“No matter what happens,” Chris Heaney declares with a grin, “no matter if the economy’s good or bad, you’ve got to drink.” He stands behind the bar at Club Kadan, the Adams Avenue bar he …

Granted, Mira Mesa needs traffic relief, especially for entering and exiting the I-15. But how does Caltrans justify a project that is likely to increase already dangerous traffic next to a local elementary school? The …

Long-Distance Lance I am not an oaf, as Mayor Sanders famously said, therefore I don’t love professional sports. But on the eve of my favorite shopping day of the year — Super Bowl Sunday — …

Is Jerry Sanders in thrall to his biggest political contributors? Some have thought so, especially as Sanders is said to harbor thoughts of running for statewide office in the not-so-distant future. Now there is evidence …

The San Diego Foundation, an aggregator of charitable donations that have sometimes gone to questionable causes, such as a fund for school superintendent Alan Bersin that was used in part to buy fine wines for …

As a pop culture observer, I hate to hang a performer’s career image on a single recording about roadkill and for the sheer gusto with which he sang it, but so be it. In 1974, …

Son, it’s time we had a talk about The Bird and the Bee. You see, sometimes a man meets a woman, and together they form a musical duo. Let’s say this man is Greg Kurstin, …

Mike Keneally was fronting local band Drop Control when the invitation came in 1987 to join Frank Zappa’s touring band as a “stunt guitarist,” replacing Steve Vai. “The multivolume work I’m doing now, Scambot, shows …

Although movies had been set in Minnesota before Fargo (notwithstanding its misleading North Dakota title), movies as disparate as The Farmer’s Daughter, The Heartbreak Kid, Purple Rain, Grumpy Old Men, it was the Coen brothers …

A couple of years ago the company changed my computer login to a series of numbers instead of my name; I should have realized the foreshadowing. Local news viewership is down and advertisers cut their …

Thirty Years AgoCity traffic engineer Joe Casteneda says stretches of road which racked up the highest bicycle-accident rates (in the five-year period from 1969 to 1974) include Clairemont Mesa Boulevard from Highway 805 east to …

On January 14, San Diego’s own celebrity correspondent and red-carpet rude boy, Bob Stencil, took his signature mustache, aviator sunglasses, and unorthodox interviewing style to the Sundance Film Festival for ten days of celebrity interviews …

After four years as KGB’s afternoon deejay, Ditch was fired on January 20. “The entire building was on lockdown that day. You couldn’t even walk into the lobby. You had to get buzzed in. What …

After publicly feuding with their former lead singer, the Taz Taylor Band has replaced vocalist Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group) with another MSG vet, Keith Slack. U.K. guitarist Neil Taz Taylor moved to San …

Sorrow Underfoot, a Christian band featuring Fallbrook sisters Brittany and Shannon Taylor and their brother Justin on drums, has made several tours of Russia as part of the Calvary Chapel Church’s Planting Missions program. “I …

“After the Chargers started to win some football games,” says Patrick Bernard of SD reggae act High Tide, “it was time to bring out our playoff song, ‘Chargers on a Roll.’ ” On January 3, …

All financial markets are Ponzi schemes set up to take money from the unwitting and give it to insiders. All numbers concerning stocks are manipulated to give rich people more money; they’re lies. So, you’ve …

Yesteryear, Old Camp was a popular rendezvous point for hunting parties using the historic Joplin Trail between the flatlands of Orange County’s Trabuco Canyon and Old Saddleback (the crest of the Santa Ana Mountains). Today, …

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord,” read Dwain Bostic at the outset. “‘Plans to prosper you and not harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’” Hearing …

Okay, football is over. Now what? Well, pilgrim, can’t you hear the slap of leather and pop of a beer can? Hell, yeah — Padres pitchers and catchers report for spring training next week! Peoria, …

On a recent Friday night I was staying at the downtown YMCA. Don’t ask. The irony in its being referred to as the “Y” for “Young” was not lost on me. I wondered if the …

Diane lost her husband, a “brilliant” CEO, in Africa. Now the socialite wants to sell the house, land a job (her first), and sever all connections with her past. Diane’s in such deep denial, her …

I’m confused. Here I am, top of India Street, breezy Friday, trying to decide between Mexican and Thai. El Indio and Saffron. Each one’s a sort of record-holder. El Indio’s one of the oldest taco …

Valentine’s Day is the year’s biggest night for restaurants. Who doesn’t love love? For some it’s proposal night; for others, a renewal of vows. Or snuggle-up time. Or hoping-to-get-lucky night. The chefs await you with …

Artist: The Shake-UpsSong: “Sex Exchange Operation” (from the CD Breathing the Flood)Heard By: Adam Goodson, La Mesa I didn’t like the xylophone thing, but I think it was all right. I could kind of hear …

Hubby Patrick is revving up for a banner garden year. His cover crop is in, and now he’s got a hankering for worms. “They say they’re good for composting,” he informed me. I hit the …

I dug right down to the bottom of my soul... And cried. ’Cause I felt...nothing. — A Chorus Line “Your phone is ringing,” David said. “It’s your mom. Here.” Disoriented, I took hold of the …

Last December 8 would’ve been Jim Morrison’s 60th birthday. Two of the surviving Doors threw a party in Hollywood at Barney’s Beanery, famous in the ’60s for the stars who hung out there. I wasn’t …

Heymatt: The other day I tried pulling out my thumbnail. I just yanked on it for a while but nothing happened. Nails don’t look like the stuff around them. Are they just stuck into our …

Recipe by Jeff Rossman, executive chef, Terra. I learned to cook on the job. My dad opened up Pam Pam Café and Grill in Hotel Circle, and I managed the floor at night. During the …

There is a doozy of a donnybrook over usage of the southwest corner of Fiesta Island. It’s a real bitch. Or a real beach. Well, actually, those two words capsulize the battle: dog owners who …

Back in the 1920s, Colonel Ed Fletcher took his brother in-law to the cliffs overlooking the ocean on his newly purchased land in what is now Solana Beach. Fletcher armed his brother-in-law with a fire …

The Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach, which has been closed to the public for maintenance since early December, is set to re-open in early February. According to Jim Bostian, who has managed the pier for …

My Dad works at JCPenney in Carlsbad. The drive from his house in Bonsall is approximately 12 miles. Normal drive time to work with no traffic is approximately 20 minutes. My Dad's current drive time …