I’ve been living and working in Eastern Europe for the past eight years. Sofia, Bulgaria to be exact. Behind the former Iron Curtain. It’s far from the stark Communist days but still a little rough …
September 2, 2020
Latest News & Stories
San Diego, Bulgaria
OB drum circle of life, or death, or what?
“Right now, people who come here with no masks, with no distancing, are being irresponsible, and they could get sick — deathly sick — and die. We have to get tough, and I’m telling you, …
September 2, 2020
Ironic ride: from Brodozer to Honda CRX
Dear Hipster: Would it be possible to ironically drive one of those mondo lifted brodozer trucks, or is that too on-the-nose for even the hispterest hipster? — Charlie I once had a hipster friend who …
September 2, 2020
Brooklyn Dogs goes uptown
For most of the 27 years Pete Soto has operated his food cart, Brooklyn Dogs, he’s done so by the Civic Center. But since the pandemic has thinned out both foot traffic and the lunch …
September 1, 2020
Border Patrol's ear-blasting faulted by audit
San Diego border Patrol agents improperly deployed high-powered "acoustic devices" during confrontations with migrants at the San Ysidro border two years ago, says a newly released audit by the federal Department of Homeland Security's Inspector …
September 1, 2020
San Diego County to public pool visitors: not yet
A casual dip at a city pool now takes planning, a reservation, and willingness to arrive in a bathing suit. When it comes to re-opening pools, San Diego has its toes in the water, but …
September 1, 2020
Baja not stopping its sports
That boy thinks he's fighting an octopus," said a spectator watching the fight in the stands seconds after 16-year-old Ashton Sylve punched Juan Magallanes in his gut dropping him to the mat. The ref counts: …
September 1, 2020
Menya Ultra to go
Indoor dining has resumed in San Diego, though at a limited (25 percent) capacity, it won’t be enough to keep most restaurants afloat, so outdoor dining and take-out remain crucial to their success. That includes …
August 31, 2020
People wait up to 13 hours to cross from Mexico
Waiting times like last Monday at the Tijuana-San Ysidro border had never been seen before, up to 12 hours to get through the line to cross into the U.S. This is the consequence of new …
August 31, 2020
Jacumba hotel sold for $3.9 million
Humble Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel and Spa is one of the few places booming during Covid-19. It makes a big impact for the tiny, high desert town, population 561, where the hotel, pools, and restaurant …
August 31, 2020
John Brizzolara writes about his mom, his son, his dad, his editor, rehab, beach reading habits
“What happened to your shorts?” Let me tell you about my leave of absence. Like you're dying to know. One letter poured in. It was hard to tell exactly what the writer was trying to …
August 31, 2020
Movie stories by Duncan Shepherd from the 1970s
Shoot If You Must This Old Grey Head The complainer expects to be in agreement: he is certain that there is some chicanery afoot if his innate common sense clashes with some idea he encounters: …
August 30, 2020
San Vincente Reservoir, Descanso, Cameron Corners, Boulder Creek, Julian, Lakeside
Electric Water, Shocked Fish The gate below the dam at San Vicente Reservoir in Lakeside is closed when I arrive just before 10:00 o'clock on a late-April morning. The lake is closed to recreational fishing …
August 29, 2020
Try Pandemic Pizza – you can recycle the box
I’ll take good news wherever I can get it these days, and if that includes from Domino’s Pizza, so be it. The pizza delivery chain, along with the company it buys pizza boxes from, recently …
August 28, 2020
Bob Hope using Bing Crosby’s Dumbo ears to pin back his ankles
This week brings a pair of comedy duos: one legendary, the other with plenty of Hope (and Crosby) in their soul. Where the Truth Lies (2005) A fictionalized account of a murder that may or …
August 28, 2020