San Diego CityBeat • Jan 21, 2015

Cheer up, li’l fella.

We’ve got lots of deep thoughts on parenting and good ideas for entertaining the whole clan.

The

Fam i ly issue

P.17

2 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Opposition party It surely sounds like Todd Gloria’s running for mayor. And it looks like he’s got a running mate of sorts in David Alvarez. This is good to see, whether or not you’re likely to support Mayor Kevin Faulconer for a second term in 2016.

San Diego City Councilmembers Gloria and Alvarez planned for at least a week in advance to provide some kind of response to Faulconer’s State of the City speech last Wednesday night at the Balboa Theatre. A few minutes after the speech ended and the packed theater emptied out, Gloria and Alvarez met members of the press outside on Fourth Avenue and pointedly criticized the mayor’s words—or lack of words. During the following couple of days, the duo did television appearances together on San Diego 6 (The CW) and KUSI, and Gloria went solo on Fox 5 (twice), NBC 7 and KUSI (a second time) and provided a statement to 10 News. Alvarez, meanwhile, did Despierta San Diego (Univision) and KOGO alone.

Gloria, it seems, is ratcheting up the aggressiveness that he showed last year while pushing for an increase in the local minimum wage. He’s always been a genuinely nice person, and that friendliness and courtesy have typically been extended even to his political opponents, tested only, in our memory, by short-time Mayor Bob Filner. This week, he (and Alvarez) came at Faulconer hard, questioning the mayor’s willingness and capacity to be a leader.

Gloria begins by reminding viewers that he—in 2014—once gave a State of the City speech and then lamenting that Faulconer missed an opportunity to lead boldly. He attacks the mayor on two main policy issues: rebuilding the city’s derelict infrastructure and figuring out how to keep the Chargers in San Diego, ridiculing Faulconer’s plan to create a football-stadium task force as an ineffectual tactic that another mayor—Dick Murphy—tried more than 10 years ago.

“I think San Diegans are really hungering for: This is where it’s going to go, this is how we’re going to pay for it and this is when you can vote on it,” he told Fox 5. “We didn’t have any of those details last night, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask for in the State of the City address.”

Politicians love to relate public policy to home finance, and Gloria did that in the same interview, saying that Faulconer makes irresponsible decisions: “We have a $3-billion infrastructure problem in this city, and the mayor last night committed roughly $100 million over the next five years, and that’s essentially the equivalent of making the minimum payment on your credit card. And any of your

David Rolland

Todd Gloria (left) and David Alvarez, post-speech viewers know that that is a recipe for fiscal disaster, as well as a really good way of never, ever making any progress on an issue.”

A former public-relations executive, Faulconer’s not the type who’ll make explosive mistakes—he’s the anti-Filner. He’s safe. He’s carefully crafted.

He’s vanilla. That’s how he’s potentially vulnerable; then again, it also might be exactly what San Diego wants. In any event, Gloria and Alvarez seem to be laying the groundwork for a sustained attack on Faulconer’s cautiousness.

We love that Alvarez has Gloria’s back. He was the lone Democratic council member to remain loyal to Gloria even after his ouster as council president was assured. It’s likely that the council Republicans’ installation of Sherri Lightner as president is what’s pushed Gloria and Alvarez to go big. Whatever the case, they should make a formidable team.

Lightner, meanwhile, seems uninterested in providing a healthy counterbalance to Faulconer’s executive branch. That’s her prerogative. But it’s why we’re glad that Gloria and Alvarez are doing what they’re doing. We can argue the finer points of the policies at issue. As long as they choose their battles wisely, make smart arguments and don’t go completely off the rails—à la the Republicans in Congress vis-à-vis Barack Obama—it’s great for the public to listen to a debate. If you’re a Faulconer supporter, the silver lining of the criticism is that it could push the mayor to be bolder and shore up his defenses on the cautiousness battlefront.

As we’ve said before, Gloria’s possibly the only candidate who can give Faulconer a run for his money in 2016. At the very least, it’s important for voters to have a choice.

What do you think? Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com

This special family issue of CityBeat does not condone the behavior of the couple at the Dead Kennedys show. Next week’s might, though.

Volume 13 • Issue 24 Editor David Rolland Associate Editor Kelly Davis Music Editor Jeff Terich Arts Editor Kinsee Morlan Staff Writer Joshua Emerson Smith Web Editor Ryan Bradford Art director Lindsey Voltoline Columnists Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza

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 Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse

Cover photo by Joshua Emerson Smith MultiMedia Advertising Director Paulina Porter-Tapia Senior account executive Jason Noble Account Executives Beau Odom, Kimberly Wallace Accounting Alysia Chavez, Kacie Cobian, Linda Lam Human Resources Andrea Baker

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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

Production artist Rees Withrow

Vice President of Operations David Comden

Intern Narine Petrosyan

Publisher Kevin Hellman

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 21, 2015

Pay for it yourself I disagree with you on almost every issue, from the minimum wage to Carl DeMaio, but on the stadium issue you are spot on [“Editorial,” Dec. 23]. If the Chargers want a new stadium, they can pay for one just as any other business in San Diego would.

Imagine if Southwest Airlines told the city that it would leave if it didn’t get a new airport. And before the City Council gives one penny of city funds to the Chargers, all the torn-up sidewalks in my neighborhood had better be fixed!

J.T. Brown, Hillcrest

tion that bilked the taxpayers out of all that money for nothing! Someone’s head should roll for that one.

Lynn Adams, Escondido

Empathetic reporting Regarding Joshua Emerson Smith’s Jan. 7 “News” story about mental-health-related calls to the police: Thank you for your insightful and empathetic article. It also happens to mirror my experience and the many other individuals who suffer or who still suffer these realistic consequences.

Amy Lainhart, East Village

Unfair treatment Regarding Kinsee Morlan’s Jan. 7 “Art & Culture” story about the Balboa Park Centennial: I read what was provided to David Lundin by the city, and the statement made absolutely no sense; it was an impossibility to complete because one could not obtain a necessary form without filling out another form. The necessary form was a prerequisite to obtaining the latter form! So, yes, they were being asked to jump through hoops that no other group was being asked to.

So far, I have seen nothing that Michael Ruiz is working on. And without adequate parking for this event, all those other expenditures are for naught. I also don’t see the city fathers going after the corpora-

Correction In his Jan. 7 “Spin Cycle” column, John R. Lamb quoted Steve Rivera, a candidate to lead San Diego County’s Democratic Party, as arguing that one of the problems with the Democratic Party is that it “holds its Central Committee elections during non-presidential election cycles, when Democratic-voter attention—for whatever reason—seems to wane.” While this was true prior to the advent of California’s “top-two” primary system, the county’s Democratic Central Committee members are now elected during presidential primaries.

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Kelly Davis

Theresa Bish chaired the county’s Mental Health Board in 2011 when it voted in favor of implementing Laura’s Law.

Laura’s Law likely moving ahead Board of Supervisors will consider preliminary approval on Jan. 27

by Kelly Davis It’s been more than four years since San Diego County first explored implementing a state law that’s divided the mental-health community over how to get seriously ill folks into treatment. But with a key hurdle—how to pay for that treatment—out of the way, the county Board of Supervisors on Jan. 27 will take another look at Laura’s Law. Named after 19-year-old Laura Wilcox— who was gunned down by a mentally ill man in 2001—Laura����������������������� ’���������������������� s Law says that a person who meets certain criteria, like refusing treatment, showing signs of being a threat to himself or others or having a history of hospitalization and/or incarceration, can be court-ordered to follow an “assistedoutpatient treatment” plan. If that person refuses treatment, she or he can be held in a psychiatric hospital for up to three days, but Nevada County, where Wilcox lived and which, until this year, was the only county to fully implement Laura’s Law, found that that rarely happens. Nevada County’s become an evangelist for Laura’s Law. In 2012, its grand jury found that for every $1 spent on the program, the county saved $2 by keeping people out of jail and preventing emergency hospitalizations and police calls.

Laura’s Law is a paradigm shift for a mental-health system in which treatment is rarely proactive, said Therea Bish, who, in 2011, chaired San Diego County’s Mental Health Board (MHB) when it voted unani-

mously in support of Laura’s Law. Right now, Bish said, if someone refuses treatment, you have to wait until that person’s deteriorated to the point of qualifying for an emergency psychiatric hold.

“I know parents who triage their adult children every day,” she said; involuntary hospitalization is the only way to get help.

Despite the MHB’s support, county mental-health officials opposed the law, largely due to questions of how to pay for it. Because it doesn’t come with any funding, Laura’s Law is discretionary. Nevada County implemented it in 2008, but only as part of a legal settlement with Wilcox’s family, and used money from the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)—approved

by California voters in 2004—to pay for it.

But elsewhere, including San Diego County, there was disagreement over whether MHSA money could be spent on involuntary treatment—and threats by Laura’s Law’s opponents to sue if it was.

A 2014 law, authored by then-state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, cleared up questions over whether MHSA money could fund Laura’s Law. In May, Orange County became the second county to adopt the law, spurred by the 2011 police-beating death of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill homeless man. Los Angeles and San Francisco counties voted in July to enact the law. A few smaller counties have either implemented Laura’s Law or launched pilot programs.

The Jan. 27 Board of Supervisors agenda wasn’t available by press time, and a spokesperson for the county’s Health and Human Services Agency said he didn’t know what would be recommended. But a number of people familiar with the issue told CityBeat that staff will ask for “preliminary” approval

6 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

of a plan to implement Laura’s Law, which appears to have the support of at least three of the five county supervisors.

Luis Monteagudo, spokesperson for Supervisor Greg Cox, said in an email that Laura’s Law is “a very complex issue” but that Cox “will probably vote for it, because… it’s the first step in the process.” A spokesperson for Supervisor Dianne Jacob pointed to a recent statement she’d made to NBC 7, saying that she was looking forward to Laura’s Law coming back to the board for discussion. And Supervisor Dave Roberts, a vocal proponent of Laura’s Law since he was elected to the board in 2012, described it as a treatment approach that should be available to county residents.

“One tool might not work for your family or your loved one, but it may work for others,” he said. “The more tools we can offer to our county, the better off we are.”

A spokeperson for Supervisor Ron Roberts said his boss “is looking forward to reviewing the details and listening to the public comments before making a decision.” Bill Horn’s office didn’t respond to an email.

Opponents, meanwhile, have been consistent in their reasons why Laura’s Law is bad policy. They argue that involuntary treatment raises the ugly specter of institutionalization and forced medication, outlawed in the early ’70s (though, Laura’s Law supporters emphasize that the law mandates outpatient treatment only and forbids forced medication).

“It’s this preemptive strike here, which is actually very harmful because of the trauma involved in forced treatment,” said Ann Menasche, an attorney with Disability Rights California, which opposes Laura’s Law. Menasche said the system first needs to

be able to serve patients who voluntarily seek help—and, right now, that’s not happening.

On Jan. 20, she sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors describing a “significant unmet need for mental health services.”

“Many San Diego residents with severe mental health disabilities are turned away each year from voluntary services such as Full Service Partnerships and case management,” Menasche wrote, “and rationing severely restricts the availability of longterm psychotherapy.”

Some Laura’s Law supporters worry that the timing of the vote will give supervisors a reason to delay action. In a Jan. 13 email to supervisors, Tom Behr and John Sturm, both former members of the Mental Health Board, pointed out that a new advisory board, the result of the merger of the county’s Alcohol and Drug Advisory Board and the MHB, won’t have its first meeting until February and won’t have a chance to weigh in on Laura’s Law until the spring.

“Our purpose in informing you is not to oppose nor encourage adoption of Laura’s Law,” Behr and Sturm wrote. “Rather, our purpose is to highlight the implications of such an accelerated adoption process as it relates to the new Behavioral Health Advisory Board.”

Bish, the former MHB chair, said a delay is unwarranted. “Our Mental Health Advisory Board had done the work,” she said, “and, yes, it was going to be sound public policy.”

She pointed out that untreated mental illness is only becoming more costly for the county, which recently added two positions to its conservatorship program and, later this year, will consider increased funding for its Psychiatric Emergency Response Team which, as CityBeat reported earlier this month, hasn’t been able to keep up with a significant increase in calls for service.

Meanwhile, at the state level, Assemblywoman Marie Waldron has authored a bill that would make Laura’s Law mandatory statewide. Waldron acknowledged that it’s a hard sell, since it would make Laura’s Law an unfunded mandate. And, for this reason, she said, the bill’s “still in flux.” But she wants to see the state step up to fund it.

“Money has to be put in,” she said. “You have to be committed as a state to fund the programs, and then you reap the benefits.

Our problem is that California has not really stepped up to fund the program enough to make it workable.”

Waldron’s bill would also extend Laura’s Law’s court-ordered treatment period from six months to a year for people who meet certain criteria, and it would get rid of the law’s Jan. 1, 2017, sunset date.

Waldron says that while she understands opponents’ concerns that Laura’s Law undermines civil-rights protections for the mentally ill, untreated mental illness could put someone in an even worse place.

“If they don’t get treatment, they end up in jail, or in an emergency room or a hospital situation,” she said, “if they don’t end up dead.”

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

john r.

spin cycle

lamb Mayor Glinda “It is a poor mouse that has only one hole.”

—Spanish proverb Salesmanship guru Dale Carnegie once said, “There are always three speeches for every one you actually gave: the one you practiced, the one you gave and the one you wish you gave.”

In the case of San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer last week, add a fourth speech: the one you give to your Republican Party colleagues.

Yes, San Diego has emerged from a week of enough pithy political turns of phrase and political posturing that even the stiffest beverages can’t remove them from our psyches any time soon. If you thought 2016 wasn’t on the minds of our ambitious leaders going into last week, the hand-wringing that followed should eclipse all doubt.

Faulconer’s State of the City address last Wednesday—before an overbooked crowd gathered in Downtown’s Balboa Theatre— contained all the requisite bells and whistles that we’ve come to expect from these annual “How We Doin’?” mayoral speeches.

Given that it was his first since his election to the post 10 months ago, let’s just say Faulconer didn’t fall on his face. He was upbeat, avoided cascading sweat and even broke into a little well-practiced Spanish.

Faulconer made a lot of promises that you’d typically hear on the campaign trail—doubling street-repair efforts, continuing financial reforms, putting neighborhoods first while trying to keep the Chargers and Comic-Con from heading to greener pastures.

An argument could be made that Faulconer has never left the campaign trail, that his off-year, low-voter-turnout victory was a bit of a fluke in a city tilting Democratic. But Faulconer ain’t buying it.

“When I was elected mayor this past February, it wasn’t an aberration,” he told Republicans two days later, at their winter meeting in Coronado. “And as all of us know in this room, when we start talking about those issues that are common-sense, as

Republicans we win. We win all across the country. And me standing here before you today, I think, is indicative of that.”

The room was silent as Faulconer reminded the faithful that Republican voter registration in San Diego stood at 26 percent, behind both Democrats and now those who decline to state a party preference.

“So, it was great that I had about $4.5 million spent against me from some of the government employees,” he laughed. “We had their full attention. But even with that attention, my message was it’s not about union issues or not; it was about bringing common sense back to San Diego. And that is a message that our city employees and unions can buy into.

“Our promise of reform resonates with every single demographic,” Faulconer boasted to the Hotel del Coronado audience, “every single group, ladies and gentlemen, if we do it correctly.”

This, then, puts into perspective the speech from two days before—brilliant, really, in that it tackled almost every challenge with a promise of change down the road. But curious, as well, in some instances.

Take Faulconer’s education proposal, for example. “The realities of working and providing for a family mean that for some, going back to school is too difficult,” he said Wednesday. “It takes too much time. It costs too much money. And while we can’t solve all of these problems, we can put opportunity back within reach.”

To remedy that, Faulconer announced a partnership with the San Diego Library Foundation “to launch a new initiative called Career Online High School [COHS].” But according to the San Diego Public Library’s own website, the program already exists, evidenced by testimonials from two COHS grads.

How the mayor plans to roll out this “new initiative” was left for speculation, but, on its face, it seems to suggest that Faulconer is grasping for something he can use against the growing national groundswell for a higher minimum wage.

Faulconer touched on the topic

in both speeches, suggesting that raising people out of poverty can’t be accomplished by “tinkering around the edges.”

“Something that I feel very strongly about is, our measure of success cannot be based on how many people have a slightly better-paid low-wage job,” he told Republicans. “A measure of success in this country must be how many have the opportunity to move into a better job. That’s what our challenge is, and that defines us.”

That will be a tall mountain to climb in 2016—the promise of reward somewhere down the line versus the immediacy of a mandated higher wage—and Faulconer likely knows it. That will be an area where Faulconer’s eventual challenger from the Democratic side will probably take the most damaging swings. City Councilmember Todd Gloria, with colleague and Faulconer’s previous mayoral opponent David Alvarez by his side, quickly stepped into the fray, leading many to speculate that Gloria is in the hunt.

While Alvarez hit Faulconer’s State of the City speech as a “slogan” soliloquy, Gloria—chief proponent of a city minimum-wage hike that’s destined for a 2016 showdown— laid into the missed opportunities of the mayor’s oratory.

John R. Lamb

“Then close your eyes and tap your heels together three times.”

“We have a responsibility to demand answers and details from the mayor,” Gloria said when asked on KUSI whether he was being divisive with his criticism.

Gloria’s comments drew quick backlash from Faulconer supporters, including Ryan Clumpner of the conservative Lincoln Club of San Diego County, who tweeted that Gloria should provide “his own specifics if he’s going to take

to camera with generic whining about lack of specifics.”

So, here we go, San Diego.

Have you missed campaign season? If you have, crazy reader, it appears you’re in luck. Mayor Glinda has pitched his sugar-high vision. Who will emerge to put a little fiber back into our diet?

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

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

by michael a. gardiner Michael A. Gardiner

plete without rice and kimchi), pickled daikon radishes, cucumbers, scallions, seaweeds and the like, which are refilled at will—it is a substantial and warming meal.

My favorite of Convoy Tofu House’s tofu-stew offerings is the dumpling version, featuring meat-filled dumplings alongside squash, mushrooms and strips of beef. At Convoy Tofu House—and traditionally—the dish is served roiling and boiling in its cooking vessel along with a raw egg. It’s your job to crack the egg into the middle of the bowl and spoon some of the stew’s liquid over the top of the egg. The dumpling gives the Dumpling soft-tofu stew with banchan stew a warming meatiness that, when combined with the egg yolk, lends the entire thing a wonderful richness.

Perhaps the most intriguing of Convoy Tofu House’s stews is the curry soft-tofu stew. While curry may not exactly be a flavor one immediately associates with Far East Asian cuisines, the version here is distinctly different from the familiar Winter stew, Korean style Indian or Thai versions, perhaps a bit softer. It’s a flavor that stands alone but also complements the It definitely wasn’t Hell freezing over—more like flavors of the Korean chiles. When the curry and Heaven. As the calendar turned, San Diegans had spice combine with the egg yolk, an otherwise to contend with the unfamiliar: winter coats, angular dish rounds out beautifully. warm boots and, in some far-flung reaches, snow.

While the tripe soft-tofu stew is probably not It brought me back to my East Coast college days the place’s best seller, perhaps it should be. The and the comforts of a warming stew. tripe is extremely tender, its mineral qualities But instead of the chowder I enjoyed during working well with the beef and gochugaru flavors Massachusetts winters or the beef-and-barley of the stew. The genius of the dish lay in the way stew in Wisconsin, what I found myself cravConvoy Tofu House manages to take the most asing was Korean soft-tofu stew: sundubu jjigae. sertive flavors of offal and make them into a defiThere’s a surprising number of options for that nite strong point of the stew. in San Diego. I chose Convoy Tofu House in There are non-stew dishes on the menu, too.

Kearny Mesa (4229 Convoy St.).

Lunch specials come with sushi rolls, for examMore of a class of dish than any one in parple, and they similarly offer a deal combining any ticular, Korean soft-tofu stew features a fiery stew with bibimbap (rice topped with a variety broth—spiked with gochugaru (Korean red chile of sautéed and seasoned vegetables). But the real flakes), gochujang (chili paste) and/or fermented reason to go to Convoy Tofu House is the Korean kimchi—infusing a soft, custardy tofu (quite difsoft-tofu stews. For me, it’s the perfect antidote to winter in San Diego. ferent from the more familiar “firm” tofu) with deep and spicy flavors. Accompanied by rice and Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com the usual banchan—a selection of little “salads” and editor@sdcitybeat.com. like traditional kimchi (no Korean meal is com-

the world

fare

8 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

By Jen Van Tieghem

bottle

Rocket Chocolate and champagne— who knew?

An old police headquarters and boutique shop; sommelier and chocolate maker; champagne and fine chocolate: These things may not seem perfect pairings, but Dallmann Confections proves that each of the duos work together well.

Owner Isabella Valencia and husband / sommelier Jayson Knack host about two pairing classes at Dallmann (dallmannconfections.com, 789 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown) each month, with beer, wine, cheese, desserts and, perhaps most uniquely, champagne.

The champagne pairing includes four or five chocolates and a few half-glasses.

The sessions are more concerned with teaching attendees about these items and how to marry them than about getting your drink on—so don’t come looking to catch a buzz.

Knack gives helpful tips on purchasing sparkling wines and how to get the best bang for your buck.

He possesses a deep well of knowledge, which he rapidly shares, and he’ll indulge a few questions.

His wife, the mastermind behind the chocolates, also imparts a great deal of information—on the history of Dallmann, the chocolate-making process and the flavors in front of you.

During my visit last September, we started with a Cava (Spanish sparkling wine) paired with an amaretto chocolate made with toasted almonds and chocolate ganache. Our hosts explained that the wines were to be tasted in order from lightest to most complex, and the chocolates followed suit. This first chocolate brought out nuttiness in the wine, but when

sipped with the next treat—a spicy passionfruit caramel—the wine changed a great deal, with its own fruity characteristics coming to the forefront.

My favorite pairing was a rosé champagne and a heart-shaped rose-water caramel. Not only did these two pink indulgences look quite romantic together; their flavors were also artfully matched. The wine had a slightly floral nose, which mated with the herbal qualities of the chocolate. When the rose-water-infused center released its distinct aromatics, its liquid consistency also left a bit of a mess for some tasters—you’ve been warned.

The last glass held a true French Champagne (read: from the Champagne region of France) and was a blanc de blanc, meaning it was made with 100-percent Chardonnay grapes. My initial impression of this was a strong yeast comJen Van Tieghem ponent, which left it with a scent of sourdough bread.

The chocolate matched here was interesting in every way, its neon orange hue hiding white chocolate fused with yellow curry and coconut. The bold combination transformed the wine, bringing forward tropical fruits and making for a dynamic pairing that some guests loved and others left on their plate.

The location of Dallmann is also unique. It inhabits the trendy Headquarters at Seaport District, and you have to ascend a metal spiral staircase—a remnant of the old police headquarters—to get to the cozy tasting area.

The next chocolate and champagne pairing is Feb. 5, with several other tastings slated through the spring. They also sell pairing boxes of chocolates for wine, beer and cheese to create your own tastings at home (hint, hint: Valentine’s Day). Check the website for a full class schedule and other details.

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

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

by jenny montgomery Jenny montgomery

north

fork Retro and modern

I love the beach as much as the next SoCal native, and I yearn for the day I can move just a little closer to the sand. But if I hear “Margaritaville” one more time, I’m going to stick my own head in a blender to see what it will render. We get it: You want to go on vacation. And when I sat down at Pillbox Tavern in Solana Beach and realized that its big screens were blasting a never-ending loop of sun-and-sand, bro-country videos, I almost bolted. But this easy beach hangout won me over with accessible, filling fare.

Pillbox (117 W. Plaza St., pillboxtavern.com), named for the surf break a few steps to the west of its front door, is a pretty small place for such a swanky zip code. It calls itself retro and modern (does that even mean anything?), which I suppose is not a bad way to encapsulate its fun, youthful vibe, as well as its familiar menu items and neighborhood feel.

I’ve never been one to appreciate wings, probably because I’ve eaten too many lousy ones. A flac-

10 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

cid pile of skin and bones never held much appeal. But Pillbox is helping me get over my prejudice. Check out a few of the dry rubs (lemon pepper or Old Bay), but the traditional sauces range from sweet to scorching. The now-requisite Sriracha wings are on hand, but I went with the house barbecue sauce. I tore into the saucy skin and hefty wing with abandon, thrilled to find plenty more than just a few anemic bites of meat. The barbecue sauce isn’t going to win any contests, but it’s sweet and sticky and has a hint of tang that keeps you coming back for more.

Hearty American classics make up the rest of the menu, The Pillbox Plate with trendy twists like fried pickles and tater tots to seaside classics (coconut shrimp, anyone?). I had a hard time deciding between the delectablesounding seafood po boy, featuring fried shrimp and mahi mahi, and the Pillbox Plate.

For whatever reason, I was missing Hawaii, so I opted for the closest thing I could get to a plate lunch from the islands. Taken apart, there’s nothing terribly special about the Pillbox Plate. But the sum of its parts adds up to a feeling of comfort and relaxation. Teriyaki chicken, mac salad and coconut-jalapeño rice make for the kind of lunch that made me almost want to sing, “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere” without rolling my eyes.

Pillbox Tavern occupies an enviable location, just a few steps away from Fletcher Cove, with a family-friendly playground right at the top, if you’ve got little ones with you.

For as much coastline as our county has, it’s not as easy as you would expect to find quality places to eat that are within shouting distance of crashing waves. Pillbox nails the comfortable energy you expect from a beach restaurant, without the deep-fried, sticky-floored tourist vibe that’s far too easy to stumble upon. If you give me one of its root beer floats, I might even hum a little Jimmy Buffett to myself.

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

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

the floating

library

by jim ruland

Strangeness in the stacks I’m not the biggest fan of Haruki Murakami’s fiction, but when I saw a copy of The Strange Library in the bookstore, I had to pick it up. The slender volume sealed in plastic and designed by rock-star book designer Chip Kidd made me intensely curious about what strange magic might be inside.

Murakami’s stories of ordinary people who wander into extraordinary circumstances have become somewhat predictable over the years, and his mild surrealism typically isn’t enough to rescue plots that don’t really go anywhere. Perhaps The Strange Library would be different.

It isn’t. Though it comes in at just under 100 pages, at least half are used for design elements (I’m reluctant to say “art,” but we’ll get to that in a bit).

The Strange Library is presented like a tidy bundle of typewritten pages and can be read in an hour or so—the equivalent of a long short story.

The Strange Library is about a boy who goes to his local public library to learn about tax collecting during the Ottoman Empire (seriously) and ends up being held prisoner in the library’s basement by an old man who “feeds” him books.

The boy’s only ally is a man dressed from head to toe in a wooly sheep costume who’s also a prisoner and serves as a kind of trustee in the library’s dungeon.

“Mr. Sheep Man,” I asked, “why would that old man want to eat my brains?”

“Because brains packed with knowledge are yummy, that’s why. They’re nice and creamy. And sort of grainy at the same time.”

“So that’s why he wants me to spend a month cramming information in there, to suck it up afterwards?”

“That’s the idea.”

It sounds like the set-up for an episode of Adventure Time, but while that cartoon is manic, zany and fun, The Strange Library feels stilted and dated and dull. Not even Chip Kidd’s design can rescue the effort. The clip art features bold shapes and bright colors, and while I’m sure it looks amazing on a computer screen, it feels flat and oversaturated on paper.

For Murakami fans, The Strange Library is perhaps best read in a library, where readers won’t feel the sting of buying a single short story for the price of a novel. Just don’t wander down to the basement.

The Strange Library wasn’t the only book by a Japanese author I read this month. The House-

12 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

keeper and the Professor is the last of the four books I’ve read by Yoko Ogawa that have been translated into English and published by Picador.

Revenge, a linked collection of short stories that cozy up to psychological horror and are unabashedly strange was one of my favorite books of 2013. The Diving Pool, a collection of three novellas suffused with an atmosphere of dread, set the stage for Hotel Iris, a novel of sexual misadventure between a girl in her teens and a much older man.

The Housekeeper and the Professor is tame by comparison. It tells the story of a brilliant mathematician whose short-term memory was devastated in a car accident. As a result, his memory lasts only 80 minutes. So, when the housekeeper shows up for work each day, he’s meeting her for the first time.

The story that unfolds is a sweet tale that unites the mathematician’s love of numbers with the housekeeper’s young son’s passion for baseball. This fraught relationship follows the ups and downs of the local baseball team.

“The game dragged on, and the Tigers missed several chances to end it. I listened through the twelfth, the thirteenth, and the fourteenth innings, unable to shake the nagging feeling that it should have been over a while ago. It was just one run, but they couldn’t get it across home plate.

The moon rose full and midnight was fast approaching.”

It’s not giving too much away to say that the end is a heartbreaker—something to which all baseball fans can relate.

The stories of The Laws of Evening by Mary Yukari Waters are set in Japan during the period just before baseball became a national sport—the years of brutal catastrophe and the stunning rebuilding process immediately following World War II. With sentences that are borderline Joycean in their epiphanic potency, Waters’ characters reflect on loves that were meant to be and losses they can never get over. An impossible position to reconcile, yet they muster the grace to recognize “In the end, being alive is what matters.”

What I’m looking forward to: Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye by Marie Mutsuki Mockett, a meditation on the 2011 earthquake in Japan and its aftermath.

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

the

SHORTlist

ART

COORDINATED BY KINSEE MORLAN

COURTESY: TAMMY RAE CARLAND / JESSICA SILVERMAN GALLERY

Contemporary Art San Diego associate curator Jill Dawsey took note and pieced together Laugh-in: Art, Comedy, Performance, an exhibition that examines the trend. The show opens Friday, Jan. 23, at the museum’s La Jolla location (700 Prospect St.) and will be on view through April 19.

“It’s kind of a zeitgeist thing,” Dawsey says. “And it’s interesting because I think there are a lot of parallels between those two worlds, and there are a lot of reasons artists might be thinking about comedy right now.”

Laugh-in explores some of those reasons and gives folks a good look at the various artistic paths the trend has taken. There’ll be video installations, photography, drawing, paintTammy Rae Carland’s “I’m Dying Up Here (Mophead)” ing, sculpture and more media by 19 contemporary artists, including Cory Arcangel, Jibz Cameron (better known as Dynasty Handbag) and There are some comedians—like late Tammy Rae Carland. greats Richard Pryor and Andy Kaufman— “One of the works takes the form of a PowerPoint whose stand-up acts are so provocative presentation,” Dawsey says. “It’s pretty funny. It’s by and theatrical, they could easily be categorized as per- Jonn Herschend…. And when you watch it, it’s alformance artists, especially if the gigs take place in an most like someone is telling a joke that begins to unart museum rather than a comedy club. ravel. It breaks down in the process and, eventually, And, lately, more and more artists have been you end up realizing that the narrator of the Powereither crossing over into stand-up—using the op- Point is having an affair with a coworker. It becomes portunity to reach a new audience outside of the this sort of sordid tale.” art world—making art about stand-up comedy or While the show is funny, Dawsey says it also takes referencing comedians in their work. Museum of on some heavy and dark themes like racism, sexuality and gender.

“The show looks at some difficult questions but also laughs at the same time,” she says. mcasd.org On March 30, Chronos Theatre Group will open its full production of a play called The Balcony, and as a tease, ChroMindless entertainment, such as some nos will team up on Saturday, Jan. 24, with TechnoHollywood blockbusters, can obscure the mania Circus to present Cabaret au Balcon, which is harsh reality of the world. But what’s the billed as an “interactive time-travel nightclub” experience. From 8 p.m. to midnight, one of the theaters price of blissful ignorance? If we open our eyes to the inside the Tenth Avenue Arts Center (930 10th Ave. in suffering, challenges and triumphs of others, what efEast Village) will become a 1939-era Parisian art deco fect does it have on our lives? Judge for yourself at the cabaret, with nightclub-style seating to encourage 2015 Human Rights Watch Film Festival. Held at the mingling. There’ll be music and dance performances, Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park (1649 El a French flea circus, adult beverages, bread and cheese Prado), the festival includes six movies focused on poto munch on and an audience-participation spy game litical courage in front of and behind the camera. The pitting the French resistance and the Nazis. Come series opens with a reception at 6 p.m. and a screening in costume or rent accessories on-site. The event is of Sepideh—Reaching for the Stars by Berit Madsen at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, and runs through Sunday, 21-and-up, and tickets are $10. chronostheatre.com Jan. 25. Single-screening tickets are $8. Tickets for the entire festival are $35. mopa.org/hrwff

1

2

LOOK AND LAUGH

PARIS, 1939

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GRIPPING FLICKS

PAUL WILSON

HContemporary Constructions and In The Studio at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. Two new exhibitions. Contemporary Constructions highlights contemporary artists from around the world while In the Studio: Artist Dialogs is an in-depth look into the life of studio artist assistants. Opening Thursday, Jan. 22, and on view through Feb. 22. $8. 800-988-4253, artcenter.org LOUD silence at gallery@calit2, Atkinson Hall, UCSD campus, La Jolla. Curated by Ph.D. student Amanda Cachia, this art and sound exhibition offers the opportunity for viewers to consider the definition of sound, voice and notions of silence at the intersection of both deaf and hearing cultures. Opening from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22. 858-822-5307, calit2.net HWendell Spiral Bound at a private home, 3967 Falcon St., Mission Hills.

Steven Nossan’s exhibit of interesting ephemera, vintage photos, antiques, life-sized cartoons, historical documents and more featuring his cartoon character, Wendell. Opening Friday, Jan. 23, and on view through Feb. 28 from 3 to 7 p.m.

Fridays, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays or by appointment. 760-839-4190 HBalboa Park at 100 at San Diego Art Institute, Balboa Park. An exhibition exploring the past, present and imagined future of Balboa Park, featuring works by artists that responds to and reinterprets Balboa Park and its unique history. Opens Friday Jan. 23. On view through Feb. 22. sandiego-art.org HLa Bodega Anniversary Show at La Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. The art space celebrates one year with a skateboard-deck art exhibition featuring custom decks from dozens of artists including Geofrey Scott Redd, Jaime Garcia, Junk&PO and more.

There’ll be food, drinks and music from Still Ill. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23. facebook.com/la.bodega.1 Sublime at USD Visual Arts Center, 5998 Alcala Park, Linda Vista. Eighth grade students from Point Loma’s High Tech Middle Media Art showcase works concerning the act of viewing and making art through history. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23. 619-260-2280, hightechhigh.org Gallery Tour with Marika Sardar at San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park. Tour the new galleries for South Asian, Southeast Asian and Persian Art with Marika Sardar, associate curator of Southern Asian and Islamic Art. At 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. $8-$20. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org HAnd I Quilt The Sea For ��������� Thee����� : Paper Hats and Quilted Maps at Disclosed Unlocation, 1925 30th St., South Park. A display of illustrations of Saint Nicols of Oslo and little paper ships by Maxfield “Rowboat Crockett” Daily. From 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. facebook. com/unlocation HLa Jolla Art Nights at the intersection of Silverado Street and the 7700 block of Herschel Ave., La Jolla. A series of festive, evening events that bring together La Jolla’s arts community with live music, art openings and���������������������� unique shopping experiences. From 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. 858-401-9549, lajollabythesea.com

VALERIE POWER

Chronos actors Miranda Halverson (left) and Celeste Innocenti

HLaugh-in: Art, Comedy, Performance at MCASD, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla. The new group exhibition explores the work of contemporary artists who employ the strategies and themes of stand-up comedy to reframe questions about performance, audience and public speech. Opening from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org

Sepideh—Reaching for the Stars

After the Victory Dance at Helmuth Projects, 1827 Fifth Ave., Bankers Hill. An installation by Brianna Rigg of both new and used sculptures swept into accumulations to express figures embedded in landscape. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 24. 619-265-6842, sayingtheleastandsayingitloud.com HSan Diego Renaissance at Dolphin and Hawk Fine Art Gallery, 7742 Herschel Ave., La Jolla. This show features local emerging artists with a passion for the city including J.Hinos, Chobolits and William Ferrell.

Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. 858-401-9549, dolphinandhawk.com HConversations Amongst Artists and Viscera at Co-Merge, 330 A St., Downtown. Co-Merge teams up with Thumbprint Gallery for Conversations Amongst Artists, a group show of collaborative, abstract paintings from artists such as Andrew Alcasid, LeoAngelo, Christian Garcia-Olivo and Victor Orozco, and Viscera, a group show guest curated by Diem Vo that features works that invite the senses to react with genuine immediacy. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. 619255-9040, thumbprintgallerysd.com HHope Made Visible at Front Porch Gallery, 2903 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad.

An installation of prayer flags created by cancer patients at the San Diego Cancer Research Institute. There’ll be hors d’oeuvres and music from Clay Colton.

From noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25.

760-795-6120, frontporchgallery.org Fantastic Aspect: Surreal Cartoons at E101 Gallery, 818 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas. A solo exhibition by artist Patricia Lizon of surreal, abstract cartoons.

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26.

760-943-1950, patricializon.wix.com/artist

BOOKS Erin Quinn and Gini Koch at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave. Ste. 100, Clairemont. FQuinn will sign and discuss her paranormal romance novel, The Three Fates of Ryan Love. Koch will be promoting Universal Alien, the 10th installment in her action-packed Alien series. At 7 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 22. mystgalaxy.com Sharon Skinner and Robert Nelson at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave. Ste. 100, Clairemont. Skinner will sign and discuss her middle-school ghost story, Mirabella & the Faded Phantom.

Brick Cave publisher Robert Nelson joins Skinner to talk about indie press. At 2 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 24. mystgalaxy.com Matthew Wolf at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Wolf will discuss and sign Citadel of Fire, book two of the ongoing Ronin Saga. At noon. Sunday, Jan. 25. 858-454-0347, warwicks. indiebound.com Greg van Eekhout at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave. Ste. 100, Clairemont. The local author will be celebrating the release of Pacific Fire, the sequel to California Bones. At 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 27. mystgalaxy.com HHera Hub Authors’ Salon at Hera Hub, 5205 Avenida Encinas, Ste. A, Carlsbad. This panel discussion will feature award-winning children’s writer Edith Hope Fine, author Nancy Johnson and Linda Scott, founder of eFrog Press. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27. $10-$20. 760-476-1498 eventjoy.com/e/ authors-salon-605569 Jay Stout at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The retired Marine stops by to sign and discuss Hell’s Angels: The True Story of the 303rd Bomb

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

Group in World War II. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 28. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com

COMEDY HSan Diego Comedy Festival at Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The second annual festival will feature comedians and national touring headliners from all over the U.S., as well as contests, open mics, seminars and more.

Through Sunday, Jan. 25. $20-$180.

858-573-9067, sandiegocomedyfest.com Disoriented Comedy at Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The first nationally-touring comedy showcase featuring Asian American female-identified comics. Benefits the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum San Diego Chapter. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23. $40. 858-5739067, disorientedcomedy.weebly.com HLaugh in Peace at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. Two seasoned performers, Rabbi Bob Alper (a Jew) and Ahmed Ahmed (an Arab), join forces for a night of laughs, mutual understanding and respect. At 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27. $25. 858-481-1055, sdcjc.org

DANCE HODC at Mandeville Auditorium, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The San Francisco-based dance company has been widely recognized for its seamless fusion of ballet and modern techniques.

At 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22. $12-$46.

858-534-TIXS, artpwr.com Perseverance at Point Loma High School, 2335 Chatsworth Blvd., Point Loma. Visionary Dance Theatre’s fifth an-

niversary concert is a chronicle of Visionary’s growth, setbacks, and struggles to exist as told through dance and music. At 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, and Saturday, Jan. 24. $13-$18. 619-223-3121, Visionary DanceTheatre.org HSan Diego Tap & Jazz Dance Festival at White Box Theater, 2690 Truxtun Road, Point Loma. A weekend for tap and jazz dancers and enthusiasts. There will be master classes, as well as a tap jam with live music, history and panel discussion, SoCal dance company showcase and more. From noon to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Jan. 23-25. $10-$200.

619-869-1663, sdtapjazzfest.com HChanging Perspectives at Bernardo Winery, 13330 Paseo del Verano N., Rancho Bernardo. Held in the Vine Theater at the winery, emerging dance artists perform contemporary choreography by Mojalet Dance Company faculty. At 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25. $10-$15. 858-487-1866, mojalet.com Alberta Ballet: Fumbling Towards Ecstasy at California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. A troupe of 30 classically trained dancers trace the spiritual odyssey of a woman’s life from first romantic encounter to mature love in this portrait ballet featuring reinterpretations of Sarah McLachlan songs. At 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25. $17-$65. 800-9884253, artcenter.org HSo You Think You Can Dance Tour at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. The top dancers from the hit Fox competition TV show off their moves in front of a live audience. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26. $64-$82. 619-235-0804, fox.com/dance

FOOD & DRINK

HCaffeine Crawl San Diego Sample beverages from four of North County’s top cafes. See website for start locations.

From 2 to 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23. $23$30. 619-235-0392, caffeinecrawl.com Alpine & Mission Collaboration IPA Release Party at Mission Brewery, 1441 L St., East Village. Alpine and Mission Breweries have collaborated on the new cask-conditioned Dalyni IPA and this will be the first time to try it. Anchorman will be also be playing, and there will be food trucks and a photo backdrop. From 4 p.m. to midnight. Friday, Jan. 23. 619544-0555, missionbrewery.com HCoffee Beer Fest at Toronado, 4026 30th St., North Park. Enjoy some of the best coffee beers from names like Stone

Brewing, Alesmith, Noble, Ballast Point, Modern Times and more. From 11:30 a.m. to midnight Sunday, Jan. 25. 619282-0456, toronadosd.com Tijuana Craft Beer & Taco Crawl at Thorn Street Brewery, 3176 Thorn St., North Park. Let’s Go Clandestino tours takes you on a tour of two up-and-coming breweries and eateries in Plaza Fiesta in Tijuana. Price includes transportation to and from Tijuana and all tastings. From noon to 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25. $85. letsgoclandestino.squarespace.com

MUSIC HSociety Cabaret at Congregational Church of La Jolla, 1216 Cave St., La

Jolla. On Friday, Sandy Campbell will sing “American Songbook” and musical theatre standards. On Saturday, Broadway veteran and San Diego native Allie Trimm will sing Broadway songs. At 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, and Saturday, Jan. 24. $25-$50.

619-535-1896, societycabaretlajolla.com HUkulele Orchestra of Great Britain at Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St, La Jolla. Self-described as a group of all-singing, all-strumming ukulele players, who play everything from Tchaikovsky to Nirvana. At 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23. $25$65. 858-454-3541, ljms.org Jesse Cook at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. Cook’s known for his signature rumbaflamenco guitar playing, which combines

THEATER A long night’s journey into death “I’m going to kill myself, Mama.” person musical ensemble (Matt Best, Tom Versen Thelma doesn’t believe it at first, but her and Fred Ubaldo Jr.) and a leggy blonde (Sharon matter-of-fact daughter, Jessie, isn’t kidding. She Rietkerk) who can really belt ’em out. wants to die. She plans to die, on this exact SaturGunmetal Blues runs through Feb. 15 at North day night. It’s inevitable and unstoppable.

Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. $54 and Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning up. northcoastrep.org ’night, Mother, onstage at Ion Theatre’s BLKBOX —David L. Coddon space in Hillcrest, is an anguished, penetrating battle of wills between two women growing more Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com and more desperate as each ominous minute af- and editor@sdcitybeat.com. ter Jessie’s suicidal proclamation passes. Yolanda Franklin (as Jessie) and Sylvia M’Lafi Thompson OPENING (as Thelma) are entirely captivating in this one-act The Grift at the Lafayette Hotel: Director Tom Salamon’s directed by Ion’s Glenn Paris. In the tight confines latest immersive theater experience takes audiences in and of the small theater, you’re immersed in Jessie’s out of various rooms and other spaces inside one of San overwhelming despondency (she’s given up on life, Diego’s coolest hotels. Presented by La Jolla Playhouse, it opens Jan. 27 at the Lafayette Hotel in University Heights. whether her mother likes it or not) and in intimate lajollaplayhouse.org proximity to Thelma’s fears and recriminations. But Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: In a so deadly tense is the atmosphere created by Paris’ musical based on a biblical tale, a dude COURTESY: ION THEATRE who has an “amazing” garment becomes directorial hand and by Franka slave, but he triumphs in Egypt regardlin’s and, especially, Thompson’s less. Presented by Lamb’s Players Theperformances that you never atre, it opens Jan. 23 at the Horton Grand know when to brace yourself for Theatre, Downtown. lambsplayers.org the shock of resolution.

Louis & Irving: The Movie Moguls: Ion’s ’night, Mother is sad A staged reading of a play about Louis yet not ignorable. It runs B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg and the beginnings of MGM Studios. It opened through Feb. 7 at the BLKBOX Jan. 16 and runs through Jan. 25 at Theatre in Hillcrest. $15-$33.

Lamplighters Community Theatre in La iontheatre.com Mesa. lamplighterslamesa.com

•••

Murder for Two: In this musical, one actor plays a detective, and another plays 10 different people who are suspected of murdering a famous novelist during his birthday party. Opens Jan. 24 at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org

Gunmetal Blues’ storyline is dopey and derivative. You’ve got the requisite hardboiled shamus Sylvia M’Lafi Thompson (left) in the well-worn trench coat, and Yolanda Franklin Plays by Young Writers: The Playthe familiar leggy blonde who in ‘night, Mother wrights Project presents four full productions and four staged readings of plays walks in mystery and a wisecracking piano player who goes by the self-depre- written by local kids ranging in age from 12 to 18. It runs Jan. 22 through Feb. 1 at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. Several cating name of Buddy Toupee. Ho-frigging-hum. dates are already sold out; seats remain available for programs It’s the presence of a few thoughtful ballads on Jan. 23, 24, 30 and 31 and Feb. 1. playwrightsproject.org

by Craig Bohmler and Marion Adler, like “Child- Trouble in Mind: In 1955, black actors struggle with their hood Days” and “I’m the One that Got Away,” that roles in a Broadway play-within-a-play that’s produced and provide just enough sophistication to elevate this directed by white men. Opens Jan. 23 at Moxie Theatre in RoNorth Coast Rep offering above what otherwise lando. moxietheatre.com might feel like dinner-theater fare. This Scott Wuthering Heights: A staged reading of an adaptation of Wentworth-penned spoof of noir private-dick Emily Brontë’s classic 1847 novel. Presented by New Fortune Theatre Company, it happens on Jan. 26 at BLKBOX Theatre movies has been around since 1992 and somehow in Hillcrest. newfortunetheatre.com is still going strong. I guess it will continue as long as we keep romanticizing the tropes of an increasFor full listings, ingly wearisome genre.

All that said, Gunmetal Blues, directed by Anplease visit “T heater ” drew Barnicle, does showcase a talented threeat sdcit ybeat.com

14 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

elements of musical styles from around the globe. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. $35-$60. 800-988-4253, artcenter.org

cabaret acts and interactive theater. From 8 p.m. to midnight. Saturday, Jan. 24. $10.

619-356-1492, chronostheatre.com

Emma’s Revolution Concert at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1036 Solana Drive, Solana Beach. Activist musicians Pat Humphries and Sandy O play a concert of folk and labor-related music. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. $18-$22.

858-755-9225, emmasrevolution.com

HLa Boheme at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. The San Diego Opera kicks off its 50th season with Puccini’s classic tale of a band of Bohemian friends and a love affair between a young poet and his mistress. At 7 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 24, Tuesday, Jan. 27 and Thursday, Jan. 29. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 1. $50-$300. sdopera.com

HDerrick May and Tony Humphries at World Beat Cultural Center, 2100 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. The two renowned pioneers within electronic dance music, May (Detroit techno) and Humphries (deep house), play a special, 21-plus concert. At 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. $30$50. 619-230-1190, unrec.com Mozart Marathon at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. Violinist Victoria Martino and pianist James Lent will perform 26 sonatas, ranging from Mozart’s earliest childhood to complete maturity, at this all-day event. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. $35.

858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org Jiayan Sun at The Auditorium at TSRI, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla.

La Jolla Music Society opens its Discovery Series with the up-and-coming pianist who’ll play works by Chopin, Chabrier and more. At 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25. $30. 858-784-2666, LJMS.org

PERFORMANCE HArlequin at Circus Vargas Big Top, 460 Hacienda Drive, Vista. Circus Vargas presents this new show featuring top aerialists, acrobats, contortionists, magicians, clowns and more. Performances run from Thursday, Jan. 22, through Monday, Feb. 2. See website for times. $15-$70.

877-468-3861, circusvargas.com Steam Powered Giraffe at North Park Theatre, 2891 University Avenue, North Park. The Steampunk-themed robot band performs their original music along with some comedic sketches. At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. $25-$100. 619-239-8836, thenorthparktheatre.frontgatetickets.com HCabaret Au Balcon at 10th Avenue Theater, 930 10th Ave., Downtown. Chronos Theatre Group and Technomania Circus present an interactive, time-travel nightclub event that features WWII-themed jazz,

Sugar & Spice Soiree at Queen Bee’s, 3925 Ohio St., North Park. Pixie Stixx Burlesque celebrates their anniversary with an interactive cabaret show that features a full cast of professional dancers, singers and aerialists. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. $20-$25. pixiestixxanniversary.brown papertickets.com

than 450 cats and 41 different breeds participate in this annual event. Watch cat agility courses and learn grooming tips from experts. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan 24, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25. $7-$9. 858-755-1161, sandiegocat.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HBasile & Consortium: Absolute Adaption at Polite Provisions, 4696 30th Ave, North Park. Part of the Designing Minds discussion series, Arsalun Tafazoli of Consortium Holdings and Paul Basile of BASILE Studio discuss what it took to create some of San Diego’s most stunning drinking and dining establishments.

Ticket price includes one craft cocktail.

From 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22. $30.

619-677-3784, designingminds-sd.com God is in the Details’: Backgrounds in Raphael’s Madonnas at Timken Museum of Art, Balboa Park. Linda Wolk-Simon, director of The Bellarmine Museum of Art, will survey some of the magical but often overlooked background vignettes in Raphael’s paintings. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22. $45. 619-239-5548, timkenmuseum.org HCreative Mornings: Jason Russell at Moniker Warehouse, 705 16th St., East Village. A new speaker series centering around the theme of “Ugly.” The co-founder of Invisible Children will explore some areas of the creative process and trying to find beauty along the way. At 8:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 23, creativemornings.com

Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. Linda Blair presents this five-part lecture series covering the era in Western art that produced names like Rembrandt, Vermeer and Frans Hals. Wednesday, Jan. 28. $14-$85. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org Barry Edelstein at Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. The theatre director and educator will discuss his upcoming directorial effort at The Old Globe, The TwentySeventh Man. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28. $16.50. 858-457-3030, sdcjc.org

For full listings,

please visit “E vents” at sdcit yb eat.com

17th Century Dutch Art at Athenaeum

SPECIAL EVENTS Balboa Park 1915 & 1935 Centennial Celebration at San Diego Automotive Museum, 2080 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park. Enjoy food, wine and beer while meeting the exhibitors who are sharing their vintage fine cars, bikes, and Expo memorabilia. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22. $15. sdautomuseum.org Local Brews, Local Grooves at House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown.

House of Blues kicks off its 10th anniversary with a beer and music festival. Ticket price includes samples of beers and food items. At 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23. $9$72.50. 619-299-BLUE, livenation.com Home Improvement Show at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Check out home improvement products, ideas and services. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Jan. 23-25. 858-755-1161, homeshowsusa.net Parenting Conference at Coronado School of the Arts Theatre, 650 D Ave., Coronado. Lectures, workshops and classes on topics like creating the home as a safe haven, “Time in is the new Time Out” and ancient models for modern parenting. Childcare available. From 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 24. $45 for singles, $60 for couples. coronadosafe.org HThe San Diego Food & Water Bowl XXII Cat Show at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. More

Altered skateboard decks by artists Ricardo Islas, Janelle Despot, Spenser Little (left to right) and others will be part of the One Year Anniversary exhibition opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at La Bodega (2196 Logan Ave. in Barrio Logan).

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

Seen Local

Kinsee Morlan

The future of arts funding There’s a shortage of arts-and-culture funding in San Diego. That’s why there’s been shock and concern in the arts community after the recent announcement that Felicia Shaw, longtime director of arts and the creative economy at The San Diego Foundation, had left her position.

The foundation is the biggest and most influential grant-making community foundation in the area, and critics say that Shaw’s departure signals the organization’s waning support for the arts.

However, “the arts absolutely still have a place here,” assures Kathlyn Mead, who took over as the foundation’s new president and CEO about five months ago.

Mead says that the loss of Shaw is a result of restructuring that involved eliminating 13 positions while creating 15 new ones. She says the move was part of organizing the foundation’s work under an initiative called WELL (Work Enjoy Learn Live), which puts funding opportunities into a rubric that allows potential donors to easily understand the various categories to which they can contribute. Arts and culture, for example, falls under “Enjoy,” alongside recreation and physical activity.

Shaw was offered a chance to reapply for a new position overseeing the funding opportunities that fit under “Enjoy,” but she declined and, instead, recently became the interim executive director at Young Audiences of San Diego. While Shaw didn’t want to be quoted directly for this story, she did say that she wished to continue her career in the arts rather than take on responsibilities outside the field.

Mead points to the roughly $6.6 million allocated to arts and culture by the foundation this fiscal year— that’s about 13 percent of its total grant funds—and says she doesn’t expect any major changes to those numbers now that Shaw and her arts-specific position are gone. The foundation’s budget is guided by

Abramović makes her mark

Kathlyn Mead donor interest, and she says the organization will continue to advocate for all of the opportunities that come with WELL, including arts and culture.

On Jan. 25, the foundation will announce 10 local artists who’ll receive grants through the organization’s Creative Catalyst Fund. Mead says the program’s been popular among the foundation’s donors and, while she stops short of making any promises, she says there’s a good chance it’ll continue even without Shaw at its helm.

Victoria Plettner-Saunders, a local arts consultant, says she’s wary of any of the foundation’s guarantees of continued support for the arts.

“They eliminated the arts-and-culture strategy position,” she says. “That says it all.”

Plettner-Saunders says she doesn’t agree with the foundation’s decision to lump arts and culture under a category with outdoor recreation.

“It’s like putting the city’s arts commission into parks and rec,” she says. “I think the message they’re sending is, ‘We’re not going to have someone whose staff time is dedicated to arts and culture….’ My greatest concern now is that I see a real void in our city’s arts leadership, and regardless of what the foundation says on record, from what I’ve seen, the leadership there has never been particularly supportive of the arts…. And now there isn’t any role at all in that realm, and it’s sad to me.”

—Kinsee Morlan terview will soon be published at sdcitybeat.com).

Workshop participants helped Abramović create a new audio work—a collaboration with science-fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson, an early draft of which was unveiled in the UCSD Art Gallery last Thursday evening and will be accessible through Jan. 30.

Katherine Harroff, artistic director of the Circle Circle Dot Dot theater company, was among the few locals selected to work with Abramović.

She says the workshop included long-durational exercises like staring into a complete stranger’s eyes, meticulously counting lentils and rice and walking around the gallery blindfolded while wearing noise-canceling headphones.

“I was nervous going in that the whole experience would be torture,” Harroff says. “But, mostly, I ended up walking away realizing that it’s so rare we’re able to actually be fully present in a moment….”

Abramović was pleased with Harroff’s takeaway.

“Yes, one of the points is to give yourself time, which is so, so precious these days,” she says.

Laura Ferrari

Excitement reverberated through the San Diego art scene when the UCSD Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination announced a visit by performance artist Marina Abramović and invited folks to apply to participate in a workshop with her.

Abramović has been recognized internationally for years, but since her crowd-drawing retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2010, her level of fame has risen dramatically. These days, the 68-year-old artist can’t walk down the street without someone waving her down.

“Everyone wants a selfie with me now,” Abramović laughs —Kinsee Morlan in a recent interWrite to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com view with CityMarina Abramović Beat (the full in- and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

16 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

The

Fiassmuiely A brood in the woods Parenting in the screen age by

A

J oshua E merson S mith

couple years ago, when my partner told me she was pregnant, I let loose a joyful laugh. She looked so nervous, but all I could think was, Our little family’s going to be so hip. As a 34-year-old newspaper reporter with a degree in philosophy and several stamps in my passport, I thought, It’s about time I had a baby I can expose to Dostoyevsky, adventure travel and the dire need for campaign-finance reform.

And this would start from Day 1. There would be no inane TV in our house. We would go for hikes. While other people stayed home, we’d take our baby to art galleries. Children’s music is silly. We’d listen to jazz and deconstruct Ani DiFranco lyrics.

My quixotic mind couldn’t fully grasp the reality of early fatherhood. My son is a year-and-a-half old now, and he hasn’t said one original thing about Foucault. He’ll dance pretty much nonstop to Raffi music videos but cares nothing for Ornette Coleman. While being a dad is way harder than I’d ever imagined, I’ve stayed true to my original principles (unless I’m reclining after work while watching The Daily Show).

“Winnie the Pooh first thing in the morning?” I said on a recent Saturday, walking into a living room covered in plastic blocks and bunny-shaped crackers. The computer monitor buzzed. My son looked pleased.

“You weren’t up all night with him,” my partner said, trying to milk an hour of semi-sleep on the futon while the rug-rat zoned out to fast-moving animation.

I’d stayed out late with friends, so I shut my mouth and made some coffee. No need to get worked up. We had a family hike planned. That would surely counteract any brain disintegration caused by

watching this fat bear and buffoonish tiger bounce around.

I recently read that, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 74 percent of children watch TV before the age of 2, and 43 percent of those tots watch every day.

Don’t these parents know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time until a child reaches 24 months? That’s no smartphones, tablets, computer monitors—nothing.

You have to take that with a grain of salt, my partner explained. In 2013, a study out of several major universities, called Skype Me!, found that children can learn new words through live-video chat. Like when he talks to the grandparents through the laptop. It’s fine because he’s interacting.

I get it. The less passive the better.

According to the national think tank Zero to Three, while children still learn best from “interaction in the real three-dimensional world,” games on iPads teach kids stuff, too.

Of course, who knows what they’ll be watching on that thing once they start googling?

For the most part, we let our son watch only Daniel Tiger, an educational show on PBS inspired by the characters of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. But according to the literature, we should be watching with him and asking him questions about what he’s seeing. That doesn’t happen. If I break down and put on Netflix Kids, it’s because

I don’t have the energy to interact with him or I need to get chores done. The idiot box is the option of last resort to preserve my sanity.

Hopefully, a good father-son hike in nearby Switzer Canyon would wash away my screen-time guilt. The grandparents gave us one of those fancy baby backpacks over the holidays, and I was super-excited to try it out.

The boy seemed game, as well, climbing into the apparatus pretty much on his own.

I buckled him in, carefully lifted the contraption off the ground and on to my back.

Mom was down for some exercise, too. We headed out the door strapped with sunglasses and the best intentions.

A few clouds threatened rain, but I beamed as I walked down the sidewalk. Look at us, suckers. Just imagine how well-rounded and inquisitive our son will be with parents like us. Go ahead and put on that Disney flick. No subliminal messages of conformity seeping into our baby’s brain.

It’s not like you haven’t been warned. As far back as 1961, Newton Minnow, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, preached about the “vast wasteland” that is commercial TV. Later in the decade, Sesame Street would be conceived. While it’s still the top-rated kid’s show, according to tv.com, less educational shows such as Pokemon and SpongeBob SquarePants aren’t far behind.

About halfway to the canyon entrance, the boy wanted desperately to get out of the backpack. The wailing and flailing increased. Was anyone watching? Clearly, they’d know that cartoons and mindless viewing had permanently damaged his attention span. Unsuccessfully, I tried to reason with him.

“No, no, no!” he said, blasting me with irrefutable logic.

Thankfully, after a quick stretch of his baby legs, he agreed to resume the hike in the backpack. Before long, we found the canyon entrance and headed down a lush trail. Birds chirped. Squirrels scuttled. Let the learning recommence.

Once out of the backpack and running around under the canopy, the look on his face was unmistakable. It’s pretty much the complete opposite of the screen-time zombie stare. His eyes lit up as he balanced on a log. Mom hid behind a tree and he rushed to find her. Fully engaged learning.

That’s when he saw me checking my iPhone. What? It was a work email (or maybe a tweet).

Running towards me, he babbled something about “bah, bah, black sheep.” Clearly, he wanted to watch music videos more than play in the bounty of nature. Somewhat reluctantly, I put the screen away, and we got back to the 3-D world.

He looked so happy running back and forth, climbing on a pile of woodchips, sniffing some flowers, staring up at a hawk gliding through the air.

I should totally post a video to Facebook, I thought.

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

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

The Family Issue

Efor quipped life Baby supplies you really need that you don’t really even need by

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T iffany F ox

irst thing you need to know about advice for new parents is that there’s no bigger scam around. None of us knows what we’re doing. I mean, you’ve sat next to us in restaurants, right? But early on, we all go through this delusional period where we try to convince ourselves that if we have the right gear, we can corner this racket on parenting. We’ll be able to kick back and relax while the ergonomic, fieldprogrammable baby swing, synced to rare Sigur Rós B-sides, does its thing.

Never mind that its thing is to soothe back into unconsciousness a disoriented earthling who’s just been ripped, days ago,

from a totally alternate reality. (Sigur Rós might be ideal for that, actually.)

I’m here to tell you that parenting gear is going to get you only so far. People all over the world do this thing with little else but sticks, layers of cloth and good posture, so don’t buy the hype.

But you will want to buy the hype, because you’re an expectant parent and you’re freaking out, and it’s your God-given right as an American to buy something to numb the pain. There must be a device! A device of some kind!

At least let us save you some trouble and tell you what to skip, and what to score:

18 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

Instead of: a designer diaper bag with more square footage than your current apartment You need: one of those 99-cent wristlet keychains.

Let me explain. A diaper bag, by definition, will sometimes carry poop. If the word “luxury” is in any way related to what you carry poop in, you might want to explore that. And I don’t care how well-organized you are—you’re not getting out of that driveway without trekking back to the house a dozen times for whatever diapering supply you suspect you might need (peepee teepees) but can’t remember how to use.

What you need is one of those stretchy wristlet keychains like the one your highschool P.E. teacher used to wear against his lithe, tanned and glistening bicep. Without this, you’ll put down your keys and you will not find them again for 17 years, and if you’re in the advanced stages of parenting a newborn, you might have even locked yourself, your P.E.-teacher husband and the baby you have born him out of the house. Fortunately, you’ve also packed a week’s worth of supplies in your diaper bag, which (if you’ve been paying attention) probably came free with the purchase of Q-Tips at Target and will soon be banned in the state of California.

child will stop at nothing to ensure world domination of the Peek-A-Boo Valentine (lift-the-flap) book (known in our house as “Better Get the Scotch Tape” book). You got it free with lunch from Chick-Fil-A, and it is her world.

Oh, and Your Baby Can Read? This is the last thing you want. It’s humiliating enough to have your pronunciations of Archaeopteryx and Nothronychus and Shantungosaurus corrected by a 4-year-old who somehow got a doctorate in paleontology when you weren’t looking—do you really need a baby to show you up?

Instead of: books You need: one book, only you have to guess which one! ’Tis a noble and wondrous thing to read to one’s child from Kipling, White and Potter, but from now until October, your

Instead of: toys You need: OK, think about this from the baby’s perspective. Babies are basically like alien beings sent here once a generation to take over the planet. You hand him a rub-

Lindsey Voltoline

You need: Are you kidding me with this? It’s the world, kid. We got temperatures here.

One basic tenet of parenting that will see you through is that it’s better not to raise any human’s expectations to unsustainable levels by suggesting, for example, that the world comes with warm wipes for one’s buttocks (unless your baby will be raised in a Japanese airport bathroom, in which case, by all means).

Instead of: a subscription to “Artisanal CoSleep Rope Swings Quarterly” You need: cheap-ass furniture in shades of black, black and black. Need I explain this (I won’t even dignify that sentence with a question mark). If you happen to have a ber giraffe, and he’s thinking, This is use- white cat in addition to children, bless your less—useless, I tell you! I must learn how to heart, and hopefully poor planning isn’t conquer their technology—but how? Which genetic. Also: Try to find a car with an inis why they’re always going for the garage- terior the precise color of goldfish-cracker door opener and the cheese grater. For the crumbs; this will help, too. most part, just let them play with the (ageappropriate) cheese grater. You might have And because we are equal opportunists, to explain a few times why we can’t shred Three Bonus Baby Supplies We Originally cheese into the houseplants, but you’ll save Scoffed At That Are Actually Necessities: a fortune on Legos.

1. Seamless socks for sensitive children. *A pro-tip for mothers of little girls: Get Because when it comes to lining up sock a decoy purse and make a big show of al- seams with an algorithmically determined lowing your girl child to play with it. Never edge-to-toe ratio, every child is on the speclet on that there’s a real purse with a real trum. wallet and real lipstick somewhere, and you 2. A video baby monitor (or did you have might not even have to order new carpeting other plans for going viral?) and three replacement driver’s licenses like 3. A wine rack you can baby-proof. One. Bottle. At a time. some people.

Instead of: an electronic “wipe warmer”

Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

19 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

The Family Issue Scott McDonald

B ig bangs for the buck Stretching your dollars at San Diego’s best kid-friendly attractions by

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S cott M c D onald

’m guilty. My boys are only 4 and 6, but I’ve still managed to rack up an impressive list of parenting fails. Using the iPhone to placate? Check. Rock ’n’ roll-fueled wind-ups before bedtime? You bet. Providing meals with abysmal nutritional content? Embarrassingly, yes.

And while I’m constantly working to improve the alchemy of my day-to-day dadness, I’ve been a downright champ in the entertainment department. From parks, picnics and playgrounds to museums, movies and mini-golf, I feel as though we’ve covered it all. But partying like a crew of Home Alone-era Macaulay Culkins takes cash. So when it comes to San Diego’s most Captured by storm troopers during Lego Star Wars Days. kid-friendly attractions, I’ve become quite

20 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

a connoisseur of the annual pass.

There are many reasons why investing in a yearlong commitment to one attraction makes sense, but none stronger than economy and flexibility. Saving money is awesome. But add the luxury of repeat visits (especially on glorious, non-crowded off-days), plus the ability to utter the words “We can always come back next week,” and the annual pass becomes invaluable. Here are a few of my favorites: San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park: With all of their income going toward conservation efforts, this one is a no-brainer. It’s about $250 for a family of four, with the option to become Diamond

Club members for an extra $45. And the additional cost is worth it, if only for the free parking and Africa Tram at Safari Park, free Skyfari rides at the zoo and the multiple discounts at both. These guys also have more upgrades than a modern hotel, so if you want to have breakfast with the koalas or a sleepover with roaring lions in the background, they’ve got you covered.

Most of the year, the parks close at 5 p.m., so my family has perfected the art of the quick-hit: Arrive at 3 p.m., find a great parking spot, enjoy a couple of outdoor hours with the animals and still be home in time for dinner. Safari Park’s “tunnel” playground near the Lemur Walk and a sunset Skyfari to the polar bears at the zoo are our favorites, but we’ve had these passes for years now and still haven’t seen everything.

And since the parks are on the to-do list of most visiting friends and family members, it’s nice to be able to offer them a discount on admission while tagging along for free.

are discounts on food and retail, free parking, guest passes and more. Considering that a one-day ticket to Legoland alone is about $80, you’re already way ahead by your third visit.

They’ve added an upgrade to the Merlin pass this year—for an extra $80 per ticket, you don’t get summer weekend blackout dates at the water park, and you can attend the Halloween-themed Brick-or-Treat nights in October.

My Merlin came with that included, but I can’t see why you’d need it. And while $750 for a family of four isn’t cheap, it’s on par with a two-day trek for the same family to Disneyland. If your kids love Legos as much as mine do, this one is a must. Not to mention, they do cool things like a “kids eat free” promotion during the summer and an elaborate Star Wars-themed weekend in March.

Legoland: Unfortunately, at least for my family, there are no quick trips to the land of plastic interlocking bricks. Legos have achieved a near-religious status in our household, so we make the most of each pilgrimage to Carlsbad’s Mecca of toy parks. It’s a massively popular destination, and investing in a Merlin pass is the only way to go. For $189 per person, you get a year’s access to all three of the on-site attractions: Legoland, Sea Life Aquarium and Legoland Water Park. Also included

New Children’s Museum: This is, by far, one of the best deals in town. A mere $90 gets two adults and up to six children admission to the museum for a year. You also receive two guest passes, membersonly time every Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon, invitations to members-only events (like reading time with the Grinch) and discounts on parking and food. Throw an extra $40 at it and you double both guest passes and the number of adult entries.

Regular admission is $12, so unless you’re a

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here. And in the fall, the museum will unveil “Eureka!”—a celebration of California timed with the Balboa Park Centennial.

Nina Waisman’s “Orange we...” installation at the New Children’s Museum tourist, the passes are the only way to go.

What we like best about the museum is how totally hands-on it is. Just the other day, my boys and I had a full-blown miniconcert in the “music kitchen,” complete with a pots-and-pans drum kit, bass, vocal mic and Theremin. Not your bag? Want to work with a real artist, climb on ropes, sculpt some clay, feed a few chickens or paint a tractor? No problem. There’s really something for every kind of child

Balboa Park: My family loves Balboa Park’s Resident Free Tuesdays.

Problem is, each venue gets only one a month, and there are never more than five on any given Tuesday. Well, in 2013 they came up with a far better option. It’s called the Annual Explorer, and it’s outstanding. For $199, two adults and up to four children can take a full year to truly explore one of the city’s greatest treasures. The pass is good for free admission to all 17 organizations in the park, including the San Diego Museum of Art, the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and the San Diego Natural History Museum. Special exhibitions like the San Diego Museum of Man’s Instruments of Torture requires separate admission, but your kids can always learn about torture later on when they get married.

Really, though, the Annual Explorer provides a cost-effective way for children to visit a multitude of learning centers in a gorgeous environment. And, best of all, the pass, like all of these passes, allows you to do it at your own pace, without the pressure of trying to cram it all in on a single trip.

Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

The Family Issue aaryn

backwards & in high heels

belfer Parenting the tween-ish kid This summer, my daughter will turn 10 and will oftive to wash all the dinner dishes (water conservaficially be a double-digit midget, as my mother used tionists would shudder in horror at the event), or to call me once I’d aged into the tween years. Offenoffering to cook me an egg for breakfast, or asking a sive, I know, but it was 1980. And it was my mother, powerful question. If Sam and I are bickering about, so that about gets to the bottom of that. oh—any number of nitpicky things that people in a Every parent says it, but—wasn’t it only monearly 20-year relationship might bicker about, ments ago that I was parenting a little baby? A little she’ll come at it head on. “No, no, no! We are not baby that did little baby things: cry, eat, poop, sleep; doing this right now,” she’ll say before applying her wash, rinse, repeat. conflict-resolution tactic. “Mama! You need to stop.

It’s stunning, the way time contracts between Cool off. Breathe. Talk. Remember?” the day you need to dive across the room to prevent In the words of MC Hammer, the kid’s “too legit! your wobbly 18-month-old from smacking her foreToo legit to quit, hey hey!” head on a glass coffee table and sending her on a Honestly, that is the kind of stuff that makes me field trip to Los Angeles, armed with an iPad and so damned proud, I want to type in all caps, a no-no the ability to text. “iloveyoumama” is one I’ll save at CityBeat. But still: I AM SO DAMNED PROUD! as the antidote for when she sends one that reads, The thing I find most harrowing about this age “I hate you, mom!” (Future Ruby uses proper gramis my acute awareness of precisely how fleeting mar and punctuation, I just know it.) childhood is. On the continuum of a human life— Rounding the corner on the tweens is pretty from zero to 100, say—childhood is little more wild. The child’s brain is changing, but so, too, is than a blip. And at 9-and-a-half, Ruby is starting her body; it’s been a delicate balance to introduce to wane. I have the sensation that we are running the bralette (so wish I’d had those as a kid) without ahead of an approaching avalanche. We are out in creating body-consciousness. Even as there’s still front of it still, but soon it will engulf us and then a little babyish-ness left, honey-child is lanky. She this part of our relationship will be over. looks like a foal and frequentI feel this as Ruby asks ly smells like a conveniencequestions and grapples with store beef stick. She wants to the ugliness that is the adult The thing I find most stay up late and watch Downworld knocking. “That’s ton Abbey like a big girl, yet mean,” she said about the colharrowing about this age she argues pointedly for her onists when I corrected her is my acute awareness right not to shower. She also school’s whitewashed version of precisely how fleeting wants to snuggle and watch of Christopher Columbus’ My Little Pony on repeat. It’s story. And I feel it, too, when childhood is. totally bipolar.

I’m doing homework side-byNo longer pliable and unside with her, the clock tickquestioning of my expertise, ing against all that can’t posshe’s instead very much her own person trying to sibly get done. emerge. I’ve done a lot of stepping back this past Lately, I’ve found myself resenting all things that six months, recognizing that she doesn’t need me to compete for the remaining hours and minutes of speak for her or tell her how best to do things; she’s Ruby’s childhood, and for this reason, I’ve become got that, even if it’s slower than a dying snail. a fierce protector of her right to explore, to play, to What my pre-teen needs is for me to step back be free, to be sillier and to be more ridiculous than and let her handle her business and this, my friends, ever. I find myself saying no to worksheets and yes requires no small amount of purposefulness. And to pillow fights. humility. And self-awareness. And tongue-biting.

I expect that by the time she’s 14, my daughter’s (Nobody should have to look this closely at herself. extensive Lego collection will have been handed It’s absolutely devastating, I tell you. It turns out, I down in lieu of other teenagery things; she likely have all the flaws and then a few that have yet to be won’t hold my hand in public and definitely won’t labeled. Thanks, parenthood, for the insight.) play hide-and-seek with me along the Prado. And it This age can’t be easy for li’l Ruby, either, as she’s pains me in an indescribable way to know she’ll no longer gaze at the sky with wide-eyed wonder as we stuck in a sort of personality purgatory. Sometimes drive and exclaim that the moon is following us. she’s as distractible as a preschooler in front of a “Please don’t grow up,” I tell her frequently in bubble machine, and every parent knows the only my effort to squeeze every last drop from this amazway to compete with that noise is a new pony or ing time in her life and mine.

Minecraft, and good luck to you after that. To this “No way, mama,” she said to me the other day. day, we still have to offer too many decreasingly pa“Being a kid is so, so fun.” tient reminders just to accomplish simple daily acWhich is exactly how it should be, from 10 untivities—like the novel brushing of teeth! And, yes, til forever. after nine-and-a-half years, our closing argument can aptly be titled, “Only Brush the Ones You Want Write to aaryn@sdcitybeat.com to Keep, Darling.” and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Other times, however, Ruby’s taking the initia-

22 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

Jenny Montgomery

G uess

who ’ s throwing

a tantrum ?

8 more eateries that offer to soothe the savage beasts by

Cafe Panini

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aking your little ones out to eat can range from a relatively mellow, Cheerio-strewn affair to a hellish nightmare of screams and the judgmental stink eye from fellow diners. But listen: You have a right to leave your house, and your kids have to learn how to become civilized citizens. Station Tavern (stationtavern. com) in South Park and Waypoint Public in North Park (waypointpublic.com) have already become popular havens for cool parents, and rare is the San Diego restaurant

J enny M ontgomery

tato burrito is outstanding), with easy kids options if you don’t have the energy to talk them into one of the joint’s tasty signature panini. Toss back a cold local beer while listening to live music on Sunday afternoons (and everyone’s home by bedtime). Those with choo-choo-obsessed family members will enjoy seeing the train zoom by every few minutes. cafepaninicarlsbad.com

that doesn’t have a high chair and a positive attitude towards kids. But we’ve found a Panama 66: The latest from the also-kidfew more options that are some of the best welcoming cool cats at Blind Lady Ale House and Tiger!Tiger!, Panama 66 is the kid-friendly places in town: slickest new spot in Balboa Park, sandCafé Panini: This is a colorful little patio, wiched between the San Diego Museum tucked in an out-of-the-way corner of Carls- of Art and the sculpture garden. Keep your bad Village. A burbling fountain, whimsical littles clear of the fountain, but, otherwise, metal sculptures, bins of toys and a doggy let them frolic amid the culture on the statue will keep wiggly people engaged be- enormous lawn. You get a craft cocktail and fore your food arrives. The menu is ample points for sort-of taking them to a museum. and healthy (the black-bean and sweet-po- Everybody wins. panama66.blogspot.com

Halcyon: This East Village newbie has plenty of caffeinated beverages for the sleepiest of parents, as well as creative cocktails for the crankiest. An outdoor fire pit, big Adirondack chairs and s’mores you can roast right at your table make this a hip and fun hangout no matter what your age. halcyoneastvillage.com Mamma Mia: Lime-green walls and an open, airy dining room mean your kid’s noise will just add extra music to the family-friendly atmosphere at this Pacific Beach eatery (but let’s still practice our inside voices—Mama has a headache). Delicious pizza and pasta is a cut above your standard cheese-and-sauce joint, but will still please even the pickiest little palates. Bonus: It’s nowhere near the P.B. bar scene, but it is a quick drive to Mr.

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January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

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Frostie for a cone if everyone behaves. And everyone is going to behave, right?! mamma miaitalianrestaurant.com

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The Family Issue Bo-beau Kitchen & Garden: A big ol’ school bus means “families welcome” at the Cohns’ La Mesa outpost. Kids are encouraged to climb all over the bus and work up an appetite. Even veggie-phobes might be lured to the dark (green) side by Bo-beau’s famous crispy Brussels sprouts with pancetta and Parmesan. This is a perfect place to start teaching your little one about the wonderful world of food. Flatbreads and creative mocktails (rose petals in your Sprite?) will delight the more enthusiastic kiddos. cohn restaurants.com/bobeaukitchengarden Tony’s Jacal: Rare is the wee one who won’t eat something if it’s at least covered in cheese, and at this family-owned Solana Beach legend, you’ve got plenty of delicious Mexican dishes to choose from. Quiet the noisiest of little chatterboxes with the Queso Fundido, and if that doesn’t delight them enough, park your tot in front of the big aviary filled with twittering canaries. tonysjacal.com

to show your kids The Kook and whatever goofy get-up he’s suffering that day. Grab a taco or five and head down the staircase to the sand for the ultimate San Diego picnic. bulltaco.com/cardiff-san-elijo

Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens: The brassy leader of the pack ( just ask them) in the local beer scene, Stone is also a prime dad hangout (yes, I know, us moms like beer, too). Both locations—Escondido and Liberty Bull Taco: If you have a water baby, then Station—boast plenty of garden space to run this beachside taco spot in Cardiff-by-the- around, plus summertime film screenings Sea is for you. Bull Taco has multiple North and an all-around welcoming vibe. Having County locations, but this original snack kids may drive you to drink, so you should shack serves the San Elijo State Beach drink well. stoneworldbistro.com campgrounds. Don’t fret if you don’t have a coveted camping spot; park across the Write to jennym@sdcitybeat.com street and stroll back over, taking a moment and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

24 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

M om , meet mom The art of staving off postpartum alienation by making parental friends

Lindsey Voltoline

by

K insee M orlan

The hospital has a leaky roof ?

Those were my thoughts as I hobbled out of my bed for the first time after having my 10-plus-pound baby extracted from my womb thanks to a natural birth that ended in an unexpected and unpleasant C-section. My beefy newborn was finally sleeping rather than crying, grunting or spitting up excessively, so I took the opportunity to defy the searing pain in my abdomen and pee. But I stopped in my tracks when I heard the sound of something splatting loudly against the ground.

I looked up, but failed to find the source of the dripping water. It was only then that I realized it wasn’t water, and it wasn’t coming from above. The culprit was my own breasts, hugely and disturbingly swollen with milk. My supply had come in quickly and with ferocity. Yes, I’d always known my boobs would eventually fill with milk, but I’d imagined me blissfully breastfeeding my little one as bluebirds chirped in the background. The for-real sight of my severely enlarged mammary glands dripping liquid totally freaked me out.

Minutes later, a brazen nurse attempted to help relieve the pain. She squeezed one of my bare boobs with one hand and instructed my husband to do the same as she jammed my nipple into my newborn’s mouth with her other hand. I surrendered all dignity as the harshness of my new reality set in.

Holy shit, I thought. This motherhood thing is intense.

WTF?

There’ve been innumerable holy-shit moments since the boob-leaking-and-squeezing incident, but one of the most memorable, life-changing ones came about two weeks later. I’d been turned into a breastfeeding machine, answering my child’s call every 30 to 45 minutes. My home had become a lonely lactation prison, and I looked at the door longingly as I resolved to finally get the hell out of the house and interact with humans who did more than eat, sleep and cry.

With my boobs essentially dangling out in the open all the time, though, I felt completely alienated from the general public. I needed to be around other moms of newborns who wanted to talk about things like squirting nipples, sleeplessness, yellow poo and baby acne.

From that moment, meeting mommy friends—not only moms with kids, but with babies who were around my little one’s age— became a top priority. I approached the task with fervor, googling, asking around and tapping into any and every resource I found.

My boy has just turned 2, and I’m happy to report that his life thus far has been packed with ample play-dates. At his birthday parties, which have been filled to capacity, I always get asked how I managed to meet so many new friends with kids. While I wish I could say it happened organically, many of the relationships were manufactured—sometimes quite forcefully.

These days, my first piece of unsolicited

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

The Family Issue advice to new moms is this: Make mommy friends as soon as you possibly can. What follows are some methods—leaving out the more obvious examples of looking for nearby neighbors with kids or meeting fellow moms at parks—that worked best for me. Each recommendation comes with an important caveat: It’s not enough to simply show up. You have to be open, willing and brave enough to ask people for their names and numbers, even if it means looking a little vulnerable and desperate. (The version of this story at sdcitybeat.com has a few more ideas.)

San Diego Hypnobirthing: My hubby and I went the natural-birthing route and chose to take a San Diego Hypnobirthing (sandiegohypnobirth.com) childbirth class that touts deep breathing and hypnotherapy as a way to a smooth, pain-free labor. Yeah, some of the hippie-dippy methods sorta helped while I labored for seven hours without pain medication, but the real ROI on this expensive and time-consuming class was the pregnant couples we met— we all had babies around the same time, and some of us remain friends to this day.

Maiden to Mother at Nature’s Whisper: Nature’s Whisper School of Yoga (4205 Park Blvd. in University Heights; joliecash. com) hosts a free Maiden to Mother support group from 12:45 to 2 p.m. on Fridays and a Boobies and Babies group that meets from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays. My firstever outing alone with my new baby was

Jul

a iM

cia

gartenstudio.com). The one that yielded the most long-lasting friendships was the “Playing, Learning, Exploring Infant Development Class,” an eight-week series on things like the importance of tummy time and developmental milestones.

s

Social-media: One of my most favorite mom friends came from Facebook. The artsy New Zealand native and I barely knew each other, but she noticed we had boys around the same age and sent me a message. She’s since become the kind of buddy that I can text to say, “Hey, we’re bored. Can we drop by in 20 minutes,” and she’ll say yes. I’ve borrowed her tactic and have met new friends for myself and connected other local pregnant gals with similar due dates to one another.

The Lemon Grove Library’s toddler story time to Maiden to Mother, and I did manage to meet a cool mom whom I now consider one of my best friends.

Breastfeeding Support Group: Luckily, I didn’t have any issues breastfeeding, but during my maternity leave, I often crashed the free, weekly Breastfeeding Support Group, which just moved locations and now meets from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

26 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

on Wednesdays at the San Diego Breastfeeding Center (3355 Fourth Ave. in Bankers Hill, sdbfc.com). Sometimes, I just needed mommy friends for a day. This is where I found them.

Baby Garten: I became a baby-class fanatic during my first year of motherhood and ended up taking several courses at Baby Garten (1947 30th St. in South Park, baby

Library story times: My mother-in-law started taking my little guy to our local library’s toddler story times when he was barely sitting. It didn’t take long before the tight-knit group of moms who attend on a weekly basis kindly took me—a fulltime working momma who can’t attend— under their wings. Having friends in the neighborhood is invaluable. Most all county and city libraries have story times for kids; the key is finding the one that’s right for you (check sdpl.bwcs-hosting. com/cal or sdcl.org).

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

A fighting chance Marion Cotillard scrappily retains her humanity in new working-class drama

by Glenn Heath Jr. In any given workplace, there’s a tenuous overlap between public and private lives.

Some employees want to keep their daily relationships strictly professional. It’s easier to make tough business decisions that way. OthMarion Cotillard, sullen and exhausted ers naturally develop friendships and alliances that are tested within the business-first structure of personified by Cotillard’s determination to avoid a corporation. This is where things get complicated. making Sandra a victim. Through her eyes, we underTwo Days, One Night, the great new film by Bel- stand that multiple feelings can coexist in the same gian filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, sur- frame. Regret and forgiveness permeate the conveys a dramatic scenario where one woman struggles versation between Sandra and her colleague Timur to reconcile such realities after coworkers vote to re- (Timur Magomedgadzhiev) that occurs on the sideceive a hefty bonus rather than retain her services. line of a soccer field. When confronted with her reSandra (Marion Cotillard) responds by begrudgingly quest in person, he suddenly bursts into tears, unable visiting each colleague over the course of a weekend, to hide the guilt felt since voting for the extra money. hoping to sway their support back in her favor after No other recent film gives this level of credence to the initial vote was tainted by the shady actions of the power of face-to-face interactions. Some of Sana conniving foreman (Oliver Gourmet). What she dra’s conversations with her coworkers turn horribly finds is a plethora of complex situations taking place violent, while others are surprisingly serene. At one behind the veil of communal life. point, she’s unable to find the next person on her list.

Coming off a deep bout of deTwo Days, One Night examines all of pression that left her stricken at these scenarios with the same level of Two Days, home, Sandra still looks beaten respect for the characters involved. down by self-doubt, often sullen in There are not necessarily heroes One Night posture and gazing outward with an or villains, just people with varying Directed by Jean-Pierre exhausted stare. She pops anti-dedegrees of strength and fear. Those and Luc Dardenne pressants and falls into bogs of sadwho define their lives by the latter Starring Marion Cotillard, ness during her time-sensitive jourare Sandra’s greatest obstacles.

Fabrizio Rongione, Catherine ney. But the Dardennes never frame Underlying the desperate tone Salée and Olivier Gourmet these emotional divots as anything and trajectory of Sandra’s search is Not rated but a natural human byproduct of a sense of pure optimism rarely seen facing the horrors of pointlessness in the Dardennes’ work. Take, for inhead on. Helping Sandra along stance, the surprisingly organic and the way are key allies in the small Solar Company beautiful moment when Manu turns up the volume on and her husband Manu (Fabrizio Rongione), a man the car radio playing a particularly melancholy French whose extreme patience masks a very real sense of love song. It’s a sign of confidence in Sandra and rebelpanic for the woman he loves. lion against the powerful stranglehold of sadness that With its lean narrative and humanist resolve, Two has gripped them both for so long. Fittingly, the scene Days, One Night can be seen as a throwback to the type ends with Manu gently taking her hand and smiling. of Hollywood melodramas of the 1930s, lean morality Two Days, One Night, which opens Friday, Jan. 30, plays that explore the fluctuations of confidence in contains a number of these devastatingly true mocharacters on the brink of social inconsequence. But ments, often captured through long takes to allow the this is less Frank Capra than Frank Borzage; the film actors maximum freedom. Sandra’s journey, serpenintensely expresses the physical and emotional cost tine and crushing, reveals a modern space where huof fighting for your worth, both within the workplace man compassion takes back control from the instituand at home. Sandra’s pursuit of economic stability tions and ideologies determined to eradicate feeling. carries certain universal human considerations that The culmination of its impact is staggering. the Dardennes subtly infuse within the story.

Such considerations complicate the corporate Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com mentality that everyone is expendable, something and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Surviving the game

A Most Violent Year

J.C. Chandor wrestles with the definition of survival in each of his films. Margin Call glossily charts the messy human dilemmas unfolding during America’s 2008 financial collapse on Wall Street. Robert Redford’s nearwordless performance as the captain of a sinking ship in All is Lost shifted the process to its

most elemental levels. Now we have A Most Violent Year, a slow-burning and modest crime film about the male ego gasping for air during the particularly volatile year of 1981.

Set on the dilapidated outskirts of New York City (skyscrapers are always within view), Chandor’s latest gives Oscar

CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Isaac a suitably sneaky role as Abel, the nervy owner of a local gas company whose trucks are being hijacked by unknown assailants. Threatened on multiple fronts by a curious district attorney (David Oyelowo) and cash flow issues amid an expiring realestate transaction, Abel attempts to retain his cool under pressure, often with the help (or hindrance) of his slippery gangster-princess of a wife (Jessica Chastain).

A Most Violent Year stylizes the brooding working-class territory of director Sidney Lumet, where low-level players clash with those who have become politically savvy enough to rise up

Opening A Most Violent Year: When his business is threatened by a string of armed robberies, the owner of a New York City gas company (Oscar Isaac) must adapt to the volatile surroundings to survive.

See our review on Page 27.

Human Capital: A tragic bike accident links two powerful Italian families vying for political dominance.

Mortdecai: Johnny Depp stars as a kooky art dealer who investigates the disappearance of a priceless painting that could lead to Nazi gold.

Once Upon a Time, Veronica: A recent

the ranks. Abel is caught between the two, trying to erase his bluecollar origins with every deal he makes, forming key alliances with competitors and marrying a woman with scary, wide-reaching influence. Chandor uses this tenuous moment in Abel’s life to dissect the origins of his ambition.

“I always choose the path that is most right,” he arrogantly says late in A Most Violent Year, which opens Friday, Jan. 23. The moral ambiguity of that statement fits in line with his survivor mentality, and Chandor lets the unseen ramifications of his selfish creed drift into the smoggy Gotham sky.

jealous. Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the Scripps Ranch Library.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

Pandora’s Promise: Personal stories from environmentalists and energy experts help paint the dire ecological picture of climate change. Screens at 6:40 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, at the San Diego Foundation offices in Point Loma’s Liberty Station.

graduate from medical school settles down in her new life in Brazil’s most violent city. Screens through Jan. 29 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Strange Magic: The first big animated film of 2015 features goblins, elves and other creatures vying for a magic potion.

The Boy Next Door: Jennifer Lopez’s confused and vulnerable divorcée moves into a new town and begins a fling with a young man / psychopath.

One Time Only Ilo, Ilo: A young boy develops a friendship with his maid, making his mother

28 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

Centre and Normal streets).

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.

Gone Girl: When a young housewife (Rosamund Pike) mysteriously disappears, the innocence of her husband (Ben Affleck) is called into question.

Screens at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 23 and 24, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

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.

My Community: A local documentary that highlights the beauty and creativity within southeastern San Diego. Screens at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25, at the Malcolm X Library in Emerald Hills.

Human Rights Watch Film Festival: This festival will showcase six films that focus on the power of an individual’s perseverance in the face glaring humanrights violations. Opens with a reception at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, and runs through Sunday, Jan. 25, at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.

Anna May Wong, Frosted Yellow Willows: Her Life Times and Legend: Producer Nancy Kwan narrates this documentary about Anna May Wong, the actor who defined the role of “Dragon Lady” and pushed the boundaries of stereotypical female Asian roles. Screens at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Chuang Archive and Learning Center (541B Second Ave., Downtown).

American Bear: Two documentary filmmakers travel through America, relying on the kindness of strangers for a home each night. Screens at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23; 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24; 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25; and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Terms and Conditions May Apply: This documentary about online security exposes what corporations and governments learn about clients through Internet use and phone calls. Screens at 7 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 23, at the Metate Infoshop in Hillcrest (on Harvey Milk Street, between

Freedom Writers: Hilary Swank plays the role of the white savior for disadvantaged teens, teaching them tolerance and kindness. Screens at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26, at the San Diego Central Library in East Village.

This is Where I Leave You: Four grown siblings return home after their father passes away and fess up to decades of resentment and anger. Screens at 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 27, at the Point Loma / Hervey Branch Library.

25 Carat: A crooked father-daughter team hatches a new plan with the aid of a debt collector. Screens at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27, at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.

A.C.O.D.: A young man (Adam Scott) who

resents his parents for getting divorced must come to grips with their sudden reunion. Screens at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, at the Mission Valley Library.

Old School: Once it hits your lips, it’s so good. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Now Playing 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.

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.

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. Ends Jan. 22 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

For a complete listing of movies, please see “F ilm S creenings” at sdcit yb eat.com under the “E vents” tab.

it’s grown into a full band that features bassist Jasper McGandy, cellist Paige Flash, drummer Cory Flannigan and guitarist Christian Kount. And Final Days, true to its apocalyptic title, is the group’s most intense and overwhelming record to date.

However, the album, which was released in November via Sacred Bones Records, is also remarkably accessible, as far as end-times volumes go. The acoustic-heavy “Dragon Rouge” is gorgeous and atmospheric, recalling Love and Rockets ballads in its catchier moments. Meanwhile, the pulsing “Empty Faction” is almost dance-friendly in its persistent, up-tempo beats and catchy guitar riffs, and “Gods Garden” translates the thunderous noise rock of Swans into a much more radio-friendly form.

Final Days’ most show-stopping moment is its nine-minute penultimate track, “Sanctuary.” Like a freewheeling, hip-shaking permutation of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ “The Mercy Seat,” it’s the point on the record at which the band’s darkest tendencies and melodic strengths converge, continually rising and intensifying like a fire gathering fuel and consuming everything in its path. In its furious middle section, Ragon repeats the phrase, “Some of us are scared to death of the things the rest ignored,” like a mantra.

Ragon doesn’t point to any specific explanation for the meaning behind the lyrics to this song, or any others; in fact, he says he doesn’t like “the idea of dictating what something means.” But he also notes that most of his lyrics come to him in random bursts of inspiration.

“The lyrics are all pretty much stream-of-consciousness stuff that’s organized and put into order later,” he says. “If I’m thinking of something, I just grab a Sharpie and whatever paper I can find to write down fragments of thoughts.

When dealing with things that are in the subconscious, you can’t say what inspired that—I don’t know.”

Cult of Youth are preparing to embark on two months of From top left: Sean Ragon, Paige Flash, Jasper McGandy and Christian Kount touring behind Final Days, marking the first time in three After a few months of recuperation and finishing up the years that they’ve made such an ambitious trek. In fact, all n early 2014, when Sean Ragon was writing the songs that would become Final Days, New York post-punk record, Ragon is in much better spirits and mostly back to of the group’s members work full-time outside of the band. group Cult of Youth’s fourth album, he was struck by an his old self. Though while he says he purged most of the Ragon owns the record shop Heaven Street in Brooklyn, eerie and overwhelming feeling—a feeling that everything dark feelings in the process of making the album, the vio- and Flash is a performance artist and burlesque performer lent incident last year cast an extra layer of gloom over the under the name Rev. Mother Flash. But Cult of Youth are in his life was about to go suddenly, horribly wrong. also not lining up shows in New York City “I had this paranoia about myself the whole time,” release of what was already going to be a regularly, simply because that’s not how Ragon says in a phone interview from his home in Brook- very dark record. cult of youth “Going through that ordeal was kind they operate. lyn. “I couldn’t shake this feeling like my days were numof crazy, and then I got married in the For Ragon, taking a lap around the globe Soda Bar bered. I was kind of frightened a lot of the time. once every couple of years is enough.

“At that time,” he says, “I just consistently felt para- middle of it, and all this other stuff hapJan. 27 “We’re not a party band. There’s no noid and worried that I was on the verge of all kinds of pened,” he says. “So, it was sort of like, after the record got finished, my world got need for us to play once a month. We’re bad shit.” cultofyouth.tumblr.com not fun,” Ragon says with a laugh. “We’re It’s easy to hear that pessimism and fear on Final Days, thrown upside down pretty severely. It fun people. We have a good time, and peowhose title and cover painting of the Tower of Babel very lit- was almost a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“In one sense, it was just some stuff that happened,” he ple are surprised to hang out with us and find out that we erally evoke Armageddon. But the scary part about Ragon’s like to do fun shit. They think we’re all morose. dark prophecy is that he was right, to a certain degree. Dur- adds. “But it was pretty severe.”

With the fear and paranoia behind him, Ragon and Cult “But who wants to see us so frequently?” Ragon laughs. ing a trip to Montreal, he got into an altercation with four other men. Ragon intervened when the aggressors had of Youth are finally ready to bring the ominous folk and “It’s just not the nature of our project.” threatened his friend, and in doing so, he was beaten se- punk sounds of Final Days to the stage. Though the band began ostensibly as a solo outlet for Ragon’s songwriting, Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com. verely, had his legs broken and had to undergo surgery.

pernicious

visions

Cult of Youth showcase an accessible darkness

by Jeff Terich

i

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

notes from the smoking patio Locals Only

and then they rehired every single employee.”

The North Park Theatre is now Observatory Lopez also notes that The Observatory purchased North Park. On Jan. 15, the owners of the Santa the theater because it was already proven to be sucAna-based venue The Observatory took ownership cessful, and because of that, there are no plans to inof the theater and the adjoining West Coast Tavern terfere with a good thing. from Verant Group and have rebranded it with a new “They’re not making too many changes; they’re name and a new logo, in addition to a new website: just adding to it,” he says. “They know that it’s imobservatorynp.com. portant to the community.”

William Lopez, publicist for the theater, tells CityBeat that there won’t be any major changes to the venue, other than a dramatic increase in bookings. The Observatory will book a lot of the acts already playing at its Orange County venue for a second date in San Diego.

“A lot of the acts playing the theater were already also performing at The Observatory” in Orange County, Lopez says. “In 2014, there were 60 to 80 shows at The North Park Theatre is now Observatory North Park. the North Park Theatre, and it will be close to triple that with the new ownership. There will also be a more diverse mix of acts.”

Observatory will book many of its own shows, but it will also continue to work with Tim Mays, owner Adam Gimbel says his long-running Musical Purof The Casbah, for some bookings, like the recently suit trivia night will return for one night at Whistle announced April 17 Belle and Sebastian show. Ad- Stop Bar in South Park at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22. ditionally, all staff from both The North Park Theatre Entry fee is $5 per player, and the winning team takes 90 percent of the cash in the pot. and The Observatory will be retained.

“They have made zero changes to the staff,” Lopez —Jeff Terich says. “Everyone was simply let go from one company,

•••

Music review Wild Wild Wets 14th Floor (Grizzly) Since forming in 2012, Wild Wild Wets have established themselves as one of San Diego’s best live bands, mixing noisy, psychedelic garage grooves with trippy, colorful visual projections for a multisensory spectacle. And though a series of singles and one-off tracks released in the last three years suggested that they have a great album in them, it’s taken a while to materialize.

In truth, the band’s taken its time to get it right, having recorded the album last spring and initially releasing it as an unmastered cassette for the sake of bringing merch on tour.

But 14th Floor is here, and it more than lives up to the band’s early promise.

While Wild Wild Wets weren’t able to translate their psychedelic slideshow into the new album, the sounds it contains are sufficiently otherworldly, but also highly accessible.

Swirling effects and dense layers of distortion color the eight songs, but never in such an overbearing way that the melodies underneath are obscured. There’s plenty of fuzz and warm, whirring organ sounds on the title track, for instance, but it’s the mesmerizing chorus that stands out.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

Each track on 14th Floor finds the band exploring various facets of its psych-rock sound, making plenty of ruckus with a spread of interesting variations.

“So High” and “Crawl” have a chilling, reverb-heavy, surf-rock vibe, whereas “Floating” booms with thunderous heavy-psych tones and “UK Drugs” carries a dramatic mixture of post-punk and shoegaze, in the vein of A Place to Bury Strangers.

While just about everything is sonically, texturally stunning, the sensorial experience doesn’t overshadow the small but significant details that make an even more powerful whole. Mike Turi’s effects-treated vocals lend extra otherworldliness to the hypnotic opener, “Blacks Bridge.”

A spooky gauze of organ turns the midnight beach party of “So High” into a haunted one. And the explosive climax that occurs three-plus minutes into “Dirty Dreams” magnificently breaks an extended sequence of finely crafted tension.

Since recording 14th Floor, Wild Wild Wets have already written an entire second album, which means it might not be long until the next one shows up. I’m fine with being patient for now, because this one was well worth the wait.

—Jeff Terich Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com or editor@sdcitybeat.com.

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

if i were u Wednesday, Jan. 21 PLAN A: Waters, Ed Ghost Tucker, Bit Maps @ The Casbah. The name Waters sounds a little generic, but the music the group makes—booming, earnest rock in the vein of Saintseneca—sounds just fine to my ears. Make it early to catch local favorites Bit Maps and Ed Ghost Tucker. BACKUP PLAN: Madball, Donnybrook, Mizery, Take Offense @ Soda Bar.

Thursday, Jan. 22 PLAN A: Deep Sea Thunder Beast, North, Lazy Cobra @ Til-Two Club. Deep Sea Thunder Beast, fronted by Justin Cota, deals in much heavier stuff than Cota’s other act, the duo Gloomsday. It’s more of a sludgy, trippy, doom-metal kind of band, and they rock pretty damn hard. If you want a little bit of ringing in your ears on Friday morning, this is the place to be. PLAN B: La Diabla, Goma, Madly, DJ Unite, Las Sucias @ The Casbah. I recently caught cumbia group La Diabla at Soda Bar, and they put on a hell of a show, which included balaclavas and a dance contest. Their accordionist kind of rips, too, so there’s no good reason to miss this Tijuana group in action.

Friday, Jan. 23 PLAN A: Ras Kass @ Porter’s Pub. Some people talk about hip-hop in the ’90s the way folks talk about rock music in the ’70s, and I’m always a little hesitant to put too much emphasis on the past. But it was a renaissance for good reason, and one important, often overlooked player is Ras Kass, whose 1996 album Soul on Ice is a West Coast classic. PLAN B: The Donkeys, And And And, Ditches, Erik Canzona and the Narrows @ The Casbah. It’s always fun to see a local show stacked with some great talent, up and down the lineup, and here’s one of them. Every band here, from the lightly psychedelic pop of The Donkeys on down, is worth seeing, for unique reasons, so come early and get comfortable. BACKUP PLAN: Moon Hooch, Inspired and the Sleep, DJ Man Cat @ Soda Bar.

Saturday, Jan. 24 PLAN A: Helms Alee, Marriages, KATA @ The Hideout. Helms Alee might technically be a metal band, but I’ve seen them a few times, and, more often than not, they remind me more of a louder version of ’90s post-hardcore bands Unwound or Lync. They’ve got great riffs and melodies, but with plenty of

32 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

BY Jeff Terich awesome power to spare. PLAN B: Paul Collins Beat, The Widows, Rich Hands, Amerikan Bear, Kids in Heat @ Til-Two Club. Paul Collins is a power-pop pioneer, having played in bands like The Beat and The Nerves, and though I wasn’t there, I have it on good authority that his last time in San Diego was a fun show. Don’t miss out like I did—go get that jangle.

Sunday, Jan. 25 PLAN A: The Coup, Odessa Kane, DJ Artistic @ The Casbah. The Coup are probably more famous for their Communist politics than their jams, of which they have many. If Public Enemy sounded more like Parliament, then you’d get something like this long-running hip-hop outfit. Now that’s what I call a political party! PLAN B: Rogue Stereo, The Body Rampant, Ghost Parade, Little Heroine, Recluse @ Kensington Club. If what you seek involves more guitars than turntables, then this is a fine alternative, featuring five Southern California bands that have more power chords than they know what to do with. It’s a $5 show, which makes it a dollar a band, so, put that way, I see no reason not to drop by and rock out.

Monday, Jan. 26 PLAN A: Weyes Blood, Mary Lattimore, Dominick Joseph Gambini @ The Hideout. Natalie Mering, aka Weyes Blood, makes dramatic music. Sometimes it’s in the form of slow, piano-driven ballads, and sometimes it’s eerie, folk-influenced art rock. But no matter what, it’s layered, beautiful and rich in melody. BACKUP PLAN: Tactical Fever, Scuffs, Nice World @ The Casbah.

Tuesday, Jan. 27 PLAN A: Cult of Youth, Hive Mind, Geyser House @ Soda Bar. Take a gander at my feature story (on Page 29) on New York’s Cult of Youth, who funnel some dark visions into powerful postpunk songs on their new album, Final Days. If the final days are truly upon us, at least we’ve got a fiery house band to play us out.

PLAN B: Mates of State, Fictionist @ The Casbah. Mates of State aren’t the sort of band I’d ordinarily just queue up in iTunes, but I’ve seen them live before, and they’re a blast to see in person. Sometimes you just need some good pop songs to keep you going, and Mates of State have more than Weyes Blood their share.

HOT! NEW! FRESH! Tinashe (Fluxx, 1/31), Unwritten Law (acoustic show) (Brick by Brick, 2/12), James Iha (Hideout, 2/13), Trash Talk (Epicentre, 2/14), Eddie Spaghetti (Casbah, 2/17), Deap Vally (BUT, 2/26), Coliseum (Hideout, 3/6), Hot Nerds (Soda Bar, 3/6), The Dreaming (Hideout, 3/12), Broken Water (Hideout, 3/25), Self Defense Family, Makthaverskan (Hideout, 3/25), Tsu Shi Ma Mire (Casbah, 3/29), Hinds (Soda Bar, 3/29), Pile (Soda Bar, 3/30), D.I. (Brick by Brick, 4/11), The Growlers (Observatory North Park, 5/9), The Wombats (HOB, 5/13), Train (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/24), Fall Out Boy, Wiz Khalifa (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/8).

GET YER TICKETS Hundred Waters (Casbah, 2/11), The Dodos (Casbah, 2/14), Steve Aoki (Soma, 2/20), Gregory Alan Isakov (The Irenic, 2/22), Cursive (Casbah, 2/22), David Cook (BUT, 2/23), In Flames (HOB, 2/23), Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band (Viejas Arena, 2/25), 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), Tweedy (Balboa Theatre, 3/24), George Benson (Balboa Theatre, 3/26), 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), Waxahatchee (Casbah, 4/26), 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).

January Thursday, Jan. 15 Dead Kennedys at Belly Up Tavern.

Friday, Jan. 16 Wild Child at Belly Up Tavern. ‘San Diego Freakout’ w/ Wild Wild Wets, Burning Palms, Max Pain and the Groovies at The Casbah.

Saturday, Jan. 17 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.

Sunday, Jan. 18 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.

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 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.

Saturday, Jan. 31 Patti Smith at Balboa Theatre. Wale at North Park Theatre. Silverstein at House

CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

Janaury 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

of Blues. Tinashe at Fluxx.

February Monday, Feb. 2 Todd Snider at Belly Up Tavern. Jukebox the Ghost at Soda Bar. Pleasure Fix at The Casbah.

Tuesday, Feb. 3 Los Kung Fu Monkeys at The Casbah.

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.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Live band karaoke. Fri: Sunny Rude, Shoreline Rootz. Sat: Oliver Trolley, Ocelot, Arson Academy, Alexa Villa.

Sun: Karaoke.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Fri: 22 Kings, David and Devine. Sat: Prayers, The Slashes, Sleeping Ghost. Sun: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

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

Wed: DJs Dirty Disciple, Terry James, Darklord Gob. Thu: DJs Joe Pea, Andy Gomez. Fri: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk.

Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: DJs John Reynolds, Karma, Tripsy.

34 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco. com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Nick Thune.

Fri-Sun: Kevin Nealon.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St, Downtown. facebook.com/BangBangSanDiego.

Wed: Robin Schulz. Fri: Endo, Native Behavior.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Thu: Nicky Venus, Willa.

Sat: The Loons, Schitzophonics, Gone Baby Gone. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’ w/ DJ Ratty. Mon: Tori Roze and the Hot Mess.

Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave, Downtown. bassmntsd.com. Thu: SBCR (DJ set).

Fri: Carnage. Sat: ATB. Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla. brocktonvilla.com/beaumonts.html.

Fri: DJ Kayden Kastle. Sat: December’s Children. Sun: Kayla Hope.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Junior Reid and Natural Vibrations, Karlos Paez. Thu: MarchFourth Marching Band, Tukuaz, DJ GianCarlo. Fri: Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Sat: Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Sun: Los Lobos (sold out). Tue: The Wailers, Rian Basilio and The Roosters.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave, Carlsbad. boarcrossn.net. Thu: Mighty Moses. Fri: ‘Club Musae’. Sat: The Oceanside Sound System.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Thu: ‘Muscle’. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’. Sat: ‘Sabado en fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA. Sun: ‘Soiree’. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Thu: Luicidal, Oddball. Sat: Markland, Cardboard

Truckers, Future Age, Country Rockin’ Rebels. Mon: ‘Metal Monday’. Tue: Aerosmyth, Black Dog. Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Thu & Sat: Malamana.

Fri: Joef. Tue: Noches Bohemia.

Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Clairemont. thecomedypalace. com. Wed-Sun: San Diego Comedy Festival.

Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St, La Jolla. lajolla.thecomedystore.com. Fri: Steve Trevino.

Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, Bankers Hill. crocesparkwest.com.

Wed: Hugo Suarez. Thu: Besos de Coco.

Fri: Todo Mundo. Sat: Gilbert Castellanos and the Park West Ensemble. Sun: Choro Sotaque. Mon: Steph Johnson and Rob Thorsen. Tue: Ruby Duo. Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. dirksniteclub.com. Fri: Granite Hill. Sat: DJ Dizzy D. Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. dizzyssandiego.com. Mon: Triosence.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown, Downtown. f6ixsd.com. Fri: DJ Dynamiq. Sat: DJ Mo Beatz.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: Big Sean. Fri: Diamond Pistols. Sat: Reflex.

Hard Rock Hotel, 207 Fifth Ave, Downtown. hardrockhotelsd.com. Fri: Fashen.

Sat: DJ Craig Smoove, Murphy Kennedy.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown. henryspub.com. Wed: The Fooks. Thu: DJ Antonio Aguilera. Fri: ‘Good Times’.

Sat: DJs E, Yodah. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Mark Fisher. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Wed: Guster, Kishi Bashi. Thu: Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. Fri: Local Brews, Local Grooves. Tue: The Green, Through the Roots.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Thu: Tyler and Adam. Fri: ‘Simpler Times’. Sat: Kaminanda. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave, Kensington. 619-284-2848. Fri: Social Club, Sullen Ray, Katie Leigh and the Infantry. Sat: Sculpins, Parade of Horribles, Seeking Alpha.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: Sophisticats. Thu: Ron’s Trio. Fri: The Broker Bros. Sat: 4-Way Street. Sun: Ron’s Garage. Tue: Glen Smith.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: The Upshots.

Thu: The Bill Magee Blues Band. Fri: Johnny Vernazza. Sat: Mystique Element of Soul. Sun: The Fuzzy Rankins Band.

Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Paddys Chicken Jam. Porter’s Pub, 9500 Gilman Dr., UCSD campus, La Jolla. porterspub.net. Thu: Bad Suns.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Thu: DJ Moody Rudy. Fri: DJs Dirty Kurty, Moody Rudy. Sat: DJs Taj, KSwift. Sun: DJs Casey Alva, Hektik.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave, La Mesa. rivierasupperclub.com.

Wed: Westside Inflection. Thu: Travelin Birds. Fri: Red Lotus Review. Sat: Black Market III. Tue: Karaoke.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd.

Wed: Gilbert Castellanos jazz jam. Fri: Euphoria Brass Band. Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei. Side Bar, 536 Market St, Downtown. sidebarsd.com. Thu: Jay Valdez. Fri: Chris Cutz, Ian Tordella.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: Madball, Donnybrook, Mizery, Take Offense.

Thu: The Mast, Lightworks, Bakkuda.

Fri: Moon Hooch, Inspired and the Sleep, DJ Man Cat. Sat: Behind the Wagon, Jake Loban and the Bender Band, Greg Griffin. Sun: Russian Circles, Mammifer (sold out). Mon: Swim Team, Idyll Wild, Marqay. Tue: Cult of Youth, Hive Mind, Geyser House.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Fri: Pierce the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens. Sat: I Am The Conqueror, Riboflavin, Chrysalis, Anton Jon. Somewhere Loud, 3489 Noell St, Midtown. somewhereloud.com. Fri: ‘Glow Dirty’.

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: Citrus. Sun: Stevie Harris, Tori Roze, Johnny Alexander.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd, Spring Valley. 619-469-2337. Thu: ‘Club 80s’.

Fri: Archetype. Sat: Walk Proud.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: Waters, Ed Ghost Tucker, Bit Maps. Thu: La Diabla, Goma, Madly, DJ Unite, Las Suscias.

Fri: The Donkeys, And And And, Ditches, Erik Canzona and the Narrows. Sat: Cadillac Tramps, No More Saints, Screamin’ Yeehaws. Sun: The Coup, Odessa Kane, DJ Artistic. Mon: Tactical Fever, Scuffs,

Nice World. Tue: Mates of State, Fictionist.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. thehideoutsd.com. Sat: Helms Alee, Marriages, KATA. Mon: Weyes Blood, Mary Lattimore, Dominick Joseph Gambini.

The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. theloft.ucsd.edu. Fri: Emilio Cazares, Vida Blue, Craig Marker. Sat: Danny Green Trio. Tue: D. Sabela Grimes.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. theMerrow.com. Wed: Flakes, Milo the Band, Allen Vega. Thu: Mobile Deathcamp, Hemlock, Final Drive, Groove of Death. Fri: Tolan Shaw, Dr. Seahorse, LANY. Sat: The Ben Miller Band, Crow Moses. Mon: Open mic. Tue: AJ Froman, Rabbit Fever, Midnight Track.

The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: ‘Friends Chill’ w/ DJs Eddie Turbo, DubChops. Thu: DJ Myson King. Fri: DJs Adam Salter, Kid Wonder. Sat: DJs Kanye Asada, Gabe Vega. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ DJs Tribe of Kings. Mon: ‘Elvis Under Cover’.

Tue: DJ Ramsey.

The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, Gaslamp. tinroofbars.com/Home/SanDiego. Wed: ‘Power Hour’ w/ Pat Hilton. Thu: ‘Throwback Thursdays’ w/ Diablo Road. Fri: Diablo Road, Clint Westwood Duo. Sat: Diablo Road, CalPhonics. Sun: ‘G Street Sessions’ w/ Melanie Taylor, AJ Froman, Antony and The Tramps, Gabriela y la Buena Onda. Mon: The Night Rocker, DJ Holland. Tue: Roots Covenant.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Wed: Cryptic Languages, Behold the Monolith, Blackwitch Pudding. Thu: Deep Sea Thunder Beast, Abrams, Cryptic Languages, Fantasy Arcade. Fri: ‘Mods vs. Rockers’.

Sat: Paul Collins Beat, The Widows, Rich Hands, Amerikan Bear, Kids In Heat.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Thu: Chris James and Patrick Rynn. Sat: The Reflectors. Tue: Bayou Brothers.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Sat: Tower and Stone. Mon: Soda Gardocki, Stephen Rey and the Tijuana Tramp, Fanny and the Atta Boys. Tue: Squarecrow, Shinjoku Riot, Streetgirls, Aim for the Engine.

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.); Son Pa Ti (9 p.m.). Sun: Sounds Like Four (5 p.m.); Middle Earth (8 p.m.). Mon: Open mic.

Tue: Grupo Global.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Wed: ‘Word Up’. Thu: The Travelers Club. Fri: Lee Churchill. Sat: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk. Sun: TRC Soundsystem. Mon: DJ Fishfonics. Tue: Karaoke.

West Coast Tavern, 2895 University Ave, North Park. westcoatstavern.com.

Thu: DJ Slowhand. Fri: Billy the Kid. Sat: DJ Shadow Man. Sun: DJ Clean Cut. Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: ‘Kiss and Make Up’ w/ DJs Jon Blaj, Kyle Baudor.

Fri: Boz Boorer (DJ set). Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob. Mon: ‘Motown Monday’ w/ DJ Artistic. Tue: ‘Videodrome’.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: ‘Club Kingston’ w/ Jahsun, Jugglerz Sound System.

Thu: ‘Ocean Beach Hip Hop Social’.

Fri: Josh Heinrichs, Skillinjah, Beyond I Sight, AOK. Sat: Glen David Andrews Band, Beau Sasser’s Escape Plan. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band.

Janaury 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 35

36 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 37

Brendan Emmett Quigley

Manspreading Across 1. Wineglass feature 5. Woodwind with silver keys 9. “Charlie ___” (French satire magazine) 14. Mr. Peanut prop 15. Recruiting grp. on campus 16. World book?

17. Similar (to) 18. “The lady ___ protest too much, methinks”: Gertrude in “Hamlet” 19. Borough where rap was born 20. Unauthorized copy of a peanut?

23. Small toy dog, briefly 24. Cortez’s gold 25. Feathery neck piece 26. “Bang and Blame” rockers 29. Unforeseen problems 31. Black stone 33. Sport played on horses 34. Motorcycle racer Gino, or that “Crying Game” actor Stephen 36. Manipulate 37. “One more thing” 38. Pass laws about a golf course bend?

43. Rapper ___ Rocky 44. Show with spinoffs set in New York, Miami, and soon cyberspace 45. Keats poem 46. Baseball legend Willie 47. Doesn’t rent 49. Makes a cartoon 53. Raymond James Stadium pro, for short 54. IVF cells 55. Amigo 57. Disgusted cry 58. Designer Cassini?

Last week’s answers

38 · San Diego CityBeat · January 21, 2015

62. Boorish fellow 64. Like film noirs 65. “Smart Justice, Fair Justice” grp.

66. Social activist Hoffman 67. Negative person?

68. Sand castle destroyer 69. Some pears 70. Nasty 71. Pardner’s mount

Down 1. Sells tickets for way more than face value 2. Challenge 3. Code broken in the 2014 biopic “The Imitation Game” 4. List that can help you figure out your 5-Down 5. See 4-Down 6. Scrape on the knee, e.g.

7. Statesman von Bismarck 8. Rebel’s fortress in the Hoth scenes of “The Empire Strikes Back” 9. “¿___ español?”

10. To be, in French 101 11. It can help you see the sites 12. Poker star Bilzerian 13. Yosemite platform 21. Basketball legend Malone 22. Ohio metropolis nicknamed “The Glass City” 27. “Or ___ you’ll what?”

28. Big name in synthesizers 30. Handlebar attachments 32. World leader who’s an expert at judo 33. Doctor’s device 35. Dinette spot 38. Doner kebab meat 39. Hairy twin of Genesis 40. Places to socialize when you’re out at night?

41. Construction along the Nile River 42. “You won’t believe this, but ...”

48. Peloponnesian War city-state 50. The U.S.’s largest union group 51. Exercises, as power 52. Transitions (into) 54. Gives more than a once-over 56. “Argo” actor 59. L.A. mayor Garcetti 60. Krone spender 61. Words at a swearing-in 62. Red wine, briefly 63. “Silicon Valley” channel

January 21, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 39