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Desde la Logan – The Grand Orchid of Our Barrio: Chicano Park

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By Brent E. Beltrán

On Thursday, October 11 the architecturally aware people of San Diego got together to celebrate the annual Orchids & Onions awards at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. This annual event of architecture snobs serves as a fundraiser for the San Diego Architectural Foundation.

Local TV personality Sam the Cooking Guy MC’d the ceremony that hands out Orchids to new architecture projects that the foundation likes and Onions to those they think, well, suck. This year’s program received 149 nominations. Of which 134 were for Orchids and 15 for Onions. Nineteen awards total were given out.

What makes this year’s event worthy of writing about in a column about Chicanos and Barrio Logan is that the foundation’s Grand Orchid, the top prize of the ceremony, was given to Chicano Park and the Mural Restoration Project. Normally they recognize buildings but this year they stepped outside their narrow box and gave the award to a public space. A Chicano one at that!   [Read more…]

An Old Time Favorite: “Studio Diner”

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Almost a year ago I purchased a special coupon for the STUDIO DINER and, since it was one of my favorite restaurants, decided to ask one of my favorite people – Joe – to go with me and use it before it expired. And we had a grand time, because we had to spend $35 to benefit by the $25 discount.

I am surprised at how many people do not know about the Studio Diner. To quote their own page, “Wrapped in chrome, the diner is a welcome roadside stop. And, fittingly, it’s set on the lot of a working movie and TV studio, Stu Segall Productions. (Remember “Silk Stalkings” and “Renegade”? Currently filming “Terriers”.)

Decorated with “behind-the-scenes” movie-making equipment and serving comfort food with an upscale vibe, Studio Diner is fun for the senses.   [Read more…]

Ryan Dumps First Amendment for Faith; Does Romney?

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By Kit-Bacon Gressitt

Until a few years ago, I had a neighbor named Donna. Widowed well before she was ready, she plodded on, alone in her leaky house, unread mail and remembrances piling up in dusty corners. We invited her to holiday meals, cared for her dying cat, and, when the 2007 wildfire forced our town’s evacuation, she came with us, enjoying a prolonged pajama party in a small, borrowed apartment, raucous with four women. We ate out, watched movies late into the night, laughed about the yard-waste bag full of adult diapers Donna offered to share with us, found succor for our fears in chocolate and wine and camaraderie. And, while combing Donna’s hair one evening and avoiding a fairly large knob on her head, we learned that she was Mormon.

“They used to say we have horns,” she said, “like the devil. That’s my Mormon horn.”

I’d never heard that particular slur, and Donna laughed it off, saying the lump was just a fatty deposit, so I thought little of it — until recently.   [Read more…]

Reflections on Notes to Our Sons and Daughters

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I had no idea what we were going to other than it was a gala of some kind and we were expected to dress in kind. So I put on a nice outfit and admired myself in the mirror for a nice amount of time and then waited for a short time to be picked up by my beautiful sidekick. I didn’t need to know where we were going to know we would have a good time as that seems to be the only kind of time we know how to have. We like to joke, “Hey, we’re doing all right for old folks.”

I hop in the car (well, plop in the car, to be more exact for my age) and learn that our destination is the Port Pavillion on Broadway Pier, a venue at the very end of Broadway in which I had never set foot before this day.   [Read more…]

Video Picks of the Week: The Avenging Uterus, Hellfire with Deer Heads, and the Science Guy

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The extreme right wing depiction of science as a conspiracy of elitist lies used to undermine the authority of the family and biblical truth while promoting a dangerous liberal/socialist agenda has been given an undeniable legitimacy within mainstream Republican politics. Climate change denialism. The assault against women’s reproductive choice. Creationism. We speak constantly about providing a quality education for our kids that will enable them to be productive and competitive in the world, yet we elect a growing number of people to public office whose policies are dangerously, ignorantly anti-science. Do you think there will be consequences?   [Read more…]

Powerful Court Quietly Takes Marijuana Case That Could Shatter Federal Prohibition Laws

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Alternet / By Steven Wishnia / Oct. 11, 2012

For the first time in two decades federal courts will consider the science behind medical marijuana — and today there is more evidence than ever.

Once again, medical-marijuana advocates are taking to the courts to eliminate the biggest barrier to legal use—the federal law that classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug with no valid medical use.

On Oct. 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court that usually handles cases involving government regulations, will hear oral arguments on Americans for Safe Access v. DEA. It will be the first time in almost 20 years that federal courts have considered the science of medical marijuana, says ASA spokesperson Kris Hermes.

  [Read more…]

SDFP Exclusive: The Dove and the Cockerel

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Editor’s note: Steve Burns is a former cop for the San Diego Police Department and first introduced himself to the Free Press as a Sex in San Diego contributor. His 32-chapter novel, The Dove and the Cockerel, is set in the late 80s and takes place over the 72-hour period of an investigation of some murders. A new chapter will be published every Saturday. Chapter 5 will be published tomorrow October 13. Prior chapters are available.

Chapter One

The vibram resole on his black leather, steel-toe boots barely made a sound on the aging, cracked concrete sidewalk adjacent to the 800-block of “G” Street. The leather of the boots had been oiled and polished so many times it had long since forgotten to squeak with his steps — steps which carried a cautious authority well learned and developed through 18 years as a street patrolman. There was not the politically correct “Police Officer” found on the badges of his newer coworkers — those with less than 15 years — but “Patrolman,” now almost worn from his brass badge.
  [Read more…]

SD For Free – The Timken Museum of Art

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Just to the east of the Plaza de Panama parking lot in Balboa Park is a squat white marble building that contrasts with the Spanish Colonial Revival style buildings that dominate much of the architecture in this part of the park. This building is the Timken Museum of Art, opened in 1965. Although many of the museums in Balboa Park are free on certain days through the Residents Free Tuesday program, the Timken is always free to all visitors.
The free admission aspect of the Timken Museum makes it a nice place to enjoy without feeling the need to justify paying admission by staying for an entire day. A visit to reflect on a piece or two during a visit to Balboa Park is a relaxing way to spend an hour. Of course, a longer visit can be nice too and there are docent-guided tours available each day to give an overview of the collection on display and answer questions. Tour details can be found here.   [Read more…]

Hoping the Light at the End of the Tunnel is not the Start of Something New

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One day I checked into facebook and found the question: “What if when we die the light at the end of the tunnel we see is just us being pushed out of another vagina.”

My first thought was “Oh, God, I hope not.” I mean if I were on Let’s Make a Deal and had in my hand a certificate guaranteeing me a rebirth in a new body, I’m going with whatever is behind curtain number one. Because when I depart I will have left it all in the Milky Way just like leaving all I had on the court in my basketball days.

So, I don’t care if Wayne Brady says “Oh, Ernie, you could have had another life but you’re going home with a one day supply of Alpo!” After jumping around like I had won the lottery I’d run off and rent a dog for a day.
  [Read more…]

Homelessness Myth #25: Here a Homeless, There a Homeless

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For some time now, we have been aware of homelessness in our midst. In the 50’s, we called people without homes, “hobos.” The hobos were generally men who we believed chose the free and easy lifestyle of riding railroad cars and doing odd jobs for housed country folk in exchange for sandwiches.

In fact, the lives of hobos were romanticized through movies, including “Emperor of the North,” staring Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine.

Today, the fastest growing segment of the homeless population is families, including single mothers with their children. I don’t know anyone who believes that families choose a homeless lifestyle. There is nothing free and easy about their homelessness. And there are no romantic movies being made about their plight.   [Read more…]

Connecting the Dots Between Props 30 and 32: What’s the Union Busters’ Real Agenda for Education?

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Last week in the New York Times Adam Nagourney noted in his article on Proposition 32, “California Is Latest Stage in the Battle Over Unions,” that:

By design or not — and some union officials said they believed it was by design — the fight has forced unions to divert money from what had been their top priority: winning approval of an initiative by Gov. Jerry Brown to pass temporary tax increases to head off nearly $6 billion in new cuts in state spending.

“Labor has to stop everything it is doing to defend against this,” said Peter Dreier, the director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College. “It’s pretty effective in forcing the unions to spend a lot of their resources to stop this from passing.”   [Read more…]

This Week In the War on Women: If You Don’t Want to Get F’d This November …

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Daily Kos / By Kaili Joy Gray / Oct. 6, 2012

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired of the Republicans’ War on Women? Sick and tired of being told we’re “not ladylike” when we challenge them? That we “neuter” them when we stand up for our rights? That we shrink their penises with our feminism? (Well, okay, that one’s actually kind of fun, amirite, ladies?)

Come on inside for an It’s the Law… video and a list of cry-out-loud laws intended to restrict women’s rights and access to healthcare. Some of this is not safe for work.   [Read more…]

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