Content for Thursday, December 30, 2004

News & Stories

At Home in San Diego

LA COSTA When I think of La Costa, I remember the wildlife -- the skunk that lived under our house, for instance, a beautiful creature whose size would double when it puffed up its fur ...

Last Call

Movies reviewed this week: Beyond the Sea, Flight of the Phoenix, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Meet the Fockers, The Phantom of the Opera, and Spanglish

The Reader's Eye on Television

"What is this?" I asked through a silver microphone bolted into the glass. "That's a check. The jail takes the cash in your pocket and issues you a check," a voice, oddly disembodied and electronic, ...

Career Explosion

“A client wanted something signed. He had this crate next to him, and he just started doodling.”

Cilantro Tuna

By Enoc Guajales, Kitchen Manager, Onami Japanese Restaurant, Escondido This is my own recipe that I created for the restaurant. It can be served as an appetizer or as a dinner. This dish is colorful ...

Odessa Impressions

Just back from Ukraine, I follow TV reports of the election protests in Kiev, the capital. Via e-mail, friends have described the situation in Odessa, where I lived, as much calmer. Odessa is neither in ...

Final Fire

In Holland in the 17th Century, "tiles migrated from floors to walls," says Steven Kern. "Why? Because ceramic is soft-baked, not like ironstone or stonewear. When you walk on it, it's going to chip." But ...

The Year's Best Bites

I eat in at least 50 restaurants a year -- more often, 65 and up. Some you read about; others prove too short-lived or too awful to merit ink.The "Bests" list here reflects only meals ...

Tristan Prettyman

Tristan Prettyman, the 22-year-old Del Mar native, signed with Virgin in early October and will start recording next month. She won "Best Acoustic" at this year's San Diego Music Awards, and her song "My Love" ...

In the Wake of Jay-Z

In the wake of Jay-Z's collaboration with Linkin Park on "Collision Course" comes news that P.O.D. may be doing something with the prolific rapper as well. On December 15, P.O.D. drummer Noah "Wuv" Bernardo told ...

Will Coors Amphitheater

Will Coors Amphitheater, SDSU's Cox Arena, and SDSU's Open Air Theater be swallowed up by Clear Channel? The publisher of a major concert industry publication says that is very likely. "[Clear Channel] would seem like ...

"DJ Monk Had a Stalker"

"DJ Monk had a stalker," said an L5 club regular. December 11, around 1 a.m. at the downtown venue, a fan during DJ Monk's set (dubbed "Hallucination Before Christmas") was having a little trouble with ...

The Sierra Club's annual Wilderness Basics Course whips prospective outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen into shape.

Ever wish to learn land navigation by map and compass or GPS? Or discover the fine points of selecting and packing gear for a backpacking expedition? Or learn how to prepare for and experience a ...

"Artists Should Definitely Report to Soundscan"

"Artists should definitely report to Soundscan." That's a tip from Eli Spector, an executive with 33rd Street Records, about the national tracking service that releases weekly sales figures of barcoded CDs sold through retail outlets. ...

Travis Ryan

Travis Ryan, singer with Cattle Decapitation, says he smuggles band merchandise (shirts, stickers, and more) into shows when he is on tour so that the band doesn't have to pay the traditional 20 percent cut ...

Raw Year

“It’s a hot spot. You can e-mail your broker on Wall Street till your billfold bursts.”

One New York Weekly Writes

One New York weekly writes of Switchfoot, "The San Diego Christian rock quartet whose major-label breakthrough The Beautiful Letdown might be the most intelligent, least hysterical piece of alt-rock evangelism I've ever heard. And, yep, ...

Before Louis XIV

Before Louis XIV played a San Francisco venue December 16, an area paper wrote, "Dirty boys finish first. At least that's what San Diego's Louis XIV are betting on. The latest major-label contenders who would ...

Sign Up to Play

"I had to unplug them after two songs. They were great, though!"