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Content for Wednesday, April 16, 2008

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Victorian house preservationists worry that San Diego may kills Mills Act exemptions

The two small Victorian homes on 20th Street in Sherman Heights that Louise Torio and her husband Steve Veach have restored are examples of how the Mills Act can benefit the owners, their neighborhood, and …

Hair Lip

— May 1, 2000 Not only was I late for work, but my car’s booster engine fouled up. It didn’t explode or anything, it streamed a thin trail of smoke and rattled. So the automatic …

April 16, 2008
Wrestling Nicole

Nora, a local singer, told me that Ike Turner’s old band was going to play a party in La Jolla. I showed up that afternoon and met Steph Johnson, another local musician. She was waiting …

April 16, 2008
Mother Mae I

Nu metal soothes the savage teenage ego. Perfected by the awful Linkin Park, nu metal themes revolve around awkwardness and insecurity, which manifest themselves in lyrics as martyrdom, separation from society, loyalty to others labeled …

April 16, 2008
Playing Chicken

‘I.B.” “O.B.” “I.B.!” “O.B.!!” “OK. How’s about Oceanside?” “I tell you, man,” says Hank. “Nothing beats O.B.” We’re ambling west down Newport, arguing, as per usual. Size, of course. Like, who has the longest pier. …

April 16, 2008
They'd Think I Had 'Roid Rage

A friend of mine saw a guy walking two dogs downtown. He had the biggest arms she had ever seen. The guy is Paul-Jean Guillaume: Mr. Universe in 1987. The same year, he competed in …

April 16, 2008
Orange Alert for Dengue Fever

The future looked promising for Dengue Fever when the critically acclaimed psych-surf-worldbeat indie act fronted by Cambodian immigrant Chhom Nimol was driving home to Los Angeles after opening for Jonathan Richman at the Casbah on …

April 16, 2008
A Vietnam Vet Walks into a Bar...

A Vietnam vet walks into a bar and tells a singer-songwriter who’s done prison time that he’ll pay for the recording and pressing of 1000 copies of her ten-song CD. It’s no joke. Robin Lee …

April 16, 2008
Roping Dogs

Dogs’ Beach in Ocean Beach, 1974. The city council got tough on dogs that year. In two weeks’ time, 232 citations were issued to owners, “the toughest crackdown on stray dogs in county history,” according …

Family Motorsports

I figured it was a George Bush thing, his idea of public service. No matter how sordid your disgrace is, how incompetent you are, no matter what your crime may be, or how completely you …

April 16, 2008
Theater of Real Life

The “Father of Modern Drama” wasn’t Ibsen, or August Strindberg. He was Andre Antoine (1858…1943), a clerk for the Paris Gas Company and an amateur actor. Cercle Gaulois, for whom he played bit parts, performed …

April 16, 2008
Letters

Kids With Promise I was at work today reading in bits and pieces your cover story about “families” in San Diego (“If There Are Families,” Cover Story, April 10). I believe this cover story is …

April 16, 2008
Thing to Ponder

Under the imprimatur of Judd Apatow comes Forgetting Sarah Marshall, a comedy of heartbreak and heartmend. Apatow personally has directed only The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, but as a producer his name apparently has …

April 16, 2008
Run, City Girl by Jane Hanson

Worst break up ever? In the late ’80s I lived in a basement apartment in San Francisco a block off Haight Street. I was in my twenties and casting about for some deeper purpose in …

April 16, 2008
Looking Deadly

When you think of a hero — a soldier, firefighter, or Marine — what image pops into your head? Do you think of a shaved chest, chiseled abs, and vein-covered arms? Or do potbelly, 12-inch …

April 16, 2008
Paintball

My man Patrick will be donning his goggles, taking up his gun, and heading to the field for his first battle. A work colleague has organized a paintball day. “This might just turn into a …

April 16, 2008
Scaring the Natives

Hellyeah is a rock “supergroup” featuring members of Mudvayne, Pantera, and Nothingface. Their self-titled debut sold 45,000 copies in its first week. Hell Yeah is a San Diego rock band and the brainchild of singer/guitarist …

April 16, 2008
Hot-Shot Bouncer

Mike Pereira co-owns a recording studio in Golden Hill, but he used to work as a bouncer. “I worked for ten years in security [at clubs] in Miami and here in San Diego, and I …

April 16, 2008
A Natural Extension of Skating

“I was surfing north of Scripps Pier, and I saw two little girls pretty far out,” says Jeff, a San Diego native. “They were probably seven or eight. I realized that they had been sucked …

April 16, 2008
Matt Archer, Neil MacPherson, and Sir RJ

Technically, it’s pretty good, but production-wise, it needs some work. It was trying to be melodic, but it sounds very computerized...very digital. I can tell…because I’m kind of a musician…that it was almost all done …

April 16, 2008
Practicing the Presence

What book are you reading? “Practicing the Presence: The Inspirational Guide to Regaining Meaning and a Sense of Purpose in Your Life by Joel S. Goldsmith.” Tell me about it. “This is a book by …

April 16, 2008
Froggy's Revenge

Jordan Moorman doesn’t sound like any other open-mike regular. “I don’t have a larynx. I don’t know what it is that I use to sing or talk.” The singer-guitarist lost his vocal cords when he …

April 16, 2008
Los Peñasquitos Canyon

Crickets sing and bullfrogs groan. A hawk alights upon a sycamore limb, then launches with outstretched wings to catch a puff of sea breeze moving up the canyon. A cottontail rabbit bounds across the trail, …

April 16, 2008
Mark Mallman

Minneapolis madman Mark Mallman was in between songs at a 2006 show when his guitarist started fiddling around with a riff from “When Doves Cry.” According to a reviewer, Mallman became angry and shouted, “Fuck …

April 16, 2008
Carla Plans a Party

“Sweetheart?” coos Carla. “Honey? My heart? Mi corazón?” When Carla slips into Spanish and uses “th” for the z, something’s up. “Uh-huh?” “Call from my brother. He’s launching his book here. That academic book? He’s …

April 16, 2008
Bang Your Head, Swing Your Hair

I remember the band Mickey Ratt back in high school, in 1970-something. They were the big local band around town. I was at some parties they were at. It’s all kinda hazy for me right …

April 16, 2008
Name This Place

Clue: Big foot, little ranch. Describe this location, name the nearest cross-streets, and win a Reader T-shirt. Enter by completing the form below. Last week's place: (clue: Cat on a cool tile slide) Fountain at …

April 16, 2008
Let the Old Brain Percolate

The dates attached to Thursday through Sunday of this week, or rather weekend, have a series of associations for me. Let me have my coffee, let the old brain percolate on the back burner as …

April 16, 2008
Ghost of Nixon’s past

Maybe it’s something in the water, but many of San Diego’s top Republican political players have lived to a ripe old age. Banker C. Arnholt Smith, the town’s preeminent Daddy Warbucks — who owned a …

April 16, 2008
Forty Schmorty

Singer-songwriters Eve Selis and Mattie Mills have written a book, Forty Schmorty: Life Keeps Happening. “During the process of writing the book,” says Selis, “Mattie was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 45, and I …

April 16, 2008
Divine Mercy Sunday

I didn’t get to church on Sunday — this is what, my third flu this year? Pathetic, or maybe just scary. (“The germs are winning,” says Dad.) So I’ve got nothing on that front. But …

April 16, 2008
Eat, drink, and be lobbying

While the State of California is threatening to slash funds for everything from school teachers to parks, higher-ups out at UCSD continue to party on. Local politicians and other favored VIPs have received a special …

What recession?

More UCSD spending: recently appointed UCSD health sciences counsel Anthony Perez is being paid an annual base salary of $210,000 and will be eligible for a mortgage loan not to exceed $1.33 million made by …

April 16, 2008
Back When Point Loma Was Lomaland

Thirty Years AgoThe cypress trees remain. So do the eucalyptus, pine, and groves of pepper trees. They are memorials to people who turned a dusty, chaparral-covered section of Point Loma into a utopian wonderland. Of …

April 16, 2008
Siliclone and Affluenza

Siliclone refers to the group of girls that you would usually see in the Gaslamp or P.B. You know, implants, bleached hair, platform flip-flops, skanktastic tattoos. They all look alike to me. I think they …

April 16, 2008
Ambitious yet homeless, Eric Bidwell runs for mayor of San Diego

San Diego mayoral candidate Eric Bidwell rolls across the cement floor of Cream coffeehouse on his Heelys, wheeled shoes that he found used on craigslist for $20. Impressive dreadlocks extend to his waist. He wears …

April 16, 2008
Fruit Rare and Tasty

“The jaboticaba comes from Brazil; in South America they call it the black cherry,” says José Gallego, San Diego chapter chair for the California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. “They’re expensive because they can take several …

April 16, 2008
Union-Tribune fights unemployment claims

The Union-Tribune’s Christmas Massacre of December 2007 is still producing bloodshed. The Copley Press, aided by a high-powered consulting firm, is contesting unemployment claims filed by a small group of ex-employees who took a buyout …

April 16, 2008
Neighborly Love

While the spirit of neighborliness was important on the frontier because neighbors were so few, it is even more important now because our neighbors are so many. — Lady Bird Johnson I was about ten …

April 16, 2008
Dengue Fever

It wasn’t enough that the Los Angeles band Dengue Fever took ’60s Cambodian pop as their main architecture. They had the random good fortune to chance upon a Cambodian vocalist working in a Long Beach …

April 16, 2008
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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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