We don’t see each other much, and we’ve maintained the loosest of contacts over the 30-plus years we’ve known each other. I hadn’t heard from him for about 3 years when he called me last …

At the Greater Golden Hill Maintenance Assessment District (MAD) meeting on May 19th, most of the members spent the entire 90 minutes in protest to the hiring of a project manager without their consent. Some …

Some people divine the future in tea leaves, others in pork bellies. Campaign contributions are also a way of seeing what is on the horizon. Greg Cox has been a San Diego County supervisor since …

Correction In the May 1 cover story, “How UCSD Spent Over $500,000 on a Home Remodel That Never Happened,” the Reader quoted Carmen Lucas as saying that on a La Jolla dig several years ago, …

The League of California Cities, operating out of a posh Sacramento office, is funded by cities with taxpayer dollars to lobby for legislation dear to the hearts of city councils throughout the state. The group …

The University of California just hiked annual student fees by 7.4 percent, but that hasn’t stopped the hallowed institution from handing out of ever-higher salaries. UCSD is still searching for someone to become the school’s …

General Atomics megamillionaire Linden Blue and ex–Jerry Sanders chief operating officer Ronne Froman have been an item for more than three years now, showing up together once a month or so in the column of …

Thirty Years AgoThe sport survives around here — in Escondido, Solana Beach, Harbison Canyon, La Mesa, San Marcos, and Eden Gardens — but that kind of cockfighting is very secretive and done on a small …

The afternoon nappies are starting to take their toll on my husband Patrick. Coffee has become his drug of choice. I wondered if there might be a gentler solution — a change in diet. Something …

Italians run late; they just do. In my nine months here, I have been trying to figure out if this is due to a relaxed nature — not living by appointments and PalmPilots and the …

You can never figure out which events will bring out the partiers. A few years ago, there were several “420” parties on 4/20. This year, I didn’t hear about any. But, on Cinco de Mayo, …

If sisters were free to express how they really feel, parents would hear this: “Give me all the attention and all the toys and send Rebecca to live with Grandma.” — Linda Sunshine David staggered …

Conversation between Garfield and Seinfeld Seinfeld: Hey there, Garfield. Looks like you’re having a tough weekend. Didn’t know you liked the sauce so much. Garfield: You couldn’t put that together? I love lasagna, kicking a …

Perched several hundred feet up on a rocky slope north of Escondido, Dixon Lake stores drinking water and serves as a recreational resource as well. The lake’s camping facilities, picnic grounds, playgrounds, boat rentals, hiking …

I’m originally from Birmingham, Alabama, and all my slang is dirty South. “I’onte mut know,” is something that you say if you don’t know an answer. Like if someone asks you if you’re going to …

A splatter of yellow vomit, left over from Saturday night’s Gaslamp revelry, baked in the Sunday-morning sun. Around it, glossy promo cards featured pictures of lightly dressed young women, advertising the weekend’s festivities. Down the …

Wrapping up farewell visit to Fairbanks, Alaska, my hometown for 25 years. I have coffee and this morning’s Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in hand. There’s an ad about a football game in the sports section. Professional …

“They were strict vegetarians, even shunning eggs, and throwing away any food that the ‘shadow of an Englishman had crossed.’ ” This is a quote from the Wikipedia entry for J. Krishnamurti, describing the man’s …

What is it about acting that can grab a person’s full attention — and often hold it for a lifetime? Recently I got to dramaturge Holy Ghosts for the Sullivan Players. Romulus Linney’s drama concerns …

Editor's note: As of 2010, this restaurant is closed. Love? This could be it. The question hits me mid-bite into my second-ever quesotaco. It’s a scrunch of crispy grilled cheese over little chunks of steak …

Sometimes change is good. Take Parallel 33. “It’s right in my neighborhood, but I haven’t eaten here in years,” said the Lynnester, buttering her baguette slice. “I ate here all the time when it first …

People always talk about fighting traffic tickets in court. But what does it really mean to “win”? It’s not as if you won a trip to Hawaii. It’s not as if the state pays you …

The fluorescent light from the Budweiser lamp made the cigarette smoke appear as if it were dancing in the back room of McMurphy's Pub in La Mesa. By the end of league night, puddles of …

The University of California San Diego has a system regarding on-campus housing for returning sophomores. Toward the end of the spring quarter, all freshman students seeking on-campus housing for the following year are put into …

“I believe that in the history of the Fallbrook Music Society you would find a group of people who moved here, who enjoyed music and arts, and thought, ‘Boy, it’s a pain to have to …

San Diego’s Trummerflora Collective is intended to “provide a network of support for San Diego’s experimental and improvised music community.” The musicians seem very sincere, and most have extensive academic credits, but I confess I …

The music blog Idolator recently posted an item called “Three Indie Rock Nightmares.” My favorite: “I’m stuck in a world where indie rock has slowly transformed from amateurish, enthusiastic rock with zine-fueled anti-consumerist, small-community leanings …

Grunge fixed a lot of rock’s problems in the early 1990s. Much as Van Halen led us back from Euro-synth hell in the ’80s, grunge overtook the wimpy pop rock of the day and found …

As we ease into the lazy summer pace of one blockbuster per week, we also settle into the provincial screening schedule of forever lagging a week behind. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal …

Artist: Titanarum Song: “Aging Quickly” (from the EP Spastis Progressivus Aggressiorum) Heard By: Xavier Hernandez, City Heights I thought that it was pretty fucking intense. My whole thing is that I think there should be …

Bay Area punk band the Dead Kennedys still get airplay for their classic thrash anthems “Holiday in Cambodia” and “California Über Alles.” Though the band still tours, lead singer/songwriter Eric “Jello Biafra” Boucher has not …

A craigslist post by the San Diego Repertory Theatre is generating controversy online. An upcoming production of The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea musical was seeking “AFRICAN AMERICAN singers, actors, dancers, and musicians” for what …

Last month, the Guana Batz played a sold-out Belly Up show opening for Mike Ness. Last week, the Escondido-based band accepted an opening slot on two dates of Rancid’s upcoming fall tour. Guana Batz bassist …

Happy Songs About the War, a one-man musical developed by local singer-songwriter J.D. Boucharde, debuts May 25 at Compass Theatre (formerly 6th@Penn) in Hillcrest. “It’s a dramatic, semi-fictional production,” says Boucharde, “using multimedia, monologues, humor, …

Clue: Tower of faith — for 100,000 of us. 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: At what point pleasure?) …

Album: Young Mass (2008) Artist: Young Mass Label: self-released Where available/price: Access Music in Pacific Beach for $8.95. Online at CDBaby for $7.99, Amazon for $8.99, and iTunes for $9.99 Songs: 1) Intro — Message …

Heymatt: How far inland can seagulls be found? Are they looking for quieter digs, or are they just lost out there? — Charlie Bingbang, inland Hey, Matt: I’ve been feeding a motley group of pigeons …

Dave Koz plays the Gaslamp Jazz Festival this Saturday, May 24 One of the most versatile musicians of the smooth jazz format these days has to be saxophonist Dave Koz. His latest CD, At the …

Name: Blair Dribben Age: 26 Lives In: Pacific Beach Pre-Surf Music: Anything Post-Surf Food: Pizza Blair says, “Surfing has been with me my whole life; it controls where I live. I moved here from Hawaii …

Fairfield Fats Band guitarist George Davis is probably best known by his artistic alias Geo, a longtime local-concert-poster artist whose work centers around hard-rock shows. “I began by doing a banner many years ago for …

In western lore, an hombre named the Wizard of Wichita would ride into a town, stride into a saloon, take one quick look around, and unerringly identify every no-good son of a bitch in the …