On a Saturday spring morning, in a small fenced-in backyard in San Marcos, 40 or so rather dangerous-looking men (and a few women and children) have gathered to celebrate arm wrestler Harold “the Rattlesnake” Ryden’s …

At the Hillcrest Town Council, on June 10th, camera crews from three local news stations filled the meeting room at the Joyce Beers Community Center. The crews focused their lenses on the guest speaker, Chief …

Profitable Police I may not agree with everything in Staci Thrasher’s story about her daughter (“There’s Been an Accident,” Cover Story, June 5), but there is one thing that she is dead-on about, and that …

Last-minute political expenditures made in local campaigns are often an indication that the people spending the cash don’t want their identities to become an issue with voters. The tactic works well because local media outlets …

Now that Hillary Clinton has finally bowed out of the Democratic presidential race, the bets placed by local contributors can be tallied. Perhaps the biggest loser is Lynn Schenk, an ex-aide to then-governor Jerry Brown …

The library at UCSD has just purchased some letters and related miscellanea belonging to Gary Snyder, a Northern California poet famous for hanging out with fellow Beat Generation writers Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Philip Whalen, …

Clue: Yowler at the third jewel's theater? 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: Crown this our smallest park?) Rotary …

Thirty Years AgoIt grieves me that my first letter to the Reader should be in criticism of my favorite columnist, Eleanor Widmer. In writing about Sheldon’s Restaurant, her comment about “aging waitresses in orthopedic white …

Hubby Patrick’s brother Kevin has been a small-time rock musician since he was 18. When he turned 38 this year and the band — Youth Movement — still hadn’t made it, he came to the …

My brother is an addict. He contaminated me. I’ve gotten over it. Not he. His eyes are bloodshot. His fingers twitch all the time. He looks haggard. He’s lost and is still losing weight. Whenever …

I tried to fit three events into one day. It almost worked. The first thing I went to was a motorcycle ride for the troops. I heard about it from DJs on Rock 105.3. It …

Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses. — Dorothy Parker When I was six years old I had an imaginary friend named Jesus. Like most children, I attributed nearly everything that happened or …

Kim Cattrall is a vampire. By night, Kim Cattrall feeds on Hooters girls innocently making out with each other in the parking lot. I haven’t looked up her Wikipedia entry to verify this fact, but …

Serene Lake Wohlford lies near the headwaters of Escondido Creek, its mirroring surface reflecting the shaggy-with-chaparral, boulder-studded hillsides that confine it. As early as 1895, water impounded for the benefit of Escondido’s farms and households …

I have an adorable golden retriever named Charlie who was four years old on May 9. I have always said he should be a dodel, which is a dog model. I don’t know if there …

Portrait of a church on the cusp: North Coast Calvary Chapel, founded as a home Bible study in Encinitas, was housed five years in a YMCA, then ten years in the Vulcan Center (now Encinitas …

‘Actually, I’m walking the golf course right now. Give me a call around 7:00 or 7:30 tonight.” That’s Craig Barlow, professional golfer, scouting Torrey Pines GC, preparing for today’s U.S. Open. I found him by …

I suppose it can be classed as a superstition that I have an irrational fear of things going too well. I look forward to these: Fridays falling on the 13th of a month. It appeals …

We watch a woman just home from work. Her eyes are so blank, it’s hard to tell if she’s glad to be back in her spotless studio apartment or relieved to clock another eight hours. …

What’s the difference between National City and Rancho Santa Fe? Well — er, uh — money comes to mind. Last year, median household income in National City was $44,130, according to figures provided by the …

The old Naval Training Center at Point Loma is now a perfect new neighborhood, a salmon-colored village with shops, groceries, restaurants, and even an arts center, all within a short walk — something like urban …

“The pain is in my heart. I want you to send me to a heart specialist so that I can have an angiogram and have this taken care of right away.” Stephan’s deep, subdued tones, …

Here’s how I imagine the recording process went for Times New Viking’s Rip It Off: Guitar, keyboards, drums, and shouted vocals play at maximum volume around a cell phone. Studio receives call, presses sound directly …

There’s jazz, and then there’s jazz — there’s traditional jazz that has not changed since the ’50s, and there’s a newer breed of jazz informed by pop. Hiromi is a jazz pianist who fits into …

“I know it sounds lame, but I actually did come down here [to San Diego] seven years ago to follow my dreams of grandeur,” says Ambient Bob, bass player for the Vulgar Herd. What was …

“In the mid to late 1990s, we saw a lot of contamination — from places like the shipyards in particular — flowing freely off those sites, like Southwest Marine and NASSCO [National Steel and Shipyard …

When I first met my roommate, she was a very involved and social person. We were fine for the first year; neither of us was home often, as we kept busy. In the second year, …

The Gaslamp 15 still bears keeping an eye on. Hopefully this won’t turn into a deathwatch, though I note that the hours of operation have been scaled back on weekdays to a late-afternoon start, a …

Artist: Trend Setters Song: “No Friends” (from the CD Cali Crunk Vol. 1) Heard By: Graham Goodenough, College Area It was generic, standard, recent hip-hop that’s got that Southern beat — kind of slowed down …

A radio station doesn’t usually have the same DJ on for 20 years,” said Makeda Dread in 2003, the 20th anniversary of her Reggae Makossa program on 91X. On May 18, Dread’s run as producer/host …

On June 2, 2008, 79-year-old Bo Diddley suffered heart failure and passed away in his Archer, Florida, home. One night in Fresno about ten years ago, I was his drummer. Bo was on tour, and …

I had the opportunity to catch Bo Diddley’s show at the Belly Up back in June of 2005. I have been collecting guitars since the early ’80s. I got the bug from watching the Who …

In February, the all-age music venue Channel Twelve 25 opened its doors in down town El Cajon. Adam Paul helps book hip-hop, acoustic rock, blues, and folk acts. “The only thing we’re not booking is …

Although music on local television has not had much staying power, KNSD-TV resumed its weekly “Concerts on the Square” last month. Taped outdoors at Horton Square (225 Broadway, next to the station’s studios), the music …

Album: Haunt This Town (2008) Artist: Arm the Angels Label: self-released Where available/price: CDBaby.com for $12. iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, MP3.com, and Napster for 99 cents per song. Songs: 1) Last Goodbye 2) Haunt This Town …

Matt: When a hen lays an egg, which end comes out first? Settle our bet. — Fat End and Pointed End, via email Ever seen a pregnant hen? There’s an even better question. With hens …

Spreckels Theatre, c. 1915. Signage also advertises “Vaudeville Hippodrome.” Clarence Alan McGrew’s 1922 book City of San Diego and San Diego County mentioned, “In 1915 the Hippodrome vaudeville started to appear at the Spreckels Theatre,” …

Name: Jamie Nelan Age: 23 Lives In: P.B. Surfing: P.B. Drive Pre-Surf Music: Muse Post-Surf Food: California burrito “I lived in Australia in my junior year of college,” says Jamie, “and when I was there …

Baktiar has surely found the sweet spot. This is where folks wandering down Fourth start running out of steam. They can’t see anything ahead except the bricky Horton Grand Hotel. They hesitate and, most of …

In the first quarter of this year, three times the number of San Diego County homeowners failed to pay their mortgages as during the first quarter of 2007. According to DataQuick Information Systems, a company …