Friday Night: Reader on Tap at The North Park Theatre

I'll have your full weekend listings up later today, but for now I wanted to let everyone know about Reader on Tap happening Friday night at The North Park Theatre. Technically it's the first show since David bought The North Park Theatre and since I started working there, and I think you're going to love what we've done to the place. New carpet is actually being laid as I type, and it's going to look incredible for tomorrow night's event. Come by and check it out!! (Tickets are available in advance, but we don't anticipate a sell out, so you can also just pay at the door.)

Reader On Tap
Friday, April 25, 2014 at The North Park Theatre
2891 University Ave

$40 VIP includes 10 tastes, 2 full pours, early entry at 5pm, $30 Uber Credit (for new Uber customers only)
$25 General Admission includes 10 beer tastings, $20 Uber Credit (for new customers only) 6-10pm

21+

Transfer
Dead Feather Moon
The Creepy Creeps 
Low Volts
The Schitzophonics

For more information and tickets, click here.

Local Media Bitchslap

I love when local media wars are waged, especially when I'm not a part of them. This week I wrote about the "North Park Music Thing", formerly known as "North By North Park", after a press release was issued from Kevin Hellman on behalf of the San Diego Music Foundation. Looks like some panties are in a bunch about the whole thing.

First, Kelly Davis calling out Ken Leighton.

And, Ken Leighton's response.

I shall sit back and let the fun ensue.

Update: Kelly responds, again.

Some Newsy Bits: CityBeat, The Reader, Former 91X DJs

A few things have come up that I thought I should get to posting:

• First, the big CityBeat local demo review will be coming out soon. Bands interested in submitting their demos must have them postmarked by Monday, February 25th. Send your demos to CityBeat/ 3550 Camino del Rio North Ste. 207/ San Diego, CA 92108. Some personal recommendations- send at least a couple CDs and read my post about the music 101 seminar that has some recommendations about packaging, CD labeling, etc. Also, grow some thick skin.

• I got a little bit more information about the supposed lawsuit against the Reader. While I don't know what instances specifically people are suing for, I was told they're going for a libel suit in small claims claims court, which has a max of $7,500 and doesn't allow lawyers. A person suing for libel has to prove two things. 1. That the libelous article printed was false and caused you embarrassment in the eyes of your peers. 2. That the libelous article written caused you to lose business in some manner. (At least per the e-mail I received. I'm certainly no lawyer and my one time in small claims was a horrible, miserable experience, despite winning my claim.) I think it's gonna be a tough case to win, because journalists have a lot of protections. Ken can write what he wants and protect sources (or make them up, or pretend he tried to get sources but they were unavailable or refused comment, or just twist the shit out of their words which is his usual M.O.). I would just suggest if you're contacted by the Reader because they wanna cover your band, first, ask for Jay Allen or Bart or someone else to do the interview, second, record your own conversation so you can see if, in fact, you were misquoted, and if that doesn't work, just flat out refuse the coverage; sometimes its just not worth it.

• A follow up with the 91X DJ sitch. While Ruggy has taken over as BMOC at Yelp or something like that, I'm told he's still with 91X and helping with production and promotion and other duties. Chris Cantore has been keeping up his blog quite frequently and he's begun some pod-casts for people who miss hearing his voice in the morning (and I know there are thousands of you wondering where he is, judging by how frequently you all are Googling him and finding my site). You can find his podcasts here. He plans on doing 2-3 per week. If you wanna catch him in person, it is highly likely that he'll be at Marco Collins' going away party on Sunday. Also, Marco's working on a podcast of his own with 120 Minutes veteran Matt Pinfield and Rich McLaughlin of Left of Center that will be available soon on iTunes. Last with the 91X crew, Jennifer White has been at Radio Sophie for some time now, but if you wanna meet her, or at least see her in person, head over to the Karma Lounge at the W Hotel this Thursday, when Jen becomes a celebrity bartender.

• Last thing, perhaps you noticed a post I made about a certain summer tour that would be back in San Diego. The information is still accurate but I pulled it down because, let's just say I blew my wad prematurely and the info wasn't ready for release. Anyway, if you're savvy, you can still find the post- because nothing ever leaves the Internet once it's posted, but I'll repost it later when the organizers are ready to spill the beans.

Repost: Lawsuit Against Ken Leighton?

Opening Band posted a link to a Craig's List ad that claims a lawsuit has been filed against The San Diego Reader claiming slander against Ken Leighton.

Here's the post in case it gets pulled:

The owner of the San Diego Reader has been hit with a lawsuit due to an article by none other then Ken Leighton. Its public record. If you are in a band and have also been slandered or have had false things written about you, and it has damaged your reputation, Please contact us and our attorney will be in contact with you. The case goes to court in March in San Diego

Click here for the ad and contact info.

Scolari's "Cop Beating"

A couple weeks ago I posted about an incident at Scolari's. I actually regret posting that now. I was asked to look into the incident, for the possible inclusion in my Local's Only column for the week. After talking to a few witnesses and getting wildly divergent versions of what occurred, I didn't feel there was anyway to adequately represent the story. Apparently SDIndyMedia and The Reader are covering the story, and I'd just like to post the information I got in a kind of experiment...to see if they cover the story in a "fair and balanced" way, or if they take a side ("Cops Suck" vs. "Drunk idiots shouldn't swing at cops")

The original post included information from Alia, a friend of the "victim" who was outraged at the "police brutality" acted out on her friend. Her version of the story really started outside the bar. She says she heard that the singer of Royal Trux, Jennifer, was punched by the doorman, so Jennifer, in turn called the cops. When they came and were taking statements, the cops were telling her she should leave and "go sober up."

According to Alia, Chris Bloss got between the cops and Jennifer. The cops told him to get back and he complied. Still, the cop pushed Chris Bloss, telling him to "step the fuck back" and then the cops took him down to the ground, face down. A female cop sat on top of him with his arms tucked under his stomach so he was unable to comply with their request to put his arms behind his back. He was screaming, "Get the fuck off me!" and they took this as resistance, and he was maced (or pepper sprayed) twice. The cop dismounted since she was now inhaling said spray. The cops pulled out their nightsticks and beat him repeatedly with it. They also threatened to taze him. Alia then ran toward them screaming for them to "get the fuck off him" and to "stop fucking hitting him". They told her to back off and she did. When all was said and done, Chris was beat and bruised and arrested for interfering with police business. He has a sprained thumb and was held with $10k in bail, which was paid. Chris has a January court date. Alia and Chris are looking for the people who were taking pictures of the incident and witnesses to what went down.

But then there's always two sides to every story. BearPaw was there and has a very different version of what happened (BearPaw posted this on The Punk Board and gave me permission to use it.)

Her [Jennifer of Royal Trux] and her boyfriend showed up wasted as fuuuck. Toni served them one drink before they played. Chandra refused to serve them after they played because they were wasted and so the chick tried to climb over the bar but Donny pushed her off. Then big tattoer Tom picked her up and took her outside.

So she was trying to claim that Scolaris was trying to steal their equipment ( the last band was using some of their gear) which was untrue because the 3 non-wasted dudes in the band were allowed in and out of the bar, no problem.

So they sat in the van until the last band was done and the chick and her boy tried to rush the door but Tom was right there waiting for them. They got tossed out again, she couldn't stand on her own. So Donny calls the cops and she kept yelling how they had a sign contract for a $100. So the cops show up and start taking statements.

One cop was talking to the band and another was talking to Donny and Tom. This dude [Chris Bloss] kept getting in between one cop and band while the cop was taking their statement. The cop told him about 15 times to step away because he wasn't in the band nor worked at the bar. Finally the duder said, "Fuck you, cop." The cop turned around and told him that he needs to step away or he is going to jail. Then the duder took a swing at the cop.

Needless to say the cops took that dude down hard. While the cops were dealing with him, the band took off down in the street. They got pulled over around 31st. While they were pulling a way, the chick kicked out one of the side windows of the van.

BearPaw also added that between Chris screaming "fuck you" at the cops, he attempted to take off running, so he was actually grabbed and tackled in front of the furniture store adjacent to Scolari's. He also said that T-Bone (of Scolari's) was the one who said that the band was arrested over on 31st. Those charges are unknown.

The real reason my conscience got in the way of this story was because getting info from SDPD was a more daunting task than I had time for. There is no doubt in my mind from hearing versions of the story that Chris Bloss was roughed up by the cops. What I do doubt is that the cops were not justified in their actions. If someone swung at me, I'd kick their ass too. I'm jus' sayin'.

Anyway, I only got two versions of what happened, but it surely left me with questions, so I'm salivating at the way the Reader is gonna cover the story. Check their site at noon to find out.

Best News Ever? "4th & B To Revert Back To Leaseholder"

If you haven't read this week's Blurt items over at the Reader, you are missing out!

First this:

Live Nation's major competitor, AEG, has consummated an agreement that will
allow the concert company to open a 12,500-capacity outdoor venue on the grounds of the Chargers summer training facility at 4020 Murphy Canyon Road.

"We are off 35 to 40 percent," says a person involved with promoting live music. "I think there are too many shows booked into a small, picky market."

Well shit, freakin, duh! I'm guessing the "insider" represents LiveNation in some way, since as an avid music viewer, I haven't noticed any decline at Belly Up or Casbah or any other venue that hosts good music. Maybe LiveNation, being the GIANT CORPORATE ENTITY that they are should start their own ticketing service so people don't have to pay an additional 30% of a ticket price (and sometimes more) to Ticketmaster for service charges, then maybe the venue would be full every night of the week, as it should be, because of what that venue can offer to artists and fans alike in terms of sound, accomodations, and atmosphere. House of Blues/LiveNation, if you leave San Diego, you won't be missed. Oh, and hear that tap, tap, tapping? Yeah, that's AEG and Hard Rock Hotel knocking at your door.

Then there's this separate but related piece:

A month of moved or canceled shows at 4th&B...has culminated in some type of resolution.

Insiders say Live Nation/House of Blues has decided to stop booking at the downtown club. Live Nation will allegedly allow the 1200-capacity venue to
revert back to the leaseholder, Ali Nilforshan.

Is this the demise of LiveNation? Is this San Diego standing up with our middle fingers raised saying "we're not suckas" or is this really a "small, picky market"? Because personally, I've all but cut off the House of Blues entirely as a venue. Do I want to see Stars? Yes. Do I want to see Travis? Yes. Will I go to House of Blues to see them? How about not unless someone gives me tickets and preferably a photo pass. (Some drink tickets would be great, too.) I will gladly get back on the 4th & B train and attend shows there if I know that they've been booked independently and don't have to get the full House of Blues cavity search every time I go there. Also, does this mean shows too big for the Casbah can once again be booked at 4th & B or do we still have to put up with the psycho security at Cane's? Also, as an aside...were the security always like that or was it only after my Band Of Horses incident that they cracked down? Sorry if I was the spoiler on that one, but when my friend Geoff was a manager over there it was never as bad as it is nowadays.

OK, end rant. For once I can say "great scoops, Ken!" And oh yeah, Ali- gimme a holler! Let's talk, man. I hear Jamal from House of Blues is available. Hire that boy already! And my ad rates are cheap, cheap, cheap if you need to spread the word.

Roses On Her Grave Video Shoot Tonight

Woah, did you read all the comments about the Blurt posting about Roses On Her Grave last week? I wrote a response from singer CJ Gladstone here but if you missed all the drama, check out the Blurt item here, then scroll down for all the comments. Everyone just needs to relax. And, as a personal aside to Molly, if I learned anything from my whole Band of Horses fiasco, no matter how tempting it might be to defend yourself when people talk shit, sometimes you just have to let it roll off; eventually people will defend you and you don't need to get involved and most people who have the ability to post comments anonymously will be rude online simply because they can. There's a reason they're called trolls.

Anyway, for those people who are fans of Roses on Her Grave, why not check out their music video shoot this afternoon?

We are shooting a video for "She got a gun", the song has been selected by the
American Paint Ball Association to be used as their '07 theme song and are
playing the video throughout all games. The video will be seen by 40,000
weekly. We will be filming at Winston's in OB at 6:30PM today(Wed). Come down
mention this post and get a free CD!

Go show the band some love and be in their vid.

Welcome to this modern world: San Diego Reader Has A Blog

Actually, San Diego Reader has several blog categories: Political Life, San Diego Life, etc, but if you just click "blogs" you can see them all together. See it here, though I guess this is the experimental URL so I'll update it when it goes "live".

Pacific Beach and the Labor Day Fight

I wasn't at Pacific Beach on Monday for Labor Day. In fact, other than hanging out on the deck at Taang! Records (before it moved), having a couple beers before a show at Cane's or having picnics at Tourmaline, I can't really remember the last time I went to any local beach for any reason. It's not my thing, never has been. The beach "lifestyle" has never really appealed to me.

My sister, her husband, and Johanna live in PB, however, so I do pay attention to what goes on in their 'hood. I recently read the Reader cover story and now the news that there was a "riot" in PB on Labor Day Weekend, and all I can say is that I'm not surprised. I avoid PB for a host of reasons, but the frat-boy, "bro", high-fivin' mentality that pervades makes me gag. I avoid douchebags at all costs.

The thing is I know how it is; a whole group of people take the blame for the stupid few who can't handle their booze, who have too much testosterone and want to fight anyone who even looks at them, and who generally have no respect or concern for anyone or anything. In my experience, these people are usually transplants to San Diego via the military or SDSU who are here to live the life they saw on MTV spring break specials. They are probably 5% of the people who hang out in PB. Get them in one group and you have some serious groupthink and mob mentality. They may be few, but they are asshole enough to keep people like me from going to the beaches in PB. Ever.

As a person who believes strongly in personal rights and freedoms, I have never supported a booze ban on the beach. I never thought I would, either. But when you see these herds of assholes on the beach, as long as they are there, I won't be. And I pay the sunshine tax, too, so shouldn't I feel comfortable enjoying the beaches of San Diego? I still don't support a booze ban, but this situation definitely makes you think of ways to fix the problem: no booze on holidays? charging a fee to use the beach? limiting the amount of people on the beach at any given time? banning anyone who says dude or bro more than 5 times in 3 minutes?

In fairness, I've heard there are various stories about what happened. I can't seem to find the clip, but my dad said that the news showed that the "riot" started after police were called to break up a fight. One of the cops left his quad in the water, the tide started to pull the quad in the water, so a dude started pushing the quad out of the tide and the cop tackled him, not realizing he was actually just trying to help. From that, the initial melee ensued (supposedly). I'm sure with thousands of people on the beach, there are thousands of varying accounts, but just watching any of these videos and I know why I don't do the beach "scene". (Found the video. See it here.






More amateur (and dizzying) video here, here and here.

Clearly, if you care about booze on the beach, either for or against it, this is the time to step up and make your opinion count.

Read here for blog/comments.

Complaint Department

Just wanted to say, for the record, if you're a bar owner (Ken Club Brett and Sports Club Tony, I'm talking to YOU!) it would be nice if you updated your calendars every once in a while. I shouldn't have to dig around for a tiny ad in the Reader to know who is playing at your club when MySpace is FREE. If you don't have the time, I'd be happy to update your site for $40 weekly and be your "MySpace Manager". Seriously, ever wonder why certain shows draw 7 people while others pack the house?? Yes, bands should do their share of promoting, but you should at least make the info available for people like me who seek it out.

End complaint.

The Final Band of Horses Post

I'm gonna try to make this the last Band of Horses post ever on this site. But, since the whole thing is in this week's Blurt, I thought I would properly direct new readers to all of the links within this site.

From the Reader:

Whiny Foal- Rosey Bystrak's blog (www.sddialedin.com) has fueled the debate over fans shooting concert videos to post online. After a July 6 Band of Horses show at 'Canes, Bystrak posted, "So there I am with my tiny Sony digital camera... While playing the super emotional song 'Funeral,' [singer Ben Bridwell] flips me off and midsong yells, 'I see you recording me.' I look around and at least five other people are taping him, and he calls me out.... There's nothing worse than a...whiny baby onstage." After the song, Bridwell launched into a tirade against concert tapers who post on YouTube.

"Several bands have e-mailed me to thank me for posting pictures or YouTube footage of them," blogged Bystrak, "and [they] even link to me on their respective websites, but apparently Band of Horses is...too cool...to accept whatever publicity they can get."

Pitchforkmedia.com asked Bridwell about the incident. "It was really annoying," he said. "It was just scratching at the surface of what's happening to shows lately. Everybody's got a camera in their pocket, and they turn it on to just, I don't know, exploit us in some way or further their own projects or whatever the fuck they're doing with their websites and shit...as far as I'm concerned, it just looks like someone trying to record a really shitty performance to post somewhere and embarrass us forever."

Pitchfork's report then turned up on Idolator.com and the U.K.'s Drowned in Sound, with readers posting comments defending and/or berating both Bystrak and Bridwell. "In a day, I went from about 250 hits to almost ten times that," says Bystrak. "I opted to not respond to comments, and I still won't, because most likely they've come and gone and are now hating on the next indie-nation whatever."

-- Jay Allen Sanford

Here's the post that launched a thousand blogs. OK, more like 6. And not until a couple weeks after the incident happened. But still, it got under quite a few commenters' skins.

I mention it a little here. Then I read that the singer, Ben, was complaining about having to play his "hit", so I posted about that here.

Then the shit hit the fan when Pitchfork linked to my story and drove a whole bunch of new traffic my way. This post was written at the end of that long day, and has all the links of sites who picked up the story (that I knew about), including the original Pitchfork interview with Ben, and updated links throughout that weekend. Most of those posts have their own comments that are interesting, to say the least.

And here's a very old unrelated post about BoH when they won three Plug Awards. At the time, I thought they were joking. In a way, I now think maybe they were dead serious.

Now, I'm dusting off my hands and I'm done with this. Here's my sitemeter for the last 30 days and life has definitely gone back to normal. Just the way I like it.

Look! I'm in the Reader again

Finn Again

Local blogger Rosey posts video at sddialedin.com from an unannounced KPRI private listener concert held in early May on a Hornblower cruise, featuring Tim Finn (Split Enz, Crowded House). "I got a text from my friend," she blogs, "telling me that he heard that Neil Finn and Eddie Vedder might be joining Tim. How could I skip that, even if there was less than a 1% chance that it was true?" Though Vedder and the other brother Finn were no-shows, she says the private show was still "beyond worthwhile."

Her posted video shows Finn performing Split Enz's "I Got You." There's also a photo of his actual setlist, autographed and with duct tape along the top and bottom. "That setlist is not completely accurate," says Rosey, "because Tim threw in a couple requests, including 'Six Months in a Leaky Boat,' to stay with a nautical theme."

(www.sddialedin.com/search/label/kpri)


For the record, the original post was posted and linked by a Tim Finn fansite and is one of my most viewed YouTube clips, which makes me realize, I've never really made all my YouTube stuff available. You can check it all out here.

SD:Dialed In quoted in Blurt

With the weird week, I didn't really look at the Reader this week, but when I finally got around to it, I again found my name in print. I'm quoted for my writing about the supposed Kings of Leon vs Interpol feud at Indie Jam. Not mentioned is my follow up to that which I posted here. Also, blatantly missing from the Blurt article is that the story about the Kings of Leon guys swiping the Interpol dog was a RUMOR and though I heard it from a reliable source, I never stated it as fact. Then again, it's Blurt- known for stirring the shit pot. Whateva, I appreciate the link, though it would be nicer to get the $25 tip from the shit swiped directly from my blog...

"I'm kind of a big deal"

Just kidding. But my "lists" page is in the Reader this week (with a HUMONGOUS picture of me). Actually it kinda reveals what a dork I am in real life. Yay for press.

Check it out here.

Hey Reader, I want my $25

In this week's Blurt, in reference to the FM 94/9 Indie Jam:

"We wanted to avoid the exorbitant Ticketmaster and facility-use fees that music fans hate," says FM-94/9 program director Garett Michaels.

What's not to hate? To purchase a $19.50 ticket for Fall Out Boy's July 1 show at Coors Amphitheatre, Ticketmaster assesses $9.80 in fees, more than 50 percent of the ticket price. Added to $26 tickets for the 91X-sponsored X-Fest at Coors on May 20 is a $6 "building facility" fee and a $10.05 Ticketmaster "convenience" fee -- 61 percent of the admission price.

From SD: Dialed In, May 2, 2007:

"This year's 93.3 "Your Show" will be held on May 11 at Coors Amphitheatre, featuring Ludacris, Fergie, Ciara, Hilary Duff, Robin Thicke. Tickets on Ticketmaster range from $21 to $85. A pit seat will run you $85, plus a $6 building facility charge, and an $11.75 convenience charge. For the common man, they are offering 4-packs of lawn tickets for $63, but when purchasing, the price breaks down to $15.75 per ticket, a $4.50 building facility charge per ticket, and a $7.45 convenience charge per ticket, for a grand total of $114.15...

...Let's compare to FM 94/9 San Diego's Indie Jam, shall we? Interpol, Kings of Leon, Spoon, Living Things, Aggrolites, and Test Your Reflex and a local stage with Scarlet Symphony and others... Tickets are $40, NO service charge or parking fee, and $1.00 donation to the About The Music fund when purchased online."

If you read my whole post, you will notice I also discussed the Fall Out Boy show. The Reader quotes me on things I don't write, and then bites my concept without any credit or citation. Am I just being sensitive?

SD:Dialed In Quoted In The Reader

In this weeks Reader, covering "Cool San Diego" there is a "quote" by me.

THAT '80s STYLE: It's back in all its pastel-and-chiffon glory -- even the shoulder pads built like twin aircraft carriers -- particularly at places such as the Beauty Bar, which looks for all the world like the photos we used to see of European nightclubs frequented by Boy George, Adam Ant, and Rod Stewart. Rosey at sddialedin.blogspot.com says of one Beauty Bar visit: "Suddenly, I had an epiphany, courtesy of Napoleon Dynamite: a side ponytail...So many beautiful people, so many unfortunate fashion choices. Tiered ruffly skirts. Track shorts and white slouch boots. Tight, stripey T-shirt dresses. I miss the eighties as much as anyone, they were good times for me, but the fashion trends do not merit resurrection.... Every time we went to the bar, the price of the drinks went up $2 -- $6 [went to] $8 [then to] $10. They must have noticed that I wasn't wearing leg warmers or a tube top and fined me accordingly."

The only thing about this "quote" is that I don't remember writing it and I can't find it on my blog anywhere. I appreciate the link getting in print and all, but it's a little misleading isn't it? I don't miss the 80's at all. For me the 80's, yes the greater part of the decade, was kinda hellish. I mean from 5 to 15? Totally awkward years- not unhappy, but who longs for their adolescence and "tween" years? Training bras, menarche (look it up), those big ugly teeth that replace your baby ones, your parents letting you wear purple reebok aerobic shoes and listen to Lisa Lisa or the Jets, because you were a total brat and insisted on it. I don't miss the 80s.

The other reason why I'm not convinced I wrote that? We all know I'd NEVER spend $10 on a drink.

So, I guess thanks for the shout out in the Reader, but I'd really like to see the link if, in fact, that quote was actually pulled from my blog.

Really Random Wednesday Newsy Bits: Delta Spirit, Bad TV review, TAANG!

I got an e-mail today from my friend Tina that it was 15 years ago today that she met Ricky, her husband now of several years, at a party at my house. A huge shout out to Variety Pak for playing that show- Tricky, Froot Loop...who else was there? Man, I was booking shows at 14!
*****
I loved the Delta Spirit debate yesterday. CatDirt wrote, too, and you can see his post here with all the comments he generated. I will link the article in CityBeat as soon as they post their stuff on the web. (what is taking so long CB?)Finally, here's the link.
*****
Kallao, a dj on 91x, is a phenomenal photograher. He's posted a tons of pics from SXSW and his personal blog entries that accompany those photos on Flickr. You can see all of it here.
*****
TAANG! Records is requesting submissions from Independent Hardcore bands (from all locales, not just San Diego). Get them your music by April 10, at which time they will choose bands and host a showcase show. Friend request them on their MySpace page and click on the blog. Or just go to the store and say hi to Curtis and Miggs and the rest of the guys there.
*****
There's some great stuff in the Reader's "Blurt this week". Street Scene in Del Mar? (CatDirt was on that a couple weeks ago, but still.) Hot Monkey Love cancels rap shows.

Most interesting: House of Blues has new talent buyers. I just got an e-mail from my friend this morning about the House of Blues:

Subj: House of Suck

This is ridiculous:

Ticket at HOB (name of band withheld at Dave's request):
$20
+ $4 Convenience Fee
+ $8 Venue Fee
+ $2 Will Call Fee
=$34 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(online purchase)

I have been pretty clear about my feelings about House of Blues. The buyers can complain about low profits or people not going out on weeknights, but the truth is the HoB has bullied other venues outta shows by guaranteeing bands more cash, thereby raising ticket prices to a range most people aren't willing to pay regularly. I go there as the exception, not a rule. Dave now intends to write every band coming to town to let them know how the HoB jacks us. I just might do the same.
*****
Do you shop at Henry's? Wanna be on TV?

Henry's is shooting a new television commercial and we need your help!
We believe our customers are the most important part of our business.
That's why we've chosen to highlight you in our new commercial. We're looking
for loyal Henry's customers who are passionate about shopping at Henry's Farmers
Market stores. To be considered for an appearance in our new
commercial, you just need to send an email to events@henrysmarkets.com with the following information: name, age, location of the store you shop at, picture and a
short paragraph about why you shop at Henry's.

The deadline for entries is this Friday, March 30, 2007 -
so don't delay! Must be available for filming Friday, April 6, 2007 at Carlsbad
location.

*****
I didn't go out last night so no real recap, but I did watch a lot of really bad tv so I thought that might be worth a recap for once:

7:30-8p:

Entertainment Tonight: Gianna Versace's daughter is "fighting a brave fight against anorexia." From the autopsy, Anna Nicole did a shitload of prescription drugs, had a boob job, and an "unremarkable anus".

Simultaneous viewing from 8-9pm:

American Idol: crap. crap. crap. Gwen Stefani was the guest this week so the performers either did No Doubt songs or songs that inspired her. The stylist this week especially sucked. All the clothes were disgusting and I don't even need to comment about Sanjaya's hair. I can't believe I watched any part of this. I think I might have a crush on Simon. Troy Johnson would kick ass as a host on this show.

The Daily Show/Colbert Report (repeats from Monday): Alberto Gonzalez is a douchebag. John Oliver is hilarious. Colbert has another editing challenge.

Simultaneous viewing 9-10pm:

Dancing With The Stars: I know I'm not exactly in the 54-99 age demographic for this show, but I handled exactly 2 minutes of the show. While I appreciate the athleticism it takes to do some of the dances, I don't find anything sexy or appealing about any of it.

Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll: "Asia dances like a transvestite." Sisely was booted off the show. I'm still looking for that fine line between sexy and trashy because pretty much every show, every outfit, every dance is pretty trashy.

Simultaneous viewing 10-11p:

Bad Girls Club: I didn't even know this show was still on. I feel a marathon weekend coming up because I've missed the show for weeks. I didn't even know it was still on. Idiot chicks pretty much getting wasted all the time and then talking shit about each other getting wasted. Doesn't get much better than that. (Oh! Network)

Tori & Dean Inn Love: A pregnant Tori Spelling wanders around SoCal in search of a Bed and Breakfast to purchase where they will live and start a business. Looks like they decided on Temecula and were won over by the charm of Fallbrook.

Great American Dream Vote: You know any show hosted by Donny Osmond is going to be phenomenal. (I just threw up in my mouth a little) I don't really understand the show, but the four finalists voted on by the studio audience had the following "lifelong dreams":

• bald guy: a full head of hair
• midwest lady: turn her daughter into a rodeo queen
• other blonde: open a dog sanctuary for aging hounds
• jersey guy: open a flower shoppe for his wife

Clearly you can see the quality of this show. I didn't tune in long enough to see which two finalists made it to the American vote.


CW News @ 10: San Diego was windy yesterday. Some doctor is missing. Eddie Griffin crashed a Ferrari.

11p-12a:

The Daily Show: The Dems snuck some ridiculous pork barrel language to their war spending bill in order to get enough votes for passage. Irritating, but probably done just to make a point stronger than a non-binding resolution because it will get vetoed by Bush who ha vowed to veto any bill with a timeline or benchmarks attached to it. The correspondent on there sucks now, I want Rob Corddry back. Dennis Miller is a fucking idiot.

Colbert Report: Madeline Albright is such a cool lady.

Time to sleep. I can't believe I remember any of that crap today.

Vinyl Radio: In the Reader this week

Vinyl Radio is in Blurt this week, kinda. The article is more about recording, but at least they're in there.

"We recorded the whole thing straight to tape," says
Vinyl Radio front man Matt Binder. "This is how the Beatles and the Stones did
it."

Go see them Tuesday at the Casbah for more of this:

May Day Revival!

There's some good stuff in this week's Reader Blurt and Citybeat's Locals Only, but nothing pleases me more than this:

Starlight Bowl is looking to make a comeback in 2007.

Susan Suffecool, director of the 4,300-capacity outdoor venue in Balboa
Park, hopes to lure both local bands and mid-sized touring acts back to the site
and has brought in promoter Christopher Leyva, who also fronts local band
Blizzard.

“I realize local performers won’t draw like touring acts, but there are
different stage configurations we can use,” said Suffecool. “This end of the
park isn’t visited as much as the central area. Hopefully, this will draw
attention to this corner.”

I think as a teenager I only attended two shows at the venue but one of them was MayDay in 1993... I would like to officially propose another MayDay-ish festival at the new Starlight Bowl. There were something like 40 local bands between two stages...an acoustic stage in the Hall of Champions and the Rock/Reggae/Punk music was in the Bowl. True, San Diego doesn't have a Lucy's Fur Coat or Drive Like Jehu anymore, but we have a strong scene and if bands play for free or cheap just for the exposure, say a $15 wristband could cover the venue expenses as far as security, etc. go, right? Only problem is there would need to be a better date...the weekend before May 1 is the same weekend as Coachella and this town turns into a ghost town, and the weekend after is Cinco de Mayo, which, if these people are smart, they will capitalize on with a Mariachi/Música Mexicana festival.

And since I'm in total fantasyland writing this, there would be only paid admissions. No band guest lists, no media passes, no radio station freebies. If everyone pays $15 or $20 bucks, then half the people aren't paying double for the other half to be there free, as seems to happen so often for any event. I'm just saying. I'll be first up with my $15.