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The Sun Runner The Magazine of the Real California Desert October/November 2012—Vol. 18, No. 5 The Sun Runner Magazine PO Box 2171, Joshua Tree, CA 92252 (760)820-1222 • www.thesunrunner.com Publisher/Executive Editor:Steve Brown publisher@thesunrunner.com Founding Editor Emeritus: Vickie Waite Asst. Publisher, in memoriam: Barbara Buckland Theatre/Film Editors: Jack & Jeannette Lyons Literary Editor: Delphine Lucas Music Editor: Judy Wishart Calendar Editor: Lynelle White Contributing Writers Lorraine Blair Philip Bonafede • Steve Brown Carlos Gallinger Delphine Lucas • Jack Lyons Judy Wishart Contributing Photographers & Artists: Lorraine Blair Steve Brown Karin Mayer • Steve Rushingwind Judy Wishart Advertising Sales: John Cucchiara, Senior Sales Manager Sandra Nightingale, Account Representative Sun Runner Team Support: Denise Brown • Lynelle White The Sun Runner Magazine features desert news, desert issues and commentary, arts & entertainment, natural and cultural history, columns, poetry, stories by desert writers, and more, for the enormous California desert region. Published bimonthly. MAGAZINE DEADLINE: November 25 for the December/January issue, for advertising & editorial. You can list desert events free of charge in The Sun Runner’s online desert events calendar at www.thesunrunner. com, or send your complete press release and event information (preferably with photos) to calendar@thesunrunner.com, or mail to: Calendar, c/o: The Sun Runner Magazine, PO Box 2171, Joshua Tree, CA 92252. Please include all relevant information in text format. Notices submitted without complete information or in an annoying format may not be posted. Event information absolutely will not be taken over the telephone or telepathically (it hurts!). SUBMISSIONS: By mail to the address above; by email: publisher@thesunrunner. com, or stop us when we’re at the Kelso Depot like everybody else does. SUBSCRIPTIONS: $22/year U.S.A. ($38/ year International, $38 trillion Intergalactic) Copyright © 2012 The Sun Runner. Permission for reproduction of any part of this publication must be obtained from the publisher. The opinions of our contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the magazine. Honest. We have made some effort to be accurate, but we are a desert publication after all, and we are not responsible for errors or omissions in material submitted to us, nor claims by advertisers. Advertising, press releases, and public service announcements are accepted at the mysterious discretion of the all-seeing publisher. 10 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012
The Sun Runner The Magazine of the Real California Desert
October/November 2012 – Desert Travel Issue
Inside this Issue:
Getaway to the Heights of Summer Fun Special Section ... 4 Dry Heat, by Steve Brown ... 11 The Tortoise Telegraph, News gathered from around the desert – at our own pace ... 12 Orient Yourself with the Desert Institute, by Delphine Lucas ... 14 Cover Artist Profile Native Wind: Steve Rushingwind, by Steve Brown ... 16 Discovering the Real Coachella Valley, part 1, by Steve Brown ... 18 Experience Classic Palm Springs at Copley’s on Palm Canyon, by Steve Brown ... 20 Trio: Modern Palm Springs Dining You Can Bank On, by Steve Brown ... 22 The Treasures of Desertland: Moorten Botanical Garden, by Steve Brown ... 24 Finding the Wild—The Coachella Valley Preserve, by Steve Brown ... 26 Desert Destination: The Palms at Indian Head, by Steve Brown ... 28 Real Desert Gift Ideas ... 29 Gold Prospecting: Right Place, Right Time, Right Equipment, Bad Technique? by Philip Bonafede ... 30 The Ways of Things—Petroglyphs of the Coso Mountains, by Carlos Gallinger ... 31 Ramblings From Randsburg, On the Trail of... The Feet Which Made the Floors Creak for Over a Hundred Years..., by Lorraine Blair ... 32 Desert Writers Gather at Oasis Beneath the Full Moon ... 33 Desert Theatre Beat, by Jack Lyons ... 34 Film Talk, by Jack Lyons ... 35 Hi-Desert Music News, by Judy Wishart ... 36 The Best Places to Stay in the Real Desert ... 48 For more stories, reviews, travel ideas, and a comprehensive desert-wide events calendar, please visit www.thesunrunner.com. Stay up to date with what’s going on around the desert by signing up for our weekly Sun Blast e-mail newsletter (sign up for free at our website).
Cover Art — Desert Cactus, by Steve (Ruiz) Rushingwind.
See our Cover Artist Profile on page 16 for more on the art and music of Steve Rushingwind. Want up-to-date advertising information about The Sun Runner Magazine, the new Sun Runner website, and our specialty publications? Call Senior Sales Manager John Cucchiara at (760)992-0838 or (760)808-3297, or Sandra Nightingale at (323)314-5919 for our media kit and current advertising specials. Or call us at (7600820-1222 for the latest advertising opportunities, including our Desert Road Trips Issue.
“The other Desert—the real Desert—is not for the eyes of the superficial observer, or the fearful soul or the cynic. It is a land, the character of which is hidden except to those who come with friendliness and understanding. To these the Desert offers rare gifts: health-giving sunshine—a sky that is studded with diamonds—a breeze that bears no poison—a landscape of pastel colors such as no artist can duplicate—thorn-covered plants which during countless ages have clung tenaciously to life through heat and drought and wind and the depredations of thirsty animals, and yet each season send forth blossoms of exquisite coloring as a symbol of courage that has triumped over terrifying obstacles.” – Randall Henderson and J. Wilson McKenney There Are Two Deserts, Desert magazine, Volume 1, Number 1, November, 1937
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love exploring the desert. All of it. We are blessed with an impressive and diverse range of things to do and see here, and for those of us who can’t get enough, we’re in no danger of running out of what we crave anytime soon. That said, the desert, as a travel destination, is the most threatened it has ever been in its history. Funding cuts are destroying our state and national parks, scavengers are looting historical sites for recyclable metals and things to sell to collectors, industrial scale solar and wind projects and the resultant power corridors are not only destroying desert wildlife, habitat, and Native American cultural and sacred sites, but are also eliminating the vast open—and wild—vistas that draw visitors from around the world, while development of everything from military bases and hydroelectric power projects to enormous garbage dumps and water mining is encroaching on every aspect of all that is good here. It is ironic that by the horribly erroneous and ignorant belief that the desert is a lifeless wasteland, humans may wind up turning the desert into the barren badlands that only previously existed in the minds of those who didn’t know the real desert. The real desert is filled with life, life that takes many extraordinary forms, and we are, by all accounts, murdering it. Whether it’s slaughtering foxes with distemper spread by the use of contaminated coyote urine as a “border” to keep the foxes out of a solar power project site, or by destruction of prime desert tortoise habitat, pushing the tortoise inevitably toward practical extinction in the wild where once it thrived, it is us—people—who are doing this. As one current example, the Cadiz water mining project stands to leave the seeps and springs of nearby desert lands, including those in the Mojave National Preserve, dry. Perhaps those water levels will be studied, but the populations of animals reliant upon those seeps and springs are likely to die off
before any remediary action could be implemented effectively. But Orange County’s lawns will be green and their cars will be washed clean—gleaming like bones in the desert. How much devastation needs to take place before we stop selling our souls—and the souls of places that do not belong to us and are not for selling—for dollars? When do we learn that things that have value can be priced in dollars and cents, and things that are invaluable, the treasures of this world which are priceless and irreplaceable, cannot be valued by an arbitrary monetary bounty set upon them? Those of us, and there are many, who have experienced intense personal loss, may understand better what value invaluable things may possess. After all, what price would you pay to see your dead loved one for one more day? How much of your bank account would you part with to see their smile, hear their laughter, or to hold them in your arms again? When you know the void left in your life by the absence of one you love, you lose much, but gain one thing: perspective. So what will we have lost when the night sky is gone, the vast unspoiled vistas look like parking lots, when the migrating songbirds no longer arrive in large numbers but ones and twos, when species pass out of existence, when we actually succeed in making the desert devoid of life, when we cut it up and scrape it and bomb it and suck it dry and take from it until all it is worth is space for another wind turbine or garbage dump? Maybe, I love the desert too much. Maybe I’m not a good tourism salesman because I think you should come visit the desert and get a taste of what it has to offer because it may not be around that much longer. Maybe, I hope you’ll fall in love with it too, and somehow, we’ll save some of it, as corny as it sounds, for our children and grandchildren, who may, by then, come to realize that a dollar is truly a very poor measure of the honest worth of something as deeply beautiful as this desert.October/November 2012 – The Sun Runner 11
Deplorable Stupidity: 27, Timeless Treasures: 0 The state of our California State Parks is heartbreakingly sad. Our state’s natural, cultural, and historic treasures are in a state of limbo and neglect by both Sacramento and voters. Not many seem to value the obvious fact that not only is it important culturally to preserve and share these parks with visitors as well as our own citizens, but they’re also an integral part of driving funds into the communities around the parks and generating tax revenue for the broken system of governance in Sacramento. This must be a demoralizing time to work for our parks, watching the very system that is supposed to perpetuate the existence and support of our parks unravel and fray, while daily, it gets more difficult to know who’s to blame. Do we blame voters who could have voted to pay less than $20 per year into a dedicated fund to keep California State Parks open and functional? Or do we blame folks in Sacramento, like California State Parks Director Ruth Coleman who resigned after $54 million or so in state park funds was found hidden away? Coleman wasn’t stealing the funds, just squirreling them away, presumably for a rainy day. The problem was, the rainy day was clearly here, the parks were broke, and still, the funds remained hidden. In the case of Mitchell Caverns and the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area, it’s just too damned late to bother trying to figure out who to blame. Since their closure over a year ago, precisely what I predicted would come to pass has, well, come to pass. It was obvious during discussions about state park closures that if one was doing so to save money during fiscal hard times, then one needed to do so with the understanding that they would probably never re-open. Why? These aren’t your neighborhood dog park or a generic city park. They are distinctly unique parks with a long, involved history, unusual natural features, and historic facilities. When you close them, you lose a significant valuable asset: the people who know them best. Yes, you may lock the gate at the entrance, and board up the doors and windows (though unfortunately that doesn’t always happen), but the people who have spent years, often decades, of their lives learning the particular nuances and details of a park, are turned out, and that knowledge—knowledge we citizens of California paid to obtain—is lost. We’re not just talking about cultural or historical informa12 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012
tion here, which is the lifeblood of a people’s identity (if you value your citizens having some sense of shared identity, that is, which is another discussion), but practical knowledge about the condition of facilities, the history of maintenance (or deferred maintenance, as is often the case), the operating particulars of water or septic systems, where things are located, road conditions, weather impacts, seasonal changes, visitor preferences. The loss of all this information and those who know it inside and out is enormous. Combine that with decaying park infrastructure, lack of maintenance, weather and pest damage, and human vandalism, and you’ve run up a bill that makes reopening these parks intimidatingly expensive. Close a park and it likely stays closed then, barring one thing: innovative, resourceful, driven people who passionately want to keep that park open. A prime example of what can happen to a closed state park is that of the desert’s own Mitchell Caverns. (The robbery of the California State Mining & Mineral Museum in Mariposa recently is also a fine example of the mess state parks are in now. The museum was robbed, possibly of as much as $2 million in gold and gemstones, while in a state of limbo. Slated to close, the museum had stayed open as the mysterious $54 million had been disclosed and its fate had been thrown up in the air.) This remote CSP outpost located within the Mojave National Preserve (Chris Clarke’s got a great story witih KCET about how Representative Jerry Lewis is partially responsible for setting up the scenario for this disaster), closed more than a year ago when a change in rangers was slated to occur as the two rangers there retired, and costly repairs to the water system became necessary. Instead of stationing new rangers on site and fixing the water system, California State Parks closed the park indefinitely, something that can only be deemed criminally negligent knowing now that funds were, in fact, available. After closure of Mitchell Caverns, vandals descended. The visitors center was trashed, display cases and windows smashed, doors ripped off hinges, anything metal stolen to be sold as scrap. Generators, radios, and other equipment was stolen, along with copper wiring. The damage and loss was estimated at $100,000 and the Mitchell family legacy was betrayed. So we’ve lost the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area and partially closed facilities such as the Salton Sea State Recreation Area remain open due to the dedication and support of the community. But California’s largest state park, Anza-
Borrego Desert State Park, while it remains “open,” proves just how misleading that statement can be. While many visitors may breathe a sigh of relief that AnzaBorrego remains open, most may not know that the only reason the park’s visitor center remains open is due to the dedication of the Anza-Borrego Foundation, a nonprofit association that has impressively rallied its members to support park operations, as well as acquire inholdings and other relevant land, supports research and education, and operates the Anza-Borrego Institute. In 2008, Anza-Borrego had an annual operating budget of just over $2 million to oversee 650,000 acres of park lands and facilities, with about a dozen rangers, 10 maintenance staff, and half a dozen uniformed campground staff. At that level, maintenance was deferred due to lack of funds, and now stands at more than $6 million. The annual budget is in its second year of being under $600,000, with 10 rangers, four maintenance staff, and a couple of uniformed staff at campgrounds. With 600,000 or more visitors per year, Anza-Borrego receives roughly one dollar per visitor, but generates far more in economic impact, and tax revenues, from the park and the community of Borrego Springs. The park is vital to the economy of the southern California desert region, yet is in danger, not just from draconian budget cuts, but from the federal government’s “green” energy program that has fast-tracked industrial scale solar and wind projects with inadequate environmental review, tribal and consultation, and opportunities for meaningful public review and input. Pattern Energy’s Ocotillo Express wind energy project along the southeastern border of Anza-Borrego has seen over half a dozen lawsuits filed over environmental concerns and tribal assertions that the land involved is considered sacred. Meanwhile, the tiny community of Ocotillo stands to be nearly surrounded by wind turbines around 45 stories high. The project site is reportedly home to more than a dozen identified Native American cremation sites, as well as more than 10,000 artifacts, including one geoglyph on the National Register of Historic Places. But this “pattern” is not limited to Anza-Borrego. Virtually all of our desert parks and wildlands are threatened. Giant wind projects have been proposed for tens of thousands of acres along the borders of Joshua Tree National Park, and other parks face the impacts of enormous power projects, in an overwhelming onslaught on the desert brought about by the Department of the Interior’s renewable energy policy “on steroids,” as DOI Secretary Ken Salazar so aptly described it. Meanwhile, Marine Corps expansion threatens to claim a large portion of the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area, OHV funding remains sketchy, our unique cultural treasures all face uncertain futures, and all of this is happening when our communities need the benefits from tourism and outdoor recreation more than ever. Are ecological, cultural, and historical preservation all related to the desert’s tourism industry? Absolutely. Harm to our parks, wildlands, historical sites, and cultural resources equates directly to loss of tourism revenue, declining visitorship, and fewer jobs across the desert. That’s why we promote both desert travel and awareness of these issues—they go hand in hand. Tourists aren’t just people spending money, they’re far more than that—they’re people who may make a heartfelt connection with the desert, and it’s important we address the issues we face with those who care enough to visit. They can be our allies, and an extended base of support. This magazine, and the California Deserts Visitors Association continue to welcome our desert visitors while working to preserve the unique beauty and magic of the real California desert. –SB October/November 2012 – The Sun Runner 13
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ne of the joys of living in the desert is having the opportunity to take Desert Institute classes. I recently enrolled in “Basic Map & Compass” because my husband and I love to explore Joshua Tree National Park and other places across the desert. We hiked in the park using a National Geographic map, only to find that the reality around us bore no resemblance to what was on the map. I decided to take the Desert Institute class to learn how to orient myself in the wilderness. I was not disappointed. Starting on a Friday evening, Theresa Walsh, the instructor, went over how to read an elevation map explaining what every line and symbol meant. (I had to
spend $40 to buy a park elevation map and a compass, since I didn’t have either one). She talked about declination and how to set a compass in order to to use it with the map. The purpose of the class was to get a basic understanding of how to use only a compass to find your way, how to use only an elevation map, and how to use the map and compass together. The class had seven students, the instructor and three volunteers, who gave personalized help when needed. We arrived in the Hidden Valley campground early Saturday morning to learn how to use our compasses to find flags that were scattered around the area. The idea was to focus on a significant
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landmark ahead of you, set your compass on a given point in the direction list, and move in that direction. Once you see the orange flag, you reorient yourself with another landmark. One of the volunteers and myself were moving from point to point, when we just could not find one of the flags. Someone had taken it! After a leisurely lunch in the Hidden Valley picnic area, we set out on a hike, matching the real life land features with what was on the map. This was for me the most exciting part of the class, because I could see the options available to us for our hike. This area is a microcosm of the Wonderland of Rocks, a rugged and difficult area to navigate. It was a great place to practice using the map.
I plan on returning at least twice with my husband so we can hone our skills, and plan to take the advanced class in the spring. The Desert Institute offers a variety of adult educational courses that include field classes in cultural history, natural science, survival skills, desert naturalist studies, citizen science, and the arts. Enrollment is open to all and some courses may be taken for optional university credit. Classes are offered in the fall and spring, and custom educational programs are available. For information on the Desert Institute at Joshua Tree National Park, as well as the Joshua Tree National Park Association, visit www.joshuatree.org.
INVITATION Input your own free business listing in our online directory and list your events for free in our online calendar at www.thesunrunner.com October/November 2012 – The Sun Runner 15
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ook up “Native American flute” music on the Internet and you’ll see hundreds of listings for “soothing” instrumental pieces that, for the life of me, all sound pretty much the same. It’s the kind of music you often hear played in spas as they try to evoke a calm new age spiritual ambiance while attempting to relax you. It’s a formula, if you will, that’s been applied to other forms of music as well, including the new age Celtic music, that instead of relaxing me, just pisses me off since I know the authentic traditional music of its roots. I tend to enjoy the same reaction to much Native American flute music as it gets repeatedly cheesed out with all the cliché new age tricks: the sounds of a storm, falling rain, the cry of a hawk, all ladled over flute noodling that never resolves into an actual song. I know—it’s supposed to conjure up all the hackneyed stock images of Native Americans that turn the original 16 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012
Americans into easily trivialized two-dimensional caricatures—the long-haired, bronzed modern George Winston cum Kokopelli musically greeting the rising or setting of the sun from his earth-toned idyllic cliffside adobe, with innate reverence, too spiritual to be heading off to work, subsisting on, presumably, whatever the hawks drop off on his doorstep as he communes in a plaintive minor key with the Great Spirit. I’m not trying to trivialize Native American music by any means,and if you’re one of those who enjoy this type of thing, by all means enjoy it, but really, how many times can you hear the stock sound effect hawk’s cry and feel a connection to anything but the fact that it’s been done to death? I love hearing a red-tailed hawk in the wild, but I’m going to shoot the next one I hear on an album. Enter our cover artist: Steve (Ruiz) Rushingwind. Steve is an artist and musician of
Cahuilla/Opata and Mexican descent, and a truly fun and creative guy. Steve’s anything but two dimensional, and he’s been an inspired creative spirit since birth. In essence, his art and music are just two sides of the same coin. In his art, he crafts scenes from the desert, as well as colorful images of jazz, and simple portraits of everyday objects Steve finds beautiful. It is an artistic approach that is honest and suits him well and has its roots in his uncle, Alfred Flores’ studio, where he spent time as a child. So, what about the Native American flute? Steve has been playing wind instruments all his life, and the Native American flute for a decade or so. He has recorded quite a bit of his music solo and with guitarist Michael Mucklow, who left the Joshua Tree area a while back, for the hills of New Mexico. Mucklow’s a talented, if sometimes
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morose, musician, somewhat of a loner, and thus well suited to help compose and perform the mainstream Native American new age music that Rushingwind & Mucklow have recorded together. They have several albums of this “traditional” Native American music that has won a number of awards. Overall, an honest assessment reveals many of the songs on the Rushingwind & Mucklow albums are so similar they begin to sound as if they are the same song with minor variations. And while Mucklow is a very good guitarist, I can’t help but feel the compositions would have benefited from bringing in a keyboardist and percussionist other than himself. That’s not to put Michael down, he’s just far better at guitar than he is at these other instruments, and there are pieces that could have really soared with stronger instrumental performances in these areas. Ultimately, their 2012 CD, Bridge, seems to be the best of their collaborations to date, more complex and diverse than their other works, and it lets Rushingwind take his flute playing musically beyond the earlier albums, while Mucklow adds more movement and life to the compositions. Gone is much of the spa-stic new agey feel, and instead, it is replaced with a musical direction that is fresh and lively, incorporating broader instrumentation and influences. Sometimes, it almost rocks, but doesn’t quite cross that line. Yet. Continuing in new directions, Steve
has launched The Rushingwind Project, drawing blues, rock, and jazz influences into songs still led by Native American flute. Between Bridge, with Mucklow, and The Rushingwind Project, I’m hearing Steve take his music into new territories, and I’m cheering every hawk’s call and cliché that falls along the way. Check our website for music by Rushingwind & Mucklow and The Rushingwind Project, and learn how you can help support production of The Rushingwind Project’s first album. Awards Plains Rider (from Among the Ancients): 2012 New Mexico Music Award Cahuilla Sunrise and Spirit of the Wolf (from Among the Ancients): 2012 Indian Summer Music Awards
Attention Professional Salesmen/ Women Across the Desert & Mountains Do you enjoy working independently? Being your own boss? Representing a quality, established desert publication that is growing and expanding? If so, call The Sun Runner at (760)820-1222 and ask about becoming an Advertising Representative for this magazine in your own community. October/November 2012 – The Sun Runner 17
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ime hasn’t always been easy on the Palm Springs that was once Hollywood’s stylish desert playground. It isn’t as simple as it once was to feel close to the spirit that drew movie stars, along with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, out to the desert. But it’s still there if you seek it out, and Copley’s on Palm Canyon brings together the best of the elegant spirit of old Palm Springs with the finest of the new. Copley’s is in the heart of downtown Palm Springs, strongly bonded to Hollywood’s classic desert love affair. The restaurant is located in the red-tile roofed guesthouse of Cary Grant’s estate from the 1940s, in the evening shadow of the mountains, and offers gracious indoor and outdoor dining. Our preference at Copley’s is to dine on the patio with one of their signature drinks as the sun sets behind the mountains. The outdoor courtyard is just off Palm Canyon Drive, but still feels secluded, with a fire pit, fountain, and group dining accommodations (as well as many of the fresh herbs used in the kitchen that are grown on site). For happy hour, join the crowd at Copley’s beautiful bar and lounge area, or take a leisurely dinner on the patio. You really can’t go wrong with starters like the baby arugula and warm duck salad, and while the “Oh My Lobster Pot Pie” is a must try at least once, the innovative menu offers a bit of everything, from prosciutto wrapped duck breast with spinach and roasted figs accompanied by braised duck leg, to pan seared crispy Australian barramundi. At this award-winning restaurant, your taste buds are not going to be disappointed, no matter what entree you select. Executive Chef Andrew Copley will see to your culinary satisfaction—and beyond. Whatever entree you choose, leave room for dessert. At many restaurants, dessert isn’t that exciting, and we frequently 20 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012
are fine without. But at Copley’s, it’s truly a must. Do order some coffee and try their incredible chocolate crunch bars with raspberry sorbet and chocolate sauce, or at least sample their delicious house made ice creams (basil, tarragon, Tahitian vanilla, or cinnamon), and finish with a brandy under the stars. Copley’s is a great destination for a romantic dinner with a little old Palm Springs feel, or for that special celebration. If you’ve got a budding chef in the family, check out Andrew Copley’s cooking classes where you can learn how to prepare delicious seasonal soups and entrees. Though long gone from the premises, I think Mr. Grant would, no doubt, approve of Copley’s decision to embrace the history of its Palm Canyon location while enhancing it with superb fine dining under the desert stars. Copley’s is an excellent spot to soak up a little classic Palm Springs ambiance while enjoying the city’s modern and sophisticated culinary delights.
Copley’s on Palm Canyon 621 N. Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs
(760)327-9555
www.copleyspalmsprings.com
Hours: 6 p.m. until closing October 1 through June 9, 2013: Open nightly June 10 through July 6, 2013: Closed Mondays July 7 through August 29, 2013: Annual summer closure, reopens Labor Day Reservations are recommended Complimentary valet parking Friday & Saturday
Copley’s on Palm Canyon offers indoor dining and a beautiful bar, opposite page, as well as outdoor patio dining around the historic grounds of Cary Grant’s guesthouse. “Oh My, Lobster Pot Pie,” is one of the culinary treats awaiting guests to Copley’s on Palm Canyon, above. But we’re going to warn you—leave room for dessert or you’ll be sorry. Executive Chef Andrew Copley was trained at the Westminster Culinary College in London and gained experience at the Savoy and Park Lane hotels, as well as the Grand Hyatt on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, the Ritz Carlton (on Maui and in San Francisco), and elsewhere, prior to opening this Palm Springs restaurant with Juliana Manion Copley, and Greg Butterfield. The outdoor grounds and patio at Copley’s on Palm Canyon make for delightful outdoor dining under the desert stars, a friendly firepit for cool nights, and an excellent venue for group dining (that does double duty for Executive Chef Andrew Copley’s cooking classes during season), below. Arrive early and visit the shops and art galleries nearby on Palm Canyon Drive, or dine and catch a performance at the Palm Canyon Theatre.
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Trio co-owners, operating partner Tony Marchese and Executive Chef Mark Van Laanen, have created a winning restaurant on every level, top right, opposite page. Palm Springs diners enjoy the fruits of Tony and Mark’s labors, right, opposite page.
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estaurants can convey the essence and culture of a community as well as a museum or landmark, and sometimes, they can embody its uniqueness better than just about anything else. A great restaurant is a place where locals and visitors come, not only to dine, but to get a feel for, and be part of, the life of its community. Trio has succeeded dramatically at living up to its motto “Where Palm Springs eats,” and that may be due as much to its integration into the community, its style, and service, as well as its food. The folks at Trio seem to have thought of it all, and embraced and implemented it with enthusiasm and success. For us, downtown Palm Springs is about an hour’s drive from Sun Runner world headquarters, so it takes motivation to get us to head to the low desert. From our first dinner there, Trio has made itself a generator of motivation, to the point where we’ll jump in the car just to go dine there. Why? It’s not just the food, though that’s motivation enough, but the whole experience. The old bank building where Trio is located in the Uptown Design District, is an attractive modernist building, filled with colorful art. The staff is universally welcoming and friendly, attentive but not obtrusive. The bar provides an excellent selection of specialty cocktails, and yes, the food is great. The Trio experience is a feast for the senses as well as the palate, and since we always have a good time going out to eat there, we always are ready to return. The menu consists of what they call “American modern” food, a mixture of comfort foods and contemporary American dishes. We love the roasted baby beet salad and hand cut potato chips with home made ranch dip to start, though the country pate and Wisconsin artisan cheese plate are also great starters. The Australian sole is popular, but we love the crawfish pot pie, the Trio mac and 5 cheese, and the St. Louis style spare 22 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012
ribs so much it’s hard to try other menu items. The drinks are as delicious as the food at Trio. Try the SpaTini, made with Pearl Cucumber Vodka, agave, and lime for a refreshing cocktail, or the Palm Springs Punch (the Naked Surfer is great too), or go for some red or white sangria. If you’re on a budget but still want the Trio experience, the $19 prix fixe menu with its three courses, is an extraordinary value. Dine before 6 p.m. and you can enjoy a starter, entree, and dessert for under $20. That’s one of the best deals in the desert. Trio, under the direction of operating partner Tony Marchese and executive chef/co-owner Mark Van Laanen, have thought of pretty much every reason you should keep returning to Trio: the great value of the prix fixe menu (it lets you try out the Trio favorites at a very reasonable price), happy hour specials, to go and delivery options, a frequent eaters card, specials, private dining, great art, support for local charities, special events, and a dedication to using locally grown and organic foods whenever possible. Their ability to not only create a multifaceted appeal for diners, but to execute all facets flawlessly, is a testament to their talents and their staff. Trio is deservedly one of the most popular restaurants of the Coachella Valley, and one of our favorites.
Trio
707 N. Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs
(760)864-TRIO
www.triopalmsprings.com
Open daily Lunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Dinner: 3 p.m. to close Happy Hour (bar only): 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. Reservations are recommended
TWENTYNINE PALMS ART GALLERY AND GIFT SHOP Desert Art Native American Jewelry and Southwestern Gifts 74055 Cottonwood Dr. (off National Park Dr.) Twentynine Palms, CA 92277 www.29palmsartgallery.com (760)367-7819
Open: 12 to 3 PM Wednesday–Sunday Summer Hours: 12 to 3 Friday-Saturday-Sunday
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one of the Coachella Valley’s greatest places to visit are also the easiest to miss if you’re not careful. One such location is Desertland, the Moorten Botanical Garden, on South Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs (just south of the turn where East Palm Canyon Drive splits off and heads toward Cathedral City and the rest of the valley). Moorten Botanical Garden began in 1938 when Chester “Cactus Slim” Moorten and his wife, Patricia, set up the botanical garden and cactarium (a cactus greenhouse). If I recall the story told to me by their son, Clark Moorten, who now runs the garden, “Slim” had been prospecting out near Cottonwood Springs and selling cactus on the side. At some point, it must have seemed that selling cactus was not only easier than mining, but more profitable, and the Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium, was born. Though the garden is small, it is filled with several thousand specimens of desert cacti and other dryland plants from the Sonoran Desert, Baja California, the Mojave, the Yuha, the Great Basin, and the Gran Desierto de Altar, as well as from Texas, South America, and South Africa. If you enjoy desert plants, you’ll love this little gift from the Moorten family. Clark often works at the garden, and the 24 The Sun Runner
stories and history can be as interesting as the plants. Slim was one of the original Keystone Cops and a stand-in for Howard Hughes, while Patricia, a biologist, wrote a book on desert plants back in 1969. Clark is recognized as an expert on succulents, and a great source of stories from local history. Wander among the agaves, boojum trees, organ pipe cactus, ironwood tree, vine cactus, and palo verde, and enjoy the view of the Moorten’s Mediterranean style home, “Cactus Castle.” Think what it must have been like when the Moortens designed landscaping for the likes of Frank Sinatra and spent time with Walt Disney and consulted on a project that would eventually become Frontierland. The gardens may be rented for private events, and hundreds of weddings have been held on the grounds here. There’s a small admission to visit, and it’s worth every penny. You can also purchase some plants to take a little desert with you. Moorten Botanical Garden 1701 S. Palm Canyon Drive Palm Springs (760)327-6555 www.moortengarden.com Open daily during season, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., closed Wednesdays
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remember a Thursday night some years back, when I met a couple visiting the Coachella Valley at Palm Springs’ VillageFest. I was providing information on the Joshua Tree Gateway Communities as part of a visitor outreach program conducted by the Yucca Valley Chamber of Commerce. The couple had a question I was to hear again and again in the years since: “We’ve played golf, we’ve gone shopping, we’ve visited museums, and we’ve gone to the spa. We see mountains and desert around us, but nobody has told us anything about them. What is there to do?” I asked if they liked to get out in nature and if they enjoyed hikes and wildlife. When they answered “yes,” I gave them suggestions that reinvigorated their feelings toward their desert holiday. I’ll never forget how they thanked me half a dozen times for sharing the fact that there were so many opportunities to explore and enjoy the desert all around the Coachella Valley and Joshua Tree National Park gateway communities. A lot of the mindset I’ve experienced over the years in the Coachella Valley, is that you want to keep your tourists in the Coachella Valley buying rounds of golf, shopping, getting spa treatments, dining and drinking, and enjoying all the civilized joys this part of the desert can provide. But there’s more to the desert than that, and for some visitors, the desert—sans all the amenities of Orange County—is the true attraction. Mind you, it’s great to go for a long day hike into a remote canyon and then discuss how fun it was over drinks and dinner at a fine restaurant (that’s one of the fantastic things about the des26 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012
ert— in so many locations you can enjoy the best of both the natural and the civilized worlds). But where do you go when you want your desert a little more natural, a tad bit more wild? The Coachella Valley Preseve in Thousand Palms (on the north side of Interstate 10), is an easily accessible place to get your fix of the real desert. While there is a system of preserves around this location administered by a host of governmental and private organizations to protect species such as the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard, the Coachella Valley Preserve, run by the Center for Natural Lands Management, is the best place for visitors to start. While there is a rustic visitors center, open seasonally, there are no additional facilities at the preserve. Visitors must plan to bring their own water and food with them (and there are great places to picnic). Our favorite hike is to Pushwalla Palms, about a five mile loop that provides some excellent views of native palm oases, and Coachella Valley vistas. The hike to and from Pushwalla Palms (deep within Pushwalla Canyon), can be strenuous and lengthy, so for an easy and fun introduction, I recommend the short trail from the visitors center to the McCallum Grove and oasis pond. You’ll see a real native palm oasis and possibly some wildlife, as well as examples of the dune environment native to this part of the Colorado Desert. Coachella Valley Preserve 29200 1000 Palms Canyon Road, Thousand Palms www.coachellavalleypreserve.org Oct. 15-April 15: 7 a.m.-5 p.m., April 16-Oct. 14: 7 a.m.-6 p.m.
If you’re looking for a bit of the real desert that’s still left in the Coachella Valley, look no further than the Coachella Valley Preserve in Thousand Palms, above. Views like the one below, seen from a trail in the preserve, remind you of how developed most of the Coachella Valley has become. On the opposite page, a view of the mountains greets you on your return from Pushwalla Palms.
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magine relaxing on a lounge chair of a classic desert resort, Marilyn Monroe to your left, Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift on your right. Bing Crosby and Lon Chaney Jr. are dangling their legs in the cool waters of the pool as a breeze rustles the palms and the sun warms the mountains behind you. You’re escaping the crowded, crazy world we’ve created for ourselves—digital dystopia, the slavish existence where our toys and devices appear more master than tool. Marilyn and company? They’re escaping the insanity known as Hollywood. Is this some wild desert fantasy? Yes and no. It’s The Palms at Indian Head and at least the spirit.of those stars remains. Here in Borrego Springs, this magical place, once known as “the fabulous million dollar” Hoberg’s Desert Resort, was a special retreat for Hollywood stars. When Palm Springs was simply too public or demanding, a private air strip beckoned
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and finally, celebrities could get just about far enough away from it all to relax and be themselves (the hotel had a reputation for having “a very wet bar” and it’s still a great place to get a drink and seriously relax by the pool). This has to be one of the best places to be yourself I’ve ever found. A historic desert resort, this joins the list of the best of the best desert inns—Furnace Creek Inn, the 29 Palms Inn, and a handful of others like La Posada in Winslow, Arizona. To make a long story short, Hoberg’s eventually went through several lesser incarnations and fell into disrepair. The current owners, David Leibert and Cindy Wood, are to not just be commended, but honored for bringing this classic desert resort back to life. With “spectacular desert views” (that’s from Fodors, but I agree wholeheartedly), in Borrego Springs smack dab in the middle of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (you can hike up Palm Canyon right from the hotel), The Palms is a real treat. It’s not perfect—the work of restoring this mid-century modern resort is ongoing, but with the restaurants on site—the casual Red Ocotillo poolside, and the more formal Krazy Coyote, there are delectable meals and drinks throughout the day so you never need to leave (but if you do, don’t worry—Borrego Springs is home to some of our very favorite desert restaurants). Tip: Spring for a poolside casita if you want a romantic retreat! The Palms at Indian Head 2220 Hoberg Road Borrego Springs (760)767-7788 www.thepalmsatindianhead.com
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t’s that time of year again, the time when humanity overruns shopping malls and ships full of Chinese merchandise are unloaded upon our shores. But we have one tip for your consideration this holiday season..... Shop independent and local. Support shopping that supports our communities. As an example, the College of the Desert Street Fair on the COD campus in Palm Desert, hosts hundreds of independent vendors carrying everything from art to clothing, jewelry to furniture, much of it made in the desert. When you shop at the COD Street Fair, you support the COD Alumni Association which provides more than $270,000 in student scholarships and financial aid every year, and funds other college programs and projects. The COD Alumni Association has donated $1 million to the college for the Alumni Association Academic Enrichment Fund, as well as raised more than $700,000 for the scholarship endowment fund. You shop and create a better future for the desert at the same time: www.codstreetfair.net. Another aspect to shopping independent and local is the fact that some of the very best selections of gifts can be found at the gift shops of our museums and art galleries. Yucca Valley’s Hi-Desert Nature Museum gift shop, as well as those in the 29 Palms Art Gallery, the 29 Palms Creative Center, and the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, the Maturango Museum, or the Eastern California Museum, and even the Twentynine Palms Visitors Center, all offer unique gift ideas you won’t find in the mall. Once again, you’re supporting something of value. Even when you shop local businesses instead of multinational corporations, you’re supporting your community. Check out one of my favorites—Sagebrush Press in Yucca Valley, for hard to find desert books (there are so many books in there you can barely walk!), or Lotus Garden Center in Palm Desert with their desert art collection and everything you need to make your home and garden beautiful. Places like Artistic Beads in Yucca Valley, or the 29 Palms Creative Center, can get you making your own gifts this Christmas. You get the idea. And of course, you can always give a memorable desert experience instead of something material, from a romantic stay at Roughley Manor, to a poolside escape at the 29 Palms Inn, a night honky-tonking at Pappy & Harriet’s to a weekend exploring Ridgecrest or Borrego Springs. All of these ideas are in this magazine, so skip the mall this year. Finally, support the organizations that protect and enhance our desert. Adopt a horse at White Rock Horse Rescue, support one of our museums, or a park-oriented organization like the Joshua Tree National Park Association, the Amargosa Conservancy, or the Anza-Borrego Foundation. Of course, you can send folks gift subscriptions to The Sun Runner to share the real desert with your loved ones too. We’ll send love from Joshua Tree..... October/November 2012 – The Sun Runner 29
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he old adage of,” if gold were easy to find then everyone would be doing it,” rings so true! You can arrive at the best place at the best time with the best equipment and yet failure to have a solid foundation of good recovery andhunting techniques can leave you high and dry. This is why preparation and learning from the experts is key. Back to basics! The people who use metal detectors have a basic saying— “swing low and swing slow.” There is no way to put this any better. You must plan your hunt and hunt your plan. Do not get in a hurry! A metal detector search coil is equipped from the factory with a skid plate on it. Without this cover you void your warranty because highly sensitive technology becomes exposed to potential damage. Now, having said this, the purpose of the scratch cover is so that you can get as close to the ground as possible and even gently slide the scratch cover over the desert sand gently for those faint deeper targets which tend to whisper at us. If you do receive one of these faint deep whispers, then kick the ground surface with your boot to see if the signal gets any louder... This is smart prospecting. Next rebalance your machine in a neutral spot away from the whisper target and then go over the target location again. If it still whispers, be prepared to start digging a hole around the target, flip your coil up on the blade edge and poke it into the hole until you have successfully pinpointed the location. Scoop it and strain it through a classifier and badda bing! Where do I start? 30 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012
One of the best places to wave a metal detector is in old tailing piles left behind by a dry washer and the walls and gravity traps of old desert washes. Mineral hunters can find a treasure in 20 to 30 foot high walls of old desert washes. Many metal detector users like to wait until after a nice hard rain storm to hunt these washes but be careful because the walls can become unstable. The good news is that sometimes there can be nuggets right on the surface after a hard rain or in deep gravity traps. The bad news for metal detectors is that wet ground creates false echoes and can tell you there is something there when in fact you are receiving wet ground mineralization and a “false ground echo.” Dry washers are also not as efficient after a hard rain. Hence the name dry washer. Once again I highly recommend you always prospect with a more experienced person or a club member. Our club is local in the high desert and we have over 200 members. We are a non-profit educational organization. We own five placer mining claims. You can contact us at www.first classminers.org. If you are interested in joining a placer mining college class contact Copper Mountain College in Joshua Tree. The class runs every Saturday and starts October 27. Philip Bonafede is a prospector and owner of Prospectors Depot, in Joshua Tree. You can reach Phil with your questions and comments at: info@prospectorsdepot.com, or (760)366-3333. We’re looking forward to doing some prospecting with Philip this fall when it gets cooler. Are you interested in desert prospecting? Let us know at publisher@thesunrunner.com.
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he Coso Mountain petroglyphs are the last remnant of a society that started thousands of years ago and lived almost to our present time. Through the artistry and symbolism of these petroglyphs we know that it was a huntergatherer society based on hunting desert bighorn sheep, and so the desert bighorn sheep loom large in its everyday culture and mythology just as the buffalo hunting societies that once lived on the Great Plains centered their culture and mythology on the buffalo. While the rocks and bighorn sheep have changed little, the climate and the people have changed considerably. The climate was wetter back then as the dry lakes that are scattered throughout the desert show, and this, in combination with other factors, allowed the bighorn sheep to become the dominant grazing animal of that time. As for the people, we no longer live in hunter-gatherer societies that depend on hunting bighorn sheep for survival, and indeed, there are very few people in our modern society who know anything about bighorn sheep. Perhaps the last person to hunt bighorn sheep in the traditional manner was an Indian name Shoshone John who was written about in a book entitled Burl Bill and Me, which is an incredible book about the desert that I highly recommend. Shoshone John would be hunting bighorn sheep in the Panamint Range in the 1930s and 40s and, while it was said he owned a rifle, he used a bow made out of juniper wood and arrowheads made from greasewood to hunt sheep. I can only imagine that
he used greasewood arrowheads because he did not know how to work stone as this skill was probably not passed on to him; however, I would be very interested to know if using greasewood arrowheads was an innovation on his part or part of the traditional hunting knowledge of this area. Perhaps it was a material that ancient people used when they didn’t have the proper stone and were out on the hunt. As anybody who has traveled the desert much in a 4x4 knows, greasewood is incredibly strong and can puncture tires with ease. I would have really liked to talk to Shoshone John as I’m sure in the Coso petroglyphs he would’ve seen things that only a person with insider knowledge would know. Without a doubt he was a closest thing to a Rosetta Stone we ever had; however, he and the last of his kind are now gone and there are things about these petroglyphs we will never know. However, that is not to say that these petroglyphs are mute or meaningless; there is still much they speak to and things we can learn from them because they were written in the environment and with the technology of their time. So in them we can see beauty and symbolism produced by the human spirit as it was written then, and is interpreted today. The Sun Runner’s Little Petroglyph Canyon Tour for this fal has been sold out. If you’re interested in our spring tour, please sign up for our weekly Sun Blast newsletter at our website, www. thesunrunner.com, to be the first to know the dates. October/November 2012 – The Sun Runner 31
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s it possible to ‘live in this moment’ when you know the floor creaking under your feet has felt everything from bare feet to boots moving over it for more than a hundred years? Sometimes that knowledge can even make the room feel rather crowded…but then this IS a Living Ghost Town…. People shape where they live and are in turn shaped by their dwelling places. Think about it. Olivia McCarthy, who lived four doors east of me on Randsburg’s Highland Avenue…over 100 years ago… moved up from civilized Tustin, California in June of 1897. Described by her daughter, Teresa, as a “pioneer wife,” Olivia never shared what she really thought of her husband’s idea to move to the fledgling mining community. With six small children (the youngest, Charlie, was only six weeks old), moving into a one room Rand dwelling was quite a challenge. Her children never knew of the despair imposed on Olivia by the fourwindowed-single-door building which was to be her home. They did remember that Olivia loved pretty things and hung colorful curtains on the windows. A charming old clock and two vases etched in gold had survived the journey, having been carefully packed in seemingly far away Tustin. Their presence helped shape one room into home. At 313 Highland, there is still a letter B shot by BBs right in the wood of the very vintage front door. About thirty
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years ago an ‘old timer’ stopped by to tell us that an early family’s surname started with a B and the two sons had been the long ago mischief makers. Those boys certainly shaped the little cottage’s front door for the curious of the future. We may never know how living at 313 affected them; I am aware they had their own room with a door to the outside and their very own wood stove for heating…on the other side of the cottage from their parents’ bedroom. Sounds like a great place for imaginative adventures to be hatched. Home was almost away from home. Highland Avenue was quite a place to live in early Randsburg. According to Marcia Rittenhouse Wynn in the 1963 edition of Desert Bonanza: The street that ran more or less parallel to Butte Avenue, but farther up the hill side, Highland Avenue, was frequently spoken of privately by the younger blades of the town as Pregnant Avenue, that being where many of the early families lived. Half buried in the dirt floor of the small fruit cellar under the porch at 311 Highland was found a very old wooden pull-toy horse complete with rider. One can imagine children playing with their toys…and exercising their imaginations…in one of the few cool places in the pre-A/C days. Heat drove them to the cool cellar where they could create their own world. Fun remembrances, but why do some of us care? Why should we bother
preserving all that old stuff anyway? Who really wants to hear the floors creak? Who wants to pour heaps of money into making some pile of hundred year old wood ‘live-able?’ Or experience a full year’s frustration just to obtain a county permit for pre-fab carport construction? Why not just sell-off what we can on Ebay…and be sensible? Why preserve history? Why try to find out what life in a mining camp was really like? Why choose to do all this? Why even live here with one foot hopelessly mired in the past? People shape where they live and are in turn shaped by their dwelling places. Some of us really like the shapes we find ourselves in…. Lorraine Blair, like any good historian, is rightfully concerned about historical preservation, or the lack thereof, across the desert. I’m with her 100 percent, as we are losing much of our history before we have the chance to piece together the puzzles left for us. – SB
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ur Desert Writers Celebration, held under a full moon at the 29 Palms Inn on the Oasis of Mara, was a great evening of writers, poets, books, food (including our favorite Joshua Treets Ice Cream), music, and fire dancing. James Sulos, president of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., joined author Robin Maxwell during a presentation on Maxwell’s new book, JANE: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan (right); and authors and poets like Naomi Lake from Borrego Springs (bottom right), read from their work and signed their books. Naomi’s work, “Spring Stream,” was published in our Desert Writers Issue, and her husband, Don Barrie, is a cover photographer for The Sun Runner. After the sun set and the full moon rose, Lacey Anderson set the night afire with incredible dance performances (above). A Tarzan and Jane theme brought folks out in safari gear and animal skins, while Indy and his ice cream wallas served up delicious Joshua Treets Ice Cream throughout the evening. Tarzan (and Jane) would have been proud.
Author Robin Maxwell, and her husband, Max Thomas, as Tarzan and Jane, below. The Desert Writers Issue cover featuring the two was picked as 2012’s Magazine Cover of the Year by Gawker.com.
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Desert Theatre Beat
By Jack Lyons Sun Runner Theatre Editor
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our intrepid editor is profiling two theatres for this issue—Theatre 29 in Twentynine Palms, and Coyote StageWorks of Palm Springs. I caught up with a busy Gary Daigneault (via telephone), longtime past president of Theatre 29’s board of directors and the driving creative force behind the success of the Twentynine Palms community theatre from its inception in 1999. Original founders John (deceased) and Carol Calveri (now living in Colorado) have handed over the reins of operation to Brian and Patti Tabeling, and Daigneault, all of whom are still very much connected with the theatre. SR: As the area’s only year-round, live theatre venue, how difficult has it been to produce and present eight productions a year, plus special events, especially if you factor in hot summer weather and part-time residents? GD: Theatre under the best of conditions is always a challenge. We always try to offer our patrons and subscribers a balanced season of musicals, comedies, and dramas, so there is something that appeals to everyone. This year, we did nine shows: comedies, dramas, and musicals. It seems to be working, as we’re in our 13th season. As for the weather… well Mother Nature controls that issue. SR: How does the production selection process work? GD: We have a production committee that selects our directors and plays, and matches them up. We also have potential directors bring us suggestions of plays they would like to do. There are, however, certain scheduling slots that are pretty firm from year to year. SR: Like which ones? GD: We’ve learned over the years that musicals and “young people or kid” oriented shows work best in the summer, when there is plenty of rehearsal time available. So, the committee schedules accordingly. Dramas or comedies seem to have more appeal in the fall and spring. Of course, the traditional Christmas show 34 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012
very rarely moves from late November into early December. SR: Does Theatre 29 have any plans for expanding the present building on Sullivan Road? GD: Yes, we are always exploring ways to improve and expand the building in order to make the theatre experience for our patrons more pleasant and enjoyable. In addition, there are talks, in the exploratory stage, to see if a new 250 seat, state of the art theatre is feasible for the City of Twentynine Palms. SR: How would Theatre 29 fit into that scenario? GD: It’s premature to discuss our role in the project at this point in time. However, I can say we would be happy to play some part, perhaps, as the operators of the new theatre once it is completed. But, that’s all in the future. Right now our energy is focused on the opening of our next production “Asylum: Halloween Haunt,” created by Eric Ross. Come up and see what takes place on Fridays and Saturdays nights beginning October 19. Following the “haunt” make sure you see our Christmas show, “A Don’t Hug Me Christmas Carol,” directed by Marty Neider from November 16 through December 15. SR: Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule to talk with us. Good luck with your new season. Chuck Yates is a co-founder and the Artistic Director of the new Equity theatre company, Coyote StageWorks, of Palm Springs. Now beginning their fourth season in the Coachella Valley, the professional acting company, performs in the beautiful 433-seat Annenberg Theatre. In another telephone interview (these artistic directors are busy people) I had the opportunity to find out what Coyote StageWorks has been up to. SR: As you begin your fourth season as a professional theatrical producing organization can you tell us how that organization, founded by four Equity performers, landed in Palm Springs? CY: As a professional working TV writer of sit-coms, it became clear to me, and my co-founders: Steve Carter, Larry Raben, and David Engle that the TV landscaped had changed—meaning that the sit-coms I was working on in Hollywood were being replaced more and more by reality shows with diminishing budgets and production values. That kind of scenario doesn’t have a bright future for narrative writers like me, or Steve. Larry and David are live theatre and film performers who travel with shows and are less impacted by the plethora of reality
shows now on television. SR: Meaning it’s a case of join the trend or change course altogether. CY: Something like that. I have a get-away home in Palm Springs. The four of the co-founders talked it over, and we decided that Steve and I would move permanently to Palm Springs and form a new live theatrical venture presenting Equity theatre productions to valley residents. SR: That would be Coyote StageWorks, right? CY: Yes. In the three years we’ve been presenting plays, we’ve been very fortunate and very successful. This year, we received 19 Desert Theatre League nominations for excellence in theatre, here in the desert. The award winners will be announced on October 14 in ceremonies held in Indio. So, perhaps, we may have nabbed a few more, at least, we hope so. SR: Your farce/comedy production of “Boeing, Boeing” of last November, was a sold- out smash hit. So it’s natural to expect the same for your upcoming season. What can we expect to see in the new season? CY: We will be presenting “Souvenir,” the real-life story of New York’s legendary society eccentric, Florence Foster Jenkins, who believed she was the possessor of a magnificent operatic soprano. In reality, she couldn’t sing more than two notes together on key. “Souvenir” plays from November 23 through December 2. SR: I remember the show starring Judy Kaye as Florence a couple of seasons back. It’s very funny stuff. CY: Following “Souvenir” we are presenting “Suds” by Melissa Gilb and Steve Gunderson, which is a hoot and bills itself as a “60s musical soap opera.” “Suds” hits the Annenberg stage February 7 through February 17. SR: Is there any part for you in any of these productions? After all, you’re a past Desert Theatre League winning lead comedy actor for “A Tuna Christmas.” CY: I’m so glad you asked. Yes, indeed, there is a part for me this year. I have been waiting for years to play Truman Capote in the wicked comedy “Tru,” based on his own words; adapted by Jay Presson Allen. The play hasn’t been performed often since Robert Morse created the role in 1989. We are very fortunate to have received the rights from Ms. Allen’s estate after she passed away. For information on Theatre 29, call the box office at (760)366-3777. For information on Coyote StageWorks call (760)325-4490.
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he 13th Annual Big Bear Lake International Film Festival (BBLIFF) presented some of the best feature length, short films, documentaries, and student films in a film festival that MovieMaker magazine said was one of the “Top 25 Festivals worth the entry fee.” One of the reasons industry people say that about BBLIFF is that it is one of the few festivals that feature and honor the work of cinematographers and screenwriters with lifetime achievement awards. Over the years, the festival has honored a Who’s Who of Cinematographers, from John Bailey, ASC, last year’s honoree to Caleb Deschanel, ASC, 2010 honoree, and the list continues back to Lazlo Kovacs, and Vilmos Zsigmond, of Hungary, among many others. In the Screenwriters category, past honorees include: David S. Ward (The Sting), and L.D. Goffigan (Germaine’s Pride), among others. This year’s festival had three Academy Award winning recipients. First, the late, great, English cinematographer Jack Cardiff posthumously received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement in Cinematography Award. The award was presented by festival co-president Monika Skerbelis to Scottish writer/ director/producer Craig McCall who accepted the honor on behalf of the Cardiff family. McCall’s riveting 90-minute feature documentary film entitled “Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff,” became the basis for the festival’s prestigious cinematography honor. Jack was the cameraman for 73 movies, TV series, and documentaries that spanned an unbelievable nine-decade career in the movie business. Cardiff was arguably
the greatest color cinematographer ever to peer through a camera lens. He passed away at the age of 94 in 2009. Second, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Screenwriting was presented by festival co-president and director of the screenwriting competition, Sandy Steers, to Academy Award winner and 2012 honoree, Tom Schulman. Schulman is a most deserving honoree. He became an Academy Award winning screenwriter with his first effort, “Dead Poets Society,” starring Robin Williams. He penned “What About Bob,” starring Richard Dreyfuss and Bill Murray, and “Honey I Shrunk the Kids,” with Rick Moranis, as well as “Medicine Man,” “Holy Man,” and “Welcome to Mooseport.” He is currently writing and producing “The Anatomy of Hope” TV pilot for HBO. Third, the honoree for the Lifetime Achievement Award in Film Music was presented to Patrick Williams for his incredible canon of work that has shaped the sound of over 65 feature films, 100 television films, and 25 television series. Williams’ scores can be heard in the movies of “Breaking Away” (1979), for which he received the Academy Award, to “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1982), ”Swing Shift” (1984), “The Grass Harp” (1995), to “That Old Feeling,” with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn (1997) among his selected movie credits. In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award honoree ceremony, the festival screened over 120 films, held Q & A sessions with the filmmakers and the actors in attendance, hosted seminars and panel discussions with Industry professionals, and presented awards to more than 40 hopeful filmmakers who attended the festival. The quality of the film submissions is improving every year, and this year was no exception. The list of films and winners is too lengthy to mention here, but a few films did stand out. “Missed Connections,” directed by Eric Kissack, starring Dorien Davies and Kenny Stevenson, was one. Although, the film carpet-bombed the audience with over a hundred “f-bombs,” the comedy managed, with style and a clever script and acting, to win the Audience Award for Best Feature Film. In the short film genre, “Far” is a very technically proficient film written by, and starring, Marion Kerr, and is deftly and creatively directed by Brian Crewe. It’s a sweet and tender film of young people looking to connect from near and “far” (pun intended). “Ripple Effect,” written and nicely directed by Velvet Andrews Smith tells
Sun Runner Film & Theatre Editor Jack Lyons in action at the 2012 Big Bear Lake International Film Festival. For more theatre and film news, reviews, photos, and more, from Jack & Jeannette Lyons, Steve Brown, and Delphine Lucas, visit the Culture section of www.thesunrunner.com. Want to blog for The Sun Runner about your desert community or interest? Contact us at publisher@thesunrunner.com for information.
the compelling story of how a simple act of kindness between a young Afghan boy and an American soldier makes a powerful war zone impact. It’s very believable, and it’s very relevant in today’s war-torn world. The short film “Angela Wright,” written by Genevieve Farrell, (who also stars) and Mu Sun, who directed, (Canadian filmmakers—she from Ottawa; he from Toronto), showed promise with a somewhat current and relative subject matter—cheating on tests by young students. Another short film “The Aerial Girl,” written by Terri Sissman, and directed by Anna Simone Scott, delves into a young teen’s life that has been turned upside down following the death of her father, is well done. The BBLIFF is proving to be a draw for seasoned screenwriters as well as new and emerging writers. The Second Place screenwriting award went to Joan McBeth for her script “ The Motherload.” Screenwriter P.H. Welles, attended even though she didn’t have a script in the competition. Her screenplay, “My Shanghai” is a work in progress, but she’s shooting for it to become a 2013 BBLIFF entry. For a complete list of winning films and awards go www.bigbearfilmfest.com. Check our website at www.thesunrunner. com for photos, more on the films, and the opening night gala parties. October/November 2012 – The Sun Runner 35
Gram Rabbit on stage with a young guest at the Campout, left. Costumes from the Campout, top right and left of opposite page. Johnny Hickman and David Lowery on stage at the Campout, bottom right of opposite page. The Piggies, with Johnny Hickman at the Campout, bottom left of opposite page. Singer/songwriter Shawn Mafia, middle left of opposite page, was the musical guest for The Sun Runner’s Desert Writers Celebration on September 29 at the 29 Palms Inn.
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he 8th annual Cracker/ Camper Van Beethoven Campout at Pappy and Harriet’s was a tremendous success this year. The Cracker fans (Crumbs) once again came from all over the world to spend three days of fun and music with their favorite bands. Thursday night started with a set from the The Dangers, followed by an acoustic set from Cracker frontmen David Lowery and Johnny Hickman. This is my favorite night of the Campout and was a fun-filled singalong in a small intimate setting. Friday night was the start of the outdoor stage with an outstanding set from our own Gram Rabbit, who along with their new stage show and songs have pleased Cracker fans since they played at the first campout. Gram Rabbit was in rare form and things have been going very well for them, and it has been my pleasure to watch them grow knowing that they were going to go far. The dress theme for Friday was Cowboys vs. Aliens and there were some great costumes. Camper Van Beethoven then took to the stage for a two hour eclectic rock set that included all their hits. After the show was the annual Porchstock at the Pi-Town motel where the music went on way into the early hours of the morning. The Crumbs had taken over the local Travelodge and held a wiffle ball tournament and potluck on Saturday morning that was also attended by many band members. I have never quite seen a more fun and loving group of fans than the Crumbs. They even helped in an online campaign to help bring Johnny Hickman’s other back up band, The Piggies, to the Campout and they raised enough money to do it and get them home. The Piggies did an early well received set on Saturday and they told me they had so much fun. The outdoor stage hosted Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters. The dress code for Saturday (there is a dress code every year and just adds to the fun) was superheroes vs. monsters, and as Cracker hit the stage David Lowery was Batman and Johnny Hickman the Joker. It was a two hour whirlwind of rocking favorites and new songs. 36 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012
Cracker has been out on the road all year and were the first to admit this was the best Campout EVER! There was also the annual meet and greet for the fans to hang with the band and get their posters signed. Thank you so much to Robyn and Linda from Pappy’s and to all the crew from Pitch a Tent and to the bands, it was once again the highlight of my year and a much needed vacation. There are some other great shows coming up at Pappy’s in the near future including The Oh Sees on Oct. 26, the 8th annual Pappy and Scarriet’s Halloween bash featuring Grim (Gram) Rabbit with special guests Spindrift on Oct 27, The Sumner Brothers on Nov. 15, and they just added a special evening with Jorma Kaukonen on January 31! Concrete Blonde is back home after playing sold-out shows at the Belly Up in Solana Beach and the Troubadour in Los Angeles. They will be heading to Europe next year and we wish them the best! The Fred Drake-Desert Dream special edition CD will be available at Donation=Creation art store, The Red Arrow Gallery in Joshua Tree, Oasis Office Supply in Yucca Valley, and the 29 Palms Visitor Center during the Hwy 62 Art Tours. The CD sampler is primarily drawn from the three albums recorded during Fred’s decade in Joshua Tree, where he was the start of a music scene that has become enormous out here. His hospitality even earned him the title of Mayor of Joshua Tree. We miss you Fred. Please check our website for more news and music dates. As winter approaches there are going to be many surprises coming up!
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October/November 2012 – The Sun Runner 37
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EL RANCHO DOLORES MOTEL
A respite for desert travelers since 1940, downtown 29 Palms. Swimming pool, courtyard, A/C, direct phones, satellite TV/HBO. Refrigerators/microwaves, kitchenettes available. Ken Patel, Manager. 73352 29 Palms Hwy., 29 Palms, CA 92277 (760)367-3528 virtual29.com/a-z/dolores
40 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012
Roughley Manor
SUNNYVALE GARDEN SUITES Condo-like suites with a touch of the “old west.” Junior, 1 & 2 bedroom suites, full kitchens, living rooms, dining rooms, private patios w/barbecues, Cable TV, DVD, patio area, playground, spa and fitness center. Tony & Cora Naraval, owners. 73843 Sunnyvale Dr., 29 Palms, CA 92277 (760)361-3939 www.sunnyvalesuites.com
Bed & Breakfast Inn. Gorgeous 1928 stone manor on 25-acre historic Campbell Ranch. Gardens, elegant guest rooms, fireplaces, grand piano in great room, fine linens, gourmet food, catered functions. Gary & Jan Peters. 74744 Joe Davis Dr., 29 Palms, CA 92277 (760)367-3238 www.roughleymanor.com
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29 Palms Inn
Fine food & lodging since 1928. Lunch, dinner, continental breakfast, Sunday brunch. Art-filled dining room, bar. Heated pool, poolside patio, adobe bungalows. “Oasis of Mara” and trails, near JT National Park headquarters and visitor center. Paul & Jane Smith, Innkeepers. 73950 Inn Ave., 29 Palms, CA 92277 (760)367-3505 www.29palmsinn.com
October/November 2012 – The Sun Runner 41
42 The Sun Runner – October/November 2012