San Diego City Council meeting minutes, May 22
Liz Swain 4:24 p.m., May 24
Stories for August 2012
Friday, August 31
Junior Seau’s New Surfboard
The California Surf Museum in Oceanside is displaying a surfboard that honors Junior Seau’s connection to the ocean as well as the community he touched. Through the effort of artist Cherrie La Porte, the glass ...
Tea Shop Clerk by Day, Burlesque Dancer by Night
Annelise Arevalo explains the challenges and benefits of creating a life around doing what you love. First, tell me what you do. I am a burlesque dancer. I received a B.A. in dance from the ...
No Window to Glaze at Point Loma Donut Shop
Winchell's Donuts in Point Loma has had an unsightly problem for a while. Channel 10 News reported on June 23 that a car had gone through the front window of the shop located at 1501 ...
Thursday, August 30
A Week on a New Hampshire Lake
Summer is a great time to visit New Hampshire. In the spring, there are a lot of biting flies and it rains all the time. But once the warm, dry months of July and August ...
Lost Your Job? Relax.
Even though most people have looked for work in recent years, it makes sense that some have no idea where to begin the job search.
Matisyahu's Spark Seeker
Matisyahu's Spark Seeker is not a reggae album. On the first offering from the artist since his break with the Hasidic faith, Matisyahu deftly weaves traditional Hebrew chants and Middle Eastern textures with the ego ...
West Coast Rising at Casbah
Following a commendable opening set from Dostoevsky-referencing Ivan & Alyosha, San Diego’s Heavy Guilt took the stage and showcased a bevy of absorbing new material. It was a sickeningly sweaty night at the Casbah that ...
Cairo, Post-Revolution
Cairo, Egypt, is a riveting blend of ancient and modern. I was apprehensive traveling here, though, because of reports of lingering unrest in Cairo after the country’s recent revolution. Yet I found the Egyptian people ...
Heavy Hearts for Tiny in Chula Vista
Craig Wayne Hartman, "Tiny,” a Chula Vista High School alum, class of '72, was found dead in the bathroom of the Food 4 Less on Palomar Street in Chula Vista on August 13, apparently stabbed...that ...
Wednesday, August 29
Wind Project’s Heavy Equipment Damages Desert
On August 28, Parke Ewing, an Ocotillo resident, took photos of heavy equipment being operated by Pattern Energy employees who are building the Ocotillo Wind Express Energy Project. The machinery is plowing over and crushing ...
New Borderline Road to Aid Patrols Near Goat Canyon
The U.S. Border Patrol recently finished pouring concrete on an extraordinary road that's less than a half mile long but is so steep and twisty that it couldn't be built by private contractors. The road ...
The Ferocious Stephen Rey
“Goddammit, people! It’s a Saturday night!” Stephen Rey yells into a microphone. “Get your asses up here.” And they do, and then he and the Sex Trash pile it on. There are only three of ...
Pride, billiards, and change back at Lancers
There’s a “we don’t want you” vibe at Lancers, but it’s just pride.
Anything Goes at Moonlight Theatre
The S.S. America sails into Porterland, a place so sacred, the faithful feel like removing their shoes.
Tissue Tribute
KCR DJ “Scott Tissue” (aka Russ Lewis, former Reader proofreader) gets plaque dedication at SDSU radio station where he was on the air over 25 years.
Wilderness Gardens Preserve
Chaparral-cloaked hills, a wide river valley with oak woodland vegetation, and sections of lush riparian flora.
Benevolent Dictator
My fist shot straight out from my side, crossing in front of David’s chest, and released an index finger, aimed at the driver of the car to my right. It held the pose for half ...
Guys Are Gross
Men are still from Mars.
The girls kill them with kindness... Interviews with young ladies who frequent San Diego nightclubs.
Fast Food and Politics
Super PAC icPurple, set up by Gateway computer megamillionaire Ted Waitt of La Jolla to back the failed independent mayoral campaign of ex-GOP state assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, is still in business. According to the committee’s ...
Letters from the End of the World, Part One
The letters of Testuzo Hirasaki, a Japanese American interned at the Santa Anita racetrack (dubbed “Santa Japanita”) following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Feed Your Head
Thursday 30One-time San Diego–based dirty-blues duo Little Hurricane blows back into town. The SDMA winners (Best New Artist) are out to tout their Homewrecker CD. After a few more West Coast dates, Tone and CC ...
They Blow Right by the Law
Those @#$^&* kite surfers!
Lots of kite surfers nowadays at Tourmaline Surfing Park in Pacific Beach. Is there a law against it?
Random Music Box
UCSD professor/inventor Tom Erbe to perform “Williams Mix” in honor of John Cage’s 100th birthday.
Rock de AT&T
Rock de AT&T It was a penultimate series of sorts: the almost-final round of dining and entertainment freebies accepted by staffers of Democratic state senator Juan Vargas, odds-on favorite to win the 51st District seat ...
Record-Release Roundup
The new full-length from Timothy H, Loved or Hated But Never Ignored, drops Saturday, September 1, at 710 Beach Club in P.B. “Attendees can expect banging beats with ripping punk-rock guitars,” says H, “along with ...
Not Those United States, These United States
In an election year, each candidate argues that his or her vision of America is the real one and that the other candidate’s is not. But there are 300 million of us, and there are ...
Full-Service Lobbyists
MJE Marketing, the lobbying outfit that’s been helping to push the controversial Irwin Jacobs Balboa Park makeover through city hall, picked up another $31,000 for its services in the second quarter of the year, recent ...
Scan Diego?
A cockeyed look at the businesses that look inside your body; namely, Heart Check and Life Score Clinic.
Rhymeprose on an Owl
Disaster is to fortune as strands of a single rope. Fate is past understanding — who comprehends its bounds? Force water and it spurts, force an arrow and it goes far: All things are propelled ...
Beach Landing, Iwo Jima
They didn’t shoot at us. A silent scene until we clogged the beach, and then — all hell, potato masher hand grenades, machine gun fire, artillery. I swear each shell passed close enough you could ...
Letters
Typical Anti-Semitism Regarding Name Withheld’s letter (August 16) concerning the Sheep and Goats interview with Rabbi Cain. Rabbi Cain’s belief in reincarnation is not a belief typically held by Jews. The fact that this is ...
August 23 Crossword Contenders
Flo Abena, Rancho Penasquitos, 2. Jerry Anders, Scripps Ranch, 2. Lana Andrews, La Mesa, 2. Mark Arnold, Rancho Penasquitos, 2. Martha Awdziewicz, Clairemont, 2. Thomas Baggot, Carlsbad, 2. Jeanmarie Barnes, Allied Gardens, 2. Brian Borlan, ...
August 23 Sudoku Contenders
Evil Susan Avery, Escondido, 2. Carl Baltrunas, Milpitas, 2. Bliss Beedle, Encinitas, 2. Felix E Charfaurs, San Diego , 2. * Joseph Ciprian, Little Italy, 2. Last week we all started anew, I hope this ...
Tuesday, August 28
Newbreak Church’s New Place in Ocean Beach
Since the year 1917, there has been a house of worship at the corner of Cape May Avenue and Ebers Street in Ocean Beach. On August 25 at 5:00 p.m., the latest holy incarnation debuted ...
Spectacular Mono Lake
See the Eastern Sierra's great salt lake, just east of Yosemite.
Highway 89 south out of Lake Tahoe to Route 395 has got to be one of THE most pleasurable rides in a stick shift. It’s definitely a road reserved for the unfettered. The steep switchbacks ...
Singapore: A "Fine" City
(Just be sure to leave the drugs at home.)
The city-state of Singapore is known for being a "fine city," a title imbued with two very different meanings: one is that it's a fine city to live in, while the second refers to its ...
Ocean Beach Pier Jump Goes Unpunished
According to an eyewitness named Andrew, he and his girlfriend were sitting on the sand at the end of Newport Avenue at around 11 p.m. on August 25 when a young man jumped off the ...
The Plan for Golden Hill's Newest Multistory Building
Turning an old service station into a mixed-use urban development is the latest Golden Hill project for FoundationForForm, the architects behind mxd830 on 25th Street, home to bar/restaurant Counterpoint and Mosaic Yoga, as well as ...
Monday, August 27
Lucca, Italy: Puccini and the Heart of Tuscany
I was invited by the Tuscan city of Lucca, Italy, to learn more about its beloved son, Giacomo Puccini. The fifth generation of famous musicians in his family, Puccini lived from 1858–1924 and was the ...
Gas Leak Scare in Tijuana Parking Structure
On the morning of August 25, Tijuana bomberos arrived en masse, sirens howling, at the soon-to-be completed multistory parking structure next to the Las Pulgas nightspot located at the intersection of Avenida Revolución and Calle ...
Sunday, August 26
Catch the Bakery Thief, Get Rolls for Life
Baked, a bakery located near the boardwalk in Mission Beach, has been robbed twice since June. Owner Nanci Houlgate said the burglar took “a whole bunch of bread, cookie dough and, oh…some change,” referring to ...
A Return to Cuba
As I walked through U.S. customs down the hall and out the electric doors into the Los Angeles sunlight, I was excited to see my mother. My mother, upon seeing me, both smiled and then ...
Rock Church to Remain at Liberty Station
Following the recent crisis in which the Rock Church was in peril of losing their Liberty Station operating permit, congregants received via email the church’s official reply to the fiasco. Chief operations officer Mark Stevens ...
Saturday, August 25
Ocotillo Wind Energy Project Advances
On Thursday morning, August 23, Parke Ewing, a resident of Ocotillo, took this photo of the erection of the first of 112 towers for the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility Project. Heavy equipment, such as a ...
Planning Commission Denies Jack in the Box’s North Park Project
The San Diego Planning Commission voted on August 23 to deny the demolition and reconstruction of the Jack in the Box at 2959 Upas Street in North Park. The corporation sought to "demolish an existing ...
Friday, August 24
Circus Protest on Sports Arena Boulevard
Protesters were back in the Midway District again, but they weren’t there to stand up for gay rights or the personal views of Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy. This time protesters were upset about the Ringling ...
Tijuana Wastewater Cleaner Than San Diego’s
For the first time since it was built in 1997, the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant at the U.S.-Mexico border has met the standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency three months in a ...
Have You Eaten Rice Yet?
As I watched my favorite street vendor whip up the usual thirty baht (approximately $1 USD) shrimp pad thai, I noticed that she added more love into it than usual on this particular evening. Devouring ...
Omiš, Croatia
Maya, my three-year-old Border collie mix, and I had been traveling through Europe. We had started in Athens, and now we were in Split, Croatia, at a dog-friendly B&B. The owners said that almost anything ...
Redd Kross' Researching the Blues
The last album by Southern California alt-rockers Redd Kross came out in 1997. Fifteen years later, we finally have a follow-up. You know music has been sliced, diced, and sub-genred to death when a straight-up ...
Alabama Shakes Bring Heat Lightning to House of Blues
The Alabama Shakes brought southern soul and blues to a sold-out House of Blues. The hot and sweaty crowd swayed, danced, and soaked in the soulful voice of lead singer Brittany Howard, the blues licks ...
Thursday, August 23
Tijuana Revisited, Part 2
A tequila bar on Avenida Revolución, and more...
(continued from an August 7 travel story) “Come on, take a photo,” urges a man standing on a corner of Avenida Revolución, locally known as “La Revo.” This is the main street running through T.J.’s ...
Wednesday, August 22
Between Slurps
“Californians drink wine by itself, like a cocktail. In France, we drink it always with food.”
Letters
Enjoyed Jeff I thoroughly enjoyed Jeff Smith’s eight-part series, “The Big Noise: The Free Speech Fight of 1912.” This appalling segment of San Diego history is not often talked about nor written about in our ...
Jason Marsalis
The Marsalis brother they don’t much talk about is Jason. Wynton Marsalis, 51, once considered the savior of all jazz has gotten celebrity ink to the point that he trips my odious meter. Branford, 52, ...
Hullabaloo Raises a Ruckus
“The best thing about performing for kids is how much pure joy we see on a daily basis,” says Steve Denyes of children’s music duo Hullabaloo. “Kids are so free and uninhibited, they just dance ...
Political Brewskis
Speaking of Ron Fowler, the voluble Del Mar resident spent a total of $35,224 on campaign contributions during the first half of this year, according to a major donor statement filed with the California secretary ...
Hive-Minded
I spend a lot of time online. Okay, more than a lot. The point is, I get around the interwebz. Though I’ve long considered “web surfing” my primary hobby, it wasn’t until I discovered Reddit ...
La Jolla Playhouse stages An Iliad
One of the best features of An Iliad is how contemporary references function like Homer’s similes.
Cosmopolitan Booty
Thursday 23Eighties new-wave staples Flock of Seagulls land at 4th&B Thursday night. Though the band name has become the butt of many a pop-culture joke — Mike Score’s trademark coif the hairpiece of that joke ...
Steakhouse Polititcs
It was fun and food in the Gaslamp Quarter at Lou & Mickey’s restaurant and bar for Republican state senator Anthony Cannella and his scheduler Jamie Mori and chief of staff Dillon Gibbons, thanks to ...
Why Grapes Cost More Than Raisins. What Eats Jellyfish.
Heymatt: A one-ounce box of raisins has about 110 raisins and costs about 25 cents. 110 fresh grapes costs about 98 cents. Since raisins take much more processing to convert them from grapes, which are ...
Three Mile Pilot
I often hear Three Mile Pilot described as influential, but it’s hard to say what that means. Since their ’90s heyday as a pillar of San Diego’s indie-rock reputation, nothing has sounded quite like the ...
The iPad Proposition
Sweetwater Union High School District bought iPads for all their seventh graders. Besides not measuring educational success from the computers’ use, there is no plan as to how to pay for them.
Flying in Circles
A few SDSU sports honchos were included on a courtesy flight from Alaska Airlines.
Pacific Hope Church
Certain churches draw people in by way of entertainment. Interview with Pastor John Leeder of Pacific Hope Church.
Buick Driver, Beamer Dreamer
Name: Dan Brozo Car: 2001 Buick Century Previous cars: 1991 BMW 525i How’s your commute? Clairemont to Sorrento Valley. Cheapest gas? I end up going to Shell more often than an Arco directly across the ...
The Toad
I was so startled, summers afterward, to still carry vividly in memory that scalding afternoon when, impatient to finish, I wheeled the push-mower over a parcel of warted flesh, flung back under the clattering, grass-flecked ...
August 16 Crossword Contenders
Flo Abena, Rancho Penasquitos, 1. Jerry Anders, Scripps Ranch, 1. Lana Andrews, La Mesa, 1. Mark Arnold, Rancho Penasquitos, 1. * Martha Awdziewicz, Clairemont, 1. It's now time to go back to school. Please don't ...
August 16 Sudoku Contenders
Evil Cindy Fisher, San Clemente, 6. Susan Avery, Escondido, 1. * Carl Baltrunas, Milpitas, 1. No Limerick this week No time to speak I slept all day So there is no way I can use ...
Tuesday, August 21
Utah's Moab Music Festival
"Concerts in the park" takes on a whole new meaning.
From August 29th through September 10th, music will echo through some of Utah’s most scenic canyons. The Moab Music Festival aims to merge music with the natural landscape found along the Colorado River in the ...
Ocean Beach Entrance Sign Under Attack!
The OB Rag recently reported how bad things have gotten for the Ocean Beach entrance sign located on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard. "The OB entryway sign is under attack — by termites and the weather. The ...
S.D. to S.F. – by Bike
A not-so-relaxing honeymoon
Held every October, the Million Dollar Challenge is a fundraising bike ride for challenged athletes in which participants cycle down the California coast from San Francisco to San Diego. The reverse route, however, can be ...
Cultural Feast in Old Delhi
Delhi, India, is all about culture, heritage and food. If you only have limited time here, the Old Delhi Bazaar walking tours are a must-see. Knowledgeable local guides lead you down the neighborhood’s winding streets ...
As Tall as You Want to Be
When he was two years old, this adopted child of two college professors suddenly and inexplicably stopped growing, and his health started to fail. A team of doctors gave him six months to live after ...
Monday, August 20
Tijuana’s Fish Markets Don’t Smell So Swell
The recent heat wave in the region has brought an olfactory offense to Tijuana’s largest wholesale fish market, located on Calle Sexta (6th Street), about seven blocks east of Avenida Revolución. The odor permeates the ...
A Blooper Reel of Résumé and Interview Blunders
Here are some résumé, application, and interview blunders which employers have shared with me. They would be amusing if they weren’t so tragic, and so avoidable: We received a résumé written in long-hand on three-ring ...
Study Finds Paying for Sick Leave Saves Employers Money
By now, most workers realize that paid sick leave is a valuable workplace benefit that is no longer guaranteed by many employers. Reducing or eliminating sick-leave allotments has become increasingly common as employers over the ...
Sunday, August 19
Sweetwater Schools Chief Walks Away Before Q&A on Dirt
The dirt pile on Southwest High School’s athletic field will be gone by Monday, August 20, but the mound of questions raised about the Sweetwater Union High School District’s leadership remains undiminished. On Friday, August ...
Saturday, August 18
Construction Update: San Ysidro Border Station
Bulldozer operators and laborers armed with sledgehammers demolished a significant portion of the soon-to-be-revised Puerto de Mexico garita on August 10. The row of buildings — one of which was the destination for deported Mexicans ...
Friday, August 17
Van Fire in Hillcrest
A commercial van was destroyed by fire at about 11 a.m. on Friday, August 17, near the intersection of Park Boulevard and Robinson Avenue in Hillcrest. The fire generated a plume of black smoke and ...
Niagara Falls, Like Grandpa Used to Love
My grandfather was born in what is now the Ukraine, but was then known as Czarist Russia. When he later emigrated to the U.S. and got married to my grandmother, he wanted to go on ...
First Tower Arrives for Ocotillo Wind Energy Project
On August 16 at 8 a.m., the first of 111 towers for the Ocotillo Wind Energy Project arrived via trucks passing through the small community of Ocotillo. Traffic was halted as the trucks had to ...
Drought Drains Lakeside’s Lindo Lake
In Lakeside there’s been recent thunder and lightning, flash-flood warnings, and ominous skies, but not a drop of rain in sight. It’s a sad scene at Lindo Park. The upper lake is almost completely dried ...
Thursday, August 16
Pack-Probing Pickpocket Pinched in Tijuana
An alert American man caught a pickpocket with his hand stuck in his girlfriend’s backpack as they walked along Avenida Constitución around noon on August 12. Jubilant Mexicans filled the area and celebrated El Tri’s ...
At the World’s End: Ghost Mountain, Anza-Borrego
The majestic Anza-Borrego Desert never ceases to surprise me. It is an alien environment of ghostly, pale rocks and unforgiving heat. Ocotillo plants sprout like underwater coral from the barren sands that hide translucent scorpions ...
We Walk the Line: A Celebration of the Music of Johnny Cash
Recorded at Austin City Limits last April, We Walk the Line effectively lobbies for posthumous 80th birthday bashes. Brandi Carlile’s opening tear through “Folsom Prison Blues” convinces us she can at least imagine shooting “a ...
Jack White, Steady as He Goes
Jack White rushed the stage of the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, plugged in his blue Stratocaster, and started his set of high-speed blues, country, folk, and rock ’n’ roll. The opener, “Sixteen Saltines” from ...
Wednesday, August 15
Man Tries to Kill Wife... Twice
Larry Hoagland never really believed in divorce.
How did Larry Hoagland manage to blow up his wife while he ran a business, raised children, and juggled a girlfriend? Oh, yeah. He didn’t. After many surgeries, she testified against him.
Apartment Thief Suspect Taken into Custody in Loma Portal
With guns drawn and bearing a search warrant, a task force of law-enforcement officials knocked on the door of a West Point Loma Boulevard apartment on the morning of August 15. Taken into custody at ...
Normal Heights the New Gaslamp?
Kadan to close after ten years in Normal Heights; here come the Neighborhood (gastropub) people to take over the space.
Groovy, Baby
“Do you know who Terry Callier is?” Steve Kader pulls an album from a stack in a wood produce crate and runs down the list of first-call session players in the credits. “Callier’s like Richie ...
Tartufi's Future Is Going to Blow Our Minds
“You won’t believe all that sound is coming from two people!” People always say that about rock duos — and there are a lot of rock duos these days. But the truth is, you usually ...
Letters
It’s Dumb, It’s Journalism RE: “Afro Puffs,” July 12. Hey, all of you indignant, letter-to-the-editor-writing black girls: Printing someone’s stupid, wrong opinion about nobody liking black girls isn’t racism; it’s journalism. Probably no one took ...
Magic Tacos
Fond Comic-Con memories and a cod-taco plate at Tin Fish Gaslamp.
“First time I came here, the streets were for sailors and streetwalkers.”
Croce's Lovers Cross
The late barroom balladeer Jim Croce penned “Lover’s Cross” as a bittersweet break-up song, and perhaps there’s a bit of that to the drink which the song inspired at Croce’s Jazz Bar and Grill, the ...
No need for a shiny shirt at JSix or LOUNGESix
If one bar is good, then two must be great, right? Drinking at JSix means getting to choose between the lofty heights of LOUNGESix or the street-level swank of the restaurant bar. Located in the ...
Johnny B. Rad
Thursday 16Rough Trade roots rockers Alabama Shakes rattles and rolls into House of Blues behind this year’s crit hit Boys & Girls. The four-piece, based in Athens, Alabama, infuses Southern rock with an honest take ...
Folkie Fat Opie Sat on a Punk
When punks do folk music: Fat Opie is Scott Mickelson, Robin Hildebrant, and Dave Tavel, and punk-folk, if that’s even possible, is how they sound. And by that I mean not just a punk band ...
Crest Canyon Open Space Park
Walk among Torrey pine trees through coastal sage scrub and chaparral plants.
Homegrown McInnes
Nobody called it indie rock in the 1980s. You played original rock, and your band either had a record deal or it didn’t. And back in the days before digital technology, the foundation of a ...
Hargo Won a Was
“We just won a huge battle of the bands called ‘Gimme the Gig,’” says soulful world-rocker Hargo, whose self-named band scored a music video and recording session with celeb producer Don Was as part of ...
Chad Farran Goes Batty in Belize
Chad Farran releases Surfari Sessions Volume 2, music he wrote for Fuel TV show On Surfari.
The Racial Memory of John Valadez
When I saw Ridley Scott’s film Prometheus, I was reminded that our best filmmakers are now nearly sole proprietors of the visionary mood. Scott’s movie, with its spectral holographic conjurings of mythic ancestors spiraling through ...
Mexican President-Elect Peña Nieto vs. #yosoy132
Mexico's president-elect may not look like he's got problems, but he does.
San Diego–Barona Stars
When the Field of Dreams gets cut short, there’s always the San Diego–Barona Stars.
México: Entre los Dinosaurios y el Poder del #
Mariana siempre quiso casarse en la Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México. Cuando el momento llegó decidió cumplir su sueño: su ceremonia se llevaría a cabo en el histórico recinto frente al Zócalo, la ...
The Last Unicorns
Terri looked statuesque in a strapless gown made of glittery, sapphire-blue fabric. Katie was a pixie vixen in her black-and-silver-sequined tunic. One might have thought they were on their way to some fancy fundraiser gala ...
No Witnesses as Car Hits Pedestrians Near Downtown Library
Two female pedestrians were struck by a car and injured in a crosswalk at the intersection of Ninth Avenue and E Street at approximately 5:30 p.m. on August 13. The victims, believed to have been ...
August 9 Crossword Contenders
Flo Abena, Rancho Penasquitos, 12. AD Albright, San Diego, 12. Mary Arana, Encinitas, 12. Geoff Armour, Carlsbad, 12. Martha Awdziewicz, Clairemont, 12. * L. Barling, El Cajon, 12. Thought I left hot 'n' humid back ...
August 9 Sudoku Contenders
Evil Cindy Fisher, San Clemente, 42. Susan Avery, Escondido, 12. * Carl Baltrunas, Milpitas, 12. Linericks, they are such a bore At time they can be a chore For a cap or a shirt Making ...
Over the Cliff? Nope.
Will legislators allow America to drive off the edge of a cliff? Two San Diego political scientists say no.
The Doug and Irwin Show
Downtown super-lobbyist Paul Robinson had a solid second quarter, according to a disclosure statement filed last week by his law and lobbying firm, Hecht Solberg Robinson Goldberg and Bagley. His top client, the Grand Del ...
Lobby Lunches
San Diego’s own Sempra Energy may have had its hands full this spring dealing with the shutdown of the troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant it owns a piece of, but that didn’t keep Sacramento ...
It's All About the Money
Tuition is going through the roof, and local community college enrollees have been barred from mid-year transfers, but California taxpayer-supported San Diego State University is spending real money to attract one special category of new ...
Attack of the Comic Reposters
The Oatmeal and FunnyJunk do battle, involving lawyers and other unfunny junk.
Desert Wind Graphics
Odds Bodkins! Fog surrounds Ghost Mountain.
Title: Desert Wind Graphics Address: desertwindgraphics.com Author: Sam Hallmark From: Poway Blogging since: April 2012 Post Title: Suicide Trip – 2012 Post Date: July 19, 2012 I belong to an exclusive group of gentlemen, “The ...
“The Heaven Questions”
“The Heaven Questions” In the beginning of old, all is yet formless, no up or down, Light is still dim, dark is a blur; the only image is a whir. When bright gets brighter, and ...
To an Athlete Dying Young
The time you won your town the race We chaired you through the market-place; Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high. To-day, the road all runners come, Shoulder-high we bring ...
Tuesday, August 14
Canary Islands Getaway
This island chain off the coast of Morocco is worth a visit.
While living and working in Europe, I traveled extensively during my time off. I took a lady friend along to the Canary Islands one year, where we spent two weeks in bliss. Although it was ...
Tijuana Cheers Mexico’s Olympic Soccer Team
Saturday morning, August 11, turned into a celebration in Baja and all over Mexico, as the Mexican national soccer team won the gold medal in the Olympics, defeating Brazil 2-1. The game began at seven ...
I Am a Superhero in Kon Tum, Vietnam
While the rest of the world was going gaga (not Lady Gaga) over the movie The Avengers, I was busy playing the part of superhero for some kids in a village in Vietnam. The town ...
Monday, August 13
No Degree No Longer Means No Job
“I didn’t go to a four-year college, but I’m making more money than my friends that went off to school.”
Sunday, August 12
Car Crashes Inside Point Loma Laundromat
Several customers washing or drying their clothes at the Point Loma Coin Laundry were lucky to have avoided tragedy on August 11. A silver Kia slammed through the glass window at around 5 p.m. A ...
Dangerous/Classy Fans at Offspring’s Del Mar Show
The Offspring show at the Del Mar Racetrack on Friday evening, August 10, kept sheriff's deputies, medical officials, and Elite security guards on edge all night. A large, boisterous crowd waited for the concert to ...
Saturday, August 11
Close Encounters in CA's High Desert
Experience far-out energy healing at the Integratron.
I may have had some lunatic notions in my day, but I can assure you that none of them have been implanted or otherwise suggested by extraterrestrials. Not a one. George Van Tassel, however, can’t ...
Friday, August 10
Nagasaki Bombing Commemorated at Shelter Island
I’ve driven past the Yokohama Friendship Bell at the western end of Shelter Island dozens of times and each time found the secluded place quiet and empty. I have since learned it is usually gonged ...
Car Fire Under Lindbergh Field Flight Path
A late-model Toyota Corolla with Oregon license plates caught fire in the 2500 block of Pacific Highway at around 10:00 a.m. on August 9. The blue-gray car's engine looked to have exploded and the auto's ...
Thursday, August 9
Cahuita: Caribbean Costa Rica
I gave the taxi driver a $20. He looked at me in disappointment. I'd arrived in Cahuita, Costa Rica, poorer than I’d expected. Having to chase a bus down with a taxi from Limón put ...
Go Hiking in Hong Kong
The breathtaking skyline of Hong Kong ranks in the top five of the world's most stunning cityscapes. Hop onto a 23-minute train ride from the airport to Hong Kong station, and from there take a ...
Your Future Job May Not Exist … Yet
Does advancing technology hurt jobs prospects for the long term? Although in the short term advancing technology does indeed make some jobs obsolete, the additional productivity then leads to reduced costs. In turn, this enhances ...
With a Little Help from His Friends, Ringo Rocks Humphreys
I, like most people, only got to experience the Beatles on TV or watching clips on YouTube. Having been a Beatles fan all my life, getting to photograph Ringo Starr was one of my bucket-list ...
Miles Davis Live in Europe 1967
So, Wayne Shorter remembers how he’d step up to the mic and the rhythm section — that’s Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Tony Williams on drums — would mostly or even almost ...
Wednesday, August 8
The Story Store
Hang on. We must have it somewhere. We've got everything.
Author John Brizzolara interviews thrift-store magnate Jeff Clark.
Bus Rider Breaks Window, Flees
Early morning on August 8, passengers onboard the 35 bus from Old Town to Ocean Beach had an unexpected delay. A woman on the bus decided to smash one of the vehicle’s windows with her ...
Cow Foot Friday
Ed Bedford shows up too late for the cow-foot stew at Caribbean Taste Jamaican Restaurant.
Hydrate While You Dehydrate with Coconut Water
“We should make a new drink, the Hangover Prevention.”
Flavors Like Life
Try your luck at the Thai-Lao-Chinese-Vietnamese 777 Noodle House in City Heights.
Frequent Liar
We had been sitting on the tarmac in Boston for 30 minutes, ostensibly “waiting for catering.” The flight attendants were making their final rounds when the thunderstorm rolled in. By the time the dark cell ...
Guatay Mountain
This challenging hike combines an opportunity to view rare old-growth Tecate cypress trees and a variety of native plant species.
Back to the Cheeseheads
Party with a Uruguayan werewolf
Goodbye doesn’t have to be sad. Sometimes, it’s best to throw a party and make sure your friends get stuffed with food just one more time. That’s what Mickey did. She’s moving to her ancestral ...
Time Out, My Identity's Been Stolen
A chat with a DeLorean owner.
A break from modern living includes a DeLorean.
Canobliss Becomes Psychothermia for Legal Reasons
“Samson Pedroza packed his bags in the middle of a tour and decided to leave the band,” recalls Canobliss drummer Mike Russo, who says he and three other members of the O.B.-based hard-rock band have ...
Come Out and Play with the Offspring
The Offspring have been out of the spotlight for several years, but it doesn’t seem that way. Radio support for the best-selling punk band is enduring. “Come Out and Play,” for example, still gets regular ...
Origin of Cats' Purrs and Strange Words
Why/how do cats purr?; what’s the origin of “funny bone”? And “moron,” imbecile,” and “idiot”?; what do the numbers mean on top of high-rise helipads?
Jessica Lea Mayfield
If you hadn’t heard her music, you would be forgiven for thinking that Jessica Lea Mayfield makes traditional singer-songwriter music, but you would be wrong. Mayfield began her music career at age 8, playing in ...
Beer Colonic
Thursday 9Few bands in the Woodsist label’s stable roadtrip like namesake band Woods. The Brooklyn quartet’s folk-pop incantations are immediately listenable, engaging even, peeling away like onions on repeat listens and adding just the right ...
Rats! Gnats!
Eye gnat infestations in south Escondido could lead to end of organic food farming in San Diego.
An Old Truth Made New Again
How many people assassinated Mexican presidential hopeful Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta in 1994?
Truth Attack — God of Carnage at the Old Globe
“A mouthful of rum and — bam — the real face appears.”
Before God of Carnage begins at the Old Globe’s White Theatre, Robert Morgan’s set makes a quiet suggestion. Dark objects stand on the perimeter of a circular living room. A small wet bar and sofa ...
"Desire," a poem by George Bilgere
The slim, suntanned legs of the woman in front of me in the checkout line fill me with yearning to provide her with health insurance and a sporty little car with personalized plates. The way ...
August 2 Sudoku Contenders
Evil Cindy Fisher, San Clemente, 36. Susan Avery, Escondido, 11. Carl Baltrunas, Milpitas, 11. Bliss Beedle, Encinitas, 11. Felix E Charfaurs, San Diego , 11. Joseph Ciprian, Little Italy, 11. * Larry Clark, Clairemont, 11. ...
August 2 Crossword Contenders
Flo Abena, Rancho Penasquitos, 11. AD Albright, San Diego, 11. Mary Arana, Encinitas, 11. Geoff Armour, Carlsbad, 11. Martha Awdziewicz, Clairemont, 11. L. Barling, El Cajon, 11. Johanna Barry, Pine Valley, 11. Evelyn Bowser, Hillcrest, ...
Tuesday, August 7
Tijuana Revisited, Part 1
“I’m an idiot,” is the thought hovering in my mind as I relax on a Blue Line trolley headed to Tijuana. This news flash isn’t about safety concerns, as I’ve spent some time in Mexico ...
MONA: World's Most Unconventional Museum
It just opened on January 21, 2011, and already it's the most talked-about museum in the world. And who could have guessed? David Walsh, the eccentric pro gambler and millionaire founder of MONA, or the ...
A Different Kind of Honeymoon
volcano trekking on the island of Java
After spending a week running around the island of Borneo, including stops in traditional villages of Sabah, Malaysia, and the primary rainforests of Brunei, we arrived in the capital of Indonesia at 3 a.m. Waking, ...
Monday, August 6
Sweetwater School District Kids Face Bus Cuts
Sweetwater Union High School District had unhappy parents lined up out the transportation-services door on August 6. The district is facing a $27 million budget shortfall. As a result, last March the board voted to ...
Latest Import from China: Jobs
The “reshoring” of jobs begins.
According to a survey by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), more than a third of U.S.-based manufacturing executives at companies with sales greater than $1-billion are planning to bring production back to the USA from ...
Sunday, August 5
Hearts Heavy for Boy Struck by Truck on Rosecrans Street
There are still heavy hearts today along the 1700 block of Rosecrans Street, where on Thursday, August 2, at around 7:30 p.m., a three-and-a-half-year-old New Mexico boy was struck by a red pickup truck in ...
Survey Reveals the Prevalence of Illegal Practices Among Finance Pros
A report from Wall Street indicates there is a shocking lack of integrity among the workers in financial firms. The survey of 500 senior finance professionals in firms in the United States and Great Britain ...
Friday, August 3
Embers Out, Las Olas Rolling to Midway District?
The long -shuttered Embers Grill, previously located at 3924 West Point Loma Boulevard in the Midway Towne Center, is being remodeled for a new tenant. While shopping in the area recently, I noticed construction activity. ...
Give Wellness a Chance
If you are wondering whether your employer really cares about your health and wellbeing, I have good and bad news. First, the good news. A survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management shows ...
Thursday, August 2
Flying Wallet and Owner Reunited in Clairemont
Early Monday morning, July 30, as I followed a motorcyclist east on Balboa Avenue in Clairemon, he exited right onto the 805 south ramp. It was then his wallet flew straight from his backpack to ...
San Juan Capistrano: A SoCal Treasure
Just 61 miles north of San Diego up the 5 Freeway, San Juan Capistrano is one of the truly historic sites of Southern California. The town is probably best known for the swallows that return ...
Hotdog/Heroin Vendor Stabbed Dead in Tijuana
A July 31 article in Tijuana’s daily Frontera reported that a hotdog vendor was stabbed to death last week following a drug deal gone bad. Police arrested Héctor Hugo García Pineda, aka “El Fat Boy,” ...
They Want to Hire Veterans
What makes these job fairs unique is that they specifically target America’s service members and veterans.
Buffalo Killers' Dig. Sow. Love. Grow.
I’ve only heard one other Buffalo Killers record, 2011’s 3. I’m thinking this one shows a steady rise into the classic-rock stratosphere. From the first ringing chord and cymbal crash, Dig. Sow. Love. Grow. is ...
Dirty Projectors Challenge, Gratify at House of Blues
Left-handed fingerpicked electric guitar. This alone would be enough to set the Dirty Projectors apart from the spate of blue-eyed Afro-pop artists passing through indie-rock circles of late. But as the Brooklyn six-piece launched its ...
Old Dog? New Tricks
For the last eight months, Jan Browning, 54 of San Diego, searched the Internet, networked diligently, and used all the social networking tools available to find a job. After 347 applications and 45 interviews she ...
Wednesday, August 1
100+ Places to Go After Dark in San Diego
Nighttime to-dos
Nighttime to-dos: Speakeasies, dive bars, hipsters, art exhibitions, brewskies, craft cocktails, and more!
No Kiss-In, Lots of Chicken at Restaurant Protest
The Midway District Chick-fil-A location had a long line of customers waiting to eat when I arrived for lunch at 11:00 a.m. on August 1. It took at least one hour to get inside to ...
Maryjane's Champagne Punch
Besides 20 years of mixing cocktails — the last five at Maryjane’s — Marcos Villalobos’s résumé includes his history of working for human resources in the corporate world. “In HR I would have people come ...
Letters
Responsible Community There needs to be a part two to the story “That Could Never Happen to Me,” (July 19) because there is more than one crime with these incidents. It’s horribly unfortunate (but not ...
Fertile Ground
Campo had a post at that three-freakin’-star Michelin restaurant, and he comes back to sell tacos?
Film Festival Producer Faves
Kevin Leap, President, board of directors, San Diego Film Foundation Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!: Can’t get enough of this so-wonderfully-bad-it’s-good black-and-white 1965 Russ Meyer film about three race-car-driving go-go–clad vixens tearing across the desert and ...
Brew Ha Ha
Places to Grab a Cold One
Monkey Paw For most, laying claim to three of the most widely respected craft-beer bars in a city obsessed with artisanal suds would be enough. But not for Scot Blair. The neighborhood-watering-hole mogul behind Hamilton’s ...
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control
Dive Bars in San Diego
Tin Can Alehouse At the Tin Can Alehouse you can see some of the coolest local and touring underground bands for $5–$7 Monday–Saturday. Or you could just wait a year and see some of those ...
Wee Hours in San Diego
Where to go when you're not ready to go home yet.
Spin Nightclub This three-story, 10,000-square-foot club in industrial Middletown stays open until 6:00 a.m. and is home to two of our most spectacular underground-bass nights. For the past year-and-a-half, Wobble Events has hosted out-of-town electronic ...
Artsy Funsy
Artsy Places to Go After Dark in San Diego
San Diego's late-night art scene: Art in the Park, Drink & Draw, Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, Pasaje Rodriguez, and more.
Speakeasy
Secret spots for libations
Noble Experiment 777 G Street, 619-888-4713, nobleexperimentsd.com Passage to Noble Experiment comes via a fake wall of kegs at the back of Neighborhood, an East Village hang. This portal makes for a mood-setting kickoff to ...
Mix Masters
Places to Go for Drinks in San Diego
The Tractor Room Inspired by the barnyard speakeasies of Prohibition-era rural Chicago, the Tractor Room’s cocktails cater to those who relish poison in their potion. After all, what’s the point of ordering a $10 drink ...
Kick Up Your Heels
Places to Go Dancing in San Diego
Shake your groove thang on dance floors from La Jolla to TJ.
Hip Hip ... Hooray!
Hipster Places in San Diego
SD's hipster scene: Don a pair of oversized glasses, skinny jeans, and an ironic t-shirt, then put a bird on it and head out.
Braised Lamb Shanks
Recipe by Ryan Studebaker, Executive Chef, Gingham
Interview with Chef Ryan Studebaker, at the intersection of Southern and French.
The Evolution of Avi Buffalo
“What’s in it for someone with nothing to do? What’s in it for me?” asks Avigdnor Zahner-Isenberg in the debut single of his band Avi Buffalo. Indeed, Avi Buffalo was apparently born out of times ...
Marc Intravaia Saw Jimi
Interview with guitarist Marc Intravaia, who was unimpressed with Jimi Hendrix at one time.
Raccoon in the Attic!
A raccoon family comes to live with an Ocean Beach family. But the animals choose the attic and make a proper mess of it.
The Bulldog
Mothers are known to think their daughters-in-law are evil, but I’m pretty sure they don’t go saying it to their faces. Especially mothers-in-law like mine: pre–Civil Rights era women who are always striving to keep ...
What Summer Slump?
Thursday 2Indie band du jour? Man, non, indie band du nuit! You come across the word “autumnal” a lot when reading about Jersey boys Real Estate. Moody but never morose, they’re more of a summer-nights ...
Flies on Urinals and Their Other Dirty Habits
Yo Matt,Why do so many urinals have stickers of flies in them? Although I don’t see them everywhere, I have been seeing them more frequently over the past couple years. And while we’re sort of ...
Dax Riggs Redefines Dax Riggs
Dax Riggs used to front a Louisiana sludge-metal band in the ’90s called Acid Bath. From then to now, I don’t think he’s changed all that much. Riggs might disagree, but I still hear the ...
Low Pay, High Peril
Public television station KPBS, owned and operated by San Diego State University, is looking for a new reporter for its Mexican-border beat, according to a recent posting on the website of SDSU’s Research Foundation. According ...
Hail to the Chief Storyteller
Your Résumé Should be a Story, Not a List
Kim Mohiuddin, of Movin’ On Up Resumes, says it’s your storytelling that could land you the job. I see that you call yourself Chief Career Storyteller of your company. What does that mean? I help ...
Screw U: The Next Bubble May Be Higher Education
In economics, a bubble is something that trades at prices far beyond its intrinsic value. Fasten your seat belt: the next bubble may be higher education. The $1 trillion of student debt is clearly a ...
Buy Chicken, Enjoy Kiss-In at Restaurant in Midway District
Chick-fil-A, the low-key fast food restaurant located at 3570 Sports Arena Boulevard, may get some undesired attention on Wednesday, August 1. Gay-marriage proponents, upset over the stance that Chick-fil-A CEO Dan T. Cathy took on ...
Bad Debts to Self
Democratic state senator Juan Vargas, whom many regard as a virtual shoo-in for Congress after his victory last month over ex–state senator Denise Ducheny, a fellow Democrat, still has a few major bills outstanding from ...
Yun'er's Bell
Yun’er’s Bell The first month, Early auspicious, Dinghai day I, Yun’er, the younger son of King Kang of Xu, chose these Auspicious Metals to cast myself a harmonious bell: Endlessly peal and toll! Primally call ...
A Sunday Morning After a Saturday Night
She’s so happy, this girl, she’s sending out sparks like a brush fire, so lit with life her eyes could beam airplanes through fog, so warm with his loving we could blacken our toast on ...
July 26 Sudoku Contenders
Evil Cindy Fisher, San Clemente, 30. Susan Avery, Escondido, 10. Carl Baltrunas, Milpitas, 10. Bliss Beedle, Encinitas, 10. Felix E Charfaurs, San Diego , 10. Joseph Ciprian, Little Italy, 10. Larry Clark, Clairemont, 10. Paula ...
July 26 Crossword Contenders
Flo Abena, Rancho Penasquitos, 10. AD Albright, San Diego, 10. Mary Arana, Encinitas, 10. Geoff Armour, Carlsbad, 10. Martha Awdziewicz, Clairemont, 10. L. Barling, El Cajon, 10. Johanna Barry, Pine Valley, 10. Evelyn Bowser, Hillcrest, ...
