Slappy Sundays Some of San Diego’s legendary old-school skaters are crushing curbs on a weekly basis by Kinsee Morlan • P. 16
2016 P.3 Protectionism P.5 Burroughs P.12 Border P.21
2 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
All eyes on Faulconer and Gloria Registered Democrats outnumber registered Repubto explain why union support isn’t a terrible thing, licans in eight of the nine City Council districts in or there’ll be trouble ahead. San Diego. Yet, Republican Kevin Faulconer defeatAt any rate, come the first week in March, Fauled Democrat David Alvarez in last week’s mayoral coner will be the mayor, and time will tell whether election by more than nine percentage points and his policy agenda matches his populist campaign. more than 22,000 votes. In the wake of the election, Because he’s finishing Filner’s term, Faulconer is some Republican political operatives said the result less than two years away from having to officially indicates a rejuvenated GOP in San Diego. Obvibegin his campaign for reelection, and make no ously, they said, Faulconer appealed to many Demomistake: The 2016 race has unofficially begun. To crats and independents (one-third of voters citywide maintain his newfound centrist appeal, Faulconer identify as neither Republican nor Democrat). must change his stripes to some degree. Maybe. But there are four City Council districts Faulconer’s most likely challenger is Democrat where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more Todd Gloria, who’s riding a huge wave of poputhan 30 percent (Districts 3, 4, 8 and 9, all south of larity after stabilizing city government as interim Interstate 8), and those are the four districts that mayor in the wake of Filner’s tumultuous downsaw the lowest voter turnout. In contrast, the district fall. The charismatic Gloria will return to the 10th with the highest turnout was District 5, the only disfloor of City Hall a much brighter star as he retrict that has more Republicans than Democrats. sumes his role as president of a City Council that’s David Rolland So, we don’t think we’re going way expected to have a 6-3 Democratic out on a limb in saying that, for whatever super-majority once a Democrat is apreason, Republicans were more enerpointed to sit in Faulconer’s old District gized in this special election than were 2 seat until December (six votes can the Democrats; Alvarez didn’t exactly override a mayor’s veto). capture the electorate’s imagination. Gloria is saying all the polite things A story in U-T San Diego’s Sunday about cooperating with Faulconer to paper by Craig Gustafson gushed over tackle problems, but he’s also vowing Faulconer’s nice-guy appeal and knack to pursue an ambitious progressive for reaching across the political aisle to agenda, highlighted by spending homesolve problems. The stylistic differenclessness dollars more effectively, impleKevin Faulconer menting a Climate Action Plan and raises between him and former mayor Bob Filner “may very well be a major reason David Rolland ing the local minimum wage. Faulconer why city voters chose Faulconer to reno doubt will oppose the wage hike, place Filner as San Diego’s 36th mayor,” but he’ll have to agree on homelessness Gustafson posited. funding in order to be consistent with But Faulconer’s campaign posihis campaign. The climate plan will be tioned him as a maverick independent a real pivot point: Does he side with and a political moderate, and it went Gloria on what’s likely a popular policy out of its way to avoid the “Republican” among San Diego’s independents? Or descriptor, even though, as Gustafson does he fall back into the warm embrace noted, “Faulconer holds political views of local business elites, who’ll probably nearly identical” to unabashed Republitry to de-fang the climate plan? Todd Gloria can Carl DeMaio. Alvarez, on the other Look for Faulconer to do whatever he hand, campaigned authentically as a progressive. can to help District 6 Councilmember Lorie Zapf, a Faulconer also benefited from brutal, deceptive Republican who’s being forced by recent redistrictattacks on Alvarez by the Lincoln Club, an arching to run this year in District 2, as well as Chris conservative political-action committee, but he Cate, the Republican Party’s choice to fill the open was able to appear above the fray because PACs, District 6 seat. Districts 2 and 6 are swing seats by law, act independently of the campaigns. The heavy with independent voters. Zapf and Cate, like fact that Faulconer hammered Alvarez on his Faulconer, will have to tack to the center to win. This is going to be a very interesting year. union backing would suggest that such an attack polled well with likely voters, and Alvarez didn’t What do you think? Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com. have an adequate response. Democrats will need If you read this issue of CityBeat backwards, reading only every fifth word, you’ll get a recipe for a really nice tuna casserole.
Volume 12 • Issue 28 Editor David Rolland Associate Editor Kelly Davis Music Editor Jeff Terich Arts Editor Kinsee Morlan Staff Writer Joshua Emerson Smith Web Editor Ryan Bradford Art director Lindsey Voltoline Columnists Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza
Cover photo by Israel Castillo
Contributors Ian Cheesman, David L. Coddon, Seth Combs, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Nina Sachdev Hoffmann, Peter Holslin, Dave Maass, Scott McDonald, Jennifer McEntee, Jenny Montgomery, Susan Myrland, Mina Riazi, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Jen Van Tieghem, Quan Vu
Circulation / Office Assistant Giovanna Tricoli
Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse
Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami
Production artist Rees Withrow
Vice President of Operations David Comden
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Accounting Alysia Chavez, Linda Lam, Monica MacCree Human Resources Andrea Baker
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February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 3
Another D6 candidate CityBeat readers will want to know that your featured newcomer, Carol Kim [“News,” Jan. 29], will be facing grassroots competition for the open District 6 City Council seat in the person of former school-board trustee Mitz Lee, a highly qualified Filipina with 30 years’ local residence and a record of community service in San Diego. Lee has lived in Mira Mesa and raised her two sons to adulthood in our public schools. She sits on the board of Rancho YMCA and serves on the San Diego Human Relations Commission. In response to our tumultuous, partisan and peculiar politics,
Lee has reclaimed her longstanding political registration as an independent, a designation she embraced for most of her life as the wife of a now-retired United States Navy officer. She’s also a cancer survivor. Frances O’Neill Zimmerman, La Jolla
Preventative care I’m writing in response to a blog post I just read on CityBeat’s website [“Todd Gloria announces plans for city-funded homelessness services,” Feb. 6]. I’ve spent my whole life nursing in emer-
4 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
gency rooms and critical-care areas. I see the effect of an ineffective healthcare system every day, with tremendous spending on in-hospital interventions that could’ve been avoided with much less costly community support. Support at the community level for the homeless doesn’t cost taxpayers; it saves a lot of money downstream. And now, under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), I wonder if there are even more opportunities to intervene with this population. What if the city assigned advancedpractice nurses to visit these shelters and provide preventative healthcare and medication management? Under the ACA, advanced-practice nurses are reimbursable
providers. They can be compensated for providing community care, and the consistent shelter environment is a perfect way for these nurses to reach these folks in need. Also, potentially their computer tracking system, if used also to manage some of the healthcare information, would be eligible for further reimbursement under the ACA’s provision for “meaningful use.” In the context of so many frustrations in the healthcare system, thank you for writing and publishing this article. It made my day to read it. Julie Graham, Normal Heights
Photo illustration: Lindsey Voltoline
Proposed regulations would significantly limit the operation of food trucks in the Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy and some coastal communities.
Danger: food trucks Officials say regulations target public safety, don’t limit competition by Joshua Emerson Smith Where San Diegans can buy a lobstergrilled-cheese sandwich or a chipotle-eggplant taco from a truck has been the subject of much talk during the last few months. Food-truck operators, neighborhood associations, city bureaucrats and elected officials have hotly debated how to regulate a mobile-food-vending industry that’s evolved in recent years to provide much more than bean burritos. Facing pressure from so-called gourmetfood-truck operators, the city recently acknowledged that, under the state’s vehicle code, it can regulate mobile food vendors only in the interest of public safety. As a result, proposed regulations no longer include a rule that would have banned food trucks from operating within 75 feet of a street-level restaurant without permission from the owner. This decision, stemming from an opinion from the City Attorney’s office and months of public meetings, significantly frustrated at least one city leader. “So, just to make it clear, we’re not allowed to do economic protectionism, even though that’s protecting the restaurants that we have?” City Councilmember Lorie Zapf asked a deputy city attorney at the Feb. 12 meeting of the council’s Smart Growth and
Land Use Committee, which she chairs. “If someone just comes and parks right next to them at the lunch hour and, you know, kind of takes a lot of their business, we’re not allowed to protect the restaurant legally is what I’m hearing,” she added. The 75-foot ban would be difficult to justify in terms of public safety, but the City Attorney’s office is “happy to analyze it,” responded Deputy City Attorney Inga Lintvedt. “There’s case law that ties the city’s hands there, but the city is always free if it can make public-health-and-safety findings and tie it that way.” How the city justifies its proposed regulations has become the central issue in the debate over where food trucks can operate. During the past decade, many cities, notably Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Austin, have grappled with how to regulate the emerging industry of gourmet food trucks. While San Diego has hashed out its position, local food-truck operators have dealt in the last year with vague city rules, selective enforcement and restaurant owners increasingly concerned about competition. Gourmet-food-truck owners in San Diego and elsewhere have long complained that regulations often unfairly limit competition and, in some cases, have won significant legal battles. In response to concerns, interim Mayor Todd Gloria recently assured mobile food vendors that the city’s only intention with its draft regulations is to promote public safety. “I’ve heard that the proposed ordinance is somehow anti-competitive, or discrimina-
trucks. “I don’t understand why me, a resident of downtown San Diego, is being discriminated against and being told that I can’t be part of my community.” The city’s regulation of food trucks amounts to industry “discrimination,” said Alex Gould, owner of the Stuffed! food truck. “This city is still in an infancy stage when it comes to developing a culture, and I think food-truck culture is a very important trademark in any major city.” This is protectionism under “the guise of public safety,” said Matt Geller, a lawyer with the Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association. “The public-safety impacts that they’re claiming to want to deal with won’t be there.” The local chapter of the California Restaurant Association, which represents several businesses that own food trucks, supported the draft regulations. “What you have before you is a comprehensive policy that they’re putting forward,” said Chris Duggan, a lobbyist for the association. “We’ve spent about six months working with different associations. I’ve worked with Christian [Murcia] and the United Food Truck Association here, as well.” However, citing a wide variety of concerns, the council members who sit on the Smart Growth and Land Use Committee unanimously voted to forward the draft regulations to the full City Council without a recommendation. It’s questionable whether the neighborhood restrictions can be legally justified under public safety, said Councilmember Scott Sherman. “I really have a problem with the different areas in the districts. To me, that looks like a ban. No matter what the size is, we’re going to get lawsuits. I’m already seeing stuff here from different groups that are talking about lawsuits. It’s happened in other cities.” When the proposal is brought to the council, staff needs to provide documentation outlining specific public-safety concerns, said Councilmember Sherri Lightner. “I believe with our current emphasis on bicycles, the large number of pedestrians, it would be possible to make those findings. If it’s not, I would like to know that, as well.” Under the proposal, food-truck operators must still acquire a business tax certificate and a county health permit. However, there would not be a requirement for any other type of city permit. Property owners in a commercial zone would be required to have a city-issued permit in order to host food trucks on private property. That permit is estimated to cost up to $935 for the first year and $132 for renewals. Property owners in industrial areas are not required to have a permit. Within 500 feet of homes or apartment buildings, food trucks would be barred from operating after 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. According to city officials, there are no records of complaints about food trucks in residential areas.
tory and enforces rules on food trucks that do not apply to other businesses in adjacent areas,” he said at a Feb. 13 press conference. “I’d like to correct that. The intent of the ordinance is a fair approach to protect public health, safety and welfare.” The draft regulations, which will go before the City Council on March 3, would prohibit food trucks from operating without a special-event permit in the Gaslamp Quarter and in the heart of Little Italy. In coastal portions of Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, La Jolla, as well as around San Diego’s universities, food trucks would be limited to private property due to parking concerns. “The Gaslamp Quarter and Little Italy are special-character locations with significant historical cultural resources and extremely high levels of pedestrians and vehicular activity, where food trucks would be allowed only as a part of a special event, in order to allow for appropriate planning and consideration, so we can minimize their potential impacts,” Gloria said. “In locations mapped as high-parking demand with limited onstreet parking availability, food trucks would be limited to operating on private property in order to preserve the very limited, muchneeded on-street parking for customers.” Many in the food-truck industry aren’t buying what the city’s serving up, saying as much at the Feb. 12 committee meeting. “We do the majority of our business in Gaslamp part of area that’s banning food trucks,” said Christian Murcia, owner of Write to joshuas@sdcitybeat.com Curbside Bites, a booking service for food and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 5
spin cycle
john r.
lamb The Faulconer-replacement derby “Whatever your advice, make it brief.”
—Horace
The time for licking wounds is over, San Diego Democrats. Your hat was handed to you in last week’s mayoral election. Learn from it and move on. One bright spot for Democrats—unless they mess this up, too—is the coming San Diego City Council decision on who’ll fill the remainder of Mayor-Elect Kevin Faulconer’s District 2 council term, which runs through early December. With Faulconer’s ascension next month to the 11th floor and a Democratic council majority poised to pick his replacement, it shouldn’t be surprising that interest in the eightmonth temporary job is growing.
6 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
Rumors about who wants the council post have run from the intriguing to the absurd, including a suggestion that former Councilmember Donna Frye might be among those interested, despite the pesky requirement that applicants must live within the old District 2 boundaries where Faulconer was elected. Frye is a longtime District 6 resident. So, who’s ready to jump into the fishbowl? Spin Cycle ran down several rumored applicants to gauge their interest, and let’s just say the City Council will have a tough decision to make. The early favorite seems to be Don Mullen, the City Hall veteran who last served as chief of staff to Councilmember Marti Emerald. Mullen would seem a natural, given his knowledge of
City Hall operations and quirks from 1999 through 2000. would be there if David didn’t City lifeguard Sgt. Ed Harris, nifer LeSar, is married to Toni culled from a 10-year career serv“My motto over the years has win,” Wayne said. He still owns who dropped out of the official Atkins, the state Assembly meming in three City Council offices been, ‘Have some fun, make some the Bay Park home, but he said a District 2 race and endorsed Dem- ber tapped recently to become the (two Democrats, Emerald and money, do some good,’” Mullen told recent “water disaster” has made ocrat Sarah Boot, confirmed he’s Assembly’s next speaker. Michael Zucchet, and a Republi- Spin. “It’s how I look at commu- it unmarketable. interested in the temporary post. Newsom, 33, said she’s not can, Jim Madaffer). A state deputy atThe 48-year-old Orange looking at this temporary job as a nity service. It’s not about Before leaving City County native has served stepping stone. “I’m giving this opramming a political agen- torney general since Hall in January 2013, Mulas a lifeguard in San Di- portunity a lot of hard thought and da down people’s throats. 1973—save for his stint in len had served as chief of ego since exiting the Ma- consideration, but at this point I’m It’s building organizations the Assembly from 1996 policy for all three counrine Corps in 1989. and empowering people to 2002—Wayne said it’s definitely not angling for another cilmembers. In addition “I want to be what’s position down the line,” she said. to take ownership of their important the council to his chief-of-staff dubeen missing in District Her main focus, she added, would own communities and have an attorney among ties with Emerald, he also its members. “Right now 2—an advocate for the be assuring that “District 2 conneighborhoods.” served as a consultant to coastline,” Harris, a Loma stituents and concerns are heard” Also showing interest in closed sessions, it’s Ed Harris Portal resident, told Spin. and that projects there “don’t get Don Mullen in the position is former just [City Attorney] Jan the city’s Public Safety & Neighborhood Services Com- Democratic state Assemblymem- Goldsmith and nine non-law- “I’m concerned about public safety, stuck in this period of flux.” mittee, which Emerald chairs. ber Howard Wayne, who lost yers,” he argued, “and there are so obviously, but also about overdeNo doubt others will throw A 30-plus-year resident of the 2010 election to replace the many issues where being a lawyer velopment. I also want to make for their hats into the temporary ring— District 2, the Pacific Beach resi- termed-out Frye in District 6 to would be helpful.” a smooth transition for Sarah.” Bruce Coons, a longtime Point dent said he’d be ready to hit the Republican Lorie Zapf. Under He said he views Council PresiAlso showing interest is Loma resident, recent mayoral ground running, compared with 2010 redistricting, Zapf found her dent Todd Gloria’s stint as interim Gretchen Kinney Newsom, a rel- candidate and head of Save Our those who might need the eight Bay Ho home moved to District 2, mayor as “a model of how much ative newcomer to the district but Heritage Organisation, said he’s months in office just to figure out where she is seeking rewe can accomplish in a someone who’s making thinking about applying. relatively short period of an impression rapidly. A how City Hall functions. election this year. “I’m a child of the distime.” Wayne dismissed resident of Ocean Beach Mullen, 58, said his experience Wayne, 65, said he trict,” he said. suggestions that he’d use since 2011, Newsom alin city government, coupled with moved to Pacific Beach Should be yet another the temporary position ready serves as presihis business background, would from Bay Park to qualify interesting council decias a launching pad to run dent of the Ocean Beach serve district constituents well. for the upcoming council sion, particularly how for city attorney in 2016. He currently operates a consulting appointment in anticipaTown Council. She’s the council Republican “No, there are big en- also director of commufirm called Common Ground San tion of last week’s mayminority responds. Spin’s Gretchen guess: Whomever labor’s vironmental issues com- nications and legislative Diego and owned a beach-equip- oral results, although he ment rental shop called Best at said he worked hard to Howard Wayne ing, like the Climate Ac- affairs for LeSar Devel- Kinney Newsom backing should watch the Beach for more than 15 years help elect Councilmember David tion Plan, runoff issues and the opment Consultants, a Bankers out for the knives. like,” he said. “The dynamics of the Hill-based firm focused on afuntil 2000. He also served as exec- Alvarez to that post. utive director of the College Area “I knew it was a 50/50 prop- council are going to change, and I fordable housing and sustainable Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com Economic Development Corp. osition, and I knew the issue want to be a part of that change.” communities. Its president, Jen- and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 7
edwin
sordid tales
decker Oh Frankenstein the beautiful Ever since the outrage erupted over Coca-Cola’s in the Jingoist Edition, there will be a picture of multilingual Super Bowl ad, I’ve been waiting to hear a family of five, smiling and singing along as they what kind of apology the company would issue. watch the commercial. For those who’ve just awoken from a coma, the Of course, anybody who didn’t just wake up commercial was called “It’s Beautiful” and featured from a coma that they fell into when they were 6 seven multiracial—though wholly American—young years old knows that we absolutely do care about girls singing “America the Beautiful” in seven difAmerica—the difference is, we don’t care too much ferent languages. about it. We don’t obsess. We aren’t excessively paWhat’s that you say? “America the Beautiful” triotic and don’t overdo our national pride because sung in Foreignnish? It’s an outrage! Or so thought we know—given that our eyes and our minds are people like Todd Starnes of Fox News Radio, who open and working—that America has its faults. responded to the ad by blogging, “Coca Cola is the We know our pride should be tempered with official drink of illegals trying to cross the border,” humility because it wasn’t us who built America; and Michael Patrick Leahy, who complained on we inherited it. Just like the children of the tremenBreitbart.com that Coke was trying to “push multidously wealthy, we were born into it, which is pure culturalism down our throats.” dumb luck. But it was on Twitter where people really lost We know it’s righteous to love America and our their minds—such as when @bwroberts76 tweatfellow Americans, but we also know we’re citizens ened (that’s “threatened” in a tweet) to boycott of the world, which has other people in it—people Coke after that “heinous un-American commercial” whose cultures and languages are sublime and worand when @tylerwyckoff24 twhined that the song thy of homage. was sung in the “terrorist’s language” and when @ We know that it’s not a big fucking deal to press turndaddy79 twellyached, “... it’s 1 for English, and we only wish America and the language is Engthere were an option to press 2 for We know our pride lish… not all this foreign shit.” hysterical overreactions to having Talk about rampant, mindless to press 1 for English. should be tempered xenophobia—as if all their dictionWe know it doesn’t matter if with humility aries are special Jingoist Editions Michael Patrick Leahy says that that define “foreigner” as a “danyou can’t “push multiculturalbecause it wasn’t us gerous militant who wants to deism down our throats,” because who built America; stroy America,” accompanied by a it’s already there, deep down our photo of a Osama bin Laden gullets—at our core. America is we inherited it. Well, given that the Coca-Cola multiculturalism. Saying Coke is Company is a massive corporation trying to push multiculturalism that leads its industry—and given that massive cordown our throats is like saying somebody is trying porations that lead their industries live in perpetual to force an asshole down Michael Leahy’s throat. fear of not being massive and not leading their indusAnd, yes, People Who Go Berserk Over American try—I was certain Coke would apologize and run a Songs Being Sung in Foreignnish, we know that it’s follow-up ad that shows a rifle-toting cowboy sitting important for immigrants to learn English. Howevon the trunk of his Silverado at San Ysidro picking er, that doesn’t mean they should ditch their native off border crossers while a chorus of little white girls languages. Rather, they should feel free to celebrate sings, “O beautiful for spacious skies / Your amber their heritage, and we should celebrate with them. waves of grain / Are harvested by Mexicans / Who Lastly, we know that English isn’t some sort of wussy language. English doesn’t feel threatened evalso can be maids / America, America / God checks on ery time it encounters another language. It doesn’t your green cards / And crown thy good / White brothget all butt-hurt if the other language wants to sing a erhood / From yard to well-trimmed yard.” song that’s usually sung in English. English welcomes Well, I’m ever so happy to report that not only other languages; it invites them over for dinner. For did Coke not backpedal—it pushed back! First, the crissake, English is other languages. It’s a Frankencompany issued a press release defending “It’s stein tongue—pieced together from dialects around Beautiful” and then released a behind-the-scenes the world, just like America is a Frankenstein society, video showing the innocent little girls singing their stitched together from the cultures of the world. parts (hope you ultra-national assholes feel bad Alas, some people are afraid of Frankenstein. about picking on little girls), and then it updated He doesn’t look and talk like everyone else. So the ad itself. It is pretty much the same commercial, they come after him with pitchforks. Don’t worry, except with an additional 10 seconds, during which though; diversity will always prevail. Sing it with “E pluribus unum—out of many, one” rolls across me, friends: Oh Frankenstein the beautiful, God shed the screen, as if to say, “In your face, xenophobe!” His grace on thee…. If you were to ask the people who went berserk over “It’s Beautiful” why it is that people like me Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sd didn’t go berserk, the majority of them will tell you citybeat.com. Listen to “Sordid Tales: The Podcast!” it’s because people like me are borderline traitors at sdcitybeat.com. who hate America. In fact, if you look up “treason”
8 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
by michael a. gardiner Michael A. Gardiner
Suite 117, in Kearny Mesa, shabuworld.net). The dish has five basic parts: broth, meat, vegetables, rice and noodles. Indeed, one of the joys of shabu shabu is that it’s two dishes in one. First, the diner cooks vegetables in the broth on a tabletop stove, dipping them in a ponzu sauce (optionally spiked with chopped scallions, minced daikon and garlic). As the broth cooks the vegetables, it takes on their flavor. Soon the meat arrives and that, too, is dipped and cooked in the broth. “Shabu shabu” is an onoFresh veggies for the shabu shabu matopoeia referring to the sound the cooking meat makes. Supposedly, it also refers to the exact length of time it takes to cook. As the vegetables and meat disappear, the diner adds noodles to the broth and shabu shabu becomes an udon experience. At Shabu World, there are four choices of Fun with Japanese hot pot broth. The most traditional is simply water and kombu. My favorite is the spicy option—though For a guy who’s been dead since the middle of “spicy” here has less to do with heat (the rather the 13th century and may never have set foot in angry color notwithstanding) than a broader a kitchen, Genghis Khan seems to have had an flavor spectrum with hints of sweetness and outsized influence on the cuisine of Northeast just a touch of heat. The miso option tastes a Asia. From Mongolian hot pot to Korean bulgogi lot like the familiar soup. The sukiyaki broth, and Mongolian barbecue, Khan’s conquests and derived from the classic Japanese dish of the the exigencies of feeding his conquering armies same name, is another good choice. have shaped many a regional dish or, at the very Shabu World also offers a variety of meat least, their promotional backstory. Add shabu options. The prime beef is well worth the exshabu to the list. tra money, but both the choice beef and pork Shabu shabu is a Japanese variation on hot are good, too. As important as the meat is to pot in which nearly translucent slices of beef are the dish, the vegetables are perhaps its great dipped into a boiling broth of vegetables, kombu glory: Napa cabbage, broccoli, carrots, spinach, seaweed and tofu. While a case could be made for enoki mushrooms and tofu. The vegetables are the notion that Khan had something to do with resoundingly fresh. The Napa cabbage, for exthe origin of hot pot—using a single pot to feed an ample, doesn’t have even a hint of the bitterness army that’s conserving scarce fuel resources—his that is the tell of over-the-hill Napa cabbage. connection to shabu shabu is more doubtful. The Shabu World’s dining experience is one part first references to shabu shabu came from the tasty, one part fun and well worth a try—even if shabu shabu is zero parts Genghis Khan. 20th century at Suehiro restaurant (which trademarked the term in 1955) in Osaka, Japan. Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com One of the best places to get shabu shabu in and editor@sdcitybeat.com. San Diego is at Shabu World (3904 Convoy St.,
the world
fare
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 9
by ian cheesman
beer &
ian cheesman
chees
Old brewery learns new tricks The grand reopening of a restaurant usually guarantees little more than a change of ownership and a few freshfaced servers. La Jolla Brewing Company (7536 Fay Ave., lajollabeer.com) has expanded on that by refreshing the restaurant interior, the brewer, the kitchen staff, the beers and the food. To have a start that’s any fresher, they’d need to become a Laundromat. I didn’t frequent La Jolla Brewing Company (LJBC), so I can’t account for The hangar steak with the Gliderport Pale and Cove Stout how different things are, but significant thought clearly went into it. The new layout, per se (fans of Boddingtons Cream Ale will apart from being quite spiffy (a real interiorcertainly find familiarity within); there’s just design-industry term, rest assured), offers not a lot there. Alternatively, the Gliderport bars for carousing, booths for cramming and Pale delivers a sophisticated and complex hop fire pits for lounging. character with a sturdy malt backbone that LJBC sports 24 taps, of which five will easily makes it the brewery’s strongest offering. be inhabited by the brewery’s own stable of The food menu features upscale pub grub, beers. At the time of my visit, four of those mostly of the burger and flatbread varieties. were available, including the Neptune Nitro, Upcoming versions of the menu will include Gliderport Pale, Bird Rock Brown and Cove pairing suggestions, but I’ll go ahead and kickStout. Much like actual La Jolla residents, these start that by insisting you not leave the premises beers have opted to live among well-established without trying the mini-crab-cake appetizer and highly accomplished neighbors—including with the Bird Rock Brown. I’ll further suggest outstanding beers from Deschutes, Great that if you opt to try the steak (and, given the Divide and Lagunitas. San Diego breweries are decadence of the bacon-and-thyme jus it’s also represented well, though mostly by our served in, you’d be mad not to), reach for one of region’s heaviest hitters (Stone Brewing, Green the boozier stouts on the guest taps. The Cove Flash, AleSmith, etc.). Stout is tasty in its own right, but as a classic The beer pricing is a little uneven. Five-ounce dry Irish style, it’s not well-suited to contend tasters of the house brands were reasonable at with that dish. $2, though the incentive to upsell those is clear. Whatever you might have thought of its preOn the flipside, $8 for a pint of Ballast Point decessor, there’s no question that this La Jolla Sculpin IPA made me wince a little. It’s not Brewing Company has a lot of ideas and is eaoutrageous (especially given the locale), but my ger to show what it can do. For all that’s already inner cheapskate demanded I sound the alarm. changed, there are still new beers left to unveil LJBC’s house beers deliver what their and even beer cocktails forthcoming. Swing by descriptions promise, albeit in less robust form and check it out before they’re tempted to add “martinizing” to the menu. than most San Diego palates are accustomed to. The Neptune Nitro, with its aromas of cereal Write to ianc@sdcitybeat.com grains and bready sweetness, is delicate to the and editor@sdcitybeat.com. point of insignificance. It’s not terribly flawed,
10 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
by jenny montgomery Jenny montgomery
north
fork Stoked in the ’burbs
Have you guys ever been up to San Elijo Hills? I’m not going to lie—there’s a slightly Stepford vibe to its pretty, planned layout. But my 30something-mom side does love a “Community” with a capital “C,” and San Elijo Hills, an enclave of San Marcos, has it in spades. You can fight it all you want, but when you reach a certain demographic, the suburbs do have a hypnotic allure. Plus, playgrounds! But the biggest problem with the ’burbs is the mind-numbing uniformity of everything. That’s why I love finding little nooks of originality—eateries that are trying to raise the standard for what we should be demanding in a family-friendly restaurant. On a busy corner in the heart of San Elijo Hills’ town square sits Café Stoked. Café Stoked (1215 San Elijo Road, cafestoked. com) has a great selection of coffee, pastries and smoothies, including cold-brewed “Kyoto” style coffee that slowly drips, for 14 hours, through a twisty glass tube into the coffee pot below. Alas, the day I visited, there was no cold-brewed cof-
fee to be had since the place had been closed the day before and no one came in to start the painfully slow process. I’m sure it’s delectable, although a little part of me thinks we’re sort of eating our own brains in the quest to get the perfect cup of coffee. Dear God, just pour some hot water over it and move on with your lives. But I digress. There’s a Spanish influence to many of the menu items, from patatas bravas to a Spanish tortilla— Spain’s version of a frittata. As someone who spent time living in Spain, I’m a tortilla snob, so I was pretty happy with what Stoked had to offer. The eggs were tender, the potatoes soft and the tortilla served at room temp—none of this hot-out-of-the-pan business. I also dug the grilled sandwich featuring a generous pile of salty jamón Serrano, creamy, warm goat cheese and sticky fig jam. The ubiquitous grilled-chicken sandwich on every lunch menu known to man is the bane of my existence, so this sophisticated delight made my mouth and tummy quite happy. All was not perfect, however. The day I visited, not only was the Kyoto coffee not ready, but the bowl of chili I tried was lukewarm at best. The flavors were quite good, but not being hot enough is unacceptable. This was the day after a holiday, and although I’m certainly empathetic to the slow, grinding restart after a well-deserved day off, those missed details can be quite frustrating for paying customers. But I root for Café Stoked, and like scrappy Nutmeg Bakery and Café in Sabre Springs, it’s working hard to create a family-friendly neighborhood hangout that doesn’t have to sacrifice quality ingredients and unique flavors. Suburbanites should demand more than Pat & Oscar’s and its horrible breadsticks. (Yes, they are horrible—stop lying to yourself.) The next time you’re lost and afraid in suburbia, know that bright spots do exist. Let’s meet up on the playground. Write to jennym@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 11
the floating
library
by jim ruland
William S. Burroughs at 100 If William S. Burroughs, author of Naked Lunch, were alive today, he’d be 100 years old. I don’t know why this factoid fascinates me so much. Maybe it’s because when he died in 1997 at age 83, he looked 100. His legendary drug habit, which was both his subject and his inspiration, somehow left him remarkably well-preserved. Not only did he survive decades of reckless opiate addiction, he enjoyed a second act as a spoken-word performer and recording artist, and then a lucrative third act as a visual artist. He was much sought-after for parties and speaking engagements, and he appeared in a number of films. He had a memorable cameo in Twisters with Crispin Glover, and this exchange between the two served as my answering-machine message for a few years: Glover: Is Jim here? Burroughs: Jim got kicked in the head by a horse last year. Went around killing horses for a while and then he ate the insides of a clock and he died. Apparently, Burroughs provided the line, but he didn’t write it: It originally appears in Playboy of the Western World by the Irish playwright John Millington Synge. There are a million anecdotes likes this in Call Me Burroughs, an extensive new biography by Barry Miles, who knew Burroughs personally, edited his letters and archived his papers. One of the more interesting facts to emerge from the biography, at least for me, is the existence of a book about cats that Burroughs wrote late in life. That’s right, the man who wrote a novel so depraved that it was immediately banned and is as harrowing today as it was when it was published in 1959 wrote a book about his feline friends. If you’re waiting for a punch line, there isn’t one. The Cat Inside is a collection of short reflections and ruminations about cats. I’m not sure what’s stranger—that Bill Burroughs, the godfather of punk, lifetime dope addict and firearms fetishist, wrote about his cats or that, in it, you’ll find lines like this: “… [A] scarlet orange and green cat with reptile skin, a long sinewy neck and poison fangs— the venom is related to the blue-ringed octopus: two steps you fall on your face, an hour later you’re dead….”
12 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
That’s classic Burroughs at his hardboiled finest. But cats? Seriously? Burroughs himself was sort of catlike: slender, aloof, inscrutable and not particularly affectionate. He wasn’t known as “el hombre invisible” for nothing. Because of his addiction, Burroughs spent most of his life in cities—London, Mexico City, New Orleans, New York, Paris and Tangier. He was always on the move from apartment to apartment, hotel to hotel. He didn’t stay anywhere long enough to look after a pet and often lacked the wherewithal to take care of himself. That all changed when he leased a home outside of Lawrence, Kan., which he referred to as “the Stone House.” Once he put down roots, the cats sought him out. “I don’t remember exactly when Ruski first came into the house. I remember sitting in a chair by the fireplace with the front door open and he saw me from fifty feet away and ran up, giving the special little squeaks I never heard from another cat, and jumped into my lap, nuzzling and purring and putting his little paws up to my face, telling me he wanted to be my cat.” We’re a long way from suppurating sores, giant centipedes and talking assholes that make Naked Lunch so hauntingly strange. Burroughs seems to realize it, too: “Reading over these notes, which were simply a journal of my year at the Stone House, I am absolutely appalled. So often, looking back over my past life, I exclaim, ‘My God, who is this?’ Seen from here I appear as a most unsightly cartoon of someone who was awful enough to begin with….” Awful indeed, but that’s what makes these pieces so arresting: They offer a view of the author at his most unguarded. The Cat Inside is a slender volume. Calling it a book is a bit generous. The pieces are centered on the page like poems and, like a poetry collection, can be enjoyed in one sitting. Read this way, a portrait emerges of a man at the end of his life who can sense death approaching. Instead of going out with a needle in his arm or a bullet in his brain, remarkable considering his fixations, Burroughs died like so many others: at home alone with his cats. Write to jimr@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
the
SHORTlist
ART
COORDINATED BY KINSEE MORLAN
MARTIN SORRONDEGUY
Bag, born Alicia Velasquez, was the lead singer of The Bags, a band that was on the vanguard of the Los Angeles punk scene in 1977. Playing acoustic guitar and accompanied by a bass player, Bag will intersperse readings from her book with cover songs that helped define parts of her young life, culminating with a song by The Bags. The book essentially covers her first 25 years—her upbringing in an abusive home through her ascendance into the punk scene, which was highlighted by an appearance in the definitive 1981 film The Decline of Western Civilization. “It’s not a book about punk; it really is a coming-of-age story,” she says. “It’s about my life and the difficulties that I had to overcome, but also the gifts that Alice Bag those difficulties left me and the strength that they fostered in me.” In the book, Bag attempts to come to terms with a Alice Bag lived in San Diego for a short father who was simultaneously violently abusive totime a few years ago—in South Park, to ward her mother and loving and supportive toward be precise. One day, she and some girl- his daughter. “I was torn, because my father was friends walked over to the Whistle Stop Bar and also, like—he was the center of my world,” she says. commenced with the drinking. As they told their Bag channeled her angst into punk rock. “When I back-in-the-day stories, one of her friends said to got on stage,” she says, “I suddenly felt empowered— her, “You should write a book.” felt like, everybody’s looking at me, everybody’s lis“And I was drunk enough to think that it was a tening to me. I mattered somehow.” violencegirl. good idea,” Bag recalls. tumblr.com/ Unlike so many drunken big ideas, though, this one really happened. Bag did write that book—2011’s Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage: A Music can evoke a wide range of emoChicana Punk Story—and she’ll be back in San Diego tions, even without lyrics to put those County, at Ducky Waddles Emporium (414 N. Coast feelings into concrete terms. In fact, Hwy. in Encinitas) at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, to read sometimes words just get in the way of a profound excerpts from it and play some music. musical statement. The third installment of chamber-music ensemble Art of Élan’s REFLECTIONS series, On Loss, finds the group exploring feelings of The Travelers Club is a collective of local grief through pieces like Anna Clyne’s “Within Her artists, musicians and event producers Arms” and David Lang’s “The Little Match Girl Paswho were tired of having to drive to Los sion.” The performance will be conducted by percusAngeles to have their fun. They wanted to bring their sionist Steve Schick and will feature a 15-piece string own spin on the city’s gritty warehouse rave-like section—the largest ever in Art of Élan’s history. Art shows to San Diego, and so they did. Their second-ev- of Élan will perform REFLECTIONS: On Loss at 7 er Warehouse Takeover event will happen at 7 p.m. p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the San Diego Museum of Saturday, Feb. 22, Art in Balboa Park. Tickets are $25. artofelan.org BILL DEAN at Union (2191 Main St. in Barrio Logan). There’ll be work by street photographers including Nico Hernandez, ArthursEye and Fotophunk, plus illustrations by David Castillo, Endo and others. But this ain’t your average gallery show. Loud, thumping music will shake the warehouse walls as BabySTEPS, Luis Travels, Sleeves and other local DJs and music-makers take the stage. RSVP at TheTravelersClubSD.com. Steven Schick
1
PUNK-ROCK GIRL
3
2
HALF ART, HALF RAVE
THE GRIEVING PROCESS
RAW Artist Presents: Awakening at House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. This multi-faceted showcase features a film screening, musical performance, fashion show, visual and performance art. From 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. $15-$20. 707-548-8423, rawartists.org HCulture & Cocktails at San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park. Check out SDMA’s collection of South Asian paintings while sipping on Mumbai Mules, enjoying Bollywood-style dance performances, memorializing the evening in the slow-motioncapture photo booth. There will also be henna tattoos and music by DJ Scott Roberts. From 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. $20. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org HA New Work by Robert Irwin at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. In conjunction with Quint Contemporary Art’s show of new works from Robert Irwin, the Athenaeum will display more of his work. Opening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org HHELM: Ben Fain and Eric Amling at A Ship in the Woods, 1660 Lugano Lane, Del Mar. Poetry reading from Brooklynbased writer Amling and a screening of Fain’s documentary/fiction film The Doors of Life, about the mysterious death of a man found in his car at the bottom of a pond in Ohio. The night will also feature art from Fain in the main gallery. Opening from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. 619312-5305, shipinthewoods.com
Gallery, 7661 Girard Ave., Ste. 201, La Jolla. New works from local artist Ricardo Xavier, who’ll be showcasing acrylic works that use symmetric, repetitive patterns. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. 858-459-3917, rbstevensongallery.com Sway + Art at Ux31, 3112 University Ave., North Park. A music and art event featuring art by Jimmy Ovadia, Jason Acton, Alex Pedroza and others, music by Matt Molarius, Grampadrew, Rey & Davies and Creature and the Woods. At 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 29. $6 pre-sale, $10 door. swayandart214.brownpapertickets.com
BOOKS Mark A. Michaels and Patricia Johnson at Hustler, 929 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Bring your partner to this free couples workshop and book signing to learn how to achieve sexual consciousness, emotional intimacy, and long-term love. The authors will sign their book, Partners in Passion. From 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. 619-696-9007 HThe Big Read: The Maltese Falcon at Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside. A dual literary event and film screening. Patrons will discuss the quintessential detective novel, Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, with Julie Rivett, the author’s granddaughter, followed by a screening of the classic John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart. At 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. 760-4353720, ci.oceanside.ca.us/gov/lib
Hendrick Goltzius and the Art of Engraving at Founders Hall, 5998 Alcala Park, Linda Vista. This exhibition brings together nearly 60 works by this master engraver of the 16th and 17th century, as well as some of his contemporaries. Opening Friday, Feb. 21. On view through May 25. sandiego.edu/galleries
HUri Gneezy at UCSD Bookstore, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The economics professor will sign and discuss his new book, The Why Axis: Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life, an examination of why people do what they do observed through the lens of incentives. At 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. 858-534-5778, ucsandiegobookstore.com
HArt Squared at TPG2, 1475 University Ave., Hillcrest. Art pieces with four equallength sides. Artists such as Katherine Brannock, Monique Jenkins Lindsay and Eric Wixon will express their creativity within the lines of those lines. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. 619-203-6030, thumbprintgallerysd.com
Kelly Corrigan at The Santaluz Club, 8170 Caminito Santaluz East, 4S Ranch. The New York Times bestselling author discusses her new memoir, Glitter and Glue, which examines the bonds between mothers and daughters. At 11:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 21. 858-759-3120, kellycorrigan.com
Yeehaw: Western Wonders at The New Ink Spot, NTC at Liberty Station, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 16, Suite 204, Point Loma. Western-themed paintings, crafts and sculpture. Artists include Marianne Blackmar, Lauren Carrera, Jill G. Hall. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. 619-696-0363 HColor & Form at Scott White Contemporary Art, 7655 Girard Ave., La Jolla. A group exhibition by artists whose work focuses on color, like abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler and American Color Field painters Kenneth Nolan and Thomas Downing. On view through April 5. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. scottwhiteart.com HWarehouse Takeover at Union, 2191 Main St., Barrio Logan. Local street-wear merchants 5&A Dime and creative collective The Travelers Club partner up to provide San Diego with their own take on the alternative art scene in this warehouse party/art show. Featured artists include The Krizzo, Deanskii and YOURETHIS. From 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. $5. RSVP: TheTravelersClubSD.com HRobert Irwin at Quint Contemporary Art, 7547 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The beloved local artist will debut new site-specific light installations that will focus on how light can very simply but effectively alter a space. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. 858-454-3409, quintgallery.com HKinetic Contrasts at R.B. Stevenson
Scene of the Crime Discussion at Oceanside Public Library, Oceanside. Join authors Alan Russell, Debra Ginsberg, Ken Kuhlken, Lisa Brackmann and Taffy Cannon for a panel discussion about noir fiction and their respective crime novels. At 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. 760435-5560, mystgalaxy.com Susan Elizabeth Phillips at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Phillips will sign and discuss her newest romance novel, The Great Escape. At 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. 858-454-0347, mystgalaxy.com HJohnny Walker and Jim DeFelice at Bay Books, 1029 Orange Ave., Coronado. The co-authors will discuss and sign Code Name: Johnny Walker: The Extraordinary Story of the Iraqi Who Risked Everything to Fight with the U.S. Navy SEALs. At 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. 619-435-0070, baybookscoronado.com HErnie Cowan at Tree of Life, 4870 Santa Monica Ave., Ocean Beach. The local photographer discusses and signs his new book, Anza-Borrego: A Photographic Journey. At 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. californianativeplants.com Marianne Rose Peters at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals Program, Peters will discuss and sign her novel, Coincidence?, about a woman
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February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 13
who is mistakenly kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel. At noon Sunday, Feb. 23. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com Robert Levinson at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The art columnist and critic will sign and discuss his new noir mystery novel, Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers. At 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com Jennifer McMahon at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The Vermont author signs and discusses her latest, The Winter People, a tale of ghostly secrets, dark choices and the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters. At 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com HJanice Steinberg at Astor Judaica Library, 4126 Executive Dr., La Jolla, CA, La Jolla. The author will sign and discuss The Tin Horse, a novel about sisters growing up in the Los Angeles Jewish neighborhood of Boyle Heights in the ‘20s and ‘30s. At 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24. $10. 858-457-3030, lfjcc.org Dr. Runoko Rashidi at World Beat Cultural Center, 2100 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. The author, historian and world traveler has dedicated his life to uncovering the African foundation of world civilizations. He will discuss and sign Black Star: The African Presence in Early Europe. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26. 619-230-1190, worldbeatculturalcenter.memberlodge.com Bette Blaydes Pegas at Lemon Grove Library, 8073 Broadway, Lemon Grove. The award-winning local author will discuss Chasing the Dream in the Galapagos: A Personal Evolution, a memoir she wrote after taking a trip to the Galapagos with her daughter. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26. sdcl.org
COMEDY HWhitney Cummings at Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St., La Jolla. The comedian, actor and creator of the 2 Broke Girls and Whitney returns to her stand-up roots. At 8 and 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 19-20. $30. 858-454-9176, lajolla.thecomedystore.com HSklar Brothers at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. The twin stand-ups have appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, as well as Adult Swim’s Children’s Hospital. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. $18. 619795-3858, americancomedyco.com Nick Thune at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. The comedian and actor has an absurdist view and deadpan wit and often performs with a guitar and sings his jokes. At 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, and Sunday, Feb. 23; 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22. $18. 619-795-3858, americancomedyco.com Andrew Santino at Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St., La Jolla. The comic is currently a lead on ABC’s new series Mixology and was recently named Comedy Central’s “Top 10 Comedians to Watch.” At 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22. $20. lajolla.thecomedystore.com HAndrew Sleighter at Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. This comic’s laid-back style and clever writing has made him popular amongst the more indie comedy crowd,. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22. $20. thecomedypalace.com Lachlan Patterson at Mad House Comedy Club, 502 Horton Plaza, Downtown. The up-and-coming comic performs hot off his memorable debut performance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Com-
edy Central’s Live at Gotham. At 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22. $20. 619-702-6666, madhousecomedyclub.com HThe Bill Hicks 20th Anniversary Memorial Show at Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St., La Jolla. On the 20th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest comics of all time, over a half dozen local comics pay tribute while raising funds for The Bill Hicks Wildlife Foundation. Featuring performances from Jason Collings, Gordon Downs and a special appearance by Ryan Hicks (Bill’s nephew). At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26. $10. 858-454-9176, lajolla. thecomedystore.com
DANCE Aszure Barton & Artists at The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. One of the most in-demand choreographers in contemporary dance, Barton and his dance company make their San Diego debut with an original work exploring the feminine and masculine against a cool, underwater motif. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. $12-$46. 858-534-8497, artpwr. com HSalon Dance Series No. 1: Caught at Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive, Encinitas. This performance from the Patricia Rincon Dance Collective explores the dynamics of relationships and how personal boundaries and intimacy ebb and sometimes don’t flow. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. $10 suggested donation. rincondance.org HShen Yun at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. Five performances of traditional Chinese dance accompanied by a live orchestra. At various times Wednesday, Feb. 26, through Sunday, March 2. See website for schedule. $60-$200. 760-8394190, tickets.shenyun.com
FOOD & DRINK Foodie Friday at La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla. Enjoy food trucks like New York on Rye and microbrew tastings from Stone Brewing before a performance of LJP’s new play, The Who and the What. From 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. $5-$25. 858-550-1070, lajollaplayhouse.org HSan Diego Winter Brew Fest at San Diego Hall of Champions, 2131 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park. Sample craft beverages and dozens of brews from local and national breweries while enjoying live music, food and other vendors. This event benefits Outdoor Outreach and the San Diego Mountain Bike Association. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. $40-$50. 619234-2544, sandiegobrewfest.com San Diego Chefs Salute Tommy Gomes at Handlery Hotel, 950 Hotel Circle N., Mission Valley. A dual seafood and beer festival honoring San Diego’s favorite seafood supplier. Dozens of all-star chefs will be supplying the food, while local mixologists and breweries provide the libations. Ticket price includes unlimited food and drink until it runs out. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. $75. 619-298-0511, brownpapertickets.com/event/526443
MUSIC HBesos de Coco at New Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. Innovative and eclectic chamber group featuring tap-dancer Claudia Gomez, doublebassist Evona Wascinski and classical guitarist/vocalist Lorraine Castellanos. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. 619-2365800, sandiego.gov
14 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
THEATER Contrasts prevail in latest Old Globe production Rarely produced, Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Nearly as fierce is Angel Desai, dangerously sexy Tale is a schizophrenic entity—half tortured trag- in last year’s Double Indemnity, as the forthright edy, half buoyant, fanciful comedy. This dichoto- noblewoman Paulina. my is accentuated in the Old Globe’s production, The choice of modern-day dress speaks to the the initial directorial foray at the Balboa Park the- reality that such swirling passions as these are ater for Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. timeless. Still, this is a lengthy, two-headed play JIM COX of frequent convolution that even In this, the first indoor Shakespeare at the Globe in more than in magical hands seems a Shakea decade, Act 1’s shadows and Act speare B-side. 2’s brightness are starkly different The Winter’s Tale runs through in look and tenor. Somehow, the March 16 at the Old Globe Thestory of jealousy run obsessively atre. $29 and up. oldglobe.org amok, abandonment, remorse, ret—David L. Coddon ribution and reunion (yes, there’s Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com that much going on in The Winter’s and editor@sdcitybeat.com. Tale) coalesces in time for a magical, even supernatural, finale that restores order and good tidings. OPENING The contrast between darkness Blithe Spirit: The ghost of a writer’s exand light at its simplest is implied wife is summoned during a séance and ends up accidentally killing the guy’s curby the presence of two pianos on rent wife, whose ghost then returns for stage: a stately grand played with revenge. Presented by Moonlight Stage dramatic tension during the first Productions, it opens Feb. 20 at Avo Playact and a honkytonk upright conhouse in Vista. moonlightstage.com ducive to youthful horseplay and Billy Campbell (seated) Boys and Girls: West Coast premiere of romancing in he second. a play that tracks a couple of years in the This staging features original music (by Mi- lives of two pairs of people who grapple with their relationships chael Torke) employed to keen atmospheric effect, and the prospects of same-sex parenthood. Opens Feb. 20 at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights. diversionary.org as well as technical wonderwork such as flowers sprouting from the stage floor and star lights Detroit: This Pulitzer Prize finalist has a suburban couple hosting a backyard barbecue for their new neighbors. Things sweeping down from the rafters, both of which go spectacularly awry. Presented by San Diego Repertory elicited “oohs” and “aahs” from the opening-night Theatre, it opens Feb. 22 at the Lyceum Theatre at Horton audience. The start of Act 2, with cast members Plaza, Downtown. sdrep.org holding beating metronomes—to suggest the pas- The School for Lies: A period (17th century) adaptation of sage of 16 years in the story—and a spookily feral Molière’s The Misanthrope tells the story of a surly French who falls for an acid-tongued young woman. Opens in moment in the forest (“bear” included) also speak hater previews Feb. 19 at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana to Edelstein’s inspired, contemporary vision of the Beach. northcoastrep.org play. (Misfires: the reel-to-reel tape player stand- She Stoops to Conquer: In a play first performed in 1773, a ing in for the message of the Oracle and a broad young, upper-crust woman poses as a maid to make it easier for her shy suitor to woo her. Opens Feb. 19 at UCSD’s Mansecond-act sing-along.) Billy Campbell, back at the Globe after 10 dell Weiss Theatre in La Jolla. theatre.ucsd.edu years, looms large as the ill-fated (but ultimately For full listings, please visit redeemed) Leontes of Sicilia. He makes the king’s pained regrets as stirring as his deluded jealousy. “T heater ” at sdcit ybeat.com WED@7 Palimpsest at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UCSD campus, La Jolla. Co-curated by Susan Narucki and Jonathan Hepfer, the second Palimpsest program of the season is an exploration of evocative works by the Italian modernists. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. $15.50. musicweb.ucsd.edu Lindsey Pino at University Community Library, 4155 Governor Drive, La Jolla. The soprano performs a solo concert featuring works by Gounod, Mozart, Brahms, Bizet and more. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. sandiego.gov Legends of the Celtic Harp at Congregational Church of La Jolla, 1216 Cave St., La Jolla. Three of the premier Celtic harpers in the world, Patrick Ball, Lisa Lynne and Aryeh Frankfurter, have created a dramatic ensemble that takes you deep into the myths, stories, magic and fabled history of the instrument. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. $15-$20. 459-5045, lajollaucc.org HDr. Lonnie Smith at The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. An authentic master and guru of the Hammond B-3 organ, Smith has been featured on over 70 albums. At 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20.
$12-$28. 858-534-8497, artpwr.com Sarah Chang at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. A solo violin concert from Chang, who’s recognized as one of the world’s great violinists since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of 8. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. $50. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org HTribute to Loren Nancarrow at Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, Balboa Park. An all-star local lineup including Eve Selis, Berkley Hart, Steph Johnson, Cathryn Beeks and Michael Tiernan will take the stage in tribute to San Diego broadcast journalism icon Loren Nancarrow, who passed away in December from brain cancer. From 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. $25. 619-238-noon33, rhfleet.org HGary Wilson and the Blind Dates at Helmuth Projects, 1827 Fifth Ave., Downtown. A live performance from Wilson and his band to celebrate his new 7-inch record featuring artwork by Celeste Byers. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. $9. HThe Beatles from A to Z at ArtLab Studios, 3536 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Acclaimed guitarist Wayne Riker will run through an instrumental medley of 23 Bea-
tles songs, in alphabetical order, minus Q, V and X. From 7:30 to 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. Suggested donation. 619-283-1199, ext.115, artlabca.com HZeena Parkins at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. Part of the “Fresh Sounds” series of concerts. Parkins is a pioneer of contemporary harp and re-imagines the instrument as a “sound machine of limitless capacity” using processors and a custom-made hardware controller designed specifically for her instrument. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. $10-$15. freshsoundmusic.com HUgandan Orphans Choir at World Beat Cultural Center, 2100 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. A special concert from the choir of young children whose families have died of AIDS. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. 619230-1190, worldbeatculturalcenter.org The Chieftains at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Ireland’s musical ambassadors celebrate 50 years of traditional Irish music. At 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. $20-$85. 619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org Tord Gustavsen Quartet at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La
Jolla. A return engagement of the Norwegian jazz foursome known for nuanced, minimalist improvisation. At 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. $26. ljathenaeum.org Amadou Fall Trio at Smith Recital Hall, 5500 Campanile Drive, College Area. Part of the SDSU World Music Series, this concert will feature music from West Africa. At 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24. $12-$15. 6195946031, music.sdsu.edu Dean Ratzman Motown Concert at Malcolm X Branch Library, 5148 Market St., Valencia Park. The performer sings a selection of Hitsville favorites along with his signature audience rapport, humorous twist, and eclectic variety of musical arrangements. At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25. 619-527-3405, sandiego.gov HReflections: On Loss at San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park. This concert features composers Anna Clyne and UCSD’s Steve Schick performing pieces on the subject of love and loss. Schick will be premiering a new work conducting a 15-piece string section. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25. $10-$25. 619-232-7931, artofelan.org
of the Living Artist, Balboa Park. Participants will read/perform one poem under three minutes long, then audience members choose their favorite poem based on content and performance. Jerrica Escoto and Gill Sotu will perform as featured artists. From 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. $5. 619-957-3264, sandiego-art.org
SPECIAL EVENTS Silver Bay Kennel Club Dog Show at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. One of the largest dog shows in the U.S. A dog agility competition also will be part of the show on Saturday and Sunday. From 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. 858-755-1161, silverbaykc.com
5K Paw Walk in the Garden at San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas. Guests can bring their pooches to this second annual 5K, which benefits the Rancho Coastal Humane Society and the Botanic Garden. Following the walk, dogs and people can peruse petfriendly vendors. At 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. $12-$24. 760-436-3036, sdpets.org
TALKS & DISCUSSIONS Juhani Pallasmaa at New School of Architecture & Design, 1249 F St., Downtown. The world-renowned Finnish architect, educator and critic will speak on “Landscapes of Architectural Education: Architecture, Knowledge and Existential
Wisdom.” A reception and book signing will follow. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19. 800-490-7081, newschoolarch.edu HReza Aslan at La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla. The Playhouse will host “The Human Divine: Searching for the Person within the Sacred,” a free discussion featuring Reza Aslan, author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. He’ll explore the desire to uncover the historical background of religious figures and the controversy that inevitably follows such attempts. At 5:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. 858-550-1010, lajollaplayhouse.org Carla Juacaba: During Construction at Woodbury School of Architecture, 2212 Main St., Barrio Logan. Juacaba, an independent practice of architecture and researcher based in Rio de Janeiro, will
discuss housing and cultural programming. From 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25. 619-235-2900, architecture.woodbury.edu Siddhartha Mukherjee at Price Center Ballroom, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer will discuss the disease and offer a poignant perspective on medical ethics surrounding the fight against cancer. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25. 858-246-0809, ethicscenter.net
For full listings,
please visit “E vents” at sdcit yb eat.com
HFatoumata Diawara at Price Center Ballroom, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The Malian singer spins elements of jazz and funk into a spare yet sensual folkrock sound. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26. $12-$30. 858-534-8497, artpwr.com MLK Gospel Choir at Smith Recital Hall, 5500 Campanile Drive, College Area. In celebration of Black History Month, this concert will feature members of the MLK gospel choir under the direction of Ken Anderson. At noon Wednesday, Feb. 26. music.sdsu.edu WED@7: Takae Ohnishi with Brian Chen at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UCSD campus, La Jolla. Acclaimed harpsichordist Takae Ohnishi and violist Brian Che-Yen Chen will perform Bach’s complete sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26. $15.50. musicweb.ucsd.edu
PERFORMANCE HThe Ring of Power at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Nuvi Mehta delves into the myths underlying Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Find out if you can “hear” good and evil in this multi-media presentation. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. $20. 619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org HMichael Trigilio at Calit2 Auditorium, Atkinson Hall, UCSD campus, La Jolla. Trigilio presents a multi-platform media suite with a collection of works ranging from stereographic panoramas capturing poetical performances, 4K digital cinematic works and more. From 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, visarts.ucsd.edu HThe Elixir of Love at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. Italian tenor Giuseppe Filianoti makes his San Diego Opera debut in Gaetano Donizetti’s comedy about a handsome sergeant who turns to Dr. Dulcamara’s elixir of love in hopes of winning the lovely Adina. At 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. $45-$215. sdopera.com Jessica Holter’s The Punany Poets at ArtLab Studios, 3536 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. An exotic poetry, cabaret and sketch-comedy show for adults only. At 9 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. $30. 619-2831199, punanypoets.com
POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HPeople’s Choice Poem Performance Award at San Diego Art Institute-Museum
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 15
Israel Castillo
Israel Castillo
r e h t o n Just a Mikey Hottman does a slappy front board slide. Tim Hardy
Some of San Diego’s legendary old-school skaters are crushing curbs on a weekly basis by Kinsee Morlan It’s a windy Sunday afternoon, somewhere in Point Loma, and a handful of old-school skateboarders are grinding their boards along strips of red- and yellow-painted curbs outside a public building. The chipped curbs help tell the tale: The crew meets weekly at this spot (undisclosed because they’re not supposed to be doing that there) for Slappy Sunday, a casual meet-up of skaters in their 30s and 40s who no longer feel comfortable at skate parks amid 10-year-olds on razor scooters. If it’s a nice spring or summer day, the crowd of skaters at Slappy Sunday can swell to upwards of 60. Last Sunday, just five skaters braved the slightly imperfect weather. “There’ve been a lot of people who’ve come out,” says Mikey Hottman, the 39year-old artist and motorcycle mechanic credited with starting Slappy Sunday. “Expros who’ve retired from skateboarding have come out. It’s basically just about getting people to skateboard again.” That simple premise has struck a chord, not only in San Diego, but around the world. Slappy Sundays have sprung up in New York City, Chicago, Portland and even France and Ireland, turning the meet-up into a legitimate movement that’s inspired a bunch of old dudes to dust off their decks. “I’ll Google ‘Slappy Sunday,’ and there’ll be some guy in Bodink, Ohio, in the middle of nowhere—you know, Anytown, U.S.A.— who’s doing his own version of Slappy Sunday,” Hottman says, a board in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. “It’s crazy. How did he even hear about it, you know?” There’ve been write-ups on New York City’s Slappy Sunday in Vice and Transworld
Skateboarding. Filmmaker Simon Heath even made a mini documentary about the East Coast Slappy Sunday crew. The original San Diego Slappy Sunday event, though, has managed to remain pretty much underground, spreading via online social networks like Facebook and Instagram and growing mostly through word-of-mouth. The Slappy Sunday origin story is pretty simple but has yet to be documented and filed alongside the other urban legends that make up local underground skateboarding history and lore. Hottman and Mikey Ratt, the skateboarder behind Pack Ratt Records & Junk in Talmadge, used to work together at a local motorcycle shop. Hottman was always getting after Ratt, prodding him to get on his board again so the two could ride together. The duo took a road trip to Portland, and the long hours together sealed the deal. The Sunday after they returned, about three years ago, they got a crew together and skated a parking lot in City Heights. From there, Slappy Sunday moved to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Hillcrest, whose parking lot is well-known by skaters far and wide. “Even back East we knew about the DMV in Hillcrest,” says Alyasha OwerkaMoore, a local designer and brand ambassador for PF Flyers, sitting on his skateboard, iPhone in hand, recording shots of Hottman and San Diego photographer and skater Tim Hardy as they skid their boards along a curb. “It was kind of like this legendary thing. Curb skating is a weird thing; it’s like a subculture within a subculture. But that was my introduction to Slappy Sunday…. It’s just a thing for us cats who are older but who don’t get out to skate as much because we’re working, we have responsibilities, we have bills to pay, some guys are married, some have families.” Ken Lieu says the simple act of giving the meet-up a name and making it happen consistently every week inspired him and other older skateboarders who’d let life and responsibilities get in the way of their
16 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
longtime passion to ride. “It worked for me,” Lieu says. “I used to be a professional skateboarder, but I started working, and skating kind of faded away.” He says another cool element has been seeing skaters bring their kids, who have since become friends. The young’uns look to be the future of Slappy Sunday, the ones who’ll help ensure the event will be around for generations to come. Slappy Sunday regular Jason Carney is a onetime professional skateboarder who recently opened Slappy’s Garage, on 17th Street and Island Avenue in East Village. The name of his skate shop isn’t directly related to Slappy Sundays; rather, both are named after the street-skating move invented by famed skater John Lucero. Every skater at the recent Slappy Sunday could effortlessly recite some version of the urban legend behind the slappy—a recognizable move wherein skateboarders ride a curb as if it’s the rim of a skate bowl and, instead of doing an Ollie or jumping up onto the curb, the board is sort of slapped or crashed onto the edge before they slide down the rough ledge. Carney says hitting up a Slappy Sunday is a good way to see old friends, some of whom have been riding together in San Diego since the ’80s. He says the casual meet-up has also inspired new ideas and business ventures. He and Hottman actually started a clothing line, Slappy’s Brand, which he sells at his shop. Those new collaborations are cool, he says, but the most important thing about Slappy Sunday is reminding skaters what the counterculture sport is really about. “You drift apart because of families and jobs,” Carney says. “This reestablished that sense of community and got people back into skateboarding in a relaxed format. Skateboarding is just about the ride, not the sponsorships or any of that, you know. It’s about sitting on the curb with some friends.” Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
Dorian Tucker does a slappy front feeble. Israel Castillo
Bert Custodio does a slappy hurricane.
Conspiracy of Happiness / Flickr
San Diego Museum of Art
Seen Local Hard times at SDMA
artists to showcase their work in a museum context, and a lot of people got exposure and were able to be associated with a museum for the first time,” Vasquez said. “SDMA is an old museum in San Diego, and it has a very conservative image. Before 2010 [when the Summer Salon Series started], you would have thought Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is the cutting-edge museum in town. But when Alexander started doing his program, that changed. SDMA grabbed the mantle and, suddenly, they were cutting-edge.” In addition to the layoffs, several positions of staffers who’ve left SDMA, such as gallery director and marketing and communications manager, remain vacant. According to the museum’s most recent tax filing, revenue has declined. In 2012, SDMA took in a little more than $13 million. In 2013, revenue was reported as $7.3 million. Much of the loss is related to a drop in individual giving, which totaled more than $8 million in 2012 and a bit more than $1 million in 2013. However, that’s a number that fluctuates regularly and dramatically due to benefactors giving large, unexpected, one-time gifts. SDMA’s chief operating officer, Dieter FenkartFroeschl, who stepped into his role a few months ago, says that, overall, the museum’s financial situation is stable. Citing audited financial statements rather than raw tax data from 2012 and 2013, he says SDMA actually saw an increase in overall net assets. “I believe the institution has a very healthy balance sheet, and, honestly, I wouldn’t have joined the team if I didn’t think there was a bright future,” he said. Fenkart-Froeschl said the cuts in staffing and programming are simply an effort to balance both current and projected drops in revenue—a result of several factors including dips in admissions and memberships—with an ambitious budget and exhibition schedule for the upcoming fiscal year. “It’s not a huge financial disaster,” he says. “It’s just us doing our proper due diligence.” In an effort to help balance the budget, SDMA says the senior leadership team, including Velásquez, whose base salary was raised by more than 7.5 percent from $263,029 in 2012 to $282,782 in 2013, took a 5-percent salary cut.
The San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) laid off four employees on Jan. 28. CityBeat first reported the news in a Feb. 12 blog post, in which museum director Roxana Velásquez provided a statement explaining the move. “In an effort to assure a balanced budget, the leadership and board of trustees at the SDMA determined that several adjustments had to be made to the museum’s expenses for the current 2014 fiscal year,” Velásquez’s statement read in part. “Unfortunately, this resulted in the difficult decision to eliminate four positions, and make reductions in marketing budgets and select public programming.” Velásquez also mentioned the robust programming and exhibitions planned for the 2015 Balboa Park Centennial Celebration. The price tag of that programming appears to be one of several factors applying financial pressure on the Balboa Park institution’s budget despite a recently publicized $1.5-million gift from Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner, which was, in part, geared toward helping to fund centennial-celebration programming. SDMA would not disclose the names of those let go, but it did confirm that the positions were from the education, visitor services and development departments. A visit to the museum’s website, however, revealed that Alexander Jarman, the publicprograms manager, and Renee Fricke, director of development and membership, have been removed from the staff page (cached versions of the same page had them previously listed). Both are relatively high-level positions. Jarman, a former CityBeat cover artist, is well-respected and appreciated by local artists, many of whom have shown work at SDMA in Jarman’s Summer Salon Series and Summer Break programming. Artist Perry Vasquez, who participated in the summer series at SDMA for four years, said that if —Kinsee Morlan Jarman is gone, so is the valuable, provocative and innovative programming he brought to the museum. Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com “It was a blossoming of opportunities for San Diego and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 17
West Bank story Oscar-nominated film from Palestine tells a gripping moral tale by Glenn Heath Jr. If the filmmakers behind The Amazing Spiderman were smart, they’d kick that Andrew Garfield guy to the curb and cast Adam Bakri in the titular web-slinging role. The agile young star of Hany AbuAssad’s Omar would’ve injected some much-needed charisma and energy into that horrendous superhero reboot. Adam Bakri be nimble. As Omar, Bakri proves early on in the Oscar-nominated Palestinian thriller that he’s man who’s forced him into an impossible situation a physical marvel, scaling a massive cement barrier takes a personal call and shows a completely differthat divides the West Bank then barely dodging an ent side. This kind of flourish stings when the ineviincoming bullet. But the endurance tests don’t stop table violence finally strikes. there: He spends much of the film running and jumpFrom a formal perspective, Omar uses its dense ing through urban corridors like a human pinball. metropolitan terrain to create a genuine sense of urThe blisteringly tense narrative certainly calls gency. Each scene feels claustrophobic, as if merely for such sprightliness. After planning and executing turning the corner could be a life-altering decision. a sniper attack on an Israeli army base that leaves One climactic chase sequence involving Omar and one soldier dead, Omar and his two friends, Amjad a squadron of pursuing agents inventively veers up (Samer Bisharat) and Tarek (Iyad Hoorani), find stairwells, across rooftops and down alleyways. Even themselves hunted men. During a police raid, Omar’s better, the action doesn’t exist in a vacuum: The real captured while his compatriots escape, leaving him world often gets in the way and sends these racing in the hands of a senior agent named Rami (Waleed participants in an entirely new direction. Zuaiter). Since life experience is Considering the political unthe primary form of currency in dertones inherent to the story, Omar Omar, the young insurgent is no Omar’s dexterity becomes a sort Directed by Hany Abu-Assad match for the older interrogator, of protest against the stifling limiStarring Adam Bakri, Waleed who manages to trick his subject tations of his surroundings. Each into confessing. In order to avoid step carries more than just physiZuaiter, Leem Lubany and prison, Omar turns informant. cal weight, each leap a statement Samer Bisharat It might sound like a standard of defiance against his country’s Not Rated narrative formula, but Abu-Assad occupation. But these ideas are transcends cliché by focusing on hidden beneath a convincing drathe dimensionality and drive of his characters. Omar ma about a flawed man trying his hardest to avoid doesn’t fit the angry young Muslim archetype. He’s the easy way out of trouble, which makes their imin love with Tarek’s sister, Nadia (Leem Lubany), and plications far more scathing in hindsight. the two have planned a life together. But such naïveté What becomes clearer as Omar delves deeper regarding the ripple effect of his actions is devastat- down a slippery and tenuous rabbit hole of betrayal ing. How can this future be attainable after he par- is that one’s ideological life and personal life are forticipates in a brazen terrorist attack? It’s these kinds ever intertwined. They can never be segregated, no of moral questions that become Omar’s lifeblood. matter how hard we try. Omar—which opens Friday, Rami turns out to be a fascinating foil because Feb. 21, at La Jolla Village Cinemas—is not simply he’s not just a government puppet or ideologue. His an effective thriller; it’s a moral tale with universal life beyond the film’s thriller-genre core is revealed themes that takes on the vibe of a film noir in its fain the middle of a key discussion with Omar. Right talistic final moments. as the intensity of the dialogue peaks, Rami’s phone rings. It’s his wife asking when he’ll be home for din- Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com ner. Omar watches as the deceiving and conniving and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
Copy cat
Tim’s Vermeer
18 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
Subject matter alone does not a successful documentary make: It’s crucial to have an aesthetic identity that complements the content. A film like Tim’s Vermeer proves this thesis, taking an intriguing and potentially revolutionary subject and framing it with an uninventive, irritating and banal filmmaking style.
Video engineer and media mogul Tim Jenison calls himself an obsessive inventor, but his passion projects are so consuming that they feel one step removed from unhealthy. Director Teller and producer Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller fame) give the audience a quick tour of Jenison’s crazy highlight reel in the early goings,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 19
establishing his quirky personality and extreme drive. All of this is meant to properly foreground Jenison’s latest magnum opus: an investigation of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer and the amazing realness of his paintings. Joining the academic debate surrounding whether or not the artist used a primitive version of the camera obscura to create such verisimilitude, Jenison decides to test his theory using an optic device that allows a person with no formal training to paint like Vermeer. Watching him piece together his first drawing is amazing to behold, but it’s only the primer for what will become a meticulous, four-month-long process in which
he tries to craft his own Vermeer, a carbon copy of “The Music Lesson.” He even recreates the setting down to the smallest detail and makes his own paint, just like Vermeer did four centuries before. Since Tim’s Vermeer—which opens Friday, Feb. 21, at Hillcrest Cinemas—is founded on such visual principles, one would think the film would be a natural fit for an innovative camera style. Nothing could be further from the truth, as Teller mixes tired montages with the standard handheld camera tool-kit. Good thing the spry Jenison is always there to remind you that what you’re seeing is far more important than how you’re seeing it.
Opening
tense melodrama stars Elizabeth Olson as a sexually repressed young woman trapped in a loveless marriage who finds hope in an illicit affair with a family friend.
Aftermath: Two Polish brothers attempt to reveal a conspiracy among the residents of their small village, where their Jewish neighbors were massacred during World War II. Screens through Feb. 27 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.
—Glenn Heath Jr.
Pompeii: Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson sets his sights on the city destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. for his latest muscle-bound action epic in 3D.
Barefoot: The outcast of a wealthy family befriends a psychiatric patient who was raised in isolation her entire life and decides it’s a good idea to take her home to Mom and Dad. Hilarity ensues.
Omar: Adam Bakri shines in this complex, Oscar-nominated thriller from Palestine about a young man caught in a web of deception in the West Bank. See our review on Page 18.
In Secret: Set in 1860s Paris, this in-
Three Days to Kill: CIA agent Kevin
20 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
Costner’s got—you guessed it: three days to kill his last target or his innocent daughter will die. Tim’s Vermeer: Tim Jenison is a mad inventor who’s become obsessed with Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s verisimilitude. In this documentary from Penn & Teller, he decides to embark on a multiyear journey to prove that Vermeer used optics to paint such lifelike paintings. See our review on Page 18. The Wind Rises: Reportedly director Hayao Miyazaki’s final film, this glorious animated biopic about Jiro Horokoshi examines one man’s perilous tunnel vision as he designs war planes for the Japanese government during World War II.
One Time Only Titanic II: A hundred years after the infamous ocean liner sank, a luxury liner follows the path of its namesake, only to be hit with its own catastrophe. What a shocker. Screens at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, at ArtLab Studios in Normal Heights. Enough Said: Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as a masseuse who falls in love with her new friend’s ex-husband (James Gandolfini) without realizing the connection in Nicole Holofcener’s smart comedy. Screens at 8 pm. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills and at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at the San Diego Public Library in East Village. Raze: Members of an elite secret society abduct a young woman and force her to fight other kidnap victims to the death in an unimaginable prison-like maze. Screens at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday,
Feb. 21 and 22, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park. The Loving Story: HBO films presents this documentary about Richard and Lidred Loving, who were arrested in 1958 for violating Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage. Screens at 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park. Marilyn Monroe Marathon: Twentyfive dollars gets you Henry Hathaway’s sleazy Niagara, Howard Hawks’ sublime Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Billy Wilder’s flirty The Seven Year Itch and progressive Some Like it Hot and John Huston’s romantic The Misfits, all starring Marilyn Monroe. Presented by FilmOut, it all screens from noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, at the Birch North Park Theatre. Thanks for Sharing: A recovering sex addict (Mark Ruffalo) begins a perilous relationship with his sponsor (Gwyneth Paltrow). Screens at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, at the San Diego Public Library in East Village. Freedom Riders: Documentary about the pivotal civil-rights activists who challenged segregation in the Deep South. Screens at 2:45 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park. Pulp Fiction: If by some miracle you haven’t seen Quentin Tarantino’s hugely influential masterpiece, there’s no better first viewing than on the big screen. Screens at 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, at Arclight La Jolla. Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus): The classic tale of Orpheus and Eurydice unfolds during Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro in this Brazilian-cinema classic. Screens at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.
Garibaldi’s Lovers: Italian comedy about a widowed plumber whose life intersects with a penniless artist and her eccentric landlord. Screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Mission Valley Public Library. ¡Bienvenido, Mr. Marshall!: A backwater town attempts to con a group of Marshall Plan representatives by adopting traditional Andalusian stereotypes. This 1960s satire is a benchmark of Spanish cinema. Screens at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Hall of Nations in Balboa Park. In a World…: Lake Bell wrote, directed and stars in this film about a voice-over coach who finds herself competing against her arrogant father for a movie trailer gig. Screens at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the Mission Valley Public Library. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days: Kate Hudson was once a big star. Movies like this prove why she isn’t anymore. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma. American Winter: Documentary about the economic disparity in modern America, specifically looking at the divide between those who suffer daily due to a lack of basic necessities and those who live oblivious to these realities. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the Women’s Museum of California in Point Loma’s Liberty Station. For a complete listing of movies, please see “F ilm S creenings” at sdcit yb eat.com under the “E vents” tab.
5
border bands you should know A roundup of rising Latin alternative artists by Dita Quiñones
L
iving in a border town makes for a remarkable fusion of Mexican and American culture. And that fusion is being interpreted in fascinating ways by artists on both sides of la frontera. Tijuana birthed two of the most important Latin alternative musicians of our generation: Grammy winner Julieta Venegas and Grammy-nominated Bostich + Fussible. Since their emergence, Tijuana’s musical landscape has flourished with the rise of new genres—like ruidoson—and a kaleidoscopic group of young musicians. Here’s a roundup of five buzz-worthy Latin alternative acts from San Diego, Tijuana and Tecate that are changing the landscape, one track at a time:
Madame Ur y Sus Hombres Tijuana
Carla Morrison Tecate
In 2010, Carla Morrison attracted attention with the debut of her breakout single, “Compartir.” The unassuming Tecate girl’s heart-wrenching vocals, reminiscent of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval—en Español—and incredible guitar-playing style made her Baja’s next big thing since Julieta Venegas. Morrison’s the founder of independent label Pan Dulce Productions and has become an outspoken activist for gay Latinos and the #YOSOY132 movement, which was sparked after two college students were killed after Enrique Peña Nieto, then the governor of the state of Mexico and a presidential candidate, ordered police to quell a young voters’ protest at Ibero-American University. This year, Morrison will star as the subject of the documentary Encendí Mi Alma.
Madame Ur is a soulful and enchanting cabaret-jazz songstress who uses her voice as an instrument, as seen in the video for the 2012 single “Venada”—you’d think she was actually muting a trumpet, but it’s all her. Madame Ur is forging her own path with a sensual, bilingual, feminist approach to cabaret jazz that stands out among the more prominent EDM and rock scenes in Tijuana. The Orquesta de Baja California (OBC) has even taken notice of Madame Ur y Sus Hombres and has been performing concerts with them at the Tijuana cultural landmark CECUT. Recently, the band’s been dropping experimental trip-hop remixes on SoundCloud from their debut, Animal Man, and are currently working on new material. While the group hasn’t given any indication of what the album will sound like, expect a fusion of Portishead-like atmosphere with Gloria Steinem’s politics.
Los Hollywood
Dani Shivers Tijuana
San Diego
Los Hollywood is a trio fronted by Heidy Flores, whose roaring voice—comparable to Gwen Stefani’s—can seamlessly transition into a whisper. It’s a comparison she can’t get away from, but Flores can do a few things Stefani can’t—namely, play bass and speak Spanish. The band’s bilingual 2008 single, “No Te Aguites,” was featured as a Song of the Week on iTunes, and with good reason: It’s their best song. Los Hollywood are planning a summer release for their full-length debut, which is being produced and engineered by Thom Russo (Tom Morello, Johnny Cash, Juanes, Maná). They recently dropped an unedited acoustic performance video with Encore Sessions for “Lejos de Ti,” shot on Harbor Drive in a pedicab and showcasing their musical synchronicity.
Dani Shivers’ obsession with collecting Casio keyboards has produced a witch’s brew of sounds— like those heard on sophomore effort Jinx, released last year on Tijuana cassette label Prima Crush—that are so full of gothic angst, you’d think she transported here from 1980s Manchester. But Dani Shivers is all the way Tijuanera—born and raised. Her new release takes you by the hand on a dark exploration of witch hunting, grave visitation, bad friendships and vampire boyfriends. In January, the goth-pop Casio princess released “Body of One,” a feverish dance tune that sounds like a lost relic of the ’80s New York City underground disco scene where Madonna got her start. Her selfdirected music video for the song comprises a series of “selfies” done right, with head-turning graphic sequences rife with mod cool.
Vanessa Zamora Tijuana
Tijuana’s acoustic-guitar darling, Vanessa Zamora, gives the impression that she could be a distant, much younger fifth member of the Mamas & The Papas. The 22-yearold singer / songwriter is a classically trained pianist and guitarist, and her songs often recall those born of the 1970s Laurel Canyon scene. Zamora first caught the eye of Carla Morrison when she covered a Morrison song on YouTube, and, since then, she’s been signed to Morrison’s Pan Dulce Productions. She’s been on her grind in Mexico, booking shows anywhere and everywhere, and amassing an impressive fan base that’s reflected in her rapidly growing social-media presence. In March, Zamora will release “Te Quiero Olvidar,” the lead single off of her yet-untitled sophomore album.
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 21
The New Kinetics’ old lineup, with Brian Reilly in the hat
notes from the smoking patio Locals Only Last week, The Casbah announced on its website that The New Kinetics, who split up in June 2013, will play a show on April 5, their first in nine months. The current lineup includes singer Birdy Bardot, guitarist Brian Reilly, bassist Joshua Kmak and drummer Jon Bonser. Former bassist Leslie Schulze, more recently of Flaggs, left San Diego last month to focus on a career in air-traffic control. When the band initially broke up, Reilly had made the decision to stop playing music, though he says that trying to maintain a 9-to-5 living didn’t work out too well. “I tried to fit in and be a button-down professional, but I guess you don’t choose who you are,” Reilly tells CityBeat in an email. “You just take what you got and make it your own.” Reilly also says that the band is “back full-time” and that they’re working on a new album that they plan to have finished and released before July. “I’m glad to be back,” Reilly says. “I can’t believe
Tag It and Bag It If you search for albums tagged “San Diego” on Bandcamp, you’ll find some interesting stuff. In this semi-regular column, we sift through recent Bandcamp postings and report on our findings. Live from the Lab, Edgar Is Real and Robinson Wigfall: It’s not particularly rare in 2014 to hear live, jazzy hip-hop played by a full band rather than doled out in carefully stitched-together samples, though Edgar Is Real and Robinson Wigfall are very much doing the latter, despite the “live” in their record’s title. Yet, Live from the Lab has such a smooth, organic flow to it, at times you can almost believe they’ve assembled a group of musicians in the studio. Whatever the case, they dispense chill beats with ease. littlecoaldoves e.p., littlecoaldove: I don’t really get what’s going on with littlecoaldove’s e.e. cummings-without-a-space-bar stylization, but I suppose that’s not really important. The music he makes is less pretentious—solodude-with-acoustic-guitar folk that’s reminiscent of Bon Iver before Justin Vernon went full-on Bruce Hornsby. It’s nice enough, if not terribly memorable. Embodiment, Matthew O: Well, this is certainly odd. Matthew O’s Bandcamp page is tagged with
22 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
it’s been just under a year already.”
•••
Brunch with Bob, the weekly all-Bob Marley reggae show originally launched on FM 94/9 and currently hosted on Pala community radio station Rez Radio 91.3, will now be regularly broadcast live from the Catamaran Resort in Mission Bay. Host Tommy Hough confirms that the format of the show won’t change (“It’s not going to become a talk show,” he says), but the time seemed right for a change of venue. “After 10 years, it felt like it was time to add a new element,” Hough says. “It’s fun to go out into the field, and Brunch with Bob always lent itself well to a live broadcast.” The first live show will air from 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday, Feb. 23.
—Jeff Terich lots of genres that probably shouldn’t be smashed together: “jazz & blues,” “metal,” “hip-hop,” “minimalism,” et al. That’s a bit misleading; Matthew O doesn’t really rap, shred, jam out or anything like that—he basically recites disturbing monologues over peculiar electronic compositions. It’s somewhere between a robot reading poetry and a snuff film. He’s certainly got my attention. Spam, e-milio estevez: I initially listened to this based on the name and pixilated image of a can of Spam, but it turns out this three-track release is a lot less jokey and cute than it initially seems. The EP is actually a series of ambient exercises using MIDI recreations of acoustic bass (or so it sounds, anyway). It’s oddly soothing, pretty even. Finding Home for the First Time, Hotel Books: A split EP with Brave Coast, this short release combines post-rock Matthew O instrumentals with spoken-word verses that approach screamo when the vocalist is at his most fired-up and seething. It’s emotional stuff, if kind of pretentious, and fascinating, if not necessarily fun to listen to. I keep waiting for the drums to kick in, but they never do. Solid effort for what it is, though.
—Jeff Terich Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.
if i were u
BY Jeff Terich
Wednesday, Feb. 19 PLAN A: Ringo Deathstarr, Purple, Buddy Banter, The Killer Hz @ Soda Bar. Ringo Deathstarr’s name is less funny every time you hear it, but the same can’t be said about how enjoyable the Texas shoegazers’ music is. Their 2011 album Colour Trip is like My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless given a punk makeover—dense, loud and badass all around. PLAN B: Yuna, Marques Toliver @ The Casbah. Malaysian singer / songwriter Yuna Zarai writes splendidly sweet pop songs, often with uniquely mesmerizing arrangements. Her music runs the gamut from gentle to danceable and soulful, which should make for a consistently fun show. BACKUP PLAN: Shiva Trash, Idyll Wild, The Illuminauts @ U-31.
The Che Café. Rotting Out are named for a song by The Descendents, but their brand of hardcore is considerably heavier and more brutal. Not that you won’t have just as much fun seeing them live; it just might hurt a little more the next day. PLAN B: Noah Gundersen, Armon Jay @ Soda Bar. There must be something in the water—or perhaps just a relentless trickle of it from the sky—in the Pacific Northwest that produces so many exceptional singer / songwriters. Noah Gundersen, a 25-year-old from Seattle, is one of them. He just released his debut album, Ledges, which I recommend you give a spin before heading out to see him live.
Sunday, Feb. 23
PLAN A: Marissa Nadler, Pink Mountaintops, Isolde Touch @ PLAN A: Van She, BulletSoda Bar. Marissa Nadler’s proof Tiger, Glass Spells @ July is one of my early favorSoda Bar. Van She can pretty ite albums of the year. Nadler much always be counted on to has consistently released alprovide a nonstop dance parbum after album of delicate ty, particularly in this unusual and beautiful indie folk, and show format that combines this one is yet another in an a DJ set with live vocals. Get ongoing hot streak. When you there a little early for Bulletsee her at Soda Bar, however, proof Tiger, a duo who serve bring a sweater—her ghostly up their own brand of electrovoice will give you chills. funk, in tiger masks no less. PLAN B: Lawrence RothPLAN B: Amigo, Chiefs, Old man, Mas Ysa, Tiger and the Man Wizard @ The Merrow. Teller @ The Casbah. LawBut maybe you want some rence Rothman’s been likened heavy stoner rock instead of to Leonard Cohen singing over a dance party, and if that’s the R&B grooves, which should be case, you’re in luck. Some of enticing enough, but he’s also Marissa Nadler performing with Canada’s this town’s hardest-rocking bands are taking over The Merrow to hand Mas Ysa, who splits the difference between out riffs galore. soulful pop and experimental electronics.
Thursday, Feb. 20
Friday, Feb. 21
Monday, Feb. 24
PLAN A: Gary Wilson and the Blind Dates, Lube @ Helmuth Projects. San Diego legend and oddball songwriter Gary Wilson is releasing a brand-new 7-inch single and holding what’s sure to be a hell of a record-release show at Helmuth Projects, an art gallery in Bankers Hill. Expect the unexpected: mannequins, duct tape, rubber gloves, and lots of weird, wonderful pop music. PLAN B: Blockhead @ The Loft at UCSD. New York producer Blockhead has built up a reputation for rock-solid beats, having produced tracks for MCs like Aesop Rock and Murs. But his instrumentals tend to speak for themselves, chock full of mesmerizing soundscapes and popping with lots of decadent ear candy. BACKUP PLAN: Zeena Parkins @ Bread & Salt.
PLAN A: R. Stevie Moore, The Memories, Karl Blau @ Soda Bar. An eccentric Nashville artist who’s been self-releasing heaping helpings of music since the late 1960s, R. Stevie Moore is a true original. It’s difficult to pin down his style, since he’s recorded so much over the years, but his unconventional mix of sound experiments and pop songwriting is guaranteed to yield an interesting evening.
Tuesday, Feb. 25
PLAN A: Electrician, Redrick Sultan @ The Che Café. Neil Campau, aka Electrician, is sort of like a California counterpart to Olympia, Wash., singer / songwriter Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie, The Microphones). Both musicians specialize in dark, layered lofi folk compositions underscored by a hauntSaturday, Feb. 22 ing chill. Electrician’s music doesn’t sound as PLAN A: Rotting Out, No Bragging Rights, much like a walk through a scary forest, but Heart to Heart, The Beautiful Ones @ it’s compelling stuff nonetheless.
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 23
HOT! NEW! FRESH! Cattle Decapitation (Porter’s Pub, 3/9), Tool (Valley View Casino Center, 3/16), Jeremy Messersmith (HOB, 3/22), The Sounds (HOB, 3/25), The New Kinetics (Casbah, 4/5), Vertical Scratchers (Soda Bar, 4/14), Cypress Hill (HOB, 4/17), Jim Jones Revue (Soda Bar, 4/27), Bleeding Rainbow (Soda Bar, 5/1), Danny Brown (Porter’s Pub, 5/2), Old 97s (BUT, 5/8), People Under the Stairs (Casbah, 5/13), Tim McGraw (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/17), Matt Pond PA (Soda Bar, 5/24), Suzanne Vega (BUT, 5/25), Potty Mouth (Che Cafe, 5/30), Lionel Richie (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 6/7), Dawn of MIDI (Sod Bar, 6/13), EMA (Casbah, 6/29).
CANCELLED Tiger Army (HOB, 4/16).
GET YER TICKETS Childish Gambino (Open Air Theatre, 3/3), Gary Numan (BUT, 3/5), St. Vincent (HOB, 3/19), G. Love and Special Sauce (HOB, 3/21), Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings (HOB, 3/22), Kings of Leon (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 3/22), Lady Antebellum (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 3/23), Kool Keith (Casbah, 3/24), The Willie Nelson (Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, 4/4), Mogwai (BUT, 4/15), Ghost B.C. (HOB, 4/26), The Dillinger Escape Plan (Porter’s Pub, 4/26), O.A.R. (BUT, 4/28-29), Tokyo Police Club (BUT, 5/2), The Bad Plus (The Loft at UCSD, 5/4), Manchester Orchestra (HOB, 5/6), Journey, Steve Miller Band (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/15), Lady Gaga (Viejas Arena, 6/2), World Party (BUT, 6/29), Jack Johnson (RIMAC Field, 8/30), Dave Matthews Band (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/5).
February Wednesday, Feb. 19 Yuna at The Casbah. Ringo Deathstarr at Soda Bar.
Thursday, Feb. 20 Van She at Soda Bar. Dr. Lonnie Smith at The Loft at UCSD.
Friday, Feb. 21 Blockhead at The Loft at UCSD. Ane Brun, Linnea Olsson at The Casbah.
Saturday, Feb. 22 Karmin at House of Blues.
Sunday, Feb. 23 Marissa Nadler at Soda Bar. John Butler Trio, Little Hurricane at House of Blues.
Monday, Feb. 24 R. Stevie Moore at Soda Bar. Lucinda Williams at Belly Up Tavern. Kodaline, LP at The Casbah.
Wednesday, Feb. 26 Madball at Soda Bar. The Chain Gang of 1974 at The Casbah.
Thursday, Feb. 27 Kevin Seconds at House of Blues. Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, Chad Valley at The Casbah.
Friday, Feb. 28 Elvin Bishop at Belly Up Tavern. Dead-
24 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
phones at Soda Bar. Metalachi, Geezer at The Casbah.
March Saturday, March 1 Angel Olsen at Soda Bar. G-Eazy at SOMA. Com Truise at The Casbah.
Sunday, March 2 The Wailers at Belly Up Tavern.
Monday, March 3 Childish Gambino at Open Air Theatre.
Tuesday, March 4 Andre Nickatina at Porter’s Pub. Blu and Exile at The Casbah.
Wednesday, March 5 Walk Off The Earth at House of Blues. Gary Numan at Belly Up Tavern. Painted Palms at The Griffin.
Thursday, March 6 Warm Soda at The Hideout. Nicole Atkins at Soda Bar. JD Samson and Men at Bar Pink.
Friday, March 7 The Ataris at House of Blues. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe at Belly Up Tavern. The Casket Girls at The Hideout.
Saturday, March 8 San Fermin, Son Lux at The Loft at UCSD.
Sunday, March 9 Solids at The Hideout. Mirah at The Loft. Scale The Summit at Soda Bar. Cattle Decapitation at Porter’s Pub.
Monday, March 10 Tacocat at Soda Bar.
Tuesday, March 11 Billy Connolly at Balboa Theatre. Oliver Trolley at Belly Up Tavern.
Thursday, March 13 El Ten Eleven at Belly Up Tavern. Purling Hiss at Soda Bar.
Friday, March 14 Umphrey’s McGee at House of Blues.
Saturday, March 15 The Mary Onettes at Soda Bar.
Sunday, March 16 Tool at Valley View Casino Center.
rCLUBSr
American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco. com. Wed: Sklar Brothers. Thu-Sun: Nick Thune. Tue: Open mic. Bang Bang, 526 Market St, Downtown. facebook.com/BangBangSanDiego. Fri: Erick Diaz, Kevin Brown. Sat: 2000 And One, Dropset, Lee K. Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Wed: Stevie and the Hi-Stax. Thu: Fly Moon Royalty, Smoke Season. Fri: DJ @Large. Sat: The Montalban Quintet. Mon: Tori Roze and the Hot Mess. Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave, Downtown. bassmntsd.com. Thu: AC Slater. Fri: Feenixpawl. Sat: Bassjackers. Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla. brocktonvilla.com/beaumonts.html. Thu: Simeon Flick. Fri: Allegra, Fish and the Seaweeds. Sat: December’s Children. Sun: Joe Cardillo. Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Ziggy Marley (sold out). Thu: ‘Sunset Sessions’ w/ The Hold Steady (sold out). Fri: ‘Sunset Sessions’ w/ Augustana. Sat: ‘Sunset Sessions’ w/ The John Butler Trio (sold out). Sun: ‘Skunk Records 25th Anniversary’ w/ Slightly Stoopid, Unwritten Law. Mon: Lucinda Williams (sold out). Bourbon Street, 4612 Park Blvd, University Heights. bourbonstreetsd.com. Wed: VJ K-Swift. Thu: ‘Wet’. Sun: ‘Soiree’. Tue: Karaoke. Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Thu: ‘Boyz Club’. Fri: ‘Rivalry’. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA. Sun: ‘Noche Romantica’ w/ Daisy Salinas, DJ Sebastian La Madrid. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJs Junior the DiscoPunk, XP. Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Wed: Aro Di Santi. Thu & Sat: Malamana. Fri: Joeff. Sun: Aragon y Royal. Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Clairemont. thecomedypalace.com. Fri-Sat: Andrew Sleighter. Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St, La Jolla. lajolla.thecomedystore.com. Wed-Thu: Whitney Cummings. Fri-Sat: Andrew Santino. Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, Bankers Hill. croces.com. Wed: Kyle Myers Quartet. Thu: Dave Scott and the New Slide Quartet. Fri: Lady Dottie and The Diamonds. Sun: Steph Johnson. Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. dirksniteclub.com. Fri: The Farmers. Sat: West of 5. Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. dizzyssandiego.com. Fri: Irving Flores. Sat: ‘A Tribute to George Harrison’ w/ Fred Benedetti. Sun: Nora Germain. El Dorado Bar, 1030 Broadway, Downtown. eldoradobar.com. Wed: ‘The Tighten Up’. Fri: ‘Hickies and Dryhumps’. Sat: ‘Good and Plenty’.
710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic, open jam. Thu: Country Rockin Rebels. Fri: Patrick Lanzetta (5 p.m.); Open Arms, Cheapest Trick (8 p.m.). Sat: Sunny Rude, Keep It Lit, Roots Covenant. Tue: ‘710 Bass Club’.
Epicentre, 8450 Mira Mesa Blvd, Mira Mesa. epicentreconcerts.org. Fri: Abandon All Ships, The Browning, My Ticket Home, I Am King, Milestone, Convent. Sat: Hollywood Ending, Kalin and Myles, Watercolor, King the Kid, This Is All Now, Fourth and Coast.
98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Fri: ‘Battle of the Saxes’ w/ Charlie Arbelaez, Robert Dove. Sat: ‘Badass Bebop’ w/ Matt Hall.
F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown, Downtown. f6ixsd.com. Fri: DJ Beatnick. Sat: Eric Bellinger.
Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St, Normal Heights. airconditionedbar.com. Wed: ‘Brokenbeat’ w/ Walker Holland. Thu: DJs Ala, Mikeytown. Fri: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk. Sat: DJ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Sunday Sonic Chill’ w/ DJ Shermz.
Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd. com. Thu: ‘IDGAF’ w/ Wolfgang Gartner. Fri: DJs Brett Bodley, Ricky Rocks. Sat: Sid Vicious.
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February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 25
Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave, Ocean Beach. 619-222-5303. Wed: Fayuca, Buckle Rash. Thu: Leon Mobley and The Lion Band, DJ Reefah, TRC Soundsystem. Fri: Neighbors to the North, Whiskey Circle, DJ Lya. Sat: So Cal Vibes, DJ Chelu.
Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: The Rayford Brothers. Thu: Bill Magee Blues Band. Fri: Trey Tosh. Sat: Josh Vernazza. Sun: The TnT Band. Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Walter’s Chicken Jam.
Hard Rock Hotel, 207 Fifth Ave, Downtown. hardrockhotelsd.com. Thu: Sir Sly, Okapi Sun, Gavin Turek. Fri: Xzibit. Sat: DJs Loczi, Craig Smoove.
Porter’s Pub, 9500 Gilman Dr., UCSD campus, La Jolla. porterspub.net. Sat: Huey Mack, D-Why.
Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown. henryspub.com. Wed: Johnny Tarr, DJ Christopher London. Thu: Mark Fisher, DJ Yodah. Fri: DJs Rev, Yodah. Sat: DJs E, Yodah. Mon: DJs Yodah, Joey Jimenez, Johnny Tarr. Tue: Big City Dawgs. House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Wed: RAW Artist Presents: Awakening. Thu: Rodney Atkins, Brodie Stewart Band. Fri: The Musical Box. Sat: Karmin. Sun: John Butler Trio, Little Hurricane. Mon: Josh Damigo, Raelee Nikole. Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Wed: ‘Future Wednesday’. Thu: ‘Nightshift’. Sun: ‘Queers and Allies Unite!’ benefit show. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’. Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave, Kensington. 619-284-2848. Wed: ‘Records with Roger’. Fri: The Plurals, International Dipshit, The Floor Notes, The A-Bortz. Sun: ‘Club 80s’. Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: Ron’s Trio. Thu: Sophisticats. Fri: Ron’s Garage. Sat: Pat Ellis and Blue Frog Band. Tue: 2 Guys Will Move U. Onyx Room / Thin, 852 Fifth Ave, Downtown. onyxroom.com. Fri: ‘Carnival de Rumba’. Sat: ‘PLAY Saturday’. Tue: Poetic Ave., Marshall Davis Jones.
Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Thu: DJ Kinky Loops. Fri: DJ Dirty KURTY. Sat: DJs Taj, Nikno. Sun: DJ Hektik. Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave, La Mesa. rivierasupperclub.com. Wed: Westside Inflection. Thu: Mafard. Fri: Chess Wars. Sat: Little Kings. Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd. Wed: Gilbert Castellanos jazz jam. Thu: Nathan Hubbard Trio. Fri: The Routine. Tue: DJ JoeMama. Shakedown Bar, 3048 Midway Drive, Point Loma. theshakedownsd.com. Thu: Splice the Mindbrace, Tiger Heroes. Fri: We Are the Men, Vaguess, Gloomsday. Sat: Angry Samoans, Homeless Sexuals, Devfits, Burning Ritual. Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: Ringo Deathstarr, Purple, Buddy Banter, The Killer Hz. Thu: Van She, Bulletproof Tiger, Glass Spells. Fri: River City, John Meeks, Manuok. Sat: Noah Gundersen, Armon Jay. Sun: Marissa Nadler, Pink Mountaintops, Isolde Touch. Mon: R. Stevie Moore, The Memories, Karl Blau. Tue: Mother Falcon, The Lovebirds. SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Fri: Carnifex, I Declare War, Here Comes the Kraken, Assassins,
26 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
Lorna Shore, Impale Thy Neighbor. Sat: Psychophobia, Vanguard, Fatal Disease, Cemetery Murder, Thunder Demon. Mon: Dom Kennedy, Skeme. Tue: Pentatonix. Spin, 2028 Hancock St, Midtown. spinnightclub.com. Fri: Kevin Saunderson. Stage Bar & Grill, 762 Fifth Ave, Downtown. stagesaloon.com. Wed: Mark Fisher and Gaslamp Guitars. Thu: Van Roth. Fri: Disco Pimps, Open Arms. Sat: Hott Mess, Number Nines, Bar Elements (7:30 p.m.); DJ Miss Dust (10:30 p.m.). Sun: ‘Funhouse/Seismic’. Mon: Miles Ahead (7:30 p.m.); ‘Fettish Monday’ (10 p.m.). Tue: Estrogenius. Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego, Normal Heights. sycamoreden. com. Wed: DJs Who, Fishfonics. Thu: The Midnight Pine, Mike Pope. Mon: DJs, Gabe Vega, Adam Salter, Mike Delgado. The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd, Spring Valley. 619-469-2337. Fri: Tactical Ffever, California Bleeding, ANA. Sat: Hey Ho Let’s Go. The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: Yuna, Marques Tolliver. Thu: Griffin House, Clarence Bucaro. Fri: Ane Brun, Linnea Olson. Sat: Cibo Matto, Salt Cathedral, Selector Luis Torres (sold out). Sun: Lawrence Rothman, Mas Ysa, Tiger and The Teller. Mon: Yacht Party, Listening to Rocks, Tan Sister Radio. Tue: Kodaline, LP. The Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. thechecafe.blogspot.com. Thu: The Nformals, Marion Walker, Dictator, Badabing. Sat: Rotting Out, No Bragging Rights, Heart to Heart, The Beautiful Ones. Sun: Pat The Bunny, Spoonboy, Fry Hugs, Sole, Sledding With Tigers, DK Slider. Tue: Electrician, Redrick Sultan. The Griffin, 1310 Morena Blvd, Bay Park.
thegriffinsd.com. Thu: The Weeks, Ranch Ghost. Fri: Sprung Monkey, Good Intentions, Sacred Crow. The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. theloft.ucsd.edu. Wed: Aszure Barton & Artists. Thu: Dr. Lonnie Smith. Fri: Blockhead. The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. rubyroomsd.com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Amigo, Chiefs, Old Man Wizard. Fri: Creature and the Woods, Mauru. Sat: ‘Bearracuda’. Sun: Karaoke. The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Fri: ‘Uptown Boogie’ w/ The Boogie Brothers. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings. Mon: ‘Dub Dynamite’ w/ DJs Rashi, Eddie Turbo. Thrusters Lounge, 4633 Mission Blvd, Pacific Beach. thrusterslounge.com. Wed: ‘Spank’ Party. Thu: DJ Decon. Fri: DJ Who. Sat: DJ Slowhand. Mon: DJ FishFonics. Tue: DJ Craig Smoove. Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Wed: DJ Heather Hardcore. Thu: Roots Factory. Fri: Kodiak, DFMK, Pissed Regardless, I Trust You To Kill Me. Sat: ‘Sleepwalking’. Tin Can Ale House, 1863 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill. thetincan1.wordpress.com. Wed: Up and Lila, Social Club. Thu: Bart Mendoza and True Stories, Adam Marsland, The Llamadors. Fri: Pretty Boom, Robin Hill. Sat: Does It Explode, Flying Hyenas. Mon: ‘Tin Can Country Club’. Tue: Animal Eyes, Allophone. Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: Jon, Nathan and Marty. Fri: Bluefrog. Sat: Detroit Underground. Tue: Swamp Critters. Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Sat: Harvey Lee
and the Detroit Ruins (4:30 p.m.); Griever, Wild Moth, Nervous, Planewreck (6 p.m.); Black Mambas, Silvertooth Loos a. Sun: Bad Dad, Wha?, Gloomsday. Mon: The Cutaways, Arliss Nancy, Junk Poets. Turquoise, 873 Turquoise St, Pacific Beach. theturquoise.com/wordpress. Wed: Kevin and Eduardo (4 p.m.); Tomcat Courtney (7 p.m.). Thu: Talia (4 p.m.); The Jade Visions Jazz Trio (7 p.m.). Fri: Tomcat Courtney (5 p.m.); Afro Jazziacs (9 p.m.). Sat: Zak Lipton Trio (4 p.m.); Tomcat Courtney (6:30 p.m.); Son Pa Ti (9 p.m.). Sun: Food Truck & Mini Tap Takeover. Sun: Sounds Like Four (4 p.m.); Middle Earth (8 p.m.). Mon: David Hermsen (4 p.m.); Stefanie Schmitz (7 p.m.). Tue: Stefanie Schmitz (4 p.m.); Grupo Globo (7 p.m.). Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Wed: Illuminauts, Idyll Wild, Shiva Trash. Thu: ‘Filter’ w/ Abjo, The Lyrical Groove, Wine, Isleside. Fri: DJ Man Cat. Sat: Lee Churchill, DJ Junior the DiscoPunk. West Coast Tavern, 2895 University Ave, North Park. westcoatstavern.com. Wed & Fri: DJ Liv It Up. Thu: DJ Clean Cut. Sat: DJ Fish Fonics. Tue: DJ Mike Delgado. Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Thu: ‘Astro Jump’ w/ Kill Quanti DJs. Fri: ‘F’ing In the Bushes’. Sat: DJ Claire (5 p.m.); ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob. Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Synrgy, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Atlantis Rizing, THC, Seven. Fri: The Heavy Guilt, Matt Molarius, Sure Fire Soul Ensemble. Sat: Todo Mundo. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band.
Proud sponsor: Pacific Nature Tours
Ink Well Xwords by Ben Tausig
Across 1. Marks of experience, as it were 6. “Your play” 11. Where Putin got his professional start 14. Site of a Vietnam War atrocity 15. Multilayered cake 16. Dope 17. Hockey delay tactic 18. Jefferson Memorial column type 19. Earn after expenses 20. Crisis following the breakup of Guns N’ Roses, the Eagles, and Mötley Crüe? 23. NPR’s “Weekend ___” 24. Human tail? 25. Horror movie set at the dry cleaner? 31. Like pork rinds 35. Dealbreakers: Abbr.? 36. Jazz singer Anderson 37. Bend in a tutu 38. Choice words swapped in this puzzle’s theme answers 40. Jazz singer Simone 41. Spengler who is the first to spot the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man 42. Source of hair on one’s furniture 43. “Liquor is quicker” poet Nash 44. Tour manager for gummy bears and M&M’s? 48. On top of everything else 49. Superglues, say 54. What the host of “Deal or No Deal” eats to make the gold suitcases look, like, *extra* gold? 58. Band whose “Man on the Moon” is a tribute to Andy Kaufman 59. Bureau that provides sports stats
Last week’s answers
60. Southern Caribbean island known for scuba diving 61. With 62-Across, what an R specifies 62. See 61-Across 63. Sites of some cosmetic surgeries 64. “Low Rider” band 65. Not on the up-and-up 66. Surge of water
Down 1. “I’m shooting you now” 2. Ancient tropical tree 3. Suspect’s excuse 4. Prepared to tackle 5. Play the dozens 6. “Say ___ So” (Hall & Oates) 7. Bear associated with Disney 8. River in view in “Room With a View” 9. Begin to leave one’s dreams behind? 10. 7-G, for Homer Simpson 11. Michelangelo sculpture subject 12. Show featuring the New Directions 13. Sandwich that can be made vegetarian with fakon 21. 1950 film noir classic 22. Putting on 26. Beef up 27. Summer sign 28. Body part that may have a spacer 29. Number before Lives or West, in brand names 30. One with a list on campus 31. What freelancers usually submit on 32. Bit of plankton 33. One working with a chair and a whip 34. There’s one named for Achilles 38. Urgent NYPD call 39. “The Matrix” hero 43. Harry Potter and Tom Riddle, for two 45. Sings with frequent breaks? 46. Animated clown some claim is based on David Letterman 47. Some MIT grads 50. It has a point 51. “Wordplay” director Patrick Creadon’s documentary about debt 52. Orgy outfits, stereotypically 53. Blockbuster 54. The M in MHz 55. 1986 Nobelist Wiesel 56. Mojito citrus 57. “What am I, your ___?” 58. Real, as talk
A pair of tickets for a 4.5 or 8 hour Pacific Nature Tour will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-325-1393. Limit one win per person per 30 days.
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 27
28 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
February 19, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 29
30 · San Diego CityBeat · February 19, 2014
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