Cover: Bad Company
Scientists have found the gene for grumpiness and it's not pretty. Plus , Metro's own rundown of the greatest grumps in Santa Clara County.

Life With Grumps: It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta love doing it.

Grumps on Film: Movie industry dodges the great grumps of yesteryear.

News: Tax Mania
As residential property taxes soar in pursuit of a raging real estate market, is Tax Assessor Larry Stone making homeowners carry the burden of his high-tech friends?

Don't Call It Voodoo: The 5th World Congress of Orisa tradition and culture is here, magic and all.

Public Eye: Kingmaking is addictive.

Polis Report: PC dads explain the mysteries of the personal computer.

Queen Scene: Mrs. Brown starts funny, ends flat.

Middle of Nowhere: Box of Moonlight tries to find love in the hinterlands.

Dirt on a Salesman: In the Company of Men is Restoration farce without the farce.

Hammer Head: Tetsuo returns--longer, louder and more expensive than ever.

Toppling the Pops: On a mission from Scotland, Bis wants to rock the rock boat.

Your Move: 50 years ago, Chess Records was born, and they're celebrating the anniversary with a retrospective. Nicky Baxter reviews the result.

Jazz in the City: B Sharp, Norman Connors, Brad Mehldau, Bill Cunliffe and Dianne Reeves shine on main and side stages at San Jose Jazz Festival.

Audiofile: Reviews of the latest CDs by Smash mouth, Dismemberment Plan and various artists.

Beat Street: The Pee Chees rock & roll over.

Naked No More: A tribute to William S. Burroughs.

Lap-Dancing Artbabes: A Lilith Fair of local female comic-book artists stretch to sketch.

Family Affair: On the eastern edge of the valley, the mother-daughter cooking team at White Rock Cafe explores the subtleties of French cooking.

Cirque Quirks: Todd Inoue peeks into the blue and gold striped tents of Cirque du Soleil for the San Jose premiere of Quidam.

Another Brick in the Wall: Bernice Yeung looks at Women Behind Walls, a new play about female prison inmates, showing at The Stage theater in downtown San Jose.

Posters and Posers: Malaquías Montoya's political posters still engage, while today's artists ask '¿Que Es Chicano?'.