For decades, the Gibbs family and Montgomery Field, the city-owned airport on Kearny Mesa, have been joined at the hip. The family's concrete-block buildings and metal hangars, its gas pumps, taxiways, and tie-down areas, have …

“It was a bit of a train wreck the first couple of times, but it’s evolved nicely.”

The Poet's Guide to Life: The Wisdom of Rilke. Written by Rainer Maria Rilke; edited and translated by Ulrich Baer; Modern Library, 2005; 215 pages; $19.95. FROM THE DUST JACKET: In this treasury of uncommon …

Waiter, There’s A Finger In My Chili In my refrigerator, there's a carton of chili con carne from Paradise Foods, a very well heeled market near my home in Larkspur. I notice I haven't touched …

Thirty Years Ago I have wasted no time. Tom Laughlin, to synchronize perfectly with the spring reissue of The Trial of Billy Jack, has put the question, "Why are movie critics out of touch with …

I have found that the person who is making the argument wants to impress upon the listener that they care about their subject matter. However, they don't want to be too passionate or appear to …

For years, San Diego subsidized affluent effluent. Now, victims want compensation. In mid May, superior-court judge Ronald Prager is slated to hear arguments in a case filed on behalf of city residential property owners who …

Piling a full tub of dishes on top of another full tub, Willy lumbers across the wet tile floor calling "corner" as he rounds blind walls. He's hoping to dump the dirty dishes he carries …

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it. -- Voltaire 'So , whatchya do this weekend?" She waited for my …

Tecate Peak straddles the U.S./Mexico border, overlooking the twin towns of Tecate, California and Tecate, Baja California. Kumeyaay Indians called this peak "Kuchumaa," and believed that a holy power, for healing or harm, emanated from …

"Trigg, how's it going?" I asked. Trigg was the kind of guy who would tell people how he was doing instead of going through the "Fine, how about you?" process. "Well, first of all, my …

Pacific Coast Grill, nearly ten years old, is a restaurant that, until now, I've passed dozens of times without feeling the urge to eat there. Maybe what kept me away was the sense I had …

Husband Patrick's eyes are beginning to have that squinty Clint Eastwood look that his father's eyes have. Crow's-feet are starting to appear on my sugar lump's face. He needs sunglasses to slow down their onset, …

Brian Aguon, an Oregon fishing guide, is describing the benefits of spey casting. "First, you don't need to have a lot of room behind you to throw an 85-foot cast. Secondarily, it's easier for the …

"Yoko Ono came in and ordered a latte. I gushed about John Lennon for about five minutes."

"Fifty percent of all people who attend church don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Many don't even know they don't have a relationship with Jesus," said Pastor Jeff Brawner from Bonita Valley Community Church …

Movies reviewed this week: House of D and The Interpreter

I went to two parties one weekend that were for good causes. The first was a luncheon for the volunteers of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization I volunteer with. It was at the Officers' Club …

Death threats and "some complaints" have been reported by European booking agents 2 for the Road. They hired San Diego's Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower, which played several German dates in April. The …

Heymatt: What is the origin of the tooth fairy? When I was a kid I thought the idea was great when I got a quarter. But now that my kids are holding me up for …

The largest concert company in the U.S. (Clear Channel) will not buy the second largest (House of Blues) because of what is happening in San Diego, according to House of Blues CEO Greg Trojan. He …

Hey Matt: While reading a copy of Mad magazine while contemplating life the other day, I quietly exclaimed, "Hmmmmm, I wonder why we sometimes have floaties and sometimes not." Fortunately, the guy in the next …

"It is an extremely difficult market to be profitable in because there are so few players," says former veterinarian Jim Palenscar, who recently opened the second steel-guitar store in California. "I must know all 30 …

Music maven Kenny Weissberg has left KPRI 102.1 after six and a half years. His two-hour Sunday-night show, Music without Boundaries, is no more. "The station hired a consultant/operations manager...a few months ago," says Weissberg. …

"In the end, we could not get a lease here. These buildings will go away and be turned into something else." After more than a decade on India Street, owner DeForest Thornburgh says the Blue …

"For a family of four to get good seats, you are looking at $1400. If you add the price of gas and, say, $50 for concessions, you are looking at quite a price tag." Darrel …

"I was on the dance floor with my friends when this guy started dancing next to us," states Rachel Groom in a battery report on file with the SDPD. The incident happened at 2:30 a.m., …

“They say people are harder back there, but once you’re their friends, you are friends for life.”

Heroics In commemoration of Black History Month last year, Union Bank and San Diego State University's KPBS-TV handed out the sixth annual Hero Awards for community service. "I think this is a wonderful way to...celebrate …

Mattster: Why does it hurt when I get a speck of dirt in my eye, but when I put my contact lenses in, I don't feel much of anything? -- Eyes T., San Diego The …

If your mom were diagnosed with cancer, how would you deal with it? Comic creator Brian Fies decided to use sequential art to help cope and deal with the struggle his mother had with the …

“They have this intense seven-day bacchanal that is the biggest fundraiser in Atlanta.”

Theodore Roethke: Selected Poems. Edited by Edward Hirsch; The Library of America, American Poets Project, 2005; 158 pages; $20. FROM THE DUST JACKET: From the recollections of his youth in Michigan to the visionary longings …

White-Collar Crime: Notes From The Underground I lie. I lie and cheat and steal. I don't do it publicly; I do it through the System. It's how those of us with a bit of money …

Dear Mr. Jackson: I would like to start off by saying how sorry I am about your childhood. I saw it all on VH1’s Michael Jackson program, so I am well versed on how the …

Thirty Years Ago If you witnessed this year's ordeal, you will remember -- you will not easily forget -- Danny Thomas's stricken expression, his beloved nose drooping an inch lower, when he retook the podium …

'Digital zoom adds nothing to the image, so I wouldn't use it, nor would I buy a camera based on it," says Lee Otsubo. "Optical zoom is real. Digital zoom is a marketing ploy." Otsubo, …

Since my voice mail appears at the end of this column, I get interesting calls. One person wanted to know why I made fun of Asians. Another person called saying I was making fun of …

The growing glamour of Little Italy is echoed in the changing incarnations of the site of Voyage. It started a century ago as a tool and die shop, then became a grocery. More recent old-timers …

But they whose guilt within their bosoms lie imagine every eye beholds their blame. --William Shakespeare 'Am I a bad person for not going? She came to my party. Doesn't that mean I have to …

We're a month past the vernal equinox now. Vernal refers to the spring season, but it literally means "green." That color is likely to prevail over all others among the mile-high ridges and meadows of …

Journal Entry, April 17, 2005: I guess the story could start anytime. It could start when I lost my job. It could start the night before I lost my job when I bought the bottle …

“There’s something about it. The old feel, not dressed up, real. Neighborly. Could be back in Queens.”

The Kelly household has had its share of painting disasters. There was the time we didn't mix all the cans of paint together and, after hours of painting, ended up with a mauve wall next …

"I liked the 'knick-knack, paddy-whack' version."

Doodling along the Internet and come across, "Bobileff Motorcar Company is internationally known for their expertise in fine automobiles and their ability to restore cars to the highest state of perfection." Then I espy the …

"We all are looking for something in life. What are you looking for?" asked Joseph Shvili. Shvili led a free Kabbbalah introductory class inside a La Jolla strip-mall. Twelve people sat in the Kabbalah Centre's …

No Doubt drummer Adrian Young joined Bow Wow Wow for a KROQ gig in L.A. almost two years ago. He's been with the band ever since. Rolling Stone wrote that Young played with the So …

"Long story short? [Rob Brewer] sucks. He hit me and then we fired him." So said Unwritten Law's Scott Russo to MTV News April 11, announcing that guitarist Brewer had been kicked out of the …

Movies reviewed this week: Don’t Move, Kung Fu Hustle, A Lot Like Love, Oldboy, and Walk on Water

The Observer, the campus weekly newspaper for Notre Dame and St. Mary's colleges in Indiana, wrote last month, "Unwritten Law's latest [is] better left unwritten.... With the recent release of its sixth album, Here's to …

"If blink was the daytime, Plus 44 is the nighttime," Travis Barker told MTV News. Barker and former blink-182 bassist/singer Mark Hoppus are recording with a new band called Plus 44. "I play...electronic drums, plus …

"There's a backlash because I sing in English now," says 26-year-old Frankie J, who was born in Mexico and raised in San Diego. His second English-language album, The One, was released by Columbia in late …

A candlelight vigil was held for Jacob Faust on April 4. He had been fatally shot three times by a San Diego police officer around 1:45 that morning in front of the Golden West Hotel …

"I owned the name. They didn't want to buy it back." Guitarist Joe Wood wasn't one of the founding members of the Orange County punk band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), but as the original …

Greetings, Matt!: In the 1930s and 1940s, a popular radio program was Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. Jack's sidekick was Billy. What was Billy's last name? P.S.: Do flies dream? -- PSK, San Diego And …

Heymatt: Just one question�why the middle finger, Matt, why? -- David Sparks, New Orleans Maybe because it's the longest digit, sticks up the farthest already. But the bird is so old a gesture, there's no …

Heymatt: I've noticed that when I take a nap in the afternoon, I drool all over the place. But at night nothing. I've checked with other people, and they say the same thing, sort of. …

GOP county supervisor Greg Cox is no shrinking violet when it comes to his personal investment strategy. According to a recently filed financial disclosure statement, on February 20 of last year Cox and his wife …

'You're blond, you're thin, you're gorgeous," Christianne De Marco remembers telling then-25-year-old Karina Ivanova (not her real name) the only time she met her. The two women sat by themselves in Harvard business graduate and …

San Diego is known for both big and small stock-market scams. Peregrine Systems is a big half-a-billion-dollar scam -- right up there with Enron, WorldCom, et al. But San Diego is also called Pump-and-Dumpsville because …

Not long ago, Dinesh D'Souza, who is an Indian immigrant from Bombay, one of America's prominent conservative authors, and, like William F. Buckley Jr., an enthusiastic and skilled debater, was discussing things political and personal …

“I was too stupid to know it was time to stop. All of a sudden, one day, I said, ‘There’s fruit on those vines!’”

The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets. University of Nebraska Press; 2005; 163 pages; $19.95. FROM THE DUST JACKET: "Kooser's Poetry Home Repair Manual is marked by impeccable clarity and focus of …

Total Eclipse of the Big Yellow Ball The planets are coming, the planets are coming! I mean, they're disappearing. Sort of. It's a solar eclipse, babies. Everyone under his or her desks. Or is this …

Thirty Years Ago One of the first guys we meet is a "popcorn" (small time) pimp lounging in a doorway north of Fifth and Market. He wants to know if Mike knows any white girls …

"Approximately 20 percent of the [42,000] people in Fallbrook deal with avocados in some way," says Bob Leonard, executive director of Fallbrook's Chamber of Commerce. The commercial avocado industry in the United States was founded …

I was invited to four parties one weekend. And I had problems trying to attend three of them. The first one was thrown by the UCSD alumni association. They had author Rex Pickett, who wrote …

And now you and your guests can be among the tiny handful of Americans who will savor and serve this astonishing ham... -- David Rosengarten 'Prepare to have your life changed!" Kip read from the …

The 1655-acre Circle X Ranch, a unit of the sprawling, federally administered Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, is positively riddled with Tom Sawyer-esque hiking paths. Chief among those is the Grotto Trail, which leads …

"Woof!" My dad uses the same word to describe women he finds both ugly and attractive -- only the inflection in his voice changes. For attractive women he rocks back in his recliner and clutches …

"I still never know which toothpaste to buy."

Patrick, my husband of 15 years, is more of a man than when I met him. At the very least, this means that there is simply more to him, and it makes him sad. When …

The invitation for last Thursday's big campaign fund-raiser at the Town and Country hotel called it an "All American Reception," featuring "Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and...Bonnie Dumanis for District Attorney!" But Dumanis's well-heeled guests …

'Don't think they'd let you do that anymore." I take a moment and silently replay what I've just said, add, "I think they'd track you down and arrest your ass." The foregoing is spoken halfway …

A wonderful bird is the pelican, His bill will hold more than his belican. He can take in his beak Food enough for a week, But I'm damned if I see how the helican. -- …

"I went around the parking lot with around 20 guys, including [U.S.] marshals," says U2 tour merchandise manager Tommy Whitelaw. "Mostly, we just confiscated [unauthorized] materials, but a few people with scads of money and …

One insider said that the biggest news may still be forthcoming from the station formerly known as Star 100.7 and now known as Jack 100.7. This insider believes that the top-rated morning duo of Jeff …

"It breaks my heart. I still don't understand it." Jen Sewell started as an unpaid intern 11 years ago at Star 100.7. "I was with the station from day one when it started as Star …

Ted Nugent played "The Star-Spangled Banner" to open Camp Pendleton's Rockin' the Corps extravaganza that happened April 1. Mike Wachna, who went to the event, had gotten tickets from his son-in-law (who got back from …

"Until my boss says something like, 'Hey, Carrot Juice,' when someone buys the CD," Lindsey Troy says customers buying Louis XIV's new CD, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept, at the local Music Trader have …

Last week 4th & B general manager Ray Johnson confirmed rumors that he and owner Ali Nilforshan were going to turn over the booking of all national acts at the 1500-seat downtown nightclub to Viejas …

The song that did in Nikko Smith on American Idol last Wednesday night was "One Heart, One Hand" from the musical West Side Story. "The first part of the song was out of tune," said …

"The promoter accidentally booked rock bands and hip-hop on the same night," says Buzzkill Romantics singer/guitarist Jason Hee about an April 1 show at downtown's Roseary Room (Tenth and E). His band never ended up …

"When I told him I had lung cancer, he kept asking me to do a benefit," said Peggy Claire, a San Diego jazz singer and former KSDS disc jockey who has inoperable cancer. "Charles McPherson …

Movies reviewed this week: Fever Pitch and Look at Me

Heymatt: Why do chefs wear those big puffy hats? Wouldn't a hair net do better if they're trying to keep hair out of the food? -- LN, Mission Hills If form follows function, the traditional …

Mattster: Every time I go to the Laundromat, I see this sign that says the dryer works better if you put in three loads of wash instead of one. Of course I ignore the sign …

Matt: Can a Siamese twin get their connected sibling drunk? And is there such a thing as Siamese triplets? -- Just Curious, San Diego Got to say, I never considered that dilemma. One twin a …

Federal prosecutors in the case against San Diego city councilmen Ralph Inzunza and Michael Zucchet have released a witness list for the upcoming trial, featuring a galaxy of big names from San Diego and Las …

The governor of Baja California, Eugenio Elorduy, has a warning for his constituents: be very careful when visiting the crime-ridden metropolises of the border region...of the United States. During a recent press conference in Mexicali, …

San Diegans have just seen what life under a strong mayor system will be like. Thank goodness, an attempted coup last week was planned so mindlessly and executed so clumsily that future such attempts will …

“I was a waiter, Peter was a sales rep. This was a big leap. But it took off, from day one.”

The Padres open their 2005 home schedule tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team begins its second season at Petco Park among the favorites to reach the playoffs, a rare occurrence in franchise history. Jerry …

“Not a garden, not a lawn, not a swimming pool — a vineyard.”

Cooling Time: An American Poetry Vigil. Copper Canyon Press, 2005; 108 pages; $15. FROM THE DUST JACKET: An unruly paean to American poetry, Cooling Time blurs the divisions between poem, memoir, and essay, while borrowing …

Deep In The Amazon This is what happened. I wrote a book, submitted it to several publishers, and got rejected. I wrote another book, found a New York agent and a New York publisher. Within …

Thirty Years Ago BABY: Let's live once more in velvet and winding staircases. We'll get our diamonds somehow. Tequilla.... P.S. Not you, Tony. RETIRED CHIEF executive of international banking cartel, bored with women and yachting, …

'I'm not a vegetarian, and I don't want to live in the College Area," says Rodney Johnson, explaining why he is not interested in joining either of two local communes. Johnson would rather form his …

I went to a few interesting parties in March that I'm just getting around to writing about. One was at a place downtown called the Shout House. It was their first anniversary and also a …

Anyone who drives slower than you is a moron. Anyone who drives faster than you is a maniac. -- My dad I have been bitchy all week -- irritable and quick to anger. People are …

With canyons and ravines numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands, the one-thousand-square-mile Anza-Borrego Desert State Park offers a lifetime of scenic exploration. Even the smaller canyons of the park offer a variety of …

THE ICE OF THE DANUBE RIVER HAD THAWED A LITTLE and flat chunks flowed along the bank. I walked from the Chain Bridge into the Pest half of Budapest, shielding my face against biting wind. …

"A full-on gorilla kicked me off the decks."

"He is spending between $200,000 and $250,000 on talent alone," said one insider about first-time promoter Chris Wepsic's Festival Del Mar, April 16 and 17, at the fairgrounds in Del Mar. Twenty-six bands will perform …

"The San Diego Symphony told us Embarcadero North would not be available this summer. That, plus a lack of sponsorship caused us to cancel this year," said Michael Kinsman, a business writer for the Union-Tribune …

"They were rehearsing at the Fox Studios near Rosarito Beach for two weeks," said an insider, with close access to U2, about the Irish band's activity before they kicked off their U.S. tour last Monday …

A Canadian website's review of U2's March 28 show says, "They are, with little dispute, one of rock's greatest live bands. So why did U2 choose the creaky, hot, 40-year-old San Diego Sports Arena to …

"Rain, rain, go away; come again some other day," I said, staring at the puddles in my saturated front yard. This was maybe the third time this year I'd planned a picnic, a proper outdoor …

Unwritten Law's new album Here's to the Mourning debuted at #51 on Billboard's Top 200, the band's highest debut to date. It has sold around 75,000 copies. Their current single "Save Me," co-written with Linda …

"This video is a porn cartoon," e-mails Jack Sparrow, a fan of Unwritten Law but not of the alternate version of the band's song "Save Me." The animated video appears on Unwritten Law's unofficial website …

"It's a format in trouble," said one former 91X employee about the alternative format used by 91X and 94/9. "Six years ago there were 125 modern rock stations in the country. Now there are 70." …

"Briljante," summarized a Dutch music writer. "Let's make some songs...and crafts," wrote Edmonton, Canada's See Magazine, after giving Bunky's debut album, Born to Be a Motorcycle (released last month on Asthmatic Kitty Records), 2.5 out …

"I wanted to tap people on the shoulder and remind them of black women's contribution to American music," says Calvin Mason, writer/director of Raisin' the Rent, a musical that opened last Friday at Caesar Café …

St. John of the Cross Denomination: Roman Catholic Address: 8086 Broadway, Lemon Grove, 619-466-3209 Founded locally: 1959 Senior pastor: Edward Brockhaus Congregation size: 10,000 Staff size: 20 Sunday school enrollment: 800 Annual budget: can't tell …

Local sportswear firm Lite Breeze lost its $10 million lawsuit against Britney Spears for infringement on its "In the Zone" trademark (Spears used the title on her new CD and tour merchandise). "They based their …

It sounds so Baseball, the sneak-sneak, slip-one-past-the-stupid-public-while-they're-looking-the-other-way latest steroid deception. I'm talking about the bust of not-a-household-name and Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Alex Sanchez. Sanchez got to go first; got to be the first …

Movies reviewed this week: Eros, In My Country, and Melinda and Melinda

I love you, Chula Vista

In days gone by, Herbert George Klein was one of the most influential men in America. Starting in 1940 as a humble copyboy at the Copley-owned Alhambra Post-Advocate, Klein signed on early after World War …

'Someday this mess will end up in the media," wrote an irate Terri Webster in an e-mail on August 13, 1999. Oh, how prescient her words were. Webster, then assistant city auditor, was writing to …

Bert Decker remembers calling Midway area tenant Vic Maidhof in early November 2003 to warn him that the San Diego Redevelopment Agency was about to "chop up" his business. Maidhof did not believe it and …

Call it the week of the cheese mussel.

Hey Matt: I've always wanted to fly in a hot-air balloon. But I was told by a friend of mine that when you are up in the sky, flying about, there are also spiders soaring …

Dear Mr. Alice: Why is it that so many people bite their nails? -- Michelle, the net It's been studied scientifically, so there are a few reliable things known about onychophagia. Unfortunately, "why" isn't one …

Matt: How did Jeopardy get its name? What does jeopardy have to do with the game and the way it's played? What's the danger? Also, why do contestants have to answer in the form of …