Content for Thursday, May 5, 2005
News & Stories
Mom
As Thin as Butterfly Wings My mother was born in the high desert of northeastern Arizona. Even now it's a hard place to thrive, with rain unlikely and resources few. Her father built their house ...
When Elton John Plays
When Elton John plays Cox Arena tomorrow, his hospitality room must be kept at a "comfortable temperature at all times (60 degrees in the summer, 70 degrees in the winter)." The room requires "table and ...
Jewel
Jewel, in the studio working on her sixth album due for release in September, posted the following audio message on her website: "I'm in LA and I'm writing songs.... I'm pretty excited about two of ...
Radio Wars are Common
Radio wars are common, but when Arbitron identifies a "ratings distortion" by a station, it's a rarity. Last week, Arbitron told advertisers that Clear Channel--owned KUSS ("U.S. 95.7," a country station) had ratings numbers that ...
Unapologetic from New Orleans
Allen Boudreaux why unapologetic? well, mostly because the name was available as a dot-com domain back in march 2001 when I started keeping a weblog. that, and it just sounded like a cool thing to ...
The Hot Snakes release
The Hot Snakes release of The John Peel Sessions -- only on 7" vinyl -- "sold so well that we had to put it out on CD," says guitarist John Reis. Other indications of local ...
I'm the Guitar Center Guitar Champion
"I'm the Guitar Center guitar champion of San Diego," says Greg Vaughan, winner of the San Diego Guitarmageddon competition -- a nationwide contest presented by Guitar Center. "On the day of my [preliminary] performance, I ...
If You Go to an All-Guys' School
"If you go to an all-guys' school, you're not going to write a song about grass growing," says singer Murphy Martin, 16, of Muff. One of their songs employs the band's name and a lewd ...
Pro-pot bands
Pro-pot bands cheapen the value of industrial hemp, says Jordan Loder. "They stereotype hemp as being psychoactive [and] revel in the fact that they are breaking the law. They behave the same way people did ...
Back When
Thirty Years Ago For less than most athletic clubs (the Rowing Club is only S10 a month for students and military), one can use the club's boats (7 single wherries, 2 doubles, 2 four-oared; 3 ...
I'd Like to Shoot a Gun
'Some fellas call themselves survivalists, but these mountain men were the true survivalists; they lived off what the mountain gave them. Most people thought these men died from fighting the Indians, but they died from ...
Dede's pride and joy
Former state senator Dede Alpert decided not to run for San Diego mayor maybe due to scrutiny from critics who contend she is too closely linked to big labor. The Democrat -- formerly from Coronado, ...
Bean Disguise
Abe McNeil says that convenience is what prompts him to buy Café Moto beans to stock the PJ's Coffee and Tea franchise he manages next to the Hilton Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter. It's only ...
Liars' Paradise
To weave a cleverly tangled web of secret offshore tax havens, sometimes it takes two to tangle. If the two tanglers are dead,it can be difficult for government investigators to penetrate the maze. Despite this ...
High Above Downtown
I went to two events downtown. The first was trying to fight traffic after a Padres game. The second was me getting lost. The Hyatt Hotel near the convention center had a festival showcasing American ...
Spoiled-a-Lot
All charming people, I fancy, are spoiled. It is the secret of their attraction. -- Oscar Wilde 'Do you want to go see Spamalot?" I asked David. We sat at opposite ends of our living ...
Descend into Big Tujunga Canyon, a deep gash in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Angeles National Forest's Fall Creek Trail threads the steep, north wall of Big Tujunga Canyon and offers unique vistas of Big Tujunga's dramatic "Narrows" section below. Big Tujunga Canyon drains much of the western end ...
The Reader's Eye on Television
Hooters girls danced in circles beneath flickering TV screens. Their dance was a sexually charged Hokey Pokey for guys who were celebrating a birthday. "You put your name tag in! You put your name tag ...
Mediation
My friend Bernice is having a neighbor issue. The house directly across the street from her's is overgrown with weeds, dead cars lie about in the back yard, and garbage is strewn throughout the yard. ...
All About Ease
Editor's Note: This restaurant has closed since publication. Some restaurants exist solely to give pleasure and ease, rather than serve up social scenes or culinary coups. They're not your showoffy Manolo stilettos but your Kenneth ...
Do You Hear What I Hear? Religious Calling, the Priesthood, and My Father
Do You Hear What I Hear? Religious Calling, the Priesthood, and My Father. Viking, 2005; 304 pages; $25.95. FROM THE DUST JACKET: At the first revelation that her father, a sixtyish university professor, wants to ...
Florist Face Off
Haruko Crawford says, "I started taking ikebana lessons when I was 13 years old. I'm 80 now." I lean back into my chair, close my eyes, and wonder how I got here, on the telephone ...
North Park Apostolic Church
The Apostolic Church is probably the only truly orthodox church. We teach the apostles doctrine from the original 12 apostles. We do not follow post-apostolic teachings," said Bishop Joel David Trout. "For example, we are ...
Instrument of Torture
There it sits, seemingly every week among the movie ads in these pages, an advertisement for myself (to lift a snippet from Norman Mailer), but taken out by somebody else. "Thousands of Duncan Shepherd's Movie ...
