If you are seeing this message, you need to upgrade your web browser.
Mozilla is an excellent browser for Mac, Windows, and Linux platforms.
These pages will not display correctly with antiquated browsers like Netscape 4 or IE 4.
For ideal rendering please use the latest version of mozilla (or ie 6 if you must...)
Friday, September 24
The Disorientation Party is an annual event sponsored by all 4 UCSD Cooperatives: the Che Café, the Food Co-op, the General Store Co-op, and Groundwork Books. Come enjoy free food and live entertainment, meet people, and get an underground education about UCSD history!
The fun starts at 4PM. Highlights include Professor Jorge Mariscal, live music by Jason Webley, and a free raffle featuring merchandise from the co-ops. See the schedule and full descriptions here: Disorientation Party 2004
Drawing Resistance is a show of two dimensional artwork by 31 artist/activists from North America. Organized by Sue Simensky Bietila (Ashland, Wisconsin) and Nicolas Lampert (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), the content-based show speaks to subject matter vital to understanding the world today. Some of the topics include the anti-globalization movement, working class rights, the destruction of the environment, corporate control, police brutality, homelessness, gentrification and the Zapatista liberation movement in Mexico.
Rather than exhibiting Drawing Resistance in one city (or those where political art is frequently shown), the show travels to cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico on a monthly basis for a 5 year continuous period (2001-2005). In each city or town that the show is exhibited, local hosts select the space and the events which compliment the traveling exhibition. Drawing Resistance has no funding and relies solely on the communities that host the show to transport it to the next site. The show's collective organizing method draws upon the D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) culture, and like a punk band on tour, the art show is getting in the van! In the first two years, Drawing Resistance has traveled over 5,000 miles to over 19 cities in the US and Canada and countless numbers of individuals have made the show unique to their own vision.
The show raises a number of vital questions that are not often considered. The Detroit writer, David Sands stated that Drawing Resistance "doesn't have a lot to do with curators, museums, or hard-to-figure-out splotches on the wall. Instead, it has much to do with what's missing from most of the me-me-me money-money-money world of contemporary art. That is, a sense of urgency beyond one's individual self; a feeling of anger-hope- responsibility for the world and the people around us; a bridging between creative and political realities that artists all too often choose to ignore."
Fully three generations of political art are represented in the Drawing Resistance. Chicago artist, Carlos Cortez is old enough to remember the days of Depression-era political art. Seth Tobocman and Peter Kuper's storyboard magazine World War 3-Illustrated along with the legendary punk album-cover art of Winston Smith (Dead Kennedy's) and John Yates provide a crucial bridge to the current generation. Styles range from the bright watercolors of Domitila Dominguez (Questions & Swords: Folk Tales of the Zapatista Revolution, written by Subcommandante Marcos) to the street posters of Robbie Conal to the spray paint/stencils of Josh MacPhee to the collages of Freddie Baer.
"Drawing Resistance is a bracing, enlivening panorama of radical humanism, stretched wide by the expansive hopes and traumas of our times. Long may it travel." -- William Eisenstein, Urban Ecology
The web site for the show (www.drawingresistance.org) includes information, artist biographies, the show schedule, press, in depth interviews and links.
Exhibiting from August 4 - 28. Viewing hours Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4 - 7pm.
As of June 11, the Cafe will only be open during weekly scheduled events. The current hours of 5:30pm to 12:30am will remain the same so feel free to show up early to an event or stop by to get some delicious treats before the event begins. Also, the Cafe will be open from 6pm to 10pm during Open Mic events on Monday nights.
New websites and some upcoming events added the links section.
The late night café will be closing on Sunday, March 21st in observance of Spring Break (party party party) and reopening on Monday, March 29th. The hours will be different in when business resumes in the spring quarter: Open Every Day But Thursday, 5:30PM to 12:30AM
Updated, March 20th, '04.
-Che
The café is once again open from 7 PM to 2 AM every day except Thursday (and on Thursdays from 5:30PM to 7 PM for all-you-can-eat dinners) beginning the first day of classes: Monday, January 5. Come on over; grab some delicious, vegan, mostly organic, and eminently affordable food; use our wireless Internet access to study, browse the web, and send instant messages to your friends inviting them to come join you!
Before coming you might want to check this site to see if there is a show on, because during shows you'll have to get food from the take-out window outside unless you want to pay for admission.
Updated, January 6th, '04.
-Che
Hullo. We just wanted to let you know that Wednesday, December 10th will be the last night our late night café will be open this quarter. UCSD classes end that week, so we shall take a break along with all the other students. There will still be an All You Can Eat dinner on Thursday, December 11th, but after that we will be breaking for the winter. Late night operations will resume in early January. Check back here for further updates. We will still have reduced café operations during shows, but this will be on a more limited basis. Please volunteer to have the café at shows, because we like providing food for kids and kids like eating our food, we think. Yes.
Updated, December 5th, '03.
-Che
Because we figure all the students will be gone for the weekend, the late night café will be closed this Thursday, November 27th, but will be open on Friday and Saturday as long as the shows scheduled for those days are not cancelled (not that the shows are cancelled, I'm just saying...). No matter what, we will resume regular hours on Sunday, November 30th. We all hope you have a nice time visiting your family and whatnot (if that's something you do), but we also hope you honor the people who were removed from the land by the settlers who came to populate this land mass. Also, consider a Tofurkey this, and every, year.
Updated, November 24th, '03.
-Che
We're sorry to say that we never found an alternate venue for the Phobia/Cripple Bastards/Anodyne show on November 1st. Probably the worst thing about the whole fiasco was that three touring bands were left without a show on a Saturday night. Thanks to the people who tried to find a new place for it, and thanks to the people who understand why we had to try to move the show. We're in the process of figuring out a way to allow these shows to happen, but without the Che being put in jeopardy with the University. Most importantly, for shows to keep happening at the Che, people need to get it through their thick skulls that YOU CAN NOT DRINK ALCOHOL at the Che, around the Che, or in the parking lots around the Che. If you were one of the people who bought your ticket for the show in advance, you can come by the Che with your ticket for a full refund. The Che is open Friday through Wednesday between 7pm and 2am with the advent of the late night Cafe opening up, or come by any show and let the person at the door know that you need to refund your Phobia ticket. Thanks!
Updated, November 8th, '03.
-Che
Just so you know, we are alive. Poor air quality led the UCSD big-wigs to shut down the UCSD campus for a few days, and thus we had a slight interruption in our new café late night endeavors, but that's all a part of the past now. Quit living in the past. Live in the now. Fugazi is extremely good. Yes, fire destroys things, but it is also often used in literature to symbolize rebirth (the whole Phoenix rising sort of thing), so we here at the Che hope you all are alive and well, and stronger for the experience which did not kill you. We'd hate for you to be harmed in any way. You know why? Because we love you. Love you.
Updated, November 1st, '03.
-Che
The first night of the café was hectic as heck (tic). If you were there and were disappointed in the service or were treated less than graciously,please chalk it up to high levels of stress thrust upon the workers. It was our opening night.
Overall, opening night was a satisfying experience. We were way way excited to see so many students show up. Thanks for coming. Anywho (either Ben Who or Danny Who), you should come out and enjoy our café. The late night café is open from 7PM to 2 AM every day except Thursday (and on Thursdays we are open from 5:30-7PM for All You Can Eat Dinners). Come out and study, have some good vegan food and drinks, and support a student co-op. It'll save the world. On nights when we have a show scheduled, you'll still be able to enjoy the café by going to our secondary access point at the back of the kitchen. At that time, we also plan to sell food to the show-goers if we have a volunteer to work the regular front register (show-goers, please note).
Yes, we're excited about this. We hope you continue to come out so we can have fun together. We like you a lot.
Updated, September 29th, '03.
-Che
Starting Saturday, September 27th, the Che Cafe will become a real cafe (again). It has been years and years since we've been opened on a regular basis as a cafe/restaurant, but this quarter, we're doing it. We'll be open nightly (except Thursday) from 7PM-2AM serving up good stuff like vegan food. We plan to sell vegie burgers, french (not freedom) fries, various cofee and tea-based drinks, our standard natural sodas, and tons of other great stuff. Dude, it's going to be radical. Whether you're looking for a place to study and grab a coffee late into the night, or you just get the craving for vegan wonderfullness after all the vegan-friendly restaurants have closed, or you're rocking out at a show and want to have a nice little snack, we're there for you. This is wicked exciting!!! Yay! Come out and enjoy it!!! I love you.Updated, September 19th, '03.
-Che
Food Not Bombs took a hiatus earlier this year, but it has been functioning steadily for about a month now. Due to the Che's inconvenient location, FNB has stopped meeting there, and instead has been meeting at a nice person's home in north park. If you would like to participate, send an email to info@sdfnb.org. FNB can always use help. Updated, August 29th, '03.
The "About the Che" section has been substantially updated, with some fun and empowering ideas and suggestions, a sort of a call to you and everyone else to use our space and resources. Hopefully this will make it more clear what the Che is and how you can go about utilizing the space. The Che is an amazing resource with endless potential - if we'd all just start using it.
The spring quarter run of our weekly vegetarian/vegan AYCE dinner extravaganzas will begin with FREE PASTA night on April 3rd. From then on it's not free, but its darn cheap at $3/plate $4/ayce. And it's free if you volunteer a bit. Click here to be courteously delivered to the menu and view our tactical plan. Our AYCE's are all volunteer run, and we need your help if you'd like to cook, clean, hang out and take up space, whatever. If you want to volunteer for an AYCE you're welcome, just come early, like 3:30-ish or perhaps later. You may even want to call first to make sure we're around. A little more info on the AYCE's can be found here.
An activism workshop for high school students will be taking place at the Che on February 22nd. It is being organized by Activist San Diego, and in their words: "This workshop is a chance to empower youth for building grassroots campaigns focusing on progressive issues that are pertinent to their lives. It will bring together high school activists and provide tools for linking youth with causes that they care about." For signups and more information about this event, click here. Questions about this event should be directed to ewhite@ljcds.org rather than the our email.