As you read this, 40,000 people in the world are "in-world." This doesn't mean that these people have left our world, the real world. It means that their real bodies are sitting in front of …

Were not I thine only nurse, I would say thou hadst suck'd wisdom from thy teat. -- William Shakespeare I was standing in the kitchen, weighing the exertion of making my own coffee against the …

Actress Lita Milan, in a phone booth on Harbor Drive and Market Street, 1958. An aide to Dominican general Rafael Trujillo Jr. seems to be offering counsel. Our local paper learned that Milan fled the …

Last week, the Evangelical Philosophical Society held its annual conference (in conjunction with the Evangelical Theological Society) at the Town & Country Convention Center in Mission Valley. On Friday afternoon, a crowd gathered in the …

Startling me from sleep, my clunky phone lit up and buzzed on the nightstand. Ding ding! Brrrr! I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, fumbled with the phone's blue backlit controls, and read the text …

Album: Cathouse Thumpers (2007) Artist: Cathouse Thumpers Label: self-released Where available/price: At live shows for $10. Online at cdbaby.com for $11.99. Songs: 1) Our Neck of the Woods 2) Cool 18 3) Chicken Legs ·4) …

The racing season is long over at Del Mar, but 20 state legislators and their relatives no doubt have happy memories of the meet, thanks to the generosity of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. According …

The federal Centers for Disease Control has just released 2006 statistics for sexually transmitted diseases, and San Diego County ranks near the top in two categories. In numbers of reported chlamydia cases, we're 7th nationally, …

The California state auditor has come out swinging against lax oversight of top executives' pay and fringe benefits at the California State University system, including San Diego State and its president, Stephen Weber. Issued earlier …

Avenue 5 *** (Very Good) 2760 Fifth Avenue (between Nutmeg and Olive Streets), Bankers Hill, 619-542-0394, http://avenue5restaurant.com. HOURS: Lunch Tuesday--Friday 11:30 a.m.--2:30 p.m.; dinner Tuesday--Sunday 5:30--9:30 p.m., Friday--Saturday until 10:00 p.m. or later. PRICES: Salads …

Artist: Canobliss Song: "Riot" (from the CD Liberation of Dissonance) Heard By: Alan Castaneda, Lemon Grove Right away, I think I'd listen to it again. It's wasn't too predictable. They were combining a lot of …

Few fruits evoke the sunny blue skies of the Mediterranean and the balmy days of September quite so poignantly as the fig, but local farmers and advanced agricultural science may be turning that image inside …

"I was built to bartend. It's what I was put on this planet to do."

For months, everything went wrong for Blackwater Worldwide (formerly Blackwater USA), the mercenary firm that wants to put a training camp in tiny Potrero, 45 miles east of San Diego and almost on the border. …

It was nice to go to two events that were in close proximity. The first was a glass art show in Balboa Park called "Splendor in the Glass." There were a couple of musicians playing …

Since 2002, the insectoid stage outfits worn by the Locust have been created by fashion designer Ben Warwas. "The first outfits I did were green, with masks that had mesh over the eyes," he says. …

Schoolyard scuffle

A blogger named GMike is not happy with Z90. The station's morning DJ, "Chino," was replaced last month by the Big Boy's Neighborhood show, a syndicated program out of L.A. "They need to keep the …

L.A.-based Carla Bozulich has been a frequent visiting performer in San Diego over the years, singing in Ethyl Meatplow and later leading alt-country indie-rock outfit Geraldine Fibbers. She's been touring the world supporting her Evangelista …

As environmentalist Jim Bell prepares to launch his fifth run for mayor, he says local bands will continue to play a role in his fund-raising efforts. "If you're trying to save the world and you're …

Less than a year old, Zeros tribute band Wild Weekend has signed a deal for two singles with Spanish indie Munster Records. (In the '90s, when the Zeros reunited, the label released an album and …

Record labels and music publishers owned by EMI are suing locally based MP3tunes for copyright infringement. MP3tunes owner Michael Robertson is named in the suit, which accuses MP3tunes' sideload.com of illegally providing free access to …

Names: Matthew and Kevin Live: Clairemont Surfing: End of P.B. Drive, Pacific Beach Father and son Kevin and Matthew emerge from the surf to sit at the water's edge and talk about their session. Dad …

Name: Chris Cokley Age: 26 Occupation: Employee at Panera bread Neighborhood: Point Loma Where Interviewed: Borders in the gaslamp What are you reading now? "Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 by L. Ron …

Thirty Years Ago I met Diane Arbus in 1967 shortly after her first major show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. My roommate at Yale, David Lippman, saw that I admired …

"According to government legislation, people aren't responsible enough to survive doing anything," says Frank H. Steensnaes. "What if footwear was determined to be a crucially important element of human survival and the government decided to …

Tripp SpragueMusician, trippsprague.com Here are two of my favorite music-related DVDs of recent years. They're very different as far as musical styles, but both capture the passion and excitement of music. Daniel Anker's Music from …

At the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Willows. Sound comes at you from the sunset, underneath the dome of an aqua-blue sky, the blue banded on its low end by a smaller band of …

The Kelly household could use some fresh holiday traditions. I want my kids thinking globally during this holiday season. Happily, I have many friends from other countries and faiths from whom to draw ideas. "In …

This trail highlights the Engelmann oak (or mesa oak) -- a somewhat rare evergreen oak tree found only in parts of inland Southern California. Along the way you'll also see the ubiquitous coast live oak, …

"We never got to go to McDonald's. Sometimes we were pretty hungry."

4th & B, Tuesday, November 27, 8 p.m. 619-231-4343. $20. There are many singer-songwriters trying to sound like the new Nick Drake, but that goal comes with some serious side effects. Fully inhabiting the role …

Cox Arena, Sunday, November 25, 7:30 p.m. 619-594-0429. $79.50 to $149.50. If 1984 was the best Van Halen album ever, then Van Halen III had to be the worst. With Sammy Hagar gone, III featured …

I am 57 years old and hardly into video games. Any sort of gaming, for that matter. With the possible exception of Scrabble, all board games bore me. Gambling bores me, even if I'm winning. …