“It’s pandemic Armageddon, downtown,” says Jess. She’s the general manager here. She’s just brought out my poutine. “We’re hanging on by our fingernails.” Armageddon? She’s talking about the number of homeless people who come by, …
January 7, 2021
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The Local poutine routine
Audrey: our fair lady
To paraphrase critic Molly Haskell, Audrey Hepburn awakened love in all who watched her. Why it took this long for someone to make a feature-length documentary about one of the world’s most adored and influential …
January 7, 2021
What it means to be a cholo: Top 5 local videos of 2020
Despite the pandemic lockdown, locals have managed to shoot and release some terrific music videos this year, and Belladon is responsible for one of them. Their performance video for “Haisa” was taped August 2 as …
January 7, 2021
Plunderbund shoots new video at Slab City and Fiesta Island
Based in La Jolla, Plunderbund (defined in the dictionary as “a league of commercial, political, or financial interests that exploits the public”) is a power trio playing alternative and power pop tunes, often with a …
January 7, 2021
Little Saigon’s Paris Bakery, 45 years later
Covid has hit people different ways. For Khanh and her mother Hong, it spiked something they had been waiting to do for a lifetime. “We were going to take my two daughters back to see …
January 6, 2021
Rats follow 'rona into downtown San Diego
America’s 19th rattiest city The shutdown of San Diego eateries to stem the ravages of Covid-19 may lead to at least one negative impact on health: a burgeoning rat population downtown and elsewhere. That rodents …
January 6, 2021
What San Diego's low-riders are left with at the end of 2020
On December 12, Charger Steve jumped into his lifted Toyota, flipped on the under-chassis neon lights, and drove to meet his buddies at D’s Ribs & Wings, a block west of Highway 67 in Santee …
January 6, 2021
Don't kick San Diego RV dwellers when they're down
Homeless mote Sitting at my breakfast table with a warm bowl of oatmeal, in my comfortable home, fortunate never to have had to live in an RV, I read with increasing fascination as “fairly well-paid …
January 6, 2021
Gruesome Newsom
She’s standing on the street corner at Isabella and Orange in downtown Coronado. It’s a sunny morning. Helen Locker’s dressed in red, white, and blue — flag cap, flag top, red sweater, and she’s holding …
January 6, 2021
Full contract bridge
Dear Hipster: I always wondered what happened to contract bridge, and it always surprises me that I haven’t heard about a resurgence of bridge with hipsters. When I was growing up, it was almost a …
January 6, 2021
The devastation at Mission Valley East
In the past nine months, just in three corners of Mission Valley East shopping area, the Corona virus has caused the devastation of no fewer than nine business. Most of the businesses are out of …
January 5, 2021
Shank & Bone's beefed up phở
There’s a sort of fundamentalism that exists in certain corners of the foodie universe, wherein self-appointed protectors of the cuisine will tell you which ingredients are allowed or not allowed in a dish. On the …
January 5, 2021
San Diegans – never leave anything in your car – especially tools
At about New Year’s Eve, a south San Diego woman posted a Facebook meme warning her neighbors of a thief, or thieves, that stole nearly $8,000 worth of Milwaukee tools from her boyfriend’s truck, which …
January 5, 2021
Overdue revisit to Kroran Uyghur Cuisine
When Clairemont restaurant Kroran Uyghur Cuisine opened in mid-2018, it brought new cultural fare to San Diego, one not often found within the United States. I was excited to try it and spent most of …
January 4, 2021
Very low tides, chilly days and nights
Very Low Tides early next week will provide opportunities for observing sea life in the lower intertidal zones. On Monday, January 11, the tide dips to -1.66 feet at 2:27 p.m. Tuesday’s low tide of …
January 4, 2021