It was a gamble that San Diegan Anthony Wen decided was worth taking. He proposed to his girlfriend, Sylvia Sedano, at Valley View Casino while playing a game of chance.
In cahoots with operators of the Valley Center casino, they “stacked the deck” of cards in the steakhouse, from which diners can opt to pick a card to determine the price of their dinner – from free to $90. When Sedano, of San Marcos, turned over the card she had selected, it said: “Will you marry me?”
Lady Luck was with Wen. She said “yes.”
Loss of a friend
A week and a half ago, Barbara Jamerson was performing at Pala Casino in North County.
Tomorrow, musician friends of the San Diego singer are holding a jam session in her memory from 1 to 5 p.m. at Humphrey's Backstage Lounge on Shelter Island.
It's a celebration of life and love for Jamerson, 59, who died suddenly last week. The jazz and blues singer was a longtime performer at the Hotel del Coronado and more recently the Catamaran resort. During her Pala Casino performance Aug. 17, she reported feeling numbness and tingling in her legs. She later checked into a hospital, where she died Wednesday of cardiac arrest.
Jamerson's CD, “I Wish You Love,” was nominated for Best Jazz Recording in next month's San Diego Music Awards.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow at San Diego's New Creation Church, 3115 Altadena Ave.
Craig's crystal ball?
An Oceanside reader phoned early Friday to predict that Sen. Joseph Biden would be Barack Obama's running mate. Why? The reader had just posted an online “for sale” ad on craigslist.com, and one of the two words he was asked to descramble in the Web site's security check spelled “Biden.” The next day, at 3 a.m. EDT, a text message was sent to Obama supporters announcing his choice of Biden for vice presidential nominee.
Condor loss
The San Diego Wild Animal Park has confirmed that a male California condor raised at the park was one of two condors lost and presumed dead in the recent wildfire near Big Sur.
Michael Mace, Wild Animal Park curator of birds, said the park has raised and sent 34 condors over the years to the Ventana Wildlife Society for release in the Big Sur area.
“It's hard to put a value on the loss of a 6-year-old male that was about to breed and an up-and-coming female,” said Joe Burnett, Ventana's senior wildlife biologist.
Mace just delivered a $10,000 check from the San Diego Zoological Society to the Ventana group to help replace tracking and monitoring equipment destroyed in the fire.
Around town
Actress Gena Rowlands will be honored for lifetime achievement on the final day of the Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival on Sept. 21. Another lifetime achievement honoree is former California Lt. Gov. Mike Curb. The music producer and founder of Curb Records has written more than 400 songs. . .
Urban Corps of San Diego County welcomed a dozen members spanning four generations of the S. Falck Nielsen family on a reunion tour of its Midway area headquarters Thursday. The building was once the corporate headquarters of Nielsen Construction before being sold to the Urban Corps at a charitable discount. Among the visitors was family matriarch Charlotte Nielsen, an Urban Corps board member.
Quote of Note
The San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association recently presented a 2008 “Effective Advertising on Radio” award to Glenn Erath, a corporate comedian who produces ads. This is Erath's second EAR award, prompting him to say: “Now I've got one for each side of my head.”
Diane Bell's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fax items to (619) 260-5009; call (619) 293-1518; e-mail to diane.bell@uniontrib.com; or mail to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Box 120191, San Diego 92112-0191.
