Head Crammers
Nudge these nuggets into your noodle
By CityBeat Staff
A new app called Buycott makes it easier for you to make informed decisions about what goes in your pantry, plus more things we like.
Paragraph Slam Night
May 23, 2013
Hear writers from the Go, Be, Write! group read paragraphs from their new projects and vote for your favorite at the end.
33 other Poetry & Spoken Word events on Thursday, May 23
By CityBeat Staff
A new app called Buycott makes it easier for you to make informed decisions about what goes in your pantry, plus more things we like.
By CityBeat Staff
A new app called Buycott makes it easier for you to make informed decisions about what goes in your pantry, plus more things we like.
By Alex Zaragoza
If the event sounds familiar, there’s a reason. Unsolicited emails from people in the local art community have been sent to CityBeat blasting the show as a rip-off of Parachute Factory.
By Kinsee Morlan
New Play Café’s production of The Coffee Shop Chronicles, a collection of seven site-specific plays written by up-and-coming local playwrights, continues with a sold-out show at 7:30 p.m. Friday May 3, and another on Friday, May 10
By Alex Zaragoza
A photography project called Visible Bodies aims to tell the diverse stories of transgender San Diegans in order to empower those in the community and educate those who aren't on the misconceptions surrounding trans people.
By Ryan Bradford
When it comes to art—and especially literature—it takes a lot to make me squirm. Yet, Frank Bill's novel Donnybrook made me cringe. Many times.
By Alex Zaragoza
Oceanside isn’t exactly world famous for its art scene. The Hill Street Country Club wants to change that.
By Kinsee Morlan
Inside Little Fish Studios, a new home for comic-book classes and workshops in Ocean Beach, co-owner and comic artist Alonso Nuñez is fighting the urge to finish his superheroes.
By Seth Combs
Neko grew up around that scene and has been participating in it since 1991, after he was initially inspired by the Old English graffiti lettering he saw at Grant Hill Park. He points out the Golden Hill mural at the beginning of a nearly two-hour tour of some of his favorite street art around San Diego.
By Anders Wright
The thought of starting a new film fest from scratch is certainly daunting, but Paul Parietti is giving it a shot. The first iteration of his Frequency Film Festival kicks off on Thursday, March 21, and runs on and off through April 6.
By Alex Zaragoza
Sitting on the patio of Krakatoa, the Golden Hill coffeehouse, you'll eventually hear the sound of an airplane ripping through the sky or a shopping cart full of clanking glass bottles being pushed down the alleyway by a homeless person.
By CityBeat Staff
Opening with a reception from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, Subtext Gallery’s Release the Kraken asked 30 artists to paint over vintage aquatic-themed works—those idyllic scenes of lakes, rivers and oceans that are ubiquitous at garage and estate sales—adding all manner of monsters and mythical sea-creatures.
By CityBeat Staff
Opening with a reception from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, Subtext Gallery’s Release the Kraken asked 30 artists to paint over vintage aquatic-themed works—those idyllic scenes of lakes, rivers and oceans that are ubiquitous at garage and estate sales—adding all manner of monsters and mythical sea-creatures.
By CityBeat Staff
Our picks of San Diego events this week include MCASD's art party, a Brothers Grimm-inspired exhibition and more
By CityBeat Staff
Our picks of San Diego events this week's events includes a sensitive project that's giving faces and names to San Diego's homeless population and more
By CityBeat Staff
Our picks of San Diego events this week
By CityBeat Staff
Our picks of San Diego events this week include the annual pride parade and festival, opening day at Del Mar and more
By CityBeat Staff
Our picks of San Diego events this week include the annual OTL games, an interesting art show at Noel-Baza Fine Art and more
By CityBeat Staff
Our picks of San Diego events this week include a Nola-infused brass band, a Cuban-themed party and more
By CityBeat Staff
Our picks of San Diego events this week include a mystical show at Subtext, the annual OB Street Fair and more
By CityBeat Staff
Our picks of this week's events include an art show in Barrio Logan and a new event celebrating refugees
By CityBeat Staff
Our picks of this week's events include a music fest in Sherman Heights, a feminist-led march and more
By Alex Zaragoza
Luckily for artist Nicole Waszak, whose piece “37 Months (Bubbles)” graces our cover this week, she’s far from dealing with any teen angst with her 4-year-old daughter, Nora.
By Alex Zaragoza
Luckily for artist Nicole Waszak, whose piece “37 Months (Bubbles)” graces our cover this week, she’s far from dealing with any teen angst with her 4-year-old daughter, Nora.
By Alex Zaragoza
The dark side of cat behavior, and other things that seem perfectly innocent, is explored in North Park artist Carrie Anne Hudson's "Prey," which is on the cover of this week's CityBeat.
By Alex Zaragoza
“The phrase ‘as the crow flies’ is about going from point A to point B in as straight of a line as possible, which is what a crow does because it makes sense,” explains Horton, who also owns $lave Skateboards.
By Alex Zaragoza
"I'm addicted to women. I love drawing women, and I love drawing naked women. But [for this piece] I felt like I needed to cover something up," Porter explains.
By Alex Zaragoza
When it came time to choose an art piece for our cover this week, we were divided between two worthy works by Alli Bautista, a Filipina artist from Rancho Peñasquitos.
By Jeff Terich
Cultists and new-age types spent the better part of 2012 obsessing over apocalyptic prophecies surrounding Dec. 21. But Andre Power, the artist whose “The Aquarian” is on the cover of this week’s CityBeat, found a different kind of inspiration from the miscalculated end-times prophecy.
By Amy T. Granite
John Antoski says that the three-dimensional artwork on the cover of this week’s CityBeat was inspired by the daredevils of Niagara Falls—you know, those crazy people who attempt to survive the great plunge in a wooden barrel.
By Amy T. Granite
Chances are, you laughed out loud at the adorable Batman twins on CityBeat’s cover this week.
By Amy T. Granite
CityBeat’s cover art this week is an illustration of Claire Boucher, better known by her stage name, Grimes, the Canadian electro-pop artist.
By Kinsee Morlan
On the surface, Vicki Walsh’s portraits look like masterful paintings depicting mostly older subjects whose myriad emotional states are profound and palpable.
By Anders Wright
Happy birthday, Ponyboy. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 adaptation of The Outsiders turns 30 this year. The cast is a veritable who’s-who of 1980s Tiger Beat pin-ups: Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe and Matt Dillon.
By Anders Wright
Happy birthday, Ponyboy. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 adaptation of The Outsiders turns 30 this year. The cast is a veritable who’s-who of 1980s Tiger Beat pin-ups: Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe and Matt Dillon.
By Anders Wright
There are two sorts of people in this world: those who are fully aware of Ricky Jay and his work and those who haven’t yet had the pleasure. Now, there’s nothing to be ashamed of if you aren’t familiar with him.
By Anders Wright
Michael Shannon plays Richard Kuklinski, the East Coast contract killer who was arrested in 1986 after committing a long string of murders.
By Anders Wright
Star Trek Into Darkness is the latest movie to warp its way into the fray, and it's got big shoes to fill.
By Anders Wright
Horror fans will rejoice over this piece of news: A new late-night series is being put together at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park by Beth Accomondo of KPBS and Miguel Rodriguez of the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival.
By Anders Wright
Director Esparza doesn’t have an axe to grind. His focus is telling a simple story, that of a family confronting unfortunate circumstances.
By Anders Wright
As usual, there’s no shortage of sequels and remakes (Star Trek into Darness, Fast and Furious 6, The Hangover Part III, The Wolverine, Man of Steel, Kick-Ass 2, Dirty Dancing, Despicable Me 2, Monsters University, etc.), but there’s also a couple of original big-budget movies I’m looking forward to.
By Anders Wright
Filmmaker Ramin Bahrani has made several excellent features about people of color living on the fringes of the American dream. Thing is, it may not be the version of the American dream you’re used to.
By Anders Wright
Filipino films rarely see the inside of a San Diego theater. That makes the kidnap thriller Graceland, opening Friday, April 26, at Reading Gaslamp Cinemas, notable enough.
By Anders Wright
What's happened to Matthew McConaughey? Usually when you ask that question about an actor, it's because he's sold out, opting for facile studio pictures over the interesting, artistically appealing
By Dave Maass
I liken Google Glass to Nintendo's "Virtual Boy," which was rolled out in 1995. We were promised the first 3-D, virtual-reality game system, but when I visited Blockbuster Video to try out a pair, I was unimpressed.
By Dave Maass
I liken Google Glass to Nintendo's "Virtual Boy," which was rolled out in 1995. We were promised the first 3-D, virtual-reality game system, but when I visited Blockbuster Video to try out a pair, I was unimpressed.
By Dave Maass
I love public records laws like a firefighter loves his ax. I love the heft of the federal Freedom of Information Act (or the California Public Records Act) when I slam it into the door of the establishment. And I love it when it gets sharpened.
By Dave Maass
I'm so furious with Google for killing off Reader that it borders on hatred. I feel the raw grief of an 8-year-old whose parents euthanized the family dog because he's the only one of the children who plays with it.
By Dave Maass
I've retired my Twitter account. As you may be aware, I left San Diego CityBeat three weeks ago to take a job with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that stands up for civil liberties in the increasingly digital world.
By Dave Maass
Pornography has long been at the forefront of online culture. Porn distributors have been the first to develop and experiment with new ways of media distribution, from streaming video to secure transactions.
By Dave Maass
I hand over about 10 times more of my money to headphones manufacturers, Apple and data-plan providers and the corpo-rations that produce the technology that allows me to listen to music than I do the artists who make music worth listening to.
By Dave Maass
Those who say dead-tree books are dead have not considered the longevity of the coffee-table book. Coffee, as a beverage, is in no danger of obsolescence, and a virtual coffee table is totally useless in supporting the weight of the new novelty mug you also received for Christmas.
By Dave Maass
Not too long ago, I saw a local journalist on Twitter defend U-T San Diego’s new pay wall with the following argument: Plumbers get paid for their work, so should reporters. Now, don’t get me wrong—I believe I’m worth paying. But that analogy is worth about as much as a flattened novelty penny from the Museum of Modern Irrelevancy.
By Dave Maass
A ToorCon badge isn’t just laminated card-stock on a lanyard. It’s designed with the intent that a hacker will screw with it until it releases some unforeseen potential.
By Dave Maass
Web years are like dog years. That’s to say, the technological distance between 2004 and 2012 might as well be a century.
By Alex Zaragoza
A Gaslamp Quarter building that once housed a theater full of dancing girls and a lady trapeze artist in the late 1800s and early 1900s now holds the city’s newest art space, Sparks Gallery (530 Sixth Ave.).
By Alex Zaragoza
A Gaslamp Quarter building that once housed a theater full of dancing girls and a lady trapeze artist in the late 1800s and early 1900s now holds the city’s newest art space, Sparks Gallery (530 Sixth Ave.).
By Alex Zaragoza
Some artists will create new pieces in one night for the exhibition The Day After. They’ll bring their sleeping bags and caffeinated drinks to the Voz Alta Project in Barrio Logan, working on Saturday night to produce artwork inspired by their surroundings.
By Alex Zaragoza
A semi-regular feature that highlights cool exhibitions we didn’t preview in the weeks before.
By Alex Zaragoza
The Green Public Art Consultancy is trying hard to combine public art and environmental awareness.
By Alex Zaragoza
One can argue that realism in art is boring. What's so interesting about a house or a chair or any other common object depicted just as it is?
By Alex Zaragoza
A lovely house with a perfectly manicured lawn and white picket fence may not always be what it seems. Indeed, many horror flicks are staged in such an idyllic setting. What terrors and tragedies lurk behind those beautiful silk curtains?
By Alex Zaragoza
Prolific San Diego artist James Hubbell's home in Santa Ysabel is well known in the art community for its beautiful design and collection of paintings, mosaics and sculptures that Hubbell created throughout a career spanning more than 50 years.
By Alex Zaragoza
Artists and art lovers who live in Oceanside are working hard to build a vibrant arts community there. So are Carlsbad residents John and Sarah Salisbury, who opened Craftlab Gallery on South Tremont Street earlier this month.
By Alex Zaragoza
It’s well known that public art can have a positive impact on a neighborhood. But what if the area benefitting from this type of beautification is more prone to Bentleys and tiny dogs wearing $300 collars?
By Alex Zaragoza
One of the great things about art is that you don't need to know how to create it to appreciate it. That notion rings especially true for Stuart Platt, owner of Suicidal Octopuss, a company he created in October to foster, exhibit and broker art.
So, yeah—1983. Some of you were dumping Sun-In on your hair and finding new uses for the word "like." Some of you weren't even born. Relive it, or experience it for the first time, at the Museum of Photographic Arts' Pop Thursdays event, from 7 to 10 p.m
So, yeah—1983. Some of you were dumping Sun-In on your hair and finding new uses for the word "like." Some of you weren't even born. Relive it, or experience it for the first time, at the Museum of Photographic Arts' Pop Thursdays event, from 7 to 10 p.m
pringtime is here and with the season comes the requisite blooming flowers, bunnies frolicking through meadows and street festivals offering good grub and fun.
The Mystery of Elle has the right makings of a great pulp novel: The story follows Angela, an orphan who finds refuge with a community of strippers, and Elle, the highest-ranking female San Diego Police Department officer who protects Angela’s group from the corrupt male cops in her squad.
Ask people what’s celebrated on Cinco de Mayo and many will say it’s Mexican Independence Day, which, as anyone who’s able to google “Cinco de Mayo” can tell you, is false.
The Unknown, an art exhibition opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 27, at Space 4 Art (325 15th St. in East Village), will draw attention to these phenomena, as well as other aspects of the occult.
Chicano Park is celebrating two major milestones this year. Not only is the park celebrating its 43rd anniversary; it was also recently added to the National Register of Historic Places.
For the show Righteous Exploits, writer Justin Hudnall will weave a single narrative of three generations from his and Noble’s families, with Noble’s grandmother, Helen Hosmer—an activist with a thick FBI file—playing a leading role.
Jean Isaacs’ San Diego Dance Theater and the newly formed White Box Collective is giving local artists and performers a new empty canvas on which to create performance and visual art at White Box Theater in Liberty Station.
“The audience gets dropped into the middle of a crime story that’s going to unfold throughout all these locations,” says Accomplice San Diego creator Tom Salamon.
Foodies often say that when it comes to tasting the best culinary offerings a culture has to offer, there’s no better place to look than on the streets.
By David L. Coddon
Its silly title belies what a cracking good play Bekah Brunstetter’s Be A Good Little Widow really is.
By David L. Coddon
Its silly title belies what a cracking good play Bekah Brunstetter’s Be A Good Little Widow really is.
By David L. Coddon
Any way you cut it, The Sound of Music is as sugary sweet as one of those cupcake joints, just not as trendy.
By David L. Coddon
Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities, on stage at The Old Globe, is a clenched-teeth family drama swathed in political overtones.
By David L. Coddon
The Odd Couple has been around so long you could almost call it a period piece: the swingin’ ’60s music, the smoke-filled poker games, the divorce-American-style oneliners.
By David L. Coddon
Moxie Theatre’s production, directed by Dana Harrel, basks in all of Puerto Rican playwright Rivera’s sensual poetry and magical realism, some of it more distracting than conducive to the storytelling.
By David L. Coddon
The appeal of San Diego Repertory Theatre's The Federal Jazz Project, a sometimes-thrilling collaboration between Culture Clash co-founder Richard Montoya and the sublime trumpeter Gilbert Castellano
By David L. Coddon
The trappings and doings at the mansion ooze opulence and preciousness in Act 1, in spite of the limitations of the tiny stage, before turning to something out of a pathetic reality show about the fallen rich in Act 2. An unlikely story for a musical? Not here, where the denouement is as harrowing as a tragic opera.
By David L. Coddon
Whether Henrik Ibsen intended A Doll’s House to be a proto-feminist work remains a topic for literary debate. But there’s no question that the tense and revelatory story is ultimately one of Nora Helmer’s self-awakening.
By David L. Coddon
Abraham Lincoln wasn’t the only one to have a gun pointed at him in a theater. Should you find yourself in the audience at Cygnet Theatre’s Assassins, you’ll have six or seven guns pointed at you—only nobody pulls the trigger.
By David L. Coddon
The new musical comedy by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak will go as far as Jefferson Mays can carry it, and that could be all the way to New York.
By Katrina Dodson
It's a summer ritual—swimsuit shopping. Nobody wants to strip down before a summer tan sets in, or a bikini workout has begun, but if you want to get a good suit, you must shop early.
By Katrina Dodson
It's a summer ritual—swimsuit shopping. Nobody wants to strip down before a summer tan sets in, or a bikini workout has begun, but if you want to get a good suit, you must shop early.
By Katrina Dodson
Always on the hunt for something new and original, I'd just heard about Sew Loka from a Downtown local and popped in on a Saturday.
By Katrina Dodson
I recently got invited to a costume party and decided to revisit a few vintage-clothing haunts I remembered from my teenage years.
By Katrina Dodson
Olive-oil specialty stores have been popping up all over town, so I thought I'd do some digging to see what the home chef or amateur foodie might find in these trendy boutiques.
By Kelly Davis
When you've been married for double-digit years, Valentine's Day is merely Feb. 14. Wait—scratch that. When you've been married for double-digit years, every day is Valentine's Day.
By Alex Zaragoza
If you’re anything like me, you have a soft spot for dollar-store finds—tacky goods and random knick-knacks that you buy simply because they’re ridiculous and/or completely stupid.
By Alex Zaragoza
Some food products are classics and should never be messed with. As our Grubby Bitch, Amy T. Granite, pointed out in her Jan. 2 roundup of food trends she’d like to see tossed into the dumpster, no fancy, chef-prepared ketchup will ever be as good as tried-and-true Heinz. I strongly agree.
By Alex Zaragoza
Surprise, surprise. The world didn’t explode on Dec. 21. Now we can all focus on saying goodbye to 2012 in grand fashion. Lucky for you, there are plenty of local businesses that have everything you’ll need to celebrate the survival of the planet.
By Alex Zaragoza
The holidays are lovely and twinkly and merry, and also a source of near-debilitating anxiety. I started my Christmas shopping in mid-November to ease the stress, but even then, my gift list keeps getting longer and my debit card’s magnetic strip is starting to wear out.
By Alex Zaragoza
You know those people who say they love working out—the ones who wake up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym just because it feels good? I hate those people.


