Let's recap the events so far peppered with some event commentary =)
Sin owed me for overcharging on the Christmas bottle I had so I decided to cash in. Management was gracious and covered tip too.
Jon Block of Walk the Walk Presents planned an awesome 30th bday celebration for Chad Smith. The set up he was rocking included Karl Strauss beer, bounce house with a slide, a hot tub, and the talented Dj Skull Crusher.
Everytime DJ SG hosts an event on a Sunday night at AC Lounge it's a sure fire fun night. It may not be packed but it's always good friends!
UCSD has a new venue on campus called The Loft. I came with my favorite Koreans to check it out and write about it on Yelp.
Also was able to check out this awesome band Anna Troy at Beauty Bar.
As you can see from my lack of posting around here I had a hard time figuring out what I should be doing with this blog. I had a friend advise me that I should consolidate this blog into my upcoming restructure of my main corporate site www.berichandcreamy.com
Many events later, about 3 months since the last time I wrote about my weekend exploits I've decided that I should keep this alive by refocusing what this blog is about.
1) Short recaps of the weekend out.
This isn't the place for personal blogging or deep retrospectives but to showcase some of the things happening around town.
2) Less about logistics and event planning.
Save this for the corporate blog.
3) More Pictures!
It'll make my job easier. Also I'll be linking to my soon to be released event photography blog.
I spent New Years Eve at the Ruby Room for Maystar's Club Fashion Whore. There was an optional prom from any era theme. Someone even showed up as Carrie!
Friday ended up checking out Electric Feel with Dance Party Central at the Beauty Bar. Tall cans of Pabst are $5! Miller High Life will always be my cheap beer of choice however.
Ended the weekend with the Charger after party at Red Circle. Didn't notice if there where any players but I wouldn't blame them. They went into overtime!
I took Friday off to recover from my midweek weekend. On Saturday I was going to work on my parking guide but then ended up checking out two new venues instead. First stop: Modus Supper Club and Lounge
Bonus points for the pretty lights.
the dinning side
the bar side
It is certainly an uptown place I want to visit again. I'll have to write more of my thoughts about the place in a deeper review.
On ward to location 2: Bondi
Keep wanting to call these bird cages.
Bondi's claim to fame for people have yet to actually step inside are these marvelous wooden structures/intimate seating. When you're walking west down 5th ave. there's no way you can miss it. It's pretty awe inspiring in person
These can transform into room dividers.
Bondi is huge! I just didn't taking enough photos to demonstrate that. I believe it is bigger than Visions but unlike Visions, if you're looking for a great place with no cover I
Looks like I never finished my end of summer blog. I'll put it up anyways!
Somehow I manged to start my weekend on a Wednesday. Judy was back in town from her internship so I tagged along to go see her many friends.
Starting the night off.
I arrived at a friends apartment and found out the plan was to go to Effins down the street and being the thrifty people we are I took whatever bottles were left from a previous bonfire to start the night.
Location #1
The guy on the right was impressed by my pinstripes and asked if I was a pick up artist haha. It turns out that everyone at that apartment was actually planning a get together on their own and Judy was there just to say hi.
Location #2
We then moved to Effin's to see Priscilla (on the right) I think it was the bday of the girl on the left. I was wrong again about this being the place we were going to to celebrate Judy's homecoming. I was thinking that we were going somewhere in particular but it turns out we were just visiting random people.
Location #3
You know how apartment complex building all look the same? I had trouble figuring out which place was our next destination so I asked Eye "Hey is that the place?" pointing to the open door I saw. Everytime I've visited these guys they've left their door open. Eye said yes it was so I ran in because I had to use the bathroom. I walked in and smiled at the girl eating oatmeal on the couch and was about to open the door to the bathroom when she asked "who do you know here?" where I replied "I know everyone in this house!" she then promptly asked Eye who was taking her shoes off at the door, "do you know X?". At this point I knew something was wrong, Eye pointed me into the wrong house!
Epic.
We finally reached our friends apartment two buildings down and still laughing about our earlier encounter burst through their open doors. As pictured above, I think they were a little suprised by our visit even though they knew we were coming. They were in the middle of pre-drinking before heading off to a party later that night.
Location #4
Since they were planning to leave and Judy wanted beer I called up Archie because I knew he was still stocked up. Somehow I managed to fit both Eye and Judy in a shopping cart and made it with out tipping them over. Upon a few minutes after arrival Judy passes out. How that happened, is still a mystery.
So to recap, I crashed this apartment party to meet up with Judy, then crashed a birthday party, then crashed into a strangers house, then crashed a pre-party, then crashed in on my friend who was doing home work for a record 5 crashes in one night. I don't think I've ever crashed more than two things in a night. Awesome!
Thursday W Hotel
Oh yeah SDTweetUp !! Hands down the best meetup.com group and THE best way to find interesting strangers to stalk err... "share in the ambient awareness of people"
Ok so I also take advantage of the free drinks and food. Not that I wouldn't go with out these bonuses but hey they are always welcomed!
Doing some networking
@awnisalan aka Alan of Nesian clothing
I owe this man a drink. In fact I'm going to message him right now. *goes off to twitter*
Pulling up to the Ivy
One of my friends came up to me in the middle of the tweetup and said "hey I got a limo that can get us into the Ivy", where I replied "There's no fucking way, Steve Aoki is playing!". Well my friend's friend works at the Hard Rock Hotel so maybe there was a professional trade going. I just didn't want to leave. Hour later I get the phone call that the limo was outside. Making hasty goodbyes, I jumped in and then RED FLAG OF A THOUSAND RED SUNS!
Homeboy brought his dad to party.
On paper, this entire plan sounded awesome. Limo, Superstar DJ, the Ivy, all on someone else's tab. In reality, when we got dropped off the first thing I hear from another douchebag trying to get into the Ivy say on his cell phone is "I'm in front of the poor line." Really? The poor line? You're going to announce to everyone in front of the club you're going into that they're poor? Bottles or knowing the staff at the Ivy by no means a measurement of wealth. You sir make club kids like me look bad. Doing bottles just to be snobby is Dbag factor 10. I hope you were denied into the club!
Anyways, the night quickly degenerated into me being dropped off in front of a bum and my friends in a situation of "the drunk leading the drunk" which I will not even begin to go into.
Wrong side of Epic!
San Diego Dialed In broke the news that Chasers Cocktails (3615 El Cajon Boulevard) has been bought out by Blue Foot Bar and Lounge (3404 30th St. San Diego, CA 92104). Public opinion remains mixed with some people excited about the prospects of the place getting a make over vs. the niche Chasers filled in with the community.
One of my friends planning to work with Jade Theater (701 C St
San Diego, CA 92101) heard they defaulted on a $12,000 check to a promoter so he ceased negotiations on producing an event. While I've personally have been there on weekend nights and seen the place packed downstairs (ground level is more of a lounge than dance floor) perhaps theres trouble brewing backstage at Jade Theater?
There's a Yelp review of the place stating that "they had to close the club early since there wasn't a lot of people inside". What makes this review noteworthy is that this is by done by someone who DJs this club!
While she argues that Jade is just too far from the rest of the Gaslamp it is only about 2 blocks away from places like House of Blues and On Broadway.
I would recommend making use of the ground floor as another dance floor by clearing out some of the seating area. Seating has already been expanded downstairs as the remodel got read of the bottle service focus. The top floor is not utilized at all and should be taken over to provide bottle service for the ground floor bar. The private dinning rooms are begging for champagne toasting.
View of ground floor bar from top floor.
Wow I took the whole summer off from updating my weekend exploits! I wasn't lacking in events to go to but just got behind on recapping my weekend. I'll try to keep this section shorter just so I can document what I've been doing and share initial thoughts on the events I attended.
Friday, went over to the Philippine Cinema Showcase at Ultra Sta Theaters in Chula Vista. Officially I was representing for www.filamfest.org but I have several people in www.sdaff.org so I split up my time between VIP, the vendor booths, and the mall food court since most of my friends showed up hungry but there were mostly deserts to be had.
PCS is:
"The San Diego Asian Film Foundation (SDAFF), in collaboration with UltraStar Cinemas, announces the launch in August 2008 of the Philippine Cinema Showcase, a year-long film series offering Filipino films for 365 consecutive days at the UltraStar Cinemas Chula Vista 10, located at 555 Broadway, Chula Vista, California."
Some friends in front of the SDAFF scrim. Actress Joy Bisco and SDAFF volunteer coordinator Megan Lam
Then I ended up at the Eileen's bonfire in Coronado.
Found some wood from craigslist and no we aren't in front of someones house.
Sadly, Coronado shuts down their beaches at 11 pm so around midnight we decided to head over to Alex's bachelor pad... err bahlorette. The night ended with some delicious Jack in the box tacos.
Saturday I ended up at Decos. I haven't been there in a long while and returning felt like seeing a relative you keep promising to visit but always put off doing. I certainly feel guilty walking into the place because my cover charge comped 3 times over.
1) At the cross walk a staffer offered us VIP tickets.
2) My friend at the door offered me tickets.
3) I already guestlisted us for open bar.
Top: DJ Fillmatic Bottom: The Eileen
I feel like I should be supporting the place more because my friends promote, DJ, take photos, bartend and random friends end up involve at events there. I just like diversifying and staying away from the ghetto crowds. (see my yelp review in a later blog.)
Top: Party buddies Aaron and the most awesome DJ Rampage
Check out how red I am in the above photo, thanks in part to the open bar. Really, if this place would only enforce a dress code of some sort like they used to I would be here more often. Music is guaranteed to be good without train wrecks in the mixing.
Then ended the night at Dennys with a bacon cheddar burger with mushrooms and onion rings on the side.
Throughout the night all we could say was "this place used to be Margarita Rocks?!"
I'm happy about the influx of higher class venues invading PB. You get to keep your relaxed dressed code without having to go a generic uninspired bar.
Well these are just my initial reactions. Now that there are new promoters I'll write about the place again after the next time I go.
I usually pick up all of San Diego's free publications to ping my what is happening radar. There's always something that makes me take note, so I'll be sharing these comments on the blog. I'll do it quick and dirty for now and expand this later.
Pacific San Diego:
I'm adding Clay's La Jolla to my list of things to check out. I enjoy top of the hotel bars with awesome views so I'll have to go and report on this sometime. Its at the 11th floor penthouse of Hotel La Jolla.
www.clayslajolla.com
7955 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla
944:
Snow Queen Vodka is deliciously package but more importantly it has double gold medals from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Also, you ever notice the medals Barcardi has listed? They're from two centuries ago! While the overall design is cool and it shows the history of the company, I just don't hear anyone new giving them awards.
La Puerta is billing itself as a Mexperience. Over on 550 4th st. they're really close to Calaco Grill. I'm unsure about having a Mexperience, sounds like getting abandoned by your friends at a TJ strip club with no money. The design on the ad makes me think it's a Las Vegas attraction. See for yourself at www.taco619.com
Arrive Like Royalty offers to chauffer you around in a Denail or a Maybach or some other super luxury car. I wouldn't mind trying that sometime. Actually what I'd really want to do is get a minivan valeted at the Ivy inbetween a Lamorgini and a Bently.
Dos Equis is now promoting itself as a premium brand with its "Most Interesting Man in The World" campaign. They're website www.staythirstymyfriends.com has a bunch of pictures of this stately looking gentleman who declares "those who spend too much time shaving below the adam's apple have too much time." I don't know if they're trying to be serious or funny but I'm applying to be his "assistant" for the money and free cases of beer.
Fruit of the Soul is an interesting sounding food, music, and art festival. It's also sponosred by what seems like a hundred different businesses. What really got my attention is that their logo looks a little like Finacially Hung's logo.
http://www.fruitofthesoul.com/ vs. http://www.financiallyhung.com/ All you need to do is put them together in animated gif and you got the ubiqutous Jesus house dj pose!
944 2008 Platnium Awards:
U-31 wins favortie bar but the place has space for events. It's also on my list for places I need to write about.
Stingaree and Eden win best night club/lounge although neither are loungy. 944 also says Stingaree has 6 areas to choose from which is very much a stretch. Last time I counted there were 3 floors. I don't know what the rest of San Diego is thinking but Stingaree is old news. Must be the celebrity factor. There's been tons of spoting and Paris Hilton was there a month ago. I count these as reasons not to go. Celebrities ruin a place in my opionion because I don't like hanging out with the celebrity hunting crowd. What I really want to point out is the lack of the Hard Rock Hotel winning awards. I think its because 944 readers can't GET IN. Ivy also won best hotel to hang out in. Hard Rock on the other hand, hasn't opened up to a promoter or a guestlist.
This town is a changin
Here are my predictions on the scene in San Diego:
I forgot where I heard it from, maybe the City Beat, or San Diego Reader in the Blurt section, it may have even been someone's myspace bulletin but Beauty Bar new management tactics of upping the bar tab displaced the quirkier artists and promotion acts and is now targeting main stream SDSU students.
Judging by the pics people have pointed out to me (I haven't been to Beauty Bar since 06?) I'm thinking its going to go the way of Bar Dynamite before they enforced a dress code. It's a more main stream dive bar where you can wear shorts and sandals to. I have a friend who's sad about having the place become more "normal" but there's all sorts of new places opening and all the previous Beauty Bar regulars aren't homeless. I don't plan on going there anytime soon until I get invited there for a birthday or something like that.
One of the places they've gone to is The Office. Built on top of what used to be Scolari's it's been seen as single handedly dividing North Park or at least that's how it's Yelp page is making it out to be. As soon as I can I'll try to get some pictures up of the new place.
Owners of Whiskey Girl have taken over Martini Ranch and turned it into Double Deuce. I find this amusing because we used to joke about Martini Ranch looking partly like a Whiskey Girl for younger people and that the remodel it went through made it a bit schizophrenic. So far it's the only country bar in town and while it looks pretty dead from the outside the place is still barely a month old. I haven't seen major marketing yet so maybe its just a soft opening?
Fine Spirits - Casual Dinning
so says the sign out front. This is a basic pub (not in the Basic sense but in the lower case basic sense) There's music, large windows opened up to the long and narrow patio area outside. Drink prices are moderate and staff was fast but still friendly. At the time there was $5 Tuaca drinks. There is a chalkboard by the entrance that lists the night's specials.
The pictures pretty much show it all. Oh and there is no cover. I'll be adding this place to my coverage of all the free to enter places in Downtown later where I make them duke it out over whats the top freebie spot.
www.gaslamptavern.com
868 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 239-3339
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