by The Editors on April 16, 2009
Yesterday afternoon, April 15, 2009 Carlsbadistan based golf giant Callaway announced that it had cut six percent of its workforce on tax day.
A spokeswoman said the company had to “make some changes because of economic conditions.” . . . The company is still in the process of notifying affected employees.
If you found out about it here, we’re sorry.
[Link: 10news.com]
by The Editors on April 14, 2009
Longtime Carlsbadistan readers will remember the trading card battle of 2007 waged with when Carlsbadistan based trading card company The Upper Deck Co. made an offer to buy Topps. Though the companies went through several rounds in court the sale never happened.
Now, Topps is taking The Upper Deck Company to court for allegedly stealing layouts and designs from cards Topps produced in the 1970s, according to a story in BusinessWeek.
In its lawsuit, Topps described how it believes Upper Deck mimicked its design with just a few variations. . . It said similarities between each company’s cards included the use of a colorful, divided two-tone border, the player’s photograph superimposed on a thin white border, the player’s autograph toward the bottom of the picture and the use of an image of a baseball on a bottom corner of the card. . . Topps asked that Upper Deck be ordered to destroy the cards and turn over any profits, along with other unspecified monetary damages.
Good luck on this one. As we all know, judges and juries are notoriously experts when it comes to graphic design.
[Link: BusinessWeek]
by The Editors on April 14, 2009

A stretch of private land in Calavera Hills that local residents had hoped the City of Carlsbad would buy and turn into a park has been sold to Thompson Co. of Nevada, according to a story in the North County Times. And the new owner plans to subdivide the 60 acre property.
This has made a group of local residents upset enough to launch an anti-developement website called SaveVillageH.com. And they are blaming the Carlsbad City Council for not honoring the wishes of its own Open Space Committee.
For over ten years, residents around Village H and from elsewhere have done everything they can to lobby the Council and City to preserve the property. SaveVillageH.com, in its original incarnation several years ago, was a focal point for this effort (with much work by PreserveCalavera.org as well). . . .As a result, three Council members now serving who served then (Lewis, Kulchin, and Hall) all expressed a willingness to preserve the land. But despite their Open Space Committee ranking the property as tied for #2 in the entire city (as worthy of acquisition) and despite the landowner making two very low offers to the City (one reportedly only $300,000), the Council — in a legally questionable closed-door session last year — declined to buy the property.
While we believe for the most part that private land owners should be able sell their land to whomever they want it is strange that the City would pass on a parcel that they obviously had interest in. For more info, click the link.
[Link: Save Village H]
by The Editors on April 13, 2009

Carlsbadistan surfer Ricky Whitlock, 22, takes Surfline.com readers on a little tour of all of his favorite Carlsbadistan spots in and audio/visual treat titled: Around Town with Ricky Whitlock.
What are his favorites? Beach City Smoothies, The Grand Deli, Calavera Hills Community Park, Lola’s “is my number one out of everywhere,” Mikko Sushi, Dini’s “most of the time I’m there it’s a drunken blur,” Norte, Pizza Port “we’ve been running amuck at Pizza Port since we learned to walk,” and The Whitlock Compound.
Click the link to hear it in Ricky’s own words with epic Carlsbad photos from Billy Watts. (Thanks to our favorite News Tipper for alerting us to something we really should have already seen.)
[Link: Surfline.com]
by The Editors on April 12, 2009
On Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 2 PM, Carlsbadistan’s Museum of Making Music invites everyone to cenjoy jazz vocalist Kendra Shank and pianist Geoffrey Keezer at the Ruby G. Schulman Auditorum at the Carlsbad City LIbrary.
Kendra Shank’s crystal-pure tone, powerful musicianship and elastic phrasing have won her rave critical notices and fans internationally. Considered “one of the most innovative of present-day jazz vocalists” (Drew Wheeler, CDNow) and “one of the top jazz singers around today” (Scott Yanow, L.A. Jazz Scene), she headlines in clubs and festivals across the U.S. and abroad, captivating audiences with her genuine warmth, emotional depth, and musicality.
This concert is part of the Gartner Concert Series, presented by the Museum of Making Music and Carlsbad City Library and is made possible by the Carlsbad Library and Arts Foundation’s Robert H. Gartner Cultural Endowment Fund. This concert is free and open to the public. Tickets are issued at the auditorium door beginning at 1PM the day of the concert.
[Link: Museum of Making Music]
by The Editors on April 10, 2009
Carlsbadistan’s own iPhone/iPod Touch app developers Appy Entertainment have released their first (of many) applications for the Apple iPhone called AppyNewz.
This somewhat twisted app (which you can get here for $1.99) allows users to build their own tabloid news covers using their own photos and a few finger drags on the screen.
With Appy Newz, you spotlight friends and enemies on spoof news covers. Splice your best friend’s head onto a dog body; give him a Mohawk; then slap him in front of a trailer park with a UFO in the background. Add a snarky headline, then show off your creation to crack up your pals; make it your iPhone’s wallpaper; or email it around the world.
We’re kind of bummed we didn’t have this app for April Fools Day. We could have done some pretty funny stuff with it. Click here to download Appy Newz from the iTunes store, or follow the jump for even more details.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 10, 2009
Carlsbadistan surfer Cori Schumacher, 31, won the longboard division in the Tidal 9 Women’s Pipeline Pro this week on the North Shore of Oahu, according to a story in the Honolulu Advertiser. It was her first time surfing Pipe on a longboard.
“It’s what I expected — it’s difficult, but still a lot of fun,” said Schumacher, 31. “But what this contest is doing is showing other girls that it can be done. You’re going to start seeing a lot more women out there, and the performance level is going to skyrocket.” . . .”The spirit of the event was the most important thing,” she said. “And it benefitted the Girl Scouts of Hawai’i, so you can’t go wrong with that.”
Congrats, Cori. Nice work. We’re stoked, but not all that surprised.
[Link: Honolulu Advertiser]
by The Editors on April 9, 2009
The Surfrider Foundation’s argument that that California Coastal Commission acted illegally when it failed to “require Poseidon to reduce the amount of fish and marine organisms that would be killed in the desalination process” were rejected today in San Diego Superior Court today, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Judge Judith Hayes issued a tentative ruling rejecting arguments by Surfrider Foundation and the Planning and Conservation League that the California Coastal Commission misapplied state law when it gave Poseidon Resources a coastal development permit to build the plant. . . . Marco Gonzalez, the attorney for Surfrider and the league, said the groups are unhappy with the ruling and believe the court misunderstood some facts. . . “In particular, a large part of the prospective ruling is based on the perception that the project was previously approved by the Regional Board,” Gonzalez said.
One more hurdle out of the way for the for Poseidon Resources and the desalination plant.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 9, 2009
Indiana State Attorney General Greg Zoeller today announced that he has filed a lawsuit against the Carlsbadistan based forecloser consultants You Walk Away and four other companies claiming they broke state law, according to a story on Indystar.com.
The state says the companies used deceptive practices. “We recognize there is a foreclosure crisis in the country,” Zoeller said in a news release. “Indiana has the tools in place that can help consumers avoid becoming victims of for-profit foreclosure consultants’ bad intentions.”
You Walk Away has not even received a complaint yet, according to CEO Jon Maddux. “We previously had an inquiry from them and complied with all their requests,” he said in an email to Carlsbadistan. “We believe that we are not violating any laws in Indiana.”
[Link: Indystar.com]
by The Editors on April 9, 2009
On May 1, 2009 (two days before the spring Carlsbad Street Fair) the two-month long Carlsbad Art Surf kicks off. What? Art Surf is a public art walk project through the streets of The Village sponsored by the Carlsbad Village Improvment Partnership, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Wanting to transform vacant storefront windows into something cheerful, Carlsbad Village property owners have invited artists to sign up to create window murals as part of Art Surf, a two-month art walk that kicks off May 1. . . “I think the idea really was, if you drive down a street and you see lots of empty lots or empty windows, you get an impression that it’s not alive, or it’s not worth coming to (visit) again,” said Robin Young, executive director of the Carlsbad Village Business Association.
We’re not so sure that drawing attention to empty storefronts by letting artists paint on the windows in the best idea, but while they’re at it maybe someone could paint the front windows at Ella Grace in the Village Faire Mall. When we walked by this morning they were packing up and shutting down the business.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]