Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, November 9-Wednesday, November 15, 2023: Noah Gunderson | Joy Oladokun | Deap Vally | Small Black | Frenship | Soda Bar 15 Year Anniversary | Devo | Sun Kil Moon | The National |

I was tired of using the same stage photo week after week, since I haven't done any diary posts in a minute to separate posts, so this week you get this beautiful alpaca. I know the listings are mostly about music, but I'm being a little bitchy because I didn't get approved for a photo pass for The National, so instead of digging through my archives from one of the more than DOZEN times I've shot them to use for my for my header shot, I'm sharing this sweet alpaca from Hazard Alpacas, who are having their FREE monthly open ranch on Saturday. If everything goes according to plan, I'll hit the zoo in the morning and go to the alpaca ranch in the afternoon, then get back in time to see The National, without my camera. Or maybe I'll bring a point and shoot? I dunno. (By the way, if you haven't read this, do it NOW. Getting older, with — or without? — The National - NPR Music, 10.14.23)

Anyhow, I've been really focusing on having only good days, but I'm a little run down at the moment. I had Tim's 70th birthday on Sunday which was amazing, but let's face it, whenever Tim is involved, the tequila is flowing, so a hungover Monday wasn't the best way to start the week. I've been trying to do bursts of work in the mornings, maintenance while I'm at the zoo in the afternoons, and then family and work and everything else in the evenings. Darren and I went to see The New Pornographers at Music Box on Tuesday, for example, but after I ended up staying up till 5am on Wednesday morning doing these listings, knowing I wouldn't get them done on Wednesday night because I was working for Altın Gün and I still wanted actual sleep, had to do actual work, and still wanted to get some afternoon outdoor time in my day. Anyway, there's always *stuff* and I'm trying to manage but the longer I write this, the less sleep I'm getting. So I'll just say, there is a ton of stuff happening this weekend. Like, it's bonkers. And a ton of it is already sold out. Still, let me know if I missed anything. On top of everything, the Casbah had another week where we announced like a dozen new shows, so take a look and make sure to buy tickets early because all the January stuff is selling out within minutes or hours of going on sale. 35 years is a big deal. I'm looking forward to being a part of it. But I'm already exhausted thinking about it. And speaking of anniversaries, happy 15th to everyone at Soda Bar. What an amazing run it's been and it's getting better all the time. I may not go to shows like I used to, but I love knowing I live walking distance from such a kick ass spot and am proud to occasionally be one of the crew.  

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, November 2-Wednesday, November 8, 2023: Palehound | Monophonics | Delicate Steve | GIrl Ray | A Wilhelm Scream | Black Joe Lewis | MarchFourth | The New Pornographers | DURRY | Liz Phair | Helena Deland | Be Your Own Pet |

I had this crazy thought that if I did merch on Wednesday night, I'd sit there with my laptop and get listings done. Alas, besides actually selling merch, and going through a billion emails that are coming through (because I'm supposed to really ramp up my marketing for your show in February, even though we literally have at least 100 other shows between now and your date) I just couldn't. So that meant coming home and watching an Emily D Baker stream from last week while I got listings done. Which means it's now 4:30am and I'm exhausted and I'm gonna be pissed if I don't get up in time to see my primate pals, complicated by the fact that the van is back in the shop because that rebuilt transmission we got is giving us trouble (but thankfully all the work is under warranty and I can just catch the bus to the Zoo.) So, I don't expect I'll be updating these listings unless I find something super cool that I can't believe I missed. Otherwise, have a great weekend and if you're not subscribed to the Casbah newsletter, please go do that here (on the desktop site, it's in the top right of the page. On mobile, it's at the bottom after all the events) because we're making some massive announcements for our 35 year anniversary in the coming weeks and you don't want to miss presales and your chances to get your tickets to the ones that are definitely going to sell out fast. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, October 26-Wednesday, November 1, 2023: Halloween | Dia De Los Muertos | Interpol | Good Morning | OFF! | Geese | Men I Trust | Say She She |

I am aware that I am no fun. The only thing I like about Halloween is that it means we're getting closer to Christmas. Darren is pretty excited about the costume he's been planning all year, but I think with a Santa Ana expected on the day itself, he might have to retool his costume which involves a very heavy knit sweater. 

I do enjoy participating in Dia de los Muertos events, and with so much loss this year, it will definitely be more resonant, but we've never been traditional and had an ofrenda, so I'll just have to keep it in my head and my heart or visit others. I know people love this time of year, however, so I tried to gather as many events as I could for everyone to pick from. 

There are a ton of great shows -- with or without the Halloween element -- so it should be easy to find some fun this weekend. This is the first Interpol tour I've missed in a long time, but I know they're always incredible live. I'll be working tonight and tomorrow for comedian Leanne Morgan and I really enjoyed her Netflix special -- I'm right in her demo--, so those shows should be pretty fun (though they're already both sold out). Beyond that, it's the final weekend of HalGLOWeen at the San Diego Zoo and the Autumn Festival at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, so I will do my best to take advantage before hours cut drastically in November.  The usual suspects will have their big things to do this weekend -- kpbs, San Diego Magazine, and Pacific (subscription required) -- in case I missed anything. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, October 19-Wednesday, October 25, 2023: Memorial For O | Claud | Abraham Alexander | The Cult | Willi Carlisle | The Breeders | Ritt Momney | Atta Boy | Christopher Cross | Interpol |

I think I might have to reassess when I'm publishing listings. I've been starting them on Tuesday nights and then finishing on Wednesday night, but since Darren's only day off during the week is on Wednesday, it's kinda sucks to be up late working on Tuesdays if he wants to hang out or plan something for Wednesday. So it ends up that I'm here on my couch at 3:45am watching some snob New Yorkers freak out about preschool applications on RHONY2 as I work, and I dread that I won't be able to fall asleep the second I close this laptop. My actual work has been kind of insane this week so I felt tethered to my phone and laptop all day, even if I am sitting at the zoo while doing it. So I shall sleep and hopefully get a little break in the day, and then Darren, the kid, and I are going to see Claud at The Loft which should be fun since I haven't been there in a few years. I'll also be working at Ritt Momney on Saturday, and The Sound on Sunday. 

There are a ton of really great events coming up this week, and I'm sure I missed a ton of stuff, but the most important thing you should know is that there is a memorial for O on Sunday at the Sound. The "tickets" are free, though there is paid reserved seating, and I'm aware that there will be a couple bands and plenty of tributes and a lot of stories being told about such an amazing dude, and the loss we all still feel since he's been gone. If anyone reading this would like to volunteer for the event in hospitality or ushering or a few other things, I know they could definitely use the help to keep it all seamless. Reach out to me and I can connect you with the proper people. 

Stay safe out there. 

| COVID-19 | San Diego County District 4 Supervisor Election In Effect | Governor Newsom Signs/Vetoes A Boatload of Bills | Baby Tigers Debut At San Diego Zoo Safari Park |

Mama Diana and one of her tiger cubs at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Taken 10.15.23)

I guess I haven't been writing much, so apologies for that made me go overboard with a super long header in the last listings. I'm gonna start working on this week's listings while I watch the Real Housewives of New York, since I didn't really know they've pretty much aired the whole season with the new cast. I guess I traded in Housewives for zoo animals, which are way better, but I can't have that all the time. Since the last one was long, this one will be short. I've been doing the usual, though I worked at Quartyard for Cheekface last week and I really dug their lyrical style, and Sunday I spent 12 hours at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, because I went up early with Darren and we ended up staying to do a cart safari and then spent nearly an hour with the platypus, whose enclosure lights turn on at 6pm. A pretty magical day. The highlight, of course, was seeing the Sumatran Tiger Cubs, who made their public debut over the weekend. A friend and I were tipped off that they'd be out around 10am, so we did Darren's early tram then staked our spots and had a sweet time just watching them play.  

Note, I had a lot of problems trying to upload photos, so I was finally able to do it from my phone, but I'll add more if/when the issue with Blogger resolves. 

Stay safe out there. Lots of kids hacking at the zoo makes me think a COVID surge is coming with Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve right around the corner. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, October 12-Wednesday, October 18, 2023: Bandalos Chinos | Richard Marx & John Waite | JMSN | Field Medic | Nickel Creek | Matt & Kim | Pkew Pkew Pkew | Jalen Ngonda | Angel Olsen |

I am beat. It's been a busy week of family stuff and birthdays and work and entertaining and I know the life of this laptop is coming to an end, so that's a whole other headache I need to deal with and start planning for because it's not gonna survive my daily zoo trips much longer. 

I always fit my zoo time in, but I also went to the El Cajon Oktoberfest at the German American Societies Club over the weekend with my family then got dragged to my niece's soccer. Man, I am glad our kid dropped out of that soccer life. It's so demanding and stressful, I don't know how so many parents do it, especially on competitive and pricey club teams, but that's neither here nor there. 

After my zoo time on Monday, I sold merch for corook at the Casbah, which was a pretty fun show. On Tuesday, my mom had to drop her vehicle in El Cajon to get some work done on it for a few days, so we were all over the county. We went to Miramar to visit my dad's grave. That's not really my thing...I feel my dad with me all the time and I don't need a marker in the ground to remind me of him, but it makes my mom happy so it was worth the drive. Afterward I dragged her to the zoo and she fell in love with my little langur and all the birds and my little Aisha. I took her back to Chula Vista, and then I probably shouldn't have gone shopping but I couldn't resist. I was so tired of driving and what better way to get out of traffic for awhile then to buy new shoes? 

On Wednesday I tried to crank out the listings and get ahead of work before I caught just an hour with the gorilla boys before Darren and I raced to Carlsbad to meet up with his cousin who was visiting from Geneva. I booked a tour at Carlsbad Aquafarm, where they sustainably farm mussels and oysters using the intake water at the desalination plant. It's a really cool cycle and system and the tour was very cool, and culminated with our guide teaching us how to shuck the half dozen oysters we got to eat at the end of the tour. Highly recommend this experience. 

Of course, that means I was on my phone while we hung out at the beach, making sure I was caught up with work stuff, which gave Darren a chance to catch up with his cousin. After that, we drove back south and I popped by for the last hour of zoo, and then spent Wednesday night busting ass to get the listings done. But I did them, even if I'm going to bed way later than I planned. 

My cousin is coming to town this weekend and I am working at Quartyard on Friday and have some other plans, so I don't suspect I'll be updating here much if I missed anything. I hope everyone has a really great week ahead.

Ohhhhh. And kind of a big deal...Casbah is a finalist for the Hometown Venues of Consequence thing and I had to answer all their questions, so check that out and GO VOTE for the Casbah. Like everyday.  

I love you. 

Stay safe out there. 

And RIP to my favorite walrus, Mitik, who passed away over the weekend. What a heartbreaker. 

Spooky Season Events at San Diego County Parks

This only covers COUNTY events, not CITY events, but some of you may find this useful. 
For more information, go here. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, October 5-Wednesday, October 11, 2023: Oktoberfests | Miniaturized | Lewis Black | Sure Fire Soul Ensemble | Owl City | Clem Snide | 98° | corook | Psychedelic Furs & Squeeze | Orions Belte |

I was working on listings on Tuesday night and then Darren started telling me how he was telling his friends at work about our experience at the LA Zoo and the Abandoned Zoo and for some reason, they all started telling him about the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, and suddenly we were trying to plan a day trip to go there on Wednesday. Spoiler alert - we didn't go. I still worked until 2 in the morning that night, and when my morning alarm went off (yes, I set morning alarms now) I snoozed it and decided there would be no road trip, that I had too much work to do, and that I would sleep in a little bit longer. So Wednesday ended up being a pretty typical work/zoo day for me, but after all my family stuff was done and I got back to doing listings...well, you can see there is SO.MUCH.STUFF happening this weekend. I used to really pride myself on covering everything, but on a weekend like this, I've certainly missed some things and I expect to be so busy that I'm definitely not going to update or put links to everyone else's listings here. So, forgive me. I did my best. And it's 4am and I'm wiped out and I would like to have a day on Thursday, so email or text if I missed anything obvious, but otherwise, enjoy the weekend and all the street fairs and Oktoberfests and live music. We live in a pretty amazing place.

Stay safe out there. 

Newsy Things & Rosey's Diary: Birthday Week | Order Free COVID Tests | West Nile In San Diego | Blue Envelope Program | LN Drops Merch Cuts In Smaller Venues | SD Is Greenest City In America | Your Baby Name Is So Basic |

Lauren Eve Mayberry at the Troubadour, Los Angeles (9.29.23)

I've been doing my best to be out and living life. I have a couple separate posts in the pipeline, but since it was my birthday, I've been online as minimally as possible. Obviously I've been at the zoo pretty much every day, except that Darren and I drove to LA on Thursday night and spent Friday at the Los Angeles Zoo, went to the Abandoned Zoo, hit a great street taco vendor near Silverlake, then went to WeHo for our show on Friday night at The Troubadour with Lauren Eve Mayberry, then drove back home. On Saturday I hit the zoo again before Darren, Toby (fka Nova) and I went to see The Tallest Man On Earth at the Observatory. I was starting to feel pretty rundown, but fought it off with fresh air, cold medicine, and a ton of tea and honey. I did COVID test just in case and was thankfully negative, but I have been back to carrying a mask and using it when it feels necessary. 

Sunday was the first night of HalGLOWeen at the San Diego Zoo, and I was loaded up with hot tea (Zoo hack: take a hot beverage tumbler and teabags and ask for free hot water from the concessions) and got to see some of the animals after dark as well as the amazing mariachis that play every hour at Sabretooth Grill. Now that it's October, I've been busting my ass to stay on top of work so that I can have freer days because Darren has been loading me up with behind-the-scenes Zoo tours. On Tuesday, I did a "surprise tour" which took us in the care specialist areas of the Koalas, Elephants and Giraffes, and on his Wednesday day off, we did Giraffe and Friends, which took us to the Hamadryas Baboons, and then again to Elephants and Giraffes, but which felt a lot longer and gave us a better and longer chance to feed the giraffes. I stayed until near closing, picked up my fam and we went to Chula Vista for my niece's birthday. My brother is also in town briefly, so all the cousins were together and we ate and talked and had cake and so now I find myself, once again, catching up on work after midnight. 

There's obviously a ton of nonsense happening in news and politics right now, but these are older links I collected and I'm honestly so sick of TFG and his whackjob party that while I pay attention to everything going on, I'd rather not platform or amplify any of it here. 

On the other hand, I will say THANK YOU, JOE BIDEN! If you have student loans that were in default, you can apply for FRESH START and it will wipe those negatives from your credit report and start you back into repayment status. In doing so, you also kinda get a free 30-45 days before repayment, even though technically repayment was supposed to start this month. I believe you can apply for FRESH START through the end of 2023. 

And also, they indicted someone for the murder of Tupac! 

Life is bonkers. 

Listings are coming. So are some other posts, but probably not tonight. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, September 28-Wednesday, October 4, 2023: The Chats | Coldplay | Odesza | Oktoberfest | Bad Religion | The Tallest Man On Earth | Local Natives | Brant Bjork | Moon Hooch | P!NK & Brandi Carlile | L7 | Sting | Rev Peyton |

Happy birthday to me! Yay. I've had a really great week and I finally feel like I caught up with work and things enough that I'm good taking off from my laptop for a bit. I feel like I deserve it because (besides work) I finally moved nearly 1TB of stuff off of it and then it overheated because I think the fan isn't working so that's gonna be fun to try to sort out and find someone to fix or drop a grand on a new laptop when I'd rather not. And also I got locked out of my password so there was a point where I was working on Darren's laptop, checking email on my Chromebook, and having to use two-factor authorization to get into it to move the data in the first place. So yeah. Besides the Casbah newsletter, I'm hoping to be offline as much as possible the next few days. 

My zoo days have been awesome, the weather has been perfect and it's been really empty before October "free kids month" returns. I'm certain that the apes are all empaths and I got a little birthday lovin from the gorillas, the orangs, the langurs, and a little head nod from Loretta, the bonobo. I hope to spend Thursday with them all again. The red panda cub has re-emerged from the den, so I've been able to see her a few times, and it's just been really nice being able to work on my phone and laptop when needed but walk and get steps in between. 

I'm super excited to go to the Troubadour to see Lauren Eve Mayberry from Chvrches on Friday...I bought the tickets as a birthday gift to myself when they went on sale, and I'm also super excited to see The Tallest Man On Earth at the Observatory on Saturday. You may not remember this, but the Casbah presented him at The North Park Theatre ages ago when it was first being renovated and still had seats. I worked the door and was blown away by him and stoked on the venue being reactivated for concerts. After that, I ended up working there for a few years for David as it evolved from The North Park Theatre to Observatory and it was a really magical time in my life. Anyway. Amazing stuff happening this weekend. Maybe I'll make it to Oktoberfest or some other shenanigans, too. Or maybe I'll treat myself to sleep. That's always good, too. I love you all. Enjoy this beautiful week. 

Oh...and remember how they shut down the I-5 South between the 8 and 163 for the whole weekend a few weeks ago? It's happening again, but this time on the NORTHBOUND lanes starting at the 15N origin at the 5 near National Avenue. It's supposed to be closed from Friday night to Monday morning, so plan accordingly. Check out more from Caltrans here. 

Stay safe out there. 

Thing To Do In San Diego: Thursday, September 21-Wednesday, September 27, 2023: Jockstrap | Ambar Lucid | Inspector | Super Girl Surf Pro | Sweeping Promises | Miya Folick | Adams Avenue Street Fair | Generationals | Goth Babe | Little Dragon | Coldplay |

I am super bummed I didn't make it to the Casbah last night for Fools & Fables because I really wanted to see my old pal Brian Holwerda, but it was my mom's birthday and we had a big old family dinner and by the time we were all done, I was knocked out and was in bed by 10pm. That also means I woke up at 3:45am so I could get these listings done. THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON THIS WEEK!! Holy shit. We're gonna need a weekend after the weekend just to recover from the weekend. I always look forward to Adams Avenue Street Fair, and for the first time in several years, it doesn't look like it's gonna be a crazy hot weekend, which should make it much more tolerable (though you should still leave your dogs at home because it's gonna be nuts to butts). I won't get to see everyone I want to see, however, because I'll be working at Quartyard for The Generationals show. It's also a really good year to make it up to the Super Girl Challenge if you've never been, because Aloe Blacc is one of the featured performers. It's also CRSSD Fest with lots of CRSSD After Dark events, the Miramar Air Show might make driving up the 15 a challenge, and then two nights of Coldplay at Snapdragon will make traffic an issue around Mission Valley, though you definitely want to take the trolley if you're going for either night. 

My internet is driving me crazy so I'm gonna sign out for now. 
Stay safe out there. 

Newsy Things & Rosey's Diary: New COVID-19 Boosters Are Here | Point La Jolla To Be Closed Year Round | Waterfront Park Getting New Amenities | Student Loan Repayments Resume | Airbnb Has Ruined Everything |

Point La Jolla (Taken 7.16.23)

I guess I started this post a couple weeks ago and never posted, so I'll put this up before I get to my listings. I'm currently watching "Wilderness" on Prime and am super into it, so hopefully a good binge will help me get some work done. 

Things have been going pretty great these days. I've been working a lot which is good since the Zoo is back to closing at 6pm and I have the time. I'm not on any big fitness kick, but I have turned back on my Samsung Health step counter and have been doing really great if you don't count Tuesday, in which I spent the day recovering from Monday, when SDZWA had their annual Employee Appreciation Party. This year it was at Belmont Park and we had a great time, but after we got home I couldn't resist a little tequila and stayed up way too late. So I never made it to the Zoo on Tuesday, but I did sling merch for Cut Worms which was pretty chill for being a sold out show. 

Besides that, everyone seems to be doing good. Wednesday is my mom's birthday, her first without my dad, so we're going to have a big to-do to try and make it special and fun and steer away from the sadness. My birthday is coming up soon, too, and I'm looking forward to a trip to The Troubadour to see Lauren Mayberry, my gift to myself that I actually bought tickets for. 

Anyway, life is good, I'm gonna get back to this murder show and get some work done. I didn't choose to cover all the news of the past few weeks because, well, yawn, but new COVID boosters are out, so I'll hopefully be getting mine soon, and also the San Diego City Council voted to close Boomer Beach and Point La Jolla year round. I was not a fan when it was proposed because I had a little special cliff spot I loved to shoot photos from, but people are assholes and ruin everything for everyone else, so I completely understand why this is the necessary solution. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, September 14-Wednesday, September 20, 2023: PLOSIVS | Mrs. Magician | Wolfmother | Lucy's Fur Coat | Mo Lowda | The Pixies & Modest Mouse | Mapache | Yoke Lore | Cut Worms | The Baseball Project |

I really thought listings wouldn't take long this week, but I found it a little hard to focus and there's all kinds of stuff all over town -- as will continue to be the trend for the next 4 weekends or so --- because Local's Summer is on in a big way. So many beer fests and food fests and art fests and tastings and free shows and tours and...well, it's pretty exhausting. Get yourself the Pronto App, save money on rideshares and cabs and gas, and get yourself to shows. I'm a little North Park-centric, but Casbah, Music Box, House of Blues, Soda Bar, Til-Two Club, Observatory and a few others are all right on transit lines and NUMTOT-ing might be the hot new trend for bar hopping because otherwise it's so expensive to go out these days, just when all the best shows are coming to town. Try it. Maybe we can get bussing while buzzed to be the hot new thing (just don't be an asshole to your drivers or fellow passengers.) 

Be safe out there, buy your tickets, and do a shot at home before you go. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, September 7-Wednesday, September 13, 2023: Buddy Guy | Ocean Alley | Bit Brigade | Ocean Alley | Nate Bergatze | City And Colour | White Denim | Ben Harper | The Revivalists & Band of Horses | The Silent Comedy | Islands |

I didn't do a newsy post this week because it was a holiday weekend so all the news is either about the weather, TFG (yawn), or that COVID-19 is back on the rise and updated vaccines might get approval as early as this week (fingers crossed). Pretty boring though, in general, though, which is not a bad thing. The San Diego Zoo has gone back to normal hours, so right now they close at 6pm, and Sea World has gone back to 5pm on weeknights, so I have to work a little harder to get my work done and still get in my visits and steps. On the plus side, I'm not working on listings until 4am and I have a ton of Bravo shows to catch up on since I've not been watching TV much lately. 

This week has some great shows and it's fall festival season, so you can pretty much find free street fairs or events for the next several weekends, like ArtWalk, Adams Avenue Street Fair, Oktoberfests, etc. 

It is also worth noting that there's a pretty major freeway shutdown this weekend: 

Due to the scheduled bridge repair by Caltrans, southbound I-5 will be closed at I-8 from Friday, Sept. 8 at 9 p.m. to Monday, Sept. 11 at 5 a.m. 

I think it reopens where the 163 hits the 5 South, but the past couple weekends it wasn't completely closed, just down to one lane, which is still kind of a nightmare. Just take City streets if you're going to the Casbah or Waterfront or downtown in general. 

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and weekend. My allergies kinda kicked my ass the past couple days but it seems to be under control now. Also, today is my dad's birthday, our first one without him, so he's in my thoughts even more than usual. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, August 31-Wednesday, September 6, 2022: 50 Cent | Sylvan Esso | Owl Be Damned | Ziggy Alberts | Senses Fail | Nitzer Ebb | Counting Crows | Weezer | Young The Giant | Nate Bergatze | Corteo |

As I mentioned in the last post, it's been a pretty good week, albeit hot AF, and I'm really really trying to take a long weekend so of course I'll be on my phone doing all the things expected of me, but I'm gonna try to enjoy the zoo, do some shopping, and generally lounge around. It's supposed to be a cooler weekend and I'm here for it. I don't know if I'l get around to updating this post, because inevitably people shoot me emails about things I missed, but just know there's a lot to do this weekend. Too much, in fact, to waste time sitting around online. 

Love you. 

Stay safe out there. 

Newsy Things & DIary: Goodest Boys Detect COVID | Watch Out For 'Pirola' | Lithium Battery Danger | The Fight For Restoring Endangered Species Act | Late Links On Hilary |

Denny (8.18.23)

It's time for me to do listings so I probably should've posted these links last week, but then Hilary happened (or didn't, really, thankfully) and I was posting like crazy, and then we were luckily spared but I've been busy with work and I did some side merch gigs three nights in a row and then this week has been hot and miserable, so sitting on my laptop has kinda been the last thing I've wanted to do, but it's always a way to clear the slate, get these things posted and then move on to listings. Old news in some cases, but new COVID variants news and other things, too. 

I will say again that the San Diego Zoo's summer hours are ending on Labor Day and this has been such a joyful summer spending time there, particularly watching 8 year old Denny the gorilla transition from his family group in the afternoons to his bachelor group with his brothers in the mornings. If you get a chance, go see them. It's a rare thing to be witness to and to watch his brothers teach him how to be a proper gorilla dude. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, August 24-Wednesday, August 31, 2023: Pleasure Pill | Chris Shiflett | Ugly Things Weekender | Bully | San Diego Fest | Michael Bolton | Justin John Rodriguez Benefit | Dogstar |

Justin John Rodriguez

I'm sorry these are a few hours late, but I need to jet, so if I missed anything, I'll update tonight when I'm working at Music Box. There's a ton of good stuff this weekend and kids are mostly all back in school and things are good, but COVID is up, so do what you gotta do to stay healthy. 

I love you. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, August 23-Wednesday, August 30, 2023: Listings To Come

I just wanted to do a quick post to let you know listings will NOT be posted at 6am on Thursday. I spent Wednesday at a Memorial for a close family friend and I lost steam afterward and couldn't finish. I'm halfway done with listings for the week and I hope to have them up before the afternoon, but I desperately need sleep. Sorry for the inconvenience. 

I love you. 
Stay safe out there. 

Hurricane/Cyclone Hilary : San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, SeaWorld To Close Sunday | California State Parks Urges Public to Limit Outdoor Activities During Hurricane Hilary (Press Release) | Humane Society | Other Storm Stuff.

 So I'm sitting at Music Box while I sell merch and I'm checking email and watching socials roll in about the storm. It's like the two worlds. Half of downtown is raging like a regular Saturday night, and half of downtown has sand bags and boarded up windows and the City placed lines of sand bags and hay rolls around storm drains. It's super weird. I'm inside and have no idea what's actually happening outside, but I'm glad that we decided to fix the roof of our van and repaint it last year because otherwise it wouldn't be able to have handled the winter and spring storms, let alone what is expected from this one. Hopefully our studio can handle big rains and winds? Fingers crossed. I'm posting a lot on Instagram, kinda like I did with updates back in the day on this little site called Twitter before that sociopath took it over, but you should know that lots of events, particularly outdoor ones are being canceled or postponed. The San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and SeaWorld are all going to be closed. Weirdly, as of 9pm Saturday, America's Finest City Half Marathon & 5K are still happening. I guess I'll be cracking open a freshie of Bulleit and sleeping in on Sunday. So far, San Diego Unified is still preparing to be open on Monday for the 2023-2024 school year, but if you're a parent, you should make sure you're opted into their texts by sending "YES" to 67587. Hopefully you have water in case ours gets tainted...that's kinda my biggest fear about all of this is our aged infrastructure causing the damage: backed up storm drains, downed power lines, water main breaks, backed up sewage mixing with potable water. Gross. Hopefully the warnings are all overblown, but I'm glad I'm a prepper nonetheless. I mean, I'll find any excuse to already be wearing my Chooka rainboots, because, hey, that storm could hit by the time I'm getting out of this show around midnight. And if the roads are undrivable, I have enough shit in my van to sleep a few days. (Joking, not joking.)  At the very least, charge your phones in case power is interrupted. I don't trust SDG&E for shit. And let's all pray our wi-fi doesn't go down. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, August 17-Wedneday, August 23: Ben Heyne 30 Years at The Casbah | Tab Benoit | Surprise Chef | Voice of Baceprot | Boy George | Os Mutantes | The Silent Comedy | Young The Gian & Milky Chance | Duran Duran | MMJ | Jason Mraz | Mt. Joy |

Ben Heyne Celebrates 30 Years at The Casbah

It's always a great feeling when I finish the listings and this week I switched up the picture because our sweet friend Ben is celebrating 30 years at the Casbah! I'm coming up on 15 in January and have had the joy of working with cantankerous Ben all these years. Thursday night will be a free show with awesome bands, but you should really just come down and tell him how awesome he is and gush about him because it will embarrass the hell out of him. 

There are a lot of great shows this week, but take heed of all the Hurricane Hilary warnings. I mean, come on. Really? A HURRICANE is going to affect San Diego? Well, maybe, and that means you should plan accordingly, maybe some of these outdoor shows could be affected so check your venues before you head out in case circumstances change or events are postponed. Watch out for falling stuff - trees, palm fronts, and the like, and maybe stay out of the ocean until this whole thing passes. And if it passes with no effects, great. But don't be the dumb-dumb driving in Mission Valley and getting a flooded car because you didn't heed the warning that the San Diego River could be gushing by the weekend. 

Be smart. 

Be safe out there.  

UPDATES: The free The Silent Comedy show at Moonlight Beach will be postponed with a new date TBA. The Wave SC game has changed start time, Padres have moved Sunday's game to Saturday at 12:10pm

Newsy Things & Diary: More COVID Eris Information | New National Monument | Hurricane Hilary Could Slam West Coast | Maui Fires Aftermath |

An Old Photo Of Devi, RIP

I'm not good at letting go of things. Grudges, either, but in this instance I mean actual things. I have diaries from junior high and high school. I don't dare read them because who needs that cringe in their adult life? But I know that I have them. Same with photos. Great photographers take lots of photos and know how to cull those photos; they know that there are photos nobody ever needs to see, especially in context of perhaps great photos taken in the same surrounding moments. 

I'm not one of those people. 

My laptop is running out of space (again) so it means that all the photos and videos I currently have on here need to be sorted by place or band or species or event or what-have-you so that when (if) I ever need to access them, I know where to look. But I'm not culling, only sorting. And I have A LOT of photographs. They track where I've been, what was important or funny or beautiful to me in a particular moment, and sometimes how fast I could adjust my camera settings to get a moment...like when I was shooting a concert or trying to get pictures of my roof opossum at night and then go to take photos of animals the next morning and now my settings leave me with overexposed gorillas or orangutans or capybaras. 

I don't mind having the external hard drives that will one day obsolete or unusable, but going through everything is quite a process and stirs up so much memory and emotion...the pandemic, Nova growing up, my doggy getting older, animals at the zoo, places I've been, travels, bands I've seen.

And then I start finding the markers of the passage of time. Bands that broke up or a band member died. Friends who've died. My sister-in-law and my dad dying and all the photos of the past, the holidays and gathering and the more recent funerals and memorials. I'm getting older. Death becomes a part of life. Last week my high school best friend's mom died and next week will be her memorial. Even though I hadn't seen her in years, it hits hard. 

It's a lot. 

So bear with me this week as I try to move at least half a terabyte off my computer, and then 100 gigs off my phone, and then try to keep it organized and keep it together emotionally, all the while watching the slow drip of transferring data from one device to another.

 

There was a ton of news this week, particularly the Lahaina, Maui fires and devastation and yet more indictments of TFG. I'm not linking anything about the latter, I just don't think that POS warrants any more bytes than I've already given in this sentence.  

Hurricane Hilary (hilariously names, if we're being honest) is perhaps coming. Be prepared. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, August 10-Wednesday, August 16, 2023: Donny Benet | Wild Child | Smashing Pumpkins | Cigarettes After Sex | The Spits | The Price of Dope | Lower Class Brats | Post Malone | Gipsy Kings | Fools & Fables |

So this week is looking up! The Adams Avenue Street Fair lineup has been released, I got to go to the Phoenix, Japanese Breakfast, Sir Chloe, and Beck show on Tuesday, and Darren is finally COVID negative (and he tested twice on different brands to be sure)!! And Nova and I didn't get it so we did a good job isolating even though it really, really sucked. I felt like I was living out of my van trying to make myself scarce around the house and we missed our 12 year anniversary but we spent Wednesday together at Sea World using my All-Day Dining pass that I earned doing their "Passport To Summer" promotion and testing the value of the thing, and if two humans can actually eat every 90 minutes. The answer was YES but one pass was enough for both of us (with leftover desserts and a chicken sandwich we brought home.) We only did a partial day, so I imagine it would be a whole other thing if we'd been there since opening or if we were there on a busy day, but it was pretty awesome and we definitely ate in excess of the value of the thing if we were to have purchased all the things separately. He'll be back at work on Tuesday and Safari Park late summer hours end this weekend, so head up there and ride his tram in the evening if you get the chance!

There's a lot of great stuff coming up in the next week and I know a lot of people are already back to school or preparing for it, so enjoy the last free days you might have but don't be afraid to bust out those N95 masks in busy indoor locations because "Eris" is no bueno and is extra catchy even if the symptoms weren't debilitating, at least for D. 

And, if you are here checking for event listings I guess I consider you insiders, so I'll tell you that the Casbah website and ticketing is going through some backend tweaks, not initiated by us, so the site may be a little wonky at the moment. Particularly shows that are SOLD OUT not showing as such and FREE events like Ben Heyne's 30th Casbah Anniversary Show and Adams Avenue Street Fair saying "tickets at the Box Office" when we know no Box Office exists. We're working on it and pushing to get it better, but bear with us while we figure it out.  

Stay safe out there. 

Newsy Things & Diary: COVID Variants Arcturus & Eris Dominate | Denny Diary | County District 4 Special Election | FDA Approves Postpartum Pill | SD Approves Streetlight Cameras |

 

Denny The Gorilla, 8.5 years old  (8.6.23)

I was scrolling through my old Instagram posts because I was trying to find the day that I decided that I was going to become friends with a gorilla. That first post was in February of 2020, just before everything shut down because of COVID. It wasn't the first time I met him, I have pictures of him over the years, including at just a few weeks old, but now was different. I had no idea then that this little gorilla would so quickly become such a huge part of my life and change me in so many different ways. 

Denny became a habit. I'm a bit obsessive about, well, everything, so when I decided that we would be friends, I adjusted my life accordingly. Not so much at first, but as I grew to "know" him and the rest of the gorillas at San Diego Zoo, and after the zoo reopened after COVID shutdowns, I was there as much as I could be. I mean, it has been a long time that I've been taking photos there or dragging my laptop around and plugging in to get work done, or dragging Darren so many times that he eventually decided to work for SDZWA, but suddenly I was compelled to be there at a particular time every day, or as many days as I could, to see him. Over time, this has meant gigs of videos and photos, but it has also meant meeting a whole group of interesting and diverse zoo friends, marginally better sleep and work habits, not as much drinking and fewer late nights. It has also meant fewer shows and participation in other life events, but the reality is I needed a little diversion from some things that weren't feeding my soul. I was burning the candle at both ends and it wasn't doing me any favors.  

It has also been emotional. I was with Denny when my sister called to tell me that she was flying to New Mexico because our sister-in-law wasn't expected to make it through the night; that cancer had taken over her body. Denny was at the glass and put his hand to mine as tears rolled down my cheeks. When just a couple weeks later, on Easter Sunday, my sister called to tell me my dad took his last breath, Denny pulled his burlap sack over his head and put his forehead to mine through the glass before I left to join my family. Last week, I was watching him interact with his parents for the last real time as I was on the phone finding out my high school best friend's mom was placed in hospice, where she would pass just a couple days later. We were on the phone for awhile before Denny came over, and I ended the call. "I have to go, my gorilla is asking to see my phone."

And it's all so weird. Darren has COVID, so in an effort to let him get real rest in our house, I've been spending full days at the zoo as much as possible. Part of that has been watching Denny as he's been moved from his family troop with his mom and dad to the bachelor troop with his three silverback half brothers. It was gradual until it wasn't. We all knew it would happen, just not so suddenly, going from Monday with his brothers in the morning to his parents in the afternoon to Tuesday only with his brothers. Full-time. And it's funny, Denny has been so readily accepted by the bachelors (mostly. Ekuba will come around) that I haven't really been able to snap any great photos of him. This one I chose is from Sunday, the 12 year anniversary of the day Darren and I met!! (and no, Darren doesn't get a post because we'll postpone any celebration until he's well and back in the world of the COVID-free.) 

I'm not trying to compare or conflate this gorilla growing up with losing my sister-in-law or dad or my best friend's mom, but it marks the passage of time. That we all get older. That time stops for nobody. That sometimes all we have is this very moment. But it's all this excitement about Denny and his life changes that makes it easier to accept changes in mine. So yes, Darren will get a full celebration. And I will mourn the loss of my friend's mom properly with her family. But for now, this little ape gets the love, because I'm a profoundly different human because of him.  

Stay safe out there.
Tell your people you love them.  

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, August 3-Wednesday, August 9, 2023: Tiki Oasis | Danny Elfman | Suzanne Santo | Ramy Youssef | Weathers | BLEACHED Festival | ArtWalk | Swive | Thr Good Life | Trombone Shorty | Beck & Phoenix | Noah Kahan | Donny Benet |

Ugh. Sooo COVID is back in my household. Darren woke up on Wednesday feeling like he had a terrible hangover. Only problem was he hadn't consumed any alcohol. He was a little perplexed then decided to test, and alas, those super dark double lines appeared. Of course, we share a household and a bedroom and space so I tested but so far I'm negative and have no symptoms indicating I may be pre-positive. Just Tuesday I was saying how we hardly see each other around here because Nova is off doing their thing and I'm always at the Zoo and Darren is always at work, and then I'm up super late in the living room while everyone else is asleep to make sure I'm all caught up with my actual job, plus email and all the stuff that comes with having this here website. When I do sleep, there's a fan blasting on me from one direction and an air conditioner from the other. All this to say, I really, really hope I can dodge getting COVID again. For now, Darren feels like shit and is isolating in our studio, and we've got fans and air purifiers and open windows and doors as much as possible. Still, it's a little shocking considering his job is like 96% outside. I am so sad for him. Having COVID is really isolating and lonely, besides it being scary and feeling like absolute crap for days. 

And I know this is supposed to be the part of my weekly listings where I mention all the amazing shows and events coming up this week, but the truth is that last week a friend of mine told me that half his friend group that went to Comic-Con tested positive, another friend was canceling his life because his household all tested positive, and you just start to hear about more and more people getting sick -- we're what, like 9 or 10 months past our boosters with new ones yet to be approved -- and testing, and thus public data are non-existent. It's kinda up to us to pay attention to this shit. Literally. (San Diego Wastewater Surveillance). 

Anyway, I always say "stay safe out there" but I mean it. Of course, because I'm a close contact I'm masking up again after months of being lax about it. I'm back on guard. But there are still lots of outside things to do. And I guess I'll be burning through tests in the meantime. Enjoy the amazing shows and events this week. But maybe give everyone a little extra breathing room and keep to well ventilated spaces.  

Stay safe out there. 

Rosey's Diary & Newsy Things | Clear The Shelters: No Fee Adoptions | Some County Parks Close For August: It's Too Hot! | COVID Uptick |

Tornero, an ambassador sloth, as seen at San Diego Zoo (8.2.23)

I'm gonna keep this week's post pretty short because all the national news is about the indictments of TFG and seriously, who cares? If he can still run we're all just stuck seeing his stupid face non-stop for the next year anyway. And then all the local news is about the so-called "camping ban" and we just have to hear that one 'homeless advocate" over and over talking about how nothing being done works but never hearing what he's ever actually offered to actually deal with the problem so that is, well, a giant yawn, too. Go read Voice of San Diego or KPBS news for all the back and forth on that ad infinitum. 

As for me, Nova is done with Upward Bound for this summer, so we have a couple weeks before their band camp and then school starts again. Darren is busy working his ass off at the Park and as you can imagine, the heat just takes it out of you so he's pretty beat when he gets home from work. I've been doing my usual and have a fun group of zoo friends I see pretty regularly. I worked both Lucy's Fur Coat Shows this weekend and Friday was a blast, but Saturday's crowd was...how do we say...weekend warriors? Not quite as fun but the band still slayed. My niece turned 16 so we also did a birthday thing on Monday and the rest of the time, I just stay out of my overheating apartment and try to get my daily steps and plenty of outdoor time. I'm gonna start listings tonight but we'll see how far along I get because I got a lot of sun today and it also really took it out of me. We're going to the Fred Armisen show on Wednesday, so I guess I better get the listings cranked out before that happens. 

Stay safe out there. If you have room in your home, go help Clear The Shelters. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, July 27-Wednesday, August 2, 2023: Hasan Minhaj | Lucy's Fur Coat | High Vis | Guster | Earthless | The Dollyrots | Yellowcard | Fred Armisen |

It's a really good thing that I got these mostly done on Tuesday because Darren ended up with a day off of work so we were completely non-productive and didn't do a damn thing all day in the heat until a little late afternoon visit to the zoo. There's some really great stuff this week and I'll be working at both Lucy's shows so be sure to say hi! Don't forget to hit the Devo presale that's currently running, too. Full listings after the jump. 

Rosey's Diary & Newsy Things: Nobody Told Me Dooce Died?! | District 4 Election Underway | COVID Comeback | Teamsters Win Contract Fight | Country Music Controversy |

It has been a very weird week. Last week I was so excited to get all my listings done for Comic-Con but what I didn't realize was how much it took out of me to do them. Not only did they take hours to complete, but I guess I still have some major Pandemic PTSD. I know I'm not the only one experiencing that, but I must've really screwed with my brain wiring by being on constant COVID watch for so many hours a day, day after day, for weeks, then months, then years. The more things I included, the more I thought about crowds and COVID and "what if I run out of water?" and "where are the best bathrooms in downtown?" and "where will I charge my phone?"  These are all things I managed many times before the pandemic, but maybe we can't go back to who we were before? Any tendency I had to be a 'prepper' or 'hoarder' was exacerbated and when it came time to actually go to Comic-Con, I had a full-on night of insomnia which turned into a full on panic attack, curled into a ball on my bed, sweating it out with my heart feeling like it was gonna explode until I could get control of the stinkin' thinkin', manage my breathing and body, and finally sleep. Turns out not eating and not sleeping and a sudden summer heat dome and starting your period all together at once isn't really great for your mind or body. Things my 20 year old body could handle are suddenly calamitous for my nearly 47 year old body. 

I woke up and put all the pieces together and, after rest and food and water and a cold shower, I was refreshed and ready to face the world. Kinda. 

(more after the jump. TW: self-harm, disordered eating, suicide) 

Things To Do in San Diego: Wednesday, July 19-Wednesday, July 26, 2023: Comic-Con Edition : Heartless Bastards | Jimmy Eat World + Manchester Orchestra | Cordovas | Califone | COMIC-CON EVERYTHING!! |

OH MY GOD!! I did it. I usually compile my Comic-Con stuff in the weeks preceding the event, but since I skipped the past couple years, and with the SAG-AFTRA/Writers Strikes, everything has been a little up in the air. But I did it. I'm sure I didn't get everything, but I did my best. And I linked to other local guides, per usual. I hope everyone has a magical week, CCI or not, I still got all the regular local shows and stuff together, too. I love you all. Be safe out there! 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, July 13-Wednesday, July 19, 2023: San Diego Pride | They Might Be Giants | Local Natives | Bumbklaatt | Allie Crow Buckley | Heartless Bastards | Fools & Fables | Comic-Con 2023 |

I am so exhausted. Listings during Pride and Comic-Con take so long to put together and I'm sure I still missed some stuff but It's 5am and I need to get some sleep if I expect to actually live a life on Thursday, so I'm going to sleep. There's a ton going on over the next couple weeks, so I'll do my best to pace myself and you should, too. I'll try to put together my Comic-Con stuff this weekend so next week can be chill, but we'll see how that goes being that its Pride. There are a lot of peripheral events for that, too, so check here for all the pool parties, club stuff, and more. 

I'll try and update if anything worthy comes to my attention. 

Listings after the jump. 

Stay safe out there. 

Newsy Things: Extrene Geat | County Cool Zones | Hiking Preparation | Reducing Gun Violence | Greedflation | Ending Child Marriages | Baby Red Panda Makes Appearance at San Diego Zoo |

 

Adira and her baby, born 6.9.23, appeared on habitat 7.6.23 (Taken 7.8.23)

I didn't make it to the zoo on Wednesday and I feel a little discombobulated because of it, but it was fun staying up late with Darren the night before, sharing stories about his days at the Safari Park and the funny things that happen at the Zoo. It's a whole subculture. He works so much these days that we don't see a whole lot of each other. Nova had a weekend excursion with a school organization and this week is in LA checking out colleges and a day at Disneyland with Upward Bound, then this weekend is Pride, next week she's living at UCSD, and I'll be doing Comic-Con, so we're not seeing much of her these days either. I hadn't really intended to post a newsy things post, but links kinda added up over the past couple weeks, even though I'm kinda checked out from news lately because Comic-Con emails are dominating my life right now. 

I hope everyone is having a good summer so far. 
Stay safe out there. I'm starting to hear of more people getting COVID with some pretty hefty symptoms, and since we're all several months past a booster, we might consider being extra careful again (or still). 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, July 6-Wednesday, July 12, 2023: Sky Ferreira | The Havnauts | Cardiel | She Fest | Charlie Puth | Neil Young | Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit | The Drums | Rozzi | Summer Salt |

Fourth of July should always be on a Tuesday, am I right? I loved having a long weekend, of only moderately having to check email, of being out in the perfect weather of San Diego and then completely vegging and bingeing TV at home, too. I loved it, even though on the actual 4th I didn't do a single thing because I had to be home for my poor animals who were tormented by the non-stop illegal fireworks of City Heights, Normal Heights, North Park and beyond. We had some car stuff come up and I maybe had a night with too many drinks where I impulse purchased a new air conditioner, so I'm gonna be laying low, no real plans to go out beyond my San Diego Zoo and Sea World visits, since those are already paid for.  

I think I covered all the possible events in the listings but I'm questionable on Neil Young...I see it listed in some places and tickets are on Ticketmaster, but it's not listed on the Shell's calendar...which may be because it's a rental or may be because it's not happening, I can't really confirm either way and frankly, with tickets as much as they are, I don't really care enough to dig any deeper. So there's that. But good stuff this week if you're looking for it. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, June 29-Wednesday July 5, 2023: 4th Of July Weekend: Little Hurrcane | Cracker | Seth Meyers | The Color Forty Nine | Lyle Lovett | Boogie Wonderland |

Gahhhh! See! This is what happens when I go out. I started the listings yesterday and Nova and I were supposed to go to Sea World for the afternoon, but then she canceled on me so I took my van in to our mechanic in La Mesa and did my zoo thing after. Then I had to catch the bus home and since I was close, decided to go to Soda Bar for Fools & Fables (which was amazing, y'all!!) and then stumbled into Space after and then got home super late and passed out and then I had to finish these dumb listings and now I have to race off to La Mesa via bus all over again because my van is ready. (take a breath). 

So, I think these are complete listings for the week ahead but I may add stuff if things come up and I'm not entirely sure they're in the best order, but I gotta go. 

ohhhh. If you plan on going to the County Fair at all, parking has been reaching capacity by like 1 or 2 in the afternoon, so you'll have to park off site and take a shuttle in. Plan accordingly. 

Have a great week. Stay safe out there. 

Newsy Things: New Vaccines Formulas Move Forward For Fall Boosters | Long COVID Link To Mental Health | County Budget Approved | Live Music Saves The Economy! (J/K) |

Bat Eared Fox Winter and 2 of her 3 kits, as taken through a fence and a plant (6.27.23)

We're about to move into 4th of July weekend so I'm gonna unleash the stuff I've been reading over the past couple weeks. Nothing super exciting but I need to work on listings and get these drafts out of my queue or I get anxiety and can't do anything. Indecision paralysis, I think it's called. 

Anyway, it's been a pretty good couple of weeks. I'm still waiting for my new transmission but my van seems to be holding up in the meantime. I know I'm always back and forth on whether or not to renew my Sea World pass but right now is their best offer of the year for Silver and Gold passes, even if they took away the up-front parking, so if it's something you're thinking about, I would go for it. I think there are probably better times to buy the Fun Pass, like "Blue Friday" (their version of Black Friday) because you get the rest of the current year and the full next year, but I might have to bite the bullet and get it for Nova anyway because a few of her friends have passes and we're always to keep her occupied for summer while keeping on a budget. 

Besides all that, I hung out with my mom at the Safari Park on Tuesday and am happy to report she's doing as well as can be expected after losing my dad, who was in her 24 hour around the clock care for a very long time. She's doing stuff, making friends in her neighborhood, hanging out with us kids and her grandkids, has become a doggy day care for my sisters' dogs, is gardening and doing things she'd never been able to do because she could never leave my dad for any amount of time, even just to hang out in the backyard. So I'm proud of her and will keep on bugging her to hang out. 

I hope everyone has a super great week. Off to start my listings. Ugh. But at least I have a couple Law Nerd broadcasts that will occupy the space to get me through them. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, June 22- Wednesday, June 28, 2023: Delicate Steve | FACS | Semisonic | OB Street Fair | Glass Spells | Louise Post (Veruca Salt) | Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam | Pedro The Lion | SCOTS | Fools & Fables |

This happens to me at least once a year...I start doing listings and then while I'm working on them, hit the wrong key or something and delete all my work. Thankfully I only did part on Tuesday before deleting it all on Wednesday morning, which was enough for me to put the laptop away and go enjoy the Summer Solstice and all the crepuscular animals at the zoo. Then I came home and everyone went to bed early so I was able to focus and get them done while watching old 48 Hours murder shows. I'm sorry for last week, apparently I missed a whole bunch of stuff because I failed to check my calendar, where I make note of events that aren't in the usual listings, like the Bro-Am. Whoopsie. Looks like turnout wasn't lacking because I failed to post, but I double and triple-checked this time and hopefully got everything. 

We're officially in summer 2023 and all you who were wishing away May Gray and June Gloom are gonna get your wish and we haven't had a chance to fix our air conditioner yet, so that will be fun to navigate. My plan is to just not be home as much as possible and leave the air on in the bedroom for the pets. Hopefully it's not too bad too soon, but I guess I won't be making a trip back to The Living Desert any time soon. 

I hope everyone is doing well. I haven't done my usual diary posts because Nova's out for the summer and you know where I'm at pretty much all the time, so maybe no news is good news? After my shitty spring of loss and travel and funerals and memorials -- though lots of good family time was had in the midst of all that -- I'm just happy to be low key and doing my thing. It was nice to get some merch gigs, and even though one of them was pretty much the worst I've ever worked, it still got me back in the groove and I'll hopefully get back out into the music world at some point, but I'm loving Nighttime Zoo and late night Sea World hours and I've realized my tolerance for long shows has been hindered dramatically. Like 20 minute sets are just fine in my book. Watch, shoot, leave, sleep. 

Like I said, I'll get back into it eventually. Especially with so many great shows coming up. 

All the listings after the jump.     

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, June 15-Wednesday, June 21, 2023: Joshua Ray Walker | Samantha Bee | Erykah Badu | Trevor Hall | John Legend | Slothrust | Surfer Blood | Blink-182 | Earth, Wind, And Fire | Parker Milsap |

I'm certainly glad that I woke up early on Wednesday and started these listings because after spending the day at the zoo, I got called to work for Julian Markey at the Music Box. Of course, a day at the zoo meant I had my laptop on me for any work anyway, but I didn't wanna do these there on top of my usual work. On Thursday I'll be working for Samantha Bee and I'm pretty excited about that because she is one of my faves and I'm still sorting out a possible gig on Friday, too. So that will pretty much be my "going out" for the week. I'm certain we'll do a family thing to honor our first Father's Day without my Daddy, and then Juneteenth is on Monday so don't forget lots of stuff will be closed and the things that aren't will be more crowded than usual, especially since most schools are wrapping up their school years this week. I'll try and update with the SD Mag, Pacific, and kpbs lists in case I missed anything but those don't usually publish until later in the day. 

If you're at a show, please don't ask the merch person if they have a thing that isn't on display. I assure you we don't hide a secret stash of hats and tank tops and baby sizes and onesies and coffee mugs and visors that we're just not showing you. 

Stay safe out there. 

Newsy Things: SD Mag Guide To Pride | TFG Indicted | Inflation Cools | California Is "Most Fun State" | More Avian Flu In Mammals | The Year In Hate |

Fruit Bats at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Taken 6.13.23)

It's been a minute since I've shared a newsy post. I have a lot of started-but-not-published posts at the moment, in fact, but what happened was that I went to work with Darren on Tuesday and by the time we got home, I was so wiped out that I passed out for nearly seven hours, which I guess stops being a nap somewhere beyond two hours and just becomes, well, sleep. But then I woke up at 1:30 and realized that I should probably get out of bed and catch up on work and email and start listings because when else will I find the quiet time? Nova finishes 10th grade on Wednesday and since I turned my Samsung Health back on my phone, I've been trying to make myself hit the goals more often, which takes a lot of intention when you mostly work from home and can sometimes get by entire days without leaving the house, as I did over the weekend. So I'll focus when I can and write when I can and walk when I can. My brother and the kids came back to town, so we did a big family dinner at Miguel's again on Monday, and besides that have nothing super excited to share. I'm just doing my zoo thing and sleep thing and work has been a little crazy but I'm doing my best to keep on top of that, too. 

Obviously there's been a lot of news lately and I'm waiting for someone smarter and more well informed than I to draw the connections between OPEC continually screwing us with the PGA and LIV golf merger, with TFG mishandling classified documents, and the billions that the SIL got from that disgusting criminal kingdom, but until I find something worth sharing, I'll just stew about how gross it all is. 

San Diego, for it's part, City and County, have been working on annual budgets and homelessness and why they keep allowing new housing units that then rent for $3000 a unit without forcing the return of SRO's, the actual control of STROs, and building *ACTUAL* affordable housing makes me just kinda bury my head and ignore it all. It's too much and like everyone, I'm so sick of it all. Plus we've got a special election coming up after Fletch couldn't keep it in his pants and it's all just very frustrating. So yeah, I'll just keep zoning out as I spend my days with the animals. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, June 8-Wednesday, June 14, 2023: San Diego Freak Out | Vincent Neil Emerson | Garbage | Fortune Feimster | Elf Power | Ours | Janet Jackson | Diana Ross | Shawn Colvin | Night Swims |

Okay, I finished. I went to the Zoo and was trying to walk as much as possible because once I stop I'm so exhausted, I have hope that I'll actually sleep when I get home instead of stirring all night long. But I promised that I would finish this week's listings, so here ya go. I don't have anything exciting going on at the moment which is just fine by me. Have a great weekend and I'm sure you'll be hearing from me soon. 

Stay safe out there. 

Things To Do in San DIego: Thursday, June 8: Tanner Usrey | Cherubs | EELS | Saint Luna |

On Wednesday, I was minding my business, doing the big lap of the San Diego Zoo, when I got called to work at the Casbah. Fortunately I was dressed appropriately and not in my zoo-mama uniform of leggings, but since I went straight to the Casbah and I hadn't been there all day, I didn't have my laptop so I didn't get to do listings, and then I didn't get home until almost midnight and I was pretty beat, so still put them off. Now I've started them, but am running out of time for my afternoon zoo walk, so I decided to just post Thursday and then I'll finish the rest of the week later tonight. It's a whole thing...if I don't go get some sunshine, I'll be depressed and anxious, and if I'm depressed and anxious I just will go into a spiral of doing nothing, including the rest of these listings. So here's tonight. I'll do the rest later. 

Stay safe out there. 

| COVID Misinfo Continues | SPLC Impact Report | Paxlovid Gets Full FDA Approval | Bastards of Blackstone | Greedflation | Debt Limit Agreement |

 

Amur Leopard Cubs have names!! Ulybka (L) and Zorinka (R). Taken 6.1.23

The female cub with the darker fur and smiley face marking on her forehead is Ulybka, pronounced (Oooh - lyb - kah), which means “smile” in Russian. The other female cub with the lighter fur and blurred markings is Zorinka which means “little star” in Russian. - @sandiegozoo (I hate the fence in the background of this photo, but it was the clearest shot I've had of their two faces together in awhile)

I have too many drafts started at the moment, but I kinda feel this impulse to write and then get too lost in the weeds so I just kinda stop. So for now I'll just say that I'm glad to be home and all my relatives have all gone home, too, and I can get back to some semblance of normal, albeit without my dad. We returned from New Mexico on Monday morning but my sleep is still all messed up and I gave myself road trip trauma, I guess, because all my dreams lately are me endlessly driving in the night. I couldn't be happier that San Diego Zoo hours are in effect and the park is open until 9pm, though I actually felt bad leaving today because it was so empty and they were still a half hour away from doing the Jambo Dunia performance. It definitely won't be like that as we get into summer, so I didn't mind having the Amur leopard cubs mostly to myself for the greater part of an hour. 

Anyhow, per usual, I clip newsy things and haven't posted in awhile, so these are the things that caught my attention (besides, of course, the first two parts of the Vanderpump Rules Reunion and the many YouTubers who talk about it.) 

Stay safe out there.  

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, June 1-Wednesday, June 7, 2023: Cub Sport | GBH | ReSET: BoyGenius + Clairo; LCD Soundsystem + Idles; Steve Lacy + James Blake | Rock N Roll Marathon | Night Moves | lovelytheband |

I haven't quite recovered from my trip and the physical and emotional exhaustion of the last several weeks, so I'm staying under the radar for a bit. There is a lot going on this weekend, including the Re:SET Series which I think will be the first time I'll be missing a show that Phoebe, Lucy, or Julian have played either together or alone, ever. So that's a bummer. But so it goes. 

Don't forget this weekend is also the Rock N Roll Marathon which usually doesn't mean much to someone with my sleeping habits except that our van was towed once and we were FURIOUS because the little "No Parking" signs get put up like a week before the event, but then so many are vandalized, removed, or kicked over, that you're really fucked if you park in the wrong place. That was a $300 lesson for us. 

I hope everyone has a nice weekend, sorry these are posting later than usual, I just haven't adjusted to sleep and what normal life looks like these days. 

6/3 Update: I sat in a parking lot to listen to BoyGenius, and while I don't recommend it because security was cool but I don't think they'd let it fly a second night, The Loft at UCSD posted a promo code of UNIVERSITY to get single day tickets for half price ($50 instead of $94.50) This is the link for SATURDAY tickets and this is for SUNDAY tickets. Not sure how long that will work or if tickets are still available, but it's worth a shot if you're interested. I'll be working at My LIfe With The Thrill Kill Cult at Music Box on Saturday and going to see Jacqueline Novak at the Casbah on Sunday, so my Re:SET adventure was one and done. 

Stay safe out there.