The new EP from Miramar-based pop-punk rockers Hard to Hit, Better Than I’ve Been, drops on December 1 at Soma. “This is our first show since March, as we had a lineup change, losing both …
November 29, 2017
News & Stories
Record Roundup, month 12
I want to tell my friend I’ll miss her
Dying Young Midnight, and again I’m chasing sleep: its fresh-linen smell and deep sinking, but when I close my eyes I see my son, closing his eyes. I’m afraid of that dream, the tape looped …
November 29, 2017
How to go cheap at upmarket places
Amazing how long since I’ve been up here in Mission Hills. I’m at the corner of Washington and Goldfinch. Pass a doorstep with a carving in it: “Welcome Back to the Gathering.” It has a …
November 29, 2017
Spongebob Squarepants is still on TV
Dear Hipster: Here I sit, gazing forlornly at my navel and contemplating the nature of time. What is time? While I can look at the clock and see the second hand tick-tick-tick the day away, …
November 29, 2017
Queen Bee's northern migration
Alma Rodriguez is meeting with city officials to launch a Queen Bee’s in Oceanside. Since 2009, the Puerto Rican–born impresario has hosted bands, poetry slams, and swing, salsa, and samba dance lessons at the 250-capacity …
November 29, 2017
Controlling Dick Cheney
San Diego’s ethics commission has picked up yet another attorney, bringing the count of lawyers on the somewhat somnolent political watchdog’s board to five, versus just two lay members. Joe Leventhal, the latest appointee, named …
November 29, 2017
Gaze at oaks from your business park
The trailhead is south of the parking area, on the east side of El Fuerte. To reach it, walk about 0.1 mile up the sidewalk to the sign pointing to the trail going east. The …
November 29, 2017
Andrew McKeag Band: Just call it "dad rock"
“I don’t like to be told to turn my amp down.” This is Andrew McKeag on the phone. “People don’t understand how much fun it is to hear a loud rock band.” Some of you …
November 29, 2017
Don't hate Meth Breath because they're straightedge
Meth Breath lead singer Jimmy Rodgers was hoping that by giving his band a tongue-in-cheek name it might help defuse the uptight attitude some have about straightedge bands. Straightedge punks don’t drink, smoke, or do …
November 29, 2017
Spruce Street suspension bridge brings out demented thoughts
It’s early, the marine layer still a veneer over the city, when we park the car just shy of the suspension bridge. The day promises to be hot but, at this hour, the sun hasn’t …
November 29, 2017
The most dazzling show ever staged at the La Jolla Playhouse
"Toot, ahhhhh, beep-beep... Toot-toot, ahhhhh, beep-beep.” People of a certain age will recognize Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls” from its first few notes. These may also conjure visions of glitter balls and strobe effects — timed …
November 29, 2017
Music venue bloom
Oceanside, San Diego County’s third largest city, has seen a boom in the opening of music venues. Three breweries — Midnight Jack, Black Plague, and Legacy — now host bands on a regular basis. Co-founder …
November 29, 2017
Twelve Bellini holy pictures at the Getty
Pictures sometimes become devotional objects or pilgrimage destinations. Their contents have the feeling of secular-sacred spaces. The room called the Living Hall in New York’s Frick Collection houses several robust portraits, Titian’s force-of-nature Pietro Aretino …
November 29, 2017
Elvis jazz
“It’s something that’s been brewing for years,” says vocalist Lorraine Castellanos, referring to her December 17 Elvis Presley tribute at the Casbah. “But I just couldn’t find the right location. I tried doing something a …
November 29, 2017
Tough to sell craft beer in Carlsbad
With a September 30, 2017, Facebook post, Carlsbad’s Wiseguy Brewing Co. announced its “Last waltz,” with a photo making it clear that the Saturday would be its last in business. Brewery closures in San Diego …
November 29, 2017
Free dinner with Amazon
With online giants Google, Facebook, and Twitter drawing increased scrutiny from congressional members of both parties regarding the spread of fake news and alleged political bias, a top staffer to Republican House member Darrell Issa …
November 29, 2017
Theodore Frelinghuysen — Bible salesman
The Bible has done it sir! Seal up this one Volume and in a half century all these hopes would wither and these prospects perish forever. These sacred temples would crumble or become the receptacles …
November 29, 2017
Chicano Park is not welcoming
Hostile and divisive Re: “Five white men walk into Chicano Park,” Neighborhood News. I am a mixed-race single mother who was going to bring my 11-year-old daughter to Roger’s picnic/walking tour of the murals. I’ve …
November 29, 2017