Joshua Tree Tortoise Telegraph, August 2016

Three Wishes granted this summer

In this issue: jesika von rabbit has friends in low places—and everywhere else

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ummer brings not only debilitating heat and desperate longings for road trips to the beach, but it’s also the time for summer youth theater programs across the hi-desert. We’re blessed with two exceptional opportunities every summer for our area’s kids to get their actor on and participate in theater productions, no matter their age.

Joshua Tree’s Hi-Desert Cultural Center’s Summer Youth Theater produced Shrek the Musical Jr. (Was there a senior?), while Theatre 29’s Summer Youth Theater Program featured Disney’s Aladdin Jr. Evidently, Disney Jr. owns youth theater.

Both programs concluded in August with every performance sold out. The Theatre 29 program, which ran Mondays through Fridays for five weeks, saw more than 80 young and adult volunteers participate, with two groups of 32 kids each in two age groups. Students were given instruction in various facets of live theater production, from the audition process and rehearsal cycle, and costuming, to an all-day makeup lesson with a professional makeup artist, music, choreography, and theater etiquette, which all culminated in a series of performances.

“Through this remarkable program, Theatre 29 is making a real impact on the lives of the children involved,” a theatre spokesperson noted. “We are not training performers; we are training audiences. After these kids have experienced all of the effort that it takes to mount a play, they will appreciate, and in many cases, participate in, the live arts for the rest of their lives.”

“All I can say is that I was in TEARS!,” wrote one happy grandma (it is our firm opinion all grandmas should be happy—they’ve earned it). “Both from laughing and just being overwhelmed by the emotion that these cast of kids were able to evoke! Everyone did an amazing job!

My granddaughter was in this and I saw a change in her spirit and self-esteem as she began rehearsing. What an amazing program for the young people of our desert!

THANK YOU! to all of the hard working folks that help put these on!”

“I know my son will never forget being a part of the plays that the volunteers work so hard on and spend so much of their personal time on,” noted the father of one of Theatre 29’s participants. “I know it takes many people and I am grateful for all of them and just want to say thank you and I appreciate you and all you do; you have made a difference in my son’s life.”

Theatre 29’s program was supported by grants from the City of Twentynine Palms and U.S. Bank. The organization, which, according to GuideStar recently had its tax exempt status revoked for not filing the proper paperwork for the past three years (but should see that remedied in the near future), is preparing for a new production, The Secret Garden, The Musical (no Jr.), which opens August 26, and plans to announce its 2017 season at a special event from 5 to 7 p.m., September 15 at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center.

Meanwhile, over in Joshua Tree, the Hi-Desert Cultural Center’s program under the tutelage of director Howard Shangraw and Nelms McKelvain, kids from grades three through 12 put in the hard work and dedication necessary to pull off a successful theatrical production.

The Tortoise would like to congratulate all the students, adult volunteers, instructors, organizers, sponsors, and supporters of these superb programs for our youth! Thank you!

Have a hi-desert photo or story you’d like to share with our readers? Send it to us at: tortoisetelegraph@gmail. The Tortoise would love to hear from you!

the spiritual journey of Bhakti/Shakti fest founder sridhar silberfein

Death Valley Jim takes us to explore barry storm’s alien jade mine

help stop vandalism and theft in our national parks - put the national park service tipline number in your cell phone: 888-653-0009 Stay in touch with the Tortoise! www.jttortoisetelegraph.com

keep it real. happy 100th birthday national parks!

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Tortoise Talk -

Jesika von rabbit the journey continues

By Steve Brown

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he hi-desert music scene was eclectic and informal and frequently inspiring back in the early days of the 21st century. It seems like such a long time since the days of Bira hosting his freewheeling live local radio shows on KJET FM, the Beatnik’s constant stream of local, and sometimes international, talent coming through, of Shawn Mafia,Ted Quinn, Kitty Cash, and so many others. The Joshua Tree Music Festival was yet to arrive on scene, but Gram Fest brought the Hi-Desert Playhouse to life.

Then, there was the appearance of a band I caught one night playing what seemed to be mostly Gram Parsons covers, over at Crossroads. A bunch of us mostly stood around in the darkness taking it all in. Not too long after (or at least it doesn’t seem too long now, years later), the band, Gram Rabbit, was putting out their first album, Music to Start a Cult To, and I interviewed them for a feature. It was 2004.

The album was, and remains, one of my favorite desert albums, and should have an honored place in every desert music collection. Right from the beginning, with the gritty acoustics of Dirty Horse, Gram Rabbit cemented their place as the successors to Parsons’ Joshua Tree legacy, while at the same time they began introducing the electronic element that has been part of their sound ever since. If you haven’t driven through the hi-desert night with this album blasting, windows down, well, what are you waiting for?

The band, with its rabbit ear-wearing posse of fans, The Royal Order of Rabbits, quickly expanded its popularity across the hi-desert and beyond. The journey was underway.

Gram Rabbit evolved, as bands do, the one constant being founders Todd Rutherford and, of course, the unforgettable Jesika von Rabbit. After numerous albums and around 30 licenses for their music’s use in Hollywood films (Crazy, Stupid Love, War, Inc., and Interview), TV (CSI, The Real World, Sons of Anarchy, Crash, and others), and commercials (Kyocera, Fruit of the Loom), Gram Rabbit went on a hiatus (though not entirely—the annual Grim Rabbit Halloween weekend performance remains a staple of October’s offerings up at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, and Rutherford & Rabbit perform from time to time).

It was time for Jesika von Rabbit to go on. On her own.

Realizing it had been 12 years since our last real talk, Jesika and I recently sat down at the 29 Palms Inn to catch up on her album, Journey Mitchell, her music videos, and where she goes from here. It was as much fun as I thought it would be.

JTTT: I always envisioned you just appearing in the desert. I could not imagine the Jesika before.

JVR: I did. I fell out of a spaceship.

JTTT: I could see driving out 62, somewhere around Rice, when there’s this beam, and... there you are.

That’s pretty much how it happened.

JTTT: But what’s the cover story?

I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I lived there until I was 18. After I graduated high school I moved to Minneapolis and started playing in bands in Minneapolis. I was in a band there called the Minx and we kind of became the cool buzz band in Minneapolis and that was really fun and we were having a great time. But I kind of started to feel like I didn’t know where it was going to go and I didn’t want to be stuck in the Midwest. I wanted to move out farther before I got stuck there. So I moved to Los Angeles.

I was in LA for a couple of years and had a couple of friends rent a house out in Joshua Tree and invited me out, and long story short, I really liked Joshua Tree and felt like it would suit me better and be easier for me to craft my music and live a little cheaper.

I also thought it was just strange and magnetic and calling to me too. So that’s how I got out here.

JTTT: While I always think of you as just appearing out here in the desert, I have to wonder, what were you like as a little girl? Do we want to know?

(Jesika pulls up photos of her as a little girl, including a photo of her with the KISS album Destroyer in front of the Christmas tree, and in fourth grade in her new wave/punk rock outfit.)

JVR: I loved music from the time I was little. My mother was a singer. She sang in cover bands all my life. She did some jingles, radio jingles, locally, while I was growing up. I took piano lessons for 12 years and I only remember half of the theory now. But I can still read music.

My Mom started me on piano lessons the first day of first grade. I really enjoyed it and stuck with it. I grew up watching MTV when it first came out.

I was in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and the whole time I was young I fantasized about being in a big city. I wish I would have been born in like Chicago, or New York, or LA. I couldn’t wait to get out of there, even as a young girl. I dreamt about bigger and better

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places and music, and fashion, and art. I was always kind of a fish out of water where I grew up. It was very Midwestern— football and hunting.

JTTT: I just read something about Wisconsin being the drunkest state in the union.

JVR: Yeah, that’s awesome. That’s something I had to work myself out of. Not in my family. Drinking is a way of life there. Anyway, I loved music and I couldn’t wait to get out.

JTTT: You got to LA when?

JVR: I don’t know. Like ‘96, ‘97.

JTTT: I remember the first time I saw Gram Rabbit, you guys were playing at Crossroads and you guys were doing Gram Parsons songs and it was pretty acoustic based, but there were the beginnings of that Gram Rabbit sound.

JVR: When Todd and I met, we kind of bonded and got to know each other through Gram Parsons music. He moved down from San Francisco because he heard me sing in the garage out here and he really liked what he heard. He came down, he was getting kind of sick of the city and was friends with my roommate and we were talking of making a band.

Anyway, he moved down and he wanted to make music with me, more than I even realized that he did, and he knew all these Gram Parsons songs that I didn’t really know, and so him and I at night we’d go out in this detached garage where we lived and sing all these Emmy Lou (Harris), Gram duets. That’s when I was like, wow, I sing country stuff pretty good and I never was really into this kind of stuff. I kind of like doing this because I’m pretty good at it, and they’re pretty songs and Gram’s got his history here.

Both of us, our voices blended so well together and it was an interesting new thing, so we decided to play at Crossroads on the anniversary of Gram’s death, and Todd and I had learned all these songs and we decided to play them that night and we wanted a name for ourselves that night and Todd thought of the Gram Rabbit Experience, from Gram Parsons and Jesika Rabbit, and experience. That’s how we got our name - playing that Gram Parsons night and coming up with that.

The name just felt right and stuck and we dropped the experience part and continued on our musical relationship. We both had all these other demos and ideas we were sitting on and we slowly shared them with each other and realized we need to start a real band, not a cover band. Let’s do this. It happened pretty quick and we made a good demo record and we were getting booked in LA, we were getting attention pretty quickly, and got a little record deal with a company in New York, and not long after played Coachella and all kinds of crazy stuff.

JTTT: What is the status of Gram Rabbit now?

JVR: We were together a long time, and we’re not necessarily done. But we were going to take a little break, and other people have other things they want to do.

Todd produced my record with me, he’s working on some songs with this artist from Los Angeles. He’s producing a little bit. Actually Gram Rabbit’s going to spend a week in LA, next week, hang out with our guitar player and producer and see what happens, work on possibly a new song, and have a new song or two to play at our Pappy’s gig for Halloween. We still do that.

Last year we did a few dates with Eagles of Death Metal. I did three weeks with them with just my solo act, then Gram Rabbit joined in for some southern California dates. We’re not like, over, it’s always kind of dangling there.

Sometimes keeping four people in a band on the same page, schedules and fashion and everyone’s goals...

JTTT: Internal politics and everyone wanting to kill each other...

JVR: Exactly. So everyone in Gram Rabbit, we’re all still great friends, we love each other, and we’re still into doing music together. Ethan, our guitar player, is in LA, and he’s a busy producer. We’re going to be together next week and we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, I’ll be doing my JVR thing. I hate to call it solo because I have a bass player and a couple of dancers and may possibly be adding drums. I don’t like being solo, I like being in a band.

Gram Rabbit took a break, and I decided to keep going, so I started writing, and wanted to keep playing out, and all I really had was me. I met Lee Joseph, he became my bass player, and maybe I’ll talk to some drummers. It was never that I wanted to go solo, I just wanted to keep going. I’m out here in the desert and there’s not a lot of people to do stuff with and it’s also just easier being a one or two person band. I hate saying, “my solo act,” or “I went solo.” I just kept going.

JTTT: That album’s really different. You haven’t stayed in a niche long enough for it to become a rut.

JVR: Or for anyone to catch on to it.

JTTT: There’s some of that too.

JVR: There’s a lot of Gram Rabbit songs that are electronic and dancey. Which I probably wrote those, and Todd a little bit too, slightly different than me, a little bit more beautiful. But Gram Rabbit had a dancey aspect to it, I guess that’s just me doing that. I wanted to make a fun record, something people would put on at a party, a dancey party record.

He co-produced that record with me. Basically, I wrote and recorded it all and he came in and made everything sound better. He added some parts, mixed it - fresh ears.

JTTT: The Spice Girls thing, I loved.

JVR: Oh yeah, I loved making that video. That’s like the fourth video I’ve shot now with this director, Jessica Janos, the team of Jessicas.

This low desert musician, John Merrick, who’s really good, he asked me if I would be in one of his videos, he wanted a video chick, and he’d pay me a couple hundred bucks, so why not. I went down to be in his video and the woman shooting his video was his cousin Jessica. Her and I met and kind of clicked and I said I had a whole new record and needed some videos and next thing I know, she’s out at my house in the desert and we’re planning the Psychic Spice video and we’re shooting it. Ever since, we’ve been working together and having a great time.

So we just shot another video in LA about three weeks ago for this ridiculous song I have coming out called I’m a Dog at a Human Party.

JTTT: And the inspiration for this comes from where?

JVR: I was at a birthday party a few months back, just kind of sitting there, and there’s a little lull in the conversation and this silly dog that lived at the house was making the rounds, and I just looked at the dog and I don’t know, I was just being silly. I said, like I was the voice of the dog, ‘I’m a dog at a human party.’

Someone heard me say that and said, “Jesika, that’s funny, that’s ridiculous. That should be your next song. And I’m like, ‘No, no, no.’ The next day, it kept coming back into my head. So now we just shot this ridiculous footage of my girlfriend, Poptart Sprinkle, in this black latex body suit and this cone around her head with this kind of Pomeranian-style wig on all fours and I have her on a leash and I’m taking her around the neighborhood.

It’s pretty cute. I’ve been performing it live. My two dancers wear these white poodle masks and it’s really cute.

JTTT: What would you do if you weren’t creating?

JVR: I go through that conversation all the time.

JTTT: You’re not going to stop, are you?

JVR: No. I’m a lifer.

JTTT: Some people, it wouldn’t be that bad if they stopped.....

JVR: I do that all the time when I’m having a bad day. Why bother? What’s the point? No one’s going to listen to this. Why put in all the effort? I’m sick of this life. I just want to start a new life. I want to drive off to where no one knows me.

JTTT: Really? Where would that be?

JVR: I don’t know. Sometimes I think everybody feels like that. I’m sick of having a life that involves goals.

JTTT: Goals?

JVR: Yeah. Why do I have to have goals? Can’t I just be? I just want to enjoy what’s around me. I don’t want to work for things. It’s a lot of pressure on yourself. I go through that whole conversation with myself. But without goals and things to work for, then my life, or your life, has no purpose.

I feel happy when I’m in my creative zone and I’m working toward something.

When it comes down to it, I’m good at it and that’s what makes me happy. When I look back on my life, I’m going to be glad I did all that. And if five people saw it, if five million people saw it, it was what I was put on earth to do.

If I gave it all up and went to live in some small town and got a job doing whatever, I’d probably kill myself. I’d probably be very unhappy.

JTTT: It seems like you have to be creative. You’re at the party and here comes the genesis of the next song. That kind of stuff goes on a lot. If you were trying to turn that

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off, I don’t imagine that would be satisfactory.

JVR: Yeah, I only want to turn it off when I’m having a bad day, when I’m not satisfied with my results. But I’m sure everyone’s like that in all fields. Just frustration.

JTTT: I don’t think there’s any avoiding that. Where does the inspiration come for a lot of your songs? Like the Glamorous Misery one.

JVR: That was just kind of more of a, that was kind of tricky, the lyrics of that song don’t paint a full picture as much as some of the other ones do. That was more like a bad relationship song. And not about Todd, my ex-boyfriend. I wouldn’t want anyone to think that. Him and I are still best friends.

Inspiration for other songs, I don’t know, maybe I’ll just say some silly thing, or it’s hard to say. They just kind of pop up. Like all of a sudden, I might have a melody or a couple words I like together. Like Psychic Spice, I just plugged in a keyboard, knew I wanted to start writing, and I just put some beat down and poured some wine and just kind of started being an idiot in my head and just turning on the mic and spouting out words, and all of a sudden I’m like, “I’m psychic, I read you,” and just going into some weird things.

JTTT: You do a lot with vocals and rhythm. That’s interesting to me. You take phrases and build that into the rhythm.

JVR: When I made this record, I didn’t have any other musicians. Todd did a couple things here and there, but for the most part I was by myself. I didn’t have a drummer. I didn’t have a guitar player. All I had was my voice, my keyboards, and my Pro Tools. Not that I was premeditating I was going to use my voice for rhythm, but I just kind of do that naturally. But when I just had myself to do this record, I guess I had to be creative with what I had.

It’s not like I’m bringing a drummer in, or whatever, it’s just me. Let’s just keep layering and see what happens.

JTTT: If you go back in musical history, that’s used a lot. In really what we would call primitive music, and you’re bringing that into really modern music and it’s fun.

JVR: I guess I do do that. I never really thought of that.

JTTT: It’s musicians making the most of what they have at hand.

JVR: Yeah, instead of having this multi-million dollar studio. Not that I would complain.

Sometimes when you’re limited its interesting what you come up with. I love when my musician friends have little weird pieces of equipment like they may exchange things, stuff like that.

JTTT: The Journey Mitchell thing, is that a new persona happening for you, or a concept for that album?

JVR: It’s just the name of the record.

JTTT: I never know in the desert. We have a lot of people with multiple names and personalities.

JVR: It actually came from me hanging out with Robyn up at Pappy’s one night and talking about Joni Mitchell. I never really got into Joni Mitchell. It’s not my thing. It turned into this whole conversation and we were drinking and I accidentally said “Journey” Mitchell instead of Joni Mitchell, and everyone started laughing and Robyn said, ‘You have to name your next record Journey Mitchell.’ I was like, I like it! That’s it!

Also I liked journey too because I was on a new journey at that point. That was an extra little incentive for me. It made it a little deeper. I love puns and plays on words.

JTTT: You’re not an overly serious musician most of the time.

JVR: No. I can be. Todd and I made a beautiful Gram Rabbit record called Welcome to the Country, and I was very serious on that record, and pretty syrupy, deserty, country stuff. I like doing that sometimes. But overall, I think I like to make people laugh. I like to entertain people. It’s fun to be funny. I guess I’m kind of good at it.

Life’s full of so much serious stuff as it is. A little relief from that...

JTTT: People see you on stage, and it’s all a good time, but is life always that fun and happy for you?

JVR: I’m human. Look at Robin Wiliams.

JTTT: Don’t go down that path.

JVR: No, I’m not saying that. I have dark days where I get depressed. I keep going.

JTTT: You seem to have come into your own, like you’re comfortable with who you are.

JVR: I am. I would agree with that.

JTTT: You’re going to be up at Campout. You’re completely different than what usually happens up there, no?

JVR: Yeah. It seems like a common theme.

JTTT: Let them adapt.

JVR: I’ve played there last year with the JVR thing. Gram Rabbit’s played it tons, and we’re always a bit different then too. They know what to expect. A lot of those people are fans from the Gram Rabbit days.

They’re in the desert. Things get weird out here. They’re coming into our

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JVR Live August 26: Campout xII

pappy & harriet’s, pioneertown

September 5: open mic Guest host

pappy & Harriet’s, Pioneertown September 9: the satellite, los angeles

October 29: Grim Rabbit halloween party pappy & harriets, Pioneertown

for this story with photos, videos & links:

www.jttortoisetelegraph.com

territory. This is what happens.

JTTT: We talked about goals and how you would like to not have any. So, what are the goals, the ideas?

JVR: Scarily, I don’t really know. I just have to keep doing what I’m doing. I don’t know.

I’m just kind of following my path wherever it takes me. I want to keep putting out crazy videos and stuff like that. I just want to put out weird art that nobody understands.

I’d like to open a dip store called The Big Dipper. I love making and eating dips!

I’d like to create a children’s cartoon called Beazley & Buggy the Psychedelic Dream Cats, based off of my own two beautiful white cats... and also dedicate some time working at an animal foundation that helps abused and tortured animals, especially animals that come from the slaughterhouses in China and Korea.

That Glamorous Misery video wasn’t really my idea. It was very dark. It was an idea my director had and I just let her take the reins on that. Sometimes she has this vision and she makes these cool videos for me, and I’m like, you have this strong idea for this song, go for it. And other videos, I’m more hands on. That one was a little more dark.

But I think she wanted to show this and that.

JTTT: One wonders about her relationships?

JVR: Yeah, now it’s all on me. (Laughing.) Not this Jesika, that Jessica. Yeah, my parents loved it. I don’t think my mom’s approved of any of my solo videos. She likes the California Christmas video.

It’s art. Art’s supposed to push the whatever. Art’s supposed to make you think.

It’s supposed to wake you up. It’s supposed to stimulate something. It doesn’t have to be offensive. It’s supposed to take us out of the mundane everyday it’s supposed to invoke your imagination, your dreams.

JTTT: What do you think about working out here in the desert? How does that work with your own creative spirit?

JVR: It’s worked great. I don’t know. I think I could work anywhere really. Being able to work in my house and then blast what I just played out my windows and walk around my house and listen, the space out here is great. Just having the desert stars at night, it’s a very open place to create. And how weird looking it is out here. It’s very Dr. Seussian so it kind of soaks into the music, at least for me and Gram Rabbit. Just like the whole trippy whimsical weird spacey vibe soaks into the music.

I don’t know if I’d write any differently if I lived somewhere else. Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn’t. It’s hard to say. Maybe some of the slower prettier deserty stuff wouldn’t have come out of me if I didn’t live out here. But the faster weird electro stuff, I think that’s still coming out of me out here.

JTTT: Maybe they shouldn’t put you in a city?

JVR: Wait a minute. I think you’re on to something. I’m only on like a five out here and I’d go to 10 in a city.

JTTT: Jesika goes nuclear.

JVR: I like that.

JTTT: They should drop you in some totally crazy ass city like Bangkok and see what happens.

JVR: I like this idea. One night in Bangkok.

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From Woodstock... to Joshua Tree Sridhar Silberfein’s spiritual Journey

by Steve Brown

photo by mark goff

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ost of us know his festivals—Bhakti Fest, in September, and Shakti Fest, in May. But not that many of us hi-desert folk know the man behind these successful festivals, and almost none of us know anything about his own personal spiritual journey in life.

Sridhar (Steven) Silberfein’s journey, not directly to enlightenment, but to a place where he occasionally may encounter a fleeting glimpse of it, began long ago. But it came into its own at one of America’s most iconic cultural events of the 20th century: Woodstock. In essence, Bhakti Fest had its beginnings there, at a dairy farm in New York, in August, 1969, a little after 7 p.m., where somewhere around half a million people gathered at what was billed as “An Aquarian Exposition.”

Say what? Bhakti Fest has its roots nearly 50 years ago at the most famous music festival in American history? I recently sat down with Sridhar to retrace the journey from Woodstock to Bhakti Fest, and to spend some time secondhand with some of the most fascinating spiritual thinkers and saints of modern times. What a fascinating trip it is...

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As I’m standing on stage with him, I said, wouldn’t it be great if someday we can have all these kinds of people gathering to chant the names of god? He said, ‘Oh, Sridhar, I hope you can accomplish that.’ So 40 years later, almost to the date, in September, 2009, we came out with the first Bhakti Fest in Joshua Tree, California.

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actually started in the sixties in New York where I studied with my first yoga teacher.

That was Swami Satchidananda. I brought him to Woodstock, and he gave the opening speech at Woodstock.

I was friends with the producers of Woodstock, Michael Lang and Artie Kornfeld, and I used to hang out with them at their house and I would watch them go through all these diagrams of building and developing this concept of Woodstock. One day they said, ‘Sridhar, what do you think is missing?’ I got my spiritual name from Swami Satchidananda during that same period of time, 1968. I’ve been using it ever since.

And they said, ‘What do you think is missing?” And I said the spiritual element.

We have all these great musicians coming, or to be great musicians, because a lot of them were not even known at that point.

I said, we should bring a swami, there’s only one currently in New York, he’s my teacher, let’s bring him and have him do the invocation. They said, ‘OK, you produce that segment.’ I said OK. I didn’t know anything about producing, but I was an advanced yoga student.

I said, Swami, you’ve been invited to open Woodstock. He said, ‘OK, fine.’ Next segue in, you see this in the documentary Woodstock in the director’s cut, we flew him in by helicopter. We get out, and you’re watching all this as he’s coming out of the helicopter, and then there’s time for him to go on stage, but a little known fact is the first group that went on stage, nobody knows this, got on stage and they got so frightened from this big group of people out there, they ran off stage and they hid in the bushes.

So the producers were panicked at that point. They had to get someone else up there, so they ran and asked Richie Havens to be the opening act. So that’s how you see Richie Havens on stage. When we walk up with Swami, and I realized I didn’t have anybody to introduce Swami, so I say to Richie Havens, he’s sweating already, warming up backstage, it was boiling hot, and he’s sweated a lot when he played. I said, Richie, will you do me a favor? He looks at me like who is this kid? Could you introduce Swami?

Then he looked at me and said, ‘Get the fuck outta here.’

It was hilarious. I got Chip Monck, who was the regular emcee, he announced Swami. Swami went up there and gave this beautiful gorgeous talk in front of 500,000 people and that was the Woodstock experience.

As I’m standing on stage with him, I said, wouldn’t it be great if someday we can have all these kinds of people gathering to chant the names of god? He said, ‘Oh, Sridhar, I hope you can accomplish that.’ So 40 years later, almost to the date, in September, 2009, we came out with the first Bhakti Fest in Joshua Tree, California.

We’re on our eighth year now, 21 festivals we’ve done. People ask me why is your festival different than other festivals. Because we’re building spiritual community.

People come for an experience. We don’t serve alcohol, which is a very big thing. We don’t have drugs. If somebody wants to smoke pot out there, not among the people, that’s fine. We have 425 acres. Do whatever you want out there. We don’t serve alcohol.

We’re all vegetarian. We have 12 of the top vegetarian food vendors in the whole country coming. The food is absolutely magnificent. It’s really great.

We house over 300 people on site. We camp thousands of people. We have a big facility. We built showers over there. Our first year when we went down there, we put in like $48,000 into the infrastructure of the Joshua Tree Retreat Center. We donated that. I didn’t have the money to do that, but they were so antiquated over there I built the stage, I built that main stage in the amphitheater, I put the pad in for the yoga hall outside, and I built all the showers down in the campground.

It’s not easy putting on festivals. It takes a lot of manpower. You’re dealing with

No one has lived an angelic life from the day they were born. We’ve done stuff, people have done stuff to us. But we need to forgive. The biggest thing I’ve found after all these years is forgiveness. a lot of people from all over the world. We have 36 countries represented at our festival.

And dealing with the artists, just because it’s a spiritual event that doesn’t mean the artists don’t have egos. So, they say the spiritual ego is worse than the regular man’s ego because you think that you know everything. Because you’re so-called ‘spiritual,’ which means nothing.

I lived in Topanga Canyon for 30 years. I started the first natural foods store in southern California. That was called the Food Chakra, and I did that from 1970 to 1982. It was actually a very unique store. Whole Foods sent their people over in the early days to model some of their stores after mine.

I start businesses and seem to sell them and move on to something else. I started a natural cosmetic company called Desert Essence. I’m actually responsible for discovering an oil called tea tree oil. Melaleuca alternifolia and its common name is tea tree oil.

When I was hiking with the aborigines in down in Australia in the late seventies, I became friends with a group of aborigines down there through my contacts, we were hiking and they said, ‘Jump into this lake.’

I said, OK, because they were like shamans, so you listen to them, of course. So I took my clothes off and jumped in and I started to scream. I jumped out. I said, I’m burning. There was the pond full of tea tree oil because the trees, the bushes were surrounding the pond and it seeped into the water.

Then I realized everything disappeared on my body, all these scratches and bruises and cuts, and pimples, it disappeared immediately. I said, I’ve got to bring this to the country. So in 1980 I introduced tea tree oil to the health food industry. I was the first person to do that. I developed 75 products with Desert Essence, built it up and sold it. It’s a fairly big company now.

I was very demanding on my ingredients. I was the first person to use organics in everything we did. I wouldn’t sacrifice. So when the new owners came in and I worked for them for a few years, they wanted me to fudge this and fudge that, and I said I’m not going to do that. It’s compromising my integrity issues, so I said goodbye and left that.

But then I started a hemp company and I manufactured the first hemp rugs. It seems I like to be an innovative first person doing something. So we manufactured 250 hemp rugs in Katmandu, because I go to India every year since 1980. I live in India like three months a year. I live in an ashram in southern India in Kerala. I have an apartment there. I stay there a couple months doing what’s called sadhana. And I still do my yoga every single day, and standing on my head, and meditating after all these years.

You know, the basic tenet is just be a good person. Help everybody out, do the right thing. Life is very short. We’re here, and we’re gone tomorrow. I have so many friends leaving their bodies now. Cherish the moments we have together. We all have shit and old stuff in our systems we’ve done in the past. No one has lived an angelic life from the day they were born. We’ve done stuff, people have done stuff to us. But we need to forgive. The biggest thing I’ve found after all these years is forgiveness. I forgive you for anything that you’ve done to me in the past through your words, deeds, or ac-

tions. This is an actual forgiveness prayer. And please forgive me for anything I’ve done to you through my words, deeds, or actions.

I think if we do that more in our relationships with our husbands or wives or whatever, our kids, our families, our friends, our business associates, if we can constantly be able to forgive each other, that’s a very key thing to be in order to have our own satisfaction, our own grace in life, and for other people, helping them as well.

Every day is a new day. I wake up in the morning and say, thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me another day to be alive, to be able to serve, to help people. We’re not getting rich at this festival. It takes so much money. At the end of the day, we’re trying to raise money for charities. We have four or five charities that we help out. Especially we have a girl’s orphanage in India in a town called Vrindavan. We try to help 1,800 girls there. I’ve adopted five girls myself. We send them monies every year. Some of them have mothers, some have fathers, and some don’t. They come to school and this is the only time when they get their one meal a day.

We feed them every single day, and we give them tea and drinks later on. At the end of the day they go home to nothing. To a drunken father that beats the mother and they have to watch all this, and the father wants to get them married off, and they just want to study and become something in their life. In India, the culture is so severe, the girls are a liability, the boys are an asset. With the boys, you get the dowry. The girl’s parents have to pay you the dowry.

In a lot of these backwards places, they get rid of the little girls. They just throw them in the river. It’s getting better, but it’s still going on.

These little girls, they just want to be educated so they can advance in life. We offer the parents, we say, we’re going to stick $600 into this bank account. You let your girl come through the school and graduate from high school and we’ll give you back that $600. They say fine, but secretly, we don’t give that money back to the parents, we actually give it to the girl when she graduates. Then we help them get into the colleges. The program is working really great. We bring water to the villages. This is what I want to do.

This is my main focus, doing charitable work.

Through the vehicle of Bhakti Fest, we try to raise enough money every year to donate to them and to other causes as well. We’re very cause driven.

People come to this festival and they don’t want to leave. They have such a transformative experience. We have three yoga halls going simultaneously from 7 o’clock in the morning until 7 o’clock at night. For four days. We have three workshop halls going from 9 o’clock in the morning until 7 o’clock at night on every kind of topic, from Ayurvedic to Tantra to whatever you want, and we have a whole women’s lodge, a dome, just for women, taught by spiritual elder women, to speak about contemporary subject matters that you can’t deal with in your own relationships.

Women have issues that they can’t talk to their partners about, but they can talk about it with other women, guided by spiritual elder women. Same thing for men.

We have a men’s lodge and the men go in there and they’re discussing their situations they’re dealing with, their problems, on an every day basis with a spiritual elder man.

Then we have a sound dome that goes from 9 o’clock in the morning until 2 o’clock, you just come in there and get gonged. We have a meditation dome. Plus, of course, our main stage, which is 24 hour sacred music, from Thursday at 10 o’clock in the morning, it doesn’t end until 11 o’clock on Sunday night, 24 hours non-stop. We have a second stage that’s 12 hours a day too. That’s the stage we usually give new acts, and people trying to break into kirtan sacred music.

We have two or three Grammy nominated musicians. It’s very high powered Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Dave Stringer—these guys have all been nominated for Grammys, you know. They didn’t get it because it’s all political. So we’ve got great music.

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Editor/Publisher/telegraph operator: Steve Brown Assistant to the editor: Juliet, the cat Adventures Editor: Death Valley Jim Photos by: Steve Brown, Death Valley Jim, Distribution: by tortoise, of course Submit story ideas, photos for consideration, dining/shopping/lodging/favorite places and event photos to: tortoisetelegraph@gmail.com advertising inquiries: tortoisetelegraph@gmail.com or 760-820-1222 (voice or text) see the advertising page at www.jttortoisetelegraph.com for pricing and specs. distribution inquiries: tortoisetelegraph@gmail.com join the tortoise telegraph online at: www.jttortoisetelegraph.com, on facebook at: www.facebook.com/jttortoisetelegraph on instagram at: www.instagram.com/jttortoisetelegraph join the sun runner, the journal of the real desert, online at: www.sunrunnersw.com on facebook at: www.facebook.com/TheSunRunner join southwest stories with steve brown online at: www.southweststories.us on facebook at: www.facebook.com/RealDesert

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thanks for joining us!

On Sunday it’s free to all military. You can come Sunday and do whatever you want.... it’s been proven that yoga and meditation is extremely important for dealing with PTSD.

I’d really like to pass the baton to more people to get involved because I’m getting to a point in my life where I don’t want to work so hard. People say, ‘What happens to you after the show?’ I just disappear. I don’t tell anyone where I’m going, I just go away for a couple of months and pretty much just be quiet and further my own personal growth. That keeps me focused. I come back in January and start all over again.

People are coming more and more with their families to our festivals because it’s a safe environment. I’m not standing on a platform saying alcohol’s bad or this is bad or that is bad. I’m not into that. I’m into saying, OK, it does bring a different element to an event when everyone is drinking and getting stoned all day long, and alcohol does fuel anger, does fuel frustration, does fuel pushiness. I like a beer every once in a while, a glass of wine with my meal at night. I’m not on a platform. But I want to have a festival that doesn’t have any of that.

I want to see how it works out. It’s such a safe environment that people bring their teenage girls and their kids and they’re not looking over their shoulders to see if anybody’s accosting them. They’re having a good time. The girls are going to yoga.

We’re really keen on developing more teenagers into more of a disciplined yoga lifestyle because that’s where the future is. It’s with these younger kids. If they’re going to just be led astray out there, I see it with my own kids, I maintained a fairly strict environment with them, and now my son is raising his daughters in similar ways by showing them what’s the best way to go about doing this. It doesn’t work for everyone.

But you come, you expose yourself to this environment, then you take it out.

Monday morning you go back into the world, and you’re a better person for as long as it is, you’re helping people out. Take this love, take this compassion, take this really good feeling that you’re getting from coming to this festival and go out in the world and help people.

We have a special rate for locals and for military. On Sunday it’s free to all military. You can come Sunday and do whatever you want. We send notices over to the Marine base inviting them, because it’s been proven that yoga and meditation is extremely important for dealing with PTSD. More and more people are finding great results with this. We invite them to come do the workshops. We’ve been getting more and more people coming from the Marine base, but we’d love more.

We totally welcome them if they want to come for one day, or if you want to come for four days, it’s $150, and if you’re having a problem with that amount, just call us up and we’ll let you in for free.

All they have to do is come out and try it. And if they need an excuse to come, there’s going to be over a thousand of the most gorgeous girls that come to the festival.

Come out look at the girls and take a class.

Once you start taking yoga classes, you’ll see how the body transforms, you’ll see a lot of benefits, and then you start calming down. You try a little meditation and see this is really working. I’m really feeling change in my life. That’s what you’re looking for.

You have to have change in your life. You can’t have the same wheel, the little hamster in the wheel going around and around and never gets off. That’s why there’s so much suicide and pain in the world—people can’t get off the wheel.

They have to get off the same wheel. Change the diet, exercise, get the mind

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settled, and a little quiet, and get out of this socio-economic situation we’re being caught in every day. It’s great out here because we don’t have to be in traffic, and we’re less of a consumer out here in the desert than if we’re in the big city. It’s really a beautiful way of life out here. That’s why we want to keep the festivals here, so people can come out. It’s surprising how many more people are coming out here from LA.

I think we’re doing really good, but everything can be better. Life is very vast, it’s a huge universe. You can always do better, help more people, do more service.

We have a lot of beginners classes. You can pick or choose your teacher. All the classes are geared up for all kinds of people. It doesn’t matter what kind of condition you’re in. Just come and expose yourself to it.

We’re open. We welcome everyone. There’s no elitism there. We’re one of the few festivals anywhere that covers all the areas in shade cloth. We have two 2,000 gallon water tanks we dispense water free through a reverse osmosis system.

I lived in Topanga. I had a seven acre ranch. That’s where we started our nonprofit foundation which is called The Center for Spiritual Studies. It’s a 501(c)3, and it’s been in existence since 1973. We’re very low key. I don’t want to be obligated to anybody. I just want to run a nice little quiet nonprofit. That’s the auspices under which Bhakti Fest runs.

So I lived there for over 30 years and when all the great saints from India came to America, they all came to our center. That was their introduction point. Yogi Bhajan, Swami Muktananda, Swami Satchidananda, Ram Dass got his start there. He is my very dear friend for about 45 years already. We met in 1970, Labor Day weekend, at an event with Swami Muktananda, who came to America, upstate New York. We were all there and Muktananda turned to Ram Dass and me, I didn’t even know him, and he said, ‘You two guys get together. I want you to run my tour around America.’

That’s how I came to California in 1970. I stayed and met my first wife there. We moved to Topanga and started that beautiful center there and the health food store. All my kids were born at the house there. Natural child birth, never been to a hospital, no vaccines, I really have positions about all this stuff. Chlorine, fluoride in the water, I was standing on platforms before platforms even existed. I have issues with all that government control, corporate control stuff. I’m totally against all the plastic food, the Monsantos, the GMOs. Don’t get me started.

I had a great teacher that came from India in 2002. His name was Swami Kaleshwar. He said to me the vastu doesn’t work in this house. I said I don’t even know what vastu is. Then I learned that it was the Indian analog to Feng Shui. Vastu is over 10-20,000 years old. Feng Shui is adapted from vastu. And vastu is the alignment of north, south, east, and west with the five elements. It’s a very scientific thing, but it works. I started studying it.

He said, all the energy is seeping out of the south end of your house. That’s why you see so many fences around here. In Topanga he said, ‘You’ll have to build a wall on the south side of your seven acres here.’ I said that’s a big project. How about if I just get a bulldozer and put a berm up here? He said, ‘You’ll never have a happy relationship with a woman here if you stay here.’

I said, Swami, you could have saved me millions of dollars already because I’ve had three divorces up here. That could be the reason for that, but you never know. You get together with somebody, you live a beautiful life with somebody, something happens, it’s all OK, you can’t blame anyone, it’s always 50/50. You might not think that while you’re going through it, especially in a divorce, but I say to my friends now, if you’re going to get a divorce, just give her 50 percent of everything, don’t fight, you’re here to take care of the kids, with joint responsibility to take care of your beautiful children.

I said, I’m going to build this berm. He says, ‘OK, I’m going to come back next year from India.’ He comes back next year, 2003, he said, ‘Forget it. You have to leave.’

I said, I’ve been here 32 years. Every great saint, I mean everybody was there, the Kalu Rinpoche was there, everyone got their start there. Amma the hugging saint—she stayed there 17 years every time she came to LA. He said, ‘You have to leave. It’s the guru’s grace that’s saved you all these years. It’s not anything you did.’

I said, OK, put the property up for sale, I had so many different people come— Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, it’s a beautiful place. Then this guy walks in, he’s just wearing

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regular clothes, but he saw my pictures all over the wall, this swami, that swami. He said, ‘Do you know these people?’ I said I have very intimate connections with everyone you see on my wall. I’ve been with them all in close proximity to me, I’m very close to them all. I go to India to visit them.

He says, ‘Do you know that one particular guy there, Swami Muktananda?’ I said, yeah, I handled his two world tours. He said, ‘He gave me initiation.’ I was looking at him.

He had regular clothes. I said, you’re a swami? He said, ‘Yeah, I am, but I’m not wearing my clothes.’

Then I took him around and I said this is the bathtub I built for Muktananda. He spent six days here. He said, ‘He lived here for six days?’ I said yeah, he lived in this house.

In fact, he left me all his bathtub water and I filled up these gallon jugs and I still have them, and kidding around I said, if you buy the property, I’ll give you some. And that was it. He bought the property.

He lasted there a year and a half and he had to leave also, because of the vastu.

So I thought, I’m going to go back to Joshua Tree, because I had a house down here in 1972, a five acre house I bought on the spur of the moment. It’s in north Joshua Tree. I used to go out there on weekends and race on motorcycles with the kids. And I had a good feeling and a good vibration down here. I always felt very peaceful down here.

It’s a wonderful community, even though we don’t socialize much. I’m pretty busy and I don’t really go out. I’m a homebody now. I have a beautiful wife, and we like to stay home when we’re not traveling and we’re not working. We’re very happy here. We do socialize some, but I’m not on any list to invite to a party.

My philosophy of life is when things go great, it’s fantastic, and when things go bad, it’s still fantastic. It’s really just a feeling you have in your body and your mind. But success and failure, it’s the same thing. It’s just a stimuli, something you’re experiencing. There’s nothing wrong with failure. People are afraid to step out and do anything because they have a fear of failure, but you’re not going to do anything unless you go out and start doing. And it’s no big deal—you fail, you get back on your feet and go back to work and do something else.

This is what life is—you can’t bury your head in the sand and say I’m a failure.

You’re not a failure. You’re a wonderful human being. You have to get up and go back to work.

We’re invited all over. I’ve been invited to bring Bhakti Fest to China, to Beijing, in June of 2017. Also, they want us to come to Germany next year. We also just got an invitation to come up to Ashland, Oregon, so we’re going to do a small event in June next year. I’m not looking for big events any more. It’s the same amount of energy. I just want to turn people on to a better way of life. If we can do it with a small event, 400, 500 people, instead of 3,00, 4,000 people, I’m just as happy doing that.

For more on Bhakti Fest, Sridar, a visit with Amma the hugging saint, the story on his relationship with Ram Dass and how he saved his life, as well as video interviews and more, visit www.jttortoisetelegraph.com.

Bhakti Fest September 7-12 be in the bhav www.bhaktifest.com Local Resident, Student, and Military Discounts Free Military Sunday Pass with ID

Barry Storm’s/Alien Jade Mine

by Death Valley Jim

T

he desert has had many characters, some good, some bad, and others just plain odd. Barry Storm tends to fit the latter of the three. Storm was born, John G. Climenson in 1910, in the state of Washington. He moved to Arizona in the 1930’s, and worked odd jobs and as a part-time reporter.

During his time in the Phoenix area he found that he enjoyed exploring the desert, particularly the Superstition Mountains. He became fixated on the early mining stories of the area. It was at this time that he created the pen name Barry Storm, and wrote the book, “Trail of the Lost Dutchman,” which was published in 1939.

Storm spent a majority of his time in the Superstitions on expeditions looking for lost treasure and mines, even learning to translate symbols left by early Spanish miners. This aspect of his life made him the first author of lost treasure stories to actually participate in what he was writing about.

Storm took a break from his desert adventures and treasure-seeking in 1943, he joined the Army to help fight World War II. Despite his absence, he continued to do research.

In 1945, Storm published the book, “Thunder Gods Gold”. This became the most important book of his career. “Thunder Gods Gold” was adapted in 1949 to a major motion picture titled, “Lust for Gold”, starring Glenn Ford. This movie made Storm famous, but he was not pleased with his portrayal in it, and sued the movie company claimed that it damaged his reputation, and he won.

While tracking down a lost gold mine, Storm would eventually find himself in the area that is now known as Joshua Tree National Park. But instead of gold, he found a jade deposit that he believed he was led to by aliens. The strange story as retold to me is that Storm had seen numerous flying saucers in the sky, one of them shined a light beam down to the ground. Storm believing that it was a sign that he was supposed to dig where the light was shining, so he did, and that is where he found the jade deposit.

Storm spent from 1956 – 1968 living and working at his jade mine. He built a small cabin for $150, and would later bring in a small mobile trailer for his home.

Storm found what he had believed to have been Mayan jade beads at his claim, this led to him believing that the Mayan people traveled to this area to extract jade for their masks and other jewelry. The authenticity of the beads were never verified, but archaeologists have found ancient jade mines in Motagua River Valley in Guatemala, which is likely enough evidence that the Mayans never traveled this far to obtain jade.

Barry Storm died on May 18, 1971, at the Long Beach VA hospital. Many people who knew Storm, believed that the isolation that he put himself through those last years of his life may have resulted in his odd claims. One thing is for sure, Storm lived a life of adventure and excitement.

The Storm Jade Mine site has seen better days. The cabin, and trailer that Storm had lived in are both gone. All that is left of the cabin is a broken concrete foundation.

The trailer has been burnt down, a pile of rusty scrap metal sits in its place.

The entrance to the mine is open, a rusty old hand painted “Keep Out” sign hangs above the opening. The tunnel only reaches back about 50-feet, making me curious how Storm utilized his time in the ten years that he spent here.

Above the mine entrance is another dug out adit, this one is sealed with a heavy metal door. A faded warning, “Danger Explosives” is painted on the outside. This was likely Storm’s explosive bunker, but it seems odd that he would store explosives directly above the mine. But this was Barry Storm, the same man that said UFOs had pointed out the mine to him. Despite not being able to enter the above tunnel, an opening allows you the opportunity to peak inside, it only goes back about 15 feet, and is filled with old wooden boards.

We’ll never know what really led Barry Storm to this site in the Colorado Desert.

Was it really aliens in a flying saucers? Or was it that he wanted to escape from being the celebrity that he had become but didn’t want to be?

For more odd, interesting, historic and prehistoric places in Joshua Tree and the surrounding area visit the author, Death Valley Jim online at www. deathvalleyjim.com, and pick up his book series “Hidden Joshua Tree” and “Secrets Places in the Mojave Desert.”

Reach 100,000 hi-desert locals and 2+ million annual visitors!

Advertise in The Joshua Tree Tortoise Telegraph – the only independent newspaper in the hi-desert! tortoisetelegraph@gmail.com

760-820-1222 (voice or text)

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The Tasty Tortoise favorite plates from around the hi -desert

T

he Tortoise is always happy to share news of a new delectable find with our readers. In this case, a longtime, but tired, favorite, Yokozuna, a family-run Japanese restaurant on the east end of Yucca Valley, had closed and new owners have taken it over. We finally got by the restaurant to see how the new owners, Leo Hice and Naomi Wheeler, were doing, and oh were we in for a surprize!

We began our new Yokozuna dining experience with a simple bowl of miso soup. Ah, but this miso soup is made from scratch, and literally was the best miso soup I’ve enjoyed since leaving Japan.

It reminded me of how I never liked to have a cup of tea until I was in England. I picked up a cuppa and sipped this divine steaming beverage. What could that be? Tea. Done right. I had just never had tea done right before. Well, the bowl of miso I had at Yokozuna was along the lines of that revelation. It was done the way my friend Tsune’s mom would prepare it: Right. I had forgotten just how delicious a simple bowl of miso could be!

With Naomi coming from a Japanese/Filipino family background, you’re literally getting the best of two worlds at Yokozuna now. The house-made lumpia (virtually everything is house-made here), were tasty little treats, with two housemade sauces for dipping, including the fabulous Filipino ketchup!

Oh, but we weren’t done. Soon, a heaping plate of freshly made chicken pansit (a rice noodle dish as healthy as it is tasty) appeared, along with Chicken adobo accompanied by Japanese stir fried rice (the best I’ve ever had), veggie tempura (crispy with panko and not greasy), and a light Japanese garden salad.

This was all washed down by a nice cold, sweet jack fruit boba, which was superb (and made from fresh jack fruit), and followed by a brown rice sushi roll that, while it had problems with structural integrity, owing to the fact the brown rice isn’t nearly as sticky as traditional white sushi rice, it was also quite delectable.

Our meal at Yokozuna was a real winner, and one of the best we’ve ever had in the hi-desert. With banquet facilities, a karaoke lounge, and soon, an outdoor dining area and tea garden, this new incarnation of an old favorite is a wonderful discovery. Gochisoo sama desuta!

YOkozuna filipino & japanese asian fusion restaurant 58960 29 Palms hwy.

Yucca Valley (760) 820-1932

Closed tuesdays & wednesdays.

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Have a favorite hi-desert dining (breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch) spot? Send us your photos and review and you just might win something fun! Just send them to: tortoisetelegraph@gmail.com.

Yokozuna filipino & japanese asian fusion restaurant yucca valley

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Hi-Desert Happenings Festivals & Gatherings Bhakti Fest (and related events) September 7-12. Joshua Tree Retreat Center, 59700 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree. www.west.bhaktifest.com Joshua Tree National Park Art Exposition September 17-18. Various venues in Twentynine Palms.

Art market, artist booths, art classes, historical lectures and exhibits, live music, culinary treats, and more. www.jtnparts.org Theatres Theatre 29 The Secret Garden, The Musical, directed by Kathryn Ferguson. August 26-September 24.

73637 Sullivan Road, Twentynine Palms Tickets and information are available at www.theatre29. org, or call (760)361-4151.

Theatre 29 announces its 2017 season on September 15, from 5-7 p.m. In the Friendship Hall at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center, 59700 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree.

Art Note: First Saturday in Old Town Yucca Valley has shops and galleries open late (9 p.m.), with local art, live music, refreshments, and more. Most galleries in Joshua Tree have openings the evening of the second Saturday of the month.

It’s all great fun!

29 Palms Art Gallery Joshua Tree National Park Art Exposition juried show, September 2-October 2. 74055 Cottonwood Drive, Twentynine Palms.

(760)367-7819, www.29palmsartgallery.com 29 Palms Inn Desert artists on exhibit in the restaurant.

73950 Inn Avenue, Twentynine Palms (760)367-3505, www.29palmsinn.com 29 Palms Creative Center Art classes and activities for adults and kids.

6847 Adobe Road, Twentynine Palms (760)361-1805, www.29palmsart.com

Crystal Corners providing group sessions during First Saturdays September-November. September’s session is 2-4 p.m., $20/$25. Holly is available at ArtFX from noon – 5 p.m. Preregistration required. (619)990-5683.

Old Town Gallery & Gifts 55922 29 Palms Hwy., Old Town Yucca Valley (760)820-1151 Art Show & Open Mic, 6-9 p.m., September 3 Music 29 Palms Inn 73950 Inn Avenue, Twentynine Palms (760)367-3505, www.29palmsinn.com Live music nightly. Usually scheduled: Beverly Derby & Bill Church, Saturdays; Bob Garcia, Sundays; The Luminators, Mondays; Daniel Horn, Wednesdays; Bobby Furgo and company, Thursdays. The Wonder People usually play first Friday monthly.

Pappy & Harriets Pioneertown Palace 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown (760)365-5956, www.pappyandharriets.com Upcoming: Campout 12 with Camper Van Beethoven, Craker, Jesika Von Rabbit, and more, August 25-27, ticket prices vary. I See Hawks in LA, September 10; Two Lane Blacktop, September 15; Moonsville Collective, September 16; 9th annual Desert Stars Festival, September 23-24; Shooter Jennings, September 30.

Regularly scheduled: Open mic on Mondays with guest hosts, The Shadow Mountain Band opening for other acts most Saturdays, The Sunday Band, most Sundays. For complete calendar: www.pappyandharriets.com.

Joshua Tree Saloon 61835 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree, (760)366-2250, www.thejoshuatreesaloon.com Live music indoors and outside. Upcoming: Smoky Knights, September 10, 8-11 p.m., Regularly scheduled: Open Jam Tuesdays with Ted Quinn, karaoke Wednesday and Friday nights with Troy, live music Saturday nights, Punk Rock Thursday, second Thursdays.

Tortoise Rock Casino 73829 Base Line Road, Twentynine Palms Kissed Alive, September 9.

29 Palms Visitor Center & Art Gallery Wisdom in the Water, group exhibit. Through Sept.30.

73484 29 Palms Hwy., Twentynine Palms

Kokopelli’s Kantina 57154 29 Palms Hwy., Yucca Valley (760)228-2589

Beatnik Lounge 61597 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree.

(760)475-4860, www.jtcpc.org

Landers Brew Company Courtney Marie Andrews, 8 p.m., August 20, $10.

388 Golden Slipper Lane, Landers.

(760)623-6300, www.landersbrew.com.

Gallery 62 61607 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree www.hwy62arttours.org/gallery62.php Harrison House September 3, 5-10 p.m.: Open House and celebration of Dominique Moody’s residency at Harrison House.

Storytelling, music, exhibition, and tours.

6881 Mount Lassen Ave. (760)366-4712, www.louharrisonhouse.org JTE Art Gallery 61325 29 Palms Hwy., Suite E, Joshua Tree (760)974-9536, www.joshuatreeexcursions.com/art_gallery.html JTAG (Joshua Tree Art Gallery) AmericaS opens September 10, 6-8 p.m.

61607 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree (760)366-3636, www.joshuatreeartgallery.com Taylor Junction 61732 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree (760)974-9165, @taylorjunction Joshua Tree Public Library Ray Lamb on exhibit. Artist talk and reception, September 10, from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

6465 Park Blvd., Joshua Tree, (760)366-8615 Hi-Desert Nature Museum Yucca Valley Community Center, 57116 29 Palms Hwy., Yucca Valley Framed: Step Into Art exhibit. Exhibit transports visitors to a world where paintings leap off the canvas and invites children inside the art experience.

(760)369-7212, www.hidesertnaturemuseum.org Art Colony of Morongo Valley 2016 Fall Art Show and Art & Craft Fair on September 17.

Covington Park, 11165 Vale Drive, Morongo Valley.

(760)792-1238, www.artcolonyofmorongovalley.com ArtFX & Furnishings 55836 29 Palms Hwy., Old Town Yucca Valley Pendulum (Dowsing) Class with Holly Rae Butryn of

Willie Boy’s 50048 29 Palms Hwy., Morongo Valley (760)363-3343, www.willieboys.com Frontier 55844 29 Palms Hwy., Yucca Valley (760)820-1360, www.cafefrontier.com Alternate Wednesdays: The Frontier Four, hi-desert hot club music. Pretty cool stuff! 7 p.m.

Hi-Desert Living Sky’s the Limit Observatory & Nature Center Desert night sky watching events most Saturdays.

Outdoor events may be changed due to weather. Free.

9697 Utah Trail, Twentynine Palms (just outside the north entrance to Joshua Tree National Park) (760)401-3004, www.skysthelimit29.org.

Beatnik Lounge Tibetan Meditation with Sunny Sundowner, Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m.; Vegan Outreach, August 27, 3-6 p.m.; Punk Rock Sewing Circle, September 1, 5-7 p.m.

61597 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree.

(760)475-4860, www.jtcpc.org Joshua Tree Retreat Center/Institute of Mentalphysics 59700 29 Palms Hwy., Joshua Tree, (760)365-8371 Intro to Tibetan Spiritual Breath. Tuesdays, 6:30-8 p.m., Lotus Meditation Building. Donation: $5. Improves subtle energies of the body by understanding breath and the natural relationship to healing.

Rainbow Stew 55509 29 Palms Hwy., Old Town Yucca Valley For event schedule, see: www.rainbowstew4u.com MORE & SNORE: PCI Race Radios 300 September 23-24. Friday: open prerun, driver registration and tech. Saturday: 8 a.m. race start, 5 p.m. race end, 8 p.m. awards. www.moreracing.net.

Want to be included in our calendar listings? Send your event info to us at: publisher@sunrunnersw.com.

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