The recommendations from San Diego's 11-person medical marijuana task force are in and will be considered at the Land Use and Housing Committee's March 24 meeting. Until then, task force members continue to meet with …

The third album from Baltimore duo Beach House should be renamed Instant Dream, as track one, "Zebra," doesn't waste time in putting you into a hypnotic state. Victoria Legrand's tough but gentle voice is backed …

Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro has reinvented an instrument once considered a novelty, a toy seen at a backyard luau. Playing a wide range of genres, he uses strumming, picking, and fretboard techniques that leave even …

On Saturday, January 30, as I walked to my worn-out Toyota pickup in the parking lot at the Ocean Beach Pier, I heard screaming, yelling, and swearing coming from the direction of the seawall. A …

On Thursday, February 4, I saw at least seven people receive jaywalking tickets before 11 p.m. in front of PB Bar and Grill and Moondoggies on Garnet Avenue. As I waited in line to get …

Alisa McVay and husband Tim Lehr left home in a hurry last week after SDG&E arborist Michael Daleo informed the couple that they were "in imminent danger" and needed to leave immediately. SDG&E, according to …

Controversial La Jolla lawyer Jim Waring, who once represented the daughter of the late mafioso Moe Dalitz and was later forced out as Mayor Jerry Sanders’s land-use honcho during Sunroad Enterprises’ over-height office-tower fiasco back …

The Onyx Room’s website says there is a live jazz jam on Tuesday nights. But as of this writing, the site has not been updated to indicate that the jam’s founder and host for the …

“This album was supposed to come out last December,” says Lualta singer Michael Roger Hernandez, “but, when we were in the studio fixing up the kinks, we all had different opinions and ideas about how …

“The BombPops started in 2008,” says Jen Raz, the singer-guitarist for the female-fronted North County punk-rock band, “but Poli [guitar-vocals] and I met in 2005 at Stripline [studios in Oceanside]. We were in other bands. …

Flautist Holly Hofmann debuts her new CD Three’s Company with a performance at the Athenaeum Wednesday, February 10. Gregory Page’s release party for Heartstrings happens February 13 at Oasis House Concerts. Angels and Airwaves will …

“760” by Escondido’s hard-rocking hip-hop crew (760) was the most downloaded local MP3 from SDReader.com during January 2010. Bassist Mark Swanger provided some background. The song opens with police and ambulance radio calls. That was …

Not the wooden spoon, primordial source of sweetness and pain, flying across the kitchen — I barely bothered to duck. Not my father undoing his belt — I would be gone before he’d whack the …

O’Melveny Park spreads over 672 acres, second on the list of largest parks within the City of Los Angeles, right after the much-more-spacious Griffith Park. Noted for its picture-perfect picnic grounds with white fences and …

As I entered the church, a girl handed me a golf ball. It was yellow; the one atop the mic stand next to the pulpit was white. You could almost miss it within the pale …

Bedtime, Super Bowl Sunday, marks the conclusion of the sports year for committed NFL fans. On Monday morning, the still engorged NFL fan arises from bed, walks out to the front porch, feels the pain …

For the first of many “don’t try this at home” sequences, in Aurélia’s Oratorio the lights come up on a timeworn, three-tiered chest of drawers. A hand and a foot pop out. Then red high …

Can I wax poetic? Heed ye the words of Carl Sandburg, the poet, describing the rough, tough city he loved, Chicago. “Here is a tall, bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities/ Fierce …

Thirty-Five Years AgoThe Introduction Agency was founded in 1973. Their motto is “Dates for every SINGLE one.” The Introduction Agency does not use a computer. They use what they call an “entirely new method.” We …

Compound Stalker Have you read about a stalker lately? I have (“Mysterious Danish Group Builds Exotic Compound on Baja Coast,” Cover Story, February 4). Mr. Waterman is by definition a stalker. Come on! Attempting to …

People need money and water. Just ask Borrego Springs, the San Diego County desert town of only 2600 year-round residents. Through the years, it has endured failures of its major businesses, as entrepreneurs have run …

‘When the people in power are completely senseless with regards to human values and their ideal is a sweatshop, you are screwed.” That’s a man who identifies himself as Brian Meidell, talking about Rockstar San …

As a plan by San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders to privatize trash collection at City facilities makes its way through the city council, the contractor green-lighted by the Sanders administration to do the job has …

Ex-assemblyman Juan Vargas, running in the Democratic primary for state senate, raised a total of $146,700 through the end of last year, recent filings show. Controversial for favoring the insurance industry during his time in …

Politeness is the art of choosing among one’s real thoughts. — Abel Stevens “How can we invite her and not invite him?” I asked David. “You can’t,” David answered. “You need to decide how important …

The Other Bureaucrats The bureaucrats at the San Diego Unified School District make too much money. At least that’s the word on San Diego Rostra, where on January 23, a blogger who calls himself “rego” …

“Oh, Oysters, come and walk with us!” the Walrus did beseech. “A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk, along the briny beach.” — Lewis Carroll Aagh, Valentine’s Day coming again — probably the worst night of …

Artist: Misc. AilmentsSong: “Brand New Day” (from sandiegoreader.com/mp3)Heard by: Ryan Aragon, Phoenix, AZIt was definitely something different. To me, it had a Latin beat mixed with alternative music. It almost had an Incubus feel to …

The other day I heard the new song “Wide-Eyed, Legless” by singer-songwriter Laura Veirs, and it made me think of Suzanne Vega’s 1986 single “Left of Center.” In the verses of both songs, a female …

The jazz fan may be confused by my statement that Medeski Martin & Wood is a jam band with traditional jazz roots. After all, isn’t jamming, or improvising, the province of traditional jazz? But in …

“We try to capture the musical variety and spiritual energy of a Dave Matthews concert,” says singer-guitarist Mike Myrdal of his tribute band Stepping Feet. The group has jammed with Matthews associates such as harp …

“Everybody wants to play in a group that has an international career,” says Luiz Mantovani of the Brazilian Guitar Quartet. “Some people think, ‘Wow, you go everywhere in the world. It must be great.’ But …

“Chili with merlot?” grinned my husband Patrick. “There may be something to this wine-and-food-pairing thing after all.” I had to drag him to the winemaker dinner, but once he saw the chili provided by chef …

Alethia Espinal10th grader, Waldorf School of San Diego The Animatrix is a movie with several short animations, each by a different artist. The animations are based on The Matrix universe from a “back story” point …

Communion. That's the one-word take I settled on for Richard Youngs's latest. Not without some mental struggle -- "prayer" covers the feel of the thing, but prayer is usually private. "Meditation" comes closer, but the …

Thursday 11Kick out the jams, brothers and sisters, when Santa Cruz instrumental act Sound Tribe Sector 9 delivers “post-rock dance music” to House of Blues. The electronic quintet shines live with its precision-rhythm-based psychedelic funk …

Veteran bassist Henry Franklin's quartet is loaded with ringers. Saxophonist Azar Lawrence has long been a star with a c.v. that includes employment with the legendary McCoy Tyner. Pianist Theo Saunders's virtuosity is both brawny …

The stucco-and-tile façade of the Chee Chee bar glares blackly out onto Broadway; inside, the stale air is tinged purple. A half-dozen men hunch over the bar; four of them are drinking from 24-oz. tallboys …

San Diego city councilmember Carl DeMaio continues his fiscal conservative crusade to drive away San Diego's structural deficit. DeMaio's latest crusade comes in a February 9 letter to the president of the Salary Setting Commission, …

For some, a visit to Lake Tahoe means time away from the frenetic scenes of everyday life. Libation in hand, it’s a time to listen to the wind waft through swaying pine trees, to enjoy …