October 2008

Halloween Far From Dead On Sycamore

by The Editors on October 31, 2008

Thema Eve

Best Halloween street in The Neighborhood goes to Sycamore Street between Carlsbad Blvd. and Garfield with two huge, scary All Hallows Eve set-ups. Thelma and Evelyn (pictured above) said Sycamore had the best Cosmos in Carlsbad. Though we don’t know if they can be trusted. They only had one walker between them.

The biggest display was at Brian French and Jenny Mahoney’s house on the North side of Sycamore. It included a walk-through tunnel with huge Halloween dioramas filled with all kinds of creatures of the night. When someone asked Jenny if she was done building out her display she quickly answered, “No way. Never.”

And that’s great news for next year.

{ 0 comments }

The Riehl World: I Chose Rodgers and Douglas

by Richard J. Riehl on October 31, 2008

Farrah EvanLast week I voted for Evan Delaney Rodgers and Farrah Douglas to fill the two open slots on the Carlsbad City Council. My wife and I have a long tradition of voting early by absentee ballot. It’s more convenient and it gives us the small satisfaction of dodging the usual last gasp campaign smears.

When I first heard Rodgers was running because she’s a competitive swimmer and wanted the city to build a second community pool, I figured she was an immature, single-issue candidate, not to be taken too seriously. But the more I learned about her, the more I became convinced the nineteen-year-old college student is precisely what the city needs on its governing council: a fresh voice that speaks for a neglected constituency.

[click to continue…]

{ 3 comments }

Callaway Loses $7.4 million In The Third

by The Editors on October 30, 2008

CallawayCarlsbadistan’s big bertha of golf may want to spin their numbers all kinds of ways, but in the end Callaway Golf lost $7.4 million in the third quarter on $213.5 million in net sales. The loss, however, was a penny ahead of the street so it’s not all bad news. Plus. . .

The initial feedback on our new 2009 products has been very positive, and we feel the whole product line is stronger than our record 2007 line,” George Fellows, Callaway’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.

Well, at least they’ve got that going for them.

[Link: Reuters]

{ 0 comments }

The Carlsbadistan City Council Poll

by The Editors on October 30, 2008

With only five days to go until election day we thought it was finally time to see who Carlsbadistan readers are going to elect to the Carlsbad City Council next Tuesday. We’re all going to vote for two candidates in the election, but for this poll we’re asking you to vote for the person you’d most like to see win.

The poll is located in the far right column just below the Recent Comments section. We’re not going to run this poll as long as we did the last one, so vote now while you have the chance.

{ 0 comments }

Carlsbadistan Poll Results #5

by The Editors on October 30, 2008

Poll 5We had a little running battle with Marc Farrar, the vice president of public affairs for TWC’s San Diego Division about what we called “sucky service” from the cable giant. He then posted a request that we remove a Time Warner Cable logo that we altered as a parody. We didn’t remove it.

To make sure that our complaints weren’t just personal, we decided to ask our readers to complete the following sentence: Time Warner Cable is. . . and below is how you answered:

  1. . . .Terrible, but it’s my only choice (46%)
  2. . . . So bad I switched to Dish/Direct TV/AT&T (31%)
  3. . . . All good. I couldn’t be happier (15%)
  4. . . . Fine as long as you don’t need On Demand (8%)

Evidently, the majority of the people (77 percent) seriously dislike the service they get from Time Warner Cable. And we agree. That’s why we cancelled our service months ago.

{ 1 comment }

Finnila Says Consider Arnold

by The Editors on October 30, 2008

ArnoldCarlsbad City Council candidate Thomas K. Arnold wants everyone to know that former long-time City Council person Ramona Finnila says he is “worthy of consideration, according to a press release.

Having just met Thomas K. Arnold, I now consider him someone who is worthy of consideration,” Finnila said. “He has a high energy level and a good sense of what needs to be done in Carlsbad for our future.”

While that doesn’t exactly sound like a ringing endorsement to us, it obviously can’t hurt. To read the entire release, follow the jump.

[click to continue…]

{ 0 comments }

Carlsbad’s Newest Centigenarian

by The Editors on October 30, 2008

Carlsbadistan’s Beatrice Patten turns 100 year old today and the San Diego Union-Tribune is helping her celebrate with a profile in the paper.

When people ask me how I’ve lived so long, I just tell them I don’t let things bother me,” said Patten, who celebrates her 100th birthday at her home in Carlsbad today. . . . “I deal with problems immediately, then I don’t bother with it anymore. I just go on my merry way. Stress is what kills people.”

We agree entirely. For more tips from Beatrice click the link.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

{ 0 comments }

Carlsbad Man To Pray All Day For Prop. 8

by The Editors on October 30, 2008

Carlsbadistan’s Larry Dershem and his wife Hoa, apprently think legal same-sex marriage is causing the fall of western civilization. Why else would he and an estimated 10,000 SoCal Christians spend 12-hours in prayer at a rally Saturday at Qualcomm Stadium called TheCall?

This is 5,000 years of history,” he said. “Marriage predates government.”

It’s amazing how far people will go to make other people’s happiness illegal.

[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]

{ 0 comments }

The Aliens Have Crash Landed. . . Again

by The Editors on October 30, 2008

102908-AlienCarlsbadistan Halloween fan Wayde Gilliam is setting up his UFO crash landing site for the second year in a row at 7972 Grado El Tupelo, according to a story on NBC San Diego.

Visitors from as far as Los Angeles came to see the spectacle. Last year the UFO sighting drew more than 1,000 visitors and this year Gilliam is expecting many more. . . . The idea was thought up by Gilliam and his friend, Andy Konopacki, after a number of years of attempting to provide a different, more effects-oriented experience for Halloween. . . . The UFO project takes about a week to design the spacecraft and then another couple weeks to construct it. Gillian and Konopacki also use a number of lighting, fog and audio special effects to enhance the experience.

Wayde’s neighbors must be very happy.

[Link: NBC San Diego]

{ 0 comments }

Callaway Bringing Sexy Back

by The Editors on October 30, 2008

JustintimberIt’s a celebrity driven world and Carlsbadistan’s leading golf company is buying in: JT style.

Callaway Golf Company today announced it has reached an agreement with Justin Timberlake to endorse and play Callaway equipment. The terms of the contract are not being disclosed. . . . “We’re thrilled to have Justin as part of the Callaway staff,” said George Fellows, president and CEO, Callaway Golf. “He has everything we look for when signing new talent – natural ability, a solid work ethic and passion for the game.”

In these trying business times it probably can’t hurt, right? Especially if you’re going after the pop music crowd.

[Link: BusinessWire image via Popsugar]

{ 0 comments }