Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Close to Home — What it’s like on the street where you live
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Escorts & Engagements
Now, going to those links, are a lot more fun than antigeek having links that just correct some fact I wrote about. Who wants to read info, when a picture is worth...uh, a thousand words!? See, that's what I hate about those types of specials. They all pick Blind Faith, that used that 13 year old girl topless. What's so great about that cover? Sure, the album is amazing! But the cover? Hotel California, yes. Sticky Fingers, with the real zipper Andy Warhol created, yes. (there's a special edition of that on CD, with a real zipper). I just read a story with an artist Mick Jagger approached, I forget who. He designed the White Album for the Beatles, and turned down the Stones afterwards. They got Warhol, who then did that album. How weird is that? I dig the Morrison Hotel, too. Although, I don't think it deserves to be on any list of greatest covers. The photo is a tad grainy. Now, the story behind it is great. But, I'd put Strange Days ahead of that, with the crazy circus scene in New York streets. Or even LA Woman, which the original album had a real plastic window, and was almost a 3D style photo of the band. But, regarding Morrison Hotel, I had Diltz sign my copy, which had been signed by the entire band (including Jim). And when John Sebastian played in Poway recently, I had him sign it (as he plays harp on Roadhouse Blues)— March 25, 2009 9:33 a.m.
Crashing on an Airplane
Oh come on, anti! I click that, and see this beautiful family that just perished in this horrific plane crash? You're a buzz kill.— March 24, 2009 4:02 p.m.
Escorts & Engagements
Wow...her name was really Candy. That's interesting. Tres, I'd love to hear what that show considered the best album covers. Sometimes people pick a cover like The Beatles (white album), which I think is lame. Now, the Lennon cover, with just one white cloud in a blue sky was great (and it reminded me of It's a Beautiful Day from 1969). To me, much to antigeekess surprise, it's not just about hot chicks on album covers. I mean, sure...Roxy Music had some that were great to look at. But I love pictures that make you think, use your imagine, or are just interesting for some other reason. I'm not a fan of Pink Floyds prism cover (dark side of the moon), but I sure like it a lot more than if the cover was just black (metallica, spinal tap). Now, Floyds Wish You Were Here...that was an amazing cover. Sometimes, an attractive woman makes the cover more interesting. Rush has one with the wind just subtly pushing the womans dress up. But, it's the rest of that cover that makes it great, too. The Scorpions have done some great covers, with attractive women.— March 24, 2009 4 p.m.
Crashing on an Airplane
Hey Gek...at what point did all Polish jokes become blonde jokes? When I was a kid, it was Polish jokes. You might get an occcasional blonde joke. But now it's always blondes, never the Polish. And, it can't be because someone was offended. There are a lot more blondes in California than Pols.— March 24, 2009 10:43 a.m.
Crashing on an Airplane
I remember when I was about 11, my family was driving up the coast of California. My older brother said, as we passed a cemetary, "I bet people are just dying to get in there." I laughed for about 15 minutes, and I was saying that for the next couple years. It drove my parents nuts. Yeah, though...very weird about it being a cemetary. I guess, when you think of all the planes that have hit houses lately, at least they hit people that were ALREADY dead.— March 24, 2009 1:41 a.m.
Escorts & Engagements
If I had a neighbor named "Candie Kane," I'd suspect something. Unless she worked Decembers up at the North Pole. Although, Freds response to CK, made me think I should've gone along the path of a response more along the lines of: Five-hundred, eight-nineth time blogger...Having typed my latest blog, and happily knowing it won't end up on the bottom of bird cages (as it's on the computer), I am just responding to the story I wrote on Escorts (which was in the Reader, and may very well be on the bottom of bird cages; now that the paper shrunk in size, it's easier to fit in those little parakeet cages, too). Ridiculous, that this has gone to 175 posts. I'm 39 now, and from ages 16 to 18, I wrote for the Marquee, the student paper at Mira Mesa High School. I cleared nothing financial, but it was an easy A on my report card, and one less "real class" I had to take. At age 21, I started working at a radio station, where I actually started receiving a paycheck for things I wrote and said. I probably said many things about local politicians. It's what helps make a morning radio show. After five years, and losing my job, I became a private DJ. Now, not even weddings and barmitvahs, but just listening to my Walkman (this was before ipods), and introducing the songs by saying things like "Another rock block of Led Zeppelin coming up. But first a weather report. Josh, if you're going out, wear a coat, it will be a chilly 68 degrees today, with a 75% chance of showers. And Josh, if you're the 10th caller, you'll win tickets to Grand Funk Railroad...." I quickly became bored (board) being a private DJ for myself, thought about becoming a private eye, private dancer, or even a private in the Army. Instead, I started writing music stories for the Reader and other publications. The only tucking I did, was after watching Silence of the Lambs. I wanted to see if it was really possible to do what that guy did in front of the mirror. I was also good at doing the voice, as I'd call my friends and say "It puts the lotion in the basket or it gets the hose." On these blogs, I've met many cool people. But most end up getting mad at me, and then not being cool anymore. I'll probably never retire, as the economy sucks, thanks to George W. Bush (had to mention a Bush in this blog, that didn't refer to anything but a name). And, my 401K is history. I rent a four bedroom home in San Diego, and who knows...if house prices keep dropping, maybe I'll own it soon enough. I might be your neighbor. And, if you see me peeking in your window at 1:35 a.m. after finishing this blog, please don't call the cops. And I'll try to stop being so negative in the things I write, even if it's what others choose to do with their lives that drives me insane. Sincerely, Crasher— March 24, 2009 1:39 a.m.
None
Sid Vicious once covered My Way. And, he killed himself with drugs. So, yeah, technically you're right. Everyone does it there way. But I'm going to go with Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls." After all...they make the rockin' world go 'round.— March 24, 2009 12:18 a.m.
None
I like songs that spell out words. I think that started with Them (Van Morrisons band), and Gloria. He spells her name, in case you weren't sure which gal he was singing about. Gwen helped me out with banana, of course. The worst spelling in a song, is The Guess Who with that goofy intro to American Woman. The best might be Aretha, belting out Respect (anyone ever hear Otis Reddings smoking version?) My favorite, most recent spelling in song, happens with our own local band, the amazing Grand Ole Party, with INSANE. Listening to her behind the drum kit, screaming out this spelling live, is a great experience I highly recommend.— March 24, 2009 12:16 a.m.
Escorts & Engagements
It's going to suck more that he has a nut for a mom. And I'm not saying that because of her choice of name. She's done some nutty things. And I'm not even talking about her deciding to be lesbian, then deciding she's not. But, she once showed up at someones door, was out of her mind, and insisted she was an alien from some other planet. Lucky kid, Atlas is. Yes, The Cars are one of the best bands ever. That entire Candy-O album is amazing (starting with that nice Vargas girl cover...the model of on it, the drummer promptly married). I also forgot the song that came out when I was in 8th grade, and Bobby Brown wasn't yet beating women and doing drugs. It was "Candy Girl" by New Edition.— March 24, 2009 12:12 a.m.
San Diego tribute bands: 40 Ounces to Freedom (Sublime), Dust N’ Bones (Guns N’ Roses), Dazed and Confused (Led Zeppelin)
Back to the tribute band story: The band METAL SKOOL, put on a great show the time I saw them. It was like a heavy metal tribute act, that does Spinal Tap style jokes. I have friends that see them all the time, and I can't figure out why you'd want to more than once. I didn't care for those hair band songs in the 80s, and seeing them performed note for note, well...it's fun for the humor, but little else. That singer, Ralph, is also the same guy that sings for Atomic Punks. By the way, Atomic Punks lost their former lead guitarist to the real VH singer, David Lee Roth, and he's still with him. They put on a great show, by the way. I saw OU812, and didn't care as much for them, as I'm not a big Sammy fan (great in Montrose, with VH, not so much). Two other bands worth noting: Cash'd Out, our local Johnny Cash tribute band, is one of the best in the land. Cash's estate endorses them, too. Catch them if you can, they'll blow you away. And, from LA, Wild Child, a Doors tribute. They've been doing this now for 20 plus years. The singer played Morrison in a Meryl Streep movie (death becomes her), and almost got the part of Morrison in Stone's movie.— March 23, 2009 2:04 p.m.