San Diego Unseen: An Urban Portrait
Lunchbox by Vincent Robles
Curator training: Remembering childhood events can be a tricky thing. The older you get, the blurrier things become. The students of San Diego Mesa College’s Museum Studies Program have decided to look at this phenomenon—the “lines between youthful fantasy and the reality of adult recollection”—in a show they’ve organized and curated themselves called All That Remains. We’re impressed by the lineup of artists the students have chosen. Featured artists include John Dillemuth, Melissa Beck, Vincent Robles, Amber Odhner and Micajah Truitt. The show opens from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, at Sushi Performance & Visual Art (320 11th Ave. in East Village). sushiart.org
Special Events
Bike it: If you picked up our Best of San Diego issue last week, you may have read our take on El Cajon Boulevard, “Best resilient major thoroughfare.” It’s the boulevard that just keeps on keeping on. From noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement District will show it off with the first-ever Bike the Boulevard event. Start at noon at Live Wire (2103 El Cajon Blvd. in North Park) for beer specials and $1 slices from Luigi’s Pizzeria and end up at Til Two (4746 El Cajon in City Heights) for a performance by The Old In & Out, with stops in between at places like Bedouin Vintage (for shopping), the Media Arts Center (for a film) and Soda Bar. Participants will learn more about a local bike-commuter program and receive discounts on the program’s membership. theboulevard.org
Books
Damned either way: A native of southern Sudan, Augustino Nyigillo has come a long way since settling with his family in El Cajon. In his new book, Calamities, he recounts how he had to abandon his life and escape the threat of genocide in his homeland, a region that’s been haunted by conflict for generations, only to face discrimination and alienation as he made a dicey trek through the Middle East. It’s a deeply personal story, but it also sheds light on the common struggles of the Sudanese Diaspora. learn all about it when Nyigillo reads and talks about Calamities at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at Borders Plaza Bonita, 3030 Plaza Bonita Road in National City. tatepublishing.com
Discussion
Misty water-color memories: It’s not often that you’ll find two memory experts in one room, one a scientist and one an artist. But that will be the case on Thursday, Nov. 18, at the Neurosciences Institute auditorium (10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive in La Jolla) when the Bronowski Art & Science Forum holdsits latest talk, Lest We Forget—Memory: Conversations with Professor Elizabeth Loftus and Artist Deborah Aschheim. The pair will engage in a conversation about memory that pertains to each of their respective fields. Loftus, a professor at UC Irvine, studies human memories and the way they can change based on what their holders are told. Aschheim, a Los Angeles artist, is more interested in the ideas of perception, brain functions and thought. The evening will begin with a prelude at 6:30 p.m. by guitarist Paul Abbott. bronowskiforum.org
Film
Back to the start: Jesus Treviño made his career directing episodes for TV shows like ER, Law and Order and NYPD Blue. A couple of years ago, he decided to take a break from TV and focus on a documentary highlighting the Chicano-arts movement in the U.S. The product, Visions of Aztlan, screens at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at the Centro Cultural de La Raza (2004 Park Blvd. in Balboa Park). The film explores the birth of Chicano art amid 1960s political uprisings and the movement’s ongoing ties to community- and social-justice issues. A Q&A with Treviño follows the film at 8 p.m., but be sure to show up for the reception (6:30 p.m.), where you can check out the exhibition Sacrilege: Desecration, Destruction and Deconstruction of Chican@ Heroes, Idols and Icons, on display at the Centro through Dec. 5. $5. centroculturaldelaraza.org
Music
School recital: In what could be the best school symphony performance ever (certainly the coolest we’ve ever heard of), the Westview High School GOLD Orchestra will share the stage with 3 Leg Torso, a crew of classical maniacs from Portland’s international-folk-music scene. The group is touring for its latest album, Animals & Cannibals, which was funded by fan pre-orders through Kickstarter (check out their hilarious “thank you” video at youtube.com/3legtrso). 3 Leg Torso is high-energy and devious, and we’re impressed as hell that the Westfield Wolverines are living up to their name with this fierce performance. The show starts at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, at the Westview Theater, 13500 Camino del Sur in Torrey Highlands. Tickets are $15 adults, $10 students. powayusd.com/pusdwvhs, 3legtorso.com
Not-so-basic accordion: Guy Klucevsek has serious accordion chops; his skills have taken him around the world and back, to Broadway and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (seriously) and into collaborations with boundary pushers like Laurie Anderson, Bill Frisell and John Zorn. Klucevsek, 63, will do his thing at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, at Sushi Performance and Visual Art (390 11th Ave. in East Village) as part of the Fresh Sound Series, which features musicians who test the limits of their instruments. Then, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, Klucevsek will perform at the Museum of Making Music, 5790 Armada Drive in Carlsbad. Tickets for both performances are $15 general, $10 students. freshsoundmusic.com, museumofmakingmusic.org
