“A cactus will take a bullet just like a person, because of the thickness of their skins and all the water in them.”

'It's like you're selling your soul to the devil or something.'

'Telemagica means 'far magic.' We're expanding as far as possible, to other planets, to other beings we can't see," says Kirk Roberts, cofounder of Telemagica, an annual arts-and-music festival in Jacumba. "For example, we needed …

A guy who identifies himself as Al operates a "punk, international hip-hop, and women's music" Internet radio station called www.radioactiveradio.org. Al says an anonymous benefactor is responsible for broadcasting his programming over the airwaves, on …

Last Friday, Reeve Oliver was one of the two local groups to play 91X's 11-band X-Fest show at Coors Amphitheatre. The preceding Monday (June 5), 91X DJ/music director Marco Collins alluded to some inter-station squabbling …

"They hijacked the name [UV Tigers]," says a music-scene insider who claims that Ocean Beach band Cape May registered the Internet domain name of the UV Tigers, another local band. Cape May lead singer Andre …

"Lots of people in San Diego listen to and/or make emo and/or screamo music (which is hard for me to consider music), and it just sounds so bad to me and lots of them have …

"Right before the show, the promoter, Josh Andrande, calls to say Cypress Hill wants $3000 more cash to headline," says Stiletto Silhouette singer Jason Fitzpatrick. "Something about they were paid half in Mexican money... We …

This is my least favorite time of year for many reasons that essentially boil down to the irrational. The clearest statement of the reasoning behind this is that this season is too hot. I have …

'The Parsky team" is now famous -- as well as infamous -- in Rancho Santa Fe. There is another "Parsky team" in the secrecy- shrouded Caribbean tax haven of the Cayman Islands, but that's barely …

Offense, too, is in the eye of the beholder. On April 29 and 30, the Imperial Beach Art Guild sent eight members to display their work at Little Italy's ArtWalk San Diego. The guild's president, …

As of early this week, only one campaign committee weighing in on the move of San Diego International Airport from Lindbergh to Miramar had filed its official papers with the county registrar of voters. A …

San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders has quietly approved a $50,000 contract to appraise the 80 acres under Qualcomm Stadium owned by the city's Water Department, which holds it in trust for the benefit of its …

San Diego Metropolitan magazine is out with its annual issue dedicated to the "Tribute to Women and Industry," a dinner run by the YWCA recognizing local female professionals. Part of the celebration includes dozens of …

Hi Matt: I see "tribute" bands in the Reader all the time (Steely Damned, a Steely Dan tribute band; Iron Maidens, female Iron Maiden tribute band, etc.). Do these bands have to get approval from …

Topped by craggy blocks of white conglomerate rock, Castle Peak affords what is probably the most expansive view of San Fernando Valley's west side. From the top, a sea of ground-hugging subdivisions is seen lapping …

On June 6 -- that's 6-6-06, for Satanists keeping score -- federal agents raided the Scottsdale home of Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Jason Grimsley. This visit was a follow-up to an April 19 drop-in conducted by …

Mary Jo and her friends Jackie, Mary Ellen, and Kelly decided to form an organization that "fights frump," an anti-Red Hat Society. A friend once told Mary Jo, "We don't see you wearing a red …

Thirty Years Ago When tickets for David Bowie's San Diego concert went on sale, a first-year law student from Pacific Beach bought 240 tickets -- all were in the choicest sections of the Sports Arena …

When I was eight, I ripped the skin off my right arm. I had been riding bikes with Timmy Sanguinetti at the churchyard. It was a day of us tear-assing all over. We had seen …

No Good Deed by Tom Basinski. Berkley True Crime, 2006, $7.99, 293 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Two days before Christmas in 1998, David Stevens's Chrysler LeBaron exploded into flames in the upscale California neighborhood …

Discussing San Diego's newly famous acoustic guitar crooner, Jason Mraz, Jason Turtle says, "When I was performing with Jane Lui, we had a few gigs with him and were beginning to try to collaborate. This …

“Even the ground meat’s kosher, for Jewish and Muslim customers.”

Do not allow children to mix drinks. It is unseemly and they use too much vermouth. -- Fran Lebowitz "Ah, shit, don't open it. I already know what it is. Look, there's a rattle drawn …

"Lord Jesus," said worship leader Jason Denison after the opening set, "we come before you with all kinds of stuff going on in our lives.... Would you meet us where we're at, Lord Jesus? Would …

Matrimony Eve First, it was more than a year away. And then it was months and then weeks. Now it is days away, and soon it will be hours, minutes, seconds.... "It" is the moment …

My friend Bernice has shed the poundage. Dutifully hitting the gym every day and sticking with her South Beach Diet brought back her pre-baby body. Next month she and her husband are celebrating their anniversary …