street scene 2008: most lopsided lineup ever?

(image courtesy of wikipedia commons)
street scene announced their daily lineups recently and the disparity between the friday lineup (beck, spoon, justice, tv on the radio, vampire weekend, mgmt, hot chip, new pornographers, diplo) and saturday (um... ghostland observatory?) is staggering. guess i need to listen to the national again, and brush up on some of the other day 2 acts. i've heard good things about man man, but unfortunately nothing is going to get me worked up about tegan and sara or the black crowes.

the fact that friday got all the good artists is unfortunate, since people have work that day. nothing like showing up late for a festival, only to have all your favorite bands playing at once. do all the friday acts have saturday plans that weekend, like beck and mgmt do at the hollywood bowl?

speaking of beck, he played the outside lands festival in foggy and cold golden gate park last weekend (video). i posted a track from his new cd, modern guilt, below. it has a gnarls barkley 60's-style beat to it, which is no surprise given that danger mouse produced this largely mellow affair. 2 cd's in a row now (and three out of four) where beck's dropped the electric guitar, hammering yet another nail in the alternative rock radio coffin...

city hall; la puerta; babycakes; hillcrest pinkberry

we went to the meeting on the proposed new city hall (in the old city hall) wednesday night, catching most of the discussion on the financials of the project from the city's standpoint (price tag: about $520 million). unfortunately, after an hour or so - and we showed up a half hour late - there still was no sign of the gerding elden presentation. but here's a summary of what we saw and heard:

- i had overlooked the proposed public observation deck on the city administration building. it'll be nice to have a public spot for taking in the spectacular view of san diego and the bay that 34 stories will provide. other cool features: first-floor kiosks/desks for all major city services, and a funky council chambers building that will be right in the middle of the plaza - no more trekking to the 12th floor.

- why is the city print shop located on the first floor of the current city hall building? that and other services with little public interaction are getting moved to the 'burbs.

- did you know san diego currently has the least city staff per person of any major west coast city?

- ccdc models, and models of the gerding-elden proposal are available in horton plaza. interestingly, b street will be re-opened through the new civic concourse, as will second - but the latter only on the north half of the project. both streets will be closed for public events.

- it was kind of sad (but not suprising) to see only 40 or so people turn up. this is a huge project for the city of san diego and it would be great to see more people get involved.

while the gigantic cookies the city provided were nice, it was time for something more substantial, so we headed over to la puerta on 4th just south of market. open since may, it was packed when we went by last friday night but thankfully a lot more calm for us old-timers wednesday night. the interior is made up of red walls, dim lighting, and a casual bar/booth setting. the moderate prices are a welcome change from most of the gaslamp options, and the carne asada street tacos were quite good (no tj dog this time, but next time for sure). my purple haze margarita/sangria mix came out in a flash, and there are dozens of tequila options to keep you downing shots all night, if that's your thing. service was excellent too, which is a rarity in san diego nowadays. all in all, a great down-to-earth addition to a gaslamp that's becoming more and more upscale.



we drove up 5th and noted american apparel moving into the old san diego hardware building, red zone at c street nearly empty (while the gaslamp was vibrant as usual), and that babycakes desserts has opened in the old david's coffee house space just south of robinson in hillcrest. and what was with all the pedestrian traffic on robinson at that hour? everyone was heading to the pinkberry that had just opened, creating a line out the door.

civic center complex meeting wednesday

find out more about the gerding proposal for city hall tomorrow, at the san diego concourse, 202 c st., at 6:30 pm. what better place to hear about the new project than where it will end up? come and feel the disdain conservative san diego had for government in the 1960's and the sorry excuse for a civic facility that resulted.

meanwhile, papa bigot doug manchester is weeping crocodile tears over those poor gay and lesbians who work at the hyatt, which is slated to be boycotted by the american bar association regarding its january meeting there:


"It is sad and sick that our wonderful gay and lesbian employees are caught in the middle," he said.


yet it's manchester's own action - donating 125K to the folks who want to take away gays' right to marry - that put them in the middle. if he feels so bad about them, why not ask for the money back? or better yet, donate 125K to the other side? and just think of how all that money that's been spent to take away the rights of gays could be have been used to help people who really need it, including the one million (!) dollars donated today by the knights of columbus. that's a lot of money to spend just to return california gays to second-class status.

tam's thailand and lao food

i'd been meaning to get over to tam's thai food on adams in normal heights ever since the new owner's daughter wrote in to say there had been an ownership change and it was no longer b fried rice, which i was pretty tough on a while back. after a long day at the beach sunday we were too lazy to go out of our way for food, so we dropped in and were welcomed warmly by the new owner. it's a tiny space, meant mostly for takeout, but there are lots of thai touches inside, and photos of the food to help you make up your mind. we got the the thai basil fried rice (she gladly replaced the eggs with chicken since both jay and i have egg issues) and some big wide noodles with heaps of veggies, soy sauce and chicken. both were spicy (but not too spicy), and came in heaping portions that barely fit their containers.

while it's not top-tier thai food, it's pretty good, and all the better that it's within a quick bike ride from the house. we'll be back to check out more of the menu soon.

yog-art opens in north park

sporting free frozen yogurt from 12-6 today, yog-art officially opened its second location in north park today on university, just east of 30th. while the space is significantly smaller than its predecessor in hillcrest, this location features self-serve yogurt and toppings stations, similar to yogurt world in kearny mesa. by chance we got there just after noon and the place was quickly slammed with freebie-seekers. it's the perfect addition to the burgeoning scene in the heart of north park, where there's plenty of new retail space opening up, including the newly-painted building big lots vacated just across the street.

also in np, north park news reports that ray at night will be renamed north park nights in october, given its encroachment onto neighboring blocks. local businesses involved with this event are forming an organization named "the art institute" to focus on increased exposure to the arts.


more north park news items - sounds like the graffiti cleanup went well on 8/9, with 135 (!) volunteers turning out to paint over previously-documented tags. unfortunately we came across this awful defacing of a great mural in university heights on monroe ave. how much of a piece of shit do you have to be to actually do something like this? coincidentally, "fuck art make war" was duncan hunter's presidential campaign slogan...

moving into normal heights, twiggs bakery/cafe is slated to open by the end of the month on adams just west of 30th, after the usual new business delays involving the city. be sure to check them out, as twiggs owners bernie and dan have come across as excellent people since we met them during the taste of adams avenue event, and as they took us through the steps of planning our wedding cake.

city hall proposals: cheaper is better

today brought the surprising news that the bold, eco-friendly gerding proposal for the new city hall is significantly less expensive than the bland, conservative approach put forth by texas-based hines corp. apparently the key difference is gerding's proposal to buy or lease part of the civic concourse area to develop retail. that's not an option in the hines proposal due to its larger size (which in turn is due to its limited vertical scale vs. gerding - the latter maxes out to the 500 foot limit with its iconic building). further, hines shows their lack of confidence in san diego's long-term economic viability by doubting that large-scale development will occur at this location. way to look beyond the current downturn, hines... and that single cafe you have planned will be pretty exciting. hines' lack of vision could result in a higher price tag for another reason - the inability of their project to provide any additional office space down the road. isn't that the main reason we're replacing the current building?

for more information on how we got here - a dumpy city hall that will cost us more to keep than replace, due to office space costs - check out the timely article on city hall's past in city beat. when it was built in ultra-conservative 60's san diego, there was no thought given to building a civic project that served as a gathering area for its citizens, or how it might define san diego. instead, it was all about paying as little as possible to get it done. from reading comments on the union tribune website and elsewhere, this still seems to be a majority opinion, and it's echoed by new council member carl demaio. mr. demaio vows to oppose any money spent on the project - even though it will cost more not to take action - and refuses to even have an office at city hall. now there's a guy who would fit right in with the 60's conservatives who gave us the piece of garbage city hall we have now.

if you're tired of the cheapness and lack of vision that have made much of downtown san diego less than what it could be, and if you think san diego's citizens deserve better in the future, make your voice heard at one of the public meetings scheduled for this project. you can even get an up-close look at the current civic concourse at the 8/20 meeting scheduled there. just don't expect to see mr. demaio in attendance.

UPDATE, 08/16/2008: hines withdraws, citing the financial analysis performed by the city put them at an insurmountable disadvantage. looks like it's gerding or nothing now.

free bay tours by the port of san diego

(port of san diego 10th ave. marine terminal image from wikipedia commons)

want to cruise the bay for free while getting an up-close look at just what goes on in those cargo terminals and ship repair yards? check out the port of san diego bay tours page for a list of dates - they start thursday, aug 21 and run on various thursdays and saturdays until late october. this would be a good time to hear the port's side of the 10th avenue marine terminal deck proposal by developers chase and gallagher (hint: they're not too thrilled about it), which would potentially include a new charger's stadium.

speaking of the deck, i spoke with a representative from the port of san diego at yesterday's fiesta del sol in barrio logan, and he said it's the port's view that the deck cannot be build without lots of supporting columns, which would interfere with harbor activity below. the developers and their project engineer, c2hm hill, need to address this and lots of other issues in a public forum at some point, before their initiative appears on the ballot this fall.

bring ny's summer streets to san diego

apart from a few grumbling parking lot owners and car-dependent complainers, this weekend's summer streets saturday in manhattan was a big success. the first of a series of 7 am to 1 pm closures of a ~7 mile length of streets resulted in waves of pedestrians and bicyclists enjoying the street without car traffic. apparently it's already been done in several american cities, so why not san diego? close down 5th ave one weekend morning and let people enjoy the ubiquitous outdoor restaurant seating on that street without car noise and exhaust. university ave. in hillcrest would be another option, but there are fewer alternative driving options in that area.


while we're fantasizing about such an unlikely event, why not toss out a potential date for it - sunday september 7th, the day of bike the bay, where thousands of bicyclists will be converging on downtown for a 7 am departure to circle the bay via the coronado bridge and the bayshore bikeway. it would be the perfect opportunity for the city to acknowledge the huge bicycle community here, one that's getting bigger by the day as people reconsider their auto use.

street scene 2008 preview: justice

(image from justice myspace site)

justice, the french dj duo of
Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, are listed just below the headliners of street scene, and for good reason - they're probably the hottest electronic act around right now. emerging onto the dance music scene with a powerful remix of simian's "never be alone" track, they followed it up with their cross symbol cd. that featured the hit "D.A.N.C.E." and lots of aggressive synth stabs, which got a bit samey in my opinion. nevertheless, they continue to put out scorching remixes of popular artists; one example is the great recent mix of "electric feel", the current single from MGMT's debut cd - another street scene artist, btw. give it a listen below and you'll see why justice should be one of the most intense sets of the festival.

hillcrest happenings; mission valley makeover

lots of stuff going on this week in hillcrest, starting off with city fest sunday, which stretches a whole mile down 5th ave and includes the book and literacy fair this year too. after you've eaten your third $7 bratwurst you can pick up tickets for the toast to hillcrest food sampler; the restaurant lineup is impressive - local heavyweights like hash house, ono sushi and bombay, along with new places like babbo grande, pizza fusion and yes, pinkberry. we drove by it the other night and the exterior looks about done, and boy is it a big improvement over the pink pb garden and hone store that resided there for years. UPDATE: also in hillcrest sunday, artwalk continues its monthly appearances around university and richmond.

meanwhile, after securing approval for the utc expansion, westfield is doubling down with a proposed expansion of the 48-year old mission valley mall. not much information to go on yet, but it seems like anywhere you see a parking lot now will become a parking structure, a bunch of condos are getting built, and the mall will get a second floor. hopefully the details will show something on the interest level of the utc expansion.

traffic is already a complete mess in mission valley, but that's exactly the reason why this makeover should happen - take a dated, car-oriented facility and turn it into a gathering place that's pedestrian-friendly for an already high-density area. imagine a community gathering area in mission valley? tie it in with an improved bike trail system there... well one can dream. now where are those horton plaza plans?

graffiti project on el cajon blvd.

the graffiti project on the facade of the old san diego sound and lighting building looks almost complete. it's on el cajon boulevard just east of park and is a project sponsored by its business improvement association. check out the great work the artists are doing:

considering there's a graffiti cleanup planned for north park this weekend, it's good to see opportunities like these for local graffiti artists.

pizza fusion opens in hillcrest

hillcrest has a new pizza joint with the opening of pizza fusion on 5th in the old guild theater. i like the interior, especially the bar in the corner, which made me wonder why there aren't more pizza places with beer on tap (apart from basic, of course). apparently the interior materials are all eco-friendly, and that extends to the cool bathroom too.
my server was fast and attentive, and the personal pizza was up quickly, along with my hefewiezen. pizza fusion serves up organic food, and has soy cheese as an option, or else i wouldn't be able to eat the stuff. the meat pizza was the perfect lunch after biking all over north park and hillcrest; i'm not sure if i can say the same about the beer, but it went fine with the pizza. unfortunately it's not cheap - $15 for the above - but if you're with a group splitting a pie will bring the price down.



pizza fusion's a smart addition to the hillcrest dining scene, and you have to hand it to them for the whole enviro thing. lots of material on their website and blog about organics, supporting local breweries and growers, and their menu makes clear that they're looking out for the gluten and lactose-deficient among us, along with the veg's. even with the current challenging economic climate, i'm planning on enjoying this place for a long time to come.

blight fights back

as the economy continues to sour and foreclosures dominate the resale market in many lower-income san diego communities, it's sad to see the resulting downturn in our neighborhoods. i know these things go in cycles, but when you consider how long it took to turn a lot of san diego's core neighborhoods around, it's disconcerting to think of where we might be headed.

one of the warning signs is the increased 'ho prevalence along el cajon blvd. what had been largely cleaned up a couple of years ago is back with a vengeance, and no longer limited to east of 805. no, they're strutting their stuff in broad daylight along ecb, as shown on a fox 5 san diego news report last night (sorry, can't find link - new station/website... and what was up with that train wreck of a debut last night?! all i could think of was boom goes the dynamite as jokes fell flat, lighting changed freakishly and flop sweat dripped). they interviewed employees and patrons of vesuvio restaurant at 30th/el cajon, who all complained of increased prostitution and associated crime in the area. meanwhile, across the street, starbucks' exit from renaissance could harken even more criminal activity in the area.

voice of san diego has an article up about the city heights housing market and it's not looking good. you have to figure that loads of vacant houses in an already borderline community is not a good thing. while there's always the potential of flippers coming in to fix things up a bit, as the article points out, no one goes searching the internet for homes in 92105 due to its reputation for crime and poor services. yet city heights has some pockets of decent homes, including houses from kensington builders and even a "castle" neighborhood.

one positive sign was the approval of a redevelopment zone for grantville, just down the hill from kensington in mission valley/gorge. as anyone who's driven through the area knows, it's a mish-mash of choked traffic, trashy used car lots and pedestrian-unfriendly strip malls. while many residents seem to like it that way ("i don't want to walk anywhere!") it's a good first step that jim madaffer and the city council made the effort to secure funds to improve the area.