Shawn Powell and I are driving south on Jackson Drive, carrying three opossums in Powell's Hyundai Santa Fe. Our mission is to liberate them. We could stop and dump them out on the sidewalk, but …

'My right arm is stronger than my left from lifting all those glasses.'

'The gypsy jazz guitar is sweet-sounding but very fiery, almost like a flamenco jazz guitar," says Anthony Leigh Adams, cowriter and director of Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar. On Thursday, September 7, this …

"We're going to make some noise today!" proclaimed one of the choristers from the stage of the auditorium. "Oh, bless the Lord with the fruit of your lips! We serve an awesome God!" The drums …

Isaac ("Ike") Curtiss has been playing on the streets and beaches of San Diego on and off for years. I have never done that, but I joined Curtiss, a long-haired, late-40ish guitarist with an Eric …

There's almost no risk being a low-level drug dealer as I was. Nobody even notices if you have a monthly rotation where you pick up a few extra pills or a couple hundred bucks. The …

Football is upon us, and the corporate sporting press floods the valley with pigskin-preview articles. The Box can do no less. Introducing Borrego Springs High School JV and varsity football coach Randy Peyakov. Borrego Springs …

A Sudden Country: A Novel by Karen Fisher. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006, $13.95, 400 pages. ABOUT THE BOOK: A vivid and revelatory novel based on actual events of the 1847 Oregon migration, A Sudden …

Thirty Years Ago THANK YOU, Ricky, for being yourself in a world lacking spontaneous, natural love. Please never lose my number, or my love. Earl. ROGER BOWMAN, the Renee Richards of the water polo world: …

Known by some as the Convict Road, Shoemaker Canyon Road really should be called the "Road to Nowhere." The dead-end road was the first phase of a projected 23-year effort to build a 2-lane highway …

Liberal Inferno I've wondered numerous times when America will elect a woman president. Will the tradition of electing male presidents be broken in my lifetime? Women are capable of completing the job, but no opportunity …

I arrived at Firefly three months too early but soon enough to learn about the auspicious changes yet to come. I'd waited the prudent three-plus months after the restaurant's debut to let the kitchen get …

Never a lip is curved with pain that can't be kissed into smiles again. -- Bret Harte I knew something was wrong when I flipped back the covers, rose to a standing position, and felt …

Kayla Morales called to tell me about a party raising funds for her motorcycle-racing pursuits. She knew a lot about the sport and was informative. She talked about wanting to go to Nashville to race. …

He told me his name was Jeff and that he was from Texas. You could call him a sign spinner, but he wasn't, at least not in the traditional sense. What Jeff did with a …

My pal Bernice's parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this winter. I've been hearing a lot of the planning over our weekly coffee meeting. "It's going to be huge," Bernice said, eyes popping out …

Let There Be Light You must have seen the MasterCard ads: "a bottle of champagne, 100 dollars; a bouquet of red roses, 25 dollars; a soft toy, 15 dollars; the smile on her face when …

Lil Uno says the San Diego Music Awards nominee selection process as it pertains to hip-hop is "embarrassing. It's a joke. I don't know who puts it together, but they obviously don't know what the …

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Jefferson Jay says there was a conspiracy that led to his firing from KCR, SDSU's all-volunteer radio station (heard online at kcrlive.com or through cable systems). Jay's bawdy six-hour Monday-night music-and-comedy show prompted complaint …

"That crowd was freaking insane," says concert photographer Jennifer Hewett of the August 18 Alice in Chains show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Hewett says guitarist Jerry Cantrell was struck in the face by what …

"My teachers used to skip over my name and say, 'Oh, you're here,' " says Hargobind Hari Singh Khalsa. "Kids started calling me Hargo when I was 7." Hargo, 21, is Sikh. "People say, 'What …

Sandjacket drummer Ric Root says his band's recent Hollywood performance is available at liveatthegig.com. However... "We did not hook up with the website. We hooked up with the club, the Gig, which broadcasts the set …

Again, Dave Mustaine is having trouble with Gigantour, which last summer played to half-empty venues and was booked at locales unable to accommodate both stages. The September 7 tour opener at Cox Arena has been …

Elan, a female Latin performer based in San Diego, has filed an 11-count lawsuit against Wailers singer Elan Atias, who recently began using only his first name for solo recordings. "This is the kind of …

“We are gathered here to fully enjoy this creation. Amen!”

The San Diego Reader has located Chuck Quackenbush, the first California politician/bureaucrat to self-destruct in this century. Present and former San Diegans were involved in his plunge from grace. Quackenbush is the former insurance commissioner …

One Monday morning last month, I found that my car, parked on Third Avenue in Hillcrest, had been broken into and my $400 video iPod was gone. After filing a police incident report, I called …

Hey, Matthew: Why don't owls eat mockingbirds that are singing all night? -- Bob, telephonically We're now past the mockingbird all-night-warbling season, since the new crop of mockers is off the nest and composing next …

Dear Matt: I know Queen Elizabeth has had plenty of family troubles over the years, but the tabloids haven't told me the on crucial bit of information I've always wanted to know about Her Majesty. …

Matt: My girlfriend and I have a long-standing difference of opinion. I live directly under Lindbergh Field's flight path. On most planes I can see a thin stream emanating from the wings as the planes …

A tall building takes a sizeable square of land and transforms it into multiple cubes of habitable space — story after story rising — converting once-empty sky into a series of interior chambers and environments. …

I don't want to be a bar. I want to be a hangout - an oasis away from those bars.

'It's so easy to fall back on dirty humor or fart jokes than it is to actually put together truly clever and memorable scenes, like the boys did," says John Field, the Grand Sheik of …

"When the music fades/ All is stripped away/ And I simply come, longing just to bring/ Something that's of worth," sang Trevor Davis. "I'll bring you more than a song..." But songs were exactly what …

The Volunteers of America at 1111 Island Avenue is in trouble. The wrecking ball is waiting in the wings. You can almost see its shadow from Market Street. It's the only detox facility in town …

Hi Matt: Why do light bulbs go poof when you turn them on, never while they're turned on and burning and having been on for hours? Maybe some expire in use in an abandoned garage, …

Matt: At what age do you discontinue use of the term "Master" to address correspondence to a young man? Thank you. -- Roseann Schoen, the net Ms. Schoen, I'd say when you get to 95 …

Help, Matt: Every day I read my horoscope in the paper. But I've just heard that somebody's discovered many new planets. Does that mean that everybody's horoscope is now wrong? What am I going to …

Me: Why are you watching the Teen Choice Awards? You're 27. Her: I just want to see Nick Lachey win an award for his new song. Because, to hell with Jessica. Me: You're a good …

Last week, while working on a column about the NFL Network and its greed war with Time Warner Cable, five hours before deadline, I was run over by a freight train of something resembling a …

Little Star of Bela Lua: Stories from Brazil (P.S.) by Luana Monteiro. Harper Perennial Paperback, 2006, $13.95, 256 pages. BOOK DESCRIPTION: A luminous fish appears in an impoverished village like a sign from God and …

Off-season (a.k.a. "summer") camping in the Anza-Borrego Desert isn't as outlandish as it may seem -- particularly if you confine your visit to the darker two-thirds of a 24-hour day. On just about any August …

Thirty Years Ago The calls for unity that abounded at last month's Democratic convention in New York seem to be spreading, as local party stalwarts lined up dutifully behind Jimmy Carter. Former county Democratic chairwoman …

No Control Perhaps the biggest event of my upbringing that affected who I am today was my move from North Carolina to California when I was 11 years old. Previously shy, comfortable with my several …

When I go to an art party, I never know what to expect. Sometimes the art is interesting. When it's not interesting, I say it's not my cup of tea. I was invited to an …

Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. -- T.S. Eliot 'I just got word that the pilot's being picked up," said a voice …

There's a new blossom unfolding at the Flower Hill mall. Barely six months old, Paradise Grille brings fresh fragrances and flavors to Del Mar as chef Justin Hoehn hones his mixture of Caribbean, Polynesian, and …

'We recorded one of our live shows at Lestat's and mixed two video feeds along with audio," says Big Toe singer/guitarist Dave Gilbert of the tape that landed them on NBC's Star Tomorrow on July …

High cholesterol doesn't run in my husband's family, but he has become an exception. Last month he returned from a yearly physical looking glum. "Doc has given me three months to take some weight off …

Sweet Tea The air hostess didn't ask him if he'd like his tea remade. He was reclined in his seat, eyes closed, iPod playing; the teacup held by both his palms and a smug smile …

“A month of this and we’d all be down for the count.”

"I knew it was coming a couple months ago," says Accident Experiment guitarist Marcos Curiel of Atlantic Records' decision to drop P.O.D. from its roster. With drummer Wuv (Noah Bernardo Jr.), Curiel cofounded the South …

"It's Time to Face My Demons," said 91X DJ and music director Marco Collins. Last week, he left San Diego to spend six to eight weeks at a live-in recovery center in Georgia. "I have …

"They didn't knock. My girlfriend and I were still in bed when around 20 cops came busting in full-force with guns and a search warrant," says Thicker Than Thieves singer Jamin Hazelaar of the recent …

"I love the ocean, and I love the water," says Ray Raposa, whose sailboat tour (with his band the Castanets) began on Saturday. Raposa, who was raised here and surfed competitively as a teen, still …

"They didn't like my appearance because I didn't dress in 1983 Metallica fashion," says guitarist Chris Knowles of his brief stint with Skeletor (named after the villain in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe …

"There was an article in [the Reader] about a guy living in a trailer who was supposed to have been the drummer for Strawberry Alarm Clock," says Randy Seol, the band's drummer in the heyday …

Beginning in 1927, the El Cortez Hotel was the most beautiful building in downtown San Diego as well as the watering hole of the Beautiful People. But it deteriorated and in 1978 was sold to …

Northern Baja's "Gold Coast," from Rosarito to Ensenada, is enjoying a real estate boom as American buyers search for oceanfront homes at prices they haven't seen in Southern California in more than ten years. Though …

According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a high-rise building is any structure over 35 meters (about 115 feet) in height that is divided into regular intervals with occupiable levels. To be …

Matthew: Why do some people have a white moon on their fingernails and others don't? Does this mean you're lacking something in your diet or that you might have a health problem? -- Moonless, Ramona …

LISTENING SESSION: 94.9fm 6:00: Our listening session kicks off about a third of the way into "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand. You know, past the intro gearshift. Ah, FM radio. It's like hanging out …

'Isn't red table wine hot right now?'

'Our only real requirement is that the dog enjoys the water," says surfing instructor Teevan McManus. "If your dog does not enjoy being in the water, there's zero chance [it will enjoy surfing]." On Sunday, …

"As we sing 'Empty Me' together, just make it a prayer in your heart," said the music leader before the penultimate song. "Say, 'God, empty me of everything I am.'" It was his second such …

Last Friday I went to the beach for the first time in a year. Why didn't I think of this through the endless, mind-numbing heat wave all summer? I went to Coronado and spread my …

Dear Matthew: I can understand how the odor molecules get to our odor sensors, and I can understand that these sensors send the signals directly to our brain. But I cannot understand what are the …

It's been a long time since I did this: polling random folks on the street about their Friday nights. One reason is that I've become less and less likely to go out among the public …

Every year I got a different shaped cake for my birthday. One year it was Bugs Bunny. The pan gave it away. I saw my mother bring it in with the groceries and stash it …

Birdmen, Batmen, and Skyflyers: Wingsuits and the Pioneers Who Flew in Them, Fell in Them, and Perfected Them by Michael Abrams. Harmony Books, 2006, $23.95, 304 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Theirs is the world's …

Starting from Seaview Park in the city of Laguna Niguel, a brief walk on a popular trail will take you past several interpretive panels annotating the common species of coastal vegetation found throughout coastal Southern …

Thirty Years Ago WANTED: Names and addresses of persons or groups who have been harmed or threatened by Interpol, the private French-based police organization. Contact immediately National Commission on Law Enforcement and Social Justice, 926 …

Golden Seat 'I want to ride my bicycle/ I want to ride my bike/ I want to ride my bicycle/ I want to ride it where I like." Queen expressed the joy and freedom that …

I was invited to a gay pride party on July 29, when the Pride parade would pass through Joseph's neighborhood. Getting to the party was difficult, however, as University Avenue was closed, and 100,000 people …

I always feel like somebody's watching me. -- Rockwell I played it off as a joke when David gave me binoculars for my birthday last year, something that would have been easier to do had …

San Diego three-piece "bill" prefers to have their name spelled with a lowercase b. "Happens to be two of our dads' names and can be spelled on your right hand," says bass and sax player …

The shortbread tasting was a success. Now I needed jam for the tea party shower I was throwing for my pregnant friend. Tasty strawberry jams I had covered, but I wanted to find a fruity …

Cannon's Mouth Julius Caesar said, "In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes." I guess in life, too, the biggest of events could result from the most innocuous of incidents. You wouldn't …

An insider connected with Street Scene says the injuries that occurred during Tool's August 5 performance could have been prevented. "They were dragging [injured] people out by the end of the first song," says the …

At Billy Idol's August 12 Del Mar Fairgrounds show... "The stage perimeter was blocked off by a seven-foot metal fence that was covered to prevent viewing," says an attendee. "It was a V.I.P. area only. …

"First Gangs -- Now Cults!" reads a flyer circulating at El Cajon locales near the Crystal Ballroom. Neighbors of the for-rent hall at 414 North Magnolia Avenue complain that the venue has attracted gangs and …

On August 7, 30-year-old former blink drummer Travis Barker filed for divorce from Shanna Moakler, a former Miss USA (1996) and Playboy's December 2001 Playmate of the Month. The filing comes soon after pagesix.com alleged …

For six years, Rodney Garcia played bass in Dukkha, one of about 20 roc en español bands based in the San Diego--Tijuana region. "When the big labels saw the success of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and …

Mike Pierce, 21, has been playing on the streets of P.B., I.B., O.B., and downtown for two and a half years. For the past six months, he and his buddy Tex Gibbons, 20, have been …

Imperiously, Arthur Levitt Jr. says that San Diego suffers from a "prevailing culture of political expedience" and employs "artful manipulation" in its financial reports. Levitt should know. The $20.3 million report that his company, Kroll …

The prodigious thirst of EastLake and other new communities in eastern Chula Vista has prompted the Otay Water District to build a $6 million pump station. According to the district's website, the new EastLake Greens …

It may be the best-kept secret on Broadway. Chula Vista, that is. The patio of La Costa Azul ("the Blue Coast") feels like any beach café on the Mexican coast. Except the family that runs …

“We’re going to transform it into an up-market place. But still affordable.”

Follow the confidential e-mail trail.

'There are a lot of people who don't want to spend much more than $15.'

'We live in a really lazy society," says author and photographer Kip Fulbeck. "We want things to be cut and dried: 'This guy has a suit, so he must be a businessman' or 'This guy …

Hello there, oh great one: Where does the phrase "break a leg" come from? One source says it may have come from the whole incident with Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. The same source …

Let me tell you about my leave of absence. Like you're dying to know. One letter poured in. It was hard to tell exactly what the writer was trying to express as it was written …

Hi Matt: Do cats sweat? If not, how do they stay cool in this hot weather? -- Curious of North Park Ugh. Summer. Under our recent extreme conditions, Grandma and the elves have taken to …

One night, when I lived in Clairemont, horror came in through the front door. I was cooking chicken in the tiny old oven in the dilapidated kitchen of my ancient apartment. While cooking, I divided …

What turned me was the Floyd Landis interview on...pick one, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Live, CNN Live, ESPN News,or Fox News. Landis is answering questions, but he's speaking mealy-mouth lawyer instead of …

What It Used to Be Like: A Portrait of My Marriage to Raymond Carver by Maryann Burk Carver. St. Martin's Press, 2006, $25.95, 368 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Maryann Burk Carver met Raymond Carver …

Raspy throated wild oats and foxtails chafe in the summer breeze. Hawks and ravens glide overhead, the sound of rushing air faintly audible in their feathers. A sleek coyote trots smugly along, its ears directed …

Thirty Years Ago Entire sections of the [Comedy Store]audience were on their way out, disgusted by the preceding scene. I wonder to this day whether anyone could have made them laugh at that point. Not …

Last night I woke up to find my cat Zorro hogging the bed next to me...and not just lying on the bed, he was under the covers! As I went to move him so that …

One of the hottest new spots is Stingaree -- a giant (22,000 square feet) disco palace with a serious restaurant on the first floor, under the charge of chef Antonio Friscia (previously at Alfieres at …

A friend called to tell me about a party she was crashing in Mission Valley. Country singer Kenny Chesney was there. (I recognized the name from his two-month marriage to Renée Zellweger.) One of Chesney's …

Billing themselves as "the Jesters of Rock," Collage Menage has gone through two dozen members since forming in 1988, with identical twins Hans and Fritz Jensen as the constant core. "To fit in with this …

"When I was in Sol Power, we used to play with P.O.D. at Crowns [in Tijuana]," says Tim Pacheco, hired last fall by P.O.D. "This was in the early '90s, before they got signed to …

"Parkway Plaza's slightly overzealous mall security apparently thinks there's something dangerous about guys handing out free CDs and flyers," says Duff-O-Cide bassist Jay Sassin. "We were giving out our Don't Munch a Duff EP, and …

Hot Monkey Love Café is the only all-age venue in the county that has offered a weekly hip-hop open-mike night. MC Tran Kwell (Scott Finnestad) has been going to the College Area hangout since it …

This summer has been filled with parties. There was husband Patrick's poker party with pals. There was karaoke night with old college friends who have an obsession with Sinatra. An early-July barbecue and bonfire at …

Sirhan Sirhan founder/guitarist/vocalist Jason Blackmore used to be in Molly McGuire, a Kansas City band that had one album on Epic. "We played a leg on the last official Lollapalooza tour in '97," says Blackmore. …

"Gave her the song on a Friday and she got canned the next Tuesday," says Superdoo singer Christopher Dale of "Hilary," his musical tribute to the recently fired 91X DJ (sample lyric: "Yeah, you're the …

"When the Deftones' White Pony album came out, they played a big show at the Coors Amphitheatre. When the tour manager came in to check them in [to the hotel], they waited outside on the …

That's Holi for You We've all seen kids color elephants red, color the sky pink, and color water yellow. Such iconoclastic color schemes are usually the results of lack of adequate colors or indifference to …

Will San Diego's vaunted industrial clusters bomb out? Hardly. But one biotech center, Scripps Research Institute, is already setting up a branch in Florida, and another, Burnham Institute for Medical Research, is expected to announce …

“Things are changing, my friend. All this is gonna be history. Enjoy it while you can.”

I first met Robert Morrill in 1979. He was 27 and had moved the year before to San Diego with his wife and two young children. The family had settled into a modest apartment on …

'I don't care about flavors of scorched earth or wet stones.'

'I loved his art, I loved his image," says Cristina Favretto, director of Special Collections at San Diego State University. "And I loved that he would go places and people would speak for him and …

An Open Letter to Mel Gibson Mel, You've had a little trouble this past weekend. It's all right, Mel. We all slip on occasion. I have a proposal for you, Mel. I read about your …

Continuing with Don Jacklin, president of the American Mule Racing Association. He is, by the way, the Jacklin of Jacklin Seed, "one of the world's largest national and international grass-seed research, production, and marketing organizations." …

The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden by William Alexander. Algonquin Books, 2006, $22.95, 288 pages. FROM …

Indians called it "Mountain of Moonlit Rocks," an appropriate name for a landmark visible, even at night, over great distances. Early white settlers dubbed it "Cobbleback Peak," a name utterly descriptive of its rugged, boulder-strewn …

Thirty Years Ago On separate nights 16-year-old Danny stole a Mercury in Logan Heights and zigzagged down the street, ricocheting off parked cars; Jimmy, 17, beat up "some white cat," robbed him, and rode off …

My mother's alter ego is the Queen of Clean. She runs our household with an iron fist (usually covered by a yellow rubber glove), ready for battle with a Clorox Toilet Wand in one hand …

During last year's Comic-Con, I got a call informing me about a party at a hotel downtown. The agent from New York rattled off an A-list of stars who would be there but finished saying, …

“They rub the meat with salt, garlic, spices. You’ll taste all those good rubbings, all right.”

"Sheer Greed" is how one person described the price bump for parking at ipayOne Center's Slayer show on July 20. In the past, parking has cost $10 per car; Slayer fans paid $15. Through Arena …

The Jefferson Jay Project, the Jefferson Jay Band, The Jefferson Jay Show -- this guy keeps busy. Formerly known as Brainstorm, the Jefferson Jay Band has been playing around San Diego for five years and …

Since Tom DeLonge pulled the plug on blink-182 in February 2005, the other two members -- Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker -- haven't said much about their breakup...until last week. Barker spoke to MTV.com about …

Over 100,000 people attended this year's Comic-Con, and Snoop Dogg almost wasn't one of them (he didn't arrive until after his scheduled appearances). The rapper missed a panel to promote his upcoming movie and comic, …

If you are living out of a sense of obligation you are a slave. -- Wayne Dyer You might think, after you read what I'm about to share, that I am a horrible person. But …

"Meeting Maxine Waters, Al Franken, Marc Maron, and DNC chairman Howard Dean was a hoot," says Jeff Berkley of DemocracyFest, a three-day political festival that took place July 14--16 at SDSU. His band Berkley Hart …

"I walked in one night, and it was dead," says Jeff "Mono Mono" Beringer about the open-mike night at Hillcrest's Brass Rail. "No one was there, so I approached the manager. I said, 'Give me …

Dave Mustaine has announced that the second edition of his multi-band Gigantour will launch in San Diego on September 7. Megadeth, Lamb of God, Opeth, Arch Enemy, Overkill, and others will share the bill. The …

After much rescheduling, Jewel's "Punk Rock Angel Girl" cartoon shorts will begin airing on Nickelodeon around Halloween. According to a production assistant, "We had to wait for her script revisions, and she gets final approval …

For my nine-year-old, choosing a vocation is all about the gear. Now it's an astronaut, now a cowboy, now a fireman -- whatever equipment strikes him as cool that day. Last week while we were …

Arbitrary tales from east and west Never mind the title. All tales here are going to be based in the singular location on Earth called Bangalore. No, wait. The East refers to the eastern part …

On March 28, 2006, Diann Shipione, the one who blew the whistle on San Diego's pension mendacity, received a letter from the City of San Diego's Audit Committee, composed of forensic accountants Kroll, Inc., and …

Four years ago, the City of San Diego hired Republican Patrick Garahan, a Coronado-based lobbyist, to persuade the United States Congress to pay for a multimillion-dollar pedestrian bridge. The bridge would link downtown's Petco Park …

When beer magnate Pete Coors was pulled over in May by a Colorado cop for drunk driving, officials at UCSD probably weren't too sympathetic. Coors and his hard-partying siblings, heirs to the beer empire bearing …

Spending too much time waiting for freight trains to cross César E. Chávez Parkway (formerly Crosby Street) at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal in Barrio Logan? So apparently are staffers for the Port of San …

Backers of moving San Diego International Airport to Miramar put their identities and some of their money on the table earlier this week, as revealed in a financial disclosure report filed Monday by the "Coalition …