San Diego CityBeat • Feb 17, 2016

1 · San Diego CityBeat · January 6, 2016

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2 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

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Up Front | From the editor

Rebuking county homeless efforts

V

eteran civic leader Laurie Black During her time as a public servant, Black was left a steaming comment under a rea vocal proponent of housing and services for the cent online article about a homelessness homeless. In 2000, as president of the Downtown initiative announced by the county of San San Diego Partnership she served on an Ad Hoc Diego. Public rebukes of politicians by voices of note Committee of dozens of civic leaders who came are rare in the whispered world of homeless servictogether to essentially do what today is called es, even in the trolling grounds. When I contacted “housing-first” for the homeless. They successfully Black she suggested we meet for a “walkie talkie.” focused on the severely mentally ill, putting them That is, a walk through Balboa Park—a city crown in apartments and offering round-the-clock medijewel itself rife with homeless individuals—during cal and psychological services.

Yes, that sounds familiar, even though today polwhich we would talk about the subject of her ire.

It’s a personal issue for Black. Her brother iticians treat the housing-first approach as if it just was a paranoid schizophrenic who was homeless washed up on shore. for stretches of time. In 1988 the voices in Brian “In 2000 we got $10.3 million in money for the Black’s head told him to jump off the Coronado county from the state,” says Black, as our eastbound Bridge. He did, and survived a leap from mid-span. footsteps echo over the Cabrillo Bridge. “It was AB Five years later he also lived afdavid troyan photography studios 2034 grant money. The money was spread out over three years. ter being shot seven times durFor two and a half years it was going a police-assisted suicide ating great. It was working. We had tempt. Brian Black later died in housed 320 people.” car accident.

Laurie Black isn’t in the news In 2003 Black left the DSDP. as much as the days when she was Then she heard discouraging chief of staff to Congresswoman news—the county was going to Lynn Schenk. Black was also comkeep the third installment of AB missioner on the San Diego Port 2034 money. Black called County District, served as board director Supervisor Ron Roberts’ office on the Centre City Development but couldn’t get an answer on Corp. and was president of the where the money was going.

Downtown San Diego Partnership.

“I told them, ‘You have blown She was married to the late Robert up this program,’” Black says, her Lawrence, a prominent San Diego voice rising. “Our program was developer who was the son of M. working and they broke it. And Larry Lawrence, long-time owner that was the end of the county’s of the Hotel del Coronado. commitment to homelessness.

You might think homelessness They never showed up, again.

They took their marbles and said doesn’t cast a shadow over such Laurie Black they were going to play their own families. But it can and it does. game. They isolated themselves. *** Black meets me at the corner of Sixth and LauThey will say they didn’t but that’s not true.”

At the time, the program director of AB 2034/ rel. Wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, large sunREACH for the county was Adrienne Berlin. Conglasses and a black backpack, she walks with force tacted later by telephone, she agrees with Black’s and purpose. We march half a block to meet her friend Lee. He’s a middle-aged homeless man who’s assessment. “Yes,” Berlin says,” after that there was been living in Balboa Park for three years. Lee is a nothing new.”) graying Southern gentleman who does the crossA spokesman for Supervisor Greg Cox researched the situation and drew a different conclusion. “The word puzzle most mornings. He’s well spoken, and acknowledges being a skilled mechanic. After a civcounty never defunded the REACH program,” says Cox’s director of communications, Luis Monteagudo. il chat about the politics of homelessness, Black and I stride off. She mentions she gave Lee the leather He says when the grant finished the county funded jacket he’s wearing. The $600 designer coat from Beverly Hills belonged to her grandfather. from the editor CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 This issue of CityBeat commemorates the death of Justice Antonin Scalia with some In-N-Out.

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February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Up Front | Letters

CORPORATE WELFARE, NO

The Spanos’ quest for a new stadium or a move to Los Angeles reveals a double standard [“Deano Spanos’ lame-duck Chargers,” Feb. 3]. The NFL and its owners expect taxpayers to dole out corporate welfare—whether money, cheap land, cheap lease, whatever. On the other hand, when it comes to their own money, the NFL and the owners are pretty tightfisted.

I suspect that the Spanoses balked at moving to L.A. because Rams owner Stan Kroenke would charge the going rate on stadium leasing, not the low rates that owners extort from taxpayers. And as far as a new stadium in San Diego, the NFL wouldn’t just kick in megabucks, they would give the Spanoses a loan, which must be repaid with interest.

Barring insanity or ignorance by San Diego voters, and then a vote to give corporate welfare to the Spanoses, I think the Chargers are stuck in San Diego indefinitely and without a new stadium. Maybe Dean Spanos should check out St. Louis—they need a team, and they were willing to dish out corporate welfare for a new stadium to keep the Rams.

Dan Jacobs, Mira Mesa

TIRED OF CHARGERS CHATTER

I’m so aggravated that the Chargers were denied the move [“Deano Spanos’ lame-duck Chargers,” Feb. 3]. Now we’re stuck with fresh waves of chatter for another, what— one, two, five years? Case in point: CityBeat printed no fewer than two pieces about it in the last issue. A local mouthpiece, er, news channel puts on an “exclusive” interview with Spanos right after the Super Bowl. Soon the mayor will hire new lobbyists to “negotiate” and “investigate the viability.” There will be a new “task force.” You name it.

And money will quietly slip out of the city’s general fund, not for a stadium, but merely the discussion about a stadium. What’s killing me is not the possibility that we’ll get hung with a massive chunk of debt so that a billionaire who doesn’t give a crap about this city doesn’t have to spend his own money. It’s having to listen to all the idiotic blabbing, lies and propaganda along the way as they try to move that middle third of voters, and knowing that the mayor and his drones will likely use our money to fund it all.

Bill Shaw,

Clairemont

DON’T LET THE DOOR…

Wouldn’t it be cool if San Diego did to the Chargers what truly smart parents do the minute their kids leave the house? Y’know, rent out their room. “So, sorry, Deano, but you dissed the folks and split, and they needed the money, so you need to find a parking lot or a grassy knoll elsewhere to play.” Wouldn’t it be cool if the Chargers had nowhere to play? It would be the best thing for them…a completely undefeated season. Only way they’ll ever have one.

Carl M. Hancock, San Diego

A STADIUM FOR 2022

Someone should make exact measurements and see exactly where it is possible to shoehorn in a 70,000-seat stadium, with parking. Certain businesses will have to be removed and relocated by eminent domain.

One of them is a large bus yard with offices for administration, and an area for maintenance which would have to go somewhere. Say you can find the space and the huge expenditure can be cobbled together by hook and crook. What about the timeline involved? Two-years-plus just to clear the area. Another two-years-plus to build the stadium. None of this is close to being settled yet. Five years or more of constant construction in downtown and where the currently extant enterprises are relocating.

Maybe you end up with a new stadium after all the dust settles in 2022. It sounds like a half-baked idea to me. Downtown, Mission Valley, Los Angeles or where? It has been talked about for years with what appears to be negligible progress. Do please make up your mind Mr. Spanos.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

Deuel Woodward, Chula Vista

CLARIFICATION Our Feb. 3 “Neighborhood Watch: Downtown” feature should have more clearly delineated that the annual San Diego Mardi Gras event is produced by McFarlane Promotions Inc.

On the

The photo of our cover stars this week, Brooklyn-based disco outfit Escort, was shot by photographer Shervin Lainez.

He has taken photos of a long list of artists, including Regina Spektor, My Brightest Diamond, Tame Impala and Andrew Bird, and his work has been published in outlets such as NPR and Under the Radar. Lainez explained his process in an interview with The Bomber Jacket blog: “I hear the music and look at previous photos of the band–I try to get a sense of what tone and texture they want the photos to have, then I edit accordingly. It’s a pretty simple process.” See more of his work at shervinfoto.com. Escort plays at The Casbah on Thursday, Feb. 25.

Cover

from the editor CONTINUED from PAGE 3 the program for three more years, and then it morphed into another program.

In early February of this year, the county, led by supervisors Cox and Roberts, unveiled the Project One For All initiative.

It was announced days before the annual Point-In-Time regional homeless count.

The initiative will focus on wrap-around services to homeless individuals with severe mental illnesses. Implementation is set to begin in May. This was the announcement that caught Black’s attention. “Uh, wait,” she says, “you did this already! You are not aware you were doing this in the year 2000 and ’01 and ’02? You had the money from the state!

I saw this announced and it got me riled.”

Monteagudo notes a major difference between past county programs and this one: It will be countywide rather than focus on downtown. *** Half an hour into the walkie talkie Black and I pause to sit on a stone bench near the Mingei International Museum. Black delivers one last salvo at the Board of Supervisors. “They have not embraced their responsibility to the people who can’t help themselves in this county,” she says. They have not become a part of the greater collaborative. They think they have, though, and that’s the problem.”

A man in a red t-shirt who’s cleaning a water fountain hears us discussing homelessness. He politely asks if he can comment. Stephen says he’s a homeless veteran. He spent 16 years as a Marine. Black asks, “Would you take skills classes at a local college if they

were available?” Yes, says Stephen, but says it would be better if those were offered by the armed services before people got out. Then Stephen apologizes for interrupting and says he’s got to get back to work.

Off and walking again, I ask for Black’s opinion of San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s city-driven homelessness initiative, called Housing Our Heroes. The mayor has pledged to get 1,000 veterans off the street by the end of 2016.

“If it’s a priority, it’ll get done,” she says.

“If Kevin makes this a priority and doesn’t worry about any backlash in running for other office, and is authentic in his belief system about the possibility of change— real change—then it’ll happen.”

Arriving back at Sixth and Laurel, Black and I are wrapping things up. That’s when a lean, scraggly bearded man wearing baggy camouflage pants approaches and asks for money. We tell him, sorry, no. He saunters away and flops down on the grass.

Black takes off her glasses and wipes at her eyes. “It’s like they’re throwaway people,” she says, shaking her head. “And it’s all the worse if that man right there served in Afghanistan…” Her voice trails off for the first time today.

Here’s where an overarching realization sets in: A morning walk in Balboa Park can be physically and intellectually stimulating. But running passionately in circles for decades is emotionally exhausting.

—Ron Donoho

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com

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ken stone

ken stone

Up Front | news

chris stone

xxxxxxx

From left: Justin DeCesare, Scott Sherman, Jose Caballero

Chargers stadium issue rules District 7 race Two Democrats seek to upend GOP city

by Ken Stone

I

n the District 7 race for San Diego City Council, incumbent Scott Sherman has raised four times as much money as his two Democratic rivals combined. The insurance man has GOP support and boasts lifetime friends in the district. He bought and moved back into the same 1,400-square-foot Allied Gardens house he grew up in.

Justin DeCesare, the first challenger to file (in April 2014), has endorsements from Rep. Scott Peters, state Sen. Marty Block, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and expoliticos Donna Frye and Nathan Fletcher. He’s backed by the League of Conservation Voters and, as of last week, the San Diego Municipal Employees Association. A big get.

Jose Caballero, who filed last May, has Bernie Sanders.

Sort of.

Single and 29, Caballero is a former Navy nuclear engineer counting on a political chain reaction to force a November runoff with Sherman, who won election outright in the June 2012 primary by scoring just 53 votes more than the 50 percent needed.

Caballero (part Cuban, Mexican and Spanish) grew up Republican in Texas but says he discovered his true values while studying at San Diego Mesa College (in a class assignment he was startled to hear facts other than those he’d seen on Fox News). Now he’s a full-blown democratic socialist.

District 7—which stretches from Miramar to Mission Valley and includes Tierrasanta and San Carlos—has 72,000 registered voters. Democrats outnumber Republicans 26,000 to 23,000. With a possible X-factor playing into the June 7 primary, Caballero is hoping to leverage his 2,600-member San Diego for Bernie Sanders 2016’s Facebook group and even get the 74-year-old’s endorsement.

“I have a portfolio of what I’ve done” to show Sanders, said Caballero, who also was campaign manager for Kevin Beiser’s successful 2014 school board run. “I’m a proud Candidate for Bernie.”

DeCesare, also a Navy veteran but divulging no White House pick, rolls his eyes.

“The way I’m running my race is not campaigning for a

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cluding a proposal that could serve as his campaign slogan— “Too Small to Fail.”

A business consultant with a San Diego State University political science degree, the Linda Vista resident has devised a plan for having a $15-an-hour minimum wage without hurting small businesses. He predicts sales-tax revenue would soar, and he’d take a portion of that growth and give council incumbent it to struggling shops willing to open their books and prove their profit-per-employee is small enough. He’s still working on details.

“You create a cycle that allows the small businesses to catch up to the ($15-an-hour) economy,” he says. “It will be presidential candidate,” he says. “I have a lot more work to a big impact on Day 1…We can’t allow those big businesses do here in District 7.”

Caballero, who raised $20,000 last year and spent al- to gobble up our small businesses because they can afford to most all of it, said he planned to knock on 100 doors a day pay their workers more.”

DeCesare, an acoustic guitar playstarting Feb. 10, handing folks perer, calls for immediate infrastructure sonalized issue letters. He calls resiThe 2016 spending. He thinks it will be music dents his consultants—in contrast to to D7 ears—especially after El Niño DeCesare’s hiring a paid campaign rains flooded San Carlos homes in manager (John Parker) and strategy January. adviser (Tom Shepard).

“Our best way to fix this problem “Money is just a measure of the When is it?: is to first understand that we need old way of politicking, which is throw Tuesday, June 7 to find new revenue that makes the as much trash in the mailbox as posprobability of fixing these repairs Register at: sible, and be able to win over a voter with a fancy, splashy message,” Caregistertovote.ca.gov more likely in the short term, to stop trying to play bait-and-switch with ballero says. city services to look like a financial Deadline: DeCesare, 33 in March, says he’ll savior of the city,” he wrote recently.

May 23 hit “every door in every precinct as “It’s time we stop kicking the can hard as we can, knowing that Scott More info: down the road.” has enough money to sit back and not sdvote.com The nearly 53-year-old Sherman actually have to talk to people in the is undecided on a GOP presidential community. And he can send postnominee (“Not totally excited about cards all day long.”

He’ll do this while keeping his day job, managing 35-40 anyone in particular at this point”). But he pushes back people at his real estate brokerage. DeCesare says he’s the on claims he doesn’t look out for his communities.

“I introduced the Navajo Parks Renovation Plan that one who fixes the broken office printer. (In 2004, he won a Pacific region award as the Navy’s Air Traffic Control Tech- improved and updated six District 7 neighborhood parks,” he says. “I worked…to reopen overnight camping at the nician of the Year.)

Both challengers think Sherman is vulnerable—and say Kumeyaay Campgrounds in District 7 after being shut a District 1 victory by Barbara Bry could make possible a down for over three years.”

He says his office won state grants and teamed with Democratic six-vote supermajority on the city council.

Sherman, his challengers say, is overly focused on Tony Hawk to build a $3 million skate park in Linda Vista, Chargers stadium issues and “big-ticket items that get you and found money to reopen the Hex Building and install on the news,” in the words of DeCesare (pronounced Dee- sports field lighting at the Tierrasanta Rec Center “after seven years of residents waiting.”

Caesar, like the salad).

Sherman, a black belt in Cuong Nhu karaté recovering DeCesare, president of the Tierrasanta Community Council and Planning Group, says Sherman isn’t looking from bad knees, is a big-time fisherman. He boasts landing out for micro concerns such as a much-wanted dog park or a 350-pound marlin. From a kayak, he caught a 42-pound Yellowtail tuna. a lost senior center.

Now he’s angling for Democratic votes as well.

But Caballero has an eye on macro prizes as well—in-

Primary Election

February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Up Front | opinion

spin

cycle

john r. lamb

Year of the monkey business being observed in San Diego Since a politician never believes what he says, he is surprised when others believe him.

—Charles de Gaulle

A

local congressman blows e-cigarette smoke into a colleague’s face during a hearing. Mayor Kevin Faulconer waves the white flag when his administration is called out for banning the term “Founding Fathers” from official city correspondence.

Why are San Diego politicians acting so weird these days? It’s an election year, so sensitivities might be a bit heightened. But could it also be we are already seeing the effects of the new lunar Year of the Yang Red Fire Monkey?

Go ahead and laugh, but consider this, courtesy of the good folks at happywishingwell.com: “It’s best to take nothing for

granted. The Monkey is wise but also unpredictable, and given to bouts of jealousy, suspicion or temper tantrums. Trust is difficult this year.”

Yes, that pretty much describes the loopy Republican presidential field to date, but thankfully that circus will eventually fade like a vapor cloud. But here in sunny, smiley San Diego, the Big Tent just keeps flapping in the breeze.

“The nimble Monkey is an opportunist,” the website continues.

“Even in difficult circumstances, this canny creature finds ways to overcome and succeed, often with a laugh at the loser’s expense.”

Duncan Hunter, the Republican who rode his father’s name into Congress in 2009 to represent a huge chunk of East and North counties, certainly took an opportunist’s route last week but wound up losing anyway.

6 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

As reported by The Hill, Hunter broke out an e-cigarette during a congressional hearing last Thursday in an effort to convince colleagues that vaping should be allowed on airplanes. “There is nothing noxious about this whatsoever,” The Hill reported on Hunter, “as he accidentally blew a white cloud of e-cigarette smoke into another lawmaker’s face.”

The stunt apparently went over so well that the amendment passed. As the sponsor of the amendment noted, “Imagine what it would be like if you were sitting next to him on an airplane.”

Spin Cycle hopes he’d at least get a window seat, perhaps to avoid Hunter deciding to peer down below and shout, “I see terrorists crossing the border!” (You might recall in late 2014, Hunter claimed that “at least” 10 ISIS fighters had been detained while attempting to cross the Mexico border in Texas and “dozens more” had eluded capture. Politifact.com awarded the congressman its top “Pants on Fire!” stamp of disapproval for the “ridiculous claim.”)

“The Monkey is a born performer,” happywishingwell.com notes, “and keeps you enthralled for hours. Monkey can improvise with originality and sizzling style, and also is always ready to put an unexpected new twist on classic ideas.”

But be warned: “The Monkey year can be a crazy ride…

One-night stands are common…

Rampant Monkey energy releases inhibitions and promotes flirting, teasing, spontaneity, promiscuity and sexual exploration...Of all the signs, the Monkey is one of the most narcissistic.”

“man up,” it saved its greatest outrage for one phrase.

“Most alarmingly, though, is the guidelines directive…that city employees should refrain from mentioning those to whom we owe our most fundamental freedoms, the Founding Fathers,” the letter fumed. “The manual’s john r. lamb inane attempt to recast the fathers as simply the ‘Founders’ reaches a level of political correctness, censorship and insensitivity toward time-honored American values that is indefensible.”

Conservative media outlets like Fox News quickly picked up the story and pounced. “San Diego Barred from Uttering ‘Biased’ Term ‘Founding Fathers,’ blared one headline. Team Faulconer immediately jumped into Red Alert mode, issuing statements that Duncan Hunter blows while Mayor Kevin cried, “We’re shocked, Faulconer stows the “founding fathers” ban. too!” while seeking heads to roll under the bus.

Perhaps those “one-night “Suggesting that our Foundstands” refer to folks who con- ing Fathers should be referred to sidered, then just as quickly as ‘Founders’ is political correctdropped, the idea of challenging ness run amok,” Faulconer said in Mayor Faulconer’s re-election ef- a statement last Wednesday. “At my forts. But with a campaign coffer direction this was removed yesterbusting at the seams, Faulconer day from the city’s correspondence may have little to worry about. manual. The manual will be re“It’s best not to worry too much viewed for other misguided examabout money this year,” the web- ples that defy common sense and site continues. “Be sensible but changes will be made accordingly.” allow some indulgences. The At first, the mayor’s office laid pleasure-seeking Monkey loves the blame at the feet of Amelia to throw money around, favoring Brazell, the recently departed lavish entertainment, stylish at- under mysterious circumstances tire and generous helpings of the head of Faulconer’s communicafiner things in life.” tions department. Then the mayIt’s not all champagne and cav- or’s chief operating officer, Scott iar, though: “Plans can go awry in Chadwick—who’d delivered the the Year of the Monkey, but an- new guidelines to city employswers and solutions are found if ees—shouldered the blame. you seek them.”

As Faulconer’s chief of staff, You would have thought ter- Stephen Puetz, noted on Twitter, rorists had breached the bayfront “Mistakes are going to be made in last week when an obscure con- every organization. Leaders take servative outfit based in Sacra- corrective action when they learn mento threatened to represent of them.” any city employee pro bono “who “Watch out for trickery, beis disciplined or admonished” trayal, mind games and hidden for using the term “Founding Fa- facts,” happywishingwell.com rethers” in city correspondence. In minds us. “But, if you think about a letter dated Feb. 8 (conspicu- it too much, you’ll think yourself ously also the first day of the Year into ever-constricting circles for of the Monkey), the Pacific Jus- fear of being fooled, taken advantice Institute blasted the mayor tage of, or hurt.” over his administration’s issuance Faulconer was born in 1967, of new “Visual and Correspon- the Year of the Fire Sheep, whose dence Style Guidelines” that laid shortcomings include being unout recommendations for bias- realistic in their expectations and free language. disappointed in reality. Could this While the institute seemed year get any weirder? put off by banning the use of such a “parade of horribles” like “the Spin Cycle appears every week. common man,” “mankind” and Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

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Up Front | Opinion

Aaryn Belfer

Backwards & in

high heels Rage-fueled contempt for product placement

T

here I was pumping gas at my local ARCO, enjoying a moment of Zen on an 80-degree February evening. (Poor everywhere else.) I lifted my face toward the sunset, rolled the sleeves of my blouse, mourned the fact that my new Sorels will likely go unworn for years, and contemplated the schizophrenic sartorial predicament that is Southern California winter. I then turned to check the price of gas and my thoughts shifted from firstworld fashion problems to first-world petroleum prices. I hadn’t filled up since who knows when, because who pays attention when they’re not filling up? Hooray! for the (artificially low) $2.49 a gallon it was costing me to top off my 12-year-old hybrid.

Boo, for the arbitrary inflation that will come just in time for our family summer road trip. Obama will get the blame.

This was the circuitous route my deep thoughts were taking when I was hit by a blaring guitar riff at volume 11 that would have startled the piss out of me if I were one to suffer bladder control problems (please, universe, spare me this one aging injustice).

“POP-U-LAR! MATH-MATICS! MATH-MA-TICS!” I jumped, ready take my assailant to the ground with one side chop to the jugular. I’d finish him off with the drop of a knee into his lower rib cage—effectively lacerating his liver—and scoop out his eyeball with my thumb to insure full incapacity. Thank you very much, Target Focus Training.

Only my assailant was not a dangerous predator in the traditional sense. It was Gas Station TV (GSTV for lovers of initialism) and make no mistake, it is a dangerous predator.

“Driving consumers,” says the GSTV website.

“While they pump their gas, they watch our screens, then shop for your brand.” What’s next, Elevator Television? Grocery Cart TV? Kill me now.

GTFOOH, I said out loud, my bliss disrupted as Jimmy Fallon screamed at me through a six-inch television in the brand-spankin’ new gas pump.

Fallon’s short bit was followed by some Kardashian/ Jenner infotainment news, and then three replays— two different angles, one in slow-mo—of the Broncos’ first score of Super Bowl 50, when they forced a fumble and recovered it in the end zone. Then the reel started over again and—get this—replayed on loop approximately every $2.49.

Here’s some popular mathematics for you, Dear Reader: If I have a 10.3 gallon tank and I’m running on fumes, how many times was I forced to watch the GSTV marketing? Bonus question: How many liters of blood did I lose from my eardrums? It’s enough to make a girl want to go full Left Eye on the mini TV screen.

Obscene and invasive product placement rules

modern life and it is dumbing us way the hell down.

The constant barrage of marketing is over the top.

Peyton Manning was shameless after the Broncos win. Who did he hug and kiss just as the confetti fell? I’ll give you a hint: It wasn’t his wife. No, Manning hugged and kissed the owner of Papa John’s Pizza. And then there was this awesome moment right here: Reporter: “So Peyton, is this your final game for your career?”

Manning: “You know, I’ll take some time to reflect. I got a couple of priorities first. I want to go kiss my wife and my kids, I wanna go, you know, hug my family. And I’m gonna drink a lot of Budweiser tonight, Tracy, I promise you that.” Manning eventually got around to thanking “the big man in the sky.” Because obviously he invented beer. Budweiser claims Manning wasn’t paid to mention their product, but he dropped his pending consumption of the product several more times in subsequent interviews. They must think we’re fools, and they are right. If you doubt it, just consider that Donald Trump is a presidential possibility.

Such shilling isn’t limited to icons and famous people. Everyday nobodies have gotten in on the game, too. Fashion bloggers in particular are product placement whores. I used to follow one who exploited her self to such an extent that her entire life is one big advertisement. Yet she pretends it isn’t and neglects to disclose that many of the exorbitantly priced items she wears and links to (a beanie for $625, no kidding) are on loan or gifted. I emailed to get her thoughts on this, but it’s been all tumbleweeds in my inbox.

My Hulu subscription is supposed to be advertisement-free but it’s not actually advertisement free. Some stories on news websites like Huffington Post now take you to an ad upon first click when reading on a smart phone; you have to go back and click a second time to move through to the story. And I noticed a new trend on YouTube while watching Bernie Sanders’ speech following the New Hampshire primary. There was the usual ad at the beginning, but then every few minutes, his speech was interrupted by that same ad—playing at deafening POP-U-LAR! MATH-MA-TICS! volume levels.

There isn’t much I can do about any of this short of a) rolling my eyes; b) attacking someone; or c) moving to a cabin in the woods a la Ted Kaczynski. But I carry earplugs in my car now, so I can do my sun-gazing, life-contemplating fuel-up in peace.

“

What’s next, Elevator Television?

Grocery Cart TV? Kill me now.

“

#SDCityBeat

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week. Write to aaryn@sdcitybeat.com.

February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | Food

by michael a. gardiner

the world

Michael A. Gardiner

fare

S&M on the menu in Hillcrest

C

onsider the saying: “It does what it says on the label.” It started as an advertising slogan and evolved into a British expression observing—with a whiff of sarcasm and touch of irony— that the goods inside the package performed as advertised, albeit perhaps no more. That certainly applies to Sausage & Meat (4130 Park Blvd.) in Hillcrest which approaches the sausages and meats it purveys with a sensibility that might be familiar to the Brits who coined that phrase.

Sausage & Meat (or “S&M” as it is called, tongue in cheek) is the latest venture from Scott Slater of Slater’s 50/50 fame. I’ve previously confessed in this space to having something less than a love affair with the namesake burger of that restaurant.

Michael A. Gardiner

Fried pig ears in General Tso sauce That, perhaps, is why I approached S&M with trepidation. I needn’t have.

S&M really is all about sausage and meat. More specifically, it is about the exotic side of sausage and meat. That was clear from the first appetizer: fried pig’s ear in a General Tso’s chicken-style sauce (actually more of a glaze). It is a dish that’s a

8 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

Sausage board with alligator and wild boar andouille wonderful playground of textures—crispy, with the toothsome flesh of the pig’s ear, crunch from the cartilage and the wonderfully gooey glaze. Don’t order more than one because you will eat it all.

The core of S&M’s menu is, of course, the sausage. The heart of that part of the menu is the game or unusual meat versions. There’s alligator or wild boar Andouille, bison chipotle and wagyu beef frank (elk and venison show up elsewhere on the menu). The best of these were the two Andouille sausages. The alligator, in particular, stood up well to the Andouille spice. Garnishes of pickled onion, sauerkraut and pickles on our “Board” (as opposed to in a bun) cut the fat perfectly and played well with the spice.

I had especially looked forward to the wagyu beef frank. And, while it was a very good hot dog, that is frankly, all it was. It seemed like something of a waste of such high-end beef. The wagyu was at its best, ironically, as the somewhat surprising core for corn dog bites. Overall, the whiskey fennel sausage was a better bet—savory with heady notes and a hint of sweetness from the fennel.

S&M also offers a number of sandwiches. The venison meatballs in marinara are a good bet, the arugula adding a refreshing note. The Korean steak sandwich was less satisfying, a bit of a downgrade from that upon which it was riffing.

The last thing I expected to like about S&M was the dessert. But the caramel bacon chews were well worth saving room for; dessert done meat-style. In fact, despite the presence of grilled broccolini and salads on the menu, that is pretty much what everything at S&M is.

After all, it does what it says on the label.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | Drink

final

by beth demmon

draught Brewing nirvana at Hoppy Yoga

bill couch / flickr

I

t’s hard to relax in downward facing dog when a cold cement floor is taunting you just inches from your face. Plus, beeping forklifts and hissing valves don’t exactly lend themselves to achieving oneness with the universe. However, the promise of a pint after shavasana is a powerful motivator for beer-drinking yogis of all levels. So I decided to get my namaste on at Hoppy Yoga one Saturday at the Modern Times Fermentorium (3725 Greenwood St.).

Pairing craft beer with yoga is a quintessential San Diego marriage of hobbies. One refreshes the soul and the other refreshes the taste buds.

In three years since Hoppy Yoga’s inception, the program has expanded from a casual gathering of beer-drinking yogis at Mission Brewery to more than eight teachers leading several classes per week in locations ranging from Green Flash Brewing Company to Modern Times, Culture Brewing Ocean Beach, Ballast Point and more. “[Hoppy Yoga is] really designed for both beer drinkers as well as yoga practitioners, and what’s beautiful is we’ve found a community who enjoy both yoga and craft beer,” says Mia Sabatino DeGroot, one of the founders of Hoppy Yoga. “We are all conscious about health and enjoy life; because both yoga and beer are fun!”

As San Diego’s independent beer scene continues to thrive, our economy only stands to improve with increased numbers of diverse beer-inspired programs like this. When asked how Hoppy Yoga contributes to San Diego’s beer scene in general, DeGroot says, “I think it amplifies the experience.

San Diego is known for craft beer enthusiasts and active residents. It reminds me of the Blind Melon ‘No Rain’ video from the ’90s…we are lucky enough to have found a city full of other tap-dancing bees.”

Hoppy Yoga welcomes yogis of all levels, especially novice yogis who might feel intimidated by a traditional studio and seek a more casual experience. By substituting a more inviting location like a tasting room specifically designed for socializing, attendees can be as serious as they want to be about their yogic efforts, without fear of judg-

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Hoppy Yoga at Modern Times Brewery ment. Plus, if you’re going to let a fart slip in the middle of a yogic squat (be honest, it’s happened to all of us), it’s nice to laugh about it over a beer afterward instead of avoiding eye contact with your neighbor.

And Hoppy Yoga is by no means the only beerplus-yoga game in town. Benchmark Brewing, Second Chance Beer Company and others have also embraced this popular combination, giving beer drinkers antsy for a workout plenty of options across the county.

Individual vinyasa classes from Hoppy Yoga are available for $20 and include a pint or tasting flight at the end of the session. Classes take place before tasting rooms open to the public, so yogis get first pick of what’s on draft. If the divine beer drinker in you seeks to bow to the divine beer drinker in me, grab some yoga pants and give Hoppy Yoga a try.

Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com or follow her on Instagram at @thedelightedbite.

February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

UP FRONT | PLACES

HIDDEN

BY JESSICA JOHNSON

SAN DIEGO

Trails—one more thing to explore at Balboa Park

T

here are innumerable reasons to love Balboa Park, namely its museums, history, shops, restaurants and the open space. One cool aspect of the area that not everybody knows about is the Sixth & Upas Gateway. Located on the northwest side of the park, the gateway leads to five trails that are open to the public 365 days of the year.

The trails range in length from 1.5 miles to 6.6 miles, and vary in difficulty. Each trail route is well suited for walking or running and some are cruiseable by bike. Some have smooth sidewalk areas and some have steep natural walkways.

The trails dip down into wooded areas but are divided in the middle by State Route 163. So you get a limited feel of being out in nature, but you are never too far from the hum of Hyundais and Lexuses rumbling in and out of downtown.

Here are descriptions of the five trails: 1. The 1.5-mile trail with green markers goes along a tree-lined walkway and loops through the north end of the West Mesa area. There are level concrete walkways, and the difficulty level is easy.

2. A 4.1-mile orange-square-marked trail is the

10 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

JESSICA JOHNSON

Balboa Park trails

best way to see the Balboa Park cluster of museums and gardens. It is mostly level, with gradually sloping concrete walks and segments on roads. Difficulty level: Medium.

3. The 3.6-mile trail (diamond-shaped blue trail markers) offers varied scenery and trail surfaces with some shade, but mostly in sunny locations. It is two-thirds concrete walkways with the other third being sloping dirt trails, with some steep slopes. Difficulty level: Difficult.

4. A 5.4-mile trail, marked by purple squares, features major elevation changes and some portions that require running or walking against traffic on road shoulders. Difficulty level: Medium.

5. The 6.6-mile trail (diamond-shaped red markers) goes through not-often-seen natural areas of the park, including pine and oak-covered trails. The path breaks up fairly evenly into four types of walking areas—concrete, asphalt road, sloping dirt trails and steep dirt trails. Difficulty level: Difficult.

To get more details about these and other out-of-theway spots in San Diego, go to hiddensandiego.net.

#SDCityBeat

EVENTS

SHORTlist

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

1

SETH COMBS

BEHIND THE PARK

After all the hoopla leading up to last year’s Balboa Park Centennial, some of the results were a little anticlimactic. That’s why the new Parkeology series has us excited. Beginning Saturday, Feb. 20, at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum (1649 El Prado) and held in a new museum or space every month thereafter, It’s the kind of event that is both unique and accessible.

“I feel like Balboa Park is one of the few places in San Diego that has a wide cross section of people that could become active participants in a more impromptu, surreal and exploratory event,” says local artist and Parkeology organizer Kate Clark. “Something that would interest Aunt Sally as well as in-the-know people.”

The Untracked: Behind the Scenes at the Miniature Model Railroad Museum event, which takes place from noon to 3 p.m., gives patrons a glimpse into the often painstakingly complex process that goes into the construction of model railroads. The four-person tour will be run like a train schedule with volunteers dressed as train station employees complete with flags and whistles.

Future Parkeology tours include stops at the San Diego Museum of Man (March 27), Marston Point (April 30), Zoro Gardens (May 22) and the Spreckels Organ (June 10), and include such things as plas-

2

COORDINATED BY

WORKING IT OUT

For the past four years, La Jolla Playhouse (2910 La Jolla Village Drive) has offered audiences a unique opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the best new plays. Its DNA New Works Series is a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make a work successful. This period of readings with minimal staging and props shows how players work with directors and playwrights to develop scripts.

From Thursday, Feb. 18 to Monday, Feb 29, you’ll have the chance to take a look at scripts like mother/daughter musical, Miss You Like Hell, the baseball-driven Safe At Home and modern day Tempest, El Huracán in their earliest stages of development. All of the seven readings are free, but reservations are required at lajollaplayhouse.org/dna-2016.

NANCY SHOWERS

REN EBEL

ART

BOOKS

HDowntown at Sundown at MCASD Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown.

MCASD’s after-hours event offers free admission and guided tours of exhibitions at MCASD and the SDSU Downtown Gallery, as well as specials at local businesses, a book club and live music. From 5 to 8 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 18. Free. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org

HBen Johnson at Verbatim Books, 3795 30th St., North Park. The local musician and writer will be signing his newest fantasy novel, Blood Silver, the second book in his Webworld trilogy. At 2 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 20. Free. 619-501-7466, verbatim-books.com

Eva Struble at Kruglak Art Gallery, MiraCosta College Campus, 1 Barnard Drive, Oceanside. The San Diego and New Yorkbased artist will show off new paintings that explore themes of domestic life. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18. Free.

760-757-2121, miracosta.edu/gallery On and Off the Map at UCSD SME Building, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla. UCSD Ph.D. candidates Noni Brynjolson and Paloma Checa-Gisermo have curated an exhibition featuring works that explore place and locality in ways that differ from conventional mapping. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18. Free. visarts.ucsd.edu

Channel Parkeology ter face casting, a history of gay cruising culture and plays about nudist colonies. All of the events are free, but reservations are required (the Untracked event is almost booked) at parkeology.org.

Clark is also launching a podcast called ParkCast and a web TV series called Channel Parkeology on the website that will debut two weeks after each event. The latter will feature Clark and Park Ranger Kim Duclo recapping the day’s events and showing clips of what transpired. There’s just one catch.

“When I asked Kim if he’d be interested in hosting this series with me, he told me he was very camera shy so I just said, ‘well, let’s just host it as marionettes,” says Clark, who has a background in sculpture and made the puppets of her and Clark.

So, yeah, the show is hosted by marionettes.

3

FEMME FATALE

No, the chosen white girl in a blood drenched, not-much-left-to-the-imagination outfit is not the only female role in horror films. In recognizing the genre often overlooks women and minorities, the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival is playing a double feature for a “Women and Black History In Horror Month Celebration” on Saturday, Feb. 20. Paying homage to Black History Month, first catch Marlene Clark in the full-length version of Ganja and Hess in all its glory (or gory). Next, American Psycho will take over the silver screen in its original 35mm film version, highlighting director Mary Harron. The horror show starts at 5 p.m. at the Museum of Photographic Arts (1649 El Prado). Watch one for $8 or buy a twofer for $14. Admission also includes access to short films and a word from the Women In Horror Month founder. hifilmfest.com COURTESY OF IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT/KINO INTERNATIONAL

America’s Cathedrals: Photography and the National Parks at Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. Coinciding with the centennial anniversary of The National Park Service, this micro exhibition features work by Ansel Adams, William Henry Jackson, Carleton Watkins and many more. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Free-$8. 619-2388777, mopa.org HChulaface, Luisa Luisa Martinez, Hauntie and Eva de Leon at Helmuth Projects, 1827 Fifth Ave., Bankers Hill. New collaborative and individual works from emerging female artists will be showcased at this show, the third of four in the new IUD: A Place You Think About series. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Free.

619-265-6842, helmuth-projects.com HJenessa Goodman at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. The San Diego artist will unveil her new large-scale exhibit of paintings. The event also includes a panel hosted by Zocalo Public Square addressing the topic: “Will San Diego ever become a great art city?” Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Free. 760-4366611, luxartinstitute.org HMac Hillenbrand at Teros Gallery, 3888 Swift Ave., City Heights. New works from the San Diego-based artist and surfer who specializes in wood veneering techniques and colored wood tints to create psychedelic resin paintings. Opening from 4 to 7 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 20. Free. facebook.com/ Teros-Magazine-163020453812436/ Pin-Up Art Show at La Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. Almost a hundred local and regional artists will showcase works inspired by pin-up culture. Artists include Amber Gomes, Jared Lazar, Selina Lugo, and more. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Free. facebook.com/LaBodega-Gallery-1112052638809191/ HWilliam Newport Goodell: painter, craftsman, teacher at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. One of two new retrospective exhibitions featuring the late La Jollan’s workings in oil paintings, watercolors, pastels and serigraphs, often mounted in his own hand-crafted frames.

From 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Free. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org HThe Big Art Night at Basic, 410 10th Ave., Downtown. The East Village spot celebrates ten years of its weekly arts nights with an all-day event featuring live art sessions, live art from The Upstarts, drinks specials and more. Donations benefit ARTS (A Reason to Survive). From noon to midnight.

Tuesday, Feb. 23. Suggested donation.

619-531-8869, barbasic.com

DNA New Works Series

#SDCityBeat

Ganja and Hess

H = CityBeat picks

Jeri Westerson at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The mystery author will be promoting the latest installment in her Jeri Westerson Medieval suspense series, The Silence of Stones. At 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Mary Louise Patterson at Del Mar Library, 1309 Camino Del Mar, Del Mar. The writer will discuss the new book she co-authored, Letters from Langston, a collection of candid confidences from Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes. At 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Free.

Kenneth Zak at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals program, the local author will sign and discuss her romantic thriller, The Poet’s Secret. At noon. Sunday, Feb. 21. Free.

858-454-0347, warwicks.com Oliver Chin at Chuang Archive and Learning Center, 541-B Second Ave., San Diego.

A reading and signing with the author of Year of the Monkey: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac, the 11th book in his best-selling children’s book series. At 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. Free. 619-338-9888, sdchm.org Randy Henderson at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The author will sign and discuss his latest novel about necromancer Finn Gramaray, Bigfootloose and Finn Fancy Free. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. Free.

858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com HSusan Herrmann Loomis at The Chino Farm, 6123 Calzada del Bosque, Rancho Santa Fe. The food writer and French cooking school owner will be promoting her latest book, In a French Kitchen: Tales and Traditions of Everyday Home Cooking in France. Includes food samples using Chino Farms produce. At 10:30 a.m.

Sunday, Feb. 21. Free. 619-889-2271, chinofamilyfarm.com HT. Greenwood at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The local bestselling writer celebrates the launch of her newest novel, Where I Lost Her, about a woman’s journey as she searches for the truth about a missing child. At 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 23. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com HKimball Taylor at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Surfer Magazine contributor and author will discuss and sign his newest book The Coyote’s Bicycle: The Untold Story of 7,000 Bicycles and the Rise of a Borderland Empire. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24. Free.

858-454-0347, warwicks.com Simply Local Reads at Simply Local, 3013 University Ave., North Park. Local author Kathi Diamant and Adventures by the Book CEO Susan McBeth will do a presentation on Literary Travel Adventures, where readers journey with their favorite authors to follow the story and explore the locales presented in their books. From 7:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24. Free. 619 756 7958, simplylocalsandiego.com

DANCE Change: Collage 2016 at Casa del Prado Theatre, 1650 El Prado, San Diego Civic Dance Company’s acclaimed dance show features 85 professionally trained dancers performing in various dance styles such

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 as tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, modern and musical theater. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. $5-$15.

619-239-8355, civicdancearts.org

FOOD & DRINK HSan Diego Winter Brew Fest at San Diego Hall of Champions, 2131 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park. The fourth annual beer fest will feature over 30 breweries pouring each night as well as live music from The Fooks and Headshine and Euphoria Brass Band. From 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 20. $40-$50. 619-234-2544, sandiegobrewfest.com The Cheeses of Europe at Fashion Valley Mall, 7007 Friars Road, Mission Valley. A pop-up, European Union-financed cheese sampling event devoted to promoting everything French cheese in the U.S. Includes 30 different samples, discount prices and local brews. Takes place in front of Macy’s.

From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 20. Free. 619-688-9113, thecheesesofeurope.com Chili, Chilies and Hot Sauce at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village.

The Culinary Historians of San Diego present a talk on popular peppers and their uses throughout history featuring chef, historian,and educator Ernest Miller. From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Free. 619-236-5800, culinaryhistoriansofsandiego.com Culture Brewing Co. Third Anniversary at Culture Brewing Co, 111 S Cedros Ave., Ste 200, Solana Beach. Get unlimited three ounce tasters of more than

12 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

25 beers, including casks and rare beer styles at this brewery’s third anniversary celebration. From noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. $40-$50. 858-345-1144, anniversaryparty.brownpapertickets.com

MUSIC Aaron Goldberg Trio at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. The NYC-based Goldberg is one of jazz’s most compelling young pianists, both as a bandleader and frequent collaborator with Joshua Redman, Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Guillermo Klein and many more. At 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 18. $21-$26. 858-4545872, ljathenaeum.org HDianne Reeves at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. The San Diego Symphony launches its Jazz @ The Jacobs series with the legendary vocalist and winner of the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for an unprecedented three years in a row. At 8 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 19. $20-$65. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org HHarlem Quartet at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UCSD campus, La Jolla. Since its debut in 2006 at Carnegie Hall, classical music foursome has become known for their repertoire that includes works by minority composers. Includes works from Beethoven, Dizzy Gillespie and Rafael Hernández Marín. At 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19. $12-$54. artpower.ucsd.edu Las Cafeteras at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The L.A.-based band merges roots music and modern day stories into a mashup of punk, hip-hop, rock and other Angeleno sounds. At 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 19. $20-$35. 760-839-4190, artcenter.org

HBlack Violin at Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, 404 Euclid Ave., Lincoln Park. Classically-trained string musicians Wil B and Kev Marcus blend a variety of music styles with classical to create a unique and dynamic sound. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. $25-$40. 619-527-6161, jacobscenter.org Symphology: The Science of Sound at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Conductor Sameer Patel will explain the mechanics behind musical instruments in this family-friendly program.

Also includes a performance by the Girl Scouts String Quartet. From 2 to 4 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 20. $15-$25. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org HHaydn Voyages: Music at the Maritime at Maritime Museum of San Diego, 1492 N. Harbor Drive, Downtown. The Hausmann Quartet and the Maritime Museum of San Diego present the launch of this quarterly concert series aboard the Berkeley, an 1898 steam ferryboat. Ticket includes refreshments, concert, admission to museum and commentary from noted UC Santa Barbara musicologist Derek Katz. At 4 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 21. $10-$25. 619-2349153, hq.ticketleap.com/haydn-voyages

PERFORMANCE HTosca at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. San Diego Opera’s season-opening performance of Puccini’s classic opera deals in themes of murder, betrayal and even police brutality. At 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. $45$235. sdopera.org

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

#SDCityBeat

THEATER JIM CARMODY

(Manu Narayan and Babak Tafti) posted outside the yetunveiled Taj Mahal are subsequently ordered to chop the hands off of all 20,000 workers who built the Taj, thereby ensuring that nothing as magnificent would ever be built afterward. There is no historical documentation marking this as fact, but the mere notion of it is shuddering and Joseph’s one-act play will consume you in its haunted characters and graphic images.

None of this is foreshadowed in the play’s first 15 minutes or so, which finds the two guards breaking their code of silence outside the hidden Taj, riffing and ragging on each other, and inventing fantastical means of travel and transcending space. What happens after the first scene break is a horrifying 180, and frankly, any attempts at quips and riffing from then on are nervous, failed distractions— for the characters and for the audience.

The Playhouse’s associate artistic director, Babak Tafti (left) and Manu Narayan in Guards at the Taj Jaime Castaneda, directs this production, which is uncompromising in its denouncement of tyranny, arrogance and privilege, in and out of historical context.

Guards imagines history in darkness The two guards were ordered to “kill beauty,” in the words of Babur (Tafti), a crime just as heinous as the ajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj at La Jolla Playhouse mutilations they carried out. articulates the beautiful and the terrible, and does Guards at the Taj is at the very least an uncomfortable so in a manner that may leave you dazed. While sit for theatergoers, in spite of bracing performances by the beautiful is mostly in your imagination, the terrible both Narayan and Tafti, Thomas Ontiveros’ lighting and is blatant in its gruesome aftermath, making this not an Cricket S. Myers’ sound design. Just remember, beauty evening for the weak of heart or stomach. has its flipside.

The prodigious Joseph crafted the Pulitzer-nominated Guards at the Taj runs through Feb. 28 at La Jolla Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, most recently seen in Playhouse. $20-$59; lajollaplayhouse.org San Diego at ion theatre in 2013. Guards at the Taj is a lesser work by comparison, but it does raise wrenching

—David L. Coddon philosophical inquiries about life, death, duty and beauty, and it sure as hell raises the hair on the back of your neck. Theater reviews run weekly.

The hypothetical premise is that two 17th-century guards Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

R

#SDCityBeat

OPENING: La Bête: Performed in rhymed couplets in iambic pentameter, this comedy centers on a 17th century French theater troupe that is forced to perform a play written by a foolish street performer. Written by David Hirson, it opens Feb. 20 at the UCSD Shank Theatre in La Jolla. theatre. ucsd.edu San Diego, I Love You (I Love You Not): Patrons will travel to multiple locations around Ocean Beach following a couple’s misadventures in this site-specific, choose-your-own-adventure-style romcom.

Presented by Circle Circle dot dot, it opens for four performances Feb. 20 starting at Electric Chair Salon in O.B. circle2dot2.com Three Days of Rain: A staged reading of Richard Greenberg’s drama about two siblings and a childhood friend who meet up after years apart in order to settle their parents’ estate. Presented by Intrepid Theatre Company, it happens Feb. 22 at the Encinitas Library. intrepidtheatre.org The Book of Mormon: In the acclaimed musical, two Mormon missionaries are sent to Uganda to convert the locals, who are not the slightest bit interested in being converted. Written by the creators of South Park, it opens Feb. 23 at the Civic Theatre in the Gaslamp. broadwaysd.com Now You See It: Georges Feydeau’s comical farce includes a philandering husband, hypnotism and scandalous discoveries galore.

Directed by Bruce Turk, it opens Feb. 24 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org WaistWatchers The Musical: A musical parody about four women obsessing over diet, work out regimens, plastic surgery and sex in their search for self-love. Presented by San Diego Repertory Theatre, it opens Feb. 24 at the Lyceum Space Theatre in the Gaslamp. sdrep.org

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

February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD Long Story Short: Balls at San Diego Writers Ink, 710 13th St., Downtown. So Say We All’s monthly improv storytelling night features five minute stories that can be sport-related or just stories about courage. Everyone is welcome to read. From 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. $5 suggested donation. 619-6960363, sosayweallonline.com HVermin on the Mount at 3rdSpace, 4610 Park Blvd., University Heights.

The local writing showcase features readings from Alison Gill, S.G. Redling, Johnny Shaw, host Jim Ruland and more. Includes poster art from Keith Rosson. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Suggested donation. 619-2553609, verminonthemount.com

SPECIAL EVENTS HJunk Bonanza Vintage Market at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. A vintage, swap meetstyle event for shoppers and purveyors of vintage finds, antiques, architectural salvage, artisan-repurposed and handcrafted goods for self and home. Includes signings, crafts, drinks and more. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. $10$30. 858-755-1161, junkbonanza.com 5K Paw Walk in the Garden at San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas. Guests can bring their pooches to the S.D. Botanic Garden at this second annual 5K which benefits

the Rancho Coastal Humane Society and the Garden. At 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. $14-$32. 760-436-3036, sdbgarden.org Escondido Roots Series: Korea at San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum, 320 North Broadway, Escondido. The first in a series of six free community events, each highlighting different cultures in the community. Includes cultural storytelling, music, dance performances and crafts. From 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Free. 760233-7755, sdcdm.org Four Paws Animal Rescue Adoption Event at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. In celebration of the new pet-themed exhibition, Best In Show, SDAI will partner with local rescue org Four Paws for this pet adoption event.

From noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20.

Free. sandiego-art.org Paws Fur Pink at NTC Park at Liberty Station, 2455 Cushing Road, Point Loma. Take part in a dog-friendly 5K walk or run, enter into the pet costume contest, or adopt a furry friend all while benefitting Susan G. Komen San Diego. From 7 to 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. $20-$48. 619-573-9260, sd.pawsfurpink.com HTantrums & Tiaras: Battle of the Bar Queens at Observatory North Park, 2891 University Avenue, North Park.

The annual, over-the-top drag pageant where contestants with little to no experience in drag “try to strut around the stage in stilettos and not fall over.” Benefits The San Diego LGBT Community Center. At 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. $20$100. 619-239-8836, tantrumsandtiaras. bpt.me

14 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

SPORTS

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

Super Awesome Showdown at Tango Del Rey, 3567 Del Rey St., Mission Bay. This wrestling event draws from outer space video game superhero combat as well as pop culture. From 7 to 10 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 19. $5-$30. 858-689-2422, superawesomeshowdown.com

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS Drought Tolerant Landscaping at Rancho San Diego Library, 11555 Via Rancho San Diego, El Cajon. Presentation by landscape architect Steve Harbour, author of the new book, The New California Landscapes: The Design Guidebook to the New Cutting-Edge, Water Wise Gardens in the Golden State. From 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18. Free. 619-6605370, sdcl.org When Did the Desert Become Art? at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Part of SDMA’s Lecture and Tour Series, Dr. Matthew T. Herbst, faculty director of the Making of the Modern World Program at UCSD will explore the evolution of art through the eyes of a scholar with enthusiasm for history and culture. At 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19. $8$16. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org The Great Ming Unearthed at San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, 404 Third Ave., Downtown. UCSD History Professor Sarah Schneewind will discuss the afterlife beliefs of the Ming Dynasty as well as her book, A Tale of Two Melons: Emperor and Subject in Ming China. From 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. $5. 619338-9888, sdchm.org

“Hombre-Nahual. Guatemala. 1993.”is part of Flor Garduño: Trilogy, a collection of the Mexican photographer’s work on view through May 29 at the Museum of Photographic Arts (1649 El Prado, Balboa Park).

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February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

16 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

“Still Life with Artist” COLLECTION OF ADRIENNE BRODEUR/COURTESY OF THE LA JOLLA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

OOKING BACK ON THE LIFE of William Newport Goodell, one could get a sense that he gave up. I mean, who could blame him? What artist hasn’t thought about hanging it up at some point? For Goodell, there seems to have been a moment when he decided the impressionist-style paintings he’d been making for three decades just weren’t enough anymore.

But to hear Heath Fox tell it, Goodell never gave up on art when he moved to La Jolla from his native Pennsylvania in 1951. Rather, he shifted focus and, in a way, secured a legacy as one of the most underrated artists who’s ever worked in San Diego.

“He came out of that American scene painting that really took off between the ’20s and ’50s, so he really does have a place there in the history of American art,” Fox says.

Fox is executive director of the La Jolla Historical Society (780 Prospect St.), which is hosting a new, joint retrospective of Goodell’s work: William Newport Goodell: painter, craftsman, teacher. One of the shows, which is open now and runs through May 22, is being held at the Historical Society and features Goodell’s figurative and still-life work. The other show focuses on Goodell’s landscape and wartime work, opens Feb. 20 at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall St.), and runs through April 16. The Historical Society show also includes photos, personal essays, artifacts and poetry from the late artist, in addition to nearly all of his major works. It was There are some fantastic pieces undoubtedly a major undertaking, from this period of his life, all of but show curator Tara Centybear which are on display at the joint says she wanted to be thorough. surveys of his work in La Jolla. His “A lot of this work comes from self-portraits, like “Still Life With two collections, but a lot of it was Artist” and “Self Portrait,” are tracking people down to actually both grand, stalwart examples of talk to them about Bill,” says Cenhis representational style and his tybear. “I felt like a spy.” latter piece, “The Engraver,” even To get a better understanding hints at the burgeoning surrealist of Goodell’s life and career, it’s best movement. He continued to work to start back in Pennsylvania. Born during a stint as a chief specialin Philadelphia in 1908 to a Quaker ist of visual aids in the U.S. Navy family, he attended the Pennsylvaduring World War II. Paintings nia Academy of Fine Arts, working and serigraphs like “Boots in Barand developing his style throughracks,” “The Piper” and “Liberty out the ’30s and ’40s. His oil and and the Pursuit of Happiness” are watercolor paintings reflected the lovely and often humorous depicmovements of the time—late imWilliam Newport Goodell tions of military life both on and pressionism, American realism and off the base. One of the more strikRegionalism—and he often mounted the finished paintings ing pieces from this mid-’40s period is “Pastoral (Ruth in in handsome wooden frames that he handcrafted himself. Daisies),” a strikingly grand portrait of his wife asleep in “Bill was a very balanced person and understated about a field of flowers. his achievements,” says Lyn Thwaites, who became GoodGoodell decided to move to Southern California in 1951. ell’s good friend in his latter years after he had moved to Cal- According to Fox, Ruth suffered from horrible allergies ifornia. “It wasn’t false modesty—he knew he was good, but he also had a strong sense of the true proportion of things, GOODELL CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 which probably went back to his Quaker upbringing.”

COLLECTION OF JEAN BARRETT HOLLOWAY/COURTESY OF THE LA JOLLA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

CULTURE | ART

Untitled (Sally and Lipstick)

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Culture | Art Collection of Jean Barrett Holloway/Courtesy of the La Jolla Historical Society

goodell CONTINUED from PAGE 16 and needed to move to a dryer climate. They lived in the San Bernadino mountain area before moving to La Jolla in 1954 and it was around this time that his painting seemed to slow down. It makes sense considering there were fewer places to show art than there were in Pennsylvania, and Thwaites makes the argument that the Navy and the war “took him away from his studio and his burgeoning exhibition career.”

In 1967, he began teaching art and drama at the Balmer School, which later became La Jolla Country Day School. He remained active artistically, painting masterful mosaics in his house and crafting metal mobiles for the living room. He retired in 1977 and it was his interactions with the community that really secured his legacy.

“The story wasn’t well known and since we’ve done this show, we’ve had a lot of people show up and say, ‘Oh, he was my teacher’ or that they knew him,” Fox says. “I think they all knew him and had fond memories of him. A great teacher and very sociable person, but they knew him in that second half of his life so I think to see this, all of his works in this show, was quite a surprise for them.”

“People who knew him would see a painting or two of his in his home when he was alive, but they didn’t know how good he was,” adds Centybear. “He was very modest and didn’t talk about all he had accomplished or all the awards he’d won on the East Coast. He’d just say something like, ‘Oh, that’s a painting. Yeah, I made that.’”

Fox argues that Goodell, who passed away in 1999, should have been “better known within the tradition of art history that his work represents.”

Even Thwaites, who mainly knew him as a friend, thinks the exhibitions will not only be eye-opening to the people who once knew him but will also serve as Goodell’s posthumous reintroduction to the art world.

“Bill spent many years teaching art and drama to students locally and it was a role he valued, but what a thrill for friends and community to discover that it had such an amazing painter in its midst all this time,” Thwaites says. “Even for those who didn’t know Bill, this is period art of very fine quality that’s worth seeing in its own right.”

“Pastoral (Ruth in Daisies)”

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February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

Culture | Art courtesy of BASIC Pizza/Bar

Seen LocaL back to basic

W

hen BASIC approached Johnny Tran almost 10 years ago about doing a weekly art event at the East Village bar and pizza joint, he was a little tentative. He admits that at the time, he didn’t know a ton of local artists and most of his experience had been as a DJ. And while BASIC has since become a staple for pizza lovers and ballpark pre-gamers, Tran remembers things being very different when the place first opened.

“When we started, BASIC was the only place on the block. There wasn’t much of anything else,” Tran says. “There wasn’t even a sidewalk. There was like a dirt patch outside.”

Still, Tran agreed to coordinate a semi-weekly art show at the bar. Initially, he tapped some friends in the local graffiti scene to come out for the nights. For more than two years, he says he almost never took a night off and steadily saw an uptick in attendance.

The event grew in both size and reputation (the addition of a sidewalk and Petco Park didn’t hurt) and the event has been going strong for a decade.

They’ve done everything from Ninja Turtle-themed art shows (complete with martial arts demonstrations) to Star Wars-style blowouts, all while showing off work from hundreds of local and regional artists.

The bar has expanded the weekly art show format over the years and Tran says the event eventually led him to open Thumbprint Gallery in La Jolla and TPG2 in Hillcrest.

BASIC “I pretty much started my entire career there,” Tran says. “I think it’s really important that the community supports these kinds of events. There aren’t enough opportunities for artists to show despite the fact that the art scene has grown significantly.”

Tran and Thumbprint, along with VISUAL Art Supply, will all be part of a free, all-day “Big Art Night” event on Tuesday, Feb. 23, from noon to midnight, that celebrates the 10th anniversary of the art nights. The event will include live art, workshops, music performances, drink specials and more. And even though Tran has since handed over BASIC curatorial duties to Thumbprint co-owner Paul Ecdao, he says he’ll never forget his roots.

“I still go out to every one we do,” says Tran. “I’m usually the one putting the art up.”

—Seth Combs

to see or not to see

T

here’s a funny meme from a few years ago that more of a canine guy, I teared up watching local Lissa went like this: The Internet is a lot like ancient Corona’s videos of men singing songs to their senior Egypt. People write on walls and worship cats. dogs), most of this show is rightly devoted to kitties.

It’s quite bizarre, really, if not wholly accurate. As Highlights include Escondido artist Jon-Loren Baof yet, I’m unaware of anyone who has ever been able zan’s massive mixed-media sculpture of cats unravto fully explain to me why the Internet is so obsessed eling an American flag, as well as Wick Alexander’s with all things feline. An article in the New Repub- large mosaic tile take on the Black Cat firework logo. lic came close to explaining the psychology behind While certainly smaller in scale, patrons should defiit, but there almost as many theories on when and nitely seek out Christopher Ulivo’s hilariously diswhere this obsession started as there are scary cu- turbing “Fondu Ghost Cat Massacre,” a painting that, cumber cat vids. well, gives a glimpse into what courtesy of the artist Yes, there have been plenty it might be like if cats were as of editorial musings and op-eds big as humans. over the years, but very few artBest in Show is the rare type ful explorations on the topic of exhibition where viewers of Americans’ unabated feline should go out of their way to fever. An exhibition called Cat see it with a group of friends Art Show Los Angeles debuted or, better yet, at one of the last year at the 101/Exhibit communal events that SDAI Gallery, but even that show fohas planned through March 17. cused on feeding an insatiable Events include a pet portrait appetite for ironic cat art rather and adoption event, photograthan exploring questions about pher appearances, a cat fashion the appetite itself. show and more. That’s not to Enter Best in Show, a new imply the show wouldn’t elicit multimedia exhibition at the a chuckle if someone viewed it “Mew-cifer” by Paul Koudounaris alone. However, it is, much like San Diego Art Institute (sandiego-art.org) that atour click-and-share culture tempts to address humans’ rather peculiar predilec- at large, just better when we know our friends are tions on matters of domesticated furriness. The show laughing with us. There are serious pieces in Best in is juried by Jason Eppink, the curator of Digital Media Show from serious artists that deserve serious attenat the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New tion, but for the most part, this is simply a fun and York, and features a hodgepodge of local and national timely exhibition meant to make people feel good. work from dozens of artists. While the show does in- After all, isn’t that what (furry) friends are for? clude some work related to dogs (as someone who’s

—Seth Combs

18 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

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Culture | Voices

ryan bradford

well that was

awkward

Mocking A Murderer

T

he system is broken. No, the system is fucked.

If you’re not mad, you’re not paying attention.

Stay woke, sheeple!

Yes, I too, was outraged by Making A Murderer.

Probably like many people, I spent my last Christmas vacation binge-watching the Netflix miniseries, quietly steaming at injustices in our justice system. In the weeks since, the initial wave of righteous indignation at Steven Avery’s conviction has faded, but there’s no denying the impact it had.

A Change.org petition to get him out of jail garnered more than 500,000 signatures (making it the site’s second most popular criminal justice petition of all time), his two defense lawyers became dreamboat Internet memes, and for a hot minute we all remembered that Wisconsin was a state.

That outrage was still simmering when, weeks after watching the miniseries, I saw a Craigslist ad seeking participants for a mock jury. Finally, I would have an outlet to dispense my judicious insight. I suspected that bringing this sobriety to the mock jury could, in a small way, act as retribution for Steve Avery and all the other Steve Averys who get raw deals. Make no mistake: This gesture is about as socially responsible as watching Blackfish and thinking you’re God’s gift to whales if you’ve never personally captured and enclosed a whale, but my brain allowed the illusion of grandeur to stand.

Also, the ad said that participants would be paid $100 and that lunch would be provided. I wondered what they’d serve. I guessed it’d be Panera Bread.

It’s always fucking Panera Bread.

I arrived at a downtown private law office that specializes in personal injury. The receptionist handed me a sticker with my name printed on it and directed me into a room behind her. There were a couple participants seated strategically apart. The room itself was drab, but a large one-way mirror on one wall gave it a sinister undertone.

Once everyone arrived we assessed each other in silence. Being grouped with strangers is always a nightmare because it’s when I find myself at my most judgmental. This reaction is illogical and knee-jerk, but I can’t help it. In my mind, the physical appearances of others dictate mental allegiances and relationships. As a person who can turn any grouping of strangers into a desert island scenario, I want to be on good enough grounds with Team Attractive/Popular that they’d let me tag along in the event of a schism within the group.

I began assigning names to jurors based on superficial qualities. Among the group there was Tall Guy, Camo Shorts, Coffee Lady (who was keen on the free coffee), Teacher Mode, Yoga Pants, Cardi Girl, and LOL (loud old lady). I wondered how many of these people had also signed up based on Making A Murderer.

A tired-looking man introduced himself as the

moderator of the mock jury. He explained our purpose—to determine whether the lawyers for The Little Guy had represented their case as concisely and as effectively as possible. This was, purportedly, a real and ongoing case. “So,” said the tired man, “I want you to all swear that you won’t talk about this with anyone.” This verbal pinkie-swear was the extent of their non-disclosure precautions.

Not that that the case itself is interesting enough to break that super-duper promise: Basically, The Little Guy was injured on Big Organization’s property, and we were to determine who was at fault.

The personal injury lawyer representing The Little Guy strolled to the front of the group, thumbs tucked neatly into his waistband like he owned the place (which he probably did, given his name on the building). He wore jeans, a t-shirt and cowboy boots. He asked questions to loosen us up—questions about what we did, whether there were safety precautions established at our places of employment and how we felt about Big Organization. He often departed from his inquisitive bro-seriousness when directing slightly more flirtatious questions toward Yoga Pants and Cardi Girl.

He moved on to the opening statements—explicitly vying for emotional manipulation by detailing The Little Guy’s injuries. At one point, LOL sobbed and then sniffled loudly through the rest of his statements.

I rolled my eyes and decided then and there that LOL would not be on our team (right, Yoga Pants and Cardi Girl?).

Lunch was Subway.

I used the break to ask people if they’d watched Making A Murderer. Yoga Pants said yes, and that it was one of her motivations to participate. “Me, too!” I said.

Finally it came time for us to decide on a verdict.

LOL fought dramatically with the only black person in our group and then admitted her expertise in being able to imagine the scenario because she was a “short fiction writer,” and I never have wanted to kill myself more.

When it got to me, I gave my opinion, but contributed little to the ensuing conversation. One of my weaknesses is my silent arrogance during times of conflict—I think I’m right but won’t speak up to defend it. And I didn’t want to further provoke LOL. My Subway had given me a stomach ache and I just wanted to get out of there. I became more agreeable to expedite the process. I would venture that this quality is not unique to me, but that thousands of cases have been mishandled due to people who are more apt to go with the flow than cause conflict.

Sorry Steven, I let you down. The system is fucked.

“

Yes, I too, was outraged

by Making A Murderer.

“

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Well That Was Awkward appears every other week.

Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com.

February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

Culture | Film

Coven for you

The Witch

New indie horror film wants so badly to be scary

by Glenn Heath Jr.

C

reakingly self-serious might be the best way to Eggers dabbles with symbolism, but doesn’t put describe Robert Eggers’ The Witch. Riding high much stock in the power of suggestion. There’s a on massive levels of critical buzz (Sundance mysterious rabbit that could be a shape-shifter. strikes again!), this period piece horror film wants Thickets of branches reach out like hands toward so badly to be fresh, concocting a minimalist and every corner of the frame. Occasionally, the demon moody woodland tragedy from the ruins of a family woman herself will rear her not so ugly head just torn apart by religious fundamentalism. Working in to remind you that these silly humans have no real a genre with more variations than Ben and Jerry’s ice choice in dictating their fate. cream, its pretentious pursuit feels misguided.

The film’s religious overtones become more probSet in 1630, The Witch delivers a cold open where lematic as the situation turns increasingly deadly. a community council has just decided to banish an “We must fund some light in our darkness,” mutters entire family from a New England outpost. This is William, just one of the many self-righteous quips he the closest thing early America throws at his brood as they sufhas to law and order. Thomasin fer mightily. It’s all so oppressive (Anya Taylor-Joy), Caleb (Harand overt. vey Scrimshaw) and their twin By the time The Witch reachThe witch siblings watch as father Wiles its foregone conclusion, all Directed by Robert Eggers liam (Ralph Ineson) and mother of the strained stabs at superStarring Anya Taylor-Joy, Katherine (Kate Dickie) denatural ambiguity feel soulless.

Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie nounce the puritanical doctrine While certain visuals are undeand Harvey Scrimshaw of their neighbors. The family niably frightening, most of the proudly vacates civilization for film fails to incite the kind of Rated R an isolated homestead on the visceral sense of helplessness edge of a thick forest. associated with the best horror It doesn’t take long for life on films. The Blair Witch Project is the wild frontier to get spooky and, in turn, for The a far scarier look at the cross-section between naWitch to get moody. Obvious music cues telegraph ture and psychological terror. the torment to come. Eggers hammers the point If I’m giving Eggers’ film a particularly hard time home even further by using telephoto lenses to omi- its because so many of my colleagues have pegged it nously zoom in on the tree line, alluding to an evil as the second coming of The Shining. While there’s presence lying in wait. Guess what happens next? a lot to admire about the detail and nuance that Initially, Eggers effectively introduces the epon- went in to the costume and production design, the ymous witch and her near supernatural ability to story’s core themes are neither revelatory nor tranmove through space. One moment Thomasin is play- scendent. ing peak-a-boo with her infant brother and the next In the end, The Witch, which opens Friday, Feb. the baby is gone from view. Silence. One truly horri- 19, clumsily conflates the costly spread of Christifying montage later and it’s abruptly clear what kind anity and the breakdown of the family unit with a of evil we’re dealing with. young woman’s pubescent awakening. Blur the lines From here, The Witch becomes more about how between reality and fantasy all you want; it’s all posa child’s disappearance leads to the disintegration turing for a flimsy story that doesn’t dig all that deep of the family unit. Thomasin watches as guilt, blame into why contradiction and rage lie at the heart of all and resentment take root. Her mother becomes a religious doctrine. recluse, her father riddled by regret. The remaining children are left to construct self-destructive coun- Film reviews run weekly. ter narratives to cope with the trauma.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

20 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

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Culture | Film

The Club

Hiding in plain sight

I

n Pablo Larrain’s The Club, a group of disgraced Catholic priests live quietly in a halfway house overlooking La Boca’s pristine coast. Under the watchful eye of a nun named Mónica (Antonia Zeggers), they go about a daily routine that’s supposed to revolve around prayer and self reflection.

We don’t see much of either.

Instead, the men mostly roam the beach training a greyhound for upcoming races, drink heavily and chat about the good ol’ days.

Harkening from different areas throughout Chile, the priests have been exiled for various offenses involving sexual abuse. We are spared much of the details, but their guilt is certain.

Don’t be fooled by the film’s peaceful seaside setting: A sense

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of repressed rage resides in every hazy frame. The cost of this repression becomes apparent when a new occupant commits suicide minutes after arriving. The church sends a younger priest named Padre García (Marcelo Alonso) to investigate. He interviews each man, getting a better sense of how they have come to personify the church’s suppression of responsibility.

For those new to Larrain’s work, he makes rigorous and cold films about uncomfortable subject matter relating to his country’s horrifying past. While The Club isn’t quite as overtly political as Post Mortem or Tony Manero, two grotesque character studies that skewer the brutality of the Pinochet regime, it effectively pinpoints how denial can be institutionalized over long periods of time.

The plot also involves the arrival of a drunken drifter (Roberto Farías), who claims to have been victimized by one of the priests.

His appearance, along with Padre García’s, produces a scenario that forces the priests into a position where they can no longer deny the past.

Larrain’s film, which opens Friday, Feb. 19, reveals them to be the kind of cockroaches that are experts at scurrying away from responsibility and true penance.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

forming in front of Adolf Hitler, gets the big-screen treatment.

Risen: The Biblical story of the Resurrection is told through the eyes of a non-believing Roman tribune played by Joseph Fiennes.

The Club: Pablo Larrain’s bleak drama tells the story of disgraced priests who’ve been exiled to the Chilean coast after having committed sexual abuse against children.

The Witch: After being ex-communicated from their New England community, a Pilgrim family tries to live off the land only to become the victim of an evil witch.

Touched With Fire: Two manic-depressives meet in a psychiatric hospital and begin a tumultuous relationship.

One Time Only Opening Aferim!: A father and his son go in search of a runaway in this Romanian period piece by director Radu Jude. Screens through Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

All Roads Lead to Rome: Sarah Jessica Parker plays an uptight single mother who is surprised to meet an old flame while visiting Rome. Screens through Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong: Two people meet cute in Honk Kong and spend the day roaming the vast city.

Screens through Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Race: The legendary story of Olympic runner Jesse Owens, who won gold per-

Dirty Dancing: Nobody puts Baby in a corner. Not even The Swayze. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Steve Jobs: Michael Fassbender embodies the famously ornery Apple founder during three pivotal moments in his career. Screens at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19 and 20 at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

and his deputy (Richard Jenkins) gather a posse to rescue a kidnapped woman from a savage group of cave dwellers.

Screens at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Look of Silence: A family grieves over the death of their son by watching interviews with his killers, government supported executioners that murdered thousands during the Indonesian genocide of 1965. Screens at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, at Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union Theatre at SDSU. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will attend in person.

Love Actually: Take your honey to see the ultimate Valentine’s Day movie. Or just tell them how much you love them yourself. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

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

Ganja & Hess: After being stabbed by ancient knife, a man finds himself driven by an insatiable desire for blood. American Psycho: Christian Bale plays a Wall Street yuppie with an affinity for expensive things and murder. This double feature screens at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.

Bone Tomahawk: A sheriff (Kurt Russell)

February 17, 2016 • San Diego CityBeat · 21

MUSIC

Escort vocalist Adeline Michele (second from right) says she wants to make people dance.

DELINE MICHÈLE IS ENJOYING some rare downtime. The French-born vocalist for Brooklyn disco collective Escort is emerging from a year spent working on new album Animal Nature, which they self-released in October. Since then, they’ve been performing in support of the album, lining up a string of shows in their home city shortly after the album’s release, with another string of live dates along the East Coast in January.

This is all part of what drives the band. Since 2011, when founding producers and Vassar College classmates Eugene Cho and Dan Balis expanded Escort from a sporadic string of singles into a full-time band, they’ve been heavily dedicated to touring mode, having made their way across North America and Europe in support of their selftitled debut album, turning each and every club or theater they grace into a sweaty, sexy, ass-shaking celebration of Studio 54 proportions. More so now than in the days of their disco forefathers, putting in elbow grease and getting face-to-face with their hip-swaying audience is the new normal for Escort, which sometimes means that the process of making new music has to slow down.

“In the early stages of the band, it was about developing the sound and where we were going, and what was actually our goal. But after the first album was released, we definitely did not want to take our time,” Michèle says in an afternoon phone interview from a cafe in New York.

“We wanted to make a record that was the best sounding record possible, but the real reason it took so much time between the first and the second album is...because we were on the road so much. It was hard to find the time to really dedicate to creating a new album. We were playing a lot, but being an independent band, we have to be involved in a lot of the logistics, which takes time away from the creative process, unfortunately.”

That creative process takes some time of its own. Escort’s brand of lushly arranged dance music is heavily layered and sumptuous. Cho and Balis take a maximalist ap-

22 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

proach to their dance-floor funk—more Chic than Arthur Russell—and from their earlier singles such as “Starlight” and “All Through the Night” up to their 2011 self-titled album, Escort has been all about a more-is-more sound, all the while their beats and basslines speaking directly to the hips. And that’s key to what makes their music so appealing. That dance-heavy, energetic approach is what drew Michèle to the group in the first place. “I want to make people dance, because I’m a highenergy person,” she says.

Animal Nature is a little bit different than their past work in that it’s more overtly influenced by house music.

Electronics play a major role on the album, be it via the piano loops on the sumptuous opening track “Body Talk,” the siren synth of “Temptation,” the twinkly keyboard touches of “If You Say So,” or the new wave pulse of the band’s cover of St. Vincent’s “Actor Out of Work.” Yet just because the textures of the album are defined more by synths than by strings, horns or funky guitar licks doesn’t mean that it’s any more minimal than before. This is a bigsounding album, and for that matter, Michèle says that it’s a better representation of the band’s collaborative approach as a whole.

“I definitely remember us saying we want the album to be better than the first one,” she says. “That’s always a good thing to have in mind, I guess. We decided to go a little bit more electronic. We thought people would be ready for it, and that it was part of the evolution of our sound.

We learned a lot from the first album, where it was a little bit early on in our stages as a band. So Animal Nature was definitely more of a band project...as opposed to the first one, which was more of a studio project.”

When expanded to full capacity, Escort features as many as 15 people onstage at one time. When that happens, they’re less a pop group than a funk orchestra or disco big band, not far removed from cult disco acts like

Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band.

A lineup of strings, horns and percussionists turn their deep grooves into elaborate, lushly arranged pocket symphonies. But those extra members and instruments are there in the service of the funk, not to overpower it.

As one might imagine, however, bringing 15 people on tour—with their gear, no less—is kind of a logistical nightmare, not to mention the overhead costs.

That factored into the songs the band wrote and recorded for Animal Nature, which can be pulled off on a much smaller scale. Not that Escort don’t take advantage of getting everyone back together on one stage when the opportunity is right.

“We are not, officially, a 15-piece band,” Michèle clarifies. “We are a band that hires a large number of musicians when we can because it’s fun and we love it, and we like to have that sound. But the core of the band is five to seven people. Ninety percent of the time that’s what you’ll see, unless you’re in New York and we’re on a big stage.

“We thought the new sound in Animal Nature would be more compatible to a smaller band formation. It’s viable with just five to seven people, whereas with the first one some of the songs suffered without the horns onstage.

And that’s a good thing,” she adds, laughing, “because we’ll never make money if we tour with 15 people!”

Escort’s sound remains massive, even when the band playing those songs is smaller in size. As they embark on their spring tour in support of Animal Nature, they’ll be leaving the horn section behind, but Michèle says that their ultimate goal is the same, whoever’s onstage: To blow the audience away.

“Our biggest thing is performing,” she says. “We just want people to think ‘We really gotta see this band live.’”

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

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Music

notes from the smoking patio R

after is planning to release one album every month in 2016. Following his last official album, 2014’s It’s Reggae, Rafter Roberts released A Sploded Battery on February 1. Eleven more albums are in the works for the year, with the next one expected to be released at the end of the month.

Roberts says in a phone interview that setting deadlines and imposing challenges can often result in a better batch of music.

“The most productive and fruitful moments for me in terms of quality and quantity are during an absolute steamroller of activity,” he says. “If I slow down and try to make it perfect...it takes a long fucking time to get stuff done.”

Roberts, who’s already a fairly prolific musician, has already built up a fairly big backlog of recordings and sketches for new music. He plans to dip into some of those ideas for the new records he’s working on, but no matter what there’s still bound to be a lot left on the cutting-room floor.

“I have this list of about 14 albums I want to make,” he says. “A lot of my records are released a few years apart. But I have something like 35 hours of unreleased music.”

One thing Roberts plans to do with this album-amonth project is to tackle a different style of music each month. He’s long been eclectic with his music styles, and he plans to run an even wider spectrum over the next 11 months.

“The idea of finishing an album a month doesn’t allow me to be overly precious,” he says. “I’m trying to shoot for being more like 12 different bands than

Rafter just me releasing 12 different records. I love so much music, from noise to sweet, sweet sounds. The world of music is so delightful to me, it’s ripe for fucking around and really having fun with it.”

—Jeff Terich

The Donkeys Midnight Palm (Easy Sound)

T

he Donkeys are one of the bigger success stories in the local indie music scene, and it’s easy to understand why. The group plays catchy, easy-going indie folk-rock with traces of country and psychedelia that blends into a warm and good-natured whole.

They’re more heavily influenced by the Dad rock canon than the ’80s SST hardcore scene, and as a result it’s music that doesn’t so much challenge or antagonize as it does set a fun and freewheeling mood.

Midnight Palms, the new mini-album (or EP, or whatever you want to call a five-track release) is just as laid-back and easy to like as anything in the band’s discography, and it arrives at just the right time, now that winter seems to have disappeared so suddenly (where’d you go, El Niño?). This is a summer album, full of gentle, breezy alt-country numbers that strut, sway, groove and choogle. It’s the kind of record you’d throw on at a barbecue.

Suffice it to say, the five songs on Midnight Palms are as fun and catchy as ever. Opening track

“Hurt Somebody” is all shimmering guitars, simple basslines and lyrics about love and heartbreak and stuff—you know, the usual. It’s followed by a fingerpicked folk breezer titled “Down the Line,” whose ’70s throwback sound is reminiscent of AM radio standards such as Mungo Jerry’s “In the Summertime” or Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World.” Which is to say it’s fairly uncool, but endearingly so. There’s a little more rock ‘n’ roll raucousness to the Crazy Horse-style burner, “Hold On to You,” which is only marginally louder than the rest of the tracks on the EP. In this case, however, a little can really go a long way.

The Donkeys are good at what they do, and on Midnight Palms, they keep on keepin’ on quite nicely. It’s just that what they do is done by thousands of bands. That’s not necessarily a knock on The Donkeys. Midnight Palms scratches a certain crunchy, organic itch that a more experimental band might purposefully avoid. This record isn’t about innovation, but it’s hard not to feel good listening to it, however familiar it may be.

#SDCityBeat

—Jeff Terich February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

Music

Jeff Terich

If I were u A music insider’s weekly agenda Wednesday, February 17 PLAN A: Sharkmuffin, Soft Lions, Big Bloom, Lucky Keith @ Soda Bar. The name Sharkmuffin might imply a certain twee-ness in the band’s approach, but they actually rock pretty goddamn hard. They remind me a bit of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at full arena rock strength, which should be enough for you to want to check them out.

BACKUP PLAN: The Growlers, Jonathan Richman @ Observatory North Park.

Thursday, February 18

PLAN A: Quali, Breathing Patterns, Giant Surprise @ The Hideout. By the time you read this, the deadline for our Great Demo Review submissions will have passed. And Quali was one of my favorite past demo review discoveries, bringing an artful innovation to their indie rock sound.

Friday, February 19

PLAN A: At the Gates, Decapitated, The

Haunted @ House of Blues. At the Gates are Swedish death metal royalty. They’ve been combining soaring melodies with ripping intensity since I was in grade school, and they still have the gnarly, anthemic touch. PLAN B: JOY, Slow Season, Ovvl, Petyr @ The Merrow. Local psych rockers JOY are getting ready to release a new album this spring, and you’ll have a chance to preview some of their new material at this hometown headlining show. BACKUP PLAN: Susan, Keepers, Cheap Curls, DJ Chrissy Strothers @ The Hideout.

Saturday, February 20

PLAN A: Dr. Dog, Hop Along @ Observatory North Park. Dr. Dog is a solid rock band with a long track record of crowdpleasing records, but if I’m being totally honest, Hop Along is the band I’m really excited about here. The Philly band’s 2015 album Painted Shut is an emotional rush in all the best ways. PLAN B: Dent May, Chill Pill, Pony Death Ride @ Soda Bar.

24 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

Singer/songwriter Dent May has evolved quite a bit since his early, ukulele-strumming days (thank God). If you want some laughs, however, make it early for Pony Death Ride’s comedy musical revue. BACKUP PLAN: Get Back Loretta, Brothers Weiss, John Allred, Saba @ Brick by Brick.

Sunday, February 21

PLAN A: Big Business, Ghetto Blaster @ The Casbah. Olympia’s Big Business have expanded since first proving that two dudes can make as much sludge as four. So, basically, just double the sludge you’d expect and that’s what you’ll be bludgeoned with. PLAN B: Charlie Hilton, SISU, Nylon Apartments @ The Hideout. Dream pop artist Charlie Hilton has already made a name for herself with her other band, Blouse, but her solo stuff is also worth checking out. Get here early for local darkwave newcomers Nylon Apartments, who’ll fill the goth void in your life.

BACKUP PLAN: Inspired and the Sleep, Mothlight, Nite Lapse @ Soda Bar.

Monday, February 22

PLAN A: Ringo Deathstarr, Future Death, Expert Alterations, Smoke Screens @ Soda Bar. I’m not just recommending this show because of the clever

Hop Along name—Ringo Deathstarr stir up lots of wonderful noise with their melodic, hazy shoegazer sound.

Tuesday, February 23

PLAN A: Fleshgod Apocalypse, Carach Angren, Abigail Williams, Mortuus Terror, Theosis, Helsott @ Brick by Brick.

Fleshgod Apocalypse play a symphonic and grandiose form of technical death metal that’s admittedly, an acquired taste.

But if you have the opportunity to tell your friends you’re going to see a band called Fleshgod Apocalypse, why not seize it?

BACKUP PLAN: Subtropics, Blood Ponies, Hexa @ The Merrow.

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

Music

Concerts HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Goldfish (Music Box, 3/15), Bayonne (Hideout, 3/23), TV Girl (The Hideout, 4/1), Silversun Pickups (Observatory, 4/19), Mac Sabbath (Music Box, 4/22), Har Mar Superstar (Casbah, 4/27), Body of Light, High Functioning Flesh (The Hideout, 4/29), The Slackers (Music Box, 5/7), Four Tet (Music Box, 5/8), X, Los Lobos, Blasters (Observatory, 5/8), Joseph Arthur (Music Box, 5/17), Metalachi (Music Box, 6/17), Lady Antebellum (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 7/5).

GET YER TICKETS Metric (HOB, 2/24), Rihanna (Viejas Arena, 2/26), Joyce Manor, Andrew Jackson Jihad (Observatory, 2/27), Julien Baker (The Irenic, 2/27), Waxahatchee (The Irenic, 3/3), Wavves, Best Coast (Observatory, 3/4), John Hiatt (BUT, 3/7-8), Young Thug (Observatory, 3/13), Magma (Brick by Brick, 3/15), Junior Boys (Casbah, 3/18), Reverend Horton Heat (BUT, 3/23), Glassjaw (Observatory, 3/24), Napalm Death (Casbah, 3/25), Black Tusk, Holy Grail (Brick by Brick, 3/25), Abbath, High on Fire, Skeletonwitch, Tribulation (Observatory, 3/26), Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place (Casbah, 3/27), Santigold (HOB, 3/29), White Denim (BUT, 4/2), Into It. Over It., The World Is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die (The Irenic, 4/3), Tinashe (HOB,

4/4), Amon Amarth (HOB, 4/7), Third Eye Blind (Observatory, 4/8), Steve Miller Band (Humphreys, 4/14), NOFX (HOB, 4/14), Foals (Observatory, 4/17), The Front Bottoms (Observatory, 4/18), The Damned (BUT, 4/19), Prong (Brick

by Brick, 4/22), Deerhunter (Observatory, 4/22), Thao & the Get Down Stay Down (BUT, 4/28), Immortal Technique (Observatory, 4/29), Puscifer (Copley Symphony Hall, 5/1), Tortoise (BUT, 5/3), Beach Slang (Casbah, 5/6), Explosions in the Sky (Observatory, 5/3-4), Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires (Observatory, 5/12), Beyonce (Qualcomm Stadium, 5/12), Modern English (The Hideout, 5/17), Filter (HOB, 5/19), Jewel (Humphreys, 5/21), Refused (BUT, 5/30), The Cure (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/30), Leon Russell (BUT, 5/31), Brian Jonestown Massacre (BUT, 6/2), Thrice (HOB, 6/4), Eric Bachmann (Soda Bar, 6/5), Phish (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/23), Twentyonepilots (Viejas Arena, 7/24), Weezer, Panic! At the Disco (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/3), Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/14), Ben Harper (Humphreys, 8/23), Dave Matthews Band (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/26), Journey, The Doobie Brothers (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/30), Mana (Viejas Arena, 9/9), 5 Seconds of Summer (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/9), Ray Lamontagne (Open Air Theatre, 9/13), Leon Bridges (Humphreys, 9/21), Peter Hook and the Light (HOB, 11/8).

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

26 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

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

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

Saturday, Feb. 20 Dr. Dog at Observatory North Park.

Steve Poltz at Belly Up Tavern.

Sunday, Feb. 21 Big Business at The Casbah.

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

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

Metric at House of Blues.

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

Drive Like Jehu at The Irenic (sold out).

Friday, Feb. 26 Rihanna at Viejas Arena. The Infamous Stringduster at Belly Up Tavern. Mono/ Poly at The Hideout. English Beat at The Casbah. Vokab Company, The Routine at Music Box. Kneebody, Deadelus at The Loft at UCSD.

Saturday, Feb. 27 Diane Coffee at The Hideout. Julien Baker at The Irenic. Joyce Manor, An-

drew Jackson Jihad at Observatory North Park. Passafire at Music Box.

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

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

March Tuesday, March 1 Joe Satriani at Balboa Theatre.

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

Battalion of Saints at Til-Two Club.

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

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

The Mother Hips at Belly Up Tavern.

Saturday, March 5 Atreyu at Observatory North Park. From Indian Lakes at House of Blues. Eliot Sumner at Soda Bar.

Sunday, March 6

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

Thursday, March 10 Pearl Charles at The Hideout.

Friday, March 11 Bongzilla at Brick by Brick. Gary Clark Jr. at House of Blues (sold out). Eleanor Friedberger at The Hideout. Astronauts Etc. at The Merrow. XXYYXX at Observatory North Park. Brian Ellis Group at Til-Two Club. Mystic Braves at The Casbah.

Saturday, March 12 Wolf Eyes at The Hideout. Slaves at The Irenic. The Soul Rebels, Chali 2na at Music Box.

Sunday, March 13 Culture Abuse at Til-Two Club. Young Thug at Observatory North Park.

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

Wednesday, March 16 Intronaut at Brick by Brick. The String Cheese Incident at Observatory North Park. Electric Six at The Casbah. Esperanza Spalding presents: Emily’s D+Evolution at Music Box.

311 at House of Blues (sold out).

Monday, March 7 John Hiatt at Belly Up Tavern.

Thursday, March 17 KATA at The Hideout. Systems Officer at The Casbah.

#SDCityBeat

Music

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., San Diego. Pacific Beach. Wed: Lillie Lemon.

Thu: Karaoke. Fri: The Broken Stems, Sonny Boy Thorn, The Royal Sound. Sat: Way Cool Jr. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: Offshore Impact, Spiral Out. 98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, San Diego. Little Italy. Fri: Tiffany Jane and the Kicks. Sat: Gaslamp Quarter Jazz Orchestra. Sun: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., San Diego. Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Wild & Free’ w/ DJs Mad Waves, Memo + Rex. Thu: ‘My 80s Vice’ w/ DJ Girth. Sat: ‘JUICY’ w/ DJ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJ Karma.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., San Diego. Bay Park. Fri: Aghori, Dark Measure, A Hero Within, The No Name Gang.

Sat: Get Back Loretta, Brothers Weiss, John Allred, Saba. Tue: Fleshgod Apocalypse, Carach Angren, Abigail Williams, Mortuus Terror, Theosis, Helsott.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Wed: Aro Di Santi. Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joef and Co. Sat: Malamana.

Sun: Aire. Mon: Malamana. Tue: Gio Trio.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, San Diego. Mission Bay. Thu: Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio. Sat: Joshua White Quartet.

Sun: ‘Brasil Jazz Festa’.

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

Downtown. Thu: ‘Trill Thursday’. Fri: DJ Rico.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Fri: Loudpvck. Sat: Babey Drew.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Thu: Jessimae Peluso.

Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave., San Diego. Ocean Beach. Thu: Layne, 7 Seal Dub.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: Falcons, TastyTreat. Sat: Will Clarke and Billy Kenny.

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

Downtown. Wed: AOK Music. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: ‘Rock Star Saturday’. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

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

North Park. Thu: DJ Ikah Love. Fri: Nicky Venus, Beginners. Sat: ‘Neon Beat’. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Mon: Tori Roze and the Hot Mess. Tue: DJ Marshall Islands.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Pat Dowling. Fri: Chugboat.

Sat: Slower. Sun: Joe Cardillo.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad.

Thu: Reason to Rebel. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Wed: Karaoke. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA, K-Swift. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJ Junior the Disco Punk.

#SDCityBeat

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Thu: Cradle of Filth, Butcher Babies, Ne Obliviscaris. Fri: At the Gates, Decapitated, The Haunted.

Sat: 6one9, Relax Max, Copycat Killers.

Sun: Keys N Krates. Tue: R. City.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Thu: ‘Acid Varsity’. Sat: Dangle Zone. Sun: Phonic. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., San Diego. Kensington. Sat: A-Bortz, Making Incredible Time, Punch Card, Midnight Track.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: 3 Guys Will Move U. Thu: JG Trio. Fri: Ron’s Garage. Sat: In Midlife Crisis. Sun: Flipside Burners.

Music Box, 1337 India St., San Diego.

Little Italy. Thu: Miguel Matos, Said Aguilar. Sat: Red Not Chili Peppers, Nirvanish, Vitalogy.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Thu: ‘Wet’. Fri: ‘Uncut’.

Onyx Room / Thin, 852 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Fri: ‘Rumba Lounge’.

Sat: ‘Bash!’. Tue: ‘Neo Soul’.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St., San Diego.

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

Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Paddy’s Chicken Jam. Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Fri: DJs Drew G, Will Z. Sat: DJs Luke Allen, Hektik. Sun: DJ Hektik.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Israel Maldonado. Fri: The Amazons. Sat: Johnny Deadly Trio. Tue: Karaoke.

Side Bar, 536 Market St., San Diego.

Downtown. Wed: DJ Famous Dave. Thu: Vince Delano. Fri: DJ Brett Bodley. Sat: DJ Decon.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Sharkmuffin, Soft Lions, Big Bloom, Lucky Keith. Thu: Dig the Kid, Lucia. Fri: Sam Outlaw, Whitney Rose, Nena Anderson. Sat: Dent May, Chill Pill, Pony Death Ride. Sun: Inspired and the Sleep, Mothlight, Nite Lapse.

Mon: Ringo Deathstarr, Future Death, Expert Alterations, Smoke Screens. Tue: Woodruff, April, Mariel.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego. Midway. Fri: The Word Alive, Fit For a King, Out Came the Wolves, Voidlines, Mandala. Sat: Chelsea Grin, Oceans Ate Alaska, Lorna Shore, Wage War, I Survive.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., San Diego. Midtown. Sat: DJ Tristan Jaxx. Sun: ‘Sundown’.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego. Normal Heights. Thu: Gary Hankins, Tara Castro, Hezekiah Aaron Bussey. Sun: Drew Thams, Raymond the Sparrow, Billy.

Tango Del Rey, 3567 Del Rey St., San Diego. Mission Bay. Fri: Super Awesome Showdown.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd., Spring Valley. Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: ‘Darkwave Garden’. Fri: City Mouse, Tiltwheel, Squarecrow. Sat: Freunde con Krampus, Sein und Zeit. Tue: Karaoke.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: The Bellfuries, Johnny Deadly Trio, The Hotshot Drifters.

Thu: The Toasters, The Pomps, Oceanside Sound System. Fri: Radiation City, Deep Sea Diver, Oh Spirit. Sun: Big Business, Ghetto Blaster. Mon: The Anomaly, Listening to Rocks, Fictitious Dishes. Tue: Distant Cousins, Rivvrs, Jason French.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Thu: Quali, Breathing Patterns, Giant Surprise. Fri: ‘Such a Bitch’ w/ Susan, Keepers, DJ Chrissy Strothers, Susan, Keepers, Cheap Curls, DJ Chrissy Strothers. Sat: Causers, Little Heroin, Hush Pale Love. Sun: Charlie Hilton, SISU, Nylon Apartments.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., San Diego.

North Park. Fri: Paper Days, The Bash Dogs, Splavender.

The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. Sat: The Village Squares, Bomb Squad. Sun: Joshua Davis.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Thu: Retra, Boychick, Los Shadows, Velvet Club. Fri: JOY, Slow Season, Ovvl, Petyr. Sat: Fuzz Huzzi, The Hollow, Garth Algar. Sun: ‘The Back Room’ w/ DJ Heather Hardcore. Tue: Subtropics, Blood Ponies, Hexa.

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

North Park. Wed: ‘Ceremony’. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Ikah Love. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’.

Mon: ‘Blood & Glitter’ w/ Heather Hard Xore. Tue: ‘Trapped’.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Fri: The Signalmen, Western Settings, Que Oso, Ash Williams. Sat: Bitch, Alchemy, Kantation, Ultimate Sin. Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Fri: They Feed at Night, Bell Tower Bats, Stalins of Sound.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave., San Diego.

North Park. Thu: ‘Throwback Thursday’.

Fri: DJ Lee Churchill. Sat: DJ Qenoe.

Tue: Karaoke.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, San Diego.

South Park. Thu: ‘Astro Jump’ w/ Kill Quanti DJs. Fri: ‘F-ing in the Bushes’ w/ DJs Daniel Sant, Rob Moran. Sat: ‘80s vs 90s’ w/ DJs Gabe, Saul. Sun: Taurus Authority, Krass Brothers.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., San Diego.

Ocean Beach. Wed: Kush, DJ Carlos Culture. Fri: Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, Juice Box. Sat: Tomorrows Bad Seeds, Jet West, Sunny Rude. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band.

February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Last Words

Brendan Emmett Quigley

Rock climbing Across 1. “Need I go on?”, briefly 4. Marching musicians 8. Big Apple force 12. Thai scratch 14. “The Wire” stick-up man 15. Rained hate upon 16. Programs that come with your computer that you never use and slow it down 18. Shares a side 19. Behind a firewall 20. Wedding cake section 21. Part that failed the Challenger 22. Springtime allergens 25. High 60s 27. On top of things 29. “I’m full” 30. Middle relievers stats 31. “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” secretary 32. “___ y plata” 33. Like one who could stand to lose a few 34. Some volleyball kills 35. Gin and tonic, top shelf, for short 36. Illuminati symbol 37. Polyphonic choral pieces 38. Roughly 30% of Earth’s total land area 39. The first one debuted on 9/2/69 at a Chemical Bank in Rockville Centre, New York 40. Playground comeback 41. Soccer shoe support 42. “See you later” 44. Errand runner Last week’s answers

28 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

46. Safari entries?

47. Mouthwash ingredient 50. Newsstand pickup 52. It can give you a leg up 53. “Unh-unh” 54. [If I wasn’t on this leash I’d tear you to bits] 55. Talking Stick Resort Arena team 56. Signaled to begin 57. Computer hacker on “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” 58. Visualize

Down 1. Pulls back on the shore 2. Fairy story 3. Really rich dessert 4. Bruce whose #12 was retired by the San Antonio Spurs 5. Blends together to form a new combination 6. ___ a soul (nobody) 7. Dr. known more for crappy headphones than any music he might have made 8. Prize won by Gandhi (... what? He never one won of these? Baffling!)

9. “Can the comedy” 10. Constant request from a four-year-old 11. Crown maker: Abbr.

13. My star sign 15. Irish Cream maker 17. “Divergent” protagonist 20. Rich deserts 22. Outline for victory 23. You can get to it in the closet 24. Fired 25. Loss 26. Worship 28. Smartens (up) 31. Treats on sticks 34. Less significant 38. Google offerings 41. Fiscal execs 43. Celebrant of Samhain, Beltain, and Lughnasad 45. Freaky odd 47. Salad bar utensil 48. Kaput 49. Choice word 50. Fast Company rival 51. Worthless coin 52. Kicker’s attempts: Abbr.

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#SDCityBeat

February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

30 · San Diego CityBeat · February 17, 2016

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

February 17, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 31