- Susan Atkins | PHOTO: BOB ROSS PHOTOGRAPHY
National Philanthropy Day
We were invited to the 41st luncheon to celebrate National Philanthropy Day at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront by Scatena Daniels Communications. The San Diego chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) hosted it. More than 100 communities celebrate the day across the globe to recognize and pay tribute to the contributions of volunteers. It was inspiring to see people recognized including Susan E. Atkins who most recently led the LGBT fundraising campaign for the new San Diego Main Library. They have currently reached 66 percent of their goal and aim to provide homeless youth who identify as LGBT a safe haven in a dedicated area to be near the LGBT literary collection. For more information about AFP: http://www.afpnet.org/
Art San Diego 2013
Art San Diego 2013 returned to Balboa Park for its fifth year, Nov.7-10. The event was established in 2009 as the first and only contemporary art fair in San Diego. This was our second year attending and it made a difference changing the date from September to November. It was hot last year so fans had been set-up to help cool patrons down. You’d pass them by and have your hair blown all over the place. It was definitely more enjoyable for us this year. During the VIP reception they also had free vodka drinks with cranberry or orange juice. The artists were on-site talking to people about their process and inspiration. The theme of Art San Diego was [Collide] creating a diverse space of cross-disciplinary work. They also had 10 art labs in conjunction with local museum partners and emerging art spaces. If you missed it you can view some of the exhibitions or get information about other events at: http://artsandiego2013.com/artsd-online/
- Art San Diego
| PHOTO: ANA PINES
San Diego Asian Film Festival
The 14th San Diego Asian Film Festival kicked off last week. We attended the opening night party held at Wang’s North park Nov. 7. The VIP section upstairs allowed everyone to mingle, have a few drinks and partake from the delicious buffet. We enjoyed conversations with old friends and met new ones from the entertainment industry. The festival runs through Nov. 16. They will be screening more than 140 films including the touching centerpiece, When I Walk. A day after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, filmmaker Jason DaSilva turned the camera on himself and his family, narrating what he discovers about his own body, the disease, disability access in New York City and his own capacity to preserve. The closing night will be held at the Hotel Indigo Level 9 Rooftop Bar. For screening schedule and more info, visit festival.sdaff.org/2013
Comikaze
Stan Lee’s Comikaze, Los Angeles Convention Center Nov.1-3, was an awesome pop culture experience for those of us that are fans of comics, gaming, horror, sci-fi, fantasy and anime. We felt like we were in nerd heaven. It had an amazing line-up of attractions from vendors and exhibitors, interactive contests, celebrity autograph signings, screenings, renowned panel sessions and gaming tournaments. We spent several hours browsing the exhibitor booths and playing classic games like Donkey Kong and Pac-man. We also bought all three editions of the graphic novel Batwoman, an out lesbian DC Comics superheroine. Alyssa Milano spoke at one of the panels promoting her upcoming mini-series, Hacktivist. The mini-series centers on two friends with a powerful social network, and explores the consequences of making information open to the world.
- Comikaze
| PHOTO: ANA PINES
We were ecstatic to take photos in the Star Trek Enterprise Bridge at the expo. The original TV set was destroyed for the film Star Trek: Generations. In 1997, under the supervision of Herman Zimmerman and Michael Okuda, Paramount created this duplicate set for use in a nationwide touring exhibit. New Starship rescued this Paramount-built Enterprise bridge and is turning it into an interactive educational simulator. They are planning to create a Hollywood Sci-Fi Museum. Check out comikazeexpo.com and plan to attend this fun expo for us geeks, comics and gaming fans next year.
Let’s go skating!
LGBTQIA Skatenight is back and will be held at the Skateworld Rolling Rink Nov. 27. The event will have a canned food drive for the LGBT Woman Resource Center. Hope to see you there!
If Kansas City Southern does not reply, action should be taken to nationalize the train station.
Some people say that old anime isn’t as good as the new ones, but just looking at the animation of old and how it still stands up today, really puts that argument to bed.