Photograph by Thomas K. Arnold

“The very first wave I surfed, in the summer of 1970, was South Bird, the break right off Bird Rock Avenue,” says Rick Farley. “And it was at that point in time that I decided if nothing else in life, I would try to figure out how I could live in this community.”

Days and nights with the beach bums

As a beach area resident, I’ve often wondered at the 20-somethings who hang out day and night in beach area bars and clubs, drinking and spending money as if they had a limitless supply. They don’t appear to be going to school or working. Who are these people, and what do they live on? Thanks to your article ("Pennies for palm trees," Cover Stories, Feb. 26) I now have some idea. They’re mindless slackers, living on someone else’s dime and drifting from one alcohol-fogged experience to the next. No goals, no sense of responsibility, no common sense. In short, mindless losers. Why did they have to pick San Diego?

• Bee Gee
• Pacific Beach

710 Beach Club’s Monday night special: a satisfying pilsner and a respectable patty on a toasted bun.

Photograph by Matthew Suárez

Ancient Roman Beeline

This week’s crossword (2/27). Per 17a’s answer the clue should be, Ancient Roman Way. For the answer Apian Way you could say, Ancient Roman beeline. If you’d like me to submit the occasional clue/answer that solvers might enjoy seeing, let me know. In addition to the example above: What Roman’s mother could say if cast as Cleopatra...Me a pharaoh. Or the clue could use the more era appropriate reference: What Sinatra’s 3rd ex could have said if cast as Cleopatra..... I like doing your puzzles every week.

• John Whiteman

Editor: David Levinson Welk responded and says that you are “100% correct.” APIAN is bee-related. APPIAN should refer to the Roman road.

High crimes at Bird Rock

I had high hopes when I saw the cover story and really loved the part of your article about Rick Farley being the Marlboro Man and enjoyed reading about the other folks you highlighted in your story (“Bird Rock, city by the sea,” Cover Stories, March 4). This article could have covered so many other colorful characters past and present but for some reason chose to use up ink and paper for other purposes, like the middle sister inferiority complex stuff, which is just a bunch of hooey. However, my real beef is that the thoughts I came away with from reading the article are that a woman got raped on the bike path, and a surfer was murdered by the Birdrock Bandits, and oh, by the way lots are 2.5 mil. I think the author brought up old wounds unnecessarily, and I was especially put off that he article ended that way. He could have easily skipped the whole ending about the bandits and simply ended the article by saying RIP Emery, and to those that knew and loved him it would mean something. No need to give publicity, once again, to the criminals.

• Mike Cairns
• Birdrock

It’s not easy to find what locals call the Bird Rock Bike Path.

Photograph by Thomas K. Arnold

Behind the curve

Why does the Reader staff/critics not follow the previews of upcoming movies and offer reviews of them as they are released, so that the movie review section is comprehensive to all the films released on the Friday following publication? For example, why is there no review of the Ben Affleck entry The Way Back in this week's (March 5) publication? Given that movies are released in San Diego usually a week or two after the rest of US metropolitan areas, staying up with the previews should not be difficult.

• William Patch
• University City

Disappearance

I have not seen a Roam-O-Rama article in some time. Will the column make a comeback?

• SrJefe
• San Diego