Hey, no need to head to LA, just head to Downtown San Diego for your fix.

According to the New York Times 53 Places to Go in 2008, not only to you have to go to Silt and Iran (what Axis of Evil, we've got expensive tours to go on!) but you also need to head on over to (number 44) The Hard Rock Hotel in good old downtown San Diego because they have Nobu and Cindy Crawford likes to go there and there's even a Pinkberry all under one roof!

It'll render a visit to LA almost totally obsolete if we can get Britney to come, visit a Starbucks, put on a pink wig and flash the Paparazzi.

Image via: dailymail

The New York Times Warns SD not to Count Their Chickens

From The NYT:

As Californians recover from another season of devastating wildfires, one of the biggest obstacles is a painfully familiar one. As many as 40 percent of homeowners statewide lack enough insurance to cover their home-replacement costs, according to the California Department of Insurance, and most realize the problem only when it is too late.

After past disasters, California state officials tried to raise homeowners’ awareness of their coverage limits by requiring policies to be written clearly and with disclaimers about what is not covered. But several national studies suggest that many homeowners tend to underestimate risk and do not understand that their policies do not guarantee replacement of their homes.

I like how it says tried. They tried to require policies to be written clearly, because why would they be written clearly, it's not like they are required to explain complicated situations to a variety of people and to provide relief during some of the hardest times of people's lives by providing the basic function of SHELTER.

An analysis by The San Diego Union-Tribune of 2,137 houses that were destroyed in unincorporated areas of San Diego County in the last big wildfires, in 2003, found that only 46 percent had been rebuilt by late last year. In many cases, policyholders said they had not resolved their insurance claims or received enough money to replace their homes, The Union-Tribune reported.

Good luck fire victims, we all know what a good time you had at Qualcomm, but there's a long road ahead.

If you need tips, go here. He's a lawyer (so that means he knows everything).

Et tu New York Times?

From The New York Times: With Katrina Fresh, Bush Moves Briskly

For a presidency still haunted by memories of Hurricane Katrina, the forceful round-the-clock response was a political no-brainer — the “anti-Katrina,” in the words of Peter Wehner, a former domestic policy adviser to Mr. Bush.

Then "Man you totally f'd up that whole Katrina thing, sir."
"I sure did, didn't I? Man, when are they gonna forget about that?"

And now... "So remember how you f'd up Katrina?"
"No, I do remember we did so well in San Diego."
"But you really f'd up Katrina..."
"No, no, San Diego... SAN DIEGO. We rocked San Diego."

FFFFriday! And San Diego is in The New York Times

The part of The New York Times that thinks it's so easy to just go out and get a second home in San Diego. (Oh Honey, I feel like a condo that over looks the harbor, can we get one of those today? Sure, whatever, take the check book.)

Escape. Many, many people have discovered our little city by the sea and are now calling it their "home away from home." In fact many of them are flocking to downtown and Coronado, where they buy 1.1 million dollar condos and walk around on weekends looking for the best place to get brunch. Why do they come here?

Weather, in fact, is almost everyone’s first reason for buying a second home in San Diego. Midwesterners and Easterners have bought homes to escape the brunt of winter, while Arizonans — dubbed Zonies here — and some desert-dwelling Californians have purchased homes to escape the triple-digit temperatures of summer and bask in the cool ocean breezes.

You see downtown San Diego has changed. According to the NY times:

“Not long ago, downtown San Diego was a Navy town, full of brothels,” he said. “Now it’s a modern city on the water.”

We were a brothel city but now we are a condominium city. A condominium city that, apparently, needed a few time shares as well.

Also downtown is a new Hard Rock Hotel, a condominium “lifestyle hotel” with 420 rooms.
The owners have access to their rooms up to 28 days a year. The rest of the time the room is rented, and owners get a portion of the proceeds.

But be careful what you wish for San Diego because with the brand new revitalized downtown AND the crazy time share hotels you're also going to get this girl.

“And it has Nobu,” she said, referring to a high-end Japanese restaurant that will be in the hotel. “Everyone’s looking forward to that.”

I know we'll never BE L.A. but I sure hope we're going to be able to keep out the SUPER LA-ins (except Britney, cause that's a train wreck I'd love to stare at while she gets lost in Horton Plaza. How come there are so many levels y'all?)

Yes that's Brit Brit leaving NOBU in LA. I am... shameless.