I've flown over the Salton Sea many times. From the air, it doesn't look real. The blue expanse and the green fields of the Coachella and Imperial Valleys that butt up against the sea's northern …

'It's old-world style - very dry, a little bit of an earthy, peppery streak.'

'In the early '90s I had a tongue piercing, before most people knew what they were," says "extreme artist" Scott Nelson. "I would go to bars, take a nail, and nail my tongue to a …

I was invited to a Cinco de Mayo party at the Wave House in Mission Beach. The producer of a radio show on Free FM 103.7 called and told me that I would be able …

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park is a spacious Orange County preserve covering several thousand acres of natural landscape adjacent to Laguna Beach. Emerald Canyon, one of its finer natural features, carves its way down a three-mile …

Hey, Matt! Baby animals are so cute I am sad when I eat them. It's fun to watch them play. What about the birds and the bees? Do hatchling insects, ornithoids, and reptilians play? Fireball, …

Can you bring to mind the best story you've ever heard? On demand? Here's mine? David was a curiosity. First, his appearance, which begins, and it will stop you, with thick spectacles, the thickest glasses …

Our great national spokesman, Chuck Berry, pictured our country as one "where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day." He wrote those words back in the pre-Golden Arches USA, when burgers didn't come …

Thirty Years Ago "Hell, you want to know what flat broke is? Flat broke is when I had to walk seven miles home because I didn't have a penny left. Lost every cent. There was …

One time I got a haircut in a Polish train station. I wouldn't recommend it. The woman who gave me the cut must have been an amateur ornithologist because she fashioned the side of my …

TRAVEL AGENTS "The name was adopted from a classic Dragnet episode that dealt with psychoactive drugs like LSD, and 'travel agent' was a term for someone who guided you on your trip, so to speak. …

"I grabbed the palm-sized, diamond-studded medallion hanging from a platinum chain around his neck and said, “I see you brought your bling."

Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations by J. Edward Chamberlain. BlueBridge, 2006; $24.95; 288 pages, including 25 black and white illustrations. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Ever since the dawn of human history, horses have …

“It’s so strong, they have banned it on Paris public transport.”

"This is what I like worship to be like," said one teenaged boy to another before the service began. "A guitar solo in every song." He was right. The opening 25 minutes might have been …

When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. -- G.K. Chesterton "I spare no expense when it comes to my girls," Dad said …

At the Queen's Table My grandmother once told me, "Through 59 years of marriage, Jeremy, I never once considered leaving your grandfather." She shrugged her shoulders, folded her hands, and added, "I did consider murder …

After being burned in a pay-to-play ticket scam, Troy Troyus of the Abrasives formed Punx Union to organize shows for local and touring acts. With the help of his band members and other musicians, Troyus …

Strangers Six guitarist Luke Johnson said his three-year-old local band didn't have to lift a telephone to get on MTV2. "They were following how many hits we got on purevolume.com. That and myspace.com." Based on …

Metal Blade Records' all-metal roster of 20-plus bands was known for death metal (Cattle Decapitation, Cannibal Corpse, Goatwhore), progressive metal (Fates Warning, Psychotic Waltz), and hard-rock names that go back to the 1980s (Armored Saint). …

"People like to keep the party going between clubs." To pay the rent, metal drummer Kurt McCracken drives a cab for San Diego Taxi. He says 60 to 70 percent of his clients are regulars …

Bernice's furniture has had a hard year. Half of her dining room chairs collapsed. "I think it's because of my hubby's beer belly," she jested. A few months later, the dining room table lost a …

The Kraken in Carlsbad celebrates 30 years' operating in the same locale on Saturday, May 20. There will be an afternoon barbeque and Blue Heat and other local bands performing in the evening. "I opened …

"New Yorkers really like San Diego music," says Grams guitarist Chuck Schiele, who has played or promoted around a dozen NYC shows during the past year. "They came. They clapped. They bought CDs. All the …

During last fall's election campaign, Jerry Sanders told voters that if elected mayor he would take a positive message abou San Diego on the road. In late March, Sanders traveled to New York and Washington, …

A popular part-time teacher of advertising in the School of Communication at San Diego State University has been dumped, and he claims it's because old-line professors were upset that he criticized the system that guarantees …

Despite a bit more reportorial enterprise and jazzy Sunday front pages, circulation at the Union-Tribune continues its long decline. According to numbers released last week by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, in the six-month period …

Las Vegas is trying to woo the Chargers. Sports reporters say there could be a roadblock: major professional sports leagues claim they are reluctant to see teams relocate to Sin City. The gambling industry might …