My friend Rex says, "You'll love the Slabs in August. Some would call you adventurous and brave, and some completely out of your mind." The Slabs are Slab City, three miles east of Niland, between …

The Coldest Winter: A Stringer in Liberated Europe by Paula Fox. Henry Holt and Company, 2005; 144 pages; $18. FROM THE DUST JACKET: In 1946, Paula Fox walked up the gangplank of a partly reconverted …

"Guinness, please," I mumble to the woman behind the bar while I shuffle a handful of bills around. I start to feel human again with the first few sips. An Olympic-caliber hangover sat in my …

Theatergoing is a communal act, movie going a solitary one. -- Robert Brustein 'Are you ready?" I stood in front of the door, jiggling my keys. "The movie doesn't start for two hours ," David …

"If a Christian is a true seeker of God, they are better off reading the word of God at face value than buying into the traditions of mainstream churches. When a believer sincerely cries out …

“I really do love my brother.”

The "M.D." in Harry E. Gruber, M.D., should stand for Mach Dollar. In the past, he has amassed dollars at Mach speed as companies he helped found went public and then were sold quickly for …

Sand castle One of the most ostentatious houses on Del Mar's gold coast is up for sale with a hefty $50 million asking price. The 5200-square-foot mansion was custom built in 1999 along 120 feet …

Sand castle One of the most ostentatious houses on Del Mar's gold coast is up for sale with a hefty $50 million asking price. The 5200-square-foot mansion was custom built in 1999 along 120 feet …

Deep in the corrugated folds of Anza-Borrego's Carrizo Badlands, a trio of sinuous dry washes invites your slow and careful exploration -- first by truck or 4-wheel drive, and then by foot. Here, on the …

Sheep run uncounted in my mom's mind. She gave up on that sleep aid long ago. Mom's probably been awake for three-quarters of her life. Most mornings of my childhood, she would inform me over …

Let's see, the University of Toledo football team was on ESPN2. Don't remember their opponent, being busy with newspaper, swilling coffee, and mindlessly rubbing bare foot against warm dachshund belly. I looked up and saw …

Guys are so into gadgets and, I hate to say, unconventional stuff. Women are more practical buyers, and men go out and buy motorcycles and stuff," says Heather Cook, account executive at Spear/Hall Advertising and …

“Wine is the antidote for barbarism.”

Movies reviewed this week: Prime, Shopgirl, The Squid and the Whale, and The Weather Man

Thirty Years Ago "Gerald Warren is a good, fair, amiable newsman. Helen Copley was smart to latch onto him. If there is anything to be wary of now it's that element of small-town mentality as …

Hey Matt: Where and when did the custom of wearing ties start? When were they deemed important in social circles? What a pain in the ass they are. -- Bob, the net We traditionally blame …

Dear Matthew Alice: I read that back in the 1920s, the Jehovah's Witnesses bought a house in San Diego. Is this house still here? Do the Witnesses still own it? -- DMH, San Diego They …

I attended a party that Jamison, a hairstylist, hosted at the Abbey Cafe in Hillcrest. I asked Jamison about his name, and he joked about his mother being drunk on Jameson Irish Whiskey when he …

Bass player Justin Pearson (the Locust, Some Girls) was struck in the forehead with a pint glass at North Park's Whistle Stop Bar October 9. "I was DJ-ing and that girl felt compelled to continually …

Two weeks ago in "Blurt," Guerilla Transammo said "never again" to L.A. gigs. A pay-for-play setup between the band and the Cat Club (and a snafu with their chartered bus) made for a bad experience. …

"Most people laugh at me," says Miz Liberty, a Jewish rapper from Rancho Santa Fe. "But once they hear me, then they stop laughing." Born Stacy Goldstein, Miz Liberty says she loves competitions. "I love …

Blasters guitarist Dave Alvin spent the early '90s touring with the Pleasure Barons, featuring Mojo Nixon and Beat Farmers drummer/singer Country Dick Montana. Their rowdy stage show was chronicled on a 1993 concert album that …

"As far as I know, this is the only [club] in town that is run by a band," says Dorian Tucker, guitarist in Jezebel. With keyboardist/guitarist Nathan Everett and bassist Mike Croft, Tucker produces Suspiria …

Drummer Aaron Wade got that "not so fresh" feeling during Dmonstrations' performance at CMJ's New Music Marathon in mid-September. Playing at New York's Lit Lounge, Wade came close to pulling off a shocker reminiscent of …

When Def Leppard plays the Sports Arena on Friday, November 4, "all cell phones, pagers, walkie-talkies, UHF repeaters, etc., must be switched off," including by any police, security, paramedics, fire officials, or staffers on-site. Such …

Twenty-five years ago today (11/3/80), the Police played Golden Hall with opening act XTC. The Police's Zenyatta Mondatta (and its first single, "Don't Stand So Close to Me") was in the U.S. top ten. The …

“Today in our time zone, tomorrow, yours. It’s gonna be a long haul, mate.”

Don't Call Us Slovaks Here are some of the things that my current home, Slovenia, has been confused with: Slovakia, Transylvania, Siberia, Slavonia, Yugoslavia, and Sepultura. Well, maybe not the last one, but definitely the …

District attorney Bonnie Dumanis has charged him with a felony, but members of the San Diego City Fire Fighters Local 145 apparently think Ron Saathoff is doing just fine. This past summer they reelected him …

One of the most ostentatious houses on Del Mar's gold coast is up for sale with a hefty $50 million asking price. The 5200-square-foot mansion was custom built in 1999 along 120 feet of beachfront …