North County at Keep-A-Breast and Pannikin Encinitas
June 4, 2010
The Keep-A-Breast Foundation is a non-profit organization that uses art and educational programs to raise awareness of methods of prevention and early detection of breast cancer. They do great things and are definitely a great advocate for the cause.
On behalf of BLENDS, Florito and I made our way to the KaB office to discuss an upcoming project with KaB, Nike SB and Todd Bratrud. Should be very interesting. Super excited and its an honor to work with the KaB staff. Be on the lookout for the Comic-Con Weekend.
North county is beautiful. If all goes right, I wouldn’t mind retiring here. There’s a relaxing calm in the air along this coastal 5-mile strip of San Diego. The proximity to the ocean, the birds, the cyclists… everyone always seems happy in this part of town.
Pannikin Coffee & Tea. The best place to get coffee in San Diego north of the 8-Freeway. Easy. The building was a former train station before making its transformation into a coffee house. Rumor has it that the top floor of the building used to house a brothel. Pretty awkward thought as I enjoyed a slice of a zucchini walnut slice.
In Photo. Spectrum (Sonic Boom/ex Spacemen 3) and Heavy Hawaii live at the Soda Bar. San Diego, CA
May 29, 2010
Glimpses of Heavy Hawaii and Little Deadman at Tin Can Alehouse
April 22, 2010
After the Johnny Cupcakes Suitcase Tour, I drove just a few blocks north on 5th Ave to check out Heavy Hawaii and Little Deadman at Tin Can Ale House. I didn’t know about the show until earlier that day, so I was sans Leica. Heavy Hawaii just finished recording their new EP with Jon Greene and Brandon Welchez, and after hearing their live show post-recording, I must say that I’m really, REALLY excited for this EP. Aside from the sound issues in the beginning they played a great set that sounded very different from their leaked recordings.
Little Deadman. More than one man. All taller than me. Full of life. First time seeing this band play. I don’t know much about them, but they sound VERY good live. Below, listen and watch “Shooting Seagulls”.
Johnny Cupcakes Back to Basics Suitcase Tour at 5&aDime San Diego
April 22, 2010
On Monday, Johnny Cupcakes was on the San Diego leg of his Back to Basics Suitcase Tour and managed to gather about 250 of his fans in front of 5&aDime. Attendees dressed in pastry-punk garb (made popular by Mr Cupcakes) and lined up along G-St in hopes to get a chance to buy one (or a few!) of the Suitcase Tour-exclusive shirts. The tour allowed Johnny Cupcakes to meet, greet and share stories with the fans that have carried the success of his brand. Here are some of the photos that I took with my iPhone.
What I saw at Yeller Studio’s Paper Cuts Zine Swap
April 18, 2010
Everything seemed to fall out of rhythm for me yesterday. Woke up late, didn’t get the record I wanted, and I missed my nephew’s baptism since I had to work earlier during the day. Things quickly fell into place as my favorite newlyweds came down to hang out with me. After having dinner at The Loving Hut (try their lemon grass “chicken” btw), we made our way to Subtext to visit a few friends that were participating at Yeller Studio’s Paper Cuts Zine Swap.
It was a great turnout. Something about San Diego’s design scene is that it’s really, really small. There were a ton of new faces (with some coming as far as S.F.) compared to previous zine swaps that I’ve been to here in San Diego and it was a good time to just sit back and watch the local design community get together and mingle as they shared ideas. So many styles from different design backgrounds. Great job Yeller!
This is Christopher Brian Bilyeu. He’s the pencilman behind the edwinhimself “Mouths” logo. He drew a penis on his name tag and was really adamant about me taking a photo of it. I’m not sure why, though.
Christina Liu always makes the best pocket-sized zines.
Tyler Cristobal of Hollis Brand Culture and Matt Dominguez. Ren & Juli Nerida (below) share some laughs with Tyler. Great time, guys.
Noble Experiment. San Diego, CA
April 3, 2010
The first rule about Noble Experiment is, you do not talk about Noble Experiment.
Dirty Beaches & Jeans Wilder at the Whistle Stop. San Diego, CA
April 1, 2010
Last night, I made my way to the Whistle Stop to check out the Dirty Beaches/Jeans Wilder show. Attending the show by myself, I must admit that I was half-paranoid about coming off as the creepy guy that shows up unexpected at a party. Being a Wednesday didn’t help much either. In my head, showing up to a place solo and knowing most of the people there is definitely not the same as showing up to a place with people you know. I think about these things! But I was there for the music, anyway.
Sonically, Dirty Beaches (above) sounded very different than I thought he would. Listening closely, I definitely heard hints of Lux Interior… but in a 50’s crooner-throwback sort of way. He finished his set with True Blue, a song, that quite honestly was the only one that I knew. Definitely looking forward to the True Blue 7″ on Zoo Music.
Below, Jeans Wilder took us on another aural journey with the spacey echoes of his guitar. Is it me, or did he not play “Tough Guys”? I did leave the show for a brief moment (for like one minute!) so maybe I missed it? A great outing, nonetheless. Good thing I purchased his Relics comp to take home.
Inspiration Gathering and RRL’s Spring 2010 Preview Party
February 15, 2010
Two days after a full day in Los Angeles, I was back again to attend Rin Tanaka’s Inspiration gathering. It was me, Alyasha and Vince en route to Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar. After various detours, unexpected traffic jams and New Order’s Age of Consent on repeat, we finally made it to the show to catch it’s last hour. I’m kinda bummed that they stuck to their 5 o’clock closing, I was really starting to enjoy myself.
Saturday’s Inspiration attracted a collection of vendors, collectors and artisans dedicated to [mostly] vintage American clothing and lifestyle. A melting pot of surfers, gear-heads, rockers, hippies, denim junkies and mid-century enthusiasts all congregated under one roof to not only showcase product, but also to share stories. So much fun. Cheers to a great show.
The well-respected, yet humble, Christophe Loiron (Mister Freedom) was an exhibitor at the show. His work is second to none. You must check out his shop in LA.
We built quite an appetite in our tangent-embedded drive up to Santa Monica and Pete from Craft recommended that we stop by Soda Pop’s off La Cienega to grab some of their sandwiches. Soda Pop’s owner, Dave Puopolo, was nothing but helpful and was determined that we didn’t leave without a lion’s share of food. After finishing our sandwiches, he brought out a round of Buffalo wings and a sample of their homemade oatmeal cookies on the house. A kind gesture! Great food and great service goes a long way. Highly recommended.
After dinner, we headed to RRL on Melrose to catch a peak of their Spring 2010 collection. The free booze and the endless supply of Korean-style tacos kept the conversations smooth as old colleagues caught up in an almost high-school-reunion manner. A sales associate was kind enough to show me some of their 60’s inspired denim; which seemed to be one of their proud additions for the Spring collection [couldn't take photos though].
There were a lot of visitors that flew in for the Inspiration show and RRL seemed to be the perfect ending for the event. They sure know how to put on a great party.
