Paul Bacon had long since advanced from detox to stints in jail. It was 2002 and he was incarcerated again, looking at 90 days. One morning, a public defender arrived at his cell to offer …

A bull run occurred August 9 at Tijuana’s Bullring by the Sea. The bulls ran in an enclosed lane some 350 yards long to protect spectators and keep the bulls from running away. A few …

Grandma glared at my bloody forearm and shouted, "Sam, come in here!" It was close to midnight, a late hour for my 80-year-old grandpa, but he came running down the hall. He gaped when he …

The 40th anniversary of Woodstock this weekend also marks the career-curtailing failure of San Diego’s Iron Butterfly to play the historic festival as scheduled. How did things fall apart for the Butterfly in August of …

It wasn’t so long ago that the Convention and Visitors Bureau, hotel marketers, and San Diego ad agencies “would utilize Tijuana in advertising,” recalls Jack Giacomini, partner in Hotel Managers Group and head of the …

Asking that her name be withheld, a woman emailed us a few months ago about a liquor store that was “bad, bad news for the community and the south end of Balboa Park.” The writer’s …

5 Across: Complaint I do not like the new rules for the crossword puzzle. The new rules are not fair to those of us that work. Also, the new rules detract from my leisurely enjoyment …

Hey, Matt: My friend’s baby was born with light blue eyes, but they changed to a sort of hazel color as she got older. What makes this happen? And can adults change the color of …

Thirty Years AgoI never returned to graduate school. Nor did I ever become Marcuse’s student in a formal administrative sense. But I became a student of his ideas and character. I attended most of Marcuse’s …

Artist: Jaymz DareSong: “Rock Paper Scissors” (from his self-titled CD)Heard by: Aaron Rubin, San DiegoIt was awful. It wanted it to sound like Soft Cell, but it didn’t achieve it. This is a great example …

The latest on Canes: it’s open for business, and the $2 million damage estimate from a July 17 fire was “way too high.” But the most significant news from owner Eric Leitstein is that he …

April was a busy month for three-piece slowcore act Little White Teeth. Apart from recording 13 songs in a blistering four-day session with Pall Jenkins at his SDRL studios and a trip to Japan, (where …

As San Diego’s Nathan Williams of Wavves recovers from breaking his wrist in a skateboarding accident, another local, who says skateboarding nearly killed him, is vying for an opening slot on the local Warped Tour …

Di Nigunim is a 13-member band, making it difficult to perform on small stages and a challenge to coordinate rehearsals and gigs. The band’s instruments include the cimbalom, accordion, piano, violin, trumpet, euphonium, guitar, trombone, …

A message was pinned to the bulletin board standing in the cozy courtyard off to the side of the trim yellow church with the red-tile roof: “If your photo is not on this board, please …

Brett Favre can still play in the NFL says the retired quarterback, speaking to the Eupora High School (Eupora, Mississippi) student council. Favre was in town for a press availability, part of his 2009 Whether …

It could be someone’s living room in 1969, say, just outside of An Hoa: open air — no bullet holes or mortar scars — a kind of scrub palm and bird of paradise dream of …

The press packet for Herringbone at the La Jolla Playhouse includes an “artist’s statement” claiming that the “dark, quirky musical allegory” hopes “to illuminate the schizophrenia of what it means to be an American.” Well, …

From the start, you pretty much know: everybody getting off the number 3 bus at Fifth and Elm is headed there. Five o’clock on a Thursday, where else? Horizon Park Chapel. Free food. Me too. …

A few months ago, some guy from some burg like Dubuque emailed the paper, asking which restaurants he should try during a few days’ visit here, price no object. Bertrand at Mr. A’s was one …

THE RISE. In 1880, San Diego County had 4961 official residents. By early 1887, an estimated 30,000 newcomers had arrived, with thousands more on the way. Immigrants, health-seekers, and speculators came to buy property for …

How do you forge a friendship in 140 characters or less? — Rosa Jurjevics "So, how do you know Charley and Rebecca?” asked the woman in the white dress. I’d noticed her earlier, had admired …

I was having a rough patch in crashing some events. It started with Comic-Con. Organizers refused to give me a press pass because something I wrote on the Reader website last year bothered them. I …

"Of course everyone wants to visit us,” I quipped to my husband Patrick. “We live in America’s Finest City.” “Fine,” he retorted. “But all at once? Old-timers, hipsters, and tweens — it’s too much. You …

Method Man and Redman play Canes on Friday, August 14. Jamar: I actually did security for Method Man last time he was at Canes. I walked him to the limo twice.... He’s one of the …

Harry Griffen Park, quietly tucked away in the Grossmont Summit area where La Mesa and El Cajon adjoin, has for years remained one of East County’s well-kept secrets. As the largest park within La Mesa’s …

The number of tribute bands your band has spawned could be seen as a gauge of success. Take Van Halen, for example. “Just in L.A.,” says Brian Geller, “there’s us and three other [Van Halen–tribute] …

The Lovemakers have attracted a lot of press since the band formed in Oakland in 2002, and nearly every article begins the same way: by telling the story of how the band’s only permanent members, …

You know very well, if you have been paying attention, what you are going to get from the Dardenne brothers of Belgium, Jean-Pierre and Luc. You are going to get quality control as rigid and …

The fight rages on for Myssie McCann, the wife of Chula Vista councilmember John McCann. For the past three weeks, ever since her husband left for a yearlong deployment to Iraq, McCann has been critical …