Old men with money decorate our world.

“I’m pretty anti-karaoke, so we encourage people to pick really bad songs, to sing as badly as they like,” says Rookie Card front man Adam Gimble. His “Too Cool for Karaoke” event debuts this week …

The 8:30 a.m. is the more contemplative of the Sunday services at La Mesa United Methodist. Throughout Lent, elements of Taizé spirituality have been incorporated into the service. The worship bulletin (church motto: “Open hearts. …

“We never had speed down here,” Verne Dodds remarked. I nodded, agreeing with my former JV basketball coach, going back 40 years and more to our shared town of Imperial Beach. Mostly sons of Navy …

The Port of San Diego calls the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan “one of the largest waterfront planning efforts in the nation.” For more than seven years, competing interests have negotiated and compromised on parks, …

Without Malice Where oh where to find Alice? Who cheered folks without malice If you need to prune Poke the ad balloon Not the man answering ALL us Jill Porter via email Somewhat Fringe Earth …

The United States is behaving like a drug addict groping for another fix or an alcoholic reaching shakily for a hair of the dog. Our central bank, the Federal Reserve, keeps lowering interest rates and …

EdVoice, a controversial Sacramento lobbying and political action group closely aligned with Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad and other wealthy advocates of public school privatization and charter schools, has placed a high-stakes bet on the …

District Eight San Diego city councilman Ben Hueso has been told by the general counsel of the City’s Ethics Commission that he can’t vote on anything concerning the Dells Imperial redevelopment project area, which includes …

Thirty Years AgoLarry Remer’s first fundraiser for his weekly newspaper, Newsline, held in the stately Mission Hills home of Janed Casady, rallied 150 fellow liberals at $12.50 each. The ticket price paid for a chance …

“Mom, do you call Mrs. Phelan a cat lady because she looks like a cat?” Smart kid. Mrs. Phelan, who works as an aide at my boy’s school, does have a feline aspect to her. …

Post Date: August 8, 2007Post Title: A Simple Request to My Friends Prelude: One year ago, early morning in Las Vegas. I woke up on the floor of our friends’ hotel room with a brain …

I was talking to a musician at a club and he said, “Have you ever been to a pole party? I know about one next weekend.” A few things entered my mind: with the primaries …

‘When you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.” That line, from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, serves as part of the epigraph for Peter May’s crime novel The Critic. The novel …

I envy paranoids; they actually feel people are paying attention to them. — Susan Sontag I didn’t want to see the doctor. I never do. But my options were running out — pills made me …

This is true. I know my reputation for oddball fiction and addled fantasy damages my credibility, but I swear, this is true. A spider and I encountered each other in an unpleasant way. Last week, …

In Black Canyon, water amply illustrates its mindless yet artistic ability to sculpt stone. Every once in a great while, a gush of sediment-laden storm runoff tears through the canyon bottom, carving and polishing the …

This column is for once-a-year college-basketball consumers. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is going to run for the next 18 days, and it’s possible to enjoy it this time around. Here’s a suggestion: give yourself …

Friday, today, I took a taxi to the office. The driver looked familiar, though I had forgotten his name. He told me but wishes to remain anonymous. I’ll call him Mel, and he reads this …

Stephen Sondheim was so proud to have a musical on Broadway — West Side Story, for which he wrote the lyrics — he went back the night after it opened and stood in the aisle. …

This restaurant is closed. “We’re opportunivores,” says Brian. “No,” says Jake. “We’re freegans. Like vegans, but only when it’s free.” Everybody’s sitting around two tables here inside Roots, chatting to stop the teeth from chattering. …

Sometimes, the second-to-last thing you want to do is dress up, get in the car, and go to a restaurant. The only alternative that’s worse? Shopping and cooking. Of course, this may apply more to …

Thomas PierceLibrary technician, Encinitas Pink Floyd The Wall has a dark, evocative story by Roger Waters and brilliant animation by Gerald Scarfe. It’s essentially a feature-length music video directed by Alan Parker. Parker also directed …

“Only one other fluted point has ever been found in San Diego,” says George Kline, graduate student in archaeology at San Diego State University. Kline describes a fluted point as an arrowhead with a “channel …

There’s been a buzz about Grand Ole Party for a while now. The band recently released their first CD, Humanimals. The artwork was done by local artist Kelsey Brookes. The band’s previous EP also featured …

As the millennium turned, Built to Spill was one of the bigger names in indie rock, even if the band wasn’t actually on an indie label anymore. Singer and songwriter Doug Martsch had gone from …

Cheryl Wheeler’s voice runs the table in terms of emotion. A singer/songwriter in the new-folk tradition, she teeters on the edge of a full-throated country sound but misses no opportunity to accent or put an …

Clue: Exotic auto zone. 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: One giant aloha) World's largest Hawaiian shirt, according to …

Two Mondays ago I saw two films. In the morning was the advance screening of the American indie, Snow Angels, scheduled to open locally a week from Friday. I should probably, by custom, wait till …

Artist: Writer Song: “I Think She Died” (from the Don’t Wake the Sun EP) Heard By: Mike Kong, Golden Hill I think it was kind of a love song, a memoir. She was singing to …

One of my favorite memories takes me back to my years on the high school varsity tennis team and turning our school’s losing record into one of the best for the girls’ tennis team. Believe …

Name: Aaron Age: 21 Surfing: P.B. Drive Post-Surf Food: Organic “My grandfather was a pro in the ’60s and ’70s. He really inspired me to start competing when I was 14. I’d been surfing since …

A February 22 4th&B appearance by country artist Blake Shelton was sponsored by KSON, which means its competing station, U.S. 95.7, had no connection with the show. The day before the concert, U.S. 95.7 DJ …

Since forming 18 years ago, the Bay Area—based Tommy Castro Band has played over 30 gigs in San Diego. Last Friday’s Belly Up show was in peril because guitarist Tommy Castro had his 1966 Fender …

Samuel Lopez says tomorrow night’s show with noise artist Justice Yeldham and the San Diego Noise Crew promises to be a unique evening. “What can you say about a guy who plays a sheet of …

Late last month, Kite Flying Society, the indie-pop band that took home the 2006 San Diego Music Award for “Best New Band,” split, leaving the recording of their second album, The Aviary, unfinished. The quintet, …

“For so long, people have told us that we were just a novelty,” says Matt Hensley, accordion player with Flogging Molly. “They didn’t give us any credit. They told our manager that what we did …

Album: Say What You Wanted to Say (2007) Artist: The Frantic Romantic Label: Self-released Where available/price: Music Trader in Pacific Beach or at live shows for $5. Online at franticromanticband.com and myspace.com/thefranticromantic for $7 ($5 …

A bodey is a euphemism for a cuss word, although it’s not necessarily profane. It’s something that my friends and I made up. It’s a word you can say when you shouldn’t use a real …

Beth Bennett, manager of local Department of Motor Vehicles, 1965. She began working at the DMV in 1946. Bennett left San Diego in 1961, when Governor Pat Brown made her deputy director of the state …

What is the title of your book? “The Art of Voice Acting, Third Edition: The Craft and Business of Performing for Voice-Over.” Tell me about it. “The book is really a guide. The first thing …