Coachella Valley Independent July 2018

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EY IN D EPEN D OA C H EL LA VA LL

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VOL. 6 | NO. 7

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JULY 2018

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

As we put this edition of the Coachella Valley Independent to bed, I have decidedly mixed feelings.

On the good side … I am pretty happy with the issue you’re now holding in your hands. One of the news stories herein is Kevin Fitzgerald’s update on the legal drama surrounding California’s End of Life Option Act. In recent weeks, the law—which gives terminally ill people with less than six months to live the chance to get life-ending drugs and then use them, if they so choose—was ruled unconstitutional and suspended, before being reinstated on appeal. The ultimate fate of the End of Life Option Act probably won’t be Editor/Publisher decided for a while—in fact, it probably won’t until the Supreme Court of California gets involved.

Speaking of Kevin’s ongoing coverage Jimmy Boegle of the End of Life Option Act: We just learned that it has won a national award.

Assistant Editor The Association of Alternative Newsmedia has named Kevin and the Independent as a Brian Blueskye finalist in the Beat Reporting category for publications with a circulation less than coveR and feature design 40,000. This is the second year in a row, and the third time in four years, that the Mark Duebner Design Independent has won an AAN Award— despite the fact that we’re one of the Contributors smallest publications in the association. I Stephen Berger, Max Cannon, Kevin couldn’t be more proud.

On the not-so-good side … I felt Carlow, Ben Christopher, Charles disheartened when I looked over this year’s Drabkin, Katie Finn, Kevin Fitzgerald, list of AAN Award finalists—because a Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Bob Grimm, whole lot of amazing journalism was done in 2017 by publications that have since Michael Grimm, Dwight Hendricks, been gutted. The Houston Press nabbed Valerie-Jean (VJ) Hume, Brane Jevric, eight awards—largely for work done before Keith Knight, Brett Newton, Dan the owners laid off almost the entire staff and eliminated the print edition after a loss Perkins, Guillermo Prieto, Anita Rufus, of business due to Hurricane Harvey. LA Jen Sorenson, Robert Victor Weekly won seven—for journalism done before new ownership took over late last The Coachella Valley Independent year and annihilated the staff.

Meanwhile, here at home, the Independent, print edition is published every month. like many Coachella Valley businesses, is All content is ©2018 and may not be trudging through the economically slow published or reprinted in any form part of the year. Let me make it clear: We’re on firm financial footing, and we aren’t without the written permission of the going anywhere, but that doesn’t mean our publisher. The Independent is available figurative financial belts aren’t tighter than free of charge throughout the Coachella we’d like them to be.

Valley, limited to one copy per reader.

Therefore, I am asking all of you brilliant, insightful readers for your financial support.

Additional copies may be purchased We don’t charge for our content, online or in for $1 by calling (760) 904-4208. The print; it’s free and open to all, and always will Independent may be distributed only by be. That said … great stories—like Kevin’s the Independent’s authorized distributors. End of Life Option Act coverage—cost money to produce, edit and publish. So, if The Independent is a proud member and/or supporter you have a buck or two to spare, I ask you to consider heading to https://cvindependent. of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, CalMatters, Get Tested Coachella Valley, the Local com/supporters—or, heck, send us a check Independent Online News Publishers, the Desert to the address at the upper left. Even $5 or Business Association, the LGBT Community Center of $10 is greatly appreciated. the Desert, and the Desert Ad Fed. Whether or not you have that extra buck or two to send our way … I welcome you to the July 2018 print edition of the Coachella Valley Independent. As always, thanks for reading, and let me know if you have any feedback.

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

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 5

JULY 2018

OPINION OPINION

KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS I

BY ANITA RUFUS

don’t cook. It’s not that I can’t; I just don’t enjoy it.

Still … I can’t imagine what it would be like to learn to cook if I couldn’t see.

At the Braille Institute in Rancho Mirage, Chef John Phillips teaches people with limited vision how to develop what he calls “the basic skills a food handler would need to know in a professional kitchen,” including using knives safely (“There are NO plastic knives in my kitchen!”), chopping vegetables, making sauces, defrosting frozen foods, baking meatloaf, gauging food temperature, practicing sanitary precautions and using a fire extinguisher—all the basic skills that enable someone to safely prepare simple meals.

“I sometimes have four or five people in the class who can’t see at all, so I will pair them up with someone with at least partial sight,” Phillips Moreno Valley, so he headed for California. says. “We don’t do foods that are deep-fried, “I had never been to California,” he says, “so I but I can teach them how to flip an egg—we went. I worked there for about a year, but I got practice with a slice of bread—bake barbecue really tired of pulling weeds in 110-degree heat, chicken, and make vegetable soup.” so I started working as a cook in a few places.”

Phillips, 55, a La Quinta resident, has lived Phillips’ career has taken him from San full-time in the Coachella Valley for 23 years.

Bernardino to Solana Beach to Garden Grove, Born and raised in St. Cloud, Minn., he began and finally to the Coachella Valley. He’s worked working in kitchens at the age of 14 as a at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Casey’s, dishwasher. “In my family, my brothers and I Ramada Inns, Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, always worked. My parent said we had to work La Quinta Cliff House, Touché in Rancho Mirage, for our ‘stuff,’ so we always had the nicest cars and Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, among and clothes.” others places. He has been a head chef as well as One night, the fry cook didn’t show up, and a food and beverage manager for 39 years.

Phillips’ boss told him he was going to be the fry Phillips said he has seen a lot of Coachella cook that night.

Valley restaurants come and go. “Everyone with “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I a little money thinks they can open a restaurant. don’t think anyone really does until after high They don’t realize the overhead costs, taxes and school,” he said. By age 18, he was already fees, and that you just can’t keep adding things cooking full-time. to the menu.”

Phillips went to culinary school. Some of His work as a chef is how Phillips met his his teachers owned a catering company, so he wife, Caroline. “I was working at a hotel in San picked up additional work. “In those days, we Bernardino, and she used to come to get my had a cow hanging in the back, and would cut famous ribs,” he said. “One night, we were out the mold off and cook the steaks,” he said. of ribs, and she asked to speak to the chef.” The Phillips was working at King’s Supper Club rest, as they say, is history. on the Mississippi River when he decided he In his 40s, Phillips thought he needed wanted to take a break from cooking. One of his glasses and went to see an eye doctor, who sent brothers had started a landscaping business in him to a retina specialist after diagnosing the “wet” type of macular degeneration in both of his eyes. “Dry” macular is slow-progressing, and can often be controlled with diminishing progression over time. “Wet” macular is fastmoving and treated with injections directly into the eye.

“I’ve had 33 injections already,” Phillips said, “and I have so much scar tissue now that they probably won’t be able to give me shots anymore. I have some peripheral vision in my right eye, but my left eye is pretty well gone.”

Phillips walks with a white red-tipped cane, John Phillips. has a computer with special devices, and

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

Meet John Phillips, a vision-impaired professional chef who shares his skills at the Braille Institute

proudly says he “can do anything that anybody else can do.”

Although Phillips has been volunteering at the Braille Institute for the past few years, he was originally reluctant to go there at all.

“I think a lot of people don’t take advantage of what Braille offers, because they figure if they attend, they’ll just learn how to read in Braille,” he says. “It’s so much more than that.”

Phillips not only teaches cooking classes at the Braille Institute; he caters holiday meals and special events for up to 100 people. He also teaches a class in history/philosophy asking what he calls “big questions.”

“People need to know there is so much here that they can do and learn—piano, computers, agriculture, cooking and classes in so many other subjects,” he says. “It’s about learning life skills and sensory awareness. I have one student

who is totally blind, and I make him do a lot of the work, because he has ambition. There are a lot of people who just want to sit back and feel sorry for themselves.

“My wish is to see my daughter married and to have grandchildren before I totally lose my sight. I’m fortunate. There are some people who’ve never seen in their whole life.”

What advice does Phillips have? “Never give up. There’s always something more to come.”

With an attitude like that, John Phillips could make me enjoy cooking.

Anita Rufus is also known as “The Lovable Liberal.”

Her show That’s Life airs weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon on iHubradio, while The Lovable Liberal airs from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Email her at Anita@ LovableLiberal.com. Know Your Neighbors appears every other Wednesday.

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NEWS

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IMPOSING ‘MORALS’ D

As attorneys fight in court over the fate of California’s End of Life Option Act, terminally ill people face legal limbo

By Kevin fitzgerald

uring the short and unsettled lifespan of California’s End of Life Option Act—signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in October 2015, and taking effect on June 9, 2016—terminally ill patients diagnosed as having no more than six months left to live have become the targets of repeated legal challenges, leaving their precious final days in this world unsettled and unclear.

The fate of the law has been particularly unsettled since May 15, when Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia ruled the law was invalid on the grounds that it was passed unconstitutionally during a special session of the California Legislature. During the session, Gov. Jerry Brown directed legislators to enact legislation that would improve healthcare for the state’s citizens. As result of Judge Ottolia’s ruling, participating physicians were barred from writing prescriptions for sanctioned life-ending drugs, while pharmacists were forbidden from providing those drugs to qualifying patients.

A couple of weeks later, Ottolia denied a motion filed by two terminally ill adults and one physician requesting that he vacate his earlier ruling to invalidate the law. But on June 15, the state’s 4th District Court of Appeal granted a stay of Ottolia’s ruling following emergency motions filed by the two patients, the doctor and Attorney General Xavier Becerra. As a result, the End of Life Option Act (EOLA) remains in effect until all of the legal challenges can be resolved.

Both national and California-focused surveys conducted over the last few years show that about 70 percent of citizens support a terminally ill person’s right to determine the point at which their life will end.

The law is indeed helping terminally ill Californians. The first annual report from the California Department of Public Health, as required by the law, was issued in July 2017. It showed that through Dec. 31, 2016, 191 terminally ill Californians had received prescriptions from 173 doctors for aid-in-dying medication. During those first

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nearly seven months of the law, 111 of those individuals (58 percent) decided to self-ingest the medication. There were no indications the law had been abused by motivations of suicide or greed—something opponents of the law said could happen. The second annual report is due this July.

Despite public support of the law, and the apparent the lack of abuse, opponents of death-with-dignity laws nationwide continue to push the courts to invalidate them.

John Kappos, a partner at O’Melveny and Myers LLP, which currently represents the national Compassion and Choices organization, said he’s dismayed that EOLA opponents keep trying to push their version of morality on others.

“If the choice (to participate as a patient or doctor in California’s ELOA) is voluntary, as described in the law, then why should a few people who do not like the option’s existence be able to decide for everyone who might want to avail themselves of the end-of-life option?” he asked.

Joan Nelson is an 82-year-old resident of Salinas who suffers from a rare and terminal form of cancer called leiomyosarcoma. She decided to enter the legal fray as one of the two patients who filed the motions that led

to the stay of Judge Ottolia’s ruling, in part because of her family history.

“When I was a little girl, my grandmother came into the house, and she died there,” Nelson said. “I was maybe 4 1/2 to 5 years old, and I was really proud, because I had learned how to skip. I wanted to skip for her, and they kept telling me I couldn’t. But finally, they let me into the room. They told me not to look at her. … The shades were drawn, but I skipped a few steps, and then I left the room. … I was supposed to be content, but I remained frustrated all my life. As a result, I became an amateur thanatologist, and I’ve been fascinated by the phenomenon of death all my life.

“I’ve been on a mission to normalize death for a long time. My parents did not handle their deaths well with me. They did not allow me to see their dead bodies or their ashes.

They were trying to protect me, but instead, they left me with a whole lot of incompletes.”

Nelson said she believes the court decisions won’t affect her either way.

“I think I’m free,” she said, happily. “I’ve got my meds, so I’m free to do what I want. I am blessed, and having these medications is enabling me to avoid what I call those dreaded “D’s”: decline, diminishment and all of that. I

may never take the medication, but I no longer have fear of watching myself go into a horrible downhill spin. I’m no longer afraid of that.”

Just before the California 4th District Court of Appeal issued the stay, Kat West, the national director of policy and programs with Compassion and Choices, described the chaos terminally ill patients were facing as a result of the court battles.

“There are a lot of patients and their family members who have been left in limbo,” West said. “That’s the worst result. Also, we’re hearing from a lot of hospice staff people who are really upset and asking us what to do and how to help their patients. We’re getting calls from doctors whose patients are in the midst of this process, and they’re very upset, because they feel that they’ve been forced to abandon their patients at their greatest time of need.

It’s been a horrible, tragic situation.”

The issue probably won’t be settled any time soon; the case will likely need to be decided by the California Supreme Court.

“The appeals court made the legally correct decision by reinstating the status quo of the law being in effect,” Kappos said it a press release. “… Ultimately, we are confident the courts will rule the law is constitutional and valid.”

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 7

JULY 2018

NEWS

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TALES FROM LINE 111 A

It was the first time he’d ever taken the SunBus in our car-crazy Coachella Valley. It won’t be the last.

By bRANE JEVRIC

few weekends back, at a party in Indian Wells, I gobbled down a tall drink in a can. The drink was red and cold … and it tasted so good.

No wonder … I didn’t realize it was cranberry juice and vodka.

The party was over for me. I knew I wasn’t myself, but I was sober enough to realize it was not a good idea for me to drive that night.

I left my car safely parked in a gated community. As I slowly walked toward Highway 111 to request a Lyft ride, I discovered my iPhone was dead.

I had about $20 on me, and no credit card. I didn’t even realize I was actually standing at a bus stop until a SunBus pulled up next to me.

It was a Line 111 bus en route from Coachella to Palm Springs.

In my 20-plus years here in the desert, I’ve never been on the bus. The SunLine Transit Agency, founded in 1977, runs buses seven days a week all over the valley. I hopped in and paid only $1 for a ride to a bus stop literally steps away from my home in Palm Springs.

There were quite a few people on the bus— which was clean and air-conditioned; it even had Wi-Fi. I soon found out the people on the bus were much more interesting than the people at the party I’d just left.

The first fellow passenger I chatted with was a long-bearded fellow with an expensive backpack in his lap. Allan is a middle-age lawyer from Seattle who was taking an overnight break from a Pacific Crest Trail through-hike. He started the hike near the Mexican border.

“I plan to end it in Seattle, four months from now,” he said. “… I’m taking a long sabbatical from years of hard work as a corporate lawyer.”

Allan told me that the next morning, he planned to continue his hike, heading toward Big Bear.

As we chatted away, an apparently homeless man entered the bus in Cathedral City. His clothing was soiled, and he carried a beat-up, old backpack. He went through his pockets and put some change in the machine by the driver, but was short of a full fare. Before Allan and I could react, a voice from behind us asked: “How much?”

“Fifty cents more,” said the driver.

Another man who was apparently homeless was sitting in a row behind us. He got up, walked to the front, pulled out a handful of change, and paid the fare difference.

Since I needed my car the next day, I asked the driver when the first bus was headed back toward Indian Wells in the morning. He said there was a ride almost every half-hour or so, starting at 5 a.m.

I was actually looking forward to riding

the bus again. I was up early and hopped on the bus like a pro. I paid a buck for the ride without asking how much the fare was. The bus was again almost full, and cold like an ice box. I soon struck up a conversation with a tattooed fellow. A tat on his right bicep got my attention. It read: Fuck off!

“I got it in jail,” he said without a hesitation—while flexing.

Brian is in his early 30s and has been in jail and prison “quite a few times.” His left arm was tattooed with gang symbols all the way to his fingers.

“You’re asking me: Why do I ride the bus?!”

Brian said with a grin. “Because it beats the hell outta walking, that’s why!”

Brian told me that during the summer, a lot of homeless folks get on the bus and ride all day long, “because it’s nice and cold in here.”

At a five-minute stop in Cathedral City, Brian left, and I met another friendly passenger.

José is an older Latino man who offered me a cigarette, even though I didn’t ask for one.

We chatted as we smoked outside. José showed me his right knee, which was bent, arching like a bow.

“I was hit in this knee by a truck in Tijuana, many moons ago,” he said. “I was lying in the middle of the road in agony, and the driver who ran me over drove away like nothing happened!” After surgeries and physical therapy, José’s “days of playing soccer and driving a car are over. So now I’m a regular on the bus.

“And then,” José said with a wink, “there are girls on the bus as well, and I meet plenty of them every day right here!”

Mel is a woman who rides the bus to and from work at a Palm Desert restaurant. She said she loves the bus, but “not every (woman) feels comfortable riding it at night.”

Mel pointed to placards with warnings in Spanish and English that live recording was taking place on the bus. There are also warnings that say attacking the driver is a criminal offense that carries a severe punishment.

I briefly chatted with the driver at another

required five-minute stop.

“Not long ago, I was a project manager on a $150 million business venture, and then things turned for worse,” the driver said.

He lost his job and moved here to the desert, because his wife found a job as a nurse.

“Driving a bus is a decent job,” he said. “I’m

not out there in the cold or under the direct sun, and the company treats me well. Life is good!”

I got to my car and drove home thinking of all people I met during just two rides on the SunBus. I’ll be taking a bus ride again soon— and I’m looking forward to it.

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JULY 2018

NEWS

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DEADLY ROADS W

City officials in Desert Hot Springs hope law enforcement and roadway enhancements can decrease traffic fatalities

By brian blueskye

ith a population of about 25,000 people, Desert Hot Springs is one of the smaller cities in the Coachella Valley—yet DHS has the second-most traffic accidents among the nine cities.

These accidents are often deadly: In 2016, there were seven fatal traffic collisions in DHS, while in 2017, there were eight—and the stretch of Palm Drive between Pierson Boulevard and Camino Aventura seems to be particularly dangerous.

“Our accidents are actually decreasing, but it’s still a major issue for us,” said Desert Hot Springs Police Chief Dale Mondary. “In 15 years, we’ve had at least 25 fatal accidents. It’s not as many as Palm Springs … but that’s still a lot for Desert Hot Springs.”

In an effort to curb the number of accidents, a safety-enhancement zone will soon go into effect on that stretch of Palm Drive between Pierson and Camino Aventura.

“Any fine for a moving violation is doubled in that area,” Mondary said. “That was just another part of our approach to try to get people to slow down and drive safer. There are people who don’t pay any attention to the speed limit. They think, ‘I have to be at work in Palm Desert at 8 a.m., and if I leave my house at 7:20 a.m. and drive 70 mph, I can get there in time.’ They do that instead of getting up earlier and driving the speed limit.

“This is just one way we hope to slow people down. A lot of the offenders are repeat offenders who get more than one citation in that area, so if their fine is doubled, they’re going to think, ‘I can’t afford $700 to $800 for a ticket!’ That’s a tough sell for us, because we are a blue-collar working community, and we don’t want to take money out of people’s pockets that could be spent on their families. But what if you’re driving 65 in a 45, and you run over somebody and kill them? You’re going to be criminally charged and spend years in prison.”

Desert Hot Springs Mayor Scott Matas said a recent fatality helped lead to the safety enhancement zone.

“The last death that happened was Pamela Carrillo; she crossed the street and lost her life,” Matas said. The 17-year-old was struck by a car and killed in March. “We brought the family in and talked to the family members, asking what we could do better. One of the things they suggested was putting together a speed-safety zone. We hope that signage, streetlights, stoplights and restriping the roads will work together. Do we want to cause our residents more grief when they have to pay a ticket? No, but we do want to hold people more responsible for what they’re doing. You can’t go 65 mph up a street when people are walking along the side of it.”

A lot of jaywalking takes place along that aforementioned stretch of road—something the city is also trying to crack down upon.

“Over the past couple of months, we’ve written probably at least 50 jaywalking tickets,” Mondary said. “We need more crosswalks, because the reality is if you live in this particular part of the city, the nearest crosswalk is a quarter-mile away. People are going to say, ‘I’m just not going to walk down that far; I just want to get to the bus stop across the street.’ The problem is they try to run across five lanes of traffic that are in a 45 mph zone.”

Matas said the city has been examining the problem over the past two years with surveying and traffic studies.

“When I became mayor 2 1/2 years ago, one of the priorities I wanted to set with the City Council was so many pedestrian accidents and deaths,” Matas said. “I wanted to make our roads safer. We put together a plan to prioritize the stretches of roads that were the worst. Our staff did an analysis and showed us where the problems were. … We’ve put together a plan on where we needed to put some funding and received a state transportation grant about two years ago. The bids are due by the end of July for construction, and construction (should) start late August through September.

We’re going to add an additional stop light on Camino Aventura, and choke and restructure the lanes so they aren’t as wide, which causes people to slow down. We’re going to put better bicycle lanes in, sidewalks on the west side of the street, and crosswalks for the kids, given there are schools close by. We’re going to add 23 streetlights to light up the streets better, and with the new LED technology, they will point straight down onto the streets and not up into the night sky.”

Even after the changes are made, it’ll be up to DHS residents to be smarter drivers and pedestrians. “(Pedestrians) don’t realize that even though they might have the right of way to cross the street, you’re not going to win a battle with a 2,000-pound car going 55 mph,” Matas said.

Brian blUeskye

Mondary added: “The solution is people being responsible and crossing where they should be crossing.”

Matas said the state transportation grant was a huge help.

“The problem that we have is we know where the problems are; the problem is always money,” he said. “… Traffic safety has always got to be a priority. We just bought a motorcycle for our police department, because we need to slow traffic down. Whether you lose one life or 15 lives, it’s alarming either way.”

Mysterious signs that say “No Matas” have appeared near the intersection of Dillon Road and Palm Drive; they also call for a signal

light and crosswalk to be put in at Camino Aventura. They were apparently put up by an attorney with the support of former Mayor Adam Sanchez.

“This individual came in and was uneducated about what we were doing, and he tried to make allegations that the City Council wasn’t doing anything,” Matas said. “One of the first things I did (as mayor) was put together priorities of our City Council, with traffic safety being a priority, but it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to find money and put together the projects. We were already in the process of fixing that roadway long before he put up that sign.”

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NEWS

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LOOKING TO NOVEMBER A

Republicans held their own in the primary—but it’s all uphill from here

By ben christopher, calmatters

fter the primary election, things are looking good for the California Republican Party … that is, not catastrophically bad.

It may be as close to good as the state’s second-biggest political party can hope for in California in 2018.

Democrats and Republicans fought to a virtual standstill on Election Day, avoiding the nightmare scenarios that political insiders had been fretting about for months.

Republicans made it into the top two spots in some of the most important contests for statewide office. That includes a decisive second-place finish by San Diego businessman John Cox, who will go on to face Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the race for governor. That could prop up conservative turnout in November, even as Newsom tries to rally his base against the candidate he calls a “foot soldier” of President Trump.

But Republicans failed to make it into the November race for U.S. Senate (which was largely expected), lieutenant governor (not quite as expected) and insurance commissioner (though a former Republican with no current party affiliation came in first).

Republicans did not manage to shut Democrats out of any competitive congressional races—despite the Democrats’ own worries about that—boosting the latter’s hopes of regaining control of the House in November.

Republican turnout was not suppressed

by Trump, his low statewide approval ratings notwithstanding. So now what for the California GOP? “They’re looking to charge up the base in seven key congressional districts,” said Mike Madrid, referring to seven Republicanheld districts in which a majority of voters supported Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. “In California

Republican politics, that’s about all you can consider a victory at this point.”

Madrid is a Republican political consultant who worked for Antonio Villaraigosa’s gubernatorial campaign and is sharply critical of the party under Trump.

A California Republican hasn’t been elected to any of the statewide constitutional offices or the U.S. Senate since 2006. Party registration has been sliding ever since, dipping below the share of voters without a party affiliation.

Republicans may have placed second in a number of statewide races this time, but if recent trends continue, that merely forestalls defeat in November. The various Democratic candidates for governor cobbled together more than 60 percent of the vote, compared to less than 40 percent for the Republicans.

In the attorney general’s race, where Republicans also managed to avoid a shutout, incumbent Xavier Becerra bested retired judge Steven Bailey, who placed second, by 21 percentage points.

One right-of-center candidate may have scored a first-place victory, though he isn’t listed as a Republican. Steve Poizner, who served as the state’s Republican insurance commissioner from 2007 through 2011, ran for his old job without a stated political party preference. The lack of an “R” next to his

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Supporters of John Cox hope he can pull off an unprecedented upset in the governor’s race come November.

name may have helped.

“We understand that we’re the underdogs,” said state party chairman Jim Brulte. For months, he has argued that the party’s way forward is to consistently remind voters that Democrats have controlled every lever of power in Sacramento for eight years—and are therefore responsible for any problems facing the state.

“They own it; they broke it, and we’re the fix,” he said. “Their strategic reason for wanting to mention Donald Trump in every other sentence is because even though they’re in charge, they don’t want to take credit for California.”

Democrats get it.

“It’s going to be Trump, Trumpism and the Resistance,” said Newsom spokesman Nathan Click while describing the campaign ahead.

In his speech on election night, Newsom described Cox as “a foot soldier in Trump’s war on California.”

Cox responded in his own speech the same night: “It wasn’t Donald Trump who made us the highest tax state in the country. It was Gavin Newsom and the Democrats.”

Hammering Democrats on taxes, particularly on the recent increase in the state’s gas tax, will be a central talking point for Republicans in the coming months.

In one unequivocally good piece of news for the state’s GOP in this election, voters overwhelmingly opted to fire Josh Newman from his state Senate seat in Orange County.

The successful recall campaign strips Democrats of their supermajority control of the state Senate, although they hope to win it back in the fall. It also provides Republicans with a political game plan for the months ahead.

“People who supported the gas tax

(increase) are going to have a lot of explaining to do,” said Brulte.

Pete Peterson, a Republican who ran for California secretary of state in 2014 and who is now the dean of Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy, said he hopes the party thinks a bit bigger than the gas tax.

By overwhelmingly backing a left-leaning candidate like Newsom over a relative moderate like Villaraigosa, the Democrats have left the Republican Party an opening in California, he said.

The premise of the Villaraigosa campaign was to tack toward the center of California’s political spectrum, embracing targeted government assistance and a liberal immigration policy, while pumping the brakes on expensive programs like a proposed singlepayer health-care system, enthusiastically supporting charter schools and occasionally wading into conservative rhetorical territory about red tape and bureaucratic excess.

With Villaraigosa’s loss, “there’s a significant part of the Democratic Party that is not going to be represented in this governor’s race,” said Peterson, who supports Cox. “So the question I have for Republicans is: Do you see that as an opportunity?”

Madrid says it’s too late. Cox embraced the support of President Donald Trump and spoke in favor of his immigration policies.

“To think that somehow moderate, centrist Democrats are going to move over and vote for a Trump supporter because they’re paying some extra money at the pump completely fails to grasp what is happening in this country and this state,” Madrid said.

CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 11

JULY 2018

NEWS

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JULY ASTRONOMY I

Brilliant heavenly ST bodies light up the

BE D E T VO Gamb

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By Robert Victor

t’s planetfest, with five bright planets in July’s evening hours! Three of them far outshine all stars.

Venus, the brightest, gleams at magnitude -4.1 to -4.3 in the west at dusk, and sets more than two hours after sunset. Jupiter glows at magnitude -2.3 to -2.1 in the south to south-southwest at dusk. Mars rises in the east-southeast to southeast two hours after sunset on July 1, one hour after sunset on the 16th, and at sunset on the 31st. Earth overtakes Mars on the night of July 26, passing within 35.8 million miles four nights later, on the night of July 30-31. This is our closest approach to Mars since 2003, and the nearest until 2035. As Earth approaches Mars in July, the red planet attains rare brilliance, kindling from magnitude -2.2 to -2.8, to outshine Jupiter.

Mercury shines at zero magnitude first for the few days and lingers very low in the westnorthwest twilight glow, to the lower right of (to the upper right) of Regulus on July 9.

Venus, within 16-17 degrees July 1-15, and July 10: See four planets simultaneously widening to 20 degrees away by July 20, when in the evening sky. You have two choices: 1. it fades to magnitude +1. Saturn, of magnitude About one hour after sunset, look west to west0.0 to +0.2, ascends through southeast toward northwest for brilliant Venus 16 degrees up, the south-southeast dusk, reaching its high with Mercury degrees its lower right and system, and if16you lease,tothe company I know I should at explore solar, but point the south about 4.5 hours after will sunset 5 degrees horizon.

Jupiter your is then 40 you lease above from the takes it, lowering I’veinbeen procrastinating.

What on July 1 degrees uppayment. in the south to south-southwest, monthly Solar companies alsoand motivate me to take the next step?

The most prominent stars, also of magnitude Saturn is about 20 degrees up in the southeast. have some panels in stock now that were The best motivation should be the zero, are golden Arcturus, high in the south2. Look nearly two hours after sunset, when here components and/or savings you can expect with In southwest to west-southwest, andsolar. blue-white Venusbefore and Mars are 5 degrees abovepanels opposite were subject to the new tariff—so that exchange for just a little bit of your time, Vega, high in east-northeast. horizons. Find Venus low in the west to westmeans you have great pricing right now. you can reduce your average electric bill In the morning, Mars is by far the brightest northwest; Jupiter in the south-southwest; anywhere fromtwilight, 25-50 percent—and just “star” in morning sinking low in the Saturn in the southeast to south-southeast; and Wow. How much time are we talking? keep that in your pocket southwest asmoney the month progresses.

Ineach the Mars low in the east-southeast to southeast.

Give Renova call, before and we’ll looklook at your month. you can first week, Then note Saturn verytake low your in thetime westJuly 11: Oneahour sunrise, very southwest, degrees to with Mars’the lower right. The roof low inwhile east-northeast slender 4 percent you’re onfor thethe phone and give deciding34 what to do savings! two brightest crescent. The new moon occurs 12 at youonanJuly initial If you real stars are Vega in the westnorthwest 7:48 p.m. evaluation. decide toto northwest, and Capella, climbing inmove the northeast.

July 13, in early dusk: About 25 minutes after Assuming forward July 1: At dawn, in the south-southwest, sunset, look for the slender 2 percent crescent things look quickly, your find bright Mars within 7 degrees to the lower about 3 degrees up in the west-northwest, good, a site some system can be right of the waning gibbous moon. At dusk, 29 degrees to the lower right of Venus and 13 survey at your up and running find four planets: Mercury very low in the degrees to the lower right of Mercury. home will before the huge west-northwest, 17 degrees to the lower right Sunday, July 15, at dusk: One hour after collect detailed summer bills of brilliant Venus; Jupiter well up in the south; sunset, Venus is only about one degree to the hit.

If youlow lease, and Saturn in southeast. About two hours left of the 13 percent crescentinformation moon. Regulus roof you’ll enjoy after sunset, watch for bright Mars rising in the and Mercury are about 7 and about 17 degrees dimensions, no money southeast, and another 40 minutes later, watch to the lower right of Venus. If you have an tilt andinshade, free gibbous moon rising 16 degrees fordown; the waning unobstructed horizon, keep Mercury view as well as a few toinstallation; the lower left of Mars. as it sinks lower, toward the west-northwest July 2-12: horizon. If nothing blocks your view,items, then you other and, with At dusk, Mercury, our solar system’s innermost planet, stays degrees to maythe be able to spot Mars before Mercury sets like condition of your electric panel.

Renova and SunPower, fixed16payments the lower right ofwhich Venus.means If you look exactly one We some 16 also degrees of phone west. The bestyou time to can getnorth on the with for 20 years, as electric hour aftercontinue sunset, Mercury willyour appear highest, look SCE is about 1.2 hours after usage; sunset. that, If you spot and to get your past prices to go up, savings nearly degrees as up,well! on July 4, and will reach Mars beforewith Mercury combined the disappears, site survey,that willmakes five will 6increase greatest elongation, 26 degrees from the sun, a planetsusinto view simultaneously!

If mountains allow create a precise, customized week later, on July 11. Mercury is fading fainter prevent you from doing this, then note MercuryOK—pretty good points. Anything else? proposal that will show you exact costs each night as it sinks into bright twilight.

Venus-Jupiter-Saturn in west to east order in and savings.

Yep! The full 30 hours percent Federal July 5, 1 to 1 1/2 after sunset:Tax The star the early evening, before Mercury sets; then wait That’s If you to Venus-Jupitermove Credit is stillofinLeo, fulliseffect the end Regulus, heart withinuntil 5 degrees of until Marsit!rises, anddecide you’ll see forward, installation takes only of 2019.

If you purchase, you receive Venus for nine evenings through July 13, fitting Saturn-Mars spanning 150 degrees.2-3 days, depending theFace sizewest of your system. the Tax to lower thebinoculars. cost of your within the Credit field of view of most July 16 aton dusk: for the 22 percent Watch nightly as Venus moves just more than crescent moon, and Venus within 13 degrees Paid advertisement brought you byright. Mercury is 18 degrees to the one degree per day, and passes one degree north to to its lower

July's evening sky chart.

ROBERT D. MILLER

Castor Deneb

Solar Q&A

Pollux

Mercury Vega

8

Altair

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Regulus Arcturus

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29

1

8

Mars

Saturn 15 22 29

Jupiter 1

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1 8

15 22

1 15 Venus 22 29

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Spica 15 22 29

Antares

Evening mid-twilight occurs

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Stereographic Projection

lower right when of Venus. planet and we look almost directly from Sun isIf 9oyou’re Map by Robertaway D. Miller below trying horizon.for all five July the 1: 46 minutes sunset. bright planets, best timeafter to look is about 1 the sun to see it. One hour after sunset, look 46 sunset, " " when " hour, 9 minutes15:after Mars will low in southeast to find Mars within 10 degrees 31: 44 " " " have just risen about 30 degrees south of east; to the lower left of the nearly full moon.

Jupiter will be well up in the south-southwest, Night of Monday, July 30: Tonight, during and Saturn will be 33 degrees to the upper right the midnight hour at 12:50 a.m. on Tuesday, of Mars. If you spotTHEMars before Mercury sets, Mars has its closest approach to Earth since you’ve got it!

August 2003, and the closest until September CHAMBER July 17: If you have an unobstructed horizon, 2035. Mars reaches its high point at 12:44 a.m., 2015 & 2017 you can spot six solar system bodies with the while 30 degrees above the southern horizon.

BUSINESS F THE YEARafter sunset. unaided eye aboutO1.1 hours The website of the Astronomical Society of July 18: In order from west-northwest to the Desert (www.astrorx.org) has a listing of our east-southeast, nine bright objects lie along the evening star parties. Sawmill Trailhead (SMT), zodiac and above the horizon just over an hour our high-altitude site (elevation 4,000 feet) will after sunset tonight: Mercury, Regulus, Venus, have a star party at dusk on Saturday, July 14. a fat crescent moon with Spica 9 degrees to its lower left, Jupiter, Antares; Saturn and Mars.

Robert C. Victor was a staff astronomer at Abrams With mountains surrounding us, we are not Planetarium at Michigan State University. He is 84-001 54, Coachellanow CA.retired | augustinecasino.com likely to see Mercury and MarsAvenue simultaneously. and enjoys providing sky watching Night of Thursday, July 26: Mars is at opportunities for a variety of groups in the opposition tonight as Earth overtakes the red Coachella Valley.

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CVI SPOTLIGHT: JULY 2018 A Musical Worth a Toast: ‘The Wedding Singer’ Comes to the Palm Canyon Theatre

E

verybody loves a good wedding.

However, whether the nuptials are for a family member, an old friend, or an ex, the best part of the wedding is the reception.

“All right! Everyone out on the dance floor—no exceptions! I can feel all the happiness in here tonight!” This is how Robbie Hart starts off a wedding reception.

He knows what he’s doing; after all, he is a professional wedding singer.

It’s now been two decades since Adam Sandler’s hit film The Wedding Singer came out. Let me offer you a quick recap: In 1985, Robbie Hart—New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer and rock-star wannabe—is the life of the party … that is, until his fiancée leaves him at the altar. Heartbroken and devastated, he starts to make every wedding as disastrous as his own. Meanwhile, Robbie meets a waitress named Julia, and he falls for her … but Julia is about to be married to a powerful businessman. Robbie must figure out how to win her heart before it’s too late.

That 1998 film was turned into a 2006 Broadway musical, which today is being produced by Palm Canyon Theatre. Catch the play from July 6-15.

Anthony Nannini is the show’s director and choreographer. Anthony attended a musical-theater conservatory for two years in New York City, working on Broadway himself. After the glow of the lights wore off, he moved to the valley and has now been here for more than six years. He’s become a Palm Canyon Theatre regular, both as an actor and a choreographer—but The Wedding Singer will be Nannini’s valley directing debut.

The movie is famous for its soundtrack, so

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I had to ask Nannini if those songs made it into the musical. “A lot of the show is original music now—it’s not a jukebox,” he said. Of course, Robbie’s “Somebody Kill Me” is indeed included.

As for plot: “There is a lot of it that follows the same general storyline (as the film), but with new subplots to jazz it up a little bit,” Nannini said.

While The Wedding Singer was on Broadway for less than a year, the musical did make an impression, garnering five Tony Award nominations. “The songs are super-catchy and fun,” Nannini said. “It was very wellreceived during its time on Broadway. When I would go for auditions when I lived in New York, I would hear the girls using ‘A Note From Linda’ or duets using the song ‘Come Out of the Dumpster.’ I heard these numbers and just thought they were great!”

Nannini said he’s excited about helming this production. “This is my chance to prove my directing skills. This play has the same kind of stupid humor that I can relate to and understand, so it’s totally perfect for me.”

Most of the valley’s theater companies go dark over the entire summer—but the Palm Canyon Theatre does not.

“The Palm Canyon Theatre has been here 22 years and averages 14 or 15 different shows per season,” Nannini said. “During the summer, they offer a kids’ camp for local kids who are interested in experience on the stage with professionals and semi-professionals.

They offer kids’ classes on makeup, acting, dancing and comedy, and then they put on a show for the parents, but anyone can come to it. (It is) also a nonprofit educational

The cast of The Wedding Singer rehearses to prepare for the July 6 opening.

theatre, so they try to incorporate kids into the shows.” They have already announced the next season of shows, so it doesn’t look like the company is slowing down anytime soon.

The Wedding Singer will be performed at 7 p.m., Thursday; 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, from

Friday, July 6, through Sunday, July 15, at the Palm Canyon Theatre, 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. Tickets are $32 to $36. For tickets or more information, call 760-323-5123, or visit www.palmcanyontheatre.org.

—Dwight Hendricks

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FILMS AND THEIR STARS

MAKE THE EASY CHOICE

THE #1 CHOICE COMFORT AIR

A movie series featuring special guests brings fabulousness to the Palm Springs Cultural Center

W

By dwight hendricks

hat do you have to do to stay relevant in Palm Springs? “Keep it gay, keep it gay, keep it gay!” would be the answer from famed Broadway director Roger DeBris.

This was on my mind after seeing The Filmmakers’ Gallery presentation of the musical film The Producers in June. Before the screening, producer Jonathan Sanger and Tony Award-winning actor Gary Beach—who played DeBris in the Broadway musical and the film adaptation—did a funny and insightful Q&A. The Filmmakers’ Gallery is the brainchild of Paul Belsito and Steven Roche, a team that relocated from Long Beach. The Filmmakers’ Gallery is a series of screenings and events with “special guest” appearances by friends and well-known stars from the “gallery” of entertainment-industry colleagues. It takes place on the second Saturday of the month (usually) at the Palm Springs Cultural Center—formerly known as the Camelot Theatres—and on July 14, it will feature a 50th anniversary showing of Yours, Mine and Ours with Morgan Brittany, who played Louise Beardsley in the film.

“We won’t screen anything where we don’t have a live guest who is connected to the film.

That is what separates us from the others,” Roche said. “We want to appeal more to the educational aspect of the film. It’s an open question-and-answer forum so people can ask about how an actor got the role, or how (the movie) was different to produce from other films.”

Yours, Mine and Ours stars Lucille Ball and is about a widower who has 10 children— who falls for a widow who has eight. Will they merge into one huge family, or won’t they? Also part of the July Gallery is Michael Stern, the author of the book I Had a Ball: My Friendship With Lucille Ball.

“Michael will be our guest moderator, as well as selling and signing his book,” Roche said.

“Michael and Lucy met in the early ’70s; she called him ‘my No. 1 fan’ on The Mike Douglas Show, and it stuck.”

What’s the biggest challenge for Belsito and Roche? “We like to show older movies, and unfortunately, that means the cast is older,” Roche said. “Like that last surviving munchkin from The Wizard of Oz, who just passed away (in May). It’s a bit of a double-edged sword: Who’s alive, and where do they live?”

In August, The Filmmakers’ Gallery will do something unusual—present a newish film.

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Paul Belsito and Steven Roche, aka The Filmmakers’ Gallery.

“We’re excited for Aug. 11: We’re screening The Beales of Grey Gardens, which came out in 2006,” Roche said. “This is very different. It’s a sequel documentary of the original 1970s documentary by the Maysles brothers,” which was about Jackie Kennedy’s aunt and cousin.

“We’re lucky to have Jerry Torre, who was the groundskeeper and friend to Big Edie and Little Edie. He wrote a biography, The Marble Fawn of Grey Gardens: A Memoir of the Beales, the Maysles Brothers, and Jacqueline Kennedy. His story is really fascinating: He is the only person who is alive who knew that group and can talk firsthand about what happened there—what was like to be friends with them, and living there with them. We’re excited about that.

When we announced this film and the guest, we started to sell tickets on the first day.”

The Filmmakers’ Gallery presentation of Yours, Mine and Ours takes place starting at 5 p.m., Saturday, July 14, while the presentation of The Beales of Grey Gardens takes place starting at 6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 11, at the Palm Springs Cultural Center, 2300 E. Baristo Road, in Palm Springs. Tickets are $10 to $15. For tickets or more information, call 562-354-1490, or visit www.facebook.com/thefilmmakersgallery.

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FUNNY BUSINESS By brian blueskye

T

here’s not much of a standup comedy scene in the Coachella Valley—but The Hood Bar and Pizza and aspiring local comedian Jacob Cantu are hoping to change that.

Cantu has often made people laugh during the Wednesday-night open-mic at The Hood— and management has taken notice. As a result, Cantu is now organizing a standup comedy night at The Hood every other Sunday. This month, the night is scheduled for July 8 and 22.

“I always had it in the back of my mind to of him. He had Alzheimer’s, and I took care do it, but I just didn’t have the balls to do it,” of him for about five years. I was depressed, Cantu said during a recent interview. “My and my therapist told me, ‘You know, you’re grandpa died in 2015, and I was taking care funny here when you tell me about sad stuff;

Solar Q&A

I just moved to the Coachella Valley from an area where solar wasn’t very prevalent, but I see a lot of it out here.

What do I need to know?

Unfortunately, you now probably understand why there’s so much solar installed in the desert. When the temps hit 110 on a consistent basis and don’t drop much at night, your electric bill rises up to crazy heights. Southern California Edison has some of the highest rates in the country, and solar is a good way to combat them.

Sounds good. How much can I save?

If you lease with no money down and free installation, with a reputable local company like Renova, your fixed monthly lease cost should be 25-50 percent less than your existing average electric bill.

That means with a system sized to offset 100 percent of your yearly electric usage, you’ll only pay the electric company a couple of bucks each month if your usage stays the same.

Wow—that’s pretty big savings. Will innovations in panels make my system obsolete before it’s even paid for?

If you lease your system, it’s warrantied for the entire 20-year lease, and you will enjoy a production guarantee, which means if it produces less than what is promised, you

will be compensated for it. If you purchase a system, it should pay for itself with savings in five to eight years—and with a premium panel like SunPower, you could enjoy free power for more than 30 years, with their expected life of 40 years. And with SunPower, the panels are guaranteed to still be producing 92 percent of their original amount of power after 25 years.

That’s impressive!

I’m in a gated community.

Can I still get solar?

Yep! With the Solar Rights Act of 1978, your HOA cannot prohibit you from installing solar, make you move it if it loses more than 10 percent of its production capability, or compel you to spend more than $1,000 on skirting or other aesthetics.

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Aspiring standup Comic Jacob Cantu hopes the comedy night at The Hood is the start of something big

you should try standup comedy.’ I told my wife about it, and my wife found an ad for an open-mic—and I just did it. I sucked, but I got hooked and got a couple of laughs.”

He’s now been performing for almost three years. At a recent open-mic night, he told a humorous tale about a woman in yoga pants chiding him and ruining his day because he was purchasing Doritos.

“I still don’t know how to be myself when I’m onstage yet,” Cantu said. “That bit at open-mic with the Doritos was probably the most comfortable I’ve felt onstage ever. I’ve consciously been trying to do stuff like that.”

Cantu has long had standup comedy aspirations, and said he was inspired by greats including George Carlin and—before his, uh, recent troubles—Bill Cosby.

“I had Bill Cosby’s Himself on tape, and I just watched it over and over and over again,” Cantu said. “When George Carlin was putting out an HBO special every year, I was living in Mexico. My dad made sure he had DirecTV as soon as it came out and that we had HBO. I watched any special that would come on—stuff like Chris Rock when he did Bring the Pain, and Dave Chappelle. It was before the internet.

“I did a class with this guy who had the only standup open-mic (in the valley) at Caliente Tropics. I knew it was a hustle, but I supported him, because I didn’t want them to stop the open-mic. I paid him $50. It wasn’t like I was being told anything I didn’t know already.

I listen to a lot of podcasts, and one thing I learned from them is to go up there and be yourself. The jokes come later. The first part is learning how to be yourself onstage.”

Cantu said The Hood’s open-mic night has been a great place to learn.

“The Hood is a tough room, especially on Wednesday,” he said. “People want to go see music, and the thing about music at a bar is that music is in the background. When you (perform) standup, you have to get people’s attention. I’m not a dirty comic; I don’t cuss, and I walk on the borderline talking about death a lot. It’s hard for me to get a bar’s attention on a Wednesday night—but it’s also made me better. I let them listen to themselves be assholes. If you’re quiet for a second, the talking of the people watching you will shut everyone up, and I’ve learned to do that at The Hood, which has been a good thing.

“One of my main motivators is having a regular comedy show there. I also want to have a comedy open-mic somewhere so people can

Jacob Cantu. Brian Blueskye

try it. It’s going to be raw; it’s going to be a little rough, and there are going to be people who are funny—or who think they are funny.

But at least you know what you’re getting into, and that’s how you get better.”

Cantu said putting together the first show, which took place June 10, was personally challenging.

“Driving over here to meet you, I was worried, because I thought I was going to get ambushed or something. That’s what makes you a standup comedian,” he said.

“Nigel (Dettelbach, the promoter/booker at The Hood) is used to dealing with confident people. He’s used to dealing with people with self-esteem. Nigel wasn’t so sure, and it came together on the fly. I put together the show real quick, and comedians came down from Los Angeles.

“There’s no comedy scene here, and when I started doing this, I had nowhere to go. I’m 35, and I know where I am in life. I’m not going to be on television. The highlight of my life would be to run a show here in the Coachella Valley and get paid for it—or getting a famous person who thinks I’m funny to write jokes for them.

Why not here? Standup gives you an outlet.

You can’t play an instrument, but you can talk on a microphone.”

On top of the every-other-week shows at The Hood, Cantu is working with Plan B Live Entertainment and Cocktails in Thousand Palms on a comedy night.

“My wife is pretty mad at me, because I’m dedicating a lot of time to this, but I think it’s important,” Cantu said. “Someone has to start this, and I know there are other standups in the valley, but it takes a lot of work to put shows together. … (It would be nice) if I had someone to help me, because I don’t want to get divorced anytime soon.”

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 15

JULY 2018

ARTS & CULTURE

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HOORAY FOR CLAY D

By stephen berger

o you remember what it was like to play in the mud? Well, Silica Studios in Palm Springs has elevated this cherished childhood memory into an artistic experience.

For 15 years, owners Daric Harvie, Dona Vanden Heuvel and Tim McMullen have been providing professional studio space and supplies to Coachella Valley ceramic artists. It all started when longtime friends Harvie and McMullen came to the valley to take ceramic classes at College of the Desert. There, they met Vanden Heuvel—and the three of them determined there was a demand for a professional studio space where artists could have access to equipment and supplies that were otherwise available only to students in a ceramics program.

They decided a membership program made the most financial sense and opened Silica Studios in 2003. Their decisions paid off: Silica Studios allows students, novices and professional artists to grow and develop their work outside of a classroom. Still in the original location on Williams Road—near Sunny Dunes Road and Gene Autry Trail—the studios have doubled in size since opening, to approximately 3,000 square feet.

Daric Harvie gave me a tour of the facilities.

At the entry, a small but impressive gallery introduces creative possibilities available through the studio door. Beyond that door are two large high-ceiling rooms. One room is for throwing clay on a potter’s wheel; the other is dedicated to hand-building. Light pours in from the industrial-sized garage doors thrown open to the desert sky. Despite an outside temperature beyond 100 degrees during my visit, the space was cool and comfortable.

It’s meticulously organized and very clean— despite all of the, you know, mud. It felt very laid-back.

Through the garage doors are two large concrete courtyards with tables, potter’s wheels and a collection of kilns that would make any ceramic artist envious. I’ve had my own ceramic studios over the years; they always were in a basement, dark and cramped, so I was obviously excited by the atmosphere, the space, the coolness of the air and the fragrance of the wet clay.

“Clay is such a primal experience,” Harvie said.

“I think I need to come here and make something,” I replied.

Harvie told me he and his co-owners have tried to make a safe place to create—one that is encouraging and filled with positive energy. The focus is on high-fire stoneware and porcelain, but the studio can also fire lower-temperature terra cottas. The studio has begun producing custom dinnerware in limited productions for chef-oriented restaurants in the area. Studio artists can also do commissions for local designers.

“Is that a reduction kiln that I see out there?” I asked. Reduction firing requires a gas-fired kiln with the ability to burn off all the oxygen inside so that the glazes are chemically altered. It produces interesting glazes that cannot be achieved any other way—and it is something I could never do in a basement.

“Yes, it is” Harvie replied. “We also have electric kilns and a raku kiln in the back.”

Raku is a Japanese technique of removing a piece of ceramic from the kiln, while it is still red-hot, with a pair of tongs. It is then thrown into wood chips or other combustible materials. The burning wood chips produce iridescence and velvety textures on the clay. It’s the most theatrical of firings.

Harvie said Silica Studios is home to between 25 and 45 members; it varies with the season. For a monthly fee, members have access to the studios during all business hours,

Palm Springs’ Silica Studios offers ceramic artists a place to commune and create

and also receive a discount on workshops and firings; the latter are priced by how much space someone uses in the kiln. Members are also invited to participate in shows and sales—one during the Christmas season, and the other in the spring. Nonmembers can also use the studios for a daily fee and bring in pieces to be fired. During the winter season, a four-session introduction to working with clay is offered for beginners. There are also kids’ classes, workshops, and instruction for both

individuals and groups. Clay and ceramic tools are on sale, as are pieces by member artists in the gallery. The gallery is open to the public during all business hours.

Silica Studios is located at 752 S. Williams Road, in Palm Springs. During the summer, Silica is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday. For more information, call 760-325-7007, or visit www. silicastudios.com.

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16 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

JULY 2018

FOOD & DRINK

ON COCKTAILS F

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Raise a glass to the service industry, and to the troubled souls who toil in it

By Kevin Carlow

ind what you love and let it kill you.

This quote is often attributed to Charles Bukowski, but there’s no record of him ever saying or writing it; Kinky Friedman seems to be the actual source. I am now suspicious of every popular quote these days after being burned enough times.

Actually, I like this quote a lot better with “like” rather than “love”—find what you like and let it kill you. It rings more true; how many of us really do what we like, much less what we love?

I didn’t start as a cocktail dork. I got into the food-and-drink industry for all the wrong reasons—fast money, booze, parties, sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll … the same reasons all of the best bands were started. As a bartender, I was a “volume guy” for a long time: Think a holdingfour-bottles-at-once, pouring-a-Long-Islandsame reason. There were many nights when iced-tea type. However, I always wanted to there was no one to do that, and I found make better drinks, but this was the early myself pulling a shot of vodka out of a bottle ’00s, and the “cocktail revolution” was in its from the freezer before I headed to the train nascent days. We didn’t know any better. so I didn’t run out of steam. I remember Flash forward a few years to an one particularly tough stretch; I still have unremarkable bar in Boston where a guy friendships that haven’t totally mended over made me my first proper Sazerac. It was a the consequences. revelation. That was more than 10 years ago, This is not a mea culpa, although maybe it and today, I have no idea if it was even that should be; I want to emphasize how normal great. Nevertheless, I dragged every one of it all seemed at the time. When you see my friends there for one. That bar’s not there your co-worker arrive as bleary-eyed as you, anymore.

Gatorade in hand, a cigarette hanging off his Six months later, I left my job in the city to chapped lips, you feel better about yourself. do a craft-cocktail program with the help of God forbid he’s chipper. There was always a couple of books. It was a failure—so I went another co-worker we would talk about who back to the volume racket. I never lost the was “needing to slow it down” as we found drive to make a better drink, though, and I the nearby bar that was open for 10 a.m. haunted the local craft bars. screwdrivers. We had a 14-hour shift to get I paid well for my education. I asked right, after all. questions like a curious toddler. Young, When you get out of work at 3 a.m. (or arrogant guys with twisty mustaches and later), it’s easy to lose all track of human badass ladies with sleeves of tattoos—those life. If you have service-industry friends were the stereotypes, and they weren’t unfair. still awake then, you gather in the kitchen These bartenders started making drinks of someone’s apartment and pass the bottle because they actually cared about what your of Jameson. For some reason, it’s almost drink tasted like. This was, to me, like a usedalways Jameson—not just in Boston, and car salesman who actually wanted to get you I’ve worked all over. When the first birds the right car at the right price—he’s either chirp before dawn, you can almost hear them a unicorn or a liar. Also, these bartenders saying “looo-ser.” We call them the “loser didn’t seem as strung out, and as jaded, as birds.” They love to remind us that the sun is those in the bar scene I was a part of at the about to rise, and healthy people will be soon time. Eventually, I jumped ship to give craft putting on running shoes for a morning jog. cocktails another shot and was soon neckEveryone is in bed except for bartenders and deep in egg whites. drug addicts—and those are certainly not The change may have saved my life. mutually exclusive. I have known people who The tourism and nightclub grinds are not used cocaine like coffee and cigarettes, never healthy—working a busy season, making really high and never really sober. Weed, money hand over fist and having nothing Valium, Xanax, Adderall, Ritalin, caffeine, to show for it. Feasting in the summer and cocaine, obviously alcohol—these were and fasting in the winter (kind of the opposite of are tools in the coping tool box for many in here). Forgetting I liked the beach because the business. That goes from the back of the I hadn’t been to it in years, my skin pale house right up to the host. from nocturnal living. Jostling a co-worker Then there were the opioids. During because we have another double-shift in four season, it was common to lose a couple of hours, and he needs to call it a night. Having staff members to rehab. Sometimes, you saw a friend slap me lovingly in the face for the it coming; sometimes, you didn’t.

CVIndependent.com

In some ways, the craft life is better … but it’s not like it is a health retreat or anything.

So why would anyone put himself or herself through this lifestyle? The service industry is where your demons are always just at arm’s reach. I have tried over the years to justify it to my loved ones, as well as myself, and end up running in circles. Would it help if I said that some of my best friends in the world, people who would do anything for me, I met behind the bar? Would Stan or Janice in the cubicle next to me help me move? Maybe the idea of a 9-to-5 life is terrifying. Maybe I love the stage. Put a bar in front of me, and I’ll comfortably tell a joke to the pope, but when I go out into the real world, I have a hat pulled low and earbuds in to avoid small talk. Maybe it’s that I enjoy being surrounded by other lunatics, howling, ever so quietly, at the moon on a Monday, while the rest of the

world sleeps. I guess the answer is I like it, even when it tries to kill me. Thankfully, my routine is much healthier than it was all those years ago. That’s not to say I never still stay up for the “loser birds” on occasion.

All of this is on my mind because of the loss Anthony Bourdain, a service-industry champion who truly seemed to love—not like—what he did. I have had so many emotional moments with chefs, servers, bartenders and guests since his suicide that I just couldn’t do the article on Negronis I had planned.

Chef: From one restaurant lifer to another, thank you for everything. To everyone else reading this: If things are getting dark, don’t let us lose you, too.

Kevin Carlow is a bartender at Truss and Twine, and can be reached via email at krcarlow@gmail.com.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 17

JULY 2018

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r i s t o r a n t e family owned and operated | since 1976

Enjoy great classic delicious Italian food with flair as Johnny’s sons, grandsons and nephews continue the family tradition, perfectly executing the family recipes and delighting celebrities and locals with a dining experience that is amazing.

Frank Sinatra himself was a regular at this Italian restaurant, where the chairman’s two favorite dishes – the Steak Sinatra and Linguini Clams are still on the menu. patio dining | full bar | bar menu private dining | groups Open for Dinner Nightly at 5 p.m.

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JULY 2018

A NEW SECRET ABOUT MEDICAL ‘DARK ARTS MAGIC’

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

Last month, I shared some secrets about new medical magic for women’s rejuvena�on with Cutera’s new Juliet medical device.

I just returned from the annual Cosme�c Surgery Conference in Las Vegas. Every year at this conference, we get the latest updates and research results from experts in medical aesthe�cs and plas�c surgery medicine.

In the “Dark Arts” category of medical treatments, we were surprised to learn some of the detrimental and long-term effects that Ultherapy treatments can have on pa�ents, especially on peri- and postmenopausal women. Ultherapy is focused high-energy ultrasound intended to increase collagen and elas�n in facial and neck �ssues.

A major problem now being observed is that Ultherapy can some�mes cause the destruc�on of fat and connec�ve �ssue in faces and necks*. In spite of what you might think about what you see in your mirror, protec�ng facial fat, connec�ve �ssue, collagen and elas�n are some of aesthe�c medicine’s primary missions. In other words: All of the things we work hard to protect are some of the most important “defenses against the ‘Dark Arts of �me and aging.’” And now, we probably have to defend against Ultherapy treatments.

In some pa�ents, Ultherapy can immediately cause detrimental effects on facial fat and connec�ve �ssue. Most complica�ons now appearing in physicians’ offices are 3-5 years a�er a pa�ent’s Ultherapy treatment(s). And to add insult to injury, it is very difficult to restore destroyed facial fat and connec�ve structures.

The sheer number of physicians who reported these issues in some of their pa�ents made Ultherapy the most cri�cized treatment at this year’s conference. We’ve never performed Ultherapy on our pa�ents, because we always were able to achieve similar results with more comfortable treatments. Now we’re glad we never introduced Ultherapy into our prac�ces.

I recommend that you always get a second opinion from a five-star prac�ce that doesn’t do Ultherapy before you consider ge�ng Ultherapy. This month’s secret is, “Being safe is be�er than being sorry.”

Next month, I’ll share some secrets about exci�ng new combina�on treatments for areas that we’ve not had effec�ve strategies for … un�l now. Un�l then, keep the secret. * For further reading about complications from Ultherapy, go to: www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4480010/ Jennifer-Aniston-s-no-scapel-facelift-risk-ageing.html You can email your individual ques�ons to Shonda Chase NP or Allan Y. Wu MD, Revive’s cosme�c surgeon, at info@revivecenter.com.

CVIndependent.com

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 19

JULY 2018

FOOD & DRINK

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

BEAN BOSS JASON DAVID

Cliff Young shares his passion for the perfect roast via his Coachella Valley Coffee Co.

HAIR STUDIO

What possessed you to go ahead and start Coachella Valley Coffee Company?

I’ve been roasting since 1994. I started my first coffee business at Kaiser Permanente in Fontana—a little coffee cart. If you go to any Kaiser … those coffee carts were started by me. So I’ve been in the coffee business a long time. I wanted more control over my product, so I started going to Seattle, and hanging out with the roasters in San Francisco. I love taking this raw green coffee bean, which is about 12 to 15 percent moisture, and turning it into this gorgeous brown bean. Done rightly, the sugars come out.

A lot of people think, “Oh, I’ll just buy a roaster. I’m going to put this in, and it comes out.” No, it doesn’t. I learned from the old guys up in San Francisco, when Alfred Peet was still alive. It was nose and ears—it was olfactory and your ears. I can smell what’s going on with that coffee bean during the roasting process, and I can listen to it. I love standing next to my roaster, and just closing my eyes, and going, “That bean’s at 386 degrees,” and I’ll be within a degree or two, because you can hear what’s going on with that coffee. Even though we all have computers now telling us what to do, a computer can’t smell; a computer doesn’t taste.

I sold all of my other roasting businesses in ’08, before I started my PBS television show, because I was going to get rich on PBS. (Laughs.) … After moving back out here from

Los Angeles, I said, “I’ve got to do something www.jasondavidhairstudio.net

besides PBS, because I’m not paying the bills.”

I’ve always been very, very good at roasting.

Everybody has something they’re good at, and that was my thing. I built my own restaurants, opened my own restaurants—but this coffee thing, it got me. It’s my thing. I travel to the farms and meet the farmers …

Let me ask you about that. I just finished a bag of fantastic Nicaraguan coffee from you at home. How do these beans get from Nicaragua or Sumatra, or wherever it is, to your roaster?

Cliff Young, the roastmaster general, goes to Nicaragua, or Guatemala, or Costa Rica, or Colombia—I go to every country except for the African countries. I might buy from brokers who’ve been in the business for 30 years. I go visit farms. I learned years ago that just because it’s from, you know, Columbia, it doesn’t mean it’s good coffee. Columbia grows a lot of bad coffee, and so does Guatemala.

The key is finding the farmers who take care of their crops, who are making sure they have the right fertilizers, natural, and that they’re feeding (their crops). Then you pay them properly … so they’re making money, and I get a great product.

Since you started doing this full-time again, how’s the reception been?

I thought it would be better, because I thought, “OK, I know so many of the shops and the restaurateurs in the valley; they’ve been on my television show, and on my radio shows,” so I thought they would just crawl all over me. It’s tough, and I know part of it is that I’m new. There are a couple other roasters out here who have been doing it for three years, or five years. I’ve got 25 years under my belt, and there’s a world of difference. I think I just have to put my product in front of them and let them try it, and compare it to anybody else’s, and they’ll notice the difference.

You’re actually customizing your coffee for your different clients?

Yeah, I try to customize it for each restaurant, because … different coffees go with different foods. For Alebrije and the Mexican food with a little more fat in it, I wanted to get a darker roast in there that cleanses the palate. If I was going into more of a strictly breakfast restaurant, I’m going to stick with a little bit of a lighter roast.

Cliff Young visits one of his coffee-bean growers.

What’s the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had?

It was on one of my first trips to Nicaragua in 2004. We didn’t want to stay in the city with the farm owner at their nice house, so we stayed at the farm with the workers, because I thought, “Oh, how cute, I want to pick coffee.” Well, that lasted about a half-hour, because it’s hard, and it was raining, and I’m falling down. … We figured out everything: We got a great coffee; we brewed it correctly.

Roasted correctly, coffee has natural sugars in it, and you know you’ve done it right when people are putting less and less flavored syrups or sweeteners in their coffee. We take that liquid, that 12 percent moisture, and we caramelize (the bean) correctly at the right heat, and we have about 5 seconds while we can turn that into sugar, or we can destroy it. … (It’s not) full of sugar; it’s not that kind of sweet. It’s smooth. It’s almost velvety.

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company makes coffees specifically tailored to individual restaurants, while also roasting coffee that’s great to brew up at home—and Young always makes sure that a chunk of the proceeds go toward philanthropy. Young’s coffee can be purchased online or at retailers including Tipper’s Gourmet Marketplace and the Palm Springs Air Museum.

To order coffee or learn more, visit coachellavalleycoffee.com. We recently sat down with Young at—where else?—a coffee house for a chat.

N. La Brea

liff Young has been a well-known face in the Southern California food scene for more than two decades.

He’s owned coffee carts and coffee houses. He’s done restaurant reviews. He’s Country and Cook Street organized food festivals. He’s hosted popular radio and TVClub shows, including a local PBS show, Out to Eat, for more than five years. Through it all, however, his true passion has always been Palm De sert coffee—specifically, roasting coffee.

More than 6 months ago, he put aside his media efforts to focus on his passion full-time 760-340-5959 via his brand-new Coachella Valley Coffee Co. The “small-batch artisanal coffee roasting”

Where can your coffee be found right now?

A couple of the places in the Coachella Valley are Heirloom Craft Kitchen in La Quinta … and Wabi Sabi (Japan Living) and Tipper’s Gourmet Marketplace in downtown Palm Springs; Oscar’s just picked us up, and Alebrije Bistro Mexico. … It took me about three tries to get a roast level that they were happy with. Theirs is really a half dark and half city roast.

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FOOD & DRINK

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DESERT CICERONE C

BY brett Newton

raft beer tends to be very communal. Fans get together for tastings and “bottle shares.” We often trade with people across the country for beers we might not be able to acquire otherwise.

We also love our beer festivals. A well-conceived and well-executed craft-beer festival is a beautiful thing—even if you leave wishing you had been able to try yet more beers that you missed.

I love the Coachella Valley. I moved here in 1988, and it took a little getting used to. (We got here in August when it was 100-plus degrees.) I grew up hiking around the cove and enjoying its gorgeous views—and met many friends I still based in Orange County has been making know to this day. That said … our local beer Black Tuesday and its variants for many festivals can’t match the exemplary festivals years now and knows what it is doing. Sure, found in other parts of Southern California. it was big, but it had some lovely dark fruit, Not long ago, I attended, for the fifth straight chocolate, vanilla, oak, molasses and bourbon time, the Firestone Walker Invitational, at the flavors. Later, I had the Bruesicle: Mango Fire, Paso Robles Event Center. Most of you are a blended sour ale with mango and habañeros. familiar with Firestone’s quality beers. Even It’s a wonderful time when you can get so its 805—an American Blond, the beer style I many different flavors in a glass. despise most—is high-quality. Firestone has From there, I set out to get some food in me been a paragon of craft-brewing; the company so that I could last the entire festival. Happily, doesn’t compromise, yet it continues to have part of the ticket fee goes toward hosting many success in the industry. It should come as no local food vendors. Did I mention that all the surprise that the eponymous beer festival is of food vendors and breweries compete for the similar mettle. most festival-goer votes on the well-designed The “Invitational” portion of the festival’s and useful phone app that accompanies the name means exactly what it says: Firestone fest? This makes for some incredibly creative invites the breweries its management wants and delicious results. I first hit up a booth that there. Some of those choices shift around. This made cold-smoked salmon tacos. This went year, some popular and upcoming breweries got well with the Pleroma Raspberry Creme Brulee their first invitations—including many from sour ale that the Swedish brewery Omnipollo California. Monkish, Highland Park, Societe and topped with soft-serve ice cream—a smart Alvarado Street were among the first-timers. choice, considering the high for the day was If you haven’t had a chance to drink any beer 95 degrees. My other favorite food vendors from these breweries, I very much recommend included some amazing ahi wonton tacos from stopping in if you are anywhere within reach.

Firestone’s own Paso Robles restaurant; a bite I began my day at The Bruery’s booth and of pork belly with a fava bean and blackberry decided I’d start off with a bang by getting a puree atop a potato chip from The Hatch pour of the Double Barrel Black Tuesday with Rotisserie and Bar; and a simple but delicious Tahitian vanilla added. Checking in at 20.5 bratwurst with sauerkraut, potato salad and percent alcohol by volume (that is not a typo), three kinds of mustard from a vendor with a you’d think it’d be boozy, but the brewery name I honestly can’t recall. Did I also mention

The Firestone Walker Invitational offers a template for our local beer festivals to follow

beer was being served at this festival?

Walking around the grounds and listening to the various bands, I found some favorite beers as well. One favorite: The Rare Barrel out of Berkeley brought Alchemy and Magic—a golden sour ale with cucumber, juniper and rosemary aged in gin barrels. It’s so unique and absolutely delicious.

Yet another beautiful thing about the festival is that it’s often the brewers themselves out there pouring beers and milling around. I chatted with Rare Barrel head brewer Jay Goodwin (a former Bruery brewer) about the beer and his processes as I sampled it. He then poured me a taste of another oak-aged watermelon sour called Raging Waters.

More favorites included a perennial pourer at the fest by the name of Beachwood BBQ and Brewing from Long Beach. My friend Julian Shrago and his crew make incredible beer; the Vanilla Fudge (which tasted just like the name suggests) and Brandy Barrel System of a Stout (a variant of his annual Coffee Imperial Stout with spices) were both winners. Beachwood’s sister brewery, Beachwood Blendery, was pouring a number of its brilliant sours alongside Julian’s beers. The muscat grape sour was phenomenal.

I’ve come to rely on Revolution Brewing from Chicago to bring some of the best barrelaged beers at the festival every year—and this year, the brewery outdid itself with a doublebarrel (bourbon and rye) cherry version of the gorgeous V.S.O.J. Barleywine, and a coffee version of the barrel-aged imperial oatmeal stout called Cafe Deth (pronounced Deeth, after brewer Josh Deth and the beer off which it’s based, Deth’s Tar). They were even willing to mix the two for amazing results.

This year’s biggest discovery was a brewery out of Greeley, Colo., called WeldWerks. Five

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The Pleroma Raspberry Creme Brulee sour ale, topped with soft-serve ice cream, from Swedish brewery Omnipollo. Omnipollo Instagram

beers were on tap, and all were very well-done. It got my vote for best brewery, and I will be trying to find its beers by hook or by crook. If I were to pick only a couple to showcase, they’d be the Peach Pie Berliner weisse (a light, tart wheat ale), and the Mexican Medianoche imperial stout, aged in Woodford Reserve rye whiskey barrels for 20 months and then further aged with cinnamon sticks, cacao nibs and vanilla beans.

There are so many more beers I could talk about, with so many more experiences, but I think you get the point. The Firestone Walker Invitational is a superior beer-festival experience that I will never miss so long as I am able to make it; if that includes bending heaven and earth to do so, I will. This festival should be a template for any local Coachella Valley festival.

The atmosphere at the Invitational is such that breweries that don’t bring their “A game” or that run out of beers early are put on notice publicly … and deservedly so.

Brett Newton is a certified cicerone (like a sommelier for beer) and homebrewer who has mostly lived in the Coachella Valley since 1988. He currently works at the Coachella Valley Brewing Co. taproom in Thousand Palms. He can be reached at desertcicerone@gmail.com.

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 21

JULY 2018

FOOD & DRINK

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VINE SOCIAL

‘Natural wine’ is all the rage among millennials—and they may be onto something

JASON DAVID HAIR STUDIO

By KatieLOVE finn YOUR

O

HAIR

strains. So whatever wild yeasts hitched a ride on the grapes on their way into the winery is whatcha got. Fun! If not a little unpredictable.

Oak barrels have also fallen victim to the natural-wine craze. This is not a bad thing; I’m happy to see the over-oaked pendulum swing in the other direction. Honestly, I loathe oakiness in wine, so the rise of alternative aging and fermenting vehicles is a happy sight. So, what is the new winemaker fermentation device du jour? Vessels like concrete eggs are ideal at fermenting without imparting flavor, and clay pots like ancient amphorae are used in an attempt to get back to our Roman winemaking roots. (I guess?)

Again: Purity and an honest, untainted expression of the wine is the goal—allowing the wine to be the master of its own fate and unveil its unique personality without a winemaker fingerprint. It’s actually a really exciting and profound thing, if you think about it—almost Daoist in its simplicity. But I have to wonder if the lack of winemaker intervention is creating a new kind of homogenized wine, where all the wines have a strange kind of kombucha-esque quality and really don’t offer that clean, terriordriven sense of place that is sommelier cat nip.

Has the pendulum swung too far in the other direction?

I clearly remember my first natural wine experience. I was at a Calistoga party house— an exquisite home owned by a wine family where nobody actually resides; its purpose is to host epic parties and have attendees crash out—with a dear friend who had a bottle of Cruse Wine Co. St. Laurent Petillant Naturel.

I’m pretty sure it was the first time I’d had the St. Laurent grape, and I know it was the first time I had experienced a sparkling wine called

h, millennials. They’re so hard to keep up with, with all their abbreviated words and vegan, plant-based burgers.

Snark aside, millennials have an overwhelming amount of consumer power—so what Country Club Cook Streetwant is the they want, they get. The wine world is no exception, and right now,and what millennials wine equivalent of the unbathed, unshaven hippie—the un-photoshopped, Palm De sert makeup-free, I-wokeup-like-this wine … otherwise known as “natural wine.” Given that kids these days can’t seem to use words in their entirety, these wines, of course, are also called “natty wines.”

760-340-5959 So what, exactly, is a natural wine? For starters, “natural wines” have no clear and regulated definition. They are absolutely not the same Another benchmark for natural wines is not www.jasondavidhairstudio.net as being organic or biodynamic, although it’s filtering out particulates—so your bottle of safe to say all winemakers who adhere to the “natty juice” is probably going to look cloudy natural-winemaking philosophy wouldn’t with little “thingys” floating around. These think of using grapes that were not organic or little “thingys” aren’t bad for you and (probably) biodynamic. However, organic and biodynamic won’t make you sick, but the presence of all wines are a result of grape-growing and grapethose proteins, microbes and organisms floating farming practices in the vineyard that are around can make the wine unstable and quick closely monitored and have strict guidelines to spoil—not to mention taste sour, tangy and a for certification. Natural wines are created little bit like my father’s barn. based on decisions the winemakers make in By not filtering or adding more sulfur the winery—without any specific criteria. That dioxide, winemakers are attempting to retain said, there is a common approach to natural the “purity” of the wine. I totally get it: In an winemaking: The ideology across the board is industry that’s been plagued by winemaker to have minimal intervention. over-manipulation, thus creating homogenized The largest and perhaps most controversial and industrialized wines, it’s refreshing to try aspect to natural wines is the exclusion of wines that are left the hell alone. But to what sulfur. If you want to sound like a cool kid, end? Liking a wine that doesn’t have additional the term is sans soufre. Simply saying “no sulfur dioxide just because it doesn’t have sulfur” is really quite pedestrian. Call it what additional sulfur dioxide is like liking a wine you want, but sulfur dioxide is a naturally just because it’s $300. At some point, we need occurring byproduct of wine fermentation. to recognize that the proof is in the pudding.

What we are talking about here is the addition Other aspects of the natural-wine movement of sulfur dioxide to prevent bacteria growth include whole-cluster fermentation—the act and spoilage. I, for one, will never be mad at the of not destemming the grapes, but rather necessary addition of sulfur as a preservative. throwing the whole bunch into the tank to After all, I don’t want my wine to taste like a create depth of flavor and heightened textures; dirty diaper or a mouse cage that hasn’t been and allowing the wine to ferment with native cleaned for seven years. yeasts as opposed to controlled, cultivated yeast

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Katie Finn is a certified sommelier and certified specialist of wine with more than 15 years in the wine industry. She can be reached at katiefinnwine@gmail.com.

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petillant naturel, also known in its abbreviated form (natch) as pet nat. This little darling is quite simply a sparkling wine made in an ancient—or, as it’s called, “ancestral”—way by bottling still-fermenting juice, and sealing it with a crown cap (like a beer); this allows the carbon dioxide to continue to build and finish fermenting in the bottle. The result is a delicately sparkling wine that’s a little fuzzylooking, but delicious as hell.

Wanna jump on the natural wine bandwagon? Elisabetta Foradori is always a go-to for me, as is anything made by Marcel Lapierre. If you want your mind blown, Josko Gravner is the Holy Grail. Domestically, you can find some unique versions by Donkey and Goat, and Tendu by Matthiasson is an awesome summer sipper.

Those millennials. They’re a pretty hip and thought-provoking group. Just maybe, they’re onto something.

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the

FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT This month, we savor food at two East Valley Mexican favorites

By Jimmy Boegle

HOW DO YOU ZEN?

JAPAN Sake|Tableware|Knives Chopsticks|Tea|Kanji Art Coffee|Cookware|Clothing Packaged Food|Hand Fans 258 N Palm Canyon Dr. Palm Springs, CA 760-537-3838 www.WabiSabiJapanLiving.com

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WHAT The tostada especial WHERE Mariscoco’s Culiacan, 51683 Harrison (Cesar Chavez) St., Coachella HOW MUCH $11.99 CONTACT 760-398-5666; www.facebook.com/ mariscocosymaristorresculiacan760 WHY The freshness and the impeccable flavor.

A while back, a friend told me about the most amazing Mexican seafood place in Coachella.

I remembered part of the distinctive name— Mariscoco’s—so when I recently found myself in Coachella during lunch time, I looked the place up.

Boy, am I glad I did: The lunch was one of the tastiest meals I have had in months.

Seafood, obviously, is the focus at Mariscoco’s, and the restaurant is renowned for its seafood towers. However, these towers are meant for more than one individual, even if said individual is quite hungry, as I was. The helpful server pointed me in the figurative direction of the tostada especial—a smaller, meantfor-one dish containing most of the same ingredients as the most-popular towers.

The plate that arrived a short time later was a thing of beauty: cucumbers, onion, shrimp, abalone, octopus, fish, sea snail, scallops and other ingredients sat atop a tostada, with another tostada gently placed on top. The plate also included fresh avocado, a bit of mango, and a couple of orange slices—and everything sat in Mariscoco’s smoky, savory “special sauce.”

The plate’s beauty was topped only by its flavor: Everything tasted impeccably fresh and delicious. The crunch of the cucumber, the sweetness of the shrimp, the smoothness of the avocado, the tartness of the citrus in the special sauce—it all came together masterfully. I’d be remiss if I didn’t also point out what an amazing deal this is: $11.99 for this much great seafood?! Amazing.

The only thing that could have made it better would have been a chavela (which I could have ordered, but I didn’t because it was a work day) and a beach (which, alas, is not available at Mariscoco’s Culiacan). Otherwise, this was a perfect lunch—one I can’t stop thinking about.

WHAT The huevos rancheros WHERE Tacos Gonzalez, 80120 Highway 111, Indio HOW MUCH $9.99 CONTACT 760-347-6858 WHY It’s delicious, meticulous simplicity.

It shouldn’t be difficult to make great yet simple food … but it most definitely is.

For example, consider the amazing huevos rancheros at Tacos Gonzalez, a popular holein-the-wall Mexican joint in Indio. There is nothing fancy or complicated about the dish: It consists of eggs, and tortillas, and sauce, and salsa, with beans, rice, lettuce and guacamole surrounding it.

Simple ingredients all, correct? Well, this leads to a question: If all of this is so simple, why don’t all restaurants serve such splendid huevos rancheros?

The answer: Not all cooks pay attention to the details like they do at Tacos Gonzalez.

The tortillas were tasty and well-prepared.

The eggs were a perfect over-medium—just as I ordered them. The ranchero sauce was delicious with just a hint of spiciness. The salsa fresca was fresh and vibrant. All of the accompaniments were spot-on—especially the guacamole, which made me regret not ordering more as an appetizer.

If just one of these ingredients had been amiss—if, say, the eggs were overcooked, or the ranchero sauce was bland—the dish would have fallen into mediocrity. But the people in Taco Gonzalez’s kitchen made sure that did not happen. As a result, the huevos rancheros were fantastic.

This attention to detail was also apparent in the street tacos ($1.89 to $2.29 each) my husband ordered. He got six tacos, each with a different meat, and there was not a bad taco in the bunch. I liked the chicken best, while Garrett’s favorite was the carnitas.

The aforementioned meal was our first at Tacos Gonzalez—and it most certainly won’t be our last. All cooks—from restaurants at every price level—could learn a thing or two from the attention to detail on display at Tacos Gonzalez.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 23

JULY 2018

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Restaurant NEWS BITES

Craft-Beer Paired Dinner

By Jimmy Boegle

CHILEAN SEABASS CEVICHE

WEXLER’S DELI TO REPLACE RESERVOIR AT PALM SPRINGS’ ARRIVE HOTEL A popular Los Angeles Jewish deli is coming to one of Palm Springs’ hippest spots in the fall.

Wexler’s Deli—which has three L.A.-area locations—will take over the space at Arrive Hotel, at 1551 N. Palm Canyon Drive, now occupied by Reservoir. Keep your fingers crossed for an October opening.

“We jumped at the opportunity to partner with the Wexler’s team,” said Matt Steinberg, co-founder and CEO of Arrive, in a press-release quote. “Their passion for elevating and re-imagining what a deli can be is evident in the quality of their food. We also know that their voice and style will be a great fit for the locals and visitors to our property and Palm Springs as a whole.”

At first glance, I thought this pairing was … odd, to say the least. Arrive has made its mark by being modern, exciting and hip. And, well, let’s just say that Jewish delis are not known for being anything close to modern, exciting and hip.

But the more I pondered the pairing, the more it made sense. Reservoir never made any sort of serious culinary impression since Arrive opened … and have you ever tried to get a table at Sherman’s in Palm Springs at noon on a Saturday during season?

Plus, Wexler’s is not exactly old-school. In fact, it’s only been around for five years. I’ll let the press release explain things from here: “In late 2013, the owners of the historic Grand Central Market in downtown L.A. approached (chef Micah Wexler and partner Michael Kassar) regarding their plan to renovate the 100-year-old market. … Mike and Micah had a vision to take Jewish deli food back to its roots, and to create a concise menu in a 350-square-foot space, where everything is made in-house.

Wexler’s sought out to be the only deli in L.A. that cures, smokes and hand-slices all their meat and fish in-house, (and) uses sustainable meat and fish, and local farmer’s market produce.”

The Palm Springs Wexler’s will serve all three meals, offering a mix of Wexler’s “classics” and new-forPalm Springs items, like a pastrami burger and “Sasso’s pancakes with blueberries, creme fraiche, and maple syrup.”

For more information, watch arriveenterprises.com.

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HERE’S SOMETHING NEW: RESTAURANTS EXPANDING THEIR HOURS DURING THE SUMMER! In July, many well-known Coachella Valley restaurants are closed for the season. We know that … but here’s something new and encouraging: A couple of Palm Springs favorites are actually looking to fill that gap by expanding their hours.

First: Until recently, gourmet-vegan restaurant Chef Tanya’s Kitchen, at 706 S. Eugene Road—which was and remains closed on Sundays and Mondays—locked its doors at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. On Wednesdays, however, Chef Tanya’s stayed open until 8 p.m., adding a few dinner specials.

Well, as of mid-June, Chef Tanya’s is open until 8 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday! Yes! For more info, visit www.facebook.com/cheftanyaskitchen.

Second: Our good friends at Dead or Alive, the fantastic wine and craft-beer bar at 150 E. Palm Canyon Drive, followed Chef Tanya’s lead by opening earlier on Friday and Saturday—at 4 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.—and by adding Sunday hours: Instead of being closed, DoA is now open Sundays from 4 to 10 p.m.

For more info about Dead or Alive—and its jam-packed schedule of tastings, charity events and freefood offerings—visit www.facebook.com/deadoralivebar.

IN BRIEF Azul Palm Springs, at 369 N. Palm Canyon Drive, has closed its doors. The restaurant and show venue with the epic patio swings had tweaked its name several times over the years, indicating possible concept and/or management issues. It’s a great space in a great location, so we’ll be eagerly watching for what comes next. … The Steakhouse at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, at 32250 Bob Hope Drive, in Rancho Mirage, has started serving brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays. We’re dying to try the filet mignon benedict. Get details, including the menu, at www.hotwatercasino.com/dining. … A lot of new restaurants have opened in recent weeks! We’ve heard raves about The Pink Cabana at the Sands Hotel and Spa, at 44985 Province Way, in Indian Wells. “Designed by Martyn Lawrence Bullard, the Pink Cabana at Sands Hotel and Spa is a fresh, modern take on the great tennis and racquet clubs of the ’50s and ’60s in Palm Springs,” says the hotel website. The Pink Cabana is serving lunch and dinner daily; visit sandshotelandspa.com/dining-bar. … Balisage is back! Chef Daniel Villanueva and his “earth to table” dinners are being served at Beyond Balisage, Tuesday through Saturday at 68327 E. Palm Canyon Road, in Cathedral City; visit www.beyondbalisage.com. … Other recent openings: Sapporo Ramen and Grill, at 73759 Highway 111, in Palm Desert (sapporo-ramen-grill.business.site); Pizza Peel, at 69115 Ramon Road, in Cathedral City (www.pizzapeel.net); and Cups Café, serving breakfast and lunch at 77912 Country Club Drive, in Palm Desert (search for it on Facebook).

Creative Chef Johannes Bacher

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Voted “Best Continental Restaurant”, “Best Martini”, and “Best Romantic Dining” by Palm Springs Life Readers.

BECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK facebook.com/JohannesRestaurant

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OPEN FOR DINNER AT 5 PM | CLOSED MONDAYS | PRIVATE DINING | AVAILABLE FOR GROUPS | SPECIAL EVENTS

196 S. INDIAN CANYON DRIVE, PALM SPRINGS, CA 92262

(760) 778-0017

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25 25 26 28

After more than 30 years of performing, Fu Manchu’s sound remains consistently consistent the blueskye report: July brings pitbull, kenny loggins, donny and marie—and MUCH More!

DJ Alex Harrington, inspired by poolside gigs, releases a brand-new album the lucky 13: Get to know a great young drummer and a tattoo goddess

www.cvindependent.com/music

INDY EVOLVERS

We Are Scientists return to SoCal for a show at Pappy and Harriet’s

27 photo by ted leather

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 25

JULY 2018

MUSIC STONER-ROCK GODS S

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After more than 30 years of performing, Fu Manchu’s sound remains consistently consistent

By Brian Blueskye

toner-rock band Fu Manchu was founded back in 1985—and went on to become one of the pillars of the genre. Today, the band is still around, having outlasted many of its contemporaries, including local legendary stoner-rock band Kyuss.

The band is currently touring behind its 12th album, Clone of the Universe, released back in February. The group will be coming to Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace on Saturday, July 28.

During a recent phone interview with frontman and guitarist Scott Hill, he said the formula Fu Manchu has used to start recording its albums you can,” he said. “You play backyards, little hasn’t changed in more than 25 years. clubs or big clubs … you go for it wherever and “We have this cassette 4-track machine, and whenever you can. Hardcore and punk rock are we all sit in a circle with our amps pointing my main influence, and that’s when I really got inward. We put one microphone straight down into music and started wanting to play guitar. the middle, and on one track, we just record I’d go to shows and think, ‘That looks so fun!’ all of the music,” Hill said. “I have three more and would just watch the guitar-players. As tracks to do vocals on. We do that, take the the late ’80s rolled around, I’d pull out the old songs home and listen to them, and rearrange Deep Purple and Blue Cheer records and mix it them. We’ve been doing that since 1992. This all together. I’ll listen to Foghat, and I’ll listen is kind of a rough demo of songs before we to Black Flag in the same sitting. It’ll all make head into a studio.” sense to me.”

Fu Manchu has recorded its albums in a On Clone of the Universe, Rush guitarist variety of different settings, and with a range Alex Lifeson makes an appearance on the budgets. aforementioned 18-minute-long song, “Il “We’ve spent a lot of money and gotten a Mostro Atomico.” great recording, and we’ve spent not a lot of “Our manager is friends with (Alex Lifeson’s) money and gotten a great recording,” Hill said. manager, and our manager asked what Alex “It’s all about who you go with as a producer was up to, and he was like, ‘Oh, he’s just in the and where you go. You can spend a lot of studio recording guitar stuff.’ He asked what money in an expensive studio that’s really we were up to, and we were getting ready to nice with air conditioning and a big lobby, or you can do what we did with our last couple of records, at a small storage place where the studio is. It’s really hot, and you sweat after walking into the place, but you get a really good recording. It depends on what you want to do, where you want to do it, and what your budget is.”

Fu Manchu’s rock ’n’ roll sound has not changed much since its first full-length album, No One Rides for Free, in 1994. That’s a source of pride for the band.

“We just all like this straight-forward riff stuff. To me, it’s never boring, and there are always new riffs and drum beats,” Hill said. “With Clone of the Universe, we did an 18-minute song, which we’ve never done before. It took up the entire Side 2. We all like playing like straightforward, heavy and fuzzy rock ’n’ roll. It never gets old, and we’re not tired of doing it.

Hill said he sees many ethos similarities in the stoner-rock and punk-rock scenes.

“I got into punk rock in December of 1980; that was the first time I heard live Black Flag and was like, ‘What is this?’ I guess it’s kind of the same in the sense that you play where Fu Manchu. John Gilhooley

record. Our manager asked, ‘Hey, would Alex like to play guitar on a Fu Manchu song?’ He got back to us and said, ‘Yeah, send him a song.’ We thought our manager was kidding.

We sent it to him, and he asked us what we wanted him to do, and we said, ‘Wherever you want to do something, for however long you want to do something, whatever you want to do—do it.’ He did a bunch of guitar stuff all over the song.”

Hill told me a story about one of the strangest shows the band has ever played.

“We flew to Spain for one show that was actually a festival,” he said. “We flew there the night before and hung out. We went to the big festival and played a couple of bands under the headliner; it was probably about 40,000 people. We got up onstage, set up and played four songs, and they said, ‘OK, that’s it!’ It was getting really windy and stormy, so that was it. We went all the way to Spain to play four songs and went home. It was the weirdest one for me, given we flew all that way to play four songs.”

Fu Manchu will perform at 8 p.m., Saturday, July 28, at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53668 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Tickets are $18. For more information, call 760-3655956, or visit www.pappyandharriets.com.

The Blueskye REPORT July 2018

By Brian Blueskye

Kenny Loggins

July is the hottest month of year in the Coachella Valley—and the month is bringing some hot shows along with the toasty temps.

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino has three big shows in July. At 8 p.m., Saturday, July 7, enjoy your post-Fourth of July weekend with Michael McDonald. McDonald has been part of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers. He’s also been an iconic force as a solo artist, winning five Grammy Awards and collaborating with greats like Elton John, Ray Charles and many others. Tickets are $29 to $59. At 8 p.m., Friday, July 13, venture back to the ’90s with the Counting Crows.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since the Counting Crows helped define ’90s poprock when hit single “Mr. Jones” was played endlessly. Tickets are $49 to $109. If you think it couldn’t get hotter, there’s more: At 8 p.m., Saturday, July 21, famed producer and electrifying performer Pitbull will take the stage. The man is known as “Mr. Worldwide,” and it’s been said that one way to guarantee a song’s success these days is to have Pitbull on board as a collaborator or producer. Tickets are $69 to $129. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 760-3425000; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa sails into July with some old-school events you won’t want to miss. At 8 p.m., Saturday, July 7, head down the highway to the danger zone with Kenny Loggins. It’s amazing how many epic ’80s movie soundtracks Loggins found himself on—and even if the movies were box-office bombs, the songs were still hits. One example I’ll leave you with: “Meet Me Half Way” is from my favorite box-office stinker of all time, Over the Top. Tickets are $65 to $85. At 8 p.m., Saturday, July 14, you may not be able to handle all the disco when the Village People stop by. If there was ever a time to see the Village People, it’s now, because the original frontman, the cop/ admiral himself, Victor Willis, is back after a lengthy absence. Willis had problems with drugs but has cleaned himself up and has enjoyed an epic run since rejoining the Village continued on Page 27 CVIndependent.com

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FEELING THE VIBE

By Brian Blueskye

S

ince 2013, local DJ Alex Harrington has been beating the pavement, playing countless local poolside and club gigs.

He’s also been branching out—regionally, nationally and internationally, collaborating with different artists through various DJ internet communities, and building up his Spotify page with listeners from around the world.

On July 25, Harrington will release his new album, Stargazer. During a recent interview in Rancho Mirage, Harrington discussed how the album came about.

“Ever since July of last year, I’ve been of DJing, from nu-disco to tropical house, and releasing singles pretty steadily,” Harrington he said playing poolside gigs has always given said. “Over the past few months, I started him inspiration. writing and stockpiling tracks, not sure what I “I think with club gigs, you have a certain wanted to do with them. I sat down and said, amount of freedom as far as the vibe goes, but ‘I’ve put out about six or seven tracks and have for the most part, you have people who are another six or seven that are unreleased.’ I there to ‘turn up.’ They have drinks, and they wanted to do an album for a long time, and a get excited. It’s the nightlife,” Harrington said. friend of mine told me that now would be a “With poolside gigs, you can do that, but you good time to do it, so I put it together. It’s all can take it in a different direction, and what I come together at the same time as the poolside really like is that you can affect the crowd. The gigs. Playing the poolside gigs gave me the last set I played poolside was three hours long. inspiration to write the tracks and the album.”

I started off upbeat and got the crowd excited, Harrington has ventured into varying styles and I dropped it down a little bit to chill them

DJ Alex Harrington, inspired by poolside gigs, releases a brand-new album

out, and brought it back up at the end. That’s something you can’t necessarily do in a club, because you’re building and building and building, and you hit that crescendo at the end of the night; then everyone gets excited, and the club empties out. Poolside gigs offer more freedom to work with the crowd and more freedom as far as your direction in music goes.”

His DJing has frequently taken him into Los Angeles, most notably at Bardot.

“That was a lot of fun. I was fortunate to have played there a few times as part of an event called School Night! that’s thrown by Chris Douridas from KCRW,” he said. “It’s a fantastic venue. It’s Victorian-themed, and it has two different rooms. I would be in one room DJjing, and (there would be) a band in another room. We’d switch off and go back and forth. That’s something that you don’t get anywhere. It’s right on the Sunset Strip, and I’d walk out on the balcony and see the Capitol Records building.”

Harrington said there’s a definite difference between Palm Springs and Los Angeles crowds.

“I try to bring the same vibe wherever I go,” he said. “It’s the same mixture of my energy and the energy of the town I’m in. Los Angeles is a little faster, and people are a little more with it, so when I go out there, I’m more free to play music from across the board. Out here, I’ll stick more with familiar stuff—but it depends. Los Angeles has a more-trendy crowd that’s looking for new music and to hear stuff they haven’t really heard before, whereas out here, they like the familiar a little more.

The bachelorette parties out here are great, but they want to hear Beyoncé and Rihanna

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@GayDesertGuide Alex Harrington.

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songs. In Los Angeles, you have so many clubs. … With Bardot, within a stone’s throw, you have so many other clubs. You have to bring something different, because there’s so much great music. Out here, we’re still developing.”

These days, being an independent DJ/ musician is easier than ever … but in other ways, it’s also tougher than ever.

“I think that the tools that artists have to succeed these days—there are a lot more than (artists) used to have,” Harrington said. “But with greater means of access in this business comes a flood of more people doing it. On things like YouTube, 1,000 hits used to be a lot; now it’s 10,000 is a lot. The same with Spotify: Now it’s 10,000, then 100,000 and then 1 million. I think you have to be savvy about it. It’s a lot easier if you know your sound and find the right tools for it.

“I will say this: You have to invest these days.

You just can’t put something out there and say, ‘Enjoy it for what it is.’ Even if it’s $100 or $200, playlist services are something you can pitch your music to and say, ‘Hey, I have $100; if you guys like this song, can you help me get some exposure?’”

On dates throughout the summer, you can catch Harrington at the Saguaro.

“The Saguaro has done a fantastic job over the past couple of years curating music that’s on the forefront—music they bring in from all over,” he said. “If you go to a Saguaro pool party, whether you’re there to relax, hang out, grab a day bed or float on an inflatable icecream cone, there’s something for everybody.”

For more information, visit www.alexharrington.co.

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INDIE EVOLVERS W

The Blueskye REPORT

By Brian Blueskye

e Are Scientists’ Chris Cain and Keith Murray met at Pomona College in 1997. Several years later, they’d take the world by storm.

In the years since the band’s debut, We Are Scientists released six albums that helped define today’s indie rock—before pushing the bar even higher with Megaplex, the group’s seventh album, released in May. We Are Scientists will be performing at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace on Saturday, July 14.

During a recent phone interview with Chris Rechtshaid, who was then largely unknown, Cain, he explained the process the band went as the producer. Rechtshaid would go on through to make Megaplex. to become one of the world’s most popular “With each record, I think we’ve been producers, recording U2, Adele, Beyoncé and reacting to the music that we were listening to many others. at the time, or a year or two prior,” Cain said.

“We had made a demo with Ariel that ended “That’s part of why each one ends up a bit up on Love and Squalor,” Cain said. “We really different: It’s our natural shifting tastes and loved that, and we made that album without interests. There’s also a very conscious effort a label and just with a publishing company on our part to make sure we don’t make the footing the tiny bill for the production. We same record over and over again. thought he totally knocked (that album) out “With this one, we consciously set out of the park, working on a short deadline and to incorporate some synth elements and no money for studio time. He really got the electronic beat elements that we haven’t best out of us. When it was time to do Brain really dabbled with on previous records.

Thrust Mastery and we signed with Virgin That’s because Keith and I have become more Records, they had a clause in the deal that conversant with the software everyone uses, they needed to approve any producer, and we which had never really been a part of our fought to have an exemption in there that if workflow in the past. We figured it was time to we wanted to do it with Ariel, they would have learn that stuff and begin that journey during to accept that. They didn’t want to do that, the writing process. … Any of the tools you but ultimately, they let us. They begged us to use to create are inevitably going to create a consider alternatives—and obviously, history different result. Combine all those things, and this record for us definitely feels like a pseudogenerational thing that we’ve made. I assume the next one will be earth-shattering as well.”

Many mainstream bands today make music that follows a certain formula.

“There is sort of a new perceived wisdom about how quickly you need to get to the chorus, how quickly you need to get yourself through the first verse, and so forth,” Cain said. “I think that’s true for a certain type of outreach that you are doing with your music.

There’s always kind of a balancing act. (You want to) really get your existing fans fired up.

These are people who are automatically going to give a new record more time to impress them.

We prefer a record that takes a minute to grow on them. You’re balancing that with a desire to reach new people. Poor old U2 got in trouble for trying to reach new people by having their record placed on everyone’s iTunes account a couple of years ago. There’s no point where a musician wants to stop trying to have new people hear what they’re making.”

When the band signed with Virgin Records, the members insisted on using Ariel We Are Scientists.

We Are Scientists return to SoCal for a show at Pappy and Harriet’s is on our side.”

I asked Cain if he felt like rock music and its subgenres were in a sort of music purgatory right now.

“I’m concerned by it in the sense that I’m attentive to it. It’s a very uncertain time, but I don’t feel a sense of dread,” he said. “I think it’s more that there are a lot of unknowns about how consumer behaviors are going to change and how distribution is going to change—also, the technology for making music and how that will change. I think those all affect how we do our job, and they’re all changing. I don’t know how to predict where they will go. I am concerned, but not in a critical way.”

The unique atmosphere and history of Pappy and Harriet’s does not concern We Are Scientists.

“We’ve sort of managed to entertain in a pretty wide variety of venues in our career,” Cain said. “We’re not the kind of obstinate dudes who refuse to read the room and just do what we want to do. Part of the pleasure of playing live is pleasing the audience.”

We Are Scientists will perform with Beverly at 8 p.m., Saturday, July 14, at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53668 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Tickets are $20. For more information, call 760-365-5956, or visit www. pappyandharriets.com.

Bronco

People in 2017. Tickets are $28 to $98. At 8 p.m., Friday, July 27, continue on with the tradition of the ’70s with Donny and Marie.

The two famed Osmonds are part of a large family of entertainers, and are a regular act in Las Vegas. Tickets are $95 to $150. Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-999-1995; www. hotwatercasino.com.

Spotlight 29 has a relatively quiet July, but there’s still some cool stuff going on. At 8 p.m., Saturday, July 14, Bronco will be performing.

The traditional Norteño band has been going for almost 40 years, has sold more than 10 million records, and continues to put out new music. Tickets are $49 to $69. Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison Place, Coachella; 760775-5566; www.spotlight29.com.

On the flip side … Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace has a lot going on in July.

Here are but a few events to consider for a high desert night out: At 8 p.m., Saturday, July 7, jam-band Moe will be performing.

The Buffalo, N.Y., band members are contemporaries of Phish, Widespread Panic and the Dave Matthews Band. Bassist Rob Derhak recently won a hard-fought battle against cancer—and Moe returned to the stage without missing a beat. Tickets are $30.

At 8 p.m., Thursday, July 12, stoner-rock band Dead Meadow will be performing. If that’s not enough, desert-rock band Yawning Man, featuring Gary Arce and Mario Lalli of Fatso Jetson, is also on the bill. Tickets are $15. At 8 p.m., Thursday, July 19, Los Angeles producer and multi-instrumentalist Matt Adams, aka The Blank Tapes, will take the stage. If you’ve never heard of him, you should stop what you’re doing and look him up. Admission is free. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-365-5956; www. pappyandharriets.com.

Moe

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the

LUCKY 13 Get to know a great young drummer and a tattoo goddess

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

I just can’t seem to grasp country music.

NAME Tyler Ontiveros GROUP Mega Sun MORE INFO It’s been a big year so far for local-band Mega Sun. The group played its first-ever show just after the new year—yet it took home Best New Band honors at the CV Music Awards, and drummer Tyler Ontiveros was named Best Drummer. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/ megasuntheband.

What was the first concert you attended?

It was either Thrice with Deftones, Journey or Blue Man Group.

What was the first album you owned?

The first album on CD I owned was Boston’s self-titled album, given to me by my dad.

What bands are you listening to right now?

To feed my desert rock/doom cravings, I’ve been listening to Nightstalker, The Sword, Earthless and Red Fang. Some others I’ve been into are Katatonia, Ghost and TesseracT. The most recent artist I discovered is Anderson .Paak, who sings/flows and plays drums at the same time.

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

Led Zeppelin, with “The Beast,” aka “Bonzo,” aka John Bonham. Come on, man!

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

No guilt, but something most don’t know is that I listen to classical music almost daily.

What’s your favorite music venue?

I haven’t ventured out enough to answer that honestly quite yet, but I would really like to check out the venue at Hollywood Forever at some point.

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

“That’s a whole lot of reefer; let me help you with that pre-roll,” from Anderson .Paak’s “Come Down.”

What band or artist changed your life?

I have to credit my instrument. I don’t want to go in depth on the importance of rhythms and vibrations, but drumming is so powerful. Just research Shamanic drumming.

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

To Frank Sinatra: “If your perceived affiliation

with the Mob is true, how did it impact your career, and what doors opened because of it?”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

I would prefer to have all attending participate in a drum circle with numerous percussive instruments, especially hang drums.

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

Given the first song I learned on drums was “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” I’d have to say Nevermind by Nirvana.

Jay'e Jones

tattoo and run through traffic to experience seeing him live.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Die Antwoord. Zero guilt. ZERO!

What song should everyone listen to right now?

I’m really diggin’ “Come Down.”

What’s your favorite music venue?

Asbury Lanes, N.J. Nothing beats an afternoon at The Shore, followed by some bowling and all-day PBRs.

NAME Jay’e Jones MORE INFO Jay’e Jones, owner of Yucca Valley’s Strata Tattoo Lab, has been tattooing in the high desert since 2001. She’s posted videos of herself jamming with her boyfriend, former Voodoo Glow Skulls drummer Jerry O’Neill. Visit www.stratatattoolab.com.

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

“Eh fatty boom boom, hit me with the ching-ching, not fokken thinking, dolla eye twinkling, just a bit of junkie, let’s not get too funky, Oh oh oo oh,” Die Antwoord, “Fatty Boom Boom.”

What was the first concert you attended?

Carlos Santana, with Los Lobos. I was 12 or 13 years old, and beyond excited for my first concert experience with my dad.

What band or artist changed your life?

Booty People, self-titled. It was the first record I pulled out of my parents’ collection.

What was the first album you owned?

The Bangles’ Manic Monday. Previously, I had been snagging my parents’ record collection to play on my Fisher-Price record player, but this was my first tape.

What bands are you listening to right now?

Descendents, NOFX, Bad Religion, Murder City Devils and Mariachi el Bronx. I’ve been stuck on the new Morrissey album for bit.

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

Trap! Definitely trap! Like, what are they trapping, exactly? Actual garbage, that’s what.

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

Tom Waits, 100 percent. I would stop mid-

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

I suppose I could ask Dr. Greg Graffin why he hasn’t married me yet.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

I would demand that “Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo be played on repeat.

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

There can be only one Highlander, but one favorite album? No way. I have a Top 13.

(Read them at CVIndependent.com.)

What song should everyone listen to right now?

Just do yourself a favor, and play the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.

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CANNABIS IN THE CV

ALL HAIL HEMP! F

Thanks to support from Mitch McConnell (seriously), hemp may soon be industrially grown again in the U.S.

BY CHARLES DRABKIN

or about 162 years, marijuana and hemp were commonly and legally grown in the United States.

Hemp fiber, although derived from a cannabis varietal, contains little to no THC—0.3 percent or less in both the European Union and Canada—and it cannot get a person high. It has been used for centuries to make things like rope, cloth, paper and food. Our founding fathers grew hemp; the Model T was partially made from hemp, and hemp was even used as animal feed.

In the 1930s, the cultivation of hemp was curtailed in the U.S. A combination of big-money interests, including Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon—a major investor in DuPont—sought to make hemp illegal to make room for the synthetic (plastic) fiber industry—which, of course, also benefited the oil industry. Hemp paper posed a threat to the timber industry, too. However, since hemp was such a part of the American consciousness, it needed to be rebranded and demonized.

Enter the term marihuana (marijuana), then a rather obscure Mexican slang word for cannabis containing THC. The government and its allies in big business were able to use what we would today call “fake news” to create horror stories about cannabis use, including movies like Reefer Madness, a 1936 film that shows “reefer” driving people to become murderers.

In 1937, the Prohibitive Marihuana Tax Law quickly moved through Congress. Because the public did not understand that hemp and “marihuana” had been looped together as the same thing—this was well before you could fact-check news on the internet—there was virtually no public outcry, despite opposition from the American Medical Association.

In the 1970s, the Controlled Substances Act further criminalized cannabis, even classifying industrial hemp as a Schedule 1 drug, making it illegal to grow or even research the uses of hemp.

The war on cannabis has now been going on for more than 80 years. For most of this time, the hemp industry has been working to decriminalize the growth of industrial hemp by actively working to decouple it from marijuana.

However, that’s changed, as states have legalized medical and recreational cannabis—meaning the hemp industry is now in the process of re-hitching its wagon to a star.

As recently as 2015, the Hemp Industries Association (HIA), a leading industry trade organization, estimated that retail sales of hemp products in the U.S. totaled $573 million—largely using imported hemp. Hemp can be used not only for food, textiles and

NEW

CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

personal care, but also car parts, biodiesel, construction materials and many other things.

From an environmental prospective, hemp just makes sense: One acre of hemp plants, grown in just three months, can yield as much paper as four acres of trees that have been planted for years. One acre of hemp can also provide as much fabric as two to three acres of cotton—while using a fraction of the pesticides. Hemp can also be carbon-neutral, as carbon that is released from burning hemp as fuel is reabsorbed by the next crop of plants as they grow.

Good news is on the horizon: A provision in the 2018 Farm Bill—legislation totaling more than 1,000 pages dealing with everything from farm subsidies to food stamps—paves the

way for the legalization of industrial growth.

The bill was due to be voted on by the full Senate before its July 4 recess, and although it would only block federal authorities from punishing hemp farmers and researchers in states where industrial hemp is legal, it is the first meaningful reform we have seen in decades. Even ultra-conservatives like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnelll, a Kentucky Republican, are pushing for hemp legalization.

“I know there are farming communities all over the country who are interested in this,” McConnell said about hemp as the bill passed through the Senate Agriculture Committee via a 20-1 vote on June 13. “… Younger farmers in my state are particularly interested in going in this direction. We have a lot of people in my state who are extremely enthusiastic about the possibilities. As we all know, hemp is very diversified.”

This is huge news. America’s attitude toward cannabis production from both an industrial and recreational/medical perspective is rapidly evolving—and we may finally see a light at the end of the tunnel regarding the commercial cultivation of hemp.

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OPINION SAVAGE LOVE

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FLIRTING VS. CHEATING W

BY DAN SAVAGE

ithout snooping, I came across texts between my wife, “Mary,” and a guy, “Jeremy,” of a very sexual nature. While I would be OK if she were doing this and I knew about it, this has been going on since before we met. (We’ve been together 10 years.) She says she has never met him in person (despite communicating with him for more than a decade!), and this was the only thing she was doing that she thought would have been out of bounds. Again, if I had known, it would have been fine. I’m not OK with her being with other guys, but I know harmless flirting can be a release.

Still, I have issues with anxiety and depression, and this is definitely triggering me.

I do not want to snoop, and I want to trust her, but I am having a hard time with both. Prior to this, it never occurred to me that Mary would do anything that had a whiff of dishonesty about it. But her having kept this from me for as long as I have known her has made me question that.

I don’t want to keep bringing this up to her, but I am struggling with it. What do you think I should do?

Upset In The Midwest I think you should get over it, UITM. Easier said than done, I realize, particularly with the twin burdens of anxiety and depression. But if you would have been fine with this had you known—if there was no reason for Mary to hide this LTR-of-sorts from you—the best way to prove that to her is by giving it your retroactive blessing.

You’re right, UITM: Mary shouldn’t have hidden this from you. But she assumed—

incorrectly, as it turned out—you would have a problem with those texts. It was a reasonable assumption on her part, since swapping flirty texts with a stranger is regarded as “out of bounds” by most. While this makes Mary’s failure to disclose look a little worse, we live in a culture that defines absolutely everything as cheating—don’t get me started on the idiocy that is “microinfidelities” and the idiots pushing that toxic concept—and as a consequence, people not only lack perspective (oh, to live in a world where everyone regarded harmless flirtation as no big deal!) but also the language to honestly discuss our need for a little harmless erotic affirmation from someone who isn’t obligated to find us attractive, i.e., not a spouse or partner.

Put yourself in Mary’s shoes for a moment.

When should she have told you about Jeremy?

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My wife has been sexting with a guy for years; should I be upset?

What would you have done if, on the third or fourth date, she looked up from her menu and said, “I’ve been swapping flirty texts with this guy for, oh, the last several years. I have no interest in him in real life; we’ve actually never even met in person, but I enjoy his texts and would like to keep swapping texts with him. I hope that’s not a problem.” You would have dumped her on the spot, right?

She didn’t want to stop; she didn’t know how to talk about it; she hesitated; and … a decade went by.

If there’s nothing else—if no other shoes drop—give this your retroactive blessing.

I have an unusual situation. I met a girl I am crazy about. She didn’t really have any interest in me except for the occasional drink; she just wanted to be friends. A few months later, I saw her at a bar. We drank a bit more than we could handle and slept together, and I thought we would start dating. A few weeks went by, and she always had an excuse as to why we couldn’t hang out. Then one night, she texted to say she wanted to see me, but I could tell she was tipsy. We went out for a few more drinks and then slept together again. A week later, the same thing happened.

When I contact her during the day, she never seems interested. But I run over like a starved dog when she calls at night. (Sadly, due to stress and overwork, I usually can’t get hard when I go over. That’s become a big issue.) She’s very attractive, and I’m surprised she has any interest in me at all, but it’s only when she’s drunk. Besides her looks, I’m attracted by her personality and intelligence. I don’t know what attracts her to me except maybe I’m her booty call, but recently, I have been terrible at it. The last time we hooked up, she told me she’s quitting drinking. Maybe she won’t contact me anymore.

My question: Is it worth pursuing this if I get my ED situation fixed? Or should I just move on, and if she does contact me one night, I just say, “Sorry, not interested”? It’s obvious she’s using me. But we actually have good conversations despite us both being drunk, and it kinda seems like a date of some sort. What do you think?

Summoned With A Text She’s interested in you for only one thing (sex) and at only one time (when she’s drunk, horny and out of other options) … and she can summon you with a single drunken late-night text. It’s actually not an unusual situation, SWAT—millions of people have received similar summonses. So long as the summoned person doesn’t want anything

more than sex from the person issuing the summons, Yahtzee: Everybody gets laid; nobody gets hurt. But if the person being summoned wants more—if the summonee has unrequited feelings for the summoner— the summoned person is going to get hurt.

Because what the summoner is essentially saying is this: “I want sex; I don’t want you.”

Even if the sex is good, the rejection that comes bundled in that summons stings, and the hurt grows over time.

So, yeah, stop answering that drunk girl’s summonses. Let her know you want more than sex, and if she’s not interested in something more, you’re not interested in her.

As for those erectile issues, SWAT: Try having sex sober, earlier in the evening, and with someone who doesn’t regard your dick as a consolation prize. I bet they clear right up.

I am a transgender man, and my girlfriend is a transgender woman, and we have hit a plateau.

Intimate time is rare; communication is minimal; and although I care for her deeply, I do not like her as a person and no longer want to get married. I have considered asking if we could open up the relationship, but I doubt that is the solution.

How does one end a long-term relationship?

Help Relationship Transition Whatever you do, HRT, please—please—don’t ask to open up your relationship when what you really want is out. A lot of people who want out do this, and it’s why so many people believe all requests to open a relationship are a sign the relationship is doomed. People who want out but ask for open inevitably get out in the end. People who want open and ask for open and get it tend to stay. But since most couples in open relationships aren’t public about it (most are more comfortable being perceived as monogamous), people hear about the insincere requests that preceded a breakup and conclude all requests are insincere.

Anyway, HRT, how does one end a longterm relationship? One uses one’s words. If “I love you” are the three magic words, then “I’m leaving you” are the three tragic words. Seeing as intimacy is rare and communication is minimal, it shouldn’t come as a shock to your soon-to-be-ex fiancée.

Read Savage Love every Wednesday at CVIndependent.com; mail@savagelove.net; @ fakedansavage on Twitter; ITMFA.org.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 31

JULY 2018

OPINION COMICS & JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

represented by URLs 42 Seat of the Dutch government, with “The” Across 43 Singer with the 1 There are 10 million in autobiography Out a joule of Sync 5 Cookout unit 45 Company with an 10 Nos. on checks early console 14 Free of slack 46 Bent pipe shape 15 First word of a 47 Stick in the counting rhyme microwave 16 Sidesplitting show 49 Israel’s first U.N. 17 Gyro meat from a delegate Abba roadside cart?

50 Bus. major’s course 19 Lowdown 52 Coffee dispenser 20 Sports car engine 54 Really fail type 58 Prolific author Asimov 21 Got together 62 Financial record, for 23 Seat in Parliament? short 25 Thomas who drew 63 Like some Santa Claus mushrooms, ravioli, 26 The Tritons of the and wontons àla NCAA “Rangoon”?

30 David ___, founder 66 Seagoing (abbr.) and former CEO of 67 “So ___ to the guy ...”

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inspiration for the theme answers)

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Howery 54 Archer agent Kane 7 ___ the last minute 55 Words after call or hail 8 Original Skittles flavor 56 Be effusive 9 Beirut’s country 57 Actress Summer of 10 Pisces follower Firefly 11 Be aware of 59 Antioxidant-rich berry unnecessary chatter? 60 Half an M? 12 Soybean stuff 61 L.B.J. biographer 13 Four-letter word with Robert eight sides?

64 Rapper ___ Uzi Vert 18 Recede gradually 65 Drew’s predecessor 22 Powdered green tea on The Price Is Right leaves 24 Grammy winner Carey ©2018 Jonesin’ 26 “I surrender!”

Crosswords (editor@ 27 Reef makeup jonesincrosswords.com) 28 Baby bear owned by a hardware company? Find the answers in 29 Part of DVD the “About” section of 31 Run out, as a CVIndependent.com!

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JULY 2018

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