City Weekly February 7, 2019 by Copperfield Publishing

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CWCONTENTS COVER STORY PINBALL WIZARDS

For one local set, the difference between glory and agony rests on a lone quarter. On the cover: Dan Newman photographed by Steven Vargo, stevenvargo.com

CONTRIBUTOR

4 LETTERS 6 OPINION 11 NEWS 16 A&E 21 DINE 26 MUSIC 35 CINEMA 37 COMMUNITY

ALEX SPRINGER

Cover story, p. 13 Springer recalls the childhood awe of sticky-floored arcades of yesteryear. “The initials that flashed across the high score tables at the end of arcade games like Donkey Kong and Mortal Kombat signified the rise and fall of empires,” the SLC native says, “and one lucky quarter could be your ticket to video game Valhalla.”

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Murdered, missing indigenous women remembered at Capitol. facebook.com/slcweekly

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SOAP BOX

COMMENTS@CITYWEEKLY.NET

@SLCWEEKLY @SLCWEEKLY @CITYWEEKLY

Cover package, Jan. 24, “What’s in Our Legislation?”

Just read the piece. It definitely ain’t half bad. It’s a perfect union between art and content. Love it! BETTY BARKAS HOOD Via Twitter Why did you dicks let Mitt Romney get elected? KERRY KNOWLES Via Facebook

Cover package, Jan. 24, “Climate Confrontations”

It’s all dependent on whether the people of Utah say they want clean air. If they say they do, then no, this will not be the year. With the Legislature, it’s necessary to use reverse psychology and/or a pile of cash. REGIE THOMPSON Via Facebook It would be interesting to see if we could better synchronize the traffic lights across the valley so we don’t spend as much time sitting at lights as we do driving. I bet it would cut trip times in half. JOE SCHMIDT Via Facebook I’ve seen SLPD cars sit in parking lots, engines running, for literally hours! CLINTON REID Via Facebook

Social media post, Jan. 24, Ready for some #utleg bingo?

I think we are headed for blackout. KESTIN PAGE Via Twitter If this is a drinking game, you might want to put an alcohol poisoning warning. KATIE MATHESON Via Twitter OMG, I laughed so hard! JODI WILSON Via Facebook

Opinion, Jan. 24, “Clear and Present Danger”

Now in the News … oral farting? Better know as burping … and here’s some more waste worthy ink to paper! Are you concerned about burping? I’m not. DAVID MELLEN Via Facebook Wow, just wow. More nails for [Trump’s] coffin. DIANE ARMSTRONG Via Facebook

Hits & Misses, Jan. 24, “Drained”

I don’t know enough yet to speak on the water issue. But I do know for a fact many states are steering away from coal. It’s not a

clean energy source nor is it a renewable source of energy. Water (hydro), wind and solar are the best renewable resources. Utah really needs to catch up with most of the rest of the country. Time to enter the 21st century before its over. Smh. DIANE ARMSTRONG Via Facebook

Dine, Jan. 24, “Mojarra Madness”

Right by the fairgrounds, didn’t know about it till now. GENO LOPEZ Via Facebook No thanks. @JULIUSTIPLIDUS Via Instagram Yuck! MANNIE LUGO Via Facebook We encourage you to join the conversation. Sound off across our social media channels as well as on cityweekly.net for a chance to be featured in this section.

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Salt Lake City Weekly is published every Thursday by Copperfield Publishing Inc. We are an independent publication dedicated to alternative news and news sources, that also serves as a comprehensive entertainment guide. 50,000 copies of Salt Lake City Weekly are available free of charge at more than 1,800 locations along the Wasatch Front. Limit one copy per reader. Additional copies of the paper can be purchased for $1 (Best of Utah and other special issues, $5) payable to Salt Lake City Weekly in advance. No person, without expressed permission of Copperfield Publishing Inc., may take more than one copy of any Salt Lake City Weekly issue. No portion of this oublication may be reproduced in whole or part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without the written permission of the publisher. Third-class postage paid at Midvale, UT. Delivery might take up to one full week. All rights reserved.

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Business/Office Associate Business Manager PAULA SALTAS

Marketing & Events Director SAMANTHA SMITH Marketing & Events Assistant ANNA KASER Street Team TERESA BAGDASAROVA, BEN BALDRIDGE , AARON ERSHLER, TRACY FRANTZ , ELLIOT FREI , JAZMIN GALLEGOS, SAMANTHA HERZOG, AMELIA PAHL, SYDNEY PHILLIPS, MARY ANNE ROJAS

Contributors KATHARINE BIELE, ROB BREZSNY, BABS DE LAY, KYLEE EHMANN, MARYANN JOHANSON, CASEY KOLDEWYN, EMMA PENROD, NIC RENSHAW, MIKE RIEDEL, MICHAEL S. ROBINSON SR., ALEX SPRINGER, LEE ZIMMERMAN

Sales Sales Director JENNIFER VAN GREVENHOF Senior Account Executives DOUG KRUITHOF, KATHY MUELLER Retail Account Executives KYLE KENNEDY, MIEKA SAWATZKI,

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Technical Director BRYAN MANNOS Developer BRYAN BALE

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6 | FEBRUARY 7, 2019

OPINION Utah’s Legislators: Gone Rogue

While public hangings are definitely a no-no, and there doesn’t seem to be a legal provision that would allow a noconfidence vote to dump the lot of them, Utah’s legislators are continuing to wage war on their constituents, demonstrating, once again, that they have zero respect for the same democratic principles that put them into office. The legislative opposition to Medicaid expansion is the latest case in point. From a purely Golden Rule perspective, the poor of our state deserve better than that. After all, these people didn’t ask to be poor. Many of them suffer from physical impairment, mental diseases, or just plain hard luck. The rich and successful are in no position to judge, and, while Mormonism has taught that people’s station, color and even financial situations in life are the result of how valiantly they fought against Satan during the “War in Heaven,” that belief has been mostly buried over time. Nevertheless, it’s still present in the subliminal message that Mormons hear when they view the less-fortunate of our state. The attitudes of parents and past generations don’t die easily. At least in part, these old beliefs are behind the push against Medicaid expansion. Whether you’re a Buddhist, Muslim or Evangelical Christian, that has nothing to do with how we should treat

those who are suffering and in need. Withholding medical services from 150,000 struggling Utahns is a reprehensibly inhuman position to take. Our voters approved Medicaid expansion and did so decisively. It should be a done deal. So why are we now seeing multiple bill proposals to invalidate the election results? Perhaps it’s an over-simplification, but I think it’s safe to say that the Utah Legislature has no interest in actually passing the laws supported by its registered voters. With the smug entitlement of schoolyard bullies, legislators are trampling the most essential rights of the people of our state. I voted; you voted; we won; they don’t care. It’s not as if the situation is really anything new. The elected state senators and representatives have a shabby history of dishonoring the will of the voters, apparently taking the position that they know better than we do what is best for our state. In a nutshell, Utah’s Legislature has “gone rogue,” usurping the rights of majority rule and invalidating our hard-fought election results. When propositions are placed on the ballots, they have already met the criteria for a vote. Intense debate creates voter opinion, multiple pens assist in drafting the propositions and election results confirm the people’s will. In Utah, there’s always been the problem of just how many seats in the legislature are occupied not by legislators who were elected by the people, but by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In a sense, the theocracy envisioned by Brigham Young never actually died. It is alive and well today and controls most of what’s done in our state. The problem is not getting better. Despite

BY MICHAEL S. ROBINSON SR.

the waning percentage of Mormon voters, it is the church that still dictates what happens in our state—including its multi-year, recently lifted opposition to the “Hate Crime Law.” The medical cannabis bill, hotly debated and targeted for failure by a variety of Utah players, was derailed by the improper influence of the Mormon church. A lawsuit has been brought in the hopes that the voters will get their way. Our state has a big problem. Unfortunately, a large number of its residents are fleeced by the less-than-transparent moves of its government, simply burying their heads in the sand and hoping legislators end up doing the right thing. (As a humanitarian gesture, I am thinking about starting an ostrich rescue program. There are ones for dogs, threelegged cats, old horses and alligators that have outgrown the family bathtub, so why shouldn’t we do something to pull ostrich heads out of the sand?) The U.K. has the right idea. When Parliament fails to follow the people’s voice, a no-confidence vote forces creation of a new government—one that will hopefully respect the preferences of the population. As for the Utah Legislature, the crisis is here. It has shown a reckless disregard for the concept of majority rule, taking the position that its members, though duly elected by the people, have no real loyalty to their constituents. CW

The author is a former Vietnam-era Army assistant public information officer. He resides in Riverton with his wife, Carol, and one mongrel dog. Send feedback to comments@cityweekly.net

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CITIZEN REV LT IN ONE WEEK, YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

2ND AMENDMENT RIGHTS

In the first month of 2019, there were at least five mass shootings in five days. When Salon magazine asks if Americans have become desensitized to mass shootings, you have to wonder. Wayne McCormack, professor of law at the University of Utah, asks the question Should We Repeal the 2nd Amendment? During the talk, he examines Australia’s success to dispose of non-hunting weapons and the influx of weapons to Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union. The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is front and center in the discussion of 2nd Amendment rights and its often conflicting interpretations. And, of course, there’s discussion of the National Rifle Association and Russia. Girl Scout Headquarters, 445 E. 4500 South, 801-2728683, Thursday, Feb. 7, 6-8 p.m., free, bit.ly/2HHED5x.

• •

FUTURE OF NUCLEAR POWER

OK, people along the Wasatch Front are literally dying from the bad air. But is nuclear power the answer? Touted as the ultimate clean-energy alternative, nuclear power has a devastating downside known as waste that lasts pretty much forever, can leak into the environment and that the government has yet to figure out how and where to contain. Here in Utah, there’s still movement to place a plant on the Green River. At The Future of Nuclear Power in Utah, Peter Bradford, professor of Law and Energy Policy at Vermont Law School and a former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory commissioner, discusses the risks of small public utilities’ involvement in nuclear plant construction and precautions available to protect customers from unanticipated costs. Hinckley Institute of Politics, 260 S. Central Campus Drive, Room 2018, 801-581-8501, Tuesday, Feb. 12, noon-1 p.m., free, bit.ly/2RwiMOm.

MEDICAID UN-EXPANSION

It’s never too late, even though the Legislature has fast-tracked its “new and improved” version of the Medicaid expansion initiative that passed last year. Join the Utah Health Policy Project at Day on the Hill for Prop 3 Medicaid Expansion to discuss the details and talk to legislators about promoting a full expansion. You probably know that they are determined to undermine the will of the people. Do you believe you have the right of free expression? Then make your way to Capitol Hill on Valentine’s Day to help lobby for full expansion with no delays, no caps and no red tape. State Capitol, 350 N. State, 801-433-2299, Thursday, Feb. 14, noon-2 p.m., free, bit.ly/2DOndAc.

—KATHARINE BIELE Send tips to revolt@cityweekly.net

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Ignorant Fools

Those parasitic poor people just aren’t working hard enough—or at all. This is the message from Sen. Jacob Anderegg, R-Lehi, who’s done the math, unlike the incompetent masses we sometimes call voters. “You cannot multiply wealth in this country by dividing it,” he said on the Senate floor, as if that meant something. Anderegg was upset because the Senate was slow to release his bill to repeal the Medicaid expansion initiative. If only people understood how much this thing would cost the state. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to take away the rights of the people, but I have to balance the budget,” he says, and it will be on the backs of the poor. One Salt Lake Tribune commenter summed it up: “Jacob Anderegg is ‘100 percent convinced’ that a majority of Utahns would not have cast a ballot in favor of full expansion if they understood its cost to the state. Well I am fully convinced he just called the majority of Utahns ignorant fools and he has no idea what he is talking about.”

Beep, Beep!

If you were wondering, wonder no more. Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding, is in the Legislature and determined to ride his ATV right through your public lands. That, of course, is a metaphor. The good people of San Juan County, or more accurately House District 73, elected Lyman, convicted of leading an illegal protest through Recapture Canyon, and they’re ready to see him work wonders at the Capitol. So far, so good. Lyman introduced a bill to throw people in jail for illegally closing a public road, Utah Policy reported. It’s all about putting those “enviros” in their place. But wait. Now you’ve got the Democrats in Congress and they’re pushing to reexpand Bears Ears National Monument. That might sit well with the new Democratic majority in San Juan County.

Port vs. People

Maybe it’s a done deal, but you have to give props to the many people who’ve come out to oppose the inland port. The debate can be boiled down to money vs. health, and in Utah, money usually wins. Some 200 people, according to the Trib, gathered last weekend to hear the plans and plead for sanity amid concern over the port’s environmental impacts. We’re talking major freight operations on 20,000 acres in the fragile Northwest Quadrant. The Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment are beating the drum about the negative impacts, and legislators should listen. “A recent landmark study indicates that long-term exposure to even low levels of diesel exhaust raises the risk of dying from lung cancer about 50 percent for residents who live near industrial operations, and about 300 percent for the workers,” according to the organization. But, hey, money talks. Right?

NEWS

INDUSTRY

Golden Ticket Inside the local connection that helped put Utah on the craft chocolate map. Hint: It’s the Mormons. BY EMMA PENROD comments@cityweekly.net @emapen

ENRIQUE LIMÓN

A cross-section of Utah-made chocolates available at Caputo’s Market & Deli. According to market statistics, the Beehive State has the biggest sweet tooth in the country, gobbling more than twice the national candy consumption average.

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and related industries. But it’s not just any small or mid-sized city that’s a candidate, Ruggles says—most chocolate hubs tend to be “more hipster” than average, with a strong farm-to-table movement and a hunger for sophistication and the next big trend. Utah’s tech culture has also played a role in its fascination with chocolate. Amano was the product of two business partners who had previously worked in the state’s software industry. Craftsmen with a background in engineering or chemistry tend to make the best chocolate, Goble says. And Utah’s altitude, coupled with its dry climate, might also yield a better-tasting product. “Plus, it’s an environment where everyone helps everyone,” Goble says. “It’s the attitude that everyone is very neighborly here.” That friendliness, at least within the local chocolate industry, could be about to change. While the chocolate market is growing steadily, Ruggles says, the production is rapidly outstripping demand. That has many industry insiders predicting a nationwide winnowing of craft chocolate manufactories where only the best are expected to survive. Will Utah come out on top? Sequine believes it just might. “I think there is a potential for craft chocolate to catch on sooner than later” he says. “I don’t know if it will or not, but I see no impediment to it, and I see some logic that says that could very well take off for them. It’s possible that they could lead the way.” CW

ship identifies as Mormon. While there are a “weird number of LDS people making chocolate,” Ruggles says, “there are some things about fine food culture that don’t jive with the church.” Mormon culture traditionally champions entrepreneurship, self-reliance, handicraft—and sales, of course, but those values also compete against the church’s emphasis on frugality. When they have a surplus of money, Mormons will spend it on their children before they spend it on themselves, leaving less for personal indulgence. “Gourmet items can be hard to sell in Utah,” Clark Goble, co-founder of Amano Artisan Chocolate, says. “The Mormon element actually makes it a trickier environment.” Even with the local faith producing more chocolate makers than connoisseurs, “there are a perfect storm of factors that are contributing to Utah being a mecca of sorts for chocolate,” Brown says. Chief among them, he points out, is the fact that local craftsmen found an early champion in Caputo, who was buying and marketing artisan chocolate long before it was a thing. The early success of Amano also helped put Utah on the map. “If left to its own devices, Utah would not have become a chocolate mecca,” Brown says. “It’s just, our environment has become a great petri dish.” The artisan chocolate movement is strongest, according to Seguine, outside America’s major cities. Hubs tend to emerge in smaller metropolitan areas, often with historical ties to agriculture

tion—and you say, ‘Duh, this is kind of obvious.’” “There is a cultural aspect,” says Lance Brown, who started The Cacao Bean Project in his Sandy basement after watching his wife make homemade Christmas candy dipped in storebought chocolate. “People are very open to supporting confections and fine foods that are OK to eat in a highly religious population. If I can’t geek out on wine, I can have the same experience that wine drinkers are having with chocolate.” But if Mormons are making some of the world’s best artisan chocolate, they’re not buying it. Brown says he sells twice as much chocolate in Salt Lake County than in Mormon-centric Utah County, where customers are far more interested in sugary milk chocolate than in purer dark chocolate, and tend to scoff at Brown’s prices. Despite being LDS himself, Brown says, “I don’t think my audience is Mormon at all. I don’t plan for Mormons. My audience is probably upper-middle-class and above, people who would shop at Whole Foods and Harmons, people who appreciate good food and understand quality … They probably understand wine, cheese and other fine foods. Those are my people.” Brown isn’t the only one to notice the discrepancy. Active Latter-day Saints are underrepresented at the Utah Chocolate Society, according to Brian Ruggles, who founded the group in 2010, shortly after he graduated from Brigham Young University. Less than half of the society’s current member-

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eAnn Wallin grew up in an LDS household where everything was chocolate. “I don’t think I ever had a vanilla cake until I went to other people’s houses,” she says. But chocolate—the star component—was also one of the few ingredients they bought pre-made. When she began to make candies with her own children, the store-bought chocolate seemed rather lackluster. So, in pursuit of something better, Wallin taught herself to make her own chocolate from raw cacao beans. A few years later, the family hobby went commercial when Salt Lake’s master tastemaker, Matt Caputo, CEO of Caputo’s Market & Deli, placed an order, and Wallin family chocolate morphed into the award-winning craft manufactory Solstice Chocolate. In the context of America’s wider artisan chocolate movement, Utah is essentially a blip on the radar. The Beehive State can claim just more than a half-dozen of the nation’s 300-plus artisan chocolate makers. Yet, Utah’s young manufacturers are already among the best in the world—locally-produced Amano Artisan Chocolate was the first American manufacturer to win a Gold Award from the international Academy of Chocolate in 2009. Chocolate critics suspect Utah’s offerings have a secret weapon up its sleeve: Mormons. Indeed, the vast majority of the state’s craft chocolate makers are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The predominant local faith, combined with other cultural factors, “represents a perfect storm of chocolate,” says Ed Seguine, an international chocolate consultant and critic—and, yes, also a Mormon. Mormons already had a longstanding history of candy making, Seguine says. They serve missions in chocolate-growing countries and don’t consume other popular luxury foods like wine and coffee. Then came the national rise of artisan chocolate. “The Mormon culture has always prized craftsmanship and being able to do things for yourself,” he says. “Consider the fact that you can make fine chocolate in your kitchen—and think about the homemade focus in the LDS popula-

12 | FEBRUARY 7, 2019

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How local pinball champs and arcade bars are keeping the game alive. Photos by Steven Vargo @mr.vargo

The Warmup

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 | 13

It’s just before noon on a balmy winter Saturday when I visit Kiitos Brewing, the site for this year’s pinball championship. Kiitos sports a well-curated collection of pinball machines that spans four decades—from the 1977 classic Super Flite to 2018’s video game hybridization of Marvel’s Deadpool. The machines themselves belong to competitors Dan Newman, organizer of the Salt Lake Area Pinball

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It’s that kind of hardcore fan that saved pinball from being swallowed up by the digital onslaught of contemporary entertainment and preserved it for a new generation of players. For a snapshot of the kind of community that has helped preserve pinball from extinction, one only has to visit the 2019 IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association) Utah State Championship. It’s here where the best players in the region gather to compete, commiserate and conquer while they spend their day immersed in a cultural phenomenon that is starting to regain traction.

player’s will, all of which is exacerbated with each hour the tournament progresses. Sure, the gathering is all about fun and games, but whoever wins this thing will do so because they’re able to keep their wits about them in a sea of sensory stimulation. The tournament logistics are in the capable hands of Jeff Rivera, the official IFPA representative for the state. As far as the competitors are concerned, he’s the alpha and omega of pinball regulations. Throughout the tournament, he makes the final call on any rules and regulation disputes, and is in charge of distributing the day’s prize money among the victors. “Today, every state who has an IFPA rep will be running their tournament, and that includes Canada,” he tells City Weekly before the event kicks off. “This is our third year doing a tournament in Utah. The IFPA decided we had a large enough scene here to need a rep, and I volunteered to take that role.” Rivera also is a member of SLAP, and he’s invested in getting more people on board. “Pinball has grown from a middle-aged white guy sport and become a bit more diverse,” he says. “The community itself is opening up a bit more to other types of players, which is really nice to see.” In addition to making itself friendlier to newcomers, Rivera notes that online communities like Twitch have made it possible for pinball players the world over to connect in real time. “It’s becoming more of a spectator sport online. Some people like to watch to learn games, some like to watch for competitions,” he says. “Several of the tournaments today will be streamed, and I hope to do something like that next year.”

If you were really spoiling for some action, you’d saunter a few steps across the floor, sticky with spilled soda and the tears of defeat, to the multisensory assault from the pinball machines. Lined up like Lamborghinis in a showroom, and blinking and trilling in a discordant Morse code that only the bravest players sought to interpret, the pinball section had a pulse all its own. Where snagging a respectable score on a digital arcade game was possible through obsessive pattern recognition, the same strategy only got you so far here. Pinball machines were self-contained geographies that maintained their own laws of physics. Reflexes, reaction time, critical thinking and a level head remain important factors in pinball, but Lady Luck plays a much more pivotal role than she does in the game’s digital cousins. Perhaps that’s why pinball has always attracted a certain kind of arcade desperado—there’s something singular about the thrill that comes from knowing that skill can only get you so far until you come to terms with how lucky you actually are.

(SLAP) league, and Mike “Iceman” Lund, who is a hot contender for this year’s top slot. As the brewery’s daily customers trickle in and out, I’m watching the top 16 players in the region warm up. An air of definite competitive tension fills the room, but it’s quickly dispelled by the amount of camaraderie on display. I went in expecting a bunch of stone-cold poker faces and was greeted with a friendly sense of community—everyone knows each other, and they’re more interested in spending a day playing pinball with their friends than in humiliating the competition. The competitors gathered here today were determined by their end-of-year standings on the IFPA leaderboards. Over the course of 2018, they faced off at officially sanctioned IFPA qualifying tournaments and kicked enough ass to make it to state. The winner of this prestigious gathering of pinball nerds heads to the national championship in Las Vegas next month—the gateway to an international tournament that has yet to be announced. Immediately, I’m thinking about the unique challenges that face today’s contenders. And when I hear that the tournament is supposed to last well into the evening, it’s clear that endurance will be a key factor. Contenders in IFPA-sanctioned tournaments like this one need to be prepared for the long haul. Once the competitor pairings have been announced, each player needs to best their opponent in a series of seven matches. With the amount of players on hand, tournaments can exceed eight hours. Mental stamina is tested as thousands of blinking lights and unlucky balls chip away at each

hose of us who came of age before Y2K will remember the singular thrill of visiting an arcade. You’d spend the week doing anything to build up a stash of quarters—mowing lawns, babysitting or even rifling through the cracker crumbs between the couch cushions in search of loose change—and then spend it all on a few transcendent hours at the arcade. Back then, arcades were an ecosystem all their own. The initials that flashed across the high score tables at the end of arcade games like Donkey Kong and Mortal Kombat signified the rise and fall of empires, and one lucky quarter could be your ticket to video game Valhalla.

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By Alex Springer comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

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JEFF RIVERA

“PINBALL HAS GROWN FROM A MIDDLE-AGED WHITE GUY SPORT AND BECOME A BIT MORE DIVERSE.” —JEFF RIVERA, TOURNAMENT HOST

STEVE STROM The kitty includes $375 in prize money, a guaranteed spot at nationals and a chance to win a brand new Stern pinball machine, but today’s competitors act like that’s the furthest thing from their minds as they limber up their flipper fingers and fire up their synapses. Each competitor wants to win, of course, but today’s tourney is about more than scoring a victory. There’s a unique vibe to this particular competition—an evolution of pinball from an iconic counterculture pastime into something that has a renewed sense of humility. The competitors maintain a solemn reverence to the game of pinball because they almost lost it. To better understand the source of the monastic appreciation on display here and in countless arcades, basements and museums across the country, we need to explore the history of pinball, which is as bumpy and unpredictable as the game itself.

A Counterculture Within a Counterculture

Like booze, witchcraft and keeping chickens within city limits, early pinball machines used to be on the wrong side of the law. In the mid-1940s, pinball machines were declared illegal in American metropolises like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, which banned the devices for three decades. Publicity stills of NYPD officers shattering pinball machines with sledgehammers circulated throughout the country as New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia declared these machines to be run by the mafia in an effort to steal lunch money from the country’s impressionable youth. Much like our own Gov. Gary Herbert’s flaccid declaration of porn as a public health hazard, LaGuardia’s crusade against pinball was based on far-fetched conspiracy theories and political posturing. See, early pinball machines didn’t have flippers, so they were considered games of chance and not games of skill. The mere whiff that pinball machines could be luring the nation’s youth into the vice grip of gambling was enough to brand them as nefarious morality traps cooked up by the don’s consiglieri, and the machines were routinely drag-netted and destroyed. Once flipper pinball became mainstream in the 1970s, however, the game’s 30year demonization came to an end when pinball was legalized—though it remained a good way to piss off your parents. After the early ’70s, pinball machines became fixtures in video game arcades across the country. Pop culture in-

MIKE LUND fluencers of the time recognized pinball as a fascinating niche within a community that was already building a reputation synonymous with rebellion and counter-culture ideology. Perhaps the most notable convergence of these pop culture ley lines was Tommy, a lavishly produced rock opera by British rock legends The Who. The band’s charttopping “Pinball Wizard” not only lent a sense of angsty credibility to pinball, but their decision to feature pinball as the catalyst for their deaf, dumb and blind messiah figure to fulfill his psychedelic destiny colored the game with undertones of mysticism. Pinball enjoyed immense popularity until the early 2000s, which was when the arcade business was gutted by the proliferation of home-gaming consoles. At the time, Sony’s Playstation 2, Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s GameCube were ushering gamers into a new era where they didn’t have to scrounge up coins—or even leave the house— if they needed a gaming fix. Online communities redefined and expanded gamers’ social circles, which meant that brick-and-mortar joints were rapidly going belly up. Digital games could survive this process—Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter are more popular now than they’ve ever been—but clunky pinball machines weren’t as easy to market to the at-home audience. The 30 some-odd pinball manufacturers in the country held on for as long as they could, but all of them except one—Chicago’s Stern Pinball—went to that big high-score display in the sky. Despite this drought, passionate collectors and curators maintained pinball machines for posterity. Over the past decade, the hobby has started to see an uptick in popularity. The nostalgia factor for players who are now old enough to have the financial ability to purchase their own machines—combined with millennial culture’s appreciation for artifacts of bygone generations—has preserved pinball for the time being. As Salt Lake has always had a soft spot for niche communities like this, it’s not a bad place to be a fan. Between Kiitos Brewing, Quarters Arcade Bar, Murray’s Nickelmania and others, we not only have a wide selection of machines, but also a few pinball purists who are actively recruiting for the burgeoning pinballer community. While this IFPA championship represents many different things to the competitors, looking at it from the eyes of an interested observer paints it as a testament to what a passionate fanbase can do when something that it loves comes close to extinction.

The Tournament

Perhaps it’s the shared bond that single-handedly spared pinball from the pop culture junk heap. Competitors are just as amiable with one another as with outsiders like myself. In between rounds, I’d strike up conversations with the players to get a sense of what brought them in, and what spurred them to start earning IFPA points to begin with. Steve Strom, a database engineer from Elko, Nev., and last year’s state champ is among them, ready to defend his title. “I grew up in Portland, which had a ton of pinball machines, and has even more now. It’s raining all the time there, so I guess everybody plays pinball,” he reflects. “I owned around a half-dozen pinball machines back in the day, but I sold the last one off in 2005 when we moved to Elko, where I took some time off because there’s really no pinball [there].” While traveling through Salt Lake on his way to Wendover— “My son and I were going to see Cheech and Chong,” he reminisces—Strom happened to be in town for the 2017 Salt Lake Gaming Con, which was holding an IFPA pinball tournament. “It turned out to be one of the largest tournaments they ever held in Utah,” he says. “I won that one, so that immediately put me in contention for state championships.” Strom attributes his success to his ability to stay cool in light of the arcade’s sensory onslaught. “You have to have a calm demeanor,” he says. “You can’t get too excited about something going good or bad. I also watch a lot of Twitch streams to pick up on some strategy, especially when a new machine comes out.” Even from the spectator perspective, it’s evident that Strom is in control. Tournament contestant Matt Sjoblom, who became my unofficial pinball Sherpa during the competition, told me to compare Strom’s game stance with the other competitors. “The guy’s like a statue,” Sjoblom notes. There was definitely a sharp contrast—pinball players, especially when playing competitively, gyrate and swivel quite a bit as they work their magic, but Strom conducts himself like an enduring sphinx when it’s game time. “It’s real. It’s physical,” Strom says about his attraction to pinball. “I’ve played Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and all the classic video games, but pinball drew me in because every game and every shot is different.” In addition to veterans like Strom, there was some new blood in the ring as well. Andrew Herbst, a rookie to the competitive pinball scene, came up from Santaquin to participate. It’s not a surprise the Utah County communi-

Building a Local Community

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While many of the competitors spoke to the pinball community’s growing diversity, the competitive circuit remains predominantly white and male. When pinball was enjoying the height of its popularity in the ’80s and ’90s, the game was strongly marketed to young males, making it widely considered a boys’ club. Much like the vocal, toxic fanboy subset of any gaming community, pinball today has its share of dipshits who strive to keep pinball exclusive. Female pinball players have traditionally struggled to find acceptance in hardcore pinball leagues—though the IFPA does maintain a list of its women players and their international standings. This gender rift has led to the creation of women-only pinball leagues such as Belles & Chimes and tournaments like the Women’s International Pinball Tournament (WIPT), the inaugural tournament for which took place in Pittsburgh last year. Both examples speak to the truth that pinball fans come from all walks of life, but also to a culture that is evolving when it comes to including its more diverse fans. Although the competitors in the Utah state championship were all men, I got the sense that they were nothing but ex-

cited to see a wider breadth of players stepping up. Unlike the more cynical members of the pinball community, they understand that the surest way to keep something you love alive is to share it with as many people as possible—which is where Quarters Arcade Bar comes in. Owners Katy Willis and Michael Eccleston have made pinball a priority at their geek-friendly watering hole. Every Monday night from 8 p.m. to midnight, Quarters hosts a pinball league designed to build local swell around the game. “Our pinball machines get a lot of play, and it’s a mix of men and women playing for sure,” Willis says. “We have some other industry friends that are ladies, and once we get sort of an overall pinball culture, we want to get a chapter of Belles & Chimes started in Utah.” Where competitive play or showing up at SLAP tournaments for the first time might be intimidating—especially for women, people of color or members of the LGBTQ community—folks who are interested in getting their feet wet can visit Quarters for a more casual organized experience. “The people who are regulars at Quarters are really welcoming,” Eccleston says. “One of our bartenders is really into pinball and he’s walking people through rules all the time. It can seem intimidating, but it’s really not.” Willis and Eccleston have also achieved moderate success by streaming their weekly pinball league on Twitch, where their online traffic has already earned them affiliate status on the video-streaming platform. “We’ve done it for two weeks, and both of them were a learning process, but I still think it looks really great,” Willis says. Back at Kiitos, after a grueling six and a half hours of hardcore pinball, Lund, the day’s victor, made sure to hold his first place trophy high enough for his competitors to see. After taking a well-earned rest from the day’s barrage of thumping bumpers, the champ takes a moment to soak it all in. “There was no lack of luck when it came to my win. Salt Lake has a huge talent pool when it comes to pinball,” Lund reflects. “Knowing the game’s rules and a few tricks of my own allowed me to sneak through and win the day, but it really was anyone’s game,” he continues. “This being my second state championship does validate all the smack I’ve talked over the past year. But, continuing with tradition, a side note to all the flipper clowns out there: the Iceman cometh—and he kicked your candy asses!” No one ever said pinball was a gentleman’s game. CW

Lund credits his victory to strategically stacking up multipliers at the right time. “When you play tournaments, you’re just trying to get into multi-ball or hitting jackpots instead of hitting all the shots in the play field,” he says. “Newer games have modes where there’s a storyline that you play along, but it’s more about exploiting the easy points that reward more, so it’s kind of a different mindset.” This victory earns Lund a spot at nationals, where the competition can become a bit pricklier. “I’m not really a very big fish, and I’m swimming in a very small pond,” he says of his chances. “Going to nationals, I’m just going to be a minnow floating around in the sea. I think I should do pretty well, but I don’t have a lot of high expectations.” At nationals, competitors with the highest IFPA rank get paired with those among the lowest. “My ranking is terrible, so I’m pretty much guaranteed to play the top player in my first round, which means that, unless I have a really good set of games back-to-back, I’m going to be out first round,” he says. All the same, Lund is looking forward to the event—playing pinball in Vegas isn’t a bad way to start the year.

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ty wouldn’t be considered a hotbed of pinball activity—the only public machine within city limits is housed at a local burger joint called the Santa Queen Drive Inn—so Herbst was happy to find a pinball community within driving distance. He got involved with competitive play while shopping for pinball machines to add to his collection. Like anyone who is local and shopping for machines, Herbst soon met Kelly Thomson. Thomson has a personal collection that dwarfs most local arcades, and is also competing for the state championship. It was Thomson who introduced Herbst to the local competitive scene. “He invited me over to check out his collection. We played some pinball and he told me about the league. Through that, I got more involved with the competitive side of things,” Herbst recalls. “The draw to pinball for me is that it’s very mechanical,” Herbst says. “You get positive feedback from the machine, you feel the flippers. It brings a different type of skill into gaming that you don’t get from the digital stuff.” This is Herbst’s first state championship, and while he’s playing to win, he’s mostly looking forward to a full day spent doing something he loves. “As long as I don’t come in last, I’ll be happy. But it’s all in good fun,” he says. “That’s one thing that I’ve always liked about this group. There are so many people from different walks of life, and we all get along. I don’t think there’s any animosity in the group.” According to Sjoblom, the rivalry to watch was between Dan Newman and Mike Lund, who battled it out for second and third place after Strom took last year’s title. After a grueling six hours of flashing scoreboards, multi-balls, jackpots, agony and ecstasy, a winner finally emerged. In the end, it was Lund—the folks in SLAP know him as “Iceman”—who took the title. “We get a lot of enjoyment at my expense about Iceman,” Lund says. He got the nickname two years ago during news coverage of the 2016 tournament while explaining the significance of the initials MIL that he uses any time he gets on the board with a particular pinball machine. “It’s something I’ve been using since I was a teenager. When you earned a million points on a pinball machine back in the day, it was kind of a big deal, so I always put MIL,” he explains. “I didn’t mean anything, but a reporter at the time asked me what it stood for. Joking around, I said ‘Iceman,’ and I didn’t think it was actually going to go into print.” It definitely did, and it’s stuck with Lund ever since.

KELLY THOMSON

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ESSENTIALS

Ballet West: Swan Lake Tchaikovsky’s beloved Swan Lake has become nearly as synonymous with the entire concept of ballet as The Nutcracker. Yet its general reception upon its premiere in 1877 would hardly have heralded such a legacy. Many critics at the time praised the score, but otherwise found the story too complicated, with little else to recommend it. Even Tchaikovsky’s own brother Modest lamented, “The poverty of the production, meaning the décor and costumes, the absence of outstanding performers, the Balletmaster’s weakness of imagination, and, finally, the orchestra ...” More than a century later, however, audiences have clearly embraced the fanciful tale of a young prince named Siegfried, who is destined for a loveless marriage when he happens upon a group of swans and sees one of them transform into the beautiful Odette. The enchantment that allows Odette to take human form only at night can only be broken by her true love, but dark forces conspire to keep them apart. Ballet West revives the successful staging by artistic director Adam Sklute that the company previously mounted in 2010 and 2015, employing more than 60 dancers. Yet one of those dancers might be more of a focus than the others: Feb. 23 will mark the final performance by Ballet West principal dancer Christopher Ruud after 21 years. “He’s been an incomparable partner to all his ballerinas, a great dancer on his own, a powerful actor, and one of my finest artists,” Sklute said in a news release. “I will miss him, and I know our patrons will miss him, but I am excited for the next chapter of his life.” (Scott Renshaw) Ballet West: Swan Lake @ Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, 801-355-2787, Feb. 8-23, dates and times vary, $30-$112, balletwest.org

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net

FRIDAY 2/8

Utah’s 15: The State’s Most Influential Artists, Vol. II book release Art enriches and is informed by the culture and community in which it is created. Utah’s 15 marks the second iteration of a project to honor Utah’s most influential artists, 15 at a time. The project started in 2013 when arts magazine 15 Bytes asked its readership to nominate Utah artists they found influential, winnowed down the results, and featured the final 15 in an exhibition of their art and a book detailing their influence. Five years later, Artists of Utah is holding an artists’ reception and book release for Utah’s 15: The State’s Most Influential Artists, Vol. II alongside an exhibition featuring work by this year’s honorees. “There’s a lot of great art packed into one space ... with 15 different artists, I’m sure there’s something that will appeal to anyone who visits,” Shawn Rossiter, editor of 15 Bytes, says. “Each of these artists could have successfully staged a solo show in the space, so it’s a bit of a tease— you’re going to want to see more from these artists.” “No two influencers are doing the same type of work but similar themes connect them,” Kandace Steadman, exhibition curator, writes. “Their spheres of influence go beyond our state into the national and international realm. Utah’s 15 are provocateurs.” The reception will include food, book sales, a chance to mingle with the artists and the opportunity to appreciate some of their work. The exhibition will be on display through March 8 at Rio Gallery. (Casey Koldewyn) Utah’s 15: The State’s Most Influential Artists, Vol. II book release event @ Rio Gallery, 300 S. Rio Grande St., Feb. 8, 6-8 p.m., free, artistsofutah.org

FRANCINE DAVETA

20th CENTURY FOX

LUKE ISLEY

FRIDAY 2/8

ENTERTAINMENT PICKS, FEB. 7-13, 2019

SHAWN ROSSITER/15 BYTES

the

FRIDAY 2/8

SUNDAY 2/10

Ever since The Greatest Showman burst onto movie screens in 2017, audiences can’t seem to get enough of the sensationalized musical biopic of circus impresario P.T. Barnum. And while Utahns will have to wait until July to see Hugh Jackman—the film’s original Barnum— sing the movie’s catchy tunes live, fans can get their music fix in Kingsbury Hall’s Angels of The Greatest Showman. Blurring the lines between film and theater, the show will play the film while mixing in live performances from the show’s “angels”—the actors, singers and dancers. Cast members include actors from the original film—like Sam Humphrey, who plays Tom Thumb, and Luciano Acuna Jr., the Dog Boy—joined by guest performers like David Osmond, lead singer of Osmond 2nd Generation, taking on leading roles. The show is hosted by Hollywood on Broadway, a theater group that works to take audiences behind the scenes of iconic films and television shows. Angels marks the debut of their 2019-20 season, followed by Flying with the Top Gun and The Best Episodes of Seinfeld. VIP tickets include a specialized lanyard and a private meeting and pictures with cast members. But even if you can’t afford to splurge for a VIP ticket, all attendees can hear the movie’s cast discuss their roles and see behind-the-scenes moments from the making of the film. While The Greatest Showman itself remains fairly familyfriendly, admission is restricted to ages 6 and up. (Kylee Ehmann) Angels of The Greatest Showman @ Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Circle, 801-581-7100, Feb. 8-9, 7:30 p.m., $29$129, tickets.utah.edu

Here’s a quick quiz: What do yarmulkes, eggsalad sandwiches, flying on the red-eye, and a certain Walgreens store have in common? Answer: They’re all subjects comedian Todd Barry takes aim at in his stand-up act. Barry, known for his matter-of-fact observational humor, can turn almost anything into a source of satire. There’s the observant Jew who wears a pink yarmulke that resembles a watermelon; the Walgreens store with a sordid past that earned the first Todd Barry Walgreens Award; the questionable choice of ordering an egg-salad sandwich when there’s so much more on a menu; and the possibility that taking the red-eye from L.A. to New York City might make you feel like you’re a big-shot executive—until jet lag finds you falling asleep and causes you lose to your job. “I call all flights the red-eye,” Barry insists. “It makes me feel like a real businessman.” Barry, a former rock drummer, made his mark initially as part of a Comedy Central showcase before going on to become a regular on the late-night circuit and take roles in various TV series. He hit his stride voicing characters on the animated series Squidbillies, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. He’s also recorded several comedy albums, written a book, acted in films and currently hosts his own podcast. That’s a diverse list of credits for a guy who’s a kind of Everyman, albeit one well-versed in everyday absurdities. His dry delivery aside, Barry’s blend of wit and wisdom has given him the ability to capture his audience’s attention. And, we suspect, their sense of sarcasm as well. (Lee Zimmerman) Todd Barry @ Wiseguys SLC, 194 S. 400 West, 801-532-5233, Feb. 10, 7 p.m., $20, wiseguyscomedy.com

Angels of The Greatest Showman

Todd Barry

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Eating It, Too Salt Lake Acting Co.’s The Cake explores differences without demonizing. BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

n 2019, many issues seem so volatile there’s no room to explore the nuanced gray areas where they get more complicated. How do you tell a story about people who sincerely believe in an idea that has caused you or your loved ones pain? That was a challenge faced by Bekah Brunstetter in creating her play The Cake, and now by director Justin Ivie in overseeing Salt Lake Acting Co.’s local premiere. Set in North Carolina, it’s the story of a devoutly Christian baker named Della (played by local theater veteran Betsy West) who faces a personal dilemma when she’s asked to create a wedding cake for Jen, a young woman for whom Della has been a kind of surrogate mother. So what’s the problem? Jen is marrying a woman. The premise naturally evokes thoughts of the landmark Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Supreme Court decision, which affirmed a Colorado baker’s right to refuse service to a gay couple. Just as natural are assumptions about the way Della might be portrayed—especially in a play performed by a company known for progressivethemed productions. Those assumptions are exactly what Ivie—a veteran performer with SLAC, now directing his first full-length production with the company—hopes to upend. “My first impression of the text was how it kind of defied what my expectations were,” Ivie

says. “It’s a play you think you know the moment you hear the subject. Over the course of the past few years, we’ve all formed opinions on that issue because of the Supreme Court case. So you think, ‘Oh, it’s that play.’ But I noticed how little interest it has in the broader political aspects, and more in the individual, personal aspect.” The centerpiece of that personal focus is the character of Della herself, who is crafted by Brunstetter in a way that doesn’t make her the story’s obvious villain. The near-familial connection between her and Jen forces Della to think about this decision as more than an abstract test of her moral scruples. “When this request kind of lands in her lap,” Ivie says, “it’s not from a stranger she can easily categorize as ‘other.’ We can’t just write people off as something else. “Also, Della is this instantly lovable character,” he adds. “It’s very hard for you to dislike her just because of a decision she’s making.” It was important to Ivie to remain focused on that character dynamic, rather than attempting to connect it to the national news stories about similar cases. While he says he “did my due diligence” in researching the Masterpiece Cakeshop case and others like it, this isn’t a story about the legal aspects of such a scenario. And it’s also not one where Della is the only one whose attitude toward those with different beliefs is less than ideal, as Jen’s New Yorker fiancée, Macy, has plenty of notions about Southern Christians. “[The court cases are] all useful as sort of background,” Ivie says, “but we quickly moved beyond that, because the play is more interested in how do we come to truly understand the point of view with which we fundamentally disagree. Or, if not understand, at least respect.” The Cake attempts to bridge that divide with a text that employs a lot of humor,

JOSHUA BLACK

A&E

THEATER

which presents yet another tonal challenge: How do you get an audience to laugh along with a story about a topic that might feel deeply personal as an affront to civil rights? “People will have questions about the tone,” Ivie acknowledges. “First, the play uses comedy and humor as a way to bring us into its world and get comfortable being there, but it absolutely doesn’t make light about some of the very serious, hard-hitting emotional issues. These characters care deeply about these issues, more so than some of us who only think about them academically. “But I think that the key is, it’s suffused with a kind of hopeful optimism about the basic goodness of humanity—seeing another human being when you’re across the room from one another. It’s a comedy, but I’d be shocked if there weren’t tears as well.” That balance in The Cake—between humor and sadness, between characters you agree with but dislike and characters you disagree with but like—is what Ivie

Director Justin Ivie, center, and The Cake cast

believes will allow it to transcend being something that simply allows audiences to congratulate themselves for what they already believe. “My understanding of the opinions on the other side of mine have deepened and broadened,” Ivie says about the experience of working on this show. “It’s about something much larger than specifically about this issue, but how we, in a more and more divided society, use our empathy.” CW

THE CAKE

Wednesday-Sunday, through March 10 Salt Lake Acting Co. 168 W. 500 North 801-363-7522 $15-$40 saltlakeactingcompany.org

PERFORMANCE THEATER

Aida On Pitch Performing Arts Center, 587 N. Main, Layton, through Feb. 16, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Mondays, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 16, 2 p.m., onpitchperformingarts.com Angels of The Greatest Showman Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Circle, Feb. 8-9, 7:30 p.m., tickets.utah.edu (see p. 16) The Cake Salt Lake Acting Co., 168 W. 500 North, through March 10, saltlakeactingcompany.org (see p. 18) Disenchanted! The Musical Midvale Main Street Theatre, 7711 S. Main, through Feb. 16, Fridays & Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 5 p.m., midvaletheatre.com Edward Lewis Theatre Festival Main Library, 210 E. 400 South, Feb. 10, 2-5 p.m., slcpl.org A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder Hale Centre Theatre, 9900 S. Monroe St., Sandy, through March 16, hct.org Hands on a Hard Body The Gateway, 400 W. 100 South, Feb. 8-23, times vary, wasatchtheatre.org No Exit Regent Street Black Box, 144 S. Regent St., Feb. 8-9, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 10, 2 & 7 p.m., artsaltlake.org Nunsense Draper Historic Theatre, 12366 S. 900 East, through Feb. 11, Fridays, Saturdays & Mondays, 7 p.m., drapertheatre.org Robyn Hood The Off Broadway Theatre, 272 S. Main, through Feb. 23, Mondays, Fridays & Saturdays, 7:30 p.m., theobt.org Wicked Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main, through March 3, artsaltlake.org

BYU Philharmonic BYU de Jong Concert Hall, 800 E. Campus Drive, Provo, Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m., arts.byu.edu Utah Symphony: Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Feb. 8-9, 7:30 p.m., utahsymphony.org Utah Philharmonia Libby Gardner Hall, 1375 E. Presidents Circle, Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m., tickets.utah.edu

COMEDY & IMPROV

Michael Quu Wiseguys SLC, 194 S. 400 West, Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m., wiseguyscomedy.com Ron Funches Wiseguys SLC, 194 S. 400 West, Feb. 8-9, 7 & 9:30 p.m., wiseguyscomedy.com Stand and Deliver Wiseguys SLC, 194 W. 400 South, Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m., wiseguyscomedy.com Steve Soelberg Wiseguys Ogden, 269 25th St., Feb 8-9, 8 p.m., wiseguyscomedy.com Todd Barry Wiseguys SLC, 194 S. 400 West, Feb. 10, 7 p.m., wiseguyscomedy.com (see p. 16) Tyler Boeh Wiseguys West Jordan, 3763 W. Center Park Drive, Feb. 8-9, 8 p.m., wiseguyscomedy.com

LITERATURE AUTHOR APPEARANCES

Utah’s 15: The State’s Most Influential Artists, Vol. II Rio Gallery, 300 S. Rio Grande St., Feb. 8, 6-8 p.m., artistsofutah.org (see p. 16) Jennifer Adams: How Do I Love Thee? The King’s English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East, Feb. 9, 11 a.m., kingsenglish.com Jesse Janowitz: The Doughnut Fix The King’s English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East, Feb. 8, 7 p.m., kingsenglish.com

Ballet West: Swan Lake Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, through Feb. 23, balletwest.org (see p. 16) BYU International Folk Dance Ensemble Conference Center, 60 W. North Temple, Feb. 8, 7 p.m., lds.org Repertory Dance Theatre: Regalia Jeanne Wagner Theatre, 138 W. 300 South, Feb. 9, 8 p.m., artsaltlake.org

CLASSICAL & SYMPHONY

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DANCE

Ring Around the Rose: Tablado Flamenco Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. 300 South, Feb. 9, 11 a.m., artsaltlake.org Utah Ballet: La Fille Mal Gardée Marriott Center for Dance, 330 S. 1500 East, Ste. 106, Feb. 7-9 & 14-16, times vary, tickets.utah.edu

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moreESSENTIALS

COMPLETE LISTINGS ONLINE AT CITYWEEKLY.NET

Campus, 989 S. Main, Brigham City, Feb. 7, 7 p.m., brighamcity.usu.edu Mali Noyes: Rafting and Skiing the Middle Fork of the Salmon River The Wildflower Lodge, Snowbird Resort, 9385 S. Snowbird Center Drive, Feb. 7, 6 p.m., snowbird.com World Leaders Lecture Forum: Vicente Fox Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Circle, Feb. 12, 11 a.m., utah.edu

VISUAL ART GALLERIES & MUSEUMS

Art Access Gallery (230 S. 500 West, Ste. 125, 801-328-0703) presents works created through its artistic development program , which pairs artists with disabilities with professional mentors (“Breathing,” by 2018 participant Kellie Hess, is pictured), through Feb. 8.

SPECIAL EVENTS FARMERS MARKET

Winter Market Rio Grande Depot, 270 S. Rio Grande St., through April 20, Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., slcfarmersmarket.org

FESTIVALS & FAIRS

Harry Potter Pub Crawl Downtown Salt Lake

City, Feb. 9, 3-10 p.m. Cupid Crawl Downtown Salt Lake City, Feb. 10, noon-6 p.m., cityweekly.net Salt Lake Symphony’s Vienna Ball Union Ballroom, University of Utah, 200 S. Central Campus Drive, Feb. 9, 8 p.m., saltlakesymphony.org

TALKS & LECTURES

John Barton: Laying the Groundwork for the Transcontinental Railroad USU Brigham City

Arash Rahimi: The Eyes Wagner Jewish Community Center, 2 N. Medical Drive, through March 1, slcjcc.org Art Access Partners Exhibit Art Access Gallery, 230 S. 500 West, through Feb. 8, accessart.org (see left) Ben Steele: Now Showing Modern West Fine Art, 177 E. 200 South, through March 1, modernwestfineart.com Bill Laursen: Concept+Color+Composition Marmalade Library, 280 W. 500 North, through Feb. 28, slcpl.org Brian Kershisnik Meyer Gallery, 305 Main, Park City, through Feb. 16, meyergallery.com Bryton Sampson: Plastic Portraits Main Library, 210 E. 400 South, through Feb. 14, slcpl.org Candelaria Atalaya: Time & Light Souvenirs Sweet Library, 455 F St., through Feb. 23, slcpl.org Chauncey Secrist: Retrospect in Me-Flat Minor Bountiful Davis Art Center, 90 N. Main Street, Bountiful, through Feb. 15, bdac.org The Chinese Helped Build the Railroad—The Railroad Helped Build America Viridian Library, 8030 S. 1825 West, West Jordan, through Feb. 28, slcolibrary.org

Lisa Anderson: Imprints: Phenomena in Nature Main Library, 210 E. 400 South, through March 1, slcpl.org The International Tolerance Project Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 410 Campus Center Drive, through June 23, umfa.utah.edu Lenka Clayton: Under These Conditions UMOCA, 20 S. West Temple, through May 11, utahmoca.org Mike Simi: Gettin’ By UMOCA, 20 S. West Temple, through May 11, utahmoca.org Love in the Abstract A Gallery, 1321 S. 2100 East, through March 2, agalleryonline.com The Race to Promontory: The Transcontinental Railroad and the American West Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 410 Campus Center Drive, through May 26, umfa.utah.edu Revolution Curated: Original Art of Yan’an’s New Society, 1955-1984 Utah Cultural Celebration Center, 1355 W. 3100 South, West Valley City, through Feb. 27, culturalcelebration.org salt 14: Yang Yongliang Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 410 Campus Center Drive, through June 2, umfa.utah.edu Shady Acres UMOCA, 20 S. West Temple, through May 25, utahmoca.org Storied Earth Alice Gallery, 617 E. South Temple, through March 1, artsandmuseums.utah.gov Susan Makov: Field Notes Main Library, 210 E. 400 South, through March 1, slcpl.org Utah Children’s Chinese Calligraphy & Painting Main Library, 210 E. 400 South, through March 1, slcpl.org Utah’s 15 Rio Gallery, 300 S. Rio Grade St., through March 8, artistsofutah.org (see p. 16) Vincent Mattina, Etsuko Kato & Bill Dunford Finch Lane Gallery, 54 Finch Lane, through Feb. 22, saltlakearts.org

ENRIQUE LIMÓN

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

AT A GLANCE

Open: Monday-Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Best bet: The bacon Swiss jalapeño burger Can’t miss: Any of their inventive glaciers

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 | 21

during the winter months a bit of a challenge. Once it gets warmer, the patio offers more than enough room to enjoy a burger and some top-notch people-watching. I’ve been a fan of Millie’s ever since college, but it wasn’t the burgers that captured my attention. The frozen treat that first brought me inside its cozy confines is called a gla-

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In nearly every way, Millie’s has maintained the nostalgic sensibilities established by Marlene and Howard Miller, the restaurant’s original owners. A backlit letter board lists the restaurant’s menu, which contains everything from garlic burgers to burritos. The interior space wasn’t designed to hold more than 40 people, which makes finding a seat

onsidering the massive number of new commercial properties springing up all over Sugar House, Millie’s Burgers (2092 S. 1000 East, 801-466-6043, milliesburger.com) provides an interesting contrast. Mere blocks from flashy, modern concept restaurants, the 40-yearold family-owned burger joint seems unfazed by the surrounding urbanization. It’s a confidence that stems from the fact that Millie’s has maintained a loyal fanbase because of its fresh ingredients, made-to-order burgers and colossal menu.

chocolate, strawberry, mint—but if you really want to ratchet things up, their $4.59 tier includes more sophisticated combos like caramel cashew and banana pie. For those who want to mainline their nostalgia, an additional 35 cents gets your shake a shot of malted milk. Millie’s shakes are moderately huge, and the traditional flavor combos are well integrated throughout the ice cream, but there’s not much that sets them apart from those of their burgerjoint cousins. All the same, kudos to Millie’s for doing what it’s doing. Throwback eateries like this remain important community hubs where many different generations of Utahns can meet up and get to know one another. With all the fast-moving development in the Sugarhood, it’s a singular treat to pop into Millie’s, order up a glacier and let life slow down to the speed it takes to eat it—without getting brain freeze. CW

The supporting cast steals the show at Millie’s Burgers.

fried mushrooms ($2.99), fried zucchini ($2.99) and traditional English chips ($3.59) a go. They’re all great— golden brown and crispy with an undeniable freshness beneath the layer of deep-fried crunchiness. As my introduction to Millie’s was based on the fringes instead of the menu proper, it’s been a while since I’ve tried one of their signature burgers. During my last visit, I got the Millie Special ($6.09), which is the restaurant’s take on the ubiquitous pastrami burger. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this version, but it lacks the punch of other pastrami burgers in town—there’s just not enough pastrami to keep the taste buds awake. If you’re in the mood for something that offers more of a kick, the bacon Swiss jalapeño burger ($5.44, pictured) is the way to go. The peppers’ heat and bacon’s saltiness are offset by the creamy cheese, and combined, the ingredients offer up a truly fantastic flavor overload—plus, ordering one of these fireballs is a great excuse to explore the extensive repertoire of milkshakes. Millie’s menu displays these frozen classics in three tiers, depending on what flavor you’re after. A mere $3.99 will get you the basics—

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Chillin’ with Millie’s

cier ($2.69). Glaciers at Millie’s are so good and inventive that you have to wonder why more places don’t rip off the idea. It starts with a cup full of Millie’s soft serve, topped with a traditional slushie mixture—shaved ice fine enough to drink through a straw, plus your choice of flavored syrup. The frozen all-star duo collides in an unexpectedly delicious way. First, you get the sharp, saccharine tang of whatever syrup you’ve chosen—my favorite is strawberry, but there’s not a bad choice. This sharpness combines with the creamy texture and light hint of vanilla from the soft serve until you get a fruit-and-cream tango that hits the tongue in all the right places. There’s also a pleasant, cerebellum-chilling shock of having two types of frozen goodies in your mouth in tandem. It’s a cold-on-cold treat that needs to be in your emergency kit when temperatures hit 90plus degrees. Subsequent visits found me checking out their impressive list of side dishes, which consist mainly of different iterations on fried vegetables. French fries and onion rings are the most popular, of course, and Millie’s can fry up these two favorites with the best of them. For something more unusual, give the

the

BACK BURNER BY ALEX SPRINGER @captainspringer

Bone Broth & Beyond

F O O D H E AV E N N A M R E G man Delicatessen & Restaura n r Ge

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As culinary trends continue to look to the techniques of our ancestors for guidance, bone broth and its myriad uses are becoming more popular. Since bones aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing kitchen fixtures, it’s easy to fall into the trap of buying this easy-to-make cooking supplement from vendors—usually at a ridiculously high markup. Bones are cheap, and all it takes is a bit of professional know-how for you to start making the stuff yourself. The Utah Natural Meat Education Center (7400 S. 5600 West, utahnaturalmeat.com) hosts a class on making bone broths while getting participants started with a take-home bag of ingredients needed to whip up broth in their own kitchens. The event takes place on Thursday, Feb. 7, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and tickets are available via the organization’s website.

Cheese Tasting in Heber

It’s no surprise that the sweeping green pastures of Heber and Midway are home to some spectacular dairy farms, which this week share their famous cheese with the public. On Friday, Feb. 8, Heber Valley Artisan Cheese (920 River Road, Midway, hebervalleyartisancheese.com) is kicking off a series of cheese-tasting events on the second and fourth Fridays of the month from now until September. Each event features an educational presentation about the dairy farm and cheese-making process, along with samples of more than 20 varieties of locally-produced cheese. There are two sessions per evening, one at 6 p.m. and one at 7:15 p.m., and tickets can be purchased on the store page of the dairy’s website.

20 W. 200 S. • (801) 355-3891 Open Mon-Wed: 9am-6pm Thu-Sat: 9am-9pm siegfriedsdelicatessen.com AS SEEN ON “ DINERS, DRIVE-INS AND DIVES”

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“Like having dinner at Mom’s in the mountains” -Cincinnati Enquirer

Death by Chocolate

Let’s be honest—the only real reason to get even remotely excited about Valentine’s Day is to have an excuse to binge on chocolate and call it sexy. It’s something the Cottonwood Heights Business Association understands, as they host the third annual Death by Chocolate event on Tuesday, Feb. 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. It’s a gathering of local restaurants, bakeries and caterers who will serve up their most beloved odes to chocolate for both the love-laden and the lovelorn. Tickets are $10 per person or $15 per couple, and can be purchased at bit.ly/chdeathbychocolate. The chocolate chuckles will take place in the community room of Cottonwood Heights City Hall (2277 E. Bengal Blvd.) Quote of the Week: “Strength is the capacity to break a Hershey bar into four pieces with your bare hands—and then eat just one of the pieces.” —Judith Viorst Back Burner tips: comments@cityweekly.net

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Worlds Apart

Two very different beers that seem like a strangely perfect pairing. BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

his week’s beers were enjoyed weeks apart in different environments: Epic Brewing Co.’s beer was savored at its Salt Lake City brewery, and SaltFire Brewing Co.’s beer at home with my cocker spaniel, Henry. As I put together my notes on each, I couldn’t help but think of the other. They were so different, but each beer made me crave the other like I was trapped in some kind of ouroboros allegory. They seemed like the perfect combo to present this week. Maybe you’ll get the same ghostly yearning I did. Enjoy! SaltFire Barrel-Aged Baltic Porter: Baltic porters have a common past with IPAs in that they were both designed out of necessity—namely, they were made to survive long journeys in a time before refrigeration. The typical traits for baltics include high alcohol, smoke, roasted brown malts and bitter tastes to mask the wear of travel. This porter has the addition of American bourbon barrels for more depth, the result akin to a warm blanket. The beer looks nice enough—a deep brown, nearly black body with a little tan head that recedes to some soapy bubbles. The aroma is satisfying as well, as vanilla from the barrel makes a strong showing alongside caramel sweetness and a

touch of chocolate. The bourbon is also there, adding just a note of heat. Once in the mouth, the bourbon shines and the barrel gives some more vanilla and wood notes, along with a touch of tannins. The base beer is nicely sweet, and the barrel adds to that. The flavors are rounded by a good dose of caramel and a touch of dark chocolate; coffee and dark fruit lead to the end. The mouthfeel is medium and smooth with creamy carbonation, but just a touch oily. Overall: A great example of what a bourbon barrel-aged baltic porter should be. It’s light-handed on the booze, yet adds all the complexities of bourbon to the equation. It’s worth grabbing a few extra for your cellar, for sure. Epic Oak and Orchard Cabernet Sauvignon: This cab sav barrel-aged sour was made with the addition of cherry, blackberry and black currants. The berries add a nice fuchsia hue to the beer that borders on ruby, with copper highlights and minimal spritzy head that dissipates to nothing. Balsamic vinegar, lactic acid, oak, vanilla, caramel sweetness and red wine must form the initial aroma, with a bit of rogue yeast funk. There’s a definite wine character, with sharp fruit notes of cherry and dark berries. This one smells fabulous! The flavor is assertive and complex. The berries seem to come through more than the cab sav barrels at first, with an alcoholic sweetness and prominent liquor. The tart and sour combo from aging comes in next, picking up some of the barrel’s influences—most notably vanilla, oak and vinious tannins. The finish is quite dry, with tart cherry and balsamic vinegar that light up the sides of the tongue. This beer runs the full scope of flavors. Decidedly sour and tart, the berries are assertive enough to hack through and strike a balance between fruit and wood. The 6.5 percent body is moderate and smooth, with minimal carbonation and a hint of alcohol warmth.

MIKE RIEDEL

BEER NERD

Overall: Very complex. The malt and berry presence interacts brilliantly with cabernet sauvignon-soaked oak, and the yeast funkiness plays so well with the wine characteristics. A highly drinkable beer, yet puckeringly sour. Be warned: If you choose to go with these contrasting beers in a back-to-back session, the sweet-and-sour tug of war might leave your tongue in knots. Sounds fun, eh? As always, cheers! CW

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Going With the Flow

Andrew Goldring learns to let go and trust his instincts on new album Fluorescent Memories. BY NIC RENSHAW comments@cityweekly.net @nicrenshaw

ndrew Goldring’s entire existence as a solo artist seems to hinge on pure, naturalistic coincidence. His first record— essentially a collection of stray songs that never found a home with his old band, Golden Sun—was hastily recorded in 2013 and released as little more than a lark. “I wasn’t really trying to do the whole ‘solo artist’ thing seriously,” Goldring says of 2013’s Forgotten Harvest EP. “I wasn’t looking to be playing gigs. It was just a fun one-off thing.” Goldring soon moved on to other endeavors, fronting alt-rock foursome Great Interstate from 2014 to 2015 and racking up experience as both a songwriter and a producer. However, by mid-2016, Great Interstate was fizzling out, and Goldring found himself at something of a crossroads. “I had to decide whether to try to rebuild this band with a bunch of new people, or just bag it and try something different,” he says. “That’s what led me back to doing a solo project. It was time for a change.” The Utah-based artist might have struck out on his own artistically, but his appetite for collaboration is stronger than ever, whether it’s teaming up with Baltimore dream-pop band June Pastel for “Leaving Song” last year or enlisting the help of producer Jon O’Brien for his upcoming full-length, Fluorescent Memories. “[Jon] and I connected through some mutual friends that I have out in Southern California,” Goldring says. “I was looking to branch out and work with a producer, because every time I’ve gone through [the recording process], I’ve wanted to hand more parts of it off to other people.” Goldring booked a day in O’Brien’s California studio while on tour and the two hit it off, recording new single “Chemical Spirit Connection” in a single session. He was impressed by what O’Brien brought to the table. “He just has such a good taste in arrangements—and he has a lot of great instruments at his studio that I don’t have out here,” Goldring says. “It was cool because I got to exercise my creativity as a producer, but at the same time get a second opinion and hand it over to someone else” In true Goldring fashion, Fluorescent Memories sprang forth without much forethought. “Honestly, it kind of happened by accident,” he

Andrew Goldring

recalls. “I didn’t really set out to make an album or an EP or whatever. I was just like, ‘I’m gonna write some music and see how far I get.’” The result was Goldring’s first full-length album as a solo artist, a set of 10 tracks largely written in a fit of inspiration following the recording of “Chemical Spirit Connection.” “When I got back from that first session with Jon, I was really pumped and just kept writing,” Goldring says. “I built a new home studio in my house, and that new space was partially what inspired it, since it became a personal creative space.” According to Goldring, allowing himself to be guided wherever the music wanted to go was a learning process. “I think when I first started doing solo stuff, I was a little bit more timid about it,” he says. “When it’s not collaborative and you’re not consistently bouncing ideas off of other people, it’s easy to limit yourself. It’s easy to think, ‘Oh, I’m a singer-songwriter, so I have to sound a specific way. It has to be folky, I have to be a certain genre ...’ That’s what’s been cool about this new record—I let go of a lot of the restrictions in my mind and just let things be what they wanted to be.” That attitude is clearly reflected in Goldring’s newer material. The songs released in anticipation of Fluorescent Memories resist easy categorization, retaining the aforementioned folksiness typical of modern singer-songwriters while blending in healthy amounts of psychedelia and grittier shades of indie rock. Even Goldring himself has trouble placing his sound in a definitive way. “I always wonder what people think it sounds like, because I never know,” he admits. “I mean, I know who my influences are, but I don’t know if I actually sound like my influences ... It’s been cool to watch on Spotify; it’ll show you who people are linking you to, and what it’s recommending based on your music.” Fluorescent Memories is slated to drop Feb. 8, and Goldring marks the occasion with an album release show at The Urban Lounge alongside fellow Salt Lake City songsmiths Josaleigh Pollett and Night Marcher. Goldring is excited to return to the stalwart local venue, citing his December gig supporting City Ghost there as one of “my favorite shows that I’ve played in a long time.” If his new songs are any indication, this upcoming performance seems poised to top that one. But who knows? As Goldring says, “Let things be what they want to be.” CW

ANDREW GOLDRING

w/ Josaleigh Pollett, Night Marcher Friday, Feb. 8, 8 p.m. The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East $5, 21+ theurbanloungeslc.com

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FEBRUARY 7, 2019 | 27

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Hunny’s pop-inspired alt-rock starts off sounding as bright as the band’s Southern California home. But sadness lurks underneath the shimmery sheen of their two EPs, 2017’s Windows I and 2018’s Windows II. Debut single “Cry for Me” nodded as much to the post-punk roster of label Epitaph Records as it did to The Cure. But once the sixpiece slimmed down to a quartet—guitarist Jason Yarger, guitarist Jake Goldstein, bassist/keyboardist Kevin Grimmett and drummer Joey Anderson—their sound tightened up accordingly, providing soaring modern lines mixed with the timelessness of Prince’s funk. Watching frontman Yarger effortlessly glide through verse after verse of passionate vocals recalls the lightning strike of The Strokes circa 2001, and although Hunny hail from the coast opposite Julian Casablancas and co., the satisfying sneer is still there. Get to this show early for Australian surf-rock duo Hockey Dad, who shred their instruments within an inch of their lives while tempering things with jazz-inspired control, along with San Francisco’s Pllush, proponents of a dreamy shoegaze hybrid whose 2018 Stranger to the Pain provides a crushingly beautiful listen. (Nick McGregor) Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court, 7 p.m., $16 advance; $18 day of show, all ages, kilbycourt.com

Before there was Modest Mouse and its catchy, complex indie rock, there was Pedro the Lion, David Bazan’s vehicle for grappling with faith and conviction. The Seattle band’s first four albums set the template for every emo-inspired act that followed, but Bazan disbanded the outfit in 2006 in favor of performing under his own name and that of several new bands, a move he derided to NPR last November: “I’ve made music under many brand names. It was a dumb idea. Don’t do that if you’re trying to make songs over your life.” No matter the moniker, though, fans remain devoted to Bazan’s painfully personal perspective and thoughtful orchestration. So Pedro the Lion’s return on new album Phoenix is less glorious rebirth and more quiet revival, with Bazan mining his childhood time spent in the Arizona metropolis for discarded details and wrenching reinterpretations of time-skewed memories. Opener Sarah Beth Tomberlin provides the perfect present-day counterpoint to Bazan’s brand of nostalgia. Tomberlin’s debut album At Weddings laments the rootlessness of a child raised in a strict Baptist home who now longs for love and acceptance. “My No. 1 goal with my music is for honesty and transparency that helps other people find ways to exist,” Tomberlin says in a news release. She and Bazan should get along swimmingly. (NM) Metro Music Hall, 615 W. 100 South, 8 p.m., $20, 21+, metromusichall.com

Hunny, Hockey Dad, Pllush

Pedro the Lion

Pedro the Lion, Tomberlin

Hunny

MONDAY 2/11 The Nels Cline 4

How do you sum up the career of an artist as prolific as Nels Cline? How about this: saying the 63-year-old served as the lead guitarist of alt-country titans Wilco for 15 years doesn’t even scratch the surface. In 2016, Cline released his debut album on revered jazz label Blue Note, expanding his fretboard expertise into far-flung, often avant-garde territory; on 2018's Currents, Constellations, with his full band The Nels Cline 4, no American sub-genre is safe from deconstruction and reassembly. On "Swing Ghost '59," Cline and co. dissect the precise moment when slippery jazz time signatures were replaced by rock 'n' roll's unrelenting 4/4 beat; on "Imperfect 10," a funk sashay bobs and weaves alongside harmonized lead runs by Cline and fellow guitarist Julian Lage. Meanwhile, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Tom Rainey throw caution to the wind, jumping in and out of rhythm to lend the album a hard-edged thrust. Bassist Jorge Roeder fills in for Colley on this current tour, but reviews of the quartet’s shows have uniformly gushed with admiration. If your ear bends even an inch toward jazz, you won’t want to miss The Nels Cline 4's instrumental fireworks. (NM) The State Room, 638 S. State, 8 p.m., $30, 21+, thestateroom.com

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2.11 OPEN BLUES & MORE JAM

Hippo Campus

Even if you haven’t heard of Hippo Campus, you’ve probably listened to them. This “kinda pop” five-piece of 20-somethings has racked up millions of Spotify plays and been embraced as indie-pop darlings by NPR and Paste. The St. Paul, Minn., band broke out as rising stars at SXSW, introducing their first EP, Bashful Creatures, which was produced by Alan Sparhawk, who writes hauntingly lyrical melodies as Low. The quintet toured the next year with indie-rock favorites, including Modest Mouse and My Morning Jacket, and played the festival circuit. They released their second full-length album, Bambi, in 2018; The Boston Globe called it a “massive step forward” for the band, with a fuller sound marked by synth and programmed drums. The album’s title song is bouncy and reflective, the kind that makes you want to dance despite its lyrics: “I want to run from everything,” lead singer Jake Luppen laments. “I think that I’m living/ If you could call it living.” Then, decisively, he closes by declaring, “I’ll be making my own way now.” The album seamlessly navigates the existential despair and exultant joy of a young person in their 20s; Luppen said of the album, “It’s about sharing what you’re going through, so maybe someone else will feel less lonely.” While the hippocampus might be the brain's memory

Aja

2.15 SUPERBUBBLE

2.16 MURPHY & THE GIANT

3200 E BIG COTTONWOOD ROAD 801.733.5567 | THEHOGWALLOW.COM

ERIC MAGNUSSON

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30 | FEBRUARY 7, 2019

LIVE

center, there hasn’t been an album more stickin-your-brain catchy than Now Now’s 2018 release, Saved. A marked transition from their atmospheric, mournful 2012 LP Threads, Saved is direct, deceptively upbeat confessional pop that marks a long road of self-discovery for duo Cacie Dalager and Bradley Hale. I’ve been listening to it obsessively since last summer. This is an opener to show up for. (Naomi Clegg) The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, 7 p.m., $22 presale; $25 day of show, all ages, depotslc.com

TUESDAY 2/12

Aja, London Skies, Delta Rae Dixon, Marrlo Suzzanne, Jafabulous, Icky Rogers, Wiltavious, Kay Bye, DJ M*sc

Aja embodies the multi-faceted success so many of today’s drag performers have attained. Yes, they got their first big break on Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, coming back last year to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3. But this Brooklyn queen used that exposure as a jumping-off point for musical achievements, unleashing the In My Feelings EP last year before following up with Box Office, the release of which will be celebrated right here in Salt Lake City. Aja started writing rhymes as a teenager, posting self-described “terrible raps” on Tumblr, but their attention was diverted by drag for several years. Now, they feel ready to embrace a more all-encompassing personality. “I’m not getting away from drag, but I’m in the process of blurring the idea of drag and gender completely from my music,” the performer told Metiza last May. “I don’t want people to look at my music and say, ‘Oh, you’re just a drag artist who’s pursuing music.’ I want to be recognized as a musician who happens to do drag.” With past singles like “Art Jesus” and “Brujería,” Aja did that in spades, exploring their love for abstract art and the Afro-Caribbean practice of santería over firespitting verses and club thumps. Arrive early for plenty of other performances by drag stars from near and far, along with beats by DJ M*sc. (NM) Metro Music Hall, 615 W. 100 South, 10 p.m., $20-$40, 21+, metromusichall.com

NO COVER!

SAT, FEB. 9TH

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TUES, FEB. 12TH

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WEDNESDAY 2/13

CONCERTS & CLUBS

ROGER RICH

2Cellos, John McLaughlin

THURSDAY 2/7 LIVE MUSIC

The Backyard Revival (Rye Diner & Drinks) Bruce Cockburn (Egyptian Theatre) Christian Mills Band (Gracie’s) Christian Mills Band (Hog Wallow Pub) CrucialFest Showdown feat. Voidsmen + Jacob T. Skeen + Fifth Lords + Amorous + Dawnlit (Metro Music Hall) Jarom Eubanks + Red Checker + Friendly Fellows (Kilby Court) Wake Up and Live: A Tribute to Bob Marley (The Royal)

DJ, OPEN MIC, SESSION, PIANO LOUNGE

Dueling Pianos: Drew & JD (Tavernacle) Dueling Pianos (The Spur) Dusty Grooves All Vinyl DJ (Twist) Hot Noise + Guest DJ (The Red Door) Jazz Jam Session (Sugar House Coffee) Re: Fine (Downstairs) Synthpop + Darkwave + Industrial + Goth w/ DJ Camille (Area 51) Therapy Thursdays feat. Audien (Sky)

KARAOKE

Areaoke w/ DJ Kevin (Area 51)

Cowboy Karaoke (The Cabin) Karaoke (Willie’s Lounge) Karaoke Night (Tinwell) Karaoke w/ DJ Benji (A Bar Named Sue) Karaoke That Doesn’t Suck w/ Mikey Danger (Chakra Lounge) Live Band Karaoke (Club 90)

FRIDAY 2/8 LIVE MUSIC

Andrew Goldring + Josaleigh Pollett + Night Marcher (Urban Lounge) see p. 26 Blazin' Aces (Outlaw Saloon) Brother Chunky (HandleBar) Bruce Cockburn (Egyptian Theatre) Classic Steve—Steve Schuffert (Legends Park City Mountain) Dave Bowen Orchestra (Gracie’s) Gaffer Project + Stein Way + Robots Ate My Garden (The Underground) Hectic Hobo (Ice Haüs) Hunny + Hockey Dad + Pllush (Kilby Court) see p. 28 James the Mormon + Jay Warren (Velour) Live Local Music (A Bar Named Sue) Los Hellcaminos (The Spur) The Mother Hips (The State Room)

NEW HIMALAYAN PUB FUSION SMALL PLATES MENU

It seems like the most unlikely thing ever, but somehow the Croatian duo of Luka Šulic and Stjepan Hauser have become international superstars by playing, yes, two cellos. Of course, transforming pop standards into technically sharp classical renditions is nothing new. But Šulic and Hauser elevate the art form to new heights on their 2018 album Let There Be Cello, which reworks everything from synth-pop to reggaeton to stadium-rock standbys. A video for the record’s lead single, “Pirates of the Caribbean,” finds the two decked out in full Blackbeard garb off the coast of Dubrovnik, alternately heightening the cinematic crash of classic pirate movies while celebrating their own roots on the Dalmatian Coast. Tearing their bows to pieces while they treat their cellos the way Jimi Hendrix treated his guitar, 2Cellos have sold out legendary venues like Radio City Music Hall and the Sydney Opera House, and their 2017 United States tour sold more than 150,000 tickets. Now that they’re done opening for and backing Sir Elton John, Šulic and Hauser hit the road again with dreams of international cello domination. Pop pianist Jon McLaughlin is left with the unenviable task of opening for these two stringed specialists. (Nick McGregor) Vivint Smart Home Arena, 301 W. South Temple, 8 p.m., $36.50-$62, all ages, vivintarena.com

Michelle Moonshine (Harp and Hound) Nathan Spenser Revue (State Road Tavern) N-U-Endo (Club 90) Pit Crew Benefit feat. Turbo Chugg + Seven Daggers + Fail to Follow Hyde (Beehive) Rail Town (The Westerner) Seasoned Amnesia + Cactus Cola + Kenny Carter (Liquid Joe’s) Stonefed (Hog Wallow Pub) Studebaker John (Garage on Beck) Vann Moon + Patio + Rubigo Pearl + Lost Pages (The Royal) Whitney Morgan & The 78s + Alex Williams (The Commonwealth Room) Who’s Bad! The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience (Park City Live)

DJ, OPEN MIC, SESSION, PIANO LOUNGE

All-Request Gothic + Industrial + EBM + and Dark Wave w/ DJ Vision (Area 51) Berlin feat. DJ Flash & Flare + Choice + Typefunk (Metro Music Hall) Dance Music (Chakra Lounge) DJ Che (Gracie’s) DJ Dolph (Downstairs) DJ Sneeky Long (Twist) Dueling Pianos (Tavernacle)

Funkin’ Friday w/ DJ Rude Boy & Bad Boy Brian (Johnny’s on Second) Funky Friday w/ DJ Godina (Gracie’s) Hot Noise (The Red Door) Mi Cielo w/ DJ Dirty Dave (Sky) New Wave '80s w/ DJ Courtney (Area 51) Top 40 All-Request w/ DJ Wees (Area 51)

KARAOKE

Areaoke w/ DJ Kevin (Area 51) Karaoke (Cheers to You SLC) Karaoke (Willie’s Lounge)

SATURDAY 2/9 LIVE MUSIC

23rd Army Band (Viridian Center) AM Bump feat. Joslyn (Lake Effect) Bill 'n' Diane (Harp and Hound) Blazin' Aces (Outlaw Saloon) Bruce Cockburn (Egyptian Theatre) Bruce Music (Legends) Chris Janson (Venue) David Bowie Tribute Night feat. Major Tom & The Moonboys + The Poppees + Static Replica + Sartain Family Band (Urban Lounge) Dead Cowboys (Umbrella Bar)

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ROADIE & THE BAND 9PM - NO COVER

KARAOKE AT 8PM

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 | 33

02/13/19

165 E 200 S SLC 801.746.3334

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WEDNESDAYS

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34 | FEBRUARY 7, 2019

THE BAYOU

NICK McGREGOR

BAR FLY

Dru Hill + Bobby V (The Complex) Fruition + DeadWinter Carpenters (The Commonwealth Room) Funk & Gonzo (Johnny’s on Second) Guilty Scapegoat + Farr Gone + Halfstep + Sunset Theory (Kilby Court) Jon Stone (HandleBar) JTM + Jay Warren + Dallas Wayde (The Depot) Junction City Blues Band (Garage on Beck) Larusso + Dustin Wayne + Beach Death + From Benjamin (The Royal) Live Local Music (A Bar Named Sue) Live Trio (The Red Door) N-U-Endo (Club 90) Pedro the Lion + Tomberlin (Metro Music Hall) see p. 28 Rage Against the Supremes (The Spur) Rail Town (The Westerner) Sonic Ammunition (Gold Blood Collective) Spazmatics (Liquid Joe’s) Stonefed (Hog Wallow Pub) The Sardines + Dad Bod + Sandfish (Velour) Wake Up and Live: A Bob Marley Tribute (Brewskis)

DJ, OPEN MIC, SESSION, PIANO LOUNGE

Dance Music (Chakra Lounge) DJ ChaseOne2 (Gracie’s) DJ Latu (The Green Pig) DJ Soul Pause (Twist) Dueling Pianos (Tavernacle) Gothic + Industrial + Dark '80s w/ DJ Courtney (Area 51) Oh Snap! It’s a '90s Hip Hop Party ft. Revolution and Spinbad (The Depot) Scandalous Saturdays w/ DJ Logik (Lumpy’s Highland) Sky Saturdays w/ DJ Que (Sky) Top 40 + EDM w/ DJ Twitch (Area 51) Victor Menegaux (Downstairs)

KARAOKE

Areaoke DJ Kevin (Area 51)

As a New Orleans native, the last two weeks have been an exercise in extremes. First, my beloved Saints were robbed of a trip to the Super Bowl by the most blatant non-call in NFL history. My spirits were lifted a week later, however, when I got to see Big Easy mainstays Preservation Hall Jazz Band perform twice at the Sundance Film Festival. Believe it or not, the band even pulled off a proper second line parade up and down Park City’s jam-packed Main Street, sprinkling a little Louisiana flavor on an otherwise carefully curated sidewalk selfie fest. The next night, my partner and I decided to stop in to The Bayou on State Street, marveling at the bar’s overwhelming selection of more than 500 beers. (They maintain a real-time list on The Bayou app—yes, Welcome to Beervana, and yes, The Bayou has that phrase trademarked.) I jumped on a SaltFire Single Hop Idaho 7 IPA while my partner enjoyed a Hive Dry Stinger cider; finally looking up from the novel-length beer menu, we realized the New Orleans Pelicans were on TV, disgruntled star forward Anthony Davis riding the pine while his hungrier teammates outhustled the Houston Rockets. The foul-mouthed regular next to me dropped F-bomb after F-bomb as he surmised the Utah Jazz’s chances of landing Davis in a trade, but I found it easy to ignore him once my heaping helping of red beans and rice arrived. I wasn’t expecting much, but my taste buds exploded with delight, and I was immediately transported back to the Gumbo Shop on St. Peter, widely considered the best place to eat the Big Easy staple. Savoring each bite while realizing that Mardi Gras is less than a month away, I smiled at the interconnectivity of the week. It started off with a football tragedy, but we Louisianans know how to move on (hint: food, music and alcohol help). Here in Salt Lake City, there’s no better place to do that than The Bayou. (Nick McGregor) 645 S. State, 801-961-8400, utahbayou.com

Karaoke (Willie’s Lounge) Karaoke w/ B-Rad (Club 90)

SUNDAY 2/10 LIVE MUSIC

August Burns Red + Fit for a King + Miss May I + Crystal Lake (The Depot) Born Of Osiris + Chelsea Grin + Make Them Suffer + Kingdom of Giants (The Complex) Guerilla Warfare (Gold Blood Collective) Live Bluegrass (Club 90) Lumberjack Fabulous (Legends) Morgan Snow (Garage on Beck) Patrick Ryan (The Spur)

DJ, OPEN MIC, SESSION, PIANO LOUNGE

Dueling Pianos (The Spur) Last Call w/ DJ Juggy (Downstairs) Open Blues Jam (The Green Pig) Sunday Night Blues Jam w/ Nick Greco & Blues on First (Gracie’s)

KARAOKE

Karaoke (Tavernacle) Karaoke (Willie’s Lounge) Karaoke w/ DJ Benji (A Bar Named Sue)

MONDAY 2/11 LIVE MUSIC

Amanda Johnson (The Spur) Hippo Campus + Now Now (The Depot) see p. 30 The Nels Cline 4 (The State Room) see p. 28 Pedrito Martinez Group (Capitol Theatre) Perfectamundo (Gracie’s) Pillars + Blue Rain Boots (Kilby Court) Richard Thompson Electric Trio + Ryley Walker (The Commonwealth Room)

DJ, OPEN MIC, SESSION, PIANO LOUNGE Industry Night Mondays w/ DJ Juggy (Trails)

Monday Night Blues & More Jam hosted by Robby’s Blues Explosion (Hog Wallow Pub) Monday Night Open Jazz Session w/ David Halliday & the JVQ (Gracie’s) Open Blues Jam w/ West Temple Taildraggers (The Green Pig) Open Mic (The Cabin)

KARAOKE

Karaoke (Poplar Street Pub) Karaoke Bingo (Tavernacle) Karaoke w/ DJ Benji (A Bar Named Sue) Karaoke (Cheers To You)

TUESDAY 2/12 LIVE MUSIC

Aja + London Skies + Delta Rae Dixon + Jafabulous + Marrio Suzanne + Wiltavious + Icky Rogers + Kay Bey + DJ M*sc (Metro Music Hall) see p. 30 Alicia Stockman (The Spur) Dearth + Grivo + Hoofless + Ghost Aquarium (Kilby Court) The Scotch Bonnets + Jail City Rockers + The Makeways (Urban Lounge)

DJ, OPEN MIC, SESSION, PIANO LOUNGE

Groove Tuesdays (Johnny’s on Second) Locals Lounge (The Cabin) Open Jazz Jam (Bourbon House) Open Mic (The Wall at BYU) Open Mic Night (The Royal) Tuesday Night Bluegrass Jam w/ Pixie & The Partygrass Boys (Gracie’s) Tuesday Night Jazz (Alibi)

WEDNESDAY 2/13 LIVE MUSIC

2Cellos + Jon McLaughlin (Vivint Smart Home Arena) see p. 32 Elliot & Gabriel (The Sour) Groundation + Vocal Reasoning (The State Room) Kongos + Fitness (Metro Music Hall) Live Jazz (Club 90) Lorin Walker Madsen (Hog Wallow Pub) Nate Robinson Trio (Gracie’s) Settle Your Scores (Kilby Court) University of Utah Jazz Ensemble (Gallivan Center) Uvluv + Say Hey + Mortigi Tempo + Thomas Jacques (Urban Lounge)

DJ, OPEN MIC, SESSION, PIANO LOUNGE Dark NRG w/ DJ Nyx (Area 51) Dueling Pianos (Tavernacle) Energi Wednesday feat. Ray Volpe (Sky) Industry Night (Downstairs) Roaring Wednesdays: Swing Dance Lessons (Prohibition) Top 40 All-Request w/ DJ Wees (Area 51)

A RELAXED GENTLEMAN’S CLUB DA I LY L U N C H S P E C I A L S POOL, FOOSBALL & GAMES

COVER EVER!

KARAOKE

Karaoke (Liquid Joe’s) Karaoke (Tavernacle) Karaoke w/ DJ Thom (A Bar Named Sue) Karaoke That Doesn’t Suck (Twist) Karaoke w/ ZimZam Entertainment (Club 90)

275 0 S O U TH 3 0 0 W E S T(8 01) 4 67- 4 6 0 0 11:3 0 -1A M M O N - S AT · 11:3 0 A M -10 P M S U N

BY MARYANN JOHANSON comments@cityweekly.net @maryannjohanson

BBB.5 LIVE ACTION SHORTS PROGRAM

BBB DOCUMENTARY SHORTS PROGRAM

BBBB

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 | 35

ANIMATED SHORTS PROGRAM

| CITY WEEKLY |

Documentary Shorts: This year’s Oscar-nominated documentary shorts span an array of social-justice matters, sometimes finding unexpected good vibes in difficult subjects. Netflix’s End Game, by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, introduces us to several terminally ill patients trying to chart a course through their final days; it’s surprisingly optimistic and positive about death and dying. Period. End of Sentence., by Rayka Zehtabchi, is an upbeat portrait of women tackling taboos about menstruation in India with their own community-based businesses making and selling sanitary pads. Much grimmer is Ed Perkins’ Black Sheep, a simple, startling story told straight to the camera about a young black man coming to terms with how he befriended racists in order to survive a tough adolescence in a white town. Skye Fitzgerald’s Lifeboat is similarly difficult to watch; it follows an organization that patrols the Mediterranean to rescue migrants braving the crossing to Europe. This year’s likely winner, however, is the briefest of the bunch by far—at only seven minutes—and perhaps the most important: Marshall Curry’s A Night at the Garden presents footage from a 1939 “proAmerican” rally in New York City, complete with thousands of supposedly patriotic Americans performing Nazi salutes. It’s a chilling reminder of the unpleasant cycles of American history. CW

very year, the Salt Lake Film Society showcases Oscar nominees in three short-film categories. For most film buffs, these are the obscurities nobody can predict correctly for their Oscar pool winners—but they’re also showcases for talented filmmakers working in a toorarely-seen form. Here’s a look at all three programs, with predictions on who will be holding statuettes come Feb. 24. Animated Shorts: The animated short of the year surely must be Domee Shi’s Bao, a bittersweet and startling reverie on motherhood from Pixar that features one of the most hilariously shocking moments onscreen this year. When a Chinese woman’s handmade dumpling sprouts a face and a little body, she raises it as her own child, only to face the usual chagrin when her little friend begins to assert his independence and individuality. I’d be delighted if it won the Oscar, and I suspect it will. The other nominees: Weekends, by Trevor Jimenez, presents an occasionally nightmarish look at the life of a child of divorce bouncing between two homes. Louise Bagnall’s impressionistic Late Afternoon depicts an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s, whose lost memories help her find her way back to the present. One

Small Step, by Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas, offers a lovely ode to a young woman’s lost, and then rediscovered, dream of becoming an astronaut. And Animal Behaviour, by Alison Snowden and David Fine, is the weakest of the nominees, and a rather on-the-nose peek in on a group therapy session in which various mammals and insects discuss their personal problems—also their defining characteristics as animals. (A praying mantis can’t get a date because she eats her partners after sex; a cat is obsessed with self-grooming, etc.) I kept expecting a punchline or a twist that never came. Live Action Shorts: I suspect Vincent Lambe’s controversial Detainment will win the Oscar for best live-action short this year. His dramatization of the real-life police interrogations of two 10-year-old boys who killed a toddler in England in 1993 is profoundly harrowing and features deeply upsetting performances from its young stars. The mother of the murdered child has called for its nomination to be rescinded—and her pain is understandable—but this is an important examination of an inexplicable horror. Other nominees: Jeremy Comte’s Fauve, also about two young boys behaving recklessly with little awareness of the dangers of their game of childish one-upmanship; Mother, by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, a grim, bleak slice of terror in which a woman is tethered to her lost little boy by only a dying cellphone connection; and Guy Nattiv’s Skin, which takes the perspective—again—of young boys, one white and one black, who witness a racismfueled clash between their fathers. The latter is a bit strained in getting to its explosive ending, but its message of children learning what they are taught is well taken. The only film not about little boys, Marianne Farley’s Marguerite, is a tender portrait of the relationship between an aging, ill woman and her visiting nurse, and the regret it fosters in the elderly patient.

A full look at the Oscarnominated short films.

A Night at the Garden

Detainment

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Short but Sweet

TWELVE MEDIA

PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS

Bao

FIELD OF VISION

CINEMA

IN BRIEF

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36 | FEBRUARY 7, 2019

CINEMA CLIPS MOVIE TIMES AND LOCATIONS AT CITYWEEKLY.NET

NEW THIS WEEK Film release schedules are subject to change. Reviews online at cityweekly.net ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED SHORT FILMS: ANIMATED BBB.5 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED SHORT FILMS: LIVE ACTION BBB ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED SHORT FILMS: DOCUMENTARY

BBBB

See reviews on p. 35. All open Feb. 8 at Tower Theatre. (NR) COLD PURSUIT [not yet reviewed] Liam Neeson plays a snowplow driver seeking vengeance for the death of his son. Opens Feb. 8 at theaters valleywide. (R) THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART BBB In 2014, The Lego Movie was a burst of visual and writing imagination in the great sea of CGI-animated sameness; now, five years and four movies into a brick-based cinematic universe, the new-vehicle smell has faded, simply leaving something fun and diverting. This installment picks up more or less where the first movie left off, continuing the adventures of Emmet (Chris Pratt), Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) and friends as they try to fight off the threat of Duplo invaders. Mike Mitchell (Trolls) takes over directing duties from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and the Lord/Miller script aims again for a

mix of winking nods at blockbuster filmmaking and a recognition of how real-world kids process their world through play. While the gags are generally satisfying, it’s hard for the whole thing not to feel like a Duplo-cation of the original. In fact, at times it feels more like it’s trying to mimic the Toy Story franchise—and while there are far worse models for great animated filmmaking, it’s not quite the same as when everything was awesome and completely distinctive. Opens Feb. 8 at theaters valleywide. (PG)—Scott Renshaw THE PRODIGY [not yet reviewed] A mother (Taylor Schilling) believes a supernatural force might be affecting her son. Opens Feb. 8 at theaters valleywide. (R) WHAT MEN WANT [not yet reviewed] Gender-swapped remake of the Mel Gibson film, with Taraji P. Henson as a woman who gains the ability to hear men’s thoughts. Opens Feb. 8 at theaters valleywide. (R)

SPECIAL SCREENINGS GREEN BOOK At Park City Film Series, Feb. 8-9, 8 p.m.; Feb. 10, 6 p.m. (PG-13) THE MATINEE IDOL At Edison Street Events Silent Films, Feb. 7-8, 7:30 p.m. (NR) PROSPECT At Main Library, Feb. 12, 7 p.m. (NR)

CURRENT RELEASES COLD WAR BBB It’s an odd feeling watching a filmmaker reach for a thematic complexity he can’t quite wrap his arms around. Pawel Pawlikowski seems interested in nothing less than distilling the Soviet Bloc era

of Polish history into one messy romantic relationship—between Wiktor (Tomasz Kot), the director of a folk music troupe, and Zula (Joanna Kulig), one of his performers. The film covers the 15 years between 1949 and 1964 in only 89 minutes, and that breakneck pacing leaves gaps in the central relationship. It’s fortunate Cold War has two other terrific things going for it: stunning black-and-white cinematography by Oscar-nominated Lukasz Zal, and a terrific performance by Kulig that captures Zula’s ferocious survival instinct. Aesthetically, it’s easy to embrace Cold War. The things going on beneath its beautiful surface remain a bit more elusive. (R)—SR DESTROYER BBB.5 Nicole Kidman’s pitiless performance as rule-breaking, guilt-ridden LAPD cop Erin Bell upends genre expectations in this tense, grim modern crime noir. Detective Bell’s undercover past comes back to haunt her when a dead body turns out to be a member of the bank-robbing gang she once infiltrated and she must hunt down the surviving crooks to find the killer. Kidman’s bravery comes not in choosing to look like hell onscreen, but in how she embraces Bell as a happy co-conspirator in the macho bullshit of a “man’s world.” Director Karyn Kusama’s bravery comes in the sneaky way she smashes stereotypes and toys with narrative to depict trauma as a Möbius strip we can never escape, no matter how hard we run. It’s uncompromising and subtly challenging storytelling you’ll turn over in your mind like a cerebral itch to scratch. (R)—MaryAnn Johanson GLASS BB M. Night Shyamalan tries to paste together the worlds of Unbreakable and Split and winds up with something tonally confusing and philosophically indefensible. As the end of Split teased, the multiple-personality serial killer The Horde (James McAvoy) co-exists with Unbreakable’s hero David Dunn (Bruce Willis); now we find them both connecting with villainous mastermind Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson). The bulk of the narrative is confined to a mental hospital where all three are treated by a doctor (Sarah Paulson) who tries to convince them they’re delusional, and a deep tedium

sets in while a lot of talking goes on. McAvoy at least has fun with his role(s), compared to Willis’ grim silence. As for Shyamalan’s take on superhero mythology? Let’s just say his interpretations don’t hold up to much scrutiny. (PG-13)—SR THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING

BBB

Writer/director Joe Cornish tells the story of Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis), a 12-year-old British schoolboy who improbably finds himself wielding Excalibur and leading a quest to prevent the rise of the sorceress Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) with a ragtag crew of young Round Table knights. Cornish doesn’t show the same sense of pacing he did in Attack the Block; this two-hour kid pic drags a bit on the way to its climax. But the appealing young cast provides some welcome energy, and the battles against flaming demon skeletons are solidly rousing. There’s a satisfying Brexit-era insistence on the need for a basic code of decency, and an inspirational message to young viewers: Big battles can be won by those who work together and refuse to let powerful bad guys win—and you don’t need to be a Chosen One. (PG)—SR

THE UPSIDE BB.5 American remakes of non-English language films often lose something in translation, but director Neil Burger retains the almost aggressively feel-good sensibility of 2011’s The Intouchables. Ex-con Dell Scott (Kevin Hart), collecting signatures to prove he’s applying for jobs, finds someone actually willing to hire him in quadriplegic multimillionaire Phillip (Bryan Cranston), who is seeking a new “life auxiliary” to assist with daily tasks. Naturally, they both have Very Important Lessons to learn, involving broadly comic setups like Dell going into full gay panic about changing Phillip’s catheter and uptight white guy Phillip getting stoned. The two leads have satisfying chemistry, and Cranston particularly conveys the prickly pride of a man who can’t abide pity. The story simply skates past anything genuinely difficult, content to aim for easy smiles that find the same ready audience in any language. (PG-13)—SR

more than just movies at brewvies FILM • FOOD • NEIGHBORHOOD BAR

SALT LAKE CITY SHOWING: FEBRUARY 8TH - FEBRUARY 14TH SU BR NDA U Y 2/1NCH 0

EW P N D AP T N S I A E BR WVI AD O E BR WNL AY! DO TOD

THE UPSIDE

THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART

DIRTY DANCING (1987)

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ISN’T IT ROMANTIC

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Can you sit on your own head? Not many people can. It requires great flexibility. Before comedian Robin Williams was famous, he spontaneously did just that when he auditioned for the role of the extraterrestrial immigrant Mork, the hero of the TV sitcom Mork and Mindy. The casting director was so impressed with Williams’ odd but amusing gesture that he hired him immediately. If you’re presented with an opportunity sometime soon, I encourage you to be inspired by the comedian’s ingenuity. What might you do to cinch your audition, to make a splashy first impression, to convince interested parties that you’re the right person?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A study by Fidelity financial services revealed that in 43 percent of all couples, neither partner has an accurate knowledge of how much money the other partner earns. Meanwhile, research by the National Institute of Health concludes that among heterosexual couples, 36 percent of husbands misperceive how frequently their wives have orgasms. I bring this to your attention in order to sharpen your focus on how crucial it is to communicate clearly with your closest allies. I mean, it’s rarely a good idea to be ignorant about what’s going on with those close to you, but it’ll be an especially bad idea during the next six weeks.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Twitter wit Notorious Debi Hope advises us, “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.” That’s wise counsel for you to keep in mind during the next three weeks. Let me add a few corollaries. First, stave off any temptation you might have to believe that others know what’s good for you better than you do. Second, figure out what everyone thinks of you and aggressively liberate yourself from their opinions. Third, if anyone even hints at not giving you the respect you deserve, banish them for at least three weeks.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Torre Mayor is one of the tallest skyscrapers in Mexico City. When workers finished its construction in 2003, it was one of the world’s most earthquake-proof buildings, designed to hold steady during an 8.5-level temblor. Over the course of 2019, Virgo, I’d love to see you erect the metaphorical equivalent of that unshakable structure in your own life. The astrological omens suggest that doing so is quite possible. And the coming weeks will be an excellent time to launch that project or intensify your efforts to manifest it. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Multitalented Libran singer and actor Donald Glover uses the name of Childish Gambino when he performs his music. How did he select that alias? He used an online random name generator created by the rap group Wu-Tang Clan. I tried the same generator and got “Fearless Warlock” as my new moniker. You might want to try it yourself, Libra. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to add layers to your identity and expand your persona and mutate your self-image. The generator is here: tinyurl.com/yournewname. (P.S. If you don’t like the first one you’re offered, keep trying until you get one you like.)

1. "And if ____ before ..." 2. Barbershop call 3. Civilian attire 4. Aid in climbing a snowy peak 5. Melania Trump ____ Knauss 6. "Spring forward" letters 7. Belly button type 8. "Well, obviously!" 9. Tot's attire 10. Subject for "Dunkirk" or "Apocalypse Now"

53. Terra ____ 54. "I remember now" 55. ____ de plume 56. Instrument in "Norwegian Wood" 60. Fork-tailed bird 61. Inquires 63. "____ Ruled the World" (1996 Nas hit) 64. Alternative to Food Lion or Piggly Wiggly 65. Nonverbal "yes"

Last week’s answers

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 | 37

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself” was a featured track in the movie 8 Mile, and it won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003. The creator himself was not present at the Oscar ceremony to accept his award, however. He was so convinced his song would lose that he stayed home. At the moment that presenter Barbra Streisand announced Eminem’s triumph, he was asleep in front of the TV with his daughter, who was watching cartoons. In contrast to him, I hope you will be fully available and on the scene for the recognition or acknowledgment that should be coming your way sometime soon. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): We can behold colors because of specialized cells in our eyes GEMINI (May 21-June 20): called cones. Most of us have three types of cones, but a few While enjoying its leisure time, the peregrine falcon glides rare people have four. This enables them to see far more around at 50 miles per hour. But when it’s motivated by the hues than the rest of us. Are you a tetrachromat, a person desire to eat, it might swoop and dart at a velocity of 220 with super-vision? Whether you are or not, I suspect you miles per hour. Amazing! In accordance with your astro- will have extra powerful perceptual capacities in the coming logical omens, Gemini, I propose that we make the per- weeks. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, egrine falcon your spirit creature for the next three weeks. you will be able to see more than you usually do. The world I suspect you will have extraordinary speed and agility and will seem brighter and deeper and more vivid. I urge you to focus whenever you’re hunting for exactly what you want. deploy your temporary superpower to maximum advantage. So here’s a crucial question: what exactly do you want? CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): CANCER (June 21-July 22): There are two kinds of minor, boring little tasks. One is attendNow and then the sun shines and rain falls at the same time. The ing to a detail that’s not in service to a higher purpose; the other meteorological name for the phenomenon is “sunshower,” but is attending to a detail that is a crucial step in the process of fulfolklore provides other terms. Hawaiians might call it “liquid filling an important goal. An example of the first might be when sunshine” or “ghost rain.” Speakers of the Tangkhul language you try in vain to scour a permanent stain on a part of the kitchen in India imagine it as “the wedding of a human and spirit.” Some counter that no one ever sees. An example of the second is when Russians refer to it as “mushroom rain,” since it’s thought to you download an update for an existing piece of software so your encourage the growth of mushrooms. Whatever you might computer works better and you can raise your efficiency levels as prefer to call it, Cancerian, I suspect the foreseeable future you pursue a pet project. The coming weeks will be an excellent will bring you delightful paradoxes in a similar vein. And in my time to keep this distinction in mind as you focus on the minor, opinion, that will be very lucky for you, since you’ll be in the right boring little tasks that are crucial steps in the process of eventuframe of mind and spirit to thrive amid just such situations. ally fulfilling an important goal.

DOWN

11. "Snooki & ____" ("Jersey Shore" spinoff) 12. Corporate giant named for a mountain 13. Like drawn-out divorces 18. Bygone channel that aired "Veronica Mars" 22. Granny's "Darn it!" 24. It's checked before taking off 25. Not worth ____ (valueless) 26. Beyond slow 29. Org. behind the Human Genome Project 30. Big brand of kitchenware 31. #1 pal 33. Prefix with cycle 34. Fashion line? 35. Not guzzle 37. Motel units: Abbr. 38. Sweet ____ 39. Nile viper 41. Sondheim's "____ Pretty" 42. Get excited about crosswords, say, with "out" 47. Cameo stones 49. 1980s supergroup that included Ricky Martin 50. Trump who wrote "The Best Is Yet to Come" 51. Pioneer in photocopying 52. Linguistic origin of "mulligatawny"

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Salvator Mundi sold for $450 million in 2017. Just 12 years earlier, an art collector had bought it for $10,000. Why did its value increase so extravagantly? Because in 2005, no one was sure it was an authentic da Vinci painting. It was damaged and had been covered with other layers of paint that hid the original image. After extensive efforts at restoration, the truth about it emerged. I foresee the possibility of a comparable, if less dramatic, development in your life during the next 10 months, Scorpio. Your work to rehabilitate or renovate an underestimated resource could bring big dividends.

1. How one might keep something 7. "____ pronounce you ..." 11. Smucker's product 14. Cards that may be "wild" in poker 15. Prefix with -gon 16. Tiny 17. Like someone buried really deep? 19. Fifth qtrs. 20. James who sang "At last, my love has come along ..." 21. Papal name chosen 12 times 22. Has 23. Super-duper wide road? 27. Ending for glut-, deltoid- and other muscle names 28. One with pointy ears and shoes 29. San Francisco's ____ Hill 32. Ones wearing black eyeliner and ripped jeans, say 36. Outlet from the left ventricle 40. What multibillionaires earn? 43. Labor leader played by Jack Nicholson in a 1992 biopic 44. Noted architect who turned 100 in 2017 45. Deplete (of) 46. Swelled head 48. Weapon in medieval warfare 50. What a college sophomore might blow out on their birthday? 57. ____ piccata 58. Disney tune subtitled "A Pirate's Life for Me" 59. Longtime New York congresswoman Lowey 62. QB's asset 63. An hour and a half? 66. "There's ____ in team" 67. Gala 68. Close temporarily, as a theater 69. Rose of Guns N' Roses 70. "Stupid ____ stupid does" 71. Festoons

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): Climbing mountains has been a popular adventure since the 19th century, but there are still many peaks around the world that no one has ever ascended. They include the 24,449-foot-high Muchu Chhish in Pakistan, 23,691-foot Karjiang South in Tibet, and 12,600-foot Sauyr Zhotasy on the border of China and Kazakhstan. If there are any Aries mountaineers reading this horoscope who have been dreaming about conquering an unclimbed peak, 2019 will be a great time to do it, and now would be a perfect moment to plan or launch your quest. As for the rest of you Aries, what’s your personal equivalent of reaching the top of an unclimbed peak?

ACROSS

No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and experience.

Go to realastrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text-message horoscopes. Audio horoscopes also available by phone at 877-873-4888 or 900-950-7700.

BY DAVID LEVINSON WILK

UDOKU

B R E Z S N Y

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9.

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yourself grabbing your reusable bags and heading off to the grocery store to buy a few necessities. First, you walk into the produce section and discover there are only three apples on display—one that’s overpriced, one that’s bruised and one green apple (you hate sour apples). You ask the manager where all the apples are and he says “That’s all we’ve got!” Hmmmm. Next, you head to the dairy aisle and discover displays that are darkened, not because they are saving power but because there’s nothing to display: no eggs, and only one kind of weird stinky fromage that’s $18 for a half-ounce. This is what shopping for homes is like around the Wasatch Front— an eye-opening, frustrating discovery of low inventory and high prices. Stats released by utahrealestate.com show home sales have reached their lowest level in three years. Utah County sales dropped 11 percent and Tooele County, 14 percent. Salt Lake County was down 10 percent, Weber County declined 4 percent and Davis County saw a 5 percent loss. Despite the drop in sales numbers, prices just kept rising in 2018. The average sales price in Salt Lake County rose to $350,000, up $25,000 from 2017’s figure. In the five Utah counties with the densest populations, condo prices also rose anywhere from 8.1 percent to 36.8 percent (Salt Lake City saw the biggest jump in values). All those highrise residential buildings soaring skyward around your area are apartments for rent— not condominiums for sale. Boomers wanting to downsize from a home to a condo are especially feeling the pinch of low housing inventory. To quote Scary Spice on America’s Got Talent, “What is happening here?!” In a nutshell, the number of homes and condos for sale are not keeping up with demand. More people are moving to Utah than leaving, and there just aren’t enough places to buy or even rent in many areas. As prices go up, first-time buyers drop out of the game, and folks wanting to move up stop looking. Low inventory combined with rising interest rates is not a good recipe for real estate buyers. What does all this mean if you’re a buyer? Stop looking at house porn and get in the game. Find a full-time broker to start making offers for you. If you’re a seller, go ahead and sell and negotiate a rent-back agreement with your buyers so you have time to find a new place to live. And do all of this before interest rates and property values rise again. Don’t wait for a drop, because unless we go into a long, long government shutdown, Utah is only going to see growth. n

SUMMONS

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WEIRD

Fashion Foibles White shoes, it seems, are distracting when you’re lining up your putt. According to Time magazine, Nike will be mowing over the competition with its new Air Max 1 golf shoes, which feature uppers covered with a green material that resembles grass. Matching green laces will further disguise your dogs as you play a round, but lest you think you’ll disappear altogether, fear not: The trademark Nike swoosh on the sides is bright white. The sneakers, yet to be released, are expected to retail for $140. n Just when you thought there was nothing new under the blue jeans sun: A Ukrainian designer is asking $377 for a pair of jeans that have one fitted leg and one flared leg. Ksenia Schnaider, who calls her design the Asymmetric Jean, told dazeddigital.com: “It’s good to get people talking, and they’re definitely going to make people turn their heads as you walk by!”

n Alijah Hernandez of Houston is a skilled barber in her father’s shop, reported KTRK-TV on Jan. 17—which wouldn’t ordinarily be newsworthy. But Alijah is only 7 years old. Her dad, Franky, says she’s been watching him since she was a toddler and started perfecting her skills three years ago. For her part, Alijah says cutting hair comes naturally to her; she practices on friends and family (with her dad supervising) and has already faced off in barber competitions across Texas.

n Meanwhile, in West Palm Beach, Fla., two unnamed 24-year-olds chose to view the Jan. 20 eclipse by lying prone

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Self-Medicating When a 33-year-old unnamed Irish man was admitted to a Dublin hospital with swelling in his right forearm and a rash, he surprised the attending physician with the “cure” he had been using for his back pain. For a year and a half, canoe.com reported on Jan. 16, the man had been injecting his own semen into his right forearm. X-rays revealed a pool of the fluid under his skin, which had become infected. “He had devised this ‘cure’ independent of any medical advice,” noted Dr. Lisa Dunne in the Irish Medical Journal. He also told Dr. Dunne that his back pain had worsened after lifting a heavy metal object. Latent Religious Messages British retailer Marks & Spencer is in hot water with Muslims who claim the store’s brand of toilet paper is embossed with the Arabic symbol for the word “God.” An unnamed man posted a video to social media displaying a roll of M&S Aloe Vera 3-ply tissue and urging his Muslim brothers and sisters to avoid buying it or boycott the store altogether. Metro News reports that in response, Marks & Spencer says the symbol is of an aloe vera leaf: “The motif on the aloe vera toilet tissue, which we have been selling for over five years, is categorically of an aloe vera leaf, and we have investigated and confirmed this with our suppliers.” Keep That to Yourself Dennis Palmer, 31, appeared to be guilty of more than TMI on Jan. 10, when police were called to a Walmart in Stuart, Fla. Tcpalm.com reported that Palmer was in the pillow aisle when he was seen exposing and touching himself inappropriately. Palmer told police “he was just itching himself because he has crabs.” But surveillance video recorded Palmer indulging in “rubbing” and activities other than scratching; “this continued for several minutes,” the affidavit stated. When police asked Palmer what he was thinking, he replied that “he wasn’t thinking, but he should have been thinking.” He was jailed for exposure of sexual organs. Send tips to weirdnewstips@amuniversal.com

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What’s That Up in the Sky? The rare super blood wolf moon of Jan. 20 was so captivating to some skywatchers on Florida’s Ponte Vedra Beach that they didn’t notice when the tide rolled in and waterlogged their Honda CRV. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office told News4Jax the occupants were able to get out of the car and move to safety, though the vehicle itself wasn’t recovered until the next day. A photo showed water up to the windshield on the front end.

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Precocious Employees of John J. Murphy Elementary School in Round Lake Park, Ill., were surprised on Jan. 9 when a car drove into the drop-off lane and an 11-year-old student exited the driver’s seat. Witnesses alerted police, who issued an arrest warrant for the front-seat passenger, 31-year-old Khafilu M. Oshodi of Round Lake, for two counts of child endangerment; a 9-year-old was riding in the back seat. Police Chief George Filenko told the Lake County News-Sun the situation could have “resulted in any number of tragic scenarios.” The children have been placed with other relatives, and police are still looking for Oshodi.

Terrifying Technology Laura Lyons of Orinda, Calif., was in her kitchen on the afternoon of Jan. 20 when a loud alert noise blared in the living room, followed by a detailed warning from “Civil Defense” that intercontinental ballistic missiles were on their way from North Korea to Los Angeles, Chicago and Ohio. Lyons told the San Jose Mercury News the message warned residents they had three hours to evacuate. As she and her husband absorbed the news, they realized it had come from their Nest security camera—not from the TV, where the Rams-Saints game was proceeding as normal, and news channels were not reporting anything unusual. “It was five minutes of sheer terror,” she said. The Lyonses called 911 and then Nest, where a supervisor told them they had been victims of a “third-party hack” on their camera and speakers.

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People With(out) Issues Rachel Childs, 29, of Pearland, Texas, is not autistic and doesn’t have a twin autistic sister, according to the Houston Chronicle. Nevertheless, she hired a caregiver for her (fake) twin sister who is (not) autistic. The elaborate plot, which played out in early January, involved the caregiver picking up the “twin” at Childs’ house and taking her to the caregiver’s home, where he was hired to care for her overnight. But when Childs’ “twin” exhibited sexual conduct toward the caregiver, he became suspicious and investigated Childs, then contacted police. Childs was charged with burglary of a habitation with intent to commit assault and indecent exposure.

in the middle of a dark road near the Apoxee Wilderness Trail. Which would have worked out fine, except around 11:30 p.m. a West Palm Beach police officer patrolling the area ran over the pair. Fortunately, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported, he was cruising at just 5 mph, and the human speed bumps sustained only non-life-threatening injuries. The officer was put on paid administrative leave while the incident was investigated.

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