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THIS WEEK //11.30-12.6.16 // VOL. 29 ISSUE 35 COVER STORY
A PLACE
[14]
TO BE
SOHRAB HOMI FRACIS’ debut novel is a powerful, prescient tale of moving away and longing to belong. STORY BY DANIEL A. BROWN PHOTOS BY MADISON GROSS
FEATURED ARTICLES FEATURED
WE ARE JAGUARS AND [10] I’M VERY SORRY
PRIMED FOR AMAZON’S [12] SATANIC WAREHOUSE
BY MARK JUDSON Jags find NEW WAY TO LOSE, but fans still showing up
BY DAVID JAFFEE Do corporate subsidies TRULY BENEFIT the community?
IT TAKES TWO TO TERRORIZE
[22]
BY PAT MCLEOD Folio Weekly offers a double-shot of well-honed, CLASSIC HORROR
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NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 5
HIGH HOOPS! JACKSONVILLE GIANTS VS. SOUTH FLORIDA GOLD
How ’bout a shout-out to the other local team that actually wins? That’s right – we straight up said it, son! Since their inception in 2010, the Jacksonville Giants have been in the American Basketball Association (ABA) Final Four every season, were national champs three times, and made ABA history by setting a scoring record of 206 points in a single game! This weekend they aim to put the kibosh on the South Florida Gold. Come on out, lace up, suit up, and show your support. 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, Veterans Memorial Arena, Downtown, $10-$125, ticketmaster.com.
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FOUR-STRING GURU STANLEY CLARKE
BLACK VIOLIN Compromising
classically trained violinists Kevin Sylvester and Wilner Baptiste, Black Violin blends innovative, chopsheavy fi ddlin’ with a repertoire encompassing everything from Bach to Biggie Smalls. The versatile pair has worked with the likes of Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Alicia Keys and Kanye West. 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, The Ritz Theatre & Museum, Downtown, $35-$40, ritzjacksonville.com.
REASONS TO LEAVE THE HOUSE THIS WEEK
Bass king Stanley Clarke first showed up on the jazz scene playing deft, upright bass licks with artists like Pharaoh Sanders and Gato Barbieri. Starting in the ’70s, Clarke helped pioneer the fusion movement, slapping and plucking his signature Alembic bass and upright as a leader and with Return to Forever, while finding time to score a hit with “School Days” and jamming with Keith Richards in the New Barbarians. Whether as solo artist, in-demand soundtrack composer, producer or sideman, Clarke always delivers his revolutionary licks, style and taste. 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, $53-$63, pvconcerthall.com.
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HOLIDAY FOR HEP CATS SANDY HACKETT’S RAT PACK CHRISTMAS
Inspired by those halcyon days when people thoughtfully gave each other giant steaks, cartons of smokes, and monstrous bottles of Scotch for the holidays, Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Christmas filters the yuletide season through a martini-besotted eye, featuring Rat Pack reenactors performing a cadre of classic tunes. Sanctioned by none other than ’Packer Joey Bishop, this swingin’ holiday music revue was penned by Sandy Hackett, son of Buddy. Mad creds, yo! 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts’ Moran Theater, Downtown, $38.50-$74.50, fscjartistseries.org. THU
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USE YOUR ILLUSION JEFF BRADLEY
Comedian-illusionist Jeff Bradley cites influences ranging from Penn & Teller and Cirque du Soleil to W.C. Fields and George Carlin, but Bradley adds his own original style to the realm of the humorous and sleight of hand. The Canadian native has performed on all seven continents (including Antarctica!) – everywhere from comedy clubs to the casinos of Monte Carlo, displaying his potent mix of magic, juggling and comedy that includes audience participation. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1 with opener Mike Lagasse, Mudville Music Room, St. Nicholas, $12, raylewispresents.com.
NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 7
THE MAIL PRESIDENT-ELECT OF IGNORANCE
DONALD TRUMP HAS GROSS DEFICIENCY IN political knowledge of the world and doesn’t even recognize that he does. So naïve is Trump that he doesn’t realize it’s dangerous and disserving to the United States to be an enraptured puppet in the hands of Vladimir Putin. He is oblivious to the importance of very significant events in the world, such as the British vote to leave the EU, instead concerning himself with paltry matters such as whether Mrs. Khan, the Gold Star mom, spoke, or his preoccupation with a Miss Universe. There is so much for him to learn, and yet he fixates on trivia. Trump has made various promises, but he doesn’t have the necessary knowledge of the political system and the economic and political power holders, a willingness to learn and master pertinent details or the disposition to negotiate to actually deliver on them. As if his ignorance weren’t monumentally problematic enough, he often gives way to impulses, perilous in a person who can greatly affect our foreign relations and deploy our military. He has spent a lifetime growing a business empire on roots begun by his father, which entailed activities relentlessly requiring putting oneself above the interests of others. Thus, there have been discrimination against blacks in rental units, construction workers left unpaid, people cheated through Trump University and, it has been exposed, protracted and even code-questionable striving to avoid taxes to support our country. After his long record of self-service, how can you expect him to become serving to others? Hillary Clinton’s shortcomings are small compared to Trump’s. Jennifer J. Winkler via email
BROAD STROKES ALL AROUND
RE.: The (White) Elephant in the Room JULIE DELEGAL DESERVES A PULITZER nomination for her column as among the lowest of all the post-election blows struck against Donald Trump’s supporters. It reeks of the contempt that is all too common among progressives.
Is there racism among his supporters? Yes, but it is a minority. Is there bigotry among Hillary’s supporters? As a Catholic, I say an emphatic “yes,” but it’s part and parcel of the agenda of the Democratic Party and not a mere minority. Progressives hate religion but Delegal will never address it. Like all liberals, she sets herself up as the arbiter of everyone else’s motives. Mighty charitable of her, but as scripture tells us, don’t talk about the speck in someone else’s eye and ignore the plank in your own. Ms. Delegal, if you want the real reasons why Donald Trump won, look in the mirror. Many Americans are just sick and tired of the condescending, judgmental attitudes of people such as you. Roderick T. Beaman via email
2+2 = 3
RE.: “Mourning in America,” by A.G. Gancarski, Nov. 16 CLINTON BROUGHT OUT HER BASE AND THEN some. She had more votes than any Democrat in election history with the exception of Obama in 2008 (a standard that even 2012 Obama didn’t match). I would say that Trump simply got more votes, but that’s not even true. He simply got votes in the right combination of states. As we all know, she has approximately one million more votes than Trump (and counting). So this entire analysis is completely false. Tracy Rathburn via Facebook RE.: “Hackett to Pieces and End It,” by Mark Judson, Nov. 9
THE TIES THAT BIND US
JAGS FANS BEGIN THEIR MASOCHISTIC Sunday rituals… Ray Roberts via Facebook
CONSTRUCTION ZONE
BEEN REBUILDING FOR 20 YEARS NOW. Judy Easley via Facebook
LEND YOUR VOICE If you’d like to respond to something you read in the pages of Folio Weekly Magazine, please send an email (with your name, address, and phone number for verification purposes only) to mail@folioweekly.com, visit us at folioweekly.com, or follow us on Twitter or Facebook (@folioweekly) and join the conversation.
BRICKBATS + BOUQUETS BOUQUETS TO FSCJ Florida State College at Jacksonville has been awarded the America’s Promise Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. According to a press release from the school, as the only college in Florida to receive the grant, FSCJ will receive $1.8 million to support STEM education through advanced manufacturing training opportunities, specifically in mechatronics and welding technologies. BOUQUETS TO NASSAU COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE On Nov. 22, the NCSO lost one of its own when 32-year-old deputy Eric Oliver was killed in the line of duty, leaving behind a 6-year-old daughter. Oliver, a seven-year veteran of the force and Iraq war veteran, was the first officer the department has lost on the job since 1992, according to the Nassau County Record. Many thanks and our deepest condolences to the department and, especially, the friends and family of the young deputy who sacrificed his life in service to our community. BOUQUETS TO ROB BRADLEY As reported in Clay Today, on Nov. 17, Florida state Senator Bradley donated $30,000 of unused campaign funds to the Clay County 4-H Foundation, the local branch of the national nonprofit organization for kids. The donation will help fund 4-H activities, which include hands-on projects in health, science, agriculture and citizenship, as well as programs designed to teach skills related to leadership and government. Bradley’s donation was matched by the 4-H Foundation, creating an endowment of $60,000 for Clay County 4-H. DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO DESERVES A BOUQUET? HOW ABOUT A BRICKBAT? Send submissions to mail@folioweekly.com; 50 word maximum, concerning a person, place, or topic of local interest. 8 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016
FOLIO VOICES : FIGHTIN’ WORDS
DAVID BOWIE. LEONARD COHEN. SHARON JONES. Three pop musicians who died this year, offering proof to the truism that “bad things happen in threes,” and serving as three points in the ellipsis offering a coda to what is at once a political and a cultural age. All three of those artists have pride of place in any self-respecting hipster’s music collection. Bowie’s myriad eras have something for everyone. The postmodernist reinventions range from the iconic Ziggy Stardust era to Kraftwerkian flourishes on Low. From the blueeyed soul of the Nile Rodgers “Let’s Dance” period to the Tin Machine metal moment, and through the couple of decades afterward, with a coda in the free-jazz inflections of Lazarus — the deathbed album, and one of the most essential of Bowie’s career. Then there was Cohen, a more acquired taste for many. To the end — “You Want It Darker,” Cohen’s own deathbed cycle — the singer/ poet/songwriter had a feel for a trenchant lyric in a love song (“Suzanne,” “Lover, Lover, Lover”) or a political ballad (“The Partisan,” “Everybody Knows,” “Democracy,” “First We Take Manhattan”). Cohen’s production was always uneven: His most high-profile producer, Phil Spector, led him to the flawed Death of a Ladies’ Man album in the late 1970s. And Cohen, from the ’80s on, could have benefited from working with the kinds of producers who were producing relevant tracks then. But the lyrics were enough. Like Bowie’s, they came from an exalted place, the spirit of the outsider, the prophet. Sharon Jones, meanwhile, was a singular performer, an interpreter of songs. She and her band, the Dap Kings, offered percussive, driving renditions of songs ranging from Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done for Me Lately?” to Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.” And the band had its own classics: “I Learned the Hard Way” and “The Game Gets Old” are two of my favorites. Jones’ death could be blamed on Donald Trump. In reaction to his election, she had a stroke. (She was already fighting cancer.) The common thread among these artists ultimately is subjective: In existing, they offered smarter alternatives to some of the dumber crevices of pop culture. Bowie, Cohen and Jones — all were alternatives to the bowdlerized pop music used in commercials, heard in grocery stores and piped in elevators. Or so it seemed. Realistically, it’s only a matter of time before “I’m Afraid of Americans”
is used in an ad for Expedia, or “Famous Blue Raincoat” becomes part of a Men’s Wearhouse spot. It’s the way of the same world that got Nick Drake into a Volkswagen ad, or the Joy Division “Unknown Pleasures” cover art interpolated with a Mickey Mouse T-shirt. These artists, these songs, these moments that offered singular meaning — sooner or later, all are grist for the maw of pop culture, where the only constant is a newly elected Republican president using “Proud to be an American” as theme music. At this point in my life, I’ve been an active consumer — as in, putting my money into the system of production — of roughly three decades of pop music. In that time, the expectation has shifted from the lifechanging new single or album, to the hope that Artist X finally returns to form after a bad album or three, to the excitement about new versions (demos, remixes, whatever) being on the retrospective box set. And then, the fin de siècle psych-out: realizing that an artist has died, and then pulling the appropriate video off YouTube and sharing it on social media. It’s a way of mourning the artist, sure. But it’s really more about mourning the irrevocable loss of youth and the ultimately false set of expectations that pop music’s perpetual reinvention of itself always creates. Reinventions come with increasingly diminished returns: ask Madonna about that, or ask the person who bought the 11th new remix of “Blue Monday” or “West End Girls.” Each new iteration becomes a bit more cynical. And eventually, the consumer realizes — always the last to know — that no matter what remixer touches an old property, it’s still played out. Meanwhile, the escapist sphere of pop music doesn’t really blot out the reality outside the speaker box: that insistent realization that the country’s getting poorer, that you’re getting older, that there’s more crime on the streets for increasingly inexplicable reasons, and that the president-elect of the United States is taking time out of his transition for absolute bullshit, like Twitter beefs with the cast of “Hamilton.” After Pence got booed and lectured in NYC, Trump said that “The Theater” should always be a safe space. But there are no safe spaces for most of us. We live in a world of mounting uncertainty. And pop culture ultimately has been a fleeting distraction, ultimately irrelevant to where the future will take us, with those who bought in being the biggest marks of all. A.G. Gancarski mail@folioweekly.com Twitter/AGGancarski
THE YEAR THE MUSIC
DIED 2016: The year POP ATE ITSELF
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FOLIO VOICES : JAG CITY
WE ARE JAGUARS AND I’M VERY
SORRY Jags find new WAY TO LOSE, but fans still showing up
TURNS OUT THE ONLY THING MORE HEART wrenching than watching the Jaguars on Sunday is watching them sick. Cough medicine doesn’t quite counteract the sadness as well as a beer. And drinks were in demand as the Jacksonville Jaguars were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs after Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. For the fourth straight week, the Jags found themselves on the losing side of a one-score game. And for the ninth time this season, the Jags have found a new way to lose a football game. This was a playoffs-or-bust season; the rebuild was finally complete. Now it’s not even December and we’re sitting at 2-9, realizing this could be one of the worst seasons in franchise history. The loss, once again, was a team effort. Dropped passes, poor clock management, special teams struggles, defensive flops and missed opportunities contributed to another disappointing Sunday. Boos and profanities filled the air after several decisions by the game’s officiating staff. A mysterious defensive pass interference call on the Jags erased an interception and set up the Bills’ go-ahead touchdown. The Jaguars final possession saw a defender grab and pull the jersey of receiver Allen Robinson, but no flag was thrown. In pure Duval fashion, quarterback Blake Bortles harshly criticized the no-call in a post-game press conference. When asked if he would be fined for the comment, he shrugged it off, “Might as well keep talking then.” Perhaps we’re biased as Jags fans, but when Bills head coach Rex Ryan comments that it was a good game by the referees, it’s tough to ignore how poorly the game was called. However, teams should put themselves in positions where the refs can’t jeopardize a victory. Yet once again, the Jags shot themselves in the foot...several times. 10 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016
This makes the season that much more frustrating and confusing. There isn’t one aspect of the game, or one specific person, that deserves the load of the blame. They’re losing as a team. Sure, Bortles and head coach Gus Bradley are certainly sitting on the hottest seats, but the team itself is in regress mode. Special teams can’t field punts or stop big returns; when Bortles does throw a good pass it’s dropped (looking at you, Hurns) and even forcing the opposing offense into a third and long situation means nothing because our defense gives up big plays. What’s even more aggravating is that they aren’t the worst team in their division, but they fall apart each week at the worst times. I can’t even listen to the Bradley postgames anymore. Four years and 14 wins later, and he’s still talking about how much the team has learned and how hard they play. Jacksonville doesn’t deserve the team they have, the city deserves better. Not saying the team should leave, but week after week fans pour their heart, soul, money and liver into the Jags, getting nothing in return. In perspective, the Chicago Bears — with the same record as the Jags — had an actual attendance of just over 48,000 this past week. The Windy City has no time to waste on a bad product. Meanwhile, Jacksonville takes the losses, players’ criticisms and the social media/ office jokes and still stands by their team. Are people angry? Sure, and honestly they should be. But for now, they are still crowding EverBank and defending their losing team. How much more “building” and “learning” can the fans really take? Mark Judson mail@folioweekly.com @MarkfromJax ____________________________________ Connect with Judson at the Folio Weekly Jag City Facebook page.
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FOLIO VOICES : GUEST EDITORIAL
PRIMED FOR AMAZON’S
SATANIC WAREHOUSE Do corporate subsidies TRULY BENEFIT the community?
IN A CAPITALIST ECONOMY THAT IS UNABLE to generate a sufficient number of good jobs at a living wage, we have become desperate for any sign of economic life. It is under these conditions that cities and states compete intensely for capital investment, corporate expansions and relocations of any form. Urban municipal governments that at one time saw their primary purpose as providing their residents with services designed to enhance the quality of life now devote more energy toward creating a favorable business climate for corporations, and using taxpayer dollars to subsidize corporate expansion and relocation. And the corporations, for their part, are happy to leverage the economic hard times, which continue lingering after the Great Recession, into tax breaks, incentives and subsidies. How do states and localities justify these giveaways? Just as with the false promise of supply-side economics — that the concentration of income and wealth at the top would eventually trickle down — the assumption here is that the corporate welfare will have positive “spill over” effects into employment, income, spending and tax revenue. But while there is no guarantee that these positive projected outcomes for the citizenry will be realized, it is often the case that the economic benefits going directly to corporations are provided nonetheless. Here in Jacksonville, large sums of taxpayer dollars have been spent on attracting, securing and retaining a corporate presence. In 2015 and 2016 to date, the city has pledged $49 million in incentives, grants and subsidies awarded to 19 projects/firms. The most prominent, and one of the largest of these economic development awards, has been doled out to Amazon: $13.4 million, accounting for 27 percent of the allocated 2015-’16 development funds. The Amazon agreement, disguised as “Project Rex” prior to its unveiling, has been touted and celebrated by local officials. Jax Chamber of Commerce President Daniel Davis described the deal as “… great news for our entire community and another example of what we can accomplish if we are
working together with the common goal of growing jobs.” It is important for citizens to understand what this local “megaproject” entails. First of all, Amazon is not locating a corporate office or headquarters in Jacksonville, but rather a “fulfillment center.” This is the term Amazon uses to describe what will be a sprawling 800,000-square-foot distribution center designed to rapidly fulfill the orders of its customers in the region. Jacksonville has not captured some rare commodity — there are already at least 70 such fulfillment centers nationwide. The vast majority of jobs generated by this project — Amazon anticipates employing 1,500 workers — will be warehouse jobs. As the Amazon press release indicates, “At the facility, Amazon employees will pick, pack and ship small items to customers, such as books, electronics and consumer goods. Associates will work alongside innovative technologies to fulfill customer orders.” All of the warehouse jobs will pay $15 per hour or less. The company claims that 500 of the jobs will pay $50,000 or more in annual salary. What can we learn about these kinds of warehouse jobs from the reports at other locations? The news is not good. One March 2016 story on the website Gizmodo leads off this way: It’s unspeakably awful to work in an Amazon warehouse. You have to walk between seven and 15 miles a day, enter and exit the buildings through a set of airport-style security scanners that take 30 minutes to get through, and you’re constantly being watched. The Morning Call interviewed 20 former and current Amazon warehouse employees for a story published in 2011, reporting:
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Only one of the employees interviewed described it as a good place to work. Workers said they were forced to endure brutal heat inside the sprawling warehouse and were pushed to work at a pace many could not sustain. Employees
were frequently reprimanded regarding their productivity and threatened with termination, workers said. The consequences of not meeting work expectations were regularly on display, as employees lost their jobs and got escorted out of the warehouse. Such sights encouraged some workers to conceal pain and push through injury lest they get fired as well … ” There have been several first-hand accounts of working conditions by those who have actually toiled in these fulfillment centers: I walked approximately 10 to 15 miles a night while I worked, the warehouse was stifling hot, and there wasn’t any fresh air to breathe. It had to be pushing 110 degrees on the third floor … Management grew increasingly despotic and the worst among them barked and hollered and carried on in ways that I have never experienced in any other workplace … . Everything was non-negotiable … . If an employee accrued six demerit points, his or her assignment was terminated. We could also be written up if we did not adhere to bizarre safety standards. Pickers could be written up if they were caught steering their cart with one hand or holding their scanner while they were pushing the cart … . Management effectively pitted worker against worker in a struggle to survive and there was pain on people’s faces as they pushed through 55-hour weeks. (“Surviving the Amazon,” by Nichole Gracely, Aug. 2012, Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies) I have been hired as a picker, which means my job is to find, scan, place in a plastic tote, and send away via conveyor whatever item within the multiple stories of this several-hundred-thousand-square-foot warehouse my scanner tells me to … . With an hour left in the day, I’ve already picked 800 items. Despite moving fast enough to get sloppy, my scanner tells me that means
I’m fulfilling only 52 percent of my goal. (“I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave,” by Mac McClelland, March/April 2012, published on Mother Jones) These descriptions of the Amazon workplace are consistent with much of what is contained in a representative Amazon warehouse job posting. It includes the following: “you must be able to lift up to 49 pounds with or without reasonable accommodation, stand/walk for up to 10-12 hours, and be able to frequently push, pull, squat, bend, and reach”; “[we want you to join the team if] you’re able to continuously climb and descend stairs safely”; “flexibility is key, associates should be open to extra hours, time off, and a rapid pace”; “temperature in the fulfillment center may vary between 60 and 90 degrees, and will occasionally exceed 90 degrees”; “you’ll stand in one place for extended periods of time, and be walking a good distance around the facility”; and “noise level varies and can sometimes be loud.” The hourly compensation for this Amazon warehouse job, aka “Full-Time Fulfillment Associate,” is $13.50. In the interest of balance, I sought out and was able to find one testimonial published on LinkedIn in 2015 that was intended to present a less critical and “fair account” of the Amazon workplace. It stated, “In terms of the amount of work expected from a Tier 1 associate, it is taxing, but far from impossible. Employees with poor work ethic typically do not last long at an FC … .” The remainder of the piece was devoted to a description of all aspects of work in the Amazon warehouse. But none of it contradicted what was reported in the more critical appraisals; it was just reported in a more neutral tone. What was particularly enlightening was the detailed description of how each employee’s productivity level is measured: Our work is monitored in a number of ways, but the two that tend to be most important are Rate and Time OffTask … . Rate is the primary way an associate’s productivity is measured. It is a very important metric for Amazon. It is measured in units per hour and is compared against an expected rate in the given process path. For example, the expected rate in one process path might be 75 units processed (stowed, picked, packed, etc.) per hour. This is the standard you are expected to meet, and your actual rate for any given unit of time is measured as a percentage of the expected rate. If the expected rate is 75 units per hour and you only picked 50 units in one hour, you were at 67 percent to plan. 67 percent to plan is a horrible rate at Amazon. In fact, the minimum acceptable rate that will not warrant disciplinary action is 100 percent. At Amazon, 99 percent is not good enough. The general manager at my building has said at an all-hands meeting that rate is intended to be aggressive.” What does it say about the current state of American capitalism when workers and communities alike are clamoring to work for and host a warehouse that uses digitally enhanced methods of worker exploitation modeled after the 19th-century sweatshop? At one time, visions of technological progress imagined a world where work was less physically onerous and monotonous, and more mentally gratifying. But, as sociologists have always warned, technology is not an inevitably progressive force. It depends who
controls it and for what purpose — human liberation or oppressive surveillance. Amazon has chosen the latter in the interest of maximizing productivity and profitability. For Amazon workers, the apparatus of social control even extends beyond the security scanners through which they pass as they exit the workplace. Amazon requires workers, even temps, to sign a contract that includes a confidentiality and non-competition clause. The former prohibits sharing information about the Amazon business operations; the latter is a promise by employees that they will not enter employment with another firm that in any way (“directly or indirectly”) competes with Amazon products or services for a year and a half. It is important to emphasize that warehouses, which are now called distributions centers, have long been some of the most grueling and unpleasant workplaces. Based on my research on the logistics sector, warehouse/ distribution center jobs increasingly fall into the category of “precarious work.” This is work characterized by employment and financial insecurity with increasing numbers employed through temp/staffing agencies. Consistent with this trend, Amazon uses Integrity Staffing Solutions to recruit a large proportion of its warehouse labor force. Based on the many complaints, negative media reports, and lawsuits pertaining to the warehouse working conditions, one might expect Amazon to consider modifying its
As the Institute for Local Self-Reliance has pointed out, the longterm aggregate impact of Amazon’s national expansion is, in fact, the ELIMINATION OF JOBS. management practices. But, so far, rather than address the obvious sources of discontent, Amazon has decided to attack the human symptom. They recently unveiled a “pay to quit” policy, which pays workers up to $5,000 to quit their warehouse job if they are dissatisfied. What might at first appear to be a generous and innovative human resource policy can more accurately be interpreted as a form of hush money designed to eliminate and silence the sources of discontent that might spread through the organization and mobilize collective action. If that strategy doesn’t work, the other current Amazon innovation is simply to eliminate humans altogether through automation. In 2012, Amazon acquired Kiva Systems, the leading producer of warehouse robotic systems. In 2015, the name was changed to Amazon Robotics with the supply of production directed exclusively toward Amazon warehouses, thus reducing the likelihood of automated warehouse competition. The long-term vision appears to be a nearly fully automated warehouse operation with robots replacing the potentially recalcitrant humans.
Given what we know about warehouses/ distribution centers generally, and now Amazon in particular, should cities be providing Amazon with hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives and subsidies? According to the Good Jobs First subsidy tracker, Amazon has already received 72 subsidy awards totaling $533 million. As the largest online retailer in the world, Amazon is hardly a struggling enterprise in need of government assistance. Further, there is no reason for large cities to pay Amazon to locate a fulfillment center when the core objective of their business model is based on strategically locating their warehouses all over the country, within easy striking distance of major population centers, like Jacksonville, in order to expand their market by fulfilling online orders expeditiously. Despite these logical arguments against publicly subsidizing Amazon fulfillment centers, there is the single retort that trumps any objection or criticism to these procorporate economic development policies — jobs. This is the great silencer of dissent. No one wants to be labeled a “job killer,” no matter the quality of jobs. And Amazon has pledged to create 1,500; on Nov. 22, the company revealed plans to open a second distribution center in Jacksonville, creating up to an additional 1,200 jobs. But in the case of Amazon, even this job creation claim rests on very shaky grounds. As the Institute for Local Self-Reliance has pointed out, based on its research of Amazon fulfillment centers, the long-term aggregate impact of Amazon’s national expansion is, in fact, the elimination of jobs. This is because online retail has been replacing consumer spending in the brick-and-mortar establishments that make up the local business community. “Brick-andmortar retailers employ 47 people for every $10 million in sales … But Amazon employs only 14 people per $10 million in revenue. As Amazon grows and takes market share from other retailers, the result is a decline in jobs, not a gain. In 2012, Amazon expanded its share of retail spending in North America by $8 billion, which works out to a net loss of about 27,000 jobs.” And while we are on the subject of job numbers, we should all be asking Amazon what percentage of these 2,700 jobs will be temporary and seasonal. And what percentage will be slated for elimination through robotic automation? Perhaps it would be more economically effective if the $13.4 million in incentives and tax rebates were used to seed and support a larger number of locally owned businesses that have a real financial need and also have demonstrated their commitment to the Jacksonville community. The wealth generated by these local businesses would also be retained and reinvested in the community, rather than paid out to distant shareholders who may actually profit from the less-thanhumane working conditions within the Amazon warehouse. It is time that cities consider alternative economic development strategies devoted to building and sustaining local wealth, rather than luring it from the outside. Citizens of the community should also be permitted to play a role in deciding whether millions of their dollars should be devoted to these megaprojects. Given the current scarcity of fiscal resources, it is irresponsible to shower corporate behemoths with subsidies and tax breaks they don’t need, and for jobs that show little respect for the dignity of workers. David Jaffee mail@foliowekly.com ______________________________________ Jaffee is a professor of sociology at the University of North Florida. NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 13
SOHRAB HOMI FRACIS’ debut novel is a powerful, prescient tale of moving away and longing to belong
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iraf Adajania is new to town. Nearly 8,000 miles from his homeland in Bombay, the 22-year-old Parsi civil engineering graduate student has immigrated to Newark, Delaware. In many ways, the dozing college town is the antithesis of the bustling metropolitan sprawl he has left behind. Yet eventually, Newark offers him opportunity and impasse, Deadheads and rednecks, the tedious work of being a teacher’s assistant and a broader, perhaps even unwanted, education outside of school that he could never have anticipated. The Iran Hostage Crisis of 1981 is unresolved for some Americans, the hostile feelings toward “foreigners” not released by the freeing of the U.S. captives. And now Viraf finds himself a target of xenophobia, which will change his perceptions, even his character, but not his determination to stand his ground, even after he’s been pushed. The debut novel from celebrated author and Riverside resident Sohrab Homi Fracis, Go Home is a quest tale of the highest order, filtered through the prism of both early-’80s America and Bombay, where hostilities are both real and imagined. It is also a comingof-age story of a young man experiencing universal moments of angst, alienation, inadequacy and even clarity. Over the course of its 250 pages, Go Home (Knut House Press) deals not only in truths, but also in unpredictable variables. That much-cited author Anonymous once wrote, “The fates lead the willing and drag the unwilling.” In Go Home, Viraf Adajania is both led and pulled by exterior events and interior reveries, and by tale’s end, the reader has been drawn into a well-crafted novel dealing in all-inclusive ideas; of who we are, where we are going, and even where — or when — we are welcome.
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A PLACE
TO BE STORY BY DANIEL A. BROWN
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PHOTOS BY MADISON GROSS
n the backyard of Bold Bean Coffee Roasters on Stockton Street, a half-dozen hipsters sit on paint-chipped picnic tables, most covered in hoodies or even more protective winter wear in the relative November chill. A few defiant souls wear only short-sleeved shirts, as if flexing a muscle at the 50°F chill. There are plenty of ashtrays, but the mulch-andpebbled ground is peppered with cigarette butts. A small, gray tabby pokes its head around the chain-link fence, and just as quickly turns away, apparently unimpressed by the sight of regulars sipping pour-over coffees and beers. Sitting at a vacant picnic table, Sohrab Homi Fracis is wearing a zippered navy-blue fleece jacket; his face youthful and lean, the gray stubble in his short beard the only thing betraying his being in his late 50s. He cups a large chai latte, warming his fingers. “I’m an insomniac,” he explains with a grin, allowing that indulging in caffeine at this late hour is sure to keep him up half the night. Fracis is a measured, yet surely not evasive speaker. When guaranteed that whatever is said “off the record” and in confidence will not make it into print, he looks semi-perplexed. “Why?” he laughs. “I have nothing to hide.”
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n the written page, that same kind of transparency and candor fuels the believability of Go Home. Fracis is both a deft realist and master mesmerist with his prose. If there is an evident strength in the novel, it is its ability to hold the reader hostage. By book’s end, the reader is saddened to leave. Fracis explains the friction that drives the story.
Sohrab Homi Fracis quickly dismisses the idea of his debut novel Go Home being anchored solely in his real life. “It’s sourced from personal experience, but it’s far from memoir. You could say it’s loosely autobiographically based.”
“As far as the central conflict, on one hand, Viraf has his redneck oppressors, and on the other hand, he has his Deadhead neighbors,” he says. “And one of the lines from the book is, ‘He was so fresh off the boat and seasick that he couldn’t tell the one from the other.” Viraf ’s confusion isn’t based on some kind of self-conscious sense of alienation. The anger and peril are tactile, real. Following a raid on the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, from Nov. 4, 1979 to Jan. 20, 1981, Iranian radicals held 52 American hostages. The backlash by some Americans, already angered by the’70s fuel crisis, was fierce. A popular T-shirt of the day featured that American archetype, Mickey Mouse, flipping the bird at the viewer, with the caption, “Hey Iran!” When Viraf steps on American soil, he doesn’t enter a land of “United We Stand,” but rather a place where he is told in the opening paragraph of the novel: “Go home!” In many ways, when played out on the page, Viraf is Fracis and Fracis is Viraf. Much of the novelist’s biography on his website sets the cornerstone for the character. Both were born in Bombay and attended the Campion School, a private Jesuit school for children and teens. Both studied civil engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, and then received a scholarship to pursue graduate studies at the University of Delaware, in Newark. And they share the experiences of being on the receiving end of volatile xenophobia and seething hate for the mortal error of being strangers on American soil. “Oh, I absolutely experienced hostility when I came here,” says Fracis. “But that was also a rough time to arrive.”
Fracis quickly dismisses the idea of Go Home being anchored solely in his real life. “It’s sourced from personal experience, but it’s far from memoir. You could say it’s loosely autobiographically based.”
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ohrab Homi Fracis was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) in “late ’58.” In Go Home, the soundtrack of Viraf ’s childhood is scored by the sounds of his mother’s records by American recording artists like Jim Reeves, Harry Belafonte and Connie Francis. Throughout the book, Viraf is hip to everyone from The Doors to Dire Straits. Music is just one of the recurring refrains that help propel Go Home. Right away, Viraf (and surely his creator Fracis) take pleasure in the sensorial to the height of the sensual. Delicious Indian dishes mingle with a heightened awareness of the seasons, and Viraf ’s pressing romantic desires span two continents. One poignant scene in the novel where music, senses and self-awareness merge tells of Viraf and his friend Nitin stopping in a rural Delaware tavern for beer and seafood. This passage features Fracis at his spellbinding best. The pacing is measured to a languid and unhurried pitch. There’s a soft possibility of trouble as Viraf and Nitin step into the darkened bar where gruff-looking locals hunch over their drinks, staring over at the two newcomers. The pair of outlanders grabs a table, orders and are served plates of food and cold beers. As Nitin tears into his meal (“Bloody prawn; why do they call it shrimp?”), Viraf leans on the jukebox and
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Fracis signs copies of Go Home at a Nov. 26 reading at The BookMark in Neptune Beach.
A PLACE TO BE <<< FROM PREVIOUS selects “Good Ol’ Boys Like Me,” a song by one of his mother’s favorite singers, Don Williams. As the honky tonk ballad plays, Viraf is pulled through a kind of waking dream of memory and emotion, his mind traveling briefly to a moment in Kharagpur, then a flash to his maternal grandmother, the ever-fretting Mamaji, and then finally into a shared space where he imagines fragments of his own childhood fused with Williams’. As the songs ends, the bar is silent, as if every man had experienced his own inner journey as well. In an imagined space of minutes, Viraf the suspicious foreigner, maybe even a hated “I-ray-nian,” has gained entry into the formerly hostile camp through the shared bond of country song. When he pays the bartender, an unspoken accord exchanges between them before Viraf and Nitin head out the door.
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n another world, Sohrab Homi Fracis might have been destined for city plans rather than narrative plots. Fracis’ father Homi was a civil engineer and worked for his father-in-law, also named Homi, in the elder’s civil engineering firm. “I was being groomed to be a civil engineer,” says Fracis. “A family business just like in the book.” Fracis’ mother Dinsi was a homemaker, who also held a bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate in piano from Sophia College in Bombay, one of the best all-women’s colleges in the city. His older sister Nuli completed the family of four.
While civil engineering was the family trade, literature was its retreat. “My mom was a big reader all her life. She was always reading and had shelves filled,” says Fracis. “In his past life, my dad had to have been a good reader because he had his favorites and he would guide Nuli and me when we’d pick through the illustrated classics.” Now more of a collector’s item than literary launch-pad for kids, Fracis’ treasured stories were the widely read Classics Illustrated, works presented in comic-book style. From 1941 to 1971, these condensed versions of everything from the Aeneid and Hamlet to Moby Dick and Dickens’ works primed the mind of many a future reader and visual artist, including underground comics guru Robert Crumb. “My dad’s favorite author was O. Henry,” says Fracis. “And he loved O. Henry for what has gone out of favor today: the trick ending. You’d have the ailing wife during a bleak winter waiting for things to change and she’s sinking. Then she sees a leaf plastered against the window and she starts to brighten up and recovers. And it’s only afterward that you learn, at the end, that it was painted on the wall by her husband. That’s the classic O. Henry ending.” Fracis’ family was Parsi, followers of the pre-Christian faith of Zoroastrianism. The Fracis family was seemingly observant but not obligated in their beliefs. “I wouldn’t call them religious,” he says. “But they practiced all of the traditional stuff.” Fracis is no longer an adherent to the faith. “I would say I’m agnostic in a specialized sense of the word. I don’t believe there’s a God-like figure up in the heavens. I know there isn’t. But really no one knows what the real origins were. Not
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even the best scientists, although scientists are much more to be relied upon.” While there are an estimated 150,000 Zoroastrians on the planet, the population of living Parsis is dwindling rapidly. “There are 100,000 or fewer now and globally probably in the 80,000 range,” says Fracis. “Bombay used to be by itself home to 75,000 and now it’s probably down to 50,000 or fewer. And Canada and UK have several thousand.” Fracis says he never felt self-conscious about his Parsi heritage while among his classmates at the Campion School. “The school was pretty eclectic, mostly Scottish Jesuit-run school taught by mostly Christian teachers; but the students were Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Parsi and Sikh. Anyone other than the majority Hindu students could feel like they were a minority in class; I didn’t.” Along with the pressure to be a civil engineer, Fracis was living under the tacit obligation to eventually continue not only the family, but also Parsi, bloodline. “It was being not very subtly ingrained into me that Parsis marry Parsis and have Parsis with the encouragement of, ‘We’re dying! We’re dying! Don’t let us die!’” he laughs. “But who you’re attracted to has nothing to do some box that you’re put in at birth or some label that’s attached to you.” This schism between his romantic attractions and family’s desires for his marital partnership was a reality of Fracis’ late adolescence. “They ran against each other in your mind and your heart. All you could do was work through it. You’re not very wise at that age and you didn’t know how the world worked. You didn’t even know how you yourself worked.” Upon graduating from the Campion School, Fracis was accepted to the Indian Institute of Technology and headed to
Kolkata. After graduating with a degree in civil engineering, as dictated by familial obligation, he received a scholarship from the University of Delaware. And so he headed west.
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he novel has a relatively small cast of characters, yet each one is critical to the cohesion and flow of Go Home. At his apartment complex, Deadhead neighbors Doug and Ali offer an earnest albeit intermittent welcome to the newcomer Viraf. On campus, his fellow teaching assistant Will, an African-American student, seems to give Viraf a kind of nonCaucasian anchoring in America. Fellow Indian student Nitin is both comic relief and sounding board. And at home in Bombay, Viraf ’s family serves as a reminder that his old life is always back there, waiting, regardless of the changes he experiences. These people buffet and guide Viraf ’s life, and he acts and responds in kind like any young person: with passion, bafflement, affection and longing. Yet it is a late-night encounter with an unforeseen adversary that cuts a deeper and seething drama into the story. Driving his used Pinto down an empty Newark street, Viraf is nearly blindsided by a Bronco barreling down the road. Unexpectedly, the four-wheel drive vehicle begins chasing the hapless Viraf, and soon he’s cornered in an empty parking lot as a hulking urban cowboy climbs out of the SUV. The man bellows at Viraf. “You hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME, YOU GODDAMN DAGO?” The redneck punctuates these words with fists and then drives away, leaving Viraf bloodied, eyeglasses broken, and with a newly shattered view of America.
“That scene had to stay,” says Fracis. “It was a metaphor for the kind of DISORIENTATING EXPERIENCE, when you transfer yourself from an entirely different, old world culture, to the other side of the world to a WHOLE NEW CULTURE.” “Perception and reality had to be a thread through the themes,” says Fracis, of the novel’s recurring use of stark realizations and well-earned insights.
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etaphors and altered perceptions thrum a current throughout the narrative of Go Home. Within the first 30 pages of the book, Viraf drops his first hit of LSD with Doug and Ali. Wandering through Pennsylvania’s Longwood Gardens, Viraf ’s acid trip becomes a de facto vision into a “new world” within his new American world. Looking at the world through dilated, acid-enhanced eyes, Viraf is in turns fascinated and terrified by this place that has turned on him, not unlike the surface of the town of Newark now revealed itself as the sight of xenophobia and violence. “There’s all this talk of crossing over into this new world,” says Fracis. “And this little piece of blotter paper had opened the gates of, and his feeling of disorientation and paranoia within that new world. And his attempts to hold onto the old world, which was increasingly hard to hold onto.” During Viraf ’s acid peak, Doug tells him to “Go with the flow.” Yet Viraf swims into even more writhing visual and mental confusion. “That scene had to stay,” says Fracis. “It was a metaphor for the kind of disorientating experience, when you transfer yourself from an entirely different, old world culture, to the other side of the world to a whole new culture.” Set some 50 pages after the opening salvo acid trip, Viraf ’s experience with xenophobia and violence-born paradigm shift becomes the crux of Go Home. “My experience was not that different. When you come to this country in a xenophobic atmosphere as Viraf did, and I did, during the post-Iran Hostage Crisis, you are going to experience all of these things,” says Fracis, over 30 years after his entry to this country. “And a lot of mainstream America wasn’t entirely aware that such things were
happening. In effect, these kinds of experiences were swept under the rug, because they weren’t convenient for the mainstream to know or understand. It was more convenient to go about their own lives, in denial.” Within Go Home, Fracis goes deeper into American xenophobia. The polyglot of his fellow Parsis, Hindus and Muslims back in Viraf ’s homeland are given their chance to show the ancient resentments of culture clashes. After his assault, Viraf decides to upgrade to contact lenses in lieu of clunky spectacles, and again, he soon “sees” his friends in a new light as they travel together, trapped in a car as a prejudicefueled yelling match breaks out. “Perception and reality had to be a thread through the themes. You had that with the acid trip,” says Fracis. “Viraf having glasses was always a thing. It represented vision, it represented changing vision, and a visionary reaction to what happened to him.”
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n April 2, 1988, the then-29-yearold Fracis moved to Jacksonville. “I avoided moving here on April Fool’s Day because I was so tired of the nomadic life that I wanted to avoid any ‘vibes,’ and make that move my last move,” he laughs. “And almost three decades later, I’m still here.” He’d spent the previous two years in Detroit as a “techie” consultant, programming computer systems with old-school languages like COBOL and FORTRAN for the Ford Motor Company. His first impressions were noxious. “Initially, Jacksonville was not so great because it stank,” he laughs, recalling the days when the paper mills’ pungent odor was identified with the city as much as the river.
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A PLACE TO BE <<< FROM PREVIOUS As the ’80s rolled away, the furor of the Iran Hostage Crisis faded. But a few years after Fracis’ arrival in Jacksonville, Operation Desert Storm began blowing up more Middle Eastern dust in Iraq. “It was really a case-by-case basis, of dealing with Americans, living in America,” says Fracis. “I had my little tests with anyone that gave me the lay of the land.” Fracis learned how to assess how people reacted to his ethnicity. “I learned quickly to gauge how people reacted to me,” he says. “And if they didn’t pass my little test? See ya.” If anything had come from his experiences in America, it was a thicker skin and a softer heart. “You know, I’d surely changed,” he says. “And America had changed.” While in Detroit, Fracis’ impetus to begin writing fiction started in truly novelistic regard. After sending a handwriting sample to a Detroit news columnist that analyzed readers’ handwriting, he received a response that an analysts’ club had determined Fracis had the innately creative, insightful script of a writer. “And I wasn’t doing any writing at all,” he laughs. “Go figure.” Prior to this, the only real “writing” Fracis had done was during his Campion School days, when at times his teachers, impressed by his skills as an essayist, would have his work published in the school paper. “Because I was a big reader, I always used storyline as a way of conveying things and trying to hold the reader’s interest.”
Working for a Jacksonville company (“Just call it computer consultants-something-orother,” he laughs), Fracis was feeling burned out by the cathode rays and code crunching of the tech world. “I’d asked myself the simple question: ‘Can I do this day in and day out for the rest of my life?’ And the answer was an unequivocal, ‘No.’” Fracis knew that whatever he did, it would need to hold him “by his very nature.” He wasn’t even sure what that nature was. “But I started to read again.” He consumed fiction, anything that “read well,” going by book covers, blurbs, snippets and intuition, poring through the works of Kurt Vonnegut, Isak Dinesen, Carson McCullers, Jack Kerouac, Zora Neale Hurston and John Steinbeck, as well as Indian writers like Rabindranath Tagore, Anita Desai and Bapsi Sidwha. He was drawn to some works due to their ethnic connection, like William Saroyan’s My Name is Aram and Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. “Siddhartha actually was sort of instrumental in giving me a sense of courage to write as I started to contemplate changing my career,” he says of Hesse’s 1922 Hindu-Buddhist-born tale of material renunciation and spiritual thirst. “The guts of the character to leave everything, leave his riches and nobility, and just be a mendicant on the road of life, a seeker. And I asked, ‘If he can do that, why can’t I just change my field?’” His re-immersion into literature, a kind of clearing an amnesiac of a pleasure that was first initiated reading comic classics some two decades earlier, gave him clarity of purpose.
And at 30, Fracis started to write.
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fter enrolling in evening writing classes at then-Florida Community College of Jacksonville, Fracis took classes taught by Frank Green, whom he describes as a “legendary figure” in the Jacksonville writing community. “I was methodical, conscientious and almost laboriously slow,” he says. This nascent ethic would serve him well over the years. From 1991-93, Fracis studied at the University of North Florida, where he earned an MFA in English and Creative Writing, with an emphasis on the latter. Upon graduation, he began teaching at UNF. In 1994, Fracis was a fiction and poetry editor at the now-defunct State Street Review, a position he held until 2001. It was there that he met fellow writer-editors Howard Denson, Michele Boyette and John Hunt. “It was like a little mini-family, reading piles of manuscripts and discussing which we liked and didn’t like,” Fracis says with a smile. “And even to this day, decades later, we are all still famous friends and still just love each other to death. It’s only the thing that a family dynamic can create over time.” During his years teaching, Fracis says he was critical yet fair, although he expected the same devotion to the story from his students that he invests. “I enjoyed the aspect of the immediate reward, the feeling that you were making a difference with these youngsters and you were passing on some of your wisdom and experience,” he says. “And that they were imbibing it.” Each year offered a new influx of hopeful fiction writers, some heavily influenced by the metafictional conventions of late 20th-century writing.
While Fracis is quick to acknowledge the works of authors such as Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo, two literary revolutionaries who helped pave the way for mid-to-late 20thcentury experimentation of plot construction, language and narrative, he thinks that many of his former students were trapped in the quicksand of their own preciousness and self-indulgence. “When you can do it as well as Pynchon and DeLillo, and still tell a damn good story? That impresses me.” Fracis was well into his adult years when he read Miguel Cervantes’ masterwork, Don Quixote. The book only reinforced his belief that “content always comes before form, and form reflects content.” “Current writing students can believe that they’re so fresh and refer to a writer like Cervantes as kind of a put-down. But centuries ago, Cervantes was doing metafiction and all of these contemporary devices and was still holding the reader, because of the story,” he says. “My school of thinking, which I think will never go out of style, is: The story is paramount. Quality, not popularity.” In the same way that Fracis warned his students to not be inspired by Hollywood blockbusters and TV (“because they don’t do a good job representing the real world”), he assured them that a strong, clear story always wins over acrobatic vocabularies, narrative devices and stylistic filigrees. “When you’re writing stuff that’s abstruse, obscure and just playing with language … anyone can be smart. I can be smart with the rest of them, you know? But I choose not to be because I don’t want to talk down to my reader. I don’t want to be read for the cleverness. I want to be read for the story that I’m telling.”
On Apr. 2, 1988, the then-29-yearold Fracis moved to Jacksonville. “I avoided moving here on April Fool’s Day because I was so tired of the nomadic life that I wanted to avoid and ‘vibes,’ and make that move my last move,” he laughs. “And almost three decades later, I’m still here.”
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“I had my little tests with anyone that gave me the lay of the land.” Fracis says. “I LEARNED QUICKLY to gauge how people reacted to me, and if they didn’t pass my little test? SEE YA.”
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hile still in the master’s program, Fracis’ thesis of a small group of stories began winning awards and getting accepted by notable publications like India Currents, The Antigonish Review, and Weber Studies. In 1999, he was awarded the Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature. A dozen of his short stories became A Ticket to Minto: Stories of India and America, a collection portraying the universal human experience played out through the specific lives of Indian and Indian-American children, young adults and elders living in both India and the U.S. In 2001, A Ticket to Minto won the esteemed Iowa Short Fiction Award and was published by the University of Iowa Press. “It blew me away that they selected me,” Fracis says, “out of literally 600-plus manuscripts sent in that year. That pretty much still represents the peak of my career. But let’s see what happens with Go Home.” Fracis was the first Asian-American writer to ever win the prize. Since then, a ChineseAmerican has won, but he remains the only South Asian-American from India to win. Yet Fracis remains modest about this achievement. “I guess someone has to be the first one. And I like that little piece of history that I somehow managed to create. I’m not sure how I pulled it off,” he laughs. “But I’m glad I did.” The ensuing decade was propulsive for Fracis creatively and professionally. In 2002, he was awarded a full fellowship to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference in Tennessee. After returning to Jacksonville, Fracis began sketching out the earliest fragments of a story about a young Parsi who moves to America. Teaching full semesters at school left him little time to work on his own projects, so the next year he ended his tenure at UNF to focus on his writing. In 2007, Fracis was invited to be an artist-in-residence at the world-renowned art colony Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, New York. Three years later, he was again invited to the creatives’ enclave. It was during this time that he began working on material that evolved into Go Home. “The expansion of the scope, of something I could not wrap my head around in the conceptual stage, like with short stories? That was the stumbling block,” says Fracis of the initial creation of Go Home. “Once it expanded to this sprawling monster that is a novel, then I learned the hard way. Because it’s so easy to go wrong somewhere and then you’ve written, taken a turn, and
misjudged or misgauged, you can mess up the entire thing.” Initially a 500-page manuscript, it was then edited to 300, and finally its 250-page published version. Prior to publication, six excerpts from Go Home had been published in even more esteemed publications such as The Normal School, South Asian Review and Slice Magazine. The chapter “Distant Vision” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Once Go Home had been collated into its final form, Fracis ran into what he feels like were coded words from some in the publishing world about the manuscript. “One phrase they used was ‘entirely sensitive,’” he says of comments made by one literary agent’s assistant. “It’s an interesting phrasing that doesn’t come around organically. I read her report, where she felt like the story was talking about race and racism, ultimately hinting at the fact that it’s not bestseller material. I think ‘entirely’ stood for ‘too sensitive.’”
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o Home is divided into three sections: New World, World Gone Bad and No Simple World, not unlike Dante’s Divine Comedy. Yet over the course of the book’s 30 chapters, Viraf Adajania’s travels and troubles are squarely in the real world, and hardly divine. At the end of the story, Viraf has relocated to America only to relocate again. And again. Many of his trips are interior, as Fracis’ non-linear narrative has Viraf time traveling from childhood to adulthood, Bombay to Newark, attempting to make sense of adapting to a place that can seem intent on him leaving. Yet Viraf is no saint. Throughout Go Home he succumbs to dark moods, lashing out at times. But in the end, a poetic flash of foreshadowing leads to full resolve, a bridge that seems like an immovable barrier that is eventually crossed.
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our empty cups with rings of coffee and cocoa sit on the picnic table. A dark-haired barista walks out the backdoor carrying a bus pan clinking with dishes. “We’re closing. Do you guys want takeout cups?” “You know, I don’t think they’ll care if we stay here,” says Fracis, motioning with his head to the three young men who’ve been sitting and quietly talking since we arrived hours ago.
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Fracis has won several awards, including being the first-ever Asian American to win the esteemed Iowa Short Fiction Award for his 2001 short story collection, A Ticket to Minto: Storis of India and America.
A PLACE TO BE <<< FROM PREVIOUS
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Bold Bean’s interior lights click off. The tabby cat from earlier shoots across the backyard. Talk turns to Fracis’ participation in the Jax By Jax literary festival. The brainchild of author, educator, and Folio Weekly contributor Tim Gilmore, this is the third year that invited local writers to gather at low-key venues like bars and tattoo parlors in Riverside. For a few hours each year, King and Post streets become Ground Zero of the local lit scene, where authors read their works, sign books and raise their glasses at the afterparty. “Locally, Tim is definitely a force,” says Fracis. “I’ve often said to Tim that the set-up is so unusual and sort of unique to itself. I’ve done readings around the country and even crossing over into India, and I’ve never done this kind of format before where you have ‘back-to-back-to-back’ readings.” With its back-to-back readings, revolving venue and writers alternating with one another, celebrating a local writing scene that he describes as “very vibrant” and growing in ways he could not have foreseen, Fracis finds the Jax By Jax experience intriguing and challenging. “During this last week’s festival, I made the parallel in my mind that it’s like the Super Saturday of the U.S. Open where they’d have the two men’s semifinals and the women’s final, sandwiched together.” Go Home has already received advance praise from authors including National Book Award-winning author Bob Shacochis (The Woman Who Lost Her Soul), NPR and BBC commentator-author Deepak Singh (How May I Help You?), and Diane Johnson (Le Divorce). Fracis originally met Johnson 14 years ago at the Sewanee Writers Conference. “Diane was faculty and I was on a full fellowship due to Ticket to Minto being out for maybe a year before. All I had to do was assist Alice McDermott and Claire Messud with their workshop,” says Fracis, who was given the task of reading other attendees’ manuscripts. McDermott told Fracis to “speak up” when he found a particular submission either solidly written or in need of improvement. “I probably spoke up too much since I went to the extent of contradicting Alice on occasion,” says Fracis with a laugh. “And she said eventually, ‘Don’t speak up that much.’”
For the past two hours, Fracis has talked expansively about Go Home, his past, his craft, accomplishments, critical thinking injected into literature, and his much-loved local community of writers and old friends. Yet there’s one last subject that inevitably comes up. It is less than three weeks into Donald Trump’s conquering of the White House, and at press time, a disturbing amount of stories of pro-Trump, white supremacy aggression is cutting across the news feeds. Since the beginning of Trump’s campaign, the word “immigrant” has been emphasized and bracketed inside the sharpened quotations; more recently there has been talk of a mandatory registry awaiting those a mere wall won’t keep out. “I think it ties back to mainstream America being caught up in a kind of denial mode about some of these things that have come sort of boiling up to the surface,” says Fracis. “But now it’s to the extent where they cannot deny it anymore because it’s right in their face: It’s in the White House. They have to take some responsibility for all of this time telling us to shut up about these things. When we tried to tell them what was happening.” Like many, Fracis believes some of the discontent comes from simmering disappointment, not in President Obama’s policies, but rather his pigmentation. “I think Obama is the best president that I’ve had in my duration here. But the pendulum swung back hard. And Trump has ridden these ‘white identity’ politics from the start and now right into the White House.” One chapter in Go Home appropriates a term commonly used as a terror tactic to warn of the ongoing “invasion” of non-whites in this country: “The Browning of America.” “That fear of ‘the browning of America’ is so monolithic. But what they’re afraid of isn’t monolithic at all,” says Fracis. “Yet that fear drives this backlash that ‘they are taking over’ and ‘we have to take back America’ and ‘make it what it was.’” In the fictional realm of Go Home, Viraf ultimately survives his aggressors and finds a place he belongs. And now, after spending more than half his life in America, Sohrab Homi Fracis thrives as a well-respected author, educator, friend and even just another face in the crowd in his Riverside neighborhood. “I feel more at home here than I really do in India,” he says. “Or, let’s put it this way: I feel more out of step there than I do here.” Daniel A. Brown dbrown@folioweekly.com
FOLIO A + E
THE GOOD &
FILM Classic Horror ARTS Project Atrium: Nicola López MUSIC Sage Francis LIVE + LOCAL MUSIC CALENDAR
Dreamy electro-pop duo Phantogram tempers big-tent success with HEART-WRENCHING EMOTION on new album Three
THE BAD W
hen it comes to electronic pop music, Phantogram occupies a singular Venn diagram of overlapping artistic, creative, and commercial success. No one mixes ecstatic stagecraft, ethereal vocal melodies, and danceable beats more skillfully than Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter. Nearly every music fan on the planet will recognize the “Ooh/Ooh” refrain of the Saratoga Springs, NY’s duo’s hit single “When I’m Small,” off 2009 debut album Eyelid Movies. That brought crossover stars like Miley Cyrus and Skrillex calling — but hardcore hip-hop fans still sling street cred Phantogram’s way for their fire-spitting collaboration with Outkast anchor Big Boi. But tragedy struck on Phantogram’s ascent to mainstream stardom. In January 2015, just as Barthel and Carter were sitting down to write and record their third album, Sara’s older sister, who was also Carter’s best friend, committed suicide, plunging the duo into deep, soul-searching despair. The result, elegantly titled Three, features big-time collaboration credits with pop superstars like The-Dream. Yet on heart-rending songs like “Barking the Dog” and “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore,” Phantogram plumb emotional depths previously unexamined on their airier full-lengths and EPs. “Knowing that our music is connecting with people in a way it hasn’t before feels really great,” Barthel tells Folio Weekly in advance of the band’s X102.9-sponsored stop in St. Augustine with The 1975, Silversun Pickups, Glass Animals, and COIN. “Finding out that these songs can even help save people’s life? That’s everything.”
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favorites. playing a lot of old jams and crowd favorite We definitely cater our set list for different kinds of shows. At festivals, we can’t always have the same kind of visual presentation as we can at clubs. Sometimes, depending on the length of the set, we want to have super high energy. And sometimes we play stripped-down shows that are more ethereal or airy sounding. Do the songs take on different meanings for you when performed in different settings? Sarah Barthel: From day one, our songs have had more than one meaning. In a way, every song we play has a different meaning every night, even if it was written to reflect one moment in time. Three focuses on the heartbreak of losing your sister, Sarah, who was also your best friend, Josh. Is the performance of them cathartic? S.B.: It is. And very emotionally draining. I find myself not having any energy for anything else because the stage takes it all. It’s a great thing, but at times I dream of being a surf rock band that doesn’t write such meaningful songs. J.C.: It would be nice to just phone it in sometimes. S.B.: And be OK, you know? Because this is taking its toll on me. But half the beauty of playing these shows is meeting people afterwards at signings and meeting people
the sense of people creating new things and making cool music, we love bands like The Antlers and Lip Talk. S.B.: Vince Staples is innovative and young — he takes trendy things and makes them fresh and cool. I love his attention to art and visuals. Those are the types of artists we can fit into a box with other people who don’t fit into a box. Beck always reinvents himself… J.C.: …The Flaming Lips, Radiohead….
who tell us how much our songs mean to them. It’s just as meaningful as being on stage, especially this time around. And then again very draining [laughs]. Is that response from fans unique to Three? S.B.: Definitely. We don’t usually open up about our songs. But this time around, I don’t think there was a possibility of hiding what had happened to us. People can relate to that kind of tragedy. People can relate to heartbreak. That’s what the record is about. Everyone deals with it. Everyone reaches out for help. So it’s nice to connect on a deeper level, instead of just being a band that plays songs that people like. Even with such emotional material, you still worked with an all-star cast of outside collaborators. Any particular reason? J.C.: We’re used to collaborating now. In the past, we were a lot more guarded with our music. We didn’t want to share it with anybody — including our manager — until we thought that it was presentable. And now we’ve learned that it’s worth messing around with other artists to see what happens. Some of it comes out great, and some of it doesn’t make the cut. And what doesn’t we have in our back pocket to put out as a remix, an EP, or a single.
Does Phantogram have what it takes to last as long as artists like that? S.B.: We want to. J.C.: Actually, I quit. S.B.: [Laughs] We know that we have something special going on. We’re not that band where it’s like, “Oh, he went off and did a solo record.” Josh and I are always on the same page. Phantogram will always be Sarah and Josh. That is key. We’re so close, we’re best friends and we love each other. If you find yourself in a band thinking about yourself more, there’s going to be a clash. But Josh and I don’t have that. So what’s the reason to stop? Nick McGregor mail@folioweekly.com
Excluding your frequent collaborators, do you feel like Phantogram fits in with other contemporary acts? J.C.: Not necessarily with other bands trying to do something similar sound-wise. But in
Folio Weekly: Three just came out in February. Are you guys focusing on that on this tour? Josh Carter: Yes — we’re playing eight songs off our new ten-song album. We’re also
X102.9 FM presents PHANTOGRAM, THE 1975, SILVERSUN PICKUPS, GLASS ANIMALS, and COIN 4 p.m. Dec. 2, St. Augustine Amphitheatre, $46.50 - $56.50, staugamphitheatre.com.
NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 21
FOLIO A+E : MAGIC LANTERNS Folio Weekly offers a DOUBLE-SHOT of well-honed, classic horror
IT TAKES TWO TO
TERRORIZE
S
ometimes less really is better. It’s especially true in genre films like horror and science fiction, in which padding (needless subplots, unnecessary characters, special effects) is used to hide a lack of content. A couple of oldies but goodies from both genres just came out on Blu-ray, demonstrating the virtues of economy in terms of storytelling and running time. The Return of Dracula (1958) clocks in at one hour, 17 minutes; The Earth Dies Screaming at a minimalist one hour, 2 minutes. Neither is a certifiable classic (whatever that dubious term might mean), but each still demonstrates how imagination and entertainment don’t necessarily require bloated budgets and yawning lengths. For older fans of horror and sci-fi, the two movies are a nostalgic look back. The late 1950s saw the birth of the bloodand-bosom approach to horror in England, best typified by Hammer Films’ rebirth of the classic monsters in films like The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and The Mummy, all of which (and many more) starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. In America, a similar resurgence was underway, mostly with even smaller budgets and more limitations and restrictions (black-and-white instead of color, minimal blood and gore, and more chastely attired females — bloodsuckers or not). Some of the more memorable entries were I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, I Was a Teenage Werewolf (with a young Michael Landon), Blood of Dracula (vampire in a girls’ boarding school) and Curse of the Undead (cowboy vampire in the Old West). One of the very best of the group was also one of the most traditional plot-wise: The Return of Dracula. Pursued from his native Transylvania by a group of fervent vampire hunters, Dracula (Frances Lederer, suitably sinister and European) ends up in California under the alias of Bellac Gordal, an artist whose blood and identity he appropriates for himself. As Bellac, he takes up residence at the home of his American cousins, where he charms everyone, particularly pretty niece Rachel (Norma Eberhardt). Needless to say, his intentions are anything but honorable. Dracula sports no fangs here, though one scene has his female consort become a white wolf, a rarity in earlier films about the Fanged One, not duplicated (at least to my knowledge) until the Frank Langella version in 1979. One gimmick (effective at the time) features a quick shift to color as the vampire hunters stake the luckless “bride,” a trick William Castle utilized to even better effect two years later in The Tingler. It’s easy to believe screenwriter Pat Fiedler, a UCLA Theater Arts grad, consciously used Hitchcock’s 1943 masterpiece Shadow of a Doubt as a template. In both films, a
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murderous relative from the East pervades the innocence of a small California town with his evil, the ultimate target being the sweet young girl whom he’s temporarily deceived. Frances Lederer’s Bellac Gordal aka Dracula bears more than a passing resemblance to Joseph Cotten’s Uncle Charlie in the Hitchcock film. Though director Terence Fisher put Hammer Films on the map with the three films mentioned above (and several others), creative differences led to a brief break with the studio, during which Fisher helmed The Earth Dies Screaming for the lesser-known Lippert Films. Despite its outrageously bombastic title, the movie is actually a kind of sci-fi chamber piece, the first eight minutes running without a single word of dialogue. The opening sequence recalls The Village of the Damned, made four years earlier. Planes crash, trains wreck and autos collide as people everywhere suddenly and unaccountably fall over and die. Into a small English village comes the first survivor, Jeff, an American test pilot (Willard Parker), who soon meets a half-dozen more folks; they try to make sense of what’s going on. The small cast features the usual suspects: the drunk, the grousing girl, the good girl, the bad girl, and the young couple. Naturally the wife is about to give birth. Meanwhile, the survivors are stalked by robots whose alien masters are able to turn dead corpses into walking eyeless zombies (Many historians of genre films claim The Earth Dies Screaming is a clear source of inspiration for George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.) Whether that’s true or not, Fisher’s modest sci-fi thriller is still fun to watch like The Return of Dracula, it’s a reminder of simpler cinematic joys that are none the worse for age and time. Pat McLeod mail@folioweekly.com
NOWSHOWING SUN-RAY CINEMA Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them and Arrival are running. 1028 Park St., 5 Points, 359-0049, sunraycinema.com. Moonlight, The Handmaiden and A Man Called Ove start Dec. 2. CORAZON CINEMA & CAFÉ Christine and Captain Fantastic are currently screening at 36 Granada St., St. Augustine, 679-5736, corazoncinemaandcafe.com. Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps runs 8 p.m. Dec. 1 for Cult Thursday. IMAX THEATER Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, The Polar Express, Robots 3D, America Wild: National Parks Adventure, A Beautiful Planet and Secret Ocean screen at World Golf Village IMAX Theater, St. Augustine, 940-4133, worldgolfimax.com.
ARTS + EVENTS PERFORMANCE
SANDY HACKETT’S RAT PACK CHRISTMAS They’re back, swingin’ the holidays, 8 p.m. Dec. 2 at Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts’ Moran Theater, 300 Water St., Downtown, 442-2929, $38.50-$74.50, fscjartistseries.org. MRS. BOB CRATCHIT’S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE Players by the Sea stages a parody of Gladys Cratchit (Bob’s wife) and her boozing, 8 p.m. Dec. 2 & 3 at 106 Sixth St. N., Jax Beach, 249-0289, $23; through Dec. 17, playersbythesea.org. A CHRISTMAS CAROL Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre stages its version of Dickens’ classic about a misanthrope who gets serious spiritual payback (and redeems himself!), 8 p.m. Dec. 2 and 3 at Adele Grage Cultural Center, 716 Ocean Blvd., Atlantic Beach, 249-7177, $20; $10 ages 18 and under; through Dec. 18, abettheatre.com. THE DOZEN DIVAS SHOW Theatre Jacksonville presents Dorothy Bishop’s one-woman show, which brings to life famous singer-actresses ranging from Madonna to Julie Andrews, at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at 2032 San Marco Blvd., San Marco, 396-4425, $25; $20 for subscribers, theatrejax.com. FAME In keeping with the song’s lyrics, the musical – about a group of precocious, creative high school kids – is apparently gonna live forever; at 8 p.m. Dec. 3 at TimesUnion Center for the Performing Arts’ Moran Theater, 442-2929, $32.50-$64.50, artistseriesjax.org. SENIOR CONSERVATORY The students perform My Dear Niece, Barefoot in Nightgown by Candlelight and Babel’s in Arms, 7 p.m. Dec. 1 at Flagler College’s Lewis Auditorium, 14 Granada St., St. Augustine, $5, 826-8600, flagler.universitytickets.com. A CHRISTMAS STORY Alhambra Theatre & Dining presents the wacky tale of Ralphie, who wants a genuine Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas; through Dec. 24. Dinner 6 p.m.; brunch noon, 12000 Beach Blvd., Southside, $49.95-$62 plus tax, 641-1212, alhambrajax.com. THE OCTONAUTS LIVE! Captain Barnacles and the Octonauts are on a mission to clean up the Great Barrier Reef, 6 p.m. Nov. 30 at The Florida Theatre, 128 E. Forsyth St., Downtown, 355-2787, $29.50-$49.50, floridatheatre.com. EBENEZER: A CHRISTMAS CAROL Amelia Community Theatre presents its song-filled production of Dickens’ tale of an old man consistent in his hatred for humanity – until three ghosts deliver much-needed, guilt-driven whoop-ass! – 8 p.m. Dec. 1, 2 and 3 at 207/209 Cedar St., Fernandina Beach, 261-6749, $25; $15 for students through high school; through Dec. 17, ameliacommunitytheatre.org. COTTON PATCH GOSPEL The religious-based musical, with music by Harry Chapin that puts the Gospel of Matthew in the heart of modern-day, rural Georgia, is staged 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1-3; 2 p.m. Dec. 4 at Limelight Theatre, 11 Old Mission Ave., St. Augustine, 825-1164, $15; through Dec. 31, limelight-theatre.org. ISSUE-BASED THEATRE SHOWCASE DASOTA students emote 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, Recital Hall, 2445 San Diego Rd., San Marco, 346-5620. For details, go to duvalschools.org.
CLASSICAL & JAZZ
JAZZ COMBOS UNF jazz groups play 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at University of North Florida’s Robinson Theater, 620-2878, unf.edu/coas/music/calendar.aspx.
PATRICK BARTLEY Grammy-nominated saxophonist Bartley performs with the John Lumpkin Trio, 7 p.m. Dec. 1 at The Ritz Theatre & Museum, 829 N. Davis St., Downtown, 807-2010, $24-$29, ritzjacksonville.com. HONORS RECITAL Top-shelf music students perform 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at Jacksonville University’s Terry Concert Hall, 2800 University Blvd. N., Arlington, 256-7386, arts.ju.edu. PIANO PLAY-OFF: AMERICAN MUSIC Students tickle the ivories at 7:30 Dec. 1 at University of North Florida’s Recital Hall, 620-2878, unf.edu/coas/music/calendar.aspx. DASOTA WINTER ORCHESTRA CONCERT Students perform at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 on Douglas Anderson School of the Arts’ Mainstage, 346-5620. For details, go to duvalschools.org. DAVE KOZ & FRIENDS CHRISTMAS Nine-time Grammy nominee and saxophonist Koz is joined by pals Valerie Simpson, Kenny Latimore and Jonathan Butler for holiday music, 8 p.m. Dec. 1 at The Florida Theatre, 128 E. Forsyth St., Downtown, 355-2787, $35-$79, floridatheatre.com. TECH ENSEMBLE CONCERT The eclectic combo plays at 8 p.m. Dec. 1 at University of North Florida’s Fine Arts Center, Rm. 1420, 620-2878, unf.edu/coas/music/calendar.aspx. CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO Acclaimed ensemble performs holiday tunes, 8 p.m. Dec. 1 at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, 1050 A1A N., 209-0399, $33.50-$38.50, pvconcerthall.com. STUDENT CHAMBER MUSIC RECITAL UNF chamber groups are featured at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at University of North Florida’s Recital Hall, 620-2878, unf.edu/coas/music/calendar.aspx. JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY: HANSEL AND GRETEL The Jacksonville Symphony presents a semi-staged performance of the opera Hansel and Gretel, the classic cautionary tale of wandering into the woods for highfructose syrup-born sweets, at 8 p.m. Dec. 2 and 3 and at 3 p.m. Dec. 4 at Times-Union Center’s Jacoby Symphony Hall, 354-5547, $22-$62, jaxsymphony.org. SOUNDS OF THE SEASON The First Coast Wind Symphony and the Don Thompson Chorale present the annual holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at Arlington Baptist Church, 6009 Arlington Rd., fcwinds.org. BEACHES FINE ARTS SERIES CONCERT Beaches Fine Arts Series presents flutist Eugenia Zukerman and the Manhattan Piano Trio at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 465 11th Ave. N., Jax Beach, beachesfinearts.org. STANLEY CLARKE Bass guru Clarke performs at 8 p.m. Dec. 2 at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, $53-$63, pvconcerthall.com. HANDEL’S MESSIAH UNF presents the Chamber Singers and Lawson Ensemble in a performance Handel’s holiday classic at 4 p.m. Dec. 3 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church of Ortega, 4129 Oxford Ave., 620-2878, unf.edu/coas/music/calendar.aspx. BLACK VIOLIN Classically trained violinists Kevin Sylvester and Wilner Baptiste, with an eclectic repertoire, play 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at The Ritz Theatre & Museum, $35-$40, ritzjacksonville.com. RHYTHM CITY RHYTHM KINGS The swinging jazz cats play at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at Mudville Music Room, 3104 Atlantic Blvd., St. Nicholas, 352-7008, $10, raylewispresents.com. MAGNIFICAT The North Florida Women’s Chorale performs 3 p.m. Dec. 4 at Palms Presbyterian Church, 3410 S. Third St., Jax Beach. An encore performance is held at 6 p.m. Dec. 30 at Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, 38 Cathedral
HAIR OF THE DOG POUND
“Hit me with the digits!” Comedian ARSENIO HALL appears Dec. 2 and 3 at The Comedy Zone, Mandarin.
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ARTS + EVENTS
COMEDY
JEFF BRADLEY Comedian-illusionist Bradley performs with opening musical guest Mike Lagasse, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at Mudville Music Room, 3104 Atlantic Blvd., St. Nicholas, 352-7008, $12, raylewispresents.com. MUTZIE Funnyman Mutzie’s been rocking for nearly 30 years; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at The Comedy Zone, 3130 Hartley Rd., Mandarin, 292-4242, $12-$18, comedyzone.com. ARSENIO HALL Comedian Hall, star of film (Coming to America), and his long-running talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show, is on at 7:30 and 10 p.m. Dec. 2 and 3 at The Comedy Zone, $25-$30, comedyzone.com. BILLY GARDELL Versatile comic Gardell performs 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at Thrasher-Horne Center for the Arts, 283 College Dr., Orange Park, 276-6750, $33-$93, thcenter.org. MIKE GAFFNEY The Last Comic Standing semi-finalist is on 8:30 p.m. Dec. 1, 8 p.m. Dec. 2, and 8 & 10:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at The Comedy Club of Jacksonville, 11000 Beach Blvd., Southside, 646-4277, $15-$25, jacksonvillecomedy.com.
ART WALKS & MARKETS
FIRST WEDNESDAY ART WALK Themed Spirit of Giving, 5-9 p.m. Dec. 7, with 20+ hotspots open after 9 p.m. and more than 60 total participating venues, over 15 blocks in Downtown Jacksonville. iloveartwalk.com. FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK Tour of Art Galleries of St. Augustine is 5-9 p.m. Dec. 2, with 15+ galleries, 829-0065. ATLANTIC BEACH ARTISANS’ FAIRE Works by 23 local artists (visual art, mixed media, jewelry, crafts), 5-9 p.m. Dec. 1 at Adele Grage Cultural Center, 716 Ocean Blvd., Atlantic Beach, 247-5828, coab.us. WHITE HARVEST FARMS & FARMER’S MARKET Local organic, fresh produce, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. every Sat. at 5348 Moncrief Rd., Northside, 354-4162; proceeds benefit Clara White Mission, clarawhitemission.org. RIVERSIDE ARTS MARKET Local, regional art, music – Clay H.S. Show Choir, Nikki Talley, Joe Watts at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 3 – under the Fuller Warren Bridge, 715 Riverside Ave., free admission, 389-2449, riversideartsmarket.com.
MUSEUMS
AMELIA ISLAND MUSEUM OF HISTORY 233 S. Third St., Fernandina, 261-7378, ameliamuseum.org. It Came from the Attic: The Lesesne House is currently on display. CUMMER MUSEUM OF ART & GARDENS 29 Riverside Ave., 356-6857, cummermuseum.org. David Ponsler: Chasing Shadows, through Oct. 4, 2017. Folk Couture: Fashion & Folk Art, works by artists inspired by Folk Art Museum, through Jan. 1. Lift: Contemporary Expressions of the African American Experience, works of local artists Thony Aiuppy, Glendia Cooper, Ingrid Damiani, Overstreet Ducasse, Dustin Harewood, Marsha Hatcher, Hiromi Moneyhun, Princess Rashid, Chip Southworth, Roosevelt Watson III, through Feb. 12. KARPELES MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY MUSEUM 101 W. First St., Springfield, 356-2992, rain.org/~karpeles/jax.html. Photographic works by Will Dickey, Florida Times-Union staff photographer, display through Dec. 30. MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART JACKSONVILLE 333 N. Laura St., 366-6911, mocajacksonville.unf.edu. Project Atrium: Nicola Lopez installation, A Gentle Defiance of Gravity & Form, displays through Feb. 26. Leaves: Recent Prints & Sculpture by Donald Martin, through Jan. 22. Retro-Spective: Analog Photography in a Digital World, featuring contemporary photographers exploring 19thcentury photographic processes, displays through Jan. 8. WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM 1 World Golf Pl., St. Augustine, 940-4133, worldgolfhalloffame.org. Grace & Grit – Women Champions Through the Years is on display.
GALLERIES
THE ART CENTER GALLERY Jacksonville Landing, Ste. 139, 233-9252, tacjacksonville.org. The Little Rembrandts Show, by kids in grades K-8, displays through Dec. 2. Princess Simpson Rashid is the featured artist for November. BREW FIVE POINTS 1024 Park St., Riverside, 374-5789, brewfivepoints.com. Signs of Life, new works by Chip Southworth, is currently on display. BUTTERFIELD GARAGE ART GALLERY 137 King St., St. Augustine, 825-4577, butterfieldgarage.com. The festive group show White Christmas is on display Dec. 2-27. CRISP-ELLERT ART MUSEUM 48 Sevilla St., St. Augustine, 826-8530, flagler.edu/news-events/crisp-ellert-art-museum. The BFA and BA Student Portfolio Exhibition shows Dec. 8-10. THE CULTURAL CENTER AT PONTE VEDRA BEACH 50 Executive Way, 280-0614, ccpvb.org. Visions: Ancient &
EVENTS
ATLANTIC BEACH 90th YEAR CELEBRATION The city of Atlantic Beach celebrates its nonagenarian status with a variety of events held Dec. 1-15. For details, go to coab.us. ART & ANTIQUES SHOW The Women’s Board of Wolfson Children’s Hospital present its 40th annual show, with speaker Goldie Hawn (Foul Play, Seems Like Old Times), nationally acclaimed lecturers, art and antique dealers, an opening night party, and a fashion show with current and former patients of the hospital, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 2, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Dec. 3, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 4 at Prime Osborn Convention Center, 1000 Water St., Downtown, 202-2886, tickets start at $15; lecture tickets start at $30; $50 for Goldie Hawn lecture. For a complete schedule and to purchase tickets, go to artandantiquesshow.com. JACKSONVILLE GIANTS VS. SOUTH FLORIDA GOLD The Giants take on the Gold, 7 p.m. Dec. 3 at Veterans Memorial Arena, Downtown, $10-$125, 633-6110, ticketmaster.com. ENCHANTED CHRISTMAS VILLAGE The family-friendly place includes Santa’s workshop, letter-writing station, hay maze and hayrides, carousel rides, craft barn marketplace, food trucks, and one million-plus lights, is 5-10 p.m. Tue.-Fri. and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat. and Sun., through December at 17255 Normandy Blvd., Northside, $22; $12 ages 3-13, kids 3 and younger free, jacksonvillechristmas.com. NORTHEAST FLORIDA WORLD AIDS WEEK Locals mark World Aids Week with the AIDS Memorial Quilt, a women and children celebration, free HIV testing/education day, a condom blitz, spoken word competition, and awards luncheon, through Dec. 2, Jacksonville locations; neflworldaidsday.org. JAX ILLUMINATIONS HOLIDAY LIGHT SHOW The fourth annual Drive Thru Holiday Light Show, featuring a milelong drive through more than a million holiday lights, is held nightly 6-9:30 p.m. through Jan. 1 at Morocco Shrine Center, 3800 St. Johns Bluff Rd. S., Southside, $20; seven passenger maximum, $2.50 each additional passenger, jaxilluminations.com. _____________________________________________ To list an event, send time, date, location (street address, city), admission price, contact number to print to Daniel A. Brown – email dbrown@folioweekly.com or mail, 45 W. Bay St., Ste. 103, Jacksonville FL 32202. Items run as space is available. Deadline noon Wed. for next Wed. printing.
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FOLIO A+E : ARTS
SHE BUILT THIS CITY
New Project Atrium installation explores humans’ COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP with our urban environment
I
López also sees architecture as a n Downtown Jacksonville, on the corner metaphor for the human body, using words of Laura and Forsyth streets, three historic like skeletal, bones, membrane and skin to buildings — formerly the Florida Life describe her work. Building, the Bisbee Building and the Old For her Gentle Defiance installation, Florida National Bank — sit empty. Known, printed panels — featuring images inspired by but unrecognizable today as the Laura Street photographs López shot of buildings in New Trio, the buildings, once appreciated for their York City and Mexico City — hang on the appropriations of neoclassicist and Prairieoutside of the interior skeleton, or “bones,” as style architecture, are largely hollowed out she describes them. and have, for many, come to represent the “The prints function like a curtain wall of long, frustrating failure-to-launch of the city’s windows on a real building as they lay on the efforts to revitalize its Downtown. Even as the outside of the sculpture,” she says. “They aren’t city’s urban core makes marked progress with structural, just a membrane.” renovation projects spread throughout the Born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, area, the trio remains dormant. López specializes in printmaking, drawing Meanwhile, a few short blocks away, and installation. She teaches at Columbia within the Museum of Contemporary Art University and lives and works in Brooklyn, Jacksonville’s Project Atrium space, a new New York. López says that time spent working site-specific installation attempts to convey and travelling through different landscapes, a narrative about urban landscapes that as well as an interest in anthropology, wouldn’t sound unfamiliar to those who’ve architecture and urban planning, have followed the troubles of the Laura Street Trio. inspired her work. From the left wall of the atrium, shiny steel Certainly, López’s work is topical not just in beams rise to the ceiling in eight-by-fourJacksonville, but across the world as, over the foot modular sections before disintegrating course of the past decade or so, more people into smaller pieces that appear increasingly of working age have shown an affinity for the unanchored, as still-smaller pieces of steel benefits of densely populated communities escape the atrium, intruding into the staircase on the room’s right (from walkability to flank. Panels of varying expanded economic PROJECT ATRIUM: NICOLA LÓPEZ sizes and colors opportunity). Installation displays through Feb. 26, Museum featuring incongruent Institutions and local of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Downtown, views of cityscapes governments have mocajacksonville.unf.edu cover some but not responded in kind by all of the structure’s incentivizing migration subsections. When viewed from left to right, to these areas, with more money set aside for the splintering of the structure and its myriad the rehab, renovation or full-scale demolition perspectives give the installation a chaotic, of old structures. derelict quality. When viewed from the The cost-benefit analysis of such opposite perspective, however, the installation “progress” can be a quagmire of nuance, seems to intimate a kind of progress, as the however — such activity often leads to disparate pieces organize into an integral, rising housing costs, the displacement albeit unfinished, structure. of minority groups, and the loss of an Now completed, the project, called Gentle area’s distinctive character. The rapid and Defiance of Gravity and Form, emerged from disruptive urban makeover of López’s Brooklyn, for example, has done more to the mind of New York-based artist Nicola make “gentrification” a dirty word than any López. López’s work is notable for its inventive other place, save perhaps Portland, Oregon, exploration of humans’ interactions with or San Francisco’s Mission District. urban landscapes. She is acutely interested “The landscape that we live in has become in how cities — and the structures and saturated with signs of the easy mobility, institutions within cities — can be viewed speed, constant communication, imposition as simultaneously being in a state of both of structure, insistence on growth and development and destruction. glorification of technology,” López says in her During a patron’s preview in midwebsite’s artist statement. November, López shared that she “views López’s work doesn’t show indifference urban landscapes as a narrative about human to change, though; rather, it seems to treat ambition and human capacity.” change as being inescapable. “This project really reflects an actual López says that her work doesn’t “propose construction — its materials, format and a clearly navigable territory or a clear large scale,” López says of her installation, destination, but ask[s] the question of where which displays through Feb. 26. “It comes we really are and where we might be going.” close to being a building and at the same time Matthew B. Shaw functions more as a plan or depiction of an mail@folioweekly.com architectural idea.”
image courtesy Dennis Ho for MOCA Jacksonville
Place, womenschorale.org. WIND ENSEMBLE HOLIDAY CONCERT Woodwind players perform yuletide faves at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at Jacksonville University’s Terry Concert Hall, 256-7386, arts.ju.edu. HOLIDAY HANDBELL CHOIR Orange Park United Methodist Church Handbell Choir members perform Ringing in the Holidays, 6:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at Headquarters Library, 1895 Town Center Blvd., Fleming Island, 278-3722, claycountygov.com. JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA The JSYO performs a free holiday concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 5 at T-U Center’s Jacoby Symphony Hall, 354-5547, $22-$62, jaxsymphony.org. WINTER BAND CONCERT DASOTA music students perform at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 on Douglas Anderson School of the Arts’ Mainstage, 346-5620. For details, go to duvalschools.org.
Modern, by Mary Lou Gibson and Worley Faver, through Jan. 5. DOUGLAS ANDERSON SCHOOL OF THE ARTS’ CAMPUS GALLERY 2445 San Diego Rd., San Marco, 346-5620, duvalschools.org. The opening of the school’s Visual Arts Gallery is held 5:30 p.m. Dec. 1. DEERWOOD CENTER CAMPUS FSCJ, 9911 Old Baymeadows Rd., 997-2500, fscj.edu. Donald Martin: Leaves of Grass, inspired by Whitman’s poem, displays through Dec. 1. FIRST STREET GALLERY 216-B First St., Neptune Beach, 241-6928, firststreetgalleryart.com. The 17th Annual Christmas Ornament Show displays through Dec. 24. Watercolorist Sandra Baker Hinton’s Coastal Colors, through Jan. 4. FLORIDA MINING GALLERY 5300 Shad Rd., Southside, 535-7252, floridamininggallery.com. Identity and Abstraction, by Michael Hunter, Christina West and Alex Jackson, is on display. GALLERY 1037 Reddi-Arts, 1037 Hendricks Ave., Southbank, 398-3161, jacksonvilleartistsguild.org. Jacksonville Artists Guild’s exhibit Les Quatre Amis, works by Princess Simpson Rashid, Annelies Dykgraaf, Cookie Davis and Marsha Hatcher, through December. HUBLEY GALLERY 804 Anastasia Blvd., St. Augustine, 429-9769. Mary Hubley’s Toescape exhibit is on display. KENT CAMPUS GALLERY FSCJ, 3939 Roosevelt Blvd., 646-2300, fscj.edu. Student Holiday Show, paintings, drawings, mixed media and digital media by art students, is on display through Dec. 6. MAGNOLIA’S PUB 1190 Edgewood Ave. S., Murray Hill, 240-1574, magnoliaspub.com. Kevin Arthur’s portrait art is displays in November. MONROE GALLERIES 40 W. Monroe St., Downtown, 881-0209, monroegalleries.com. Works by Jami Childers, Barbie Workman, Amber Angeloni, Zara Harriz, Amber Bailey and First Coast Plein Air Painters are displayed. MONYA ROWE GALLERY 4 Rohde Ave., St. Augustine, monyarowegallery.com. Tropic Apparition, by painter Amy Lincoln, is on display through Dec. 18. NASSAU COUNTY LIBRARY 25 N. Fourth St., Fernandina, 277-7365, nassaureads.com. The Art of the Japanese Print is on display through Dec. 30. PLUM GALLERY 10 Aviles St., St. Augustine, 825-0069, plumartgallery.com. Works by painter Sara Pedigo and assemblage artist Barbara J. Cornett. through February. ROTUNDA GALLERY St. Johns County Admin. Bldg., 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine, 471-9980. The Betty Griffin Center: A Day Without Violence, through Jan. 26. SO GALLERY The DeLO, 420 Broad St., Downtown, 901-5515, sublimeoriginal.com. Life is Beautiful: An Exhibition of Works by Linda Broadfoot, Jim Draper, Thomas Hager, Chris Leidy and Steven Lyon, displays through Jan. 9. SOUTHLIGHT GALLERY Bank of America Tower, 50 N. Laura St., Ste. 150, 438-4358, southlightgallery.com. Jane Shirek and her Gilded Crown American Eagle series run in November; the works of 18 collaborative members are also featured. ST. AUGUSTINE ART ASSOCIATION 22 Marine St., 824-2310, staaa.org. Florida Forever! is on display through December. THRASHER-HORNE CENTER FOR THE ARTS 283 College Dr., Orange Park, 276-6750, thcenter.org. David Ouellette and Jennifer Tallerico’s works display through Dec. 14.
NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 25
FOLIO A+E : MUSIC I’m not sure. I’ve always had bouts with depression, but I used to be much more sociable than I am now. I used to enjoy being in the company of others. I grew up as an only child in a secluded area, so once I was able to be around more people my age, I made as much of it as I could. In college, I voluntarily stayed in dormitories for four years — because I felt better being around people. It made me feel good. It’s almost the exact opposite now, to the detriment of almost every relationship. I need my alone time and I need it often. Life throws a lot of curveballs at you and people change, so perhaps I’ll get to the point where I don’t need solitude in order to be comfortable, productive and normal. Maybe it doesn’t matter, though.
Rhode Island HIP-HOP ICON Sage Francis keeps an eye on the prize
HONEST
I
MAN
n the insular world of underground hiphop, Rhode Island’s Sage Francis is a titan of the industry. In addition to possessing one of the fiercest flows in the business, Francis owns and operates a label, Strange Famous Records. Spits salubrious game as a spokenword poet. Writes award-winning comedy/ rap/theater hybrids for Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Devotes considerable time to help up-and-coming MCs kickstart their own independent careers. Oh, and the man born Paul William Francis in Miami 40 years ago is comfortable talking openly about his struggles with depression — and his ownership of more cats than we can count. Though his social criticism still scalds, even after six fulllength albums, eight Sick of … mixtapes, two live discs, eight EPs and one DVD, Francis remains surprisingly humble: “I’m only an expert on me,” he tells Folio Weekly. “Not on how everyone else is supposed to be.” Folio Weekly: How much experience do you have touring in Florida, Sage? Sage Francis: I’ve been doing shows in Florida almost every year since the early 2000s. That’s where my mom and grandma live, so if nothing else, I try to go down there around a birthday or the holidays. My favorite memory from Jacksonville is when I opened up for Against Me! and the sound engineer shut off my sound while I was performing [2001 single] “Makeshift Patriot.” I would have been upset if it [had] ruined my whole show, but it was the last song, so it felt like the proper send-off. “Makeshift Patriot” called out the media for its acquiescence to military solutions after
26 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016
9/11. What do you think of American media today, especially in light of how it handled the rise of Donald Trump? People preferred “fake news” over “real news” in the months leading up to the election, so maybe the impetus falls on the people more than the media. “Makeshift Patriot” wasn’t just an indictment of the media. It was also about how susceptible people were to fear tactics, war-mongering and knee-jerk reactions to anything that didn’t make sense outside of their comfortable bubble. Which sounds a lot like 2016. How important is it for hip-hop artists to jolt us out of that bubble? The same as always — to some degree, a lot. To another degree, not at all. You haven’t released a new album in two years. What’s your set list these days? A fluid mix of new and old material. I’ve worked out a set that I’m really thrilled with. I’ll be sad when I have to retire this collection in a live setting. I can’t play these same songs in the same order in the same cities in the future, so I’m going to make the most of it now. Every performance I’ve done in the past couple of years has ended in a way that makes me feel great: lots of hugs and laughs. Then that good feeling fades until the next show. It’s a vicious cycle. But it’s helped me overcome the seasonal depression and post-election woes, so at least I’ve got that going for me. You speak frankly about your struggles with depression. Do you think that’s a state in which you’ll always live?
Have you been able to work on new material? I’ve been writing a ton of new material, mostly for the “Epic Beard Men” project that I’m working on with [fellow Rhode Island rapper] B. Dolan. It’s more fun and upbeat than our solo material, which feels necessary right now. That’s not to say that either of us are going to stray far from our duties of addressing all the craziness happening in our country and around the world. [But] I think it’s important for us to work together in a way that’s more hype and comical than angry and/or solemn. [That] is definitely helping us build the idea of what we might be able to do as a bearded power couple. You guys performed at Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year. How the hell did that happen? Scroobius Pip is a UK artist on Strange Famous Records, and he performed at Fringe Festival a couple years ago. That originally put it on our radar. It was a relatively slow year for me and B. Dolan, so we reached out to the guy who booked Pip’s performance to see what was possible. Neither of us had done a residency-type thing, so that alone intrigued me. Fringe started off as a month-long festival focused on comedy, but it eventually expanded into spoken word, theater and music. [So] it seemed like something we could knock out of the park. By the end of it all, we received some incredible reviews, we appeared on a Scottish TV talk show, and B. Dolan won a “Poem of the Fringe” award.
SAGE FRANCIS with STONO ECHO, GRAMMAR TREE, DENVER HALL, DJ TRICLOPS I
8 p.m. Dec. 3, 1904 Music Hall, 19 Ocean St., Downtown, $15 advance; $20 at the door, 1904musichall.com
How has your writing process changed as you’ve incorporated more diverse forms? It’s very similar. The only thing that has changed is, when writing confessional stuff, I play a bit more with metaphor and ambiguity, rather than being literal. That’s not just for my own protection. I find that it pushes me as a writer and can make for a more interesting song. It also saves me the grief of having to answer personal questions to fans and interviewers forever and ever. Quick take: If you could say one thing to 2016 to send it on its way and one thing to 2017 to welcome it into the world, what would you say? To 2016, I hate to see you leave but I love to watch you go. Because you were total ass. As for 2017, you can suck my shit. I don’t trust you, either. Nick McGregor mail@folioweekly.com
Michigan aggro-metalheads BATTLECROSS (pictured) perform with ALLEGAEON and NECROMANCING Dec. 4 at Jack Rabbits, San Marco.
LIVE + LOCAL MUSIC CONCERTS THIS WEEK SPADE McQUADE 6 p.m. Nov. 30, Fionn MacCool’s Irish Pub, Jacksonville Landing, Ste. 176, 374-1247. JAX BEAT BATTLE 7 p.m. Nov. 30, 1904 Music Hall, 19 Ocean St., Downtown, $5 advance; $10 day of. PERPETUAL GROOVE, LUCKY COSTELLO, CLOUD9 VIBES 8 p.m. Nov. 30, Mavericks Live, 2 Independent Dr., Downtown, 356-1110, $17 advance; $20 day of. JIMMIE VAUGHAN & THE TILT-A-WHIRL BAND 8 p.m. Nov. 30, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, 1050 A1A N., 209-0399, $38-$42. THE STEPPIN STONES 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1, 1904 Music Hall, $8 advance; $10 day of. BOYZ II MEN 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1, Thrasher-Horne Center for the Arts, 283 College Dr., Orange Park, 276-6750, $43-$83. 3 THE BAND 9 p.m. Dec. 1, Flying Iguana, 207 Atlantic Blvd., Neptune Beach, 853-5680. Winter Formal: THE 1975, PHANTOGRAM, SILVERSUN PICKUPS, GLASS ANIMALS, COIN 4 p.m. Dec. 2, St. Augustine Amphitheatre, 1340 A1A S., 209-0367, $46.50-$56.50. SAM PACETTI 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2, Mudville Music Room, 3104 Atlantic Blvd., St. Nicholas, 352-7008, $10. GRASS IS DEAD 8 p.m. Dec. 2, 1904 Music Hall, $10 advance; $12 day of. EMMA MOSELEY BAND, PUG UGLY, POWERBALL 8 p.m. Dec. 2, Jack Rabbits, 1528 Hendricks Ave., San Marco, 398-7496, $8. SARA EVANS 8 p.m. Dec. 2, The Florida Theatre, 128 E. Forsyth St., Downtown, 355-2787, $35-$65. BOOGIE FREAKS, DON’T CALL ME SHIRLEY 9:30 p.m. Dec. 2, Whiskey Jax, 10915 Baymeadows Rd., Southside, 634-7208. PRIMITIVE HARD DRIVE 10 p.m. Dec. 2, The Roadhouse, 231 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park, 264-0611, $6. Riverside Arts Market: CLAY HIGH SCHOOL SHOW CHOIR, NIKKI TALLEY, JOE WATTS 10:30 a.m. Dec. 3, 715 Riverside Ave., 389-2449. THE LACS 6 p.m. Dec. 3, Mavericks Live, $15. SAGE FRANCIS, STONO ECHO, GRAMMAR TREE, DENVER HALL, DJ TRICLOPS 8 p.m. Dec. 3, 1904 Music Hall, $15 advance; $20 day of. TONY JOE WHITE, MERE WOODARD 8 p.m. Dec. 3, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, $38.50-$43.50. TONE REVIVAL 8 p.m. Dec. 3, Jack Rabbits, $8 advance; $10 day of. CONTROL THIS 10 p.m. Dec. 3, The Roadhouse, $5. SMILE EMPTY SOUL, THE VEER UNION, KIRRA 7 p.m. Dec. 4, 1904 Music Hall, $10 advance; $12 day of. BATTLECROSS, ALLEGAEON, NECROMANCING 7 p.m. Dec. 4, Jack Rabbits, $13.
WATERMEDOWN, DAISYHEAD, CAPSTAN 7 p.m. Dec. 4, Courtyard Neptune Beach, 200 First St., 241-1026. TRAVIS TRITT 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4, The Florida Theatre, $29-$59. NIYKEE HEATON & GUESTS 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4, Mavericks Live, $20-$89. Jingle Jam for St. Jude: DAVID NAIL, GRANGER SMITH, RUNAWAY JUNE 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts’ Moran Theater, 300 Water St., Downtown, 633-6110, $35-$105; proceeds benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. TAYLOR HICKS 8 p.m. Dec. 7, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, $31.50-$39.50.
UPCOMING CONCERTS PIERCE PETTIS Dec. 8, Mudville Music Room BARB WIRE DOLLS Dec. 9, Jack Rabbits Elio’s Quartet: ELIO PIEDRA, LIVAN MESA, YUNIOR ARRONTE, YORGIS GOIRICELAYA Dec. 10, Ritz Theatre CHRIS LANE Dec. 10, Mavericks Live GARRISON KEILLOR Dec. 11, The Florida Theatre A Peter White Christmas: RICK BRAUN, EUGE GROOVE Dec. 11, The Ritz Theatre THE OAK RIDGE BOYS Dec. 13, The Florida Theatre EDWIN McCAIN Dec. 14, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA Dec. 15, Veterans Memorial Arena GRIFFIN HOUSE Dec. 18, Café Eleven FUTURE THIEVES Dec. 21, Jack Rabbits JACKIE EVANCHO Dec. 21, The Florida Theatre DONNA THE BUFFALO, BUTCH TRUCKS & THE FREIGHT TRAIN BAND Dec. 29, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall THE NTH POWER Dec. 30, Ritz Theatre SHEN YUN 2017 Jan. 3 & 4, Times-Union Center MICHAEL BOLTON Jan. 11, The Florida Theatre DAMIEN ESCOBAR Jan. 12, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall WIMPY RUTHERFORD & THE CRYPTICS Jan. 13, Nobby’s Winter Jam: CROWDER, BRITT NICOLE, TENTH AVENUE NORTH, ANDY MINEO, COLTON DIXON, THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH, NEWSONG, OBB, SARAH REEVES, STEVEN MALCOLM Jan. 13, Veterans Memorial Arena LEWIS BLACK Jan. 13, The Florida Theatre DWEEZIL ZAPPA Jan. 13, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall HENRY ROLLINS Jan. 14, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall LOS LOBOS Jan. 15, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall PINK MARTINI Jan. 17, The Florida Theatre MIKE DOUGHTY Jan. 18, Jack Rabbits DR. JOHN & the NITE TRIPPERS Jan. 18, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE Jan. 20, P. V. Concert Hall PETER BRADLEY ADAMS Jan. 22, Café Eleven Spend the Night with BILLY CRYSTAL Jan. 25, TimesUnion Center’s Moran Theater JEANNE ROBERTSON Jan. 21, The Florida Theatre ELVIS LIVES Jan. 24, Times-Union Center GLADYS KNIGHT Jan. 25, The Florida Theatre LEE BRICE, JUSTIN MOORE, WILLIAM MICHAEL MORGAN Jan. 26, Veterans Memorial Arena KATHLEEN MADIGAN Jan. 27, The Florida Theatre J BOOG, JEMERE MORGAN Jan. 27, P. Vedra Concert Hall KENNY ROGERS, LINDA DAVIS Jan. 28, Thrasher-Horne Center for the Performing Arts THE BEACH BOYS Jan. 28, The Florida Theatre VOCALOSITY Feb. 1, The Florida Theatre CHRISTIE DASHIELL Feb. 2, Ritz Theatre ARLO GUTHRIE Feb. 2, The Florida Theatre TOM RUSH Feb. 3, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall PAT METHENY, ANTONIO SANCHEZ, LINDA OH, GWILYM SIMCOCK Feb. 3, The Florida Theatre SARA WATKINS Feb. 4, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall BOSTON POPS ESPLANDE ORCHESTRA Feb. 4, TimesUnion Center for the Performing Arts GAELIC STORM Feb. 8, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE Feb. 9, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall TAJ MAHAL Feb. 10, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall THE BABES Feb. 11, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall Lincolnville Porch Fest: CHELSEA SADDLER, TELEPATHIC LINES, RIVERNECKS, THE WOBBLY TOMS, GHOST TROPIC, AMY HENDRICKSON, SAND FLEAS, ROBBIE DAMMIT & THE BROKEN STRINGS, NESTA, RAMONA QUIMBY, KYLE WAGONER, EARLY DISCLAIMERS, LONESOME BERT & THE SKINNY LIZARDS, KENSLEY STEWART, THE WILLOWWACKS, ASLYN & THE NAYSAYERS Feb. 12, St. Augustine UNDER THE STREETLAMP Feb. 12, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall AL DI MEOLA Feb. 14, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall ANDY McKEE Feb. 15, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall THREE DOG NIGHT, AMERICA Feb. 16, Florida Theatre RICHARD THOMPSON Feb. 16, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall THE PAUL THORN BAND Feb. 17, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall THE PIANO GUYS Feb. 17, The Florida Theatre TOBYMAC, MATT MAHER, MANDISA, MAC POWELL, CAPITAL KINGS, RYAN STEVENSON, HOLLYN Feb. 17, Veterans Memorial Arena TRAE CROWDER, COREY RYAN FORESTER, DREW MORGAN Feb. 18, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY & THE ASBURY JUKES Feb. 19, The Florida Theatre
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LIVE + LOCAL MUSIC Asheville, North Carolina alt-countrybluegrass fave NIKKI TALLEY (pictured) performs (at 11:45 a.m.) with CLAY H.S. SHOW CHOIR and JOE WATTS Dec. 3 at Riverside Arts Market.
COLIN HAY Feb. 22, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall JOE BONAMASSA Feb. 22, The Florida Theatre MINDI ABAIR Feb. 23, Ritz Theatre MANHATTAN TRANSFER, TAKE 6 Feb. 23, Florida Theatre FOREIGNER, KANSAS Feb. 24, St. Augustine Amphitheatre ELIZABETH COOK, DALE WATSON Feb. 24, P.V.C. Hall OLD 97’s, BOTTLE ROCKETS Feb. 25, P. Vedra Concert Hall PEPPER, LESS THAN JAKE Feb. 25, St. Augustine Amphitheatre DENNIS DeYOUNG, JACKSONVILLE ROCK SYMPHONY Feb. 26, The Florida Theatre
AGENT ORANGE, GUTTERMOUTH, THE QUEERS, THE ATOM AGE Feb. 26, St. Augustine Amphitheatre Backyard Party TAJ EXPRESS Feb. 28, Times-Union Center AMOS LEE Feb. 28, The Florida Theatre MARC COHN March 1, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall THE WEIGHT, members of THE BAND March 3, P.V.C. Hall LUCINDA WILLIAMS March 4, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall THE GROWLERS March 4, St. Augustine Amphitheatre Backyard Party SPYRO GYRA March 5, The Florida Theatre
KODO March 11, The Florida Theatre CLINT BLACK March 12, The Florida Theatre THE CHARLIE DANIELS BAND March 16, Florida Theatre IGOR & THE RED ELVISES March 16, Café Eleven GET THE LED OUT March 17, The Florida Theatre ADAM SAVAGE, PILOBOLUS SHADOWLAND March 21, The Florida Theatre I Love The ’90s Tour: VANILLA ICE, NAUGHTY by NATURE, SUGAR RAY’S MARK McGRATH, BIZ MARKIE, ALL-4-ONE, YOUNG MC March 24, St. Augustine Amphitheatre CHEYENNE JACKSON March 24, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall 1964: THE TRIBUTE March 25, St. Augustine Amphitheatre AIR SUPPLY March 26, The Florida Theatre JIM BRICKMAN March 31, The Florida Theatre RICK THOMAS April 1, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall ANA POPOVIC April 5, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall LEO KOTTKE, KELLER WILLIAMS April 6, Florida Theatre LITTLE RIVER BAND, JACKSONVILLE ROCK SYMPHONY April 7, The Florida Theatre ANDRAE MURCHINSON April 8, Ritz Theatre NuSoul Revival Tour: MUSIQ SOUsLCHILD, LYFE JENNINGS, AVERY SUNSHINE, KINDRED THE FAMILY SOUL April 8, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts BUDDY GUY, THE RIDES (Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Barry Goldberg) April 9, St. Augustine Amphitheatre CHRIS BOTTI April 18, The Florida Theatre MJ LIVE! April 20-23, Times-Union Center TOWER OF POWER April 22, The Florida Theatre RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS April 23, Veterans Memorial Arena WELCOME TO ROCKVILLE April 29 & 30, Metropolitan Park ERIC CHURCH May 5, Veterans Memorial Arena BASTILLE May 7, St. Augustine Amphitheatre TIM McGRAW & FAITH HILL Sept. 16, Veterans Memorial Arena DELFEAYO MARSALIS Sept. 29, Riverside Fine Arts Series
LIVE MUSIC CLUBS
AMELIA ISLAND + FERNANDINA ALLEY CAT BEER HOUSE, 316 Centre St., 491-1001 Dan Voll every Wed. John Springer every Thur. Brian Ernst every Fri. LA MANCHA, 2709 Sadler Rd., 261-4646 Miguel Paley 5:30-9 p.m. every Fri.-Sun. Javier Parez every Sun. SLIDERS SEASIDE GRILL, 1998 S. Fletcher Ave., 277-6652 King Eddie & Pili Pili 6 p.m. Nov. 30. Tad Jennings Dec. 1. Savannah Bassett, Milltown Road Dec. 2. Arvid Smith, South Mouth, Davis Turner Dec. 3. JC & Mike 6 p.m. Dec. 4. Mark O’Quinn 6 p.m. Dec. 6 SURF RESTAURANT, 3199 S. Fletcher Ave., 261-5711 Black Jack Band every Fri.
AVONDALE + ORTEGA CASBAH CAFÉ, 3628 St. Johns Ave., 981-9966 Goliath Flores 8 p.m. every Wed. Live jazz every Sun. Live music 9 p.m. every Mon. ECLIPSE, 4219 St. Johns Ave. KJ Free 9 p.m. every Tue. & Thur. Indie dance 9 p.m. every Wed. ’80s & ’90s dance every Fri. MELLOW MUSHROOM PIZZA BAKERS, 3611 St. Johns Ave., 388-0200 Live music every Thur.-Sat.
28 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016
THE BEACHES (All venues in Jax Beach unless otherwise noted)
BLUE TYPHOON, 2309 Beach Blvd., 379-3789 Billy Bowers 5:30 p.m. Nov. 30. Live music most weekends BLUE WATER ISLAND GRILL, 205 First St. N., 249-0083 Conch Fritters Nov. 30. Live music every weekend BRASS ANCHOR PUB, 2292 Mayport Rd., Atlantic Beach, 249-0301 Joe Oliff 8 p.m. Nov. 30. Live music most weekends CASA MARINA HOTEL, 691 First St. N., 270-0025 The Chris Thomas Band Nov. 30 THE COURTYARD, 200 First St., Neptune Beach, 241-1026 Wesley Anderson 7 p.m. Nov. 30. Watermedown, Daisyhead, Capstan Dec. 4 THE FLYING IGUANA TAQUERIA & TEQUILA BAR, 207 Atlantic Blvd., Neptune Beach, 853-5680 3 the Band 9 p.m. Dec. 1. Live music 10 p.m. Dec. 2 & 3. Darren Corlew 8:30 p.m. Dec. 4 GUSTO, 1266 Beach Blvd., 372-9925 Groov 7:30 p.m. every Wed. Murray Goff every Fri. Under the Bus every Sat. Gene Nordan 6 p.m. every Sun. HARBOR TAVERN, 160 Mayport Rd., Atlantic Beach, 246-2555 Flag on Fire, Savage Remains, Denied Til Death Dec. 3. Toxic Shock Dec. 7. Live music most weekends LYNCH’S IRISH PUB, 514 First St. N., 249-5181 People’s Blues of Richmond 10 p.m. Dec. 2 & 3. Dirty Pete 10 p.m. every Wed. Split Tone every Thur. Chillula every Sun. Be Easy every Mon. Krakajax every Tue. MELLOW MUSHROOM PIZZA BAKERS, 1018 Third St. N., 241-5600 El Dub 9 p.m. Dec. 1. Bonnie Blue Dec. 8. Live music every weekend MEZZA RESTAURANT & BAR, 110 First St., Neptune Beach, 249-5573 Gypsies Ginger every Wed. Mike Shackelford, Steve Shanholtzer every Thur. Mezza Shuffle every Mon. Trevor Tanner every Tue. RAGTIME TAVERN, 207 Atlantic Blvd., Atlantic Beach, 241-7877 Vinnie Keleman Nov. 30. Paul Lundgren Band Dec. 2 & 3. Live music every Wed.-Sun. SEACHASERS, 831 First St. N., 372-0444 Cowboy Rolex 8 p.m. every Thur. SOUTHERN GROUNDS & CO., 200 First St., Neptune Beach, 249-2922 Jazz Corner 6 p.m. every Tue. WHISKEY JAX, 950 Marsh Landing Pkwy., 853-5973 Murray Goff 6 p.m. every Wed. ZETA BREWING, 131 First Ave. N., 372-0727 Live music every Thur.-Sat.
CAMDEN COUNTY, GA. CAPTAIN STAN’S SMOKEHOUSE, 700 Bedell Dr., Woodbine, 912-729-9552 Acoustic music 6:30 p.m. every Sat.
DOWNTOWN
LIVE + LOCAL MUSIC Philly’s very own New Jack Swing kings BOYZ II MEN perform Dec. 1 at ThrasherHorne Center For The Arts, Orange Park.
JERRY’S SPORTS GRILLE, 13170 Atlantic Blvd., Ste. 22, 220-6766 Lucky Stiff 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2
MANDARIN ENZA’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT, 10601 San Jose Blvd., Ste. 109, 268-4458 Brian Iannucci Nov. 30 & Dec. 4 IGGY’S SEAFOOD SHACK, 104 Bartram Oaks Walk, Ste. 101, 209-5209 4syTe, Chelle Wilson 7 p.m. Dec. 2. Conch Fritters 8 p.m. Dec. 3. Live music every Fri. & Sat. DJ Greg every Wed.
ORANGE PARK + MIDDLEBURG DEE’S MUSIC BAR, 2141 Loch Rane Blvd., Ste. 140, 375-2240 Live music weekends. DJ Daddy-O every Tue. THE HILLTOP, 2030 Wells Rd., 272-5959 John Michael on the piano every Tue.-Sat. THE ROADHOUSE, 231 Blanding Blvd., 264-0611 Anton LaPlume 10 p.m. Nov. 30. DJ Big Mike 10 p.m. Dec. 1. Primitive Hard Drive, Hangman’s Crown 10 p.m. Dec. 2. Control This 10 p.m. Dec. 3. Live music every weekend SHARK CLUB, 714 Park Ave., 215-1557 Digital Skyline 9 p.m. Nov. 30. Live music most weekends TAPS BAR & GRILL, 1605 C.R. 220, 278-9421 Live music most weekends
1904 MUSIC HALL, 19 Ocean St. N. Jax Beat Battle 7 p.m. Nov. 30. The Steppin Stones, Jonnie Morgan Band 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1. Grass is Dead 8 pm. Dec. 2. Sage Francis, Stono Echo, Grammar Tree, Denver Hall, DJ Triclops 8 p.m. Dec. 3. Smile Empty Soul, The Veer Union, Kirra 7 p.m. Dec. 4 DE REAL TING, 128 W. Adams St., 633-9738 De Lions of Jah 7 p.m. Dec. 2. Live music most weekends DOS GATOS, 123 E. Forsyth St., 354-0666 DJ Brandon every Thur. DJ NickFresh every Sat. DJ Randall every Mon. DJ Hollywood every Tue. FIONN MacCOOL’S IRISH PUB, Jax Landing, 374-1247 Spade McQuade 6 p.m. Nov. 30 & Dec. 2. Jimmy Solari Dec. 3. Live music every Fri. & Sat. JACKSONVILLE LANDING, 2 Independent Dr., 353-1188 Jay Garrett Band 9 p.m. Dec. 2. The Party Cartel 9 p.m. Dec. 3. Front Porch Christmas Dec. 7 MARK’S DOWNTOWN, 315 E. Bay St., 355-5099 DJ Shotgun 10 p.m. every Sat. MAVERICKS LIVE, Jax Landing, 356-1110 Perpetual Groove, Lucky Costello, Cloud9 Vibes 8 p.m. Nov. 30. Blaire Hanks 6 p.m. Dec. 1. Kennedy Jones 9 p.m. Dec. 2. The Lacs 6 p.m. Dec. 3. Niykee Heaton 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4. Joe Buck, DJ Justin every Thur.-Sat. MYTH NIGHTCLUB, 333 E. Bay St., 707-0474 DJs Lady Miaou, Booty Boo, Cry Havoc, Some Dude 9 p.m. every Glitz Wed. Q45, live music every Wed. EDM every Thur. Eric Rush every Fri. DJ IBay every Sat. THE VOLSTEAD, 115 W. Adams St., 414-3171 Swing Dance Sundays 7 p.m.
ACROSS THE STREET, 948 Edgewood Ave. S., 683-4182 Live music most weekends BRIXX, 220 Riverside Ave., 300-3928 Live music every Thur. & Fri. HOBNOB, 220 Riverside Ave., Ste. 10, 513-4272 Live music every Fri. LIMES LIVE, 1265 S. Lane Ave., gobigentertainment.net Askmeificare, pE 8 p.m. Dec. 3 MURRAY HILL THEATRE, 932 Edgewood Ave., 388-7807 878, Jigsaw, Unmasked, ABrodie 8 p.m. Dec. 9 NIGHTHAWKS, 2952 Roosevelt Blvd. Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh 7 p.m. Nov. 30. Live music most weekends RIVERSIDE ARTS MARKET, 715 Riverside Ave. (under the bridge), 389-2449 Clay High School Show Choir, Nikki Talley, Joe Watts Dec. 3 UNITY PLAZA, 220 Riverside Ave., 220-5830 Live music most every weekend
FLEMING ISLAND
ST. AUGUSTINE
MELLOW MUSHROOM PIZZA BAKERS, 1800 Town Ctr. Blvd., 541-1999 Felix Chang 9:30 p.m. Dec. 1. Live music most weekends WHITEY’S FISH CAMP, 2032 C.R. 220, 269-4198 Highway Jones, Cindy Davenport 9 p.m. Dec. 2 & 3. Live music every Thur.-Sun.
CELLAR UPSTAIRS, 157 King St., 826-1594 Tony Scozzaro 2 p.m., The Committee 7 p.m. Dec. 2. Gary Douglas Campbell 2 p.m., The Committee 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Vinny Jacobs 2 p.m. Dec. 4 MARDI GRAS, 123 San Marco Ave., 823-8806 Three Crow Murder 9 p.m. Dec. 2. Swamp Rock Stew 9 p.m. Dec. 3. Fre Gordon, acoustic open mic 7 p.m. every Sun. Justin Gurnsey, Musicians Exchange 8 p.m. every Mon. TAPS BAR & GRILL, 2220 C.R. 210, St. Johns, 819-1554 Chuck Nash 8 p.m. Nov. 30 SHANGHAI NOBBY’S, 10 Anastasia Blvd., 547-2188 Jack
INTRACOASTAL CLIFF’S BAR & GRILL, 3033 Monument Rd., 645-5162 Live music 10 p.m. Dec. 2 & 3. Open mic every Tue. Live music most every weekend; Sundays on the deck
PONTE VEDRA BEACH PUSSER’S GRILLE, 816 A1A, 280-7766 Billy Buchanan 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Live music every Fri. & Sat. TABLE 1, 330 A1A, 280-5515 Deron Baker 6 p.m. Nov. 30. Gary Starling Jazz Band 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1
RIVERSIDE + WESTSIDE
of Spades, I Came from Earth, Johnny Nos Dec. 3. Jeffrey Domingues, Damn Thy Name, Nine Horns Dec. 4. Kate Hancock Dec. 9. Kyle Arnold Morphine tribute band, Cure for Pain Dec. 10. Live music most weekends TEMPO, 16 Cathedral Place, 342-0286 Douglas Arrington 8 p.m. Dec. 1. Jazzy Blue 5 p.m. Dec. 3. Jax English Salsa Band 6 p.m. Dec. 4. Bluez Dudez 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6. Open mic 7:30 p.m. every Wed. TRADEWINDS LOUNGE, 124 Charlotte St., 829-9336 Blistur 9 p.m. Dec. 2 & 3. Carrick, Wilson Hunter Band 9 p.m. every Wed. JP Driver 9 p.m. every Thur. Elizabeth Roth 1 p.m. every Sat. Keith Godwin & the Rio Grande Band 9 p.m. every Sun. Mark Hart, DVB 9 p.m. every Mon. Mark Hart, Those Guys 9 p.m. every Tue. Live music presented every night
SAN MARCO INDOCHINE, 1974 San Marco Blvd., 503-7013 Morgan Heritage 7 p.m. Dec. 5 JACK RABBITS, 1528 Hendricks Ave., 398-7496 Emma Moseley Band, Pug Ugly, Powerball 8 p.m. Dec. 2. Tone Revival 8 p.m. Dec. 3. Battlecross, Allegaeon, Necromancing 7 p.m. Dec. 4. Barb Wire Dolls Dec. 8 MUDVILLE MUSIC ROOM, 3104 Atlantic Blvd., 352-7008 Florida Bass Quintet, Dr. Bill Prince 7 p.m. Nov. 30. Jeff Bradley, Mike Legasse 7 p.m. Dec. 1. Sam Pacetti 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2. River City Rhythm Kings 7 p.m. Dec. 5. Pierce Pettis 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8
SOUTHSIDE + BAYMEADOWS CORNER BISTRO & WINE BAR, 9823 Tapestry Park Circle, 619-1931 Matthew Hall 8 p.m. every Thur.-Sat. GREEK STREET CAFÉ, 3546 St. Johns Bluff Rd. S., 503-0620 Tavernalive 6 p.m. every Mon. MELLOW MUSHROOM PIZZA BAKERS, 9734 Deer Lake Ct., 997-1955 Charlie Walker 8 p.m. Dec. 1. Darren Corlew 8 p.m. Dec. 2. Paul Ivey 8 p.m. Dec. 3 WHISKEY JAX, 10915 Baymeadows Rd., 634-7208 Boogie Freaks, Don’t Call Me Shirley 9:30 p.m. Dec. 2. Go Get Gone Dec. 9. Melissa Smith open mic every Thur. Blues jam every Sun. Country jam every Wed.
SPRINGFIELD + NORTHSIDE BOSTON’S, 13070 City Station Dr., 751-7499 Shayne Rammler 9 p.m. Dec. 1 THE HEADLAMP, 818 Clay St. Live music every Fri. & Sat. MELLOW MUSHROOM PIZZA BAKERS, 15170 Max Leggett Parkway, 757-8843 Live music most every weekend OCEANWAY BAR, 12905 Main St. N., 647-9127 Bandontherun 5 p.m. Dec. 3 SANDOLLAR, 9716 Heckscher Dr., 251-2449 Live music every Fri.-Sun. SHANTYTOWN PUB, 22 W. Sixth St., 798-8222 Interludes Jax, Bees & Enormous Trees 8 p.m. Dec. 10
___________________________________________ To list your band’s gig, please send time, date, location (street address, city), admission price, and a contact number to print to Daniel A. Brown, email dbrown@ folioweekly.com or by the U.S. Postal Service, 45 W. Bay St., Ste. 103, Jacksonville FL 32202. Events run on a spaceavailable basis. Deadline is at noon every Wednesday for the next Wednesday’s publication.
NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 29
FOLIO DINING
Enjoy the taste of elegant, Old World Italian cuisine at Gusto in Jacksonville Beach. photo by Dennis Ho
AMELIA ISLAND + FERNANDINA BEACH
29 SOUTH EATS, 29 S. Third St., 277-7919, 29southrest aurant.com. Historic downtown bistro’s Chef Scotty Schwartz serves traditional regional cuisine with a modern twist. $$ L Tu-Sa; D M.-Sa; R Sa BEACH DINER, 2006 S. Eighth St., 310-3750, beachdiner. com. Innovative breakfast: Eggs on the Bayou, fish-n-grits; French toast, riders, omelets. Lunch fare: salads, burgers, sandwiches, shrimp & crabmeat salad. $ K TO B R L Daily BRETT’S WATERWAY CAFÉ, 1 S. Front St., 261-2660. F On the water at Centre Street’s end, it’s Southern hospitality in an upscale atmosphere; daily specials, fresh local seafood, aged beef. $$$ FB L D Daily CAFÉ KARIBO, 27 N. Third St., 277-5269, cafekaribo.com. F In historic building, family-owned café has worldly fare, madefrom-scratch dressings, sauces, desserts, sourcing fresh greens, veggies, seafood. Dine inside or al fresco under oak-shaded patio. Microbrew Karibrew Pub next door has beer brewed onsite, imports. $$ FB K TO R, Su; L Daily, D Tu-Su in season CHEZ LEZAN BAKERY CO., 1014 Atlantic Ave., 491-4663, chezlezanbakery.com. Fresh European-style breads, pastries: croissants, muffins, cakes, pies. $ TO B R L Daily THE CRAB TRAP, 31 N. Second St., 261-4749, ameliacrabtrap .com. F Nearly 40 years, family-owned-and-operated. Fresh local seafood, steaks, specials. HH. $$ FB L D Daily DAVID’S Restaurant & Lounge, 802 Ash St., 310-6049, amelia islanddavids.com. Steaks, fresh seafood, rack of lamb and ribeye, Chilean sea bass, in an upscale atmosphere. Chef Wesley Cox has a new lounge menu. $$$$ FB D Nightly DICK’S WINGS & GRILL, 474313 E. S.R. 200, 310-6945. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE ORANGE PARK.
JACK & DIANE’S, 708 Centre St., 321-1444, jackanddianes cafe.com. F Renovated 1887 shotgun house. Faves: jambalaya, French toast, pancakes, mac & cheese, crêpes. Vegan items. Inside or porch overlooking historic area. $$ BW K TO B L D Daily LA MANCHA, 2709 Sadler Rd., 261-4646. Spanish, Portuguese fare, Brazilian flair. Tapas, seafood, steaks, sangria. Drink specials. AYCE paella Sun. $$$ FB K TO D Nightly LARRY’S Subs, 474272 S.R. 200, 844-2225. F SEE ORANGE PARK. LECHONERA EL COQUÍ, 232 N. Second St., 432-7545. New Puerto Rican place. Chulleta kan kan (pork chops), Tripletta churosco sandwich, more. $ FB TO L D Tu-Su MOON RIVER PIZZA, 925 S. 14th St., 321-3400, moonriver pizza.net. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Authentic Northern-style pizzas, 20+ toppings, pie/slice. Calzones, salads. $ BW TO L D M-Sa THE MUSTARD SEED CAFÉ, 833 Courson Rd., 277-3141, nassaushealthfoods.net. Casual organic eatery, juice bar, in Nassau Health Foods. All-natural organic items, smoothies, juices, herbal teas, coffees, daily specials. $$ K TO B L M-Sa THE PATIO PLACE, 416 Ash St., 410-3717, patioplacebistro. com. Bistro/wine bar/crêperie’s menu of global fare uses crêpes: starters, entrées, shareables, desserts. $$ BW TO B L D Tu-Su
DINING DIRECTORY KEY AVERAGE ENTRÉE COST $ $$
< $10 $ 10-$20
$$$ $$$$
$
20-$35 > $35
ABBREVIATIONS & SPECIAL NOTES BW = Beer/Wine FB = Full Bar K = Kids’ Menu TO = Take Out B = Breakfast R = Brunch L = Lunch D = Dinner
Bite Club = Hosted Free Folio Weekly Bite Club Event F = Folio Weekly Distribution Spot
To list your restaurant, call your account manager or call or text SAM TAYLOR, Folio Weekly publisher, at 904-860-2465 (email: staylor@folioweekly.com). 30 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016
POINTE Restaurant, 98 S. Fletcher Ave., 277-4851, elizabeth pointelodge.com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. In award-winning inn Elizabeth Pointe Lodge. Seaside dining, open to public. Dine in or out. Hot buffet breakfast daily, full lunch menu. Homestyle soups, specialty sandwiches, salads, desserts. $$$ BW K B L D Daily THE SALTY PELICAN BAR & GRILL, 12 N. Front St., 277-3811, thesaltypelicanamelia.com. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. 2nd-story outdoor bar. Owners T.J. & Al offer local seafood, fish tacos, Mayport shrimp, po’boys, cheese oysters. $$ FB K L D Daily SLIDERS SEASIDE GRILL, 1998 S. Fletcher Ave., 277-6652, slidersseaside.com. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Oceanfront. Award-winning handmade crabcakes, fried pickles, fresh seafood. Open-air 2nd floor, balcony, playground. $$ FB K L D Daily T-RAY’S BURGER STATION, 202 S. Eighth St., 261-6310. F Family-owned-and-operated 18+ years. Blue plate specials, burgers, biscuits & gravy, shrimp. $ BW TO B L M-Sa
ARLINGTON + REGENCY
DICK’S WINGS, 9119 Merrill Rd., Ste. 19, 745-9300. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE ORANGE PARK.
LARRY’S GIANT SUBS, 1301 Monument Rd., Ste. 5, 7245802. F SEE ORANGE PARK. SID & LINDA’S SEAFOOD MARKET & RESTAURANT, 12220 Atlantic Blvd., Ste. 109, 503-8276. Pick a whole fresh fish, have it cleaned, filleted, cooked to order. Dine in, take out. Housemade sauces. $$ K TO L D Daily
AVONDALE + ORTEGA
CHOMP CHOMP, 4162 Herschel St., 329-1679. Relocated. Chef-inspired: The Philadelphia Experiment (sweet pork over arugula), panko-crusted chicken, burgers, Waldorf salad, bahn mi, Southern fried chicken, The Come Up (portabella mushroom, green tomato salsa, almonds). Curry Chomp chips, pasta salad. HH. $ BW L D Mon.-Sat. THE FOX RESTAURANT, 3580 St. Johns Ave., 387-2669. Owners Ian and Mary Chase offer fresh fare, homemade desserts. Breakfast all day; signature items: burgers, meatloaf, fried green tomatoes. $$ BW K L D Daily HARPOON LOUIE’S, 4070 Herschel St., Ste. 8, 389-5631, harpoonlouies.net. F Locally owned & operated 20+ years. American pub. 1/2-lb. burgers, fish sandwiches, pasta. Local beers, HH. $$ FB K TO L D Daily MELLOW MUSHROOM, 3611 St. Johns Ave., 388-0200. F Bite Club. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
PINEGROVE MARKET & DELI, 1511 PineGrove Ave., 389-8655, pinegrovemarket.com. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. 40+ years. Burgers, Cubans, subs, wraps. Onsite butcher, USDA choice prime aged beef. Craft beers. Fri. & Sat. fish fry. $ BW TO B L D M-Sa RESTAURANT ORSAY, 3630 Park St., 381-0909, restaurant orsay.com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. French/Southern bistro; local organic ingredients. Steak frites, mussels, pork chops. $$$ FB R, Su; D Nightly SIMPLY SARA’S, 2902 Corinthian Ave., 387-1000, simplysaras.net. F Down-home fare from scratch: eggplant fries, pimento cheese, baked chicken, fruit cobblers, chicken & dumplings, desserts. BYOB. $$ K TO L D Tu-Sa, B Sa
BAYMEADOWS
AL’S PIZZA, 8060 Philips Hwy., Ste. 105, 731-4300. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
INDIA’S RESTAURANT, 9802 Baymeadows Rd., Ste. 8, 620-0777, indiajax.com. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Authentic cuisine, lunch buffet. Curries, vegetables, lamb, chicken, shrimp, fish tandoori. $$ BW L M-Sa; D Nightly LARRY’S Subs, 8616 Baymeadows Rd., 739-2498. F SEE O. PARK. METRO DINER, 9802 Baymeadows Rd., 425-9142. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE SAN MARCO.
NATIVE SUN Natural Foods Market & Deli, 11030 Baymeadows Rd., 260-2791. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE MANDARIN. THE WELL WATERING HOLE, 3928 Baymeadows Rd., Ste. 9, 737-7740, thewellwateringhole.com. Local craft beers, glass/ bottle wines. Meatloaf sandwich, pulled Peruvian chicken, vegan black bean burgers. $$ BW K TO L M-F; D Tu-Sa TEQUILAS, 10915 Baymeadows Rd., Ste. 101, 363-1365, tequilasjacksonville.com. New Mexican place has casa-style dishes made with fresh, spicy hot ingredients. Vegetarian option. Top-shelf tequilas, drink specials. $$ FB K TO L D Daily WHISKEY JAX, 10915 Baymeadows Rd., Ste. 135, 634-7208, whiskeyjax.com. Gastropub. Craft beers, gourmet burgers, handhelds, street fare tacos, signature plates, whiskey. HH. $$ FB L D F-Su; D Nightly
DINING DIRECTORY AL’S PIZZA, 303 Atlantic Blvd., Atlantic Beach, 249-0002, alspizza.com. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. NY-style gourmet pizzas, baked dishes. 28+ years. All day HH M-Thu. $ FB K TO L D Daily ANGIE’S SUBS, 1436 Beach Blvd., 246-2519. ANGIE’S Grom Subs, 204 Third Ave. S., 241-3663. Subs made with fresh ingredients, 25+ years. Huge salads, blue-ribbon iced tea. Grom has Sun. brunch, no alcohol. $ K BW TO L D Daily BEACH DINER, 501 Atlantic Blvd., AB, 249-6500. SEE AMELIA. BEACH HUT CAFÉ, 1281 Third St. S., 249-3516. 28+ years. Full breakfast menu served all day (darn good grits); hot plate specials Mon.-Fri. $ K TO B R L Daily CRUISERS GRILL, 319 23rd Ave. S., 270-0356, cruisersgrill. com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Locally owned & operated 20+ years. Half-pound burgers, fish sandwiches, big salads, awardwinning cheddar fries, sangria. $ BW K TO L D Daily EUROPEAN STREET CAFÉ, 992 Beach Blvd., 249-3001, europeanstreet.com. F SEE RIVERSIDE. FAMOUS TOASTERY, 311 N. Third St., 372-0712, famous toastery.com. New place has breakfast and lunch: corned beef hash, gluten-free pancakes, bacon, omelets, eggs, toast. Wraps, Bloody Marys, mimosas, peach Bellini. $$ FB K TO B L Daily THE FISH COMPANY Restaurant, 725 Atlantic Blvd., Ste. 12, AB, 246-0123, thefishcojax.com. Bite Club. Casual. Oyster raw bar, fresh local seafood, Mayport shrimp, crab, lobster. Homestyle desserts. Patio; all-day HH Sun. $$ FB K TO L D Daily FLAMING SEAFOOD & SHAO KAO BBQ, 1289 Penman Rd., 853-6398. New place (is it Chinese? Barbecue? Seafood?) serves meats and vegetables, spiced, skewered on bamboo sticks – like Chinese street food. $ BW TO L D Daily FLYING IGUANA Taqueria & Tequila Bar, 207 Atlantic Blvd., NB, 853-5680, flyingiguana.com. F Latin American: tacos, seafood, carnitas, Cubana fare. 100+ tequilas. $ FB TO L D Daily GUSTO, 1266 Beach Blvd., 372-9925, gustojax.com. Classic Old World Roman cuisine, large Italian menu: homestyle pasta, beef, chicken, fish delicacies; open pizza-tossing kitchen. Reservations encouraged. $$ FB TO L R D Tu-Su THE HASH HOUSE, 610 Third St. S., 422-0644, thelovingcup hashhouse.com. New place offers locally sourced fare, locally roasted coffees, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian dishes – no GMOs or hormones. $ K TO B R L Daily LARRY’S Subs, 657 Third St. N., 247-9620. F SEE ORANGE PARK. MELLOW MUSHROOM Pizza Bakers, 1018 Third St. N., Ste. 2, 241-5600, mellowmushroom.com. F Bite Club. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Hoagies, gourmet pizzas: Mighty Meaty, vegetarian, Kosmic Karma. 35 tap beers. Nonstop HH. $ FB K TO L D Daily METRO DINER, 1534 3rd St. N., 853-6817. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE SAN MARCO.
M SHACK, 299 Atlantic Blvd., AB, 241-2599, mshackburgers. com. David and Matthew Medure flip burgers, hot dogs, fries, shakes. Dine in or out. $$ BW L D Daily NATIVE SUN NATURAL FOODS MARKET & DELI, 1585 Third St. N., 458-1390. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE MANDARIN.
CAMDEN COUNTY, GEORGIA
GANGNAM STYLE
DOWNTOWN
AKEL’S DELICATESSEN, 21 W. Church St., 665-7324. 50 N. Laura St., Ste. 125, 446-3119, akelsdeli.com. F NYC-style deli. Fresh subs, sandwiches, burgers, gyros, wraps, vegetarian, breakfast, signature dressings. $ K TO B L M-F CANDY APPLE CAFÉ & COCKTAILS, 400 N. Hogan, 353-9717, thecandyapplecafeandcocktails.com. Chef-driven Southern/ French cuisine, sandwiches, entrées. $$ FB K L Daily; D Tu-Sa CASA DORA, 108 E. Forsyth St., 356-8282, casadoraitalian. com. F Chef Sam Hamidi serves Italian fare, 40+ years: veal, seafood, pizza. Homemade salad dressing. $ BW K L M-F; D M-Sa FIONN MACCOOL’S IRISH PUB & RESTAURANT, Jax Landing, Ste. 176, 374-1547, fionnmacs.com. Casual dining, uptown Irish atmosphere; fish & chips, Guinness lamb stew, black-andtan brownies. $$ FB K L D Daily INDOCHINE, 21 E. Adams St., Ste. 200, 598-5303, indochine jax.com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Thai, Southeast Asian cuisine. Signature dishes: chicken Satay, soft shell crab; mango, sticky rice dessert. $$ FB TO L D M-F; D Tu-Sa OLIO MARKET, 301 E. Bay St., 356-7100, oliomarket.com. F From-scratch soups, sandwiches. Duck grilled cheese, seen on Best Sandwich in America. $$ BW TO B R L M-F; D F & Sa URBAN GRIND COFFEE COMPANY, 45 W. Bay, Ste. 102, 866-395-3954, 516-7799, urbangrind.coffee. Locally roasted whole bean brewed coffees, espressos, pastries, smoothies, bagels, cream cheeses. Chicken/tuna salad, sandwiches. WiFi. $ B L M-F. URBAN GRIND EXPRESS, 50 W. Laura, 516-7799. SEE ABOVE. ZODIAC BAR & GRILL, 120 W. Adams St., 354-8283, thezodiacbarandgrill.com. 16+ years. Mediterranean cuisine, American fare, paninis, vegetarian dishes. Daily lunch buffet. Espressos, hookahs. HH M-F $ FB L M-F; D W-Sa
FLEMING ISLAND
DICK’S WINGS, 1803 East-West Parkway, 375-2559. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE ORANGE PARK.
GRASSROOTS Natural Market, 1915 East-West Parkway, 541-0009. F SEE RIVERSIDE. MELLOW MUSHROOM, 1800 Town Ctr. Blvd., 541-1999. F Bite Club. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
TAPS Bar & Grill, 1605 C.R. 220, Ste. 145, 278-9421, tapspub lichouse.com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. 50+ premium domestic, import tap beers. Burgers, sandwiches, entrées. $$ FB K L D Daily WHITEY’S FISH CAMP, 2032 C.R. 220, 269-4198, whiteysfish camp.com. F Real fish camp. Gator tail, freshwater catfish, daily specials, on Swimming Pen Creek. Tiki bar. Come by boat, bike or car. $ FB K TO L Tu-Su; D Nightly
GRILL ME!
JESSI BELL
Chamblin's Uptown
215 N. Laura St., Downtown Born in: Jacksonville, Florida Years in the Biz: 4 Fave Restaurant: Hovan Fave Cuisine Style: Vegan Soul Food Fave Ingredients: Arugula, cayenne pepper Ideal Meal: Anything I make Will Not Cross My Lips: Meat and dairy Insider's Secret: Staring will not make your food come out faster. Celeb Sighting (at my place): Eddie Farah Taste Treat: Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake!
PARSONS SEAFOOD RESTAURANT, 1451 Atlantic Blvd., Neptune Beach, 595-5789, parsonsseafoodrestaurant. com. The landmark place just moved; still serving local seafood dishes, sides, specialty fare. $$ FB K TO L D Tu-Su POE’S TAVERN, 363 Atlantic Blvd., AB, 241-7637, poestavern. com. Gastropub, 50+ beers, burgers, fries, fish tacos, Edgar’s Drunken Chili, daily fish sandwich special. $$ FB K L D Daily RAGTIME TAVERN SEAFOOD & GRILL, 207 Atlantic Blvd., Atlantic Beach, 241-7877, ragtimetavern.com. F 30+ years, iconic seafood place. Blackened snapper, sesame tuna, Ragtime shrimp. Daily HH, brunch Sun. $$ FB L D Daily SALT LIFE FOOD SHACK, 1018 Third St. N., 372-4456, saltlifefoodshack.com. Specialty items, tuna poke bowl, fresh sushi, Ensenada tacos, local fried shrimp. $$ FB K TO L D Daily SEACHASERS, 831 First St. N., 372-0444, seachasers.com. New place; four areas: First Street Bar, Music Room, Beach Bar, Dining Room. Daily HH. In or on patio. $$ FB L D Daily SLIDERS SEAFOOD GRILLE & OYSTER BAR, 218 First St., NB, 246-0881, slidersseafoodgrille.com. Beach-casual spot. Faves: Fresh fish tacos, gumbo. Key lime pie, ice cream sandwiches. Brunch Sun. $$ FB K L Sa/Su; D Nightly SURFWICHES SANDWICH SHOP, 1537 Penman Rd., 241-6996, surfwiches.com. Craft sandwich shop. Yankeestyle steak sandwiches, hoagies, all made to order. $ BW TO K L D Daily THIS CHICK’S KITCHEN, 353 Sixth Ave. S., 778-5404, thischickskitchen.com. Farm-to-table restaurant serving healthful, locally sourced clean meals. Gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian options. $$ TO L D W-Sa V PIZZA, 528 First St. N., 853-6633, vpizza.com. Traditional Neapolitana artisan pizza from Naples – Italy, not Florida, made with fresh ingredients. $$ FB TO L D Daily
BITE-SIZED
CAPTAIN STAN’S SMOKEHOUSE, 700 Bedell Dr., Woodbine, 912-729-9552 All manner of barbecue, plus sides, hot dogs, burgers, desserts. Dine inside or out on picnic tables. $$ FB K TO L & D Tu-Sa
INTRACOASTAL WEST
AL’S PIZZA, 14286 Beach Blvd., Ste. 31, 223-0991. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
DICK’S WINGS, 14286 Beach Blvd., Ste. 32, 223-0115. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE ORANGE PARK.
GERMAN SCHNITZEL HAUS, 13475 Atlantic Blvd., Ste. 40, 221-9700, germanjax.com. Authentic German/fusion fare: schnitzels, plus bratwurst, stroganoff, käsesspätzle. 13 German beers in bottles, on tap. Bar bites, cocktails. Outdoor BierGarten. HH Tu-Thur. $$ FB L & D Tu-Su LARRY’S, 10750 Atlantic Blvd., Ste. 14, 642-6980. F SEE O.PARK. SURFWICHES SANDWICH SHOP, 14286 Beach Blvd., Ste. 29, 559-5301. SEE BEACHES.
MANDARIN + NW ST. JOHNS
AKEL’S DELI, 12926 Gr +nbay Pkwy. W., 880-2008. F SEE DOWNTOWN.
AL’S PIZZA, 11190 San Jose Blvd., 260-4115. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
BEACH Diner, 11362 San Jose Blvd., 683-0079. SEE AMELIA. CRUISERS, 5613 San Jose Blvd., 737-2874. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
DICK’S WINGS, 100 Marketside Ave., 829-8134. 965 S.R. 16, 825-4540. 1610 University Blvd. W., 448-2110. 10391 Old St. Augustine, 880-7087. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE ORANGE PARK.
ENZA’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT, 10601 San Jose Blvd., Ste. 109, 268-4458, enzas.net. Family-owned place serves Italian cuisine, veal, seafood, specials. $$$ FB K TO D Tu-Su FIRST COAST DELI & GRILL, 6082 St. Augustine Rd., 733-7477. Pancakes, bacon, sandwiches, burgers, wings. $ K TO B L Daily JAX DINER, 5065 St. Augustine Rd.,739-7070. New spot
photo by Brentley Stead
BEACHES (Venues are in Jax Beach unless otherwise noted.)
Find AUTHENTIC Korean on the Southside IF YOU DREAM OF GOING THROUGH A KOREAN exchange program just to experience authentic fare, GangNam Korean Restaurant is probably a better, and cheaper, option. If you want high-quality Korean food prepared by folks who’ve clearly been doing this for a while, then you’re in the right place. Tucked into the strip mall where you can also find Austin’s Karaoke, this is a small and excellent find — Korean food plus insane Karaoke? You’re welcome for the best date idea ever. I took a friend with plenty of Korean food experience, and he gave me the lowdown, which I will now pass along to you. GangNam’s menu has a lot of traditional dishes, so we started with kimchi pancake ($9.99) appetizer, which is basically a giant plate of kimchi joy. The pancake has very little to hold it together, but it packs the best flavor kimchi has to offer. Dig in and take a huge bite of Napa cabbage, bok choy, scallions and more. Heads up: This is a rather greasy dish, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that it tastes good. In case you’re worried about the kimchi
BITE-SIZED GANGNAM KOREAN RESTAURANT
5161 Beach Blvd., Ste. 5, Spring Park, 396-4008 spice level, rest assured that it was just the right amount to give it a little kick without going nuclear. I was told that the beef bulgogi ($16.99) is a must so, of course, we had to try it. GangNam’s bulgogi is made of paper-thin, tender strips dressed in a traditional Korean bulgogi marinade, a sweet and savory combo of a sauce. Your second and third tastes only deepen flavors of ginger, and reveal a hint of sweetness only brown sugar can give. The dish is served with slightly crisp sliced onions and scallions, which added a nice texture and fresh flavor. Next up is another dish that’s not to be missed on the traditional Korean roster: Bibimbap — which is definitely the most fun word to say. I’ll pause for a moment so you can try it out: Bib-im-bap. Sounds good, doesn’t it? It tastes even better. At GangNam, you can order Bibimbap in a stone bowl ($12.99), or not … but I’m not sure why anyone would ever have it without the stone pot experience. This Bibimbap, provided you’ve opted for the stone pot, has the coolest presentation. The piping-hot bowl contains an array of sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, zucchini and spinach organized around rice. Then, the crème de la crème, piping-hot bulgogi spooned over top, with a freshly cracked egg plopped right in the middle of everything. Don’t let the raw egg intimidate you. The dish is so hot (if it wasn’t obvious before, warning: don’t touch the ridiculously hot bowl) it cooks the egg more the longer you let it sit, allowing you to choose your level of runny-ness. Your order will be served with tiny bowls filled with accompaniments like fish cakes, cucumbers pickled in kimchi seasoning, kimchi, sprouts and, the most exotic of all, potatoes. I’m a big fan of pickled everything, so my chopsticks dived right in. Fish cakes, or fish strips as they should be called, are not as weird as you may think. The texture is a little spongy but, altogether, it’s got a good flavor. There are tables with heating elements for large parties of diners who want to just hang out for a bit. And you may cook your own marinated meat for a different culinary experience. Get ready to dazzle your taste buds with some delicious flavors. Brentley Stead biteclub@folioweekly.com NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 31
DINING DIRECTORY PINT-SIZED
Survive WINTER’S NTTER’S ““CHILL” CHILL” with a big glass of beer
serves local produce, meats, breads, seafood. $ TO B L Daily METRO DINER, 12807 San Jose Blvd., 638-6185. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Dinner nightly. SEE SAN MARCO. NATIVE SUN NATURAL FOODS MARKET & DELI, 10000 San Jose Blvd., 260-6950, nativesunjax.com. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Organic soups, baked items, sandwiches, prepared foods. Juice, smoothie, coffee bar. All-natural organic beer/wine. $ BW TO K B L D Daily TAPS BAR & GRILL, 2220 C.R. 210 W., Ste. 314, 819-1554.
In addition to being a friendly neighborhood haunt, 5 Points Tavern also offers seasonal tastes from a chef-curated menu. photo by Dennis Ho
2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE FLEMING ISLAND.
STRONG, BLACK &
VISCOUS
NORTHEAST FLORIDA WILL SOON BE IN THE grip of Old Man Winter, which only means we’re going to have a couple of really cold days followed by a week of mild weather. Winters here can be confusing to new arrivals. Just about the time you pull out winter coats, crank up the heat, and stock up on firewood, the weather changes and everyone’s in shorts and flip-flops again. The fickle weather patterns shouldn’t stifle our enjoyment of good traditional winter beer, however. And by that, I mean stouts and porters. Stouts and porters originated around the same time and their roots can be traced to similar brewers. Indeed, the two dark beers were invented only 50 years apart. Both are English and, though there are differences between the two in modern brewing, the two terms were used somewhat interchangeably in early England. Mention of stout beers can be found as early as 1677; the word ‘stout’ took on the meaning of strong and was attached to beer. A stout beer, therefore, meant it was a strong beer, typically more than 7 percent or 8 percent ABV. The term became synonymous with the strongest — or stoutest — porters. It wasn’t until the early 1700s that mention of porters is found. Porter was originally an attempt to capture the flavor of a popular pub blend known as “three threads.” This potent fusion was a favorite of the baggage porters at Victoria Station who often made a meal of the rich brew. The combination of brews consisted of equal parts ale, beer and twopenny, the strongest style of beer produced at the time. The mixture became known as porter, in recognition of the baggage handlers around 1730, when a brewer named Harwood brewed a single beer he called Entire which recreated the “three threads” flavor. All London porters (the quaff, not the men) were matured in barrels for six to 18 months before being racked into smaller casks for pub distribution. Thus, porters referred to an aged beer, while a stout beer could be a young, strong porter. Early London porters were strong by today’s standards, but soon became less so, due to taxation on higher-alcohol beers. The popularity of the beers forced brewers to produce them in a wide variety of strengths. Brewers began to fashion porters as single-stout, double-stout (like Guinness), triple-stout and imperial-stout. There are many variations to the porter and stout styles, and now’s the time to find a great porter or stout to warm your innards during the “frigid” winter months. And don’t worry if the weather changes; these beers are quaffable any time.
PINT-SIZED
VETERAN’S UNITED CRAFT BREWER PARATROOPER PORTER Chocolate, caramel and hints of coffee are some of the flavor elements of this intensely black concoction. Made with darkroasted malts, malty sweetness is balanced with moderate bitterness. ENGINE 15 BREWING COMPANY IMPERIAL CHUPA CABRA Deemed a Russian imperial stout, this London-born style is known for its high alcohol, high bitterness, use of dark malts, and its Russian fan, Catherine the Great. E15’s version is aged in Bourbon barrels for an added flavor dimension. BOG BREWING COMPANY COFFEE OATMEAL STOUT At this St. Augustine brewery, the finished stout is aged on Brazilian coffee beans roasted at Third Wave Coffee Roasters. The result? Intense coffee flavor with notes of chocolate. Marc Wisdom marc@folioweekly.com
V PIZZA, 12601 San Jose Blvd., 647-9424. SEE SAN MARCO. WHOLE FOODS MARKET, 10601 San Jose, Ste. 22, 288-1100, wholefoodsmarket.com. Prepared-food department, 80+ items, full-service/self-service bars: hot, salad, soup, dessert. Pizza, sushi, sandwich stations. Grapes, Hops & Grinds bar serves wines, beers (craft/tap), coffees. $$ BW K TO B L D Daily
ORANGE PARK
DICK’S WINGS & GRILL, 6055 Youngerman Cir., 778-1101, dickswingsandgrill.com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. NASCARthemed restaurant serves 365 varieties of wings, plus halfpound burgers, ribs, salads. $ FB K TO L D Daily THE HILLTOP, 2030 Wells Rd., 272-5959, hilltop-club.com. Southern fine dining. New Orleans shrimp, certified Black Angus prime rib, she-crab soup, desserts. Extensive bourbon selection. $$$ FB D Tu-Sa LARRY’S GIANT SUBS, 1330 Blanding Blvd., Ste. 165, 276-7370. 1545 C.R. 220, 278-2827. 700 Blanding Blvd., Ste. 15, 272-3553. 5733 Roosevelt, 446-9500. 1401 S. Orange Ave., Green Cove, 284-7789, larryssubs.com. F All over the area, Larry’s piles ’em high, serves ’em fast; 36+ years. Hot & cold subs, soups. Some Larry’s serve breakfast. $ K TO B L D Daily METRO DINER, 2034 Kingsley Ave., 375-8548. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Dinner nightly. SEE SAN MARCO. THE ROADHOUSE, 231 Blanding Blvd., 264-0611, roadhouse online.net. Sandwiches, wings, burgers and quesadillas for 35+ years. 75+ imported beers. $ FB L D Daily THE URBAN BEAN COFFEEHOUSE CAFÉ, 2023 Park Ave., 541-4938, theurbanbeancoffeehouse.com. Locally-owned-&operated. Coffee, espresso, smoothies, teas. Omelets, bagels, paninis, flatbread, hummus, salads, desserts. $$ K TO B L D Daily
PONTE VEDRA BEACH
AL’S PIZZA, 635 A1A, 543-1494. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
BEACH DINER, 880 A1A N., Ste. 2, 273-6545. SEE AMELIA. LARRY’S SUBS, 830 A1A N., Ste. 6, 273-3993. F SEE O.PARK. METRO DINER, 340 Front St., Ste. 700, 513-8422. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE SAN MARCO.
TRASCA & CO. EATERY, 155 Tourside Dr., Ste. 1500, 395-3989, trascaandco.com. Handcrafted Italian-inspired sandwiches, craft beers (many locals), craft coffees. $$ BW TO L R D Daily
RIVERSIDE, 5 PTS + WESTSIDE
13 GYPSIES, 887 Stockton St., 389-0330, 13gypsies.com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Authentic Mediterranean cuisine: chorizo, tapas, blackened cod, pork skewers, coconut mango curry chicken. Breads from scratch onsite. $$ BW L D Tu-Sa, R Sa AL’S PIZZA, 1620 Margaret St., Ste. 201, 388-8384. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
BLACK SHEEP, 1534 Oak St., 355-3793, blacksheep5points. com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. New American, Southern; local source ingredients. Daily specials, rooftop bar. HH. $$$ FB R Sa & Su; L M-F; D Nightly BREW FIVE POINTS, 1024 Park St., 714-3402, brewfive points.com. F Local craft beers, espresso, coffees, wine. Rotating drafts, 75+ can craft beers, tea. Waffles, toasts, desserts, coffees. $$ BW K B L Daily; late nite Tu-Sa BRIXX WOOD FIRED PIZZA, 220 Riverside Ave., 300-3928, brixxpizza.com. New place offers pizzas, pastas, soups. Gluten-free options. Daily specials, buy-one-get-one pizzas 10 p.m.-close. $$ FB K TO L D Daily CORNER TACO, 818 Post St., 240-0412, cornertaco.com. Made-from-scratch “Mexclectic street food,” tacos, nachos, gluten-free, vegetarian options. $ BW L D Tu-Su CUMMER CAFÉ, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, 829 Riverside Ave., 356-6857, cummer.org. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Light lunch, quick bites, locally roasted coffee, espresso-based beverages, homemade soups, sandwiches, gourmet desserts, daily specials. Dine in or in gardens. $ BW K L D Tu; L W-Su DERBY ON PARK, 1068 Park St., 379-3343, derbyonpark. net. New American cuisine, upscale retro in historic building. Oak Street Toast, shrimp & grits, lobster bites, 10-oz. gourmet burger. Dine inside or out. $$ FB TO Brunch Sa/Su; B, L D Tu-Su EUROPEAN STREET CAFÉ, 2753 Park St., 384-9999. 130+ import beers, 20 on tap. Sandwiches. Outside dining at some EStreets. $ BW K L D Daily GRASSROOTS NATURAL MARKET, 2007 Park St., 384-4474, thegrassrootsmarket.com. F Juice bar uses certified organic fruits, veggies. Artisanal cheeses, 300 craft, import beers, 50 organic wines, produce, meats, vitamins, herbs, wraps, sides, sandwiches. $ BW TO B L D Daily HAWKERS ASIAN Street Fare, 1001 Park St., 508-0342, hawkerstreetfare.com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Authentic dishes from mobile stalls: BBQ pork char sui, beef haw fun, Hawkers baos, chow faan, grilled Hawker skewers. $ BW TO L D Daily HOBNOB, 220 Riverside Ave., Ste. 110, 513-4272, hobnob withus.com. Unity Plaza. Global inspiration, local intention – ahi poke tuna, jumbo lump crab tacos. $$ FB TO R L D Daily IL DESCO, 2665 Park St., 290-6711, ildescojax.com. Authentic Italian cuisine, like wood-fired pizzas, pasta made daily onsite, baked Italian dishes, raw bar, spaghetti tacos. Daily HH. $$-$$$ FB K TO L D Daily JOHNNY’S Deli & Grille, 474 Riverside Ave., 356-8055. F Casual spot; made-to-order sandwiches, wraps, breakfast. $ TO B L M-Sa KNEAD BAKESHOP, 1173 Edgewood Ave. S., 634-7617. Locally owned, family-run shop specializing in made-fromscratch creations – classic pastries, artisan breads, savory pies, specialty sandwiches, soups. $ TO B L Tu-Su
32 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016
LARRY’S SUBS, 1509 Margaret, 674-2794. 7895 Normandy, 781-7600. 8102 Blanding, 779-1933. F SEE ORANGE PARK. LITTLE JOE’S Café, 245 Riverside Ave., Ste. 195, 791-3336. Riverview café. Soups, signature salad dressings. $ TO B L M-F METRO DINER, 4495 Roosevelt Blvd., 999-4600. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE SAN MARCO.
MOON RIVER PIZZA, 1176 Edgewood Ave. S., 389-4442. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner.ret St., 423-1283. SEE BEACHES. RAIN DOGS, 1045 Park St., 379-4969. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Local-centric bar food: boiled peanuts, hummus, chili, cheese plate, pork sliders, nachos, herbivore items. $ D Nightly SOUTHERN ROOTS Filling Station, 1275 King St., 513-4726, southernrootsjax.com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Fresh, light vegan fare; local, organic ingredients. Specials, on bread, local greens/rice, change daily. Sandwiches, coffees, teas. $ Tu-Su SUSHI CAFÉ, 2025 Riverside Ave., Ste. 204, 384-2888, sushi cafejax.com. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Monster, Rock-n-Roll, Dynamite Roll. Hibachi, tempura, katsu, teriyaki. Indoors or patio dining. $$ BW L D Daily
ST. AUGUSTINE
AL’S PIZZA, 1 St. George St., 824-4383. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
CRUISERS GRILL, 3 St. George St., 824-6993. 2016 Best of Jax
Winner. SEE BEACHES.
DICK’S WINGS & GRILL, 4010 U.S. 1 S., 547-2669. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE ORANGE PARK.
THE FLORIDIAN, 72 Spanish St., 829-0655, thefloridianstaug. com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Updated Southern fare; fresh, local ingredients sourced from area farms. Vegetarian, gluten-free option. Signature fried green tomato bruschetta, blackened fish cornbread stack; grits w/shrimp/fish/tofu. $$$ BW K TO L D W-M GAS FULL SERVICE Restaurant, 9 Anastasia Blvd., Ste. C, 217-0326. Changing menu; fresh, local, homemade. Meatloaf, veggie/traditional burgers, seafood, steaks; seasonal, daily specials, made-from-scratch desserts. $$ BW K TO L D Tu-Sa GYPSY CAB COMPANY, 828 Anastasia Blvd., 824-8244, gypsycab.com. F Local mainstay 33+ years. Varied urban cuisine menu changes twice daily. Signature dish: Gypsy chicken. Seafood, tofu, duck, veal. $$ FB R Su; L D Daily MARDI GRAS Sports Bar, 123 San Marco Ave., 347-3288, mardibar.com. Wings, nachos, shrimp, chicken, Phillys, sliders, soft pretzels. $$ FB TO L D Daily MBQUE, 604 Anastasia Blvd., 484-7472. New Southern-style, fresh-casual. Handspun milkshakes, super kale salad. Housemade rubs, sauces. Platters, ribs, brisket, sweet/spicy pulled/ chopped pork, chicken, sausage. $$ BW K TO L D Daily MELLOW MUSHROOM, 410 Anastasia Blvd., 826-4040. F Bite Club. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
O’LOUGHLIN PUB, 6975 A1A S., 429-9715. Family-owned-andoperated. Authentic fish & chips, shepherd’s pie, corned beef & cabbage, bangers & mash, duck wings. $$ FB K TO L D Daily SALT LIFE FOOD SHACK, 321 A1A Beach Blvd., 217-3256. SEE BEACHES.
METRO DINER, 1000 S. Ponce de Leon Blvd., 758-3323. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Serving dinner nightly. SEE SAN MARCO. SHANGHAI NOBBY’S, 10 Anastasia Blvd., 547-2188. Cubanstyle, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. $$ FB
SAN MARCO + SOUTHBANK
BEACH DINER, 1965 San Marco Blvd., 399-1306. SEE AMELIA. THE BEARDED PIG SOUTHERN BBQ & BEER GARDEN, 1224 Kings Ave., 619-2247, thebeardedpigbbq.com. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Barbecue joint offers Southern style BBQ, like brisket, pork, chicken, sausage, beef; veggie platters. $$ BW K TO Daily
BISTRO AIX, 1440 San Marco Blvd., 398-1949, bistrox.com. F Mediterranean/French inspired menu changes seasonally. 250+ wine list. Wood-fired oven baked, grilled specialties: pizza, pasta, risotto, steaks, seafood. Hand-crafted cocktails, specialty drinks. Dine outside. HH M-F. $$$ FB L D Daily EUROPEAN STREET CAFÉ, 1704 San Marco Blvd., 398-9500. SEE RIVERSIDE.
FUSION SUSHI, 1550 University Blvd. W., 636-8688, fusion sushijax.com. F Upscale; fresh sushi, sashimi, hibachi, teriyaki, kiatsu, seafood. $$ K L D Daily INDOCHINE, 1974 San Marco Blvd., 503-7013. 2016 Best of
Jax Winner. SEE DOWNTOWN.
KITCHEN ON SAN MARCO, 1402 San Marco Blvd., 396-2344, kitchenonsanmarco.com. Gastropub serves local, national craft beers, specialty cocktails. Seasonal menu, with fresh, locally sourced ingredients. $$ FB R Su; L D Daily METRO DINER, 3302 Hendricks Ave., 398-3701, metrodiner. com. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. Original upscale diner in a historic 1930s-era building. Meatloaf, chicken pot pie, soups. This one serves dinner nightly. $$ B R L D Daily PIZZA PALACE RESTAURANT & PIZZERIA, 1959 San Marco Blvd., 399-8815, pizzapalacejax.com. F Family-owned&-operated; spinach pizza, chicken spinach calzones, ravioli, lasagna, parmigiana. Dine outside. HH. $$ BW K TO L D Daily TAVERNA, 1986 San Marco Blvd., 398-3005, tavernasan marco.com. Chef Sam Efron’s authentic Italian; tapas, woodfired pizza. Seasonal local produce, meats. Craft beer (some local), cocktails, award-winning wine. $$$ FB K TO R L D Daily V PIZZA, 1406 Hendricks Ave., 527-1511, vpizza.com. True Neapolitana pizzas with the freshest ingredients – a rare class of artisan pizza from Naples. $$ FB to L D Daily
SOUTHSIDE + TINSELTOWN
ALHAMBRA THEATRE & DINING, 12000 Beach Blvd., 6411212, alhambrajax.com. Open 50 years. Executive Chef DeJuan Roy’s themed menus. Reservations. $$ FB D Tu-Su THE CHATTY CRAB, 9041 Southside Blvd., Ste. 138C, 888-0639, chattycrab.com. Chef Dana Pollard’s raw oysters, Nawlins low country boil, po’ boys, 50¢ wing specials. $$ FB K TO L D Daily DICK’S WINGS & GRILL, 10750 Atlantic Blvd., 619-0954. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE ORANGE PARK.
EUROPEAN Street Café, 5500 Beach, 398-1717. SEE RIVERSIDE. GREEK STREET CAFÉ, 3546 St. Johns Bluff Rd. S., Ste. 106, 503-0620, greekstreetcafe.com. Fresh, authentic, modern; Greek owners. Gyros, spanakopita, dolmades, falafel, salads, nachos. Award-winning wines. $$ BW K TO L D M-Sa LARRY’S GIANT SUBS, 3611 St. Johns Bluff Rd. S., 641-6499. 4479 Deerwood Lake Pkwy., 425-4060. F SEE ORANGE PARK. MARIANAS GRINDS, 11380 Beach Blvd., Ste. 10, 206-612-6596. Pacific Islander fare, chamorro culture. Soups, stews, fitada, beef oxtail, katden pika; empanadas, lumpia, chicken relaguen, BBQ-style ribs, chicken. $$ TO B L D Tu-Su MELLOW MUSHROOM, 9734 Deer Lake Ct., 997-1955. F Bite Club. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
M SHACK, 10281 Midtown Pkwy., 642-5000. SEE BEACHES. OVINTE, 10208 Buckhead Branch Dr., 900-7730, ovinte.com. Italy, Spain, Mediterranean flavor. Small plates, tapas, charcuterie: ceviche fresco, pappardelle bolognese, lobster ravioli. 240-bottle/ wines, 75/glass; craft spirits. $$ FB R, Su; D Nightly TAVERNA YAMAS, 9753 Deer Lake Ct., 854-0426, taverna yamas.com. F Bite Club. Charbroiled kabobs, seafood, desserts. Greek wines, daily HH. Bellydancing. $$ FB K TO L D Daily TOSSGREEN, 4375 Southside, Ste. 12, 619-4356. 4668 Town Crossing Dr., Ste. 105, 686-0234. Custom salads, burritos, burrito bowls; fruit, veggies, 100% natural chicken, sirloin, shrimp, tofu, cheese, dressing, salsa, frozen yogurt. $$ K TO L D Daily
DINING DIRECTORY SPRINGFIELD + NORTHSIDE
ANDY’S GRILL, 1810 W. Beaver St., 354-2821, jaxfarmers market.com. Jax Farmers Market. Local, regional, international produce. Breakfast, sandwiches, snacks, drinks. $ B L D Mon.-Sat. BARZ LIQUORS & FISH CAMP, 9560 Heckscher Dr., 251-3330. Authentic fish camp, biker-friendly, Americanowned. Package store. $ FB L D Daily DICK’S WINGS & GRILL, 12400 Yellow Bluff Rd., 619-9828.
450077 S.R. 200, 879-0993. 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE ORANGE PARK.
HOLA MEXICAN RESTAURANT, 1001 N. Main St., 356-3100, holamexicanrestaurant.com. F Authentic fresh fajitas, burritos, specials, enchiladas, more. HH; sangria. BW K TO L D M-Sa LARRY’S GIANT SUBS, 12001 Lem Turner Rd., 764-9999.
SEE O. PARK.
MELLOW MUSHROOM PIZZA BAKERS, 15170 Max Leggett Pkwy., 757-8843. F 2016 Best of Jax Winner. SEE BEACHES.
CHEFFED-UP
THE GHOST OF THANKSGIVING
PAST
Recover from your annual TURKEY OVERDOSE MY THANKSGIVING WAS THOROUGHLY enjoyable. There was a lot of food and family bonding, but the most fun things are the traditions. Most families have some sort of rituals, nearly all centered around the food. When I was a kid, every year we’d go over to my aunt’s house where all my father’s family gathered. The women would cook (that’s where the fun was) and the men would argue politics. That was nice, but things change. For a good portion of my adult life, I’ve spent my Thanksgiving Day in professional kitchens. The process would begin in August — the usual deadline for ordering turkeys. We would typically order about 125 turkeys for service and then an additional 500 for employee gifts. The next step would be to bulk up on chicken stock, which we would fortify with turkey necks. This would start about four weeks out, as approximately 150 gallons were required. The turkeys would arrive about a week before, so they would have plenty of time to slack out. The day itself would begin around one in the morning. That’s when the first round of turkeys would hit the ovens. Five rounds of turkeys would need to be cooked. By the beginning of service, the third round would be coming out of the oven. This would continue until around four in the afternoon. At this point, every pore in your body would be filled with turkey essence, an essence (aroma) that would last for days! Ah, fond memories. My favorite Thanksgiving Day tradition: watching Turkey Frying Disasters on YouTube. Hilarious, side-splitting humor. I wish I could be the color commentator for these videos. “As usual, they have put too much peanut oil in the kettle; will people ever learn to compensate for the volume of the turkey? Let’s hope not! I’m sure the oil is way too hot, as well. OK, so they are about to place the turkey in the oil … OH NO, IT SLIPPED OUT OF HIS HAND! Holy moley, look at that explosion — the whole kettle is in flames!” Awesome. This was my entertainment while y’all were Black Friday shopping.
For a holiday detox, try these Italianstyle clams and make sure you have some crusty bread to sop up the amazing broth.
CHEFFED-UP
CHEF BILL’S CLAMS IN CARTOCCIO
Ingredients: • 2 ounces olive oil • 1 ounce pancetta • 1/2 red pepper, small dice • 1 red jalapeño or other mild • chili, Brunoise • 2 garlic cloves, sliced paper-thin • 4 ounces white wine • 1 tbsp. parsley, chopped • 2 dozen Little Neck clams, • thoroughly scrubbed • 12 cherry tomatoes, halved • 2 tbsp. assorted herbs, chopped • Salt and pepper to taste
Directions: 1. Thoroughly scrub the clams. Put in refrigerator until ready to use. 2. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan. Add the pancetta, sauté until it begins to brown. 3. Add peppers, parsley and garlic. Continue to sauté until the garlic begins to brown. Add tomatoes and herbs. 4. Pour in the white wine and remove from heat. Taste for seasoning and adjust if desired. 5. Make two foil trays with the sides about two inches tall. 6. Place half the clams in each tray, cover with pepper and wine mixture. Pull up the sides to form a packet, crimp tightly. 7. Place on the grill and listen for the wine to begin to bubble. Allow about 10-12 minutes for the clams to steam. Until we cook again,
Chef Bill cheffedup@folioweekly.com ____________________________________ Contact Chef Bill Thompson, the owner of the Amelia Island Culinary Academy in Fernandina Beach, at cheffedup@folioweekly.com; send him your recipes or ask him culinary questions, to find inspiration and get you Cheffed Up! NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 33
PETS LOOKIN’ FOR LOVE FOLIO
FOLIO LIVING
W E E K LY
PET
DEAR DAVI
Bipeds and quadrupeds get PUMPED FOR PUMPKIN Dear Davi, Do you know a quick remedy for canine constipation? Asking for a friend. Dexter the Doberman pinscher Dexter, Tell your friend that irregularity is not unusual. Most dogs suffer from constipation from time to time — especially around the holidays. Whenever I suffer from abnormal poop patterns, I get a spoonful of pumpkin. The high water content and fiber in pumpkin helps keep me regular and gets things moving in the right direction. Dogs who suffer from sudden bouts of diarrhea can benefit from pumpkin, too. The fiber in pumpkin helps to absorb water and creates firm orange stool, making poop easy to pass and even easier to find on the grass for pickup. Besides relieving potty problems, pumpkin is incredibly delicious and nutritious. These health benefits will have you barking for more. Pumpkin is low in fat and cholesterol, and loaded with magnesium and iron. A cup of cooked pumpkin delivers a mega-dose of vitamin A, which promotes good vision, especially in dim light. Pumpkin boasts beta-carotene, which slows the aging process and plays a role in cancer prevention. Pumpkin is rich in carotenoids, the compounds that fight disease and give the gourd its bright orange color. Oils found in pumpkin keep the urinary tract clean and the heart healthy. Pumpkin is an excellent source of potassium and a perfect match for diabetic dogs — and cats. Pumpkin also contains vitamin C, which boosts the immune system and protects joints. Pumpkin seeds — roasted, not raw — pack a healthy punch of protein, antioxidants and zinc. The fatty acids in pumpkin help improve skin condition and produce a shiny coat. Pumpkin can help maintain weight by adding fiber without extra calories. That’s a lot of healthful goodness wrapped in a squash, and it doesn’t take much to see results. Grab a pumpkin from the patch or a can of pumpkin puree — not pumpkin pie filling — from the pantry and measure the right amount for your size: • SMALL DOGS AND CATS: 1/2 to 1 tsp. daily • MEDIUM DOGS: 1 tbsp. daily • LARGE DOGS: 1-1/2 to 2 tbsp. daily
LOVERS’
GUIDE
JUST A REGULAR
GOURD If the idea of pumpkin has you licking your chops, try these tasty treat recipes: NO BAKE PEANUT BUTTER PUMPKIN ROLLS Ingredients: • 1/2 cup peanut butter • 1 cup unsweetened canned pumpkin • 1 teaspoon cinnamon • 3 tablespoons honey • 2-1/2 cups oats Directions: 1. Add peanut butter, pumpkin, •• cinnamon and honey in a bowl and mix. 2. Roll batter into balls and place on •• baking sheet. 3. Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve. PUMPKIN CINNAMON TREATS Ingredients: • 2-1/2 cups flour • 1 egg • 1 cup unsweetened canned pumpkin • 1 tbsp. cinnamon Directions: 1. Combine pumpkin, cinnamon and egg •• in bowl. 2. Add flour one-half cup at a time into •• the bowl. 3. Roll dough to about 1/2-inch thick. 4. Cut into half-inch pieces, place on ••••• baking sheet. 5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until treat •• is golden brown. 6. Cool and serve. Word to my feline friends: Pumpkin is good for you, too! The fiber in pumpkin can help move hairballs along your digestive tract and into the litter box rather than hacked up onto the carpet. Happy Squashing! Davi mail@folioweekly.com ____________________________________ Davi the dachshund would be right at home in a pumpkin patch.
PET TIP: THE CAGED BIRD DOESN’T SING LOOK, IT’S COOL YOU WANT TO SHARE YOUR LIFE WITH ANOTHER CREATURE. But does it hafta be a bird? Not only does PETA report that birds are smuggled illegally into the United States more than any other animal, it laments that a “life in captivity is often a death sentence for birds.” Malnutrition, loneliness and stress are common afflictions. Per The New York Times, many birds “go off the deep end when they are … placed in captivity.” So do the humane thing — get a dog or cat, K? Or, as FW has previously suggested, a pet rock. 34 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016
PET EVENTS DAWGZ FOR DOGS • The monthly benefit is held 6-8 p.m. Nov. 30, featuring M.I.A. Beer Co. products, at Brewz N Dawgz, 1974 U.S. 1 S., St. Augustine, 686-1956, brewzndawgz.com. Proceeds help dogs get adopted.
ADOPTABLES
DELTA DAWN
SWEETHEART SEEKS FOREVER HOME • I’m the prettiest dog you ever laid eyes on! I would love to meet you and show you all my tricks. I love to put my flowers on and go for a ride in the car! Won’t you come and take me home to your mansion in the sky? I’m waiting at 8464 Beach Blvd. – the shelter’s open 7 days a week! PAW-JECT RUNWAY • Adoptable dogs strut their stuff; there’s food, auctions and more, 1-4 p.m. Dec. 4 at Bo’s Club, 201 Fifth Ave. S., Jax Beach; ticket prices vary; 246-9874, pawjectrunway.eventbrite.com. KATZ 4 KEEPS ADOPTION DAYS • Planned adoption days are held 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 3, 4, 17 and 18, at Katz 4 Keeps, 935B A1A N., Ponte Vedra Beach, 834-3223, katz4keeps.org.
ADOP AD ADOPTABLES OPTA TABL TA BLES BL ES
McKITTY
SUPER SIZE YOUR HEART • Do you want mice with that? Just kidding! Though I’M LOVIN’ IT here at Jacksonville Humane Society, I’d much rather be in a home with you. My only request? Keep the Filet-OFish coming! Please drive thru and see me. I’m here at JHS; you can learn how to adopt me at jaxhumane.org. MEGA PET ADOPTION • First Coast No More Homeless Pets offers more than 1,000 pets for adoption, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Dec. 16, 17 and 18 at Jacksonville Fairgrounds, 510 Fairground Place, Downtown. The $20 fee includes spay/neuter, microchip, vaccines and city license, fcnmhp.org. _________________________________ To list a pet event, send the event name, time, date, location (complete street address and city), admission price, contact number/website to print, to mdryden@folioweekly.com – at least two weeks before the event. NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 35
FREEWILL ASTROLOGY
DALE RATERMANN’s Crossword presented by
PABLO NERUDA, DAVID BOWIE, CLAUDE MONET & YOUR LIFE IN 2017
Serving Excellence Since 1928 Member American Gem Society
San Marco
Ponte Vedra
The Shoppes of Ponte Vedra
Avondale
2044 San Marco Blvd.
398-9741
330 A1A North
3617 St. Johns Ave.
280-1202
388-5406
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Daffy Duck trait Versailles aye Get in the pool Little piggy Asian native Neat at Sidecar Jax astronaut Thagard Bill’s favorite wrestling hold? Cuzco folks On a freighter “Thy will be ” Pod’s contents Crystal rock Little brat
DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 18 22
Molten rock Bitter-smelling In good Musical kingdom “Faux” follower Smallest ocean The in Winter Bed part Jet-set jet One’s sphere Latin term for bird of the Americas Sweeten the pot Church support Bank no.
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1 Part of E = mc2 5 Thrinax radiata, et al. 10 Cass Elliott was one 14 Limelight Theatre opening 15 Vocal offerings 16 He was terrible 17 Rick’s favorite exclamation? 19 Light air 20 Oxford university 21 USA alternative 22 Ticket choice 23 Sum up 24 Quadri- minus uni26 Houston school 28 Lenny’s favorite entrée? 33 Where the action is 36 Aide, briefly 37 Battery choice 38 Ansel Adams hung out here 39 Where The Detour is 40 8-Down option 41 E’en if 42 Amalgamation 44 Podcast source 46 Specific shade of delivery shorts
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25 Clear away 27 Old USCIS acronym 28 WJAX network 29 Taverna Yamas selection 30 Tom Petty’s “Louisiana ” 31 T-Ray’s burger order 32 Candied 33 Web letters 34 Obama’s birthplace 35 Adz or zax 39 Antique tableware 40 Comedy Zone hijinks 42 Bleep, perhaps
43 Orlando’s Palmeras 44 Letters of credit 45 Butcher’s string 47 Florida State Fair critters 48 Like some NFL stadiums 51 Grill meat 52 Lodge 53 Moral principle 54 Make the cut 55 Get an edge 56 Whale type 58 “Not only that …” 60 Ford rival 62 Macbeth witch 63 Crieff denial
Solution to 11.23.16 Puzzle B A S H T A K E W H Y D G A D M E B R A S A S H J O F L O P C O N S C O G R H E H A A M O C S T E E
36 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016
U S I D N A N S Y E I N S P I C O E D D O R
G O T T A A T A R I R O W
L I A R H E T A F A R I S O S Y H E B N T E D E T Y E P U M S N E S O N T
S P U N T S A E M I T
W I F T A L E R R K E Y N S H E O P E S W I N E N D E W E F R A Y A S S E C I C K S N A I L G D A Y
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow,” wrote naturalist Henry David Thoreau in Walden, “to keep an appointment with a beech tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines.” Summon that level of commitment to your important rendezvous in the coming weeks. Keep in mind, though: Your “most important rendezvous” are more likely to be with wild things, unruly wisdom or primal breakthroughs than pillars of stability, committee meetings and business-as-usual.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): For Tauruses, December is “I Accept, Love and Celebrate Myself Just As I Am” Month. To galvanize yourself, ponder these words from Oscar-winning Taurus actress Audrey Hepburn: “I’m a long way from the human being I’d like to be, but I’ve decided I’m not so bad after all.” More thoughts to draw on during the festivities: 1. “If you aren’t good at loving yourself, you’ll have a difficult time loving anyone.” (Barbara De Angelis) 2. “The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else.” (E.E. Cummings) 3. “To accept ourselves as we are means to value our imperfections as much as our perfections.” (Sandra Bierig) 4. “We cannot change anything until we accept it.” (Carl Jung) GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Are your collaborative projects (including romantic ones) evolving slower than you expected? Have they not grown as deep and strong as you’ve wished they would? Don’t be perturbed. Maybe it’ll motivate you to stop tolerating stagnation. Here’s my recommendation: Don’t adopt a more serious and intense attitude. Instead, get loose. Inject a dose of blithe spirits into your togetherness, maybe even some hijinks and rowdy experimentation. The cosmos has authorized you to initiate ingenious surprises. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t buy a cat-o’-nine-tails and whip yourself in a misguided effort to exorcize your demons. Truth is, those insidious troublemakers exult when you abuse yourself. They draw perverse sustenance from it. Their strategy is to fool you into treating yourself badly. So, no. If you hope to drive away saboteurs huddled in your psyche’s sacred temple, the best way is to shower yourself with tender care, even luxurious blessings. The pests won’t like that and — if you commit to the crusade for an extended time — they eventually flee. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gabriel García Márquez loved yellow roses. He often had a fresh bloom on his writing desk as he worked, put there every morning by his wife Mercedes Barcha. In accordance with astrological omens, consider initiating a comparable ritual. Is there a touch of beauty you’d like to inspire on a regular basis? Is there a poetic gesture you could faithfully perform for a person you love? VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “For a year I watched as something entered and then left my body,” testified Jane Hirshfield in her poem “The Envoy.” What was that mysterious something? Terror or happiness? She didn’t know. Nor could she decipher “how it came in” or “how it went out.” It hovered “where words could not reach it. It slept where light could not go.” Her experience led her to conclude that “There are openings in our lives of which we know nothing.” You’re about to tune in to a mysterious opening. But unlike Hirshfield, you’ll figure it out, and respond with verve and intelligence. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A reporter at Vanity Fair asked David Bowie, “What do you consider your greatest achievement?”
Bowie didn’t name any albums, videos or performances. Rather, he answered, “Discovering morning.” You will attract and generate marvels if you experiment with accomplishments like that in the coming weeks. Try to discover or rediscover morning. Delve into the thrills of beginnings. Magnify an appreciation for natural wonders you usually take for granted. Be seduced by sources emanating light and heat. Gravitate toward what’s fresh, blossoming, in its early stages. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): According to traditional astrology, Scorpios aren’t prone to optimism. You’re often portrayed as connoisseurs of smoldering enigmas, shadowy intrigue and deep questions. One of the most creative, successful 20th-century Scorpios didn’t fit this description. French artist Claude Monet, renowned for delightful paintings of sensuous outdoor landscapes, testified, “Every day I discover even more beautiful things. It is intoxicating me, and I want to paint it all. My head is bursting.” Monet is your patron saint in the weeks ahead. You have more potential to see as he did than you’ve had in a long time.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A journalist dared composer John Cage to “summarize himself in a nutshell.” Cage said, “Get yourself out of whatever cage you find yourself in.” He might have added, “Avoid the nutshells anyone tries to put you in.” This is always fun work, of course, but I recommend it to you right now. You’re in the time of year that’s close to the moment when you first barged out of the womb. The coming weeks will be a great phase to try a similar, less extravagant trick. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Hundreds of years ago, the Catholic Church’s observance of Lent imposed a heavy burden. During the six-week period, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, believers were expected to cleanse their sins through acts of selfdenial. For example, they weren’t supposed to eat meat on Fridays. Their menus could include fish, though. The loophole was expanded even further in the 17th century when the Church redefined beavers as being fish. They swim, after all. Contemplate a new loophole in your self-limiting behaviors. Is there a taboo you observe that no longer makes sense? Out of habit, do you deny an indulgence that might be good for you? Wriggle free of constraints. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “The Pacific Ocean was overflowing the borders of the map,” wrote Pablo Neruda in his poem “The Sea.” “There was no place to put it,” he continued. “It was so large, wild and blue that it didn’t fit anywhere. That’s why it was left in front of my window.” This is a lyrical approximation of what your life could be like in 2017. Lavish, elemental, expansive experiences will be steadily available. Adventures that seemed impossibly big and unwieldy will be just the right size. And it all begins soon. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “I have a deep fear of being too much,” writes poet Michelle K. “That one day I will find my someone, and they will realize that I am a hurricane. That they will step back and be intimidated by my muchness.” Given recent astrological omens, you’ve been having similar feelings. The good news: Given the astrological omens of the next nine months, the odds will be higher than usual for you to encounter brave souls able to handle your muchness. They may or may not be soulmates or a one-and-only. Welcome them as they are, with all of their muchness. Rob Brezsny freewillastrology@freewillastrology.com
NEWS OF THE WEIRD WELL, OF COURSE!
ABRACADABRA
Motorist Luke Campbell, 28, was arrested near Minneapolis in September and charged with firing his gun at several passing cars, wounding one man (a bus passenger), explaining to a bystander that shooting at other vehicles “relieves stress.”
Aldeburgh Golf Club in England saw fit in September to issue a special rule allowing a no-stroke ball “drop” for players plagued by neighbor Peter Bryson’s cat Merlin’s habit of snatching about six balls a day from the 14th fairway.
WINDY WOES
SPO DEE O DEE? SÌ, UN POCO
Though most Chicago Police Department officers get no more than five civilian complaints in their entire careers (according to one defense attorney), CPD internal records released in October reveal that some had more than 100, and, of 13,000 complaints over 47 years in which police wrongdoing was conceded, only 68 cases resulted in the officer actually being fired (though the worst police offender, Jerome Finnigan, with 157 complaints over two decades, is now in federal prison).
RECURRING THEMES
The most recent case in which an unlucky cannabis grower came to police attention occurred in Adelaide, Australia, in August when a motorist accidentally veered off the road and crashed into a grow house, collapsing part of a wall. Arriving police peered inside and quickly began a search for the residents, who were not at home.
READERS’ CHOICE
A fire broke out this year in a hospital operating room caused by the patient’s passing gas during a laser procedure. The patient at Tokyo Medical University Hospital, in her 30s, suffered burns across her legs in the April incident, which was finally reported in the Japanese press in October when the hospital completed its investigation.
THE PASSING PARADE
Asher Woodworth, 30, was charged with misdemeanor traffic obstruction in the Portland, Maine, arts district in October as he stood in a street after covering himself with branches of evergreen trees. A friend described Woodworth as a performance artist contrasting his preferred “slow life” with the bustle of downtown traffic.
The world’s first constantly flowing (and free!) “wine fountain” opened in Abruzzo, Italy, in October, to draw tourists and pilgrims visiting the Vatican to see the cathedral where lie the remains of disciple Thomas. Operators said they hope the fountain won’t become a home to “drunkards.”
RATTLE THAT LOCK
Ms. Cana Greer, 29, was arrested in Sacramento, California, in October when police responded to a call to help her remove handcuffs she’d accidentally locked while fooling around with a friend. Police, routinely checking her ID, found an outstanding felony burglary warrant. As usual procedure, cops took her to a fire station to remove the cuffs.
C’MON, IT’S CALLED THE SHUTTLE
Folio Weekly Magazine can help you connect with that surfer hunk you almost talked to at the Young Vegan Professionals meet-up, or that gum-crackin’ goddess at Target who “accidentally” dropped a jasmine-scented kazoo in your cart. Go to folioweekly. com/i-saw-u.html, fill out the FREE form correctly (40 words or fewer, dammit) by 5 p.m. Friday (for the next Wednesday’s FWM) – next stop: Bliss!
No left or right swipe here – you can actually use REAL WORDS to find REAL LOVE!
To start: Write a ive-word headline so they’ll recognize you, or them, or the place. Next: Describe the person, like, “You: Blonde, hot, skanky, tall.” Then: Describe yourself, like, “Me: Redhead, boring, clean, virgin.” Next: Describe the encounter, like, “ISU with your posse at Dos Gatos.” No names, email addresses, websites, etc. And for chrissake keep it at forty (40) words or fewer. Don’t they teach basic counting in kindergarten? Did all y’all miss that lesson because you were out trolling for strange? MY HOT, SEXY NEIGHBOR You: Tall, white sports jersey (No. 12, I think), flag tattoo. Me: Brunette, sunglasses, busty. While checking mail ISU on balcony playing darts, smoking cigar. Welcome to the neighborhood. Throw your dart at me anytime. When: Oct. 25. Where: Coquina Bay Apartments. #1632-1026
An unnamed woman (because she hasn’t been charged with a crime) almost caused major havoc at Titusville’s Shuttle Car Wash in October when, while cleaning her car, she attempted to vacuum gas out of her trunk, causing the vacuum to explode.
A YEAR AGO, OCEANWAY PUBLIX Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. Talked in checkout line. Me: Kinda muscular, blue Never Quit shirt. Please forgive my walking away. You: So smokin’ hot I couldn’t believe it; black vehicle. Let me be your somebody! When: Nov. 25, ’15. Where: Oceanway Publix. #1631-1026
LOOKS LIKE HE JUST QUIT BREATHING
CUTE BARTRAM PARK RUNNER We’ve seen each other. You: Dark hair, blue-eyed hottie, running. Me: Dark blonde, ponytail, walking. Today you said, “Sorry about that.” I smiled, not sure of meaning – sorry about crude car guys. Points – you’re a gentleman. Single? When: Oct. 17. Where: Bartram Park. #1630-1026
Mr. Nigel Hobbs, 71, passed away in Dawlish, England, in April, and an October coroner’s inquest heard his body was found by a neighbor “swaddled” in bed linen, wearing “homemade” dresses and his face covered by stockings pulled tight (but with eye holes). Under the coverings, his face was wrapped in polyethylene, including his mouth but not his nose, and cotton or wool was stuffed in his ears and mouth. The coroner assumed the cause of death was accidental asphyxiation. Chuck Shepherd weirdnews@earthlink.net
SALMON POLO, RIVERSIDE PUBLIX Going to check-out – bam! ISU. Handsome man. Facial hair. Fit. Smiled, made eye contact. Thought, “I’ll never see him again.” I pull from lot; you walk in front; noticed your right arm tattoo. No bags? When: Oct. 3. Where: Riverside Publix. #1629-1012 BRUNETTE BEAUTY WALKING TO BEACH Tall brunette walking her most white with mixed colored medium-sized dog. Snake-design comfortable pants, gorgeous body. Me: Waking up, starting day. You were first thing I saw from inside my house. Let’s walk together! When: Sept. 30. Where: Davis St., Neptune Beach. #1628-1005 MY BUD LIGHT/MARLBORO MAN You: Handsome man working the grill, drinking Bud Light and cooking some good-looking meat on Saturday. Me: Drinking Captain and Coke and fighting the desire to take advantage of you. Hoping you “grill” again soon! When: Aug. 27. Where: Downtown. #1627-0928 NEED HELP MOVING? First time ISU, you were moving from your apartment; we caught eyes. Met again, exchanged names. I wanted your number but it’s been so long since someone made me speechless. Come by sometime? You: Pretty. Me: Intrigued. When: Sept. 14. Where: Off JTB. #1626-0921 FIRST WATCH EARTHQUAKE You: Stunningly beautiful lady, long brown hair, shorts, athletic top, waiting for second party Sunday morning. Me: Tall, dark, handsome guy, kinda cop-looking. Tried to buy your breakfast; you hadn’t ordered. Really wanted to say hello. When: Aug. 28. Where: First Watch Beach Boulevard. #1625-0907 TRADE PORSCHE FOR BEACH CRUISER? Drawn to your physique, adored biceps as you chilled with friend! You complimented my Porsche. Offered trade for your cruiser. Didn’t ask for number. WOD together on next bring-a-friend day?! When: 4 p.m. June 5. Where: Zeta Brewing bicycle stand. #1616-0622
DANCING TO THE BONES You are L. from Ponte Vedra. I’m R, leading band at Conch House on Friday, Aug. 12. We said quick hello as you left. Really want to connect with you. Hopefully cosmos will agree. When: Aug. 12. Where: Conch House, St. Augustine. #1624-0817 FLOWERS IN MY HAND Very surprised to see you. Positive memories flooded back, so let’s have lunch and catch up. S. When: July 6. Where: Publix Pharmacy. #1623-0810 DO YOU SEEK UNIQUE? You: Beautiful brunette, Walmart sugar aisle, beautiful arm ink work; said you got it in Riverside. Me: Dark chocolate gentleman, captivated by smile, breathless looking into beautiful eyes. Too shy to get number. Meet for lunch? When: July 16. Where: Walmart Avenues. #1622-0720 HANDSOME, KIND GENTLEMAN ISU Saturday 1 a.m. You: Extremely handsome, cool hat, T-shirt, jeans; forgot wallet; complimented my white dress. Me: Long blond hair, green eyes, too shy to ask name or if unattached. Love to meet formally! When: July 17. Where: Walmart San Jose. #1621-0720 WE ARE READY FOR U You: Handsome man following, watching me, saying hi, calling, hanging up before u speak. Me: Want to hear your heart. My dog and condo await. Don’t be afraid. Everything will be OK. We love you. When: 2012. Where: Neighborhood. #1620-0720 AVONDALE ANGEL Me: Down on my luck, no place to go. You: Beautiful person who kept me from sleeping on the street. Thank you for your generosity for someone you didn’t even know! You’ll never ever be forgotten! When: June 16. Where: Avondale shops. #1619-0706 COOPER’S HAWK NICE SMILE WAITER You weren’t our waiter last Thursday 6/16; served us before. Name starts with G. Cute, dark blond hair, warm personality. Me: Brunette, curly hair, navy blue dress. You noticed us in booth. A drink, conversation? Contact. When: June 16. Where: Cooper’s Hawk Winery Town Center. #1618-0622 CORGI GIRL Your smile’s radiant. How you synchronize those long legs in immense contrast with your pups is marvelous. I’m grateful, mostly handsome, longing to please. Love to join you and poochie for evening stroll along the river. XOXO. When: June 10. Where: Riverside. #1617-0622 COMEDY ZONE Goldberg lookalike, Comedy Zone May 27, admiring each other while waiting with friends. Me: Hot brunette in black tank top and jeans. When: May 27. Where: Comedy Zone. #1608-0525 VYSTAR LOAN OFFICER You: Beautiful blue-eyed, curly blond hair, rockin’ all black outfit, accent colored shirt. Me: Trying to get a loan. Made conversation to keep process going. Second Wednesday in June. Didn’t get loan; might’ve found so much more! When: June 8. Where: Vystar. #1615-0622
NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 37
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JADE SOFTWARE CORPORATION USA is seeking a Terminal Operations Manager in Jacksonville, Florida to Manage imports/exports transportation and logistics systems. Requires 20 years of experience within the Terminal / Port industry as a Business Operations Analyst, Logistics Consultant, Import Operations Specialist, Vessel Operations and Ship Planning using Terminal Operations Software, Customs clearance software, and termianl reports and training teams of operators and terminal operations. Please submit resume to hr@jadeworld.com FOLIO MEDIA HOUSE WANTS YOU! Immediate Opening! Folio Media House, established in 1987, is expanding our reach in Northeast Florida with comprehensive media products. We are seeking an experienced salesperson to add to our current team. Significant commission potential and mentorship with an industry leader. Main Job Tasks and Responsibilities: make sales calls to new and existing clients, generate and qualify leads, prepare sales action plans and strategies. Experience: experience in sales required, proven ability to achieve sales targets, knowledge of Salesforce software a plus. Key Competencies: money driven, persuasive, planning and strategizing. If you have a track record of success in sales, send your cover letter and resume for consideration to staylor@folioweekly.com or call Sam at 904-860-2465.
38 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016
FOLIO VOICES : BACKPAGE EDITORIAL
SAN JOSE ACADEMY AND SAN JOSE Preparatory High School on Sunbeam Road in Mandarin are currently accepting students. Our school is located in a safe neighborhood surrounded by homes and small businesses. When our students are not safely secured behind our doors, they spend their time supervised in the shade. Unfortunately, some of you may have heard of us because of the alleged malfeasance of our former management company, Newpoint Education Partners. In May of this year, Newpoint was indicted on charges of grand theft, money laundering, fraud, and aggravated white-collar crime. None of these charges were in any way related to Newpointâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s management of our schools. None of these charges related to the education received by our students. Nevertheless, our board of directors severed ties with Newpoint in June of this year. Our focus is, was, and always will be on the well being of our students. Though we are thankful to Newpoint for their guidance in our formative years, we were not willing to burden our parents and students with distractions. As one partnership ends, another begins; our schools have partnered with Google Apps for Education. Since our inception, we have emphasized the importance of preparing students to take their place in the Information Age. The world is changing, and our youth are more attuned with technology than any generation that has come before them. Because of this, we ensure that students at our schools have around the clock access to lectures, assessments and study guides for their classes. Over the last decade, Google has become synonymous with the pursuit of knowledge. We welcome their expertise into our classrooms so that no student leaves with his or her questions unanswered. More and more of our faculty are becoming certified by Google every day, and we expect to have the entire faculty certified by the end of the year. Important as technology is, it is not the be-all and end-all of instruction. Teachers have always served as the shepherds of the future, and I believe ours are some of the finest in the county. Our faculty is comprised of doctors, lawyers, and former government officials. When our students say they want to be doctors and lawyers, our faculty tells them what life will be like in the trenches. Education is one of the noblest pursuits, but we do not believe in enveloping our students in an ivory tower.
Speaking of our students, we take pride in the small-school environment we provide for them. Far too often, students become lost in a sea of a thousand nameless faces. This is not the case at San Jose Academy or San Jose Preparatory High School. Our faculty knows their students, each and every one. Our curriculum is broad, but our instruction is narrowly tailored to meet the needs of each individual. We do not just tout the advantages of technology; we use it. We put our students through a rigorous assessment that provides our faculty with the data they need to catch students up or keep them ahead. We know if a student is struggling, and we provide in-school tutoring to make sure that no one slips through the cracks. Our small size allows for bonds with not only the students, but their parents as well. Parents have direct access to our faculty, and we encourage them to pick up the phone or send an email whenever they have a question. Many of our faculty are parents too, and their students attend our school. They know that learning is a constant process that does not end just because the final bell has rung. Because we know how expensive college can be, we encourage all of our students to take their college courses now while theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re free. Through dual enrollment, our students receive credit through the University of North Florida, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Edward Waters College, as well as various other partners. With enough college courses under their belts, our students can enter college with a year already completed. This also allows them to bypass the grueling courses designed to weed out freshman. In addition to providing our students with a foot in the door to college, we provide them with connections to local businesses so that they may pursue internships to build their resume. The job market is challenging, even with a four-year degree, so we want our students to build their resume up now. Our goal and purpose is to make sure that every student who comes through our doors is ready for college when they receive their cap and gown. This was true when we first opened our doors, and it is still true today. We welcome you to join us. Our doors are always open to students who are willing to learn. Alan A. Hall mail@folioweekly.com ______________________________________
A NEW
NARRATIVE After SEVERING TIES with management company, local charter school director makes the case for giving his school a second look
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Hall is director of San Jose Academy & Preparatory High School NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 6, 2016 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 39