south park walkabout

the holidays are here, the annual crunch time for many local businesses, but this year has an increased urgency due to the weakening economy. with that in mind, it's definitely worth checking out south park walkabout next saturday, december 6th. you can help support the businesses along fern and 30th that will be part of this community event from 6-10 pm. having attended a few years ago, we can vouch that it's well worth your time (and potentially some of your gift-giving money). several cafes and restaurants will be open too, to keep you going.

other stuff: we managed to catch the end of the 3-6 pm happy hour at la puerta downtown on a rainy, quieter-than-usual weeknight tonight. very good value for your money, with half off all appetizers and menu cocktails. the lack of a crowd gave the place a different feel than our previous visits, and unfortunately the generic classic rock soundtrack (two grateful dead songs in 15 minutes?) became more annoyingly present than usual.

things aren't looking good for the downtown library given the city's budget situation and the economic downturn. maybe it's time to scale back the project to something financially achievable, focusing on internet and digital resource access, rather than floors of books. there are plenty of examples of other cities that have taken alternative approaches to what a library can be.

i was whining a while back about the lack of good public art in san diego, but while on vacation i missed this article in the UT about french artist bernar venet's work on display at the embarcadero, which is a pretty big deal by san diego public art standards. UT art critic robert pincus notes that venet's gallery largely footed the bill, and that:

he's also giving the city a bona fide solo exhibition for an artist with a considerable international reputation – something the Port of San Diego hasn't been able, or has been unwilling, to do on its own.

if it takes turning the embarcadero into one big outdoor art gallery for the Port to provide good public art, then do it. just keep the price tags off the art work.