Hidden in Mexico City's northern outskirts is the town of Tepotzotlán. Despite how close they are to one another, Tepotzotlán is about a two-hour drive from Mexico City due to havoc traffic. When I arrived, …
November 22, 2014
North America
Luck and fate in Mexico's Tepotzotlán
A special-interest blowout reformers love to hate
It's mid-November, Halloween is over and the state legislature is on hiatus. It’s time once again for Steve Peace's traditional legislative bash in Hawaii. Every year, newspapers from across California run exposés of the extravagant …
November 13, 2014
Finding the roots of American music in North Louisiana
As a former musician myself, I shake my head sadly at musicians who think they’re getting the folk zeitgeist of a given genre just by listening to records. You learn folk music by listening to …
November 11, 2014
Loreto: Adventures in Dude Town, Part 1
Post Title: Loreto: Adventures in Dude Town, Part 1 Post Date: March 1, 2006 Loreto lies on the Sea of Cortez side of Baja, approximately 750 miles south of the border, and is one of …
November 5, 2014
Such a lovely place (such potential for waste)
In April of this year, newly elected San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, councilman Todd Gloria, county supervisor Greg Cox, and a host of other California and Tijuana politicos and representatives of special interests — including …
November 3, 2014
The magic of Salem, MA
My first recollection with mystical powers was when I was 10 and my sister was attempting to cast a spell on our unsuspecting cat. The candles, chanting, and “brew” she was mixing had me intrigued. …
November 2, 2014
Cayman Islands: from stingrays to tax shelters
Coral outcrops surrounded by coral reefs, the Cayman Islands are three tiny islands (Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman) comprising the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands in the western Caribbean. Just south of …
Palenque: hidden Maya wonder
Palenque was the Maya site I most highly anticipated visiting, and it did not disappoint. The ruins and pyramids, surrounded by a verdant jungle of cedar, mahogany and sapodilla trees, have a mysterious and intoxicating …
October 19, 2014
Virginia is for (beer) lovers
It may be 2,600 miles away on the opposite side of the country and bear little cultural resemblance to Southern California, but relatively soon, Eastern Virginia will feature not one, but two companies providing an …
October 17, 2014
Stone rolls to Virginia
Richmond, the capital of Virginia, has won out in a contest also involving Norfolk, Virginia, to host a new brewing facility for San Diego–based Stone Brewing, the nation's tenth-largest craft brewer. Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe …
October 13, 2014
Gaseous dismay
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit this month upheld a lower-court decision holding that the City of San Diego had not notified an insurer in reasonable time to collect on an …
October 10, 2014
He's an actor, alright
According to publications such as the Des Moines Register and New York Daily News, David Anthony LaVera, 33, of San Diego, will be arraigned this afternoon (October 7) on federal charges related to child pornography. …
October 7, 2014
The "real" Havana
I was sitting on the sea wall with my friend Ben, watching the sun set over Havana Harbor, when I smoked my first cigar. And my second. And my ninth. During our sunset routine on …
October 3, 2014
Escape from Texas
This past summer, in Tomball, TX, bankruptcy fillings for an optometrist, Dr. Elaine Kmiec, indicated she had a large number of collies on her acreage. She claimed to have only 35. Attorneys for Houston Collie …
September 30, 2014
Ken Schmidt & Iron Fist’s ono pia
In a county flush with domestic fermentation talent, Ken Schmidt is kind of a big deal. A homebrewer since 1966, he’s concocted inventive beer recipes for decades. Many are laced with flavorful adjuncts evocative of …
September 25, 2014