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Content for Wednesday, February 17, 2010

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Doobie Row

After last week's panel discussion on Hillcrest pot shops, San Diego's medical marijuana task force took its recommendations to North Park. In his five-minute presentation, task force vice chair Steven Whitburn's song remained the same …

February 17, 2010
Do sea animals drink seawater?

Matt: How come if a human being drinks seawater he’ll probably get sick and die, but whales, dolphins, and walruses, and penguins can drink ocean water and thrive on it? — Curious Bob, University City …

February 17, 2010
Shake, Rattle, Roll

A tattooed man playing a washboard and yelling with glee leaps off the stage into a hoedown of dancers. The joyous press of musicians onstage play at a breakneck pace, with a melange of instruments: …

February 17, 2010
Gems of Pala, California

Walking up the dirt-and-gravel path from the parking area, you’re greeted by a Buddha and two rusted truck corpses. Wooden bins of large rocks stand next to the stairs leading up to the store’s entrance. …

No Free Ride

Starting on Monday, February 15, the Tamarack Surf Beach located just west of Carlsbad Boulevard and Tamarack Avenue will charge visitors to park their vehicles on an hourly basis. The beach’s parking lot — state-owned …

February 17, 2010
White Bronco Seen

A car crash on West Point Loma Boulevard February 15 resulted in a car upside down but no one hurt. Joggers and dog-walkers stopped to gawk at about 9:00 a.m. Police blocked passage on the …

February 17, 2010
Personalized Plates

We’ve been driving beaters almost since we got married. Our last “new” car was eight years old when we bought it. Every now and then I catch him noticing the new Dodge Challenger, and he …

February 17, 2010
Jumpin’ at the Raw End

Robin Henkel hoots, hollers, walks out into the audience with his guitar, sits at their tables, and tells stories. He favors the raw end of what his instrument can sound like, and when he sings …

February 17, 2010
In the Green

Thirty-Five Years AgoWatching Lyn Lott play the final hole on Sunday was an honest lesson in the pro golf version of catch-22.... On the seventy-second, par five, eighteenth hole, the left side of the green …

February 17, 2010
Sunday Pancakes (Gluten Free)

Recipe by Craig Cowling, chef/owner, O’Brothers The whole concept for our restaurant started in my backyard. We had a party and I was grilling up these organic burgers and my brother Derek kept noticing people’s …

February 17, 2010
No Joke

On Saturday, February 6, Mike and Linda McWilliams celebrated their one-year anniversary as owners of San Pasqual Winery. The brand itself dates back to the early ’70s, when a lawyer, Mickey Fredman, and a judge, …

February 17, 2010
The Right Life

A patient of Dr. Oliver Sacks suffered a massive stroke. “Mrs. S” retained her intelligence and humor but could no longer see anything left of her nose. “She has totally lost the idea of left,” …

February 17, 2010
North County's Dying Cabaret

Three longtime North County music venues are silenced. One promises to return. The Calypso Mediterranean Cafe in Leucadia had live music since it opened in 1995. Artists such as Jack Tempchin, Candye Kane, Danny Way, …

February 17, 2010
It's all about the money

A top-secret plan by KPBS, the taxpayer-funded public broadcasting arm of San Diego State University, to buy an additional FM radio station here and devote its current FM frequency to a lucrative classical music format …

February 17, 2010
Whole Lotta Aping Going On

Thursday 18English goth-rockers the Damned will finish up their two-night stint at Casbah. Sold out, it is.... So go check out Motörhead Lemmy’s new joint the Head Cat at Belly Up. They’re a rockabilly super-trio, …

February 17, 2010
The Dharma Bum Temple

An old "B.C." comic strip holds down one corner of the picture window that looks in on the Dharma Bum temple — a whimsical accent tacked onto an otherwise serene and tasteful tableau: “Whatcha doing …

February 17, 2010
Geo Group lobbies to gain control of the Descanso jail

Last year, employees of Geo Group, a private prison corporation, contributed more than $2000 to the campaign fund of San Diego’s interim sheriff Bill Gore. Geo operates San Diego’s old downtown jail at 220 C …

February 17, 2010
San Diego is a services economy

The classic description of a city living off personal services, and bringing in too little outside money through activities such as manufacturing, is “a bunch of people doing each other’s laundry.” Increasingly, that describes San …

February 17, 2010
Letters

Got It, LT? Re “Super Bowl Edition” (“Sporting Box,” February 4). I look forward to Patrick’s Super Bowl result column. Drew Brees not only has a Super Bowl ring now but is also the MVP. …

February 17, 2010
Two Poems by Christina Rossetti

Song When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me; Plant thou no roses at my head, Nor shady cypress tree: Be the green grass above me With showers and dewdrops wet; …

February 17, 2010
Bad Lot

Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Julia …

February 17, 2010
Council's convention center cash

San Diego city councilmembers are awash in special-interest cash. During the last quarter, 16 Sempra Energy employees lined up to give a total of $2100 to the reelection bid of Second District councilman Kevin Faulconer. …

February 17, 2010
We Were Promised Jetpacks

It’s a great name for a band, We Were Promised Jetpacks. The Glasgow indie quartet is something like a motorcycle — their songs are made for speed. The faster WWPJ plays them, the better and …

February 17, 2010
Arroyo Seco & Monument Loop

"In Memory of Col. F. C. Marshall and 1st Lt. C. L. Webber who fell at this spot Dec. 7, 1922.” Without this inscription, the presence of an old 12-cylinder engine permanently mounted in stone …

February 17, 2010
Winter Olympics Backgrounder

The first time I visited Vancouver was in the late ’60s. I was living in Fairbanks and decided to spend the winter outside, which is what we called any place not in Alaska. Since it …

Brewskies

Beer and rugby are more or less synonymous. — Chris Laidlaw I like to think of myself as pretty hip. It’s not as if I’m walking around with an iPad or anything, but when it …

February 17, 2010
Tijuana's Downtown Revival

A Schizoid City Tijuana has suffered from multiple personality disorder for way too long. It’s been a place for trade and fugitives — for anyone who needed to escape from anything, whether it be extreme …

February 17, 2010
Nothing Serene About It

San Diego screamo band a City Serene has had an eventful 2010 so far. In January, the band discovered they were voted the third top unsigned band in Alternative Press Magazine for the year 2009. …

February 17, 2010
Dessa

You’d be forgiven for not thinking of Minneapolis as a hotspot for hip-hop; the city is better known for its long, cold winters than its urban atmosphere. But 25 years after Purple Rain, the Twin …

February 17, 2010
The Six-String Circle of Life

“Suzy Bogguss and I knew each other when we were teens,” says Jessica Baron. “I was a music teacher who gigged a little bit. Suzy was already an early celebrity. She would come through Chicago …

February 17, 2010
Psycho Willie vs. the Pyrate Punx

Phone messages posted January 31 on YouTube are alleged to be recordings of promoter-performer Willie Carter Tuckerson, aka Willie Psycho, threatening rival promoter Captain Sid of the San Diego Pyrate Punx. A few excerpts: “If …

February 17, 2010
Do waterfalls freeze?

Heymatt: With all the snow back East, I was wondering if any of the waterfalls freeze when the rivers freeze. Or is moving water not likely to freeze. — No name please, via email Oh, …

February 17, 2010
Hell is other condo owners

We put out the call, “Tell us your HOA horror stories,” and you came back in your millions. Okay, your dozens. Okay, nearly a dozen. The issue was courage. How could people report on the …

February 17, 2010
Strong-Mayor Mess

Councilmember Donna Frye isn't a strong supporter of "strong mayor." At the February 16 meeting of the San Diego City Council, she shared her thoughts of what is to come if the voters insist on …

February 17, 2010
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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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