Yeah, it really has been 20 years — 20 years of you Alicelanders bugging us with pointless questions; 20 years of Grandma Alice bugging us to separate the lights from the darks and not eat …

The whole celebrity culture thing -- I'm fascinated by, and repelled by, and yet I end up knowing about it. -- Anderson Cooper I surveyed my surroundings, noting the worn carpet, the paint peeling from …

"Is church hell for you?" asked the glossy ad in CityBeat. "You're not alone. http://www.therainca.com The text was split between an image of hymnals in a church pew and a photo of raging flames. I …

"Our days are numbered," says Vince Campise, owner of Atlas Tickets, a ticket resale company of nine employees. "If it wasn't for the fact that we have a successful football team, we'd be out of …

Guitarist Rene Romero spent his teen years in El Centro, where there was one Top 40 radio station and no live-music venues for kids. "I learned about the Velvet Underground and MC5 from a book …

Plans are afoot to resurrect Fox Rox, a weekly rock TV show on the local Fox channel. "Yes, we are trying to figure out a way to make it work," says Richard Doutre-Jones, station manager …

America's Got Talent contestant Boy Shakira -- a local male Shakira impersonator -- has polarized the show's three judges; Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan have approved him as a contestant, while David Hasselhoff argued on …

"We showed up at the Bean Bar, where five bands had a combined draw of ten people standing around," says Four Kings singer/guitarist Drew Bent of a recent gig scheduled near the Sports Arena. "We …

The Wrong Trousers can often be found on weekends in Balboa Park, performing the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" on mandolin, standup bass, and full-sized concert harp. "On our best days at Balboa Park, …

Title: Gooseberry Gumdrops Address: http://gooseberrygumdrops.blogspot.com Author: Michael Rheinbold From: Tierrasanta Blogging since: March 2007 Post Date: April 13, 2007 Post Title: Pistol Skittles Things continue to go south for our fearless hero. My roommate, Vladimir, …

When her third child bolted off to college, my friend Janice thought she was free of her domestic duties. She returned to the workplace -- college is expensive, and a bunch of her friends had …

Foxy has mad gameness. "Gameness" is a word my friends and I picked up from a book, A Fighter's Heart , by Sam Sheridan. It means a willingness to fight even if a dog is …

DJ:Lia Station:97.3 KSON FM Shift:7:00 p.m.-midnight, Monday-Saturday A few years ago I was in Nashville for the annual Country Radio Seminar. At the last minute I was asked if I could go to the Hilton …

'Verdi was really good at not just writing the music, but making the music match what it was about," says Timothy Todd Simmons, chorus master for the San Diego Opera. "You can listen to the …

Name: Tom Downer Home: Normal Heights Vehicle: 1971 Volkswagen Bus Surfing: Dog Beach, Ocean Beach Tom Downer's wife calls his '71 Volkswagen Bus his "beach garage." Tom says, "It's still the only vehicle I can …

It was getting late on a Friday night, and a woman I was with wanted to get something to eat. As we passed by Domino's, she insisted we stop. They were closed, except for deliveries. …

Like others before her, Gotfredson found selling San Diego wine to San Diegans a difficult business.

Amber Hinajosa Age: 28 Occupation: Law Office Queen Bee Lives: University Heights Whenever someone upsets me I say, "I am going to Connie Chung you." As in, "I'm going to kick your ass." Or if …

Singer Kitty Baudoin moved to San Diego in the summer of 1994 after spending five years in Hawaii and has lived here since then -- with "many trips home to New Orleans thrown into the …

After pleading guilty to conspiracy, fraud, and obstruction of justice in the Peregrine Systems swindle -- the biggest and most blatant in San Diego history -- former chief executive Stephen Gardner last month got on …

In Mission Beach, every foot of space counts. Five surf shops, four bars, a handful of restaurants, a resort hotel, a Turkish-style coffee lounge, and an amusement park all fit within its bounds, packed in …

Community height limits for buildings in San Diego will face another test this summer when the San Diego City Council revisits plans for the Pacific Coast Office Building in Mission Valley. At issue is the …

The City's ambitious behind-the-scenes quest to build a municipal Wi-Fi network is virtually moribund, according to a slew of e-mails obtained from city hall last week under the state's public records act. The saga began …

Coming close to football. The NFL preseason kicks off in three weeks and change, so it's not too early to start collecting the best sports reporting from team training camps. To begin, the Denver Broncos …

The case of 24-year-old professional surfer Emery Kauanui, savagely beaten after a May 24 bar dispute with old childhood chums outside the La Jolla home he shared with his mother Cynthia, is fodder for plenty …

The University of California has finally released cost and attendance details of that 150-person "V.I.P. Cocktail Reception" held for visiting ex-vice president Al Gore before his May global warming speech at UCSD. According to a …

By the end of Shakespeare's romance The Two Gentlemen of Verona, you wonder when the title characters will show up. Valentine and Proteus begin as best friends: inseparable -- until separated. In one of the …

Cozy up to writers at your own peril. -- Truman Capote In human relationships, kindness and lies are worth a thousand truths. -- Graham Greene In spring of this year I wrote about a friend …

Thirty Years Ago Otto Bos, Mayor Pete Wilson's new, young press secretary, was leaning back, telling a reporter about how he had been the head zucchini cooker with Del Monte Foods in Oakland before he …

Johnny's 72 and is most famous locally for being kissed on the cheek by Sophia Loren.