Ride the City maps the best or safest urban bicycle route from point A to B. Presently featuring multi-lingual maps from New York, Chicago, Austin, Louisville, San Diego, and Seattle. Their blog posts updates about new cities added to the grid, or other topics relating to urban bicycling.
posted by netbros on Oct 29, 2009 - 16 comments

Fox Rox was a local music show that ran from 2001 - 2007 in San Diego. Here's the YouTube archive of more than 230 good-quality studio performances from bands as disparate as Electric Six, Blackalicious, Drive-By Truckers, Buzzcocks, Peaches, High on Fire, and many more. [post-mortem || myspace]
posted by milquetoast on Oct 22, 2009 - 4 comments

Divers [have been] spooked by tales of assault as swarms of aggressive jumbo flying squid invade the shallows off San Diego. No, not the return of Cthulhu; it's just a swarm of Humboldt squid. Here's a rather long talk with video images by one of the world's experts on these vicious nightmares.
posted by Joe in Australia on Jul 18, 2009 - 43 comments

Light-paint Piano Player, a short video by Ryan Cashman. (SLVimeo) (Via this small anthology of videos, which would have been the main link if so many of the best ones hadn't already appeared on the blue. Also: previously featured light painting.)
posted by DaDaDaDave on Jul 7, 2009 - 1 comment

Border Stories is a series of short documentaries about life on the US-Mexican border, none longer than 6 minutes. The subjects are: drug addicts on the border (warning: graphic images), electronic music group Nortec Collective, hospital costs of fence jumpers, lonesome Minuteman, Mexican emigrant safety patrolman, ranchowners whose land is an immigration throughway, US-raised 18 year-old sent back to Mexico, virtual vigilantes, two old men provide water in the desert, dangers of journalism in Ciudad Juarez, graveyard of US tires in Mexico, drug ballads, hardened border policy hurts cross-border community, another cross-border community fears closing of footbridge, working illegally in Laredo, mayors of the two Laredos, migrants' safe house, hand-pulled ferry, dentistry in Nuevo Progreso, Brownsville high school teacher protests border fence, golf course with the border on three sides & fishermen on the mouth of the Rio Bravo. Border Stories also has a blog about immigration issues.
posted by Kattullus on May 21, 2009 - 18 comments

The History of the Pussycat Theater Chain—When Cathouses ruled California A zany, photo-laden (mildly NSFW) story of the rise and fall of one of America's seminal theater chains.
posted by klangklangston on Jan 22, 2009 - 24 comments

Lady Dottie's a "sixty-something blues queen with body pillows for boobs and more swagger than Space Ghost." Her band, The Diamonds, is a bunch of young hard-rockers. (Think Kings of Leon or the MC5 backing up Etta James.) Their new record kicks all kinds of ass - as do their live shows.
posted by jbickers on Nov 20, 2008 - 22 comments

"I think we should get paid for it, don't you, Stan?" "I'll do what I usually do: he'll do all the work and I'll take all the credit." Stan Lee, comics legend, and Grant Morrison, fan favourite writer, sparring with each other.
posted by Artw on Jul 25, 2008 - 52 comments

Students for Sensible Drug Policy responds to "Operation Sudden Fall" [more inside]
posted by needsnoprosecutor on May 9, 2008 - 62 comments

Kumeyaay.info welcomes visitors and indigenous peoples of all tribal nations and provides a casual village environment to share and network their culturally relevant creative work, information and opinions. (previously)
posted by netbros on May 2, 2008 - 2 comments

40 years ago today. The day it snowed in San Diego.
posted by somnambulation on Dec 13, 2007 - 28 comments

The San Diego area is in grave danger right now from two major fires being fanned by Santa Ana winds. The SD Union Tribune is maintaining a special Google Map in real time showing what's burned, and what's in danger, who's supposed to evacuate, and where they're supposed to go.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste on Oct 22, 2007 - 204 comments

Warning: Explicit sexual content. "These firefighters dedicated their lives to save the lives of others. They did not sign on to become unwilling props to a controversial political and social agenda," says Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, representing a group of brave men in uniform who were subjected to "vile sexual taunts" at a San Diego gay pride parade. Via Gawker.
posted by digaman on Aug 8, 2007 - 339 comments

No trip to San Diego's Historic Balboa Park would be complete without witnessing some awesome street performers.
posted by snsranch on Jun 14, 2007 - 10 comments

"It's a gathering of tribes. Strange, nerdy tribes." The only guide to San Diego's Comic-Con 2007 you'll need, courtesy of The Comics Reporter (And former Suck.com contributor) Tom Spurgeon.
posted by Alvy Ampersand on May 28, 2007 - 15 comments

On May 17, 1995, Shawn Nelson stole a tank and took it for a little drive (Google Video, YouTube).
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Dec 15, 2006 - 36 comments

Mysterious Boom felt throughout Southern California this morning with no explanation. USGS claims there were no quakes, meteorologists claim nothing in the weather could have caused it, military bases are claiming that nothing they were doing would cause such a rumble, and air traffic controllers state that no supersonic flights were taking place in the area (no sonic boom). I was awoken by the shaking and the car alarms that followed. If it's none of the above, just what caused it?
posted by afx114 on Apr 4, 2006 - 119 comments

Buddy Blue, 1957-2006 California roots/blues/rockabilly/jazz/swing hero Buddy "Blue" Seigal, 48, died Sunday of a heart attack. He was a founding member of the Beat Farmers, the Jacks and the Rockin' Roulettes and had a long twisted solo career. Besides being a singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer -- you'll find his name on CDs by everybody from Screamin' Jay Hawkins to the Forbidden Pigs -- he was a talented music journalist. He was notoriously difficult. But he was much loved. Instead of a show by the post-Country Dick Montana "Farmers" on Friday, there will be a memorial.
posted by kenlayne on Apr 3, 2006 - 9 comments

Room With A View. Has the view out of your living room window become boring and stale? No problem, build yourself a million dollar Rotating Home. A former office manager, self prclaimed "hobbyist" Al Johnstone has built quite the technological feat [PDF] despite having no engineering background, obtaining around 30 patents in the process.
posted by afx114 on Feb 13, 2006 - 19 comments

LA Bars & Restaurants of the 30s 40s 50s 60s as well as motels on Route 66, movie palaces, Vegas motels and all things Googie [previously discussed]. If I ever make it to the States this will be my guidebook.
posted by tellurian on Nov 7, 2005 - 15 comments

Terrorists from Antarctica. Two Seaworld penguins flying out of San Diego airport are sent walking through the metal detector. Better safe than sorry. via BoingBoing, via Schneier
posted by matteo on Apr 23, 2005 - 44 comments

Just a week in the life of a san diego county police officer. Linked from YouCSD, a news alternative weblog for the UCSD community.
posted by radiosig on Dec 5, 2004 - 28 comments

"It's a tragic event ..., but it's an example of the American spirit of protecting our assets." Interesting/odd quote regarding a Firefighter who lost his life yesterday saving the historic mining town of Julian in San Diego County. Tragedy aside, since when is having/protecting stuff a part of the "American Spirit?"
posted by afx114 on Oct 30, 2003 - 29 comments

Santa Ana Speeds the Spread of So Cal Fires
Five separate fires are burning in San Diego County, including several densely populated suburban areas. Dozens of homes have been burned. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar has been affected, including an FAA air traffic control installation. 16,000 people in the South Bay lost electricity when a major distribution line went down. Many San Diego firefighters went up to Camp Pendelton yesterday. (1, 2)
posted by rschram on Oct 26, 2003 - 42 comments

Port of San Diego Considers Gigantic, Cartoonish Eyesore for Park Sculpture
An unsolicited proposal for a 200 foot long, 50 foot high sculpture in bronze, granite and water is under review by the public art committee of the Port of San Diego. The artist is A. Wasil, a master builder of the Robert Kaskey (Portlandia, WWII Veterans Memorial) school. The presentation is high tech, the concept is 'bold,' the corporate backers are many (and they're bidding for naming rights). One problem: it sucks. Read Robert Pincus's review of a piece of public art he (and I) hope will never be.
posted by rschram on Jul 28, 2003 - 62 comments

ZoomView is a satellite image of Baghdad from March 27th that allows zooming to the level of cars and individual trees and panning around the city. Data loads realtime called "sharpening". Other cool ZoomViews of Basra, Tikrit, North Korea nuclear reactor site, Qualcomm Stadium San Diego.
posted by stbalbach on Mar 29, 2003 - 11 comments

Today's Big Championship -- Oh...was there some game or something in San Diego.
posted by fpatrick on Jan 26, 2003 - 17 comments

Comic-Con is coming If you live on the west coast and are even tangentially interested in comics, you should head to San Diego this week. The biggest convention in the country starts Thursday and there WILL be costumed weirdos. (and even worse, web cartoonists)
posted by clango on Jul 29, 2002 - 7 comments

Judge declares terrorism detainments unconstitutional (NYTimes link) - A federal judge in NY has ruled that the Justice Department abused the material witness statute when it imprisoned a Jordanian college student living in San Diego. The Justice Dept is, of course, appealing the ruling.
posted by Irontom on May 6, 2002 - 8 comments

Michael Moore San Diego Near Arrest Blown Out of Proportion: Despite Moore's implications that his appearance was somehow a courageous act of dissent, it turns out that the whole thing was a harmless followthrough with a permit: a trivial book signing session, not a rally storming the gates. Is Michael Moore a legend in his own mind? And with self-designated spokesmen of this egotistical caliber, how can the Left as a whole expect to be taken seriously?
posted by ed on Mar 21, 2002 - 28 comments

Human flag. 72,000 San Diegans came out this past weekend to make a human stars and stripes. Apparently the FAA wouldn't give clearance for a helicopter to take aerial photos. How ironic.
posted by afx114 on Sep 23, 2001 - 8 comments

Judge Dismisses 300 Tickets Spawned by Red-Light Cameras.
"Judge Ronald Styn of San Diego County Superior Court said the camera evidence was inadmissible..." Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this Halcyon's dad? Have you ever gotten a dreaded red-light camera ticket? Did you get out of it? Better question: Have you ever had to appear before Halcyon's dad?
posted by Hankins on Sep 5, 2001 - 18 comments

A couple months ago, a panda was born at the San Diego Zoo. It was a big achievement and the team is chronicling the progress online. Also, thanks to the wonders of the web, you can see it live at the panda cam page. Right now, I'm seeing the panda tossing in its sleep.
posted by mathowie on Nov 1, 1999 - 0 comments