Here’s what you need to know before I begin this story. (A) I’d spent the week prior to all this camping out at an arts festival at which I’d inundated myself with an alphabet of …
March 4, 2009
Blog Entries
- Oceanside mounts late comeback to take down Lincoln
- CIF Semifinals Scoreboard (March 4)
- "...and then he walked away?"
1 comment
- EDC PR Machine Takes Credit for NY Times Fluff Piece
19 comments
- Tide Pools on Sunset Cliffs
- Cheap Trick and The Roots
12 comments
News & Stories
Go anywhere on San Diego Transit for $64 a month
The Stage-Mom Thing
It’s very hard to find young musicians, especially who know Latin music,” says 15-year-old jazz pianist Chase Morrin. “Not only to find the skill necessary but the maturity. It has been my ongoing challenge. Sometimes, …
March 4, 2009
Plein Aire
When roots blues acoustic guitarist Joshua Blatchley plays shows around town, he usually leaves his acoustic at home, stuffs some picks in his pockets, and borrows an electric guitar and amp from a friend. Once …
March 4, 2009
Piano Movers
"We can move any type of piano except concert grands, the largest-sized pianos,” explained Ron Castiglione, owner and technician at Pitch Perfect Piano in Encinitas (800-205-0076). When moving grand pianos, “You have to protect your …
March 4, 2009
Family Practice
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. — Solomon Ibn Gabirol I waited in the lobby and watched through the window as the cold rain pelted the sidewalk. I nodded …
March 4, 2009
Labyrinth, Dirty Pretty Things, Mister Lonely
Destin CrettonFilmmaker, Short Term 12, Winner of the Sundance Short Film Award 2009 If you haven’t seen Labyrinth, you’re missing out on a chance to experience 101 minutes of David Bowie flirting with a young …
March 4, 2009
The Ultimate Palate Cleanser
Singer-songwriter Kenny Eng is a self-taught guitarist. “I took piano early on,” he says, “but basically picked up the guitar by ear. When I discovered that I could figure out songs on the radio by …
March 4, 2009
Escorts & Engagements
I remember getting a call years ago from a girl named Caryn. She was having a birthday party, and I hadn’t been doing this column very long. The details sounded interesting. She was dating a …
March 4, 2009
Mr. Sibley Will Be Here
The San Diego Bird Festival starts Thursday and continues through the weekend. Aforesaid bird gala can be found at the Marina Village Conference Center on Quivira Way. If you’ve ever been interested in Bird World, …
March 4, 2009
The Real Low Down
The view, the view…a man could faint from the über-coolness of this whole scene. You can see over the Gaslamp roofs to the Pacific. Heck, you can see to Mexico. Gotta hand it to them. …
March 4, 2009
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
“Last Sunday, we worshipped in an ordinary, Lutheran way,” said pastor Laura Ziehl at the beginning of the service. “This Sunday we are blessed: Teen Rock is here. Today we will know a kind of …
March 4, 2009
Dog Smarts, Leap Year
Dear Matthew Alice: Can my dog understand me when I talk to him? I can tell him to sit down and to lie down and he does it, so he understands me when I say …
March 4, 2009
Are You Smarter than a Fourth Waiver?
Defamation League MC Chaz “Khemical Ali” Lomack was probably the most famous of the 95 arrested in the Operation Sudden Fall drug sting last May. “I was sentenced to 120 days.” Lomack, 22, did his …
March 4, 2009
Big Ben
Democratic San Diego city councilman Ben Hueso seems to be on a power roll. Not only has he been elected by his colleagues as city council president, on February 12, he filed a statement declaring …
March 4, 2009
Loved Mondays
I have been shown the door due to “downsizing.” Or financial reorganization. Or fiscal re-evaluation. Or any other softer, kinder way of saying, “Sorry! We had good intentions when you signed on, and you performed …
March 4, 2009
Too Cool for the Room
I remember hearing “Brass in Pocket” and “Kid” all over the radio, and that was when I was in school at the University of Kansas. My friends and I wanted to be and look just …
March 4, 2009
Heard It All Before
Katy Perry’s new single, “Broken,” sounds familiar, it’s not your imagination. The same song, with minor lyrical revisions, was released as a single in 2003 by San Diego’s sister-fronted pop group the Troys under the …
March 4, 2009
Secrets of the 39th
The bloody budget battle in Sacramento didn’t distract one local lawmaker from delivering for her establishment friends in San Diego. On February 11, Democrat Christine Kehoe quietly introduced a bill to effectively prohibit the local …
March 4, 2009
Pretenders
Chrissie Hynde is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, a mother, an environmental activist, an animal-rights activist, and a restaurateur. (See her in this month’s Gourmet magazine, talking about her restaurant, the VegiTerranean, …
March 4, 2009
Delta Spirit
With the demise this year of Los Angeles radio station Indie 103.1, one wonders whether indie rock is doomed. Indie 103.1 left broadcast for the Internet, citing low ratings and outside pressure to blend mainstream …
March 4, 2009
Harbor Island Moon Walk
Can Tuesdays ever be romantic? Next Tuesday (March 10) truly is, by virtue of the full moon rising nearly at the time of sunset. Start the evening with an easy stroll. What better place is …
March 4, 2009
Derek Papa, Pillbox Remedy, and Plow
Artist: PlowSong: “Sunday Sadir” (from their self-titled CD)Heard By: Adrian Keenan, Ocean BeachI thought it was really interesting — a kind of old, folksy-sounding song. It was very reminiscent of the late-1800s or so. It …
March 4, 2009
He's Not There
“Mickey Two” (Samurai Jim’s friend, not his squeeze) put out the word: James Beard award–winner and Michelin two-star New York chef Christopher Lee (currently seen in magazine ads for Swanson’s new canned stocks) was working …
March 4, 2009
Pinned at Waimea
Name: Jureyl Pancipanci Age: 25 Lives In: Mission Valley Pre-Surf Music: the Strokes Post-Surf Food: tacos Surfing: Mission Beach Originally from Wahiawa, Hawaii, Jureyl recently moved to San Diego and pointed out some key differences …
March 4, 2009
Operation 20
It’s dark and I’ve been sitting in this grocery store parking lot in Allied Gardens for half an hour. I continuously scan the lot, looking at cars newly arrived, trying to find the perfect target. …
March 4, 2009
Shopping List of Classics, Film Noir, and Westerns
It all began with the death in mid-December of Van Johnson. As is my wont, I found something in the Los Angeles Times obituary to grumble about at the breakfast table: no mention of The …
March 4, 2009
Don't Call Me at Home
Thirty Years AgoMaureen O’Connor now guards her private life with remarkable jealousy. In the course of preparing this story I wasn’t invited to her home, she wouldn’t introduce me to her husband, and she warned …
March 4, 2009
Lobbyists for dinner
Has car-alarm millionaire Darrell Issa, the North County GOP congressman, set his heart on the presidency, or at least the U.S. Senate? So think some observers, who point to his political action committee, Invest in …
March 4, 2009
Baja bluefin business produces 10 percent of the world’s bluefin tuna
For the sushi-savoring diner who bites into a raw slice of bluefin tuna belly meat, the world may seem perfect for a moment, and at Zenbu Sushi Bar and Restaurant in La Jolla, patrons reverently …
March 4, 2009
Caitlin Rother's blood-curdling terror in Body Parts
I told San Diego author Caitlin Rother that she has gotten a virgin. Me. Until I read an advance copy of her book Body Parts coming out this week, I had never had the slightest …
March 4, 2009