Content for Wednesday, December 21, 2016
News & Stories

No interest, and a no-interest loan
Republican’s money-back guarantee
Wealthy Republican Ray Ellis lost out to Democrat Barbara Bry for the First District city-council seat representing La Jolla, but at least he got a refund. According to a December 2 closeout filed at city ...

Crash Worshipper John Goff talks Noise
San Diego's Goff and Shepard Fairey getting radio play with "Little Lions"
According to former Crash Worship member John Goff, everyone knew there was no future for his band after Great White’s 2003 Rhode Island nightclub gig that ended with 100 fans dead from a raging fire ...

Lapping it up with Christina Ricci and Blondie
An homage to dying your hair, early NYC punk, and Blondie’s Camp Funtime T-shirt
At the unruly age of 16, the former Bar Dynamite bleached its mop and jutted its chin as Blonde Bar. Open since August, Blonde channels a ’70s CBGB into modern day through the punk-rock patchwork ...
City's pension liability zooms up by $937 million
"They have...basically put the city in bankruptcy."
The City of San Diego's pension liability as of June 30 has soared to $2.65 billion, up by $937 million since June of 2015, according to a report by Cheiron, the actuarial firm used by ...

Party with a platter of carnitas at El Pachanguero
Leona's lush carnitas
"I need a novio!” This is Leona. She’s standing by as I chow into her lush carnitas, basically slow-cooked pork on a plate loaded with frijoles, grated cotija cheese, avocado slices, pico de gallo, and ...

No OFF! switch
Hardcore survivors/revivers can't seem to take a break
Hardcore revivalists OFF! are supposed to be on hiatus right now, but the band has unexpectedly switched ON! ahead of schedule. “We’re supposed to be on a year-long hiatus and we are, maybe, seven months ...

It’s always the season of giving
Faulconer’s jail bucks
Carlsbad’s Eric Noonan, a warden with the private prison business known as GEO Group, was one of San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer’s most uniquely employed contributors, kicking in $1050 on election day, June 7. Other ...

Catania's Canella is an introduction to fall with a taste of summer
Applesauce adds body to the cocktail
Catania’s cocktail menu holds a full offering of autumn nostalgia, including something called the Canella, created by Catania’s head bartender Cesar Sandoval. The Canella was inspired, in name and content, by San Francisco liquor producer ...

Sounds of freedom from Fishbone
Fishbone offshoot Trulio Disgracias hits O.B.'s Holding Company on Wednesday, December 28
“The very first time Fishbone played the Belly Up,” recalls bassist Norwood Fisher, “our [former] guitarist Kendall Jones jumped up and cracked his cranium on the side of one of the hanging speakers during our ...

Theater year in review: Design
A good — but not great — year in local theater
I sometimes get asked “Who’s your favorite writer?” “What’s your favorite play?” Well, Shakespeare and Chekhov certainly, Michel de Montaigne, whose wisdom grows as I grow older. But what about Homer or Simone Weil, or ...

Lion doesn’t roar
But Nicole Kidman delivers one of her finest performances
“‘Based on a True Story” has replaced “The Adventure Continues” as Hollywood’s most cringeworthy coming attraction tagline. Just because a narrative is rooted in reality doesn’t mean that its chronicler isn’t going to lie, cheat, ...

Always something amazing in Wright’s Field Preserve
Never judge a book by its cover, nor a field by the smattering of grasses that you see
The trails along the Wright’s Field Preserve are the perfect spot to walk the family dog, go jogging, or just take a stroll on a Sunday afternoon. Historically, this area was critical to the early ...

Aquile — a son is born
Voice contestant talks life after reality TV
Carlsbad-based singer/songwriter Aquile watched last week’s season finale of The Voice. It was the first time he’s seen an episode since he appeared on the chair-spinning talent show in 2012. “It can get hard to ...

Glorietta Bay yields the beautiful, elusive seahorse
Wake-up call to the Navy’s nighttime dredging operation
She rose from afternoon slumbers with something pinching her tail. Three feet below the surface of San Diego Bay her equine head, crowned with a five-point coronet, poked through a blanket of eel grass. Alarm ...

Get out of the house over Christmas break
Run a 5K at the Holiday Bowl Parade or choose from several DJ events on Christmas Eve
Thursday | 22 Full-day winter camps for grades 1–3 at the science center with educational, hands-on activities incorporating the Fleet’s exhibit galleries. December 22, Maker Mania: create, craft, and tinker with your own devices. December ...

Audiobook-listening is not the same as reading
Why it matters if the words go through your eyes as opposed to your ears
Dear Hipster: My friend and I have a longstanding dispute, and I’ve unilaterally decided to bring you into it (you’re welcome). It began years ago, when that book Born to Run came out. I remember ...

Gates behind the gates in Poway
Your private cul-de-sac awaits
Beds: 5 Baths: 8 Current Owner: IAB LLC, care of Matthew Kemp List Price: $11,500,000 The sprawling Poway mansion at 14105 Biscayne Place is described in listing materials as “the Trophy Estate at the Heritage,” ...

Punk-rock revivalists Barb Wire Dolls
Soda Bar stages the Greek five-piece on Thursday night, December 22
They’re a good three decades late to the dance, but don’t paint them into the retro corner. This is a living, breathing band, fresh, and coming off the launch pad as if they could restart ...

Even drought-tolerant trees die in San Diego
Is water conservation backfiring?
San Diego needs many more trees and must take better care of the sparse trees it has. Trees shade us from the sun, reduce urban heat and noise, save energy, raise property values, improve air ...

Caesar was too old, it seems to me
Should have been more mature
Advent The time of the first advent was foretold; the time of the second is not so; because the first was to be obscure, and the second is to be brilliant, and so manifest that ...

Is the Copley estate historic?
Ace in Foxhill’s holes
Former U-T publisher and mayoral moneyman Douglas Manchester has been stirring the genteel reaches of the late Helen Copley’s Foxhill estate ever since he bought the lavish spread up the hill from the La Jolla ...

Church for those who got burnt out or burned
Riverview Community Church meets in an old bar
Riverview Community Church Membership: 600 Pastor: Todd Tolson Age: 40 Born: Waukegan, IL Formation: Christian Heritage College, Santee (previously San Diego Christian, El Cajon) Years Ordained: 16 San Diego Reader: How long do you spend ...

Barb Wire Dolls, Bowie, and El Vez
...and the best of the rest in San Diego clubs this weekend
Thursday 22Wouldn’t be Christmastime if hometown hit Gary Shuffler (Honey Glaze) didn’t don his “screwed-up eyes and screwed-down hairdo” as Ziggy Shuffledust. If you’ve never seen a Shuffler tribute, which includes Bauhaus, Queen, and GNR, ...

Santa isn't the only one with a full mailbag
No holiday cheer in this week's letters to the editor
The Work Will Never Be Done Re: “San Diego Climate Cleanup Report Card Is In,” News Ticker, December 15 The report says there’s a lot more work to be done, but I’m curious when the ...

George Clinton, Henry Rollins, OFF!
...plus Monk's Listless Christmas Listening List (say that five times fast)
Sunday 25Monk’s listless list: my annual Christmas insert where I admit what sucked up most of my time listening-wise this year. Yes, I use the very scientific method of naming my bests by what I ...