San Diego City Beat 013019

2 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

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UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Here, take my money

B

e careful what you offer, we might take it,” quipped Supervisor Dianne Jacob, responding to a remark from a woman who said she would happily put up the $1 that was needed to lease a vacant courthouse in order to have a temporary shelter for Central American migrants.

Most of the people who showed up for the Tuesday meeting of the Board of Supervisors laughed at Jacob’s joke, but really? Really?

The person ostensibly sitting on top of a $700 million county reserve fund is making a joke about borrowing $1? As if the board’s stingy, Scrooge McDuck fiscal policies has anything to do with their reluctance to help migrants.

On Tuesday, Chairperson Jacob transitioned between playful and authoritative, especially when there was restlessness among the dozens of people who showed up to plead with the board to pass the resolution for a temporary shelter.

And boy, did they come. It was inspiring to see so many concerned citizens of all political stripes come out in support of the shelter; Everyone from the mayor and district attorney’s offices, to charities and religious organizations. The latter category included Jewish Family Service (JFS), who will run the temporary migrant shelter in all facets and reimburse the county for any additional costs.

I think that bears repeating: JFS will run the temporary migrant shelter at no cost to the county.

How could anyone possibly object? Well, they found a way.

Nearly all of the all-white, mostly-Republican board cited the “failure” of the federal and state governments, even if they never mention the fact that their fellow Republicans in the federal government often say it’s a state or city issue when addressing topics such as homelessness. Isn’t that funny how they seem confused as to who’s in charge of what and how it’s never their problem?

“What will happen in December?” pleaded Supervisor Kristin Gaspar, referring to when the lease for the shelter will expire.

She apparently missed the part when it was pointed out that this is a temporary shelter that will be used to temporarily house migrants until a host family is found.

“What we’re talking about here is asylum seekers who are, what? ICE-vetted? ICE-approved? ICE-admitted?,” mocked Supervisor Jim Desmond, before stressing that “they’re

“

here illegally waiting for their asylum date.”

Desmond went on to explain that he doesn’t believe all the experts and charities and mayors and DA’s offices or even his fellow supervisors when they’re telling him that it costs the county nothing, citing the medical costs the county incurs for vaccinations. To be fair to Desmond, he’s new and wasn’t on the Board of Supervisors during their disastrous decision making during the hepatitis A outbreak, but he should know better than to dispute the costs of something as common sense as vaccinating people.

And while I’m at it, let’s go down the list of potential outcomes that could result from doing nothing for these migrants and simply letting them be dropped off on a corner somewhere: -They are at extremely high risk of human trafficking, especially women and children.

-it could add thousands of new homeless cases.

-a new outbreak of yet another communicable disease.

And that’s not even mentioning issues such as hunger, cold, separation and the fear of sexual assault that these people seeking political asylum will have to face.

And what could be the result of doing something and opening this shelter? Well, to hear Supervisor Desmond tell it, it would cost the county something like $4 million over the course of the year. Even if that was the case, that leaves $696,000,000 for the supervisors to swim around in.

In the end, Desmond was the lone dissenting vote, with Gaspar and Jacob reluctantly voting yes for a 4-1 final vote.

What Desmond fails to realize is that’s exactly what people elected him to do. If, in fact, the federal government isn’t doing their part and the state isn’t pulling their weight, then it’s up to local leaders to lead, not play the blame game. This is an emergency. And sometimes leading means doing something that might otherwise make you uncomfortable for the greater good; something that not only helps people who are, in fact, legally allowed to be here, but all citizens of San Diego. To not do so is just political posturing; being a contrarian just for the sake of being a contrarian.

—Seth Combs

Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com

This issue of CityBeat will do a lot of stuff for some Evian water, but it won’t do that.

Volume 17 • Issue 24 EDITOR Seth Combs WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos STAFF WRITER Andrea Lopez-Villafaña COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer, Ryan Bradford, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Rhonda “Ro” Moore

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JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS

FORMER MORMON SHOUT-OUT

Ryan, great story [“No room for Jesus in death,” Jan. 16]. As a former Mormon from Utah, I just attended the last of my Mormon grandparents’ funerals. Your descriptions were spot on. My reactions were the same as yours when my cousin delivered the plan of salvation sermon. I enjoy your column. Keep it up.

Michael Chard

HIGH FIVE!

Hi Ryan, what a powerful piece of writing [“No room for Jesus in death,” Jan. 16]!

Writing about your grandpa brought tears to my eyes and writing about religion, I wanted to high-five! You expressed both so well and eloquently, and it was wonderful to read.

Nola Houston

NO NEED TO PURGE

Agreed that folks telling us to purge books from our collections [“Pride in ownership,” Jan. 23]... either to reorganize our living spaces or to conform to a philosophical/political orthodoxy, will lead to problems.

Skip Monroe via sdcitybeat.com

BEFORE THE SHIT HITS THE FAN

Seth, I noticed where you wrote something about Gloria [“And they’re off!,” Jan. 23]...

“Cons? Critics have often pointed out that Gloria didn’t do enough with his time on the city council to address the issue of homelessness back at a time when it could have conceivably been much more manageable. He has addressed this, but we expect the Republican nominee will bring it up again. Either way, if he wins in Nov. 2020, he’s going to inherit a bit of a mess.”

What you might find interesting is something Gloria did as a council member that created an unanswered multi-billion dollar mess for San Diego!

There was a front-page article in the U-T about an annual 13th pension check which has been paid out for decades... but the thing is that policy is based on “bad math,” which the city council looked at and acknowledged.

Have a look at the attached PDF document which shows the front page news article, a simple explanation of the problem, then lastly the “highlighted” document that I found while googling which explicitly states local politicians and bureaucracy acknowledged the way the portfolio wasn’t kosher math, yet the annual 13th pension checks still keep on happening!

One unanswered “simple” question re-

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

mains... who gets stuck with paying the big clean up bill for the basic “bad math” error?

If you think a 13th public pension check isn’t all the big a deal, perhaps you might want to consider the fact that Detroit had a pension system w/ a 13th public pension check feature... and look at Detroit now (i.e. that city is recovering from going bankrupt).

FYI figured I reach out because sdcitybeat reaches a younger audience that does not pay attention to economic or finance issues BUT is going to get stuck w/ the big clean bill (and perhaps might be able to do something about the mess before TSHTF).

Ben [last name withheld]

TABLE OF CONTENTS UP FRONT From the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Spin Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Backwards & In High Heels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Well, That Was Awkward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

FOOD & DRINK World Fare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Anatomy of a Cocktail Scene . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Final Draught. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

THINGS TO DO The Short List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13

ARTS & CULTURE

WE SCREWED UP In our Jan. 23 issue, we misattributed a photo in the “Final Draught” column about Horus Aged Ales. It was credited as “Courtesy of Horus Aged Ales,” but was actually originally taken by writer/photographer GT Wharton for the beer website The Full Pint and should have been credited as such. We regret the error.

Theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Feature: Gary Karp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-18

MUSIC Feature: Tijuana Panthers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Black Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Spotlight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 If I Were U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Concerts & Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-25

IN THE BACK Astrologically Unsound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 CannaBitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

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JOHN R. LAMB

UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE Flipping Maienschein Among famous traitors of history one might mention the weather.

W

—Ilka Chase

hen the news broke last week that Republicanlite state Assemblymember and former San Diego City Council member Brian Maienschein had jumped ship and joined the Democratic Party, the behind-the-scenes rumor mill lit up like a flare shot into the night sky.

He’s going to run for county Board of Supervisors and join fellow ship-jumper Nathan Fletcher in righting that tilting barge of dithering knuckleheads! went one rumor.

Another batty claim had Maienschein seeking to run for mayor, thus blowing up San Diego’s increasingly interesting 2020 mayororal race. This one had Spin in particular stitches, given it also suggested that congressional Rep. Scott Peters and Assembly warrior/ chief party poacher Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher would be backing him

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JOHN R. LAMB

over Assembly colleague Todd Gloria, who attended Maienschein’s party-switch announcement.

Maienschein, never one to be particularly original, pulled out the old it’s-not-me-it’s-you defense for his decision to bail on the Party of Trump less than three months after narrowly winning re-election. This ain’t rocket science, people. Maienschein read the writing on the wall in his North County district after winning re-election by the skin of his teeth. The teeth, in this case, are the incisors of his conservativeleaning Poway constituents.

Gonzalez-Fletcher, who married her first poach, was open about how she wooed Maienschein over to the Dems. She told Voice of San Diego that her second catch came after applying a bit of a headlock on Maienschein, whom she described as a good friend and San Diego-toSacramento traveling bud. Opting not to back his Democratic challenger, Sunday Gover, in November, Gonzalez-Fletcher made it clear that would not be the case in 2020 should he stick with the GOP.

Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher poaching state Assembly pal Brian Maienschein has local GOP Chairman Tony Krvaric feeling jilted.

“The district had changed,” she told Voice, “and I would support a Democrat in 2020 in the 77th. Happy it will be Brian.”

So everyone’s happy, right?

Well, not exactly. Local Republicans flailed all over the place like recently ditched suitors. And no one seemed to take it harder than local party Chairman Tony Krvaric.

“Assemblyman @BMaienschein gratefully took Republican help to get elected and re-elected. Now he turns his back on his friends and blames @realDonaldTrump - who was president last year too. Weak,” Krvaric tweeted. He punctuated the tweet with a screengrab of an old text from Maienschein that showed a direct mailer of GOP endorsements. The mailer included an endorsement of Maienschein,

and the screengrab includes a text from him that says, “Thanks Tony!” along with a smiley emoji.

You never wish heart-breaking divorces on anyone, but Krvaric should have seen this one coming. Brian Brady, a SDGOP Central Committee alternate who has clashed with Krvaric in the past, said he knew Maienschein had the potential to flip two years ago.

“Tony’s Achilles’ heel is, he sees the world in Rs and Ds [Republicans and Democrats],” Brady told Spin, adding (shock!) that not all Republicans are saints nor are all Dems devils. In the end, Brady figures Maienschein’s mutiny will hurt him more than the party, given rumors that San Diego Councilmember Mark Kersey, one of the few remaining GOP stars in the local constellation, may challenge the newly minted Democrat rather than run for mayor himself.

Spin asked Brady whom Republicans have in the stables for a legitimate mayoral run in 2020. He paused and let out a little air. “It’s a lost cause,” he lamented. “The funny thing is, four years ago I was thinking [Councilmember] Chris Cate was going to be the next mayor.”

Then SoccerCity Memo-gate ended that idea.

“The way he handled that whole thing was bad,” Brady said.

“There is an argument to be made that San Diegans like their mayors Republican and boring.”

San Diego might well turn that page in 2020, since the early handicapping seems to be focused on the Democratic side of the slate and demographics are seen shifting left. Gloria, the former city council president who played mayor to some acclaim during the Bob Filner fiasco, as well as first-term Councilmember Barbara Bry, seem ready to have at it while activist attorney Cory Briggs, if he’s a serious candidate, has potential to cause havoc with his no-holds-barred style.

Brady said he hopes local GOP leaders come around at some point to realize if they can’t field a decent candidate, maybe backing a

non-party-affiliate like former San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman would be their best shot.

“My guess is when we’re in hell—and I don’t know how much deeper in hell we can be—but when we’re finally in hell for the [2020] general election, a good number of Central Committee members will go, ‘Why don’t we back Shelley?’ If she’s viable and can beat, I don’t know, Todd Gloria, then why not?”

He thinks a candidate that can “stay in their lane—potholes, cops, firemen, lifeguards, water and trash,” might have a chance.

“That’s why Shelley could be an interesting candidate,” he said.

A rumor has circulated for months that Republicans have told Zimmerman they’d get on board with her if she joined the party, which—the rumor goes—she has declined to do.

“I know there was an effort to get her to kneel,” Brady said, “but you understand why, right? We’re the Republican Party, and a Republican organization backs Republicans. But I’m still guessing she’s still the great Republican hope.”

This isn’t to say that Democrats have their act completely together.

The local party was scheduled to choose its new leader on Tuesday after this publication went to bed. But judging by the 11th-hour emails flying in the background with allegations that Spin won’t repeat because of their anonymous nature, the Democrats are in for a wild ride of their own.

In this era of NIMBY vs. YIMBY, MAGA vs. DACA, yin vs. yang, up vs. down, it may be nostalgic to pine for simpler days when truth meant something, compromise wasn’t a dirty word and political parties knew their respective corners.

Switching teams mid-Trump isn’t brain surgery. More like shooting floating fish in a barrel.

The question is, what does it all mean in the end? Chest-thumping has got this city just as far as browbeating—drifting on an ocean of uncertainty, awaiting the magic flare of illumination.

JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 5

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

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UP FRONT | OPINION

AARYN BELFER

BACKWARDS & IN

HIGH HEELS

The system always works for white boys “White boys enjoy a presumption of innocence. Black boys, meanwhile have been gerrymandered out of the very notion of boyhood.”

—Gene Demby, on Twitter

I

t’s been approximately 893 news cycles since the Covington Catholic High School boys were trending across every media platform. But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them juxtaposed against what I see each week.

Every Tuesday night for more than a year, I have joined seven or eight other community activists to work as a support for families who have a loved one caught up in the American criminal justice system.

Our small-but-mighty coalition is comprised mostly of people of color (I am one of two white people in our group), many of whom, whether professionally or personally, have interacted with or been directly touched by the criminal justice system in some way. Now they bring their expertise to these meetings, and are committed to helping other people not get swallowed up. Participatory Defense is what we call this work because we empower people to participate in their own defense or, as is often the case, to participate in the defense of someone they love who is facing incarceration.

I feel humbled and grateful to be included in this work and have learned so much about our justice system that we white people like to pretend is somehow fair. The truth, however, is that I rarely fail to be left aghast by what I see happening, particularly (though not exclusively) to Black and Brown boys and men.

The system is working exactly as it is meant to, which is to say it is despicably cynical and racist as all hell.

When I went to our meeting last week to strategize with families about how they were going to save the lives of their babies, I had the Covington Catholic High School mob and their racist actions fresh in my mind. And don’t let any of the post-mortem analysis trick you into thinking what you witnessed on the viral video was anything but racism. It was racism.

As I sat at the table with my co-conspirators that night, the Covington teens were likely studying for exams by the light of a computer in bedrooms decorated in green and blue plaid; their lacrosse sticks set justso in the corner; their private school uniforms strewn on the floor.

After all, this sweet scene is light years from that of tiki torches and khakis, which could so easily be in their future. It’s unlikely these boys were losing any sleep over the thought that, perhaps, there was something deeply, corrosively wrong with the way they’d behaved a few days earlier while wearing MAGA hats, the white hood of our era. They likely didn’t consider the implication, meaning or historical context of their performative tomahawk chops, war cries and chants

of “Build that wall!,” yelled gleefully in the face of Native American elder Nathan Phillips.

And why should they toss and turn? They are the children of this country who, unlike the folks who come to Participatory Defense, can afford to hire a private attorney if they get themselves into a little bit of hot water. Why should they suffer insomnia, these white descendants of users and takers and looters and abusers; of rioters and slave-owners and murderers?

Without so much as a sigh, they’ve synthesized all that’s been passed down to them and used it to defend blackface as a form of school spirit. Because of course it’s okay to dress like that for the homecoming basketball game!

Why should they feel any shame when they had the good fortune—the random luck—to be born in America with balls and pale skin and cherub cheeks that translate into unquestionable innocence under Today Show lighting. Surely, they can rest easy after white newscasters fawn and mollycoddle them, making sure they can hear us all say how deeply they’ve been wronged and how sorry we all are and how that drumming man should have moved out of their way.

After all, no one is going to say something like, “He is no angel,” or look into any of his past behavior. So why should the Cov boys lie in bed, flush with angst and eyes at 3 a.m. when they have their mothers claiming that what America saw on video was “fake news,” and then scribble off a check to a fancy PR firm that will gaslight us all with their slick rewriting of history?

No, they don’t have to worry, these Catholic schoolboys who are taught by everyone around them—including so many white commentators who backtracked to cover “both sides” of the story—that they have nothing to be sorry for.

White boys have always been and always will be given the benefit of the doubt, the assumption of innocence. And if for some reason there’s a glitch in the system and they aren’t automatically given it, then white supremacy comes right ‘round to make sure the error is corrected. They aren’t held accountable and they are never made to apologize. They can go on and live the life they were meant to live, their racism and bigotry and small-mindedness undisturbed. Or further entrenched.

Meanwhile, back at the folding tables in a smallbut-often-crowded room lit by fluorescent lights, our little group works together to navigate the labyrinth of injustice. We brainstorm, strategize, advocate and show up in an endless fight, up against a system that elevates and celebrates and relies on everything those Covington boys stand for.

The system is working exactly as it is meant to, which is to say, it is despicably cynical and racist as all hell.

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Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aarynb@sdcitybeat.com.

JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | VOICES

RYAN BRADFORD

WELL THAT WAS

AWKWARD

I’m a fan of myself and I don’t care how many bots know it

I

f there’s one constant on the internet, it’s this: whatever we think is fun, joyful, harmless, good or praiseworthy, give it enough time and it will become the exact opposite of that. This is why, as I get older, I shrink away from audience participation memes.

But when I first started seeing people post the “10 Year Challenge” on Instagram, I felt an uncontrollable longing to be a part of it. I experienced a rush of nostalgia scrolling through friends’ pictures, amazed at not just the physical effects of aging, but the social, vocational, emotional and geographical effects that 10 years had on a person.

So, I dove into the annals of my Facebook profile, looking for photos of the past. It was a little like watching that Benjamin Button movie, but with a schlubbier, drunker and cringier version of Brad Pitt. On top of that, there was the sad realization that I’d been on that godforsaken social media platform for over a decade.

I found a photo of myself from 10 years ago. At the time, I was living in New York City and had recently been laid off from a telecommuting writing job that paid $250 a week.

The only things I had going for me were the friends I lived with—people I had known from high school and college—and some meager unemployment benefits that covered rent, my metro card and little else.

In the picture, I’m sitting on the L Train to Brooklyn. My hair is stringy, grimy and shaggy, but not intentionally. Rather, I remember being too broke to get a haircut, and was probably using a bar of soap for shampoo. Honestly, I probably didn’t bathe much back then. It’s also obvious that I’m drunk based on my dumb smile and off-focused eyes, but this was during the fever pitch of Brooklyn hipsterism—which I guess is still a thing, but not rabid enough then to inspire blogs like, “Look at this Fucking Hipster.” It’s just that 10 years ago, everyone was drunk and ugly.

I wanted my 2019 photo to look great. I wanted to make 2009 Ryan jealous, so I took a shower, for starters. (Side note: The shower I used in Brooklyn required a vice grip to turn the water on and off, which was a reason I didn’t shower as much as I do now.) I combed—whoa!—combed my hair? Yes, here was 2019 Ryan, motherfuckers, and 2019 Ryan combs his hair.

I found a room with the best natural lighting and switched my phone to portrait mode. I had determined that part of 2009 Ryan’s unattractiveness was partially due to the blurry quality of digital cameras from the era. 2009 Ryan never had auto smoothening, filters and artful touch-up modes on his phone! Take that, 2009 Ryan, I thought.

I realized—in the midst of admonishing 2009 Ryan about his inferior technology—that perhaps I didn’t really like the guy I used to be.

I snapped the photo and posted the two decadespanning photos.

Seeing them side-by-side on social media stirred an intense bout of panic—an “Oh god, what have I done?” feeling. The comments rolled in. People compared 2009 Ryan to Oasis, Owen Wilson, and emo music incarnate. My editor tweeted my 2009 photo out, saying that I looked like someone who would go to a Phish concert.

Now, I may have been drunk a lot back then, but I was never so drunk that I’d go to a Phish concert.

But I didn’t mind the jokes. That part of my life was over, and I could now look at the difference between the photos and see the growth between then and now, which wasn’t solely aesthetic. For me, the most most thrilling part of the meme wasn’t the physical changes between the two images, but the ways in which each person—me, a friend, or anyone in my age group—had become an adult.

A couple days later, an article appeared on Wired that proposed the ways tech and facial recognition companies could co-opt the 10 Year Challenge meme and mine the data for their own insidious means. It made sense. After all, with Facebook tracking, data mining and all of us having seen Black Mirror, it’s probably safe to assume that anything we put on the internet will be used and/or commodified for someone else’s profit.

It bears repeating: We live in an age where everything that gives us joy will eventually bring us down.

I could feel bad about playing into the hands of Big Tech, but I didn’t really give a shit. There are a lot of things I regret more than participating in the 10 Year Challenge, like not demanding a better nozzle in my New York City shower, for example.

Or foregoing decent food and living conditions so I could party every weekend in dingy Brooklyn bars.

Or even the hairstyle I was rocking back in 2009—I big-time regret that.

But I’m a fan of myself now, and I don’t care how many bots know it. And by the time the next 10 Year Challenge rolls around, it’s likely we’ll all just be mummy-people living in the scorched, post-apocalyptic deserts of Alaska, and you best believe nobody’s going to have time to worry about likes on their Instagram posts.

We live in an age where everything that gives us joy will eventually bring us down.

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

Well, That Was Awkward appears every other week.

Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com

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UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE Chef interrupted

W

hen Asmel Salazar returned to Tijuana after working at Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, Spain (one of the world’s 50 best restaurants according to the highly regarded rankings at the website of the same name), it seemed Tijuana, if not the world, might be his oyster. The initial idea to start small with a food truck eventually morphed into a food park and El Jardín Parque Gastronomica (Paseo Ensenada #1443 Sec. Jardínes Playas de Tijuana) was born.

Street food has long been a part of the Tijuana scene, from the hipster vibe at the Telefonica Gastro Park to the more upscale feel of Foodgarden.

Still, there are a bevy of lesser-known food truck farms and the combination of energy, creativity and casual is a perfect fit for Tijuana. But when Salazar, his friends and family built (literally) El Jardín they envisioned something a little different: a family food park that’s like a barbeque in a backyard garden. It even has a playground.

But a food park is only as good as the establishments cooking there. Salazar vetted each with a highend chef’s eye and a focus on sourcing quality ingredients. He also determined to achieve a diverse mix of cuisines and styles, and gave input on the menus.

Perhaps El Jardín’s most unusual spot is Volcano. Almost a cuisine unto itself, everything at Volcano is cooked, and not just served, in a molcajete, Mexico’s granite take on the classic mortar (think guacamole). Volcano cooks proteins, vegetables and even cheese and sauces in the mocajete in an oven over high heat and brings the entire set-up to the table on a wooden cutting board.

The one must-try dish at Volcano is the Cielo, Mar y Tierra, which features steak, chicken breast and a shrimp skewer with nopales (cactus), roast chiles and melted cheese. It is a profoundly rich and satisfying dish. For a spicier take on the same theme, try the Magma featuring smoky chiltepin

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chiles and a salsa roja. The Volcan Colima focuses on beef with a much milder salsa verde.

While Tijuana is a city of tacos, one style not particularly well represented is the taco árabe, a style that originated in Puebla when post-World War I Middle Eastern immigrants swapped out tortillas for pita, thus creating a taco that felt like shawarma. While the beef version at El Jardín’s La Corey is good, the chicken version is better. A white sauce is all that’s needed to bring it together but any of the offerings from their salsa bar will help take the taco over the top.

MICHAEL A. GARDINER

Magma at Volcano There are other establishments at El Jardín.

There’s a cocktail bar, a coffee/juice bar, a Japanese spot, an Uruapan-style pork emporium, a hot dog place (the baseline Especial is a particularly tasty dog) and more. All I tried were good.

But there’s one space in El Jardín I didn’t get to try and it’s indeed the premium spot, as it is the only one with an interior table. As I write this, it sits dark and empty, but it was the space that had been ticketed for Salazar’s high-end steak house. Unfortunately, Asmel Salazar got sick and succumbed to influenza in December 2018 (get your flu shots, people!).

Salazar’s father, Carlos Martinez, continues to run El Jardín as he and Salazar had envisioned it.

The parque stands as a tribute to Salazar and as a fulfillment to his dream. Thanks to him, it’s a tasty dream.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

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10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

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UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK

ANATOMY OF A COCKTAIL SCENE #50: Feeling refreshed at The Realm of 52 Remedies

But then I saw “Seagull Man” on the beach, still chasing seagulls, and it was refreshing.

To me, “refreshing” is recognizable chaos, or comfort in the uncomfortable. efreshing” is such a beautiful word. “ Refreshing is a word I would also use It’s one of those words that really to describe Realm of the 52 Remedies can mean so many different things.

But let me tell you what I think of (4805 Convoy St., 52remedies.com) and when I hear the word “refreshing.” I grew its Opium Den cocktail. It isn’t because up in a run-down seaside neighborhood it’s a speakeasy in the Convoy district. in Queens, New York. Of all the five bor- Given the direction the neighborhood is oughs, my neighborhood had one of the heading, I think this was inevitable. And highest homeless populations, and many it’s not the primary use of medicinal ingredients, as I’ve seen that of them suffered from a menIAN WARD before. tal illness. Throughout my What is refreshing about the childhood, several characters space is how the space lends emerged that became someitself to intimacy. I’m talking what of neighborhood legends. about all the blind spots in the Being immature kids, we gave room. The seemingly private them terribly immature nickcompartmentalization of the names. room makes for dark corners There was “Carl the Weathwhere naughty things can haperman” who, no matter the pen. When most people design weather, stopped passersby to restaurants and bars, not much The Opium Den tell them it was going to rain. thought goes into the intimate, There was “Panama Jack,” who walked around with tree branches fixed to private moments that could potentially his head and hid behind trashcans shooting happen. Realm of 52 Remedies is certainly a people with finger guns. My personal favor- sexy space, but in a footsy, under-the-table ite was “Seagull Man.” He had a broken old kind of way. And this is refreshing.

Equally refreshing, is the Opium Den umbrella and would run around the beach cocktail. Three or four ingredient cocktails all day chasing seagulls with it.

On a recent trip back home, I was dis- have, and will continue to, thrive on cockappointed to see how so much of my neigh- tail lists for several reasons. Mostly, it is borhood had changed, just as much as New because it is fairly easy to come up with a York City has also changed over the years. balanced recipe using a base spirit, a sweet component and either a bitter or sour counterpart ingredient. What was so reTHE OPIUM DEN freshing about the Opium Den cocktail was as prepared at Realm of the 52 Remedies the divergence from that formula. Most of the ingredients in the cocktail lean toward 1 tsp. Shiitake mushroom syrup the sweeter side of the spectrum with malt, 4 drops Texas smoked saline water smoke and savory elements to try to bal1/4 oz. Monkey Shoulder blended Scotch ance the taste. If someone had told me all 1 oz. Chateau De Laudabe Armagnac the ingredients before serving it to me, I 1 1/2 oz. Aurora Olorosso sherry would have thought it would be too sweet.

Brandy Oak Chips I would have been wrong. It’s savory, salty, smoky and has undertones of welcome Place all ingredients in a mixing glass. Add sweetness. It’s a bit of recognizable chaos ice and stir. Strain into a Cognac glass. and it’s refreshingly sexy.

Smoke the cocktail using the Brandy Oak

R

Chips and covering for a little over a minute.

@SDCITYBEAT

BY BETH DEMMON

BY IAN WARD

FINAL DRAUGHT Such great Heights

(The Lost Abbey), Tom Nickel (Nickel Beer Co.) and Rawley Macias (Rouleur Brewing ostalgia is big business. Some re- Co.). Steinbier is an ancient style that inmakes are spot-on (Netflix’s Queer volves pouring wort (the sugary liquid that Eye reboot), some are flops (all of yeast eventually turns into beer during the the Star Wars prequels) and others are ac- brewing process) over granite stones that tually original creations that emerge to are heated (to 800 degrees) inside a woodsatisfy people’s sentimentality for more en tub. This is starkly different from the retro times (Stranger Things). usual method of boiling it over a flame in Gravity Heights (9920 Pacific Heights an iron kettle. More contemporary collabs Blvd., gravityheights.com) in Sorrento Val- include a sour blonde with Council Brewley belongs in that last category. The long- ing, a dry-hopped keller pilsner with Eppig awaited brewpub is a Generation X craft Brewing, and a West Coast-style double beer purist’s wet dream. They brew an amber IPA with North Park Beer Co. BETH DEMMON ale! There’s an altbier on the “We hope to do more menu! There are not one, but lagers,” promises Virgilio two hazys! Wait, scratch that after we sip the Take Two last one—only Millennials Pilsner. It’s the first beer the care about hazy beer. team brewed, and it’s still Still, I’m guessing any remarkably fresh tasting. generation, from MillenniWe then try the Beach Day als to Baby Boomers, could Kolsch (dry-hopped with enjoy the 1970s SoCal beach Simcoe and Eureka! hops), culture-inspired decor from the Daybreak IPA (another Davis Inc. Interior Design. tweaked recipe from VirGravity Heights is a gigangilio’s homebrew days), the tic space profuse with pops June Gloom Hazy IPA (I of color and hanging ferns hate how much I enjoyed it) Gravity Heights and the Brewer’s Best Amspilling from macrame planters. This is especially nice consider- ber (“it’s really an English Best Bitter but ing it’s smack in the heart of a office park we didn’t want to scare anyone with the wasteland. Every detail screams cozy camp name,” laughs Williams). It’s hard to paint vibe, and that’s a big change from the sur- this large of an array with a broad brush, rounding sea of blah. but every beer was fresh, crisp, bright and And the beers; oh, the beers. The 15 well-crafted. barrel system is run by local beer legend Luckily, there’s a pretty humongous Skip Virgilio (original brewer and co- kitchen to help sop up the libations. While founder of AleSmith Brewing Company), this is a beer column, not food, I will say head brewer Tommy Kreamer (formerly of to that end that the burger is pretty pheThe Lost Abbey/Port Brewing) and Mike nomenal with the Overhead Double IPA Williams (formerly of Benchmark Brewing and Torrey Porter. Maybe it’s just the fact Company). The trio doesn’t plan to offer I’d had seven beers. I like to think, howflagship beers per se, but will focus on pair- ever, that it’s the pairing together of a few ings that harmonize with the Whisknladle industry titans who know exactly how to Hospitality-backed kitchen. There are also tap into that nostalgic feeling of what beer plans for lots of collaborations. once was, and what it could be again.

One of the more notable collaborations is Virgilio’s Dubbel on the Rocks steinbier, Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com or check which was brewed with Tomme Arthur her out on Instagram at @thedelightedbite.

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JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

HILLCREST

OPEN DOOR

Talk to a longtime North Park resident and they might regale you with stories about a golden age of arts in the neighborhood, complete with galleries and monthly art walks. And while there are still some spots doing their best to keep that creative spirit alive (we see you Art Produce, Visual and Fresh Yard), rising rents and increasing gentrification can make it difficult to stay open.

Such was the case with The Studio Door, a longtime gallery and artist space that had become something of a staple in North Park. Last summer, however, owner Patric Stillman began to think that the end was near.

“In just four years, the cost of commercial property skyrocketed,” says Stillman. “I was beside myself wondering how any small business can survive this market. But when it came down to it, I didn’t have a plan B nor did I want one.”

When he finally decided to close the North Park space, Stillman says it was “heartbreaking,” but ultimately decided to look for another space for The Studio Door. It wasn’t easy and after a half-dozen failed negotiations, Stillman’s partner Danné Sadler convinced him to reach out to property owners who were sitting on spaces that had long been vacant. Finally, late last year, he negotiated a long-term lease for the property at 3867 Fourth Ave., which once housed American Apparel.

GASLAMP

COURTESY OF THE STUDIO DOOR

The Studio Door “We’ve be working round the clock for months transforming the space,” says studio artist Chris Smith, who helped Stillman, Sadler and others to help renovate the property, which was even larger than the previous incarnation of The Studio Door.

“It was incredible to see how much the space changed from week to week.”

Galleries come and go, but for The Studio Door, there seems to be a happy ending. They’ll be celebrating this fact with a grand opening that includes an open house and pop-up exhibition on Saturday, Feb. 2 from noon to 7 p.m. Artists include Patric Brown, Carol Mansfield, Andrea Overturf, and many more. More info at thestudiodoor.com.

BLACK MAGIC

When it comes to game-changing operas, Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto is on some next-level tragic cattiness. The story of a jester who gets caught up in the shenanigans of a womanizing duke, one could say Verdi’s masterpiece has it all: multiple love triangles, corrupted daughters, awful curses and, of course, death. The San Diego Opera production stars acclaimed baritone Stephen Powell as the title character, as well as the debut of soprano Alisa Jordheim as Gilda.

This is the perfect starter production for those who’ve always been fascinated with opera, as the story is brilliant and the music is timeless. It opens Saturday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. at the San Diego Civic Theatre (1100 Third Ave.), with additional performances on Tuesday, Feb. 5 and Friday, Feb. 8, as well as a 2 p.m. matinee show on Sunday, Feb. 10. Tickets range from $21 to $250 at sdopera.org.

COURTESY OF SAN DIEGO OPERA

Amore at June Rubin Studio, 2690 Historic Decatur Road, Liberty Station, Point Loma. Mixed media pieces and torn paper collages celebrating themes of love of life, romantic love, love of family and more.

Opening from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1.

Free. 858-229-4571, junerubin.com Friday Night Liberty at Arts District Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. This monthly gallery and studio walk features open artist studios, galleries, live performances, shopping and entertainment throughout NTC’s Arts and Culture District. From 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5. Free. 619-573-9300, artsdistrictlibertystation.com

LA JOLLA

ACT A FOOL

Murals of La Jolla Walking Tour at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. The Athenaeum will host this walking tour led by project curator Lynda Forsha. View murals by Kim MacConnel, Ryan McGinness, Kelsey Brookes and more. At 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30.

Free. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org

For nearly 20 years, the San Diego Black Film Festival (sdbff.com) has been committed to showcasing independent films that audiences might not see otherwise and with an emphasis on “African American and African diaspora cinema.” There will be feature films and documentaries, as well as animation, short films and even music videos. The opening night screening of the comedic 5th of July looks promising, as does the dark Pieces of David, but we’re also excited for the Sunday screening of local director Stacy Blanchet’s In the Know with Shari Belafonte, a documentary short about the model/actress daughter of Harry Belafonte. It kicks off Thursday, Jan. 31 and runs through Sunday, Feb. 3 at ArcLight Cinemas in La Jolla inside Westfied UTC (4425 La Jolla Village Drive). Times vary and ticket prices range from $10 for individual tickets to $350 for all-access passes.

Todd Glaser Gallery at Pendry San Diego, 550 J St., Gaslamp. A new pop-up art gallery from professional surf photographer, Todd Glaser. Includes happy hour pricing on food and drinks from Nason’s Beer Hall, with a portion of proceeds benefitting the Rob Machado Foundation. Opening from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1. Free. pendryhotels.com/san-diego HGroundbreaking Girls at Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Ste. 103, Liberty Station, Point Loma. Enjoy portraits of some of the most influential women in history from painter Alison Adams. From noon to 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1. Free. womensmuseumca.org HThe Studio Door Grand Opening at The Studio Door, 3867 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. An open house for the relocated gallery and studio space with contemporary art for sale accompanied by music. Artists include Patrick Brown, Daniel Hopkins, Carol Mansfield and more. From noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. Free. 619-2552867, thestudiodoor.com Gotta Have Heart: Magnify at Sophie’s Kensington Gallery, 4168 Adams Ave., Kensington. A new photographic show of flower imagery from artists with developmental disabilities. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. Free. stmsc.org Love at First Slice at Urbn Pizza, 203 Main St., Vista. A group show featuring art works that center on pizza and romance. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. Free. facebook.com/backfencesociety/events Robert Deyber at Martin Lawrence Galleries, 1111 Prospect St., La Jolla. Opening reception to meet and discuss with this surrealist-inspired artist as he presents neverbefore-seen original paintings and limited edition works. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. Free. martinlawrence.com/ HTime to Fly at Chicano Art Gallery, 2117 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. Acclaimed traveling artist Jorge Mendoza collaborates with six-year-old “Ise Ise Baby” for a night of music, drinks and spray paint and graffiti art. From 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. Free. 619-309-8132 A Vision of Global Unity at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Barrio Logan. Artists will participate in a collaborative Art Battle, each creating a 6’ x 4’ art piece alongside spoken word, live music, DJs, local vendors and more. $10-$20. From 6 to 11 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 2. 434-841-6709 HBody Language at Grossmont College, 8800 Grossmont College Drive, La Mesa.

A group exhibition of artists whose work explores the human form. Artist include Armando de la Torre, Chantal Wnuk, Gloria

Rigoletto 12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

In the Know with Shari Belafonte

H = CityBeat picks

Favela Rocha and more. Opening from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5. Free. grossmont.edu HSD&TJ: Art in the Transborder Region at Scripps Cottage, San Diego State University, Campanile Park, College Area.

A presentation and discussion of transborder artists with appearances and work from Paola Villaseñor, Daniel Peña and David Peña. From 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6. instagram.com/lasso.sdsu

BOOKS HMadhuri Vijay at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Pushcart Prize winner and debut novelist will discuss and sign her new book, The Far Field.

At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31. Free. warwicks.com HMatt Coyle at The Book Catapult, 3010 Juniper St., South Park. The acclaimed local crime novelist will discuss and sign his new novel, Wrong Light, with San Diego radio host and podcaster, Jeff Dotseth. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31. Free. 619795-3780, thebookcatapult.com HGennaRose Nethercott at The Book Catapult, 3010 Juniper St., South Park.

The poet and Mass Cultural Council Artist Fellow will discuss and sign her new book, The Lumberjack’s Dove. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1. Free. 619-795-3780, thebookcatapult.com Huda Al-Marashi at San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. The Iraqi-American author will discuss and sign her memoir, First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. Free.

619-236-5800, sdfocl.org HBen Winters at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The sci-fi writer will sign and discuss his latest speculative fiction novel, Golden State. At 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2.

Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Megan Westfield and Alice Kaltman at Run for Cover Bookstore and Café, 4912 Voltaire St., Ocean Beach. The two writers will discuss their respective new books, Leaving Everest (Westfield) and Wavehouse (Kaltman). At 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3. 619379-6339, runforcoverbookstore.com Megan Griswold at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The NPR All Things Considered commentator will discuss and sign her new book, The Book of Help: A Memoir in Remedies. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 4. Free. warwicks.com E.G. Scott at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Authors Elizabeth Keenan and Greg Wands will discuss and sign their thriller novel, The Woman Inside, which they published under a pseudonym. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Free. warwicks.com Dr. W. Thomas Boyce at La Jolla Riford Library, 7555 Draper Ave., La Jolla. The developmental pediatrician and researcher will discuss and sign his new book, The Orchid and the Dandelion: Why Some Children Struggle and How All Can Thrive. At 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 6. Free. warwicks.com HAri Seth Cohen at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The creator of the highly successful blog Advanced Style will sign and discuss his new photographic book, Advanced Love. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 6. Free. warwicks.com

DANCE HBeijing Dance Theater at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Gaslamp. Choreographer Wang Yuanyuan and visual artists Tan Shaoyuan and Hanjiang present a collaborative and worldly dance performance

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 @SDCITYBEAT

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 based on everything from Hamlet to the poems of Lu Xun. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30. $9-$50. artpower.ucsd.edu HBeyond Babel at 2625 Imperial Ave., Grant Hill. A new urban dance take on the classic story of Romeo & Juliet that deals in real-life contemporary issues and performed in an immersive theatre space. Times vary.

Friday, Feb. 1 through Saturday, March 30. $35. beyondbabelshow.com

FILM HOulaya’s Wedding at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. A screening of the documentary film about a wedding and the Saharan culture in the city of Dakhla. It will be followed by a discussion with director Hisham Mayet. At 6:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 3. $5-$7. spacetimeart.org

MUSIC

Kline St., La Jolla. An album release show for Tran’s new album, Mediation on Death, which also includes the closing reception for Thumprint’s latest art show, Death Blossom 2. From 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2.

Free. thumbprintgallerysd.com A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra at the Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B. St., Downtown. A family-friendly concert, conducted by Sameer Patel and narrated by Nuvi Mehta, will serve to introduce young people to the intricacies of the orchestra. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3. $10-$25, 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org HLeyla McCalla at The Loft at UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. The multiinstrumentalist and former member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops will perform music from her latest album, A Day for the Hunter, A Day for the Prey, which explores issues of social justice and pan-African consciousness. From 8 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5. $9-$30. artpower.ucsd.edu

PERFORMANCE

Hermitage Piano Trio at UCSD Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, 9500 Gilman Drive, UC San Diego, La Jolla. This chamber trio of Russian soloists make their debut in San Diego with a performance of Russian masterpieces including selections from Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. $9-$59.

From 8 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1. $30$59. artpower.ucsd.edu

HRigoletto at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Gaslamp. San Diego Opera presents Verdi’s classic tragedy about a jester who gets caught up in the trials of a womanizing duke. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, Tuesday, Feb. 5 and Friday, Feb. 8, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10. $21-$302. 619-533-7000, sdopera.org

HVinyl Junkies Record Swap: Holiday Edition at The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. The every-other-month record event features vendors selling thousands of collectible and vintage records in all genres, plus DJs spinning throughout the day. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. $5. casbahmusic.com

Lola Demure’s Burlesque & Variety Show: Wheel of Burlesque at House of Blues San Diego, 1055 Fifth Ave., Gaslamp. Some of San Diego’s best burlesque dancers will perform at the only burlesque dinner show in town. At 8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 2. $20-$40. houseofblues.com/sandiego

HJohnny Tran at Thumbprint Gallery, 920

An Evening of Rodgers & Hammer-

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stein at the California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. A night of songs from classics such as Oklahoma, The Sound of Music, The King and I, and more, and performed by Jonathan Hawkins and Heather Lundstedt O’Neill backed by a live band. At 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 6. Free. 800-9884253, artcenter.org

POETRY AND SPOKEN WORD

to at the state level. From 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 5. Free. 619-297-8953

SPECIAL EVENTS HThe Mad Hatter’s Ball: Down the Rabbit Hole at Observatory North Park, 2891 University Ave., North Park. Formal hat party with cirque performers, a live brass band and DJs, craft libations, immersive art, unique entertainment and more.

From 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1. $35-$72.

619-239-8836, northparkcarnival.com

HVAMP: Season of the Witch at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park. So Say We All’s monthly curated storytelling showcase featuring nonfiction stories dealing in themes of witchcraft, powerhouse women or any way the writers want to spin the theme. From 8:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31. Free. sosayweallonline.com

Lunar New Year Celebration at SDCCU Stadium, 9449 Friars Road, Mission Valley. Festival offering Asian food stations, vendor booths, carnival rides, live entertainment, recreations of sculptures and more. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1 through Sunday, Feb. 3. $4-$20.

619-786-7573, lunarnewyearfestival.org

HNon-Standard Lit: Stein, Benson + Lan at Gym Standard, 2903 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. The three writers and poets (Suzanne Stein + Steve Benson + Pingmei Lan) will read from their respective books and poetry collections as part of the Non-Standard Lit series. From 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3. Free. facebook. com/nonstandardlit

Burn Run 5K at De Anza Park, 3000 North Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. Promote Burn Awareness Week and raise funds to support burn prevention education and burn survivor support programs at this fifth annual event. From 7:15 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. $15-$30. 858541-2277, fundly.com/2019-burn-run-5k

HFabulous Forties at Old Town Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St., Old Town. Write Out Loud presents an evening of stories, music and poetry that came out of the 1940s. Includes readings from Mike Buckley, Lisa K. Shapiro and more. From 7 to 10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4. $25. 619297-8953, writeoutloudsd.com Poetry Out Loud Regional Finals at San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., Downtown. High school students will read and recite poetry to win cash prizes and the opportunity to compete in Sacramen-

Star Awards at Jacobs Qualcomm Hall, 5775 Morehouse Drive, Sorrento Valley.

The San Diego Performing Arts League’s annual awards ceremony honors arts volunteers and recognizes “Emerging Stars.” At 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. $50.

619-544-1000, sdartstix.com Mitchell Thorp Foundation 5K Warrior Spirit Run/Walk at Poinsettia Park, 6600 Hidden Valley Road, Carlsbad. Participate in a chip-timed race orseparate walk loop, and stick around after for a family fun zone with games and activities that includes appearances from the San

Diego Padres Friar and Pad Squad. From 8 a.m. to noon. Saturday, Feb. 2. $15$45. 760-522-3132, mitchellthorp.org

SPORTS HPink in the Rink! at Pechanga Arena, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., Point Loma.

Dress in pink to watch the San Diego Gulls take on the Iowa Wild. Participate in silent auctions and more to benefit Komen San Diego. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. $24. 858-573-2760 x100, komensandiego.org

TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS HDavid Adey at Quint Gallery, 1571 Santa Fe St., La Jolla. The local artist will discuss his new solo exhibition, There Be Dragons, which consists of sculptures and more that examine the charged national debate over guns. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 2. Free. quintgallery.com Jane Austen: From Hampton to Hollywood at La Jolla Riford Library, 7555 Draper Ave., La Jolla. Two professors will explore Jane Austen’s novels through film adaptations and discuss social conditions and politics during Austen’s lifetime. From 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2. $25-$35. jasnasdfeb2019.brownpapertickets.com

WORKSHOPS The Writers Coffeehouse at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. Author Peter clines hosts this informal group to discuss all things writing over coffee. No previous publishing experience necessary. From noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3. Free.

858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com

JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 13

THEATER DAREN SCOTT

Rocking toward utopia

A

vid readers may remember Herland, a 1915 novel by feminist author Charlotte Perkins Gilman about a utopian society populated and repopulated by women only. Gilman’s daring literary stroke is briefly referenced (during an intern character’s mini-lecture on utopian communities) via a poster of the book pinned up on a wall in playwright Grace McLeod’s spirited new work Herland. It is easy to speculate that it is there, perhaps, to inspire the characters to new heights of strength and self-reliance.

The truth, however, is that these three women are in their 70s, and Jean (Rhona Gold), Louise (Jill Drexler) and Terry (Loie Gail) are already possessed of strength and self-reliance. It’s the greater understanding that they come to have for each other—and for the intern they hire (Christine Cervas Nathanson) to help them create an alternative to a senior home—that unfolds along Herland’s narrative journey. Under the nimble, accomplished direction of Moxie Theatre’s Jennifer Eve Thorn, Herland bursts with wit and charm, thanks to the performances of Gold, Gail and especially Drexler, whose oft-sardonic Louise enjoys about 80 percent of the play’s funniest comic lines.

The side story involves the 18-year-old high school intern Natalie, who is coming to terms with her sexual identity. This other journey sometimes complicates an already

OPENING: The Hour of Great Mercy: In Miranda Rose Hall’s world premiere play, a gay Jesuit priest leaves the church and travels to Alaska in hopes of reconciling with his estranged brother. Directed by Rosina Reynolds, it opens in previews Jan. 31 at the Diversionary Theatre in University Heights. diversionary.org Crazy For You: In George and Ira Gershwin’s classic musical, a New York banker is sent to foreclose on a run-down Nevada theater only to fall for the owner’s daughter. Presented by San Diego Musical Theatre, it opens Feb. 1 at the Horton Grand Theatre in the Gaslamp. sdmt.org Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune: Terrence McNally’s two-person play about a cook and a server who end up having a one-night stand only to see it blossom into something more. Directed by Jennifer Peters, it opens Feb. 1 at the OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista. onstageplayhouse.org

Herland busy script, though its struggles and revelations are related to those of Jean, Louise and Terry, each of whom, in their own ways, mentors the young Natalie. The glue that ultimately bonds them all is friendship.

Hovering over the action even more than the Herland poster is the music of Bruce Springsteen. It is explained that Jean’s ex fronted a Boss tribute band, and she has made their garage—once his rehearsal space—into the office of her new planning enterprise. Still, Springsteen seems an odd choice for the contemporary texture and messaging of this story, and there’s even a cringe-worthy dream se-

14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

quence that sees all the women belting out (and clad as) Bruce and his E Street Band.

Maybe it all depends on one’s appreciation of the Springsteen look and leitmotif.

Moxie is one of three theaters in the U.S. debuting Herland as part of the National New Play Network’s Rolling World Premiere program. There will also be productions in L.A. and Chicago. What, no Jersey Shore?

Herland runs through Feb. 17 at Moxie Theatre in Rolando. $18-$44; moxietheatre. com.

—David L. Coddon Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

Smokey Joe’s Café: The hit Broadway musical features the songs of the iconic songwriters Leiber and Stoller, the duo behind hits such as “Charlie Brown,” “Jailhouse Rock” and “Stand By Me.” Directed by Tony Houck, it opens Feb. 2 at the New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. newvillagearts.org Late Company: A free staged reading of Jordan Tannahill’s new play about a family who invites their teenage son’s cyber-bully over for dinner. Directed

by Andrew Barnicle, it happens Feb. 4 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org

For complete theater listings, visit sdcitybeat.com

@SDCITYBEAT

CULTURE | ART

n a Sunday evening in North Park, Ted Coakley’s living room is overflowing with artwork. There are cardboard boxes, poster tubes, grocery bags, photo albums, and dusty VHS tapes, all containing the artifacts of a movement centering around a man named Gary Karp.

Coakley and his friends have no idea who Karp is, but for years they’ve been captivated by his image. A glossy, black-and-white headshot found in a dumpster in 1994 has been the engine behind what they call a “profoundly irrelevant” art movement, inspiring drawings, paintings, photographs, video projects and even computerized DNA strands.

These days, the original founders are wondering what to do with all their artwork.

In a digital world where media is consumed at a heart-stopping pace, there’s certainly historical value to a viral art movement from an age before Instagram influencers and Drake memes, when images proliferated through Kinkos copiers rather than by sharing and retweeting.

The story of Gary Karp begins one afternoon in February 1994, when a couple of Coakley’s friends were digging through a dumpster in the alley near their house in Pacific Beach. Most of the original founders of the movement were film students at San Diego State University, living out the final days of college in a frenzy of late-night parties and neighborhood hijinks.

“We weren’t surf bros. We weren’t frat bros. We were just silly,” Coakley recalls.

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to take all these comps that I had paid $500 to get done and threw them in a dumpster.”

The college kids who found Karp’s photos had never met him before, but they were blown away by his look. A thick head of gelled black hair, a gentle slope in the jaw, an intense stare—they couldn’t help but wonder: who is this charismatic mystery man?

“It’s vexing. It draws you in,” recalls Kellee Hiatt, one of the early embracers of the Karp mystery. She and fellow Karp follower Andy Kuepper talk over each other excitedly as Coakley sorts through an assortment of Gary-themed drawings and photos. To this day, they still have never made contact with the real Gary Karp.

“The only thing we know about Gary is literally the picture and the tiny bit of information that’s at the bottom,” Hiatt says.

“His height, weight, and inseam. You don’t even know how old he is.”

After rescuing Karp’s headshots from the trash, Coakley and his friends threw a A 2004 Gary Karp exhibition party where they posted up Xerox-copied “My buddy was living out there and I just printouts around the house and encouraged packed my car full of everything I could. I people to draw on Karp’s face. The response drove out there without the intention of was so enthusiastic that they started making staying, and I ended up staying there for regular runs to Kinkos, turning out endless three years. I got these headshots done be- copies of the headshot and decorating them.

Before long the silly joke snowballed into cause I thought about getting into acting and modeling, and then I kind of decided not a full-fledged movement. Someone started to,” Karp tells me, speaking by phone from a website where you could print out highMarquette, Mich., where he lives and runs a resolution Karp images, and friends started construction company. “I was dating this girl carrying around Karp printouts wherever from there at the time, and we had gotten they went, photographing themselves with into a fight about something, so she decided Karps in exotic locations around the globe.

Their plan on this particular afternoon was to find some rotten refuse for a game of “Food Bat.” What they discovered in the trash was even better: A stack of several dozen black-and-white, 8.5’ x 11’ headshots of a man named Gary Karp. Karp was a neighbor of theirs, although they didn’t know that at the time. He’d come from Michigan and had done a professional photo shoot during a stint in San Diego in the early ’90s.

They’d hand Karps to celebrities like Willie Nelson and George Takei for photo-ops.

Coakley and his friends would sneak into concerts with their own Karp-branded VIP and staff badges. Other artists produced ambitious pieces like a Karp-themed latchhook carpet, an oil painting, a slot machine and an Andy Warhol-style pop art collage.

“I like(d) how Gary, the picture, brought so many people together. Many of us had met only through Gary art activities. People of so many backgrounds, in different states of life and from all around the world, and with open minds. No hatred, no prejudice, and no monetary goal,” recalls Michael Schwartz, who was hanging out at the PB party house where Gary Karp’s headshots were first put on display.

Around 2000 or 2001, the real Gary Karp finally caught wind of what was going on. His wife at the time freaked out and called a detective, but after an investigation, Karp was content to let these quirky artists do their thing.

“To be honest with you, I wondered if there was a way to profit off it. I don’t know if there is any way to do that,” Karp says. “It was just kind of a joke more than anything.”

The Gary Karp movement hit its peak in 2004 with the Ten Year Gary Retrospective, aka TYGR, a multi-room exhibition held at the Planet Rooth gallery in North Park. As some of the original Karp followers moved, a new wave of fans picked up the torch.

As the movement approaches its 25th anniversary in February, the original founders have become less active and more reflective. The official website is down and Coakley has been reaching out to friends in recent months in hopes of finding a new home for some of his Karp artwork. Coakley, Hiatt and Kuepper estimate that the whole Gary Karp collection includes dozens of art pieces and paintings, along with hundreds of photos and drawings, all scattered among friends.

They’ve thought about donating the artwork to a library to be preserved for future public examination and study, but Adam Burkhart, a library assistant in the special collections and university archives section of the SDSU Library, says the library already has an enormous collection of documents and donated materials that need to be archived and cataloged.

“Sometimes it takes decades to process a collection,” Burkhart says.

As for the real Gary Karp, everyone seems open to the idea of finally meeting their icon in the flesh. Karp tells me on the phone from Michigan that he’ll be visiting San Diego in March and he’d be happy to meet everyone.

Coakley, Hiatt and Kuepper say they’ve also thought about organizing something. Still, nobody wants to take this whole thing too seriously, lest it ruin the fun.

“I have no apprehension for meeting Gary. If it happens, I’m totally down with it,” Coakley says. “If it’s awesome, great. If it’s not awesome, great.”

“It’s an open-source art project,” adds Kuepper. “We’re not in charge of it. The world is in charge of it.”

JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 15

16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

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CULTURE | FILM

Right to exist

Anote’s Ark

Documentaries about community survival headline issue-based film fest

by Glenn Heath Jr.

W

hat do Baltimore’s impoverished neighbor- ics from different engaged perspectives.

The small island of Kiribati couldn’t be more geohoods and the tiny Pacific Island nation of Kiribati have in common? Both communi- graphically different from Baltimore, but it faces a ties face real threats of erasure thanks to crippling similarly devastating social emergency. Due to its disenfranchisement and climate change respectively. location and size, the island will be impacted by the By turn, any and all planning for the future is perpetu- global warming crisis in a matter of decades. As the documentary Anote’s Ark reveals, President Anote ally influenced by these anxieties.

Two new documentaries set to premiere at the 2019 Tong has made it his life’s mission to find a workable Human Rights Watch Film Festival examine these ee- solution in order to ensure his country’s survival.

Director Matthieu Rytz could have easily turned rily similar struggles by showcasing the voices of social activists, politicians and community organizers who are the film into a sentimental David vs. Goliath story, but trying to curtail this impending sense of hopelessness. instead shows the taxing realities of Tong’s quest to Charm City follows multiple stakeholders working raise awareness and confirm financial support from in various sectors of Baltimore to stem the tide of racial wealthier countries. He travels to science conferences, United Nations meetings and injustice, poverty and governeven to the Paris Climate Acmental bureaucracy that has led cords to make the case for Kirato a crippling wave of violence.

HUMAN RIGHTS bati’s continued existence.

Naturally, the victims are typiFearing the worst, many locally young and Black.

WATCH FILM cals emigrate to Australia and Clayton “Mr. C” Guyton, a FESTIVAL New Zealand hoping to find emformer corrections officer who Museum of Photographic Arts ployment and resources for their now runs the Rose Street ComThursday, Jan. 31 through families. Anote’s Ark juxtaposes munity Center, functions simiTong’s political negotiations and larly to a grassroots social serSaturday, Feb. 2 strategizing with the experiencvices provider. He holds mornes of Ato and Sermary, a couple ing meetings on the sidewalk with multiple children who deto inspire and motivate those who find themselves in need of a pep talk. The com- cide to make that very journey despite deep cultural munity center’s youth coordinator, Alex Long, plans and familial ties to Kirabati.

The couple’s intimate struggle defines the personblock parties for families suffering from economic and emotional distress, and prevents violence through de- al ripples of climate change while President Tong’s struggles reflect big picture challenges stymied by escalation and intervention.

Director Marilyn Ness fills out her mosaic with governmental deadlock. Taken as mirror images to Baltimore Police Major Monique Brown, City Coun- one another, they reveal how people from all walks of cilman Brandon Scott and officer Eric Winston. Each life will be impacted once extreme weather events and subject provides a unique vantage point on the social rising temperatures become irreversible.

Anote’s Ark and Charm City wrestle with harsh reissues plaguing the specific communities they are alities facing communities under distress. But each tasked to support.

But none of them carry the emotional weight of Mr. highlights the impassioned citizenry who have taken C and Long, who quickly become the heart of a film it upon themselves to will hope back into existence that tries to cover a lot of historical ground in a short through positive and substantial action.

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2019 will amount of time. Charm City works best when it listens to their stories and heartbreaks, something that far take place Thursday, Jan. 31 through Saturday, Feb. too many public servants have failed to do in the wake 2 at the Museum of Photographic Arts. Other feature of tragedies such as the killing of Freddie Gray. films include the opening night entry TransMilitary, While there are far superior examinations of Balti- as well as Roll Red Roll and The Unafraid. For more more’s complex social dilemmas (see Theo Anthony’s information visit mopa.org. riveting experimental doc Rat Film and David Simon’s seminal TV show, The Wire), Charm City admirably Film reviews run weekly. provides an expansive and nuanced view of these top- Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

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JANUARY 30, 2O19 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17

CULTURE | FILM

They Shall Not Grow Old

No man’s land

P

eter Jackson’s films initially present danger as a thrilling proposition. This especially holds true for young characters naïve to the world’s many horrors.

With no frame of reference to the potential dangers that await, they seem almost giddy about venturing into the unknown.

Think of Frodo’s (Elijah Wood) fabled journey through Mordor in the Lord of the Rings films. Or the surreal dangerous liaisons that occur between Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey’s teenage girls in Heavenly Creatures.

They Shall Not Grow Old, Jackson’s new WWI documentary constructed of newly released archival footage and audio interviews, begins with British soldiers describing feelings of excitement when their younger selves decided to enlist. Some even equated the idea of war with that of a game.

The film functions less as a history lesson than an experiential deep dive into the mundane and traumatizing realities of soldiering. To complicate our assumptions about WWI’s visual mythology, Jackson and his post-production team have colorized and restored the imagery shot on location from the front. After beginning in blackand-white, They Shall Not Grow Old suddenly blooms with variances of hues once it reaches the frontlines in Belgium.

Ironically, this is the moment when those grizzled voices of the Great War survivors begin describing the terrors of trench warfare in equally vivid detail. Living conditions were squalid. Food grew moldy and dead bodies attracted legions of flesh eating rats. Rainstorms caused lakes of mud that would swallow men whole. And this was all before the flamethrowers, gas bombs, tanks, shelling and machine-gun barrages.

Like all of Jackson’s best work, They Shall Not Grow Old (opening in wide release on Friday, Feb. 1) is a humbling experience about the loss of innocence. It’s fitting then that he dedicates the film to his

18 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2O19

grandfather, himself a British soldier who survived to tell the tale.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2019: Five documentary features with topics ranging from LGBTQ rights, climate change and community violence will be presented at this travelling film festival.

Screens Thursday, Jan. 31 through Saturday, Feb. 2, at Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.

Miss Bala: Gina Rodriguez stars in this completely unnecessary remake about a young woman who becomes caught up in the drug war south of the border after she witnesses a cartel assassination. Opens in wide release Friday, Feb. 1.

San Diego Black Film Festival: This annual film showcase will present over 100 films looking at stories and themes related to the African-American and African Diaspora experience. Screens Thursday, Jan. 31 through Sunday, Feb. 3, at Arclight La Jolla Cinemas.

They Shall Not Grow Old: Peter Jackson’s new documentary about WWI weaves together archival footage with newly colorized restorations in an attempt to show audiences what soldiering was like during The Great War. Opens in wide release Friday, Feb. 1.

Tito and the Birds: A shy young boy discovers the cure for a pandemic that is ravaging the world in this animated film.

Opens Friday, Feb. 1, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

ONE TIME ONLY Blazing Saddles: Flatulence, race relations and six-shooter buffoonery are just some of the topics covered in Mel Brooks’ classic western spoof. Screens at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1 and Saturday, Feb. 2, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

I’m No Angel: Mae West and Cary Grant star in this saucy pre-Code talkie about a circus performer who tries to better her life by pursuing wealthy New York City men.

Screens at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

For complete movie listings, visit Film at sdcitybeat.com.

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JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

JAIME SHAHEEN

MUSIC

Tijuana Panthers ix the twangy rhythm and ’60s guitar sound of Dick Dale with the lo-fi reverb of Night Beats, and the smooth harmonies of the Beach Boys with the energy of the Creepy Creeps, and that might give an idea of Tijuana Panthers’ garage-surf-rock sound.

Everyone in the Long Beach-based band—Daniel Michicoff on bass, Phil Shaheen on drums and Chad Wachtel on guitar—has been playing music in one form or another for half their lives, but the trio didn’t form Tijuana Panthers until the mid-2000s. Their 2009 debut EP, Creatures/Girls Gone Wild, was quickly followed by their first full-length album, Max Baker, in 2010 (titled after a neighbor who also inspired the band’s name).

From there, a steady string of releases kept them together until 2015, when their last album, Poster, hit shelves.

Then, for the first time in years, there was a break between records. Michicoff confirms the slowdown was intentional.

“We were pretty big on just trusting what we’re doing— not overthinking it or taking ourselves too seriously,” says Michicoff. “But I think we’re evolving to be a little more slow, a little more conscious. We don’t want to just keep putting out stuff that sounds the same.”

Casual listeners could be excused for thinking that many of their songs sound similar. But when one considers that

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

they’ve been a tight-knit band for over 10 years, not to mention the fact they’ve known each other since boyhood, it becomes easier to recognize their growth. Poster, in particular, comes across as more gelled than 2014’s Wayne Interest or 2013’s Semi-Sweet; the echoey vocals shared by the trio overlap as though three voices pour out of one throat.

Speaking to the band fresh from soundcheck before a December show at the Roxy in Los Angeles, they were only moderately confident about their set list.

“We’re playing new songs, so it’s a little interesting,” admitted Shaheen.

The new songs are from their upcoming, yet-to-be-titled album, which Michicoff says is already finished and slated for release this summer. This will coincide with the 10-year anniversary of their first EP, so of course I ask if they have anything special planned to mark the occasion.

“That’s a good idea!” exclaimed Shaheen. “We hadn’t thought of that.”

As straightforwardly digestible as Tijuana Panthers’ lo-fi surf sound is, there’s often a surprising complexity to the

lyrics. The conventional topics of partying, relationships and growing up see their fair share of airplay, but with three singer/songwriters contributing their thoughts, there’s a trichotomy of viewpoints that remain personal to each individual.

“We’re all three different songwriters in the band, so whatever lyrics come up from whichever one of us usually is a personal thing,” says Shaheen. “For me, yeah, it comes from a religious background and a current feeling of where I’m at and what I believe. I feel it’s the same for each of us, whatever we’re reading or consuming that comes out in songs.”

Considering that the next album will be released as each member edges closer to turning 40, Michicoff explains that fans should expect the tried-and-true sound Tijuana Panthers is known for, but with some lyrical evolution.

“They’re getting a little bit more ‘adult’—not in a sexual way!” he laughs. “More like talking about drinking less and stuff.”

All three point to influences like Dead Milkmen, The Buzzcocks and X for both their sound and their preference to keep political subject matter more subversive rather than overt.

“I think we’ve always just kind of operated better in kind of a superficial realm of music. Not saying we’re apolitical, because not taking a political stance is taking a political stance, but I think especially with this administration, it’s pretty clear what’s going on,” says Michicoff. “We kind of need to hide [our point of view] in art, because I don’t think it would come across the way we want it to if we were to get up on a pulpit and speak our mind. It would be more confusing than productive or progressive.”

Tijuana Panthers have played massive shows like Coachella and South by Southwest, but their current record label (Innovative Leisure) has been around for even less time than they have as a band, and remains relatively small in the L.A.area scene. Similar acts like The Growlers have achieved more mainstream success, so I ask: is the band intentionally keeping Tijuana Panthers under-the-radar?

“That’s a question we’ve been asked before, actually,” says Shaheen, who works as an art teacher as his day job.

“That’s definitely not strategic. There obviously is certain things you can do to get somewhere, to get big time, and it’s not easy to do.”

He shrugs it off lightheartedly.

“We’ve just been doing our thing and if something hits, cool.”

Wachtel’s content with the state of the band’s more underground success.

“I never wanted to be on the road fulltime. This is the best place we could be for me. Playing good shows here and there, do some touring a little bit here and there—that’s the dream for me, not being gone six months out of the year or something like that.”

“Nobody loves you until everybody loves you,” adds Michicoff. “We’re just humbled by the process and kind of having a good time with it.”

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MUSIC

ALFRED HOWARD

BLACK

THE

SPOTLIGHT

GOLD

LEO CACKET

Living most my life in a hoarder’s paradise

I

dig for records.

Not so much in the more conventional way that may come to mind for most music fans. If readers are picturing a nonchalant stroll through Kobey’s Swap Meet at 9 a.m., long after the sun has made its debut, thumbing through a stack of vinyl at the tempo of a Morphine song, then let me assure them that this not the case.

Not to romanticize it, but there are moments when I feel like an archeologist participating in the last gold rush on the frontiers of America. On my most recent score, I found myself hanging off scaffolding from a height that could have compromised my existence had things gone awry. I was stretching my arms like DC’s Plastic Man, flashlight in hand, trying my hardest to reach a box of records. I wondered for a second if this was how I’d die. At the moment I finally reached that box, I’d misstep and fall to my demise.

With my last exhale, I would open the box to find out it held Loggins and Messina records, disappointment punctuating my life with a sour exclamation point.

This last dig was in El Cajon in a warehouse/storage space that had been gradually filled for 31 years. I’ve been doing this digging-for-vinyl thing for a minute, but I had never seen anything like this and I literally dream about digging in crates.

Everywhere I looked, there were records by the thousands. Open up a cabinet, it’s full of records. Look under the cabinet, records. Move the cabinet and it would expose another cabinet full of records. It was a Russian nesting doll of vinyl. This was a hoarder’s hoarder. A thing of beauty.

There were also 31 years of accumulated dust that warrants merit for its sheer mass. If dust were cocaine, I was Scar-

face. Instead of filling me with a sense of ceaseless power and frenetic violent energy, however, I suddenly had the ability to sneeze louder than an Iron Butterfly concert and longer than any live Allman Brother’s song.

There were two other guys in there digging, and though there’s a sense of competition in digs, this was one of those rare instances in which there was literally enough for everyone. That didn’t stop me from secretly finding a shed out back full of records and holing up in there for

The Windjammers’ “Poor Sad Child (Pt. 1)” two of the moldiest, dustiest, most dimly lit hours of my life. My digging competitors were probably suspicious as to where I disappeared, and probably chalked it up to me being engulfed by a tsunami of Paul Anka records.

I spent five hours a day in there for three days. And though I emerged with some gems, it was a copy of The Windjammers’ “Poor Sad Child (Pt. 1)” that really took my breath away, or at least, what was left of it after all the sneezing. I came across this gem while crawling un-

der a long heavy work table and saw a box with “old 45s” written in sharpie on the back. I was down there so long trying to reach the box that I forgot what I was under. In the darkness for a moment, I began to wonder if the table could collapse on me. I wondered if I should text my mother some kind of living will with instructions as to who I didn’t want to give anything to after death. Apropos of the situation, I would also tell her to make sure she played “Dust in the Wind” at my funeral.

I began to think that what I really needed was a trained monkey for this hard-toreach daredevil shit, but I digress.

In the end, determination got me there and I pulled out this little gem of a 45. It sounds like The Temptations with a little more hunger and desperation. The rhythm section is driving the bus like Sandra Bullock in that terrible movie, and the busy, underlying fuzz guitar gives it a flare of psychedelia. Later, I found out The Windjammers were from Oakland and the song was released in 1970 on the Boola Boola Label, which has some other soul gems worth a listen. Check it out.

I stayed in this warehouse too long, but there were still eons of unexplored corners and records yet to be exposed, but I had promised to get to my mom’s place to watch True Detective. I didn’t have time to shower before I got there and when I walked through the door, leaving a dusty hand print on the knob, her look of “what did I do wrong raising my child” was one for the books.

Poor sad child, indeed.

Black Gold appears every other week.

Alfred Howard is always looking for vinyl and stories, and can be contacted at blackgoldsandiego@gmail.com.

Gang of Four

W

ay back in 2005, I wrote a CityBeat cover story on Gang of Four, a Leedsbased post-punk band that had recently reunited after 20 years apart. Whereas most band reunions can come across like a vapid money grab, the members of Gang of Four still had this pissy, fuck-all attitude toward capitalism and politics, not at all different from the sentiments expressed on their 1979 masterpiece, Entertainment!. After all, they played their first reunion show not in some arena or a giant festival, but in a small London pub.

Nearly 15 years later, that attitude is still on display, albeit not with the original members. In fact, when I went to see them in 2015, I was shocked to learn that the only remaining original member was guitarist Andy Gill. And while he’s often cited as having always been the driving creative force in the band, it was still strange to see him onstage with a bunch of young kids including current Gang singer John “Gaoler” Sterry.

That’s not to imply that Gang of Four can’t still rock out. Songs like “Damaged Goods” and “At Home He’s a Tourist” still pack a punch in a live setting and Sterry does sound a lot like original singer Jon King. Still, audiences should know what they’re getting when they go to a Gang of Four show, which is, essentially, a Gang of One and some other dudes.

—Seth Combs

Gang of Four play Tuesday, Feb. 5 at The Casbah.

JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 21

MUSIC

IF I WERE U

BY CITYBEAT STAFF

Our picks for the week’s top shows

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 30

PLAN A: A$AP Mob @ Pechanga Arena.

Arena rap shows are always a gamble, but the chance to see both A$AP Rocky and A$AP Ferg on the same night makes this one worth the price. Look for us near the front abnoxiously singing along to “Plain Jane” and “Shabba Ranks.” PLAN B: William Fitzsimmons @ Lestat’s West. Since 2005, the Nashville-based Fitzsimmons has been specializing in tender singer/songwriter fare, rather than country music. Still, his golden voice, nuanced guitar playing and sincere lyrics would make him stand out in any city’s scene. BACKUP PLAN: Wild Child, Batty Jr., Puscie Jones Revue @ Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, JAN. 31

and composer plays gorgeous ambient and instrumental music that is both hypnotic and jarring. With his looping electronic textures and backed by a band of reputable classical musicians, Arnalds’ live shows are the type audiences will remember forever.

PLAN B: Mineral, Tancred @Che Café Collective. Indie-rock fans may have missed out on Houston band Mineral when they released the amazing The Power of Falling in 1997, especially since they broke up just before it garnered an audience. Known for building guitar work and heartfelt, emotastic lyrics, they’re finally back together in celebration of the group’s 25th anniversary.

BACKUP PLAN: Drama, Claire George @ The Casbah.

SUNDAY, FEB. 3

PLAN A: Three Mile Pilot, The Dropscience, Physics, Space Horse @ The Cas- PLAN A: Don Haugen, Monochromacy, bah. San Diego bands have produced a hand- Those Darn Gnomes, Amy Cimini, Lucas ful of indie-rock masterpieces and Three Broyles @ Weird Hues. Not much going on Mile Pilot’s Another Desert, Another Sea is this night, but for anyone not interested in football, this is the show almost certainly one of for you. A solid lineup them. Featuring members of bands and musicians, of Pinback and Black Heart including CityBeat fave Procession, this is a rare Monochromacy, the one opportunity to see them man ambient project from reunite for The Casbah’s Esteban Flores. His 2018 30th anniversary. PLAN B: release, Living Posture, was Hablot Brown, Courtnie one of our favorite releas@ Soda Bar. Do a Google es of the year. image search of Hablot Brown and one might think the L.A. band is just a couple of hipster bros playLeyla McCalla PLAN A: Travis Scott, ing synthy post-punk or Sheck Wes @ Pechanga the like. On the contrary, they specialize in Arena. As much as we’d love to hate on some sweet, smooth R&B and neo-soul that Travis Scott for being with Kylie Jenner and fans of Rhye and Cigarettes After Sex should being a Super Bowl sellout, it’s hard to deny listen to immediately. BACKUP PLAN: Cur- bangers like “SICKO MODE” and “gooserent Joys, Gap Girls @ The Irenic. bumps.” Show up early for Sheck Wes, whose 2018 single, “Mo Bamba,” was practically inescapable last summer. BACKUP PLAN: PLAN A: Light Asylum, O/X, Adios Mundo Blackberry Smoke, Chris Shiflet @ Belly Cruel @ Whistle Stop. If readers need a Up Tavern.

MONDAY, FEB. 4

FRIDAY, FEB. 1

synth-driven, goth punch to the face, listen to Light Asylum’s 2011 single “Dark Allies.”

Singer Shannon Funchess—sounding like the lovechild of Grace Jones and Peter Murphy— belts out desperate proclamations over driving beats. PLAN B: Jacob Banks, Jamie N. Commons @ Belly Up Tavern. Soul singer Jacob Banks represents a new crop of R&B singers who aren’t afraid of combining oldschool melodies with contemporary beats.

Opener Jamie N Commons has some pipes as well, but has more of a synthy George Michael vibe going on. BACKUP PLAN: Cursive, Mineral, Campdogzz @ The Casbah.

SATURDAY, FEB. 2

PLAN A: Ólafur Arnalds @ The Observatory North Park. The Icelandic producer

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

TUESDAY, FEB. 5

PLAN A: Leyla McCalla @ The Loft @ UCSD. Probably best known for her work in the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Leyla McCalla’s new album, The Capitalist Blues, is a beautiful distillation of influences, from the Cajun and Creole sounds of her adopted home in New Orleans, to her New York Haitian roots. PLAN B: Tulengua, Jonny.Dee, The Huge Class, A.ll.Z @ Soda Bar. A great night of local hip-hop. Headliners Tulengua released the best local album of 2018 (Baja Funk), but we definitely have our eye on Jonny.Dee, whose self-described “psychedelic hip hop” should really stand out on this night. BACKUP PLAN: MØ, Mykki Blanco @ The Observatory North Park.

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MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Foxtide (SOMA, 2/9), Imagery Machine (Casbah, 2/12), iDKHOW (Music Box, 2/21), MDRN HSTRY (Casbah, 2/24), Graveyard Witch (Casbah, 2/25), Nights Like Thieves (Casbah, 2/27), SASAMI (Soda Bar, 3/2), Better Oblivion Community Center (Music Box, 3/10), The Suffers (Soda Bar, 3/11), Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe (Music Box, 3/15), Journeymen (Music Box, 3/22), Hot Flash Heat Wave (The Irenic, 3/23), Ayla Nereo (Soda Bar, 3/24), Infinite Floyd (BUT, 3/24), Blue Oyster Cult (BUT, 3/27), Angel Du$t (HOB, 3/28), The Dollyrots (SPACE, 3/28), Aborted (Brick By Brick, 3/31), Easy Wind (BUT, 4/4), San Holo (Observatory, 4/5), Dabin (Music Box, 4/13), Dermot Kennedy (Observatory, 4/16), Superorganism (Music Box, 4/23), Livin’ On A Prayer (BUT, 4/27), Colin Hay (Humphreys, 5/3), The Bouncing Souls (Observatory, 5/10), Willie K (BUT, 5/15), The Steely Damned 2 (Music Box, 5/26), Spiral Stairs (Soda Bar, 6/5), The Marshall Tucker Band (BUT, 9/12).

CANCELLED Radar State (Casbah, 2/10).

GET YER TICKETS Travis Scott (Pechanga Arena, 2/4), Gang of Four (Casbah, 2/5), MØ (Observatory, 2/5), KISS (Viejas Arena, 2/7), Louis XIV (Casbah, 2/15), Panic! At

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the Disco (Valley View Casino Center, 2/16), Justin Timberlake (Pechanga Arena, 2/21), Albert Hammond Jr. (BUT, 2/24), Sharon Van Etten (Observatory, 2/28), Saves the Day (Observatory, 3/2), CRSSD Festival (Waterfront Park, 3/23), Waxahatchee (Soda Bar, 3/3), Muse (Pechanga Arena, 3/5), Band of Horses (Observatory, 3/6), Hatebreed (HOB, 3/7), YG (Pechanga Arena, 3/7), Action Bronson (HOB, 3/13), Cold Cave (BUT, 3/19), Boy Harsher (Casbah, 3/20), Mike Doughty (Soda Bar, 3/23), Queensrÿche (Casbah, 3/27), Black Moth Super Rainbow (BUT, 3/31), Vince Staples (Observatory, 4/2), Anvil (Brick By Brick, 4/4), San Holo (Observatory, 4/5), Taking Back Sunday (Observatory, 4/6-7), Meat Puppets (Soda Bar, 4/7), T-Pain (Observatory, 4/9), David Archuleta (California Center for the Arts, 4/17), Priests (Soda Bar, 6/26).

JANUARY WEDNESDAY, JAN. 30 Wild Child at Soda Bar. Hawthorne Heights at House Of Blues. Silverstein at House Of Blues. A$AP Rocky at Valley View Casino Center. Death Valley Girls at Music Box.

THURSDAY, JAN. 31 Current Joys at The Irenic. Three Mile Pilot at The Casbah. Turkuaz at Belly Up Tavern. Tantric at Brick By Brick.

FRIDAY, FEB. 1 Cursive, Mineral at The Casbah (sold out). Okilly Dokilly at Soda Bar. Jacob Banks at Belly Up Tavern. Poncho Sanchez at Music Box.

SATURDAY, FEB. 2 Magic City Hippies at Soda Bar. Mineral at Che Café. Drama at The Casbah.

Vaud and the Villains at Belly Up Tavern.

MadeinTYO at Music Box. Defy The Tyrants at Brick By Brick.

MONDAY, FEB. 4 Still Woozy at Soda Bar (sold out). The Toasters at The Casbah. Chris Shiflett at Belly Up Tavern. Travis Scott at Pechanga Arena.

TUESDAY, FEB. 5 MØ at Observatory North Park. DaniLeigh at House of Blues. Gang of Four at The Casbah. Chris Shiflett at Belly Up Tavern. Tulengua at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6 The Quaker City Night Hawks at Soda Bar. North Mississippi Allstars at Belly Up Tavern.

THURSDAY, FEB. 7 KISS at Viejas Arena. Marc Anthony at Valley View Casino Center. Joan Osborne at Belly Up Tavern. Passafire at Music Box.

FRIDAY, FEB. 8 Tijuana Panthers at Soda Bar. Atmosphere at Observatory North Park (sold out). Katchafire at Music Box. AJ Mitchell at The Irenic. Groundation at Belly Up Tavern. Steve Gunn at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, FEB. 9 Tijuana Panthers at Soda Bar. The Woggles at The Casbah. Radar State at The Casbah. Iration at Observatory North

Park. Tainted Love at Belly Up Tavern.

Art Laboe at Pechanga Arena. Foxtide at SOMA. The PettyBreakers at Music Box.

SUNDAY, FEB. 10 Radar State at The Casbah. Lee “Scratch” Perry at House of Blues.

Danko Jones at Observatory North Park.

Joshua Radin at Belly Up Tavern. 2CELLOS at Pechanga Arena.

MONDAY, FEB. 11 The Holy Knives at Soda Bar.

at Belly Up Tavern. CANCELLED! at Soda Bar. Louis XIV, The Slashes, Demasiado at The Casbah. Caifanes at Observatory North Park. The Grinns at SOMA. Red Not Chili Peppers at Music Box. The Three Tremors at Brick By Brick.

SUNDAY, FEB. 17 Kongos and Fitness at Music Box. Los Lonely Boys at Belly Up Tavern. Jake “The Snake” Roberts at Brick By Brick.

Post Animal at The Casbah. Awakebutstillinbed at Soda Bar.

MONDAY, FEB. 18

TUESDAY, FEB. 12 Ottmar Liebert at Belly Up Tavern. Imagery Machine at The Casbah.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13 Dreamgirl at Soda Bar. Cuco at Observatory North Park (sold out). Broncho at The Casbah.

The Red Pears at The Irenic. Dalton & the Sheriffs at Soda Bar. Cherry Road at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, FEB. 19 Half Waif at Soda Bar. The Paragraphs at The Casbah.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 20

THURSDAY, FEB. 14 Hockey Dad and Hunny at SOMA. Elizabeth Cook at The Casbah. Daniel Romano at Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, FEB. 15 Mike Krol at Soda Bar. Louis XIV at The Casbah. The Expendables at Observatory North Park. The Soul Rebels at Music Box. Dead Man’s Party at Belly Up Tavern. Powerman 5000 at Brick By Brick.

Ja Rule, Ashanti at SOMA. The Marias at The Irenic.

SATURDAY, FEB. 16 Panic! At the Disco at Valley View Casino Center. Pedro the Lion at The Irenic. ALO

Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel at Observatory North Park. Smoking Popes at Soda Bar. Justin Nozuka at Music Box. Secret Lynx, Veronica May, Nate Donnis Trio at Belly Up Tavern. Spear of Destiny at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, FEB. 21 Houses at Soda Bar. Amy Grant at California Center for the Arts. Kimmi Bitter at Belly Up Tavern. Leftover Crack at Brick By Brick. Justin Timberlake at Pechanga Arena. Bob Seger at Viejas Arena. Kolars at The Casbah. iDKHOW at Music Box.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23

BY CHRISTIN BAILEY

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 FRIDAY, FEB. 22 Mother Hips at Belly Up Tavern. Aurora at Observatory North Park. Brasstracks at Music Box. King Tuff at The Casbah.

The Black Queen at Brick By Brick.

SATURDAY, FEB. 23 Thumpasaurus at House of Blues (sold out). King Tuff at The Casbah. Lords of Acid at Brick By Brick. Madball at Soda Bar. The Como La Flor Band at Music Box. Kaleena Zanders, Friendz, SiLVA at Music Box. Banding Together, The Shift at Belly Up Tavern. Lords of Acid at Brick By Brick.

SUNDAY, FEB. 24 Private Island at Soda Bar. Crumb at Soda Bar. Albert Hammond Jr. at Belly Up Tavern. Aziz Ansari at Copley Symphony Hall. Un at Brick By Brick. Abbey Road’s George Harrison Celebration at Music Box. MDRN HSTRY at The Casbah. John 5 at Brick By Brick. Body Void at SPACE.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Wed: Open Mic. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: Johnny Luv, Strictly Skunk. Sat: Sonic Moonshine, Copy Cat Killers. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: Trevor & The Jets, The Utility Players.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘HipHopWeds’.

Thu: Paul Valenzuela. Fri: ‘House Music

Fridays’. Sat: DJ Mike Czech. Sun: Possession. Mon: ‘Organized Grime’.

Tue: ‘Cardio Hip Hop Class’.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Right Now Live!

Thu: Aristotle Georgeson as Blake Webber. Fri: Simon Gibson. Sat: Mike E. Winfield. Tue: Open Mic. The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: Farewell Winters, Lighterburns, Cold 43, Done Talking. Fri: Rec Riddles. Sat: Hostile Combover, Hope is Noise, The Holdout, Demasiado. Mon: Trivia. Tue: Karaoke.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Fri: i_o. Sat: EDX. Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park. Wed: DJ Sorry Shark. Thu: Husky Boy Allstars.

Sat: Parker Gispert.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Tower of Power (sold out). Thu: Turkuaz, Paris Monster. Fri: Jacob Banks. Sat: Vaud & the Villians, Trouble In The Wind. Mon: Blackberry Smoke, Chris Shiflett. Tue: Blackberry Smoke, Chris Shiflett.

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Hip Priest, Los Pinche Pinches, Fictitious Dishes.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’. Thu: ‘The Low End’. Fri: ‘Alkaline Sessions’. Sat: ‘Blonde 54 Disco & Decadence’. Sun: J Paul Getto. Mon: ‘Goth Nite’.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Wed: Michael Angelo Batio, Fused, K Prouty. Thu: Tantric. Sat: Defy The Tyrants, Finding Thetis, Pyrotechnica, Legions.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe ARIES (March 21 - April 19): Those magic beans didn’t turn out to be a very good investment. I mean, fighting a giant? Who wants that on their itinerary?

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): This week is all about correcting the mistakes of last week. It’s also about making new mistakes so you have something to do next week. This continues… indefinitely.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): If you know with complete certainty that something is absolutely impossible, then you probably won’t notice when it’s happening right in front of you.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): This week you may learn more about the uses and practical applications for bloodsucking leeches than you ever cared to know.

LEO (July 23 - August 22): You will have extraordinary luck in the laminate tile business this week. But after the laminate tile business? Well, it’s pretty much all downhill forever.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): It is important to prepare while you’re looking for that spark of inspiration. That is, you should do a little more than simply dousing yourself in lighter fluid and just sitting there.

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22): Like a trick card deck, this week is full of surprises and is certain to be only enjoyed by drunkards, children and people visiting the Las Vegas strip.

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): Any fool can solve a Rubik’s Cube using algorithms available on the internet, but it takes a master to gently remove the stickers from each side and put them on the correct side.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): I bet you think that if you could just live your life over, things would be different. Well, you already know what you know now today and how’s that working out?

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19): That gentle tug you feel may be your spirit trying to guide you, but it’s really just your jacket sleeve getting caught in the escalator handrail.

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): You don’t owe anyone your attention, or your time, or your friendship, or your consideration. But if you’re my friend Martin, you still owe me $43.

PISCES (February 19 - March 20): You have a preternatural gift for making the best out of a bad situation, but it’s because you also have an even greater gift for causing the bad situations.

Astrologically Unsound appears every week. Follow Christin Bailey on Twitter at @hexprax.

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MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24

Kensington. Thu: Moon Sugar, Oak Palace, Rubber Soul.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Carnage. Sat: Savi.

Fri: Seconds Ago, Samsara. Sat: Natural Disaster.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown.

Wed: The Silent Comedy, Mrs. Henry, Julia Sage and the Bad Hombres. Thu: Three Mile Pilot, The Dropscience, Physics, Space Horse. Fri: Cursive, Mineral, Campdogzz (sold out). Sat: Drama, Claire George. Mon: The Toasters, The Scotch Bonnets. Tue: Gang of Four.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: William Fitzsimmons. Fri: The Visitors, Not Really Band, Bella Kaye. Sat: Staump Music School. Mon: Open Mic. Tue: ‘Comedy Night’.

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Wed: ‘The Wednesday Jam Session’. Fri: Gabriel Sundy.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights.

Fri: ‘Rituals’. Sun: Vaporwave, Future Funk, City Pop. Tue: Karaoke.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: Direct. Sat: Obscene.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Midtown. Fri: The Glitch Mob. Sat: AC Slater.

Pour House, 1903 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside. Wed: Open Mic. Fri: Sights and Sages, The Lover The Liar. Sat: Surfer Joe, Jason Lee, the R.I.P. Tides.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Thu: ‘Thursdaze’. Fri: Strawberry Mountain, Bad Kids, The Ghost Dance, T. Rexico. Sat: Pinkeye, Closest Relative, Daybreaker. Sun: ‘PANTS Karaoke!’.

Mon: Coast 2 Coast LIVE.

Che Cafe, 1000 Scholars Drive S, La Jolla.

Fri: Open Mic. Sat: Mineral, Tancred.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Bay Park. Fri: Robert Dove & Hugo Suarez Quintet. Sat: Ian Harland & his Quintet.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Thu: ‘Takeover Thursdays’.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Silverstein, Hawthorne Heights, As Cities Burn, Capstan. Thu: Robby Krieger, Jason Mann. Fri: Marsha Ambrosius. Sat: Lola Demure’s Burlesque & Variety Show.

Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: Whiskey Ridge Band. Thu: Kim Jackson. Fri: Beta Maxx. Sat: Viva Santana. Mon: Billy Watson. Tue: Casey Hensley.

Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla.

Wed: ‘TV Dinner: The Big Lebowski’. Thu: ‘Lo-fi Study Jam’. Mon: ‘Black February’.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: JG Duo. Thu: JG Duo. Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. Thu: Candis Cayne. Fri: ‘No Cover Charge Entertainment’. Sat: ‘No Cover Charge Entertainment’. Sun: ‘No Cover Charge Entertainment’. Tue: ‘No Cover Charge Entertainment’.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Dry High Diva, Daytrip, GoMannGo. Thu: Swiss Rolls, Freak Show, Black Hesher with Cult Muzic. Sat: ‘Strapped’. Sun: Playground Sunday Night Dance Party.

Mother’s Saloon, 2228 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Thu: DJ Dub B. Tue: Trivia.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., North Park. Thu: Current Joys, Gap Girls. Fri: BlueFace.

Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Thu: Ghostriders. Fri: The Traumatics. Sat: Gino and the Lone Gunmen. Mon: Open Mic. Tue: Karaoke.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Midtown.

Wed: Christopher Sky, Prettyhowtown, Issaias Vaca, Cave Space.

Thu: Gypsy Mamba, Demon Slayer, DJ Pound, Deguzee, Curtis G. Fri: ‘Size Queenz’. Sat: ‘Ascension’. Tue: The Crown Remnant, Orenda, Zero South.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Wed: Death Valley Girls, Frankie & The Witch Fingers, Buddha Trixie, Le Ra. Fri: Poncho Sanchez, The Sleepwalkers. Sat: MadeinTYO, Thutmose, 12 HONCHO, Rossi Rock, Fresh Breakfast Muk Dipped in Butt.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave.,

The Office, 3936 30th St., North Park. Fri: ‘All-Vinyl Happy Hour’.

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Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Len Rainey. Thu: Tomcat Courtney.

The Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Fri: Trivia.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Wed: ‘Mischief with Bianca’. Thu: ‘#LEZ’.

Fri: ‘Electro-POP!’. Sat: ‘Voltage’. Sun: ‘Discoteka’.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’. Thu: The Spiritual Motels. Fri:. Sat: Baja Bugs.

Tue: ‘Everything and Anything Jam’.

Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: DJ Dunekat. Mon: ‘Jazz Jam’.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave., North Park. Fri: Monkey.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Wild Child, Batty Jr., Puscie Jones Revue. Thu: Hablot Brown, Courtnie. Fri: Okilly Dokilly, Playboy Manbaby, Ash Williams. Sat: Magic City Hippies, Future Generations (sold out).

Mon: Still Woozy, Dreamer Boy (sold out).

Tue: Tulengua, Johnny Dee, The Huge Class, A.II.Z. SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway.

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: ‘The Corner’. Fri: Coriander. Sat: Coriander.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park.

Wed: Leonard Patton. Thu: The Bill Magee Band. Fri: Bump City Brass. Sat: Full Strength Funk Band. Mon: ‘Sexy Salsa and Sensual Bachata’. Tue: Sue Palmer.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Thu: CW Duo, The Johnny Deadly Trio. Fri: ‘Hip Hop vs. Punk Rock’.

Sat: The Undead, The Strikers, Frequency Within, Sam Hell. Sun: Some Kind of Nightmare.

U-31, 3112 University Ave., North Park.

Wed: DJ Freeman. Thu: ‘BoomBox Thursdays’. Mon: ‘#31 Flavors’.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Wed: Riff City Comedy. Thu: ‘Vamp’. Fri: Light Asylum, O/X, Adios Mundo Cruel.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach.

Wed: ‘Club Kingston’. Thu: The Alpine Camp, Thump Juice. Fri: Ocean Beach Comedy. Sat: Dead Winter Carpenters, Shakedown String Band. Sun: Karaoke.

Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: ‘Acoustically Grateful’.

JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

BY JACKIE BRYANT

IN THE BACK

CANNABITCH

To all the joints I’ve loved before

I

t was during my sophomore year of college that I discovered my dad was an absolute pro when it came to rolling joints.

One day, he gave me a baggie with two front row tickets to see Bob Dylan. Later, I realized the baggie also held two immaculate joints. Dad knew then what many of us weed smokers do: few things are as satisfying as sparking one up at an open-air live show on a balmy summer evening. I remember the joints pulling perfectly even though the weed inside wasn’t good. Suffice it to say that my dad is the best at rolling, even if he still smokes old white dude stoner schwag.

Thirteen years later, my dad is still one of just a few people I know who regularly rolls and smokes their own joints. Like cursive handwriting, pay phones and encyclopedias, smoking joints has become somewhat of a relic.

The lost art of rolling one is even rarer, thanks to the introduction of less labor intensive consumption methods.

Even though joints are less common in today’s cannabis culture, enthusiasts know they are the cornerstone to enjoying cannabis, as they foster sharing and intimacy via saliva-drenched paper. There’s also a D.I.Y. sense of accomplishment that can’t be had via other ingestion mediums.

There are joints for every situation: the “movie joint,” which consists of two rolling papers (for length), premium flower and, perhaps, a showing of Pauly Shore’s In the Army Now. There’s also the “doorman joint,” proven to be

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 30, 2019

the grinding, licking, laying out, twisting in between fingers, lighting, inhaling, exhaling and, finally, passing—a ritual that requires slowing down and appreciating.

There isn’t always time or space to roll one up, though, which is where pre-rolled joints come in. I like Lowell Herb Co. as all the flower used in their products is pesticide-free, greenhouse-cultivated and lab-tested, and their employees are paid living wages. Lowell Herb Co. also prioritizes hiring formerly incarcerated people with non-violent cannabis convictions.

All of this makes me so happy, that when a public relations representative for the company popped up to ask if I wanted to sample Lowell’s wares, my fingers Fred Flintstoned the fastest “yes” ever sent through the internet.

Mere days later, my apartment brimmed with upward of 30 perfectly rolled joints, including their newest release, Lowell’s Quicks. They’re cute, nugget-sized joints, ideal for any scenario where one just wants a quick lift.

Lowell Smokes Smoking pre-rolls may take some of the ritualistic fun out of smoking joints, but that shareable element stays the a sufficient stand-in for a cash cover at many bars. There’s same. If pre-rolls are what helps to keep joints relevant, my favorite, the “post-coital joint,” which should be self- I’m all for them. In the immortal words of Wooderson explanatory. There are so many others, too! The “pre-flight from Dazed and Confused, when someone asks readers if joint.” The “hiking joint.” The “pre-feast joint.” And so on. they have a joint, “It’d be a lot cooler if you did.”

Sure, all of those situations could be enhanced by a vape pen or a bowl, but smoking a joint is like taking the CannaBitch appears every other week. scenic route versus the freeway. It’s about the journey— Follow Jackie Bryant on Twitter at @jacqbryant.

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JANUARY 30, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 27