A couple hours north of San Diego is the Griffith Observatory, a must-see on a weekend getaway in La-la Land. You might remember the landmark from the film Rebel Without a Cause. That was James …
October 30, 2014
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Stories by John Mann
How to see L.A. – or even Pluto
Discovering San Francisco's City Hall
There are the usual San Francisco tourism sites: the Golden Gate, Lombard Street, Chinatown, etc. There are my favorites: the Palace of the Legion of Honor, Museum of Modern Art and de Young Museum. And …
March 11, 2014
Gun protest on anniversary of Sandy Hook massacre
About 40 men and women held a silent rally at Westfield North County Mall in Escondido on Saturday, December 14, the first anniversary of the Sandy Hook mass murder of 26 people at a Connecticut …
December 16, 2013
Queen Califia's Magical Circle
Thirty miles up I-15 from San Diego, in Escondido, you’ll find Queen Califia’s Magical Circle. This is the unnatural habitat of wild animals that escaped from the imagination of Niki de Saint Phalle. She’s the …
April 25, 2013
Vail: Not Just a Ski Town
Incorporated in 1962, the five-square-mile town of Vail, Colorado, was named for Charles Vail, the engineer who, in 1940, routed the highway that eventually became I-70 through the valley. It’s 100 miles west of mile-high …
Place Django Reinhardt, Paris
New to Paris is Place Django Reinhardt. Well, the site isn't new, but the designation is. The site is where the gypsy guitariste et compositeur lived in his caravan, in the Saint-Ouen neighborhood of Paris's …
January 13, 2012
Edinburgh, Scotland’s Royal Mile
The prime sites to visit in Scotland's capital dot the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle at the west end to Holyrood Palace at the east end. The Castle is worth touring at any time, but …
December 5, 2011
Story of a Pole
Back in October, a frequenter of the Starbucks on Linda Vista Road and Napa Street wrote to Donna Frye, city council representative for that area. He inquired about the disused 20-foot pole standing across the …
May 3, 2010
Funny, Microtonalism
The eight members of the Hutchins Consort schlepped their fiddles to the Encinitas Public Library to give a demonstration of microtonalism. They play instruments built by the late Dr. Carleen Hutchins to cover the entire …
April 11, 2010
Have a Seat (for $5K)
On November 30, Park and Recreation employee Jane Witzke informed me that its park-bench sponsorship program is "on moratorium" until a project manager can be found to administer it. When it reboots, you'll again be …
December 1, 2009
Paris, France: One's Own Village
My favorite city on this planet is Paris. You can do all the things the guidebooks tell you to do. Or you can do what I do, which makes Paris one's own village. To wit: …
July 13, 2009
Adam Lambert returns to Mt. Carmel High
Four thousand people made their way into the Mt. Carmel High School stadium to hear American Idol contestant Adam Lambert sing on Friday, May 8. Why was Lambert there? Because a return to one's high …
May 19, 2009