Other Expressions

September

2019

San Diego Is (Almost) Famous Again: Cameron Crowe Brings his Movie to the Old Globe Stage

By Raul Sandelin

San Diego is a city of almosts. The neighborhood bars in the surrounding suburbs—El Cajon, National City, Escondido, Oceanside, Clairemont—are filled with fish-that-got-away stories; long-gone-brushes-with-fame stories; fortunes-almost-found and gold-mines-that-never-were stories. Those who achieve fame and fortune have left San Diego, to L.A. or farther beyond, to make it. Those who stay tell the stories of […]
August

2019

The End of the Line for Mad, the Magazine That Was Satirical, Silly, and Serious

By Paul Homicz

I remember the time when I was with my family on one of our regular Saturday morning shopping sprees at Kroger, enjoying the air-conditioned consumerism among the long lanes of plastic and plenty. Standing in the checkout aisle, my older brother grabbed a magazine and implored my parents to splurge on the 30 cents for […]
July

2019

THE HOSPICE BUBBLE and Other Devastating Affirmations: Poems by Lizzie Wann

By Ted Burke

Witnessing the decline and eventual death of a parent is the surest way to send any of us into the deepest well of depression and morbid reflection. Few of us handles it with quite the grace we might have hoped for. Shock, relentless grief, guilt, recrimination are only some aspects the lot of us go […]
May

2018

You’ll Get Pie in the Sky When You Die

By Yale Strom

It’s hard to think about the history of labor unions in this country without thinking of the music that gave it its soundtrack. The American labor movement of the 20th century used powerful lyrics and catchy melodies to champion the causes of workers who voiced grievances for just wages and dignity. In 1791, the first […]
December

2017

LENNY BRUCE: Word Blower Supremo (and the brother that you never had)

By Jon Kanis

Greetings, my fellow Americans. ‘Tis the season to practice gratitude and to remember that every age is the same; only love makes any of them bearable. I am grateful for so many things in this life–choosing to meditate and focus upon that which is truly important, cognizant of the fact that consciousness is the author […]
October

2016

Art on 30th: Creating and Marketing Art You want to Live With

By Lorraine Iverson

In early 2014, Ari Kate Ashton’s long-time vision of opening an art center in San Diego was beginning to evolve. She had been a successful artist for many years, blessed with talent and a unique style of work. She had also been an instructor and mentor to many local artists. Due to the economy and […]
June

2016

To Candye–Love, Sue

By Sue Palmer

On Friday night, May 6, 2016, we lost a force of nature. After an eight-year battle with cancer, Candye Kane passed away. Candye was my long-term musical partner for most of the ’90s and was a very dear friend. She took me all over the world, taught me how to perform to my fullest, inspired […]
March

2016

Nicki Carano: A Tragic End for a Beloved Friend

By Liz Abbott

Inconceivable, shocking, unimaginable, tragic. These were the sentiments running through the music community when news hit that Nicki Carano had been crushed by a falling tree during the rainy, stormy weather at the end of January. Nicki was driving on Ingraham Street in Pacific Beach, on her way to a gig in Ocean Beach, when […]
February

2016

Movies About Musicians: Real and Imagined

By Ted Burke

Fans of Hollywood movies concerning the trials and troublesome turns in the lives of gifted musicians, real and imagined, will doubtlessly note a curious habit among many of the movies attempting a cogent blend of music and moving image. What I’m thinking of in particular are those portraits of a singularly brilliant musician, a jazz […]