Content for Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Blog Entries

News & Stories

Is That a Woman He's Beating Up Like That?

One night in Hillcrest

A good Samaritan stops a beating and recalls the lessons taught to her by her grandmother.

Prometheus: A Lurching Carnival of Budget Blasts

Years in development, Ridley Scott’s Aliens prequel Prometheus flaunts many roots, from epic themes sucked out of 2001: A Space Odyssey to the inevitable, awful ick-with-teeth (Aliens and its progeny). There is a dull nod ...

Zelda's Place

The waiter at Street Side Thai Kitchen set the Garden Fish ($19.95) down in the middle of the table. A crispy orb peeked from beneath a fringe of cilantro. Freshly sliced tomatoes lined one side ...

Our Dad Was Marco

“We grew up in there. Five sisters. Kitchen slaves!”

Three sisters — former “kitchen slaves” — opened their Cafe Di Roma in Imperial Beach.

Family Physics

First it was David and Liam who disappeared into the other room. Sean was next, followed by Heather a few minutes later and my mother not long after. “You’ve got to make him stop,” Jane ...

Beyond the Song

A soundman is tasked with making a live concert sound like a recording, whether the stage environment is an open space in a rainstorm or a room the size of a walk-in closet. Kris Poulin ...

Snow White and the Huntsman: Less for Fairy Tale Fans Than Action Buffs

As Queen Ravenna, the vicious usurper in Snow White and the Huntsman, Charlize Theron looks so fabulous that her Oscar-winner, Aileen Wuornos in Monster, seems almost another species. An empress of narcissism, Ravenna insists on ...

Afghanistan, Love, Regret

Khaled Waleh, owner of Zia’s Afghan Café in North Park, gives the reporter his dad’s phone number in Parwan province.

How Do You Do? Mayer Hawthorne

If you’re going to do ’60s- and ’70s-style soul in 2012, you’d better be good. More than that, you need to sing soul like you mean it. For that reason, I was not won over ...

Tiddlywinks...a Sport? (No Headband Required.)

Man versus horse, man versus tiddlywinks.

Whitneybutler’s Blog

She’s white, doesn’t speak Spanish, goes to a Mexican’s party, and someone there calls her a “wetback.” Huh?

This Is the One with the Most Supple Flow: Moonrise Kingdom

Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom opens with Benjamin Britten’s “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.” The tactic, like the music, is inspired. The kids of the Bishop family listen to the vinyl LP, and their imaginations ...

Can’t grow a meth plant. Killer tomatoes, however...

Can you grow a smokable crystal-meth plant by sprinkling the “devil’s dandruff” on an ordinary plant while it grows? Can you, can you?

The Big Noise: The Free Speech Fight of 1912, Part Three

Way before Occupy San Diego, free speech activists got carted off to jail in 1912.

Straight Up Forgotten

The Taz Taylor Band reassesses, remixes, rereleases Straight Up.

Sycamore Canyon/Goodan Ranch

Less crowded, unique and beautiful wildlands make this a good place to explore.

Monday Is the New Thursday

Thursday 7Tin Can Ale House stages SanFran big band Still Flyin’ tonight. The conductor of this shape-shifting collective is Sean Rawls, whose song “Never Gonna Touch the Ground” has become a rallying cry for the ...

Small Talk

“Frankness at all counts is the means to a healthy marriage.”

A Pinter sampler at North Coast Rep; Brilliant Mistake at New Village Arts

The Talented Malcontents of Circa

The term “supergroup” was already old when Time got around to explaining it to their readers in 1974. Having been coined in 1969 to market the British band Blind Faith (Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ric ...

Survey of Mascara Users

Through rain, sweat, and tears, mascara that delivers.

They Aren't Promoters

Red Wizard gets booted off the band lineup following an article in the Reader.

Inkamania

Shake Before Us looks forward to gigging at the Ink-N-Iron Festival.

San Diego Economy: Where’s the Oomph?

Is low home-ownership an indication of San Diego’s stagnant economy?

The Intouchables, A Less Sentimental Driving Miss Daisy

Through his career, François Cluzet has been chased by a resemblance to Dustin Hoffman. In a restrained French way, he might be as talented. I would rather view again his quadriplegic Philippe in The Intouchables ...

The Zen Of Housework

I look over my shoulder down my arms to where they disappear under water into hands inside pink rubber gloves moiling among dinner dishes. My hands lift a wine glass, holding it by the stem ...

Richard Meltzer's New Gig

Rock critic Richard Meltzer talks about his former columnist gig at the Reader and his new project with Mike Watt: Spielgusher.

Letters

Steamed ’Shrooms This is a comment on “In San Diego, It’s a Free-for-All,” page 20 of the May 31 Reader, by Siobhan Braun. That woman irritates the hell out of me. Every other mention of ...

May 31 Sudoku Contenders

Evil Susan Avery, Escondido, 2. * Carl Baltrunas, Milpitas, 2. There was a young lady from Spain, Who always asked of the rain, "Where did it fall?" On the ground, if at all, Or mainly ...

May 31 Crossword Contenders

Flo Abena, Rancho Penasquitos, 2. AD Albright, San Diego, 2. Mary Arana, Encinitas, 2. Geoff Armour, Carlsbad, 2. Martha Awdziewicz, Clairemont, 2. L. Barling, El Cajon, 2. Johanna Barry, Pine Valley, 2. Evelyn Bowser, Hillcrest, ...