Have your friends and neighbors looked weighed down, put upon, or bent low to the ground lately? Perhaps they are! After all, many of the people we see around us tote a good deal of …

Hey, Daddy, I’m a Candyvore! Hi, I'm a stay-at-home dad. Now, before your eyes glaze over and you slowly back away, let me just tell you why I am one. Most boys don't spend their …

"People keep saying that Muslims are not voicing their opinion by condemning terrorism. This is because Fox News is not coming here to ask us our opinions," said Usman Khan, a volunteer and congregant at …

“I suggested that we stay on the raft and sing.”

I was on my second chocolate martini with a shot of espresso; they were still at it. I'm going to have to say something, I thought. How can I do this without being rude? I …

"At Shady Acres we're committed to respect," the announcer says. Across the TV screen, a golf cart eases down a concrete path between two manicured lawns. I look over at my dad. "Don't even think …

Ice Cube rapped about his AK-47, Bushwick Bill threatened Texas with a 12 gauge, and Warren G warned haters about his .44. But when Oceanside's SouthuNoyz raps about guns, they're the real deal. The four …

If you used Ticketmaster for the August 20 Ryan Adams show at Spreckels Theatre, you paid $25 for the ticket and $11.95 in fees (48 percent!). When the concert was canceled, Ticketmaster refunded the cost …

"This happens every night," guitarist Ricky Rene Maymi said while sneaking a smoke inside the Casbah on August 17. Anton Newcombe, the mercurial vocalist behind the Brian Jonestown Massacre, was in the midst of a …

Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash by Elizabeth Royte. Little, Brown and Company, 2005; 311 pages; $24.95. FROM THE DUST JACKET: Into our trash cans go dead batteries, dirty diapers, bygone burritos, broken …

John Renna, owner/operator of the Coaster Saloon in Mission Beach, recently began hosting live bands outdoors on Friday and Saturday. Attorney James Pyle says he owns apartments behind the Coaster Saloon. "I received some complaint …

"There's always a backlash when a band lands a major-label deal without paying their requisite 'dues' beforehand," says Augustana frontman Dan Layus. Former locals STP were scorned for their seemingly "instant" success; now it's time …

Marco Anguiano, who had much to do with organizing talent for the Adams Avenue Street Fair, died August 24 of cancer. He was 50. "He really stressed San Diego groups," says Judy Moore, associate director …

The band's performance after an August 28 high school football game in Birmingham, Alabama, was to be televised on ESPN. When parents got ahold of The Best Little Secrets Are Kept CD and found a …

Twenty years ago today (9/1/85), Black Flag, the Minutemen, and SWA played Palisade Gardens Roller Rink on University near 30th. Police stopped the show four times due to noise complaints. Nearby businesses frequently petitioned owner …

Twenty-eight years ago tomorrow (9/2/77), concertgoers could choose from Mahogany Rush at the Civic Theater, Leon Russell at SDSU's Open Air Amphitheatre, and Bob Marley at the Civic Theatre. The Marley show (and the rest …

Those who point fingers should have clean hands. But outside consultants pocketing big bucks to pinpoint San Diego's financial woes are themselves suspected of having sticky fingers. Four law, accounting, and investigative firms have wangled …

'The survival rate for people who are mentally ill and have alcohol or drug addictions is terrible," said Mike Milsop, who had been served with an eviction notice by the Shelter Plus Care facility on …

In 1803, Coronado’s North Island was a brown hump across the channel from the tip of Ballast Point. Ships entering the bay had to navigate through acres of kelp offshore, then a bottle-neck between the …

Early one morning in May, Padre Gabriel Rodríguez walked out the front doors of downtown Tijuana's San Francisco de Asís Catholic Church. When he reached the sidewalk, he turned and looked up to admire the …

As one of the richest wetland areas Southern California, the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary offers an uncommon opportunity to come in contact with a natural ecosystem seemingly plunked down in the midst of Orange County's …

One thing I know that Mom never said to Pop: "Dear, don't you think you need a hobby?" The old man has been a hobby nut ever since I can remember. When I was a …

College football, hereabouts, kicks off on Saturday with UCLA (6-5 last year) playing San Diego State (4-8 last year) at Qualcomm. The game will be televised on ESPN2. We need to clear the decks, people. …

'I got more power doing the right thing than I ever had being an actual violent gang member," says Derek Grover, author of The Gangbanger's Dictionary: One Hundred and Eighty-Seven Things You Better Know Before …

I found out about a retirement home having a party on the beach in Oceanside. The idea of old guys on the beach didn't sound appealing, but the party was for the employees, not the …

Movies reviewed this week: Asylum, The Constant Gardener, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Tony Takitani

Maureen doesn’t do the kind of foods I might eat, like meats.

It started with a single oyster, a pearl of an oyster. The occasion was one of those Taste of the Gaslamp eat-arounds a few years ago. Too many of the participating restaurants took the cheap …

Thirty Years Ago The one guy dragging along his backpack on the floor has an Ocean Beach look about him -- disheveled, sleepy eyes, blissful expression. It turns out that the O.B. guy has spent …