Geometry Above the lake, the little birds flit in shallow sine waves, skimming low to catch the mayfly hatch, and leaving cold, concentric rings where beaks and wingtips kiss the glass. The morning light is …
June 8, 2016
News & Stories
Her turtle throws Platonic stars on walls
The golden age of trashy horror
Even a connoisseur of fine cuisine can have occasional cravings for junk food. Roger Corman’s Humanoids From the Deep (USA, 1980, New World Pictures), although far from sophisticated, is a creature-feature/sexploitation masterpiece. Produced during the …
June 8, 2016
Pierced the radio veil
It pays to play well. Even if there aren’t many people there to see you. “The other day I went to the Ché Café and there were, like, ten kids there,” says singer/songwriter/guitarist Vic Fuentes …
June 8, 2016
No radioactive threat, just a big mess
Downtown’s Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel has just gotten rid of 70 radioactive “self-luminous exit signs,” according to an inventory sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “Exit signs that glow in the dark often contain a …
June 8, 2016
The Old Fashioned turned Hawaiian
According to Duke’s bar manager Peter Stanmeyer, the mango Old Fashioned made at this Hawaiian haven of haute cuisine has as much to do with Waikiki luaus as it does with Wisconsin supper clubs. He …
June 8, 2016
Too much deliciosity
I arrived too early. For Ramadan, that is. This was before last Sunday, when Ramadan began. I came because I was curious about what you eat if you are Muslim and fasting for the month. …
The Mice embrace the weird
The three punk Mice have been playing for 21 years. “We actually started two years before as Billy Club,” explains singer/bassist Travis Poe. “Our lead singer Matt went away to rehab and never came back. …
June 8, 2016
Rep. Peters gets his hands dirty, figuratively
Super-rich Democratic congressman Scott Peters of La Jolla has gotten up close and personal for some dirty work with a wealthy Mission Valley hotel owner. The meet-up came at the newly opened Holiday Inn Express …
June 8, 2016
A lot of people probably see religion as an opiate
4325 Park Blvd, University Heights Membership: 25–30 Pastor: Dale Huntington Age: 33 Born: Visalia Formation: Grossmont College, El Cajon; Southern California Seminary-San Diego Christian College, San Diego Years Ordained: 5 San Diego Reader: What’s your …
June 8, 2016
Art Bastard’s Robert Cenedella talks with the Reader
Meet Robert Cenedella: painter, pictorial satirist, art teacher, and all around swell guy who also happens to be the subject of a new documentary, Art Bastard, opening June 17 exclusively at the Angelika Film Center …
June 8, 2016
My personal best halibut at San Quintín — 44 pounds
San Quintín Bay lies in the shadow of volcanoes a couple hundred miles south of the border on the Pacific coast of Baja. The bay spreads out from over seven miles of channel into false …
June 8, 2016
Murder at the Howard Johnson’s — probably not meant to serve as a rich cultural study of 20th-century Americana
More than once during Scripps Ranch Theatre’s production of Murder at the Howard Johnson’s, ditzy would-be femme fatale, Arlene (Maelyn Gándola), refers to HoJo’s fried clam strip dinner with lustful glee. This is perhaps the …
June 8, 2016
From Europe to Elysium
From the streets of Jersey City came guitarist Al Di Meola, who toiled in the fusion group Return to Forever, at age 20, and eventually went solo, combining rock, jazz, classical, and electronic approaches. He …
June 8, 2016
San Diego Chargers twist language in unpredictable ways
“Convadium,” crooned my partner in gadabouting Pemberton Throckmorton III, drawing out the “a” and lingering just a moment on the “m.” “Just listen to it! It’s the space of the future! What can’t you do …
June 8, 2016
Parents are like hipsters when it comes to their kids
Dear Hipster: My 62-year-old dad always says he hates Father’s Day. He calls it a bogus Hallmark holiday. He also likes to point out how TV’s image of “Dad” as a stereotypical bozo does nothing …
June 8, 2016
Before there was reggae there was reggay — and there was Toots
Toots and the Maytals have been coming around for so long now that news of their arrival is taken in stride, much like the way one might embrace a change of season or impending weather. …
June 8, 2016
Noisy Margaret Noble seeks friend not foe
Every scene in a drama, according to the late director Mike Nichols, is either a fight, a seduction, or a negotiation. He added, as a footnote, the same is true in life. The thrill, or …
June 8, 2016
Roberts Ranch denied developers and spared from 2003 fires
Roberts Ranch is a hidden jewel nestled on either side of I-8 at the foot of the Cuyamaca Mountains. There is no sign announcing its presence, so this is a hike experienced only by those …
June 8, 2016
Shadowy shows
The instrumental trio Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet are best known for penning the theme song to the Kids in the Hall sketch comedy TV series. Even though the Shadowy Men were in the …
June 8, 2016
General Atomics and Sempra on welfare
Welfare for corporations is one of our most rancid economic problems. Who is to blame? Surprise! Alexander Hamilton, our first secretary of the treasury. He is beloved on Broadway these days, but Appalachian moonshiners may …
June 8, 2016
TV ethics
A star political analyst on KNSD, KUSI, and other spots around San Diego’s television news dial has been taken to task by the city’s ethics commission for being repeatedly late to disclose his lobbying activities. …
June 8, 2016
Reading, then writing
Is Tree Removal the Answer? I read with interest the article about eucalyptus tree accidents. It’s awful that people have been killed by trees (and any other cause). Selective, limited tree pruning should be performed …
June 8, 2016
A horror movie better than I remembered
There’s never been a more formative movie for me than Sam Raimi’s original Evil Dead (USA, 2013, Sony Pictures). Obviously, I was skeptical of Fede Alvarez’s remake and wasn’t a fan when I first saw …
June 8, 2016
June 2 Crossword Contenders
Jason Passchier, San Diego, 9. Martha Awdziewicz, Clairemont, 7. L. Barling, El Cajon, 7. (winner!) Evelyn Bowser, Hillcrest, 7. Dennis Butterworth, San Diego, 7. (winner!) Chris Byzewski, San Diego, 7. (winner!) Joseph Ciprian, Little Italy, …
June 8, 2016
June 2 Sudoku Contenders
Evil Bliss Beedle, Encinitas, 7. Gregory Chauncey, La Jolla, 7. Joseph Ciprian, Little Italy, 7. (winner!) Alford Claibone, San Diego, 7. Patrick Driscoll, Santee, 7. Rafael Gaceta, San Diego, 7. Don Ganoe, San Diego, 7. …
June 8, 2016