BREW PERFECTION see Arts&Culture, page 18
LOCAL
PAC LEADERS see Frontlines, page 6
TCHOTCHKES IN
AFTERLIFE see Streetalk, page 4
PHILLY
CHEESE-STEAK
STANDOFF see Dish, page 23
CANNABIS ON BALLOT?
THE FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT OF A JURY-MEMBER HOLDOUT IN A RECENT SACRAMENTO GANG-SHOOTING TRIAL SACRAMENTO’S NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
see The 420, inside |
VOLUME 23, ISSUE 44
|
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012
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and the Afro-Cuban Messengers
SAT, FEB 18
Hailed as “the dean of Latin jazz” and “one of the world’s great virtuosic pianists” by The New York Times
Eric Owens, bass-baritone FRI, FEB 17 The Chieftains 50th Anniversary Tour WED, FEB 22 The Overtone Quartet Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Jason Moran & Eric Harland SAT, FEB 25 Angelique Kidjo FRI, MAR 2 Garrick Ohlsson, piano FRI, MAR 9
TICKETS AND MORE!
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INSIDE
VoÒume 23, Issue 44 | February 16, 2012
Our Mission To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live. Editor Melinda Welsh Managing Editor Nick Miller Senior Staff Writer Cosmo Garvin Arts & Culture Editor Rachel Leibrock Copy Editor Kyle Buis Associate Copy Editor Shoka Shafiee Calendar Editor Jonathan Mendick Editorial Coordinator Kel Munger Special Sections Editor Becca Costello Editorial Interns Valentín Almanza, Jonathan Nathan, Matthew W. Urner Contributors Sasha Abramsky, Gustavo Arellano, Alastair Bland, Rob Brezsny, Larry Dalton, Josh Fernandez, Joey Garcia, Jeff Hudson, Eddie Jorgensen, Jonathan Kiefer, David Kulczyk, Jim Lane, Greg Lucas, Ann Martin Rolke, Garrett McCord, John Phillips, Patti Roberts, Steph Rodriguez, Seth Sandronsky, Amy Yannello Design Manager Kate Murphy Art Director Priscilla Garcia Associate Art Director Hayley Doshay Editorial Designer India Curry Design Melissa Arendt, Brennan Collins, Mary Key, Marianne Mancina, Skyler Smith Art Directors-at-large Don Button, Andrea Diaz-Vaughn Director of Advertising and Sales Rick Brown Senior Advertising Consultants Rosemarie Messina, Joy Webber Advertising Consultants Rosemary Babich, Josh Burke, Vince Garcia, Dusty Hamilton, April Houser, Cathy Kleckner, Dave Nettles, Kelsi White Inside Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Events Interns Samantha Leos Operations Manager Will Niespodzinski Project Coordinator Anna Barela Sales Coordinators Shawn Barnum, Rachel Rosin Director of First Impressions Jeff Chinn Distribution Manager Greg Erwin Distribution Services Assistant Noe Nolasco Distribution Drivers Mansour Aghdam, Nicholas Babcock, Walt Best, Daniel Bowen, Nina Castro, Jack Clifford, Robert Cvach, Chris Fong, Ron Forsberg, Wayne Hopkins, Brenda Hundley, Wendell Powell, Warren Robertson, Lloyd Rongley, Larry Schubert, Duane Secco, Jack Thorne, Kaven Umstead
28
20
15 MINUTES
STAGE
NIGHT&DAY
BEFORE
3
Streetalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Letter of the Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
FRONTLINES
1124 Del Paso Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95815 Phone (916) 498-1234 Sales Fax (916) 498-7910 Editorial Fax (916) 498-7920 Website www.newsreview.com SN&R is printed by The Paradise Post using recycled newsprint whenever available.
DISH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 This Modern World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Guest Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Cheese-steak showdown . . . . . . . . . . 23 The V Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Dish Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Eat It and Reap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Food Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
14
At first, the juror—one of 12—imagined the Sacramento gang-shooting case would be fairly easy to decide. But 43 days later, when the forewoman handed the final verdict to the judge, the same man felt as if he’d been through a heavyweight fight with 11 opponents, all of whom were determined to get him to change a not-guilty vote to guilty. Local writer Kevin Mims tells the story.
ARTS&CULTURE
18
COOLHUNTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 ASK JOEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 STAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Spring Awakening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Now Playing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
FILM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Sacramento often lags behind other cities in culinary trends. But when it comes to coffee, it’s on the cutting edge. Becky Grunewald reports on the city’s exploding independent-coffeehouse and roaster scene. Also this week: Mardi Gras party suggestions, a Philly cheese-steak standoff, love for Frank Zappa and the candy man cometh. Popsmart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Pour the win . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Scene&Heard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
GREEN DAYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Events Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Show me your beads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
MUSIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Frank Zappa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Sound Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Eight Gigs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Nightbeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
AFTER
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Safe House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
NIGHT&DAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Greenlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Cow-town power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 An Inconvenient Ruth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Eco-Hit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Advertising Policies All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of Acceptance. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes full responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.
OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
FEATURE STORY
6
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that individuals, unions and corporations could give unlimited amounts of money to political-action committees—not candidates, mind you—for independent campaigning expenditures. So, what did this mean, exactly? “If money’s speech, then people with more money get more speech,” summed up one campaign finance scholar. Or, in other words, it’s open season on buying an election. SN&R looks at PAC contributions from Golden State and Sacramento residents. Also this week: Bites chews on charter reform, Nick Miller breaks down the city parking-operator candidates, and Christopher Arns asks why California can’t make more renewable energy from poo-poo. Bites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Leaders of the PAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Beats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Landmark lost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Accounting Manager Kevin Driskill Credit and Collections Manager Renee Briscoe Business Shannon McKenna, Zahida Mehirdel Human Resources Manager Tanja Poley Systems Manager Jonathan Schultz Systems Support Specialist Joe Kakacek Web Developer/Support Specialist John Bisignano
Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in SN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. SN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form and to edit them for libel.
43
FEATURE STORY
Sacramento BuSineSS of the year award 2008
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Voted BeSt of the BeSt 10 timeS By Sacramento 08 magazine 08
A RT S & C U LT U R E 08
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AFTER
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02.16.12
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SN&R
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3
STREETALK
“I’d bring this burrito.�
Asked at The Golden Bear on K and 24th streets:
If you could take just one thing to the afterlife ‌
Chuck Berry tattoo artist
Maybe I’d take some kind of video-game system so I’d have something to do. The afterlife, I don’t know—it seems kind of like people think y’all [will be] floating around, playing harps, praising the lord and shit. That sounds boring. So, you know, I’d rather take a video game.
Keri Carr salon owner
French fries, because I can’t live without them. I can’t exist without them. Does that sound stupid? Oh, and beer!
Adam Prado
Bonnie Wood
core member development
I’d bring this burrito, I think. Just looking at it, like, I really want to bring it. Yeah, who knows how long that road is? I love burritos.
Jonathan Modrow
Aubrey Miller
teacher
community outreach
My dog. Well, I don’t need stuff, right? I need the dog. She’s a good dog. I’m just a dog person. I was born in the Year of the Dog.
owner, The Golden Bear
I don’t really think you can take things to the afterlife. I mean, the Egyptians thought they could take things into the afterlife, but I think it’s bogus. The afterlife is for souls and spirits; it’s not for things.
Into the afterlife? Like, what? Things? That’s a really tough question. Well, I’d say my wife and kids, but that’d be fucked, ’cause that means they’d die, right? Well, I’d take my beard, for sure. And, shorts, flip-flops, a T-shirt, a hat and my beard. That’s all I need to be comfortable. Yeah. And an afterlife-time supply of beer.
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SN&R
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02 . 16.12
LETTERS
Visit us at www.newsreview.com or email sactoletters @ newsreview.com
Math time!
Another call for safe ground Re: “Homeless cleanup” by Nick Miller (SN&R Frontlines, February 9): I am so very sad to see the continuing harassment of these people. As a former Sacramento Tent City inhabitant myself, who now has a great apartment and a job in another state, I can tell you that those people aren’t going anywhere! There is plenty of land in Sacramento that can be used for safe ground. Give them somewhere to sleep, somewhere to live. Stop treating your brothers like animals. It’s appalling. Tamee Martini Juneau, Alaska
Face of lab science Re “H5N1 plus” (SN&R Editorial, January 19): Your article succinctly expresses how horrifying the genetically modified H5N1 virus is, and how incomprehensible it is that someone would want to create a more contagious version of this disease. I’d like to draw more attention to the sentence “It was tested on ferrets … with dire results for the animals.” So not only did these scientists create a virus that would be a horror to humans if unleashed, but they kept animals in cages, infected them with disease, and tallied their deaths to do so? Too often, this is face of laboratory science.
Timothy Henderson Sacramento
Teachers have already given Re “Cuts, crowded classes & consultants” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Frontlines, February 9): One of the big reasons why contracts are a sensitive issue to teachers is we have given $95 a month to SCUSD to keep class sizes down. The agreement was kept for one year, but last year we saw class sizes increase, and the money used for other purposes: “consultants”? This should concern our parents, as well as community members. One of the top priorities for the last two years, according to the district’s own surveys, was class size. Rather than shortchange the students and take furlough days with increased class sizes, teachers decided to give back $95 a month. We also increased our co-pay on some prescriptions and changed some of our health benefit costs to help balance the district’s budget. In my opinion as a classroom teacher, what consultants offer and the money we spend on them is a waste. When we are told that SCUSD is willing to cut up to $1 million dollars from their consultant contracts, it says to me they value consultants over students, over class size, or over me, the teacher in the classroom. When the superintendent and school board come and say that we need to share the burden, I will ask what about the $950 a year I have given for class size reduction? How can I trust the administration, when I helped before and my contribution was purposely misspent?
No matter how Mr. Raymond or the school board spins it, they broke their word with the teachers of SCUSD. Carlos Rico Sacramento
Sun, moon, truth Re “Cuts, crowded classrooms and consultants” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R, Frontlines, February 9): “Three things that cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth,” said [Buddha]. The Sacramento City Unified School District hasn’t shared the whole truth about its financial budget shortfall. Yes, it is true that next school year, without a special-education sales-tax initiative in November, per-pupil spending will be reduced for all California students. But there’s more to this story. The SCUSD has spent $81 million in consultants for the last two school years; 77 percent of those millions spent on consultants was mandated by state and federal law. However, 23 percent of the $81 million in consultants was discretionary, meaning these consultants were not required to be hired. But the district chose to hire them, even with the looming reduction in per-pupil funding next school year. So 23 percent of $81 million— $18.62 million—was spent on optional outside consultants. When did consultants become more important than librarians, middle- and high-school counselors, music teachers, high-school vice principals, band, orchestra, vocational classes, adult education, yearbook, choir and other co-curriculars, and all athletics?
Emily Sinoradzki Grass Valley
Cheerleaders and boiling frogs Re “Park and play” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Feature, January 12): The whole arena scheme is one big swindle for the 1 percent and a handful of noisy cheerleaders in purple shirts. But where is the organized opposition to putting the future of this city and its solvency at risk for a basketball court? Even SN&R doesn’t seem to kick back in any upfront, question the whole scheme, kind of way. The [Sacramento] Bee, of course, has been a total vested booster and suppresses anything that even smells like truth. But it’s getting late and the deal is poised to get itself locked in—so I ask again, where is the organized opposition? Even an honest appraisal of the bad economics going into this deal would help. Hey, this town just threw away half-a-million dollars on a “consultant” to advise about the deal, and we don’t even have money to shelter a few homeless? Come on. They’re boiling frogs, and the people of this town—the 85 percent who aren’t on the bandwagon are the frogs. I don’t have a dog in this fight, and don’t really care one way or the other if the Kings stay or not; or some private (completely nonpublic) entity wants to build a shiny new arena. But I hate to see this town,
Scott Chase Sacramento
BEFORE
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FRONTLINES
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FEATURE
STORY
FIRST SHOT SN&R reader photo of the week PHOTO BY PATRICIA BARBANO
Re “Park and play” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Feature, January 12): Math Lesson! Fun! F=P(1+i)^n, whereas F=Future Value, P=Present Value, i=Average Inflation Rate Per Period, n=Number of Periods. The night that the figure of $2 billion came up, it was when the city treasurer brought up the worst-case terms. Fifty years (n), with average U.S. inflation of 4 percent (i), and $275,000,000 of valuation through monetization ([Sacramento City Councilwoman Sandy] Sheedy Term: Taking money out)(P). With these terms the equation would look like this: F= $2.75x10^8(1+.04)^50 F= $1,954,337,920.23 If you round up this comes up to $2 billion. Whoa!!! But wait—what does inflation mean? Really all it means is that $2 billion, in 50 years, will have the same value based upon current inflation figures as $275 million. By these figures in 50 years, the average person making, let’s say, LETTER OF THE WEEK $40,000 in Sacramento, will be making $284,267 if they are paid in line with inflation. At the same time, a 25-cent banana will cost $1.78. Everything is relative. But do we know if it will be at 50 years? No. Do we know if we will get $275 million? No. Do we know if inflation will be at 4 percent? No, but it’s highly likely. The key thing I wanted to bring up with this lesson is that twisting numbers around to prove a point without fully explaining those numbers might be something that we expect from salespeople, even politicians, but not journalists. I expect more from the SN&R and hope its employees expect that same from themselves. Thank you for taking my point into consideration.
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A RT S & C U LT U R E
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Seen here below the waist, Cheap Thrills, a legendary costume and party clothes shop, has reopened at 1712 L Street in Midtown after a change in ownership.
dumb as it can be at times, run off a cliff to the tune of a pep rally by some rabid fans. We even sent the council and developers a plan that might have turned the arena into an international sports draw and nexus to everyone’s benefit (www.supportows.org/ redslider/general-essays-index/nse), but didn’t even get back so much as a “thank you for your wacko idea” from any of them. But that’s beside the point now. Red Slider Sacramento
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AFTER
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02.16.12
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FRONTLINES In charter territory The funniest things happen when you run
BY GAGE SKIDM ORE PHOTO S OF EVERYO NE BUT BARAC K OBAMA
around hollering, “Let the people vote!” The mayor and his allies in the police and fire unions and at the Chamber of Commerce and The Sacramento Bee all beat their chests and jumped up and down in defense of the right to by COSMO GARVIN vote—but only on a narrowly crafted strongmayor proposal that served a particular set of special interests. Instead the council voted, 7-2, to ask voters if they want to approve creation of an elected charter commission to hold public hearings and open up the city charter to a range of possible reforms. A final vote is pending on putting the charter commission to the November ballot. But the “let the people vote” crowd is trying hard to get the charter reform genie back in the bottle. Councilwoman Angelique Ashby, an ally to the public-safety unions, now says she’ll vote to nix the commission. Ashby says the costs of the commission are unknown and likely too great at this time. She supported putting Johnson’s charter reform plan on the ballot. But not this one. “Of course we need charter reform,” she told Bites. “I’m just not sure it’s time to create a body of 15 new elected officials. Is charter review worth $1 million right now?” Perhaps not. But what’s the alternative? Rewriting the city’s constitution on the cheap—by contracting it out to the special interests?
Keep in mind that charter commissioners won’t make any salary or per diem. Sure, they’ll need some staff support from the city. But consider that we have one assistant city manager, John Dangberg, who by his own account works on the issue of an NBA arena full time. He’s basically the No. 2 guy in the city bureaucracy, making $189,000 The “let the people a year. His job description right is “arena wrangler/parking vote” crowd is trying now privatizer.” And that’s hardly the hard to get the extent of city manpower tied up in project. charter reform genie thatWe also spent $500,000 on back in the bottle. professional consultants to help craft an arena subsidy plan. And just going ahead with the “request for proposals” phase of privatizing the city’s parking system to pay for a new arena will likely cost more than $1 million. The charter commission will cost much less than the arena project. And unlike the arena project, voters will get to decide whether the costs are worthwhile.
No one has been flogging this cost issue harder than the police and fire unions. It’s a red herring. But perhaps what they are really afraid of is this: Articles XVIII and XIX of the city charter. Back in the late 1990s, the police and fire unions went to the ballot to get binding arbitration written into the city charter. About 85 percent of the city budget is spent on public safety, the publicsafety unions have tremendous clout and binding arbitration is part of that power. If real charter reform goes forward and taxpayer groups start trying to eliminate binding arbitration, well, that would be ironic. Of course, over the next few weeks, the same folks who said we desperately need charter reform will desperately try to kill charter reform. If it survives into the spring, we ought to bring back the election publicfinancing fund to help smart citizens with integrity, but little money, to run for commissioner. We should at least impose strict campaign contribution limits. Otherwise, the unions and the business groups will stack the commission with their own people. We narrowly avoided having our city charter hijacked by the special interests once. Better not give up now. Ω
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SN&R
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02 . 16.12
Mitt Romney wins—by using California as an ATM If super PAC dollars were votes in the Republican presidential primary, California would already have voted resoundingly for Mitt Romney. by Will Evans Restore Our Future, the super politicaland Chase Davis, action committee supporting the former California Watch Massachusetts governor, collected $2.3 million from Californians last year, more than any other presidential-candidate super PAC, according to new filings. Super PACs have been omnipresent in the primary race, spending lavishly on hard-hitting TV ads and rivaling in influence with the candidates’ own campaigns. Since they were This story was enabled under the Citizens United Supreme produced by California Watch, a part of Court ruling in 2010, these PACs have attracted the independent controversy by allowing wealthy individuals nonprofit Center for and organizations to spend unlimited amounts Investigative in support of their favored candidates. Reporting. For more, In this year’s contentious Republican privisit www.california watch.org. mary election, for instance, super PACs have outspent the candidates themselves. The groups are not allowed to coordinate directly with campaigns, but have still succeeded in spreading favored candidates’ messages and attacking opponents. California residents gave more to super PACs last year than those of any other state, except Texas and New York and Washington, D.C., according to the latest filings—the first
time most super PAC donors have been made public. Californians gave more than $12 million in 2011. Much of the state’s pro-Romney money came from the world of private investment— not surprising, as Romney formerly headed investment firm Bain Capital and the industry’s business practices have become a hot issue in the campaign.
“If money’s speech, then people with more money get more speech, and this is a fundamental problem in a representative democracy.” Jessica Levinson campaign-finance scholar Loyola Law School The biggest Golden State donor to Restore Our Future was W/F Investment Corp., which, together with CEO Bill Fleischman, gave $350,000. The secondbiggest donation, at $250,000, came from Glenbrook LLC. Dick Boyce, a San
South Sac tank house burns See FRONTLINES
8
About that safety net See GREENLIGHT
10
Power by poo
See GREEN DAYS
11
13
Arena a ‘smart investment’ See GUEST COMMENT
Victory for equality See EDITORIAL
13
BEATS
Sacramentans offer PAC crumbs
Francisco partner at private-equity giant TPG Capital who also serves on Burger King’s board, gave $200,000. The head of CKE Enterprises, the company that owns Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, gave $100,000. In all, California giving was headlined by DreamWorks Animation SKG executive Jeffrey Katzenberg and former Univision CEO Jerry Perenchio, both prolific donors who each gave $2 million—Katzenberg to a super PAC supporting Barack Obama and Perenchio to American Crossroads, a group led by Republican strategist Karl Rove. Venture capitalist and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel contributed $900,000 to a group called Endorse Liberty, which supports Ron Paul. Filmmakers Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams combined to contribute $150,000 to the PAC Priorities USA, and businessman Stephen Bing gave $250,000 to a group called Majority PAC, which also supports Democratic candidates. On the lighter side, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom chipped in $500 to comedian Stephen Colbert’s super PAC—Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow—which raised more than $1 million, mostly in small contributions. With California’s presidential primary not until June, the state’s role in the race is mainly that of an ATM, said Jessica Levinson, campaign-finance scholar at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Super PACs, she said, have allowed for a “shadow campaign-finance system” that is detrimental to the political system. “If money’s speech, then people with more money get more speech, and this is a fundamental problem in a representative democracy,” Levinson said. “It’s giving people with money a megaphone in the current debate.” But the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently rejected that argument, said John Samples, director of the Center for Representative Government at the Cato Institute. “The concern is that it’s unequal—unequal money,” Samples said. “The problem is that equality and freedom here are direct tradeoffs.” Ω
Source: Federal Election Commission
BEFORE
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Arena deal is high-drama, slow-motion
There are no million-dollar donors here in Sacramento. But there are some nuts, jelly bellies and guntoting freedom lovers giving in small amounts to national PACs. And rice moguls, too: The lone local donor who gave last year to a PAC backing a presidential candidate was Al Montna, who donated $5,000 to the Mitt Romney-supporting Restore Our Future, according to the most recent reports. The Republican Party of Sacramento County also racked up more receipts in 2011 than its adversary, the Sacramento County Democratic Central Committee, holding a $108,427 to $96,424 advantage. At the state level, however, a different story: a Democratic PAC out-raised its Republican rival $3.4 million to $2 million. The Dems boasted 17 Sacramento-area donors (Phil Angelides giving the most, at $2,000) but the Republicans had 18. And in Yolo County, a different, and slighter, line: the Democrat’s PAC out-raised the Republicans, $18,185 to $3,264.
Most donors gave in small increments. Such as those who wrote checks for the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, which does its bidding for the Tea Party Express. Regionally, Guy Auxer, a gun trainer at Liberty Firearms Training in Sacramento; Herman Rowland, chairman of Jelly Belly Candy Co.; and Shawn Callahan, a West Sacramento consultant who worked on Kevin Johnson’s strongmayor campaign, all gave modest amounts to the tea party PAC. Corporate employees such as those at Hewlett-Packard and PG&E also have PACs. Here in Sacramento, a committee for growers at Blue Diamond Almonds brought in a little more than $40,000 in total receipts from individual grower contributions. Small amounts—but they add up to a decent-sized nut, indeed.
—Nick Miller
nickam@newsreview.com
SUPER PAC
CA AMOUNT
TOTAL
CANDIDATE
Restore Our Future Priorities USA Action Endorse Liberty Our Destiny PAC Make Us Great Again Red, White & Blue Fund 9-9-9 Fund Winning Our Future
$2,362,525 $2,353,000 $950,000 $317,750 $307,000 $30,350 $8,544 $1,750
$30,179,553 $4,400,616 $1,020,055 $2,680,560 $5,485,885 $729,935 $617,620 $2,087,171
Mitt Romney Barack Obama Ron Paul Jon Hunstman Rick Perry Rick Santorum Herman Cain Newt Gingrich
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It was not—despite what you might have picked up from some breathless Sacramento Bee columnists—a do-or-die moment for a new Sacramento Kings arena. It wasn’t make or break. It wasn’t even put up or shut up. It was just one more in a seemingly endless series of incremental baby steps. The Sacramento City Council was expected on Tuesday night (after press time) to approve a list of 10 “most qualified” companies bidding to take over the city’s public-parking system. The lucky company would get the city’s parking revenue for the next 20, 30, maybe 50 years, in exchange for a large John Dangberg goes deep. upfront payment to help build an arena. The payment could be as large as $200 million, depending on the conditions of the parking deal. Right now, the city gets about $9 million in revenue from its parking operations every year. Tuesday’s vote marked the end of the city’s request for qualifications from bidders and a pivot to the much more exciting request for proposals phase. OK, so not “crunch time,” exactly. But there is a more significant council meeting coming up on February 28. That’s when Assistant City Manager John Dangberg is expected to present the council the much-anticipated “term sheet” of an arena deal. The term sheet is supposed to outline just how much money the city, the team owners and the would-be arena operators would each contribute to get the arena built. That’s also when Dangberg will explain how the general fund will be paid back for the $9 million in parking revenue that would be given up as part of any parking-privatization deal. Dangberg has said in the past that the money would likely be paid by ticket surcharges or by new sales and property taxes generated by development of the arena. February 28 is also when Dangberg is expected to lay out a road map for the aforementioned RFP process, which is expected to go into the summer and cost the city more than $1 million. Even if the council signs off on the term sheet, a new arena faces many more obstacles. A full environmental review wouldn’t be done for another year. “This is a process,” Dangberg said. “You have to continue to delve deeper and prove out the various elements. There are a lot of decisions that have to be made by the council over the next two-and-a-half years.” As previously predicted by SN&R, the city council (and the public) likely won’t get a glimpse of the term sheet until the Thursday or Friday before the following Tuesday’s vote on whether to accept the deal. That’s about four days— including the weekend—to review and make a decision. No pressure. (Cosmo Garvin)
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Landmark lost The Franklin Boulevard tank house was one of the last of its kind The old tank house on Franklin Boulevard wasn’t the most beautiful building around, but Kathy Tescher misses it just the same. by “I was totally bummed. I could hardly drive Cosmo Garvin up and down Franklin for a while,” said Tescher, cosmog@ executive director of the North Franklin District newsreview.com Business Association. “It was one of the few landmarks we have on the boulevard.” The tank house stood for years on an otherwise empty lot across from the El Novillero restaurant, a bit south of Sutterville Road. It didn’t make news when it was burned to the ground this winter. In fact, it was probably only ever noticed by a few people. But its disappearance marked the loss of one more of a dwindling few of these overlooked historic buildings.
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The Franklin Boulevard tank house: 1910s-2011.
A tank house is pretty much what it sounds like—usually a tall skinny building containing a water tank that supplies a house or other buildings nearby. These structures were once all over the more rural Sacramento area of a century ago. The water would be pumped up into the tanks by windmill power and stored for later use. Gravity provided the water pressure to the house. “It was just part of the way we lived in Sacramento in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,” says Roberta Deering, the city’s senior planner for historic preservation. The Franklin tank house is mentioned in property records going back to the 1930s, but Deering says the siding on the tank house suggested is was more likely from the 1910s. But the tank house burned to the ground December 4, 2011, a century or so after it was built. Fire investigators determined the fire was arson, and made an arrest on December 6. It’s not clear why the man who was accused of the crime, a 38-year-old with a history of drug abuse and psychiatric problems, might have set the fire. His public defender wouldn’t talk about the case, and the crime report doesn’t contain much detail. The man was determined by a judge to be not competent to stand trial, and a decision on
whether to commit him to a mental hospital was pending when SN&R viewed the case file. His is certainly the saddest part of this story. Still, Tescher wonders whether things might have gone differently for Franklin Boulevard’s historic landmark. She had tried without success to get the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency interested in buying it. She envisioned a small park where people could gather in the shade of the fixed-up tank house. And at one point the landowners had a plan to develop the lot that incorporated the historic structure into a new retail building. “It was great. The designs were really neat,” said Deering. But the recession hit, and the property ended up in the hands of North Valley Bank, which last year put in an application to knock down the tank house. The city’s historic preservation department scrambled to list the tank house as an historic landmark in Sacramento, but suspended the effort when the property owner backed off the demolition plan. The property had changed hands again by the time the tank house was set ablaze in December. Tescher is nagged by a certain doubt. “Should I have been more vocal? Should I have approached the new property owner about putting up a fence?” Deering only knows of about three tank houses still left inside the Sacramento city limits. One is at Witter Ranch, in the Natomas area of the city. You can see another in the backyard of a large house off Riverside Boulevard, about a block south from Vic’s Ice Cream in the Land Park area.
“It was just part of the way we lived in Sacramento in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.” Roberta Deering city planner for historic preservation Then there’s the Midtown tank house, near the corner of 20th and J streets, nestled up behind a large green wooden building that’s next to the railroad tracks. There are others spread around the region. In the city of Davis, the Dresbach-Hunt-BoyerMansion Tank House has its own entry in the Davis Wiki, and it made news when it was moved out of downtown. (There’s even a YouTube video of the move.) But the Franklin Boulevard tank house was never so celebrated. By chance, it is featured in a small mural on the corner of the High Fashion Fabric building, about a block north of the tank house lot. The painter must have felt the same as Tescher. “I just thought it was really cool,” she said. Ω
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by JEFF VONKAENEL
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but …
One the best things about America is that we can all have different opinions. It is even OK to have ridiculous opinions, such as not believing in evolution. But when your kid is sick, you probably wouldn’t want to go to a doctor who doesn’t believe in evolution. An evolution-denying doctor might give you vaccinations designed to be effective against 1956 bugs or deny the possibility of AIDS, because new viruses don’t evolve. For similar reasons, when our country has problems, it is wise to avoid politicians who don’t get government. Recently, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Recently, Republican that he was “not concerned presidential candidate about the very poor. We have a safety net there.” Mitt Romney said OK. That’s his opinion. that he was “not concerned Heartless, in my estimation, considering he makes about the very poor.” $10,000 bets and has to choose which one of his homes to stay in on any given night, but he’s entitled to his opinion. But in defending this opinion, he’s moved on to distorting the so-called facts. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman quoted Romney as saying the “safety-net programs” have “massive overhead” and that “very little of that money that’s actually needed by those that really need help, those that Paul Krugman can’t care for themselves, actually reaches them.” writes about what This is simply and utterly untrue. And while those Mitt Romney is and is who watch a network named after a cunning animal not concerned about at that rhymes with “socks,” may believe that cutting http://tinyurl.com/ government programs would not hurt the poor, I notconcerned. Krugman’s column also believe that Romney knows the truth—that the vast notes that, according to majority of money allocated to safety-net programs the Center on Budget reaches its intended beneficiaries. In fact, the governand Policy Priorities, ment is significantly more cost-effective than both between 90 percent and 99 percent of the nonprofits and the private sector in administering aid dollars allocated to programs such as welfare and Social Security. safety-net programs We should be expanding those government prodo, in fact, reach the grams that have a good track record. There are certain beneficiaries (read more at things, like a police force, the armed forces, aid prowww.cbpp.org). grams and transportation infrastructure, that the government can provide more cost-effectively than the private sector. One of the reasons that I am advocating a community-wide effort to sign up the 110,000 Sacramento-area residents who are eligible for food stamps but currently do not receive them, is because of the cost-efficiency of the food-stamp program. Jeff vonKaenel is the president, CEO and Unfortunately, it has made it much harder to majority owner have a community-wide effort when presidential of the News & Review contenders just make stuff up in order to appeal to newspapers in their core audience. The private sector may be more Sacramento, Chico and Reno. effective at times, but SMUD does a better job than PG&E. The Army did a better, and certainly more cost-effective, job in Iraq than President George W. Bush’s private-sector contractors. Just as I want a doctor who understands that viruses and organisms evolve, I want political leaders who understand the realities of government, rather than creatively projecting their opinions as if they were facts. Ω
GREEN DAYS
AN INCONVENIENT
RUTH
Anti-bike lanes?
Cow-town power
Auntie Ruth was getting her required dose of The New York Times from her usual source: The Sacramento Bee, where, sadly, reprinting the news that fits is cheaper than paying a staff writer. Anyway, when, whoa, an article stopped her dead in her tracks. Titled “Activists Fight Green Projects, Seeing U.N. Plot,” tea party activists are depicted as “showing up at planning meetings to denounce bike lanes.” These are the times in which we live, but … anti-bike lane? Anti-speed bump, that Ruthie can understand. But anti-bike lane? That’s like being anti-shower curtain, or anti-turn signal. And while we’re on it, what’s up with that commie Tooth Fairy? (And it’s Auntie Ruth to you, bub, not Anti Ruth.)
How much energy could Sacramento generate from manure? It’s been said before that Sacramento is something of a cow town. But a city running on cow power? That would by Christopher Arns be something new. And, if a coalition of agricultural groups and environmentalists have their way, California’s utilities soon could pay a higher premium for biogas, a renewable source of energy produced from cow manure. Last December, nine groups petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission to boost rates paid by utilities to biogas producers, including dairy farmers that convert manure into power and sell the surplus electricity. The groups believe higher wholesale rates would subsidize the biogas market and encourage more dairy farmers to install methane digesters—equipment that converts manure into power. Currently, there are two farms with digesters in Sacramento County and 11 in the state—a number down from 15 two years ago, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. California has the largest dairy industry in the nation, but surprisGreen Days is on the ingly is a lightweight when it comes lookout for innovative to methane digesters. The state only sustainable projects throughout the produces 5 percent of the country’s Sacramento region. digester-energy output. Turn us on at Biogas proponents believe digester sactonewstips@ owners need more government internewsreview.com. vention to keep up with other states such as Wisconsin, which has 26 digesters and produces three times as much energy from dairy-based methane than California. That intervention is required by law, according to organizations signing the petition. Stacey Sullivan, a policy director with Sustainable Conservation, claims the state mandates the CPUC to set wholesale rates based on the “green value” of renewable energy that reduces greenhouse-gas emissions. The rates would force private utilities such as PG&E to pay higher prices to effectively subsidize California’s sputtering biogas industry, Sullivan said. “One of the reasons we feel like this is justified,” she said, “is that the BEFORE
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California is losing to Wisconsin, which produces three times more energy from dairy-based methane than the Golden State.
These are the times in which we
statute explicitly directs the CPUC to factor in” green energy, which would be “sufficiently significant in the case of biogas.” CPUC policy wonks see it differently. In a proposal written last October, CPUC omitted rate hikes for renewable-energy sources producing up to 3 megawatts, a category that includes dairy farmers with methane digesters. It argued the rate should be set by the open market.
Currently, there are two farms with digesters in Sacramento County and 11 in the state. Ed Randolph, CPUC energy director, downplayed the proposal and said the commission will make a final decision later this spring. “The best way for us to proceed in this particular case is to put out a staff recommendation and look for comments,” Randolph said. “It’s up to the commissioners and the administrative law judge to put all that together and make a decision on what they want to propose.” Both PG&E and The Utility Reform Network, a consumer-advocacy group, also rejected higher wholesale rates to subsidize biogas. Matt Freedman, a TURN staff attorney, believes giving that power to CPUC officials would be a disaster. “I think the real problem with this exercise,” he said, “is asking a state agency to figure out how much it costs to generate renewable power. It’s a fool’s errand, and the commission will always guess wrong.” Denny Boyle, a PG&E spokesman, said his company supports the existing CPUC staff recommendation. “We believe it
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should be based on market prices,” Boyle said. If the CPUC does raise rates for biogas, there’s no guarantee it will help smaller energy producers such as California dairy farmers. For starters, they need air-quality permits to run the digesters, which use internal-combustion engines to convert methane into electricity. In Sacramento County, new air-quality standards adopted in the past five years have severely limited how farmers operate these engines. The equipment is also expensive. Start-up costs vary wildly, from $160,000 to several million dollars, and farmers usually need federal grants to fund their projects. But it’s worth it, said Larry Castelanelli, who owns 1,800 cows at his Lodi dairy and installed his second digester in 2009. “If I wasn’t producing here, they’re going to burn oil someplace and produce that energy,” he said. “Why we’re not doing more of these and putting more of these in California is beyond me.” Ω
live. The article went on to summarize the tea party’s national efforts against Agenda 21, a nonbinding 1992 U.N. resolution that encourages “nations to use fewer resources and conserve open land.” The tea partiers’ efforts, Tea party hates which extend past bike lanes to highbike lanes? speed rail and preserving rural lands, have an old-fashioned X-Files paranoia to them and are building steam on Fox News, and in Virginia, Maine and even here in California—Rep. Wally Herger felt sufficiently hectored by the tea partiers to write an op-ed in Siskiyou Daily News contextualizing Agenda 21. But bike lanes?
A study from University of Massachusetts looked at 58 projects in 11 states and found that cycle-oriented infrastructure created 11.6 jobs for every $1 million spent (vs. 7.8 for road-only projects, as reported in Fast Company). That hasn’t stopped a Republican-backed transportation initiative in Congress that, if passed, will take away the transportation-enhancement program, “the most popular program in the entire federal transportation arena where we had requirements to be spent on bike and pedestrian” projects, according to Oregon Democrat (and biking enthusiast) Rep. Earl Blumenauer. The cuts would include the Federal Safe Routes to School. Yep, bike paths for kids. Chop ’em. Be glad you live in Sacramento, where bike lanes are not particularly controversial. According to Ed Cox, the city’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, bike lanes are scheduled to be painted on I, J, Fifth, Ninth and 10th streets and Capitol Mall. Fifth, Ninth, 10th, G and H streets are being considered for reconfiguration as one lane streets, with bicycle lanes on either side of the traffic. The work will be completed in 2012. Just don’t tell the tea party. Ω (Come friend Aunt Ruth on Facebook and let’s hang out.)
ECO-HIT Butterfly guy Butterflies are a good indicator of climate change, and UC Davis professor Arthur Shapiro has been studying them for decades (“The butterfly man” by Hugh Biggar; SN&R Feature Story; March 3, 2011). This Friday, the American River Natural History Association will host Shapiro in an event called “Art’s Butterfly World” as part of an ongoing lecture series. Shapiro will talk about his research studying 159 species and subspecies. It happens at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, February 17, at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center, 2850 San Lorenzo Way in Carmichael. Tickets cost $5. For more information, call (916) 489-4918 or visit www.sacnaturecenter.net.
A RT S & C U LT U R E
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Butterflies might be free, but this lecture costs $5.
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OPINION
EDITORIAL
Victory for equality
CUT&PASTE
From the SN&R blogs at WWW.NEWSREVIEW.COM
Yes, parking for arena It is perfectly understandable that a plan to use the city’s Some worry that the lesson of Chicago’s downtown parking revenue to help fund a new parking privatization won’t be learned. These arena at the rail yards would draw wariness. people ignore a key difference: Chicago privaIt’s a big deal. Cities don’t privatize parking tized parking in an attempt to correct an operations on a lark; cities don’t engage in immediate budget shortfall without addressing long negotiations for any old project. The prothe underlying causes for the red ink. posed arena is a massive undertaking, one that The Sacramento plan would leverage the deserves scrutiny. parking asset to invest back into the downtown But the most common core, to promote growth critiques seem to be of the economy, job So as long as the based in general fear and market, and, through bolby misapplied comparisons. stered property value, a Tom Ziller city’s interests are Just about everyone in stronger tax base over the is the founding editor represented fairly, Sacramento harbors long term. This project is of Sactown Royalty resentment for the set up to be a true capital and the NBA editor the parking plan is for SB Nation Maloofs—arena skeptics improvement. It’s proacand Kings fans alike. But a smart investment tive instead of reactive, the good news is that and as such one of the in Sacramento’s nothing about this arena rare times in the recent is being done for the years our city has gotten future. Maloofs. In fact, this out in front of the strong tilt of history. Have a comment? entire exercise—from Express your views Mayor Kevin Johnson’s New York sojourn, to It’s important to ensure that the project proin 350 words on votes before the city council—has proceeded tects and pencils-out for the people of a local topic in spite of the Maloofs, who were a couple of Sacramento. But we should not oppose an opporof interest. signatures from Anaheim last spring. tunity to spark downtown development just Send an e-mail to This project is about improving because of who supports it. So as long as the editorial@ newsreview.com. Sacramento, using the nation’s largest infill city’s interests are represented fairly—as they space to create jobs, boost the economy and have been to this point—the parking plan is earn some strong, positive attention for the smart investment in Sacramento’s future. Ω city we love.
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The decision last week by a panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down Proposition 8, the 2008 state ballot measure restricting marriage to one man and one woman, marks the beginning of the end of the battle over marriage equality in California. Hallelujah! Still, it will be a while before same-sex marriages can be performed legally again in the state because the case can (and will be) appealed. The U.S. Supreme Court may not hear it. But if it does, chances seem good that the ruling will survive. The decision The Ninth Circuit panel ruled that to strike down Prop. 8 was unconstitutional on the Proposition 8 grounds that it took away a right to be married that gays and lesbians marks the had enjoyed after the California beginning of the end Supreme Court struck down a state ban in May 2008. (Prop. 8 passed in of the battle over November 2008.) marriage equality The argument was drawn directly from a 1996 U.S. Supreme Court opin- in California. ion in a Colorado case, Romer v. Evans. According to the Los Angeles Times, in that case, Sacramento homeboy and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, the crucial swing voter on the court, “wrote a strong opinion saying the Colorado law was unconstitutional because it singled out gays and lesbians for unfair treatment and took away their hard-won legal rights.” It takes only four justices to vote to hear a case, but the outcome of this one is virtually foreordained. For one thing, the decision applies only to California, and the court prefers to take cases with nationwide application. Second, Kennedy undoubtedly will side with the four liberal justices and uphold the Ninth’s decision. One way or another, same-sex marriage will soon be legal again in California. Ω
Munificence In the old days, on a sweaty summer afternoon, it was a no-brainer for a Sacramento parent to round up the neighborhood kids and head to the nearby public pool for an afternoon of swimming, reading, chilling. Don’t try it these days, though. In the past years, hammered city budgets have forced local parks and recreation officials to shut them down. Last year, six out of 12 local pools were closed for the season—some in the very neighborhoods where kids most need a place to escape, cool down and get some exercise. Sadly, such pool closures have been occurring nationwide as deficit-ridden municipalities come to terms with their fiscal realities. (It costs about $100,000 to operate a public pool for the summer.) To the local rescue this year, comes a private corporation with a cool plan. Save Mart Supermarkets, based in Modesto, has announced its intention to match up to $500,000 in private donations to keep the pools open in Sacramento. It’s going to take time to pull this off in time for summer—that’s why Save Mart announced its campaign in the middle of winter. Corporate and individual largesse is certainly not a good long-term solution for keeping basic government institutions and services afloat. But for now, and for the sake of all the Sacto kids who’ll cherish the summer of 2012, we are grateful for Save Mart’s munificence. Ω
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Donate online at www.savemart.com/save ourpools or text POOLS to 80888 to donate $10. Also, Save Mart will donate $5 for every “like” on its Facebook page between Feb 28 and March 13.
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Kevin Mims is a Sacramento freelance writer whose work has been featured in The New York Times, on NPR, Salon and in numerous other venues. The names of the defendants and the shooting victims in this story have been changed to protect their privacy. The name of witness Ravneel Atwaal was not changed because he is a convicted felon.
IN THE 1957 FILM 12 ANGRY MEN, HENRY FONDA PORTRAYS THE LONE DISSENTER ON A JURY WHOSE OTHER 11 MEMBERS ALL FAVOR A GUILTY VERDICT. TO MY DISMAY, I FOUND MYSELF RECENTLY ON A JURY, IN A DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO COURTROOM, IN JUST THAT POSITION. 14
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In the early morning hours of October 12, 2008, gunfire broke out at an AM-PM mini-mart located at the intersection of 65th Street and Fourth Avenue just south of Sacramento State University. Unbeknownst to the gang members involved in the shooting, a parkinglot surveillance camera captured much of the violent occurrence on video. More than three years later, on October 26, 2011, I and 11 other jurors gathered in court to figure out who was responsible for the shooting. Each of our two defendants was charged with seven counts of attempted murder, plus a whole menu of additional and/or alternate charges: committing a felony while part of a criminal gang, shooting into an occupied vehicle, disturbing the peace, attempted manslaughter, etc. The incident was alleged to involve members of two rival African-American street gangs, Killa Mobb and FAB (the prosecutor would tell us that FAB stood for
Fourth Avenue Bloods; his star witness said it stood for Fuck a Bitch). Practically the first instruction we were given by Judge Steve White was that we should not even glance at the current edition of the Sacramento News & Review, which apparently carried a front-page story about street gangs in Sacramento (I can’t confirm this, having obeyed the judge’s order). The judge also instructed us not to visit the crime scene, search for information related to the crime on the Internet, or do any investigative work of our own. I didn’t know it at the time, but a previous trial involving several of the same defendants was under a cloud of controversy because one of the jurors had posted comments about it on Facebook while the trial was ongoing. One night, after jury duty, I came home and Googled the names of the defense attorneys just so I could get the spelling correct in my notes. The next day in court the judge, although
he mentioned no names, looked directly at me and said, “Ladies and gentleman of the jury, let me remind you that you are absolutely forbidden to look up anything about this case on the Internet—is that understood?” After that, I was afraid to even go online again until after the trial ended. The trial was complicated. It involved five defendants and two juries. My jury (always referred to by court officials as the yellow jury because of the color of the badges we wore) was charged with determining the guilt or innocence of only two of the defendants, Ornelle Anthony and Ryan Malcolm. The fate of the other three defendants was in the hands of the green jury. The prosecutor was Jeff Hightower of the Sacramento District Attorney’s office. His case against the accused consisted primarily of three things: the testimony of one of the shooting victims, the testimony of an accomplice-turned-snitch and the
video recording of the events. On a TV legal drama, this would have been an unbeatable trio: an insider willing to turn against his partners in crime, an aggrieved rival gang member eager to see his assailants punished and an impartial mechanical observer incapable of lying. But real life is rarely as tidy as episodic television. As I listened to the DA describe his evidence during the opening arguments, I imagined the case would be fairly easy to decide. But 43 days later, when the forewoman handed our final verdict to the judge, I felt as if I’d been through a heavyweight fight with 11 opponents. I spent the last two weeks of that period locked in a room with a bunch of near strangers, all of whom were determined to get me to change a “not guilty” vote to “guilty.” And until you’ve been the lone holdout on a jury of 12, you have no idea how lonely and unsettling that position can be.
THE FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT OF A JURY-MEMBER HOLDOUT IN A RECENT SACRAMENTO GANG-SHOOTING TRIAL A VIOLENT ENCOUNTER
Exactly what happened at that AMPM on October 12, 2008, remains unclear, but here’s a rough summary of the DA’s allegations: At about 2:13 a.m., 10 members of the Killa Mobb gang left a party at a nearby apartment complex and split up into three cars—a white ’91 Lexus, a white Chevrolet Cavalier and a black Dodge Charger. About a minute later the cars, lead by the Cavalier, prepared to enter the AM-PM parking lot just as a black Dodge pickup truck carrying seven alleged FAB members was about to exit the same driveway. As he approached the driveway, the driver of the Cavalier made an aggressive move to block the path of the truck. Then he pulled the Cavalier into the driveway and stopped it alongside the truck. That’s when backseat passenger Ryan Malcolm exited the Cavalier, and began to harass the FAB members in the truck. About a minute later, according to the DA, Ornelle Anthony climbed up out of a passenger side window of the Charger, which was situated in the Fourth Avenue suicide lane, and fired shots across the roof of the vehicle into the front of the FAB truck. Excited into action by Anthony’s gunfire, another defendant, Trevor Williams, reached inside the Cavalier for a handgun and then fired across the roof of the Cavalier at the FAB truck, which by then was fleeing the scene. The prosecutor’s first witness was Tyrone Wilson, the driver of the FAB truck. He was shot in the lower back as his truck left the AM-PM and was later treated at the UCD Medical Center and released the following day. He was the only one of the truck’s seven occupants who bothered showing up in court to accuse his alleged assailants of attempted murder. Physically, Wilson didn’t fit the Hollywood stereotype of a gang member. He was 6 feet tall but weighed only 140 pounds. He spoke in a low voice, perhaps because he still carried a bullet in his back, located a quarter of an inch from his lungs, which sometimes caused him breathing difficulties. Under direct BEFORE
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examination he told the prosecutor that he had almost no memory of the events and that he didn’t recognize any of the five defendants sitting before him in court. In order to put together a narrative of the events at the AM-PM, Hightower was forced to rely on previous statements made to the police by Wilson. This was a tedious process that involved exchanges like this:
HIGHTOWER: Do you remember telling Detective Saario on December 2, 2008 about a black Charger that was stopped in the middle of Fourth Avenue?
WILSON: No. HIGHTOWER: Would it refresh
your memory if I showed you a transcript of that interview with Detective Saario?
WILSON: I guess. HIGHTOWER: (Handing Wilson a
fat binder and pointing to the relevant passage of the interview.) I want you to read those lines I have indicated quietly to yourself. (A pause while Wilson, who claimed he hadn’t read more than 100 pages in his entire life, slowly reads the relevant lines, and then hands the transcript back to Hightower.) Now, Mr. Wilson, do you remember telling Detective Saario that there was a black Charger in the suicide lane of Fourth Avenue.
WILSON: If that’s what it says, then I guess so. After an hour or two of direct examination by the prosecutor in this manner, the witness was cross-examined by each of the five defense attorneys. This was followed by more direct examination and then five more cross-examinations. This wearisome process went on and on.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
To the nonlawyer, jury service can seem like a trip to Alice’s Wonderland, a place where the meanings of words can change randomly and the contradictory is commonplace. The judge explained to us that, in a courtroom, certain words are used differently than they
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are in ordinary life. For instance, in ordinary usage “malicious” means merely “a desire to see harm befall another,” whereas in a courtroom it describes an act “specifically intended to cause harm to another.” Likewise, “willful,” which usually just means “stubborn” (as in “a very willful child”) in a courtroom always means “intentional.” What’s more certain, words that are vital in the world of fictional sleuths and lawyers have no place in a real courtroom. “Motive,” which, along with “means” and “opportunity,” forms part of a sacred trinity in the world of Perry Mason and Hercule Poirot, gets no respect in a real courtroom. As the judge informed us, “The prosecutor has the burden of proving each defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but he is under no obligation whatsoever to establish any kind of motive for the crime.” In the real world, crimes are often committed for no reason at all. The prosecutor’s second witness (and the only one capable of positively identifying the defendants) was Ravneel Atwaal, the driver of the white Lexus and an alleged member of Killa Mobb. He was roughly the same age as the defendants, 21, about 6 feet tall and possessed an average build. He must have been fairly strong, however, because three weeks after the AMPM incident, on Halloween night of 2008, Atwaal was videotaped by security cameras as he participated in the brutal beating of a rival gang member at a Shell gas station across the street from Arden Fair mall. He faced a 23-year jail sentence for that incident, but the DA offered to reduce it to seven years and eight months if he testified truthfully at the AM-PM trial. Although he was much more animated than Wilson, and his answers were generally longer and more detailed, many of the things he said were contradicted either by the videos we watched or by his own previous statements. By my count, his testimony contained at least 10 serious discrepancies and dozens of minor ones. Neither Atwaal nor Wilson was especially articulate, but neither
STORY
came across as stupid. On some matters they were easily tricked by defense attorneys. Both men told the prosecutor that they saw someone shooting from the Charger, but each man, when asked by a defense attorney some variation of the question, “Isn’t it true that you never even looked at the Charger because all of your attention was focused on the activity around the Cavalier?” answered “Yes,” thus contradicting his previous statement to the prosecutor. Though much of this testimony may have been questionable, each eyewitness had a few topics on which no amount of defense-attorney hectoring could
alter his story. The defense attorneys tried repeatedly to cast doubt on Wilson’s credibility by asking him to describe over and over again the damage his truck sustained during the shooting (suspiciously, the truck was stolen and destroyed a few days after the incident and wasn’t available as evidence). Wilson described the multiple bullet holes and deflection marks and shot-out windows and broken vehicle lights and interior damage with perfect consistency over and over again, never varying a single detail. Atwaal, despite persistent efforts by defense attorney Kelly Babineau to trip him up, was consistent whenever he gave
At first, as the district attorney described his evidence, the writer thought the case would be fairly easy to decide. But that didn’t turn out to be the case.
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“THE LONE JUROR” continued from page 15
Unlike the other jurors, the writer felt there was reasonable doubt about the guilt of the defendant. Once in deliberation, he began to feel he was starring in a live, unscripted remake of 12 Angry Men.
an account of where each of the gang members in the three Killa Mobb cars was sitting (his certitude on this matter was problematic because some of his assertions were contradicted by Wilson, and some were in conflict with other evidence in the case). Also interesting was the way Atwaal, whose vocabulary was generally limited, would occasionally produce a phrase (“I saw the defendant brandishing a weapon in a flamboyant manner”) that made you wonder if his testimony had been scripted for him, or if he’d just seen one too many TV cop shows.
UNBEKNOWNST TO THE SACRAMENTO GANG MEMBERS INVOLVED IN THAT EARLY-MORNING SHOOTING AT THE AM-PM MINI-MART, A PARKING-LOT SURVEILL ANCE CAMERA CAPTURED MUCH OF THE VIOLENT OCCURRENCE ON VIDEO.
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After listening to hours of testimony by these two men, I found myself hoping that the DA had some strong physical evidence still to come that would link our defendants to the crime. Alas, he brought forth no such evidence. By the end of the trial, my uncertainty about the defendants’ guilt must have been written all over my face, because the defense attorneys seemed to detect it. During the course of the monthlong trial, Babineau and Peter Kmeto, the attorneys for Malcolm and Anthony, respectively, must have done some Internet research on their jurors and reached the conclusion that I was the one most likely to champion an acquittal. When Kmeto began his final summation to the jury, he noted that in order to render a guilty verdict, the law required us to have “an abiding conviction” of a defendant’s guilt. Then, while looking directly at me, he said, “Our founding fathers had large vocabularies. They understood words like ‘abiding’ and ‘conviction.’ Nowadays, people have smaller vocabularies, and not everyone knows what those words mean. ‘Abiding’ means ‘enduring.’ A ‘conviction’ isn’t a belief; it is a ‘certainty.’ With their large vocabularies the people who created our judicial system were telling future jurors that they cannot find a defendant guilty unless they can live the
rest of their lives certain of that guilty verdict.” Again and again he hammered at the word vocabulary while staring right at me. Clearly, he had Googled my name and discovered that for the last five years I have written a regular column for a monthly online journal called The Vocabula Review, which caters to word lovers and deals primarily with language, linguistics and related subjects. When the time came for her summation, Ms. Babineau looked directly at me and said, “Remember, you are one jury of 12, but you are also 12 juries of one. If you don’t believe a conviction is called for in this case, any one of you has the power to stop it from happening.”
A JURY OF ONE
In films like Runaway Jury, jurors are often seen discussing the merits of a case before the defense and prosecution have rested. In real life, jurors are absolutely prohibited from discussing the case with each other until both sides have rested. Thus, I had no idea how my fellow jurors might be feeling about the case until we reached the deliberation room. At that point, everything changed. We had been cordial strangers during the trial. Only after we had filed into that deliberation room and jotted our names down on handmade nameplates (first names
only; I never learned anyone’s last name), did we truly come to know each other. We were 11 Caucasians and one Asian, five women and seven men. Five of us (as I recall) were government employees. One of us worked for Macy’s. One of us worked for a phone company. One was a nurse. One worked in insurance. Our tastes in food and movies and literature differed greatly. It took us only about an hour to unanimously acquit Malcolm of all the charges against him. In his closing statement, Hightower had told us, “If Ryan Malcolm had stayed in the car, he wouldn’t be a defendant here today. But he didn’t stay in the car. He got out of it. And that’s why he is on trial.” But, as one of the jurors put it in the deliberation room, “This is still America. A guy ought to be able to get out of a car if he wants to and not be arrested for it.” Unfortunately, we decided to put off filling out the paperwork that would officially acquit Malcolm until we had reached a decision on the Anthony matter. This decision would nearly cost Malcolm his acquittal as you’ll see later in this story. Next, we turned our attention to Anthony. The other jurors all believed he was guilty, but I had plenty of reasonable doubt about his guilt.
For a day, my dissension was tolerated. By day two, however, I was a marked man. That’s when I found myself starring in a live unscripted remake of 12 Angry Men. At one point I said, “Maybe I’m biased in favor of the defendant, but I thought the defense attorneys did a good job of discrediting the prosecutor’s case.” This unleashed a firestorm of accusations: “You admit that you’re biased. It’s your obligation to go to the judge and tell him you’re too prejudiced to continue as a juror on this case.” Mind you, plenty of other jurors had made statements I thought were far more biased than my own. One juror opined, “Regardless of what we decide, this guy’s destined to end up in the morgue or back in prison.” But because I was the lone vote for acquittal, only my statements were ever deemed prejudicial. When I refused to disqualify myself, the forewoman and another juror both sent notes to the judge accusing me of being hopelessly biased in favor of the defense. Later that day, we got word from the bailiff that the judge wanted to see us all in the courtroom. This created a euphoric atmosphere amongst some of my fellow jurors. They seemed convinced that I would soon be replaced by one of the four alternate jurors. As we waited in the hallway outside the courtroom, I mentally rehearsed a defense of my damning statement. I believed the
prosecutor’s case left plenty of room for reasonable doubt, and I was determined not to let the accused be railroaded into jail over my disqualified body. As we filed into the jury box, I couldn’t help feeling as if I were now on trial. The judge was back on his bench. The prosecutor was back at his table. All five members of the defense team were at their table. I was terrified. I fully expected the judge to confront me with the accusation that I was biased. Instead he picked up a sheaf of papers and began reading what were obviously boilerplate instructions for deadlocked juries. The judge never asked us about the specifics of our impasse. He merely ordered us to continue our deliberations.
AN 11-1 TIE
Back in the jury room, we all agreed to revisit the testimony of the prosecution’s two eyewitnesses. Though tedious, the read-backs from the court reporter provided plenty of fresh ammunition. This did nothing to end our stalemate. Seven days into our deliberations, we remained at an impasse. Some of our problems were due to our ignorance of the law. We were given 48 pages of jury instructions, but not all of them were clear to us. One instruction, for instance, informed us that we could interpret direct evidence any way that we wanted, but the rules regarding circumstantial evidence were different. If a piece of circumstantial evidence could reasonably be interpreted in two different ways, one of which favored a guilty verdict and one of which favored a not-guilty verdict, we were required by law to interpret the evidence only in a way that was favorable to the defendant. This was a crucial point. Because of a tree blocking the camera’s view, the videotape didn’t show anyone shooting from the Charger, but it did show the people milling around outside the Cavalier all reacting at once in a manner consistent with being startled by a loud noise. My fellow jurors believed this was evidence of shots being fired from the Charger, which tended to support a guilty verdict against Anthony. I noted that it could also have been evidence of shots being fired by the unseen driver of the Cavalier (evidence was presented in court suggesting that the Cavalier’s driver had fired at the FAB truck), an interpretation which I believed created reasonable doubt about Anthony’s guilt. I also argued that since the video recording was circumstantial evidence, we were
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required to accept only the interpretation that favored the defendant. The others insisted that the video was direct evidence and could be interpreted either way. We sent a letter to the judge asking him whether the video was direct or circumstantial evidence. His response was a terse note saying, in essence, “You have reviewed all the evidence in the case. If you have questions about how to proceed, refer to your jury instructions.” It struck us all as odd that six attorneys, a judge and dozens of other behind-the-scenes legal professionals had put thousands of hours of work into this case and then thrown the outcome of the matter into the hands of 12 random citizens, none of whom knew what circumstantial evidence was. The juror who worked as a nurse summed it up this way: “This makes no more sense than if a bunch of doctors were to examine a patient, conduct numerous extensive tests on him, and then place all the medical information they’d gathered into the hands of 12 people pulled randomly off the street and tell them: ‘Here, come up with a treatment plan for this patient.’”
IT STRUCK US AS ODD THAT SIX AT TORNEYS, A JUDGE AND DOZENS OF LEGAL PROFESSIONALS HAD PUT THOUSANDS OF HOURS INTO THIS CASE AND THEN THROWN THE OUTCOME INTO THE HANDS OF 12 RANDOM CITIZENS. The frustration of the others was understandable. In any other venue in the world 11-1 is a winning score. Only in the deliberation room of an American courthouse is 11-1 considered a tie. Even I felt uncomfortable with the standoff. Day after day I watched as, during breaks in our deliberations, my fellow jurors struggled to keep up with the work they were neglecting due to my extended holdout. I felt guilty listening to my fellow jurors trying to meet their professional obligations. Had the rules allowed the majority to ignore my opposition and find the defendant guilty, I would have been relieved. Instead, I was becoming an emotional wreck. I couldn’t sleep at night. I told my wife I was afraid I might end up agreeing to convict the defendant out of sheer cowardice or exhaustion. She told me, “No, you won’t. You’re stronger than you think.” Her faith in me was about the only thing that kept me going.
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In an effort to break me down mentally, emotionally and physically (or so it seemed to me), some members of the majority tried to force me to rebut arguments that I had already rebutted numerous times. Finally, I announced that I was through defending my verdict. This gave rise to threats: “You’re required to deliberate. If you don’t think you can defend your position, you should go to the judge and disqualify yourself.” But I refused. I told my opponents, “If you think I am guilty of misconduct, report me to the judge.” At this point, one juror began claiming to have doubts about the innocence of Ryan Malcolm. “I think we need to go back and review his case,” she said. It seemed clear that she was issuing a veiled threat to me: “Either join us in convicting Anthony, or I won’t allow Malcolm to be acquitted.” She put in a request to have an additional day’s worth of testimony read back to us. Meanwhile, another juror sent a letter of complaint about me to the judge. Soon, the bailiff informed us that the judge wanted to see us back in courtroom in one hour. Once again I found myself sitting nervously in the hallway outside the courtroom, mentally rehearsing the words I would use to defend my not-guilty vote to the judge.
three or four hours of the transcript to us. After that, we took a formal vote on Malcolm. An hour or so later, we were back in the courtroom. It was December 8, 2011, 43 days after the trial began, and more than three years after the alleged crimes had occurred. The forewoman handed our paperwork to the judge. And just like that it was over. Malcolm was acquitted; Anthony still faces the possibility of a retrial. The judge thanked us and dismissed us from the courtroom. I never came close to winning Anthony the acquittal I thought he deserved, but I walked out of the courthouse on the last day of my jury service with my head high. Over the course of eight days of unrelenting opposition, I had managed to remain true to my conscience. Throughout the trial, I had sought advice and solace in the works of some of my favorite authors: the essays of Michel de Montaigne, the poems of W.B. Yeats, and the maxims of Baltasar Gracián, whose book The Art of Worldly Wisdom is a bible of sorts for me. But it was in a collection of
poems by recent U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan that I found the words that proved most helpful. They were from a poem called “Patience”: Who would have guessed it possible that waiting is sustainable— a place with its own harvests. Or that in time’s fullness the diamonds of patience couldn’t be distinguished from the genuine in brilliance or hardness. If you ever find yourself the lone holdout on a jury of 12 people, remember this: It is not necessary to be clever or courageous or persuasive, like Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men. If you are patient, the judge will eventually bring your trial (and your tribulation) to an end. Ω
END OF THE HOLDOUT
With the jury once again back in court, the judge turned to the forewoman and said, “I understand you are still at an impasse—is that correct?” The forewoman said yes. At that point I thought he would ask who the holdout was and then force me to stand up and defend my verdict. But without any further ado, the judge merely said, “I accept that you are now a hung jury and I declare a mistrial in the case of the People vs. Ornelle Anthony.” Next he asked us about the Malcolm case. “Any chance of reaching a unanimous verdict?” he said to the forewoman. “I think so,” she answered glumly. By the time we returned to the deliberation room, the juror who’d earlier expressed doubts seemed to be having second thoughts about her second thoughts on the Malcolm verdict. She had already requested a read-back of a day’s worth of testimony. She couldn’t cancel this request without it becoming obvious that it had been made merely to intimidate me. But much of the combativeness seemed to have gone out of her. We came into the deliberation room the next morning and listened while the court reporter read back
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Defense attorney Kelly Babineau told the jurors in her closing remarks that if they don’t believe a conviction was called for in the case, “any one of you has the power to stop it from happening.” |
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Death and the cult of celebrity Whitney Houston died last week and, like many people, I was shocked but not surprised. I was, however, genuinely sad. I found out about the 48-year-old singer’s death late by RACHEL LEIBROCK Saturday afternoon, when, standing alone in my kitchen, an Associated Press News Alert flashed across my phone, placed nearby on the counter while I prepared appetizers for a friend’s party. I stopped to read the text—still up to my elbows in flour—and let out a gasp. “Oh no,” I said out loud, calling out to get my husband’s attention before remembering that he wasn’t home. For a brief moment I stood there, feeling incredibly sad and alone. There was a catch in my throat, and tears welled up in my eyes. I didn’t actually cry, but I came very close. And that, at least according to some people, means I have some very misplaced values—crying over the death of a rich celebrity whom I never met and whom, by all accounts, spent the last decade or so unsuccessfully fighting an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Judging by some of the comments on Facebook, anyone who actually experienced sadness over Houston’s death must be a shallow idiot. The status updates were harsh: She was just yet another entitled showbiz junkie—a pop diva relic who’d long ago shed any relevancy. Would I feel sadness over the death of any other stranger? Why not the homeless addict on the street? Why Whitney Houston? Well, why not? I was never a fan of Houston’s music, but her talent was undeniable, and her music and fresh-faced image were, nonetheless, an indelible part of my adolescence and young-adult years. During the span of her musical career, Houston sold more than 170 million records and is noteworthy as the first female artist to have a record debut at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts (1987’s Whitney). She also earned seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard singles—a feat yet to be matched by any other artist. And, of course, her role in The Bodyguard spawned a massive hit single—Houston’s take on Dolly Parton’s “I Will Judging by some of Always Love You”—that spent 14 weeks atop the Top 100. the comments on Billboard I’ve never seen The Bodyguard, and I don’t Facebook, anyone particularly like her version of that song, but that mean I don’t respect what she who actually doesn’t accomplished. And it doesn’t mean I don’t miss experienced the artist she once was. that success and the bubbly personality I sadness over grewBut up with—the one exuded in music videos Whitney Houston’s for songs such as “How Will I Know” and “I Dance With Somebody (Who Loves death must be a Wanna Me)”—are so at odds with more recent shallow idiot. memories of the singer: Her odd demeanor on Being Bobby Brown, the reality show she appeared on with her former husband, the “crack is whack” comment she once made during an interview, the time-worn face, ravaged by years of hard living. In the end, was all that talent and success just a waste? No, because her music made a connection with millions of people. Was her death ultimately little more than a remote blip in history? Probably, but that doesn’t make it any less relevant. No, I didn’t personally know Whitney Houston—nor did I know John Lennon, River Phoenix, Michael Hutchence, Jeff Buckley, Princess Diana, Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson or Amy Winehouse—but I still experienced genuine, if fleeting, feelings of sorrow and grief when they died. It’s not about misplaced values or superficial celebrity worship; it’s about mourning the loss of someone who, for whatever reason and to whatever degree, impacted your life. That doesn’t make you a shallow idiot mindlessly immersed in the cult of celebrity. It just makes you human. Ω Smarted by Popsmart? Got something to say? Let Rachel know: popsmart@newsreview.com.
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Sacramento baris
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brew perfection,
one cup
at a time
Insight Coffee Roasters co-owners Lucky Rodrigues (left) and Benza Lance share a tiny cup of brew.
Lucky Rodrigues, co-owner of and roaster at Insight Coffee Roasters, can wax rhapsodic about coffee all day. by And he will, practically, after he pulls Becky Grunewald up to Insight in a Jeep Cherokee, dressed in hiking boots with red laces and a puffy photos vest, looking like a time-traveler straight by out of 1978. Justin Short After an initial cup and a smoke outside— during which he delivers a mini-lecture on sourcing and roasting beans—Rodrigues steps up to his brand-new pour-over bar, which uses a separate register to keep the line flowing for those who’d rather grab a fast cup and go. Insight, co-owned with Benza Lance, currently only roasts two beans: Aconcagua, an El Salvadorian brew in which Rodrigues tastes “melon … a fluffy citrus cotton candytype coffee,” and El Secoro, a Guatemalan bean that Rodrigues describes as “clean, consistent …with classic coffee flavor.” Or, as Lance puts it, “It’s like drinking a cloud.” Sacramento often lags behind other cities in culinary trends but when it comes to coffee, it’s on the cutting edge—as evidenced by the
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proliferation of so-called “pour-over bars” popping up in local coffee shops. At pour-over bars, customers pick their own beans and then watch as the barista artfully brews a single cup. This isn’t just about dumping hot water over beans, however. Indeed, such coffee bars are a big trend right now, popular with customers who want to slow down the coffee experience, says Barista Magazine editor Sarah Allen. “Look for more cafes to introduce coffee brewed a cup at a time,” Allen explained in a recent email. “[At a] pour-over bar … an interested customer can really engage with the barista, talk about where the coffee comes from, what notes will shine in the cup.” “A good barista is a professional, just like a chef and has lots of information to share.” That desire for customer interaction motivated Rodrigues and Lance to create space for a pour-over bar. “It’s a little bit more engaging,” Rodrigues says. “We’ll make you a cup of coffee, you can lounge, it takes two-and-half minutes to prepare.”
Gras, brah See NIGHT&DAY
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It’s not just about chatting up a barista and taking your time, however; pour-over bars also utilize high-quality equipment. At Insight, for example, you’ll find nary a paper filter. Rather, the cafe’s standard cup of coffee is brewed using a French press with a stainless-steel perforated Kone coffee filter that’s manufactured by the Portland-based Coava Roastery and Coffee Bar. It’s a beautiful piece of design, but Rodrigues says he chose it largely not for its form but rather its function and the quality of its resulting brew. “The taste [from using this filter] is much, much cleaner,” he says. “When you filter a coffee, you filter out a lot of the undissolved solids which are a product of the brewed coffee. … [That has] a lot to do with the tactile feel of the coffee and the flavor of it.” That perfect cup requires time and patience. It’s very scientific, actually. To brew a cup of the El Secoro, for example, Rodrigues grinds exactly 28 grams of beans with a burr grinder. The fresh grind is key, he explains, because “there are oils in the coffee’s cellular structure and oil stales.” To demonstrate, Rodrigues places the Kone and the grounds into the neck of a glass Chemex coffeemaker, all of which is then set onto a zeroed-out digital scale. Next comes what baristas call “the bloom,” a process in which the grounds are wetted and allowed to release the CO2 that is a byproduct of roasting. Finally, after approximately 45 seconds, Rodrigues slowly and evenly pours a thin stream of hot (but not boiling) water over the grounds. The goal, he explains, is to pour 400 grams of water over the coffee in a two minute time period. The resulting cup has a
Cheese-steak standoff See DISH
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Zappa’d! See MUSIC
full mouthfeel with a particulate level that’s lower than that of French-press coffee but higher than filtered coffee. The end taste, Rodrigues says, is worth the time and effort. “[This coffee has] a great bass body to it; it’s like one big boom, one solid foundation,” he says. “The midrange notes of this coffee are kind of baking apple-ish, red apple.” A note about these lyrical descriptions: There’s a difference between serious coffee people and the rest of us.
True coffee aficionados don’t care whether their coffee is hot. In fact, they prefer it lukewarm—the better to taste the complex flavors of the brew. For starters, true aficionados don’t care whether their coffee is hot. In fact, they prefer it lukewarm—the better to taste the complex flavors of the brew. “As a coffee cools you’ll notice flavors will start to come through. … It totally changes and develops,” Rodrigues says. Andrew Lopez agrees. Lopez is one of four co-owners at Broadacre Coffee, which recently moved into the downtown space previously occupied by Temple Coffee. A too-hot brew, he says, masks the complexities of the cup. “You wouldn’t want to eat scalding hot soup because you can’t taste it,” he says. “You would want to sip it and enjoy the flavors.”
Mad scientist: Rodrigues in the brewing lab.
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Rappers arrested See SOUND ADVICE
Broadacre, which does not roast its own coffee but rather features a rotating cast of top-notch roasters (including such heavy hitters as Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Ritual Roasters, Verve Coffee Roasters and Intelligentsia Coffee), offers four different brewing methods: French press (as with Insight, it’s their standard cup), the Japanesemade Hario V60, Chemex and the Aeropress. The elegant, lab-ware-inspired Chemex, manufactured since 1941, differs from the V60 only in the type of filter used. The filter papers used for the V60, Lopez explains, are thinner than other types. The Chemex, for example, uses chemically bonded paper. “[The Chemex] allows all of the oils to still pass through the paper but it captures the solids,” he says. “The V60 captures some of the oils, and the oils are what really have all the characteristics of the coffee.” As Lopez explains the differences between brews—the V60-brewed cup is brighter and lighter bodied, the Aeropress uses a small, thin filter and produces a brew with complex, heavier body with a faint hint of jasmine, for example—he’s interrupted by a Starbucks employee who’s dropped in to order a lavender latte with housemade lavender syrup. “I hate our coffee,” she confesses sheepishly. Of course, it’s not just coffee upstarts trying out the trend. When Temple moved to its new location (just one block over from the old one), the cafe’s owner Sean Kohmescher saw the change as opportunity to create his own pour-over bar. The time was right, Kohmescher says, because the new cafe offered just the right amount of bar space at just the right time. “There is a demand for single-cup brewing to showcase the coffee offering for the customer,” he says. Longtime Temple employee Nick Minton echoes the sentiments of the other baristas as he slowly pours water over a V60 cone filled with Ethiopia Tchembe. Good coffee, he explains, is about freshness, the ratio of water to coffee and contact time between the water and the beans. But pour-over coffee bars, he also points out, aren’t necessarily better or even particularly new. They’re simply a reflection of the public’s growing knowledge and passion for coffee. “Oftentimes, people mistake what a new trend is for being better than another way of brewing coffee. … There’s not really anything that’s better than the other; it’s all just different,” he says. Ω
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Old Sac of candy See 15 MINUTES
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Off the road and on the wall Midtown and downtown Sacramento residents love bikes. And if they don’t, then they probably have the pleasure of dealing with them on a daily basis while navigating the city’s roads by car. For a lot of us, of course, they are our only mode of transportation. Perhaps this is why the North American Handmade Bicycle Show launched ArtBike! in Sacramento this past Second Saturday as preparation for the organization’s big show, scheduled to take place March 2-4, at the Sacramento Convention Center. As part of the event, local stores, bars and galleries hosted various events centered on bike art. At Cuffs, for example, my eyes were immediately drawn to walls adorned with huge burlap coffee bags featuring vintage-esque screen-printed images of cyclists. The artist, Megan Morgan, works with Strange Bird Designs (www.strangebirddesigns.com) and makes her own stencils for each piece. These bad boys go for $400 each, so while it’s likely you can’t afford to take one home, it’s worth the effort to go check them out in person (Morgan’s website does feature pictures of the bag, but they pale next to the real thing, so be sure to check them out in person). Later, when we walked into The Golden Bear, something felt a little different there as well. This is probably because we got there before the big rush at 10 p.m. but maybe, too, it was due to Davis photographer Rik Keller’s compelling bike pictures that covered the bar’s walls. Also on the Second Saturday bike route: Milk Gallery, which Megan Morgan’s burlap coffee-bag art. hosted The Art of Bicycle, a show in which 17 local artists showed off their bike-centric art via paintings, photographs and even some multimedia art. For me, the biggest treat was the old bicycle attached to a fiddle with a spring—when the wheel spun, music played. Also great: the paintings of two Sacramento cyclists riding their bikes around Midtown. To me, these were awesome because, as a Midtown resident, I knew exactly where both pictures were shot, and the images placed me right there in the moment. It almost made me wonder if anyone paints pictures of me while I am adjusting my iPod—I’ll have to keep a lookout. Finally, a little fun for everyone: An interactive bike project in which nine brightly colored bikes are stationed on bike racks around the city. NAHBS urges locals to take photos of all the bikes they see, and there’s talk of a contest in the near future. —Amanda Branham For more information on ArtBike! and the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show, visit http://2012.handmadebicycleshow.com.
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NIGHT&DAY List your event! Post your free online listing (up to 15 months early), and our editors will consider your submission for the printed calendar as well. Print listings are also free, but subject to space limitations. Online, you can include a full description of your event, a photo and a link to your website. Go to www.newsreview. com/calendar and start posting events. Deadline for print listings is 10 days prior to the issue in which you wish the listing to appear.
16THURS DON’T MISS! LITERARY LECTURE SERIES:
Poet Josh McKinney will deliver a lecture titled Bolos and Bullshit: The Other TS Eliot. McKinney is the author of two awardwinning books of poetry: Saunter, cowinner of the University of Georgia Press Poetry Series Open Competition in 2002, and The Novice Mourner, winner of the Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Prize in 2005. Th, 2/16, 7:15pm. $20. Sacramento Poetry Center, 1719 25th St.; (916) 441-7395.
Special Events TOM DELUCA: Catch hypnotist Tom Deluca, famous for creating the Corporate Hypnosis show and Power Napping for Less Stress workshop. Th, 2/16, 7:30pm. Free. Sacramento State University Union Ballroom, 6000 J St.; (916) 278-6997; www.sacstateunique.com.
Classes GET THE JOB YOU WANT: Learn skills for résumé writing, job interviewing, writing thankyou letters and considering job offers. Registration is required by calling the library. Th, 2/16, 4pm. Free. North Natomas Library, 4660 Via Ingoglia; (916) 264-2920; http://saclibrary.org.
Film MIDNIGHT IN PARIS: Written and directed by Academy Award winner Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris is a beguiling homage to the City of Lights and the literary greats who lived there in the 1920s. Th, 2/16, 7pm. $8. Auburn Placer Performing Arts Center, 985 Lincoln Way in Auburn; (530) 885-0156; www.livefromauburn.com.
Kids’ Stuff KIDS ENGINEERING CRAFT PROGRAM: The Sacramento Public Library is inviting school-age children to celebrate National Science Literacy Month at a special craft program. The children’s event is an engineering freefor-all, featuring Tinker Toys galore, a spaghetti-marshmallow-bridge competition and prizes. Th, 2/16, 4pm. Free. Arcade Community Library, 2443 Marconi Ave.; (916) 264-2920.
Wait, there’s more! Looking for something to do? Use SN&R’s free calendar to browse hundreds of events online. Art galleries and musems, family events, education classes, film and literary events, church groups, music, sports, volunteer opportunies—all this and more on our free events calendar at www.newsreview.com. Start planning your week!
Groups WIND TURBINES VS. BIRDS: At this meeting of the Sacramento Audubon Society, Garry George of the National Audubon’s California office will discuss wind turbines and their effect on birds. Th, 2/16, 7pm. Free. Effie Yeaw Nature Center, 2850 San Lorenzo Way in Carmichael; (916) 489-4918; www.effieyeaw.org.
Concerts DEAN-O-HOLICS: If you can’t wait for the return of Mad Men, the Dean-o-holics will transport you back to an era of swinging fun. Listen to the tunes of the Rat Pack legends and mingle with the “stars” during intermission while enjoying a specialty cocktail at the
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Crocker Cafe’s no-host bar. Th, 2/16, 7pm. $14-$18. Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St.; (916) 808-7000; www.crockerartmuseum.org.
17FRI
DON’T MISS! ERIC OWENS, BASS-BARITONE:
American bass-baritone Eric Owens has carved a unique place in the contemporary opera world as an interpreter of classic works and a champion of new music. Equally at home in concert, recital and opera performances, Owens continues to bring his poise, expansive voice and natural acting faculties to stages around the world. F, 2/17, 8pm. $17.50-$72. Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, 9399 Old Davis Rd. in Davis; (530) 754-2787; www.mondaviarts.org.
Special Events BLACK INDIANS: AN AMERICAN STORY: James Earl Jones narrates a stunning and informative documentary which explores issues of racial identity between the mixed-descent peoples of both Native American and African-American heritage. Discussion at 7:30pm, film at 8pm. F, 2/17, 7:30pm. Free. Lavender Library, 1414 21st St.; (916) 492-0558.
AN EVENING WITH LISA NICHOLS: This red-carpet event is to celebrate the release of The Unbreakable Spirit: Rising Above the Impossible by Lisa Nichols and co-author Ms. LaRue. F, 2/17, 6pm. $47.50-$65. Le Rivage Hotel, 4350 Riverside Blvd.; (916) 443-8400.
FATHER AND DAUGHTER DANCE: Fathers and daughters are invited to attend the 20th annual Father and Daughter Dance hosted by the Cosumnes Community Services District. The Father
and Daughter Dance is suitable for girls ages 3 and older. The semiformal affair includes a catered buffet dinner and dancing. Dinner is provided by DeVinci’s Delicatessen and Catering. F, 2/17, 6pm; F, 2/24, 6pm. $30. Laguna Town Hall, 3020 Renwick Ave. in Elk Grove.
HAPPY HOUR WITH BALLET DANCERS: Spend the evening getting to know your favorite Sacramento Ballet dancers. Kasbah Lounge will be extending happy hour drink pricing to all the ballet’s guests. F, 2/17, 7:30-8:30pm. Free. Kasbah Lounge, 2115 J St.; (916) 552-5800; www.sacballet.org.
Classes CARNAVAL SAMBA: Bring out your Samba drums and other percussion and get in practice for Carnaval 2012. This drop-in Samba batucada class is for anyone who wants to jam for Carnaval or wants to learn hot Samba rhythms. Bring your instruments or use the ones provided. No registation necessary. F, 8pm through 2/23. $5. Brazilian Cultural Exchange of Sacramento, 3313 Julliard Dr. Studio, Ste. C; (916) 205-3970; www.fenixdrumanddance.com.
IMPROVING YOUR RÉSUMÉ: An Oasis computer class taught by library staff. F, 2/17, 10am. Free. Antelope Library, 4235 Antelope Rd. in Antelope; (916) 264-2920; www.saclibrary.org.
Concerts THE RASPYNI BROTHERS: Barry Friedman and Daniel Holzman are the Raspyni Brothers. Since 1982, their intelligent mayhem has earned them two international Juggling Championships, multiple appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, and a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Opening the show will be Robert Strong, The Comedy Magician. F, 2/17, 8pm. $20. Nevada Theatre, 401 Broad St. in Nevada City; (530) 265-6161; www.nevadatheatre.com.
18SAT DON’T MISS! THE LGBT TRAVELER: This
workshop is designed for LGBT travelers planning to travel by themselves and wondering if it’s safe and preferable to look beyond the gay cruise lines and group tours. Learn how to travel on a budget and stay healthy while having fun and how to travel responsibly. There will be complimentary refreshments. Sa, 2/18, noon-2pm. Free. Sacramento Hostel, 925 H St.; (916) 443-1691; http://norcalhostels.org/sac.
Special Events 2012 CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION: This event features a lion dance, martial arts, cultural stage entertainment, vendor booths, children’s games, community exhibits and ballroom dancing. Free parking. Sa, 2/18, noon-5pm. $1-$6. Scottish Rite Masonic Center, 6151 H St.; (916) 599-2579; www.cnyca.net.
BLACK HISTORY TOUR: Like other immigrants, African-Americans came to California looking for opportunity, but equal rights often proved as elusive as gold nuggets. From runaway slaves to teachers, soldiers and restaurant owners, to barbers who practiced a little medicine on the side, celebrate the stories of Sacramento’s black pioneers at the Historic City Cemetery. Sa, 2/18, 10am-noon. Free. Old City Cemetery, 1000 Broadway; (916) 264-7839; www.oldcitycemetery.com.
CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH: In celebration of Black History Month, the California State Railroad Museum is presenting two special guest presentations and book-signing opportunities with professor Theodore Kornweibel Jr., author of Railroads in the African American
You don’t have to go all the way to New Orleans this year to get into the Mardi Gras spirit. This Saturday, Sacramento hosts a number of events in early celebration of Fat Tuesday.
Experience: A Photographic Journey. Sa, 2/18, 11am & 3pm. $4-$9. California State Railroad Museum, 111 I St.; (916) 445-6645; www.california staterailroadmuseum.org.
FISHING DERBY: Get out your tackle box and rod to reel in a big catch with Fulton El-Camino Recreation and Park District at its 15th annual Fishing Derby. The pond will be freshly stocked with trout by California Department of Fish and Game. There will also be information booths and a snack bar. Sa, 2/18, 8 & 10:30am. $5-$7. Howe Avenue Park, 2201 Cottage Way; (916) 239-4616.
NATURES GALLERY COURT: “Nature’s Gallery” is a ceramic mosaic mural composed of more than 140 tiles handcrafted by UC Davis students and community members. The
tiles showcase drought-tolerant plants from the UC Davis Arboretum and associated insects. Visitors can see the project in progress during a free public tour of the Arboretum. Sa, 2/18, 2pm. Free. UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery, Garrod Dr. in Davis; (530) 752-4880; http://arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
RIVER CITY BEER TOUR: This tour includes four tastes at each site, a tour of Track 7 Brewing Company, a visit to Hoppy Brewing, and some special attention at River Rock Taphouse. Pick up and drop off are both at Hoppy Brewing. Sa, 2/18, 12:30-4:30pm. $55. Hoppy Brewing Company, 6300 Folsom Blvd.; (916) 335-4472;
http://brewyourown adventures.com/River_City.html.
Mimi’s Cafe, 850 Groveland Ln. in Lincoln; (916) 434-5116.
Literary Events
Concerts
AUTHOR CINDY SAMPLE: California
A TRIBUTE TO DORIS DAY: Vocalist
Writers Club, Sacramento Branch presents humorous mystery author Cindy Sample at its luncheon meeting. Cindy, author of Dying for a Dance and Dying for a Date will deliver a lecture called The Pothole-filled Path to Publication and Promotion. Sa, 2/18, 11am-1pm. $12-$14. Tokyo Buffet, 7217 Greenback Ln. San Juan and Fountain Square in Citrus Heights; (916) 213-0798; www.cwcsacramento writers.org.
MEET THE AUTHOR: CHARITY MANESS: In honor of Valentine’s Day, the museum is presenting an appearance by Charity Maness, author of It’s Lonely Here in Hell: Love Letters From Nam. This book details probably the last war in which it was common for handwritten love letters to be sent to and from the combat zone. Sa, 2/18, 1pm. Free. California State Military Museum, 1119 Second St.; (916) 854-1904; www.militarymuseum.org.
WHEN WE WERE COLORED: Eva Fields will discuss the true story of her grandmother, Eva Rutland, author of When We Were Colored. Rutland’s book chronicles the lives of her family as they move from segregation to integration during the civilrights era of the 1950s and 1960s. Sa, 2/18, 2pm. Free. North Sacramento-Hagginwood Library, 2109 Del Paso Blvd.; (916) 264-2920; www.saclibrary.org.
Sports & Recreation
Laura Didier and the Jim Martinez Jazz Trio present a nostalgic and fun jazz concert paying tribute to the music, style and grace of Doris Day. Her most popular hits are covered, including “It’s Magic,” “Sentimental Journey” and “Secret Love.” Sa, 2/18, 7:30pm. $10-$20. Woodland Opera House Theatre, 340 Second St. in Woodland; (530) 666-9617.
CHUCHO VALDÉS AND THE AFRO-CUBAN MESSENGERS: Hailed as “the dean of Latin jazz” and “one of the world’s great virtuosic pianists” by The New York Times, Grammy awardwinner Chucho Valdés has recorded more than 80 CDs during his illustrious career, performing with countless jazz masters, including Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis and Chick Corea. Sa, 2/18, 8pm. $12.50-$49. Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, 9399 Old Davis Rd. in Davis; (530) 754-2787; www.mondaviarts.org.
PAUL KAMM AND ELEANORE MACDONALD: Contempory folk musicians Paul Kamm and Eleanore MacDonald have been writing and performing original, contemporary folk music for 28 years. A blend of contemporary and traditional styles, their music is graced by harmony, deceptively simple arrangements and intricate guitar work. Sa, 2/18, 8pm. $20. Nevada Theatre, 401 Broad St. in Nevada City; (530) 265-6161; www.nevadatheatre.com.
SACRAMENTO PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS BEETHOVEN: The
WILDLIFE REFUGE WALK: Walk 5 or 10k with the Placer Pacers walking group. Dogs are welcome on leash, provided you clean up after them. The route is mostly on bike trails in wildlife refuge. This is an easy event that is suitable for wheelchairs and strollers. Extra charge for American Volkswalk Association credit. Sa, 2/18, 8am-noon. Free.
Sacramento Philharmonic’s annual tribute to Beethoven features the “Grosse Fuge” and Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60. Also on the bill is the West Coast premiere of Stark’s “Promontories,” as well as Haydn’s Concerto No. 2 in D Major for cello and orchestra, featuring 2011 Jammies Classical Concerto Competition winner Eunghee Cho on cello. Sa, 2/18, 8pm. $18-$100. Sacramento
waning days of World War II.
Community Center Theater, 1301 L St.; (916) 808-5291.
at the Tower, 1600 Broadway; (916) 441-4400.
19SUN
Meetings & Groups INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCE: Learn
DON’T MISS!
simple to advanced dances from Bulgaria, Israel, Russia, Turkey, Japan and more. Most dances don’t require a partner, are good workouts and mentally stimulating. Su, 7-10pm through 3/18. $25-$35. Davis Art Center Studio E, 1919 F St. in Davis; (530) 758-0863; www.davisfolkdance.org.
DREAMWORK CHINA: THE WORKERS OF FOXCONN: You
may be familiar with Foxconn and its factories in China. They manufacture products for Apple, HP, Nintendo, Sony, Motorola, Dell, Nokia, Amazon (Kindle), Toshiba and many others. In fact, if you own any kind of electronic equipment, there’s undoubtedly at least some small component or chip which was manufactured at Foxconn. Su, 2/19, 7:30pm. $5. Guild Theatre, 2828 35th St.; (916) 732-4673.
LARA DOWNES AND THE CALIFORNIA RISING STARS: InConcert Sierra presents critically acclaimed Steinway concert artist Lara Downes and The Rising Stars of California. Performing with Downes will be cellist Clark Pang and pianist Alex Chien. These young virtuosi have garnered local and national attention, including features on NPR’s From the Top program. Su, 2/19, 2pm. $24. Seventh Day Adventist Church, 12889 Osborne Hill Dr. in Grass Valley; (530) 477-5017; www.gvadventists.com.
Comedy HOWIE MANDEL: Catch a performance by comedian Howie Mandel, best known for his television appearances on shows like Deal or No Deal, America’s Got Talent and the medical drama St. Elsewhere. Su, 2/19, 7:30 & 10pm. $45. Cache Creek Casino Resort, 14455 Hwy. 16 in Brooks; (888) 772-2243; www.cachecreek.com.
20MON
Classes
POETRY READING BY THE WRITERS CIRCLE: Join the Writers’ Circle
Hendrick, Director of Education for the Crocker Art Museum, will discuss the diverse African American artists featured in the Crocker’s collection. Su, 2/19, 2pm. Free. Sacramento Public Library (Central Branch), 828 I St.; (916) 264-2920; www.saclibrary.org.
for an evening of poetry featuring JoAnn Anglin, Jennifer O’Neill Pickering, Sarah Stricker, Melen Lunn, Diane Bader and Patricia L. Nichol. The Writers’ Circle is a group of writers who meet weekly to workshop each other’s writing at the Sacramento Poetry Center. M, 2/20, 7:30-9pm. Free. R25 Arts Complex, 2509 R St.; (916) 952-6108; www.sacramentopoetry center.com.
Literary Events MICHELE DRIER AUTHOR APPEARANCE: Drier will be greeting readers and signing copies of her book, Edited for Death, at the Avid Reader. The novel follows newspaper editor Amy Hobbes as she unravels a 60year-old theft by a young GI in Heidelberg, Germany in the
and Nickelodeon stars Big Time Rush on its Better with U Tour. Jojo opens. M, 2/20, 6:30pm. $25-$45. Memorial Auditorium, 1515 J St.; (916) 264-5181.
21TUES
DON’T MISS!
DRUM CALL TO FREEDOM: Drums played an important part in the history of African Americans. The program for school-aged children features an interactive drum concert using a variety of drums from West Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean. Tu, 2/21, 4pm. Free. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 7240 24th Street Bypass.
Literary Events COSUMNES RIVER COLLEGE 2011/12 LITERARY SERIES: SN&R’s Kel
This basic class is designed for those who are new to theater
Head to Old Sacramento this Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m., where 10 bars will be filled with rock, jazz and Cajun music, as well as Cajun food and drinks. Musical entertainment includes Skeasxha, the 8-Tracks and Front Porch Trio. A $10 ticket ($15 the day of) pays for your cover charge at all 10 venues, and gives you access to food and drink specials. For more information, visit http://osmardigras2012.eventbrite.com, or contact the Old Sacramento Business Association at (916) 442-8575. The following venues are participating.
Another block party will happen Saturday in Sacramento’s Sutter District, near Sutter’s Fort. From 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., you can enjoy hurricane cocktails, circus performers and harlequins. The following businesses are participating in the celebration. Call each venue for more details.
Hot & Spicy Café New Orleans, 117 J Street, (916) 443-5051 Coconut Grove Sports Bar & Grill, 106 J Street, (916) 441-4222 Delta King Riverboat, 1000 Front Street, (916) 444-5464 Fanny Ann’s Saloon, 1023 Second Street, (916) 441-0505 Fat City Bar & Cafe, 1001 Front Street, (916) 446-6768 La Terraza Mexican Restaurant, 1027 Second Street,
442-2552
Barwest, 2724 J Street, (916) 476-4550 Blue Cue, 1004 28th Street, (916) 441-6810 Centro Cocina Mexicana, 2730 J Street, (916) Harlow’s, 2708 J Street, (916) 441-4693 Ink Eats & Drinks, 2730 N Street, (916) 456-2800 Momo Lounge, 2708 J Street, upstairs; (916) 441-4693 Monkey Bar, 2730 Capitol Avenue, (916) 442-8490 Paragary’s Bar and Oven, 1401 28th Street, (916) 457-5737 The Red Rabbit Kitchen + Bar, 2718 J Street, (916) 706-2275
DON’T MISS! face to face with top employers at the National Career Fairs Job Fair. Register online to receive the company list and an online job-fair guide. Free résumé reviews will be available at the event from two local career experts. W, 2/22, 11am-2pm. Free. Red Lion Sacramento Inn, 1401 Arden Way; (702) 818-8896; www.nationalcareerfairs. com/career_fairs.
Wait, there’s more!
DADDY’S TOOL BAG WORKSHOP: Join
launch party for Sacramento Fashion Week, which is an event geared toward showcasing the fashion and artistic talents of the Sacramento region. Tu, 2/21, 6pm. Free. Mix Downtown, 1531 L St.; (916) 442-8899.
THEATER AND ACTING WORKSHOP:
22WED
Classes
SACRAMENTO FASHION WEEK LAUNCH PARTY: Attend the
Classes
MARDI GRAS BLOCK PARTY
Laughs Unlimited, 1207 Front Street, (916) 446-5905 O’Mally’s Irish Pub, 1109 Second Street, (916) 492-1230 The Other Office, 926 Second Street, (916) 444-2002
BIG TIME RUSH: Catch boy band
Kids’ Stuff
Poetry
AFRICAN AMERICAN ART AT THE CROCKER: Stacey Shelnut-
Humanities and Social Science at Cosumnes River College and an SN&R contributor. Tu, 2/21, noon. Free. Cosumnes River College, 8401 Center Pkwy.; (916) 691-7344.
SACRAMENTO JOB FAIR: Meet
Concerts
Concerts
OLD SACRAMENTO MARDI GRAS
(916) 440-0874
or are returning after many years off. It will be focusing on theater and acting basics, from a brief overview and history to the use of the voice and body as an instrument, using theatre games, exercises and improvisation. M, 7:30-10pm through 3/26. Opens 2/13. $200. T.H.E. Actors Workshop through Victory Life Church, 800 Reading St. in Folsom; (916) 207-5606; www.actorsworkshop.net/ the/classes.
Su, 2/19, 4pm. Free. Avid Reader
Munger, Rachel Leibrock, and Ginny McReynolds read in this edition of the CRC Literary Series. Leibrock is a Texas-born writer living in California. Munger is a poet, writer and critic. McReynolds is the dean of
MARDI GRAS FESTIVAL & BALL The Greater Sacramento Urban League will also host a full day of Mardi Gras fun this Saturday. It begins with a free Mardi Gras Festival at the Sacramento Convention Center, 1400 J Street, where from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., you can enjoy live music, eat food samples from local restaurants and peruse local business booths. Then in the evening, head over to the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria (828 I Street) for a Mardi Gras Ball. This event will feature dining, drinking and dancing to St. Gabriel’s Celestial Brass Band, as well as a Mardi Gras King and Queen competition. Tickets for the ball cost $60 to $125. For more information, call (916) 286-8601 or visit http://gsulmge.eventbrite.com.
real life dad, Ted Hendricks, in this informative and entertaining hands-on class. Learn or brush up on these skills: early bonding, swaddling, diaper changing, breast feeding assistance, SIDS, shaken baby syndrome, and communication with your partner and your child. W, 2/22, 5:30pm. Call for pricing. Arthur F. Turner Community Library, 1212 Merkley Ave. in West Sacramento; (530) 757-5558.
Looking for something to do? Use SN&R’s free calendar to browse hundreds of events online. Art galleries and musems, family events, education classes, film and literary events, church groups, music, sports, volunteer opportunies—all this and more on our free events calendar at www.newsreview.com. Start planning your week!
TRACING YOUR BLACK ROOTS: Learn to find documents to help trace the lives of your ancestors. Professional genealogist Lisa B. Lee will show the many resources and research tools to locate your ancestors so you can be the family storyteller of your generation. W, 2/22, 6:30pm. Free. Arcade Community Library, 2443 Marconi Ave.; (916) 264-2920; www.saclibrary.org.
Concerts JEFFREY SIEGEL: ROMANTIC FRANZ LISZT: Following his well-received recital in 2011, Jeffrey Siegel is back with a four-concert series of performances at Three Stages. Mixing virtuosic performance with lively commentary on the great composers, Siegel performs the romantic music Of Franz Liszt. W, 2/22, 7:30pm. $12-$39. Three Stages at Folsom Lake College, 10 College Pkwy. in Folsom; (916) 608-6888; www.threestages.net.
MOBY DICK MUSIC: Herman Melville’s classic is set to music when Sacramento State’s Symphonic Wind Ensemble performs a program that includes W. Francis McBeth’s “Of Sailors and Whales,” a musical rendition of Moby Dick. W, 2/22, 7:30pm. $5$10. Sacramento State Music Recital Hall, 6000 J St.; (916) 278-5155; www.csus.edu/music.
SAC STATE NOONER WITH AUTUMN SKY: Join two-time Sammies Artist of the Year Autumn Sky for a lunchtime show, free of charge and open to the public. Bring a picnic blanket and a friend or two. W, 2/22, noon. Free. Sacramento State Student Union, Redwood Room, 6000 J St.; (916) 278-6997; www.sacstateunique.com.
—Jonathan Mendick
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Philly talk On the hunt for the cheese-steak holy grail by GREG LUCAS
In the universe of food, it’s a question on a par with the existence of God and the meaning of life. And, like those timeless puzzlers, a definitive answer can be elusive. Perhaps, like the Holy Grail, the quest is more important than ultimate success. So who really serves the best Philly cheese steak? A final answer won’t be found below, but the results of some preliminary questing will. As to an appropriate yardstick, partial but not necessarily slavish adherence to the timetested combination of thinly chopped steak, grilled onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and cheese on a roll is required. Gruyère instead Dinner for one: of Cheez Whiz or provolone certainly does $6.59 - $12 not constitute grounds for disqualification. However, linguica or lamb in lieu of steak— Philadelphia Cheesesteak Co. any cut, not just the traditional top round or 8963 Folsom Boulevard, rib eye—means a swift and final outta here. (916) 362-6445 An eatery receives no demerit for being part ★★★ of a chain and, on some level, is expected to perform better as a Philly specialist— opposed to a place that includes Phillies Cheese Steak Shop merely as part of a broader array of entrees. 4332 Watt Avenue, Suite 30; Must it be a soft Amoroso’s Baking (916) 487-4677; www.cheesesteakshop.com Company roll? No, it can be something ★ ★ 1/2 flakier but not mushier. Is there balance to the ingredients? Is the amount of mushrooms Wild Bill’s Cheesteaks & Grill de minimis or de maximis? Are the peppers 2212 Arden Way, paltry or profligate? Is the entwining of all (916) 487-4677; 2770 E. Bidwell flavors mellifluous and memorable? Street, Suite 400 in Folsom; Several decades ago, the local Philly gold (916) 817-2468; standard was Philadelphia Cheesesteak Co. www.wildbillscheesesteaks.com Today, the faux-wood wainscoting seems ★ ★ 1/2 unchanged, as do many of the sports pennants. Joe Montana posters have been traded Dad’s on J out for today’s crop of quarterbacking mar1004 J Street, (916) 446-7456 vels. Now operated by a Korean couple, the ★ ★ 1/2 place still remains in the pantheon, cranking out Phillies with the “works” and cheese sauce (Cheez Whiz), provolone or American—plus a soda—for less than $10. There are free, industrial-sized dill-pickle chips but the A1 Steak Sauce, sometimes needed for moisture and a flavor boost, is hoarded behind the counter. Time from counter order to consumption is relatively quick. There’s a reason business still booms Still hungry? for the company. Make a pilgrimage. Search SN&R’s The Cheese Steak Shop, meanwhile, “Dining Directory” to appears to be a chain. Its white-tile and redfind local restaurants by name or by type of trim interior is clean and bright. Amoroso’s is food. Sushi, Mexican, the roll of choice, signs proudly boast. A Indian, Italian— standard 10-incher costs $6.59 and includes discover it all in the onions and hot or sweet peppers. “Dining” section at www.newsreview.com. Adding accouterments such as roasted whole garlic cloves or pizza sauce and mushrooms ups the ante to $6.99. Adding spinach tastes better than it sounds. Fifty percent more meat and cheese—feel the arteries hardening?—ups the price to $7.99. There’s also a kids-eat-free deal on the weekends and a choice of four salads, BEFORE
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although none seem to represent a major ratcheting down of calories. Like the Shop, Wild Bill’s Cheesesteaks & Grill adorns its walls with photos of vintage Philly joints including Pat’s King of Steaks, where the phenomenon began 80 years ago. Here there are 16 variants including the antithetical Vegi with spinach, mushroom, lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard. Out of the competition.
urgerS Squeeze b gerS Veggie bur icheS eaK Sandw t S e z e e u q S
Dad’s on J’s Philly cheese steak is overdrawn at the mushroom bank. There’s a fine selection of free sweet or hot peppers. Frank’s hot sauce, the star of the Buffalo, doesn’t drown the other flavors. Most of the 16 choices are in the $8.75 to $9.50 range. The Dad’s on J’s downtown spot meanwhile, retains the heart of the menu from the eponymous J’s, Cafe which formerly occupied the space. The Philly, $7.95, is overdrawn at the mushroom bank with a taste reminiscent of stroganoff. The chef’s wondrous habaneroinfused salsa gets lost in the heavy flavors of the sandwich, which is served open-faced and disintegrates quickly when eaten by hand. Another 75 cents substitutes the steak fries with a romaine salad generously studded with tomato, cucumber, olives and red onion. Try the citrus dressing. Of these four Philly contenders, the grizzled veterans of the Cheesesteak Co. get the gold. The rest are in a close three-way tie with Dad’s trailing by a pug nose, although it excels in other areas of its menu. Suggestions welcomed for a second batch. Ω
Tu-Thur 11am -9pm Fri-SaT 11am-11pm Sunday 11am-6pm CloSed mondayS
1630 K St • Sacramento • 916-492-2499
THE V WORD Strip-mall surprise It’s incredibly boring when vegan restaurant menus rely on meat or cheese substitutes. What about making delicious food with fresh vegetables and grains as the stars? The casual eatery Baagan (910 Pleasant Grove Boulevard, Suite 160; www.baagan.com), tucked in the corner of a random Roseville strip mall, takes this route. The menu isn’t extensive, but all of the items look appealing, like the creative Curry Panini with Indian-style potato filling on bread loaded with sunflower and flax seeds. Baagan even makes its own gluten-free loaves for the wheataverse. And its desserts—classic- and unusual-flavored smoothies (chai!) and soft-serve made of frozen bananas—are intriguing. Plus, service is friendly and fast. Go there. —Shoka STORY
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DISH Where to eat? Here are a few recent reviews and regional recommendations, updated regularly. Check out www.newsreview.com for more dining advice.
Midtown
Mati’s There’s a reason “Indian Express” was part of Mati’s previous title. A variety of dishes are offered daily in a buffet, but Mom serves instead of diners slopping stuff onto their own plates. Options are fairly straightforward: A small dish at $6.99 with rice and two items, and a large, which has up to four items, at $8.99. Subtract $1 if going vegetarian. There’s five dishes in the daily veg rotation, most of them vegan. Offerings run the gamut from mild to spicy, although the temperature of spicy is well within tolerance, except for the most heat adverse. This is straightup, nicely prepared Indian food without frills. Mom and daughter make it even more appealing. Indian. 1501 16th St.; (916) 341-0532. Dinner for one: $9-$12. ★★★ The Press Bistro There are flashes of Greece, such as the crisscross rows of bare light bulbs over the front patio. Or the summery small plate of stacked watermelon squares with feta and mint. Even Italian vegetarians get cut into the action with mushroom ravioli and its corn, leek and dill triumvirate. Another special is a colorful small plate of pepperonata—slightly-pickled-in-champagne-vinegar
stripes of peppers awash in olive oil. Speaking of olive oil, it’s all that’s needed to accompany the fluffy, light focaccia, whose four rectangles come neatly stacked. Share The Press with someone you love. Mediterranean. 1809 Capitol Ave., (916) 444-2566. Dinner for one: $15-$30. ★★★1⁄2
Sampino’s Towne Foods Sampino’s Towne Foods turns out to be a bright jewel in a drab Alkali Flat strip mall of paycheck cashers and laundromat. It’s everything an Italian deli should be and more, right down to the Louie Prima on the box and the timpano in the refrigerated display case. Several lobbyists, who elect to drive the six to seven blocks from their offices near the capitol, to pick up sandwiches or—in one instance—five meatballs, begin spewing superlatives when asked their views on Sampino’s. Italian Deli. 1607 F St., (916) 441-2372. Dinner for one: $7-$15. ★★★★1⁄2
Tequila Museo Mayahuel On each visit chef Ramiro Alarcón offers a tantalizing taste of what’s to come. One time it’s a tart, fishladen ceviche that’s neither sugary nor syrupy. Another it’s a cup of albondigas soup. For many years, 524 Mexican Restaurant had cornered the market on meatball soup. Mayahuel’s is superior: a thicker, more flavorful broth and generously sized meatballs. Bookending the meal is a complimentary dessert. The free flan is memorable, but spending $5 on mango cheesecake is a Lincoln well-invested. Mayahuel seems to be benefiting from positive word of mouth. Each time is busier than the
previous visit. Mexican. 1200 K St., (916) 441-7200. Dinner for one: $12-$20. ★★★★
Thir13en From the start—and, lo, these many weeks hence—the situp-take-notice plate remains the pork tonnato sandwich. It’s the Italian peasant spread or sauce made with tonno—tuna—tonnato that empowers this open-face masterwork. Spread on a toasted half baguette, the tonnato is the foundation upon which the pork rests. Above the pork is an awning of mixed greens, with a generous overhang, sprinkled with not enough crispy onions and paperthin slices of pickled fennel. There isn’t space to wax poetic about the cordon bleu sandwich, the burger, the designer cocktails or the fizzy
water from Wales. See for yourself. Very authoritative. American. 1300 H St., (916) 594-7669. Dinner for one: $12-$20. ★★★★
East Sac
Formoli’s Bistro Formoli’s is the other half of the restaurant swap on J Street that sent Vanilla Bean Bistro (formerly known as Gonul’s J Street Cafe) to Formoli’s old warren and brought Formoli’s into its current high-ceilinged, spare, dark cranberry space of black tables and chairs just six blocks away. Flavor combinations are a big part of the Formoli playbook, and the blend of the tower’s components is the payoff just as it is in the salad of beets—wafer-thin enough to be used interchangeably in the
EAT IT AND REAP
carpaccio—with shaved fennel, frisée, a few orange segments and pistachios laced with a stentorian balsamic vinaigrette. Mediterranean. 3839 J St., (916) 448-5699. Dinner for one: $20-$40. ★★★★
fresh—in many dishes. And the tabbouleh delivers a roundhousepunch flavor combination. Turkish. 3260-B J St., (916) 457-1155. Dinner for one: $10-$20. ★★★★1⁄2
Vanilla Bean Bistro Gonul’s J Street Cafe has moved up the street and evolved into the Vanilla Bean Bistro. Its narrow, lowceilinged coziness is consonant with its understated, whatever-theimpulse-inspires alchemy that owner/chef Gonul Blum, has shown over the past eight years. Blum hails from Turkey. That country’s culinary tradition provides a sturdy foundation, but for her, it serves more as a launching pad. A recurring feature practiced here is the inclusion of fruit—preserved and
Land Park/ Curtis Park
Pangea Two Brews Cafe Tables, tall and short, are large and communal, fostering that casual camaraderie that should be the goal of any self-respecting brewpub. There’s a fairly extensive menu, including breakfast items. Not to put too fine a point on it: Pangaea’s offerings are not beers that will be found at Save Mart or even Nugget. They are nuanced. Brewed with artisanship. In some
by GARRETT MCCORD
Farewell to foie If you’re one of the many California food lovers who adore foie gras—perhaps lightly broiled and served with toast and marmalade, or seared and salted over chocolate ganache—well, say goodbye. This July the sale of foie in restaurants becomes illegal in the state due to legislation signed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004. The bill was brought about after proponents of the ban argued that the production of foie was unnecessarily cruel because of the method that consists of placing a tube down the birds’ throats and force-feeding them (this process is
called gavage). The actual force-feeding process doesn’t hurt the birds, but accidents or overfeeding can rupture organs and kill them. The eight-year lead was to give plenty of time to foie producers to come up with sustainable, crueltyfree ways of producing foie gras. While such methods do exist—the resulting natural foie is ever so buttery—the cost for organic and natural foie formed sans gavage is terribly expensive. Opponents of the ban argue that we eat meat, and the animals we eat die anyways. Either way, Sacramentans better get their fill of foie before au revoir.
sacramento beer week Join us for exciting events and amazing prizes! February 24: Kick-Off Party! 6 – 10 pm $20 for 2 draft beers and “hog bar” buffet. Enter to win a Beer Party for eight! February 26: Jazz and Brew Fest, 2 – 7 pm Free live music. Food specials start at just $6! February 29: BierFest, 6 – 9 pm $14 “all you can eat” German and Belgium-inspired buffet. Enter to win a Beer Party for eight! March 2: Five-Course Gourmet Beer Dinner, 6 pm Reservations required. Enter to win a Beer Party for eight! Enter to win the Grand Prize – a Gourmet Beer Dinner for four! See website for details. 1022 Second Street
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North Sac
Enotria Restaurant and
Wine Bar The longtime eatery’s reworked patio cries out for lazing on an amber autumn afternoon. Enotria is an enophile’s dream. The waiters here speak fluent wine and their knowledge is both capacious and definitive. Enotria promises “Food made for wine made for food,” and it delivers on the pledge. The paella remains Enotria’s signature dish. A recent $32 prix-fixe meal begins with a rectangular plate upon which is served an alternating line of caramelized plantains and campaign-button size pork tenderloins. The accompanying wine is a 2008 white burgundy, Olivier LeFlaive “Les Setilles.” The one-two punch here is, obviously, the food and wine. But the knockout punch—at least when all cylinders are firing—is the delivery. American. 1431 Del Paso Blvd., (916) 922-6792. Dinner for one: $20-$40. ★★★★1⁄2
South Sac Sabaidee Thai Grille If the menu at Sabaidee Thai Grille is any indication, pumpkin and other squashes play a major role in Laotian cuisine, which, in turn, plays a major role at Sabaideee. Sabaidee—“hello” in Lao—requires fortitude to find. The khalii khapou, listed as “curried crab stew” on the menu, comes from the hometown of the matriarch who is happy to answer questions about the ingredients and volunteers what is apparent after one mouthful: real crab is used. On the appetizer front, the pumpkin wontons are a new enough addition that they’ve yet to appear on Sabaidee’s website. A word about the freebie salad that accompanies each meal: expect mixed greens, a dash of carrot shreds, cucumber chunks, a quarter of a tomato, a spattering of sesame seeds and what taste like fried shallots. All this with a tamarind emboldened dressing. Now that’s a freebie. Service can be kinda slow and tentative, but certainly part of that is due to the freshness of the fare. Sabaidee isn’t cheap, but it’s a quality meal for the price. Thai/Laotian. 8055 Elk Grove-Florin Rd., (916) 681-8286. Dinner for one: $10-$20. ★★★1⁄2
Arden/ Carmichael
Ambience It’s not surprising the folks at Zagat have done a fair amount of hyperventilating over Ambience, the decidedly upscale eatery on Fair Oaks Boulevard. Where else in Carmichael can you
find a $222 meal for two—without alcohol? There is coulis and confit and soufflé and brûlée and reductions and stuff that’s sliced wafer thin and, of course, vast white real estate that surrounds the small portions served on the plates. As the meal progresses, the presentation of the food gets better and better, as does the complexity of the offerings. Baked Alaska for dessert is as rich and decadent. It is also the largest item to appear on a plate all evening. Kudos to chef and owner Morgan Song for a truly memorable meal. American. 6440 Fair Oaks Blvd., (916) 489-8464. Dinner for one: $60 and up. ★★★★★
ILLUSTRATION BY MARK STIVERS
cases for hundreds of years. A large number are Belgian. There’s the usual panoply of French dip, hot pastrami, Reuben and so on. Among the signature offerings is The Gobbler. Turkey, natch. Cranberry sauce, natch. Then red onion, several roma tomato slices, a thicket of green leaf and pepper jack cheese, all shoehorned into a big baguette. Brewpub. 2743 Franklin Blvd., (916) 454-4942. Dinner for one: $10-$20. ★★★1⁄2
1608 Howe Ave., Ste. 5; (916) 920-5930. Dinner for one: $20-$40. ★★★1⁄2
Nagato Sukiyaki Nagato Sukiyaki’s website says that it is the oldest Japanese restaurant in Sacramento; its doors opened here 41 years ago. And yet business is brisk. Perhaps part of the attraction is the menu with sushi rolls priced well-below the mid-tohigh teens. Another bright spot is sushi chef and owner Don Kawano, who extolls virtues of simple rolls such as albacore, avocado and jalapeño that are unsullied by myriad sauces. The menu runs the gamut of Japanese cuisine: somen, soba, udon and a variety of generously portioned bento boxes. The warmth of chef Kawano and the familiar feel of a longtime quiet neighborhood fixture are the restaurant’s trump cards. Sushi. 2874 Fulton Ave., (916) 489-8230. Dinner for one: $10-$20. ★★★1⁄2
Arigato Sushi Tucked inconspicuously into a strip mall on Howe Avenue, Arigato’s décor seems skewed to a youngish demographic: One wall is lit with changing colors— blue, green, magenta. The miso is somewhat bereft of the tofu and seaweed flotsam and jetsam found in many bowls elsewhere. The poki, with slices of cucumber and onion, is artfully presented and more than lives up to its “three red chili” billing in the menu with an unrelenting assault on the tongue. The chef recommends the Spanish mackerel (aji) over the mackerel for dessert. He’s right, of course. There are beginner’s sushi samplers, bento boxes, udon, teriyaki and sukiyaki options. But Arigato’s chief attraction is raw fish bits. And if that’s what you crave, then this place’s crowds you should brave. Sushi.
Palenque Cocina Mexicana Palenque’s flautas don’t taste greasy—something of a feat—and are presented on a bed of shredded lettuce with zigzags of cheese and mayo rivaling the handiwork of the Lilliputians on Gulliver. Kinda don’t want to tear into it—for like a second or two. Requests are readily accommodated, like bringing buckets of the habanero miracle salsa, which, based on the minuteness of the dice, must be quite a labor-intensive hassle to create. Mexican. 2598 Alta Arden Expwy., (916) 483-1751. Dinner for one: $6-$12. ★★★1⁄2
Hoof it, eat it A new business is helping foster a better connection between foodies and owners and chefs of local restaurants. Local Roots Food Tours, created in 2010 by Lisa Armstrong, helps showcase Sacramento restaurants by visiting and sampling from six to eight establishments per walking tour. Two different tours focus on Sacramento: the City of Trees Food & Cultural Walking Tour and the Origins of Sacramento Food & Cultural Walking Tour. Another, the Gold Discovery Walking Food Tour of Nevada City, explores restaurants and wines in the Sierra Foothills. Tours range from $39 to $58, and samples from restaurants vary by season; each tour provides enough food to be considered a meal. Expect to hoof it for 2 miles each tour, but still walk away with a warm belly and a deeper knowledge of some of Sacramento’s best restaurants. Tours are scheduled regularly for the next few months. Visit http://local-food-tours.com for more information. —Jonathan Mendick
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COOLHUNTING Focus on the family Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes Mary M. Talbot is the daughter of a British scholar who spent his life studying James Joyce. Although she wasn’t nearly as damaged by her upbringing as Joyce’s daughter Lucia was, BOOK there are enough similarities to make this parallel graphic biography a compelling read. Talbot alternates between her own story and Lucia Joyce’s, with emphasis on the energy others expended to make them conform and the weight of responsibility. Talbot’s husband, artist Bryan Talbot, is the genius behind The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, and his drawings add depth and emotion to this tale of thwarted ambition and unmet emotional needs. Never believe the story of the solitary genius; there’s always someone else (usually an entire family) who bear the weight of the art. —Kel Munger
Come and walk on my floor Olsenhaus Mrs. Roper wedge sandal Spring is still more than a month away, but since Sacramento typically starts flirting with warmer weather long before March ever arrives, I’m already dreaming of new sandals. Specifically, the Olsenhaus Mrs. Roper wedge sandal. Priced at $265 (though you can find it much cheaper on some sites), it’s definitely spendy. Then again, these zany sitcom-worthy sandals feaFASHION ture a gorgeous attention to detail: a sky-high, yet still walkabout-worthy cork heel; a cheery red-and-turquoise color motif; and a sporty, twisted-rope toe detail. Best of all, these sandals—as with the entire Olsenhaus line—are 100-percent vegan. Cuteness never felt so kind. www.olsenhaus.com. —Rachel Leibrock
Drinking your religion Theology in a Bottle The physical world is a demanding place. Sometimes contemplating the celestial realms can lead to more mental strain than desired. It doesn’t have to be like this. You can find relaxation and some spiritual depth at SPIRITUAL the Sacramento State Newman Center, a church run predominately by college students. The center offers free yoga on Monday nights, for students and nonstudents, for the religious and the nonreligious, in a friendly, nonpushy environment. Also, once a week, students and young adults gather for “Theology in a Bottle,” a session in which everyone drinks a little—or a lot—and discusses religion. Sometimes the discussion is guided, and sometime it is a free-for-all, but it’s always calm and stimulating. Theology in a Bottle is also free, but feel free to pitch in a couple bucks for booze and food. 5900 Newman Court, www.sacnewman.org. —Matthew Urner
Link outside the box BranchOut
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Facebook recently recommended that I branch out. Unsure if I should take this as constructive criticism or just a useful tip, I decided to see what this was all about. Turns out that BranchOut is a socially minded networking app that does just that—helps you extend beyond your usual social network and interact with people in your career field. It’s a way to get your various projects noticed. This way, you won’t have to APP bore all your friends with every single thing you are working on. Wait, is that just me? So, you can promote yourself and see who likes your status update at the same time. Oh, sorry, that must just be me … again. http://branchout.com. —Amanda Branham
ASK JOEY Money secrets
I dated a guy I really liked for a few months, but he disappeared from my life eight months ago with no explanation. Last week, he showed up on my doorstep to give me some 12-step apology. I called him yesterday and learned he is dating a woman from his Alcoholics Anonymous program. I am surprised at the anger I feel. He was a keeper. Why didn’t he give me a chance? Oh, sweetie! Why are you taking this personally? Refocus your heart here: You briefly dated an addict who abandoned you. He sobered up and dropped by your home to make amends. Be happy that the world has one less person behaving badly. Then investigate your anger. It’s not really about this man. He was barely a blip on the love line of your life. You are angry because you were ditched without explanation. Now, after
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I lost my job and have been networking to find suitable employment. People often ask for my email address, presumably so we can follow-up with job leads. I give them a business card with my name, cellphone number and email address. Unfortunately, they sign me up for blogs and other promotional stuff. How do I let them know I am not interested in being on their marketing lists without risking the loss of a lead?
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List your preference on your business card. Simply include your email address followed by “Job leads only, please.” When you hand someone a card, smile and note the preference clearly. Be bold: State that your primary intention is to find a new job. You might also consider printing your intention, skills or dream-job description on the flip side of your business card. Being decisive is key for job seekers. Ω
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i Spetciion This we al ek
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Write Joey, 1124 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95815; call (916) 498-1234, ext. 3206; or email askjoey@ newsreview.com.
You are free— except in your head, of course. Fearlessly cleanse your mind of self-harming thoughts.
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Got a problem?
Write, email or leave a message for Joey at the News & Review. Give your name, telephone number (for verification purposes only) and question— all correspondence will be kept strictly confidential.
If your boyfriend withholds financial information, it’s because he’s afraid. When you pressure him for details, it strengthens his belief that his noncompliance is necessary protection. Why does he need to shield his paycheck from you? He imagines that letting you in on his earnings will corrupt your experience of him. Either you will settle into the commitment more comfortably because you trust his ability to be a provider, or you will cycle in and out of uneasiness because he doesn’t quite earn what you expected. I think you need to let this issue go, with one caveat: a deadline. Tell your boyfriend that you hope he will share the details of his life completely when he is ready. Let him know that if your dating relationship turns toward a serious commitment, like marriage, you must be privy to his pay stub. After all, you cannot be expected to enter a deeper union without some notion of what you are getting into. If your boyfriend uses the caveat to avoid a committed partnership with you, don’t hesitate to end the relationship.
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Joey
considers the moon a good friend.
learning this man is dating someone else, you are using her to make negative judgments about yourself. Stop, please. Give yourself a chance to appreciate that you have been saved from a relationship that is not right for you. How do we know? You are free— except in your head, of course. Fearlessly cleanse your mind of self-harming thoughts. It’s time to begin appreciating yourself.
RECYCLE THIS PAPER
by JOEY GARCIA
My boyfriend refuses to tell me how much money he earns. At first it was a joke, but we’ve been together over a year now. He says he doesn’t understand why I make such a big deal about it. After a recent argument, he said it’s because he doesn’t want money to get in the way of our relationship. I get that, I really do, but I feel like he is keeping secrets.
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Meditation of the week: “Everything happens for us, not to us,” says the sage Byron Katie Mitchell. When you believe that people are trying to control you, harm your reputation, act out in jealousy and unkindness or lie to you, trust that you will succeed. Goodness is its own reward.
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STAGE Arrgh ! Fill the pirate glass! The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty
SACRAMENTO
(916) 455.4800 STOCKTON
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A wonderful live orchestra combines with a vivacious cast of pirates, policemen and girls to create an enjoyable evening of musical theater. Katie Daley directs the Light Opera Theatre of Sacramento production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty, probably the best-known of the duo’s works. Young Frederic (Ian Cullity) has reached by Maxwell McKee majority (age 21) and is ready to go straight after years of indenture to the infamous
4
“THE PERFECT DATE MOVIE!” STEVE OLDFIELD / FOX TV
“★★★★...
RACHEL McADAMS & CHANNING TATUM ARE AMAZING.”
Pirates of Penzance. He meets a gaggle of girls walking near the pirates’ headquarters and falls in love with the beautiful Mabel (Sara Haugland). The girls’ father turns out to be the very model of a modern Major-General (Michael Baad). But Frederic learns that, SHAWN EDWARDS/FOX-TV thanks to Leap Day, he’s technically not of age, and his indenture to the pirates must continue. What to do? Cullity is great in the lead and has a more MOSE PERSICO/CTV, MONTREAL n e w s & r e than v i e wcapable b u s i nrange. e s s uHaugland s e o n l y has a beautifully trained that captures the ACCT epiceXeC nature of 05.26.11 REM designer MK issUe dATevoice is most enthusiFiLe nAMe DAVIDALLEN052611R1Gilbert and Sullivan. The cast reV dATe 03.02.06 FOUL “ astic, and does a fine job of creating the ridiculous world ofand pirates and please carefully review your advertisement verify thelawmen. following: Supertitles keep the audience caught up Ad size (CoLUMn X inChes) with the plot—with glance, it’s possible to ‘ ’” speLLing FAIR follow the carefully crafted and quick-paced nUMbers & dATes RACHEL SMITH/FOX5 VEGAS jokes ConTACT inFo (phone, Address, eTC) with which Pirates is fully loaded. Ad AppeArs As reqUesTed Many of the songs use $5 words that haven’t GOOD seen much light in more than a century, and ApproVed by: the text keeps the audience from going adrift. The music—a live local orchestra—is excellent, with fine players under the direction WELL-DONE of Philip Daley. There are a few rough edges with this naughty bunch, but expect these minor issues to SUBLIME-DON’T MISS SCREEN GEMS AND SPYGLASS ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT A BIRNBAUM/BARBER PRODUCTION “THE VOW” SAM NEILL SCOTT SPEEDMAN AND JESSICA LANGE be quickly resolved, leaving nothing but seafarMUSIC MUSIC COEXECUTIVE SUPERVISOR RANDALL POSTER BY RACHEL PORTMAN MICHAEL BROOK PRODUCERS CASSIDY LANGE REBEKAH RUDD PRODUCERS J. MILES DALE AUSTIN HEARST SUSAN COOPER ing chortles for a rollicking band of pirates. Ω PRODUCED STORY SCREENPLAY BY ROGER BIRNBAUM GARY BARBER JONATHAN GLICKMAN PAUL TAUBLI EB BY STUART SENDER BY ABBY KOHN & MARC SILVERSTEIN AND JASON KATIMS I’d love to be law-abiding, dear, but crime will be paying for another six decades or so.
“ROMANTIC AND STEAMY!” YOU’LL FALL IN LOVE WITH THE VOW
1 2
3 4 5
DIRECTED BY
MICHAEL SUCSY
CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES 28
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The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty : 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. $15-$20. Light Opera Theatre of Sacramento at the 24th Street Theatre, 2791 24th Street; (916) 258-5687; www.lightoperasac.org. Through February 26.
4 Awake and sexy
Spring Awakening
Musical comedy? Piece of cake. People do it every day. But musical tragedy? That’s a whole new and different thing. Spring Awakening, the first production by Green Valley Theatre Company in the new Grange Performing Arts Center, is definitely one of those “different things.” Spring Awakening is like the Arab spring and sexual awakening joining forces—teens in revolt against authority while exploring how to deal with all the urges and changes going on within themselves. Incest, child abuse, masturbation, abortion, teen suicide and atheism are the themes of German playwright Frank Wedekind’s drama. Wedekind wrote Fruhlings Erwachen (Spring Awakening) in 1891, though it was banned at the time because of its content. It took Steven Sater (book and lyrics) and Duncan Sheik (music) to get the show before large audiences, when they adapted it into a successful Broadway musical in 2006. Give director Christopher Cook props for making such a daring selection for the inaugural production in this new 48-seat space, as well as for the engaging young cast and strong instrumental ensemble he has assembled. Elio Gutierrez stars as Melchior, the hero (and, one suspects, erstwhile stand-in for the playwright), who is intelligent, insightful and completely misunderstood. Mariana Seda, Denver Skye Vaughn, Kay Hight, Carly Sisto, Mary Katherine Cobb, David Taylor, Kenny Brian Gagni, Christopher Saechao, Gavin Sellers and Ethan Beck Cockrill portray the boys and girls. Craig Howard and Kristen Wagner portray all of the adult roles, from instructors to parents to priests. Sater and Sheik provide a contemporary mix of rock and Broadway-style tunes, including “Mama Who Bore Me,” “The Bitch of Living,” “The Word of Your Body” and “Totally Fucked”—yes, it’s that kind of different musical theater. Occasional weak spots in the vocal department are more than made up for by the exuberant performances. Demetra Rickles’ costume design, Carly Sisto’s hair and makeup and choreography and David Schultz’s lighting and sound all add production value. —Jim Carnes
Spring Awakening : 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday. $15-$20. Green Valley Theatre Company at Grange Performing Arts Center, 3823 V Street; (916) 736-2664; www.greenvalleytheatre.com. Through March 4.
COMPREHENSIVE, PERSONALIZED TREATMENT
4
ALIENS WITH EXTRAORDINARY SKILLS
Illegal immigration gives this romantic comedy some dramatic—and topical—underpinnings, as a pair of Eastern European immigrants (Stephanie Althoz and John Lamb) team up with a Latina immigrant (Rinabeth Apostol) and a Southerner (Brian Rife) to stay under the IRS radar (Katie Rose Kruger and Stephen Rowland are the agents). It’s got a dash of plot from Twelfth Night, which is a bonus. T 6:30pm; W 2pm &
6:30pm; Th, F 8pm; Sa 5pm & 8pm; Su 2pm. Through 2/26. $18-$30. The B Street Theatre, 2711 B St.;
(916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. J.H.
4
FORBIDDEN BROADWAY
Good news—the Cosmopolitan Cabaret’s vivacious Broadway spoof possesses “smarts,” energy and attitude. With the ubiquitous Graham Sobelman at the keyboard, singers Jerry Lee, Jessica Reiner-Harris, Melissa WolfKlain, and Marc Ginsburg gleefully send up everything from Annie to Cats. W 7pm; Th & 7pm; F 8pm, Sa 2 & 8pm; Su 2pm. Through 3/18. $33-$48. The Cosmopolitan Cabaret, 1000 K St.; (916) 557-1999; www.calmt.com. J.H.
4
THE GIVER
This dystopian drama contrasting freedom vs. mind control—based on Lois Lowry’s prize-winning novel for young readers—is an unusual, welcome addition to the B Street Family Series. Set in a tightly managed (and medicated) future, the show targets kids who are a mature 8 or older. But this stylish, provocative little production will appeal to teens and adults, too. Sa, Su 1pm & 4pm. Through 2/19. $13-$20. B Street Theatre, 2711 B St.; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. J.H.
5
IN THE NEXT ROOM (OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY)
4
RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL
This delicious Sarah Ruhl play about women’s sexuality, intimacy and the age of technology is buzzing with great acting from a gifted cast, ably directed by Peter Mohrmann, and top-notch production values. These are some darn good vibrations! W 7pm; Th, F, Sa 8pm; Su 2pm. Through 2/26. $20-$32. Capital Stage, 2215 J St.; (916) 995-5464; www.capstage.org. P.R.
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Short reviews by Jim Carnes, Jeff Hudson, Maxwell McKee, Kel Munger and Patti Roberts.
FRONTLINES
New Dawn • BINGE EATING
KOLT Run Creations kicks off their first full season with this gutwrenching slice of reality. Lilly is home on her first college break to visit her cousin, his girlfriend, and old pals. The problem is that she’s got secrets—and it turns out that they do, too. Sometimes, in order to leave home, you have to blow it up. Adult themes and simulated drug use; recommended for mature audiences. F, Sa 8pm; Su 2pm. Through 2/26. $15-$20. KOLT Run Creations at the Ooley Theatre, 2007 28th St.; (916) 454-1500; www.koltruncreations.com. M.M.
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recovery
• DIETING
WHERE WE’RE BORN
BEFORE
First Step
Recovery Center
YOU NEED A TEAM.
WATER FALLING DOWN
Longer reviews are available online at www.newsreview.com/sacramento.
New Dawn
Sponsored by the following organizations:
If you or someone you love is struggling with an eating disorder, it’s terrifying and overwhelming. You often feel completely alone.
Dad (David Kramer) has aphasia and communication with Son (Kurt Johnson) was strained before that started. Is it too late to repair their relationship? Under David Pierini’s sure direction, this well-staged production is an affecting piece of theater. T, W 7pm; Th 2pm & 7pm, F 7pm, Sa 8pm, Su 1pm. Through 2/26. $18-$30. The B Street Theatre, 2727 B St.; (916) 443-5300; www.bstreettheatre.org. J.C.
5
”
Scott didn’t think his drinking was a problem because he was a “happy drunk.” Since the age of 12, he drank socially. Drinking meant having a good time. As an adult, his good-time drinking became at least a 20-pack of beer daily. He would get the shakes if he didn’t drink, so he started his day with a couple of beers before work. It affected his productivity and motivation, both at work and at home. One evening Scott came home exceptionally “happy” from drinking at the bar with friends after work. His toddler son came running to give him a hug, but Scott was so drunk he couldn’t stand up and knocked down his son. Scott didn’t even remember doing it; his girlfriend told him the next day what had happened. “He wasn’t hurt,” said Scott. “But he was crying because he was just trying to come up to me and ended up falling down. I don’t want my son to see his father as a drunk.” Scott realized he needed to sober up. His mother helped him find First Step Recovery, where he detoxed and learned the skills to stay sober. Now he has more energy and is amazed with how much he can accomplish at work and at home. With all the money he saved not buying beer, he bought his son a jungle gym and slide. “First Step made me see that it was an addiction,” said Scott. “It’s a disease I couldn’t control and I needed help. They gave me the tools to help fight it.”
SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT SERVICES FOR ADULT MALES
This over-the-top skewering of The Bad Seed, All About Eve, Mame and Gypsy gives the talented cast a chance to camp it up. High points include the theater critic who gets her just desserts and a Mama Rose/Auntie Mame turn by Michael R.J. Campbell. W 12:30 & 6:30pm; Th 6:30pm; F 8pm; Sa 2 & 8pm; Su 2 & 7pm. Through 2/19. $15-$38. The Pollock Stage at the Sacramento Theatre Company, 1419 H St.; (916) 443-6722; www.sactheatre.org. K.M.
4
“
I don’t want my son to see his father as a drunk.
These are models
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or visit us at www.sedop.org. In partnership with Eating Recovery Center, in Denver, Colorado, for patients requiring an Inpatient or Residential level care. |
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Show timeS valid FeB 17 – FeB 23, 2012
now Playing
Academy Award Nominee
ALBERT NOBBS Rated R
now Playing
the oscAr NomiNAted short films 2012
Fri-Sat 8:20 Sun-Mon 12:30 3:00 5:45 8:20
Tue 5:45 8:20 • Wed-Thu 8:20 only
returning friday, feb 17
my week with marilyn
Not Rated • Digital
(2 Separate programS)
Safe House
Fri-Mon 3:20 8:05 Tue-Thu 8:05
LIVe aCtIoN
Fri-Mon 1:00 5:30 Mon-Thu 5:30
one night only! the oscAr NomiNAted short films 2012
Not Rated • Digital • Thu. Feb 23 7:00
Desperately seeking Bourne
aNImateD
Fri 12:00 2:30 5:10 7:45 Sat 12:00 2:30 5:10 Sun-Mon 12:00 2:30 5:10 7:45 Tue 5:10 7:45 Wed-Thu 5:10 only
documentary
FILM
1013 K Street - 916.442.7378 join the list - www.thecrest.com
Safe House seems like as good a name as any for a movie with the apathetic tagline “No one is safe,” although that doesn’t quite nail the exasby perated secondhand-superspy-thriller vibe. If Jonathan Kiefer only this thing weren’t so earnest, it might have the good self-spoofing grace to say what it really is: The Bourne I Wanna Be. Imagine Ryan Reynolds as a dutiful but untested young CIA agent, jockeying a desk in a location so secure that his greatest professional risk is death by boredom. Then the phone rings. “Housekeeping,” he answers, sounding like a meek hotel maid. Soon enough Denzel Washington sits before him, soaking up enhanced interrogation techniques. Fancy meeting him here: formerly a CIA company man himself, now a dangerous fugitive who’s just eluded a city full of determined killers.
2
Recycle this paper.
Recycle this paper. Recycle this paper.
Recycle this paper.
Recycle this paper. So determined, actually, that they break Bourne-like, but still not enough. right in to the obviously no longer secure loca-
Recycle this paper. COLUMBIA PICTURES AND HYDE PARK ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT IN ASSOCIATION WITH IMAGENATION ABU DHABI A MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT/CRYSTAL SKY PICTURES/ASHOK AMRITRAJ/MICHAEL DE LUCA/ARAD PRODUCTION “GHOST RIDER™ SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE” CIARÁN HINDS VIOLANTE PLACIDO JOHNNY WHITWORTH CHRISTOPHER LAMBERT AND IDRIS ELBA MUSICBY DAVID SARDY EXECUTIVE BASED PRODUCERS E. BENNETT WALSH DAVID S. GOYER STAN LEE MARK STEVEN JOHNSON ON THE MARVEL COMIC STORY SCREENPLAY BY DAVID S. GOYER BY SCOTT M. GIMPLE & SETH HOFFMAN AND DAVID S. GOYER DIRECTED PRODUCED BY NEVELDINE/TAYLOR BY STEVEN PAUL ASHOK AMRITRAJ MICHAEL DE LUCA AVI ARAD ARI ARAD
1 2 3 4 POOR
FAIR
GOOD
VERY GOOD
STARTS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17
CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES
SEE IT ON A BIG SCREEN 30
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5 EXCELLENT
tion and keep right on gunning for him. Under such peculiar duress, an unlikely partnership forms, and perhaps it’s just the test our young Reynolds needs—a jagged adventure of lethal mental and physical combat, plus mentoring! What to do but dodge and weave and hope for Washington to say, as he did to Ethan Hawke in Training Day, “This shit’s chess, it ain’t checkers!” That’s right: Safe House is at least agile enough to seem derivative of more than one movie at a time. Now back at home base, we find the obligatory control room full of phones and screens and furtive bureaucrats agitatedly explaining things to each other and to the audience. These people include Sam Shepard, Brendan Gleeson and Vera Farmiga, and together they manage to arouse some real audience pity for the hapless Reynolds, here responsible for anchoring a movie that’s now officially crawling with actors who outclass him. It can’t be much consolation that they seem more stranded than he does. With Washington’s character duly described as an “expert manipulator of human
assets,” it becomes clear that the same can not be said for this film’s director. Daniel Espinosa is his name, and he seems content manipulating an atmosphere of volatility. The camera jitters. The cuts come quickly. Guns get knocked from hands, reframing fist fights as to-the-death endurance tests. And it is Bourne-like, vaguely, except less well-choreographed and less easy to care about. Plot threads about confused loyalties and eruptions of corruption are handled roughly, so as to become frayed. Deadly flying objects—bullets mostly, but also at least one motor vehicle— tend to make surprise entrances from just out of frame. Sometimes they make surprise entrances from within the frame. Anyway, it’s the surprise, and the deadliness, that matters. Safe House has a screenwriter credit too, for David Guggenheim, but if he’s the one responsible for fleeting efforts to suggest that Washington’s character also is a wine aficionado, it’s easy to see why Espinosa might rather let action speak louder than words. This is also the sort of movie that offers an establishing shot in which the Eiffel Tower is visible, stamped with the words “Paris, France.” As if we might think we’re looking at Las Vegas. As if it would matter anyway. Most of the commotion, however, takes place in South Africa, presumably to accommodate the cruelish joke of a shanty town rooftop chase whose flimsy roofs are prone to collapse, and the oddity of Washington’s badass oenophile babbling about Pinotage. Courteously, the filmmakers do bracket each frenetic action set piece with a bit of breathing room. But braiding these interstitial moments together in cleverly edited nonlinear loops manages only to convey a whiff of impatience, as if downtime just isn’t interesting enough. Fair enough: In this movie, it isn’t.
Safe House is at least agile enough to seem derivative of more than one movie at a time. The good news is that none of the performances are as condescending as this review. Reynolds huffs and puffs like a marathoner who won’t let anything keep him from his finish line. Washington, not working very hard, still has a way of doing competent work. And all those agitated bureaucrats go about their business, including a few unsurprising complications, with efficient dignity. Any worries about fallen artistic ideals are put to rest by a sense of fiduciary pragmatism—the agreeable thought of actors’ kids’ college funds getting padded. It’s good to know that someone, somewhere, is safe. Ω
by JONATHAN KIEFER & JIM LANE
4
A Dangerous Method
The birth of psychoanalysis is traced by director David Cronenberg and writer Christopher Hampton (from his play The Talking Cure, based on John Kerr’s book); their movie follows the relationship of Sigmund Freud (an incisive Viggo Mortensen) and Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) from mutual respect to ultimate estrangement, catalyzed by Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley)—first Jung’s patient, then his lover, then his and Freud’s colleague and a psychiatrist in her own right. Knightley’s often alarming performance grabs our attention, especially in her early “mad” scenes, but the quiet intellectual intensity of Mortensen and Fassbender’s scenes is an education for any actor. For that matter, so is the way Hampton nimbly distills and dramatizes the give-and-take among these three characters over the years. J.L.
3
Albert Nobbs
In Victorian-era Dublin, the most conscientious waiter at a staid middle-class hotel is in reality a woman (Glenn Close), forced years ago to conceal her gender and identity just to avoid prostitution, exploitation or the poor house. Now the charade has gone on so long that she/he seems almost to have no identity at all; others in the hotel talk about this “queer little man,” and we in 2012 wince at the double meaning. Directed by Rodrigo García and written by Close and John Banville (from George Moore’s story), the movie is a nearly plotless character study, a thoughtful examination of the attempt to adjust to a society that sees only what it wants to see, and the consequences thereof. It’s fascinating, but in the end, we’re as frustrated as Nobbs, with no more sense of his/her true self than she/he has. J.L.
4
The Artist
Writer-director Michel Hazanavicius’ exuberant throwback—a black-andwhite movie, with no spoken dialogue, set in 1927—has the clarity and grace to delight homage-mad nostalgists without alienating everyone else. Framed around the romance between a has-been silent-movie star (Jean Dujardin) and an upstart extra (Bérénice Bejo) at the dawn of the talkies, the structure is slight but sound. More important is the will to entertain, as promulgated through the enduring cinematic values of radiant chemistry and technical precision. Hazanavicius has a light touch and manages sophistication without pretension. This isn’t and needn’t be the bestever movie about one decisive moment in Hollywood history—and who would even presume to top Singin’ in the Rain? Nor is this a call for reversion so much as a touchingly sincere comment on coping with a forwardlurching world. In that regard, and on account of never being boring, this is highly contemporary stuff. John Goodman and James Cromwell co-star. J.K.
3
Big Miracle
Three California gray whales trapped in Alaskan pack ice above the Arctic Circle capture the attention of news networks, and the resulting media circus rivets the attention of the world on efforts to free the whales and help them reach the open sea. Based on a real story in 1988 (once called “the world’s greatest non-event”), there’s the makings here of a savage satire on media excess and TV news hype. Instead, predictably, director Ken Kwapis and writers Jack Amiel and Michael Begler (adapting Thomas Rose’s book Saving the Whales) go for cute and heartwarming, mixing the facts with generous helpings of lighthearted fiction. The result, though overlong, gets the job done if Hollywood uplift is what you’re looking for. John Krasinski, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Bell, Ted Danson and Dermot Mulroney star. J.L.
3
The Grey
It’s sorta fun seeing Fair Oaksian writerdirector Joe Carnahan make himself at home in a pseudo-philosophical thriller about starving freezing bruiser oil drillers led by Liam Neeson and stalked by wolves in the backwoods of Alaska. Part Budd Boetticher western, part John Carpenter horror thriller, part douchey beer commercial, The Grey was adapted by Carnahan and Ian Mackenzie Jeffers from Jeffers’ story Ghost Walker, and its literary ambitions are built in, if not fully built out. Running most smoothly as that kind of horror procedural for which characters’ deaths seem more thoroughly engineered than their inner
BEFORE
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•
2 5 0 8 L A N D PA R K D R I V E L A N D PA R K & B R O A D WAY F R E E PA R K I N G A D J A C E N T T O T H E AT R E “A HANDSOME AND STIMULATING FILM.” - Andrew O'Hehir, SALON.COM
A DANGEROUS METHOD WED-TUES: 11:05AM, 1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8:00, 10:15PM
10 ACADEMY AWARD
®
NOMINATIONS
INCLUDING BEST PICTURE AND BEST ACTOR
THE
ARTIST
WED-TUES: 11:15AM, 1:30, 3:45, 6:00, 8:15, 10:25PM
3 ACADEMY AWARD
®
NOMINATIONS
INCLUDING BEST ACTOR & BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY WED-TUES: 11:00AM, 1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 10:00PM
Chronicle : Talk to the hand.
F O R A D V A N C E T I C K E T S C A L L FA N D A N G O @ 1 - 8 0 0 - F A N D A N G O # 2 7 2 1
4
Chronicle
Three Seattle teenagers (Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan) discover a mysteriously glowing crystal in a cave, and immediately they develop stranger powers of levitation and telekinesis that sharpen and increase with practice—but will these high-school kids be able to handle them? The faux-found-footage mock-documentary is fast wearing out its welcome, and, frankly, it’s not particularly well-handled here. But it doesn’t really matter. Writer Max Landis’ script (from a story by him and director Josh Trank) has real depth and subtlety— it’s actually an allegory on the human race’s challenges in adjusting to its own technology—and the characters are well-defined and convincing. Thanks to Trank’s muted, naturalistic direction, they’re awfully well-acted too, and visual effects are first-rate. J.L. lives, the movie delivers good visceral anguish. Supporting players including Frank Grillo and Dermot Mulroney do occasionally redeem their token parts, but of course the best thing about it is habitual winter-movie action-hero Neeson holding court as a brooding human alpha male. J.K.
3
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
A rebellious teenager (Josh Hutcherson) and his stepfather (Dwayne Johnson) dash off in search of the boy’s grandfather (Michael Caine), a “Vernian” who knows that Jules Verne’s books were actually true. Along for the ride are a helicopter pilot (Luis Guzmán) and his fetching daughter (Vanessa Hudgens). The premise was fresher in 2008’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, which was a cleverer movie all around. Even so, writers Brian Gunn, Mark Gunn and Richart Outten keep the adventures coming, the special effects are endearingly cheesy, Johnson makes a game substitute for Brendan Fraser (he even sings!), and everybody seems to be having fun. The movie is perfectly respectable kid stuff, and the way director Brad Peyton’s 3-D camera ogles Hudgens’ physical attributes will keep the dads from dozing off. J.L.
3
Man on a Ledge
An ex-cop and current convict (Sam Worthington) who claims he was framed for a major jewel robbery escapes from custody while attending his father’s funeral; he winds up on a hotel ledge 22 floors up, but it’s all part of an elaborate sting to prove his innocence. Writer Pablo F. Fenjves and director Asger Leth concoct an outlandish cock-and-bull story that would hardly pass a freshman screenwriting class, but somehow they pull it off and make it fun. Clever editing and smooth digital mockups of Worthington cavorting high overhead help maintain the illusion that this nonsense is happening in the real world, as do supporting performances: Jamie Bell as Worthington’s brother, Elizabeth Banks as a disgraced hostage negotiator, Anthony Mackie as Worthington’s ex-partner, Ed Harris as the big bad villain. J.L.
3
One for the Money
An unemployed woman (Katherine Heigl), desperate for money, goes to work as a bounty hunter for her bail-bondsman cousin. Her assignment: to bring in a bail-jumping murder suspect (Jason O’Mara)—who happens to be the guy who took her virginity in high school, then never called. Writers Stacy Sherman, Karen Ray and Liz Brixus and director Julie Anne Robinson adapt the first of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels, no doubt as a hoped-for franchise for Heigl. Chances look good; this one is breezy and enjoyable, and a decent mystery to boot. A little disorderly in construction and unsteady of pace, but nothing Heigl’s star presence (and her amusing bantering chemistry with O’Mara) can’t overcome. There’s good support from Daniel Sunjata as Heigl’s
FRONTLINES
mentor and Debbie Reynolds as her wacky grandmother. J.L.
4
The Vow
When a young husband and wife (Channing Tatum, Rachel McAdams) are involved in an automobile accident, he is virtually uninjured, but she suffers severe brain trauma. She emerges from a medically induced coma with no memory of having married her husband—or even of having met him. “Inspired by a true story,” we are told, and the movie ends with a picture of the couple who supposedly inspired it. Well, maybe so, but in the hands of director Michael Sucsy and writers Jason Katims, Abby Kohn, Stuart Sender and Mark Silverstein, the movie has all the earmarks of a standard Nicholas Sparks tearjerker. As such, it’s slickly efficient, buoyed by excellent performances from (surprisingly) Tatum and (less surprising) McAdams. As McAdams’ parents, Sam Neill and Jessica Lange add a touch of mature class. J.L.
4
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Bookending his semi-experimental portrait of IRA hunger-striker Bobby Sands in Hunger, British director Steve McQueen delivers another corporeally potent Michael Fassbender performance, with another thematically prescriptive yet variously interpretable one-word title. Here, coscripting with Abi Morgan, McQueen posits Fassbender as a fictional Manhattan sex addict who loses (more) control of his life when his wayward younger sister, played by Carey Mulligan, comes to live with him. Theirs is a strong if uneasy sibling bond of mutually assured self-destruction. Sean Bobbitt’s glassy cinematography helps calibrate McQueen’s art-house-specific ratio of compulsion and detachment; the display of sexual directness, mostly deprived of eroticism, has a hollowing effect, and that is clearly the point. The point of that being the point is perhap less clear, but Fassbender’s and Mulligan’s fearlessness is bracing. James Badge Dale and Nicole Beharie costar. J.K
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for all ages that finds magic and wonder in the smallest details.” Silas Lesnick, COMINGSOON.NET
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The Woman in Black
A London solicitor (Daniel Radcliffe) travels to a gloomy seaside village to close out the estate of a wealthy recluse, becoming embroiled in sinister goings-on involving the apparition of a woman in black and the sudden deaths of local children. Susan Hill’s 1983 novel, already adapted for British television and as a highly successful play in London’s West End (22 years and still running), is turned here into a good old-fashioned horror movie, one that depends more on an atmosphere of dread than on blood and cheap scares. Writer Jane Goldman takes major liberties with the letter of Hill’s book but stays faithful to its grim spirit (no pun intended), and James Watkins directs with a firm sense of foreboding. It’s a virtual one-man show for Radcliffe, with able support from Ciarán Hinds and Janet McTeer. J.L.
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MUSIC On Zappa A writer looks back at the masterful rock composer As a youngster in the early ’70s, I often visited a neighbor’s house where I silently questioned the by rationale of hanging a John Wayne photo in the Paul E.P. living room. I could understand JFK, or even the sentimentality of velvet Elvis. But The Duke never struck a heroic chord. Even as a kid, he seemed like some sort of establishment tool. Then, one day, I met a new kid in the neighborhood, an Air Force brat, whose dad had piloted Air Force One. Up on their mantle was an astronaut. That was a little better. Anyway, I started poking through the record collection of this new friend’s older brother who was away at Berkeley and came across a bizarre-looking album called Weasels Ripped My Flesh by Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention.
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Ah! Zappa Plays Zappa comes back to the Crest Theatre this week.
Catch Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa Saturday, February 18, at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K Street; 7:30 p.m.; $45.
four diverse & professional artists each with 10+ years of experience 6321 Folsom blvd • 549–8614 open mon–sat 1pm–11pm
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“What is this?” I thought to myself, pondering the album cover, which showed a man shaving with a sharp-toothed weasel. Years later, I am still learning more and more about the greatness of Zappa. And I have come to the conclusion that not only was Zappa a cowboy in the truest sense, but that maybe he also should have been up on more living-room walls. But, considering that one of the iconic posters of him at the time was a shot of him glumly taking a dump, the idea probably would not have flown. In the mid-’60s, shortly after receiving a record-company rejection letter stating that his music had “absolutely no commercial potential,” young Zappa set out over the next 30 years to prove the executive correct. And that he did with more than 60 original albums that startled with collective improvisations, ribald humor and full audience participation. Zappa was an extraordinary composer, guitarist and showman. His groups freed the talents of many musicians, including Terry Bozzio, Vinnie Colaiuta and Chick Corea. His narratives brought to life such infamous characters as Bobby Brown, Punky Meadows and the Central Scrutinizer. He wrote songs that examined America’s strange relationship with sex and sexual frankness, with titles such as
“I Promise Not to Come in Your Mouth” and “Dinah Moe Hum.” He was also a defender of the First Amendment and a critic of what he saw as the fascist theology emerging within the Reagan administration. He famously took on Susan Baker, Tipper Gore and the Parents’ Music Resource Center during the mid-’80s. While testifying at a Senate Committee hearing, Zappa famously called them a “group of bored Washington housewives” who were “treating dandruff by decapitation.” He was hailed as an inspiration for the anticommunist revolution in the Eastern Bloc. He was so endeared by Czech President Vaclav Havel, that he was offered the job of special ambassador to the West. Ultimately, this idea was shot down by Secretary of State James Baker, another tool who fancied himself a cowboy. Baker had taken great offense to the way Zappa had ridiculed his wife during the now famous PMRC hearings. Having previously released an album called Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention, that documented the PMRC saga, Zappa resented Baker’s interference, but continued composing brilliantly until his death from prostate cancer in 1993. Zappa is remembered in many profound ways around the world. There are statues of him in faraway places as diverse as Lithuania and Baltimore. He is also remembered for his music, most notably in the group called Zappa Plays Zappa, headed by his son Dweezil, which plays again in Sacramento this Saturday night. Featuring a group of accomplished young musicians, including members of Captain Beefheart, Zappa Plays Zappa celebrates the man’s legacy with amazing renditions of his classics in an ever-revolving set list. The group has been touring regularly since 2006, and it has not been uncommon for former Zappa players to drop in and jam.
Years later, I am still learning more and more about the greatness of Frank Zappa. So, if you or your neighbor still has John Wayne hanging in the living room, I offer a final anecdote: Zappa and Wayne once met at Los Angeles’ Whisky a Go Go. Zappa recounted in a Playboy interview in 1993: “He came to one show very drunk. He saw me and picked me up and said, ‘I saw you in Egypt and you were great ... and then you blew me!’ Onstage I said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Halloween and we were going to have some important guests here tonight—like George Lincoln Rockwell, head of the American Nazi Party—but unfortunately all we could get was John Wayne.’ He got up and made some drunken speech, and his bodyguards told me I’d better cool it.” Ω
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Naughty, naughty Rappers busted: Sacramento County deputies arrested two prominent Sacramento hip-hop emcees this past Monday—both now face serious time in federal prison. Nathan Curry, known to most locals as N8 the Gr8 of underground hip-hop troupe the CUF, was charged with felony conspiracy and also cultivation, possession and sale of marijuana. Juawon Wilder, an up-andcoming emcee who performs under the moniker Juawon Pierre, faces more severe charges: felony possession and sale of marijuana, plus transportation and distribution, as well as conspiracy. Sheriff spokesman Jason Ramos
BEFORE
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Like a lot of things, that drop date is surely in jeopardy. My sleazy Valentine: The Press Club is not for lovers. Anyway, this past Monday night I spent Valentine’s Day eve at Press with headlining act Get Shot!, a group notorious for sordid rock jams, trashy lyrics and whorish grandstanding by lead singer J.P. Hunter. Yes, the band knows no equal, local or otherwise. First, it’s the only group I know that’s been banned on Facebook; it had to change its profile name to “Gett Shotta” after Mark Zuckerberg froze its account. And, at Monday’s gig, Hunter busted out some moves I’d never witnessed in the 916. He started out with pushups on stage before proceeding to tear off his jean jacket—emblazoned with a giant penis-shaped gun shooting ejaculate on the back—and also cracked Whitney Houston jokes. “I wouldn’t mind being dead in a bathtub right now with a shitload of blow up my nose,” he shared with the crowd of about 40. Later, Hunter dropped his cheetah-print pants to reveal Superman
SUNDAY SERVICES: 7:30am Classical Language 9:00am Contemporary Organ & Piano 11:15am Classical Music
underwear. “Spank you very much,”
he offered after songs. The singer urged the crowd to generously tip the bartender, with whom he gamely flirted—“This song’s about the bartender, it’s called ‘She Wants My Cock’”—all night. I’m not sure what to make of Get Shot! The foursome is naughty but harmless—not the misogynistpunk outfit one might expect from this review. The band’s album, Keepin’ It Sleazy, plays like both a tired joke and also a genuinely antiestablishment rock tome. Yet the live band—Ronnie Shivers on guitar, Sammy Smut on bass, Basilio Salacious on drums— jumps feet first into blatantly derivative rock ’n’ roll terrain. It typically performs with an entourage of go-go dancing strippers, which was missed. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s fun. And funny. “If you’re single on Valentine’s Day,” Hunter told the crowd at the end of the set, “I’m having a lingerie party at my house. “And if you want to see my cock, find us on Tumblr.” A bandmate chimed in: “He Photoshopped it.” I didn’t look. —Nick Miller
nickam@newsreview.com
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told SN&R that both men had yet to post bail (Curry’s was set at $200,000, Wilder’s at $1 million) as of Tuesday and were scheduled to be arraigned at the downtown jail on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Ramos explained the sheriff’s department, feds and the Internal Revenue Service have investigated Curry, Wilder and three others since last October. Authorities allege that the group trafficked boxes filled with marijuana and cash across the country, in addition to laundering money in fake East Coast accounts and businesses. During Monday’s arrests, authorities discovered pounds of marijuana, including two grows, plus tens of thousands of dollars in cash and three weapons. Ramos could not speak to sentencing guidelines, but if both men are convicted of the alleged crimes they could face dozens of years in prison. He added that, because of realignment—which transferred state responsibility for certain inmates to local governments— Curry and Wilder also could remain in downtown’s jailhouse in lieu of being transferred to federal prison if they do not post bail, which, given its magnitude, is unlikely, according to authorities. N8 the Gr8 has been a member of the CUF, an underground crew that steered clear of rapping about drugs and violence, for decades and even put out an album last year. Juawon Pierre dropped a video on January 31, titled “Guillotine,” and the new emcee had an album, called Henry VIII, slated for release this year.
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EIGHT GIGS
16THURS 17FRI Dom Kennedy
Gillian Underwood Beginning her solo career in the late ’90s, performing at open-mic nights held around Sacramento haunts like Luna’s Café & Juice Bar and Old Ironsides, singer-songwriter Gillian Underwood is still at it, and now she’s backed by a band called the Lonesome Doves. No doubt Underwood will perform songs from her album Red-Letter Days at The Javalounge’s Thursday-night Songwriters’ Club, a new weekly series for both local and touring performACOUSTIC ROCK ers. The 11-song album includes originals like “Couldn’t Tell You Why,” a heartrending piece sure to remind its listener of that little thing called love. Also performing during this series is the Allyson Seconds Band and Dino the Girl. 2416 16th Street, www.gillianunderwood.com.
Dom Kennedy’s first single, 2008’s “Watermelon Sundae,” championed an easygoing, stereotypical Los Angeles vibe that quickly caught fire. Things HIP-HOP then went next-level for the emcee in 2010, with the release of his mixtape From the West Side With Love, which featured “1997,” a hypnotic, boastful solo track that really captured a new-school West Coast sound, à la Kendrick Lamar (playing UC Davis this spring) and even NorCal’s Lil B. Last year, Kennedy put out his first true fulllength, From the West Side With Love II, using a similar recipe: chill West Coast harmonies, laid-back rhymes, and R&B-inspired beats, such as on “Grind’n.” Does he have live-show game? Find out this Friday. 1901 Del Paso Boulevard, www.entlegends.com.
—Steph Rodriguez
18SAT
Testament
Babyface
Why the Bay Area’s Testament wasn’t included in the “Big Four” of thrash metal still baffles many of its fans and music aficionados. Signed to Atlantic Records during its formative years, the band successfully developed a following both abroad and in the states. Additionally, it’s overcome obstacles, including singer THRASH METAL Chuck Billy’s successful fight against cancer. Testament embodies the spirit of perseverance, having endured more drummer changes than Spinal Tap, and sometimes listing drummers at the eleventh hour just before a tour. Thankfully, Gene Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory) will be manning the throne at this Sacramento show. Into the pit. 1417 R Street, www.testamentlegions.com.
ACE OF SPADES TESTAMENT PRONG - WHITE MINORITIES GARY BUSEY AMBER ALERT
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18
KINGDOM OF GIANTS
THE WILL THE WAY - LOOK ALIVE - LIGHTS AHEAD OF US TAG! YOU’RE DEAD - TRIAL BY FIRE
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19
MAYDAY PARADE WE THE KINGS - THE DOWNTOWN FICTION ANARBOR
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21
TOMORROWS BAD SEEDS
PACIFIC DUB - OFFICIAL RESPONSE ELEMENT OF SOUL - STREET URCHINZ
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24
JAMIE’S ELSEWHERE THE PAPER MELODY - BETA STATE A NIGHT IN HOLLYWOOD - FROM AURORA SPEAK NO MORE - TAKING FOX HOLLOW
Despite his age (53), Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds is still known for his young face, smooth vocals and prolific songwriting. Producing and writing for Boyz II Men, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Mariah Carey, he changed the face of R&B modern pop ballads (no pun intended) in the ’90s. For his efforts, he received a record four Grammys for Producer of the Year—including three consecutive awards in 1995, 1996 and 1997. More recently, he was hired as a coach for Team Cee Lo on NBC’s The Voice. Buy a ticket for this show as Valentine’s Day gift, and treat your significant other to a slow dance. 14455 Highway 16 in Brooks, www.babyfacemusic.com.
1417 R Street, Sacramento, 95814 www.aceofspadessac.com
ALL AGES WELCOME!
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17
Cache Creek Casino Resort, 8 p.m., $69-$89
Ace of Spades, 7 p.m., $30
The Artisan Building, 7:30 p.m., $20-$25
The Javalounge, 8 p.m., $5
17FRI
3/15 MartyParty 3/17 The Cheeseballs 3/19 Boyce Avenue 3/20 Rehab 3/21 Whitechapel 3/25 For Today 3/29 Saw Doctors 3/30 Ozomotli 4/1 Eligh + Amp Live 4/8 Paper Diamond 4/18 Childish Gambino 4/19 Buzzcocks 4/25 Tech N9NE 4/28 All Shall Parish 5/8 Delta Spirit 6/17 My Darkest Days
18SAT 19SUN 21TUES 22WED Fred Eaglesmith
Spoonful of Sugar
Mondavi Center, 8 p.m., $17.50-$68
Odd Fellows Hall, 9 p.m., $12
Fred Eaglesmith is the type to be tickled by how both right and left have claimed his song, “Time to Get a Gun.” Liberals cite the sardonic observations AMERICANA dotting his catalog and how the song exemplifies reactionary gun nuts; conservatives hang their hat on his homespun frankness and simplicity in reporting how a driveway car theft violates the peace of a small town. Born on a farm in Ontario, Canada, Eaglesmith fled in his teens, hopping trains, six-string in tow. For three decades, he’s keenly traced a rustic Midwestern mentality in dusty Americana tones traversing the spectrum from gospel to heartland-roots rock and country-folk. 2708 J Street, www.fredeaglesmith.com.
Still in the mood for love? The Atomic Angels, a Northern California women’s charity group, hosts this sugary postValentine’s Day benefit show. Bring a bag or box of sugar—white or brown, whatever you like—and get free admission to this show featuring the Secretions (pictured), City of Vain, Dusty Graves and Evan Blankenship. In addition to the music, there’ll be a Valentine’s Day-themed photo booth, candy buffet and BENEFIT raffle. All sugar donations will go to various Ronald McDonald House Charities food pantries, and each offering enters you for a prize raffle. Being charitable never tasted so sweet. 908 K Street, www.facebook.com/theatomicangels.
The Chieftains
Jolie Holland
Harlow’s, 7 p.m., $22
Marilyn’s on K, 3 p.m., $5
—Chris Parker
—Rachel Leibrock
The Chieftains proved that a relatively niche genre, Celtic folk, could translate to international audiences. Somehow the group’s 50-year traipse around popular music has gone underreported, but its range of prior collaborators reads like CELTIC/FOLK a short list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Van Morrison, Art Garfunkel and even Ricky Scaggs. More recently, the Dubliners joined forces with Bon Iver for “Down in the Willow Garden,” a whiskey-sodden ballad marinating in strings and Justin Vernon’s signature Auto-Tune. The Irish-Catholic bruisers have always flaunted their heritage, but one needn’t have a church membership to enjoy the folksy, farm-fresh new album Voice of Ages. 1 Shields Avenue in Davis, www.thechieftains.com.
Jolie Holland is one of those vocalists who can hit notes. Drenched in bluesy folk goodness, her songwriting ability is the perfect complement to her aforementioned instrument of song. Early in her career, she helped pen the single “The Littlest Birds” for her former Americana band, the Be Good Tanyas. Not feeling the group dynamic, ALTERNATIVE FOLK she left that project after only one album, quickly signing to Tom Waits’ home, Anti- Records. Holland is also a popular guest vocalist, working on albums with David Dondero, Bad Religion frontman Greg Graffin, Hot Water Music singer Chuck Ragan, and British poster boy David Gray. 415 Second Street in Davis, www.jolieholland.com.
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Chris trapper alasdair fraser & natalie Haas the Cheeseballs blitzen trapper Gappy ranks ivan neville’s Dumstaphunk w/ Monophonics Mar 9 Dan Curcio from still time Mar 9 Howlin rain with the soft White sixties & the shine Mar 10 Hawaiian legends Mar 10 Midnight Players Mar 15 sizzlin’ sirens Mar 16 robert schwartzman (of rooney) w/ brian bell (of Weezer) Mar 17 Girlyman Mar 17 vokab Kompany Mar 18 umphrey’s McGee Mar 20 Cheryl Wheeler Mar 22 Mykal rose Mar 23 the nibblers and skerik Mar 24 Joel the band Mar 25 Western lights Mar 30 tom rigney apr 5 fireHose apr 7 Mazzy star apr 12 brokedown in bakersfield apr 14 thomas Dolby apr 15 todd snider apr 16 Givers apr 17 Yonder Mountain string band apr 25 Midnite apr 29 anthony Coleman’s big band
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Post your free online listing (up to 15 months early), and our editors will consider your submission for the printed calendar as well. Print listings are also free, but subject to space limitations. Online, you can include a full description of your event, a photo, and a link to your website. Go to www.newsreview.com/calendar and start posting events. Deadline for print listings is 10 days prior to the issue in which you wish the listing to appear.
THURSDAY 2/16
FRIDAY 2/17
BADLANDS
2003 K St., (916) 448-8790
Tipsy Thursdays, Top 40 deejay dancing, 9pm, call for cover
Fabulous and Gay Fridays, 9pm, call for cover
BLUE LAMP
The Session, 9pm, $5
HOODS, GIVE EM HELL, CRUSADES, LITE BRITE, STUCK, ILL ROOT; 9pm, $7 PLEAD THE FIFTH, UNION HEARTS; 8pm,
THE BOARDWALK
ANVIL, DEADLANDS, FORCE MULTI-
1400 Alhambra, (916) 455-3400
9426 Greenback Ln., Orangevale; (916) 988-9247 PLIED, WORK PROJECT; 8pm, $17-$20
BOWS AND ARROWS
The Hooded Cape Show fashion show, 9pm, call for cover
CAPITOL GARAGE
Champion Sound Reggae Night, 10pm, $5
1815 19 St., (916) 822-5668 1500 K St., (916) 444-3633
CENTER FOR THE ARTS CLUB 21
Sin Sunday, 8pm, call for cover
DANGEROUS SUMMER, WEATHERBOX, TEN SECOND EPIC; 7:30pm Tu, $10-$12 Wine tasting with Michele Herbert, 7pm Tu, no cover
THE COZMIC CAFÉ
Open-mic, 7:30pm, no cover
MAD COW STRING BAND, MERRYGOLD; 8pm, $10
DISTRICT 30
1016 K St., (916) 737-5770
DJs Ken Loi, Ray Tian and Ultraman, 9pm, call for cover
Flirt Fridays deejay dancing, 9pm, call for cover
DJ Danny Mijangos, 9pm, call for cover
FACES
Deejay dancing and karaoke, 9pm, $3
Hip-hop and Top 40 Deejay dancing, 9pm, $5-$10
Hip-hop and Top 40 Deejay dancing, 9pm, $5-$10
FOX & GOOSE
THE MIKE JUSTIS BAND, 8-11pm, no cover
CARLY DUHAIN, SEAN KYLCOYNE; 9pmmidnight, $5
SECRET LIVES OF SQUIRRELS, DEAD HORSES; 9pm, $5
THE NICKEL SLOTS, 10pm-1:15am, no cover
Dj Julius Pleaser, 10pm-1:15am, no cover
1001 R St., (916) 443-8825
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 2/20-2/22 Mad Mondays, M; Latin video flair and Wii bowling, 7pm Tu
SLAUGHTERBOX, BISPORA, JOURNAL, LYCANTHROPE; 7:30pm, call for cover
Salsa Fridays, 9pm, $5
1119 21st St., (916) 443-1537
2000 K St., (916) 448-7798
Want to be a hot show? Mail photos to Calendar Editor, SN&R, 1124 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95815 or email it to sactocalendar@ newsreview.com. Be sure to include date, time, location and cost of upcoming shows.
Saturday Boom, 9pm, call for cover
SUNDAY 2/19
Papasotes’s Karaoke Explosion, 9pm, no cover
Geeks Who Drink pub quiz, 8:30pm W, no cover
Latin music and Top 40, 9pm, $7
Big Band Swing DJ, 8-11pm Tu, $6; Top 40, R&B, House, 10pm W, $7
Dragalicious, 9pm, $5
Queer Idol, 9pm M, no cover; Latin night, 9pm Tu, $5; DJ Alazzawi, 9pm W, $3
ERIC BIBB, 8pm, $22-$25
314 W. Main St., Grass Valley; (530) 271-7000
594 Main St., Placerville; (530) 642-8481
Hey local bands!
ULI JON ROTH, JUDHEAD, BAD BOY EDDY, TWO NOOSES; 8pm, $15-$17
SATURDAY 2/18
G STREET WUNDERBAR 228 G St., Davis; (530) 756-9227
Open-mic, 7:30pm M; Pub Quiz, 7pm Tu; STEVE MCLANE, 8pm W, no cover
THE GOLDEN BEAR
DJ Shaun Slaughter, 10pm, call for cover
DJ Crook One, 10pm, call for cover
DJ Whores, 10pm, no cover
Industry Night, 9pm, call for cover
HARLOW’S
Sizzling Sirens Burlesque Review, 9pm, call for cover
CASH’D OUT, 7pm, $15-$18; ARDEN PARK ROOTS, 10pm, $10
THE DEAN-O-HOLICS, 7pm, $10; MUSICAL CHARIS, ZUHG; 9:30pm
FRED EAGLESMITH, 7pm, $22
JAVALOUNGE
2416 16th St., (916) 441-3945
GILLIAN UNDERWOOD & LONESOME DOVES, ALLYSON SECONDS; 8pm, $5
ENLOWS, THE MOANS, THE FOUR EYES; 8pm, $5
SIMPL3JACK, THE TREES; 4pm, $5; FOO- INSTAGON, CAT AND MOUSE TRIO, LS RUSH, STRANGE PARTY; 8pm, $5 RAW DATA; 7pm, $5
LEVEL UP FOOD & LOUNGE
Karaoke, 9pm, no cover
DJ Rock Bottom and The Mookie DJ, 9pm, no cover
LUNA’S CAFÉ & JUICE BAR
Joe Montoya’s Poetry Unplugged, 8pm, $2
BOSCOE’S BROOD, MIKEY LAPLANTE, KEATON NELSON; 8pm, $6
ROCCO, 9pm, $5
Nebraska Mondays, 7:30pm M, $5-$20; Comedy night, 8pm W, $6
MARILYN’S ON K
“Rock On” Live Band Karaoke, 9pm, no cover
THE ATHENS, THE GUVERNMENT; 9:30pm, $7
SECRETIONS, CITY OF VAIN, DUSTY GR-AVES; 3pm; Mardi Gras party, 9:30pm
EMMA HILL, BOB WOODS DUO; 8pm W, $5-$8
NAKED LOUNGE DOWNTOWN
THESE PAPER SATELLITES, MARTIN PURTILL, KYLE WILLIAMS; 8:30pm, $5
CARDIAC DRIFT, ACCORDION BABES; 8:30pm, $5
PICTURE ATLANTIC, COLD ESKIMO; 8:30pm, $5
2326 K St., (916) 441-2252 2708 J St., (916) 441-4693
2431 J St., (916) 448-8768
1414 16th St., (916) 441-3931 908 K St., (916) 446-4361 1111 H St., (916) 443-1927
Hip-hop and R&B deejay dancing, 9:16pm Tu, no cover
RAN, REDEMPTION 365, MISTAH VISTAH; Jazz session, 8:30pm M; SECURE 8:30pm, $5 SOUNDS, SLOW BURNS; 8:30pm W, $5
ThUrSdayS
rocK on live aoKe band Kar // KaraoKe // rocK-n-roll 9:30pm // no cover
frI 2/17
the athenS
the Guvernment
pop // rocK // powerpop // 9:30pm // $7
SaT 2/18
S mardi Gra de ball party maSquera 9:30pm // $20
TUES 2/21
ic open mic acouSt ShowcaSe // 8pm talent
wEd 2/22
emma hill bob woodS
acouStic // folK // blueS // 9pm // $5
ticKetS now on Sale For these upcoming shows at www.marilynsonk.com $3 TallbOy Pbr
UPCOMING EVENTS: 2/24 dennis Johnson and the mississippi ramblers 2/25 the diva kings
908 K Street // 916.446.4361
++Free parking aFter 6pm with validation @ 10th & l garage+ 36
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SN&R
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02.16.12
THURSDAY 2/16
FRIDAY 2/17
SATURDAY 2/18
OLD IRONSIDES
1901 10th St., (916) 442-3504
Acoustic bluegrass jam, 7:30pm, no cover
THE MIGHTY REGIS, KILL DEVIL, SANS SOBRIETY; 9pm, $5
SPIRIT OF SAINT LOUIS, MARCH INTO PARIS, RED VELVET KISS; 9pm, $5
THE PALMS PLAYHOUSE
RED WINE, 8pm, $20
MARK HUMMEL & THE BLUES SURVIVOSKYNNYN LYNNYRD, 8:30pm, $20 RS, LITTLE CHARLIE BATY; 8:30pm, $20
13 Main St., Winters; (530) 795-1825
THE PARK ULTRA LOUNGE 1116 15th St., (916) 442-7222
SUNDAY 2/19
DJ Gabe Xavier, DJ Scene, 9pm-2am, $15
DJ Peeti V, 9pm, call for cover
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 2/20-2/22 STRAPPED FOR CASH, NUANCE, M; Karaoke, 9pm Tu; Open-mic, 8:30pm W LAKE STREET DIVE, 8pm W, $15
Asylum Downtown: Gothic, industrial, EBM dancing, 9pm, call for cover
PARLARE EURO LOUNGE
Top 40, 9pm, no cover
Top 40, Mashups, 9pm, no cover
DJ Club mixes, 10pm, no cover
Top 40 dance mixes, 9pm W, no cover
PISTOL PETE’S
Karaoke, 9pm, no cover
WHODUNNIT, 9pm, $5
SLICK RICK & THE DAREDEVILS, 9pm, $5
Karaoke, 9pm W, no cover
PO’ BOYZ BAR & GRILL
Jam with Roharpo, no cover
POWERHOUSE PUB
CLIFF HUEY & THE 27 OUTLAWS, 9:30pm, call for cover
1009 10th St., (916) 448-8960
140 Harrison Ave., Auburn; (530) 885-5093 9580 Oak Avenue Pkwy., Folsom; (916) 987-2886
Blues Jam, no cover
Open-mic comedy, 9pm M; Jam with Dave Channell, 7pm Tu; Trivia, 7pm W DJ Alazzawi, DJ Rigatony, 10pm Tu, $3
CARAVANSERAI, 10pm, $10
AEROMYTH, 10pm, $10
MAXX CABELLO JR., SACRAMENTO BLUES REVUE, GUMBO STEW; 2pm, $10
THE PRESS CLUB
Top 40 w/ DJ Rue, 9pm, $5
Top 40 Night w/ DJ Larry Rodriguez, 9pm, $5
Sunday Night Soul Party, 9pm, $5
THE SHINE CAFÉ
1400 E St., (916) 551-1400
NATHAN DALE, JUSTIN FARREN, ZUHG; 8pm, $5
Retro-Union Dance Party, 7pm, call for cover
SOCIAL NIGHTCLUB
DJ Peeti-V, 9pm, call for cover
DJ Guzie, DJ JB, 9pm, call for cover
614 Sutter St., Folsom; (916) 355-8586 2030 P St., (916) 444-7914
1000 K St., (916) 443-9001
Open jazz jam w/ Jason Galbraith & Friends, Tu; Poetry With Legs, 7pm W
STONEY INN/ROCKIN RODEO
THE CHRIS GARDNER BAND, 10pm, $5
Country dancing, 7:30pm, no cover, $5 after 8pm
Country dancing, 7:30pm, no cover, $5 after 8pm
Country dance party, 8pm, no cover
Comedy open-mic, 8pm M; Barbecue and blues jam, karaoke, T, call for cover
TORCH CLUB
X TRIO, 5pm, no cover; HARLEY WHITE JR., AARON KING; 9pm, $5
PAILER AND FRATIS, 5:30-7:30pm, no cover; VOLKER STRIFLER, 9pm, $10
JOHNNY KNOX, 5pm, no cover; KAREN LOVELY, 9pm, $10
Blues jam, 5pm, no cover; LONESOME LOCOMOTIVE, 8pm, $5
ISLAND OF BLACK & WHITE, 9pm Tu, $4; KERI CARR BAND, 9pm W, $5
TOWNHOUSE LOUNGE
Live music and deejay dancing, 9pm, Free
No Secrets downstairs, and Record Club upstairs, 9pm, $5
Pop Freq w/ DJ XGVNR, 9pm, $5
Reggae Night: live music and deejays, 9pm, call for cover
Open-mic, 10pm M, no cover
BUCK FORD, 9pm, call for cover
DJ JoeJoe, 9pm, no cover
MAYDAY PARADE, WE THE KINGS, DOWNTOWN FICTION, ANARBOR; 6pm, $17
TOMORROWS BAD SEEDS, PACIFIC DUB, OFFICIAL RESPONSE; 6pm Tu, $12
GRAHAM VINSON, 2pm, no cover
Open-mic, 6-8pm Tu, no cover; DILLION WARNEK, 6pm W, no cover
1320 Del Paso Blvd., (916) 927-6023 904 15th St., (916) 443-2797 1517 21st St., (916) 613-7194
THE WRANGLER
8945 Grant Line Rd., Elk Grove; (916) 714-9911
Stuck with Lite Brite and Ill Root 9pm Saturday, $7. Blue Lamp Hip-hop and rock
All ages, all the time ACE OF SPADES
TESTAMENT, PRONG, WHITE MINORITIES, GARY BUSEY AMBER ALERT; 7pm
1417 R St., (916) 448-3300
CLUB RETRO
1529 Eureka Rd., Roseville; (916) 988-6606
KSERA, FROM INDIAN LAKES, WALES, BRAVE SEASON, LOVE IS; 7pm, $10-$12
ECLECTIC, CARDBOARD CUTOUT PERSONA, STEREO ECSTACY; 7pm, $10-$12
JERICHO COFFEE
JENN ROGAR, 7pm, no cover
ZUHG LIFE STORE
SARIAH, HANS, DAVE HARPE, THE BAR FLY EFFECT; 4pm, no cover
8711 Sierra College Blvd., Roseville; (916) 771-5726 545 Downtown Plaza, Ste. 2090, (916) 822-5185
Nakamoto ProductioNs PreseNts:
Voice Over
OPEN MIC NIGHT thurs. February 23rd, 7-9pm Read movie trailers, spots, promos, narrations and be directed.
ADMISSION ONLY $5! The besT value in voice Over Workshops in N. Cal!
MICHAEL TOBIAS, MANTRA; 1pm, no cover
ATTENTION TRAVELERS If you have made reservations with any of a large number of hotels in the last 10 months, you may be owed money damages for privacy violations. To learn more, call now:
Scot Bernstein Law Of fices of Scot D. Bernstein, A Professional Corporation 1(800)916-3500 toll free Free Confidential Consultation
WestOn HOuse RecORding 955 Venture ct, sacto. 95825 raynakamoto@att.net
BEFORE
KINGDOM OF GIANTS, THE WILL, THE WAY, LOOK ALIVE; 6:30pm, $10
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FRONTLINES
|
BEST
OF
SACRAMENTO
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Carly Duhain with Sean Kylcoyne 9pm Friday, $5. Fox & Goose Acoustic rock and blues
2012 TAX LAW CHANGES THAT AFFECT YOU!
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A RT S & C U LT U R E
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WWW.TAXLEARN.COM
AFTER
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02.16.12
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SN&R
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37
Online ads are free. Print ads start at $6/wk. www.newsreview.com or (916) 498-1234 ext. 5
*Nominal fee for adult entertainment. All advertising is subject to the newspaper’s Standards of Acceptance. Further, the News & Review specifically reserves the right to edit, decline or properly classify any ad. Errors will be rectified by re-publication upon notification. The N&R is not responsible for error after the first publication. The N&R assumes no financial liability for errors or omission of copy. In any event, liability shall not exceed the cost of the space occupied by such an error or omission. The advertiser and not the newspaper assumes full responsibility for the truthful content of their advertising message.
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GENERAL $$$HELP WANTED$$$ Extra Income! Assembling CD cases from Home! No Experience Necessary! Call our Live Operators Now! 800-405-7619 EXT 2450 www.easywork-greatpay.com (AAN CAN)
If you are not afraid to speak in front of small groups and want unlimited income potential call 800-961-0199 Hal Faresh RVP Legal Shield Independent Associate Career Training: AIRLINES ARE HIRING- Train for hands on Aviation Career. FAA approved program. Financial aid if qualified- Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance 888-242-3214 toll free. CH2M Hill, Inc. global leader in full-service engineering, construction, and operation, has opening for a Water Engineer (Job Code 83555) in Sacramento, CA, to provide engineering services on water resources engineering and modeling projects. Send resume to: CH2M Hill, Attn: Lisa Vatnsdal, 9191 South Jamaica St., Englewood, CO 80112. Must reference job code.
TRADITIONAL THAI MASSAGE
GUITAR/PIANO-KEYBOARD-DRUMS-HARMONICA/VOCALS LESSONS. Easy (by ear) method guaranteed. Very exp./credentialed teacher. 454-0265 Learn Sax or Clairnet from experienced professional player and CA credential teacher. Positive no-pressure method. Any age, any level. Horn rental avail. 530-889-2310.
Midtown Studios/1 bedroom available now. Gated/ pool/laundry. Studios $625/ month $300 securty. 1 bed $650/month $300 security. 916-448-9250 Newly Remodeled 2bd/1ba Wheelchair access optional, Garden Hwy area, FREE wash & dry, Sec. 8 ok, Pay dep. in 3 mo. 6 month utility allowance. $799-$825/mo. 916-551-1208
Now Booking Appointments for back-up singers. Smooth Jazz band listening for 1 man & 1 woman to complete band. For more info call 916-362-1983 Wanted: talented female guitarist to play in a big band, rock & roll and big band jazz standards. Call Adrian 916-568-7668
INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE Wanted Older Guitars! Martin, Fender, Gibson. Also older Fender amps. Pay up to $2,000. 916-966-1900
russian massage
Jason Shimomura CMT 601-1292 (9am-9pm daily)
First relax in a warm sauna. Then, take a warm shower followed by a soothing massage. 50% off with this ad. For appointments call before 8pm. Hours: 10am-10pm. 916-372-7334 916-599-9588
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Delightful 2 or 4 hands! Private upscale new home w/ shower. By Appointment Only in Fair Oaks. Special rates for seniors *82-916-961-3830
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DRUG PROBLEM? Narcotics Anonymous Can Help. 1-800-600-HOPE (4673)
Impound Cars for Sale ‘97 Pontiac Grand Prix $1950 ‘96 Nissan Altima $2650 ‘06 Chevy Trailblazer $9800 ‘94 Toyota Camry $1250 ‘01 Chrysler Sebring $3950 ‘91 Honda Accord $1350 ‘98 Ford Windstar $1450 www.T-RexTowing.com 916-332-6995
Men’s 12-Step Transitional Living Wi-Fi, Cable TV, Laundry & food incl. $550/mo, Contact Eric 916-519-7227 Notice of caution to our Readers! Whenever doing business by telephone or email proceed with caution when cash or credit is required in advance of services.
The Cabin
Couples Massage Sauna & Spa Yoga Classes
PETS NEEDING A HOME
$40 1-hour
Yorkie-Poo Puppies Ready NOW 13 weeks old 1 female, 2 males Toy Yorkie-Poos. Excellent health, shed-Free,and cuddley! Jill 916-416-7418
916-729-0103 Chinese full body massage. Natomas area (916-568-9463) appt only.
The Best
Relaxing Massage Call 804-1464
Cabin In The Sky Restaurant/Bar Historic Gold Hill-NV, $289K, Mike RAMOS, 6512 S. McCarran Blvd., Suite A, Reno, NV 89509. Direct: 775-3366347, Text: 775-250-9663.
ROOMS FOR RENT ALL AREAS ROOMMATES.COM. Browse hundreds of online listings with photos and maps. Find your roommate with a click of the mouse! Visit: http:// www.Roommates.com. (AAN CAN)
ITEMS FOR SALE Vernon’s Computers Sales & Service. Repairs, upgrades, virus removal, etc. 24/7, low prices. 916-339-3738
YOGA
COMMERCIAL SPACES
YOGA CLASSES Mon/Thu Night. Beginning-Intermediate
WANTED TO BUY
916-729-0103
FAMILY PLANNING PREGNANT? CONSIDERING ADOPTION? Talk with caring agency specializing in matching Birthmothers with Families nationwide. LIVING EXPENSES PAID. Call 24/7 Abby’s One True Gift Adoptions 866-413-6293 (AAN CAN)
METAPHYSICAL Awesome Psychic Reader $10 Special 35 years exp, specializing in all matters of life. Types of readings: Psychic, Tarot Cards & Palm. Avail for parties. 916-365-6769
ine
more mind body & spirit onl
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Land Park Healing Massage
New Prius Are Here! 50 MPG, best warrantee, 2 year service free, call Lee McKim, Hybrid Specialist, at 530-354-7782 at Chuck Patterson Toyota.
SPORT UTILITY
Massage Therapy
TOWNHOUSE RENTALS
Heartfelt Songwriter looking for musicians or band to play and share his music. Mark 916-220-1678
CASH FOR CARS: Any Car/Truck. Running or Not! Top Dollar Paid. We Come To You! Call For Instant Offer: 1-888-420-3808 www.cash4car.com (AAN CAN)
2005 Jeep Liberty 103K mi, good condition, automatic transmission , gray ext &gray int clean title, call/txt for more info. 971-270-2037 $4600
PARTS, SERVICE AND REPAIR Cash for Cars Up to $1000. No title needed. All makes & models. Free towing. 916-760-8094 Cash for Cars Same day free pick up. Cash on the spot. 916-992-5447
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Therapy Heaven
38 | SN&R | 02.16.12
Purrfect Massage
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Low Rent Low Deposit 1 & 2 bd, starting at $595/mo, $200 dep., central heat & air, dishwasher. $10 for credit check. Ask about current rental special. Small pets welcome no dep req. 916-971-1283 Sec-8 Certified Complex
Bass Guitar Lessons 15 years exp, $20/hr. 916-338-3839
Florin Area 2bd/2ba Townhouse 1500 sqft, 2 car garage, ready to move in, $1200/mo, $800 dep. 530-370-2209
Nuad Thai Massage
ApHINyA Licensed CMT
Oriental Magic Hands
WANTED FREE GUITARS Will pick-up 916-338-3839
Thai 1 hour $50 SwediSh 90 mins $70 deep TiSSue 2 hours $90 1321 25th St Sacramento 95816 (916) 600-9798 By Appt Only
1 Bedroom Upper Apartment CH&A, fireplace, off street parking, nice small complex, 1814 V st. $695/mo $300 916-482-7368
Troy’s Guitar Shop & Wood Shop Building electric guitars, restore fix & repair, new & used. 916-338-3839
ACTORS/MOVIE EXTRAS Needed immediately for upcoming roles $150-$300/day depending on job requirements. No experience, all looks. 1-800-560-8672 A-109. For casting times/ locations. (AAN CAN)
AS SEEN IN CAREER BUILDER.COM
Anyone Can Play Piano Studio - Natomas To find out more call Katie at 415-272-7581. Mention this ad and get 30% of your first month of lessons!
(corner of Sunrise & Madison)
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Sacramento
Sun Day Spa 9am-9pm 7 days a week
7843 Madison Ave Citrus Heights
916.966.3288
A new ballot in itiative could b ring back great Sacramento m edical-marijuan a collectives by Ngaio Bealu m
February 16, 2012
A weekly look at medical cannabis in the Sacramento region
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The 420
65th St
february 16, 2012
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter: @sacstertweets & receive our frequent BOGO alerts
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PHYSICIANS
Northrop
ATTENTION Sacramento
READERS
In the 02/09/12 issue of The 420, The Farmer’s Daughter was listed erroneously under the header of ‘Dispensaries’ in our Advertiser’s Index. The Farmer’s Daughter is not a medical marijuana dispensary but serves as an organic restaurant & cafe.
We apologize for any misunderstanding.
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VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT ONLINE 24/7 AT www.SacramentoCannabisCard.com or www.Sac420Doc.com
A weekly look at medical cannabis in the Sacramento region
OPEN SUND ON AYS 12–5 ! The 420
february 16, 2012
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4391 GRANITE DRIVE, ROCKLIN, CA 95677 3127 FITE CIRCLE, SUITE E, SACRAMENTO, CA 95827 916.GROW BIZ (916.476.9249) M-F 10-7 SAT 11-7 SUN 12-6 LARGEST INVENTORY • LOWEST PRICES • KNOWLEDGABLE STAFF 4
february 16, 2012
The 420
The 420
New ballot initia tive could bring back medical-mariju ana collectives
by Ngaio Bealum
to Regulated Cannabis—have a website Remember last summer? There were (www.csparc.org) and have already filed at least 80 medical-cannabis-dispensing the initiative and are now awaiting county collectives in Sacramento County— approval to begin gathering signatures. maybe more. The board of supervisors “We are looking to gather 80,000 was working on a regulatory plan. People signatures, although we only need had jobs, patients had medicine—the 57,000,” Martin said. “We did our best to overall industry seemed to be doing great. make this initiative very reasonable.” Then came the county’s plan to shut Gathering signatures may be difficult. down its clubs. And later, the federal As a grassroots movement, CSPARC crackdown on medical cannabis. And doesn’t have much money and will be after that, the county’s decision to finally relying on a team of volunteers to obtain pass a de facto ban on all cannabis the necessary signatures. collectives. “We hope to find 80 dedicated people All of a sudden, gone. who will gather an average of 1,000 Kimberly Cargile and Mickey signatures each,” Martin explained. “We may Martin want to change this. have an award of some sort for the person The duo, two longtime cannabis who gathers the most signatures, but this is activists, is looking to pass a ballot all still in development with the board.” measure that would bring cannabis And, even if they make it to the ballot, dispensaries back to Sacramento County. there is no guarantee this initiative will pass. “This initiative is a way for Sac Way back in 1996, the voters County MMJ patients and of Sacramento County citizens to demand that passed Proposition 215, local government the initiative legalizing follow state law,” “This initiative medical marijuana explained Cargile, in California, with who’s worked for is a way for S a c C o 53.8 percent of Americans for u n ty MMJ patients the vote. Safe Access. and citizens to demand tha More She added t local recently, that the new government fo llow however, 2010’s initiative will state law.” Proposition 19, increase ways which would have for Sacramentans Kimberly legalized cannabis on the Patient Ac Cargile to safely and cess Medical Cannab to Regulated for all uses, failed in legally obtain is Act of 2012 the county by a wide medical cannabis, margin, with 58 percent “a right patients were voting against. given under [Proposition] The cannabis community 215 many years ago.” thinks there should be few, if any, problems Cargile says her first choice was getting voters to approve this measure. to work with the county to craft an “I think it will definitely pass,” said ordinance, as was planned. But “they have Amir Daliri of The California Cannabis turned their backs on us,” she said, “and Association. “They should have great we have no other choice but to stand up support from the voters.” for our rights, and take matters into our He did concede that there could own hands.” be “push back” from political forces, The Patient Access to Regulated however, especially because, he says, “the Medical Cannabis Act of 2012 would county board of supervisors were the ones aim to bring cannabis clubs back to that called in the Feds back in October.” Sacramento County, albeit on a smaller Don Duncan, California director with scale. The details include: medical-cannabis advocacy group Americans 1. Allowing cannabis dispensaries for Safe Access, said he hadn’t seen a copy in the county at the rate of one club per of the initiative, but that “ASA supports local every 25,000 residents. This would create communities in their efforts to ensure safe 20 to 25 new dispensaries, as opposed to access for medical cannabis patients.” the 80 to 100 clubs that existed before. Martin is confident. “It will pass, 2. Tax all cannabis sales at 4 percent. because people do not think patients should This tax is comparable to the tax on cannabis levied by the city of Sacramento. have to leave their community to find medicine,” he argued. “And they believe 3. Place limits on the types of the county should receive the benefits of advertising cannabis dispensaries can the taxes imposed, which are currently use. No more monster-sized pot leaves or leaving their community. cartoons or pinup girls. “In a time when we are cutting budgets 4. Mandate that all medical-cannabis dispensaries in the county be at least 1,000 for infrastructure, education and health care, people understand that a reasonable feet from all schools, parks or youthdispensary system that can provide oriented facilities. Cargile and Martin—working together added resources will be a positive for the community.” as the Committee for Safe Patient Access
A weekly look at medical cannabis in the Sacramento region
The 420
february 16, 2012
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A weekly look at medical cannabis in the Sacramento region
The 420
february 16, 2012
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by ROB BREZSNY
FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 16, 2012
ARIES (March 21-April 19): What do you
typically do just before you fall asleep and right after you wake up? Those rituals are important for your mental health. Without exaggeration, you could say they are sacred times when you’re poised in the threshold between the two great dimensions of your life. I’ll ask you to give special care and attention to those transitions in the coming week. As much as possible, avoid watching TV or surfing the Internet right up to the moment you turn off the light, and don’t leap out of bed the instant an alarm clock detonates. The astrological omens suggest you are primed to receive special revelations, even ringing epiphanies, while in those in-between states.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Have you
ever gazed into the eyes of goats? If you have, you know that their pupils are rectangular when dilated. This quirk allows them to have a field of vision that extends as far as 340 degrees, as opposed to humans’ puny 160-210 degrees. They can also see better at night than we can. Goats are your power animal in the coming week, Taurus. Metaphorically speaking, you will have an excellent chance to expand your breadth and depth of vision. Do you have any blind spots that need to be illuminated? Now’s the time to make that happen.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In the ani-
mated film The Lion King, two of the central characters are a talking meerkat named Timon and a talking warthog named Pumbaa. Their actions are often heroic. They help the star of the tale, Simba, rise to his rightful role as king. The human actors who provided the voices for Timon and Pumbaa, Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella, originally auditioned for the lesser roles of hyenas. They set their sights too low. Fortunately, fate conspired to give them more than what they asked for. Don’t start out as they did, Gemini. Aim high right from the beginning—not for the bit part or the minor role but rather for the catalyst who actually gets things done.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): “He who is
outside his door already has a hard part of his journey behind him,” says a Dutch proverb. Ancient Roman writer Marcus Terentius Varro articulated a similar idea: “The longest part of the journey is said to be the passing of the gate.” I hope these serve as words of encouragement for you, Cancerian. You’ve got a quest ahead of you. At its best, it will involve freewheeling exploration and unpredictable discoveries. If you can get started in a timely manner, you’ll set an excellent tone for the adventures. Don’t procrastinate.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You’re so close to
finding a fresh perspective that would allow you to outmaneuver an old torment, Leo. You’re on the verge of breaking through a wall of illusion that has sealed you off from some very interesting truths. In the hope of providing you with the last little push that will take you the rest of the way, I offer two related insights from creativity specialist Roger von Oech: 1. If you get too fixated on solving a certain problem, you may fail to notice a new opportunity that arises outside the context of that problem. 2. If you intensify your focus by looking twice as hard at a situation that’s right in front of you, you will be less likely to see a good idea that’s right behind you.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Thirty-two
carrier pigeons were awarded medals by the United Kingdom for their meritorious service in the World Wars. Of course, they probably would have preferred sunflower seeds and peanuts as their prize. Let that lesson guide you as you bestow blessings on the people and animals that have done so much for you, Virgo. Give them goodies they would actually love to receive, not meaningless gold stars or abstract accolades. It’s time to honor and reward your supporters with practical actions that suit them well.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The caterpillar-
to-butterfly transformation is such an iconic symbol of metamorphosis that it has become a cliché. And yet I’d like to point out that when the graceful winged creature emerges from its chrysalis, it never grows any further. We human beings, on the other
BEFORE
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hand, are asked to be in a lifelong state of metamorphosis, continually adjusting and shifting to meet our changing circumstances. I’ll go so far as to say that having a readiness to be in continual transformation is one of the most beautiful qualities a person can have. Are you interested in cultivating more of that capacity, Libra? Now would be an excellent time to do so. Remember that line by Bob Dylan: “That he not busy being born is busy dying.”
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): This would
be an excellent time to round up a slew of new role models. In my astrological opinion, you need to feel far more than your usual levels of admiration for exceptional human beings. You’re in a phase when you could derive tremendous inspiration by closely observing masters and virtuosos and pros who are doing what you would like to do. For that matter, your mental and spiritual health would be profoundly enhanced by studying anyone who has found what he or she was born to do and is doing it with liberated flair.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
WD-40 is a spray product that prevents corrosion, loosens stuck hinges, removes hard-to-get-at dirt and has several other uses. Its inventor, Norm Larsen, tried 39 different formulas before finding the precisely right combination of ingredients on his 40th attempt. The way I understand your life right now, Sagittarius, is that you are like Larsen when he was working with version number 37. You’re getting closer to creating a viable method for achieving your next success. That’s why I urge you to be patient and determined as you continue to tinker and experiment. Don’t keep trying the same formula that didn’t quite work before. Open your mind to the possibility that you have not yet discovered at least one of the integral components.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A
person who emits a huge angry shout produces just .001 watt of energy. Even if he or she yelled continuously 24-seven, it would still take a year and nine months to produce enough energy to heat a cup of coffee. That’s one way to metaphorically illustrate my bigger point, which is that making a dramatic show of emotional agitation may feel powerful but is often a sign of weakness. Please take this to heart in the coming week, Capricorn. If you do fall prey to a frothy eruption of tumultuous feelings, use all of your considerable willpower to maintain your poise. Better yet, abort the tumult before it detonates. This is one time when repressing negative feelings will be healthy, wealthy and wise.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Jeep
vehicles always feature seven slots on their front grilles. Why? For the manufacturer, it’s a symbolic statement proclaiming the fact that Jeep was the first vehicle driven on all seven continents. Let’s take that as your cue, Aquarius. Your assignment is to pick an accomplishment you’re really proud of and turn it into an emblem, image, glyph or talisman that you can wear or express. If nothing else, draw it on dusty car windows, write it on bathroom walls or add it to a Facebook status update. The key thing is that you use a public forum to celebrate yourself for a significant success, even if it’s in a modest or mysterious way.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A sign out-
side the Apostolic Bible Church in Bathurst, New Brunswick, invited worshipers to meditate on a conundrum: “Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitoes?” After all, if the builder of the Ark had refused to help the pesky insects survive the flood, we’d be free of their torment today. (Or so the allegorical argument goes.) Please apply this lesson to a situation in your own sphere, Pisces. As you journey to your new world, leave the vexatious elements behind.
You can call Rob Brezsny for your Expanded Weekly Horoscope: (900) 950-7700. $1.99 per minute. Must be 18+. Touchtone phone required. Customer service (612) 373-9785. And don’t forget to check out Rob’s website at www.realastrology.com.
FRONTLINES
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FEATURE
15 MINUTES The candy man
by BECKY
GRUNEWALD
PHOTO BY SALVADOR OCHOA
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
There are a few places to get oldtime candy in Old Sacramento, but Candy Heaven, located at 1201 Front Street, stands out. Chalk it up to the store’s staggering variety of more than 1,000 candies, its unsettling toy clowns and the lanky Willy Wonkaesque proprietor Darrin Kreb. Kreb constantly interacts with his customers—handing out free samples or jokingly telling kids that the store is closed. His cartoon visage even adorns the Candy Heaven tote bags.
How did you come to own this business? I used to work for another candy store for a couple of years, and I liked what I was doing, so I quit and opened my own. I just kind of threw it together in 30 days, and it’s been a big success. So I got very lucky. … In two months it will be 10 years.
Why Old Sacramento? I just love the touristy kind of people down here. It’s a great place to be. I’m from Yuba City, but I’ve been in Sacramento for 20 years.
Do you interact with the tourists a lot? Oh yeah, I’m hands-on. I love to clown around with people and talk them into superhot candies and sour candies and chocolate-covered insects and stuff. It’s fun.
What kind of international tourists do you get?
How much candy do you eat in a given month?
the clowns off and bring them up here and show them it’s not real.
Not that much. It kind of ruins it when you own it, I think. I pretty much don’t eat any candy at all. Every once in a while I’ll eat one of the Neopolitans. That’s my favorite.
Have any celebrities visited Candy Heaven?
We get [tourists] from all over the place. Australia, Europe, just everywhere.
Do people abuse the free-sample policy?
What are some of your best-selling candies?
They do. We try to be as nice as we can, and tell them it’s just a couple of samples, but some people like to try to come in here and go to town. Some people think it’s a game, and they really try to go for it. You try to be as nice as you can, within reason. For the most part, people are good about it, but you get the few who try to take advantage.
The nostalgic candies are the top sellers. The Walnettos, Mary Janes, the taffy and the [Big Tex Hot-N-Spicy jelly beans] are a big hit.
Do you notice candy trends? Sour candies are a real big hit right now. I like to give out samples of the Toxic Waste to people who come in, watch their faces twist up.
Is there a candy here that you would never eat or haven’t tried? Yes, the insects. I haven’t tried that. All my employees have tried them, but I can’t do it. People have tried to get me to do it over and over again, but I just can’t. … It smells like death.
What insects do you have? Chocolate-covered insects. I give out samples to everybody. I’ve been doing that for years. And we have chocolate scorpions and chocolate meal worms. We have a whole little section of bug candy.
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A RT S & C U LT U R E
What’s the biggest candy purchase you’ve seen someone make? About $750 doing a candy bar for a wedding. … It happens all the time.
Tell me about the terrifying clowns. I like to clown around, so I thought the clowns would be a great part of it all. When I’m down there, it’s like a stage for me. I like to have a good time with people. When I’m at work I’m like that, but when I’m at home I’m an introvert. I like to have a good time and see other people have a good time, too.
Do kids ever freak out when they see the clowns?
We’ve had a lot of celebs come in, a lot of the Kings players. Arnold Schwarzenegger came in here quite a few times. He liked the Australian licorice. His wife and kids have been in here many times.
Seems like candy is a recession-proof business. It’s very recession-proof. We’re doing so well, we expanded the store six months ago. We added a chocolate counter and made more room to expand and get more candies.
At the end of the interview, Kreb had a change of heart and decided he would eat a chocolate-covered scorpion for the first time, as long as the reporter ate one, too. I’ve never eaten a bug before—knowingly. I’m going to do this for the Sacramento News & Review only. One, two, three. Oh my God!
What do you think? I think it just tastes like chocolate. Thank God. It doesn’t taste like scorpion. Think about the guts and eyeballs we’re eating! Oh, and the pinchers! It will never happen again. Only for News & Review! Ω
They do. Some kids won’t come in because of the clowns. Sometimes we have to turn |
AFTER
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02 . 16.12
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SN&R
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LIVE MUSIC • ENTERTAINMENT FOOD AND DRINK SPECIALS
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TO ORDER TICKETS, VISIT WWW.OLDSACRAMENTO.COM