The End of the World A mile east of the Tijuana International Airport is an area police call El Fin del Mundo, the End of the World, where drug-cartel assassins dump their victims. Both Mexican …
August 6, 2008
Blog Entries
- Thunderheads, Sandpipers, Naked-Eye Planets, and the Perseid Meteor Shower
- Jake and the Fat Man's Execution
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News & Stories
Violence up in Baja – especially for journalists
Puttin' on the Blitz
‘Every show starts with a stack of papers,” says Duane Daniels, founder of the Fritz Theatre, “words on a page, from the script to production demands, and they’re just the tip of one humongous iceberg” …
August 6, 2008
San Diego Is Chargers' Problem
The Chargers say they have a problem: Qualcomm Stadium is antiquated. Sorry. The Chargers’ problem is much broader and deeper than that. The Chargers have a problem with San Diego. Period. It’s not big enough …
August 6, 2008
Let's Get This Straight
Thirty Years AgoThree weeks ago The Unhappy Gays — the 12th book written by Reverend Tim LaHaye, president of Christian Heritage College in El Cajon — was released in religious bookstores across the country. LaHaye, …
August 6, 2008
Strange, Okay, Not Too Pretentious
Artist: A Scribe amidst the Lions Song: “Wet Bird” (from the CD Sunken Cities) Heard By: Richie Lauridsen, Golden Hill It’s not my cup of tea; however, the band is technically proficient. That song kind …
August 6, 2008
Dancing in Squares
Restlessness grows daily in the Kelly home. Midsummer boredom is percolating in my kids and threatening to boil over. Some new hobbies are needed. Pal Bernice suggested square dancing. “We danced a lot of summer …
August 6, 2008
Ollie Ewok
I look like the most reviled creature on Earth, and I’ll tell you what it is: an Ewok. If you don’t hate Ewoks, you’re not paying attention. And don’t give me that “you said ‘the …
August 6, 2008
Marriage Protection Act
The website for the California Marriage Protection Act (protectmarriagesd) features a “Protect Marriage” timeline, one which incorporates both spiritual and political efforts. (The act seeks to amend the California State Constitution so that marriage will …
August 6, 2008
Sumo Follies
I made the mistake of trying to go to a party in the Hillcrest area during the Gay Pride Festival. Not that there’s anything wrong with that...other than road closures and parking problems! My girlfriend …
Health Food on a Bun?
Yippee! It’s okay to eat burgers again!” This is our neighbor Lisa. She’s yelling it from the balcony of her apartment. Us burger-loving burghers, Carla and I, gather ’neath her balcony. “Burgers are back!” Lisa …
August 6, 2008
Hot Mess
“I’ve always enjoyed music and singing,” says singer/songwriter Jodi V, “but I grew up in a religious household, so singing anywhere else but at church was not an option.” Her first public performance was at …
August 6, 2008
Charity Checkers
“Some people will flat out tell you, ‘I don’t want anything too hard,’” says Kathryn Smith. “With most people, you can just kind of tell what games they’d be good at. I had one crowd …
August 6, 2008
Olympics Preview
Communism has taken a hit in recent years. At one time or another, 31 countries were self-declared communist states, including such sleepers as Ethiopia, Benin, Congo, and Grenada. (France and California are omitted for technical …
August 6, 2008
North (Park) Sea
When the Linkery moved north and Sea Rocket took over its former quarters, I could barely contain myself. Seafood in North Park, less than ten minutes from home via my favorite scenic “Secret Freeway” (Pershing …
August 6, 2008
Now Listen Up
“Dance, like words, is a form of expression, a way of explaining who we are,” says Adelaide of the Shimmy Sisters, a belly-dancing duo she formed in 2006 with her sister Leilainia. “A dance can …
August 6, 2008
A Fistful of Dollars, The Best of Youth, Caterina in the Big City
Victor LarucciaManaging director and board member, San Diego Italian Film Festival The 2008 San Diego Italian Film Festival is dedicated to beloved artist Italo Scanga, who brought to San Diego and to his art the …
August 6, 2008
Allen Glick, 1979
Allen Glick, 1979. In the ’70s, Glick had a real estate office in San Diego near Banker’s Hill. Around the same time (according to Wikipedia), Glick “was the front man for the syndicate-controlled Stardust Casino …
August 6, 2008
Can’t Do This by Aaron Taylor
She was breaking up with me for something that was not my fault, punishing me for something for which I had no control: a tragedy, an act of God. She had had a miscarriage. The …
August 6, 2008
Blasts from the Past
Ex-KFMB Channel 8 TV weathercaster and part-time Mission Beach stand-up comic Larry Mendte has been making the wrong kind of headlines in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia lately. Mendte, who departed San Diego to work …
August 6, 2008
Play Day
What is bought is cheaper than a gift. — Portuguese proverb I had told Jen to be ready at 8:15 a.m. At 8 a.m. she was folding laundry in her garage and, from the look …
August 6, 2008
Electrifying
Sempra Energy, lobbying hard to build that controversial power line across Anza-Borrego state park, has taken its battle to the stomachs of legislators and their staffers. According to the company’s latest lobbyist disclosure statement, filed …
August 6, 2008
Defiling Jack’s Place
Twenty-nine years ago this week (8/5/79), Jack Murphy Stadium hosted Blue Öyster Cult, Cheap Trick, UFO, Pat Travers, and Shakin’ Street. To launch the all-day show, promoter Marc Berman battled the fire department over attendees …
August 6, 2008
SciFi Summer
Hot enough for you? I’m counting on the heat still being a predominant if subliminal influence this first week of August. As I often do this time of year, I find myself reaching for science …
August 6, 2008
Hip-Hop Away
“The Jumping Turtle is a mainly metal place,” says rapper Bryan Mason of the San Marcos venue. “They are paying national headliners thousands of dollars. I wish they were that cool with hip-hop.” Mason, who …
August 6, 2008
Year Long Disaster
Not a good sign, I suppose, when tales of drug abuse crop up in the third paragraph of a press release — and when thrown such a bone, most of the rock press will take …
August 6, 2008
Summer Fun
The Gill Action Fund, a political arm of the Colorado-based Gill Foundation, which recently named ex–Jerry Sanders PR aide Fred Sainz its director of communications, gave $250,000 to the No on Prop 8 campaign last …
August 6, 2008
Or, the Whale
Or, the Whale — that’s how they write it — is a seven-piece band from San Francisco with some country and folk instruments (banjo, acoustic guitar, pedal steel) mixed in with distorted guitars, drums, some …
August 6, 2008
Organically, If You Will
Acoustic guitarist Shawn Rohlf has played Sunday mornings at the Hillcrest farmers’ market for 11 years. “It’s the most difficult gig of the week for any musician,” says Rohlf, who’s fronted the 7th Day Buskers …
August 6, 2008
It Worked for the Three Tenors…
Local hip-hop artists Kayo, Play B, and Young Mass are joining forces as the Three Rappers. “We’re doing it mainly because there is a lack of unity [in San Diego],” says Kayo. “We got Bloods …
August 6, 2008
Pasta Sauce with Sausage
Recipe by Matt Gardner, owner of Bronx Pizza, Hillcrest. Every Sunday is pasta day, so that’s probably my favorite thing to make. I make my traditional pasta sauce with sausage. I start it in the …
August 6, 2008
La Jolla to Soledad Park
For a unique look at La Jolla — from the edge of the village’s commercial center to 811 feet of elevation — try this obscure walking or bicycling route. Cyclists beware: there are some tough …
August 6, 2008
Teacher Brah
Name: Dusty Engel Age: 30 Occupation: High School Math Teacher Lives: La Mesa Surfing: Dog Beach Girls in the Water? “Wish there were more!” “On a big day, I get crushed by waves,” admits Dusty …
August 6, 2008
Spanish slang expert grew up near Avenida Revolucion
Spanish slang connoisseur Roxana Fitch grew up in Tijuana, birthplace of some of the most distinctive slang words — or jergas — in the entire Spanish-speaking world. The proximity of Tijuana, and of Mexico's entire …
August 6, 2008
Cliff Driving
For over two years now, the City of San Diego and local residents have wanted to stabilize the cliff on Aldine Drive in the Kensington/Talmadge area. They fear the cliff will give way when substantial …
August 6, 2008