Of all the bad things said about Dick Murphy before 2004, he was never thought to have been a crook. If the word "corruption" was ever associated with his name, it was a small-c kind …

Retracing my steps, I have stumbled upon a subjective new measurement for an unexciting year of movies. There was exactly one new release in 2004 -- I am almost shocked at the realization -- that …

The demise in the great tsunami of Poom Jensen, grandson of Thai king Bhumipol Adulyadej, brought a torrent of local press coverage last week. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times described the dead 21-year-old as …

"Julia" was always one of my favorite Beatles ballads. Now it would be one of my favorite party people. She called to invite me to her Pee Wee Herman party. I refrained from making a …

“I was drinking these great bottles and saying to my wife, ‘This is out of control!’ ”

When the Union-Tribune gets that old special-interest bit in its mouth, it seldom lets go. Witness the recent spate of stories the paper has run about how decrepit the once-mighty Qualcomm Stadium has purportedly become. …

By Athena Shlemon, Owner/Chef, Abbey's Real Texas Bar-B-Q — Mira Mesa I'm a rice person. Rice and beans are my favorite things to eat. I mix them up and eat them together. Anybody can make …

Open House: Of Family, Friends, Food, Piano Lessons, and the Search for a Room of My Own. Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 272 pages; $24. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Open House gathers observations, reminiscences, anecdotes, and …

City government's culture of secrecy has bred something worse: a culture of deceit. The history of the 2002 ballpark bonds proves the point. Federal and local investigators, in their criminal and civil probes into the …

He's been an aide to Democratic ex-congressman Lionel Van Deerlin, top lieutenant for onetime Republican city councilman Uvaldo Martinez, local functionary for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, and executive director of Democratic ex-governor Gray …

When Bill Howell and Judy Alvarez team up to take visitors on hikes in Mission Trails Regional Park, they have the group look on the path for stink beetle butts. That allows Howell to talk …

Winding its way lazily upward onto a ridge of the San Gabriel Mountains, San Olene Fire Road leads to a spectacular viewpoint overlooking the San Gabriel Valley and much of the Los Angeles Basin. The …

“It became a catering business. Soon, she couldn’t fit it all into our kitchen.”

"Area bands are seeing a renaissance in all the attention they're getting."

Local clothing company Sik World Productions is attracting media scrutiny over its new line of "Sik Kidz" baby clothes. Selling for around $16 retail, shirts for tots are emblazoned with logos like "I'm the Baby …

A new Tijuana music venue called Voodoo House opened three months ago. It is booked by Mario Velasco, a longtime Ensenada promoter who moved up to Tijuana to run the Voodoo House with partner Pedro …

The Planet (103.7 FM) and its sister station, soft-rock KYXY (96.5 FM), are installing the Audio Vault system, where songs and commercials are digitally stored as computer files. Presently the Planet and KYXY depend on …

A waterproof iPod case manufactured by a local company, the SV Mini, gets a poor review from the Modesto Bee (12-27-04): "The folks at San Diego--based H20 Audio have come out with a sealed waterproof …

After putting out No Cover magazine for seven years, Mark Rasmussen suspended publication of his free all-music magazine in July. Now No Cover is back with a new format (all glossy), a price ($2.99), and …

"My back's still killing me," says jazz wind instrumentalist Chris Klich, "but I managed to mow the lawn today." "What happened to your back?" "Threw it out...and rather than getting better, as it usually does, …

In an article at CNN.com entitled "The Best Albums You Didn't Hear," Pinback's Summer in Abaddon is called "quite possibly the most intriguing album recorded in 2004. The San Diego duo has stepped beyond its …

Before As I Lay Dying played Las Vegas venue The Joint December 28, an area periodical wrote, "Tim Lambesis, vocalist for rising metalcore act As I Lay Dying...has watched bands that were once underground darlings …

Karen: "Grace, it's Christmas, for goodness sake. Think about the baby Jesus, up in that tower, letting his hair down so that the three wise men can climb up and spin the dreidel and see …

Federal agent John Parish entered the room with local Internal Revenue Service territory managers. The casual meeting was off-site during the holiday season. "Merry Christmas," Parish greeted his coworkers. Parish's supervisor corrected him, "It's Happy …

I've stepped out of the darkened cave — or, more precisely, have exited the animal den known in another life as my living room, to stroll in fresh air and reconnect my chakra with living …

Margaritas are the signature cocktail of the Kelly household. As hot days turn to warm evenings from April until Halloween or so, we often sit with friends on the deck, slurping down the slushy, limey …

I spent all last summer without a lick of barbecue crossing my lips. So by late fall, the craving for the taste of smoke reached a crisis. I began a quest for new "Qs" and …

Heymatt: Clockwise, beginning with the car furthest to the right of all others, one at a time. What is so difficult about that? Apparently, roughly half of the drivers in San Diego (according to my …