Shawn Powell and I are driving south on Jackson Drive, carrying three opossums in Powell's Hyundai Santa Fe. Our mission is to liberate them. We could stop and dump them out on the sidewalk, but …

'My right arm is stronger than my left from lifting all those glasses.'

'The gypsy jazz guitar is sweet-sounding but very fiery, almost like a flamenco jazz guitar," says Anthony Leigh Adams, cowriter and director of Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar. On Thursday, September 7, this …

"We're going to make some noise today!" proclaimed one of the choristers from the stage of the auditorium. "Oh, bless the Lord with the fruit of your lips! We serve an awesome God!" The drums …

Isaac ("Ike") Curtiss has been playing on the streets and beaches of San Diego on and off for years. I have never done that, but I joined Curtiss, a long-haired, late-40ish guitarist with an Eric …

There's almost no risk being a low-level drug dealer as I was. Nobody even notices if you have a monthly rotation where you pick up a few extra pills or a couple hundred bucks. The …

Football is upon us, and the corporate sporting press floods the valley with pigskin-preview articles. The Box can do no less. Introducing Borrego Springs High School JV and varsity football coach Randy Peyakov. Borrego Springs …

A Sudden Country: A Novel by Karen Fisher. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006, $13.95, 400 pages. ABOUT THE BOOK: A vivid and revelatory novel based on actual events of the 1847 Oregon migration, A Sudden …

Thirty Years Ago THANK YOU, Ricky, for being yourself in a world lacking spontaneous, natural love. Please never lose my number, or my love. Earl. ROGER BOWMAN, the Renee Richards of the water polo world: …

Known by some as the Convict Road, Shoemaker Canyon Road really should be called the "Road to Nowhere." The dead-end road was the first phase of a projected 23-year effort to build a 2-lane highway …

Liberal Inferno I've wondered numerous times when America will elect a woman president. Will the tradition of electing male presidents be broken in my lifetime? Women are capable of completing the job, but no opportunity …

I arrived at Firefly three months too early but soon enough to learn about the auspicious changes yet to come. I'd waited the prudent three-plus months after the restaurant's debut to let the kitchen get …

Never a lip is curved with pain that can't be kissed into smiles again. -- Bret Harte I knew something was wrong when I flipped back the covers, rose to a standing position, and felt …

Kayla Morales called to tell me about a party raising funds for her motorcycle-racing pursuits. She knew a lot about the sport and was informative. She talked about wanting to go to Nashville to race. …

He told me his name was Jeff and that he was from Texas. You could call him a sign spinner, but he wasn't, at least not in the traditional sense. What Jeff did with a …

My pal Bernice's parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this winter. I've been hearing a lot of the planning over our weekly coffee meeting. "It's going to be huge," Bernice said, eyes popping out …

Let There Be Light You must have seen the MasterCard ads: "a bottle of champagne, 100 dollars; a bouquet of red roses, 25 dollars; a soft toy, 15 dollars; the smile on her face when …

Lil Uno says the San Diego Music Awards nominee selection process as it pertains to hip-hop is "embarrassing. It's a joke. I don't know who puts it together, but they obviously don't know what the …

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Jefferson Jay says there was a conspiracy that led to his firing from KCR, SDSU's all-volunteer radio station (heard online at kcrlive.com or through cable systems). Jay's bawdy six-hour Monday-night music-and-comedy show prompted complaint …

"That crowd was freaking insane," says concert photographer Jennifer Hewett of the August 18 Alice in Chains show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Hewett says guitarist Jerry Cantrell was struck in the face by what …

"My teachers used to skip over my name and say, 'Oh, you're here,' " says Hargobind Hari Singh Khalsa. "Kids started calling me Hargo when I was 7." Hargo, 21, is Sikh. "People say, 'What …

Sandjacket drummer Ric Root says his band's recent Hollywood performance is available at liveatthegig.com. However... "We did not hook up with the website. We hooked up with the club, the Gig, which broadcasts the set …

Again, Dave Mustaine is having trouble with Gigantour, which last summer played to half-empty venues and was booked at locales unable to accommodate both stages. The September 7 tour opener at Cox Arena has been …

Elan, a female Latin performer based in San Diego, has filed an 11-count lawsuit against Wailers singer Elan Atias, who recently began using only his first name for solo recordings. "This is the kind of …

“We are gathered here to fully enjoy this creation. Amen!”

The San Diego Reader has located Chuck Quackenbush, the first California politician/bureaucrat to self-destruct in this century. Present and former San Diegans were involved in his plunge from grace. Quackenbush is the former insurance commissioner …

One Monday morning last month, I found that my car, parked on Third Avenue in Hillcrest, had been broken into and my $400 video iPod was gone. After filing a police incident report, I called …

Hey, Matthew: Why don't owls eat mockingbirds that are singing all night? -- Bob, telephonically We're now past the mockingbird all-night-warbling season, since the new crop of mockers is off the nest and composing next …

Dear Matt: I know Queen Elizabeth has had plenty of family troubles over the years, but the tabloids haven't told me the on crucial bit of information I've always wanted to know about Her Majesty. …

Matt: My girlfriend and I have a long-standing difference of opinion. I live directly under Lindbergh Field's flight path. On most planes I can see a thin stream emanating from the wings as the planes …