Day 1 NYC: Rain, Off Broadway Play, Sushi, Dive Bar

My flight was delayed because of bad weather in NYC. PERFECT! And I'm not even saying that sarcastically. I miss weather, the whole ENDLESS summer thing we have going in San Diego is unnatural and sometimes you're body yearns for the changing of seasons, nature displaying the ancient cycle of of the planet.

Since my plane was delayed I had to head straight to an Off Broadway play of Shakespeares "The Tempest" at Theater 10 10 far far uptown. Some guy at the airport asked if I need a cab and I needed to haul ass so I thankfully followed him out of the airport.

To his Toyota Camry....he was a freelance cabbie. Which I'm pretty sure is illegal. But whatever he drove like a bat out of hell and I got there so early the doors were open. So I stood in this glorious drizzle with all my bags and my coat on. I was in heaven.

The play was in an old church. They used an almost barren set design to act out Shakspeares romantic comedy of redemption, young love, revenge and magic. It was well acted by about 50% of the cast with the other half being mediocre but hell, I felt VERY New York just being there at all and I a perma smile on the whole time.

We caught a cab to Williamsburg (straight up saturated hipster town) where my host lives and hit the town. Unlike San Diego everything is open LATE. We had a million choices of what to eat. We got down on some amazing sushi then hit a dive bar called Matchless to continue drinking after those few quiet but hearty saki bombs. I tend to think everyone in NYC is just f-ing COOL because they are there but whats funny is, NO ONE is actually from that area. Everyone is from somewhere else and came to NYC with a dream. Levels the playing field right out and I liked that.

On This Day In History: The New York Subway Opens

At 2:35 on the afternoon of October 27, 1904, New York City Mayor George McClellan takes the controls on the inaugural run of the city's innovative new rapid transit system: the subway.
While London boasts the world's oldest underground train network (opened in 1863) and Boston built the first subway in the United States in 1897, the New York City subway soon became the largest American system. The first line, operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), traveled 9.1 miles through 28 stations. Running from City Hall in lower Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal in midtown, and then heading west along 42nd Street to Times Square, the line finished by zipping north, all the way to 145th Street and Broadway in Harlem. On opening day, Mayor McClellan so enjoyed his stint as engineer that he stayed at the controls all the way from City Hall to 103rd Street.
At 7 p.m. that evening, the subway opened to the general public, and more than 100,000 people paid a nickel each to take their first ride under Manhattan. IRT service expanded to the Bronx in 1905, to Brooklyn in 1908 and to Queens in 1915. Since 1968, the subway has been controlled by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA). The system now has 26 lines and 468 stations in operation; the longest line, the 8th Avenue "A" Express train, stretches more than 32 miles, from the northern tip of Manhattan to the far southeast corner of Queens.
Every day, some 4.5 million passengers take the subway in New York. With the exception of the PATH train connecting New York with New Jersey and some parts of Chicago's elevated train system, New York's subway is the only rapid transit system in the world that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No matter how crowded or dirty, the subway is one New York City institution few New Yorkers--or tourists--could do without.

Vote for Change

Buy a Gun, not a sex toy if you don't want to be arrested!

A decision issued in 2004 by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says Alabama doesn't have to lift its silly, arcane 1998 law banning the sale of sex toys. The Constitution does not include a right to sexual privacy, the panel of three judges ruled. You can't sell sex toys in Georgia, Texas and a few other states.

Um, but you can buy GUNS.

Oh the priorities of the conservatives....


Read this Physco Conservative rant about "Satan’s toolshed brimming with items designed solely to stimulate the sexual organs for the gratification of degenerates and dope fiends." Crazy Southern/Midwest ingrates....

On This Day In History: The First Barrel Ride Down Niagra Falls

On this day in 1901, a 63-year-old schoolteacher named Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to take the plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
After her husband died in the Civil War, the New York-born Taylor moved all over the U. S. before settling in Bay City, Michigan, around 1898. In July 1901, while reading an article about the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, she learned of the growing popularity of two enormous waterfalls located on the border of upstate New York and Canada. Strapped for cash and seeking fame, Taylor came up with the perfect attention-getting stunt: She would go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
Taylor was not the first person to attempt the plunge over the famous falls. In October 1829, Sam Patch, known as the Yankee Leaper, survived jumping down the 175-foot Horseshoe Falls of the Niagara River, on the Canadian side of the border. More than 70 years later, Taylor chose to take the ride on her birthday, October 24. (She claimed she was in her 40s, but genealogical records later showed she was 63.) With the help of two assistants, Taylor strapped herself into a leather harness inside an old wooden pickle barrel five feet high and three feet in diameter. With cushions lining the barrel to break her fall, Taylor was towed by a small boat into the middle of the fast-flowing Niagara River and cut loose.
Knocked violently from side to side by the rapids and then propelled over the edge of Horseshoe Falls, Taylor reached the shore alive, if a bit battered, around 20 minutes after her journey began. After a brief flurry of photo-ops and speaking engagements, Taylor's fame cooled, and she was unable to make the fortune for which she had hoped. She did, however, inspire a number of copy-cat daredevils. Between 1901 and 1995, 15 people went over the falls; 10 of them survived. Among those who died were Jesse Sharp, who took the plunge in a kayak in 1990, and Robert Overcracker, who used a jet ski in 1995. No matter the method, going over Niagara Falls is illegal, and survivors face charges and stiff fines on either side of the border.


Check Out this rad picture taken in 1911 when Niagra Falls was frozen over!!

Super Fun House BARty at The Beauty Bar Tomorrow!!

Featured in the NIGHTLIFE Section of SD Citybeat:

Makeover

Beauty Bar went through a managerial change awhile ago, but lately the City Heights nightclub seems to be hitting its stride. The hipster haunt will host REamp Thursdays, a new weekly industry night for local bands, DJs, promoters and music geeks. Kicking things off at 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, are the bands War Stories, The Drowning Men and The Black Mercies. Then, at 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, the lovely ladies behind what was once upon a time known as San Diego House Parties will take over Beauty Bar for [ SD House BARty], a night featuring live performances by The Death Set, Apes of Wrath, The Lanterns and DJ Andrew Decade. The gals will turn the bar into a house party by bringing in couches, fake grass, $3 keg beer and even toothbrushes in the bathroom.
-Kinsee Morlan

CBS Show filming in Ocean Beach: The Ex List

So what's the plot of this CBS Comedy-drama that aired it's pilot on October 3rd?
"A woman explores all of her past relationships after a psychic tells her she's already dated her future husband. She is told she has one year to re-find her future husband otherwise she will spend the rest of her life single."

To be honest the plot sounds lame but I'm picky with my humor and I don't even have cable much less a tv. Oh and I'm pretentious and quick to judge when it comes to sitcoms. Oh and I don't want to get married until I'm 50. But I love psychics...I heard leading lady Elizabeth Reaser is great in it though in this review I read in the Los Angles Times that was pretty upbeat about the whole thing. If you're looking for a show to tide you over until Lost starts maybe you'll check it out huh?

My point though is that is so rad that it's filmed on location in Ocean Beach with parts of it done in Imperial Beach!! This means lots of fun getting excited about seeing places we recognize. I watched a couple clips and I saw Poma's Sandwhich shop and the salon where one of my friends worked for a long time. Hell the pilot start right in the middle of Newport Avenue!! This might be just the type of show to put on when I drag my butt home wasted and need to put something on to pass out while I chug water.

Original Shows air on Friday at 9 PM but check out the CBS Website for past episodes and clips

Free Tickets to Belly Up Tavern Show on October 25th!!

I have two free tickets to the Atomic Punks/Blasphemous Guitars show at The Belly Up Tavern on October 25th, read the related Citybeat article below.

From The SD Citybeat Local's Only Section:

When Adam Gimbel (Rookie Card) and his cover band, The Blasphemous Guitars, were tapped by FM-94/9 to back up musicians auditioning for a chance to play on stage with Weezer as part of a promotion, they didn’t realize that they’d soon be on stage themselves. Station officials “were so thankful that they let all four of us be part of the onstage fun with a dozen or so other lucky musicians,” says Gimbel on his MySpace blog. Blasphemous Guitars—under the name Geezer and dressed as old men—played last Friday night at Cox Arena with Rivers Cuomo and crew on the hits “Island in the Sun” and “Beverly Hills.” And while Gimbel said Cuomo was enigmatic, backstage other members of Weezer seemed interested in the geriatric doppelgangers: “Weezer guitarist Brian Bell came in to join us. He kept looking and smiling at us geezers with our toy pianos and slide whistles. Or maybe it was our nurse.”
-Seth Combs

If you want the tickets, leave a comment that includes some way for me to reach you and coordinate

Dear Red States:

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're
taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes
California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan,
Illinois and the entire Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial
to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New
California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get
stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You
get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom. We get Harvard.
You get Ole' Miss. We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and
entrepreneurs. You get Alabama . We get two-thirds of the tax revenue; you get to
make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian
Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.
Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and
we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people
to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to
send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show
pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in
Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our
resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the
country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92
percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines,
90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the
U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy
and Seven Sister schools plus U of Chicago, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT. With the Red
States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese
Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S.
mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99
percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists,
Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. We
get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was
actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're
discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution
is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent
of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals than we
lefties.

Finally, we're taking the good pot, too. You can find solace in the moonshine and bottles of pills .

Peace out,
Blue States

On This Day In History: The Supremes hit #1

The Supremes become the first all-female group to score a No. 1 album, with Supremes a Go-Go.

Members Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard met as teenagers in the housing projects of Detroit. When several male friends, including future Temptations members Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams, formed a singing group called the Primes, the girls dubbed their own group the Primettes. The Primettes signed with Motown records in 1961. The label immediately changed the group's name to the Supremes.

After several years of releasing flops, the Supremes scored their first hit in 1964 with "Where Did Our Love Go," which sold two million copies. They followed up with numerous other hits, including "Stop! In the Name of Love!" and "Back in My Arms Again." Their growing popularity corresponded with the rise of the civil rights movement, and the group came to symbolize strong, independent black women. They appeared regularly on major national TV shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show.

In 1967, Motown began billing the group as Diana Ross and the Supremes, apparently grooming Ross for a solo career. Florence Ballard, the band's original lead singer, left the group. She subsequently struggled with depression and alcohol and died of a heart attack at the age of 32. Ross left the group in 1969. With Wilson as the only original member of the band, the Supremes--with various other singers replacing Ballard and Ross--continued to release albums until 1977 but never regained the popularity they enjoyed in the 1960s.

Lesson Learned from A Missed Connection

you need to just stop..... - m4w
Reply to: pers-888529622@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-10-21, 7:37PM

seriously? we're not even dating and there's drama..... i made some mistakes in judgement which have now snowballed into a completely unacceptable amount of stress for 2 people not dating....

 
you are a very nice person and i enjoy your friendship... we are not and never will date so lets just have you stop worrying about it.... i am not attracted to you in that way, period.

Note:A. I didn't didn't ghost write the above. B. Ladies, take heed! This could be you and dudes, lately, this could totally be YOU too. Everybody just CHILL out and enjoy peoples company. When has forcing it ever worked anyway? Creating drama isn't creating passion. Really impress the object of your desire by being real, chill, and honest.

Manila Folders

The manila component of the name comes from manila hemp or abaca, from which manila folders were originally made. Manila hemp is native to the Philippines and is named after its capital city.

For Museum Lovers Closer to SD...

I love Balboa Park, I'm thankful everyday for living so close to the art, architecture and open spaces. Explore the park for yourself and if youre broke, head out on Tuesdays to selected museums below for FREE Admission. Sweet:)

Free Tuesday--Complete Schedule
As a public service Park organizations offer free admission on a rotating basis throughout the month. *


First Tuesday
Reuben H. Fleet Science Center,
Centro Cultural de la Raza
Model Railroad Museum***
Natural History Museum***
*** Free to San Diego County Residents and Active Military only


Second Tuesday
Museum of Photographic Arts,
Museum of San Diego History
Veterans’ Museum and Memorial Center


Third Tuesday
San Diego Art Institute
San Diego Museum of Art
San Diego Museum of Man
Japanese Friendship Garden ***
*** Free to San Diego County Residents and Active Military only
Mingei International Museum


Fourth Tuesday-This is Today!!!
San Diego Air & Space Museum***
San Diego Automotive Museum (last admission 3:45pm) **
San Diego Hall of Champions***
House of Pacific Relations International Cottages
*** Free to San Diego County Residents and Active Military only


Fifth Tuesday
Normal museum prices in effect.
The Timken Museum of Art is always free.


*Some museums may offer complimentary admission to their permanent collections only and charge admission to special exhibitions or films
San Diego Air and Space Museum's STAR TREK: THE EXHIBITION requires a separately priced ticket.





Contact:
619-239-0512

On This Day In History: The Guggenheim Open in NYC

On this day in 1959, on New York City's Fifth Avenue, thousands of people line up outside a bizarrely shaped white concrete building that resembled a giant upside-down cupcake. It was opening day at the new Guggenheim Museum, home to one of the world's top collections of contemporary art.

Mining tycoon Solomon R. Guggenheim began collecting art seriously when he retired in the 1930s. With the help of Hilla Rebay, a German baroness and artist, Guggenheim displayed his purchases for the first time in 1939 in a former car showroom in New York. Within a few years, the collection--including works by Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Marc Chagall--had outgrown the small space. In 1943, Rebay contacted architect Frank Lloyd Wright and asked him to take on the work of designing not just a museum, but a "temple of spirit," where people would learn to see art in a new way.

Over the next 16 years, until his death six months before the museum opened, Wright worked to bring his unique vision to life. To Wright's fans, the museum that opened on October 21, 1959, was a work of art in itself. Inside, a long ramp spiraled upwards for a total of a quarter-mile around a large central rotunda, topped by a domed glass ceiling. Reflecting Wright's love of nature, the 50,000-meter space resembled a giant seashell, with each room opening fluidly into the next.

Wright's groundbreaking design drew criticism as well as admiration. Some felt the oddly-shaped building didn't complement the artwork. They complained the museum was less about art and more about Frank Lloyd Wright. On the flip side, many others thought the architect had achieved his goal: a museum where building and art work together to create "an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony."

Located on New York's impressive Museum Mile, at the edge of Central Park, the Guggenheim has become one of the city's most popular attractions. In 1993, the original building was renovated and expanded to create even more exhibition space. Today, Wright's creation continues to inspire awe, as well as odd comparisons--a Jello mold! a washing machine! a pile of twisted ribbon!--for many of the 900,000-plus visitors who visit the Guggenheim each year.

House BARty!!!

2008's Batch of "Barfin' Pumpkin" Carvings

Haha, yet another reason I love Autumn

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO REGISTER TO VOTE!!!!

Do so on the right, HURRY!! This election counts, do not sit by and think we are safe, that Obama will prevail without your vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS, just do it, vote, won't take you long!!

Also, heard this incredibly disturbing story that people who have been kicked out of their homes due to foreclosures are being told they can't vote?!?!?! WTF America!?!?!?!

Go See Glasser at The Casbah Tonight!!!

Glasser sounds like an LA style Bjork with back up singers, interesting Icelandic style dream pop with American vocals and harmonies. Word?? Word. Oh and she performs with experimental dance troupe Body City. They blew us away at one of the San Diego House Parties and we can't wait for more. They open for fellow Matador Records roster folks Bright Black Morning Light for Tim Pyles weekly Anti Monday League Casbah show.

Pictures from The House Party:

SD Band to Watch: Tape Deck Mountain

I knew that no one arriving after 9 PM to San Diego Sports Club (ugh, Ruby Room) would get into Grand Ole Party and Jamuel Saxon who I love was playing free at The Whistlestop, no brainer. Plus it was the CD release party for Tape Deck Mountain who'd I'd been wanting to check out. Jamuel Saxon was great again, you guys need an EP or something! Tape Deck Mountain was awesome too. Maybe because I love music made in the Northwest? Ok they make the music here but it's reminiscent of The Microphones, a scaled back Death Cab during Transalanticism and they even had a bit of artsy punk in there. It's got all the longing distant vocals and distorted rock riffs of other music made in Olympia, Seattle or Bellingham. Oh and Tape Deck Mountain is a drum/guitar two piece. I've stopped being skeptical of two pieces because of the White Stripes and have raised the bar high for the same reason. These guys were on it. Paulie is a great drummer, very intricate complicated drum beats is a MUST for a two piece. And Travis has those smooth and angsty Northwest vocals over more simple but no less interesting guitar work. Using the power of the pedals they worked together to produce a lush sound from two instruments (and sometimes a beat maker). They had all the controlled yet experimental distortion of the Microphones and enough catchy rythm and melody to provide energy and familiarity . I thought their show was rad and I can't wait for the next one. Check out Tape Deck Mountain on The Local Pyle 94/9 FM radio show on November 16th for an on air interview and music set.

Art Show Review: David Adey and Graham Caldwell

Right off the bat: A great show, interesting, highly impressive craftsmanship and one of those shows you can bring your "I'm only going for the cheap wine" friends you know and love. The Luis de Jesus Seminal Projects gallery is a small but warm space and it helped that the majority of the people were from Point Loma Nazarane University, where Dave Adey is an art professor. This transalates to lots of hugs, lots of smiles and lots of good art. I hadn't been aware there were two artists showing their work in the space, what a treat. Graham Caldwell had some amazing glass blow installations. I love glass art, so shiny and smooth that it's dynamic, always looks like it's moving or changing as the light catches it in diffrent places. Sometimes it looks like it's dripping or twisting, a la, some sort of tame shroom trip. He had this awesome peice that looked like a GIANT glass drop of wine splattering on the wall that I stared at for quite some time.

Dave Adey's work was just as thought provoking and masterfully crafted (haha that made me think of mstrkrft). He takes large pictures of real like celebrity photos and punches shapes of all sizes in them, then puts them back together . I'm talking TONS of cutous. And everything from little hearts and farm animals the size of a mustard seed to stars and leaves the size of half your iphone. There's a crab there, a wrench here and together they form this picture that from across the room, just looks like Posh Spice. Oh the things you see when you get your nose close to the glass and pay attention. I recomend this show for anyone. There were kids there (yes, the PLNU baby factory is still hoppin' even during the reccession) and they loved it, the adults loved it, apathetic young adults loved it. The show ends on November 20th, see the information below!!

Art In Town: David Adey: I've got a river of life flowing out of me

David Adey "I've got a river of life flowing out of me"
October 18 - November 20, 2008
Luis de Jesus Seminal Projects
2040 India Street, SD CA 92101
(619) 696-9699
Gallery: Tuesday-Saturday, 11:00am-6:00pm, and by appointment
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 18th, 6:00-9:00pm
LUIS DE JESUS SEMINAL PROJECTS is pleased to announce DAVID ADEY: I've got a river of life flowing out of me, opening October 18 through November 20, 2008. An artists' reception will be held on Saturday, October 18, from 6 to 9 pm.

"For his first solo exhibition at Seminal Projects, titled 'I've got a river of life flowing out of me', David Adey continues to explore and expand upon an ingenious photo-sculptural strategy that he developed in early 2007 using craft punches and pins. Although Adey's style is complex and difficult to categorize, his work manages to maneuver, with liquid ease, between the sacred and profane, high and low--as well as photography, sculpture, video and installation. The works in this exhibition will include both small and large-scale images appropriated from recent covers of People magazine and "Bebe" fashion bus-shelter posters."

Read The Rest at ArtSlant

Who Knew? Indigo Cafe Rules

(I'd like to preface this review by clarifying that Indigo Cafe should not be confused with Indigo Grill in Little Italy, one of those fancy shmancy "fusion" joints with cool decor and expensive food. I will say, I've had some great meals there though)

If you look at the front of Indigo Cafe on 6th Avenue (between Beech and Ash) it totally looks like a Greek Restaurant. The tell tale blue, white, lace, that font...it's is all over the facade. But one of the few things this place DOESN'T serve is Greek Food (well they do have a Caesar Wrap...). My friends and I were looking to get out of our India Princess, Lotus, Krakatoa rut for a Bon Voyage lunch and I'd driven past Indigo many times, hell I sorta actually wanted a gyro. The first to arrive I walked through the door and the sound of blues jazz, the smell of cajun seasoning, and pictures of jazz greats all over the walls greeted me. Greece was replaced by New Orleans. And they had a bar full of hard alcohol to prove it just inches from the door. I forced myself to order one glass of wine instead of my one and only cocktail: Tequila OJ, I was on my lunch break after all...I was helped right away by a very kind gentlemen who led me and my glass of wine to a table by the window. The menu was off the hook!
There was a a great twist on a standard for those less adventurous friends with marinated chicken, melted pepper jack cheese, guacamole, lettuce, tomato and ranch dressing wrapped in a cilantro tortilla for only 5.99 and lots of tasty cajun/creole picks like the Shrimp Po Boy consisting of Popcorn shrimp, cajun cole slaw, pickles, tomato and chili aioli on a french roll. They had burgers like Blue Cheese and Bacon and even a great sounding veggie black bean burger. There were many wraps and deli sandwiches to choose from along with specialty sandwiches that would make your mouth water. And this was just for lunch!! They serve breakfast and dinner as well!! My friends joined me and we ordered an array of different items to share.The shrimp Po Boy was recommended by the kind waiter and did not disappoint. The wrap was a bit paltry but tasted great. One thing, the food took forever...led to my getting another glass of wine and subsequently getting buzzed...Hey no problem there! I'm a big fan of Indigo Cafe, it's close to my house, cozy, warm and serves alcohol. Mmm, like the Casbah with food, haha. Check it out!!
INDIGO CAFE
435 Sixth Avenue
There is a Clariemont Mesa location as well, check out their site!

Sarah Palin's Youngest Daughter is a Maverick

Flippin' The Bird on the Campaign Trail

What is this town coming to?

The door guys in this town have a new duty in their job description:
Telling people to be quiet when they leave and to leave quickly. They do it reluctantly, some look embarrassed, but they know if one more complaint is made by a neighbor it’s another nail in the coffin for venues and bars all over the city.

Why the hell ANYONE would move by a bar then make noise complaints to the police boggles my mind. It’s like moving next to a pizza joint and getting outraged at the smell of dough and cheese wafting through your windows. If you can’t handle noise, move to Rancho Bernardo and leave us city folk alone.
More and more this city is being turned over to squares and families. Yes, TURNED OVER. Because before the 90’s San Diego was a classic port town. It was hookers, alcohol, cheap haircuts and young horny sailors.
Downtown wasn’t the Disney land-esque, restaurant row, yuppie neighborhood, not-one –god-dammed-piece-of-trash-in-sight village that it is now. Young men came to let loose after being at sea, surfers could party on the beach till the sun came up, sun lovers and college kids got to experience an explosion of local music that put San Diego on the map. Hell, you should hear the stories about North Park. It was this crusty but life and loved filled town, full of artist migrating from the beaches looking for a haven away from Downtown. Long gone is a Rosecrans filled with strip joints and nude bars and Starbucks and fancy boutiques are now poisoning the heart of Ocean Beach. This city was NEVER the picture of Puritan radicalism it has become today. But now crotchety conservatives consider San Diego the “gem of the right wing.” The Sarah Pallin militia, US flag windbreaker donning, military loving people are realizing how much they can exploit this gorgeous town, secure it for themselves and take away the fun in the sun feel that this city is all about. With absurd legislation like a cabaret license they have the law to back their side. Liquor licenses are very hard to get, incredibly limited and exorbitantly priced. It’s all a new bar can do to get one years after they open their doors and old bars struggle to keep them. And then if you want to have any sort of live music or record playing you have to buy a very expensive cabaret license. NOT COOL. Then they take away drinking on the beach and our parks.

WHY DO THESE PEOPLE THING THEY OWN PLANET EARTH? Fourth of July just isn’t the same. Liquor stores by the beach have been struggling and for what? One incident and it’s all done away with forever? I can’t even drink a glass of white wine in Balboa Park on a Sunday afternoon. The drinkers and partyers of this town are the ones who keep the bars open, the restaurants full, the beaches cherry and the festivals and events swinging.

We create the art, make the music and bring style and culture to a beautiful and dynamic town with a long history or partying and crazyness. If you want Mayberry, then move North and East because this is a fucking CITY CENTER and every now and then you’re gonna have people yelling in front of a bar at 2 AM and someone barfing in a beach trash can after the the fireworks are over. If we lose this city forever, I’m glad I at least had my time with it, that I saw the last blazing sunset descend on a beach filled with people who adore this town and spend the time to enjoy as it should be enjoyed.
Beer in hand, music loud, big smile on face.
Id like to take this time to plead with you to end the alcohol ban in SD and

Vote NO on Prop D!!!!

Costume Help!

Sign of the Times

Dive Bar Extinction?

Tower Bar: Cant’ have shows, lost Lady Dottie and The Diamonds on Monday Nights
Touring bands, the small but hearty rockabilly crowd and punk folks alike are not happy. Lady Dottie fans are mourning. Ok SURE we can see them at U-31 but it ain’t the same without the smelly ladies bathroom, cheap Tall Cans and that down home comfortable and gritty bar feeling that perfectly fits the soul and blues of the bands. Plus where can you see a cop/perp foot chase and a car crash into a building all on the smoking patio out front of the bar? Magic.

The Livewire: Can’t have records spinning,
no cabaret license for dancing
Thursday nights used to go oooooooffffff. They had become our Friday nights, it was the best place to get laid and the night always ended in dancing and reveling. That was when you could spin actual records and Skull Control and Terrordome kept the party bumping till the door guy screamed at you to fucking leave already. The law that you can’t spin records was established back in the 90’s when DJ’s would get the crowed riled up with call backs and these new fangled things called turn tables. Still wondering WHY that turned into something so bad it had to be outlawed. Ahhh…Livewire is still kicking on random nights of the week but I miss that camaraderie Thursday spirit. Oh and don’t dance there, the cops have and will shut down the bar for the night when they’ve busted in and people were dancing. GASP!!!

Scolaris Office is now The Office
It is the exact antithesis of what Scolaris Office used to be. I have karaoked my ass off , lost completely at Kipper’s Trivia Night, seen insane touring bands and played my share of drunken rounds of pool here. I have seen a straight up CHICK FIGHT knock over people and sound equipment here. Now it’s a dimly lit schoomze fest bar that did it’s best to completely eliminate any evidence that a true dive bar once dwelled in that space. They even took down that AWESOME sign….North Park already has U-31, AC lounge and even Pink Elephant (Oh wait, The Pink). The dive bar count is slowly dwindling in the once chill, raw artist enclave that North Park sadly USED to be but now, isn’t as much.


Here Are Some Other Classic Places That Have Changed Recently:
Bar Pink Elephant changed to Bar Pink (though no one calls it that)
The Alibi- Can’t have shows
The Zombie Lounge changed to the Radio Room
Chasers is changing to ???
Triple Crown Pub can’t have shows
Shooters closed it’s doors
Land Lord Jims closed its doors
SD Sports Club is now the Ruby Room

On This Day In History: The Mata Hari is executed

Mata Hari, the archetype of the seductive female spy, is executed for espionage by a French firing squad at Vincennes outside of Paris.

She first came to Paris in 1905 and found fame as a performer of exotic Asian-inspired dances. She soon began touring all over Europe, telling the story of how she was born in a sacred Indian temple and taught ancient dances by a priestess who gave her the name Mata Hari, meaning "eye of the day" in Malay. In reality, Mata Hari was born in a small town in northern Holland in 1876, and her real name was Margaretha Geertruida Zelle. She acquired her superficial knowledge of Indian and Javanese dances when she lived for several years in Malaysia with her former husband, who was a Scot in the Dutch colonial army. Regardless of her authenticity, she packed dance halls and opera houses from Russia to France, mostly because her show consisted of her slowly stripping nude.

Read The Rest

In and Out Farce

I was going to post the e-mail below I got from a friend:

In-n-Out’s 60th Year Anniversary is Wednesday, October 22nd. All hamburgers
will be sold for 25 cents, Cheeseburgers 30 cents, Fries 15 cents, and
drinks are 10 cents!!! So mark your calendars!

UNTIL a (Debbie Downer) friend sent:

Palin

sorry bout the big white space. its still funny though!

M.I.A. is Preggers

True, True. Turns out that hiatus she took led to some baby creation time. If you know me, you know that I have made a formal and serious decision not to have children in this life. That being said, I know I am a woman in the minority and it sounds like MIA is happy to be having this child, post engagement to fiancé Ben Brewer, frontman for NYC rockers the Exit and son of Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr.No words yet on if it's a boy or girl, but either way, I'm sure the kid will be bad ass.

Your Sunday Daytime Plans

Come picnic, listen to music, play frisbee, volleyball, shop. Bring $20 and sell WHATEVER you want. Entry is FREE if you don't want to sell so just swing on by and spend the day with us!!!
www.frontandivy.com

Before You Head Out To Party on Saturday Night...

Not only do I just plain love Cara (We call her Hess) but I've been to an art show of hers and love her work, very talented. Before you head out and get boozy for the night check out her North Park show!!!

Bjork and Thom Yorke Coming Out With A New Single

Wow, two of the our times most impactful musicians and two of my favorites. They are joining forces to promote the cause to save the Icelandic environment, Bjork's native country. This isn't the first time they've collaborated. I love their cover of "I Have Seen It All" from the Las Von Trier musical drama, Dancer in The Dark (See Below).


The single, Natture is being released by One Little Indian Records and shares the name of the website promoting the Icelandic environment movement. It will be realease on October 20th.

(ahem, the same day voter registration ends....)

Slacker Uprising

Now more then ever EVERYONE needs to vote. Our votes WILL count!! Voter registration ends on October 20th, only about 10 days left!! There will be a free screening of Micheal Moore's latest Film Slacker Uprising at Ken Cinema on Ocitber 25th at Midnight. Check out the trailer below and register to vote on our page to the right!!!

Vote NO on Prop D!!

I miss 4th of July on the beach, BBQ's, beer and friends. I miss going down to OB to drink a tall can and watch the sunset. I miss having white wine on Sundays on the beach. Why our local government thinks it owns the beach is beyond me. This law will be PERMANENT if it gets voted in. VOTE NO ON PROP D, read more here.
This city is shutting down dancing at bars, record playing at bars, drinking in the parks and beachs, who knows what's next?? Stop the madness, take back this beautiful city for the people who enjoy it THE MOST!!!!
I just got a mailer telling me to Vote NO D, theyll send me a yard sign if I send back their mailer. Oh Im getting my sign all right. But then I'm throwing it in the trash where it belongs....

Hole In The Wall

I was at a graphic design industry party last night getting boozy. It ended early (squares) and I found myself buzzed with nothing to do. Luckily my neighbors downstairs were in the same predicament. We smoked bowls and they cooked a healthy dinner and we watched Hole in The Wall. I don't have cable or a TV so this was a total treat and super hilarious. I'm not sure how much the weed had to do with it, but it's just so funny. Wiki description below:
Hole in the Wall is a game show airing on the Fox television network in the United States and on Canada's A Channel. This game is an adaptation of the Japanese game Brain Wall (nicknamed by YouTube fans as "Human Tetris")in which players must contort themselves to fit through cutouts in a large 13 feet Styrofoam wall moving towards them on a 50 feet track.
Watch Below and See for yourself. The contestants are so crazy and trashy and one of the hosts makes these hilarious side comments, just rips into everyone.

Have You Seen?: A Creepier Building

Go Picture by Picture and get your heeby geeby's on:






Creeptastic. This is television tower in Prague, in the Czech Republic.