A heartbreaking job among the innocent and challenged.

Aretha Franklin thought there should have been more Motown artists performing at this year's Super Bowl in Detroit, but I think it was fitting that the Rolling Stones played the halftime show -- the band …

"I haven't really come to the point where I'm a wine critic."

'Who is Woody Norris? Quite simply, Woody Norris is a visionary, a futurist." Those are the opening words of the website www.woodynorris.com. It is exaltation and exultation, paean and panegyric -- all for Elwood (Woody) …

'The general rule has been that no one can kill off somebody else's character without their permission. Everything I do is owned by George Lucas, so technically [Lucas Films doesn't] need our permission to do …

“Gangs, knifings, deals, the pier was one tough area.”

He started to notice the problem while driving at night. "Quite rapidly my eyes deteriorated," says Art Seamans, professor emeritus of literature at Point Loma Nazarene University, "and I drove when I shouldn't have. Finally, …

Old moneybags Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the richest San Diego city council aide of all? Based on recently filed financial disclosure statements, that honor goes to Geoffrey W. Lipsey, a "council representative" for …

Spending a Friday night in Tijuana may have once sounded like a good time, but if so, distanced enough in memory to seem now a confabulated desire, a state of mind impossible to reconstruct. Still, …

Twisted live oaks and sycamores and pungent bay laurel trees highlight the brief trek up the L.A. coast's most easily accessible waterfall-bearing canyon. The goal is an 18-foot cascade tucked into an upper branch of …

“I like to keep things intense and heavy.”

Little kids are fascinated by animals as soon as they become aware of the world around them. I was no different, but I did have more to go up against than many kids because my …

"You are our shield and protector, the lifter of our head," prayed Site Pastor Mark Maliepaard, quoting the song that the band -- guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, and saxophone -- had just finished. "We thank …

It might be interesting, but not for the reason they think. I'm talking about the World Baseball Classic, an oddball tournament set to begin during MLB's spring training, to the disgust of Major League executives, …

Matt: I was recently looking on-line at the Yahoo Maps map of the intersection of I-5 and Highway 52 and found the single word "Elvira." Then I was on a jog under this very intersection, …

Heymatt: Being right-handed it seems natural that I write from left to right on the page. This way I can see what I've written. And since most people (at least in the Western world) are …

Thirty Years Ago County tax assessors assess boats as personal property, unless they are a taxpayer's principal residence, and then the boat owner can file for a homeowner's exemption. If taxes are unbearable, you can …

Besides its downtown nightclub, House of Blues Concerts owns and operates Coors Amphitheatre. The company books the headliners at SDSU's Cox Arena and Open Air Theatre. Two weeks ago, in an agreement with 4th & …

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Patrick Harmon played the popular Tuesday open-mike night at E Street Café in Encinitas a month ago. Two of his protest songs spoke out against "...religion and control," says Harmon. "Both songs had the …

Mark the CD Trader, a shop in an Oceanside strip mall that had been open for over a year, closed last month. Rhino Westwood, in L.A., pulled the plug last month after 30 years. Aron's …

"Dice are out!" the stickman hollers. "Same lucky shooter, number's eight, point eight, hard or easy." "Two bucks on hard eight," a black transvestite yells and tosses down two blue chips. She makes eye contact …

Frantic Transmissions to and from Los Angeles: An Accidental Memoir by Kate Braverman. Graywolf Press, 2006; 218 pages; $15 FROM THE DUST JACKET: Kate Braverman grew up in Los Angeles in the late 1950s at …

On the way to town last year, Gratitude's van broke down in a Ralphs parking lot about 30 miles from their show at Mira Mesa's Epicentre. "An axle had broken on our trailer, or something …

At the CMJ New Music Festival in New York City last fall, Loud and Clear Records owner Brad Lee got a rude awakening after trying to explain to industry execs why music sales are down. …

OB's Defamation League calls itself "the official band of the Bryan Barton for Congress Campaign." The onetime Arizona Minuteman volunteer hopes to win the seat to represent California's 53rd District. "Barton's opponent is [incumbent Democrat] …

Mick Miller operates a recording studio out of his two-bedroom apartment in North County. The studio consists of a Mac and a PC, a Pro-Tools software program for digital recording, and a collection of microphones. …

Caramel Kid Jacob came home from school and asked me what color he was. Since the day he was born, I knew this day would come. I consider myself to be an honest person, and …

I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their own happiness or satisfaction. -- Dalai Lama 'I need your advice," I said. Jennifer and Grace …

Every mom seems to have a marker catastrophe at some point in her mothering career. It's natural that childhood curiosity should seek to explore different mediums and uses for the coloring utensil. "Why draw on …