Drought cost him 20 percent “Here? I do the trimming, the fertilizing, watering, and so on. This client, a commercial storefront on Herschel in La Jolla Village, wanted to save on watering, so they had …
September 21, 2016
News & Stories
San Diego's gardeners in the drought age
Congress of Massachusetts
We think it is incumbent upon this people to humble themselves before God on account of their sins, for He hath been pleased in His righteous judgment to suffer a great calamity to befall us, …
September 21, 2016
Poison Headache's feel-good Phil
"It’s aggressive and energetic music,” says Wovenwar’s Phil Sgrosso of his new side band Poison Headache. “Something your parents would think is total crap, but that’s sort of the point.” The busy singer/guitarist/bassist has had …
September 21, 2016
Märzen on the menu
Over in Munich, Oktoberfest started on Saturday, September 17th, and will continue until October 3rd, attracting an estimated six million thirsty souls to drink more than two million gallons of beer. As big as beer …
September 21, 2016
Will the U-T go to Gannett?
As closed-door talks continue over a possible takeover of Chicago-based tronc, owner of the Union-Tribune, by giant newspaper chain Gannett Co., some are hoping for yet another fresh start for the San Diego daily, hobbled …
September 21, 2016
Comic joys and boy-toys
According to Christopher Durang, author of Vanya and Sonia and Masha, and Spike, “My play is not a Chekhov parody. I take Chekhov scenes and characters and put them in a blender.” Although his characters …
September 21, 2016
Something fat and juicy from the El Rorro taco truck
"My latest review?” says Justin, “I got — see here? — 71,816 views.” OMG. He’s right. I’m staring at his phone. It shows stats from Yelp. He’s a Yelper. Has reviewed about 200 places he’s …
September 21, 2016
Punk-rock stable Milo Aukerman
When most people go to college it’s not a huge deal. When Milo went to college it changed the world of punk rock forever. His institution of choice was our own UCSD. Besides hitting the …
September 21, 2016
Three poems about the end of summer
September’s Baccalaureate A combination is Of Crickets — Crows — and Retrospects And a dissembling Breeze That hints without assuming — An Innuendo sear That makes the Heart put up its Fun And turn Philosopher. …
September 21, 2016
Politicians backed by Brady campaign
Some county gun owners are said to be irate about a recent local political endorsement by the Washington DC–based Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, but whether they will be loosening their campaign purse strings …
September 21, 2016
Swami’s with 100 guys — not so fun
Names: Justin Mendhan, Walter Graen, and Mikial Tolmosoff Location: Tijuana Slough Mikial Tolmosoff, a visual artist, and Justin Mendhan, construction worker, both 28, have been riding waves together in Imperial Beach since they were 10 …
September 21, 2016
The King is dead
In 1966, Craig Smith was friends with Beach Boy Mike Love and Monkee Mike Nesmith. Smith was a successful songwriter and singer marked as a potential pop star. By 1969, he believed he was the …
September 21, 2016
Jeff Feuerzeig on creating a character
Matthew Lickona: When the scandal breaks about author Laura Albert having created the author JT LeRoy, you give us several phone messages from Laura’s answering machine, urging her to get a huge book deal right …
September 21, 2016
Chinese achievers, American idiots — La Jolla Playhouse stages Tiger Style!
Mike Lew’s Tiger Style! is a kind of 21st-century bildungsroman for sibling protagonists, Jennifer (Jackie Chung) and Albert Chen (Raymond J. Lee), and it tells its story largely by holding popular stereotypes up to the …
September 21, 2016
The maddening inconsistency of Balboa Park busking
“As long as the buskers are getting along with each other and not fighting…everything is fine,” said Chet Harrison, a guitarist and fiddle player who makes his living as a busker in San Diego. “The …
September 21, 2016
A flamenco twist
Jimmy Patton plays a nylon-stringed guitar. Enrique Platas handles percussion (cajon and bongos) and while the duo is primarily instrumental, when Platas sings, he sings in Spanish. Their seven-year-old flamenco White Stripes act has served …
September 21, 2016
Secret Canyon: Pine Valley Creek Wilderness Trail
Pine Valley Creek flows from the Laguna Mountains into Barrett Reservoir, passing through Secret Canyon on its descent. Most of the trail (about 14 miles) traverses the 13,000-acre Pine Creek Wilderness in the Cleveland National …
September 21, 2016
Professional rookies
Jennifer Chen sees a therapist for the first time. And she comes prepared: a list of her phobias, one of her shortcomings, another with her attributes. She can’t simply explore personal issues. She must be …
September 21, 2016
Mekons in the woods
San Diego is in for a treat when cow-punk band the Mekons plays in Escondido on September 25 at the new home of arts collective A Ship in the Woods. Mekons singer/guitarist Jon Langford figures …
September 21, 2016
How long can a culture built on insincerity last?
Dear DJ, I’m an admirer of many aspects of Hipster Culture — craft, style, literacy, simplicity, girls in pleasant dresses, for instance. But I worry that it’s a culture doomed to failure, because it’s built …
September 21, 2016
Birds on the brain, in the sky, and, thirdly, up close
My ten-year-old has birds on the brain ever since she got a pet parakeet, and she’s eager to see some that don’t live in cages. Natalie at Free Flight Exotic Bird Sanctuary in Del Mar …
September 21, 2016
It’s tough to spot a drunk boater
California’s waters can get crowded. Just ask any sportfishing captain chasing yellowfin these days. The sportfishing fleet electronics and chumming only inspires private boaters to shadow them. A few of the sportfishers have been known …
September 21, 2016
Raiders want eternal flame for Al Davis
“You know, when I came into the National Football League, many of our owners owned horses, owned dog tracks, owned all the familiar habitats of gamblers and gambling. We have learned to accept this in …
September 21, 2016
The Naked and Famous streak through town
When that whole indietronica thing broke big, it was everywhere. It seemed oddly familiar, and friendly, as if it had always been around. It hadn’t, of course. Part of it was media push: during the …
September 21, 2016
Details scarce in death of Nobel Prize–winner
UCSD’s big-budget public relations department, charged with playing up good news at the taxpayer-financed school, doesn’t always do as well relaying the solemn aspects of university life and death. Such was the case last month …
September 21, 2016
Contents of the Reader: Discuss
The Fries Alone Overall, I enjoyed the article, “Burgers” (September 15 cover story). But, wow, a list of the burgers of San Diego and no mention of Canada Steakburger in lovely City Heights? It’s worth …
September 21, 2016
The awkward and dangerous Tourmaline crosswalk
A couple of years ago the city put in a crosswalk at the entrance to the parking lot at Tourmaline Surfing Park. That is at the intersection of La Jolla Boulevard and Tourmaline Street. When …
September 21, 2016