Long Story Short @ Space 4 Art
It may not seem like much, but you can get a lot done in five minutes: Beat Super Mario Brothers, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqnrHM4bUa0 pick up some rudimentary Afrikaan, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij6uz8ag3jA and ponder the unfolding of 1,000 years of European history. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxrXiO0zcVw Tonight, five …
Hershey Felder in Maestro: The Art of Leonard Bernstein at the Old Globe
Leonard Bernstein contained multitudes. He was more than an extraordinary composer/conductor, who knew every note in the canon and its musical value. He was a gifted teacher (astonishingly patient, clear, and generous). His Six Talks at Harvard (1976) also show …
San Diego Isn’t RED-y
The two organizers of the Redheaded Party had planned the event for a month – fliers were designed, produced, and distributed in hot spots around town. It was posted on Craigslist, made into a Facebook Event, and even featured on …
My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish, & I'm In Therapy at the Lyceum
"Your mother said to talk about drugs and sex." "Sure pop, what do you want to know? That's one of the better moments in Steve Solomon's stand-up comedy routine disguised as a visit to his therapist. While waiting for an …
Bacon Bingo
This Wednesday, July 27, two of your favorite Bs -- Bacon and Bingo -- will connect at El Take It Easy. The games begin at 7 pm, and the party goes until 11:30. According DJ Brother Darkness, who'd be mixing …
Comic-Con Days 1 - 4 Photo Funnies
"I just saw a guy dressed as Captain Caveman." "Uh, that was a homeless dude." Girl Scouts in Spaaaaacccce! "Is that a Batarang in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" "I knew I loved him as …
A Star-Studded Opening Night
The Who's Tommy originated at the La Jolla Playhouse July, 1992. Co-written by Pete Townshend, of the Who, and Des McAnuff, artistic director of the playhouse, the rock musical told the story of the "deaf, dumb, and blind kid" made …
Animal Psychic
Ever wonder what the future has in store... for your dog? Sindi Somers, of Wild and Tame Wellness and Communications wants to help demystify your pup's disposition. According to the description on her web site, Somers developed "telepathic communication skills" …
The Hillcrest Fire: Jason's Story
On Monday, July 25, at 7:30 p.m., Moxie Theatre hosts "After the Fire -- A Benefit Jam for Jason Connors and Gwen Fish." They lost everything in the recent Hillcrest fire. On July 1, Jason gave his landlord 30 days …
Calm Before the Comic-Con Storm
Arriving at the Convention Center on July 19 (below), located at 111 West Harbor Drive, I observed a tranquility that will soon be replaced by the chaotic upheaval of Comic-Con, which starts July 21 and runs through July 24. Convention …
The Hillcrest Fire: Gwen's Story
On Monday, July 25, at 7:30, Moxie Theatre hosts "After the Fire - a Benefit Jam for Jason Connors and Gwen Fish." They lost everything in the recent Hillcrest fire. During the day, Gwen Fish teaches English as a Foreign …
Art and Wine
I'd say "together at last," but this combo is nothing new. But there is something unique about the wine and art soiree at Island Prime this weekend. All of the artists whose work will be shown and sold are employees …
Five Course Love at North Coast Rep
Gertrude Stein said of Oakland, California, "There is no there, there" — or was that what Oakland said of Stein? There isn't much to Gregg Coffin's Five Course Love either. The intermissionless bauble's allegedly about kinds of love, but most …
Rainbows Everywhere!
I'm bummed to be out of town this year during the San Diego Gay Pride Festival. Because it's today, their web site is completely overloaded, but I have some of the general details for you right here. Just because I'm …
Auction Hunters Prowling For Goods in San Diego
Allen Haff rummages through the back of a black Nissan SUV outside a Jamba Juice in Hillcrest. Haff, one-half of the antique hunting duo on reality-television show, "Auction Hunters," pulls out a box of goods that he and his fellow-hunter, …
Of a Shipwreck and The Tempest
The storm and shipwreck in Shakespeare's The Tempest came from his creative alchemy. There is, however, a possible source that may have helped inspire the play. In 1607, the Virginia Company built the Sea Venture, the first ship designed for …
The Woolgatherer at Ion Theatre
Rose is such an emotional shut in it doesn't take Cliff long to ask, "Do you believe in life before death?" He's an extroverted truck driver. His rig's down for repairs in Philadelphia. He's come to Rose's studio apartment for …
Geneva Jacuzzi Meets The Cure
I paid $10 to the door man to see Wednesday night‘s show at the Casbah, 2501 Kettner Boulevard. I walked in with fellow photographer, Kome Parnell, and met another photographer by the name of Vito Di Stefano (below). When photographers …
Body Awareness at Ion Theatre
It's "Body Awareness Week" at Shirley State College in Vermont. Speakers and installations will promote physical diversity. Also on campus: Frank Bonitatibus. He's a house guest of Phyllis and Joyce, partners for the last three years. Frank photographs naked women …
Cinema Under the Stars
On a beautiful Thursday evening with a temperature of 71 degrees, I had planned on watching the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, Vertigo. Cinema Under the Stars is located at 4040 Goldfinch Avenue in Mission Hills. When walking towards the theater, …
Peer Gynt at La Jolla Playhouse
Henrik Ibsen's evasive masterpiece (1867) has five, hour-long acts, around 50 characters, and more locations than most movies. At the La Jolla Playhouse, director David Schweizer has trimmed the play - really trimmed it - to two hours and five …
Fire in Hillcrest
News helicopters are circling above and the streets are blocked off around Vermont St. and University Avenue in Hillcrest, where a building is on fire. It began around ten minutes ago, and firefighters are still in the process of subduing …
San Diego Is Turning into Its Own Little Montmartre
On Friday evening, July 1, people paid three dollars each to view art by local artists at the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park. As soon as I entered the exhibit, an artist by the name of Larry Knight …
June Bugs Emerging
June Bugs are emerging as summer's warmth is finally upon us. The green June beetle, only one of some 300 species of scarab beetles found in Southern California, flashes a metallic green underbelly as its buzzes about erratically. The mature …
The Show Must Go On
Years ago, my brother Michael was an actor at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis (at left in the photo, as Lucky in Waiting for Godot). When I told him Our Town was playing in San Diego, he recalled his first …
Magnolia in Bloom
Magnolia, the southern-U.S.-native commonly planted as a decorative street tree in many of San Diego's older neighborhoods, continues to bloom this month. Its grandiose description in some botanical books as the "queen of the flowering broadleaf evergreens," accurately gauges its …
Ironic Independence Celebration
So, I'm tooling through a neighborhood I only recently learned is called Middletown, and I come across a banner at Shakespeare Pub & Grille advertising their 4th of July brunch. Aroo? I'd always been under the impression that "we the" …
San Diego Heats Up
The heat of summer will most likely reach its feverish peak in inland San Diego County during the coming month of July. (Coastal San Diego is different: since its weather is greatly affected by the slowly warming mass of ocean …
Much Ado About Nothing at Old Globe
When Shakespeare wrote his "merry war" between Beatrice and Benedick, intelligent women were in vogue. Men still kept an eye on dowries and external attractions, make no mistake, but female courtly wits had an - all too brief - appeal. …
Party Too Hard, Pick Up Trash
During this holiday weekend, if you party too hard in Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, or Mission Bay and find yourself with only a ticket to show for it, the City of San Diego may waive the citation if you agree …