Coachella Valley Independent May 2017

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT | MAY 2017

VOL. 5 | NO. 5

‘WE ARE AT A CRISIS POINT’ The number of homeless individuals in the Coachella Valley is skyrocketing— and the only homeless shelter on the west side of the valley is about to close

BY BRIAN BLUESKYE PAGE 1O

INSIDE

2 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MAY 2017

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 3

MAY 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

One of the biggest issues of the Palm Springs city election back in 2015 was the ever-increasing amount of homelessness in downtown Palm Springs.

While I think the Palm Springs City Council has done an admirable job, more or less, since that November 2015 election, the City Council has done a flat-out awful job of addressing homelessness.

Turn to Page 10 to read Brian Blueskye’s excellent piece on the state of the homelessness problem in the Coachella Valley.

Editor/Publisher As Brian notes, the problem is getting Jimmy Boegle worse—especially on the west side of the valley—and it’s going to become a full-blown crisis when Roy’s Resource Assistant Editor Center, the only west side shelter for Brian Blueskye the homeless, closes its doors at the end of June. cover/Cover Story design That means 90 people are going to lose Mark Duebner Design their only shelter—in the midst of the summer heat.

Contributors In other news: I also recommend you Gustavo Arellano, Michael Baughman, turn to Page 7 to read Baynard Woods’ latest “Democracy in Crisis” dispatch.

Max Cannon, Kevin Carlow, Cory It’s a wonderful piece of writing, and Courtney, Kevin Fitzgerald, Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Bob Grimm, Michael one point that Baynard makes has haunted me ever since I first read Grimm, Dwight Hendricks, Valerieit: Many critics of President Trump Jean (VJ) Hume, Brane Jevric, Steve heaped effusive praise on him—for the Kelly, Keith Knight, Erin Peters, Dan first time—after he ordered an April Perkins, Sean Planck, Guillermo Prieto, 7 missile strike in Syria, following the William Bryan Rooney, Anita Rufus, Jen use of chemical weapons in the town Sorenson, Christine Soto, Robert Victor, of Khan Shaykhun three days prior.

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria even went so far Baynard Woods as to say that the missile strike marked the moment when “Trump became president of the United States.”

The Coachella Valley Independent Putting aside the question of whether print edition is published every month. or not the missile strikes were the right All content is ©2017 and may not be thing to do: What does it say about our country when a violent act of war, published or reprinted in any form justified or not, is the ONE thing that without the written permission of the made Donald Trump suddenly become publisher. The Independent is available free of charge throughout the Coachella “presidential”?

I’ve been pondering that question Valley, limited to one copy per reader. now for a week and a half. I am not at all Additional copies may be purchased happy about any of the answers I’ve been for $1 by calling (760) 904-4208. The able to come up with.

Independent may be distributed only Regarding the rest of this issue … for those of you dismayed by the troubling by the Independent’s authorized nature of the aforementioned stories, distributors. never fear: As always, this edition is chock-full of happy, positive arts, food and music coverage that’ll make you feel a bit better about things.

The Independent is a proud member and/or supporter of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, Get Tested Coachella Welcome to the May 2017 print Valley, the Local Independent Online News Publishers, the edition of the Coachella Valley Desert Business Association, the LGBT Community Center of the Desert, and the Desert Ad Fed. Independent. As always, thanks for reading, and don’t hesitate to contact me at the email address below.

—Jimmy Boegle, jboegle@cvindependent.com CVIndependent.com

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MAY 2017

OPINION OPINION

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS

Meet Michael Graham, a young man who found his voice with the California Desert Chorale

BY ANITA RUFUS

Y

ou never know whom you might meet at a dinner party.

I was surprised when my hosts invited their excellent “caterer” to join the table. I was even more surprised when the affable young man was asked if he would sing to us after dinner. Michael Graham stood by the table and blew the group away with his resonant baritone voice in an a capella rendering of “If Ever I Would Leave You.” We enthusiastically applauded while he modestly beamed.

Only 29, Graham is a young man who not only loves the culinary arts, but who sings his heart out with the California Desert Chorale; takes award-winning photographs; and offers personal services from organizing events to IT consulting.

“I like helping others whenever I can,” he says.

From a young age, Graham—an only child Born in Victorville and raised in Desert Hot who was home-schooled—found his voice in Springs and Palm Desert, Graham now lives in music.

Sky Valley. His motivation comes from advice “I was always interested in music,” he he got from his mother: “She always told me to remembers. “I spent a short time in a children’s win my own race,” he says. “I judge my success chorus. Music was in my family; my mom in any endeavor by using my own previous and grandmother were both pianists, and my success as my goalpost.” grandfather, a writer, was always interested

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Michael Graham. NATHAN COX STUDIOS

in music. I was raised on a diet of Andrew Lloyd Webber, opera, musical theater and German lieder songs. In my teens, I began to explore music from around the world. I had no confidence in my own ability to sing, but I was able to work with my grandmother when I started to learn, and that was so gratifying.”

Graham enrolled at College of the Desert.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to pursue, but it was suggested I major in music,” he says.

The music program at COD offers both certificates and degrees to music majors, and includes both private lessons and publicperformance opportunities.

“I had to audition, and I was so unsure about my voice,” says Graham. “There were a lot of really talented people. I took Broadway-voice classes along with jazz, and I was lucky enough to work with Mark Almy for one-on-one instruction.”

Almy is an adjunct faculty member at COD with an operatic background. He’s taught at the University of Redlands, Riverside Community College, Cal State San Bernardino and the Idyllwild Arts Academy, and has directed full operas at COD. Currently, Graham’s passion is his involvement with the California Desert Chorale, with 60 voices of men and women between the ages of 29 and 85. The group was founded in 1986. The chorale’s artistic director, Tim Bruneau, was trained by the likes of Marilyn Horne and Beverly Sills, and has appeared as a soloist and choral singer with organizations that include the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Los Angeles Master Chorale.

“I entered the program at COD in 2009, and

by spring 2010, I was invited by Tim Bruneau to try out for the chorale,” Graham says. “I was one of four interns he selected from students at COD.” For Graham, the chorale offers a range of music that fits his background: “There is an equal mix of pop and classical music. I loved doing their program last Christmas. It had something for everyone.”

What’s ahead for young Michael Graham?

“I’d love to travel and see the world. I want to know what’s out there. Music and cooking right now are more of a hobby. … I do like staying here in the Coachella Valley. I appreciate the beauty of the desert; the whole landscape is so rich once you stop to appreciate it, so I have considered my photography as a profession.”

As a man not yet 30, does Michael Graham have any advice for other young people?

“I owe so much to the great teachers at COD and to the California Desert Chorale,” he says. “I’ve been able to work with many superb people and musicians, because I learned from my family not to be limited by fear.

“It’s easy to rule something out before you’ve even tried it, saying to yourself, ‘I couldn’t do that.’ Whenever I’ve tried, I’ve found those fears are not usually valid. Try not to worry about it—just go for it!”

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.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 5

MAY 2017

OPINION OPINION

ASK A MEXICAN!

Is sour cream on Mexican food a gabacho thing?

BY GUSTAVO ARELLANO

D

EAR MEXICAN: OK … sour cream! I grew up in a Mexican family, and my mom never used sour cream on the food she cooked. Now, when she comes to visit me, I take her to Mexican restaurants here in the Dallas area. Almost every time she orders an entrée, she always asks me why they offer sour cream as a side item.

Is it me, or is it a gabacho thing with the “need to have sour cream on my Tex-Mex food”? Am I too old-fashioned, too oldschool?

I’ll Love Tony Romo Forever DEAR POCHA: Your mom might not use sour cream, but si es old-school, I guarantee you that she uses crema fresca, or crema salada, or even jocoque if she’s from Jalisco.

Those are the Mexican versions of sour cream—in other words, a dairy product that enlivens dishes with a tart milkiness. When Mexicans came to the United States in the early 1900s and started making Mexican food, the substitute for crema was sour cream, because there was no crema in los Estados Unidos at the time due to a lack of a concentration of Mexicans. It’s the same reason why Tex-Mex food uses cheddar cheese and that pointless cabbage salad on the side of a combo plate—you make due with what you tienes.

I don’t have a problem with it, but real Mexicans like you do, because ustedes can’t comprehend that mestizaje is a two-way calle that makes our culture thrive. Man, y’all must also be mad at Mexicans in the U.S. for learning English instead of staying monolingual in Spanish—good luck with that!

DEAR MEXICAN: I’m a gay gabacho who has been in a relationship with a Mexican for seven years. His family knows about us, and they love me. They treat me almost like a celeb whenever they come to visit, or when we go to Mexico. At first, they didn’t like me for the simple reason that they didn’t trust white people. Once they got to know me, that was all over with. His mother is the family matriarch and treats me as if I am one of her own children.

However, whenever we get around his family or his friends in Mexico, my boyfriend acts like I am not even there. I actually spend

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Gaybacho DEAR GAYBACHO: I can’t answer this question fully as a cishet cabrón, but I can offer this: Mexican families don’t take kindly to their kids being grabby-grabby with their significant others in front of them, because no child of any Mexican parents has ever had sex.

Your papi chulo obviously likes you— otherwise, you’d never have met the family in the first place—but he might be taking the commandment I just shared with you a bit too seriously. Check in with him, and see what’s up. And if it doesn’t work out? Get one of his male relatives. As I’ve said before in this column, what’s the difference between a straight hombre and a gay one?

Three beers.

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!

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MAY 2017

OPINION OPINION

Stop Paying Your Landlord’s Mortgage—and Learn How Easy It Is to Have Your Own Home

FORE NO MORE

I’m cheering golf’s steep decline to preserve water, save the environment

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BY MICHAEL BAUGHMAN

s a teenager caddying at a restricted country club, I resented the bigotry, but accepted the tips. I learned to play golf myself and eventually got fairly good at it—but now I hate the game.

Let me tell you why.

The ecological and aesthetic harm caused by most of the world’s 34,000 golf courses—45 percent of them here in the United States—is widely acknowledged today. Natural habitats have been disfigured and destroyed to create highly organized, artificially watered and unarguably fake nature. Some people find golf courses calming and beautiful, but that beauty comes at a price.

Since 1982, the United States Golf Association has funded efforts to conserve water through improving irrigation technologies, planting grasses that require less irrigation, and using recycled water from sewage-treatment facilities. Despite these commendable efforts, precious water is still being squandered—including a lot of it right here in the Coachella Valley, where, despite a severe drought, golf courses continue to use about 37 million gallons of water a day. In drought-stricken Arizona, Phoenix-area courses routinely use more than 80 million gallons per day. The pesticides, fertilizers, fungicides and herbicides spread by irrigation water harm complex ecological systems on land and at sea.

So critics like me are happy that the game’s popularity is waning. According to the National Golf Foundation, a high of 30.6 million golfers in 2003 had been reduced to 24.7 million by 2014. The number of golfers between ages 18 and 34 has declined by 30 percent over the past 20 years. Kevin Fitzgerald covered this very topic in the Independent last December in a story called “Business Bogeys.”

One of the issues Fitzgerald covered: Millennials are apt to find the game far too slow—five hours or more to finish 18 holes— for their 21st century tastes.

The ultimate result is that more than 800 courses across America have closed in a decade.

Some of these courses have become housing developments, others parks, while a few landowners have taken advantage of tax breaks by donating their properties to nature trusts.

One of the reasons for this change had been explained succinctly in Forbes Magazine: People simply can’t afford to play golf anymore. I find that easy to believe. In 1958, a friend named Bob and I, both of us college students, reserved a tee time and paid $8 apiece to play 18 holes at the famed Pebble Beach course on the Monterey Peninsula. For a similar tee time today, however, Bob and I would be required to stay a minimum of two nights at the Pebble Beach Lodge or an affiliated property, and the 18 holes would cost us a minimum of $1,835 apiece—carts and caddies not included.

Mark Twain may or may not have said (the quotation’s origins remain murky): “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” But even that isn’t true anymore, because very few golfers still walk.

Most climb in and out of motorized carts whose costs aren’t included in Pebble Beach’s exorbitant greens fees. The only virtue the game ever had—moderate exercise—is gone forever.

It would be impossible to pass legitimate judgment on golf without mentioning our current so-called president, who owns 37 courses worldwide. He also plays the game— though apparently not very well. Of course, former President Barack Obama and many others also played some golf, too. But Donald Trump is in a league of his own, as sportswriter Rick Reilly put it: “When it comes to cheating, he’s an 11 on a scale of one to 10.”

We assuredly have a right to ask for both better games and better presidents. I understand that a backpacker or cross-country skier might be too much to hope for, but we’re in desperate need of an authentic populist. When we get one, maybe she will bowl or shoot pool.

Michael Baughman is a contributor to Writers on the Range, the opinion service of High Country News, where a version of this piece first appeared.

He is a writer in Oregon. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily the opinions of the Independent.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 7

MAY 2017

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS

Syria, propaganda, contemporary art and our reality-show president

BY BAYNARD WOODS

N

ot far from the White House, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., Yayoi Kusama’s blockbuster retrospective show Infinity Mirrors has been attracting insanely large crowds of people who stand in line, eager for the 20-second stretches of disorientation inside Kusama’s infinity rooms.

The rooms use facing mirrors, hanging lights and polka dots to create vistas of infinite regress.

As art, it is perhaps underwhelming—an empty spectacle with no real depth. But as I stood in “The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away,” I snapped a picture and realized it was far more compelling on my screen than in life—perfect art for the age of the selfie.

On my phone, I saw myself in a Blade Runner-like world of “attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion” as the lights created towering psychedelic spires surrounded by replicants of myself. It was impossible to tell which one was real—because none of them were. They were all reflections on the screen. visa to access their work. I lose nothing.”

I felt a similar sense of vertigo a few days In Peter Pomerantsev’s Nothing Is True and earlier at the Senate Intelligence Committee Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the hearing regarding Russian active measures—or New Russia, he writes that “Surkov’s genius propaganda—intended to use the refracting has been … to marry authoritarianism and mirrors of the Internet to disrupt our election. modern art, to use the language of rights and “What’s hard to distinguish sometimes is: representation to validate tyranny, to recut and Did the Russians put it out first, or did Trump paste democratic capitalism until it means the say it and the Russians amplify it?” said Clint reverse of its original purpose.”

Watts, of the Foreign Policy Research Institute Pomerantsev says that Surkov turned and George Washington University’s Center Russian politics into a reality show. for Cyber and Homeland Security, to reporters Then, as if in a new kind of arms race, we after his testimony on Trump’s embrace of elected a real reality-show star as president. propaganda conspiracies. “He actually repeats propaganda put out by RT or Russian sources wrote that just before I heard that Trump and, vice versa, they parrot him.” had ordered missile strikes against a Syrian Reflections reflecting reflections again and airbase after pictures of gassed children again so that nothing is true. in that country changed the president’s mind This shouldn’t be surprising. Russia’s about intervention. He explained the strike propaganda strategy was designed and to the nation in a statement recorded at his perfected by Vladislav Surkov, who brought country club. postmodern theory to the Kremlin, creating Our country is making one of the most and managing Russian political reality like serious decisions possible, and yet, locked performance art. When he was sanctioned by in our mirror rooms of constant conspiracy, the United States for his role in the invasion of we have no way to know what is actually eastern Ukraine, which he largely orchestrated, happening. We don’t know whether Trump is he said he didn’t mind. “The only things that trying to show that he is independent of the interest me in the U.S. are Tupac Shakur, Allen Kremlin, or whether this is another one of Ginsberg and Jackson Pollock. I don’t need a Putin’s ploys as he manipulates Trump. Trump

I

Baynard Woods’ selfie inside “The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away,” part of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrors art show.

himself has told us not to trust the intelligence community, and no one has any reason to trust Trump.

In “Without Sky,” a pseudonymous short story generally attributed to Surkov and set after the “fifth world war,” he describes the “the first non-linear war,” a war “of all against all.”

“A few provinces would join one side,” he writes. “A few others a different one. One town or generation or gender would join yet another.

Then they could switch sides, sometimes midbattle. Their aims were quite different. Most understood the war to be part of a process. Not necessarily its most important part.”

This sounds precisely like the situation we are getting into—Assad, ISIS, Russia, American-backed rebels, Iran and now Trump’s Tomahawks. All sides shifting. Regardless of the aims of this attack, the spectacle and confusion are good for Trump and Putin. And bad for the Syrian people, who will continue to die. Those who escape will be denied entry into the U.S. as refugees.

“We see these beautiful pictures at night from the decks of these two U.S. Navy vessels in the eastern Mediterranean,” NBC’s noted fabulist Brian Williams said. “I am tempted to quote the great Leonard Cohen: ‘I am guided by the beauty of our weapons.’”

Surkov couldn’t have scripted it better. It is so disorienting, but it all feels somehow familiar.

I was 18 the night we went into the Gulf War in 1991. Those missile launches were prompted in part by the PR firm Hill and Knowlton, which collaborated with one of the chairs of the Congressional Human Rights

Caucus to present fabricated testimony to the caucus about atrocities committed by Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait. But we were all mesmerized by the night-vision green missiles flying through doors.

In 2003, we went back to Iraq on the basis of another massive PR campaign.

Perhaps the best way now to know if something is propaganda is when they say it is not. Marco Rubio—who is on the Senate Intelligence Committee, by the way—went on CNN to praise Trump and call the attack “an important decisive step … not a message.”

But a step toward what? Do we want to take out Assad? As of this writing, nobody knows.

But people are lining up behind Trump. He will realize war, the ultimate image enhancer, is good for him.

“Trump became president of the United States (last night),” CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said the next morning.

It’s like we’re all trapped in one of Kusama’s infinity rooms, waiting for the missile to burst through the door. But we don’t know where the door is. We have lost all orientation.

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. His work has also appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, the Washington Post, Vox, Salon, McSweeney’s, the Virginia Quarterly Review and many other publications. Send tips to democracyincrisicolumn@gmail.com. Twitter @demoincrisis. Podcast every Thursday at www. democracyincrisis.com.

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MAY 2017

NEWS

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

MAY ASTRONOMY J

For May, 2017

This sky chart is drawn for latitude 34 degrees north, but may be used in southern U.S. and northern Mexico.

By Robert Victor

upiter is now the most prominent “star” in the evening sky, and Venus, even brighter and near peak brilliance, rules predawn. By May’s end, Saturn rises at a convenient evening hour, allowing both giant planets to be viewed well in the early evening. The moon always appears as a crescent in its monthly encounters with Venus, but is full whenever it appears near Jupiter or Saturn in the eastern evening sky opposite the sun.

The young crescent moon at dusk on May 26 marks the beginning of Ramadan, and appears to the lower left of faint, departing Mars.

May evenings: A huge conclave of seven stars of first magnitude or brighter in the western sky begins its annual departure in early May. The collection consists of the six stars of the Winter Hexagon, with Betelgeuse inside. The entire available at www.abramsplanetarium.org/ Hex is still visible at the start of May, but sky skycalendar. The May issue may be reprinted watchers must look sharply for Rigel, about and distributed at no charge. The calendar to set in bright twilight a little south of due includes illustrations of the moon passing west. On each successive evening, the stars’ by planets and bright stars, and the sky map setting times occur nearly 4 minutes earlier. depicts more stars and constellations than our During May, in order of disappearance, Rigel, twilight charts show.

Aldebaran, Sirius and Betelgeuse sink into the In May’s morning twilight, we find brilliant bright western twilight glow, as shown on our Venus low in the east. Telescopes reveal Venus evening twilight chart for May. By Memorial still in crescent phase in May, filling out to being Day, all that remains of the Hexagon is its upper half-lit by early June, but shrinking in size. Use edge, forming a Memorial Arch: Procyon low binoculars to spot Mercury to the lower left in the west, Pollux (and slightly fainter Castor, of Venus starting in the second week. Follow not plotted, 4.5 degrees to its right) atop the Arcturus, sinking in the west to west-northwest; arch, and Capella, low in the northwest. the Summer Triangle, passing overhead; and Venus left our evening sky in late March, Saturn, with twinkling Antares to its lower leaving Jupiter to reign as the brightest “star” right, sinking in the southwest. Fomalhaut is in the evening sky. Our evening twilight chart rising in the southeast. shows Jupiter ascending from the southeast The moon near planets and stars in May: toward the south during May. Last month, Check illustrations on the May Sky Calendar our planet Earth passed between the sun and to remind yourself to catch the moon near Jupiter, and that planet appeared 180 degrees Jupiter and Spica on the evening of May 7. away from the sun in our sky on April 7, at After the moon passes full on May 10, switch opposition and visible all night, from dusk until your viewing time to before dawn to see the dawn. Go outside on the evening of May 20, moon pass widely north of Antares on May and visualize Earth’s motion of 18.6 miles per 12, and skip from west of Saturn to east of it second around the sun and directly away from on the next two mornings. The moon is near the star Regulus, while the Pleiades star cluster last-quarter phase (half full) on the mornings of is hidden beyond the sun. Ten days later, in a May 18 and 19. grand annual syzygy on May 30, three stars and In a spectacular conjunction before dawn on our planet lie in a nearly straight line in space, Monday, May 22, the waning crescent moon in the order of Aldebaran-sun-Earth-Antares. passes closely south of Venus. Seize the occasion Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, is then invisible on to spot Venus in the daytime. Before dawn on the far side of the sun, while Antares, heart May 23, the moon is to the lower left of Venus of the Scorpion, is at opposition to the sun and to the upper right of Mercury. On May 24, and visible nearly all night. On our twilight use binoculars about 30 minutes before sunrise chart, Antares is shown rising into view in the to try to see the rising of the old moon, just 3 southeast late in May. percent full, some 8 degrees to the lower left Other prominent stars on May evenings of Mercury, and within 32 hours before new. include bright golden Arcturus, high in the It’ll be very low in bright twilight; you’ll need east to south; Spica, near Jupiter; Regulus, just perfect skies and a low horizon to see it. south of a line connecting Jupiter to Pollux; and New moon occurs on May 25 at 12:44 p.m., bright blue-white Vega, rising in the northeast, only five hours after perigee, when the moon is with Deneb following to its lower left. closest to Earth. As a result, the moon ascends The Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar is quickly from one evening to the next at the CVIndependent.com

A lot of bright stars begin their annual departure— Planets Bright Stars in Evening and theand sky announces the startMid-Twilight of Ramadan

May's evening sky chart.

ROBERT D. MILLER

N

Deneb Vega

Mars

Capella

1

E

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

29 22 15 8

Aldebaran

Pollux

W

Betelgeuse

Regulus

1

Spica

8

Jupiter 15 22

Procyon

Rigel

29

Sirius

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On May 26, 30 minutes p.m. The Visitor CenterStereographic is on Highway 74, within when 9O below Map by 111 Robert MillerDesert. only 6% of all horizon. non-profi ts receive. after sunset, theSun firstis crescent moon, marking four miles south of Highway inD.Palm May 1: 43 minutes after sunset.

the start of the15: fasting of After May 20, the next star party at the same 45 " month " " Ramadan, should beDonate easily31:seen if" skies are location will be on Oct. 28. Check www.astrorx. to" Revivals.

46 it " clear. It will appear 3 Help percentcreate full and about 7 degrees up org for listings. Star parties at the Sawmill a healthier community. in the west-northwest for sky watchers in the Trailhead, our high-altitude site (4,000 feet— Coachella Valley. (You’ll need to go to a place wear warm clothes), start at dusk on Saturday. where our high mountains won’t block the June 24. Follow links to maps and directions. view.) As twilight deepens, binoculars may show Also, check the link to our “Impromptu Star Visit our faint Mars about 6 degrees to the moon’s upper Parties,” which could be announced on short right. In the rest of May, watch the waxing notice at any time. In May 2017, special NEW sessions moon pass widely south of the Gemini twins will be held in daytime and at dawn to observe Desert Pollux and Castor on May 28, and leapfrog past Venus at its brightest,Palm in crescent phase. A location!

Regulus on May 30 to 31. On the latter night, session might include a bright flyover of the the moon is approaching first-quarter phase and International Space Station. is nearly half full.

The Astronomical Society of the Desert will Robert C. Victor, formerly a staff astronomer at host the last of the season’s monthly public Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University, star parties at the Springs Visitor Center of the Santa is now retired and enjoys providing sky watching Palm Cathedral City Palm Desert Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National opportunities for school children in and around 611 on S. Palm Canyon Dr.from 868-401 111 Springs.

72-885 Hwy. 111 Monument, Saturday, May 20, to 10 Hwy. Palm

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

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 9

MAY 2017

DEEP ‘SPRING CLEANING’ FOR SKIN REJUVENATION

By Shonda Chase, RN Co-owner and aesthetic director of Revive Wellness Centers Palm Springs and the South Bay area of Los Angeles

“Increasingly, as I turn up to photo shoots at which I am older than the crew and models by several decades, I sense the gulf between my inner and outer persona. As a stylist friend of mine eager to stay competitive puts it, ‘I need to get work done in order to get work.’” —Jancee Dunn, writer

I hear a number of We wake up every day, but our skin begins going to sleep a�er pa�ents essen�ally 30. We can enjoy younger skin share the same sen�if we keep our skin awake at any age. ment with me every day. I hear phrases like, “I have to stay competi�ve (with my appearance), in every way.”

Last month, I shared how the latest dermal fillers can help us look younger. However, if we don’t help our skin become “younger,” we’ll only end up with smoother “old” skin. My prac�ce wants you to have smoother and younger skin. Here are just some of the ways we help you do it.

Secret No. 1: Without a barrier (zinc or �tanium dioxide) sunblock, our body can’t keep up with repairing the damage the sun causes.

This is an “affordable” secret, at about 25 cents per day for a good barrier block.

Secret No. 2: Much of our skin’s natural moisture comes from the phytolipids we eat. Cooked vegetables are a reliable source of phytolipids—so Mom was right about ea�ng our vegetables. She just didn’t know all the reasons why.

Secret No. 3: A�er the age of 30, our skin starts to go to “sleep.”

We now have reliable ways to wake up our skin and get it back to less than 30 years “young.” The latest medical devices deliver heat energy to the dermis layers of our skin. When our deep dermis is heated to over 110 degrees for about 20 minutes, we trick the body into delivering natural repair compounds, nutrients and circula�on to the heated areas. Skin then “awakens” and rejuvenates itself, almost like magic!

It’s only been in the last 4-5 years that the newer mul�polar radio frequency medical devices (MPRF) have been able to help our skin be younger, with fewer wrinkles. Next month, I’ll share more about MPRF devices, and discuss some addi�onal medical devices that help our skin become more youthful—and stay that way.

Un�l then, keep the secrets.

C A S I NO

The Valley’s

Best

KEPT SECRET

The vision was to create a casino with the comforts of home – A True Locals’ Treasure Avenue 54, Coachella CA. | augustinecasino.com

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

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

CVIndependent.com

10 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MAY 2017

Your Support of D.A.P. Creates a DespiteHealthier a growing economy andCommunity decreasing unemployment, the homeless population in the Coachella Valley is expanding—at an alarming rate.

The annual Riverside County “point in time” count in January small showed the homeless population Your donations of clothing, furniture, goods, and had increased from 1,351 unsheltered and 814 sheltered individuals in 2016, to 1,638 unsheltered home décor and 775 sheltered in 2017. help Desert AIDS Project to provide our community with needed dental, counseling, The Coachella Valley cities had 297 homelessmedical, individuals in 2016—and 425 individuals in 2017.

Another alarming fact: The number of homeless individuals locally without shelter is about to rise, and social support services including nutrition housing, because Roy’s Resource Center, the only shelter for the homeless on the west end of the Coachella and to much Valley, is slated close atmore. the end of June.

The beleaguered facility in North Palm Springs is shutting its doors largely because some local Deserthave AIDS Project 5-Star rating from city governments not been payinghas theirreceived share to keepaRoy’s financially solvent.

Before the center opened in 2009, all nine Coachella Valley cities agreed to give $100,000 a year in support.

Charity Navigator for 5 years in a row — a distinction While Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert and Indio have upheld their ends of the bargain, only ofcities all have non-profi ts receive. more or less, the6% other not. In fact, the city of La Quinta has given nothing to Roy’s, although it has given financial support to Martha’s Village and Kitchen and the Coachella Valley Donate it to Revivals.

Rescue Mission.

Sabby Jonathan, the mayor pro tem of Palm Desert, is the chair of the Coachella Valley Help create a healthier community.

Association of Governments’ Homeless Committee. He explained the reasons behind the closure of Roy’s Resource Center.

“The services and management for Roy’s are being provided by Jewish Family Services of San Diego, and they notified CVAG and the county last year that they wouldn’t be renewing the contract Visit our when it terminates on June 30,” Jonathan said. “The reason is for the last several years, they’ve NEW they’re been contributing about $100,000 a year to fund the annual deficit. As service providers, supposed to be getting paid, not putting money in.

Palm Desert “When they announced they weren’t going to renew their contract, we searched for different location! service providers, and none came forward. The county made a decision to convert that facility as a long-term mental-health facility.”

Jonathan tried to put a positive spin on the conversion, despite the significant loss in services for the homeless.

“It won’t be Roy’s, but it will still be a facility out there in that location providing different services,”Palm he said. Springs “That’s really a plus forCathedral the community, because we don’t haveDesert that kind of facility City Palm (for mental-health services) in the desert at this time, and we really need it.

The key will be to 611 S. Palm Canyon Dr. 68-401 Hwy. 111 72-885 Hwy. 111 replace the services that Roy’s was providing—specifically, housing for 90-plus people.”

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

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MAY 2017

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 11

The closure will undoubtedly lead to a significant increase in the number of unsheltered homeless—at the time of year when shelter is needed most.

“We just had a ‘point in time’ count, and it shows that if we look at the nine valley cities, the increase in homelessness in the Coachella Valley is 43 percent: We went from 297 to 425. That’s huge. If Roy’s closes down, and we have no provision for the 90 people it currently houses, the increase is even more dramatic, because we’re talking about going from 297 to 515, and that’s crazy. We are at a crisis point, and we absolutely need to come together and replace that facility.”

However, a quick and easy replacement is not in the cards. On April 19, the CVAG Homelessness Committee approved something called the West Valley Housing Navigation Program. The plan, which is not finalized, includes a mixture of diversion and prevention programs.

It does not, however, include a new west side shelter.

n the east side of the Coachella Valley, the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission and Martha’s Village provide services to the homeless—but after the loss of Roy’s, there will be no service providers on the west side, even though more and more homeless people are located in the western Coachella Valley.

“We need to make sure there is housing for those people and more on the west end of the valley,” Jonathan said. “The homeless population went from 138 on the west end of the valley to 225; that is Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs and Cathedral City. That’s a 63 percent increase in homelessness on the west end of the valley. We can’t ignore that. We need to create housing for those people. It needs to be on the west end and can’t be on the east end in Indio or in the central valley. It needs to be where they are, and they’re on the west end of the valley—225 out of 425 total.”

Jonathan said the middle-of-nowhere location of Roy’s also played a part in its demise.

“The intent of Roy’s was to create a homeless shelter on the west side of the valley. Unfortunately, while it was well-intentioned, it was doomed to failure due to the lack of transportation,” he said. “That drained over $300,000 from the annual budget just to get the folks back and forth, because (Roy’s) was closed during the day: The residents would be transported to Palm Springs during the day and brought back. That meant that Roy’s Resource Center had to own, operate and maintain a fleet of buses. We’ve learned the lesson, and now our efforts are focused on working with the cities on the west end to create housing in one or more of those locations.”

Of course, due to NIMBY-ism, residents have long fought the Sabby Jonathan presence of homeless shelters near their homes and businesses.

Many have questioned whether or not the homeless situation can be fixed. However, Jonathan offered a couple of success stories.

“It’s true that you can’t eliminate it completely, but you absolutely can make a dent and improve the situation,” Jonathan said. “In the city of Riverside, homelessness among veterans has virtually been eliminated. That’s important, and that’s proof that success, at least in part, can be attained.”

A program in Indio has shown promise as well.

“Another case in point is the program utilized in the city of Indio known as CORP (Community Outreach Resource Program), which is a program that takes homeless people and puts them through a process that is six to nine months, which includes job-training. Health issues and addiction issues are addressed. If they graduate, their case is brought in front of a tribunal, which includes a sitting judge, and representation from the district attorney’s office, probation office and the sheriff’s department. Any outstanding warrants and fines are rescinded. That allows for any homeless person to escape that cycle and re-enter society. Without that, they have debt over their head; they can’t get a driver’s license, and they can’t drive to a job interview. It’s next to impossible.

“Just in the last three or so years this program has been going on in Indio, there have been 91 participants, and 89 have graduated and have had their warrants and fines removed. None of those 89 have returned to homelessness.” cott Wolf, the development manager at the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission in Indio, said the mission has seen an increase in the need for housing and shelter.

“We’re completely full,” Wolf said. “We’re always limited in resources, and primarily limited in the beds that we have available. We only have so many beds that we can fill. There are people out there still looking for places, and we cannot absorb everybody.”

Jonathan reiterated that there need to be resources for the homeless on the west side of the valley—and that city governments valley-wide need to address the situation. “(East Valley cities and organizations) are taking on the burden, and that cannot continue,” he said. … “We believe that to be effective in regard to homeless, this valley needs to implement a regional, holistic approach. We can’t have every city on its own taking everyone (who is homeless) down to the Indio jail, and taking four hours of a deputy’s time. Those people are back out on the street immediately, because there’s no room to put them in jail. We’ve done nothing to stop wasting deputies’ time, and nothing to reduce homelessness. … We’re recommending that all cities adopt the CORP program and any other programs that would be effective in their cities, and that we all work together in that regard.”

I asked Jonathan why Coachella Valley cities seem to have a difficult time working together. He expressed optimism that the cities can and will improve their efforts.

“I can’t comment on the inner workings of individual cities, because I’m not familiar with the individual challenges they are facing. But I will say that the way that we are dealing with homelessness in general nationwide has evolved in a positive way,” he said. “We are learning how to be more effective. That’s what the Coachella Valley Association of Governments is for—to work together and figure out how to address problems that are common to all of us, that can only be solved by working together.

“A homeless person, by definition, is not a resident of Palm Springs or Indio; in fact, they move around. If one city makes it uncomfortable to be in their city, they don’t disappear; they go somewhere else, such as the next city over. Part of the evolution in how to better address homelessness is that we can’t work on this issue individually. We need to work on it together, and that’s what’s happening in our valley.”

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12 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MAY 2017

CVI SPOTLIGHT: MAY 2017 Crime, Detectives and First-Person Narration Come to the Camelot

S

he stood in my office doorway, as palm trees from Palm Canyon Drive framed her long, dark-auburn hair. The cut of her emerald business suit clung to her curves in the all right places. The way she clutched her Kate Spade purse, I could tell something was really worrying her. Her deep hazel eyes betrayed her, showing the fear she had seen.

“What’s on your mind, doll face?” I asked as I tried to keep my eyes on her in a professional way. I have years of practice at looking at the wrong places.

With a pursing of her lips, she looked at me and said, “It’s already after 4 o’clock.” Her hands started to wring her purse tighter.

“We’re going to be late for this year’s Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival.”

Well, that’s how I would imagine it would go.

The 18th annual film festival takes place May 11-14, and once again, it is hosted by writer/historian Alan K. Rode at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs.

“I handpick each film, hoping it’s something people will want to see,” Rode told me.

I asked him where he finds so many of these films—many of which even avid fans like me don’t know. “Warner Bros studios opened their vaults to me this year. We are presenting an extremely diverse lineup of films.”

The film festival, per usual, will feature a wide range of guests, including one on opening night—Monika Henried, the daughter of film star Paul Henried, who produced and starred in the opening-night feature: a restored print of Hollow Triumph (1948), directed by Steve Sekely and co-starring Joan Bennett. From the novel

by Murray Forbes, this is a story of a casino

heist gone bad, a change of identity and the troubles to which a new life can lead.

One of the jewels of the festival is Meet Danny Wilson (1952). This rarely viewed Frank Sinatra and Shelley Winters collaboration is a musical drama directed by Joseph Pevney. This is the transition film that took Sinatra from his bobby-soxer popularity to From Here to Eternity fame. Raymond Burr is also in the film as the gangster who threatens the small-time singer as he rises to the top of his profession.

For first time, the festival will be showing Split Second (1953), marking the directorial debut of Dick Powell (radio’s Richard Diamond). The film follows a group of escaped convicts and hostages hiding in a ghost town—a group that is in real danger.

Other special guests slated to participate include Richard Duryea, son of Dan Duryea, the star of Black Angel (1946). The film also stars June Vincent and Peter Lorre. Andy Robinson, a star of “neo-noir” movie Charley Varrick (1973), will be present for that film’s screening, while Sara Karloff, daughter of Boris Karloff, will attend the screening of The Body Snatcher (1945)—which, in Rode’s opinion, marks Boris’ “finest screen performance.”

The festival’s focus is not only on delighting fans of film noir; it’s meant to open new eyes, too. Rode said festival organizers have been using social media such as Facebook in an effort to entice a younger generation of fans.

“Film is not a museum piece—not a genre, style, look or feel,” Rode said. “… Now we are offering everyone the opportunity to watch in original setting and mode.”

One of the reasons the festival takes place at the Camelot is the theater still has a 35mm film projector. Festival tradition dictates that

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Paul Henried and Joan Bennett in Hollow Triumph.

screenings are shown in that format.

“We are attempting to preserve the original movie-going experience,” Rode said.

The 18th Annual Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival takes place Thursday, May 11, through Sunday, May 14, at

the Camelot Theatres, 2300 E. Baristo Road, in Palm Springs. Tickets are $13 per film, or $125 for an all-access pass. For tickets or information, visit ArthurLyonsFilmNoir.org.

—Dwight Hendricks

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 13

MAY 2017

ARTS & CULTURE

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

EXPANDING THE LIGHT L

By brian blueskye

The McCallum Theatre’s ‘East Valley Voices Out Loud’ is back to showcase more unheralded local artists

sometimes something we only get to dream of, and never get the chance to do.

“The west side is popping, but the east side has been, too, and it continues to do so—just with not a lot of coverage. It’s nice to expand the light.”

Woo said she’s hoping to step up her performance this year.

“I have plans to bring a band with me, if I could,” she said. “I’m still working on completing it. It’ll be alumni from College of the Desert and stuff like that.”

Carlos Garcia, from the East Valley Repertory Theatre, is another returning performer.

“One of the pieces we’re planning to do is an all-male production of monologues—spoken word, poetry and deconstructing masculinity,” Garcia said. “The working title right now is Bad Hombres, referencing what Trump said.”

Garcia said some of the works in this year’s showcase will undoubtedly address the politics over the last year.

“I think that it will possibly be more focused on what’s happening politically,” he said.

“I personally am not. Our pieces are more personal, but I feel that other groups might get political. I don’t really care for that myself, but I feel with what’s happened in one year with Trump and with us being Latino performers, there will be some issues addressed.”

ast year, the McCallum Theatre celebrated its two-year Crisalida Community Arts Project with a showcase called East Valley Voices Out Loud.

The goal of the project was to foster a relationship between the McCallum Theatre and artists in the underserved eastern Coachella Valley—and East Valley Voices Out Loud was a triumphant showcase of the fruits of that project.

While the Crisalida Community Arts Project’s James Irvine Foundation grant ended a year ago, the McCallum is bringing back East Valley Voices Out Loud for a second year, on Saturday, May 13.

Poet, playwright and musician David Gonzalez worked with the McCallum Theatre on the Crisalida Community Arts Project and put together the showcases both years. He explained what will be different about this year’s showcase. up community work was so ill-guided. Could “We have a bunch of new artists, and we it have been better? Of course! We had 35 have expanded the role of other artists who amateurs onstage, and there were things that have mentored a couple of new people,” went haywire, but to take the platform of The Gonzalez said. “We’re having a dance troupe Desert Sun and the platform of theater critic from Mecca that is going to be performing, and turn that against an effort where we did which should be really cool.” over 350 community residency projects with The Crisalida Community Arts Project so much blood and sweat and tears? It was so gave much-deserved attention to East Valley unfortunate.” poets, musicians and more. Gonzalez said the Local musician Giselle Woo took part in last project is still going, albeit in a “greatly reduced year’s showcase and will return this year. She fashion.” discussed what made last year’s experience “The real emphasis is the showcase, but I’ve special. been doing some outreach and mentoring with “It was my first time ever performing at a people (from) other organizations,” Gonzalez theater like the McCallum,” Woo said. “I think said. “The issue right now is funding. We had a it makes it interesting, because it gives an major grant for those first two years. This year, opportunity for young Latinos—who make the McCallum has dipped into its own pocket up the majority of people who performed to do this project. They are demonstrating in East Valley Voices Out Loud last year—to their commitment to the East Valley through be performing there. Things like that are this. The intention is to keep doing East Valley Voices Out Loud, and to look for other sources so we can reboot and recharge Crisalida from where we left it a year ago.”

While the success of the project and last year’s East Valley Voices Out Loud was evident to anyone who talked to the participants, the efforts received some unfair criticism. A review

by Bruce Fessier of The Desert Sun panned last year’s East Valley Voices Out Loud showcase, while prominent East Valley artist Armando Lerma, of the Date Farmers, harshly criticized the project.

Gonzalez addressed some of that criticism. “(Lerma) had a very skewered, egocentric, self-serving, defensive, destructive and myopic experience of it,” Gonzalez said. “I have negotiated many difficult situations and tried with my greatest skill to deflect and move that in a positive direction.”

As for Fessier’s critique, Gonzalez said East Valley Voices Out Loud was not meant for critical review.

“It was meant for social review, but not aesthetic review,” Gonzalez said. “To make comparisons to other organizations who put David Gonzalez takes the stage with last year’s East Valley Voices Out Loud performers and artists. BRIAN BLUESKYE

Garcia said last year’s experience was inspiring because it fostered community.

“We felt as actors and performers that we were inspiring other actors, poets and musicians. We were also inspired by the other performers,” he said. “We didn’t know each other, and through the East Valley Voices Out Loud showcase, we were able to come together and meet each other. For one night, we are one group united, and that’s one thing I really enjoy about that.”

Gonzalez expressed optimism that the Crisalida project and the East Valley Voices Out Loud showcases will continue. He explained what the community can do to help.

“The first thing is to show up and hear the voices,” he said. “Hear, see and feel the East Valley community as it takes a step into the West Valley. Don’t go on preconceptions and what you’ve read. Come with a sense of openness and discovery, and stay afterward to shake hands, get invites or invite other people.

The only way this bridge is going to be built is hand-to-hand and eye-to-eye. The showcase is a chance to do just that.”

East Valley Voices Out Loud takes place at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 13, at the McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, in Palm Desert. Tickets are $9 to $22. For tickets or more information, call 760-340-2787, or visit www.mccallumtheatre.com.

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14 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MAY 2017

ARTS & CULTURE POPULAR IN PALM DESERT E

The McCallum Theatre announces its 30th anniversary season

By JIMMY BOEGLE

ven though Mitch Gershenfeld has been booking shows at the McCallum Theatre for 18 years now, he admits he gets nervous whenever subscriptions for a new season go on sale— as they did in April for the theater’s 30th anniversary 2017-2018 season.

“I get this pain in the pit of my stomach, thinking: What if nobody buys tickets?” he told me as we talked in his office on the first day of sales. Of course, he had nothing to worry about—there were dozens of people at the box office snapping up season subscriptions.

Yet another reason Gershenfeld had no reason to worry: Every year, the McCallum is one of the busiest theaters in the world. Despite being dark for almost half of the year, and having a modest 1,100-seat capacity, industry publication Pollstar ranked the McCallum as the No. 58 theater in the world in terms of 2016 ticket sales.

New Worlds … with a bunch of musicians?

Finally, there is one more reason Gershenfeld “Bill Murray is one of those guys you just has no reason to worry: Seeing as he’s been want to meet, and hope he’s cool,” Gershenfeld booking shows at the McCallum now for 60 said. percent of the time its doors have been open, Yeah, of course. But … with a bunch of Gershenfeld knows what shows work, and what musicians? shows don’t work at the Palm Desert theater.

“The show is the result of a friendship with As a result, about 86 percent of the seats (cellist) Jan Vogler,” Gershenfeld explained. available during 2016-2017 season were sold, “They got together to do the show as a one-off he said. in Germany … as a corporate thing.”

As for the upcoming season, Gershenfeld Turns out New Worlds features Murray said he’s happy with how it turned out, adding reading from the works of Hemingway, that he thinks the Broadway-show lineup is Capote, Twain and other American literary one of the theater’s strongest ever. icons, while Vogler, violinist Mira Wang and “Three shows we’re bringing in have been pianist Vanessa Perez perform classical music. on Broadway within the last 12 months,” he The goal is to showcase American values in said: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Nov. literature and music. Oh, and Murray is going 24-28), Motown the Musical (Jan. 16-21, 2018) to dance a tango, too. and Kinky Boots (Feb. 2-4).

Speaking of American values: In these Gershenfeld expressed excitement about … uh, deeply interesting political times, the another Broadway show, Circus 1903 (March Capitol Steps—a long-touring humor group 27-April 1). You may have seen a performance consisting of former and current congressional from the show recently on The Late Show With staffers—will perform an afternoon show at Steven Colbert. The show is exactly what the the McCallum on Sunday, Jan. 14. title says: It’s a circus-style show from 1903— “I thought that if there were ever a time to except the elephants are products of puppetry, have fun with politics, on both sides of the aisle, not real animals … although they sure do look now is the time to do it,” Gershenfeld said. realistic.

About a month or so later, the McCallum Other Broadway shows include the legendary will become the week-long home of classical/ A Chorus Line (Jan. 26-28), Dirty Dancing (Feb. jazz/everything-else-you-can-imagine band 16-18), MAESTRO: The Art of Leonard Bernstein Pink Martini, for eight shows from Feb. 9-15.

(March 20-21, in conjunction with the The group, featuring singers China Forbes Leonard Bernstein centennial) and a concert and Storm Large, was here for five shows last performance of the music from West Side Story year—all-sellouts. What makes this band such (March 9-11). a Palm Desert favorite?

“I think it’s the best musical ever written,” “They’re very unpredictable and very Gershenfeld said about West Side Story, diverse in what they do,” Gershenfeld said. adding that a 40-piece orchestra, assembled “They do songs in eight different languages. by conductor Richard Kauffman, will join … (Bandleader) Thomas Lauderdale is brilliant Broadway-level cast members as assembled by at finding these great songs from all over the the McCallum’s own Chad Hilligus, himself a world.” former member of the Ten Tenors.

All of the series for which the McCallum The 30th anniversary season kicks off with a is known—including Fitz’s Jazz Café at the bang on Oct. 7, when acting and comedy legend McCallum, curated by desert radio icon Jim Bill Murray will take the stage in a show called Fitzgerald, and Keyboard Conversations With CVIndependent.com

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Pink Martini is performing eight shows over a week at the McCallum next February. CHRIS HORNBECKER

Jeffrey Siegel—are back, as are Mitch’s Picks, a series of shows by performers who may not be well-known, but who have earned the endorsement of the McCallum president and CEO. Mitch’s Picks are now in their fourth year, and Gershenfeld said the series has allowed him to book great acts that he may have hesitated to book before.

“We’re saying, ‘You know, if you trust me to make good decisions, try these,’” he said.

“Fortunately, it’s worked.”

This year’s Mitch’s Picks include All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, a play/concert about a moment when Allied and German soldiers in World War I stopped fighting to celebrate the holiday together (Dec. 3).

“It’s an amazing story, but it took place in such a terrible time,” Gershenfeld said. “I wasn’t going to book it, but I kept coming back to it.”

Australian diva Meow Meow will bring her combination of cabaret music and physical comedy to the McCallum on Jan. 31. On March 2, Davina and The Vagabonds will share the stage with swing-band great the Squirrel Nut Zippers. On March 6, the fourth Mitch’s

Picks show is Gobsmacked!, an all-a capella show featuring seven singers and beat boxers.

Finally, on March 12, MozART Group, a string quartet that combines classical music and comedy, will make the trip to the McCallum from Poland.

While season-subscription sales have thus far been brisk, putting Gershenfeld’s mind at ease, he expressed frustration about a growing number of ticket brokers and re-sellers that are gobbling up tickets and then re-selling them with high mark-ups—that is, if the tickets are real at all. Some of these re-sellers use deceptive names and URLs to make it appear that the tickets are being sold directly by the McCallum—so make sure you’re only getting tickets from mccallumtheatre.com.

Gershenfeld said he’s honored that so many people keep coming back to the McCallum year after year.

“Our subscriptions and series are one reason that people have been keeping the same seats for 30 years,” he said.

For more information, or to purchase season subscriptions, visit mccallumtheatre.com.

MAY 2017

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 15

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16 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

MAY 2017

ARTS

ALL IN THE (WYETH) FAMILY Heather James Fine Art shows the works of this prolific group of artists

By william bryan rooney

W

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

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.

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

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henever a family of artists works collectively, it’s natural to both be intrigued by individual works, and curious about the sum of their creative endeavors. When the family’s works are gathered together in one place, the art can be put into perspective—even if that perspective is shaped by one’s personal taste in art.

If you find yourself at the end of an El Paseo shopping spree or dining adventure, it would be well worth your while to wander into Heather James Fine Art to visit the intriguing exhibit Art of the Wyeth Family, which will be on display through June.

The exhibit features artwork by N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945) and his many talented family members and descendants, spanning three generations. Included are works by N.C. Wyeth’s children Henriette, Carolyn, Ann and Andrew (a National Medal of Arts winner who, in 2011-2012, was the subject of a retrospective at the Palm Springs Art Museum). Also included are works by son-inlaw John McCoy; grandchildren Jamie Wyeth and Maude Robin McCoy; and grandniece Anna B. McCoy—all celebrated American painters on their own. It may be worth taking your family and pointing out what a family can do when they work together—but again, that is a matter of taste.

The family story includes the insistence by patriarch N.C. Wyeth that his children learn the traditional aspects of creating, while emphasizing the importance of observing the natural world and expressing their place in it. The Wyeth family’s roots are on the East Coast, mostly in Maine and Pennsylvania, and naturalistic representations of the landscape, wildlife and area inhabitants are prevalent and were passed down through the generations.

There is a century of time between the earliest painting in this exhibition and the artists who are still at work today.

Gallery consultant Hayden Hunt said N.C. Wyeth’s work is similar in style to that of Norman Rockwell.

“This exhibit is unique to the Coachella Valley in that it is different from the Western influences normally represented,” he said. “The art included is a unique look at the character who guided his family into the world of painting.”

N.C. Wyeth is known mostly for his illustrations for novels (Treasure Island, The

“Once the Girl Started Through the Yard as Though She Would Rush After Them and Stopped at the Gate” by N.C. Wyeth.

Last of the Mohicans, Robinson Crusoe) and magazine covers (The Saturday Evening Post), but he also created posters, calendars and advertisements for clients such as Lucky Strike, Cream of Wheat and Coca-Cola. He painted murals for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the First National Bank of Boston and other buildings, both public and private.

Later in life, he insisted that he was “trapped” by the commercial work, and never attained the personal satisfaction or public recognition that he sought for his art.

Therefore, it was up to his family to carry on and create the legacy that is now on display.

He fostered “friendly competition” between his children, and brought in his daughter’s suitor, John McCoy, to raise the stakes.

Notable works in Art of the Wyeth Family include “Once the Girl Started Through the Yard as Though She Would Rush After Them and Stopped at the Gate” by N.C. Wyeth; it’s a work of subtle simplicity with a complex title.

The portrait “Anna B.” by Henriette Wyeth and the stark “Red Tail Hawk” by Jamie Wyeth also draw one’s attention.

Art of the Wyeth Family is on display through June at Heather James Fine Art, 45188 Portola Ave., in Palm Desert. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. For more information, call 760-346-8926, or visit www.heatherjames.com.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 17

MAY 2017

18 20 22 24

AN INTERVIEW WITH COACHELLA’S CURATOR OF FOOD AND DRINK A CHAT WITH PATRICK BARTLETT, CO-OWNER OF MOOD WINE THE INDY ENDORSEMENT: CIE SICHUAN, CAPIZZI'S CHEESECAKES RESTAURANT NEWS BITES: RESTAURANT WEEK IS ALMOST HERE!

www.cvindependent.com/FOOD-DRINK

COCKTAILS ELEVATED Our intrepid columnist checks out the offerings at Truss and Twine

19

Audrey Ma

CVIndependent.com

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FOOD & DRINK

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the

BEER GODDESS

T

By Erin Peters

he diverse and impressive musical lineup makes the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival one of the most popular events in the world—but it’s the food and drink lineup that rounds out the experience for many festival-goers.

Nic Adler, who also puts on Eat Drink Vegan in Pasadena, has been curating the food at Coachella for four years. I recently had the chance to interview him. keeps the music lineup: There are some (acts) How has the food and drink that return. Maybe they take a year off, and morphed at Coachella since your they come back again; they get bigger and go first year working on it? to a bigger stage. We kind of look at the food In many, many ways. … There are a lot of program in a similar way: We need to have things that happen back-of-house to make these big names that people recognize, and restaurants and vendors successful frontthen we’ve got to have a whole middle tier that of-house. For many years, the vendors that people know. … And then we have a bunch of we used—and still use—at Coachella have (vendors) that have never done anything like been used to vending at high-volume events. this before, and are kind of the new up-andHowever, a lot of the restaurants that I comers. brought in were not used to being in front of 100,000 people. They might do a food festival with 4,000 or 5,000 people, but nothing on the Are you the person who level of what we’re doing at Coachella. So, there actually chooses the restaurants?

Yes, I do. I have a really solid team. I work was a lot of work to do … for us to understand closely with Lizzy Stadler, and between the how vendors work, what their needs are, and two of us, we spend nine months searching how to deal with chefs. Chefs are artists, and out restaurants and chefs that we think would they’re used to very specific things. They know work well with the festival. their kitchen. They know where everything is.

They know that everything’s working. That’s Where are most of the restaurants from? not always how it works when you come out to Do you have to stay kind-of local because a large festival like Coachella. of the equipment they bring?

Putting together the right team to support Yeah. We do have a good amount from these chefs, restaurants, bartenders and Southern California—but (2017 was) the first mixologists took a little bit of time. year that we’re really making a big transition All of our restaurants (from) year one to having Coachella be more of a national food struggled a bit. It took us some understanding program, so we have 2nd City from New York. on what people wanted. It took them (a while In our Outstanding in the Field program, we to) understand how to put out food in a way have chefs from Miami, Chicago and New that was pleasing to the festival audience.

York. MatchaBar started in New York as well.

Both of those things have come together, and We’re just trying to look around the country they’ve kind of met in the middle. It’s made and see what’s happening and bring that to for really interesting, great food that’s visually Coachella. We don’t do a lot of Coachella Valley beautiful, and food that is portable—bowls, restaurants—although we do have The Venue wraps and things like that. It just took a little Sushi this year—only because this is also bit of time. one of the busiest times of the year for those restaurants.

What are some of the restaurants that have been there since the beginning, that How many restaurants were super-successful, and people loved? are at Coachella this year?

It’s interesting: We don’t do a lot of returning In total, in the food program, there are more restaurants, although the ones that have than 150 restaurants and vendors. As far as returned have been there from very early on. our curated, featured restaurant lineup, there Beer Belly would be one that has been with are more than 40. us since the very beginning. KazuNori in the Rose Garden has been there from the very I imagine you’re trying to cater beginning. to the organic and vegan crowd, too.

We really try to keep the food program Yeah, being a passionate vegan myself. We have (like Goldenvoice President/CEO) Paul Tollett CVIndependent.com

An interview with Nic Adler, Coachella’s curator of food and drink— who hints at what the future may bring

Ramen Hood doing ramen. We have Taqueria La Venganza. We have 118 Degrees. We have Strictly Vegan. I would say there are about 10 to 15 restaurants. Then you have a restaurant like Sumo Dog that is known for their crazy Japanese-style hot dogs, which has a separate grill (for making vegan food) inside of their restaurant. They have amazing vegan hot dogs. … Every vendor has to offer a vegetarian or vegan item on their menu.

How many craft breweries are there this year?

The Craft Beer Barn started four years ago.

We’ve consistently had somewhere between 100 to 150 breweries as part of that program, and that includes the rare beer bar, which we introduced last year, where Jimmy (Han) from Beer Belly curates. He spends all year (curating); he’ll call me in September telling me how he got a keg of something, and that he’s hid it in the back of the cooler and wrapped it up. He gets these little gems all year long. … He’s really worked with the breweries to get special, unique kegs out there. That’s also

neil husvar

because we invite so many of the breweries to come down: At any given time, there are 20 or 30 brewmasters or owners or technicians who are here onsite at the festival. When you’re walking through the Craft Beer Barn, and you look over and see the head brewer from one of your favorite breweries, that really makes a difference.

Last year, there was a big push for sours, and the IPAs are obviously always really big. This year, one my favorites has been the hazy IPA, the New England-style IPA. I can’t get enough of it. It’s got very little bite on it; it’s superrefreshing, but you still have all of that hop.

It’s really exciting to learn about those beers.

We also have a tiki bar that’s something that’s new for the festival this year. I’m really excited to be working on that with the guys from PDT in New York … which stands for Please Don’t Tell. They really ushered in the revival of the speakeasy. They’re known to be some of the best bartenders in the world there, and they’ve come out to Indio to be part of this tiki bar. It’s not on any map. We don’t tell anybody where it is. When you find it, you know it.

COACHELLA COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // GDG1 VALLEY INDEPENDENT \\ 1

MAY MAY 2017 2017

May in the Palm Springs Oasis

By Brad Fuhr, e-publisher, GayDesertGuide.LGBT

As I compose my blog about May, it’s Coachella weekend and I’m poolside with friends, friends of friends and neighbors – a literal microcosm of Facebook. And the” newsfeed” ranges from stories of last night’s Radiohead performance to the xx, summer travel to Mykonos and then of course to what’s happening in our valley.

White Party is not on everyone’s mind as a May event, but this year the party is later (May5-8) and that will assure warm (hot) weather for the pool parties. Jeffrey Sanker has a dizzying array of DJs, performers, strippers and of course, fireworks. The Sunday Tea Dance is now on terra firma as they’ve paved dirt paradise and put up a parking lot.

PHOTO: JeffreySanker.com

We caught up with Jeffrey Sanker, the king of the circuit recently, and the bookmark to that article can be found on the White Party Page of GayDesertGuide.LGBT. Just look for WP 2017 link. Here’s an excerpt:

Sanker is cautiously optimistic as he looks forward. “The future of White Party to me is one that continues to grow and evolve. The political climate now can be looked at as scary, but the gay climate has also changed. We have always been a strong group, now our voices are being heard, our opinions carry more weight, and our allies are many,” says Sanker. “I think that White Party celebrates this, as well as the diversity, the music, the magic and the camaraderie that comes from being gay.”

Sandwiched into White Party Weekend are two other events of note in May. The 1st East Coachella Valley Pride Festival is set for Saturday, May 6th from 2-7 PM. The event is set for Veterans Park in Coachella.

AAP’s Evening Under the Stars happens that same day, but for all intents and purposes it’s a world away at the O’Donnell Golf Course in Palm Springs. The dress up affair in the major fundraiser for AIDS Assistance Program and brings out enough people dressed in Trina Turk and Mr. Turk fashions to start a pop up store.

If you attend, you may imagine what the space will be post-2020 when the lease from the city is up. My guess is goodbye golf course and hello public park…

#ILoveGayPalm Springs Because…

Anil Patel says #ILoveGayPalmSprings Because…

By Nicholas Snow Anil Patel (also known in some circles as Chanelta) is the Production Manager at White Party Entertainment and has had the honor of working for Jeffrey Sanker for the past 11 years, along with multiple stars like Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Mary J. Blige, Ke$ha, RuPaul, LeAnn Rimes, Deborah Cox and Erika Jayne, just a sampling of past White Party headliners.

Anil’s a busy guy during the annual extravaganza, managing DJ talent and performers throughout the weekend, and making sure the flow of DJ sets, transitions, and performances are executed in a timely manner from start to finish. He can also be spotted running around the parties with clipboard in hand) to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Anil explains he has always been a BIG FAN of all things White Party Palm Springs from his days in the 90’s as a guest, to now being a part of the staff bringing the event to life.

We love Anil, and he loves our community, proclaiming: #ILoveGayPalmSprings …because of the peace and serenity that I feel every time I drive though the city …because of the diverse LGBT community of family and friends that I have in PS, where it always feels like home... …because of the beautiful mountains that are visible wherever you go... such a clear vision of GOD’s handiwork …because of the many fine dining establishments the city has to offer. “I love to EAT! My favorites include Eight4Nine, Spaghetteria, Cheeky’s and I love me some GREAT SHAKES… …because of the LOADS OF FUN I have EVERYTIME I am in this BEAUTIFUL city Signing off with, #ShowsAndStunts I am sure we can all agree, Palm Springs is a better place because of visitors like Anil!

The week after White Party brings the cowboys to town. That’s a bit of a stereotype, but the Hot Rodeo certainly has its core in the wide-brimmed hat set. But who doesn’t like a little Brokeback fantasy?? The weekend features not only the rodeo events in Banning, but some pool parties and a dance under the stars in the Chill parking lot at Indian Canyon and Arenas Road.

And what would a month be in the desert without a drag show?

Queen of the Desert Pageant is set for May 31st at the Riviera.

Desert AIDS Project puts on this annual event to highlight new and “old” drag talent in the desert.

Our events calendar on page four of this special section has a rundown of these and other events to put on your social calendar. Add GayDesertGuide.LGBT to your mobile phone’s home screen so that you’re just a click away from the most complete LGBT events calendar available. Add your event for free or share it with us on Facebook. @GayDesertGuide

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MAY MAY2017 2017

Your Map & Guide to palM SprinGS

Welcome to GayDesertGuide.LGBT Welcome to the Palm Springs Oasis and the one website and app that will “Guide” you to everything you need to know while visiting or living in the Coachella Valley.

GayDesertGuide.LGBT is a mobile-first online guide to LGBT-friendly businesses, events and activities in and around the Palm Springs area.

We’ve put together this “Quick-Start Guide” with a map and some of the top LGBT-friendly places to frequent.

Follow Us: @GayDesertGuide

@GayDesertGuide

@GayDesertGuide

We have a complete guide to Happy Hours in the Palm Springs area on our website. Get great deals on drinks and food at these restaurants, bars and clubs. Bookmark us on your mobile phone so you can find Happy Hours anytime!

RetroRoom Lounge 33 Chill Bar/Scorpion Room 36 Oscar’s Café & Bar 39 Streetbar 41 Toucan’s Tiki Lounge 44 Trunks Cathedral City 54 LuLu California Bistro 59 Trio Restaurant 61 Moxie 67 Rio Azul Mexican Bar & Grill 68 Watercress Vietnamese Bistro 74 Bonta Cathedral City 32

Attractions

Dine

18

Pedego Electric Bikes

30

The Steakhouse at the Spa Resort Casino

19

EOS Fitness

51

Bongo Johnny's Patio Bar & Grille

20

LGBT Community Center of the Desert

53

Johannes Palm Springs

21

Camelot Theatres

54

LuLu California Bistro

22

Desert Rocks Indoor Climbing Gym

55

Pinocchio in the Desert

23

Escape Room Palm Springs

56

Peabody’s Café

24

CCBC Cathedral City

57

Hoo Doo Patio Restaurant & Bar

25

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

58

The Tropicale

26

Palm Springs Air Museum

59

Trio Restaurant

27

Architecture and Design Center

61

Broken Yolk Cafe

28

Palm Springs Art Museum

62

Copley’s Restaurant

29

Palm Springs Convention Center

63

Koffi North

30

Spa Resort Casino

64

Koffi South

31

Bike Palm Springs

65

Manhattan in the Desert

67

Rio Azul Mexican Bar & Grill

68

Watercress Vietnamese Bistro

Nightlife (See our Happy Hour Finder online) 32

RetroRoom Lounge

69

Reservoir , The Draughtsman

33

Chill Bar/Scorpion Room

70

Purple Palm

34

COPA Room

71

Thai Smile

35

Hunters Nightclub

72

Ristretto Coffee

36

Oscar's Cafe & Bar

Zin American Bistro

Purple Room Supper Club

73

37 38

SpurLine Video Bar

74

Bontá Cathedral City

39

Streetbar

40

Tool Shed

41

Toucan’s Tiki Lounge

42

Score Bar

61

Moxie

44

Trunks Cathedral City

Shopping 10

Destination PSP

11

My Little Flower Shop

12

Bear Wear

13

Motif

14

Hephaestus

15

Geras Toussant Gallery

16

Revive Salon & Day Spa

17

Antique Galleries of Palm Springs

Hospital / Urgent Care

80

P.S.A. Organica

Pharmacy

81

Revivals

Symbol Keys Grocery Store

Post Office Tennis Visitor Center

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // GDG3 COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT \\ 3

MAY MAY2017 2017

Sunny Dunes

Dinah Shore

Indian Canyon Dr

14 73 54

61

72

27

N Palm Canyon Dr 16

57

74

44

24

Gene Autry Trail 23

81

Mesquite Ave

18

80

67

71 3 1 53 38

55 32

Ramon

40

19

Belardo Rd

Kirk Douglas Way

68

10 56

15

Calle Encilia

35 12 39 42 51 33 36

13

El Segundo

Saturnino

58 34

Arenas

30

Tahquitz Canyon

Andreas

Amado

Downtown Palm Springs

26

El Cielo Rd

Farrell Dr

Belardo Rd

28

Mesquite Ave

Cahuilla Rd

37

Via Soledad

La Verne Way

E Palm Canyon Dr

Ocotillo Ave

San Lorenzo Rd

Sunny Dunes

Belardo Rd

17

64

S Palm Canyon Dr Mesquite Ave

Ramon Rd Saturnino Rd

Andreas Rd

Amado Rd

Alejo Rd

59 63 62 11

Ramon Rd

68

Arenas Rd

20

Calle Encilia

70 El Alameda

69

Tamarisk Rd

Tachevah Dr

Mel Ave

Indian Canyon Dr N Palm Canyon Dr

El Segundo

65

m Tra

ay W

41

Vista Chino

E Via Escuela

Racquet Club Rd San Rafael Dr

22

Grenfall Rd Warm Sands

Avenida Caballeros 29

Farrell Dr

S Sunrise Way

Camino Parocela

N Sunrise Way

21

Baristo Rd

Tahquitz Canyon Way

Farrell Dr

25

Map courtesy of HunKa Concepts

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MAY2017 2017 MAY

Bongo Johnny’s

214 E. Arenas Road, Palm Springs (760) 866-1905

2017 “Save the Date” Coachella Valley Events

Bongo Johnny’s Patio Bar & Grille is one of the best neighborhood restaurants in Palm Springs. Located in the middle of the Arenas area, Bongo Johnny’s is fun and relaxing with GREAT food.

The menu is fresh, but it’s not just about breakfast and lunch, we’ve got dinner too.

Come dine with us inside, or out on the patio, and experience a mini vacation with crave-able food, signature cocktails, and stellar service.

Get Fresh!

May 5 Cinco de Mayo May 5 Richard Milanovich Legacy Hike @ Indian Canyons May 5-8 Jeffery Sanker’s White Party Weekend May 5-28 Clark Gabel Slept Here @ Desert Rose Playhouse May 6 1st East Coachella Valley Pride Festival May 6 Cathedral City -Health Fair & Glo Run May 6 AAP’s Evening Under the Stars May 11-14 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival May 12 Pride Prom @ Palm Springs Air Museum May 12 United Way of the Desert Gala May 12-14 Palm Springs Hot Rodeo May 12-21 “Rock of Ages” @ Palm Canyon Theatre May 14 Mother’s Day

#ILoveGayPalmSprings @Destination PSP!

Now available at DestinationPSP - new #ILoveGayPalmSprings merchandise. Visit DestinationPSP in downtown Palm Springs.

Gay Wine Weekend

We’ve moved to JULY 14-16 so you can celebrate PRIDE & join us Out In The Vineyard! It’s a weekend of Wine & Celebration with new winemaker dinners, winery tours and events.

Visit GayWineWeekend.com

May 19 Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast at PSCC May 29 Memorial Day May 31 Queen of the Desert Pageant June 9-11

Splash House

June 18 Father’s Day

Hephaestus Jewelry

132 La Plaza, Palm Springs - 92262 760-325-5395 We are Palm Springs premier designer jewelry gallery, featuring artisan created wearable works of art, blended together with flair and sophistication to fit everyone’s fashion taste and budget.

We are known for our extensive and exclusive mens jewelry design collections that run from casual and fun to exotic and distinctive as well as one of the largest selections anywhere of gay marriage and commitment rings.

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June 20 -26

Palm Springs Short Film Festival

July 4 indepenDANCE Day Party July 14-16

Gay Wine Weekend Sonoma

Aug. 17-20

Big Bear Romp @ Big Bear Lake

Aug. 25-27

2nd Annual Comic Con Palm Springs

Oct . 26-29

Palm Springs Leather Pride

Nov. 3-5 Palm Springs Pride 2017 Nov.18 Desert Hot Springs Pride Festival

For More Info & Events visit GayDesertGuide.LGBT

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 19

MAY 2017

FOOD & DRINK

ON COCKTAILS I

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Our intrepid columnist has drinks and an early lunch at Eureka!, and checks out the offerings at Truss and Twine

By kevin carlow

, perhaps foolishly, put off buying a car after moving to the Coachella Valley—and, therefore, have been depriving myself of all that the Coachella Valley has to offer outside of Palm Springs proper.

However, I recently was able to get a taste of what I’ve been missing. It happened after an abortive trip to help my friend get locals’ Coachella tickets at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden; we decided to make the most of the trip and have an early lunch—and perhaps an adult beverage or two. We decided to try Eureka! in Indian Wells, a place that several people had suggested to me over the last few months.

The bartender, Kris, was super-attentive, guiding me through the cocktail menu as my companion desperately searched Craigslist for and try, folks), I got maple and honey on the tickets (against my advice!). I settled on The nose, changing to pecans and hazelnuts on Industry and Holy Smokes! to start. the palate. It was a nice American take on a The Industry is an easy-going mix of tequila, Highland Scotch. pineapple, ginger, orange and cilantro. Should Back in Palm Springs … speaking of back you find yourself looking for a cocktail to bars, I got a chance to see one of the best mollify a disappointing morning, I highly around at Truss and Twine. Actually, I got to suggest it. It is a tasty concoction (it’s hard not see it twice—once before the bar’s opening, to be tasty with pineapple and orange; they and once a few weeks into operation. go together like peanut butter and jelly) and I always like to give a place a little time to went down smoothly on an empty stomach. find its rhythm before I show up with my Breakfast! obnoxious criticism. Full disclosure: Several of I waited until my (very tasty) burger showed the guys who work here are buddies of mine up to get the Holy Smokes!, a riff on an Old … and that means I really want to bust their Fashioned. It comes with no shortage of chops. That being said, there isn’t too much flash; they use a smoker with hickory chips to to bust here. The menu is unlike any in the fumigate the Mason jar in which it is served.

Coachella Valley (that I have seen or heard After waiting the recommended 45 seconds, about, at least), having been broken into I took the lid off and got my first taste of the cocktail eras. They cover it all (ambitious!), smoke, bourbon, maple syrup and chocolate even the “Dark Ages” of the Surfer on Acid and bitters. It tasted like childhood—minus the the White Russian. Never mind that I began my bourbon, of course, like summer by the lake in bartending journey in the “Dark Ages”; we have New England toasting s’mores over a campfire. come a long way in just a couple of decades, Interestingly, it took a couple of sips to get that and reinventing these drinks has been a minor memory right. At first, I thought of campfires, trend in the big cities for a couple of years. It’s then hard chocolate candy, then marshmallow; novel to see it here in Palm Springs, as I do finally, I put it all together. I would prefer a tad enjoy a quality White Russian now and then. less maple—the sweetness became a bit much The first time I showed up—hilariously as I sipped—but I would definitely order it and accidentally in a blue denim shirt, which again, because it is a really nice cocktail. (For happens to be the Truss and Twine uniform—I heaven’s sake, though, never order a drink “less got a sneak peak at bar manager Dave Castillo’s sweet” if you haven’t tried it before. Trust your Game Changer, a marriage of the Eastside and bartender!) the Oceanside cocktail with the mint replaced Kris then walked me through the most with … wait for it … onion brine! Kudos to impressive part of the place: the back bar. I’ve him for using an actual original ingredient. said it before, and I’ll say it again: I always (My experiments with muddled pretzels are judge a place by its back bar. The selection not going as well as planned.) The onion brine of whiskey was unique, to say the least. Not brings a funky dimension to the drink. It’s not to toot my own horn, but it is rare for me for everyone, but give it try if you’re feeling to not know even one bottle on a back bar, frisky. and they had at least 10 with which I was For those feeling less-adventurous, I not familiar. Since I wasn’t driving, and had suggest the Queen’s Park Swizzle, a drink with already planned on a nap, I treated myself to a Caribbean roots dating back to the 1920s. At pour of their house label (!) single malt, Cask its heart, it’s Demerara rum, lime, mint and 311. It was served in a snifter, and the first Angostura bitters (or “ango” in the business thing that hit me was the alcohol—whoa, was parlance). The drink comes out looking like it hot. After adding a few drops of water (trust a traffic light, with the red ango on top,

The Holy Smokes! at Eureka! Indian Wells. EUREKA FACEBOOK PAGE

green mint on the bottom, and yellow in the middle—an inviting presentation. It goes down easy.

Sadly, I was not really in a cocktail mood, as I’d been dosing myself with tiki drinks before arriving, so I mostly accompanied the (excellent) steak tartare with a couple of glasses of nice rye whiskey. The whiskey options are great, and the DJ spinning throwback jams added a nice touch. The

cocktails run between $10 and $16, but there are several nice happy-hour options for us thrifty locals looking to unwind in the afternoon.

And afternoon drinking is a basic right in the desert, yes?

Kevin Carlow is a bartender at Seymour’s/ Mr. Lyons and can be reached via email at krcarlow@gmail.com.

True Business Class When it comes to private events, Fleming's will create an experience that exceeds your highest expectations.

Plan all-day meetings with breakfast, lunch or dinner menus—or customize your own.

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar 71800 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage 760-776-6685 www.flemingssteakhouse.com/private-dining

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MAY 2017

FOOD & DRINK

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WELL RED

JASON DAVID

HAIR STUDIO A chat with Patrick Bartlett—wine educator, chef and co-owner of Mood Wine LOVE YOUR HAIR

By christine soto

M

Country Club and Cook Street Palm De sert

eet Patrick Bartlett. He’s tall and energetic with a contagious smile. Oh, and he LOVES wine—and that love is infectious.

This love led to the creation of Mood Wine (www.moodwine.biz), a popular social wine club started by Bartlett and his partner, Jake Stanford. I went to a recent tasting and was pleasantly surprised by how many wine-lovers I met. “Moodies,” they’re called.

Bartlett grew up in Southern California in a blue-collar family. As a kid, he was in 4-H, showing goats. That’s where he got his start in wine—from a farmer’s perspective. However, his career started not in wine, but in sales and marketing for Xerox. You can sense his sales background when he describes a wine; it’s almost like a pitch. However, the wines he and Stanford choose don’t need a pitch; they are good on their own. That being said, Bartlett understands that some

people may need a nudge to get them out of their wine comfort zone.

After Xerox, Bartlett moved to Canada with his family, where he worked for a catering company and received culinary training.

From there, he lived and worked in Arkansas and Temecula, and has been in Palm Springs since 2009. He’s spent the past 15-plus years working in catering, food and wine education, event planning and winery management.

In addition to running Mood Wine and its quarterly tastings, he is currently the director of sales and marketing at TheBank, an event venue in Palm Springs.

Bartlett and I chatted and sipped Tyrrell’s Wine, an Australian semillon from the Hunter Valley that he picked out for the recent Mood White Wine Club.

When did you first start getting into wine?

In my early 20s while living in Orange County.

I had a manager (at Xerox) who was very sophisticated. I still remember that first bottle of crisp, chilled chenin blanc with a cheese plate on a warm summer afternoon—with little beads of condensation on the glass and a beautiful straw color. It was just slightly offdry. This was post Boone’s Farm. (Laughs.)

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What was your first wine love?

Chenin blanc, as I just described. My first wine nightmare was Thunderbird and Boone’s Farm.

Don’t ask how a 12-year-old consumed a bottle of each, chased with Coors beer. Not pretty.

What’s exciting about wine right now?

Its explosive popularity and the never-ending desire to not just discover the wine, but the story and place. The wine culture is growing up, and it’s exciting to see.

What inspired you to start Mood Wine?

Nobody in the desert was offering a great wine experience. I have experience with wine clubs, and it was just a perfect fit.

Your desert island wine?

For this desert? Rosé—anything rosé, as long as it’s dry. Abandoned on a desert island ... bubbles, bring on the bubbles: Champagne, sparkling wine, cava, prosecco, anything that has sparkly, joyful bubbles.

Your favorite food pairing?

Barolo and fettuccine Alfredo. This was the first meal I cooked Jake, on his birthday, a week after we met. I do this meal for him every year.

Patrick Bartlett

Your favorite wine book?

What to Drink With What You Eat, by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.

What are you drinking now?

I’m loving our newest discovery: Greco di Tufo, an amazing white wine with massive antiquity chops from Italy.

What do you love about the desert?

The power, spirit, energy, epic beauty and laid-

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We savor delicious Chinese in Indio, and drool over cheesecake in Cathedral City

By Jimmy Boegle

WHAT The shredded pork with garlic sauce WHERE Cie Sichuan Cuisine, 45682 Towne St., Indio HOW MUCH $8.50 as a lunch special; $9.50 as an entrée CONTACT 760-342-9888; ciesichuancuisine.com WHY It was worth the wait.

I’ve been hearing raves about Cie Sichuan Cuisine for months now. Some friends have even gone so far as to say that Cie serves some of the best—if not the best—Chinese cuisine in the Coachella Valley. Seeing as I love good Chinese food, and am generally unimpressed with the Chinese restaurants ’round these parts, I looked forward to dining at Cie Sichuan.

One problem: Cie Sichuan is a 28-mile drive from both my home and my office.

While I do get to the East Valley often, my schedule is usually slammed, so I don’t often have time to explore new restaurants and such. Ugh. However, on one recent weekday, I turned lemons into lemonade: A client was a no-show for a meeting in Indio. I suddenly had an open hour—so off to Cie Sichuan I went.

I would have loved to try Cie for the first time with several other people, so we could have sampled a variety of dishes. However, it was just me. Hmm … should I try something unique-sounding like the cold dressing beef slice and lung ($9.50)? Or the ribs-with-radish soup ($7.95)? The divine-sounding stir-fried pork belly ($10.50)?

I couldn’t decide, so I asked the server for advice; he recommended the shredded pork with garlic sauce, as a lunch special. I took his advice—and was glad I did.

After a lovely cup of egg drop soup, the entrée arrived. The pork was not shredded like you’d find in a burrito at a Mexican joint; instead, it was sliced into thin strips and coated with a splendid garlic sauce that included sprouts, carrots, green onions and peppers. While my breath after lunch was probably dreadful, my taste buds were enthralled.

I’m looking forward to trying more of Cie Sichuan’s cuisine … and with the rise of all the new delivery services (Yelp’s Eat24, UberEATS, etc.), it looks like I may be able to get Cie’s food delivered to my home soon, if I can’t already.

Awesome.

WHAT The chocolate-peanut butter cheesecake WHERE Capizzi’s Cheesecakes, 68718 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Cathedral City HOW MUCH $4.50 per slice; $25 to $35 for a whole cake CONTACT 760-408-8788; www. capizzischeesecake.com WHY It’s a decadent, reasonably priced dessert.

My sweet tooth was barking at me one recent afternoon as I drove down Highway 111. I wanted dessert—something nuanced and delicious. I was in the “downtown Cathedral City” area, and I remembered some raves I’d heard about Capizzi’s Cheesecakes.

I pulled off Highway 111, parked near Trilussa, and began looking for Capizzi’s. It’s tucked into one of the spaces that has seen a variety of businesses come and go in recent years—although more and more spaces are getting tenants, owner Louis Capizzi told me as we chatted after I’d found the place.

I drooled as I perused the cheesecake by-theslice offerings. Louie told me the original is especially popular, as is the pineapple coconut cheesecake. However, my eye was set on a gorgeous brown-and-black number: I was going to get a chocolatepeanut butter slice.

Since there’s no way to dine at Capizzi’s, I got the piece to go. Once home, I dug in.

Wow. This was one decadent dessert—and I mean that in the best possible way. The creamy peanut butter melded perfectly with the chocolate crust, top and chunks, as one would expect; chocolate and peanut butter are a classic combination, after all.

However, if the ingredients aren’t top-notch, or if they’re assembled in inappropriate proportions, this classic combination can fall sort. Well, there was no falling short with this piece of cheesecake; it exceeded my lofty expectations.

It turns out the Capizzi family has a lengthy and storied food history. There’s a menu near the counter for the Capizzis’ old Chicago restaurant—Louie told me some confused customers occasionally try to order off of it—and the Cathedral City space is now also offering pizzas, ravioli, cannoli and biscotti.

Well, my taste buds are very happy the Capizzi family is here in the Coachella Valley.

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By Jimmy Boegle

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650 E. Sunny Dunes Road - Palm Springs 760.459.4555 Open Daily 6a - 2p | Closed Tuesday

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: GREATER PALM SPRINGS RESTAURANT WEEK HAPPENS JUNE 2-11 It’s the favorite time of year for many Coachella Valley foodies: Greater Palm Springs Restaurant Week is almost here! This year, it will take place from Friday, June 2, through Sunday, June 11.

Why is the week so fantastic? Well, when else can one have a full, three-course dinner at Wally’s Desert Turtle for just $39?

For the uninitiated: During these 10 days, restaurants valley-wide offer special, discounted prix-fixe menus. In the past, the event has been dinner-focused—but this year, restaurants can offer special lunch menus, too. Three-course dinner prices are $29, $39 or $49, while two-course lunch prices are $15, $20 or $25. Participating restaurants should offer their regular menus during these 10 days, but emphasize the special Restaurant Week offerings.

As of our press deadline, the new Restaurant Week website had an ever-growing list of participating restaurants, along with the prices of their menus—but only a few of the actual menus had been posted. However, that handful of posted menus looked inviting. For example, Vicky’s of Santa Fe, in Indian Wells, is offering entrées including a 10-ounce flat iron steak, boneless beef short ribs or New Zealand lamb chops, among other offerings, plus an appetizer and dessert, for just $29. That’s one hell of a deal.

Check out visitgreaterpalmsprings.com/restaurantweek for more information.

PHO 533 IS NOW 533 VIET-FUSION Chad Gardner, the man behind the successful Dash and a Handful catering business, purchased Pho 533—then a longtime family-owned pho joint in Palm Springs’ Smoke Tree Village Shopping Center—back in 2015.

Ever since, Gardner has been guiding the restaurant through a series of changes. First, he revamped the menu. Next, he expanded the restaurant into an adjoining space, and completely revamped the décor—including the addition of a spring roll bar. Now he’s making even more changes to the menu—and to the name as well.

In fact, the only significant thing remaining from the old Pho 533 are those numerals: The restaurant is now called 533 Viet-Fusion.

“I had a vision of what it would be even before I first heard Pho 533 was for sale,” said Gardner in a press-release quote. “I have always wanted to blend classics with contemporary Vietnamese.”

New menu items include a Maine lobster-claw spring roll; ahi Viet-nachos (wonton chips and topped with avocado, spicy ahi tuna, cilantro, Fresno chili and various sauces); tamari-glazed Atlantic salmon; red curry “ramen”; and chile-braised osso bucco.

By the way, there’s a good reason Gardner is keeping “533” as part of the name: That was the number on the side of the USS Cheboygan County, an old Navy tanker that transported nearly 300 Vietnamese refugees who were fleeing the fall of Saigon in 1975. One of those passengers was 10-year-old Anh Ho Rock—the founder of the original Pho 533.

533 Viet-Fusion is located at 1775 E. Palm Canyon Drive, No. 625. For more information, call 760-778-6595, or visit 533VietFusion.com.

IN BRIEF Coming soon to the under-construction downtown Palm Springs redevelopment project: a Tommy Bahama restaurant. … Also coming soon to downtown Palm Springs: Urban Crates, an indoor farmers’ market sort of thing at 358 S. Indian Canyon Drive, a door or two down from Rooster and the Pig. There’s a sign up in one of the windows that says vendor stations are available by calling 760-808-3756. We’ll watch and see what develops. … Oops! We missed the opening of the Wine Emporium in Old Town La Quinta last September. Well, better late than never! The restaurant and live-music venue features a big retail wine room, and seems to have lots of cool stuff going on. Stop by 78100 Main St.; call 760-565-5512; or track down the place on Facebook for more information. … Add UberEATS to the growing list of services offering restaurant deliveries in the Coachella Valley. While I am morally opposed to the company’s management, I tested out the delivery service recently; I got some breakfast delivered from one of my favorites, the Broken Yolk Café. Pros: The delivery was fast, and the food came hot and fresh; it only cost 99 cents for the delivery itself. Cons: There’s no way to tip the driver via the app. Yeah, the app emphasizes that driver tips are neither necessary nor expected, but I still felt like a major ass when I realized I had only $1 in cash on me to give for a tip. Lesson learned.

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Le Butcherettes front woman Teri Gender Bender turns her inner demons into kick-ass rock ’n’ roll The blueskye report, may 2017: Ann wilson, mo'nique, boy george—and tons more!

KXCM host Brad Mercer joins forces with local band Braun Fraulein the lucky 13: Meet The BrosQuitos’ Bassist, and Ukulele Master John Robbins

www.cvindependent.com/music

The popular band looks back at two turbulent years—and its Coachella debut

29 CVIndependent.com

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE YIP YOPS

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 27

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Le Butcherettes front woman Teri Gender Bender turns her inner demons into kick-ass rock ’n’ roll

By Brian Blueskye

T

eri Gender Bender is one of the great female rock front women—and she continues to kick ass and take names.

Teri Gender Bender—her real name is Teresa Suárez Cosío—recently recorded and toured with the supergroup Crystal Fairy, which also includes At the Drive-In/Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Melvins guitarist Buzz Osborne, and Melvins drummer Dale Crover. However, she’s best known for fronting Le Butcherettes, which will be performing at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace on Thursday, May 11.

During a recent phone interview, Cosío started off by telling me that she’s always nervous during interviews. I broke the ice by telling her that the recent Crystal Fairy album was amazing, with incredible energy.

“I’m just so grateful that we were even able to make that album,” Cosío said. “I never expected in my entire life—at 27 years old after listening to the Melvins since I was 12—that I’d be collaborating with Dale and Buzz. I’m just happy it even exists. In a spiritual sense, I feel really relieved, and hopefully that opens up the door to hanging out the rumor was the Deftones crowd was only more with those guys, and more collaboration. there to see the Deftones,” she said. “It was the I’m really thankful for those memories of same with At the Drive-In fans. So far, knock recording it. The process was a gift within itself.” on wood, people have been very embracing Cosío said the group wound up being a toward us. The people who showed up early to cultural-exchange project, of sorts. Cosío was see us play knew the words to the songs, which I born in Denver to a Mexican mother and a never really expected. I was writing in my room Spanish father, and moved to Mexico later in her in Guadalajara when I was 12 years old, and I childhood. would have never expected to see me opening “It’s pretty surreal, to say the least. Everyone for these bands, and people showing up early to in the band is from different cultures. Omar is see us play. It’s given us a career and has opened from Puerto Rico, and Buzz and Dale are from doors for us.”

Northern Washington,” Cosío said. “It’s very While Cosío might be shy, she’s been open interesting to see those different worlds collide. about many of the things that happened to her It was like, ‘I didn’t know about that type of during her childhood, including her father’s food,’ and, ‘My mother will make breakfast fatal heart attack, which prompted her mother for you guys and make you some traditional to move her and her brother to Guadalajara Mexican food.’ It was great to see everyone from their home in Denver. She said music and exchanging cultures.” the arts gave her an outlet to express her pain.

Le Butcherettes, which got its start in “We lived in a small apartment during most Guadalajara, offers a surreal experience as a live of my childhood, so I wasn’t able to play guitar band, while the recordings are beautiful artistic any time of the day, because the neighbors expressions—with a blast of garage punk. I asked Cosío what the band means to her.

“For me, it’s my life, but I wouldn’t know how to describe it myself,” she said. “It’s always these different styles and inspirations, from movies to literature. The only thing I really know is that it’s provided me with a passport to tour the world and to be able to experience different artists and different people. I wouldn’t know how to describe it myself, either. I like that it isn’t easy to describe.”

Le Butcherettes have been on the festival circuit and have opened for bands such as the Deftones and At the Drive-In. Cosío said she was pleasantly surprised by the response Le Butcherettes received.

“The Deftones’ crowd was very open to us.

At first, I was a little on edge about it, given

would hit the walls. Writing was, and still is, a major outlet for me,” she said. “You have the liberty to complain or write whatever you want, and no one is going to judge you, unless you show someone. But me being an introvert, I was going to write about something and be so direct about it, but I always had this fear that my brother might take it and read it out loud— which he did before—and read it to our mom.

I had two options: Drown myself in alcohol like my father did—and I loved him a lot, even though he was a frustrated artist and drank a lot—or I could take the other path and try to drug myself up with literature. I know that sounds pretentious, but that’s the only way I can say it.”

Cosío admitted that she is afraid of being underestimated.

“That’s a big challenge, along with not taking it personally—especially if you’re a Latina woman, because you have to get used to stepping over obstacles,” she said. “(You need to) learn how to make that into art and use that as an inspiration. My inner demons have been a constant challenge, like those little voices in your head that say you aren’t good enough and that you’re not a good person. So I work on being a good person, which is a big spectrum— and I want to get to the bright light of the spectrum.”

Le Butcherettes will perform at 9:30 p.m., Thursday, May 11, at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Tickets are $12 to $15. For tickets or more information, call 760-365-5956, or visit pappyandharriets.com.

Teri Gender Bender, aka Teresa Suárez Cosío

The Blueskye REPORT MAY 2017

By Brian Blueskye

Ann Wilson

May is here! Congratulations on surviving the uptick in traffic during the festival season—and for dodging all of those confused snowbirds.

Now, it’s time for the heat. Fortunately, there are some great shows coming up to help ease you into summer.

The McCallum Theatre will go dark during the summer months. But before the curtain closes for the season, the theater is hosting several compelling shows. At 7 p.m., Friday, May 5, the Coachella Valley Symphony will join forces with jazz great Diane Schuur for Rhapsody and Blues. Tickets are $27 to $67.

At 4 p.m., Sunday, May 7, there will be a performance by the All Coachella Valley High School Honor Band, conducted by Richard Floyd. Tickets are $10 to $12. McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert; 760-340-2787; www.mccallumtheatre.com.

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino has a couple of events going on that are worth your consideration. At 8 p.m., Friday, May 19, Ann Wilson of the band Heart will be performing solo. A level of estrangement between Ann Wilson and her sister, Nancy, appears to have broken up Heart for the time being, after Ann Wilson’s husband reportedly assaulted Nancy Wilson’s children outside of a Heart concert last year. Family issues aside, Ann Wilson is a vocal powerhouse and will most likely rock the place.

Tickets are $39 to $69. At 8 p.m., Friday, May 26, Mexican music sensation Larry Hernández will be performing. Hernandez is a star in the Latin-music world and has racked up many hit albums and singles. Tickets are $39 to $69.

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 800-827-2946; www. fantasyspringsresort.com.

Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa has a great schedule as we slide into the summer continued on Page 30

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MAY 2017

MUSIC

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THE UPS AND DOWNS

OF THE YIP YOPS I

By Brian Blueskye

n the summer of 2015, I visited music producer Ronnie King’s studio, “Chateau Relaxo,” in Thermal as the Yip Yops recorded a new album.

At the time, the Yip Yops seemed ready to take the mainstream-music world by storm. The young band had just signed with talent-management company Hood and Associates, which was helping the band create that aforementioned album.

Shortly after that August 2015 article came out, the band’s name was changed to IIIZ. However, after a performance at the 111 Music Festival under that name in the fall, the band announced it had left Hood and Associates and was returning to its original name. Nonetheless, Hood and Associates released the album under the IIIZ name. (Today, the Yip Yops disavow that album.)

Of course, talent wins out—and the Yip Yops are as popular as ever, as shown by the band’s addition to the Coachella lineup in April.

I caught up with frontman Ison Van Winkle and drummer Ross Murakami in Palm Desert to discuss what happened with Hood and It was bullshit what they did, and they were Associates. completely out of line.”

“Basically, we were a younger, lessMurakami said they were saved by a good experienced band,” Van Winkle said. “We were lawyer. promised the world, and we believed it. We “The whole thing was a learning experience,” thought it would be an interesting journey. It he said. “Now we’re moving forward. In a way, just ended up being the worst-case scenario. we were prepared for the worst-case scenario.

They wanted to push us in a direction that Our lawyer wrote up the contract in a pretty we didn’t have any desire to go in, and in smart way. We didn’t like them, and we didn’t the moment, we were trying to be open, want to be a part of that anymore. Now we’re collaborative and cooperative. … We grew a lot free.” in that process, and looking back on it, we’re a Van Winkle said other local publications much stronger band and stronger friends. In have incorrectly written about the band’s that situation … we knew we had an out, and status, adding that one publication—which he we decided to exercise it and void the contract. would not name—incorrectly reported that the

The Yip Yops

The popular local band looks back at two turbulent years—and celebrates its Coachella debut

band members don’t have the rights to their own music.

“We’ve been completely free with no ties whatsoever for the past year,” Van Winkle said.

“I think there’s a big misconception, because there have been other articles and such, where people ask if we own the music, and, ‘How can they play these songs live?’ We own the songs, and we have owned the songs this entire time. The way that it was all set up was that we licensed them to use the recordings from Ronnie King’s studio—that’s it. They still have that right, and they can do with (the recordings) what they want. We don’t really care for those recordings, anyway. That’s it, and that’s where the line is drawn. We own all the music; we own all the rights to play it live; and we feel that needs to be pretty clear.”

Van Winkle said Hood and Associates was very controlling during the recording process of the album released under the IIIZ name.

“We don’t think that Ronnie King was able to produce to his full potential because of the label we were working with,” Van Winkle said. “It was a controlled environment, and he would tell us his frustrations as we would tell him ours. Our insight into working with Ronnie King on those sessions is not the Ronnie King most people work with. It was a very controlling, very grueling process.”

The Yip Yops have started to record again.

“We wanted to do some recording and remind ourselves of what we set out to accomplish,” Van Winkle said. “We wanted to do it ourselves and not with anyone else.

We’re going to control what it sounds like, and looking back at those recordings, everyone in our band feels they are eons better than what we did with the label. … It was a good reboot to everything. Since then, we’ve never stopped.”

The Yip Yops have been spending a lot of time as of late with another popular local band—the Flusters. The two bands played together on April 20 in each of the past two years at The Hood Bar and Pizza, and the Yip Yops played at the Flusters’ EP-release party last September. That release-party show was sold out, and The Hood Bar and Pizza’s security team had to turn away people long before 10 p.m., when the Yip Yops took the stage.

“The Flusters are always an amazing band to be working with,” Murakami said. “We’ve had a lot of meetings and calls, and it’s always been so fun to be working on something with the Flusters.”

Van Winkle said the Yip Yops have a lot in common with the Flusters; for example, the bands have similar goals.

“Both of our bands have a similar vision for the potential both of us have—just the drive and desire to keep progressing and keep getting out there,” Van Winkle said. “Both bands realize that this is our home, and it always will be, but to do what we feel the music has a potential to do, you have to get out and expand. Neither one of us wants to just play The Hood every weekend; we want more than that, and there’s more there. It’s good to have that, because we can push each other and reach that goal.”

Van Winkle said the Yip Yops have no regrets about where they’ve been during the past two years. He also explained where the band is at in the recording process.

“The main question we always get asked is, ‘Where can we hear your music?’ or, ‘When are you going to come out with some music?’” he said. “We know there’s a demand and an interest for it, at least locally, and from our point of view, we want to fulfill that desire, but we want to make sure we’re putting our best foot forward. We want to make sure what we put out can last longer than we can. With that, it’s taken us a little longer.”

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The Blueskye REPORT continued from Page 27

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months. At 9 p.m., Friday, May 12, country star Dustin Lynch will take the stage. He’s one of the newer stars of the country-music genre, with two high-selling albums and four No. 1 singles on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart; Lynch is definitely a rising star. Tickets are $40 to $60. Fans of international music, take note: At 8 p.m., Saturday, May 20, Filipino duo Martin Nievera and Lani Misalucha will perform their Masquerade show. The duo is well-known for performing pop standards and jazz—to opera music. Go and expand your musical palate! Tickets are $38 to $125.

The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-9991995; www.hotwatercasino.com.

Spotlight 29 has some big events on the calendar in May. How big? Really BIG! At 8 p.m., Friday, May 19, guitar icon and Eagles member Joe Walsh will be performing.

Although the Eagles broke a promise that they wouldn’t perform after the death of Glenn Frey by agreeing to play at Desert Trip-style festivals in New York and Los Angeles, called “Classic East” and “Classic West,” this is probably the closest thing the Coachella Valley will get to an Eagles show these days. Walsh is a big name on his own, and was cool enough to perform on the Foo Fighters’ most recent album, Sonic Highways. Tickets are $99 to $139. At 8 p.m., Saturday, May 20, comedienne and actress Mo’Nique will be at Spotlight 29. Mo’Nique is funny as hell, and her performance in the movie Precious, although disturbing, was epic. You won’t want to miss this one. Tickets are $45 to $65. Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison Place, Coachella; 760-775-5566; www. spotlight29.com.

Morongo Casino Resort Spa is rolling into May with a solid schedule through the summer. Get ready to relive the ’80s in a big way with two big acts: At 10 p.m., Friday, May 12, get ready to jump some rope and bulk up, because Survivor will be performing.

Yes, “Eye of the Tiger”! Tickets are $20. At 10 p.m., Saturday, May 20, Culture Club front man Boy George will bring the party. I caught the Coachella Valley stop of the recent Culture Club reunion tour, and I can say that

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Boy George remains very entertaining as a singer and front man. Tickets are $30. Check the Morongo website for details on other interesting shows, including a couple by comedian Ron White. Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-2524499; www.morongocasinoresort.com.

Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace is settling down after a slew of Coachella-related shows in April—but there’s plenty to take in at Pappy’s in May. At 8 p.m., Saturday, May 6, modern psychedelic-rock wild child Ty Segall will be performing. Segall is a trueblue, no-bullshit psychedelic musician. He can make some pretty fantastic records—and is one hell of a live performer. You really don’t want to miss this show, especially with it being at Pappy’s. Tickets are $27. At 8 p.m., Saturday, May 27, Dave Catching and the Rancho de la Luna cast of characters including Alain Johannes, Sweethead, The Mutants and the Mojave Lords will be playing on a bill that’s being called “Shared Hallucinations Part 1.” After seeing Alain Johannes perform solo last year, I must say: Make sure you get there in time to check him out. The Mojave Lords are also a lot of fun. Tickets are $30.

Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-365-5956; www.pappyandharriets.com.

It appears the Date Shed is going to go dark over the summer once again. If so, these are some of the events that will close out the Date Shed’s season. At 8 p.m., Saturday, May 6, reggae singer HIRIE will be performing. HIRIE sure had an interesting childhood: She was born in the Philippines; her father worked for the United Nations; and she had exposure to a lot of different cultures, including Hawaii, which influenced much of her music. Tickets are $15 to $20. At 8 p.m., Saturday, May 20, local bands Wild Sons, EeVaan Tre and Kanvaz will take the stage. EeVaan Tre is one of the Coachella Valley’s best talents; here’s hoping he will finally release some recordings sometime soon. Tickets are $8 to $12. The Date Shed, 50725 Monroe St., Indio; 760-7756699; www.dateshedmusic.com.

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MUSIC

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FROM TV TO RADIO TO THE STAGE

By Brian Blueskye

R

adio personality Brad Mercer is known for his long-running Bands ’N’ Fans show. However, his showbiz talents extend well beyond radio.

Mercer’s show can be heard every Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. on KXCM FM 96.3/92.1, and streaming at www.bradmercersbnf.com.

During a recent phone interview, Mercer talked about his true passions.

“I’ve done so much in my life that it boils down to helping other artists get to where they want to go,” Mercer said. “I’ve done so much in my life that I’ve wanted to pass it on to the younger artists who are trying to get somewhere in the business. The only way I know how to do that is to help promote them in some way.”

His showbiz career started rather inauspiciously.

“It started when I got my first guitar, which was back in 1955. I cut my teeth on live television at KTLA,” Mercer said. “My mother and father had a live television show called Bandstand Review. It was actually put together with the Mercer Brothers; it was my father and my uncle. They put me on one night, and it guys like Roger Miller, and everything I could. was before tape, and it was all live—and my It was the only thing I heard, because I wasn’t debut was a close-up on my face, picking my around rock ’n’ roll at the time. (As with) every nose. The director fell off his stool in the other musician in the world who wants to do control room and never forgot that. something, everything changed that night Ed “The next thing I knew, I had a guitar at 5 Sullivan introduced the Beatles. Whatever they years old and started learning Johnny Cash, did, I copied. I wanted to be a Beatle.”

In 1975, Mercer started his own band. He’d go on to record in Nashville, tour America— and just miss another potentially notable television moment, involving a recently departed comedy legend.

“I had six major albums behind me that didn’t do anything, because at that time, you had Fleetwood Mac coming out, along with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Those were bands that had all those labels behind them. The stuff I was doing back then was always a day late and a dollar short,” Mercer said. “I did make it to the Tonight Show green room. I had a song out at that time called ‘Don Rickles for President.’

Don calls me up and says, ‘You gotta come over and perform it. I’m hosting The Tonight Show; Johnny (Carson) is on vacation, and let’s do it!’ I’m thinking to myself, ‘Man, this is it!’ I’m getting ready to go, and I got bumped. He said, ‘Don’t worry, Brad; we’ll do it tomorrow.’ The next day, I’m at the pool in Burbank, and I get a phone call from Don’s manager: ‘Brad, Carson is coming back; Don is going to start shooting C.P.O. Sharkey; and you’re out.’”

Eventually, Mercer found himself in Jacksonville, Fla. That was where Mercer discovered another talent.

“I was at this comedy club called Sassy’s in Jacksonville Beach,” Mercer remembered. “I was sitting at the bar laughing and said, ‘I could do that.’ This guy next to me said, ‘Go ahead.

Brad Mercer Go on up there!’ I asked, ‘Who are you?’ and he said, ‘I own the club.’ I walked up onstage, and

KXCM host Brad Mercer joins forces with local band Braun Fraulein

everything I learned from my father came to me: I did five minutes and had them laughing.

(The owner) offered me a job to help him run the club. I booked acts who I had worked with like Pat Paulsen, Rita Rudner and a good friend at the time named Jay Leno. As I’m running these acts, I would go up and do five minutes, which would go to 10 minutes, and I was building material at the time. Jay would always call me and say, ‘Hey Brad. I’m coming through town; can you plug me in?’ I’d say, ‘Jay, all I have is $750. I can’t pay you any more than that.’ And he’d say, ‘It’s all right; we’ll go out and ride motorcycles.’ I would open up for him when he would come to town. That happened with George Carlin as well. The comedy led to radio.”

Mercer recently began recording and playing with local band Braun Fraulein—which means “Brown Girl” in German, he pointed out. Watch for an album-release show in the coming months.

“They’ve been here for a while,” Mercer said.

“They would play the Palm Canyon Roadhouse; they would play the Joshua Tree Saloon; and they would play free concerts. Everywhere they’d go, it’d be three guys: Jimi Heil on guitar, Mark Fry on bass, and Eric Mouness on drums. When they played, it mesmerized me, because it was different. We got to know each other. … They knew who I was and would bring me up onstage. They didn’t want to do

covers and wanted to do originals. I threw a bunch of originals at them, and when they played them, it took on a whole different aura and sounded really good.”

One of the songs they recorded is “Drain the Swamp,” which Mercer said is not particularly partisan. He explained the story behind the song.

“One night at the compound, which is Mark Fry’s studio up in Sky Valley, before the presidential election, we started jamming on a riff I created, and they got into it, and it started to come together,” Mercer said. “During that time period, you heard ‘Drain the Swamp’ and ‘Let’s Make America Great Again.’ We’re thinking, ‘That would be really cool, no matter who did it, no matter who was in office.’ We didn’t put politics into this at all. I just started singing ‘Drain the Swamp.’ I made up lyrics, and Jimi had the tape rolling. We took it back, and we were like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty good.’

“About a week before the inauguration, we released the video for it, and it was approaching 30,000 views. We had people saying, ‘You gotta play the inauguration.’

People really tried to get us to do that. It was nice to know they thought the song was that good. It wasn’t necessarily for Trump or Clinton; it had nothing to do with that. It was all about making America great again and draining the swamp in Washington, D.C., no matter who did it.”

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the

LUCKY 13 Meet The BrosQuitos’ bassist, and ukulele master John Robbins

By Brian Blueskye

What was the first concert you attended?

Britney Spears. My dad got tickets to the show and brought the whole family, and my nana slept through the entire performance.

What was the first album you owned?

Probably From Under the Cork Tree by Fall Out Boy. It was one of the first modern bands that piqued my interest as a kid, so, of course, I had to go out and buy the album.

What bands are you listening to right now?

Colony House, Coin, and Joywave. Colony House just came out with a new album with some real killer material.

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

A lot of people have been raving about Mac DeMarco, and me and the guys have sat and tried to give him a try, but nothing really clicked.

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John Robbins, TOMMY LOCUST

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“Get Down on It” by Kool and the Gang. It’ll probably be less relevant than it is now, but I think it’s a good funeral song, if that isn’t too morbid.

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

The best album I’ve ever listened to is Torches

by Foster the People. The album is loaded with beautiful tunes.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Up 2 U” by Walk the Moon—one of the band’s best songs, hands down.

The BrosQuitos. cory courtney

NAME Max Powell GROUP The BrosQuitos MORE INFO The members of the BrosQuitos have spent the past few years working on their music and performance skills—and all that hard work is paying off: The band will be releasing its first full length album, Vinyl Image, at an album-release party at the Indio Performing Arts Center at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 13. For more information, visit www. facebook.com/thebrosquitos. The BrosQuitos’ bassist is Max Powell.

their sound from their first album to their second, because there is a MAJOR difference.

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

The Virgins. Sadly, they’re not together anymore, but I’ll still be listing to them like they are.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Maroon 5; there’s something about them I’ve always liked.

What’s your favorite music venue?

The Red Rocks Amphitheatre (outside of Denver). It’s the most beautiful scenery a venue could have, and it’s always been my dream to play there.

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

Lyrics from the song “Time to Pretend” by MGMT have always stuck with me since I was a kid: “We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun. Yeah it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do? Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?”

What band or artist changed your life? How? The Shins. They have a lot of songs with meaningful lyrics—and always great music.

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

To the band Bastille, I’d ask how they changed

NAME John Robbins MORE INFO John Robbins has been around the local music scene for quite a while—and one of his many talents is his expert playing of the ukulele. He can perform classical pieces on the instrument, as well as a cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and even songs like AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.” Despite being visually impaired, he’s also a visual artist; his work can be seen at www.facebook. com/whoseworldcomic.

What was the first concert you attended?

The earliest one I can remember is seeing Jose Feliciano on an outdoor stage in Berkeley when I was a kid. It was great to see one of my idols at the time!

What was the first album you owned?

Nirvana’s Nevermind, back in high school.

Better late than never, right?

What bands are you listening to right now?

I’ve been listening to a lot of jazz recently with my dad: Steve Allen, Zoot Sims, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, etc. Otherwise, I’ve been really into J-Rock (bands from Japan): X-Japan, The Oral Cigarettes, The Pillows, Special Others and The Brilliant Green.

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

Any sub-genre of metal. What’s djent and metalcore? Why not just say you play metal?

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

Kaki King. I saw her play once back when her first album came out, but I’d love to see what she can do now since her style of playing has evolved so much within the last decade.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

1990s pop/pop-rock. It’s just fun to listen to!

Who wouldn’t want to bob their head to “The Sign” by Ace of Base or sing along to any Boyz II Men? What’s your favorite music venue?

The Hood Bar and Pizza in Palm Desert. It’s always a good time over there, especially for open mic!

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

“Let’s drive them crazy!” from the English version of “Hey Kids!” by The Oral Cigarettes, which is performed by a YouTuber called AmaLee. What band or artist changed your life? How? Jake Shimabukuro. I saw him live in 2006 when he played at The Knitting Factory with Kaki King. The way that he played ukulele was absolutely mind-blowing. I had no idea such a tiny instrument could be that powerful and move so many people. Needless to say, the ukulele has been my favorite instrument to play ever since!

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

I’d ask Jake Shimabukuro: “How does it feel knowing you’ve inspired so many people to learn how to play ukulele?”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Jake Shimabukuro’s arrangement of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

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

Nirvana’s Unplugged.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Little Monster” by Royal Blood!

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 33

MAY 2017

OPINION COMICS & JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

Across 1 “Listen up,” long ago 5 Allude (to) 10 1/8 of a fluid ounce 14 Perennial succulent 15 “I’d Be Surprisingly Good for You” musical 16 Certain mortgage, informally 17 Extinct New Zealand birds 18 Current host of Late Night 20 Far from optimal 22 Basic PC environment 23 Like lycanthropes 24 Jeté, for one 26 Grand Coulee or Aswan, e.g.

28 “Kilroy Was Here” rock group 30 Anthony of the Red Hot Chili Peppers 34 Go off to get hitched 36 Mr. Burns’ word 38 This and that 39 Ceilings, informally 40 Past time 41 Emo band behind 2003’s “The Saddest

Song” 43 “Ad ___ per aspera” 44 They may use tomatoes or mangoes 45 “Am ___ Only One” (Dierks Bentley song) 47 Jan. 1, e.g.

48 Dwarf planet that dwarfs Pluto 50 ___ ipsum (fauxLatin phrase used as placeholder text) 52 Longtime “Saturday Night Live” announcer Don 55 Epiphany 59 “Way to botch that one” 61 Elevator innovator Elisha 62 In ___ (properly placed) 63 “___, With Love” (Lulu hit sung as an Obama sendoff on SNL) 64 Golden goose finder 65 Trial run 66 Enclosures to eds.

67 Sorts

Down 1 Mad Men star Jon 2 1966 N.L. batting champ Matty 3 Trap on the floor, slangily 4 “Tik Tok” singer 5 Vacation spot 6 Annually 7 Needs no tailoring 8 I Love Lucy neighbor 9 Zodiac creature 10 Times to use irrigation 11 Sax player’s item 12 The Mod Squad coif 13 Battleship call 19 It may be sent in a blast 21 One way to crack 25 ___ out a living (just gets by) 26 IOUs 27 Hawaii hello 29 II to the V power 31 Genre for Cannibal Corpse or Morbid Angel 32 Start 33 Great value 35 Ended gradually

37 “Oh, well!”

39 Actor Oka of Heroes 42 Deck for a fortuneteller 43 Prefix with space or plane 46 They clear the bases 49 Island with earth ovens called ’umus 51 Eggplant, e.g.

52 Sound from an exam cheater 53 Frenchman’s female friend 54 Decomposes 56 Bonanza son 57 Kroll of Kroll Show 58 Admonishing sounds 60 Abbr. after Shaker or Cleveland ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@ jonesincrosswords.com) Find the answers in the “About” section of CVIndependent.com!

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BAD NEWS

BY SEAN PLANCK

C

oachella finally caught on to the craft-beer revolution with the birth of the Craft Beer Barn in 2014. When it comes to weed, however, the festival seems to be further ahead of the game, thanks to this year’s introduction of a WeedMaps-sponsored cannabis lounge for VIP ticket holders—just a few months after legalization was approved by California voters.

Meanwhile, another marijuana event, located just a couple of miles from Empire Polo Club at the corner of 50th Avenue and Calhoun Street in Coachella, could not get off the figurative ground.

Kushella Life was a cannabis festival open to the public, with free admission for Coachella Valley residents, slated for both Coachella weekends and Stagecoach weekend. Organizers worked with the city of Coachella to secure all permits required to enable the legal consumption of marijuana on the festival site. Produced by the Coachella Grow Association and Coachella Ventures, Inc., the festival was a place to purchase and consume cannabis for Coachella attendees and valley residents alike.

However, typical bureaucratic delays prevented permits from being issued until the event date was a mere three weeks away, which left organizers with an unfortunately short amount of time to recruit vendors, promote the event and book musical acts.

“We agreed to meet with the sheriff and a contingent of residents, and we did. Everyone was agreeable to the plan we laid out,” said executive producer Freddie Wyatt via phone from Washington, D.C., on Monday, April 17, after Kushella’s opening weekend. He had already traveled to another event to help Kushella Life organizers cut their losses.

“Everyone with the city of Coachella, from the fire marshal right on up to the mayor, was an absolute pleasure to work with. They were on board. They wanted to do it, and they wanted to do it right, which we appreciated.”

Alas, the cooperation was too little, and way too late. Attendance was estimated around 1,000 on Saturday, April 15, the festival’s biggest day.

“Peak time was Saturday, and next weekend should be bigger. With three weeks to promote, that’s about what we expected,” Wyatt said during that Monday, April 17, phone call.

There were high hopes for the second weekend of the festival, which was slated to start a day early in celebration of 4/20—but it was not meant to be. On Wednesday, April 19, organizers decided to pull the plug and cut their losses.

“Our sincere thanks to the city of Coachella, its mayor, councilmembers and management,” said an announcement on the Kushella Life Facebook page. “Thank you all for your support!

Due to circumstances beyond our control, Kushella Life will not move forward as planned, and has been cancelled. We are hopeful that the

A photo from the first—and, it turns out, only—weekend of Kushella Life. KUSHELLA LIFE FACEBOOK PAGE

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 35

MAY 2017

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

The Kushella Life festival cuts its losses; Canada moves toward legalization

event will return in late 2017. Once again, thank you, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

Wyatt remained optimistic when I texted him on the day of the cancellation. “Yes, we will retool and be back for next year, for sure!” he said. “We were obviously over-equipped this year, but that’s the plan.”

Canada Moves Toward National Legalization Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced legislation on Thursday, April 13, that would legalize marijuana for recreational use.

The proposed change would take effect in July 2018. Canadians would then be able to purchase flower, extracts and edibles from licensed shops, and grow up to four plants.

While the change would allow Canadians 18 and older to possess up to 30 grams of dried flower, provinces, territories and cities could pass morerestrictive laws, if desired.

If passed, Canada would join Uruguay as the only countries to completely legalize cannabis for recreational use.

The bill’s introduction was the fruition of a campaign promise Trudeau made in 2015 to end the Canadian prohibition of cannabis. In the announcement, the Canadian government said ending prohibition “would mean that possession of small amounts of cannabis would no longer be a criminal offense and would prevent profits from going into the pockets of criminal organizations and street gangs.”

Down here in the United States, cannabis is still listed as a Schedule I narcotic, meaning cannabis-industry finances are excluded from Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protection. This has made investors wary, meaning that billions of dollars could go to Canada and its more-cannabis-friendly banking environment rather than being spent in the U.S. It remains to be seen if this will happen. We may find out over the next year ...

U.S. Senate Considering ‘Path to Marijuana Reform’ Package of Bills Attorney General Jeff Sessions appears to be increasingly alone in his quixotic anti-pot crusade.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly recently went on Meet the Press and said, “Marijuana is not a factor

in the Drug War,” and in late March, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, unveiled the “Path to Marijuana Reform,” a bipartisan package of bills to address banking, taxation, civil forfeiture, decriminalization, descheduling, research and regulation of the booming cannabis industry.

The package includes the Small Business Tax Equity Act, which would create “an exception to IRC section 280E to allow businesses operating in compliance with state law to claim deductions and credits associated with the sale of marijuana like any other legal business.” Section 280E is a 1982 law meant to prevent illicit drug-dealers from claiming deductions related to the sale of narcotics. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is a co-sponsor of Wyden’s bill in the Senate, while Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Florida) is sponsoring companion legislation in the House.

The Responsibly Addressing the Marijuana Policy Gap Act would remove federal penalties and civil-asset forfeiture from individuals and businesses that are in compliance with state marijuana laws. The law would ensure access to banking, bankruptcy protection and advertising for marijuana businesses; expunge criminal records for select marijuana-related offenses; and ease barriers for medical-marijuana research. It would also end drug-testing requirements for federal civil service jobs in states where marijuana has been legalized.

The third bill, the Marijuana Revenue and Regulation Act, would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. It would impose a federal tax structure on pot products, define permitting for marijuana businesses, and regulate cannabis much like alcohol has been regulated for decades.

“This is common-sense legislation that will eliminate the growing tension between federal and state marijuana laws,” said Robert Capecchi, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, in a statement on the organization’s website. “Voters and legislatures are rolling back antiquated state marijuana prohibition policies, and it’s time for Congress to step up at the federal level.

States are adopting laws designed to improve public safety by replacing the illegal marijuana market with a tightly regulated system of production and sales. The federal government should be working to facilitate that transition, not hinder it.”

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