I wasn't always in trouble or on drugs when I was in the Navy. But I did report to the boat with two black eyes, a busted lip, and mangled nose. My new chief took …

It was a recent Friday night in Normal Heights and University Heights, each to either side of my address on Adams; I'm not sure in which I reside. My son was visiting for the weekend. …

The frenzy of the battlefield is not Eastwood's forte as a director.

Leonard Woolf: A Biography by Victoria Glendinning. Free Press, 2006, 512 pages, $30 WHAT THE CRITICS SAY: Publishers Weekly: Although Leonard Woolf (1880--1969) was a seminal figure in the Bloomsbury set, he is known today …

In Cervantes's great novel, Don Quixote, the don interrupts Master Pedro's Moorish puppet show. "You've put church bells in mosques", the offended Don exclaims. Pedro, the puppeteer, replies, "Don't be looking for trifles, Señor Quixote, …

I received an invitation to a funeral, which I didn't think would be fun to attend, but then several miniature five dollar bills fell out. It would be a Vegas-style memorial in honor of a …

Thirty Years Ago Art's wife suffered a stroke one afternoon in October. The North County paramedics, dressed in black Can't Bustems and blue work-shirts, did what they could for her. The ambulance came to take …

The linear, V-shaped gash of Hauser Canyon slices across one of the really remote, southern parts of San Diego County. Many years ago, travelers could descend into the canyon by car on a dirt road …

Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting. -- John Russell O vercome by hormonal surges, most pregnant women are a little crazy. My sister Jane, who was a bit off in the head before she …

T he cold fact of age -- ten years now -- has taken the spring out of our Scottish terrier Nellie's step. "She doesn't even jump up on the bed anymore," lamented Patrick, even though …

Title: Blog San Diego Address: www.blogsandiego.com Author: Eric Nielsen, Keith Boyd, Krista Nielsen, coeditors From: Ocean Beach Blogging since: March 2005 Post Date: December 27, 2006 Post Title: Post-Christmas e-mail from L.B. Children awake -- …

'T he Emperor,/ his bullies/ and henchmen/ terrorize the world/ every day,/ which is why/ every day/ we need/ a little poem/ of kindness,/ a small song of peace/ a brief moment/ of joy." My …

Glass, stained in various shades of smoky watercolor blue -- indigo, teal, cornflower -- covers nearly all of the church's side and back walls. Here and there, slashes of red and orange catch the light, …

Add To Cart As I clicked on the "Place Your Order" button, having once again spent more money on Amazon than I make in a week, I realized I didn't care. Because I am getting …

"The supplier I found was throwing away the extras from all the organically grown filet mignons he was cutting."

'It galls me that all these house-and-garden shows called 'restoration something' are showing people who own an old building, and the very first thing they say is, 'Well, we had to gut it,'" says preservationist …

"What I want to sell people on is the concept of discovering."

I've been calling for Marty Schottenheimer's dismissal since the day he was hired. I take no pleasure -- indeed, it is troubling -- to find myself in the company of corporate media at this late …

When San Diego lounge scenestress Erika Davies isn't belting out jazz standards by the likes of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald or doing her version of Sinatra or Nat King Cole tunes, she's busy playing …

One of the most popular videos on YouTube last week was Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz versus a security guard at a concert in Albuquerque. The video showed that Wentz had been helping fans …

The Bayside venue on the Embarcadero increased from hosting 8 pop-music shows in 2005 to 23 shows in 2006. Last year, Viejas Entertainment brought major-name artists such as the Black Eyed Peas, Radiohead, and Angels …

"I was driving on my own to a gig in Colorado when my tour van skidded on some black ice," says singer/songwriter Astra Kelly. "When the wheels hit the dirt, the van started rolling over, …

"I don't know what's going on, but 'Neo-Conservative Blues' suddenly jumped to number 88 on Neil Young's Living with War website," says Mark DeCerbo. A week earlier, the song -- cowritten with comic book and …

U2 front man Bono recently disavowed the band's current greatest hits compilation, U218 Singles, as "a joke, really, because we've never been much of a singles band." However, the set has been a boon for …

Carlsbad-based Van Halen tribute band OU812 concentrates on the Sammy Hagar years. "Plenty of bands do David Lee Roth, but we don't think anyone wants to see us in Spandex," says bassist John Osmon. OU812 …

Last week, a song by the reunited Sassy MoFoS was ranked number 3 (of around 6100) on the alt-punk chart at www.soundclick.com. "It's called 'You Smell Like Something I Wouldn't Want to Touch (But I'm …

It's a huge boat for a tiny tax-and-secrecy haven. The new $33 million yacht sported by David Copley, owner of Copley Press and The Union-Tribune, is registered in Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands, a …

Much of the downtown hotel industry gets a "double subsidy of taxpayer support plus public assistance for its hardest workers," Micah Mitrosky tells me. That's one conclusion she reached after taking the Graduate Student Practicum …

Two impending San Diego conferences are of more than passing note for those with an interest in the dicey side of politics. First up is called the Capital Campus California Retreat, sponsored by George Mason …

Capitol Weekly, a Sacramento paper aimed at state government insiders, is out with its annual list of legislative staff salaries. Among San Diego representatives, Wade Teasdale, ex-staff director for North County GOP senator Bill Morrow, …

Since Chargers star running back LaDainian Tomlinson isn't going to the Super Bowl this year, he can now turn his attention to some of his other interests, which have included politics. On January 4, 2006, …

Will a North County Southern-style barbecue created by a Bronx-born Italian American become the next Jack in the Box? Maybe not -- but how about the next Rubio's or Sammy's Woodfired Pizza? That's the kind …