Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
??Affordable?? Housing
Affordable housing? Here? Not for me is there any! I applied for County Section 8 Housing back in 1989. I kept up my address changes, letting S.D County Housing Authority know if I'm still "in the market," as it were. Enter 2005: I finally get the application read and responded to by the Housing Authority. By that time, I was married. The paperwork gets bollixed...and we lose our potential Section 8 voucher. 2007: I re-apply for Section 8...and still am waiting today. Face it, if you are a single male like I am, to the Housing Authority, your name is mud! --LPR— August 16, 2010 7:44 a.m.
meanderings of a re-tired mind/bring me some lines homeys
Here's a few: "You ain't OLD until you get COLD" "When you start feeling the only way you are going to get laid is when they lay your carcass out on the slab? Your getting up there in years!" "When the County Medical Examiner serenades you with 'I Want Your Body'? That's pretty heavy-duty old-inducing. "When the director of the local funeral home joins in the chorus? That's worse!" "When the 'something for your coffee' turns out to be extra-strength Geritol? You just got sussed!" "When you start getting mash notes from the local Memorial Park? Your 'youngun' days are over!" "When you can remember how Glenn Miller played--because you saw him live? The music's gonna be over for you soon!" "When you do not have to 'get carded' to get both the Senior Discount and a gin-and-tonic? Welcome to Wrinkle City." "When you can remember every episode--word-for-word--of Death Valley Days and the G.E. Commercials? Wagon Train is pulling out--be on it!" "When you can remember the days when Marine Corps Drill Instructors were allowed to swear around--and at--new recruits duriong Boot Camp? Semper Fi, mac--Commandant Vandergrift is waiting for you in his office!" "When you can remember when "faggot" meant a piece of seasoned wood burning in a fire? And a "fag" was either a cigarette or the end of a coil of rope? Speed on, Methusala...it's later than you think!" "When you can remember the times when "horespower" came from real horses? Sunset to the West, Kimosabe--let's ride!" And so I shall, until next time! --LPR— August 16, 2010 7:32 a.m.
Doing The Laundromat Shuffle...
Wowsers, that was quick! Thank you both for the kind comments! Watching Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" on DVD right now. Another thread either after dinner or tomorrow morning! --LPR— August 12, 2010 5:02 p.m.
Russian boars let loose on Capitan Grande Indian Reservation
Mindy1114-- This may sound crass, but in order for one being to survive, another must die. Be it animal or plant--one must die to feed another. Even when we die, we feed so many other organisims (such as bacteria, worms, crabs, fish, plankton, bugs, plants), either from the grave, the sea, or in ash form. I respect your choice of nourishment style (I'm trying to cut out red meat myself, adding more beans, rice, and fish), but that little crack about the kharmic (hoped-for) reincarnation of the "Mexican Caretaker" was uncalled for. I can see the sadism in his method of dispatching the animal-in-question, but leave the "afterlife destiny" speculation for this fellow to his chosen Deity, OK? Oh, as for the wild pigs in our county? This is a prime example of what happens when a non-native species takes root in it's new environment. Just as with the "snakehead" fish in the Ohio River Valley, the Aisan Carp in the Great Lakes, and the feral Burmese Pythons in Southern Florida (plus the well-known example of rabbits-running-rampant in Austrailia)? They soon become pests that destroy their adopted habitat (and the fauna within). And all to make a few bucks on hunting rights (or in the case of the pythons, unwanted pets being tossed into the Everglades). That, in itself, is sadistic...for eventually, we all suffer. --LPR— August 12, 2010 2:43 p.m.
Irate Judge Now Feels Lerach's Sentence Was Too Lenient
Hubris breeds Nemesis. The next time the perp-in-question ends up before the judicial system, the next judge might not be so "easy." Oh, well...you cannot change the past, just be more careful in the future. And if Mr. Lerach left prison feeling the "the cock of the walk"? He might well try to remember that "Capons" like him often become "KFC-bait" without warning. (As in he still might get cooked unless he changes his ways.) Like I say: Hubris Breeds Nemesis! --LPR— August 12, 2010 1:51 p.m.
I Like Words
Meeting you all would be "ein toll idee," but, alas, I live up here in North County. Getting to-and-from East County isn't easy, and the thought of cactus tacos makes me queasy. So, as I sip a chilled Peroni, I must make plans if I wish to travel and meet some of my fans. For NCTD isn't like MTS down you folk's way-- they don't run deep into the night, let us just say. And as for driving? Folks, I cannot afford a car, so I must take bus and train when I travel far. That means Google-mapping out my route to-and-fro, and if no public transport stops there, it's no-go. Make no mistake, I'd love to see you guys in person. Though three hours road travel leaves me cursing. So, if you wish to make plans to meet, then let me know... and if I can get there by bus and train, then I will go! --LPR— August 12, 2010 1:40 p.m.
I Like Words
If it's a "Poet's Corner" that we must have, who will seperate the wheat and burn the chaff? Do they trust us to run this by ourselves, or will the management put in one of their elves? For me, I'd love to have a place to go express, though poetry is harder than prose, I do confess. Some of us write our output by the yellow moon... while taking in a inspiring heavy-metal tune! Through the fire and the flames, I carry onward that my collection, one day, can be seen and heard. A poet writes only for show, and never for dough... you want moola for your work, prose is the way to go. I've written seventy poems that have seen daylight, and many more I will have done by bedtime tonight. If you like what I written, I owe you my thanks. You think I stink? Give THIS a couple of yanks! I smell my chicken grilling, so I must take leave. If you want more, hang in there and do not grieve. For when I feel waxing poetic, I might do so again. I just know these words do want out, just never when! --LPR— August 10, 2010 7:33 p.m.
Super Kick-Ass Flight Attendant
Foxtrot Yankee to you, Jet Blue! Unless I'm going overseas, it's Amtrak for me! Takes longer to get there, but the scenery passing by has a calmimg effect on the optic nerves. Plus, if you've never passed by San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS, one of my old employers) at night (or even better, sunset) on the Pacific Surfrider, by all means, give it a go! The photo ops are most certainly worth it! Hope the dude skates out on these charges! --LPR— August 10, 2010 7:15 p.m.
Taking A Trip To The Food Bank...
Thank you for the kind words, my friends. As for Blueevey: If you are a "frequent guest," the receptionist-on-duty usually has your "typical" food order request on the on-site computer. Since I was the only one there, no biggie. The reason they go over it with you is to: A) Make sure you don't get stuff in your order that you cannot eat (out of allergy or personal preferences). B) Let you know about new items that you might give a try to (ie: the Great Northern Beans). C) Make sure that you are getting the correct rations for your family size. D) When USDA Commodities come in, see if you might have an interest (haven't seen cheese if years, but the powdered eggs are a new item). If there are more than two people, then ususally the food order is gone over with you by an intake worker (also SOP for the new clients their first time on site). --LPR— August 8, 2010 9:46 p.m.
What Does Ethics Mean?/edited again 8/7/2010
On KNX, there is a fellow named Michael Josephson, who does a 30-second series called "Character Counts." Some pretty mind-blowng stuff he talks about. As for how our society has nuked the pooch when it comes to ethical behavior? One only need look at 1995 season Major League Baseball, when the in-season Home Run Derby between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire took place. We were cheering both of these fellows on--never knowing that with each ball going deep to the cheap seats, something wicked this way was a'coming. And what was coming that was so wicked? Performance-enhancing drugs, mainly anabolic steroids. So, when the U.S. Congress wanted to hold hearings on the use-and-abuse of P.E.D.s in Major-League Baseball, was there much support for such hearings? To hear many of the "sports-talk jocks," it was a "waste of time that could be spent on 'more important' issues." To me, however, something smelled about the whole "Chase For Records" mainia that had infected MLB--and still does. When it came out that McGuire and Sosa (among others) were, indeed, "'roiding up'?" Those home-run records--even the soul of MLB itself--had been purchased in a Faustian deal. And all of this went on, merely to find a way to put butts back in the bleachers following the 1994 strike/lockout. When I asked a fellow fan about the ethics of allowing this home-run bachinialia to be pwered by steroids? He didn't give two figs about ethics--indeed, he felt that all players should "roid up," if it would keep the game interersting. There are many more examples, such as Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, and Albert Belle, that teach a story of what happens when ethics are sacrificed for temporary gain. And more's the shame we do not heed the lessons taught! --LPR— August 3, 2010 5:40 p.m.