Tijuana has long attracted people seeking medicine and medical procedures unavailable or unaffordable in their home countries. They've been joined recently by people seeking the means to kill themselves. And some of them are coming …

Ever wonder why public works cost taxpayers so much? Consider the case of one small project, the new Otay Valley Regional Park ranger station and restroom. Under a joint powers agreement among San Diego County, …

Who Cares? I Don’t There are so many problems with your latest issue that I don’t know where to start. “Remote Control” keeps changing locations. Why? Enough with that. Keep it in one place already. …

A few years back, rock critic Chuck Klosterman listed Matthew Sweet as one of the most accurately rated (as opposed to over- or underrated) artists in rock history, saying, “Every Matthew Sweet album has only …

He was sitting outside a coffee shop downtown with a shopping cart and a paper sign that read, “Need help/ Homeless/ And ugly.” He had a thick Southern drawl, a friendly face, and a busted …

With a band name like Moontucky Risin, you might expect to hear Southern-fried or Cajun-cooked rock, perhaps with a side of bluegrass or a pinch of rockabilly. And that’s what listeners got, back when cofounders …

“American Tribal Style is an inclusive belly-dance form,” says dancer Sandi Kay. “The dancer in the lead position can cue the dancers on what move they’re going to do next, so every dance ends up …

Human pretension is generally good for a laugh. Two new comedies to do with the Creative Process, unequal in size, equally uneven in quality, equally unsteady in mood, deliver the laugh over and around constant …

Thirty Years Ago“I came across polyethylene foam in the 1960s,” he told me recently. “But it took a long time to turn it into something that could he used to ride waves. You could say …

At the family reunion swim party last week, there was an accident. Cousin Hugh jumped off the diving board into the water, and on his return to the surface another cousin dove headfirst on top …

I’m sure most guys can say they’ve never had a drink thrown in their face or been slapped by a woman in a bar. Those are things you see in sitcoms. But I had one …

Yoga is difficult for the one whose mind is not subdued. — Bhagavad Gita Despite all the dismissive things I’ve said about patchouli-wearing chakra tweakers, I still wanted to try yoga. Though my inherent impatience …

Here I sit, hunched over my pad of yellow stickies and pile of inconsequential receipts, my crayon poised in shaking fingers, and I’m livid. I write this to you in Crayola “Brick” on the reverse …

With two steep ravines spanned by quaint footbridges, scores of well-kept, historically significant homes, and mature landscaping, Banker’s Hill is a monument to the elegance of the past. The work of early-century architects Irving Gill, …

Traces of the old tile pattern still darken the stained concrete floor at Christ Lutheran, but they don’t distract much from the surface’s overall look — that of parched, cracked earth. It’s in sharp contrast …

While watching the NBC Olympics on television, quietly enjoying the 105th consecutive evening of women’s beach volleyball, I had a sad thought: This is going to end someday. Then, like the morning sun rising over …

We San Diegans are a self-congratulatory lot; the weather itself is, to us, a kind seal of approval on our meritocracy. After 28 years here, I see it much this way if I don’t think …

I’ve always been fascinated by sources of artistic inspiration. What triggered Hamlet, say, or The Iliad? What alchemy transformed ambient noise into Don Giovanni? Was it something writ large: a sign in the sky, a …

I’ve always been a goat guy. Yes, it’s sometimes gamey, but that’s the point: goat meat’s never bland. So today I’m thinking, why not? Right here on Imperial in Sherman Heights, where a couple of …

Samurai Jim confessed recently he’d never eaten Indian food. Curries, yes — his mother cooks them Japanese style. But he didn’t know a Samosa from a pakora, a poori from a naan. Well, we can’t …

AMERICAN ICARUS: BEACHEY COMES TO SAN DIEGO (Part Two) “Death was always my opponent,” said Lincoln Beachey at a celebration in his honor, “and I gave tremendous odds.” He spoke at the Olympic Club in …

On average, Lindbergh Field (also known as San Diego International Airport) performs 620 operations a day: 310 departures and 310 arrivals. All 620 of these operations are performed, whether planes are coming or going, over …

Artist: Slightly Stoopid Song: “The Fruits” (from the CD Slightly Not Stoned Enough to Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid Heard By: Marlon Hendred, Mission Hills I thought it was pretty good, but it’s not like I …

Gary John, co-owner of the Air Conditioned Lounge in University Heights, believes his bar was unfairly implicated in news stories and broadcasts that covered the July 29 murder of 27-year-old Miguel Leon-Fregoso. In a July …

“The Static Lounge show was great, until that shooting during the last set by Cherry Chuck Gang,” says 40oz Chris of Massterpiece Entertainment, who helped promote the August 7 “DayGo Unity Concert.” The downtown event …

Webcast radio owner Luis Kaloyan said he launched X1FM and its streams of five music programs (alternative, electronic, disco, rock en español, classic rock) in 2006 because he had a “passion for the freedom of …

In early August, Encinitas record label and management company Surfdog Records released The Dave Stewart Songbook, Volume I. Stewart, best known for being half of the Eurythmics (with Annie Lennox), has produced tracks for Aretha …

+44 bassist Mark Hoppus filed a lawsuit on August 11 against Missicom LLC of San Diego, alleging the firm embezzled funds “to the tune of over 1.5 million dollars.” Hoppus’s attorney, Howard King, says, “This …

Hey, Matt: Ever see big jets flying overhead, the ones leaving a white smoke trail? They fly right over our houses daily. Whee! Say, listen…I have a certain keen ol’ hand-held walkie-talkie, good for hiking, …

The most attractive asset of the Warner Springs Ranch is the spring-fed, hot mineral water pool. So maybe it’s fitting that through the years, this backcountry ranch has been in financial hot water. After opening …

As a recovering stand-up comic, I have had the opportunity to open for many national acts. Sadly, this is more a reflection of a concert promoter’s frugality than an indication of my amazing comedic talents. …