Thirty Years AgoWe rode the number 3 district school bus, my brother and I, from our Del Mar Heights neighborhood up to Encinitas, and San Dieguito High, each morning. We were spirited and energetic, acceptable …

Thirty Years AgoIn Duncan Shepherd’s review of Woody Allen’s latest movie, Manhattan (“Rhapsody in Black,” May 31), he makes a revealing statement. In analyzing Diane Keaton’s role as a highbrow writer, he says, “It would …

Steve WagnerBrewmaster, Stone Brewing Co. I’ve always been a film noir fan, and Polanski’s Chinatown offers a 1970’s update on the style that does the masters proud. Water, real estate, politics, and racism in Chandler-era …

The morning began with no surprises. I woke up at my usual time of 4:30 a.m. and prepared for a normal day of work as a buyer of raw-material golf components in Carlsbad. I arrived …

Thirty Years AgoTwo years ago, small businessmen and poor Mexican-American homeowners in downtown Escondido led a campaign against the razing of portions of downtown for a shopping center to be developed by Ernest Hahn. On …

Thirty Years AgoIn April my dad and I flew to La Paz, a fishing resort near the end of the Baja Peninsula, some 750 miles south of San Diego. From there, we traveled by bus …

Thirty Years AgoSan Diego County is the third largest egg-producing county in the nation. The 114 poultry ranches in San Diego, with more than six million chickens, do a $50-million-per-year business. Although the world’s largest …

Michael McQuigganSan Diego programming director, FilmOut, filmoutsandiego.com C.R.A.Z.Y. is one of the best French Canadian films ever! This epic film follows the relationships of five brothers and their parents, told specifically through the eyes of …

There was a time when I was an ambitious, snot-nosed, obnoxious young dude just getting into the radio business. Not much has changed, but I digress. Around that time, I became interested in finding out …

I was laid off in February 2009. Forty-five minutes into my shift, the district manager approaches me and says, “Can I see you in the office?” While en route to the office a customer stops …

Thirty Years AgoBy now the Navy’s environmental study on the proposed expansion of its Balboa Park hospital into Florida Canyon has met with much disapproval. The Navy hopes to obtain the property to build its …

Thirty Years AgoEaster at the Colorado River is like a holy pilgrimage for those who believe. They pour out of the hot cities of Southern California in endless caravans, crossing the mountains and deserts, enduring …

One would hope that the susceptibility to peer pressure dies off somewhere around 11th grade, and maybe it does for those a little more evolved than myself. But every once in a while, I’m so …

Thirty Years AgoI’m not sure why the birds on the north island of the Coronados are making such a racket. They’re screaming so loudly, it seems like the noise should carry to Point Loma, 15 …

Thirty Years AgoA Sunday afternoon last month on the Ocean Beach pier. The fellow in the yellow short-sleeve shirt and sunglasses was carrying three small boxes wrapped in white paper and ribbons. Mike Hall had …

Edward WilenskyDirector of media relations, San Diego Opera, sdopera.com Terry Gilliam’s Brazil serves up a tale of a man’s battle for freedom and independence. Criterion gives the film a stunning treatment in this box set, …

Thirty Years AgoHe was not a typical casualty in the world of television reporting. He was Jack Walsh, the former politician who turned television celebrity after his 1976 reelection defeat as county supervisor. So when …

I got laid off yesterday. Two of our three offices were closed, leaving 80 of us unemployed. I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do the day you get laid off, but I’m certain of …

Can it be old words? Because I use balla a lot. A “balla” is a player; you know, like, someone who’s good at something. Another one is get on the sticks. “Get on the sticks” …

Thirty Years AgoRIGGS, still around? Want to renew a friendly relationship? Please reply in future Reader, yes or no. More info on me forthcoming. I. Barn. TO ALL OB LANDLORDS, your days are numbered! Stop …

Thirty Years AgoSOLITARY WOMAN: I hear you. Please come see me, high noon, the Saturday following this edition, foot of SIO pier. La Jolla. Red Ker Chief. ROCKY HORROR!! I’ve discovered it and I love …

Meanbuggin’ is when you start starin’ at someone and you’re lookin’ at ’em bad. Another one is weeble. A weeble is, like, someone who’s comin’ up, but they’re not officially made yet. Like, you introduce …

Thirty Years AgoTuesday, October 31, 1978In speaking to people who have known John Vietor, I am told that he is “the Jell-O heir,” “the founder of San Diego Magazine,” “a world traveler who dines with …

Destin CrettonFilmmaker, Short Term 12, Winner of the Sundance Short Film Award 2009 If you haven’t seen Labyrinth, you’re missing out on a chance to experience 101 minutes of David Bowie flirting with a young …

I have been shown the door due to “downsizing.” Or financial reorganization. Or fiscal re-evaluation. Or any other softer, kinder way of saying, “Sorry! We had good intentions when you signed on, and you performed …

I remember hearing “Brass in Pocket” and “Kid” all over the radio, and that was when I was in school at the University of Kansas. My friends and I wanted to be and look just …

Thirty Years AgoMaureen O’Connor now guards her private life with remarkable jealousy. In the course of preparing this story I wasn’t invited to her home, she wouldn’t introduce me to her husband, and she warned …

Thirty Years AgoIt was Saturday, and we had stopped in at the New Seed, the Pacific Beach natural foods emporium, to check up on the junk-food trade-in.... Cake mixes and frostings seemed the most popular …

F’tchou! It’s a noise you can use to mean whatever you want. It’s a sound. It’s a placeholder for whatever word you can’t think of. Chills McGillicutty means it’s cold outside. It’s freezin’ outside; it’s …

The Reverend Horton Heat, or “Jim,” as I like to call him, is a true rock ’n’ roller harking back to the good ol’ days of the era. Some call him psychobilly and some say …

Thirty Years AgoWHITE QUEEN: I’m a Queen fan, but what do Queen fans do besides buy records and attend very very very loud concerts? DCB. SAVOY TRUFFLE, Zoot and Dingo: Will see you at the …

Name: Michelle Mendoza Age: 26 Lives in: Hillcrest Surfing: La Jolla Shores Favorite surf spot: Miami Pre-surf music: MGMT Worst beach pickup line: “Want help waxing your board?” “I thought I could catch a few …

Thirty Years AgoMay we introduce you to Burl Stiff, bon vivant, man-about-town, who’s sitting at the moment in the Whaling Bar at La Valencia Hotel? You recognize the face, which tops Stiff’s Union society column …

I am from Hawaii, so most of the slang words that I use are pidgin. Choke means that you have a lot or a bunch of something, like I have choke Christmas presents to wrap. …

Natalie WalshSenior producer, KPBS-FM’s These Days, kpbs.org I’m a history buff, and I loved the series John Adams so much that I was sad when I finished the last episode. As I watched the inauguration …

Artist: The Shake-UpsSong: “Sex Exchange Operation” (from the CD Breathing the Flood)Heard By: Adam Goodson, La Mesa I didn’t like the xylophone thing, but I think it was all right. I could kind of hear …

A couple of years ago the company changed my computer login to a series of numbers instead of my name; I should have realized the foreshadowing. Local news viewership is down and advertisers cut their …

Thirty Years AgoCity traffic engineer Joe Casteneda says stretches of road which racked up the highest bicycle-accident rates (in the five-year period from 1969 to 1974) include Clairemont Mesa Boulevard from Highway 805 east to …

Thirty Years AgoGOOD WOMAN STILL LOOKING, the Saturday after this appears, I’ll be in the science exhibit next to the Space Theater, same time. I wear a turquoise windbreaker with white trim. Ask for Mike. …

My friends and I have a game that we invented in our group. It’s called “butt-cracked.” Being butt-cracked is when you accidentally see someone bent over with pants that don’t fit well and you see …

Good Mosquito Report Geoff Bouvier did a great job on the West Nile cover story on January 22 (“Deadly Mosquitoes Breed in Our Urban Drool”). I am a physician, so have an interest in this, …

I’ve liked Ozomatli from the start. They’re a very politically conscious band. The name of the band stands for the Aztec god of music and dance, and that kind of drew me to them in …

Thirty Years AgoI am supposed to be conducting an “exclusive” interview with Cheech and Chong between sets.… Cheech Marin informs me that they are “all interviewed out” so I end up with only one worthwhile …

Thirty Years AgoSo you think Dylan is a has-been/ And Ronstadt is adolescent cheesecake./ Well, bein’ dumb is no original sin,/ But you still gotta live by the choices you make./You know critics are frustrated …

My favorite slang word comes from a Leslie Hall skit. She calls a place the Hobby Lobby. My friends and I took the term “hobby lobby” and started using it to mean something that is …

Michel RothComposer, San Diego Rep’s production of production of Doubt Young and Innocent — early Hitchcock from England — is great. The use of the song “No One Can Like the Drummer Man” to reveal …

Thirty Years AgoRe: Greg Kahn’s piece, “Seventy-eight Reasons Why San Diego Isn’t All That Bad” (“Year In Review,” December 21), I love San Diego, but howzabout some New Year’s resolutions? Here are 79 reasons why …

I say “I’m too junkie for that.” It means that you are too cool for something or too hip. It’s not a drug reference, though. I think I made it up about two months ago. …

Thirty Years AgoReal estate has been very high for the past 28 months, but if you had bought on the coastline early this year, you would have an irreplaceable resource. Also, getting into an apartment …

“Sexting” is when somebody —probably somebody who’s drunk — texts you on your cell phone and the subject matter is overtly sexual. So instead of “texting” you, they’re “sexting” you. “Sexting” is sort of the …