A10
SEPT. 3, 2010
THE COAST NEWS
Cars for OFF the young, HOT THE BLOCK old, tall and small
By Promise Yee
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What has been your favorite or least favorite job?
Visit www.coastnewsgroup.com to see video footage of this week’s Hot off the Block
First day of summer is more a state of mind
By Consumer Reports
With the fall semester just around the corner, Consumer Reports recently offered its best choices for parents and teens out shopping for a car to bring back to school. When looking for the right car for teens, including used models, CR recommends picking cars with safety features such as electronic stability control and curtain air bags and good crash-test results. “Often parents think that putting their child in the biggest car is the safest thing they can do, but that’s not so,” said David Champion, senior director of CR’s Automotive Test Center in East Haddam, Conn. “Teens are the most inexperienced drivers on the road, so you want to make sure they’re driving something that handles well, is agile and has as many safety features as possible — especially electronic stability control,” In addition to naming good cars for young and older drivers, CR also named good picks for all sizes and types of drivers, including the tall and small. All the models on CR’s lists have at least average reliability and are Recommended vehicles. CR named only one car suitable for all four driver types: the Honda Accord. CR only Recommends vehicles that have performed well in its tests, have at least average predicted reliability based on CR’s Annual Auto Survey of its more than seven million print and Web subscribers, and performed at least adequately if crash-tested or included in a government rollover test. Here is a look at CR’s picks: Best for teen-age drivers. ESC is standard or optional starting with the years listed below. — Small cars: Hyundai Elantra SE (2008-2010), Mazda3 (2007-), Scion xB (2008-) — Midsized sedans: Acura TSX (2004-), Honda Accord (2008-), Kia Optima (2007-) — Small SUVs: Honda CR-V (2005-), Nissan Rogue (2008-) Best for senior drivers. Vehicles that offer easy access and decent visibility are good choices for older motorists and for those with limited mobility. A roomy driving position and comfortable seats are also pluses. — Minivans: Honda Odyssey — Small SUV: Subaru Forester XT Limited — Upscale sedan: Hyundai Azera — Family sedan: TURN TO CARS ON A18
Main Event Champion Tom McEvoy and three-time WSOP bracelet winner Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. The pro players also participated in the DeepStack final but finished out of the money. Local players Van Lam, Trenberth, Scott Murrie of San Marcos, Aaron Mortinsen of Escondido and Andrea McNew of Ramona were two-time winners. Murrie took first place in the opening tournament, winning $3,060 and finished seventh on Aug. 19 to earn an additional $760. In addition to the $592 that Trenberth won in the final, she also
Everybody was talking about the weather and not doing anything about it, except the installation artists who continued to throw left-handed jabs at “Magic Carpet Ride,” raising the cool summer temp by a few degrees, reminding us that there is still mirth in a few wild hearts. I had given up hope of ever seeing the sun, or riding a decent wave, when I heard a sound, shocking and wonderful, piercing my office walls. It was the squealing laugh you don’t hear much anymore — kids you thought had grown numb through leisurely hours on that ADD machine known as a cell phone, squealing, laughing, actually being kids as they rode their bodyboards in the soup of a fine summer afternoon. I am a full two blocks from the beach, yet I clearly heard this sound and looked up, smiling at the realization that summer had arrived. Summer is not, as most would say, a season regulated by moons and months and grunion runs. Summer is a state of mind, a carefree place that children need nothing but a little sand and water to discover, and adults search for with sad eyes as if trying to remember the taste of cotton candy and first kisses. Now, I remember. The smell of cocoa butter and peroxide. Skin so tender to the touch that someone else had to peel you out of your clothes and snap you into flannel pajamas, still swaying, rocking in bed as 3-D sea dreams played throughout the night. When you were older there were the distractions of girls in soft cotton dresses and floral bikinis. Maybe they would tuck you in? Maybe not. But you walked by twice with your board, flicking your hair, trying to look natural as you puffed out your chest. If nobody looked up you quit — three times around the track would make you suspect of being weird, before weird was the new cool. Three layers of raw skin, peeling from your nose, black hair faded to red and all darker colors blond, blond turned white that broke off in your hands and somehow looked so pretty on crisp skin with new freckles. Sand filled your pockets and your bathtub for months, or until someone not addicted to the season cleaned it up and embarrassed you into
TURN TO POKER ON A18
TURN TO SEA NOTES ON A18
MARTIN VILLAMAR ENCINITAS
RICHARD JIMENEZ IMPERIAL VALLEY
CATHERINE BLACK SAN DIEGO
PAOLO PEDRAZZANI ENCINITAS
I’ve been doing barbering 25 years, in the service four years, car stereos four years. So really, I’ve had good jobs.
The one I’m currently involved in right now, (as a) car sales consultant down at Desert Auto Plaza in Imperial Valley. It helps me help people to reach their auto dreams.
My least favorite is doing dishes in a restaurant. I don’t even do them at home. My favorite might be doing imports for business with the beautiful people of Indonesia and Bali.
I have the one I favor and the one I least favor, which is running the restaurant (Via Italia Trattoria). When I’m at home and I know I have to come here I hate it, but once I’m here I love it.
ROUNDTABLE From left, James Burdick, 15; Casey Tirshfield, 15; Briana Silva, 14; Nicholas Artwohl, 16; Michaela Fisher, 15; Jaclyn Hirbawi, 15; Alex Ryan, 14; and Mitchell Kneeshaw, 15 pose in front of a Harkness table, part of the school’s signature teaching method. Photo by Alyx Sariol
Pacific Ridge breaks new ground By Alyx Sariol
CARLSBAD — Pacific Ridge School solidified its position in Carlsbad as a leader in academics, service and sustainability with the dedication of its first permanent school building on Aug. 31. More than 800 people
CHRIS AHRENS Sea Notes
attended the event to welcome the newly constructed building into the school’s tight-knit community. The ceremony celebrated how far the school has come since first opening in Carlsbad’s Bressi Ranch neighborhood just three years ago. “This is a high school
that embodies the spirit and ideals of Pacific Ridge,” Rick Sapp, board of trustees chair. “Take it — fill it with your passion and dreams.” Funded through the school’s “Breaking New Ground” campaign, Pacific Ridge’s newest addition is one of the first school build-
ings in the nation to receive the GOLD Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification. The state-of-the-art facility was designed to optimize use of natural light, passive TURN TO GROUND ON A18
Oceanside poker player wins big at Pala tourney PALA — Marc Pierson of Oceanside went all-in and beat Chula Vista’s David Rodiguez on Aug. 22 to win the two-day final DeepStack Tournament in the Pala Poker Open. The final six players agreed to a six-way chop and Pierson, Rodriguez, Steve Gee of San Diego, Ed Klein of Arcadia, William Van Lam of Temecula and Wade Morgan of Wildomar, each won $4,367. Eighteen of the 116 entrants cashed in the tournament that egan Aug. 21. The Pala Poker Open was cosponsored by DeepStacks Live. It featured a daily No Limit POKER CHAMP Marc Pierson was the big winner Hold’em tournament and an at the recent DeepStack Tournament in the Pala advanced poker training course Aug. Poker Open. Courtesy photo 20, taught by World Series of Poker