San Diego River? “There is no San Diego River,” says Pete Cuthbert. “What you’re dangling your toes in is the Colorado River, the Sacramento River, the Feather River — but not the San Diego River.” …
October 22, 2008
Blog Entries
- Straight Minority
- City Pension Portfolio Plunges Below $4 Billion; That's Lower Than Level of Mid-2006
14 comments
- Homeless
- Sound Off: Best League in the Section
- Odd Couple Oddities
10 comments
News & Stories
Does the San Diego River still have life in it?
Assess Much?
At the October 20 meeting of Greater Golden Hill’s Maintenance Assessment District (MAD), the board members sitting at the U-shaped set of banquet tables outnumbered the audience eight to three. The poor turnout contrasted with …
October 22, 2008
Tanning Light, Beer vs. Soda, 420
Heymatt: If I replaced the fluorescent bulbs five feet above my head at work with bulbs from a tanning bed, would I give myself a nice year-round tan or a bad case of cancer? — …
October 22, 2008
Verdugo Peak Traverse
With a drop-off-and-pick-up transportation arrangement, you can enjoy a challenging hiking traverse across the north end of the Verdugo Mountains, ascending through La Tuna Canyon Park on a rough foot trail and descending toward the …
October 22, 2008
Equal-Opportunity Offenders
“John McCain is such an easy target,” says Bill Hurd, press secretary for the political satire comedy troupe The Capitol Steps. “He’s the oldest candidate we’ve ever had — therefore you can make all the …
October 22, 2008
Heat Lightning
Enter the Dragon! I am breathing fire after enjoying the spicy cuisine of Szechuan every night for a week. One of my favorite occasional email pen-pals, a UCSD social science prof (another expat New Yorker), …
October 22, 2008
The Mystery School
“Mystery School” (westernmysticism.org) ran a full-page ad in the Reader: “Stars transform into great explosions of light, scattering particles across the universe. We are all made of stars. Imagine what we can become.” The line …
October 22, 2008
Freak Show
When it opened on Broadway in 1933, Jack Kirkland’s subhuman dramatization of the Erskine Caldwell novel Tobacco Road received mixed to negative reviews. Even though it had “spasmodic moments of merciless power,” wrote critic Brooks …
October 22, 2008
What Goes There? Part One
I ask, “How do you track and what do you track?” “You track by sign. The easiest sign is a print, whether it’s a bird on the ground or a coyote or bobcat. A lot …
October 22, 2008
Not Christian
Local record label Single Screen Records was launched in 2007 by Jackson Milgaten (singer-guitarist for the Vision of a Dying World) and Craig Barclift (bassist for the Powerchords). “Both of our own bands are on …
October 22, 2008
The Dark Side
Now is the onset of a delicious annual malady that might be called the Halloween syndrome, particular to Southern California. Why Halloween seems to be so thoroughly milked in this part of the world is …
October 22, 2008
Geektastic!
These words must be said with enthusiasm. Geektastic is something you say to show pride in being a geek. Really, you can add “-tastic” and “-tacular” to any words to make them better. Dorktacular and …
October 22, 2008
Love and money
Rana Sampson, an ex-cop, law-enforcement consultant, and wife of San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders, has given $1000 to the campaign against Proposition 8, the measure to outlaw gay marriage in California. Last year, the mayor …
October 22, 2008
Ollie 2012!
George W. Bush is an American hero, and let me tell you why: because if he can make it, anyone can. All it takes is money. Look at him. That stiff Porky Pig impression every …
October 22, 2008
Higher Than Hope
The song “Higher Than Hope,” by Finnish metal band Nightwish, is about local deejay Marc Brueland, who lost his battle with cancer five years ago this week, on October 25, 2003. Sample lyric: “The hopes …
October 22, 2008
Never Say Die
“I emailed Skip [Seip, of Never Say Die Productions] from something I saw on craigslist,” says “Mike,” who plays in one of the four metal bands (the Blood of the Covenant, Aten, Desolator, and Mindstress) …
October 22, 2008
Road Luck
“Nobody really knows why Isis didn’t use their full time [on stage], but [their early departure] allowed Earthless to literally steal the festival,” says Steve Dolcemaschio of Tee Pee Records. He refers to this summer’s …
October 22, 2008
Intensity in Banker's Hill?
There were two parties I missed that I was bummed about. These guys that throw an annual jet-ski party called me afterward and said that they got around the beach booze ban by drinking out …
October 22, 2008
The Newlywed Game
Marriage is a great institution, but I’m not ready for an institution. — Mae West The rain fell in big droplets on the centuries-old cobblestones in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter. As we searched for shelter, I …
October 22, 2008
The Four Agreements
What are you reading? “It’s a book called The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, by Don Miguel Ruiz. At first, I didn’t really get it. The introduction is sort of crazy — …
October 22, 2008
Impalin’ the Candidate
The Flimz, featuring singer-songwriters Annie Dru and Amy Mayer, may be the first San Diegans to impersonate a vice-presidential candidate in a video. On October 10, the pair posted their third scripted video, “Palin’s VPilf …
October 22, 2008
Now It Can Be Told
Guitarist/singer/songwriter Rich Kunz never told his architecture-firm coworkers about his self-described “stoner-rock heavy metal band” called Ride the Sun. “I didn’t want anyone to know I played heavy rock-and-roll music. Architecture designers almost always wear …
October 22, 2008
Axed
Six years ago today (10/23/02), during their set at the downtown Hard Rock Café, Rookie Card guitarist Adam Gimbel plugged into a Judas Priest guitar display. “I’ve heard reports of other bands interacting with the …
October 22, 2008
Chris Cornell and Timbaland
Forget everything you knew about Chris Cornell — he’s not the same guy anymore. In fact, Soundgarden is the first thing that you have to get out of your head if his new collaboration with …
October 22, 2008
Up from Sudan
Speculation abounds about whether or not John Moores will have to unload at least a part of his San Diego Padres baseball team in order to come up with enough scratch for a multimillion-dollar divorce …
October 22, 2008
Apes of Wrath
Album: Plastic, Fake, and Frozen (2007) Artist: The Apes of Wrath Label: self-released Where available/price: At M-Theory in Mission Hills for $6.99. Online at Amazon for $6.23; Emusic and Rhapsody.com for $6.83. Band: Jake Bankhead …
October 22, 2008
Breakfast Beer
"End Times Christian Soldiers Mission," says the church near Oak Park School. Lord, why does everyone love this "end is nigh" stuff? I'm aboard the 955 bus, heading south toward National City. On the other …
October 22, 2008
Late October, over 30 years
Thirty Years AgoOn this hot morning in May, as I load up my old battered red backpack at the Inaja Memorial Picnic Ground and prepare to head off into the brush, there’s a cowboy sitting …
October 22, 2008
Glass of Sunshine
“I’ve had crud in my sinus cavity for three days,” griped my husband Patrick. “When I blow my nose, I’m seeing colors that I normally associate with zombies.” “Well, thanks for sharing,” I replied. “Maybe …
October 22, 2008
Mike Aguirre suggests putting San Diego pension funds in bankruptcy
A week ago Saturday, as President George W. Bush and other federal officials hastened to bail out the U.S. economy, Democratic San Diego city attorney Mike Aguirre, facing his own uphill battle against his better-financed …
October 22, 2008
San Diego tourism weakens
San Diego’s fourth-largest industry, tourism, looks as though it will take a hit in the current (fourth) quarter, and the pain will persist well into next year. This will hurt the ailing economy because the …
October 22, 2008
Trash Talking: Allied Seeks to Expand Sycamore Landfill
Allied Waste Services, the national waste hauler that operates the City of San Diego’s Sycamore Landfill off State Route 52 at Mast Boulevard near Santee, is ramping up its campaign to expand the facility. Neighbors …
October 22, 2008