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Alleys are San Diego's last frontier

Life after pro sports, extreme Charger fans, Reader writers on Thanksgiving, the smell of the Padres crowd, San Diego seduces

Nuez assures me he can find a “dirty corner” in any city, but, he says, “San Diego falls into the not-so-run-down category, which is great for San Diego” and not so great for him.
Nuez assures me he can find a “dirty corner” in any city, but, he says, “San Diego falls into the not-so-run-down category, which is great for San Diego” and not so great for him.
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  • A tour of San Diego alleys

  • Jack Whalen hands me a beer. “I’m king of this alley,” Whalen says, then points west. “Down there, the king of that next alley is Tom Sweet. He’s 97.” Whalen has been king of this Pacific Beach alley for 20 years, ever since he rented the two-car garage in which we’re standing. By law, he explains, landlords must provide parking with beach rentals, but some rent out garages separately because there’s such a demand for them. All Whalen’s friends rent illegal garages. It’s an alley subculture.
  • By Alex Finlayson, Sept. 16, 2009
  • "I’ve got a nephew — he’s only six years old, but I’m shaping him toward being a Charger fan."

    A San Diego Charger football game is one thing, fandom is something else

  • Silva's powder blue coffin was trimmed with gold — Charger colors. His body was dressed in a jersey honoring his favorite player, Lance Alworth. (Not, however, the jersey that Alworth signed for Silva with his old Bambi nickname; that one still hangs, under glass, on the wall in the Silva home.) On his feet, his Charger shoes; on his head, his Charger hat. “It was awesome,” recalled his son Armando during a recent tailgate party in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot.
  • By Matthew Lickona, Dec. 2, 2009
  • Thankless children grow up into thankless adults. It’s right there in the Bible.

    Reader writers tackle the family Thanksgiving dinner

  • By Barbarella Fokos, Don Bauder, Ed Bedford, Ernie Grimm, Eve Kelly, John Brizzolara, Matthew Lickona, Naomi Wise, Nov. 24, 2009
  • Mix says that too many athletes today have “dismal postcareer lives.”

    After the fourth quarter, where do they go?

  • Ron Mix’s glory years came in the 1960s, when the Chargers were in the American Football League. Back in the day, Mix was listed at 6’ 4” and 250 pounds, known as a weight lifter long before football players commonly pumped iron, and nicknamed the “Intellectual Assassin.” On the field, he achieved something that’s never been equaled: in ten seasons, he had two holding calls against him. Off the field, he blazed a trail by becoming one of the few players to earn a law degree
  • By Thomas Larson, Nov. 4, 2009
  • You can almost believe that all is well with America and that baseball is still our national pastime.

    Baseball anecdotes plus Padres songs

  • Over at the nearby Friar Shack, kids 52 inches and under can order hot dogs, Smucker’s PB&J sandwiches, popcorn, cinnamon grahams, fruit cups, juice boxes, and milk for $1.50 each. The aforementioned Power Alley is a batting cage set up inside the stadium walkway, just a few feet from the Friar Fastball pitching cage. Get your tokens and test your skill: one for $3, two for $5.
  • By Matthew Lickona, Oct. 14, 2009
  • The first friends Aaron and I meet in San Diego want us to go bike riding.

    My husband is slowly falling in love with San Diego

  • The first friends Aaron and I meet in San Diego want us to go bike riding. It’s September, and we are invited — at 8:00 in the fricking morning — to join these folks on a ride around Mission Bay. I become nervous when I notice the spandex they wear and the enormous water bottles strapped onto their ten-speeds.
  • By Siobhan Braun, Sept. 23, 2009

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A history of the house on the hill at Ivanhoe Ranch

From Apolinaria Lorenzana to Jane Goodall
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94th Aero Squadron – French farmhouse still works

Try the antinoise –tomatoes with olive oil dressing plus capers, garlic, toasted coriander seeds, basil, spring onions, salted anchovies
Nuez assures me he can find a “dirty corner” in any city, but, he says, “San Diego falls into the not-so-run-down category, which is great for San Diego” and not so great for him.
Nuez assures me he can find a “dirty corner” in any city, but, he says, “San Diego falls into the not-so-run-down category, which is great for San Diego” and not so great for him.
Sponsored
Sponsored
  • A tour of San Diego alleys

  • Jack Whalen hands me a beer. “I’m king of this alley,” Whalen says, then points west. “Down there, the king of that next alley is Tom Sweet. He’s 97.” Whalen has been king of this Pacific Beach alley for 20 years, ever since he rented the two-car garage in which we’re standing. By law, he explains, landlords must provide parking with beach rentals, but some rent out garages separately because there’s such a demand for them. All Whalen’s friends rent illegal garages. It’s an alley subculture.
  • By Alex Finlayson, Sept. 16, 2009
  • "I’ve got a nephew — he’s only six years old, but I’m shaping him toward being a Charger fan."

    A San Diego Charger football game is one thing, fandom is something else

  • Silva's powder blue coffin was trimmed with gold — Charger colors. His body was dressed in a jersey honoring his favorite player, Lance Alworth. (Not, however, the jersey that Alworth signed for Silva with his old Bambi nickname; that one still hangs, under glass, on the wall in the Silva home.) On his feet, his Charger shoes; on his head, his Charger hat. “It was awesome,” recalled his son Armando during a recent tailgate party in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot.
  • By Matthew Lickona, Dec. 2, 2009
  • Thankless children grow up into thankless adults. It’s right there in the Bible.

    Reader writers tackle the family Thanksgiving dinner

  • By Barbarella Fokos, Don Bauder, Ed Bedford, Ernie Grimm, Eve Kelly, John Brizzolara, Matthew Lickona, Naomi Wise, Nov. 24, 2009
  • Mix says that too many athletes today have “dismal postcareer lives.”

    After the fourth quarter, where do they go?

  • Ron Mix’s glory years came in the 1960s, when the Chargers were in the American Football League. Back in the day, Mix was listed at 6’ 4” and 250 pounds, known as a weight lifter long before football players commonly pumped iron, and nicknamed the “Intellectual Assassin.” On the field, he achieved something that’s never been equaled: in ten seasons, he had two holding calls against him. Off the field, he blazed a trail by becoming one of the few players to earn a law degree
  • By Thomas Larson, Nov. 4, 2009
  • You can almost believe that all is well with America and that baseball is still our national pastime.

    Baseball anecdotes plus Padres songs

  • Over at the nearby Friar Shack, kids 52 inches and under can order hot dogs, Smucker’s PB&J sandwiches, popcorn, cinnamon grahams, fruit cups, juice boxes, and milk for $1.50 each. The aforementioned Power Alley is a batting cage set up inside the stadium walkway, just a few feet from the Friar Fastball pitching cage. Get your tokens and test your skill: one for $3, two for $5.
  • By Matthew Lickona, Oct. 14, 2009
  • The first friends Aaron and I meet in San Diego want us to go bike riding.

    My husband is slowly falling in love with San Diego

  • The first friends Aaron and I meet in San Diego want us to go bike riding. It’s September, and we are invited — at 8:00 in the fricking morning — to join these folks on a ride around Mission Bay. I become nervous when I notice the spandex they wear and the enormous water bottles strapped onto their ten-speeds.
  • By Siobhan Braun, Sept. 23, 2009
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The greatest symphonist of them all

Havergal Brian wrote over 30 of them
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How to make a hit Christmas song

Feeling is key, but money helps too
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