Guns, bimbos, and booze

San Diego — While San Diego's public is being offered a free fireworks show and the Disney-style NFL Experience, at $15 a pop, pricier and more macho Super Bowl events are being kept under tight wraps and reserved exclusively for free-spending big-wheel corporate types from out of town. Take the Playboy party. According to a recent contest offer on its website, the sex and girlie mag is set to host a Saturday-night blowout in one the city's most hallowed venues. "Score the touchdown of a lifetime! Playboy's exclusive Super Saturday Night is sure to be the hottest party in town as we transform the House of Hospitality in lush Balboa Park into Casa de Playboy," says the site. "This is your chance to mix and mingle with Playmates, pro-athletes, and celebrities." One enterprising online ticket vendor is offering passes to the bacchanalia for a cool $1330 apiece. Not surprisingly, the event is sponsored by Jack Daniel's, Miller Lite, and Sony's PlayStation video game console. For those wanting even more macho, how about the National Rifle Association's "Sporting Clays Team Challenge," cosponsored by the NFL Alumni Association and pitched to the corporate community on the alumni association's website. "Former and current NFL players serve as celebrity captains for a competitive clay-shooting tournament," says the site. "Talk about a sure shot for great 'teaming' and an unforgettable experience. Whether you are an expert, novice, or beginner -- the sport and event provides instruction, safety seminars and a challenging round of sporting clays at world-class facilities." No word about the price of admission or whether outgoing NRA president Charlton Heston, who has incipient Alzheimer's disease but is still making appearances for the group, will be attending. For something a bit more Ivy League, how about the San Diego Harvard Club's offer to its members of a table of ten for $6000 at the "Taste of the NFL," a big dinner bash at the convention center. "HCSD has secured seats and special VIP privileges to this exciting event. Don't miss the 40 nationally renowned chefs, 20-course tasting menu, 40 current and former NFL greats, live bands, dancing, and celebrities! (We will fill tables at $600/seat with a volume discount starting at five tables.)"

On the move Democratic state senator Dede Alpert, who is termed out of her seat in two years, has moved out of her district and into a condominium at Fairbanks Country Club, a gated community just inside San Diego's city limits. Is she mulling over plans to run for mayor? Maybe, if incumbent Republican Dick Murphy self-destructs. Reached by phone in Sacramento, Alpert confirmed she is no longer living in the district from which she was elected two years ago. "I used to live in Coronado, but they took that out of the district and my husband and I moved. We're still not in the district, which is all perfectly legal." She added she has no plans to run for mayor ... San Diego police lieutenant Jim Collins, suddenly a national star as the result of his successful investigation of the Danielle van Dam killing, has turned up in Texas, giving a seminar on how to handle such abductions. According to a report by the Austin American Statesman, Austin cop Larry Oliver said the four-hour session was worth it. "We found out what they did right, what they did wrong, and what they wished they would have done." ... The president's office at the University of California reports that attorney Charles La Bella, friend and lawyer to UC regent John Moores, is charging the university $324 an hour for his services as "liaison" to the federal government's investigation into fraudulent UC management of the Los Alamos National Lab. That's said to be a 10 percent "discount" from his usual $360 ... Sharon Patrick, who met her boss, embattled domestic-arts mogul Martha Stewart, on a hiking trip in Tanzania, is a product of San Diego. Patrick, president and chief executive officer of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, grew up here during the 1950s, when her father was district sales manager at United Air Lines, reports the Hamilton, Ontario, Spectator.

Cash and carry Republican San Diego congressman Duncan Hunter, just named chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has benefited mightily over the years from many of the same defense contractors he will oversee in his new job. According to Political Moneyline, a campaign-finance reporting service, military-related businesses were the top contributors to Hunter's 2002 reelection campaign, accounting for $91,000 of the $382,000 total he collected. Lockheed Martin Employees Association gave $10,000, as did Science Application International Corporation's "Voluntary Political Action Committee." Raytheon gave $8000, Northrup Grumman employees PAC gave $7200, as did a Cubic employees PAC. TRW's "Good Government Fund" kicked in $6000, and United Defense LP Employees PAC gave $5000.

Contributor: Matt Potter