Let’s say you’re a redhead. Duck, that is. Or a scaup. Or a falcon looking for rabbits. Or a coot, ruddy duck, bufflehead, or — more likely over Mission Bay these days — a seagull …
July 1, 2009
News & Stories
Mission Bay Park is all too, too tidy
Port of Contention
San Diego city councilmember Carl DeMaio has some questions for the Port of San Diego before he’s ready to endorse the city’s convention center expansion. In a June 30 memo issued by his office, the …
July 1, 2009
Tiger Country: Koshien, Japan
Baseball games in Japan are more than fun, they're a cultural experience – and the Hanshin Tigers are the pinnacle. Based in Koshien, the Tigers’ stadium opened in 1924 and is one of the oldest …
Getting My Kicks on Route 66
There is Romeoville, Joliet, Elwood and thousands of other colorful towns. Flavorful, small- town- priced mom- and- pop grills and greasy spoons like the Blueberry Hill and the Bagdad Cafes. Places to rest that have …
July 1, 2009
They Film Among Us
On Tuesday, June 30, on the San Diego County Fair’s SDG&E Showcase Stage, the Jamul School of the Performing Arts began their 1:00 p.m. presentation for the crowd of about 150 fairgoers. The numerous choreographed …
July 1, 2009
Worthy's Cause
“Worthy Gubbins is like odds and ends, rubbish, maybe like a lucky rabbit’s foot or a favorite ring,” writes guitarist and vocalist Tyler Stolnack in an email. He’s defining the sound and feel of his …
July 1, 2009
We Hijacked a Theater
Junior Wells and John Belushi must have been grinning up from wherever they are now — mumbling and slurring with cocaine-and-Tanqueray-addled approval at “Doc” Holliday’s riffing over the keyboard — a faux Hammond B-3 setting …
Unforgettable: A Walk on the Stingaree Side, Part 1
Let’s take a walk through time. We’re at the southwest corner of Fifth and K, part of the Gaslamp Quarter. At night, lines form under bright lights at popular clubs and restaurants. Between 1875 and …
Whitney Canyon
Few areas along Interstate 5 in California are as desolate and as traffic-dense as the stretch immediately north of the San Fernando Valley, where a zillion traffic lanes and ramps sort themselves out in the …
July 1, 2009
Gimme More Turkey
Pasha drew my eye with an ad in this paper, including a coupon for a freebie appetizer platter. Hmm...a new bargain destination? Worth trying? I scurried to the website and found that the restaurant wasn’t …
July 1, 2009
Cowboy Bebop and Gypsy Crawl
“I guess I’ve always been an outsider,” says multiinstrumentalist-songwriter Jon Ji. “The hippies called me a punk, the punkers called me a hippie, the Confederates a rebel…and the girls an angel, the devil, and a …
July 1, 2009
Pay the DJ
SDSU recently remitted $3000 to a former student who claimed that KCR, the on-campus radio station, damaged his chances to get a job in radio. KCR is a free-form radio station where DJs (unpaid students …
July 1, 2009
Back When We Had a Men's Summer Swimsuit Issue
Thirty Years AgoThe straw had been piling on the proverbial camel’s back for some time before Duncan Shepherd’s critique of Woody Allen’s Manhattan. Now I fear the dromedary has suffered irreparable spinal damage. My problem …
July 1, 2009
Punk Politesse
A woman in the Serra Mesa area was turning 21. I got an invite to her birthday party from her mom. When I arrived, the birthday girl’s mom was cooking tacos for the crowd. I …
July 1, 2009
Shrimp and Sweet Pea Risotto
Recipe by Paul McCabe, executive chef, Kitchen 1540. I grew up in a family where my mom didn’t work out of the home. She was a good country cook — actually, one of the last. …
July 1, 2009
Sicarus
Despite a silly album cover — skulls and crossbones, text surrounded by flames — Sicarus isn’t as schlocky a metal band as one might think. Contrary to what their art conveys, the three tracks on …
July 1, 2009
Dust Devil, Mamma Mia!, A Bittersweet Life
Trent S. ReidCinephile Shot in Namibia’s Skeleton Coast during the death throes of Apartheid, Dust Devil is a challenging cross-genre mix of sociopolitical critique and perhaps too-personal exploration of shamanic mythology and consciousness. Labeled a …
July 1, 2009
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
You know that raspy voice. You know that tiny figure, dressed in bad-girl black. You know that flawless face with the heavy eyeliner. You know that black hair. You know that big-guitar sound punching out …
July 1, 2009
Tower Bar Beat-Down
Nearly two weeks after being attacked by a group of men loitering near the Tower Bar at around 1:50 a.m., the victim who sustained the worst injuries said he’s recovering, and the suspect accused of …
July 1, 2009
Mystery money
How much money do the volunteer members of the city’s pension fund make in their professions, and where does it come from? California law requires that public officials disclose the amounts and sources of income …
July 1, 2009
Lady Dottie and the Diamonds
Lady Dottie and the Diamonds is an indie-rock band retrofitted with blistering soul licks and fronted by an old-school ground-stomping R&B scorcher. They won in 2005, 2007, and 2008 for best blues at the San …
July 1, 2009
Record Release Round-Up
The debut album from headbangers Wolves of Eden features guest guitarist Anthony LoCoco of Deeper Purple, “a longtime friend and mentor and the best damn shredder in San Diego,” according to guitarist Jason Getzel. Rough …
July 1, 2009
Insider Outsider Man
The North Coast Rep took a huge risk, on paper at least. Tom Dudzick’s Over the Tavern has roles for four children, ranging from 8 to 16. The safe choice: find teenage-ish actors (i.e., twentysomething), …
July 1, 2009
Rich Guy Makes Good
Well, it’s the Fourth of July weekend and you know what that means…that’s right, the Ligue canadienne de football launches its 2009 season. Or, to translate for the English-speaking rabble, the Canadian Football League (CFL) …
July 1, 2009
End of the line
Long Beach–based Cuba Travel Services is taking advantage of the Obama administration’s recent loosening of some travel restrictions to Cuba by offering nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Havana, allowing travelers to bypass the long-used …
July 1, 2009
Don’t Worry
We had been waiting for three weeks for a decision from corporate on which branches were going to be closed. Everyone told me that I had nothing to worry about. My office was 200 percent …
July 1, 2009
Fromness
To me, it seems a dreadful indignity to have a soul controlled by geography. — George Santayana ‘Where are you from?” It was a simple question. But the way Jane stared back at the guy, …
July 1, 2009
Will Generations X and Y Buy?
As the recession grinds on, how much will Generation X and Generation Y spend? Will it be Z, as in zilch? It looks that way for some San Diego companies that appeal to the youth …
July 1, 2009
Nautical Disaster, Jimmy Powers vs. Verbz, and Aepnia
Artist: Nautical DisasterSong: “Your Lying Stars” (from the CD Interceptor)Heard by: Lucas Blankartz, North ParkI thought it was a pretty decent song. It started out really bass-heavy and sounded very spacey and dark. It sounds …
July 1, 2009
A mountain view of mission territory in Ramona
The white church buses parked in the dirt lot outside Mountain View Community Church looked downright old-timey. The huge white church building rising up behind them was anything but. Inside was high and wide and …
July 1, 2009
Oral Healthcare
“Bloody hell!” exclaimed Patrick in mock horror as he gazed into the sink at my pink post-brush spittle. “Oh, my gums always bleed when I brush,” I assured him. “That can’t be right,” he replied. …
July 1, 2009
Las Playas Pedi-Pornista Popped
A 60-year-old Canadian with 15 years’ residency in the same house in Las Playas, Tijuana, was arrested for possession of child pornography on Sunday, June 21. Tijuana newspaper Frontera reported that Arthur Leland Sayler was …
July 1, 2009