For the past 30 years, Larry has been traveling south of the border to party on his birthday. He and his friend Mary McDonald charter a bus and pile all their friends into it for …

'You know those circus peanuts? That's exactly what this smells like.'

'Be brutally honest. Look at yourself and see if you look like you could be commercial," says Becky Rash, co-owner of Active Audio and Entertainment. "Ashlee Simpson is a little more regular-looking than her sister …

John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten, formerly of the Sex Pistols) did a three-hour interview last week on 91X. According to 91X program director Kevin Stapleford, the station paid Lydon to record promotional announcements three months …

"There aren't really any gangs out there," says 19-year-old Free Mind, who graduated from Poway High last year. "There are barely any Asians where I'm from. I kicked it with black people, so I was …

Brian Witkin owns Del Mar--based record label Pacific Records and a record/CD store located inside the all-age Epicentre in Mira Mesa. Now, following the McDonald's business model, Witkin intends to break into recording; he says …

The former members of No Knife (who split in 2003) are turning up all over. Bassist Brian Desjean's new band, Get Your Death On!, played their first gig on February 19 at the Ken Club; …

If you pick up a copy of Zack Wentz's novel The Garbageman and the Prostitute, you might notice that William T. Vollmann is quoted on the front cover. Vollmann, author of Europe Central, The Atlas, …

David Sipnick is a bookseller, mostly online in recent years, but with some of his small press stuff from the 1990s, Oberon Books Editions, children's (boys', really) adventure stories on consignment at specialty stores around …

Close up on the man at the helm of our ten-campus university system.

The Bell View Regional Trail, for hikers, equestrians, and cyclists, starts as a "community trail" threading through the suburban-edge communities of Rancho Santa Margarita and Coto de Caza. It then assumes a wilder character as …

The usual schools remain standing as the NCAA men's basketball tournament rolls through its second week. We have Connecticut, Villanova, Florida, Georgetown, Duke, UCLA, blah, blah, blah, and Bradley. Bradley. What is Bradley? Turns out, …

This patch of earth, longitude 117 degrees west, latitude 33 degrees 2 minutes north, passes away from the sun. The sun's light, leaning in from the west, reaches us through denser and denser layers of …

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. According to a poll taken three months ago, 63.4 percent of city residents believe thatpolitics and government are no more corrupt here than in any other …

'It was a very depressing scene," blogs Wasting June's keyboard player Jeff Domitrz about a summer gig at 'Canes (found on the band's myspace.com page). "A friend of mine described it as 'drinking beer at …

'Garrett Scott and Ian Olds," announced the actor Willem Dafoe after opening the envelope. The two had been chosen for the Truer Than Fiction Award, given at this year's Independent Spirit Awards, broadcast March 4 …

Triple bogie Call it a small piece of good news for San Diego taxpayers: a bid to renew the sweetheart lease of the Carlton Oaks Golf Course has been thwarted by a recently hired property …

It took five years to hand-carve the screen that stretches across the front of St. John Damascus, and it shows. Besides its wrought wood, the screen displays a host of icons, their angular lines depicting …

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 …

Attention from a pretty girl is all any of us wants -- men, that is. There are volumes of slick magazines devoted to a monthly review of "What he really wants," when it's just that …

“They call it ‘chopped sewage’ where I come from. I keep telling you, man, it’s not Chinese.”

American Movie Critics: From the Silents Until Now, edited by Phillip Lopate. Library of America, 2006; $40; 700 pages FROM THE DUST JACKET: American Movie Critics is an anthology of unparalleled scope that charts the …

The Granddaughters Nanny is dead. It is Karen who calls to tell me this. It is Thursday, and I hear the phone and know, ducking out of class in what I hope is a discreet …

Remember, our conduct is influenced not by our experience but by our expectations. -- George Bernard Shaw I was 14 the first time I learned there was a party held by one of my friends …

My gal pal Bernice turns 40 this summer. Her hubby Frank is taking her to Cancún to celebrate. Bernice has been preparing for the trip -- working out, dieting, and shopping for new outfits. "But …