Life in Tijuana goes on. The buses run, people go to work, kids go to school, traffic still jams the city’s arteries. But something has changed in the last year or so: the city’s residents …
April 1, 2009
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Life in Tijuana under drug cartel violence
Out of Austin
In the days following the South by Southwest music convention, several of the two dozen or so local bands who performed around Austin reported on their experiences. Drew Andrews: “It’s hard to describe the insanity …
April 1, 2009
St. Therese of Carmel
I was just thinking that this particular stretch of Del Mar Trails Road reminded me of some ancient Italian village (only with more yard space and much bigger houses), when a bend in the road …
April 1, 2009
White power
The proposal to build a new San Diego city hall at a cost to taxpayers of at least $587 million is slowly making its way through the City-owned Centre City Development Corporation, en route to …
April 1, 2009
Invaded
To feel affection for the grade-Z science-fiction films of the Fifties, especially as their descendants get ever more deluxe, is perfectly natural and no cause for shame. (A Not-Guilty Pleasure.) To set out in the …
April 1, 2009
Empirical Girl
Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment. — Rita Mae Brown "This is fantastic,” I said. “It’s not so good as Josue’s,” said Rosa, turning to her husband. Josue shrugged …
April 1, 2009
Rattlesnake Canyon
For the second year in a row, fire-following springtime wildflowers are popping up on the slopes of Poway’s Rattlesnake Canyon. A reconnaissance of the area in late March revealed a rainbow of color: California poppies, …
April 1, 2009
Fish Tacos with Street Fruit
Recipe by Dean Thomas, executive chef, Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino. I started out as a dishwasher for an Italian chef. One day, his cook didn’t show up and he said, “Come on over …
April 1, 2009
Cisco's Salad
I still can’t believe it. My buddy Frankie. He’s gone. Checked out. Died. Had half his life to live, still. And my hands aren’t clean. All those Delicado Ovalado cigarettes I always got for him …
April 1, 2009
Anya Marina
Anya Marina, little-girlish, standing waiflike and rib-thin on Jimmy Kimmel’s electric-blue stage is somewhere in between her alter ego Miss Halfway and her metamorphosis into a full-blooded rocker chick. The song she is performing — …
April 1, 2009
Crawdaddy's Plight
A website, paulwilliams.com, has been set up to help raise money for the care of author Paul Williams, who in 1995 suffered a brain injury from a bicycle accident. Riding near his home in Encinitas, …
April 1, 2009
What Sanders SDG&E solar plan means
Late last year, local solar advocates were pleasantly surprised when San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders moved quickly to implement a new state law that allows cities to finance solar systems for homes and businesses. But …
April 1, 2009
Troubleshooter Gets Fired
Thirty Years AgoHe was not a typical casualty in the world of television reporting. He was Jack Walsh, the former politician who turned television celebrity after his 1976 reelection defeat as county supervisor. So when …
April 1, 2009
Curren’s current price
Democratic assemblyman Curren Price — who moved into West L.A.’s 26th State Senate District to run for the seat vacated by newly elected county supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas — was forced into a runoff last week …
April 1, 2009
Ignorant Slut?
“Why would anyone pay $55 to see Creedence Clearwater [Revisited] when you can see them for free at the Del Mar Fair?” That’s what one insider asked about two upcoming shows by the band that …
April 1, 2009
San Diego home foreclosures rose 133 percent in 2008 to 19,557
"For us, business is good,” says Barry Lander, clerk of the bankruptcy court. “It’s a sad thing.” Indeed it is. The courts, judges, clerks, and the legal profession have been blown good business in San …
April 1, 2009
Four, and Oneness
Sound designers usually draw raves for obvious effects: street traffic, flocks of chirping birds, hammer-the-walls thunder. Their background scores also set mood and period. But the sound designer’s primary job is far more crucial: how …
April 1, 2009
Rowing Part I
‘I found your bio on a UCSD web page. Do you also play viola for the San Diego Symphony?” “No,” a woman laughs. I’m talking to Pattie Pinkerton, women’s crew head coach for UCSD. Here …
April 1, 2009
Railroaded
Political operative Mark Fabiani, who worked for Democratic vice president Al Gore before striking out on his own and signing up with GOP fat cat Alex Spanos, has picked up yet another controversial client. Italian …
April 1, 2009
Raw, Dirty Records
Since the late ’90s, Mike Kamoo’s Earthling Studios has been a vital cog in the San Diego music scene. The studio, headquartered in a corporate park in El Cajon, has a well-worn path to it …
April 1, 2009
Sicarus, Feeling of Hate, and K.A.L.M.
Artist: SicarusSong: “Strength of All” (from the CD Strength of All)Heard By: Scoops, City Heights It totally sucked. It was like three different bands that weren’t really good that were playing the same song in …
April 1, 2009
Merch Girl
“Someday I hope to have my own independent record label,” says Aileen Burns, who has spent the past four years touring with the Plain White T’s as their “merch girl.” “My responsibilities include picking designs, …
April 1, 2009
Step Brothers, Verdi's Requiem, Bicentennial Man
Edward WilenskyDirector of media relations, San Diego Opera, sdopera.com Terry Gilliam’s Brazil serves up a tale of a man’s battle for freedom and independence. Criterion gives the film a stunning treatment in this box set, …
April 1, 2009
Gut Deep
I got laid off yesterday. Two of our three offices were closed, leaving 80 of us unemployed. I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do the day you get laid off, but I’m certain of …
April 1, 2009
Share Waves Without Judgment
Name: Michael Janzen Surfing: Tourmaline Lives: Mission Valley Miss work for surfing? “No. Get up earlier and do both.” A few months ago, surfers congregated at Tourmaline Surf Park in Pacific Beach. The mayor and …
April 1, 2009
Feeling Puckish
It’s odd to think of a glitzy, Angeleno Wolfgang Puck restaurant on a bucolic, wooded college campus, but Jai (pronounced “jay,” like the bird) is no college dining hall. (The press release says the name …
April 1, 2009
Foot Baths, M.A.'s Career, Foot the Bill
Hey, Matt: Last year at the Del Mar Fair, my wife and I came across a booth where the company was selling some kind of a detox/purification product. You put your tootsies in a foot …
April 1, 2009
Stereo Total
A few months ago, when Facebook was in the throes of a “25 Things About Myself” chain-letter epidemic, my friend Andria sent me a list of 15 albums that changed her life. Andria moved to …
April 1, 2009