Mmm-Mmm Good! AWESOME ARTICLE on great soups (“Soup of the Evening,” Restaurant Review, January 7). I shall treasure it. THANK YOU. Eric Alan Jones via email Perfection, At Last I want to congratulate the Reader …

On June 17, program manager for the City of San Diego's Economic Development Division, Luis Ojeda, responded to a claim from downtown resident Kathy Casey that approximately 2500 downtown residents living in condominiums were overcharged …

President Barack Obama’s choice to head the Transportation Security Administration, currently stalled by GOP senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, may face even tougher sledding if sensational steroid-use allegations made by the nominee’s ex-wife in …

On an overcast January day in 2002, I plunged into the backcountry of East County, carrying a half-full pack and weathered walking stick. Hiking into the serene green of silence and solitude was my escape, …

In 1986, Mike Halloran moved to San Diego from Detroit to work at the new “cutting edge” TJ-based rock station 91X. Its DJs had to drive to the Tijuana “bunker on the mountain” studio, which …

Lowell Kiesel, founder of the Carvin Corporation, died in San Diego on December 28. He was 94. Carvin, based in San Diego, is one of the oldest manufacturers of guitars and amplifiers in California. “His …

“I’ve known film director Jeromy Cox for 20 years or so,” says Trophy Wife singer-guitarist Joe MacAskill, “and when he suggested I wear a horse costume for the video [“Move to the Desert”], I pretty …

For UCSD grad Devon Goldberg, it’s like doing his old free-form radio show back at the student-run campus station KSDT — but different. Schedule permitting, every Saturday night from 10 p.m. to midnight local time, …

“On the Loose” by hip-hop duo Clay Pigeons (featuring guest performer Main Flow) was the most-downloaded local MP3 from SDReader.com during December 2009. Songwriter Jimmy Powers provided some background. If you could sum up the …

A cheerful, creamy glow filled the broad church; it matched the cheerful, happy buzz of the congregation. A timer warned that the service was about to begin, but it had to be rolled back a …

Last fall, the story made its way around the media fish tank to the North County Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, Orange County Register, Orlando Sentinel, Honolulu Advertiser, and Anchorage Daily News, to dog websites, surfer …

In the bottom circle of Dante’s Inferno, Satan is a gigantic, three-headed monster waist-deep in a lake of ice. His three mouths chew the world’s worst traitors: Brutus and Cassius, who killed Caesar, to the …

I’ve got to thank the MTS for this find. They canceled the 962 night-bus service on weekends from the Eighth Street trolley to Spring Valley and back. Who knew? And I’ve just missed the last …

Last week’s search for great soups brought me to Dobson’s famed mussel bisque and thence to their website, where I discovered a well-kept secret, their 25th-anniversary special of a three-course prix fixe (weekdays, 3:00–7:00 p.m.) …

Thirty Years AgoJIM FROM Mom’s Saloon December 8 after Christmas party. Remembering your blue eyes and smile. You haven’t phoned. Let’s go ride wild horses. Country Sue. BRIAN JONES, his ideas stolen, his strengths diminished, …

Chula Vista, CA. July 16, 2009I am sitting with 19,999 other half-interested fans at an obscenely large amphitheater so close to the international border with Mexico that you could chuck your cell phone and hit …

Perhaps you are comforted believing that the U.S. government, Federal Reserve, and Wall Street are all working assiduously to provide you with a job. Ha ha ha ha. Not so. The Federal Reserve, our central …

My agent says Los Angeles will call. My broker says to sell without delay. My doctor says the spot is very small. My lover says get tested right away. My congressman says yes, he truly …

When Marc-André Hamelin walked onstage at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Sherwood Auditorium on December 18, only the high shine of his shoes looked the part of a world-renowned, super-virtuoso pianist. His rumpled black suit …

“The Chinese proverb says, ‘Better to be deprived of food for three days than tea for one,’” proclaimed friend Bernice as she poured a cup of green tea during our afternoon chat. The tea was …

Voice Growing Fainter? Numbers have taken a free-fall to 20,000–25,000 The beginnings were auspicious enough — and Voice of San Diego garnered copious praise from various media-watchers who anointed it as a model for the …

At no time is freedom of speech more precious than when a man hits his thumb with a hammer. — Marshall Lumsden "Dododummyshutup,” said my friend Joe the sommelier. His cheeks reddened, corroborating the statement …

The first time you hear White Denim’s “I Start to Run,” it sounds so great you can’t believe it. There’s powerful drumming, a driving bass line, cool stabs of guitar playing, and full-bodied shouting. In …

Hey, Matt: Why is it that when I am swimming in the ocean or a pool and I open my eyes underwater it’s all blurry. Fish, birds, and marine mammals seem to be able to …

Like a modern-day John Lee Hooker, Otis Taylor can make an entire song from a single riff. Hooker conjured powerful emotions with little more than a guitar and a somnolent mumble. Taylor, a multi-instrumentalist and …

Alan Silva plays mostly acoustic songs in a variety of styles, from indie to folk to country blues. “I take inspiration from many sources in music, as well as from literary figures,” he says. “Compare …

First let me confess. I do not know what I’m talking about. Anything naive, ill-informed, mistaken in what follows will be admitted freely without need of threat or torture. I am confident I speak for …

A combination of well-connected charities and business groups have been given tickets to Chargers games, thanks to San Diego–elected officials. Recipients of the city’s stash of free tickets, the giveaway of which now has to …

Assembly speaker–elect John Perez rolls into town on Saturday, January 23, to raise money at the Mission Bay Hyatt Regency for termed-out Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña’s bid for county supervisor against incumbent Ron Roberts…The U.S. …

On a warm September afternoon last fall, Scott Freeman sat at an outdoor table near the art department at San Diego City College. Dressed in jeans and a black-and-gray-striped bowling shirt that covered his noticeable …

Artist: A Shift to the LeftSong: “Like a Fox” Heard by: Don White, University CityEarly in life, jazz was described to me as “play a wrong note and it’s a wrong note; play the wrong …

Last Sunday, January 10, at approximately 10:45 p.m., I was driving my 1998 Honda Civic east on Skyline Truck Trail. My boyfriend and I were heading toward our home in Jamul. We noticed an unusual …

Equality California and the Courage Campaign joined local LGBT individuals and Unite Here Local 30 union members on Saturday, January 9, in the latest demonstration against the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel. Participants yelling “boycott” marched …

The oldest member of the Enemy is 23, but this three-piece from England displays impressive musical maturity. Music for the People is the band's sophomore effort and it delivers, with high-energy crowd-pleasers such as “51st …