San Diego CityBeat • Jan 13, 2016

#SDCityBeat

January 6, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 1

2 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Up Front | From the editor

A Charger-less, Powerball-type payday

E

verybody’s been fantasizing about winning the $1.5 billion-plus Powerball lottery. Newscasts are filled with people talking dreamily about what they’d do with the winnings. Some would hand out cars and homes like Oprah. Then there was the guy who was asked by a Fox 5 Las Vegas reporter what he’d buy with that much loot, and he answered on live TV, “hookers and cocaine.” Dreams are relative.

Would that you could successfully rebuild city infrastructure—or a pension system—with a lottery ticket investment strategy. But let’s visualize for a moment about what a Powerballian payday would/could mean to the citizens and the city of San Diego.

Imagine the city of San Diego winning $350 million in a game I’m calling Subsidy-ball.

Recall that city/county leaders were prepared to subsidize the construction of a stadium for Dean Spanos’ Chargers for this amount. Now though, we hear the Chargers have been cleared to move to L.A. within a year.

We still may or may not have to vote on some grand subsidy here for a craven billionaire.

He doesn’t deserve a red cent.

No doubt a few Chargers die-hards have been sitting in their dens with Quick Picks in one hand and a blue-and-gold foam finger on the other, imagining how they’ll win Powerball, pitch in and build the Chargers a new palace here in town.

Let ’em go, gang. The Spanos Chargers don’t love you. Never did. It was all about the money.

Speaking of green, let’s get back to that $350 million pot of gold San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and County Supervisor Ron Roberts dug up from city/county coffers. C’mon, you all played exotic games of what-if for Powerball. Subsidy-ball will be fun but also pragmatic. Suggest what you’ll invest in for the city—and don’t say hookers and cocaine.

Chris Ward is willing to play. The candidate for San Diego’s District 3 City Council seat penciled out a whole Subsidy-ball budget: $125 million for immediate neighborhood infrastructure; $75 million for upgrades to public safety facilities; $50 million to

end veteran homelessness; $50 million to upgrade Balboa Park; $25 million to invest in small business support; $15 million to incentivize water conservation; $10 million to improve city IT. Or, we could expand the trolley system, says Dean Nelson, founder and director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University and new Subsidy-ball mogul. “I would love to take the trolley to work, to concerts, to restaurants,” he says. “As it stands now, it would take me two hours each way to work because it involves several buses. Every time I come back from Europe, Asia, Washington, D.C., New York, I ask, why don’t we have a mass transit system that accommodates more people?”

Maybe a more realistic goal san diego chargers would be to spend the money on Balboa Park, Nelson adds.

“It’s nice now, but it could be beautiful, he says.”

San Diego Mesa College professor and Subsidyballer Carl Luna concurs: “I wouldn’t mind seeing at least a little of that money earmarked directly for our crown jewel, Balboa Park, which is tens of millions behind in repairs.”

Luna also points to what he calls a no-brainer—San Diego’s street and infrastructure repair backlog, which in 2014 amounted to somewhere between $1 and $5 billion.

“That $350 million ‘windfall’ amounts to between 7 Dean Spanos percent and 35 percent of what the city needs to spend now just to bring our public infrastructure back up to basics,” he says.

These are all compelling and proper ways to spend $350 million. But no, we didn’t win a lottery—unless you call the thought of Spanos leaving town winning a lottery. He was right about one thing—San Diegans will never vote to subsidize him. Taxpayers saying no to the NFL ought to become a national trend.

Incidentally, when Ward sent in his Subsidyball budget he slightly overspent. But I’d personally fund his last line item: $149 for a SAYONARA, SPANOS banner.

—Ron Donoho Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com

This issue of CityBeat is floating in a most peculiar way.

Volume 14 • Issue 23 Editor Ron Donoho Music Editor Jeff Terich Arts Editor Seth Combs Web Editor Ryan Bradford Art director Carolyn Ramos editorial assistant Torrey Bailey Columnists Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza

Contributors David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Andrew Dyer, Tiffany Fox, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Peter Holslin, Jessica Johnson, Scott McDonald, Jenny Montgomery, Susan Myrland, Chad Peace, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Tom Siebert, Jen Van Tieghem, Amy Wallen

Senior account executive Jason Noble Account Executives Beau Odom, Kimberly Wallace, Isaac Aycox Accounting Kacie Cobian, Sharon Huie, Linda Lam Human Resources Andrea Baker

editorial Intern Nancy Kirk

Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami

Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse

Vice President of Operations David Comden

MultiMedia Advertising Director Paulina Porter-Tapia

Publisher Kevin Hellman

Advertising inquiries Interested in advertising?

Call 619-281-7526 or e-mail advertising@sdcitybeat.com. The advertising deadline is 5 p.m. every Friday for the following week’s issue.

Editorial and Advertising Office 3047 University Ave., Suite 202 San Diego, CA 92104 Phone: 619-281-7526 Fax: 619-281-5273 www.sdcitybeat.com

San Diego CityBeat is published and distributed every Wednesday by Southland Publishing Inc., free of charge but limited to one per reader. Reproduction of any material in this or any other issue is prohibited without written permission from the publisher and the author. Contents copyright 2015.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | Letters In response to “Cold and wet can be life threatening,” [Jan. 6] by Ron Donoho at CityBeat: San Diego has long relied on emergency shelters and temporary housing to solve homelessness without much success. Following the lead of many successful communities across the country, San Diego is changing to a “housing first” system, where we invest more in quickly getting people access to permanent housing vs. temporary housing. Continually being in temporary housing—where people have to check in and out at a certain time each day, and never get a chance to be settled and secure—is a sure detriment to finding and keeping a job and any stability in their life.

The previous use of the winter tents, while beneficial in helping people temporarily escape inclement weather, was not cost effective and did little toward the goal of solving homelessness.

The shift to an interim housing facility—where people can access the system year-round—was the right move. Sheltering people continually in temporary solutions will not reduce homelessness. The shift in city funding from the winter tent to the year-round interim housing also freed up HUD funding to create additional rapid rehousing, an intervention that solves homelessness for people with a success rate of more than 70 percent (data collected from Oct. 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2015, San Diego Regional Continuum of Care) compared to the winter tent success rate of 26 percent (Father Joe’s Villages).

Long-term homelessness is also life threatening. I applaud the city’s move to investing in permanent solutions that will solve homelessness and save lives.

Michael McConnell,

#SDCityBeat

Downtown San Diego

On the

Cover The zine collage on this week’s cover comes from the collection of Margaret Nee and Kim Schwenk. The pair founded Grrrl Zines A Go-Go with the goal of doing more than collecting and producing zines. Their intent also was to do workshops in community venues. To check out their work in person, page your way over to the downtown Central Library on Saturday, Jan. 16 for “Publishing Punk: Zines in San Diego 1970s to 1990s.” gzagg.org

CHOKED UP I started to read Aaryn Belfer’s Backwards & In High Heels column [“Goodbye to all that in 2016,” Jan. 6] and when I read number one on her list I nearly choked. Liberal people like her keep spreading this BS about the police assaults and as you call state-sanctioned murder. She is an idiot scumbag.

What a bunch of bullshit. The police are the only line of defense against the “animals” out there.

Hope she never needs police help against those animals.

Bob Ling,

Downtown San Diego

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Up Front | opinion

spin

cycle

john r. lamb

The mayor’s state of the nitty gritty Democracy is only a dream.

It should be put in the same category as Arcadia, Santa Claus and Heaven.

—H.L. Mencken

S

ome members of the media received complimentary bottles of local craft beer from Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s office last week. On the bottle, as displayed on social media, the mayor’s PR minions had affixed a sticker with drinking-game instructions for Faulconer’s sophomore State of the City address this Thursday.

Take a swig, the sticker suggested, if the mayor utters the words “building,” “better,” “opportunity,” “neighborhoods,” “people” or ‘The Force.” Chug, it added, while Faulconer speaks Spanish. Finish off the bottle, it concluded, if “CityTV cuts to an audience reaction shot in the middle of the speech.”

Spin Cycle isn’t sure what these chosen media folks will do for al-

cohol after the first five minutes, but they better plan now (these gifts are going down fast!). And if the mayor’s introductory video— now, unfortunately, a SOTC tradition—is a Star Wars riff, well then Spin pities all cocktail napkins within a two-block radius of the Balboa Theatre.

The question is whether the rest of San Diego will catch a buzz from Faulconer’s second swing at The Big Mayoral Speech after last year’s less-than-inspirational bunt of an address?

You might remember that inaugural effort, described in varying shades of vanilla and noted for what wasn’t said. Even the motherly-to-Republicans Union-Tribune editorialists described the speech as “strong” but simultaneously bereft of critical details.

Faulconer “said little to answer the many questions surrounding two of the most high-profile issues of the day—a new stadium for the Chargers and expansion of

6 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

the waterfront Convention Center,” the U-T opined last January.

On the stadium, the mayor pricked the pre-speech anticipation balloon by invoking the taskforce approach rather than faceto-face team negotiations—failing even to “outline his preferences or even hint at a preferred financing plan,” the editorial lamented, adding the mayor provided “even less of substance about the convention center expansion.”

A year later, and San Diego has witnessed no noticeable movement on the convention center but significant movement to the north with those hapless Chargers, whose half-century-plus existence here rests in the hands of a bunch of billionaires meeting in Houston. Social media seems certain the team is outta here, as the vitriol toward the team front office reaches dengue-fever pitch.

Much of last week’s angst on the Chargers front focused on stadium proposals past—the “Hateful Nine,” as it were—that date back more than 14 years. In a summary it released of its relocation application to the NFL, the team argued it had “done everything any reasonable team could ever do to find a permanent stadium solution in San Diego.”

In a video posted on the Chargers website, team owner Dean Spanos fingered City Hall for the

John R. Lamb

blame, specifically “the inability of the city at the political level to get any kind of public funding or any kind of vote to help subsidize a stadium.”

Mayor Faulconer, just days before his Big Speech in a reelection year, was in no mood to accept the role of villain. His office fired back, “Dean Spanos can’t rewrite history as he tries to walk out the door. As has been widely reported, the Chargers have never produced a viable stadium plan, let alone nine. The Booze-gifter Mayor Faulconer eyes Dean Spanos only real plan profor big speech. Will he mention new pal Marco duced in the last Rubio, too?

14 years is the one proposed by the Faulconer was quoted as saying city, and the Chargers refused to in a Rubio release announcing the negotiate on it.”

Florida senator’s California camViability is certainly in the eye paign leadership team. “I look forof the beholder, and a blank-filled ward to helping Marco Rubio win proposal as proffered by the city California and unite our country might seem less than viable. But as we enter a New American Cenrest assured Faulconer will lay tury.” this epic failure squarely on the Whatever political weight toes of Spanos.

Faulconer carries beyond city Some political observers once borders is open to speculation, believed such a visible loss would but that didn’t stop the politileave Faulconer doomed to lose cal underworld to quiver: Maybe re-election. But with no opposiFaulconer realizes his chances of tion yet coming from the Demosuccess in a 2018 race for govercratic Party, such conventional nor are slim and now has hooked wisdom now seems moot. into the coattails of a rising presiOne caveat, however. “The loss dential candidate with an eye toof the Chargers, though, will dog ward a vice-presidential nod? him in any run for higher office,” “Faulconer has no major starlocal political sage Carl Luna making victories to date to launch predicted. “George W. [Bush] a statewide bid from,” Luna said. launched his gubernatorial cam“No Californian is on the GOP paign on having gotten the [Texshort list for VP, as California is as] Rangers a new stadium. That lost for a generation to the GOP put him in the White House.” nationally. There’s no geographic, Which leads us to a topic not demographic or other advantage likely to be mentioned during the to a VP Faulconer.” mayor’s Big Speech—his recent His tapping of Rubio could decision to jump on the Marco also backfire, should say a Ted Rubio presidential bandwagon.

Cruz or—gasp!—Donald Trump Faulconer will no doubt tout the sew up the nomination before the recent passage of a toughly wordJune primary, causing conservaed Climate Action Plan for the tive/Tea Party Republicans to stay city. But Rubio’s reported doubts home in protest of his supporting about human responsibility for the more middling Rubio. climate change, coupled with the But with no serious compesubsequent endorsement from tition, Faulconer can dominate chief climate-change-denier, Sen. the narrative. Thursday’s speech Jim “Snowball” Inhofe of Oklawill tell us how convincingly. homa, might cause some political Drink up! heartburn.

“He has the vision and the reSpin Cycle appears every week. cord to lead and strengthen the Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

American Dream for everyone,”

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | Opinion

Sordid

Edwin Decker

Tales

Real, true, non-nauseating inspirational quotes

O

h, the New Year! How I adore the barrage of inspirational clichés, sappy memes and cheeseball psychologies to motivate us through the hellish labyrinths of our yearly resolutions.

Most of these New Year inspirationals fall under recurring categories such as the unfathomable Everything-is-Possible category, the nightmarish You-Can’t-Win-If-You-Don’t-Play series and the ever-nauseating Hey-It’s-A-New-Year-AndIt-Is-Somehow-Going-To-Be-Better-Than-LastYear-Even-Though-Misery-Doesn’t-AcknowledgeClocks-Or-Calendars kind of quotes.

Take this inspirational ditty by Anu Khanna that a friend shared on my Facebook page and which I instantly deleted: “A new year is on the way, and the possibilities are endless.”

“Why did you remove my post?” asked the friend.

“I don’t want to give anyone false hope,” I said.

“Possibilities most certainly have endings. They are called impossibilities. Besides, even if possibilities are endless, why are they only endless in the New Year? Were they not also endless in 2015? Or 2014?

Or 700 A.D. for that matter?”

It’s like I told another friend who tagged me on a quote by Charles Lamb which I instantly removed on the count of it being blubbering nonsense: “No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference. It is that from which all peoples date their time…”

What, hey, huh? Nobody is indifferent about the First of January? Not the Chinese? Not Koreans? Not Orthodox Jews or Muslims? I know a couple of Zoroastrians who would sooner chew on barn splinters than spin a single rattle on New Year’s Eve. Admittedly, not all of these inspirationals are inherently evil. Some are clever and useful and I don’t want to murder them in the face too much. But it’s always the ones that are overtly simplistic, nauseatingly flowery and/or just plain incorrect that seem to flood my inbox. Such as we see in the Huffington Post article, “12 Beautiful Quotes To Inspire You In 2016” with the subtitle “Meditate on these words as you celebrate New Year’s Eve”—neither of which will ever be retweeted, shared or liked on any of my social pages because the words “beautiful” and “meditate” are in the title instead of “retch-fest” and “puke-o-rama.”

Take for instance this partially regurgitated sausage chunk by Pope Frank: “Although the life of a person is a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow…”

The HuffPo article also includes a meme with the picture of—oh fer chrissake—a butterfly emerging from a cocoon with the following quote from Goethe: “We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves…”

And this bit of metaphorical misconduct by Swami Vivekananda: “...those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch [the wind] and go on their way,

#SDCityBeat

but those which have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind? We make our own destiny.”

Flowers and weeds? Butterflies and caterpillars? Wind and sails. Can these metaphors be more cliché? It’s bad enough that the tone and intellect is comparable to poetry written by a 12-year-old girl on a lollipop bench in Gumdrop Glade, but the wind and sails metaphor is a hot mess.

Yes, of course, those who do not put up The Sails of Preparation will not catch The Winds of Opportunity and thus be doomed to bob in the Sea of Defeat (unless of course you happen to have The 375 Horsepower Twin Inboard Engines of Inherited Wealth).

However, what about all those times we put up our sails but no wind comes? The Swami conveniently left that part out because, no matter how thoroughly we prepare, we cannot ensure our destinies will turn out to be the destinies we want them to be. That’s why it’s called destiny.

Wow. What a bunch of useless, flowery, feelgoody fallacies among a million just like it, and you know what? I believe we deserve better. I believe we deserve a frank, non-hyperbolic, honest and useful list of motivational quotes for the New Year and beyond. And so I’ve taken it upon myself to provide one.

12 Real, True, Though Not Necessarily Beautiful, Useful, Inspirational Quotes That Do Not Require Meditation • Although a person’s life is a land full of thorns and weeds that won’t grow nuthin’, there is always a place where you can buy fruits and veggies.

• Be forgiving and don’t start no shit. However, don’t take crap from no fuckrods either.

• Call your mother once in a while, wouldya?

• Put your Christmas decorations away. It’s bad enough you hung them up in September.

• That you attract more flies with honey than you do vinegar is exactly why you should never use honey to solve a fly problem.

• Wine is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Hangovers are proof that God is a huckster douchebag.

• When in a new relationship, don’t fart for three months.

• Early to bed, early to rise is a tragic waste of all that health, wealth and wisdom.

• Pick up a check every now and then wouldya?

• Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to reverse the exhaust pipe on my neighbor’s leaf blower so that it blows back on his face, and the wisdom to blame it on his hooligan son.

• A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single oil check.

• Burn more calories than you consume. That’s how it works. That’s all it is.

Sordid Tales appears every other week.

Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com.

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | Food

by michael a. gardiner

the world

ous gluttony at its “break your New Year’s resolution” best.

But as good as each cut coming off that parrilla may be, it is the sweetbreads that are the dish’s greatest glory. They are silky, savory and rich, with a crispy, caramelized exterior and a Meat, meat and more meat creamy, luxurious interior. Flavia Marquiz brings a selection of each of the meats to the table on arne” translates from Spanish to English as a little grill pan. Truth be told, though, I’d have “meat.” It is so in Spain, it is so in Mexico, been even happier with a plate full of those and it is so in every Spanish-speaking counsweetbreads. try save one: Argentina. In Argentina “carne” While the parillada Argentina is only availmeans “beef” unless otherwise specified. There able on Saturdays, meats—primarily in sandwich may be no better place in our region to try it than form—feature heavily on the everyday menu. The El Gaucho Argentina (René Ortiz Canopy PRD, lomito sandwich is not your average steak sandCentro Playas, 22710) in Rosarito Beach. wich. Instead of shavings of thinly sliced inexMichael A. Gardiner pensive cuts it is a slab of perfectly cooked filet mignon with chimichurri on bread. The choripan is a variation on the theme using El Gaucho Argentina’s house-made sausage.

My favorite sandwich at the place, though, is the simplest: the prosciutto sandwich. A nod to Argentina’s substantial Italian population, it is not about meat cookery—or even beef—but rather simple composition. Thinly shaved prosciutto, a crusty roll, romaine lettuce and a bit of cheese are all that is necessary.

El Gaucho Argentina also ofMeat on the parrilla fers that country’s national dish: Gerardo and Flavia Marquiz—he Mexican, empanadas. The deep-fried pastries come in five she Argentine by way of Los Angeles—co-own versions: spinach and cheese, corn and cheese, the tiny hole-in-the wall restaurant one block off ham and cheese, chorizo and ground beef. Perof Rosarito’s main tourist drag. On Saturdays, Gehaps not surprisingly, the most common Argenrardo makes parrillada Argentina. It is, perhaps, tinian empanada is the latter. El Gaucho Argenthe greatest expression of Argentina’s obsession tina’s includes carrots and potatoes in lieu of the with beef. Marquiz cooks various cuts of beef— classic recipe including olives, raisins and hardflank cut short ribs, skirt steak, house-made boiled eggs. The piquancy of the olives might Argentine-style chorizo sausage and mollejas have helped cut some of the richness of the (sweetbreads)—on a wood-fired grill on the sideground beef and fried pastry. walk in front of the restaurant. Each cut takes on Many—indeed, most—Argentinian restaurants the smoke’s perfume and pairs perfectly with the are on the pricy side. That may be the only aspect tangy, garlicky chimichurri sauce offered on evwhere El Gaucho Argentina is less than typical of ery table. the cuisine. Where it definitely does not fall short It is a symphony in the key of meat. It is a is with the carne. And it’s all about the carne. study in the different levels of richness, different textures and the different ways in which meat— The World Fare appears weekly. make that beef—manifests itself. And it is gloriWrite to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

fare

C

8 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | Food

by ron donoho

urban

eats The next Biga thing

I

t’s easy to quickly become a fan of Tae Dickey.

The owner/chef of Biga (950 Sixth Ave.) is direct but friendly. He’s serious about hospitality and he wants to make a point by being a downtown restaurant that cares about locals and doesn’t gouge anybody—not even the tourists who will wander over from Fifth Avenue.

Most pizzas are less than $10.

“My inspiration? I was tired of overpaying for food that I didn’t think was a fair price in San Diego,” he says. “I’m trying to do my take on artisanal Italian with a fair price.”

Biga (pronounced: Bee-ga) is at the corner of Broadway and Sixth Avenue, at the base of the Samuel Fox Lofts. Keep an eye on this block between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Two doors down from Biga is a new location for Ramen Yamadaya; betwixt the two a Mexican-styled Pipirens is readying to open.

Through a design collaboration with Point of Departure Architecture (it also did downtown’s Café 21), Dickey got the look he wanted from a space that was originally built in 1928.

“I described my vision between old and new Italian design,” he says. “I didn’t want it to be too frou-frou, but approachable. I’m more of a rustic kind of guy.”

Check out the white Carrera marble countertops and the 5,000-pound, green-tiled Italian pizza ovens. Look deeper into the open kitchen and get a glance of staff butchering hogs in-house. The 37-year-old Dickey, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who has been cooking since he was 13, says on weekends he serves a porchetta that slow cooks for three days.

#SDCityBeat

The name Biga describes a fermentation process used for Italian pizzas and doughs. “It’s the dough starter; the mother dough,” says Dickey.

“It lends flavor to all our dough products. Ours is 200 years old. It’s slightly different than a sourdough starter. It’s got a lower hydration ratio so it’s a little firmer. It’s in our pizzas and we put it in focaccias, and soon we’ll use it to make our own bread.”

At Biga service is fast-casual style, meaning you stand in line and order, then find a seat where a waiter will bring your food. Don’t miss the carrots side dish. Dickey wood roasts Valdivia heirloom carrots and serves them in a bowl with house-made crème fraiche and mint pesto.

Actually, there’s plenty here in the can’t-miss category. Even if it’s simple, like the rustic Tusron donoho

Biga can ribollita soup, or the burrata cheese served with oven-roasted porcinis and truffle cream and topped with super-sweet pea tendrils. And warm mozzarella sides are made to order.

Biga is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day but Sunday, when Dickey closes shop to spend time with his family. Aww, right?

A pair of upcoming promotions are worth noting: On Jan. 18 stop in for a free coffee; and on Fridays throughout January come in for lunch, order an iced tea and get a free Margherita pizza.

That’s a Biga deal.

Urban Eats appears every other week.

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com.

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

Up Front | Drink

the

by andrew dyer

beerdist andrew dyer

New year, new beer

A

fter gluttonous family gatherings and nights spent outrage-watching Making a Murderer on Netflix, San Diego collectively shook its holiday malaise and begrudgingly went back to business as usual, if not a couple pounds heavier and a few dollars lighter. The craft beer industry barely blinked. A day after the ball dropped on 2016, locals found themselves with yet another first-rate brewery option with the opening of Bitter Brothers Brewing (4170 Morena Blvd).

One of the “Bitter Brothers” the brewery is named for, co-owner Bill Warnke served in the Marines and ran his own security and alarm company locally for 35 years. He also worked as a chef and at Lightning Brewery, where he was also an investor.

“I’m (like) that proverbial pinball in a machine,” he said. “I think I’ll try that, I think I’ll be a chef, I think I’ll buy a brewery. Being a chef you like to create things, so beer is just another way of creating something for people to enjoy.”

Warnke said the most worrisome part of opening the brewery was getting the beer out on schedule.

“We had brand new equipment. We weren’t sure what it was going to do,” he said. “But with the experience we have on the brewing side we went for it. We had six beers ready in 30 days.”

That experience comes in the form of brewers John Hunter (Karl Strauss, White Labs, 32 North), Bruce McSurdy (Lightning), and the other “Bitter Brother,” Kurt Warnke.

Bill Warnke explained the origin of its unique moniker, and that it is not a reflection on the flavor profile of their beer.

“It comes from how we grew up, with our glass half empty,” he says. “We found craft beer, and now our glass is half full.”

Bitter Brothers bypassed the learning curve usually associated with newly opened breweries.

All its first-run beers are tasty and true-to-style.

Standouts include a 4.75 percent ABV session IPA, “Little Brother,” and “Golden Child,” a crisp and flavorful Hefeweizen. Its coffee porter, “Black Sheep,” is brewed with coffee from its Bay Ho

10 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

Bitter Brothers neighbors, Arcidiacono Coffee, and is available on CO2 and nitro. The Amarillo-hopped “Prodigal Son” is everything to expect from a San Diego IPA, bright and citrusy. Warnke said more IPAs are on the way, including a Northwest IPA that will feature a piney, resinous flavor.

Staying true to a throwback ethos of craft is important to Warnke, and he explained to me where he envisions Bitter Brothers’ place in beersoaked San Diego.

“We’re not trying to be the next Ballast Point,” he said. “We want be a good, local, regional brewery.

We’re not going to get lost in distribution across state lines. Once you go over 15,000 (barrels), now you’re a large brewery, and you kind of lose that specialty, hand-crafted feel.”

Weinke credits Societe Brewing Company’s founders Doug Smith and Travis Constantiner as his early advisors, and said he sat down with them before any planning for Bitter Brothers took place. He also said he doesn’t see them as the competition.

“They were very receptive to my ideas,” he said. “It’s not us against each other; it’s us against Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors.”

If their opening salvo is any indication of what is to come, and the self-described “little brother” brewery can approach the quality for which its big brother Societe is known, Bitter Brothers will be in for a sweet year.

The Beerdist appears every other week.

Write to andrewd@sdcitybeat.com

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | technology

by tom siebert

all things

tech

CES: Are we there yet?

I

write this desperate missive from the front passenger seat of a ridiculously plush oversized rental SUV, trapped in stagnant bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 10th floor of the Venetian Hotel and Casino parking garage in Las Vegas.

This might not be hell itself, but it feels like you may be able to see it from here, the absolute absurdist core of the madness of the Consumer Electronics Show. CES is the technology industry’s annual showcase of the latest gadgets, gizmos and innovative leisure and entertainment devices (and distractions) which will be dropped on the public in the year to come.

Somewhere between 175,000 and 200,000 people arrive in Sin City for CES to sell, schmooze, spin and, well, sin. The hotels are filled, many of the restaurants and bars are booked for private events, Uber and Lyft make a killing with surge pricing up to six times the normal fee from people who don’t want to be trapped in a parking garage for a couple hours.

CES is one of the many tech/ marketing/entertainment wannabe-zeitgeist events that used to be cool but got too big for its own good—and then got bigger. Like South by Southwest and ComicCon and a bunch of other largerthan-life conferences, it’s turned into a swinging schmoozefest of exclusive parties, strategic PR executions and networking and deal-making, where actual news is scant and the rush and tussle of frenzied movement—both literal

#SDCityBeat

and social—signifies...what? It depends on who you ask.

This year’s CES is getting raves from the usual tech industry cheerleaders and stenographers, but the most perceptive thing I’ve read came from The New York Times’ technology columnist Farhad Manjoo, who made the salient point that CES is increasingly a bottleneck of similar products in much hyped categories— Virtual Reality! The Smart Home!

Wearables! Drones!—that feel like early versions of something much better that’s not here yet.

Best/worst case example is the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, which I touted in these very pages last summer after seeing it (and other VR devices) all over the place at Comic-Con. I predicted we’d all have one in our homes by end of 2016. Now I take that back; until this year’s CES, we’d been hearing that a VR headset will run you about $300.

At CES 2016, we learned it’s going to cost more like twice that, which will reduce the potential marketplace by more than half.

“Everything is taking longer to hit the mainstream than I think everybody expected,” says Jake Dorn, senior vice president, global business director at Ipsos in San Marcos. “In 2013 Oculus Rift was named top new tech at CES, and this year we’re finally seeing a headset you can buy.”

Virtual reality, when it hits, Dorn says, will likely be “hugely impactful, [but] there’s also the chance it could be [technology’s]

version of Dippin’ Dots ice cream— the future that never quite gets here and remains on the fringe.”

I’m still betting on VR—the implications for video gaming and porn alone seem to make it a no-brainer—but the price has got to drop to around the levels first promised.

The continuing clunker I see is the wearables category, at least the high-profile stuff that seems to be trying to move humanity in ways it doesn’t want to go. Despite the hundreds of thousands of geeks and elites here for CES, I saw very few Apple watches, for example; it’s dangerously close to becoming the next Google Glass (though nobody’s come up with a devastatingly demeaning denominator like “Glasshole” yet, to finish it off ).

Like Google Glass—which asked people to supplement their appearance with a category product they would get eye laser surgery to avoid—Apple Watch and other smart watches are asking people to re-embrace a fashion wearable that has been made obsolete by their smart phone.

Why do we want another device to carry around, since they all need to be connected to your phone anyway to work properly? I don’t want one, and nearly nobody else I talk-

tom siebert

Tech toys at CES ed with wanted one, either. It’s tech for the sake of tech (and status) only, when the very demographic it’s targeting is telling every pollster they want to simplify their lives.

My least favorite macro-trend is the drone. There are lots of social media comments from immediate gratification consumerist types extolling the virtues of getting the product they want delivered by air ASAP, but it’s an aerial eyesore to me. I’m also suspect of the normalization of drones in our daily lives when their most critical use currently seems to be the mass murder of innocents. I’m not quite to the point where I’ll say a drone is a tool in the same way a gun is a tool, but let’s see how long it takes before the Feds are whacking people in this country.

I’m a bit warmer to the “smart

home”—a thermostat that knows when your car is ten miles away, to begin heating the house; a savvy refrigerator that orders more milk when you get low—which has its benefits. But I’ve little doubt the information shared via our smart house will be collected and filed and used for...who knows? The smart house will likely never be smart enough to tell us.

As for my luxurious SUV prison, I finally gave up. After not moving for a half hour, feeling like a lemming in a cushy metal box, the decision was made to think outside it. The vehicle was re-parked and abandoned, and a car service took me back to my rental home. A less-than $20 car ride on Monday was $100 on Thursday. Almost makes a drone sound good.

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

DOWNTOWN

1 STEAM TEAM

For those who’ve never experienced Steam Powered Giraffe’s live performance, it’s, well, hmmm…It’s kind of hard to describe. Put simply, the steampunk-inspired musical project combines sketches, pantomime, improvisation, theater and original music that jumps genres and defies classification. Even SPG cofounder David Michael Bennett, who plays the silver robot “The Spine” in the group, sometimes has a hard time giving people an accurate sense of what they should expect at a show.

“The shortest, no-frills summary would be that Steam Powered Giraffe is a group where people pretend to be malfunctioning robots on stage while they sing songs and do improv and comedy,” says Bennett, but then adds that he prefers to tell people that, at the end of the day, SPG “is an experience that must be seen and heard by the entire family.”

The three-member group has been performing since 2008 and, over the course of three albums, two live albums and one feature-length film, SPG has developed a loyal local and national following.

For those new to the group, the release show for their new 28-track double LP, The Vice Quadrant: A Space Opera, is a nice place to start. The show begins at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Spreckels Theatre (121 Broadway #600), and Bennett says audiences won’t necessarily need to know the

NORTH PARK

2 BODY LANGUAGE

There won’t be any superfluous fbombs being flung around when Ithamar Enriquez performs his unique stand-up comedy act at Finest City Improv (4250 Louisiana St.) on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 8 p.m. The name of his oneman show says it all: “Ithamar Has Nothing to Say.” That’s right, an entire set of improv-based comedy where the only sound the audience will hear is the sound of their own laughter. Taking cues from masters of physical comedy such as Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, Enriquez has made regular appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and had a recurring role on Arrested Development. Tickets for the Saturday show are $15 and there will also be a $40 “Shut Up and Move” workshop on Sunday at noon for those who want to learn their own comedic moves. finestcityimprov.com

BETH RILEY/GEEKSHOT PHOTOGRAPHY

Steam Powered Giraffe story of the group (which involves a rich San Diego inventor creating the robots in the late 1800s) to enjoy the new music and production.

“The story told in it stands on it’s own, but also connects to our other albums loosely through the robots,” says Bennett, pointing out the show will include multimedia visuals and billowing steam effects. “It sees the robots traveling into space to help save the day, while two other separate stories with new characters play out alongside the robots.”

Tickets are $20 for the Spreckels show. For hardcore fans there’s a “Behind the Steam” VIP ticket option for $100 that includes front row seating, backstage access during the sound check and other perks. steampoweredgiraffe.com

SAN DIEGO

3 EAT WEEK

When it rains, it most certainly pours.

Local restaurants took a hit this past week when potential customers opted to stay in and stay dry rather than brave the El Niño rains.

Luckily, things are looking distinctly dryer for San Diego Restaurant Week (sandiegorestaurantweek.com). Starting Sunday, Jan. 17, more than 180(!) local eateries will be offering up reasonably priced ($10 to $50), multi-course menus through Jan. 24. What’s more, for every diner who posts Restaurant Week pics on social media with the hashtag #Food4Kids, Sysco San Diego will donate $1 to the Food 4 Kids Backpack program. For North County residents, the second annual Encinitas Restaurant Week also runs from Jan. 17 through the 23rd with CityBeat faves such as Lobster West, Solace & the Moonlight Lounge, and seven others participating. encinitas101.com MELISSA AU

On the Radar at Hess Brewing North Park, 3812 Grim Ave., North Park. New works from local and national up-andcomers including Blake Byers, Brittni Cute, Selina Calvo and dozens more.

Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13. Free. artbykami.com HNoshua with Joshua #2 at The Rose Sidebar, 2215 30th St., North Park.

A group art show curated by Joshua Krause and featuring the work of Tom Driscoll, Tim McCormick, Bhavna Mehta, Jason Sherry and more. Also includes food, live music and a candid conversation with Anna Zappoli and Pall Jenkins.

Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14. Free. 619-281-0718, www.facebook.com/events/1685566634991569 HProspectors of the Primeval at Teros Gallery, 3888 Swift Ave., City Heights. A solo collage show featuring the work of Andrew McGranahan, who specializes in surrealist scenes set in the not-so-distant future. Includes live music from Gooon and Other Bodies.

Opening from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14. Free. facebook.com/TerosMagazine-163020453812436 HThe Guantanamo Bay Museum of Art and History at gallery@calit2, Atkinson Hall, UCSD, La Jolla. An exhibition that works around the fictional narrative that the infamous detention center was permanently closed in 2012. Artists include Adam Harms, Jon Kuzmich, Fiamma Montezemolo and more. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14.

Free. 858-822-5307, gallery.calit2.net Latent Constructs at Low Gallery, 1878 Main St., Barrio Logan. New drawings and mixed-media works from painter Philip Petrie, who specializes in abstract works of buildings, heads and landscapes. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 15. Free. 619-348-5517, lowgallerysd.com HFor your aMUSEment at Chicano Art Gallery, 2117 Logan Ave. #1, Barrio Logan. A showcase of new works from three up-and-coming local female artists on the scene: Amber Dawn Gomes, AübGöb and SOMARAMOS (she’s the best!). Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. Free. 619-792-2815, facebook.com/pages/Chicano-Art-Gallery/148819355327810 HInformation Retrieval at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. A sculptural piece

by Matthew Hebert made from old filing cabinets and based on stories shared through a series of public workshops about landscape and technology. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16.

760-839-4190, artcenter.org HInvisible Geometry at HB Punto Experimental, 2151 Logan Ave. Section B, Barrio Logan. New glass sculptural works from Beth King, who explores the physical strength and flexibility of both flat and bent glass. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16.

Free. 909-706-1036, facebook.com/ events/193970954280387 HParallel at Community@ Mi Apartamento, 2605 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan.

Sezio and Cohort Collective are pairing up with Community@Mi Apartamento to take over a 28-room apartment complex in Barrio Logan. Artists include Aaron Glasson, Charles Bergquist, Spenser Little and dozens of others. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. $5-$25. cohortcollective.com HSticks of the Sun, Ashes of the Night at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. A new photo-

Ithamar Enriquez

12 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

The “Maine Feast” from Lobster West

H = CityBeat picks

graphic exhibition centering around the tenuous relationship between young people and the biosphere, alternately documented and authored by artists Rebecca Webb and Jesse Burke. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. $5.

619-236-0011, sandiego-art.org The History and the Hair Story: 400 Years Without a Comb at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. An artistic journey through the history of the African American hair industry and its role in our present culture that includes artifacts, photography, historical accounts, propaganda and much more. From noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. $8. 760-8394190, artcenter.org Verdant at Sparks Gallery, 530 6th Ave., Gaslamp. A group show that celebrates the diversity of San Diego’s natural environment with this selection of contemporary scenes of plant life. Opening from 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16.

Free. 619-696-1416, sparksgallery.com

BOOKS Seventh Street Books at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The mystery and thriller fiction publisher will have five of its authors making appearances including Jennifer Kincheloe (The Secret Life of Anna Blanc), Terry Shames (The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake) and more. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14.

Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Alexandra Fuller at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The author of the bestselling memoir Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight will present her newest book, Leaving Before the Rains Come. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com HRay Brandes at Fathom Bistro, Bait and Tackle, 1776 Shelter Island Dr., Shelter Island. The local musician and author will sign and discuss his new book, Getting Nowhere Fast: The Untold Story of Independent Music in San Diego, 1976-1986. At 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. Free. 619-222-5835, facebook. com/events/935298283223552 Thomas Perry at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The thriller writer will sign and discuss his latest, Forty Thieves, about two married couples who both find themselves in the crosshairs of a lethal gang of Russian jewel thieves. At 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. Free. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com Terry Sidford at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals program, the author will discuss and sign her new book, One Hundred Hearts: Inspiring Stories from the Women Who Lived Them. At noon. Sunday, Jan. 17. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks. com Ruth Wariner at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The author will speak about and sign her new memoir, The Sound of Gravel, about the polygamist Mormon colony where she grew up. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com Val McDermid at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The Scottish crime writer will be promoting his latest book, Splinter the Silence, about psychologist Tony Hill and (former) police detective Carol Jordan on the trail of a serial killer. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. Free. 858268-4747, mystgalaxy.com

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 #SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 Seth Meyerowitz at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The grandson of U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz will speak about and sign his book, The Lost Airman: A True Story of Escape from Nazi-Occupied France. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 20. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com

COMEDY HIthamar Has Nothing to Say at Finest City Improv, 4250 Louisiana St., North Park. A night of wordless antics with comedian Ithamar Enriquez, who performs an entire hour of improvbased comedy without speaking at all.

At 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. $15. 619306-6047, finestcityimprov.com Tuesday Night Comics at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. Hosted by local comic Mark Christopher Lawrence, this show is comprised of talent from all over the country. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. $25. 858-481-1055, northcoastrep.org

DANCE HA Geography of Risk & Other Dances at Saville Theater @ San Diego City College, 1313 Park Blvd., Downtown. San Diego Dance Theatre’s Jean Isaacs resets her iconic “A Geography of Risk” from 2002 and premieres her “Requiem for an Ocean” piece. Both pieces embrace text, humor and passion. At 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17. $15-$30. 619-3883037, sandiegodancetheater.org

Riverdance at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. The international Irish dance phenomenon stops

by San Diego on its 20th Anniversary world tour. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, Wednesday, Jan. 20 and Thursday, Jan. 21. $27.50-$77.50. sandiegotheatres.org/riverdance20-years/

DR. WILLIE L. MORROW

FOOD & DRINK HEncinitas Restaurant Week at Various locations., This second annual event features prix fixe menus and other limited-time offers from some of North County’s best restaurants including Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizzeria, East Village Asian Diner, UNION Kitchen and more. Various times. Sunday, Jan. 17 through Sunday, Jan. 24. encinitas101.com HSan Diego Restaurant Week at Various locations. More than 180 local restaurants will be offering three-course, prix-fixe dinner and two-course, prix-fixe lunch menus. See website for full list of restaurants and offerings. Various times. Sunday, Jan. 17 through Sunday, Jan. 24. $15-$45. sandiegorestaurantweek.com

MUSIC HDorkbot at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. An international event featuring artists, musicians, experimentalists, educators, students and inventors presenting their work. For this inaugural S.D. show, Tom Erbe (SoundHack, UCSD) and Elle Mehrmand (LA, Electronic Disturbance Theatre 2.0) will be presenting their work.

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

14 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

A vintage hair iron from the collection of Dr. Willie L. Morrow is on view at The History and the Hair Story: 400 Years Without a Comb, an exhibition focusing on 400 years of African-American hair. It opens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, at The Museum at the California Center for the Arts (340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido).

#SDCityBeat

THEATER New Voices to ring out at Old Globe

JOSEPH MORAN

PHOTO COURTESY OF OLD GLOBE THEATRE

T

his weekend at its third New Voices Festival, the Old Globe Theatre will showcase new works by promising playwrights. Among the four whose plays will receive a staged reading is New Yorker Nick Gandiello. His new play, The Blameless, couldn’t be more topical, telling the story of a family dealing with the loss of their son in a shooting. But Gandiello’s play is about coping and compassion, not political commentary.

“Politics are actually a reflection of the things that scare us the most, and that can get people really angry,” Gandiello said. “The humans in this play are trying not to access that part of themselves. They’re not reactive and angry. We can’t have a discourse for each other until we feel for each other.”

The Blameless, which is being directed by the Old Globe’s artistic director, Barry Edelstein, approaches its dark subject with sensitivity and humor. Audiences will hear the play read from the stage by actors— no scenery, no costumes, no lights. Just Gandiello’s words and the emotions they convey.

“It helps me very much understand the rhythm of the play and what moments are engaging,” Gandiello said. The format also affords him “a chance to hopefully make people laugh and give them a moment to cry if they have to.”

#SDCityBeat

Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Balboa Park. Free, but reservations required.

619-23-GLOBE or theoldglobe.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Great Nome Gold Rush: This world premiere play sees the famous British sleuth traveling to Alaska in an attempt to prove a client’s innocence. Written by Joseph Vass, it opens Jan. 13 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org

Old Globe Theatre Artistic Director Barry Edelstein

Nick Gandiello, author of The Blameless

Edelstein says the three-day reading series, which also includes Sheri Wilner, Julia Jordan and Adam Gwon’s musical Cake Off, Jiehae Park’s Peerless and Mona Mansour’s Unseen, is critical for the evolution of the Old Globe.

“A great theater has to always be discovering and creating new voices,” he said. “The Globe needs to have an infrastructure for systematic, thoughtful development of new plays.”

He’s also looking for plays that the Globe could potentially produce one day

and to “build relationships with artists who interest us.”

It’s Gandiello’s approach to the subject matter that left Edelstein “riveted” the first time he read the play.

“What is really cool about it is Nick looks at this terrible thing not from the point of view of the politics of guns, but from a purely family dynamic,” Edelstein said. “He’s asking from that purely human point of view ‘How do you move on?’”

The Third Annual New Voices Festival runs Jan. 15-17 at the Old Globe’s

When the Rain Stops Falling: This multi-generational drama centers on Gabriel York, who fears that a fish falling from the sky will bring the end of the world.

Presented by Cygnet Theatre Company, it opens Jan. 14 at the Old Town Theatre. cygnettheatre.com Coyote in a Fence: Based on a true story, Bruce Graham’s play about two very different death row inmates challenges audiences to reconsider guilt and innocence. It opens Jan. 15 at OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista. onstageplayhouse.info New Voices Festival: The third annual festival will feature four readings of new productions by up-andcoming playwrights. It happens over three days starting Jan. 15 at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org

For full theater listings, please visit “T heater ” at sdcitybeat.com

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

EVENTS COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

Masterworks “Upright & Grand” concert with a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s famous Emperor Concerto. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17. $20-$96. 619235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org Tommy Emmanuel at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The twotime Grammy nominated guitarist has a unique playing method which he calls “finger style” that is akin to playing guitar the way a pianist plays piano. At 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17. $27.50-$52.50.

619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org

PERFORMANCE Oh, Hello at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Nick Kroll and John Mulaney’s comedy act about two middle-aged NYC men who are best known for their turtlenecks, deluded beliefs, and for saying “Oh, hello” in unison. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20 and Thursday, Jan. 21. $56.50. 619570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org HSteam Powered Giraffe at Spreckels Theater, 121 Broadway, Downtown.

The local steampunk-inspired musical project celebrates the release of their new album, The Vice Quadrant: A Space Opera, with a show that combines sketches, pantomime, improvisation, theater and original music. At 7 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 16. $20. 619-235-9500, steampoweredgiraffe.com

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD Long Story Short: Filth at San Diego Writers Ink, 710 13th St., Downtown. So Say We All’s monthly improv storytelling night features five minute stories that are dirty in whatever way folks choose to interpret that. Everyone is welcome to read. From 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. $5 suggested donation. 619-6960363, sosayweallonline.com

“Summer PS” by Robert Moya is on view at Noshua with Joshua #2, a group art show opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14 at The Rose (2219 30th St., South Park).

EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 From 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13. Free. 619-284-6784, facebook.com/ events/855124134608698/ HJeff Young and Paul Pinto at Low Gallery, 1878 Main St., Barrio Logan. The two performers are part of thingNY, a collective of New York composers and per-

formers who fuse electronic and acoustic chamber music with new opera, improv, theatre, text and installation art. At 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 13. $5. 619-348-5517, facebook.com/lowgallerysd Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Highly regarded pianist Jeremy Denk highlights this Jacobs

16 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

POLITICS & COMMUNITY Pershing Bikeway Community Open House at Balboa Park Golf Course Great Room, 2600 Golf Course Dr., Balboa Park. The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and the City of San Diego Park & Recreation Department invite the community to discuss the Pershing Bikeway project, a 2.6 mile bikeway that may include wide buffered bike lanes and protected bikeways.

From 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20.

Free. keepsandiegomoving.com

SPECIAL EVENTS The BLVD Market at Boulevard Arts District, 4326 Alabama St, North Park.

The monthly event highlights the enclave of shops, services and eateries on El Cajon Blvd., between Utah and 28th streets. Participating businesses include Garden Grill, Flavors of East Africa and more. From 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15. Free. 925-586-0990, theboulevard.org Crossroads Doll and Teddy Bears Show at Al Bahr Shrine Center, 5440 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Creators and collectors of dolls, teddy bears, antiques, miniatures and more will enter contests and host demonstrations. Patrons can purchase some of the materials on display or get expert opinions on items from home. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 16 and Sunday, Jan. 17. $4-$8. crossroadsshows.com San Diego Travel and Adventure Show at San Diego Convention Center, 111 W Harbor Drive, Downtown. The third annual event will showcase over 150 exhibitors representing some of the world’s most sought-after destinations and travel experiences. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17. $12$18. 619-525-5000, travelshows.com/ sandiego HDr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade at Harbor Drive-Embarcadero, N Harbor Dr., Downtown. Join others on Harbor Dr. south of Grape St. for this 36th annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that features floats, high school bands, drill teams, colleges, churches, peace and youth groups, and more.

From 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17.

Free. alpha-zsl.org/mlkdayparade All Peoples Celebration at Balboa Park Activity Center, 2145 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. Alliance San Diego invites the public to a commemoration of the Civil Rights Movement featuring local musical and spoken word artists, multimedia presentations, and visionary speakers. From 9 a.m. to noon.

Monday, Jan. 18. $50. 858-581-7100, alliancesd.org San Diego RAW: FUTURES at House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown.

Enjoy over 60 hand selected artists, as well as musicians, designers and merchants. From 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20. $20-$25. 619-299-BLUE, rawartists.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS The Golden Rule Peaceship at Ocean Beach Green Store and Center, 4843 B

Voltaire Street, Ocean Beach. Captain Ron Kohl and Allen McAfee will share their experience sailing on the Golden Rule Peaceship, a 30-foot wooden sailboat that set out in 1958 with the purpose of stopping the testing of atomic bombs. From 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13. Free. 619-225-1083.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Elizabeth Guffey at UCSD SME Presentation Lab, Voigt Drive and Matthews Lane, La Jolla. Guffey teaches and writes on art and design history and is the founding Editor of Design and Culture, the peerreview journal of the Design Studies Forum. At 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14.

Free. visarts.ucsd.edu Friday Morning Lecture & Tour Series at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Mary L. Beebe, Director of the Stuart Collection at UCSD, talks about sculpture as it relates to the theme of women in the neighborhood with examples of female artists and sculptural subjects. At 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 15. $8-$16. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org Dining In Zero Gravity at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd, Downtown. Food writer and educator Richard Foss will describe and illustrate how the human longing for familiar foods can be satisfied in outer space. From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16. Free.

619-236-5800, culinaryhistoriansofsandiego.com HPublishing Punk: Zines in San Diego 1970’s to 1990’s at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd, A presentation from Grrrl Zines A Go-Go that covers the history of fanzine culture in San Diego. Includes a zine-making workshop after the presentation. From 3 to 6 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 16. Free. 6192365800, gzagg.org Sim Bruce Richards Lecture at Point Loma Assembly, 3035 Talbot St., Point Loma. Founder of Modern San Diego, Keith York, will lecture on the life and work of Mid-Century Modern architect Sim Bruce Richards. Part of Coastal Art and Home’s Point Loma Architectural Series. From 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. Free.

WORKSHOPS How to Write a Short Story at The Ink Spot @ Art Center Lofts, 710 13th St., Ste. 210, Downtown. Over six weeks, Cornelia Feye will help students develop a complete short story through writing prompts, points of view, character development, plot structure and reading critiques. From 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13. $180-$216. sandiegowriters.org

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

Zine photos courtesy of Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go, David Morales and the creators.

Culture | Art

CUT &

Paste o - Go G A s e n i Z l r r Gr

br ing thre e decades

of photocopied attitude to the masses ombs

by Seth C

M

argarat Nee and Kim Schwenk love their zines. Nee opens up an overstuffed manila folder and proudly spreads them across the table like a winning poker hand. Some of the zines are in protective polybags and look to be in pristine condition despite their age. Others are decidedly more worn and frayed. There’s well over three decades worth of photocopied inspiration in front of us, almost all of which is filled with radical opinion, crass artwork and literary subversiveness. Pick one up and Nee or Schwenk are both quick to point out the origins and writers involved.

“That’s Leading Edge,” Nee says, pointing out one of her favorites. “It’s way textheavy. Lot’s of good writing.”

“That’s John Reis’ music zine from the ’90s,” says Schwenk, pointing out another zine created by the guitarist of iconic punk bands Drive Like Jehu and Rocket from the Crypt. “There’s a lot of humor and snark in that one.”

For those unfamiliar with what a zine is, here’s a quick primer: Short for fanzines, most people agree zines began as self-published compilations of sciencefiction writing. It was around the late ’60s that zines became more prevalent and a trademark of the counter-culture. Circulation was achieved primarily through trading and mail order. Still, it wasn’t until the late ’70s, and coupled with the genesis of the punk-rock scene, that zines really began to take off. Young music fans co-opted the format in order to write about the bands that weren’t being covered by the mainstream media. It helped that photocopying was becoming increasingly more accessible.

18 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

Margarat Nee and Kim Schwenk “If you worked at a Kinkos and were in the zine community, you were gold,” adds Schwenk.

The fringe popularity of zines wasn’t just exclusive to the punk-rock community. Nee points out her experiences putting out zines in the ’80s that mostly centered on topics of radical feminism. They could be highly serious or blatantly idiotic, and could tackle any number of countercultural issues.

And while one might

“But if you go to an event like San Diego Zine Fest, it’s now mostly people of color and the topics have been broadened.”

For Nee and Schwenk, their devotion runs deeper than merely collecting and producing. They started Grrrl Zines A Go-Go (gzagg.org) in 2002 for the purpose of doing workshops in community venues on the subject of zine making. Schwenk points out that Grrrl Zines was one of the first organizations in the U.S. devoted to teaching zine workshops. Over the years, they’ve had workshops in youth centers and in the classrooms and libraries of local universities.

“It’s not just a fun, crafty thing. This is a serious thing,” Nee says. “When it comes to young people, there’s a literacy aspect. You’re creating it, you’re shaping it, and there’s no editor. There’s no grade or teacher telling you what’s right and what’s wrong. You can do what you want.”

“It’s a rite of passage, learning swagger, pissing off authority figures and thinking you know more than you do,” says Tom Griswold who, along with his friend Jacqui Ramirez, created SUBSTITUTE in 1977, which most enthusiasts agree was the first San Diego punk zine. “A lot of it is about finding your tribe. That’s always going to be the case.”

A page from Be My Friend (1982) The Grrrl Zines A-Go-Go ladies will be starting with SUBSTITUTE and moving forBe My Friend (1982) ward through time when they give a presenthink that zines would tation at the downtown Central Library on Saturhave gone the way of day, Jan. 16, at 3 p.m. It’s called “Publishing Punk: the typewriter and VHS players, they’re still Zines in San Diego 1970s to 1990s.” Nee and Schproduced, collected and traded by devotees. wenk have been serving as unofficial archivists “It started out as music journalism and was of local zines. What’s more, they’re starting to heavily dominated by white males,” says Schwenk. see more academic interest in publications that,

#SDCityBeat

Clockwise from top left: Bamboo-Head (1980); Quasi Substitute (1980); Skew (1993); Away From the Numbers (1980)

#SDCityBeat

while always serious to them, were often looked down upon.

“These are social records in a lot of ways,” says Schwenk, who adds that the Central Library now has an archive of local zines. “Nowadays, there are zine collections popping up all over in universities and that are being used by students in women’s studies, queer studies, music studies and all kinds of topics dealing with social histories.”

For Nee, who grew up in the San Diego punk scene, it’s also about preserving the legacies of a lot of people—be they musicians, artists or writers—who otherwise would be forgotten.

“For us, there’s this history and

archiving aspect of it,” Nee says. “There are people from this scene that have already passed away and that means there stories are gone. So I have this personal thing of wanting to preserve this history, but there’s this other side to it as well where I want people to know that this has been happening in San Diego for a long time and not many people know about it.”

The Jan. 16 presentation will be followed with one of Grrrl Zines’ signature zine-making workshops. The process of putting together a PowerPoint presentation on three decades worth of physical media has been tedious, but when asked if there were any noticeable differences between the current day San Diego zine scene and the past, Nee is quick to point out that the more things change, the more things stay the same.

“What’s most interesting is the repetition of concerns no matter the year: The police, all-ages shows versus over-21 shows, creating unity in the scene,” she says. “There’s always been a community aspect to it and the concerns don’t change that much.”

“Especially the police,” says Schwenk.

Both women laugh before Nee adds, “The refrain over and over again was don’t just complain about it. Make a zine, start a band, make buttons, go support other bands, don’t just complain about how tough it is. Do something.

Be creative.”

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

Culture | Art seth combs

Seen LocaL has wood, will travel

I

t’s OK, we have the insurance on it,” yells Phil Rowland, as he runs out to the moving truck he and his fellow San Diego State University grad students have rented to haul their “Expanding Gallery” piece to Art Produce Gallery in North Park.

Moments before, a vehicle had sped by the gallery on University Avenue and grazed the moving truck, knocking the side view mirror off and sending it flying into the road.

Rowland is lucky he heard the crash, given all the noise around him. For a few hours he and the other students from SDSU’s Furniture Design and Woodworking graduate program (Nathaniel Hall, Aleya Lanteigne, Peter Scheidt and Joshua Torbick) have been dutifully pounding, drilling and screwing the “Expanding Gallery” into place. Created to showcase the students’ designs at the SOFA (Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art and Design) conference and expo in Chicago this past November, the gallery became a highly designed, collaborative work unto itself, consisting of a collapsible backdrop and a wooden, showroom-esque floor.

“We’re all used to working by ourselves in our own little spaces. This is the first time we all collaborated,” says Scheidt. “There’s no overall theme to our individual pieces, but for the gallery, we still had to make sure we were on the same page when it came to the design.”

Scheidt says it wasn’t always an easy process.

“We all have the same skill set which makes it fun, but it can also make the collaboration harder because we all know or think we know the right way to put it together,” says Scheidt. “You know the saying, ‘too many cooks in the kitchen.’ This was too many carpenters.”

From left: Peter Scheidt, Phil Rowland, Nathaniel Hall, Aleya Lanteigne and Josh Torbick The gallery and student pieces will be up at Art Produce (3139 University Ave., artproduce.org) through Feb. 28, before ostensibly being donated to the SDSU arts organization Arts Alive, so it can be used as a “portable-modular-gallery-loungespace.” SDSU professor Matthew Hebert oversaw the gallery project and says he doesn’t know specifically how Arts Alive will use the “Expanding Gallery” piece, but that “their goal is to ultimately increase the visibility of art on campus.” Both he and Scheidt agree that the design will need to be tweaked and retrofitted to make it fully portable and user-friendly.

“It’s easy for us to assemble and disassemble it, but it could be tricky for someone else,” says Scheidt, joking that they need to design some Ikea-type directions for the folks at Arts Alive. “Yeah, all we need is to write it out and get some plastic baggies with the appropriate hardware.” sdsufurniture.org

—Seth Combs

look of shame

the military’s distribution of power. We forget that Guantanamo has been with us for over 100 years.” o look at the website, it’s almost as if the GuanThe exhibition has had dozens of participating tanamo Bay Museum of Art and History artists and a few iterations since first debuting in (guantanamobaymuseum.org) is real. There’s 2012, but Dominguez says there will be new “gesa tab showcasing the museum’s current exhibitions, tures” that are exclusive to the exhibition at UCSD. hours of operation and even a link to help poten“What the artists do is not only present to the tial visitors plan trips to the present courtesy of the artist audience Cuba. The museum has a moment, but also begin Facebook page and Twitto articulate this kind ter profile. of long archive of what Sadly, the museum is some might call ‘black most assuredly not real. site cultures,’” says It’s an exhibition that Dominguez, citing artist works around the fictionAdam Harms’ “Performal narrative that the ining the Torture Playlist” famous detention center piece in which he sings, was permanently closed karaoke style, the songs in 2012 and turned into that were played at exa museum in order to reAdam Harms’ “Performing the Torture Playlist” tremely loud volumes member the human rights to keep Gitmo detainees abuses that occurred there. San Francisco-based artist awake and restless. “Here you have something that Ian Alan Paul, who curated and coordinated the exhi- someone would listen to in their car and even feel bition, says it takes place in a “speculative present” and nostalgic about, but it was also a crucial way to rip features work by him and a rotating cast of artists. apart the psyche, the body and the resistance of an “I felt it was something that really spoke to the individual and to make them less human.” varying entanglements that Gitmo has had, not only The exhibition also features work from Jon Kuzhistorically, but currently,” says UC San Diego pro- mich, Jenny Odell, Carling McManus, Jen Susman fessor Ricardo Dominguez, who commissioned and Fiamma Montezemolo. It opens Thursday, Jan. the exhibition to come to the gallery@Calit2 space 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. and will be on display through inside UCSD’s Atkinson Hall. “It has such a deeply March 11. gallery.calit2.net ingrained space in American foreign policy and —Seth Combs

T

20 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13 2016

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Voices

There she

alex zaragoza

Goz

A response to the entitled, whiny bitching of white dudes

O

h, white dudes. Y’all got real mad at me last month when I called out your privilege.

More than the usual amount, which is substantial in itself. I don’t respond to anything I’ve written because I already said my piece, and it’s up to you to take from it what you will. I know my audience: wine-drunk feminists who quote rap lyrics, shop at Forever 21 and love sandwiches. Angry white men are not my target demo.

I’m going to address your complaints in the hopes that you not only gain a better understanding of your privilege but also how you respond when it’s pointed out to you. If not, feel free to continue hating on me. For me, your white male hate is like claps for Tinkerbell. It only makes me stronger.

You say I’m a racist because I call out white male privilege and used the popular young person phrase “Why are you the worst?” Guys, do you know what racism is? Let me Google that for you.

gender or race. No one blames your normal body functions for your mood. There are 500 million other examples.

You emailed me, private messaged me, tweeted at me and approached me in social settings to assure me that you’re not like that. In fact, you even have black, Mexican and Asian friends!

What if I said it’s okay for me to call you “the worst” because I’ve slept with like 20 white guys who think the WNBA is pointless and say shit like “I mean, is it really a coincidence that most terrorists are Muslim” because they heard it on Real Time with Bill Maher? (Insert eye roll and jerk-off hand motion here.) Just because you have non-white friends, it doesn’t mean you are incapable of being offensive or even racist. We are all very capable.

The challenge isn’t to prove that “not all white men” are like that or to convince me that you’re one of the good ones. It’s to understand that you do, indeed, receive better opportunities because of systemic discrimination against minorities and women. Instead of calling me a bitch on Facebook, you should confront the inequities that come with your privileged status; a status that you can’t help because of the way society is built.

You can’t change your genetic makeup, but you can challenge the privilege you gain from it and not downplay it when it’s called to your attention because it makes you uncomfortable.

Understand that your privilege is deeply rooted in racism and must be called out if we’re ever going to progress into a more fair and just society.

I have experienced privilege over other women of color, including my own race, just because I’m light-skinned, educated and grew up middle class.

It’s our responsibility as privileged people to call out the inequities and allow those less privileged to voice their anger and not try to take away from their experience.

Stop and think about how you’re viewed and what you gain from the world solely because of your race and gender and ask yourself if you think it’s fair. Become aware and make an effort to change this reality in your day-to-day life. If you need examples of ways you can do this, talk to your non-white friends about ways they’ve experienced racism or been marginalized, including by you, and what you or others could have said or done to avoid this. Truly listen and if you give a shit at all, make a point to change those behaviors.

In fact, let’s all do this. We can all benefit from waking up.

“

No one blames your normal body functions for your mood.

White privilege, on the other hand, refers to the very real advantages and/or immunities that white people benefit from over individuals of other races and ethnicities. And as James Brown told us, this is a man’s world. Society is built to bolster men and suppress women. I’m nowhere near the first person to point it out. If you’re a white male, things are pretty good for you as opposed to, say, if you were a black woman.

Now that those definitions are out of the way, no one is saying that your white male privilege makes you inferior humans. No one is saying you’ve never struggled if you’re white. But the truth is you likely haven’t struggled because you’re white. There is a difference there. Institutionalized racism and sexism are so embedded in our culture most people don’t notice it or see when they’re part of it.

A white man who’d never consider himself racist once asked me why my family would “regress” by moving back to Mexico decades after immigrating. It is likely that you’ve never had your articulated anger sexualized as being spicy, as we mouthy Latinas often experience. You are more likely to make more money than a minority female for the same work and are less likely to be stopped and shot dead by police for no just reason. If you are sexually assaulted, no one will wonder if you were asking for it by the choice of your clothing. You can probably walk home at 2 a.m. without fear. Your authority is likely not questioned or degraded because of your

“

#SDCityBeat

There She Goz appears every third week.

Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com.

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Culture | Film

The voices are quietly deafening in Anomalisa

Anomalisa

Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s stop-motion oddity takes aim at male delusion and self-pity

by Glenn Heath Jr.

O

ne is the loneliest number in the cinema of to the other intense relationships that have come to Charlie Kaufman. The heralded screenwriter define Michael’s existence. Since Noonan voices both of such emo, meta, brain twisters as Being his wife and ex-girlfriend, it’s clear that Michael has John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of already grown tired of these women, with Lisa prothe Spotless Mind has consistently focused on inse- viding a momentary angelic counterpoint. cure and melancholic men/artists who are desperAnomalisa never shies away from the depths of ately afraid of being alone. Often, they turn inward Michael’s self-pity. A dream sequence late in the film for answers, producing surreal flourishes that help suggests yet another cyclical shift in his narcissistic reconcile these oppressive bouts of angst. consciousness; the basement office of his hotel turns This motif continues in Kaufman’s sophomore ef- into a purgatory of wish fulfillment gone wrong. fort behind the camera co-directed with Duke John“I lose everyone,” Michael moodily tells Lisa, but son, a bizarre and unsettling stop-motion animation in truth alienating people has become just as habittitled Anomalisa. Sullen customer service expert Mi- ual for him as brushing his teeth or having sex. It’s a chael Stone (David Thewlis) arway of selfishly sustaining his own rives in Cincinnati for an industry existence, no matter the pain it conference where he will provide brings to others, those that can be anomalisa the keynote address to thousands easily grouped into the category of of adoring fans. Haunted by the “everyone else.”

Directed by Charlie Kaufman words of an ex-girlfriend, and The script for Anomalisa might and Duke Johnson seemingly all the world’s voices not feel as screwy as Kaufman’s Starring David Thewlis, that blur together as one, Michael previous work, but its just as scathJennifer Jason Leigh appears boxed in by regret. ing, wryly addressing the way Miand Tom Noonan To literalize Michael’s isolachael rationalizes his own bad beRated R tion, or perhaps the consequences havior through unhappiness and of his hubris run amok, Kaufman angry ideology. Look no further and Johnson employ the great than Michael’s rant-laden confercharacter actor Tom Noonan to voice every other ence speech, which turns chaotic and political at an speaking part but one. These include hotel concierg- inopportune moment. The film isn’t arguing that all es, taxi drivers, women and children, who all happen men suffer from this self-inflicted malady, but that share the same face despite gender or ethnicity. In all men are capable of creating their own similarly one of the year’s most impressive performances, he’s delusional narrative to deflect from the consequencfittingly credited as “Everyone Else.” es of their actions.

Whether Michael looks down on the rest of huLeft to watch from the sidelines, Noonan’s cadre manity or simply doesn’t care to understand other of diverse personalities and perspectives are unforpeople’s nuances is left ambiguous. But Kaufman givably clumped into one banal representation of and Johnson are critical of his denial to address the inferiors. Who knows how many missed opportuniissue in the first place. Much of Anomalisa grapples ties have come and gone in Michael’s life, how many with the consequences of Michael’s cascading delu- unique lives he’s failed to appreciate. sion. It grows increasingly potent after he meets Lisa Anomalisa, which opens on Friday, Jan. 15, finds (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a telemarketer from Akron, its heart in the pragmatic pliability of Lisa, an ordiOhio, who is attending the conference and harbors nary soul who miraculously realizes early on that the only other distinct voice in the film.

Michael’s infatuation can only be seen as fleeting.

Their one-night stand acts as a compact parallel This is powerful since she’s able to live in the mo-

22 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Film ment and appreciate the affection and adrenaline rush of their unison. Even though her psyche is never afforded the transparency of Michael’s, she feels undeniably more human.

In the end, it’s Noonan’s voice(s) that linger long after Michael has retreated from view. As a result, Anomalisa is not just a character study about one selfdefeating man who can’t see the forest for the trees, but one that rather overtly hints at all the other character studies (and voices) worthy of our attention.

Film reviews run weekly.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

Son of Saul and the horror of looking back

C

an the atrocities of the Holocaust ever be truly represented through the medium of film? It’s a question artists ranging from Alain Resnais to Claude Lanzmann to Steven Spielberg have been considering for decades. The answer remains divisive and ultimately unclear.

László Nemes’ debut film Son of Saul brazenly attempts to

#SDCityBeat

memory. All consuming and immersive, it’s hard to know what to do with such formally striking and unnerving visuals, even if they only represent a small portion of one historical moment founded on the evil that men do.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

Opening Son of Saul convey the events of everyday life at Auschwitz by limiting the viewer’s perspective and alluding to the horrors beyond the 4x3 frame. It’s expectedly an awful time at the movies, but also an important and problematic work that can’t be dismissed.

Onscreen, the foreground is dominated by Saul (Géza Röhrig), who races from one act of survival to the next. The background is often blurred, but we hear screams, panicked movement, gunshots and then the eerie silence of death. It’s almost unimaginable to consider what’s happening off screen. This is the stuff of nightmares, every frame a cramped coffin for the film’s tortured protagonist.

Saul has survived the camps

thus far by working as a member of the Sonderkommando, a unit of Jewish prisoners forced by the Nazis to aid in the disposal of bodies from the gas chambers.

Here, Nemes seems insistent on exploring how his character gets caught up in a hurricane of misery that has become disturbingly normal.

The narrative revolves around Saul’s messy attempts to find a rabbi in the hopes of providing proper burial rights to a recently deceased young Jewish boy. His rapidly deteriorating experience becomes a rigorous endurance test for both character and viewer.

In Son of Saul, which opens Jan. 15, trauma exists in real time as opposed to some lingering

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi: Michael Bay brings his patented brand of sledgehammer subtlety in telling the story of the American contractors who raced to the aid of the American embassy in Benghazi once it fell under attack by militants in 2012.

Anesthesia: On a snowy night in New York City, a tragic accident connects the stories of various characters struggling with life’s hardships. Screens through Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

ing was actually a staged production by filmmakers, this comedy stars Ron Perlman and Rupert Grint as the con artists behind the camera. Opens Friday, Jan. 15, at the Reading Gaslamp Cinemas.

Mustang: Over the course of one hazy summer in Northern Turkey, a young woman and her four sisters attempt to break free from the strict rules of their domineering father, who wants to marry them off one by one. Opens Friday, Jan. 15, at the Carmel Mountain Angelika Film Center.

Norm of the North: In what surely amounts to a devastating critique of global warming, this innocuous animation finds a displaced polar bear and his lemming friends trying to survive in New York City.

Ride Along 2: Ice Cube and Kevin Hart are back as squabbling frenemies in the sequel to the first Ride Along, duh.

Son of Saul: The everyday horrors of Auschwitz as experienced by the titular character, a man who is forced to help the Nazis dispose of dead bodies as part of the Jewish Sonderkommando.

Anomalisa: Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s strange stop-motion animation tells the story of an unhappy customer service specialist (David Thewlis) who tries to overcome his unhappiness by engaging in an affair with a younger woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh).

The Benefactor. A young couple played

by Dakota Fanning and Theo James develops a complicated relationship with a possessive philanthropist (Richard Gere).

Screens through Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Lamb: Coming off the death of his father and the disintegration of a marriage, a young man strikes up a conversation with a woman in a parking lot in the hopes of setting his life on a new journey. Screens through Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

For a complete listing of movies, please see “Film Screenings” at sdcitybeat.com under “E vents.”

Moonwalkers: Based on the popular conspiracy theory that the first moon land-

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

Music Blissing out with

Psychedelic pop band cooks up feel- good sounds

by Jeff Terich

I

t can take a lot of hustle before a band starts to get noticed. Writing good songs and playing your instruments well helps, of course, but you need more than chops before your audience starts to grow.

Booking and playing consistent live shows, putting up flyers, having a good social media presence, building up word of mouth and recording a demo and eventually an album— there’s a lot of elbow grease involved in getting a band off the ground. And there aren’t any easy shortcuts.

But sometimes a little luck can go a long way. Back in June of last year, long-running weekly UK music magazine NME got ahold of The Gloomies’ debut single “LSD,” months before it was even officially released, and named them Buzz Band of the Week. Not bad for a band that had only existed for a couple months.

Singer and guitarist Andrew Craig found the idea of an internationally known publication featuring his fledgling band a little hard to believe.

“When I was told about the NME thing, I thought it was a joke,” he says on a rain-soaked Tuesday morning at Better Buzz in Encinitas. “They were like ‘you’re gonna be NME Band of the Week,’ not thinking anything of it. I get an email from NME saying ‘we need a band photo,’ and we didn’t even have a photo. We had 20 followers on Facebook. I didn’t think it was real. I’ve been in so many bands, and how quickly that happened, that didn’t seem real.”

The end result was a spike in attention for The Gloomies, and not just from fans at home. “For a while, our followers were a lot of people from other countries,” Craig says, noting NME’s international reach.

Listening to “LSD,” which was released as a seven-inch

single in November via Thrill Me Records, it’s easy to understand the British mag’s early enthusiasm for the band.

The Gloomies, in the middle of a month-long Mondaynight residency at Soda Bar, have a warm, lightly psychedelic sound that blends contemporary indie rock with a vintage, surf-inspired vibe. “LSD,” itself, is an upbeat rock number that’s simple in its melody, but carries layers of guitar effects, synthesizer and vocal harmonies. Its flipside, “Groves,” is a more melancholy mid-tempo track that juxtaposes a reverb-heavy three-note piano hook and a finger picked, acoustic guitar melody that could have been plucked straight from a ’60s-era vinyl collection.

The Gloomies aren’t a throwback band by any means, but rather, one that’s looking ahead while acknowledging a bygone era in its rearview mirror. Craig says a lot of his favorite bands are those of decades past, and cites soundtracks to Wes Anderson movies as compilations that encapsulate the kind of vibe that he looks for in music.

“I gravitate toward music that feels like it’s from a different time,” he says. “That nostalgic feeling, like everything’s gonna be OK—it’s a good feeling.

“I want to feel something when I hear somebody singing,” he adds. “I think that’s what everybody kind of wants.

You want to relate to a band.”

Despite the early buzz and relative newness of the band, The Gloomies are far from Craig’s first musical venture. Before moving back to San Diego last year after four years of living in New York City (and five years in Los Angeles before that), he was in the bands Guards and Sacco, the latter of which also featured Gloomies drummer Chris Trombley. Trombley ended up introducing Craig to bassist

Blake Martz and keyboardist Grant Martz, who also play in Idyll Wild, and when Sacco came to an end and Craig moved back to San Diego, he ended up living on the floor of a converted storage shed studio at the Martzes’ house, where he finished The Gloomies’ first recordings.

The mutual friendship between all four members of The Gloomies was important to Craig, both because his contacts in California were limited after several years on the East Coast and because he values camaraderie in a musical project.

“I’ve been away from San Diego so long that I don’t know a ton of musicians,” he says. “I went to see a couple [Idyll Wild] shows, and was like, ‘These guys are good, they have good energy.’ And they’re good people—I like to be in bands with my friends. I want it to be a group effort as much as possible.”

With just less than a year under their belts, The Gloomies have been pretty busy and only seem to be continuing that trend, with a new EP being released at the end of the month. But despite not having any particular agenda as the band took shape, Craig says that as it grows and builds momentum, there’s really only one concrete intention that he has. When people hear or watch The Gloomies, he says, he wants them to have a good time.

“The shows that I go to that are my favorite are the ones where people are going crazy,” he says. “Everyone likes having fun, even if they think they don’t. If you’re playing and people start dancing, even the people that don’t like dancing, when it starts, they’re having fun.”

Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com or follow him on Twitter at @1000TimesJeff

The Gloomies Jan. 18 and 25 Soda Bar soundcloud.com/ thegloomies

24 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

#SDCityBeat

Music

notes from the smoking patio locals only

M

anuok has announced a new album. In mid2016, the band will release a record titled The Gift Horse, which follows their 2012 album Traps. However, singer and songwriter Scott Mercado says that stylistically and thematically, it’s intended to follow up the folkier sounding 2011 album, The Old Horse, since the new record is so different than the more rock-oriented Traps.

“I have a problem as a songwriter, where I write a lot of different types of songs,” Mercado says. “I used to put them all on the same record.

But it’s hard to market that way. So I started to spread my records out.

It seemed a lot easier if there was a particular sound to plan for, or if there’s a certain vibe to them.”

The Gift Horse is just one album that Mercado has written at the moment. He’s working on setting a release date before he moves on to the next recording, but for now he says the mood of The Gift Horse is

a reflection of the kind of music he wants to make right now.

“My heart is in the acoustic guitar stuff, the moody darker stuff,” he says. “I have another rock record and another electronic record ready to go.”

When the album gets an official release, Mercado says that he’ll book a release show, and possibly a West Coast tour.

However, he’d like to have a vinyl release, which could take several months. In the meantime, he’s weighing his options for the other albums he’s written.

“I think that either some of them might Manuok stay with me or I’ll release them under a different name,” he says. “This started off as kind of a folk band, but it evolved to become more rowdy.

The electronic stuff is definitely going to be released under a different name.”

—Jeff Terich

San Diego musicians pay tribute to David Bowie

O

n Sunday night, David Bowie died at 69, after 18 months of battling cancer. He leaves behind a legacy that’s as massive as rock ‘n’ roll itself, and there’s no diminishing his influence on pop music, or pop culture at large. He’s one of my personal heroes, and his music has greatly affected me through various points in my life, and many other local musicians and people in the scene have shared their own tributes via social media, some of which you can read below.

“A long time ago I started an internship at a well-todo studio in NYC. As I was introducing myself to the owner of the studio he politely asked me if I had gotten to meet everyone. I shyly replied, ‘I think so.’ He then asked me, ‘Did you meet David?’ I turned around expecting to meet some dickhead named David and quickly realized it was David Bowie. He asked me what my name was and I forgot. True story. At least I got to shake his hand. I hope there really is a party on Mars, buddy.”

David Bowie “It’s crazy how someone you don’t know personally can mean to you. That is the power of music.”

—Jake Najor, Taurus Authority/The Redwoods Revue

—Sean Davenport, Hills Like Elephants “Is there life on Mars? If so, I’ll see you there David.

“Sad just doesn’t say enough. Thank you for every- XO.” thing. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You will be —Justin Pearson, The Locust/Dead Cross dearly missed.”

“In the winters of Maine, my mom would wear a leath —The Donkeys er jacket with a giant Aladdin Sane lightning bolt paint“Some boy I dated in high school gave me a cassette ed on the back as her winter coat. We even once spray of early Bowie songs performed acoustic. Everything painted the lyrics to “Changes” across our new house David Bowie did seemed so effortless and confident before it was painted. The way Bowie lived and crebut these songs were so quiet and he sounded so vul- ated inspires me to live and make art wildly and boldly, knowing no earthly limits to the beauty of weirdness.” nerable, and I listened to it over and over.”

—Lex Pratt

—Carrie Gillespie Feller, Hexa Wednesday, Jan. 13, The Casbah plans to hold a “You gave me and seemingly everyone I know the greatspecial tribute to the music of David Bowie. est gift for nearly 50 years. Long live David Bowie!”

#SDCityBeat

—Tim Mays, owner of The Casbah

—Jeff Terich January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

Music

Jeff Terich

If I were u A music insider’s weekly agenda Wednesday, Jan. 13 PLAN A: Ty Segall and the Muggers, CFM, Wild Wild Wets @ Belly Up Tavern. Ty Segall changes his M.O. every time he releases a new album, going from acoustic rock to noisy garage sounds, and from wildly heavy psychedelia to a more glaminspired sound. His new record seems to find him going back to a reliably loud and hard-rocking sound, so prepare to get wild.

PLAN B: Taurus Authority @ Bar Pink.

An alternate, low-key but no less fun option is soaking in the solid grooves of extra funky locals Taurus Authority. Be ready to move your ass.

Thursday, Jan. 14 PLAN A: Earthless, Sacri Monti, Loom, Operation Mindblow Lightshow @ The Casbah. Earthless will take you on a psychedelic journey. Their shows are not so much about playing songs as they are about embarking on a trip through cosmic space, via heavy riffs and pulsing rhythms. They’ll be joined by a few of San Diego’s psychedelic all-stars. PLAN B: Philosopher’s Ray Gun, Sundrop Electric, Future Age, Diamond Lakes @ The Merrow. For a night of catchy, fuzzy rock tunes, head to Hillcrest for this solid lineup of local guitar slingers.

Friday, Jan. 15 PLAN A: Earthless, Joy, Harsh Toke, Operation Mindblow Lightshow @ The Casbah. More psychedelia? Yes indeed.

Earthless are taking over The Casbah for a second night, with different openers, so settle in for some blazing epics. BACKUP PLAN: Soft Lions, Gloomsday, Mint Field @ Soda Bar.

Saturday, Jan. 16 PLAN A: The Lulls, Bit Maps, Lost Pets @ Soda Bar. The Lulls and Bit Maps are two great San Diego bands that have a knack for writing great indie rock songs. Nuff said. PLAN B: Andy Rourke (DJ set), Saul Q, Jon Blaj @ The Hideout. The Smiths will pretty much never reunite, but hey, at least one of them shows up here every few months or so.

The Smiths’ Andy Rourke is spinning some records, which is reason enough to make it to

26 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

El Cajon Blvd. on Saturday night. Interestingly enough, though, you will be able to hear some Smiths songs at my backup plan.

BACKUP PLAN: Sweet and Tender Hooligans @ The Casbah.

Sunday, Jan. 17 PLAN A: Devotchka, Rubedo @ Belly Up Tavern. Denver’s Devotchka have built up a strong body of work that blends gothic country, gypsy punk and all kinds of other eclectic elements into something unique.

It’s a fun mixture, but even more impressive is their ability to write great songs.

PLAN B: Christian Death, The Maension, Sleep Money, DJ Heather Hardcore @ Soda Bar. As a longtime post-punk fan, it’d be a major oversight if I didn’t direct everyone to see Christian Death. Granted, it’s not the original lineup (founder Rozz Williams died in 1998) but if they play “Romeo’s Distress,” I sure as hell won’t complain. BACKUP PLAN: The Tighten Ups, Alvino and the Dwells, The Shenanigans @ The Casbah.

Monday, Jan. 18 PLAN A: Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Elephant Revival @ Observatory North Park. Last week, Ben Salmon wrote about Josh Ritter, whose most recent albums have tapped into some deeply personal material with impressive results.

The man’s a hell of a songsmith. PLAN B: The Gloomies, Goldensuns, Other Bodies, DJ Nik Chewing @ Soda Bar. And this week, read my feature on local upand-comers The Gloomies, who are on week three of a four-week Soda Bar residency. They’re a lot of fun, and the show’s free. BACKUP PLAN: Car Seat Headrest, Octagrape, The Cardielles @ The Casbah.

Tuesday, Jan. 19 PLAN A: Martin Courtney, Matt Kivel @ The Casbah.

Martin Courtney is best known as the singer and guitarist for New Jersey indie pop outfit Real Estate. He just released his solo debut, and as it turns out, he’s just as jangly and tuneful on his own. If your Tuesday night would be better spent with gorgeously chiming guitars, then here’s your best bet.

Ty Segall

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Music

Concerts HOT! NEW! FRESH!

The Soft Moon (Casbah, 1/26), Magma (Brick by Brick, 3/15), Intronaut (Brick

by Brick, 3/16), Ben Rector (Observatory, 3/18), Reverend Horton Heat (BUT, 3/23), Black Tusk, Holy Grail (Brick

by Brick, 3/25), White Denim (BUT, 4/2), Absu (Brick by Brick, 4/2), Cullen Omori (Casbah, 4/8), Operators (Soda Bar, 4/10), Flatbush Zombies (Observatory, 4/30).

CANCELED Killing Joke (BUT, 1/26).

GET YER TICKETS Shigeto (Soda Bar, 1/23), David Cross (Observatory, 1/26), Julia Holter (The Irenic, 1/28), Wanda Jackson (Casbah, 1/28), Richard Cheese (HOB, 1/29), The Hood Internet (Casbah, 1/29), Childbirth (Soda Bar, 2/1), Steel Pulse (BUT, 2/2), The English Beat (BUT, 2/5-6), Supersuckers (Casbah, 2/10), Aaron Neville (Balboa Theatre, 2/11), Tiger Army (Observatory, 2/11), STRFKR (Observatory North Park, 2/12), Thee Oh Sees (BUT, 2/12), Meat Wave (Soda Bar, 2/13), Logic (SOMA, 2/14), The Growlers, Jonathan Richman (Observatory, 2/16-17), At the Gates (HOB, 2/19), Dr. Dog (Observatory, 2/20), Steve Poltz (BUT, 2/20), Big Business (Casbah, 2/21), Lee Ann Womack (BUT, 2/22),

Anti-Flag (Observatory, 2/25), Metric (HOB, 2/25), Rihanna (Viejas Arena, 2/26), Julien Baker (The Irenic, 2/27), Joe Satriani (Balboa Theatre, 3/1), Protomartyr (Soda Bar, 3/2), Lewis Black (Balboa Theatre, 3/3), Galactic (BUT, 3/3), Wavves, Best Coast (Observatory, 3/4), John Hiatt (BUT, 3/7-8), Eleanor Friedberger (Hideout, 3/11), Wolf Eyes (Casbah, 3/12), The String Cheese Incident (Observatory, 3/15-16), Junior Boys (Casbah, 3/18), Dwarves, Queers (Soda Bar, 3/20), Daughter (BUT, 3/24), Glassjaw (Observatory, 3/24), Abbath, High on Fire, Skeletonwitch, Tribulation (Observatory, 3/26), Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place (Casbah, 3/27), Alex G (Che Café, 4/1), Steve Miller Band (Humphreys, 4/14), Prong (Brick by Brick, 4/22), Thao & the Get Down Stay Down (BUT, 4/28), Modern English (The Hideout, 5/17), The Cure (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/30), Leon Russell (BUT, 5/31), Twentyonepilots (Viejas Arena, 7/24), Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/14), Journey, The Doobie Brothers (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/30), 5 Seconds of Summer (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/9).

January Wednesday, Jan. 13 Ty Segall at Belly Up Tavern. Dave Mason at Music Box.

Thursday, Jan. 14 Paula Cole at Belly Up Tavern. Earthless at The Casbah.

Friday, Jan. 15 Jerry Seinfeld at Civic Theatre (sold out). Earthless at The Casbah.

28 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

Saturday, Jan. 16 Tower of Power at Belly Up Tavern.

Andy Rourke (DJ set) at The Hideout.

Sunday, Jan. 17 Devotchka at Belly Up Tavern. Christian Death at Soda Bar.

Monday, Jan. 18 Josh Ritter at Observatory North Park.

Tuesday, Jan. 19 Martin Courtney at The Casbah. Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Belly Up Tavern.

Thursday, Jan. 21 Big Head Todd and the Monsters at Belly Up Tavern.

Friday, Jan. 22 Never Shout Never at House of Blues.

Big Head Todd and the Monsters at Belly Up Tavern. Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek at Music Box. Kottonmouth Kings at SOMA.

Saturday, Jan. 23 Shigeto at Soda Bar. All Them Witches at The Casbah. JD McPherson at Belly Up Tavern. Steel Panther at House of Blues.

Sunday, Jan. 24 Europe at Music Box.

Tuesday, Jan. 26 The Soft Moon at The Casbah. David Cross at Observatory North Park.

Wednesday, Jan. 27 Tony Lucca at Soda Bar.

Thursday, Jan. 28 Wanda Jackson at The Casbah. Julia

Holter at The Irenic. PWR BTTM at The Hideout.

Friday, Jan. 29 Richard Cheese at House of Blues. G. Love and Special Sauce at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). The Hood Internet at The Casbah.

Saturday, Jan. 30 Pato Banton at Belly Up Tavern. The Silent Comedy at The Casbah. Mike Gordon at Observatory North Park.

February Monday, Feb. 1 Childbirth at Soda Bar.

Tuesday, Feb. 2 Steel Pulse at Belly Up Tavern. Bullet for My Valentine at House of Blues.

Thursday, Feb. 4 Enforcer, Warbringer at Brick by Brick.

Friday, Feb. 5 The English Beat at Belly Up Tavern.

Saturday, Feb. 6 The English Beat at Belly Up Tavern.

Wednesday, Feb. 10 Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra at Belly Up Tavern. Supersuckers at The Casbah. Jess Glynne at House of Blues.

Thursday, Feb. 11 Tiger Army at Observatory North Park.

The Donkeys at Soda Bar. Aaron Neville at Balboa Theatre.

Friday, Feb. 12 STRFKR at Observatory North Park.

Thee Oh Sees at Belly Up Tavern.

Saturday, Feb. 13 Meat Wave at Soda Bar.

Sunday, Feb. 14 Beats Antique at Observatory North Park. Built to Spill at The Casbah.

Monday, Feb. 15 Built to Spill at The Casbah.

Tuesday, Feb. 16 The Growlers, Jonathan Richman at Observatory North Park.

Wednesday, Feb. 17 The Growlers, Jonathan Richman at Observatory North Park.

Thursday, Feb. 18 The Toasters at The Casbah. Cradle of Filth at House of Blues.

Friday, Feb. 19 At the Gates at House of Blues. Radiation City at The Casbah.

Saturday, Feb. 20 Dr. Dog at Observatory North Park. Steve Poltz at Belly Up Tavern.

Sunday, Feb. 21 Big Business at The Casbah.

Monday, Feb. 22 Lee Ann Womack at Belly Up Tavern.

Wednesday, Feb. 24 Lake Street Drive at Observatory North Park. Reagan Youth at Brick by Brick.

#SDCityBeat

Music Thursday, Feb. 25 Ani DiFranco at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Anti-Flag at Observatory North Park. Metric at House of Blues.

Friday, Feb. 26 Rihanna at Viejas Arena. The Infamous Stringduster at Belly Up Tavern.

Saturday, Feb. 27 Diane Coffee at The Hideout. Julien Baker at The Irenic.

Monday, Feb. 29 Fetty Wap at House of Blues (sold out).

Vance Joy at Balboa Theatre. Coeur de Pirate at Belly Up Tavern.

March Tuesday, March 1 Joe Satriani at Balboa Theatre.

Wednesday, March 2 Protomartyr at Soda Bar. Basia Bulat at The Casbah. Mutemath at House of Blues.

Thursday, March 3 Liza Anne at The Casbah. Galactic at Belly Up Tavern. Lewis Black at Balboa Theatre.

Friday, March 4 Wavves, Best Coast at Observatory North Park. Keb’ Mo’ at Balboa Theatre (sold out). Hunter Valentine at The Hideout. Agent Orange at The Casbah.

Sunday, March 6 311 at House of Blues.

#SDCityBeat

Monday, March 7 John Hiatt at Belly Up Tavern.

Tuesday, March 8 John Hiatt at Belly Up Tavern. St. Lucia at Observatory North Park.

Friday, March 11 Bongzilla at Brick by Brick. Gary Clark Jr. at House of Blues (sold out). Eleanor Friedberger at The Hideout. Astronauts Etc. at The Merrow.

Saturday, March 12 Wolf Eyes at The Casbah.

Tuesday, March 15 The String Cheese Incident at Observatory North Park. Magma at Brick by Brick.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., San Diego. Pacific Beach. Wed: Open mic, ‘Electric Martini’ w/ DJs Jeneration Y, Electric Honey. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: The Gringos, The Soulside Players, Special Guest. Sat: The Traumatics. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: The Aura & Øvation, Eridia.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, San Diego. Little Italy. Fri: Charlie Arbelaez and Irvin Flores Quintet. Sat: Tjaderized.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., San Diego. Normal Heights. Thu: ‘My 80s Vice’ w/ DJ Girth. Sat: ‘JUICY’ w/ DJ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJ Karma.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Thu: Cristela Alonzo. Fri: Cristela Alonzo. Sat: Cristela Alonzo. Sun: The Miracle Joke Elixir.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: Madeaux. Sat: Low Steppa.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., San Diego.

North Park. Wed: Taurus Authority. Thu: The Husky Boy All-Stars. Fri: DJ L. Sat: ‘Neon Beat’. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Mon: ‘Motown on Monday’. Tue: ‘Tiki Tuesday’ w/ Alvino and the Dwells.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla.

Thu: Mark Fisher. Fri: Mrs. Henry. Sat: The Voices, The Voices. Sun: Dale Peters.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Ty Segall and the Muggers, CFM, Wild Wild Wets. Thu: Paula Cole. Fri: Pine Mountain Logs. Sat: Tower of Power, Hamish Anderson. Sun: Devotchka. Tue: Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Thu: Uptown Rhythm Makers. Fri: Kitty Plague, The Focke-Wolves, Crow Squawk. Sat: The End, Jason Hanna and the Bullfighters.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad. Thu: Karma Police, White Elephant, Green Day Drivers. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA, K-Swift. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP. Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Wed: Aro Di Santi. Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joef and Co.. Sat: Aire. Sun: Aire. Mon: Perla Negra. Tue: Gio Trio.

Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, San Diego. Bankers Hill. Wed: Jody Mulgrew. Thu: Steph Johnson and Rob Thorsen. Fri: Sue Palmer. Sat: Curtis Taylor Quartet. Sun: Louis Valenzuela Trio. Mon: Ryan Hiller. Tue: Steph Johnson and Rob Thorsen.

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

Music Music Box, 1337 India St., San Diego.

Little Italy. Wed: Dave Mason, Dave Mason. Thu: Psydecar, Aok,Twisted Relatives, KNG MKR. Sat: The Expanders, The Devastators, Piracy Conspiracy, The Expanders, The Devastators, Piracy Conspiracy.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Thu: ‘Wet’. Fri: ‘Uncut’. Sun: R&B Divas.

sPOTLiGHT

Blue Oyster Cult don’t often get the same kind of credit for being the kind of innovators that Led Zeppelin, AC/DC or Black Sabbath were, but they wrote some incredible songs in their day. “Burning for You,” “Godzilla,” “Flaming Telepaths” and, of course, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” are all classic rock essentials, and there’s a good possibility they’ll play all of those when they perform at Sycuan Casino on Thursday, Jan. 14.

—Jeff Terich Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, San Diego.

Mission Bay. Sat: Joshua White Quintet.

F6ix, 526 F St., San Diego. Downtown.

Fri: DJ Al. Sat: DJ Dynamiq. Sun: DJ Shadowman.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: ‘Neon Party’ w/ Jordan V. Sat: Karma.

Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave., San Diego. Ocean Beach. Thu: King Scha Scha.

Sat: Crucial Blend, Midnight Track, Noise Makerz. Mon: ‘Mic Check Monday’.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: Jimmy Boy, DJ Antonio

Aguilera. Sat: DJs E, Antonio Aguilera.

Sun: Karaoke. Mon: DJ Antonio Aguilera. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Fri: Nashville Nights.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Thu: ‘Family Matters’, ‘Progress’. Fri: ‘Purps and Turqs’. Sun: Sulcus, Subtle System. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Coronado. Wed: Harmony Road. Thu: Jackson & Jesus. Fri: Ron’s Garage. Sat: Pat Ellis & Blue Frog Band.

Sun: Ron’s Garage. Tue: Glen Smith.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

Onyx Room / Thin, 852 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Thu: ‘Tea Party Thursday’. Fri: ‘Rumba Lounge’. Sat: ‘Onyx Saturday’.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St., San Diego.

Downtown. Wed: The Upshots. Thu: Len Rainey’s Midnight Players. Fri: RedWave.

Sat: WG and the G-Men. Sun: The Counterfeits. Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Paddy’s Chicken Jam. Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Thu: ‘LEZ’.

Fri: DJs DrewG, DJ Moody Rudy. Sat: DJ Luke Allen, DJ Hektik. Sun: DJ Hektik.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Man from Tuesday.

Fri: Podunk Nowhere. Sat: Little Kings.

Side Bar, 536 Market St., San Diego.

Downtown. Wed: DJ Brett Bodley. Thu: DJ Dynamiq. Sat: DJ Decon.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego.

City Heights. Wed: The Tip, Kill Matilda, The Anomaly. Thu: Andy Frasco & the U.N., Battlehooch. Fri: Soft Lions, Gloomsday, Mint Field. Sat: The Lulls, Bit Maps, Lost Pets. Sun: Christian Death, The Maension, Sleep Money, DJ Heather Hardcore. Mon: The Gloomies, Goldensuns, Other Bodies, DJ Nik Chewing. Tue: Jerry Paper, Dougie Poole, Super Buffet, Mittens.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., San Di-

ego. Midway. Fri: Lord Of War, Aethere, Parasitic Ejaculation, The Prevalant Reaping, Triumph Over Shipwreck, Mythraeum.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego. Normal Heights. Thu: Landis, Fusebox. Sun: Tori Roze and Johnny Alexander.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd., Spring Valley. Fri: Swords of Fatima, Georgio “The Dove” Valentino.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Thu: Earthless, Sacri Monti, Loom, Operation Mindblow Lightshow. Fri: Earthless, Joy, Harsh Toke, Operation Mindblow Lightshow. Sat: Sweet and Tender Hooligans. Sun: The Tighten Ups, Alvino and the Dwells, The Shenanigans. Mon: Car Seat Headrest, Octagrape, The Cardielles. Tue: Martin Courtney, Matt Kivel The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Sat: Andy Rourke (DJ set), Saul Q, Jon Blaj.

The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. Sat: Sierra West, Leaders in the Clubhouse, Daddy Issues.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Wed: Interrobang Brass, Balinger, Quel Bordel. Thu: Philosopher’s Ray Gun, Sundrop Electric, Future Age, Diamond Lakes. Fri: Domination CFH, Powerslaves, Full Collapse. Sat: Le Ra, Northern American, The Rosalyns. Tue: JB and the Movers, Juice Box, HM3.

The Office, 3936 30th St., San Diego.

North Park. Wed: ‘Wild Planet’ w/ DJs Jon Blaj, Comic Sans, ‘Trapped’ w/ DJ Ramsey. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Ikah Love. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’. Tue: ‘Trapped’.

The T Lounge, 1475 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Thu: Stanza.

The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, San Diego.

Gaslamp. Wed: Corey Gray, Jake Coco, Tay Watts Trio. Thu: Forward Steady Tour.

Fri: Diana Ferrer, Nate Donnis, Amy Hall.

Sat: Cassie B Band, Charlie Rae Band, Chad and Rosie. Sun: Pat Dowling. Mon: Lucky Devils, Rosewood & Rye. Tue: Kenny & Deez.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Fri: Broken Gold, Western Settings, Diamond Lakes. Sat: Deadbolt, The Mission Creeps, The Fink Bombs.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., San Diego.

Bay Park. Thu: Blue Largo. Fri: Give Me Back My Wig. Sat: The Profit Heist. Tue: Rhythm & The Method.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: Skaal, Boss Fight, Horsefly. Sat: Sideshow, The Undesirables, The Dangerfields, Repeat Offenders, Wet Brain.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave., San Diego.

North Park. Wed: DJ Mo Lyon. Thu: ‘Throwback Thursday’. Fri: Lee Churchill.

Sat: DJ Qenoe.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, San Diego.

South Park. Wed: Dorkbot, ‘Dorkbot’ w/ Tom Erbe, Elle Mehrmad. Fri: ‘F-ing in the Bushes’. Sat: ‘80s vs. 90s’ w/ DJs Gabe, Saul. Sun: Death Eyes, The Grids, Cruz Radical Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., San Diego.

Ocean Beach. Wed: Euphonics, Shocks of Mighty, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Modern Day Moonshine. Fri: ‘SUBDVSN’.

Sat: Ryan Bowers, Atlantis Rizing. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Southern Brew Band, Delta Sol Revival, Dusty Green Bones.

#SDCityBeat

Last Words

Brendan Emmett Quigley

Off-shore banking Across 1. Wide path 6. Chin-up bar location 10. Pick up on eBay 13. Baseball Hall of Famer Martinez 14. Big name in kicks 15. Gift-wrappers necessity 16. Djokovic, to Federer 17. Pattern with curving figures 19. Horror director Roth 20. Pro vote 22. Black Panther co-founder Bobby 23. Smart set 27. Jokey confused word 29. Boat in Genesis 30. Libertarian Swanson 31. Org. that does patient work 32. ___ facie 35. With more marbles 37. Spotify setting: Abbr.

38. Hobby ... or a hint for how to finish the theme answers to this puzzle 41. Record Store Day purchases 42. Comic Bruce 43. DEA raids 44. Well-said 45. One locked in mortal combat 46. Extend outward 47. Cheering word 48. “Briefly ...”

53. Get ready to advance on a sac fly, say 55. London’s loc.

56. Chop (off) 57. Eventually 60. Came to Last week’s answers

#SDCityBeat

62. Body lang.?

63. “___ On Down The Road” 64. Jogged along 65. Chin strap’s covering 66. Some whiskeys 67. You can plan on them, briefly

Down 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Mall binge “Mack the Knife” composer Kurt Big name in ibuprofen Refrain part Sought-after object in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” 6. Country where ninjas come from 7. Sinatra’s Gardner 8. Wii Sports avatar 9. Co-sleeper alternative 10. Spices used in Indian cooking 11. Superlatively at the top 12. “So’s ___ old man!”

15. Drink for caddies 18. ___ & Perrins 21. Outburst when you see a little home invader 24. Brand with a pawprint in its logo 25. Person who has to watch orientation videos 26. Boxer Liston 28. Ice cream treats 32. Covered with icebergs, probably 33. Kentucky Wildcats’ home 34. “Rules are rules” 35. Hidalgo honorific 36. Some evidence to the contrary 39. Windshield clearer 40. The “R” of “Notorious R.B.G.” 46. Comic/crossword nut Stewart 48. “Brah” 49. Does a little weightlifting, e.g.

50. Skip the $50K wedding, say 51. Nudged on Facebook (does anybody still use this?)

52. Some presidential candidate writings, say 54. Tater ___ 57. Pilgrimage to Mecca 58. Shot from a UFO 59. “___ your brain!”

61. Pot stickers pot

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

32 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

34 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 35

36 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 37

38 · San Diego CityBeat · January 13, 2016

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

January 13, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 39