A note is taped to our front door. It says something about a community-standards violation and cites section 2B from the HOA policies handbook: All residents are responsible for the upkeep and general maintenance of …
September 20, 2007
Blog Entries
- Filner Introduces Bill to Block Blackwater USA
3 comments
- Shipione the Hero, San Diego the Goat -- Again
- Union-Tribune: Kinder, Gentler
- Writing about writing
2 comments
News & Stories
Jesus of Carmel Mountain Ranch
Scripps Ranch Daddy Dreams of Kensington
Didn't want to be here. Liked the old place better, in the city. A housekeeper's flat in the back of a Craftsman-riche palazzo in Kensington. We grew baby raccoons in winter, big shimmery spiderwebs in …
September 20, 2007
The Reader's Eye on Television
There's a trick to those stinky nicotine patches. You've got to attach them to the tender flesh at the zenith of the ribcage curve to get the good zang! flush of chemicals. The informational packet …
September 20, 2007
Shufflers and Mufflers
'We have a 10,000-acre ranch an hour and 20 minutes away from Ensenada," says Ernie Preciado of the San Antonio Ranch in Ojos Negros, Baja California. "It's a valley, and it's hot. If you've seen …
September 20, 2007
As You Like It, Romeo + Juliet, Taming of the Shrew
Mary AndersonTheatre executive director, Coronado Playhouse, www.cornadoplayhouse.com The same week that the Coronado Playhouse's free production of As You Like It opened, HBO released Kenneth Branagh's long-awaited film version of Shakespeare's pastoral comedy. Originally scheduled …
September 20, 2007
To have witnessed terrible wipeouts
Name: Rene Escalante Vehicle: 2004 Nissan Xterra Lives: Imperial Beach Surfing: Hospitals, La Jolla Rene Escalante is an Imperial Beach native who's been surfing and bodyboarding nearly all his life. This morning, Rene strapped his …
September 20, 2007
Self-Realization Fellowship, Encinitas
On September 16, the Self-Realization Fellowship in Encinitas opened its doors to the public for an Open House and free concert. Just inside the entrance to the Fellowship grounds, a china setting was laid out …
September 20, 2007
Satori on a Stick
"Want skin as smooth as a baby's bottom?" say a couple of handmade signs at Yakitori Yakyudori. "Try our Kawasu!" They're not touting some new Japanese moisturizer, but actual chicken skin, boiled and shredded and …
September 20, 2007
Saucy Upstart
"In the early evening, at least, most sales were half-bottles of Beaujolais to solitary ladies."
Gilded Shams: The Great American Fraud (Part Three)
You wonder if Alfred Huntington Isham knew his last name harbored a confession of guilt. Maybe he did. But given his dim view of human nature, and supreme confidence in his persuasive powers, maybe “I …
September 20, 2007
Lorna And Three Teen-Age Friends, 1965
In June of 1965, the Evening Tribune sent a photographer to 3535 Tomahawk Lane in Clairemont. The angle of the story isn't clear today, but the assignment sheet reads: "Take photo of Lorna [Montgomery, standing, …
September 20, 2007
Junky's Wife in Charlotte, North Carolina
Why I don't leave When our eyes met, I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror came over me. I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose …
September 20, 2007
Shralpin' On The Gnar Gnar, Bombin' It
Edward Pickens Age: 34 Occupation: Bookkeeper Lives: North Park "Shralpin' on the gnar gnar," isn't really surfer slang, it's more like making fun of bad '80s surfer slang. I use that one as a joke …
September 20, 2007
Somewhere Marty Is Laughing
Happily, I got the "Norv Is a Hack" column out of the way before the NFL season started, so I can say "Norv Is a Hack" now without being accused of jumping on the bandwagon. …
September 20, 2007
Flies: They Poop, They Die
Heymatt-- Do flies go to the bathroom, deposit feces? -- Devon Davis, 782 CBSSS/PK Hi, Matt: The flies in my home seem slower than usual, and I am serious. They hop around on the floor …
September 20, 2007
Physics on a Bar Stool
Hi, Matt: When my boyfriend drinks beer out of a glass, he puts a paper coaster or the like on top of the glass to cover the opening. He says it keeps his beer colder …
September 20, 2007
Fernando's Favorite Chips
Hey, Matt: My husband swears the Tostitos of his childhood (late '70s, early '80s) were round and nacho cheese flavored. He even remembers a commercial starring a guy named Fernando that thought the chips should …
September 20, 2007
Back on Blossom Street (The Knitting Books #3)
Name: Patty Ayer Age: 58 Occupation: Homemaker/Volunteer Neighborhood: Lemon Grove Where Interviewed: Outside the Library What book are you currently reading? "My library discussion group is supposed to be reading The Kite Runner by Khaled …
September 20, 2007
Expanded Lindbergh Field, Liberty Station, High Tech High squeeze Point Loma
People of that once-perfect peninsula, Point Loma, fear that a perfect storm is gathering. Governments at the federal, state, county, and local levels are taking actions that threaten to increase the noise, traffic, pollution, population, …
September 20, 2007
What Would Hillcrest Do without Russ the Bodybuilder?
"It's over, I'm done with all of this and I can't handle another second of it..." The sobs echoed through the narrow hallway of the tiny Sixth Avenue complex. "There's no more us...there's just Russ." …
September 20, 2007
Gang life ends at Gladiators gym in Southcrest
Sherrie Ross, a real estate agent, was looking for ways to persuade kids to stay away from San Diego gangs. So she was happy two years ago to meet Travis Stocking at a community-organizing event. …
September 20, 2007
The Frozen Carcass of Ted Williams
Thirty Years Ago Your surrealistic story on me was taken far too seriously by some of your readers (if the vehemence of some of the letters you received is any indication). As journalism, the piece …
September 20, 2007
Union-Tribune backs KPBS on Full Focus
Union-Tribune editorial pages have opened fire on City Attorney Mike Aguirre for asking for previously unrevealed details about the finances of KPBS, the public broadcasting operation owned and operated by San Diego State University. The …
September 20, 2007
The Harder They Fall
A common complaint about Ticketmaster is that the company charges too much for "convenience" -- the fees that hover around 40 percent of the base price of a ticket. A growing number of local venues …
September 20, 2007
American Hero
When you're born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front row seat. -- George Carlin I stood at the kitchen counter, enjoying a hardboiled egg. …
September 20, 2007
The Boss of What?
Pollstar magazine reports that $55 to $95 Bruce Springsteen tickets are selling for $1200 on StubHub. Don't look to buy one of those for a local show, because Springsteen and the E Street won't be …
September 20, 2007
All in the Name of Roc
When Martin Sauerman opened his Over the Border bar in Chula Vista about ten years ago, he figured he could make a lot of money if he brought in accordion-playing norteño bands. "They drink a …
September 20, 2007
Wacky Wiki
WikiScanner is a hot new website that allows users to follow the history of editorial changes on Wikipedia, the user-edited online encyclopedia of almost everything. Created by a computer science grad student, WikiScanner allows the …
September 20, 2007
Ink Empire
Artist Mike Clift has drawn gory, zombie-heavy record covers for bands such as GutRot, Nocturnus, DiamondHead, and Skinlab. He's probably best known for his sleeve artwork for long-gone locals Psychotic Waltz, whose drummer, Norm Leggio, …
September 20, 2007
Ragged Ragtime
If E.L. Doctorow had written Ragtime as a musical in 1975, instead of a novel, I wonder if Broadway would have staged it. Set in the Progressive Era (roughly 1900 to 1914), the book extols …
September 20, 2007
Poster Chide
After Macy Gray's 4th & B show on August 19, some friends and I went to a bar downtown. When we were leaving at around 1 a.m., Gray's tour bus was stopped at a hotel …
September 20, 2007
The Queue Forms Here
What's available and what isn't is a constant source of puzzlement.
September 20, 2007
Idaho's Senator Larry Craig backs away from Randy Cunningham
Back in March of last year, the Idaho Statesman ran a big story about the connections between fallen GOP Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Senator Larry Craig, then one of the most powerful politicians in …
September 20, 2007
Boredom Turns to Excitement in Chula Vista
“You have got to be kidding me!” My outburst was not at all surprising, after I saw the over-half- million-dollar price neatly printed on a colorful placard in front of the model house. My family …
September 20, 2007
Venture up Haines Canyon, where you leave L.A. behind and enter a seldom-visited corner of Angeles National Forest.
Coyotes howl, water splashes down a willow-lined creek, and hummingbirds flit about in search of nectar. All of this takes place barely a mile from the grid of suburban streets on the fringe of Los …
September 20, 2007
Payback's a Bitch in Shelltown
My earliest memories of Shelltown are those of a chaotic and scary place. I was an impressionable and tender ten years of age when my family moved into the impoverished Southeast San Diego neighborhood, which …
September 20, 2007
Miraculous Rancho San Diego
I meet DB at the Coffee Grounds, where we catch up on gossip. He asks why I moved from downtown to Rancho San Diego, his gaze fixated on the very competent, very cute, barista. I …
September 20, 2007
No Drums Allowed in Fletcher Hills
I have lived on the same block, in the same city in the same state, and in the same house for my whole life. Fifteen years to be exact. It's hard growing up in Fletcher …
September 20, 2007
Colorful El Cajon Police Stories
Shade of Orange I scurried through dancing shadows to reach my carpool pick-up spot at the swimming pool-mailboxes annex within the condo complex. I glanced at my watch. It was 6:07 a.m. All was quiet …
September 20, 2007
Coronado Turned on Me
I am old. My neighborhood is shrinking. Once, my Coronado was mainly blocks and blocks of houses with just a few shops and cafes. Now it has grown, but my world has been reduced to …
September 20, 2007
How an Escondido Trailer Park Became a Neighborhood
When I think of my neighborhood, I think of transformation. My five-year-old daughter and I were mesmerized when we first saw Mountain Shadows Mobile Home Park in '94. There were plum and orange trees growing …
September 20, 2007
Alpine's Secret Valley
When I moved into Peutz Valley, this deadend, oak-lined community in Alpine, my family consisted of two boys still living at home, craving a country atmosphere. Here we could raise animals and grow a garden, …
September 20, 2007