Author: Louis Caru Neighborhood: University City Age: 58 Occupation: Wine salesman I popped the hood. “Not now, please,” I whispered to the ­engine. I had overdue DVDs and books to return, dry cleaning to pick …

Tijuana police arrested four medical students from the Autonomous University of Baja California on the afternoon of Friday, March 27, for allegedly stealing money they were supposed to be collecting for the Mexican Red Cross. …

Who hasn’t rummaged through bags and searched underneath car seats, scavenging for loose change to feed the meter? Well, residents of San Diego better start loading their pockets with loose change, because the city is …

A few months ago, public protests persuaded the San Diego City Council not to close the Ocean Beach library due to budget shortfalls. Prior to this successful outcry, library users were told they would have …

“Mira Mesa is such a diverse area,” says Lien Dao, the community’s library branch manager. “People here are very eager to learn different languages to communicate with each other.” Dao says anyone with a library …

Drivers have another red light camera to watch out for as they make their way around the UCSD/Torrey Pines area. The latest one has been installed at the intersection of North Torrey Pines Road and …

In 2004, Escondido residents approved Proposition P, a bond measure that gave the city $84.3 million of property-tax revenue to upgrade police and fire facilities. The projects included the construction of a new police and …

Recent commercial robberies, residential burglaries, and purse snatchings in San Carlos, Del Cerro, and La Mesa prompted a community meeting at the San Carlos Recreation Center on Wednesday, March 25. The hourlong meeting began at …

In the nighttime hours of March 26 and/or March 27, multiple cars were broken into throughout Pacific Beach and Mission Beach. Two cars (a Honda and a Chevy) parked on Chalcedony Street had their driver's …

Sometime during the early morning hours of Saturday, March 21, someone using an earth-moving machine plowed under a chapel to La Santa Muerte (Holy Death), the “patron saint” of a strange religious cult popular with …

On Monday, March 23, law-enforcement officials at the Santee sheriff's station on Cuyamaca Street were forced to evacuate their building in response to a credible bomb threat. Shortly after 2 p.m., an unidentified man had …

They say the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano on the 19th of March every year. Rancho San Diego boasts its own colony of the same bird, the cliff swallow. After a long flight from …

Each year, around January 1, a miracle of Mother Nature occurs at a little strawberry farm in Oceanside. The “miracle” is not that the little hillside farm is still in business, surrounded by large shopping …

As San Diego’s unemployment rate has climbed steeply (to 8.8 percent), so too has the homeless population. Food lines are extending around blocks, and shelters fill up before the sun sets. Many are turned away …

Life is returning to normal for residents of Carmel Valley after nearly four days under a boil-water order. The state lifted the order this morning, March 25, notifying residents that their tap water was once …

Around 20 San Diego bands performed as part of the annual South By Southwest festival in and around Austin, Texas. Writer band members gigged their way to SXSW in a Honda Element equipped with a …

The members of the Black Heart Procession were in the middle of recording their sixth full-length when representatives from their label, respected indie innovator Touch and Go Records, told them that after 27 years of …

“La Dolce Vita,” reads the sign above the counter where I’m sitting. Well, my vita’s in no way dolce right now. Whose is? But this place I had to try. Even though I knew I …

Sarah Shun-lien Bynum’s first novel, Madeleine Is Sleeping, was nominated for a National Book Award. Her second, Ms. Hempel Chronicles, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Tell me about the writing of Ms. Hempel …

Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience. — Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon I gave a rundown of my day, as I do every morning for David’s benefit. As our social secretary, it’s …

Necks Red All Over I thought the article on El Cajon was well written and from a rounded point of view (“El Cajon,” Cover Story, March 12). It was interesting to note that the area …

It’s just beautiful — elegant and spare. Blue lights illuminate the lower half of Hane’s windows all around — useful, since I’m not sure the restaurant is otherwise identified at the door. Inside, the streetside …

“Eve, maybe you can help me,” pleaded my Aunt Azelda, slowly shaking her snowy mane. “They finally put in a computer station here at the senior center. I asked your nephew to get me started …

Ex–Copley News Service Washington bureau chief George Condon is taking the fall for the failure of Washington, D.C.’s Gridiron Club to line up Barack Obama for its annual banquet. Obama is the first president since …

I got a call about crashing a wedding in Spring Valley a few weeks ago. I had a lot going on that day, but when I found out it was for a guy named Sam, …

Thirty Years AgoRIGGS, still around? Want to renew a friendly relationship? Please reply in future Reader, yes or no. More info on me forthcoming. I. Barn. TO ALL OB LANDLORDS, your days are numbered! Stop …

Can it be old words? Because I use balla a lot. A “balla” is a player; you know, like, someone who’s good at something. Another one is get on the sticks. “Get on the sticks” …

Resting high above the city of Escondido, Valley Center is well on its way to becoming a rural suburb. As houses and country estates pop up on spacious lots, the area is bit by bit …

The times they have a-change-ed. Working, Studs Terkel’s remarkable collection of interviews, was published in 1974. Subtitled “People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do,” the book’s …

“I call my genre of music ‘reality rap,’ ” says hip-hop impresario Kayo. “It describes the things that I went through. It’s reality because I used to write the songs to myself — to motivate …

From where I sat, the San Diego Latino Film Festival peaked early. (Probably the whole year did.) The first film I saw, on opening night, was my most anticipated film, Carlos Saura’s Fados. It turns …

Rumors are swirling about President Barack Obama’s possible appointment of ex–San Diego schools chief and former U.S. attorney Alan Bersin to head U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a major unit of the Homeland Security Department. …

Who are the new would-be owners of the Padres, and are they fit to own the team? Recent documents unearthed from city hall under the California Public Records Act suggest that City officials may not …

Branford Marsalis is a year older than his trumpet-playing brother Wynton. Critics first took notice of Branford during his tenure with Art Blakey. Later, Branford toured with Sting, won Grammy awards, and upped the hip …

Nightclubs in San Marcos offering live music have had an uneven history. The Longshot closed in September 2006, mainly over ABC violations. The Boulevard, opened in 2004, also had its liquor license suspended for a …

Public relations people at UCSD got ahead of themselves last month in their haste to announce the arrival of a physician who was widely expected to become one of the university’s highest-paid professors. On February …

The New Yorker recently ran a brief profile of Lily Allen, mostly covering the same old ground (daughter of semifamous parents grows up to be singer-songwriter specializing in blunt but effective tales of everygirl sexual …

Brick by Brick’s Max Paul says there was no confrontation during a hip-hip show at the club that led to the shooting of two men about a half mile away from the club Friday, March …

Album: Oceanside Boulevard (2008)Artist: AvitiaLabel: Above Ground RecordsWhere available/price: Lou’s Records in Encinitas for $5.99. Online at iTunes, Napster.com, Emusic.com, Rhapsody.com, and Amazon.com for $4.95.Songs: 1) The Idea 2) Long Gone 3) Mars 5000 4) …

The fifth incarnation of Java Joe’s, a music venue known as a launching pad for the careers of Jason Mraz, Jewel, and Steve Poltz, will open downtown in early April. Located in a former day …

You’ve been waiting for it, and now it’s finally come, the capstone of televised sports: Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open. This is professional bowling at its best and the last of four major tournaments on the …

All across the United States, and around the world, convention centers are vastly overbuilt. Supply exceeds demand. So municipalities that own the centers resort to price-slashing. They often lose money on their centers and have …

I’m sitting on a leather couch in the middle of a darkened black-walled, black-ceilinged room talking to a man who, at taxpayer expense, takes hormones to become more like a woman yet is in the …

Not many cities have their own internal financial audit committee. San Diego has one. Comprised of three outside finance experts and headed by councilmember Kevin Faulconer (with councilmember Carl DeMaio serving as vice chair), the …

Author: Salvatore Scafidi Neighborhood: Mission Hills Age: 59 Occupation: Retired Engineer Ethel’s voice cuts through the hubbub of the ­grandkids’ wrestling over the Etch-a-Sketch and Dr. ­Phil’s scolding of another drug-soaked teenager. Fred blinks and …

Relatively speaking, despite a 3.3 million-dollar structural deficit, National City’s finances are in pretty good shape -- that’s what mayor Ron Morrison told nearly 40 residents during a special city-council-sponsored “strategic planning and budgetary workshop” …

On March 19 at 6:00 p.m., Hoover High School’s auditorium was filled with people. Students dressed in cardinal-red jumpsuits sat next to neatly dressed faculty and staff. Members of the girls’ softball team, in dusty …

On March 18 at almost 4 p.m., witnesses saw a red late-model sedan pull into the back parking lot of Jack's Grocery in Julian at a high rate of speed. A man was seen jumping …

East County's Damon Lane Park is 26 acres of scenic and varied landscape. The secretly stashed park recently received an overhaul, according to the County of San Diego Parks and Recreation department. District park manager …

On Sunday March 1, just before noon, contractors working at South Bay Union School District’s VIP Village preschool discovered a fire in a classroom and immediately called 911. "We lost materials and mementos," said school …

Today, March 20, marks the final day of mobile counseling services for residents of the rural East County communities affected by the Harris Fire. The October 2007 wildfire burned 90,440 acres across Dulzura, Potrero, Tecate, …

According to a police-radio scanner, at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, a 15-year-old male was stabbed on Central Avenue and Troy Street. Sheriff’s deputies arrived and found the victim sitting on the sidewalk. Deputies …

Residents of Encinitas love their trees so much, they will fight to keep all the foliage they can. During the past few years, community residents have protested cutting down any of their trees. There was …

On March 17 at 4:05 p.m., an SDPD helicopter circled the neighborhood at I-5 and Tocayo Avenue. Police announced over their P.A. system that they were in pursuit of a suspect described as a black …

Two months ago, Caltrans began erecting 20-foot-tall aluminum poles on the 5 freeway between Carmel Valley and Oceanside. In the past few weeks, each pole (located at most every on- or off-ramp) began to be …

San Diego County citizens disgusted with massive potholes, deficient sewer and water systems, library closings, ad nauseam should scoff at politicians’ promises that things will get better. They won’t. Already-ruinous pension payments will eat up …

It’s tough for all media outlets that have to sell ads to exist, but it’s even worse for XETV/Channel 6 since the local station lost its Fox affiliation last summer. Channel 6 manager Richard Doutre …

“Camel meat,” sighs Mukhtar. “That’s what I miss most. It’s the meat treat in Somalia. Here, I think it’s not even legal.” He grabs a piece of banana. Of course, if there’s one thing apart …

On a Saturday night a few weeks ago, I went to a Saturday Night Live theme party at the Tivoli Bar in the East Village. I went as one of the gold-chain-and-polyester-wearing Czech brothers played …

Recipe from Sahar Nashashibi, chef, Fairouz (story told by daughter Haya). My mom has always had a feel for cooking, even when she was young. Her mom — my grandmother — was a great cook …

The Kinks did it once, that I know of — played the first few minutes of their show in pitch dark. This served to ramp the house up into a loud frenzy. By the time …

Hey, Matt: Is it true that there used to be half pennies? If so, who was the president on that coin? — Jay, via email Yeah, I guess a half penny seems sorta useless in …

Zac Pennington, leader of Parenthetical Girls, is as skinny, pouty-lipped, and androgynous as a young Mick Jagger. His stage moves are so fey and effeminate that, in comparison, Morrissey looks like Johnny Cash. And his …

The Santa Rosa Plateau’s Sylvan Meadows Multi-Use Area is open to all non-motorized means of travel — hiking, jogging, biking, and horseback riding — with the stipulation that all users stay on the designated roads …

While dance-punk duo Crocodiles were planning a cross-country tour to promote their upcoming debut full-length Summer of Hate, which is set to be released April 28 on Fat Possum Records, they received an unexpected offer …

“We left the country in 1979, when I was four years old,” says Iranian-born violinist Bahman Sarram. “My family became exiles overnight, due to the political and social climate at the time, as revolutionaries enslaved …

Thirty Years AgoSOLITARY WOMAN: I hear you. Please come see me, high noon, the Saturday following this edition, foot of SIO pier. La Jolla. Red Ker Chief. ROCKY HORROR!! I’ve discovered it and I love …

Folding Mr. Lincoln’s release party for their debut album Within My Reach happens March 21 at Rebecca’s coffeehouse in South Park, and the band will play two shows at next month’s Adams Avenue folk and …

A local member of the feared Mongols Motorcycle Club, a Latino gang with upwards of 600 members in seven states and four countries, wants his colors back. Last October, following an 86-count indictment of 79 …

Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, who has filed campaign financial forms indicating she intends to run for either the State Board of Equalization or the 39th state senate seat now held by fellow Democrat Christine Kehoe, accepted …

Name: Steve Scatolini (aka Scat Daddy Surf) Age: 32 Years surfing: “too many” Favorite spot: Jocko’s Pre-surf music: “Jimi Hendrix, my own” Post-surf food: Poma’s Deli (in O.B.) Scatolini’s song (below) was inspired, he says, …

Artist: EndoxiSong: “I’m Bipolar” (from the CD New Blood, Old Soul)Heard By: Taylor Nelson, Chula Vista Basically, the high point to me was the fact that they used real instruments — real drums, real bass, …

The Wounded Marine Careers Foundation, currently being sued by ex-Marines, some of whom allege they ended up paying $88,000 worth of their veteran’s benefits for ten weeks of film school, is the beneficiary of a …

LETTERS El Cajon Smack Talk I grew up here in El Cajon my whole life, and upon reading the March 12 edition of your paper, “El Cajon: We’re No More Redneck than Chula Vista, Oceanside, …

There are times when the music at the opening of a service feels a little like a warm-up — something to get the blood flowing, or something to clear the cobwebs on a Sunday morning …

The Brecht police will probably snipe at the San Diego Rep’s Threepenny Opera: how it fails to achieve this or that aspect of his “Epic Theater.” And the production is open to potshots. But the …

Take my word, the cuisine of the Horn of Africa is fabulous — but to know that, you have to taste it; and in San Diego, relatively few people have enjoyed the pleasure. With Muzita, …

Singer-songwriter Marie Haddad was five when she started playing piano, but she drifted into other endeavors a few years later. At one point she had to sell her piano in order to stay in college. …

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. — John Muir In the Kerala state of southwest India blooms …

In the 2001 film Rock Star, former rapper and underwear model Mark “Marky Mark” Wahlberg fronts a tribute band that pays sonic homage to his favorite hard rockers, Steel Dragon. He takes the gig so …

Many are the tales locals tell of dodge-and-deny tactics the City of San Diego uses to avoid enforcing its own laws. The most common excuses, especially in this time of budgetary woes, are that it …

A little after noon on Tuesday, March 17, a boat burst into flames in the canyon just down the hill from Self Realization Fellowship center in Hillcrest. Firefighters were on the scene within ten minutes …

On March 12, the Coronado Tunnel Commission (CTC) — a group formed to seek funding for construction of an underground tunnel to ease the town’s traffic congestion — held a meeting at the Coronado Police …

The two-lane stretch of Buena Creek Road that connects Santa Fe Avenue and Twin Oaks Valley Road will be undergoing extensive construction during the next two weeks. Construction crews continue to widen the bike lanes …

In most communities, finding enough qualified people to volunteer for a community planning board isn’t easy. And, typically, attending a community planning board meeting during the week isn’t exactly the hot-ticket event. Not so in …

Richard Eckfield knows the perfect way to draw bigger crowds to the Del Mar Fairgrounds. He’s pitched the idea for over three years. The problem is, nobody at the fairgrounds is listening. Eckfield wants the …

A little after 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, a late-model, black VW Jetta traveling northbound on Seventh Avenue collided with one of MTS’s red-and-white articulated buses that was eastbound on Broadway. Although both vehicles …

The surf breaks from Imperial Beach Pier down to the Tijuana Slough are some of Southern California’s best. In that area, surfers can find good waves and light crowds. The water quality, however, is bad. …

Author: Tennyson Neighborhood: Clairemont Age: 65 Occupation: Retired A rainy-day trip to Wings on Newport (amuse the outta-town guests — Seattle/Pasadena — with some local O.B. color), my oldest granddaughter approaches with an obscenely blue …

On March 3, the phrase “look what the cat dragged in” took on a whole new meaning for one Santee resident, whose pet cat brought home a dead bat. The cat’s owner promptly contacted the …

On March 5, the South Bay Union School District voted to eliminate 80 teaching positions, but it was not the slam-dunk many expected. District superintendent Carol Parish addressed those attending, saying, “We had to start …

A resident of the Barcelona apartment complex on Juniper Street returned home after a weekend away to find her 1994 Acura Integra stolen. The theft occurred sometime between Thursday morning, March 5, and Sunday evening …

The Hell’s Angel takes me aside. It’s 10:00, Saturday night. A bunch of them stand around outside their headquarters by a row of angle-parked Harleys, here where Palm meets El Cajon Boulevard. ”Look, we’ve had …

Author Max Miller (left) and Colonel Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, a Marine fighter ace who shot down 26 planes. In this 1952 photo, Miller prepares for the annual La Jolla Rough Water Swim with what appears …

Spitting fire and juggling has helped Bushwalla get 6 European tours and some 15 U.S. tours. The singer-songwriter-guitarist says mixing magic, comedy, and circus tricks has allowed him to take his “freestyle-funk-acoustic-hip-hop-vaudeville” act on the …

How high can the escalation go? Watchmen is just another step on the stairs, one or two above The Dark Knight, nothing to get worked up about one way or the other. Adapted from “the …

I love movies — watching them and discussing them. I’ve gone to the Sundance Film Festival a few times and recently started going to some local festivals. I went to the Fallbrook Film Festival last …

Say Lula Salon occupies the ground floor of a resuscitated Art Deco box in the East Village; on Sunday mornings, Icon Church occupies Say Lula. It’s a neat fit. The space was crammed with eclectic …

‘I hate being the go-to guy at school,” griped my husband Patrick. It seems he missed a meeting and got himself “volunteered” by some of his fellow teachers to run the activities at this year’s …

Former marbles champion Zang Duong, 34, stands in a recessed area of cement, where white pop-up tents shade five round tables covered in felt. The space is nestled in the middle of the Del Mar …

“Long Way Home,” by the Coyote Problem, was the most-downloaded MP3 from SDReader.com during February. Below is an interview with songwriter Peter Bolland. Has it been easier or harder to write songs during tough times? …

Dear Matthew Alice: Are bees suicidal? I swim in an outdoor pool, and practically every time there is a poor bee straining to stay afloat. I offer it a lifesaver (a twig or a leaf) …

What is Golden Hill’s edgy Turf Supper Club, along with its tattooed waitresses, doing out in the wilds of La Mesa? Same as it ever was: serving cook-it-yourself steaks. And now, beyond the basic green …

Friday again. Payday again. You’ve been down to Ramen noodle soup since Wednesday. You’re in North County, but you are far from retiring, much less retiring rich. Vons is on the bus route along Rancho …

Dump Dopehead It was an intriguing cover today (March 5) with the headline “Waste time. Save money. Ride the bus!” and the accompanying photo. As someone who chooses to often leave my car at home …

Solo musician Derek Papa is a nostalgic fellow. “I would like to see those stage guitar holders come back,” he says, “the ones that don’t require a strap, they just suspend in midair. They were …

The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. — Émile Zola I wrenched myself from the espresso-machine demo and joined David by the cookbooks. “You sure about this?” I …

Psst. Wanna read a well-written, entertaining book? It’s filled with amazingly detailed descriptions of surroundings and dialogue from exciting events going back many years. It reads like zippy fiction. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that’s what this …

Henry Louis Grin (1847–1921) was a jack of many trades: a footman for the famous actress Fanny Kemble, a Swiss banker’s servant, an inventor, and a photographer who took pictures of ectoplasmic auras for psychics. …

Local hip-hop internet radio station JellyRadio.com broadcasts around a dozen live programs each week, including Royal Jelly Reggae Show and Fried Chicken and Hip Hop, claiming 1.5 million listeners. The site is now launching JellyFish, …

Meanbuggin’ is when you start starin’ at someone and you’re lookin’ at ’em bad. Another one is weeble. A weeble is, like, someone who’s comin’ up, but they’re not officially made yet. Like, you introduce …

Recipe from Amy Dibiase, former executive chef, Roseville. I have been cooking since a very young age. A lot of pasta and gnocchi. Soups and stews. I grew up in a very large Italian family, …

Yet another local recession victim: the San Diego office of the National Marine Manufacturers Association, producer of the annual San Diego Boat Show, is being shuttered, and future shows may be canceled. “The recreational boating …

With Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats in the state legislature asking voters to raise their own taxes in a series of measures set for a May special election, legislative salaries are becoming a subject of …

“I’m a residentially challenged entertainment engineer,” says one-man-band Ran Diego, who has been busking the Gaslamp for around two years. Usually seen performing on Fourth or Fifth Avenue between E and K streets, Diego says, …

Arizona’s GOP senator John McCain has been fuming over the $7.7 billion worth of earmarks hidden in the nooks and crannies of a $410 billion spending bill that started in the House and was making …

After a nationwide tour last September and a two-week, ten-show tour through the chilly Midwest in January, ’70s-style jam band the Donkeys apparently haven’t had enough of the road. On March 12, the band will …

Listen to the online-only live album that Brooklyn band Asobi Seksu released in October 2006, and the first thing you hear is a loud burst of guitar feedback. Guitarist James Hanna bends his notes, tweaking …

Soggy Lower Willows, along with its primary source of water — Santa Catarina Spring — together comprise Anza-Borrego’s richest riparian habitat. An easy-going hike through here is all that’s needed to acquaint you with this …

The Box takes next week off, so regard this column as your March Madness early-bird primer. Clip and save. The 2009 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament goes off on March 17 with games scheduled …

There are days that I O.D. on indie rock, especially when the newer bands put out stuff that seems headed toward ’80s import, meaning the dark days of synth and ugly haircuts. But then some …

Thirty Years AgoTuesday, October 31, 1978In speaking to people who have known John Vietor, I am told that he is “the Jell-O heir,” “the founder of San Diego Magazine,” “a world traveler who dines with …

The stock market is crashing. The city budget is crumbling. The state unemployment rate has hit 10 percent. Maybe it’s not the best time to be spending $1.27 million to subsidize a marina for superyachts. …

Workers have been busy cutting down trees and clearing brush from a narrow zone between the Sweetwater River and Jamacha Road in Rancho San Diego. They began near the intersection of Jamacha and Cuyamaca College …

It's probable that local mass-transit service will be reduced in June while the cost of fares and passes will increase. Proposed changes to routes and fares were developed by Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) staff and …

On Monday, March 9, Ed Herrera and 10 other Chula Vista residents were on the front steps of Chula Vista City Hall, chanting “No Way on Prop A!” Fifty of their fellow community members sat …

Students at Point Loma Nazarene University voted in favor of a “Green Fund Proposal” on February 19. In accordance with the proposal, student fees will increase by $5 per semester in order to boost campus …

At a March 2 meeting of the Greater Golden Hill Maintenance Assessment District, members of the MAD Advisory Committee objected to a proposal by the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation (GGHCDC) to use nearly …

“Keep Leucadia funky” has been the battle cry from residents and merchants for years. But in a community where surfers live next to neurosurgeons, a major rift is occurring over the future of Highway 101. …

On Thursday, March 5, beaches at Spanish Landing and Shelter Island re-opened after being closed due to a sewage spill. The spill, which began at 10:35 a.m. on March 4, released approximately 1400 gallons of …

The demolition of the old building on Broadway between Eighth and Ninth avenues was completed over a month ago. On the 23rd of February, a work crew was on the site to break up remaining …

A decision has been made by the city to street-sweep the 1000 block of 22nd Street just one side of the street — weekly. No other side streets are scheduled weekly except for 22nd Street. …

In the early hours of Monday, March 2, two houses on Alderson and Andover streets in El Cajon were broken into and purses and small amounts of money were taken. These robberies were the two …

The Foothills Adult Education Center on Melody Lane in El Cajon will not be offering summer classes this year. Fall classes may not be available either. An education facility under the control of the Grossmont …

Recently, while doing stream surveys in the East County, we came upon a roadblock set up on Sunrise Highway, near Mt. Laguna. Homeland Security (Border Patrol) agents scrutinized all vehicles coming through. We were stopped …

Looking for bargains last Saturday morning at the South Bay Drive-In swap meet, I picked up what I thought was some lacing material out of a decorative flowerpot and, to my horror, held in my …

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 …

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, …

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 …

"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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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, …

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. …

Fridays are paydays for many working people, and it reinforces in some that sense of license implicit on the eve of the weekend. One example of this is the way people drive late on a …

“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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Where’s Bitty? I enjoyed the article re personal license plates (“How Much Can You Say in 7 Letters?” Cover Story, February 26), and I saw one the other day on Pacific Highway that really intrigued …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

“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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

A lot has changed in recent months for the Greater Golden Hill Maintenance Assessment District’s Advisory Committee. The meeting date was bumped up from the third Monday of the month to the first. The meeting …

Shortly before 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 26, metal chairs and tables rained down from the roof of the Ramada Inn on Sixth Avenue, narrowly missing several passing automobiles. Bent and twisted into nearly unrecognizable …

Located at the corner of Adams Avenue and Kensington Drive, the Kensington/Normal Heights Community Library is San Diego’s smallest public library. During the past few years, the Kensington Friends of the Library have looked at …

In an April 1993 Reader article, a Chevron Land and Development spokesperson was quoted as saying Mission Valley’s Stardust Golf Course (now Riverwalk) “will be closed in July 1993” for the long-planned construction of 1300 …

On February 27, the day the Rocky Mountain News published its last edition and just a few days after owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer filed for bankruptcy, a panel convened at the Museum of San …

Other than the thundering sounds of gigantic planes overhead, residents of Banker’s Hill live fairly peaceful lives. But on a recent Friday at approximately 11 p.m., the raised voices of two young men echoed between …

At 9:30 p.m. on Friday February 27, whoops and shouts could be heard near the Children’s Museum at the intersection of West Island Avenue and Front Street. On Harbor Drive, a police car cruised silently …

On Friday, February 27, at 10:15 a.m., on the corner of Diane Avenue and Kings Way in Clairemont, a 52-year-old man and his dog were attacked by two pitbulls while walking past the dogs' fence. …

On Friday, February 27, San Diegans gathered on the Embarcadero (near the County Administration Building) to take part in a “tea party” to protest the federal government’s economic rescue plan. Taking the cue from the …