Tour" was …
May 25, 2006
Would You Commute Daily To El Centro?
El Centro and Yuma are cooling off. No, not the blistering summer heat. That hasn't changed. The economies of those two small cities between San Diego and Phoenix have been surging the past several years, …
May 25, 2006
Mayor Takes Office Crew to Washington
This week Mayor Jerry Sanders traveled to Washington, D.C., for the third time since becoming San Diego's mayor. The trip was less extensive than the mayor's second visit to the capital, at the end of …
May 25, 2006
Care and Feeding
Congress has been busy talking about reforming its ethics in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal, but that hasn't stopped a lot of members from hitting the road thanks to freebies offered by lobbyists, …
May 25, 2006
Let The Sun Shine In
After more than a year of preparation, the City of San Diego is about to introduce electronic filing, which will allow the citizenry to look up and sort through the campaign finance disclosure records of …
May 25, 2006
End of Season Closeout
Last-minute money continues to pour into local congressional campaigns. The latest donations, made in the last week, include many from big corporate interests. On May 18 Republican Brian Bilbray, running against Democrat Francine Busby, posted …
May 25, 2006