The tenth floor of San Diego city hall is like a submarine in the sky. Behind sealed windows and an electronic-buttoned security door are the cramped offices of eight councilmembers, who themselves are sardined in …
September 2, 2009
Blog Entries
- Five & Mime
- The New Prohibition--Tobacco Use?
3 comments
- Two Idiots Suing -- The Miss California Edition
14 comments
News & Stories
San Diego City Council chiefs of staff
Palm Tree Down
A less-than-successful effort of a Tijuana resident to remove a palm tree resulted in the local fire department’s required assistance in a neighborhood approximately 12 miles east of central Tijuana on the afternoon of September …
September 2, 2009
Unfair Game
Last Thursday morning, August 27, some people in northbound I-5 traffic probably noticed the green California Department of Fish & Game truck parked on the side of the freeway, above the Batiquitos Lagoon. Unfortunately for …
September 2, 2009
Not Kidnapped!
Two females were able to escape an attempted kidnapping on Tuesday, September 1, at approximately 2:35 p.m. in front of the Lew's Market on Imperial Avenue. According to a police dispatcher, the suspect was described …
September 2, 2009
Hell's Kitchen
As a heat wave ripped through Southern California on Friday, August 27, it became too much for one customer at the C Street Jack in the Box. At about 2 p.m., the man was waving …
September 2, 2009
Crab Bag
Truluck’s is a Florida-based surf-and-turf house specializing in crabs — above all, Florida stone crabs, but also Maine Jonahs, Pacific Dungeness, never-frozen (they claim) Alaskan King, and even a bit of Maine Peekytoe and blue …
September 2, 2009
Cowles Mountain to Pyles Peak
Pyles Peak is just one bump in a series of several distinct high points stretching between Cowles Mountain and Fortuna Mountain in East County’s Mission Trails Regional Park. Collectively, the high points make up a …
September 2, 2009
Quick Chicken Tostadas
Recipe by Chris Walsh, executive chef, Bite. Back in the ’80s, when I was executive chef at California Cuisine, cooking went through this really exciting time. All of a sudden there was Alice Waters and …
September 2, 2009
Mission Village Christian Fellowship
Last week I visited Gethsemane Lutheran Church in the wake of the Evangelical Lutheran Conference of America’s decision to allow partnered homosexuals to serve as clergy (in certain circumstances). This week, I crossed the parking …
September 2, 2009
Friendly Research Squad
Eat right, exercise regularly, die anyway. — Author Unknown "Two cups of coffee and I’m still groggy.” I brought my fingers to my forehead and kneaded the area around my brows, as much to relieve …
September 2, 2009
From New York City to Mexico City
“I’m a serial collaborator,” says Christopher Leyva of Blizzard and Revolution 89. In addition to his band projects, Leyva has collaborated with Greg Laswell, Phil Solem (the Rembrandts), Steve Poltz, members of Louis XIV, producer …
September 2, 2009
Crest Burgers
When I checked my voice mail to see if anyone called in a party, I heard there was a barbecue in Crest, so off I went. Marilyn had a big house with a pool in …
A League of Their Own
The NFL season is upon us, and fans by the tens of millions are setting aside family time, domestic chores, and community service to meld with their HDTV. Let them — the Box is stalking …
September 2, 2009
Where Is "Sweet Rock and Roll"?
Somewhere in San Diego a tantalizing Holy Grail of rock performance history is awaiting discovery in a dusty corner…maybe. As documented in Richie Unterberger’s comprehensive new book White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by …
September 2, 2009
Metal in the Blood
Gabey D’Schiavone spent the ’80s on the Sunset Strip in L.A.’s glam-band scene. His band, Ambush, played the same clubs — Gazarri’s, Troubadour, Roxy — that cradled Poison, Ratt, and Mötley Crüe. “All my friends …
September 2, 2009
Brizz vs. Ninjas
Another hot — really freaking hot — August weekend. A Sunday morning, actually, and I’m greeting the (in theory) post-church crowd in and around Horton Plaza with the perfectly civil question, “Wassup? Know I’m sayin’?” …
September 2, 2009
Two Against Nature
In the 1950s, led by John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, British playwrights railed against the establishment’s bankrupt values and hypocrisy. In the 1990s, Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, and others became part of the “In …
September 2, 2009
Rice, Belts
Matthew Alice: Is all rice for human consumption actually farmed from earth? I find it hard to believe that every grain of rice sitting in stores or being processed for sale throughout the world is …
September 2, 2009
Strange Brew, Rachel Getting Married, Merce Cunningham's Split Sides
Gaaron VarnerThe Cinema Drinker I recommend Strange Brew. Disclaimer: This movie does not accurately depict the brewing process...just a warning to all those home brewers out there! On to the movie, eh? Any movie that …
September 2, 2009
Stand-in money
UCSD political science professor Peter Gourevitch, who has taken over as acting dean of the university’s School of International Relations and Pacific Studies while full-time dean Peter Cowhey is away on extended leave advising the …
September 2, 2009
Tax dollars at leisure
How are you going to keep the cops down on the farm once they’ve seen Coronado? That seems to be the question facing the federally funded National Institute of Justice, which is hosting the Technology …
September 2, 2009
Secret Assassin
“The first concert I ever saw was Assassin in early 1985, at Straita Head Sound in La Mesa,” says Deep Shag Records exec Michael Reed, who ended up running the band’s fan club. “They were …
September 2, 2009
Jackson of All Trades
Days after returning from a solo tour opening for two-piece folk-punk act Andrew Jackson Jihad, Jackson Milgaten sits at a table inside North Park smoothie joint Señor Mango’s for an interview and update on the …
September 2, 2009
Spooky
You might call it MySpace for La Migra. Alan Bersin, ex–San Diego schools chief and President Barack Obama’s “Border Czar” in the Department of Homeland Security, has set up an online social networking site called …
September 2, 2009
PUC Loves SDG&E
Wall Street absolutely loves the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC). That’s a major reason why backcountry folks may have to swallow San Diego Gas & Electric’s loony scheme to shut off those rural residents’ power …
September 2, 2009
Taking Stock
Collision of the end of summer and the start of fall: massive pileup. Quite separate from the seven new movies that opened in our town last Friday alone, eight more are slated to open this …
September 2, 2009
A Star Is Berthed
Thirty Years AgoDear Matthew Alice:Are there more men than women in San Diego?— Curious Couple, San Diego Men generally outnumber women in this city and will continue to do so in the next decade, according …
September 2, 2009
Rancho Peñasquitos man fights with city over concrete spill
On April 12, 2007, I did some concrete work in the backyard of my Rancho Peñasquitos home with the help of my wife, son-in-law, and two close friends. I rented a cement mixer in Poway, …
September 2, 2009
Heartbreak on a Beautiful Day
Charlie Robison delivers his signature whiskey-soaked country on Beautiful Day. The theme of the collection, most noticeable on tracks such as "Reconsider" and "Down Again," is emotional turmoil, a response to his divorce from Emily …
September 2, 2009
Pedaling Blues
Councilmember Marti Emerald continues to be a driving force behind pedicab regulation reform in the city. Ever since 60-year-old tourist Sharon Miller died as a result of getting thrown from a pedicab on July 4, …
September 2, 2009