VILLAGE NEWS
Check out this year’s La Jolla Christmas Parade,
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Scott Appleby & Kerry ApplebyPayne
LA JOLLA
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
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www.SDNEWS.com Volume 18, Number 10
‘ Yo s h i m i ’
puts Playhouse on top with
avant-garde
production The issue of oversize vehicles taking up long-term residence on city streets has been a contentious one in many beach and bay communities like Bird Rock, above, where residents have complained about the number of RVs, campers and other oversize vehicles. Courtesy photo
Oversize vehicles may see new limits in beach, bay communities BY DAVE SCHWAB | VILLAGE NEWS LaMae Capares as “Karate Girl,” above, battles robots in La Jolla Playhouse’s world-premiere production of “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.” Below, Paul Nolan as “Ben” and Kimiko Glenn as “Yoshimi.” Photos by Kevin Berne
BY MANNY LOPEZ | VILLAGE NEWS ony Award-winning director Des McAnuff has returned to the La Jolla Playhouse (LJP) with a new, avant-garde rock musical called “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” running through Dec. 16. Based on music and lyrics by alternative-punkpsychedelic-pop-rock band The Flaming Lips, McAnuff tells a technology-charged tale about life and how sometimes one friend believing in another makes all the difference in someone’s life, no matter how impossible the odds may seem. “This show unfolds as if you were watching an artist do a painting,” said Linda Cooper, production manager for the LJP. “It really is an emotional journey that you go on through the music, lyrics and visuals.” McAnuff, director emeritus at the LJP, has created a dramatic piece that simultaneously takes place in the modern world and on a science fiction landscape. His one-of-a-kind spectacle features singing, dancing, computerized projections, illuminated robot costumes, automated set changes, martial arts, puppets, actors flying across the stage and a 14-foot robot named 3000-21. Actress Kimiko Glenn plays Yoshimi Yasukawa, a young visual artist diagnosed with lymphoma, who finds herself entangled in a love triangle between her eccentric ex, Ben Nickel (played by Paul Nolan) and Booker, her hedgefund manager boyfriend (named after Flaming Lips’ manager Scott Booker and played by Nik Walker). Ben wins Yoshimi back, and in the course of doing so, steps into an alternative reality where pink robots serve as an allegory for Yoshimi’s cancer. It is his belief in her ability to battle the pink robots that Yoshimi draws the strength to combat her illness. The answer to how the story ends can be found in the Flaming Lips lyrics to the song for which the production is entitled. “It’s unusual when you think about it in the context of musical theater, where songs so often have to move the plot forward,” said Tom Hewitt, who described his character, Dr. Peterson, as the medical reality in the middle of a robot fantasy. “I think the director and the writers have been very clever in crafting the story
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After years of debate and delays, San Diego City Council’s Land Use and Housing (LU&H) Committee unanimously endorsed a proposed two-year pilot program along city beaches toughening enforcement of existing regulations banning oversize vehicles from parking longer than 72 hours on public streets. The committee’s Nov. 28 recommendation on the neighborhood parking protection ordinance, proposed by District 2 City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, will be forwarded to the City Council for final approval. “The proliferation of illegally parked oversize vehicles on city streets is a public safety, quality of life and environmental issue that has acute impact on San Diego’s visitor-serving beach and bay communities,” said Faulconer. “Constituents report vehicles parked illegally in front of homes and businesses for weeks — or even months — at a time, taking up valuable parking spaces, blocking view corridors and limiting access to driveways and alleys. This is an appropriate time to revisit an ordinance that provides more effective tools for the city to address illegally parked oversize vehicles.” The proposed ordinance requires drivers of RVs and large trucks, as well as vehicles towing boats, to obtain per-
QuickHits Children’s Pool tower to get holiday sparkle around the Lips’ lyrics, which have a sort of universal theme.” Formed in 1983, the Oklahoma City-based Flaming Lips are known for their art-rock experiments and theatrical concerts (they once staged a concert in a parking lot using the tape decks of cars and boom boxes as instruments). In 1997, they released “Zaireeka,” a SEE YOSHIMI, Page 5
There’s still time! “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” runs through Dec. 16.
To celebrate the heroes of La Jolla who keep its beaches safe, the community is giving back in a spirited way — by lighting up the lifeguard tower at Children’s Pool beach. Throughout the week until Dec. 15, volunteer lifeguards will decorate the tower with twinkling lights, which can be donated by members of the community at Meanley & Son Ace Hardware, located at 7756
mits available online to park overnight in beach and bay neighborhoods. The proposed program implementing the new oversize-vehicle ordinance mandates four parking enforcement officers to watch for vehicles at least 22 feet long or 7 feet high. The ordinance would allow officers to issue citations immediately, without directly confronting vehicle occupants, if vehicle-parking permits are not visible. Councilmen Todd Gloria and David Alvarez, representing districts 8 and 3, respectively, expressed concern the pilot program would only affect beach areas, noting the problem exists inland as well. Both, however, sided with the committee majority in favoring the ordinance after being told by Matt Awbrey, Faulconer’s deputy chief of staff, that San Diego police favored restricting the pilot program to beaches only initially due to significant additional costs involved with providing signage, enforcement personnel and public outreach to expand it citywide. “The neighborhood parking protection ordinance is meant to be costrecoverable,” said Awbrey, adding it could be expanded citywide later if the two-year trial period is successful. LU&H Committee chairwoman and District 5 Councilwoman Lorie Zapf attached an additional condition to the SEE VEHICLES, Page 5 Girard Ave., or at the lifeguard tower itself, located on Coast Boulevard across from Casa de Manana. The public is invited to the lighting ceremony on Dec. 15 at 6 p.m. at Shell Beach above the lifeguard tower. Organizers are seeking carolers and hot cocoa for the event. Anyone who wishes to donate hot drinks or singing talents can contact Ed Harris at harrisoblp@yahoo.com. Lifeguards are also collecting toys for Toys for Tots, which can be donated at the lighting ceremony or at any lifeguard tower along San SEE BRIEFS, Page 3