At approximately 7 a.m. on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009, a lifeguard discovered a 28-foot vessel abandoned at the edge of the surf in the Torrey Pines area close to Tower 7. Local agents followed tracks …

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, Freud pointed out. He would never have said the same thing about a house. Certainly Carl Jung would not. In my case, as I approach my former address …

The San Diego County Lincoln Club had mixed results in the November elections. Its heavy spending helped to easily oust Democratic city attorney Mike Aguirre. But some political insiders say that the club — composed …

Leaders of those two local environmental groups who just cut a deal with San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders not to oppose a sought-after waiver of federal sewage-treatment requirements are making pretty decent money. According to …

One hundred thirty-one thousand baby rattles made in China for Infantino, LLC, a Sorrento Valley–based baby toy company, were ordered recalled on January 15 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The “Lamb and Lion …

Thirty Years AgoGOOD WOMAN STILL LOOKING, the Saturday after this appears, I’ll be in the science exhibit next to the Space Theater, same time. I wear a turquoise windbreaker with white trim. Ask for Mike. …

Drummer Andy Robillard has been playing in local bands for 15 years, including Butch Wax Duo and gogogo airheart. His latest band the Tighten Ups rents a room at the Universal Sound practice complex near …

“It’s outrageously hot on stage inside our ninja outfits,” says keyboardist Matt Liebowitz, one half of “karate-rock” duo Ninja Love. “Black pants, black shoes, black T-shirts, black hoodies with the hood up at all times, …

While much is being made of pop stars Beyoncé and Mos Def portraying music icons Etta James and Chuck Berry in the movie Cadillac Records, several San Diego artists have also had stints impersonating hit-makers …

In June 1978, Beach Boy Brian Wilson — without telling his wife or bandmates — decided to escape his life and hitchhike to Mexico. He wound up in San Diego, according to Steven Gaines’s biography …

In 2007 Rolling Stone ran a cover story marking the 20th anniversary of Guns N’ Roses debut studio album Appetite for Destruction. That same year Marc Cantor, early-days photographer for GNR, wrote a book, Reckless …

What are you reading? “Breaking Dawn [by Stephenie Meyer]. It’s the fourth installment in the Twilight series.” Tell me about it. “I’m only about 20 pages in, but it’s really good. It’s about a younger …

This miserable “era of peace” has nearly bankrupted my giant robot army before I’ve even had the chance to get any of them out the door. I’m sittin’ on 45 giant robots in a National …

Singer-songwriter Mary Dolan — a fixture in the San Diego music scene in the ’90s — was off the local radar for several years. “Our son Jack was born in November 2004, the day before …

Eagles of Death Metal don’t sound like the Eagles, and they don’t sound like death metal. But with this band it’s not just the nonsensical name, it’s the whole package of ridiculousness. It’s the cheesy …

John Mayall is, at 75 years of age, tireless. With 56 albums to his credit (not including compilations), he says he will record number 57 soon and, following that, take his new band on the …

The dim month after the year-end Oscar drive — Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Bride Wars, The Unborn, Notorious, My Bloody Valentine, Inkheart, Outlander, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, et al. — looked to be brightened …

On February 25 of last year, professional skydiver Alan (Buzz) Fink and his wife Kristina, who are not residents of San Diego, gave a total of $640 to Jan Goldsmith in his run for city …

My friends and I have a game that we invented in our group. It’s called “butt-cracked.” Being butt-cracked is when you accidentally see someone bent over with pants that don’t fit well and you see …

Sunday at Cornerstone Church of San Diego was bright with promise. It was also bright with spotlights and searchlights, glowing now white, now green, now pink during the opening half-hour of praise. The lights matched …

The Box will step aside while the hive swarms toward Super Bowl 43, not wishing to excite the gaggle while it’s feeding. Instead, for your sports-minded consideration, I’ll offer up a column about two merry …

Sometimes, on a Friday night, if you’re a kid and you live in the wilds of San Marcos, all you have are your friends, your skateboard, and a 7-Eleven. Here’re four guys; we’ll call them …

In the theater, said Marlon Brando, “You can have a universal experience of fear, of anger, of tears, of love, and I discovered that it’s the audience, really, that’s doing the acting.” Audiences can also …

Remember the guy who hijacked a tank and drove it through the streets of San Diego? They say this is where he got the tank, at the National Guard Armory in Linda Vista. And not …

After nearly nine years in San Diego, I’d never been to any of the Bully’s restaurants and felt a tad guilty about my ignorance of a local institution. The mini-chain was established back in 1967, …

Good Mosquito Report Geoff Bouvier did a great job on the West Nile cover story on January 22 (“Deadly Mosquitoes Breed in Our Urban Drool”). I am a physician, so have an interest in this, …

When I learned Harrah’s Rincon was opening up a sports bar called the Sports Pit in late September, I decided to hit it. They offered lots of free food and drinks and two former NFL …

Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children. — George Bernard Shaw Bella was the first to notice me. She waved one hand high above her head and used the …

Hooray! We’re going to Palm Springs for a weekend at a friend’s place! Boo! My 11-year-old broke his elbow during his first-ever game of pads-free backyard tackle football! “I knew it was a bad idea,” …

Anthony Terlato — importer, distributor, marketer, and now winery owner — never intended to write a book about his life in the wine business. He was content being the guy in the background who made …

The late-winter midday sun gently simmers the lowest elevations of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, yet it more coolly illuminates the 4000-foot plateau of Pinyon Mountain Valley, lying high in the park’s central mountain range — …

When it comes to fighting global warming, San Diego Gas & Electric and its parent company, Sempra Energy, are accomplishing the neat trick of being both first and last. Sempra, for its part, has built …

On Saturday, January 24th, 2009 from 9 to 11 a.m., volunteers gathered in Ocean Beach eager to participate in the San Diego Coastkeeper’s beach cleanup program, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company Fund. Twice monthly, …

Tenika Garteiz of High Tech High in Chula Vista is on a quest for gold, the Girl Scout’s Gold Award that is. Yet it’s really her school that will reap the reward, in terms of …

The Beach Area Community Court held its Volunteer Training on January 27, 2009, inside the Discover Pacific Beach headquarters located at 1503 Garnet Avenue. The court is a voluntary prosecutorial diversion program for adult offenders …

After more than a decade on the planning books, ground was broken on January 27, 2009, for construction of a new YMCA in Rancho San Diego. Located adjacent to the Rancho San Diego Towne Center …