There is the curbside view of the Mexican border: severed heads on nightclub floors, migrant corpses in the mountains, fingers lopped off, armies in pursuit of drug lords, fleeing fugitives, gangs of money-washers, set to …

The Chargers’ 31-23 win over the Philadelphia Eagles led National City police to close off some streets on Sunday, November 16, at about 5 p.m. Fans cruising the streets had Chargers flags waving and horns …

It’s the area in between star-studded Los Angeles and ultra-elite Orange County. This is the city that people just drive past on the 405 freeway, or don’t bother mentioning in conversations covering Southern California. But …

I love to cook and I love music, so when I think of Jamaica, the first thoughts that drift to mind are Jamaican jerk spice, Blue Mountain coffee, the sounds of steel drums and Bob …

Like so many bookish boys, I devoured Sherlock Holmes stories. Years later, visiting my girlfriend in London, I discovered that 221B Baker Street, the detective's fabled domicile, was a "real" place. The Sherlock Holmes Museum …

Zagarolo, Italy, an authentic Italian village nestled in a wine region just above Rome, is yet to be discovered by tourists. Leaving the historic city of Rome was difficult, but once I ventured east by …

Thirty Years AgoLast Saturday the sun was shining on the 5100 block of Cape May Avenue in Ocean Beach, and Red House at 5113 was in full flower. At the side yard gate, casually dressed …

Artist: Trouble in the WindSong: “Mr. Whiskey” (from the CD All My Hopes on a Sailing Boat)Heard by: Elliott, North ParkWhen I thought the song was over, it kept going. I’d probably like this song …

Local progressive rock band ASTRA and musician-producer Rafter Roberts have been included in British music magazine Mojo #193 (on newsstands in the U.S. through December), a special-edition issue celebrating the 30th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s …

“I’ve got to be the first person ever to play Joy Division in that club,” says DJ Atari, after being hired with Junior the Disco Punk to bring their club DJ sound to Kearny Mesa …

“There aren’t any country music clubs in San Diego that hire bands,” says Sara Petite, “unless you go to Lakeside. And then, it’s all Top 40” or what she calls “radio country.” A singer-songwriter and …

“Whenever I see pop groups perform,” says John Stubbs, “I wish that I could see that same level of fun at classical music performances.” Stubbs should know — he spends a lot of time around …

Ah, swine flu. Or, maybe not. Maybe just regular flu. Either way, I’m not going to church today. It’s as good a time as any to spend some time with the Other Side, the crowd …

Link and younger brother Booth have virtuoso hands. To hear him tell it, Link was “the Stink,” the “be all end all,” best three-card monte hustler in town. He could “throw” the cards — two …

Huh... A gold, studded “Champion’s Booth,” a corner throne area where, it looks like, champion wrestlers get to chow down. There’s a chandelier above, wild-pink-and-sea-green walls, a gold table cloth, and a red velvet rope …

After an agonizing wait of more than 40 years, science may come up with a treatment for lupus. But the two companiesworking together on the promising development are not based in San Diego County. At …

The Big Pink take their name from a famous album by the Band, but their music sounds — at first, anyway — as if it has little in common with the American roots music of …

Georgia rockers the Black Crowes launched their career on the back of two hit records from their landmark debut album Shake Your Money Maker, which includes songs that are as dissimilar to each other as …

“I play acoustic rock with a twist of country and a dash of the blues,” says Eddie Jason Coven, who arrived in San Diego in 2004 after a two-year stint as a musician-for-hire throughout Northern …

Through Independence Day and Godzilla, pre-9/11, and The Day after Tomorrow post-9/11, transplanted German filmmaker Roland Emmerich has inched closer to the edge of the abyss for a view of the apocalypse. In 2012, which …

Continuing with our colleges of San Diego road tour. Moraga, California, is 20 miles, 20 years, and two climatic zones east of San Francisco. Moraga has a population of 16,000 rich white people and is …

Halloween was a complete nightmare for me. I had three parties lined up and the easiest costume in Halloween history. My girlfriend had ordered a Kate Gosselin wig and goofy big sunglasses for herself. I …

“This isn’t a garage,” complained my husband Patrick. “This is a landfill. Let’s get rid of this junk.” Fred Siegel of San Diego Junk Removal and Disposal (aka Fred’s Hauling Service, 619-245-9957, junk80.com) was happy …

Howdy, Matt: I’ve always wondered how when I take an aspirin for a headache the aspirin knows to go to my head and not to my foot or my elbow or somewhere else. But if …

For me, being a B.B. King fan goes back to the late ’50s. I heard him on an R&B station in the Los Angeles area. I remember the name just stood out: those two Bs…and …

Why would a one-time Nepal trekker ever want to eat Nepalese food again? Is it masochism — or is it just that Nepal casts such a powerful spell? You just know there must be better …

Conflict has surrounded the South Bay Expressway, the southern extension of State Route 125, since its inception. Prior to groundbreaking in 2003, the privately held four-lane toll road was opposed by community and environmental groups. …

Mexico Without Fear Dear Folks @ the Reader, I was really glad to see Ed Bedford’s “México” (Cover Story, November 12) expressing the positives of Tijuana and Baja, Mexico. I, too, fell in love with …

In the category of lobbying standouts, there’s both Sempra Energy’s Heidi DeJong Barsuglia, who purportedly mixed it up with ex–GOP assemblyman Mike Duvall this summer (they both later denied the hanky-panky), and Jim Cassie of …

American Medical Response, which has lucrative paramedic and ambulance contracts with the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, National City, and a host of other local government agencies, gave $2000 to the county …

After a delay, San Diego State University, in response to a request under the state’s Public Records Act, has turned over the contract between itself and the nonprofit Watchdog Institute, the experiment in investigative reporting …

The truth brings with it a great measure of absolution, always. — R.D. Laing After I broke the news to my mother that David and I would be traveling to the East Coast to celebrate …