Coachella Valley Independent September 2015

VOL. 3 | ISSUE 9

Could Local Band the Yip Yops Be the Next Big Thing?

Some Prominent Names in the Music Industry Think So.

By Brian Blueskye PAGE 11

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SEPTEMBER 2015

A Note From the Editor

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

Editor/Publisher Jimmy Boegle Assistant Editor Brian Blueskye Editorial Layout Wayne Acree Advertising Design Betty Jo Boegle Contributors Gustavo Arellano, Victor Barocas, Max Cannon, Kevin Fitzgerald, Bill Frost, Bob Grimm, Alex Harrington, Valerie-Jean (VJ) Hume, Brane Jevric, Kevin J. Kelley, Keith Knight, Robin Linn, Marylee Pangman, Erin Peters, Dan Perkins, Deidre Pike, Guillermo Prieto, Anita Rufus, Jen Sorenson, Robert Victor

The Independent is a proud member and/or supporter of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, the Local Independent Online News Publishers, the Desert Business Association, the LGBT Community Center of the Desert, artsOasis and the American Advertising Federation/Palm Springs-Desert Cities.

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COVER DESIGN BY WAYNE ACREE; photo By Kevin Fitzgerald

The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month. All content is ©2015 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The Independent is available free of charge throughout the Coachella Valley, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 by calling (760) 904-4208. The Independent may be distributed only by the Independent’s authorized distributors.

One of the traditional jobs of the alternative press has been to cover the faults and foibles of other local media. After all, if we don’t do it, who else will?

Here at the Independent, we have not been doing that as much as I’d like. Sure, we’ve done some stuff here and there—railing on the advertising that masquerades as editorial coverage in other local publications, for example. But I think we could, and should, be doing it more.

This is one reason why I am excited about, of all things, this month’s Restaurant News Bites column, which you can find on Page 22. Much of the column, which I wrote, focuses on a lazy, inaccurate story one local TV-news operation did—unfairly maligning a local business in the process.

Check it out, and let me know what you think.

That’s just one of the things in this issue about which I am excited. After a summer hiatus, we’re welcoming back Deidre Pike’s fantastic wine column, Sniff the Cap (Page 20). Our news section is packed with great stories—on the financial dilemma facing local water agencies as they try to meet state-mandated conservation goals (Page 6); on a unique operation the Palm Springs Police Department is conducting to curb bicycle theft (Page 8); and on the phenomenon that is presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (Page 9). That Bernie Sanders story was done for us by a writer for Seven Days, the alternative newspaper in Burlington, Vt.—the place where Sanders got his political start more than three decades ago, when he became the city’s mayor.

Finally, there’s this month’s cover story, on local band the Yip Yops—who just signed an impressive deal with a management company/record label. You won’t believe the story about the chance encounter that ultimately led the Yip Yops to that deal. Read all about it on Page 11.

In other news, I’d like to remind everyone of two things I mentioned last month: First: The initial round of our Best of Coachella Valley voting kicks off on Aug. 31. Complete details can be found on Page 23.

Second: We’ve finally launched our Supporters of the Independent Program.

Like what we do? Consider supporting us with an annual, monthly or one-time contribution. If you consider it and decide to contribute—fantastic! You’ll get some cool perks in return. If you decide against it, or are unable to do so, no worries: Our content, both print and online, will always remain completely free of charge.

Find details on the Supporters of the Independent Program on Page 13.

As always, thanks for reading. Welcome to the September 2015 print edition of the Coachella Valley Independent.

—Jimmy Boegle, jboegle@cvindependent.com

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 3

SEPTEMBER 2015

OPINION

KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS

Teen Suicide Deaths, Gun Availability Go Hand in Hand

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

By Anita Rufus remember my friend Jean every time I hear about the suicide death of a young person.

Jean found her 17-year-old son, shot dead by his own hand, in their living room.

Although I have known others who lost a child, it’s Jean who stands out. The impact on her family was devastating.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that each year, approximately 157,000 youth between the ages of 10 and 24 receive medical care for self-inflicted injuries in ERs across the country. HealthyChildren.org says that suicide is one of the three leading causes of death for 13-to-19-year-olds in the United States, with an average of four deaths every day.

Not surprisingly, suicide attempts with a firearm are usually deadly, while people who use drugs or other methods have a greater chance for survival. About 45 percent of young people use firearms to attempt suicide, and boys are more at risk to die: 81 percent of deaths are males—because they are more likely to use firearms.

“Even in the best of circumstances, when you’re in adolescence, you feel different,” says Palm Desert resident Carol Bayer, a licensed marriage and family therapist who counsels many teenagers. “Depression and despair can come from betrayal or rejection by a best friend, the end of a love affair, family conflicts, or just feeling isolated, alone, and without family support or coping skills. Even if they want to reach out, they assume others will say they’re just being ‘dramatic’ and tell them to get over it.”

An analysis by Harvard’s Injury Control Research Center indicates that for every age group across the country, “states with higher levels of household gun ownership had higher rates of firearm suicide. … The vast majority of adolescent suicide guns come from parents or other family members.”

A 2012 study by the Children’s Defense Fund indicates the gun death rate for children and teens is four times greater in the United States than in Canada (the country with the next-highest rate), and 65 times greater than in Germany and Britain. Even more disturbing, public health researchers found that 43 percent of homes with guns and children have at least one unlocked firearm.

The Children’s Defense Fund also reports that in 2008-09, an estimated 127 U.S. children died from gunshots in their homes, and dozens more died in the homes of friends, neighbors and relatives. More than half pulled the trigger themselves or were shot by another child. At least 52 deaths involved a child handling a gun left unsecured; 60 children died at the hands of their own parents, with 50 of them in homicides. The average age of the victims was 6 years old.

Research by the New England Journal of Medicine shows that when doctors consult with patients about the risk of keeping firearms in a home, it leads to significantly higher rates of handgun removal or safer storage. Yet the National Rifle Association has fought against such policies, backing the “Docs vs. Glocks“ law passed in Florida in 2011, which prohibited doctors, even pediatricians, from asking patients about firearms in the home.

Even as violent crime rates overall have declined steadily in recent years, rates of gun injury and death are climbing. In an editorial in Annals of Internal Medicine, a team of doctors wrote: “It does not matter whether we believe that guns kill people or that people kill people with guns—the result is the same: a public health crisis.”

Meanwhile, Congress, under the aggressive and well-funded lobbying influence of the NRA, refuses to allow funding for federal medical research to study firearm deaths and injuries as the public health issues they clearly are. According to Mother Jones, “Political forces effectively banned the Centers for Disease Control and other scientific agencies from funding research on gun-related injury and death. The ban worked: (There have been) no relevant studies published since 2005.”

There are two types of gun-related public health costs. First, there are direct costs, exceeding $8.6 billion, with the largest portion being long-term prison costs; about 87 percent of these costs fall on taxpayers. Second, there are indirect costs, adding up to at least $221 billion, including lost income, losses to employers, and losses based on court costs and awards to victims and their families.

As overwhelming as all these statistics may be, and as helpless as we may feel to impact public policy, there are ways to get involved and make a difference: • Moms Demand Action has a local chapter

and needs volunteers who are willing to spread the message that we must act to protect kids from accidental or deliberate use of guns.

Palm Desert’s Dori Smith (dorismithca@gmail. com), the local representative, reminds us: “It’s easier to lock up a gun than it is to grieve a dead child.”

• Never assume that children don’t know where guns are, or that they are unable to access them—they do, and they will.

Grandparents, this means you, too.

• Ask parents of your children’s friends about the status of firearms in their homes before your child spends time there. Better safe than sorry.

• If your teen becomes depressed, and you have any concern about access to firearms, get guns out of your house for the time being.

• Tell your elected representatives that you

want medical professionals to be allowed to study and then implement firearm-related public health policies.

Most survivors of a suicide attempt are glad they were saved. Unfortunately, those who make that attempt with a firearm are usually successful. I can never erase from my mind the agony of my friend Jean when she found her son’s body. No parent should ever have to face that.

We must never accept this as the new normal. These are our children.

ANITA RUFUS IS ALSO KNOWN AS “THE LOVABLE LIBERAL,” AND HER RADIO SHOW AIRS SUNDAYS FROM 11 A.M. TO 1 P.M. ON KNEWS RADIO 94.3 FM. EMAIL HER AT ANITA@ LOVABLELIBERAL.COM. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS APPEARS EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY AT CVINDEPENDENT.COM.

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SEPTEMBER 2015

OPINION

THE POTTED DESERT GARDEN

The Coachella Valley Newcomer’s Guide to Fantastic Gardens

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

By MARYLEE PANGMAN t’s time to speak specifically to newcomers about gardening in the desert.

Of course, you are probably reading this when the mercury is still firmly wrestling with 100-plus degrees on a daily basis, and you’re saying, “Are you kidding me?”

Really: I do not jest. We can and do have wonderful gardens here in the low desert; we just have to be smart about it.

Many of us come from climates with beautiful, cooler summers—and with those summers come stunning gardens. I know that many of us yearn for a similar garden here in the desert, and I want to assure you that it can be done.

A note for the non-gardeners who may be reading this: Why not try your hand with a garden at your desert home? Perhaps you have caught yourself admiring other gardens in the valley, and you think to yourself, “Could I do it?”

Here are 15 reasons to consider a container garden in the desert: 1. Pots are a great place to try your hand at gardening.

2. You can make a small investment to get started—both in money and labor.

3. Pots are movable. Change your mind about a location? No problem!

4. Pots will fit anywhere, even if you have limited space outside.

5. There are only rare frosty conditions, so there is little risk of pots breaking in a freeze.

6. We have a long growing season for flowers, vegetables and herbs.

7. Succulents and cacti provide easy care options.

8. Targeted watering means you can have an oasis garden (on a small scale) and use little water.

9. Immediate gratification—plant it, and enjoy!

10. Almost no weeding!

11. Pots are easier to reach than ground plantings. This is great for bad backs, aging

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bodies and anyone who does not like to dig in the ground.

12. Pots are the only way to have plants on your hardscapes, i.e., patios, entries, etc.

13. Grow plants easily in the shade.

14. Kids of all ages love pots!

15. You can create a potted garden to coordinate with any style or color … and then change it whenever you desire!

There are two key priorities when creating a potted garden in the desert. The first is water: Everything is going to need water. The second is your pot. Let’s address the pot question first, since you need one to begin your garden.

The biggest mistake that homeowners make is to buy a pot that is too small. You need a good-sized pot, i.e., one that is 24 inches or greater in interior diameter at the rim, when planning to plant in the full sun. Pots need this volume in order for them to have enough soil and moisture to protect, insulate and care for the plant, regardless of what kind it is. When you are planning to plant in the shade, you can go a little bit smaller, but you never want to go below 20 inches—even if your pot gets no sun.

People always ask me what kind of pots I

Whether you want winter flowers or year-round cactus and succulents, you can have a fantastic desert potted garden.

recommend. You want a pot where the entire wall is as thick as possible; clay pots are particularly good. I never recommend plastic pots, because the walls are too thin, offer no insulation, and will become brittle. A clay pot that has been high-fired is your best bet. It will cost you a little more money, but it will last you a lifetime.

The easiest way to get started in a container garden is to think about cactus and succulents.

Your first decision is where you want to place your first pot. Look at your home’s outside areas, and decide where the place of honor will be: Near your entryway? At a focal point in the yard? On the patio? Will it be in the sun or in shade?

Go to a local nursery and talk to someone in the know about where you want to place your plant. Look at the choices; ask for one that is

easy care; and make your selection. Get some help in choosing the right-size pot; grab some cactus soil and time-release fertilizer; and take it all home.

Online at CVIndependent.com all this month, I’ll continue with tips for newcomers— for example, how to plant your plants in containers.

THE POTTED DESERT GARDEN APPEARS TUESDAYS AT CVINDEPENDENT.COM. MARYLEE PANGMAN IS THE FOUNDER AND FORMER OWNER OF THE CONTAINED GARDENER IN TUCSON, ARIZ. SHE HAS BECOME KNOWN AS THE DESERT’S POTTED GARDEN EXPERT. MARYLEE’S BOOK, GETTING POTTED IN THE DESERT, HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED. BUY IT ONLINE POTTEDDESERT.COM. EMAIL HER WITH COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS AT MARYLEE@POTTEDDESERT.COM. FOLLOW THE POTTED DESERT AT FACEBOOK.COM/POTTEDDESERT.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 5

SEPTEMBER 2015

OPINION

ASK A MEXICAN!

Why Isn’t Menudo More Popular Among Gabachos?

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

By Gustavo Arellano EAR MEXICAN: I’m a gabacho, but I’ve been loving menudo for about 45 years. What are your thoughts on why menudo is the Food of the Gods?

I Ain’t Mexican but Mi Estómago Damn Well Is DEAR NO SOY MEXICANO BUT MY STOMACH SÍ ES: You are one smart gabacho! Most people of your ilk only think of the tripe soup as an edible donkey show: a horrific, disgusting artifact of a horrific, disgusting people. But menudo is so much more than boiled cow guts or something to soak up the booze that fueled your previous night.

Menudo is a socio-historical lesson in a bowl: The fat, pale kernels of pozole have nourished Mesoamericans since time immemorial; the use of tripe (and not the better parts of a cow) is a testament to its status as a poor person’s meal. Menudo is delicious, with the trinity of firm pozole, chewy tripe and a fiery, blood-red broth producing a comforting, fatty flavor.

More important: Menudo is amor. It’s the soup Mexican women slave over for their hungry families on weekend mornings, the dish over which families unite, and teens fall in love. Menudo nowadays exists in can form, but that’s heresy. True menudo is a difficult feat, taking hours to create, but it comes with a payoff that transcends taste buds and strives for the sublime.

Will menudo cure a hangover? No doubt.

But if that’s all you eat it for, then you truly don’t know love.

DEAR MEXICAN: I live in the Bronx, in a heavily immigrant area. We have many West African, Dominican, Mexican, Central American, Guyanese and Bengali newcomers.

I’ve noticed that Mexican men seem to spend lots of time with their wives and kids.

Every weekend in the park, you see Mexican man after Mexican man playing soccer with his kids or doing some other activity with his family. I know that most of these men work six days a week, and am amazed that in their free time, they don’t just want to be left alone. It’s not that you don’t see men of other nationalities playing with their kids, but more often, you see the African and Dominican men hanging out with other men, and the wives

are with the kids.

This is, of course, a vast generalization, but I’ve noticed it a lot.

I also often see Mexican men helping their wives at the Laundromat. I thought Mexicans were supposed to be machos. But now I’m thinking that maybe I need to find myself a Mexican man!

Randy in Riverdale DEAR GABACHA: You should definitely get yourself an hombre, but not to take care of kids. “The Quality of Time Spent With Children Among Mexican Immigrants,” a paper written by Purdue University professor Andres J. Vargas and Daniel Kidane of Ohio Wesleyan University, found that Mexican fathers spent less time with their kiddies than gabachos, Mexican Americans and African Americans, although the rate improved as papis lived in the U.S. longer. “We interpret this as evidence that duration of residence is associated with an improvement of the child-care behaviors of Mexican immigrants,” the two wrote.

They didn’t give a reason as to why Mexican fathers spend less time with their kids, but you alluded to the answer: Our dads work a lot. There’s no time for museums, libraries or tutoring. But trying to turn your son into the next Fernando Valenzuela or Chicharito? Of course!

CATCH THE MEXICAN EVERY WEDNESDAY AT CVINDEPENDENT. COM. ASK THE MEXICAN AT THEMEXICAN@ASKAMEXICAN. NET; BE HIS FAN ON FACEBOOK; FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @GUSTAVOARELLANO; OR FOLLOW HIM ON INSTAGRAM @ GUSTAVO_ARELLANO!

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SEPTEMBER 2015

NEWS

CONSERVATION AT A COST Local Agencies Decrease Water Usage— and Face a Decline in Revenue as a Result WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Kevin Fitzgerald n July 30, the State Water Resources Control Board issued a press release highlighting the quick success of statewide water-conservation efforts.

“With record-breaking heat throughout much of the state in June, Californians continued to conserve water, reducing water use by 27.3 percent and exceeding Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s 25 percent mandate in the first month that the new emergency conservation regulation was in effect,” the release said.

However, most of the Coachella Valley’s water agencies didn’t conserve as much water as the state wanted.

Among Coachella Valley’s five water districts, the Mission Springs Water District had the least success in June, reporting only a 10 percent decline in usage—missing its 28 percent target by 18.4 percent. The Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) reported a 21 percent decrease in usage—but missed the state’s huge, harsh 36 percent target by 15 percent.

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A bit more conservation success was realized by the Indio Water Authority; the agency reported a 26 percent usage decline, but that still fell 5.6 percent short of the targeted 32 percent. The Coachella Water Authority reported a 20 percent decline, 4 percent below the 24 percent target.

By far, the best local June conservation results came from the Desert Water Agency,

which exceeded its 36 percent target with a 40 percent decline in usage.

Representatives of the agencies put a positive spin on the numbers.

“We were pretty satisfied with our June number of 21 percent,” said Heather Engel, the Coachella Valley Water District’s director of communications and conservation, “although the state water board criticized us because it was 15 percent away from our goal number of 36 percent. We got some feedback from the state that we might have to do something differently, but we felt that 21 percent was pretty impressive for summer in the Coachella Valley.”

Even more impressive are the CVWD’s July numbers: The district saw a 41 percent decrease, when compared to the same month two years ago. However, the Desert Water Authority’s reduction fell from 40 percent in June to 30 percent in July.

As of our press deadline, July reports were unavailable for the Indio Water Authority, the Coachella Water Authority and the Mission Springs Water District.

Katie Ruark, the DWA public information officer, said her agency wasn’t sure why the 40 percent reduction in June slipped to 30 percent in July.

“It’s only been two days since we reported that information,” she said. “But we will continue to implement our restrictions and conservation programs to keep the momentum going.”

Ruark did offer some preliminary theories on the difference between the two months: “July was a hotter month in terms of temperatures than June, so that could have been a factor in increased use. Also, it occurs to me that we should look at an increase in tourism rates throughout July, because that could impact the level of usage as well.”

Over at the CVWD, the improvement in conservation results obviously pleased Engel.

She credited the agency’s public outreach, education programs and rebate programs.

“We’ve had this jump in July, and I think that can primarily be attributed to not only the ongoing efforts just mentioned, but that’s when the drought penalties went into effect.”

However, the water agencies now find themselves in a curious quandary: As their conservation successes increase, they’re bringing in less money. Does this forebode a rate increase for water customers?

“In July alone, our regular billed water consumption revenue was down by more than $2 million, but we received $1.9 million in new penalty revenue,” CVWD’s Engel said. “We’re hoping to use some of that (penalty) money to further fund our conservation programs, like the turf-buyback program, but I’m not sure if that’s the way it will work, honestly, because our overall revenue is down due to the

conservation of water.”

Ruark said the Palm Springs-area Desert Water Agency readied itself for the loss in income.

“The DWA, in the preparation of the 2015-2016 fiscal year budget … did prepare for a revenue hit that we knew would result from decreased water use,” she said.

“We compensated for that by projecting a $10 million hit, and we deferred capitalimprovement projects, and we’ll be taking some money out of our operating reserves to fill that gap. In 2016, we were already scheduled to be doing a rate study, so we’ll be taking a really hard look at both our costs and our rates to determine if our customer rates do need to be adjusted.”

At the east end of the valley, the CVWD’s Engel described the challenge this way. “We do have reserve funds that are specifically designated for use as a rate-stabilization resource. So, when and if we do have a large drop in revenue, we can rely on those funds to be a short term solution.”

There will be no relief forthcoming from the State Water Resources Control Board, which declined to accept appeals and populationdata submissions by the DWA and CVWD, which felt the absence of seasonal residents in population statistics skewed the agencies’ per-capita water usage—and resulted in overly harsh decrease mandates from the state.

“We did submit our data to them in a memo with backup documentation of our methods,” Ruark said. “They would not accept our conclusions because they felt that we should only include seasonal residents in our winter months’ usage calculations. We explained that those homes are still using water even when the residents themselves are absent, because most of the water usage is on landscaping needs outdoors, and continue regardless. But they declined to accept that premise.”

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 7

SEPTEMBER 2015

NEWS

SEPTEMBER ASTRONOMY An Epic Total Eclipse of the Harvest Moon Happens This Month

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

by Robert Victor pectacular events in September include a close pairing of a waning crescent moon and Venus at dawn on Sept. 10—and a total lunar eclipse in the early evening on Sept. 27.

Venus now rises before the sun, and has become a spectacular morning “star” in the east before dawn. Venus reaches its greatest brilliance this year in the third week of September. Now through mid-October, the crescent phase of Venus can be seen with just a pair of binoculars—just find Venus on any morning before sunup, and then eliminate the planet’s glare against a darkened sky by simply keeping track of it until sunrise or longer. The mornings of Sept.

10 and Oct. 8, with Venus near a crescent moon, are excellent opportunities to easily locate and observe Venus in the daytime.

Ranking next in brightness after Venus are the blue-white Dog Star Sirius in the southeast, and yellow Capella northwest of overhead. Look for the Winter Hexagon, in clockwise order from its lowest member: Sirius, Procyon, Pollux (and nearby Castor, not shown on the map), Capella, Aldebaran and Rigel. Folks checking the eastern sky regularly about an hour before sunrise can watch for the first appearances—called heliacal risings—of planets and first-magnitude stars. Regulus and Jupiter will emerge by mid-September.

During Venus’ reign as “morning star” through March 2016, the moon passes by the planet in our skies seven times. The first of these monthly events will be on Sept. 10, when, one hour before sunrise, Venus will gleam in the eastern sky, just 4 degrees to the upper right of a 7-percent sunlit crescent moon, graced by earthshine illuminating its upper non-sunlit side. About 6 degrees to the moon’s lower left is dim red Mars, and 9 degrees farther to the lower left is Regulus, heart of Leo, the Lion.

Within 15 minutes later, look 6 to 7 degrees to the lower left of Regulus for Jupiter, just rising.

The entire span of objects from Venus to Jupiter takes up just 23 degrees.

Venus on the morning of Sept. 10 appears three-quarters of an arcminute in diameter, compared to the moon’s 30 arcminutes, or half a degree. So viewed through a telescope at 40-power, Venus will appear as large as the moon does to unaided eye! The crescent Venus, then 18 percent sunlit and nearing greatest brilliancy, will be very striking.

Evenings: Golden Arcturus in the west, and blue-white Vega nearly overhead, shine as the brightest stars at dusk. Altair and Deneb complete the Summer Triangle with Vega. The moon can be followed one hour after sunset daily from Sept. 15-28, as it waxes from a thin

crescent, through first-quarter phase (half full and 90 degrees east of the sun), to one day past full. Steady Saturn remains in view in the southwest at dusk, and appears not far from the reddish twinkling first-magnitude star Antares, heart of the Scorpion, and outshines that star by half a magnitude. Through a telescope, we get fine views of Saturn’s rings.

On Sept. 15, the moon will be 3 degrees up in the west-southwest, 45 minutes after sunset, with Spica visible in binoculars 3 degrees to moon’s lower left.

For the next 12 evenings, look nightly for the moon within an hour after sunset, and watch it change its phase (fraction illuminated) and move toward the place where it has an encounter with Earth’s shadow on Sept. 27.

On Friday, Sept. 18, an hour after sunset, the crescent moon is in the southwest, with Saturn just 2 degrees to its lower left. Note the red supergiant star Antares, heart of the Scorpion, twinkling 12 degrees farther to the left of Saturn, and a little lower.

The next evening, Saturday, Sept. 19, the fat crescent moon is 9 degrees nearly directly above Antares, while Saturn is 12 degrees to the right of the other two bodies, forming an isosceles triangle. On Sunday evening, Sept. 20, the moon is in the south-southwest one hour after sunset, 17 degrees to the upper left of Antares, and 87 degrees (nearly a quarter of a circle) east of the sun. This evening, the moon is nearly at first-quarter phase and appears slightly less than half full.

Early in the evening on Sunday, Sept. 27, there will be a total eclipse of the harvest moon.

The partial eclipse will already be under way as the moon rises in the east, just before sunset.

Excessive media hype will be given to this eclipse, because it coincides with a so-called “Supermoon,” the closest moon of the year. The moon will be in total eclipse from 7:11 p.m. to

Morning visibility map at mid-twilight.

ROBERT D. MILLER

Evening visibility map at mid-twilight.

ROBERT D. MILLER

8:23 p.m. Pacific, and the partial eclipse will end at 9:27 p.m.

This full moon is both the faintest of the year (when deepest in Earth’s shadow at 7:47 p.m.) and the brightest (around 10:23 p.m., when just outside the penumbra of Earth’s shadow).

Stand between a bright light and a reflectorized road sign so that the shadow of your head is cast upon the sign, and you’ll see a brilliant halo around your head’s shadow. The moon’s surface reflects light in the same manner as the reflectorized sign—very strongly back toward the direction of the light source.

You can also conveniently observe the moon daily about one hour before sunrise beginning Sept. 28, the morning after the eclipse, through Oct. 11. On Oct. 2, the moon

will occult Aldebaran after sunrise, covering and uncovering the star at about 6:44 a.m. and 7:18 a.m. in the Coachella Valley—both events visible through a telescope.

Be sure to check the schedule of monthly star parties, observing sessions for special events, lectures and more from the Astronomical Society of the Desert at www.astrorx.org. Also: Subscribe to the Sky Calendar online, at www.abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar.

ROBERT C. VICTOR WAS A STAFF ASTRONOMER AT ABRAMS PLANETARIUM AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY. HE IS NOW RETIRED AND ENJOYS PROVIDING SKYWATCHING OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN IN AND AROUND PALM SPRINGS.

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SEPTEMBER 2015

NEWS

BAIT BIKE

Palm Springs Police Put on Plain Clothes in an Effort to Cut Down on Bicycle Theft WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Brane Jevric an Bernardino police recently made national news thanks to a creative operation.

Cops, dressed in plain clothes or as homeless people, walked up to cars stopped at an intersection.

The officers held signs, but instead of saying something to the effect of “need food,” the signs said something to the effect of “S.B. Police. I am not homeless. Looking for seatbelt and cell phone violations.”

Of course, many drivers didn’t pay attention—they were busy texting, talking on a phone or even eating. Those drivers received citations.

The Palm Springs Police Department also recently conducted a creative operation, of sorts, to combat a common Palm Springs crime: bike theft.

In broad daylight, a marked police department bike was placed as bait, in Sunrise Park and in other areas of the city frequented by homeless people and the less fortunate. Of course, plain-clothes cops were on the watch.

During the operation, three people, all Palm Springs residents, were arrested for grand theft: Gilbert Langford, 43; Marcos Gonzalez, 29; and Charles Wunderlich, 30. Langford was also cited for violating parole; Gonzalez was on probation at the time of his arrest; and Wunderlich allegedly had drugs on him, police said.

Bike theft is a growing problem in Palm Springs, according to the police.

“In 2014, 303 bicycles were stolen in the city,” Sgt. Harvey Reed said. “From Jan. 1, 2015, to July 31, 2015, 191 bicycles were stolen in Palm Springs.”

Lt. Mike Kovaleff declined to discuss details of the Bait Bike operation, because “it would

jeopardize future details.” So I headed to Sunrise Park, where there are always plenty of folks who use bikes as their only means of transportation. Everyone I spoke to told me they’d heard of the Bait Bike operation. Kenny, a young fellow with a nice bike (who only wanted to use his first name), said he even served time due to Bait Bike.

“Yep, the cops nabbed me at the Circle K, midday, about eight months ago,” he said. “Got six months for a felony, had priors, served about a month and a half.”

Kenny recalls how it went down. “The bike (had) a carbon fiber frame, cost about $1,300.

The cops were in a van, watching it all. They got me on the bike.”

Kenny stopped, scratched his head and reluctantly continued. “I was duped! A lady asked me if I wanna buy the bike. I fell for it. It was entrapment!”

Evidently, the judge didn’t buy Kenny’s explanation. As far as entrapment claims regarding Bait Bike, John Hall, the information specialist for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, was not able to comment.

Jose, another young fellow with a cool bike, explained what usually happens to stolen bikes.

“They go on bricks, man. No fool’s selling them to pawn shops; the owners work with cops,” he said. “A ‘hot’ bike is taken apart, and those parts are used to repair other bikes.

Bikes are all we got, man!”

Sgt. Reed offered some useful tips on how to protect a bicycle from being stolen. Beyond having a photo of and the serial number for your bike, always lock the rear and front wheels to the frame—as well as the seat.

Most importantly, Sgt. Reed warned: “Never leave your bike unattended or unlocked, even if it’s just for a minute.”

Charles Wunderlich, Gilbert Langford and Marcos Gonzalez were arrested as part of “Bait Bike.”

CVIndependent.com

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SEPTEMBER 2015

NEWS

BERNIE SANDERS’ STORY

How a Vermont Socialist Improbably Won a National Stage

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Kevin J. Kelley Editor’s Note: Seven Days, the alternative publication in Burlington, Vt., has been on the Bernie Sanders beat for decades: He got his political start as the mayor of the city.

Seven Days, which has been chronicling Sanders’ career since 1972, recently offered to write this story for the Coachella Valley Independent and other alternative publications around the country. Get more coverage, including clips from Sanders’ 1987 folk album (seriously), at BernieBeat.com. Read the full version of this piece at CVIndependent.com. ernie Sanders’ presidential campaign is surging.

Nearly 10,000 supporters gathered in Madison, Wis., to hear the 73-yearold socialist senator denounce the Koch brothers and corporate greed.

Another 7,500 came to hear him in Portland, Maine. He fired up a crowd of 11,000 in Phoenix.

More and more Americans are tuning in to the grumpy grandfather who never strays from his message and who rails against income inequality and the corruption of U.S. politics wrought by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. Sanders comes across as stern and sincere, shaking a crooked finger as he insists that only a “political revolution” can save ordinary Americans from the predations of the “billionaire class.”

Sanders’ sudden popularity has surprised pundits trapped inside the Beltway, but not Vermonters closely acquainted with his political biography. They’ve watched his evolution from a fringe candidate of the farleft Liberty Union Party in the 1972 governor’s race, to mayor of the state’s largest city nine years later, to his current status as one of Vermont’s most popular politicians. Sanders won re-election to his U.S. Senate seat in 2012 with 71 percent of the vote.

Sanders-watchers say many of the attributes now becoming evident to voters outside of Vermont are the same ones that have helped him assemble ever-broader majorities over the last 35 years. Underlying all of Sanders’ electoral successes is his ability to win the support of white working-class voters.

Sanders’ friends, former campaign staffers and academic analysts agree on the elements that comprise his political repertoire: charisma, authenticity, trustworthiness and simplicity and consistency of message. Sanders wins respect among moderates and even some conservatives, these sources add, by abstaining from ideology and by taking a pragmatic, but always principled, approach to governing and legislating.

Sanders has also been a beneficiary of sheer good luck.

By 1980, Bernie Sanders had earned a

reputation as a perennial loser at the ballot box. But University of Vermont political science professor Garrison Nelson recalls that “a perfect storm” was gathering in Burlington.

University of Vermont religion professor Richard Sugarman, Sanders’ friend, felt the wind shift. He pointed out to his then-39year-old friend and political soul mate that Burlington had been the source of Sanders’ highest vote percentages in the statewide races he had run in the 1970s as a Liberty Union candidate. Sanders, he suggested in 1980, should run for mayor against fourterm Democratic mayor Gordon Paquette. “I told him he had a chance, a small chance, to actually win,” Sugarman recounts.

Burlingtonians had already assembled a progressive political infrastructure.

Lawyer John Franco, another longtime Sanders confidante, points to a food co-op, a community health center and grassroots antipoverty groups as local expressions of a movement rooted in the anti-war politics of the Vietnam era. Sanders sympathizers were also galvanized by the election four months earlier of archconservative Ronald Reagan as president Paquette, a working-class Democrat who had compiled a somewhat liberal record, had meanwhile alienated big chunks of the electorate by calling for a steep rise in residential property taxes. In what would become an incongruous characteristic of his socialist politics, Sanders was opposed to raising taxes.

In the run-up to the ’81 election, Paquette “managed to piss off tenants, the cops and firefighters,” political science professor Nelson notes, by failing to address the issue of rising rents and by opposing pay raises for members of the police and fire departments.

Sanders supported those wage demands, again departing from left-wing orthodoxy—this time by refusing to view the police with suspicion, let alone outright animosity. Sanders would never adopt the ’60s leftist rhetoric of cops as “pigs.” He instead viewed them as “workers,” Sugarman points out.

The Burlington police union rewarded the Jewish socialist from Brooklyn—Sanders had moved to Vermont as a young man—by endorsing him. “That was the key to the race,” says Huck Gutman, Sanders’ friend of four decades, who would later serve as his chief of staff in the U.S. Senate.

The insurgent was simultaneously adding to Paquette’s political pain by portraying the mayor as a tool of real-estate interests seeking to build high-rise, high-priced condominiums downtown on scenic Lake Champlain.

But even with all these weather systems converging, Paquette might have survived the Sanders storm had he seen it coming. A mano-a-mano bout might likewise have ended in a Paquette victory. But as luck would have it, Sanders benefited from a spoiler: Richard Bove, a local restaurant owner and erstwhile ally of Paquette’s, had secured a spot on the mayoral ballot out of pique at a perceived slight by the local Democratic establishment, Nelson says. Bove got about 400 votes, and “all those votes would have gone to Paquette,” Nelson reckons. Instead, Sanders managed to squeak out a 10-vote victory.

The sort of political revolution Sanders is urging today actually occurred on a smaller scale in what soon became known as “the People’s Republic of Burlington.”

Sanders became a hands-on mayor who practiced the principles of “Sewer Socialism.”

In keeping with the precedent set by a series of progressive mayors of Milwaukee in the first half of the 20th century, he focused on the effective and efficient delivery of basic municipal services. Voters also affirmed the radical mayor’s affordable-housing initiatives, as his three re-election victories would attest.

Sanders was soon looking to advance to higher offices. He ran for governor in 1986 and the U.S. House in 1988, but lost both

Bernie Sanders. MATTHEW THORSEN

races. His entry on the national political scene in 1990—when he finally managed to win a statewide race—was made possible, in part, by his opponent’s blunders.

Incumbent Republican House member Peter Smith, who had beaten Sanders by four percentage points in a six-way race in 1988, alienated many conservative Vermonters, Nelson suggests, by insulting President George H.W. Bush and by casting a vote that caused the National Rifle Association to campaign against him: Smith voted for a ban on assault weapons after pledging his allegiance to the NRA’s policy of opposing any and all guncontrol measures. That spawned a negative ad campaign in hunter-friendly Vermont: “Smith and Wesson, yes. Smith and Congress, no.”

Sanders won the election by a 16-point margin. From there, Sanders would go on to win seven more elections to the House and to score easy victories in races for the U.S. Senate in 2006 and 2012.

Initially treated by national political savants as a figure for ridicule, Sanders has again shown that he can surprise those who underestimate him. As was the case 35 years ago in Burlington and 25 years ago in many parts of Vermont, big-dog Dems are saying Sanders has no chance of winning.

His growing crowds haven’t gotten the message yet.

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SEPTEMBER 2015

Could Local Band the Yip Yops Be the Next Big Thing?

Some Prominent Names in the Music Industry Think So.

By Brian Blueskye

T

HE MEMBERS OF THE YIP YOPS SPENT much of last summer holed up in their Palm Desert practice space, writing new material and honing their skills.

Turns out all of that work paid off: This summer, the Yip Yops have spent much of their time recording with producer Ronnie King at his studio, Chateau Relaxo, in Thermal—thanks to a recently signed a record contract.

I arrived at Chateau Relaxo on a recent Saturday afternoon just as Mari Brossfield, the newest Yip Yop, was getting ready to record her vocals for a song called “Straw Dogs.” Through a handful of takes, her vocals kept sounding better and better. Alvin Taylor, producer and a local drummer who has performed with Elton John, Eric Burdon and Sly and the Family Stone, was also present, and tutored Brossfield on where her vocals fell flat a couple of times.

The Yip Yops have certainly come a long way. The band earned a slot at the Coachellaaffiliated Tachevah Block Party in 2014, before spending much of last summer in their practice space. After the Yip Yops re-emerged, the group won the Battle of the Bands at the Date Festival back in February.

Then came the biggest accomplishment of

KEVIN FITZGERALD

all: In May, the Yip Yops signed with Hood and Associates, a talent-management group and record label headed up by Randy Hood and hip-hop artist Ditch.

Soon after, the band made up of four local teens was recording with Ronnie King, a man who has worked with Mariah Carey, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Rancid, Pennywise and many others.

At this rate, who knows where the Yip Yops will be next summer?

Ison Van Winkle, the band’s guitarist and front man, said recording sessions have been going well.

“There haven’t really been any challenges so far,” Van Winkle said. “I think it’s gone pretty smooth, because for the most part, we’re playing the music we’ve been playing for a while now. We have kind of a clear vision as to how the songs should sound before we come in.”

However, Van Winkle said the experience of recording in a studio has led to some tough lessons.

“You can practice it one way in the studio, and it sounds phenomenal, and then recording in the studio, everything is magnified times 10. You have to change and maneuver around it,” he said.

Drummer Ross Murakami agreed.

“We’ve learned from some mistakes early on,” he said. “But I wouldn’t really say they’re mistakes, just ways to do things better. When we come back to the studio, there will be a different approach, especially for my drumming. I’ll do some programming and have a personalized click going that will make my recording a lot smoother.”

Ronnie King has been a good fit for the band. His studio in Thermal is also a perfect location for the band members, because it means they don’t need to make the trek to Los Angeles to record.

“He was the first person that the label brought to us, and we heard a lot of great things about him,” Van Winkle said. “We met up with him, and things just sort of clicked.

We didn’t really see the need to find anybody else. It’s nice to have someone this good, this close.”

King’s studio in Thermal is on a date farm.

There’s a swimming pool, a tennis court and a basketball court.

“If you get really stressed out, and you’re over-thinking things, you can just step outside,” said Jacob Gutierrez, the band’s bassist. “The name that Ronnie has given it fits perfectly: Chateau Relaxo.”

Murakami agreed. “You’ve got a tennis court; you have a pool—and there’s a cute little wiener dog to play with.”

King said it’s been rewarding to work with the Yip Yops.

“This project is interesting for me, because I grew up here in Indio; I was born and raised in Indio,” King said. “I left the desert 20 years ago. Ever since I came back, I’ve been really into the local music scene. It’s something that’s starting to gravitate, and it’s even starting to gravitate toward the studio here.

“It’s kind of a weird thing, because I heard about the Yip Yops … through Alvin Taylor.

I’ve known this guy for years who works at their label, and he called me and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to sign this band, the Yip Yops, to a deal, and they live in the Coachella Valley, and I know you have a studio out

there.’ After I went and saw them, I said, ‘This is going to work!’ It’s not a crapshoot, and it’s not just a band off the street looking for a miracle. We have big executives and big financing behind this thing, and there’s nothing left to the imagination—it’s a business deal. … Their dream gets to come true, so it’s been a fantastic time working with them.”

T

HIS WILDLY SUCCESSFUL YEAR FOR THE Yip Yops has also included a big change: The three-piece group became a four-piece, thanks to the addition guitarist/keyboardist Mari Brossfield.

“Last summer, I wasn’t even a full-fledged member of the band,” Brossfield said. “I didn’t even know I’d be recording with them.

I met Addison (Ison) through our guitar teacher, and I was singing, and Addison was also playing, and he heard my voice and asked me to try singing this song called ‘Sugar.’ It just kind of took off from there— and here we are.”

The other members refer to her as the missing piece of the puzzle.

“Before, it was just kind of a guitar, bass and drums kind of thing,” Van Winkle said.

“But then when we brought in Mari, we were able to add a whole new element of keyboards, which is a huge part of the band.

Then a female vocal on top of that—it takes it up another notch. She really helps shape the band.”

There’s a fascinating story as to how the Yip Yops encountered Hood and Associates—involving a chance encounter with CEO Randy Hood.

“Jacob and I were leaving Coachella in 2014. We were in the car getting out of the parking lot, and this guy knocks on my car window,” Murakami said. “He’s like, ‘Want to make $100 and give me a ride to my hotel? We drive him to the Hyatt. In the car, we’re showing him our ‘Oduya’ music video, not thinking anything about him or who he is. We were just trying to spread the name, and we’re showing continued on next page ➠ CVIndependent.com

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him the music video on a phone, and he immediately came up with some ideas with what he’d want to do with this. He called us three or four months later, and he wanted to schedule a meeting.”

Gutierrez said he still has problems believing this chance encounter happened.

“The funny thing is we met this guy driving out of Coachella. We completely forgot about this guy, and all of a sudden, we get this call about meeting up with his manager, because they want to put us on their record label. It’s mind-boggling how that happened.”

But … did Murakami get the $100?

“I did!” he said with a laugh.

A

FTER RANDY HOOD SPOKE TO ISON VAN Winkle’s ever-supportive father, Tony Van Winkle, Tony was eventually put in touch with hip-hop artist Ditch, who also works for the label.

“He had some things he was doing, and he was trying to find a way to fit the band into it,” Tony Van Winkle said. “It was a couple of TV pilots and things like that, and trying to see how to incorporate the band, and then after several conversations, it sort of went cold.

“Then back in October, I got a text from him saying, ‘A manager friend of mine is going to be reaching out to you.’ I got a phone call from Ditch, and he said, ‘Hey, we put something together to meet the band.’

He said, ‘If you can bring your equipment, we’d like to rent a studio and hear you play live.’ (The band) did a 45-minute set with Ditch, and the comment I think I remember from Ditch is, ‘I hear 20 bands when I hear you guys perform, and you don’t sound like any of them.’

“Eventually, that led to a proposal, which led to a contract.”

Ditch explained what Hood and Associates does, and what attracted him to the Yip Yops.

“It’s basically everything under one roof,” Ditch said about Hood and Associates. “It’s a modern-day label: distribution, production, artist development, PR and marketing.

We spent a lot of time looking for talent and auditions. We’ve gone through every online band you can think of, and we even tried some of them out live. We didn’t find anything. There was nothing innovative and nothing really current; it’s a copy of a copy.

We didn’t find anything interesting enough to invest a large amount of money into.

That is, until that chance encounter happened between Randy Hood and his young Coachella drivers. “(Hood) showed me this music video of these kids he met at Coachella, and they’re in a garage, and there are garbage bags all over the wall. He’s like, ‘Go check them out live,’” Ditch said. “I came out and checked them out at their rehearsal house a few

CVIndependent.com

KEVIN FITZGERALD

times, and I said, ‘You know what? These guys really have some potential here.’ They were different; their energy was different; their attitude was different; and they all worked well together. It took from January until May to us for them to actually sign them.”

Hood and Associates is deeply invested in the Yip Yops and has goals in mind for the group.

“Randy’s goal and my goal is to get a hit song,” Ditch said, “whatever we have to fuse together to make a hit record—because in this day and age, it’s extremely hard to do that. We’d also like to get the band to work with Skrillex, and we’re heavily in talks with him and his team, and (we want to work) with him or Diplo to get a song to bring us into that festival market. There are some other collaborations we’d like to do, and we’re in the position of where we hope we can do that for them.”

Alvin Taylor said the band’s potential is off the charts.

“I see a real hunger, thirst and desire for them to be the best that they can be,” Taylor said. “I like the quality they have as young people who are very innovative, creative and open-minded. They’re one of the best bands in America I’ve ever seen or heard. Believe me, I’ve heard and listened to a lot of bands.

I’m not bragging, but I have 57 gold records and 28 platinum records to my credit, and to be able to take the experience I’ve had working with those groups and bring it to working with these guys—it’s amazing to see how they’re like sponges, and they soak up everything.

“The lyrics are great; the music is great; and the musicianship is at a high, mastering skill. I’m excited to be working with them.”

Stay tuned.

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SEPTEMBER 2015

Supporters of the Independent Program Newspapers today are charging more and more for their content.

However, the work done by the award-winning Coachella Valley Independent has been— and always will be—available to all, free of charge.

We will never put up a paywall. We will never charge for a subscription.

However, we are now offering readers an opportunity to support us voluntarily in doing what we do, via the Supporters of the Independent Program.

Readers can make one-time, monthly or annual contributions to the Independent—and receive some great perks while doing so.

Title supporter: $5,000 (or $417 per month) • Get listed prominently on every page of CVIndependent.com as the website’s sponsor for an entire year.

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There are three easy ways to contribute: 1. Go to CVIndependent.com and use PayPal or a credit card.

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However, we here at the Independent really, really appreciate them!

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SEPTEMBER 2015

CVI SPOTLIGHT: SEPTEMBER 2015 What’s New in LGBTQ Cinema

P

ALM SPRINGS IS WELL-KNOWN FOR ITS STAR-STUDDED International Film Festival, held every January.

However, the city also hosts a well-regarded annual LGBTQ film festival, known as Cinema Diverse—and it’s taking place at the Camelot Theatres Sept. 17-20.

Local comedian Shann Carr has been affiliated with the festival since its start, beginning as a volunteer eight years ago.

“Every city in America had an LGBTQ film festival, and Palm Springs is known for having its very own international film festival, and we were the only town without an LGBTQ film festival,” she said. “For a gay town, that’s pretty surprising.”

Through the years, Carr has seen trends in festival submissions come and go from year to year. For example, she said films on the subjects of gay marriage and equality are starting to wane.

“You watch the crest of what’s on the front-burner of our community at the given time. In the past couple of years, it’s been all gay marriage and babies,” she said. “… Now, it’s, ‘Enough about the weddings! Enough about gay rights!’ Right as we gained marriage equality, those submissions dropped right down. Television and film is how a lot of the world learned that gay people aren’t scary people. It really is about education.”

CVIndependent.com

Elmer Bäck in Eisenstein in Guanajuato.

What’s a current trend in festival submissions?

“The transgender issue has now come up,” she said. “…

I haven’t seen a lot of (the films focusing on transgender issues), but I know there are a handful of them, as well as some shorts. Last year, one of the most talked-about shorts was called Brace, and it was about a transgender man who was at a bar, and this guy started liking him, and they started liking each other—and then the other guy found out the man was transgender.”

Carr has seen the festival’s Opening Night centerpiece film, Eisenstein in Guanajuato.

“The opening film is amazing. It’s about a Russian gay man, and it’s beautiful,” she said. “He speaks with a thick Russian accent throughout the entire film, and so much amazing stuff comes out of it. It’s a story about a Russian filmmaker in the ’30s who comes through the United States and learns he can make a film for next to nothing in Mexico. He spends a visa period filming 200 miles of film and discovering his sexuality—and he’s a virgin at 33. There’s a bit of frontal nudity, and as a lesbian watching it, I thought, ‘Innocent, playful penis!’ It was a beautiful, interesting, artistic penis.”

Carr said there is something she wishes there was less of at the festival: the divide between the sexes. However, she conceded the divide is real.

“I didn’t want to see a men’s compilation and a women’s

compilation,” she said. “As I took a handful of people into a screening … as soon as the guys got down to it for a sex scene, the women were like, ‘Do I have to watch this?’ The guys are all like, ‘LET’S GO! WOO HOO!’ … As much as I was trying to push them into that progress, they weren’t having it at all.”

Considering all the positive changes taking place in the LGBTQ community, I asked Carr whether an LGBTQ film festival will still be necessary and needed in a decade.

“I think so, because humans are like this, and animals are like this: They see their reflection, and they want to belong, be affirmed, be enlightened,” she said. “… It’s an explanation of the changes we’re seeing, but I don’t see us completely going to the cliff and falling over. Ethnic groups still want to see each other and congregate with each other.”

Cinema Diverse takes place from Thursday, Sept. 17, through Sunday, Sept. 20, primarily at the Camelot Theatres, 2300 E. Baristo Road, in Palm Springs.

Tickets range from $13 for individual screenings to $159 for an all-festival pass. For tickets or more information, call 760-325-6565, or visit cinemadiverse.org.

—Brian Blueskye

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SEPTEMBER 2015

ARTS & CULTURE FINALLY PAINTING WITH PASSION Palm Springs’ Laura Janes Gave Up a Lucrative Art-Commission Career to Make Her Own Creations WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

By Victor Barocas t all started with a crayon crisis.

“I distinctly remember that at age 7, I had a major crisis—deciding which of two distinctly different shades of green Crayola crayons would be best for my ‘latest masterpiece,’” Laura Janes said. “And with that decision, I knew that art and painting were my future.”

Much of the painter’s career has involved art—however, it was not her art.

Although she strayed from making her own art, Janes’ creative process remained part of her unconscious, she said, at times driving her career choices.

Upon graduating college, Janes became a high school teacher, where she taught teenagers about art and ways to access their own creative spirits. A few years later, Janes recognized there was a market for artists who could produce high-quality wall and ceiling murals. Capitalizing on her technical prowess as a painter, she founded Iconica, a San Diego company that was commissioned to create murals in residential properties. Working with interior designers and individual clients, Janes and her team created paintings that met a client’s needs for a defined space.

Now a muralist, the painter then evolved into an expert copyist: She was frequently asked to reproduce classic works in a client’s home. Janes chuckles: “I can’t tell you how many times I painted the Sistine Chapel on some dining room or bathroom ceiling.”

Iconica resulted in two major life lessons for Janes: First, it helped her become a savvy businesswoman. Unlike many artists, she knows how to put a fair price on each

painting by factoring in a dollar value for her time and creative process, as well as her hard costs.

Second, Iconica reminded her of the importance of attending to intricate details and finishing (e.g., surface textures) with any piece. This can be seen in her “Cambria Leaves III,” which lets viewers experience the differing textures of overlapping leaf surfaces.

Additionally, her use of highly amplified and contrasting colors adds a vibrancy and depth.

However, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Back to Iconica: Its growing reputation among designers, developers and homeowners was resulting in ever-greater sales. However, after about 10 years, the painter found herself disengaging from the business. Something was missing. While the financial rewards proved significant, the intrinsic rewards waned: The commissions required less and

“Cambria Leaves III” by Laura Janes.

The artist in her studio.

less creativity and imagination.

Around the same time, Janes experienced the loss of multiple family members and important friends. Her response? “I need to ‘check out’ and find myself.”

What started as a 12-month retreat to heal and determine what to do next evolved into an 8-year sabbatical: Janes became the artist in residence for the Unitarian Church’s camp in the San Bernardino National Forest in exchange for room and board. It was a place where she could paint and reconnect with her creative persona.

During her last years at the camp, she began painting at least one watercolor a day, she said, and began implementing a strategy to connect with the design community—an industry that values her talents—and make inroads to art galleries.

Upon leaving the camp, the artist first moved to Big Bear. However, when she realized there were more gallery and interiordesign opportunities here in the desert, she moved down the mountain. Today, Janes maintains an active studio in Palm Springs.

The artist tries not to work on multiple canvasses concurrently; she finds herself more focused and productive when she focuses on one at a time.

With each painting, Janes tempers a

recognizable spontaneity with a highly deliberative, almost cerebral, creative process.

The painter’s finished canvases balance each color’s hue, saturation and brightness in one of two ways: low-contrast paintings where all colors are similar and muted; and paintings in which subtlety is non-existent: Deep, rich and highly saturated pigments define and delineate each element of the composition.

With “Aloes,” Janes demonstrates how— with an almost-monochromatic palette of similar, soft colors, and hints of contrast— she can transform what would be a boring desert plant into a lush succulent. In contrast, the artist employs potentially clashing, antagonistic colors to produce “Agave Triangles,” a canvas populated distinct and individual plants.

Within the past year, Janes’ works have been included in shows at D Gallery in Lake Arrowhead; Sheryl Leonard Gallery in Prescott; and Archangel Gallery and Desert Art Collection here in the Coachella Valley.

She how has two new goals: Developing a curated show of her work that will travel to different museums around the country; and getting a painting housed in at least one museum’s permanent collection.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.LAURAJANES.COM.

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SEPTEMBER 2015

the

FOOD & DRINK Now’s the Time to Enjoy Thirst-Quenching Summer Beers Before the Cooler Weather (Hopefully) Arrives WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By Erin Peters oachella Valley’s 100-plus-degree thirsty season continues well into September, so there’s no better time than now to review new and returning classic summer craft beers that can quench our thirst—in the most delicious way possible.

Almanac Dogpatch Sour: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Sours are perfect for hot weather. They’re refreshing, brisk and—in the case of Almanac’s Dogpatch Sour— bright. This barrel-aged wild ale is a hazy reddish-orange pucker bomb. Paying tribute to the Flanders red style, this complex and sophisticated beer offers notes of cherry, apple, candy, earthy funk and wine.

Ballast Point Fathom: Want the hop-smacking goodness of an IPA melded with the clean, bready notes of a lager?

Here’s one of the best IPLs on the market. With the hop profiles of a West Coast IPA and lager yeast, this brew, with 7 percent alcohol by volume, offers tropical and easy-drinking goodness. Hints of grapefruit and citrus blend with honey and pine bitterness to create a hot-weather favorite.

Enegren Brewing Lagertha Pilsner: This refreshing, clean pils hails from Moorpark, Calif. Brewed with German pilsner malt and Saaz and Mosaic hops, it’s a perfect pils to sip during the summer season. Brewing a light beer with a perfectly balanced hop profile and clean yeast flavor isn’t easy, but Enegren does CVIndependent.com

it wonderfully, with just a touch of funk.

Paradox Beer Company, Skully No. 25 (aka Salted Sumac Sour): I discovered this at Stone’s Sour Fest, and it was in my top three at the festival. Skully No. 25 is a gorgeous sour golden ale brewed with sumac and sea salt, and aged in oak wine barrels. This unusually refreshing beer has lightly floral bright citrus and vivid acidic and salty notes, making it a savory summer beer. The sumac is a nice touch, giving the Skully No. 25 layers of flavors and lovely balance.

Sixpoint Jammer: This 4.2 percent ABV gose-style beer is balanced with citrus and made with hand-harvested sea salt from Netarts Bay, Ore. This hazy brew is a little tart, a little briny and a lot refreshing. It’s not your typical gose: With flavors of coriander, lemon pepper and sea salt, it’s well-balanced and drinkable. Fire up the barbecue, and grab a can of this sessionable beach beer.

21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon: This is summer in a can. The San Francisco brewpub starts by brewing a classic American wheat beer, and then puts it through a secondary fermentation using fresh watermelon. If you think watermelon won’t blend with well beer … think again. This is the quintessential summer beer, with the perfect amount of sugary sweetness—in other words, not too much. Pair the beer with a garden salad or a burger—or just good conversation.

Victory Summer Love Ale: German hops and pale malt blend beautifully into a flowery, hoppy blonde ale. Grassy and earthy notes balance with light cracker and tropical-fruit (mango, orange, pear) flavors. Pair this with chicken, salads or pizza. Like other great summer seasonals, it’s available in 12-ounce cans for easy drinking.

Rogue Farms Honey Kölsch: This is a fantastic farm-to-glass beer: 119 colonies of local Oregon bees were fed; then the honey was uncapped, extracted, filtered and finally infused into this kölsch-style beer. The honey provides a natural sweetness and nicely balances with the malts. There’s a zesty citrus finish that cuts nicely through the honey, too.

Allagash White: Brewed with a generous portion of wheat and spiced with coriander and Curacao orange peel, this award-winning

5 percent ABV Belgian wheat beer is crisp, clove-y, fruity and spicy. Think banana, lemon and light malts. Whether or not you’re a wheat beer fan, this is a must-try, especially during warmer nights. It’s definitely one of the best wit beers on the market, and pairs perfectly with fish or a variety of cheeses.

Golden Road Hefeweizen: This is Los Angeles’ version of a Bavarian beer, brewed with locally grown organic citrus.

The smell is full of yeast, with a hint of slightly bitter candy.

After banana and clove notes, you’ll find tart citrus and a dry finish. Lemon is also present, offering a slight sourness. This is another canned summer beauty.

Odell Brewing St. Lupulin: This floral and earthy beer has characteristics of both an APA and an IPA. Available through September, this 6.5 percent

ABV extra-pale ale is dry-hopped, giving it a clean, crisp finish.

Caramel malts offer mild sugar notes, while a fruity bouquet of pineapple and melon shine through.

This is another perfect summer brew.

SanTan Brewing Co. Mr. Pineapple: The brewery this year teamed up with Chiquita to use Rainforest Alliance certified pineapple juice to create a more-sustainable, socially conscious can of craft beer.

The flavors include wheat malt, pears, bubblegum, pineapple and just the right amount of banana.

It’s slightly dry with a juicy sweetness to balance.

Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin: This is one of my favorites year-round. Mango, lime zest, peach, apricot and, of course, grapefruit shine in this 7 percent ABV IPA. The perfect blend of hops shares the spotlight with the grapefruit for a citrusy yumminess that will not disappoint.

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FOOD & DRINK

the SNIFF CAP

It’s No Longer Gauche to Drink Rosé

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By Deidre Pike eather report for a dry, late-summer Friday afternoon in the Temecula Valley: Sunny, light wind, temps in the 90s. A group of visitors to the Frangipani Estate Winery wander outside with glasses of the 2013 Estate Grenache Rosé ($20).

It’s a bone-dry rosé, as tasting-room manager Nick Tavizon describes it.

“A floral nose, hint of strawberry … a touch of minerality,” he says. “A lot of people come in expecting it’s going to be a sweet wine. But it’s not.”

The latest vintage of Frangipani’s popular rosé was released in the spring. In Temecula, the grenache varietal is ideal for the crafting of a complex rosé. The valley’s too hot for pinot noir. Tavizon says the winery has played around with a few varietals for its rosés, but the grenache stands out.

“People are liking it,” Tavizon says. “Rosés are definitely coming back with a new twist, done in a Southern France style.”

That’s satisfying news for folks who like a

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chilled wine on a hot, hot day. And the weather report for fall? Looks like the heat’s going to stick around for a while.

Not too long ago, I would have snubbed any wine the color of that wine-like substance that gramps buys by the six-pack at Costco. (A Napa winery once countered the white zin craze by printing T-shirts that said: “Zin is red! Zin is red!”)

My thinking changed when my trusted wine-geek buddy introduced a bottle of coral-

tinged French wine at a summer barbecue.

Some were dubious. She placed the chilled bottle on a friend’s patio table. Water condensed in the heat, wetting the label. I watched as another guest tipped the bottle to the side and examined it. He set the wine down and, instead, polished off a pinot gris.

My wine geek friend opened the bottle of pinkness and poured some for me. I suspended disbelief. She would not steer me into the land of unpleasant beverages.

“It’s a dry rosé,” she explained. “Try it with the prosciutto-wrapped melon.”

I drank the rosé, ate the melon, drank more rose, polished off the glass, and poured another. It paired nicely with everything from cucumbers to salmon.

Since then, I’ve savored many bottles of rosé. One of my favorites? Twisted Oak’s Calaveras Rosa (the label features a pink skull!), a rosé made with mourvedre.

“Mourvedre?” I said, when my friend handed me this chilled bottle as a birthday present.

“You can make rosé from mourvedre?”

You can. And if the Calaveras Rosa is any indication, you should. I’ve lauded the dark mysteries of a delicious mourvedre before. But an encounter with the lighter version of the grape is like meeting Marilyn Manson as an adolescent Brian Hugh Warner: You just know this kid is going to end up seriously interesting.

The Calaveras Rosa is complicated like that, with dark fruits waiting to be discovered behind a crooked smile and clear complexion.

We opened the wine that night and drank it with guacamole and chips, kale salad and boeuf bourguignon.

I’m bummed that the 2012 Calaveras Rosa ($20) was sold out at Twisted Oak’s online store when I last checked. Bring on the 2013.

For award-winning rosés closer to home, there’s Callaway Vineyard and Winery in Temecula. Callaway’s 2013 Special Selection Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon ($20) placed in this year’s Rosé Competition, which is open to rosés from across North America.

A standout is Callaway’s Rosé of Sangiovese ($20). The 2012 vintage nabbed a gold in the 2013 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and a gold in the 2014 Pacific Rim Wine Competition. Its 2011 Special Selection Rose of Sangiovese won 10 awards.

My idea of a glorious autumn afternoon might include zipping over to Callaway with a picnic basket, attaining a chilled bottle and

kicking back in the shade at a table overlooking acres of ripe grapes.

Preferring sweeter wines, though, doesn’t mean a person lacks appreciation for a delectable, hand-crafted rosé.

Many options exist for, say, a meal that demands a wine with higher residual sugar.

Monte De Oro, off Rancho California Road in Temecula, crafts a lovely off-dry rosé from five estate-grown grapes—syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and zinfandel.

“Wine drinkers today understand what a rosé is versus a blush,” says Allan Steward, the tasting-room manager.

The winery educates consumers of rosés at its website, describing how the winemaker uses the saignee style—pulling grape juice from various fermentations after just a few days, allowing only limited contact with red-grape skins. Winemakers who use this style can end up with exquisite roses and also, some argue, more intensely concentrated reds down the road.

At Monte De Oro, the 2014 Synergy 65 Rosé ($22) was released at the end of July.

Tasting notes describe the rosé as “youthful (with) appealing aromas of strawberries, currants, cherries, cranberries and raspberries complemented by hints of vanilla bean and fresh rose petals.” Could better flavors exist to pair with the crispness of late summer, harvest around the corner, fall in the air?

Steward says he would serve the Synergy with a spicy Thai dinner—the sweet would balance the heat.

“But I wouldn’t mind having it with a hamburger, either,” he says.

So versatile. That’s what keeps me drinking the pink.

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SEPTEMBER 2015

FOOD & DRINK the

INDY ENDORSEMENT Pork Plays a Prominent Role in Both of These Fantastic Foods

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By Jimmy Boegle WHAT The Wok-Fired Jasmine Rice With Lemongrass Pork WHERE Pho 533, 1775 E. Palm Canyon Drive, No. 625, Palm Springs HOW MUCH $13 CONTACT 760778-6595; pho533palmsprings.com WHY It tastes even better than it looks.

It’s a good-news, bad-news kind of a situation that we have here.

The good news: Pho 533, a Palm Springs Vietnamese-food mainstay for many years, is better than ever, thanks to its new ownership.

Chad Gardner, owner of Dash and a Handful Catering, has raised the bar at Pho 533 since he took over in April, tweaking the menu and refining everything that comes out of the kitchen.

The bad news (depending on when you’re reading this): The restaurant closed for a couple weeks of renovations and is slated to reopen its doors on Wednesday, Sept. 2.

You can’t go wrong with any of the “Viet fusion” fare on offer at Pho 533. However, we’re particularly smitten with one item right now: The wok-fired jasmine rice with lemongrass pork.

Look at the picture above. Is that gorgeous, or what? Well, we’re here to tell you the dish tastes as good as it looks—maybe even better.

The jasmine rice is a little soft and a little chewy. The lemongrass pork is tender, juicy and so delicious that you’ll be thinking about it for days. Scallions, seasonal vegetables, spices, egg and tamari sauce (it’s soy sauce without the wheat, more or less) complete the flavor profile—and what a flavor profile it is.

The dishes at Pho 533 aren’t necessarily cheap, but the portion sizes are huge, and the food quality is off the charts, so what comes on your plate is worth every penny.

It’s in your taste buds’ best interests to get to Pho 533. Of course, you have to wait if you’re reading this before Sept. 2 … but on Sept. 2 and beyond, it’s all good.

WHAT The Cubano With Tomato Soup WHERE 68703 Perez Road, No. A1, Cathedral City HOW MUCH $7.99 CONTACT 760-8326104; www.zamgrill.com WHY It’s comforting and delicious.

The invitation came via email on a Saturday.

Bart and Carmen wanted to let me know they’d just opened a new restaurant on Perez Road in Cathedral City.

“Everything is made from scratch. Please come in and give us a try. The community support has been amazing so far,” the email said.

The following Monday, I was hungry and had errands to run in the general vicinity—so I decided to check out this new joint, with the interesting name of Zobö and Meester’s. A little lawn sign out front touted the Cubano sandwich, so I decided that was the thing to try.

When I ordered at the counter, the friendly woman asked which side I wanted. Macaroni, pasta or potato salad? Fries? Coleslaw? Or, even though it was 107 degrees outside, the tomato soup?

Ooh yes, the tomato soup, I replied. It would give me something in which to dip the sandwich. What a fortuitous decision this was: The combination of the grilled panini and the soup was fantastic.

The sandwich in and of itself was great: The mixture of ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese, dill pickles and mustard aioli was splendid. The soup in and of itself was also very good: It had a fresh, savory flavor.

But when I put the two together … wow. The soup softened the bread just enough to make it easier on the mouth. The appropriate saltiness of the meat and the tartness of the pickle were balanced by the vegetable flavor of the soup. It was, in sum, comforting and delicious.

Zobö and Meester’s offers waffles (with chicken!), a burrito and bagel sandwiches for breakfast. Lunch offerings include a bunch of sandwiches both hot and cold, as well as salads and a handful of specialty entrees. But we’ll be ordering the Cubano with tomato soup more often than not. You know why.

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FOOD & DRINK

Restaurant NEWS BITES WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By Jimmy Boegle THE CURIOUS (AND STUPID) CASE OF OSCAR’S AND THE RESTAURANT RATING The whole mess started, as far as we can figure, when somebody walking by Oscar’s Café and Bar noticed the restaurant had posted its recent “C” rating from the Riverside County Department of Health, as required. He or she took a photo, and then posted it on Facebook.

After that, things got really stupid, really fast.

The picture on Facebook went locally viral, and became the talk of area foodies. It was even posted on a prominent local blog or two.

Then, in a move that would cause any decent journalism-school professor to weep in despair, KMIR News showed up, did a story on the Oscar’s rating, and inexplicably led off a newscast with it.

As a result, Oscar’s—located at 125 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, in Palm Springs—was unfairly maligned. This is not to say that Oscar’s didn’t deserve the “C” rating, or that Oscar’s customers didn’t have a right to know about it. This is also not to say that the Oscar’s manager didn’t make matters worse when, on the three-minute-long KMIR news story, he complained that the county inspectors should have “given us notice that they were coming.”

The problem here is that this stupid, stupid story lacked context—and, as a result, Oscar’s was unfairly singled out.

During the KMIR piece, reporter Julie Buehler mentioned that Oscar’s had “the only C rating in the Coachella Valley.” This statement was both false and contextually bonkers. It was false because Sam’s Sushi, in Rancho Mirage, also had a “C” rating hanging over its figurative head at the time, a fact that was added to the online version of the KMIR story three days later.

Here’s how it was contextually bonkers: According to an analysis of Riverside County Department of Health records by the Independent, at least 13 restaurants in the Coachella Valley received “C” ratings between August 2014 and July 2015. Of course, KMIR didn’t do a story on any of those other “C” ratings—at least not that we could find on the KMIR website.

To show how unfair this kerfuffle was to Oscar’s, know this: Oscar’s was inspected on July 30.

Gyoro Gyoro Isakaya Japonaise (a place I adore, by the way), located a very short block away from Oscar’s, at 105 S. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, was inspected on July 9, just three weeks before Oscar’s was.

Not only did Gyoro Gyoro receive a “C” rating during that inspection; health inspectors closed the restaurant, due to violations including “rodents, insects, birds or animals,” “sewage improperly disposed,” “hot and cold water not adequately available” and “food contact surfaces not cleaned and sanitized.” Gyoro Gyoro would not re-open until a re-inspection five days later, on July 14. Yet this closure received no coverage anywhere that I could find.

According to Health Department records, the other Coachella Valley places that received “C” ratings over the last year are Woody’s Burgers and Beer (June 30), the Cathedral Canyon Golf Club (May 29), Pho Lan (May 27), Two Bunch Palms Bliss (May 19), El Taco Asado (April 3), Aqua Soleil Hotel and Mineral Water Spa (March 12), Four Seasons at Palm Springs (March 20), Las Flores (in Coachella, Jan. 16), Fandango Tacos and Beer (Nov. 25) and O’Leary’s Pub and Grill (Nov. 13).

It’s also worth noting that many dozens of area restaurants, some with very prominent names, received “B” ratings—with a surprising number receiving on-the-cusp-of-C scores of 80.

Any restaurants that get “B” or “C” grades are re-inspected within several days, and eventually given an “A” grade. That means unless you’re doing some pretty serious digging on the Riverside County Department of Health website, or you just happen to be at a restaurant at the right time, it’s hard to know which places initially received less than an “A” grade.

But that doesn’t excuse the unfair treatment Oscar’s received.

IN BRIEF SO.PA has opened at the new L’Horizon Resort and Spa Palm Springs, at 1050 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. Chef Giacomo Pettinari, who has a Michelin star to his credit, is at the helm.

Info at lhorizonpalmsprings.com/sopa-restaurant. ... Starting Aug. 30, Rio Azul Mexican Bar and Grill, at 350 S. Indian Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, will be offering a drag-queen show during Sunday brunch. Reservations are recommended; rioazulpalmsprings.com. … Summer closures are starting to come to an end! For starters, Vicky’s of Santa Fe, at 45100 Club Drive, in Indian Wells, will reopen Thursday, Sept. 10; www.vickysofsantafe.com. … Asian-fusion joint Kitchen 88 is slated to open in September at Spotlight 29, at 46200 Harrison Place, in Coachella; www.spotlight29.com. … Congrats to Bill’s Pizza, at 119 S. Indian Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs: TripAdvisor recently placed Bill’s on its list of Top 10 pizza joints in the country. Wow! CVIndependent.com

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SEPTEMBER 2015

•• The Eagles of Death Metal Finally Release a New Record •• DHS' Classy Motherfu?kers Are More Than Just a Provocative Name •• Dinosaur Jr.'s Lou Barlow Goes Solo for the Desert Stars Fest •• Two Excellent Local Guitarists Answer The Lucky 13 •• Why Alex Harrington Had to Stop Doing His Monthly Mix www.cvindependent.com/music

Desert-Rock Pioneer Ruben Romano Is Delighting Fans With His Newest Project.

FREEKING OUT

29 The Freeks with Scott Reeder at his studio, The Sanctuary.

The Blueskye REPORT

SEPTEMBER 2015

By Brian Blueskye September will hopefully bring cooler temperatures—and, this year, the month is predicted to bring El Nino. Hmm. Well, regardless of the weather, there are some great events going on.

After an epic August, Fantasy Springs Resort Casino has a hot September, too. At 8 p.m., CVIndependent.com

Sunday, Sept. 6, get ready for Sammy Hagar and the Circle. The group features not only Sammy Hagar, but Michael Anthony (also ex-Van Halen), Jason Bonham and Vic Johnson. Tickets are $49 to $109. At 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 11, the rescheduled performance by Little Big Town will take place. The show was originally slated for July, but member Jimi Westbrook needed emergency vocalcord surgery. Tickets are $49 to $109. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12, Go-Go’s frontwoman Belinda Belinda Carlisle Carlisle will take the stage.

Carlisle has had a great solo career outside of the Go-Go’s. Tickets are $29 to $59. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 19, singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt will be appearing. After more or less taking seven years off to rest and recharge, she released her latest album, Slipstream, in 2012, and earned a Grammy. Tickets are $49 to $89. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 760-342-5000; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa has a couple of events worth checking out. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12, get ready to sing along to “End of the Road,” because Boyz II Men will be stopping by. I have to admit that I found the video for the group’s 1994 hit “I’ll Make Love to You”

Heart

hilarious; it starts out with a guy going to install a security alarm and, then … well, you know.

Tickets are $40 to $60. You better be ready to rock at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 19, because Heart will be stopping by. All I’m going to say is “Barracuda.” continued on Page 28 Tickets are $65 to $95. The

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SEPTEMBER 2015

MUSIC

STAYIN’ HORNY Palm Desert’s Eagles of Death Metal, at Long Last, Release a New Album

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye n October, Eagles of Death Metal will release a long-awaited new album, Zipper Down.

It’s been almost seven years since Eagles of Death Metal released Heart On, heretofore the Palm Desert group’s latest album. What in the heck took so long for Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme to record Zipper Down?

“We had a lot of bodies to bury. No, I’m kidding,” Hughes said, with a laugh, during a recent interview. “We’ve been asked that question, and it sort of took Josh and me by surprise, because we hadn’t realized it had been that long. It seemed like it was a couple years, but then it was like, ‘Holy shit, it’s been that long.’ We don’t really believe in a concept of a certain time. … Josh made the Them Crooked Vultures album and a Queens of the Stone Age album, and I made a solo record, and the right time didn’t pop up until right about now. It wasn’t intentional; it just occurred that way. But I do promise we will not let it go that long again before we put out another record.”

What makes this record stand out compared to previous albums?

“Have you ever heard of the adult film actor John Holmes? Well, this album is like John Holmes, only with a bigger dick,” Hughes said, quite incredibly. “I’ve never been one of those dudes who has tried to change or do something different. I pretty much want to make Little Richard proud, and I feel that this album has gotten me closer to that goal than any other record.”

Little Richard? Hughes has long cited the music great as one of his biggest influences.

“Little Richard, to me, is like what I do: He’s a sleeper,” he said. “You wouldn’t expect a dude who’s dressed so fancily to be a bad-ass rock ’n’ roller. He’s essentially the first death-metal artist to show up, and they burned his records.

That’s one of the things I love about him: He can sing ‘Tutti Fruitti’ and make everyone in the room horny, and that’s really all I want to do—stay horny.”

Hughes got to meet Little Richard.

“It was a surreal moment,” he remembered.

“I was introduced to him by a mutual friend who told him I wanted to meet him, and he was like, ‘Oooh, child!’ And then right in the middle of talking to me, he excused himself and started screaming at photographers: ‘You motherfuckers have been taking my picture my whole life and stealing from me!’ He went into this rant about how the photographers had been ripping him off and stealing from him.

After the tirade, he stopped, smiled at me and said, ‘Nice to meet you.’ I was like, ‘Wow! That’s Little Richard.’

“When it’s a dude like Little Richard, you have certain allowances. He can be the craziest

queen of rock ’n’ roll if he wants to. As long as he goes into ‘Lucille,’ I’m happy.”

It’s been 17 years since Hughes appeared on the Desert Sessions, marking the beginning of his music career, after working as a manager for Video Depot and as a journalist. Hughes said he never saw a music career in the cards.

“I honestly never did—but Josh always did,” he said. “He always had this in mind when we made the first Eagles of Death Metal song. It was for the Desert Sessions album back in 1998, and Josh even then was like, ‘Dude, you really need to be in a band!’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, this is a waste of time.’ The whole time, he always had this vision.

“The Coachella Valley music scene, at least when I was a kid, was very eccentric and very serious. Los Angeles was pop music, and the Coachella Valley was Frank Zappa. I’ve achieved the things I’ve achieved because I have a Coachella Valley attitude about it.

The whole world might be smaller than Los Angeles, but it’s still the whole world to me.

People like Mario Lalli of Fatso Jetson, making the music they made when I was a kid—it basically helped me pull off … what I’m doing now.”

Hughes said that while he goes back and forth between the Coachella Valley and Los Angeles, he technically lives in L.A. now.

“Josh and I always try to say in our heads that we live in the desert; we’ve never changed our phone numbers, and they’re still 760 numbers,” Hughes said. “But you kind of have to be close to Los Angeles to ride the animal.

You know what I mean?”

However, today’s music scene in the Coachella Valley has captured Hughes’ interest.

“I’m happy about it. I’m not going to say I was worried, but there was a moment when a lot of the talent had left or moved on,” he said.

“I was worried that the desert would fall prey

The Eagles of Death Metal. CHAPMAN BAEHLER

to the Los Angeles suburbanitis. … It gets to be 120 degrees in the summer, and no one is crazy enough to really want to live there, so that sort of insulates us from too much change. My son is also part of this new Coachella Valley music scene, and I’m incredibly proud of him.”

Hughes credits the way of life in the Coachella Valley for the positive changes in the burgeoning local-music scene.

“I’ve thought about this: At first, when I was a kid, there weren’t any places like The Hood,” he said. “For whatever reason, the desert ended up with a lot of veterans and a lot of

really heavy go-getters—the people who can survive in hot weather and have nothing else to do but be hot. Music is a good place to go to, because you don’t have to go anywhere to hear it or to play it. When you’re in the desert, you’re responsible for your own entertainment.

There’s not a Hollywood Boulevard—there’s Indio Boulevard and Highway 111. I always felt like the Coachella Valley was like the Australia of America, because it’s its own island, and you have to make everything. Otherwise, it’s an import.”

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 27

SEPTEMBER 2015

MUSIC

SICK SOLOS

The Classy Motherfu?kers, From DHS, Are More Than Just a Memorable Name

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye he Classy Motherfu?kers of Desert Hot Springs are becoming known for more than the profane name: Frontman Joseph Vaughan plays a mean guitar—and the rest of the band is pretty damn good, too.

During a recent interview, Vaughan—along with Jasyn Smith (drums) and new member Tanner Mahaffey (rhythm guitar)—discussed the band’s origins.

“About four or five years ago, Jasyn and I started playing together,” Vaughan said. “We made our demo in August of last year, and that’s when we started to call ourselves the Classy Motherfu?ckers. We weren’t really a band until last year.”

The members’ influences are all across the board.

“I listen to classic rock—’50s ’60s and ’70s music,” Vaughan said.

Smith, however, said he listens to Motorhead and Black Sabbath. “I was listening to a lot of thrash metal and stuff, but when I met Joe, his classic-rock stuff started growing on me. Our influences only influence us to play, not what we sound like. We play whatever sound comes out of it that we like.”

Of course, one has to wonder how in the world the band came up with its name.

“Jasyn got a (used) computer so we could do our recordings,” Vaughan said. “And on that computer, (the old owner had a user handle) that said ‘Classy Motherfu?kers.’ When we recorded our songs and put it on iTunes … we kept it.”

However, the name has led to some problems.

“People say, ‘You can’t say your name onstage’ or something like that, or we have to change it to the CMFs and manipulate it a little bit,” Smith explained. “Venues or contests will do that thinking you’re giving the wrong impression to kids or something like that. …

We had to change it for the Schmidy’s open mic and for the Date Festival’s Battle of the Bands.

It wasn’t really the owners of Schmidy’s; it was more of the hosts. It’s a family event rather than just a gig.”

None of the members of the Classy Motherfu?kers are 21 yet, which creates problems at venues that only cater to the 21-and-older crowd.

“Usually, we only get booked at places that sell food, too, like Schmidy’s and The Hood,” Smith said. “They usually make us play at 9 p.m., and then we have to be off and out of the venue.”

Name and age issues aside, these guys can play. Vaughan is a stand-out guitarist with

incredible technique. You can see this in a video the band members posted of themselves covering Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child.” The band’s originals have a lot of mind-blowing guitar solos from Vaughan as well.

“I’ve been playing for about nine years in December. I’d just call it sloppiness, but it goes together, I guess,” Vaughan said about his technique, with a laugh.

The band’s performance at the Date Festival’s Battle of the Bands was excellent; however, an issue prevented them from getting the number of points they should have gotten.

“They were really strict on the rules,” Smith said. “When we went in there, they ended up deducting more than half of our points because we were an hour and a half late. We didn’t even get to play until five hours after that. We got lost on the way there because they blocked off Highway 111 … because of all the people walking to get in there. We had to go around and find our way in around Highway 111, and it took us awhile. It was very frustrating, to say the least.”

The Classy Motherfu?kers have had issues keeping a bass-player. Trillion Drummond recently became the band’s third different bassist.

“The problem we have with bass players is practicing,” Smith said. “We like to practice a lot, and they didn’t want to practice as much. … I guess they just can’t handle the amount of practice.”

The members said they are hoping to add more members as time goes along. Newest member Mahaffey has been a friend of Vaughan and Smith since high school.

“During my freshman year of high school, I met these guys. I was hanging out with them, and I started learning guitar about two years ago,” Mahaffey said. “I had a guitar years ago but never really played it too much, but hanging around these guys made me really

The Classy Motherfu?kers.

want to play more.”

The band’s beginning to record more music—and the members would love to find a place to record that they can afford.

“Recording at home is tough,” Smith said.

“The sound quality sucks, unless you buy a bunch of stuff and make a room into a studio and soundproof it.”

Vaughan agrees. “We’re working off a shitty MacBook and a $150 interface, and that’s really about it.”

Another challenge: Smith recently had to buy an electronic drum set to play at a lower volume in his garage.

“Older people live around here. For the first part of me living here, they didn’t like me playing the drums at all, so I had to buy an electric set,” he explained. “Now we play almost every day in the garage, and they don’t care. I really like practicing with loud music because you can get into it and really feel it. Electronic drums are so much more compact, too, and when I go to my acoustic set, I play a lot better, because my area of hitting is precise.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/THECMFS.

CVIndependent.com

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The Blueskye REPORT

MUSIC

continued from Page 24

A LITTLE MORE BASIC

Dinosaur Jr.’s Lou Barlow, Performing at Desert Stars, Keeps It Simple on His New Solo Album

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye ou Barlow is best known as the bassist of Dinosaur Jr.—but his solo work is gaining more attention.

He’ll be playing solo at the Desert Stars Festival at Pappy and Harriet’s on Friday, Sept. 25, just weeks after the Sept. 4 release of his new solo album, Brace the Wave.

“I recorded it in six days,” Barlow said about the new album during a recent telephone interview. “… My life is moving along, and it’s sort of a reflection of what’s going on.”

Barlow was fired from Dinosaur Jr. in the late 1980s, but returned in 2005 when frontman J Mascis reunited the band. During those intervening years, Barlow remained busy with Sebadoh and the Folk Implosion.

Before Dinosaur Jr. formed, both Mascis and Barlow were part of a group called Deep Wound.

“It was a hardcore punk band, and we just naturally got a bit older, and our tastes became a little more sophisticated, so we both evolved to Dinosaur Jr.,” he explained.

While Sebadoh is still active, the Folk Implosion is not. The Folk Implosion is remembered most for its contributions to the Kids soundtrack in 1995, including the song “Natural One,” which reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“The last record I did with Folk Implosion was in 2004, and I don’t imagine I’ll ever do that again,” Barlow said. “… Folk Implosion was gradually becoming a solo project for me.”

I asked him what makes Brace the Wave stand out from his previous solo albums, Emoh (2005) and Goodnight Unknown (2009).

“I think this one is more basic than those records,” he said. “I don’t really have any guest musicians on this record. It’s just me, and it’s a little less polished than the other records, and it’s a little more raw overall.”

Barlow said he’ll stay busy for the rest of the year.

“The next thing I have on the line is Dinosaur Jr. and recording another record with them in the fall. I’m also doing shows with Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr., and my solo stuff,” he explained. “It’s playing a lot of different shows at once. It’s not really difficult for me; it’s more difficult for the people I work with, which can make it difficult for me, too, I guess.

It’s almost like every band I have is a side project. It’s hard for me to determine what CVIndependent.com

Lou Barlow

the main focus is, and it can be frustrating for people who work with me.”

Barlow was touring with Dinosaur Jr. when I spoke to him.

“At the last show I played, two days ago, we had a guest vocalist, John Brannon from Negative Approach,” Barlow said. “He’s really influential, and Negative Approach is one of J Mascis’ favorite bands. He came up and sang a song with us, and it was pretty awesome.”

Barlow said festivals such as Desert Stars fascinate him.

“They’re a real challenge,” he said. “If I play festivals with Sebadoh, it’s difficult, because it’s more of a club-sized band, and to get out there on a bigger-sized stage, it’s hard to pull it off if you’re not gearing your music to a festival vibe.

With a band like Dinosaur Jr., it’s a lot easier, because we have big amplifiers, and it’s more of a rock band.

“I haven’t played very many festivals as a solo act, so I can’t really make any generalizations there.”

THE DESERT STARS FESTIVAL STARTS AT 1 P.M., FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, SEPT. 25 AND 26, AT PAPPY AND HARRIET’S PIONEERTOWN PALACE, 53688 PIONEERTOWN ROAD, IN PIONEERTOWN. TICKETS ARE $55 FOR A ONE-DAY PASS, OR $85 FOR A WEEKEND PASS. FOR PASSES OR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 760-365-5956, OR VISIT WWW.PAPPYANDHARRIETS.COM.

Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-999-1995; www.hotwatercasino.com.

Morongo Casino Resort and Spa has some fun events coming up. Whether you were turned on or disappointed by Magic Mike XXL, you’ll be happy to know that at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 11, and Saturday, Sept. 12, the Thunder From Down Under all-male revue will be back. The show is $25. At 9 p.m., Friday, Sept. 25, enjoy Cassadee Pope. Pope is a countrymusic songwriter and the lead singer of a pop punk band called Hey Monday.

She’s also the first female winner of The Voice. Tickets are $25 to $30. Morongo Cassadee Pope Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-252-4499; www. morongocasinoresort.com.

Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace has great shows throughout September. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 5, there will be a performance by the Evangenitals. The band has become a Pappy’s regular and always delivers a good show. You’ll be treated to both the PG hour and the X-Rated hour, when the band drag outs all sorts of fun songs about sex! Admission is free. At 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 24, psych/surf/doo-wop group Shannon and the Clams will arrive. Beyond all those genres, there’s another reason to go: A reviewer at the Still in Rock blog said the group's shows were “among the best in the world.” Plus, another writer at Punknews said the shows are like a 1964 prom “dosed in acid and having the sweetest lovelorn freak out.” OK! Tickets are $10 to $12.

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

The Date Shed just announced the venue will soon be open four nights a week, and is kicking off the season at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 25 with a performance by The Expendables. If you’re a fan of Sublime, you’ll enjoy The Expendables. Tickets are $17 to $20. While it’s great to know the Date Shed is back, the schedule as it stands now seems to offer a lot of bands that have appeared there

Shannon and the Clams

before. The Date Shed, 50725 Monroe St., Indio; 760775-6699; www.dateshedmusic.com.

Copa has a few stars stopping by in September.

At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12, American Idol contestant David Hernandez will perform. Fun fact: He supposedly once worked as a gay male stripper, but producers still allowed him to remain on the show. Tickets are $25 to $45. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 19, comedienne Sarah Colonna will take the stage. She’s known for being one of the roundtable regulars on Chelsea Lately; she’s also been on sitcoms and even made an appearance on Days of Our Lives. Tickets are $20 to $40. Copa, 244 E. Amado Road, Palm Springs; 760866-0021; www.copapalmsprings.com.

Tryst Bar and Lounge in Palm Springs is now offering all sorts of live music, including shows every Tuesday at 10 p.m. On Tuesday, Sept. 1, Wicked JED and Spankshaft will be performing.

On Tuesday, Sept. 8 and 22, Hive Minds frontman Derek Jordan Gregg will play solo. On Tuesday, Sept. 15, Jack Ruvio will be appearing. On Tuesday, Sept. 29, there will be a performance by Plant. The bar is also hosting live music each Saturday at 7 p.m., and an open-mic at 10 p.m. every Derek Jordan Gregg Thursday. All shows are free.

Tryst Bar and Lounge, 188 S. Palm Canyon, Palm Springs; 760-832-6046; www.facebook.com/trystpalmsprings.

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MUSIC

DESERT ROCK CHRONICLES Ruben Romano Trades in His Drumsticks for a Guitar With The Freeks

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Robin Linn

The Freeks

uben Romano has had success with every project since he founded his very first punk band, Virulence, back in 1985.

He is a world-class drummer whose ambition has taken him around the world. But first and foremost, he is a songwriter. Fearless and dedicated to creating new sounds, Romano will pick up any instrument, regardless of whether he knows how to play it—and he’ll find his way to music. He founded veteran stoner-rock groups Fu Manchu and Nebula, and he’s now put down the drumsticks, picked up the guitar and built one of the hottest stoner-rock bands to come on the scene in recent years: The Freeks.

Ruben Romano talked about his musical beginnings.

“Before Fu Manchu, there was Virulence,” he said. “We did a couple of demos and then actually put out If This Isn’t a Dream on Alchemy Records. … We were tadpoles in a pond of heavyweight bullfrogs. We were just out of high school!”

By the early ’90s, the punk scene had come to a standstill. Then along came the Seattle scene that produced bands like Nirvana, Mudhoney, Skin Yard and Soundgarden, and all seemed right with the world again. But while Seattle was getting grungy, Southern California was getting stoned, and bands like Nebula, Kyuss, Monster Magnet and Romano’s new band, Fu Manchu, brought new life to what seemed like a rock ’n’ roll graveyard.

Stoner rock embodied elements of grunge, punk and metal, and the guitar tones and bass tones were fuzzy, distorted and fat as hell. But despite being in one of the bands that created stoner rock, Romano said that if he’s a pioneer of any sort, that didn’t happen on purpose.

“I just did it for myself with people who were my friends. Since we were a part of our

own community, I guess it turned into a genre that was just an extension of what we all were influenced by,” he said.

By 1996, Romano was through with Fu Manchu, and he took guitarist Eddie Glass with him to form Nebula. They jammed deep psych-rock grooves based on raw riffs with heavy rhythms, and were quickly embraced by stoner-rock fans.

After more than two decades of playing drums with Fu Manchu and Nebula, Ruben not too long ago switched to the guitar and founded The Freeks. Why? “Switching to guitar was a fun challenge, something new and fresh,” Romano said. “I’m self taught.”

In 2013, The Freeks released a debut album, Full On. Romano said it’s the record of which he’s most proud throughout his career.

“With all that I experienced, I could have just hung it up and said, ‘Been there, done that,’” he said. “Full On has given me the closure that I am a lifer. I might not tour as much as before, but that won’t stop me from getting loud with the guys—and now we are working on its follow-up.”

Romano refused to say when that Freeks follow-up would be released.

“We have recorded a full-length record. We did 12 songs in 10 hours with Matt Lynch at Mysterious Mammal Recording, and are now ready to start mixing it,” he said. “We are free to move about this cabin at our own pace; there is no deadline until it’s done. … You bet we will be playing it live at our upcoming shows!”

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE FREEKS, INCLUDING A SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING SHOWS, VISIT WWW.THEFREEKS. COM. READ MORE FROM ROBIN LINN, INCLUDING AN EXPANDED VERSION OF THIS STORY, AT WWW.DESERTROCKCHRONICLES.COM. CVIndependent.com

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MUSIC

Alex Harrington’s DuneCast: ON HIATUS

the

LUCKY 13

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye NAME Ehren Grobam GROUP War Drum MORE INFO Ehren Groban is known for being both the guitarist of War Drum (pictured) and a member of former Kyuss frontman John Garcia’s band. For more on War Drum, track down the band on Facebook.

What was the first concert you attended?

I saw Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, Calif., when I was around 10. David Lee Roth came out and did his thing, followed by a Cabo Wabo-endorsed Hagar set, complete with halfnaked women dancing on the jumbo screens.

I’m now a Cabo Wabo fan for life!

What was the first album you owned?

A Cream bootleg given to me by my dad, which I still have to this day, roughly 20 years later.

What bands are you listening to right now?

The new Tame Impala record, the new Wilco record, Robbie Basho, Baby Grandmothers, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Claude Debussy have all been on steady rotation recently.

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

Justin Bieber. Do I sense Illuminati influence?

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

Jimi Hendrix, Robbie Basho and Tame Impala at the Hollywood Cemetery—and, of course, Boy George.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Playing guitar and eating a Sub King sandwich at the same time. The sandwich wins every time.

Get to Know Two Excellent Local Guitarists

What’s your favorite music venue?

That’s easy: Pappy and Harriet’s.

What band or artist changed your life?

How? Robbie Basho. He turned me on to a whole new style of finger-picking and arranging.

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

Mick Jagger: “What’s up with you and Freddie Mercury?”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Definitely something by R. Kelly, followed swiftly by War Drum’s new single.

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

Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma or Robbie Basho’s Visions of the Country or Do Make Say Think’s You, You’re a History in Rust … or a figurative gunshot, and now I’m dead.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

George Michael, “Careless Whisper.”

NAME Douglas VanSant GROUP The Flusters MORE INFO With a sound that combines surf rock and indie rock, The Flusters, led by frontman and guitarist Douglas VanSant, is a new local group that is winning over crowds of various ages after shows at The Hood Bar and Pizza, and a performance at Doo Wop in the Desert. More info at facebook.com/theflusters.

What was the first concert you attended?

I remember going to the Y-100 FEZtival in Camden, N.J., when I was 14. Ben Folds Five, Marcy Playground, Everclear, Fuel, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Green Day performed.

War Drum CVIndependent.com

Douglas VanSant

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

“Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon.”

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

Anything produced by American Idol EVER. What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

Bjork. Kraftwerk, too … not too far behind Bjork.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, Stevie B, or any freestyle, actually.

What’s your favorite music venue?

For large shows: The Gorge in George, Wash. For small shows: Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia.

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

“I’m fucked up homie, you fucked, but if god got us then we gon’ be all right,” Kendrick Lamar, “Alright.”

I wish I could bring you a mix this month … but I can’t.

Circumstances have forced me to make a few hard decisions. Most notably: The website on which we’ve been hosting our mixes, SoundCloud, has suddenly made it very difficult to post anything related to a music mix.

Here’s what happened: Some major record labels recently signed with Soundcloud, and in the aftermath, Soundcloud has rocked the DJ/mixing world by pulling all sorts of stuff offline, and issuing a lot of copyright notices.

Let me clear: The labels have the right to do this. But that doesn’t necessarily make it right. Artists like me are seeing our mixes being removed, even though we are giving all artists proper credit, and not selling any of this music.

There is not another viable service to use to host mixes at this point; many of my colleagues and I have been shocked to see this happen. As a result, I have to change a few projects around— including this monthly mix/column.

I’ll still contribute to the Independent when possible, and will always be working on new things. Who knows what the future will bring? Keep up and in touch at www.alexharrington.co, and thanks, as always, for all your support.

What was the first album you owned?

Nirvana’s Nevermind, of course. What else?

What band or artist changed your life?

How? Roy Orbison. I didn’t develop a friendship with my father until I was 30 years old. One of the first things we shared as friends was our love of Roy. He is a huge inspiration to me musically as well.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“The Nothing Song” by Sigur Ros.

What bands are you listening to right now?

Dum Dum Girls, The Internet, Disasterpeace, Alex Cameron, Earl Sweatshirt, Perfume Genius, Kendrick Lamar, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Rafter.

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

“Who’s the most interesting person you’ve ever met and why?” while I’m having coffee and smoking cigarettes in a diner with Tom Waits.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Lake St.” by The Flusters.

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

Jeff Buckley, Grace.

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SEPTEMBER 2015

COMICS & JONESIN’CROSSWORD

Across 1 Birthday command 10 Letter between rho and tau 15 Time for a late lunch 16 Violinist Zimbalist or actor Zimbalist Jr. 17 Comedian who once stated, “I’m the luckiest unlucky person” 18 “___ hound dog lies a-sleepin’ ...” (folk song line) 19 Blue book composition 20 Grow in status, perhaps 22 Pre-calculator calculator 23 Game full of zapping 28 Grass wetter 29 Tethered 30 High poker cards 34 By all odds 38 Incan sun god 39 Disc jockeys, slangily 40 Cpl.’s underling 43 Metric measures of area 44 Finish up 47 Jodie Foster thriller with locked doors 48 Beyond gung-ho 53 Sharp as ___ 54 Whet 56 Peony part

57 Cartoonish cry while standing on a chair 58 She released the albums 19 and 21 59 In the costume of Down 1 Bit of dust 2 Flavoring for a French cordial 3 Gastropub supplies, maybe 4 Europe’s tallest active volcano 5 Sailor’s greeting 6 Oscar Wilde’s forte 7 This American Life radio host 8 Honest sort 9 Lingual bone that’s not attached to any other bone 10 Always, in music 11 Tentative offer 12 Junkyard dog’s warning 13 Chaotic mess 14 NAFTA part 21 Simpsons character that all members of metal band Okilly Dokilly look like 22 Take top billing 23 City SSE of Sacramento 24 “Author unknown” byline 25 It may be in a pinch 26 Machine at the gym 27 V for Vendetta actor Stephen

31 Line feeder 32 Peut-___ (maybe, in Marseilles) 33 Sound of an air leak 35 Venue for testing out new jokes, perhaps 36 Gamers’ D20s, e.g.

37 Blue Jays’ prov.

41 Capricious 42 Headquarters, for short 44 Like some communities 45 Maternally related 46 Sprayed via inhaler, perhaps 47 Letter after Oscar 48 Assortment behind the bartender 49 Succulent houseplant 50 Modem’s measurement unit 51 “___ possibility” 52 “Disco Duck” man Rick 55 End of the holidays? ©2015 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@ jonesincrosswords.com) Find the answers in the “About” section at CVIndependent.com!

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SEPTEMBER 2015

Deals available in the Independent Market as of Sept. 1:

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Want your business in the Independent Market? Call 760-904-4208, or email jimmy@cvindependent.com.

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