Coachella Valley Weekly - October 6 to October 12, 2022 Vol. 11 No. 30

Tracy Dietlin

Chance

Kirby, Kathy Bates, Raymond Bill

Crawler

Phil Lacombe

Esther Sanchez

Crystal Harrell

Lisa Morgan, Rich Henrich, Heidi Simmons, Noe Gutierrez, Tricia Witkower

Robin Simmons, Rick Riozza, Eleni P. Austin, Craig Michaels, Janet McAfee, Haddon Libby, Sam DiGiovanna, Dale Gribow, Rob Brezny, Denise Ortuno Neil, Dee Jae Cox, Lynne Tucker, Aimee Mosco, Ruth Hill, Madeline Zuckerman, Ed Heethuis, Daniel Paris, Michelle Borthwick, Nadia Popova, Dennis Shelly

Photographers

Robert Chance, Laura Hunt Little, Chris Miller, Esther Sanchez

Videographer

Kurt Schawacker

Website Editor

Bobby Taffolla

Distribution

Phil Lacombe, William Westley

BY CHRIS CLEMENS

band delivers it all – Motown, R&B, soul, funk, and dance – with rich harmonies, and phenomenal rhythm and horn sections.

On Thursday, October 20, The Dreamboats will bring back vintage rock n’ roll to the concert line-up. They are known for their high-energy performance evocative of the Chuck Berry and The Wonders era. This quartet of Canadian musicians delivers an exciting show that has audiences dancing.

The Fall Concert Series closes out on Thursday, October 27, with a show by the Pop Rebels Band, the ultimate variety band featuring a range of genres from rock n’ roll, Latin, R&B, and dance music from the 60s to today. They will be highlighting hits from the 70s to kick off the City of Palm Desert’s 50th Anniversary and the release of the new City Calendar.

The

City of Palm Desert will once again play host to a series of free, weekly concerts at the Palm Desert Civic Center Park amphitheater throughout the month of October. Featuring a variety of talented musical acts designed to please music lovers of all ages and tastes, the concerts will be held every Thursday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. There will be free parking, food trucks, and more.

The entertainment kicks off on Thursday, October 6, with a performance by the award-winning We Belong, a tribute to Pat Benatar and her husband and lead guitarist

Neil Giraldo. Going together in 1979 this is a wonderful tribute to a legendary music couple that continue to pack venues to this day. We Belong spans the decades taking the audience on a journey throughout Pat and Neil’s entire career.

The series continues on Thursday, October 13,, with a performance by the extremely talented Blue Breeze Band, a multi-talented collection of professional musicians who have played alongside rock icons including Teena Marie, Evelyn Champagne King, the Brothers Johnson, L.T.D., The Temptations, Lakeside and Edgar Winter. This popular

While the music is the main draw, food and beverage trucks will be available each concert evening offering a variety of culinary offerings an hour before the concerts. Concert-goers may also bring picnic baskets along with blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy the shows. Alcoholic beverages and smoking are prohibited at Civic Center Park.

Palm Desert Civic Center Park is located in Downtown Palm Desert, on the northeast corner of San Pablo Avenue and Fred Waring Drive. For more information on the Fall Concert Series and all events in Palm Desert, visit www.DiscoverPalmDesert.com, call (760) 568-1441, or visit the @VisitPalmDesert page on Facebook & Instagram.

Pop

Blue Breeze Band

Itis a story that most have seen or at the very least, heard of. As a baby, an illness left Helen Keller blind, deaf and mute. She was pitied and badly spoiled by her parents, who assumed she was incapable of learning. Helen was given no discipline and by the age of six, grew into a wild, angry, tantrum-throwing child. Desperate and as a last resort, the Kellers hire teacher, Annie Sullivan, to serve as governess for their daughter. After weeks of struggles and fights, there is a breakthrough with Annie’s tireless efforts to teach Helen discipline and the meaning of language and communication.

Based on Helen Keller’s 1903 autobiography, The Story of My Life, Playwright William Gibson wrote “The Miracle Worker,” which opened on Broadway in 1959 and went on to win multiple Tony Awards, as well as penning an Oscar winning screen adaptation.

While some ‘classic’ shows can become

dated and no longer seem relevant, the story of Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan is timeless and each production a reminder of miracles.

The play’s title was inspired by a Mark Twain quote: “Helen is a miracle, and Miss Sullivan is the miracle worker”

Opening September 30th and running through October 9th, Desert Theatreworks presents the most recent incarnation of this timeless classic.

Time Magazine called the original production “a story that, however well known, acquires stunning new reality and effectiveness on the stage. The overwhelming force of the play’s crucial scenes could not have derived from the stirring facts alone, nor from playwright Gibson’s vivid use of them. What proves decisive is the extraordinary performances, the magnificent teamwork of Anne Bancroft and ten-year-old Patty Duke.”

Rivaling the original performances are the incredibly talented and truly gifted performances of Yo Younger as Annie Sullivan and Tess Phillips as Helen Keller. While the entire cast, Eddie Stephens (Arthur Keller,) Stephanie Jauregui (Kate Keller,) Miguel Ibarra (James Keller,) Kimberly Cole (Aunt Ev,) Ashley Davies (Martha,) and Nicolai Silva (Percy,) were strong and engaging, Younger and Phillips made this a two person show. Their chemistry was palpable and captivating. Without even a line of dialogue, Philips took command of every scene she was in. What an incredible stage future this young actress has. Younger, whose professional reputation proceeds her every performance, embodied the role of a ‘miracle worker.’ The raw frustration and desire to shed light on Helen’s dark world, was evident in Younger’s every move.

It’s water that inspires Helen to finally

BY DEE JAE COX

who teamed up with book writer Peter Stone and in 1997, Titanic the Musical opened on Broadway and subsequently won five Tony Awards.

The launching of Palm Canyon Theatre’s production of Titanic the Musical on Friday, September 30th is a breathtaking endeavor. With a 40+ member cast, it is overwhelming at times to recognize the breadth of this historic tragedy.

A cacophony of voices tells the stories of Titanic’s passengers. The sheer volume of actors makes it impossible to identify all of the individuals who make up this cast. The number of people on the stage is almost claustrophobic, though perhaps indicative of the tragic event.

Thename Titanic is derived from the Titans of Greek Mythology. Built in Ireland, the Titanic was an Olympicclass ship. Deemed unsinkable… until it did. In April of 1912 it was launched and set sail from the United Kingdom to New York City with 2,224 passengers and crew. The mega rich who could afford first class accommodations and the not so wealthy immigrants, traveling in third class below the ship’s boughs, dreaming of a better life in America.

The history of the Titanic is not a fairytale, with a ‘everyone lived happily ever after,’ ending. It is the tale of hope, courage, and deadly fate. To imagine such a story as a stage musical is a challenge. In 1985, the wreckage of the RMS Titanic was discovered about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland at a depth of about 12,500 feet beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. This attracted the interest of musical theatre composer Maury Yeston,

But a few recognizable faces stand out in a sea of talent. Laurie Holmes as the 3rd class Irish immigrant Kate McGowan, with the voice of an angel, sings of her dreams for a better life with her rendition of “Lady’s Maid.” It was one of the most moving songs and by far my favorite. The song gave voice to the hundreds of passengers who could not afford the elegant travel of first class, but whose dreams are recognized in the heart of every immigrant.

David Brooks and Nikki Hock as Edgar and Alice Beane, the second-class passengers who hovered on the edge, admiring the enchanting elegance of the first class.

Jaci Davis and Derrik Lewis who played Ida and Isidor Straus, the founder of Macy’s Department Store. Kam Sisco performing in the role of Pitmany/The Major, Paul Grant as Andrews, the ship designer and Sheldon Safir, who portrayed Ismay, Director of the Ship

Line. A few of the outstanding performances. Titanic, reveals the epitome of class oppression. The first-class accommodations were designed to be the pinnacle of luxury, with a gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants, and opulent cabins. With each class of passengers traveling in accommodations that were located further below the waterline with much less luxury. And when the ship began to sink, she had 20 lifeboats, which would carry 1178 passengers, only half of the number on board. The third-class passengers were not even given consideration when abandoning ship became critical.

Se Layne, undertakes the massive task of directing this show and leaves no question about the skill it requires to stage a production of this magnitude. The powerful saga and songs wash over the audience as if they

DEE

understand how to communicate with the world and I doubt there was a dry eye in the house by the end of that scene.

Rebecca McWilliams, directs this production. She excelled at evoking such incredible performances from the cast. Unfortunately, though I rarely view a set as a hinderance in a show, this particular set design was such a distraction, trying to fit 10-pounds of feed in a 5-pound sack, as the saying goes. In an effort to create a large house, it presented an abstract mish-mash and conglomeration of rooms that made blocking and stage movement awkwardly clunky.

The Miracle Worker, is a timeless drama that reminds us of the resilience of the human spirit. This production and these performances make this a show that you don’t want to miss.

The Miracle Worker is running through October 9, 2022 and is highly recommended for audiences of all ages.

Desert Theatreworks, is located at the Indio Performing Arts Center, 45175 Fargo St, Indio, CA.

For show and ticket info, visit dtworks.org

Dee Jae Cox, is a playwright, director and producer. She is the Cofounder and Artistic Director of The Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Project.

losangeleswomenstheatreproject.org

And Co-Creator of the Palm Springs Theatre Go-To Guide, palmspringstheatre.com

are passengers on ship. Crashing waves of emotion, knowing the outcome and yet still hoping for a historical reprieve.

J.W. Layne’s lighting was spectacular, individualized for class and mood, as well as further evoking the emotion of each scene. Derik Shopinski’s costume design transports the viewer to another era.

Titanic, is Running September 30th -October 16th. Box Office at (760) 323-5123 or order online: PalmCanyonTheatre.org. The Palm Canyon Theatre is located at 538 North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs.

Dee Jae Cox, is a playwright, director and producer. She is the Cofounder and Artistic Director of The Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Project.

losangeleswomenstheatreproject.org

And Co-Creator of the Palm Springs Theatre Go-To Guide, palmspringstheatre.com

MUSIC

Andrew and David Williams were gracious enough to answer several of my long-winded questions regarding their career and the upcoming release of their fourth official long-player, Memories To Burn.

EPA: I know you guys grew up in a musical family. What are your earliest musical memories? Was it in a family setting, or just a song you heard on the radio? David: Seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 singing “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” Something inside me shifted when I saw it. Andrew will likely have the same answer, as it was a shared, pivotal experience.

Andrew: “Watching The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964 when I was four years old is my earliest musical memory. My father, who was a music manager would bring records home after that, Herman’s Hermits, Roger Miller (who he managed), and The Byrds are some of the records I remember. Our Aunt, who was living with us at the time, was dating Sonny Curtis (“I Fought The Law”), and he taught us chords on the ukulele. I also remember being around orchestras up close as a kid and being struck by the arrangements they played as my uncle would sing. EPA: Growing up, what music inspired you? I remember seeing shows where you would re-work Elton John deep cuts like “Greatest Discovery” or David Bowie’s “Kooks” (which in turn motivated me to buy Elton’s debut and Bowie’s Hunky Dory). What else kind of blew your minds back then?”

DW: “The Beatles were definitely the major influence. We would get their records and wear them out. We’d recreate them with me on piano, Andy on guitar and our childhood friend, Val, on drums. Later on, Elton John’s LP with “Your Song” on it hit me over the head. It was so beautiful and so musically and emotionally satisfying. Then Carole King’s Tapestry, James Taylor’s Mud Slide Slim… and Joni Mitchell’s For The Roses were touchstones for me.”

AW: “Early on it was The Beatles and The Everly Brothers. We would listen to 93 KHJ (Boss Radio) all the time in the late ‘60s. There was such an amazing variety of music that had the biggest influence on me. Motown, Stax, British Invasion, Simon & Garfunkel, West Coast sounds like The Beach Boys, Mamas &

The Papas, Sly And The Family Stone, the list goes on and on. In the early ‘70s all the singersongwriter stuff, Tapestry, Cat Stevens’ Tea For The Tillerman, Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions, Paul Simon’s There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. By the late ‘70s int was the whole next wave… Elvis Costello, Talking Heads.”

EPA: I first discovered you both in the pages of Tiger Beat, in the early ‘70s. In those days, I was deeply devoted to Donny and The Osmonds, so I never fell under your spell. At the time, you guys were on the threshold of adolescence and being marketed as teen idols. Were you on board with that, the matching sweater vests, the appearances on The Partridge Family series? Or was it just a way to get a record deal and make music? (Not exactly Robert Johnson at the Crossroads, making a deal with the devil, but probably not an ideal way to introduce your music to the world).

DW: “We were on board to make music, and the teen thing fell effortlessly into our lap, so we went for it. It was fun and exciting, sometimes terrifying, and certainly inappropriate to be thrown into an adult world at such a young age (13), with few life skills. But I don’t regret any of it.”

AW: “We sang on our Uncle Andy’s TV show and got some fan mail, which my father somehow parlayed into a record deal. He was following family tradition getting us into showbiz early as his father had done with him and his brothers (the original Williams Brothers). We were 13 and didn’t have much input into the music. But it was amazing observing some of the musicians, who were members of The Wrecking Crew (an ad hoc group of studio musicians who played on everything from The Beach Boys, Byrds and Nancy Sinatra, to Dean Martin, Sammy Davis and Frank Sinatra), I had nothing creatively to do with those records, but being in a recording studio was interesting and exciting. There’s a certain level of kitsch to the records we sang on in those days that I can appreciate and chuckle at now. By the time we were 15, it had fizzled out, ending almost as quickly as it started. We did get to go around the world though.”

EPA: Fast-forward nearly a decade later, and I saw your names on a couple of records I

really loved: T-Bone Burnett’s Proof Through The Night and The Plimsouls’ Everywhere At Once. So, throughout the late ‘70s and early ‘80s were you guys a part of the thriving L.A. Punk scene (or at least, Punk-adjacent)? How did that happen, did you play the clubs then? If so, which clubs?

DW: “We played a lot of those L.A. clubs…. Madame Wong’s, Largo, The Palace, The Roxy, The Whisky, The Palomino, McCabe’s and many others I can’t remember.”

AW: “Ha! “Punk Adjacent, I suppose in the energy and D.I.Y. approach that was happening in the L.A. club scene at the time. I saw many bands. I was a big fan of The Plimsouls and became friendly with them. I ended up playing organ and singing background on their single, A Million Miles Away. After that, their producer, Jeff Eyrich asked David and I to sing background vocals on their Everywhere At Once album. We ended up providing background vocals on a bunch of records during that period, which led us to T. Bone’s album. We went on tour with him both in America and Europe, David played keys, I was on lead guitar. When that finished, we focused on doing our own thing, playing the clubs in L.A. and securing a deal with Warner Brothers Records.”

EPA: When did you begin writing and playing your own music?

DW: “When we quit the teen career, we took a few years off and began writing in earnest and making demos. Andrew always had a studio set-up, with recording equipment and multiple instruments-of which he played guitar, bass, drums, keys, percussion. We had a lot of fun creating in those days.”

AW: “After the teen era we started writing songs at age 16. We learned how to write in our late teens.”

EPA: How did you connect with T-Bone and The Plimsouls? When did you meet Marvin Etzioni?

DW: “We met T-Bone through Jeff Eyrich, who was a great bass player, as well as The Plimsouls’ producer. T-Bone liked us because we reminded him of The Louvin Brothers and The Everly Brothers. We began working with him right after we met. I learned a lot recording and touring with T-Bone. I think I originally met Marvin when he worked at Aron’s Records on

BY ELENI P. AUSTIN

Melrose in 1979. We met again performing on the same bill at The Palace in the early ‘80s.”

AW: “We opened for Lone Justice at The Palace in Hollywood and hit it off with Marvin backstage. I think I may have bought some records before that, when he worked at a local record store, but I didn’t really know him then.”

EPA: By 1987, you had a deal with Warner Brothers’ Records. Your debut, Two Stories, was a great introduction to the second phase of your music career, Although the record was stacked with your own winning originals, you salted the mix with three unreleased songs from heavy-hitters like Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty. How did that come about?

DW: “I was honored that Stevie recorded my song, “Some Become Strangers” (for the Rock A Little album), before we recorded it on Two Stories. I absolutely loved her voice, and it was a privilege to be in the studio with her. Andrew and I had become good friends with (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers drummer) Stan Lynch, we had toured throughout Europe with him and T-Bone promoting T-Bone’s Proof Through The Night album). It was Stan who introduced us to (Heartbreakers guitarist) Mike Campbell, who produced two songs on Two Stories and was tight with Stevie, Bob Dylan and of course, Tom Petty.”

AW: “Mostly thanks to Mike Campbell who produced us. He had been on tour with Bob Dylan and remembered Bob’s unreleased “Straight A’s In Love.” He thought it would be great for us and Bob said yes. We had been singing the Tom Petty song for quite a while in clubs, we originally heard about that unreleased song from Stan, who we had worked with a few years before. He produced a few demos for us and we really hit it off and became friends. The Stevie song came through Mike again, but we had a little history with her as well, because she had recorded a song cowritten by David for her third solo album.”

EPA: Your self-titled sophomore effort was even better than your debut. It included the hit “Can’t Cry Hard Enough,” which reached #42 on the Billboard, a pretty respectable showing. David, I know you and Marvin cowrote the song (and it first appeared on Victoria Williams’ Swing The Statue album). What was the impetus behind that song?

DW:” I was thinking about a friend who had OD’d and died and I scribbled “I’m going to live my life like every day’s the last,” which became the first line of the song. I was at the piano and Marvin was with me, along with his pad and pencil. The song seemed to write itself very quickly, fully formed. Marvin just kept coming up with one brilliant line after another. We were both in the same frame of mind, thinking of people we cared about and had lost.”

EPA: 1993’s Harmony Hotel was another amazing record, but it turned out to be your swansong. Back then you toured behind it pretty diligently. You opened for like-minded acts like The BoDeans, your pal Victoria and even opened for Linda Ronstadt at the Universal Amphitheater. I know you had a powerhouse manager at the time, were you

getting enough support from the label?

DW: “No use crying over spilt milk. Warner Brothers and our manager, Peter Asher, were great to work with. I don’t think we had an obvious single on Harmony Hotel,” so it was harder to promote. I was so grateful Warner Brothers allowed us to produce the album without interference and we were able to work with the legendary (conductor/arranger) Paul Buckmaster again. He created some beautiful string arrangements for us. We did some amazing theater tours, opening for Roy Orbison, Linda Ronstadt and Carole King. We even sang with Joni Mitchell at a benefit concert. I loved playing those old theaters, and I also loved watching those great artists I admired so much from the wings of the stage. Peter introduced us to Linda, Carole, James Taylor and Randy Newman. The latter gave us his opinion on why we hadn’t made it big; “the problem with you guys is that you are too good.” I always appreciated that….”

AW: “Actually, we were getting support from the label. But who knows where you fall, priority-wise, in those closed-door label meetings. I know they were focused on Eric Clapton’s “Tears In Heaven” single those same weeks….so, that’s a tough one to go up against. I know that Peter Asher was a big advocate for us and helped us get on TV shows like Late Night With David Letterman and The Tonight Show.”

EPA: You guys played an Everly-esque duo in Allison Anders’ Grace Of My Heart film. Is that when you recorded most of the music for this new(ish) album?

AW: “I think yes, that inspired us. It was a lot of fun to play those roles in the movie and it reminded us how much we loved the Everlys…. we had been singing their songs all of our lives. One of the first songs we wrote together when we were younger was “She’s Got That Look In Her Eyes,” which was obviously inspired by

early Everly Brothers. I think David and I are best singing those close harmonies and playing acoustic guitars. It’s so natural and easy for us. We just gathered some of our favorite songs with Marvin, put up a few microphones and recorded live in my tiny studio in just a couple of days. Marvin and Don Heffington were such a tight rhythm section, having played together in Lone Justice. Greg Leisz on steel guitar is the star of the sessions. We would usually just do two or three takes and he would create this instant musical architecture that would pull the whole thing together, making it sound like a record. We put the tapes in storage and forgot about them until Marvin unearthed the ones he had written in 2020. He asked if we had recorded any other tracks. I had a faint recollection and took a look in my storage room where I have boxes and boxes of tapes. I found two-track tapes marked WB Country, and lo and behold, there was indeed an album’s worth of songs. I sent the best tracks back to Marvin and he did some edits, making the songs shorter and more immediate sounding. He cut out extra verses and bridges, he shortened intros and outros. He wanted to create that feel of a two-minute song from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Since everything was recorded live, we couldn’t remix anything. I just added some tape echo and we were ready to go.

EPA: You guys broke up, sans drama, in the latter half of the ‘90s. Pre-internet, it was never really publicized. Personally, I kept waiting for a fourth album. Why did you break up?

DW: “Our contract was up with Warner Brothers and Andy turned to me and said, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” I wasn’t ready to let our career go, but understood we needed to go off and find our own lives separately-we’d never really had that opportunity before. I floundered for a couple of years in New York before returning to Los

BY ELENI P. AUSTIN

Angeles to start over again. I needed to find a job and was hired by an architectural firm as an assistant. I had always been interested in architecture and design and learned a lot there in eight years. I left that company and was able to create a business for myself doing interior and landscape design, which I do to this day.”

AW: “I wanted to produce other people’s records. after working with David since we were kids, I needed to experience new possibilities on my own. It’s easy to lose individuality as a twin, and even more intense when you share a career.”

EPA: Andrew, you segued into music production, and were behind the boards for a surfeit of stellar albums from The Negro Problem, Grant Lee Buffalo, Peter Case and the Old ‘97s (just to name a few). Did you ever contemplate a solo career?

AW: “NO, I never considered a solo career because I don’t like singing by myself. I only ever sang harmony and that’s where I’m most comfortable. Apparently, my father taught me how to sing harmony when I was in the crib and I guess it stuck. David always sang the melody, he has a much better voice. I’m happier behind the scenes putting arrangements together. Never really loved the spotlight, but I do love working in the studio. EPA: David, you left music and the West Coast behind and then returned to L.A. working at an architecture firm before beginning a new career interior and landscape design. Do you miss making music?”

DW: “I never stopped making music, but it has only been for my own enjoyment. I’ve really enjoyed collaborating again with my brother and Marvin, putting together Memories To Burn.”

EPA: What precipitated the release of Memories To Burn, which basically consists of unreleased music?

DW: “Two words: Marvin Etzioni!”

AW: “Without Marvin, no Memories To Burn. He sent me a few of the tracks we had recorded and…. besides liking the songs…. I really liked the vibe of the recordings. They have a similar sound to ‘50s and early ‘60s records because we used the same process of recording where you set up a few microphones in a room, capturing a performance live. It wasn’t a conscious choice to do it this, it was simply a necessity, due to the constraints of my small studio. It was fortuitous that I had positioned the microphones in the right place to get a good blend on the recording. All of this was done very quickly, over a period of two days.”

EPA: Will you play a few shows to celebrate the album’s release? Or consider collaborating on some totally new music?

DW: “I’m always up for writing new music.”

AW: “No, we won’t do any shows. If we sell a million copies, I might consider it.”

EPA: Finally, if reuniting isn’t in the cards, what are your next (separate) projects, musically, or otherwise?

DW: “I’m quite busy with my design work. Marvin, Andrew and I are starting work on a “Best Of The Williams Brothers” album, which will involve selecting our favorite tracks from past albums with some alternative versions of songs.”

AW: “My project right now is getting my son ready for college.”

EPA: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. I hope I reined in my innergroupie….

Drop

into any James McMurtry song and it feels as though he’s spinning a yarn just for you. Comfortable and conversational, his tales are equal parts authentic and apocryphal. He comes by his storytelling gifts naturally. His dad was celebrated author Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Last Picture Show, just to name a couple of classics).

The Texas troubadour has been earning his keep as a musician for over 30 years. His 1989 debut, Too Long In The Wasteland was produced by John Mellencamp. In the ensuing years he’s recorded 11 more critically acclaimed efforts, including watershed longplayers like Childish Things, Just Us Kids and last year’s The Horses And The Hounds.

A songwriter’s songwriter, his music is a no-frills combo-platter of Folk, Country and Rock, bookended by his deadpan vocal delivery and economical prose. Back out on the road after being waylaid by the pandemic, he is swinging through the Southwest with his band of 20 years, which includes guitarist Tim Holt, drummer Darren Hess and a bass player named Cornbread.

Opening for James is Jonny Burke, another Texan whose whip-smart narratives are matched by Countrified melodies

laced with traces of Blues, Folk and Rock. (AWE Bar presents James McMurtry & Jonny Burke @jamesmcmurtryofficial @ jonnyburkefordogcatcher Tickets $22.66 Tickets via DICE.FM 21+ Doors Open @8pm).

Even at my advanced age, music still has the power to surprise and delight me. It can happen when I discover a new(ish) artist like Jake Wesley Rogers, Silk Sonic or Lizzo. Even more mindblowing is when a favorite band manages to flip the script, redefining their approach and expanding their musical horizons. Such is the case with the latest Dawes album.

Taylor Goldsmith formed his first band, Simon Dawes, with his pal Blake Mills back in Junior High. Taking inspiration from disparate influences like The Kinks, Electric Light Orchestra and The Strokes, they released their debut, Carnivore in 2006, toured with high-powered acts like Incubus and Maroon 5 and promptly broke up.

Taylor and his younger brother Griffin came by their musical talent naturally. While they were growing up in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley, their dad Lenny was a successful realtor, but during the ‘70s he spent time fronting bands like Sweathog and Tower Of Power. Shortening their moniker to Dawes, Taylor recruited bassist Wylie Gelber, his brother stepped behind the drum kit and eventually Tay Strathairn joined in on keys. Inspired by the jam sessions they had attended at musician/ producer Jonathan Wilson’s Laurel Canyon lair, their new songs veered away from the Punky energy exhibited as Simon Dawes and zeroed in on a more rustic, organic style that drafted off Laurel Canyon pioneers like The Byrds, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne and Flying Burrito Brothers, as well as East Coast antecedents like Bob Dylan and The Band.

Their 2009 debut, North Hills, along with 2011’s Nothing Is Wrong, offered a fresh spin on the bucolic, back porch, Big Pinkflavored Country/Folk Rock that originally incubated back in the late ‘60s. Their third effort, took a sharp left turn, substituting good ol’ country comfort for a more lean and literate sound.

In 2015, on the eve of the release of their fourth long-player, All Your Favorite Bands, guitarist Duane Betts began augmenting the band’s touring line-up. Later that year, citing “artistic differences” Tay Strathairn and the band parted ways. Lee Pardini joined the fold in time for Dawes’ fifth release, We’re All Gonna Die. Jonathan Wilson assumed production chores for 2018’s Passwords. Two years later the band recruited Nashville producer Dave Cobb (Rival Sons, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton) for their solid pandemic entry, Good Luck With Whatever.

Throughout the years, Taylor and the band have collaborated with Rock elder statesmen like Elvis Costello, and Phil Lesh, as well as Americana stalwarts like Rhiannon Giddens, T-Bone Burnett and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. Recently he experienced a “pinch me,” moment when he was on stage as part of a coterie of friends that included Brandi Carlile, Wynonna Judd, Lucius and Marcus Mumford, backing Joni Mitchell during her surprise set at The Newport Folk Festival. Now Dawes has just released their eighth long-player, a sevensong suite, pithily entitled Misadventures Of Doomscroller. It rumbles to life with “Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries

DAWES

To Relax.” A tumbling percussive fanfare links up with a hooky electric piano refrain, breezy guitars and brisk bass lines. Taylor’s buttery tenor is deceptively soothing as he quietly excoriates keyboard warriors, QAnon conspiracists and the radicalized foot soldiers that do their bidding; “You can call yourself a living god, if it rallies up the troops, reinstate the firing squad, lace up the combat boots…you can make ‘em call you Beelzebub, you can make them call you chief, make some face paint out of baby blood, wear a necklace out of teeth.” A stinging guitar solo slashes through, weaving between meandering piano notes and whooshy keys, accentuating the lyrical rebuke. The instrumentation briefly powers down on the break, before executing a stylistic 180. Griffin pounds out a Gene Krupa-esque tribal tattoo on his kit and the arrangement kicks into interstellar overdrive, landing somewhere between Jazz fusion pioneers The Yellowjackets and the spectral jams that characterized The Grateful Dead’s most organic flights of fancy. Buzzy keys pinball around chromatic guitars for an extended pas de deux. The remaining minutes of the song pivot between lush harmonies, churchy organ, soaring guitars and elegiac piano. In these hollow days of destructive, divisive, narcissistic hubris, this clear-eyed caveat rings true; “From the rock of the cradle, ‘til we’re dead in our graves, we’re all waiting tables in someone else’s café.”

“Comes In Waves” is a minor key wonder, powered by willowy guitars, slapdash bass, zig-zagging keys and a hopscotching beat. As the lad-back arrangement ebbs and flows, lyrics unspool a litany of angst and selfdoubt; “I’ve been feeling like a light bulb, when the filament won’t glow, surrounded by a darkness, cause the current’s moving slow, am I losing my intensity, is that feeling here to stay, but that’s the thing about electricity, it comes in waves.” The rippling

“Feel Flows-y” harmonies that wash over the chorus have a palliative effect, momentarily clearing the emotional cobwebs. The arrangement accelerates slightly on the break, as iridescent guitars shiver atop percolating percussion allowing for some cautious optimism; “I think the grip is getting looser, I think they’re giving us a try, if you feel good about the future, then baby so do I, let’s keep an eye on all our enemies, while we’re popping the champagne, cause that’s the thing about victory, it comes in waves.” A final, squally guitar solo adds a fleeting moment of caustic bite.

There’s a lithe muscularity to “Everything Is Permanent.” The lyrics offer a cogent commentary on the weird, and somewhat intrusive connectivity of social media. Within minutes, we’re all in on the same joke, witnessing some scandalous behavior or collectively mourning a loss, nothing occurs in a vacuum anymore.

Over propulsive keys, gritty guitars, sinewy bass and a four-on-the-floor backbeat, Taylor immediately cops to coming from a different era; “A product of my time zone, mix CDs and dial tones.” The harmonies that coalesce on the chorus recall the sleek and soulful ‘70s era blend of Yacht Rock stalwarts like Loggins & Messina and

The Doobie Brothers. Perspicacious verses cattily catalogue the ephemera that keeps us tethered to our devices; “the single that gets overplayed, the bubbles in your third rose,’ a wilderness of gossip…a wayward strand of anger, at some controversial stranger, who swears the virus didn’t exist… the home life of celebrities, subliminal obscenities, the politics of Christmas trees, everything is permanent now.” The instrumental break finds the four-piece navigating a sonic soundscape that’s equal parts Jazz and Prog-Rock. Prickly guitar riffs whir and clank on the break, wrapping around ascendant piano chords and a pummeling back-beat. Just as swiftly, tempos realign, wah-wah guitars catapult across a cantilevered drum break. The final bon mot takes aim at celebutantes and influencers with an unquenchable thirst for attention; “Did you really need to cry, or be seen crying?”

“Ghost In The Machine” is the album’s tour de force. Anchored by a syncopated double drum kick, the percussive extravaganza is matched by rollicking piano runs, serpentine guitar riffs, gauzy organ and nimble bass lines. Although the song takes its title from philosopher Gilbert Ryle’s description of Rene’ Descartes’ mindbody dualism (and the fourth album from The Police), the lyrics offer a picaresque pocket history of the band; “Standing right outside The Echo, when we were working for the door, assuming all our dreams were brighter than the bands we played before, but you could see it in their hunger, you could hear it in their screams, they too were just trying to make contact with the ghost in the machine.” A thick freakiness slab of Jazz, Funk and everything in-between, it manages the not-so little feat of distilling the synergy of Mad Dogs, Englishmen, Lowell George and company, Ben Folds Five, The Allman Brothers, Dixie Dregs and Wayne Shorter. Honky-Tonk piano collides with scorching guitars, the conga-fied rhythm on the break hugs a series of aural switchbacks that are knotty and complex one minute, elegant and quicksilver the next. This song has been lather-rinse-repeat at ye olde Maxi-Pad for a solid week.

“Joke In There Somewhere” blends synchronized, sun-dappled guitars, slippery bass, shimmery keys, burnished piano and a hiccough-y beat. The lyrics display a “Day In The Life” authenticity, quietly accumulating the mellow moments and keen observations that make up a busy, post-Covid day. Whether it’s running errands; “I see the

BY ELENI P. AUSTIN

corporate coffee house puttin’ up their Christmas decorations, commuter cars all waiting at the light, a line outside The Roxy, full of hopeful conversation, some local band is playing there tonight..” or meeting his brother for a drink and parsing convoluted movie plot points; “…I tell him about this movie and I didn’t get the ending, why do they let the creature get away? He reminds me that all it is, is costumes and pretending, but there must be something else they’re trying to say.” As the arrangement builds to an artful crescendo, the conversation shifts and the brothers share a brief epiphany; “… He says ‘every time we’ve sat here, getting nervous for the future, we’ve ended up with some version of okay, these songs that we are singing shouldn’t give in to the rumors, they should give some kind of strength to meet the day,’ but there’s a joke in there somewhere, a joke in there somewhere, a joke in there somewhere, we just gotta find a way to laugh, we just gotta find a way to laugh.”

The dense verbosity of ‘…Joke,” leaves little room for an instrumental break, so the Dawes dudes conveniently roll it over into the next track, “Joke In There Somewhere (Outro).” A spacy hang that harnesses acrobatic guitars, painterly piano, sparkly keys and spidery bass to a thunking beat. Its appeal is two-fold, allowing the listener to stay rooted in the moment, and clocking in at under two minutes, it functions as a palette cleanser, a musical sorbet for the album’s ambitious closing cut, Sound That No One Made/Doomscroller Sunrise.”

Almost a minute of ambient sound gives way to Beatlesque guitars, plunky bass lines, fluttery keys and a caroming backbeat. While the melody, instrumentation and arrangement offer a bit of a cosmic exhale, thorny lyrics yearn for a bit of emotional equilibrium as “the static starts to fade…” the elusive quest “to find that perfect frequency and then forever ricochets into a sound that no one made.” Waspish guitars and stately piano intertwine, bookending each verse, but quickly make way for Wylie’s harmonic, almost (Jaco) Pastorious-like bass runs. Skronky guitars and cascading keys dominate the expansive break before lyrics candidly confess “I just need someone who will listen through this strange and dark existence, or the consolation of knowing that you’ll try.” By turns bleak, beatific and cinematic, it’s a glorious finish to densely nuanced, rich and rewarding ride.

Produced by their Laurel Canyon compadre, Jonathan Wilson, these Dawes dudes have turned yet another corner, creatively speaking. Most of the songs stretch out past the six minute mark, but there’s a grace and economy to the shred. Sleek, sophisticated and wholly organic, Misadventures Of Doomscroller, is equal parts sprawling and succinct. Somehow, they’ve accidently achieved the impossible and created a 21st century equivalent to Steely Dan’s Aja. Yes, it’s that good.

Thursday, October 6

Babaloo Lounge – Live Music – 6pm

Casuelas Café – Avenida – 5:30pm

Chef George’s – Marc Antonelli –6:30pm

Coachella Valley Brewery – Open Mic – 6pm

Cunard’s Sandbar – Bill Baker – 6pm

Four Twenty Bank – Ultimate Jam Sessions – 6pm

Indian Wells Resort Hotel – Christine Love – 6pm

Jazzville @ Agua Caliente – Amber

Weekes Quartet – 7pm

Jolene’s – Desert Crows – 6pm

Lavender Bistro – Scott Carter – 6pm

The Nest – Live Music – 6:30pm

O’Caine’s – Craic Haus Duo – 6pm

Oscar’s – Gunhild Carling, Michael Orlando Bday Bash – 6pm

Pappy and Harriet’s – Mile Twelve –8:30pm

Plan B Live Entertainment & Cocktails

– Intimate Acoustics 8pm

Pretty Faces Nightclub – Trappea w/ Dxsko and Cielohigh – 9pm

Tommy Bahamas – Alex Santana –5pm

Vicky’s of Santa Fe – John Stanley King – 6pm

The Village – Rob & JB – 5:30pm, Village Idiots – 8:30pm, DJ Gio the Ace – 9pm

Friday, October 7

Ace Hotel – Highlife w/ DJ Day – 9pm

Babaloo Lounge – Tony Grandberry – 7pm

Bart Lounge – Hickies and Dry Humps Live – 8pm

Casuelas Café – Mod Professor – 7pm

Chef George’s – Lizann Warner –6:30pm

Cunard’s Sandbar – Bill Baker – 6pm

Desert Beer Co. – Acoustic Night w/ Christine and the Lost Keys, Five Acre Dream and The Sieve and the Saddle – 6:30pm

Desert Fox – Both Ways Uphill – 9pm

Four Twenty Bank – Live Music – 6pm

Indian Wells Resort Hotel – Marc Antonelli – 6pm

Jolene’s – Sharon Sills – 7pm

Larkspur Grill @ Hotel Paseo – Doug and Meg Music – 7pm

Lavender Bistro – Scott Carter – 6pm

Lit @ Fantasy Springs – Eclectik – 9pm

The Nest – Live Music – 6:30pm

O’Caine’s – Ken O’Malley – 6pm Oscar’s – Gunhild Carling – 6pm

Pappy and Harriet’s – Sheer Mag w/ Twompsax and Ingrate – 8:30pm

Plan B Live Entertainment & Cocktails – Red’s Rockstar Karaoke – 9pm

Pretty Faces Nightclub – DJs Dxsko and Hymn – 9pm

Purple Room – Marilyn Maye – 6pm

Rockyard @ Fantasy Springs – 5150 (Van Halen Sammy Hagar Tribute) and Steel Rod – 7pm Tommy Bahamas – Alex Santana – 5pm

Vicky’s of Santa Fe – John Stanley King – 7:30pm

The Village – Rob & JB – 5:30pm, DJ

Gio the Ace – 9pm, Rapmarz – 9pm, DJ LF – 10pm

Wildest – Derek Jordan Gregg – 6pm

Saturday, October 8

Ace Hotel – RAD 80’s Night w/ DJ Paulie – 9pm

Babaloo Lounge – Tony Grandberry – 7pm

Bart Lounge – DJ Frankthadank and Friends – 8pm

Casuelas Café – The Myx – 7pm

Chef George’s – Marc Antonelli – 6:30pm

Coachella Valley Brewing Co. –

Acoustic Evening w/ Tim Anthony Scott, Nick Hales and Jonny Ransom – 7pm

Cunard’s Sandbar – Bill Baker – 6pm

Four Twenty Bank – Live Music – 6pm

Indian Wells Resort Hotel – Marc Antonelli – 6pm

Jolene’s – Leanna and Miguel – 7pm

Lavender Bistro – Scott Carter – 6pm

Lit @ Fantasy Springs – Eclectik – 9pm

The Nest – Live Music – 6:30pm

O’Caine’s – Kilty as Charged – 6pm

Oscar’s – Oscar’s Caberet – 6pm

Pappy and Harriet’s – Taking Back Sunday – 5:30pm

Plan B Live Entertainment & Cocktails

– Red’s Rockstar Karaoke – 9pm

Pretty Faces Nightclub – DJs Sugarfree and Hymn – 9pm

Purple Room – Marilyn Maye – 6pm

Rockyard @ Fantasy Springs – The Atomic Punks (Van Halen David Lee Roth Tribute) and Steel Rod – 7pm

Tommy Bahamas – Alex Santana –5pm

Vicky’s of Santa Fe – Rose Mallett –5pm, John Stanley King – 7:30pm

The Village – Rob & JB – 1pm, Rapmarz – 9pm, DJ LF – 10pm

Wildest – Derek Jordan Gregg – 6-9pm

Sunday, October 9

Babaloo Lounge – Tristen/Flamingo Guitar – 1pm, Tim Burleson – 6pm

Bart Lounge – Latina Night w/ DJ LF – 8pm

Blu Ember – Gina Sedman – 5pm

Casuelas Café – Mariachi Coachella –1pm, Voices Carrie – 5:30pm

Coachella Valley Brewing Co. –Acoustic Afternoon w/ Adam Gainey and Mario Quintero – 3:30pm

Fisherman’s Market, PS – Live Music – 6pm

Lavender Bistro – Scott Carter – 6pm

Melvyn’s – Mikael Healey – 5pm

The Nest – Live Music – 6:30pm

Pappy and Harriet’s – Amanda Shires – 8pm

Tommy Bahamas – Alex Santana –12pm

The Village – Gio the Ace - 9pm

Monday, October 10

Babaloo Lounge – Tim Burleson – 6pm

Hyatt – Derek Jordan Gregg – 5-7pm

The Nest – Live Music – 6:30pm

The Village – DJ Gio the Ace – 9pm

Tuesday, October 11

Babaloo Lounge – The Carmens –6:30pm

Chef George’s – Lizann Warner –6:30pm

Cunard’s Sandbar – Bill Baker – 6pm

Hyatt – Derek Jordan Gregg – 5-7pm

The Nest – Live Music – 6:30pm

Pappy and Harriet’s – Marco Benevento – 7pm

Vicky’s of Santa Fe – Slim Man Band – 6pm

The Village – Karaoke – 9pm, Rapmarz – 9pm

Wednesday, October 12

Ace Hotel – Jazz w/ Keifer – 7:30pm

Babaloo Lounge – Maryse Nicole –7pm

Chef George’s – Tim Burleson – 6:30pm

Coachella Valley Brewing Co. – Trivia Night – 7pm

Cunard’s Sandbar – Bill Baker – 6pm

The Fix – Alex Santana – 5:30pm

Indian Wells Resort Hotel – Patrice Morris – 6pm

Lavender Bistro – Scott Carter – 6pm

Lit @ Fantasy Springs – Nitro Express – 7pm

The Nest – Live Music – 6:30pm

Plan B Live Entertainment & Cocktails

– Red’s Rockstar Karaoke – 9pm

Tack Room Tavern – T-Bone Karaoke – 7pm

Vicky’s of Santa Fe – John Stanley King – 6pm

The Village – Rapmarz – 9pm, Banda Revolucion – 10pm

SCREENER

FAN FAVE 80’S HORROR IN HI-DEF

BY ROBIN E. SIMMONS

FRIGHT NIGHT

The fan fave 1980s horror classic debuts in 4K ULTRA HI DEF with over 4 hours of special features.

Meet Jerry Dandridge, he’s sweet, sexy and likes to sleep in late. You might think he’s the perfect neighbor. But before inviting Jerry in for a nightcap, there’s just one thing you should know, Jerry prefers his drinks warm, red, and straight from the jugular! This horrific howler starring Chris Sarandon as the seductive vampire and William Ragsdale as the frantic teen neighbor struggling to keep Jerry’s deadly fangs out of his neck.

Charlie Brewster knows somebloodcurdling secrets but when Charlie

can‘t get anybody to believe him he turns to TV’s horror host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) who once was known as “The Great Vampire Killer” in the movies.

Writer/director Tom Holland has fun parodying Universal’s vampire/Dracula mythos. It’s a well-worn formula that works best for an undemanding audience,

Can these mortals save Charlie and his sweetheart (Amanda Bearse) from the wrathful bloodsuckers toothy embrace? If you love being scared, this silly but earnest movie might be for you. It starts slow but the third act is bloody and action never lets up! The “movie within-the movie” premise works here. There are extensive extras.

SONY. Blu-ray.

robin@coachellavalleyweekly.com

NAPA MOUNTAIN HIGH THE VINO VOICE

BY RICK RIOZZA

The

famed Napa Valley is indeed that: a valley defined by its two mountain ranges, the Vaca and Mayacamas. The Vaca range on the east edge owns volcanic soils and the Mayacamas on the west is formed primarily by marine sedimentary soils left by changing sea levels from the past million years.

California Cabernet Sauvignon quaffers generally fall into two camps: very broad and plush wines found in the vineyards on the valley floor, and the concentrated color and flavors along with vivid acidity from the mountains.

The mountain life of the Cabernet Sauv grape is different from the valley fruit. Up on the mountains, there is more extreme constant sunlight and more diurnal shifts of temperatures between the days and the nights. This is why the colors and flavors are more intense, more sharp, firmly structured, concentrated, and tannic— especially in their youth, and, an indication of complex aging in the bottle.

Wine Enthusiast recently wrote: Early in the history of the Napa Valley, before the absurdity of Prohibition, grape growers raised their sights. With many hailing from Europe, they understood how wine grapes love to dig deep into hillsides and mountains.

“Those pioneers—Jacob Schram, the Beringers, Charles Lemme and the Christian Brothers— gave way by the 1950s to a new generation. Such innovators as the McCreas, Al and Boots Brounstein, Dr. Jan Krupp, Piero Antinori, the Smith brothers, Bob Travers, Sir Peter Newton and others believed there should be distinct appellations for five of the Napa Valley’s highest mountains: Howell, Diamond, Spring, Mount Veeder and Atlas Peak.

What links the Cabernet Sauvignon from these mountains are their intensity and structure. Mountain fruit is often compact and concentrated its berries tiny from seasons of struggle and loaded with powerful tannins that take time to unravel. There’s also a distinct spectrum of earthiness in these wines, a product of their wilderness of forest and rock.

Further, mountain harvests tend to happen later, which allows winemakers to pick for flavor and at maturities that are ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon.”

So, without getting too nerdy on the mountain AVAs, and referring to writer Aaron Romano’s recent mountain vineyard article, here are just some quick comments on what one can generally expect from four popular mountain range vineyards:

Mount Vedeer AVA: Formalized in 1993 in the southern reaches of the Mayacamas Mountains, west of the towns of Napa, Yountville, Oakville and Rutherford. It sits between 500 and 2,600 feet above sea level and encompasses 25 square miles, which makes it one of the largest AVAs in the Napa Valley.

The second coolest AVA, in terms of daytime temperature, this mountain region’s growing seasons are longer than any other Napa appellation, sometimes even extending into November!

Mount Veeder Cabs are intensely concentrated and liberally fruity with fresh acidity and big tannins.

Standout producers include: Mount Veeder Winery, The Hess Collection, Mayacamas Vineyards, Brandlin, and Mount Brave.

Spring Mountain AVA: Above the town of St. Helena on the eastern side of the Mayacamas, the Spring Mountain District became an official appellation in 1993. The thick presence of forest and the springs throughout the mountain give the area its name and personality, a world away from the valley below.

Romano writes: “Part of what makes Spring Mountain unique for grape growing is its nearly

equal mix of sedimentary and volcanic soils. Reflecting the location of vineyards, the wines can show very differently, depending on elevation, exposure, and soil. The region gets its name from the numerous natural springs that run through the appellation.

The balance of dark and red fruit, the floral nature and the elegant tannic structure defines the AVA relative to the other mountain regions.

Successful growers and winemakers here include: Newton, Cain, Smith-Madrone, Spring Mountain Vineyard, Lokoya, and York Creek Cellars.

Howell Mountain AVA: Among the first appellations to be formed following Napa Valley itself, Howell Mountain’s prime growing land benefits from a microclimate featuring warm mornings and cool evenings. That temperature swing tends to extend the grapes’ hang time, which allows Cabernet to ripen slowly and develop deeper flavors.

Intense sunlight hits a mix of white volcanic ash and red clay soils that are lean and possess good drainage. Howell Mountain’s rockiness distinguishes it from hillside vineyards across the valley in the Mayacamas Mountains.

That rockiness often means there’s little waterholding capacity in the soils. The resulting wines are known to be deeply intense and rugged, with a great concentration of black fruit, dark color and hints of menthol and mocha.

The Cabs from Howell Mountain are quite popular and include: Abreu, Beringer, Cade, Cliff Family, La Jota, Dunn, Howell Mountain Vineyards and Outpost.

Diamond Mountain AVA: Romano writes: “Named for the sparkling volcanic glass and obsidian rock sprinkled throughout its soils, Diamond Mountain traces its origins to one of Napa’s earliest pioneers, Jacob Schram, who purchased 200-plus acres in 1862 and started developing vineyards for what would become Schramsberg Vineyards.

Today, much of this region remains undeveloped, with just 500 acres under vine, making it the smallest AVA in all of Napa Valley. The region rises above the city of Calistoga, and includes numerous, steep, unplantable hills surrounded by dense forest.

In general, these Cabs show typical mountain fruit structure and intense tannins, along with lively acidity—all which can lend an austere quality to the wines in their youth.

Popular producers include: J. Davies, Diamond Creek, Kinsman Eades, and Von Strasser.

And now—our Napa Mountain wine of the week: 2018 Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder ($150) This wine opens with florals of fresh lilac and violet with a palate containing notes of just ripe raspberry, blackberry, and cherry. Framed by secondary tones of dried sage, anise, and cardamom, this wine includes tones of pine resin, graphite and tobacco and features a long finish.

Cheers to the mountain high!

PET PL ACE COACHELLA VALLEY WILD BIRD CENTER, A DESERT GEM!

I talked to Linda this week to learn more about her mission. She tells us, “I volunteered with birds at the Living Desert for several years and attended their classes about bird treatment. I was concerned about the large number of people turning in birds, and no one could take that many. Another concern was people finding birds and keeping them as pets, not knowing it is illegal to do so. These are wild birds, not parakeets or Cockateels; people can get hurt from the strong beaks of Falcons, Hawks, and others. This led me to establish the Wild Bird Center in 1995.”

Linda is a charming hostess greeting arrivals at the CVWBC. She has an entertaining and “wicked” sense of humor. I was surprised to learn she never had a pet bird as a child. Her pets included a shovel nose snake that she eventually released into her back yard. When young Linda went outdoors, the snake would come slithering towards her to play.

The Bird Center has access to avian veterinarians when needed. Linda has the skills and experience to treat many conditions and the stress level of some injured animals is reduced by not transporting them to other locations.

BY JANET McAFEE

Due to the drought, put shallow water out for them in the shade, changing frequently and cleaning the container. Enjoy nature!”

Homeowner associations, park officials, and other property owners with trees should conduct tree trimming only between August until November. This avoids the nesting season and the possibility of killing little nesting baby birds.

THE BIRD CENTER OFFERS FREE BIRD WALKING TOURS ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH OCTOBER THROUGH MAY! THE WALKS BEGIN AT 8:00AM, LED BY A GREAT VOLUNTEER “BIRDER” ELIZABETH.

REFRESHMENTS ARE OFFERED. TAX DEDUCTABLE DONATIONS ARE WELCOME!

Tucked

away on an Indio side street, the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center is truly a desert gem! Many years ago, I delivered an injured bird to them and was amazed by their loving efforts to save each feathered creature. Linda York, their knowledgeable director, gave me a tour of the rehabilitation clinic and outdoor grounds with large recovery cages where the birds regain their wing strength. I gave a donation to enable this deserving non-profit to continue their work.

The Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center is a non-profit corporation created for the care and rehabilitation of orphaned, injured, or sick native wild birds, with the goal of releasing them back into their habitat. The Center educates our community in the ways and needs of these wild creatures to promote a deeper respect and understanding of the problems facing wildlife in an environment being altered by human activities. The center needs the support of Coachella Valley residents to continue to make an impact for the birds. We can all get involved on some level to help our feathered friends. Our lives

MEET FLOWER

PLEASE ADOPT ME SOON! I’m the longest resident at the county shelter, 71 days at the county Coachella Valley Animal Campus, 72-050 Pet Place, Thousand Palms. I’m 43 lbs of doggie love, a 1- yrold Shepherd mix, happy to be with people and other pups. I will give you a kiss when we meet in a visiting area between 10am-4pm Mon thru Sat. I’m dog ID#A1684364.

are then enriched.

Linda York was in the news recently when the Palm Springs Wildlife Advocates delivered an injured Coopers Hawk found by the side of a road. The bird was dazed and unable to lift off. PSWA was able to capture her noting there was blood on her chest from a small wound and something wrong with a wing. They delivered her to the Bird Center where Linda York examined her immediately and determined the bird was a female who hatched this year. Linda suspected the hawk flew into a sharp tree branch or missed a landing. Linda and her volunteers tended to the wound, and after recovering she will be released. The lovely bird pictured here will once again sail through our sky!

The Center treats between 1,000 and 1,300 birds every year. Cooper’s Hawks are the number one species of bird treated, followed by American Kestrels and Barn Owls. The facility is situated on 9 acres of wetlands. Hopefully the wetlands will reopen this season once the Coachella Valley Water District redoes the liner and chlorinates the water.

She has wise advice for local bird lovers who put out hummingbird feeders. “You must clean the container every other day because the sugar water ferments. You need to keep the part where the birds get their food very clean using a small brush or Q-tip. Bacteria can form causing the tiny birds to become ill, get fungal infections or worse.

The tours are fun and educational for visiting guests as well as young children. Tours are about 1 ½ hours long. The group walks to the open field and pond where 39 species of waterbirds and songbirds can be observed and identified. Reservations may be made online at www.coachellawildbirdcenter.org or call (760) 347-2647. The Bird Center is located at 46500 Van Buren Street in Indio, and they are open from 8:00am to 12:00pm seven days a week. You can donate online at any time!

COME VISIT AND MAKE SOME NEW FEATHERED FRIENDS!

Janetmcafee8@gmail.com

HANDSOME KITTEN

I’m a Kool Kat, waiting for a home at the Coachella Valley Animal Campus, 72-050 Pet Land Place, Thousand Palms. I’m cat ID#A1689326, you get to name me. I’m a 5-yrold boy full of fun, already neutered and ready to leave! Come visit 10am-4pm Mon thru Sat. www.rcdas.org

Here are some places where you can adopt a wonderful rescue dog or cat!

COACHELLA VALLEY ANIMAL CAMPUS –Open 10:00-4:00 Monday through Saturday. View animals online at all 4 county shelters www.rcdas.org, 72-050 Pet Land Place, Thousand Palms, (760) 343-3644. (Public)

PALM SPRINGS ANIMAL SHELTER – Open to the public, closed Tuesday. View animals online at www.psanimalsshelter.org and complete application for the one you want to meet, 4575 E. Mesquite Ave, Palm Springs, Call (760) 416-5718. (Public)

DESERT HOT SPRINGS ANIMAL CARE & CONTROL - Open daily 9:30-4:30. www. cityofdhs.org/animal-care-control.com , 65810 Hacienda Ave, Desert Hot Springs, (760) 329-6411 ext. 450.

ANIMAL SAMARITANS – Open to the public. View their animals at animalsamaritans.org. Email volunteer@ animalsamaritans.org to foster or volunteer. Located at 72307 Ramon Rd, Thousand Palms, (760) 601-3918. (Private)

CALIFORNIA PAWS RESCUE - Call for an appointment to adopt. Located at 73650 Dinah Shore, Palm Desert. View their animals at www.californiapawsrescue.com, (760) 656-3833. (Private)

HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE COACHELLA VALLEY – Fill out an application online www. orphanpet.com and call for an appointment. This shelter has dogs of all sizes and cats, Located at 17825 N. Indian Canyon, Palm Springs, (760) 329-0203. (Private)

KITTYLAND – Open to the public to adopt cats and kittens. Located at 67600 18th Avenue, Desert Hot Springs, www.

kittylandrescue.org, (760) 251-2700. (Private)

PRETTY GOOD CAT – Foster based rescue for cats located in La Quinta. Contact them at www.prettygoodcat.com, (760) 660-3414 (Private)

LOVING ALL ANIMALS – Call for appointment to adopt dogs. Located at 83496 Avenue 51, Coachella, www.lovingallanimals. org, (760) 834-7000. (Private)

ANIMAL RESCUE CENTER OF CALIFORNIA (ARC), Foster based rescue for dogs and cats in Indio. www.thearc-ca.org, (760) 877-7077 (Private)

FLUFFS & SCRUFFS – Foster based rescue for small dogs in Cathedral City. FLUFFSANDSCRUFFS@AOL.COM, (310) 9803383 (Private)

SOCIETY’S OUTKAST ANIMAL RESCUE – Foster based rescue for dogs in Rancho Mirage, www.societysoutkasts.com, (760) 832-0617. (Private)

LIVING FREE ANIMAL SANCTUARY –Large outdoor shelter for dogs and cats up Hwy 74, Mountain Center, www.living-free. org, (951) 659-4687. (Private)

CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO ANIMAL SHELTER – Open 12:00 – 3pm Tues through Sat. Google “City of San Bernardino Animal Shelter” for website to view animals and get the ID number of the animal you want. Located at 333 Chandler Place, San Bernardino, (909) 384-1304 or (909) 3847272. (Public)

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER AT DEVORE – Open 7 days a week. Call (909) 386-9280, www.sbcounty.gov/acc and get the ID number of animal you are interested in adopting, 19777 Shelter Way, San Bernardino (Public).

LIBBY

September is traditionally the weakest month of the year for stocks. With the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates to combat the highest inflation levels in more than forty years, this year proved to be no exception. During the month, market indexes fell to the lowest levels since November 2020. During September, the Dow Jones Industrial average declined 8.8%, S&P 500 9.3% and tech-heavy NASDAQ 10.5%.

For the quarter, the Dow fell 6.7%, S&P 500 5.3% and NASDAQ 4.1%. The Dow posted its third consecutive quarterly decline for the first time since 2005.

Looking at results for the nine months ending September 30th, the Dow is off 20%, S&P 500 24% and NASDAQ 32%. With interest rates moving higher, bond funds have not been a safe place to hide as they have lost 15-20% in value this year.

The average decline during a recession since 1945 is 24%. There have only been six occasions since the end of WWII where the stock market posted weaker results: The Great Recession of 2007-2009, the Dot Com bubble of 2001, the Energy Crisis of 19731975, 1970, COVID-induced 2020, and 19811982.

The current downturn has a chance to look most like that around 1970. That recession saw stock values fall by 36%. Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel refers to that period as “the greatest failure of American macroeconomic policy” since WWII. Back then, the Nixon Administration used an easy monetary policy to mask fundamental problems in the economy. Nixon continued

STOCK MARKET LIMBO - HOW LOW CAN STOCKS GO?

BY HADDON LIBBY

avoid some of the economic problems faced 50 years ago.

If you are a long-term investor, do not look at current market declines with fear but with an eye toward future opportunities. Whether it is now or a few quarters from now, this is a chance to buy stocks at a far lower price than only a few months ago.

Looking at bonds, investors can earn returns of 4% on the two-year Treasury for the first time in a generation. Bank certificates of deposit pay 3% for 30-day and 3.5% for 90-day maturities.

to fund social programs and the Vietnam War that continued sizable budget deficits started by the Johnson Administration.

Nixon’s advisors referred to Nixonomics as “conservative men with liberal ideas.” In trying to control inflation, the Nixon Administration enacted wage and price controls which led to double digit inflation later in the decade. Add to that higher oil prices and the delinking of the US Dollar to the gold standard and you had some ugly years for the stock market and U.S. economy.

Interest rates rose to 21% in 1981 due to an unwillingness to deal with inflation during the 1970s. The term stagflation came from this. Stagflation happens when the economy is growing slowly or contraction, inflation is high and unemployment is increasing.

The actions by the Federal Reserve in 2022 are meant to prevent a recurrence of the ‘70s. The hope is that efforts to stem inflation do not cause the world to enter a deep global recession.

Given slowdowns in China and global issues caused by the Russian incursion, most of the world is already in a recession. If the Fed raises rates too much, there is a risk that this will tip weaker countries around the world into debt restructurings and political turmoil. This will also cause the U.S. Dollar to strengthen vs. other currencies which will slow U.S. exports. The Fed is hoping that a rapid increase in rates will help control inflation before stagflation has a chance to take root. If the back of inflation can be broken quickly, it is thought that we can

Remember the adage ‘buy low, sell high’ and do not let emotions get the better of you. Like any other decline in the past, this one will pass, and prices will again move higher.

Haddon Libby is the Chief Investment Officer of Winslow Drake Investment Management. For more information on our award-winning services, please visit www. WinslowDrake.com

OF THE INJURED & CRIMINALLY ACCUSED

PriorInjuries Are Not a Problem, They Are Part of Life. However the insurance company will try to get as much mileage as possible out of it. They will blame your new injuries as being part of the previous case. Prior injuries are another example of the defense insurance company trying to box you in, with their preconceived notions about what factors discount the value of cases. More than ever, you need an experienced LOCAL PI lawyer who will not let them get away with it…..ASAP!

If you had stopped your treatment from the old accident, that is different from a situation where you were still suffering and getting physical therapy etc. This article is about prior injuries that already healed. However, even so, the insurance company will argue they are all preexisting. The insurance will always do whatever is possible to not pay or pay as little as possible. Fairness is not in their dictionary.

Most of us in the Coachella Valley, have some kind of back or neck problem from age or an injury in the past. We all get dinged from time to time. Those priors aren’t a bad thing. They may actually help the case. How? In law there is an adage, that you find your plaintiff as they are. Susceptibility is another reason the crash may cause less damage

to the metal structure of a car than to the human spine. Healing from something in the past doesn’t mean a later injury to that same area will cause less harm. Quite honestly the opposite is true; it may mean the outcome will be worse. Thus it may have caused a herniation, rather than a sprain/ strain.

A good personal injury trial lawyer will ask why the defense should get a discount when their client has a previous injury. There is no reason for a discount, other than the insurance companies thinking they have a right to short their insureds of money that is owed. The law gives them no such discount, so why should a jury? The prior injury contributes substantially to the outcome. Point that out to the panel during voir dire and discuss it this way:

The law recognizes what I call, “as is” justice. You take the person “as is”. Justice is not reserved for people who are perfect specimens of health. People who are not in the prime of their physical life don’t get treated as second class citizens who can only receive discounted justice. People with wear & tear, bumps & bruises, who have been hurt in the past or had health problems, can get full justice too. It’s called equal justice or justice for all in the United States Constitution. I just call it “as is” justice. Does everyone agree

that’s the way it should be?

Does anyone disagree? (Since most jurors aren’t in perfect health, they will be able to get behind this law.)

Then, throughout the trial you can tap back into this universal truth by using the phase “as is” justice. When the defense neurosurgeon says your client had degeneration in her spine, you point out this is normal aging and say, “Are you suggesting that an injury matters less when a person isn’t in the prime of their physical life? Are you familiar with the concept of susceptibility and ‘as is’ justice?” (Let them object. It’s a fair question. If sustained, move on, the point will have been made. They can’t stop you in closing argument from bringing those

powerful words full circle.)

Dale Gribow - Attorney at Law

the Seriously Injured and Criminally Accused

El Paseo, Suite 220

Desert, CA 92260

- 760-837-7500

- 760 837-7502

“TOP LAWYER” - California’s Prestige Magazine, Palm Springs Life (PI/DUI) 2011-22

BEING

A DRIVER

TO

DO EVERYTHING

AN AT FAULT ACCIDENT.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS “DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE OR TEXT, AND GET A DUI OR ACCIDENT... CALL A TAXI, LYFT OR UBER….

A LOT CHEAPER THAN CALLING

CHOREOGRAPHY FESTIVAL RETURNS TO MCCALLUM THEATREEVENTS

This year’s Palm Desert Choreography Festival will take place on Saturday, November 12, and Sunday, November 13, including a competition/ performance in two divisions.

Choreographers were instructed to submit work in one or both divisions with the goal to maximize the Festival’s ability to present deserving work. During that Saturday, choreographers will be working with professional dancers of seasoned artistry and fully mature technique. All dancers must be at least 18 years of age and the choreography must not exceed 11 minutes.

On that Sunday, choreographers will be working with dancers of all ages from aspiring and emerging companies, colleges, academies and studios.

Choreography must not exceed 7 minutes.

Finalists will be selected for both divisions based on the materials submitted prior to the competition.

Finalists chosen will travel to Palm Desert, California to perform the submitted choreography live at the McCallum Theatre before a general audience and panel of judges and compete for cash awards. The finalists traveling from out of the country must provide documentation to work in the United States in order to receive their stipend/award money and proof of full COVID 19 vaccination.

The Choreography Festival is dedicated to the advancement of dance as an art form, specifically through the support and promotion of quality choreography, this festival includes a choreography competition, outreach projects, workshops,

residencies and a Lifetime Achievement Award presentation. Since 1998, the Festival has presented 704 original pieces of choreography and awarded over $690,000 in prize money.

“To say that this experience was incredible and thrilling is an understatement. It is an honor to have shared the space with such wonderful artists and such a present audience. I am irrevocably thankful for everyone that was part of making it happen,” shared Dolly Sfeir, the 2019 Grand Prize winner.

Saturday’s competition has a grand prize total of $10,000 and Sunday’s competition is $3,000.

The finalists for the Palm Desert Choreography Festival on Saturday, November 12, are as follows:

Duet

Franco Nieto - “Bloom” (Open Space Dance)

Aidan Carberry/Jordan Johnson - “Ice Man” (JA Collective) Joshua Manculich“Manners” (WhirlWind Dance Company) Boroka Nagy - “He Came Running” (Re:borN Dance Interactive)

Small Group

Dasha Tertova - “Cutaway”

Ye Li - “The Daylight Within”

Mate Szentes - “House of Bourbon” (Ballet Project OC)

BY CRYSTAL HARRELL

Ensemble

Seda Aybay - “Dedikodu” (Kybele Dance Theater)

Dolly Sfeir - “It Will Happen Again Tonight”

Omar Roman De Jesus - “Los Perros del Barrio Colosal” (Boca Tuya) Christina Ghiardi - “Nuvole Bianche” (Nevada Ballet Theatre)

Lane Gifford - “Flux” (LaneCoArts)

The finalists for Sunday, November 13, are as follows:

Solo

Azuki Umeda - “OO1” (au.thenticity dance co.) Taylor Knight - “Rain” (LUX Contemporary)

Duet

Gunta Liepina-Miller - “Me, Myself and I” (The Premier Ballet School of Orange County)

Small Group

Seyong Kim - “A Poem of Sacrifice Written at the Cross” (Project SK+A) Ye Li - “The Part That is Missing”

Lauren Blair Smith - “Intruder” (Lauren Blair Smith Dance Company)

Ensemble

Jacob Gutiérrez Montoya - “Unravel” (Hawkins School of Performing Arts) Cristina McKeever - “Don’t Be That Way” (McKeever Dance Theatre) Danielle Diniz - “Everything Old is New Again” (Golden State Ballet)

Brian Golden - “This is 22!”

David & Crystal Zibalese - “Pathways” (Dance Creations)

Shani Robison - “Obscured” (Chrysalis Ballet Company)

Amy Nakamura - “Untold Things” (Mt. San Antonio)

MJ - The Resistance of the Emerging Flesh (Innovate Dance Company)

Raised in LA, the incredibly talented Brad Mercer began his music career at age five, ultimately becoming a professional performer, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter,

recording artist, and popular radio personality in the Palm Springs area. He has recorded and produced six albums and

toured throughout the nation as a gifted impressionist and comedian, opening for Jay Leno, George Carlin, and Jeff Foxworthy.

Brad is the recipient of the LA Music Awards, “Best Rock DJ” and the “Alan Freed Lifetime Achievement Award.” His “Bands ‘N Fans” syndicated radio show helps unsigned and newly signed, country and country/rock indie artists from all over the world get airplay in 140 countries.

Besides his long-running radio show, Brad is also the creator and engaging host of a weekly residency show every Tuesday night at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, CA. Together with his partner, guitarist extraordinaire, Peter Sutter, they formed The Brad Mercer Band, and perform a rousing live three-hour variety show and rock concert each week to a full house. And all free! With their spot-on classics and unique original songs from the Mercer & Sutter writing team, the show is aptly called, “Brad’s Pad.” Brad Mercer on vocals and multiple instruments, Peter Sutter on lead guitar, Tim High on bass, Carlos Guido

BY FIRE CHIEF SAM DIGIOVANNA

Carlotta on keyboards, Susan Lynn Mercer on vocals, and Buddy Greco, Jr. on drums. Band management is Chip Miller for Winmill Talent Management

This venue is tops! I start out by visiting my good friend Chris Jones Assistant Manager at my favorite Chinese restaurant “Joy” at Fantasy Springs with a great meal and conversation with Chris. Then time for music located in the casino’s concert venue at the “Lit,” where there is an excellent sound system, designed specifically for Brad’s band. The crowds are great, both locals and from out of town to see this band usually singing along or on their feet dancing freestyle. The Lit offers a balcony for viewing, dancing, and dining.

So, you don’t need to go any farther than Fantasy Springs Resort Casino for the entertainment at “Brad’s Pad,” the hottest nightlife show with the hottest rock band in the Coachella Valley.

BRAD’S PAD HAS “LIT BACK UP!” AND BURNING HOTTER THAN EVER!

BY COACH NADIA POPOVA

WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL TRAINING AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT?

Functional training focuses on movements rather than muscles. Functional training aims to mimic real life movements such as pushing, pulling, bending, carrying, squatting and rotating. Carrying out these types of exercises consequently helps to improve your movement efficiency for daily activities.

Functional training is a type of training that focuses on movements that help you function better in your everyday life. For example, a deadlift can help you train to pick up a heavy Amazon delivery box off of your porch without pulling a muscle in your back.

While this is just one example, our bodies were designed to move in different ways categorized into human movement patterns. We’re made to push and pull with our upper body, hinge at the hips, bend into a squat, lunge or step up, and rotate.

Functional Exercises are: - Designed to optimize movement - Strengthens your core muscles - Restores posture, muscle imbalances and dynamic stability - Relieves Stress - Burns fat - Alleviates back pain - Improves balance and coordination - Suitable for all ages & fitness levels

Effective functional training exercises use free weights instead of machines, incorporate a lot of instability workouts for core stability, and work out your muscles to their maximum limits of motion. Some of the movements in functional training include: - Balancing on one leg - Push-ups

- Squats - Lunges - Bodyweight squats - Lateral bounds

Are functional fitness exercises for everyone?

If you haven’t exercised for some time or have health problems, it’s a good idea to check with your doctor before starting any new exercise program. Similarly, women who are pregnant should check with their doctors.

It’s also a good idea to start with exercises that use only your own body weight for resistance. As you become more fit and ready for more of a challenge, you can add more resistance in the form of weights or resistance tubing. Performing movements in the water is a low impact way of achieving functional exercise.

Adding functional fitness training to your daily routine can help you perform everyday activities no matter your age. Improving strength, balance, and range of motion with functional fitness workouts can also help those in their later years remain active and less prone to injury. And, as numerous studies show, it’s never too late to start!

For more please visit our website: www.sendmeatrainer.com

FREEWILLASTROLOGY

WEEK OF OCTOBER 6

ARIES (March 21-April 19): When you Aries folks are at your best, you are drawn to people who tell you exactly what they think, who aren’t intimidated by your high energy, and who dare to be as vigorous as you. I hope you have an array of allies like that in your sphere right now. In my astrological opinion, you especially need their kind of stimulation. It’s an excellent time to invite influences that will nudge you out of your status quo and help you glide into a new groove. Are you willing to be challenged and changed?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Author Toni Morrison thought that beauty was “an absolute necessity” and not “a privilege or an indulgence.” She said that “finding, incorporating, and then representing beauty is what humans do.” In her view, we can’t live without beauty “any more than we can do without dreams or oxygen.” All she said is even truer for Tauruses and Libras than the other signs. And you Bulls have an extra wrinkle: It’s optimal if at least some of the beauty in your life is useful. Your mandate is summed up well by author Anne Michaels: “Find a way to make beauty necessary; find a way to make necessity beautiful.” I hope you’ll do a lot of that in the coming weeks.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said, “It requires a very unusual mind to make an analysis of the obvious.” I nominate you to perform that service in the coming days, both for yourself and your allies. No one will be better able than you to discern the complexities of seemingly simple situations. You will also have extraordinary power to help people appreciate and even embrace paradox. So be a crafty master of candor and transparency, Gemini. Demonstrate the benefits of being loyal to the objective evidence rather than to the easy and popular delusions. Tell the interesting truths.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian poet Lucille Clifton sent us all an invitation: “Won’t you celebrate with me what i have shaped into a kind of life? i had no model. i made it up here on this bridge between starshine and clay, my one hand holding tight my other hand.” During October, fellow Cancerian, I propose you draw inspiration from her heroic efforts to create herself. The coming weeks will be a time when you can achieve small miracles as you bolster your roots, nourish your soulful confidence, and ripen your uniqueness.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Dear Rob the Astrologer: This morning I put extra mousse on my hair and blow-dried the hell out of it, so now it is huge and curly and impossibly irresistible. I’m wearing bright orange shoes so everyone will stare at my feet, and a blue silk blouse that is much too high-fashion to wear to work. It has princess seams and matches my eyes. I look fantastic. How could anyone of any gender resist drinking in my magnificence? I realize you’re a spiritual type and may not approve of my showmanship, but I wanted you to know that what I’m doing is a totally valid way to be a Leo. —Your Leo teacher Brooke.” Dear Brooke: Thank you for your helpful instruction! It’s true that I periodically need to loosen my tight grip on my high principles. I must be more open to appreciating life’s raw feed. I hope you will perform a similar service for everyone you encounter in the coming weeks.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): How to be the best Virgo you can be during the coming weeks: 1. You must relish, not apologize for, your precise obsessions. 2. Be as nosy as you need to be to discover the core truths hidden beneath the surface. Risk asking almost too many questions in your subtle drive to know everything. 3. Help loved ones and allies shrink and heal their insecurities. 4. Generate beauty and truth through your skill at knowing what needs to be purged and shed. 5. Always have your Bullshit Detector with you. Use it liberally. 6. Keep in close touch with the conversations between your mind and body.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The Libran approach to fighting for what’s right shouldn’t involve getting into loud arguments or trying to manipulate people into seeing things your way. If you’re

Rob Brezsny

doing what you were born to do, you rely on gentler styles of persuasion. Are you doing what you were born to do? Have you become skilled at using clear, elegant language to say what you mean? Do you work in behalf of the best outcome rather than merely serving your ego? Do you try to understand why others feel the way they do, even if you disagree with their conclusions? I hope you call on these superpowers in the coming weeks. We all need you to be at the height of your potency.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “One bad apple spoils the rest” is an idiom in the English language. It refers to the idea that if one apple rots as it rests in a pile of apples, the rest will quickly rot, too. It’s based on a scientific fact. As an apple decays, it emanates the gas ethylene, which speeds up decay in nearby apples. A variant of this idiom has recently evolved in relation to police misconduct, however. When law enforcement officials respond to such allegations, they say that a few “bad apples” in the police force aren’t representative of all the other cops. So I’m wondering which side of the metaphor is at work for you right now, Scorpio. Should you immediately expunge the bad apple in your life? Or should you critique and tolerate it? Should you worry about the possibility of contamination, or can you successfully enforce damage control? Only you know the correct answer.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Sagittarians know best how to have fun even when life sucks. Your daily rhythm may temporarily become a tangle of boring or annoying tasks, yet you can still summon a knack for enjoying yourself. But let me ask you this: How are your instincts for drumming up amusement when life doesn’t suck? Are you as talented at whipping up glee and inspiration when the daily rhythm is smooth and groovy? I suspect we will gather evidence to answer those questions in the coming weeks. Here’s my prediction: The good times will spur you to new heights of creating even more good times.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): More than you might realize, people look to you for leadership and regard you as a role model. This will be extra true in the coming weeks. Your statements and actions will have an even bigger impact than usual. Your influence will ripple out far beyond your sphere. In light of these developments, which may sometimes be subtle, I encourage you to upgrade your sense of responsibility. Make sure your integrity is impeccable. Another piece of advice, too: Be an inspiring example to people without making them feel like they owe you anything.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Rappersongwriter Nicki Minaj says, “You should never feel afraid to become a piece of art. It’s exhilarating.” I will go further, Aquarius. I invite you to summon ingenuity and joy in your efforts to be a work of art. The coming weeks will be an ideal time for you to tease out more of your inner beauty so that more people can benefit from it. I hope you will be dramatic and expressive about showing the world the full array of your interesting qualities. PS: Please call on the entertainment value of surprise and unpredictability.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Author Robertson Davies declared, “One learns one’s mystery at the price of one’s innocence.” It sounds poetic, but it doesn’t apply to most of you Pisceans— especially now. Here’s what I’ve concluded: The more you learn your mystery, the more innocent you become. Please note I’m using the word “innocence” in the sense defined by author Clarissa Pinkola Estés. She wrote: “Ignorance is not knowing anything and being attracted to the good. Innocence is knowing everything and still being attracted to the good.”

Homework: Reward yourself with a gift for an accomplishment few people know about. Testify: Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

Rob Brezsny - Free Will Astrology freewillastrology@freewillastrology.com

CANNABISCORNER

October is breast cancer awareness month. According to the American Cancer Society, when breast cancer (BC) is detected early and is in the localized stage, the 5-year relative survival rate is 99%. Early detection includes doing monthly breast self-exams and scheduling regular clinical breast exams and mammograms. Five to ten percent of BC cases in the US are related to an inherited gene mutation, most cases are linked to other factors – including lifestyle.

Treatments

Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation (cut/kill/burn) which unfortunately kills normal cells and causes multiple side effects. Cannabis is not only used for the relief of symptoms, but women are embarking on their own intuition and seeking holistic treatments. Cannabis, medical mushrooms, and high doses of Vitamin C are just a few, and embracing Susan Komen’s suggestions for healthy life choices that may prevent BC.

Lifestyle Prevention

Limit alcohol intake to less than 1 drink a day and men to less than 2 drinks a day. One study found women who had 2-3 alcoholic drinks per day had a 20 percent higher risk of breast cancer than women who don’t drink. Women with high blood levels of carotenoids have

KEGWHISPERER

Irespectjust how simplistic the German language can be. Everyday items such as beer, appliances, and even automobiles are given names which are quite literal. A television is Fernsehen (far-seeing), The Volkswagen (pronounced folks-vagon) is ‘the car of the people’, and Bierleiche, quite literally are ‘Beer Corpses’.

Bierleiche (Beer-lie-sha) Noun (German) Bierlichen are a common sight at Oktoberfest where the beer flows like water, the music and dancing are endless, and common folk from all over the globe descend to share the sheer joy of life and camaraderie. Unlike stoic Americans, the term carries no judgement. Nobody pulls out a Sharpie to color the faces of those who literally pass out at the huge communal tables. Police do not collect the bodies scattered along the roadsides while in deep, dreamless slumber. The Bierleiche are simply allowed to sleep it off wherever they may drop until the recover, often sheepishly, from their prone positions.

Oktoberfest in Germany is a happy time and a celebration of life and the recent harvest; and while Munich is sitting out Oktoberfest for the second consecutive year, several Southern California destinations are unpacking their drindl’s and lederhosen this year in celebration. While the genuine festival runs from MidSeptember to the first weekend in October in the homeland, Americans take the Octoberfest name seriously and local events generally run through the entire month of October.

Here is a look at where you can attend a celebration near you:

Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest

When: September 10 – November 5, 2022 (Friday – Sunday)

Where: Big Bear Convention Center, 42900 Big Bear Boulevard, Big Bear Lake

Details: Oktoberfest has been a tradition in Big Bear for over 50 years. Festivities are held every Saturday and Sunday with several beer gardens and two indoor bars.

Expect a mix of German and American traditions in terms of food and entertainment. Burgers Wings and Mexican food are served

BREAST CANCER AND CANNABIS, HARMFUL OR BENEFICIAL?

does not include progestin which can increase the risk of BC.

Cannabis Treatments

a decreased risk of BC. In general, fruits and vegetables are the best sources of carotenoids (rather than supplements) as supplements may have some health risks.

A study of nearly 320,000 European women pointed to a slight correlation between BC incidence and a high intake of saturated fat. Trans fats, frequently found in baked snacks and other processed foods, may also raise BC risk. Being overweight or obese after menopause increases a woman’s BC risk by 30-60 percent. That’s because fat cells make estrogen after menopause.

Tobacco smoke has at least 250 harmful chemicals, at least 69 of which have been shown to cause cancer. There’s growing evidence that smoking may slightly increase BC risk. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can be a risk. Talk to your gynecologist about taking natural HRT compounded by a pharmacist that

The ability of plant-derived and synthetic cannabinoids to control cancer cell growth, invasion, and death have been demonstrated in numerous experimental studies using cancer cell lines and genetically engineered mouse models. THC (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) promotes death in a CB-receptor-dependent manner, while Cannabidiol (CBD) exerts this effect independently of CB1/CB2 receptors and possibly includes the activation of the TRPV2 receptor.

High-dose CBD rather than high-dose THC is found to induce BC cell death. Dosages are based on weight and can be 200-400mg of CBD/day with minimal THC only for the synergistic effect. Other protocols showing results are a 1:1 ratio of CBD:THC. Women with BC can be resistant to the use of estrogen receptor modulators, like tamoxifen, which bind to CB receptors and decelerate the ability of cells to divide and grow and metastasize. However, issues lie in the fact that women need to take them chronically between five to 10 years and there are quite severe side effects of these drugs.

Dr. Meiri, cancer and cannabis researcher from Israel, exclaims that “more than 30% of

OKTOBERFEST HAPPENINGS IN SOCAL

BY RUTH HILL R.N.

women will stop [treatment] after one year, more than 50% will stop after three years; so, they are not finishing the treatment which causes a problem that cancer will come back.”

Dr. Meiri discovered “new phytocannabinoids”, not a known one, that is actually blocking the estrogen receptor from entering the nucleus, making the BC cells more sensitive to cancerkilling drugs. This can lead to lowering the dose of tamoxifen when cannabis is included.

Another newly discovered cannabinoid suggests that cannabitriol (CBT) could have better inhibitory activity than tamoxifen. In conclusion is cannabis beneficial or harmful to consume in women with BC? Cannabis harm is minuscule compared to other treatments for BC. Women are not waiting for research to catch up to observational awareness by cannabis users. Women know cannabis helps kill cancer cells.

Learn more about how to use Marijuana Without the High on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the Month from 11 AM to 1 PM at the Vault Dispensary Lounge. Call 760-866-9660 or send comments to cannaangel16@gmail.com

side-by-side with Bratwurst, Bavarian Dumplings, Apple Strudel and enough Sauerkraut to float the Bismarck. Outside venues will feature cover bands while indoor locations employ the services of German oompah bands.

Tickets: General Admission runs $25 for adults and pre-purchasing tickets is encouraged as the festival is running at less than capacity due to the pandemic. November 6-7 is Heroes Salute with free General Admission to US Military, Veterans, Law Enforcement, and Firefighters. You may make your free reservation by calling 909-585-3000. The immediate families of heroes’ can join the revelry at a discounted rate of $10 per guest, but the festival committee urges all to reserve their tickets in advance.

Lake Arrowhead Oktoberfest

When: September 17 – October 29, 2022 (every Saturday & Sunday)

Where: Lake Arrowhead Village, State Highway 189, Lake Arrowhead

Details: The Lake Arrowhead Village sports an Alpine theme, so the festival, held every Saturday and Sunday in the new Waterfront Park venue is a natural fit. Note that this is a cash only event and ATM machines are on site and available near drink ticket windows.

German Bier, Food, Musik & Fun is the theme,

so expect plenty of each. The festival celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year with German bands, dancing, and children’s games. Food is ala carte with various vendors offering traditional German staples such as Bratwurst, Knockwurst, Sauerkraut, Pretzels, and German Coleslaw. Prices will vary among the different purveyors.

Tickets: Admission to the event is free, but if you wish to consume beer or wine you really want to get a table reservation, guaranteeing you the best seat in the house and a “Starter Package”. This includes a commemorative Oktoberfest mug as well as your first beer or wine ticket. Beer is served in 16oz. increments (the size of the mug) and wine consists of a 6oz. pour. Once you purchase your mug, it may be used for the duration of the 2022 celebration and you only pay for drink tickets ($10). Please note: Mugs from prior Oktoberfest events are not eligible and besides, your personal collection would be incomplete without this year’s edition.

Phoenix Club / Anaheim

When: September 16 – October 23, 2022

Friday 6pm – 12am (21+); Saturday 5pm –12am (21+); Family Sunday 12pm – 5pm

Where: 1340 S. Sanderson Avenue, Anaheim (Behind the Honda Center)

Details: Founded in 1961 by German

BY BREWMASTER ED HEETHUIS

expatriates as a center of German Culture. This is my favorite Oktoberfest in Southern California and I am happy to report than despite an expected closure this year, Oktoberfest is still being celebrated in their indoor Bier Hall this year. Entertainment includes performances by the Express Band, and DeStubenbuben with DJ Musikmeister.

Tickets: General Admission is $20 for and Friday and Saturdays are 21 and over only. Sunday tickets are also $20 for adults while ages 3 – 12 are $5 and all children under 3 are free. Be warned; All tickets are available online only in order to control attendance due to the pandemic. Surf to: thephoenixclub.com for additional information and to purchase your admission duckets and don’t forget your parking voucher!

On a personal note, I made mention that this is my personal favorite of all the SoCal Oktoberfest’s. In my mind it is the most authentic to its German roots in terms of the overall experience. This Oktoberfest is an awesome experience with thousands (ok, maybe only hundreds this year) of folks donning German drindl’s and lederhosen. The beer is shipped from Germany and beery aficionados will recognize Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr (yes, to be authentic you will want to pronounce that ‘P’), Augustiner, and Paulaner. The food at Phoenix Club has always reflected the best of Bavarian edibles.

Go forth, gentle readers, and raise a Litre and grab a Strudel in honor of the season. Eat, drink, and please be responsibly merry! Oh, and feel free to leave your Bierleiche at home or in the car.

When Ed Heethuis isn’t brewing at Spotlight 29 Casino for 29 Brews, you will find the Certified Cicerone / Brewmaster out on his road bike, rebuilding the transmission on his Bug, or talking beer with the patrons at Taproom 29. He may be reached at: heethuis.ed@gmail.com or wherever beer may be found in the wild.

OnSeptember 22, the Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce held the Palm Desert Business Awards & Installation Dinner, where local businesses and leaders were awarded for their contributions to the community. The prestigious 2022 Business Person of the Year award had three nominees, including Nachhatter Chandi of Chandi Group USA, Patrick Somers of General Air Conditioning and Plumbing, and Lindi Biggi of Shadow Mountain Golf Club.

Biggi was awarded the title of Business Person of the Year at the Palm Desert Business Awards & Installation Dinner for her work as the new owner of the Shadow Mountain Gold Club in Palm Desert. Biggi took ownership of the historic golf course last year, purchasing the 63-acre course and with plans to make the necessary investment to bring it back to its original glory as the hot spot for golf and social activities that are a proud part of Palm Desert.

“When I first heard my name called for the award, I couldn’t believe I won. I knew who else was nominated, and I actually went to the event to prove to everyone that I was a good loser. I didn’t even have a speech prepared. It was overwhelming in a good way,” shared Biggi.

Recognized as the first golf course in the

LINDI BIGGI IS NAMED BUSINESS PERSON OF THE YEAR

BY CRYSTAL HARRELL

love for animals stems from her upbringing being raised on a farm, and the desire to save the ones she can. Biggi houses five dogs, three cats, a large tortoise named Shadow that she rescued from Shadow Mountain Golf Club, over a hundred koi fish, several flamingos, exotic birds, water turtles, and two ducks. There have been more than 30 non-profit organizations over the years that Biggi has hosted at her home.

“One thing I love about animals is that I think they provide a great lesson for humans in cohabitation and living with each other peacefully. The greatest joy I feel is when someone tells me they adopted their pet from Loving All Animals, which happens about three times a week,” shared Biggi.

City of Palm Desert, Shadow Mountain Golf Club is a landmark of the Coachella Valley with decades of history. It was incorporated in 1958, and by the end of the year 1960, the Club had over 270 members. In recent times, Shadow Mountain Golf Club has found itself in financial distress with endless looming deferred maintenance issues that caused it to be facing bankruptcy. Biggi has spent the past year revamping the golf course to better reflect its former presence.

“Taking ownership of Shadow Mountain Golf Club has got to be the most fun thing I’ve done in my entire life. I’m 81 years-old, and to buy a defunct golf course at this age has got to be borderline insanity, but it’s been fun. The whole community has been supporting me. They come to meetings and do all kinds of things to help. We haven’t saved the golf course yet, but we will,” stated Biggi.

The Shadow Mountain Golf Club timeline was to close the escrow on August 13, 2021, and do a maintenance list of hundreds of tasks to have the golf course open for play by November 21, 2021. This involved total re-landscaping, new walls, new fences, new pathways, emptying and refilling all the bunkers, rebuilding all the water features, redoing much of the irrigation, and reseeding the whole course.

“I’m really fortunate for all the people who have helped me. I would sink without them. All of the people who live near Shadow Mountain hated to see their backyard go from lush green to a subdivision. All of the people who didn’t live there still enjoyed having that beautiful open space. Shadow Mountain is our clubhouse,” said Biggi.

Lindi Biggi is a prominent animal welfare advocate, having started her own non-profit known as Loving All Animals in 2008. Her

Lindi names the community of the Coachella Valley as her favorite aspect of her home, and believes there are so many talented business people in the desert.

“There are people from all walks of life here—young and old—who have a sense of pride for what they do. They’re savoring all that the desert has to offer. My tip for anyone wanting to get into business is to just swing your bat. Just give it a try and take some risks. My favorite saying is ‘dogs don’t chase parked cars’,” stated Biggi.

SOCIETYSCENE

MISS AMERICA 2022 EMMA BROYLES MAKES HISTORIC TRIP TO

VALLEY

BY MADELINE ZUCKERMAN

Never

in the 100 year history of the Miss America Organization has a reigning Miss America ever visited the Coachella Valley . . .but there is always a first time!

Miss America 2022 Emma Broyles’ whirlwind trip to the Valley was graciously sponsored by Contour Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Center, Desert Family Medical Center, and Koffi Coffee. Chaperoned by Dr. Kimberley Yang, Broyles many stops included visits to St. Theresa’s Catholic School, Desert Arc, Koffi Coffee, and being the Guest Celebrity for a “Day of Beauty” at Contour Dermatology.

Emma Broyles is the first Korean-American to ever hold the prestigious title of Miss America. She is also the first Miss Alaska to be crowned Miss America, being a second generation Alaskan. Broyles never expected to be named Miss Alaska and then Miss America so early on. After being named Miss Alaska’s Outstanding Teen, a friend suggested she enter the Miss America competition. Broyles was already a singer, so she thought she would enter, especially after she realized she could potentially earn a scholarship to attend college, and pursue her dream of

becoming a dermatologist. She won the title of Miss Alaska at age 19, and then went on to win the Miss America title at age 20.

Broyles learned very early on about the importance of inclusion. Her older brother Brendan has down syndrome, and her mom was a Special Olympics figure skating coach, as well as, a special education teacher. Now in her ninth month of her one-year reign as Miss America, Broyles has made inclusion her mission and message.

“Inclusion is having a seat at the table and being an active member of that conversation and being heard,” comments Broyles. “It is not just about bringing in a person with a disability, not just about bringing in a person of color, or bringing in a person with a different background... it is sincerely listening to their input. Inclusion is hearing input from people with so many different backgrounds, which ultimately enriches the workforce and makes our communities a more enriched place.”

Broyles is very familiar with The Arc for people with disabilities, and was excited to visit another Arc program – Desert Arc in Palm Desert. “In Alaska, we have The Arc of Anchorage where my brother has been

attending. I was so excited to visit Desert Arc, due to my platform. It was wonderful to tour all the different programs and services Desert Arc offers, and to learn about how the organization’s work has been so successful enhancing the quality of life and creating opportunities for people with disabilities.”

Arriving at Desert Arc, Broyles was greeted by cheering Desert Arc clients, holding up hand-crafted banners and signs welcoming her. After spending time with many Desert Arc clients, Broyles was able to also visit virtually with additional clients which she thoroughly enjoyed.

“She is the first person from the State of Alaska to hold this title, and it is an interesting coincidence that Desert Arc was founded in 1959 , when Alasla became a State,” said Ricard Balocco, President/CEO of Desert Arc. “Miss America, thank YOU for visiting Desert Arc today! On behalf of all our clients, staff, and Board of Directors, we would like to present you with this “thank you” gift, a stunning crystal shining star memento, in great appreciation for championing our cause in service to people with disabilities.”

Broyles has a deep, long-standing relationship with programs supporting

people with disabilities. Her older brother, now 22, became a Special Olympics athlete at the age of 7. Emma and her younger brother would take Brendan a couple of times a week for track-and-field practice while growing up. The Special Olympics athletes became her community growing up, so she learned how to advocate for those with disabilities, and how they could advocate for themselves.

“My mom serves on the Governor’s Council for Disabilities and Special Education in Alaska. This inspired me to do what I could to spread the word of inclusion through Special Olympics.”

Broyles currently serves as Celebrity Ambassador for Special Olympics. When her reign as Miss America ends, Broyles plans to continue her advocacy for inclusivity and for people with disabilities. She will continue working with Special Olympics and serving as a Celebrity Ambassador. One day she hopes to provide her dermatological services free to the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Program, which offers free medical services to these athletes.

While keeping busy representing Miss America, sometimes traveling over 20,000 miles a month attending events, Broyles is a student studying Biomedical Sciences and Vocal Performances at Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University.

Emma Broyles is an impressive, poised, intelligent 21 year old role model for young women, who we will be hearing good things about in the future!

PORTA VIA - PALM DESERT

Thenewly opened Porta Via in Palm Desert has the look and feel of a carefully designed mid-century ambiance. The look is not a flashback retro effort, but more of an updated interpretation of the current modern movement popular in architecture now being built throughout the Coachella Valley. Open and airy spaces flooded with outdoor light welcome you to your place at the table. Outdoor dining is thoughtfully integrated in the design of the seamless extension of the indoor dining space rather than an afterthought.

The menu has many familiar dishes you could find at several restaurants that feature modern fresh cuisine. Porta Via stands out for their treatment and presentation of the dishes. Somehow, the tuna sandwich seems new and exciting, the salads more crisp and colorful, oysters burst with flavor draped with the glistening mignonette.

The team from business staff to servers all work in choreographed unison. Clearly, the management knows how to deliver a refined dining experience for their customers. For a splurge, there is a caviar service featuring several choices of Osetra and Beluga served with blini, horseradish, and sour cream.

The craft cocktail creations and wine list mesh seamlessly with the modern midcentury vibe. The prices are reasonable considering the quality of the food and service I would not hesitate to order anything off the menu. This is a great addition to the desert dining scene.

73100 El Paseo, Palm Desert, CA (760) 610-6670

Mon to Thu- 11:30 am to 9:00 pm

Fri- 11:30 am to 10:00 pm

Sat- 10:00 am to 10:00 pm

Sun- 10:00 am to 9:00 pm

BY DAN PARIS

Team from the Desert Arc Recycling Center in Indio (left to right) Gerardo B., Cesar Z., Reyes R., Emmanuel S., Miss America 2022 Emma Broyles, Vickie C., and Dianna A.

Members of the Desert Arc Yucca Valley Team (left to right) Christian B., Paula H., Dianna Anderson, Asst. Dir. of Desert Arc’s Yucca Valley Operations, Miss America 2022 Emma Broyles, Kristin B., and Brandon A.

(left to right) Richard Balocco, President/CEO of Desert Arc, Miss America 2022 Emma Broyles, Nancy Singer, Desert Arc Board member & Board Secretary, and Doug Watson, Desert Arc Board member.

(left to right) Desert Arc client Joseph D., Miss America 2022 Emma Broyles, and Desert Arc client Melissa G.

(left to right) Desert Arc client Erasmo M. and Miss America 2022 Emma Broyles.

Cheering crowd of Desert Arc clients and staff greeting the arrival of Miss America.