Pink Steam. Suspect Thoughts Press, 2004; 190 pages; $16.95. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Pink steam rises from the vats of melting goo in the Vincent Price 3-D horror classic, House of Wax. Railroad buffs know …
United States
Pink Steam
John Moores's Mississippi Nightmare
A tsunami originating in the little town of Clinton, Mississippi, could soon whack the larger town of San Diego, California. Clinton was the home base of WorldCom, an $11 billion accounting fraud in the telecom …
January 13, 2005
From hippie hangout to Indian natural preserve, Tahquitz Canyon outside Palm Springs remains a popular place to visit.
The Disneyesque guided hiking tour of lower Tahquitz Canyon, right on the edge of Palm Springs, is a far cry from the scene here in the 1970s and '80s, when scores -- sometimes hundreds -- …
December 23, 2004
Thirst Resort
“It’s not like he’s a control freak or anything, it’s just that he likes growing grapes.”
December 16, 2004
On the bus from Rosa's Cantina to home sweet Broadway and First
Why buses are better than planes, part one. Flying to El Paso, my plane (ironically, an Airbus) began emitting strange high-frequency blips and unexplainable static from various locations above the passengers' heads. After an air-mile …
December 9, 2004
Extravaganza
“I was going to be a pseudo-lab-and-cellar guy. I thought, ‘I’ll get to see all the different aspects.’”
Spirit and Flesh: Life in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church
Spirit and Flesh: Life in a Fundamentalist Baptist Church. Alfred A. Knopf, 2004; 435 pages; $27.95. FROM THE DUST JACKET: In an attempt to understand the growing influence of the Christian Right, sociologist and documentary …
November 24, 2004
Hike and step your way up Ladder Canyon in the Mecca Hills of Riverside County.
Ladder Canyon is the informal name given to a slotlike ravine incised into the sedimentary strata of the Mecca Hills near Indio. Several wooden or aluminum ladders have been placed at strategic spots within the …
November 24, 2004
Boulder hop along a rugged stretch of the Palos Verdes coastline in Los Angeles County.
Forged by local uplift of the seafloor roughly two million years ago, today's Palos Verdes peninsula lay surrounded by the ocean for hundreds of thousands of years. Later, the alluvium that covers today's Los Angeles …
November 11, 2004
A garden for squares
Hey Matt! Why do they call Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden? It certainly isn't a garden, or square. Shouldn't they call it Madison Round Arena or something? Or maybe name it after a bank …
September 9, 2004
Cafe Blocks City Land-Grab
On July 30, the Michigan Supreme Court stuck a dagger into government's abusive use of eminent domain -- seizing property from one private owner and handing it to a richer owner in the name of …
August 12, 2004
Reader writer Barbarella goes to Hollywood
Looking down the row of colorful fan-filled T-shirts, holding my sign high for all to see, I experience a moment of concern at being among so many cultural castaways. And when I stand to take …
July 15, 2004
Scripps Digs Florida Money Pit
Scripps Research Institute's overhyped and overblown plans for a Florida biotech research facility could possibly go overboard, particularly since taxpayers suddenly realize they will be hit with more than $1 billion in costs, almost double …
July 1, 2004
Redwoods in Southern California? Try Orange County's Carbon Canyon Regional Park.
Carbon Canyon Regional Park, one of the many smaller units of Orange County�s far-flung regional park system, has enough room for one significant hiking trail. An unlikely grove of coast redwood trees, nursed from seedlings …
June 10, 2004
Hike to Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park for a comprehensive view of the L.A. metropolis.
L.A.'s quintessential urban trail -- the trail to Mount Hollywood -- takes you to the point of highest elevation in Griffith Park, the sprawling patch of open space on the easternmost end of the Hollywood …
May 13, 2004