Not too old for a wardrobe malfunction

While driving past the Star of India this foggy morning, I thought I spied a certain laxness in sail maintenance. This couldn’t be, though, as the dedicated volunteers at the Maritime Museum of San Diego take such good care of the old girl (and besides, she just came out of dry dock). I suspect this is, in fact, her “Halloween costume,” and she is playing the part of a pirate ship.

Turns out she is dressed up for some upcoming Halloween events: lantern-led tours on the evening of Friday 10/30, and on Saturday 10/31, a carnival and costume contest, followed by more lantern-led tours.

Sounds like a good place to take your little pirates. For tickets or more information, please see the Maritime Museum’s events page.

If you like getting up early, enjoy a walk in the park, and want to support a worthy cause, you’re in luck this week. The 20th Annual AIDS Walk San Diego, the largest one-day HIV/AIDS fundraiser in San Diego County, is being held this Sunday.

The 5K walk starts at 8:05 AM, and the 10K run starts at 8:00 AM. The starting point is in Balboa Park near the corner of Sixth Avenue and Quince Street. Online registration is now closed, but you can register in person starting at 6:00 AM at the registration tent at Sixth Avenue and Olive Street.

Supporting local HIV/AIDS services is especially important this year, as state budget cuts have slashed funding by $1 million in San Diego and $83 million statewide. That’s money that won’t go to testing, prevention, education efforts, treatment for those with low incomes, or counseling for those infected and affected. The money raised at this event stays here in San Diego and supports dozens of local groups and programs which might not otherwise exist.

I’ll be walking with the Qualcomm team. Show you care and make a donation today!

The next SD Tweetup on August 8th was already shaping up to be a doozy: the site is the Del Mar Racetrack, the entertainment is swing band Big Time Operator, and attendees will get private seating, private betting booths and tech swag galore. TechZulu is providing live streaming and will debut their show TechPunch with host Amanda Coolong there. Though the SD Tweetup had never charged for admission before, $35 seemed like a steal for such a great day at the races.

Would you believe it’s now free?

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Los Amigos Invisibles are a fantastic band from Venezuela. They play a mélange of funk and disco flavored with Latin rhythms and put on one of the very best live shows I have seen. They’ll be at the House of Blues on Thursday August 6th.

If you miss their show, you might want to pick up one of their albums; their latest is titled Commercial.

Hurry, the show tomorrow at the San Diego Repertory Theater is the last one. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s funny. Really, really funny! Although The Complete History of America (abridged) was premiered by The Reduced Shakespeare Company in 1993, it has been updated with references to Obama, Gitmo, and more. The company can be found on Twitter and have a podcast too.

It’s Bowling for the Animals (B4A) time again. The eleventh annual event will be held Sunday, April 26^th at the Vista Entertainment Center. With snacks, a raffle, and bowling it’s sure to be good, clean, family fun. Proceeds this year go to the Spay Neuter Action Project to help build a new Stationary Spay/Neuter Clinic which will provide family planning to cats, dogs, and bunnies. Help the Bun City Bowlers by visiting http://www.firstgiving.com/judithpierce and sponsoring them and, if you can, come to the event and cheer them on.

Sea Lions

Dolphin

I won a couple of tickets on twitter (thanks LG!) for the Hornblower Whale watching cruise last Saturday morning. It’s a 3-1/2 hour whale and dolphin watching event out of the Cruise Ship Terminal located in downtown San Diego.

The last time I went on a whale watching trip was a very long time ago on a fishing boat that was nothing like the large yacht we were on for this trip. The Hornblower Adventure has plenty of room with three decks available for viewing all of the sights out on the ocean.

It was a beautiful day to be out on the water. The air was clean and we enjoyed the scenery as we chatted with our fellow travelers.

We saw sea lions and dolphins, but sadly no whales, as it was late in the season. Not to worry though, because of Hornblower’s whale sighting guarantee, we received a couple of “rain check” tickets so we can go out again earlier next season. I’m looking forward to going back out again!

Hornblower Cruises & Events
1-800-ON-THE-BAY
www.hornblower.com

Sonic Cheeseburger

So if you’re anything like me, you’ve lived in San Diego a while and you watch TV. … okay well I guess “up till 2am watching cartoons on adult swim and cartoon network, piddling on the internet, and generally causing trouble”. If that’s anything near you then you’ve probably been seeing the commercials for sonic burger on tv for YEARS NOW.

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See the San Diego Derby Dolls this Saturday!

Roller derby. Fishnets. Catfights. Hairspray. Sweat. Lip gloss. Kneepads. Admit it…these words have already got you turned on and scouring Netflix for a copy of Raquel Welch in Kansas City Bomber.

How about something even better? This Saturday, there will be live roller derby action at Del Mar.

The San Diego Derby Dolls, the pre-eminent banked and flat-track local roller derby league, will be fielding their flat-track team the Wildfires in a bout against the Central Coast Roller Derby on Saturday, April 4 at Wyland Center Hall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. General admission tickets are $13 in advance at http://www.derbydolls.com or $15 at the door. VIP bleacher seating is $20, and kids 7 and under get in free.

I saw a few bouts when the Dolls used to appear monthly at SkateWorld in Linda Vista, and believe me, they are some serious ath-a-letes. With names like Isabelle Ringer, PT Bruiser, Splint Her and Kiki Diazz, they’re also kinda scary. Don’t tell them I said so.

To get a taste of what’s coming, check out the Derby Doll’s YouTube channel.

Dizzy’s, a project of musician Chuck Perrin, is currently hosted by the San Diego Wine & Culinary Center at 2nd & J Street. On many nights of the week, one can have a nice, simple meal and listen to great music! Dizzy’s upcoming calendar has dates featuring Gilbert Castellanos, Jaime Valle, Kendra Shank, and Peter Sprague.  It’s an all-ages venue, so you can bring the niece or nephew with musical aspirations along. You can purchase a meal or beverages with plastic, but Chuck only takes cash for the cover; be prepared! See the FAQ for any questions you may have. I hope to see you there some night soon.