Monday, February 27, 2017

Things To Do In San Diego: Monday, February 27-Sunday, March 5, 2017

There were definitely not enough hours this past week, but I'm wiped so hopefully I can find the time to catch up. I was busy last week...worked at the Tennis show on Wednesday then went to the Office for Iron Maiden Under Cover. Thursday I worked at the Irenic again for Radical Face and Jenny O, and Friday I caught the sold out show with The Staves at the Casbah before closing the night at the Ken. On Saturday, my cousin was in town and scored a room on Hotel Tonight so the kids swam until I worked at the Pinback show at Irenic, and on Sunday, Nova had a derby bout at SkateWorld before we spent the afternoon at my parents' house. I really wanted to catch Hideout but just didn't get my work done in time. This week should be mellow and allow me to get caught up. Today is Darren's birthday, and while he's not really the kind to celebrate, I will hopefully convey to him how glad I am to have him in my life. He's the best friend, partner, and love, beyond anything I could've hoped for, and hope we've got decades more to come. It's the end of the month, so I'll update with Bar Pink, Black Cat, El Dorado, Whistle Stop and others when they come through. Monday through Sunday archives are after the jump.


Friday, February 24, 2017

NBC SoundDiego Interview with Chris Carrabba/Dashboard Confessional


Obviously from my volume of posts on the matter, I was pretty excited about the way my interview with Chris Carrabba went. He was just too nice and it really felt easier than any interview I've ever done because of his openness and willingness to talk. As you've maybe noticed, most SoundDiego segments aren't available online, and that's because the parent company, NBC Universal, could get in trouble with labels and artist right's groups and such. But every once in awhile, the artist or their label will sign off on the footage and then we get to share it far and wide. So here's the final edit of my interview that aired last weekend. To read the whole interview, find it here.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Things To Do In San Diego: Monday, February 20-Sunday, February 26, 2017


The really great thing is that if you bury your head (from politics) for a little while, you realize we have a pretty good thing going here in San Diego, for now, at least. I was brief on my Friday post, so I'll mention that I had a very full week of activity. We went back to Anza-Borrego on Monday, hiking and seeing stars and enjoying being offline. I have to admit the windy roads got to me a little, so I'll have to rethink my diet next time we go (which will be soon for the Big Bloom). On Wednesday night I went to see Esme Patterson (pictured here), and Lucero at the Belly Up, and couldn't help myself from closing down Emo night at the Office. I was also able to hit up the Crocodiles show on Friday at Hideout (finishing at the Ken, and running into a raccoon on my walk home). Nova was dying to hang with my nieces, and fortunately that happened Saturday, so Darren and I met up with Eric for Surfer Blood at Soda Bar then The Coathangers at Casbah. Sunday is my smut-TV-while-I-work day, and luckily my brother's kids turned up at my Mom's and all the kids wanted another night together. We dropped in, brought more food and clothes, and ended up at Pants Karaoke at Til-Two, and had a romantic (and also desperate to pee) walk home from Euclid to 33rd on El Cajon. If you can bury your head enough from politics for a minute, you should be sure to enjoy the lives we still have. Monday through Sunday archives are after the jump.


Friday, February 17, 2017

Things To Do In San Diego: Friday, February 17-Sunday, February 19, 2017


It's crazy outside tonight, but I thought I'd update the listings anyway since there's all kind of fun stuff happening if you're willing to brave the wind and the rain. Friday through Sunday archives are after the jump.

Monday, February 13, 2017

Things To Do In San Diego: Monday, February 13-Thursday, February 16, 2017


It's been a pretty good weekend, but since Nova has two three-day weekends in a row, I'm gonna enjoy the day off. Tuesday through Sunday listings are afte the jump.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

It's Pupping Season at Casa Beach!


It's pupping season at Casa Beach, aka Children's Pool! I got an email from Seal Conservancy over the weekend that said the first pups had been born at the La Jolla seal rookery. The first, born on Saturday (2/4), was feared abandoned but was later seen with her mom. Two more were born on Sunday (2/5). Naturally, we're always drawn to this time of year, and since the beach closure during pupping season has been upheld (for now), and it's been a little on the colder side, it's been pretty nice to spend some time on the sea wall and the new lifeguard tower watching them. Being on a tighter budget, this is one of the most amazing free things to do in San Diego, I guess all you really need is a tank of gas and the time to go by.


We stopped by Tuesday night before the Dashboard Confessional show at Che Cafe, and then made a point to go on Thursday after Nova was out of school. The fog was thick and heavy where it felt like a drizzle, so taking photos was reminiscent of shooting the XX through their fog machines, but I think you can get the idea even with my subpar skill.

I want to be very, very clear here. I respect these animals. I deeply love them and think they're an important part of what makes San Diego so amazing. So as much as I enjoy watching them, I also usually spend half the time cringing at how close people get to them, how they don't read the literal signs or the very obvious body language of the animals. I was on the open side of the beach as they swam in shallow pools created by low tide, but as the tide rose, it was clear Mama was ready to beach herself and her pup, and a clueless woman, with her toddlers, just wouldn't step away. I always wrestle with whether or not to *scream* at people, but eventually she'd taken her fill of selfies and moved along. Don't be one of those people. I know my zoom can be a little deceptive, but at no time was I imposing on their turf.


A final thought...the fight over the seals and sea lions isn't over. While the seals are protected for now, the La Jolla Town Council is fighting fiercely to force the sea lions (who generally hang out at La Jolla Cove) to move the colony. They're calling it "Crisis at the Cove" and are stopping at nothing to fight the City of San Diego. On top of that, the current federal administration is demonstrating a complete and utter lack of concern for animal welfare, habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and science in general, so it's up to us to protect and preserve this treasure, whether that's financially, offereing time, or just spreading the word and showing up when this inevitably goes back to the California Coastal Commission over and over and over again. Join the Seal Conservancy here.



More photos after the jump.

Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Interview & Photos: Dashboard Confessional at House of Blues (2.3.2017)

Let's start off with the big announcement...Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional will be playing a solo set tonight at the Che Cafe. This is a Casbah presented show and tickets are on sale as of now until sell out. ($15 + service charge, will call only. No ticket transfers allowed.)


I keep mentioning my interview with Chris. The interview and performance will be edited down to about two minutes when it officially airs on NBC SoundDiego in the upcoming weeks, but I loved everything about this interview. I loved that Chris was totally open and we did it in the band's dressing room before the show. I loved that he expressed that he was nervous but then became more forgiving when I said I was nervous, too, that I hadn't done an interview in months. He said we could do a whole run-through and if we didn't like it we could do it all over again in a second take.
(Continued after the jump)

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, February 7-Sunday, February 12, 2017

It's time. Get your tickets now!!! Buy here. Monday through Sunday archives are after the jump.



Monday, February 06, 2017

Things To Do In San Diego: Monday, February 6, 2017

It was certainly a splendid weekend in my world. As I mentioned, I spent Friday afternoon interviewing Chris Carrabba at House of Blues and it was easily my favorite SoundDiego interview ever. I'll let you know when it airs. After that, I had a nice dinner with my family then went back to House of Blues for the show, which was pretty awesome, too. Then I caught some of Metalachi and then closed down the night at Ken Club. On Saturday I had full intentions of going to the political event at Casbah but family comes first, so instead we ended up going to the Tet Lunar New Year Festival at the stadium (which hilariously still has a Chargers billboard saying, "Keeping The Tradition In San Diego") and ended up staying until almost 10. I had promised we'd do a big family outing on Sunday (usually an all day workday), so I stayed up late working. By the time we were up and motivated and packed on Sunday, it was a bit later than planned, but we drove out to Anza-Borrego where we climbed rocks, hiked a little, explored the visitors center, and did a little bit of exploring of the Palm Canyon hike before it got too dark. We're hoping to head back in the next few weeks for sure, better prepared and earlier in the day. This week there are a ton of good shows but my formatting got a little screwed up again, so if you notice any glaring omissions, please let me know. Monday archives are after the jump.    



Friday, February 03, 2017

Things To Do In San Diego: Friday, February 3-Sunday, February 5, 2017

I was looking through my listings earlier today and realized they were formatted super weird (long boring blog story that I'll spare you) so I wanted to repost the weekend. I just got ou of an interview with Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional for SoundDiego and he was the nicest ever so I went from no plans tonight to going back to House of Blues for the show, where hopefully I get better photos than this older one from my point and shoot at Soda Bar a couple years back. I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend and taking advantage of the big dumb game to get out of town for a little daytrip. Friday through Sunday archives are after the jump.