Coachella Valley Independent November 2014

VOL.2 | ISSUE 11

The Hall

Palm Springs’ American Legion Post Is Just Like Any Other—Except About Half of Its Active Members Are Gay

By Jimmy Boegle In our special pride edition, page 12

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NOVEMBER 2014

A Note From the Editor

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

Welcome to the November issue of the Coachella Valley Independent—our second annual Pride Issue.

In terms of circulation, revenue and quality, November is shaping up to be the best month the Independent has ever had, both online and in print. However, we still have work to do in our effort to give the Coachella Valley the best alternative publication/news organization it’s ever had— and we’re asking for your help.

On or before Nov. 1, the Independent will launch a crowd-funding effort to help us reach the next level. The funds we hope to raise via the campaign will help us expand our coverage and strengthen our distribution.

As for print distribution, we’re currently in 365 or so locations across the region, from Desert Hot Springs, through Palm Springs, and all the way down to the Salton Sea; we’re even at Chiriaco Summit and in select locations in the Yucca Valley area.

That’s pretty darned good, I’d say—but we can do better. We want to boost that number of locations to around 400, and we want to do better at our existing locations.

Our crowd-funding effort, if successful, will help us purchase new wire indoor racks, and will allow us refurbish, repair and perhaps replace some of our outdoor distribution boxes.

The vast majority of the funds we hope to raise will help us improve what we do best—journalism. We want to increase our arts and events coverage, for example.

Right now, we’re doing a fine job of covering band/club/popular music and reviewing multi-week theatrical performances; our visual arts coverage is also among the valley’s best. However, many events outside of these categories have tended to fall through the cracks, so we want to hire more writers on a freelance basis to patch these figurative cracks.

On the food and drink side: Have you noticed that no publication in the valley does full, honest restaurant reviews—the kind in which restaurants are visited more than once by an unannounced reviewer who pays his or her own way? Next year, we hope to start doing at least two reviews per month.

Finally—and most importantly—we want to boost our news coverage. We are constantly getting great story tips and ideas here at the Independent, yet we often don’t have the writers and other resources to pursue them. We want to—no, we need to change that, especially since The Desert Sun and other traditional news sources are continuing to get hammered by layoffs and cutbacks.

Watch CVIndependent.com, our Facebook page and our weekly newsletter for details. Thank you in advance for the help.

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

The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month. All content is ©2014 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.

COVER DESIGN BY WAYNE ACREE

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.

CVIndependent.com

—Jimmy Boegle, jboegle@cvindependent.com

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 3

NOVEMBER 2014

OPINION

KNOW YOUR

NEIGHBORS

Meet a Small Group of Writers Who Gather Regularly to Hone Their Craft

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

By Anita Rufus he members of the “You Don’t Have to be Hemingway Writers’ Group” gathered in the clubhouse at Las Serenas, a Palm Desert apartment complex for seniors, to showcase their talents and share the results of their weekly efforts.

The event was announced as the “first annual writers’ recital.” Seven women and one man were seated at a long table at the front of the room, ready to share their writing. The 25 to 30 people in the audience represented the community well—the “tan guys,” the long-long-married couples, the attractive widows and so on, with everyone ranging in age from their 60s to their 90s.

Helen Klein, 92, began the writing group more than three years ago, and most of the participants have been involved since the group began. “If you can talk it, then you can write it,” says Helen.

Introductions of the writers by Helen came first: Phyllis, “our resident mermaid” whose writings were described as “beautiful and poignant”; Jean, “who doesn’t know how not to smile”; Iris, “the kid of the group”; Frank, “an out-of-the-box writer, representing all the men”; Patty, “who came in saying, ‘I can’t write,’ and look at her now”; Kitty, “our professional … expect to see her name on The New York Times best-seller list”; and Janet, with her “delightful sense of humor.”

Helen stimulated the writers by giving them a choice of weekly assignments: Write a culinary story. Write something based on a nursery rhyme. Write about how you stand tall and say your name (to which one wrote, “My name is Carrot”).

“Simple things become food for thought,” says Helen.

I attended not expecting too much—and came away not only impressed, but deeply moved.

For the assignment to put herself into an historic event, Phyllis wrote about the assassination of John F. Kennedy as if she had been in a room down the hall from Lee Harvey Oswald, where she was hoping to get a good view of the president as he drove by. “I notice something shiny sticking out of a window farther down … a rifle. What should I do?

What should I do? I hear that sickening sound. … I did get to see my president, just not the way I planned.”

Jean started with, “He was someone to

remember,” and painted a picture of a man after World War II for whom “the sparkle was gone from his eyes.” Recalling his picture in Gentlemen’s Quarterly, she wrote, “I didn’t see the broken man. I saw the man in the fedora and spats.” She also responded to writing a culinary story by reading her ode to a pressurecooker.

Frank wrote about a doctor’s waiting room.

“There was one lady I noticed right away. She had an attitude.”

For Patty, it was about giving life to inanimate objects. In “Untied Laces,” she wrote about that time in life when we are not as active as we used to be—but there was a twist: She wrote from a tennis shoe’s point of view. “We wait to see what’s next. … We don’t like being dusty. … The new knees are almost ready!”

She also wrote as a wedding bouquet: “Everyone is looking at me. Some are even crying because I am so beautiful.”

Kitty’s contribution started with “Jerry was a really nice guy,” and went on to the wonderful image of “clutching hands like a drunk on a beer.” Her final piece was in response to an assignment to write a poem in praise of food, including “oozing juices, crackling, snapping, whirring, beeping, grasping and slurping.” Kitty’s writing has a charming small-town tone; she is a great storyteller who pulls you right into the story, the place, the time.

In response to an assignment to write about an adventure, Janet painted a lovely picture of place and character in “The Orange Grove Escape”: “He spent his days reading in the

Helen Klein, 92, began the “You Don’t Have to be Hemingway Writers’ Group” more than three years ago.

“If you can talk it, then you can write it,” she says.

orange grove.” Her culinary poem was “Pass the Potatoes Please”: “I can even be a toy.

Remember Mr. Potato Head? Everybody loves me unless I’m rotten.”

When it was Helen’s turn, she wrote of emptying a suitcase and finding memories—a baseball mitt, knickers, old newspaper clippings—and recalling her late brother as the “golden boy and hope for the family.” She spoke about how fate steps into our lives and changes things: “One day, the pieces are packed up and put back … That was the day Mama stopped singing.”

There are writing groups throughout the Coachella Valley, and lots of people keep

journals with no anticipation of ever sharing them. But writers at all levels benefit from both criticism and encouragement, without embarrassment—and that’s what Helen Klein has created for the residents of Las Serenas.

Those life stories, experiences and fantasies you share with your friends and neighbors? As Helen Klein says, “If you can talk it, you can write it. You don’t have to be Hemingway.”

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. HER COLUMN APPEARS EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY AT CVINDEPENDENT.COM. CVIndependent.com

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NOVEMBER 2014

OPINION

ASK A MEXICAN!

Getting to the Bottom of a Famous Tijuana Myth WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

THE POTTED DESERT GARDEN Celebrate 365 Days of Desert Color in Your Outdoor Surroundings

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

By Gustavo Arellano

By MARYLEE PANGMAN

EDITOR’S NOTE: This edition of ¡Ask a Mexican! features an incredibly well-researched answer to a question about a famous claim involving shows in Tijuana, women and a certain animal. Viewer discretion is advised.

However, you should definitely NOT skip this column; you’ll learn something. Actually, you’ll learn a lot. Enjoy!

We live in the desert.

It can be really hot.

However We can grow wonderful plants all year long!

In our pots.

EAR MEXICAN: I’ve heard that the Tijuana donkey show featuring a female whore is not real, other than the fact that they bring out a donkey and do some simulation for people who are drunk.

Down-Low Loco DEAR GABACHO: You’re right—and after months of research, the Mexican can confirm the full history of donkey shows, the supposed borderlands specialty in which women have sex with donkeys before a live, paying audience.

Not only are they not a thing in Tijuana (or Juarez or Acapulco or anywhere in Mexico frequented by tourists); they’re actually a wholesale gabacho invention that says more about how America projects its fevered perversions onto Mexicans and Mexico than anything about Mexicans themselves.

None of the Tijuana Bibles, the infamous X-rated comics of the Great Depression that showed all sorts of depredations, make any mention of such shows south of the border.

(The excellent 1997 anthology Tijuana Bibles: Art and Wit in America’s Forbidden Funnies, 1930s-1950s, even points out that the foul funnies got their name not because they were made in Mexico, but “as a gleefully sacrilegious pre-NAFTA slur against Mexicans.”) A published account of donkey sex shows in Mexico doesn’t pop up until 1975, in the book Binding With Briars: Sex and Sin in the Catholic Church. Before that, mentions of “donkey shows” in newspapers, books or magazines were exactly that: donkeys on display at county fairs, and nothing else.

But after porn star Linda Lovelace claimed her then-husband was going to force her to get “fucked by a donkey in Juarez, Mexico” in her 1980 memoir Ordeal, the act quickly seeped into mainstream American culture. Three years later, the search for a donkey show in Tijuana was a plot point in the Tom Cruise film Losin’ CVIndependent.com

e moved here for a reason. For many of us, the weather was one of those reasons. It was for me, when I moved from upstate New York—away from the

It; by the mid-1980s, a pioneering ska band called themselves The Donkey Show—based out of San Diego, no less.

Really, the biggest culprit in spreading the donkey-show myth is Hollywood—in the past decade alone, there has been mention of the act in at least a dozen high-profile projects, from The 40-Year-Old Virgin to Two and a Half Men and more. This proves once again that Hollywood’s stereotyping of Mexicans hasn’t changed in a century—but what else do you expect from screenwriters (notwithstanding the awesome writers at the new ABC sitcom Cristela, and the upcoming Fox cartoon Bordertown, for which I’m a consultant) who know Mexicans mostly as their nannies, car washers, gardeners, cooks and the janitors in their offices?

Are there sex shows between humans and animals in Mexico? I’m sure there are, just like there are in the United States—in fact, the earliest account I could find of people paying to see a woman-donkey coupling is in the November 1915 issue of the St. Louis-based medical journal The Urologic and Cutaneous Review, in which a doctor recalled a case 25 years earlier: Spectators at such a show (including “a judge, sons of a social reformer, and a secretary of a girls’ aid society”) were criminally tried after a woman died during the copulation. But leave it to gabachos to stereotype such debauchery as being as exclusively Mexican as the Aztec pyramids and a corrupt government. Pinche gabachos …

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!

snow!

Even with the heat, we ought to have wonderful color in our landscapes every day of the year. Of course, I use pots to accomplish this. I plant backbone structural plants—and then I add my color, each and every season (which here means twice per year). When plants peter out in the heat, I find replacements.

Planting a backbone plant saves money, as we don’t have to replace all of the plants each season. As the perennial, shrub or tree grows, only half of the pot will need to be replanted.

For instance, in a 24-inch pot, I would need to plant a total of 17 to 20 4-inch annuals if that’s all there were in the pot. However, when I put a 1-gallon plant in the back of the pot, I only need 12-15 annuals. As the stature plant grows, that number will be reduced each season.

For me, those annuals are definitely all about the color.

During my 18 years of living in the desert, I have developed many favorite combinations of flowers—but for my clients, every design has been unique over the years. I worked on developing my plant and color palette as much as an artist would.

I also cultivated a repertoire of backbone plants. My first go-to plant was the butterfly iris. I wanted a grassy effect, but with a plant that would not need to be cut back every winter. Best in afternoon shade, its rich, darkgreen blade leaves blow and bend in the wind, but stand up well to the heat—as long as the plant gets enough water.

I soon got bored with this as my mainstay, though, and began looking for other options.

I tried evergreen perennials, shrubs, trees and often tall annuals (especially for my snowbird clients).

Salvias, artichokes, red yucca, plumbago, yellow bells, myrtles of all shapes and sizes,

Give your pots layers with thrillers, chillers and spillers.

herbs and numerous other plants and shrubs found their way into my pots. This was all done to support my desire for color in what resources like HGTV and Better Homes and Gardens have called “thrillers, chillers and spillers.” That’s your backbone structural plants, mid-height colors and trailing plants.

We are finally at or near the time when we can plant our winter annuals, so check out local nurseries for new colors, hybrids and trusted familiar plants. You can choose from old standards like pansies, petunias, geraniums, cyclamen, alyssum, lobelia, calendula, sweet peas, ornamental kale and snapdragons. I also recommend spreading your wings a little with diascia, nemesia, candytuft, African daisies and gerbera daisies.

This list does not exhaust the possibilities, so check out what’s available—and make sure you have fun while doing so!

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 IS AVAILABLE FOR DIGITAL CONSULTATIONS, AND YOU CAN EMAIL HER WITH COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS AT POTTEDDESERT@GMAIL.COM. FOLLOW THE POTTED DESERT AT FACEBOOK.COM/POTTEDDESERT. THE POTTED DESERT GARDEN APPEARS TUESDAYS AT CVINDEPENDENT.COM.

NOVEMBER 2014

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 5

CVIndependent.com

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NOVEMBER 2014

NEWS

THIRST TO CONSERVE

An Overwhelming Response to Valley Water Agencies’ Turf-Buyback Programs Has Left Residents and Businesses in Limbo

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Kevin Fitzgerald o here’s the good news: Coachella Valley residents and businesses have raced to take advantage of the turf-buyback conservation programs offered by both the Desert Water Agency on the west end of the valley, and the Coachella Valley Water District on the east end.

Here’s the bad news, especially if you’re a DWA customer: The agency totally underestimated how strong the customer response would be.

With $250,000 earmarked this fiscal year to fund the turf buyback, DWA customers have already applied for $1.3 million in rebates—and that’s just in two months since the announcement of the inaugural plan on Aug. 1.

“As soon as we launched the program, we were absolutely flooded with applicants,” said DWA public information officer Katie Ruark. “I personally feel that’s incredibly encouraging. We wanted to take out grass, and, boy, are we going to do it.

“The bad news is there are people who didn’t get their applications in right away— and (people) who maybe got them in pretty quickly—who missed out on the funding. Of course, those people are disappointed. We’ve stopped accepting any more applications.”

The picture is brighter in CVWD territory, albeit still challenging. The agency allotted $950,000 specifically for turf-buyback rebates this fiscal year, and in two months, CVWD customer requests have burned through almost all of those funds—yet the applications keep coming in.

“We have seen such an overwhelming response to our programs,” said Heather Engel, CVWD’s director of communications and conservation. “It’s been amazing. In fact, we’re already almost out of money, and we’ve had 158,972 square feet of grass removed in our district just since July 1 of this year.”

The CVWD has offered some form of a turf-buyback rebate program to its customers, in an effort to decrease the amount of waterguzzling grass, since 2010. “In the first three months of fiscal 2014—that was July through September—we received applications for 2 million square feet of turf conversion,” CVWD conservation coordinator Dave Koller said. “It took us four years previously to reach the 3-million-square-foot total.”

The severe drought conditions prevailing in California have definitely impacted valley residents’ awareness of their use of water resources, and as a result, the turf-buyback CVIndependent.com

program has become more popular.

“I think it’s because of the declaration of the drought emergency by the governor in January, and our board-mandated water restrictions in August,” Koller said.

“Combined with the public outreach and publicity on the drought and turf conversions, I think it’s all just coming together. It’s a good thing, because once turf is converted, it saves 70 to 80 percent of the water that turf would need.”

What plans do the agencies have to increase funding to meet the unexpected demand? On the CVWD front, Engel said, “We’ll be going to our board on Oct. 28 to see if we can get a little more funding.”

Will there be a decisive vote at that meeting? (Our print press deadline arrived before the Oct. 28 meeting.)

“Every time I’ve gone to the board for increased funding, they’ve been agreeable to it,” said Koller. “They put a high value on conservation, so I’m optimistic, but we’ll see.”

Ruark said the DWA board “has sent the issue for research to the finance and conservation subcommittees and asked for them to come back with recommendations as to what they’d like to do. So that’s where we are right now. I don’t have dates as to when it will come before the board again or what the process will be from here.”

The DWA’s response to the buyback situation has irritated Paul Ortega, a longtime Palm Springs resident, a landscape design consultant and the co-founder of the Desert

Horticultural Society of the Coachella Valley.

“There’s a large group (of buyback applicants) that has been told they have been placed on a wait list—or (in) what I call ‘the limbo phase,’” Ortega shared. “They’ve been told that they are not going to get a site inspection, which is a critical part of the DWA’s application process, because without that happening prior to the work, if a customer should decide to move forward with their own turf-conversion plan, they would disqualify themselves from participation in the DWA rebate. This is unfortunate, because the DWA is not giving these people any incentive to stay engaged in the DWA turfconversion effort.”

Ortega added: “I did meet with DWA board president Craig Ewing. He believes that a subcommittee recommendation will be made to the board to increase the turf-buyback funding allotment by at least an additional $250,000 or more in the very near term. But that action won’t address the other applicants who represent some $800,000 more in

requested rebate funds. He’d like to see the board approve funding now that’s sufficient to cover all of the pending turf-buyback applications.”

What does the DWA advise their “limbo phase” customers with unaccepted applications to do? Wait to do the work until they can get an application approved? Move forward at their own expense?

“Those who can wait may do so,” Ruark remarked. “Those who cannot and can afford to do their conversion without a rebate should do that. Each homeowner should do what is best for them.”

Ortega believes that stance is inadequate.

“For the DWA to put so much effort into this whole initiative, only to shut the program down a couple of months after launch due to lack of funds, is really unfortunate,” Ortega said. “If they don’t give their ‘limbo phase’ customers some reason to hang in, then they’re not going to—and they’re going to be pissed. And they already are. I hear it a lot.

People are disappointed, you know?”

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 7

NOVEMBER 2014

NEWS

INCIDENTS

INCREASE

The Palm Springs Library Battles an Apparent Rise in Crime, Violence

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Brane Jevric amed novelist Sidney Sheldon was a fervent supporter of the Palm Springs Library. Sheldon and his wife, Alexandra, even donated a bighorn statue to the library, which is on display by the entrance to the building at Sunrise Way and Baristo Road.

I once interviewed Sheldon, who died in 2007, at the library, and he passionately talked about the importance of reading: “The kids of today must read books, because some of them will be politicians of tomorrow, and they will be making decisions that influence all of us!”

Sheldon is gone now, but his books are still there on the shelves. The library reportedly has 172,000 volumes, and is the leading library in the valley by its numbers. However, in recent months, a series of incidents at the library has been troubling.

On Aug. 7, according to Palm Springs Police records, Garrett Kevin Jennings, 54, allegedly stole a bike from the rack at the library entrance—in broad daylight. The library was still open, with patrons passing by, as he cut the lock off with a bolt-cutter and rode away on the stolen bike.

“I saw him as he threw the lock and removed the bike from the rack,” said Esteban Gallegos, a library security guard. “I took a picture of the suspect while he was pedaling from the library entrance through the parking lot.”

Gallegos reported the crime to the police and submitted the suspect’s picture. A detective recognized the perpetrator: Jennings had a criminal history.

On Aug. 13, Jennings was arrested around noon on Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs.

He was riding a different bike, but still had a bolt-cutter on him, according to police records.

He was booked on suspicion of committing theft, possession of burglary tools and

violation of probation.

According to Gallegos, who’s been a guard at the Palm Springs Library since June 2006, the number of incidents at the library has skyrocketed in the past year.

“Yes, it’s a fact. I’ve been doing more reports than ever before, and I’ve got a big file to prove it,” he said.

His account is confirmed by Merrit Chassie, a 20-year veteran of the Palm Springs Police Department. “We’ve got a lot going on there at the library park, and we’re often called in, sometimes by Esteban,” Chassie said.

Another alarming library incident, this time involving Gallegos as a victim, happened on Aug. 19. Police Sgt. Harvey Reed said the suspect was 19-year-old Derrell Celestine of Palm Springs, who was later arrested for grand theft and violation of probation.

Gallegos described what took place.

“The suspect was permanently banned from the library for stealing DVDs. He was

trespassing, so I took my phone to take a pic of him as proof to the police,” Gallegos said.

“I was adjusting the camera when he ran fast toward me. He pushed me, poked me in my left eye and took my phone. For a moment, I couldn’t see, but I ran after him. He escaped with my phone.”

The stolen phone was never found. Gallegos said he’s glad his eye is OK now, and that Celestine was captured by the police.

Gallegos also mentioned finding small, empty bags at times on library shelves, and on one occasion, there was a fist fight at the library door.

Shortly after the bike and phone incidents, I personally witnessed a raucous scene at the library entrance: An elderly man was pushed to

the ground by someone. Within minutes, two Palm Springs police cruisers with four deputies showed up. The deputies drove onto the park grass in a search for a possible suspect wearing a red shirt.

These days, an armed guard has occasionally been seen inside the library. I tried to talk to him. Once he learned I was a reporter, he declined to speak to me, saying that he could get fired if he did so.

I also sat down with Jeannie Kays, the library director. While she was happy to talk about more cheerful subjects, she declined to discuss the increase in problems at the library.

I wonder what Sidney Sheldon would say about that.

Both Palm Springs police and library security say that incidents at the library on Sunrise Way and Baristo Road are on the rise. BRANE JEVRIC CVIndependent.com

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NOVEMBER 2014

NEWS

SNAP OF THE CAMERA While Cities Discontinue Red-Light Ticket Systems in Droves, Cathedral City’s System Gives Out Ever-More Citations

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Kevin Fitzgerald etween June 2011 and October 2014, 32 California cities eliminated their redlight-camera enforcement systems—including the city of Riverside in September, according to watchdog website Highwayrobbery.net.

However, the system continues to operate in Cathedral City.

The city’s contract with American Traffic Solutions (ATS) of Tempe, Ariz., expired back in February, but the City Council voted 4-1 to renew the contract in May, after negotiating more-favorable terms. Still, the program remains unpopular with segments of the city’s population (as well as residents of other desert cities who regularly drive through Cathedral City), particularly those who have been captured on video and in freeze-frame images that result in costly citations.

There are three cameras, watching the intersections of Date Palm Drive and Ramon Road; Ramon and Landau Boulevard; and Vista

CVIndependent.com

Chino at Date Palm.

“People don’t like getting citations and having to pay fines for violations,” said Cathedral City Police Department Operations Captain Chuck Robinson. “It’s funny, because a lot of times, we get folks who don’t like the fact that they got one, but when you go back and look at the video, it’s a clear red-light violation that they were involved in. So the question you have to put to them is: ‘Do you think it’s OK to

run a red light? And if you had stopped, would you have gotten a ticket?’”

Robinson said Cathedral City police receive few complaints about the system.

“I would say out of 200 to 300 citations issued per month, we get a couple of complaints,” he said. “You’d be surprised.

We’ve had this system in place since 2006, and we don’t get the number of complaints that you would think based on the attention that the media and other proponents or opponents pay to the system.”

A few months ago, Cathedral City Mayor Kathy DeRosa told local TV stations that the system was worthwhile, even though it was a money-losing proposition for the cashstrapped city.

What was the rationale that drove that onesided 4-1 vote? “The program actually worked; it did exactly what it was designed to do for us,” said Robinson. “We saw the results that we were hoping to see, which was a reduction in collisions, which means less property damage, fewer injuries and fewer response calls from public-safety agencies. Then it came down to: ‘Was it worth the price for the benefits we were getting out of it?’ When the mayor commented that it was losing money, she was 100 percent correct.”

A request for statistics supporting the claimed decrease in accidents at the intersections in question could not be fulfilled prior to our deadline, reportedly due to staff reductions resulting from city government cutbacks. However, for an Independent story published in September 2013, Robinson offered statistics that were mixed: The figures showed that the number of accidents at the three intersections were higher in both 2011 and 2012 than they were in 2010, the first full year that all of the cameras were operational.

In 2010, there were 15 such collisions at Cathedral City red-light camera intersections.

In 2011, that total rose to 25 collisions. In 2012, the number decreased to 17. Robinson also said that the first year the red-light camera was at the intersection of Date Palm and Ramon, the city saw a 30 percent reduction in the number of collisions.

Can Cathedral City afford to support potential additional costs if the system does not pay for itself by taking in sufficient violation revenues? Robinson said new contract terms with ATS should keep the system in the black.

“We used to pay $15,000 total, per month, for the system, or $5,000 per camera. Now we’ve dropped the per-camera cost to $3,500 per month, which is more than a 30 percent reduction in the system’s cost,” Robinson said.

Another element in the cost-benefit analysis is a marked increase in revenue since the start of 2014. According to data provided by Robinson, in all of 2013, there were 1,237 red-light-camera citations issued to drivers, while through just September of 2014, 2,181 citations had been processed.

What’s driving this sudden increase? “I’m

This red-light-camera system at Date Palm Drive and Ramon Road continues to churn out the tickets. JIMMY BOEGLE/CV INDEPENDENT FILE

not sure of the actual time frames (in 2013) without going back to do a bit of research, but I do know that we had quite a bit of construction going on, and I know that as a result, we did experience a lot less violation activity,” Robinson said. “Now, all intersections have opened back up, and if we’re seeing increased activity, that could be the reason why.”

The Independent reviewed data provided

by Highwayrobbery.net, which indicates that construction closures affected two intersections from July to October of 2013. However, the data also revealed that a year-to-year comparison of the months January through May—when there was no construction—showed a substantial growth in citations.

Concerned citizens can take heart, though: The Nov. 4 elections are guaranteed to result in three new City Council members, so perhaps new city leadership will have a change of heart.

“We built into the contract a clause saying that on 60 business days’ notice, we can terminate the contract,” Robinson said.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 9

NOVEMBER 2014

NEWS

RETURN OF THE MESSENGER How a New Film Vindicates Investigative Journalist Gary Webb WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Melinda Welsh his one has all the ingredients of a dreamed-up Hollywood blockbuster: A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist uncovers a big story involving drugs, the CIA and a guerrilla army. Despite threats and intimidation, he writes an explosive exposé and catches national attention.

But the fates shift: Our reporter’s story is torn apart by the country’s leading media; he is betrayed by his own newspaper. Though the big story turns out to be true, the writer commits suicide and becomes a cautionary tale.

Hold on, though: The above is not fiction.

Kill the Messenger is the true story of Sacramento-based investigative reporter Gary Webb, who earned both acclaim and notoriety for his 1996 San Jose Mercury News series that revealed the CIA had turned a blind eye to the U.S.-backed Nicaraguan Contras trafficking crack cocaine in South Central Los Angeles and elsewhere in urban America in the 1980s. One of the first newspaper investigations to be published on the Internet, Webb’s story gained a massive readership and stirred up a firestorm of controversy and repudiation.

After being deemed a pariah by media giants like The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, and being disowned by his own paper, Webb eventually came to work in August 2004 at the Sacramento News & Review, for which I worked. Four months later, Webb committed suicide at age 49. He left behind a grieving family—and some trenchant questions: Now comes Kill the Messenger, a Hollywood film starring Jeremy Renner as Webb. Directed

by Michael Cuesta (executive producer of the TV series Homeland), the film opened in a “soft launch” across the country in October.

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HERE’S A SCENE IN KILL THE MESSENGER that will make every investigative journalist break into an insider’s grin.

It’s the one in which—after a year of tough investigative slogging that had taken him from the halls of power in Washington, D.C., to a moldering jail in Central America, to the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles—Renner, as Webb, begins to actually write the big story.

In an absorbing film montage, Renner is at the keyboard as it all comes together—the facts, the settings, the sources. The truth. The Clash provides the soundtrack, with Joe Strummer howling: Know your rights / these are your rights … You have the right to free speech / as long as you’re not dumb enough to actually try it.

It took the real Gary Webb a long time to get to this point in his career.

His father, a U.S. Marine, moved Webb around a lot in his youth, from California to Indiana to Kentucky to Ohio. He wound up marrying his high-school sweetheart, Sue Bell, with whom he had three children. Inspired by the reporting that uncovered Watergate, he left college three units shy of a degree and went to work at The Kentucky Post, and then The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, where he rose quickly through the ranks of grunt reporters.

Webb landed a job at the Mercury News in 1988 and became part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for reporting on the Loma Prieta earthquake.

It was the summer of 1996 when he handed his editors a draft of what would become the three-part, 20,000-word exposé “Dark Alliance.” The series was exhaustive and complex. But its nugget put human faces on how CIA operatives had been aware that the Contras (who had been recruited and trained by the CIA to topple the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua) had smuggled cocaine into the United States and, through drug-dealers, fueled an inner-city crack-cocaine epidemic.

When “Dark Alliance” was published on Aug. 18, it was as if a bomb had exploded at the Mercury News. That’s because it was one of the first stories to go viral online on the paper’s then state-of-the-art website. It was 1996; the series attracted an unprecedented 1.3 million hits per day.

As word of the story spread, black communities across America—especially in South Central—grew outraged and demanded answers. At the time, crack cocaine was swallowing up neighborhoods whole, fueling an epidemic of addiction and crime. U.S.

Journalist Gary Webb gained both acclaim and notoriety for his 1996 San Jose Mercury News series “Dark Alliance.” LARRY DALTON

Rep. Maxine Waters, congresswoman for Los Angeles’ urban core to this day, used her bully pulpit to call for official investigations.

After a six-week honeymoon period for Webb and his editors, the winds shifted.

On Oct. 4, The Washington Post stunned the Mercury News by publishing five articles assaulting the veracity of Webb’s story, leading the package from Page 1. A few weeks later, The New York Times joined with similar intent. The ultimate injury came when the Los Angeles Times unleashed a veritable army of 17 journalists (known internally as the “Get Gary Webb Team”) on the case, writing a three-part series demolishing “Dark Alliance.” It claimed the series “was vague” and overreached.

Even some of Webb’s supporters admitted that his series could have benefited from more judicious editing. But why were the “big three” so intent on tearing down Webb’s work rather than attempting to further the story? Some say it was the long arm of President Ronald Reagan and his team’s ability to manipulate old media. Others say that editors at the “big three” were simply affronted to have a midsize paper like the Mercury News beat them on such a big story.

After triumphing in the early success of the series, Webb’s editors at the Mercury News became unnerved and eventually backed down under the pressure. Jerry Ceppos, the paper’s executive editor, published an unprecedented column on May 11, 1997, that was widely considered an apology for the series, saying it “fell short” in editing and execution.

Webb was soon banished to the paper’s Cupertino bureau. In 1997, after additional run-ins with his editors, including their refusal to run his follow-up reporting on the “Dark Alliance” series, he quit the paper.

A year later, he was redeemed when CIA’s inspector general, Frederick Hitz, released a report admitting that the CIA had known all along that the Contras had been trafficking cocaine. Reporter Robert Parry, who covered the Iran-Contra scandal for The Associated Press, called the report “an extraordinary

admission of institutional guilt by the CIA.” But the revelation fell on deaf ears. It went basically unnoticed by the newspapers that had attacked Webb’s series. A later internal investigation by the Justice Department echoed the CIA report.

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T WAS EIGHT DAYS AFTER WEBB’S DEATH when a few hundred of us gathered in the Sacramento Doubletree Hotel’s downstairs conference room for an afternoon memorial service.

Praise for the journalist—his smarts, guts and tenacity—flowed from friends, colleagues and VIPs at the event. A statement from now-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, then a senator, had been emailed to SN&R: “Because of (Webb)’s work, the CIA launched an Inspector General’s investigation that found dozens of troubling connections to drugrunners. That wouldn’t have happened if Gary Webb hadn’t been willing to stand up and risk it all.”

Rep. Waters, who spent two years following up on Webb’s findings, wrote a statement calling him “one of the finest investigative journalists our country has ever seen.”

Jeremy Renner, the star of the film, was hesitant to say whether those who watch it will leave with any particular take-home lesson. “I want the audience to walk away and debate and argue about it all,” he said of his David and Goliath tale. And then, “I do believe (the film) might help create some awareness and accountability in government and newspapers.”

What would the real live protagonist of Kill the Messenger have thought of it all? It’s at least certain he’d have been unrepentant. In the goodbye letter his ex-wife received on the day of his suicide, Gary Webb told her: “Tell them I never regretted anything I wrote.”

The story originally appeared in SN&R. Read the in-depth version of this story at CVIndependent.com.

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NEWS

NOVEMBER ASTRONOMY Break Out the Binoculars and Revel in the Beauty of Star Clusters WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

by Robert Victor n late November, catch the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, star cluster visible all night, low in the east-northeast at dusk; high in the south in middle of night; and low in the west-northwest at dawn.

The view of this beautiful star cluster through a pair of binoculars is a sight not to be missed!

The brightest stars in November at dusk: Arcturus, the “bear-chaser” star, can still be spotted very low in the west-northwest at dusk at start of November, but disappears below the horizon by second week. Mountains to the west will hasten its departure. Vega is very high in the west-northwest, threequarters of the way from horizon to overhead on Nov. 1, and still halfway up to overhead at month’s end. Capella, the “mother-goat” star, is very low in the north-northeast to northeast at dusk in November, and slowly gaining in

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altitude.

Note how stars near the horizon, such as Arcturus and Capella, twinkle much more than stars nearly overhead, such as Vega.

The twinkling, as well as the considerable dimming of stars near the horizon, is caused by the passage of their light through Earth’s atmosphere.

Other bright stars at dusk include Altair, high in the south-southwest to westsouthwest; it marks the southern point of the Summer Triangle it completes with Vega and Deneb. Fomalhaut, “mouth of the southern fish,” is low in the south-southeast, climbing toward its highest point in the south. Late in the month, Aldebaran, eye of Taurus the bull, begins rising before mid-twilight. Look in the east-northeast, about 14 degrees below Pleiades. Aldebaran’s name is Arabic; it means “the follower,” because that star follows the

Morning visibility map at mid-twilight.

ROBERT D. MILLER

Evening visibility map at mid-twilight.

ROBERT D. MILLER

Pleiades cluster across the sky. (The cluster does not appear on our star maps, because its brightest star is of third magnitude; the maps plot only the stars of first magnitude or brighter, as well as the naked-eye planets.)

Every year around Dec. 1, the Earth passes between Aldebaran and the sun, and the first-magnitude star appears at opposition, nearly 180 degrees from the sun and above the horizon, nearly all night. About 10 days earlier, around Nov. 20-21, the Pleiades star cluster comes to opposition, rising in the eastnortheast in deepening twilight. The scene is well described in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Locksley Hall: Many a night I saw the Pleiades, rising thro’ the mellow shade glittering like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid.

As for evening planets: At dusk, Mars is the only planet visible to unaided eye. It glows at first magnitude in the south-southwest to southwest all month. Look 75 minutes after sunset to follow the eastward motion of Mars past the background stars of Sagittarius. On Nov. 4, Mars passes only 0.6 degrees north of the third-magnitude star, marking the top of the teapot. On Nov. 10, Mars passes 2 degrees north of a second-magnitude star in the teapot’s handle.

Venus passed superior conjunction on the far side of the sun on Oct. 25. Wait until just after the sun disappears below your horizon in late November, and start searching for Venus.

By Nov. 30, Venus is 9 degrees to the upper left of the sun, and sets 33 minutes after sundown.

In December, Venus will become easier to see with the unaided eye—and during spring and early summer of 2015, it will be very impressive indeed.

The moon, full on Nov. 6, draws closer to Aldebaran overnight on the next night, Nov. 7-8, and pulls away from that star on the night of Nov. 8-9, from two hours after sunset until dawn. A waxing crescent moon appears near Mars at dusk on Nov. 25 and 26.

The brightest stars in November at dawn: Jupiter of magnitude -2.1 to -2.2, is very high in the southeast to southwest; Sirius, the “dog star,” is in the southsouthwest to southwest; Mercury, -0.6 to -0.9, is low in the east-southeast until it drops below mid-twilight horizon near end of third week; Arcturus is climbing in the east-northeast to northeast; Vega emerges in the northeast at month’s end; and Capella is well up in the northwest.

The huge Winter Hexagon now appears entirely west of the meridian (the north-south overhead line). In clockwise order, its stars are Sirius, Procyon, Pollux (with fainter Castor nearby, not shown), Capella, Aldebaran and Rigel. Betelgeuse, Orion’s shoulder, is inside the Hexagon. Rigel will be the first star of the Hexagon to reach the western horizon, near month’s end. Jupiter and Regulus cross the meridian in pursuit of the Hexagon. Arcturus and Spica ascend the eastern sky all month.

Brighter descending Mercury passes 4 degrees north of Spica on Nov. 4, as Spica climbs higher daily.

The moon appears near Aldebaran at dawn on Nov. 8 and 9; widely north of Betelgeuse at dawn on Nov. 10; and between Procyon and Pollux at dawn on Nov. 12. At dawn on Nov. 14, find the last quarter (morning half moon) 5 degrees from Jupiter, with Regulus about 8 degrees east of the bright planet. At dawn on Nov. 15, the moon will appear within 6 degrees of Regulus. On Nov. 19, the waning crescent moon will appear within 3 degrees of Spica.

Using binoculars, watch for Mercury rising 13 degrees to the lower left of the moon on Nov. 20, and just 2 degrees to the lower right of the last old crescent moon 40 minutes before sunrise on Nov. 21.

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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NEWS

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SNAPSHOT

Images From October in the Coachella Valley

Mariah Hanson, the founder of the Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend, speaks as she accepts the 2014 Spirit of Stonewall Lifetime Achievement Award during a ceremony at the Hyatt Palm Springs on Friday, Oct. 10. Hanson was one of about a dozen individuals and groups honored by Greater Palm Springs Pride during the Pride Honors Awards ceremony. PHOTO BY JIMMY BOEGLE

An estimated 2,000 people made the 2.5-mile jaunt around Palm Springs during the Desert AIDS Walk 2014, which started and finished at Ruth Hardy Park on Saturday, Oct. 18. A record $300,000-plus was raised thanks to the event, which benefits the Desert AIDS Project. PHOTOS BY JIMMY BOEGLE

Local comedian and humanitarian Shann Carr (left) looks on as Tamara Hedges speaks at the Palm Springs Animal Shelter on Sunday, Oct. 12. They’re standing in front of Gertie, Carr’s former tour RV that she’s had renovated into an all-purpose community vehicle—with a lot of help from her friends. Gertie was the star attraction at the shelter’s “Gertie Runs With the Big Dogs” event, an animal-adoption fair for large dogs. PHOTO BY JIMMY BOEGLE

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The Hall

Palm Springs’ American Legion Post Is Just Like Any Other—Except About Half of Its Active Members Are Gay

By Jimmy Boegle t’s a typical October Friday lunch hour at the American Legion’s Owen Coffman Post 519, located on Belardo Road in downtown Palm Springs.

The mostly older, mostly male crowd is enjoying tasty dishes such as burgers, sand dabs and deliciously crispy fish-and-chips, while sipping on drinks from the inexpensive yet fully stocked bar.

I’m here with my good friend Jim McDivitt; this is the second time I’ve had lunch with him at the American Legion hall. McDivitt—some of his friends, myself included, lovingly call him McDiva—first invited my partner and me to lunch at the hall over the summer. He thought the place and its people would make for a good story.

He tells me why he joined this post of the American Legion.

“The food and drinks are cheap,” McDivitt says, laughing. “I’d been going as a guest of a friend, and I finally joined because I felt stupid not paying the $55 membership fee.”

The topics of conversation on this day at this table include a great deal found on a washer and drier set at Revivals, old telephone party lines, and a recent fall from which one of the attendees was recovering.

Jim McDivitt poses with Pete Pilittere, the post commander. “(We) get together and tell war stories,” McDivitt says about the American Legion post. “Most people join for the social aspect and to be with people of like kind.”

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The Owen Coffman post looks, feels and sounds exactly like you’d expect any American Legion post across the country to look, feel and sound like—except for one difference.

About half of the veterans in attendance are gay.

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CDIVITT INTRODUCES ME TO PETE Pilittere, the post commander, who gives me a tour of the hall.

About 1,200 members—including Sons of the Legion (for relatives of veterans), Women’s Auxiliary and Legion Riders members (a motorcycle/charity group)—belong to the post, Pilittere says, as he shows me around.

First, he explains the “table set for one,” which can be found at every American Legion post.

Every element of the small table—from the color of the tablecloth to the pile of salt on the plate—represents the various sacrifices a soldier and his loved ones make when that soldier goes off to war. For example, an explanation of the chair reads: The chair is empty. They are not here.

Outside, a “fallen heroes” plaque honors the local residents who gave—and, sadly, continue to give—their lives in combat. Earl Coffman, the son of the founder of the Desert Inn Hotel, was a World War I veteran who started this post. His son Owen was killed during World War II while he flew a B-17 bomber over England. This building, housing the post that bears Owen’s name, was dedicated in 1948.

We take the stairs onto the stage, and Pilittere explains something else that sets this

post apart: its history. We’re looking at a booth where luminaries like Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Jack Benny did radio broadcasts in the 1950s. The post’s members are working on restoring the booth to its vintage appearance, Pilittere says.

He then takes me into the back area, where a newly renovated smaller room—complete with its own bar—is ready for use. Pilittere would like you to know this room and the rest of the hall is available for rent; after all, rental fees, along with the bar take, donations and other income—keep the post afloat.

But the post, first and foremost, is there for its members.

I ask Pilittere, a Navy and Vietnam veteran who’s in his second one-year term as the post commander, about the members. Is he concerned that the member base is aging, and therefore unsustainable in the long term?

“We’re doing our best trying to get young guys in, who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he says, adding that the post has been offering a dues-free first year of membership to veterans of these 21st-century wars.

Have there been any takers? “A couple,” Pilittere says, adding that some posts have blinked out of existence due to declining membership. “This post, though, I’m not concerned about. We’ve got enough things in place right now.”

Then there’s the fact that so many members of the post are gay. Pilittere, who is straight, estimates that 30 to 40 percent of the members are gay. McDivitt puts that number closer to 50 percent. One of the longtime lunch servers put the number higher than 50 percent when asked.

Pilittere says he served with men he knew were gay. I asked him if he cared.

“No,” he says. “I was born pretty progressive.

On an aircraft carrier, if you have 4,000 people, how many people are going to be gay? What are the odds?”

I mention “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the thankfully now-vanquished policy that allowed the military to get rid of men and women who were openly LGBT, or who were simply exposed as LGBT. “That was bullshit, by the way,” Pilittere says.

I asked him if anyone involved with the post has had an issue with the fact that so many members are gay. Not really, he says.

“Look, this is Palm Springs,” Pilittere says.

“Here, it’s accepted. It’s a way of life in Palm Springs.

“If you can’t accept it, you’d better get out of town.”

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ODAY, THE MILITARY IS MUCH MORE accepting of gay and lesbian service members, thanks in part to the 2011 repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

However, most members of the Owen Coffman Post 519 served—and have lived much of their lives—at a time when being openly gay was very much taboo.

Post member Robert Rogers, 81, was one of the lucky ones: He says his sexuality did not cause him any problems when he was in the military “I was out when I was 3 1/2 years old,” he smiles.

He was drafted and served in the Navy in San Diego from 1956 to 1958.

“I was a corpsman”—in other words, a medical specialist, Rogers tells me on the Owen Coffman Post’s patio, several days after McDivitt introduced me to him at lunch. “They

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Robert Rogers was one of the lucky ones: He says his sexuality was not an issue while he was in the Navy.

“I was out when I was 3 1/2 years old,” he says.

put me in as a corpsman because I was an art major and I taught art, and they said, ‘That’s where you belong.’ Well, I found out real quick that I didn’t want to be in medical.”

Rogers, a former florist who lived much of his life in Oroville, Calif., and still spends four months per year there, says he knew there were “a lot” of other gay men in the Navy from the moment he started boot camp. The topic of homosexuality once came up with a commanding officer when Rogers went to ask for a liberty pass.

“He said, ‘I don’t care if they’re cherries or not, as long as they do their job,’ Rogers remembers.

McDivitt, 74 and turning 75 in November— he calls his upcoming birthday his “diamond jubilee”—was not so lucky. He joined the military after his parents found out he was gay; he was doing poorly in school, so it was inevitable that he’d eventually get drafted anyway, he says. He jokes that he enlisted the Air Force because of that military branch’s superior fashion sense.

“I like blue better than Army drab,” he quips, before clarifying that he actually joined the Air Force because he thought the odds were better that he’d get a desk job.

He became a Morse intercept operator from 1961 to 1963, and was stationed in Scotland, where he listed to Soviet communications. He had top-secret clearance—but that meant the government was keeping tabs on him, too.

“Little did I know they would read my mail,” McDivitt says.

He had mentioned in a letter that he found a fellow serviceman attractive. He was honorably discharged due to the “inability to adjust to military life.”

McDivitt is publically and happily open about his life, his military service and his sexuality—but not all of his and Rogers’ fellow American Legion members feel the same way. I tried to talk to several other gay post members for this story, and they either flat-out refused, or never returned my calls or emails.

Upon reflection, this isn’t so surprising. continued on next page ➠ After all, many of them

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continued from Page 13

spent their entire military careers, and much of their lives, unable to talk about being gay without fear of repercussions—so why would they want to talk now?

O The “table set for one” can be found at every American Legion post. Every element of the small table represents the various sacrifices a soldier and his loved ones make when that soldier goes off to war.

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NE THING IS CLEAR: THE MEMBERS of the Owen Coffman Post 519—gay and straight—love the hall because it gives them a space where they can be comfortable and enjoy the company of people who have been through similar experiences.

“It’s a place for veterans to meet and talk with their families and guests. It’s a place to relax,” says Pilittere. “They can come in and have a great lunch, or Friday night dinner with entertainment, or Sunday brunch.”

Pilittere says Sunday brunches often have 150 or so attendees, and that lunches—offered Monday through Saturday—can attract 20 to 30 people in the depths of summer, and 100plus people during the season.

Rogers emphasized the word “acceptance”

regarding the Palm Springs American Legion post.

“It’s the atmosphere of friendliness and acceptance all of us, no matter what we do or where we live,” he says.

While McDivitt—only half-joking, perhaps—says he joined the post for the cheap food and drinks, he’s a regular at the post because of the camaraderie. “(We) get together and tell war stories,” he says. “Most people join for the social aspect and to be with people of like kind.”

Does McDivitt know of any men who met and fell in love at the hall? Alas, he says he does not—although it would not surprise him if it had happened.

“Palm Springs is unique in so many ways,” he laughs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE AMERICAN LEGION OWEN COFFMAN POST 519, VISIT WWW.AMERICANLEGIONPALMSPRINGS.ORG.

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Just Another American Family

Meet Shawn Kendrick, Gerald Raye and Their Six Kids

By Brian Blueskye

first met Shawn Kendrick back in 2008. We were both working at the Stagecoach Festival for Borders Books and Music; he was a general manager at the now-defunct company.

He showed me a photo of his family: Shawn is white; his husband, Gerald Raye, is black; and they’re the parents of six children.

Just another American family.

I recently caught up with Shawn, Gerald and their children at their home in Murrieta, about an hour and 15 minutes outside of Palm Springs.

I arrived shortly after 3 p.m. on a weekday; the kids had just come home from school and were each given the opportunity to pick something out of the “treasure chest,” a box containing various toys. Raye explained that he’s a seasoned bargain shopper at Walgreens, so he knows how to stock up on items to give them.

The kids are 15, 13, 9, 7 and 5. Their oldest son is 20 and now lives on his own.

Shawn Kendrick and Gerald Raye met two decades ago.

“We met through a personal ad in the Los Angeles Times,” Kendrick said. “The Internet wasn’t like it is now, and there weren’t really all these sites they have now. I had just moved here from Missouri. I was tired of hanging out in bars, and I wanted to settle down a bit, so I put an ad in the paper.”

Raye said he still has the ad that Kendrick placed.

“It was funny how I responded,” Raye said. “I was at work with my best friend, and we used to look in the paper at the ads, circle them, read them out loud to each other, and make fun of them. For that whole week, one ad kept appearing—so I took it and called it. We talked on the phone for two to three months before we actually met each other because of my job at the time.”

As they got to know each other, they learned they were both interested in having children.

“I’ve always wanted children, because I’m an only child,” Raye said. “Starting from the time I was 10 years old, I always said I was going to adopt children. The relationship I had prior to Shawn—we were always going to do it, but every time we went to start, he got cold feet. When I got together with Shawn, we talked about having kids, and he told me that he wanted to have kids, too. On our first-year anniversary, he gave me a card, and it had the foster-care application in it.”

They were living in Long Beach at the time, and they began the licensing process and the training classes, dealing with an agency that mostly worked with gay couples.

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“We didn’t know how to start the adoption process, so I thought it’d be good to become foster parents and see how that works out,” Kendrick said. “We became foster parents a few months after that. A lot of people think you can’t do it if you’re gay, (and did) especially 20 years ago. California’s laws have always been very liberal, and they don’t look it as gay or lesbian. … California always let unmarried people do it, and there was never a question.

“It was way easier than we thought. In fact, it was harder when we first went to get our car loan.”

Kendrick and Raye are not wealthy by any means. Kendrick works for Fresh and Easy; Raye stays at home with the children—all of which have special needs.

“People think we’re different, and we’re not,” Kendrick said. “We struggle with our finances; when we sit together at the end of the month and try to figure stuff out, most of our disagreements are over money. With that being said, (the government) doesn’t want that to be the reason you don’t adopt children. When you adopt through the county in California, they’re going to do some things to help you.

The children are eligible for Medi-Cal until they’re 21. … You’re also going to get a stipend.

You can’t live on that, and you can’t get rich from it, but it sure helps to keep them clothed.

They’re also eligible for a college grant.”

All of those factors make it much easier for them to be good parents.

“It allows us to have Gerald stay home,” Kendrick said. “When you have special-needs kids, you have to have someone stay at home.

You can’t just parcel them out all over the place. They need the direction you get by having a parent at home. With special-needs

kids, we determined we were going to have to make some sacrifices, and one of us would have to stay home. ” Being an interracial gay couple with children of various races hasn’t always been easy. Raye remembered one frightening instance when he was shopping with his son Anthony, and the fact that their skin colors are different became an issue.

“I was in the dollar store, and he was in the cart with me. I’m shopping the whole store, and as we’re getting ready to leave, security grabs me at the register, and has me with my hands up and pinned against the wall, asking me, ‘What are you doing with this child?’ I’m screaming, ‘Why would I shop in a store this whole time and pay for stuff if I was stealing a child?’ They asked Anthony, ‘Who is this man?’ and he said, ‘That’s my dad.’”

Kendrick said there have been times when they’ve received dirty looks or looks of scorn from people while out in public. However, they’ve also earned a lot of people’s respect.

“People see that (as a gay couple), you’re not having big sex parties, and you’re not having a huge Sunday brunch in your backyard …

(and) they see that your kids are the same as everyone else. They see that your kids get in trouble just like all the other kids, that you do homework with them every night, that you go to the school activities—and they see that you’re more normal than they think. We have straight families in our neighborhood who will drop their kids over here and ask Gerald to watch them. We know a husband and wife who are both Marines, and they went away for the weekend and left their daughter with us.”

The subject of race is discussed openly in the Kendrick-Raye household. They teach their children about it and expose them to different cultures.

“We teach that there is no better race than any other race—and that we are one race, all together, in this house,” Raye said. “During Black History Month, we’re all at the parade, and we’re front and center. If there’s a Latin parade, we’re front and center. Our children come from all different backgrounds, and we’re going to know all of them. If there’s a powwow at the Pechanga Casino, let’s all go, because there could be Native American in our bloodline somewhere.”

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Talented Men With Instruments Well-Strung Brings ‘Popsical’ Music to the LGBT Center of the Desert’s Center Stage Event

By Brian Blueskye ell-Strung is a classical quartet known for two things. First, the group specializes in “popsical” music—they combine pop music with a classical sound.

Second, they’re known for being, well, gorgeous.

See for yourself when they play at the Fifth Annual Center Stage event, benefitting the LGBT Community Center of the Desert, on Friday, Nov. 7.

First violinist Edmund Bagnell explained where the idea for the group came from.

“Christopher Marchant (second violinist) was working in Provincetown, Mass., a few summers ago, doing a different show, and he would busk, which is playing violin on the street,” Bagnell said during a recent phone interview. “Our manager saw him performing, and together, they came up with the idea of putting together a string quartet.

“It evolved from there. I would say what we do has changed a bit in the past three years we’ve been together.”

They quickly rose in popularity in both the mainstream and LGBT music scenes, and found themselves playing in venues such as The Art House in Provincetown, 54 Below in New York, the House of Blues in New Orleans, and even the Leicester Square Theatre in London.

While the Well-Strung website refers to the group as a “boy band” (in tongue-in-cheek fashion, of course), each of the members has a worthy history in music or musical theater. Bagnell appeared in a national tour of Sweeney Todd. Marchant has a bachelor’s degree in music ministry. Daniel Shevlin (cello) appeared in an off-Broadway production of Edward Albee’s The Sandbox, and in touring productions of Rent and Cabaret. Trevor Wadleigh (viola) was the principal violist of the Lake Union Civic Orchestra, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, and the Nova Philharmonic.

While all of the members are established classical musicians, they enjoy combining traditional classical music with pop music.

“We’re coming to this event with a new show we call Popsical,” Bagnell said. “… That’s mostly what we’re doing these days—weaving in and out of classical and pop in new and interesting ways. As far as string quartets playing pop music, there’s been a tradition of that going on for a while, but I think we’re the only group that actually sings and plays at the same time.”

What do they play during their live show?

They may put their own unique interpretation on the music of Mozart and Vivaldi—and then

throw in some Adele, Rihanna, Lady Gaga.

Bagnell said it’s hard for him to pick a favorite song to play live. “It kind of evolves.

Right now, we’re doing a Beethoven string quartet, which is really fun to play live, and a big challenge.”

While the melding of classical music with pop might turn off classical purists, the quartet knows how to entertain an audience.

“I feel pretty lucky in being able to say that we always have a really warm reception,” Bagnell said. “That’s wherever we go, from Provincetown to someplace like a suburb in Chicago. I’m always amazed at how willing people are to (accept) what we’re presenting.

It’s very nice.”

Of course, the members of Well-Strung have had some memorable performances during which they had to improvise. Bagnell recalled one such experience (although he refused to reveal where and when it happened).

“There was an issue with the sound system.

We ended up having to do an acoustic show,” he said. “I’d have to say that it was a very special show. The audience got really, really quiet, and there was something really cool about it. ‘We don’t have mics? Here we go—we’re going to sing it out for you.’ It was really cool.”

Bagnell said the group is ambitious and wants to taste mainstream success.

“We have one album already, but the immediate goal is a second album within the next six months,” he said. “Certainly, signing with a record label would be amazing, and we’d also like to start writing our own music. …

Right now, everything we’re doing is covers.

We’re very proud of our covers, but we’d also like to have our own stuff.”

WELL-STRUNG WILL PERFORM, AS WILL COMEDIAN KATE CLINTON, AT THE FIFTH ANNUAL CENTER STAGE, A BENEFIT FOR THE LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE DESERT. IT STARTS AT 5:30 P.M., FRIDAY, NOV. 7, AT THE RIVIERA RESORT AND SPA, 1600 N. INDIAN CANYON DRIVE, IN PALM SPRINGS. TICKETS START AT $175. FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 760-416-7790, OR VISIT THECENTERPS.ORG. CVIndependent.com

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NOVEMBER 2014

ARTS & CULTURE

DOCUMENTING THE LANDSCAPE WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

Western Lit: These Books Show Off the Wonder That Is the American West

By Michael Engelhard and Wyatt Orme oo hefty to be carried in a hip pocket or even a daypack, William Wyckoff’s How to Read the American West is a field guide unlike any other, with a focus on patterns, variations and the distribution of landscape features.

Inspired by Peterson’s glorious bird books, How to Read the American West draws attention to eco-tones, watersheds, settlement patterns and corridors of connection (such as interstates or historic trails), and to questions of use, scale and control.

Ultimately, it considers our grip on the land—and the land’s grip on us.

Cross-referenced and studded with photos and maps, this guide invites us to browse, linking waypoints by topic more often than by region. It capably leads the reader through 100 entries arranged by theme. Much as birders learn to distinguish dozens of sparrows, we learn to read the nuances of the West.

Wyckoff teaches earth sciences at Montana State University, and for a cultural geographer, he has a rather poetic voice. “Much of the West’s appeal remains connected to its physical musculature, its sheer material, visceral presence,” he writes. The Big Country’s sky is “wedded to the land beneath it by the interplay of atmosphere and terrain.” Chapters on cloudscapes and cacti, on Mormon architecture and vineyards, on military spaces and bungalow burbs form entwined strands in a narrative bolstered by facts and statistics.

The past pervades each page and, to a degree, still shapes the present. Folk-style “worm fences” made of dovetailed logs zigzag across Rocky Mountain pastures but are gradually disappearing. Similarly, roulade-like

hay bales extruded from automatic balers are replacing traditional “bread loaf” haystacks.

Numerous cultures have endowed Western landscapes with their legacies, whether symbolic, such as Navajo lore about four mythical mountains, or material—like the Bureau of Reclamation’s barrage of dams.

“Landscapes tell great stories,” Wyckoff states in his introduction. “But we need to know where to look for them and how to make sense of what we find.”

This guidebook shows us where and how, with a raptor’s acuity and broadness of vision.

or 25 years, Peter Essick traveled the globe as a National Geographic photographer, and he was recently named one of the world’s 40 mostinfluential nature photographers.

In 2010, Essick began “a potentially controversial” project in his native California: shooting in Ansel Adams’ Sierra Nevada—and in Adams’ signature black-and-white style.

Paying homage to a master without imitating the work is a delicate balance to strike. Essick’s results, though, are stunning.

In The Ansel Adams Wilderness, he captures groves of shimmering aspen trees and alpine lakes, whose calm surfaces perfectly mirror the granite formations and pine trees above.

Quotes from Emerson, Thomas Cole and

others, plus Essick’s own notes, round out the book.

Essick, like Adams, conveys a deep respect for his subject matter. And he defends his use of digital technology: If Adams were working today, he says, “He would have a similar model” of the latest camera—although “his would probably be better.”

These reviews originally appeared in High Country News (hcn.org).

THE ANSEL ADAMS WILDERNESS, BY PETER ESSICK WITH A FOREWORD BY JAMIE WILLIAMS (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY), 112 PAGES, $22.95; HOW TO READ THE AMERICAN WEST: A FIELD GUIDE, BY WILLIAM WYCKOFF (UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON), 440 PAGES, $44.95

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ARTS & CULTURE

CELEBRATING

THE LOCAL

The Palm Springs Art Museum Shows Off Area Talent in ‘The 2014 Artists Council Exhibition’

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

By Victor Barocas he 2014 Artists Council Exhibition is currently on display at the Palm Springs Art Museum’s Jorgensen Gallery and Marks Graphic Center.

This year’s juror, Donna MacMillan—a generous supporter of the museum— selected some 70 works among submissions from about 400 artists.

The exhibit shows a broad range of

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representational, non-representational and abstract art in varying media. MacMillan also selected one piece of video art.

The Best in Show award went to Elaine Sigwald for her digitally hand-painted photograph “Sojourners Passing Through Time and Space.” The oversized, glossy vertical image is awash in organic brown and orangeblack shapes. Electric blue-white ganglia-like forms create an intense dimensionality and offset the deep browns and oranges. The piece is worth noting, if only for its size and for the artist’s technical proficiency.

Another award winner is Cindy King, whose pen-and-ink drawing “Hills of California”

“Borneo,” by Darrell Corn.

was discussed in a previous Coachella Valley Independent story on the artist. (See the September print issue.)

“Vertical Hold II,” by Irene Ryan Maloney, is a narrow intaglio print. A scratchy purplish form is at the bottom of the work; as a viewer’s eyes moves upward, a well-articulated head in black and white appears. With a blank upward stare, the head at the top becomes what appears to be more of a death mask than a portrait. The piece contains a quiet, controlled power. This print earned the Michele Jamison Memorial Award.

Lucia Grossberger Morales’ “Fractal Sines” didn’t receive an award, but it’s worth noting as the only piece of video art in the show—and it is a stand-out addition. In silence, a video monitor displays a screen of seemingly everchanging, amorphous cloud-like formations, for four minutes. Clouds change from fun, light and floating, to ominous and threatening.

Grossberger’s mesmerizing and almost hypnotic creation shows off shades of blue and purple, with hints of grey.

Atop an orange-red painted panel, Darrell Corn applies a rich deeply saturated blue encaustic to create “Borneo.” About 80 percent of the panel is covered by the encaustic, and the eye wanders across the entire painting, seeking spaces where the contrasting orangered peeks through. When a viewer blinks, the orange-red forms seemingly move from backdrop to foreground. The experience of depth is further enhanced by the orange-red patches that at times seem to float.

Jim Riche’s black-and-white photograph “Visitor Center” at first seems like a dramatic

An image from Lucia Grossberger Morales’ “Fractal Sines.”

presentation of the iconic mid-century building that greets visitors when driving into Palm Springs on Highway 111. The angled roof commands the space with cirrus clouds dancing in the background; unfortunately, the artist’s attempt to frame the bottom of the image by including the small treetops and possibly the ground doesn’t work. The irregular black band, to me, was a visual distraction.

Kim Chasen’s “Blocks 2,” an acrylic and mixed-media piece, consists of two horizontal bands of five blocks. The face of each block is textured to enhance the experience, and each face is in a muddied color, like lime green or orange.

All works in the show, valued between $500 and $6,000, are for sale. The proceeds are equally divided between the artist and the museum’s educational programs.

The awards ceremony for the show takes place in the museum’s Annenberg Theater at 5:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 7, and is followed by a reception in the Elrod Sculpture Garden and the museum’s lower-level galleries. Admission is free and open to the public.

THE 2014 ARTISTS COUNCIL EXHIBITION IS ON DISPLAY THROUGH SUNDAY, DEC. 7, AT THE PALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM, 101 MUSEUM DRIVE, IN PALM SPRINGS. THE MUSEUM IS OPEN FROM 10 A.M. TO 5 P.M., TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY; AND NOON TO 8 P.M., THURSDAY. ADMISSION IS $12.50 GENERAL; $10.50 FOR SENIORS; $5 FOR STUDENTS; AND FREE TO MEMBERS, KIDS 12 AND YOUNGER, ACTIVE MILITARY MEMBERS AND EVERYONE THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH AND AFTER 4 P.M. ON THURSDAY. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 760-322-4800, OR VISIT WWW.PSMUSEUM.ORG.

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NOVEMBER THEATER 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche—From Dezart Performs It’s 1956, and the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein’s lovely annual quiche breakfast is disrupted by … the threat of Communists! At 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2:30 p.m., Sunday, from Friday, Nov. 14, through Sunday, Nov. 23. $22 to $25; $44 for the show and brunch at LuLu California Bistro on Sunday, Nov. 16. At the Pearl McManus Theater in the Palm Springs Womans Club, 314 S. Cahuilla Road, Palm Springs. 760-322-0179; dezartperforms.org.

12th Annual Annenberg Theater Opening Night Gala Fundraiser Andrea McArdle, Maureen McGovern, Donna McKechnie and Randy Graff headline this special fundraiser, at 6 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 15. $95 to $295. At the Annenberg Theater at the Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Drive, Palm Springs. 760-325-4490; www.psmuseum.org.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee—From Palm Canyon Theatre An eclectic group of kids compete for the big prize in the renowned spelling competition at 7 p.m., Thursday; 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, from Friday, Nov. 14, through Sunday, Nov. 23. $28. At 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. 760-323-5123; www.palmcanyontheatre.org.

Broadway in Drag!—From Palm Canyon Theatre The lovely Bella da Ball hosts this fourth annual drag pageant, as female impersonators vie for the crown in this Palm Springs Pride event, at 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 7. $35 to $50. At 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. 760-323-5123; www.palmcanyontheatre.org.

The Chosen—From CV Rep The award-winning play tells the story of two boys, two fathers and two different Jewish communities in 1940s Brooklyn, N.Y., at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday; and 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, through Sunday, Nov. 16. $45; $40 previews on Oct. 29 and 30; $55 opening night on Oct. 31. At the Atrium, 69930 Highway 111, No. 116, Rancho Mirage. 760-296-2966; www.cvrep.org.

A Magical Evening of Luminaries Don Martin hosts, and Christopher Marlowe is the musical director at this fundraiser for CV Rep featuring Kaye Ballard, Joyce Bulifant, Carol Channing and many others, at 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 2. $75; $250 VIP. At the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower, 39000 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage. 760-296-2966; www.cvrep.org.

McCallum Theatre Mummenschanz, the Swiss mask theater troupe, is part of the Palm Desert International Dance Festival and Choreography Competition, at 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 13; $20 to $65. Also part of the festival: A Man’s Requiem, by the SEOP Dance Company from South Korea, at 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 15; $20 to $65. Renowned musical Anything Goes is performed at 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 28; 2 and 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 29; and 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 30. $35 to $105. At the McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert. 760-340-2787; www.mccallumtheatre.com.

Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein—From Palm Canyon Theatre The musical comedy based on Mel Brooks’ classic film is performed at 7 p.m., Thursday; 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, Nov. 2. $36. At 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. 760-323-5123; www.palmcanyontheatre.org.

Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein—From Theatre 29 The musical comedy based on Mel Brooks’ classic film is performed at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, though Saturday, Nov. 1. $12 regular; $10 seniors and military; $8 children and students. At 73637 Sullivan Road, Twentynine Palms.

760-361-4151; theatre29.org.

Noises Off!—From Desert Theatreworks Desert Theatreworks re-imagines what’s been called the funniest farce ever written for their intimate theater space, at 7 p.m., Friday; 2 and 7 p.m., Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, Nov. 9. No show on Oct. 31. $25 regular; $23 seniors and students with ID. At the Arthur Newman Theatre in the Joslyn Center, 73750 Catalina Way, Palm Desert.

760-980-1455; www.dtworks.org.

The Odd Couple—From Palm Desert Stage Lou Galvan and Matthew Shaker star as the famously mismatched roommates at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, from Friday, Nov. 14, through Sunday, Nov. 23. $28; $25 seniors Friends of IPAC; $17 students. At the Indio Performing Arts Center, 45175 Fargo St., Indio. 760-636-9682; www.pdstage.com.

The Rocky Horror Show—From COD Theatre The campy rock musical that made “The Time Warp” famous is performed at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 30; 7 p.m. and midnight, Friday, Oct. 31; 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1; and 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 2. Most shows $30 general, with discounts for students, COD staff and seniors; call to confirm times. At Theatre Too at College of the Desert, 43500 Monterey Ave., Palm Desert. 760-773-2565; collegeofthedesert.edu.

Scrooge in Rouge—From Desert Rose Playhouse The play has a cast of 20—but 17 of the actors get food poisoning. Of course, the show must go on, so the three remaining actors do the best they can; at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, from Friday, Nov. 14, through Sunday, Dec. 21. 28 to $30. At 69260 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage. 760-202-3000; www.desertroseplayhouse.org.

Shakespeare in Hollywood—From Theatre 29 It’s 1934, and famous Shakespeare fairies Oberon and Puck have suddenly materialized on the Warner Bros. set of A Midsummer Night’s Dream; a hilarious farce ensues, at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, from Friday, Nov. 21, through Saturday, Dec. 20, with 2:30 p.m., Sunday, matinees on Nov. 30 and Dec. 14. $12 regular; $10 seniors and military; $8 children and students. At 73637 Sullivan Road, Twentynine Palms. 760-361-4151; theatre29.org.

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ARTS & CULTURE

ARTS & CULTURE

DAY OF THE DEAD

LEGIT COMEDY

Coachella Is the Home of a Large, New Festival Celebrating Dia de los Muertos

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Jim Jefferies, Coming to Spotlight 29, Is Still Upset That His Sitcom Was Cancelled

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By BRIAN BLUESKYE ay of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) is a holiday that originated in Mexico and is now celebrated all around the world.

The focus on coming together to pay tribute to the dead and remember loved ones has made the holiday appealing to many artists and musicians—and on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 1 and 2, a large celebration is coming to the valley, in the form of the Dia de los Muertos festival, to be held at in Rancho Las Flores Park in Coachella.

“About 17 years ago, I did a Day of the Dead event at the Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles,” said Rodri Rodriguez, the CEO of the Rodri Entertainment Group and the festival organizer. “I’ve always had a connection with Dia de los Muertos. I’m Latina, but I’m Cuban, and I grew up in Los Angeles.

“There’s a relationship with life and death.

I lost my mom 12 years ago; my dad died two years ago, and my brother died a few months

Axayacatl Arturo Nevarez, aka the Black Light King, is one of the artists participating in the Dia de los Muertos festival.

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ago. I had been looking for a place, and I saw a place in L.A.—but the vibe wasn’t there. David Garcia, (the city manager of) Coachella, called me and wanted to talk to me about doing something. I came in and pitched it to them.”

It turned out the city and Rodriguez’s idea for a celebration made for a nice fit.

“I did some research on Coachella and the Cahuilla Indians, who have been here for 3,000 years. (The area is) desert, mystical, and it just seemed perfect. Sure enough, I came out here and visited the property. They showed me different lots I could have, and I liked Rancho Las Flores.”

As the organizer of the Mariachi USA festival at the Hollywood Bowl for the past 25 years, Rodriguez knows her way around event-planning. But what makes this Dia de los Muertos festival unique?

“It’s spiritually grounded,” Rodriguez said.

“We came up with having entertainment and great food, and the visual arts aspect of it had to be tremendous. … I wanted to make sure it was very traditional music for this first year.

We have Norteño music, banda music and mariachi, of course. We have 40 visual artists who are working on exhibits that are unique and original to our event.”

Guests will have the option to have their faces painted (for no extra charge). An altar will pay tribute to those who have passed away due to HIV/AIDS, and a live art exhibit will be created in 3-D black-light paint. In fact, Rodriguez feels the artwork may be the most special element of the event.

“If you could see the art right now, you’d realize that you can’t miss this,” Rodriguez said. “We have 40 artists. … They’re so devoted and so motivated. They have a connection to the Latino world. It’s a reflection of community.”

Rodriguez hopes the event can become another annual festival in the Coachella Valley.

“We have a lot of people from places around the world and the country coming out,” she said.

THE DIA DE LOS MUERTOS FESTIVAL USA TAKES PLACE ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, NOV. 1 AND 2, AT RANCHO LAS FLORES PARK, 48350 VAN BUREN ST., IN COACHELLA. ADULT TICKETS START AT $60 FOR A ONE-DAY PASS. FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.DIADELOSMUERTOSUSA.COM.

By BRIAN BLUESKYE

Jim Jefferies

in 2007, Australian standup comedian Jim Jefferies was attacked while performing at the Manchester Comedy Store. However, he turned something horrifying into a blessing: Ever since the incident, his career has taken off, as he’s won over audiences with comedy that covers topics such as alcoholism, religion and sex.

Jefferies will be performing at Spotlight 29 on Saturday, Nov. 29.

During a recent phone interview, Jefferies discussed what inspired him to go into comedy.

“I’ve been a fan of standup comedy since I was a little kid,” Jefferies said. “My favorite TV show was a show called The Big Gig. It used to be on every Saturday night, and it was just standup comedians and one band, or something like that. My biggest inspiration for being a comic was this guy named Anthony Morgan in Australia, who was like Lenny Bruce to me. He never really got big overseas, and he’s become a bit of a recluse now, but I thought he was awesome.”

Jefferies said that his first time onstage was rather unusual.

“I did very good on my first gig, but I didn’t do too good on my second one. It would have been better if I didn’t do quite as good on the first one, because then I wouldn’t have been so cocky on the second one,” Jefferies said with a laugh. “I did three open spots when I was 17, and I didn’t do it again until I was about 23.

That second one went so badly that I didn’t have the confidence to get up and do it again for a few years.”

Jefferies is doing more acting as of late, and he said he hopes there will be more roles in his future.

“I just did a spot on a Christmas episode for a show on TNT where I play Santa Claus, and then I did a guest spot on Bad Judge on NBC

… and I’ve got a movie coming out with David Hasselhoff,” he said.

He told an amusing story about when he first met David Hasselhoff: “He was standing next to the Knight Rider car. So that’s all you can ask for, really.”

Jefferies often covers atheism in his act.

“In my experience, when it comes to overseas, atheism is a norm. It’s always weird when you meet a religious person, and it’s like, ‘Wow, you believe in God? OK,’ he said. “When it comes to over here, it’s a lot more common to meet a religious person than a nonreligious person. … I think the atheist angle works better over here in standup than it does in the other countries, because now you’re dealing with a counterculture.”

Jefferies is best known in some circles for his FX sitcom Legit, which was cancelled earlier this year after two seasons. He’s still a little bitter about it.

“I would maybe like to make a movie just so I can wrap it all up. All I need is an hour and a half,” he said. “The way it ended was very unsatisfactory for me. I wake up some mornings like, ‘Oh, it ran for two seasons,’ and then I wake up some mornings angry about it.

“It’s been six months, and I’ve never had anything upset me more. A girl can dump me and throw me out of my house, and I can be over it in six months. But with a show like this, I have good days and bad, and I don’t think it should have been cancelled. It wasn’t shit, and the reviews were good—but it just didn’t get the right push for people to see it.”

JIM JEFFERIES PERFORMS AT 8 P.M., SATURDAY, NOV. 29, AT SPOTLIGHT 29, 46200 HARRISON PLACE, IN COACHELLA. TICKETS ARE $25 TO $35. FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 760-775-5566, OR VISIT WWW.SPOTLIGHT29.COM.

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NOVEMBER 2014

NOVEMBER ARTS Film Family Movie Night: Free Birds Families and friends of all ages can enjoy a free screening of Free Birds. No tickets needed; just come for a fun-filled flick. 6:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 21. Free.

Indio Community Park, 45871 Clinton St., Indio.

Myrecreationdistrict.com.

Special Events 27th Annual Hoedown at Sundown The evening commences with an open bar, appetizers and a silent auction, and is followed with Western barbeque fare at 7 p.m. At 8:30 p.m., guests can kick up their heels to music and instructional linedancing, as well as a live auction. Patrick Evans is the emcee, and all the fun benefits the 44 locations of the YMCA in our desert cities. 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1. $135. Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage. 760-341-9622; www.ymcaofthedesert.org.

AMFM Fest Art. Music. Film. More. A creative feast in the Cali desert for progressive artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, curators, creators and culture-makers. All movies will be shown at the Mary Pickford Theatre.

Venues vary for art, music, panels, parties and special events. Thursday, Nov. 13, through Sunday, Nov. 16.

Prices and venues vary. Amfmfest.com.

Fourth Annual Italian Festival This community event to celebrate the Italian heritage and culture features vendors, performers and a family fun zone. Taste the Italian flavor of fine restaurants, create your own Venetian mask, ride the Buckets o’ Fun and enjoy a special Italian-themed puppet show. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1, and Sunday, Nov. 2. $10 one day pass; $15 two-day pass, with discounts. La Quinta Civic Center Campus, 78495 Calle Tampico, La Quinta.

Desertarc.org/italian-festival.shtml.

Eighth Annual Fall Family Festival This festive occasion brings together fun games, arts and crafts and community resources for Coachella Valley families in one joyous celebration. Main Street in Old Town La Quinta will be closed off and lined with more than 50 exhibitors and vendors, all with a family focus and activities for children. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 8. Free. Old Town La

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Quinta, Main Street, La Quinta. 760-342-7400; www. aboutfamiliesinc.com.

Gourmet Food Truck Event Try food trucks for lunch featuring burgers, barbecue, tacos, California cuisine, sushi and dessert. Outdoor seating is available, or bring a blanket. Dabble in the local farmers’ market; listen to music provided by The Coachella Valley Art Scene; enjoy a beer garden with some of the best craft beers from La Quinta Brewing Company and Coachella Valley Brewing Company. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the first Sunday of the month. Free. Cathedral City Civic Center Plaza, 68700 Avenue Lalo Guerrero, Cathedral City.

Thecoachellavalleyartscene.com.

Hike 4 Education Three-, five- and 10-mile hikes for all ages benefit technology in Desert Sands Unified School District classrooms. 8 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 2. $15 to $30. Lake Cahuilla Recreation Area, 58075 Jefferson St., La Quinta. 760-609-4622; desertsandseducationalfoundation.org/hike.html.

Hollywood Dine and Dish II: A Star-Studded Dining Event to Support AIDS Assistance Program Join comedienne extraordinaire and “Love Goddess” Judy Tenuta, the effervescent Ruta Lee, awardwinning photographer of the stars Michael Childers, and Emmy Award-winning comedy writer Bruce Vilanch for a one-of-a-kind evening. One hundred percent of each ticket will feed five AAP clients for one month. 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1. $500; $750 couple; 100 percent tax-deductible. At a private residence; info given following ticket purchase. 760325-8481; aidsassistance.org.

Indio Powwow Hosted by the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, the powwow features Native American drums, dancing and singing, plus arts and crafts, and traditional Native American foods. Various times Friday through Sunday, Nov. 28-30. Free. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio. 760-2385770; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Palm Springs Leather Pride Celebrate the anniversary of the Palm Springs Leather Order of the Desert with a weekend-long event that has become a centerpiece of the West Coast leather scene, featuring parties, leather-formal events and the Mr. Palm Springs Leather Contest and

Silent Auction. Thursday, Oct. 30, through Sunday, Nov. 2. Prices and locations vary.

Desertleatherpride.com.

Playa De Los Muertos: A Dia De Los Muertos Celebration The event features a sangria bar, tray passed (appetizers) inspired by the traditional Mexican holiday, and lots of entertainment from DJs Von Kiss, plus COLOUR VISION and DJ Aaron C. Proceeds from the event will benefit Meals on Wheels, whose volunteers deliver more than 170,000 meals to homebound individuals from Palm Springs to the Salton Sea each year. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1. $45. Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club, 1555 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. 760-778-8954; playadelosmuertos.bpt.me.

Raices Cultura Annual Dia de los Muertos The Ninth Annual Dia de los Muertos event, hosted

by Raices Cultura, closes Coachella’s Sixth Street for experience-art displays, large-scale installations, performances, and arts and crafts activities. 6 to 11 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1. Free. Sixth Street in Coachella.

760-428-8763; www.raicesdelvalle.org/muertos.

Stroke Recovery Center’s 35th Annual Winter Wonderland Ball: A Night at the Copa Stroke Recovery Center’s annual black-tie gala features cocktails, a delicious dinner and dancing with music by Wayne Foster Entertainment. Proceeds go directly to caring for survivors of stroke and traumatic brain injury who, along with their families, receive free year-round, long-term rehabilitation, counseling and education at the center. 6 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 22. $350. Riviera Palm Springs, 1600 N. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. 760-323-7676; galasrc.org.

The USO Variety Show The USO has been entertaining troops worldwide in times of peace and times of war for more 70 years.

Now, the Bob Hope USO needs you to laugh, enjoy and have some fun remembering the good ol’ times.

Join us for live nostalgic tributes to Bob Hope and his band of Hollywood celebs; enjoy free tours of the museum pre- or post-showtime. 2 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 13. $55 to $75. Palm Springs Air Museum, 745 N. Gene Autry Trail, Palm Springs. 760-778-6262; palmspringsvacationtravel.com.

Wild Pride Party In association with Greater Palm Springs Pride, this fun event will benefit the Living Desert and Palm Springs Pride. Ticket includes food and one signature drink, with a cash bar all evening, plus music by master DJ Luc Benech; Bella da Ball makes a special appearance. 5:30 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 5. $30.

The Living Desert, 47900 Portola Ave., Palm Desert.

760-346-5694; www.livingdesert.org/event/wildpride-party.

Visual Arts Art Under the Umbrellas The event presents a diverse collection of 80 talented artists exhibiting their original creations along Old Town La Quinta’s picturesque Main Street. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 15 and 29. Free. Old Town La Quinta, Main Street, La Quinta. 760-564-1244; lqaf.com.

Desert Art Festival A three day art event featuring numerous artists presenting their original work in all mediums of two-and three-dimensional fine art, including paintings in acrylic, oils and watercolors, photography, etchings, sculpture in clay, glass, metal, stone and wood. Each artist will be present to meet with the public and discuss their work. All work is available for purchase.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday through Sunday, Nov. 28-30.

Free. Frances Stevens Park, 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. 818-813-4478; westcoastartists.com/shows/ps5.html.

A Grand Adventure: American Art in the West The epic 19th-century landscape paintings of Yosemite and Yellowstone by Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran introduced the American public to the grandeur of the West. By the turn of the century, a new genre of Western art had developed. A Grand Adventure brings together 40 significant classic and traditional artworks from private collections. The artworks span nearly 100 years, dating from the latter half of the 19th century through the early decades of the 20th century. The exhibit is on display through Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015. Included with regular admission prices. Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert, 72567 Highway 111, Palm Desert. 760-3465600; www.psmuseum.org/palm-desert.

Twentynine Palms Weed Show The Weed Show is one of Twentynine Palms’ oldest and most unique artistic traditions. This annual display, now in its seventh decade, features artistic arrangements of indigenous desert vegetation as well as found objects both natural and manmade. Awards are granted in nine categories, with a “People’s Choice” award to be decided by visitors to the exhibition. Noon to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 8; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 9. Free. Old Schoolhouse Museum, 6760 National Park Drive, Twentynine Palms. 29palmshistorical.com.

SUBMIT YOUR FREE ARTS LISTINGS AT CALENDAR. ARTSOASIS.ORG. THE LISTINGS PRESENTED ABOVE WERE ALL POSTED ON THE ARTSOASIS CALENDAR, AND FORMATTED/ EDITED BY COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT STAFF. THE INDEPENDENT RECOMMENDS CALLING TO CONFIRM ALL EVENTS INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE.

NOVEMBER 2014

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NOVEMBER 2014

MOVIES

THE VIDEO DEPOT

NOW SHOWING AT HOME

TOP 10 LIST for OCTOBER 2014

These Three Worthy Films Received Short Shrift at the Box Office

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MOVIES

By Bob Grimm Obvious Child LionsGate, Blu-Ray released Oct. 7 Lorne Michaels has a tendency to fire some great women after only one season of Saturday Night Live. He fired the promising Noël Wells after last season, and the funny Michaela Watkins and Casey Wilson were fired by him in recent years. Thankfully, both Watkins and Wilson have gone on to decent post-SNL careers.

Of all of the female firings in recent years, none was more of an injustice than the letting-go of Jenny Slate. Slate, in her debut episode, dropped an F-bomb. It appears she was never really forgiven for the mistake, although she did make it through the season.

Now Slate has come roaring back with Obvious Child, a funny and strikingly honest film about a woman seeking an abortion.

Slate plays standup comic Donna Stern, a woman who will say anything onstage for a laugh. After a breakup, she meets the charming Max (Jake Lacy), and they have a one-night stand.

Soon thereafter, Donna discovers she is pregnant. She immediately decides on an abortion, while the unknowing Max is just trying to get a second date. Everything comes to a head—and it’s all handled in a very sweet and honest way.

Slate is both funny and intense in this film, showing that she has major dramatic chops, like her SNL cohorts Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader demonstrated in the recent The Skeleton Twins. It’s a movie that should get her a lot of future work—and remove the sting of Michaels giving her the ax.

Special Features: Slate sits down with her writer and director for a commentary.

There are also some extended scenes, a documentary and the short film on which the movie is based.

Edge of Tomorrow Warner, Blu-ray released Oct. 7 It’s a sad state of cinematic affairs when the brilliant Edge of Tomorrow bombs CVIndependent.com

domestically at the box office, while the latest Transformers debacle brings in the big bucks.

Tom Cruise might be a kook, but he usually participates in good movies, and this twisted sci-fi experiment is easily one of his best.

Edge of Tomorrow is the sort of spectacle best-suited for the big screen, but it looks like it will have to find fame via home viewing.

(It’s been rebranded on DVD and Blu-ray as Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow, for some reason.) I have a feeling it will—it’s that good.

Cruise plays a military man handling public relations during an alien invasion. After a rather intense meeting with a commanding officer (Brendan Gleeson), he finds himself sent off to combat—and he quickly dies. However, he wakes up and finds himself living the same experience again—and again, and again.

Yes, the movie has similarities to Groundhog Day, and it does use a sort of sick humor in the many ways Cruise’s character meets his end. Emily Blunt, a new queen of sci-fi after this and Looper, shows up as a soldier who knows exactly what is happening; that creates other interesting scenarios.

This is a movie that delights with every frame; you will kick yourself for missing it in theaters. Yes, Tom Cruise is maddeningly strange sometimes, but he knows a good script when he sees one.

Special Features: You get some decent behind-the-scenes docs and deleted scenes.

Horns Radius; available via video on demand and online sources including iTunes and Amazon. com; also opening Friday, Oct. 31, at Cinemas Palme d’Or (72840 Highway 111, Palm Desert; 760-779-0730) Harry Potter goes over to the dark side in Horns, a nasty little movie from director Alexandre Aja, maker of Piranha 3D and the decent remake effort The Hills Have Eyes.

Danielle Radcliffe plays Ig, who is accused of killing his girlfriend, Merrin (Juno Temple), after an ugly breakup. Not too long afterward,

Ig starts sprouting horns out of his head, much to his chagrin. When people see these horns, they behave rather badly—and they have a hard time lying. Ig uses the horns to not only bring out the worst in people, but to start solving the mystery of his lover’s death.

Radcliffe is great here, utilizing a strong American accent and taking advantage of a nice chance to let his nasty side come out.

Temple is adorable as Merrin; her story is told in flashbacks, and she leaves no mystery as to why Ig is so messed up after the loss. Joe Anderson is good as Ig’s musician brother, a man strung out on drugs and hiding a few secrets. James Remar, David Morse and Kathleen Quinlan all make their marks in supporting roles.

The movie is rated a hard R, with crazy violence. Mommies and daddies: Don’t let your young kids watch this one, no matter how much they want to see the new flick with the Harry Potter guy.

As a mystery, the movie is a complete failure, because it’s obvious early on who the murderer is. It doesn’t matter, because the film is very strong as a horror-comedy. It’s Aja’s most fully realized film to date, and it contains one of Radcliffe’s best performances.

Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow.

1. Edge of Tomorrow (Warner Bros.)

2. X-Men: Days of Future Past (20th Century Fox) 3. A Million Ways to Die in the West (Universal) 4. Mr. Peabody and Sherman (20th Century Fox) 5. The Purge: Anarchy (Universal) 6. Earth to Echo (20th Century Fox) 7. Sex Tape (Sony) 8. Deliver Us From Evil (Sony) 9. Million Dollar Arm (Disney) 10. The Fluffy Movie (Universal)

Daniel Radcliffe in Horns.

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FOOD & DRINK

the SNIFF CAP

It’s Time to Go Clubbin’— Wine Clubbin’, That Is

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By Deidre Pike ’ve mentioned wine clubs to folks who don’t spend much time in tasting rooms.

“I think there’s one of those around here,” one woman said.

A wine club—a place where like-minded people get together to sniff and sip, right?

Not exactly what I’d meant. At wineries, club membership is more like frequent-buyer programs. It gives wineries a consistent source of income. It gives me a consistent source of wine. Signing up means agreeing to buy something like a case of wine a year, or maybe three or four bottles every three or four months.

The wine shipments are discounted—and that’s the big draw. Some wineries release special bottles, limited-production stuff, only to their members.

As a member, a simple aficionado like me gets to feel like a member of the winery’s extended family—drinking with the homies, at a figurative place where everybody knows your name.

I’ve been a member of as many as nine wine clubs at the same time. My husband Dave is also a joiner. Once, between us, we were in 14 wine clubs. That’s before we maintained two separate households. Now I’m in two clubs.

The trend’s obvious: I join when I’m a little tipsy, usually after I’ve tasted wine at one or two places during a trip to wine country. I can resist the impulse for my first few ounces of wine. But by the third or fourth winery, I’m itching to hand over my credit card.

The process can be accelerated by a trip to a winery’s barrel room. That’s where a prospect gets to taste unbottled wine to identify its potential. Wine out of a barrel is deceptively light, but jam-packed with alcohol. Oh, yes, this is good! I’m fine. I’m fine. Then I’m signing on the line.

I joined a club the first time I went winetasting in Amador County. Dave and I barely

dented the long list of places to go. The Amador Vintners Association has 40 members, all with tasting rooms. And not all wineries are members.

So much wine. So little lunch. So fast to sloshy am I.

By Winery No. 3, I was ready for the pitch: Do I want to buy the yummy wine I’m drinking for less, less, less? Do I want to drive back to Amador for free pasta? Because I’ve been invited to join Villa Toscano’s Bella Piazza wine club! All I have to do is fill out a card and hand over my credit card information—and I’m one of them.

The thought of a pasta buffet hooked me. Free noodles sounded irresistible to my growling stomach. I imagined coming back for a weekend and dining on linguine dripping with pesto. Sampling wine and more wine.

Over the years, we’ve been back to Amador

A perk for members—the pond-side picnic grounds at Indian Rock Vineyards in Murphys, Calif. DEIDRE PIKE

Winemaker Nathan Vader signs a bottle of mourvedre at his Vina Moda Winery tasting room in Murphys, Calif. Dave’s a Vina Moda member, because Vader makes profoundly complex wines. DEIDRE PIKE

plenty of times. I never did get to the pasta buffet.

No matter. Wine club wine, it turns out, is the gift that keeps on giving—and the charges on your credit card keep mounting. If you can’t pick up this season’s shipment at the winery, they’ll ship it to you.

You can cancel. But that means a phone call.

Or an email. So much work!

These days, I join clubs to buy consistently great wine that’s more affordable to members.

As a member of Myka Cellars in the Santa Cruz Mountains, wine crafted by genius winemaker Mica Raas is half-price all the time. That $44 bottle of 2011 Reserve Malbec? It’s $22, any time I want it. Which is basically now.

Locally, Tulip Hill’s September wine-club shipment included four bottles of wine, retail value $132, for $60. That means I basically paid about $15 for the newly released 2010 Tracy Hills Inamorata—a mouth full of flowers and raspberries! (Opened it within days. Drank it. Mmm.) It’s $36 in the tasting room.

Most wine clubs include free tasting flights for self, partner and friends. Some tempt me with winery swag. At one winery, new members were rewarded with a wine glass that holds an entire bottle. Who thinks that’s a good idea? I do.

When we were members of Winery by the Creek in Fair Play, we could sign up to spend a night in the winemaker’s cottage—in the middle of the vineyard—for the cost of

cleaning the unit. If we timed it right, we could be there for the sister winery’s all-you-can-eat pizza buffet on Friday nights. So, it was like $40 or $50 to eat, drink and stay in a cute cottage in a field of wine on the vine. Yeah!

Unlike the pasta buffet, we actually made this happen. Twice.

And the Winery by the Creek’s wine kept coming. Shipments of six bottles at a time.

Drinkable and affordable. We possessed our own wine jug that we could refill with sfuso— loose wine—from a giant stainless steel tank.

Damn, I’m pretty sure we had two refillable wine jugs.

Finally, though, I dashed off the sad email.

Consider me cancelled. I did the same with seven or eight other wineries.

Why would I end such beneficial relationships? To save the expense, sure. And the wine was piling up, indeed. But most importantly, the upside of wine clubs is also the downside: We ended up going back to favorite wine regions and spending all our time at member wineries, picking up bottles for which we’d already paid, and tasting loved but now-familiar wines.

It was hard to discover new bottles of bliss.

Sometimes you want to go where everybody does not know your name. But they’re still glad you came. They might even take you into the back and give you some of whatever’s in the barrel.

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FOOD & DRINK the

The Props and Hops Craft Beer Festival Merges Brews and Flying—Literally!

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By Erin Peters he weather is starting to cool down in the Coachella Valley—so it’s a perfect time to explore what the craft-beer industry has to offer at local beer festivals. They are the perfect place to experiment, meet fellow craft-beer enthusiasts and even get involved in the community.

For the third year, the Palm Springs Air Museum is combining two things that you may not normally think go together: flying and beer. The Props and Hops Craft Beer Festival commences on Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Air Museum, a picturesque venue with gorgeous views. General admission costs $35.

I am on the festival’s board, and this year, the beers on offer will range from one-off seasonals to perennial favorites.

All three local breweries will be pouring their award-winning beers. Babe’s Bar-B-Que and Brewhouse will be offering its Belgian Vanilla Blonde Ale, which just took home a silver medal from the granddaddy of all beer events, the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

Coachella Valley Brewing Co. will likely be pouring its newest seasonal offering, Condition Black. It’s an imperial black IPA offered every Veterans Day. Another possible offering is the new Saison L’Automne, a fall farmhouse ale with yams, pumpkins and spices.

La Quinta Brewing Co. will have on hand the popular Indian Canyon IPA, the Poolside Blonde and the brewery’s fall/early winter seasonal, the Tan Line Brown. The brewery will also bring either its new barrel-aged porter, or the Sand Storm Double IPA. Of course, other breweries from Southern California will be on hand, including Lost Abbey/Port Brewing, Stone Brewing, Hangar 24, Lagunitas, Ballast Point, Firestone Walker, Black Market, Refuge Brewery and Golden Road Brewing.

Homebrewers are making an ever-increasing mark on the industry, and the festival will highlight these beer-making champions with the third annual homebrewers’ competition.

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Led by local Coachella Valley Homebrew Club president Brett Newton, the Beer Judge Certification Program-certified competition will only be limited by imagination. Bring your tasty concoction, and get some expert feedback from certified beer judges! Entries must be received at either Coachella Valley Brewing in Thousand Palms, or MoreBeer in Riverside, by Nov. 8. Brewers must bring three unmarked, unlabeled 12-ounce bottles, and the winners will be announced at the festival.

Prizes include gift cards, a 70-liter Speidel fermenter from MoreBeer, and, of course, mad respect from fellow craft-beer drinkers.

This year, the festival is offering beer-lovers a chance to literally combine flying and beer: For an extra $175, experience a Cicerone-guided tour of beers while in the sky above the Coachella Valley. This rare beer-tasting will be held aboard a vintage DC3!

The festival will include more live music than last year, with performances by The Anonymous Five, the Independent’s own

All Night Shoes, and Long Duk Dong.

The big brain behind the event is an ale-loving, craft beer advocate, Brent Schmidman. He’s the man responsible for making Schmidy’s Tavern into the loved craft-beer spot that it is today.

“We’re always trying to push the envelope with the event and to bring something new,” he said.

Schmidman said he’s excited about some breweries that are new to the festival this year.

“The first two that come to mind are Avery and Three Weavers. Avery is an amazing brewery and makes some insane beers—crazy wild sours and barrel-aged beers that are hard to get. I’m also excited about Three Weavers Brewing, a new brewery from Inglewood. They’re already making a big buzz in the beer scene.”

Yours truly will be hosting a special beer dinner on the night before the festival at the Purple Room in Palm Springs. Join me on Friday, Nov. 21, at 6:30 p.m. for an intimate dinner featuring several Southern California beers. Executive chef Jen Town will be preparing the menu, and together, we’ll pair the food with the perfect beers. Tickets are $55, and capacity is limited to 100 people. Don’t miss out!

Whatever you do, don’t be intimidated if you’re a beer novice.

Volunteers, brewers and other festival attendees will be happy to guide you toward amazing beers with which you may not be familiar.

The craft-beer revolution continues to gain momentum, and festivals like Props and Hops are a perfect way to experiment with new and trending California beers. Who knows? You may just find a new favorite.

Get tickets and more information at www.propsandhopsfestival.com.

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the

FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

Want a Good Deal? Try Either of These Dining Options

By Jimmy Boegle WHAT The Grilled Miso Cod Set WHERE Gyoro Gyoro Izakaya Japonaise, 105 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs HOW MUCH $17.95 CONTACT 760-325-3005; www.otootorestaurant.com WHY The price is right—and the fish is splendid.

Several of the best meals I’ve ever enjoyed have been at Nobu, the extremely high-end Japanese restaurant chain owned by Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa.

Nobu’s house specialty is black cod in miso, a stunningly delicious piece of fish that is at once sweet, savory and velvety. It’s often included in the omakase tasting menus at Nobu ($100 to $200 at the Los Angeles Nobu)—or if you want to order the black cod with miso à la carte, it’s $32.

Pricey? Yes—and Nobu is two hours away, to boot. But the news is good for local foodies who don’t want to leave the valley and/or fork over $32, minimum, for a piece of fish: Gyoro Gyoro, in the heart of Palm Springs, is now offering miso cod.

Is the miso cod at Gyoro Gyoro as delectable as the version that made Nobu Matsuhisa a household name? Not quite … but it’s not that far off, either: This grilled cod is a flavor and texture delight—at almost half the price of Nobu’s version.

But wait … there’s more! The “set” (a fancy bento box) that includes the cod also comes with miso soup, a lovely salad, a side dish and rice. (I spent $3 extra to upgrade that rice into four California roll pieces.) Not bad for $17.95 (plus that $3 upgrade), eh? You can get a larger entrée portion—sans the set, but with veggies and Japanese Satsuma sweet mashed potatoes—for $21.95.

I recommend getting to Gyoro Gyoro a little early and taking advantage of the restaurant’s nice happy hour. Daily from 3 to 6:30 p.m. (or 10 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday), enjoy discounted treats such as a lychee sake-tini ($4.95) or a splendid spicy tuna roll ($5.95).

Add the cocktail, the roll and the miso set together, and you’re still spending less than $32. That’s a great deal.

WHAT Seafood Thursday Dinner at the Potrero Canyon Buffet WHERE Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon HOW MUCH $22.95 with a players’ club card CONTACT 800-252-4499; www.morongocasinoresort.com WHY You can pig out on crab or dessert or shrimp or whatever else.

I grew up in Nevada, a fact I’ve noted in this space before. The more time I’ve spent away from Nevada, the more I’ve become convinced that growing up in a state where casinos are everywhere makes you … well, just a little different.

For example, take buffets—specifically, casino buffets. Some non-Nevadans tend to be a little wary of large buffets, fearing potential disease and mediocre, mass-quantity food.

However, these fears are unwarranted. First of all, I have eaten at casino buffets hundreds of times, and never have I gotten food poisoning from one. Not once. And second of all, great food can be found at many casino buffets— and such is the case at Morongo’s Potrero Canyon Buffet.

We went there for a birthday celebration on a recent Thursday night—which just so happens to be seafood night—and everyone in our large party thoroughly enjoyed the bevy of food on offer. That’s not to say everything was good; among many dozens of dishes both hot and cold, and both sweet and savory, there are bound to be a few clunkers. However, each of us found an item or four that we absolutely reveled in. For one person, it was the crispy fried shrimp (with oodles of cocktail sauce).

For another, it was the unlimited quantity of crab legs.

For me? I was having a sweet-tooth sort of night, so my personal highlight came at the dessert case, where I enjoyed cookies and German chocolate cake and even a miniature lemon-meringue tart.

Yeah, the experience wasn’t so good for my waistline, but it did limited damage to my wallet—and absolutely enthralled my taste buds.

So, go. Don’t be afraid of the casino buffet.

Trust me: I’m a former Nevadan.

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NOVEMBER 2014

FOOD & DRINK

Restaurant NEWS BITES

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By Jimmy Boegle NEW: PHO LAN VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT Pho Lan Vietnamese Restaurant has opened at 330 N. Palm Canyon Drive, in the downtown Palm Springs space occupied until recently by Kimy Shusi.

While we have not yet had a chance to check out Pho Lan, the restaurant’s Facebook page offers some details about the place: The restaurant opened in September, and offers the appetizers, pho dishes and entrées one would expect to find at a Vietnamese joint—at reasonable prices. For example, a large bowl of pho will only you back $8.50.

We’ll offer a more detailed report when we have a chance to try out the restaurant in person. In the meantime, call 760-778-1473, or visit the aforementioned Facebook page for more information.

HACIENDA HOSTS A BENEFIT FOR MEALS ON WHEELS The newish Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club, located at 1555 S. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, will be the location of Playa de los Muertos—a Dia de los Muertos Celebration, at 11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 1.

The event will feature an open sangria bar, tray-passed appetizers, great DJ music poolside, and all sorts of Day of the Dead-themed activities, like sugar-skull face-painting.

Sounds fun, yes? Well, there’s even better news: The event is a benefit for Meals on Wheels Coachella Valley.

“We wanted to honor and capture the color and vibrancy of Dia de los Muertos celebrations and combine it with a beach party like only Palm Springs can offer,” said event coordinator George NasciSinatra in a news release.

Admission to the event is $45. Visit playadelosmuertos.brownpapertickets.com, or call 760-323-5689, ext. 112, for tickets or more info.

CITRON AT THE VICEROY GETS A NEW EXECUTIVE CHEF The Viceroy Palm Springs has hired a French-born chef with impeccable credentials to lead up the hotel’s well-regarded Citron Restaurant.

Patrice Martineau is a native of Champagne, France, who trained at several Michelin-starred restaurants before becoming the No. 2 chef at Daniel Boulud’s eponymous Daniel, in New York City. He also served as the executive chef at London’s Savoy Hotel, and was most recently at the Belmond El Encanto Hotel in Santa Barbara.

“I look forward to adding some international flair to Citron’s menu and sharing my interest in regional California cuisine with Viceroy Palm Springs’ gastronomically minded guests,” said Martineau in what has to be one of the most ho-hum press-release quotes in recent memory.

New menus should have been launched by the time you read this For more information, call 760-320-4117, or visit www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/en/palmsprings.

RESTAURANT MUSICAL CHAIRS IN CATHEDRAL CITY The spot they optimistically call “downtown Cathedral City” will soon be the home of two new restaurants.

Bontá, a Latin-European restaurant, is slated to soon open in the space that used to house Picanha Churrascaria at 68510 Highway 111. Practically next door, in the spot once occupied by Big Mama’s Soul Food, Taqueria Los Arcos is scheduled to open.

Watch this column for details.

Also: Last month in this space, we noted that a new “art bar and live music” venue called Bart Lounge was coming to the valley, perhaps in Cathedral City. Well, a lease has been signed, and Bart Lounge is indeed coming to Cathedral City—specifically, the old Level 2/Elevation/Sidewinders space, at 67555 E Palm Canyon Drive. Watch www.facebook.com/bartlounge for updates.

IN BRIEF Congratulations to Babe’s Bar-B-Que and Brewhouse, located at 71800 Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage.

The valley’s oldest microbrewery took home a silver medal from Denver’s 2014 Great American Beer Festival for Babe’s Belgian Vanilla Blonde Ale. … Dish Creative Cuisine remains on hiatus as its new home at 1107 N. Palm Canyon Drive—next to Ernest Coffee and Bootlegger Tiki—gets constructed. A Facebook-page update from Oct. 20 states that restaurant management is keeping its fingers crossed for a mid-November opening. … Also in downtown Palm Springs: Brandini Toffee just celebrated the grand opening of a store at 132 S. Palm Canyon Drive. Brandini is in the spot formerly occupied by the Red Black Café; last year, the prospective owners of what was to be the Gin and Juice Bar announced they’d be taking over the space, but that obviously never happened.

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NOVEMBER 2014

•• KCRW’s Jeremy Sole Joins DJ Day at ¡Reunión!

•• Sheer Talent: Meet the Dum Dum Girls •• The Blueskye Report •• Lagwagon Celebrates Its First Album in Nine Years •• The Lucky 13; All Night Shoes' FRESH Mix for November www.cvindependent.com/music

DESERT SPIRITUALITY

The Environment That's Shaped and Colored the Music Created Here Has Similarly Affected Author Steve Rieman

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NOVEMBER 2014

MUSIC

THE GREAT UNIFIER

KCRW’s Jeremy Sole Makes a Habit of Joining DJ Day at ¡Reunión! Shows at the Ace

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye he airwaves of Los Angeles’ KCRW reach into the Coachella Valley at 89.3 FM, so you may have heard the work of Jeremy Sole, a delightfully eccentric DJ who plays salsa, disco, jazz, soul and blues.

You may have also heard him at DJ Day’s ¡Reunión! Show, held Thursdays at the Ace Hotel and Swim Club; Sole is a regular guest.

Sole has had an extensive career as a DJ and radio host. He’s performed at Coachella and has been around the world with some big names; in fact, he was the last DJ to open a show for Ray Charles. He’s also worked in the studio with Ms. Lauryn Hill, and has remixed David Bowie, Femi Kuti, Thievery Corporation and many others.

During a recent interview at the Ace just before he took over the mixing board from DJ Day, Sole began with the story of his childhood in Chicago.

“There were no musicians in my family, per se,” Sole said, “but I think from a really early age, my parents realized how much I loved music. My mom would always make a playlist of what she was going to play when she picked me up at school. I’d get in the car, and it would be ultra-corny, like Alice Cooper’s ‘School’s Out.’ It started being really thematic, where every moment of my life had a song to go along with it.”

Inspired by the hip-hop movement in the ’80s, Sole began DJing, in addition to skateboarding and doing graffiti art. He described himself as a “punk” when it came to his home life and school—and he eventually left both for a garden apartment that he shared with several of his friends, which led to him DJing house parties, some of which helped him and his roommates pay the rent.

“We would draw up fliers and go to Kinko’s.

In fact, most of the next 10 years back then was spent at Kinko’s,” Sole said. “When we did those house parties when I was 15 years old, we promoted them to other high schools. We’re talking about ’89 or ’90, when there was a big gang problem in Chicago, and we’re promoting in public schools. Schools are assigned primarily based on where you live, and one school would be one gang, and another school is another gang. We had a room full of people where if I didn’t keep them dancing, they were going to be fighting. It did a beautiful thing to me: I realized that music is a great unifier.”

Sole explained that DJing, to him, involves knowing what to play, how to present it, and being able to inspire a crowd. While I was in the same room with him, I could tell that Sole is good at reading both individuals and crowds.

“I’m a sensitive dude,” Sole said. “I have to

be to tap into those energies around the room.

If multiple people are not on board with my vibe for whatever reason, that’s fine. If there are people who are making fun of me, or they think it’s dumb, I’m picking up on that, too. …

I delineate between being a service DJ and the art-oriented DJ.” Sole eventually got married and moved to Pomona, Calif. He began to throw loft parties that Sole said were attended by “everyone,” including metal heads, punk-rockers and others who don’t often attend dance parties. He also spent a lot of late nights in L.A., which strained his marriage at the time, he said.

His first DJ residency in Los Angeles led to his work with KCRW, an NPR affiliate.

“I was DJing at the Temple Bar in L.A., which was a great club and is now unfortunately gone,” Sole said. “They really did usher in a lot of new and amazing music at the time that has since blown up. Temple Bar opened up a second club nearby, and this one was going to be an all-DJ-based club. They let me pick a night, and I said, ‘How about Fridays?’ They said, ‘Well, we kind of have to book the people who play the hits and pay the bills on Fridays, so how about Thursdays?’ So I did Thursdays. I was blessed by having scenarios where people were coming just for what I was doing. (It turned out) people who played Fridays weren’t just people who played the hits, but big DJs in town—one of which who happened to be Jason Bentley.”

Bentley is now the music director at KCRW. “I didn’t even listen to the radio, and I didn’t know he worked at KCRW. One day, I got a call from Anne Litt at KCRW, and she asked, ‘Have you ever had any urge to be on the radio and do a radio show?’ I said, ‘Honestly, no, none at all. I don’t even listen to the radio—no offense to you or your station.’ She said, ‘I think you’ll find that we’re quite the different kind of radio

Jeremy Sole

station. Nobody tells you what to do. In fact, you’ve already been vetted, and we’ve been watching your career.’

“It took me awhile to realize how special KCRW really is; The New York Times said it’s one of the most popular radio stations in the world.

KCRW is founded on the idea of eclectic radio.

If you’re the hard-rock station, there’s no doubt that people are going to tune into that, but this is for everybody, and everybody might not like everything all the time. So we don’t have to just be eclectic; we have to be constantly eclectic.”

Sole’s eclectic taste, style and talent has led to him doing things he never imagined himself doing, such as performing at Coachella

and touring around the world. However, Sole remains humble and modest—a man who wears his heart and creativity on his sleeve.

“My success and my career is not just that I’m playing onstage, but that I’m playing on stage with ‘that band,’” he said. “That’s what’s big for me, and I can’t believe I can say that.

DJ Day would consider me a friend, peer and equal, but he was a hero to me for so long, so maybe that’s the propulsion that made me realize that I have something to offer, too.

“You’ll always hear me brag that I have the coolest friends in the world; the people I know blow me away constantly. How they chose to surround themselves with me is beyond me.”

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The Blueskye REPORT

NOVEMBER 2014

By Brian Blueskye Season is here! Let’s celebrate with some great events.

Greater Palm Springs Pride takes place Friday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov. 9. There are a ton of related musical performances—many of those taking place at the new festival location in downtown Palm Springs. Get all the details at www.pspride. org.

The Ace Hotel and Swim Club will be celebrating Greater Palm Springs Pride with special events on Friday, Nov. 7, and Saturday, Nov. 8. Offerings include performances and sets by JD Samson, W. Jeremy, Sparber, Amber Valentine, Nark, Chelsea Starr and Victor Rodriguez; Murray Hill is the host. There will also be pop-ups from Wacky Wacko and Peggy Noland.

Admission is free. Ace Hotel and Swim Club, 701 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs; 760325-9900; www.acehotel.com/palmsprings.

The Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club will be having Pride pool parties Friday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov 9. DJs scheduled to perform include Aaron C, All Night Shoes, COLOUR VISION and others. Admission is free. Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club, 1555 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs; 760-7788954; www.haciendacantina.com.

The McCallum Theatre is back in full swing for the season. At 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 2, a group of all-star high school musicians throughout the Coachella Valley will join up for the All Coachella Valley High School Honor Band. Tickets are $10. Patti Austin will be coming through at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 22. The jazz vocalist has had an extensive career and was even a guest artist on Michael

Patti Austin: McCallum Theatre, Nov. 22

Jackson’s Off the Wall. Tickets are $35 to $75.

If you want to enjoy some laughs, the Last Comic Standing Live Tour will be at the McCallum at 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 23. Tickets are $25 to $65. McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert; 760-340-2787; www. mccallumtheatre.com.

Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa has several excellent events taking place. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1, Def Leppard will be performing. If you’ve been continued on Page 36 CVIndependent.com

NOVEMBER 2014

MUSIC

MORE EXPOSURE

The Dum Dum Girls, Heading to Pappy and Harriet’s, Gain Attention and Acclaim With a Li’l Help From … Starbucks?

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By Brian Blueskye he Dum Dum Girls have been receiving critical acclaim and dazzling audiences with a unique low-fi, indie-pop sound since the group’s formation in 2008.

See what all the fuss is about on Saturday, Nov. 15, when the Dum Dum Girls will bring their stage show to Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace The Dum Dum Girls began in Los Angeles as a DIY recording project by frontwoman Dee Dee Penny (aka Kristin Welchez). In 2010, the Dum Dum Girls put out a debut album, I Will Be. It wasn’t long before Sub Pop Records discovered the band and re-released the album, which had initially been released by HoZac Records. Pitchfork gave the album an incredible 8.2/10 rating.

The follow-up album, Only in Dreams, was also a critical success. Too True, released earlier this year, features the hit single “Are You Okay?” which was offered by Starbucks as a free download—exposing the band to a wider audience.

During a recent phone interview from New York, Dee Dee Penny discussed her musical upbringing.

“I grew up in a super-musical household,” Dee Dee said. “I sang a lot as a kid; I played the violin in elementary and middle school. I switched over to choir in high school, and I did choir and studied music while I was in college. I also kind of dabbled with other instruments.”

She said she was a late bloomer when it came to playing the guitar. “It wasn’t until 2008 that I sat down and seriously learned how to play the guitar. I had sort of been flirting with it, very badly, for about 10 years.”

Dee Dee cites one artist who rubbed off on her in a big way.

“I remember when I heard Patti Smith for the first time,” Dee Dee said. “I can’t remember if I was 16 or 17, but for whatever reason—not because I felt like I could do what she was doing—it pierced through that feeling that (playing music) was something I couldn’t do.”

“Are You Okay?” was a song Dee Dee initially wrote for Ronnie Spector, but producer Richard Gottehrer convinced her to keep the song for herself. As a songwriter, Dee Dee Penny is able

Dee Dee Penny

to convey deep emotions, and there is a poetic side to almost all of her songs.

“Oddly enough, I just gave a songwriting workshop,” Dee Dee said. “Prior to my workshop, Bob Mould from Hüsker Dü gave one, and I caught the tail end of it. He was talking about how when he’s writing, it’s called ‘through writing,’ where he just sits down, and it’s a stream of consciousness on top of some sort of pop structure. While I wouldn’t say I do the same thing, it definitely comes from a place that’s a little more visceral and subconscious. I usually have some sort of topic in mind, and I have the chorus line, the chorus melody—and I just let that be the seed.”

Oh, there’s one other element to her songwriting process.

“I get stoned. That’s probably how I get started,” Dee Dee said with a laugh.

Music isn’t the only thing about the Dum Dum Girls that’s drawn attention; the band is also known for the members’ stage attire: They wear revealing sheer tops during live performances. I asked whether she feels there’s a double standard when it comes to male and female performers going nude or wearing revealing clothing.

“I wasn’t motivated by anything other than just feeling like dressing like that,” Dee Dee said. “I felt it was appropriate for the headspace and attitude. It was kind of a phase, but I think I’ve always been a bit of a late bloomer. I think I arrived at a moment where I had a moment of self-awareness I hadn’t had before.”

While she’s penned three critically acclaimed albums, Dee Dee admits she feels a bit of pressure when writing new material.

“I don’t ever stop writing. Sometimes, during the heavy tour scheduling, I won’t write songs for awhile,” Dee Dee said. “It’s impossible to not be aware of expectation, potential criticisms or enthusiasms, but I think it’s ultimately very dangerous to let that be a factor in what it is you’re doing creatively.”

THE DUM DUM GIRLS WILL PERFORM WITH EX COPS AND ROSES AT 9 P.M., SATURDAY, NOV. 15, AT PAPPY AND HARRIET’S PIONEERTOWN PALACE, 53688 PIONEERTOWN ROAD, IN PIONEERTOWN. TICKETS ARE $15. FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 760-365-5956, OR VISIT PAPPYANDHARRIETS.COM.

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DESERT ROCK CHRONICLES Author Steve Rieman’s Debut Novel Explores Spirituality, Friendship and the Power of Music

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BY ROBIN LINN he desert environment that has shaped and colored the music created here has similarly affected High Desert resident and author Steve Rieman—a fact which his new novel, The Searching Three, beautifully illustrates.

Rieman moved to Joshua Tree with his family when he was 5. Pappy and Harriet’s was his home away from home; he remembers sitting on Pappy’s knee as a child.

In his youth, Rieman became a skate rat, listening to punk rock and metal. He was part of the desert subculture that attended generator parties at places like the Nude Bowl, outside of Desert Hot Springs, where bands like Decon, Unsound and Crackpot played. He was there in 1995 when the surrounding hills caught fire.

“Brian Maloney was playing with Herb Lineau, Brant Bjork and Billy Cordell … and an orange glow appeared in the hills right behind them. Within minutes, bands were throwing gear into their cars, and people were running to safety. Charlie Ellis had a Ford Ranger that burnt to a crisp!” he remembers.

Rieman recalls the first time he heard the music of Kyuss.

“I was in a rock house off Sunfair (Road) in Joshua Tree, and they blew me away,” he says.

“Every now and then, you hear a band, and you know they are meant for something great … and Kyuss was that band. When Josh Homme went on to form Queens of the Stone Age, I loved the music.

“It had been awhile since I had checked into the music they were making. Recently, I have loaded six QOTSA albums into my truck’s CD player, and they have been on constant rotation for more than three weeks.

I still haven’t begun to tire of them. Josh is amazing, and when it comes to his vocals, he has no inhibitions. Everything he does is just beautiful.”

Rieman’s first works as a writer were poems, an art form he continues to pursue today.

He has accumulated a collection of poems spanning 20 years, going back to a time when his head was in a very different place. He’s working on publishing a poetry collection, and has enlisted the help of photographer Samantha Schwenck, another child of our desert-rock music scene.

“She is going to create photographic art to go with each poem,” Rieman says. “It will be a beautiful collection of pictures and poems that reflect some of the darker periods of my life, as well as transformations that took place as I made important life changes.”

As a writer, Rieman was greatly influenced by the literature of Carlos Castaneda and the teachings of Yaqui sorcerer Don Juan. As an aspiring novelist, Rieman set out to explore the controversial notion that we are spiritual beings capable of tapping into universal energy—and that when our perception is altered by psychoactive drugs, the secrets of the universe can be made available to us.

“My first passion was poetry. A friend of mine knew a movie producer and told him about me. He suggested that I write a screenplay, which I did. Then I decided to turn it into a novel, based on real-life experiences.

I love the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Oliver Stone’s film The Doors. Who doesn’t love that scene (in which) they are tripping in the sand dunes of the desert? Those stories are relevant, because they are drawn from real life.”

The resulting novel, The Searching Three, focuses on the reunion of three longtime friends who have drifted apart thanks to the

SAMANTHA SCHWENCK

growing demands of adulthood. Brad travels to New Mexico for work—and when he sees the raw desert landscape, he feels its intense energy. He suddenly longs for a spiritual awakening, so Brad contacts his two best friends, Jason and Nick, and talks them into taking a weekend trip to the New Mexico desert.

The main character eventually reveals his connection to the desert’s real music scene.

Through detailed recollections of shows gone by, he celebrates the creative talents and unique venues that have made our desert a landmark. Rieman boldly reveals the paths many of us like-minded “searchers” have embarked upon in secret desert spots, far away from reality. He takes readers on a mindbending adventure, offering a look into the hallucinogenic effects of a peyote-induced trip.

Even without the peyote, the read brings about a feeling of euphoria.

The Searching Three is available on Amazon. com. Expand your mind and open your heart to a beautiful author straight out of our desert.

READ MORE FROM ROBIN LINN—AND VIEW PICTURES FROM SHOWS AT THE NUDE BOWL—AT RMINJTREE.BLOGSPOT.COM.

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NOVEMBER 2014 continued from Page 34

MUSIC

OFF HIATUS

Underground Punk Group Lagwagon Celebrates Its First Album in Nine Years With a Stop at The Date Shed

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By Brian Blueskye

n the 1990s, Lagwagon was the talk of the underground punk scene.

However, the band never attained the mainstream success that contemporaries like Rancid and Green Day did.

Nonetheless, Lagwagon is still around; in fact, the band just released a new album, Hang, and will be appearing at The Date Shed on Friday, Nov. 7.

Lagwagon formed in 1990 in Goleta, just outside of Santa Barbara. The name is a reference to frontman Joey Cape’s mother, who drove a station wagon and was never on time to pick up him and his brother from school.

During a recent phone interview, Cape talked about the relative lack of a punk-rock scene in the Santa Barbara area when he was growing up.

“Things were so different back then,” Cape said. “There were a lot of bands in the ’80s from the Ventura, Santa Barbara and Oxnard area through a scene called nardcore. Mystic Records put out a lot of those bands like Dr. Know and Aggression. … Later, when my band got together … things changed—and punk changed a lot in major cities. It was kind of evolving, and there were a lot of crossover bands. Back then, a band had to get in a van and go on tour to actually be seen. We were never afraid to do that.”

Lagwagon caught the attention of Fat Mike of NOFX, who signed them to his Fat Wreck Chords. In 1992, the band released its first album, Duh, which is still one of Fat Wreck Chords’ most commercially successful albums.

Mainstream record labels began trying to sign Lagwagon, but the group refused to leave Fat Wreck Chords, and remains with the label to this day.

“I felt we weren’t as easily accessible as some of the other bands, like Rancid and Green Day,” Cape said. “I had experienced through bands I was friends with (that) … if something CVIndependent.com

hit, there was this frenzy for anything that sounded like it. I saw so many deals go bad for bands that were really happy and creative; they signed a deal, and their record didn’t hit the market the way the label wanted it to, and the band was stuck.”

Over the years, the band has gone on hiatus several times, and suffered through the death of drummer Derrick Plourde.

“I’ve never had a moment in the history of this band where I’ve believed we’ve broken up,” Cape said. “There are definitely times that the reality of being in a band is like being in a family, and there are times that you just really don’t want to see your family, because they’re disgusting you. You also go through phases where it’s not really exciting. I never believed in the quick fire/breakup things that bands do, because it’s really easy to just take a break.

What’s the point of working hard to get your band to a place (and then) just going, ‘Yeah, we gotta break up’?”

Cape said it wasn’t easy to return to the studio to make Hang, the band’s first full album since 2005.

“Given the amount of time between records, we felt some pressure to knock it out of the park,” Cape said. “This had to be a great record.

That’s part of the reason it took me so long to come up with this batch of songs and go for it. But our band has always been one of those bands where if we’re not ready to record, we just don’t do it.”

What keeps Lagwagon going after almost 25 years?

“As long as we’re in a phase like the one we’re in now, where we love what we’re creating, and we enjoy playing music together, that’s it. It’s a pretty amazing job to have,” he said.

LAGWAGON WILL PERFORM AT 8 P.M., FRIDAY, NOV. 7, AT THE DATE SHED, 50725 MONROE ST., IN INDIO. TICKETS ARE $20.

FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 760-775-6699, OR VISIT WWW.DATESHEDMUSIC.COM.

living under a rock for the past four decades, or you’re just too young to know, Def Leppard is one of the big names of the British wave of heavy metal. The group’s drummer, Rick Allen, only has one arm, which makes Def Leppard the best nine-armed band ever. Tickets are $95 to $185. The reunited Culture Club will be opening its reunion tour at Agua Caliente at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 15. The group, fronted by the infamous Boy George, was a big hit in the ’80s, and the reunion includes all original members. Tickets are $90 to $160. The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-999-1995; www.hotwatercasino.com.

Reba: Fantasy Springs, Nov. 1

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino has a great November schedule. Country-music sensation Reba will be performing at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1. Reba has been in the business for almost 40 years and is a powerhouse in country music. She’s also an actress who is probably best known for her television sitcom on the WB Network. Tickets are $59 to $149.

Howie Mandel will be bringing the funny at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 8. While Mandel is a hugely successful comedian and actor, he’s almost as famous for being a germophobe.

Tickets are $29 to $59. Finally, the great Sheryl Crow will be returning to Fantasy Springs at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 15. Tickets are $49 to $99. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 800-8272946; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Morongo Casino Resort Spa has a couple of events worth noting. LeAnn Rimes will be appearing at 8 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 2. Her record-breaking single 1997 “How Do I Live” was recently the answer to a trivia question at Bella da Ball’s Ace Hotel trivia night. Tickets are $29 and are only available at the Morongo Casino Box Office. Los Lobos will be stopping by with Los Lonely Boys at 9 p.m., Friday, Nov. 7. I had the opportunity to see Los Lobos perform in Riverside back in July, and band put on an amazing show. The members joked with fans who were cheering for them to play “La Bamba”; they said the song was actually performed by Los Lonely Boys. Tickets are $39 to $49. Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-252-4499; www. morongocasinoresort.com.

Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace has great things going on in November—as always. At 9 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 2, J.D. McPherson will be performing. McPherson

Culture Club: Agua Caliente, Nov. 15

performed locally at Stagecoach back in the spring. Tickets are $15. If you’re a fan of both lucha libre (Mexican professional wrestling) and rock ’n’ roll, stop by for Los Straitjackets at 9 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 13. I’ve seen the band twice before—and the shows are crazy fun. Tickets are $15. Now here’s something rather … odd: Macaulay Culkin and his band The Pizza Underground will be performing with Lizzo and Har Mar Superstar at 9 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 18. The Independent tried to interview someone from The Pizza Underground, but it didn’t work out, in part because the band only wanted to talk about pizza. So it’s a little odd that the band is performing in a barbecue restaurant that doesn’t serve pizza. Tickets are $15. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-365-5956; www.pappyandharriets.com.

Speaking of pizza, The Hood Bar and Pizza has a fine November schedule. At 10 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 8, Independent resident DJ All Night Shoes will be hosting his next installment of FRESH Sessions Live. His guests will be Aimlo and COLOUR VISION. Admission is free. At 9 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 15, the Hellions will be throwing a Turbojugend party that will include Monolith and Whiskey and Knives. Turbojugend, the legendary fan club of the Norwegian band Turbonegro, has a chapter in Palm Desert—made up of the Hellions. The Hellions will most likely be bringing in their brothers in denim jackets from Los Angeles, so you don’t want to miss this one. Admission is free. At 9 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 26, Machin’ will offer a special free Thanksgiving Eve performance.

The Hood Bar and Pizza, 74360 Highway 111, Palm Desert; 760-636-5220; www.facebook. com/thehoodbar.

The Date Shed continues to make a comeback after a dormant period. Fortunate Youth will be performing at 9 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1. The Los Angeles reggae group has received accolades for a brilliant stage show.

Tickets are $15 to $20. If that’s not enough reggae for you, San Diego reggae group Tribal Seeds is coming back for another show at The Date Shed at 9 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 22. The crowd at the last show was packed, so get there early. Tickets are $17 to $20. The Date Shed, 50725 Monroe Street, Indio; 760-7756699; www.dateshedmusic.com.

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NOVEMBER 2014

MUSIC

FRESH SESSIONS WITH ALL NIGHT SHOES: NOVEMBER 2014

the

LUCKY 13

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye

NAME JF//Discord, aka Jeremy Ferguson MORE INFO JF//Discord is one of the most unique DJs in the Coachella Valley music scene. Influenced by music in various metal genres, he has a unique house sound that is dark yet brilliantly put together. More at www. facebook.com/JFDiscord1 and soundcloud. com/jfdiscord.

What was the first concert you attended?

(Local band) Blaze in the Sun at Palm Springs Angels Stadium in 1992.

What was the first album you owned?

Def Leppard, Pyromania.

What bands are you listening to right now?

Oh man, all kinds of great metal and underground techno. I’m really liking the new Exodus album Blood In, Blood Out. What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

Hipster indie-rock and trap!

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

I would love to see Death perform if Chuck Schuldiner were still alive. R.I.P., Chuck!

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

None! I don’t have any that I am not proud to say I don’t listen to.

What’s your favorite music venue?

Locally, The Date Shed. Out of town, Sound Nightclub (in Los Angeles), as the sound system in there totally envelopes you with warm, quality bass frequencies.

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

Probably “The Parting” from Katatonia: “In the weak light, I saw you becoming the lie, taking it all for granted. Like freedom, it’s something you’ll never have.”

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What band or artist changed your life?

How? Testament. I really connected with their lyrical messages about environmental issues, and social and political unrest. The music they created was some of the best thrash metal ever made—super-musical and heavy at the same time! Plus, no one sounds like Chuck Billy!

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

James Hetfield from Metallica: “Why did you guys remove the ‘crunch’ from your guitar sound after The Black Album?”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Hmmmmmm, probably “Return to Serenity” from Testament.

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

Souls of Black, Testament.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Demanufacture” from Fear Factory. A great song about the downfall and erosion of society that was written back in (the early-mid 1990s) and still rings true to this day.

NAME Daniel Gililland GROUP Grand Scovell MORE INFO Since winning the Battle of the Bands at The Hood Bar and Pizza in August (I was a judge), San Jacinto’s Grand Scovell has been gathering a following here in the Coachella Valley. Daniel Gililland is the band’s frontman; more at www.facebook.com/ grandscovell.

What was the first concert you attended?

I believe it was The Cadillacs when I was, like, 10.

What was the first album you owned?

It was a best of the ’50s cassette tape with some Ritchie Valens, Big Bopper, Fats Domino and a bunch of other greats on it.

What bands are you listening to right now?

Jonny Two Bags, Face to Face, Gordon Lightfoot and Voodoo Glow Skulls.

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

Dubstep, which sounds like video-game music, and Kanye West, which sounds like something the Army psy-ops guys would have used on

Meet a Unique Local DJ and a Battle-of-the-Bands Winner

Daniel Gililland and Grand Scovell

Manuel Noriega. I mean, it’s seriously, seriously bad, but apparently I’m quite alone in this sentiment.

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

If a time machine were available, then The Beatles at Shea Stadium in ’65, or at the Apple building in ‘69 for the final performance.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Canada’s finest ... Gordon Lightfoot.

What’s your favorite music venue?

I really liked Emo’s in Austin’s Sixth Street District. I saw many of my favorites there.

I don’t think it’s at the same location any more, but at the time, it was not very big.

That underground awesomeness made the experience very personal between the bands and the fans.

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

“Riding on clay wheels ’til the bitter end,” “Riding on Clay Wheels,” Jonny Two Bags.

What band or artist changed your life?

How? I have to say NOFX. I realize it’s a cliché, with me being in a punk band, but it’s true.

They opened my ears not just to punk, but an entirely new version of it—melodies, harmonies, musicianship and stuff I’d never heard before. It was amazing to me.

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

A couple years ago, I caught a Jonny Two Bags’ acoustic set. He played a song that I absolutely loved, and it’s not on his solo release. I would

This month’s mix features some of my favorite remixes—both recent and a bit older.

Remixes take a track and give it new life.

For example, consider the Flashback re-work of Kiesza’s “Hideaway.” The challenge when doing a remix is to maintain the character of the original track while injecting one’s own ideas. Some producers use samples of the original song to create a new version; others will add their own arrangements, using a multitude of instruments. Actually, the word “remix” doesn’t always cut it; a more suitable name in the modern game might actually be “rework,” because the process involves breaking down a track and re-creating it.

This month, I’m hosting “FRESH Sessions LIVE” at The Hood Bar and Pizza in Palm Desert on Saturday, Nov. 8. The show will feature DJ sets from Aimlo, COLOUR VISION, San Diego natives Boys Don’t Disco, and me.

It starts at 10 p.m.

Head to CVIndependent.com to enjoy this month’s mix. As always, enjoy!

• Figgy, “Take You Away” • Vanilla Ace and Thee Cool Cats, “Get Close to Me” • Astronaut, “Rain” (Centron Remix) • Paul Richmond, “Commitment” • Superwalkers, “Judge Me” • Ten Walls, “Walking With Elephants” (COLOUR VISON Remix) • All Night Shoes, “Come Around” • Kim Cesarion, “Undressed” (Oliver Nelson Remix) • Kiesza, “Hideaway” (Flashback Remix) • Bordertown x EZLV featuring Freya, “Things Should Go” • Toyboy and Robin featuring Nikki Cislyn, “Back and Forth” • Mr. Gonzo, “Heart” • D.V.S*, “Heartmaps”

ask him what the name of the song is, and if he has any plans to release it.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

“Taps,” because I’m a soldier.

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

The Beatles, Revolver.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Next Stop, Pottersville.” And if you know how to find it without Google ... well, you’re a true fan!

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 39

NOVEMBER 2014

COMICS & JONESIN’CROSSWORD

Across 1 Tree with needles 5 Bangladesh’s capital 10 Slanted type of type: abbr.

14 The Dukes of Hazzard deputy 15 ___ alphabet 16 Got in the pool, maybe 17 Prefix with “mom” 18 Foot holder 19 Andrews of sportscasting 20 You’re part of it, along with being in the Class Mammalia 23 Spike who directed Crooklyn 24 Stadium cheer 25 Cream of the crop 27 Abbr. on a cornerstone 29 Part of a crab 32 Part of a race 33 Jolly ___ 36 Additionally 37 You’re living in it, geologically 39 Some resorts 41 Armed agent 42 Place for cremains 43 Used to be 44 Classifies 48 Game with cards and callers 50 The shortest month?

52 Symbol of strength 53 You live in it, physically

58 San Lucas 59 Kind of duck 60 Take ___ (go swimming) 61 Egyptian, probably 62 Love so much 63 Not yours 64 Lovett who loved Julia Roberts 65 Steppenwolf author 66 Gets on one’s knees Down 1 Magazine with a famous crossword 2 4th and ___ 3 Probably soon 4 Class for intl. students 5 Unnecessary hassle 6 Suspicion 7 Cairo cross 8 About 2.2 pounds, for short 9 Computer brand 10 Perfect 11 Burrito outside 12 Takes to the skies 13 Spy novelist Deighton 21 Citified 22 “Do the ___” 26 Driving force 28 War god 29 Doing the dishes, say

30 Niihau necklaces 31 Missouri structure 34 One end of the Iditarod race 35 Nicholas II, e.g.

36 Woody Guthrie’s kid 37 He’d love to have you over for dinner 38 Class that’s simple to pass 39 Teacher for the day 40 ___ colors 43 Taipei pan 45 Tour worker 46 Difficult 47 Talks to online 49 Boston paper 50 Fort ___, Florida 51 See it the same way 54 “Uh-huh” 55 Too far to the left or right, as a field goal attempt 56 Fusses 57 Baby bleater 58 First name in Orioles history ©2014 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@ jonesincrosswords.com) Find the answers in the “about” section of CVIndependent.com!

CVIndependent.com

40 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

NOVEMBER 2014

Deals available in the Independent Market as of November 1: Get a $25 gift certificate to Coachella Valley Brewing Co. for $12.50—a savings of 50 percent!

Get a $25 gift certificate to La Quinta Brewing Co. Microbrewery and Taproom for $12.50—a savings of 50 percent!

Get admission to the Dia de los Muertos USA festival in Coachella on Nov. 1 and 2 for half-price!

Get a $40 gift certificate to the Village Pub for $20, or a $20 gift certificate for $10—a savings of 50 percent!

Get a $40 gift certificate to Rio Azul Mexican Bar and Grill for $20, or a $20 gift certificate for $10—a savings of 50 percent!

Shop at CVIndependent.com.

Look for more deals to be added during the month!

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

CVIndependent.com