Coachella Valley Weekly - June 25 to July 1, 2015 Vol. 4 No. 14

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coachellavalleyweekly.com • June 25 to July 1, 2015 Vol. 4 No. 14

Women Filmmakers

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DJ Smoke 1

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LIVE From Uncle Bens

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In Memory of Fred Corradi

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

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Coachella Valley Weekly

coachellavalleyweekly.com publisher@coachellavalleyweekly.com facebook.com/cvweekly

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

Local Valley Governments Unite to Proclaim June 28th Transgender Pride Day

By Lisa Morgan

Sunday at the TRANS-PRIDE PICNIC. Ruth Hardy Park in Palm Springs.

760.501.6228

Publisher & Editor Tracy Dietlin Art Director Robert Chance Sales Team Bobby Robles, Deborah Evans Classified Manager & Nightlife Editor Phil Lacombe Features Writer Lisa Morgan, Judith Salkin, Denise Ortuno Neil, Heidi Simmons, Kira Golden, Rich Henrich Writers/Contributors: Robin Simmons, Rick Riozza, Craig Michaels, Bronwyn Ison, Haddon Libby, Rachel Montoya, Angela Janus, Janet McAfee, Dale Gribow, Raymond Bill, Jack St. Clair, Rob Brezny, Eleni P. Austin, Noe Gutierrez, Sunny Simon, Karen Creasy, Richard Weiss, Dr. Peter Kadile, Dr. Maria Lombardo, Bruce Cathcart, Julie Buehler, Flint Wheeler, Laura Hunt Little, Rebecca Pikus, Monica Morones, Lola Rossi, Dee Jae Cox, Patte Purcell, Esther Sanchez, Janet Newcomb Photographers Laura Hunt Little, Scott Pam, Lani Garfield, Chris Miller/ Imagine Imagery, La Maniaca Distribution Phil Lacombe, William Westley

Contents

Transgender Day in the CV................ 3 Spotlight on Filmmakers ................... 6 PS ShortFest Wrap Up........................ 7 Breaking the 4th Wall......................... 7 News - Cord Media Wins 3 Tellys........ 8 Restaurant Eight4Nine Job Fair......... 8 Power Baseball on July 4th................ 8 Backstage Jazz.................................... 9 Open Mic Competition.....................10 LMS - DJ Smoke 1 .............................10 Live From Uncle Ben’s Podcast.........11 Consider This - 2Ton Bridge.............12 In Memory of Fred Carradi...............13 Pet Place............................................14 The Vino Voice...................................15 Club Crawler Nightlife......................16 Pampered Palate - Pacifica...............18 Screeners ..........................................20 Book Review .....................................21 Safety Tips ........................................24 Haddon Libby...................................25 Dale Gribow......................................25 Sports Scene.....................................26 Free Will Astrology...........................27 Mind, Body & Spirit..........................27 Life & Career Coach...........................28 Health & Fitness................................28

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une 28th stands as a historic reminder of the literal, physical fight for human rights from within the LGBT community of Greenwich Village in 1969.

The fire, stoked by the winds of change that surrounded the 1960s - the African American Civil Rights Movement, the counterculture of the 1960s, and antiwar demonstrations, and the liberal setting of Greenwich Village - all contributed to the perfect storm that became the Stonewall Riots. Violent demonstrations as a result of a police raid that took place in the early morning hours at the Mafia owned, Stonewall Inn, are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the liberation and the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States. Within a few years, LGBT rights organizations were founded across the U.S. and the world. On June 28, 1970, the first Gay Pride marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, commemorating the anniversary of the riots, and the date continues to be recognized around the world.

According to event founder, Thomi Clinton, at approximately 2 pm, one hour in to the First Annual Trans-Pride Picnic, another historic event will be taking place.

Representatives from the cities of Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, La Quinta, Indian Wells, Palm Desert, Indio and Coachella as well as Congressman Raul Ruiz’s office, will present and support the following proclamation respectively: WHEREAS, on June 28th, 1969, a series of demonstrations sparked the LBGT civil rights liberation moment at the Stonewall Inn, located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City; and WHEREAS, on June 28th, 1970, a series of LGBT marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago commemorating the anniversary of the riots; and WHEREAS, Transgender pride is celebrated at Ruth Hardy Park in Palm Springs, California; and WHEREAS, the City supports all Transgender and Gender Non-conforming peoples’ rights to have safe visibility, peace and respect like others.

Now, therefore, by the power vested in me, do hereby proclaim the 28th day of June, 2015 to be: Transgender Pride Day In hopes of deterring the growing number of trans-youth suicides, Transgender Community Coalition and TDOR Palm Springs have initiated the first Trans-Pride event in Coachella Valley. With the main focus on Trans-Youth and their struggles to be accepted for who they are, the event will celebrate and promote pride of individual uniqueness. Along with the proclamations, there will be face painting for the children, fresh fruits and water, a grill

for food, and music. Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming people and all allies are welcome. Operation Safe House will also be there showing their support, and making their services available to any in need.

“This is an opportunity to educate families on a large scale about acceptance and emotional support of their children and friends, and enabling them to be the person they were meant to be in hopes of averting youth suicide,” shares Thomi.

In a national study, conducted by Stephen T. Russell with the Department of Human and Community Development, University of California, Davis, and Kara Joyner, with the Department of Policy and Analysis, Cornell University, and published in the American Journal of Public health, experts came to the conclusion that sexual minority youths are more likely to think about and attempt suicide than their peers.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention published these facts as observed through the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS): Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for ages 10-24. (2013 CDC WISQARS) Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for college-age youth and ages 12-18.

(2013 CDC WISQARS) More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, COMBINED. Each day in our nation there are an average of over 5,400 attempts by young people grades 7-12.

Read more: cdc.gov/healthyyouth PERSONAL TESTIMONIES: AIDEN JAMES STOCKMAN, age 18, Yucca Valley High School Graduate: The day I spoke to Aiden, formerly known as Victoria Stockman, he had just received his driver’s license. Any young adult would be excited. Adolescence is tough, but getting your license is one of the highlights. But for Aiden, it meant so much more than the freedom of being able to drive legally. After almost taking his own life in the depths of depression, confusion and feelings of utter continue to page 4

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isolation, here, in his hand, he held the legal documentation of his newfound freedom and joy as a legal male.

“When I was younger, as far back as I can remember I hung out with my brothers and boys all the time. Clothes became a bit of a problem. My mom would want me to wear a dress and do my hair. I gave her so much resistance that eventually she just gave in and let me wear what I wanted. But around 7th grade, I started going through puberty.

I didn’t like my body. I’d see my biologically male friends grow into theirs. I felt like, ‘I’m getting this, and I really want that.’ It was the most confusing part. Junior high was just awkward. I didn’t feel comfortable at all.

That’s when me and my family started having problems. I was depressed, and I told my mom. I was homeschooled my freshman year. I went to the Behavioral Medicine Center in Loma Linda. I can’t even tell you how many times I was in and out of there. I would stay there a week or two each time. They would put me in a room with a roommate. I’d sleep. I’d wake up. I’d have therapy, eat, have more therapy, have group therapy, go to support groups, and repeat. They also gave me antidepressants and some medications for sleep. That year was the hardest year of my life. I started to figure myself out, but I didn’t know what to do about it - how to explain it or even what it was.

On March 25, 2011, I tried to kill myself.

My parents went to the store and told me to watch my brother who was 3 years younger than me. I locked myself in my room, and he was knocking at the door, ‘What are you doing,’ he asked? I said, ‘I’ll be right out there, buddy.’ I love my brother, but I hated myself more. I had just felt such a disconnect all my life. I had all these medications they gave me from the hospital. I took about 20 Zoloft, and some others, and then I just tried to go to sleep. But I got scared, and I told my mom. They took me to the hospital on a gurney, and I remember telling my little brother I loved him. He said, ‘No you don’t!’” Aiden paused, as if this was one of the more painful things for him to share.

“That was sad,” he finally said. “Then, my mom stayed right by my side. She lost her

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job because she couldn’t take time off.”

“It was a wakeup call, but I still didn’t know what was going on exactly. My sophomore year, I was talking to one of my friends and they suggested that I might be transgender. I hadn’t heard the term before.

I related it to being a transvestite, a word that had always had ugly connotations. I thought that that was weird, because of the small mindedness I was around at the time. Then I watched some of the videos. I had always thought that transgender was only guy to girl. I never thought it was girl to guy. I watched, and I thought, ‘Damn, this is me!’”

“I didn’t come out at home, but I started changing my name at school. Then when I was away at my cousins, I wrote a letter to my mom. It was filled with words, front and back, trying to explain things. I was scared.

I knew she was just as uneducated about it as I was before. I explained hormone therapy and surgeries, and how I felt. She replied back. She told me that she loved me. We started looking for a therapist right then and there. It was a huge turnaround in my life. She assured me that she and my family would be there for me. I thought, ‘Wow, even though they don’t completely understand it...’”

“Finding a therapist took forever. A lot of psychologists can’t write a letter that says it’s ok for a patient to receive hormone replacement therapy. We finally found Alexis Ungerer, a therapist in San Bernardino, whose main focus was on sexuality. She wrote the letter allowing me to start testosterone. Then we looked for a doctor. I talked to my insurance so many times. A lot of people were not educated.

I kept getting sent to an OB/GYN thinking that I was trying to get pregnant, because I was still “Victoria” at the time. It was so confusing. Finally, Alexis found a doctor who would do the hormone replacement therapy in Redlands, Dr. Perkel at Beaver Medical Group. It took 6 months to find a doctor! I was his first transgender patient, and started therapy right then. That was June 17, 2014. After that first shot, I came home to a bunch of blue balloons and one that said, ‘It’s a boy!’ There were blue cookies and a cake...a birthday party.”

“I chose to be homeschooled, because I didn’t want to change in front of everyone - I didn’t really know what to expect. I went to one period in the morning (yearbook), and I stayed in sports. My school and community were, and have been, so supportive. My sport was wrestling. Before I started therapy, just after I came out to my mom, I told them how I was feeling.

The principal gave me a blue card, basically something issued to someone with a medical condition. It allowed me to use a separate bathroom, so I wouldn’t get pulled out of the bathroom. This way, I could use any bathroom I wanted. They got rid of the card because legally, the minute I started hormone therapy, I was male.”

I asked Aiden what the changes felt like from that first shot, forward: “That first shot? Well, nothing physically.

I didn’t really start feeling changes until about the 3rd or 4th month mark.

Emotionally, it was the best day of my life.

I felt like I had started something I really needed. I was so much happier even with no physical changes. It was such a relief.

At the 3-4 month mark, my hips started to go in a little, my happy trail started coming in, and my voice started dropping. By the 6 month mark, my upper thighs were hairier, I had an Adam’s apple, and began growing facial hair. By the 10 month mark, my muscle and fat started distributing differently, and my period stopped. I just hit a year mark and my shoulders are broader, my hips are smaller and my muscles are more responsive to working out (not that I work out, but if I did...,” he laughed. “I haven’t shaved yet. I’ve documented my changes with my camera, so I’ll document that too.”

I then asked Aiden if there were any negative side effects: “It was just like going through male puberty,” he explained. “My hairline receding a little and the acne were the worst of it. It was like a second puberty, but this one was a much happier one.”

“It is a little weird growing up as a female and seeing one perspective, and then becoming male and being treated differently. Growing up as girl, it would be

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com normal to say, ‘Let’s all go to the bathroom together,’ and you’d be talking to each other the whole time. Girls just do that. Then going into the bathroom as a guy, you don’t even make eye contact. I’d tell my brother, ‘Hey, go to the bathroom with me.’ And he’d be all, ‘Hey, that’s just weird.’ Everything changes,” he said with a smile. On the less humorous side, he shared, “I didn’t get as much respect when guys knew me as ‘Dyke’.

Now that I’m a guy, they’re just kind of like, ‘Hey dude, what’s up?’”

“I’m really open about being transgender.

I’m just so used to talking about it. It was like a learning experience for my whole school. But if someone is introducing me to someone and says, ‘Here’s my friend Aiden, he’s transgender,’ I don’t like that so much.

You don’t have to do that. Just say, ‘This is my friend Aiden.’”

“This year, I was nominated and won Homecoming Prince. I was the first trans to be open on the wrestling team in Yucca Valley High school history. I’ve participated in Our True Colors (a non-profit organization that works with other social service agencies, schools, organizations, and within communities to ensure that the needs of sexual and gender minority youth are both recognized and competently met) for two years now. I’m starting to talk a lot about it at events and in interviews. This year is probably one of the best years I’ve had my whole life.”

“It’s a huge mentality change. It’s a crazy thing to go from ‘I don’t know what’s happening to me,’ to, ‘Ok, I know what’s happening to me, and now I’m really depressed - I think I want to kill myself !’

Then trying to kill myself to ‘OK, that was a wakeup call,’ to starting my changes and realizing, ‘Wow, I’m really happy I didn’t die that day!’ I never thought I was ever going to be this happy.”

THOMI CLINTON, age 44, President and Founder of Transgender Community Coalition and TDOR Palm Springs: “I’m so tired of these kids committing suicide,” she told me with anguish, as we sat down to lunch. I had just asked her what was at the heart of all the work she’s been doing through

TDOR (Transgender Day of Remembrance) Palm Springs, and Transgender Community Coalition. Clinton herself was lucky to have survived the confusion and isolation along with the bullying Thomi experienced as a young boy growing up in Arkansas.

“I knew I wanted to be a girl in elementary school,” Thomi shared. “I was bullied in 9th grade as a gay male, even though I hadn’t even come out. They knew I was different. I knew I was different. I was a gay male attracted to straight men - talk about conflicted. Imagine living in a world without women,” she explained to me. “No one to look to. You’re just ALONE, internalizing everything, even your own sense of expression...trying to work out your own issues with no one to talk to. It’s helpless and hopeless, which is toxic and ultimately lethal.”

“I did go to therapy at one point,” she admitted. “One therapist, early on, told me I was Transgender. I had a few choice words for her then. I’ve since apologized.

But I lived in denial until my 30s. I moved to Los Angeles as a gay man, and was sexually assaulted. I was traumatized to say the least.

I didn’t know what to do - who to tell or talk to. I reached out to a few organizations, but they didn’t deal with male sexual assault.”

Suffering from PTSD (later diagnosed in therapy), Thomi couldn’t keep her job.

When she finally found a place to live, she was introduced to meth. She ultimately sold and lost everything to support a habit that at its worst was an 8 ball a day habit. “Hitting bottom, looking around and realizing who I was becoming and where I was headed, was the best thing that ever happened to me. In December, 2003, I made a decision to

change my life. I have been clean and sober ever since...not even a parking ticket!”

It was on the path of sobriety that Thomi was able to work through her PTSD with the help of therapy, and eventually embrace her true self. Now, in gratitude, with hard earned wisdom and understanding, Thomi spends much of her time helping to advance the fair treatment and practices toward the transgender community, with a deep compassion for LGBTQ youth. “I have transgender youth referred to me a lot. I think the kids feel comfortable with me because they know they can ask me anything. And I can show them that there is hope - that it really does get better. Here I am, living in my own home that I bought and paid for, living with my gorgeous husband, 4 dogs and koi pond,” she said with a smile.

Even after someone identifies themselves as transgender, there are struggles. Thomi warns of going through the medical procedures of transition too quickly. “For me, it was much like a woman going through menopause. You have all these hormones going through your body, causing physical and emotion reactions.

Your breasts ache as they come in. Think about it - you’ve been living in one body for your whole life, and even if you hate that body, it’s all you’ve ever known. I think you can have trouble processing the changes, emotionally and physically, trying to transition too fast. And being transgender doesn’t mean you have to go through with every procedure out there!”

Other difficulties come socially: Thomi finds herself subjected to the same adversities women have struggled with for years. “When I presented as a gay male, I was considered to be a great civil rights activist. Now, I get called a bitch.”

Meanwhile, not all transgender individuals come from communities and families that are as supportive of the changes in a transgender family member as Aiden’s were.

As you read this, Thomi’s father is in his final days. Although, she has family members who show varying levels of acceptance, traveling to Arkansas to be by his side, or

to even participate in her father’s funeral, would pull the attention away from where it needs to be, and would add undue stress to those who would rally around her. “I will go afterwards and spend my time showing my respects privately. It would be selfish of me to go now.” Thomi had actually timed her transition so that her father wouldn’t have to deal with any of these types of social struggles.

Recently, the third annual Trans100, an event that recognizes the work of out-trans people who work on trans issues in the United States and who are having a positive impact, listed Thomi in their top 100. As published in TheAdvocate.com, they stated, “Thomi Clinton’s priority is to provide trans people the tools they need to fulfill their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Behind the scenes, her work has affected millions of lives within this nation.

She is a nurturer and mother when it comes to humanitarian needs. She has remained behind the scenes for many years. She has facilitated and reformed conservative arenas, including the Department of Justice’s correctional treatment of trans to prevent rape and assault.” But beyond all the accolades and acknowledgments, there is one that ranks highest above them all.

A struggling, transgender youth was introduced to Thomi by a woman working in Raul Ruiz’s office. “Leon was very suicidal,” Thomi shared. “I introduced myself to him, and he immediately asked me, ‘Who called you?’ I just answered, ‘Let me show you the world.’ I took him to events where he could see our diverse community and its allies. His grades started going up, he got his first job, and he just recently graduated, and now he’s going to Humboldt University. His mom was a little bit uncomfortable at first, but now, totally appreciates our friendship. I was able to open up the world to him so he could see that he wasn’t alone, while firmly enforcing the importance of staying clear of drugs and keeping his grades up.”

Earlier this year, Leon shared these words with Thomi, and with permission, I will share them here, as they also shed incredible insight on the thoughts and emotions of our transgender youth and their desperate need for mentorship and support: When I contemplate suicide, the only thought that grounds me is, some day, being just like you. Thomi, you have shown me that it isn’t always about oneself, but about those in tougher situations. If one day I can come into someone’s job and talk them out of suicide the way you did with me, I’d feel beyond accomplished. I have met so many incredible people through you Thomi - people that check up on me to make sure I’m well. But it all began with you, Thomi.

I would have never met these people if it wasn’t for your desperate attempts to connect me to people who are much more positive and accepting.

Here’s a prime example: Do you remember the Two Spirit film we watched at the Tolerance Museum? The film gives me such peace. Sometimes I think about who and what I am. I sometimes think I’m

June 25 to July 1, 2015 delusional, possessed - sometimes I don’t know what to think. But Two Spirit makes me feel sane; if people felt this way long, long ago, it’s not taboo. I’m not obscene, I’m just Leon.

That same night I met a woman who invited me to a church. I expressed my previous experiences and she assured me this church was nothing like any other, that they were very accepting and harmonious.

I believe God made me this way, at least I have been trying to convince myself of that, and it is taking me longer than it should; however I am thoroughly convinced God placed you in my path to enlighten my darkest moments. In fact, you are often, if not the only, person I reach out to when my will to survive runs thin.

Do you remember when I read off the names of Transgender Victims at the TDOR vigil? I still remember Allison crying in between reading the names she had to read off. I also remember clearly wishing my mother was supportive and thinking to myself, how absolutely tragic it would be to finally see someone like my mother here, but only to hear her child’s name being read off the victims list.

Mornings are the toughest on me, before I shower. Coming face to face with my anatomy and feeling incredibly trapped.

Wrong. Flawed. But I am Leon, I am a man.

Male. I am who I am. Some things just don’t add up. Binding constricts my breathing, and it’s almost symbolic of the life of anyone who is transgender. Wear your binder; struggle to breathe; don’t wear your binder; struggle to breathe. It is a tough journey.

Maybe God is trying to make me a man of honor, a man of strength, a man of patience, and it’s costing me blood, sweat, and tears.

But you’re there every waking moment. I can’t thank you enough for the binder you gave me for Christmas. It is thin and easy to hide but incredibly effective and it doesn’t make me hunch over. Maybe that will be the binder style I wear until I can afford top surgery.

All I’m saying, Thomi, is that I cannot keep being selfish. It’s about others in need, just like me, that I should live for, and the satisfaction of being someone’s hero the way you are mine. You’re Wonder Woman to me, Thomi. Just like her, you’ve obtained all of your superpowers from channeling your mental powers into physical powers... life saving powers. Maybe what I’m saying is, this isn’t a suicide letter because you give me hope and the strength necessary to make my hope a concrete reality.

Sincerely, Leon Arthur This historic, first ever Trans-Pride event is open to all. Bring your ice chest, something to grill and an open heart.

Sunday, June 28, 2015 @1pm Ruth Hardy Park, Palm Springs, CA 700 Tamarisk Lane Resources: TDOR - facebook.com/thomi.clinton TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY COALITION - transcc.org OUR TRUE COLORS - ourtruecolors.org

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

Spotlight on FIlmmakers:

women of the world

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he Palm Springs International ShortFest screened 330 films from around the globe. Of those short films, 94 were made under the creative guidance and inspiration of women.

“That number represents a definite rise in the number of women represented with their films in the ShortFest lineup this year,” said Darryl Macdonald, Festival Director.

“The past few years, films by women directors have accounted for roughly 20 – 25% of the films in the ShortFest lineup.

This year, it’s closer to 30%, so it’s definitely a rising trend.”

Macdonald said the Festival is seeing an up tick in the number of films submitted to ShortFest in general – some 200 more films this year than last, but the Festival don’t track how many of the films submitted are made by women as opposed to those submitted by men. (There were over 3000 submissions.) The figure also doesn’t include other creative roles by women such as writers and producers.

“The filmmakers’ gender plays no role in our selection criteria or process; we strive to select what we consider to be the best examples of short filmmaking we receive, so the only criteria we use is excellence – in terms of storytelling quality, stylistic and technical adroitness,” said Macdonald. “I can tell you that our selection committee includes more women than men, and among the core group of programmers there are two women and two men, so I think overall, both genders are equally well-represented when it comes to film selection for the Festival.”

Filmmakers Agnieszka Maskovic and Barbara Cigarroa share what inspired their films, why the craft of filmmaking matters to them and the importance of the PSISF. Writer and director Agnieszka Maskovic’s “Miranda” (Poland, 28 minutes) is a crisp black and white film about a blind young woman who never leaves her father’s apartment and then meets a new tenant who shows her a new and wonderful world.

Beautifully photographed and artfully told, the film is poetic.

Maskovic and her husband attended the ShortFest together from Poland. “Miranda”

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was inspired by William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Regarding what drew her to filmmaking Maskovic said, “Different people have different talents. As we discover our possibilities we start developing them, but we never know where the passion will lead us. I was six when I started playing the piano at music school, later I started writing poems and short stories. I was never afraid of trying new things that were a challenge.

This year I finished theater school as a stage director. Making movies was something extraordinary in my school. I just wanted to try something new, and that was an exciting task for me. It combines most of my passions in a very special way.”

Honored to be a part of PSISF and proud of her creative filmmaking team, Maskovic said, “This is the best festival I have ever been a part of. I hope this will give us more energy to work twice as hard!”

Maskovic is preparing for her stage debut and is writing her first feature film. “I am open to all creative surprises.”

Director Barbara Cigarroa’s “Marta Rosa” (USA/Mexico, 9 minutes) tells the story of a young grieving mother who must come to terms with the loss of her small child. Filmed in Mexico, the story has minimal dialogue.

Cigarroa won Best Student Live Action Short and the Jury Award – Panavision Best North American Short.

Cigarroa comes from a creative writing background. As an undergrad she studied fiction and playwriting. “I’ve always loved putting words down on paper and imagining different worlds and the people within them,” said Cigarroa. “I wanted to see whether I could try to take these realities I created with words and adapt them to film.

I fell in love with directing soon afterwards, discovering different tools –visuals, music, rhythm – I could use to try to touch an audience.”

Her passion for storytelling is an emotional response from reading and watching movies.

Cigarroa said, “I am fascinated by the way all stories allow an audience to empathize with characters and circumstances that, even though foreign, can be universal. I want to make films that everyone around the world can feel and experience.”

by heidi simmons

Film

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Palm Springs International ShortFest Wraps-up Another Great Year!

H

“Marta Rosa” was inspired by a photograph by Enrique Metinides that shows a Mexican woman walking down a busy street in Mexico City with a small coffin in her arms. “The image struck me,” said Cigarroa. “I became fascinated by this person. Tania Zarak wrote a beautiful and touching script. We wanted to create the story of a woman who could be strong in the face of heartbreaking tragedy, but who must ultimately keep moving forward and persevere.”

Cigarroa’s experience at Shortfest has been rewarding. “It’s our world premiere and we couldn’t have asked for a better event to screen it for the first time,” said Cigarroa.

“The feedback has been wonderful. It’s so great to speak to different filmmakers from around the world. I have also made contacts with programmers, casting directors and buyers that have shown interest in our project.”

Cigarroa is in pre-production for another short film called “Flight of the Fields.” This one is about a migrant farmworker in upstate New York and her experience trying to leave the harsh and often unfair working conditions of her job. “I am also working on a couple of feature film scripts that I hope to shoot in the near the future.”

Below is a small sample of what women filmmakers made from around the world that were included in the ShortFest: “Silent Night” (Australia, 11 minutes).

Written and directed by Nastassja Djalog is about Australian society in 2036 euthanizing those who are a financial burden on society.

“The Trail” (Germany, 34 minutes).

Written and directed by Elke Brugger tells the tale of a couple who abandon their lives in the hope of a future together.

“Ballon” (South Korea, 5 minutes). Cowritten and directed by Sang-eun Han and Si Dong-joo is an animated story about a young man who falls in love with a balloon girl.

“Fernweh” (Netherlands, 14 minutes).

Written and directed by Ena Sendijarevic is the story of a young girl who realizes there is a life beyond her family and farm.

“We make an effort to include a broad demographic mix of filmmakers and a diverse national mix of films for the lineup, as well as a number of other factors such as genre and originality,” said Macdonald. “The final selection of films is based strictly on the quality of the filmmaking evidenced as we watch and grade the films on the basis of the writing, direction, acting, production qualities, etc.”

As far as a directorial genre balance in Hollywood filmmaking, Macdonald says that Hollywood is an industry largely run by men who are making movies primarily for a young male demographic.

“In other parts of the world – many European countries, for example – women are much more able to gain access to the funding and support required to make feature films,” said Macdonald. “But in this country, until the Hollywood film industry’s perception of what the audience wants to see changes, we’re likely to see more of the same, testosterone-fueled filmmaking that has dominated screens for the better part of the last two decades.”

Macdonald also pointed out – which is often overlooked – the number of women active in producing films for the US market.

“A great number of the strongest and most acclaimed film producers in the business are women,” said Macdonald. “That fact alone should help the industry begin to redress the disparity in the number of women as opposed to men who are actively directing feature films in America. However, I expect it to be a very long term process.”

Kudos to the Palm Springs Film Festivals for seeking and supporting all talent and providing a place for new voices in filmmaking for both men and women.

June 25 to July 1, 2015

usband and wife filmmakers Michael Winokur and Iana Simeonov drove from their home in San Francisco, stopped by the location of their film in Bakersfield, and arrived just in time for the Opening Night Program of the Palm Springs International ShortFest.

The couple spent the rest of the week meeting other filmmakers, attending forums, parties and screenings. Their film, “Stealing Rosario” (USA 16 minutes), was part of the “All in the Family” program.

“This is our sixth festival. Considering we‘ve been to other festivals, I can say this is a great festival! That’s because the films and the filmmakers are amazing,” said Winokur. “We

met so many brilliant, interesting people from all over the world. The City of Palm Spring and the Festival turn out to support this art form in a way that we have not seen anywhere else. They are selling out all week long. And I’m grateful for the support of short films.”

Winokur and Simeonov co-wrote, directed and produced their film.

“As filmmakers you can’t underestimate the value of being able to see other people’s work,” said Simeonov. “It’s extraordinary and the quality of the films in this festival is incredibly high. It’s a great place to come, to actually get inspired and to see what other filmmakers are doing.

And it provides a chance to talk to them about their films, and potentially work with them in the future.”

This is the time of year when creative, young and talented filmmakers from all over the world swarm into Palm Springs to celebrate the art of cinema. It’s not just about the joy of watching hundreds of interesting films; it’s about nurturing and curating future artists. That’s what ShortFest experience provides.

For Jordan Ledy and his documentary film “It’s Better in Italian,” the ShortFest experience was excellent. “This is my first film and third festival. I love Palm Springs,” said Ledy. “One of the subjects in my documentary has a house here and I attended in January because I edited “Don Quixote”, which James Franco adapted for USC.” Ledy also enjoyed filmmaker and fellow Trojan, Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air) who was the keynote speaker at the Filmmakers’ Brunch held at the Renaissance Hotel. Reitman is also a ShortFest alum and Academy Award Nominee.

“He encouraged young filmmakers to face challenges. He shared what inspires him and that

A Stage Review of “A Funny Little Thing Called Love”

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Funny Little Thing called Love, Currently in production with the Desert Theatre works at the Arthur Newman Theatre in Palm Desert, is a romp through some very funny scenes - and some not so funny, but playwrights Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten weave together a stage piece that is reminiscent of the old comedy vignette shows that were loved in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. Laugh-In and The Carol Burnett Show come to mind.

You take a group of very talented actors, put them in comical situations, mix in some witty dialogue and you have a few rolls of the eyes and a lot of laughs. That’s A Funny Little Thing Called love.

Under a full moon on this unpredictable night of romance, these four romantic

telling stories is why he gets out of bed in the morning. He was incredible,” said Ledy. “It was the cherry on top of an amazing day. It’s only a little over-shadowed since I won three awards.

So I’m a little over the moon.” Ledy won Best Student Documentary, Best Student Film and Audience Award for Best Documentary.

Asher Grodman writer and director of “The Train,” actor Eli Wallach’s last film, was impressed by Reitman’s keynote speech as well.

“It was fantastic. He talked about his father’s role [director Ivan Reitman] in his life and how it released him of certain pressures,” said Grodman. “I was very moved by a lot of what he said. I cried through 60 percent of his speech.

He talked about the safe options, but that there are choices that inspire you and can touch someone. As a filmmaker, I want to live with that inspiration.”

Reitman also shared with filmmakers that the ShortFest is filled with moments that build a career and that someday they will look back and appreciate they were in Palm Springs. He also encouraged the filmmakers to give back and to share their knowledge with others.

Valley resident and independent producer Kim Waltrip served on the ShortFest Jury. “I like being a judge because I was very relaxed. I didn’t have the pressure or stress of having a film I was promoting,” said Waltrip. “But what I really appreciated about the short films was they were so creative and imaginative. I didn’t expect to go there -- all the wonderfully colorful textured places -- my mind really expanded.”

Waltrip didn’t put on her producer hat often while viewing the films. “As a producer, I appreciated that these filmmakers got so much story compacted into a small space,” said Waltrip. “Mostly, I let go because I wanted to be objective. I didn’t want to know anything in

By Dee Jae Cox

stories take you on an around-the-world journey of unexpected and humorous tales of love. From San Francisco, CA “Love is in the Air,” to Dallas Texas, “The Lone Star Ladies Justice Brigade.” Across the waters to Hawaii “A Hono-lulu of a Honeymoon” and London England, with “A little Brit of Romance.” And then back to New York with “Upper West Side Story”. Love is indeed a many splendored thing.

Shirley LeMaster in her role as Elise, in “The Lone Star Ladies Justice Brigade,” stole the show. She was spot on hilarious with a well-crafted sense of timing. “You don’t mess with Texas Women, they got shotguns and curling irons.”

“A Little Brit of Romance” with Garnett Smith, Jan Briggs, Pat Melvin, Ronda Williams and Stephen Blackwell, was the highlight of the whole night. This particular segment, saved for the opening of the second act, was intelligently written, brilliantly performed and definitely is more than enough to make you want to hurry back after intermission. What happens when you stick a backwoods American teen in an upscale London restaurant with two very proper Brits and a 90 year-old waitress? A hysterically good time.

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advance. I wanted it to be organic and I want to be an emotional watcher. So I lead with emotion and then I looked at production value and execution.”

The Jury was made up of six industry professionals. Each watched 52 movies and then they got together to decide. A designated tiebreaker was used twice.

Surrounded by friends and filmmakers, Aftab Dada, General Manager of the Hilton Resort and Spa, sponsored the Closing Night Party. “Palm Springs Short Film Festival is an amazing event that is developing the upcoming stars of our film industry,” said Dada. “It means so much that the city is dedicated to the ShortFest. Granted, this is not a profitable Festival, but it’s an important investment for our future.”

Film Society members, industry professionals and filmgoers mingled throughout the week.

“We are very satisfied with the ShortFest,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “It’s a major educational event for our emerging filmmakers.

We get over 600 filmmakers out here from all over the world. It is certainly wonderful in that sense.”

Robert Wright is one of 200 plus volunteers for the ShortFest. He has done the job for ten years and is a member of the Palm Springs Film Society. He is happy and cheerful and eager to assist any way he can. “I go everyday. I work the special events and transportation,” said Wright.

“This is a fun festival and my favorite.”

Indeed, ShortFest is a favorite for many.

As husband and wife filmmakers Winokur and Simeonov return to the bay area, they will consider all the new friendships and new ideas that have come from such a meaningful and important experience.

Breaking the 4th Wall

The wonderful music selection of timeless love song favorites added to the ambience of the evening. The Set is simple, low budget pieces, which probably explains the absence of a set designer for the production, but Lance Phillips-Martinez obviously has a good time staging this fast paced piece. Applause for the dialect coaches, Liza Nekrasova, Shirley LeMaster and Garnett Smith. I was never once distracted by an over the top accent.

This is a family show and the laughs could probably be enjoyed by all ages, but I’d leave the kids at home. Enjoy a night out with friends, one of these scenes are bound to make you laugh out loud. And you’ll no doubt leave the theatre with a smile.

A Funny Little Thing Called Love, a production of Desert Theatreworks, is performed at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, through Sunday, June 27th, at the Arthur Newman Theatre at the Joslyn Center, located at 73750 Catalina Way, in Palm Desert. Tickets are $23 to $25 For Reservations: call 760-980-1455, or visit www.dtworks.org.

Dee Jae Cox, is a playwright, director and producer. She is the Cofounder and Artistic Director for The Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Project and the host of KPTR 1450’s hit radio show, “California Woman 411” in Palm Springs.

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

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CORD MEDIA CREATIVE HONORED WITH THREE TELLY AWARDS

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ord Media Company, a full-service agency specializing in creative, media, integrated marketing and branding, has been honored with three Telly Awards for their video productions, announced Jonas Udcoff, CEO. Cord Media’s talented in-house video production team writes, directs, shoots and edits all TV and radio campaigns.

Cord Media was awarded a Silver Award, the highest possible honor, for their “Zoorassic” commercial created for The Living Desert (Palm Desert, CA). The TV spot, which aired in the Palm Springs market, was

created as a teaser spot to promote the opening of Zoorassic Park, a live stage show, and dinosaur related activities in the zoo.

The commercial featured a prop dinosaur footprint buried in the ground which was embellished with post-production sound and special effects give viewers the sense that a giant dinosaur was fast approaching.

“This is a tremendous achievement for our agency,” said Udcoff. “The Telly is one of the most sought-after awards in the TV, commercial and video industry, so to be honored with three awards, including the top Silver Award, makes us so proud.”

EIGHT4NINE RESTAURANT & LOUNGE JOB FAIR OFFERS 75+ FOOD-SERVICE POSITIONS

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he much anticipated Upscale Casual EIGHT4NINE Restaurant & Lounge is planning to hire almost 75 employees for the new restaurant opening this summer in the Uptown District of Palm Springs.

Co-Owner / Operator Willie Rhine and Executive Chef Chuck Courtney are looking to hire dynamic, hardworking people for all Front and back of House positions, including managers, servers, hosts, bartenders, cocktail servers, bar backs, server assistants, food runners, expos, sous chefs, line cooks, prep cooks and dishwashers. Both lunch and dinner positions are available.

Candidates must be at least 18 years

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old, have previous restaurant experience, and be self-motivated, energetic, fun and hard-working. Candidates should apply in professional attire. Bring resume and a copy of valid photo identification.

The Open Call Job Fair will be held on Monday, June 29, 2015 and Tuesday, June 30, 2015 at The Hilton Hotel in downtown Palm Springs, 400 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262. The job fair will be held between 10am – 3pm both days.

EIGHT4NINE Restaurant & Lounge will offer private dining for groups in exclusive intimate spaces of various sizes, patio dining overlooking the San Jacinto Mountains and a spacious lounge.

By Carissa cascio

Cord Media also garnered two Bronze Telly Awards in the commercial category.

The first honor recognized the agency’s work on a commercial for Frasca Jewelers (Palm Desert, CA). Many pieces of exquisite jewelry pieces offered by Frasca were presented by a model/actress playing out scenes of her daily life.

The third award was earned for a 30-second spot for Patios Plus (Rancho Mirage, CA), an outdoor furnishings company. A special time-lapse camera dolly was utilized to present the high-end furniture under a changing sky and daylight.

Telly Award winners were selected from nearly 12,000 entries from all 50 states and five continents. Less than 10% of all entries were chosen as winners of the Silver Telly.

The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 and

NEWS

is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and online commercials, video and films. Winners represent the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world.

Cord Media is an award-winning fullservice communications agency, providing media buying and trafficking, account management, public relations, television/ radio production, graphic design, web and social networking. Cord Media’s clients include: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, St. Croix Casinos, Muckleshoot Indian Casino, Spotlight 29 Casino, Tortoise Rock Casino, Hollywood Park Casino, Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs, Career Builder Challenge (formerly Humana Challenge), Lennar, DR Horton, Family Development, Alta Verde Group, PGA WEST, The Living Desert, Port of Everett, The City of Indio, Frasca Jewelers, Teserra, Copley’s on Palm Canyon, TRIO Restaurant, among others. Cord Media’s main office is located at 43645 Monterey Ave. Suite D, Palm Desert, CA and can be reached by phone at 760.834.8599. Other offices include: Malibu, CA; Sacramento, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Iowa City, IA; and South Florida. For more information about Cord Media Company, visit cordmedia.com.

“All American Fourth of July” Fireworks Spectacular and Power Baseball on Tap for City’s Independence Day Celebration!

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ome celebrate Independence Day in Palm Springs at the City’s much loved “All American Fourth of July” fireworks spectacular and Power Baseball extravaganza on Saturday, July 4 at Palm Springs Stadium.

To keep cool, hop in the pool at Palm Springs Pavilion, 401 S. Pavilion Way. Hours of operation on July 4 are 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Then stop by Sunrise Park for a picnic and head to adjacent Palm Springs Stadium, 1901 E. Baristo Road and watch the Power take on the San Francisco Seals at 6:05 p.m. followed by patriotic fireworks at 9:15 p.m.

FREE admission for the fireworks show begins at 8 p.m. Everyone is invited to bring blankets and lawn chairs and sit on the field.

“When it comes to celebrating Independence Day, Palm Springs does it like no place else,” says Mary Jo Ginther, Director of the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism.

“Bring the whole family, your patriotic spirit, and your red, white and blue and come celebrate an All American Fourth of July in our one-of-a-kind city.”

For more info, call Palm Springs Parks and Recreation at (760) 323-8272.

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Backstage Jazz

June 25 to July 1, 2015

By patte purcell

Chase huna: Smooth Jazz

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ome people are just born to do what they do. Chase Huna is one of those people. From his smooth, low key, cool demeanor to the sultry sax sounds that he emits, you can tell this talented 15 year old redhead is the real deal.

At age 2 without any prompting from his parents he started grooving to smooth jazz on the radio. His parents Tom and Lee Ann noticed this and at age 7 started taking him to smooth jazz concerts. That’s where he discovered the sax and at age 10 his parents bought him one for Christmas. This started Chase on his musical journey and he took private lessons for 2 & 1/2 years.

Then about a year later, magic hit his life and career when the desert’s favorite sax player Will Donato decided to mentor him.

Suddenly Chase was playing with Art of Sax and playing at jazz venues like Spaghettinis.

Photos By chris miller / imagine imagery

It was at this point that his career began to take off!

In the last couple of years he’s played with the greats of smooth jazz including Peter White, Michael Paulo, Mindi Abair, and a host of others. He’s opened for (with Will Donato) for some of the biggest jazz events and was onstage at the KSBR Bash last year with a slew of the biggest of the big names.

He won a $2,500 award last year in the music competition put on by the Rancho Mirage Women’s Club. He even performed at the Lincoln Center in New York with his high school jazz band.

Chase is not content to rest on his laurels, so this year he teamed with Smooth jazz superstar Steve Oliver to put out a new CD. The two are collaborating on a total of 10 songs and the new CD is expected to debut at the end of this year. He’s already released his first single “On the Chase” and it debuted on the Groove Jazz Charts at #29.

That’s a lot of success for a 15 year old!

Chase handles it with an easy going, humble attitude and that is another thing that makes him so popular. No arrogance there.

Chase’s successes continue to grow. He just had his own Spaghettini date with a sellout! He also just appeared at the Newport Beach Jazz Festivals with headliners Mindi Abair, Peter White and Norman Brown. He just finished up performing at the San Diego Jazz Festival with headliners Maxwell, Erika Badu and Jazz in Pink.

His goal is to do this forever. He loves the travel and his great Dad Tom takes him everywhere. His parents support him on all that he does. What a wonderful example of what it really takes to raise great kids!

I asked him what message he’d like to give to his fans. He said “I hope people enjoy what I do and hope to see them at a show.”

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

Local Music Spotlight

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DJ Smoke 1 A

Open Mic Competition

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eek #7 of The Open Mic Competition Summer edition 2015 was a blast at our new location and night of the week- TUESDAYS at SCHMIDY’S TAVERN in Palm Desert. We have such an amazing audience who cheered for their favorites of 15 fantastic performances and for audience giveaways! 1st, 2nd and 3rd places all won fantastic prizes and every performer really gave it their all! We missed DJ Alex Updike this week, but he’ll be back next week to rock the house in between performances! Once each musician showed off their best music and the judge vote (50%) was tallied and added to the audience applause score (50%), it was Lance Riebsomer who bested the competition and took home 1st place and movie tickets to the Mary Pickford Theatre. Lance will now be moving on to one Semi Finals on 7/29 or 8/5. If he wins there, he’ll compete in the finals 8/12 for a shot at a $500 trip to Las Vegas from Crater Lake Spirits, an Artist Development Workshop from Producer Ronnie King, and 8 hours of studio time plus a mix and master from JEM Productions. 2nd place went to the very popular band, Nuclear Cowboys who took home movie tickets to the Mary Pickford Theatre as well. 3rd place went to newcomer, Mark Smith who chose movie tickets as well.

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THANK YOU to our performers at the Open Mic Competition for putting on a great show AND for being so supportive of the other artists: Mike Sick-boy, The Puppet, Razor J, Bino Sotelo, Jim Holiday, Carl, Rick Dame, Josh Ballard, Joe Plaid, Justin Ledesma, Brian Frang, B-Blunt, Gustavo Gonzalez, Rakim, Lance Riebsomer, Marco Thoma, and Mark Smith. I hope to see you all next week TUESDAY at SCHMIDY’S TAVERN in Palm Desert!

Look for coverage of this week’s event and the announcement of winners in the next issue of Coachella Valley Weekly!

SPECIAL THANKS to all of our sponsors: JEM Productions, Ronnie King Music, Crater Lake Spirits, KAM Studios, CV Weekly, Canyon Copy & Print, DJ Alex Updike, and the Mary Pickford Theatre.

ALL AGES ALLOWED and YOU may compete EVERY week! PLUS Schmidy›s has a HOUSE DRUM SET you can use! PLEASE NOTE: Due to our overwhelming number of interested performers, sign in starts at 7pm and will be closed at 8pm.

BRING YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY and FANS and note that the competition usually ends by 10:30pm so be sure your friends and family know to stay until the end to voice their vote!!! For questions or information about sign-up, please see Facebook. com/CVOpenMicCompetition or contact creator and host, Morgan James at MorganAliseJames@ gmail.com or (714) 651-1911

Local Music Spotlight

Article & photos By esther sanchez

s a music writer, I have met a lot of local Hip Hop artists, producers and DJs and during our conversations, one name that comes up frequently would be that of CVMA nominee Paul Gore, AKA DJ Smoke 1. The Coachella Valley native is well respected for his skills as a producer and DJ. He is also known for being a smart, kind, family man who carries himself with class and professionalism. His calm demeanor and humble nature may fool some people into thinking that he is a musical passivist, but on the contrary, when it comes down to battling, the title winning, Smoke 1 is a force to be reckoned with. His style is fresh and original and his skills are well defined. He is also one of only a handful of local DJs that has master of the dying art of spinning and mixing vinyl records.

Gore: “My first turn-tables were pretty inadequate but I had to have them. I was about 15 and I found one at a thrift-store.

The other one belonged to a friend of mine and I think I traded him half of the stuff I owned for it. I used them constantly and with dedication, all the while begging my parents for a newer, better set but we weren’t exactly rich so I had to wait. As I got better and better, my parents took notice and probably realized this was more than just a phase and something worth investing in. When my birthday finally came around, they got me my turn-tables. Still the best gift I have ever received.”

Gore’s skills are the product of many years of practice, determination and passion for all things Hip Hop. Gore: “I have been an MC and a break-dancer.

It was when I was about 15 that I was exposed to the underground music scene that was happening at the time. I ended up at a DJ battle in a back-yard. I was there breakdancing with my B-boy crew at the time. It was a two on two battle between DJ Tyco and DJ Decepticon vs DJ Day and Myke B from INL Crew. Witnessing that battle completely changed my life forever. I will never forget the rush that I felt. I have never looked back since.”

Live from Uncle Bens

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The La Quinta High School graduate, impressed by the showmanship and style of the guys he looked up to in the DJ game has funneled that passion without fail and can now be easily thought of as not only their peer, but their competition. And he has no plans on getting comfortable anytime soon.

He has been working as a producer with his friend and local MC Larry Shaw on a musical venture that he is very excited about. Gore: “I knew I wanted to work with an MC that has a particular style. I wanted the subject matter of the songs to be intelligent and relevant and I wanted the writing to be good. That is what we have with this project and I am excited about debuting what we have come up with so stay-tuned.” soundcloud.com/dj-smoke1 twitter@smoke1dj

n a quiet Palm Springs street dotted with restored, midcentury modern homes mixed in with newer ranch-houses, Coachella Valley native, Ben Crowson (who is also the drummer for CVMA nominated band ‘Right On, Right On!’) has been recording podcasts in his home for about a year now. If you enjoy comedic rants, colorful language, impressions of 1980s wrestlers, varying opinions on spontaneous topics, shenanigans and general nonsense, I highly recommend you check out Live from Uncle Bens.

Earlier this year, my band Fearless Moonshiners, performed at Schmidy’s Tavern with ‘Right On, Right On’ which is the first time I met Crowson and his podcasting partner/bandmate, Wesley Gainey. Within minutes of meeting these guys I was struck by their friendliness, wit, intelligence and openness. When Crowson mentioned his podcast and invited me to be a guest I quickly agreed. After some scheduling conflicts over passing weeks, I finally found myself sitting across from Crowson and Gainey in the belly of Uncle Ben’s studio where, to be perfectly honest…..I laughed until it hurt.

Live from Uncle Bens is the manifestation of Crowson’s long-time desire to broadcast,

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com

June 25 to July 1, 2015

By esther sanchez

A hilarious podcast about everything and nothing

which stems from his fondness for opinionated, comedic radio shows and podcasters such as Opie and Anthony and Marc Maron.

Crowson: “The first incarnation of the podcast that I had conceived of in my mind was supposed to be sort of a ‘friends of Ben’ kind of thing. It was supposed to be my show, and every week I was going to bring on some of the characters in my life. Friends, band-members…….whoever. And each week the guests would change.”

Gainey interrupts with a sly grin: “But I kept showing up.”

Now a full-fledged side-kick, Gainey originally began helping Crowson with the technical aspects of podcasting and his role on the show evolved over time. Crowson: “The first one I ever recorded was just me all by myself and it was terrible. Having nobody to reflect off of was not working for me. I would tell a joke and there was silence. I had no idea whether of any of it actually sounded funny or like the ramblings of a psychotic person. That prompted me to invite Wes to join in on the conversation. Together we did six months of podcasts that we never posted online because they weren’t good enough to be posted. I remember thinking the second show we recorded was really good but,

listening to it now…..we still had a way to go. We were kind of tame compared to how we are naturally and although the chemistry was there, we were still sort of feeling one another out and finding our flow.”

Gainey: “We had to figure out how to ignore the fact that we were being recorded and get comfortable. Sometimes we have guests on who are extremely aware they are being recorded and develop a weird, radiocharacter voice. We sort of did that in the beginning as well.”

Crowson: “It was somewhere around the third or fourth time we recorded together when I finally told Wes, ‘Man, I can’t do this without you.’”

Crowson and Gainey are both talented, multi-instrumental musicians who carry an innate sense of pride as part of the respected and ever-evolving music scene in the Coachella Valley. That said, it’s only natural that music is a regular topic of conversation on the show. “We really want to be able to make this show another platform for local musicians to be heard. Laramie Eve, the lovely and talented bassist from Blasting Echo was here with us recently which was great. We want to continue to bring on as many of the great people involved in the local music scene as we can.”

Personally, I had a really great time hanging out with these guys and if podcasts are your thing, there’s is really worth listening to.

Listen to ‘Live from Uncle Bens’ featuring yours truly, or any of their archived shows at: LivefromUncleBens.com. facebook.com/lifefromunclebens Twitter@unclebenlive

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

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by Eleni P. Austin

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2TON BRIDGE

he birthplace of Country-Rock isn’t Nashville or New York. It all happened in Los Angeles almost at the same time, the separate inspiration of two transplanted Angelenos and one native son.

Gram Parsons had grown up in Winter Haven, Florida the scion of wealthy citrus growers. Mike Nesmith was born in Houston and raised in Dallas, Texas. Rick Nelson came from show business royalty, the youngest son of performers, Ozzy and Harriet Nelson.

Since 1948, Rick and his brother David had been playing versions of themselves on radio and television in “The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet.”

Nelson had musical aspirations and made his singing debut the “Ozzie & Harriet” show. That it was the height of nepotism seemed beside the point; Rick Nelson was a talented musician and pioneered the West Coast Rockabilly sound of the late ‘50s.

Trapped in teen-idol purgatory, Nelson’s popularity had ebbed by the mid ‘60s.

By the mid ‘60s, Gram, Mike and Rick were all trying to further their music careers in Los Angeles. Separately, each of them were as inspired by Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and Bob Dylan, as the Beatles and the Stones.

The music each created in that nascent period, (Gram Parsons dubbed it “Cosmic American Music,”) was the first to incorporate pedal steel and fiddle into a Rock & Roll context. Gram Parsons did it with his International Submarine Band, then as a member of the Byrds, before forming the Flying Burrito Brothers with exByrd Chris Hillman In 1966, Mike Nesmith skyrocketed to fame as one of The Monkees, American television’s answer to the Beatles. Critics insisted they were a manufactured madefor-TV band, but the quartet was made up of two talented actor-singers and two authentic musicians who wrote their own songs. His own compositions were a

WESTFIELD MALL 72840 Hwy 111 #171 Palm Desert, CA 92260 760-341-2017 www.recordalley.com

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“2Ton Bridge” (2Tonbridge.com)

revelation. Linda Ronstadt began her career on the strength of Mike’s “Different Drum” song.

Rick assembled a cadre of pickers and players, forming the Stone Canyon band and he began gigging in small clubs like the Palomino and the Troubadour.

Unfortunately most of his fans preferred that Rick regurgitate his ‘50s hits. It wasn’t until much later, posthumously in the cases of Gram and Rick, that they received long overdue recognition as true musical progenitors.

By the ‘70s, the Eagles were cribbing from the Country Rock playbook written by Gram, Mike and Rick. Ironically, their louche tales of the modern (cocaine-fueled), Wild West were massively successful, critically and commercially.

Since then, the L.A. music scene has always had its share of Country-Rock bands, most recently Beachwood Sparks, Parson Redheads and Jonathan Wilson have kept the tradition alive. Now it’s 2Ton Bridge’s turn to carry the torch.

2Ton Bridge is spearheaded by the singular vision of Alexander Wright. A native of Washington, D.C., he grew up in Eastern Shores, Maryland and came of age in the late ‘60s.

Summers spent with his grandfather on the family farm in Virginia gave Wright an appreciation for the hard work and rich rewards that rural life afforded. Listening to his grandfather play guitar and sing sparked his interest in music.

Back home Eastern Shores was filled with the hard-charging, mind-bending sounds of Rock & Roll, but the neighboring town of Rising Sun was a small bastion of Bluegrass. These myriad influences helped forge Wright’s unique sound. He played, sang and wrote, producing other artists for the indie Folk label, Flying Fish.

Consider This

Theatre proved to be a more steady career and Wright built an impressive resume acting, directing and producing.

He relocated to Los Angeles in 1979.

Dramaturgy paid the bills but his love of music continued to be his primary avocation.

He was even part of a Punk/Performance band, the Fabulous Dorx, which included future “Dexter” novelist, Jeff Lindsay.

Throughout the years Alexander Wright did ground-breaking work with the Actor’s Gang and Wallenboyd Theatre, but the siren song of music was a gravitational pull.

Through mutual friend and fellow musician, Jonah Tolchin, he connected with L.A. music legend, Marvin Etzioni.

Once Etzioni offered to produce Wright’s music, a plethora of accomplished L.A. musicians offered their talents and 2Ton Bridge was born.

Following a raucous instrumental overture dubbed “Noise Farm,” the album gets off to a rollicking start with “Waterman Town.” The melody is built around a pounding tribal tattoo, sawing violins, gritty guitar riffs and soaring harmonica notes. Wright draws on memories of his Chesapeake childhood and the hardscrabble living made by generations of fishermen.

“Salt water runs in the family…fish in the blood and mud on my mind/Got to stay on top of that bottom line.”

Although musically, Wright takes his cues from the Country-Rock paradigm, his melodies are also infused with Folk and Blues accents. Lyrically, he leans closer to the social conscience that recalls heartland rockers Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp.

The infectious melodies of “Take Your Hands Off My Land,” “Post Hole Digger” and “Parchman Prison Clay” cushion the grassroots stories therein. “Take Your Hands..” begins as a mid-tempo lament, as Wright easily slips into the skin of a beleaguered family farmer; “Got no corn in my silo, compassion’s well has run bone dry/No feed, no shoes for tomorrow, I’m hanging low, the end is nigh.” Suddenly, he yowls a war cry, and the instrumental break kicks into overdrive, both signaling his defiance.

“Post Hole Digger” is peppered with fiery mandolin licks and stately lap steel runs. Wright works up a sweat decrying a day-laborer’s unsung fortitude. “After 45 years of laying fence, it all lines up but it doesn’t make sense/They took that man and whittled him down, dug a little hole and stuck him in the ground.”

The swampedelic Blues of “Parchman Prison Clay” is a first-person account of life on a chain gang. Powered by shuddery violin and bottleneck guitar, the track feels like a hymn to the forgotten.

Two tracks, “I’m A Hoot Owl” and “She’s So Steady” were co-written with Marvin Etzioni. The former is a lush lullaby

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Desert Musicians Unite in Tribute to Fred Corradi

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

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seasoned by accordion, plangent lap steel along with shimmery guitar and mandolin fills. The lyrics offer a sweet invocation of love; “When it gets so dark and you can’t believe, I’m in your heart, I’m in the trees.”

The latter is a lovely homage to an independent woman; “It won’t be easy when she leaves me, I’ll miss her high harmony.” The tune is anchored by a loping rhythm, tinkling percussion, mournful pedal steel, a graceful string section and high lonesome harmonica.

Probably the most beautiful track is the first single, “Pennies On The Shore.” A wistful melody is paired with pastoral lyrics that feel nostalgic for something happening right now. The plaintive arrangement is awash in bucolic banjo, cascading pedal steel, rippling mandolin and sweet harmonies.

Other interesting tracks include the desolate Spaghetti Western soundscape of “Nothing But Time,” the grief-stricken gloom of “The Beast” and the gentle gospel prayer of “Last Winter.” The album closes with a faithful rendition of Rev. Gary Davis’ Blues classic, “I Will Do My Last Singing.”

Aside from Wright, 2Ton Bridge is comprised of Eric Heywood on pedal and lap steel, electric and nylon guitars, Joachim Cooder on drums and percussion, Dylan Cooper and Mark Serridge on bass, Jerry Donahue on electric guitar, Phil Parlopiano on accordion, and Jonah Tolchin on harmonica and back-up vocals, and string arrangements were provided by Tammy Rodgers, Taylor Bradsheer also adds backup vocals. Of course, the indefatigable Marvin Etzioni handled production chores and played keyboards, bass, mandocello and sang.

2Ton Bridge isn’t just a name pulled out of thin air for Wright, it has special significance. Growing up, a one-lane wooden two ton bridge was the only way in and out of town. It represented strength and peace. It provided an escape, but it also offered a way back home.

2Ton Bridge is the real deal; music that is both complex and simple, adventurous, but slightly homesick. Country Western twang paired with Rock & Roll swagger.

Somewhere Gram, Rick and Mike are smiling.

outhern California musicians have lost a dear friend, faithful supporter and generous, technical guru. This Saturday, June 27th, local bands Dog ‘n’ Butterfly, Aphrodiziac Jacket, John Carey, TBone Edwards, Wytegye and Ozzmania will be gathering at Schmidy’s Tavern in Palm Desert to perform in tribute to a man who’s skills in guitar-building and all that is behind the scenes in music have impacted the Coachella Valley music scene on multiple levels. The father of three was known for his generosity, positive attitude and sense of humor. His passing was sudden and the void he has left, vast. There is much that can be said about a man who touched so many lives.

Lizann Warner (Dog ‘N’ Butterfly): “It’s difficult to talk about losing our friend Fred Corradi. He was so full of joy and love for life. He was a dedicated father, a loyal friend, and an amazing human being. All of us in Dog ‘N’ Butterfly can’t imagine life without him, and his passing has touched each one of us deeply and profoundly. We will be performing at his benefit to honor the man we loved like a brother, and we dedicate our performance to his memory.”

Mark Knapp (Ozzmania): “Fred was a very dear close friend. His passing has impacted me more than I ever thought possible. He was instrumental in helping Ozzmania climb to the upper levels of the tribute ladder. He is responsible for practically every piece of stage gear I use. I am eternally grateful for him, his friendship and everything he has done for both me and my band. (oh yeah, his family kicks ass too!) I miss you so much my friend... so, so much…”

Tom Edwards/TBone: “All can say right now is that his death came so quickly that

it is almost surreal. I think of him daily.

Sometimes I get caught off guard as if I am going to call him for one of our guitar chats only to realize that he is really gone. I really really miss him. We had so much fun remodeling my guitars together.”

Courtney Chambers (Dog ‘N’ Butterfly): Fred was an integral part of our music community. He gave so much and didn’t ask for anything in return. He was a genuine soul who just wanted to give to his community.

I can’t think of a better way to pay tribute to and celebrate the life of Frank Corradi than a rock & roll show put on by the musicians that he meant so much to. The show is 21 and over, Saturday, June 27th at Schmidy’s Tavern in Palm Desert. There will be no cover-charge for this event. However, they will be accepting donations in Corradi’s memory. 100% of donations collected will go to Corradi’s family.

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

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PET PLACE

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by Janet McAfee

Special Pup “Pippen” Needs You!

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oving All Animals in Palm Desert saved this tiny 1-year-old Terrier’s life several months ago when we rescued her from a high kill shelter in San Bernardino. Pippen thrived in her foster home with Luanne Parks.

However, she had a recent medical crisis, and now needs your help. Pippen needs diagnostic testing and treatment from a veterinarian board certified in neurology. Please read her story and consider helping.

Pippen was a bit fearful at first, a perfect candidate for socialization in one of our loving foster homes. With Luanne Parks, Pippen learned basic training, how to walk on a leash, and how to enjoy the company of other pups.

Luanne’s three other rescue dogs welcomed Pippen into their pack and Pippen was especially fond of alpha girl Marley. Pippen thrived, overcoming her separation anxiety, gaining weight, and playing happily with the dogs. But she always kept a watchful eye on Luanne, her special human.

Then one Friday Spring evening, Pippen didn’t eat dinner and seemed lethargic.

She slept next to Luanne’s head that night, different from her usual pattern of lying by her side. It was time to rise Saturday morning, but when Pippen jumped off the bed she

uttered a high pitch yelp. She ran down the hallway, and suddenly fell sideways with her legs stiff. The young dog stared blankly into space, her body immobile.

Panic stricken, Luanne drove the dog to nearby Carter Animal Hospital. Dr. Stephen Carter examined Pippen, and when they tried to stand her up she would fall over. They kept the dog overnight and administered fluids. Dr. Carter is not sure what caused this episode, but by Monday morning Pippen had significantly improved and went home with prescribed steroids.

Pippen continued to improve, playing with her favorite stuffed toy (a green alligator), following Luanne around the home, and enjoying the company of her foster sisters.

Luanne observed a slight difference in her gait, noting the dog “ran stiffly like a race horse.”

Pippen had a second episode, not as serious, but creating cause for concern. Dr. Carter noted stiffness on her right side, and was concerned about possible neurological changes. He advised us to consult with a neurologist to get a thorough diagnosis, making a referral to Dr. Stephen Hanson at the Veterinary Neurology Center. Dr. Hanson

Full Service Feline Only Veterinary Clinic

Dr. Rebecca Diaz

760-325-3400 Dr. Rebecca Diaz is a cat-loving veterinary professional, dedicated to keeping your cats and kittens happy and healthy with top-quality care in a stress-free environment.

Feline Veterinary Service

Every aspect of our clinic is designed with the special needs of cats in mind.

From the quiet serene waiting room to the relaxing exam rooms and cat-friendly cages for hospitalized patients, our goal is to promote a peaceful, stress-free environment for your cats.

Services include: • Routine Care • Geriatic Care • Spay/Neuter

• Digital Radiology • Laboratory Services • New Kitten Care

• Vaccinations • General Surgery • Dentistry

67870 Vista Chino Cathedral City, CA 92234

www.catcitycat.com

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by Rick Riozza

Wondrous Wine at Wimbledon

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has a full time practice in Tustin and a part time clinic in Palm Desert. $2,000 is needed for Pippen to get an MRI and a spinal tap. These tests will help determine if the tiny pup has a form of GME, Granulomatous Meningoencephalomyelitis, a nervous system disease. The tests could alternatively show Pippen has some sort of infection, many of which are easily treatable.

Dr. Hanson has offered us a 20% rescue discount.

Pippen’s medical bills would be covered If 100 people each donated $20. To make a tax deductible donation go to the website www. lovingallanimals.org and list the reason for

sweet Samantha This fabulous feline was rescued by Loving All Animals when her owner abandoned her. A middleaged sweetheart, she loves to hang with her humans.

With beautiful markings, Samantha looks part Ragdoll.

Call Mary at Loving All Animals (760) 834-7000.

Doris day Sweet as American pie, this cute pup named after a famous animal lover would love to celebrate July 4th with you!

Rescued by Loving All Animals, she is a Chihuahua/Mini Pin/ Terrier blend, 8 lbs of frolicking fun & a great pet for an active family. Adoption donation.

Call (760) 834-7000.

donating “Pippen”. Checks can be mailed to Loving All Animals, 73550 Alessandro Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260, noting “Pippen”.

Foster mom Luanne tells us, “Pippen is the sweetest little dog you could imagine. She learned to follow commands including ‘give me a kiss’. Pippen deserves this service so that she can receive needed treatment.” Contact LAA at (760) 834-7005. There is a home for every rescue dog, and surely a kind human will consider providing a forever home to this little pup.

Jmcafee7@verizon.net

June 25 to July 1, 2015

or so many years, this tennis playing enthusiast and his family have watched the Wimbledon Championships while simply lounging around the house enjoying our own Breakfast at Wimbledon (usually featuring spicy chorizo mixed with fried potatoes and runny eggs on top, along with shots of Tequila & lime or Bloody Marys), and, of course, for dessert, the classic Wimbledon fare of Strawberries & Cream.

The tournament at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club tweaked its schedule this year to allow players more rest and practice time between the Roland Garros French Championships and Wimbledon’s great grass court event.

As your wine, food, and tennis correspondent, I have to admit that I don’t know my way around town here (Wimbledon being a district of London, about seven miles out from the centre) as compared with our well-worn CV Weekly three-column jaunt through Champagne and the Loire in France. So sorry—no wine tour here.

Actually, the Champagne region in France has traditionally been the most northern wine growing region in the world—so one wouldn’t expect a wine tour around England (which of course sits north of La France).

But in the Middle Ages, the monks in England were doing fine making wine— they’re famous for that anywhere! However, when King Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, the Bordeaux region became part of the Throne; thus, why make wine in the rain and cold when all of England could enjoy the best Bordeaux—so the vineyards withered away.

A thousand years later, England has indeed joined the international wine world and is producing it with over 3,000 vineyard acres and growing. Still, I do not know my way around the wineries here—so sorry again, no wine tour around this tennis tournament. Let’s simply spend our time eating and drinking around the green green grass courts of old.

This year, Wimbledon will run from June 29th to July 12th. The good news for the athletes is that this tournament pays the highest in winnings; the bad news for us spectators is that the prices for the grub and drinks are criminally out-of-sight!

So the advice is to avoid spending your month’s salary in a day by bringing provisions for your day out. Everyone is allowed to bring a knapsack into Wimbledon, and you can pack as much food in it as you like, plus a bit of booze. Each person is allowed two cans of beer or one bottle of wine. What do you think we’re bringing?

Note that pointy corkscrews may be prohibited, so you might be looking to find screw-top wines, but as we’ll reason below,

don’t worry—no hardware needed. With the traditional Strawberries & Cream, the best wine to pair with this dish is a very chilled sweet sparkling wine or sweet rosé Champagne—so we’ll easily be popping corks!

Ten years ago, I remember Wimbledon caterers served over 23 tons of strawberries and 1,820 gallons of cream. Popular legend has it that King George V introduced strawberries and cream to courtside crowds.

But the tradition actually dates from around the time of the first Wimbledon tournament in 1877; back then, strawberries—only available that time of year—and the commencement of tennis championships both signaled the arrival of summer.

By the way, the double cream applied to the “official Wimbledon Elsanta Strawberry” contains at least 48 percent butterfat.

Therefore to enjoy this dish at home, forget the can of phony whipped cream or tub of Cool-Whip. Buy the best vanilla ice cream you can find, let it melt in the fridge, then pour it freely on your fruit. Yeah—baby!

The general rule with sweet dessert wine pairings, is to match it with a wine

that is as sweet or even sweeter than your sugary concoction. Otherwise the wine will taste a bit sour next the sweet course. At Wimbledon, the Veuve Clicquot Demi Sec Champagne, $50, will do with its peach nectar, tangerine, honey and toast aromas followed by plump orchard fruit. And it’s not overly sweet.

Here are three recommendations you can find locally, if you simply prefer to lay in bed and watch the tournament on the telly: Schramsberg 2010 Cremant DemiSec, $35: Although moderately sweet, it is complex in aromas with fresh mango, guava, candied orange and caramelized apple— talk about loading up on the fragrance department!

There’s also a fresh-bread aroma

giving the Wimbledon dessert a bit of a strawberry-and-shortcake feel. Rich in flavor and long on the finish with orange, peach, and pineapple. Decadent, so you can take a nap anytime, it’s a two-week tournament after all.

Freixenet Cordon Negro Sweet Cuvée, $9: A great buy that is delicious, refreshing and smooth. It’s lightly sweet for those who can’t stomach the really sweet stuff. It exhibits aromas of peaches and cream with lively bubbles that rise through the glass.

Fruity ripe summer peach and tropical fruit flavors culminate in a long, silky sweet finish.

And believe it or not, the Barefoot Bubbly Rosé Cuvée, $8, for the price has pretty decent strawberry and peach aromas with a touch of acidity. A sweet and fruity taste that finishes just slightly drier than you’d expect. Definitely an entry-level sweet rosé sparkler for those who don’t wish to pay much for their quaff—at least, for now.

For the 2015 Wimbledon favorites, the women’s draw is wide open, with all the young players hitting as hard as Serena— who is still probably favored. And in the men’s, can the Brit Andy Murray make the home town fans happy again with another win? Stay tuned and Sweet Dreams, Cheers!

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

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­­THUR JUNE 25 29 PALMS INN; 29 Palms; 760-367-3505 Rojer Arnold & Bobby Furgo 6pm ACE HOTEL; PS; 760-325-9900 Reunion w/ DJ Day 10pm AJ’S ON THE GREEN; C.C.; 760-202-1111 Paul Elia 7pm AZUL; PS; 760-325-5533 Piano Bar 6pm BAR; PS; 760-537-7337 Eevaan Tre’s Birthday Bash 8pm BART LOUNGE; C.C.; 760-799-8800 Hip Hop 4pm-2am BLUEMBER; RM; 760-862-4581 Live Entertainment 6-10pm CASTELLI’S; PD; 760-773-3365 Patrick Tuzzolino 5:30pm DESERT FOX; PS; 760-325-9555 Thirsty Thursdays 7pm DHS SPA LOUNGE; DHS; 760-329-6787 Karaoke w/ DJ Scott 9pm EUREKA; IW; 760-834-7700 Mikey Reyes 7pm THE GRILL ON MAIN; LQ; 760-777-7773 T.B.A. 7:30pm THE HOOD; PD; 760-636-5220 Red’s Rockstar Karaoke 9pm HOODOO COCKTAIL GARDEN @ THE HYATT; PS; 760-322-9000 Chris Lomeli 6:30pm HUNTER’S; PS; 760-323-0700 Open Mic 9pm INDIAN WELLS RESORT HOTEL; IW; 760345-6466 Frank DiSalvo 6pm JOSHUA TREE SALOON; JT; 760-366-2250 Punk Rock Night 9pm KOKOPELLI’S; YV; 760-228-2589 Karaoke 7pm LAS CASUELAS TERRAZA; PS; 760-3252794 Hot Rox LIT@FANTASY SPRINGS; IND; 760-3452450 Country Night w/ River Road 8pm THE LOUNGE, AGUA CALIENTE; RM; 888999-1995 Quinto Menguante 8-1am MARGARITA’S; PS; 760-778-3500 Live Music 6pm MELVYN’S RESTAURANT & LOUNGE; PS; 760-325-2323 Ron Greenip 8pm NEIL’S LOUNGE; IND; 760-347-1522 Karaoke 8pm-1:15am THE NEST; PD; 760-346-2314 Kevin Henry 6-8pm Tim Burleson 8pm PALM CANYON ROADHOUSE; PS; 760327-4080 Ron & jb Duo 7pm PAPPY & HARRIET’S; PT; 760-365-5956 Little Lonely 8pm PLAN B LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND COCKTAILS; TP; 760-343-2115 The Green

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Room Tour w/ Drop Mob, Pocket Yellow, Tip Toe Stallone, Lootenant and more.. 8pm PURPLE ROOM@CLUB TRINIDAD; PS; 760-327-1161ext.230 Pat Rizzo 6:30pm RED BARN; PD; 760-346-0191 Live DJ 9pm RIVIERA RESORT & SPA; PS; 760-327-8311 Martin Ross Starlite Lounge 6pm SAMMY G’s; PS; 760-320-8041 Evaro Brothers 8pm SCHMIDY’S; PD; 760-837-3800 Open Mic Hosted by Josh Heinz 9pm SHANGHAI RED’S @ THE FISHERMAN’S MARKET; PS; 760-322-9293 The Smooth Brothers 7pm SULLIVAN’S STEAKHOUSE; PD; 760-3413560 Dude Jones 6pm TACK ROOM TAVERN; IND; 760-347-9985 Karaoke w/ T-Bone 8-12am THREE SIXTY NORTH; PS; 760-327-1773 Tony DiGerlando 6:30pm VILLAGE PUB; PS; 760-323-3265 DJ Khodi Rayne 4:30-9pm, Nite Fixx 9-2am WILLIE BOYS; MV; 760-363-3343 TBA 8pm WOODY’S BURGER; PS; 760-230-0188 Yve Evans 6pm ZELDA’S; PS; 760-325-2375 Locals Night 9pm

FRI JUNE 26 29 PALMS INN; 29 Palms; 760-367-3505 The Bob Garcia Band 6pm 19TH HOLE; PD; 760-772-6696 Karaoke w/ T Bone 9pm ACE HOTEL; PS; 760-325-9900 Paul Collins and Lifeforms 10pm AGAVE LOUNGE@THE HYATT REGENCY; IW; 760-674-4080 Art of Sax 8pm AJ’S ON THE GREEN; C.C.; 760-202-1111 TBA 7:30pm AZUL; PS; 760-325-5533 Fleet Easton 7:30pm BART LOUNGE; C.C.; 760-799-8800 DJ and Dancing and Beer Pong 4pm-2am BISTRO 60 @TRILOGY; LQ; 760-501-0620 The Carmens 6pm BLUE BAR, SPOTLIGHT 29; INDIO; 760-7755566 DJ PWee 8pm BLUEMBER; RM; 760-862-4581 The Stanley Butler Trio 6-10pm CAFÉ DES BEAUX- ARTS; PD; 760-3460669 Linda Peterson 6pm CASCADE LOUNGE, SPA RESORT CASINO; PS; 888-999-1995 DJ Michael Wright 9-1am CASTELLI’S; PD; 760-773-3365 Patrick Tuzzolino 5:30pm

CLEMETINE; PD; 760-834-8814 Gina Carey 6pm EL MEXICALI CAFÉ 2; IND; 760-342-2333 Cesar Daniel Lopez on the harp 6-9pm EUREKA; IW; 760-834-7700 TBA 6:30pm THE GRILL ON MAIN; LQ; 760-777-7773 House Band 8:45pm HARD ROCK HOTEL; PS; 760-325-9676 “Jump Off” DJ 9pm Lobby THE HOOD; PD; 760-636-5220 Salsa Night w/ J Patron & DJ Luthergates 9pm HOODOO COCKTAIL GARDEN @ THE HYATT; PS; 760-322-9000 Kal David 6:30pm HUNTER’S; PS; 760-323-0700 Live VJ 9pm INDIAN WELLS RESORT HOTEL; IW; 760345-6466 Frank DiSalvo 6pm JOSHUA TREE SALOON; JT; 760-366-2250 Live DJ 8:30pm KOKOPELLI’S; YV; 760-228-2589 The Larry James band 8pm LAS CASUELAS TERRAZA; PS; 760-3252794 Palm Springs Sound Company in the afternoon, Hot Rox in the night LIT@FANTASY SPRINGS; IND; 760-3452450 Bongo Funk 9pm THE LOUNGE; AGUA CALIENTE; RM; 888999-1995 DJ 9pm MARGARITA’S; PS; 760-778-3500 Live Music 6pm MELVYN’S RESTAURANT & LOUNGE; PS; 760-325-2323 Ron Greenip 8pm NEIL’S LOUNGE; IND; 760-347-1522 Karaoke 8-1:15am THE NEST; PD; 760-346-2314 Kevin Henry 6-8pm Tim Burleson 8pm PALM CANYON ROADHOUSE; PS; 760327-4080 Mark Gregg & The Horde 9pm PAPPY & HARRIET’S; PT; 760-365-5956 The Paul Chesne Band 8pm PJ’S SPORTS LOUNGE; YV; 760-228-1199 T.B.A. 9pm PLAN B LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND COCKTAILS; TP; 760-343-2115 Red’s Rockstar Karaoke 9pm PURPLE ROOM@CLUB TRINIDAD; PS; 760-327-1161ext.230 P.S. Jump Finale 5:30pm, Barry Minniefield 8:30pm RED BARN; PD; 760-346-0191 Braun Fraulein 9pm RIVIERA RESORT & SPA; PS; 760-327-8311 Martin Ross Starlite Lounge 7pm, Hot Wyre Sidebar Lounge 10pm ROCKYARD @ FANTASY SPRINGS; IND; Rum Soaked Raisins and Smooth (Santana Tribute) 7:30pm SAMMY G’s; PS; 760-320-8041 Evaro Brothers 8pm

June 25 to July 1, 2015

SCHMIDY’S; PD; 760-837-3800 The Epoch Momentous presents: The Metronome w/ The Sweat Act, Drop Mob, Pocket Yellow and PharmTecs 8pm SHANGHAI RED’S @ THE FISHERMAN’S MARKET; PS; 760-322-9293 Barry Baughn Blues 8-11pm SHANGHAI RED’S @ THE FISHERMAN’S MARKET; LQ; 760-777-1601 Smooth Brothers 8-11pm SHELLY’S LOUNGE@TORTOISE ROCK CASINO; 29 Palms; Rojer Arnold & Bobby Furgo 9pm SMOKIN’ BURGERS; PS; 760-883-5999 Ron James 6pm SOUL OF MEXICO; IND; 760-200-8787 Latin Rock 10pm SULLIVAN’S STEAKHOUSE; PD; 760-3413560 Demetrious and Co. TACK ROOM TAVERN; IND; 760-347-9985 TBA 9pm THREE SIXTY NORTH; PS; 760-327-1773 Pat Rizzo 6:30pm TILTED KILT; PD; 760-773-5458 Tilted @ Night 10pm TRILUSSA ITALIAN RISTORANTE; PS; 760-328-2300 Julius & Sylvia Music Duo 6-10pm VIBE; MORONGO CASINO; CAB; 951-7555391 The Rick Whitfield Band 10pm VILLAGE PUB; PS; 760-323-3265 T.B.A. 1:30-4:30pm, Nite Fixx 9-2am, DJ Anwaar Hines 9-2am VUE GRILLE & BAR; IW; 760-834-3800 Slim Man Solo Show 5:30pm WESTIN MISSION HILLS; RM; 760-3285955 Michael Keeth 6-10pm WILLIE BOYS; MV; 760-363-3343 TBA 9pm WOODY’S BURGER; PS; 760-230-0188 Rose Mallett 6:30pm ZELDA’S; PS; 760-325-2375 Girl’s Night Out w/ The Men on the Hollywood Strip 9pm

SAT JUNE 27 29 PALMS INN; 29 Palms; 760-367-3505 Bev & Bill 6pm 19TH HOLE; PD; 760-772-6696 Karaoke w/ T-Bone 9pm ACE HOTEL; PS; 760-325-9900 DJ Phyllis noon poolside, Highlife w/ DJ Day 10pm AGAVE LOUNGE@THE HYATT REGENCY; IW; 760-674-4080 Art of Sax 8pm AJ’S ON THE GREEN; C.C.; 760-202-1111 Cabaret on the Green Open Mic w/ Les Michaels and Wayne Abravanel 7:30pm AZUL; PS; 760-325-5533 Denise Carter 7:30pm

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

The PamperedPalate

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www.coachellavalleyweekly.com

June 25 to July 1, 2015

By janet Newcomb

SUMMER THURSDAYS ARE MAINE LOBSTER NIGHTS AT PACIFICA

A Delicious Tradition Returns to Palm Desert

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Association (NOAA). The regulations limit the size allowed to be caught, from a minimum 3 1/4″ allowing juvenile lobsters the chance to mature and reproduce before they can be harvested, and maximum 5″ to protect the large, healthy breeding stock.

Harvesting in Maine is by trap only — no dragging or diving is allowed, and the traps include escape vents for under-size lobsters as well as biodegradable escape hatches to free lobsters in lost traps.

Pacifica Seafood Restaurant is featuring Maine Lobster on Thursday nights again this summer for $42.00, including a choice of soup or salad, red potatoes, and drawn butter.

Reservations are available online at www. opentable.com/palm-springs-restaurants or phone Pacifica at 760.674.8666.

Pacifica Seafood Restaurant is atop The Gardens on El Paseo, 73505 El Paseo, Palm Desert.

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here’s lobster, and then there’s Maine Lobster – the best of the best, and some 42% of Americans consider lobster the world’s most romantic food. The Maine lobster is a cold water lobster, known officially as Homarus americanus (literally, “American Lobster”) that’s distinguished by its two large claws as well as whiter meat than warm water lobsters. About half of the annual catch of more than 150,000 cold water lobsters in North America comes from Maine. Lobsters from Florida, the Caribbean and southern California are spiny or rock lobsters found in only in warm water. The Maine lobster has a very pronounced, succulent taste that is somewhat on the sweet side, although the meat is extremely low in sugars and carbohydrates. One large (1.5 lb.) lobster has about 175 calories, 618 mg of potassium, and 36 grams of protein.

The Maine lobster industry focuses on sustainability and conservation, from trap to table, in collaboration with the government and the private sector. Lobsters are harvested by hand, one trap at a time, to protect their quality and marine habitat.

The industry is tightly regulated through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

EST. 2

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com

Movie Reviews with Robin E. Simmons

NAUGHTY FAUX FLAUBERT

GEMMA BOVARY “Madame Bovary,” Flaubert’s literary classic gets a naughty reboot in this delightful film that plays with the notion that life imitates art in the most unexpected ways when delicious, unsophisticated British beauty Gemma Bovary (Gemma Arterton) and her furniture maker husband move to the village where Flaubert wrote his novel a hundred years ago.

Gemma Arterton’s endearing performance in the title role is reason enough to see this sweetly alluring film that is light on plot but otherwise ravishing.

A big, sold out hit at our last Palm Springs International Film Festival, here’s a chance to see for the first time -- or again -- this visually lush and beguiling film. The amiably rambling story becomes more focused when Martin Joubert (Fabrice Luchini), a local baker and Flaubert fan, is smitten by the lovely Gemma and decides to be her mentor. Soon, Martin wheedles himself into Gemma’s life and begins imagining parallels

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between the purely fictional and the flesh and blood woman. But -- no spoiler here -Gemma soon finds herself in a looming crisis when Joubert insists she is reliving the fate of Flaubert’s literary heroine. Now Gemma must make an uncomfortable decision.

Director Anne Fontaine has crafted an adroit adaptation of the eponymous graphic novel that is as much a sexy romance as it is a fête of French country life. Don’t miss this perfect get-a-way from the blistering heat.

Now showing at Cinemas Palme d’Or. NEW FOR THE HOME THEATER: KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi) is a cubiclebound office drone seeking escape from her dreary life. Relying solely on her imagination and unexpected courage, she thinks she’s found a way out of her office drudgery when she finds a battered VHS cassette of a fictional film (FARGO?) that she mistakes for a fact-filled documentary.

Specifically, she is obsessed and ultimately fixated on a scene from her VHS tape where

Screeners No.170 at Sundance. Don’t miss this sometimes very dark comedy that is also a bright drama. I guarantee it will long linger long in the mind after final fade out. Anchor Bay. Blu-ray.

a suitcase filled with stolen cash has been buried somewhere in North Dakota’s bleak frozen terrain. Believing this treasure to be utterly real and awaiting her recovery, Kumiko leaves Tokyo -- and her beloved pet rabbit Bunzo -- to find it! But, she instead quickly discovers she’s on an adventure of danger and delusion unlike anything she has seen in the movies -- or imagined.

This hugely engaging but decidedly odd odyssey, inspired by an urban legend, directed and co-written by David Zeller and produced by Alexander Payne (THE DESCENDANTS) received a Special Jury Prize

MERCHANTS OF DOUBT Inspired by the acclaimed from Naomi Oreskes and Eric M. Conway, this satirical -- but not inaccurate -- look at corporate deception explores how popular media twists and spins stories, confuses the public and delays action on some of the most urgent and pressing issues of our time – from tobacco to climate change.

“As fascinating as it is horrifying” said Los Angeles Times’ Kenneth Turan. This one is a must see for all who are concerned with our personal and collective future. There are oncamera interviews with individuals on both sides of the arguments including scientists, whistle blowers and activists. Some of the best and moist insightful moments come from Republican Congressman Bob Inglis; Marc Morano, Executive Director of ClimateDepot.com; and Stanton Glantz, an American Legacy Foundation Distinguished Professor of Tobacco Control. Robert Kenner (Best Documentary FOOD, INC., 2010) directs. Don’t be a dupe. See this important and infuriating film. Sony. Blu-ray. robinesimmons@aol.com

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Book Review

June 25 to July 1, 2015

By Heidi Simmons

The Many Lives We Live

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ife is short. But, it doesn’t mean we don’t live multiple lives. In Diana Wagman’s Life #6 (Ig Publishing, 296 pages) a woman must come to terms with her past and her illness.

Fiona learns she has breast cancer from a voice mail her doctor left on her cell phone. Somehow this information doesn’t jolt or destroy her. As she contemplates the message and what it means to “find an oncologist,” she only feels numb.

Facing mortality, Fiona considers the ones she loves. Her marriage is disintegrating. Her husband is distant and angry since losing his job. They hardly speak and now have very little in common – if they ever did. Her son is independent and away at college. She is left thinking about her life and the impact of Luc, a former boyfriend.

Luc was Fiona’s first true love. She left college to go on a sailing adventure that turned into a deadly nightmare. But Fiona can’t help wonder whatever happened to Luc and if he might make her whole in the way she had always dreamed. When she Googles his name and gets in touch, Luc wants to meet. He is single and wants to rekindle a love that he says never ever died.

Leaving her world behind and any thought of fighting cancer or dying, Fiona

life #6

By Diana wagman

fiction

hooks up with Luc. The feelings she had as a young girl rush back, and it’s mutual. Thirty plus years later their chemistry still exists.

But life is never simple and Fiona must decide what life she wants to live – especially since her time on Earth maybe short.

Although the description of the story sounds female-centric and melodramatic, author Wigman writes Fiona’s life as an exciting adventure, both as a youth and as a middle-aged woman. As an innocent, simple girl Fiona fell in love with an Adonis and

was swept away into a dark and dangerous world. Men should not shy away from this compelling story.

Wigman changes voice from first person to third as she moves from the present to the past. This technique makes the read involving and exciting. When youthful Luc and Fiona board the sailboat and set off across the Atlantic, the pages turn at a gale force pace.

If you have ever sailed –- especially in a terrible storm -- this story will put you right back on deck.

This story is beautifully told. At times the writing is more poetry than prose. Behind the chapters and under her wonderfully constructed sentences is metaphor and allegory. Wigman uses nautical terms that have become incorporated into our everyday vernacular without realizing where the phrases originated. This language adds even more depth and layers to the story she is telling.

Fiona’s character and emotional state is real and complicated. Life is not easy and the journey we take with Fiona – young and old -- is recognizable and honest.

Life #1 was when, as a small child, Fiona flew through her father’s windshield. Life #2, she was nearly crushed under tires while she hid in a pile of autumn leaves. The chapters include her many lives up to her fighting cancer – Life #6.

I look forward to revisiting this book.

There is wisdom, compassion and insight to life that can only come from living life fully and under the threat of losing the gift too soon. I appreciated Fiona’s philosophical view.

Wagman knows of which she writes.

She survived a horrible sailing experience and fought and (hopefully) defeated breast cancer. After I put Life #6 down, I had a new appreciation for existence and the many lives we lead in our short time here on the planet.

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

CLUB CRAWLER NIGHTLIFE continued from page 17 BAR; PS; 760-537-7337 Abe spinning funk, soul and disco 10pm BART LOUNGE; C.C.; 760-799-8800 Dancing, DJ and Mortal Kombat X Competition open 4pm-2am BISTRO 60 @TRILOGY; LQ; 760-501-0620 The Carmens 6pm BLUE BAR; SPOTLIGHT 29; IND; 760775-5566 DJ PWee BLUEMBER; RM; 760-862-4581 Gina Carey 6-10pm CASCADE LOUNGE, SPA RESORT CASINO; PS; 888-999-1995 DJ Michael Wright 9-1am CASTELLI’S; PD; 760-773-3365 Patrick Tuzzolino 5:30pm CLUB 5; IND; 760-625-1719 Los Mumblers, Venus & The Traps and Sun Baked 8:30pm DHS SPA LOUNGE; DHS; 760-329-6787 Karaoke w/ DJ Scott 9pm EL MEXICALI CAFÉ 2; IND; 760-342-2333 Cesar Daniel Lopez on the harp 6-9pm FIRESIDE LOUNGE; PS; 760-327-1700 T.B.A. 9pm THE GRILL ON MAIN; LQ; 760-777-7773 T.B.A. 8:30pm THE GROOVE LOUNGE; SPOTLIGHT 29; INDIO; 760-775-5566 DJ 8pm HARD ROCK HOTEL; PS; 760-325-9676 “Solid” Guest DJs, 11am poolside, 9pm Lobby THE HOOD; PD; 760-636-5220 Sir Madam and Nylon Waves 9pm HOODOO COCKTAIL GARDEN @ THE HYATT; PS; 760-322-9000 Bill Ramirez 6:30pm HUNTER’S; PS; 760-323-0700 Live VJ 9p m INDIAN WELLS RESORT HOTEL; IW; 760345-6466 Frank DiSalvo 6pm JOSHUA TREE SALOON; JT; 760-3662250 T.B.A. 8pm KOKOPELLI’S; YV; 760-228-2589 Karaoke 8pm LAS CASUELAS TERRAZA; PS; 760-3252794 Palm Springs Sound Company,in the afternoon,Hot Rox,in the night LIT@FANTASY SPRINGS; IND; 760-3452450 Bongo Funk 9pm THE LOUNGE, AGUA CALIENTE; RM; 888-999-1995 Machin’ 9pm MELVYN’S RESTAURANT & LOUNGE; PS; 760-325-2323 Ron Greenip 8pm MARGARITA’S; PS; 760-778-3500 Live Music 6pm NEIL’S LOUNGE; IND; 760-347-1522 Karaoke 8-1:15am THE NEST; PD; 760-346-2314 Kevin Henry 6-8pm Tim Burleson 8pm PALM CANYON ROADHOUSE; PS; 760327-4080 Southbound & Co. 9pm PAPPY & HARRIET’S; PT; 760-365-5956 Vetiver and The Donkeys 8pm PJ’S SPORTS LOUNGE; YV; 760-228-1199 TBA 9pm PLAN B LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND COCKTAILS; TP; 760-343-2115 Higher Heights 9pm PURPLE ROOM@CLUB TRINIDAD; PS; 760-327-1161ext230 RED BARN; PD; 760-346-0191 Latin Night 9pm RIVIERA RESORT & SPA; PS; 760-3278311 Martin Ross Starlite Lounge 7pm, Michael Keeth & Martin Barrera Sidebar Patio 7pm, TBA Sidebar Lounge 10pm ROCKYARD @ FANTASY SPRINGS; IND; Rok of Ages and Cocky (Kid Rock Tribute) 7:30pm SAMMY G’s; PS; 760-320-8041 Evaro Brothers 8pm

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SCHMIDY’S; PD; 760-837-3800 Tribute to Fred Corradi w/ Ozzmania, Dog N Butterfly, Aphrodisiac Jacket, Wyte Gye, John Carey and Tom “T-Bone” Edwards 8pm SHANGHAI RED’S @ THE FISHERMAN’S MARKET; PS; 760-322-9293 Barry Baughn Blues 8-11pm SHANGHAI RED’S @ THE FISHERMAN’S MARKET; LQ; 760-777-1601 Smooth Brothers 8-11pm SHELLY’S LOUNGE@TORTOISE ROCK CASINO; 29 Palms; Rojer Arnold & Bobby Furgo 9pm SIDEWINDER GRILL; DHS; 760-329-7929 Karaoke w/ Milly G 6pm SMOKIN’ BURGERS; PS; 760-883-5999 Ron James 6pm SOUL OF MEXICO; IND; 760-200-8787 Latin Music 10pm SULLIVAN’S STEAKHOUSE; PD; 760341-3560 Dude Jones 6pm TACK ROOM TAVERN; IND; 760-347-9985 TBA 9pm THREE SIXTY NORTH; PS; 760-327-1773 Darci Daniels 6:30pm TILTED KILT; PD; 760-773-5458 T.B.A. 9pm TRILUSSA ITALIAN RISTORANTE; PS; 760-328-2300 Julius & Sylvia Music Duo 6-10pm VIBE, MORONGO CASINO; CAB; 951755-5391 DJ Hektik 10pm VILLAGE PUB; PS; 760-323-3265 Rob & JB 1:30-4:30pm, Nite Fixx 9-2am, DJ Anwaar Hines 9-2am VUE GRILLE & BAR; IW; 760-834-3800 Chris Lomeli 8pm WESTIN MISSION HILLS; RM; 760-3285955 Courtney Chambers 6pm WILLIE BOYS; MV; 760-363-3343 TBA 8pm WOODY’S BURGER; PS; 760-230-0188 Stanley Butler Trio 6:30pm ZELDA’S; PS; 760-325-2375 DJs 9pm

SUN JUNE 28 29 PALMS INN; 29 Palms; 760-367-3505 Bob & Allison 6pm ACE HOTEL; PS; 760-325-9900 DJ Mitra noon poolside, Intoxica Radio Live 10pm AJ’S ON THE GREEN; C.C.; 760-202-1111 Jazz Brunch 11:30am AZUL; PS; 760-325-5533 The Judy Show 7:30pm BART LOUNGE; C.C.; 760-799-8800 Motown, R&B and Funk 4pm-2am BLUEMBER; RM; 760-862-4581 Steve Madaio 6-10pm CASCADE LOUNGE, SPA RESORT; PS; 888-999-1995 Nash with Quinto Menguante 9pm CASTELLI’S; PD; 760-773-3365 Joe Jaggi 6pm DHS SPA LOUNGE; DHS; 760-329-6787 Karaoke 9pm EL MEXICALI CAFÉ 2; IND; 760-342-2333 Cesar Daniel Lopez on the harp 6-9pm HARD ROCK HOTEL; PS; 760-325-9676 “Fusion” Pool Party 11am poolside INDIAN WELLS RESORT HOTEL; IW; 760345-6466 Ted Herman’s Big Band 6pm JOSHUA TREE SALOON; JT; 760-3662250 Open Jam 6pm LAS CASUELAS TERRAZA; PS; 760-3252794 Palm Springs Sound Company, in the afternoon, Hot Rox, in the night MELVYN’S RESTAURANT & LOUNGE; PS; 760-325-2323 Sunday Jam 4-8pm NEIL’S LOUNGE; IND; 760-347-1522 Golden Era Karaoke 4-7pm, Red’s Rockstar Karaoke 8pm-1:15am

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com THE NEST; PD; 760-346-2314 Kevin Henry 7:30pm THE NEW YORK COMPANY RESTAURANT; PS; 760-778-7789 Lili Rose 7pm PALM CANYON ROADHOUSE; PS; 760327-4080 Longest Running Jam Session in the valley. Hosted by JB, Sign up 6pm PAPPY & HARRIET’S; PT; 760-365-5956 The Hot Fudge Sunday Band 7pm PLAN B LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND COCKTAILS; TP; 760-343-2115 The Jam Session 5-9pm PURPLE ROOM@CLUB TRINIDAD; PS; 760-327-1161ext.231 The Judy Show 5:30pm RIVIERA RESORT & SPA; PS; 760-3274080 Art of Sax Sidebar Patio 5pm SAMMY G’s; PS; 760-320-8041 Eddie Gee 7pm SCHMIDY’S; PD; 760-837-3800 Jazz w/ Mikole Kaar 7pm SULLIVAN’S STEAKHOUSE; PD; 760341-3560 Smooth Brothers TACK ROOM TAVERN; IND; 760-347-9985 TBA 4pm THREE SIXTY NORTH; PS; 760-327-1773 Luck Be a Lady w/ Francesca Amari and Darci Daniels 6:30pm VUE GRILLE & BAR; IW; 760-834-3800 The Toast & Jam Band 6pm WILLIE BOYS; MV; 760-363-3343 Line Dancing w/ Tina 5:30-9pm WOODY’S BURGER; PS; 760-230-0188 The Smooth Brothers 5:30pm

MON JUNE 29 29 PALMS INN; 29 Palms; 760-367-3505 Bonny Jean 6pm BART LOUNGE; C.C.; 760-799-8800 Mood Deep House Lounge 4pm-2am CASTELLI’S; PD; 760-773-3365 Joe Jaggi 6pm INDIAN WELLS RESORT HOTEL; IW; 760345-6466 Ron Kalina’s Jazz 6pm LAS CASUELAS TERRAZA; PS; 760-3252794 Hot Rox NEIL’S LOUNGE; IND; 760-347-1522 Karaoke 8pm-1:15am THE NEST; PD; 760-346-2314 Kevin Henry 7pm PALM CANYON ROADHOUSE; PS; 760327-4080 Kevin Quinn 8pm SCHMIDY’S; PD; 760-837-3800 Trivia Night Hosted by Chelsea Sugarbritches 7pm SULLIVAN’S STEAKHOUSE; PD; 760341-3560 T.B.A. 6pm VILLAGE PUB; PS; 760-323-3265 DJ Khodi Rayne 4:30-2am, Michael James &

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com 3sum 9-2am VUE GRILLE & BAR; IW; 760-834-3800 Tony Grandberry 6:30pm WILLIE BOYS; MV; 760-363-3343 Family Karaoke hosted by Joleene 6pm WOODY’S BURGER; PS; 760-230-0188 Barney McClure Jazz 6pm

TUE JUNE 30 29 PALMS INN; 29 Palms; 760-367-3505 Paul & Jo 6pm ACE HOTEL; PS; 760-325-9900 Ace Karaoke with Kiesha 9pm AZUL; PS; 760-325-5533 Bella da Ball Dinner Revue w/ guest performers 7:30pm BART LOUNGE; C.C.; 760-799-8800 Rock & Roll 4pm-2am BLUEMBER; RM; 760-862-4581 Stanley Butler Trio 6-10pm CASTELLI’S; PD; 760-773-3365 Joe Jaggi 6pm FIRESIDE LOUNGE; PS; 760-327-1700 Red’s Rockstar Karaoke 9pm HUNTER’S; PS; 760-323-0700 Karaoke hosted by Phillip Moore 9pm INDIAN CANYONS GOLF RESORT; PS; 760-833-8700 DJ Randy Johnson 6pm INDIAN WELLS RESORT HOTEL; IW; 760345-6466 Michael D’Angelo 6:15pm JOSHUA TREE SALOON; JT; 760-3662250 Ted Quinn’s Open Mic Reality Show Jam 8pm KOKOPELLI’S; YV; 760-228-2589 Karaoke 7pm LAS CASUELAS TERRAZA; PS; 760-3252794 Palm Springs Sound Company NEIL’S LOUNGE; IND; 760-347-1522 Karaoke 8pm-1:15am THE NEST; PD; 760-346-2314 Tim Burleson 7:45pm PALM CANYON ROADHOUSE; PS; 760327-4080 Acoustic Guitar Jam 8pm PURPLE ROOM@CLUB TRINIDAD; PS; 760-327-1161ext.230 Rose Mallett 6:30pm RIVIERA RESORT & SPA; PS; 760-3274080 Martin Ross Starlite Lounge 6pm SCHMIDY’S; PD; 760-837-3800 Open Mic Competition Hosted by Morgan James 8pm SULLIVAN’S STEAKHOUSE; PD; 760341-3560 Demetrious and Co. TILTED KILT; PD; 760-773-5458 Karaoke w/ T-Bone 9pm VILLAGE PUB; PS; 760-323-3265 Live entertainment VUE GRILLE & BAR; IW; 760-834-3800 Chris Lomeli 6pm WOODY’S BURGER; PS; 760-230-0188 John Bolivar 6pm

June 25 to July 1, 2015

WED July 1 29 PALMS INN; 29 Palms; 760-367-3505 Dan Horn 6pm ACE HOTEL; PS; 760-325-9900 Brian Whelan 7pm AJ’S ON THE GREEN; C.C.; 760-202-1111 Jazz Jam 7:30pm AZUL; PS; 760-325-5533 Piano Bar 6pm BART LOUNGE; C.C.; 760-799-8800 Beer Pong Contest 4pm-2am BLUEMBER; RM; 760-862-4581 T.B.A. 6-10pm CAFÉ DES BEAUX- ARTS; PD; 760-3460669 Brian Nova 6pm CASTELLI’S; PD; 760-773-3365 Patrick Tuzzolino 6pm HUNTER’S; PS; 760-323-0700 Live VJ 9pm INDIAN WELLS RESORT HOTEL; IW; 760-345-6466 Open Mic w/ Rich Bono & Poupee Boccaccio 6pm JOSHUA TREE SALOON; JT; 760-3662250 Live Music KOKOPELLI’S; YV; 760-228-2589 Open Mic hosted by Amy Angel 6:30pm LAS CASUELAS TERRAZA; PS; 760-3252794 Hot Rox MELVYN’S RESTAURANT & LOUNGE; PS; 760-325-2323 “Sing Jam” w/ Michael Healy 8pm NEIL’S LOUNGE; IND; 760-347-1522 Golden Era Karaoke 4-7pm, Karaoke 8pm-1:15am THE NEST; PD; 760-346-2314 Kevin Henry 6-8pm Tim Burleson 8pm PALM CANYON ROADHOUSE; PS; 760327-4080 Billy Erickson & Matt Barnes Show 6:30pm PJ’S SPORTS LOUNGE; YV; 760-288-1199 Karaoke w/ KJ Ginger 8pm PLAN B LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND COCKTAILS; TP; 760-343-2115 Red’s Rockstar Karaoke Talent Quest 9pm PURPLE ROOM@CLUB TRINIDAD; PS; 760-327-1161ext.230 The Michael Holmes Trio 6pm RED BARN; PD; 760-346-0191 Live Music 9pm SCHMIDY’S; PD; 760-837-3800 T-Bone Karaoke 9pm SULLIVAN’S STEAKHOUSE; PD; 760-3413560 Straight Ahead Jazz 6pm THREE SIXTY NORTH; PS; 760-327-1773 Open Mic w/ Les Michaels 6:30pm VILLAGE PUB; PS; 760-323-3265 DJ Khodi Rayne 4:30-2am, Nite Fixx 9-2am WILLIE BOYS; MV; 760-363-3343 Karaoke 9pm WOODY’S BURGER; PS; 760-230-0188 Chuck Alvarez 6pm

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23

June 25 to July 1, 2015

safety tips

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com

by Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

Get Ready!

S

unday, June 21st marked the first day of Summer and Mother Nature certainly let us know she means business. Many areas reached over 100 degrees and drought conditions are increasing wildfires by the day.

The largest fire so far of 2015 has been the Lake Fire near Big Bear where nearly 20,000 acres have burned as it moved at a rapid rate of spread due to basically zero fuel moisture content, heavy fuels, topography and wind driven. You can expect this type of fire behavior “everywhere” throughout the west. Get Ready! This certainly is a precursor to what lies ahead for us this

Haddon Libby

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com

CORPORATE ALL-STARS O

summer and into Fall.

The good news is the National Weather Service is indicating multiple signs to an El Nino which could bring us much needed rain. The flip side to that is, if our hillsides get scorched from fires, heavy rains could bring another problem of hillside mudflow and erosion. Get Ready!

Are you ready? You should have already prepared your home for wildfires. If you have, great, if you haven’t or still have work to do, Get Ready and contact your local fire department and visit: readyforwildfire.org Get Ready, Set, GO! Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

June 25 to July 1, 2015

ver the last few weeks, I have been pointing out some of the companies that do not treat their customers and/or employees well. The worst of a large and motley group include Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, General Motors, Wal-Mart and H&M. On the flip side of this, how do you tell which companies are good?

One telltale sign is if the company has a staff of people who have worked there for a long time.

Let’s start with your bank. Does it seem like you deal with a new person every time? Too much turnover often occurs because management does not value their employees adequately or dictates unrealistic quotas and goals. You will typically find that community banks have less employee turnover while seeming to value your business significantly more.

When you go shopping for food, you will find that locally-owned supermarket chains like Stater Brothers and Jensen’s Fine Foods have staffs that stay with their stores longer than many of their larger competitors.

Founded in Yucaipa in 1936, Stater Brothers has 168 stores across Southern California. They are also the first Riverside County company to be ranked in the

Fortune 500. Stater Brothers has been run

by Redlands resident, Jack Brown, 76, since 1981.

Smaller rival Jensen’s Fine Foods is celebrating their 75th anniversary this year. Founded in 1940 in Blue Jay near Lake Arrowhead, the company is currently run by former clean-up boy, Gene Fulton. Known for gourmet food selections, wines and an impressive bakery section, Jensen’s is unlike many of their larger competitors in that employees often work their entire lifetimes here - a remarkable achievement.

Not all fast food chains rely on frozen food and cheap labor. You may be surprised to hear this but Del Taco has employee loyalty and longevity in the Coachella Valley that is unrivaled by literally any other fast food chain in America. Additionally, Del Taco food is made fresh at every location every day.

Del Taco found its roots in 1961 when former Air Force veteran and local part-time desert resident Ed Hackbarth started Casa del Taco in Yermo. Yermo is a town of 1,750 people east of Barstow that most of us drive through without a thought as we motor to Las Vegas on Highway 15.

Somehow, Hackbarth grew this business into the chain that it is today. While the core business has been sold, Hackbarth still owns and manages some desert locations.

One of his first employees owns and manages many Coachella Valley locations Jerry Walker. Walker and his family also own and operate the Desert Sports Center - the place where many of our children go to play indoor volleyball.

So which car dealership group is the biggest supporter of local causes? The Jessup Family. With roots in the community that go back 75 years, they are the

dealership that locals rely on when it comes to charitable causes.

There is a common theme to each of the businesses listed - each recognizes the importance of being a responsible community member that values the contributions of their employees. With each business listed, company leadership has started at the bottom and worked their way up giving each a better perspective as to the importance of every employee and customer.

When you spend your hard earned dollars, try and support local businesses like those mentioned as they contribute the most to our community. In comparison, larger competitors remove money from our community making it harder for us to have a vibrant economy.

If we are going to improve our community and country as a whole, we need to make that extra effort and buy local whenever possible.

Haddon Libby is Managing Partner of Winslow Drake, an investment advisory practice and co-founder of ShareKitchen. He can be reached at hlibby@winslowdrake. com.

Dale Gribow On The Law

PALM DESERT ATTORNEY REVEALS HISTORY OF DRUNK DRIVING

I

n order to properly understand a Drunk Driving you have to first understand you do not have to be drunk. The correct charge is a Driving Under The Influence (DUI).

You merely have to be Under the Influence of the alcohol and or a drug. This is determined by the Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) Test or the breath or blood test at the station.

Driving Under the Influence has always been called a DEUCE. This is because the CA Vehicle Code violation has always ended in a 2 and thus drunk drivers are referred to as “deuced”. When I started practicing a DUI was called a 502 VC and required a .15 reading.

Then it was changed to a 23102 VC and required a .10 reading.

Some juries were returning not guilty verdicts as they did not think the driver was DRUNK because they drove without getting into an accident. They were told the driver complied and produced their driver’s license and insurance when asked and the driver did not fall down while exiting the car.

California’s law was changed to its current 23152 (a & b) VC thus allowing the DA to file the two counts. One is Driving under the Influence and the second count is Driving with a BA level of .08 or more. Many juries now split the baby and find the driver innocent of one count and guilty of the other. If there is a guilty verdict of either count it is a DUI with

24

the same sentence In California you are under the influence if your ability to drive is impaired. Impairment takes place when your blood alcohol reading is .08 or higher with either the PAS or Breath or Blood test at the station. Thus if you are driving on a California road with .08 or higher, the burden of proof almost reverts back to you to show that you weren’t under the influence and/or your blood alcohol was not .08.

There are two different entities after you with a DUI…the DMV and the Court. DMV is an administrative agency that does not follow the Rules of Evidence. The DMV Hearing Officer, who does not have any legal training, is both the presiding judge and the prosecutor.

Thus he rules on his own objections.

For the DMV hearing the DMV Hearing Officer can proceed with just the one (1) page DS 367 Report. They do not have to provide us with a complete police report nor have an officer testify at the hearing. This is because the hearing is statutory and if you have a .08 you are presumed to be DUI. The hearing is conducted like a miniature trial, but without a jury and with somewhat different rules of evidence. The defenses tend to be more “technical” than in court with procedure and bureaucratic errors often the grounds for a “set-aside” of the suspension.

Testimony can be produced by both sides,

although the hearing officer usually only produces documents, such as police reports, lab reports and the officers sworn affidavit.

Because there is no 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination at the hearing, we usually choose not to have our client at the hearing. This is because the client could be called by the hearing officer as a witness and what is said and taped can be used by the DA in court.

Neither a plea to a reduced offense nor a dismissal of criminal charges is a defense to a DMV APS suspension. The Administrative Per Se Hearing (APS) is based on implied consent law which says any person driving in California is presumed to impliedly consent to a chemical testing if they are suspected of a Drunk Driving. The only court proceedings that will have any impact on the DMV is an acquittal or finding of innocence on the .08% charge.

Similarly, a “set aside” in the DMV hearing has no effect on the criminal proceeding.

After the DMV hearing the hearing officer will take the matter under submission and send you a letter, at your driver’s license address, notifying you of their decision. They do not give us their decision over the phone.

In my opinion, the hearing officers do not have the nerve to tell us over the phone that you have lost and the reason for their Ruling.

They have sent out, what looks like a form letter, by the time we have completed the

DMV hearing. It advises the driver they lost the hearing.

This is the same thing I was trained to do when I sat as a Judge Pro-Tem for traffic matters. It is easier to say you are taking it under submission and will notify the defendant of the verdict via mail. That avoids a conflict in the courtroom. Once again, something like 98% of DMV hearings are lost

by California Drivers.

Historically DMV suspends your license for four months on a first offense. If you ask for a restricted license, the suspension is for 5 months instead of 4 months. You can request a restricted license 30 days after the suspension from the DMV hearing starts and it allows you to drive to and from work and a DUI program.

Whatever you do hire a lawyer and do not attempt to handle a DUI yourself, or better yet…

DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE, CALL A TAXI OR UBER…IT IS A LOT CHEAPER THAN CALLING ME! If you have any questions or ideas for future columns please contact Dale Gribow at 760 837 7500 or dale@dalegribowlaw.com

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

sports Scene

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

by Julie Buehler

Cheats and Liars Ruling Sports Headlines

Y

ou know... it’s too bad.

I’d love to sit here and write about Jordan Spieth’s historic US Open title.

Or maybe I could translate the trembling putts from Dustin Johnson that cost him nearly $1 million dollars in the loss.

Or perhaps I could opine on the Women’s World Cup, the pending match against China, the last team they beat to hoist the planet’s most coveted soccer trophy and the continual struggle of Capitalism versus Communism on full display.

There’s the incredible run Albert Pujols is on, the fantastic rebound of the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs to snag attention, or perhaps the profound generosity of Carolina Panthers owner, Jerry Richardson, donating 6-figures to the families and church affected in the Charleston massacre.

All of those stories would grip the heart of the true sports fan and help us understand why sports are such an important part of our culture.

But instead, how about we discuss the cheats and liars that inhabit sports, because they refuse to see reality as it is, and it’s incumbent on us, sports fans and sports media, to recognize their failings and address it.

We needn’t entertain these matters for the sake of self-righteousness, but rather for cultural exploration. As I’ve written here before, the world of sports is not an escape, it’s a petri dish.

Everything we see happening in sports

has spilled from our communities. From the steroids in baseball to the domestic violence in football, by the time a problem becomes headline news on the sports page, it’s been splattering the back pages of local papers for decades. If we allow liars to succeed and cheaters to progress in the world of sports with hallow excuses like “Everyone does it…” or because “It’s not THAT big of a deal..” we will dissolve our ability to fully appreciate those who sincerely and authentically accomplish TRUE achievement.

The latest incident comes 26 years in the making.

We now have proof that Pete Rose gambled on his own team while playing the game of baseball. There is no evidence that he bet on the Reds to lose, either while playing or managing, but there’s substantial evidence he was a problem gambler, losing hundreds of thousands of dollars and betting on multiple sports.

For 15 of the past 26 years, since he was banned from baseball he denied EVERYTHING (Read: Lied about everything). Then in 2004, with a book to sell, he “came clean” and admitted he ONLY bet on baseball as a manager.

That was not a point of contrition, but an element of Capitalism. If he “came clean” book sales would surely skyrocket, and he had been lying for so long, he could only give up on part of the lie. He likely believed himself and altered his internal understanding with the decades of deceit.

sports Scene

Week of June 25

But 26 years later, there they are: copies obtained from previously court-ordered sealed documents illustrating the dates, amounts, and bets placed by Pete Rose. 26 years of lies exposed in one fell swoop.

It’s remarkable Rose believed such a foolhearted plot would succeed, even more remarkable that players in TODAY’S sports think they can publicly lie and get away with it through denial and aggressive counter-attacks.

We have Tom Brady sitting before Roger Goodell demanding exoneration from the NFL for “allegedly” plotting to deflate footballs for a competitive advantage.

Brady not only wants the 4-game suspension reduced (as many people will happen) but instead to have it expunged and removed entirely. He either doesn’t understand the evidence against him or doesn’t want to be held accountable for it, but it reminds me of A-Rod’s defiance in the face of Major League Baseball’s year-long suspension.

He bloviated that HE would sue BASEBALL for suspending him. Then more documents were released from the Bio-Genesis clinic and

Tony Bosch rolled over and A-Rod left quietly to take a year off.

But now we have A-Rod surpassing milestone after milestone while the media wonders aloud how to honor, dishonor, commemorate, or ignore those accomplishments.

There is no athlete that is above consequences of their actions and no way our society should embrace liars and cheats in any way, shape or form. Whether thy are pretty-boy quarterbacks with super model wives or a guy nick-named Charlie Hustle.

Keep your standards high in life and sports.

And once they are, once we no longer have to discuss and debate what to do with cheaters and liars, we’ll be able to fully enjoy the amazing accomplishments of Jordan Spieth, or Albert Pujols and genuinely congratulate the generosity of a 6-figure donation to a hurting community.

Julie Buehler hosts the Coachella Valley’s most popular sports talk radio show, “Buehler’s Day Off” every day from 2-4 on 1010 KXPS, the valley’s all sports station. She can also be seen every morning between 6-7am on KMIR sharing the coolest stories in sports. She’s an avid gym rat, slightly sarcastic and more likely to recite Steve Young’s career passing stats than American Idol winners. Tune in M-F 2-4 pst at team1010.com or watch “Buehler’s Day Off” on Ustream and KMIR.com for her sports reports.

by Flint Wheeler

the Great Pete Rose has been dealt the death blow..

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t’s over now. If Pete Rose’s reinstatement bid had any life before Monday (and that was unlikely), it’s really dead now. Mike Bertolini’s longlost notebook -- the one the feds had, but wouldn’t share with Baseball, the notebook that indicates clearly that Rose bet on the game as a player – is the smoking gun that will relegate to sad history the Hit King’s quest to return to baseball legitimacy.

Former federal prosecutor John Dowd said to ESPN, “This is the final piece of the puzzle. This is it, this does it. This closes the door.”

You can speculate on how ESPN came to possess the scarlet notebook. After it was obtained by postal service inspectors during a raid at Bertolini’s house more than 26 years ago, it had been sealed and stored at the National Archives. Dowd, Baseball’s lead sleuth in the Rose case, had asked to see it in 1989, and had been denied.

You can wonder about the timing of the notebook’s availability, so close to Cincinnati’s All-Star Game, and at a time when Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred supposedly is “re-evaluating” Rose’s case.

It’s irrelevant. If ESPN hadn’t gotten it,

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another entity would have. In fact, former Rose associates and bet runners Paul Janszen and Tommy Gioiosa have spent the last two decades openly telling folks, media included, that Rose bet on the Reds while still playing. As long ago as September 2001, Gioiosa was telling Vanity Fair magazine that he ran baseball bets for Rose in 1986, when Rose was the Reds player-manager.

This sinks the formerly unsinkable Pete for good. It dismisses the notion that Rose would outlast MLB the way he outlasted Ty Cobb. He has been caught lying again.

Not only to Baseball, but to all who have supported his return to the game’s good graces.

Enough is enough, it seems.

“I don’t think he understands how to get out of the quicksand,” said Janszen, who is still haunted by the friendship. “There’s nobody in his life that will say, ‘Pete, we gotta talk’.”

Rose’s story is a personal tragedy. It’s a national disappointment, too.

We love second acts in America. Pete never gave us a chance to love his.

He told the truth in dribs and drabs. He didn’t bet on baseball. He didn’t bet on

baseball as a player. He paid his taxes. And so on. Said Janszen, “Rose has only been honest to the degree he needs to be. That makes him his own worst enemy.”

Janszen was a bouncer, a bodybuilder and not a nice guy when he and Rose ran together in the late 80s. In the years since, he has changed his ways.

Janszen went to Baseball in early 1989 about Rose’s gambling, because Rose owed him $30,000. “I had an axe to grind,” Janszen says. “But I’ve learned what doing the right thing means. I started out with a vindictive spirit, but I’ve learned what it really means to have integrity.”

It’s a lesson Janszen wishes his former friend had learned.

“Pete’s a sad sack, he really is. And he could have been so much more. There are people all over the place who are broken.

That a Pete Rose could have come clean and said, ‘Look what I did, but I’m on track now,’ that could have helped so many people. You know the power he can have over people.”

That Rose chose not to leaves him with mostly regrets. You can see it on the news today, after the notebook’s contents have been revealed. You can see it in Rose`s face, too, and in the way he moves. The bad knees aren’t the only things that have him limping.

Major League Baseball’s all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, reminisces with Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty at BoldFace Park in the Sedamsville neighborhood of Cincinnati on, Rose spoke candidly about his upbringing near the banks of the Ohio River, his family, multi-sport youth career and the lessons of his father, whom he credits with making him the player he was. Sad, with steroids, P.E.D.’s, wife-beating and legal shenanigans surrounding all aspects of the world of sports that one who is truly a legend pays the ultimate penalty for something that now-adays may seem pretty innocent.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): During my regular hikes along my favorite trails, I’ve gotten to know the local boulders quite intimately. It might sound daft, but I’ve come to love them. I’ve even given some of them names. They symbolize stability and constancy to me. When I gaze at them or sit on them, I feel my own resolve grow stronger. They teach me about how to be steadfast and unflappable in all kinds of weather. I draw inspiration from the way they are so purely themselves, forever true to their own nature. Now would be an excellent time for you to hang out with your own stony allies, Aries.

You could use a boost in your ability to express the qualities they embody.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Everyone is a genius at least once a year,” wrote German aphorist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. “The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together.” According to my astrological analysis, Taurus, your once-a-year explosion of genius is imminent. It’s even possible you will experience a series of eruptions that continue for weeks. The latter scenario is most likely if you unleash the dormant parts of your intelligence through activities like these: having long, rambling conversations with big thinkers; taking long, rambling walks all over creation; enjoying long, rambling sex while listening to provocative music.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “I think if we didn’t contradict ourselves, it would be awfully boring,” says author Paul Auster. “It would be tedious to be alive.” But he goes even further in his defense of inconsistency, adding, “Changing your mind is probably one of the most beautiful things people can do.” This bold assertion may not apply to everyone all the time, but it does for you in the coming weeks, Gemini. You should feel free to explore and experiment with the high art of changing your mind.

I dare you to use it to generate extravagant amounts of beauty.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In its early days, the band Depeche Mode had the infinitely boring name Composition of Sound. Humphrey Bogart’s and Ingrid Bergman’s classic 1942 film *Casablanca* was dangerously close to being called *Everybody Come to Rick’s.* And before Charles Dickens published his novel *Bleak House,* a scathing critique of the 19th-century British judicial system, he considered eleven other possible titles, including the unfortunate *Tom-all-Alone’s. The Solitary House that was always shut up and never Lighted.* I bring this to your attention, Cancerian, as the seeding phase of your personal cycle gets underway.

The imprints you put on your budding creations will have a major impact on their future. Name them well. Give them a potent start.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): One summer afternoon when I was seven years old, my friend Billy and I grabbed an empty jar from my kitchen and went looking for ants. Near the creek we found an anthill swarming with black ants, and scooped a bunch of them in the jar. A little later we came upon a caravan of red ants, and shoved many of them in with the black ants. Would they fight? Naturally. It was mayhem. Looking back now, I’m sorry I participated in that stunt. Why stir up a pointless war? In that spirit, Leo, I urge you to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

Don’t do anything remotely comparable to putting red ants and black ants in the same jar.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In order for everyone in your sphere to meet their appointed destinies, you must cultivate your skills as a party animal. I’m only slightly joking. At least for now, it’s your destiny to be the catalyst of conviviality, the ringleader of the festivities, the engineer of fun and games. To fulfill your assignment, you may have to instigate events that encourage your allies to leave their comfort zones and follow you into the frontiers of collaborative amusement.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Your symbolic object of the week is a magic wand. I recommend that you visualize yourself as the star of a fairy tale in which you do indeed have a wand at your disposal. See

© Copyright 2015 Rob Brezsny

yourself wielding it to carry out a series of fantastic tricks, like materializing a pile of gold coins or giving yourself an extraordinary power to concentrate or creating an enchanted drink that allows you to heal your toughest wound. I think this playful imaginative exercise will subtly enhance your ability to perform actual magic in the real world.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The taskmaster planet Saturn wove its way through the sign of Scorpio from October 2012 until the end of 2014.

Now it has slipped back into your sign for a last hurrah. Between now and mid-September. I urge you to milk its rigorous help in every way you can imagine. For example, cut away any last residues of trivial desires and frivolous ambitions. Hone your focus and streamline your self-discipline.

Once and for all, withdraw your precious energy from activities that waste your time and resist your full engagement. And if you’re serious about capitalizing on Saturn’s demanding gifts, try this ritual: Write either “I will never squander my riches” or “I will make full use of my riches” twenty times -- whichever motivates you most.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The advanced lessons on tap in the coming days are not for the squeamish, the timid, the lazy, or the stubborn. But then you’re not any of those things, right? So there shouldn’t be a major problem. The purpose of these subterranean adventures and divine interventions is to teach you to make nerve-racking leaps of faith, whether or not you believe you’re ready. Here’s one piece of advice that I think will help: Don’t resist and resent the tests as they appear. Rather, welcome them as blessings you don’t understand yet. Be alert for the liberations they will offer.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Man’s being is like a vast mansion,” observed philosopher Colin Wilson, “yet he seems to prefer to live in a single room in the basement.” Wilson wasn’t just referring to Capricorns. He meant everybody. Most of us commit the sin of self-limitation on a regular basis.

That’s the bad news. The good news, Capricorn, is that you’re entering a time when you’re more likely to rebel against the unconscious restrictions you have placed on yourself. You will have extra motivation to question and overrule the rationales that you used in the past to inhibit your primal energy. Won’t it be fun to venture out of your basement nook and go explore the rest of your domain?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “An obscure moth from Latin America saved Australia’s pasture-land from the overgrowth of cactus,” writes biologist Edward O. Wilson. “A Madagascar ‘weed,’ the rosy periwinkle, provided the cure for Hodgkin’s disease and childhood leukemia,” he adds, while “a chemical from the saliva of leeches dissolves blood clots during surgery,” and a “Norwegian fungus made possible the organ transplant industry.” I think these are all great metaphors for the kind of healing that will be available for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius: humble, simple, seemingly insignificant things whose power to bring transformation has, up until now, been secret or unknown.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “She is hard to tempt, as everything seems to please her equally,” said artist Anne Raymo in describing a hedonistic acquaintance. A similar statement may soon apply to you, Pisces. You will have a talent for finding amusement in an unusually wide variety of phenomena. But more than that: You could become a connoisseur of feeling really good. You may even go so far as to break into a higher octave of pleasure, communing with exotic phenomena that we might call silken thrills and spicy bliss and succulent revelry.

Homework: You know what to do and you know when to do it. Provide the evidence that this is true. FreeWillAstrology.com.

Rob Brezsny Free Will Astrology freewillastrology@freewillastrology.com

June 25 to July 1, 2015

Mind, body & Spirit

by Bronwyn Ison

TAKING CARE OF YOU

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hat is your definition of taking care of you? Guaranteed, each of us has a varied approach. I will also venture to guess you may not truly understand the meaning of taking care of you. You may be a fitness fanatic, as well as adopt a healthy lifestyle. This would be considered external maintenance versus internal nurturing.

“Self-care is not selfish or self-indulgent.

We cannot nurture others from a dry well.

We need to take care of our own needs first, then we can give from our surplus, our abundance.” Jennifer Louden Your personal self-care may include a regular exercise schedule. Of course this is an aspect of care for your self physically.

Are you caring for your self mentally and emotionally. Personal experience leads me to believe lack of self-care will only lead to a continuous destructive cycle. It may sound dramatic but look closely at your life patterns that have been established. I can assure you have instituted poor behavior.

This is a lack of self-care and confidence.

Those who are altruistic givers rarely create time to care for one self. Why? It is more comfortable to nurture others. If you are struggling how to commence nurturing of self, here are a few ideas.

If it feels wrong don’t do it! How many times have you heard the little voice tell you “no” but you did it anyway? We’ve all been there. Stop the cycle!

Express “exactly” what you mean. As difficult as this may be, you will feel a sense

of relief when you speak your mind. You owe it to yourself to be candid.

Don’t be a people pleaser. Most of us are guilty of pleasing others prior to ourselves.

Don’t please others at your own expense.

You will find yourself frustrated, and it may result in resenting others.

Trust your instincts. Stand convinced in what you are feeling. You own your feelings.

Never speak depreciatingly about yourself. You are beautiful and meant to be on the Earth.

Never abandon your dreams. If you can see it, you can do it! Do not allow anyone to get in your way. Surround yourself with those who support you.

Don’t be afraid to say “No” and don’t fear saying “Yes.” You are capable to decide what is right or wrong for you.

Be kind to yourself. There is no other way. Be kind, complimentary and nurturing to YOU! Jettison what you can’t control. If a circumstance is beyond your purview, decide to leave or stay. You at least have this control.

Stay away from drama and negativity as much as possible. Be sure to leave behind anything potentially destructive. It will only debilitate your performance in life.

Lastly, BE unapologetically to YOU. When you care for you it also implies self-respect.

If you respect yourself, others will honor the person you are.

Bronwyn Ison is the owner of Evolve Yoga. e-volveyoga.com 760.564.YOGA(9642)

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

Life & career Coach

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com

by Sunny Simon

Memories Are Made of This

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his week I was introduced to the term: ministry of presence. It was described by one of my favorite bloggers as “an act blessing hurting people merely with a presence—by showing up, by being there and offering tangible support, whether it’s in the form of a hug or a steaming bowl of soup.”

Not too long ago I performed such an act for someone who was really hurting. We can all do more of that. There are, however, more simplistic forms of this ministry involving just being present.

Reflecting on the quote, “No yesterdays are ever wasted by those who give themselves to today,” I am consciously preparing to spend a week vacationing with family. In doing so, I’ve made some promises to myself. Taking the “being present” part seriously, I’m going unplugged and vowing to leave my electronic toys behind. I promise not to use my phone for anything other than capturing memories that will not immediately be posted on Facebook.

No tweeting, texting, reading emails or playing Crazy Taxi. I solemnly swear to stay in the moment and make time with them my only priority. I give myself permission to venture off for some sweet solitude, but in their presence I’ll show up and nurture the

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relationship.

It is all too easy to fill our lives with distractions. Tuning out the constant static competing for mindshare and vying to capture our thoughts is an uphill battle. I’ve also taken that into consideration. When my thoughts stray from soaking up the blissful scenery to wondering how things are going at work, I’ve instituted a dollar in the swear jar type philosophy. Penalties exist for wasting a precious moment on the mundane.

How are you doing on that score? Do you have meaningful dinner conversations or are you dining with one eye on the big screen and the other on your plate? Have you banned cell phones and texting at the table and made meal time a period of sharing? Are there other segments of your daily life where you are only half-present and semi-engaged?

Upon my return from this holiday, I’ll happily get back on the grid and power up my online linkages. After spending a week practicing the ministry of presence, I trust I’ll be seven days into creating a constructive habit. This positive pattern can only make me a better person by living in the present, precious moment by precious moment.

Sunny Simon is the owner of Raise the Bar High Life and Career Coaching. More about Sunny at www.raisethebarhigh.com

Health&Fitness

www.coachellavalleyweekly.com

June 25 to July 1, 2015

by chris clemens

Palm Desert Aquatic Center Open for Viewing Civic Center Fireworks on July 4th

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he Palm Desert Aquatic Center (PDAC), a one-of-its-kind water park in the Coachella Valley, remains open extended hours on July 4th until 10 p.m. giving guests an opportunity to swim and watch the City of Palm Desert fireworks display while keeping cool in the pool.

Valley residents and out of town visitors can enjoy the facility for recreational swim and water fun from 11 a.m. through the fireworks show, which takes place at about 9 p.m. Guests at the pool during the day can leave and return for the fireworks without an additional admission fee for the show, but should consider parking options due to expectations of a full parking lot and street closures at the facility after 4 p.m.

Convenient shuttle buses are available

adjacent to The Gardens on El Paseo at cross streets San Pablo and El Paseo, to and from Civic Center Park from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

While the pools will remain open after 7 p.m., the diving boards, slides and water play areas will be closed. The concession stand remains open through the evening with barbeque burgers, All-American hot dog and burger combo meals, pizza, nachos, traditional snacks, and fountain soda drinks (bringing outside food and drinks into the Aquatic Center is not allowed).

Admission on July 4th is the daily admission rate beginning at $2.50 to $4, depending on age, for Palm Desert residents with I.D.; or $3.75 to $6 for nonresidents. While pools are monitored by trained lifeguards, children 6 years and younger must be accompanied at all times by a responsible adult and must have an adult in the water if they are not swimmers.

PDAC’s daily summer hours for the recreational pool, slides and water play areas are Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The center also offers swim lessons, lap swimming and water exercise classes. For more information visit www. pdpool.com or call (760) 565-7467. PDAC is located at 73751 Magnesia Falls Dr, behind Civic Center Park.

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

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June 25 to July 1, 2015

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