"I thought I had come into hell. Van Nuys was so hot. I mean, God. And at that time I was naughty: I smoked. And I thought, 'How can anybody have a cigarette in this …

Jessalyn Aaland, who started booking shows for the Ché Café collective in 2001, left for San Francisco at the end of February. Andrew Caddick, who shared the majority of booking duties with Aaland, moved to …

Drunkin Punkin Idiots bassist James Herrault says his band and the Gizzards chartered a bus on February 17 to take fans to one of their Orange County shows. For $20, bus riders got admission into …

Miami transplants Mario Quintero and Mike Pereira say they wanted to contribute more to San Diego's music scene than just another place to record. In November, they opened Black Box Studios. Accessible via an alley …

The all-age Bean Bar, located in a former McDonald's near the Sports Arena (across from Les Girls), has hosted live bands for seven months. Recently, a singer/guitarist said his band declined an offer to play …

"We must stay anonymous because of threats we have recieved [sic] via e-mail and in person when protesting concerts," read the press release from Mothers Against Noise, a group claiming to be based in San …

I met Larry, a teacher, at parties I had crashed. When he invited me to a party that he was hosting, I was eager to attend. Larry's party was early in the evening. I'd be …

Two years after Clear Channel fired "Dangerous" Dick Spenneberg from Rock 105.3 and KGB/101.5, he says he's back in town to settle up. "When I got laid off by Clear Channel, it broke my heart," …

"You wish that you could have the whole world be with you at that moment."

'I try to go online as much as possible. I'll log on [to internetchessclub.com ] for a few minutes just to check in -- lots of times it has live games from tournaments being played …

While working 30 years for the City's Water Department, Yvonne Paczulla wrote an in-house column with news of births, marriages, and other domestic matters. She called it Under Water. She didn't realize how prescient she …

On March 7 of last year the Grossmont College academic senate gave its highest administrator a vote of no confidence. The rancor between faculty and Omero Suarez, the chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, …

Carter's last stand The staid old San Diego State University Research Foundation was rocked to its roots last Friday when longtime board member Tom Carter, the former San Diego Federal Savings exec, real estate investor, …

Last Friday was Mexican Flag Day. It was that thought that prompted me to write about Mexico at all, and the column hijacked itself and had me write what it wanted. This is a beloved …

Until about 30 years ago, the canyon of Agua Caliente Creek, in the Cleveland National Forest above Warner Springs, seldom saw the intrusion of humans. After the 2600-mile-long Pacific Crest Trail was routed through, it …

When it comes to prime-time television, I've cultivated a lifetime of ignorance. I stopped watching TV in high school, didn't own a set for 25 years after that, then, purchased a big one, and it's …

The Friday-afternoon flight from San Diego to Vegas is called "the Stripper Flight." High-priced kewpie dolls with basketballs forced under their too-tight tank tops wing from their beach condos to Sin City and then return …

"Every year, I give up two things for Lent," said Dan from the lectern. "Brussels sprouts and skateboarding." A low laugh rose from the congregation -- the man looked to be a couple of decades …

Matt: Why can't I buy black olives in glass jars, just in cans? -- Olivia, San Diego You can't buy them in jars because they don't sell them in jars. Ha-ha, hum� Well, its all …

Matt: Who are Fig Newtons named after? Isaac? Huey? Juice? Wayne? -- JW, San Diego It's a what, not a who. In the late 1890s, a Philadelphia inventor devised a machine that could produce a …

CALIFORNIA'S POET LAUREATE Al Young, California's newest poet laureate, and I were talking. I asked if he recalled the first poem he ever read. "That's interesting. I have to go all the way back to …

If you buy two seats on a bus through Cambodia, one to keep your bag and knees on, the other for your butt, you might as well slap every other person on that bus right …

Dispatch from Beantown I don't like Boston. I don't like this crummy pickle I got at the convenience store downstairs, and I don't like this town. It has taken me four years, but I have …

Providence protects children and idiots. I know because I have tested it. -- Mark Twain I stood by the door and waited for Jane. "Come on, Bella, we're going for a walk! Want to wear …

“Walk into Asian Noodles and just say Ma Mon Luk.”

Helena is from the old country -- Czechoslovakia, back when there was a Czechoslovakia. Helena does things her way, and has done so for over 70 years; she could out-stubborn a mule. When she left …