Over the past 50 years, Mission Valley, once home to dairy farms and truck gardens, has grown into one of the most developed and congested parts of the city. The commercial direction of the valley …

"I've heard you're God," the reporter said. The old man whom the reporter was talking to continued to chomp on his chocolate chip chocolate muffin. When the hoary fellow finished he croaked out, "Who told …

The Restless Sleep: Inside New York City's Cold Case Squad by Stacy Horn. Viking/Penguin, 2005; $24.95; 320 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Between 1985 and 2004, 8,894 unsolved homicides were committed in New York City. …

The trouble with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate it. -- Franklin P. Jones 'This is unfuckingbelievable. Who shows up to a dinner party an hour late?" I had been making an effort …

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked," begins the Psalms. George C. Scipione, director of the Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship (IBCD), is an advocate for this …

I bought three for nearly $30. One was Spin because I’d read it and it had survived.

“You’ve got to stop eating all that bad stuff, dude. You’ve got to get tested.”

Mine Peak, elevation 1850 feet above sea level, stands atop the west end of the Coyote Mountains in far-southern Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. On a clear fall or winter day atop Mine Peak, the view …

My family's costume shows were renowned in my small hometown. The neighbors would call our house Halloween morning to make sure my family would show up on their steps trick-or-treating. Every year we had a …

The Box would like to offer a big, "Welcome home," to the San Diego Chargers team who won last year's AFC West Division with a record of 12 and 4 and showed up Sunday to …

The boutique record label Art Fag recently released its debut album, a three-track collaboration between Kill Me Tomorrow and Long Beach's Dance Disaster Movement. But local DJ Mario Orduno has higher ambitions for his new …

Brenda Spencer was the first disturbed teen in modern history to snap and shoot up a school. Last Tuesday she was denied parole again. It was the third time she had been denied parole since …

Chris Henry, a talent buyer at the Zombie Lounge on El Cajon Boulevard, says the club books bands found on myspace.com almost exclusively. "That's how we hooked up with the Angry Amputees and the Mojo …

The Che Café, Kill Me Tomorrow, and www.auralminority.com will put on a show tomorrow night for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Half of the proceeds will go to New Orleans musicians Quintron and Miss Pussycat, whose …

If you attended the Presidents of the United States of America show at the House of Blues on September 24, you may have noticed a man onstage playing three-string guitar who bore no resemblance to …

As Bob Dylan never wrote and George Harrison never sang: Well, that railroad gate, you know I just can't jump it. I'll have my chauffeur do it for me. I'm sitting here, buttering my toasted …

'On one level I'm frustrated. If [movie theaters] were serving my needs, I wouldn't have to do this," says Shane Flores, founder and facilitator of the Secret Cinema Salon. Flores has lived in San Diego …

For the past two years (and until recently), Santee singer/songwriter Mike Press was Willie Nelson's tour merchandise manager. "After each [Nelson] show, I'd head out to the best local bar in town and I'd get …

After six years, KUSI will curtail the showcasing of live local bands on its weekend news shows. "We are primarily a news organization, not a music channel," says KUSI news director Steve Cohen. Last week, …

Twenty-nine years ago tomorrow (10/7/76), the Who made their third appearance in San Diego at the Sports Arena. Beneath Keith Moon's drum kit that evening was a Persian rug that the day before had graced …

“I told them, ‘I want to do the worst jobs imaginable — nothing glamorous.’”

How bad is the festering drug problem among students at La Jolla High, arguably San Diego's toniest public school? Judging by a recent note to parents from principal Dana Shelburne, things might be better. "I …

San Diego hates being considered a satellite of Los Angeles -- until there is a crisis. You see, Los Angeles and environs are San Diego's crisis cushion. When the U.S. economy is weak, and large …

Never say never, but a hurricane like the one that hit New Orleans is unlikely to flood San Diego anytime soon. The San Diego River, however, is another story. After a rainstorm last winter, the …

Movies reviewed this week: In Her Shoes, Oliver Twist, and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Heymatt: I've always wondered how come liquor doesn't freeze in the freezer, how come? - Drunk and confused in Santee Matt: I'm only eight, but I've noticed that ice cubes have little peaks in them. …

Thirty Years Ago Hillcrest to the airport. "This is one not too many people know about. You go to the far west end of Robinson and turn left on Curlew; it goes down to Reynard …

Dear Matthew Alice: Why on earth do I get hiccups immediately after eating starchy foods? Bread, pasta, potatoes, tortilla chips... anything with lots of starch will do it! I have friends who report the same …

I got invited to a biker party and imagined characters from the Clint Eastwood movies that I grew up watching -- fat bellies, black widow tattoos, facial hair.As I approached the party in Imperial Beach, …

The Great Unwashed I blog for my friends. After the company I worked for in Dublin closed, everyone scattered, some on extended holidays, others to different jobs at home and abroad. I came home to …