Xavier Nuez photographs alleys. His candy-colored images of urban decay have been exhibited internationally, including here at the San Diego Art Institute, and featured on NPR. Ruin is his gig. “History,” Nuez says. “Rust, bent …
September 16, 2009
Blog Entries
- Sound Off: Most Likely to Repeat
- "They say (You can never go Home!) I Did!
- The Premier, in which Things (viz., the "Point" of This Blog) become Clear
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- San Diego One of Five Most Frugal Cities
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- From The Way Folks Act Today...
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- Update in Little Falls 9/16/2009
- Winter Shelter in the East Village District in Downtown San Diego 2010 Rejected!
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- The Star of India has Returned to the Embarcadero in Downtown San Diego!
- I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues -- Elton John and Jimmy Carter Stuff
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News & Stories
A tour of San Diego alleys
The Town of Books: Hay-On-Wye, Wales
Hay-On-Wye, a small village in Wales, is an unlikely bibliophile’s paradise. Nestled along the river Wye just across the Welsh border from Herefordshire, England, Hay-On-Wye boasts nearly 40 secondhand bookstores. There are no Borders or …
September 16, 2009
Two Capers
According to police radio, San Diego police were dispatched to Polk Street and Marlborough Avenue at about 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16, in connection with a fight involving about 20 people. A police dispatcher …
September 16, 2009
Social Host Comes to Carlsbad
"We don't want our young children to become addicted to alcohol; addiction to alcohol makes a person crazy," said an elderly female during the Tuesday, September 15, Carlsbad city council meeting. The statement came minutes …
September 16, 2009
Salad a Casualty
Tijuana’s Caesar's Restaurant on Avenida Revolución, reputed to be the spot where Caesar salad was invented, has closed its doors after more than 80 years in business. The Tijuana daily Frontera reported that the restaurant …
September 16, 2009
Don't Tow My Home
"There will be no more predatory towing in the streets of San Diego," said district attorney Bonnie Dumanis at a news conference on August 21, 2006. Clark Waters shakes his head. He has now fired …
September 16, 2009
No Knife Fight
A man armed with a knife on the 3500 block of Ashford Street was reported via police radio on Sunday evening, September 13. A dispatcher said that a caller had contacted police because a man …
September 16, 2009
Indian Flats Bike Ride
With summer’s heat subsiding throughout San Diego’s backcountry region, now’s the time to think about fat-tire-biking adventures on the back roads of the Cleveland National Forest. One great option is a looping ride of 25 …
September 16, 2009
Mutt Mixer
My girlfriend told a coworker who was going out of town for two weeks that she’d watch her dog for her. As we were walking the woman’s yellow Lab through downtown streets, we noticed a …
September 16, 2009
Fire Poi Spinning
This started out as a hula-hoop column. The primordial hula hoop was a dorky fad of the 1950s. I wondered if the beast still lived, and if so, who feeds it? Onto the internet and …
September 16, 2009
Insidious Infections
In the nineteenth century, men lost their fear of God and acquired a fear of microbes. — Author Unknown Swine flu is tearing my family apart. Okay, maybe not the flu itself so much as …
September 16, 2009
Unforgettable: When Sister Aimee Came to Town - Part 2
She’d send, she proclaimed, “a message from above.” On Thursday, January 27, 1921, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson stood in the cockpit of a Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny.” Wearing a leather coat and cap, tinted goggles across …
September 16, 2009
The Real Middle East Deal
“Russ?” “Yup.” “It’s me. I’m in El Cajon.” I’m calling on my first-ever cell phone. Hate the end of freedom. But now I need this thing. “That Dubai restaurant you were crazy about? It’s closed! …
Chollas Lake Towers, TSA Confiscations
Heymatt: Chollas Lake in College Grove has a radio tower that played a big role in WW2, or was the first radio tower of its kind in the U.S., or something fabulous. It’s still operational, …
September 16, 2009
Swank, Hip, Sophisticated
“We’re putting two and a half million dollars into the building,” says Ernie Hahn, general manager of the Sports Arena for the past 13 years. “It’s been a year since AEG Live became a majority-owner …
September 16, 2009
The Geography of Jazz
The East West Quintet’s name says a lot, geographically speaking. If you pick up the jazz-rock combo’s ambitious second album (this year’s Vast), you will see a shout-out to their East Coast base on closing …
September 16, 2009
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Twenty-three years ago, the British music paper NME (New Musical Express) released C86 on cassette, featuring 22 songs by 22 new bands. Soon, music critics started using the term “C86” to describe other bands that …
September 16, 2009
Fire Lane
Do this on a Friday or Saturday night — almost any night, really. Impress your date, your friends, kids, mom or dad, freak out your dog; it will only cost what you want it to, …
September 16, 2009
Plymouth Congregational Church
Wayne Riggs served as a Navy chaplain from 1957 to 1988. Two years later, he put his collar back on and took over at Plymouth Church. The sleek collection of buildings fronting University Avenue was …
September 16, 2009
Mammograms
I’m 38 years old now, and my mother has been after me to get a mammogram for three years. So, me being me, I started calling around and ended up speaking with Anita LaBreque, director …
September 16, 2009
All the Answers
Thirty Years AgoFAMILY OF PSA air crash victim (Sept. ’78) would appreciate hearing from other such families. WAVE JUNKIE: A dozen years of surfing and swimming experience and a desire to meet you. I am …
September 16, 2009
High Notes
The East West Quintet may be Brooklyn-based, but three of the band’s five members are from San Diego and migrated east, hence the band name. “My parents are both members of the San Diego Symphony,” …
September 16, 2009
Problems at the Palace
“It’s just sitting there empty,” says local reggae radio personality Makeda “Dread” Cheatom of the 1800-capacity Tijuana venue named Iguanas. “We’re coming in to reclaim it.” Iguana’s will have its first headlining show in over …
September 16, 2009
When I Say "Ocean," You Say "Side"
Members of North County bands Wanted Dead and Irieside have come together to form Sound System. Wanted Dead is a hardcore street-punk band known for their wild stage presence, anti-authority anthems, and raucous fans. Irieside …
September 16, 2009
Cymbals Eat Guitars
What did the critics at Pitchfork.com hear when they vetted Why There Are Mountains, the debut album from New York’s Cymbals Eat Guitars? They heard the rumbling, screeching, and howling of an electric guitar (front …
September 16, 2009
Swagger Street
“Swagger Street” by Mag Flux was the most-downloaded MP3 from SDReader.com during August. Below is an interview with Mag Flux’s M.Y.O. You mention in your song “Swagger Street” showing your listeners “how we do it …
September 16, 2009
Free-Range Grazing
Alchemy doesn’t turn lead into gold, but its kitchen does turn good ingredients into palate-pleasers. Open seven months and well populated since Day One, it was bound to be a hit, given all the starving …
September 16, 2009
Body Worlds at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
I’m standing in front of a real human body at Body Worlds and The Brain — Our Three Pound Gem, currently on exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum. It’s a real human body, …
September 16, 2009
Beach Cruisin' for a Bruisin'
Michael Bolton is following me. In perfect cadence, he belts “When a Man Loves a Woman,” down the boardwalk. Okay, so maybe he’s inside this 60-year-old’s iPod, rigged to the back of his bike cruiser …
September 16, 2009
Alan Greenspan proclaimed that central bankers can’t foresee or forestall bubbles
The world’s experts on all topics are huddling in Washington, D.C. One chap proclaims that he is the world’s ranking expert on goldfish. Inquires a layman, “Okay, how do you tell a male goldfish from …
September 16, 2009
BB Gun Shots Fired
San Diego police responded to a shooting at the Courtyard Marriott, located at 595 Hotel Circle South, on Saturday, September 12. At about 11:45 p.m., a police officer at the scene asked the dispatcher to …
September 16, 2009