In late May 2008, I woke up in my sister’s house in Indianapolis. I was getting ready to leave for the airport, and I saw a commercial on TV about visiting San Diego. The commercial …

Brian Campbell, 50, will spend the next couple of years in prison for a July 12 hit-and-run accident in Carlsbad, at which time authorities said he had a blood alcohol level nearly two times the …

Residents of Imperial Beach dig that laid-back Southern California beach vibe of the ’50s and ’60s. So much so, the town's logo has "Classic Southern California" written under an image of a "Woody" station wagon …

On Saturday afternoon, July 25, San Diego Police helped quell an unruly crowd on the main floor of the San Diego Convention Center. During an appearance of the cast of FX channel's It’s Always Sunny …

Bangkok is a bustling, balmy city that stretches along both sides of the Chao Phraya River. Thailand’s capital has much to offer; here are some recommendations on what not to miss (and what to avoid): …

Sitting in the mixing room of Archival Studios in North Park, the four members of Rats Eyes listen to two of the ten raw tracks they recorded the day before. There’s a discernible SoCal skate-punk …

Rise of the Speedmen began as Gene Padigos’s one-man stage show, featuring electronic prerecorded music accompanied live by various instruments, from guitar to synth, bass, and drums. “I got most of my gear with insurance …

Best not to go to the Good Asian Drivers expecting to hear the sassy pop in their YouTube video “I Kissed a Girl — The Real Gay Version,” because it’s not them. That’s not even …

Golden Boots describe their music as “alt-alt-country.” They do have a vaguely country-ish vibe to their vocal harmonies, and some of their older material is no weirder than Wilco at their weirdest. But never mind …

Thirty Years AgoMy personal critique of Hob Nob Hill: dinners are unimaginative and overpriced; an overkill of watercress (during the lettuce shortage) in their chef’s salads; no optional nonsmoker’s section; Dorothy’s forced, ingratiating greetings, alas, …

Artist: ToxicanaSong: Vicious Cycle (from the CD Pandemia)Heard by: Rafael Gonzalez, San DiegoBasically, the music was pretty good, the lyrics made sense, and there was a good coordination between the music and lyrics — everything …

For Rob Hagey, founder and promoter of Street Scene, San Diego’s largest music festival, adding the Beastie Boys to the lineup on July 10 was an unexpected coup. “It was a nice surprise. They fell …

Orange County–based promotion company Club Starz organizes weekly teenage dance parties. The event is booked into nightclubs on slow nights. The booze is put away but security is on duty, and the kids have a …

When Badfinger appears at Humphrey’s HippieFest on Sunday, August 2, the band (discovered and launched by the Beatles in the late ’60s) will be fronted by the sole surviving member from its glory days, singer-guitarist …

Recessions always bring out the vultures, and these days they are a step ahead of technological trends, as scam haven San Diego is learning once again. Con artists claim they can fix your credit, rescue …

What are you currently reading? “As usual, I’m reading too many books at once. I’m reading Lost by Jacqueline Davies — it’s a new YA [young adult] novel about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. I …

“Good morning,” said the woman at the marble lectern before the beginning of Sunday Mass at St. Therese. “Today and for the next four weeks, we will hear about Jesus Christ as our bread of …

Did you see the 2009 Mountain West Conference preseason media poll? TCU is picked to win the conference (a reasonable choice), BYU second, Utah third, and so on down the list — Air Force, UNLV, …

One of the enduring questions about William Shakespeare, which might have surprised him: where did he stand? In Coriolanus, for example, did he side with the Roman poor, who threaten to rebel over shortages of …

“Juanita’s Carnitas of Encinitas! Juanita’s Carnitas Encinitas!” This is Ted’s kid, chanting. Best way to get the carnitas tacos he loves. “Juanita’s Carnitas of Encinitas…!” “Ah, you mean ‘Little Jane’s Little Meats of Little Oaks,’ …

Everything about Glass Door makes it a delightful, entertaining restaurant — except the food. On the fourth floor of a new hotel in Little Italy, it’s a long, narrow room with a bar on one …

THE MOST HATED MAN IN SAN DIEGO. From 1910 to 1912, Walter Bellon inspected San Diego’s waterfront, Chinatown, and the Stingaree district for the health department. If an owner failed to make basic improvements, the …

Dear Matthew Alice: I learned in school that the air moves like water. We were studying airplanes and how they stay up in the air and how the air moves over the wing like a …

As the night dragged on, the four-year-old wailed with growing pains. The pregnant mama made her third trip to the bathroom across the campsite. Exhausted dad wrestled to find a comfortable position in the tent.... …

The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. — Bertrand Russell The stars were bright in Chula Vista — not desert-brilliant but dazzling enough when …

A handful of the people who post on the Reader website planned a get-together. I think it stemmed from one of them being in town from Washington state. They agreed to meet downtown at The …

Recipe by Jay Payne, executive chef, Café Japengo. What really started me cooking was that both my parents worked, so my job was to start dinner. Many times I just ended up cooking dinner. My …

San Diego perennial Joey Harris comes from a no-frills school of rock with a strict curriculum of guitar-bass-drum, life-lesson lyricism, and a ’67 Caddy for a school bus. For this summer’s s/t Double Barrel release, …

May 10 must be the year’s hardest day for Mary Ann. In 1997, her son, Andrew Cunanan, went on a killing spree that ended with the death of fashion designer Gianni Versace, on a sparkling …

Backcountry BenefitsI just read your article on the San Diego County Fire Authority and wish you had talked to another agency for a contrasting point of view (“Big Agency Burns Small Volunteers,” “City Lights,” July …

A longtime business associate of South Bay developer Roque de la Fuente is circulating a petition that would put before county voters a measure to allow construction of a large landfill and recycling center on …

As many insiders expected, San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders appointed a reliable campaign contributor to the regional airport authority seat that was vacated earlier this year by another faithful giver, Alan Bersin, who left to …

An Irishman who last December made the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “Most Wanted List” of 23 environmental crime fugitives for illegal dumping in San Diego Bay, has been apprehended on the island of Malta. Fifty-eight-year-old …