free cut copy show downtown

fresh off their coachella show, cut copy will be doing a free gig at 7th and market for a red bull air show pre-party (so that's what they were setting up in the parking lot sunday night when we drove by). if only i wasn't about to get on a plane to dc...

coachella 08

made it out to palm springs this past weekend and caught saturday at coachella with my friend mike who lives out there. this was our third coachella in the past 4 years, having missed last year and kicking myself for not seeing lcd soundsystem. fortunately i did get to make up for missing hot chip last year, but more on that later.

we got to indio around 3:30 and there was very little traffic. earlier years were pretty bad around this time. however there was an accident that had traffic down to one lane, so that prevented us from catching the end of MGMT's set. one good thing about arriving later in the day is avoiding the sunblast, and we found some shade in the back of the sahara tent for the last 20 minutes of the boyz noize set. also in the back of the sahara tent: massive subwoofers that nearly vibrate your eardrums out of your head. still, the sound was pretty awesome for the sonic thrill of the "my moon my man" remix that closed the set.

from there we saw a bit of kate nash ("sleepy" comes to mind when describing her show), then headed back to sahara for hot chip. we ended up getting mashed pretty close into the stage, all the better for absorbing the relentless groove they laid down with rocking versions of "shake a fist" and "boy from school". we escaped before the crowd went completely batshit during "over and over", enjoying several more songs from a more comfortable spot before hitting the main stage and seeing the last few hits churned out by death cab for cutie. i'd read they are a bit boring live, and while the crowd seemed to be saving their energy, ben gibbard's voice soared over us during "soul meets body".

as the sun dipped behind the mountains we cooled off in the beer area, snagging a good spot for rilo kiley. their set was enjoyable, if not a bit over-polished - they seem to be forcing it when they break down into dissonance at the end of some songs.

by then it was time to head back to the sahara tent for m.i.a., but not without stopping first to check out a completely trippy light installation - a 10x10' cube composed of hundreds of small bulbs that changed color, intensity and speed. colors zipped across the cube, chasing each other, pulsing and radiating. people sat and appeared to watch for hours.

m.i.a.'s set was an absolute train wreck. i'm aware that she's no stranger to drama-filled shows, but to have a high-intensity set screech to a dead halt several times (highlights: "why won't my fucking songs play?!", "turn off the fucking house lights!") translated into one disappointing show. there's no denying that when the music was playing it was absolutely unique, but upon hearing "i'm just going to take a five minute break" we bailed out to portishead, who blasted their dark sound across the entire festival with incredible crispness.

i've always been impressed with the high sound quality at the main coachella stage, and beth gibbons' vocals clearly benefited from it. meanwhile the fans in the beer zone by the main stage benefited from the fact that there's no security in this area, openly enhancing their experience of the show (which reminds me, what's up with the porta-potties not being cleaned this year? absolutely disgusting).

still, portishead is a bit of a snooze, so we ambled back over to the sahara for sasha and digweed, who played their tired progressive stuff... just boring compared to what many dj's at coachella were doing. we watched calvin harris close hit set with "the girls", which is such a silly and fun song that the crowd couldn't help but dance.

at this point it was time for prince to start. half an hour later he came to the stage, but ceded the spotlight on the first several songs to morris day and sheila e. i never thought i'd witness "glamorous life" but there it was, with shelia banging it out. after seeing "1999" and "little red corvette" we started our long journey to the car. little did we know he would play until 1:15 am and do a cover of radiohead's "creep".

so, another year and another pleasing coachella. hard to see this festival going away any time soon.

jimmy carter's closes

just a quickie before i head out to palm springs for coachella on saturday... the gay and lesbian times says that jimmy carter's mexican cafe in mission hills has closed due to a tripling of their rent (!). however, they've converted the jimmy carter's in banker's hill to a mexican restaurant, which would explain the crazy paint colors we noticed last time we drove by.

while a landlord has every right to triple the rent, we have every right to call him a dick for doing that. part of the charm of that cafe was the coziness and age of the interior. the food at the mexican cafe was superior in my opinion, but it was nice to have both restaurants as an option. we'll have to wait and see what goes into the mission hills location. i guess being across the street from the big paseo de mission hills project means it's kosher to jack up the lease rates.

red mango comes to little italy

"yes, we are closed" read the sign at the new red mango on india street in little italy, dashing our hopes for a dessert fix on a hot saturday. we did a drive-by again this past weekend and yes, they are open. but we had just gorged at a packed extraordinary desserts (at 11 pm no less) so we didn't stop in. having sampled their korean tart-style yogurt at their mission valley mall location, i think it's a good addition to little italy (not quite the variety of yogurt world in kearny mesa however). but they've got their work cut out for them - with extraordinary desserts and papalecco serving up well-liked gelato nearby, there's plenty of other options to top off that little italy dinner.

hail mary time for cosmopolitan square

the union tribune has the details of cosmopolitan square's attempt to avoid bankruptcy, and it includes converting about two thirds of the building from condos to rooms in a swank mondrian hotel. apparently it's easier to attract funding for a luxury hotel downtown than to dump another three hundred condos onto an over-saturated market.

i'm not an expert on the subject, but it seems dubious that a new lender is going to bail out the developer here - they owe 40 million to lenders and contractors, the real estate market is soft, financing is hard to get, and there's already "edgy" hotel presence from the w hotel (undergoing a makeover soon, according to 944 magazine) and the recently-opened hard rock hotel. that's a tough list of cons to go against, and it sounds like the only pros here are "mondrian" and "one of the best undeveloped parcels downtown". while i'd love to see the project go forward, a more realistic scenario would appear to be foreclosure.

la jolla mcasd

i can't believe i've lived in san diego for over 10 years, working in la jolla all that time, and have never been to the la jolla branch of the museum of contemporary art. escaping the inland meltdown last sunday we started off our visit with lunch at the museum cafe:



comfortable chairs, shaded outdoor seating and friendly service made for a very relaxing lunch, if you can ignore the general la jolla snootiness of the clientele. my beet salad was refreshing in the heat:



before we headed into the museum we took a quick photo with the hammering man who makes many cities his home. hammering man, whose arm is powered by a 3 hp electric motor, is an ode to the working man, and therefore rests at night and on labor day.



as we entered the museum a rock band was playing, and tables were being set up for a children's activity session. the current exhibit is titled "soundwaves: the art of sampling", and included several intriguing pieces that explored the intersection of sound and art. one favorite involved three children's pools with various china in them, slowly rotating from a motor-generated current. their clanging chimes were mic'd and amplified over speakers. other pieces involved listening to headphones and watching visuals at the same time.

the highlight of the entire museum was "matrix II" by edwin redl, which has been acquired by the museum. green LED lights hanging on wires light up an entire room in a grid that you can walk through. it was a trip to line up a row of the lights at eye level from one corner and absorb the full effect. check out his website at the link above for some even more impressive uses of LEDs. between this, the proposed coronado bridge blue LEDs and articles i've read on their varied uses (they can be display many different colors), these low-energy lights are pretty exciting.

the view of the ocean out the back windows might be one of the best a museum has to offer in this country:



well the getty has some pretty awesome views too...

after absorbing all that stimulating art we headed to the sculpture garden being the museum, strolling past the dj who was mixing records. hanging off the back of the museum was this piece that was rejected by the art-challenged citizens of san diego for display near the harbor (hopefully not in favor of that big giant ridiculous sailor and girl statue north of seaport village):



fortunately mcasd la jolla is a bit more enlightened.

it was all enough to end up crashed out in a lawn sculpture that seemed to fit just right:

kensington terrace construction to begin

per the san diego business journal: developer allard jansen will start construction soon on kensington terrace now that he has the signed development permit. the article states that existing structure materials will be donated to habitat for humanity.

while i'm hopeful things will proceed now, i'm guessing that the lawsuit filed against it could stop the project at any time. stay tuned...

gill la jolla

i've been posting on irving gill's work in and around downtown san diego, but he was also responsible for some distinctive architecture in la jolla as well. we went to the la jolla branch of the san diego museum of contemporary art on sunday, which was originally the ellen scripps residence, designed by gill:



there are several other gill-designed structures nearby, most of them civic; these represent the pinnacle of his career in san diego, around 1910. both the la jolla womens club and the la jolla recreation center have a similar design, with extensive use of arches. la jolla womens club:



la jolla recreation center:



gill also designed the residence next door to the la jolla womens club, which is now the la jolla inn:



just east of the museum is the wisteria cottage, which was long home to john cole's book shop (1966-2005; nexus bookstore 1961-66). it will be the future home of the la jolla historical society, which currently resides in a small bungalow behind the cottage. it will be leased from the revelle family; roger revelle was the founder of ucsd and married into the scripps family, who owned the cottage since near its construction in 1904. wisteria cottage:



we spent a good deal of time having lunch and enjoying the museum (i'll post on that later) but as a result didn't have time to get pictures of gill's other large works in la jolla, bishop's and la valencia hotel. the beach was calling.

(the irving gill san diego google map has been updated)

maya lin at sd contemporary art museum

the maya lin exhibit currently showing at the downtown san diego museum of contemporary art has several creative and unique installations, and one absolutely spectacular 2400 square foot piece, "2x4", shown above. comprised entirely of 50,000 2x4's of wood standing on end, varying in height to 10 feet (the longest cut at your local lumber yard), the blocks undulate into a large rising wave. while all of her pieces in the exhibit are inspired by geology, geography and geomorphology, in my opinion 2x4 is the most impressive expression of these processes. it's worth the price of admission alone (better yet, consider an annual membership for $75. it will get you and a friend - actually, you and a guest and your friend and their guest - in to both the downtown and la jolla locations for a year).

another interesting room-size piece was a visual representation of a site on the mid-atlantic ridge that has risen high enough to create bouvet island near antarctica. by showing the geologic structure as a gridded series of curving, thin aluminum tubing, hanging from the ceiling and attached to the walls, viewers can walk underneath the installation and get a feel for something than can typically only be visulized on a computer screen.

maya lin is best known for designing the vietnam veterans memorial, and it's clear that she's able to make powerful statements with her work. san diego is fortunate to have an artist of this caliber displaying her art - definitely a positive sign for mcasd and the arts community.

not bad for april

87 and 89 degrees were the high temperatures over the weekend at the coast and this early taste of summer had us looking forward to july. too bad there's still may gray and june gloom to get through. but to be able to dip your toes in the ice-cold pacific and not feel chilly, or walk around downtown at midnight in shorts because it's still 76 out is pretty good for april - especially when the northeast is still shivering, at least in fenway park on tv last night.

apart from that cold water it really did feel like summer, especially at the beach where it seemed everyone was. with inland temps approaching 100, you can't blame folks for hitting the coast. one side effect of that was gridlock on 8 west saturday afternoon - brake lights from 805 to as far as i could see from the 163 south off-ramp.



i know warm weather isn't everyone's thing, but san diego offers up a pretty high quality of life on weekends like this one. and when the coastal eddy inevitably spins up the next several weeks, covering us in gray, just remember sunny palm springs is just two hours away.

new cut copy cd

the last couple of weeks have been kind of stressful at work, but i found the perfect pick-me-up in the form of the new cut copy cd, in ghost colours. it's a trip straight back to the carefree pop of the 80's, just not as cheesy. well there are hand claps galore and songs that sound like they were ripped out of an o.m.d. album. but is that such a bad thing? maybe - once the hooks get stuck in your head they don't leave for a while. and there's a definite bryan ferry feel to the second song below. it's almost reason enough to see friday night at coachella (wow they added prince - how did i miss that?!).

perfect music for the summer of 1983... er, 2008.

montage rises again

club montage is coming back from the dead - chicago house dj mark farina is playing tonight, signaling owner chris braga's score of big-time dj promoters giant productions. braga says the liquor license has been renewed, gang-attracting hip hop night has been dumped, and there will be all sorts of frolicking in the new rooftop swimming pool at some point (ok i added the frolicking part). and there's even a sweepstakes for the new name! we were trying to come up with names but it's more fun to think of really bad ones... like:

the blocque
backtrax
visions (whoops that one's already taken)
the nappy dugout
club foot
hancocks (hey, that is the street name)

we ended up coming up with some passable names but then we realized that with a gay owner there's going to be a bias toward god-awful ones. i'm putting 10 bucks on "phoenix".

hillcrest update: chilango's, universal

we had dinner thursday at the recently-reopened chilango's on university in hillcrest. my pork-with-mole sauce entree was perfect for wrapping in tortillas and dipping in the mild-but-flavorful sauce. jay's chicken entree was spicier and quite tasty too. great to have this place open again; their menu is fairly unique for hillcrest, focusing on mexico city and eastern mexican cuisine. and i like the dark maroon walls and art there.

after dinner we headed over to yogart for dessert, which was busy as usual. with universal opening the next night, we wandered by to get a look. the exterior of the building is very clean looking, and i like the big "hillcrest" sign over the entrance. we peered inside, where a few people (employees? owners?) were milling around the large space. a large open space with dark colored floors fronts the interior. there's a unique gnarled tree backdrop to the main bar, and panels of green and red light in the back round out the interesting, but not groundbreaking, interior. the orange leather booths look good in the front right corner, a lounge area with its own bar.

large doors to the right side of the building suggest easy access to the sidewalk and the outdoor dining area between universal and its very hip-looking restaurant, dish, next door. this area also featured built-in booths near the rear and looked fairly unfinished, but when we drove by tonight it was packed with v.i.p. folks. surely all those glitzy women aren't fag hags.

dish looks great with a light tan and brown color scheme - more interesting than the universal interior, at least from the street. and next door to dish was the brightly-lit ciros, ready to serve up their thin crust pizza. it's strange that this is the only sliced pizza joint in the area, unless you trek to bronx several blocks away. i thought bars and pizza joints were inseparable.

it was exciting to see this once-dormant corner in the heart of hillcrest vibrant and full of people tonight. there's no reason these businesses, the biggest thing to hit hillcrest in memory, should be anything other than the start of a new epicenter in the neighborhood.

kensington gets some la times love

kensington is featured in the la times' neighborly advice series. they cover the basics - north kensington is more desirable (hey - baja kensington is so much more walkable!), ken theater, kensington terrace, crazy house prices. nice to see my little hood getting some notice in big 'ol la.

horton plaza to become more street-friendly

(source: creative commons)


you'd hardly even know there was a mall as you pass by it on 4th ave downtown - there's just a narrow entry to horton plaza by the recently-renovated balboa theater. meanwhile there's a huge entryway to the massive parking garage (speaking of which, how great is the self-validation for parking there now? no more long walks to longs to get your pack of gum and validation stamp.) the approach from broadway isn't much better - the small park is a homeless hangout with a lonely irving gill-designed fountain. next to that is a pedestrian-unfriendly parking circle tucked behind the nbc building. in fact all sides of the entire mall are car-oriented, with few storefronts facing the street - back when horton plaza was built, it had to be somewhat sealed off from the then-scary neighborhood around it to attract customers and tenants. yet for a place that started downtown san diego's revitalization, it still follows the car-focused design of suburban malls.

well it sounds like things are about to change, finally. san diego business journal reports that come november, a more urban street-shopping experience makeover will get underway, with changes to the balboa theater entrance, the park, and more stores at sidewalk level. if the park is on the way out, i hope they can find a place for the fountain somewhere... how about in the revamped city hall plaza? meanwhile, get rid of the traffic circle and turn that entire area behind the nbc building into an outdoor eating spot with food vendors. there's plenty of lunch-time walkup traffic for that.

interestingly, the source for the story is from "local government circles" rather than the owner (westfield) itself. would be great to get some more details from them on this one.

91x-fest to inaugurate new mission valley venue

the union tribune has the scoop on the first show to be held at the new mission valley concert venue. the 91x-fest will open the aeg live concerts on the green stage at the rugby field near qualcomm stadium. headliners are modest mouse (woo-hoo!) and the offspring (i just threw up in my mouth). well it's better than no concert venue in mission valley, right? just don't try to find the venue on aeg's website yet - it's not there.

the article is mostly about coors (whoops, cricket) amphitheater's schedule, which includes radiohead, by far their biggest concert score in a long time. other big names are the police/elvis costello, and dave matthews band. the ut also focuses on how it's getting harder to fill a 19442-seat venue like cricket, vs. the smaller (13K) concerts on the green venue. considering that acts frequently pass over san diego due to weak concert turnouts, having more venues can only help.

UPDATE: here's the official 91x fest page and there's no modest mouse (yet?). also, stone temple pilots will be playing the green on their comeback tour; july 27th's the date.

more free public transit for ucsd

ucsd currently subsidizes several mts bus routes that connect to the campus, providing free service to staff and students on these routes. it's had an impact in reducing the number of people parking on campus, the cost of which has skyrocketed in my 10 years of working there. i currently pay $972 a year to park on the sio campus for my "B" sticker, which works fine there but is woefully lacking in spaces during the day on most parts of main campus.

i read recently that plans are in the works to make all san diego mts rail and bus routes within 15 miles of campus free by this summer (can't find the link now; this old link says by 2009). this would be a fantastic move, and begins to make sense for my commute - i could jump on the trolley at the grantville station in near fairmont ave., which has plenty of parking and is just down the hill from me. i could then take the express bus to campus from the old town transit center, where parking is tight, and sits beyond an i-8 bottleneck. maybe someday the mid-coast extension of the trolley to ucsd will be built, too... the project manager said there should be a progress report soon, in my reponse to my e-mail. unfortunately i'd need to take the cramped sio van from upper campus to sio, something i don't fit in too well, especially with laptop and gym bags.

anyway, my point is that if ucsd can afford to subsidize these routes, why can't other major employers do the same? i did a search on sdsu and usd, and neither offers free rides as far as i can tell - even though sdsu has a brand new station right on campus. it's probably too much to ask of the bankrupt city, but the county could probably afford to toss some cash to mts - the county administration building on pacific dr. is just blocks from the trolley. that would free up some more spots for the parks that are supposed to replace the parking lots there, which we've been hearing about for years.

maybe i'm missing something, but it seems that employers could be doing more to support public transit, especially with high gas prices straining people's budgets. kudos to ucsd for leading the way on this one, along with their other sustainability efforts. i'm proud to work for a university that's taking action on these issues rather than just talking about it at feel-good conferences.

gill again

knocked out a bunch of gill buildings this weekend downtown and in bankers's hill. unfortunately what had been a sunny saturday turned gloomy and cold just in time for the photo trip. above: 725 4th ave. below: electric fountain, horton plaza.



first lutheran church, 1420 3rd ave:



rear of 205 w. laurel:



3068 first ave., formerly bishop's day school, now the "Self-Realization Fellowship Church (founded by Paramhansa Yogananda)":



2508 1st ave:



and finally, gill's best work in san diego, in my opinion - the first church of christ scientist at 2250 2nd ave. i don't think i've ever stopped to look at this incredible building before, even though i've zipped by it on laurel several times coming from the airport.



more pictures from yesterday's trip (see the green markers downtown and in bankers hill) are available on my irving gill google mymaps page.

mission beach makeover

voice of san diego has an article about the oceanfront transformation that's taking place in mission beach as neglected cottages are torn down and replaced by gleaming, architecturally unique condos and houses. amazingly, it's all being done by one architect/developer couple, ken and beth cornell, owners of ocean pacific companies (san diego listings page).

it's remarkable that the cornells alone are largely responsible for the modernization of mission beach's waterfront housing, and even harder to understand how such a dumpy set of houses could line the boardwalk for so long. sure, it's largely a college and party vibe there, and not the first place an older wealthy couple might be looking to park a couple million on a home. but it's still beachfront, and you're likely getting much better value here, and an architecturally interesting home to boot.

and the homes are definitely interesting. the article describes ken cornell's use of sophisticated building techniques and attraction to gadgets, but his desire to build unique properties is probably the most beneficial to those of us who can never afford them. instead of building tasteless structures that often get built on the oceanfronts of wealthier beaches, his use of glass and steel is clean, contemporary and hardly boring.

part of me is sad to see the cottages go - until i remember what absolute dumps some of these places were. unsurprisingly, residents haven't been up in arms about the makeover, unlike their snooty counterparts in la jolla to the north; the cornells ran into much more resistance there. hey, we'll always have ocean beach for more modest homes (well, maybe not).

it's too bad there aren't more architect/developers like the cornells who actually consider design while they rake in the bucks. hopefully they can inspire others to do the same in a city that hasn't reached its architectural potential.

king of the west coast hotels

the biggest hotel on the west coast, a marriott with 1929 rooms, is set for downtown san diego adjacent to petco. architects are johnson fain, and if you check their website, you can see a flash demo of the project (click enter, then "our work", then "projects" on the top right, then "the marriott at ballpark village"). i like the second-story rooftop garden, but it's hard to tell much from the renderings shown - they don't fully show the two 487' towers. hopefully more information will be available at the ccdc public meeting on the project; the image above is from their website and i believe this hotel is to the top left of petco.

basically, if this is what it takes to keep comic con in town, it's worth it. the contract for the con is up in 2012, and there's been rumblings of moving it to vegas where rooms are in plentiful supply. we already have a giant marriott downtown, but i understand that the more hotel rooms downtown has - regardless of the name on the building - the better for business.

the UT article does provide some comic relief from the HOA president at the nearby ICON condos - she's concerned about additional traffic, lack of street parking, and decreased property values due to blocked bay views. spoken like a true san diegan. does she understand that she's living downtown with public transportation, which is meant to be developed densely? and that just because her condo exists near the bay, it doesn't guarantee sightlines to it?

the tower height is another reminder of how ridiculous and limiting the FAA height requirement is and what it's done to downtown. this part of east village has got to be very far from any kind of flight diversion path. here's an opportunity to build a very tall building, to minimize the width of the structure to preserve those sightlines that our HOA friend above is worried about. it's time to appeal to the FAA to reconsider the limits they've imposed on the city's vertical growth in areas far from the airport.