advertis
ing sectio
n
P. 1 7
Choice P.6 Babies P.8 Heavy P.28
Meet our
Cover artist
P.23
2 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 3
Editor’s Note
Je ne suis pas Charlie I am not Charlie. By that, I don’t mean to say that I don’t stand in solidarity, symbolically at least, with the folks at the French publication Charlie Hebdo who were murdered last week by Islamic radicals. I do stand with them, symbolically. And I don’t mean to say they weren’t brave. They were certainly that. What I mean is that I am not that brave. I don’t know how other editors felt last Wednesday when they heard the news. I know only how I felt. It shook me to the marrow of my bones. For a split second, my body went cold. I probably turned white. My first thought wasn’t about standing up to terrorists who seek to quell free-expression; it was I don’t want to die. Like many others, I went to Twitter to document my thoughts. “I’m trying to get my head around the willingness to die for journalistic freedom, feeling lucky that I don’t have to make that commitment,” I wrote. Part of me regretted doing so, because I drew attention to myself. Almost immediately, someone suggested that CityBeat should reprint one of Charlie Hebdo’s provocative cartoons lampooning Muslim fundamentalism. Uh. I didn’t respond. I began soulsearching. What had I become in my middle age? I’m the editor of a brash alternative weekly—I’m supposed to be the ballsy one. The younger me, the fearless cub reporter, would probably have yelled, “Damn the torpedoes!” and enthusiastically backed the idea of reprinting the cartoons. But that cub reporter was not responsible for other people. Oh, and, also, that cub reporter wouldn’t have been among prime targets of a retaliatory attack. I could have said that while the Charlie Hebdo editors and cartoonists are certainly valiant crusaders for free expression, their work also contains elements of racism, so it’s not that simple. But if I’m being honest, I’m saying that it was more about not dying. Within minutes of that exchange on Twitter, I was asked to appear on KPBS radio and TV to talk about the massacre from a journalism perspective. Oh, great. More soul-searching. Much of what I had to say was about editors’ and publishers’ responsibility to protect innocent people—not only their editorial staffs, but also the people who sell ads and work in production. Not everyone who works in the
media is willing to die for their employer, or for a cause, no matter how lofty. After the radio segment, I tweeted, “Sounds like I’m getting timid in my old age. #existentialcrisis.” That hashtag at the end wasn’t simple throwaway humor. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown increasingly existential. That is, more and more, I’m questioning the meaning of human existence. I’ve never been exposed to religion on a personal level. I have no concept of God; I can only try to comprehend others’ religious orientations, a task at which I typically fail. Religion rarely makes sense to me, and the brutality and cruelty that occur in its name anger me and make me inclined to mock it (which factors into my opinion of Charlie Hebdo). I can hope for an afterlife—because finality freaks me out—but I ain’t counting on it. So, for me, the search for meaning is limited to life in the here and now. I have to make the best of this fleeting, microscopic existence however I can. Basically, I have to have as good a time as possible while I’m here, for as long as possible. And I want the people around me to live long, entertaining lives. That makes the list of things I’m willing to die for pretty short. I like to think I’d take a bullet to save the life of someone I love. Beyond that? Hmm. Not sure I’m willing to pack it in for a concept or a principle, and even if I am, I’m going to make damn sure everyone around me is, too. This is why I don’t think the media that have opted against republishing the cartoons are cowards. CityBeat occasionally mocks religion—we’ve poked fun at fundamentalist Christians, fundamentalist Muslims, orthodox Catholics and orthodox Jews. You never know whether a deranged, fanatical San Diegan will be set off by something he or she reads in these pages. But chances are, we’ll never be violently attacked; this is all likely just a lot of mental hand-wringing on my part. Alright, that’s enough. To end, I’ll just say that I’m sorry—sorry that such ugliness and pain and sorrow and death happens so often for such stupid, meaningless reasons. I hope I never contribute to it.
—David Rolland What do you think? Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com
This issue of CityBeat bought all its Valentine’s Day gifts early because it knows how CVS jacks up the prices later.
Our cover art is by Paola Villaseñor. Read about her on Page 23.
Volume 13 • Issue 23
Arts Editor Kinsee Morlan
Contributors Ian Cheesman, David L. Coddon, Seth Combs, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Peter Holslin, Dave Maass, Scott McDonald, Jenny Montgomery, Susan Myrland, Mina Riazi, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Jen Van Tieghem
Staff Writer Joshua Emerson Smith
Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse
Web Editor Ryan Bradford
Production artist Rees Withrow
Art director Lindsey Voltoline
Intern Narine Petrosyan
Columnists Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza
Vice President of Operations David Comden
MultiMedia Advertising Director Paulina Porter-Tapia
Publisher Kevin Hellman
Editor David Rolland Associate Editor Kelly Davis Music Editor Jeff Terich
Senior account executive Jason Noble Account Executives Beau Odom, Kimberly Wallace Circulation manager Beau Odom Accounting Alysia Chavez, Kacie Cobian, Linda Lam Human Resources Andrea Baker
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
Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami
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 14, 2015
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 5
Joshua Emerson Smith
bonus
news Brutally expensive
Nicole Capretz, executive director of the newly formed Climate Action Campaign (left), and operations director Kath Rogers
Nicole versus Goliath The coming debate over how to green San Diego’s energy grid by Joshua Emerson Smith San Diego’s not the only city thinking about kicking its fossil-fuel habit. While the city’s draft Climate Action Plan calls for using all renewable energy by 2035, San Jose aims to hit that target by 2022. San Francisco may completely ditch carbon-based electricity by 2020. And using hydropower, Aspen, Colorado, could go completely green this year. But like many cities, San Diego’s plan is not set in stone. Before a final version is presented for City Council approval, the document must undergo months of public review, during which language can be tweaked and goals shifted. That’s why the chief architect of the climate plan, Nicole Capretz, is gearing up for a fight. In preparation, Capretz, a two-time City Council staffer and one of the region’s most energetic environmentalists, recently launched her own advocacy group, Climate Action Campaign. In its fledgling stages, the nonprofit is a two-person team with one basic mission: “We will be playing a watchdog role to make sure the city is implementing the document in the timeline we outlined,” she explained. Central to her vision is something called community choice aggregation (CCA), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Capretz believes, will stop at nothing to prevent the city from adopting it. “Unfortunately, they’re going to mislead the public about what community choice is and what it means,” she said. “They will search for emissaries to convey their message.” SDG&E officials deny this. They supported a bill in the state Legislature last year that activists said would have dealt a deathblow to CCA. But, under state law, utilities are prohibited from marketing or lobbying against the development of a particular CCA program, and SDG&E has pledged to comply. “When it comes to CCA, we support our customers’ right to choose its electricity-service provider, and that includes a CCA,” said SDG&E spokesperson Amber Albrecht. Nonetheless, Capretz is ready for battle, which she says will kick off this spring when the city is expected to release
6 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
a feasibility study estimating electrical costs for ratepayers under the CCA program. “The minute that study goes public is the minute the war is on,” she said. “I know SDG&E will be tearing apart every word.” If Capretz seems zealous about the climate plan, perhaps it’s because she’s labored over the city’s most important environmental document for more than four years, shepherding it through some tumultuous terrain. As far back as 2010, as a policy director for the Environmental Health Coalition, she chaired a citizens advisory committee that routinely sparred with then-Mayor Jerry Sanders over whether the climate plan should have legally binding mandates. “We had a really progressive group that wanted to develop an ambitious climate action plan, and any kind of recommendation we would put forward, the mayor would veto,” she said. “At the end of the day, we wanted everything to be enforceable, and they wanted everything to be voluntary.” As a former staffer for environment-focused Councilmember Donna Frye, Capretz was used to facing off against the city’s conservative establishment. And when Sanders effectively put the climate plan on a shelf, she refused to give up. At the time, counties in Northern California had started implementing CCAs, and the idea was getting a lot attention in environmental circles. Under state law, municipalities can form a public entity—often a joint-powers authority—that takes control over a service area’s “power portfolio.” That means the agency decides, through a public board, where to buy energy and designs rate plans for its customers. “It’s a public process that people are a part of,” said Kath Rogers, operations director for the Climate Action Campaign. “Right now, our whole energy system here in San Diego is only accountable to shareholders and profits.” Traditionally, private, investor-owned utilities negotiate contracts with power providers, whether they’re natural-gas companies or solar fields in the desert. To comply with state mandates, utilities have in recent years increased the amount of power they buy from renewable sources, and recently, SDG&E announced that it’s developing a pilot program, which could compete with a CCA. “The goal of getting to 100-percent renewable energy,
If Sheriff’s Deputy Randall Ribada had allowed Lee Lacy to walk 10 more feet out the front door of the Chula Vista Courthouse, the entire incident could’ve been avoided. Instead, the county last week coughed up $250,000 to settle a civil-rights case, according to a report by the County Counsel’s office. Attempting to resolve a routine auto violation at the courthouse in 2010, Lacy, now 27, got into an argument with Deputy Elizabeth Palmer, according to the lawsuit. After having his car inspected by a different deputy earlier that day, Lacy said, he was told by a clerk that the officer hadn’t properly signed off on a fix-it ticket. While trying to find the deputy, Lacy encountered Palmer, who told him that the ticket couldn’t be approved by deputies at the courthouse. He and Palmer got into an argument, and after a heated exchange, Lacy was told to leave. As Lacy was walking away, Ribada, who overheard the exchange, followed him toward the courthouse exit and grabbed his arm from behind—the altercation was captured on security video. Lacy pulled away. Within seconds, the deputy was in Lacy’s face, and, once again, Lacy tried to pull away from the officer’s grasp. “They just drove me to the ground,” Lacy said. “I had sheriffs jump[ing] on my back and pulling my arms and my legs getting punched. My back was getting kneed.” Nearly a dozen deputies rushed to detain Lacy. They threw him to the floor and beat him in the courthouse lobby, according to the lawsuit. He was taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital, where he waited in handcuffs and shackles in the emergency room before being treated for severe bruising. Initially, Lacy was charged with four felony counts for assault on an officer, said Lacy’s lawyer, Julia Yoo. But as part of a plea deal, the charges were downgraded to an infraction and Lacy was ordered to pay a $75 fine. Lacy filed a lawsuit against the county and the Sheriff’s Department in 2012, as well as complaints with the Sheriff’s internal-affairs unit and the Citizen’s Law Enforcement Review Board. During the trial, Lacy learned that internal affairs and CLERB had found no evidence of misconduct. In December, a jury awarded Lacy $62,000 in damages, plus attorney fees, based on Ribada’s conduct, according to court documents. The county Board of Supervisors settled the lawsuit on Jan. 6 for the larger sum after a Yoo threatened to appeal. “What was most troubling is the lack of accountability and oversight and proper investigation,” Yoo said. “It was appalling. It’s a systemic problem.” —Joshua Emerson Smith I think there’s a number of ways that that could happen,” SDG&E’s Albrecht said. “We share the same desire to achieve the greenhouse-gas reductions, but there’s also a number of ways to achieve that.” Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner loved the idea of handing the authority of where to buy power over to a public entity, and Capretz and others were encouraged by his support. However, Filner didn’t get much done before he resigned amid scandal. In the meantime, CCAs Sonoma Clean Power and Marin Clean Energy launched plans offering customers 100-percent-renewable-energy plans. Private utilities weren’t necessarily happy about it.
When a city votes to form a CCA, all customers in the service area are automatically switched to the public program. Pacific Gas & Electric and SDG&E lobbied state lawmakers to support a bill that would’ve required ratepayers to opt in to a CCA, requiring paperwork before people could join the program. Meanwhile, then-San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria took over as interim mayor, hired Capretz as director of environmental policy and instructed her to resurrect the climate plan. Within six months, the result was an aggressive document, which called for using CCA to phase out the use of non-renewable energy within 20 years. Part of the reason Capretz decided to leave government and form her own watchdog group was, she said, the continued pressure she got from “high-level city management” to nix enforceable mandates in the climate plan. “I knew that in order to make sure the plan was passed with the same goals, and to ensure that community choice had a fair shot, we needed to build a base of support,” she said. “It takes an outside organization to do the outreach and education to explain what is community choice.” Along with City Attorney Jan Goldsmith’s office and Chief Operating Officer Scott Chadwick, former Planning Director Bill Fulton was the most vocal critic, she said. “He probably posed the strongest opposition. So it really became Todd choosing my perspective or Bill’s perspective.” Fulton did not respond to CityBeat’s attempts to contact him for this story. Gloria’s office declined to comment. When Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer took office last spring, many in the environmental community feared that he and city staff would gut the climate plan under pressure from the businesses community. In the run-up to the release of his draft in September, San Diego Gas & Electric spent a significant amount of time at City Hall, according to lobbying disclosure reports. Francisco Urtasun, regional vice president of SDG&E, lobbied Faulconer and Republican City Councilmember Lorie Zapf on the climate plan and related issues more than a dozen times in eight months. Employees of SDG&E and its parent company, Sempra Energy, reported making campaign donations of $16,075 to Faulconer, $2,850 to Zapf and $8,000 to freshly minted Republican Councilmember Chris Cate. When asked about the Mayor’s stance on implementing a CCA, spokesperson Craig Gustafson said, “The Mayor’s decision on whether to move forward with a CCA will be dependent on [the feasibility study], as well as stakeholder input and public outreach.” However, despite lobbying by SDG&E, the mayor and the City Council agreed to oppose the opt-in legislation in Sacramento that environmentalists feared. Then, shortly after, Faulconer released a climate plan that, to the surprise of many, maintained a strong renewableenergy mandate. In a subtle move, he also watered down the requirement for a CCA by allowing for other options that could meet the 100-percent-renewable-energy requirement.
“The mayor’s draft Climate Action Plan tweaked the language regarding CCAs to allow for other ways, specifically SDG&E-administered, of achieving 100-percent renewable energy,” Gloria told CityBeat. Capretz believes that SDG&E lobbied the Mayor’s office to remove CCA from the plan, something that would likely have violated the prohibition on lobbying and marketing against the program. “Frankly, SDG&E lobbied really hard to get him to take community choice out,” she said. “What they got instead is they diluted the language.” The Mayor’s office denied this, saying the decision to explore alternatives to CCA was not a response to concerns made by SDG&E officials.
“It’s important that all options are considered in order to achieve 100-percent renewable,” Gustafson said. For Capretz, the issue is both complex and simple. While building her coalition, she’ll undoubtedly talk for hours about the nuances of energy policy and lay out why she supports CCA. But, ultimately, in her view, fighting climate change in the city means one thing: facing off with one of the region’s most powerful special interests. “Monopolies are not efficient by nature,” she said. “At this point, what we need is competition and choice. We need to allow for innovation and change.” Write to joshuas@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 7
edwin
sordid tales
decker New rules for flying on airplanes with babies Delta Flight 1229 / San Diego to Newark, Dec. 22, damnable brood. 2014: I am en route to New York for the holidays. As “Please, Odin, please,” I pray, as they tornado per usual when flying, I pop a couple of Vikings (my down the aisle. “Please don’t let them sit nearby.” pet name for the pharmaceutical barbarians known But my prayers find no purchase, and the uncivias Vicodin) and then settle into aisle seat 21C and lized pagans pour into the row directly behind me. wait for the Valkyries of Norse Lore to whisk me to Well, shoot me in the teeth and call it dentistry if it Valhalla—Viking heaven. isn’t a Three Baby Plane. At first, the plane is boarding smoothly. There After the passengers are seated and the plane are no drunken rabble-rousers stumbling down reaches cruising altitude, I wait for the flight atthe aisle, no terroristy-looking characters loading tendants to roll out the beverage chariot. Ever so bulky, black duffels into the overheads, no chattyslowly, it creeps down the aisle. Ever so slowly, the fatty sitting in the seat beside me anxious to start attendants pour and deliver the drinks. Ever so yammering about his or her fascinating job proofslowly, my nerves begin to fray and snap. reading Ikea assembly manuals. And as I look out When it finally arrives, I remove the plugs from the window to execute my requisite inspection of my ears, open the lid to the overhead compartment the plane’s exterior, I am pleased to note that there’s and climb back down into my seat. I order two not a single aviation technician tinkering with the mini-bottles of vodka (they’re all out of grog), snort horizontal wing stabilizer with a confused and wor’em back with a chase of Mary mix and wait for one ried look on his face. of the lovely and gallant Valkyrie goddesses to take In short, all is going well on Delta Flight 1229 me away. And take me away she does. On a winged from Lindbergh to Newark—until, that is, I hear a horse, my beloved Brynhildr lifts me up, up, up to terrible sound. It’s the sound of a baby happily gurthe gates of Valhalla, wrapped within a glowing, gling and cooing and making all those other happypulsing cocoon of asexual ecstasy. baby noises that, in other settings, Behind the gate sits the feared evoke a sense of joy in people. and powerful Odin. I approach the However, when those noises are throne, kneel before him and say, Ever so slowly, the heard during boarding, they in“Yo, Pops! Three babies? For reals?” attendants pour and spire great dread. Because everyThis displeases the Allfather, and one knows that no child, not even he releases a cacophonous bellow. deliver the drinks. a young Mahatma Gandhi, with a It sounds how you would imagine Ever so slowly, tit in his mouth and a lullaby in his three lyndwyrms would sound if my nerves begin earbuds, can remain calm during a their diapers were soiled and their five-hour flight. ears were popping from altitude. to fray and snap. It’s then that I’m visited by It’s a scream so piercing, it lurches Odin, the Viking Allfather, lord of me from my golden slumber to see all mortals and god of all gods, who not one, not two, but all three babies whispers, “Not to worry Edvar. It won’t be long bethrashing and shrieking, the two delinquents swingfore the hydrocodone kicks in and you will be skiping on oxygen masks like a marauding band of berping through the meadows of Valhalla, where no serker monkeys and the father playing Words With baby may bellow.” Fuckrods and wearing noise-canceling headphones. Comforted by that thought, I settle back and Now, it should be known, for the record, that I patiently wait for the beautiful brain shine that don’t dislike children. Not only are they cute and comes after you swallow a couple of quality pharcuddly; they also make great fishing bobbers. And, I truly am sympathetic to the fact that parents have maceuticals. But then, another woman steps on to fly with their offspring from time to time. I just board carrying another squirming infant; it looks think we need better rules that are fair to everyone. like a lindwyrm, actually—the serpentine creature For instance, there should be a two-baby maximum of Norse mythology. for any flight lasting more than two hours. And the “Stop yer whining, Edvar!” thunders Odin, the airlines should always keep kiddy muzzles and Furious One. “You already ate the Vicodin. Just add kiddy tranquilizers on hand. Also, children should some hot grog to the mix and the Valkyries will take be placed in an exit row, so that if the hellhound you to Valhalla twice as fast and thrice as hard.” adorable little angel should become uncontrollable, That might actually work, I think. A one-two a quick yank of the lever and it’ll be sucked out of punch of alcohol and Vicodin might just do the trick the plane with relatively minimal fuss. Oh yeah, and on a two-baby plane. Ah, but it’s a moot point as, no more of this “Babies fly free” nonsense. Babies unbelievably, a third lindwyrm boards the aircraft. pay extra! The airlines can use the money to pay And let me tell you, this is no goo-goo-gooing Baby for muzzles, tranqs, noise-canceling headphones, Gandhi. It’s already bawling and thrashing in the complimentary booze and complimentary doses of arms of its harried mother as she plods down the Vikings for all passengers—alle hagl Odin. aisle, followed by a couple of unruly, obnoxious preschoolers, then an adult male, probably the father, Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com whose fuckrod face is so deeply buried in his assand editor@sdcitybeat.com. Phone that he couldn’t be bothered to control his
8 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
by michael a. gardiner Michael A. Gardiner
right side of the plate. Corazon’s garden appeared in showy form in the beef tartare dish, a light smoke treatment giving the meat a sexy luster. A single baby nasturtium leaf (bright green and both peppery and acidic) and a borage flower (periwinkle blue with cucumber-oyster notes) provided visual and flavor fireworks, dancing over and around the savory-smoky tartare. Perhaps the dish of the meal was a corn tamale with suckling pig, parsnips and yellow mole. The smoked beef tartare Chef Diego Hernandez’s sensual, dramatic presentation—an egg-shaped tamale with a mysterious charred-oil sheen, the jutting tip of a parsnip launching off the tamale, all atop a yellow mole—was striking, but it was the soulful depth of the dish that really struck. The warm corn flavors of the tamale echoed the rich suckling pig, and bright and The heart of the Valle crunchy parsnips provided flavor and textural contrast with the light spice of the mole—angular Charlemagne the Truck struggled on the rutted and yet well-rounded—completing the dish. incline, tires spinning on loose dirt, four-wheel A yellowtail with red-pepper emulsion and red drive be damned. Could the best restaurant in the chard was well-executed but less inspired: nothValle de Guadalupe—one of the 50 best in Latin ing I hadn’t tasted before. Pork neck in mother America—possibly be up this road? I was expectsauce with carrots and parsnip purée was better, ing a “Welcome to the middle of nowhere” sign. a study in contrasts between the savory suppleOr make that “Bienvenida al medio de la nada.” ness of the muscle and the crispy, caramelized How, I wondered, could the sorts of prisskin, and also between the puréed parsnips and tine vegetables required by a restaurant of the the roasted carrots, with a surprisingly sweet reputation of Corazon de Tierra (Rancho San baby bell pepper joining the fun. But the mother Marcos S/N, El Porvenir, 22984, Valle de Guasauce—a reduction that’s been continuing for dalupe, corazondetierra.com) possibly survive three years, new stock being added on a regular these roads? As I pulled Charlemagne around basis—stole the show on one hand and complethe bend and past the overturned boat hulls that mented the entirety of the dish on the other. form the roof of the Vena Cava winery, I saw the Corazon’s menu changes almost daily, so the answer to my question: Corazon’s kitchen’s supdishes we tasted will likely not be yours. But ply chain ran mere feet from its own adjacent, those superlative gardens and Hernandez’s talextensive gardens. ent for using them to make flavors pop and dishes Those gardens’ most direct expression was surprise are the reason to hazard those roads to an arugula salad with chioga beet. Every leaf, arget there. On our way down the hill, Charlemagne rayed asymmetrically on the plate, was crisp, pepthe Truck struggled once again; he’d seen better pery and perfectly dressed. The beet lent the dish roads, better days. I, on the other hand, cannot say I’ve enjoyed many better meals. sweetness but also highlighted the earth from whence it came. The surprise lay in the crunch Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com of the seeds and nuts that, oddly and pleasantly, and editor@sdcitybeat.com. were the only items daring to encroach into the
the world
fare
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 9
by ian cheesman
beer &
ian cheesman
chees
The next wave of Vista brewing I can think of very few reasons why you would ever need to storm out of Mother Earth Brewing Company’s (MEBC) taproom in Vista. I’ve never experienced any beer or personality there that would send me out in a huff. I once encountered a collie with an inappropriate sense of nose-to-crotch boundaries there, but you can hardly fault MEBC for that. Still, should you need to beat a hasty retreat, Wavelength Brewing (236 Main St., facebook.com/wavelength Beers that add constructive interference to the scene brewingco) is the perfect storming distance away. styles. Wavelength offered a core set of six ales, After nearly one year in preparation and derepresenting everything from a bright red ale to velopment, Wavelength opened its doors just a Cascadian dark ale. There was even a bonus a hair before 2015. They’ve literally gutted the grapefruit IPA to complement the standard IPA. previous establishment from floor to ceiling, That’s not too shabby for being open for less creating an almost-cavernous space to grow than a week. into. It’ll be filled with tables or stools momenIn general, I found each beer had some real tarily, but that seems a tragic misstep to me. character to it, if not necessarily in the dimenWhy walk away from the distinction of being sions I was hoping for. The Cascadian dark ale, the only tasting room in San Diego capable of for example, had some wonderful pine, earth hosting regulation-sized dodgeball matches? and smoky aspects to it, but it felt somewhat It’s a niche that’s long overdue to be filled. thin and mild in the finish. Similarly, the IPA While Wavelength Brewing is a catchy delivered a vibrant pineapple and citrus blast to enough name, there were myriad reasons for its the palate, but it lacked aromatics and tenacity selection. One obvious source of inspiration was in the finish. Conversely, the brown and Czech owner Hans Haas’ background in professional golden ale seemed more aggressively hopped sound design, but it extends beyond his enthusithan I would expect. My favorite by far was the asm for technology and music. He shared, “Our grapefruit IPA, which emulated a mild, ruby-red motto is ‘Full Spectrum Beer,’ and what that grapefruit’s sweet / sour blend with surprising means is we like it all, from the lightest to the fidelity. Tasting particulars aside, at only $10 for darkest, hoppy to the malty.” a flight of six beers, it’s well worth giving them Unfortunately, the creativity employed in all a whirl to see how they work for you. naming the brewery (not to mention the wonWhile Wavelength Brewing will not have its derfully nerdy alternate physics-laced motto, official grand opening until Jan. 31, it will still be “So Good It Hz”) was somehow exhausted by open Wednesday through Sunday at noon and the time they got to naming the beers. Each occasionally trot out new beers like the orange item on the tap list is simply called out by its wheat for your consideration. And if you aren’t style category, which, in this context, feels like feeling it for some reason, storming distance is applicable in both directions. lovingly bringing a newborn into the world and then naming it “child.” Write to ianc@sdcitybeat.com Lackluster names notwithstanding, the tap and editor@sdcitybeat.com. list certainly delivered the promised diversity of
10 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
by Mina Riazi mina riazi
noon, with the falling sun setting it aglow, it brimmed with the kind of glittery optimism of which I am usually suspicious. My suspicions were quelled when I saw the chalkboard menu—an ambitious, expansive collection of breakfast items, salads, bowls, wraps and rolls. The menu boasts 100-percent organic, vegan, glutenfree and soy-free fare. An extensive dessert list stars familiar favorites like cheesecake and brownie and apple pie, but a closer reading of the descriptions reveals major differences. In the apple pie, cashew cream substitutes for the dairy stuff, and the cheesecake is no cheese and all nuts. My one criticism of vegan restaurants is their constant referencing to nonvegan foods within their menus, which Trilogy Sanctuary’s Dip-o-Mania I read as a desperate attempt to remain relevant. Trilogy’s BLTrilogy Crepe features “eggplant bacon” that bears no resemblance to the porky original. Squishy chunks of eggplant are satisfying, yes, but nothing like the salty, oily Sunday-morning breakfast staple. The BLTrilogy Crepe’s looks are also not very convincing: a porous, buckwheat crepe reminds me of mulch. The A three-in-one punch spongy texture offset by crisped edges is pleasant, though, and I soon forgot about the eggplant’s Lunch at Native Foods a few years ago marked failed attempt to copy the inimitable bacon. my first foray into vegan cuisine. That afterTrilogy’s Two Perfect Tacos are really, really noon, my vocabulary expanded to make room for good. A crunchy house-made corn tortilla hugs “tempeh” and “seitan” and “quinoa.” Dunking a quinoa chorizo, roasted sweet potatoes, eggplant sweet-potato fry into vegan ranch dressing, I was bacon, avocado and a spicy almond sauce. Somesuddenly awash in rainbow-colored feelings of how, the jumble of ingredients ties together cleanwonderment and awe. After all, at the time, Naly, producing flavor that is focused and direct. tive Foods was one of only a few eateries offering Trilogy’s Dip-o-Mania platter has raw celan entirely vegan menu. ery and carrot sticks, organic dehydrated veggie Since then, things have changed considerably. chips and a trio of house-made dips. The result is Mere mention of kale doesn’t cause eyebrows to a fun-to-eat splattering of colors and tastes and rise in confusion, and restaurants serving up vegtextures, an imaginative spin on the standard an, gluten-free fare are no longer the oddballs. veggie-and-dip platter. The dips, especially the Take Trilogy Sanctuary, which opened respicy chipotle sauce, are especially tasty. cently in La Jolla (7650 Girard Ave., trilogysanc The eggplant bacon appears a second time in tuary.com). The café, yoga studio and spiritual the Spectacular Spaghetti Squash, a texturally center is owned by Joe Caldera, who also overunappealing dish that is nevertheless hearty, ensees a spiritual coaching business, and Leila Dora, riched by a cashew-based “cheese” sauce. a yoga teacher. Chef Scott Steele helms the vegan Trilogy Sanctuary’s imaginative and experiand gluten-free café located beside the outdoor mental menu is nowhere near perfect, but it’s good enough to lure you back. aerial yoga deck, meaning you can ogle gravitydefying acrobats while waiting for your food. The Write to minar@sdcitybeat.com café sits on a 2,000-square-foot roof terrace overand editor@sdcitybeat.com. looking the ocean, and on a recent Sunday after-
One Lucky
Spoon
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 11
[T echnology ] no life
offline
by dave maass
High-resolution resolutions for 2015 By now, we can all agree that New Year’s resolutions are about as likely to come true as the wishes you make when you blow out your birthday candles. However, as I enter my 36th year on the planet, and my 25th year or so as an online entity, now is as good as time as any to lay out some goals for the year when it comes to my digital behaviors. We can also agree by now that columnists who publish their introspective New Year’s-resolution lists are just desperate to fill page-space after a long holiday break that wasn’t a tenth as productive as they initially intended. Still, though, in looking forward, I think I’ve put together five achievable goals that, if I do genuinely pursue them after my still-lingering hangover dissipates (pukey cheers to you, heavy-pourers at the Whistle Stop), could be enlightening and entertaining to readers. I’ll update throughout the year with what I’ve learned—unless, of course, I’m too embarrassed to admit that I failed. Resolution No. 1: Keep my desktop clear: As of this morning, I have 195 items sitting on my Apple desktop, a cumulative 97.2 megabytes of random web downloads, screen captures and document drafts. My former CityBeat coworkers will attest that this sloppiness pretty much mirrors the physical reality of my desk when I worked out of CityBeat’s offices in North Park. This year, I resolve to keep things organized enough that my desktop wallpaper (Spider Jerusalem from the comic book Transmetropolitan) is not obscured by useless pieces of digital detritus. At the very least, I’ll create the equivalent of the kitchen junk drawer in my Documents folder. Resolution No. 2: Play around with Bitcoin: I write a column that purports to report back from the frontlines of the Internet and yet, here I am, still paying for things with plastic cards and flimsy pieces of grimy paper when there’s a vibrant new currency system turning the traditional money system on its head. Over the holidays, I set up a Coinbase account, and this year I plan to track if / how my investment grows and to pay for at least one mundane item in the real world with Bitcoin. Resolution No. 3: Track my E-reading habits: When I was a kid, Pizza Hut offered an incentive to students: Read books, get free personal pan pizzas. I obsessed over this, burning through texts and keeping a list as proof of progress. Through the decades, keeping track of the literature I consumed over a given year was easy: I could just look at the bookshelf and eyeball the new additions. During the last two years, though, I’ve moved exclusively to digital books and between Apple Books, Amazon Kindle and ComiXology, and by December, I’d completely forgotten what I read. This year, I’ve started a Google doc, but I also hope to track down a better app.
12 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
Resolution No. 4: Do not exceed my monthly cell data limit: Exceeding your data limit is the new bank overdraft. When I bought the iPhone 5, Verizon wouldn’t allow me to carry over the awesome unlimited data plan that I’d subscribed to for years. Now, at least three or four times a year, Verizon texts me urgently to let me know that I’m about to blast past the limit and will consequently start paying significantly higher rates for each megabyte. This year, I pledge to not only monitor my traffic, but also to turn the stream off when I’m not using it in order to cripple apps that secretly transmit data even when not in use. Resolution No. 5: Publish a Just Dance video: I go to the gym, and I go on long walks, but I also contribute to my health with regular sessions on Just Dance, the popular video game where you bust moves to current pop songs. The 2014 version has a feature that allows you to record video, which it then remixes into shareable clips. So far, I got no rhythm. But if all goes according to plan, sometime this year, I will present you with a dance video that won’t totally suck. Or, maybe, I’ll just pretend that this column was never printed. Write to davem@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
the
SHORTlist
ART
COORDINATED BY KINSEE MORLAN
PABLO MASON
1
FUN WITH BIODIVERSITY
Hey, you guys! Let’s go to the San Diego Natural History Museum to learn about the region’s biodiversity! Ugh! No! Boring! Absolutely not, says Michael Field, the museum’s lead designer, who spent three years crafting Coast to Cactus in Southern California, the upcoming exhibition, opening Saturday, Jan. 17, at the Nat (1788 El Prado in Balboa Park). “Of all the exhibits I’ve ever done of 30 years, this is by far the most fun,” he says. “There’s humor throughout, and there are little
2
BACK AND BETTER
The New Americans Museum is ready for Take 2. From 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, it’ll re-open in its Liberty Station space (2825 Dewey Road, Suite 102, in Point Loma) for the first time since shuttering in 2009. This time, the organization will bring in original, commissioned exhibitions (as opposed to traveling exhibits, which were often featured before) and spearhead projects that celebrate the stories of immigrant communities in the U.S. Kicking things off will be Narratives of Resilience: Reimagining Homeland, a two-inone show featuring a collection of woven tapestries from San Isidro, Colombia, and contemporary work by Los Angeles artist Carolyn Castaño, whose work explores the impact of armed conflict on women in Colombia. The show will be on view through March 21. newamericansmuseum.org
surprises throughout.” For instance, how about a realistic, computer-driven robotic rat that suddenly scurries across a fiberglass roof of a display that depicts a canyon-facing backyard of a midcentury North Clairemont home? The rat’s random movements never repeat. Or a drawer that opens to reveal a growling mother opossum defending her babies, as she might do in someone’s garage? Coast to Cactus will take folks on a hike that begins at Peñasquitos Lagoon, then heads to Torrey Pines, then to that North Clairemont backyard and adjacent canyon bottom. From there it goes to the chaparral for an immersive experience with how wildfire impacts the environment, then on to the mountains, where the focus is the effect of climate change on local pine forests. The last stop is the desert, where one side is springtime in bloom and the other is a theater setting where you can sit and see the desert at night through the experience of camping kids. Some of the displays play with scale—for example, a 2-inch wetland mud sample with normally tiny critters is blown up to 5 feet tall, “and all these animals are giant,” Field says. Kids can crawl into burrows to see huge shore crabs. Folks can play a native-or-not guessing game. There are things to touch and smell. “We’ve got a front-row seat to the biggest extinction event in history,” Field says. “There’s 22 million people all living in this little strip from Santa Barbara to Ensenada—that’s put a lot of pressure on these plants and animals, and many of these plants and animals are only found in this coastal strip.” But it’s not all bad news, he says: “We live in this incredible place, with this incredible biodiversity, and it’s still fantastic.” sdnhm.org
3
FUNNY BUSINESS AND PLEASURE
So, you’ve been practicing your standup and want to size up the competition, or perhaps you’re simply a connoisseur of the comedic arts. Either way, if laughter is your medicine, the doctor is in. Back again after its debut last year, the San Diego Comedy Festival has lined up 10 days of events, including comedy contests, seminars for beginning standups, mixers and performances by comedians from around the country. Headliners inJeff Dye clude Bob Zany, regular guest of the Bob and Tom Show radio program, as well as Jeff Dye, host of MTV’s Money from Strangers. The festival runs Thursday, Jan. 15, through Sunday, Jan. 25, at the Comedy Palace (8878 Clairemont A film still from Women Who Create Mesa Blvd.). Day passes start at $20, $300 for a full by Carolyn Castaño VIP festival pass. sandiegocomedyfest.com
dolphinandhawk.com
Raw Artists Visionary at House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. An artistic showcase featuring a film screening, musical performance, fashion show, art gallery, performance art and a featured hairstylist and makeup artist. From 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14. $15-$20. 619-299-BLUE, rawartists.org/ sandiego/visionary Extended School Partnership Program Showcase at MCASD Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. High Tech High Chula Vista art and humanities students created artwork and writings in response to the works on view at MCASD. Join them in the Berglund Room to celebrate their work. From 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. Free-$10. 858-4543541, mcasd.org Our Community in Focus at Space 4 Art, 325 15th St., East Village. Six KingChavez High School students from Logan Heights will showcase their photographs of their neighborhood. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. 619-2697230, sdspace4art.org HMarina Abramovic 3015 Work in Progress at UCSD Art Gallery, Mandeville Center, La Jolla. 3015 An installation of sound recordings in collaboration with artist Kim Stanley Robinson. Opening from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. imagination.ucsd.edu Fantastic Lens: Identity, Beauty, and Reimagining Reality at Rose Gallery, 6501 Linda Vista Road, Linda Vista. Photographers Remington Weinger and Kate Biel show current work that explores the frequently blended boundary between photographer and subject. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. arts atparker.wordpress.com HNarratives of Resilience: Reimaging the Homeland at New Americans Museum, 2825 Dewey Road, Point Loma. The museum celebrates its grand reopening with a show featuring weavings and mixed media that tell stories of displacement, resilience and eventual progress in small communities on the outskirts of Bogota and Medellin, Columbia. Opening from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16. 619-756-7707, newameri cansmuseum.org HChee Chee Art Project at Chee Chee Club, 929 Broadway, Downtown. The first curated art show at the infamous dive bar. Works from the private collection of Alexander Salazar will also be on loan for the duration of the exhibit and local artists will display dive bar-inspired works. Opening from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, Jan. 16. 619-234-4404 HUnder the Same Sky at San Diego History Center, Balboa Park. As part of the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration, Noel-Baza Fine Art presents a pop-up gallery of contemporary landscapes as interpreted by San Diego artists like Theresa Donche, Alan Morrow, Kim Reasor and more. RSVP required. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16. 619-232-6203, noel-bazafineart.com Masterworks: Art of the Exposition Era at San Diego History Center, Balboa Park. Paintings from the 1915 PanamaCalifornia Expo art exhibition as well as masterworks from renowned California artists. Opening Friday, Jan. 16. Free$10. 619-232-6203, sandiegohistory.org Raw Contemporary Art: Jacob Ramsden at Dolphin and Hawk Fine Art Gallery, 7742 Herschel Ave., La Jolla. Ramsden’s art is conceptually driven and influenced by urban life in San Diego, surfing and snowboarding. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17.
Evenings at Madison Gallery, 1020 Prospect St., La Jolla. The New York-based artist behind the 9/11 memorial sculpture in London shows off new works in metals that explore themes of transformation, reflection and transcendence. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. madi songalleries.com Modern and Contemporary Master Prints at Meyer Fine Art, Inc., 2400 Kettner Blvd., Ste. 104, Little Italy. Lithographs, posters and paintings featuring works by Goya, Chagall, Picasso, Warhol, Johns, Miro and more. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. 619-358-9512, meyerfineartinc.com Expressions in Equality, Faces and Inspired by the Siddis: Quilts at Visions Art Museum: Contemporary Quilts Textiles, 2825 Dewey Road, Suite 100, Point Loma. Three new exhibitions: Expressions in Equality offers sometimes harsh and often poetic statements about the nature of discrimination. Inspired by the Siddis is a culture-blending take on quilt-making half a planet away and Faces presents a wide-ranging look on the first thing we see in the mirror. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. 619546-4872, visionsartmuseum.org Andy Warhol: Rare Photographs at Scott White Contemporary Art, 7655 Girard Ave., La Jolla. View rare and archival photographs from the master of pop art. Notable faces include portraits of Sylvester Stallone, Diana Ross and Keith Haring. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. 619-501-5689, scottwhiteart.com HSPF15 at Dog Beach, 5168 Voltaire Street, Ocean Beach. The first in a new series of art shows happening in a 10-by10-foot pop-up canopy on the beach. Features site-specific sound works, drawings and sculptures by Chicago artists Connor Creagan, Tim Mann and Jon Waites. From 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. facebook.com/spf15exhibitions
BOOKS Michael P. Rich at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The local police officer will present his new historic book, Images of America: San Diego Harbor Police, curated from the personal archives of early harbor police and the San Diego Unified Port District. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com Meryll Levine Page at Astor Judaica Library, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. The author signs and discusses Jewish Luck: A True Story, Deception and Risky Business, which recounts the intertwined stories of two women creating their own luck against the anti-Semitism and patriarchy of the Soviet regime. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. $10. 858-4573030, sdcjc.org HMax & Luther at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Part of the ongoing Weekend with Locals Program, the authors will stop by to promote their illustrated book, True Tails from the Dog Park. At noon Sunday, Jan. 18. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com HEric Topol, M.D. at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The cardiologist, professor of genomics and director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute will sign and discuss his new book, The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine is in Your Hands. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20. 858-4540347, warwicks.indiebound.com
CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 13
Brandon Sanderson at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave. Ste. 100, Clairemont. The author will sign the second book in the Reckoners series, Firefight. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Kitty Morsse The award-winning San Diego chef and author discusses her memoir, Mint Tea & Minarets, while guests enjoy a traditional Moroccan food and tea tasting. Location will be given upon registration. From 2:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20. $35. 858-268-4747, adventuresbythebook.com Jackie Gmach at Del Mar Library, 1309 Camino. Gmach will discuss and read from her book, From Bomboloni to Bagel: a Story of Two Worlds. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21. sdcl.org
COMEDY HSan Diego Comedy Festival at Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The second annual festival will feature comedians and national headliners, as well as contests, open mics, seminars and more. From Thursday, Jan. 15 through Sunday, Jan. 25. See website for full schedule. $20-$180. 858573-9067, sandiegocomedyfest.com HComic Strip: Comedy & Burlesque at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. This new night will feature local comics with burlesque dancers performing in between acts. At 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. $12. 619-795-3858, americancomedyco.com Mark Christopher Lawrence at North
Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. The local comic was a regular on the TV series Chuck and played DJ Tone Def in the cultclassic spoof Fear of a Black Hat. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20. $18. 858-4811055, northcoastrep.org
DANCE HDances of Love, Laughter and Loss at Mandell Weiss Theatre, UCSD, La Jolla. Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater presents two works that incorporate text and spoken word in collaboration with movement. At 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, and Saturday, Jan. 17, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. $15-$35. 619-225-1803, sandiegodancetheater.org
THEATER Activists meet in a riotous afterlife As leftist manifesto, Herbert Siguenza’s Steal Heaven is kick-ass, skewering deserved reactionary targets from the 1960s through today. Of course, sociopolitical commentary is nothing new to Siguenza, one of the founding members of the Chicano troupe Culture Clash. But as a work of theater, Steal Heaven, directed for San Diego Repertory Theatre by Siguenza and Todd Salovey, is rather contrived. This starts with the setup: In 2017, when the White House is occupied by President Paul Ryan, a “laptop activist” named Trish (Summer Spiro) is accidentally shot to death during a solo protest. She comes to in “limbo,” where none other than Abbie Hoffman (Siguenza) explains that if she proves herself worthy, she’ll be returned to her earthly body to carry on the cause of justice. And so Abbie’s training of Trish begins, with the ’60s leftist and the contemporary leftist trying to find common ground while mocking each other’s philosophical contradictions and instruments of demonstration. Popping in and out in comic cameos is Mark Pinter, variously portraying Einstein (colorfully), George Burns with stogie as God (so-so), Richard Nixon in a mask, Steve Jobs, Julia Childs (a howl) and others, including John Lennon (the Liverpool accent could use work, but he’s got the look down.) Cogent points about oppression, the insanity of war and the desperate need for peace fly like angry birds, and the tension between Abbie and Trish turns problematic when it’s revealed that, as a solider in Iraq, she killed five people. Lennon comes to the rescue, explaining (and I just can’t see Lennon, who was vehemently antiwar, doing this) that Trish did what she had to DAREN SCOTT
do and must forgive herself. But it brings Abbie and Trish together and ensures her eligibility to return to Earth. Music from the ’60s and ’70s and evocative screen projections (Trish’s acid trip truly is one) add layers to the otherwise predictable revolution polemics. So does the appearance on-screen of a “bullshit meter” that takes no prisoners, left or right, and merits some of the most raucous laughs. Steal Heaven is a one-act affair, but it could still use some paring (Spiro’s rap number?). But its intentions are noble ones just the same. It runs through Jan. 25 at the Lyceum Theatre at Horton Plaza, Downtown. $31-$75. sdrep.org
—David L. Coddon Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
OPENING Gunmetal Blues: By-the-numbers film-noir parody gets the musical treatment. Opens in previews on Jan. 14 at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org The Lion in Winter: King Henry II summons his previously imprisoned wife and his three sons to decide who’ll wear the crown next. Opens Jan. 15 at Avo Playhouse in Vista. moon lightstage.com ’night Mother: Last November, Ion Theatre produced a staged reading of this play about a divorced, epileptic woman whose life is a mess and she wants to end it. Now it’s back as a full production. Opens in previews on Jan. 15 at BLKBOX Theatre in Hillcrest. iontheatre.com One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest: A rabble-rouser fakes mental illness in order to serve his sentence in a hospital rather than prison. It doesn’t end well. Opens Jan. 16 at OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista. onstageplayhouse.org Sons of the Prophet: In this Pulitzer Prize finalist, a gay adult Lebanese immigrant living in Pennsylvania must care for his younger brother and ailing uncle in the wake of his father’s sudden death. Presented by Cygnet Theatre, it opens in previews on Jan. 15 at the Old Town Theatre. cygnettheatre.com Steel Magnolias: A newly married young diabetic and the question of whether she should have a baby are the focal points of a play about the friendship of a group of women in Louisiana. Opens Jan. 16 at the Broadway Theatre in Vista. broadwayvista.com Tribute: An actor is diagnosed with leukemia, prompting him to attempt to resolve his troubled relationship with his son. Presented by Scripps Ranch Theatre, it opens Jan. 17 at the Legler Benbough Theatre. scrippsranchtheatre.org
For full listings,
please visit “T heater ”
Herbert Siguenza
14 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
at sdcit ybeat.com
HTour de Dance: Time and Again at Dance Place San Diego, 2650 Truxtun Road, Point Loma. Tour guides will lead the audience through a performance of dances inspired by the human experience of time. RSVP required. From 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. 619-260-1622, malashockdance.org
FOOD & DRINK HSan Diego Beer Fest at NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. More than 50 breweries like Hess, Green Flash and Monkey Paw and Acoustic Ales, will be offering tastes at this fifth annual fest. There will also be live music and a fleet of food trucks. From 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. $40-$50. 619573-9300, sandiegobeerfest.com San Diego Restaurant Week Held twice annually, this culinary tradition features discounted prix-fixe menus from more than 180 San Diego restaurants. A portion of proceeds goes to charity. Sunday, Jan. 18, through Saturday, Jan. 24. $10-$45. sandiegorestaurantweek.com HEncinitas Restaurant Week This inaugural 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. Sunday, Jan. 18, through Saturday, Jan. 24. 619-686-8715, encinitas101.com
MUSIC The Benedetti Trio at Taylor Branch Library, 4275 Cass St., Pacific Beach. The PB Friends of the Library’s Concert Series continues with guitarist Fred Benedetti and his daughters. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14. 858-581-9934, pblibraryfriends.org HSACRA/PROFANA at San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park. The first concert in the new monthly Art of Music Concert Series, the show features new
work by Canadian composer and winner of SACRA/PROFANA’s 2012 Composition Contest, Jordan Nobles. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. $15-$20. 619-2327931, sdmart.org
Teen Strings at New Children’s Museum, 200 W. Island Ave., Downtown. Enjoy tunes from Mainly Mozart’s Youth Orchestra. From 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. $10. 619-233-8792, thinkplaycreate.org
Hred fish blue fish at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. UCSD’s resident percussion ensemble plays the first concert of the 2015 Fresh Sound music series. The band will premiere works from the last 85 years of western percussion’s rich history. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. $15. freshsoundmusic.com
HSalt Water Jazz at Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park. Guitarist and composer Peter Sprague will be joined by Fred Benedetti (guitar), Beth Ross Buckley (flute) and Gunnar Biggs (double bass) for a night of experimental jazz. At 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. $25-$30. 619-239-0003
Gidon Kremer and Daniil Trifonov at Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St, La Jolla. Part of La Jolla Music Society’s Celebrity Recital Series, the violinist and pianist will perform selections from Mozart, Schubert, Rachmaninoff and more. At 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. $35-$99. 858-454-3541, ljms.org
Peter Sprague and Leonard Patton at Scripps Miramar Ranch Library, 10301 Scripps Lake Drive, Scripps Ranch. The local jazz duo will play a concert featuring Sprague on guitar and Patton on vocals and percussion. At 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. srfol.org
The Yes Team at Lemon Grove Library, 8073 Broadway, Lemon Grove. Part of the Friends of the Library music series, the harmonious trio will play feel-good folk and roots covers. At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20. sdcls.homestead.com/ yesteam.html Jazzreach featuring Metta Quintet at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The jazz ensemble Metta Quintet performs with local high school jazz band students after a three-day intensive workshop. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21. $5-$15. 800-9884253, artcenter.org
SPECIAL EVENTS Find Your Neqtr Party at 3rdSpace,
4610 Park Blvd., University Heights. Celebrate the launch of new socially conscious app Neqtr. There’ll be music, drinks, mingling and a food drive to support Feeding America so, bring non-perishable food item to donate to the cause. From 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. Free-$5. 619-786-0251 Del Mar Antique Show and Sale at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd. The show features more than 250 antique dealers who’ll fill thousands of square feet with antiques, vintage collectibles and decorator items. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, and Saturday, Jan. 17, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. $8. 858-755-1161, calendarshows.com
CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
Tim Flannery and the Lunatic Fringe at Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, Balboa Park. Flannery and openers Lunatic Fringe kick off The Fleet’s second annual live concert series, Rock in the Park. Food, beer, wine and cocktails will be available for purchase. At 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16. $27-$32. 619-238-1233, rhfleet.org Westminster Chorus at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The barbershop group performs harmonies and choral theatrics. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. $20-$25. 800-988-4253, artcenter.org HTakacs String Quartet at Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St, La Jolla. Recognized as one of the world’s greatest string quartets, the ensemble will perform selections from Debussy, Beethoven and others. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. $30$80. 858-454-3541, ljms.org HMartin Luther King Jr. Choir at Lemon Grove Main Street Promenade, on Main Street, between Broadway and North Avenue. The multicultural choral ensemble will perform a tribute to Dr. King. At 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. lemongrove historicalsociety.com
A.S. Ashley’s “Flying Monkey and Toto Too” is on view in Chee Chee Art Project, a group show opening from 8 p.m. to midnight Friday, Jan. 16, at Chee-Chee Club (929 Broadway, Downtown).
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 15
HBLVD Market The monthly event highlights the shops, services and eateries at El Cajon Boulevard and Utah Street. Participating businesses include The Heart & Trotter, Spanglish Eats, Wow Wow Waffle and more. From 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16. 619-686-8715 Masters of Illusion at Harrah’s Resort Southern California, 777 Harrah’s Resort Southern California Way, Valley Center. The largest magical touring show in the world, they’ll be performing grand illusions including levitating women, appearances and vanishes, escapes, comedy magic, and more. At 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16. $32-$72. 760-751-3100, harrahsresortsoutherncalifornia.com HSan Diego Multi-Cultural Festival at Ruocco Park, 585 Harbor Lane, Downtown. This 17th annual family-friendly event celebrates cultural diversity through live music, dance performances, storytelling, children’s activities (drum circles, face painting and crafts), and a range of ethnic vendors. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. 858-524-9108, sd multicultural.com Dolls 4 All Doll & Teddy Bear Event at Al Bahr Shrine Center, 5440 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Show and sale of dolls, teddy bears, antiques, miniatures, clothes supplies, and more. Includes everything from antique to modern. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. $4-$8. 775-348-8813, dolls4all.com Mission Hills StandAbout Join others at 4261 Aloha Place for local craft beer, wine and appetizers while enjoying live music, storytelling and artists showcasing their work. Net proceeds benefit Monarch Schools for homeless children.
Alice Hudson’s exhibition of handmade human and animal figures, Procession, is on view through Dec. 5 at Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park. From 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. $30. monarchschools.org Blessing of the Animals at Old Town Historic Park, 2454 Heritage Park Row, Old Town. The sixth annual benediction of the patron saint of animals. There will be a pet blessing by Monsignor Mark Campbell between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. and activities for both animals and families. From noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18.
16 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
619-297-3100, oldtownmexicanfood.com H35th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade Join others on Harbor Drive south of Grape Street for this 35th annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that features floats, high school bands, drill teams, colleges, churches, peace and youth groups and more. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. 619-264-0542, alphazsl.org/mlkdayparade.html
SDHS and Phil’s BBQ Adoption Event at Phil’s BBQ and Event Center, 3740 Sports Arena Blvd., Point Loma. Join the Humane Society and Phil’s BBQ and find your new companion. At 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 18. sdhumane.org
boa Park. UT San Diego writer and local historian Roger Showley takes guests on a journey through the beginnings of park development and how it came to be. At 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. $10-$12. 619232-6203, sandiegohistory.org
HMartin Luther King Day Celebration at World Beat Cultural Center, 2100 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. The 26th annual day of family, unity and non-violence will feature live performances from reggae artists and cultural groups, as well as vendors and gourmet vegetarian cuisine. At noon Monday, Jan. 19. 619230-1190, worldbeatcenter.org
BDSM #4 at Ducky Waddle’s Emporium, 414 N. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas. The fourth session of a series of six with resident sex educator and former professional dominant Tessa Ayden who’ll explore this largely misunderstood aspect of contemporary sexuality. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16. 760-632-0488, ducky waddles.com
All Peoples Celebration at Balboa Park Activity Center, 2145 Park Blvd. Alliance San Diego hosts this event to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The celebration includes a seated brunch, entertainment and a community space with a variety of local social justice organizations. From 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19. Free-$50. 619-363-2267, alliancesd.org
The Rise, Decline and Rise of Food Preservation at e3 Civic High School, 395 11th Ave., East Village. Culinary Historians of San Diego present this informative lecture featuring Ernest Miller, a lead instructor in the Master Food Preserver program in L.A. County, a master gardener and certified sommelier. From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17. 619-546-0000, CHSanDiego.com
SPORTS Fans United Wrestling: Last Call! at SkyBox Sports Grill, 4809 Clairemont Drive, Clairemont. A pro wrestling event featuring two title defenses, seven great matches, live commentary, surprises, and drink specials all night long. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. $15. 858-274-7269, FansUnitedWrestling.com
San Diego Green Scene: The Climate Requires us to Change at World Resources Simulation Center, 1088 Third Ave., Downtown. Len Hering, executive director at the Center for Sustainable Energy, offers a global perspective that looks at the impact of population growth, economic development and fossil fuel usage. From 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20. $10. 619-234-1088, wrsc.org
TALKS & DISCUSSIONS
please visit “E vents”
HThe History of Balboa Park (18671909) at San Diego History Center, Bal-
For full listings,
at sdcit yb eat.com
January 14th – January 20th
at over 30 participating restaurants in San Diego!
Follow @SDCityBeat, check in to the place you’re at & tag your photos with #SDWingWeek for a chance to win prizes!
Produced by the CityBeat Advertising Department
#SDWingWeek • www.SDWingWeek.com
San Diego Wing Week
CityBeat brings you the 1st annual Wing week! We’re bringing you $5 baskets of wings from San Diego’s most delicious restaurants. From gourmet blends to off-menu specialties, and even drink pairings, we will serve up thousands of wings! CALLAHAN’S PUB & BREWERY
$5 Basket Basket of 5 Wings $10 Combo Basket of 7 wings and house pint or soft drink 8111 Mira Mesa Blvd., Mira Mesa, CA 92126
COMMON THEORY
$5Basket A basket of wings in any flavor $10Combo A basket of wings in any flavor and a Beer 4805 Convoy St., Kearny Mesa, CA 92111
THE COMMONS
$5Basket Basket of 5 wings in any of 12 flavors $10 Combo Basket of 5 wings in any of 12 flavors and a bottle of Miller Lite 901 4th Ave., Gaslamp, CA 92101
DIRTY BIRDS
$5Basket 5 wings and a bottle of Miller Lite $10 Combo 10 wings + a bottle of Miller Lite
4656 Mission Blvd., Pacific Beach, CA 92109
THE DOG HOUSE
$5Basket Basket of 6 wings $10 Combo Basket of 8 wings and fries
3515 5th Ave., Hillcrest, CA 92103
DOWNTOWN JOHNNY BROWN’s
$5Basket Buffalo, BBQ or Teriyaki $10 Combo Wing with Rings or Wings with Fries 1220 3rd Ave., Downtown, CA 92101
THE DUCK DIVE
$5 Basket Dragon Wings (chicken or duck) $10 Combo Dragon Wings and a Pacifico
4650 Mission Blvd., Mission Beach, CA 92101
EFFIN’s PUB
$5 Basket A basket of wings in your choice of 25 different sauce $10 Combo A basket of wings with your choice of our 25 sauces and select Crafty Drafts 6164 El Cajon Blvd., College Area, CA 92115
ENDZONE PUB
$5 Basket Our Famous Hog Wings $10 Combo A Hog Wing, Chicken Wings and Domestic Pint 2859 University Ave., North Park, CA 92104
San Diego Wing Week
Produced by the CityBeat Advertising Department
HENRY’s PUB
$5 Basket A basket of breaded and fried wings, plain or with your choice of sauce $10 Combo A basket of Wings + a bottle of Miller Lite 618 5th Ave., Downtown, CA 92101
HILLCREST BREWING COMPANY
$5 Basket Marinated and baked Honey Sriracha Wings $10 Combo One basket of 4 wings, small Caesar Salad and 2 breadsticks 1458 University Ave., Hillcrest, CA 92103
JP’s PUB
P O O L • F O O D • C O C K TA I L S
$5 Basket One pound of Regular or Mesquite Smoked wings in your choice of sauces $10 Combo Add a 32oz mini pitcher of Miller Lite to your order of wings 10436 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Tierrasanta, CA 92124
LA BELLA’s CAFE & GAMES
$5 Basket Your choice of BBQ Wings or Garlic Buffalo Wet Wings $10 Combo Original Style wings served with Sidewinder Mozarella Cheese Fries 373 3rd Ave., Chula Vista, CA 91910
LUCKY BASTARD SALOON
$5 Basket A basket of wings (choice of hot or mild) $10 Combo A basket of wings, fries and a “Lucky Bastard Saloon” draft beer Saloon
840 5th Ave., Downtown, CA 92101
PB SHORE CLUB
$5 Basket Wings with choice of 4 sauces $10 Combo Basket of wings and a Pacifico
4343 Ocean Blvd., Pacific Beach, CA 92109
PILLBOX TAVERN
$5 Basket 5 piece one sauce, ranch, carrots and celery $10 Combo N/A 117 W Plaza St., Solana Beach, CA 92075
PRINCE HOOKAH CAFE
$5 Basket A basket of wings (choice of Hot, BBQ mild or Garlic) $10 Combo A basket of wings + a Greek Salad 4644 College Ave., College Area, CA 92115
REDWING BAR & GRILL
$5 Basket Choose from any of our house made sauces $10 Combo 1 pound of wings and a draft beer 4012 30th St., North Park, CA 92104
THE RIVIERA SUPPER CLUB AND TURQUOISE ROOM
$5 Basket 6 wings with your choice of 6 sauces $10 Combo 9 wings and a Miller Lite, or upgrade to a local craft beer for $12 (not including Sculpin) 7777 University Ave., La Mesa, CA 91941
Produced by the CityBeat Advertising Department
San Diego Wing Week
REGAL BEAGLE
THE SOUTH PARK ABBEY
3659 India St., #101, Middletown, CA 92103
1946 Fern St., South Park, CA 92102
$5 Basket Basket of wings and choice of 7 sauces $10 Combo Basket of wings and fries - regular or sweet potato
$5 Basket A full pound of our smoked wings $10 Combo A full pound of our smoked wings and a burger!
REGAL SEAGULL
TINY’s TAVERN
996 North Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024
4745 Voltaire St., Ocean Beach, CA 92107
$5 Basket Basket of wings and choice of 7 sauces $10 Combo Basket of wings and fries - regular or sweet potato
$5 Basket A basket of 6 Buffiaki (½ order) $10 Combo A full order of 12 wings (Buffalo, teriyaki, Buffiaki or BBQ).
ROSIE O’GRADY’S
TORONADO
3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights, CA 92116
4026 30th St., North Park, CA 92104
$5 Basket Basket of 6 wings and choice of 6 sauces $10 Combo 8 wings and fries, or 8 wings and a Miller Lite Draft
$5 Basket Miguel’s Hot Wings $10 Combo Order of wings and any draft
SAN DIEGO BREWING COMPANY
TWIST
10450 Friars Rd., Grantland, CA 92120
2041 University Ave., North Park, Ca 92105
$5 Basket Basket of 5 wings $10 Combo Basket of 7 wings + house pint or soft drink
$5 Basket Basket of 4 jumbo pieces with a can of soda $10 Combo N/A
THE SAFEHOUSE
U-31 COCKTAIL LOUNGE
2930 University Ave., North Park, CA 92104
3112 University Ave., North Park, CA 92104
$5 Basket A basket of wings, spicy mustard and Japanese mayo $10 Combo A basket of wings and any beer (under $6)
S&M SAUSAGE & MEAT
$5 Basket A basket of pork wings in rootbeer balsamic $10 Combo A basket of wings and a select beer 4130 Park Blvd., North Park, CA 92103
$5 Basket Habanera Mango, Sweet Chili or Traditional Buffalo $10 Combo Baset of wings and any beer
WEREWOLF AMERICAN PUB $5 Basket Ginger Soy Sauce Garlic Grilled Wings $10 Combo Wings with a side of fries 627 4th Ave., Downtown, CA 92101
SLATER’S 50/50
$5 Basket A basket of wings in any of 4 flavors $10 Combo A basket of wings + a select beer
2750 Dewey Rd. #193, Liberty Station, CA 92106 110 Knoll Rd. San Marcos, CA 92069
San Diego Wing Week
Add a Miller Lite and enhance your experience!
Produced by the CityBeat Advertising Department
Produced by the CityBeat Advertising Department
San Diego Wing Week
Kinsee Morlan
Brent Martin
Small house,
big ideas
Greenfield has gone for more than a year without showering. Rob Greenfield
Environmental activist Rob Greenfield adds living in a tiny home to his growing list of attention-grabbing, earth-saving stunts
by
K insee M orlan Rob Greenfield
O
n New Year’s Day, Rob Greenfield went to Craigslist to find a small camper he could live in while building his new home. Instead, he found a version of his dream home had already been built. It was listed for $950, so he bought it. “The original idea was to build something I could actually stand up in, but I saw this and one thing led to another, and—.” Greenfield pauses and hops up into his new, squat, 50-square-foot home, which is awaiting more permanent placement while sitting atop a trailer that’s parked on a hilltop in La Jolla. “This is ultimate simplicity.” The 28-year-old environmental activist’s desire to live in a tiny home is part of a growing, worldwide trend of people choosing more sustainable and simple lifestyles by ridding themselves of unnecessary material items and drastically decreasing the size of their living quarters. The so-called smallhouse movement’s grown in recent years with entire communities now dedicated to the cause and a large annual conference that draws thousands. The movement’s attracted plenty of media coverage, too, inspiring documentaries and even a television show, Tiny House Nation, profiling the adventurous folks behind the crusade. Greenfield’s new, tiny home is actually a prototype of an ultra-low-cost, build-ityourself emergency shelter designed and built by local contractor Chris Scott. Scott used a type of uniquely shaped lumber that he developed, which he touts as generating 30 percent more viable byproduct that can be turned into things like particle board and paper. Greenfield was immediately
drawn to the home’s additional sustainability features and saw an opportunity to introduce people to Scott’s concept while setting a real-world example of how people can live quite well in a small home. “What’s exciting to me is that Rob is looking at this from the poverty aspect,” Scott says. “He’s showing that he can live in this amount of space comfortably and happily and humanely.” Greenfield’s next step is finding a backyard to host his new home. He can pay rent, but he’d rather help start a garden, set up a rainwater-collecting system and otherwise find environmentally friendly ways to help save the host-homeowners money. He knows living in someone’s backyard without proper permits violates codes, but he points to the success of the backyardchicken movement and says he hopes to help pave the way for finding some kind of legal status for small homes like his. His main goal, though, is to encourage others to consider downsizing, too. “So, that’s really the idea of this little guy,” he says, laying down and stretching out inside his home, as if to prove it is indeed possible. “I want to show how simple living can be.”
G
reenfield hasn’t showered since April 20, 2013—he doesn’t want to waste water, so he swims in the ocean instead. He’s almost always barefoot and often clad in outdoor clothing by Patagonia, a company that’s considered a leader in the environmental movement. He also rides a bamboo bike and is the kind of
22 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
guy who eats raw kale while in the hospital after getting into a bike accident, as he did early last year, almost losing a toe. He partially attributes his ability to stave off toe amputation to his wholesome lifestyle. “They just sewed it back on, and I feel like it was a bit of luck and a bit of practicing good health that it ended up staying on there,” Greenfield laughs. In other words, the guy is unapologetically and almost annoyingly eco-friendly. His mere presence is enough to make most mainstream-type folks feel a little uncomfortable—and that’s by design. While he says he mostly leads by example rather than forcibly telling people how to live a more ecological life, he admits that pissing people off and making them feel a little guilty about their own choices is sometimes a necessary byproduct of spawning real-world change. He might be right: Minutes before Greenfield arrived for our interview, I felt extremely ashamed as I realized I was sitting in a running, parked car with the air conditioning on and drinking water from a plastic bottle. I quickly shut off my car and hid the bottle, resolving to never buy wasteful bottled water again. Greenfield’s tiny home is the latest in a line of recent stunts he’s pulled off to draw attention to environmental issues. In 2013, he rode his bike across the country while following a strict set of rules he made up to better understand his personal impact on natural resources. He carried all the trash he generated and allowed himself to drink only water that he either harvested or salvaged from going to waste (think leaky fire
Greenfield on his second bike ride across the country hydrants). He also set out to eat only locally grown, unpacked, organic food, which he had a hard time finding, so he eventually allowed food waste as well. “So, 70 percent of my food on that trip ended up coming from dumpsters,” Greenfield says. On his second cross-country bike trip last summer, Greenfield decided to focus solely on food found in dumpsters. That bike trip and the other eco-performances he’s pulled off in the past few years have earned him spotlights on BBC, BuzzFeed and The Huffington Post and in Vice, Men’s Health and on a handful of local television news stations, helping him spread his message of sustainability to a much wider audience than can be reached on his website, robgreenfield.tv. Greenfield grew up poor and, after high school, wanted desperately to become a millionaire. He started an advertising company and did pretty well, but his perspective changed after a few trips around the world. He says he was overwhelmed by the natural beauty and diversity. The big moment of change came when he decided to no longer separate his professional and personal lives. That decision has driven him to his tiny home and the ultimate goal of living an entirely money-less life dedicated to showing others how to lead a happy and sustainable existence. “This is my work,” he says, pointing to his house. “My work is making the Earth a better place.” Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
Kinsee Morlan
Seen Local More art in Encinitas The concept isn’t anything new or spectacular: Jax Meyers simply wanted to fill empty walls with art. When the 26-yearold Encinitas native returned home after leaving for a few years to collect life experiences, it was as if the blank walls in her hometown were calling out to her, begging to be covered with colorful murals. “So, it started as just me, just an idea,” Meyers says. “I felt determined to create change in my community that was positive and could bring art to the community.” The idea quickly turned into Paint Encinitas, Meyers’ now-year-old, volunteer-run organization that’s successfully overseen the addition of two largescale, outdoor murals and is getting ready to unveil a third. The group recently partnered with Beautify Earth, which acts as an umbrella group for organizations working toward the nonprofit’s ultimate goal of putting up 1 million new murals in the United States in the next five years. The relationship means that after a year of scrounging together funding and supplies, Meyers can finally apply for grants, and donations to her organization are officially tax-deductible. The poet and writer is standing in front of a mural by artist Skye Walker that’s painted across a previously white wall of Royal Liquor on the busy North Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas. It’s Paint Encinitas’ first project, so Meyers wanted it to be big and noticeable. Good lighting—paid for by the liquor store’s owners, who Meyers says are proud of the artwork—shines down on the mural and there’s a plaque with information about the artist, the art and Paint Encinitas. “I think a lot of murals, especially in this town, are missing the opportunity to educate people about art
Meet our cover artist Street artist Paola Villaseñor, better known by her nickname, PANCA, shocked her Mexican-immigrant parents when, at age 18, she moved from her suburban home in Chula Vista to the urban center of Tijuana. “It just seemed like a place where interesting things were happening,” PANCA explains. She didn’t just move to Tijuana—a city widely viewed as dangerous by outsiders who’ve been afraid of the collateral damage inflicted by drug-war violence—she settled in Zona Norte, the city’s red-light district, notorious for its prostitution and strip clubs. “I obviously would see a lot of odd and crazy things daily,” says PANCA, who’s since moved to the more peaceful and polished oceanfront neighborhood Playas de Tijuana. “I lived about a block away from the actual border fence and very, very close to the Tijuana River. I would always see a lot of really desperate deportees who end up living down there by the river…. It was super-influential to see all that.” Almost all of PANCA’s canvas paintings and large
Jax Meyers, in front of a mural by Skye Walker by not including plaques or any information about the artists,” Meyers says. Next up is a new mural by artist Micaiah Hardison, which will be unveiled at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, at 7-Eleven in downtown Encinitas (105 W. D St.). Paint Encinitas is helping to raise funds to pay Hardison for his work and trying to increase awareness of the importance of the new piece and mural art in general. Meyers, who regularly drives and walks the streets of Encinitas and adds to a growing list of walls she’d like to eventually see covered in art, says one of her biggest challenges is getting businesses and property owners to recognize the value of a mural by simply saying “yes” and letting her and Paint Encinitas do the rest of the work. She often cites studies linking murals to increased foot traffic and revenue and educates the owners about how murals discourage graffiti. “We still receive a lot of ‘Not yet,’” she says. “I think, with time, more business owners will step up and want murals…. Right now, though, we’ve got enough coming to us to help, so we’re starting there.”
—Kinsee Morlan
murals feature somewhat grotesque characters. Thematically, she focuses on the decay of humanity. Her distinctive, neon-colored work covers countless bars, restaurants and alleyways in Tijuana and, Jorge Ledezma more recently, locales outside the city, such as a large wall inside San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park. The city that PANCA’s chosen as her home directly influences much of the exotic imagery in her work. “Como la Flor,” her piece that’s featured on the cover of this week’s CityBeat, includes the Tijuana hillside El Cerro Colorado in the background. She says the painting is a reflection of how Tijuana callously spreads itself out anywhere it possibly can. PANCA often gets asked why she doesn’t show more beauty in her work. “For me, art is not supposed to be beautiful, but real,” she Paola Villaseñor answers.
—Kinsee Morlan
Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 23
(Wo)man up Israeli deadpan comedy takes on gender contradictions in military by Glenn Heath Jr. If you’ve ever worked within the fluorescent confines of an office space, then the sounds of blinding monotony are very familiar. Fingers furiously type away, copiers shift into gear and filing cabinets slam shut. The same banal noises play over the opening credits of Talya Lavie’s riotous Nelly Tagar is Daffi. Zero Motivation, an Israeli deadpan comedy about a unit of female administrative soldiers tity and purpose, ultimately leaving each woman a stationed at an isolated desert base. With menial re- confused part of a clunky and inefficient institution. sponsibility and no power, these women are left to Smartly written and witty, Zero Motivation plays question their very existence within a patriarchal with the viewer’s expectations in surprising ways. military institution that neither respects nor under- At first one-dimensional and sour, Zohar quickly bestands them. comes the film’s most complex character, inhabiting Zohar (Dana Ivgy) and Daffi (Nelly Tagar) are in- a desert full of doubt and sadness underneath an offseparable friends who lean on each other to survive putting façade. Daffi feels less fleshed out by comparthe horrendously boring working conditions during ison, seemingly because she doesn’t contemplate any their mandatory two-year service contract. A tribe of situation beyond her own. The same could also be other archetypes rounds out the unit, including a few said of Irena, who undergoes a supernatural transforditzy guy magnets, one insufferable Russian named mation midway through the film, which is more like a Irena (Tamara Klingon) and gimmick than anything else. an overly serious commanding Visual gags, physical maniZero Motivation festations of the frustrations officer (Shani Klein), who fails Directed by Talya Lavie to inspire her conscripts in the haunting these women on Starring Nelly Tagar, Dana Ivgy, least. For the most part, male a daily basis, are sprinkled Shani Klein and Tamara Klingon soldiers remain off-screen, exthroughout the story. Zohar cept when they admonish or takes it upon herself to shred Not rated attempt to seduce the women. the entire personnel log docSplit into three parts, Zero umenting the history of the Motivation subverts its title by exploring the un- base, packing all of the shredded paper into her boss’ dercurrents of anxiety that define these characters’ office. It’s acts of rebellion like this that keep the femilitary lives. The first, titled “The Recruit,” deals male soldiers relevant in the filmmaker’s eyes. with an imposter who sneaks onto the base, looking As a piece of feminist protest art, Zero Motivafor the man she slept with months before. The dis- tion—which screens for one week at the Ken Cinappointment she finds tonally informs the other two ema, starting Jan. 16—slyly pokes at the inadequacies segments, sending the material into darker territory of military life, but it also makes an effort to confront with its morbid resolution. “The Virgin” grapples the way women attack each other in order to suswith Zohar’s misguided quest to lose her virginity, tain a level of dominance in a primarily male-driven which culminates in a dangerous series of sexual world. This lends the film a surprising and informissteps. The last, “The Commander,” plays on Daf- mative level of balance. Again, Zohar is the perfect fi’s inane desire to attain higher rank so she can live example of this duality; she clashes with Daffi for in Tel Aviv because the desert dries out her hair. wanting to become an officer and later circumvents For these women, military life has stripped away her command in order to attain revenge. While done the need to think critically, and, as a result, logic has in a silly way, her actions reflect the circular trauma become an endangered species. The consistent absur- that these women perpetrate against each other just dity of their situation provides a funny and damning to pass the time. Punch that clock. playground for the filmmakers to consider the contradictions placed upon gender roles in the military. Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com Hierarchy of command suffocates all sense of iden- and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
Depressed states
Cake
24 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
Jennifer Aniston does unflattering misery pretty well. Her underappreciated turn in Miguel Arteta’s The Good Girl was a strong sign that the Friends star could play against type, inhabiting the role of a conflicted discount-store clerk who has an affair with a young colleague. Unfortunately, Aniston hasn’t taken
many acting chances since that film premiered in 2002. With Cake, Daniel Barnz’s new film about a broken woman suffering from chronic pain after an accident claimed the life of her only son, Aniston once again goes full melancholy, sulking and scowling with ease. Her Claire Bennett is a classic sarcastic depressive, an angry woman who justifies her bad behavior with
excuses and self-pitying tirades. Often shepherded by her housekeeper, Silvana (Adriana Barraza), Claire stumbles through support groups and therapy with a bad attitude and rage to spare, temperaments brought on by an affinity for pain killers. But this is no John Cassavetes movie; Barnz never plunges Claire down the rabbit hole of addiction. Instead, Cake is content to quietly address its lead character’s transgressions with patience. This doesn’t make for an altogether resonant film, but it’s hard not to admire the reserved dedication that both Aniston and Barraza put into their characters’ relationship. Sam Worthington also gives a surprisingly strong turn as the husband of a friend of Claire’s (Anna Kendrick) who’s recently committed suicide. Their chemistry never feels forced and always exists within the consequenceladen minefield of real life. Cake, which screens at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park, doesn’t always capitalize on these strong performances. It often gets bogged down in the minutia of plot, growing stagnant when it should be engrossing. In the end, the film’s merely a showcase for Aniston’s capability as an actor in the most inauspicious of settings. Imagine if she ever gets a halfway decent script.
—Glenn Heath Jr.
Opening American Sniper: Clint Eastwood’s unflinching and critical biopic of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), who became the deadliest sniper during four tours in Iraq.
bear arrives in London hoping to find a home. There he meets the Brown family, who offer him a temporary safe haven.
Oyelowo) attempts to create voter reform in Selma, Alabama, a hotbed of racism and disenfranchisement.
The Wedding Ringer: Who best to impress your new in-laws than a loud, vivacious Kevin Hart? Josh Gad’s shy young groom-to-be agrees.
Taken 3: Liam Neeson reprises his role as the badass who keeps losing family members to kidnappings. Maybe third time’s a charm?
Zero Motivation: Female soldiers stationed at a remote desert base hilariously search for meaning amid gender discrimination and absurd contradictions. Screens through Jan. 22 at the Ken Cinema. See our review on Page 24.
The Search for General Tso: Using America’s most popular takeout meal— General Tso’s Chicken—as a starting point, this documentary traces the origins of Chinese American cuisine. Ends Jan. 15 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.
One Time Only The Hangover: Four friends have a night to misremember in Las Vegas, waking up the next morning in a world of hurt and trouble. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.
Born to be Wild: Narrated by Morgan Freeman, this documentary examines the amazing bond between humans and animals, including elephants and orangutans. Screens at the Reuben H. Fleet Sci-
ence Center in Balboa Park. Viva La Liberta: Toni Servillo stars as identical twin brothers who decide to switch identities in this funny look at modern-day Italian politics. Screens at the Ken Cinema. Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death: Dark spirits are awakened in the Eel Marsh House when children evacuated from World War II London arrive looking for shelter.
The Imitation Game: Benedict Cumberbatch stars as real-life code breaker Alan Turing, who led a squad of British mathematicians in breaking the Enigma code during World War II. Unbroken: Angelina Jolie’s sophomore effort examines the life of Olympic athlete and World War II prisoner of war Louis Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who overcame extreme odds to survive a Japanese internment camp.
Big Eyes: Tim Burton’s film tells the story of Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), a 1960s housewife who allows her conman of a husband to take credit for her exceptionally popular paintings.
For a complete listing
Into the Woods: Beware the Wolf, Sondheim. Beware the Wolf.
the “E vents” tab.
of movies, please see “F ilm S creenings” at sdcit yb eat.com under
Days of Heaven: There might not be a more beautiful film than Terrence Malick’s sweeping melodrama about a love triangle in turn-of-the-century America. Screens at 2:30, 4:45, 7 and 9:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, at the Ken Cinema. Human Capitol: A tragic bike accident links two powerful Italian families vying for political dominance. Screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, at La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas. Wetlands: This edgy, coming-of-age story follows a young woman who finds herself in the hospital after an unfortunate shaving accident. There she meets a male nurse who helps her hatch a scheme to get her divorced parents back together. Screens at 10:45 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, and at 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park. Patterns of Evidence: Exodus: This documentary investigates whether or not the story of Moses and the Exodus even happened in the first place. Screens at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19, at various theaters. Check fathomevents.com for details. I Origins: A molecular biologist and his laboratory partner stumble upon a discovery that may fundamentally change modern society forever. It stars Michael Pitt and Brit Marling. Screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, at the Point Loma / Hervey Branch Library. Cake: Jennifer Aniston stars as a depressed woman suffering from chronic pain who decides to investigate the suicide of a woman from her support group. Screens at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park. See our review on Page 24. Ilo, Ilo: A young boy develops a friendship with his maid, making his mother jealous. Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the Scripps Ranch Library.
American Sniper Blackhat: When a cryptic hacker threatens to send the world into chaos, the U.S. government releases a young computer genius to catch him. It’s directed by ace craftsman Michael Mann (Heat, Miami Vice). Gangs of Wasseypur: Part 1: The first segment of Anurag Kashyap’s 320-minute Indian crime saga charts the origins of a blood feud between two factions battling for control of a coal-rich township. Screens at AMC Fashion Valley Cinemas.
Blue Velvet: Enter the depraved mind of director David Lynch in this horrifying look at suburban deceit that features a truly disturbing performance by Dennis Hopper. Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, at Hillcrest Cinemas. The Princess Bride: A grandfather (Peter Falk) reads his grandson (Fred Savage) a classic story of giants, princesses and true love. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.
Now Playing
Little Accidents: Multiple stories intertwine after a fatal mining accident sets off a chain reaction of misfortune and heartbreak. It stars Elizabeth Banks and Josh Lucas. Screens through Jan. 22 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.
Inherent Vice: Paul Thomas Anderson adapts Thomas Pynchon’s detective yarn about a real-estate tycoon who disappears, inciting a number of pot-fueled stories in early-1970s Southern California.
Paddington: Traveling from Peru, a young
Selma:
Martin
Luther
King
(David
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 25
ryan
Well, That was awkward
Bradford I went to a gun show on the second anniversary of Sandy Hook The first Easter I spent in San Diego, I found mythird chapter, but they’ve established the plot. self at a brunch populated by military and law enInside the exhibit hall, with its lack of décor and forcement types—friends of friends, that kind of concrete floors, feels oppressive, like a military barsituation. I arrived a little before noon, expecting a racks. A T-shirt stand greets me at the entrance, kitchen abuzz with brunch-appropriate baking, fryselling shirts advertising the wearer’s intent to ing and mimosa-ing. Instead, I found the aftermath murder: “DADD: Dads Against Daughters Dating” of a rager, a capitalized Morning After of the highand “Brothers Against Sisters Dating Anyone.” As est order. Bodies lay prostrate on any surface that an effort to counter-balance the gender-misreprecould cradle their aching heads. My eyes fell on a sentation, Charter Arms makes lavender- and pinkchrome pistol resting on the table. A Desert Eagle. colored pistols. You know, for ladies! Now, I spent my high school and college years A group gathers around a fresh-faced kid selling making short, often violent movies. My friends Glocks and Berettas. People reach over each other and I shared a love of well-crafted action scenes just to brush their fingers against the black guns. and the narrative quickness that using a gun could Their caressing seems vaguely sexual—like, ungg. achieve. For these movies, we had replicas that shot The gun-show crowd is not an attractive crowd. prop bullets, but they looked and felt staggeringly Scared White Man stereotypes abound—everyone real and would assuredly get us arrested (or shot) from the Republican grandfather to the Duck Dynasif brandished in public. The Desert Eagle sitting on ty look-alike. (Oops, that autocorrected from “fuckthat table looked exactly like one of those movie faced lunatic.” Whatever.) A grizzled bro complains replicas. Suffused with a mix of familiarity and nosthat the gun show is “not as big as last year” like he’s talgia, I reached out to touch it. straight-up kicking rocks. Nobody talks about Sandy “Hold on,” a hung-over fellow Hook; everyone wishes each other said. “Let me unload that for you.” a Merry Christmas. These guys and their In my opinion, going hard in the I think about the term “protecpaint to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection,” as it provides the basis for black cases may tion is fine; that they’d been doing the Second Amendment, which— never get to the third it with a loaded wrist-rocket powlike craft-beer bros who refuse to erful enough to send Him back, wear decently sleeved shirts but chapter, but they’ve however, was terrifying. can rattle off the exact IBUs of obestablished the plot. He unloaded the clip and handscure IPAs—evokes a savant-like ed the gun back to me. “Feels like knowledge of the Constitution in having two dicks, huh?” he said. even the most mouth-breathy gun Feels like having two dicks, huh? advocate. The idea that any of these people are here I’m thinking about that moment as I exit the for protection is absurd, because guns are inherhighway, onto Jimmy Durante Boulevard to attend ently aggressive; their function is not preventative. the Crossroads of the West gun show at the Del Mar Body armor is protection. Insurance is protection. Fairgrounds. My car is the only non-pickup vehicle Condoms are protection. And unless you’re actually in the left-turn lane. shooting at—and hitting—bullets being fired at you, The date is Sunday, Dec. 14, marking the second I don’t buy that guns are protection. anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School The vendors start busting out the Tasers (“Great shooting. Two years prior, we witnessed the greatstocking stuffers!”), and the crackling, rattlesnake est taboo that our collective conscious could imagsounds they produce echo throughout the hall. ine: Adam Lanza gunned down 20 children and six Each crackle sets me on edge. I retreat to the food faculty members. The fact that Crossroads of the court. It’s not even 11 a.m., but I need a drink. I pay West has not permanently X’d out this anniversary nearly $10 for a Newcastle—undoubtedly my punto hold its gun shows speaks loudly of its malicious ishment for picking the beer of Red Coats. callousness or stupidity. Probably both. That Del I drink my beer and the Easter memory comes back. As gross as it is, I have respect for the “two Mar Fairgrounds would allow such an event to go dicks” comment—at least it feels honest, more so than down on this date is also disgusting and shameful. “protection” or “responsibility.” Gun ownership satisI walk along a pathway toward the entrance. I’ve fies a vulgar attraction and remedies an inadequacy. arrived early, but birds earlier than I have already And then I wonder how many dicks Adam Lanza made their purchases. We cross paths as they leave, had to have had to blow away a bunch of school kids. and I can’t help but look at the black cases they hold. A hundred? I consider the number for Eric Harris The black cases shake me more than anything else and Dylan Klebold, and for Seung-Hui Cho, Darren I see today. I don’t know why. I think of the term “reWilson, Elliot Rodger, Jared Lee Loughner, James sponsible gun owner,” an oxymoron if there ever was Eagan Holmes, Michael Page, George Zimmerman one. I’m sure that Lanza’s mom considered herself and the countless others with infinitely more dicks a responsible gun owner, but to use Anton Chekov’s than me. oft-quoted principle of drama: “If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off.” and editor@sdcitybeat.com. These guys and their black cases may never get to the
26 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 27
Heavy diplomacy Russian Circles celebrate 10 years of burly bummers by Ben Salmon
c
hicago post-metal trio Russian Circles don’t so much write songs as build them, piece by piece. It goes like this: Guitarist Mike Sullivan presents ideas, drummer Dave Turncrantz picks some that he likes and then the two start “working out skeletons of songs,” bassist Brian Cook says. Those skeletons are then shipped to Cook, who lives in New York, where he adds his bass lines and begins an extensive editing process. “We kind of just do it in layers,” Cook says. “Having been in bands in the past where songwriting is everyone getting into one room and trying to play over the other person so their part comes out on top, it feels a lot easier to do it this way. It’s very focused. Very diplomatic.” Which is not to say that tension doesn’t occasionally run high when three bright minds focus on one tiny part of the puzzle. But Sullivan and Turncrantz have been making music as Russian Circles since 2004, and Cook joined them in 2007 after stints in heavy Northwest bands Botch and These Arms are Snakes. The trio’s time together and their proven results across five albums have given each man a set of tools to deal with the kind of conflict that’s splintered countless other bands. “In this band, I think we’re pretty good at… realizing that just because one-third of the band likes an idea doesn’t mean it’s a good idea,” Cook says. “So, there will always be more riffs. There will always be
From left: Brian Cook, Mike Williams and Dave Turncrantz more bass lines. There will always be more running times out of each song runs ramdrum parts. You’ve just got to move on.” pant, Sullivan, Turncrantz and Cook use That attitude is working. Last year, the their sharp eye for editing to ensure their band released its fifth album, Memorial, a output is more meat than fat. Memorial typically thunderous work that straddles clocks in at less than 40 minutes, with only the blurry line between sludge-metal and two songs extending past five minutes. It’s shimmering post-rock, this time with a a masterwork of efficient (mostly) instruheavier-than-ever dose of dark, somber at- mental music, and of making epic music mosphere. After a delicate, fingerpicked in- without tipping over into bloat. tro called “Memoriam,” the band gets brutal This month, Russian Circles is playing a on “Deficit,” which churns series of 10th-anniversary slowly for three minutes shows—a milestone worth before surging into a storm celebrating for any band, of heavy-metal riff-bludbut particularly for one that geoning. Later, the stout continues to attract larger Jan. 25 and buzzy “Burial” is a winaudiences while playing a dow into Russian Circles’ Soda Bar niche style of music. pitch-black nasty streak. “I think everyone in the russiancircles Elsewhere, “1777” and band’s kind of stunned that band.com “Ethel” find the band it’s been able to sustain itharnessing the euphoric self this long, you know?” power of post-rock. The former swells for Cook says. “I don’t think a lot of bands are five minutes before a crescendo of cymbal able to get to five albums without imploding crashes and Sullivan’s skyscraping guitar or breaking up or throwing in the towel besweeps, while the latter’s sunrise-on-Mars cause people start having careers or family vibe lets a little light into Memorial. And life. But somehow we’ve sort of been able to on the closing title track, gorgeously gauzy keep it going and keep people interested.” vocals by experimental drone-folk artist Russian Circles will spend much of Chelsea Wolfe (who’s toured with Russian 2015 touring internationally, with a EuroCircles) rise and reverberate as the album pean trek planned for April and stops at fades out, cementing its downcast feel. the prestigious Roadburn Festival (in the Wolfe’s incantations cap a record that Netherlands) and Hellfest (in France) on showcases not only Russian Circles’ muscle, the docket. But they’ve already begun talkbut also their sense of restraint. In a genre ing about a follow-up to Memorial, Cook where the temptation to wring marathon says. And that album’s somber tone is likely
28 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
Russian Circles
to carry on to the next one. “Mike just says he wants to bum everyone out,” Cook says with a laugh. Russian Circles want to make their music “more and more depressing and dark. One of the muses that Mike’s had in mind while he’s been writing riffs is he wants to replicate the feeling of having a dream where you’re about to die, and what that feels like in that dream.” Sounds bleak, to say the least. But Russian Circles have established a way to get there. Indeed, talking about the band’s aesthetic aim going forward sparks a memory in Cook’s mind—of a moment during the making of Memorial when the trio’s democratic song-building process was tested. And it passed. “We were trying out different ideas, and Mike had this riff that was a very classic, ’80s thrash-metal riff. I was on the fence about it, and Dave was, like, ‘Eh, I don’t know. I’m not feeling it.’ And Mike said, ‘What’s wrong with this riff? It’s a great riff. Why is this riff bad?’” Cook says. “I was, like, ‘Mike, in your defense, I think it’s a good riff. It’s a really fun riff,’” he continues, his voice trailing off a bit. “And Mike was, like, ‘Stop. I understand. It’s out.’ Fun riffs are not allowed in this band. Once someone says something is fun, it’s, like, ‘Oh, OK. We’re throwing that shit out.’ “No fun here.” Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.
notes from the smoking patio Locals Only Indie label Riot House Records has launched an online auction to raise money for a scholarship fund set up by Digital Gym, a lab and movie theater in North Park run by Media Arts Center San Diego. Riot House owner Brian Jenkins, who also produced the documentary film Records Collecting Dust, started the auction to coincide with the release of the film, which premiered at Digital Gym on Jan. 9. Jenkins says that after working with Digital Gym and becoming more familiar with its educational programs, he wanted to do contribute to the cause. “They have all these programs, like working with green screens and stop-motion [animation] with Legos,” Jenkins says. “I wish something like that had existed when I was a kid.” The auction, which is being held on eBay, includes a number of vinyl albums and singles donated by John Reis of Rocket from the Crypt and Hot Snakes, Pall Jenkins of The Black Heart Procession and Three Mile Pilot and Justin Pearson of The Locust and Retox. Brian Jenkins says that having rare items available gives more incentive for people to participate. “It gives people the opportunity to find something unique,” he says. “And it’s not just going back into our pockets. People are willing to pay more for something if it’s for a good cause.” One highly sought-after item is a vinyl copy of The Locust’s New Erections, autographed by band members Pearson, Gabe Serbian and Bobby Bray. As of
A Localchella wish list Last week, Coachella announced its three-day lineup, and now it’s totally sold out. This is no surprise— it happens every year, and it’s too expensive anyhow (not to mention the heat, the crowds and other factors that might keep you from going). Still, some great bands are playing—and I’m not talking about Steely Dan—that I’d love to see make their way to San Diego. Some bands might not be allowed, contractually, to play here or won’t announce anything until the last minute, but considering how often Coachella bands slip away down here from the desert for a day or two, it’s entirely possible. Here’s who I’d like to see in San Diego this spring: Drive Like Jehu: Even though the legendary post-hardcore band played a once-in-a-lifetime show at Spreckels Organ Pavilion last summer, I don’t think it’s too much to ask to see them twice in my lifetime. They’re amazing. Swans: I don’t think Swans have ever played in San Diego, so this is an idea whose time has come. The band’s live shows are the stuff of legend, and based on the strength of their new album, To Be Kind, I’d bet
An autographed Locust LP is one item Riot House is auctioning for charity. press time, bids on the album were up to $102.50. “As soon as the auction went live, it got posted on a Locust fan page, and a stream of people started bidding on it,” Jenkins says. “I was reading the comments, and people were, like, ‘Let’s see how high we can drive this up.’” Other items include records by Hot Snakes, The Black Heart Procession, Night Marchers and Crime. The auction closes on Monday, Jan. 19.
—Jeff Terich
they’re pretty intense. FKA Twigs: This U.K. experimental-pop artist’s album LP1 was one of the most highly acclaimed of 2014, and for good reason. She blurs the lines between R&B, trip-hop and electronic music in a sublime way. I’ll bet she could sell out a show here easily. Raekwon and Ghostface Killah: I’m counting on this being a one-show-only kind of deal, but Rae and Ghost have a great back-and-forth, and it’d be awesome to see the two Wu-Tang vets on tour. Todd Terje and the Olsens: Todd Terje’s It’s Album Time is an amazing house record and one of the best releases of 2014, but the addition of “The Olsens” suggests that this show is more than a basic dude-with-electronics setup. I’d like to see that. Run the Jewels: I’m aware that El-P and Killer Mike were just here in the fall, but I missed it because I was traveling from Atlanta (Killer Mike’s home city, ironically). So, consider this my request for another lap back around this way.
—Jeff Terich Todd Terje
Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com or editor@sdcitybeat.com.
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 29
if i were u
BY Jeff Terich
Wednesday, Jan. 14 PLAN A: Pinback, Astra @ The Casbah. Another week, another Plan A for Pinback. But can you blame me? A Wednesday night at a Pinback show far outweighs a Wednesday night not at a Pinback show. BACKUP PLAN B: Amerikan Bear, Ocelot, The Blue Moonies @ Belly Up Tavern.
Thursday, Jan. 15 PLAN A: Mimi Zulu @ Seven Grand. Mimi Zulu brings the jams. The singer / songwriter has a unique style of funky soul that brings together elements of hip-hop, R&B and Gil Scott-Heron-style spoken word, with plenty of groove to spare. If you’re inclined to shake your ass, then this is where you should be. PLAN B: Mutant Supremacy, Eukaryst, Ruines ov Abaddon @ The Merrow. On the other end of the spectrum is Mutant Supremacy, a death-metal band that you probably can’t dance to, but you can certainly sustain some injuries while listening. And you know what, there’s something to be said for a band that can kick your ass,
metaphorically, of course. BACKUP PLAN: The Cramps, The Bad Seeds, The Gun The New Kinetics, Gloomsday, Schitzo- Club—but he’s had a pretty prolific career on his own, too, and his current band, The Pink phonics, Cardielles @ The Casbah. Monkey Birds, is heavy on great, tuneful rock ’n’ roll with plenty of style to spare. PLAN B: Friday, Jan. 16 Andy Rourke (DJ set), Jimbo James, RobPLAN A: Wild Wild Wets, Kim and the in Roth @ The Hideout. I don’t usually put Created, Max Pain and the Groovies, DJ sets in this column, not for any particular Swift Beats, Moonshine, Slow White, bias—I do some of those myself! But when Sixties Guns @ The Casbah. Local psych- the DJ in question was a member of The rockers Wild Wild Wets are releasing their Smiths, you make an exception. I wouldn’t debut album this month, and the celebration expect to hear “This Charming Man,” but it coincides with the latest installment of the should be fun regardless. BACKUP PLAN: San Diego Freakout. So, while you should The Dickies, Midnight Eagle, Oddball, definitely come for the Wets, there are six The Stalins of Sound @ Soda Bar. other bands here to blow your mind. PLAN B: Curren$y @ The North Park Theatre. New Orleans rapper Curren$y releases Sunday, Jan. 18 a lot of music for a dude who smokes as PLAN A: Castle, Bhorelorde, Beira @ much weed as he does, and it’s pretty much Tower Bar. Bay Area group Castle are genall solid. Hear him spit some rhymes over erally considered a metal band, but they’re more accurately a rock band that tunes its some laid-back, jazzy samples at the first guitars to C-sharp and lets the roaring show of the North Park Theatre’s new riffs fly. Most importantly, though, phase. BACKUP PLAN: The Great they’ve got melodies to back up those Electric Quest, Desert Suns, The roaring riffs, which is something Munsens, Toke @ Tower Bar. a lot of young metal bands could learn from. PLAN B: Eric Church, Saturday, Jan. 17 Halestorm @ Valley View Casino PLAN A: Kid Congo and the Center. Last week, I wrote about Pink Monkey Birds, Ukecountry singer Eric Church and Hunt, Low Volts @ why he’s a good step forward The Casbah. Kid Confor mainstream country go Powers has been in music. I’m just going to Mimi Zulu a lot of great bands— go ahead and recom-
30 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
mend this show with some caveats: I hate arena shows, and there’s an extremely high douche-factor probability here. That said, if you can overlook these, you’ll get what’ll basically be a big arena rock show. BACKUP PLAN: White Arrows, Nicky Venus, The Eiffels @ The Casbah.
Monday, Jan. 19 PLAN A: Mariachi El Bronx, Pounded by the Surf, Creepxotica @ The Casbah. Last year, The Casbah threw a pretty incredible 25th-anniversary celebration that featured a whole month’s worth of incredible shows. This year, it’s the venue’s 26th anniversary, which isn’t quite the nice round number that 25 is, but there are still some cool shows to watch, like this one featuring Los Angeles’ Mariachi El Bronx. BACKUP PLAN: Swim Team, Island Boy, Other Bodies, Tape Waves, DJ Nik Ewing @ Soda Bar.
Tuesday, Jan. 20 PLAN A: Calabrese, Chapel of Thieves, 13 Wolves @ Kensington Club. Calabrese call themselves “dark rock,” which tells you more than you might think. They’ve got a burly goth sound that’s sort of like Glenn Danzig fronting The Mission (with some AFI in there, too). There’s plenty of schlocky horror-rock themes, as well, if you’re into that thing, but shtick or no shtick, they’re damn catchy.
HOT! NEW! FRESH! Lil Eazy E (Porter’s Pub, 2/8), Jessica Lea Mayfield (Soda Bar, 2/11), Hurricane Chris (Porter’s Pub, 2/22), Fifth Harmony (HOB, 2/28), Sprung Monkey (Brick by Brick, 3/6), The Last Bison (Casbah, 3/23), Tweedy (Balboa Theatre, 3/24), Pete Rock and Slum Village (Porter’s Pub, 3/24), Warren G (Porter’s Pub, 3/28), Tyrone Wells (HOB, 3/28), Leftover Salmon (BUT, 4/4), The Maine (HOB, 4/8), Cash’d Out (BUT, 4/17), Reckless Kelly (BUT, 4/18), Morgan Heritage (BUT, 4/19), Waxahatchee (Casbah, 4/26), Reptar (Soda Bar, 4/26), Joe Budden (Porter’s Pub, 5/10), Slick Rick (Porter’s Pub, 5/24).
GET YER TICKETS Wale (North Park Theatre, 1/31), Juan Gabriel (Viejas Arena, 2/6), Motion City Soundtrack (HOB, 2/11), Hundred Waters (Casbah, 2/11), The Dodos (Casbah, 2/14), Ozomatli (BUT, 2/14-15), Alan Jackson (Valley View Casino Center, 2/20), Kina Grannis (Porter’s Pub, 2/20), Gregory Alan Isakov (The Irenic, 2/22), Cursive (Casbah, 2/22), David Cook (BUT, 2/23), In Flames (HOB, 2/23), Cold War Kids (North Park Theatre, 2/25), Taking Back Sunday (HOB, 2/26), The Church (Casbah, 2/28), Theophilus London (BUT, 3/1), Swervedriver (Casbah, 3/4), Enslaved, YOB (Brick by Brick, 3/5), Viet Cong (Soda Bar, 3/7), A Place to Bury Strangers (Casbah, 3/11), Hurray for the Riff Raff (BUT, 3/11), Bleachers (HOB, 3/12), Twin Shadow (BUT, 3/13), Ani DiFranco (HOB, 3/16), Blue October (HOB, 4/9), Andrew Jackson Jihad (The Irenic, 4/10), Buddy Guy (Balboa Theatre, 4/11), Iggy Azalea (Valley View Casino Center, 4/23), OK Go (HOB, 5/1), They Might Be Giants (BUT, 5/3), Lana Del Rey (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/16), Nickelback (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 6/27), One Direction (Qualcomm Stadium, 7/9), Idina Menzel (Open Air Theatre, 8/8), The Who (Valley View Casino Center, 9/14), Foo Fighters (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/24).
Todd and the Monsters at Belly Up Tavern. The Donkeys at The Casbah.
Saturday, Jan. 24 Big Head Todd and the Monsters at Belly Up Tavern. Helms Alee at The Hideout. Cadillac Tramps at The Casbah. Paul Collins Beat at Til-Two Club.
Sunday, Jan. 25 The Coup at The Casbah. Russian Circles at Soda Bar.
Monday, Jan. 26 Weyes Blood at The Hideout.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 The Wailers at Belly Up Tavern. Cult of Youth at Soda Bar.
Wednesday, Jan. 28 Dead Feather Moon at Belly Up Tavern.
Thursday, Jan. 29 Keller Williams at Belly Up Tavern.
Friday, Jan. 30 Dave and Phil Alvin at Belly Up Tavern. Brooke Fraser at The Irenic. Paul Wall at Porter’s Pub. Nothing at Soda Bar. We Are Scientists at The Casbah.
Monday, Feb. 2 Todd Snider at Belly Up Tavern. Jukebox the Ghost at Soda Bar.
Wednesday, Feb. 4 Vonda Shepard at Belly Up Tavern.
Thursday, Feb. 5 Kenny Wayne Shepherd at Belly Up Tavern. You Blew It! at House of Blues Voodoo Room. S at Bar Pink.
Friday, Jan. 16
Wednesday, Jan. 21 Guster at House of Blues.
Thursday, Jan. 22 The Mast at Soda Bar. Big Sean at Fluxx.
Friday, Jan. 23 Ras Kass at Porter’s Pub. Big Head
710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Live band karaoke. Fri: Splitfinger, The Broken Stems. Sat: Kid Wilderness, Two Day Job. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Jamathon. 98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Sat: ‘Tribute to Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley’ w/ Gilbert Castellanos. Sun: SuperFuse.
Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St, Normal Heights. airconditionedbar.com. Wed: ‘Electric Martini’ w/ DJs Jeneration Y, Electric Honey. Thu: DJs Ala, Mikeytown. Fri: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: DJs John Reynolds, Karma, Tripsy.
Bang Bang, 526 Market St, Downtown. facebook.com/BangBangSanDiego. Fri: Kastle. Sat: Eats Everything, Lee K.
Wild Child at Belly Up Tavern. ‘San Diego Freakout’ w/ Wild Wild Wets, Burning Palms, Max Pain and the Groovies at The Casbah.
Eric Church at Valley View Casino Center. G. Love and Special Sauce at House of Blues. White Arrows at The Casbah. Six String Society at Belly Up Tavern. Ice Cube at Fluxx.
rCLUBSr
February
Dead Kennedys at Belly Up Tavern.
Sunday, Jan. 18
Saturday, Feb. 14 The Dodos at The Casbah. LOGIC at North Park Theatre. Ozomatli at Belly Up Tavern.
Patti Smith at Balboa Theatre. Wale at North Park Theatre. Silverstein at House of Blues.
Thursday, Jan. 15
Powerman 5000 at Brick by Brick. Tower of Power at Belly Up Tavern. Little Hurricane at The North Park Theatre. The Dickies at Soda Bar.
Friday, Feb. 13 Juicy J at North Park Theatre.
American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco. com. Wed: Open mic. Thu-Sat: Jessimae Peluso. Sun: Comic Strip: Comedy & Burlesque.
Saturday, Jan. 31
January
Saturday, Jan. 17
Thursday, Feb. 12 Cro-Mags at Soda Bar. Pharmakon at The Hideout.
Aziz Ansari Friday, Feb. 6 Generationals at The Casbah. Juan Gabriel at Viejas Arena. Aziz Ansari at Valley View Casino Center.
Saturday, Feb. 7 People on Vacation at Porter’s Pub. Earthless at The Casbah. Excel at Soda Bar.
Sunday, Feb. 8 Lil Eazy E at Porter’s Pub.
Tuesday, Feb. 10 Migos at North Park Theatre.
Wednesday, Feb. 11 Motion City Soundtrack at House of Blues. Hundred Waters at The Casbah. Lily and Madeleine at The Loft. Jessica Lea Mayfield at Soda Bar.
Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Fri: ‘Turn It Loose’ w/ Mr. Blow. Sat: ‘Neon Beat’. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’ w/ DJ Ratty. Mon: Husky Boy All Stars. Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave, Downtown. bassmntsd.com. Thu: Kennedy Jones. Sat: Moguai. Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla. brocktonvilla.com/beaumonts.html. Thu: Pat Dowling. Fri: DJ Vinny Bravo. Sat: Jewel City Rhythm Authority. Sun: Todd Pyke. Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Amerikan Bear, Ocelot, The Blue Moonies. Thu: Dead Kennedys, DFL, HTTH. Fri: Wild Child, Dazed and Confused. Sat: Tower of Power, Ben Powell Duo. Sun: Six String Society. Mon: Randy Rogers Band, Leopold and His Fiction. Tue: Stranger, Ease Up, True Press, DJ Carlos Culture. Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave, Carlsbad. boarcrossn.net. Thu: Hammered. Fri: ‘Club Musae’. Sat: Kingsland. Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Thu: ‘Muscle’. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA. Mon: DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Thu: Saving Abel, Reef Bound Sol, PictureYes, Seventrain. Fri: Slaves Against the Machine, Smack This, Core. Sat: Powerman 5000, (hed)PE, Knee High Fox, The No Name Gang. Mon: ‘Metal Monday’. Tue: Graham Nancarrow. Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joef. Sat: Oscar Aragon and Bruno Serrano. Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Clairemont. thecomedypalace.com.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 32 Janaury 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 31
Thu-Tue: San Diego Comedy Festival. Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St, La Jolla. lajolla.thecomedystore.com. Fri-Sat: Owen Benjamin. Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, Bankers Hill. crocesparkwest.com. Wed: Lizzy Trombore. Thu: Gilbert Castellanos and the Park West Ensemble. Fri: Agua Dulce. Sat: Coast Bop. Sun: Todo Mundo. Mon: Dave Scott Duo. Tue: Lori Bell and Rob Satterfield. Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. dirksniteclub.com. Fri: Serious Guise. Sat: DJ Dizzy D. Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. dizzyssandiego.com. Fri: Chase Morrin Trio. Sat: Tim Weisberg. Epicentre, 8450 Mira Mesa Blvd, Mira Mesa. epicentreconcerts.org. Fri: VIS, Vain and Valor, Offshore Impact, Showcash, Riboflavin. F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown, Downtown. f6ixsd.com. Fri: Ill Nicky. Sat: Snootie Wild. Sun: ‘Magnum Sunday’. Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Fri: Mixed Reactions. Sat: DJ Tay James. Sun: Ice Cube. Hard Rock Hotel, 207 Fifth Ave, Downtown. hardrockhotelsd.com. Thu: The Nervous Wreckords, Get Back Loretta, Bondurant. Fri: Fred Matters. Sat: All Gold, Chris Cutz. Sun: Brady Spear, Chris Liosi. Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown. henryspub.com. Wed: The Fooks. Thu: DJ Antonio Aguilera. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: DJs E, Yodah. Mon: Andra Taylor and Nate Dodge. Tue: Big City Dawgs. House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Down-
town. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Fri: Anthony Green. Sun: G. Love and Special Sauce, Matt Costa.
bert Castellanos jazz jam. Thu: Mimi Zulu. Fri: Soul Ablaze. Sat: Jackson Price. Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei.
Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Thu: ‘B2B’. Fri: ‘Toombao’. Sat: Travis Wild. Sun: ‘Tribal Bass Wave’. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.
Side Bar, 536 Market St, Downtown. sidebarsd.com. Thu: Vince Delano. Sat: DJ Decon.
Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave, Kensington. 619-284-2848. Sat: ‘Therapy’. Tue: Calabrese, Chapel of Thieves, 13 Wolves. Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: Tone Cookin’. Thu: North Star. Fri: Mystique. Sat: In Midlife Crisis. Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. numberssd.com. Thu: ‘Throwback Thursday’. Fri: ‘Vogue Decadence’. Sun: ‘R and B Divas’. Tue: Karaoke Latino. Onyx Room / Thin, 852 Fifth Ave, Downtown. onyxroom.com. Fri: ‘Rumba Lounge’. Sat: ‘Onyx Saturday’. Tue: ‘Neo Soul’. Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: The Rayford Brothers. Thu: The Fuzzy Rankins Band. Fri: Myron and the Kyniptionz. Sat: WG and the G Men. Sun: Rosy Dawn. Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Paddys Chicken Jam. Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: DJ Kiki. Thu: DJ Moniq. Fri: DJs Drew G, Will Z. Sat: DJ John LePage. Sun: DJs Cros, Hector Fonseca. Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave, La Mesa. rivierasupperclub.com. Wed: Westside Inflection. Thu: V Tones. Fri: Chickenbone Slim. Sat: Red Lotus. Tue: Karaoke. Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd. Wed: Gil-
Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: The Red Paintings, Sound Lupus, The Steinbacks. Thu: Jason Cruz and The Howl, Des and the Cendents, Brian Wahlstrom, Noel Jordan. Fri: The Routine, Taurus Authority, AJ Froman. Sat: The Dickies, Midnight Eagle, Oddball, The Stalins of Sound. Sun: Weight of the Sun, Streetgirls, The Shyfox, Sever the Century. Mon: Swim Team, Island Boy, Other Bodies, Tape Waves, DJ Nik Ewing. SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Fri: Jonny Craig, Kyle Lucas, Leave The Universe, Broken Lips. Sat: Killing The Messenger, Hundred Caliber, Contracts, Redeem Revive, City of Crooks. Somewhere Loud, 3489 Noell St, Midtown. somewhereloud.com. Fri: Paparazzi. Stage Bar & Grill, 762 Fifth Ave, Downtown. stagesaloon.com. Thu: Superbad. Fri: Disco Pimps, DJ Slynkee. Sat: Hott Mess, DJ Miss Dust. Mon: Karaoke. Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego, Normal Heights. sycamoreden. com. Thu: The Stephen Rey Sextette. Sun: The Liquorsmiths, Gary Hankins. The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd, Spring Valley. 619-469-2337. Wed: ‘Benefit for Steph Nichols’ w/ The Mice, Jovi and The Issues. Thu: ‘Darkwave Garden’. Fri: Little Heroine, Oles, Spero. Sat: ‘Club Therapy’. The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: Pinback, Astra. Thu: The New Kinetics, Gloomsday, Schitzophonics, Cardielles. Fri: Wild Wild Wets, Kim and the Created, Max Pain and the Groovies, Swift Beats, Moonshine, Slow White, Sixties Guns. Sat: Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds, Uke-Hunt, Low Volts. Sun: White Arrows, Nicky Venus, The Eiffels. Mon: Mariachi El Bronx, Pounded by the Surf, Creepxotica. Tue: ‘Hip Hop Beat Battle’ w/ DJs Artistic, Tramlife. The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. thehideoutsd.com. Sat: Andy Rourke (DJ set), Jimbo James, Robin Roth. The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. theloft.ucsd.edu. Thu: Chris Minh Doky and The Nomads, HM3. Fri: Oma and Bella. The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. theMerrow.com. Wed: Corina Rose. Thu: Mutant Supremacy, Eukaryst, Ruines ov Abbadon. Fri: Glass Spells, Shady Francos, Flaggs, Tape Waves, Kooties, Spoken Word. Sat: DJs Trace, Quadrant,
32 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
IRIS. Mon: Open mic. Tue: Good Morning Coffee, The Verigolds, Degen. The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: ‘Friends Chill’ w/ DJs Eddie Turbo, Dubchops. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Huge Euge. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ DJs Tribe of Kings. Mon: ‘Club Purple’. Tue: ‘Trapped in the Office’ w/ DJ Ramsey. The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, Gaslamp. tinroofbars.com/Home/SanDiego. Wed: ‘Power Hour’ w/ Pat Hilton. Thu: Spiral Out, Township Rebellion. Fri: Random Radio, The Alkis. Sat: The Bootleggers, The Alkis. Sun: ‘G Street Sessions’ w/ Morning Bear, Grayson Erhard. Mon: VINNASSI. Tue: King Schascha, IRUSALEM. Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Sun: Gravespell, Fadrait, Daemos, Christ Killer, Morphesia. Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Thu: Stan Ruffo Band. Fri: Rebecca Jade. Sat: Bump N Brass. Tue: Zydeco Patrol. Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Wed: ‘The Ratt’s Revenge’ w/ DJs Mikey Ratt, Tiki Thomas. Fri: The Great Electric Quest, Desert Suns, The Munsens, Toke. Sat: Jason Lee and the RIP Tides, The Sand Devils. Sun: Castle, Bhorelorde, Beira. Turquoise, 873 Turquoise St, Pacific Beach. theturquoise.com/wordpress. Wed: Tomcat Courtney. Thu: The Jade Visions Jazz Trio. Fri: Gabriela Aparicio. Sat: Vera Cruz Blues (5 p.m.); Goma (9 p.m.). Sun: Sounds Like Four (5 p.m.); Big Boss Bubale (7 p.m.). Mon: Open mic. Tue: Grupo Global. Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Wed: ‘Word Up’ w/ Steez 76D, EJDN, Absent Acclaim, Zochi, Will Spliff. Thu: DJ Fishfonics. Fri: Kid Wonder. Sat: DJ Qenoe. Sun: SM Familia, Johnny Love, Cumbia Machin. Mon: Kid Wonder. Tue: Karaoke. West Coast Tavern, 2895 University Ave, North Park. westcoatstavern.com. Thu: DJ Pound. Fri: DJ Slowhand. Sat: DJ Impakt. Sun: Clean Cut. Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Thu: ‘Astrojump’ w/ Kill Quanti DJs. Fri: ‘F#ing in the Bushes’ w/ DJs Rob Moran, Daniel Sant. Sat: ‘80s vs 90s’ w/ DJs Gabe Vega, Saul. Tue: ‘Videodrome’. Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: ‘Club Kingston’ w/ Jam Kwest, DJ Carlos Culture. Fri: Courtney Melody, Revival, Full Watts Sound System, DJ Sam Hundley. Sat: ‘Ocean Boogie’. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Too Many Zooz.
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 33
Brendan Emmett Quigley
Blank out Across 1. Record of a night of drinking 4. [We’re still working on the details of the show]: Abbr. 7. Some four-doors 13. Bumgarner’s was 0.43 in the 2014 World Series: Abbr. 14. Feathered neckpiece 15. Factory-floor leaders 16. Prime ___ 17. P 19. Red Sox rivals 21. Shiny sign stuff 22. Nescafé rival 23. R 26. Mud bath covering 27. Heat superstar 28. Spleen 30. Friend at the tapas bar 32. L 38. It can keep a good man down 39. Prepared for a triathlon, say 41. Dim ___ 42. G 44. Center of Florida? 46. Lovey alternative 47. Immunization fluids 48. Interior designer Berkus 51. T 57. “The Bachelor” alum Renee, or “SNL” alum Cheri 59. Tar greeting 60. With 64-Across, where Alan Dershowitz went after Brooklyn College 61. B 64. See 60-Across Last week’s answers
34 · San Diego CityBeat · January 14, 2015
65. Caught by the Orkin man 66. “___ of Jeet Kune Do” (Bruce Lee book) 67. Waze way: Abbr. 68. He played Malcolm in 1992 69. Sony co-chief Pascal 70. “So’s ___ old man!”
Down 1. With 54-Down, ceramic that means literally “baked earth” 2. Andrea Bocelli numbers 3. Rocker for the kids 4. “Ground Floor” channel 5. Spring in one’s step 6. “Doctor Who” villain who says “Exterminate!” 7. George, to Prince William 8. There are 10 million of these in a joule 9. Slung mud at 10. Big name in appliances 11. Guitar parts with frets 12. 4th and inches option, often 15. “Huckleberry ___” 18. Japanese fish 20. Horse 24. “Same here” 25. “L’immoraliste” author André 29. Cash in a coupon 30. “The criminals are out there, somewhere,” for short 31. Video game avatar 32. Bird cry 33. Galeão-Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport city, briefly 34. One, in Orléans 35. Mil. men on horseback, until the ‘40s 36. Daft Punk, e.g. 37. 911 respondent 40. Monthly expenditure 43. London luxury hotel, familiarly 45. Put your hands together? 47. It shoots from above 48. Passing notion? 49. Plead for forgiveness 50. J.J. Watt, e.g. 52. It can provide liftoff 53. “Oh, so THAT’S how you do it” 54. See 1-Down 55. Send to cloud nine 56. More original 58. Memo heading 62. Lady friend 63. Today, in Tijuana
January 14, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 35