Articles by dweisman

Seriously, what? Issa nominated Trump for Nobel Prize

Folks, you can’t make up this stuff: Former accused car thief who was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon, Rep. Darryl Issa, (R-Bonsall???) said March 4 that he had “nominated President Donald Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.” For real? “Not since Ronald Reagan has an American president better represented the national resolve of peace through strength or the fundamental…


Hodgee, friendly Lake Hodges Monster: Fact or fiction?

Go down to Hernandez Hideaway at rural Lake Drive in Del Dios and people will swear up and down the long wooden bar that Hodgee, the friendly Lake Hodges monster, really truly — well, almost definitely exists. “The Lake Hodges Hodgee monster is kind of like the Loch Ness monster,” said Stan Smith, a long-time Del Dios resident. Smith, a cowboy poet and man about…


Quest for hats: A hat is a hat is a hat, especially come Del Mar Opening Day

Came opening day, Friday, July 17 at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club; hats, hats and more hats were the madcap sidebar to the main story of the moment, namely the excitement of racing’s return. That sorta post-pandemic opening day was not only about big bets and fast horses, but celebrating the season in style. Thus begins the big fat hat dilemma for otherwise fashionable and…


Robynn Nussbaum and The Shoe Lounge

Robynn Nussbaum put her heart and soul into The Shoe Lounge. It was a small, yet elegant, haute couture footwear and accessory store she opened at Del Rayo Plaza across from Fairbanks Country Club. An avid tri-athlete and marathon runner with three young children and four step-children, the 44-year-old Rancho Santa Fe resident had a passion for shoes. She dreamed for years of opening an…


Bill Murray ‘ghostbusted’ at Kit Carson Park?

“My friends were out at 1am smoking weed at Kit Carson Park in Escondido when they saw Bill Murray walking through the woods like a phantom.” — Jibby_von_HaHa on Imgur and Reddit Secret Pokemon Go character? Look-alike or hoax? Big Foot, abominable snowman and Hodgee the friendly Lake Hodges monster be damned, meet the latest myth to blow through Escondido town, the ghost of Bill Murray….


Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! A $7M lotto ticket was sold Christmas Eve 2015 at Nordahl Liquor

Maybe it’s time for another Christmas miracle in 2025. ten years after the fact. Who was it, you, to whom Santa brought a very supercalifragilisticexpialidocious holiday bounty down the chimney on Christmas Eve, 2015? Or was it a discarded scrap sitting amiably in an unattended drawer somewhere along the Highway 78 corridor around the Great Grapevine? Only the Shadow, possibly Santa, Mary Poppins and state…


Oolong ain’t just for tea anymore, it’s an RSF art icon

Hey, you. That’s right, YOU. Art lover, cultural icon. Keeping it classy, sassy and fun. Art for any space, any place, any situation, enjoyable and appreciating in value as you appreciate it for years to come. We’re talking tons of visual and personal pleasure, enhancing any experience, providing fun and coffee plus water cooler talk for ages immemorial. Frame it, display it, do with it…


Bowling over a San Marcos story

Was it me? Or was it the dart store? Whatever it was, every time I thought of going to the dart store, it was closed. My grand plan was to get a dart, throw it at a map of the greater San Marcos sphere of influence and produce a column based on the people at the place where the dart landed. This was an homage,…


This Veteran’s Day unremembered: American Expeditionary Force Siberia

Parades rolled through many American cities on Veterans Day, Nov. 11 honoring the anniversary of the end of World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, what once was known as Armistice Day. None of those parades, however, featured tributes or remembrance of one of the war’s oddities made all the more poignant by today’s tensions…


It’s National Fluffernutter Day. Hip Hip Hooray?

Every dog has its day, they say, and apparently so does every cause, effect and plain old thing. Welcome to Wednesday Oct. 8, 2025. It’s National Fluffernutter Day. Correct, National Fluffernutter Day is observed annually on Oct. 8, according to the National Day Calendar. This is a day set aside each year to make, and enjoy, the savory sandwich consisting of peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. Fluffernutter dates…