Haunted Memories of the Old Lyceum, part one
The original Lyceum Theatre stood at 314-316 F Street, downtown. Built in 1913, it was demolished in 1985, to make room for the Horton Plaza parking complex. Between 1981 and 1982, the San Diego Repertory Theatre produced shows in the …
Latest Sunset of the Year Tonight
The Latest Sunset of the year, 8:01 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time in San Diego, occurs tonight — Wednesday, June 29 — approximately one week after the summer solstice (our longest day). From now until late July there will be little …
Brian’s Farmers' Market
Why do Farmers Markets Rock? Brian’s Market is located on B Street, in between 27th and 28th. When walking towards the market, I immediately noticed fresh flowers, produce, organic creams, honey, and jewelry, just to name a few items that …
A Naked Stage
A cartoon in the New Yorker, March, 1938, shows three women standing before a ticket booth. One asks, obviously worried: "Does this play have scenery?" Thornton Wilder's Our Town had opened in February. Many a first-nighter thought they'd made a …
Agaves Blooming
Agaves, (a.k.a. century plants), are coming into bloom in many summer gardens this month. After a decade or more (not a century) of growth, the larger kinds of agave send up a tall, yellow-blossomed flower stalk from a base of …
San Diego in Colorful Bloom
Colorful foliage along San Diego's coastline lingers, despite the lack of rainfall and warmer, drier days. In the older, landscaped neighborhoods of Coronado, Point Loma, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla you'll find oleander and hibiscus blooming in many shades, and …
A Triangulation of Ambassadors
In The Music Man, currently at Lambs Players, Professor Harold Hill says we don't hear clearly enough. Music's everywhere, if only we'd listen: to the clack of a train, the banter of traveling salesmen, or the "pick-a-little, talk-a-little" of gossips. …
World Refugee Forum
The World Refugee Forum at the Museum of Photographic Arts on June 19, featured photographs and talks by photographers Bear Guerra and Don Bartletti. Guerra, known as a humanitarian photographer, shared his photographs of Somali Bantu refugees who ended up …
Indie Yoga - a Hot Refuge in Ocean Beach
Ocean Beach has it all: a bustling farmer’s market, People’s Co-op, Hodad’s, scads of lively bars, dreadlocks, suntans, bright-eyed train-hopping anarchist girls crooning from acoustic guitars, The Black, the cliffs, the pier, the, uh, beach, and now… their first hot …
Life's a (Cobbled) Beach
Cobbled shorelines are greeting some beachgoers early this summer season, as in past years. North County beaches tend to suffer most, as the natural sand replenishment in the area is disrupted by dams blocking the flow of sediment down the …
Opening-Night Rituals
Circle Circle dot dot opens The Break Up/Break Down on Saturday at Tenth Avenue Theatre. The play, by Katherine Harroff, and the company are brand new. So what will the cast do in the hours and minutes before the big …
Little-Known Facts About the Summer Solstice
Summer Solstice, the time when the sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky, occurs this year at 10:16 a.m. on Tuesday, June 21. The summer solstice not only marks the beginning of summer for the Northern Hemisphere; it also …
Cricket Songs in Bankers Hill
The chirping of crickets tells us the warmer weather of summer is well on its way. Their plaintive pleadings for mates are heard wherever bits of seminatural scenery cut across the urban tapestry of San Diego. Try the Spruce Street …
Oysterfest 2011
Yesterday, I attended the 2nd annual San Diego Oysterfest, held at the Embarcadero right by Seaport Village. The weather was perfect, sunny and clear with a cool breeze coming off of the water. Unfortunately for me, I can't stand oysters. …
Buckwheat in Bloom
Buckwheat, a late-bloomer among native plants in our region, is showing off its small, inconspicuous clusters of cream-colored flowers this month. Several kinds of buckwheat, found in dry, sunny locations throughout San Diego County, are the source of the "wild …
Swimming in the Shallows at InnerMission Productions
Barb feels possession-heavy. When she hears that Buddhist monks in Thailand have only eight possessions total, she decides to prune hers (but does a pair of shoes count as one or two?). Her husband Bob's a model consumer. He replaces …
A Favorite Memory of Don Braunagel
Back in the '80s, Don and I drove to L. A. to see Peter Brook's Mahabharata. Based on the longest poem ever written, the performance began at 11:00 a.m. and -- after several intermissions and a dinner break -- ended …
June Grunion Runs
Grunion runs are predicted to occur during the late evening hours (generally after 10 p.m. and before 1 a.m.), following the nocturnal high tide, June 15 though June 18. The small, silvery grunion tend to spawn on wide, gently sloping …
Cute Chihuahua
San Diego is definitely a dog's town, and is home to several dog-centric boutiques, such as Fido & Co., Howlistic, Sprinks, and South Bark. Though I don't have a dog of my own, I enjoy hitting up Dog Beach in …
June's Low Tide and Full Moon
June's Lowest Tides are for early risers only! Check out the local tidepool life without hordes of other people around. Wednesday, June 15 features a minus 1.5-foot tide at 3:51 a.m. Thursday, June 16 brings a minus 1.5-foot tide at …
Geometry Playground
Opening this weekend and sticking around all the way until June of next year is the new exhibit Geometry Playground at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. The exhibit was directed by Peggy Monahan, who told me, "Every time we …
Foggerty's Fairy at Talent To aMuse
What if you could drink from a vial and erase a piece of your past? Blot out an untoward error. Try the road not taken. Of course, revising even a smidge of history could have unexpected consequences. Like a "butterfly …
Earliest Sunrise of the Year
Earliest sunrise this year, reckoned in Daylight Saving Time, occurs Monday, June 13 at 5:40 a.m. This event occurs about a week before the longest day of the year — the summer solstice — because of factors related to the …
Ocean Water Temperatures Rising
Ocean temps are rising into the 60s this month, perhaps to reach the 70s in July or August. The early-summer cool weather along San Diego's coastline, disappointing to many tourists, is mostly caused by the sluggish warming of the ocean …
Don Braunagel: 1939-2011
After battling cancer for almost three years, my dear friend Don Braunagel died June 3. He was 72. Don recorded his journey in a blog on the site "Caring Bridge." Though he called himself "Indomitable Don," he fought with such …
Second Annual San Diego World Naked Bike Ride
As part of the World Naked Bike Ride, which takes place in 70 cities and 20 countries around the world, a gang of intrepid cyclists will be meeting at 1 p.m. this Saturday, June 11, at Evolution Fast Food (formerly …
San Diego SlutWalk
At 2 p.m. on Saturday June 11, thousands of self-proclaimed sluts will gather outside of City Hall for SlutWalk San Diego, a rally and march against sexual violence. The first SlutWalk was held last April in Toronto, four months after …
Becoming Violet Weston
Lois Markle quit smoking in 1974. To play Violet Weston, the matriarchal monster in the Old Globe's August: Osage County, she must smoke eight cigarettes each performance. "The smell's disgusting," she says. But since Violet ranks among the most demanding …
Elderberry in Bloom
Elderberry, two species of which range over most of San Diego County, is in full bloom this month. The flat-topped, creamy-white blossoms of this large shrub or small tree can be seen in the natural coastal canyon areas such as …
Seaport Village Ducklings!
It still feels like Spring when you see fluffy little ducklings paddling their way across the pond behind their mama duck. At Seaport Village, in the pond directly outside of one of my favorite bookstores, Upstart Crow, I saw more …
42nd Annual Greek Festival
I'm one-quarter Greek. My mother is half Greek and half Italian (Sicilian, specifically), and my father is all Irish. I hit the genetic jackpot for birthing hips. Though my father doesn't have any Greek blood, he loves the culture and …
Ten Cent Night at Moxie Theatre
Hewitt Finley, the famous country singer who wrote "Ten Cent Night," just committed suicide (you can see the bullet hole on the wall of his home). Folks who knew him can't decide which — the song or the suicide — …
Crape Myrtles and Western Azalea in Bloom
Crape Myrtles are in bloom around San Diego this month through the end of summer. This smallish, vase-shaped tree blossoms in colors ranging from white or pale pink to lavender, red, and blue. "Lilac of the South" is one of …
The Music Man at Lamb's Players
Lamb's has a summer season lined up, and the cast for Meredith Willson's wonderful tribute to Americana probably has other obligations. It's too bad the company couldn't put the near future on hold. It looks to have a monster hit …
San Diego's June Gloom
The cool and intermittently overcast conditions likely to dominate the beach and coastal areas through the remainder of this month, mocks the already sizzling temperatures inland. If it weren't for the ocean's enormous resistance to changes in temperature, the hottest …
Tijuana Bike Ride
Is cutting off bromobiles downtown and buzzing Hare Krishnas on your bike at Critical Mass no longer giving you that radical renegade rush? Head down to the Tijuana Arch at Avenida Negrete and Calle 1 for an 8 p.m. race …
Waxing Crescent Moon Debuts Tonight
The Thin Waxing Crescent Moon makes its debut low in the western sky at dusk tonight (Friday, June 3). The two stars you might spot just lower left of the moon are Castor and Pollux, which represent the heads of …
San Diego Ad Club Bash
Last night I attended the San Diego Ad Club's Centennial Ad Bash, celebrating San Diego's Top 100 Brands (of which the Reader is one). The event was held at the San Diego Zoo, at the Zoofari Outdoor Patio. Here's a …
A Chorus Line at San Diego Musical Theatre
I'd seen enough Chorus Lines, I thought, to eliminate all surprises: which stories will be affecting, which of the 24 auditioning dancers will make the final eight, even most of the jokes. What came as a surprise, as I watched …
Thriller Night!
Christopher Estrella, local dance choreographer, continues his search for walking-dead wannabes, "night creatures" and "things with forty eyes," to dance alongside him to Michael Jackson's Thriller at the San Diego County Fair on June 25. Estrella, owner of C-Star Productionz, …