I once saw Redbeard riding his skateboard along Otay Lakes Road. It was close to midnight, there were only a few cars on the road, and the light from the streetlamps was dim. As he …
August 23, 2017
News & Stories
Redbeard ministers to the Sweetwater homeless jungle
Sitting by a Rivulet: An Image of Eternity
Ah lovely stream, how fitly may’st thou be, By thy immutability, Thy gentle motion and perennity, To us the emblem of eternity: And to us thou do’st no less A kind of omnipresence too express. …
August 23, 2017
Meals and wheels
California assemblyman Adam Gray picked up a free meal worth $160.23 at the Barona gambling tribe’s resort in Lakeside on June 30. Fellow Democrat Marc Berman settled for a $14.87 meal and a free $137.50 …
August 23, 2017
Al Howard fertilizes the Redwoods
The Redwoods collective started its musical journey in 2015. Designed akin to a modern-day Muscle Shoals or Stax, the Redwoods use an in-house collection of session players that back the label’s individual artists. The label …
August 23, 2017
Reckless Brewing slaughters sacred cows
A metal ball rolls down a ramp, launching an RC car into a series of homemade 2˝x4˝ dominoes. Clack, clack, slam! A stuffed bunny hangs from a noose, a baseball glove drops, and a jug …
August 23, 2017
The politics and image of real punk
Things were different when the Widows started playing punk rock 12 years ago. Singer/guitarist Aaron Pores liked it better when things were more DIY. “I love making physical flyers,” says Pores. “The visual art on …
August 23, 2017
Kettner's grape pushback
"Stop and smell the rosé,” says the sidewalk sign. Huh. Are we seeing the start of a wine pushback, after all these glorious beer years? This is happening quite a ways up Kettner, Little Italy’s …
August 23, 2017
Good Time, a soundtrack in search of a movie
My first thought upon leaving co-directors Benny and Josh Safdie’s Good Time (Josh co-wrote, while Benny co-stars alongside an intense, controlled Robert Pattinson) was: A soundtrack in search of a movie. That’s not altogether fair, …
August 23, 2017
Rock city’s hard cash
Hanson Aggregates, the San Diego cement giant owned by a giant British-based multinational, has been trying to up its lucrative real estate development game with big changes to Mira Mesa’s Carroll Canyon Master Plan. “The …
August 23, 2017
Thanks for the Grys-Grys, Loons
“We actually love them so much, we got them a whole tour in California, so that people can see them,” says Anja Stax, who can be thanked for bringing Les Grys-Grys, often billed as “the …
August 23, 2017
Hamlet — infinite tragedy
You could say that Shakespeare’s Hamlet wakes up in the ultimate actor’s nightmare. He’s thrust onstage with no training. He’ll perform without rehearsals, or even peeking at the text. He must find out the play …
August 23, 2017
Get close to sagebrush, toyon, lemonadeberry, laurel sumac, and black sage — in a wheelchair
The Trail for All People is one of the few trails in the county that is wheelchair accessible, built to ADA requirements. The trail was created for people with mobility issues within Black Mountain Open …
August 23, 2017
Escapes, a docu-biography
Contemporary documentarians, adrift without historical recordings to help illustrate their case, too often try and pass off stock shots from vintage black-and-white studio releases as the emmes. Michael Almereyda’s docu-biography Escapes never once attempts to …
August 23, 2017
U.S. Bombs target Soda Bar
If there is any truth to the rumor, the last thing Joey Ramone heard in this life was U2’s In a Little While. He died in a New York hospital in 2001. But, there are …
August 23, 2017
What to do on Labor Day
Rich Uncle Max is coming for Labor Day. He’s always been one of those old dudes who can hang around young people and somehow not come off as creepy or embarrassing. So we’re a little …
August 23, 2017
Polish horseshoes — DIY good clean fun
Dear Hipster, I just learned how to play Polish horseshoes this last weekend, and I have to say it’s super fun. Basically, you just hammer some four-foot garden stakes into the ground with about 25 …
August 23, 2017
Penny pinchers and pikers rarely do well at the track
I want to bet on Summer Buddha in the first race and Packin Heat in the third. Call it a lukewarm tip from a half-baked pal back in Jersey. But if his hunches are right …
August 23, 2017
Eyes are the best bullet proof vests
My Armenian Neighbor Argues about Mushrooms Eta ni lisitchka, my neighbor bellows, words through the threshold — the best place for argument, they say, and the timefield through which he will not pass. I hold …
August 23, 2017
Heartbreaka: no gangsta he
Rapper Heartbreaka got no support from his family. “They hated it,” says the 23-year-old hip-hop artist who grew up in Southeast San Diego as Brandon Nambounmy. “They thought it was something Asians just did not …
August 23, 2017
Fake news, real attrition
The Union-Tribune broke exclusive word on its front business page last week of a smart new online advertising player in town. “Stats Digital is part of the tronc family of companies, which includes the San …
August 23, 2017
Unabashed Nazism?
No Person Is Illegal I’m disappointed that you chose to use the word “illegals” in your cover story for your August 16 issue [“You left water in the desert for illegals?”]. No person is illegal. …
August 23, 2017