To bike or not to bike? That is a good question.

I love the idea of cycling all over town and the trend to encourage people (and currently women, in particular, to ride bikes.

Ideas are great, but as a result of biking in Mission Valley, Old Town, North Park, Downtown, College Area, City Heights and various parts of the city, I definitely have a new take on what it means to share the road with vehicles. I used to ride my bike frequently until I was knocked off by a driver. Thankfully, I was not injured but after that, I limited my rides to mountain biking and bike paths where road sharing is not an issue.

I decided that it was time to start riding on city streets again last year. Riding my bike on El Cajon Boulevard, I must admit, can be daunting. Depending on where you are riding, some of the lanes are so narrow that the cars parked on the street will position a cyclist in the middle of the lane for vehicles meaning that we literally must share the same lane with vehicles. The traffic is quite rapid and, in my experience, people are fairly hasty and do not drive in a manner or speed that promotes comfortable riding of a bike in the middle of the street. I noted the streets have designated lanes for the bikes; however, these lanes are in or near the same spaces along with vehicles. While I have noted more courtesy among drivers, I still think there should be a designated area specifically for bicycles.

El Cajon Boulevard has made some changes, added new businesses and other positive activities. I have noticed more activity in the 30th to 40th blocks. I do not see that many people walking the streets however. So, since we have a large number of families and children in the area, I wonder: what can we do to encourage even more transformations that would include positive, family-oriented activities for everyone. A few times I have seen children riding their bikes on the sidewalks of El Cajon Boulevard and University Avenue. I like the idea. I like the idea even more since we have witnessed such as the prostitution and other activity that many associate with the area.

I feel bicycle riding should be legal on the sidewalks, too, considering how dark the streets are (side streets too, in City Heights and College Area) and the lack of space for sharing the road in these areas. The sidewalks are broad enough for considerate bike riding and simultaneous pedestrian use, when needed.

Overall the streets in many neighborhoods need more lighting and better alternatives for safe bike riding for people (including elderly and children). I love the idea of promoting cycling as a way of life in our city but more changes will need to be made to integrate cyclists into the transportation system. Here are a few things that I have been thinking about as a result of some of my rides and talks with people (especially those who live in the City Heights and College Areas).

City Cycling and Mindset.

I used to think of biking as relaxing and leisurely. After riding throughout San Diego's Downtown and inner-cities, I feel like you definitely have to take on a more defensive approach when sharing the road with cars. I do feel that people have been more accepting of sharing the road in some parts of the city, but not all. On a bike (as well as on foot while running or walking), I feel I have to be ready for anything and everything -- expecting folks NOT to see you, because many times, they do not. That's why I feel it is even more important for designated and protected biking lanes.



Biking to Work.

I'm not quite sure how this idea of biking to work is going to play out, given the fact that the clothes most wear to work will not really be conducive to riding a bike, depending on one's career. If you stuff your work clothes in a backpack, it is likely that they will be wrinkled so that sounds like an opportunity for a clothing designer! More options in terms of clothing that are suitable for biking and the workplace (business casual?) will certainly be beneficial.

Where will be the bike be stored upon arrival at your destination?

SANDAG says they have a lock for bikes (which I have not yet used). I have not met anyone yet who has used it. If you have used it, I wonder what your impression is of this locker system.

I noticed that most establishments do not have an area for people to lock their bikes upon arrival. How can we work this into the equation. Having a place for bike riders to lock bikes will be extremely useful and make it much easier for us to show up on a bike.

Putting the bikes on trolleys?

There really isn't enough room for more than two or three people to have a bike on each car due to the design and sharing with passengers. How can we adjust this?

Overall, when I talked to residents, school employers and those who work in the areas -- particularly from the City Heights, College Area and Rolando neighborhoods, the lack of street lighting, potholes and overall safety -- especially during evening hours (i.e., street crimes solutions to help with safety concerns dealing with the elderly, children and single women's safety) continue to be issues that need to be addressed.

During my daytime rides, I notice quite a few potholes and they are often undetected until it's too late at night. Road repairs and lighting will make it easier and safer for pedestrians, cyclists and cars alike. Lighting and road repairs will make it easier and more safe for bikers and pedestrians alike.

In addition to biking conversations, people wanted to talk about the overall health of the neighborhoods. I feel that these issues belong in the same conversation that deals with community health. Some residents felt that the types of businesses need to be more diverse, that is, the neighborhood could be transformed by encouraging a variety of businesses such as florists, wellness centers, live music venues, yoga studios, cafes, dining establishments and the creation and use of spaces that bring people together as well businesses that have something different and positive to offer to the community. Perhaps these diverse businesses would encourage a different approach to family cycling as well.

December 21, 2012: Eklektic Soul + Foreign Film at Go Lounge

Interview with Michael Lombardi (Of The Earth and Sun)

We have a show at The Go Lounge tonight and I'm looking forward to hearing Michael Lombardi's new solo project "Michael Lombardi Of the Earth and Sun."

About Michael:

"I've been writing songs for over 15 years, playing in a few bands, but more often recording on my own, writing and playing all the parts myself. I released my first album "The June Bug" under the name Starshine in 2008. The following year I began my AEONs project which has been my primary musical outlet for the past few years, releasing several EP's as Aeon Solaris & Aeon Vespertine, the former more acoustic based songs, and the latter more electronic rock songs. This past summer I collaborated with my soul sister, Corinne Felicity, a fellow songwriter who I met back in high school, and we released the Aeon Solaris album "Brother Sun, Sister Moon." I have more AEONs material in the works, and many of the songs I play as Michael of the Earth & Sun, come from the AEONs catalog."

Tell us more about your new project, "Michael Lombardi and Of the Earth and Sun."

"Saying I am Michael Lombardi to me, is like saying I'm from Boston. Where as Michael of the Earth & Sun, is saying, I am from Earth. One is the child of a very specific family, a limb on a certain family tree. The other is saying, I am a child of all humankind, all the wisdom and experience from everyone who has ever lived, and beyond that a child of the galactic family of the Earth and the Sun, and of the universe. Many of us, fail to take into perspective, the relationship we have with our home planet, with the Sun that nurtures us, and the universe that houses us. I will always be that little boy who grew up in the suburbs of Boston, but the more I learn, the more the understand about the bigger picture of existence, and humankind's place within it, the more I become in sync with my roots in the universe. I don't anymore feel like I've been alive for just a few decades, I feel I've been alive for 14 billion or so years, that the elements I am, that we all are, can be traced back, at least as far as the big bang. I relate to the static on the TV, just as much as the heartbeat of my mother."

How long have you been performing with the new project?

"I've done many solo shows over the years, but I've only recently adopted this name, so this is the first show under this new monicker. Changing names, came from an escalating feeling that I've had in the past year, that I've been building myself up, training myself to be this person, that I feel I'm finally becoming. It is like the third phase of my life's progression. First the childhood years of being a Caterpillar, then the teenage to young adult years of hiding in a cocoon, I feel like everything I've done and been, has led to this rebirth, like I am a butterfly ready to break free and fly."

When I met you earlier this year, you were performing with the Los Angeles-based rock band, Lakookala. Are you still performing with that band?

"Lakookala has been on a bit of a hiatus, while she recorded some new songs for a 7" vinyl due out in a few months, and shot an amazing video for the song "Motherbiiiirds" from her debut EP "Songs for Zemean" which we be released next week (11/19)."

How does your new project differ from the music you performed with Lakookala?

"It is vastly different from Lakookala which is really the solo project of my friend Nico. She writes everything and plays most everything in the studio, I'm simply a member of the live band, playing keys/synth. Which I really enjoy, because I can just show up and play these songs that I love alongside some wonderful friends. It's so much more simple in that sense. This project of mine, like my AEONs project, is a lot more personal, it has a tremendous investment of my soul in it. At the end of the day, I consider myself a songwriter much more than a musician. That is why I switch around instruments so much. A guitar or a synthesizer or whatever, to me, is just a tool. Like a paint brush is a tool for a painter, the brush does not create the art, but merely helps translate it from an internal ambiguous emotion, to a form that others can then receive and hopefully relate to. This project is me, taking my inner most being and turning myself inside out, so what is usually deep inside me, and often hidden to the eye, becomes starkly visible."

Based on your online posts and the pictures that I have seen over several months, I have noticed your hunger for knowledge, expression as well as your receptivity to your own evolution as a person as well as an artist. What personal, world and/or local conditions have been inspiring you?

"I've always had a hunger for knowledge. I've never been one to be blindly satisfied with what I was told, or taught, whether it be from my family, from religion, school teachers, where ever.

I've always been one who needs to seek out his own answers and learn from his own experiences, and draw my own conclusions.

I recently began taking solo excursions out into the California desert, and have found it to be inspiring to me in an almost a religious way. There is something magical I feel, about the isolation, and the way the stars blanket the night sky, the way the Milky Way wraps across the horizon. It is a tremendous environment for escape and reflection. Out there, I can tune into a stronger connection with the universe around and inside us. Something bigger than out foolish human tendencies towards things like fear and greed. These things don't exist there, aside from what I bring with me, that which we all hold inside of us. I can lay out my entire being, my fragile flaws, and beautiful hope and sort through it. Slowly rebuilding myself, and little by little, piece by piece, into a stronger and more pure rendition of myself.

I believe I am, we all are, are own greatest works of art. We are what we create. I can go there and destroy, and recreate myself as a stronger and better me. In all my disassembling, I came to an understanding about what my role, as a human, and artist is. To use my accumulating knowledge and experience, and through art awaken people to their own ambition. To inspire and help people, especially those lost in darkness, a place I know all to well, to find their way back to their light, to that thing which makes them happy and complete. This is what inspires me and drives me as an artist. And what attracts me to the art of others. The way art can portray the most ugly things as beautiful, and give hope.

My mission in life and art, has become to be an agent of love, and as love, to instigate a revolution of the mind. To shift the paradigm of existence away from fear and greed, and towards love. I'm not naive enough to truly believe I can change the world in an magnificently monumental way, but I do believe I can have an impact of the people around me, and maybe they can impact the people around them. With this idea, I've found new courage as an artist, and new inspiration to keep creating, and to be supportive of others creativity."

You performed with Lakookala at the events that I produced to raise awareness about "Everybody Deserves Music's" youth music programs in Los Angeles. Have you been involved in any other youth-oriented projects in your community -- or do you have any vision of being more involved in such activities?


"I live in what is often referred to as an artist commune in Northridge, called Das Bauhaus. We, as a community try to work with our neighbors and the community, in encouraging the arts. We also occasionally organize street cleaning events, teaming up with local residents and CSUN students. Recently we organized with the San Fernando Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter, being built just around the corner from Das Bauhaus. I had an opportunity to talk with the man building/organizing it, about the possibility of creating some music and art programs that the Bauhaus can be a part of, once the facility is up and running.

I don't have specific plans as of yet, but it is something that really means a lot to me, and will jump at an opportunity to work for such a cause. I think that the financial cuts being dealt to education are heartbreaking, and it seems music and art are often the first things to go.

I didn't go to a school with great music or art programs, but they at least had some music or art classes, and they were crucial to people like me and many of my friends, in discovering who we were and shaping our ambitions and values. I can't imagine the impact it would have on future generations to not have, even that basic opportunity for experiencing and understanding the arts. Creating opportunities to help get, not only children, but also adults more involved and invested in the arts is something that I'd very much like to be a part of."

What can people expect in terms of style, sound and influences from your performance tonight?

"I've always been an artist who enjoys a very layered sound in music, but recently I've been eager to strip things down, to their most simple, raw, and honest form.

These songs I will be playing, are nude emotion. My sound is very tough for me to nail down, because my range of influences spans decades and genres, but I've been comparing it to some of the bluesy country-esque stuff by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, with the deep and dark emotion of Mark Lanegan, and the raw sentiment of Neutral Milk Hotel."

More information on Michael Lombardi is found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/OfTheEarthAndSun


Michael of the Earth and Sun performs Friday, November 16, 2012 with Steve Harris and The China Clippers at The Go Lounge, 7123 El Cajon Bouevard, San Diego, Ca., 9 p.m.

Interview with Local Artist Steve Harris of The Styletones

Most San Diego locals are familiar with the soulful funk group, The Styletones, and the lead singer and co-writer Stevie Harris. Harris is also the lead singer guitarist and songwriter of Stevie and the Hi-Staxx and was previously signed by Cargo Records as solo artist, touring with the group Conglomerate throughout the United States and Morocco.

In 2010 and 2011, I collaborated with Steve Harris on a few San Diego shows geared toward highlighting his acoustic work as well as his side project Stevie and the Hi-Staxx. We recently spoke about the future of his music and, since I learned recently that he also paints, I had questions about his art. With that in mind, I asked Steve to show some of his paintings at an upcoming event at The Go Lounge. What follows are insights about his music-related projects as well as his artwork.

How do you view yourself as an artist?

“My vision is cloudy -- but it is to continue going forward for beauty and some truth I can relate to in my music. I want to stay honest. Right now I’m comfortable letting all directions develop; I want to stay out of the way.

The Styletones continue to be a surprising little dessert for me … I don’t have administrative responsibility so I’m down to step out the way of it rolling.

I will always play acoustic, however. I think best, regardless of whether I have an audience for it, it is my truest art form; my first art form --
‘singersongwritery.’

The Hi-Staxx is my opportunity to play electric guitar in the tradition of my alternative black forebearers such as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, D’Angelo and several others.”

When did you start painting?

“I did my first few paintings seven years ago in Florida but the main thrust has been since late April 2012. I've drawn all my life but the color is new.”

What do you consider to be your main motivation for painting?

“My motivators – honestly, I think I seek father figures -- mostly soul singers such as Al Green and Marvin Gaye. I have always been into Diego Rivera, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Salvador Dali – more their lives than their art, maybe. Painting strengthens my connection to them and it's not music and so it offers a nice break.

Art is so new to me; I don’t feel any pressure to do anything but enjoy it. I am not pressured to make a living with it because I’m not that good. Strange motivator. I also just like beautiful things so it’s cool to be part of it. It is also very relaxing for me. I have a few watercolors and a few ink drawings -- mainly acrylics on canvas or fancy cardboard.”

What have you gained through painting that may have been a surprise or that is different from creating music?

“As an artist -- in a broader sense -- I see myself as a child. I'm just now gaining real understanding of how little I know and, more importantly, I don’t live like I know the little I do. But I've never stopped creating so there must be a reason for it and that has nothing to do with self gratification or paying bills. Maybe if I get clear enough and sensitive enough, answers will come. I have no history with painting; it’s like a new girlfriend -- no baggage, no expectations. It has helped me realize that your art is not the tools or medium you use to express it. Whatever your frequency is it shows itself. I think the roughness of my sound is translated into the roughness of my brush stroke. I don’t know why I paint flowers.”

How do you feel about the first public showing of your paintings in a club setting, along with your music?

“I've spent a lot my life in bars, playing music. I was also a doorman for three years at El Rio on Mission at Cesar Chavez (San Francisco). It is a culture. I don’t drink either never have -- but I’m a night person, a blues person -- according to Amiri Baraka. I have spent way less time in galleries.”

Steve Harris performs this Friday, November 16, 2012 along with Michael of the Earth and Sun and The China Clippers at The Go Lounge in the College Area, 7123 El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego, Ca. Show starts at 9:00 p.m.