Author Archives: Andrew Nusca

America’s Best Places to Live 2008: No. 91, Fountain Valley, California

Fountain Valley modestly bills itself as “a nice place to live.” Is it ever. Among its offerings: Mile Square Regional Park, a 640-acre park with two lakes; three 18-hole golf courses; a 20-acre nature area; and a recreation center with courts for tennis, basketball, racquetball and more. Continue reading →

DRUM July 2008: Steven Spence © 2008 . All rights reserved.

Fast Track to Ozzfest

Steven Spence dreams of clicks. Late into the night, after the stage lights have gone down, the drum kit has been packed away, and the bus has begun rolling toward the next American city on the tour list, Spence is in a world of regulated clicks: tick, tick, tick, tock. But the clicks are not coming from the wet leaf that’s flapping against the front wheel of the tour bus as it races along I-70 toward San Antonio. Like John Nash in A Beautiful Mind, it’s the sound of numbers ricocheting off the walls of Spence’s brain. Continue reading →

DRUM! May 2008 (page 6) © 2008 . All rights reserved.

Steering R.E.M. Into Harder Waters

It’s well into a Thursday night in January and R.E.M.’s Bill Rieflin is making himself a cup of Scottish breakfast tea. It’s not a terribly cold night in Seattle, where Rieflin has lived almost his entire life, but the wind makes it feel more intense. The gusts are evidence of January’s last gasping moments, and even then, it’s still only a few degrees above freezing at this late hour. It could be worse. Continue reading →