Entertainment/Arts

CSUSM Democracy in Action touts public art

When San Marcos city officials were looking for guidance on how to proceed with their plan to install public art in the emerging North City neighborhood, they knew just where to turn.  They went to their trusted community partner in Cal State San Marcos and tapped into the collective brainpower of 25 Art, Media and Design majors. Last month, members of the upper-division class Art and…


Yes, Mayor Pete, Pala has a wine cave, too

Dateline Los Angles Democratic Party Presidential Debate: A fund-raiser for Pete Buttigieg held in a wine cellar in Napa Valley elicited the most strident clash between the Democratic candidates at a debate Thursday night after a mostly staid discussion of policy platforms and impeachment, leading to a round of criticism of the mayor that continued into a later exchange about his previous criticisms of Washington…


Appreciating Escondido City Hall public art

As I walked around Escondido on Saturday, I happened upon some beautiful public art near City Hall. My first photos show an installation called Circle of Music. The four sculptures, fitted with speakers that play soft music, are part of the larger Monuments to Time in the Corridor of Life, Art and Culture, a series of interactive pieces created in 1998 that extend from the…


Used books still in style at Cassidy’s

(Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end as Cassidy’s Books closed its doors in July 2020. This story, alas, must serve as an homage to what ws once an incredible experience for those who love books.) Tom McDevitt’ sat behind the large front counter at Cassidy’s Books, in the shadow of Fry’s Electronics at a back-of-the-curve, out-of-the-way strip mall considering North…


From Janis Joplin to Vista biz for Lee Bittner

Times they have a-changed since the countercultural 1960s. So has drummer-turned-Vista-restaurant supply company owner Lee Bittner — to a degree. A former drummer with Janis Joplin’s Big Brother & the Holding Company, Bittner, 54, has toned down his personal act somewhat these days. But he maintains a lot of the core values of that youthful age which he combines with modern-day business acumen and a…


Woodstocked celebrates hippiedom while raising funds to locate missing persons

Who: Leon Hendrix, Jocko Marcellino, Roni Lee, Greg Douglass, Thomas Alan Connor, and many more… What: live music “Hippie-fest” featuring celebrity musicians, and some of the BEST local San Diego musicians. Where: Full Circle Saloon, 8528 N. Magnolia Ave. Suite 105, Santee, California 92071. When: 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. Why: To celebrate and commemorate the 50th Anniversary Of Woodstock and…


Three-Dot Lounge goes loco, er, local

There was a method to the madness of presenting San Francisco legend Herb Caen’s three-dot lounge history along with its various re-interpretations. That was to set up Escondido Grapevine’s own three-dot lounge approach to local and state news. For more about the concept, visit our story here. For more local three-dot news, keep on trucking below… Time to get smART at the Seventh Annual Escondido Youth…


Welk Resort Theater 2019 season begins

Welk Resorts Theatre today kicked off its 2019 season this week with San Diego theatre royalty starring in “Menopause the Musical.” The 29th season of the famed Welk Theatre, which underwent a lobby remodel in 2018, also features Tony Award-nominated “The Addams Family,” which will run Sept. 6 to Nov. 10, and Larry Raben‘s new “Welkome Home for the Holidays!” running Nov. 22 to Dec….


It’s on for new Palomar $1M presidential suite

Construction of Palomar College President Joi Lin Blake’s $1 million office suite is moving forward after she defended the project on Friday to the school’s committee that oversees bond spending. Committee member Michael Hunsaker asked the group to consider cheaper options for Blake’s office after inewsource reported that the college is spending bond money to remodel its new $67 million library to build a top-floor…


Dr. Bronners goes from soap to Moonlight

Whether it’s Lil Debbie shilling out relationship advice or Sunny D igniting a conversation about depression, contemporary brand Twitter can be a depressing and dark place. Nothing feels more cynical than when a brand appropriates the standardized millennial voice — ironic, detached, dejected — and uses it to hock their emulsified meat products and drinkable corn syrups. There’s no commitment to justice here, there’s just…