As I walk among the pastel buildings of Newport Avenue as evening approaches, it’s not hard to tell why Ocean Beach is identified by locals and tourists alike as the most relaxed, bohemian neighborhood in …
September 6, 2017
News & Stories
Ocean Beach — seven blocks surrounded by reality
Mansur al-Hallaj — Sufi mystic
I entered unannounced into Hallaj’s room one day (says Ibn Fatik); someone had been in before me. Hallaj was in prayer, and his brow pressed to the ground, he was saying: O Thou Whose closeness …
September 6, 2017
A little bit country, a lot of lobbying
Two staffers for North County Republican congressman Darrell Issa — picking up heat from local Democrats who aspire to unseat him come next year — have been singing a happier tune in Nashville. The pair, …
September 6, 2017
High balling
Erin Donnette, legislative director for GOP state assemblyman Brian Maienschein, copped two free tickets to an April 9 Sacramento Kings vs. Houston Rockets basketball game worth $401.66, thanks to telecommunications giant AT&T, according to the …
September 6, 2017
The last black man in Barrio Logan?
The Holyfield, which started providing free studio time to local residents at the now-defunct Thchrch (2185 Logan Avenue), wants to be in Barrio Logan — though it doesn’t always make money. “We charge when we …
September 6, 2017
A new addiction at the Nectar Room
That Theresa Gunn. She is something else. I’ve just come reeling out of the Saville Theatre at City College where her students have been telling it like you can hardly believe it is. Performances of …
September 6, 2017
The irrelevance of the Yellow Pages
Dear Hipster: Welp, I got the new Yellow Pages the other day. But, why? I feel like it’s the biggest waste of paper in the world. I literally carried it straight from my doorstep to …
September 6, 2017
Remembering Jerry Lewis
The elevator doors parted just in time for me to spy the hotel maid emptying the contents of a garbage can into the housekeeper’s trolley. We exchanged smiles as she passed, the opulent carpeting of …
September 6, 2017
Meat-eating metalheads the minority in Cave Bastard
The only known San Diego casualty caused by Hurricane Harvey was Cave Bastard’s August 26 show in San Antonio. The extreme metal band’s tour of nine southwestern cities intersected with the catastrophic storm. They learned …
September 6, 2017
Burk's Bench — even better than Fonts Point
Most folks who drive or hike up Fonts Point Wash head to the spectacular viewpoint 4.8 miles from Highway S-22. It is one of the most scenic and popular viewpoints in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, …
September 6, 2017
Reggae, in person
This year’s Beer X fest August 12 at Waterfront Park had the same music/beer/food components as last year’s Beer X, but turnout was different. It drew a sell-out 8500, three times more attendees than last …
September 6, 2017
Bass with bbb-ba-bump-bbb-bom-bub-ba bump
Emeline (For Buddy Collete) I want to go out through a poem Give a little whistle like Buddy Collete and Herbie Mann speaking Switch my woodwind from flute to sax Then back to swing of …
September 6, 2017
Coava’s coming to town...go elsewhere for batch brew
Coava Coffee may not be a household name, but in the world of specialty coffee, it’s always positioned at or near the top of any list ranking the best coffee roasters in Portland, Oregon. And …
September 6, 2017
Everything is a duck in a fedora
Dear Hipster: Is a waffle just a hipster pancake? — Anna Dear Hipster: Isn’t a goose basically a hipster duck? — Francis Hipster: Is rugby just hipster football? — Steve, City Heights Dear Hipster: Are …
September 6, 2017
Big Toe’s big show
“I’m going to Miami to be on a popular Telemundo show, on the heels of an arena tour with Maná,” said Mark E. Goffeney just before taping his TV appearance on August 31. The frontman …
September 6, 2017
State senate bill may dismantle San Diego's bail bond industry
When Cali Jones (an alias she suggested) found herself in jail for a second time for methamphetamine possession, “The cops took my son away from me,” a sobbing Jones tells the bail bondsman by phone …
September 6, 2017
DeMaio gasses up
Ex-San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio, who got into the radio talk-show business following his defeat by Democratic incumbent Scott Peters in a bitter 2016 La Jolla congressional race, is out raising money to turn …
September 6, 2017
How did we get on the cover?
Correction: In last week’s Blurt about the movie and music of Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World [August 30], Sarah Milan’s ancestry was misattributed. She actually has both Choctaw and Apache blood stemming back …
September 6, 2017
A swim with the Sharks and Dennis Quaid — CANCELED
After publishing this preview, the Dennis Quaid and the Sharks show was canceled so a benefit could be held for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. Art imitates life, which is busy imitating art: not exactly …
September 6, 2017