Photos: More Comic-Con Fun

Gonna keep it super short because I'm still at home and have so much still to explore, but my day 2 of Comic-Con started really late. Like, really, really late, because you know, some of us still have work to do and stuff. Darren and I aimed at stopping at Salud before Con, but it was, as expected, packed, so instead we went to Border X Brewing and stumbled upon an event for Latina Geeks while we ate tacos. We kept it brief and he dropped me at the Hilton where I went to the FX Fearless Forum preview night. It was a small crowd, so we took advantage of the hosted bar and the walk-through experience which meant we skipped a whole slew of other things. But it was fine, Pyles went on his way after and I just cruised the activations which were mostly closed before deciding to still try to get in to the Rave of Thrones, despite being 2 hours late for the meetup time.

The security at Omnia were super cool to me and despite their 'no bag' rule, ushered me in a back entrance where I was behind the DJ booth as Kristian "Hodor" Nairn was music selector. That was fun and exciting but I only lasted about an hour before I made my way to the Ken Club for their anniversary/ska night.

Tonight, I'll wander until I have to work at Balboa Theatre then who knows where the night might take me? Tons of photos after the jump.

Notes from Comic-Con Preview Night

I was just reading a listicle from Pacific-- Top 10 cheap eats at Comic-Con this week-- and not only did it make me hungry, but it made me realize I forgot a couple things on my Comic-Con page this year, namely, my little map of downtown with some of my personal favorite spots (which I just quickly updated so I can get back downtown.)



Preview wrap up after the jump.

Final Notes Before Comic-Con 2019

I'll continue to add events and information to this site as I get it, but this was a final blast directly from the source, Comic-Con International. It was a note for media, so I cut out some of that stuff, but here's some relevant info for everyone. I left the preferred social media hashtags because those because those become really useful for searching social media. 

Programming

Information regarding the SDCC programming schedule can be found here https://www.comic-con.org/cci/programming-schedule and a list of our Special Guests along with their bios can be found here https://www.comic-con.org/cci/2019/special-guests

Exhibit Hall

Information regarding our Exhibitors, including booth numbers and a location map can be found here https://www.comic-con.org/cci/2019/exhibitors

Getting Here

Once again, we offer a shuttle service to the San Diego Convention Center from 63 different locations! To view a map that shows the routes and stops please visit https://www.comic-con.org/cci/shuttles

Harbor Drive Closures

Happening again this year, the San Diego Convention Center, the City of San Diego, and the Port of San Diego have created a pedestrian-only experience during Comic-Con 2019.

HARBOR DRIVE WILL BE CLOSED TO VEHICLE TRAFFIC (including bikes, scooters and skateboards) between First Avenue and Park Boulevard during Comic-Con, with the exception of shuttle buses and emergency vehicles. Cars will be screened.

Harbor Drive Closure Hours:

Wednesday, July 17 - 3:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Thursday, July 18 - 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Friday, July 19 - 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Saturday, July 20 - 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Sunday, July 21 - 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
*Harbor Drive will reopen to traffic outside of the hours listed above.

Official Comic-Con App

Sponsored by NBC, the App is an important tool to help you stay updated. Plus you can manage your own personalized schedules and favorite exhibitors! https://comic-con.org/apps


Social Media

Please remember us kindly with the following “official” hashtags and indicators:
#SDCC50
#SDCC2019
#SDCC
@Comic_Con

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, July 16-Monday, July 22, 2019- Comic-Con Edition

Comic-Con 2018

As I mentioned last week, I went ahead and did these listings last week so that I'd have everything listed and ready to go for Comic-Con, but as you can see, it's hard to keep our regular club events separated from Comic-Con stuff, so they're all blended here, but I have a ton more information on the Comic-Con page, which includes all of the activations and multi-day additional events. You can get to that page on full screen or on mobiles with the little pull-down triangle under the header. I had a really good week but I'll save it for another post so I can get these bad boys listed and put out into the world. I will say that my Con feels a little empty without the Wired party, so if you've got any events I should work into my schedule, just say the word. I'll be going to Dylan Leblanc for sure on Wednesday, and I'm working at Balboa Theatre on Friday and Saturday night, but the rest of my days and evenings are wide open.
Full listings through Monday are after the jump.

Watch: The Black Key's Trailer for "MasterCourse" (A Funny Or Die Production)

This weekend was full of bad news and it just keeps going from bad to worse on a national level, so this mockumentary/Master Class parody with The Black Keys made me laugh and it's worth a share. Don't forget The Black Keys will be back in San Diego on November 17th at Pechanga Arena with Modest Mouse and Shannon & the Clams.



And while we're talking Funny or Die, check out the short web series, Under A Rock with Tig Notaro if you haven't already. I know I haven't done a proper read/watch post but it's really because I got sucked into the vapid world of The Hills and did a full 6 season rewatch to get to The Hills: New Beginnings. And I'm reading a book but I'm not in love with it, so I've just been kinda stuck reading a few pages at a time before my eyes fall shut. But I'll get back to it.

KAABOO Releases Daily Lineup

For information on lineup and tickets, go to KAABOODelMar.com

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, July 9-Monday, July 15, 2019

Are you bored of my animal pics yet? Because it's all I've really been shooting lately. It was a pretty good week. I worked at the Irenic on Wednesday and afterward, Darren and I went for Korean BBQ at Handoo on Convoy. He had to work on 4th of July, so I packed a bag, caught the bus, and made my way to the Zoo, which ended up being amazing. The majority of people left by 7 so I wandered for a couple hours, watched the 8:40 parade, then caught the Skyfari right as the Big Bay Boom started and did a little roundtrip ride before they closed. After fireworks, Darren dropped me off at the Casbah for High Tide Society and picked me up when he was done working and it was a super fun night. Friday was a low-key recovery day, and then Saturday and Sunday I sold merch for Earthless at the Casbah. This week I did this week's listings and next week's concurrently, socheck out my 2019 Comic-Con page. Enjoy PRIDE this week and be careful out there.

Sunday: Inaugural Lady Brain Festival at Heritage Ranch, Carlsbad

I'm so sorry...I meant to post this earlier in the week so you could all score your early bird tickets, but better late than never, right?

Date: Sunday, July 7
Time: 12-7pm
Location: Heritage Ranch - 450 Quail Gardens Drive - Encinitas, CA 92024
Family Friendly: Free admission for children 12 and younger.

The event will feature music from 20 womxn-fronted musical acts (all of which include at least one Lady Brain member).

Listen Local Radio’s Cathryn Beeks and festival co-organizer is excited to bring the community a “multi-stage nonstop music festival featuring a plethora of genres and styles, all coming together to celebrate sisterhood.”

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at the door.

OFFICIAL LINEUP

Lady Stage (Full Bands)
12:30pm - Voxy
1:30pm - Lindsay White
2:30pm - Corina Rose
3:30pm - Gaby Aparicio
4:30pm -The Banduvloons
5:30pm - Becca Jay Band
6:30pm - Tori Roze & the Hot Mess

Brain Stage (Songwriters in the Round)
1pm - Mary Bee and Cici Artemisia
2pm - Ren Daversa and Carissa Schroeder
3pm - Mayzie Jean and Naiomi
4pm - Rosy Dawn and Chris Avetta
5pm - Astra Kelly and Heather Marie
6pm - Jessica Lerner and Marie Haddad

Additional activities and entertainment will include poetry readings by Lizzie Wann, interactive art stations, special guest performers, local vendors, and a kids zone. Food and drinks will also be available for purchase.

Lady Brain Presents founder and festival co-organizer Lindsay White shared her motivation behind the festival and the Lady Brain Collective in general. “Our members are all about taking action to create opportunities where they don’t normally exist. Since male-fronted acts routinely get the lion’s share of festival bookings, we brought forth a festival that challenges those norms while celebrating intersectional Lady Brain talent that is inclusive of a range of ages, cultures, sexualities, and music genres.”

Lady Brain Presents is the public iteration of Lady Brain Collective, a local collaborative whose vision is to reject the notion that womxn-identifying artists must compete or hoard information in order to succeed in their respective fields. Lady Brain Collective believes that women are excellent at building communities, celebrating creativity, sparking inspiration, and taking care of each other. Based on the foundation of service, members openly and willingly offer their unique skills, knowledge, ideas, and talents to their fellow sisters in order to develop creative and collaborative opportunities for each other, thereby transforming the definition of what it means to be a successful artist. Lady Brain Collective supports each other through community gatherings such as Lady Brain Fest, members-only meet-ups, shared resources and online support, member-generated press, and more. To find out more, please visit www.ladybrainpresents.com.

Things To Do in San Diego: Thursday, July 4th-Monday, July 8, 2019

I decided to repost this weekend's listings because there were a few updates and I didn't want them buried under all my archive photos. It's such a gorgeous day in San Diego though, so I'm gonna shut down the laptop and head out to enjoy our fair city. Be safe out there, don't drink and drive, and be really nice and grateful and generous to Uber and Lyft drivers like Darren who are out there to pick you up and get you safely to your destination while missing out on their holiday with family and friends to be at your service.

4th of July Fireworks and Events

I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling a little less than celebratory this Independence Day. Nova's out of town so there's not that sense of urgency to do anything, really. But I know there's lots of fun to be had and Darren will be out working all day, so I'm gonna make the best of it. If you haven't made plans, last year we just had a little BBQ at home and made a last minute decision to catch the SDMTS Rapid to Waterfront Park. NBC has a list of fireworks and I'm sure every other news outlet does, too, I just wasn't up for compiling my own list this year. I will note, however, that the Cabrillo Monument is sold out, so don't head there. If you want to take public transit, fares are BOGO today! Which really does me no good since I'll be adventuring solo, but in case you wanna make your own beer crawl or fireworks adventure, that is a good option. And let's all pour one out for the infamous 2012 Big Bay Bust. Ah, good times.

From SDMTS.com:
Big Bay Boom
Thursday, July 4, 2019 - 9:00pm

San Diego Bay
San Diego's biggest 4th of July Fireworks show takes over the San Diego Bay with four barges at different points. There are great viewing areas all along the bay for this annual event! Parking is free and plentiful at SDCCU Stadium as well as at other park-and-ride lots throughout the system.

Due to the Holiday, MTS will be operating a Sunday schedule. However, to accommodate the many thousands of people heading to the Big Bay Boom fireworks, the Trolley will be adding significant service on all three lines!

Remember, it's a major holiday so the FRIENDS RIDE FREE promotion is in effect. A friend may ride free with a fare-paying customer on all MTS routes on July 4, 2019.

Prime viewing locations are near the following stations:

County Center / Little Italy
Santa Fe Depot
America Plaza
Seaport Village
Convention Center
Gaslamp Quarter

Photos: Kero Kero Bonito @ Casbah, April 15, 2019

It might seem that the Casbah is a super intimate place to see Kero Kero Bonito, but we actually were able to take Nova to see them at the House of Blues Voodoo Room a while back, so two sold out shows at the Casbah were amazing but they're already movin' on up with their fall date at the Belly Up on November 1st. You should definitely grab your tickets now. Their shows are fun, energetic, interactive, and a little bit silly, and in dark times, I'm totally okay with that. Pics after the jump.

Photos: John Vanderslice @ Soda Bar, April 13, 2019

Some more pics from the past. John Vanderslice played Soda Bar on April 13th and he's such a lovely human. He'd more or less quit music for a while but was able to see his way out of a rough time and get back on the road. I don't know how often he'll tour or when he'll be back again, but I certainly hope I can always carve out a night to see him when he does. Pics after the jump.

Photos: JS Ondara, Cat Clyde @ Casbah, April 10, 2019

I can't promise today will be an all day posting day because I'm considering buying a bus pass and just cruising around the City today with no real destination, but I do want to post some of my old drafts that were never shared. Below are photos of J.S. Ondara who played an amazing and to capacity show at the Casbah in April. It was sad to find out at that time he'd already announced a fall tour without a San Diego date, but maybe he'll surprise us and join the Wonderfront lineup or some other bigger event that we're just not yet aware of. If you have the chance to see him, you definitely should, though his voice is so haunting, you might need the Kleenex. Photos of J.S. Ondara and stunning opener Cat Clyde are after the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, July 2nd-Monday, July 8, 2019

Apologies for not having these all ready to go on Tuesday but it was a busy week enjoying Nova before she bailed, and then Monday was like the kick-off to Comic-con press, so my inbox was overflowing and I just couldn't muster the energy to get them done. I have also started my Comic-Con guide so while I'll be adding things up to and during the big week, I hope to at least publish some of the basics before the end of the week. Last week we did the late night at Safari Park on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I worked at Soda Bar for Sons of an Illustrious Father, who were supporting Priests. On Thursday we went to Nighttime Zoo, Friday we hung out with my parents and had a late dinner at Piacere Mio while Nova had a sleepover and we spent Saturday at Balboa Park, finishing that night at the Zoo, too. And then she left on Sunday and we slept and chilled and watched a movie and some men's soccer and I went to the David Gray concert. So here are the listings through Tuesday and I've literally been online for 11 hours straight so don't expect to hear much from me on Wednesday. After the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, July 2

Look, I know that I publish listings every week and I try to set them for Tuesdays at 6am but I just wasn't feeling it yesterday. So I'm just posting tonight's listings and will have all the rest of them tomorrow at 6am. It's a pretty slow week because of the holiday anyway, so you're not really missing out. In the meantime, here's my phone photo from that epic Saturday night sunset, taken from the San Diego Zoo's Skyfari.