CITY WEEK
Our picks of the week's events
Music
Has it been entirely too long since you've communed with Jah? Do your dreadlocks need some company? Do you start bobbing your head the second you hear the unmistakable sound of a reggae beat? If so, you'll be thrilled to learn that Tribute to the Reggae Legends (formerly the Bob Marley Day Festival) has two separate dates and venues for your noodle-dancing pleasure. The first includes Barrington Levy, The Gladiators and Culture Profetica and begins at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, at El Foro in Tijuana, located between 6th and Revolution. If you lack border-crossing savvy, you can do your easy skanking to the sounds of Bunny Wailer, Eek-A-Mouse, Jr. Reid and many others at 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19, at the iPayOne Center, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd. in Point Loma. $20-$25. www.bobmarleydaysandiego.com or 619-224-4171.
All about love: Puerto Rico-born musician and composer Manny Cepeda and his band, Ritmo Caribe, play the kind of music that makes you want to dance. Cepeda is a Latin man with Latin sensibilities-rhythm is in his blood. His new album, however, turns things down a notch and makes you want to do something more along the lines of the horizontal tango. Romance, composed and produced by Cepeda, is all about, well, romance. It's slower and much softer than Cepeda's usual stuff. Celebrate the release of Romance Sunday, Feb. 18, and Sunday, Feb. 25, at Sogno Di Vino restaurant, 1607 India St. in Little Italy. Cepeda will perform his music as a one-man band in the intimate wine-bar setting. www.mannycepeda.com or 619-531-8887.
Activism
The presentations at the Sixth Annual Surfing Arts, Science and Issues Conference are a little like surfing itself: unpredictable and totally awesome. The two-day affair features a variety of surf experts, engineers, inventors and dreamers leading discussions on topics like eco-friendly “biofoam” surfboards, and projects like “Paddling the California Coast”-a plan to paddle from Oregon to Mexico to call attention to environmental problems. According organizers The Groundswell Society, “This event is gonna be almost as bitchin' as a good swell.” Don't let the $45 registration fee hold you back. The conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, and 8 a.m. to noon Sunday, Feb. 18, at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla. www.wetsand.com or 805-382-0657.
Theater
If you think your workplace blows, try dealing with the brass at a shabby Chicago real estate office, the kind where second prize in a selling contest is a set of steak knives and third prize is the termination of your employment (the winner gets a Cadillac El Dorado). At this place, the good leads go only to those with the shiniest track records, and the push-comes-to-shove competition eventually leads to a robbery, one with an upshot those involved couldn't have been expected to foresee. The great playwright David Mamet used to work in such a climate, and that's what fuels his Glengarry Glen Ross, running through March 18 at 6th@Penn Theatre, 3704 Sixth Ave. in Hillcrest. $20-$23. 619-688-9210.
Art
Wardell Brown's business card sports one of his playful illustrations. It's the head of an impish-looking dude who, we assume, represents the man himself. The caricature is a perfect introduction to both the artist and the artist's work. Brown has a twisted sense of humor and a natural artistic ability. He uses both when creating “Spifficated: Outside the Norm,” his syndicated comic strip, and his larger, more gallery-geared pinup art. Brown is just one of the featured local artists in The Day After Love, a group show opening at San Diego Sports Club, 1271 University Ave. in Hillcrest, from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 15. Other artists include Rod Mojica, Matthew Lorentz, Skidone, Becky Scheer and Amanda Suter. But wait-it wouldn't be a proper art show in a bar without a few bands, now would it? The Continental Kings, Old English and others will perform. 619-299-7372.
Nightlife
We've watched the boys behind The Visual Underground for awhile now, since their monthly short-film, animation, music and art showcases started up at the Whistle Stop Bar, where they rocked the nights and had people talking about 'em to no end. TVU has become so popular that it's finally outgrown the South Park bar. Starting Thursday, Feb. 15, the party is moving to The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd. in Midtown, where film, rock and art will remain the overarching themes. Goodbye Blue Monday and DJ Jav will supply the rock, projectionist JRS and artist Tim Walikis will come through with the art, and TVU's got the film. Doors open at 8 p.m. www.myspace.com/thevisualunderground or 619-232-HELL.
Special Events
How'd you arrive to your prom? Party bus? Limo? Back of Mom's station wagon? How about your bike? Good thing it's never too late to slap on a ball gown, get on a bike and go dancing. The cycling part of Bike Prom, a group-ride led by a few of San Diego's craziest and most creative bike gangs, starts at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18, at the fountain in Balboa Park. The ride will loop around the city for a couple of hours and end up at the Rubber Rose for some dancing and debauchery at 7:30 p.m., 3812 Ray St. in North Park. www.electricwarriors.com.
Moms having fun: Time doth fly. Generation X is settling down and the Baby Boomers' babies are having babies of their own. But the whole “kid thing” is a little different these days. One example is Gen Xers' unwillingness to give up their beloved coffee culture. This Thursday, Feb. 15, marks San Diego's inauguration into the trendy world of kid-friendly cafés. The Bump, an organization all about guiding new moms into manageable motherhood, is celebrating the opening of Java Mama, a café created with parents and caregivers in mind. Festivities include free playtime for kids, free pre-natal yoga classes, free coffee drinks, prizes and more. The café is located at 8250 La Mesa Blvd. in La Mesa. www.javamama.com or 619-337-0012.
Film
Even though Factory Girl's Sienna Miller was on some short lists, she was shut out of the Best Actress nominations for the role of Edie Sedgwick, a diamonds-on-the-soles-of-her-shoes kind of girl who got hooked up with Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce) and his crowd in the mid-'60s. Sedgwick became Warhol's movie star and had to deal with all the ups, downs, ins and outs that came with those fleeting minutes of fame. Factory Girl opens at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas, 3965 Fifth Ave., Friday, Feb. 16. www.landmarkthe atres.com or 619-299-2103.
