Maybe it was because of the recession or questions raised by crusading websites. In any case, San Diego county supervisors appear to have accepted far fewer gifts in 2009 than during the years of the …

It’s true: God did tilt the world on its axis, and all the nuts rolled into Southern California. Proof: entrepreneurs in Los Angeles are discussing a billion-dollar retractable-roof football stadium downtown. Not to be out-loose-screwed, …

When he recorded The American in 1998, singer-songwriter Martin Sexton took a road trip through human emotion and gave voice (and in some cases, dialects) to characters he found along the way — in three …

Before dawn on the morning of SDSU’s commencement last May, James Ziegler-Kelly climbed out of his tent under a bridge in Mission Valley. He dressed, folded the tent and his sleeping bag, and loaded the …

In their press material, Fang Island’s music is described as sounding like “everyone high-fiving everyone.” If there is an awards show for blurb-writing in music publicity, this little nugget should take home the statue. I …

“Our music sounds like four guys creating something that is greater than the sum of its parts,” says Republic of Letters singer-guitarist Chris Venti. “The songs can be characterized as a combination of melodically driven …

“Mom says she doesn’t want flowers for Mother’s Day,” I said to my husband Patrick. “Get her a bouquet she can eat,” he replied. The man is nothing if not consistent. I started with the …

Tyler Richards HewesExecutive director, Orchestra Nova, orchestranova.org My friend Trevor hosts the occasional Man Night at his house; we watch “manly” movies, drink beer, eat pizza, and add our own commentary. The movies always have …

Thirty-Five Years AgoRECREATIONAL VEHICLE. You had better give up am radio, drinking, and Elton John — you know why? Look at another ad, toots. Love, Leenie Baby. LOOKING FOR people to help start a commune …

Photography is a great dumping ground of sentimental clichés. Lovebirds, autumn leaves, maternity-ward prune-faces, sublime mountain streams, birthday antics... Fill in the list. Grand illusion-maker that it is, and connoisseur of the uncanny, photography is …

“The music is schizophrenic. There’s a different personality for every song. It’s like Science Fiction Theatre,” says Ryan Foxe, former front man for ’90s punk band Fishwife and current singer for the Grids. We’re sharing …

Last October, Creative Commons, a San Francisco nonprofit at the forefront of the copyleft movement, announced on its website that it had found the right entity to take its ccMixter to the next level: ArtisTech …

“San Diego holds a very special place in my heart,” says Bhakti Yoga devotee Krishna Das, called “the Chant Master of American Yoga” by the New York Times. “I’ve sung at the Seaside Church in …

After getting burned by bunk craigslist Coachella tickets, lo-fi lovefolk duo the Preteens resorted to spending the weekend at singer-guitarist Alex Miranda’s folks’ place in Lake Elsinore. “We went to the Family Fun Center, and …

Welcome to ESL 100, English Surely Latinized, inglés con chile y cilantro, English as American as Benito Juárez. Welcome, muchachos from Xochicalco, learn the language of dólares and dolores, of kings and queens, of Donald …

Much of the interior of Santa Sophia was straight out of the Jet Age — everything groovy, expansive, and clean. A pair of curved entrance tunnels led to a church whose high walls and ceiling …

Coming back from Point Reyes, in no hurry, and decide to turn left toward the Sacramento River delta. As river meets greater San Francisco Bay at Carquinez Strait, there lies the unincorporated town of Crockett, …

Craig Noel died in his home on April third. He was 94. Friends remember the Father of San Diego Theater. THE PERSONJack O’Brien, artistic director emeritus, Old Globe Theatre. In the mid- to late ’60s, …

"Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?” Or was it, “Why don’t you come up sometime’n see me?” Either way, Mae West, right? In She Done Him Wrong, 1933, propositioning Cary Grant. Turner …

This restaurant is closed. SOHO, which opened on Saint Patrick’s Day, instantly offered one of the most interesting, eccentric menus in San Diego, combining tastes from the South, the deeper South (Mexico and South America), …

Just Do It About Dorian Hargrove — courage to pen that story (“Broken Skull, Broken Heart,” Cover Story, April 22)! No, you will never be the same, you’ll be better! Different, in a very unique …

The gigantic art project unfolding on the unlikely canvas that is Borrego Springs appears to have reached completion. Sculptor Ricardo Breceda says, “That’s it.” There will be no more additions. But Dennis Avery, the man …

Carrying my whitewater kayak down the stairs at Swami’s on a shoulder, wetsuit draped over the other, I survey the ocean on one of the most beautiful days yet this year. March 16 and 75 …

Back when Kathryn Bigelow was having, or about to have, her historic victory as Best Director on Oscar night, we were hearing some dire statistics about the percentage of female directors in the grand total. …

Hey, Matt: How come an orange tastes so weird immediately after brushing my teeth? It doesn’t seem to matter what kind of toothpaste I use or how ripe or unripe the orange is. It always …

I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself than this incessant business. — Henry David Thoreau ‘Imagine if you made a hundred thousand dollars …

Some wealthy and influential San Diegans are putting sizable money behind Democrat Gloria Romero’s bid to become state superintendent of public instruction. Romero, a state senator representing East L.A., also has the backing of EdVoice, …

When I signed my son up for dance and deportment lessons, I didn’t tell him. For one thing, it was called Mr. Benjamin’s Cotillion, and I couldn’t shake the image of Mr. Benjamin Bunny, Peter …

Peter Wolf started in the music industry playing with bluesmen Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. He was also an influential freeform disc jockey but got famous as the lead singer for the J. Geils …

If pop-rock is the accusation, L.A.-based Lemon Sun is guilty of rock, a.k.a. serious dance-hall chops. Promptly sifting through the crowd to clamber onstage after a fierce swamp-rock outpouring from Leopold and His Fiction, the …

Despite entertainment-media archetypes, the province of Transylvania (located in northwestern Romania) is actually an idyllic, totally not-creepy part of the world. Transylvania means “across the forest” in Latin, and the heavily forested region is dotted …