Thirty-Five Years Ago
Two of the titles I included, at the beginning of the year, on a list of “Movies I Expected to Come to San Diego in 1974 and Didn’t” turned up recently, briefly — Mean Streets, last week at the Center 3, and Thieves Like Us, a month ago at the Unicorn. The former is full of what the Fine Art critic [at] the Reader would call “the juices of life,” or what the wrestling coach would call “piss and vinegar.” Myself, I wish it used more brains.
— “DOMESTIC BERGMAN,” Duncan Shepherd, July 24, 1975

Thirty Years Ago
Recently I received an invitation, though it read like a summons, to play a fairly new table game called Dungeons and Dragons. The invitation came from “Parzival Jones, Purple Knight of the Doleful Countenance.” Knowing what relatively innocuous games can do to people, myself included, I declined the invitation.
— “AS THE BOARD UNFOLDS,” Jeff Smith, July 24, 1980

Twenty-Five Years Ago
Ever since the term was first used, rock and roll has been characterized by a continuous and quite natural selection process in which the old surrenders to the new, in which the apogee of a trend’s ascension signals an imminent swing of the pendulum in the other direction. And while it could be said that no one style of rock or pop seems dominant at this time, it nevertheless is true that much of the music we listen to these days is increasingly dependent upon a sort of Star Wars technology that would have seemed science fiction even ten years ago.
— READER’S GUIDE TO THE MUSIC SCENE, John D’Agostino, July 25, 1985

Twenty Years Ago
Oak Park has become a bit inflamed these days because of the city’s proposed redistricting plan.... District 4 contains Southeast San Diego, a largely black community represented by a black councilman. To some Oak Park residents, this is the kiss of real estate death. “They told me they didn’t want to be included with the blacks, that those people [in Southeast San Diego] would lower their property values,” says a member of the city’s redistricting advisory board. The board member, who asked to remain nameless, was approached by angry Oak Park residents after a public hearing on the proposed map. One woman even threatened to sue him.
— CITY LIGHTS: “OAK PARK HEDGES,” Brae Canlen, July 26, 1990

Fifteen Years Ago
The 120-year-old remains of Homo sapiens, the first rattle out of the modern-man box, were discovered in Africa. I am confident, however, that someday our very own Carlsbad will be identified as ground zero for humanity’s next evolutionary leap: Talkshow man. Or, as he prefers to be called, Francis Kazerski.

Forty-one-year-old Kazerski, a Carlsbad resident, is the apparent genetic repository for all inchoate longings and preoccupations manifest in talk-show television.
— AS SEEN ON TV: “ADAM OF THE TELEVISION AGE,” Abe Opincar, July 20, 1995

Ten Years Ago
In my house, growing up, if the kiddies weren’t feeling well it was either the weather or they needed to go No. 2, or, as Mom put it, “hmm- hmm’s.” Raisin bran has always had an explosive effect on me, so when I found 13 different brands, I decided that help needed to be brought in. So, on my husband Patrick’s birthday, after we ate my sweet-and-sour chicken and a chocolate cheesecake made by Bernice’s husband Frank, I imposed upon our guests to taste raisin bran.
— BEST BUYS, Eve Kelly, July 20, 2000

Five Years Ago
Clark [Smith] tells me that “When the Australian revolution first got started, we basically characterized the wines as user-friendly — rich and powerful in an easy-to-pound-down way. In retrospect, I think we look at it as having failed to produce great wines; they kind of hit a glass ceiling at around $15 a bottle. Not that there aren’t any great wines out of Australia — certainly Grange Hermitage is a pretty nice wine — but mostly, you don’t look to Australia if you’re going to spend over $40 a bottle.”
— CRUSH: “HANG TIME,” Matthew Lickona, July 21, 2005