There are times, sometimes in the midst of otherwise polite conversation, when it comes out that I make my living writing for the Reader. The follow-up to this revelation is almost never “Oh, that’s right, …
April 22, 2009
Blog Entries
- Re-Paving City Streets In Encanto
2 comments
- Queen Tree
- Terror On Nantucket part 2
- New Padres ownership raises conflict of interest questions for a CCDC board member
4 comments
- Memories of Analog TV: The 90s and 00s
- Broadway Pier Cruise Ship Terminal
- The Housing Market Show Signs of Life
- Electric Cigarettes, Cyrus, Homeless, Chinese...Something offensive for everyone!
37 comments
- Locust Trees and Black Oaks
Podcasts
News & Stories
Reader writers' favorite drinks and where they drink them
French and Italian at the Hotel Del Coronado
French vermouth-Italian vermouth-Gin-Twist of lemon Mix French (dry white) vermouth and Italian (sweet red) vermouth into a cocktail glass, favoring the French. Add a shot of gin. Garnish with a twist of lemon. José Palma’s …
April 22, 2009
Poolhardy
Just like most other communities in the county, Carlsbad’s finances are tanking. The City’s finance experts are projecting a deficit during the next three years. For the first quarter of the current fiscal year, general-fund …
April 22, 2009
Food Stamp Fight!
During the April 21 meeting of the County Board of Supervisors, 17 speakers opposed a plan to bolster the use of food stamps throughout the county. Those who opposed want to factor in the recommendations …
April 22, 2009
Limited Play
At last a bone to gnaw on. Not a very meaty bone, only a very scrappy bone, but a bone nonetheless. State of Play, the Americanization of a BBC miniseries, qualifies as a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller, …
April 22, 2009
Like a Cigarette Should
Thirty Years AgoFor Marty Levin, life can still be a drag. Once the area’s most celebrated ex-smoker, the Channel 10 anchorman is now back puffing away, although at a reduced rate. A year ago Levin …
April 22, 2009
Jewelry Engraving
I will not be surprised by 2009’s Mother’s Day. The 2008 observance caught me off guard. I found myself in a crowded mall the day before the holiday, frantically searching for gifts for my mom …
April 22, 2009
Einstein's Cousins
Can’t believe it. Here I am in North Park, yapping away with Albert Einstein’s cousin! Evelyn, who runs this eatery with her husband Jeff, casually drops it that her grandpa and Albert were first cousins. …
April 22, 2009
Record Release Roundup
Irradio will play a free release party for their album I Am the Horn on Sunday, April 26, at the Casbah. “All attendees can expect a night full of magic, free food, good spirits, and …
April 22, 2009
Barabbas Road Church
“I met my wife in a bar in New York City,” said Barabbas Road pastor Matt Smith. “I was a rower, training for the Olympics, and I hated religion. I knew she was the girl …
April 22, 2009
Secret Canyon Trail
The ambitiously constructed Secret Canyon Trail, circuitously nosing its way down the canyon walls of Pine Valley Creek for 14 miles, traverses nearly the entire length of the Pine Creek Wilderness in Cleveland National Forest. …
April 22, 2009
Follow the Monkey
It is strange how a housekeeping ritual can grow to such a magical height that a continental gaggle of disparate people, all of whom have no role in the actual ritual, nonetheless make a career …
April 22, 2009
Diversion from the Humdrum
It seems as if the same number of people now spend their Friday nights watching YouTube (and other nights, and sometimes 24/7 — the meth users, for example) as once watched DVDs and VCRs (VCRs …
April 22, 2009
Receiving Bella
The real menace in dealing with a five-year-old is that in no time at all you begin to sound like a five-year-old. —Joan Kerr Bella approached the refrigerator with cautious curiosity. “Are you thirsty, honey?” …
April 22, 2009
Modern Rifles
Album: I Was Young, It Was Dark (2009)Artist: Modern RiflesLabel: Self-releasedWhere available/price: ModernRifles.net, $10; CDBaby, $10; Amazon, $11.99Songs: 1) Introplane 2) Terroplane 3) Lie to Me, Ian. Lie to Me 4) Feck Me If I’m …
April 22, 2009
Curried Pea Soup
Recipe by John Robert Kennedy, executive chef, The Better Half. I started cooking growing up. At big family gatherings, I was always in the kitchen. When you were brought into my household, into my family, …
April 22, 2009
Cold Clues, Hot Shaves
About a month ago, I went to the opening of a music store in El Cajon called Guitar and Bass Land. A guy was talking about how he plays bass in a Dio tribute band. …
Fat cats
On April 13, San Diego–based Sempra Energy gave $25,000 to the campaign in favor of Props 1A through E, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s five measures on the May ballot. Prop 1A would hike state sales and …
April 22, 2009
Pheromones, DTV
They say that people are attracted to one another because of pheromones that we can smell. What would happen if you took pheromones from a woman that I’m attracted to and applied them to a …
April 22, 2009
Train of Thought
Eric Woodard, aka Dizzy Order, has been rapping locally for 15 years. He used to freestyle at underground shows based in Encanto in the mid ’90s and frequented a short-lived rap collective in 2000 in …
April 22, 2009
More Ink for Psychedelic Horse(expletive)
Wavves — the local duo brainstormed by former Music Trader manager Nathan Williams — are being called lo-fi poseurs by Columbus, Ohio, garage band Psychedelic Horseshit, which manufactured “Wavves Suxx” T-shirts after sharing three shows …
April 22, 2009
Hulu Knows Who I Am
When independent filmmaker Tray White contacted Matt Resovich last year through MySpace to do the score for Impaler (a documentary on self-proclaimed satanic vampire Jonathon “the Impaler” Sharkey, who ran for Minnesota’s governorship in 2006), …
April 22, 2009
Million-dollar staffs
While the economy tanked last year, salaries of staffers working for San Diego’s congressional delegation were on the rise. The GOP’s Duncan Hunter, who retired in 2008 and was succeeded by his son, paid his …
April 22, 2009
Willard Grant Conspiracy
Robert Fisher, the man behind the Willard Grant Conspiracy, has a deep voice and a talent for dark but sophisticated lyrics. His music is usually categorized as Americana, but it can just as easily slip …
April 22, 2009
Dynamite Walls
Dynamite Walls first crossed my radar in 2007, after the band, while on tour, unknowingly spent a night in a rented home that had once been the site of a mass murder. That same year …
April 22, 2009
Lucre’s realm
Now that Alan Bersin has been appointed “border czar” of the Obama administration’s Homeland Security Department, the race to replace him as chairman of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is on. Insiders say …
April 22, 2009
Magic
“There may be trouble ahead/ But while there’s moonlight and music/ And love and romance/ Let’s face the music and dance.” Irving Berlin wrote that at the height of the Depression, and Fred and Ginger …
April 22, 2009
Citrus greening bug appears in Tijuana and at Sweetwater Reservoir
Should it appear in California, there might be no stopping it: citrus greening, or huanglongbing. The fearsome citrus-killing bacterium, first seen in China in the early 1900s, has spread steadily across the continents. It recently …
April 22, 2009
Dragon’s Blood Sangria at Laurel
12 oz. red wine-3 oz. brandy 2 oz. triple sec 2 oz. orange juice 2 oz. pineapple juice 1 oz. simple syrup 1/2 oz. anisette Top with 2 oz. Sprite and garnish with fresh fruit …
April 22, 2009
Irish Coffee at the Ould Sod
7 oz. coffee in glass coffee cup Generous shot Jameson whiskey 1⁄4-inch whipped cream on top The Ould Sod on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights is my favorite San Diego bar. Formerly the Elbo Club, …
April 22, 2009
Spanish Red Wine at Bronx Pizza
Do you guys serve beer? Only to ourselves. — From the Bronx Pizza FAQ on the back of the to-go menu It’s a good, pithy answer, entirely in keeping with the feel of the place. …
April 22, 2009
Old-Fashioneds at the Turf Supper Club
Bourbon Dash of bitters Muddled cherry and orange Serve on the rocks Booze holds a storied place in the serious business of turning things unserious. As with everything, there’s a time and a place; specific …
April 22, 2009
Margaritas at Canes
-1-1/2 oz. tequila -1 oz. triple sec -Margarita mix -Sweetened lime juice -Splash of orange juice Some people sound so damn cool ordering their drink. “Martini. Shaken, not stirred.” Or they know which vintage of …
April 22, 2009
Porto Blanco at Kensington Grill
-50 percent white port -50 percent tonic water -Slice of lemon, on the rocks in a highball glass My taste in adult beverages, like my taste in friends, has become more refined with each passing …
April 22, 2009
Tears of the Prophet at Parallel 33
2 oz. orange vodka 3 oz. pomegranate juice Fresh mint leaves to garnish Pour vodka and pomegranate juice into a cocktail shaker and add ice. Shake vigorously and pour into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish …
April 22, 2009
Raspberry Mojitos at JRDN
-1-1⁄4 oz. Montecristo Premium Blend -Club soda -8–10 mint leaves -2 lime wedges or 1⁄4 oz. fresh lime juice -3⁄4 oz. simple syrup -5 fresh raspberries In a tall glass, muddle 3 raspberries, torn mint …
April 22, 2009
Soju at Shozen & Manpo
Whenever I go to Shozen & Manpo, I drink soju, and whenever I drink soju, my wife and kids tell me it does strange things to me. I’m not sure if they’re right, but even …
April 22, 2009
Salty Dogs at Nunu’s
-2 oz. vodka or gin -4 oz. grapefruit juice -Garnish with lime or lemon wedge -Serve in a glass with a salted rim Jimmy’s days behind the bar at Nunu’s are over, but you’ll likely …
April 22, 2009
Long Island Iced Tea at the Brigantine
-1 part vodka -1 part tequila -1 part rum -1 part gin-1 part triple sec -1-1/2 parts sweet-and-sour mix -1 splash Coke It’s about efficiency. When I need to catch a buzz, I need to …
April 22, 2009
Pearl Harbors at Carlee’s Bar and Grill, Borrego Springs
2 oz. vodka 1 oz. melon liqueur Pineapple juice Maraschino cherry and pineapple for garnish The Pearl Harbor is a “tropical” drink that, I have found, most urban bartenders do not know how to mix. …
April 22, 2009