Coachella Valley Independent October 2014

VOL.2 | ISSUE 10

A HANDICAPPED SYSTEM

Local Small Businesses Say Unscrupulous Attorneys Are Profiting From the Americans With Disabilities Act—at Their Expense

By Brian Blueskye PAGE 13

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OCTOBER 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

Some thoughts percolating through my head this month: • It was two years ago this month that CVIndependent.com first went live to the world. And it was one year ago this month that the Coachella Valley Independent—after two quarterly print editions—became the monthly print publication that it is today.

So, yeah, October’s kind of an important month for us.

We debated having a big anniversary party, kind of like we did for last year’s print-edition launch and one-year online anniversary, but we decided to hold off and put all of our efforts into creating a kick-ass Best of Coachella Valley party, coming your way most likely in early December. Keep your eye open for more details about that.

By the way, have you voted in the Best of Coachella Valley yet? Round One of voting ends Oct. 3, and the Final Round begins Oct. 8. So, go vote now at CVIndependent.com!

• While the Independent is holding off on an anniversary party, we’re sponsoring All Night Shoes—aka Alex Harrington—as he celebrates the one-year anniversary of his FRESH Sessions mixes for CVIndependent. com. Join us at the party: It’s going down at the Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club at 10 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11. DJ Day and COLOUR VISION will be joining All Night Shoes for one hell of a dance party—and there’s no cover. See ya there!

• Speaking of anniversaries: An organization that’s quite important to me and the Independent is celebrating 10 years of existence this month.

Ever since I moved here, I’ve been a part of the Palm Springs Gay Softball League.

I’ve played on and helped coach the team now known as The Green Team for almost two years—and I’ve had the time of my life while doing so. (The Independent sponsors The Green Team, too.)

The league will be celebrating the big anniversary at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 5, at Demuth Park, on Mesquite Drive just east of El Cielo Road, in Palm Springs. Come and join in the celebration—especially if you are or were once part of the league, or if you want to know more about it. (By the way, you don’t need to be gay, lesbian or bisexual to play in the league; you just need to be a fun person.)

If you can’t make it on Oct. 5, the league plays games on most Sundays between October and May (with a holiday break in January and much of February) at Demuth Park, so come on down.

Congratulations to everyone in the league! Get more information at psgsl.org.

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

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.

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—Jimmy Boegle, jboegle@cvindependent.com

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 3

OCTOBER 2014

OPINION

KNOW YOUR

NEIGHBORS

There’s Nothing ‘Domestic’ About Domestic Violence

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

By Anita Rufus he new development in Orange County featured lovely homes, wide streets and lots of families. Block parties were common in the neighborhood, and everyone seemed to know everyone else.

The couple on the corner socialized—always as a couple. In fact, the wife didn’t even drive: Her husband took her to the market. They seemed inseparable and always appeared happy. The other wives were jealous. “My husband would never go to the market with me,” they would say, enviously.

It wasn’t until much later that we found out he was beating the crap out of her behind their lovely drapes. Perhaps that explained why she never socialized by herself and often would not be seen for several days at a time.

With the recent high-profile stories of “domestic” abuse—named as if were somehow tamer than other violence—I’ve been thinking about that woman, and how isolated she must have felt. In those days, back in the 1960s, nobody talked openly about what happened behind closed doors. In those days, it wasn’t even considered possible that a man could be guilty of raping his wife. After all, they were married.

My next experience of such abuse was the young couple who lived downstairs. We used to hear them fight through the thin walls of the apartment complex. It got so loud and scary several times that we called the police. In those days, the early 1970s, police would show up, talk to the people involved, try to settle the guy down, and leave. Police used to tell me such calls were often the most dangerous, because they were never sure what might happen. If they were scared, think about how the women felt.

It never occurred to me that what had gone on in my own home while I was young could be classified as domestic abuse. I remember when my father would explode in anger when my mother broke the yolks while making his breakfast eggs. I remember the times my mom and I were laughing about something that happened to me at school that day—but when we heard his car drive up, we would look around the house to make sure nothing obvious would set him off.

My father never raised a hand to my mom, although he did once explode and start hitting me. I am not sure to this day why it happened, but I think it was because my parents had been discussing money issues—and I, not having any idea what was going on, walked into the

kitchen to ask for some money for something I needed for school.

“I can’t even afford new shoes,” my father said.

“I’ve never kept you from buying shoes,” I replied.

He exploded and came after me, throwing me across the room and hitting me. I thought he might kill me—he was so enraged. My mom broke it up, and he left the house for several days. When he returned, I asked my mom, “Why did you let him come back?” She said, “I hope someday, someone will love you as much as your father loves me.”

All I could think was, “I hope not!”

At my 25th high school reunion, some friends and I were sitting around reminiscing about those long-ago days. “You know why we never came over to your house very often,” one said to me. “Your dad was so abusive.” I was shocked. I had never put that label on what happened in my family.

Despite my years in the women’s movement—including marching to raise consciousness about violence against women—I, too, ended up in a relationship that included abusive behavior. I finally left after “only” one hit, but the verbal invectives and threat that he could blow up at any time permeated our household. I didn’t leave soon enough.

People ask, “Why doesn’t she just leave?

Why did she stay?”

The reasons are as varied as the individual situations. It’s because you know him and love him, and he’s always sorry and promises it won’t happen again. It’s because you can’t

support yourself and your children and have nowhere to go. Often, it’s because you’ve been deliberately isolated from family and friends, totally dependent on the man, like the woman who lived in the house on the corner.

It may be because you grew up in a household, like mine, where high drama seemed to be a “normal” part of being married.

Or it can be because you don’t want the public embarrassment, especially if the man is in a prominent position. Maybe it’s just because you don’t feel as if the community will support you in leaving. After all, you marry “for better or for worse,” or you come from a family where divorce is considered unthinkable. Somehow, it’s your fault it turned out that way—if only you hadn’t said or done whatever it was you knew might set him off.

Fran Ferguson was executive director of Shelter From the Storm for about five years in the early 1990s, shortly after our local shelter for battered women opened. “I’m shocked,” she says, “that it has continued to be a commonplace part of our world. What has really changed after all these years?”

For one thing, laws have changed, largely as a result of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which established, among other things, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which receives more than 22,000 calls each month; increased prosecution and sentences; training to raise awareness on these issues for

police officers and judges; requirements that protection orders be recognized and enforced; and permission for warrantless arrests if a responding officer finds probable cause.

The act was reauthorized this year. In a presidential proclamation, President Obama said, “This law enshrined a simple promise: Every American should be able to pursue her or his own measure of happiness free from the fear of harm.” All women, and men, should be as protected from the threat of violence in their own homes and families as on the street.

Violence can happen in same-sex relationships, too.

Men can make a big difference by making it not acceptable for any man to behave in this way. Women can support their friends and neighbors, particularly by never finding fault with the victim. Whether you yell or spit at someone—or break yolks—that is no excuse for a violent reaction, especially from someone stronger in whom you have put your trust.

We need to tell our stories, the way prominent people including Meredith Viera have done recently. Statistics indicate that in the United States, a woman is assaulted or beaten every 9 seconds. This violence is the leading cause of injury to women—more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.

We need to call it what it is: There’s nothing “domestic” about it.

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OCTOBER 2014

OPINION

ASK A MEXICAN!

!

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

Why Are Mexican Beers So Bland?

By Gustavo Arellano EAR MEXICAN: Your column is typically about culture, society, love, life and death. But I want to ask about something more important—beer.

Why is Mexican beer bland? Most of the beer in Mexico is a variant of a light European lager. Sure, not all beers are that way, but why doesn’t the beer follow the vibrant foods of Mexico? Is beer just a liquid to wash down interesting food—a palate-cleaner, like a flavored water? Is beer a gateway to stronger drinks like mezcal?

Cerveza Sammy DEAR GABACHO: The Mexican has never favored beer, probably because he drank too much of it as a 4-year old y me dió asco. But I know enough to tell usted that nearly all the major Mexican beer brands are lagers because of the German, Czech and Austrian migrants who founded brands such as Tecate, Negra Modelo and Bohemia (what—you thought it was named after the last Aztec emperor?).

I also know enough to turn an aficionado like you on to Mexico’s burgeoning microbrewery scene in Baja California, where you can find stouts, IPAs and red ales worthy of Pliny the Younger.

Finally, my cerveza knowledge is such that I know onceregional Mexican brands are now invading el Norte to capture gabacho dollars—Victoria started a mass ad campaign some years back, and Montejo (a golden lager most popular in Yucatán) just made its American debut. But what do I know?

I’m just a humble mescal borracho, after all.

DEAR MEXICAN: A very close friend of mine is supposed to become a U.S. citizen. He was brought here by his parents when he was 9 and has been illegal since then.

When the laws changed, he went through a lot of hoops, and it really didn’t look good for a long while—especially since he was already 30. But somehow, through petitions and an appeal, he has been told he will become a U.S. citizen. That being said, he is still waiting for the day, still working in a dodgy manner, and still not driving—his American wife always drives.

There’s a pallor of emasculation about not being a citizen.

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He feels second-rate—something I know not because he tells us, but because his wife and I are very close. He takes out his anger and resentment on his wife and marriage, and it’s caused immense stress.

Are there counselors specifically for people who are dealing with the difficulty of becoming legal? I love this guy so much— he’s such a close friend to our family. I’ve never met a harder worker and a more curious soul.

Good Gabacha Friend DEAR GABACHA: There are many support networks for undocumented folks, whether they’re younger DREAMers, or people who just missed the cutoff point for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Obama administration memorandum that effectively put millions of people like your friend in a waiting game. And now with Obummer stating there’s no chance of any immigration reform until after the November elections, your friend and so many others will continue to wait in frustration—but tell your amigo he should feel no shame, and to keep the faith.

Have him check out dreamersadrift.com, where my former producer, renowned artist Julio Salgado, and others tackle on the problem of what it means to grow up in this country without papers and a government de puros pendejos.

DEAR MEXICAN: I am a health-researcher. I work with large datasets, including data on births in California. Approximately half of births in California are to mothers who have self-

identified their race as “white” and their ethnicity as “Hispanic,” and as we know, the majority of Latinos in California have ancestry from Mexico.

Why do so few Latinos identify their race as either Native American or multiracial? We know from genetic studies that many Mexicans have a significant proportion of Native American ancestry.

An Angelena DEAR GABACHA: It’s no real surprise that Mexis would either not mark any other box to denote their raza, or just mark “white.” As you most likely know, no one in Mexico wants to identify as Indian, because they’re at the bottom of the race chain.

That stigma carries over to the United States: Figures from the 2010 U.S. Census showed that about 175,000 people identified as “Mexican-American Indian,” which would make this group the fourth-largest Native American tribe in the United Unidos. (Only Cherokee, Choctaw, and Navajo would be bigger.) But consider that in “Indigenous Oaxacan Communities in California: An Overview,” a 2007 paper by Lisa Kresge for the California Institute for Rural Studies, the estimated population for this group alone was about 350,000—and that’s just for the Golden State, and doesn’t include the many Purépecha, Yaquis, Otomis, Mayas, Totonacs and other Mexican indigenous groups in Cali.

Until there’s an incentive for Mexicans to identify as Indian, you’re not going to find many Mexicans who identify as indio—sad, but verdad.

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

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OCTOBER 2014

OPINION THE POTTED DESERT GARDEN Your Patio and Landscape May Be Crying for Trees—Yes, in Pots!

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

By MARYLEE PANGMAN lank spaces and easy care are great reasons to consider getting some potted trees, or plants pruned into tree forms. Once potted, the proper trees need only consistent water, fertilizer and occasional pruning to thrive in your desert garden.

Potted trees bring a vertical element to a patio corner or wall, creating a focal point at a spot in your landscape—or perhaps providing a screen to unsightly elements. They can also offer a background to pots with flowers—and possible shade. Finally, potted trees offer a sense of permanence in your garden, especially during our long summer months.

You will want to choose trees that stay small or are slow-growing. Many tree varieties do not grow to full size when their roots are constricted in a container. Most trees will do best in larger containers, of course.

Look for trees that are evergreen so they maintain their contribution to your landscape or patio all year long. Some trees bring additional benefits—seasonal blooms, berries or even fruit! In the low desert areas where

winter temperatures rarely hit freezing, many trees that show frost damage in other warm climates will excel year-round.

If you live in an area that does experience colder winter temperatures, you can cover the plants or move containers to a protected area during freezes and near-freezes. Of course, you’ll want to use pots that fit on rollers or dollies.

Citrus trees best suited for pots • Improved Meyer lemon • Mexican lime • Bearss lime • Kumquats (my personal favorite is Meiwa) • Tangelos • Clementines Conifers • Dwarf Alberta spruce • Fern pine • Juniper • Yew pine

Aralia palm.

Palms • Canary Island date palm • Mediterranean fan palm • Phoenix roebelenii

Phoenix roebelenii.

Purple potato bush.

• Pygmy date palm • Pindo palm • Sago palm (actually a cycad; poisonous to some pets) • Windmill palm

be covered or brought inside.

• Aralia palm • Arborea • Dracaena • Ficus • Fig

Landscape plants that will do well in pots • Acacia (many varieties) • Bamboo • Bottlebrush • Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) • Crepe myrtle • Oleander (poisonous to many pets—and therefore critter-resistant) • Pineapple guava • Texas mountain laurel Succulents • Aloe in tree form • Elephant’s food • Madagascar palm • Pencil cactus (sap is toxic) • Ponytail palms • Spanish dagger (green and variegated) • Yucca “Houseplants” I put this in quotes, because houseplants are really tropical plants that people grow inside when living in climates with a true winter.

However, in low desert communities where winter temps rarely get below freezing, most plants can live-year round on a protected patio.

If an unusually cold spell arises, the plants can

Standards Shrubs that have been formed to look and act like trees are called standards. Their lower branches are removed to form a trunk. If you want to try forming one on your own, look for a shrub with a single strong center stem.

• Boxwood • Gardenia • Hibiscus • Mexican bird of paradise (Caesalpinia Mexicana) • Myrtles • Roses • Purple potato bush • Yellow bells • Duranta family plants (like Tecoma stans; skyflower) • Pyracantha 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.

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OCTOBER 2014

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 7

OCTOBER 2014

NEWS

WORRISOME WATERS

When the Rains Come, Some East Valley Communities Get Flooded—and There’s No Help Coming Anytime Soon

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Brittny Mejia hile a storm-water master plan exists for some undeveloped areas of Coachella Valley, residents will continue to suffer from the consequences of inadequate storm-water infrastructure for years to come, due to a lack of funding Portions of the east valley learned this lesson the hard way on Monday, Sept. 8, when storms— including the remnants of Hurricane Norbert—flooded portions of Mecca, Thermal and other communities.

In many of the unincorporated communities, storm-water systems have yet to be installed, said Mark Johnson, director of engineering for the Coachella Valley Water District.

Mecca and North Shore, for example, are both subject to flooding, even though the master plan for the areas identifies what is needed to provide necessary flood protection. Needed flood control systems would be designed and constructed in the future in accordance with master planning for the area, Johnson said.

“I think the (residents of) unincorporated areas are aware of the fact that they don’t have regional storm-water protection, and hopefully, their homes are built above the 100-year storm levels,” Johnson said. “Until regional flood protection comes for these unincorporated areas, they’re really subject their local environment.”

Mecca and North Shore do receive some flood protection from the East Side Detention Dike. However, the dike is not recognized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a flood-control facility to provide regional flood protection, according to Johnson. The district plans to get the dike certified in the future, he added.

The Coachella Valley Water District has five master-plans projects: North Cathedral City, Thousand Palms, North Indio,

A truck drives through standing water on Avenue 69 in Thermal, days after the Sept. 8 storm flooded portions of the East Valley community.

BRITTNY MEJIA

Mecca/North Shore and the Oasis area. However, the district doesn’t have the funding to complete the plans; the total cost is estimated to be more than $1 billion, Johnson said.

Therefore, except for a few select projects, the current infrastructure is expected to remain relatively unchanged, and future projects will need to be funded through the water district and/or developer projects, Johnson said.

Johnson said reviews are done to ensure homes constructed in unincorporated areas are located above flooding areas, he said.

Some of the issues with flooding and water buildup are due to homes being built without a permit, and the fact that some were built before permits were required, according to Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit.

“There was no requirement or planning or retention basin put in place on those properties,” Benoit said. “You can’t put people out on the streets, but you can’t force them to improve it now. It’s unfortunate in some cases, but there’s not a lot the county can do, particularly where housing has been developed without proper engineering.”

Margarita Gamez, a Thermal resident, said she sees issues arise whenever there is heavy rain or flooding. She said kids are sometimes unable to make it to school because of the water, and no one comes to drain the puddles.

“They need to make larger and deeper channels,” said Gamez, who has lived in Thermal for 20 years. “It rains very little here, but when it rains in Indio, all the water comes here.”

Gamez said she has voiced her concerns to Pueblo Unido Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to provide better housing, infrastructure and economic-development opportunities in the eastern Coachella Valley.

Organization members have recommended that the county install adequate storm systems in order to prevent flooding, said Sergio Carranza, executive director of the organization.

“A very good efficient storm-water system can be implemented even if you don’t have the infrastructure you have in a city,” Carranza said. “It’s becoming very alarming.

Those are remote areas, and very few people pay attention to them.”

Carranza said the county needs to find a way to develop storm-water systems, especially along Pierce Street, where Gamez lives, which he believes is one of the most flood-prone areas. The area from Avenue 66 going south all the way to Avenue 81 is particularly prone to flooding, he said.

Samuel Castro, a Thermal resident of nearly 33 years, also lives along Pierce and said when there are storms, cars are unable to pass because of the flooding. He said if there were an emergency, an ambulance wouldn’t be able to reach residents.

“There are a lot of families here,” Castro said. “When storms hit, it gets really ugly, and the streets flood. I would like to see them fix the channels here.”

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OCTOBER 2014

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 9

OCTOBER 2014

NEWS

CLEAR DIFFERENCES

The Mayor of Coachella Battles a Political Newcomer to Replace V. Manuel Perez in the State Assembly

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Kevin Fitzgerald fter the November election, California Assembly District 56 will have a new representative, because incumbent Democrat V. Manuel Perez has reached his term limit.

That new representative will be either current Coachella Mayor Eduardo Garcia, a Democrat, or Republican Charles Bennett Jr. The heavily Democratic-leaning district covers much of the north and east portions of the Coachella Valley, including parts of Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, Indio, Coachella, Thousand Palms, Bermuda Dunes, Thermal and Mecca.

Bennett is a self-proclaimed political neophyte.

“This is the first anything I’ve run for,” said Bennett.

That’s not the case with Garcia.

“It’s been an ongoing process that goes back to 2004, when I ran for (Coachella City) Council. Manny (Perez) ran for the school district. We shared a vision that if we set good groundwork and assisted in electing good, quality candidates to these organizational bodies, then we could build toward a higher goal—and back then, that was the California State Assembly. Then in 2006, I ran to become the first (elected) mayor of Coachella. … I’ve been in office in Coachella city government for a total of 10 years. Fast forward, and here we are today.”

What motivated Bennett to jump into politics?

“I do security and public-safety consulting and advising,” he said. “A year and a half ago, I joined the Indio Chamber of Commerce.

As I started going to events and meeting more people currently elected, or people running, I started seeing more of the political end of things, and what people were doing, and weren’t doing. Then I found who my opponent was. You know, he’s a career politician, and he wanted to move up in politics and take over the district. With his background (on) the City Council, (the district) was just going to keep going in the same direction—or down even further. So I decided to go ahead and jump in.”

The candidates have differing perspectives on the challenges facing the 56th District.

“The most important issue right now is the economy and jobs, especially in this district, because this district has the highest unemployment rate of all the districts in the state,” Bennett said.

Bennett’s correct: As of August, the unemployment rate in the district was a state-worst 16.3 percent, compared to 7.4

percent for the entire state, according to the California Center for Jobs and the Economy.

Garcia’s perspective on these numbers is different: “A couple of years ago, the unemployment rate in this district was close to 20 percent, and we’ve dropped that down … (with) a significant decrease, although still not where we need to be,” he said.

Garcia is also correct: District 56 unemployment in July 2011 was actually 23.2 percent, according to the California Center for Jobs and the Economy.

Bennett said burdensome government intrusion was harming the business climate in the area.

“We have fewer businesses wanting to come here, while some are unable to expand, or some are just leaving,” he said. “I’ve talked to business owners who have been here 15 to 20 years who told me they’re just so sick of all the regulation, the taxes and just red-tape for everything, that they’re waiting for the outcome of this election to decide if they’re leaving the state or not.

“We have to work on lowering our tax rates, and pulling back on environmental regulation and permitting requirements. If we can improve those conditions, we can start drawing businesses back to California.”

Not surprisingly, Garcia has a much more positive view of business development in the district.

“We’ve been able to build an infrastructure worth $150 million to $160 million in our city alone over the course of the last six years,” said Garcia about Coachella. “We’ve been able to beautify the city and bring some national brand businesses to the city, like Big 5. There’s a new grocery market on the corner of 48th Avenue and Jackson Street that has a couple of hundred employees. We brought in

Charles Bennett Jr.

some medical services, which was at the top of our economic-development priorities (list).

We’ve targeted these various industries and tried to facilitate this growth process at City Hall by cutting red tape and making sure they can get in and get out and start delivering services.”

What makes Bennett think he’s the best man to represent the district?

“I’m a leader,” Bennett said. “I’m not a politician, OK? Politics and career politicians have gotten us into the condition that we are now, both in the state and in this district.

We need somebody who’s not afraid to bring forth new ideas, and to fight for things, politics aside.

“The time for change is now. It’s time to end politics and career politicians. Let these career politicians go get a real job in the economy that they’ve created. It’s time for

Eduardo Garcia

leadership, and it’s time for the Democrats to go.”

Garcia answers the same question this way: “I believe I’m the best candidate based on my accomplishments and my connection to this district. As a Democrat, I recognize that this region (the Coachella Valley as a whole) is, by majority, Republican. I’ve been working with my elected Republican officials as colleagues for eight years, and I want to build on that.

Although I am the Democrat running for this position, the issues that are important to the Coachella Valley are not partisan issues. From a pragmatic standpoint, having someone like me in Sacramento from the party that’s going to be able to get things done is extremely important. I think I’m in a better position to deliver for this entire region.”

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OCTOBER 2014

NEWS

OCTOBER ASTRONOMY Use This Month’s Two Eclipses to Learn a Little About the Moon’s Movements WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

by Robert Victor his month’s highlights include a total lunar eclipse in the predawn hours of Wednesday, Oct. 8, and a partial solar eclipse on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 23.

Visit CVIndependent.com for tips on how to observe them.

The two eclipses make October a good month to follow the moon through an entire cycle of phases and observe its changing visibility in day and night skies.

1. Observe the moon in early evening, about one hour after sunset.

During the two-week periods Sept. 26-Oct. 8 and Oct. 25-Nov. 7, the moon changes from a thin crescent low in the southwestern sky, and moves through first quarter phase. By the final date of each set, Oct. 8 and Nov. 7, the moon will have just passed through full phase and will rise north of east, in waning gibbous phase—a little less than full—within an hour after sunset.

Our evening twilight all-sky chart depicts the sky at dusk (mid-twilight), when the sun is 9 degrees below the horizon, about 40 minutes after sunset at this time of year. Those plotted on our evening chart are the first to appear as twilight fades after sunset. October’s brightest stars at dusk are Arcturus in the west, and Vega nearly overhead. Also high in the sky are Altair and Deneb, completing the Summer Triangle with Vega. Mars lingers in the southwest all month, while Antares, just 4 degrees from Mars on Oct. 1, sinks into the southwest as the month progresses. Saturn, on its way to conjunction beyond the sun in mid-November, sinks into the west-southwest.

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Fomalhaut, mouth of the Southern Fish, climbs into the southeast.

On Oct. 25, use binoculars to catch Saturn within 5 degrees to the lower right of the thin crescent moon, and Antares 8 degrees to the lower left of the moon on the next evening.

On Oct. 27 and 28, find Mars 9 degrees to the left of the moon on the first evening, and about the same distance to its lower right on the next.

2. Watch the moonrise each day when it occurs between sunset and 10 p.m.

In October 2014, this happens Oct. 8-12.

On Oct. 8, the moon rises just after sunset.

(The full moon and the total lunar eclipse will have occurred earlier on the same date, before sunrise.) Thereafter, the moon rises later each evening. Pick a spot with a good view of the eastern horizon, and enjoy the show.

Note the color of the rising moon, and—if you can observe from the same location each evening—note the time and the place along your horizon panorama where the moon rises.

3. Look for the moon each morning, about one hour before sunrise.

With daylight saving time still in effect in October, this shouldn’t be too much to ask.

The dates this month 2014 are Oct. 8 (soon after the lunar eclipse has ended in California) through Oct. 22.

During these 15 mornings, the waning moon changes from full, low in the west on Oct. 8, and moves through last quarter phase, half full and 90 degrees west of the sun, on Oct. 15, to a thin crescent old moon, just risen within 10 degrees south of east, on Oct. 22.

While you’re out, use our morning twilight

Morning visibility map at mid-twilight.

ROBERT D. MILLER

Evening visibility map at mid-twilight.

ROBERT D. MILLER

all-sky chart to find these bright objects in morning twilight: Jupiter (magnitude -2); Sirius (-1.5); and Canopus (-0.7), very low in the south for Southern Californians. Mercury ranks next after it brightens past magnitude 0 on Oct. 28; Arcturus (mag 0.0), after it emerges late in month; and Capella (0.1).

As for morning planets: Jupiter climbs very high through the southeastern sky. One week after passing inferior conjunction on Oct. 16, nearly between Earth and the sun, backlit Mercury emerges south of east as a faint +1.5 magnitude object on Oct. 23, and brightens rapidly to magnitude -0.6 by month’s end.

As for morning stars: The huge Winter Hexagon reaches its highest position in morning twilight this month. In clockwise order, its stars are Sirius, Procyon, Pollux (and Castor, not quite bright enough to be plotted), Capella, Aldebaran and Rigel.

Betelgeuse is inside the figure, and bright Jupiter and faint Regulus pursue the hexagon across the sky. Arcturus, Mercury and Spica, in that order, appear above the eastern horizon in late October.

An hour before sunup, skies are dark enough to allow viewers to follow the moon’s changing place against background stars. On Oct. 11, the moon is 8 degrees south (to the lower left) of the Pleiades cluster, and on the 12th, just 1 to 2 degrees above Aldebaran, eye of Taurus.

On Oct. 13, the waning gibbous moon has moved 14 degrees east of Aldebaran and stands 12 degrees to the upper right of Betelgeuse, Orion’s shoulder.

On Oct. 15, the nearly last quarter moon— just more than half full and just more than 90 degrees from the sun—stands nearly equidistant from Procyon, the “Little Dog” star, and Pollux, the brighter of the “Twin” stars of Gemini. On the 17th, the crescent moon stands 7 to 8 degrees to the upper right of Jupiter.

On Oct. 18, the moon, a crescent onequarter full, stands 8 to 9 degrees to the lower right of Jupiter and 6 to 7 degrees to the lower right of Regulus, heart of Leo, the Lion. On the next morning, the moon is 8 to 9 degrees below Regulus.

Finally, on the morning on Oct. 22, the old moon, less than 2 percent full, is just 2 degrees up an hour before sunrise, and 8 degrees south of due east. A partial solar eclipse occurs on the afternoon of the next day, Thursday, Oct. 23.

4. Observe moon in the morning.

At 9 a.m., follow the moon daily from Oct. 11 (88 percent full, low in the west to westnorthwest), through last quarter phase on Oct. 15, just over half full and more than halfway up to overhead in the west-southwest. Your last easy morning daytime view at that hour may occur on Oct. 20, when the moon will be a 10 percent crescent located 37 degrees to the upper right of the sun.

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.

OCTOBER 2014

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NEWS

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

SNAPSHOT

Images From September in the Coachella Valley and High Desert

The Palm Springs Art Museum welcomed third-grade students from Cathedral City’s Agua Caliente Elementary School for a tour and art lesson on Thursday, Sept. 18—the first such visit by students to the museum this school year. The lesson focused on design based upon the Links: Australian Glass and the Pacific Northwest exhibition, which opens Saturday, Oct. 18. The museum works with all elementary schools in the Palm Springs Unified School District as part of the “Art Within Reach” Program. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM

The 10th Annual Campout with Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace commenced on Thursday, Sept. 11, and ran through Saturday, Sept. 13. During the weekend, a theme of “punk vs. new wave” emerged; appropriately, Johnny Hickman of Cracker was at one point decked out in a costume resembling Adam Ant’s attire. PHOTO BY GUILLERMO PRIETO/ IROCKPHOTOS.NET

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Dozens of supporters of Equality California showed up at Jeffrey Norman’s Rancho Mirage home on Sunday, Sept. 14, for the Palm Springs Equality Awards Kickoff Party. The event served as a preview of the Equality California 2014 Equality Awards Gala, taking place at the Rivera Palm Springs on Saturday, Oct. 18. Rick Zbur, the new executive director of Equality California, emphasized the continuing importance of the organization in a post-marriage-equality California. For more information on the Equality Awards Gala, visit eqcaawards.org/palm-springs-equality-awards. PHOTOS BY JIMMY BOEGLE

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OCTOBER 2014

Handicapped System

Local Small Businesses Say Unscrupulous Attorneys Are Profiting From the Americans With Disabilities Act—at Their Expense

T

HE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT of 1990 is landmark legislation that prevents discrimination on the basis of disability and requires public accommodations for the disabled.

However, the act includes loopholes and flaws, as is the case with many good laws.

In most states, the Americans With Disabilities Act allows people to file a lawsuit against a business that does not meet disability regulations; however, the only result is that the business must remedy the violation(s).

That’s not the case in California. Due to the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, enacted in 1959, those with disabilities can file lawsuits and receive monetary damages. According to the California Bar Association, ADA lawsuits in the state represent nearly half of the ADA litigation nationwide.

In Palm Springs, it appears that a couple of individuals and their attorneys are taking advantage of these facts.

A woman by the name of Diane Cross, represented by San Diego attorney David Wakefield, has recently filed various ADA lawsuits in the Coachella Valley—mostly against small hoteliers in Palm Springs, although she is also suing Airport Quick Car Wash in Palm Springs, and Villa Bakery in Cathedral City.

Another man, Chris Langer, represented by another San Diego attorney, Mark Potter, is also filing local ADA lawsuits.

John-Michael Cooper, president of the Small Hotels of Palm Springs (SHoPS) and the general manager of the Palm Springs Rendezvous hotel, said some small hoteliers in the organization all of a sudden started getting served with lawsuits in the spring.

“In the span of seven days, three different

By Brian Blueskye member hotels e-mailed in the same loop, asking, ‘Has anyone else been served for their parking lots?’” Cooper said. “It was then that … we started realizing it was the same lawyer and the same plaintiff.”

Cooper said the hoteliers banded together to figure out how to address the lawsuits—and head off future litigation.

“Once we realized this wasn’t just a fluke or … just one person out of compliance, we realized anyone could be threatened by this,” he said.

Representatives from various hotels attended a meeting that included Palm Springs City Attorney Douglas Holland, Cooper said.

Also in attendance at that SHoPS meeting was Palm Springs City Councilwoman Ginny Foat, who has been sued because of an alleged ADA violation at interior-design store Trend House, which is on her property. Cooper said they soon realized the plaintiffs and their attorneys were apparently using certain tactics on multiple businesses, such as calling and inquiring about handicapped parking spaces— and then driving by if there was any hesitation regarding the answer.

As of this writing, lawsuits have been opened against businesses including the Garden Vista Hotel, the Desert Lodge, Hotel California and Casa Cody. The Hyatt Palm Springs, the Hard Rock Hotel and the Ace Hotel are also being sued.

I

S THERE ANY MERIT TO THE CLAIMS OF discrimination mentioned in the lawsuits of Diane Cross and Chris Langer? The answer to that question depends on who is being asked.

Frank Tysen, the owner of Casa Cody, said

he had just been served regarding a suit filed

by Chris Langer when the Independent reached out to him.

Many of the lawsuits cite a lack of adequate handicapped parking spaces. Tysen took me outside of the Casa Cody with a tape measure and showed me that his parking spaces are just more than 14 feet in length. It would be almost impossible for him to make the spaces any longer: Cahuilla Road runs right up to the curb of the parking lot at his historic hotel.

“In order to have full legal parking for a handicapped space, you have to have about 18 feet,” Tysen said. “Because of the street width here, we don’t even have that much space in the parking lot.”

Tysen expressed concern about the harm these lawsuits could have on small hotels in Palm Springs.

“It’s a total racket,” Tysen said. “If the only way you can get compliance is to sue someone, that’s crazy.

“These guys have been doing this for a long time. They hit San Diego and other places, and now they’re hitting Palm Springs. It’s the same people and the same attorneys. They don’t even pay the filing fee, claiming they don’t even have the money to pay the filing fee. The point with that is if you don’t have the money to pay the filing fee, you probably don’t have $200 to stay in a hotel, so the whole thing is bullshit.”

A trip to Riverside County Superior Court in Indio revealed that, sure enough, the filing fee—which is generally around $400—was waived in many, if not all, of these cases.

Diane Cross’ attorney, David Wakefield, did not respond to several inquiries via phone and e-mail from the Independent. Mark Potter also did not respond to the Independent.

Tysen explained that many of the older hotels in Palm Springs fall under the question of what’s considered “readily achievable” when it comes to ADA accessibility.

“Palm Springs is a perfect place for these people to go crazy because a lot of the places are older and grandfathered in by the city. For instance, they don’t require fences around the pool because they weren’t there—but if you remodel your pool, you have to put a fence around it,” he said. “The second thing is a lot of our places are historic; the way these places are laid out … the city doesn’t bring them up to code, because you can’t, or you’ll end up destroying the whole place.”

J

OHN PINKNEY, OF THE LAW FIRM SLOVAK Baron Empey Murphy and Pinkney, is representing many of the small hoteliers, at a reduced fee, in these ADA suits. He confirmed that “readily achievable” is often a good ADA defense—but that does not mean older or historic hotels are exempt from ADA requirements.

“There’s really not, per se, a grandfathering clause for these properties,” Pinkney said.

“But some of these historic places … there is a defense available for them where they can demonstrate compliance would not be readily achievable. For instance, if you had a hotel that was built in the ’30s, in order to make it compliant, you’d have to completely rebuild it. We do have cases where we’ve raised those defenses.

“I think some people think, ‘I bought an older hotel; therefore, I’m immune from being sued.’ That’s really not the case.”

Pinkney also defended the Americans With Disabilities Act, even if continued on next page ➠ CVIndependent.com

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Casa Cody owner Frank Tysen: “A lot of our places are historic; the way these places are laid out … the city doesn’t bring them up to code, because you can’t, or you’ll end up destroying the whole place.”

KEVIN FITZGERALD

some plaintiffs and their attorneys may be taking advantage of it in California.

“The ADA is well-intentioned,” Pinkney said. “It’s obviously important to provide equal access for those with disabilities within the parameters of the ADA. Unfortunately, there are people out there who are gaming the system. I think that’s where small-business owners, who are struggling to make ends meet, especially during the lean summer months, are dealing with ‘drive-by lawsuits.’”

Lena Wade, an attorney who is working with Pinkney, mentioned that she has seen up to 30 lawsuits filed in one day by one plaintiff.

“So were they going to stay in all 30 hotels that day?” Pinkney quipped.

Pinkney said plaintiffs need to prove that they at least planned on going to a business that’s allegedly not ADA-compliant.

“You have individuals who are filing multiple lawsuits against hotels claiming that they were going to go and stay at that hotel, but they were denied equal access. Some of these are clearly ‘drive-by lawsuits,’ where somebody just drove by the facility, and noticed that there was not a specific placard that should have been there. Then they file the lawsuit and allege—under penalty of perjury—that they had the intent to stay at that hotel.”

Pinkney said that even if a small hotel can not “readily achieve” all ADA rules, that doesn’t mean the hotel is discriminating against a handicapped person or denying them service.

“If somebody comes to their hotel, and they’re disabled, they’ll make reasonable CVIndependent.com

accommodations for them,” Pinkney said.

“They will go out of their way to provide them with equal access. … The people filing the lawsuits (often) never even came through the door.”

J

OHN-MICHAEL COOPER SAID HE DOES NOT expect the hotel he manages, Rendezvous, to be sued. He said ADA compliance goes beyond having proper handicapped parking. The Hard Rock Hotel in Palm Springs isn’t being sued over a handicapped space, for example, but because the entrance allegedly does not comply.

“I have a handicapped spot in my parking lot, so I probably won’t be sued. I know my rooms are accessible, and I know the level of accessibility that I have,” Cooper said. “There are a lot of different levels of accessibility.

Being accessible not only means that you need a parking lot with the correct ramps, and the correct accessibility to the entrance to the hotel; you have to have equal, if separate access. The people have to be able to park … in the front of your hotel; they have to be able to get out; they have to be able to get through the front door, and they have to be able to get to your front desk.”

So what is a small hotel owner such as Frank Tysen supposed to do? While some businesses have settled these suits, Tysen said he’s going to fight.

“Palm Springs is damn lucky that there are enough fools around that like the lifestyle of a small hotel,” Tysen said. “I get paid about

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OCTOBER 2014

Small Hotels of Palm Springs president John-Michael Cooper, on the recent ADA lawsuits: “Once we realized this wasn’t just a fluke or … just one person out of compliance, we realized anyone could be threatened by this.” JIMMY BOEGLE

$2,000 a month, and that’s it, because there is no money left, because you have to keep upgrading the rooms or the hotel in general.

Small hotels are really a labor of love. During the summer, the rates are sliced down to next to nothing, and this is why a lot of hotels have a hard time getting loans from banks here, because they don’t want to invest in a seasonal business. Big hotels here are supported by their chain, but for the small hotels, it comes out of the people who own it.”

Ron De Klerk, the general manager of the Skylark in Palm Springs, said he’s opting to settle a suit filed against the hotel by Diane Cross.

“Obviously, we want to settle to get it out of our books and out of our head,” De Klerk said.

He mentioned getting advice from another local hotelier who opted to fight a lawsuit— and wound up spending $40,000 in legal fees for a lawsuit that could have been settled for around $20,000.

“In his advice to me, he said, ‘Settle for as little as you can, because it’s cheaper than hiring a lawyer.’ It’s absolutely true. A good ADA lawyer is anywhere from $400 to $600 an hour, sometimes higher. On any typical case, you’re looking at about 20 hours (just to start).

Suddenly, you’re already at $10,000.”

Pinkney didn’t offer specifics on the chances small hoteliers have to win their cases, but he echoed Tysen’s comments.

“People come here to the Coachella Valley to invest in this community and start a business.

In some cases, they’re investing their life savings to start a small hotel, and they spend

a lot of money to make sure their business is ADA-compliant, only to be sued because the plaintiff alleges that something was off a couple of inches, or a sign wasn’t exactly right,” he said. “It’s very disheartening for these folks, but we’re aggressively fighting these cases where we feel they’re unwarranted.”

There appears to be no end in sight regarding these lawsuits. In 2012, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1186, a reform bill that was supposed to curb ADA-related lawsuits. However, the bill was limited. It reduced the statutory damages per violation in some cases from $4,000 to $1,000 or $2,000. (Of course, plaintiffs and their attorneys can also sue for attorneys’ fees.) It also banned “demand letters” that were sent to businesses that sought money in exchange for not filing a lawsuit.

Critics of Senate Bill 1186 say the law didn’t work: California still leads the nation in ADA lawsuits.

Some have proposed giving small businesses an opportunity to correct alleged disability violations before a lawsuit can be filed.

Pinkney said he thinks that’s a good idea.

“There are legitimate people out there with legitimate claims,” Pinkney said. “That’s what the ADA is designed for: People who legitimately experience impaired access. … Situations where the plaintiffs aren’t motivated by compliance and are instead motivated by financial reward for themselves and their attorney—that’s what people find offensive.”

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OCTOBER 2014

⓱ Western Lit: Characters Trying to Move Beyond Tragedy ⓳ the McCallum Kicks Off the New Season ⓴ Bill Burr Bringing the Funny to Spotlight 29 •• October Theater Listings www.cvindependent.com/arts-and-culture

YOUNG TALENT Gallery 446 Shows Off Fantastic Paintings and Drawings by Artists Not Yet 25 Years Old

18

“Rayma,” by Cameron Derby.

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OCTOBER 2014

ARTS & CULTURE

PAINFUL PASTS WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

By Jenny Shank and Traci J. Macnamara n her deft debut novel, Colorado writer TaraShea Nesbit imagines the lives of the wives of the men who were stationed in New Mexico’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, working on the Manhattan Project during World War II. Nesbit writes in the collective voices of the women, whose physicist husbands suddenly announced, “We are going to the desert,” without offering too many details. The women cannot even tell their relatives exactly where they are headed.

“Our mothers understood,” Nesbit writes. “Our mothers had kept great secrets.”

The collective narration gives the prose an incantatory rhythm that suits the story, once the reader becomes accustomed to the frequent contradictions within a sentence. For example: “We arrived in New Mexico and thought we had come to the end of the earth, or we thought we had come home.” Out of the threads of each woman’s experiences, a tapestry is their husbands’ woven, revealing a peculiar, complex and yet work, and what they temporary society. think about it. The The families are assigned houses inside answer varies for a fenced complex patrolled by Dobermans each of them, but and mounted guards. “We handed over our none of them knows cameras. We denied we kept a diary.” The the complete truth women know their scientist husbands are until they see the engaged in a secret war project, but most devastation the atom have no idea what is really going on. bomb inflicts on Since the wives can’t share their lives with Japan. The aftermath people outside the compound, they confide in leaves them all each other and form a lively society, throwing deeply affected, even cocktail parties, swapping clothes and as their trajectories minding each other’s children. “The military splinter from collective to individual again. officially ran the town in one way,” Nesbit Some decide the U.S. was justified in writes, “and our husbands in practice ran using the bombs; others, horrified by the the town in some ways, and we ran the town unprecedented destruction, want to dedicate clandestinely in others.” their lives to limiting nuclear weapons. In the The suspense for the reader comes from end, however, all of them are bound by the wondering how much the women know about part they played in the atom bomb’s creation.

Western Lit: These Two Successful Novels Feature Characters Trying to Move Beyond Tragedy f it’s possible to paint in words alone—to create a wildly colorful story of grief in sentences layered like one of van Gogh’s swirling night scenes—Colorado author Peter Heller accomplishes it in his second novel, The Painter, narrated by artist Jim Stegner. A fly-fisherman with a violent streak, Stegner is determined to overcome his tragic past, but he can’t seem to avoid causing more pain for himself and others.

When Stegner moves from Taos, N.M., to an off-the-grid cabin tucked into the mountains near Paonia, Colo., he finally finds himself in a landscape he considers “a good place … to make a field of peace, to gather and breathe.” But not long after he’s settled in, his dark side resurfaces, and he kills a man in an unpremeditated act. Instead of spending his days as he had hoped—painting canvases and fly-fishing—Stegner packs up and leaves Colorado to pursue a commission in Santa Fe, N.M., hoping to outrun his guilt.

The murdered man’s brother, burning with the desire for revenge, and an eclectic host of law-enforcement officials stay hot on the artist’s heels. Even as he tries to dodge the tragedy and violence that follows in his wake—including the deaths of his parents and the murder of his daughter by a drugbuyer—he can’t evade it. “That engine. Grief is an engine. Feels like that,” muses Stegner.

“It does not fade, what they say, with time.

Sometime it accelerates. I was accelerating. I could feel it, the g-force pressing my chest.”

Even though Stegner’s interior conflict adds depth to the story, the plot lulls at times when the narrator’s thoughts alone fill the page.

However, Heller— an award-winning adventure writer— masterfully creates enough suspense to hold the tension taut in this book’s moreaction-packed moments, which include shootouts, car chases, a barn-burning and an unexpected final scene.

Heller’s deep-feeling narrator tells his story in a candid, casual voice that ultimately extracts sympathy from the reader. With an ending that’s surprising and fresh, The Painter will leave the reader wondering what it takes to salvage something artful from a painful past.

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

THE PAINTER: A NOVEL, BY PETER HELLER (ALFRED A. KNOPF), 384 PAGES, $24.95; THE WIVES OF LOS ALAMOS, BY TARASHEA NESBIT (BLOOMSBURY USA), 240 PAGES, $25

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ARTS & CULTURE

MILLENNIALS

ON DISPLAY

Eight Artists Not Yet 25 Years Old Shine at Gallery 446

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

By Victor Barocas ll of the artists included in Gallery 446’s show 25 Below: Artists Awakening the World are younger than 25. Yes, they are all millennials. However, there is great diversity in how they express their takes on the world—both as it is, and how it was.

Curated by Skyler Gray and Eddie Donaldson, the show features eight artists, seven of whom are from different parts of the U.S. (The eighth is from London.) The paintings and drawings in the show are all representational, and portraiture reigns. While each artist has a unique artistic voice, they all express a palpable anxiety with the present, along with a clear disconnect with the past.

Drawings by Isaac Pelayo, Chantele Kennedy and Cameron Derby are far superior to the most of the paintings in this show. Each of these three young artists demonstrates tremendous technical expertise and a clear respect for their chosen medium.

Derby’s drawings, given their small size (roughly 8 1/2 by 11 inches, the smallest in the show) and location in the gallery, could be easily overlooked. Both of her full-faced portraits capture the models’ personality and mood. These culturally aware drawings demonstrate her roots in photography.

Without being heavy-handed, the artist wields her pen on paper skillfully. Each drawing also contains a section that is colored with a single contrasting yet muted hue, preventing her drawings from becoming boring or monotonous. Her use of color also creates a sense of dimensionality. In “Rayma,” a young African-American child stands with the help of a largely unseen adult. The artist uses a muddied purple to color the flowers on her dress and the barrettes in her hair.

Chantele Kennedy is the Londoner

“USA Residence,” by Joe Collings (cropped).

CVIndependent.com

participating in the show. Her models are her generation’s cartoon characters: Scooby-Doo and his owner Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, as well as Tommy and Chuckie from Rugrats.

These drawings may prompt a chuckle. Using spray paint, a potentially unwieldy medium, Kennedy skillfully outlines each of her subjects, and then adds highly detailed, finely drawn tattoos to each character in ink and marker. This transforms the drawings from illustration to art.

In “Scooby Doo,” she “tattoos” the dog’s neck with highly detailed images of “attractive” female dogs (including Lady of Lady and the Tramp), a large diamond and abstract figures.

By outlining one of the dog’s teeth with a “gold” marker, she adds to the levity of the otherwise black-and-white piece.

In strong contrast to Kennedy’s visible humor, Isaac Pelayo’s drawings are pensive, intense and brooding. Born in 1996, this Southern California native has won awards at the Annual Western Art Show in Riverside and the Hemet Valley Art Association competition.

Pelayo is not only most introspective artist in the show; he is also the most technically proficient. He forces the viewer to look at an entire drawing, making each piece all the more powerful. In “The Unknown,” he draws a thickbrowed young adult wearing a black leather jacket over a hoodie. A particle mask covers the subject’s face; only his dark eyes are visible.

What makes this drawing the most intense in the show: The subject’s arm and hand are outstretched, with the fingers pointed to look like a gun.

Each of local artist Joe Collings’ three eyecatching canvases projects a distinct mood, even if he could refine his technical skills and clarify his message(s).

“The Unknown,” by Isaac Pelayo (cropped).

“Space Kitty Piece” is humorous. A cat, sporting a tuxedo, peers out from a space helmet over his head. The cat projects a look of disbelief, amazement and awe. In his painting “Aristotle,” the timeless philosopher, partially hidden behind two pillars, becomes a furtive voyeur. Collings’ “USA Residence” is the only nonportrait I saw in show. Against a gray-white background, Collings paints a security-alarm panel, the kind found in many businesses and homes. The panel looks like it was made from an overly thick, rectangular piece of foam. However, what at first to be appears be to an innocuous painting in the pop-art style at second glance becomes a harsh analysis of today’s polarized and angry society: The keypad and message display become the handgrip and barrel of a gun. In strong contrast to the light-spirited “Space Kitty Piece,” “USA Residence” is chilling.

Other artists included in the show are Skyler Grey, Cali Killa, Monel Aliote and Mac Stewart.

25 BELOW IS ON DISPLAY AT GALLERY 446, 446 S. INDIAN CANYON DRIVE, IN PALM SPRINGS, THROUGH SUNDAY, OCT. 5. PROCEEDS FROM THE SALES WILL SUPPORT THE NONPROFIT BOO2BULLYING. GALLERY HOURS ARE 11 A.M. TO 5 P.M., WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, OR BY APPOINTMENT. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 760-459-3142, OR VISIT WWW.GALLERY446.COM.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 19

OCTOBER 2014

ARTS & CULTURE

THE NEW SEASON

The McCallum Theatre Adds More Than a Dozen Shows to a Packed 2014-2015 Schedule

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BY JIMMY BOEGLE fter the McCallum Theatre announced the addition of more than a dozen shows to the 2014-2015 season, I asked Mitch Gershenfeld—the McCallum’s president, CEO and chief booker—if he was done adding to the lineup.

“There may be one or two more things,” he said. “We may have one or two surprises up our sleeves, but the calendar’s getting pretty full.”

He’s not kidding: In February, for example, the McCallum is booked for 24 of the month’s 28 days. In March, only six days are open. The packed schedule is one reason why the Palm Desert venue is usually the top-selling theater in California—and one of the top-selling theaters in the world—each spring, according to Pollstar magazine.

Another reason: the quality and variety of the shows at the McCallum. Highlights of the new additions to the schedule include Ray LaMontagne, on Tuesday, Oct. 21; Vince Gill and the Time Jumpers, on Monday, Nov. 10; country music legend Willie Nelson and Family, on Wednesday, Jan. 7; comedy great Jay Leno, on Saturday, Jan. 24; and “American Pie” legend Don McLean on Tuesday, March 17.

When asked which of the new additions about which he was particularly excited, Gershenfeld mentioned Jay Leno, the former Tonight Show host.

“That should be a lot of fun. We’ve never worked with him before,” Gershenfeld said of Leno.

Not many comics are a good fit for a midsize venue like the McCallum, Gershenfeld noted, although he said he’s happy with the McCallum’s comedy lineup this season, which includes a newly announced stop by the Last Comic Standing tour (Sunday, Nov. 23), and a previously announced show by the legendary Bob Newhart (Friday, Feb. 20).

Gershenfeld also said he was looking forward to the performance by music great Ray LaMontagne. LaMontagne will perform just two days after the McCallum’s new season officially kicks off with the theater’s third-annual Family Fun day.

“He usually plays much larger rooms,” Gershenfeld said about the Grammy-winning singer. “… Everything aligned the right way (for him to perform at the McCallum).”

The red-headed stranger himself will make an appearance at the McCallum on Wednesday, Jan. 7.

Gershenfeld also mentioned newly booked shows by two country greats: Willie Nelson, and Vince Gill and the Time Jumpers.

“Willie likes to play the McCallum,” Gershenfeld said. “We’re really happy we can bring him back.”

As for Vince Gill’s show, it’s the inclusion of the Time Jumpers that will make that performance truly special, Gershenfeld said.

“In country music, there are a lot of musicians who reside in Nashville, and do nothing but record,” he explained. “They’re incredible studio musicians—and that’s who the Time Jumpers are. They tour very rarely.”

Gershenfeld said he’s pleased with the “tremendous amount of variety” in the theater’s season, from the singers to the comedians to the Broadway shows, such as Nice Work If You Can Get It, which will stop at the McCallum for five shows March 13-15.

The musical comedy, with music and lyrics

by George and Ira Gershwin, wrapped up more than a year on Broadway in June 2013, and just began the national tour that will eventually bring it to the McCallum.

“It’s the best Gershwin musical to come to Broadway in perhaps 30 years,” he said.

FOR TICKETS, MORE INFORMATION AND A COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF SHOWS, VISIT WWW.MCCALLUMTHEATRE.COM. CVIndependent.com

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ARTS & CULTURE

A COMEDIAN’S

COMEDIAN

Bill Burr Is Bringing the Funny to Spotlight 29

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By Brian Blueskye ill Burr is a comedian on the rise, thanks to his appearances on the evercontroversial Opie and Anthony radio show, Chappelle’s Show, and most recently Breaking Bad, as Kuby.

On Saturday, Oct. 11, he’ll be performing at Spotlight 29 Casino.

During a recent phone interview, Burr discussed growing up in Canton, Mass.

“I don’t think I ever thought I’d be a comedian,” Burr said. “Show business seemed really far away. It always looked like something I wanted to do, but when I was growing up in the ’70s, we had three channels on the television, and even if you had cable, you had four channels. There wasn’t any Internet, YouTube or any of that crap.

“I definitely made people laugh, and that’s how I made friends. I have to admit, I came from a really funny town. I remember all my friends were funny; everyone I went to high school with was funny ... and we would just laugh all the time.”

He said he got his first taste of performing comedy when he signed up for a talent show, just to see how he’d do.

“They had this contest, ‘Find Boston’s Funniest College Student,’ Burr said. “It was just a big marketing plan to get a bunch of college students to buy booze, get drunk and watch their friends go bomb onstage. I signed up for that. I didn’t win the contest, and I didn’t suck. I was in the middle of the pack, and I did all right. I decided, ‘All right, I’m going to keep doing this.’ All I really wanted was the balls to go up there and do it when they called my name. Afterward, I was euphoric. I drove home in my piece-of-shit car listening to Motley Crue’s ‘Kickstart My Heart.’

I was screaming the lyrics, and I was absolutely elated.”

However, a comedy career did not come easily to Burr.

“It was a growth period in my life where I went from being really shy and dreading getting up in front of the class, to transferring to Emerson College and deliberately taking classes, one after another, where I had to go up in front of a class—and my fear got smaller and smaller each time I did it,” Burr said. “The joy of doing it was growing exponentially. The brass ring of public speaking to me was having the nerve to try to do stand-up. I already did CVIndependent.com

some reports at school where I threw some jokes in and I got laughs, so I was babystepping my way into doing stand-up.”

He received a couple of big breaks about a decade ago: He made some appearances on the legendary Chappelle’s Show, and became a frequent guest on Opie and Anthony.

“I was in New York struggling for about seven or eight years, and then thankfully, I met Opie and Anthony,” Burr said. “I met them thanks to two things: (comedian and longtime Opie and Anthony contributor) Jim Norton, and they had gotten fired from WNEW after ‘Sex for Sam’ and those people had sex in the church,” he said.

After the “Sex for Sam” public-sex scandal, Opie and Anthony was off the air for two years before XM Satellite Radio began broadcasting the show in October 2004.

“Opie had come down to the Comedy Cellar and was dealing with a weird sort of limbo in his career. Contractually, (his radio station) still had to give him some money, so he was able to survive, but he wanted to work and wasn’t allowed to. I just got to know him, and it was a cool way to get to know him, because we were able to be human beings and be out of the business. Jim Norton ultimately brought me in while I was doing Chappelle’s Show.”

Working with Dave Chappelle was also an unforgettable experience, Burr said.

“Some people are so good that you just enjoy them like a fan, and Dave is on such a different plane artistically,” Burr said. “I was always an audience member watching him; I never felt like a peer around that guy. On Chappelle’s

After trying stand-up for the first time, Bill Burr was hooked. “Afterward, I was euphoric,” he said. “I drove home in my piece-of-shit car listening to Motley Crue’s ‘Kickstart My Heart.’ I was screaming the lyrics, and I was absolutely elated.”

Show, I felt like some guy who had won a radio contest and was brought in to do a couple of lines in a sketch.”

This summer, Anthony Cumia of Opie and Anthony was fired after racially charged posts on his Twitter account following an altercation with a black woman on a street. The satelliteradio show remains on the air as Opie With Jim Norton, and now just stars Gregg “Opie” Hughes and Jim Norton.

“The whole thing was unfortunate,” Burr said. “That show was a legendary show, and everything has a beginning, middle and an end. I guess in the back of my head, I knew at some point the show would come to an end. I just wish it didn’t end that way.”

Even for a now-seasoned and successful comedian, actor and podcaster like Burr, there

are good nights, and there are not-so-good nights. Burr explained how he handled an offnight he suffered through not too long ago.

“I went out there and kind of struggled a bit at first, and heard a couple of people boo, and I thought, ‘Oh shit, here we go again.’ I’ve learned through all of the years of doing it how to turn it around, and I just went a little bit more mainstream with my shit. It’s kind of like shooting your way out of a slump when you give them a few mainstream jokes. And then you start talking about Ray Rice,” he said with a laugh.

BILL BURR WILL PERFORM AT 8 P.M., SATURDAY, OCT. 11, AT SPOTLIGHT 29, 46200 HARRISON PLACE, IN COACHELLA. TICKETS ARE $45 TO $75. FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 760-775-5566, OR VISIT WWW.SPOTLIGHT29.COM.

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OCTOBER 2014

Deals available in the Independent Market as of October 1:

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!

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!

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.

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OCTOBER THEATER Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins—From Desert Rose Playhouse This comedy is set in 1977 and focuses on 15-year-old Horace Poore’s sexual awakening, hastened by images of Olympic champion Mark Spitz and anti-gay crusader Anita Bryant; at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, Oct. 19. $28 to $30. At 69260 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage. 760-202-3000; www.desertroseplayhouse.org.

Broadway D-Lights—From Desert Ensemble Theatre Company Three of the valley’s top vocalists—Keisha D, Charles Herrera and Jerome Elliott—perform at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 17. A portion of the proceeds go to Desert Ensemble’s high school scholarship fund. $30. At the Pearl McManus Theater in the Palm Springs Womans Club, 314 S. Cahuilla Road, Palm Springs. 760-565-2476; www.brownpapertickets.com/event/848586.

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, from Wednesday, Oct. 29, 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.

CV Rep Luminary Luncheon: Millicent Martin The well-known star of both stage and screen—you may know her as Daphne’s mother on Frasier—is interviewed by Don Martin at noon, Wednesday, Oct. 22. $45; includes lunch catered by Lulu/Acqua Pazza. At the Atrium, 69930 Highway 111, No. 116, Rancho Mirage. 760-296-2966; www.cvrep.org.

Desert Theatre League Star Awards Celebrate the best of the most recent theater season, starting at 4:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 5. $50. At Sun City Shadow Hills, 80875 Avenue 40, Indio. 760-772-9617; deserttheatreleague.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, from Friday, Oct. 3, though Saturday, Nov. 1, with additional matinees at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 12 and 26. $12 regular; $10 seniors and military; $8 children and students. At 73637 Sullivan Road, Twentynine Palms. 760361-4151; theatre29.org.

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, from Friday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 2. $36. At 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. 760-323-5123; www.palmcanyontheatre.org.

Noises Off!—From Desert Theatreworks Desert Theatreworks re-imagines what’s been called the funniest farce ever written for their intimate Arthur Newman Theatre space, at 7 p.m., Friday; 2 and 7 p.m., Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, from Friday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 9. No shows on Oct. 26 and 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 Rocky Horror Show—From COD Theatre The campy rock musical that made “The Time Warp” famous is performed at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 24; 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25; 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 26; 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.

Sundays in Summer Series Jan Abrams sings songs from World War II at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 5. Sheldon Craig performs Unforgettable: The Nat King Cole Songbook at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 12. Julie Esposito sings songs in a range of musical styles from the 1960s to today at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 19. Diane Pancel pays tribute to Day, Garland and Monroe in Ladies of Hollywood at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 26. Each show is $11; cash only at the box office. At the Arthur Newman Theatre in the Joslyn Center, 73750 Catalina Way, Palm Desert. 760-325-2731; www.lesmichaels.com/joslyn.

The Who’s Tommy—From Palm Canyon Theatre In this famous rock musical, Tommy is traumatized into catatonia after he witness his father commit murder.

As an adolescent, he discovers a natal knack for pinball, and becomes an international pinball superstar; at 7 p.m., Thursday; 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, Oct. 12. $36. At 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. 760-323-5123; www.palmcanyontheatre.org.

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MOVIES

THE VIDEO DEPOT

NOW SHOWING AT HOME

TOP 10 LIST

for SEPTEMBER 2014 ‘The One I Love’ and ‘The Congress’ Are Two New Movies Worth Watching

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MOVIES

By Bob Grimm

Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass in The One I Love.

The One I Love Available via video on demand and online sources including iTunes and Amazon.com.

A husband and wife (Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss) struggling in their relationship visit a retreat on the advice of their therapist (Ted Danson)—and they make a startling discovery in one of the guest houses.

That discovery in The One I Love is beautifully clever—and plays like something from a really cool Twilight Zone episode.

Ethan and Sophie are bombing in therapy, and the therapist is not amused. When it appears there’s nothing he can do to help, he hands the couple a pamphlet for a place that has worked wonders for some of his past patients.

As a last-ditch effort, the two head for the resort, where they find comfort. They’ve escaped their surroundings, and can crack open a bottle of wine and try to unwind.

It’s nothing that resembles a breakthrough, though, so it appears as if Ethan and Sophie might be going through the motions.

Then … the strange thing happens.

This strange thing is the basis of the whole movie, and I would be a major dickweed if I were to reveal the exact details. So, yes, I’m going to attempt to get through the rest of this without giving away the big twist, which propels the film into becoming one of the better romantic comedies in years—one with a big brain and strong insight.

Charlie McDowell has made an impressive directorial debut, utilizing a solid, brutally honest script from Justin Lader. The movie is about seeing your inner potential fully CVIndependent.com

realized, and the ability to solve mutual emotional problems with self-sacrifice and compromise.

It’s also about the healing powers of bacon.

Duplass is making a name for himself as an understated, offbeat romantic-comedy lead.

(He starred in another great recent romantic comedy, Safety Not Guaranteed.) Ethan starts off as a mild-mannered guy who has allowed his insecurities to overtake him while committing egregious relationship errors.

He’s generally unlikable, and Duplass makes Ethan’s transition seem very realistic.

Moss (Mad Men) has had a movie career spanning two decades, but The One I Love makes it feel like she’s just arriving. She has an arsenal of “looks” in this movie that will make many men shrink in their seats. She successfully taps into both the sinister and sweet sides of Sophie.

The One I Love is the sort of movie many folks in a humdrum relationship—as well as those who are single—should take the time to watch. It’s also a chance to see two performers fully embracing their illuminating characters.

Robin Wright in The Congress.

The Congress Available via video on demand and online sources including iTunes and Amazon.com.

Ari Folman, the director behind the stunning animated documentary Waltz With Bashir, has delivered something altogether different with The Congress.

It’s two sort-of-connected movies in one.

On one hand, it’s an effective satire of the current and future state of movies and acting.

On the other, it’s an existential (and animated) meditation on identity, technology and life.

Robin Wright, playing a fictionalized version of herself, is in her mid-40s, an age at which Hollywood normally starts turning its back on “B-grade” female stars. She’s never truly blossomed into the bona fide star her agent (Harvey Keitel) and studio head (Danny Huston) thought she would become based on her work in The Princess Bride.

The studio comes up with a plan that will return her to her youthful glory—and ensure that she will never need to truly act again: The executives offer Robin one final contract, which requires that her body and emotions get scanned for future use. The contract guarantees that she will never be portrayed as older than her early 30s, and that she won’t appear in porn, along with a few other conditions. In return, Robin can no longer appear in movies, plays, commercials, game shows, etc., unless they are Miramount projects. Her whole being will become the property of Miramount Studios.

Wow, right? This is a great premise for dark comedy. Ultimately, that’s not where The Congress takes us. Instead, the film is more interested in messing with one’s brain regarding the overall state of humanity and identity, rather than just telling the story of actors and actresses losing their gigs.

After a mind-blowing sequence in which Robin is scanned into a computer, the action jumps forward 20 years, when her contract requires an extension. We see Robin in an action/sci-fi film in which she is blowing up robots. A trip to the studio now requires her to snort a hallucinogenic drug and become animated. She does this—and the movie delves into trippy, deep animation mode.

She attends some sort of bizarre, gigantic rally—sort of like an Apple event on animated steroids—during which the audience finds out Robin’s likeness can be consumed via their favorite beverages the next day. In other words, fans can actually become Robin rather than just watching her on big screens. She has become nothing but a product.

Robin interacts with a bunch of virtual images, including those of Tom Cruise, Grace

Zac Efron in Neighbors.

1. Neighbors (Universal) 2. Transformers: Age of Extinction (Paramount) 3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Disney) 4. Godzilla (Warner Bros.)

5. The Fault in Our Stars (20th Century Fox) 6. Brick Mansions (20th Century Fox) 7. Think Like a Man Too (Sony) 8. Moms’ Night Out (Sony) 9. Chef (Universal) 10. Draft Day (Lionsgate) Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. She also gets a love interest who looks a bit like Clive Owen, but is voiced

by Jon Hamm. In both Robin’s “real” and animated worlds, the one constant presence is her ill son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and his special kites. It’s hard to explain; you just need to see it.

Wright is extraordinary and positively luminescent in a film that questions her relevance in not only the acting world, but the world in general. Huston and Keitel provide good, nasty humor before the film goes animated/existential.

The Congress might be a bit of a headscratcher, but it’s successful in much of what it attempts. It’s also a showcase Robin Wright richly deserves.

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FOOD & DRINK

the SNIFF CAP

Seeing Nature Through Wine-Filled Glasses Is a Beautiful Thing

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By Deidre Pike y wine glass is half-full, its stem pushed flat into light sand.

I aim my camera at the glass. Click. The top part of the glass distorts giant waves crashing into the shore. Click. A haystack rock occupies space between wine and brim. Click. Sky meets sea in a blur of blue. Plus wine glass.

Dave appreciates the crashing waves while I capture the moment for perpetuity. He’s plenty ready, though, to drink some Tulip Hill 2010 Lake County Aglianico. We’ve brought a half-bottle, left over from last night’s dinner. Dave’s glass is half-full, too. That’s the way with wine: You don’t fill glasses to the brim. Plenty of space gives the wine room to breathe. And all that air is good— until it’s not. Too much exposure to atmosphere, and your wine gets flat, insipid, tasteless.

It’s a holiday weekend, and though we live apart, my husband and I have spent some weeks together, on and off, in Italy, Nevada and California. Now summer’s over, and I go back to assistant-professoring on a Cal State University campus. Dave works for a federal agency in Reno, a long drive from me.

This fall, we begin our fourth year living apart. We’re getting kinda used to it.

For our last weekend of summer, we plan a wine hike on the California coast. I wrap empty glasses in dish towels and put the aglianico—a limited release to wine-club members—in a silk wine bag. Fancy.

Because we’re complete dorks, we don’t say “wine hike.”

Instead, we baffle friends by intoning “WEE-nay HEE-kay,” which we imagine to be the Pacific Islander pronunciation.

After all, Dave contends, we began the WEE-nay HEE-kay tradition in 2011, when I left our home for a tenure-track teaching job in Hawaii. That academic year, Dave flew to Oahu about seven times, checking cases of wine as his luggage.

Then we’d lug bottles of our favorite wines on various hikes, many up the leeward side of the Ko‘olau Mountains. When we reached a clearing with a view of Waikiki, we’d get out the sandwiches and uncork the wine. We had earned our red, red rewards.

We went on one of our first wine hikes during the summer before I left for Hawaii. I presented an academic paper at a conference in Granada, Spain, and then we kicked around for a couple of weeks. We made our way to the Andalucia region of southern Spain and caught the once-a-day bus from Malaga to the smallish city of Ronda. We decided to explore the labyrinthine roads outside the city. At a market in the town’s historic quarter, we acquired fresh bread, salami, queso manchego and a bottle of Descalzos Viejos. The DV is a Ronda (Spanish) wine with a (French) Rhone-style blend of garnacha,

syrah and merlot. We knew nothing about it. But, hey, local.

Taste the terroir and all that.

While other tourists stood at the top of the world, taking photos from the city’s walls, we descended 100 meters down into El Tajo canyon. From there, we looked up at the city’s architecture, including a giant arched bridge over the Guadalevin River. Parts of the bridge dated back 2,000 years to a time when the Romans shoved its civilization down the somewhat compromised throats of Celts and Phoenicians. And Rome fell. And Islamists controlled the area through 1485 when the Christians arrived. Inquisition ensued.

Any questions?

Southern Spain isn’t unlike Southern California. Summers are toasty, arid. That day, I took photos of a blooming cactus and felt right at home.

We picnicked on a mossy stone wall along an ancient cobblestone street, along a river, with a cute little foot bridge.

We sipped Descalzos Viejos and declared it the best wine ever.

Tourists far above us looked tiny. We imagined their jealousy, watching us enjoy this taste of Andalusian countryside and culture. We rose our plastic hotel cups in a toast.

Que bueno caminar con vino. How nice to walk with wine.

These days, I prefer drinking from glasses of the breakable variety. Aesthetically pleasing. More photogenic. Tricky to shove in a backpack.

Our holiday-weekend hike involves about 4 miles of tramping along a path overgrown with invasive but elegant pampas grass. Our destination: a stretch of the Pacific Coast that’s accessible only by boat or this trail.

We locate shade under a rocky outcropping, a sandy spot with a spectacular view of crashing waves. On the beach, a medium-sized tree, uprooted and turned to driftwood, rolls in the surf.

Dave opens the bottle and declares his intention to stay a while. He can stare at waves for hours, he says. I pour and take photos, looking through my glass.

We have cheeses—Cypress Grove’s Lamb Chopper and a hard parmesan—and slices of homemade sourdough bread. Dave dips sourdough in a jar of huckleberry jam and apologizes for getting bits of bread in the jar.

Crumbs don’t bother me. Dave picked those tiny huckleberries and then spent an hour sorting them to remove stems and green bits. I made jam. That was yesterday’s date night.

Some couples spend every weekend together. Hell, some wake up every day in the same bed. I’m pretty sure we did for, like, 28 years. Now we have space, lots of space.

We don’t twist our tongues over this. We savor our wine and flick grains of sand from our cheese. We talk about California wildfires, earthquakes in Napa, patterns in the waves and our kids. Stratus clouds form on the horizon.

Then our bottle’s empty. We drain our glasses. Best wine ever—every time. The tide’s coming in, and before dark, the Pacific will wash away the grooves left in the sand by our wine receptacles and selves.

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the

FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

Crowd-Funding and Craft Cocktails Are This Month’s Trends

By Jimmy Boegle WHAT Bennie’s Bennie WHERE Wilma and Frieda’s, 73575 El Paseo Drive, No. C2310, Palm Desert HOW MUCH $14 CONTACT 760773-2807; www. wilmafrieda.com WHY The pork and the perfect balance.

Over the last couple of years, creative types ranging from musicians to comedians to publishers have used crowd-funding sites like Kickstarter to turn their figurative dreams into reality.

Restaurateurs have done so as well. These fundraising efforts don’t always succeed—on a local level, Cello’s Bistro and Dish Creative Cuisine recently saw Kickstarter efforts come up short—but when they do, they can lead to great things, such as Wilma and Frieda’s, a delightful breakfast/brunch/lunch joint located in the Gardens on El Paseo shopping center.

In the summer of 2013, the owners of Wilma and Frieda’s successfully raised more than $50,000 to help them open the restaurant. And what a restaurant it is—the fare is both innovative and delicious, and Wilma and Frieda’s somehow manages to have a homey feel while not feeling out of place on ritzy El Paseo.

That’s not to say all is perfect—on a recent weekend visit, for example, the host managed to underestimate our wait time for a table by nearly a half-hour, a cardinal sin in the restaurant business. Also, the prices are decidedly El Paseo-appropriate (i.e., a bit high).

However, once you dig in to a tasty treat like the Benny’s Bennie, all faults will be forgiven.

Yes, you’ve had eggs Benedict before. But have you had eggs Benedict on freshly made, house-made biscuits that are fluffy on the inside, and crunchy/crumbly on the outside?

Have you had eggs Benedict with thick pieces of high-quality Duroc pork, rather than ho-hum Canadian bacon? Have you had eggs Benedict with a hollandaise sauce that neither fades behind the saltiness of the pork, nor overwhelms with some cloying flavor like too much lemon—but instead, complements the meat and the biscuit?

If the answer to these questions is, “Why yes, I have, thank you,” then tell me where CVIndependent.com

you’re eating, please. If the answer is no, and it probably is no, a trip to Wilma and Frieda’s is highly recommended.

WHAT The Desert Jewel WHERE Citron, inside the Viceroy Palm Springs, 415 S. Belardo Road, Palm Springs HOW MUCH $14 CONTACT 760-318-3005; www.viceroyhotelsandresorts. com/en/palmsprings WHY It’s a perfect craft cocktail.

Regular readers of this feature know that your humble scribe likes—no, loves—a good craft cocktail.

Regular readers between the lines of this feature know that your humble scribe is pretty frustrated at the relative dearth of great craft cocktails in this valley.

Thankfully, more and more local bars and restaurants are moving beyond Cape Cods and Jack-and-Cokes—and Citron at the Viceroy is undeniably one of the leaders of the Coachella Valley’s emerging craft-cocktail scene.

Consider the Desert Jewel, Citron’s signature drink. The ingredient list: Absolut Mandarin, Aperol, grapefruit juice, lemon juice and Veuve champagne.

Great ingredients, yes, but the result of their combination is, as the saying goes, greater than the sum of the parts. The Desert Jewel is sweet, but subtly so. It’s citrusy, but not acidic. None of the ingredients overwhelm— which was a concern I had after reading the menu, because grapefruit tends to dominate.

The cocktail is simply a refreshing, flavorful, slightly savory delight.

Of course, there’s a downside to craft cocktails at places like the Viceroy: They tend to be expensive, and this $14 drink is not an exception to that rule. One way to lessen the financial blow is to head to Citron’s oddly lit bar during Happy Hour—that’s 4:30 to 7 p.m., Sunday through Thursday—when some nice appetizers (including a revelatory watermelon gazpacho) and great cocktails can be had for just $6 each.

Sadly, the Desert Jewel is not one of those $6 cocktails. However, I’d take one $14 Desert Jewel at Citron over two $7 Cape Cods elsewhere, anytime. Life’s just too short for crappy cocktails.

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the

FOOD & DRINK It’s Fall Harvest Season— So It’s Time to Get to Know Your Hops

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By Erin Peters hat is a hop? Why should we care?

This is why: They lead the way toward flavorful, delicious beers like Pliny the Elder, Stone IPA, Dogfish Head 60 or 90 minute IPA, Tröegs Nugget Nectar, Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA and Green Flash Imperial IPA. Hops can inspire legends. They contain two types of acids— alpha and beta, which act as natural preserving agents by killing or hindering the growth of various bacteria. British brewers took advantage of this in the 16th century by brewing intensely hopped beers (which eventually became known as India pale ales, or IPAs) in order to prevent spoilage on their long journey to the colonies in India.

We’re in the thick of harvest season now.

Hop plants sprout in the spring, and harvest starts in August, continuing into October.

After harvested, hops can be used fresh, but are often dried for long term storage.

The craft-beer industry in the United States is as large as it’s ever been, and new hop strains and small hop farms have sprouted as a result.

The craft brewing industry used an average of 1.3 pounds of hops, per barrel, as of the end of 2013.

Despite the new farms, however, there has been concern about hop shortages. The craft-beer revolution (craft brewers use far more hops than corporate brewers do proportionally), debilitating drought and the popularity of IPAs and double IPAs (which rely on temperamental aromatic hops) have made many hop varieties more scarce in the U.S. According to the Hop Growers of America, the average price for a pound of hops was $1.88 in 2004. In 2013, the price jumped to $3.59 per pound.

Bittering hops usually have a high alpha acid content. Aroma hops, with low-to-medium alpha levels, mainly offer characteristic hop aromas. Demand for these aroma hops continues to increase: Almost 42 percent of U.S. hop acreage was dedicated to aroma hops in 2012. A year later, that number had risen to an estimated 63 percent—and is expected to continue to increase.

The price increase in hops is one of the reasons many brewers have started producing “single-hop” beers. Another reason: Single-hop beers honor the hop varietal. Each hop variety possesses unique flavors, whether piney, floral or citrusy. Much like adding spices to a meal,

hops add the seasoning to a beer—and singling out hops lets them shine on their own.

As Boston Beer President C. Jim Koch once stated, “Hops are to beer what grapes are to wine.”

All hop varietals come in one of two forms: Whole-leaf hops: During harvest, whole dried hop cones are removed from the plants, dried and compressed into bales. Leaf hops are believed to have greater aromatic qualities and are often used after fermentation in dryhopping. To increase hop aroma, leaf-hop additions can be made at end of a boil so more of the volatile oils are captured. There are some downsides to whole-leaf hops: Because leaves will absorb some water from the wort, there will be a volume loss. Leaves can also clog equipment.

Pellets: Dried hop cones are shredded, compressed and extruded into pellets. They are the craft-beer-industry standard, because of the advantages in measuring, storage and shelf life. They stay fresher longer, because they have less surface area to oxidize. There’s also higher extraction due to more exposable surface area.

However, because of the drying, they tend to lose some of their aromatic quality.

Hop varieties are chosen for the properties of bitterness, flavor or bouquet that they lend to the beer, helping to balance the sweetness of malt sugars. Beer would be annoyingly sweet without it.

The most widely used American-style hops include: Cascade: One of the most popular varieties, this hop has a moderate bitterness level and a fragrant, flowery aroma. It’s typically used in West Coast ales. The iconic Sierra Nevada Pale Ale propelled the Cascade hop. Other notable cascade beers include Deschutes Brewery’s

As Boston Beer President C. Jim Koch once stated, “Hops are to beer what grapes are to wine.” LUCKYSTARR VIA WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Mirror Pond Pale Ale and Anchor Brewing’s Liberty IPA. Chinook: With a high (11-13 percent) acid range, Chinook has distinctive pine and spicy flavors. The alluring pine-and-grapefruit aroma makes it popular in American-style pale ales.

Amarillo: Used primarily for aroma, these medium-bittering hops come from Washington. They give off unique flowery, citrus notes and are commonly used in American IPAs, American ales and wheat beers.

To taste a single-hop Amarillo beer, pick up a Rogue’s Yellow Snow IPA, Noble Ale Works Amarillo Showers, or Mikkeller Single Hop Amarillo IPA. Centennial: A relatively new hop on the market, Centennial is often used for highly hopped pale ales and IPAs. Notable Centennial beers include Bell’s Brewery’s Two Hearted Ale and Flying Dog Brewery’s Centennial Single Hop Imperial IPA. Galaxy: This hot, newish Australian-grown hop variety showcases grassy, citrus and passion-fruit notes. It can be found in beers like Anchorage Brewing’s Galaxy White IPA or Noble Ale Works’ Galaxy Showers Imperial IPA. Citra: This widely popular aromatic hop resulted from a cross-breed of several varieties

from the United Kingdom, Germany and the U.S. After Sierra Nevada introduced Citra in 2009 in the Torpedo IPA, it quickly became one of the beer world’s most-sought-after hops. It’s spotlighted in Three Floyds Zombie Dust and Kern River Citra. Also try Ventura-based Surf Brewery’s Shaka Citra Session IPA. If you’re looking for a locally brewed and refreshing “hop bomb” of a beer, try Coachella Valley Brewing Co.’s newly released Coriollis Effect. It’s a wet-hop imperial IPA brewed with fresh Sorachi Ace and Amarillo hops. CVB also incorporated a ton of Southern Hemisphere hops; in fact, this beer includes nearly 10 pounds of hops per barrel.

Coachella Valley Brewing purchases hops from seven countries and works with 10 different brokers to get their much-needed bittering flowers.

“We even buy farm-direct from growers in Yakima and Willamette valleys,” said Anderson.

Just for fun, Anderson grows about 16 varieties of hops on his personal property.

Tests done on hop oils have found more than 400 different compounds. That’s a lot of flavor potential. It proves that hops not only put the bitter in beer—but the character in the craft.

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OCTOBER 2014

FOOD & DRINK

Restaurant NEWS BITES

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By Jimmy Boegle EAST VALLEY RESTAURANT WEEK Let’s face it: As great as Palm Springs Desert Resorts Restaurant Week is, the vast majority of the participants in the May-June event are located in Palm Springs, Palm Desert or somewhere in between.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

However, there’s a lot right about the new East Valley Restaurant Week, a creation of the Indio Chamber of Commerce. According to CVDining.com, the event “will showcase restaurants throughout the eastern portion of our valley, from the cove of La Quinta to the emerging developments in North Indio,” from Thursday, Oct. 23 through Saturday, Nov. 1.

As of this writing, 14 places are listed as partner restaurants, ranging from old favorites like the Shields Date Garden Café and El Rincon Norteño, to newer hotspots like JOY at Fantasy Springs, to … Sizzler? Yes, Sizzler. Anyway, each participating restaurant will feature at least two discounted popular menu items during the week.

Also included are satellite events, including the Taste of the East Valley Sampler, at Shields, 80225 Highway 111 in Indio, from 4 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22; admission is $10.

Get the list of participants and more information at CVdining.com.

ANOTHER RESTAURANT CROWD-SOURCING CAMPAIGN: BART LOUNGE The minds behind Bart Lounge are calling it “the art bar and live music venue”—and they want your help in bringing this “creative fusion of art, alcohol and live music” to fruition.

Here’s what we know about Bart Lounge: Michael Murphy, 27, is the driving force behind the proposed bar. He said he’s raised most of the $75,000 he needs to open the doors sometime in early 2015, but he’s launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise about $22,250, running through Oct. 9.

“I really wanted a place where I could bring the snooty art gallery world into a more-laid-back, casual setting,” Murphy said in a news release. “You know, a place where you could grab a beer and check out some art without some jerk security guard breathing down your neck.”

Murphy said the bar would also have a small dance floor and host live music.

What we don’t know: Where Bart Lounge would actually be located. Murphy said the spot can’t be revealed until the “final lease is signed,” and that had apparently not happened as of our press deadline.

(A picture on the Bart Lounge Facebook page may offer a clue: It showed a “design board” with Cathedral City listed as the location. But who knows?)

Want to contribute to the cause, or at least get more info? Head to BartLounge.com, or visit the Bart Lounge Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bartlounge.

NEW: LA SUERTE AT SPOTLIGHT 29 Coachella’s Spotlight 29 has added a new Mexican restaurant to its mix.

La Suerte opened in September in the spot once occupied by JEM Steakhouse, and offers Mexican specialties in addition to steaks and seafood.

La Suerte opens at 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. To make reservations or peruse the menu, head to www.spotlight29.com/dining/suerte.php. ’TIS THE SEASON: SUMMER CLOSURES COMING TO AN END It’s October, and that means nearly all of the restaurants that closed their doors during the toasty summer months will be reopening this month, if they haven’t already—and some of the restaurants will be showing off some improvements, too.

Take Vicky’s of Santa Fe, for example. The restaurant, located at 45100 Club Drive, in Indian Wells, will reopen Friday, Oct. 3, with a party featuring jazz musician Janis Mann. The restaurant will be showing off a new courtyard and entrance featuring paving stones, as well as new flooring and furnishings inside.

There’s also a new website at www.vickysofsantafe.com, where you can find menus, a music schedule and much more.

IN BRIEF Congrats to Dish Creative Cuisine, formerly of Cathedral City and opening soon at 1107 N. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. It was recently named one of OpenTable.com’s Top 100 Fit for Foodies Restaurants in America. … Simon Kitchen and Bar at the Hard Rock Palm Springs, 150 S. Indian Canyon Drive, opened Wednesday, Sept. 24. The executive chef at the Kerry Simon venture is Jeremy Saccardi, formerly of the Parker Palm Springs. … Sad news: The owner of Hamburger Mary’s Palm Springs, which is located at 415 N. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, announced on the restaurant’s Facebook page that he would not be reopening the restaurant in the fall—although the post seemed to leave the door open for a possible new owner. If that happens, we’ll let you know. … The Palm Springs Air Museum’s Seventh Annual Chili Cook Off and Classic Car Show takes place on Saturday, Oct. 25. The chili-tasting goes from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m.; get six tastes for $5, plus museum admission. Get more details at www.palmspringsairmuseum.org.

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•• Jesika Von Rabbit Preps for Halloween •• The Dandy Warhols Headline Pappy and Harriet’s Desert Stars Festival •• Larry Van Horn, Life of the Party •• The Blueskye Report •• All Night Shoes' FRESH Mix Celebrates One Year www.cvindependent.com/music

Bassist/Producer Scott Reeder Helps Spread Our Homegrown Music Genre Around the World

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A DESERT ROCK PIONEER

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MUSIC

LOCAL LEGEND GOES SOLO WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

Jesika Von Rabbit Takes a Break From Gram Rabbit to Make ‘The Devil’s Dance Music’

By Brian Blueskye lmost everyone in the Coachella Valley and high desert music scenes knows the name Jesika von Rabbit. Heck, she even has a menu item named after her at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace.

However, not everyone knows about the person behind that famous name.

Her half-eponymous band, Gram Rabbit, is currently on a break— no, the band has not broken up—and von Rabbit has been spending time completing her first solo album and playing shows locally and regionally.

The story of Jesika von Rabbit starts in Green Bay, Wis. “I was kind of a musician naturally by birth. I think I came out of the womb as a musician,” she said, with a laugh, during a recent interview. “My mother was a singer; she sang in cover bands in Green Bay, and she also sang in some commercial jingles. So I grew up with a singer for a mother, and my mom started me out on piano lessons around the time I was in first-grade. I loved music from a young age, given I was around it. I knew that was what I wanted to do.”

While she has happy memories of Green Bay, von Rabbit felt that she had to get out of Wisconsin.

“As far as growing up there, I always felt like a fish out of water,” she said. “I really couldn’t wait to move away. One of the cool things about my high school years is that there was a really cool and thriving punk-rock scene that I had discovered when I was 14, and all these punk bands would play at this Polish dance hall right down the street from my house, so I got to see a lot of punk bands like the Dickies when I was really young. I saw Soul Asylum before they blew up, and all kinds of cool stuff. That was my outlet, given I wasn’t into football, hunting and cheese so much.”

She moved to Minneapolis when she was 19, and eventually left there for Los Angeles before finding her way to the desert—where she’s been ever since.

“I was living in Los Angeles, and I was kind of drowning a little bit,” she said. “I was a little lost while trying to put a band together in Los Angeles, and a couple of my friends at the time rented a house out in Joshua Tree. I came out to visit, and there was something about it—it was a little strange, and there weren’t that many people, but there was something about it that I liked, and there was something drawing me to it. My friends had a big house and offered me a spare room if I wanted to move out to Joshua Tree. I moved to Joshua

Tree; I loved it, and I started to writing so much music—and I’ve never left.”

In 2003, von Rabbit met Todd Rutherford, with whom she would go on to form Gram Rabbit. Success for the band came fairly quickly: Gram Rabbit earned a spot on Coachella’s main stage in 2005, and has put out six albums. Gram Rabbit has been featured in various commercial campaigns, and the band’s music has been used in films such as Crazy, Stupid, Love; War, Inc.; and Interview; as well as TV shows such as The Real World, Sons of Anarchy and Crash.

Recently, Gram Rabbit decided to take a break, and von Rabbit seized the opportunity to put together a project that she calls “the devil’s dance music.” During her solo live performances as of late, she has been handling all of the keyboard and sampling duties with help from her “Grundles.”

“I’m a musician, and I constantly have to be making music,” she said. “Gram Rabbit just kind of needed a break, and we’ve been doing it for a long time, but I’m constantly writing songs and getting ideas, so if Gram Rabbit isn’t going to be active right now, I’m still going to be active.

“Instead of sitting here and trying to put a new band together with new people that come with their own problems such as scheduling and this and that, I found this to be easier for me. I figured I’ll just be a solo act; I’ll have the Grundles, and it’s not necessarily that I want to be a solo act, but it’s hard to find the right people, and starting a new band takes a lot of work. It wasn’t something I sat down and planned, but I’m doing this now, and I enjoy it.”

Her solo material may surprise Gram Rabbit fans—but it’s undeniably fun. With songs such as “Glamorous Misery,” “Psychic Spice,”

Jesika von Rabbit: “Gram Rabbit just kind of needed a break, and we’ve been doing it for a long time, but I’m constantly writing songs and getting ideas, so if Gram Rabbit isn’t going to be active right now, I’m still going to be active.” MARINA CHAVEZ

“Put Your Weight on Me” and “Gaydar,” she’s exploring new territory. She’s taken the act on the road, playing dates locally and throughout California.

One memorable gig came at San Francisco’s Gay Pride celebration this summer. The driver who was assigned to take Jesika von Rabbit and the Grundles to the stage was late to pick them up, she said.

“The car was moving inches every minute, and I was about to have a heart attack,” she said. “I had to be there at 1:30 p.m., and we got picked up at 1 p.m., and they don’t run behind, so if you’re late, you don’t play. We made it seven minutes before we were supposed to get onstage, and I get out of the town car, go onstage—and I see 200,000-plus people. I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ I was so nervous, and I felt like a football player approaching a big game.

“I thought of two possibilities: I’m either going to kill it and do awesome, or I’m going to sink, and it’s going to be horrifying. I went for it the whole time, and I rocked out, and I did it. It was awesome, and I had a great time.”

She performed “Ring of Fire” with Jello Biafra at a recent show in the high desert. “If you would have told me when I was 14 I would someday do that, I wouldn’t have believed you,” she said.

She has a busy fall ahead of her, including a performance at the Desert Stars Festival at Pappy and Harriet’s on Saturday, Oct. 4, and Gram Rabbit’s Halloween dates at Pappy’s later

in the month.

“I’m always excited to play festivals at Pappy’s,” she said about the Desert Stars Festival. “I’m probably going to be the only dance-music act there, given it’s mostly psychedelic rock bands. I’m always worried when I play in that situation, given there are a lot of music-snob people in that scene, to where if you don’t sound like Pink Floyd meets whomever, you’re not cool,” she said with a laugh.

She promised the Gram Rabbit Halloween shows would be crazy fun.

“We’re going to do two of those (Halloween shows) this year,” she said. “We did one last year, and it was so crazy in there, you couldn’t even move. Robyn (Celia), one of the owners of Pappy’s, and I thought, ‘Why don’t we do two nights?’ We’ll give people a chance if they couldn’t make one night to see the other night.

We’re going to have two opening bands. The first night, we’re going to have O’Death, and the second night, we’re going to have my friends Well Hung Heart from Orange County.”

THE 10TH ANNUAL HALLOWEEN PARTY WITH GRAM RABBIT TAKES PLACE AT 8 P.M., FRIDAY, OCT. 31, AND 9 P.M., SATURDAY, NOV. 1, AT PAPPY AND HARRIET’S PIONEERTOWN PALACE, 53688 PIONEERTOWN ROAD, IN PIONEERTOWN. ADMISSION IS $15 EACH NIGHT. FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 760-365-5956, OR VISIT PAPPYANDHARRIETS.COM.

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MUSIC

BOHEMIAN HEROES

The Dandy Warhols Headline Pappy and Harriet’s Desert Stars Festival

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye t the height of the grunge movement, the Dandy Warhols were bucking the trend and pushing forward with an innovative psychedelic sound that included elements of rock and pop.

Two decades later, the Portland, Ore., band is still popular, and will play at the Desert Stars Festival on Saturday, Oct. 4, at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace.

The story of the Dandy Warhols starts in 1994. Courtney Taylor-Taylor (vocals, guitar) and Peter Holmström (guitar) were looking to start a band. After Taylor-Taylor’s girlfriend didn’t work out on bass, he replaced her with Zia McCabe.

Their early shows in Portland were provocative and featured nudity—along with music that gained the attention of Tim/Kerr Records, which released the band’s 1995 debut, Dandys Rule OK. Soon after, the band signed with Capitol Records. A rumor circulated that Capitol spiked the band’s second record because it didn’t have any apparent hits on it. (The band released that album later on, calling it The Black Album.)

During a recent phone interview, Holmström addressed the rumor.

“We actually recorded a record, never finished it and then went on tour,” Holmström said. “We kind of decided that we needed to just restart the whole process. That whole thing about The Black Album being turned down by the label is a myth. They never heard it, so they never had the chance to turn it down. We ran out of time to finish it on that first go.”

The Dandy Warhols

The Dandy Warhols’ actual follow-up record, … The Dandy Warhols Come Down, was released by Capitol in 1997. The song “Every Day Should Be a Holiday” was a minor hit and appeared on the There’s Something About Mary soundtrack.

The band released its third album, Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia, in 2000. It included one of the band’s biggest hits to date, “Bohemian Like You,” which became popular in part because it was featured in a mobile-phone commercial.

Holmström said he was unsure when asked if Thirteen Tales represents band’s best work.

“It’s the album where what we planned on doing, we actually achieved,” Holmström said.

“I don’t know if it’s our best, but maybe the most fully realized, for sure. It was recorded and came out during a time when it was the end of recording records. That’s completely changed the way that we work now, with Pro

Tools. You can (now) go into the studio with a really rough idea and just keep working on it until it becomes a song. Back then, we actually had to rehearse the songs before we went into the studio. It seemed like back then, you had to be more of a band, and you actually had to be able to play.”

The band members received the opportunity of a lifetime when they were selected by David Bowie to play the Meltdown in 2002, the year he curated the London festival.

“He was apparently a big fan of Thirteen Tales, he came and saw us a number of times, and then asked us to play at this festival he was curating at the time in London. We got up and played ‘White Light/White Heat’ with him and his band. It was incredibly nerve-racking, because we had maybe one run-through at sound check and didn’t know it really all that well, but it was a lot of fun. Then he asked us to be on tour with him for two months, which was incredibly awesome, too. He always seems to be aware of what is going on. … He got really big into Arcade Fire after us.”

In 2004, the documentary Dig! was released, showing the early years of both the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols.

During the early years of the Dandys, the members befriended the members of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. In fact, the song “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth,” on …

The Dandy Warhols Come Down, was dedicated to the Brian Jonestown Massacre. The documentary suggested there was a strained relationship between the bands, and portrayed the Brian Jonestown Massacre in a negative light. Both bands have since expressed disdain for the documentary—although the film did have its benefits.

“I like to believe it’s now helping a little bit,” Holmström said. “At first, it definitely hurt, because it didn’t boost our profile in any way.

We had put out ‘Bohemian Like You’ … and we were bigger than we ever were, and then that came out, and then there were more reviews which should have been about our record … that were reviews of the movie, essentially.

But it definitely helped the Brian Jonestown Massacre. It brought them up to pretty much the same level … without the help of a major label.

“Both bands have been touring this year, and we were chasing them around the UK, playing all the same venues a few days or a week apart.”

Holmström said he’s uncertain whether the Dandy Warhols will record again. The band’s most recent studio album, This Machine, came out in 2012.

“I like to believe it still matters,” Holmström said about recording music. “A lot of times, promoters won’t book you unless you have a new product to promote, which is strange, because it’s not the records that are making money, but the touring that makes money. It’s completely backward from how it used to be.”

THE DANDY WARHOLS WILL PERFORM ON SATURDAY, OCT. 4, AS PART OF THE DESERT STARS FESTIVAL, WHICH TAKES PLACE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, OCT. 3 AND 4, AT PAPPY AND HARRIET’S PIONEERTOWN PALACE, 53688 PIONEERTOWN ROAD, IN PIONEERTOWN. A SATURDAY PASS IS $45; A WEEKEND PASS IS $65. FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION, CALL 760-365-5956, OR VISIT PAPPYANDHARRIETS.COM OR WWW.DESERTSTARSFESTIVAL.COM.

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MUSIC

THE LIFE OF

THE PARTY

Meet Larry Van Horn, the Coolest Dancing 70-Year-Old You’ll Ever Meet

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye hen Jesika Von Rabbit takes the stage these days, she’s often accompanied by a 70-year-old man who’s dancing his tail off.

Meet the life of the party, Larry Van Horn, aka OO Soul.

Van Horn grew up in Atherton, Calif., in what he described as a wealthy family. He eventually attended the University of Southern California.

“USC … is what they call a closed campus,” Van Horn said during a recent interview. “Back in the ’60s, even though they had Fraternity Row—which is a few blocks away from the main campus—you could not visibly have alcohol at a fraternity party.

When the fraternities would organize their parties, they would organize them off-campus. That created a very unique campus atmosphere as far as weekend activities go, in and around USC.” Van Horn lived in an apartment building off-campus.

“I wanted to have a social life,” Van Horn said. “I had enough money to be able to do my own thing and could get my own apartment, which provided me with a recreation room, in which I could throw parties. I also had a car and enough disposable income to where I could put together the rudimentary equipment you’d need for a party.”

Van Horn, a fan of Motown music, was able to organize some memorable parties.

“Because I had the money, I procured the music, and I also DJ’d the music. That’s how the whole Motown thing came into play,” he said. “I was intrigued with the music, and I was intrigued with the dancing. A lot of the moves you see me do onstage now were inspired by Motown and my days at USC. My nickname, OO Soul—that was inspired by a song done by Edwin Starr called ‘Agent Double-O Soul.’”

The parties reportedly became legendary.

“I had an old record player, and we’d play ’45s. We’d put a stack of records on and just let them go, one after another, and we’d be dancing to them all night. We were doing linedancing before Soul Train, which didn’t come out until 10 years later.”

Following his graduation from USC, he found himself self-employed and living in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. Larry, being Larry, soon found himself involved with a local disco.

“The discotheques needed equipment that CVIndependent.com

was produced in the states—turntables, record needles, strobe lights and all kinds of different supplies you needed to maintain the atmosphere of the discotheque, including the music, which was all disco music,” Van Horn said. “I subscribed to Billboard and was constantly keeping up with the music. The owners would give me money when I would leave Mexico, and they’d say, ‘Bring us back $200 or $300 worth of albums.’ They were looking for someone who had expertise and knowledge of this music—and that was me.”

He was in a relationship with a woman he planned to marry. However, his mother was stricken by Parkinson’s disease, and he decided to return to the United States to take care of her.

“I didn’t realize at the time when I committed to take care of her that she would live as long as she did. I started taking care of my mother in 1988, and the commitment in doing so completely changed my life,” Van Horn said. “I didn’t have the freedom to go down to Los Mochis as much as I liked; I didn’t have the opportunity or circumstances where I could leave her for long periods of time. It became a choice: Care for her, and abandon my dreams of Mexico; or abandon her, and go to Mexico. I chose my mother.

“I was involved in caring for her from 1988 until she died in 2001.”

While he took care of his mother, he found comfort in food.

“I put a lot of weight on, because I didn’t know how to cook until I started taking care of my mother,” Van Horn said. “I got extremely obese, which made it a lot easier not to be concerned about traveling

anywhere, because I got so obese I couldn’t even travel. Just driving 30 minutes in my car was a real challenge. My back couldn’t support the weight that I had, and it was a disaster. When I started taking care of my mother, I was about 225 pounds, and I went from that to almost 500 pounds. I don’t know (the weight) exactly, because I didn’t have a scale that could weigh me—and I didn’t really want to know.”

He eventually started to lose weight in 2007, simply by watching the amount of calories he consumed. After he moved to the Yucca Valley area in 2010, he began Zumbadancing at his gym. He beat colon cancer last year, he said, and has been working to lose more weight.

Not too long ago, a chance encounter at the gym led to the return of Larry Van Horn, Life of the Party.

“I met Jesika (von Rabbit) in the gym,” Van Horn said. “She came into the room where we had been doing Zumba, and I was dancing freestyle to a song, and Jesika saw me. I

didn’t realize she was watching me. Twenty minutes later, she came up to me in another area of the gym and asked me if I had ever danced publicly. I told her, ‘No. You sure you got the right guy?’ She was producing a music video and wanted to know if I would perform in the music video.”

Van Horn went on to become part of Jesika Von Rabbit’s live show—instantly charming her fans. Other musicians soon began taking notice, too; Brandon Henderson of The Pedestrians demanded that Van Horn come to a recent show at The Hood in Palm Desert, for example. Van Horn has quickly become the talk of the music scenes in the low and high desert.

Did Van Horn ever imagine anything like this would happen to him this late in his life?

“Hell no!” Van Horn said. “I’m in a twilight zone! I have you youngsters telling me, ‘You’re such an inspiration. I hope I get to be you when I’m 70 years old.’ I have people telling me that all over the place.”

In 2006, Larry Van Horn weighed about 500 pounds. To lose weight, he took up Zumba-dancing—and was “discovered” by Jesika von Rabbit. Today, the dancing 70-year-old is the talk of the local music scene.

GUILLERMO PRIETO/IROCKPHOTOS.NET

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The Blueskye REPORT

MUSIC

DESERT ROCK

CHRONICLES

October 2014

By Brian Blueskye

Bassist/Producer Scott Reeder Helps Spread Desert Rock Around the World

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

BY ROBIN LINN cott Reeder is one of the early pioneers of desert rock. In fact, no one man has been more pivotal to the sounds that have gone on to shape the core of our desert’s music scene than this drummer, bassist, producer and sound engineer.

Reeder has enjoyed a brilliant music career—as a bassist in some of the most noteworthy bands in metal, doom and stoner rock, and on the other side of the soundboard as a producer. He’s sometimes referred to as “The Magic Man,” because bands travel across the globe to benefit from his technical prowess in the studio; he’s worked with Karma to Burn, The Freeks, Black Math Horseman, Low Fly Incline and Atala, just to name a few bands. Reeder is known for reinventing the wheel, revamping vintage gear and drawing on fresh technology to achieve unique recordings.

Reeder has been at the heart of the desert’s music scene since its earliest hints of existence.

His first bands were Subservice and Dead Issue, which formed in 1981. He actually started out on drums, but he switched when Dead Issue lost its bass player. He relinquished the throne to Alfredo Hernandez and picked up the bass … never to put it down again.

He later went on to form another desert music project, Target 13, and then in the mid-’80s teamed up with Mario Lalli (Fatso Jetson) to create what may have been the first authentic stoner-rock jam band, Across the River.

Reeder recently went through the painstaking process of transferring some of those old Across the River recordings from tape to digital format. Listening to the almost50-minute recording on YouTube (read the online version of this story to see it), I was taken aback: The free-form heavy jams were quite sophisticated for players so young and so new to music, and the music was quite reflective of the desert environment where it was created.

In 1991, Reeder signed with doom-metal band The Obsessed, led by Scott (Wino) Weinrich, the first of many groups with which he would tour overseas. That gig may have gone on forever if not for a twist in fate—a call to replace bassist Nick Oliveri in what may be the most influential band to come out of our desert, Kyuss.

That worldwide influence of Kyuss can’t be overstated. Herba Mate in Italy, Low Fly Incline in Australia, Truckfighters in Sweden,

Black Mastiff in Canada, Steak in London— all of these groups call themselves “desert rock” bands. These bands have one thing in common: their love of Kyuss and the music that has come out of our region. Dave Grohl, Chris Goss and some of the heaviest hitters in rock sing Kyuss’ praises again and again. When Josh Homme left the group to form Queens of the Stone Age, that marked the end of Kyuss’ live shows, but the music lived on, and every member of that project has gone on to enjoy fantastic careers.

For many Kyuss fans, the two records that Reeder recorded with the group, Welcome to Sky Valley and … And the Circus Leaves Town, reflect some of the band’s most in-depth work. Reeder seems to lend a darker musical atmosphere to the jams and brings a real vintage desert-rock vibe to the mix.

“Scott is one of the best bassists on the planet, yet (he’s) such a humble man, you would never know it being in his presence,” said guitarist Kyle Stratton, of Atala and Rise of the Willing, who recently recorded at Reeder’s studio, The Sanctuary. “His work with Across the River really started the desert sound. Kyuss is one of the most legendary bands of all time. This man has played in some of the heaviest underground bands ever while walking on the cusp of the mainstream.

“As a producer, he is amazing. He really understands how to capture and sculpt an underground band into something listenable.”

Reeder recorded and performed with bands such as Nebula, Goatsnake, Tool, Unida, Sun and Sail Club, and Fireball Ministry; he also pursued his own solo career.

Reeder this year returned to bass-maker Warwick’s Bass Camp in Europe, where he was

October is here, and in theory, we should begin to get some relief from the oppressive heat.

In theory.

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino has two excellent events coming up that you probably shouldn’t miss. First, the Experience Hendrix Tour will be coming through at 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11. The lineup is packed with big names, including Buddy Guy, Billy Cox, Zakk Wylde, Jonny Lang and many others.

As you can probably guess from the name, the tour pays homage to Jimi Hendrix, and has been going for more than a decade. Tickets are $29 to $69. And now for something completely different: Cheech and Chong and WAR will

Cheech and Chong: Fantasy Springs. Oct. 24

Scott Reeder: “As in my music, in life, it all seems to work out just fine with no plan!” ANDREW STUART

alongside greats such as Victor Wooten, Dave Ellefson, Gary Willis and Bobby Vega. Reeder has been endorsed by Warwick for some years now, a relationship that has proved to be beneficial to both parties. Reeder reports that the trip was amazing—other than a brush with death when the driver of the bus filled with talent fell asleep at the wheel.

I asked Reeder what he had coming up.

“I have a completely refurbished 2-inch-tape machine arriving at The Sanctuary,” he said. “It will be a big turning point, going back to the way we worked in the late ’80s when I really started out. Hopefully, more great bands will be coming in to work together, and hopefully, I’ll be getting to play on more records, maybe with Fireball Ministry and Sun and Sail Club.”

“As in my music, in life, it all seems to work out just fine with no plan!”

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON REEDER, VISIT SCOTTREEDER. COM. READ MORE FROM ROBIN LINN AT RMINJTREE. BLOGSPOT.COM.

be stopping by at 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 24.

Cheech and Chong are the comedy world’s biggest stoners, of course, thanks in part to films such as Up in Smoke, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie, and Nice Dreams. And if anybody asks, Dave’s not here, man. Tickets are $29 to $69. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 800-827-2946; www. fantasyspringsresort.com.

Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa has two fine events scheduled. The Beach Boys will be performing at 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3.

Former Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson came through the Coachella Valley in late August, so a performance by the Beach Boys should be a nice follow-up; however, keep in mind that technically, Mike Love is the only original member of this group of Beach Boys, although Bruce Johnston, a touring member since 1965, is also part of the lineup. There’s no word on whether or not John Stamos will be performing on the drums. Tickets are $45 to $75. Creedence Clearwater Revisited will be performing at 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 17, featuring Creedence Clearwater Revival members Stu Cook (bass) and Doug Clifford (drums). The group formed in 1995 to play a couple of shows that a friend of theirs wanted to put on—and then they decided to tour. This did not sit well with Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty; Fogerty filed suit against Cook and Clifford, forcing them to perform under a different name until the courts ruled in favor of Cook and Clifford. Tickets are $40 to $60. The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-999-1995; www.hotwatercasino.com. Continued on next page ➠ CVIndependent.com

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Morongo Casino Resort Spa has a couple of events worth mentioning. They’re back: Thunder From Down Under returns to Morongo at 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3. Tickets are $25. If mostly naked men aren’t your thing, you’ll be happy to know that Paquita la del Barrio will be performing at 9 p.m., Friday, Oct. 24. The renowned singer has been fighting sexism in Mexico since 1970—and she’ll put you on the spot if you give her any flak. This is a show definitely worth checking out. Tickets are $59 to $69. Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-252-4499; www. morongocasinoresort.com.

The Purple Room reopened as The Purple Room Restaurant and Stage just before Labor Day. Machin’, The Judy Show and The Michael Holmes Trio still have their usual weekly residencies, and the fine folks there have added the David Ring Duo on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. They play jazz and old favorites from the American Songbook. There is no cover. The Gand Band will be ending their snowbird season in Chicago and returning to the Purple Room at 8:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3. Tickets are $10. The Gand Band is also leading some themed events in October, such as Tiki Chic on Friday, Oct. 10, and an ’80s Halloween on Friday, Oct. 31. The Purple Room Restaurant and Stage, 1900 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs; 760-322-4422; www. purpleroompalmsprings.com.

The Copa in Palm Springs has a full calendar in October. At 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 2, and 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3, Suzanne Westenhoefer

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OCTOBER 2014

will be appearing. Known as a panelist on GSN’s I’ve Got a Secret, and for her LOGO Television comedy special A Bottom on Top, this lesbian comedian will have you laughing for sure.

Tickets are $20 to $40. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, Gloria Loring will be stopping by.

The actress and singer has released several albums and helped compose the theme songs for Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life. Fun fact: She was married to Alan Thicke—and is Robin Thicke’s mom. Tickets are $40 to $60. Jazz singer/songwriter Tony DeSare will be appearing at 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 18.

DeSare’s songs have appeared in films such as The Tooth Fairy and My Date With Drew. Tickets are $20 to $40. Copa, 244 E. Amado Road, Palm Springs; 760-866-0021; www.copapalmsprings. com.

Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace has booked several great shows. Dawes will be stopping by at 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11.

The Los Angeles folk-rock band has played the late-night talk shows, performed with Jackson Browne at an Occupy Wall Street event, and received acclaim from critics and fans alike for their albums. Tickets are $25. At 8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15, The New Pornographers will be performing an outdoor show. The band’s blend of pop and indie-rock has made them popular since they formed in 1999. If that’s not enough to convince you, consider the lineup: Neko Case, Dan Bejar of Destroyer, Kathryn Calder of Immaculate Machine, John Collins of The Evaporators, Todd Fancey of Limblifter, and independent filmmaker Blaine Thurier.

Wow. Tickets are $30. Tycho with Com Truise

will be at Pappy’s at 7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 26.

Tycho is a well-known ambient-music artist and producer, and Com Truise is a solid name in dance music. Tickets are $25. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-365-5956; www.pappyandharriets.com.

The Hard Rock Hotel’s schedule is heating up.

At 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 24, it will be “DiveIn Movies” night, with the Palm Springs Film Society screening the Talking Heads concert film, Stop Making Sense, in the pool area. It’s a perfect pairing of venue and film, isn’t it?

Admission is free. BB Ingle will be having his Annual Halloween Bash at 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 31. I can vouch for the fact that it’s a lot of fun.

Tickets are $20 in advance, or $30 at the door; 21 and older only. Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs, 150 S. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs; 760325-9676; www.hrhpalmsprings.com.

Bar is hosting a special event at 9:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9. The Rebel Noise will be playing the first show of the band’s California tour for the hometown crowd. Also on the bill are CIVX and former War Drum guitarist John Marek. Admission is free. Bar, 340 N. Palm Canyon, Palm Springs; 760-537-7337, www. barwastaken.com.

The Hood Bar and Pizza has two events that should not be missed. At 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3, punk veterans Guttermouth will be returning to The Hood. The controversial and humorous punk band puts on an excellent show. Tickets are $10. At 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 31, the Koffin Kats will be stopping by for a Halloween show.

The Detroit psychobilly group’s performance

Koffin Kats: The Hood, Oct. 31

would be a perfect way to celebrate Halloween.

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

The Date Shed is back with an encouraging calendar of events going into 2015. At 9 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, rapper and producer Warren G will be performing. In 1994, his song "Regulate" was a major hit. Tickets are $25.

The Date Shed, 50725 Monroe St., Indio; 760-7756699; www.dateshedmusic.com.

Here’s some advance notice about an earlyNovember event: Celebrate the Day of the Dead on Saturday, Nov. 1, and Sunday, Nov. 2, at the Dia De Los Muertos festival in Coachella, at Rancho Las Flores Park. Scheduled to perform are Chicano Batman, Noel Torres, Banda Nachos, La Santa Cecilia, La Bikina and others.

There will be food vendors, art exhibitions, and many other things Day of the Dead. This is a great event for all ages. Tickets start at $20.

Rancho Las Flores Park is located at 48350 Van Buren St. in Coachella. For more information, visit www.diadelosmuertosusa.com.

OCTOBER 2014

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FRESH SESSIONS WITH ALL NIGHT SHOES: OCTOBER 2014

MUSIC

the

LUCKY 13

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye Shane Wetzel

NAME Shane Wetzel GROUP Subourbon Outlaw MORE INFO Once a member of the Hellions, Wetzel is currently the frontman and guitarist of Subourbon Outlaw. More info at www. facebook.com/subourbonoutlaw.

What was the first concert you attended?

Besides all the house-party shows and desertgenerator shows in the ’90s, it would be the Rancid and Voodoo Glow Skulls show, at a local spot called Rhythm and Brews in Indio.

What was the first album you owned?

The first album I purchased was Bad Religion’s Against the Grain.

What bands are you listening to right now?

I typically listen to a handful of bands on rotation and change out (each) month. … The most consistent rotation I would say is Social Distortion, Kyuss, Good Riddance, Johnny Cash, Riverboat Gamblers, Descendents, Reverend Horton Heat, and Transplants.

Generally, it’s mostly the older stuff on Epitaph, SST, Hellcat and Fat Wreck Chords.

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

Anything computer-generated, although if I knew how to dance, I would probably get it.

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

The Ramones.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Cheesy ’80s, 2 Pac and Deuce.

What’s your favorite music venue?

The one with alcohol and good bands playing!

Or the Nude Bowl! Ha ha!

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

“I don’t want to be buried, in a Pet Sematary,” Ramones, “Pet Sematary.”

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What band or artist changed your life?

How? Tim Armstrong, because he showed me that as long as you are YOURSELF, put your heart into it, and are a wolf instead of a sheep, you don’t have to sing perfect pitch to win over an audience.

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

I would ask Mike Ness of Social Distortion: “Do you compose your songs with the riffs and melodies first, then lyrics, or vice versa?”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Dun dun dun, another one bites the dust. … Just kidding. I would play “Tha Crossroads” by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, because that’s what was played at my little brother’s funeral. It would make sense, since it talks about being together again.

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

Pennywise, Pennywise.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Reach for the Sky,” by Social Distortion.

NAME Justin Ledesma GROUPS Sunday Funeral, The Caesareans MORE INFO Ledesma is the main creative force behind the blues-rock band Sunday Funeral, which has been entertaining local crowds since 2007. More at www.sundayfuneral.com.

What was the first concert you attended?

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Coming Out of Their Shells Tour. It was essentially a ninjaturtle boy band. It was held at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center in 1990, and I went three times.

What was the first album you owned?

My first vinyl record was Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe. I was about 10. First cassette album was The Ghostbusters soundtrack. First CD albums were Jimmy Page’s Outrider, and Queen’s A Night at the Opera—all of which I still love.

What bands are you listening to right now?

I just recently got way into Watsky. Besides that, I’ve loved My Chemical Romance since they hit the scene. … My other standard favorites over the years have been Judas Priest,

A Former Hellion and a Current Caesarean Reveal Themselves Justin Ledesma

PHOTO BY KEVIN FITZGERALD

Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Megadeth, Shinedown, Faith No More, The Black Crowes, Epic Rap Battles of History, The Human Failure Rate … and Burning Bettie. My all-time-favorite band is Cry of Love.

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

I like most music. I’m not a fan of most current pop music. I’m not a fan of most rap, but there are always exceptions. I’ve recently gotten really into Watsky, and it’s made me more open to other rap.

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

Iron Maiden. The other guitarist, Brian (Frang), and I missed seeing them when our “Alloy Stars” music video shoot coincided with Maiden’s most recent show near us.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

The Real Ghostbusters cartoon score. … I even use one of those instrumentals during the intro for Sunday Funeral’s song “Hell.”

What’s your favorite music venue?

Wherever I’m performing my original songs. It could be anywhere, as long as I’m doing what I love and entertaining people.

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

“I’m in my room making cardboard castles with shoestring rope. Soup spoon drawbridge, tinfoil moat. I’m still dreamin’ after all these years,” Watsky, “Cardboard Castles.”

What band or artist changed your life?

How? The Black Crowes. When I heard The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, it came to me at just the right time in my life.

This month, we’re celebrating one year of “FRESH Sessions,” and I have to thank all of you who have tuned in since the start. When I began writing this column, I wanted to share my love of electronic music with the valley. As the months have gone on, I have evolved as a DJ—and, of course, my sound has evolved as well.

I love the feeling dance music and house music give me. You can dance, be free, shake about—and when you look around, everyone in the room is doing the same thing. There are no pretentious attitudes and no negative judgments—just “good vibes,” as I like to say.

This column has evolved from simple words with a mix to live shows. This month, we will be celebrating at the Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 10 p.m. This will be a free event and will feature DJ sets from DJ Day, COLOUR VISION and myself.

Thank you all. I look forward to sharing more with you in the future. Here’s to another year! Listen to this special anniversary mix at CVIndependent.com.

• Jessie Andrews featuring Comets We Fall, “You Won’t Forget Tonight” • Me and My Toothbrush, “Sundown” (Croatia Squad Remix) • Endor, “Wiggle” • Moon Boots featuring Kyiki, “Don’t Ask Why” (Vanilla Ace and Barber Remix) • Gorgon City featuring Clean Bandit, “Intentions” (Club Mix) • Oliver, “Fast Forward” • TRU Concept and Endor featuring Romany, “Intentions” • Basement Jaxx, “What’s the News” • Ruffneck featuring Yavahn, “Everybody Be Somebody” (Lucas and Steve Remix) • The Voyagers featuring Haris, “A Lot Like Love” (Oliver Heldens Edit) • Alex Metric featuring Stefan Storm, “Heart Weighs a Ton” • Basement Jaxx, “Never Say Never” (Louis La Roche Remix) • Duck Sauce featuring Teddy Toothpick, “Everyone” • Adam F and Cory Enemy, “When It Comes to You,” featuring Dizzee Rascal and Margot (Vindata Remix)

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

Kurt Cobain: “Be honest: Did Courtney have you murdered?”

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Cry of Love, “Saving Grace.”

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

Judas Priest, Painkiller.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

Sunday Funeral, “Alloy Stars.”

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 39

OCTOBER 2014

COMICS & JONESIN’CROSSWORD

Across 1 Chow’s chow, perhaps 5 Western loop 10 Dr. Frankenstein’s gofer 14 Canal to the Red Sea 15 First name in b-o-l-o-g-n-a 16 Florida city, familiarly 17 He plays Tom Haverford on “Parks and Recreation” 19 Sent a quick note online 20 Verb finish 21 [Your comment amuses me] 22 Reuben’s home 23 Item in a nest in barn rafters 26 All over again 28 Madhouse 29 1970s soul group The ___-Lites 30 Long time period 32 High school wrestling team equipment 34 Nutella flavor 37 Ward, to the Beav 38 Persian poet Khayyam 39 Put into law 42 Altar exchanges 45 0, in soccer scores 47 Superhero in red and yellow 49 Downloadable show 53 Number in the upper left of this grid 54 “Born Free” rapper 55 “Ceci n’est pas ___ pipe” (Magritte caption)

56 Film on ponds 58 Like an infamous Dallas knoll 60 Academic period 62 Ms. Thurman 63 Made it into the paper 64 Acapulco assent 65 Second man to walk on the moon 70 Sneaker problem 71 John on the Mayflower 72 Party with glow sticks and pacifiers 73 Gram’s nickname 74 Put up with 75 Ogled Down 1 Blind ___ bat 2 Light, in La Paz 3 JFK Library architect 4 Harriet’s husband 5 Too far to catch up to 6 Total jerk 7 Teatro alla ___ (Milan opera house) 8 Asian wrap 9 The Who’s “Baba ___” 10 “The same place,” in footnotes 11 Wednesday’s father 12 American wildcat 13 They’re all set to play 18 Broadway backer 23 Cuatro y cuatro 24 1980s duo 25 Country singer-songwriter who

wrote hits for Merle Haggard 27 2000s Iraq war subject, briefly 31 Cloister sister 33 Inbox stuff 35 The Very Hungry Caterpillar author Carle 36 Work on your biceps?

40 Comedian Margaret 41 Amount equal to a million pennies 43 Ending for psych 44 One-horse carriage 46 Vegas headliner?

48 Born to be wild?

49 Dons, as clothes 50 New York silverware city 51 Goes diving, casually 52 Ruckus 57 Miata maker 59 Open author Agassi 61 Actress Sorvino 66 “Your Moment of ___” (The Daily Show feature) 67 Sliver of hope 68 “___ got a golden ticket ...”

69 “Stupid Flanders,” to Homer ©2014 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@ jonesincrosswords.com) Find the answers in the “about” section of CVIndependent.com!

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OCTOBER 2014

Deals available in the Independent Market as of October 1:

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!

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!

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.

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