Don't Tase Me, Sonny!
We've all seen the video by now. It happened in Texas (where else?) A great grandmother in her early 70s, was pulled over. She was cursing at the cop and telling him she wasn't going to sign the ticket. I …
Memorial Day Weekend
Celebrity Sex Scandal Stuff
Checking my voice mail at the Reader office can be fun. Once Martin Mull left a funny message about parties. Sometimes a PR person will call, asking if I want to interview some celebrity. Or I'll get five calls from …
Rush Limbaugh & HSUS...Who's Zooming Who?
"Those that play with serpents...Get bit by serpents!" --Jake "The Snake" Roberts, WWE "Ring of Fame" Grappler. Many folks don't know this about me, but I love to read magazines about fishing, hunting, and the great outdoors. To me, nothing …
Hooray for Hollywood
One of my older blogs...can't remember the title at the moment. I think it's about idiotic football players or NBA personalities; we've gotten into this debate about...well, about a lot. Things like racism, bad schools, what we can learn from …
Pop Corn, Red Vines, Bon Bons or Beer?
One of the classic scenes in Pulp Fiction has John Travolta talking about all the cool things Europe has that aren't available in America. One of those was being able to order a beer in a movie theatre. The Reading …
A Generational View
Since I received only a few responses to my request for Downtown residents to send me an e-mail if they had any complaints about noise (loud music), I am giving it another week. I will delay my visit to City …
Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You
I have a love/hate relationship with movie trailers. I most recently had this discussion with a guy at a black film festival going on in Horton Plaza months back. He runs a website that is devoted to movie trailers. On …
And then I didn't
I know the saga of the cat has gotten old, but I really feel like I need to let you all know how it turned out. I know I said I would keep my decision private. That was because I …
Another Saturday
People may wonder why I named my blog "The Vortex." It's not that so much happens here; rather, it is the focal point of my universe, my own little space on the planet. It is my life. Now, do we …
King of Late Night (and other things)
It was one of those days where I wasn't sure what to blog about, so I just thought I'd type and see what came out. Hey, nobody can really complain. Have you seen these idiotic Twitter things that come out? …
Drumming is My Madness
I've told the story before, about wanting a drum set for my 12th birthday. My parents ended up instead getting me drum books, sticks, and practice pads. They said if I practiced, they'd think about a kit. The practice sessions …
Pick and choose
Last night was my quarterly trip to Costco. I managed to get out of there without spending $200! That seems to be the norm for me. So, today was spent dividing up packages, putting meat in individual baggies in the …
Clouds Gone Wild
This installment of OB in HD showcases the dazzling and diverse clouds that decorated the skies of Ocean Beach on a recent Wednesday in early June. Earlier, a mostly rainless thunderstorm had lingered in Ocean Beach through much of the …
Don't Bring a Bat to a Gun Fight
At a Long Island convenient store that had only been open six months, a guy in his 40s came in to rob it. He looked menacing standing there with his Louisville Slugger. Until the store owner pulled out something that …
Quality of life in East Village/Gaslamp
Still no response from Cox or California LifeLine. I don't know how much my next bill will be. My neighborhood seems like it is becoming much more dangerous. Fights, screaming & yelling, arguments, dog barking, etc. The shooting last week …
LeBron James -- Bad Sport?
When the Cleveland Cavaliers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Orlando Magic, a lot of the media talked about how horrible it was that LeBron James didn't shake hands with the Orlando players. He just walked straight to the …
Prom Queen Controversy
I read this story on some news page a few days ago, and was reminded of it when I heard KGB the other morning. An 18-year-old wasn't named the prom king, but "prom queen" of his high school in Fairfax. …
It's June 1st... Do You Know Where Your Passport Is?
I woke up this morning with a sinking feeling that I should have done something, and I should have. As of midnight, the land and sea phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative went into effect, requiring US Citizens to …
A Day in the Life
I woke up on Sunday morning at 6:45 a.m. Now, I don't go to church, so unless it's football season, I don't wake up before 10:00 a.m. But the dog wakes me up when he has to go outside to …