San Diego CityBeat • Jan 9, 2013

TRUST P.5 SECURITY P.6 DEATH P.20 TRIP P.22

2 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

Bipartisan picks for the port San Diegans—at least those paying attention—got the first round of voting on Monday, it became clear a glimpse on Monday of how the new City Council that a deal had already likely been struck by Gloria leadership will behave in the coming year, and we and the council Republicans, led by Faulconer. suspect that most folks would consider it model beIn the first round on the first vacancy, Castellanos havior for dug-in politicians in Washington, D.C. had three votes, and the other five candidates had one The Port of San Diego’s Board of Commissioners apiece. Faulconer then said he’d switch his vote from lost two of its seven members after the November Vortmann to Merrifield and offered, in the spirit of election; Scott Peters was elected to Congress, and bipartisanship, to vote for a Democratic nominee for Lee Burdick joined Mayor Bob Filner’s team. Peters the second vacancy. In the second round, Merrifield and Burdick were two of three port commissioners suddenly had the five votes he needed, from all four who represent San Diego (the other members repreRepublicans and Gloria, a Democrat. sent Coronado, Imperial Beach, Chula Vista and NaIn the first round on the second vacancy, three of tional City) on the board, which wields considerable the four votes Castellanos got came from Republipower over what happens on waterfront real estate. cans, but he fell one vote short of the five he needed, There were six candidates for the two slots. with Alvarez switching, as he promised to do beforeAnd because Tony Young resigned from District 4 hand, from Castellanos to Voorakkara and Democrat to lead the local Red Cross, the newly minted nineSherri Lightner inexplicably switching from Castelmember City Council was back down to lanos to Bicker. In the second round, Reeight—four Democrats and four Republipublican Zapf switched from Bicker to Cascans. Candidates needed five votes to win tellanos, pushing him over the top. a seat. Something had to give, and it did.

We’d have preferred Castellanos and Councilmember David Alvarez, a DemoVoorakkara, because they’d have been crat, was alone in nominating two people— more closely aligned with Mayor Filner’s attorney Rafael Castellanos and unsuccessfocus on neighborhood advocacy (parful state Assembly candidate Sid Voorakticularly working-class and waterfrontkara. Republicans Kevin Faulconer, Scott adjacent Barrio Logan) and protection of Sherman, Lorie Zapf and Mark Kersey maritime jobs—not to mention that the Marshall nominated shipbuilding executive Richard departing Burdick and Peters were both Merrifield Vortmann, businessman Marshall Merlabor-friendly Democrats. But because of rifield, clean-energy-business advocate Lisa Bicker Young’s resignation, the Dems didn’t have control. and real-estate developer Reese Jarrett (also nomiA progressive activist whose first choice was nated by Young), respectively.

Voorakkara told us after the vote that the result Democrats emerged from the November election wasn’t as bad as feared. Progressives mostly didn’t with control of the Mayor’s office and a 5-4 edge on want Vortmann or Jarrett. If they couldn’t have the City Council, with a Democrat pretty much guarVoorakkara, who was likely the Republicans’ leastanteed to win a special election to replace Young. One favorite candidate, Merrifield was the lesser of the could reasonably make the case that voters wanted evils. The activist said that progressives essentially key appointments to be made by left-of-center politigot their second and third choices out of the six. cians. There was a contingent of folks who argued that Frankly, under the leadership of Gloria and Faulthe Port Commission appointments should be delayed coner, the result might’ve been bipartisan even if a until a new District 4 council member is elected, so Dem were sitting in the District 4 seat. For what it’s that those residents have representation in waterfront worth, while we didn’t endorse Merrifield when he decisions (not to mention that it would give council ran for City Council in 2008, we liked him on a perDemocrats back their edge). We empathize, but we sonal level. And even labor leader Lorena Gonzalez agree with Council President Todd Gloria, who said praised him on Monday as an honest dealer. that waiting that long for a full-strength San Diego Considering the circumstances, it’s a palatable port delegation would be unreasonable. outcome, and if you’ll pardon the mushy centrism, The Democrats’ prime constituencies—labor and it was a process that Congress could probably have learned from. environmental-justice advocates—backed Voorakkara (seemingly their first choice) and Castellanos, What do you think? Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com. but they didn’t have five Democratic votes. After This issue of CityBeat was made possible by a generous grant from the Pew Onya Foundation for Bountiful Snark.

Volume 11 • Issue 23 Editor David Rolland Associate Editor Kelly Davis Staff Writer Dave Maass Arts & Culture Editor Amy T. Granite Music Editor Peter Holslin Events Editor Alex Zaragoza Film Editor Anders Wright Web Editor Ryan Bradford Art director Adam Vieyra

Columnists Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb Contributors Ian Cheesman, Derrik Chinn, David L. Coddon, Jeff “Turbo” Corrigan, Scott McDonald, Jenny Montgomery, Kinsee Morlan, Sasha Orman, Jim Ruland, Marie Tran-McCaslin, Jeff Terich, Quan Vu Production Manager Efraim Manuel Senior account executive Jason Noble

Cover photo by Ryan Kuratomi Advertising Account Executives Sean Eshelman, Paulina Porter-Tapia director of marketing Chad Boyer Circulation / Office Assistant Shea Kopp Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami Business Manager Angela Wang Human Resources Andrea Baker Accounting Tracy Lowe, Alysia Chavez Vice President of Operations David Comden Publisher Kevin Hellman

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January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Sick of blonde ‘racism’ I read your Dec. 5 “Short List” highlighting Jen Trute’s art, with the picture “Sunbathe Barbie at Bombay Beach” highlighting the theme of people’s ignorance to ecological degradation by human realities—such as ditzily caring only about self-centered and privileged delights.

I have no knowledge of Trute’s legacy, her attitudes in general or her motives for this art, but I’m tired of a latent American prejudice that perennially suggests that blonde people exemplify shallow awareness compared with other people’s. This cliché is far too worn, and too many assume that because our society has glorified blonde women as privileged (getting the lion’s share of actress / modeling / TV-anchor jobs, tips, dates, etc.), then they, and they especially, are some class of people who don’t care about important social and political matters.

Granted, I’m a blond male and seldom do I see blond men getting the same kind of privileges blonde women seem to assume, but we magically also seem to be painted with the same types of racist brush of presumptions. Name me one ethnicity that does not make the same kind of presumptions blonde people make in this economy and ecological realities.

I know some very human and humane blonde women who exemplify something far more than plasticity and shallow growth from not being challenged, including my sisters. It’s time for society to find some other stereotype for people who are shallow and not quite human enough to understand deep realities.

Brian Becker, South Park

Understanding the problem Your Dec. 19 editorial, “Here a gun, there a gun,” contained many good points. The statement specifying “the ages of victims shouldn’t make a difference” was especially meaningful to me. Why did it take such a horrific incident to get America’s attention? Why have we waited so long to address this issue?

To begin with, we need to be more objective regarding laws in this country.

The commission headed by Vice President Joe Biden needs to collect relevant data and present it to the American public. This includes per capita statistics by state and nation of the following: number of guns, number of shootings, number of gun-related accidents, number of crimes stopped by non-police individuals with guns and number of gun-related incidents by mentally ill people. Note that I used the word shootings and not killings. We must also be concerned about people who are wounded, as these people can end up paralyzed or psychologically impaired.

We need to compare states and nations with restrictive gun laws with those having less-restrictive laws. We must understand the real problems before we can solve them.

Lastly, the NRA has about 4.5 million members. That represents 1.5 percent of the population. How has less than 2 percent of the U.S. population come to wield so much influence over American politicians? Once again, our politicians seem more concerned about the 2 percent than the 98 percent.

Ron Harris, Scripps Ranch

DeMaio’s bus to somewhere I thought Carl DeMaio was leaving San Diego [“Letters,” Dec. 26]. Scary to think he might be staying here. Bob Filner seems like a nice guy, but nice guys are easy to bushwhack! I’m sure that DeMaio and his evil backers are going to try their best to make life hell for Filner.

To think that Carl sucked up so much money from the government when he was back East and shows up in San Diego and beats the heck out of city employees because they receive government money.

These people bring so much suffering to others for their own personal gain. Can you start some kind of petition to get the city to put him on a bus to somewhere else?

John Ledingham, La Jolla Shores

sh enanigans

Secretary of Defense Mini-Crossword

by Dave Maass

ACROSS 1. Subject of the 2003 Oscar-winning documentary The Fog of War. 4. Two-time defense secretary who said, “There are known knowns.”

5. Defense secretary during Operation Desert Storm.

6. Republican defense secretary who stayed on for the beginning of the Obama administration.

DOWN 2. Chuck Hagel was a senator from this state when he traveled with Obama to Iraq and Afghanistan.

3. Current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was chief of staff for this president.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

bonus

news Check-In Center check-in

Tom Ammiano (at podium) rallies for the TRUST Act.

TRUST-worthy

California Democrats are leading down the path to immigration reform

documented immigrants for low-level crimes.

Californians have heard talk on immigration reform in Washington, D.C.; Obama has said he’ll focus on the issue soon after dealing with the fiscal crisis, and the nation’s Republicans, humbled by November’s results, are now talking seriby Dave Kempa ously about how to attract rising numbers of Latino votes.

The immigration debate is set to flare up once again in But as the discourse builds in Washington, the batalla de Washington, D.C., but the path to citizenship may begin in inmigración has long since begun in California—home to 27.8 Sacramento. percent of the nation’s Hispanic population and almost 25 Democratic state Assemblymember Tom Ammiano re- percent of all undocumented residents. cently, and for the third time, introduced the TRUST Act “While those conversations are underway in D.C., in to the California Legislature. The bill would limit law en- California the TRUST Act will be setting a standard,” said forcement’s participation in Secure Communities, a system Jon Rodney with the California Immigrant Policy Center introduced by President George W. Bush and expanded by (CIPC), a nonpartisan outfit that focuses on immigration the Obama administration that allows federal Immigra- policy. “This really is an issue that has national attention.” tion and Customs Enforcement CIPC is one of numerous im(ICE) to ask local police and migrants’-rights groups putting sheriff departments across the its weight behind the TRUST “The Latino vote is not something country to hold undocumented Act. Emboldened by the state’s that can be dismissed. It should immigrants already in custody Democratic supermajority in the be on anyone’s mind if they’re for the purpose of deportation.

Legislature, these organizations The TRUST Act passed see California as a harbinger for thinking about running again.” through both houses of the Legnational immigration reform.

—Tom Ammiano islature last fall before Gov. JerBetween its 2008 introducry Brown vetoed the bill. Now, tion and Aug. 31, 2011, Secure amid rising dialogue on both Communities succeeded in desides of the aisle over immigration reform, it’s back. And porting 220,322 undocumented immigrants. More than Ammiano insists that the governor pay attention.

82,500 of them, some 37.5 percent, came from in Califor“This is not something we can shy away from,” he said. nia.

“This is bigger than Jerry Brown. This is bigger than me.”

Secure Communities has indeed been effective in numDuring the first week of December, California made a bers, but opponents of the program argue that it has gone statement to the nation: Immigration policy is not working, far beyond its original focus of deporting undocumented and we will not take part in a broken system. men and women with criminal records.

On Monday, Dec. 3, Ammiano reintroduced the TRUST Of the 82,531 undocumented residents deported from Act. The next day, Tuesday, Attorney General Kamala Har- California through August 2011, 20,917—roughly 25 perris told law-enforcement agencies that their participation cent—had not committed a crime other than entering the in Secure Communities was no longer mandatory. And on country without permission. Los Angeles County proved Wednesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, whose the toughest on enforcing the program, handing 26,030 county accounts for almost one-third of undocumented undocumented residents over to federal officials, almost residents in the state deported through Secure Communitrust CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 ties, said that he would no longer hand over or detain un-

It’s a chilly morning, and Danny McCray’s gloved hands are soaking wet from moving rainwater-topped bins at the Check-In Center, where he’s both ambassador and security guard. Located in a parking lot at 16th and Commercial streets, up to 250 homeless people can “rent” a bin, for free, to store their possessions.

“Each one of these bins, it’s like a person’s closet,” says Adam, a Check-In Center client who declined to give his last name.

The center opened two years ago, in a small, cityowned warehouse at Ninth Avenue and Broadway, part of a legal settlement stemming from city employees destroying homeless people’s property. It had to move in October to make way for an affordable-housing project; after an unsuccessful search for a new location, St. Vincent de Paul agreed to let Girls Think Tank— the nonprofit that operates the Check-In Center—use its parking lot, rent-free. The initial agreement was kelly davis through Jan. 1, 2013, but it’s since been extended.

“They’ve let us know that they’re not going to kick us out,” says Noor Kazmi, Girls Think Tank’s president. But they don’t want to overstay their welcome.

“So, the pressure’s really on to move to someplace that’s convenient for the population and that’s welcoming, kind of how it was before,” she says.

Initially there were concerns that the lot wouldn’t provide protection from Danny McCray rain and looters. But, so far, nothing’s been damaged or stolen, Kazmi says. Though, there are little things that are missing. At the other location, for instance, McCray kept an iron handy so folks could touch up their clothes. Having a place to store their things has been the push some people needed to go find employment—“Don’t let this bin be a goal; let it be your steppingstone,” McCray tells people.

“We can’t do a whole lot of anything here,” he says.

“We’re just functional. People can access their bins, and that’s about it.”

Keith Jones, the new chair of the board of directors of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, a powerful business-advocacy organization, tells CityBeat that the partnership will help find a new location.

“As they identify, and as we identify, potential sites… we look forward to being an active participant with the Girls Think Tank,” Jones says.

And, the Check-In Center was a priority at the first meeting of a homelessness task force headed by Mayor Bob Filner’s fiancée, Bronwyn Ingram.

“The first agenda item for her was a new location for the storage center,” Kazmi says, “so, that was really cool to have everybody in the room talking about that.”

—Kelly Davis Write to kellyd@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Borderline intelligence What we learned from Anonymous’ dump of 5 million intel-firm emails

by Dave Maass Barrett Brown, the sort-of spokesperson and public face of the hacktivist group Anonymous, was indicted by a federal grand jury in December in connection with the theft of several million emails snatched from a well-known and well-connected private intelligence firm.

The feds alleged that the 31-year-old Texan was culpable in the release of thousands of Stratfor Global Intelligence customers’ credit-card details, but Brown has joined former Army Pfc. Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a martyr-like figure in the overall narrative of the conflict between government agencies and the activists who release secret documents, en masse, into the public domain.

When WikiLeaks released 250,000 diplomatic cables in 2010, we were astounded by the amount of information the data dump contained on San Diego affairs, from a Russian politician’s sketchy real-estate holdings in Carlsbad to Rep. Darrell Issa’s lobbying for Qualcomm in Israel. With the Stratfor emails—dubbed the “Global Intelligence Files” project—WikiLeaks has been managing the email database and has granted access to a limited number of news outlets, including CityBeat.

Peer into any workplace email system and you’ll be overwhelmed by mundane chatter and uninformative reply-

alls. The Stratfor emails are no different: Employees forwarded each other memes and had epic debates over Easter “Peeps” marshmallows.

But, buried in the emails, CityBeat found several official documents that open a window into regional border security and anti-terrorism SDLECC provided this diagram of a drug cartel’s hypothetical operations. Some are from the U.S. “complex mobile ambush” on SDPD officers.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), others from the FBI and the San Diego Law es assaults on other criminals to steal narcotics shipments.

Enforcement Coordination Center (SDLECC, also known According to SDPD’s intelligence, the leaders of the as the San Diego fusion center, which has come under re- drug-trafficking organization used push-to-talk devices cent scrutiny for excessive spending). Most are unclassi- and sophisticated tactical driving to lead the officers into fied but labeled “law enforcement sensitive”—that is, they an ambush in Southeast San Diego, where gang members should’ve been distributed only for law-enforcement or were waiting with automatic weapons collected from a other security purposes (which explains why Stratfor had stash house. The bulletin does not detail the outcome, but them). Quite a few are already publicly available through it is described as only an “attempt,” not a successful one. websites like Public Intelligence (publicintelligence.net).

The bulletin concludes that local law-enforcement Here are a few things we found most interesting: needs to be further trained in counter-surveillance techThe accidental ambush. Using intelligence mostly niques, because it is a “moderate” threat that they may gathered from cases in Tijuana, SDLECC compiled a bulle- again be mistaken as a competing cartel “rip crew.” tin on how Mexican cartels have established “sophisticatTerror-tory. FBI data on run-ins with known or sused counter surveillance techniques” and are willing to use pected terrorists is on a six-month time lag; an “Intelligence them to mount armed ambushes, even on police officers.

Review” prepared by the agency’s Terrorism Screening The bulletin details a specific incident in which Mexican Center for May 2011 wasn’t released until November 2011. cartel operatives and San Diego street-gang members mis- Even though it covers only a single month, the document took undercover San Diego Police officers as a competing is a startling glimpse of how many watch-listed individuals “rip crew,” the term for an armed criminal group that launch- touch down in San Diego.

In May 2011, the FBI documented 264 encounters with 176 individuals on its terrorist watch list in the Southwestern region, which covers Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and nine Southern California counties. Of those, 111 encounters, or 42 percent, occurred in Southern California. San Diego was the location for 25, or 9.4 percent, of the encounters, mostly at the San Ysidro border crossing.

Sunni extremists, including members of Hamas, were the most frequently encountered group in the region, though Shi’a groups, such as Hizballah, were also significantly represented. Only 5 percent, or 12 encounters, involved suspected domestic terrorists.

Do-disturb signs. In March 2011, SDLECC issued a bulletin with the title “Hotels as Potential Bomb Labs,” which explained that hotels provide a “relatively inexpensive and low profile base of operations for the construction of explosive devices near potential targets.” The paper goes on to outline prominent recent cases, including the 2009 suicide bombing of Marriot and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the 2010 plot to bomb the New York subway system.

“You have a lot of hotels here, and you have a lot of potential targets because of our military bases and installations,” says SDPD Sgt. Wayne Spees, who works out of SDLECC, in response to a CityBeat inquiry about why the bulletin was produced.

The document also includes a handy guide to identifying what items one might find in the hotel room of a bomb maker, including coffee filters, food blenders, acetone, hydrogen peroxide and goggles.

“Many of these items are innocuous when found independently,” the bulletin states. “However, the presence of any combination of these items in a hotel room could be an indicator of a hotel bomb lab and should be treated as a potential explosive hazard.”

Informing the informants. On June 14, 2011, DHS investigators in El Centro received credible intelligence that Sinaloa Cartel leaders had developed a list of people they believed to be confidential informants for U.S. agents.

Cartel enforcers, the source said, had been told to “clean house” and eliminate all suspects after a series of bulk-cash

intel CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 6 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

trust CONTINUED from PAGE 5

reach out to the rising Latino voting bloc.

“The Republican party has to do it now. We cannot wait,” Standriff said. “We need to get past the obstacles that are there now in order to establish a sense of trust and respect with the Latino community.”

Fresh off a string of defeats across the state, California Republicans have spent the last month poring over demographic data from the election. As is often the case, they did not fare well among the younger, single, more urban voting bloc. Nor did they strike a chord with minorities.

The Pew Hispanic Center reported this month that the nation’s Latino electorate is set to double by 2030, accounting for 40 percent of the growth in eligible voters. In California, where Latinos comprise almost 40 percent of the population, these estimates are not to be taken lightly by future candidates.

In two previous state conventions, Republicans have invited Latino business and community leaders to take part in a town-hall discussion. As this year’s spring convention in Sacramento draws near, the GOP looks ready to ramp up dialogue with the Latino community.

“I think that right now, everything needs to be on the table in our discussions,” Standriff said. “I’m sure the immigration issue will be something that will be discussed seriously in the convention.”

Even as the Democratic-supermajority Legislature sends its message to Washington on immigration reform, some state Republicans are taking strides of their own.

GOP Assemblymember Jeff Gorell wrote an op-ed in The Sacramento Bee just after the election urging his party to pick up the banner and lead the way in providing undocumented residents a path to citizenship. And L.A. County Sheriff Baca’s decision this month to only enforce Secure Communities on illegal immigrants who’ve committed serious crimes surprised many Californians.

What has long been a mantra of things to come in Washington, D.C., has been a fact in California for some time now: The Latino vote has arrived.

6,000 of whom had not been convicted of a crime.

In San Diego County, 3,147 of the 12,643 people deported through Secure Communities were not convicted of any crime before their removal, mirroring the state’s percentage of deportees who hadn’t been convicted of a crime.

If passed, the TRUST Act would mandate that California’s law enforcement only have the option to comply with ICE detainment requests if the undocumented person in custody was convicted of a “serious or violent felony.”

The TRUST Act is a “good idea,” said Homayra Yusufi, a policy advocate for the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. “It ensures that state and local law-enforcement agents will focus on what they are trained to do: protect the public through building trust with local communities. We all know that our communities are safer when law enforcement agencies are able to foster transparency with the communities they serve.”

Sacramento politicos don’t see the bill having much trouble passing through both houses again, but it will also have to survive the governor’s desk once more.

In a letter explaining his veto last September, Gov. Brown wrote that “the bill is fatally flawed because it omits many serious crimes,” such as those “involving child abuse, drug trafficking, selling weapons, using children to sell drugs, or gangs.”

Ammiano, however, says the governor was “a bit out to lunch” during the sculpting of the bill the last time around, perhaps due to his focus on passing Proposition 30. But he warns that everyone in the state Capitol, not just Brown, may want to start paying attention this time.

“The Latino vote is not something that can be dismissed,” Ammiano said. “It should be on anyone’s mind if they’re thinking about running again.”

Make no mistake: The message of immigration reform echoes across both sides of the aisle.

This story originally appeared in the Sacramento Mark Standriff, spokesperson for the California News & Review on Dec. 27, 2012. Write to Republican Party, is adamant that his party needs to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

intel CONTINUED from PAGE 6

of apprehension of an illegal border-crosser hovered around 50 percent. DHS provided an exhaustive map of all foot-guide apprehensions, which showed a heavy concentration of busts in the Chula Vista area.

The document also provides details of DHS’s “Alien Transfer Exit Program” (ATEP), which deports undocumented immigrants through a different port than the one closest to where they were nabbed.

Someone caught in the San Diego area, for example, would be returned to Mexico through Yuma, Tucson or El Centro.

“Aliens typically pay a smuggler a fee and, if apprehended, return to the same ASO until crossing successfully or quitting the process entirely,” the report says. “ATEP disrupts this cycle by making it more difficult for UDAs to return to the sector where their guide is operating.”

Between October 2009 and June 2010, 47 percent of the aliens processed in San Diego were re-arrested crossing the border. Of those, 71 percent were rearrested in San Diego, despite being deported further to the east.

and narcotics seizures in the region.

“All Law Enforcement Officers should advise their Confidential Informants to exercise caution if called to meet [certain cartel leaders],” the brief says. “If the informant receives such a call it is highly probably that the informant will be killed.”

Yet, the information was not distributed to San Diego law-enforcement agents until three days later.

Risk management. DHS’s “San Diego Sector Threat Assessment” for 2010 is 50 pages thick and reads like an encyclopedia of border intelligence, mapping out the leadership, territory and modi operandi of more than a dozen cartels, organized crime syndicates and human traffickers.

Alien smuggling organizations (ASO), the report says, “ranked as the most complex and pressing threat on a day-to-day basis.” For example, the Pelucas use pangas—small boats—to transport undocumented immigrants by water, and the Enriquez smugglers prefer minivans, while the Pirana group Write to davem@sdcitybeat.com uses ladders to breach the border fence.

Between 2009 and 2010, the average probability and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

edwin

sordid tales

decker Why the modern recycling movement is a waste As a fence-sitting political independent, I’ve taken 8 Great Myths of Recycling) reported that “overall a lot of grief over the years from my mostly Democurbside recycling costs run between 35 and 55 percratic friends who say it’s a copout to avoid picking cent higher than the [landfill] option.” a side. And while I adore the progressive attitude of Even the voraciously pro-curbside-recycling the Democratic Party, celebrate its alliance with inPorter reported (on the “Recycling” episode of the tellectualism and get all weepy over its institutional Showtime series, Bullshit!) that it costs local govempathy for the underdog, the truth is, liberalism— ernments an average of $150 per ton to recycle, but when left unchecked—will go from zero to shitty in only $50 or $60 a ton to dump it in a landfill.

60 seconds.

But, hey, if it’s good for the planet, it’s worth the When a problem is identified, liberals tend to price, right? Well, sure, it would be—if it weren’t that lurch into action. This is a noble (yet dangerous) inthe whole recycling operation is, in itself, just anstinct, and woe be the sorry sap who gets in the way other pumping, smoking, leaking, spewing, spilling, of the Rebel-beral with a Cause. Indeed, I can think poisoning, polluting mega-machine. Forget about of no better example than curbside recycling. all those extra, specialized recycling trucks (which The reasons for recycling, we’re told, is that it’s use more fuel and emit more carbon dioxide); forgood for the environment and saves money and get about all the leaflets and other mailing materials we’re running out of landfill space. And anyone used to inform the public about correct recycling who doesn’t agree with this must hate the planet behavior; forget about the added manpower and its and want to kill Bambi. Well color me a Bambivore, carbon footprint—recycling plants pollute as much because it’s all deer shit. as any manufacturing plant, maybe worse because For the most part, the hysteria over diminishing they use acids, colorants, stabilizers, retardants landfill space erupted in 1989 when J. Winston Porand lubricants during processing, causing a runoff ter, then an administrator for the Environmental sludge more noxious than Courtney Love’s radioacProtection Agency (EPA), tive douchebag magma. wrote a report saying that Now, it could be argued, America was running out of as Jim Thompson did, that My point is: Why were the places to put its trash. Porrecycling could be viable ter’s egregiously incorrect someday and may not be a pros and cons not thoroughly conclusion was based on waste of time and money. discussed before the blue bins the fact that nearly 3,000 Perhaps. Certainly reasonlandfills had shut down beable minds can disagree. started showing up? tween 1982 and 1987. HowMy point is: Why were the ever, had he performed even pros and cons not thorthe slightest bit of research, oughly discussed before the he’d have learned that, while the number of landblue bins started showing up? Why didn’t we listen fills had decreased, the size of each of the remainto The Borg when they said, “Recycling is futile”? ing fills had increased—by, on average, 20 times.

They should know. They’re The Borg!

In a phone interview, Jim Thompson, presiThe whole thing reminds me of the No Nukes dent of the Waste Business Journal, explained campaign of the 1970s. Somehow we were led to that in the early ’80s, most of the country’s 6,000 believe that nuclear power and nuclear bombs or 7,000 landfills were run by small, unregulated posed the same threat. If you disagreed, you were branded a lover of radiation sickness. So they municipalities. Many of these facilities had to stopped building nuclear plants. However, had shut down due to increasing restrictions: Landfills an intelligent discussion played out at the time, may not be located near groundwater, the lining we’d have learned that nuclear power is the safsystem must be a multilayered combination of imest, most efficient and most environmentally permeable clay, gravel, sheeting and drainage; the friendly of all the energy options, and if we conmethane gas must be either flared off or recycled tinued making newer and better nuclear plants periodically. These regulations forced many of the back then, we might not be having so many ensmaller operations out of business, and they were ergy problems today. replaced by corporate “mega-landfills” that could This is why I can’t fully sign on to the liberal afford all the retrofits and other legal requireworldview. This is why, for all its buffoonery and ments. The point is, there was, and is, no shortage bigotry, we still need conservatism to keep proof landfill space, and even Porter—now president gressivism on a leash. This is why I remain, ever of the Waste Policy Center, a consultancy firm for so proudly, in the middle, where rational people businesses and government agencies—has backed realize the world is too complex to see problems away from that claim. through partisan eyes.

As for the other proposed reasons for recycling, that it saves money and is good for the environWrite to ed@sdcitybeat.com and ment, there are a lot of smart, informed people editor@sdcitybeat.com. Check out who say that it does neither. Using data provided “Sordid Tales: The Podcast”

by Franklin Associates (an EPA-sanctioned waste at facebook.com/sordidtalesthepodcast. consulting firm), Daniel K. Benjamin (author of The

8 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

by jenny montgomery Jenny montgomery

north

fork Soup’s on

Maybe the battle over the thermostat in our toocold-for-me house has addled my brain, but I have been pondering the beauty of French onion soup lately. Is it the best soup ever? Could it possibly be the most perfect dish when the weather turns chilly? When done well, the simple bowl of peasant food can be as transcendent as anything you put in your mouth.

Maybe I’m overselling onion soup. Or maybe a rhapsodic essay on its loveliness is long overdue.

Either way, Vincent’s in Escondido (113 W. Grand Ave., vincentsongrand.com) ladles out one of the best bowls of l’oignon I’ve had in possibly ever.

Vincent’s is a classy joint in a town not particularly famous for elegance and style. This quiet little outpost of French cuisine with a California attitude has been filling bellies for more than 16 years.

Executive chef and restaurant namesake Vincent Grumel has put his fingerprints all over the Gallic side of San Diego restaurants for decades, including stints at Mon Ami in Solana Beach and Bertrand’s in Leucadia. He’s no amateur at turning

out excellent food that’s totally sophisticated yet joyfully lacking in pretense.

The menu abounds with classic flavors, from duck confit to steak au poivre. Duck country pâté stands in for the nowoutlawed goose liver. If you’re visiting at lunchtime, you can’t go wrong with the selection of “tartines,” open-faced sandwiches piled with savory flavors. The peppered and crusted roast-beef tartine is particularly delectable, with powerful flavors that make no apology for punching up your lunch plate. Pickled Swiss chard adds a unique and surprising garden tang to the hard-working beef.

Combined with a swipe of horseradish cream sauce and crunchy, toothsome, multigrain bread, the sandwich has a confident balance of heat and zing to make the back of your mouth shiver just a bit.

But, oh, the soup. Please, can we get back to the soup? This is no sad little ramekin of broth with a disintegrating crouton floating tepidly at the surface. The hefty serving arrives dramatically, spilling over the lip of the large, footed terrine.

Hot, bubbling gruyere and parmesan messily coat the side of the bowl with toasty patches spotting the top where the cheese has begun to caramelize. Work your way through the stretchy, gooey goodness and you’ll find a rich, chestnut-colored broth with a depth of flavor that only comes from a long and patient simmer. The onions are sweet and tender, and the croutons baked just below the layer of cheese hold up on their own, giving a creaminess to each bite without ever making the word “soggy” enter your brain. This is what salad croutons aspire to be.

Contrary to what the clear blue sky and bright sun out my window is saying, this is soup weather. Yes, Vincent’s is a lovely place to go to imagine you’re tucked in a rustic eatery in the French countryside. But this year, you should also resolve to mindfully meditate on the simpler things. Slurp.

Write to jennym@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

by anders wright

bottle

Rocket The other bubbly

When I was a kid, one of my annual aspirations was to stay up all the way to midnight on New Year’s Eve. It was a pretty big deal for me, a sort of harbinger of adulthood, and I was lucky enough to be around adults who would usually let me do so. Of course, I’m talking about when I was 8 or so, so the real question was whether or not I was capable of staying up that late. I’m assuming I’m not the only adult who, as a child, tried to see the stroke of midnight; therefore, I’m probably not alone in finding it ironic that, these days, with a young kid of my own, it’s been a long time since I watched the clock strike 12 and the calendar flip to a new year.

This year wasn’t much different.

We got the kid to bed, set a roaring fire in the fireplace and opened a nice bottle of prosecco. I wish I could tell how I gained possession of this particular bottle, but that’s a bit

10 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

of history lost in the past, much like 2012.

Prosecco, as you probably know, is an Italian sparkling wine not unlike champagne, minus the snoot. The bottle we opened, a non-vintage called La Marca, runs about $15 at most retail outlets and has a nice fruity taste, complete with pear, apple, a touch of grapefruit and even some lemon, nicely blended in a frothy bouquet. Though it’s usually dry, that tartness gives it some added oomph not always found in a sparkler. It’s a gorgeous, pale yellow, and the bubbles remain strong throughout. Sure, we opened it for a special occasion, but it’s a decent-enough wine at a decent-enough price that you could pair it with food instead of a standard white wine, if you were to be so bold.

It proved a very nice way to wrap up 2012, which, all things considered, wasn’t too bad a year. It did, however, make me another year older, and if there’s any concrete evidence that that’s true, it’s this: We didn’t make it to midnight, and we didn’t even finish the bottle.

Write to anders@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

urban

scout Where can I find…

Tasty specialty food products?

Some food products are classics and should never be messed with. As our Grubby Bitch, Amy T. Granite, pointed out in her Jan. 2 roundup of food trends she’d like to see tossed into the dumpster, no fancy, chef-prepared ketchup will ever be as good as triedand-true Heinz. I strongly agree. I curse the heavens after dipping my burger into a subpar ketchup experiment expecting Heinz’s tangy sweetness to dance upon my taste buds.

But there are specialty foods that you can buy locally and that are damn delicious—maybe even better than the classics they’re modeled after.

The folks at Barons Market (4001 W. Point Loma Blvd. in Point Loma) recently supplied us hard-working, thirsty writers at CityBeat with a bunch of specialty sodas to sample. One was Virgil’s Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg Root Beer.

Barons sells it for $2.99, but I’ve seen the soda for as much as $7.99 a bottle. While I’d rather pay the lesser amount, the smooth root beer is worth the extra few bucks. The flavor is complex, not too sweet and has a nice crispness. Plus, the 500-milliliter bottle can be enjoyed little by little without going flat, thanks to its Grolsch-like cap.

Giving Virgil’s a run for its money is Sioux City Sarsparilla, which is considered the “Granddaddy of root beers.” Go ahead and put down your two-liter Barq’s because this soda pop is ridiculous. It’s made with cane sugar, so you get an earthy flavor in each sip. A 12ounce bottle sells for $1.39 at Barons. And to prove I’m not biased toward root beer, I also sampled Maine Root Ginger Beer.

It’s made with fair-trade-certified organic cane juice, making this the most granola sentence about food I’ve ever written.

Don’t let that fool you, though. This pop has some bite. It’s spicy, making it perfect for a Moscow Mule, and it’s only $1.89.

South Park favorite Grant’s Marketplace (2953 Beech St.) is another local market that carries tons of great specialty foods. I walked in one morning and asked the clerk what her favorite locally made products were. Without hesitation, she pointed to a glass case filled with Carley Cakes, Frenchinspired pastries created by recent pastry-school-grad Kevin Montoya.

Montoya makes insane confections, like pumpkin muffins with creamcheese filling and salted caramel tarts, using zero fillers, preservatives or ar-

by Alex Zaragoza

Alex Zaragoza

The Bee’s Knees honey tificial flavors. You can taste it, too. The pumpkin muffins had layers of streusel. Deliciousness overload. I almost died. Carley Cakes are delivered to Grant’s regularly. Grab a cup of coffee and try one.

Farmers markets are great places to find quality food. On my last jaunt to the Third Avenue Farmers Market (325 Third Ave. in Chula Vista), I bought a jar of honey from The Bee’s Knees.

I put it on bagels, cheese, sandwiches and even straight onto my finger. Winnie the Pooh and I have this affinity in common. I was amazed by the flavor of this local, organic honey. It has a bit of a grainy texture that gives the sweetness some balance. The market is open from 3 to 7 p.m every Thursday.

SoNo Trading Company’s delicious mustards, which are simply called “The Mustard,” were featured in our pages when co-founders Zach Negin and James Magnatta used Kickstarter to get their business going. At that time, they had only two flavors, Champagne Garlic and Hong Kong Habanero. Both pack a hard kick of flavor; the latter’s really not for weak tongues. They’ve since added a wholegrain mustard to their lineup. This savory sauce has a ton of texture and includes Stone Brewing Co.’s Smoked Porter in the short list of all-natural ingredients. You can find The Mustard at various locations around town, including Bottlecraft (2161 India St. in Little Italy), Venissimo Cheese (754 W. Washington St. in Mission Hills), Iowa Meat Farms (6041 Mission Gorge Road in Grantville) and online at sonotrading.com.

Got something for our Scout to check out? Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com.

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

the

shortlist

1

COORDINATED BY ALEX ZARAGOZA

Sweet totes

Conservation and sustainability are within everyone’s reach, and for many, that means starting with baby steps. Sure, it would feel great to dump SDG&E and solar-power your way into the future, but Jonathan Zaidman, executive director of The 1:1 Movement, says there’s plenty you can do to get started.

“You don’t have to play hacky sac or have dreadlocks,” Zaidman says, invoking conservationist-slash-hippie stereotypes. “Any action you want to take will make a difference; riding your bike more, using a tote bag. Those things are good enough, to start.”

Simplifying sustainability issues is what Zaidman’s San Diego-born nonprofit (1to1movement. org) is all about. The organization spends time in classrooms—from kindergarten to college— discussing ways in which everyone can make a difference. One of the tools they distribute is a tote bag made from discarded vinyl scraps.

The totes are cool and all, but the paint job they’re getting will make them one-of-a-kind, utilitarian works of art by local talent, including Jimmy Ovadia, Lindsay Seligman, Olivia Bernardy, Simbiotek Design Lab. To snag one, you’ll need to place a bid at 1:1 Repurposed Vinyl Art Show, happening from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, at Co-Merge (330 A St., Downtown).

The event is free, with hors d’oeuvres provided by Sea Rocket Bistro, plus there’ll be $5 craft brews by Stone Brewing Co. and Karl Strauss and $5 cocktails by Sessions Public. Zaidman encourages attendees to RSVP at 1to1artshow.eventbrite.com so there will be enough grub and grog to go around.

“Waste vinyl is durable, long-lasting and expensive,” Zaidman says of the materials 1:1 collects from a local printing shop. “These bags are manufactured by locals, distributed here in San Diego, all out of materials destined for a landfill. It’s a completely sus-

2

Art

Dancing kings

In this post-Magic Mike era, folks aren’t satisfied with an attractive man simply swaying on a dance floor. We got a taste of the sexy moves, and we want more. Providing just that, but with an element of beautiful artistry, is Hot Guys Dancing, a dance concert created and directed by Michael Mizerany of Malashock Dance Company.

Raymond Elstad It will feature six pieces, both new and revisited, choreographed by Mizerany, Blythe Barton, Keith Johnson, Anjanette Maraya-Ramey, Spencer Powell and Khamla Somphanh.

And, of course, plenty of gorgeous men will perform them. Ogle at their physique and ability at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 11 and 12, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13, at Diversionary Theater (4545 Park Blvd. in University Heights). Tickets are $25 to $39. diversionary.org

12 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

HCarlos Vega at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Lux’s new artistin-residence alters large-scale metal plates via engraving. He’ll be in studio starting Thursday, Jan. 10, through Feb. 2 and on exhibit through March 2. See website for gallery hours and related events. 760436-6611, luxartinstitute.org Impressions of the Soul at Rancho Santa Fe Art Gallery, 6004 Paseo Delicias, Rancho Santa Fe. View work by artist Manss Aval. Food and drink will be served.

Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, ranchosantafeartguild.org Then and Now at Meyer Fine Art, Inc., 2400 Kettner Blvd., Ste. 104, Little Italy.

Paintings, drawings and prints by Walter Wojtyla. On view through Feb. 23. Opening 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11. 619-3589512, plmeyerfineart.com Opening at Kettner Arts, 1772 Kettner Blvd., Little Italy. This new art space celebrates Kettner Nights with graphic art by Christian Michaels, new pieces in Ginger Louise’s Tarot Card Collage Series as well as her collection of Ginger Lou handbags and scarves. From 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11. 619-269-6900, kettnerarts.com HJoyce Cutler-Shaw: What Comes To Mind: Nature-Human Nature and Visual Translation at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. View Cutler-Shaw’s haunting collages of brain scans and images through Feb. 9. Opening reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 11. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org

A tote bag painted by Lindsay Seligman tainable system.”

Proceeds will benefit the organization’s effort to make San Diego a greener and more culturally and economically vibrant place to live, Zaidman says.

3

Classic rock

Ludwig van Beethoven may have been the star of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, but Johann Sebastian Bach had a righteous cameo in the Bogus Adventure sequel, appearing beside Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin during a sound class taught by George Carlin. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, the string octet The Hutchins Consort will take that idea to its natural conclusion with Rock and Bach, which pairs Bach’s greatest compositions with songs by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Procol Harum and Queen. The instruments alone—scientifically engineered by famed luthier Dr. Carleen Hutchins—are enough to make a Wyld Stallyns air-whinny. The show’s at Qualcomm Hall (5775 Morehouse Drive in Sorrento Valley); tickets range from $50 to $75. hutchinsconsort.org

HSentimental Mood at Subtext, 2479 Kettner Blvd., Little Italy. Up-and-coming local talent, Kristina Micotti, displays her narrative illustrations of folk heroes for her first solo exhibition. On view through Feb. 3. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11. 619-876-0664, subtextgallery.com Mend at Mosaic Wine Bar, 3422 30th St., North Park. Arte Fresca presents a group show with works by Konstant Be, Katie Bollman, Hobbs and more themed on the idea of mending. Proceeds from sales will go to Making Strides Against Cancer. DJ Rob DeSisto and Upscale Casual will play music.

From 8 p.m. to midnight Friday, Jan. 11.

619 850-7096, artefrescaevents.com H1:1 Movement Art Show at Co-Merge, 330 A St., Downtown. 1:1 Movement asked local artists to create a piece of art on a reclaimed white vinyl bag. Come see what they’ve come up and join in the conversation on conservation in the community. From 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11. 619-255-9040, facebook.com/ events/545049118855417 HViva Posada at Voz Alta, 1754 National Ave., Barrio Logan. An exhibition in honor of Jose Guadalupe Posada featuring works by Rob Benavides, Felix Diaz, Erik de la Rosa and more. At 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11. 619-230-1869, facebook.com/ events/396878343733257 Wood: A Furniture Show at Escondido Municipal Gallery, 262 E. Grand Ave., Escondido. View pieces of handcrafted furniture by skilled woodworkers. Hosted

by Brian Murphy of Murphy’s Fine Woodworking, who will exhibit pieces. Opening 5:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. 760480-4101, escondidoarts.org HArt-A-Thon at ArtHatch, 317 E. Grande Ave., Escondido. Twenty-five artists will create new original works for 24 hours straight. See what they produced at this exhibition. There will be complimentary beers from Stone Brewing Co. for guests.

From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12.

760-781-5779, distinctionart.com

Hutchins Consort

Ray At Night. The monthly art walk

features vendors, art and musical performances on and around Ray Street in North Park. Highlights include new works

by Mayra Navarro at OBR Gallery. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. 619-7954850, rayatnightartwalk.com HCity Dreams at Thumbprint Gallery, 920 Kline St., #104, La Jolla. See new works by GMONIK. From 5 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 12, facebook.com/ events/392039264214458 HTroublesome at Quint Contemporary Art, 7547 Girard Ave., La Jolla. A group exhibition of paintings, sculpture and photographs by Robert Barry, Mel Bochner, Matthew Brandt, Johannes Girardoni, Thomas Glassford, Katrin Korfmann, Joao Louro, Lee Materazzi, Finnbogi Petursson, and Marcos Ramirez ERRE. On view through Feb. 23. Opening 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. 858-454-3409, quintgallery.com HSmall Seductions at Joseph Bellows Gallery, 7661 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The gallery presents the first show in three decades by Philip Melnick, featuring photography of SoCal architecture in the 1970s.

On view through Feb. 23. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. 858-4565620, josephbellows.com Pause and Effect at R.B. Stevenson Gallery, 7661 Girard Ave., Ste. 201, La Jolla.

See new encaustic paintings by Mark Perlman. On view through Feb. 16. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. 858459-3917, rbstevensongallery.com HWhen I Was Young I Would Sit in the Bath and Ideas Would Come to Me, Now I Am Old I Sit in the Bath at Scott White Contemporary Art, 7655 Girard Ave., La Jolla. A collection of works by postmodern British artist James Rielly will be on display through Feb. 23. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. 619-5015689, scottwhiteart.com Opening Reception at COAL Gallery, 300 Carlsbad Village Drive, Carlsbad.

View oil, acrylic, water media, mixed media, pastel, printmaking and other types of art at the monthly art show. From 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13. 760-707-3939, coalartgallery.com Natural World Inspiration at Mission Trails Regional Park, One Father Junipero Serra Trail, San Carlos. An exhibition featuring award-winning artists Sue Britt, Elizabeth Castillo, Vicky DeLong, Joyce Nash, Julia Rey, Ann Scott and Mark Wade. From 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13 HLiving with Mayans at Bar Basic, 410 10th Ave., Downtown. Multimedia artist Lester Corral showcases his work.

DJ Andre Powers will provide the mood music. From 7 to 11 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15. 619-531-8869, facebook.com/ events/122076067958270 Ren Daniels at Bernardo Winery, 13330 Paseo del Verano N., Rancho Bernardo.

The president of the Rancho Bernardo Art Association will display her art at Cafe Merlot, located in the winery. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15. 858-487-1866, bernardowinery.com HLive Art Battle at Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Krystal Dyer, Hill Young, Al Scholl and Jimmy Ovadia will be painting for about 40 minutes during live performances by Simpkin Project, Beyond I Sight and Ryan Gonzo. From 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16. $8 advance, $10 at the door. 858-481-8140, facebook.com/events/346322702141529 HLux@Night at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Wander the studio as Artist-in-Residence Carlos Vega works on his original pieces. Food and drink available for purchase. From 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16. $5. 760-436-

“Breakfast” by James Rielly will be on view in When I Was Young I Would Sit in the Bath and Ideas Would Come To Me, Now I Am Old I Sit in the Bath, an exhibition of works by the British artist, opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at Scott White Contemporary Art (7655 Girard Ave. Suite 101 in La Jolla).

6611, luxartinstitute.org

Books James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. Cantwell and Rollins sign The Blood Gospel: The Order of the Sanguines Series. At 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Timothy Zahn at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. Zahn delves into the Star Wars universe with Scoundrels: Star Wars. At 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Weekend with Locals: Claudia Metcalfe at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Metcalfe will discuss her screenplay, With Me. As an added bonus Tender Loving Canines will be having a service-dog parade. At noon Sunday, Jan. 13. 858454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com Jill Badonsky at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Founder and director of Kazen-Muse Creativity Coaching, Badonsky will discuss and sign The Muse Is In: An Owner’s Manual to Your Creativity.

At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16. 858454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com Thomas Caplan at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. Caplan signs his book, The Spy Who Jumped Off the Screen. At 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 16. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com

Dance HHot Guys Dancing at Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd., University Heights.

This dance concert features choreography by Michael Mizerany, Blythe Barton, Keith Johnson, Anjanette Maraya-Ramey, Spencer Powell and Somphanh. And it also features hot guys. At 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Jan. 11-13. 619-2200097, diversionary.org HAgape at 10th Avenue Theatre and Arts Center, 930 10th Ave., Downtown. Eveoke Dance Theatre presents Ericka Aisha Moore’s performance that touches on the themes of nonviolence, social justice and selflessness. At 8 p.m. Friday and Satur-

day, Jan. 11-12, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13. Performance run through Jan. 27. $15-$25. eveoke.org Water Lilies/Nymphéas at San Diego Dance Theatre, 5775 Morehouse Drive, Sorrento Valley. Jean Isaacs Dance Co. presents the 11th annual Cabaret Dances, for which Isaacs embraces the impressionist ethos. At 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Jan 19-20. $15-$50. sandiego dancetheater.org

Food & Drink Meet the Brewer at Stone Brewing Co., 1999 Citracado Pkwy., Escondido. Stone hosts Ritual Brewing Co. brewers, who will talk about their beers and pour samples.

From 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9.

760-471-4999, stonebrewing.com San Diego Restaurant Week. More than 180 local restaurants will be offering threecourse prix-fixe dinner menus for $20, $30 or $40 per person and two-course prix-fixe lunch menus for $10, $15 or $20 per person.

See website for participating restaurants.

Sunday through Friday, Jan. 13-18. 619233-5008, sandiegorestaurantweek.com HAvery Brewing’s Dictators Unite at Hamilton’s Tavern, 1521 30th St., South Park. All three of Avery Brewings’ Dictators: The Maharaja, The Czar and The Kaiser will be served. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16.

619-238-5460, averybrewing.com

Music HFresh Sound Series: Han Bennink, Mary Oliver and Mark Dresser at Space 4 Art, 325 15th St., East Village. The concert series presents a rare performance of improvised works by this trio of musicians.

From 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10. $10-$15. freshsoundmusic.com HHausmann Quartet at ArtLab Studios, 3536 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. The quartet’s on a mission to make classical music cool. From 8 to 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11. 619-283-1199, ext.115, artlabsd.com HSan Diego Symphony: Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Jahja Ling conducts

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

theater War’s no match for love in 1949 musical By 2013 standards, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific would seem a quaint reminder of bygone Broadway’s grandeur.

Its gangly Seabees drool over dames. Its female characters, except for the audacious Bloody Mary, live for love. Its little slice of World War II is bathed in the island aroma of Bali Ha’i.

So, why is it so hard to resist this old warhorse? Simple: the songs. You can have Nellie Forbush’s silly “A Cockeyed Optimist” and “I’m Gonna Wash that Man,” but South Pacific’s rousing numbers for its gang of Seabees—“There is Nothin’ Like a Dame” and “Bloody Mary”—are good-natured fun. “Some Enchanted Evening” may be a show-tune cliché, but it still oozes amour, and the wistful ballad “This Nearly Was Mine” can moisten the eyes of the most stubborn stoic. Of course, in the case of the latter two, you need a worthy Emile DeBeque. You need an operatic baritone who brings lungpower and tender passion to the role of South Pacific’s love-bewitched French plantation owner.

The Welk Theatre’s got such an Emile DeBeque in Randall Dodge, a veteran of the Escondido company’s The Fantasticks and The Pirates of Penzance. Worthy of a

14 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

Sharyn Sakimoto

Randall Dodge and Hannah James

who loves DeBeque, and Benjamin Lopez, as the smitten (by island girl Liat) Marine Lt. Cable, are stellar as well, and Brenda Oen is a boisterous Bloody Mary.

In spite of its leisurely pace, South Pacific’s parallel love stories unfold without allowing for development of any particular chemistry between the couples (Nellie and DeBeque, Cable and Liat). Today, as in 1949 when the show debuted on Broadway, we are asked to accept love at first sight, across a crowded room, as “Some Enchanted Evening” suggests, or on an enchanted island as regards Liat and the lieutenant. We do because it’s Rodgers & Hammerstein. To quibble would be the act of a 2013 cynic.

It’s too early in the new year for that.

Let Bali Ha’i and those in its spell have their illusions.

South Pacific runs through March 17 at the Welk Resort Theatre in Escondido. $47-$63. welkresorts.com

—David L. Coddon

backing orchestra larger than the Welk Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com production can accommodate (its ensem- and editor@sdcitybeat.com. ble numbers four—keyboards, percussion, violin and reeds), Dodge makes the Welk’s Opening South Pacific pure romantic escapism. Vo- Educating Rita: A dissatisfied hairdresser decides cal performances by Hannah M. James as to enroll in an English lit class and seeks tutelage Nellie, the Navy nurse from Little Rock from an alcoholic university professor. The relation-

ship forces both to assess their place in life. Opens

Jan. 9 at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze: A one-woman retort by writer, actor and mathematician Gioia De Cari to sexist comments made by Harvard President Larry Summers in 2005. Runs Jan. 9 through 12 at the Lyceum Theatre at Horton Plaza, Downtown. lyceumevents.org Clybourne Park: In this award-winning, sort-of sequel to A Raisin in the Sun, a suburban Chicago home is the setting for tense race relations in 1959 (Act 1) and 2009 (Act. 2), with the same actors playing different characters in each act. Opens Jan. 12 at the Lyceum Theatre at Horton Plaza, Downtown. sdrep.org Pygmalion: You know My Fair Lady. Well, this is the 1912 George Bernard Shaw play on which that beloved musical was based—the story of Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. Opens Jan. 12 at the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. oldglobe.org A Feminine Ending: An oboist struggles to juggle her own artistic career and the demands of her boyfriend, a pop star on the rise. Opens Jan. 11 at Scripps Ranch Theatre. scrippsranchtheatre.org Peace: A new play by UCSD professor Marianne McDonald, about a mother and an alcoholic son, gets a one-night-only staged reading. Presented by San Diego Actors Theatre, it happens on Jan. 14 at Moxie Theatre in Rolando. sdactorstheatre.net King Lear: This is a staged reading of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, about the monarch who loses his marbles. It happens on Jan. 15 at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. north coastrep.org

For full listings, please visit “T heater ” at sdcit yb eat.com

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

the symphony in a program featuring works

by Rossini, Mendelssohn and Nielsen. At 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 11-12, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13. $20-$96.

619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org David Borgo Quartet at Museum of Making Music, 5790 Armada Drive, Carlsbad.

The ensemble plays a jazz concert in conjunction with the museum’s The Sound of Sax exhibition. From 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. $15-$20. 760-438-5996, museum ofmakingmusic.org HPhilharmonia Baroque Orchestra at Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla. La Jolla Music Society presents this program including works by Vivaldi, Durante, Corelli and others. A pre-concert lecture on Italian baroque will be lead by Ruben Valenzuela. At 6:45 p.m. Saturday,

Jan. 12. $25-$75. 858-454-3541, ljms.org HBach and Rock at Qualcomm Hall, 5775 Morehouse Drive, Sorrento Valley.

Classics by Bach will be played alongside the best of Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Lennon and McCartney and Queen in a benefit performance by the Hutchins Consort. At 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. $50-$75. 858587-1121, hutchinsconsort.org Tribute to the Music of Carla Bley and Steve Swallow at Villa Musica, 10373 Roselle Street, Ste. 170, Sorrento Valley.

A concert presented by San Diego Center for the Arts’ Creative Music Concert Series featuring Nate Jarrell, Peter August, Rick Helzer, Harley Magsino and Jeanette Kangas. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. 858550-8100, sdcenterforthearts.org Rick Holmstrom & the Rick Holm-

strom Band at New Village Arts Theatre, 2787 B State St., Carlsbad. The Rick Holmstrom Band is the backing band for R&B legend Mavis Staples and recently toured with Bonnie Raitt. At 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13. $25. newvillagearts.org

media performances by Asha Sheshadri, Van Tran, Mindy Donner, Jenna Ann, Max Daly and Chris Warr. Part of Space 4 Art’s Tenant Series. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. $5 suggested donation. sd space4art.org

Beethoven and Mozart at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UCSD campus, La Jolla. Hear the lovely sounds of Beethoven, Lekeu and Mozart at this classical concert from Camera Lucida. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15. $25. 619-235-0804, sandiego symphony.org

Write Out Loud: Orpheus at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. This series featuring short stories read aloud by actors returns with an evening of stories about art and artists. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 14. $12-$17. 858-4545872, ljathenaeum.org

Performance HOne Thing Led to Another... at Space 4 Art, 325 15th St., East Village. The San Diego Guild of Puppetry presents multi-

Monumental at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Dr., Solana Beach. A one-night-only reading of Shakespeare’s King Lear. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15. 858-481-1055, northcoastrep.org

Poetry & Spoken Word Jewish Poets-Jewish Voices at Astor Judaica Library, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. Local Jewish poets read their work followed by an open mic. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15. 858-457-3030, sdcjc.org

Politics & Community Donor Days Blood Drive at Disconnected Salon, 3830 30th St., North Park. Donate blood and receive freebies donated by local businesses. Disconnected will be giving a complementary haircut to each person who donates blood. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13. 619-298-3830, disconnectedsalon.com HFundraiser for Stephane Trawalter at Voulez Vous Bistro, 2168 Avenida De La Playa, La Jolla. Trawalter is offering his kidney to his ailing surf buddy, Kai Buano.

Help raise money for his medical expenses and enjoy food, raffle prizes and silent auction. At 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13. $20-$25.

Special Events HDeath at the Doo-Wop: Mystery Dinner at San Diego Hall of Champions, 2131 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park. The Murder Mystery Company travels to 1957 to solve a murder at a sock-hop at this interactive murder mystery show. At 7 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 11. $60 admission includes three-course meal. Mention CityBeat and pay $45. 888-643-2583, grimprov.com Antique Roadshow: Vintage Jewelry & Handbags at Blue Vault Secure Storage, 5638 Mission Center Road, Suite 104, Mission Valley. Bring your vintage jewelry and handbags to this free event, where an auction-house pro will let you know if you have a treasure on your hands. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. 619342-8090, bluevaultsecure.com Crossroads Doll & Teddy Bear Show & Sale at Al Bahr Shrine Center, 5440 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Shop dolls, teddy bears, antiques, miniatures, clothes and more. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13. $4-$10. 775-348-7713, dolls4all.com HThree Kings/Twelfth Night Celebration at Junipero Serra Museum, 2727 Presidio Drive, Old Town. Celebrate the traditional Latino holiday with period dancing, music by Courtly Noyse and Rosca de Reyes, food samplings and drinks, and the crowning of the King and Queen of Merriment. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13. $25-$30. sandiegohistory.org

Talks & Discussions HHow San Diego Conquered the (Craft Beer) World at Point Loma Branch Library, 3701 Voltaire St., Point Loma.

Union-Tribune columnist Peter Rowe discusses San Diego’s rise to beer supremacy. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9.

619-531-1539, sandiego.gov San Diego Water Supply and Cycle— Is it Sustainable? at World Resources Simulation Center, 1088 Third Ave., Downtown. Two experts will discuss water sustainability. From 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10. 619-234-1088, jangreensceens imcenter.eventbrite.com

For more listings, visit “E ve nt s” a t sd c it yb e a t.c o m

16 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

Ryan Kuratomi

art teacher. He was content, but not happy. He’d always wanted to be a fulltime artist, but he never had the guts to make it happen. Then came his illness— Churg Strauss vasculitis, a rare autoimmune disease that first disabled him, then nearly killed him. Doctors recommended chemotherapy, and Morey found himself getting treatment next to folks with cancer who were in far worse shape than him. Every week, it seemed like another person didn’t make it back to their next treatment.

The chemo worked for Morey. His wife swiftly convinced him to give up teaching and go after his dream.

“She said, ‘Go do it; you barely escaped death, so now’s the time,’” Morey recalls.

And so he did, settling on glass as his medium because he likes the way it reflects light. He built a studio in his garage and struggled for months to find his particular style and voice. A year went by before Morey was back at his doctor’s office, this time to receive a shocking new diagnosis—testicular cancer. He started on chemotherapy again and was particularly affected—not by the possibility of his own death, but by watching those around him die.

Morey’s experience, mixed with his time in the Art Pulse Mentor Program, which takes mid- or late-career professional artists and offers them guidance and advice in taking the next step in their careers, inspired him to change the trajectory of his work. He began his attempts to capture the fragility of life—the fine line between life and death and the beauty and enjoyment that can still be had, even with the possibility of a certain end looming not so far away.

Rob Morey with one of his works, “Intercourse of Line and Shadow” Morey reaches out and snaps off a tiny piece of glass from one of the latest in-progress sculptures sitting in front of him.

“Everybody’s got a clock in them,” he says. “And when the time is there, it’s there, and it’s part of this cycle…. So, this work is supposed to be joyful. But when you talk about fragility, people often think [it’s to] cancer and death and all these things, Rob Morey’s new work is careful choreography between artist and dripping glass referring but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about rising up off the ground and rising out toward space and reaching

by Kinsee Morlan up and saying, ‘OK, I’m fragile, but screw you, look Rob Morey’s glass bowls and other decorative pieces are and tweaks the pieces until the composition feels right. at me, I’m joyful.’ It’s about fragility, but despite fragility, lovely, but the artist considers that side of his work his “I talk about my work being a choreography between there’s growth, there’s life, there’s existence.” living, not his love. Lately, Morey’s passion comes when the artist and the material because glass is molten,” Morey At an opening at Art Pulse gallery a few months ago, Mohe’s working on his new body of work—extremely delicate says as he pulls at the gooey, wispy strings of glass, making rey’s new work was on display in public for the first time. strings of glass he weaves into chaotic yet controlled ab- a dance-like motion as he works. “Typically, glass artists…. One of his pieces was set on a pedestal, another mounted on stract compositions of color and form. they try to take that chaos, that molten glass that’s like hon- canvas, held in place simply with dried paint. Several small “This work is real different,” Morey says, chatting in his ey on the end of a stick, and control it to make these beau- bits of glass from both pieces had broken off and were colstudio tucked inside a large yellow, metal building in San tiful things. I’m more about allowing the glass to partially lecting on the ground around the work. Indeed, the sculpMarcos called Nottingham Artist Guild (nottinghamarts. control me and partially decide what it’s going to do. tures are so delicate-looking that it’s almost like they’re askorg). “This work really comes from the heart, and it’s really “It becomes more accidental sometimes, although I ing to be touched and tested. It’s tempting to reach out and about just me creating and finding that sweet spot inside…. know that when I take it and pull it down and take it back poke them to see if they’re as fragile as they look.

This stuff, I don’t even care if it sells, I just make it for the up I can do different things with it and get that kind of a “It’s kind of a compliment in a way,” Morey says. “Peojoy of making it.” curl,” he adds. “I can generally control what I’m doing, but ple are being drawn to the work. They want to touch it and Morey’s studio (ramoreydesign.com) is basically split in not always, and that’s part of the philosophy of what my be a part of it.” two. His more commercial work, like his dragonfly triptychs work is about—letting go.” and glass panels, are up front, and his laboratory is in back, A little more than a decade ago, Morey was a high-school Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com. slowly filling up with experiments: Melted glass that’s frozen Courtesy: Rob Morey into sculptures he describes as music or poetry in space.

Two small kilns are mounted about eight or nine feet off the floor. He checks the temperature—1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s too hot, so he turns the temperature down and waits to demonstrate his process. He grabs a small flowerpot filled with chips of glass, which he’ll put inside the kiln. When the glass begins to melt, it starts dripping slowly through a small hole at the base of the flowerpot and out through the bottom of the kiln.

With his safety goggles on, a pair of pliers in one hand and a heavy glove on the other, he pulls at the molten glass, swiftly twisting and turning it into loops and other shapes as it slowly oozes out of the kiln. After he gets a basic structure, he sets the mounds of stringy glass on his worktable “Incident of Line” by Rob Morey

18 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

seen local Don’t plop down Erin Dace Behling grapples with how to label herself: artist, designer or craftsperson? The materials she uses change the function of otherwise familiar pieces of furniture; you wouldn’t want to plop down on her bench or circular settee, because what appears to be tufted material is actually concrete that Behling pours into molds lined with fabric, so that after it’s set, peeling the material back yields a tricky, textured effect.

“I’m playing with tufting, softness and seduction,” Behling says of the concrete pieces. “Applying the concrete “Tufted,” Erin Dace Behling’s concrete and plywood bench makes it austere, and more low-brow. So, it’s about materials versus the form, and the duality eagerly freelancing.

Sentimental Mood, Micotti’s first solo show, at of the two.”

The majority of Behling’s work (erindacebehling. Subtext Gallery (2479 Kettner Blvd., Little Italy), com) is dual in one way or another—masculine mate- is an homage to important figures in music history, rials paired with feminine techniques like stitching such as Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker. An openand upholstering—and of high-brow design but made ing reception will be from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11. with a commonplace material. Her French chaise The show runs through Feb. 3.

Before finishing school, Micotti was awarded lounge, for instance, is covered in medium-pile, hardware-store carpet that Behling says is meant to the Best of Illustration honor by the chapter of the American Institute for Graphic Arts at the 16thsuggest tract housing and apartment living.

Among Behling’s other funky works are a couch annual Student Portfolio Exhibition. More recently, made from concrete roof shingles and wooden stools she won an illustration competition for Print magazine, and her Folk Heroes series will be featured in with cotton piping she wove for the seats.

“Something that’s really important,” she says, “is an upcoming issue, she says.

It’s easy to see why Micotti’s on the rise. Each of that moment of discovery—I think you need to get up to my work and see it, because it’s not immediately the musicians depicted in Sentimental Mood have textured features, created by patterns on their skin, what it seems.”

Behling’s work will be part of ModernF: Where clothing and backdrops. A soft movement is achieved Furniture is the ARTform, an exhibition at White through the artist’s delicate gestures, giving these Box Contemporary (1040 Seventh Ave., Down- characters a whimsical, storybook quality. More of town) running from Wednesday, Jan. 9, through Micotti’s work can be found on Etsy.

Jan. 27. The show also features work by Dominique Houriet, Marcus Papay, Jennifer Anderson and Vince Robles, winner of the 2012 San Diego Art Prize. A closing reception will be held from 7 to 9 In North County, 25 artists have been building their stamina and collecting pledges for the 2nd Annual p.m. on Jan. 26.

Behling, a master’s candidate at SDSU, says her Art-A-Thon at Distinction Gallery / ArtHatch work lies somewhere between construction worker (317 E. Grand Ave. in Escondido). The premise for and furniture designer. Being a young, petite woman the event is nuts: Artists are challenged to create as has presented challenges in places like Home Depot, much art as they can for 24 straight hours, and visiwhich she says she’s now boycotting, where men tors are invited to watch.

Once a work is finished, it’ll be added to the galwould call out, “You go, girl!” as she loaded plywood into the car. Behling says she’s now a loyal customer lery space at ArtHatch and auctioned off, starting at $100, throughout the month. of Squires-Belt, a building-mateProceeds from pledges and art rials store in Southeast San Diego. sales will be divvied up between the participating artists and the Weekend shows ArtHatch teen program, which Kristina Micotti’s finely detailed provides at-risk youth with a illustration of a character she place to create and sell artwork named “Captain Hook”—whose while working alongside an artwild beard is composed of tangled ist mentor. fishing hooks—caught CityBeat The event kicks off at 6 p.m. art director Adam Vieyra’s eye Friday, Jan. 11, with resident before it wound up on our July artists in their studios working 25 cover. Micotti (kristinamicotti. away, and it ends at 6 p.m. Satcom) is yet another up-and-comurday, Jan. 12, with the art sale ing artist to have graduated from and a reception.

Point Loma Nazarene Universi—Amy T. Granite ty. When we first connected with Write to amyg@sdcitybeat.com her, she’d recently completed her degree in graphic design and was “Johnny Cash” by Kristina Micotti and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

•••

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

The grim reaper Love doesn’t conquer all in death-focused Amour

by Anders Wright On the surface, it would seem that Amour, the latest film from 70-year-old auteur Michael Haneke, is a departure from his usual work. After all, his last movie, The White Ribbon, was about the rise of fanaticism in post-World War I Germany, and the film prior to that, a shot-for-shot American remake of his own movie, Funny Games, is all about the sadistic abuses humans can inflict on one another.

His movies are dark and bleak and often about people trapped by horrible cirJean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva cumstance or horrible people, yet they’re beautifully constructed. He’s a punishing filmmaker, and money watching the tragedy of the human conbut The White Ribbon won the Palm d’Or at Cannes, dition, but Amour is an extremely well-made film. and so did Amour, which puts Haneke in a select Haneke lets his two leads work, giving them long group of filmmakers who’ve earned the honor twice. cuts and wonderful interactions with one another The thing is, Amour really doesn’t diverge from and the few people who are still in their lives, and Haneke’s worldview at all. It’s a simple story: An elder- when it’s over, there’s a lot to think about regarding ly French couple, Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) one’s own mortality. and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva), are living out their lives Sure, this territory—the end of life—has been covin retired bliss. They’re former music teachers with ered before, but Haneke never does anything like famously successful students; they’re an artsy, cul- anyone else. There’s a tendency for movies like this to tured and adorable older couple who you wish could be celebrations of lives led. Not this one. Yes, there’s be your grandparents. life and love in Amour, but this There’s an invasion of sorts. movie is very much about death, Amour The only time the movie shifts about the downward spiral each Written and directed outside their apartment is in of us will face, whether we pass

by Michael Haneke the opening moments, when quickly or slowly. You can’t stop they return home from a conwatching because you know Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, cert to see that someone has that this is your future—everyEmmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert broken in. Perhaps it wasn’t one’s future, in fact. and Alexandre Tharaud someone, though, but bad luck, For once, Haneke has avoidRated PG-13 bad health or the end of days. ed the misery people can inflict That night, Anne has a stroke, upon each other and has instead and when the doctors attempt to repair the damage come up with something that’s even more frightenwith surgery, they’re unsuccessful. ing. None of us wants to think about shuffling off this It’s all downhill from there, as Georges watches mortal coil, but that’s exactly what Haneke wants his beloved slowly slip away into dementia, incon- us to ponder, and by hijacking a feel-good template tinence and misery. And like Haneke’s other films, we’re used to, he terrifies without having the dethe protagonists here are trapped—Anne by her fail- cency to let us know that it’s all part of his master ing body and Georges in his apartment, by his wife. plan. Fate is a cruel mistress, and Haneke remains a I know, that sounds pretty depressing, and it is, be- cruel master. Yes, that’s tough to swallow, but it’s also cause the human suffering expressed in this film is brilliantly cerebral filmmaking, an emotional wolf in painfully universal: Death is coming for all of us. The sheep’s clothing. heartbreaking humiliation these poor seniors endure Write to anders@sdcitybeat.com is entirely natural but unbelievably traumatic.

You might wonder why you’d want to spend time and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Imagination celebration

Time Bandits

20 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

We all have a list of movies that came to us at a certain time in our lives when they’d have the greatest impact. They don’t necessarily have to be the best films of all time, but because of what they’re about or how they were made, and where our head was when we saw them, they’ve left a deep impression. My list includes Jonathan Demme’s Some-

thing Wild, the Coen brothers’ Raising Arizona, Baz Luhrman’s Strictly Ballroom and Hal Hartley’s Trust.

It also includes Time Bandits, Terry Gilliam’s 1981 fractured fairy tale. I was 10 or 11 when it came out (go ahead, do the math), the same age as the protagonist, Kevin (Craig Warnock). Like Kevin, I was way into swords and sorcery and scifi and stuff like that.

Unlike Kevin, I never had a

knight in shining armor burst out of my closet, followed by a band of seven little people in possession of a map they’ve stolen from the Supreme Being, which they’re using to traverse time and space in the hopes of, well, stealing stuff.

Once they’ve looped Kevin into their mix, the merry band of brigands runs into Robin Hood (John Cleese), Agamemnon (Sean Connery) and Napoleon (Ian Holm), as well as various trolls, ogres, sea monsters and, yes, even Evil himself (David Warner).

It’s hard to express the impact Time Bandits had on me as a kid, but it was deeply important as an expression of an amazingly adventurous imagination. It remains deeply important to me now, and I’m happy to report that it’s screening at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10. Unlike the countless times I saw this in the theater, however, there will be no kids in attendance, because it’s part of Shot by Shot, which is presented each month at Whistle Stop Bar in South Park.

This is a series created by KPBS film critic Beth Accomondo; Miguel Rodriguez, head honcho of the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival; and my friend Ian Forbes, who runs SoberingConclusion. com. Though there may not be children, there will be drinks, and hopefully a discussion about the film after the credits roll.

—Anders Wright

Opening Amour: Michael Haneke’s Palm d’Orwinning drama, about an elderly couple facing declining health, is as terrifying as his movies about sadism, home invasions and fanaticism. See our review on Page 20.

A Haunted House: Comedy-horror! Horror-comedy! Marlon Wayans (who co-wrote the script) and Essence Atkins move into a new house, where Atkins is quickly possessed by demon spawn. Hilarity ensues.

Gangster Squad: Hey, girl, Ryan Gosling is a spiffy L.A. cop shooting up mobster types like Sean Penn’s Mickey Cohen in the new movie from Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer.

The Studio Ghilbi Collection: After a week at La Jolla Village Cinemas, Miyazaki’s animated masterworks move to the Ken Cinema. Check landmarktheatres. com for details.

One Time Only Napoleon Dynamite: A bespectacled, goofy-looking social misfit’s pelvic thrusts convince dismissive classmates to vote for Pedro. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

I Am Not a Hipster: Former San Diegan Destin Daniel Cretton’s Sundance feature, shot locally and set amid the city’s indiemusic scene, hits theaters around the country for a screening or two. Here, it’s at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, at the Ken Cinema, followed by an after-party at the

nearby Ken Club.

Cabaret: They say life is one, but that only seems to be the case when Nazis are trying to cramp your style. Screens at noon and 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, at Reading Cinemas Town Square in Clairemont.

Lady Eve: The Public Library’s month of Preston Sturges comedies continues with this farce starring Henry Fonda as a naïve rich guy and Barbara Stanwyck as a con artist after his money. Screens at 2:30 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 11, at the Central Library, Downtown.

Despicable Me: Animated super-villain Steve Carrell adopts three orphans to use in his super-villain schemes. Now that’s parenting! Screens at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 11, at Full Moon Drive-In in Pacific Beach.

Psycho and The Birds: And you thought Hitchcock movies were only shown in October. The double feature kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, at Full Moon DriveIn in Pacific Beach.

Groundhog Day: Bill Murray lives the same day over and over and over and over.

Eventually, we take him seriously as an actor. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13, at Full Moon Drive-In in Pacific Beach.

High Noon: One of the greatest westerns ever. Gary Cooper is an aging town marshal forsaken by his community when bad guys come to town. Screens at 7 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 12, and Tuesday, Jan. 15, at the Reading Cinemas Gaslamp.

Men Seeking Women: Sex comedy with Will Farrell, from 1997, when he was just some guy from SNL. Screens at 6:30 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 14, at the Central Library, Downtown.

Mommie Dearest: FilmOut presents Faye Dunaway’s insane-in-the-membrane performance of Joan Crawford. Audience participation is encouraged. Screens at the Birch North Park Theatre at 7 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 14.

Tootsie: Dustin Hoffman dressed up as a woman for this gender-bending comedy, but it was Jessica Lange who won an Oscar.

Screens at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 14, at Reading Cinemas Town Square in Clairemont.

Driving Miss Daisy: A lot of jokes have been made at this film’s expense, about a Southern widow (Best Actress winner Jessica Tandy) and her relationship with her chauffeur (Morgan Freeman), but, hey, it’s a Best Picture Oscar winner. Screens at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, at the Central Library, Downtown.

Blazing Saddles: Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is a bastard son of Mel Brooks’ satirist western, generally thought of as the first movie ever to use the sound of flatulence. Screens at around 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 16, at Sea Rocket Bistro in North Park.

The Princess Bride: Sword fighting!

Swashbuckling! The most handsome man and beautiful woman in the world! Also, Rodents of Unusual Size, at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

now playing Generation P: Hallucinogenic Russian film about a poet who finds himself much more suited to writing advertising copy.

Ends Jan. 10 at the Ken Cinema.

The Impossible: Biopic about a family, led by Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor,

Gangster Squad caught up in the 2004 tsunami in Thailand.

Texas Chainsaw 3D: Because the best kind of chainsaw is the kind that comes right at you.

Zero Dark Thirty: Kathryn Bigelow’s movie, about the 10-year hunt for Osama bin Laden, is a masterwork of filmmaking, and the fact that it’s inspiring debate about torture should be more tangential than anything else.

Django Unchained: Tarantino takes on yet another genre—the western—and blows it up and makes it fun again. Jamie Foxx is Django, a slave freed by German bounty hunter Christoph Waltz, off to rescue wife Kerry Washington from plantation owner Leonardo DiCaprio.

Les Miserables: Fans of the legendary musical will get their fix from this big-screen adaptation by King’s Speech director Tom Hooper, who relies heavily on close-ups and, sadly, Russell Crowe, who isn’t a trained singer. Anne Hathaway, on the other hand, dreams a nice dream as Fantine.

Not Fade Away: The first film from Sopranos godfather David Chase is about a group of New Jersey teens trying to make it as a rock band in the 1960s. Steven Van Zandt served the film as a musical advisor.

Promised Land: Matt Damon and John Krasinski co-wrote the screenplay for Gus Van Sant’s new movie, an impressively nuanced look at the world of fracking from the point of view of Damon’s corporate cog, who believes that he’s doing something good for the world. Unfortunately, a twist at the end undermines that whole idea.

Parental Guidance: Billy Crystal and Bette Midler agree to look after their grandchildren. Hilarity for a certain demographic ensues.

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away: Those Canadian clowns enter a new dimension.

As in, 3-D filmmaking.

The Guilt Trip: Seth Rogen takes an unexpected road trip with his mom, played

by Barbra Streisand.

Jack Reacher: Tom Cruise takes on the title role in a movie based on the bestselling series of books, obviously looking for another Mission: Impossible sort of franchise.

Monsters, Inc. 3D: Sulley, Mike and Boo are coming at you, literally.

For a complete listing

of movies pla ying locally, please see “F ilm S creenings” at sdcit yb eat.com under the “E vents” tab.

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

NICOLE ESPINA

From left to right: John Kelley, Priscilla Castro, Salvatore Marco Piro, Mike Turi, R. Vincent Bohan and Taejon Romanik

Psych-rockers Wild Wild Wets want people to party // by Peter Holslin You don’t have to be on drugs to enjoy the music of Wild Wild Wets. But it helps.

Whether you’ve eaten magic mushrooms, smoked weed or taken some “molly” (a pure form of ecstasy), your trip is bound to get a little bit trippier with the San Diego band’s help.

Yet, the way they see it, they are a kind of drug.

“We have some songs that are meant to pump you up—it’s just an exciting party song. And then there’s other songs that just, like, drone out and get you stoned sonically and just make the acid trip without the acid,” guitarist R. Vincent Bohan says. “I want to make a meme that’s, like, ‘Wild Wild Wets: Because you can’t afford the acid.’”

Banging out dirty, stripped-down psychrock, Wild Wild Wets offer the perfect sup-

plement for lost inhibitions, crazy-vivid colors and those magic moments when reality gets warped. Since first playing live in May 2012, the band—Bohan, vocalist / keyboardist Mike Turi, drummer Salvatore Marco Piro, bassist Taejon Romanik, keyboardist / tambourine player Priscilla Castro and projectionist John Kelley—has built a reputation for putting on a fun, slightly twisted show. Opening for nationally recognized groups like Thee Oh Sees and The Growlers, they’ve garnered a growing following, and they’re currently finishing up a 7-inch.

While local bands like JOY explore psychedelia in a classic-rock vein, Wild Wild Wets stick to the simplicity of garagepsych bands like The 13th Floor Elevators.

“Bludgeoned with Fear,” a track on their Bandcamp page (wildwildwets.bandcamp.

22 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

West Coast psych scene, forging friendships and maintaining values for an alternative to the 9-to-5 lifestyle. But Piro cuts him off.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Piro says, his eyes bulging with excitement. “You know what attracts me to this?

The power in the music. To be able to grab somebody and turn them on. When I hear music, I get goose-bumps, and that’s what I want to do to people.”

Wild Wild Wets came about after the dissolution of The Old In Out, a down-’n’dirty punk band that Turi, Bohan and Piro played in with guitarist Rory Truesdale.

In late 2011, they were about to go on tour when the plans fell through and the band went on “indefinite hiatus.” Piro, with a mock straight face, attributes the fall-out to “artistic differences.”

Turi had a good time playing with The Old In Out, who were together for more than four years. “I didn’t know how to sing at the time, so I was just screaming. And it was awesome. It was fun,” he says. But he likes exploring a wider rock palette. He says that Wild Wild Wets, “out of anything that I’ve ever been a part of, probably has more elements of all the shit that I like.”

Last June, the band had a close call after playing a desert music festival on the outskirts of San Diego County. I joined them in their tour van for the ride, and on the way back home, we got stopped at a border checkpoint—where a drug-sniffing dog took interest in a suspicious, funky smell emanating from the car Piro was riding in.

The dog gave the car a thorough search, but the only thing that turned up was a pipe.

(The dog also took a quick whiff of the van, which was loaded with weed and mushrooms, and, miraculously, failed to notice anything.) Piro informed the Border Patrol agent that he must’ve smoked all of his weed, and the agent sent Piro on his way.

The experience didn’t seem to dampen the band’s enthusiasm for certain mindaltering substances. Still, they don’t care which ones you choose—or whether you choose any at all.

“Honestly, I just want people to party,” Turi said. “I don’t care how they do it.”

com), follows a brooding, two-chord guitar sequence for nearly four minutes, joined by a simple synth line and loose drums. They amp up the intensity with the anthemic power chords of “Realized into Redwood,” but Turi’s moaning, reverb-drenched vocals give the song a burnout vibe.

Like lots of young bands, they have a reckless side. During an interview at Caffé Calabria, a North Park coffeehouse, Turi, Bohan, Piro and Romanik share stories about past experiences—like the time they trashed their friend’s house in San Francisco.

“We broke their garage. We broke their patio furniture. We drank all their alcohol,” Piro says. “And somebody pissed all over the floor.”

When they played at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park for CityBeat’s 10th-anniversary party last August, their loud, droning tunes rang through the cavernous space. The performance seemed entirely inappropriate for the occasion— where a lot of nicely dressed people were chatting over hors d’oeuvres—and that’s exactly what made it so awesome.

Asked what motivates them to play Wild Wild Wets play with Tropical Popsicle, psych-rock, Romanik launches into a heart- New Mexico and Christy at The Ché Café felt sermon about building community in the on Saturday, Jan. 12.

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

notes from the SMOKING PATIO Two venues down

Berkson told the club’s employees, U-T San Diego As concert venues, 4th & B and Anthology couldn’t reported, that he and his wife, fellow co-owner Marhave been more different. The former was a bulky sha Berkson, will be divorcing. space that regularly brought in hip-hop, indie-rock 4th & B’s closure hasn’t been catastrophic to the peter holslin and pop acts—as well as the ocmusic scene—many of the acts casional dwarf-wrestling compewith shows scheduled at the tition. The latter was a swanky Downtown venue were able to supper club with high-tech aufind new places to play. House dio-visual capabilities and a speof Blues, just down the street, cialty in jazz, blues, world music brings in similar acts. But Antholand Americana. ogy’s sudden closure has sent two However, these spaces have concert organizers into a tailspin. two things in common. They’re “I feel a little bit empty at the both major concert venues in a moment,” says John Stubbs, crecity that doesn’t have many. And ator of the multimedia chamberthey both closed recently, leading music series Luscious Noise. “I music fans to worry if San Diego actually had three shows schedis about to experience a sudden uled for [January, March and drop in live music.

May],” he adds. “Now, I have noth4th & B closed in December ing, so I feel kind of at a loss.” after the club’s owners, Vincent Tailoring his shows for the Litand Judy Puma, were evicted by tle Italy venue, Stubbs took advanthe building’s landlord for failing tage of Anthology’s big stage and Anthology to make rent payments, accordaudio-visual capabilities. “Antholing to news reports and a lawyer representing the ogy had it all,” he says. “I feel like I’m going to have to landlord, Crown Invest LLC. Anthology announced find another venue and invent something totally, comit was closing last Friday in a statement to the mu- pletely different that would fit a new venue.” sic blog Owl & Bear; Anthology co-owner Howard Nancy Laturno Bojanic, founding executive di-

24 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

rector of Mainly Mozart, also bemoans the loss of Anthology. She had contracted with the club to host Evolution, a concert series set to happen in June.

Now, the classical-music organization is scrambling to find a new venue.

“We are looking at our options as we speak,” she says. “Today, tomorrow, we have meetings.”

San Diego’s always been a rough place for the livemusic business. There are fewer regular concertgoers than in big markets like Los Angeles and New York City, and ticket buyers aren’t always proactive. A hot buzz-band that would easily sell out a venue in a bigger city might have a harder time selling tickets here, promoters say.

Getting people to attend more experimental shows is even harder. Bonnie Wright, curator of the Fresh Sound concert series, regularly worries whether enough people will show up to her shows, which have lately focused on improvisational, forward-thinking jazz.

“It’s so hard to get an audience,” she says. “Mostly, people like the things that they heard in high school.

Many people venture out, but, often, music is used for comfort. And when something is pushing the boundaries, it’s not comfortable.”

It’s unclear what will happen with the venues.

Michael Pritchard, Anthology’s former director of music operations, told the U-T that the club’s owners launched a search for a buyer. 4th & B may go back to its previous owner.

The Pumas have been in a court battle with Ali

Nilforushan, who sold them the venue in 2009. In a tentative ruling delivered on Christmas Eve, San Diego Superior Court Judge Jacqueline M. Stern decided that the Pumas would have to pay Nilforushan for balances owed on promissory notes from the purchase, along with other costs, plus interest, penalties and legal fees—a sum amounting to roughly $1.5 million. The ruling also orders the Pumas to forfeit their 4th & B shares, assets and business to Nilforushan. peter holslin But the decision is preliminary, and it could be a few weeks before the judgment is finalized. Even if the court does rule in Nilforushan’s favor, he isn’t likely to hold onto the business, says Sean Foldenauer, a lawyer for Nilforushan.

Whatever happens, many would agree with the sentiment of Chuck Perrin, the local jazz promoter behind Dizzy’s.

“I think it’s sad to see any venue for live music to close,” he says.

4th & B “It’s just going to be another place that people can’t go to see things.”

Correction In a caption in last week’s Smoking Patio, we incorrectly identified a person in the photo. It was Lety Beers, not Lety McKenzie. Also, in a caption for a photo of the band Boy King, we called them Boy Kings. We apologize for the errors.

Write to peterh@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

if i were u

BY peter holslin

Wednesday, Jan. 9 PLAN A: Mister Lies, Matthewdavid, Room E, Different Sleep @ Soda Bar. Ooh, boy, Mister Lies is smooth. Following in the footsteps of Massive Attack and Boards of Canada, the young Chicago beatmaker mixes syncopated beats, organic textures and sampled sounds into somnolent, headnodding electronic music. PLAN B: Gregg Allman @ Balboa Theatre. After all these years with The Allman Brothers Band, rock songwriter Gregg Allman has dealt with a number of ailments, and he had a liver transplant in 2010. But he still reportedly puts on a badass, soulful show. BACKUP PLAN: Lord Howler @ Bar Pink.

the heart. BACKUP PLAN: Boy King, Hi Ho Silver Oh, Charlyne Yi, Mothlight @ Soda Bar.

Saturday, Jan. 12

PLAN A: Tropical Popsicle, New Mexico, Wild Wild Wets, Christy @ The Ché Café.

As you’ll read in my feature on Page 22, you don’t need drugs to enjoy psych-rockers Wild Wild Wets: Their crude, two-chord jams are intoxicating on their own. Tropical Popsicle have a similar flair for grit and grime, but they’re a touch poppier. PLAN B: The Midnight Pine, John Meeks, Pigeon Lord @ JETT Gallery. Leave it to Alfred Howard to pull yet another great band out Thursday, Jan. 10 of his afro: After suddenly appearing on the PLAN A: Han Bennink, Mary Oliver scene in late 2012, The Midnight Pine put out & Mark Dresser @ Space 4 Art. Dutch one of the year’s best local roots-y albums, jazz drummer Han Bennink puts his sur- Awake Now. They’re celebrating its release roundings to good use when he plays, often tonight, which means you’ll be treated to stepping away from his set to tap out intri- the lovely voice of singer Shelbi Bennett.

John Taylor cate rhythms on the floor.

BACKUP PLAN: Opio, Watching him will be one Equipto, Chris Young, Mr. of the highlights at this imGroove, DJ Daeta, Norm provisational performance, Rockwell, 4two7 @ The which pairs him and violin Ruby Room. / viola player Mary Oliver with the masterful local Sunday, Jan. 13 contrabassist Mark DressPLAN A: Steve Earle @ er. PLAN B: Camp Lo, Belly Up Tavern. I was genTrek Life, Auditory Stimuinely heartbroken when uli, Ross May, Sojourn, Harley Watt, Steve Earle’s DJ Charlie Rock @ Boar character on the HBO series Cross’n (Carlsbad). HipTreme, got killed in Season hop duo Camp Lo dropped 2. Thankfully, the alt-countheir debut album, Uptown Saturday Night, back in Mister Lies try icon himself is still kickin’, putting on stellar live 1997. To celebrate the album’s 15th anniversary, they’ll revive the shows with the help of a ridiculously good hard-hitting beats and Blaxploitation-style backing band. PLAN B: Jennifer O’Connor, rhymes of tracks like “Coolie High” and Chris Brokaw, Ghost Come Back @ Soda “Luchini AKA This is It” as they perform Bar. New York singer-songwriter Jennifer the album all the way through. BACKUP O’Connor plays unadorned indie-folk that’s PLAN: In Motion Collective, Montalban complex in a subtle way. Her voice is straightforward, but she spans a range of emotions as Quintet, Mattson 2 @ The Casbah. she addresses love and loss. BACKUP PLAN: Keane @ House of Blues.

Friday, Jan. 11

PLAN A: Primitive Noyes, Psicomagia, Mystery Cave, Colony, DJ Hezus @ Eleven. Coming out of a months-long hibernation, local post-rockers Primitive Noyes are celebrating the release of a new album, Slow Emergency. They offer some wonderful sounds in the track “Hetch Hetchy Valley,” mixing colorful guitars with harried drums before closing on a slow, quiet note. PLAN B: Little Fowl, The Show Ponies, Podunk Nowhere @ Tin Can Ale House. Describing themselves as “an indie-folk band with Old Tyme Country tendencies,” L.A.’s The Show Ponies might initially come across as just another kitschy, Americana shit show.

But their boy-girl duets, vocal harmonies and rough-hewn fiddle runs hit me right in

26 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

Monday, Jan. 14 PLAN A: Barbarian, Parquet Courts, Ditches @ Soda Bar. With minimalist, grimy guitar interplay and lyrics about everyday stuff, New York up-and-comers Parquet Courts offer a lighthearted take on classic post-punk. They aren’t particularly provocative, but they have infectious charm.

Tuesday, Jan. 15 PLAN A: Tycho, Doombird @ Belly Up Tavern. Tycho’s ambient, starry-eyed pop is perfect for a low-gravity dance party on the surface of the moon. BACKUP PLAN: Nightmare Air @ The Griffin.

HOT! NEW! FRESH! Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (DJ set) (Voyeur, 1/24), El Ten Eleven, Races (Loft @ UCSD, 1/26), Adam Green and Binki Shapiro (Griffin, 1/27), Akron/ Family (Loft @ UCSD, 1/30), D.O.A. (Brick

by Brick, 2/2), Chelsea Wolfe (Casbah, 2/6), Bro Safari, Torro Torro, Tittsworth (HOB, 2/8), Gram Rabbit (Casbah, 2/9), The Brad Steinwehe Big Band Matinee (BUT, 2/10), Warm Soda (Soda Bar, 2/21), The Night Marchers, The Intelligence (Casbah, 2/24), Morrissey (Balboa Theatre, 2/27), Daedelus, Two Fresh, Ryan Hemsworth, Samo Sound Boy (Casbah, 3/28), Living Colour (BUT, 3/29).

January Wednesday, Jan. 9 Lucinda Williams and Doug Pettibone at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Gregg Allman at Balboa Theatre. Mister Lies, Matthewdavid at Soda Bar.

Saturday, Jan. 12 Slightly Stoopid, P.O.D. at House of Blues.

Sunday, Jan. 13 Keane at House of Blues. Steve Earle at Belly Up Tavern.

Tuesday, Jan. 15 Social Distortion at House of Blues. Tycho at Belly Up Tavern.

Wednesday, Jan. 16 Social Distortion at House of Blues. Can-

nibal Ox, Keith Masters, Double A.B., Kenyattah Black, I Realz at Soda Bar.

Thursday, Jan. 17 Femi Kuti and The Positive Force at Belly Up Tavern. He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister at The Casbah.

Saturday, Jan. 19 Tower of Power at Belly Up Tavern. Cadillac Tramps at The Casbah.

Sunday, Jan. 20 Gemini Club at The Griffin.

Monday, Jan. 21 Muse at Valley View Casino Center.

Thursday, Jan. 24 XBXRX, Signals at Ché Café. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (DJ set) at Voyeur.

Friday, Jan. 25 Ozomatli at Belly Up Tavern. Quicksand, Title Fight at House of Blues. FIDLAR, Meat Market, Pangea at Ché Café.

Saturday, Jan. 26 Ozomatli at Belly Up Tavern. Jackson Browne at Copley Symphony Hall. Infest at Che Cafe. Wax Tailor at Soda Bar. Dead Meadow, Dahga Bloom at The Casbah. El Ten Eleven, Races at The Loft @ UCSD.

Sunday, Jan. 27 Ben Folds Five at House of Blues. Ken Stringfellow, The Maldives, Rookie Card at Soda Bar. Cody Chesnutt at The

Casbah. Adam Green and Binki Shapiro at The Griffin.

Monday, Jan. 28 Nada Surf, The Soft Pack at The Casbah.

Tuesday, Jan. 29 Niki and The Dove at The Casbah.

Wednesday, Jan. 30 Geographer, On an On at The Casbah.

Akron/Family at The Loft @ UCSD.

Thursday, Jan 31 Nashville Pussy at The Casbah. The Wood Brothers at Belly Up Tavern. Detective at Soda Bar. The Parlotones at The Griffin.

February Friday, Feb. 1 Pinback at House of Blues.

Saturday, Feb. 2 ALO at House of Blues. Smile at The Casbah. Kris Allen at Soda Bar. D.O.A. at Brick by Brick.

Sunday, Feb. 3 Benjamin Francis Leftwich at Soda Bar. Augustana at The Griffin. Jayo Felony at Porter’s Pub.

Monday, Feb. 4 T.V. Mike and The Scarecrowes at Soda Bar. ZZ Ward, Delta Rae, Martin Harley at Belly Up Tavern.

Tuesday, Feb. 5 Onuinu at Soda Bar. The Who: Quadrophenia and More at Valley View Casino Center.

Wednesday, Feb. 6 Chelsea Wolfe at The Casbah.

Thursday, Feb. 7 OFF!, Negative Approach, Bad Antics at Epicentre.

Friday, Feb. 8 Simon Shaheen at The Loft @ UCSD. Seapony, Rose Melberg at Soda Bar. Bro Safari, Torro Torro, Tittsworth at House of Blues.

Saturday, Feb. 9 The Wailers at Belly Up Tavern. Gram Rabbit at The Casbah.

Sunday, Feb. 10 Big Freedia at The Casbah. The Brad Steinwehe Big Band Matinee at Belly Up Tavern.

Monday, Feb. 11 Merauder, Murder Death Kill at Ché Café.

Tuesday, Feb. 12 Ed Sheeran at Spreckels Theatre.

Wednesday, Feb. 13 In Flames at House of Blues.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Thursday, Feb. 14

the hit list

Wallpaper at The Casbah.

Friday, Feb. 15 Alex Zaragoza

Everyone loves the ’80s Ah, the 1980s. No matter how much time has passed since that golden era of Miami Vice, DeLoreans and cocaine, we still regard it with nostalgic reverie. That’s why, even in 2013, ’80s nights are still rampant in bars and clubs all over town, giving bachelorette parties something to do every weekend. So, of course, this week has a few choices for any girl looking to take a crimper to her hair.

Downtown cantina La Puerta (560 Fourth Ave.) started its own homage to the era with L-80’s Night, happening every Wednesday. This week, DJ Gabe Vega spins the greatest hits from the decade while the bar offers half-off prices on draft beer, wine and frozen margaritas. Gear up for the weekend with Poison, Dexys Midnight Runners and a few delicious tacos at this chill night.

If that teaser got you jonesing for an ’80s night where you can Wang Chung harder than Lamar from Revenge of the Nerds, head to The Flame (3780 Park Blvd. in Hillcrest) on Thursday, Jan. 10, for Club ’80s. This night is a San Diego institution, bringing the best in new wave since way back when it was a club night at Shooterz, the dingy dive bar that became True North in 2009. The cover is only $3, so bring your dollar bills and dancing shoes. If your ears need a palette cleanser, rockabilly tunes will be blasting in the back room of The Flame.

28 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

Mouse on Mars at Soda Bar. Ra Ra Riot at Belly Up Tavern.

Saturday, Feb. 16 OM at The Casbah. The Salvator Santana Band at The Griffin.

Wednesday, Feb. 20 B.B. King at Belly Up Tavern. Meklit Hadero at The Loft @ UCSD.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic, jam.

Tue: PB-o-ke Karaoke.

Rave to new wave at The Flame.

Bettie Page bangs and greaser hair may or may not be a prerequisite for entry.

Round out a week of reminiscing about Punky Brewster on Monday, Jan. 14, at The Brass Rail’s ’80s night, Manic Monday. DJ Junior the Discopunk puts the gay bar in party mode all night long. The $2 drink specials should also help liven up the mood. I hear this one is a really good time.

—Alex Zaragoza Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Sat: Latanya Lockett.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St, Normal Heights. airconditionedbar.com.

Wed: ‘Squarewave’ w/ Glitch. Thu: DJ Yaser Aly. Fri: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk.

Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: DJs Watch .44, Sunday Sauce.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco.com.

Wed: Michael Yo. Thu-Sat: John Caparulo. Sun: Gaslamp Cheap Seat Show. Tue: Open mic.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink. com. Wed: Lord Howler. Thu: Fitted, J. Blow, Daeta, Fresh Yard, Premiere Fits. Fri: Pocket. Sat: ‘The Milkcrates’ w/ DJs Mikey Face, Angie. Sun: DJs Joemama, Tramlife.

Tue: Pony Death Ride (CD release).

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla. brocktonvilla.com/beaumonts.html. Thu: Allegra. Fri: Scratch. Sat: Dirty Bird.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Lucinda Williams, Doug Pettibone. Fri: English Beat, 2-Tone Sounds. Sat: Sara Petite (CD release), Eve Selis, Lisa Sanders and Brown Sugar, Joey Harris, Nena Anderson and Jenny Petite (3:30 p.m.); Engl. Sun: Steve Earle. Tue: Tycho, Doombird.

Blarney Stone Pub, 5617 Balboa Ave, Clairemont. 858-279-2033. Wed: The Barmen. Thu: Men of Leisure. Fri: Ass Pocket Whiskey Fellas. Sat: The Fooks. Sun: Open mic w/ Men of Leisure. Mon: Trivia.

Tue: Irish jam.

Bourbon Street, 4612 Park Blvd, University Heights. bourbonstreetsd.com. Wed: ‘Live and Direct’; DJ Sebastian La Madrid.

Thu: JD. Fri: Shane Stiel. Sat: Lil Chris, Dreamgirls. Sun: Myxzlplix. Tue: Fresh Tuesdays; open mic, karaoke.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Wed: Golden Chicks.

Thu: ‘EDM Lifestyle.’ Fri: Sultry. Sun: Daisy Salinas. Mon: Junior the Discopunk.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Fri: The Upbeats, Loxy, Garva, MK Ultra, Austin Speed, Volz, MC Ridda, CSD, Subliminal. Sun: Big Yogi Bear, The Yes Team, Brooke Nicole Telarico, The Alligator Republic, Josh Taylor.

Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: The Beautiful View, Machines Learning, Octagrape. Thu: In Motion Collective, Montalban Quintet, Mattson 2. Fri: Big Sandy and His Flyrite Boys, Roy Rapid and The Rhythm Rock Trio, Zozo Fiasco, DJ Pops. Sat: The Howls, Mrs. Magician, The Short Eyes, Teenage

Burritos. Sun: Lord Howler, Breakhouse, The Pheasants. Mon: Strange Vine, Family Wagon, Bruin, Spirit Vine. Tue: We Are Sirens, Pool Party, Church Hustlers.

Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. thechecafe.blogspot.com. Fri: Malon, Avari, Nobody’s Ghost, Dog Door, Arbelos. Sat: Tropical Popsicle, New Mexico, Wild Wild Wets, Christy.

Croce’s, 802 Fifth Ave, Downtown. croces.com. Wed: Fuzzy. Thu: Gilbert Castellanos and The New Latin Jazz Quintet. Fri: Lady Dottie and the Diamonds. Sat: Daniel Jackson (11:30 a.m.); Agua Dulce (8:30 p.m.). Sun: The Archtones. Mon: Dave Scott and Monsoon Jazz. Tue: Gio Trio 1.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. dirksniteclub.com. Wed & Sun: Karaoke. Fri-Sat: Nemesis.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Dr, Downtown. dizzyssandiego.com. Fri: Peter Sprague, Brian Levy, Rob Thorsen and Duncan Moore. Sat: The Mikan Zlatkovich Quartet.

Eddie V’s, 1270 Prospect St, La Jolla. eddiev.com. Wed: Freddie A Dream Trio.

Thu: Richard James Trio. Fri: JazzMikan.

Sat: AJ Degrasse Trio. Sun-Mon: John Cain. Tue: Mikan Zlalkovich Trio.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown, Downtown. f6ixsd.com. Fri: DJ Fingaz. Sat: DJ Kaos.

Sun: Brett Bodley.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: DJs Cowboy Mike, Mr. Nice Guy, Static Promenade, Theorycraft, Tylerty. Fri: DJ Scooter, DJ Kyle Flesch. Sat: DJ Karma, DJ Craig Smoove.

Griffin, 1310 Moreno Blvd, Bay Park. thegriffinsd.com. Wed: Tori Rogg, Uniform Victor. Thu: Red Wanting Blue, The Darrows, Jerry Olea and the 805 Drifters.

Fri: Her Crimson Love, Wine, Red Matter,

The Roman Watchdogs. Sat: Leyva. Sun: Choirs, Vignette, Roxy Moonslinger, ‘d.’

Tue: Nightmare Air. Hard Rock Hotel, 207 Fifth Ave, Downtown. hardrockhotelsd.com. Sat: Jayson Summer, Pauli P, Frankie (Float); Devoy, DJ FishFonics (207).

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown. henryspub.com. Wed-Thu: Mixmaster Yodah. Fri: ‘Good Times.’ Sat: DJ E, Yodah.

Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Joey Jimenez, DJ E. Tue: Charles Burton Swing Band.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Thu: Swang City, StoneAge and DayOne; Stoney B. Blues Band; Groove International. Fri: Jerry ‘Hot Rod’ DeMink; SIN, September Mourning. Sat: Slightly Stoopid, P.O.D., Buck-O-Nine, The Rugburns, Vokab Kompany. Sun: Keane. Tue: Social Distortion, Red Devil Squadron.

Inn at the Park, 3167 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill. innattheparkdining.com. Wed: Andy Anderson and Nathan Fry. Thu: Janice Edwards, Tommy Gannon. Fri: Sacha Boutros. Sat: Carol Curtis. Sun: Ria Carey, Don LeMaster. Tue: Roman Palacios.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Fri: Chris Berta, Jon Doss, Schugar. Sat: HeavevnlyFather, Arkon, MDMK, Skandar, Peacemaker, Knottyboy, Divinity, Misk, SwanDive, Wolfgang Von Cope, tech_fusion, Jahn, Go. La Gran Tapa, 611 B St, Downtown. lagrantapa.com. Wed: Agave Guys, Carlos and Freddie. Thu: Carlos Velasco. Fri: Juan Moro, Oscar Valero, Erika Lopez, Carlos Villatoro, Patricia Lotufo, Malka Winograd, Dancers of the Academia del Baile Espan. Sat: Pan Am. Sun: Carlos Velasco. Tue: Tomcat Courtney.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams

Ave, Normal Heights. lestats.com. Wed: Jamie Lynn Hart, Roni Lee, The Sarah Northup Band. Thu: Ernie Halter, Sam Grow.

Fri: Chris Wilson, Lucy Michelle. Sat: Bosen and Suede, Cory Wey, The Show Ponies. Sun: Lakin, Alaina Blair, Emily Elbert. Mon: Open mic w/ Chad Taggart.

Tue: Comedy.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: Laguna.

Thu: Big City Shaman. Fri: Surefire Deluxe. Sat: 4-Way Street. Tue: 2 Guys Will Move You. Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. numberssd.com. Thu: ‘Tagged’ w/ DJ Angel X; ‘Varsity.’ Fri: Viernes Calientes, Harness.

Sat: ‘Club Sabbat’ w/ DJs Robin Roth, Linda E.; ‘Ladies - Femme Fatale.’

Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Fri: DJs Saul Q, Havok.

Patricks II, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: Johnny Vernazza. Thu: Mystique Element of Soul. Fri: 145th Street.

Sat: Bill Magee Blues Band. Mon: Deejha and Walter. Tue: Walter’s Chicken Jam. Queen Bee’s, 3925 Ohio St, North Park. queenbeessd.com.

Wed: Firehouse Swing. Fri: Lisa Sanders, Cody Lovaas, Antonia Duggan. Sat: Cut Your Losses, Stained Glass Windows, Fight the Future, A Truth Betrayed, West of I-5. Sun: Salsa.

Tue: ‘Lyrical Exchange.’

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: ‘Mischief’ w/ Bianca, DJ John Joseph. Thu: ‘Repent-Ladies Night.’ Fri: ‘Circuit Pop!’ w/ DJs Dan De Leon, Will Z. Sat: ‘Popsicle’ w/ DJs John Joseph, Taj. Sun: DJs Ideal, JREAL, Hektik.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

Ave, La Mesa. rivierasupperclub.com.

Wed: Kice Simko. Thu: Man From Tuesday. Fri: Tweed Deluxe. Sat: Bill Cardinal.

Tue: Meagan Flint.

Ruby Room, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. rubyroomsd.com. Wed: ‘Dizzyfunk’ Future Bass Dance Party. Thu: ‘Nerdcore Night’ w/ Random Gibberish, Rob Deez, The Cemetery Improvement Society. Fri: Katie Leigh and The Infantry, Roxy Moonslinger, Mother Belle, Jesse Johnson Trio.

Sat: Opio, Equipto, Chris Young, Mr. Groove, DJ Daeta, Norm Rockwell, 4two7.

Sun: Spider Heart, Kinetic Circus, Ninja Love, The Lifted. Tue: JAMade Art Show w/ Mimi Zulu, Tori Rogg Band, Sarah Harmel, Jeffrey Joe, Sister Speak, Tori Roze and Johnny.

Shakedown Bar, 3048 Midway Drive, Point Loma. theshakedownsd.com. Thu: The Repercussions, Castoff, Killer Party.

Sat: Grease Punk Night w/ Black Market III, Blackwater Jukebox.

Side Bar, 536 Market St, Downtown. sidebarsd.com. Wed: Epic Twelve. Fri: Mikey Beats. Sat: Kyle Flesch.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: Mister Lies, Matthewdavid, Room E, Different Sleep. Thu: Translation: Audio, Damn Riot, Elektric Monk. Fri: Boy King, Hi Ho Silver Oh, Charlyne Yi, Mothlight. Sat: The Pheasants, Mrs. Henry, Badabing, Takahashi. Sun: Jennifer O’Connor, Chris Brokaw, Ghost Come Back. Mon: Barbarian, Parquet Courts, Ditches. Tue: Kitty Plague, Privatized Air, My Dead Body.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Fri: Digital Jammer, 2B, Duck and Cover, Disarray, DJ Turbo, Gorilla Disko. Sat: Casino Madrid, To Each His Own, Terra Firma, The I In Self, Focus In Frame.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · January 9, 2013

Spin, 2028 Hancock St, Midtown. spinnightclub.com. Fri: Ace Hood, Remy Affekt, Diego, Domi Young, The Kid. Sat: Arrested. Sun: Shotta Crew, Wreckin Krew, Fayah Heart.

Stage Bar & Grill, 762 Fifth Ave, Downtown. stagesaloon.com. Wed: Mark Fisher, Gaslamp Guitars (7 p.m.); Bl3ndr (10 p.m.). Thu: Dubstep, Van Roth, Kat Hopkins. Fri: The Disco Pimps, The Mike Michaels Program. Sat: DJ Miss Dust, Fingerbang. Mon: Reggae, Poppi Grande and The Shakedown Daddies. Tue: DJ Von Kiss, Kahn Artest, Kat Hopkins.

The Caliph, 3100 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill. Wed: ‘Weds with Moz’ w/ Kevin Cavanaugh.

The Flame, 3780 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. flamesandiego.com. Thu: ‘Club ‘80s,’ ‘Rockabilly Psychois,’ ‘RnR Debauchery.’

Fri: ‘Therapy,’ ‘Darkwave Garden.’

Tiki House, 1152 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. tikipb.com. Wed: Tim Malley. Thu: Kayla Hope. Fri: The Fab Lushes. Sat: The Tighten Ups. Sun: Open mic w/ Dan. Tue: Sweet Dreams.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Thu: DJ Heather Hardcore, Diana Death, Miss Kylee. Fri: Miki Vale, niomiesoulfly. Sat: ‘The Beat Kitchen’ w/ Question, Charlie Rock, Freddie Joachim. Tue: Kim Gordon Comedy Night.

Tin Can Ale House, 1863 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill. thetincan1.wordpress.com.

Wed: Noel Jordan, Timothy Joseph, Sean O’Donnal. Thu: Dancing Strangers, Comet Calendar, Legs. Fri: Little Fowl, Show Ponies, Podunk Nowhere. Sat: Old Man Wizard, Phavian, Awakeners. Mon: Grampadrew.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tio-

leos.com. Wed: Bayou Brothers. Thu: Rockin’ Aces. Fri: The Jones Revival. Sat: Full Strength. Sun: Salsa.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Wed: DJ Mikey Ratt. Fri: Population, Death Crisis, The Very, Nerve Control. Sat: DJ Mongo Style, Chango Rey. Turquoise, 873 Turquoise St, Pacific Beach. theturquoise.com/wordpress.

Wed: Talia Ceravolo, Tomcat Courtney.

Thu: Latin Jazz Crew w/ Lynn Willard.

Fri: Afro Jazziacs, Tomcat Courtney. Sat: Pan Am, Tomcat Courtney. Sun: Blue 44, Sounds Like Four. Mon: Shedburners.

Tue: Afro Jazziacs.

U-31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Thu: Slynkee. Fri: The Beatknockers. Sat: Saul Q, Kid Wonder. Sun: Reggae. Mon: ‘Taking Back Monday.’

Voyeur, 755 Fifth Ave, Downtown. voyeursd.com. Thu: Carnage. Fri: MAKJ. Sat: LNA. Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Thu: ‘Brixton Beat’ w/ DJs Jeff Graves, Kyle M. Fri: Shake Before Us, Schitzophonics, DJs Robin Roth, Jaime Ali. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob Moran.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Open mic w/ Jefferson Jay (6 p.m.); ‘Club Kingston’ w/ Jam Kwest, DJ Carlos Culture (9 p.m.).

Thu: O.B. Comedy Competition (6 p.m.); ‘Bassquake’ (9:30 p.m.). Fri: Comedy (6 p.m.); Psydecar, Sandollar (9 p.m.). Sat: The William Hatchett Band (4 p.m.); Roots Covenant, TRC Sound System (9:30 p.m.).

Sun: Rey Vinolle III (6 p.m.); ‘O.B.-o-ke’ w/ Jose Sinatra (10 p.m.). Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Battle of the Bands Week 2.

January 9, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 31