Around Town: Sunday Pink Encounter with the Susan G Komen San Diego 3-Day

So, a few friends and I went on our usual Sunday morning casual bike ride yesterday to Cabrillo National Monument. It was quite neat! Three of us had our Cabrillo Park Annual Pass with us, and so all 9 riders got in for free (if you plan to visit Cabrillo National Park more than 3 times in the next year, you should consider getting the pass. It's only $15 and allows you to bring 3 other guests with you into the park as many times as you'd like for 12 months. Just ask the ranger at the park entrance kiosk).

Two of my riding buddies at the bottom of Cabrillo tidepool hill.

A few of us gluttons for punishment went down to the tidepool and then back up, while the rest went and hung out at the visitor center. It was quite a gorgeous day to be outside! Of course, Cabrillo Park is gorgeous in just about any sort of weather, but some days are more photography-friendly than others...

Cabrillo National Monument, with Coronado Isl and Mt San Miguel in background.

We were making our way back along Ocean Beach Bike Path to the uptown mesa where we started when we popped up from the W Mission Bay Dr/Midway Dr underpass to find ourselves staring at a pink wall.

It was the generous folks walking the San Diego 3-Day event to help the Susan G Komen Foundation raise fund to find the cure for breast cancer. We were rather trapped! We had taken OBBP on our way out and didn't notice any sign about the event, and there was no surface road nearby to easily detour to (we didn't realize that the group was so big, else I might have suggested turning back to take W Mission Bay Dr bridge to the north side of the river instead). Our group leader decided to try to pass through the crowd, though, so we started tapping our bells and calling to the walkers that we were passing on their left side.

It worked pretty well, and the walkers were very friendly and accommodating. A few even yelled out for the people ahead of them to scoot right to let the 'bikers' pass. Of course, some of us weren't as patient and got a bit snazzy with the 'ON YOUR LEFT!' yelling, but hopefully the rest of the group was gentle and patient enough that we didn't leave too bad an impression.

I'm telling ya. Pink is the new black!!!

Hey, there were even bicycle cops there riding with the crowd and docked up in the coolest shade of pink! I like cops... especially when they're on bicycles! Never mind the 'us vs them' mentality that like to paint cops against cyclists or anybody else. Cops are people just like us... and just as I don't like to get lumped in with the inconsiderate light/stop-sign running idiot bikers, I'm sure good cops also don't like always being lumped in with their worst minority in just about every conversation. I sure would love to see more cops on bike on the road... especially the ones with the 'We♥You' license plate on their bike!

Morgen

Getting up early in the morning almost always feels sucky to me... especially when it's cold out. And, having been acclimatized here in Southern California for a full decade now, 'cold' is really anything cooler than 68F or so. This is when it's nice that many of my friends are reading what I say on a computer screen rather than hearing it from me face to face since by this time of year they would probably regard 68F as something downright summerly!

But, early rising only really sucks for a few minutes after I've gotten out of my warm bed, pulled on my cycling kit, and ride out into the cold morning. Once I've warmed up a bit and gotten used to the punch of cold wind in my face I get to enjoy the nearly car-free roads, quiet streets without the humming background freeway noise, occasional raccoons running across the road from one drainage grate to another, and some really cool morning vistas... like these:

Sunrise over Downtown San Diego from Shelter Island.

Torrey Pines lagoon in the calm morning before the wind picks up.

Gotch bridge over Rose Inlet.

Sunrise in Chula Vista.

Sunrise in North Park.

Sunrise in Rincon.

Cold weather... It's mountains cycling season again!!!

Guest Posting: SDSU Opera Theater Presents 'A Grand Night!'

SDSU Opera Theatre Presents A Grand Night!, a Celebration of Opera, Operetta and the Golden Age of Musical Theatre

(San Diego, CA) – SDSU Opera Theatre presents A Grand Night!, a sparkling celebration of opera, operetta and the golden age of musical theatre on Fri. Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m., Sat. Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m., and Sun. Nov. 17 at 3:00 p.m. in Smith Recital Hall, Music Building, SDSU.  The program will feature selections from Cosi Fan tutte, The Bartered Bride, Die Fledermaus, Candide, Brigadoon and Anything Goes, to name a few. 

Tickets for A Grand Night! are $18 general admission and $12 for students and seniors (60+).  An optional $50 Grand Guest ticket for the Sat. Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m. performance includes a pre-performance champagne reception in the rose garden, a tantalizing silent auction, exclusive reserved seating and complimentary parking.  A portion of each Grand Guest ticket goes to support future SDSU Opera Theatre programming.

Tickets can be purchased through the online box office or at the box office window one hour before performance.  More information, a map and downloadable directions and parking options can be found on the SDSU School of Music and Dance website at musicdance.sdsu.edu. 

 

Photo: Ken Jacques

A Grand Night! is conceived by SDSU Faculty members Enrique Toral, Stage Director, and Michiko Lohorn, Music Director.

Enrique Toral has won acclaim across North America and Europe for the beauty and incisiveness of his singing and for his dynamic stage portrayals. He has appeared on Broadway and with the New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Diego Opera, New Orleans Opera, Opera Carolina, New Jersey State Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera, Opera Tampa, Sarasota Opera, El Paso Opera and with the Music Festivals at Ravinia and Tanglewood. A passionate voice teacher, dramatic coach and stage director, Toral has served on the voice faculty at the SDSU School of Music and Dance since 2006 and served on voice faculty of the MFA program in the SDSU School of Theatre, Television and Film from 2008 to 2012.  As of fall of 2013 he is the new Stage Director for SDSU’s Opera Theatre.

Michiko Lohorn is an active San Diego musician trained as a pianist, vocal coach, choral conductor and musical director.  A graduate of San Diego State University, she works in the School of Music and Dance as musical director of the opera workshop and vocal coach.  Lohorn also serves as organist at First United Methodist Church of Chula Vista.  Her work experiences include elementary school choral instruction, San Diego Opera Education and Outreach, musical theatre productions, and many years of local coaching and performance.

SDSU Opera Theatre is a program of the SDSU School of Music and Dance and appears as part of the School’s 2013-14 season of performing arts offerings.  The SDSU School of Music and Dance presents over 200 concerts, recitals and dance performances each year, many with free or affordable admission. 

Still to come in the season is the brand new SDSU Showcase Concerts on Sat. Dec. 7, 2013 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Patrons will enjoy a music-festival style afternoon, filled with a captivating array of music and dance mini-concerts, interspersed by light bite receptions.  Patrons will self-select the mini concerts of their choice from a menu of delightful offerings including Orchestra, Wind Symphony, Dance, Jazz, Opera, Choir, and Mariachi and Band, then mingle with friends and other music lovers to savor a nibble during short interludes between concerts.  One-price tickets are $25 general admission, and $10 for children 12 and under. 

For up-to-the-minute news and information about all of the recitals and performances SDSU School of Music and Dance, visit the School’s calendar or connect on Facebook or Twitter.

The study of music was an early area of concentration at San Diego State University.  Among the first seven professors hired in 1898 when the university was chartered, was a music professor.  By 1907 the Department of Music at San Diego State University began conferring degrees, and a commitment to excellence in artistic innovation was dedicated.  This commitment fostered a long legacy of educational and musical leadership for the program.  Today it flourishes as the SDSU School of Music and Dance.  For more information visit musicdance.sdsu.edu.

Out of town for 2 more weeks...

I'm afraid I've been neglecting the blog a bit. I've been out of town for work since the first week of October and won't be back until Nov 3rd. So much going on that might get blogged about later. In the meanwhile, though, here is hoping everyone is having a good October!

(PS: Here's another cool recent discovery for me, a gorgeous little back road from Poway to Hwy 67 without having to deal with cars!)

October catch up: catty neighbors, scenic cycling, Lisa Batiashvili

Casey (the black cat) and Theo still ambush me by my front door every morning. I swear I don't feed them (their owner does a good job of that himself, Casey is now so rounded she looks like a black furry basketball with big yellow eyes at night!), but I do find it hard to walk/bike off without first giving them a good petting session. Casey is good about letting me leave... after having dished out some returned petting of her own, that is (she likes to lick... and you know how cat tongues are!).

Theo is a more curious character... She is longer and more slender, and almost surreally elastic! You bend down to tickle her ears and the next thing you know she is completely wrapped around both of your ankles! I don't know how she keeps her sense of direction being nimbly twisted around like that, but she's coordinate enough to give you a good whack with her paw if you try to disentangle and sneak off...

The relatively new feline addition to the neighborhood is Ally the alley cat. Apparently she was a house kitten until a few months ago when her owner moved away to a new pad that doesn't allow cat, so he left a bag of dry cat food with a neighbor and just 'released her to the wild'. Ally isn't more than a year and a bit old, I think... A really street smart calico. It seems everybody feeds her, but she remains as thin as a stick (probably has worms). She usually turns up at the alley carport outside my window late in the afternoon and meows to see if I'm around and have a tin of cat food handy.

Nowadays she has also memorized the sound of my bike! I'd turn into the ally on my way home, and the next thing I know she'd jump out from one of the bushes and then walk all the way home with me to get her supper! Even my 'I don't like cats' 92 yrs old neighbor finds Ally amusing.

Anyhow, I've been riding around town a lot, of course. A lot of people like to pit 'commuter cyclists' against 'recreational cyclists'... Well, I do both! Luckily enough my part-time job is just 45 minutes ride away (well, 55 min on return trip due to hill climbs). And when I'm not working, there is still nothing quite like a good ride into the traffic-free San Diego countryside to sweat off the stress while enjoying fantastic change of scenery!

I'm not telling you where my favorite cycling hang outs are... I'm liking them remote! ;o)

Can you believe the last two photos are just 30 minutes ride apart??? San Diego is a blessed corner of the earth!
Now, if only we can lure one Vesselina Kasarova or Lisa Batiashvili into town for a concert or two, life would really be perfect in America's Finest City!