14 Minutes of Fame. . .

i On San Diego

ROAD TRIPPING: There was so much pre-buzz about Britney Spears’ supposedly top-secret comeback “concert” at San Diego’s House of Blues that only a Trappist monk could have been left in the dark. Fans had to wait three years to see the troubled pop princess perform live again——if you can call lip-syncing to four songs in a 14-minute set “live.” Even then, she was late for the downbeat. But this time——surprise——it wasn’t Britney’s fault. It appears she was right on schedule until her band bus was pulled over by the Highway Patrol on I-5. They were responding to a rash of complaints by motorists dodging cars filled with the paparazzi who were trailing the bus south from Los Angeles. The patrolman who talked to Spears had no idea who she was, but he did shield her from photographers who tried to get shots of the traffic stop. And then he gave her a police escort the rest of the way to San Diego.

THOUGHTS FOR FOOD: Oceanaire chef Brian Malarkey, who won chef-of-the-year honors at the California Restaurant Association’s local Gold Medallion awards, is stepping up to wider fame. He’ll appear on the new season of the Bravo channel’s Top Chef series, starting June 6. Malarkey isn’t the first San Diegan to make the cut; Frank Terzoli of Rancho Santa Fe’s Delicias was a contestant last season. But Brian might go the distance. Advance taping of the 13-episode series is compacted into just a few weeks, and Malarkey was in Los Angeles for five weeks of taping . . . Watch your back, Brian: She may be a few years from executive chef status, but Rancho Bernardo’s Amanda Nunez is moving up fast. The 17-year-old high school senior won honors (and a $40,000 scholarship) last month at the Art Institute of Dallas as “Best Teen Chef of 2007.”

THE WANDERING I: The press release from San Diego’s Child Abuse Prevention Foundation, announcing former San Diego Mayor Susan Golding’s appointment as president/CEO of the nonprofit, ballyhooed Golding as a “visionary with extensive experience in developing innovative approaches to solving challenging problems.” We could have used some of that when it came to dealing with the city’s hemorrhaging pension system . . . Nationally, daily newspaper circulation continues to decline, and that’s more bad news for The San Diego Union-Tribune. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the U-T was down another 6 percent for the six months ending March 31 of this year, compared to last. Meanwhile, the North County Times is bucking the trend. Just barely. Its circulation was up .08 percent for the same period.

ON HER GAME: If you ask 15-year-old Encinitas golfer MacKinzie Kline what her handicap is, she’ll probably tell you it’s a 1——because it is. She’s not likely to mention that other handicap——the heart defect, heterotaxy syndrome, that seriously reduces the oxygen in her blood. Introduced to golf by her parents when she was just 5——they figured it was the least-taxing sport, considering her condition——MacKinzie was ranked the number-one 14-year-old golfer in the world last year. And this month, she’s aiming for the history books. Equipped with a small, easily portable oxygen device developed by San Diego’s SeQual Technologies, she won permission to play last month——with oxygen and a cart——in qualifying tournaments for the U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. This month, she’s set to become the first golfer ever to compete in a Ladies Professional Golf Association event using a golf cart (and her SeQual oxygen concentrator).

ITEMS INFINITUM: Jersey Boys, the phenomenally successful Broadway musical launched by La Jolla Playhouse two years ago, has long legs. Still running on Broadway (with $30 million in advance ticket sales), and with two national touring companies on the road (including one due back in San Diego in the fall), the musical biography of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons is going Vegas. The show is slated to open early next year at Las Vegas’ new Palazzo Resort Hotel . . . Two area hotels——The Lodge at Torrey Pines and Four Seasons Resort Aviara——have won four stars from Mobil Travel Guide for “Top Spas in North America” . . . Overheard from the gallery during San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre’s court battle over the Sunroad high-rise on the perimeter of Montgomery Field: “Aguirre’s office operates like the garage in the movie A Perfect Mind——all index cards and yarn.”

PARTING SHOT: Appearing at San Diego’s Hall of Champions, Jim Brown, the all-time great NFL running back, talked about his career and his charity work among inner-city youth. But he reserved his toughest message for the Q&A. When asked what single piece of advice he would give today’s African-American NFL stars, he let loose. “Get off your butts,” he said. “Stop crying the blues. Understand you have black kids who admire you who are killing themselves in the neighborhoods. Stop complaining. And stop using the hip-hop culture as your model.”

Do you like what you read? Subscribe to San Diego Magazine »