Whether you're goth or you just dig celebrity graves (that's "dig" as in "enjoy"), you might be interested to know of these famous former neighbors entombed at a gravesite near you. BOBBY DRISCOLL (1937-1968) starred …

By Sunday morning I had been up for 24 hours. The attempt to sleep would prove to be futile. Instead of trying to fight the sun with clamped eyelids and pillows piled over my head, …

Veronica by Mary Gaitskill. Pantheon Books, 2005; $23; 227 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: The new novel from the author of Bad Behavior and Two Girls Fat and Thin, Veronica is about flesh and spirit, …

Practically all the relationships I know are based on a foundation of lies and mutually accepted delusion. -- Samantha Jones (as played by Kim Cattrall on Sex and the City ) I take a sip …

"Fundamentalist Muslims are manifesting what they believe today. Their mission is to change the world so that it is under their control. If you don't agree with them, they will kill you. They don't value …

'The upright bass is the most organic instrument you could get your hands on," said Cecil Bowman at Guitar Trader on El Cajon Boulevard. This was three years ago. "You'll have fun," he continued, taking …

Last week, lawyers for ex-San Diego city councilman Michael Zucchet, convicted last summer in the Cheetahs strip club trial, submitted 76 letters written on his behalf by family and friends requesting leniency from a federal …

The Hills for Everyone Trail (actually reserved for hikers only -- no mountain bikes or equestrian allowed), commemorates "Hills for Everyone," a conservation organization that was instrumental in the establishment of the 13,000-acre Chino Hills …

"I've worked for the bees long enough," said my buddy Bernice. "Now, it's time for the bees to work for me. It's time for me to capitalize on my status as The Bee Lady." Bernice …

I know some of you were in the Sports Arena for Sunday's Lakers/Bobcats exhibition game just to check out the pre-mandatory NBA dress code. Indeed, fans everywhere are wringing their hands and crying, "What will …

What do ape-hangers, springers, canucks, pans, and evos have in common? They are a few of the possible components of a V-twin motorcycle. The V-twin, an internal combustion engine that earned its name from the …

DAY ONE: LUNCH Abdul signals me to take off my shoes. It feels oddly personal, entering a strange new space in only your socks. We troop into this large room. Abdul and I stand in …

“It’s worse than plastic surgery…it’s more evil.”

Movies reviewed this week: Three Extremes

Thirty Years Ago I, a beaten, dejected, frustrated cross-country bicycle rider was calling it quits. What had begun as a five-week, 2300-mile solo bicycle trip from Pacific Beach to Milwaukee, Wisconsin was ending after only …

"We knew something went wrong when we heard them announce 'bright star' on the ship's P.A.; that's ship jargon for medical emergency," says an insider connected with the Xingolati Groove Cruise that took off from …

The pre-pubescent gals in Smoosh made history October 19 when they became the youngest band ever to play the Casbah. After their set, they were probably the first band to play hide and seek and …

Yung Tage says he has a couple of ways to make sure his Saturday show goes off. First: only wear dressy white or cream-colored clothes. "We got it from Puff Daddy. It's an elegant thing. …

"Dirty politicians, old whores, and ugly buildings all get respect if they last long enough." Deadbolt singer/guitarist Harley Davidson says John Huston's line in Chinatown applies to his band. Formed in 1990, Deadbolt is the …

Norwegian hacker DVD Jon has taken up residence in San Diego to work for MP3tunes founder Michael Robertson. The 21-year-old (real name, Jon Lech Johansen) made headlines during the past few years for writing and …

"We've played every place there is to play in San Diego," says Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante. "The arena, that outdoor place at the college, and...what's that place, hotter than hell with the walls melting...Soma, we …

Classic rock hits of Steve Miller and Journey were snuffed off the air at the Planet (KPLN 103.7-FM) on Tuesday. Industry magazines had said Infinity/CBS, which owns the Planet, would create a nationwide network of …

I went to a CD release party this summer for a group called Four Eyes. I had seen them play at Humphrey's, and they reminded me of the Beatles, Squeeze, and Elvis Costello. The party …

Joe's Salient Points Nev has a quote that "the best occasions to observe the human heart are weddings, funerals, and duels." I have been to two out of three in the past couple weeks. So …

“Witness has tampered with exhibit A, the dip for his sandwich.”

Mayoral candidates Donna Frye and Jerry Sanders were each asked to sit down for on-the-record interviews. Sanders's campaign press secretary, Scott Maloni, initially agreed to the interview, then called back to say that Sanders would …

The chassis that’s sitting in a workroom on the campus of San Diego State University is painted a shade of red you’d expect to see on the lips of an attention-starved woman. On a car, …

Things to do before I turn 30: live on both coasts; fall in love; backpack around Europe; ride my bike the 50 miles from Rosarito to Ensenada; write a hit TV series, cast Phoebe Cates, …

Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America's Favorite Food by Steve Striffler. Yale University Press, 2005; 208 pages; $25.00. FROM THE DUST COVER: Anthropologist Steve Striffler begins this book in a poultry processing plant, drawing on …

Go ahead and take two, girls -- they're free. -- Dad 'Three...four...seven...nine!" "That's me," said Kip, a little too unenthusiastic, if you ask me. I glared at the ticket in my hand. You have failed …

"The Episcopal denomination has always been one of the most inclusive denominations. We don't fight over doctrine. For example, in my church we have pro-life and pro-choice congregants. My preferences are for life, but the …

“We usually have a gong here. We can kick them off stage whenever we want with that.”

“How could you shoot anyone with your belly full?”

Bright sunshiny mornings and cool air make this autumnal time of year pleasant for a lazy Sunday morning or afternoon of road biking. Forget the coastal bike routes if you've had it with noisy traffic …

For as long as I can remember, my Irish Nanna knit. Perched atop four or five pillows on the living room couch, "So I can get a good look at you," she would work away. …

This is a heady time for women's golf. Two teenage challengers are coming into the game while the undisputed best female golfer on the planet is still running strong. It's as if Tiger Woods and …

Richard Ligato and his wife, Amanda Bejarano-Ligato, have co-authored Wide-Eyed Wanderers, a book about traveling 60,000 miles through Latin America and Africa in their VW van. They will discuss their travels and sign their book …

“Love and pleasure have always made the world go ’round. At least they should.”

Movies reviewed this week: Dreamer, Elizabethtown, Good Night, and Good Luck, and North Country

Local bands Mustache Revolution and Guerilla Transammo chartered a bus to take them up to play the Cat Club in West Hollywood on October 8. "It was a freaking nightmare," says Todd Chandler, band manager …

A 32-inch wide-screen TV reportedly received as payola for airplay has apparently led to the firing last week of Diana Laird, program director of Top 40 hits station "Channel 9-3-3"/KHTS. An October 11 Clear Channel …

San Diego entrepreneur David Perez loves to talk about his good deeds: last month, he got reams of local and national publicity after he rounded up airplanes to fly evacuees out of hurricane-battered southern states. …

British ska band Selecter recently played their first San Diego show in over five years at House of Blues. Chris Wise plays percussion in the local ska band Hi-Lites, which opened for Selecter. He has …

San Diego native RuPaul is working on a remix album, RuPaul Reworked, featuring a new version of his/her 1992 hit "Supermodel (You Better Work)." "I kind of laid low for awhile during the reign of …

Former 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry, who grew up in San Diego, wants her 1996 album In Flight to get another shot. The record was made after Interscope Records dropped 4 Non Blondes but …

Thirty Years Ago Next to the donkey show, Agua Caliente Race Track is probably Tijuana's most world famous attraction. Purists contend Agua is to Del Mar what marijuana is to hashish, but the play is …

When the Black Eyed Peas play Cox Arena tonight, they request the purchaser/promoter "provide at his/her expense an experienced, professional, English speaking, sober monitor engineer" (with "sober" underlined) as well as a "first class lighting …

I went to two parties in one day that tested my crashing ability. The first was a luncheon at Balboa Park. The ticket was $40, but I weaseled in without paying. I did feel guilty, …

Few legislators have had as great an impact on San Diego as former state senator James R. Mills. Recently, in a Coronado café, he sat down for an interview. Today there is a proposal to …

As the skies darkened in early 2003 over San Diego's scandal-wracked pension fund, those in charge began casting about for ways to attack reporters covering the story. The fund hired the PR firm of Nuffer …

Misstep and Mangled I read as much as the next person. And the person next to that person and the next person over and the two hiding in the corner as well. So when the …

When Mariette Parsons, RN, tells her patients she's a traveler, she says they often look puzzled. "They're, like, 'You work for a travel agency or something?'" Parsons explains that travel nurses fill assignments all over …

It's the compulsion, the need that keeps you awake until dawn. The drugs are secondary. That hole has to be filled. Somehow you were given that hole. During your childhood. The intricate latticework of behavioral …

Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis. Knopf, 2005; $24.95; 308 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Imagine becoming a bestselling novelist, and almost immediately famous and wealthy, while still in college, and before long seeing your …

Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness. -- Richard Carlson 'You've been at that for more than an hour. What's up?" David sounded more concerned than curious. I lowered the …

"In the past, people's mindset was, if people aren't having kids, how is the Reformed faith going to grow?" said Rick Roeda, the director of youth ministries at San Diego Christian Reformed Church (SDCRC). "Reformed …

Tim Curns, one half of the Dateless Losers (with Gabriel Lander), was recently flown out to New York to audition for a slot in the Blue Man franchise. "I sent in my résumé," says Tim, …

The sea cliffs at Dana Point are revered by historians as the site where Spanish vaqueros threw hides over the cliffs and down to waiting ships as described in Richard Henry Dana's Two Years Before …

My husband Patrick and I are bickering more these days. It may be the heat -- around October 1st, we both start thinking that the autumn cool should set in, and then we get blasted. …

Got an e-mail invitation to celebrate the birth date of Fong Ha's one-year-old daughter, Emily. Fong was database guy for the Sporting Box Football Contest, which had a five-year run during the mid '90s. After …

Unlike Encinitas, the Gaslamp Quarter, and La Mesa, Escondido suffers from a shocking shortage of Italian dinner houses. Judging from the Yellow Pages, there's only tiny Joe's downtown, an Olive Garden way out in the …

'I try very hard to not let bigotry eat its way into my mind," says Kayla Williams, author of Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army. "I was talking …

“It tasted like it was dead. And it was two years younger than ours.”

While in rural northern Georgia during the first weekend of October, I learned that Hammerfest 2005 would take place nearby. The event would include Fallbrook resident Tom Metzger performing karaoke between sets by Whitelaw, Kremator, …

Remember the Alamo? Remember the Maine? Forget both. Remember March of 2000 if you're concerned about your economic future. That month has meaning for today. It's when the stock market bubble of the 1990s peaked …

It was like a scene from War of the Worlds. On a late Sunday afternoon in spring, Donna New heard her husband calling from the deck of their hillside home in the West Muirlands area …

On the eve of the release of the Castanets' sophomore album, First Light's Freeze, Raymond Raposa seemed indifferent to the media whirlwind surrounding like-minded "neo-folk" stars Devendra Banhart, Iron and Wine, and Sufjan Stevens. "It's …

"We get to record a track at their studios," says Seth Torma of Evergreen. The cost of recording a song in L.A. this week will be covered by Napster, the singer/guitarist says. "It's all part …

Filmmakers have a hard enough time telling the truth about fictional characters fashioned out of whole cloth.

High-tech evangelist Larry Smarr, who runs UCSD's California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, is being paid $249,200 a year, in part to promote commerce between big business and the public university. "My point is …

"If I had sold music alone, I wouldn't have been able to survive," says Elliot Leib, who cofounded Trade Roots with Renee Romano 20 years ago. Leib had a master's degree in African studies when …

"I tried for four years to get people to play with me, and I finally found them," says Andre Beller, a bassist and SDSU education major. Beller says two other musicians round out Nostalgia, an …

"He arrived at the UCSD Medical Center having lost one-third of his blood from 15 knife wounds to his head, neck, face, arms, and torso," says Lourdes Ayon Jimenez. Her brother, musician Fernando Ayon, was …

Thirty-one years ago today (10/13/74), T Rex and Blue Oyster Cult were scheduled to play Golden Hall. T Rex had just undergone personnel changes and singer Marc Bolan was in the midst of splitting with …

Heymatt: Does anyone know the history behind the lips painted on the rock going out of Lemon Grove at Lemon Grove Avenue and High street? I'm 34 years old and always remember the lips being …

Hey Matt: What makes the loudest noise? I think it's an H bomb, but my girlfriend thinks it's a big volcano. Or is it our argument about this question? Please help! -- Andy, South Park …

Thirty Years Ago Jane Fonda could in no way duplicate Jon Voight's warmth, nor does she feel the need to. Understandably, she is under pressure. Hayden has spoken to 600 groups since last June. If …

A friend of mine took me to a party in La Mesa with the understanding that I wouldn't write about it. When I grabbed a pen from the car, she said, "What are you doing? …

Thank God for Cigarettes and Alcohol I think my PC monitor is giving me headaches, especially when I am using Linux, leading to tiredness and grumpiness and all of the personality traits you all know …

“What a woman! Her brother claimed she’d been poisoned.”

Over the past 50 years, Mission Valley, once home to dairy farms and truck gardens, has grown into one of the most developed and congested parts of the city. The commercial direction of the valley …

"I've heard you're God," the reporter said. The old man whom the reporter was talking to continued to chomp on his chocolate chip chocolate muffin. When the hoary fellow finished he croaked out, "Who told …

The trouble with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate it. -- Franklin P. Jones 'This is unfuckingbelievable. Who shows up to a dinner party an hour late?" I had been making an effort …

The Restless Sleep: Inside New York City's Cold Case Squad by Stacy Horn. Viking/Penguin, 2005; $24.95; 320 pages. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Between 1985 and 2004, 8,894 unsolved homicides were committed in New York City. …

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked," begins the Psalms. George C. Scipione, director of the Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship (IBCD), is an advocate for this …

I bought three for nearly $30. One was Spin because I’d read it and it had survived.

“You’ve got to stop eating all that bad stuff, dude. You’ve got to get tested.”

Mine Peak, elevation 1850 feet above sea level, stands atop the west end of the Coyote Mountains in far-southern Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. On a clear fall or winter day atop Mine Peak, the view …

My family's costume shows were renowned in my small hometown. The neighbors would call our house Halloween morning to make sure my family would show up on their steps trick-or-treating. Every year we had a …

The Box would like to offer a big, "Welcome home," to the San Diego Chargers team who won last year's AFC West Division with a record of 12 and 4 and showed up Sunday to …

The boutique record label Art Fag recently released its debut album, a three-track collaboration between Kill Me Tomorrow and Long Beach's Dance Disaster Movement. But local DJ Mario Orduno has higher ambitions for his new …

Brenda Spencer was the first disturbed teen in modern history to snap and shoot up a school. Last Tuesday she was denied parole again. It was the third time she had been denied parole since …

Chris Henry, a talent buyer at the Zombie Lounge on El Cajon Boulevard, says the club books bands found on myspace.com almost exclusively. "That's how we hooked up with the Angry Amputees and the Mojo …

The Che Café, Kill Me Tomorrow, and www.auralminority.com will put on a show tomorrow night for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Half of the proceeds will go to New Orleans musicians Quintron and Miss Pussycat, whose …

If you attended the Presidents of the United States of America show at the House of Blues on September 24, you may have noticed a man onstage playing three-string guitar who bore no resemblance to …

As Bob Dylan never wrote and George Harrison never sang: Well, that railroad gate, you know I just can't jump it. I'll have my chauffeur do it for me. I'm sitting here, buttering my toasted …

'On one level I'm frustrated. If [movie theaters] were serving my needs, I wouldn't have to do this," says Shane Flores, founder and facilitator of the Secret Cinema Salon. Flores has lived in San Diego …

For the past two years (and until recently), Santee singer/songwriter Mike Press was Willie Nelson's tour merchandise manager. "After each [Nelson] show, I'd head out to the best local bar in town and I'd get …

After six years, KUSI will curtail the showcasing of live local bands on its weekend news shows. "We are primarily a news organization, not a music channel," says KUSI news director Steve Cohen. Last week, …

Twenty-nine years ago tomorrow (10/7/76), the Who made their third appearance in San Diego at the Sports Arena. Beneath Keith Moon's drum kit that evening was a Persian rug that the day before had graced …

“I told them, ‘I want to do the worst jobs imaginable — nothing glamorous.’”

How bad is the festering drug problem among students at La Jolla High, arguably San Diego's toniest public school? Judging by a recent note to parents from principal Dana Shelburne, things might be better. "I …

San Diego hates being considered a satellite of Los Angeles -- until there is a crisis. You see, Los Angeles and environs are San Diego's crisis cushion. When the U.S. economy is weak, and large …

Never say never, but a hurricane like the one that hit New Orleans is unlikely to flood San Diego anytime soon. The San Diego River, however, is another story. After a rainstorm last winter, the …

Movies reviewed this week: In Her Shoes, Oliver Twist, and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Heymatt: I've always wondered how come liquor doesn't freeze in the freezer, how come? - Drunk and confused in Santee Matt: I'm only eight, but I've noticed that ice cubes have little peaks in them. …

Thirty Years Ago Hillcrest to the airport. "This is one not too many people know about. You go to the far west end of Robinson and turn left on Curlew; it goes down to Reynard …

Dear Matthew Alice: Why on earth do I get hiccups immediately after eating starchy foods? Bread, pasta, potatoes, tortilla chips... anything with lots of starch will do it! I have friends who report the same …

I got invited to a biker party and imagined characters from the Clint Eastwood movies that I grew up watching -- fat bellies, black widow tattoos, facial hair.As I approached the party in Imperial Beach, …

The Great Unwashed I blog for my friends. After the company I worked for in Dublin closed, everyone scattered, some on extended holidays, others to different jobs at home and abroad. I came home to …