It is almost precisely equidistant, like the fulcrum of a scale or lever, between two imposing monuments to San Diego's vanity, its corruption, its detachment, and the city's characteristic insistence that All Is Well, America; …
January 11, 2007
News & Stories
The customers at San Diego's St. Vincent de Paul
For several years I dismissed most cell-phone users as pathetic, needy losers....
Pat Robertson, the TV evangelist, got me thinking. Another sign of the apocalypse possibly, but there it is. I saw him on The 700 Club this morning after a channel-flipping moment of desperation born of …
January 11, 2007
The Mexican Connection
Del Toro never lets his special effects take over to the same extent as in his Hollywood movies.
January 11, 2007
¡Baja!: Cooking on the Edge
Baja! Cooking on the Edge by Deborah M. Schneider. Photographs by Maren Caruso. Rodale, 2006, 274 pages, $27.95 FROM THE DUST JACKET: Chef Deborah Schneider first saw Baja in the '80s and fell in love …
Bums and Billionaires
I was invited to over 70 Halloween parties this year. For New Year's Eve -- none. It would be a night that I'd have to earn the title "crasher." A friend gave me the scoop …
January 11, 2007
Backpack across the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness area near Temecula.
The north-to-south Bluewater Traverse route takes you through the heart of southwestern Riverside County's San Mateo Canyon Wilderness by way of old roads and primitive trails. You can do it quickly as a long day …
January 11, 2007
Cold Front
How few of his friends' houses would a man choose to be at when he is sick. -- Samuel Johnson I stabbed a chunk of potato salad with my fork and brought it to my …
January 11, 2007
Josie's Story
Josie grew up in the Oakland, California of the '30s. As part of her training, after college she went on to earn her teaching certificate. Since then, she has spent her entire adult life teaching …
January 11, 2007
Here in the Bonny Glen
Title: Here in the Bonny Glen Around this time of year, I get inquiries about my picture book, Hanna's Christmas. Since you can't find a copy on Amazon this year, I thought I'd post about …
January 11, 2007
Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church, Clairemont
"A prayer before worship," read the screen at the front of the tidy church, its oak-and-white simplicity spruced up with poinsettias, garland, wreaths, and Christmas trees outfitted with gold and white ornaments fashioned along Christian …
January 11, 2007
Kendra Wiseman in Beijing
Wet Dragon Cloudblaster If you'll just take a minute to read over my brief profile on the left-hand side of my online blog, you'll discover that "malfunctioning technology" is listed under "Peeves." That's because my …
January 11, 2007
A Feast of Art And Music
'W e moved all the bathrooms around, broke through a lot of walls so we could combine all the buildings, and built a staircase to the adjacent building on Girard," says Erika Torri, executive director …
January 11, 2007
Mexico's Secret Vineyards
"It's easy to believe that there are a lot of unaccounted-for vineyards in the region."
The Reader's Eye on Television
The Five Stages of Grief as They Pertain to Spilling Beer On My Cable Box and Only Receiving the Asian Channel Denial This should clear right up. I'll try flipping channels. Using the "up" and …
January 11, 2007
Frayed but Intact
"I've been a fan of Jimmy Gnecco since Distorted Lullabies, the first Ours album," says local singer/songwriter Simeon Flick, who caught Gnecco's solo House of Blues performance in December. "Jimmy, about three quarters of the …
January 11, 2007
Where Kids and Booze Mix
"I just got a call from the agent who has MC Lars ["Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock"]," says promoter Sulo King. "They were going to book him at 'Canes, but they decided to put …
January 11, 2007
Now Hiring
The Box will stand second to no one in getting game-ready for Sunday's Chargers/Patriots contest. This is the best playoff match-up to date and is required viewing for sports enthusiasts. But, let's not take our …
January 11, 2007
Peel Out...Pyles In
FM 94.9 DJ Tim Pyles is teaming up with producer Alan Sanderson (Weezer/Rolling Stones) for a series of live-in-the-studio recordings. Inspired by the late BBC DJ John Peel's legendary music showcase "The Peel Sessions," this …
January 11, 2007
Relevant and Ignored
'The show was a who's who of the early- to mid-'90s local music scene," says Jason Bang, whose public-access TV program Leche: The Musical aired on Oceanside's KOCT from early 1993 through early 1995. Each …
January 11, 2007
Bill's "Birthday Suit" Recognized
San Diego--based three-piece bill was recently named one of Rolling Stone magazine's top 25 MySpace bands. "Basically, a friend sent us a message telling us [about it]," says Riyadh Drebika, the band's manager. "All we …
January 11, 2007
Six Feet of Dirt
The North Atlantic, an explosive math-rock trio from Michigan that formed at Kalamazoo College in 1999 (and migrated to SD within a year), offered this Gerald R. Ford obit on their MySpace bulletin: "...Ford is …
January 11, 2007
Already Gone
"They want to tear it down and build 22 condos," says Danny Salzhand of the 101 Artists' Colony studio near Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. The venue, which hosts one or two all-age shows a month, …
January 11, 2007
Big-Time Drummer Guy
"I was in our rehearsal studio in L.A. [in 1993]," says Encinitas drummer Jon Dette. "I happened to be playing Testament songs one day. Testament drummer John Tempesta hears me playing. He opens the door …
January 11, 2007
San Diegan Foresaw Home Depot Woes
Robert Nardelli is corporate America's new symbol of wretched excess. He resigned under pressure last week after refusing to take a cut in his bonus. He had been making more than $10 million a year …
January 11, 2007
A Park? A Road?
If you think volunteer advisory boards are rubber stamps for San Diego's municipal shenanigans, meet attorney Bob Ottilie. As a member of the Park and Recreation Board, Ottilie has lately been causing heartburn in at …
January 11, 2007
Happy Daze
When David Copley isn't busy shedding reporters and other employees who worked for his late mother's rapidly shrinking newspaper chain, he can be found on the gentle Mediterranean waters off Nice and Antibes, between Monte …
January 11, 2007
Mother Of All Fire Sales
Fallout continues over the prospective sell-off of the Copley newspapers in the Midwest. In Peoria, Illinois, home of the Journal Star, the Peoria Newspaper Guild, which represents reporters and photographers at the paper, has set …
January 11, 2007
Carnal Properties
Mike Aguirre and his brother Gary aren't the only locals to receive recent write-ups in the New York Times. Dave Cummings, a 66-year-old porn star from University City, was featured in a year-end story headlined …
January 11, 2007
As American as Apple Pancakes
"Ricky's is as near as you'll get to what the founding fathers ate."
January 11, 2007
One Hand Clapping
I found Zen purely by serendipity when I was looking for something else, which is exactly the way that followers of Zen Buddhism are supposed to find enlightenment. One evening, I ventured out to the …
January 11, 2007