Diary of a Diva
Barba
6 San Diego Reader January 7, 2016
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NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS By Reader stringers LINCOLN PARK
Drop the gun and skate Firearms exchange puts boards on the street “About 250 guns, including shotguns —
Guns taken in on December 19 in the back of a police van
sawed-off and non-modified — a Tech 9, an AR15, assault weapons, a .380 handgun, a 9mm, a .30-06, an Uzi, small handguns, single shots, and many others were traded in,” explained Dennis “Mars” Martinez. On December 19, at the Bryco building
located at 5275 Market Street, Martinez, with fellow skateboarders Harvey Hawks and Neil Carver, were taking in guns as trade- ins for skateboards. “[We are doing this] to take illegal guns
off the street, to make our community safer from stolen guns,” said Martinez. “No ques- tions asked, meaning if a gun was used to commit a murder, no questions asked. If the gun was stolen, no questions asked. If the gun was tampered and serial numbers ground off, no questions asked.” The gun exchange was started in 2009 by Rev. Gerald Brown from the United Afri-
can American Ministerial Action Council. In 2015, Longboarding for Peace, African- American clergy, and Martinez’s Training Center San Diego collaborated to help make this event happen. The term “gun exchange” is synonymous
with “gun buy-back,” which is confusing to some. An agency, business, or the general public cannot literally “buy back” guns from the police department after they are turned in; rather, the police department, in conjunction with organizations, can offer gift cards and in this case, skateboards, to barter for the guns. Cash has been an option with gun buy-back programs in the past. Between 8 and 11 a.m. on December 19, approximately 45 skateboards and $20,000 in gift certificates were traded. Martinez, a former skateboarding cham-
pion, currently co-owns a state-licensed drug-and-alcohol rehab program called Off the Street, which houses men released from prison: lifers, gang members, and drug addicts. “We use ex-gang members and parolees
to speak to the youth and share our stories, so that they do not go down the same path.” San Diego Police Department personnel
were the only ones allowed to remove the guns from the vehicles when they pulled up. They carried the guns to a table where they were photographed, tagged, documented, and then secured in a van to be transported to downtown police headquarters. “The guns are held at the gun desk or
property room,” said officer Joshua Hodge from the SDPD. “The serial numbers are then turned in to the Department of Justice to check for theft.” If the gun was stolen, the theft victim will be notified to optionally collect his/her property, assuming the victim can still legally own a gun. The skateboards provided were mostly
Carver Skateboards that retail for $299 apiece. The other boards available were Ollie Angel, Loaded, Bustin, and Martinez’s own Flying Aces line, which he started with Jodie Royak and his daughter Cristiana.
MIKE MADRIAGA
OCEAN BEACH Wireman strikes Guerrilla artist speaks On December 30, I.B. Long was doing his weekly assessment of graffiti and other main-
wires if it’s funny, but all the larger pieces are one continuous wire.” The impetus for leaving his wire sculp-
tures around town started in the late 1990s. Little said, “I was living in South Park on Fern Street with a woman that told me I had to get rid of them. I definitely had a surplus. I make between 20 to 30 sculptures a day, so I started to attach them to street signs around town.” Since then, Little says he has left his wire
sculptures all over the world, including atop the Eiffel Tower, in the ghettos of Eastern Europe, at the bottom of caves, and in rest- stop toilets everywhere. Little said he also slips his art into people’s
Crosby Dock, November 21, 2015
tenance issues along Newport Avenue for the local business association. Long had seen the wire man in the sky attached to the streetlight at Newport and Cable a few weeks earlier. “It caught my eye again,” Long said,
“because the angle and light were perfect. I was initially surprised that it had survived for as long as it has since most cool or nice things in Ocean Beach are quickly stolen or broken. But it’s in a rather inaccessible loca- tion up high where most can’t easily reach it, much less see it. “It is, however, graffiti in a strict sense. I’m
a little torn about it. If we leave it up, then we set a precedent for allowing guerrilla art, or, in other words, graffiti and non-permitted use of public property.... The business association is unaware of the art and my company hasn’t decided what to do at this point.” On January 1, Spenser Little, the creator
of the wire art, said, “I left that piece a couple months ago. I love to leave them in unusual places, where the eye will see them when look- ing up into the sky. I leave them everywhere I go — at least one a day for the past ten years.” Little’s art requires few materials. He
needs a pair of pliers and some steel wire. He takes one piece of wire and without any breaks sculpts his art. Little says, “It’s a mix of playing chess and doing illustration. I love the problem-solving aspect of it. I’ll sometimes add in moving components and multiple
Siskyou Mountain Pass I-5, December 15, 2015
bags in elevators and into the hoodies of those at bars. “I like the idea of someone being surprised by finding art.” Originally from East County San Diego, Little
has left his art in affluent communities like La Jolla over the years, but now wants to be more conscious about leaving it more often in places that don’t have a lot of funding for the arts. Little is part of an artist collective that
will be taking over a Barrio Logan apartment building on January 16 to show their work. JULIE STALMER
continued on page 8
Barbarella sees, hears, and analyzes everything.
She is like Neo in The Matrix, if Neo were played by Woody Allen. — DAVID FOKOS
hether she’s getting attacked by a squirrel, uncovering the
legend of Japan’s golden butt-balls, or being driven to self harm by Cirque du Soleil, Barbarella bares all in her comical, poignant, and ferociously honest stories.
“With full hearts and more TMI than a hospital intake form, Barb and David are a funny and lovable duo. To misquote the book, ‘the family of a writer is utterly delightful.’ I want more!”
— GRANT BARRETT, co-host of the nationally syndicated public radio show, A Way With Words
WHEREVER YOU GO, THERE WE ARE
The Reader Mobile Edition
SDReader.com
“A riveting compilation of stories and commentary invites you behind the lipstick and into the audacious world of Barbarella; her family, friends, loves, fetishes, fears, feathers and afflictions. Each tale is a delicious slice of life, rich with insight, unflinchingly honest and gloriously entertaining. David’s take on it all: priceless. Diary of a Diva is dynamite.” — KERRY WILLIAMSON, Hollywood screenwriter
“Witty, Unique, Insightful, and Funny are only a few of the superlatives that describe ex-paralegal Barbarella (and her sidekick soulmate David). Diary of A Diva is an instant classic.”
Barbarella’s tell-all book
featuring the stories behind the stories Barbarella sees, hears, and analyzes
everything. She is like Neo in The Matrix, if Neo were played by Woody Allen. — DAVID FOKOS
sdreader.com/diva
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