Coachella Valley Independent December 2013

VOL.1 | ISSUE 5

By Deidre Pike Sniff The Cap, Page 25

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DECEMBER 2013

A Note From the Editor

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

Editor/Publisher Jimmy Boegle Assistant Editor Brian Blueskye Editorial Layout Wayne Acree Advertising Sales Matt Stauber Advertising Design Betty Jo Boegle

The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month.

All content is ©2013 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher.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) 9044208. The Independent may be distributed only by the Independent’s authorized distributors.

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

CVIndependent.com

COVER DESIGN BY wayne acree; PHOTOS COURTESY OF TULIP HILL WINERY

Contributors Richard Almada, Gustavo Arellano, John Backderf, Victor Barocas, Nicole C. Brambila, Max Cannon, Kevin Fitzgerald, Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Bob Grimm, Alex Harrington, ValerieJean (VJ) Hume, Keith Knight, Christina Lange, Marylee Pangman, Erin Peters, Deidre Pike, Anita Rufus, Jen Sorenson, Robert Victor

A businessman I used to know liked to talk up the fact that his restaurants were locally owned.

He pointed to studies showing the increased economic impacts of spending money at locally owned businesses when compared to non-locally owned businesses. One such study showed that $73 of every $100 spent at a locally owned business stayed in the local economy, whereas only $43 of every $100 spent at a non-locally owned business stayed.

(See this and other studies at www.localfirstaz.com/studies; I’d point you to a more local “Local First” website, but, alas, I couldn’t find one.)

However, he didn’t always put his money where his mouth was. When it came time to advertise, he didn’t spend with any of the local media; instead, he used Groupon. (Go figure.) That bit of hypocrisy aside, my businessman friend had a point: It’s always better to buy local whenever you can—and that’s a lesson that many in the Coachella Valley should learn.

That’s not to say that all chains are bad, nor is it to say that non-locally owned companies don’t often offer services or products in a better, cheaper way than locally owned business do. (For example, the Independent is printed by a non-locally owned company, because there is no locally owned alternative that makes any sense financially.)

But when it comes to, say, restaurants, there’s little excuse to go to a big chain when there are so many great local eateries around.

Trust me: There’s no reason to wait in line at the Cheesecake Factory when you can get food that is just as good, and probably cheaper, at hundreds of locations around the valley. It’s the same story with retail stores in many cases, too.

Of course, it drives me crazy to see how many businesses, many of them locally owned, spend far too much advertising money with the corporate-owned entities, when they could be getting more bang for their buck (AND seeing more of that money stay in the valley) by advertising with locally owned media, such as the CV Weekly, GayDesertGuide.com, CoachellaValleyNews.com—or, the best option of all (in my admittedly biased opinion), the Coachella Valley Independent.

Again, non-locally owned businesses have their place. Some goods aren’t available at locally owned stores, and, yes, we all have occasional cravings for Big Macs or Moons Over My Hammy sandwiches. But there are lessons to be learned from a localfirst movement called the 10 Percent Shift (www.10percentshift.org): If people moved just 10 percent of their purchases from non-locally owned companies to locally owned ones, thousands of new jobs would be created here, with millions more dollars staying in the community.

Keep these lessons in mind this holiday season: When it comes to spending your money, local is always better.

Welcome to the December issue of the locally owned Coachella Valley Independent. As always, we hope you enjoy.

—Jimmy Boegle, jboegle@cvindependent.com

DECEMBER 2013

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DECEMBER 2013

OPINION

KNOW YOUR

NEIGHBORS

A Call for Women to Take Control of the Agenda

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

By Anita Rufus fter hearing the lamentable Rush Limbaugh refer to the “chickification of America,” because NFL football players wore pink to support breast-cancer research (men have breasts too, you know, and also get cancer), I was fuming and determined to write about my anger and frustration.

In spite of that initial impulse, here’s what I’m NOT writing about today: • October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month. As someone who was once in an abusive relationship (and if it could happen to me, it can happen to anyone, men included), I’m NOT writing about how important it is that society recognize the reality of how difficult it is to leave and to stay alive.

I’m NOT writing about how 44 percent of all women murdered with guns in the U.S. are killed by a current or former intimate partner.

• More than 135,000 women became extremely poor in 2012—not just poor, but “extremely” poor— and people 65 and older are now more vulnerable to poverty, up significantly from 2011. Although my big fear is to end up eating cat food, I’m NOT writing about why women haven’t demanded compensatory Social Security for those whose “job” is to be a homemaker and mother, so they can survive old age. Nor am I writing about the growing economic disparity between those at the very top and everyone else, and its disproportionate impact on women.

• The United States is among only eight nations in the world who don’t give women paid maternity leave—it’s often unpaid if you get it at all without jeopardizing your job—and our need for universally available and affordable day care is an embarrassment among nations. But I’m NOT writing about how this affects women’s ability to hold gainful employment or complete their education and thus be economically independent.

• Women are not present at all on the boards of major corporations. Twitter has a seven-man board with no women; 36 percent of the 2,770 largest public companies have no women on their boards; and companies with women on their boards have better overall economic results. Yet I’m NOT writing about why women aren’t controlling and influencing all investment decisions based on this regrettable fact—although if we could get rid of apartheid, we should be able to get qualified women on corporate boards.

• While half of American children will, at some point during their childhood, live in a household that uses food stamps, I am NOT writing about the callousness of those who refuse to make work pay a living wage, or who demand deficit reduction by penalizing the vulnerable with food-stamp cuts, or who characterize those who need assistance as lazy and unmotivated “takers,” yet won’t support the education or child care that would allow self-sufficiency.

• Even as abortion and access to “women’s health services” are increasingly subject to ridiculous and onerous restrictions, I’m NOT writing about the difference it makes who appoints judges to federal courts—although it does.

As a political commentator, it’s enticing to address these issues CVIndependent.com

and take both policy and political stands. But I decided to write about something bigger than issues or politics: the need to set an entirely new policy agenda. I believe that women, and men who respect women, are uniquely poised to make that happen.

My experience as a mediator has shown that when two polarized sides of a debate are dug in, there is room to head right down the middle and define a new way of moving forward.

Politicians are staking out ever-more-radical positions for niche constituencies, so I am sending out a clarion call to women of every political stripe: WE can demand a new agenda.

There are more of us. We live longer. We’re getting more educated. We already do whatever we have to do to take care of ourselves and our children. We make choices—not always good ones—and we live with the consequences. We have a collective voice, and it’s time to be heard.

Get involved. Demand, as a group along with your neighbors, to meet with elected officials at every level, and tell them you expect them to pay attention, or you will organize voters against them. If big business and the wealthy can influence

public policy, organized and informed voters as a bloc can have an even greater impact.

We can’t leave it to anyone else. Change takes time. Results won’t come quickly. But we have to be present and involved, invested for the long haul.

Get informed. Educate others. Consider running for office.

Vote in EVERY election, no matter how small or local. Contrary to conspiracy theories, votes do count!

Don’t get suckered in by slick slogans designed to “sell” a candidate with sound bites that don’t really inform.

Visit nonpartisan websites like the League of Women Voters (www.lwv.org) or No Labels (www.nolabels.org). Spend as much time on this as you do playing computer games.

Bottom line: I think it’s time for a women’s strike.

What if, for just two days, women (and the men who support them) across the country stayed home from work, didn’t cook or clean, didn’t deliver a tray of drinks, didn’t operate the cash register, didn’t re-hang clothes on the racks, didn’t make appointments, didn’t help people fill out forms, didn’t sell anyone’s home or didn’t process a bank deposit?

What if a few agenda items—paid maternity leave, universal child care, comparable equal pay, a raised minimum wage, and greater representation where decisions are made—were highlighted as SO important that they must no longer be ignored?

Of course, if all else fails, there’s always the Lysistrata strategy of withholding sex!

This is adapted from a speech given to the Sun City, Palm Desert Democratic Club. Anita Rufus is also known as “The Lovable Liberal,” and her radio show airs Sundays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on KNews Radio 94.3 FM. Know Your Neighbors appears every other week at CVIndependent.com, where you can find the online version of this column with links to Anita Rufus’ sources.

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DECEMBER 2013

OPINION

FREE TO FEEL FREE

A Chat With Dinah Shore Weekend Founder Mariah Hanson

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

ditor’s Note: A representative of the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce’s Athena Awards approached the Independent about publishing this Q&A with Mariah Hanson, the founder of one of Palm Springs’ largest annual events: the Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend, aka “The Dinah” (thedinah.com). The 2014 event takes place April 2-6.

Hanson is the recipient of the 2013 Athena Leadership Award, presented by the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce. She—along with Carol Channing and Helene Galen—will be honored at the 2013 Athena Luncheon, at 11:30 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 5, at the Renaissance Palm Springs, 888 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way in Palm Springs. Tickets are $85, or $65 for chamber members. To register or get more information, visit www. pschamber.org.

How does it feel to be recognized and honored by the city of Palm Springs with an Athena Award?

I am beyond honored, humbled and grateful to be receiving this award. To be singled out alongside such other distinguished and esteemed honorees, not to mention (being in) such stellar company of women, is, on a personal level, quite an amazing prestige. Just as importantly for me, as an LGBT American to earn such distinction at the local government level from both the Chamber of Commerce and the city of Palm Springs is simply incredible.

Why do you think events like the Athena Awards, which honor women leaders, are important?

Contrary to the stereotypical stigma, women are strong and empowered leaders. Yet we are only recognized as such when we adopt a more-masculine persona in business. I personally believe when we, as women, feel confident enough to also bring our feminine attributes into business—such as kindness and compassion, and absolutely own these qualities—we conduct kinder and more-empowering business for all. So yes, awards such as the Athena Awards are extremely important. Overall, it encourages women to take charge, to lead and to blaze forward, in a way that leaves a wake of empowerment and inclusiveness for other women—and men as well!

You’re celebrating 24 years producing the Dinah Shore Weekend in Palm Springs. What role has the city played in the overall success of the event?

Palm Springs has been an amazing partner throughout the 24 years I have been conducting business here. It’s a smart city, run by smart people, who “get it.”

As the saying goes: A rising tide lifts all boats, and Palm Springs appears to understand and fearlessly take that approach in its vision of the future. It is one of the many reasons it has once again reinvented itself and is now enjoying another exceptional renaissance. I honestly could not have found a better place to produce The Dinah than Palm Springs; I am beyond grateful of the support and love the city and the community has given my event, my customers and me for almost a quarter-century now. It’s an amazing LGBT-supportive city, and this recognition shows just how truly hip and inclusive

Palm Springs is. I look forward to The Dinah being here for another 24 years!

What was the most difficult obstacle you’ve had to overcome as a woman in the course of these 24 years producing the Dinah?

Some men I have worked with over the years don’t take women as seriously as they should, but that’s an endemic problem between the sexes and not one that I have ever felt inhibited by. Personally, when faced with sexism, rather than fight it, I’m more inclined to simply take another approach.

What’s important is achieving your goals. If you do that, you’ve successfully fought sexism. Many roads lead to Rome, and as long as you get there, all is well.

On a personal level, what does the Dinah represent for you? And what got you hooked to want to produce it for 24 years?

The Dinah is a celebration of living out loud, of being heard, of being seen. When you break it down, at a fundamental level, isn’t that what we all want? For five days, I have the esteemed opportunity to make that possible for a lot of women who may not enjoy that kind of freedom when they return home. It’s incredibly rewarding, and I like to think it is life-changing for them.

What is it about The Dinah that is a life-changing experience for women?

Imagine living in a more-remote part of the country where being out may not be considered socially acceptable. Fastforward to arriving at The Dinah, where thousands of women are living out loud, without the fear of being judged or bullied.

Not only that, but they’re also embraced by an entire city that sends an unspoken message of: You’re worth it! That’s lifechanging. Imagine being an older lesbian who has had to keep her love for her partner “in the closet” for her entire lifetime and then attends The Dinah—or perhaps just one of our many events. She then gets a glimpse into this public celebration

Mariah Hanson

of our lives. She surely must think: All that work and efforts to attain our rights was worth it. Look at this joy!

Do you think it is still important for the LGBT community to have events like the Dinah?

Events such as The Dinah offer a space in time to celebrate out loud. There is still a majority of gay women who live in hiding having to pretend to be someone else … simply because their environment forces them to.

It’s hard for those of us who have the freedom to walk the streets holding hands and kissing our partner to fathom the fact that our lifestyle is not the same for a majority of others, but rather is the exception. We take for granted the fact that our reality is still a dream many wish would come true. The Dinah offers gay women from all over the world the opportunity to escape for five days from the rest of their 360-day life … and provides them the freedom to be who they are.

I believe it provides a glimpse of what life would be if everyone were accepting of each other, no matter what the size of their body, the color of their skin, and/or the tax bracket they belong to. Simply put, it is a testimony of how perfect the world would be if we could all be free to feel free!

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DECEMBER 2013

OPINION

THE POTTED DESERT GARDEN

Add Some Holiday Luster to Those Winter-Flower Pots!

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

By MARYLEE PANGMAN ife in the desert is grand! Since we can enjoy gardening year-round, we can plant as little or as much as we want without worrying too much about the timing.

But now is the time, as the holiday season is upon us, to add to our home’s celebration by sprucing up our container gardens to our heart’s content. It’s yet another excuse to “play” outside in our gorgeous fall weather!

You have many options to add to the holiday luster in your pots. Let’s explore some ideas; mix and match as you please.

Seasonal plantings that last all winter: Whether you lean toward permanent plantings, such as shrubs or trees; you mix it up with perennials; or you only have annuals, you can plant your holiday color scheme now. Your gardens, with the right care, will last until the heat of the early summer.

For in-sun plantings, red and white annual possibilities include: • Petunias • Million bells • Stock • Dianthus (try the newer variety of Amazon or other super-tall dianthus) • Geraniums (they’re part-shade, too) • Diascia • Nemesia • Snapdragons (whites and burgundy; no red) • Alyssum • Lobelia • Pansies and Viola (whites and burgundy; no red) As for shade plantings: primrose and cyclamen are your best bets in full shade.

Filtered sun is a great place for geraniums.

Paper whites, amaryllis and, of course, poinsettias are great nursery plants that you can use in pots during the holidays. If there is a dip in temperatures to 40 degrees or below, you will want to bring them inside.

Permanent plantings: Your existing shrubs or trees can stand alone as holiday décor. Heavenly bamboo leaves will turn red.

The red-tipped photinia’s new growth is red, so if you fertilize it now, you might force it into growth, resulting in showy leaves just in time for the holidays. Pyracantha and English holly have red berries that show off right in time for your parties. Burgundy cordyline is another plant that can bring holiday cheer when decorated with other plants or objects.

Speaking of objects: Take some of CVIndependent.com

your decorations, and embellish the plants.

Use small holiday lights, bows, garlands, ornaments, pine cones or anything that catches your eye as you deck the halls!’

Combining your ideas: You also have the opportunity to plant annuals under or around your potted permanent plants. You can simply place a potted plant (or several) on top of the soil of the larger plant and dress it with potted ivy, garland, pine boughs or anything else you have to finish it off. This is a great way to use those tender nursery plants that you might need to bring inside.

Pots on your patio or near your front door are a great place to add candles (maybe of the flameless variety) inside chimneys among the plantings. This would be a great addition when you are expecting guests!

No matter how much or how little you do, allow your child’s eye to create the look you want for the holidays. I have kept within the traditional red-and-white color spectrum here, but if you want to work with blues, all whites, golds or silvers, look for those colors when you visit the nursery. I know you will find something just tickles you!

Have a great holiday season. Be safe in your garden and in your celebrations.

Marylee is the founder and former owner of The Contained Gardener in Tucson, Ariz. She has become known as the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. E-mail her with comments and questions at potteddesert@ gmail.com, and follow The Potted Desert on Facebook. Her column appears every Tuesday at CVIndependent.com.

This sun-drenched pot is full of holiday color!

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DECEMBER 2013

OPINION

ASK A MEXICAN!

An Immigration Attorney Has a Lot of Questions for the Mexican

!

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/OPINION

By Gustavo Arellano EAR MEXICAN: I’m a pocha immigration attorney. I have so many questions for you that I’m thinking I should just hire you as a consultant.

Why do Mexicans seem to want me to lie to them and steal their money, and tell them they can become residents—even when it’s hopeless? Why can’t Mexicans answer “yes” or “no” questions with a “yes” or a “no”? Why do they have to give me long narratives that make no sense? If Mexicans claim that part of the reason they don’t want to be in Mexico is because of government corruption, why do they ask me to lie for them, and help them lie? Why are polleros the rudest, most-aggressive clients a lawyer could ever have? Why don’t mexicanas want a female attorney, while mexicanos seem to think it’s kind of cool? When I go into fast-food restaurants in my power suits and order tacos, why do the mexicanas selling me the food giggle and make fun? Why can’t they just be happy for and proud of one of their own? When I tell a Mexican that I don’t think their case is winnable, why do they change from using “usted” with me to “tu”? When I tell a Mexican bad news, why can’t I just speak normally in Spanish? Why is it that I get so nervous that my pocha accent comes out super-strong?

Pocha Attorney DEAR WABETTE: If people want to hire me as a consultant, I charge by the hour, with payments acceptable in tacos, tequila bottles and Chicano Studies books. So let’s empezar your bill starting … ahorita.

Mexicans want you to tell them they can become residents, because they are paying you to make their hopeless situation a legal one—lies or not. Their “long narratives that make no sense” is otherwise known as America’s immigration system.

They ask you to lie for them because the alternative is going back to Mexico’s cesspool of corruption—again, it’s your job as an immigration attorney to make the hopeless hopeful by making the impossible happen, ethics be damned.

Polleros are going to be rude because they’re criminals—and outside of Daniel Stern’s character in Born in East L.A., do you know of any gentleman human-smugglers? Mexicanas not wanting you to represent them isn’t a pocha thing, but a

female thing, so go write to Jezebel about that one; Mexican men wanting you as an attorney, in turn, is all about an hombre ogling you. As a pocha, you shouldn’t be eating fast food in the first place—and the mexicana-on-pocha hate is another female issue that Jezebel can answer.

When a Mexican switches from addressing you as usted to tu, it’s because you’re no longer someone deserving of their respect, but the shyster scamming them out of cash.

Finally, you start talking like a pocha when you tell them the bad news because you don’t like delivering bad news—that’s understandable.

Let’s see … carry over the dos, add three, include a firsttimer discount, and your final legal bill with me is a taquero for 30 people, a bottle of ON Tequila, and a first-edition autographed copy of Occupied America. Pleasure doing business!

DEAR GABACHO: Every chamaco is going to be a different story, but the main reason Mexicans let their kids play on the street is because there’s nowhere else for them to play.

The lack of park spaces in barrios is an unfortunate phenomenon well-known to city planners, and best examined in California State University at Los Angeles professor David R. Diaz’s influential Barrio Urbanism: Chicanos, Planning and American Cities. Compounding that is the fact that most landlords in barrios don’t allow kids to play in common areas, leading families to let them loose onto the mean streets.

DEAR MEXICAN: Why do so many Mexican parents let their kids play in the street unsupervised? I’m sure this practice isn’t limited to Mexicans, but it seems like some neighborhoods are filled with Mexican kids playing in the streets and not paying

Catch the Mexican every Wednesday morning at CVIndependent.com.

Ask the Mexican at themexican@askamexican.net; be his fan on Facebook; follow him on Twitter @gustavoarellano; or ask him a video question atyoutube.com/askamexicano!

attention to traffic (no matter how quiet the street might be), with no parents in sight.

Are these parents lazy, stupid or encouraging self-reliance?

Whitey

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CVIndependent.com

DECEMBER 2013

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 9

DECEMBER 2013

➓ Making the Coachella Valley a Tech-Industry Hub ⓫ Nursing Grads Have Problems Getting Gigs ⓬ A New Health Clinic for Desert Hot Springs ⓮ Snapshot: Palm Springs Pride, Synergy Fest and More ⓯ DECEMBER Astronomy www.cvindependent.com/news

PUTTING FOR VALUES First Tee of the Coachella Valley Uses Golf Lessons to Create Life Lessons

13

KEVIN FITZGERALD CVIndependent.com

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DECEMBER 2013

NEWS

THE DESERT AS A TECH OASIS?

Silicon Springs Ventures’ Goal: Make the Coachella Valley a Hub for Tech Businesses

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Jimmy Boegle n a recent Monday evening, around 60 people mingled on a patio at Jackalope Ranch in Indio.

The attendees—a mix of students, teachers, business people, tech experts and politicians—sipped drinks and munched on chips, guacamole and skewered chicken as they chatted. All in all, it was a typical-looking business-related social gathering.

But the goals of the people at this innocuous-looking event, called the Desert Tech Meetup, are far from innocuous: They want to make the Coachella Valley a technology-business hub.

The gathering—the second such Desert Tech Meetup—was held by Silicon Springs Ventures, in partnership with web/marketing firm Graphtek, and the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP).

“We’re all here for Silicon Springs: the movement,” Joel Fashingbauer, Silicon Springs Ventures’ president and chief operating officer, told the crowd. “We want to create another Silicon Valley, one that’s smaller and more efficient, in the desert."

In between mingling time and giveaways of gift cards and Graphtek coffee mugs, Fashingbauer talked about how Silicon Springs—a company that launched in May— and its partners plan on creating that other Silicon Valley.

In October, Fashingbauer and his four partners launched Disruptor Labs, a project to develop online apps and mobile products. Silicon Springs is working with CVEP’s Workforce Excellence effort—the goal of which is to create a bettertrained, more-educated local workforce—to start the STEAM Pipe Initiative at local schools, including College of the Desert. The company is helping develop a program, called Encore, that will pair retired and semi-retired executives in banking, technology and other applicable fields with startup entrepreneurs in need of expertise. Finally, the Silicon Springs Ventures team has been meeting with people from various tech startups—about 45 or so, Fashingbauer estimates—and will help the most promising find funding.

All of these plans undeniably sound great. But they also lead to a question: Why the Coachella Valley? Why here?

Fashingbauer, in an interview prior to the tech meetup, said he gets asked that question a lot. For him, in part, it’s personal: His wife has family who lives in Palm Desert, and he’s been coming here for about 15 years.

“It’s been our oasis,” he said, mentioning the “Sunday blues” that all smitten visitors face when they have to leave this oasis to return home.

But the “why” also goes beyond the personal. Fashingbauer pointed to the great weather, the affordable cost of living (especially regarding housing, when compared to Silicon Valley and its Los Angeles descendent of sorts, Silicon Beach), the lack of traffic and the overall quality of life that makes the Coachella Valley an attractive place for tech businesses.

There’s one more reason, one that combines the personal and the practical: Everyone who loves the Coachella Valley agrees that the desert could use more industry. He mentioned the economic damage done here by the Great Recession, when the real estate market crashed, and tourism suffered. Technology firms didn’t get hit as hard by the downturn, said Fashingbauer, a digital-products expert who most recently was the vice CVIndependent.com

president of product development for Atari.

The goals of Silicon Springs Ventures are undeniably ambitious—but they’ve gotten the attention of the valley’s leaders.

Indio Mayor Elaine Holmes and Palm Desert Mayor Jan Harnik were among those mingling at the recent Desert Tech Meetup.

Of course, these goals will not be reached overnight.

“We’re doing a lot of behind-the-scenes seed-planting, and having conversations with leaders,” said Rich Silveira, Silicon

Springs’ chief financial officer and vice president of finance.

“Some of those seeds will fall away and die, and some will come to fruition.”

Of course, more seeds were being planted at the Desert Tech Meetup; while the gathering looked innocuous, the brain power present in the all-ages crowd was undeniable.

The third Desert Tech Meetup—one of four planned for 2014, thanks to CVEP’s support—is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 30, and will most likely be held in downtown Palm Springs.

Fashingbauer said the format may be tweaked; for example, the Silicon Springs team is looking at possibly bringing in computers for attendees to use for demonstrations and information-sharing.

“Silicon Valley can’t really grow any more. They’re out of space,” Silveira said. “We provide this expanse of real estate and a lower cost of living. … If we feed the ecosystem, our young graduates don’t have to leave here. They can stay right here.”

For more information on Silicon Springs Ventures, including more details about Desert Tech Meetups in 2014, watch siliconsprings.com, and follow the company on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ SiliconSpringsVentures.

The second Desert Tech Meetup took place on Monday, Nov. 18, at Jackalope Ranch in Indio. The next meetup is slated for Thursday, Jan. 30, at a yet-to-be-finalized location in downtown Palm Springs. JIMMY BOEGLE

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 11

DECEMBER 2013

NEWS

NURSING A RECESSION HANGOVER

New Nursing Graduates Are Having Problems Finding Jobs

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By Nicole C. Brambila ackary Davis always dreamed of becoming a nurse. The 26-year-old graduated from Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Desert campus in June 2012; he was the first in his family to go to college.

He estimated that he has applied to more than 100 health-care facilities since. Davis said he has had five interviews—and no job offers. Today, he works as a valet at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells.

“I’ve basically let go of the chance of getting the ER or ICU like I want,” said Davis, who lives in Indio. “I’m sure there are a ton of stories that are just like mine. It’s cruddy, but I’m trying to stay positive about it.”

He’s not alone.

A 2011 survey by the National Student Nurses Association found that 36 percent of newly licensed registered nurses did not have jobs four months after graduation.

It’s worse in California. About 46 percent of newly licensed RNs were without jobs up to eight months after graduation, according to a recent California Institute for Nursing and Health Care survey.

The survey also found that more than 90 percent of those without a nursing job blame their lack of experience, and nearly one in four were employed in nonnursing jobs.

New grads say who you know is as important as passing the board exam.

“Honestly, I only got hired because I knew somebody,” said Candice Eckstrom, 33, who graduated from the College of the Desert’s Registered-Nurse Program in May. She began working at an Indio rehab center in October.

“Was it my first choice?” Eckstrom said. “No, but everyone in nursing knows that you have to get experience wherever you can get it, because there are no jobs for new grads right now.”

After years of investments in building up the nursing workforce, the challenges new nursing grads face is a growing concern.

“The valley has spent a lot of money developing these students, and if they don’t get a job, they may drop out,” said Betty Baluski, assistant director of COD’s nursing program.

“That’s our biggest fear—that we lose them in the future.”

The nursing shortage of 10 years ago that triggered enlistment campaigns and big signing bonuses sent students into nursing programs by the droves, with the promise of secure employment.

And then the recession hit. Nurses who might have gotten out of the workforce after having a child decided to keep working. Nurses who might have retired decided to put off retirement.

“The big thing that happened was the change in the economy,” said Wayne Boyer, COD’s director of nursing. “We’re still in the throes of that. Ten years ago, they were giving $10,000 incentive bonuses and all kinds of bells and whistles and promotions. You don’t see that any more; they just went away.”

With the aging of the U.S. population and the graying of the nursing professional—the average nurse nationwide is 46 years old—the recession has masked the demand, at least for now.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2020, more than 1.2 million RNs will be needed to shore up the workforce.

“When times were good, nurses retired,” said Kristin Schmidt, assistant chief nursing officer at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs. “When the recession happened,

they all ended up having to go back to work to support their families. In the next 10 years or so, we’re probably going to be hurting for a lot of nurses.”

Ann Mostofi, Eisenhower Medical Center’s chief nursing officer, agreed.

“We have really had no need for new nurses coming into the workforce,” Mostofi said. “As the economy improves, what’s going to happen is we’re going to have a drastic removal of nurses from the workforce.”

Nationwide, there are more than 2.6 million nurses practicing in hospitals and other settings. California has about 392,400 working nurses, while Riverside County has 18,500, according to the state Board of Registered Nursing.

Historically, hospitals have been the largest employer of nurses and new graduates. But that is likely to change when the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare,” is fully implemented. As more people have access to health insurance, some nursing jobs will move to clinics, rehab facilities and specialty centers, such as those for diabetes and orthopedic surgery.

“It’s challenging to get nurses to think outside a hospital setting for their first job, but I think that’s going to be what’s called for in the future,” Schmidt said.

The valley’s three hospitals—Desert Regional, Eisenhower and JFK Memorial Hospital—employ about 1,800 nurses.

Hospitals typically have a 14 percent annual turnover rate, according to national statistics.

In the past three years, Eisenhower has hired 95 new grads— nearly the same amount as those with experience, Mostofi said.

With about 100 nursing students graduating each year from COD alone, the competition for local jobs can be fierce. Each of the hospitals has a nursing program designed to give handson training to new grads—but it’s difficult to get in to those programs. Desert Regional had more than 300 applicants for its 24 slots this fall.

Next summer, COD will hold a mentor program designed to help ease new graduates into the workplace.

“It might be hard to find their first job, but once they get

their first job, they’re pretty golden; they’re very marketable,” Mostofi said. “I would say that even the new grads shouldn’t be too disheartened.”

Meanwhile, Davis continues his 18-month-long nursing-job search.

“I’ve always wanted to be a nurse,” Davis said. “It’s going to happen eventually.”

Desert Regional Medical Center’s Kristin Schmidt: “When times were good, nurses retired. When the recession happened, they all ended up having to go back to work to support their family.” COURTESY OF DESERT REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER CVIndependent.com

12 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

DECEMBER 2013

NEWS

MAKING HEALTHY

PROGRESS

A New Community Health Center Helps the Residents of DHS

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

By BRIAN BLUESKYE ver the summer, a former Jewish temple in Desert Hot Springs was converted into the Desert Hot Springs Community Health Center.

The building on Pierson Boulevard had been purchased by the now-nearly bankrupt city of Desert Hot Springs in 2008 and was condemned, partially torn down, and eventually sold to the nonprofit Borrego Community Health Foundation at a tremendous loss before its revival. (Meanwhile, a brandnew building behind the Vons grocery store on Palm Drive, constructed by the city to be a health-care clinic, sits unoccupied.)

Despite the controversies and boondoggles, Borrego has managed to bring much-needed health-care services to Desert Hot Springs, and the clinic has been well-received by citizens of Desert Hot Springs (including myself) since the October opening.

“We’ve been seeing that the community was hungry for what we offer,” said clinic site manager Sergio Ruiz. “Little by little, people are finding out that we are here, and we are seeing more and more patients as time goes on. … We’re here to serve, and when people come into our clinic, one of the things I’ve heard most often is that it’s an experience, because (we are) typically seen as the clinic for the uninsured. We are that, and we are here to serve (the uninsured), but they don’t expect to see as beautiful of a facility—and great service as well.”

The services offered by Borrego at the Desert Hot Springs location, beyond primary care, are extensive: in-house specialty care, physicals, immunizations, diabetes care, hypertension care, pediatrics, some gynecology services, and urgent care. The new building replaces a much-smaller clinic that had operated for several years in DHS. Borrego assists clients who are without the ability to pay by offering sliding-scale fees and helping people without health insurance find health-care coverage through government programs for which they may qualify.

“As a federally qualified health-care facility, we have the ability to offer government-sponsored programs,” Ruiz said.

“We have a position here within the clinic that we call the ‘care coordinator specialist,’ and that person … has the knowledge to enroll people in different government-sponsored programs.

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That’s what we aim to do, but as a last resort, we offer a sliding fee. It’s a program for the noninsured or underinsured; the minimum payment right now for that would be $30, and that depends on income and (the number of) members of the household 18 years old and below. What people don’t realize about us is that $30 includes most labs, also.”

Ruiz said that some people don’t realize there’s often help available.

“The reality is most people qualify for something, and we try to place them in government-sponsored programs, depending on what the visit is for,” Ruiz said.

Borrego offers services that most community health centers don’t have the resources to provide, Ruiz noted. However, the clinic—located in a city that has long been underserved by medical professionals—does face a challenge.

“One of the areas where we fall short is that we can take care of most things that are primary care; however, when the need arises to refer to specialty care, that’s where we encounter bumps in the road, because people (may not) have insurance. That’s why we place an emphasis on getting people on government-sponsored programs. For the common cold

The new Desert Hot Springs Community Health Center replaced a much-smaller facility located in a former liquor store. BRIAN BLUESKYE

and cough, we can take care of that here; however, when we need to refer to specialists, that becomes out of pocket for the noninsured.”

When it comes to the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), Ruiz sees it as a good thing for both consumers and the healthcare system.

“It will mean more people qualifying to receive services,” he said. “For some people, it’s sort of a scary time because of paperwork and so forth. What we have done here is sent people to specialized training to enroll people … through Covered California.

“I think, in general, the population will be better served if they enroll in these programs. I feel that the number of people receiving what we offer is going to increase dramatically.”

The Desert Hot Springs Community Health Center, at 66675 Pierson Blvd. in Desert Hot Springs, is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 760-676-5240, or visit www.borregomedical.org/clinics/desert-hot-springs-community-health-center (although the clinic’s physical address on the website had not been updated as of this writing).

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 13

DECEMBER 2013

NEWS

GOOD CITIZENS, YES; GOOD GOLFERS, MAYBE

First Tee of the Coachella Valley Helps Kids Learn Values

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By Kevin Fitzgerald he sun is descending behind the San Jacinto Mountains as the classroom portion of the daily First Tee of the Coachella Valley program gets under way in the pro shop/education center of the First Tee golf course in Palm Desert.

“I show respect for my surroundings by picking up trash wherever I see it,” declares James, a member of the “Player 3” group (ages 7 to 9). He is addressing his fellow First Tee students, a few parents, lead instructor Jeff Harrison and LPGA-USGA program director Amy Anderson.

This group is learning how to incorporate into their daily existence the “nine core life values” emphasized by the program.

Instilling these character traits in each and every participant is the primary mission of the First Tee staff here in Coachella Valley—and in all of the chapters worldwide.

“We want to make them good citizens,” says executive director Glenn Miller. “I don’t really care if they become great golfers.”

The First Tee international organization lists the United States Golf Association, the PGA, the PGA Tour, the LPGA and the Masters Tournament as founding partners. So wouldn’t it be correct to assume that another underlying objective is to develop the next Tiger Woods or Stacy Lewis to represent U.S. golf on the international stage? “No, I don’t think that’s the case,” insists Miller. “Of all the young people who come through our program, I’d say about 99.9 percent of them will never be great golfers. Fair to good, probably, if they keep playing. But the next Tiger Woods? Well, it could happen, but that’s not what our program is focused on developing.”

That focus is on teaching students the appreciation of, and adherence to, the values of honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment in every aspect of an individual’s life. In addition to

these basic “nine core life values,” the Coachella Valley chapter has incorporated instruction about “nine healthy habits.”

“We’re trying to get our kids to eat better, walk more and do things that are healthy for them,” Miller says, “to get them to think about eating apples, grapes, oranges and yogurt rather than only potato chips and soda.”

In order to promote the budding self-esteem of committed participants, at the end of each school semester, the First Tee national office honors all participants who have a school report card showing an A/B level of achievement by presenting them with a certificate for their hard work and perseverance.

“Our First Tee team focuses heavily on the A/B scholar classroom accomplishments of our youngsters,” says Miller.

“We’re looking for transformation in how they conduct themselves. We get input from the parents who tell us how much more reliable, confident and poised their child becomes, and we get great satisfaction from that feedback.”

First Tee was founded in 1997; Coachella Valley’s chapter started up in 2007. Palm Desert City Council members Dick Kelly (who passed away in 2010) and Robert Spiegel (who still serves on the council) were the catalysts in bringing First Tee to the valley under the supervision of the Desert Recreation District. They supervised the ownership transfer of the current 27-hole, par-three First Tee home golf course on Sheryl Avenue, just off Cook Street, from the city of Palm Desert to the Desert Recreation District. The program’s reach into the community has grown rapidly since then.

“We have about 1,350 student participants enrolled in all phases of our program in 2013,” Miller says. “They range in age from 4 years old to 18. We have four full-time instructors and about 150 volunteers who give regularly and generously of their time and effort. In each of our sessions, which are categorized by age and learning accomplishment, we have one instructor or volunteer present for every four students.”

The First Tee depends on community support for almost all of its operational funding as well. “The First Tee national organization contributes roughly $20,000 per year to our chapter,” Miller says. “So we rely almost completely on our fundraising success. The H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation was one of the first supporters to come to the table. Also, the Houston Family Foundation and the First Foundation have been strong contributors.

“Most of the funds that come in are utilized for equipment and scholarships for a lot of our youth,” Mr. Miller continued.

“We don’t turn anyone away—we just don’t. We want to make First Tee available to any kid in the valley who would like to learn golf and those core values that come with it. The challenge is: How can we help them succeed in life?”

Assistance comes from several of the golf and country clubs in Coachella Valley. “The people at the Springs Country Club have been a godsend for us!” says Miller. “All together, they’ve raised some $200,000 through their fundraising tournaments for the First Tee. Our kids have access to play at the Classic

First Tee of the Coachella Valley executive director Glenn Miller: “Of all the young people who come through our program, I’d say about 99.9 percent of them will never be great golfers. … That’s not what our program is focused on developing.” KEVIN FITZGERALD

Club, Desert Winds in 29 Palms and the Annenberg Estate in Rancho Mirage.

“The Marrakesh Country Club has welcomed our kids, and this Dec. 14, they’re staging their inaugural First Tee Golf and Putting Tournament benefit. And next Feb. 15, for the first time, we’ll be staging our annual First Tee Benefit Golf Tournament and fundraiser at the Bermuda Dunes Country Club.”

Given the First Tee’s strict policy that its students demonstrate the core values of honesty, integrity and responsibility at all times, what is the official First Tee stance on the use of mulligans during a round of golf?

Miller pauses for a second. He then diplomatically replies: “Mulligans are very good for fundraisers.”

For more information on the First Tee of the Coachella Valley, visit www.thefirstteecoachellavalley.org, or call 760-779-1877.

Memberships are $120 per year, although discounts and scholarships are available based on income.

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DECEMBER 2013

NEWS

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SNAPSHOT

Images From November in the Coachella Valley

An estimated 100,000 people—a record—enjoyed various Palm Springs Pride events on Friday through Sunday, Nov. 1-3. This year’s Pride—with the theme “It’s Time”—featured block parties, a parade with more than 160 entries, and a two-day festival at Palm Springs Stadium. However, the 2013 Pride festival may have been the last at the stadium: Organizers say the event has outgrown the baseball park, and they’d like to move the entire festival downtown. Stay tuned.

PHOTO BY JIMMY BOEGLE

Era, aka Erasmo Cisneros, performed at the annual Synergy Fest at Coachella’s Dateland Park on Saturday, Nov. 16. The youth-oriented event included a variety of activities, including art, various music performances and even a low-rider show.

PHOTO BY ALEX HARRINGTON

Helene Galen poses with the Rancho Mirage High School Show Choir at the dedication of the Helene Galen Performing Arts Center and the Helene Galen Theater, on Friday, Nov. 15. The Galen Family Foundation donated $1.5 million to Rancho Mirage High School, with the goal of creating an endowment to help students learn the performing arts.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PALM SPRINGS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 15

DECEMBER 2013

NEWS DECEMBER ASTRONOMY WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/NEWS

by Robert Victor

It’s a Poetic Month in the Skies N

ecember’s evening views begin with Venus near its brightest and highest in the southwest; the Summer Capella Pollux Triangle of Vega-Altair-Deneb high 29 in the west; and Fomalhaut, mouth of the Jupiter Southern Fish, just east of due south.

Aldebaran Deneb Vega At the start of December, the only bright E W objects in the eastern sky at mid-twilight Betelgeuse Altair are Capella, the mother goat star, in the Rigel northeast, and Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, 29 very low in the east-northeast. Wait a few 15 22 8 1 Fomalhaut minutes to allow the evening sky to darken a Venus bit, and you’ll notice the compact Pleiades, or Seven Sisters cluster, 14 degrees above Aldebaran. The scene is beautifully described S in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall”: “Many a night I saw the Pleiades / rising thro’ the mellow shade / glittering like a swarm of Evening visibility map at mid-twilight. ROBERT D. MILLER fireflies / tangled in a silver braid.” in our morning sky are steady Jupiter, sinking By month’s end, Venus is much lower in the west toward west-northwest, and twinkling west-southwest, because it’s heading toward Sirius, until it sets in the west-southwest. inferior conjunction, nearly between Earth and On Dec. 2, Mars appears midway between the sun, on Jan. 11. The Summer Triangle is lower, too, and Fomalhaut crosses west of south, Regulus and Spica, 27 degrees from each.

The Geminid meteor shower is largely both owing to Earth’s revolution around the sun. spoiled by bright moonlight this year. The best Capella and Aldebaran rise higher in December viewing with the least moonlight will occur on for the same reason. Betelgeuse and Rigel, Orion’s brighter shoulder and foot, appear above Friday, Dec. 13, from 3:30 to 5:30 a.m., and Saturday, Dec. 14, from 4:30 to 5:30 a.m. the eastern horizon four minutes earlier each Comet ISON passes within 725,000 miles evening during twilight. Between them, note of the sun’s surface on Thanksgiving Day and the vertical line of three stars—Orion’s belt! makes a sharp turn to the north, or upper left, Poet Robert Frost in “The Star-Splitter” (about of the predawn sun. By Dec. 6, it will rise as a farmer who set fire to his house to collect morning twilight begins. Visit www.pa.msu. insurance money to buy a telescope) describes edu/abrams/ison for updates. what you can observe here in the Coachella The Astronomical Society of the Desert Valley at this time of year: “You know Orion will host a skywatching session on Saturday, always comes up sideways / throwing a leg up Dec. 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Visitor Center over our fence of mountains …” of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains In the final days of December, bright National Monument on Highway 74, about Jupiter appears above our evening twilight four miles south of Highway 111 in Palm horizon. As Venus approaches the horizon, Desert; visit astrorx.org. The Whitewater watch for Jupiter to rise in the opposite Preserve is hosting a skywatch on Friday, Dec. direction.

20, from 5:30 to 9 p.m., preceded by afternoon Don’t miss Venus near the crescent moon viewing of the crescent Venus. I hope to see early on Thursday evening, Dec. 5. It’s also a you there, and at some of the WildLights great chance to spot Venus in the daytime, all evenings at the Living Desert, where we’ll afternoon, with binoculars! show the crescent Venus and other sky On Sunday, Dec. 1, five solar-system bodies phenomena. are easily visible during morning twilight, 45 minutes before sunup. From west to east, they Robert C. Victor was a staff astronomer at the are Jupiter, about halfway from horizon to Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University. overhead in west; Mars, even higher in the He is now retired and enjoys providing skywatching south-southeast; and a clustering of Saturn, opportunities for school children in and around the old crescent moon, and Mercury low in Palm Springs. the east-southeast. The two brightest objects CVIndependent.com

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DECEMBER 2013

⓱ Palm Desert Celebrates First Fridays •• Desert Rose's Gay History of the World Is Hilarious •• Western Lit: "Until Someone Gets Hurt" Captivates •• DECEMBER theater www.cvindependent.com/arts-and-culture

A NEW VISUAL VOCABULARY The Palm Springs Art Museum Shows Off the Works of Richard Diebenkorn

Richard Diebenkorn, "Untitled (Yellow Collage)," 1966, gouache and cut-and-pasted paper. Collection of Gretchen and Richard Grant, © 2013 The Richard Diebenkorn Foundation. All rights reserved.

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Richard Diebenkorn, "Cityscape I" (formerly Landscape I), 1963, oil on canvas. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, purchase with funds from trustees and friends in memory of Hector Escobosa, Brayton Wilburn, and J. D. Zellerbach © 2013 The Richard Diebenkorn Foundation. All rights reserved.

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COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 17

DECEMBER 2013

ARTS & CULTURE

FRIDAY FANFARE

Palm Desert, El Paseo Now Celebrate Art and Culture on Each Month’s First Weekend

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

By Richard Almada he busy season is here—and to celebrate, the city of Palm Desert has moved its El Paseo Art Walk from Thursday to Friday, as part of an expanded “First Weekend” arts and culture celebration.

I went down to the season’s first El Paseo Art Walk on Friday, Nov. 1, to check out the scene.

The event will happen every first Friday through May. “This was a very positive change to the Art Walk schedule—and with a great turnout,” said Rick Royale, of Royale Projects: Contemporary Art, where the gallery celebrated the opening of Gustavo Godoy: Fast-Formal Metal Constructions. “It’s bringing a good many people interested in art—and also in the social aspect that this event brings to everyone.”

Royale relocated the gallery from Indian Wells earlier this year, so he’s kicking off his first full season at 73190 El Paseo, Suite 3 (760-742-5182; www.royaleprojects.com).

“This location offers greater convenience for new clients to explore the art programs and broaden their interest and awareness,” he said.

Dawson Cole Fine Art manager Marty Raichle declared the move to Fridays to be an instant hit.

“This far surpassed the former Thursday Art Walk. … This is truly special for the city and the galleries,” Raichle said.

The gallery, at 73199 El Paseo, Suite H (760-303-4300; www.dawsoncolefineart.com), is currently showing James Galindo; Soft Edges. The December exhibit, Jim Lamb, will be celebrated with a reception on the next First Friday, Dec. 6.

Nearby Christian Hohmann Fine Art, at 73660 El Paseo, Suite 2 (760-346-4243; www.christianhohmann.com) also opened its doors for the November party.

“I was a part of the committee that worked on the change,” he said. “… Personally, I have participated in the art walks for over 10 years now, and I hope that it will be a constant work in progress … so it can grow into a much larger event over time with broader participation.”

He said the galleries all benefit from the monthly Art Walk.

“Every opportunity to share our passion for art ... (and) meet prospective clients … (and) mingle with collectors benefits us,” he said. “At our price level, we have very few

instant sales ... but we have planted countless seeds during art walks.”

The Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert offers free admission every first Friday from 4 to 8 p.m. Live music, performance art and film screenings are happening both inside and outside at the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden.

Overall, the response to the change to Friday was overwhelmingly positive; it was nice to see the streets alive with people and traffic—including free pedestrian tours led by a docent.

Of course, the Art Walk is just part of the goings-on that are part of the expanded First Weekend Palm Desert. For example, Cruise Night is also part of the First Weekend fun. Classic cars will be parked on the upper level of the Gardens on El Paseo beginning at 3:15 p.m. The cruise on El Paseo starts at 4:30 and continues for an hour. The public is invited to participate or just enjoy. Cruise Night takes place on the first and third Fridays; get more details at www.elpaseocruisenight.com.

Check out all of the First Weekend events at www. pdfirstweekend.com; for more on the Art Walk, visit www. elpaseoartwalk.com.

The Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert, with its Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden, offers special events and free admission on every First Friday. COURTESY OF THE PALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM

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18 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

DECEMBER 2013

ARTS & CULTURE

A CALIFORNIA CLASSIC WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

By Victor Barocas

“Any work that is going to be a classic,” to paraphrase a quote attributed to Picasso, “must be different from the classics before.” ell, the late Richard Diebenkorn was a 20th-century artist who created many classic works.

A show at the Palm Springs Art Museum, Richard Diebenkorn: The Berkeley Years, 1953-1966, focuses upon Diebenkorn’s years in the San Francisco Bay Area, when the artist integrated abstract expressionism with representational art to produce a new visual vocabulary.

Diebenkorn (1922-1993) once transitioned from a unique abstract-expressionist style to become a member of the Bay Area Figurative Movement. Upon his move to Southern California in the mid-1960s, though, Diebenkorn returned to abstraction, building upon his successes both as an abstract artist and a representational artist.

One of the first things you notice about Diebenkorn’s works: His large canvases demand attention. He uses striations, aka bands, for multiple purposes. He almost always uses striations to create a horizon line across the top of a canvas. Other striations create space for Diebenkorn’s approaches.

“Cityscape I” (1963), according to Steven Nash, the museum’s executive director (and a Diebenkorn expert), “defines Diebenkorn’s first real merger of abstract painting and the cityscape.” After using one band to articulate his sky, Diebenkorn employs other striations to create horizontal sectors below. Planes of green on the right side of the canvas suggest parks or lawns, while patches of grays and whites on the left suggest houses and other manmade structures. Left of center, the artist creates a well-defined wide road that ambles

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from the foreground to the blue sky. Deep gray shadows further define various spaces and make the eye move across the entire painting.

Diebenkorn’s second trademark, after striations, is his use of vigorous brush strokes and a palette knife, carryovers from his abstractexpressionist canvases. With this technique, Diebenkorn produces the experience of three dimensions on his two-dimensional canvas.

Diebenkorn’s painting style is not unlike the style of the New York City-based abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning (1904-1997).

In fact, de Kooning and Diebenkorn were concurrently exploring the tension between figuration and abstract expressionism.

Diebenkorn’s consistent approach to creating figures is his third trademark. The artist often eliminates parts of arms, legs and heads, making his figures appear both closer and larger. Enhancing the effect, he often paints his figures toward the bottom of the canvas, as well

The Palm Springs Art Museum Honors Richard Diebenkorn in an Expansive Show

as to the left or right of center. This forces the viewer to take in the entire canvas.

Up close, Diebenkorn’s figures are not attractive. The paint is thick, and heads are devoid of recognizable features (noses, eyes, mouths, etc.). When viewed from a distance, however, there is a major shift: Faces show subtle and not-so-subtle shading. Diebenkorn’s figures project a pensive mood; they seem isolated, and that mood often permeates the entire canvas.

His large canvas “Woman on a Porch” (1958) is a perfect example of Diebenkorn putting all the pieces together: striations, highly textured canvases, and truncated, faceless figures.

Diebenkorn, like many abstract expressionists, never abandoned his exploration of the human form. Irrespective of medium (e.g., gouache, pencil, charcoal, pen and ink), these images—frequently of nude women, and frequently smaller—are quite accessible.

The artist’s figurative drawings frequently contain elements of his larger canvases (e.g., faceless people; off-center focuses, etc). To create depth and perspective, Diebenkorn employs ghosting (drawing softer lines around parts of the figure) and shading. These impressive works are frequently given non-descript names, like “Untitled” or “Woman Seated.”

With his 1966 “Untitled (Yellow Collage),” Diebenkorn hints at his imminent return to abstraction. Using gouache, he paints a faceless female figure dressed in a rich-blue dress. She is atop a collage of different shades of yellow that both define the horizon line and delineate space.

Given this impressive show’s depth (approximately 110 works), it is well worth one long visit—or maybe two. After all, a second visit offers opportunities to revisit the pieces

Richard Diebenkorn, “Woman on a Porch,” 1958, oil on canvas. New Orleans Museum of Art, museum purchase through the National Endowments for the Arts Matching Grant, © 2013 The Richard Diebenkorn Foundation. All rights reserved.

you enjoy most, and discover works you may have missed during the first visit.

Richard Diebenkorn: The Berkeley Years, 1953-1966, continues at the Palm Springs Art Museum through Feb. 16, 2014. A free audio tour is accessible via cell phone. The museum is located at 101 Museum Drive, in Palm Springs. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday though Sunday; and noon to 8 p.m., Thursday. Admission is 12.50 for adults; $10.50 for seniors; $5 for children; and free to members, youths 12 and younger, military members and their families, and everyone from 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursday and every second Sunday. For more information, call 760-322-4800, or visit www. psmuseum.org.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 19

DECEMBER 2013

ARTS & CULTURE

‘MOST FABULOUS’ INDEED

Desert Rose’s Gay History of the World Is a Hilarious Hit

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By Valerie-Jean (V.J.) Hume udity! Four-letter words! Sex! Gosh, I thought, I may need to write about how shocking The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told is.

But guess what? The Desert Rose Playhouse’s latest production isn’t all that shocking. Instead, it is FUN! This fast-paced, swirling, millennia-spanning history of the world is actually funny! “Funny” is something we don’t associate with history class much, especially if you had teachers like mine, who not only made the topic dry and boring, but made it worse because the teachers were dry and boring themselves. This show skews those history lessons by asking: What if the world had started out gay?

The “Stage Manager,” played by Terry Huber with an authoritative British accent and a cool demeanor, cues the beginning of the world—which we get to actually witness, thanks to a wellused projection screen; sound, courtesy of multitalented director Jim Strait; and the legendary Phil Murphy’s lighting. The “real” stage manager, Steve Fisher, handles the show’s many changes from the tech booth with characteristic smoothness.

The play starts with Adam, the first man, popping onstage wearing nothing but a jockstrap and a fig leaf. (Well, how else did they keep those leaves pinned on? Did you ever really think about it?) He eventually meets Steve, not Eve, as we have been misled to believe. If you can possibly get your mind off the fact that neither one of them has an ounce of body fat, you can ponder the question of why Peter Mins is credited with the costumes.

Costumes? These are costumes? Well, brace yourself for the rest of the show, when you’ll get costumes! (If you’ve seen any of Mins’ work during his 50 years of experience, you must see this, his farewell show, because he is retiring from the business after this production, alas.)

So we meet Ryan Dominguez, playing Adam, and Timothy McGivney as Steve. They manage to spend several thousand years in this play without aging a day, or ever getting cosmetic surgery. Both actors manage their difficult roles and speeches beautifully, and play their laugh lines with wonderfully straight faces.

Most important of all, they are convincing.

Re-writing the Bible is no small task.

They meet the girls: Wendy Cohen plays Jane, a self-confessed bull-dyke who tries to be mean, but whose sparkling blue eyes hint at vast depths of emotion and humor.

Mabel, her femme partner, is played by Lorraine Williamson, a blonde Valkyrie who magnificently resurrects the genius of the late and much-mourned Canadian comedienne

Barbara Hamilton. Jane and Mabel romp through the centuries, reinventing themselves constantly and earnestly. They throw a multitude of surprises at the audience, particularly when Cohen bursts into song, in an astonishingly sweet and true soprano.

The rest of the world’s population is skillfully played by four quick-changing actors who transmogrify into countless roles. Pretty Phylicia Mason gets the girlie ones (Fluffy, Peggy), and she is a delight to watch in every one, including such challenges as a sympathetic Mormon. Mark Demry eats up his tall-guy roles with great flair, obviously relishing turns such as the wonderfully caped pharaoh, and a weary Santa. Jeremy Johnson struts his stuff by playing everything from a serious Biblewielding priest to a skimpily dressed Christmas elf with a flawless tan. And scratchy-voiced Toni Molano confidently tackles her juicy roles, playing everything from a smug sow on Noah’s ark to a rich televangelist rabbi in a jazzy wheelchair.

Fun? You bet. So let’s talk about the script: If there were a cuss jar on the stage, it would be full by the end of the first act. It would be refilled in the second act (especially thanks to Cohen’s “delivery” scene). But somehow, the language isn’t offensive—it’s just there.

Go figure. Park your prudery at the door, and enjoy the wit.

The humor comes mostly from social satire, which is not an easy chore to write or deliver.

It targets everything from Greenwich Village to ABBA to fashion choices. Relationships, with their ups and downs and constant change, supply the heavier notes of the score. The tragedies that befall all of us—losses, failures, health issues—present themselves here, too.

How did producer Paul Taylor choose this

Paul Rudnick play for Desert Rose’s Christmas show, and how did Jim Strait ever direct it? One has to wonder how many light and sound cues alone are required to stage this.

More than the Follies? It is an awesome achievement, gentlemen. The only downer is the stage itself: It’s not making those booming sounds as it was during Desert Rose’s last show, but now it’s creaking and squeaking under the actors’ steps, sometimes loudly enough to interfere with speeches.

If you are curious about what would have happened if the world had started out gay, run

to see The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. And be ready to laugh out loud.

The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told is performed at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, Dec. 22, at the Desert Rose Playhouse, 69620 Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage.

Tickets are $28 for Friday and Saturday shows, and $25 for Sunday matinees. For tickets or more information, call 760-202-3000, or visit www. desertroseplayhouse.org. Read reviews of many more local productions at CVIndependent.com.

Timothy McGivney and Ryan Dominguez in The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told.

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20 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

DECEMBER 2013

ARTS & CULTURE

FRAUD, LUST,

MURDER

Western Lit: The Local True Story Behind ‘Until Someone Gets Hurt’ Captivates

JUST FABULOUS HOLIDAY GIFT TOP 10 LIST

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

By BRIAN BLUESKYE yson Wrensch approached me at the Independent’s booth at the Palm Springs Pride festival and told me about a book he’s co-authored about the murder of a Palm Springs man, and the crazy happenings both before and after the murder.

I knew exactly what case he was talking about. Until Someone Gets Hurt, written

by Sherrie Lueder and Wrensch, offers the dizzying details about the cast of players in the well-publicized 2008 murder of Cliff Lambert, a 74-year-old Palm Springs retiree.

The book begins well before the murder, while Wrensch was on a month-long South America vacation. While in an Internet café, Wrensch discovered fraudulent activity in

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his bank accounts and on his credit cards. He panicked and quickly returned home to San Francisco.

Daniel Garcia, a former friend of Wrensch, was involved. Garcia, originally from San Francisco, was quite the man about town.

He befriended wealthy gay men, stole their identities and drained their bank accounts.

Assisting Garcia was a friend who told people he was a prince in Nepal, Kaushal Niroula; and a San Francisco attorney, David Replogle, who would help by filing frivolous lawsuits, getting power of attorney and offering advice on how to clean people out.

While Wrensch easily proved he was not in the country at the time of the fraud and was able to get back all of his money, he was unable to convince his bank to prosecute.

The story is full off odd twists and turns. Garcia claimed he had been raped by Thomas White, a San Francisco multimillionaire.

Garcia made White one of his victims, and used connections through Replogle to have White jailed in Mexico. Wrensch eventually paid a visit to White in the Mexican prison, where White told his side of the story.

(White later died there while trying to clear his name.)

The more you read Until Someone Gets Hurt, the more it becomes complex and intriguing.

You’ll also wonder how the perpetrators could be so smart—and so dumb at the same time.

Text messages between Garcia, Niroula and Replogle seem to show a hateful relationship at times, especially between Garcia and Niroula. I asked Wrensch how they managed to work so well together while expressing such personal hatred.

“They all got along great at first, but despite their growing to distrust and despise each other, their greed and need for each other to continue the cons kept them together,” Wrensch said, “like a dysfunctional, codependent family of thieves.”

When Clifford Lambert lost his partner, he decided to seek out a younger man to spend his days with; he would find men on youngerfor-older dating sites, and fly them out for the weekend as a “try out.” He eventually “tried out” Daniel Garcia. The criminals began to steal Lambert's identity, which later led to a cold-blooded murder—which brought yet more characters into the picture.

After the murder, Garcia, Niroula and Replogle sold off as many of Lambert’s assets as they could—including his home. However, local investigators started to take notice when Lambert’s friends and neighbors reported suspicious activity; people at local financial institutions who handled Lambert’s assets also started asking questions.

The fascinating story has led TruTV and

1. Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life (Jumbo Edition) Edited by Todd Oldham (Ammo), $200 2. Eames: Beautiful Details (Jumbo Edition) Edited by Gloria Fowler and Steve Crist (Ammo), $200 3. GQ Men Introduction by Jim Nelson (Assouline), $150 4. Cecil Beaton: Art of the Scrapbook

By James Danziger (Assouline), $250 5. Craft Cocktails

By Brian Van Flandern (Assouline), $50 6. In the Spirit of Beverly Hills

By Nancie Clare (Assouline), $45 7. Pop-Up Alice in Wonderland

By Lewis Carroll (Silver Dolphin), $18.95 8. Palm Springs Holiday

By Peter Moruzzi (Gibbs Smith), $30 9. Julius Shulman: Palm Springs

By Michael Stern and Alan Hess (Rizzoli), $55 10. Palm Springs Modern

By Adele Cygelman (Rizzoli), $50

Investigation Discovery to produce shows on the murder and its surrounding crimes.

While all of the players were eventually caught and sentenced (after some bizarre legal proceedings), they left behind numerous victims who have been hurt by their scams.

As the book details all of the crimes, you’ll be astonished at what the perpetrators managed to get away with, how much money their scams brought in, and how long it all went on. Until Someone Gets Hurt is a fascinating read.

Until Someone Gets Hurt, by Sherrie Lueder and Tyson Wrensch (CreateSpace), 336 pages, $15.95

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 21

DECEMBER 2013

DECEMBER THEATER Annenberg Theater CK Dance Company presents its “Sensational Seventeenth” annual production of The Nutcracker at 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 6; and 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7. $15 to $25. Dance With Miss Lindsay’s Holiday Showcase happens at 6 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 8. $15 to $20. SPARKLE: An All-Star Holiday Concert, to benefit the Desert AIDS Project, features an appearance by Florence Henderson at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 11; $35 to $400. Helen Reddy Home for the Holidays happens at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 14. $55 to $85. Charles Phoenix’s Retro Holiday Slide Show takes place at 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 20. $35 to $45. At the Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Drive, Palm Springs. 760-325-4490; www. psmuseum.org/annenberg-theater.

A Christmas Carol—from Theatre 29 The Charles Dickens holiday classic has a month-long run at this Twentynine Palms theater mainstay. 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, through Saturday, Dec. 14; Sunday matinee at 2 p.m., Dec. 8. $12; $10 seniors and military; $8 students. At 73637 Sullivan Road, Twentynine Palms.

760-361-4151; theatre29.org.

CV Rep Luminary Luncheon: Florence Henderson Carol Brady herself sits down for lunch with CV Rep and friends. Noon, Wednesday, Dec. 11. $35. At the Atrium, 69930 Highway 111, No. 116, Rancho Mirage. 760-2962966; www.cvrep.org.

Exquisite Potential—from Dezart Performs In 1979, Alan Zuckerman decides his son is special.

Very special. In fact, Zuckerman announces his son is the Messiah. Of course, skepticism abounds. 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, through Sunday, Dec. 1. $22; $18 students, seniors and military. At the Palm Springs Womans Club, 314 S. Cahuilla Road, Palm Springs. 760-322-0179; www. dezartperforms.com.

Indian Wells Theater/CSUSB Palm Desert Tribute Concerts Neil Diamond and Connie Francis take the stage at 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7. Celine Dion is joined by the Xavier College Prep Choir at 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 20. $40 for first three rows; $35 for the remainder of the house. At the Indian Wells Theater at CSUSB Palm Desert, 37500 Cook St. 760-341-6909; pdc.csusb.edu/ eventstheater.html.

It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play—from Palm Desert Stage Company This holiday tradition is performed as a 1940s live radio broadcast in front of a studio audience. 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday, from Friday, Dec. 6, through Sunday, Dec. 15. $25 general; $23 IPAC friends and seniors; $15 students with ID; $11 children. At the Indio Performing Arts Center, 45175 Fargo St., Indio. 760636-9682; www.pdstage.com.

Lone Star, Laundry and Bourbon—from the Desert Ensemble Theatre James McLure’s two one-act “1959 Pink Thunderbird” plays are set in small-town Texas, and focus on the life of Roy, a Vietnam veteran. 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Dec. 20 and 21; 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21 and 22. $22; $18 students, seniors and military. At the Palm Springs Womans Club, 314 S. Cahuilla Road, Palm Springs. 760-565-2476; brownpapertickets.com.

Married Alive—from Desert Theatreworks A new musical about the ups and downs of marriage focuses on two couples: excited newlyweds, and bored not-so-newlyweds. 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday, from Friday, Dec. 6, through Sunday, Dec. 15. $25; $23 students and seniors. At the Arthur Newman Theatre in the Joslyn Center, 73750 Catalina Way, Palm Desert. 760-980-1455; www.dtworks.org.

Million Dollar Quartet This Tony Award-winning show is inspired by the famed recording session in which Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins came together for one special evening. 8 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, Nov. 26, 27 and 29; 2 and 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 30; 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 1. $35 to $95. At the McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert. 760-340-2787; www.mccallumtheatre.com.

The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told—from the Desert Rose Playhouse The Old Testament is re-imagined from a gay/lesbian point of view. In other words, instead of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden is home to Adam and Steve, as well as Jane and Mabel. When banished from the garden, they decide to invent civilization—starting with brunch, of course. 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, Dec. 22. $25 to $28. At 69260 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage. 760-202-3000; www. desertroseplayhouse.org.

The Nutcracker, by Moscow Classical Ballet Tchaikovsky’s holiday dance classic is performed by the “Ballet Star Factory” and accompanied by recorded music. 7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 18. $29 to $29. At the McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert. 760-340-2787; www.mccallumtheatre.com.

On Thin Ice—from Script2Stage2Screen Darrell and Dee examine their lives in this play of truthtelling and coming out, written by local playwright Don Clarkson. 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Dec. 6 and 7. $10. At the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Desert, 72425 Via Vail, Rancho Mirage. 760-345-7938; www. script2stage2screen.com.

Shrek the Musical—from the Palm Canyon Theatre The antics of the ogre with the heart of gold are translated to a stage musical! 7 p.m., Thursday; 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday, from Friday, Dec. 6, through Sunday, Dec. 22. $32. At 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. 760-323-5123; www. palmcanyontheatre.org.

Someday at Christmas With Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack A toe-tapping good time is promised at this holiday show featuring both Rat Pack songs and holiday favorites. 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 14; 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 15. $25 to $75. At the McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert. 760-340-2787; The Story of My Life— from Coachella Valley Repertory CV Rep gets into the musical game with this tale of lifelong friends Alvin and Thomas. As time tests the bonds of their relationship, best-selling author Thomas calls on his own stories of Alvin to figure out where things went wrong. 7:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday, from Wednesday, Dec. 4, through Sunday, Dec. 22. $35 preview (Dec. 4 and 5); $40 regular; $50 opening night (Dec. 6). At the Atrium, 69930 Highway 111, No. 116, Rancho Mirage. 760-2962966; www.cvrep.org.

A Tuna Christmas—from the College of the Desert Dramatic Arts Company In the third-smallest town in Texas, Christmas is celebrated with a highly competitive annual lawndisplay contest; the production of A Christmas Carol is jeopardized by unpaid electric bills; and the town is being terrorized by the infamous Christmas Phantom. 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Dec. 6 and 7; 2 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 8. $15 general; $10 COD students. At Theatre Too on the College of the Desert campus, 43500 Monterey Ave., Palm Desert. 760-776-7370.

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22 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

DECEMBER 2013

MOVIES

TO HELL AND BACK

The Story of Bob Forrest—Who Grew Up in Palm Springs—Is Horrifying yet Ultimately Uplifting

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MOVIES

By Brian Blueskye f you’re familiar with the Los Angeles music scene of the ‘80s, or you’ve ever watched an episode of Celebrity Rehab on VH1, you know who Bob Forrest is.

The Thelonious Monster frontman is the subject of Bob and the Monster, a documentary just released on home video which details Forrest’s years as a drug-user, his recovery and his transition to becoming a drug-counselor.

The documentary features interviews with an A-list of musicians including Gwen Stefani of No Doubt, Keith Morris of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, Angelo Moore of Fishbone, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction, and the members of Thelonious Monster, as well as a chat with Forrest’s Celebrity Rehab partner, Dr. Drew Pinsky. They all help tell the story of someone who has been to hell and back.

The documentary starts off by examining Forrest’s childhood in Palm Springs. He says he questioned why all of his sisters were much older than him, and why his parents were older than most; he eventually discovered a sad and shocking truth. After his father passed away, the family went from middle class to poverty, moving to a trailer park.

Forrest would go on to form Thelonious Monster, and become a creative genius compared to both John Lennon and Bob Dylan.

Forrest quickly attracted attention from record companies and played some famous (and at times infamous) shows in Los Angeles with the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone, Jane’s Addiction and many other acts.

Of course, Forrest’s drug addiction is a major topic of the film. He talks about how Top Jimmy (James Paul Koncek) of Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs took him on his first ride—via a shared needle. The tales of Forrest’s addiction are downright horrifying; so are the various bits of footage showing him arguing with band members over the years. The film shows how other members of the band also struggled with their own addictions, and the number of times Forrest went to rehab.

A moment that illustrates just how serious Forrest’s heroin addiction had become occurred at Pinkpop in 1993, when Forrest— clearly under the influence—gave an insane performance, climbing up scaffolding, rolling around on the stage, and talking madly in an after-show interview. Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, there’s a story about CVIndependent.com

Bob Forrest. PIPER FERGUSON

how he shared a needle with a guy who told Forrest he was HIV-positive. Forrest shares the needle with him anyway, after boiling it in dish detergent.

When Forrest finally decided to get clean, he started volunteering for an organization that assisted musicians with addiction problems. He became dedicated to the cause of recovery, and eventually became the Chemical Dependency Program director at Las Encinitas Hospital. He later started the now-defunct Hollywood Recovery Services.

While he’s a believer in recovery programs, he’s frustrated with the profit-driven healthcare system which treats addicts with yet more drugs, as well as the politics behind the health-care system related to the treatment of addiction.

While the topic of a musician’s addiction has become a clichéd documentary subject, Bob Forrest’s story is indeed quite remarkable.

He has been able to turn a huge negative into a positive and is obviously knowledgeable on the subject of addiction. Forrest’s reputation of giving out his cell-phone number and being called at all hours by those in need shows just how devoted he is as a drug-counselor.

Bob and the Monster is now available on DVD and Blu-ray, as well as various online and on-demand sources.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 23

DECEMBER 2013

MOVIES

NOW SHOWING AT HOME

New Blu-Ray Releases to Savor—or Skip

THE VIDEO DEPOT

TOP 10 LIST for November 2013

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MOVIES

By Bob Grimm Man of Steel Warner Bros., released Nov. 12 There was no movie that I was anticipating more this year than this cinematic rebirth of Superman. I was so excited that I buried in my mind the fact that director Zack Snyder’s most-recent effort, Sucker Punch, was a pungent mess.

Man of Steel could do no wrong. Right?

Wrong.

Snyder turned Supes (Henry Cavill) into a whiner with mommy issues. The director was going for something akin to Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies, rather than the Richard Donner flicks that inspired Bryan Singer’s unjustly maligned Superman Returns.

General Zod, as played by Michael Shannon, is close to perfect. Conversely, Amy Adams is a total miss as Lois Lane, and Laurence Fishburne is awful as her boss, Perry White. Passing grades go to Kevin Costner as Superman’s earthly dad, and Russell Crowe as the Kryptonian papa. Diane Lane is also good as his Earth mommy.

This movie is absent of humor, joy and fun.

I’m all for taking Superman to a darker place, but Snyder also takes him to a place that is significantly duller. I fear for the future of the Superman and Batman franchises with Snyder at the helm.

Special Features: There’s a feature in which Snyder basically explains the whole movie; it’s a feature that goes beyond the scope of the usual audio commentary. In fact, it takes up most of the second disc in the package. You also get making-of documentaries. I liked the features more than the movie.

Before Midnight Sony, released Oct. 22 Now it’s time to take a look at the 2013 works of Mr. Ethan “Consistency Is Not My Forte” Hawke.

Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) return for Before Midnight, their third movie after Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, and they remain as interesting as ever. After going to Celine’s apartment nine years ago in Paris, the two hooked up for good, with Jesse’s marriage ending.

This third film in the series starts with an amazing scene between Jesse and his son (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) in an airport. It builds momentum until an emotionally exhausting ending (in a good way). The movie features Jesse and Celine talking a lot because, well, that’s what they do best.

It also has Jesse and Celine going at each other in a hotel-room argument that’s so vicious, it’s scarier, by far, than anything in Hawke’s The Purge.

(See below.)

Director Richard Linklater gave us two very romantic movies with the first parts of this trilogy.

This one is romantic, too—but it’s romance laced with a harsh dose of reality.

We have been getting a new “Before” movie every nine years. I hope this isn’t the end; whenever these films fade out, I feel like I need another chapter.

Special Features: There’s a fun audio commentary with Linklater, Hawke and Delpy that does the film justice. You also get a question-and-answer session with the trio that suffers from the fact that film-critic Elvis Mitchell is presiding over the event.

There is also a short about the revisiting of the characters of Jesse and Celine.

The Purge Universal, released Oct. 8 The Purge offers a cool concept … and poor execution.

For 12 hours each year, Americans are allowed to go helter-skelter and commit felonies—including murder— with no legal consequences.

James (Hawke) has made a lot of money by capitalizing on this day and selling-high priced security systems to his neighbors. When he locks down his house on the night of “the purge,” he thinks his home is an impenetrable fortress.

Obviously, something is going to go very wrong.

There’s a great idea at this movie’s core, but it degenerates into a home-siege movie in which everybody—and I mean everybody—acts stupidly.

Villains walk around slowly, with guns down and faces up … and the armed people being pursued fail to take them out. It drove me a little crazy— especially when the surprises were not at all surprising.

This premise is ripe for a sequel. I’d like to see a movie in which we are witnessing this fabled purge outside the confines of one house. Hawke gives it a

good try, but the film lets him down.

This isn’t even the worst Hawke film of 2013; that honor goes to the horrible Getaway. It’s OK, Ethan: Before Midnight is so damn good that we can forgive the missteps.

Special Features: The only supplement is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film that is short and uninformative—not that I needed to know much else about this stinker.

In the Mouth of Madness New Line, released Oct. 15 More John Carpenter Blurays! Hooray!

On the heels of the Halloween reissue and the Prince of Darkness Blu-ray debut, we get In the Mouth of Madness, perhaps the most-insane film the horror maestro has ever made.

Sam Neill stars as John Trent, an insurance investigator who we first see restrained in an insane asylum. The story then goes backward to show that John used to be quite sane and wellmannered before he found himself on a search for a missing horror novelist, Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow).

The search takes him to the land of Hobbs End, a fictional setting from Cane’s novels. Or is Hobbs End real? Once there, he encounters Cane, discovers that he might only be a fictional character in Cane’s world, and rapidly loses his marbles.

This film didn’t get a fair shake in its original release. Carpenter did the sort of genre-winking that Wes Craven would do with far more box-office success in Scream. In the Mouth of Madness might be better than Scream.

No doubt: Carpenter was poking a little fun at his genre-buddy Stephen King, while also paying homage to H.P. Lovecraft. The film is full of strange, disgusting creatures, the best of which would be Julie Carmen with her head turned upside down and doing a crab walk.

Carpenter calls this part three of his apocalypse trilogy, after The Thing and Prince of Darkness. I do love the fact that Neill’s Trent is able to catch a screening of the movie of his life, popcorn in hand, while the apocalypse is in full blast.

Special Features: An OK, if somewhat labored, commentary from Carpenter and his cinematographer.

Man of Steel

1. Man of Steel (Warner Bros.)

2. 2 Guns (Universal) 3. We’re the Millers (New Line) 4. Turbo (DreamWorks) 5. White House Down (Sony) 6. Red 2 (Summit) 7. Grown Ups 2 (Sony) 8. Planes (Disney) 9. The World’s End (Universal) 10. Getaway (Warner Bros.)

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24 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

DECEMBER 2013

•• SNIFF THE CAP: TULIP HILL WINE IS A FAMILY AFFAIR •• THE INDY ENDORSEMENT •• RESTAURANT NEWS BITES: GREEK ISLANDS CAFE MOVES; THE COPA IS OPENING SOON www.cvindependent.com/FOOD-DRINK

THE CRAFT REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN! Eureka! Burger Is Just One of the Beer Goddess' Favorite Places to Enjoy Suds

28

ERIN PETERS CVIndependent.com

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 25

DECEMBER 2013

FOOD & DRINK

the SNIFF CAP

The Story Behind Tulip Hill, the Coachella Valley’s Sole Winemaker

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

F

By Deidre Pike

OR TULIP HILL WINERY PRESIDENT KRISTI BROWN, one day per year is usually better than every other—and it’s not even a holiday.

It’s the day when winery staff, family, friends and wine consultants meet to blend Tulip Hill’s wine.

“A fun day is a blending day,” Kristi Brown says. “You sniff them all, taste them, look at their color. One might have a great bouquet, another nice color, another fruit or acid or finish or tannin.”

Ten to 15 people sit around the table, tasting. Each blend may take four or five—or maybe 10 attempts. Each time, the mix shifts incrementally. They’ll try 3 percent petite sirah, instead of 2, Brown explains, or 11 percent merlot instead of 9.

She thinks back to earlier days, when the blending partiers would watch winery founder Robert Henderson “Budge” Brown Sr., Kristi’s father. They’d know when a mix of varietals hit the mark.

“He’d get this glimmer in his eyes,” says Kristi Brown, “and we’d know: That’s the one.”

Budge Brown, perhaps best known as the founder of Manteca Waterslides water park and the inventor of the fiberglass

The late Budge Brown. COURTESY OF TULIP HILL WINERY

waterslide tube, died when his plane crashed in May 2011 in the Eldorado National Forest in Amador County.

“My dad influenced and affected a lot of people,” Kristi Brown tells me. “So many people from so many phases of his life.”

The Tulip Hill tasting room has been open in The River in Rancho Mirage since 2002. Kristi Brown considers the Coachella Valley an ideal location to feature her father’s wine— which is made from grapes grown outside of Tracy, a six-hour drive north. She and her partner, Sara Hammond, the winery’s marketing specialist and wine-club coordinator, moved to the area from Orange County.

“When we first started checking the desert out, 11 years ago,” Kristi Brown says, “you had this valley full of amazing restaurants with incredible wine lists. Obviously, there’s a consumer here who loves that lifestyle. But nothing was going on in terms of wine.”

At that time, the Coachella Valley boasted a couple of wine

shops and grocery stores with wide selections—and that was it.

Eventually, larger bottle shops opened, a couple with wine bars cordoned off from the rest of the shopping area.

But 11 years ago, the Tulip Hill tasting room became the sole winery tasting room in the Palm Springs area. It still is.

“We really are the only one,” Kristi Brown says.

The weather—not counting sizzling-hot summer months—is what drew Brown to the area. She soon fell in love with the desert and the people. Many Palm Springs-area residents are transplants, she’s noticed, from all around the United States, Canada—the world.

“People are here because they want to be here,” she says. “And everyone seems relatively happy.”

J

IMMY BOEGLE AND I ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE WINERY around noon on a Saturday (although it soon starts getting busier). We start by tasting whites, as we light-heartedly joke about shopping for excellent “breakfast wines.” Sales associate Jean Pond doesn’t miss a beat, pouring us a crisp 2009 sauvignon blanc.

“This would go well with fruit and lighter cheeses,” she suggests, pairing morning foods on the fly. “But I’d have to have truffle scrambled eggs.”

The wine is crisp, fruit-forward—a perfect day-starter. With sangria in mind, Boegle buys a bottle, and also picks up a case of the 2010 Trace sauvignon blanc, a sister-label steal, for $49.99.

Tulip Hill bottles wine under three labels that include its value brand Trace, and its distribution label Tulip Hill Cellar Select.

Pond has been pouring wine at the Tulip Hill tasting room for six years. She raves about the Mount Oso vineyards near Tracy. Grapes are grown at low elevations, from zero to 500 feet above sea level. The vineyards receive only about 8 or 9 inches of rainfall each year.

Vineyard manager Jeff Brown irrigates using water from more than 100 feet below the ground, “stressing (the vines) to create small, tight berries with amazing flavor,” as the winery’s website notes.

Boegle and I work our way through a half-dozen distinctive wines, including the complex 2008 Tracy Hills Mirage ($22), a merlot-syrah blend that combines flavors of fruit, earth and spice.

Many of Tulip Hill’s most-intriguing wines are creatively named blends like Sangiovignon, a cab-sangiovese blend ($25); Nerovignon, a blend of cab with the Italian varietal Nero d’Avola ($28); and a tasty-licious Cabepulciano ($32)—45 percent montepulciano and 55 percent cabernet sauvignon.

I buy the latter bottle, receiving a Wine Club discount that knocks a few dollars off the price. Being a Tulip Mania Wine Club member means invitations to wine-release parties, pairing events and winemakers’ dinners, as well as complimentary tastings at the Rancho Mirage tasting room.

About 600 locals are in Tulip Hill’s wine club, Pond says, which now totals about 1,200 members. Tulip continued on next page

Jean Pond pours some tastes at Tulip Hill's store at The River. DEIDRE PIKE CVIndependent.com

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FOOD & DRINK continued from Page 25

Hill ships its wine to members across the nation.

“If you live in Minnesota and you want California wine, well, you can’t buy our wines anywhere else,” Pond says.

T

HE BROWNS STARTED GROWING GRAPES IN THE 1980S. For years, their grapes were sold to other California wineries. Budge and his wife, Arlene, shared a dream of making their own wine, though—and in 2001, the Browns decided it was time.

Tulip Hill was born.

“My dad was one of these really great guys, a visionary, an entrepreneur and an inventor,” Kristi Brown says. “He was always going 100 miles per hour.”

Budge Brown loved wine—and he was generous with it.

When Kristi Brown would drive home to Manteca during her years at the University of California at Santa Barbara, her father would take her downstairs into his wine room.

“It was nothing glamorous,” she says. “Don’t conjure up the wine cellars of today.”

Her father would start pulling out bottles, assembling a case for her to take back to college.

She’d return to Santa Barbara with some mighty fine wine.

“I’d go back to my college buddies,” she recalls, “and while most people were drinking Boone’s Farm or whatever, we were drinking some quality California reds—Silver Oak and Groth and all these great wines.”

Kristi Brown has fond memories of drinking wine with her father in Napa, under a big oak tree in the rolling Pope Valley.

“He obviously enjoyed drinking the fruit of his labor,” she says.

After his wife died of breast cancer, Budge Brown established the Cleavage Creek Winery in Napa, donating a percentage of its profits to the Bastyr Integrative Oncology Research Clinic.

Family friend Ronn Wiegand, a master sommelier and wine consultant, calls Cleavage Creek a testament to Brown’s character. The Cleavage Creek labels featured photos of breastcancer survivors.

“How audacious was that?” Wiegand says.

Ten percent of the gross sales from every bottle went to the Bastyr University clinic, which Budge Brown had visited and approved.

“This was vintage Budge,” Wiegand says. “He wanted those donations to have an impact on finding a cure for breast cancer—and as quick a one as possible.”

Wiegand met Budge Brown at an evening wine-appreciation class that Wiegand was teaching at Napa Valley College. Brown asked Wiegand to taste Tulip Hill’s syrah, a wine that went on to win several wine competitions.

“I was enthusiastic, very impressed by the wine,” Wiegand says.

“Over the years, we became friends. I enjoyed his enthusiasm for the wine industry and his think-outside-the-box mentality.”

After Budge Brown’s death, the family sold the Cleavage Creek Winery. The family retains the Tulip Hill brand, the Mount Oso vineyards outside of Tracy and the Rancho Mirage tasting room.

Budge’s son Jeff grows grapes. Kristi runs the business.

Wiegand participates once or twice a year as a consultant and says he’s enjoyed many blending events with the Brown family and friends.

Kristi Brown credits Wiegand with having an uncanny palate.

Though she was an English major in college, she’s learned plenty about wine from working with experts like Wiegand.

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“Over the years, you begin to train your own palate and learn those pearls of wisdom he passes along,” she says.

What does the future hold for Tulip Hill?

“After 11 years at The River, we’re pretty content where we’re at,” Kristi Brown says. “We have a nice loyal following in the desert.”

Tulip Hill Winery’s tasting room is located at 71800 Highway 111, No. A125 (at The River), in Rancho Mirage. For more information, call 760-568-5678, or visit tuliphillwinery.com.

The Brown family examines some future wine

Tulip Hill president Kristi Brown: “When we first started checking the desert out, 11 years ago, you had this valley full of amazing restaurants with incredible wine lists. Obviously, there’s a consumer here who loves that lifestyle. But nothing was going on in terms of wine.” JIMMY BOEGLE

Tulip Hill fans taste the November wine-club release.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 27

DECEMBER 2013

FOOD & DRINK the

INDY ENDORSEMENT

These Dishes Will Make Your Mouth Water

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By Jimmy Boegle WHAT The Tom Yum Soup WHERE Le Basil, 72695 Highway 111, No. A10, Palm Desert HOW MUCH $4.95 (chicken) or $6.95 (shrimp); hot pots also available CONTACT 760-773-1112; www. lebasilrestaurant.com WHY The flavors are amazing.

I love soup. No matter the time of year, and no matter how freaking hot the weather gets, I am up for a bowl of tasty, delicious soup— and one of my favorite soups, when done right, is tom yum.

I have tried this hot-and-sour soup at Thai restaurants far and wide, and I have come to the conclusion that it’s easy to make a good version of this soup—but it’s difficult to make a great version. Well, I am elated to report that Palm Desert’s Le Basil has produced a really great version—one of the best I’ve ever had.

The “big” ingredients—the moist chicken (or shrimp, if you choose), the tasty mushrooms, the texturally satisfying tomato pieces—were all perfect, but it was the “little” ingredients in the broth that made this soup so splendid. The liquid is home to a variety of spices, lime, lemongrass and other flavorproducing goodies.

Wait, is that fish sauce I taste? Why, yes, I think it is. And all of it works in perfect harmony.

Most of the other dishes we had at Le Basil were also quite enjoyable. An honorablemention endorsement goes to the Le Basil crispy fish salad ($12.95), which successfully merged chunks of deep-fried white fish with apple, onions, (far too few) cashews and a lemon dressing. On paper, that combination may make you go: “Huh?!” But on the plate, it was a big hit.

However, the tom yum was the undisputed highlight. While I’ll gladly slurp down soup in 117-degree weather, I understand that not everyone feels the same way. But, hey, the Coachella Valley’s “cold” season is here—so get thee to Le Basil, and enjoy the tasty warmth of the tom yum. It’s a cliché, but it’s true: You’ll be glad you did.

WHAT The Pork Schnitzel, Salzberg Style WHERE Café Scandia, 356 S. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs HOW MUCH $17.95; also includes soup and salad CONTACT 760327-2036; www. cafescandia.com WHY It’s moist yet not greasy, with lots of flavor.

The good folks at Café Scandia have not put that much effort into signage.

The signs outside look like someone went to Home Depot, bought some stick-on letters, and hastily placed them on the signs’ surfaces.

Ironically, the restaurant could use some good signage: It’s in an easy-to-miss spot tucked away in an easy-to-miss Indian Canyon Drive shopping center. If not for a small A-frame sign on the sidewalk, I’d have never known Café Scandia existed.

However, chef Erik Pedersen and company do put effort into their food—and this is a very good thing.

The comfy, if no-frills, restaurant (look at the plate above for the very definition of “no frills”) offers no appetizers and just a dozen or so entrées, all of which come with a salad (which is small and … well, frill-less) and a cup of soup included in the price, which is $16.95, $17.95 or $18.95. In other words, there are even no-frills prices—though the fresh seafood of the day and an occasional special may deviate from those frill-less norms.

When the pork schnitzel is this fantastic, though, who needs frills? The cutlet had been tenderized and coated in a batter that was moist without being greasy. It was all topped with a brown gravy that looked, well, generic.

But the resulting combo of meat, breading and sauce was perfect.

While the accompanying vegetables and mashed potatoes were decidedly ho-hum, a round of applause goes to the red cabbage, which brought acid and sweetness to the schnitzel party that made the entrée better.

The schnitzel and cabbage was simple.

Down-home. And to use the phrase just one more time: no frills. But, oh, was it delicious!

CVIndependent.com

28 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

DECEMBER 2013

FOOD & DRINK

the

Recommendations on Where to Enjoy the Craft-Beer Revolution

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By Erin Peters he land of martinis and honey is undergoing a seismic shift toward summery saisons, infused IPAs, savory stouts and bourbon-barreled beers.

So where in the Coachella Valley can you go to find these intoxicating craft creations?

With locations in New York, Los Angeles, London, Seattle, Portland and, of course, Palm Springs, the Ace Hotel (701 E. Palm Canyon Drive) keeps up with trends in music, art, food and drink. The boutique hotel boasts a nice selection of craft beer in the Amigo Room. In fact, the ever-changing craft-beer variety gets its own chalkboard near the bar. Ace is also home to the popular “Craft Beer Weekend,” a pool party complete with music, grub and beer—perfect for craft connoisseurs and beer beginners alike.

Up Palm Canyon Drive to the north lies a restaurant offering a farm-to-concrete-table dining experience that’s industrial chic and progressive. While the menus at Workshop Kitchen + Bar (800 N. Palm Canyon Drive) are heavy with cocktails and duck fat, the spot also offers a nice selection of beers in their downtown-L.A.-esque bar.

As stated on Workshop’s liquid menu, this is a carefully chosen, opinionated mix of products. The beer bottles are sectioned by “crisp,” “yeasty,” “malty,” “strong or dark’ish” and “hoppy.” The tap list rotates, but offers a nice selection of lighter brews. Available as of this writing are Abita Lemon Wheat, hailing from Louisiana; Oskar Blues Mama’s Little Yella Pils, from Colorado; Stiegl Goldbrau Märzen, all the way from Salzburg, Austria; and our own local brew, the BelgianStyle Vanilla Blonde Ale from Babe’s. The rotating menu calls attention to Southern California seasonal products, from lemon cucumber and dates to pattypan squash.

Located down the street several blocks is Bar (340 N. Palm Canyon Drive). I’m enamored with Bar’s beer cocktails, its dark and seductive surroundings, the DJ parties and the Picnic Eggs— deviled eggs with Sriracha and wasabi. Pair them with the War Gin (gin and lemon honey pale ale) beer cocktail. If you favor bourbon, order the Burning Bush, made with bourbon, lemon, house grenadine and pilsner. Not daring enough for the beerand-cocktail blends? The small selection of craft beers will satisfy.

The Purple Room is the swanky new kid at 1900 E. Palm Canyon Drive. In bottles, you can enjoy San Diego beers like Ballast Point Longfin Lager and Stone Pale Ale. On tap, enjoy what the Coachella Valley has to offer with brews from Coachella Valley Brewing Co. and Babe’s.

In the heart of downtown Palm Springs, Fame Lounge (155

Coachella Valley Brewing Co. ERIN PETERS CVIndependent.com

S. Palm Canyon Drive) is an upscale cigar, wine and microbrew lounge. At the bar, you’ll find a rotation of beers on tap.

Recent finds: Ommegang’s Hennepin, Stone 17th Anniversary Götterdämmerung IPA, and New Belgium’s Lips of Faith Coconut Curry Hefeweizen.

Heading east, the aforementioned Coachella Valley Brewing Co. (30640 Gunther St., Thousand Palms) is brewing up some one-off specialty beers perfect for the cooler nights that have arrived. Their Fall Harvest Saison is a 7.3-percentalcohol, Belgian ale brewed with pumpkin, sweet potatoes and Lance Davis’ 100 percent pure desert gourmet honey.

Only two kegs were brewed, so if it’s not already gone, hurry!

The Volstead India Pale Lager is a light yet flavorful 7 percent alcohol pre-Prohibition pilsner made with hops from the Czech Republic, as well as lively Motueka hops from New Zealand.

Coming up in Coachella Valley’s brewing rotation is Oasis, a hard-apple medley—brewed with fresh Julian apples. Look for this release around mid-December. The guys at CVB also just brewed a saison with Torulaspora delbrueckii, a strain of wild yeast isolated from an apple orchard on a deserted island in Denmark. Brewed with rye and spelt, the release is as-yet unnamed, but keep an eye out for this beauty.

Their first collaboration beer has been a tasting-room success. Coriolis is a 9.5-percent alcohol, 120 IBU, wet-hop imperial IPA. Brewed along with Rocks Brewing in Sydney, Australia, with hops from New Zealand and Australia, this is a mouthwatering hop bomb. It’s down to the final keg, so visit the tasting room to check it out. The brand-new Framboysenberry is a raspberry and boysenberry sour wild ale made with Pedio, Brett and Lacto yeasts. This won the peoples’ choice award in Redlands recently and is now on tap for tasters and glasses. Crave more spice in your life? The Monument on Fire, just released, is a double IPA is infused with habañero and hatch chiles, papaya and mango. The Conquistador Quadruple ale will be available in early December, and watch for a special treat: They are stashing some in bourbon barrels.

The appropriately named Burgers and Beer (79815 Highway 111, La Quinta, and 72773 Dinah Shore Drive, Rancho Mirage) has a list of more than 50 bottled beers, like Rogue Dead Guy Ale and Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA. On draft, you’ll find local brews like Babe’s Honey Blonde Ale and CV

Brewing’s Monumentous, a West Coast rye double IPA. Neighboring Babe’s Bar-B-Que and Brewhouse (71800 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage)—the granddaddy of local brewers—is Southern California-started chain Yard House.

Each Yard House features 100 to 250 tap handles, depending on the location. The Rancho Mirage tap room has 155 beers on tap, ranging from Allagash White and Lost Coast Apricot Wheat to Bootlegger’s Black Phoenix and Port Brewing Shark Attack Red. Also rotating in are seasonal drafts, which are displayed electronically above the bar. Currently tapped are IPAs like Firestone Wookey Jack and Green Flash Hop Head Red, joining Belgians like The Bruery Autumn Maple and Gulden Draak 9000 Quad. Of course, if you’re really thirsty, you can order a draft in 3-foot-tall glass container. Make it a yard!

Schmidy’s Tavern (72286 Highway 111) is a relaxed (unless there’s live music!) craft-beer bar in Palm Desert, with rotating selections like Stone Enjoy By 12-13-13, CV Brewing’s Volstead and Game of Thrones: Take the Black Stout. Learn more about the craft-beer revolution at their beer school, hosted the last Wednesday of most months. (Beer School is on hiatus during holidays, but the popular class will return on Jan. 29.)

The Beer Hunter (78483 Highway 111, La Quinta) offers a great choice and selection in their sports-themed “Hall of Foam.” Enjoy the game while drinking an Alaskan Amber Ale, Firestone Pale Ale or Ranger IPA from Fort Collins, and log your drinks in the Hall of Foam to eventually have your name emblazoned on the beer plaque. You’ll find local beers from brand-new La Quinta Brewing and CV Brewing.

So Cal chain Eureka! Burger (74985 Highway 111) is helping Indian Wells discover American craft, one burger, whiskey and beer at a time. The craft-beer selection is carefully selected by beverage director, sommelier and company ambassador Jonny Barr. Currently, the selection boasts 20 taps ranging from Drake’s Brewing Bavarian-Style Hefeweizen and Eagle Rock’s Manifesto Wit to Stone Brewing’s Smoked Porter and Great Divide’s Yeti Imperial Stout. All of the bartenders are certified beer servers, which is the first level of a cicerone—the craft-beer equivalent of a sommelier. Artisan recipes and fresh, organic ingredients accompany their signature hand-cut fries and gourmet salads.

Despite the gorgeous display of fermented grain mash available at Eureka!, the suds are not to be overlooked. Even a couple of the whiskeys on offer are made by—you guessed it— breweries. Check out what Anchor has to offer with the Anchor Distilling Old Potrero, single-malt 19th-century straight rye whiskey. This is distilled with 100 percent rye malt mash and aged in new charred oak barrels—and is a silver-medal winner!

It’s exciting to see restaurants and bars in the valley getting in on the craft-beer revolution, serving a varied choice of beer alongside aperitifs and main courses.

Choice matters. Taste matters. Check out what the Coachella Valley has to offer.

Read more by Erin Peters at www.thebeergoddess.com.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 29

DECEMBER 2013

FOOD & DRINK

Restaurant NEWS BITES

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/FOOD-DRINK

By Jimmy Boegle GREEK ISLANDS CAFÉ MOVES UP THE STREET; DÉLICATESSE COMING SOON After not even a year at 117 La Plaza in downtown Palm Springs, Greek Islands Café has moved up the street to the spot that used to house Mykonos Greek Restaurant.

You can’t miss new digs, at 139 E. Andreas Road, thanks to the bright-yellow building. Even cooler than the building, though, is the restaurant’s gorgeous courtyard. I stopped in a couple of days before the “official” Nov. 16 grand opening for lunch, and was completely enchanted by the lovely space. (At one point, a tiny kitten zoomed under my chair!) And then there’s the food: The gyro sandwich I had was fantastic.

For more information, call 760-413-3811.

It appears Greek Islands’ move has set off a game of restaurant musical chairs: There’s now a sign in the restaurant’s old La Plaza space that touts the expected January 2014 opening of Délicatesse, a restaurant offering German meats, gourmet cheeses, French pastries and other European goodies.

The fare will be available for in-house dining, for take-out and on party platters.

Yum! We’ll keep you posted.

THE COPA SET TO OPEN IN DECEMBER The Copa—the sister nightclub of the ever-popular restaurant Tropicale, which sits right next door— should open its doors at 244 E. Amado Road in Palm Springs sometime in December.

An email went out to The Tropicale’s regular customers on Nov. 20 promising that the Copa’s opening was “just a couple of weeks away,” and referring folks to www.copapalmsprings.com. That website is chock full of information: “In a throwback to old Palm Springs’ nightclubs, the Copa is fashioned around an elevated performing stage and a stunning U-shaped bar lined with leather barstools, upholstered booths and gilded cocktail tables,” it promises.

It seems The Copa will offer a series of themed nights: “Stardust Swingers,” with swing, jazz and ballroom dancing on Monday; pop and country classics on Wednesday; music from the ’70s and’80s on Thursday; modern club nights on Friday and Saturday; and salsa/Latin dancing on Sunday.

Cliché alert: But wait; there’s more! Further sleuthing led to another website, www. coparoomtickets.com, which is selling tickets to performances by actor/comedian Leslie Jordan (Peanut!) on Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 19 through 21; comedian Judy Tenuta on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 27 and 28; and other performers going into January.

Since this is the restaurant news column, we should mention that The Tropicale’s full menu will be available at The Copa.

Watch the aforementioned websites for more details.

MIRAMONTE GOES GAGA WITH GINGERBREAD Like gingerbread? Then you’ll want to check out the Miramonte Resort and Spa’s Gingerbread Village, debuting Friday, Nov. 29.

Varied gingerbread buildings—all of which must be at least 51 percent edible—will be on display in the Tuscany Foyer starting at 6 p.m., Friday, Nov. 29. They were all made by kids, adults, businesses or pro bakers/chefs who entered a contest for a good cause: The proceeds are being donated to the Desert Cancer Foundation.

Catch the Gingerbread Village through Dec. 26. It’s just one of the many holiday events taking place at the Miramonte, at 45000 Indian Wells Lane, in Indian Wells.

Visit www.miramonteresort.com/holidays.php for more.

IN BRIEF Wang’s in the Desert, at 424 S. Indian Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, celebrated its 10th anniversary with a reception on Thursday, Nov. 21. … Las Casuelas Terraza, at 222 S. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, is getting into the holiday spirit by offering pomegranate guacamole. We’re not sure that regular guacamole needed sprucing up, but this “seasonal tradition” will be available through December, or as long as pomegranates are in season. … Chez Pierre Bistro is latest incarnation of Pierre Pelech’s eponymous restaurant, and it’s now open at 74040 Highway 111, at Portola Avenue, in Palm Desert. It replaces his old Town Center Way digs. Get more info at www.chezpierrebistro.com. … Oscar’s Café and Bar, 125 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way in Palm Springs, celebrated the opening of its remodeled dining room with a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, Nov. 20. … The dates have been set for Palm Springs Desert Resorts Restaurant Week: May 30 through June 8, 2014. The 2013 incarnation was 17 days long, which means the 2014 version will be a week shorter. Find more info at www. palmspringsrestaurantweek.com.

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30 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

DECEMBER 2013

•• The Oak Ridge Boys Celebrate Christmas •• Andrea Drea Steps Out of Her Covers Zone •• The Weirdos Are On Again •• The Blueskye Report •• The Lucky 13; All Night Shoes Fresh Monthly Mix www.cvindependent.com/music

SOLO SUPERSUCKER Eddie Spaghetti Heads to the Hood to Promote His New Album of Original Songs

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KEVIN BALDES CVIndependent.com

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 31

DECEMBER 2013

MUSIC

SPREADING THE COUNTRY GOSPEL

After Four Decades of Success, the Oak Ridge Boys Keep Reinventing Themselves

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye fter 40 years together, the Oak Ridge Boys continue to find ways to reinvent themselves and appeal to younger audiences.

They’re heading out on tour behind their newest Christmas album, Christmas Time’s A-Coming, and will bring their holiday show to Spotlight 29 Casino on Saturday, Dec. 14.

The Oak Ridge Boys came together in Oak Ridge, Tenn.—the birthplace of the atom bomb. The group evolved from a group that original member Wally Fowler was in. The Oak Ridge Boys would form their signature sound by combining gospel with country—which, at first, earned the group the scorn of both gospel traditionalists and country-music fans.

“Back when we first came on the scene, people were saying we weren’t country enough,” said bass-singer Richard Sterban during a recent phone interview. “They were complaining we were too pop-sounding. It’s kind of ironic that now, the way country music is changing and has evolved, we are considered ‘classic country.’ It’s mind-boggling that back then, we weren’t country enough.

“When I watch the award shows now and listen to country radio … I can see where we don’t fit in there any longer.

That’s not really us. We don’t do that, and we’re much more traditional. My 18-year-old daughter and her girlfriends listen to country music, and today’s country music has become today’s pop music.”

At a time when they were feeling a bit uncertain about their future, the Oak Ridge Boys found themselves recording with Johnny Cash and the Carter Family (which included Johnny’s wife, June Carter Cash). The Carters were gospel singers while also being influential in folk and country music. They made the Oak Ridge Boys feel right at home.

“They were wonderful people, there’s no doubt about it— especially Johnny Cash,” Sterban said. “If it wasn’t for Johnny Cash, I don’t think there would be the Oak Ridge Boys today.

Johnny and June took us under their wing and made us part of their family in a lot of ways. They put us on live dates with them and helped us out financially when we were struggling and starving.”

Sterban also said that Johnny Cash gave them some advice that took them to the next level.

“He could tell we were discouraged. So one day, he called us up to his hotel room in Las Vegas at the Hilton, and he gave us a little bit of a pep talk. He said, ‘You guys have something very special. I can tell it, and you guys know it. If you guys give up, no one else is ever going to know about it. What you guys have to do is find a way to stick together and keep going. I promise you if you do that, good things are about to happen to you guys.’

“We walked into that room with our heads were hanging, and walked out of that room with our heads held high.”

Sure enough, the Oak Ridge Boys went on to find commercial success after taking Cash’s advice. Of course, like any band

that’s been around for four decades, the Boys have gone through lineup changes and record-label drama.

“I think the most important thing is that after all of these years, we still enjoy doing what we do,” Sterban said. “We still look forward to getting onstage, and taking our music live to our audiences. … We enjoy being Oak Ridge Boys. In a way, we reinvent ourselves a little bit when we create new music.

We’ve been able to record music that is relevant to today’s marketplace.”

The Oak Ridge Boys have indeed managed to stay relevant.

They did a cover of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” for their 2009 album The Boys Are Back; it earned the group praise from audiences young and old.

“That may be the best example of what I was talking about with reinventing ourselves,” Sterban said. “We recorded a song with Shooter Jennings and met his producer, David Cobb. We were able to work it out with David Cobb. It was his idea to do ‘Seven Nation Army.’ He said, ‘Trust me, fellas. This will be a good song for you guys. You guys are a vocal group, and we want you to stay true to that.’ We did a lot of the instrumental stuff on that song with our vocals.”

Last year, the Oak Ridge Boys released Christmas Time’s A-Coming, their sixth Christmas album. They decided to make

it more acoustic and traditional, recording Christmas classics along with songs that explain the story of Christmas.

While their upcoming concert is indeed a Christmas-themed show, fans of the Boys’ classics can rest easy: A set of “regular” music will be followed by an intermission and then the Christmas set.

“Our Christmas shows are a real bargain—it’s two shows in one,” Sterban said. “We come out, and for about 45 minutes, we perform our regular music. We do a lot of the hits people expect to hear. Then we come out and do a complete Christmas show, and we cover every aspect of Christmas. We cover the romantic side of Christmas; we cover the fun side of Christmas; and then we do a segment … we call the “Rocking Chair Segment,” and the four Oak Ridge Boys take turns, one by one, talking about childhood Christmas memories and what Christmas music means to the four of us. It’s a great chance for people to get to know the Oak Ridge Boys, because we talk about ourselves and our childhoods.”

The Oak Ridge Boys will perform at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 14, at Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison Place in Coachella. Tickets are $45 to $65. For tickets or more information, call 760-775-5566, or visit www.spotlight29.com.

The Oak Ridge Boys. DAVID BEAN CVIndependent.com

32 \\ COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT

DECEMBER 2013

MUSIC

COVERS GIRL

Palm Springs’ Andrea Drea Strikes Out on Her Own With a Brand-New Single

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By BRIAN BLUESKYE he Coachella Valley is full of singers and bands who perform covers—but few stand out like Andrea Drea.

The former frontwoman of Drea and the Jewels, known for her ability to cover songs by artists ranging from The Black Keys to Adele, is now performing on her own.

She grew up singing in glee clubs and attended the Reimer School of Music in Palm Springs. As a child, she sang at the Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs Stadium during the Fourth of July, and various churches.

“I used to watch a lot of Disney movies, and I used to sing along to them.

My mom is the one who really got me into glee music,” Drea said during a recent interview. “My influences are a mixture: Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Ella Fitzgerald; a lot of funk from the Gap Band (and) George Clinton; and I even have a classical side. It goes on and on. My mother was very musical, and it runs in my family.”

Drea said that Joplin is probably her biggest influence of all.

“I feel a lot of heart in her music, and a lot of passion,” she said. “People didn’t understand her and what she wrote. I love her music, and I take a lot from her.”

After some time away from music during high school—she played sports instead—she formed her first band when she was 18.

“It was kind of an eclectic sound,” she said.

“We were all into a new sound and rock ’n’ roll, with a little funk and a little bit of the oldies.

We just made an elaborate sound, and it didn’t work. I had other places where I played, but it was always their band and not my band.”

She formed Drea and the Jewels about two years ago. The band had regular gigs at Wang’s in the Desert and the HooDoo Patio Restaurant and Bar at the Hyatt Palm Springs. They also played a private gig for Microsoft employees that included Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

“It was in Indian Wells at a place called the Vintage (Club). It was for the Microsoft employees and clientele,” Drea said. “They had a tennis club, and they played tennis the whole time—we were their entertainment. As soon as I got there, I saw him walking out, and I said hello, and didn’t even get a picture. He did hear us, which was good. It was fun for a private setting.”

Drea and the Jewels came to an end after just one year together.

“With every band, there’s drama. There are people who think they deserve more than you, and it just ends up causing drama,” she said, without going into specifics. “I said, ‘You CVIndependent.com

know? That’s enough. It’s time to get out, go solo and see what happens.’”

The next stop was working with Ronnie King, a producer who was worked with acts such as Tupac Shakur, Mariah Carey, Rancid and Snoop Dogg. She recorded her single with him.

“He’s a great producer. He’s worked with a lot of big names,” she said. “I tried it out with him, and, of course, you get strapped: Money gets low, and I only did what I could at the time.

“My single is called ‘Can’t Live Without You.’ I wrote that, and Robbie King collaborated with me on it.” It can be heard on her ReverbNation page.

Her recordings show off a voice that sounds like a cross between Adele and Janis Joplin.

She performs covers in her own style—and her sound is even more exceptional on her original material. As alluded to above, I once heard her sing an Adele song, followed by a Black Keys song.

“It’s just natural to me,” she explained. “I always pick a song I can feel; if I can’t feel the song, it’s going to be difficult for me. If I feel the song, that’s all it takes. When I feel soul in music, I really get into it and let it go.”

When asked about going solo and writing her own material, she talked about where she currently sees herself within her career.

“Everybody starts from covers—even Adele,” Drea said. “Everybody starts with covers, and it kind of branches you out into music and a lot of different sounds. … The writing aspect of it, I enjoy a lot. I got to dig deep to where I didn’t think I could go, and with my writing, it took me to other places.”

Drea is balancing being a business-owner, wife and mother with being a musician and performer. She said it’s not always easy.

Andrea Drea

“You start from scratch. You have to be smart about it; you can’t just go with anybody, or they’ll take advantage, especially in this industry,” she said about music. “It’s really hard to find someone who’s going to lead you in the right direction or show you the right ways. …

Just about everything is hard, but it doesn’t stop, and you can’t let it stop you. This is my passion and my dream, so I go after it.”

For more on Andrea Drea, visit www.reverbnation. com/andreadrea or www.facebook.com/DReaRockSoul.

COACHELLA VALLEY INDEPENDENT // 33

DECEMBER 2013

MUSIC

ACOUSTIC MAYHEM The Hood Hosts the Supersuckers’

Eddie Spaghetti, With Opener Charlie Overbey

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Brian Blueskye n what promises to be a night of acoustic mayhem, Supersuckers frontman Eddie Spaghetti and former Custom Made Scare frontman Charlie Overbey will be play at The Hood Bar and Pizza on Thursday, Dec. 5 The Supersuckers formed in 1988 and have appeared on many indie-band “best of” lists.

The band’s combination of rock and country has led many to list them in the “cowpunk” subgenre. They have toured with bands such as Pearl Jam, Motorhead, Reverend Horton Heat and many others.

Eddie Spaghetti, the frontman of the Supersuckers, is also a solo artist. He’s touring behind his latest album, The Value of Nothing. For Spaghetti, this is his first solo album to offer originals instead of covers. “(The album) was kind of more my views on things, I guess,” Spaghetti said. “… I just worked hard at making up some good songs, and didn’t think about what should be a solo song or a Supersuckers song. I think there are a couple of songs that could have been Supersuckers songs pretty easily, but that’s not always the case.”

Spaghetti said he has one goal, whether he is performing with the Supersuckers or at a solo show.

“I just want people to hear the songs and come out to the show. The music has kind of become the advertisement for the live show,” he said. “It’s the one thing left that you can’t download, and you can’t experience a live show any other way besides going out to see it. It’s the one thing we, as artists, have left that’s still enjoyable.”

When asked what attendees can expect from his set, he replied that his show will be entirely acoustic.

“You’ll laugh; you’ll cry; you’ll become a part of it,” he said. “I think what differentiates an Eddie show (from) a Supersuckers show is how the audience gets to participate in an Eddie Spaghetti show.

They’ll shout out a song they think I might know; if I even kind of know it, I’ll give it a shot. It’s a good chance for me to flex my entertainer muscle and not try to be some boring singer-songwriter guy up there.”

For Charlie Overbey—who has opened shows for both the Supersuckers and Eddie

Charlie Overbey.

Spaghetti before—the art of songwriting runs deep. You can hear Springsteen, Cash, Haggard and other influences at play in his from-the-heart songs.

He released an album in 2011 with former band the Valentine Killers, and he just finished recording another album.

“I come from the school of ‘a good song is a good song,’” he said. “If it makes you feel something, it’s good. As long as it’s coming from the soul, and it’s real, people are going to feel that. If it makes you feel sad and remember something you don’t want to necessarily remember … it’s good to remember that kind of stuff—to remember the good times.”

In recent years, Overbey has gone through the breakup of the Valentine Killers, a divorce, the death of his father and the death of several friends via suicide. It’s no surprise, then, that he wrote some dark stuff—but he said he didn’t want that to taint his new album.

“I thought, ‘I don’t want to make this dark, depressing record right now,’” he said.

“I rehashed the whole thing and busted out a bunch of tunes and wrote some new stuff that’s upbeat, and it’s positive.”

Overbey said he enjoys performing with Spaghetti.

“Eddie is a standup, solid dude. We have a good time together and have a lot of laughs,” Overbey said. “I have a lot of respect for him as a writer and an artist. He’s just an allaround strong talent. I always feel blessed to share a stage with Eddie.”

Eddie Spaghetti performs with Charlie Overbey, as well as The Hellions, at 10 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 5, at The Hood Bar and Pizza, 74360 Highway 111 in Palm Desert. Admission is free. For more information, call 760-636-5220, or find the event’s page on Facebook. Read an expanded version of this piece at CVIndependent.com.

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MUSIC

THE WEIRDOS ARE ON AGAIN

The Punk Legends Are Back on Tour and Heading to Pappy and Harriet’s

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By Brian Blueskye n 1976, the Weirdos became one of the first Los Angeles punk outfits to form—and begin leaving a mark on the city.

After being on-again, off-again as a band ever since, the Weirdos are on again for the first time since 2005—and they’ll be at Pappy and Harriet’s on Thursday, Dec. 12.

The Denney brothers, John and Dix, are sons of the late Nora “Dodo” Denney, the actress who played Mrs. Teevee in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. They formed the Weirdos at the same time as the Sex Pistols and the Clash were taking the United Kingdom by storm with punk rock. Punk was starting to take off in the U.S., too, but the Weirdos weren’t calling themselves a “punk band,” per se. They were simply doing what was referred to back then as “art rock.”

“I think there were so few punk bands at the time, and it was pretty wide open. It was up for grabs, in other words,” said John Denney during a recent telephone interview. “… Initially, there was no scene in L.A. to speak of besides us, the Zeros, and the Nerves, who were a pop group, and shortly after came the Germs.”

Of course, the punk scene in Los Angeles eventually rose to prominence. Bands like Black Flag, Bad Religion, Fear and X became popular; so did groups with sounds coming toward punk from different directions, such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone.

“There were a lot of drugs back then,” John Denney said. “… I was torn about the ’80s, because a lot of the music was so canned and not my cup of tea—but then again, there were other great things happening as well.”

During the ’80s, the Los Angeles Police Department began to view punk rock as a threat to youth, and police started cracking down on shows. Violence among audience members was also common—and even upset various punk musicians.

“It was unnerving at times. You just didn’t know where the

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hell it was going,” John Denney said. “It got so wild and sort of went off at every show. You just didn’t know what was going to happen next with the police cracking down. It was really ugly. I wasn’t a participant necessarily other than being in a band, but I appreciated the youthful exuberance of it all. I don’t like people getting beat up, no matter the perpetrator, but nonetheless, it was still really exciting and exhilarating, and also really positive.”

John Denney explained the band’s various hiatuses through the years by saying the group was victimized by “circumstance, sometimes brought on by our own shortcomings."

“For example, we were on a great British tour in 2005 with The Damned, and our mom got very ill. (Dix) and I had to bail on that tour and came home for my mom, and she passed away. Back then, one thing led to another, and I moved to New Orleans. That was five or six years there that we weren’t active.

We’re firmly entrenched in the here and now: I like to put it that way. … I think we’re better now, but some folks might not agree. We’re going to give it another shot; that’s all we can do.”

The new version of the band includes members both old and new. Joining the Denney brothers are former Circle Jerks bassist and Sean and Zander member Zander Schloss on bass, as well as Devo and Perfect Circle touring drummer Jeff Friedl.

Will the reformed band record new material? John Denney explained there have been ideas, but nothing is set in stone. “(Our) records really were by and large pretty crappy,” he said. “We didn’t know what we were doing at that time so many years ago. I think the quality in every sense would be better and more proficient. I’m not sure if we can put the genie back in the bottle, because we are thinking and talking about new material, but I’m not sure we want to go back to a four-track and devolve.

Hopefully, we will recapture the energy and the spirit behind it.”

The Weirdos

John Denney continues to live in New Orleans.

“I’ve been here in New Orleans with my family about seven years,” he said. “I love New Orleans, but, yes, there are many things I miss about California. It’s an amazing place. New Orleans is my home, but I’m an Angelino—and always will be.”

The Weirdos will perform with Shawn Mafia and the 10 Cent Thrills at 8 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 12, at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road in Pioneertown. Tickets are $13 in advance, or $15 on the day of the show. For tickets or more information, call 760-365-5956, or visit pappyandharriets.com.

DECEMBER 2013

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The Blueskye REPORT

December 2013

By Brian Blueskye

The month of December is full of holiday magic—and many of the local venues are bringing in great holiday-themed shows, along with other worthy acts.

The Palm Springs Festival of Lights starts at 5:45 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7. It’s a huge parade on Palm Canyon Drive featuring floats, marching bands and other special participants. Past guests have included the Budweiser Clydesdales, Snoopy and the Gang, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Attendance is free. 760-323-8276; www.psfestivaloflights.com.

The newly formed Modern Men, the Coachella Valley Men’s Chorus, is holding an inaugural concert at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 4, at Temple Isaiah in Palm Springs.

There will be a second performance at 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7. Tickets are $20. The chorus is also asking those who attend to bring a nonperishable food item to donate to the LGBT Community Center of the Desert’s NestEggg Food Bank. Temple Isaiah, 332 W. Alejo Road, Palm Springs; 760-992-5109; www. modernmen.org.

The Classic Club in Palm Desert will host a special fundraiser thrown by Opera Arts and the Steinway Society for their children’s music programs in the Coachella Valley.

For the Children starts at 6 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 8, with a wine-and-cheese reception; it’s followed by a sit-down dinner at 7:15 p.m., and a musical presentation at 8:15 p.m. with Shana Blake Hill and Gregorio Gonzalez. Tickets are $125. 75200 Classic Club Drive, Palm Desert; 760-323-8353; www. operaartspalmsprings.org.

The Palm Springs Gay Men’s Chorus will be performing their holiday concert “With Bells On” at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 14, and 3 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 15, at the Palm Springs High School Auditorium. They say they’re going to be performing a mix of sentimental, spiritual, humorous and classical songs.

Tickets are $25 to $50. 2401 E. Baristo Road; www.psgmc.com.

The city of Palm Springs is hosting yet more special events at Forever Marilyn.

The free Forever Marilyn Holiday Concert Series will take place at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 21, and 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 22.

The performers include Celine Dion tribute performer Brigitte Valdez, Just Like That and local band New Sensations. 101 N. Palm Canyon Drive; www.visitpalmsprings.com.

The McCallum Theatre certainly is the place to be during the month of December. The McCallum will host The Ten Tenors for five shows, Friday through Sunday, Dec. 6-8. The Australian musical ensemble is well known for choral covers of Queen’s “Somebody to Love,” continued on next page ➠ as well as other pop and CVIndependent.com

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The Ten Tenors: McCallum Theatre, Dec. 6-8

rock classics. Here, they will be performing an all-new show of holiday classics. Tickets are $25 to $95. Willie Nelson will be making a stop at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 17. The Red Headed Stranger is still going strong at 80 years of age; he’s still doing what he can to help out farmers through his Farm Aid concerts; and, yes, he’s still advocating for the legalization of marijuana.

Tickets are $60 to $100. McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert; 760-340-2787; www.mccallumtheatre.com.

Of course, the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa has some fine holiday shows on tap in December.

Jazz saxophonist Dave Koz will be performing a Christmas show at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 14. He’ll be bringing special guests Oleta Adams, Jonathan Butler and Keiko Matsui.

Tickets are $40 to $60. If you’re Willie Nelson: McCallum suffering from a Christmas hangover, Theatre. Dec. 17 Chris Isaak can help at 9 p.m., Friday, Dec. 27. While Isaak is a well-known actor with roles in Little Buddha, The Silence of the Lambs and The Informers, he’s also a brilliant recording artist with a music career that goes back almost 30 years. Tickets are $40 to $75. At 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Agua Caliente will be hosting Danny Bonaduce’s ex-wife, Gretchen Bonaduce, and her band, The Fatal ’80s.

I don’t know what to make of a woman who divorces Danny Bonaduce and continues to keep that last name, but more power to her! Tickets are $25. The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888999-1995; www.hotwatercasino.com.

Fantasy Springs Resort Casino will be hosting Mannheim Steamroller at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7. Not to be confused with the near-heavymetal, prog-rock Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Mannheim Streamroller is also known for holiday shows full of MIDI-sounding keyboards and an electronic-symphony sound.

Tickets are $39 to $69. America’s Got Talent star Jackie Evancho will be Mannheim Steamroller: appearing at Fantasy Springs at 8 Fantasy Springs, Dec. 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 14. Evancho, now 13, won the hearts of America during the fifth season of the show and finished as the runner-up—sparking outrage among her fans who felt she should have won the competition over Michael Grimm. Tickets are $49 to $89. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 760-342-5000; www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

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Spotlight 29 Casino is hosting the Winter Gathering Pow Wow from Friday through Sunday, Dec. 6-8. The pow wow will include Native American tribes from across the country sharing clothing, dances, songs, arts, crafts and food. There will also be a drum and dance contest. Hours are 7 to 11 p.m., Friday, Dec. 6; 1 to 11 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7; and 1 to 7 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 8. Admission is free. The Spinners, a legendary Motown R&B group, will be making a stop at Spotlight 29 at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 28. Most of the original members of the Spinners are not active, but original member Henry Fambrough remains. Tickets are $25 to $45. At 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Stayin’ Alive, a tribute to the Bee Gees, will ring in 2014. Tickets are $20. Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison Place, Coachella; 760-775-5566; www.spotlight29.com.

Morongo Casino Resort Spa has a solid schedule for December. At 9 p.m., Friday, Dec. 13, Charo will be performing. The Spanish-American actress known for both her campy comedy and her flamenco-guitar music is still going strong—and she’s a huge hit in the LGBT community.

Tickets are $20 to $29. Hiroshima plays at 9 p.m., Friday, Dec. 20. The Japanese-American act was a hit in the ’70s in the electric-jazz scene, and even performed as the opening act for Miles Davis. While the band has gone through several lineup changes, Dan Kuramoto, June Kuramoto and Danny Yamamoto are still around. Tickets are $15 to $20. Morongo’s Vibe Nightclub will host a New Year’s Eve Party at 10:30 p.m.

The Dazz Band will be performing their high-energy R&B to bring in 2014. Tickets are $25, or $40 on the day of the show.

Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-252-4499; www.morongocasinoresort.com.

Dengue Fever: Pappy and Harriet’s, Dec. 7

Pappy and Harriet’s will be hosting Dengue Fever (the band, not the virus) at 9 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7; the show is one of the highlights of an absolutely packed month for the Pioneertown venue. The Los Angeles band is known for combining Cambodian pop music with psychedelic rock—a unique and eccentric combination. If that wasn’t enough, Jesika von Rabbit from Gram Rabbit will be the opening act, performing under the moniker JVR. Tickets are $10.

Pappy’s will be throwing a New Year’s Eve concert featuring the blues-rock sound of the Paul Chesne Band. Doors open at 6, and tickets are $5. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-365-5956; pappyandharriets.com.

The Hood Bar and Pizza in Palm Desert has established itself as a hot place to be, especially after November’s show with Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine. Rick Thorne and his band Thorne will play at 10 p.m., Friday, Dec. 6. Thorne is one of the most-recognizable BMX riders around

The Dazz Band: Morongo, Dec. 31

today—but he also puts on an excellent show as a punk-band frontman. Attendance is free. At 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 21, The Hood will host Strung Out. The Simi Valley band has been performing its brand of punk since 1992 and has been on Fat Wreck Chords since its debut, Another Day in Paradise, in 1994.

There’s talk of a new record coming out in 2014. Given the intimate size of The Hood, Strung Out should be another wild show. The cost is $10 at the door for those 21 and older; or $15 for those 18 to 20. The Hood Bar and Pizza, 74360 Highway 111, Palm Desert; 760-636-5520; www.thehoodbar.com Clinic Bar and Lounge in Palm Springs is picking up steam with a regular schedule of music nights. On Thursdays at 9 p.m., Symara Stone hosts Spotlight, a local talent showcase.

A variety of performers bring their own instruments, and it’s guaranteed to be a good time. On Wednesday nights at 10 p.m., Derek Gregg and Sean Poe, now known as the Hive Minds, are putting on a show. Considering the quality of Derek’s originals, it’s not a surprise he’s continuing to make a name for himself in the local music scene. Clinic Bar has a lot more to offer with regular DJ sets by talented people including Independent resident DJ Alex Harrington (aka All Night Shoes) and various other music nights. Admission is free. Clinic Bar and Lounge, 188 S. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs; 760-8644119; www.clinicbarps.com.

The Purple Room in Palm Springs is back, and the Rat Packinspired lounge is now hosting a regular schedule of shows.

The Judy Show, a comedy and song show, will take place on Sunday nights at 9:30. Tickets are $20. The Gand Band will perform on Friday and Saturday nights at 9 p.m. The cost is $10. The Michael Holmes Trio will perform on “No Cover Wednesday” nights from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and Machin’ will be bringing the Spanglish Jive every Thursday at 7 p.m.; there is no cover. Watch the website for yet more shows. The Purple Room, 1900 E. Palm Canyon Drive; 760-322-4422; www. purpleroompalmsprings.com.

Strung Out: The Hood, Dec. 21

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DECEMBER 2013

MUSIC

the

LUCKY 13

Two Great Local Musicians Help Us Get to Know Them Better

WWW.CVINDEPENDENT.COM/MUSIC

By Jimmy Boegle What song would you like played at your funeral?

“Dr. Feelgood,” Mötley Crüe.

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

Appetite for Destruction, Guns N’ Roses, tied with several others: Nirvana, Nevermind, Ozzy, No More Tears, and Aerosmith, Pump.

NAME Paul Brian Cotterell GROUP Pictures From Eden MORE INFO The Pictures From Eden website (www.picturesfromeden.com) promises “the kind of music that’ll take you back to the good ole days of sold-out stadiums filled with giant power anthems and heart-pounding rock.”

What was the first concert you attended?

First concert was with my parents: Julio Iglesias (snort).

What was the first album you owned?

Michael Jackson, Thriller.

What bands are you listening to right now?

Imagine Dragons, OneRepublic, Pink and odds and ends on the radio.

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

Still don’t get the Justin Bieber phenomena.

Did I miss something?

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

Guns N’ Roses would be No. 1 (circa ’91, NOT G N’ R today).

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Techno, house or dubstep.

What’s your favorite music venue?

Haven’t been in person, but seen a ton of awesome shows on TV from Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado—looks AMAZING! What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

“Live and Let Die,” Paul McCartney.

What band or artist changed your life?

How? Nirvana. It got me through high school.

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

Slash: “How are you still alive?”

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“Alive,” Pictures From Eden.

NAME Derek Timmons GROUP Sleazy Cortez, The Town Troubles MORE INFO Timmons, 29, installs Murphy beds by day, and plays around town in bands including Sleazy Cortez and the Town Troubles by night.

Sleazy Cortez is “a newish three-piece band in the Coachella Valley,” according to the band’s occasionally updated Facebook page. “(The band features) rock and riffs, psychedelic funk and beyond, with a strong focus on improvisation. DIG IT.” What was the first concert you attended?

Nine Inch Nails and A Perfect Circle in St. Louis, 2000.

What was the first album you owned?

Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine, was probably the first cassette I purchased for myself after thoroughly absorbing my parents’ Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Queen, Elton John, Van Halen, etc. … Dang, I might have purchased Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer first, actually. D’oh!

What bands are you listening to right now?

Baroness, Red Fang, The Sword, Clutch, Rob Zombie, Hank III, Vista Chino, Blaak Heat Shujaa, Soundgarden, Alice in Chain, and Monster Magnet. I’ve been on a Misfits kick as of late, too, and posthumous Hendrix.

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

Most pop, especially pop country; emo; and hip hop with no musicians present.

What musical act, current or defunct,

would you most like to see perform live?

I am super-stoked to see Monster Magnet on Nov. 27 at House of Blues in L.A., especially now that they have Chris Kosnik from The Atomic Bitchwax on bass.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Can’t even admit to it.

What’s your favorite music venue?

The Hood in Palm Desert, to be honest. That’s where I’ve been getting my musical rocks off the most lately.

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

“Can’t get you out of my head,” by Kylie Minogue.

What band or artist changed your life?

How? Kyuss, among others. But when I bought (Welcome to) Sky Valley on cassette from the Piggy-Banc Pawn Shop in Vincennes, Ind., after band practice one day in high school, I found a kind of music that I didn’t even realize was what I had been attempting to play in my garage.

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

“Like, how’d you get so awesome at playing the bass, bro?” to Les Claypool.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Hmm. “Break on Through (to the Other Side)”

by The Doors? Or maybe it would be more fun for my family and friends if it was “Everything Dies” by Type O Negative. Or maybe “Buried in the Backyard” by Cannibal Corpse.

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

ZZ Top’s First Album? That’s not my favorite at all, but it is a damn good one. Sky Valley from Kyuss? The Elephant Riders or Jam Room from Clutch? Suck on This from Primus? La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1 from White Zombie? This is an unfair question.

What song should everyone listen to right now “N.I.B.” by Primus with Ozzy from Nativity in Black II. Or better yet, something by someone playing at your local bar—especially if it happens to be Sleazy Cortez, Town Troubles, Robotic Humans or Las Feas.

The All Night Shoes FRESH Monthly Mix: DECEMBER 2013 Another month, another FRESH Mix! This is the third edition of the FRESH Mix—and, of course, the last of 2013. I want thank everyone who has been following the FRESH Mix. I am passionate about sharing the music I love with people. I also want to thank the Coachella Valley Independent for being brave enough to host this feature!

Ok, that’s enough. Let’s get to the music!

This month’s FRESH Mix is focused on a deeper style of music. Not all electronic music features massive synthesizer lines and giant bass kicks. In fact, some has a sound that can best be described as “chilled out.” I personally enjoy deep house, because it can easily blend with other styles, such as my favorite—disco!

The final track is a remix from local Coachella Valley DJ/producer A_Onceler, aka 20-year-old Aaron Rodea. While he’s still finding his style, Aaron has already done a handful of mixes that show off his skills. I asked him to remix my track “Like This” for my debut album, Slow Emotion, and he did not disappoint.

I look forward to rocking out with you all in 2014! Thank you—and as always, the best is yet to come.

Enjoy this mix at CVIndependent.com. Enjoy!

• Deepjack and Room4Space, “Right Here” (Original Mix) • Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith, “La La La” (Oliver Nelson and Tobtok Remix) • JBAG, “Mogadisco” (Original Mix) • Just Kiddin, “The One” (Original Mix) • Bit Funk, “It Ain’t Easy” • Quinten 909 and Rob Black, “No One Like You” • Fare Soldi, “Frum Frum” (Original Mix) • Duke Dumont featuring A*M*E, “Need U (100%)” (Amtrac Remix) • All Night Shoes, “Like This” (A_Onceler Remix) CVIndependent.com

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COMICS & JONESIN’CROSSWORD

Across 1 “___ luego” 6 Rule opposed by Gandhi 9 Raptor pack?

12 Crop-eating pest 13 Rain-___ (gumball brand) 14 The Alfred P. ___ Foundation (nonprofit institution) 16 “Shame, that” 18 Beer with a blue ribbon logo 19 Comeback hit of 1988 20 “___ like caviar...”

(Marilyn Monroe quote) 21 Long beginning?

22 In an outmoded sense 26 “___ for ‘yak’” 27 Sign of family leadership, maybe 28 “___ Beso” (1962 hit) 29 High-capacity vehicle?

30 Penn in NYC, e.g.

31 One of 140 characters, often 32 Recipe amount 35 Like most dishware 36 Article in Acapulco 37 Wrapped up 38 “Deck the Halls” contraction 39 Many of St. Benedict’s monks 42 Walgreen’s competitor 43 Less tacky CVIndependent.com

44 Shakers founder 46 “Let’s Build Something Together” retailer 47 Item where the middle is automatically marked 50 “It’s ___ Unusual Day” 51 First name in Ugandan dictatorship 52 Theo of “Sons of Anarchy” 53 Existed 54 Bono ___ (U2 lead, early on) 55 City of the Ruhr River Valley Down 1 Iowa City squad 2 Pithy writer 3 Closes, as a deal 4 Michael’s brother 5 “Battlestar Galactica” role 6 Possible result of a sacrifice 7 PC key 8 She once sat with Barbara and Whoopi 9 Prizes awarded since 1901 10 “Fawlty Towers” character 11 Full of fidgets 14 Like “the house of tomorrow” 15 “Blazing Saddles” villain Hedley 17 City claiming the world’s smallest park

20 Private economy spending gap 23 Frustrated with 24 “Jump!” response 25 Andy’s TV relative 29 Violin attachment 32 Ditch 33 All there is 34 Submitted, as completed homework 35 Worry after a bite 37 Way to count quicker 39 Show with episodes “Pettycoat Injunction” and “His Suit is Hirsute” 40 Enticing smell 41 Make noise at night 45 Cpls., e.g.

47 Last name in color schemes?

48 Words before a kiss 49 Turn down ©2013 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) Find the answers in the “About” section of CVIndependent.com!

DECEMBER 2013

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