“Theater matters because it’s the only place where one can find hope. Films are manufactured for us, but in the theater, the actors and the audience are getting together to manufacture a narrative, and to …

They came, they conquered, and they stayed, but you’d hardly know it if you weren’t an entomologist. After years of media hype, Africanized hybrid honeybees, once commonly called “killer bees,” have established themselves in urban …

Tijuana Equals Death I would like to express my deep concern for the portrayal of Tijuana in two recent reports featured in the Reader: “Greetings from Tijuana” (Cover Story, August 7) and “Suicide Tourism” (Cover …

“It comes up all the time,” John Gourley says via telephone when I ask him to explain the name of his band. They call themselves “Portugal. The Man.” “It’s pretty off the wall, but at …

The dollar is weak and the euro is strong, and the streets of American cities are humming with the sound of European tourists — often with their arms full of shopping bags from the Apple …

“I’m not sure if Animal House is as cult-y as Harold and Maude — it might be a little bit more mainstream,” says Lauren Turner, marketing and communications coordinator for the Museum of Photographic Arts. …

He was ninety-one-and-a-half. It had been a long and gradual decline. Yet how quickly I could switch over from “I can’t believe he’s still here” to “I can’t believe he’s gone.” The passing of Manny …

Thirty Years AgoMao Tse-tung, chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, will be dead exactly two years September 9. The only major confrontation the Mao Memorial Committee has had was with another communist group — the …

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” grumbled my nephew Walt over the phone last week. Two years out of college with a tech job, Walt had just seen his first major project …

I went to North County for James’s 90th birthday. As I pulled up, I noticed that there was a party across the street for a woman expecting a baby. I thought that was an interesting …

Video games are bad for you? That’s what they said about rock and roll. — Shigeru Miyamoto Heather was right when she said an explanation wouldn’t do it justice, that if I were to fully …

What are you reading? “Guitar: Music History Players by Richard Chapman. It’s a history of guitar players and of the guitar itself. It goes through every type of musical genre you might hear a guitar …

Obama picked me to be vice president! And I picked Kermit the Frog to serve as my vice vice president, along with undersecretary Michael Phelps. Our first order of business will be to stage Kermit’s …

A splendid sense of isolation pervades the upper reaches of Solstice Canyon — thanks to the preservation of thousands of acres of land that have been incorporated into the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. …

I use the word “booty“ for almost everything. I started saying it about six months ago. I think I heard a friend say it or something. I don’t remember. Anyway, I thought it sounded fun …

“God, You inhabit the praise of Your people,” said associate pastor Tony Inyang during the prayers before the service began, and the praise team started in making a suitable habitation. “Welcome into this place,” sang …

The NFL regular season goes off in one week. Players who make the cut get a shot at millions of dollars and what goes with it, while their brothers are thrown into the hell of …

The end of summer is at hand, and I may well miss it. Jumping the gun a bit, but not by much, I find myself less disgruntled, overheated, and dying for that sense of “death …

When Spring Awakening won eight Tony Awards for 2007, including Best Musical, word around the Big Apple went that it would never tour, that it was strictly a “New York show.” Why? Frank Wedekind’s “tragedy …

“I’m a cook, not a chef,” says Mary. “There’s a difference?” says Carla, looking up from her dinner. She’s diving into her turkey, cranberry sauce, mash, and peas. Totally standard, but it’s been so long …

Roseville (named for its first settler, Louis Rose, not a shrub) is a Point Loma neighborhood also called “the village.” It’s a bit out of the way but has such a distinctive character that going …

AMERICAN ICARUS: LINCOLN BEACHEY LOOPS THE LOOP (Part Three) “Aviators are not born like poets,” said Lincoln Beachey, who claimed that anyone could fly a plane but that he, and only he, was the natural-born …

Album: Fretfull (2008) Artist: Wayne Riker Label: self-released Where available/price: Old Time Music Shop in North Park, Tecolote Guitar Works on Morena Boulevard, and online at CDBaby for $15 Songs: 1) The Betrayal 2) 8 …

In 2006, Mission Beach’s WaveHouse tested the waters as a music venue by hosting concerts by James Blunt and Ziggy Marley; MTV filmed a Total Request Live segment there that year. Last year the club …

On August 10, Sherman Oaks—based 43-year-old character actor Shelley Malil, best known for a role in 2005’s 40-Year-Old Virgin, allegedly stabbed former girlfriend Kendra Beebe 20 times at her San Marcos home. With her two …

“Eyes on first class from Cleveland to San Diego/ Will I return or stay, though my enemies don’t want me to go/ From snow to sunshine, it never rains, they lied/ But I rather move …

Defamation League MC Chaz Lomack, 22, was to begin serving a four-month jail sentence on August 14 when he got a last-minute reprieve: the day before, he found a second job, which allowed him to …

“ ‘The Motherhouse’ and ‘The Ascended Master Moves On (Hang Gliding in Heaven)’ are our homage to Father Yod, the spiritual master of musical vegetarianism,” says Eric Nielsen of High Mountain Tempel. The two songs …

Heymatt: I see that Horton Plaza has a section of parking for pregnant women. As a male, if I park there, will the cops (or mall cops) treat this the same way they would if …

“I’m not drinking any fucking Merlot!” — Miles, a Pinot Noir fan, in the film Sideways. Miles was that reviled thing: a tremendous, unabashed wine snob. And yet, people listened. Pinot Noir sales in America …

American consumers are tightening their belts. So companies selling to households are pulling in their horns. Wall Street expects San Diego consumer companies such as Jack in the Box, Rubio’s, Charlotte Russe, WD-40, and Callaway …

Author: Lane Tobias Neighborhood: Ocean Beach Age: 24 Occupation: Wildfire Relief Case Manager I am a recent transplant from New Jersey living in Ocean Beach. I already know what locals or natives think of me. …