Thursday | 20Melt-Banana and Babybaby ExploresTokyo Noise-Rock band Melt-Banana take the stage at Music Box in anticipation of their first new album in over ten years.Since forming in 1992, Japanese noise rockers Melt-Banana have become …
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Stories by Various Authors
Western Azalea, A Native Rhododendron, is blooming this month in scattered locations throughout the county’s higher mountains. Fond of moist forested areas, it’s often found along creeks and in shaded canyons. Like its ornamental cousins, …
Monday | 17Learn to Fly Radio Controlled Aircraft FreeLearn how to fly RC planes with the Palomar Radio Control Flyers club.The Palomar Radio Control Flyers are hosting free flight lessons. Planes, batteries, chargers, transmitters and …
Friday | 14BIG: Brothers Igniting A GrooveBIG (Brothers Igniting a Groove) bring their high-energy funk-jazz-R&B sound to the Temecula Winery.Based in Orange County, B.I.G. (Brothers Igniting a Groove) is an R&B, smooth jazz, and old …
Kettlebell complaintI was an Alaskan river guide. I also guided in N. Carolina (Ocoee, Nantahala, Chattooga) and in Oregon (Rouge/Deschutes) I have summited Mt. Shasta and Mt. Whitney several times and have hiked around base …
Will We See The Aurora Borealis in San Diego This Year? We don’t often see the famed Northern Lights this far south, but in March 1989, the aurora borealis was visible down in Mexico, and …
Saturday | 8Brew Fest AT NTC ParkThe 13th annual San Diego Beer Fest returns to NTC Park with over 70 breweries, 200 beers, food trucks, lawn games, and cover bands.Enjoy music from cover bands, lawn …
Fuming over funding(“UCSD accedes to protesters’ demand for divestment”, SD on the QT, May 23, 2024) So to get rid of all the companies that fund the slaughter of millions of Palestinian people, we the …
Blue-Blossoming Jacaranda Trees are taking a paintbrush to the streets of San Diego. They’re a little late this year, but as the warm weather increases, these Brazilian imports will be putting on a dazzling show. …
The sweet scent of Mock Orange is wafting through parts of San Diego. Also known as Japanese Pittosporum or Australian Laurel. Pittosporum Tobira is an evergreen shrub that is native to parts of Eastern Asia …
Mayor Pete Wilson targeted by staffI just finished reading Tom Larson’s interesting and informative portrait of Pete Wilson (“The Pete Wilson legacy in thirty pieces”, Cover Story, May 9). Focusing on his time as mayor …
Wild Rose, A California Native, Is In Bloom in San Diego County’s foothills and mountains. In moist, lowland areas and along small watercourses, wild rose shows off small, open-faced flowers in shades of pink that …
The Annual Green-to-Golden Transition of San Diego’s wild grasslands normally takes place in late March or early April, but another year of late and heavy precipitation has again delayed the dry-out phase. These rains also …
Thursday | 9GI Film Festival San Diego“Final Fight: When the Trauma of War Comes Home” goes deeper than any documentary to date in revealing the root causes of this tragic epidemic by profiling a diverse …
A walk on the (whole) beachA San Diego summer, with all the time in the world, brings up one challenge I’ve tried before and failed to complete: walking our entire 70-mile stretch of Pacific Ocean …
Rabbit and Rodent Populations are peaking in the canyons and hillsides of coastal San Diego County. In many neighborhoods, car headlights illuminate the rear ends of scampering cottontail rabbits, interrupted while making raids on succulent …
Land Bird Migration is in Full Swing This Month in San Diego County, with warblers and flycatchers among those most commonly seen. Warblers crawl along tree limbs and branches to dine on their favorite insects, …
Whaling Bar’s failingsA lot of people who loved the old Whaling Bar (“The Whale’s Return”, Golden Dreams, April 4, 2024) for its storied history and decor of dark booths, subdued lighting, and wonderful service will …
With More Sunshine And Warmer Temperatures Lately, sycamore, liquidambar, and other decorative deciduous trees around San Diego have responded with tender bright-green foliage. Cruise down 163 through Balboa Park to appreciate the vernal splendor of …
The joy your article brought meLiterary masterpiece! Thank you Georgeanne for writing such a moving and thought- provoking article. As a long time resident and walker of North Park and surrounding neighborhoods, I totally connected …
Wild Lilac (Ceanothus) Has Been Springing Its Way Eastward, reaching all the way to the Palomar, Cuyamaca, and Laguna mountains. This season’s staggered rains have led to hills painted blue and purple. Blooming lilac also …
Happy with HotchkissThank you to Georgeanne Hotchkiss for a beautiful essay (“Mama and Me”, Cover Story, March 21), and to the Reader for being a venue for voices like hers.Jarrett HaleyRancho PenasquitosMemories stirred by “Mama …
March Is the Proverbial Windy Month here in San Diego, as in most places. From midday to late afternoon, sun-warmed air expands and rises over the county’s interior, drawing in an influx of cool air …
Prunes are okayThanks to Ken Leighton, we now have the perfect description of traffic and how it should flow (“Unintended results of five roundabouts in Oceanside”, Neighborhood News, Feb. 26). He is complaining that five …
India Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepsis indica) is one of the most common flowering shrubs used in landscaping as hedges and dividers in San Diego. It is blooming best right now, with blossoms ranging in hue from pinkish …
Reader seeker’s lamentWe’re long-time residents in San Diego, and one of the highlights of Wednesday has always been a walk to the local market to get our copy of the Reader in order to plan our …
Ornamental Peach Trees, with radiant white and pink blossoms, are lighting up the manicured landscape in Balboa Park’s west side. These and other “stone-fruit” trees, with and without edible fruits, belong to the genus Prunus. …
School-stopping squawksGreat, fun article on birding in San Diego (“Parrots, Godwits, and Bushtits”, Cover Story, February 28). So nice to see an article that doesn’t involve guns or politics. I taught with Janis when PB …
Irregular haiku, inappropriate bioDear San Diego Reader, I often read your Events section, the Outdoors column, and I also occasionally read the Rhyme & Verse poetry of the week. This week in the (“Seventeen Haiku”, …
The Pleasantly Pungent Odor Of Sage is filling the air wherever native vegetation grows on the county’s coastal and lower-foothill slopes. Most common are the black sage, with its tight clusters of small, white flowers; the …
Old Surfer Dude recommends respectI feel I have the cred to comment on this article (“Kooks and Chaos”, Cover Story, February 8), since I have the experience, expertise, and age. What it comes down to …
Lupines, Whose Spiky, Purple (Sometimes Yellow) Flower Clusters adorn grassy areas and disturbed patches of soil, are beginning to pop up all over San Diego County. If desert rainfall continues, you’ll spot lupines along the sandy …
Thursday | 22OrianthiPlatinum-selling recording artist, Orianthi takes the stage at Belly Up to tease her upcoming album, "Rock Candy."Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist Orianthi first earned widespread notice in 2009 as Michael Jackson’s lead guitarist for …
The Frost-Nipped Legacies of the this winter’s cold spells aren’t hard to spot, especially in the inland areas where overnight lows dipped to below freezing. Look for brown lawns, half-dead-looking avocado trees, and wilted ornamental …
Dock Totals 2/4 – 2/10: 208 anglers aboard 12 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings over the past week caught 14 calico bass, 1 halibut, 64 lobster (142 released), 38 perch, 62 …
In more bad news for 2024, Mojo Nixon has passed away. Nixon was born Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr., on August 2, 1957 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A part of the psychobilly movement, he was …
Hope for the future?Holy crap, mere days after I wrote calling the Reader a right wing rag (for a stolen bike piece) you said “hold my beer” and published a sympathetic puff piece on Ashli …
If You’ve Seen Large Swatches of Yellow around town lately, it could be acacia longifolia. The South Eastern Australian native is a fast-growing, bushy, evergreen shrub that can grow to over twenty feet tall and almost …
Sorry, not sorry for Ashli and familyI know Babbitt is someone’s daughter/wife/friend, but Capitol police showed incredible restraint by not firing at will on this deluded group of thugs (“Questions Ashli Babbitt left behind”, Cover …
Hummingbirds are zipping around San Diego County’s backyard gardens, scrub-covered coastal hillsides, and the warming Anza-Borrego Desert. Seasonal hummingbirds are making their way back to Southern California in preparation for breeding season in early Spring. …
Wistful for WilkI want to say thank you to David Levinson Wilk, whose final crossword appeared in an early January edition of the Reader (Crossword, January 4, 2024). For years, Wilk’s puzzles were much more fun …
Ornamental Pear Trees, one of the earliest-to-bloom trees in San Diego, are about to bear their white flowers. The thousands of blossoms appear in sheets and clusters, looking rather like snow when viewed from a …
Highest Monthly Rainfall totals in San Diego are most likely to occur in January and February (about 1.9 inches each, on average) according to weather-service statistics. If low temperatures accompany the typical Pacific storms of this …
Piqued Potato Chip populist protestsRyan Brothers, we get it. All of your journalists, (I mean you too, Siobhan), are displeased with the dystopian potato chip (“Potato Chip Rock from Poway”, Roam, January 5, 2024). While …
Recent Big Ocean Swells and wild surf conditions left some area beaches partially or wholly denuded of sand. The powerful waves pulled sand off the beach and moved it into deeper waters offshore, leaving behind …
Recent Chilly Days and Nights only confirm that San Diego’s lowest temperatures (according to more than a century of weather records) tend to occur during the month of January. January’s mean temperature at Lindbergh Field …
Gray Whale Migration Off San Diego County’s Coast peaks from now until February. The best view spots from land are high points close to the surf. Aside from the whale watching overlook at Cabrillo National …
Dan: a man with a planDan has a vision predicated on many trips around the world. He knows firsthand what world-class cities have for infrastructure and transportation.Dan is going to reform the political corruption that …
Poinsettias, a favorite of backyard gardeners, are now exhibiting their scarlet, petal-like bracts, just in time for the holidays. The onset of 14-hour-long nights triggers their scarlet behavior: In San Diego this condition is met …
Tree Aloes, the familiar succulent plants with red-hot-pokerlike flower clusters, are at their blooming best in January, but are showing off already around town. Large clumps of aloes can be seen at La Jolla Cove, …