Coachella Valley Independent August 2017

COACH

D EPEN D EN T EL LA VA LL EY IN

| A U G U S T 2 0 17

VOL. 5 | NO. 8

THE DOG DAYS R E M M U S OF PAGE 26 SPLASH HOUSE IS RETURNING FOR ITS AUGUST EDITION.

Check out our interview with Splash House performer and EDM great Gigamesh.

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AUGUST 2017

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AUGUST 2017

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Mailing address: 31855 Date Palm Drive, No. 3-263 Cathedral City, CA 92234 (760) 904-4208 www.cvindependent.com

Editor/Publisher Jimmy Boegle Assistant Editor Brian Blueskye cover/Cover Story design Mark Duebner Design Contributors Gustavo Arellano, Max Cannon, Kevin Carlow, Cory Courtney, Katie Finn, Kevin Fitzgerald, Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Bob Grimm, Michael Grimm, Dwight Hendricks, Valerie-Jean (VJ) Hume, Brane Jevric, Patrick Johnson, Keith Knight, Erin Peters, Dan Perkins, Sean Planck, Guillermo Prieto, William Bryan Rooney, Anita Rufus, Jen Sorenson, Christine Soto, Robert Victor, Baynard Woods The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month.

All content is ©2017 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The Independent is available free of charge throughout the Coachella Valley, limited to one copy per reader.

Additional copies may be purchased for $1 by calling (760) 904-4208. The Independent may be distributed only by the Independent’s authorized distributors.

The Independent is a proud member and/or supporter of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, CalMatters, Get Tested Coachella Valley, the Local Independent Online News Publishers, the Desert Business Association, the LGBT Community Center of the Desert, and the Desert Ad Fed.

Let’s face it: August is not the best month for business in the Coachella Valley.

If there’s one time during the year that a restaurant will be closed, it’s probably going to be in August. August is the most popular month for us locals to take vacations—in part because the weather is scorching, and it’s already been scorching for several months, and we’re tired of it.

However, most of us are still here in August. Therefore, news and arts and foodie stuff still happens—and that’s why those of us here at the Independent don’t take the month off, and instead keep working as hard as we always do.

Still … August is not the best month for business in the Coachella Valley, and that goes for us here at the Independent, too.

That’s why we have decided to hold our first-ever Supporters of the Independent membership drive this month—and while doing so, we’re going to celebrate some of the great journalism the Independent has done in our almost five years of existence.

From Aug. 1-20, we’ll highlight a story from our archives on our social-media platforms each day. During this celebration of great independent local journalism, we’ll encourage readers like you to join our Supporters of the Independent program.

Our content is offered free to all, both in print and online—and it always will be.

We don’t have pay walls, and we don’t sell subscriptions. However, a Supporters of the Independent membership gives readers a chance to contribute directly to the Independent and our mission statement: “The Coachella Valley Independent is the valley’s source of independent news, arts coverage, commentary and culture.

We believe in true, honest journalism: We want to afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted. We want to be a mirror for the entire Coachella Valley. We want to inform, enlighten and entertain.

We will never let advertisers determine what we cover, and how we cover things.

In other words, we will always tell it how we see it. For example: Some other publications in this valley do puff-piece reviews or feature stories on advertisers to make said advertisers happy. We will never, ever do that. If we lose an advertiser due to an unflattering story, a negative review or something else, so be it.”

I hope you’ll consider joining our Supporters of the Independent program; you can join for as little as $10, and all members get cool perks. For more information, visit CVIndependent.com/ supporters, or check out Page 4 of this issue.

Welcome to the August 2017 print edition of the Coachella Valley Independent.

As always, thanks for reading.

—Jimmy Boegle, jboegle@cvindependent.com Cover photo by Guillermo Prieto/Irockphotos.net

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AUGUST 2017

WE NEED YOU. YOU NEED US.

READ US. FOLLOW US. ADVERTISE WITH US. SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS. BECOME A SUPPORTER OF THE INDEPENDENT. All of our content is offered for free—and it always will be. We don’t have pay walls, and we don’t sell subscriptions. However, this month, we're asking you to become a member of our Supporters of the Independent program.

Membership gives readers like you a chance to contribute directly to the Independent and our mission: being the valley’s honest, ethical source of independent news, arts coverage, commentary and culture.

GET MORE INFORMATION AT CVINDEPENDENT.COM/SUPPORTERS OR CALL 760-904-4208

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 5

AUGUST 2017

OPINION OPINION

KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS T

BY ANITA RUFUS

he Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is a program offered at both the Cal State San Bernardino and the University of California-Riverside campuses in Palm Desert. Osher offers noncredit courses targeting the 50-plus population “interested in learning for the pure joy of it” at more than 100 universities in all 50 states.

Osher instructors include college professors and experienced professionals, and subjects cover a wide range of subjects, from movie-making to blogging to financial planning to philosophy. But not just anyone can join the Osher faculty; some prospective teachers “audition” with a one-day presentation, to determine whether a proposed course will meet Osher’s standards.

That is how I met Vinny Stoppia.

I received two fellowships which would have Vinny is the author of The Austrian Woman, taken me toward a Ph.D., but I was No. 30 in aka Marie Antoinette, Queen of Versailles. Most the draft lottery (during the Vietnam War),” of us know little about the infamous French he said. “I decided to apply for conscientiousqueen beyond, “Let them eat cake!” Stoppia objector status. I knew French really well, has culminated a lifetime obsession with this so I thought of going to Canada, but I made fascinating woman in his well-researched and it past the draft board and then had to do enjoyably readable book. He had a tryout with two years of service in lieu of going into the Osher in front of a packed house. military. Just as I was about to be assigned to How does a guy born and raised in Queens, a mental hospital, the United Nations took N.Y., end up obsessed with Marie Antoinette? me instead.”

“My parents weren’t readers, but when I Stoppia wound up spending 23 years with was 8, I got a library card,” he said. “I read the UN, specializing in meeting services and every book in the children’s section, and at keeping delegates happy. “I met all of the big 10, they let me browse through the adult world political figures from the 1970s to the section. I became focused on history and 1990s,” he said. got interested in George Washington and While in New York, Stoppia worked as a the American Revolution. I found lots of volunteer with HIV/AIDS patients. “They references to a ‘Citizen Genet,’ the brother didn’t even call it AIDS then,” he remembers. of the French queen’s lady-in-waiting, who “It was a terrible experience to watch men die. came to the U.S. to try to influence America’s People were so afraid to go near them. They policy toward France. I wanted to know even wanted us to suit up like astronauts more about him, and no matter what I read, before we went into someone’s room. I particularly about the French Revolution, remember Easter of 1985, and one man Marie Antoinette’s name kept surfacing. who knew he was close to death, crying out, “I became an admirer of her,” said Stoppia, ‘Please, help me.’ I had to clean him up, and “when I read that when the odds were stacked I remember thinking, ‘This is a privilege, a against her, her response was, ‘I’m going parting gift I can give to him.’ I’ve learned that to go forward.’ I found that so inspiring. I not living with blinders on makes life much made a vow at 19 that I would one day write more interesting. There are so many stories.” a book about her that would alter people’s Stoppia came out to his own family at 28. perceptions of her.

“I knew it was going to be difficult. When “Everyone thinks of her as the prethey found out, they wanted to sell the house incarnation of the infamous Leona Helmsley and move. They never got to 100 percent of New York—self-absorbed, insular, thinking acceptance. only about herself. But when she had to, she “My mom taught me about service and stepped up to the plate.” knowing how to get what you need, and how Stoppia majored in French literature at St. to survive. My relationship with my dad was Francis College in Brooklyn, because he had rocky; he always wanted to ‘toughen me up.’ decided he wanted to read Marie Antoinette’s I never cried as a kid; I had to ‘be a man.’ But letters in their original French.

I once had a flashback to when he was giving “I had always wanted to be a teacher, and me a bath at about age 4, and he caressed me;

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

Meet Vinny Stoppia, a man who shares knowledge about his life-long historical passion: Marie Antoinette

I had forgotten he could be nurturing. One of my regrets in life is that I wasn’t present enough to speak with my father about his impending death, to help him on his final journey.”

Stoppia came to Palm Springs in 1993, and loves it. He has volunteered as a docent at the Palm Springs Art Museum for 17 years, teaches Spanish classes, and has given time to a local hospice.

“I got sick with AIDS after I got here, and decided, ‘This isn’t going to kill me. There’s still something important that I have to do,’” he said.

After attempting to write about Marie Antoinette during every decade of his life, Stoppia finally hit his stride and completed the book in three years. The amount of research he has done is evident—not only via the gossipy insider stories from behind palace walls that he can tell, but also via amazing photographs illustrating his presentation.

I thought Stoppia might have been a frustrated standup comic based on his flamboyant sense of humor and his ability to connect with those crowded into the auditorium, but he said he perfected his audience-friendly style during his many years of leading museum tours. “It was when I realized that those skills are what I should be bringing to my writing that the book finally just rolled out.” His take-away message: “To strive, to seek, and not to yield.”

Stoppia’s “audition” to teach the Osher course about Marie Antoinette was successful, and he is on their schedule for the upcoming

Vinny Stoppia: “I became an admirer of (Marie Antoinette) when I read that when the odds were stacked against her, her response was, ‘I’m going to go forward.’ I found that so inspiring.”

season. He will show that the French queen is about much more than eating cake.

Anita Rufus is also known as “The Lovable Liberal,” and her radio show airs Sundays at noon on KNews Radio 94.3 FM. Email her at Anita@LovableLiberal.com. Know Your Neighbors appears every other Wednesday at CVIndependent.com.

CVIndependent.com

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AUGUST 2017

From Botox to Cosmetic Surgery and Everything in Between

OPINION OPINION

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

ASK A MEXICAN!

Would legalizing marijuana in Mexico help the country’s economy?

BY GUSTAVO ARELLANO DEAR MEXICAN: Do you think legalizing marijuana in Mexico would be a good way to create jobs and better the economy?

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DEAR POCHO: Mexico just legalized medicinal marijuana nationwide, which will come as news to the abuelitas who have used marijuanainfused alcohol to treat sore joints and muscles for centuries. While the Mexican is in favor of the decriminalization of all drugs, any economy created by Mexico making marijuana a legal industry will become subservient to the real marijuanos: Americans. And we all know how well NAFTA worked out for Mexico.

DEAR MEXICAN: I’ve heard that marijuana is a made-up name for smokable cannabis. It comes from Maria and Juan. This pejorative term was concocted in the 1930s to stigmatize pot-smoking by linking it with Mexicans in the Southwest. During the 1930s Great Depression, there was a surplus of labor in America, and attempts were made to arrest Mexicans for their smoking habits and then deport them. Any truth to this?

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DEAR GABACHA: Only that there was a Great Depression. No one—not even the Real Academia Española—knows the etymology of “marijuana,” and it’s found in Mexican newspapers going back to the 19th century.

Marijuana use in the United States has always been racialized, but gabachos have also stuck the demon weed to Filipinos, blacks and “Hindoos.” As with most illicit, wonderful things, marijuana only became acceptable when white people began using it.

DEAR MEXICAN: My husband has a disability that nobody in his Mexican family accepts. (It’s a serious mental health disorder for which he receives government benefits, but they just tell him, “Be strong, primo,” and, “How did you fool the government into giving you crazy money?”) Nobody has ever helped us with things he can’t do, but they expect him to help his mom with every home repair. She’s verbally abuse and says nasty things about both of us when she’s alone with him, but to my face, she acts like she wants us to be friends.

I understand that a history of oppression and struggle breeds dysfunction, but where do we draw the line?

Una Frustrated Gabacha-in-Law DEAR GABACHA: Confronting mental health issues among Mexicans is a serious topic that too often gets dismissed due to machismo.

Without knowing his exact condition, all I can counsel you to do is ask your marido how he feels, and act accordingly. He might hate the familial abuse, but is too afraid to say anything, and is waiting on you to say something. Or he might not feel abused at all.

If it’s the latter case, keep him away from the primos and mom with promises of sexytimes— works on a Mexican man anytime!

DEAR MEXICAN: When I take my wife out to a Mexican restaurant, I try to order and communicate in Spanish. My wife laughs, because she says I even change my accent.

Am I just a pendejo gringo who the waiters are laughing at behind my back, or do they appreciate a cracker trying to sound like he came from the barrio?

Muchos Grassy Ass DEAR GABACHOS: Mexicans appreciate it if you try to talk in Spanish, or use correct Spanish terms (“aguacates” instead of “guac,” for instance). Mexicans do not appreciate it if you mimic a “Mexican” accent, mostly because there is no such thing as a universal one. Try that again, and don’t be surprised if your sour cream’s tang is due to the line cook’s crema.

Catch the Mexican every Wednesday at CVIndependent.com. Ask the Mexican at themexican@askamexican.net; be his fan on Facebook; follow him on Twitter @ gustavoarellano; or follow him on Instagram @ gustavo_arellano!

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 7

AUGUST 2017

SAVE THE DATE

OUR COMMUNITY

IN ACTION

LEAD THE WAY!

Saturday

Your Support of D.A.P. Creates a Healthier Community

October 21

Ruth Hardy Park

Registration begins at 7:30 am

Your donations of clothing, furniture, small goods, and home décor help Desert AIDS Project to provide our community with needed medical, dental, counseling, and social support services including nutrition housing, and much more.

Health & Wellness Village opens at 8:00 am Walk steps off at 9:30 am Register at desertAIDSwalk.org or call 760.656.8435

Desert AIDS Project has received a 5-Star rating from Charity Navigator for 5 years in a row — a distinction only 6% of all non-profits receive.

Donate it to Revivals.

Help create a healthier community.

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AUGUST 2017

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

STOPPING SUFFERING O

BY KEVIN FITZGERALD

n June 27, the California Department of Public Health issued its first data report on residents’ participation in the new End of Life Option Act. The law was signed by the governor in 2015 and took effect on June 9, 2016. The report reveals that 258 terminally ill California patients—diagnosed as having less than 6 months to live— started the process as called for under the law, as of Dec. 31, 2016.

Of those 258 patients, 191 were prescribed the life-ending medications, by 173 unique physicians. The report states: “111 patients, or 58.1 percent, were reported by their physician to have died following ingestion of aid-in-dying drugs prescribed under EOLA, while 21 individuals, or 11 percent, died without ingestion of the prescribed aid-in-dying drug(s). The outcome of the remaining 59 individuals, or 30.9 percent, who have been prescribed aid-in-dying drugs, is currently undetermined, as there has been no outcome reported for these individuals within the time period covered by this report.” (Full disclosure: One of the 111 patients who passed away using the new law was my mother-in-law; see “Annette’s Story,” data that came out of the state, because it posted at CVIndependent.com on Dec. 20, showed that (the participation rate) was in 2016.) keeping with our previous experience in the Kat West is the national director of policy and other authorized states,” West said. “The one programs at Compassion and Choices, a national piece of data we were very happy to see was support organization for medical aid-in-dying the ratio of the number of different doctors patients and their cause. The organization just prescribing the drugs compared to the group released its own, independent report on the law, of patients requesting. That was a really good covering activity through May 31 of this year. indicator that medical aid-in-dying is being what “We were actually very encouraged by the we call “normalized” and basically mainstreamed

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Reports show terminally ill Californians are using the End of Life Option Act—but the law still faces opposition

… they have to suffer at the end of life, and into end-of-life care.” potentially die an excruciating death.”

According to the Compassion and Choices Kappos said it could take a year or longer report, the organization knows of 313 for the case to be resolved. “It’s hard to guess prescriptions that were written for medical at these kinds of things, but in my view, these aid in dying in the first five months of 2017. are purely legal issues, and eventually, that will Meanwhile, 498 health-care facilities and come to light, and the case should be resolved 104 hospice locations have adopted policies on a motion (in the defendant’s favor).” supportive of patient choice, while about 80 Here in the Coachella Valley, Eisenhower percent of private insurance companies have Medical Center continues to deny its staff and covered the cost of the medications, including doctors permission to write medical-aid-inBlue Cross Blue Shield, Kaiser Permanente, dying prescriptions for its terminally ill patients.

Sutter and all Medi-Cal plans.

“I try to take the long view, and that is that “The additional 313 prescriptions issued change is hard,” said West, of Compassion and (thus far in 2017) were only the ones that we Choices. “But look back 20 years as an example. know about,” West said. “There are plenty If you were to bring up the subject of hospice of doctors who did not reach out to our care with a group of medical professionals, organization, and there are plenty of terminally it would clear the room. That’s how taboo ill people who did not reach out to us. As a donations clothing, furniture, small the topic of death andgoods, end-of-lifeand care was result, weYour don’t know of all of theof prescriptions then.

Now, of to course, hospice is completely décor Desert Project provide our that mayhome have been written help in the state of AIDS mainstream, and everyone thinks it’s great.

California.” community with needed medical, dental, counseling, So it’ll be the same trajectory for medical aid Not all of the news is good for proponents and socialprotocols. support including nutrition housing, in dying, especially now that California has of medical aid-in-dying Theservices federal authorized it.

House Appropriations and muchCommittee more. recently “Eisenhower is just going to find itself out of voted to block funding to implement a new step with the community’s and desires. medical aid-in-dying law in Washington, D.C. received Desert AIDS Project has a 5-Star ratingneeds from It’s going to find itself out of step with its own In California, a Riverside County Superior Charity Navigator forlawsuit, 5 years doctors’ in a row — about a distinction feelings the issue, and eventually, Court judge allowed the Ahn vs. Hestrin it will change its policy.

The community which challenges the End of Life Option Act, only 6% of all non-profits receive. clearly wants it, so it’s just the administrators. to move ahead into the courts, although an The community is already stepping up their injunction request toitput law on hold was Donate totheRevivals. demands, and internal champions within rejected by the judge.

Help create a healthier community.

John Kappos, a partner at the O’Melveny and Eisenhower are also calling us and letting us know what they think.”

Myers law firm, is representing proponents of West predicted change will come to the law. He said he is not too concerned about Eisenhower sooner rather than later. the lawsuit.

“I’d say they will change their policy “What I find most concerning is the fact Visit ourwithin a year. I do believe that,” West said. “The that a purely voluntary procedure like medical NEW administrators have to pay attention to what aid in dying causes some people to try to Palm their community is asking for.”Desert impose their will on others,” he said. “People West suggested that everyone engage in an can decide that they want to do it, or they location! end-of-life-treatment discussion with their own can decide that they’d prefer not to do it and health-care professionals. just die of natural causes. There’s no one here “Our big ask of everyone is to ask your own who is telling the people who do not want to doctor now if they would provide the protocol participate in medical aid in dying that they legalized in the End of Life Option Act— need to, or have any obligation to do so. It’s Palm Springs Cathedral Cityshe or hePalm Desert whether will support you if and when very concerning to me that there are people in S. Palm Canyon Dr. to tell 68-401 111time comes,” West 72-885 Hwy. 111 the said.

California611who feel that they need othersHwy.

Your Support of D.A.P. Creates a Healthier Community

To arrange a pick-up call 877-770-7738

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 9

AUGUST 2017

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

VISTA CHINO’S LATEST VICTIM

After yet another pedestrian death, the state is finally taking action

E

BY BRANE JEVRIC

ast Vista Chino has claimed another pedestrian’s life—the third since last October.

This time, according to the police report, the deceased was 62-year-old Palm Springs resident John Palladino, who was hit by a car on the night of Sunday, June 18. He was hospitalized and fought for his life until June 23, when he succumbed to the injuries he sustained in what police call a vehicle-versus-pedestrian collision.

“The preliminary investigation revealed a white 2011 Mercedes E-350, driven by a 76-year-old male from Palm Springs, was traveling westbound on East Vista Chino toward the intersection of North Sunrise Way,” said Lt. Mike Kovaleff.

According to Kovaleff, Palladino was walking northbound across Vista Chino, at Sunrise Way, on the east side of the intersection, outside of the crosswalk, against a red light. “The Mercedes entered the intersection with a green light and struck the pedestrian as he walked in the intersection,” Kovaleff said.

Kovaleff said there was no indication that alcohol or drugs were a factor.

Regardless of fault, East Vista Chino has proven yet again to be a deadly street.

Less than a mile away, at Via Miraleste, two pedestrians recently lost their lives.

Jana Ploss, 64, a longtime Palm Springs resident, was struck by a car while crossing Vista Chino at Via Miraleste on Nov. 14 of last year. Only six weeks prior, on Oct. 6, James Harper, also 64, was hit by a car and killed at that same intersection. (See “A Perilous Crossing,” posted Dec. 19, 2016, at CVIndependent.com.)

Ploss, who lived at the Riviera Gardens condo complex, had crossed Vista Chino at Via Miraleste daily for years to visit her sister, who owns a house nearby on Chia Road. Yet around 6:13 p.m. on Nov. 14, according to the police report, Ploss was hit and killed by a car headed eastbound on Vista Chino.

The speed limit at that critical portion of Vista Chino is 45 mph, but traffic often goes faster, and nighttime visibility is pretty low.

Vista Chino is actually a state highway—it’s State Route 111—and therefore is controlled

by Caltrans. After the deaths of Ploss and Harper, Caltrans looked into the matter.

“Caltrans did conduct an investigation at the intersection of State Route 111 and

Via Miraleste earlier this year after the two pedestrian fatalities,” said John Bulinski, Caltrans’ District 8 director. “As a result of that traffic investigation, the city of Palm Springs and Caltrans will install a signal at that intersection.”

Bulinski also said that Caltrans is working with the city of Palm Springs, the California Highway Patrol, Lamar Advertising, the Coachella Valley Association of Governments and other organizations on a pedestrian-safety campaign—leading to the installation of several billboard advertisements around the valley.

Jana Ploss’ sibling, Roxann Ploss, has taken the issue a step further.

“I am currently working on wording for a bill to be presented to the state Assembly, and no ‘state highways’ would be built or allowed through highly congested residential areas when another route is possible,” Ploss said.

Ploss said it may take up to 18 months for the traffic signal at the intersection where her sister lost her life to be installed.

Meanwhile, Lt. Kovaleff offers some pedestrian safety tips: Any street that has a high volume of traffic and is dark poses a risk to pedestrians, and drivers, bicyclists and walkers need to be conscious and follow the rules of the road. Pedestrians and bicyclists should utilize lighting and bright clothing, and cross streets only where it is safe.

Solar Q&A

I’m interested in solar for my business. What are the questions I should be asking?

Solar can be a big money-saver for businesses and nonprofits, but there are definitely some considerations. First, you are in the best position if you’re purchasing a system, rather than entering into a Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA. With a PPA, a company purchases the equipment on your behalf, and then you enter into an agreement to buy the power it generates at a set rate, often with an escalator (a percentage increase every year).

With commercial electric rates and programs from Sothern California Edison changing, it may be hard to evaluate the accuracy of savings projections down the road. However, with a purchase, and an average payback period of less than 10 years, you know you’ll enjoy savings for decades to come, based on the panel you select.

What are some other benefits of purchasing?

The solar system you purchase can be rapidly depreciated on a state and

One of the new pedestrian-safety billboards recently installed. BRANE JEVRIC

federal level, and there is also the Business Investment Energy Tax Credit, or ITC, depending on the tax bracket under which your business falls. It can range from 25-35 percent, which can substantially lower your net cost.

What are other considerations for going solar?

Your electric bill is comprised of base energy usage charges as well as those for “demand” charges. Energy use costs should be offset as much as possible with the system that is installed, based on the available roof space, and the ability to install ground mounts and/or elevated ground mounts, or carports. Demand charges, on the other hand, are those additional costs for electricity during peak hours as determined by SCE. The goal for those charges is to ensure that your total electric consumption during those times stays below the volume that will trigger higher costs per watt.

Be sure to choose a local company that understands all the variables and will advise you as to your best choice—not just “sell” you a system.

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AUGUST 2017

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

EVIDENCE IGNORED By samantha young, calmatters

A

fter a man held a knife to her throat, forced her into her car and repeatedly raped her, Helena Lazaro underwent a painful and humiliating medical forensic examination.

The 17-year-old wanted her attacker caught.

She never imagined the evidence collected in what is known as a rape kit would sit untouched for years by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. By the time she finally discovered the identity of her attacker, prosecutors couldn’t charge him with the rape—because the statute of limitations had expired in California.

“I think about that 17-year-old girl, the 25-year-old girl, the 30-year-old woman—all the versions of myself who have suffered,” Lazaro says. “That suffering could have ended much sooner.”

Victims’ rights groups estimate that hundreds of thousands of rape kits remain untested at police departments and crime-lab storage facilities nationwide. Thus far, a partial inventory of California by the End the Backlog Initiative has identified some 9,000 untested kits. But the precise number remains a mystery, because most states, including California, don’t inventory rape kits, and rape survivors sometimes struggle to get information about their own cases.

Law enforcement might opt not to submit kits for DNA and other analysis for any number of reasons—the case may be solved or cleared without the need for test results, or officers may regard it as a low priority. But another reason so many kits gather dust is financial: Processing costs an estimated $500 to $1,500 per kit, sometimes more.

Legislative efforts to count and clear the rape-kit backlog, to track the kits and to mandate all new kits be tested have failed over the years in California, with the powerful lawenforcement lobby citing the burden on labor and local police budgets. This year appears to be no different: Some legislation that would reform rape kit collection has been watered down.

Other bills await approval from lawmakers charged with weeding through bills that carry a price tag, who often reject popular measures because of their cost.

The responsibility for submitting rape kits for testing largely falls to local police departments and county sheriff’s offices. But a growing number of states have gotten involved— reacting to a public outcry and to evidence that testing rape kits puts serial rapists behind bars.

In recent years, California has “encouraged” law enforcement to submit kits within a certain time frame and legalized a victims’ bill of rights.

But unlike many other states, California has stopped short of mandating testing or even paying to calculate the depth of the backlog.

One legislator has even resorted to a novel approach to crime-solving: A bill would ask California taxpayers to donate directly to the CVIndependent.com

rape-kit backlog fund when filing their state income tax returns.

“It takes significant resources and political will, getting leaders to engage in this problem and say it’s a priority and (that they) want to fix it,” said Ilse Knecht, director of policy and advocacy at the Joyful Heart Foundation, a national nonprofit that works on sexual assault.

Tracking these kits, Knecht argues, is one way the public can hold law enforcement accountable for failures to prioritize sexual assaults as violent crimes, blaming the victim or only testing rape kits if a stranger committed the assault. Those cultural, subjective circumstances are the reason she and other advocates believe every rape kit ought to be tested—to end the discretion, and some say discrimination, involved in rape-kit testing.

“I think the injustice of this situation is obvious but bears some repeating,” said Assemblyman David Chiu during testimony before a Senate committee in June. “When kits are untested, survivors do not get justice.”

Chiu, D-San Francisco, authored AB 41, which would require local law-enforcement agencies to log all future rape kits into a California Department of Justice database— although the bill does not require the kits to be tested. It’s a small step toward the eventual goal of testing all rape kits, but simply tracking new kits has garnered opposition from the California State Sheriffs’ Association, which argues the reporting requirement would divert limited resources from critical services.

“If agencies report this information, there will be a database about who has untested kits and why they are untested,” said Cory Salzillo, legislative director of the sheriffs’ association.

“That doesn’t necessarily translate into convictions.”

Salzillo also challenges the premise that every rape kit should be tested, citing cases in which a person who committed a rape admitted to it; both the victim and the perpetrator agree a sexual encounter took place; or if a victim has recanted.

Despite a backlog of rape kits, California lawmakers aren’t requiring them to be tested or tallied

Lazaro still doesn’t know why the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department didn’t submit her test for analysis or why her case remained unsolved for so long. She spent her final year of high school terrified of her unknown attacker, who had threatened to kill her and her family if she ever reported the attack. When authorities did send Lazaro’s evidence kit for testing in 2003—seven years later—they didn’t tell her they had found a match. Her case never moved forward.

She didn’t learn the name of that match until 2009, after the sheriff’s department responded to an inquiry from a local rape-crisis agency.

Lazaro said she was told that the results had never made it from the lab to the sheriff’s department; she received an apology. But by then, California’s 10-year statute of limitations on rape had expired. (Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that removes the statute of limitations on new sex crimes.)

Capt. Carlos Marquez from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on the case, saying he was about to meet with Lazaro.

At first, Lazaro was relieved when she finally learned that the man authorities had identified through testing as her rapist—a long-haul truck driver from Ohio—was in prison for sexually assaulting his wife: That meant Lazaro was safe.

She believed her case had just slipped through the cracks. But then she learned about the hundreds of thousands of women nationwide whose rape kits have never been tested.

“I hate that I have to argue that it should be important enough to say, ‘We need to prevent women from being raped,’” Lazaro said.

Lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Committee have put Chiu’s bill on the suspense file, meaning it has a cost to the state and will be heard later this summer. Similar bills have died twice before in appropriations committees.

A recent Senate analysis concluded that Chiu’s rape-kit reporting bill presents a “potentially significant workload cost of more than $100,000 a year to local law-enforcement agencies statewide,” although that cost would likely be reimbursed by the state. Related legislation that would ban the destruction of a rape kit in an unsolved case for 20 years could cost the state $3 million for a new storage facility, along with $150,000 in ongoing costs. That bill, AB 1312, by Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher of San Diego, initially contained a provision that would have mandated the submission and testing of all newly collected rape kits. But that

was it stripped from the bill because of its cost.

Critics say the cost of testing a rape kit is far outweighed by the cost of crimes prevented. In 2016, the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio released a study that showed Cuyahoga County, Ohio, had saved $48.2 million by averting future sexual assaults after testing its 4,347 unsubmitted rape kits. A report by the U.S. Justice Department noted that Detroit alone had identified more than 400 serial rapists through the testing of backlogged kits.

A growing number of states have taken steps to address the backlog. Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana and Minnesota now require law enforcement to inventory untested rape kits.

Connecticut, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan require all rape kits be tested within certain timeframes.

Congress has also stepped in. Since 2015, federal lawmakers have approved $131 million for the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, and federal agencies have awarded millions in other grant dollars to help law enforcement and crime labs with their backlogs. The California Department of Justice, Orange County, the Riverside Police Department, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office have all benefited from funding, according to the Department of Justice.

Lazaro wants lawmakers to think about survivors like herself when these bills come before them. She is still traumatized by what happened to her at the car wash just four blocks from her home in Downey. And she wonders how her life might have been different had law enforcement immediately submitted her rape kit for testing.

“It changed my life,” Lazaro said. “And I’m just now starting to come to terms with how much of my life was stolen.”

Samantha Young is a contributor to CALmatters. org, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics. This is an abridged version of the full story.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 11

AUGUST 2017

NEWS

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DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS

Jim DeMint works to change the Constitution—while exposing contradictions in the modern conservative movement

By baynard woods

I

n the early years of the Obama era, then-Sen. Jim DeMint embodied a series of contradictions in the American character.

The hard-jawed and bitter-faced South Carolinian was simultaneously a theocrat, a cynic and a salesman. What he sold, as salvation, was hate and fear. He realized before the rest of us that it does not matter what politicians say or do, as long as they can demonize their enemies, turning them into villains that the American people can love to hate.

DeMint came from the fundamentalist, mill-village town of Greenville, nestled in the piedmont at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, not far from the North Carolina border. BMW and Michelin have recently turned the town into a somewhat more cosmopolitan place. But 20 years ago—when I finally escaped—it was a town that produced dire, dour and yet grimly visionary people, a severe, joyless place whose preachers obsessed over hell fire and the enjoyable things other people may be doing to hasten it.

DeMint galvanized the Tea Party with this shtick, but he could only take it so far: It was a little too grim for the American Sucker.

DeMint played the part like a great character actor—Harry Dean Stanton playing Ronald Reagan. Trump came along and brought a little P.T. Barnum to the act, taking DeMint’s gruesome view of America at war with itself and carnivalizing the carnage, in the same way televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart made the hell-fire sermons they heard in small Southern churches palatable to the masses on television.

“The bigger government gets, the smaller God gets,” DeMint said in a radio appearance in 2011. Trump echoed this in May when he told a crowd at the fundamentalist Liberty University, “In America, we don’t worship government; we worship God.” Perhaps DeMint was savvy enough to know he would do better as a vicar or an éminence grise, providing ideas to the crown rather than being the front man: The Greenville in him was still a little too mirthless to break through to the next level. He left the Senate on Jan. 1, 2013, to take over the ultra-conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation.

During last year’s presidential election, the foundation remained largely silent on Trump, putting DeMint in a perfect position to help guide the seemingly shocked and illprepared transition team. It provided policy papers, personnel and a list of Supreme Court nominees, deeply influencing the beginning of the Trump era.

So it was a shocker—and sort of admirable—when the Heritage board ousted DeMint in May, with influential members arguing he had dulled the intellectual edge of the foundation by making it too activist.

After his Heritage ouster, the former senator went to work for the Convention of States Project. This is a group that wants to invoke Article V of the Constitution to call for a convention to amend the Constitution.

Article V outlines two ways to add an amendment to the Constitution—and one of them has never been successfully employed before. Each of the 27 existing amendments has been proposed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratified by threefourths of the states. In the other way, twothirds of the legislatures of the states can “call a convention for proposing amendments.”

The conventional, previously used way is politically impossible at present, and to a man like DeMint, undesirable. But the alternate way, relying on the states as it does, is almost too perfect of an ideological vehicle. DeMint calls the Convention of States the next stage of the Tea Party, which wanted to limit federal power. It makes ideological sense for him to latch onto state legislatures’ ability to change the Constitution to limit federal power.

Here’s the crazy thing: It might actually be possible. Two-thirds of 50 is 34. That’s how many state legislatures would have to request a convention. Republicans hold both houses in 32 states. If a convention relying on state legislatures would ever work for the right, it would now.

Twelve states have already requested a convention to amend the Constitution. Over the last few weeks, DeMint was lobbying hard in North Carolina to make it the 13th.

It passed the Senate, and failed in the House, which later voted to reconsider it.

One of the big problems is the possibility of a “runaway convention.” The Convention of States argues that such a convention could be limited to a single topic: limiting federal control. But because a constitutional convention has never happened, no one knows how it will go.

As for the desire of DeMint and his crew to limit federal control: They want to institute

Jim DeMint. gage skidmore via wikipedia.org

congressional and Supreme Court term limits; mandate a balanced budget; and eliminate federal regulations. While it seems like such a focus may be opposed to the Trump regime, it fits in perfectly with its stated goal of the “deconstruction of the administrative state,” as Steve Bannon put it.

And Trump’s new voter commission— headed up by Kris Kobach, a dour Kansas extremist who is the perfect DeMint counterpart—might make the possibility of a new states-driven, conservative-leaning constitutional convention even more likely.

The Trump/Kobach commission is requiring states to give voter data to the federal government (although many have refused), claiming, sans any evidence, that widespread voter fraud cost Trump the popular vote.

Many fear there is an alternative motive to this data collection—namely, that it will be used to further restrict voting.

The state-level dominance that Republicans presently enjoy is due in large part to gerrymandering, and successful attempts to limit the votes of minorities and others who

might vote Democrat. (The pusillanimous posturing of the Democrats doesn’t help.) If they are further able to control the turnout, Republicans will be more likely to gain even more states, increasing the likelihood of a constitutional convention.

The contradiction gives yet another glimpse into today’s so-called conservative movement, and is reminiscent of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ own hypocrisy—he claims to be prostates’ rights, but is rejecting state decisions to legalize cannabis and is trying to force states to comply with big-government mandatory minimum sentencing. Conservatives are speaking out of both sides of their mouths, saying they want to strip power from the federal government, but using the federal government’s power to do so, by first attacking citizens’ voting rights.

Democracy in Crisis is a joint project of alternative newspapers around the country, including the Coachella Valley Independent. Baynard Woods is editor at large at the Baltimore City Paper. Send tips to democracyincrisicolumn@gmail.com.

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AUGUST 2017

BUSINESS

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TAKING THE PLUNGE

After 25 years in the movie-theater business, Damon Rubio has a theater of his own with the Mary Pickford

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BY JIMMY BOEGLE

couple of years ago, Damon Rubio found himself at a career crossroads.

The executive vice president at UltraStar Cinemas had been with the company for more than 15 years, and in the movie-theater business since 1991. However, the owners of the company were getting older and had started selling off locations—so Rubio knew his time with UltraStar would be coming to a close.

“I had to decide: Did I want to work for someone else, or take the plunge and do something for myself?” he said.

He didn’t want to move his family out of Southern California, and he’d maxed out his career opportunities in the area, more or less—so he decided to take that plunge.

UltraStar had been managing the Mary Pickford Theatre and the nearby Desert Cinemas, the former IMAX theater, in Cathedral City. However, the lease came to an end last year, so Rubio went straight to the landlord and cut a deal.

D’Place Entertainment was born.

Having been in a similar situation myself, I have an affinity for people who take that plunge and venture out on their own. While I have been petrified with fear at times as a small-business owner, Rubio said he’s had a calmer experience.

“I learned it’s maybe not as scary as I expected it to be,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s easy. But a lot of people dream of owning their own business, and the first step, diving in, is the Damon Rubio: “A lot of people dream of owning hardest part.” their own business, and the first step, diving in, is Of course, every small business faces the hardest part.” jimmy boegle challenges. Rubio is looking to expand D’Place However, all of these enhancements also have beyond Cathedral City, and he said his company’s an up-charge—leading to another worry. relative newness has led to some difficulties.

“My biggest concern is that theaters offering “We’re a young company, and I’m having all of these high-end experiences will result in to make a name for myself,” Rubio said. “My high-end prices,” Rubio said. “We don’t want experience is obviously a huge part of what that. We want to keep family-friendly prices.”

I go in and sell, but when I talk about all What’s the next big thing for the movies? my experience with the previous company, “It’ll be interesting to see how virtual (potential partners) sometimes will say, ‘That’s reality plays a role, be it in the way movies are great! By the way, can you give us the phone promoted, or in the actual exhibition of movies,” number for that company?’”

Rubio said. “The great thing about theaters is The movie-theater business itself is facing we’re able to provide a mass experience, and some trying times, given the increasing number that gives us an opportunity to be a place where of ways that people can enjoy movies. However, new technology can come.”

Rubio said he’s confident movie theaters will be After a little more than a year of ownership, around for many years to come.

Rubio said things are going well for D’Place “People have been pronouncing theaters Entertainment. Owning his own company is dead for years,” he said. “But none of those just a continuation of Rubio’s love affair of predictions came true. People have kitchens at movies, which began when he stood in line home, yet restaurants continue to survive.” to see the original Star Wars as a kid at the Rubio said the key to theaters’ survival is Polar Theatre in Anchorage, Alaska. He said making going to the movies a true experience, he still gets tingles when he thinks of the first with better seating, higher-quality refreshments moments of Star Wars, with the crawl and the and enhancements to the movie-watching star destroyer flying into the screen. experience itself. He points to recent “There’s always been something in me that improvements at the Mary Pickford as examples: wanted to recapture that moment,” Rubio said.

Recliners can be found throughout the cineplex, “I realize that I am not just selling movies; I am and D-Box motion-effects seating is offered selling that experience I had as a child.” with some films. One theater also offers the Barco Escape format, with the movie shown on a For more information, visit panoramic three screens. dplaceentertainment.com.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 13

AUGUST 2017

NEWS

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AUGUST ASTRONOMY T

On Monday, Aug. 21, the much-anticipated solar eclipse will Stars take in place—nine days Planets and Bright Evening Mid-Twilight Formeteor August,shower’s 2017 after the Perseid peak This sky chart is drawn for latitude 34 degrees north, but may be used in southern U.S. and northern Mexico.

By Robert Victor

he summer of 2017 marks the 54th anniversary of my first successful expedition to observe a total solar eclipse.

The date was July 20, 1963, when our carload of astronomy graduate students from the University of Michigan made the long drive from Ann Arbor to the path of totality in Quebec.

Cumulus clouds parted—and we had a spectacular view.

When it came to astronomy, I was hooked.

I hope some of you have a chance to make the journey to the August eclipse’s path of totality.

This event is part of the Saros series—same as the eclipse I saw in 1963. These eclipses are spaced at intervals of 18 years plus about 11 1/3 days, and after three Saros intervals—called an Exeligmos—a solar eclipse very much like the one in 1963 several evenings, you can watch the moon rising happens again, within a similar track through later each night—or you can shift your moon our region of the world, only farther south. viewing time to mornings, either in predawn Instead of Alaska through Canada and Maine as darkness or in the daytime after sunrise. in ’63, the ringside seats on Monday, Aug. 21, Observe in the predawn darkness hours on will be in Oregon to South Carolina, making this Saturday, Aug. 12, and you’ll catch the Perseid eclipse an exclusively American event. meteor shower nearing its peak. Unfortunately, Even if you can’t go to Oregon or another in 2017, the waning gibbous moon, still over spot within the path of totality, there are many three-quarters full that morning, will brighten ways to safely observe the partial solar eclipse the sky and reduce the number of meteors seen. here. In California, it starts between 9:01 a.m.

By the morning of Aug. 15, the moon will be (on the Pacific Coast near Point Arena) and just past last-quarter phase, when it’s half full 9:11 a.m., when the noon’s penumbral (partial) and 90 degrees west of the sun, but by then, the shadow reaches the far southeast corner of meteor shower activity will be well below peak. the state, on the Arizona border. The moon’s On the next morning, Aug. 16, look for bright penumbra begins to withdraw from California Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, the Bull, just to the just after 11:34 a.m., when the eclipse ends on upper right of the crescent moon. Observe the Pacific Coast near Capetown. The moon’s beautiful pairings of Venus with the waning outer shadow completely leaves the state just crescent moon on Aug. 19 and 20. south of the Parker Dam on the Colorado River As for Perseid meteors in the evening: After just after 11:55 a.m. the full moon of Aug. 7, the moon rises later From most locations in California, the first each night, and by Aug. 11, it rises at 10:14 contact of the moon with the sun’s disk occurs p.m., more than an hour after the end of near the top of the solar disk (near “12 o’clock” evening twilight, at 9:08 p.m. In places far from on the disk, if it is imagined as a clock face). the bright lights of human settlement—such At greatest eclipse, the moon covers the upper as in Joshua Tree National Park or Borrego left portion of the solar disk, centered near Springs—the sky will be very dark before the equivalent of 10 o’clock, leaving a brilliant moonrise, allowing spectacular views of the solar crescent uncovered near 4 o’clock. Last summer Milky Way and of Perseid meteors. contact of the moon’s disk with the sun will Even before 9 p.m., the sky will be dark enough occur at the lower left edge of the disk, near to observe some meteors. They might be seen the 8 o’clock position. Of course, you must use anywhere in the sky, and the shower’s “radiant,” proper eye protection to observe these events or the direction from which the meteors directly; see the web resources with this column approach Earth, can be found by extending their at CVIndependent.com. If you don’t have a solar trails backward to a common origin. Around 9 filter, you can use projection methods. p.m., the radiant lies just a few degrees above Follow the moon before the solar eclipse: the horizon in the north-northeast. When the On Aug. 7, two weeks before the solar eclipse, radiant is low, the meteoroid particles enter there will be a full moon, with a partial lunar Earth’s atmosphere at a very shallow angle, and eclipse—but that event isn’t visible from our very long trails of “Earth-grazing” meteors will part of the world. (It occurs during our daytime, be seen. As the night progresses, the radiant in when the full moon, opposite the sun, is below the upper part of the constellation Perseus rises our horizon.) Instead, watch a nearly full moon to more than 60 degrees above the horizon by rise shortly before sunset of Aug. 6, and just a the start of morning twilight, shortly after 4:30 few minutes after sunset on Aug. 7. For the next a.m., and our part of the Earth will be presented

August's evening sky chart.

ROBERT D. MILLER

N

Deneb Regulus Vega

1 Mercury

E Altair

8

W

Arcturus Jupiter 1

29 8 15 22

Spica

1

Saturn 8 15 22 29 Antares

Evening mid-twilight occurs more broadside to the incoming meteor horizon.

Sun count is 9O below stream. Thewhen meteor would increase Aug. 1: 43 minutes after sunset. dramatically—were for 15: 42it not " " the " bright moon.

Good news for peak will 31:2018: 41 " The " Perseid " occur within two days after new moon, on the night of Aug. 10-11, so it will be a wonderful year for the shower!

Seasonal motions of stars: Venus now dominates the predawn sky, but is getting a little lower each morning, because it is heading toward the far side of the sun, where it will arrive in January 2018.

Annually by the beginning of August, there are several bright stars in the eastern morning sky. During the second week, Procyon and the Dog Star Sirius, the brightest star (not as bright as Venus), rise into view. Beginning then, if you catch Sirius rising in the east-southeast before Altair sets just north of west, you’ll see both the Summer and Winter Triangles—Vega, Altair and Deneb in the west to northwest, and

S

Stereographic Projection Betelgeuse, Procyon and Sirius in the east to Map byprovided Robert D.mountains Miller southeast—simultaneously, don’t block Altair or Sirius from your view.

Follow the moon in the evening sky after the solar eclipse: Careful viewers might spot the young crescent moon early on Tuesday evening, Aug. 22, just 2 or 3 degrees above the horizon about 25 minutes after sunset, where no surroundings obstruct the view. It’ll be much easier to spot the crescent starting on Aug. 23.

Through Aug. 31, notice the moon passing by two planets: Jupiter (with Spica nearby) on Aug. 24 and 25, and Saturn (with twinkling reddish Antares to its west) on Aug. 29 and 30.

Wishing you clear skies!

Robert C. Victor was a staff astronomer at Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University. He is now retired and enjoys providing sky watching opportunities for school children in and around Palm Springs.

CVIndependent.com

14 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

AUGUST 2017

CVI SPOTLIGHT: AUGUST 2017 Cool Place, Cooler Music: Idyllwild Hosts Jazz in the Pines

Idyllwild Arts Academy alum and American Idol finalist Casey Abrams performs at a previous Jazz in the Pines.

T

he dog days of August are here, so it’s a great time to get the heck out of the valley—and while doing so, you can enjoy some cool mountain air and take in some great music.

Idyllwild Arts’ annual Jazz in the Pines festival takes place Friday, Aug. 11, through Sunday, Aug. 13. John Newman, the event chair and director of business operations for Idyllwild Arts, filled me in on the event’s history.

“This is the 24th annual Jazz in the Pines Festival,” he said. “It was started by the legendary Marshall Hawkins, along with Lin Carlson and Barbara Wood. They created the festival for three reasons: to preserve the heritage of jazz music in America, to provide a venue for friends and colleagues, and most importantly, to provide scholarship money for students to attend the Idyllwild (Arts) Academy.”

How did a town of less than 4,000 people end up with not only a festival, but the Idyllwild Arts Academy?

“The program was started in 1946 as a summer program by Max and Bee Krone.

Max was the dean of Music at USC,” Newman said. “The goal was to create a place where people of all backgrounds could come together and, through the universal language of arts and music, inspire and create together. Then maybe they would stop killing each other.”

The summer programs are designed to be open to everyone, of all talents and ages.

Later, Idyllwild Arts founded the Idyllwild Arts Academy high school.

“This is a global commitment,” he said about the academy. “Of 310 students who attend … these are independent young people who travel from around the world to come to a small town on top of a mountain in the southern part of California. These kids are so dedicated to their craft, they don’t even care that there is no cellular reception there.”

All of the festival’s proceeds go to Idyllwild Arts, and the festival offers three stages with simultaneous performances. The main stage will offer more traditional jazz, including a performance by Evan Christopher’s Clarinet Road. Evan is a world-renowned clarinetist from New Orleans—who was part of the high school’s first graduating class in 1987.

Also appearing on the main stage is Frisson, a new eight-piece jazz band featuring recent graduates from Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio. The band released its first album this year.

“We’re proud of our find of new talent,” Newman said. “They are so talented; I would describe them as more of a contemporary jazz band.”

The French Quarter stage will present R&B, blues and rock ’n’ roll; expect more of a party scene, where people are up and dancing.

The third venue is Stephens Hall, which Newman described as “an intimate recital hall which will offer more ballads and avant-garde.”

He talked about one of the Stephens Hall performers, a resident chamber group called the Definiens.

“I mention them not only to highlight the talent of our faculty, but they represent more of the diversity of music styles,” Newman said. “They are a chamber group doing jazz standards, but as a classical chamber group.”

On Saturday, a fourth venue will join the festival: The state-of-the-art Lowman Concert Hall, just completed in the spring. VIP package-

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holders can enjoy Seahawk MOJO (Modern Jazz Orchestra). This is the group headed by Marshall Hawkins, founder of the Idyllwild Arts Academy’s Jazz Program. The 30-piece orchestra will be playing jazz standards.

“These different venues are for those who feel that they are not jazz aficionados, per se,” Newman said. “They offer different styles of jazz.”

The party starts Friday, Aug. 11, with the special Patrons Dinner and Dance in the French Quarter on the main campus.

Throughout the fest, artisans will sell handcrafted items in the festival market.

Idyllwild Arts’ Jazz in the Pines takes place Friday, Aug. 11, through Sunday, Aug. 13, at 52500 Temecula Road, in Idyllwild, a 55-mile drive from the Coachella Valley. Tickets are $85 for Saturday or Sunday admission; $150 for a two-day pass; or $350 for the Patrons VIP Package, which includes the Friday and Saturday evening events. For tickets or more information, call 951-468-7210, or visit www.jazzinthepines.com.

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 15

AUGUST 2017

ARTS

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LIFE IS SHORT— MAKE GOOD DECISIONS

ART IS EVERYWHERE

While many of the big galleries take the summer off, great art can still be found in abundance By william bryan rooney

M

any of the Coachella Valley’s larger art galleries tend to hibernate during the summer heat. The (relative) exodus of tourists provides time for them to prepare new exhibitions for the fall.

But the need to experience art doesn’t go on vacation—and this time of year provides artlovers with a great opportunity to shift focus and find art in public settings and smaller venues that promote local talent.

In Palm Springs, the “Lucy Ricardo” sculpture by Emmanuil Snitkovsky sits on a bench near the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at 211 S. Palm Canyon Drive, while the “Rainmaker” sculpture by David Morris inspires in Frances Stevens Park at 500 N. Palm Canyon Drive. There are also impressive works called “Monsieur Pompadour” and “Mademoiselle Coco” by Karen and Tony Barone greeting people at the Palm Springs Animal Shelter, 4575 E. Mesquite Ave. In Palm Desert, you can stroll through four acres of the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden at the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert (72567 Highway 111), while the Rancho Mirage Public Library often features exhibitions by local artists and photographers. The “Coachella Walls” mural resides on the side of a downtown building in Coachella and is accompanied by other murals on buildings opposite Dateland Park.

La Quinta has numerous works of art surrounding the Civic Center Campus. In Indio, you can find the “History of Water in the Coachella Valley,” a massive painting

by Don Gray, on the south wall of the Indio

Performing Arts Center, 45175 Fargo St. Each of these cities has maps that will guide you to the various works of art throughout their communities on their websites.

You can pop in and find original art in various hotel lobbies, like the knotted macramé rope curtain, woven from 1.5 miles of cotton rope by Michael Schmidt, at the Ace Hotel Palm Springs. “A Day in the Life at Saguaro,” by local artist Sarah Scheideman, features dioramas of Barbie dolls at The Saguaro.

Back in Palm Springs, retail favorite Just Fabulous, at 515 N. Palm Canyon Drive, has works by numerous artists displayed on the walls. Smaller galleries like Gallery500, located inside The Five Hundred building, 500 S. Palm Canyon Drive, provide a showcase for emerging artists like Christopher Williams.

“I got into Gallery500 through the Desert AIDS Project. They have a program that helps to find venues and create opportunities,” Williams said. “Responses to my art have been good—a lot of positive feedback. Because of showing at Gallery500, I feel more positive about my work, and I even sold a couple of pieces there.”

The point: Art is everywhere in the Coachella Valley, and it often doesn’t require an admission ticket.

Not all of the big galleries and museums close their doors during the summer. The Palm Springs Art Museum offers free admission every Thursday throughout the summer from noon to 8 p.m. The museum’s Annenberg Theater will show a free film, Paris, Texas, at 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 17. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

By Shonda Chase, FNP Co-owner, Artistic Director and Advanced Injector at Revive Wellness Centers in Palm Springs and Torrance

I just returned from a plas�c surgery aesthe�c conference.

I thought I’d share what I learned at the conference about what’s going away—and what’s coming this coming year, to help you make informed decisions about yourself.

Going, Going, Almost Gone

Coming on Strong

Tolera�ng stubborn fat

Non-surgical 3D Fat Tx’s

Bu� implants

Crossfit Bu�s

Sun damaged skin

PICO skin brightening Tx’s

Size D and larger breast implants Injec�ons for apple cheeks Tramp-stamps Hyper-pigmenta�on Beards on balding men Granny mouths Feminine suffering PRP

Size B or C implants Cheek implants PICO ta�oo removal PICO Tx’s for Melasma NeoGra� hair transplants

Natural looking lip rejuvena�on Women’s rejuvena�on LipoGems Stemcell Fat Transfers

The most important thing I learned at the conference is that with all of the new developments in aesthe�c medicine and plas�c surgery, you can look as good as you want.

Next month, I’ll share the ho�est new approach to permanent fat reduc�on without surgery, discomfort or down�me.

Un�l then, keep the secrets.

Read the en�re ar�cle at www.revivecenter.com/blog.

Email your individual appearance and aging ques�ons to Ms. Chase at info@revivecenter.com.

“Into Madness” (cropped) by Christopher Williams.

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AUGUST 2017

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 17

AUGUST 2017

FOOD & DRINK

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VINE SOCIAL JASON DAVID

After moving to Napa, our new columnist lost her love of wine

HAIR STUDIO

Y

By KatieLOVE finn YOUR

HAIR

ou moved back to the desert? From Napa? On purpose?

Yep. And I couldn’t be happier.

Naturally, your next question might be whether I suffered some kind of head trauma or had a lobotomy. After all, I am in the wine business, so Napa should be my holy land, my Mecca.

Country ClubI worked and Cook Street That was certainly the idea when the wine-distribution company for moved me there seven years ago. They were going to get me out of the desert and put me where I belonged—to be among “my people.” After some convincing, I bought into that idea.

Palm De sert

I had no clue how wrong that idea was.

It was March, and it was beautiful in Palm 760-340-5959 Springs—warm, sunny and with a plethora of exciting events happening all the time. So long,

www.jasondavidhairstudio.net

farewell, adieu.

It was March, and it was cold, rainy and dark in Napa. And it stayed that way for three months. After the initial climate shock and a pretty hefty credit card bill to purchase new sweaters, a slicker and galoshes, I settled in to my new normal—trying to get comfortable with the constant feeling I was at a party to which I wasn’t invited.

Don’t get me wrong; living in Napa was a great experience, especially for a sommelier.

I ate, and drank, and made merry. I was surrounded by lush, green, rolling hills covered in meticulously mapped-out vineyards. Grand estates, chateaus and European-inspired villas dot the landscape. World-famous restaurants and iconic wines were a daily norm. At any given moment, I was rubbing elbows with a famous chef, lunching with a winemaker, or sitting across from master sommelier so-and-so.

But the more I immersed myself in the Napa wine scene, the more I longed for my desert home. I realized that for me, wine in Napa was a chore—a job that paid the bills, and because everyone was tied to the industry in one way or another, there was no escaping it. There was a palpable burden to be a wine expert simply because Napa was where we lived. Don’t you dare ask a question and reveal that you don’t already know everything there is to know about the world of wine.

I found myself homesick for the exploration and adventure that came with trying a new wine that I knew nothing about, and asking 100 questions to learn more, to dig deeper. I wanted the whole story, the history, the dirt and roots. Alas, wine had become serious business accompanied by fragile egos and meetings with the how-great-I-am du jour. The joy was gone.

After 12 years in the wine trade, I walked away.

What I had come to love and miss about the desert was the unapologetic hedonism of eating and drinking—people who drink wine for the love of drinking wine, with no swirling, sniffing and spitting required. I missed the freedom of knocking back a glass without a half-hour analysis of the nuances of this particular wine’s terroir. I wanted to go back to the days when I could talk about a wine with a genuine passion and enthusiasm. Unscripted and uncensored.

In my short time back in the desert, I’ve seen wine greatness. Servers I’ve spoken to are eager to become somms. The checkout clerk at Trader Joe’s is so excited about their rosé selection and can’t wait to give me some thoughtful recommendations. Friends want to share their

Katie Finn

latest wine find with me. There are fabulous, cutting-edge new restaurants and stellar, innovative wine lists. (Is that a Bandol blanc I see? Sip, sip, hooray!) There’s a curiosity about wine here that’s unblemished. The fantasy hasn’t been tainted by the reality.

The wine scene here still has some work to do, but it’s going to be exciting to watch it evolve, and I’m anxious to be a part of it.

There is a longing for knowledge here that isn’t accompanied by pretention and is still rooted in the pleasure of the drink. There is a thirst for the wine world and all it encompasses without baggage and rules and etiquette. This is the wine experience at its best.

The grand irony, as it turns out, is that this is my holy land, and I am so thankful to back with “my people.”

So there you have it: I came back to the desert to enjoy wine again.

Go figure.

Katie Finn is a certified sommelier and certified specialist of wine with more than 15 years in the wine industry. She is a member of the Society of Wine Educators and is currently studying with the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. When she’s not hitting the books, you can find her hosting private wine tastings and exploring the desert with her husband and two children. She can be reached at katiefinnwine@gmail.com.

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AUGUST 2017

FOOD & DRINK

ON COCKTAILS I

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For centuries now, punch has helped get the party started—literally and figuratively

By patrick johnson

t’s Saturday night, and Workshop Kitchen + Bar, in downtown Palm Springs, is buzzing. The bar is full—and the drink tickets are piling up.

A party of 12 walks in the door. A complicated cocktail order could put the bartenders in the weeds, or sink the ship entirely. (Full disclosure: I work at Workshop and its sister bar/restaurant, Truss and Twine—so trust me, I know.) Instead, Workshop bar manager Michelle Bearden deftly pours a pre-batched drink into a large antique punch bowl, tosses in a block of ice, sprinkles some micro edible flowers over the top, and—voila! The group’s first round is ready.

Punch, America’s first cocktail, is a win-win for the bartender and the guest, and is a perfect option for a party at home.

Bearden first realized the magic of the great way to break the ice, and it’s interactive: punch bowl when attending Orange County You go back to fill up your cup, or someone Bartenders Cabinet meetings, where roughly else’s. It’s very social and can get a dialogue 50 groggy bartenders might show up at once, going.” looking for a little hair of the dog. The punch Bearden said that on a busy Saturday night, bowls allowed attendees to get a drink in Workshop might make six to 10 punch bowls, their hands before they started introducing at least. The 5-year-old Uptown Design District themselves and mingling. staple offers one punch on the menu—the Bearden calls punch “a social lubrication.” venerable Pisco Punch, Workshop’s take on “For special events at the restaurant, or if the classic concoction containing Peruvian you’re hosting something at your house, I love brandy, the house-made pineapple shrub, the idea of punch bowls, because it’s the water lemon juice, clove and sparkling wine—but will cooler of the party,” Bearden said. “It’s such a spin any drinks on the cocktail list into a bowl

on request. The Pisco Punch at Workshop is perfectly balanced, refreshing, easy to drink and delicious.

Punch bowls are usually kept on the lighter side, as far as the alcohol by volume is concerned.

“They’re meant to be made so you can have two or three or four, and not get knocked on your ass,” Bearden said. “I love that about them.”

Bearden said she’s made punch bowls for groups in size from four up to 80 (!), and large groups can pre-order a punch bowl so the first round is ready the moment the party walks in the door.

“You walk up to your table, and there’s the vintage punch bowl all set with these cute little vintage tea cups. That just puts a good taste in everyone’s mouth,” Bearden said. “It’s exciting and takes the experience to the next level.”

Punch’s roots run deep, perhaps as early as 17th-century India. Punch has five important elements, which are basically the building blocks of the modern craft cocktail: liquor, sugar, citrus, tea (or spice) and water. It’s believed “punch” may have been derived from the Farsi and Hindi word for “five,” which is pronounced “panch.”

English sailors brought the concept of punch and its necessary spices home with them, and by the end of the 17th century, a bowl of punch was all the rage throughout England and its colonies. Back then, punch was usually served hot, but it was sometimes made with ice or cool water for the upper class.

James Ashley, known as the world’s first celebrity bartender, had a famous tavern—The Sign of the Two Punch Bowls, where punch was the obvious staple—on Ludgate Hill in London from 1731 until his death in 1776. Punch has always been community-oriented, and has crossed class boundaries from lowly sailors to British Lords. It’s odd but true: In the 18th century, men used to carry little silver nutmeg graters around with them for their punch.

A punch and its five elements can easily be thought of as the cornerstone of tiki cocktails as well, and any tiki bar worth its salt should offer punch bowls. The two main tiki bars in town— Bootlegger Tiki and Tonga Hut—fill the bill.

Bootlegger’s signature punch for the summer is called Knee Deep, named after the classic George Clinton song. It includes Cuban-style rum, Blanc Rhum, aquavit, pear brandy, pineapple, lime, pineapple gomme, blue curaçao and soda. Like all the drinks on the list at Bootlegger, the Knee Deep is perfectly balanced and rich with flavor.

“I think it’s important to remember the idea

The Pisco Punch at Workshop Bar + Kitchen.

COURTESY OF MICHELLE BEARDEN

behind punch is to have something light that can be enjoyed for an hour to a whole afternoon, depending on the event,” said Chad Austin, beverage director at the 3-year old Bootlegger, located in the Uptown Design District and attached to Ernest Coffee. “You aren’t trying to get everyone tanked, just loosened up after a few cups.”

Tonga Hut, in the heart of downtown Palm Springs, lists two punch bowls on its menu: the classic Scorpion Bowl and the Tonga Hut Treasure—but offers any of its drinks as a bowl for two or more people. The Tonga Hut Treasure is an original recipe containing rum, orange liqueur, cream, honey, orgeat and grapefruit. The Scorpion Bowl has rum, brandy and almond. The punches are served in classic volcano bowls—lit on fire and sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg, tableside, for a spark.

Legend has it the Scorpion Bowl was born in the 1930s at a bar in Honolulu called The Hut as a single-serve concoction, but came to prominence when “Trader Vic” Bergeron scooped up the recipe roughly a dozen years later. He then tweaked it, multiplied it and served it up at his famous Oakland bar.

No matter the setting, from fine dining to tiki to a pool party, a bowl of punch is a great kickoff.

“It gets the energy going,” Bearden said. “No one is looking at each other and asking, ‘Are you going to have a drink, or are you going to have an ice tea?’ It sets the stage and gets things moving in the right direction.”

Patrick Johnson is a journalist and head bartender at Truss and Twine. He can be emailed at patrickjohnson323@gmail.com.

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AUGUST 2017

FOOD & DRINK

the

BEER GODDESS

W

By erin peters

hat’s just as important as making good craft beer? Making sure it is available to the people who want to enjoy it.

Ever since the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, there has been a three-tier system of distribution for alcoholic products in the United States, overseen by the U.S. government.

The first tier is the supplier or producer—in the case of beer, a brewery. The second tier is the distributor or wholesaler, which purchases the product from the supplier, and then sells it to those in the third tier: the retailer—bars, restaurants and stores that sell the delicious products to consumers.

However, a new company is looking to disrupt this 80-plus-year-old distribution paradigm.

Liberation Distribution, aka LibDib, is What prompted you to start LibDib? offering what it calls the first three-tier webIt’s really crazy, all of the industry based distribution platform. LibDib creates an consolidation that’s happening. … I spent opportunity for makers and retailers to work 20 years in the wine business, managing together directly—thus giving restaurants, wholesalers. … Every year, I would make bars and stores access to a larger variety of numbers, but a distributor of mine would go boutique craft libations. out of business, or they’d get acquired, and Launched on March 22, the San Jose-based then we would be at the bottom of the wrung company has more than 250 accounts in at a giant distributor. It was like pulling teeth.

California thus far, and has moved on to New I had a little too much to drink one night York. when I was with my dad, who was my boss at I spoke with Cheryl Murphy, LibDib’s the time. I was working at our family’s winery, founder and CEO. and I said, “Ya know, you can’t do this based

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LibDib, a new web-based alcohol-distribution system, is bringing together small breweries and eager retailers on the industry’s conditions. How can we be successful?”

When you take control of your own destiny, as a sales person, as a brand—that is when you can be successful. When you have a distributor in between that is beholden to larger companies … (you’re) not going to be top of mind.

My whole goal is to learn how we can facilitate legal three-tier sales. That’s really important: We are part of the three-tier system. But how can we enable small breweries, wineries and distilleries to do business with other small businesses—grocery stores, bars and restaurants—where there are thousands and thousands of them, without a giant company in between?

We built a two-sided web platform. For the maker, what we call our supplier, they can go in and put of all their materials online. … As a distributor, we collect the money. We pay the maker. We pay the taxes. We do all the things we have to do as a distributor. We take half the margin—that’s anywhere from 15 to 20 percent of whatever product you’re talking about. The maker is responsible for delivery.

It’s been really interesting so far. A couple of the breweries that we have, they were selfdistributing. But now we’ve kind of brought them back into the three-tier system, because we’re taking care of a lot of the things that they don’t want to do: They want to go out and sell their brand. They want to make their beer. But they don’t want to collect. They don’t want to invoice. … We’re trying to make it easier for those guys, and we’re making it easier for the account side, because the accounts like to carry small-production craft products. But they don’t want to write 100 checks every month.

Small craft products don’t necessarily fit with the current model of distributors.

(Distributors) are not going to make enough money on your brand, so why would they care?

In working with us, you can have that direct fulfillment, but then still have the backend of the distributor—with one invoice and one check.

So, in essence, brewers are saving money and are able to get into more locations, without having to do the self-distribution work.

Exactly. A lot of breweries want to fulfill, because they want to have that complete control—over the temperature, over everything. But they don’t necessarily want to do all the other stuff the distributor does.

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LibDib founder and CEO Cheryl Murphy: “Small craft products don’t necessarily fit with the current model of distributors. (Distributors) are not going to make enough money on your brand, so why would they care?”

What’s your biggest group so far? Would it be restaurants, or bars, or retailers?

So far, it’s bars and bottle shops. We’re working on a couple of big deals. There’s a stadium that’s interested in working with us and having us get 15 or 20 taps—just totally unique, small-craft-beer stuff.

Have distribution companies taken notice yet?

Yes! I was very nervous about the wine and spirits folks, that they may not be happy about this. But for the most part, they’ve been pretty accepting. They recognize that with this consolidation, their bread and butter is their bigger suppliers. … Some of the little guys take away their time and effort from where they really make their money, so they like the idea.

How do you think you may ultimately affect the big beer buyouts? (Many small brewery owners are citing distribution struggles in their decisions to sell.)

There are so many small companies that need help with their distribution. I’m going after what I call the long tail of the industry—the (breweries) that couldn’t get distribution, even if they wanted it.

This is a totally different vertical, but do you consider yourself to be in any way similar to Airbnb?

In terms of posting your things once, and having people from all over the world able to see it, yes. It’s definitely like the Airbnb of alcohol distribution. It’s funny: (Venture capitalists) around here will tell us, “Don’t tell us you’re the Airbnb of anything.” But it gives people an idea. You can go in; you post your product; and buyers can see it and purchase it legally.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 21

AUGUST 2017

the

FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT We tip our figurative cap this month to two Palm Springs bars that are serious about food

By Jimmy Boegle

WHAT The Super Cheesy Nachos WHERE Blackbook, 315 E. Arenas Road, Palm Springs HOW MUCH $10; $14 with carne asada (as shown) or marinated chicken CONTACT 760-832-8497; blackbookbar.com WHY This is an elevated version of a bar-food classic.

Blackbook has only been open for a couple of months in the old Café Palette space, but its take on elevated bar food has already developed quite a following.

Salads, tacos, burgers, fries and even a jacked-up hot dog are all on Blackbook’s menu—but I’d been hearing quite a lot about two of Blackbook’s offerings: the fried chicken sandwich ($12; you pick the level of spiciness), and the nachos.

The hubby and I met our friend Darrell at Blackbook for a recent Friday lunch.

I was hoping to have the best of both figurative worlds—I could order the chicken sandwich as my entrée, and we could all split the nachos as an appetizer—but I was out of luck: Darrell was dieting, and the hubby has sworn off carbs, so they declined the nachos. Therefore, I decided to order the nachos with carne asada, and save the chicken sandwich for another visit.

Before I get to my gushing praise of the nachos, a complaint: The kitchen was rather skimpy with the carne asada. Each piece, while tasty, was tiny—and there weren’t a whole lot of pieces. Even for the relatively modest $4 up-charge, there should have been more.

As for the rest of the nachos … they were stellar. Fried corn tortilla pieces were topped with cheddar, Monterey jack, “Blackbook dark salsa” (which tasted like a good mole-esque enchilada sauce), tomatoes, green onions, sour cream and guacamole. Served in a cute tray, the gooey, delicious nachos made for a filling entrée—and they’d have been fantastic as an appetizer, too, had my dining companions not been so darned high-maintenance.

Blackbook has elevated bar food a notch or two—and this is a very good thing.

WHAT The jamón Iberico WHERE Counter Reformation, inside the Parker Palm Springs, 4200 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs HOW MUCH $14 CONTACT 760-770-5000; www. theparkerpalmsprings.com/dine/ counter-reformation.php WHY It’s a treat in every sense of the word.

I was fortunate enough to spend several days in Barcelona at the end of a cruise a while back—and during those several days, I enjoyed some of the best food I’ve ever had.

I was reminded of those glorious meals one recent late afternoon when I met friend and colleague Kevin at Counter Reformation, a hidden gem of a wine bar tucked inside the Parker Palm Springs hotel.

However, Counter Reformation is much more than a mere wine bar; it also serves some of the most decadent small plates around. Along with your glass of lovely wine (all of which are $6 for 3 ounces, $11 for 6 ounces, or $40 for a bottle) or champagne ($11 for 5 ounces, or $40 for a bottle), you can enjoy more than a half-dozen delights such as the grilled prawn brochette ($11), or the fingerling potatoes with a poached egg ($11), or the downright-intriguing foie gras macaron ($12).

However, when I saw the jamón Iberico on the menu, I knew that’s what I had to have.

The cured meat from the black Iberian pig was one of the culinary highlights of my Barcelona stay, and the see-through-thin slices on offer at Counter Reformation—served with a tomato relish and two crostini with a creamy spread— were every bit as delicious (if a bit more pricey) as the stuff I enjoyed in Spain.

Almost (but not quite) as great as the jamon were the complimentary jars of olives and cornichons served with the tapas and wine.

Wow. Just … wow.

The hours at Counter Reformation are limited (3 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Monday), but it’s worth finding some time to treat yourself there. It’s one of the best wine bars in the Coachella Valley—with some of the best tapas in the Coachella Valley.

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AUGUST 2017

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Restaurant NEWS BITES

By Jimmy Boegle THREE NEW PLACES COMING SOON FROM LOCAL RESTAURANT GREATS In the coming months, at least three new restaurants are slated to open their doors in the Coachella Valley that are owned by veteran local restaurateurs.

In order of anticipated opening: • Acqua California Bistro—at The River, 71800 Highway 111, in Palm Desert—will have finally opened by the time you read this.

A little history: Jerry and Barbara Keller got into the local restaurant business with Acqua Pazza California Bistro, located at The River, well before they opened their wildly popular Lulu California Bistro in downtown Palm Springs in August 2011. However, when the lease for Acqua Pazza expired in December 2014, the Kellers decided to walk away after 10 years, citing a desire to slow down and focus on Lulu.

BB’s at the River, owned by Jack Srebnik—who also owns The Slice and Maracas—soon opened in the space, but closed last year due to a lack of business. The owners of The River then did a very smart thing: They talked the Kellers into returning, and last September, they announced that Acqua California Bistro would open sometime in the winter.

Winter then turned to spring, which then turned to summer, without an opening date; Keller cited construction issues, in part due to the restaurant’s expansion, as one reason for the delay. However, opening time is finally here; the restaurant served invited “pre-opening” guests the weekend of July 22 and 23.

If you know the menu at Lulu, then you know what to expect at Acqua, including the popular threecourse menu for $19.99, and the all-day happy hour at the bar. As for the décor, the Kellers bumped things up a notch, including a sculpture featuring various colored forks out front, made by Karen and Tony Barone.

For more information, www.facebook.com/AcquaRanchoMirage.

• A mile or two away in Palm Desert, crews are hard at work preparing AC3 Restaurant + Bar, at 45400 Larkspur Lane—just off El Paseo—for an anticipated fall opening.

AC3 is a joint project by some of the minds behind two of Palm Springs’ most popular restaurants: Tony Marchese of Trio Restaurant, and Andrew Copley and Juliana Copley from Copley’s Restaurant. The description on the AC3 Facebook page sums things up nicely: They’re “teaming up to pair the distinctive style of Trio’s hip local vibe with Chef Andrew’s vibrant progressive cooking.”

While no menu information has been posted yet, we know the décor will include the colorful work of young Rancho Mirage artist Nicholas Kontaxis.

Visit www.facebook.com/ac3palmdesert for more information, including pictures of some of Kontaxis’ art. Head on over to ac3palmdesert.com to sign up for emailed updates.

• Evzin Mediterranean Cuisine has gained an increasing number of fans since opening early this year at 72695 Highway 111, Suite A6, in Palm Desert—and owner John Tsoutis delighted his restaurant’s west valley devotees when he announced in mid-July that a second Evzin would be opening in Palm Springs in October.

Despite serious grilling from friends and fans on Facebook, Tsoutis—as of our press deadline—had not revealed the location of the Palm Springs Evzin; he did, however, say it would be part of a hotel. Hmm. Watch www.facebook.com/Evzinrestaurant for updates.

The

CENTER

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Creating vibrant community by enriching the lives of LGBT people.

Vision

Thriving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, living authentically in supportive, inclusive communities.

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DETAILS REVEALED REGARDING RESTAURANTS AT THE KIMPTON ROWAN PALM SPRINGS The Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs, at 100 W. Tahquitz Canyon Way—part of the huge and controversial downtown redevelopment project—will be opening sometime in the fall, and we now have information about the restaurants that will call it home.

According to the news release: “Juniper Table, a casual all-day Mediterranean café, and 4 Saints, an intimate hideaway on the rooftop, will serve bold, chef-driven cuisine under the direction of executive chef Stephen Wambach, along with an extensive cocktail, beer and wine program. … Prior to joining Juniper Table and 4 Saints, he led the Four Seasons Chicago as executive chef, revamping Allium to receive three stars from the Chicago Tribune, in addition to being awarded the esteemed Esquire ‘Best New Restaurant’ award for his work at Epic in Chicago.”

Juniper Table “will be a vibrant upscale-casual eatery featuring rustic, Mediterranean-inspired cuisine spotlighting seasonal and organic ingredients,” according to the release, while 4 Saints’ menu “includes sharable plates that reflect internationally inspired ingredients, such as foie gras bread and butter, paring autumn flavors with salted caramel apple, Thai long pepper and gingerbread.”

Sounds fancy!

Watch the restaurants’ respective websites—www.junipertable.com and www.4saintspalmsprings.com— for updates.

IN BRIEF If you somehow missed the social media freak-out surrounding the news: A Krispy Kreme is supposed to come to Rancho Mirage in a yet-to-be-built development near Dinah Shore Drive and Monterey Avenue.

The opening date, however, is at least a year away. … Our friends at Dish Creative Cuisine, 1107 N. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, have launched new menus both in the bar and dining room. The new creations by Joane Garcia-Colson and team include fried langoustine ravioli ($9) in the bar. Yum! Visit www. dishcreativecuisine.com for more information.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 23

AUGUST 2017

24 24 26 27

Chill Magnet celebrates the release of its debut album Giorg Tierez is returning to Bart Lounge to throw his annual ‘Bash’ Gigamesh brings his catalog of hits to the August Splash House Guttermouth at It’s Not Dead; The Adolescents at the warped tour

The Blueskye REPORT AUGUST 2017

By Brian Blueskye

www.cvindependent.com/music

DECON DECONSTRUCTED Doobie Brothers

Two decades after a brief but memorable period of success, Decon is back for now

25

It’s August, which means we’re starting the downhill slide into fall (and the amazing weather that season brings). Meanwhile, there are still plenty of great shows to enjoy.

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino has a couple of events to consider. At 5 p.m., Friday, Aug. 4, Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera of Riverside will square off against Jesus “El Renuente” Soto Karass of Los Mochis, Mexico, in a welterweightdivision match that’s part of Golden Boy Boxing.

The event will also be broadcast on ESPN. Tickets are $25 to $45. At 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 18, the legendary Doobie Brothers will return to Fantasy Springs. The band’s name has always amused me, but the music is no laughing matter: It’s great.

Tickets are $39 to $69. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 800827-2946; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa also has a sports event taking place: At 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5, get ready for the beatdown … the Gladiator Challenge MMA: Ultimate Beatdown, that is. While the card had not been announced as of my deadline, you can bet the beatdown awesomeness will be … uh, awesome, considering the Gladiator Challenge has been going since 1999, and MMA greats including Dan “The Beast” Severn and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson have participated. Tickets are $40 to $150. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 12, you’ll be off the wall and asking Annie if she’s OK when the Michael Jackson History Show hits the valley.

This is a production by Showtime Australia, and will feature MJ impersonator Dantanio. Tickets are $29 to $59. Speaking of the King of Pop (sort of): Do you love the ’80s? Well, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 19, you’ll be loving Lost ’80s Live, with a lineup featuring Wang Chung, Cutting Crew, Pretty Poison, Naked Eyes, The Flirts, Trans-X, Berlin and Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet, who recently made it known that Spandau Ballet is officially done. Confession: Since I bought my new car a couple of months ago, the SiriusXM radio has been set to the ’80s station almost all the time.

Tickets are $45 to $65. The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-999-1995; www.hotwatercasino.com.

Spotlight 29 is offering an interesting mix of events in August. First, do you know who really continued on Page 25

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PURVEYORS OF EDR

STILL BURNING

Although Monreaux remains on hiatus, Giorg Tierez is returning to Bart Lounge to throw his annual ‘Bash’

Desert Hot Springs’ Chill Magnet celebrates the release of its well-received debut album

D

By Brian Blueskye

esert Hot Springs band Chill Magnet has finally put out an album—and it lives up to the band’s name.

Surf Chica Bonita includes some truly bang-up tracks that will remind listeners of bands such as Tame Impala, Foals and MGMT. Parts of the album have deep, psychedelic tracks, while other sections have tracks that are … well, chill.

Chill Magnet will be playing a show with Daytime Moon at the Red Barn on Friday, Aug. 18.

During a recent interview with Tom Murray (lead vocals/bass/guitar/keyboards), he explained the foundations of Chill Magnet.

“It really started in 2013 with my (then) former band mate Randy Banis,” Murray said. “He had a recording studio in his house, which is a funny story, because he won money to build it on a game show. I asked him, ‘Did you win this on Jeopardy?’ and he said, ‘No! It was The Weakest Link.’

He pulls it up and shows it to me—and there he is. He won $25,000. He said, ‘Since I won it in entertainment, I’m going to build a studio.’

“We demoed 20 songs that I wrote while I is take traditional alternative rock from the ’80s, was living in Malibu. We decided in 2014 to ’90s and ’00s, and bands that influence us from make a record, and I started recording up here in that time period, and we’re fusing it with EDM Desert Hot Springs. I’d send them to Randy, and techniques. We use a lot of sub-bass and a lot we made an EP that we released in 2015 called of drum loops—things that are more common Gringo Mariachi.” in EDM music. It really confuses people, and Chill Magnet started to appear live while the they tell us, ‘It’s like rock, but it’s not. It’s like band continued to release singles. trance, but it’s not.’ There are other bands that “People liked (the band), and I thought we are doing it, like Beck; Death Cab for Cutie’s last should start playing live gigs, but we had no album is like EDM meets rock.” band,” Murray said. “It was the two of us. We got Murray said being part of the Coachella Valley a couple of musicians and started playing live. music scene has been rewarding.

We were playing punk-rock songs, given we were “It’s been unbelievably supportive. It’s so a four-piece. We weren’t playing the tracks. warm and fuzzy that it almost makes me weak,” “After a year, we put out two singles, and he said. “I’ve been looking forward to going into Randy and I wanted to go back to the original Los Angeles, and we’re opening for Sponge (at lineup of him and me so we could play the tracks Whisky a Go-Go on Sept. 29). It’s going to be and put the music out the way we recorded it. tough on us, and people will be more critical.

We did that around the summer of 2015, and Out here, people are so nice and supportive.

I started to record and finish my vocal tracks Randy and I are older guys; we’ve been around, in 2016. I had to wait a whole year for him to and we never expected to be accepted by these finish his tracks and produce the record. young bands that we play shows with. The “This album took over a year to make. It BrosQuitos, The CMFs, Daytime Moon—they taught me a lot about patience, given I’d see are so accepting of us. I can’t believe it: In my these other bands out here in the scene ask me, middle age, I’m getting to play cool music.”

‘Where have you been?’ and I’d be like, ‘Just waiting to come out, but it’s going to be great!’

Chill Magnet will perform with Daytime Moon at I didn’t want anyone to hear it; I just waited 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 18, at The Red Barn, 73290 patiently. In the meantime, I wrote an entire Highway 111, in Palm Desert. Admission is free. new album while Randy was doing his parts. He For more information, visit www.chillmagnet.net. was pissed at me. I recorded another album. We Chill Magnet do theme albums, and we have two more albums that we’re recording with certain styles of things we’re jamming on.”

Murray said there is a term he uses to explain Chill Magnet’s sound.

“We had to come up with our own sound. We were having trouble defining it, so we came up with what we’re calling EDR, which stands for electronic dance rock,” he said. “So what we do CVIndependent.com

I

By Brian Blueskye

n 2015, Monreaux was on a roll. The local band’s live performances were becoming increasingly impressive, and the group’s fan base was growing.

Then the band had to hit the brakes.

Last year, before front man Giorg Tierez’ annual Burning Bash, he announced that Monreaux would not be playing at the show. Bassist Chris Dub had a newborn child, and his work schedule made practices and gigs hard to schedule. Meanwhile, guitarist Marcus Bush had stepped away from the band due to personal matters.

While Monreaux remains on hiatus, Tierez is pushing on and will be throwing the sixth annual Burning Bash, on Friday, Aug. 25, at Bart Lounge. On the bill will be DJ Skyhigh, Stevie Crooks, Ocho Ojos, Cakes, Killjoi, Robotic Humans, and Bass Nurds. Reggie Martinez, the owner of California Barbecue Company, will be onsite with a barbecue stand.

Tierez said during a recent interview that he decided to change things up this year.

“I wanted to keep it fresh, and I think I have fewer bands this year because of bringing equipment on and off,” Tierez said. “At Bart Lounge, it’s upstairs, so all that equipment going up and Giorg Tierez down the stairs makes it difficult. I think we’re going to have one drum set for everyone to use, so all the bands have to do is bring up their amps and stuff.

“I’m not going to be stage-managing this year.

Last year, I was back and forth, and we started way too late. We just had too many acts, and I trimmed it down this year.”

On the subject of Monreaux, Tierez said he and drummer Ryan Diaz have been ready to go.

“I actually talked to Marcus (Bush). … He’s doing good, and I’m going to be visiting him which is great, but that’s not me. I like the soon, and we’re going to talk about Monreaux. group environment and feeding off my band … Chris (Dub) is still busy being a husband members—having that energy back and forth and dad. Ryan is ready to go and is like, ‘Let me and working off of it.” know!’

Even though Tierez will again not be “I’ve been writing, and I have about 15 to 20 performing at this year’s Burning Bash, he said songs right now. The bass ideas are there, and I he still loves putting it on. think I’m going electronic with keys and synth, “We started it back in Burning Bettie, because but still keeping it dark and desert.” it was my birthday and the first show we ever Tierez said Monreaux’s hiatus doesn’t bother played as a band,” he said. “But I’m able to bring him, because, well, life happens. in a mix of people and a mix of bands in one “I think everyone had an outside issue at one night, and not many people can do that. I pride point,” he said. “We all deal with that, and you myself on that, and maybe I’ve just made the can’t get away from it. You can’t be like, ‘Excuse right connections and the right friends. Maybe me, life. I’m trying to be in a band right now!’

I’ve made the right impressions. But these Life will fuck you anyways, no matter what, even people are willing and are like, ‘Fuck yeah! Let’s if you decide that it’s going to be 100 percent do it!’ about your band. You can be on a successful “All of the bands who have performed want ride, and all of a sudden—bam! Something to do it every year. I love that I can do that, and happens. You can’t fuck with life.” that it’s successful. It’s always a great show and Tierez said chemistry concerns have kept him tons of people.” from recruiting new members for Monreaux.

He has played a gig or two solo, but didn’t care The Sixth Annual Burning Bash will be held at 9 for it. p.m., Friday, Aug. 25, at Bart Lounge, 67555 E. “I’m able to do it, but I don’t know if it’s my Palm Canyon Drive, in Cathedral City. Admission thing,” he said. “I know there are some locals is free. For more information, visit www.facebook. who do it every week, and they’re hustling, com/events/445848675773077.

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DECON DECONSTRUCTED

F

By Brian Blueskye

or about a year in the mid-1990s, a band formed featuring members of Unsound, Kyuss and Dead Issue. The name was Decon—and the group kicked ass.

However, Decon—with Herb Lienau (vocals), Brian Maloney (guitar), Billy Cordell (bass) and Brant Bjork (drums)—came to an abrupt halt after that great year.

Flash forward two decades or so, to the fall of 2016, when seemingly out of nowhere, Decon announced its first show in two decades, at The Hood Bar and Pizza, as part of The Hellions’ recordrelease party. Three of the four original members were back, with Rob Peterson taking Brant Bjork’s place on drums. Decon was a hit, and many hoped the band would play again.

Decon will indeed be playing again—at Pappy and Harriet’s, as part of Brian Maloney’s 50th birthday, on Saturday, Aug. 12. Also on the bill will be Yawning Man, Fatso Jetson, The Hellions and Dali’s Llama. showed up to play a show in Berkeley … and I caught up with Decon at Rob Peterson’s many attendees knew the lyrics to their songs. house in Bermuda Dunes. The band was “We found out there was a pirate radio running through its old material, with the station in Berkeley,” Maloney said. “There was occasional flub. a guy who had a radio station out of his car “We practice once every 25 years,” Maloney and would just drive around Berkeley with no joked, before giving a brief history of the band.

FCC license. He would crank us. We played in “It was around 1994 and 1995. Unsound Berkeley and wondered how all these street kids was done for about a year, and Brant and I knew our songs. We found out he would play got together and started jamming and started us on the radio from some friends of ours who Decon up,” Maloney said. “We enlisted Billy, and lived up there.” then we got Herb. By the time we had Herb, we I had to ask: What made Decon end so had about 10 songs. He came in and wrote lyrics quickly? The simple answer: life. All of the really fast, and within three weeks, we had a members had things going on; Herb Lienau’s 10-song set. son, Quanah, who today plays guitar in the local “It went really fast. We got a tour going; we band Facelift, was just a year old when Decon had a lot of shows and played around a lot. We went on tour. had a lot of momentum, and then it went into “I used to bounce Quanah around in his little cruise control. We did maybe 10 shows. We jumper thing,” Maloney said. “… Shit happens. played in Santa Cruz, Humboldt, Chico and San Things happen for a month, and then things go Francisco. We had only one show to start the stale. Dominoes fall in different ways, and there whole tour. We filled in the blanks about three are four people. Things change really quick, and or four days before we left, getting another one that’s the way it is when you’re in a band, and or two here or there. We’d roll into town and be you have to keep that momentum going.” like, ‘Hey, we want to get on this show!’ We’d Lienau added that things were different for see a flier and be like, ‘Hey, we’ll open for you bands back then. guys!’ It went really well. We’d stay in town for “Things would get very disheartening,” a couple of days and end up playing parties. We Lienau said. “Progress was slow-going back knew a few people and connected the dots as then. It was very hard to get any kind of break we went. It was really do-it-yourself, and doing at all. This is long before everyone toured it on a whim. It was fun, and we did great. We Europe all the time. Back then, Kyuss toured, generated a lot of momentum.” and that was it.”

The band members were baffled when they Maloney said one venue in particular, in Decon

Two decades after a brief but memorable period of success, Decon is back for now Indio, was essential to Decon’s brief existence.

“Our saving grace was Rhythm and Brews, Mario and Larry Lalli’s club,” Maloney said.

“That was at the same time of Decon, and we used to practice there early in the weekdays.

It was the apex of the desert scene. It couldn’t get any better than that: Our best friend and godfather of desert rock, Mario Lalli, had a club with a bar, pizza, a pool table and shit going on there six nights a week. We had our own place. It was Mario’s place, but it was all of our place. He really opened the doors in that way to everyone. Even if the door didn’t make money, you still got paid. Mario paid and fed the bands, even if it wasn’t a big night.”

Now that Decon is back, is the band actually back, at least for now?

“We finally put it back together. We’re enjoying it, and we want to try to do it more often,” Maloney said. “We played that last show less than a year ago. We didn’t know what to expect at first, but we felt good going into that show. We’re going to do a few more; this upcoming show is my 50th birthday party. It’s more like a reunion show, and we have people who are our old friends coming in from across the country.”

Decon’s newbie, Rob Peterson, said he’s enjoying his time with the band. The other members praised Peterson’s abilities, calling him one of the best drummers in the valley.

“I love playing this kind of music,” Peterson said. “I can play as loud and fast as I want, and no one is telling me to turn it down. When I was coming up, Unsound and Decon were two of my favorite groups, and I loved being in the pit. I got to watch them play a whole bar show in the Rhythm and Blues days, and I was a kid, stoked on these guys who I considered my big brothers doing rad shit. Now I got asked to play with them—and not to jock these motherfuckers, but it’s pretty fucking cool. I felt honored and stoked. I’m getting to play with guys I look up to.”

One last note: Billy Cordell, who remained quiet for the entire interview, received some grief from his bandmates. He chuckled and wished to be quoted as saying, “Mmhmm, yep” as his contribution.

Decon will perform at 8:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 12, at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Also on the bill are Yawning Man, Fatso Jetson, The Hellions and Dali’s Llama. Tickets are $10. For tickets or more information, call 760-365-5956, or visit pappyandharriets.com.

The Blueskye REPORT continued from Page 23

loves reggae music? Independent contributor Guillermo Prieto does—but I’m sure you do, too, and at 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5, there will be a celebration of Bob Marley put on by OneGunn, OneLove. There’ll be good times and good vibes, for sure. Tickets are $20. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 12, you’ll be banging your head with the horns up during the celebration of Metallica put on by Masters of Puppets. The group has received a lot of props from Metallica fans, so don’t miss this one if you, too, are a fan. Tickets are $20. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 19, fans of Norteño will be delighted to enjoy the show by Los Tucanes de Tijuana. The band has sold more than 13 million albums! Tickets are $30 to $50. It’ll be ladies’ night at 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 25 when Las Vegas production Hunks comes to town. The scantily clad muscle men of your dreams will be strutting across the stage and making you scream! Tickets are $20. Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison Place, Coachella; 760-775-5566; www.spotlight29.com.

Morongo Casino Resort Spa has a solid August lineup. At 9 p.m., Friday, Aug. 11, R&B crooner Peabo Bryson will be performing. If you were a ’90s kid who loved Disney films and/or had the “pleasure” of singing in your elementary school choir, you know him as one of the voices featured on several huge Disney hits, including “A Whole New World” from Aladdin and “Beauty and the Beast” from Beauty and the Beast. Tickets are $59 to $69. At 9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 24, The Gipsy Kings will take the stage. Although it is a French group, The Gypsy Kings perform salsa, flamenco and other varieties of world music. Tickets are $59 to $69. At 9 p.m., Friday, Aug. 25, Fuel will be performing, with the promise of “special guests.”

Fuel was a ’90s radio staple, and songs “Shimmer” and “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)” always had the potential to get stuck in one’s head. Tickets are $28 to $35. Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-252-4499; www. morongocasinoresort.com.

Pappy and Harriet’s has the best lineup for music-lovers in August; here are just a few highlights. At 9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 17, Neon Indian will be performing. Neon Indian’s electronic pop anthems are a lot of fun and have been remixed by some big names. If you’ve never heard of the band before, check out the song “Polish Girl.” Tickets are $20. At 9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 24, New York City band Psychic Ills will come to Pappy’s. It’s hard to describe the band’s sound; think psychedelic rock with an experimental vibe. The group has been around since 2003 and has put out five full-length albums. This will be a great show for a summer night! Tickets are $15. And we saved the best for last: Thursday, Aug. 31, through Saturday, Sept. 2, the Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven annual event Campout will be back. In its 13th edition, the event will feature the usual Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker performances, along with appearances by The Dangers, Black Marshmallows, Tribesmen (Take the East Valley kids bowling!) and many others. Tickets are $25 to $100. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-3655956; www.pappyandharriets.com.

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MASTER OF THE REMIX N

By Brian Blueskye

obody can make rock tracks sound as good in dance remixes as Matthew Masurka—you know him as Gigamesh.

The DJ and producer, known for his remixes of Fleetwood Mac, Yo La Tengo and Radiohead, is returning to the second Splash House of the summer, taking place Aug. 11-13.

His best-known works are probably his remix of Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” and his production of Mike Posner’s “Cooler Than Me.” As a DJ, he’s played to crowds all around the world.

“I’ve always been into electronic music,” Gigamesh said during a recent phone interview.

“It’s the stuff I listen to the most. Middle school and high school for me was Daft Punk and DJ Shadow, and I listened to a lot of Radiohead, who I think are electronic musicians, in a sense. I was always attracted to it, and I’ve always been explained how he came to remix older rock and an independent-minded person when it comes R&B tracks. to working on music, so it’s always been a “For all that stuff, I’m driven to do it, natural fit for me.” because they are songs I want to play in my Gigamesh takes a lighter hand with some sets,” he said. “A lot of those remixes are three of his remixes. For instance, if you’re not to four years old, before I was really touring. paying attention, you may not realize you’re I was in Minneapolis, where I grew up, and not listening to the original version of Michael wanted to play stuff that appealed to everyone Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough”— in the room. It would usually be small gigs even though there are big differences, including and a wide variety of ages. I wanted to play the drums being set to a house beat. Gigamesh something I considered classic, timeless and

great, music that didn’t necessarily fit in a set of house and whatever else I was playing— things that didn’t have drums, that were heavy enough and things that wouldn’t be easy to mix in and out of. I was basically just making what some people would consider edits, and I would go a step further and add my own synths and things like that.”

Of course, Gigamesh also remixes works by modern pop artists.

“I recently did a remix for Miley Cyrus,” he said. “This dude asked me if I’d ever do one for her. A few years ago, I would have said no, because she’s kind of a divisive figure, and she’s so blatantly a pop star. But as I listened to the vocal track, I started to get into it. She’s a good vocalist, and part of the fun of remixing is taking something I might not necessarily be into right away, and turning it into something that I do enjoy. I like the vocal on its own, and it was just a matter of re-harmonizing it, and playing around with the tempo and different beats to make it into something I liked. I ended up going back and forth with her management for a while to land on something we were all happy with. It wasn’t the most challenging, but I went through quite a few different versions before I had the final version.”

Gigamesh said that he never knows for sure what a crowd will like before he starts his set.

“It’s really tough to gauge ahead of time, especially with a big festival and a huge crowd—especially if it’s somewhere like South America or Europe, and they want to hear Gigamesh

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Gigamesh brings his catalog of hits both old and new to the August edition of Splash House disco or stuff that isn’t so commercialized,” he said. “But then I might play somewhere the next night, and (more commercial music) is exactly what the crowd wants to hear. That’s happened before, and toward the middle of my set, I’ll notice they aren’t feeling it, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. I’ve also been forced sometimes to play to the people in the room or at the festival who are enjoying it the most, versus the people in the front, who just came to hear my remixes and originals. Those are the people I want to make happy the most.”

There are always new remixes coming from Gigamesh, of course.

“I have two completed singles, and I’m working on a release plan for them right now, and hopefully they’ll be out in the next few months,” he said. “I have a few remixes that I just released: one (“Malibu”) for Miley Cyrus, and one (“Fake Magic”) for Peking Duk, with AlunaGeorge as the featured vocalist.”

Gigamesh has played Splash House before, and he said he likes the concept of the festival.

“I think it’s awesome,” he said. “It’s a cool tradition, and a lot of people go every year, and it’s an interesting location, because it’s always unbearably hot, but you’re right next to a pool, and it forces people to enjoy the pool versus standing around trying to look cool.”

Splash House’s August edition takes place Friday, Aug. 11, through Sunday, Aug. 13. General admission passes start at $135. For more information, visit www.splashhouse.com.

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BANNED NO MORE

ADOLESCENTS PLAY FOR ADOLESCENTS! The legendary OC punk band is taking part in this year’s Vans Warped Tour

Controversial punk band Guttermouth plays the It’s Not Dead Festival

I

By Brian Blueskye

n the 30 years of Guttermouth’s existence, frontman Mark Adkins has constantly had his middle finger raised up high in response to political correctness—and given the current political climate, the band is as relevant as ever.

Guttermouth will be performing at the It’s Not Dead Festival at Glen Halen Amphitheater in San Bernardino on Saturday, Aug. 26. Headliners include Rancid and Dropkick Murphys.

Legendary punk band The Dickies recently faced an angry mob of attendees at a Warped Tour stop, where they were labeled as “misogynists” for stage antics that included a penis puppet.

Guttermouth went through a similar incident at a Warped Tour stop in 2004, causing the band to leave the tour.

“Political correctness has reached the punk-rock scene, and it’s just gone so awry and so rampant,” Adkins said during a phone interview. “That’s a shame, that everyone is so far to the left that you can’t even speak your mind. I think we’re in a very sad situation, not just in punk rock, but the real world in general. You can’t tell someone how you feel about what’s going on in the world, even if it’s tongue in cheek. … That’s not a country I want Guttermouth to live in, pal.”

Adkins said both the right and the left have taken things to the extreme, and that punk music is not the same as it used to be.

“It seems to be that the whole punk community has gone so far left—not entirely, given there are a few survivors out there, and guys on the right who pretend they’re on the left Guttermouth was once banned from touring so they can be in the punk club. Punk or not, it is in Canada due to “charges of indecency.”

2017. I never thought this music would be going However, the band may soon return to the for so long, but the way it has been going on, it’s country. not really punk music anymore to me.”

“I’ve tried to stay away from that story so Guttermouth just released a new record, The many times, but right now, I’m gearing up for Whole Enchilada. It is the first Guttermouth a Canadian tour,” he said when asked about record in 10-plus years. The albums followed the Canada ban. “Because I’ve done everything two EPs released in 2016. they wanted me to do (to be) legit, now they “We did stop recording for a while, but we’ve want a piece of paper showing proof that there kicked that back into high gear,” he said. “We were never any charges filed, and there was a stopped making records for over 10 years. We stay of execution—NEVER any charges filed. released our first EP a year ago, and then we They want to see that, even though it’s on their released our second EP that did far better and computer. … They said, ‘You have to come up actually charted on the Billboard alternative here and get your paperwork,’ and I told them, chart. Some people were telling me, ‘Pennywise ‘I can’t. You won’t let me come in.’ And they’re has a new record’ or ‘Rancid has a new record,’ like, ‘Oh boy, we do have a problem then.’ So I’m and I’m like, ‘What? How am I supposed to dealing with that right now.” know this?’ I’m not a 5-year-old sitting in front Adkins laughed when asked about playing at of a computer screen hoping to hear from bands I like. I have better things to do, like be alive and the Glen Halen Amphitheater.

“That’s the same venue I got busted in, in go outside and do something productive.”

1995. Guess what happened there? No charges Adkins said Guttermouth’s 10-year recording filed,” he said. “But it cost me a fucking fortune: hiatus came for a good reason. bail, get out of jail, and you are guilty until “We wanted to see where the dust was proven innocent.” settling (after) the crushing blow of the collapse of the CD and the take-off of the Internet,” The It’s Not Dead Festival takes place at noon, he said. “We didn’t want to just keep putting Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Glen Halen Amphitheater, stuff out, screwing ourselves and other people, 2575 Glen Halen Parkway, in San Bernardino. because they’ll never hear it. Now people Tickets are $42.50. For tickets or more information, subscribe to Pandora, Spotify and things like visit www.itsnotdeadfestival.com. that, and we kind of waited for that.”

T

By Brian Blueskye

he Adolescents are part of the Vans Warped Tour this summer—and the band is retaining its punk cred by eschewing a cushy tour bus in favor of a van. Yes, after almost 40 years in the business, the Orange County punk outfit is still kicking ass.

The Adolescents are one of several legendary bands—including T.S.O.L. and GWAR—playing the Warped Tour at the Fairplex Pomona on Sunday, Aug. 6.

During a recent phone interview with front man Tony Brandenburg (often known as Tony Reflex), it sounded like he was losing his voice. He told me the humid weather at the Nashville tour stop was getting to him.

“I thought this was going to be brutal, and the weather has been, but the tour has been a lot of fun,” Brandenburg said. “We are where it’s real humid, and that’s a lot harder than the drive. When you get closer to the water, it gets a little tricky.”

He scoffed when I mentioned tour buses.

“No!” he said with a laugh. “I like the van better. It’s a comfort thing for me. I find it to be more comfortable.”

The Adolescents I asked Brandenburg how it felt to be singing the same songs as an adult, now 54, that he sang as a teenager.

“We first started when I was 15 or 16, so I was still really a kid,” he said. “In the years that have passed, I’ve looked back on it, and it was a fun ride. It was fun being that kid, and it was kind of scary, but it was what it was.

When he’s not fronting one of the bestPlaying the stuff now, I find it to be exciting known punk bands on the West Coast, how other people dig it. Kids take it one way Brandenburg has a day job: He’s a school and are really into it, and there are people teacher. who are generations older; you can see in their “It’s no surprise to anyone in the community reactions where they are in life. The songs are that I work in, but I think that it’s been a kick just as valid to (older listeners), even though for a lot of them. I’ve run into parents in the they’re in a different place.” community. They have come up to me and Brandenburg said that he always sort of said they were at Ink-N-Iron or at the Warped feels out of place, and the Warped Tour is no Tour or whatever, and I get a kick out of it. different.

“I feel like I’m in the wrong spot, at the wrong They’re listening to great music, so how can I not appreciate that?” he said with a laugh. time, all the time, so do I feel like that more “The touring, we usually do in the winter or the than usual? No,” he said. “The bands are really summer; that’s a good three months of the year cool. There are a lot of young bands that come from different genres, and they’ve all been really when I’m able to break away and tour, so what’s when I usually do it. But we need more teachers super-sweet to us.” in punk rock.”

The Adolescents continue to keep a busy The Adolescents are planning to keep the schedule—but the Vans Warped Tour is allowing cycle going, Brandenburg said. the Adolescents to reach a different audience, “We just recorded something for a Halloween including … well, adolescents. compilation, and we always do a show at “We’ve toured the United States about Christmas time, so we’re starting to put every two years, and we tour Europe annually, together the bill for our Christmas show,” he sometimes twice within a year,” he said. “South America, Australia, Asia—we’re pretty busy. Our said. “We want to start work on a record for next year’s tour and head over to Europe.” opportunities to do an all-ages (show) are very limited; we can do those in other countries, but The Warped Tour takes place at 11 a.m., Sunday, we can’t do them here in the States. This is the Aug. 6, at Fairplex Pomona, 1101 W. McKinley first all-ages tour we’ve ever done, and that’s Ave., in Pomona. General admission tickets are very cool. If the kids want to come, that’s great, $41.50. For tickets or more information, visit www. and this is one of the few opportunities they’ll vanswarpedtour.com. get to do it.”

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MUSIC

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the

LUCKY 13 Meet a member of HGH FNTSY and half of Thr3 Strykes

By Brian Blueskye Lady Antebellum song where the dude says, “Another shot of whiskey.”

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

Nirvana! I wish I had gone to one of their concerts when I was kid.

Orlando Welsh

NAME Orlando Welsh GROUP HGH FNTSY MORE INFO If you’re ever looking for Orlando Welsh, just look for his easy-to-spot hair— and, yes, it’s real. Welsh is a professional photographer and local musician, and has been in Metroid, Mingtran and Break Dance Vietnam. He now has a project with Metroid bandmate Ryan Jovian called High Fantasy (sometimes stylized as HGH FNTSY); they have put up some tracks on music sources including Spotify and Apple Music. For more information, visit www.hghfntsy.com.

What was the first concert you attended?

When I was super-young, my parents took our family to see the Pointer Sisters. … It was at some county fair in Kentucky. I actually consider Lollapalooza to be my first concert.

It was the year Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins headlined; The Pharcyde played too—oh, and the Beastie Boys. Damn! That was so epic, and it was the first time I saw a full-blown mosh pit.

What was the first album you owned?

The Jacksons’ Destiny album. It had such an epic cover, and we used to play that on repeat.

What bands are you listening to right now?

Goldfinger, nothing,nowhere, Tame Impala, Dreamcar, Tidal Babes, Skepta, Das EFX, The Cure, and HGH FNTSY. What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

Corny-ass country music where the lyrics are just really silly. I am sorry if I offend anyone, but the super-corny stuff makes me laugh— but not all country music is corny, though.

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What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Old Mariah Carey songs and music videos, especially that collaboration she did with Ol’ Dirty Bastard. I’m constantly playing her old music videos on YouTube.

What’s your favorite music venue?

The Glass House in Pomona. I love that place so much, and the people who run it are so nice.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

“Daylight licked me into shape, I must have been asleep for days. And moving lips to breathe her name, I opened up my eyes. And found myself alone, alone, alone above a raging sea. That stole the only girl I loved and drowned her deep inside of me,” The Cure, “Just Like Heaven.”

What band or artist changed your life? How? Michael Jackson. After I saw the “Thriller” video, my life was never the same.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

Kurt Cobain: “Can you stay a little longer?”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“Hey Suburbia” by Screeching Weasel, or Prince’s “When Doves Cry.” Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

The Get Up Kids’ Something to Write Home About.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Strange Symmetry” by Arwelone featuring HGH FNTSY.

NAME Josh Fimbres GROUP Thr3 Strykes MORE INFO Josh Fimbres is known for his sense of humor. When he and Josh Hall are onstage as Thr3 Strykes, they are known for putting on a great show, full of aggressive and in-your-face rap music with a punk-rock attitude. Thr3 Strykes recently put out a new album, CMNCTN-BRKDWN. For more information, visit www.thr3strykesmusic.com.

What was the first concert you attended?

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” had just debuted. He brought out Dave Grohl to play a few songs, and I went nuts! This is 1993, so Nirvana still existed.

What was the first album you owned?

In the days of cassette tapes, my dad and his brothers kept me laced up with mix tapes, everything from Hendrix and Edgar Winter to King’s X and Judas Priest. But my first tape was the original self-titled Black Sabbath record.

What bands are you listening to right now?

My daily playlist is all over the fucking place.

Lana Del Fimbres—I mean Lana Del Rey, Suicidal Tendencies, Warpaint, Humble Pie, and a dash of 311 with a splash of Chuck Berry. A Pantera song a day keeps the Top 40 away.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

I call them “fall down rappers.” It’s sounds like they’re falling as they sing or mumble or whatever you call that bullshit.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

Led Zeppelin in their prime, or Jimi Hendrix.

Early ’90s era Wu-Tang Clan, or Beastie Boys.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

I can listen to Elvis’ “Blue Christmas” any time of day or year. It’s kinda musical, but I also have had a severe ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) video habit—these role playing, whispering, tapping audio trips.

What’s your favorite music venue?

I still get high on the West Hollywood classic

Thr3 Strykes

spots, and made my mark on a few, too.

Locally, The Date Shed; my DNA has been left there on occasion.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

I hear, “Life’s the same, I’m moving in stereooo.

Life’s the same except for my shoooes. Life’s the same, you’re shakin’ like tremolooo. Life’s the same, it’s all inside you,” by The Cars, from their song “Moving in Stereo and All Mixed Up,” every fucking day.

What band or artist changed your life? How? Rage Against the Machine’s debut album and second album, Evil Empire, became the soundtrack to my life trip. … (When I was) 18, they played a small fest called Coachella. I was high on their set for three days.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

I’d be asking Dimebag Darrell to not go to that shithole of a venue where he was killed onstage.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

I’ll say Suicidal Tendencies, “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can’t Even Smile Today.”

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

311’s Transistor. There are a ton of songs, and it takes me back to a pretty far-out era in time.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

Because it’s a Saturday night when I’m doing this, and I’m in a fucking rock ’n’ roll, bangyour-head mood, let’s crank Rainbow’s “Man on the Silver Mountain.” Party on, Garth!

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OPINION COMICS & JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

43 Handled 46 Tar clump 47 John who Across once co-hosted 1 Chicken ___ (Italian Entertainment Tonight dish, informally) 48 First Lady and 5 TV logician diplomat Roosevelt 10 Blot 50 Got to the point?

14 Hairy twin of the Bible 52 With 56-Across, low15 Fluorescent bulb gas budget programming 16 ___ cosa (Spanish source “something else”) 55 “It seems to me,” 17 French term for a online temporary residence 56 See 52-Across 19 Algerian setting for 60 Has ___ with (is Camus’ The Plague connected) 20 Did some pranking 61 Without ___ in the 22 One-named ’50s-’60s world teen idol 62 Golden State sch.

25 Shelley’s elegy for 63 Construction area Keats 64 Death of a Salesman 26 Castaway’s refuge, protagonist perhaps 65 Marshmallow Easter 27 Fix eggs, maybe treat 29 Running count 30 Cross-shaped Greek Down letter 1 Rally feature 31 Diva’s rendition 2 “___ told you before ...”

33 “___ Ho” (Slumdog 3 “Insecure” star Issa ___ Millionaire song) 4 Kid’s dirty “dessert” 34 Duo behind the CW 5 “Damn Yankees villain, series Fool Us really 39 Giants giant Mel 6 Gazelles, to cheetahs 40 Brand in the pet aisle 7 Fairy tale baddie 41 Bigwig (unless it’s Shrek) “It’s PAT”—some pat answers, yes.

8 Marat/Sade character Charlotte 9 Work out some knots 10 Symbol of deadness 11 Like some fibrillation 12 Thymine (T) : DNA :: ___ (U) : RNA 13 Graffiti artist who opened (and closed) Dismaland in 2015 18 Words between “chicken” and “king” 21 Wrecks 22 Qualified 23 “The faster the better” 24 Kind of ___ (classic Miles Davis album) 27 Stereotypical last word of art films 28 This American Life medium 31 Sagrada Familia architect Gaudi 32 Splinter, for one 33 Leader of the Holograms, on Saturday morning TV 35 Like horror movie characters, as they eventually find out 36 Running account 37 Opening for Quest or glades 38 Shine’s partner?

42 Dissertation writer’s

goal 43 Tintype tints 44 Homecoming attendees 45 Visit to an Internet page, informally 46 ___-Roman wrestling (var.)

47 Game show question that determines which team plays 49 Using half as many digits as hexadecimal 50 Most common throw with two dice (D6es, for those of you playing at home) 51 TV show that took in Ted Danson 53 Seafood in a shell 54 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World star Michael 57 0°F phenomenon 58 Torero’s encouragement 59 Quick snooze ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@ jonesincrosswords.com) Find the answers in the “About” section of CVIndependent.com!

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ollowing the lead of other Coachella Valley cities, Palm Springs has entered the commercial-cultivation game with the approval of the city’s first growing greenhouse.

The city granted the permit to Palm Springs Safe Access, which operates a medical dispensary on Gene Autry Trail. The grow will be located on 14 acres of land that PSSA owns in north Palm Springs, and will be in a 36,000-square-foot greenhouse.

PSSA president and co-founder Robert Van Roo plans to produce organic cannabis using sustainable cultivation methods.

There has been talk among Palm Springs city officials about the possibility of increasing cannabis taxes to alleviate impending pension woes. However, in an interview with the Independent, Van Roo reiterated his commitment to the city.

“This is the first phase of a 14-acre parcel, and we’ll be submitting plans for the next phase to the planning department sometime in the next 45 days or so,” he said. “Palm Springs Safe Access has always been supportive of the city of Palm Springs, and our ultimate goal is to help our community.”

Groundbreaking on the first phase should happen by the end of the year, and Van Roo hopes it will be operational within four months of that.

Meanwhile, neighboring Cathedral City’s City Council has decided the town has reached a saturation point with dispensaries, enacting a ban on new ones south of Interstate 10—but cultivation is another story. In July, the city issued 18 cultivation and dispensary licenses to CP Logistics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Calgary-based Sunniva Holdings Corp. With existing operations in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, Sunniva hopes to cash in on the biggest weed market in the U.S. with its foray into the Golden State.

“We are entering the California market with plans for a remarkably efficient and large-scale facility—one that will benefit from California’s abundant natural sunlight to deliver low-cost, high-quality medical products at scale,” said Dr. Anthony Holler, CEO of Sunniva, in a news release. “The award of these licenses and additional acreage puts in place the essential elements for us to move forward with Sunrise

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 31

AUGUST 2017

IN THE CV

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Palm Springs, Cathedral City issue permits for commercial cultivation; cannabis-infused coffee pods are coming Campus as we envision it.”

The company increased its Cathedral City land holdings to 20 acres with the recent purchase of 14 additional acres. The land will be home to a large-scale greenhouse operation producing medical cannabis.

The Cathedral City facility will be constructed in two phases. Phase 1—breaking ground in the next couple of months—is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2018. This first phase is projected to produce around 90 tons of flower product per year. The addition of Phase 2 in late 2018 is projected to add another 49 tons per year.

A conditional use permit (CUP) hearing for Phase 1 is set for Aug. 2. These hearings determine whether a permit is issued to let construction begin. Citizens of Cathedral City have 10 days to file an objection, and if an objection is filed, the decision is made by the City Council.

Dispensaries ARE Good for the Community We in the Coachella Valley are aware of the financial rewards some local cities are enjoying from the cannabis biz. But what about the effects on neighborhoods and crime?

For years, we’ve heard NIMBY prohibitionists claim dispensaries cause an increase in crime in the surrounding neighborhoods (a claim that has been debunked repeatedly). But what about when dispensaries close—are they such crime deterrents that their absence is actually detrimental? A recent study published by the Harvard Business Review says yes.

Using data collected before and after 2010’s shuttering of more than 400 dispensaries in Los Angeles, authors Tom Y. Chang and Mireille Jacobson of the Harvard Business Center were able to determine the closing of dispensaries led to a marked increase in crime in the immediate area. They found the types of crimes to increase are those typically deterred by foot traffic and bystanders, like car theft and property crimes. In fact, the authors concluded: “Open dispensaries provide over $30,000 per year in social benefit in terms of larcenies prevented.”

Of course, these findings were welcomed by marijuana advocates.

“These conclusions are consistent with prior research indicating that dispensaries contribute to neighborhood safety by hiring doormen and taking other steps to deter local criminal

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activity,” said NORML deputy director Paul Armentano in an email. “Such well-regulated establishments can play a positive role in the improved safety and wellness of a community.”

Cannabis-Infused Coffee Pods!

In a blatant attempt to take all of my money, San Diego company Cannabiniers has introduced Brewbudz—cannabis-infused coffee, tea and cocoa pods for your Keurig coffee maker.

“What we are aspiring to create is the normalization of cannabis consumption in a way that integrates with consumers’ already established habits and lifestyles,” said Timothy Walters, president of Cannabiniers, in a news release. “Brewbudz is our way of providing consumers with a natural, safe and chemical-free way to consume cannabis’ natural compounds, combined with an everyday behavior—coffee/tea drinking, that is both socially acceptable and discreet.”

But what about all of that packaging? In keeping with its motto—“Good for you. Good for the Earth.”—the company has developed a 100 percent compostable brew pod. The rigid top ring of the pod is made from the skin of roasted coffee beans and other compostable matter, and the lid and mesh are made from fully compostable materials and inks.

For coffee, there’s West Coast Roast, made from “responsibly sourced” 100 percent Arabica beans in regular and decaf. French vanilla and hazelnut are on the way, according the company’s website. For tea-lovers, Cannabiniers offers artisan tea featuring the “most delicious tea leaves and high-quality cannabis to create exhilarating blends that delight the senses,” available in black, green and herbal varieties.

Just in case weed-infused tea isn’t mellow enough for you, chamomile is coming soon.

They recommend the Decadent Dark Chocolate cocoa as a weed aperitif, but it sounds like the perfect end to a day of snowboarding, too.

Pods are available in THC contents of 10 mg, 25 mg and 50 mg, and are available in Indica or Sativa. The company claims there is virtually no cannabis smell or flavor in the prepared beverages.

For now, Brewbudz is only available in Nevada, but California and Colorado are on deck! Visit brewbudz.us for more information.

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Deals available ONLY in the Independent Market as of August 1:

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