Bad Bimbo I think that it is terrible that Bimbo just decided to close the stores without letting its customers know — due to a business decision (“Stringers,” April 7). My mom and I have …

Thirty-Five Years Ago San Diego’s gay community, known as one of the most conservative and low key in the country, may find a rallying point in a March 25 decision by the San Diego State …

It is possible to contemplate God not only outside us and within us, but also above us. Outside us we contemplate Him through His vestige, within us through His image and above us through the …

Junk Vs. Junk This week’s starving-artist feature (“Artists Have to Eat,” Cover Story, March 31) asks humanity’s oldest question, “Should artists be able to live off their art?” The humane answer is, yes, they should, …

Dante Graphic illustrator/filmmaker, theamericandreammovie.com Piranha 3D: A nice throwback to the ’80s, when directors weren’t shy about showing the essentials to a goodtime horror flick: beer, babes, and lots of blood. Alexandre Aja and company …

Thirty-Five Years AgoIn reference to Matthew Alice’s history of Alonzo Horton: The mainstay of Horton Plaza, the pseudo-classic, algae covered, pigeon fertilized eyesore known as the Fountain, had nothing whatsoever to do with Alonzo Horton. …

Peer To Peer Re “Yes, My Dad Works in Hollywood” (Cover Story, March 24). I loved this story. The writer is a young author, and I do not usually read the Reader, but I felt …

Blow Up Smokers: Your smoke is excruciating to me, a nonsmoker (Cover Story, March 17). It feels like fingernails scratching my lungs. You shorten my life, you dirty my clothes. And you complain of being …

Therefore, Lord, you have given understanding to faith, grant me that I may come to understand (as much as You think best) that You exist, as we believe, and that You are what we believe …

Thirty-Five Years AgoThe sixth annual Tecate-Ensenada Bike Ride will be held this Sunday, beginning at 9 a.m. in the Tecate square. What started as a joke five years ago with ten riders has hit the …

No Jobs for Barbarians I am a graduated manufacturing mechanical engineer of the University of Minnesota, 1981. As you say, Americans have been pushed out of the American engineering economy and the American labor economy …

Thirty-Five Years AgoThese days, one can wander into the Santa Fe Depot, downtown San Diego, and feel like a ghost. The imagination of a train buff can easily supply the atmosphere of a busy center …

The Twit Report Laurence Neal: Your disorganized study of Las Vegas and the war on terror is the most shallow, uninspiring piece of swill I can recall finding in a publication of this caliber (“That …

Thirty Years AgoTo the little Hmong girl, it was emblematic of her Southeast Asian culture’s remedy for chest colds; to the La Mesa elementary school nurse, who noticed the burn blisters along the girl’s spine, …

Since, therefore…we have explored the depths of divine knowledge, we are obliged to carry out in fullest detail what the Master has commanded us to do at stated times. He has ordered the sacrifices to …

Hey, Babe Re the cover photo (“Cat Snip,” February 24), isn’t it distressing when a castrating woman is drop-dead gorgeous? Gary Whitlockvia email Cat Lovers Protest This week’s cover of the Reader is very offensive …

Chris VannoyPoet and artist I recommend the 1969 film The Illustrated Man, starring Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom and based on Ray Bradbury’s 1951 book of the same name. Steiger puts in a stellar performance …

Thirty Years AgoA large library in our town has in its subject catalog one and three-quarters inches of entries under the heading “Men” and sixty-six inches — seven full drawers — under the heading “Women.” …

A broken moon on the cold water, And wild geese crying high overhead, The smoke of the campfire rises Toward the geometry of heaven - Points of light in the infinite blackness. I watch across …

Thirty Years AgoWas the hunt for little Jimmy Beveridge botched? Since the conclusion two weeks ago of the biggest search in San Diego County history — an effort which failed to prevent the lost boy’s …

Problem Number One Thank you for the excellent cover story in this week’s issue of the Reader (Cover Story, February 17). I saw the cover leaving a local store and saw El Cajon mentioned. I …

A Discourse of Free-Thinking …by Free-Thinking alone Men are capable of knowing that a perfectly Good, Just, Wise and Powerful Being made and governs the World; and from this Principle they know, that he can …

Please Dig In To Don Bauder and Moss Gropen: Regarding “the voters” having widely rejected Mike Aguirre and voted for Prop C profitization, I don’t believe it (“Bar Rejects Charges Against Aguirre” and “Water’s Monopoly …

Thirty-Five Years AgoAmerica remains unique in turning popular culture into an industry. A book or movie with wide appeal will create the demand for subsidiary items that flourish momentarily in our national consciousness and then …

What’s Up, Switzerland? If Ashley Gardner was referring to the United States when she stated it has been 100 years since women were allowed to vote, she is incorrect (“Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History,” Cover …

Thirty-Five Years Ago[Susan] is alone this sunny morning, as she usually is while working.... Something catches her attention and she angles to a quick stop along the curb. Stepping lightly to the pavement, she walks …

Be Prepared Re “Brown Wants to Rein in Redevelopment Scams” (“City Lights,” January 27). Great read. Many are unfamiliar with bankruptcy. In 1995, I lived with people who prepared for declaring bankruptcy by spending as …

Thirty-Five Years AgoMarilyn Chambers, star of Behind the Green Door and Resurrection of Eve, appeared naked at the Capri Theater, answering questions and promoting her most recent film, Inside Marilyn Chambers, advertised in the progressive …

Answered Prayer Rug I saw the cover on the rug that was found in the Dumpster (Cover Story, January 20). Well, that actually happened to me. I was working on a jobsite by University and …

Lisa FranekExhibition and programming directorMACSD/San Diego Latino Film Festival I was recently inspired to revisit Zhang Yimou’s House of Flying Daggers. It’s such a visually stunning film, with a nice romantic/wuxia storyline. I never get …

Thirty-Five Years AgoThat Mr. Shepherd gives four stars to the apocalyptic disaster film Earthquake and only two stars to Swept Away indicates that he might do well to rid himself of paranoia and study Marxism …

Clarification In a website blog story called “San Diegans Dominate Delinquent Tax List,” which appeared on April 11, 2010, our writer Don Bauder included Dr. Ronald Petrillo in a list of delinquent taxpayers that was …

Thirty-Five Years AgoI find an annoying monotony in [Tennessee] Williams from play to play: always the lecherous, oppressive Southern summer, always the longing for emotional closeness that can only be expressed through a sexual desire …

Oh, Please. Thank You. I feel I should respond to Name Withheld from El Cajon who wrote in with the suggestion to “Save Our Brizzolara” (Letters, January 6): “let’s show thanks for this guy who’s …

Thirty-Five Years AgoYou’d be surprised at what people consider waste products. According to operators of the Point Loma plant, anything that fits through a manhole will do. Water heaters, bed springs, 2x4s, bus tires, and …

Thirty-Five Years AgoThe five most uncomfortable places for a gay person in San Diego, 1975: To be stationed at MCRD. Anywhere in town holding hands with a person of the same sex. In the library, …

Pro Mass Why another pro-Critical Mass article (“Pedaling Diego,” Cover Story, December 30)? Completely overlooks the fact that these people break all traffic laws, unlike cars. @RealPrincessKim via Twitter Load Your Bike On Your Car …

I Heart Chargers You guys should move to L.A. Your paper is helping San Diegans to give up on the Chargers (“Chargers: Look at Petco Failure,” “City Lights,” December 23). I will from now on …

Mystery Money Thank you, Mr. Bauder, for keeping it real (“City Lights,” December 16). It is extremely disappointing that Mayor Sanders is willing to give invisible public funds for a Charger stadium rather than rebuild …

Twenty Years AgoSo what’s the real story behind the statue of R.E. “Pappy Hazard” in the new Hazard Center in Mission Valley? The inscription on the statue, “Be just and fear not,” is the same …

Thirty Years AgoThe Fifth Annual Willa Cather Citation for the classiest title of the movie year goes to Hide in Plain Sight, not a very Catehrian title, certainly, but perfectly suitable for something on the …

Along Fifth Avenue Ladies and gentlemen, print is not dead. The following publications were available in print, for free, from drop boxes and coffee shops along Fifth Avenue over the two blocks between Washington and …

Drop The Handle Just a note on the Hargrove story on the Del Mar Racetrack (“I’ll Bet on That Nag to Come Last,” “City Lights,” December 9). In 2009, there were 43 racing days. Last …

Oooooh... Beautiful cover (“Our Desperate Neighbors,” December 2). Sharon MurphyEl Cajon Hard Times, Great Place I am glad that you, our neighbor, have published an article on the Imperial Valley (“Our Desperate Neighbors,” Cover Story, …

Thirty-Five Years AgoMirroring college campuses across the country, political activism at UCSD drew to a close with the winding down of the Vietnam War. But recent disclosures of CIA activities and the university’s agreement to …

To His people, God the Lord is simultaneously the God of retribution and the God of love. In the same breath, they call on Him as “our God” and as “King of the universe,” or …

Six Poems by Maram Al-Massri You must have forgotten your papers and returned to retrieve them. Or a friend must have called and begun to chatter as you were about to leave. Or you must …

It’s Got It All Thank you, Siobhan Braun, for your multilayered perspective on love, youth, aging, hope, attitudes (for better or for worse), and transcending borders (Cover Story, November 24). This feature is a treasure …

Thirty-Five Years AgoNo matter what obstacles are thrust in front of San Diego massage parlors — police raids, housewife marches, TV documentaries on sin-for-sale — they’re still here with us, flourishing as never before.... “There …

Straighten Those Facts It’s always good to get media attention for the plight of 50,000 seniors that live in poverty in San Diego County and the Angel’s Depot mission to feed them. However, Matt Potter …