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Paramount+ and Nickelodeon are taking over Hard Rock Hotel San Diego with activations that ode to SpongeBob’s legendary cultural impact. Classic SpongeBob memes that pay tribute to the San Diego Comic-Con experience will cover the hotel’s exterior, while the interior hotel lobby will be transformed into a modern art mecca with a Bikini Bottom bent. This Instagram-able installation will feature the work of artists from around the world who have been inspired by SpongeBob’s boundless positivity. The hotel’s Maryjane’s Diner will also celebrate SpongeBob’s anniversary with custom decor and comedic Easter eggs throughout the experience.

Kendrick Dial and Brisa Lauren of The Lyrical Groove perform "spoken soul" set to live instrumentation for a captivating sound that combines poetry, music and is intertwined with San Diego's rich spoken word and hip-hop history.

The Athenaeum Art Center and Bread & Salt co-present a special concert at 1955 Julian Avenue in Logan Heights, on Saturday, August 17. A longtime friend of the Athenaeum jazz program, the Brazilian vocalist, composer, pianist, and percussionist Claudia Villela is joined by Romero Lubambo on guitar for a program celebrating her latest CD release, Cartas ao Vento, a collection of original compositions that was listed as one of DownBeat’s Best Albums in 2023. Villela sings mostly in Portuguese, interpreting lyrics with keen emotional insight and supple rhythmic command. DownBeat noted her “unwavering commitment to the highest level of improvisation,” adding: “All discussions about Villela’s singing and songwriting necessarily start with a nod to the dizzying scope and depth of her improvisatory skill. In one tune, she’ll run through several registers, shift vocal qualities, allude to familiar riffs and keep unswerving time. Oh, and improvise a full set of lyrics in Portuguese. It must be said, hardly anybody can do this.” The New York Times celebrated her “remarkable, beautiful, towering voice,” and banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck commented, “She is pure music!” Lubambo is known to Athenaeum audiences for performances with Chico Pinheiro, Luciana Souza, and Trio Da Paz. He has performed and recorded with many of the outstanding artists of our time, from Dianne Reeves, Michael Brecker, Wynton Marsalis, and Gal Costa to Yo-Yo Ma, Kathleen Battle, and Billie Eilish. Jazziz wrote, “Guitarist Romero Lubambo may be the best practitioner of his craft in the world today ... [his] facility, creativity, and energy are in a class all their own.” DownBeat commented, “Lubambo is by himself the equivalent of an entire samba band … He tosses melodies, bass lines, and rhythms in the air like juggling clubs.” For more information visit: ljathenaeum.org Stay Connected on Facebook and Instagram

This weekend in local arts and culture: Poetic Justice's self-portraiture and poetry exhibit; free museums; a play about cooking; AAPI fashion; Puerto Rican LGBTQ+ theater; ballet meets the stock market crash and more.

Embrace the aloha spirit with us on Friday June 21 from 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Delight your senses as you feast on mouthwatering Polynesian dishes, while enjoying live performances from Te Rahiti Nui and Taupou Samoa. Whether you're indulging in the savory dishes or dancing to the rhythmic beats, this evening promises to be truly unforgettable. Grab your tickets before they go. For more information visit: resortkonakai.com Stay Connected on Facebook and Instagram

President Joe Biden pardons five people and commutes the sentence of two others who "made significant contributions to improving their communities."

Rural school districts depend on the state to fund construction and maintenance projects. But over the past 25 years, Alaska lawmakers have ignored hundreds of requests for public schools that primarily serve Indigenous children.

The guys from the Zzymzzy Quartet (rhymes with “whimsy”) have simple ambitions: they just want to play it like it was when it was unamplified, melodic, swinging, dreamy, full of sly surprise. From the Prohibition through the Second Big War, the glory days of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington are being recaptured humbly and with humor in San Diego by four musicians who know it don’t mean a thing without that swing. Those four musicians are Beston Barnett on guitar and vocals, Matt Gill on clarinet, Paul Hormick on upright bass, and Pete Miesner on guitar and lead vocals. The Zzymzzy Quartet takes its name from a hypothetical “last word” in the dictionary: thus, their tagline, “The Last Word in Gypsy Swing.” The “Gypsy” sound is heard in much of the guitar work, heavily influenced by the stylings of French Gypsy jazz legend Django Reinhardt. But the group also pays tribute to the Swing Era with classic standards and idiomatic originals. Since the Zzymzzy Quartet came together in 2004, they have played dances, parties, weddings, festivals, art openings, and events throughout Southern California to unanimous enthusiasm, carving out a name for themselves as a tasty dance band and a classy addition to every wedding. Their second album, Petite Fleur, features cameos from a variety of beloved San Diego musicians. Visit: zzymzzy.wordpress.com/

The lawmakers called the Oceanside-based credit union’s overdraft practices “unconscionable” and urged the company to change its fee policies.

Frontwave Arena will have about 7,500 seats and will be home to the San Diego Sockers.