San Diego CityBeat • Mar 2, 2016

1 · San Diego CityBeat · January 6, 2016

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2 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

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March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Up Front | From the editor

Putting the “aid” in a “convadium”

O

n a somewhat foggy Tuesday morning I paused to watch a solitary man gradually wake up after an outdoor, concrete slumber. He was covered from head to ankles by a faded, lime-green blanket. This man sat up, paused for a full minute and then finally pulled the blanket down off his head. He silently struggled to lace up heavy black boots with hands that trembled involuntarily.

Standing atop the $26-million silver footbridge that spans Harbor Drive in East Village, I took note of the spot where this man had laid down to fend off the night. He was roughly 30 yards southeast of Petco Park; nearly dead center between the bayside green space where powerful forces want to expand the San Diego Convention Center and equidistant from the parking lot/bus depot where other powerful forces want to erect a $1.7-billionish hybrid football stadium/convention center expansion.

In one formidable corner: Mayor Kevin Faulconer, County Supervisor Ron Roberts and the hoteliers who want a contiguous, bayfront convention center expansion.

And in the other corner: San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos and JMI Realty (under former Padres owner John Moores) both of whom fancy a downtown “convadium.”

However, nobody is in the corner of guys sleeping outside under faded, lime-green blankets.

The alliance backing that convadium support a complex, cure-all Citizens’ Plan, authored by environmental lawyer Cory Briggs. The initiative would restructure and raise hotel taxes and aim to fix the legal issues behind a long-stalled convention center expansion, while also keeping the Chargers from leaving town and possibly clearing the way in Mission Valley for parklands and extra campus space for San Diego State University. The plan is purported to do everything except cure Alzheimer’s disease and safeguard us from the Zika virus.

San Diegans will likely be asked to vote on this not-yet-inked monster initiative in November. What vote count will it require for passage? That’s a fuzzy issue. Seems when it’s somebody else’s public vote for a tax increase it needs to pass with a two-thirds threshold, but when it’s your public vote for a tax increase, it just needs 50 percent plus one.

The cage match looms. Hundreds of millions of public dollars may be on the table. Michael McConnell, homelessness activist and former head of

25 Cities, is ready to jump out of his chair to talk about this.

“Homeless people continue to have no voice, no lobby,” McConnell says. “This is a vulnerable population that is dying in the streets, but it’s still an afterthought. I’ll do all I can to elevate this discussion, and I won’t support any public funding project that doesn’t address homelessness. How many votes is this initiative going to come down to? A thousand?

Five hundred? We don’t know the threshold yet, but this is going to be hotly contested. And I think it would be costly to not include homelessness.”

The old development model: Sweep the homeless out of East Village. Bus tickets for everybody.

But progressive policies—evidenced around the country and focused on a housing-first approach that includes wraparound supportive services—are making a dent. San Diego city and county politicians have acknowledged as much when they announced separate initiatives this year to step up help for veterans and the severely mentally ill.

So here comes a chance for one of the power alliances to sow a swath of positive public relations: Get sincere homelessness advocates on your team.

Chris Ward and Anthony Bernal, both running for the city council district seat that represents downtown, say homeless concerns are critical if, and when, a convadium plan comes forward. “Rather than simply moving these people to another area of the city, the proponents of the Citizen’s Plan should direct funds generated through additional [tax] revenues to help them get off the street,” says Bernal. “It’s the responsible thing to do.”

FYI: It would appear more than a few mitigation measures in the California Environmental Quality Act address “socio-economic impacts caused by physical development.” I’m advised that a CEQA lawyer would outrun Usain Bolt for the chance to sue the Chargers or JMI if they got a green light on a convadium and then ignored the homeless.

For a couple reasons—excessive public financing for a billionaire NFL owner; being bad business to annex a convention center expansion two blocks away—a convadium-centric initiative might already be dead on arrival at the ballot box. But…it mi-i-ight get a second look from some if the power alliance honestly embraces the opportunity to lend a hand to that guy sleeping on the street under a faded, lime-green blanket.

—Ron Donoho

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com

This issue of CityBeat is stoked about Spotlight’s Best Picture win; but felt the movie needed more pot and stripper ads.

Volume 14 • Issue 30 Editor Ron Donoho Music Editor Jeff Terich Arts Editor Seth Combs Web Editor Ryan Bradford Art director Carolyn Ramos editorial assistant Torrey Bailey Columnists Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza

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

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San Diego CityBeat is published and distributed every Wednesday by Southland Publishing Inc., free of charge but limited to one per reader. Reproduction of any material in this or any other issue is prohibited without written permission from the publisher and the author. Contents copyright 2016.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

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March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Up Front | Letters

SWEET SIXTEEN

Regarding [“Giving the vote to 16-yearolds,” Feb 24]: Why NOT?!?!

Most 16-year-olds are more informed and have much more at stake than many of the candidates running. The right is busy whittling away at real democracy and the numbers of citizens who might vote. But the idyllic form of democracy is the most inclusive, not the least! We have the lowest voter turnout in the modern would for “socalled” democracies! We should be doing everything that we can to allow more of our people a voice, NOT LESS! Thank you [Assemblywoman] Lorena Gonzalez! I only wish that we could expand the idea for every election!

Allen Shur, via SDCityBeat.com

On the

Cover CityBeat editorial assistant Torrey Bailey photographed the murals by artists Splurge; Pursue, Reyes and Steel; Rocco, Mario Torero; and Shepard Fairey, compiled on the cover by art director Carolyn Ramos.

South Park is the third installment in our monthly Neighborhood Watch series focusing on the city’s most interesting hoods.

we want feedback

Did you read a story in San Diego CityBeat that made your blood boil, or caused you to laugh so hard you pulled a muscle in your stomach? If something inspires you to send us your two cents we welcome all letters that respond to news stories, opinion pieces or reviews that have run in these pages. We don’t accept unsolicited op-ed letters.

Email letters to editor Ron Donoho at rond@sdcitybeat.com, or mail to 3047 University Ave., Suite 202, San Diego, CA 92104. For letters to be considered for publication you must include your first and last name and the part of town where you reside.

6 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

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Up Front | opinion

spin

john r. lamb

cycle

john r. lamb

Step aside, Oscars—it’s Imp-Oscars time!

Shoot a few scenes out of focus.

I want to win the foreign film award.

—Billy Wilder

I

n the 1982 movie My Favorite Year, the late Peter O’Toole— portraying the frequently soused, swashbuckling matinee idol Allan Swann—confides to an admirer, “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”

Not when it comes to politics in San Diego, where the shtick is thick, the hijinks induce winks and the jokes stoke smoke. Go ahead and drool like a fool over Hollywood sainthood, but those golden statuettes—dubbed the “Oscars” for reasons uncertain— have nothing on the Imp-Oscars.

If “Imp-Oscar” sounds vaguely similar to “Imposter,” let Spin Cycle unequivocally set the record straight to assure you that is sim-

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ply inaccurate—it totally sounds the same. (If you thought Spin intended to honor actual heroes on the political battlefield, go amuse yourself by Googling Top 10 lists.)

Without further ado, the Spincademy of Motion Under Rigorous Flatulence (aka SMURF) proudly presents the inaugural Impy winners!

Best Hairstyle/Booze Preference Reference And the Impy goes to…JERRY SANDERS, former mayor of San Diego who tripled his pay when he hopped into the operating chair at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Sanders, now relegated pretty much to opening jokester at business functions, did not disappoint in his performance last Thursday prior to the annual State of the County address.

In the role of a lifetime, Sanders

regaled the assembled dignitaries with introductory tales of his frat brother and featured speaker of the night, San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts.

After noting that he often gets mistaken for Roberts—which he attributed to “the high standards of beauty upheld by the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity where we were both members during our time at San Diego State University” (Roberts graduated, Sanders not so much)—Sanders revealed that they shared the same barber (until he retired last Friday) and “get our shoes shined together in Mexico.”

They differ, however, in accessorizing and imbibing. “If you’re ever wondering who’s who, I’ve got a real easy way for you to tell the difference between Ron and I [sic],” Sanders deadpanned.

“Number one, I don’t wear a tie anymore, and Ron always wears a tie. And number 2, the guy with bourbon is Ron Roberts. The guy with craft beer is Jerry Sanders.”

Then Sanders let slip the prime reason for his appearance: “Karl Strauss is one of the sponsors of the event afterwards. So Ron, you really have to consider switching to beer. There aren’t a lot of folks making bourbon in San Diego, but let me tell you the opportunities

Impy awardee “twins” Jerry Sanders/Ron Roberts and Mayor Kevin “Mad Max the Campaign Contributions” Faulconer for good, free craft beer abound all the time.”

Sanders would eventually turn his attention to Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who honed his credit-taking skills as a city councilmember during the Sanders administration. In a roast speech the mayor recently delivered at a Downtown San Diego Partnership gala (a speech, by the way, his office has declined to release), Faulconer advised attendees to “form a bond with a silver-haired, distinguished politician.” When Sanders departed, Faulconer turned to Roberts.

“Last week our dear mayor, Kevin Faulconer, who we’ll call Kev, poked a little fun at Ron and me, calling out our gorgeous silver hair,” Sanders said. “Well, Kev, you may have that pretty blonde hair now, but just wait until the end of your time as mayor. Just wait.”

Sanders finished his remarks by suggesting Roberts “wise up, and join the private sector like me.

And you don’t have to wear a tie!”

Best Visual Effects/Sound Editing This was a tight race, what with the mayor recently unveiling a new city logo with sail swooshes that elicited the sounds of groans and audible head scratching citywide. But the Impy goes to…RON ROBERTS, who during his State of the County speech unveiled a brief computer-generated video of his Sky Tram dream that would link downtown to Balboa Park.

Set to the tune of Steve Miller’s “Fly Like an Eagle,” the Roberts video took the audience on an imaginary flyover of the project, which he insists commuters will use. “We’ll lead the United States again!” Roberts exclaimed with total Impy-worthy acting chops. “We’re going to fly residents and visitors alike from the people-packed waterfront to the open arms and treasures of Balboa Park!”

The song kicks in—is this irony?—with the phrase “Shoe the children/with no shoes on their

feet” as Roberts points to a computer image of a disabled person at a make-believe “Skyway” station. “See the wheelchair? Even the wheelchairs will go on this,” the supervisor brags. The video proceeds to show an imagined station at downtown’s Sixth Avenue and B Street that he said “will provide an opportunity for commuters to either get on or get off and use it as a vehicle to get up into the Bankers Hill area…”

“Time keeps on slippin’ slippin’ slippin’ into the futurrrre…”

“And then finally for the last part of the journey, crossing Highway 163,” Roberts says, completely skipping the longest—and likely most controversial—portion of the ride overlooking residences along Sixth Avenue. “Fly like an eagle.

That’s what it’s all about!” Roberts cheers. “The little cars are flying along there without much visual impairment for anyone.”

The “cars” are barely visible but so is Roberts’ argument that commuters will flock to this tourist gimmick.

Best Actor at a Posh Hotel on Taxpayer Time This category was no contest.

The Impy goes to…MAYOR FAULCONER, for his performance at a New Majority luncheon last Friday at the ultra-swanky hotel to stars and celebs, The Peninsula Beverly Hills.

A picture of the mayor speaking at the hotel was posted on social media Friday afternoon, but neither his campaign guru Jason Roe, nor his office, would provide context for the appearance by press time. Spin could also not determine if the mayor’s security detail had made the trip with him.

The Republican organization claims to operate the largest political action committee in the state, so well done, Mr. Mayor, on your continuing efforts to downplay any interest in a gubernatorial run in 2018. Now that’s acting!”

Spin Cycle appears every week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | Opinion

Aaryn Belfer

Backwards & in

high heels Better living through chemistry

T

he day after our worst rainstorm this past January, I rolled out of bed and into my redand-pink polka-dot rain boots. I added some lip stain—since I go nowhere without it—and headed out the door to help one of my favorite people on the planet gather and move her entire life. She had arrived home the night before to no power and several inches of water in a home she’d recently moved into and decorated with an expert skill and a superior taste that Nate Berkus would envy.

With several cherished belongings ruined and her life unexpectedly upended, my resilient friend waded directly to her kitchen where she poured herself a glass of bourbon in the dark. Personally, I would have taken a pull right out of the bottle; while my lipstick might make me look refined, my friend actually is.

There was a lot of worry that day but not from me, which is quite a turn of events since I am the Valedictorian of Worry. I’m running 10 minutes late? The entire event is ruined. Did my fifth grader do poorly on a test at school? She’s definitely not getting into college. The pain in my leg isn’t going away? It’s probably a blood clot. I bet it needs to be amputated. Going out for a run? It’s so relaxing to await that texting driver who is most certainly going to plow into me.

Or here’s a big one: Perhaps a friend hasn’t responded to an email. I’m certain it’s because I’ve pissed them off and now I have revisited every conversation we’ve had in the last year or three. I’m rolling it all over until it’s one single smooth and polished worry stone. And that tumbling has taken me—spiraling—through every single perceived slight or hurt I may have ever caused every person I’ve ever cared about ever since I was eight. Clearly: I’m a horrible person.

“It’s hard in there,” another Disaster Team member said to me last year. She was tender as she pointed at my head, her forehead wrinkled with concern. Indeed. She labeled precisely how rough it was.

I recognize there is a component of narcissism to this whole absurd thought process. Clearly, an unanswered email doesn’t mean you’re pissed. Certainly you are not thinking about me right now. You are busy managing your job, your kid, your spouse, your volunteer work, your life. Your email inbox looks like mine and you feel badly that you can’t stay on top of it. I know all of this. But unlike 96.9 percent of the population, I am utterly powerless to stop the way my brain goes on trips to hell and back without my having signed a permission slip.

This extreme level of worrying has been the

pulse of my adult life and the kicker is that, until it was acknowledged in a particular way—it’s hard in there—I thought it was wholly normal. I also thought I managed it fairly well, until I found myself utterly unable to manage it.

It wasn’t until I somehow barely avoided the urge to stand on a table, strip down to my underwear and berate the roughly 300 attendees at a conference last year that I realized I was drowning in my own metaphorical flood waters.

“What the fuck are we all doing here anyway?!?”

I screamed in my delusional and thankfully neverrealized Six Feet Under fantasy meltdown. “This is all bullshit!”

While I actually stand calmly, rationally, firmly by the truth of that fantasy, I also recognize that I’ve got a special little brain issue that had become so severe as to incapacitate my ability to function.

I’m fortunate I was able to get help from a professional who diagnosed me with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), an affliction that 6.8 million people—and twice as many women as men—suffer right alongside me, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

This doesn’t assuage my regret for not getting diagnosed much sooner. My poor husband, and my poor child suffered the brunt of all the manifestations of my illness. But I’m grateful to have a name for what ails me, and even more so to have access to medication that has: Changed. My. Life. Lexapro is my word of the day.

I’m running late? Pfffft: Lexapro. Kid had a rough day at the office? She’s gonna be fine because, Lexapro. Leg pain? Chop it right off. I don’t even need pain meds because I’ve got Lexapro. Still waiting to hear from you? It’s all good because we have Lexapro.

This is not an advertisement for the drug, to be sure. I actually take the generic version because the brand name is a scandalous $250 a month, a price tag that could soar if that scoundrel Martin Shkreli gets his greedy fingers on it. And there isn’t enough space here to capture how wrong it is that Big Pharma makes sure that medications are inaccessible to so many people.

But I’m taking the medication, and what it’s done for me is it’s given me breathing room. It allows me the space to choose my reactions and be a better, calmer, Disaster Relief Team member. So when floods and upheaval happen, it’s really nothing a red lip, a few shots of bourbon, a tincture of time and a little pill can’t handle.

“

It’s all good because we have Lexapro.

“

8 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

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

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Up Front | Food

by michael a. gardiner

the world

cart’s other side sport sauce pans producing more fillings.

You can order by name (in Spanish) or just point to a tasty looking filling. You won’t do much better than the pork. It’s everything you love about pork and everything the National The best tacos for less at Pork Board wants you to forget: fat and flavor, for Tacos Varios starters. “The Other White Meat” be-damned.

Taco Varios’ savory pork stew filling was glorious and flavorful with a layer of chile flavor providome see the $5 taco as the Holy Grail. It is, ing less heat and more in the way of a seemingly some say, the highest expression of authenimpossible depth to the dish. tic Mexican street food. For others, it’s a sure The beef fillings hit many of the same notes in sign of the impending apocalypse. Not me. I’ve an “It’s what’s for dinner” sort of way. The picbeen to Tacos Varios (Carretera Libre Tijuanaadillo—ground beef with stewed potato—might Ensenada KM 47) in Ejido Primo Tapia south of be the most familiar Rosarito Beach in Baja.

Michael A. Gardiner to a gringo taco fan, The term “taco” featuring ground beef dates back to Mexico’s and all, but with a 18th century silver broader savory flavor mines. The term analprofile. Beef barbacoa ogizes corn tortillas takes a different path, wrapped around a profocusing on the depth tein to the little pieces of rich, beefy flavor of paper-wrapped gunwith remarkable tenpowder they used to derness. Chile relleno excavate ore. Tacos go tacos—breaded and back further, though. fried poblano peppers Anthropological evistuffed with cheese— dence shows Mesosounded more intriguamerican Indians in ing than they tasted. the valley now occuTacos Varios ofpied by Mexico City fers a good selection today ate tortillas filled of condiments: a fresh with small lake fish. salsa, hot chile sauce, Not so long ago, Barbacoa and picadillo tacos fresh cilantro, diced Americans thought onions and pickled “tacos” were hard preonions, in particular. formed “shells” filled with ground beef, day-glo All the tacos are served in handmade tortillas “cheese,” diced tomatoes, iceberg lettuce and tasting deeply of corn. They are far more than an utterly impotent “taco sauce.” The idea of just a delivery system for fillings. spending $5 for such Taco Bell-style schlock From its long-time status as a food-of-the-peowas—and is—unthinkable. Then came Food ple, the taco has travelled the world and reached Network, Anthony Bourdain, Rick Bayless and the lofty height of $5 apiece. It is, however, difa relentless, if somewhat philosophically futile, ficult to imagine that anyone, anywhere will get a search for “authenticity.” better taco than the ones at Tacos Varios, where It’s tough for a tacqueria to look more “aufive bucks will also buy four more tacos plus two thentic” than Tacos Varios: two Mexican ladies drinks. The Holy Grail? Perhaps not. But very in an open-sided roadside shack working a street good tacos for a lot less money. cart with flat tires. The trays in the steamer table on the right side of the cart bear various stewed The World Fare appears weekly. taco fillings: beef barbacoa, stewed pork, picaWrite to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com. dillo, chicharron and more. The burners on the

fare

S

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March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

Up Front | Food

by james vernette

dishing it

out

The New Beer: Charcuterie?

A

cold beer on a hot day is one of life’s great pleasures, and charcuterie, a catch-all term for cured meats such as prosciutto, salami and chorizo sausage, is the perfect accompaniment: salty, fatty and full of flavor.

Many local restaurants such as S&M Sausage & Meat, Tender Greens and JSix have some form of house-made charcuterie on the menu, with more jumping on this meat bandwagon all the time.

Some like Alex Carballo, whose latest venture is Moto Deli Sandwich Shop in Encinitas, see the rise of charcuterie as a natural for our hop happy community.

“Obviously we’ve got the beer thing down pretty well and what goes better with beer than a plate of cured and smoked meat?” asks Carballo. “Not every chef is going to have the time, space or training to do their own in-house charcuterie, but I think lots more chefs will be finding creative ways to use and pair the great products that are out there.”

Charcuterie’s emphasis on big flavors and meaty goodness may appeal to the cavemen inside, but Steven Lona, the chef at Tasting Room Del Mar (opening in April), sees it as the next step in sustainable cuisine.

“The beauty in charcuterie is that you’re often making less-desirable (and oft-forgotten or discarded) parts of the animal delicious and easy to store for longer periods of time,” Lona says.

“There’s great merit in responsibly raising a pig, but there’s even greater merit in dedicating one’s self to utilizing as much of that animal.”

But there are some logistical issues that could keep charcuterie from being the “New Beer.”

Pretty much anyone can buy the supplies to homebrew, but it’s a lot more difficult to make your own salami, says Jack Ford, who runs Taj Farms in Valley Center.

“There’s a lot of bureaucracy in food and aging meat adds another layer,” Ford says. “You can’t do refrigeration above 38 degrees because of crosscontamination concerns. Right now, making

10 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

charcuterie is done underground. Doing it is almost like belonging to a speakeasy during prohibition.”

Ford says places like Tender Greens are able to make and sell charcuterie because they buy live animals from ranches like his, which are then killed for use in the restaurant by the rancher.

Getting good quality meat is one challenge.

Making the charcuterie isn’t just a matter of hanging it to dry, says Ken Irvine, owner and executive chef of Bleu Boheme in Kensington.

“It takes a unique skill set and time to make a great, consistent charcuterie,” he says. “Some of the challenges in executing it are the amount of time it takes, and having the right staff with the right skills to make a great product.”

Moto concurs. courtesy of S&M sausage & meat

S&M’s Head to Tail board “A good dried salumi needs some carefully controlled environmental conditions,” Carballo says. “Temperature, humidity and light all play a role. Chefs that are really serious about it build whole rooms dedicated to curing.”

Even that has problems. Scott Slater, who runs S&M Sausage And Meat in University Heights, intended to start making charcuterie when the restaurant opened in early 2015.

“We spent $10,000 on a curing cabinet and it was 11 months before we got it to work,” Slater says. Still, he’s happy with the pancetta and capicola he’s making now.

Although great charcuterie is being made across the county, it’s unlikely to become the “new beer,” according to Ryan Johnston of Whisknladle Hospitality.

“I don’t think so,” he laments. “I just don’t think there is high enough demand.

Verdict: Charcuterie is probably not the new beer, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying locally made salami or sausage at any opportunity.

Dishing It Out appears every other week.

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Up Front | Drink

final

by beth demmon

draught Beer styles are spirited at Quad Ale House

beth demmon

I

rarely drink liquor, much less at a Gaslamp bar on a Friday night. Yet somehow, after paying $10 for parking and glaring bitchily at everyone I passed, I found myself sitting at the bar of Quad Ale House (868 Fifth Ave., 3rd floor), awaiting what very well may be the next “it” crossover in the drinking world—beer “inspired” cocktails.

There are plenty of clever beer cocktail creations to be found around town—although unfortunately no longer my beer column predecessor’s namesake drink, The Nutty Cheesman, at the now-defunct Alchemy—but this was my first time hearing of mixed drinks inspired by beer styles that didn’t contain a drop of the stuff.

“Since you can get craft beer anywhere, we wanted to create something that people already know and love in a completely different way,” says Quad event coordinator and bartender Jessica Hicks. There are currently five of her concoctions on the menu and more are to come, including rotating specials to give each of the bartenders an opportunity to hone their own creations.

However, don’t expect replicas of your favorite beer styles. The key words to Quad’s approach are “inspired by.”

“The first one I made was based off of a sweet lager like Yuengling, but it actually ended up tasting so much like an actual lager that there was no point in serving it,” Hicks says. “People could just order a lager if that’s exactly what they wanted.”

Of the five beer styles-turned-spirits, I loved to the Summer Saison made with Bulleit Rye, clove, lactose, Dolin blanc dry, pineapple gum syrup and lemon. Considering it’s already my favorite style of beer, I was undoubtedly biased going into it, but its extremely smooth balance of flavors and delightful citrus bite made it a dead ringer for a refreshing, medium-bodied saison.

Next up was the Meyer Gose, a traditionally mild sour style brewed with salt for a unique zest.

Initially it came across as overly similar to a margarita, but as it diluted down, the salt was able to assert itself a bit more to rightfully mimic this spunky German style.

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A new approach to Grapefruit IPA Third place belonged to the Grapefruit IPA. Craft beer cred came from Mikkeller’s dry hop Citra vodka, and the balance of passion fruit and celery salt make it an easy jump from liquor to ale.

Finally, the Kriek Lambic and Herbal Amber constructions left bad tastes in my mouth, literally and figuratively. But take my personal prejudice with a grain of salt. I personally despise Fernet (a key component of the Kriek) and egg white cocktails (a hefty portion of the Amber), but even I’ll admit that the Amber’s creamy body could easily be mistaken for a bitter draft on nitro.

Beer and liquor drinkers alike: If you find yourself on Fifth Avenue, stop by Quad and try these homages to brewing ingenuity. And if you still find that beer pleases your palate more that what it’s inspired, Quad still has 28 craft beers on tap for you to choose from.

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

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

Up Front | books

The floating

by jim ruland

library Evenson’s uncertainty principle

B

rian Evenson’s astonishing new collection from Coffee House Press, A Collapse of Horses, coincides with the re-release of three previous works: the much heralded novels Father of Lies, Open Curtain and Last Days. Each cover depicts an illustration of part of a creature that when taken together form a beast that doesn’t exist.

There’s an apt metaphor here, but a misleading one. While these stories have all the earmarks of Evenson’s fiction with varying degrees of violence, horror and dread, A Collapse of Horses doesn’t complete the picture of Evenson’s career so much as spin it in a number of fascinating new directions, each more unsettling than the last.

There are stories of thieves on horseback disappearing into the wilderness and holing up in a cave, off-planet drillers toiling in increasingly toxic working conditions, survivors of an apocalyptic conflict bartering with machines for scraps of meat, but no matter what genre Evenson appears to be working in, the most crucial action takes place between the ears. These stories rely less on lush language and body horror than the annihilating dread of uncertainty.

As the antagonist of “Black Bart” suggests in the opening story, “Every time you think you have the world figured out, trust me, that’s just when the world’s got you figured out and is about to spring and break your back.” The story starts with a lone rider on the trail at dusk but ends up someplace inexplicably weird and utterly unique.

In “Past Reno,” a man’s attempts to confront his past are stymied by an unsettling memory of his father forcing him to go down into a dark and musty storm cellar filled with strips of drying meat. When his father asks him, “You seen it?” the boy nods, but in truth the boy doesn’t know what he’s seen or was supposed to have seen or what any of it might mean. The story’s power stems not from what might or might not have been lurking in that cellar, living or dead, but the man’s inability many years later to put the question to rest. This troubling lack of resolution curdles his imagination and becomes its own dark thing capable of ruining intentions and destroying reason.

12 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

The longest story in the collection is “The Dust,” in which a crew of workers on a distant planet measures its dwindling resources against a ticking clock. Without giving too much of the plot away, “The Dust” presents the reader with a twist on the classic lifeboat dilemma by pitting the solidarity of the group against the desires of the individual. However, Evenson isn’t interested in that kind of dichotomy. By introducing a dash of uncertainty—“And what if the dust wasn’t just dust, but something else entirely?”—the story collapses into a paranoid fever dream.

Another example of this deadly uncertainly occurs in “Blood Drip,” which closes out the collection and serves as a doppelganger-bookend to “Black Bart.” A man alone in the wilderness imagines he hears a spring and becomes thirsty. “But when he tried to look for the stream he could not locate it, and the sound never seemed much closer.” Did he hear the sound and in his confusion miss the spring?

Or did he imagine the sound and invent the spring? Either way he continues wandering, his thirst very much real.

There’s a tendency to view stories that don’t resolve with suspicion, as if they were engines with some kind of design flaw. That’s not the case here. In A Collapse of Horses, Evenson takes his characters to the point where their uncertainties crystalize into a course of action from which there is no coming back. To see this as a deficiency is like saying that a story of a man who falls off a cliff is cheapened by not reveling in the splat.

Perhaps the most telling tale in the collection is the title story, which begins at the end: “I am certain nobody in my family survived. I am certain they burned, that their faces blackened and bubbled, just as did my own.” These opening lines evoke a great many feelings: confusion, horror, pity, disgust, but certainty isn’t one of them. A Collapse of Horses explores the horror of living in a world that resists being figured out until it’s much too late.

Write to jimr@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

1 LET IT RIDE

Lowrider culture and graffiti-inspired these resources we’ve been given and making sure street art wasn’t always something they go where they should rightfully go.” grandma could appreciate. Back in the day, it was Highlights include, naturally, a decade-spanning even looked down on but still greatly appreciated showcase of more than 50 lowrider autos, courtesy by members of the Afriof the Amigos Car Club PANCHITO ZAMUDIO/COURTESY OF THE AMIGOS CAR CLUB can-American and Latino and the San Diego Lowcommunities. rider Council. There will To put it another way, also be children’s printwhite folks didn’t always making activities and live get it. music from artists such These days, just about as Cumbia Machin and anyone can appreciate a the Hard Fall Hearts, as tricked-out El Camino well as a screening of Evor an elaborate, graffitierything Comes from the inspired mural. That’s Streets, a doc on the lives the idea behind the inof the pioneers of the augural Street Art and San Diego/Tijuana lowLowrider Festival. Held rider movements. When Saturday, March 5, from it comes to art, Tijuana Lowriders street artist PANCA will noon to 5 p.m. at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (404 be providing some live art, while galleries such as Euclid Ave.), the free outdoor fest is a celebration the Chicana Art Gallery, The Roots Factory and Voz of these local cultures but with an emphasis on Chi- Alta will be showcasing works from CityBeat faves cano art and culture. Organizers went out of their such as Jaclyn Rose, Ricardo Islas and Cesar Castaway to make sure that the event was an authentic ñeda, among others. representation of the respective movements.

“All the galleries that are involved were al“What’s great about this event is that we’re lowed to choose their own artist to spotlight,” working with people within the community,” says says Gold. “From a curatorial standpoint, our Celia Gold, executive assistant at the San Diego Art role has been pretty hands-off and left in the Institute, one of the main organizers of the festival. hands of experts.”

“Our role has been much more of redistributing Check out sandiego-art.org or jacobscenter.org.

2 MAN EATER

When most people think of cannibals certain images and caricatures pop up and, unfortunately, most of them are either false or just downright racist. The San Diego Museum of Man (1350 El Prado) hopes to debunk some of the stereotypes surrounding cannibalism at its new exhibition, Cannibals: Myth & Reality, which opens to the public Saturday, March 5, from COURTESY MUSEUM OF MAN 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. From the infamous Donner Party to ancient European kings and queens with a taste for brains, the exhibition takes a hands-on approach that includes video games and interactive activities where patrons will have to decide who gets eaten first. Cannibals replaces the museum’s long-running torture exhibit and we fully Papua New Guinea bone dagger expect it to be as morbidly fun as that one.

Admission ranges from $6 to $12.50 and the exhibition runs through 2018. museumofman.org

#SDCityBeat

3 ON A SPRING

The Museum of Contemporary Art (1110 Kettner Blvd.) is on to something. In addition to its annual black-tie gala, it started The Spring Thing event three years ago. With a “Modern Mutiny” theme and a decidedly hipper vibe, the event has quickly become one of MCASD’s most anticipated events.

This year’s party, on Friday, March 4, from 6:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., starts with a rum-inspired dinner pairing from Kettner Exchange executive chef Brian Redzikowski (tickets are $175). The late-night party at 9:30 will include a hosted bar, snacks from Nomad Donuts and performances

by DJ Jeffrey Paradise and Wild Wild Wets.

Tickets for the party are $50 and proceeds benefit MCASD’s exhibits and education programs. mcasd.org STACY KECK

Finding Meaning Through Imagery at Outside the Lens Media Lab, 2750 Historic Decatur Rd., Barracks 15, Studio 103, Point Loma. Outside The Lens will be showcasing the work of its students from Chaparral High School. The class will be displaying an eclectic body of photographic work that reflects on “finding meaning through imagery.” Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 4. Free. 858349-7578, outsidethelens.org HLa Dubla - The Untitled at Subtext, 2479 Kettner Blvd., Little Italy. New works from Ken Garduno, Tom Haubrick and Travis Jackson. As frequent hosts of Los Angeles and San Diego Sketch Party events, patrons should recognize their inimitable technique with ink, screen prints or tattoos. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 4. Free. 619-876-0664, facebook.com/events/449142418615898 The Artist Odyssey: Anne Wolf at NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Rd., Point Loma. The Artist Odyssey is celebrating the release of its fifth artist documentary, a 12-minute film on metalworker Anne Wolf.

In addition to the film and a Q&A, Wolf will give live demonstrations in her studio. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 4. Free.

619-573-9300, goo.gl/JmU5KL HThe Spring Thing: Modern Mutiny at MCASD, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown.

Support MCASD’s exhibition and education programs with an “Artful Dining” experience featuring a dinner from Chef Brian Redzikowski. The after party will include a hosted bar, snacks from Nomad Donuts and performances by DJ Jeffrey Paradise and Wild Wild Wets. From 6:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, March 4. $50$175. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org HCannibals: Myth and Reality at San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park. Debunk some of the stereotypes surrounding cannibalism at this new exhibition that takes a hands-on approach to the subject. Includes video games and interactive activities where patrons will have to decide who gets eaten first. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Opens Saturday, March 5. $6$12.50. 619-239-2001, museumofman.org HLeft Hand Black Art Show at Left Hand Black, 1947 Fern St., South Park.

The showcase features new works from tattoo artists like Turk, Jacob Henry, Daggerface, Crystal Turk, and more. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 5.

Free. 619-546-6555, lhblk.com Local Revolutions: Ph.D. Symposium at UCSD SME Presentation Lab, Voigt Drive and Matthews Lane, La Jolla. This ninth annual symposium will feature keynote speaker Lucy R. Lippard and presentations by graduate students who are interested in examining the role of art in local processes of social change. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 5. Free. visarts.ucsd.edu HOpen Studios 2016 at UCSD Visual Arts Facility Gallery, Russell Dr. and Lyman Ave., La Jolla. The UCSD Department of Visual Arts opens its doors for a showcase of graduate student artwork. Over 40 artists will open their studios to share their process and art practice with the public. Opening from 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 5.

Free. ucsdopenstudios.com/2016 HVenus: An All-Women Art Exhibition at La Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. Annie Hardy, Christy Pepper Dawson, Gloria Muriel, Junk & PO, Lindy Ivey and almost a hundred more local female artists show off their work. Includes live body painting by Fusion Creations and music from Gabriela & La Buena Onda. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 5. Free. facebook.com/events/1698537877035799/

The Spring Thing

H = CityBeat picks

HRemembering David Bowie at The Mission East Village, 250 J St., East Village. More than 30 local and emerging artists will pay tribute to the Thin White Duke.

Names include Acamonchi, Carly Ealey, Pamela Jaeger, and badass mamajamma Carolyn Ramos. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m.

Sunday, March 6. Free. 619-232-7662, facebook.com/events/210274729325579/ Israel in Light and Shadows at Gotthelf Gallery, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. This exhibition will feature the photographic work of Carole Glauber along with several local San Diego photographic artists and includes works that speak to the complexities of the Israeli landscape. Opening from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 9.

Free. sdcjc.org

BOOKS HMo Daviau at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The debut novelist will be promoting her book, Every Anxious Wave, about a thirty-something bar owner who stumbles upon a time travelling wormhole in his closet. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 2. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com Drew Chapman at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The thriller writer will be promoting his latest Garrett Reilly novel, The King of Fear, which pits Reilly against a cyber genius with equal skills and brains.

At 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 4. Free. 858268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Marthe Cohn at Temple Solel, 3575 Manchester Ave., Cardiff-by-the-Sea. The 95-year-old author will discuss her award winning author book, Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Spy in Nazi Germany. At 6 p.m. Saturday, March 5. $25-$35. sdcjc.org/makor/ course.asp?eventId=3865 Trowa D. Cloud at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals Program, Cloud will discuss and sign her latest offering, The Curseborn Sage V. At noon. Saturday, March 5. Free. 858454-0347, warwicks.com HWriters To Watch: Joshua Rutherford at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. Local author Joshua Rutherford will discuss his novel Sons of Chenia, the story of five refugees who return to their homeland after years abroad, only to find it on the verge of invasion. From 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 6. Free. 619-2365800, sandiego.gov/public-library T. Jefferson Parker at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The bestselling author of Storm Runners and The Fallen will discuss and sign his new novel, Crazy Blood, a murder mystery set at a ski resort. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 9. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

COMEDY HLewis Black at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The outspoken and acerbic comic is probably best known for his “Back in Black” segments on The Daily Show. At 8 p.m. Thursday, March 3. $49.50. 619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org

DANCE HBalanchine Masterworks at Spreckels Theater, 121 Broadway, Downtown.

The City Ballet company will present this annual program of ballets by the legendary George Balanchine with accompaniment by the City Ballet Orchestra. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5, and 2 p.m. Sunday March 6. $29-$79. 619-235-9500, cityballet.org

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

THEATER DAREN SCOTT

Skyler Sullivan and Jo Anne Glover in Emilie

Emilie challenges mind, heart

T

he long-winded title of Lauren Gunderson’s Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight doesn’t tell you everything about this cerebral drama set in 18th century France. For instance, who was Emilie, portrayed by Jo Anne Glover in New Village Arts Theatre’s production? The chalkboard behind her onstage, the one divided into columns headed “Love” and “Philosophy,” suggests an answer: This unsung historical figure was part lover of love, part mathematical genius.

In Gunderson’s play, directed by Kristianne Kurner

EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

FASHION Savoir Faire Fashion Show at The Headquarters at Seaport District, 789 West Harbor Dr., Downtown. To compliment Seaport Village’s Spring Busker Festival, this Parisian-inspired fashion show features a collection by designer Marcus Richardson and fashions from Lolo and Urban Beach House. From 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 5. Free. savoirfaireshow.eventbrite.com

FILM HWomen’s Film Festival at Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Rd., Barracks 16, Point Loma. The second annual fest will screen films that aim to educate and inspire future generations about the experiences and contributions of women through the art of film. Takes place from Wednesday, March 2 through Sunday, March 27. See website for titles and times. Various times. $10-$45. 619-2337963, womensmuseumca.org

MUSIC HNoura Mint Seymali at Price Center Ballroom, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Seymali is one of Mauritania music’s foremost emissaries and is considered a master of the ardine, a nine-string harp reserved only for women. At 8 p.m.

Thursday, March 3. $12-$30. 858-2460809, artpower.ucsd.edu Pierre Bensusan at Museum Of Making Music, 5790 Armada Drive, Carlsbad. The French-Algerian guitar wiz is a composer, as well as a bilingual and an improvisational vocalist, melding whistles and resonant low notes with his own scat technique. From 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 3. $20-$25. 760-438-5996, museumofmakingmusic.org Meccore String Quartet at UCSD Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, 9500 Gil-

Now or Later runs through March 13 at Diversionary at NVA, Emilie is back from the dead and presiding over a dramatized (by a cast of five, including the ex- Theatre in University Heights. $15-$40. diversionary.org ceptional Glover) flashback of her extraordinary life.

—David L. Coddon It’s a life of romance, prodigious intellect and protofeminist tenacity. Possibly the cup is too full here. EmiTheater reviews run weekly. lie’s monologues seem better suited to a one-woman Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com. show. The influential persons in her past, including an effete Voltaire (Skyler Sullivan), are rather transparent.

OPENING: It turns out Emilie’s life needs no defense, just more Blithe Spirit: Noel Coward’s comedy deals with a writer having to publicity. Oh, and math phobes, relax. There’s no quiz deal with two wives when the first one returns from the after-life to after the final curtain. haunt him. It opens March 4 at OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista.

Emilie: La Marquise du Chatelet Defends Her Life To- onstageplayhouse.info night runs through March 6 at New Village Arts Theatre The Drowsy Chaperone: This classic musical comedy set in the ’20s in Carlsbad. $22-$36. newvillagearts.org is actually a parody of musical comedies. Yeah, that’s pretty meta, but it won a bunch of Tonys. It opens March 4 at SDSU’s Don Powell Theatre *** Diversionary Theatre’s production of Christopher in the College Area. ttf.sdsu.edu Shinn’s Now or Later runs only 70 minutes, but it’s a The Miracle Worker: William Gibson’s classic story of Helen Keller packed 70 minutes. In one relatively short act, direc- and her committed teacher Anne Sullivan. It opens in previews March 4 at the Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado. lambsplayers.org tor Matt Morrow and a cast of six who wave rhetorical swords at: suppression of free speech, racial intolerance, Alice Chan: This kid-friendly comedy tells the story of a nerdy fifth grader who is cast as the lead of the school play over the popular girl. intolerance of same-sex marriage, power-mad political Directed by Law & Order: SVU actor BD Wong, it opens for four percampaign protocol and parents who don’t get what their formances on March 5 at the La Jolla Playhouse. lajollaplayhouse.org kids have to say. The righteous speeches Shinn gives his Altar Boyz: A musical parody about a fictional Christian boy band main character, John (J. Tyler Jones), a college student on the last night of their tour. Written by Kevin Del Aguila, it opens whose dressing up as Muhammad pisses off his Presi- for four performances on March 9 at the Coronado Playhouse. dent-elect papa (Eddie Yaroch), are delivered with the coronadoplayhouse.com full-throated fervor of a cable-news split screen. Yet we are never completely sure whether Ivy League John is For full theater listings, standing on political principle, crying out for underplease visit “T heater ” standing from his hypocrite father or suffering the pangs of a breakup with the never-seen Robbie. Before you’ve at sdcitybeat.com made up your mind, show’s over.

man Dr., The acclaimed chamber music quartet will perform selections from Haydn, Karol Szymanowski and Jean Sibelius. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 4. $36-$54. artpower.ucsd.edu Ferruccio Furlanetto at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. The Italian bass opera singer will be accompanied by a full orchestra to perform selections from his most popular San Diego Opera appearances. At 7 p.m. Saturday, March 5. $35-$160. 619-235-0804, sdopera.org/season/2015-16-season/ ferruccio-furlanetto-in-concert HCelebrating Local Music Giving Back at St. James by-the-Sea, 743 Prospect St., La Jolla. Bodhi Tree Concerts presents an all-local cast of musicians including Michael Morgan, Laura Bueno, Mark Danisovszky, and more. Includes a food drive for Mama’s Kitchen and proceeds benefit the Exotic Bird Sanctuary.

From 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 6. $20.

858-459-3421, bodhitreeconcerts.org Thomas Mellan at First Presbyterian Church of San Diego, 320 Date St., The young organist and composer will present music by four French composers (Clérambault, Franck, Dupré and Duruflé) on the 101-rank Casavant Frères organ. At 7 p.m.

Sunday, March 6. Free. fpcsd.org HAshley Bathgate at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. The solo cellist is known for breaking the mold of the cello’s traditionally perceived voice. She will perform both acoustic and with electronics. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8. $10-$15. freshsoundmusic.com

PERFORMANCE HSeaport Village Busker Festival at Seaport Village, West Harbor Drive, Downtown. This tenth annual festival features colorful street performers from jugglers on unicycles and stilt walkers, to contortionists and acro-balancers.

Parking and a shuttle service will be available. From noon to 6 p.m. Satur-

14 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

day, March 5 and Sunday, March 6.

Free. seaportvillage.com HBuskers After Dark at Seaport Village, West Harbor Drive, Downtown. A less-tame version of the annual busker festival, this event will feature a DJ, food and drink specials and busker acts best suited for those over 18. Also includes special sales from more than 50 shops, restaurants and eateries at Seaport Village. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 5. Free. seaportvillage.com HLord Buckley: His Royal Hipness at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach.

The show, performed by Jake Broder, is based on the hip routines of a comedian from the ‘40s and ‘50s and who influenced everyone from Jack Kerouac to Johnny Depp. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 7 and Tuesday, March 8. $25$30. 858-481-1055, northcoastrep.org

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HNon-Standard Lit Reading Series at Gym Standard, 2903 El Cajon Blvd. #2, North Park. The second spring reading for Non-Standard Lit features poets Megan Kaminski (Deep City and Desiring Map) and Douglas Kearney (Mess and Mess, Patter, The Black Automaton). From 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, March 6. Free. 619501-4996, gymstandard.com

SPECIAL EVENTS HSan Diego Bird Festival at Marina Village Conference Center, 1936 Quivira Way, Mission Beach. The San Diego Audubon Society’s 20th annual fest features expert speakers, pelagic trips and birding workshops. From Thursday, March 3 to Sunday, Mar. 6.

See website for prices and full details.

Various times. $10-$15. 619-222-1620, sandiegoaudubon.org

Spring Home Garden Show at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Three days of landscapes, handson demonstrations, home improvement products, educational seminars, plant sales and consultations with top experts.

From 11 to 6 p.m. Friday, March 4, 10 to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 5, and 10 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 6. $1-$9. 858-7551161, springhomegardenshow.com HCherry Blossom Festival at Japanese Friendship Garden Society, 2215 Pan American Rd., Balboa Park. Celebrate the blooming of the garden’s cherry trees. The day includes Japanese cultural performances, craft activities, vendors and authentic Japanese food. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 5. $8.

619-232-2721, niwa.org HStreet Art and Lowrider Festival at Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, 404 Euclid Ave., Lincoln Park.

The inaugural outdoor fest celebrates Chicano art and culture and features more than 50 lowrider autos, children’s printmaking activities, live music, art showcases, and more. From noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 5. Free. 619-5276161, sandiego-art.org San Diego K9 Cancer Walk at NTC Park at Liberty Station, 2455 Cushing Rd., Point Loma. This annual walk helps increase the Morris Animal Foundation’s capacity to invest in science that will help prevent and treat cancer and other diseases in dogs. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Sunday, March 6. $20-$35. 619-5739260, morrisanimalfoundation.org HSan Diego Women’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Jo and Vi Jacobs Center Celebration Hall, 404 Euclid Ave., Chollas View. The 15th annual induction ceremony and reception honors women who have positively impacted San Diego County. This year’s inductees include Evonne Seron Schulze, Maria Garcia, Christine Kehoe, and more. From 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday, March 6. $25-$45.

619-233-4114, womenshalloffamesd.org

“Christopher Cross”

by Erica Putis is on view in Venus: An All Women Art Show, opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at La Bodega (2165 Logan Ave. in Barrio Logan).

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS Visiting Artist Lecture: Lucy R. Lippard at UCSD SME Building, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla. The writer, activist, and sometime curator will give a talk. She has published twenty-four books on contemporary art and cultural studies, most recently Undermining: A Wild Ride through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West. At 10 a.m. Saturday, March 5.

Free. visarts.ucsd.edu

#SDCityBeat

(The latest in a series of features on San Diego’s most interesting neighborhoods)

by TORREY BAILEY

TORREY BAILEY

SOUTH PARK—or Golden Hill, depending on whom you ask—is the quaintly hip neighborhood nestled southeast of Balboa Park, as well as below North Park and the lesser-known, rectangular Burlingame neighborhood.

South Park versus Golden Hill? The naming debate originated in the ’80s, when some residents recognized the real estate’s financial potential. “The reason it became South Park is there were people in this neighborhood who were more interested in property value,” says Judy Forman (Judy the Beauty on Duty) from the Big Kitchen. “South Park is a division of Golden Hill.”

The city seems to be in agreement. “As noted in the city’s historic context statement for Greater Golden Hill, the community plan area is composed of two distinct communities, Golden Hill and South Park,” according to historic preservation consulting firm Historic Resources Group.

In a way, there’s no right or wrong moniker, and nobody seems to care too much—though long-time locals insist on reaffirming the region’s roots every so often.

Whatever you call it, the neighborhood doesn’t have cars backed up at every traffic light, because there aren’t any. Tourists aren’t floating in and out of hotels because those don’t exist here, either. Rather, single-family residences, independently owned knick-knack shops and food stops fill its radius. (Note the Target Express looking wildly misplaced on Grape Street.)

On Mondays, expect “We’re Closed” signs hanging in the windows. But don’t mistake South Park for a sleepy site. Any night of the week, locals convene at restaurant-turned-bar hangouts, usually with dogs in tow.

The Corner

The intersection of Juniper, 30th and Fern Streets is the main stage in South Park. Street-goers fit the bill of evolved beatniks, or Lululemon-wearing moms chauffeuring equally trendy mini-mes in strollers. And if they’re walking, they’re probably walking a four-legged friend, too. But if that’s not the case they’re biking, zooming every which way through the streets in an earnest/hip attempt to be environmentally friendly.

#SDCityBeat

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

SOUTH PARK

SOUTH PARK

wing stop

Street cred

The Freedom Mural that covers Albert Einstein Academy Charter Elementary School’s (3035 Ash St.) eastern wall is one of South Park’s longest residing pieces of street art.

Originally designed by Japanese artist Rocco, it was painted in the summer of 1990 by Mario Torero and some students, including Neko Burke. Now an established graffiti artist, Burke looks back on the enduring project with nostalgia and pride. He says Golden Hill and South Park have gone through the gentrification process and that, “the families that were originally there—low-income and working class—are no longer there, but there’s still a presence of the past, of what it was, with these murals standing.”

16 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

PHOTOS BY TORREY BAILEY

South Park has quietly become a chicken wing destination and the saucy meat sticks at places like The South Park Abbey (1946 Fern St.) and Hamilton’s Tavern (1521 30th St.) live up to the heated hype. At the Abbey, the wings are big, tender and meaty, and the “Dirty” (a mix of pre-made buffalo and ranch sauces) and the “Honey Habanero” (self-explanatory) are must-try flavors. The Abbey also has an extra-hot “Tough Guy” sauce that requires patrons to sign a waiver before consuming.

Equally foreboding are Hamilton’s “Deer Hunter” wings, a serving of five extra hot wings (made from habanero and thai chiles, as well as the Bhut Joloka pepper) and one Seth vs. the meat sweats mystery wing (with a special-order sauce called Mad Dog 357 that has reaper, scorpion and ghost peppers). The mystery wing is so hot it registers on the Scoville heat scale at six million units ( just above pepper spray). It’s the culinary equivalent of a game of Russian Roulette. When we visited recently, the guy behind the counter gave us a “heh-heh, have fun” after placing our order. After three wings, arts editor Seth Combs had the misfortune of biting into the extra spicy wing. Red-faced and sweating like a Southern Baptist preacher, he managed to eat most of the wing. He also emptied two glasses of water and repeatedly yelled things like “It feels like I have Chlamydia in my mouth.” After 15 minutes of tears and repeated expletives, he seemed OK enough to give us this assessment: “At first it seems sweet, but once the heat hits your lips and spreads, you’re done. I won’t do that again.”

#SDCityBeat

colorful characters Rodney Hubbard

“If I have somewhere to be, I don’t even drive through South Park anymore. I drive around it if I can,” says Rodney Hubbard, a longtime South Parker who can be spotted at the Whistle Stop at least three times a week. It sounds drastic, but Hubbard is just being pragmatic. We’d be hard pressed to think of anyone in South Park who doesn’t know him. More often than not, he’s parked on a stool out on the Whistle’s back patio, sipping on a whiskey and serenading folks with his angelic falsetto. He’s been the frontman for many local R&B and soul bands, including Pan Am and The Bankhead Press, and says he keeps coming back to South Park and The Whistle Stop because he can always find like-minded musicians. “It’s not like Cheers or nothin’,’” says the former Marine originally from Glen Burnie, Maryland.

“There’s just nowhere else to find the musicians I need. Everyone I’ve ever played with, I’ve met here.” Hubbard says he’s considered moving away to places like Rio de Janeiro many times but sticks around San Diego and South Park because of the small-town-within-a-city vibe. “I’ve had some of the best times in my life here,” he says. “This is the best part of San Diego, right here.”

PHOTOS BY TORREY BAILEY

Judy Forman Judy The Beauty on Duty at The Big Kitchen (3003 Grape St.) is the selfappointed mayor of South Park. In 1979, she packed up her activist ways and moved from Detroit to San Diego.

After three months as a volunteer dishwasher, seeing the community’s need for positive extracurricular outlets, she bought The Big Kitchen and hired 15 local gang members. With extensive involvement in social and civil justice, there aren’t many issues she hasn’t acted upon. “You have no right to complain about something unless you are activated to do something about it,” she says. Her restaurant transforms into a multi-use space where the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation was created, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are held and theater is practiced.

Comedian Whoopi Goldberg used to work here. Although Forman’s energetic eyes radiate with pride, she also thanks her customers for bringing various civil inequalities to her attention. Now 70, she doesn’t plan to slow down. “I sort of figured I’m going to ride my surfboard to the beach, which means I don’t ever see myself as retiring, but I do delegate more and more, and it’s not my business, it’s my life. It’s my baby, and it’s a wonderful, wonderful creation.” A sense of family is ingrained at Big Kitchen. As diners part ways, she calls after them, grinning and saying, “You’ll be back. It’s a rule.”

Peter the Serbian serviceman He’s lived in South Park for 10 years, or maybe it’s 13. He definitely has two sons, one aged 26 and the other 28, and he likes playing tennis. Possibly. That’s how difficult it is to cut through his Serbian accent. Most information related to his background is hazy gossip lost in translation, but his helpfulness and convenience aren’t up for debate by local shopkeepers. Every day, Peter walks up Fern Street, making pit stops at his stomping grounds—Junc.Life, Make Good, Bad Madge and Rebecca’s Coffee—helping with small tasks like emptying the outside trashcans since the city no longer does it. “He’ll just stop and help with whatever,” says Jeffrey Parish, owner of Junc.Life. “I’ve seen him help people across the street who are juggling kids, and I’ve seen him grab stuff, and they’re startled, but then he just walks with them so that they understand.” He helps out to earn a couple bucks and a few cups of coffee but also for a sense of belonging. The baristas at Rebecca’s say if he runs to get more ice on a day when the line is out the door, it saves them. “It’s like these are his stores,” says Make Good owner Sophia Hall. “He cares about them. I think he kind of likes having us here so I think he kind of goes out of his way.”

#SDCityBeat

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

new kids on the block

PHOTOS BY TORREY BAILEY

Kindred (1503 30th St.)

Defying all preconceived notions of hippy vegan eateries, this twisted take on a Prohibition-style establishment is outfitted in paneled ceilings and pink patterned wallpaper, juxtaposed by a menacing sculpture of a shiny, black, foureyed beast hanging on the back wall. The bathrooms lend themselves to heavy metal music and cat photography. The craft cocktails and vegetable-based dishes are as equally intriguing as the walls surrounding them.

Kindred

Gold Leaf (2225 30th St.)

On Feb. 2, this home décor hub replaced Progress in the historic Burlingame Garage building, which was constructed as an auto body shop in 1911. The husbandand-wife ownership markets a warmer wave of modern design in the form of bath products, candles, ceramics, a local furniture brand and more. A children’s monthly story time is in the works.

Gold Leaf

Del Sur (2310 30th St)

Under the creative watch of Lauren Passaro, owner of both Kensington Café and The Haven Pizzeria, margaritas and Mexican food are moving in. Salud! Executive chef Sergio Garcia will bring a dose of Chicano soul food to traditional tastes in this sit-down space that just opened Feb. 29. Whereas the previous inhabitant, Brabant Bar, was color coated in cream and burgundy, Provecho’s walls will wear a vibrant chevron pattern.

18 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

Del Sur

#SDCityBeat

SOUTH PARK

SOUTH PARK PHOTOS BY TORREY BAILEY

1. Kindred (1503 30th St.)

rk 2. South Pa .

C g Brewin ) o (1517 30th St.

3. The Ros e (2219 30th St.)

4. Station Tavern (2204 Fern St.)

5, South Park Abbey (1946 Fern St.)

6. Ham ilt Tave on’s rn (1521 30th

St.)

7. Whistle Stop (2236 Fern St.)

on a scale of one to drunk Where to drink on a scale from relaxed ( 1 ) to raucous ( 7 )

#SDCityBeat

EVENTS Old House Fair • June 18 southparksd.com/ old-house-fair.html

Taste of South Park • Mid-September facebook.com/tasteofsouthpark/

South Park Walkabout • March 19 • July 9 • October 8 • December 3 southparksd.com/walkabout.html

Mystery Meat

For years, South Parkers have puzzled over the nearly non-existent Rigel Meat Co. (2145 Fern St.), a self-proclaimed wholesale meat shop.

With blinds shut tight and hardly an entry in sight, some aren’t quite sure whether it’s even open, yielding meager foot traffic even though it sits on prime real estate. Yelp reviewers are curious. “Classic mystery shop. It’s got to be a front for something, but I can’t imagine what,” wrote one reviewer back in 2007. Another opined, “While it seems like a home base for aliens it’s actually a good meat wholesaler,” adding that the employees’ phone skills were subpar. When CityBeat called, nobody was home… until just before deadline. Rigel Meat Co. manager Mark Sawaya called back to let us know the store is strictly wholesale and has been since 2007. It’s been there for 40 years. They own the building, rent space to Eclipse Chocolate and sell to San Diego Chicken Pie Shop (2633 El Cajon Blvd.). Mystery solved.

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

$ 10 Combos

At Participating Restaurants

BURGER WEEK

Look inside for more info!

Week

#SDBurger

MARCH 3-12 presented by: Take

To Burger Week

instagram contest!

Check-in to participating restaurants and use #SDBurgerWeek $300 Grand Prize in gift certificates! (10 check-ins minimum to qualify)

www.SanDiegoBurgerWeek.com

2016 San Diego Burger Week

CityBeat Advertising Section

CityBeat Advertising Section

2016 San Diego Burger Week

CityBeat brings you the 3rd annual San Diego Burger Week.

Each restaurateur and chef will prepare their unique take on the burger.

Take advantage of $5 burgers and $10 combos at participating restaurants.

57 DEGREES • The Middletown Burger 1735 Hancock St., Middletown, CA 92101

ANDAZ SAN DIEGO • The Heartbreaker 600 F St., Gaslamp, CA 92101

THE AZ CAFE • 3 AZ Sliders

1925 Bacon St., Ocean Beach, CA 92107

THE BALBOA BAR AND GRILL • The Balboa Burger 1853 5th Ave., Bankers Hill, CA 92101

BOOMERANGS GOURMET BURGER JOINT • Bad Breath Burger 4577 Clairemont Dr., Clairemont, CA 92117

BOOTLEGGER • B.Y.O. Burger 804 Market St., East Village, CA 92101

THE BREW PROJECT • The Brew Project Bomb-Ass Burger 3683 5th Ave., Hillcrest, CA 92103

BUBS AT THE BALLPARK • The Carolina Burger 715 J St., East Village, CA 92101

BUBS AT THE BEACH • The Carolina Burger 1030 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach, CA 92109

CAFFE PRIMO • Classic Cheeseburger 1330 Market St., San Diego, CA 92101

CALI “O” BURGERS • The Cali Burger 1290 University Ave., Hillcrest, CA 92103

2016 San Diego Burger Week

CityBeat Advertising Section

Go to www.SanDiegoBurgerWeek.com for a description of each burger and a list of all combos!

#SDBURGERWEEK CALLAHAN’S PUB & BREWERY • Special Brewery Burger 8111 Mira Mesa Blvd., Mira Mesa, CA 92126

CARNITAS’ SNACK SHACK • The Extortion Burger 2632 University Ave., North Park, CA 92104

THE COMMONS • Commons Burger 901 4th Ave., Gaslamp, Ca 92101

CRAZEE BURGER • The Texas or The Cajun Burger 3993 30th St., North Park, CA 92104

CREST CAFE • Choice of 8 different burgers 425 Robinson Ave., Hillcrest, CA 92103

DIRTY BIRDS • The Classic Burger

4656 Mission Blvd., Pacific Beach, CA 92109 6499 El Cajon Blvd., College Area, CA 92115

THE DUCK DIVE • The Dive Burger

4650 Mission Blvd., Pacific Beach, CA 92109

EUREKA! • Original Eureka! Burger 4353 La Jolla Village Dr., UTC, CA 92122

Evolution Fast Food • Any Burger 2965 5th Ave., Bankers Hill, CA 92103

FLORENT RESTAURANT & LOUNGE • 3 Sliders 672 4th Ave., Gaslamp, CA 92101

GARAGE KITCHEN + BAR • Bob’s Burger 655 4th Ave., Gaslamp, CA 92101

CityBeat Advertising Section

2016 San Diego Burger Week

GASLAMP TAVERN • Angus Beef Burger 868 5th Ave., Gaslamp, CA 92101

Guava Beach • Guava’s Famous Burger 3714 Mission Blvd., Mission Beach, CA 92109

THE HARP • The Harp Burger

4935 Newport Ave., Ocean Beach, CA 92107

HENRY’s PUB • #Cluckmoo Burger or The Burger 618 5th Ave., Gaslamp, CA 92101

THE MARKET HALL • Bacon Cheeseburger 969 Market St., East Village, CA 92101

MCGREGORS GRILL & ALE HOUSE • Classic McGregor Burger 10475 San Diego Mission Rd., Mission Valley, CA 92108

MISHMASH • 2 Brandt Beef Sliders

1985 National Ave. #1133, Barrior Logan, CA 92113

NUNU’S • Classic 1/3Lb. Smoke Stack Burger 3537 5th Ave., Hillcrest, CA 92103

2016 San Diego Burger Week

CityBeat Advertising Section

OSCAR WILDE’S IRISH PUB • Dublin Burger 1440 University Ave., Hillcrest, CA 92103

PB SHORE CLUB • Shore Classic Burger 4343 Ocean Blvd., Pacific Beach, CA 92104

PLANT POWER FAST FOOD • Any Burger 2204 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., Ocean Beach, CA 92107

QUAD ALEHOUSE • Angus Beef Burger 868 5th Ave., Gaslamp, CA 92101

THE RABBIT HOLE • Ground Chuck Norris 3377 Adams Ave., Normal Heights, CA 92116

RED WING BAR AND GRILL • New Standard Burger 4012 30th St., North Park, CA 92104

ROYALE WITH CHEESE (at Park & Rec) • Royale with Cheese 4612 Park Blvd., University Heights, CA 92116

SALTBOX RESTAURANT • House Grind Burger 1047 5th Ave., Downtown, CA 92101

SAN DIEGO BREWING CO. • Special Brewery Burger 10450 Friars Rd., Grantville, CA 92120

SLATER’s 50/50 • 1/4 Lb. Backyard Burger

2750 Dewey Rd. Unit 193, Liberty Station, CA 92106 110 Knoll Rd., San Marcos, CA 92069

SMALL BAR • Brunch Burger

4628 Park Blvd., University Heights, CA 92116

THE SOUTH PARK ABBEY • Harris Ranch Beef Burger 1946 Fern St., South Park, CA 92102

STATION TAVERN • Spicy Black Bean Burger 2204 Fern St., South Park, CA 92104

SUBLIME NORTH PARK • Southwest Burger 4101 30th St., North Park, CA 92104

TOSTADAS • Shrimp Burger

3139 University Ave., North Park, CA 92104

U31 • American Classic or Smoky Mountain 3112 University Ave., North Park, CA 92104

WAYPOINT PUBLIC • 1/3 Lb. Steak Burger 3794 30th St., North Park, CA 92104

WHISKEY GIRL • BBQ Burger 702 5th Ave., Gaslamp, CA 92101

Restaurants and Burger Specials subject to change without notice.

CityBeat Advertising Section

2016 San Diego Burger Week

CULTURE | ART few years later, but he’s excited to come back to Barrio Logan to start his own gallery space, Basile I.E. (the I.E. stands for ideas and experiments), as well as to help curate what he and Martino hope turns into an arts destination.

“What we’re seeking are more creatives,” says Basile, when asked what might go into the three neighboring units. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be mean, this is Barrio Logan, right?” exclaims Chris an artist. We like the idea of some sort of maker kind Martino as he gives CityBeat a tour of his new of concept, like a maker’s place. Something like that art space in Barrio Logan. “These old, cool warewould be really fun. I think it would be a good cross houses with so much potential.” pollination for what we’re trying to do.”

It’s certainly easy to see the potential in the sideBoth Basile and Martino will be doing art shows by-side, five-unit space at 2070 Logan Ave. that Marin their respective places, but with different emphatino says will serve as the TORREY BAILEY ses. Martino, who curated headquarters and gallery art shows at The Guild and space for CM Curatoat his own Solana Beach rial. Nestled in the heart gallery, Project X: Art until of Barrio Logan between 2011, plans to have shows a custom piñata store and highlighting up-and-comChicano Park, Martino has ing Mexican artists but also partnered with designer wants to include local and Paul Basile (basilestudio.

SoCal artists. Both he and com) to create what MarBasile would have artistino calls “two joined, but tic autonomy, but Martino separate spaces.” wants to do dual shows cen“Chris used to show tered on an overall concept. up at my place all the Martino describes their time back in the day,” says Paul Basile and Chris Martino first dual show, Dictators Basile, who once ran the Rule! (Until They Don’t), as Basile Gallery in the then up-and-coming East Vila “satirical, pop-inspired takedown of old and new lage neighborhood next to downtown. “This was in school despots.” It’s set to open April 9, just in time ’94 so we’ve been talking about doing this forever.” for the Barrio Art Crawl.

This isn’t Basile’s first venture in Barrio Logan.

“We’re both into pushing boundaries,” says MarHe counts himself as one of the first developers to tino. “Not your standard art. We want progressive see the potential in the neighborhood and had his works that push the edge, and there will be an overdesign business headquarters there throughout the lap between the two of us.” ’00s, and even converted a portion of it into The Guild Restaurant & Bar in 2007. The Guild closed a —Seth Combs

SEEN LOCAL

BACK IN THE BARRIO

I

“

CRAFT SHOOT: KATHY NIDA Kathy Nida says she’s used to the haters. The El “There’s very little sex in my work, but it is about Cajon artist has been crafting her surrealist quilts for being a female, a feminist and being a mother,” says almost 30 years and regularly travels to quilt shows Nida, a single mother of two. “You can’t get away and conferences to showcase her work. While most from your parts, man! They’re there!” people appreciate the work, she says there will alSeveral local galleries have seen the artistic merit GARY CONAUGHTON ways be people who just don’t in Nida’s work. The Hyde Galget it. lery in El Cajon recently had “A lot of the process is several of Nida’s pieces at a the same kind of process show entitled, Contemporary most quilters use, but I scare Crafts. She’s hoping to show people at quilt shows somesome of her work at Gallery times,” says Nida, who uses a D and the Oceanside Museum hand appliqué style. of Art over the summer but Each piece starts as a doesn’t have any shows sodrawing and each quilt conlidified quite yet. She says it’s tains up to 2,000 individual hard for galleries to get their pieces of fabric and can take heads around seeing quilting up to 100 hours to make. as a legitimate art form.

She says most of her quilts “Because I work in fabric, are inspired by dreams. One I don’t really fit with the art piece features a woman pickcommunity,” says Nida, who ing eyeballs out of a tree as if also works as a middle school they’re fruit. Another piece, science teacher. “They walk “One Paycheck,” upset a Viraway and label it as a craft, ginia woman so much at a which is funny because the quilt show that she reported quilt world will be like, ‘Wait, it to the local Fox News affilithat’s more like art.’ There are ate, saying that Nida’s piece magazines that won’t print my “One of My Kind” by Kathy Nida work and shows that won’t let was pornographic. The piece features nudity, but there is me display, but I have a lot of nothing overtly sexual about it and actually deals in support locally and abroad so I just look for the posithemes of homelessness and being a single mother tive parts.” kathynida.com living paycheck to paycheck.

26 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

—Seth Combs

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Voices

ryan bradford

well that was

awkward

What’s the deal with adult coloring parties?

I

think, deep down, I have a little bit of Republican in me. On most days, it’s easy to keep the anger at bay—these are the days where I can remain reasonable, thoughtful and considerate. But sometimes, something triggers me and I have an emotional reaction akin to Hulking out. The id takes over and I feel my compassion and empathy dripping through my fingers.

One thing that squeezes dark, conservative bile from my glands is the perceived infantilization of our culture. My immediate reaction to things like “safe places” and “trigger warnings” is probably the same as the staunch Trump supporter, and I regard most popular movies (i.e. Superhero culture) as our increasing desire for escapism over difficult or morally challenging art.

Considering that, I just about flip a table when I first hear about adult coloring.

Of all the darn-tootin’, crack-pot, bitter-clinging, pussy-footing liberal/ hippie/ hipster/woo-woo ideas, this one seems the worst.

And even worser, I discover that I had friends who were into it. Is everything okay? I want to ask them.

Like, with life?

Prejudices flow through my veins when I see the Facebook invite to the release of Adalaide Marcus’ adult coloring book, Chakra Mandalas. Among the red flags on the itinerary is a group meditation meant to “blast our third eye off,” and a point when we will enter our “COLOR vortex.” I give them props for the hard sell, but this seems as overcompensating as referring to fruit as “nature’s candy.” Plus, the last time I blasted anything off, my wife forbade me from eating Frito pie ever again.

The red flags are ultimately what persuade me to go. It sounds so out of my element that that it’s almost imperative to subject myself to it.

But on the day of the event, my lighthearted snarkiness has devolved into unfocused animosity.

Earlier in the day, I received a slew of emails undermining my artistic vision on a project that I’d spent a lot of time on. That people wait until a Friday afternoon to send those kinds of emails is a testament to how courtesy is wasted on our culture. I arrive at the adult coloring party in a foul mood.

The release party is in a basement space at the You Are Here development in Golden Hill. Guests are already seated at the foldout tables, quietly coloring; some are nestled up on the pillows that line the perimeter. It’s an oddly comfortable room, albeit heated to an ungodly temperature. I guess part of it is due to the number of people here—probably around 50. The adult coloring craze ain’t no lie.

Maybe it’s the warmth, but I feel a little bit of the day’s frustrations slip away. Good God, is this what it feels like when your chakras align?

The woman at the door hands me the coloring

book, and I immediately feel like a jerk for having reservations about the $25 price tag. I mean, yeah, that seems like a lot to spend on the coloring book, but the paper is high quality and Marcus’ illustrations are dope. Having had a little experience in self-publishing and knowing the price of paper stocks, assemblage and reproduction, I’d guess that Marcus is probably only breaking even tonight.

Marcus traverses the crowd, engaging everyone with spritely energy. I realize that she’s different than most artists whose events I’ve been to. For one, she doesn’t surround herself with a too-cool-forschool entourage. It often feels like artists put on events just to hang out with the other elite, and the effect is alienating. She introduces herself and talks about her illustrations in a way that simultaneously doesn’t condescend to someone who has no idea what a chakra is, and belies the stereotypical flightiness of someone who does. Simply, she’s one of the most direct and genuine artists with whom I’ve interacted.

I order a drink—basically a shitload of vodka, Midori and Sprite—and take a seat at a corner table. A shaggy guy in a rainbow helicopter beanie walks up to me and asks, “Can I get you anything, brother-man?”

“No, I’m good,” I say, endeared to his kindness. I think: bless your helicopter hat-wearing heart, brother-man.

Pretty soon, my table fills with strangers, including two goth girls who sit across from me—Anastasia and Vix. Vix has an impressive set of markers that she keeps in a black, plastic container with skull emblazoned on the top. I, on the other hand, have brought a fistful of loose Crayola Magic Markers.

I don’t even have red. Vix watches with disdain as I begin filling in one of the mandalas with gray. I surround the gray with purple and yellow and soon I’ve rendered Marcus’ intricate design into a clashing garbage heap.

Helicopter beanie brother-man leads us in a group meditation. He takes us away from a big city, into a forest, where we become part of the roots. I don’t exactly blast my third eye off, but it’s not unpleasant either. More of the day’s anger disappears.

Despite my sorry coloring skills, there’s something very soothing about the activity. Enthusiasts advocate the therapeutic qualities of adult coloring books, and I begin to see what they mean. Plus, the adult coloring party turns out to be prime environment for an introverted extrovert like me: you get to be around people without having to talk to them.

Somewhere deep inside me, Republican Ryan is drowning in chakras. And that’s fine.

“

I, on the other hand, have brought a fistful of loose Crayola Magic Markers.

“

#SDCityBeat

Well That Was Awkward appears every other week.

Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com.

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Culture | Film

The Boy and the Beast

Natural instincts Conflicts of identity abound in Mamoru Hosoda’s magical new anime

by Glenn Heath Jr.

T

he Boy and the Beast, always you wrestle in- here their divergent backgrounds and similarly volaside me. tile personalities.

No, that’s not a direct line from a Terrence Mid-way through, the film inserts Kyûta back into Malick film but an apt description of the strong pull the human world to further complicate his underbetween identity and purpose felt by two lead char- standing of family and home. This is where Hosoda’s acters in Mamoru Hosoda’s latest anime. The boy, an film goes off the rails, attempting to be too many orphan named Ren (Shōta Sometani), and the beast, genres at once in a short amount of time. Kumatetsu, a brash warrior called Kumatetsu (Kōji Yakusho), are the film’s most interesting character, is left behind from different worlds and bloodlines, but they come for a melodramatic interlude between Kyûta and a to experience interchangeable conflicts of self. young teenage girl. The Boy and The Beast may be atContinuing his fascination with the way human tempting to literalize one of its best quotes, “find the and animal experiences magically overlap, the direc- meaning on your own.” But it does so at the cost of intor’s latest kicks off with Ren (quickly renamed Kyû- terrupting momentum, an essential building block to ta) abandoning his destitute urban the master/disciple narrative that life to become an apprentice for carries so much dramatic weight. the massive bruiser Kumatetsu in When Kyûta and Kumatetsu his native fantasy utopia of Jutenare reunited it feels like a halfthe boy and gai, reached through an alleyway baked plot contrivance that occurs the beast portal in downtown Tokyo. simply because the former finds The set-up references a host of himself in need of guidance. This Directed by Mamoru Hosoda classic martial arts themes regardkind of narrative convenience Starring Kōji Yakusho, ing honor and discipline, then sets ends up defining The Boy and the Shōta Sometani, Suzu Hirose them on fire. Both Kyûta and KuBeast during its ambitious albeit and Kazuhiro Yamaji matetsu are hotheads, arguing so problematic second half dominatincessantly that it appears their ed by Kyûta’s self-pity and pubesRated PG-13 relationship will lead to double hocent angst. micide. With a teacher who can’t Glorious visuals are a staple teach and a student who doesn’t for The Boy and the Beast, includlisten, stalemate seems like the only option. Yet, Ho- ing a wistful travelogue montage of Jutengai’s lush soda’s visual patience gives both characters the time outer reaches. But they lack the emotional undercurand opportunity to grow beyond stereotype. rent of Hosoda’s previous film, 2012’s Wolf Children, Part of their conflict stems from how Kyûta’s a brilliant mesh of drama and fantasy that lovingly presence in the beast world complicates Kumatet- explores the sacrifice of parenting and shielding an su’s quest to become the next lord, a process that will outsider from social ridicule. eventually culminate in a battle royale with the popWhat separates the two films is their contrasting ular and polished stallion Lozen (Kazuhiro Yamaji). points of view. Hosoda’s latest is frantic and messy According to mythological lore, humans carry a dark since it sees the world through Kyûta’s volatile eyes, hole inside their heart, leaving rampant fear that the whereas Wolf Children is more measuredly indebted orphan boy will taint Jutengai forever. to the perspective of adults in crisis.

The Boy and Beast stages its early sequences exThe Boy and the Beast, which opens on Friday, pertly. We get a strong sense of each landscape, how March 4, at the Angelika Film Center in Carmel strength is gained from various people and experi- Mountain, ends in a surreal burst of energy and colences, and the tricky process of mentorship. Such or. But for a film that claims to have so much heart, moments culminate in a sublime training montage it all feels suspiciously hollow. where Kyûta and Kumatetsu find a perfect balance.

Through colorful wide-screen vistas, the two figures Film reviews run weekly. move serenely in harmony, having found a way to co- Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

28 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Film

Faster Gerard!

Kill! Kill!

L

ondon Has Fallen feels tailormade for Donald Trump’s American idiocracy. There’s an army of vengeful gun-toting Islamist extremists who decimate London during a calculated operation to assassinate multiple leaders of state. There’s a wisecracking, sadistic American hero named Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) who’s “made of bourbon and poor choices” that makes them pay. And finally there’s rational, intelligent people who stand on the sidelines and watch it happen, i.e. Morgan Freeman’s impotent Vice President.

Directed by Babak Najafi, the

#SDCityBeat

“worst-case scenario” undoubtedly inspired by the greatest horrors ISIS could produce.

As Banning and Asher attempt to circumnavigate downtown London, they face an enemy deemed “the United Nations of everyone who hates us” that has somehow infiltrated the police ranks and MI5 while coordinating five separate explosions in amazing fashion. The world’s intelligence operations will surely be studying London Has Fallen this film like a documentary.

When Banning was forced to film is not only an inferior sequel kill in Olympus Has Fallen, there to Antoine Fuqua’s devastating was a desperation and coordinacity symphony of mayhem, Olym- tion to his carnage. Here, his acpus Has Fallen, but it’s a con- tions reek of flagrant opportunism; temptible, ugly and morally cor- every knife thrust or muzzle flash introduces the worst kind of chestrupt poser of an action film.

The gang’s all back, including thumping one-liners. London Has Aaron Eckhart as the stoic Presi- Fallen, which opens Friday, March dent Benjamin Asher who seems 4, claims to be concerned with into be allergic to death, Angela Bas- citing the spirit of justice and coursett as a badass woman of power age, but does so through hateful relegated to victim-status and barbarism that can’t be excused. poor Radha Mitchell as Banning’s

—Glenn Heath Jr. pregnant wife who remains an afterthought until her due date.

With its slack-jaw narrative and horrendous xenophobia, the Opening film cares very little about the Cabin Fever: Someone felt the need to complexity of modern foreign remake Eli Roth’s horror crapsterpiece. policy and Western intervention- Go figure. Screens through Friday, March ism. It’s the perfect vision of our 10, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

King Georges: Philadelphia filmmaker Erika Frankel films Chef Georges Perrier as he closes his famous eatery Le Bec-Fin in 2010. Screens through Friday, March 10, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

London Has Fallen: Gerard Butler does Trump’s America proud by killing any Muslim that moves in this inane action film about a plot to send the world into chaos by way of assassination.

Remember: Christopher Plummer plays an elderly Holocaust survivor with dementia who’s sent on a mission by a friend to kill a former Nazi hiding in plain sight.

The Boy and the Beast: A young orphan from Tokyo discovers a magical alternate universe where beasts live in harmony with each other. Opens on Friday, March 4, at the Angelika Film Center in Carmel Mountain.

The Wave: A Norwegian town fears the arrival of an 85-foot tsunami caused by a glacier collapse.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: In this dramedy from filmmakers Glenn Ficara and John Requa, Tina Fey plays a journalist who is sent to Afghanistan and Pakistan to cover the various conflicts in the region.

Zootopia: A bunny and a fox team up to uncover a conspiracy in a world of anthropological animals.

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

March 2, 2016 • San Diego CityBeat · 29

the Beach combined with Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. But weirder. “Mekanik Kommandoh” seems like a natural pick, if only because it takes those melodic motifs and works them into a funky, groove-heavy art-rock jam.

“Mekanik Machine” single (1974) Magma is a pretty atypical rock band—if you can even call them a rock band, which is a separate debate. They do have moments, however, that definitely rock. “Mekanik Machine,” a non-album single that was later released on their 1998 Simples compilation, finds the band putting aside the more complex rhythmic and tonal structures in favor of a harder groove and some abrasive guitar sounds.

It’s a bit like electric Miles Davis jamming a five-minute rock opera with Can. It’s a strange irony that this song is actually one of the least commercially convenient finds in their catalog, since it’s actually one of the best tracks to introduce Magma to zeuhl newbs.

Magma circa 1976 here’s no easy way to introduce anyone to the perplexing, complicated and just plain bizarre music of Magma. A French progressive rock band that rose to prominence in the 1970s, Magma can come across, on-paper, like the most absurd band on earth.

Helmed by classically trained drummer Christian Vander, Magma plays a style of music known as “zeuhl,” a term the band invented, which is Kobaian (a language that the band also invented) for “celestial.” Lost yet?

More simply put, Magma plays sci-fi jazz prog, but it’s actually much more interesting than all of that sounds.

When they started, their music was unlike anything else out there, and even today it has few imitators. It’s such a massive and rhythmically intricate sound that it would take a team of virtuosos to be able to pull off an imitation.

But within that dizzying, disorienting mixture of polyrhythmic structures, shifting time signatures, made-up languages and stylistic variations exists some truly mesmerizing, even transcendent music.

With Magma currently touring again in the U.S., the time felt right to revisit some of their greatest works, and to offer up a five-song introduction to their broad musical palette and vast array of sounds. Again, this isn’t an easy task, but these tracks offer a five-song roadmap into their musical world, if not a complete understanding of their beautifully bizarre ways.

“Thaud Zaia” from Magma (aka Kobaïa) (1970) It’s easy to get a sense of just how strange, ambitious and indecipherable Magma is based on their debut album

30 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

(informally called Kobaïa), an 82-minute double concept album about a group of people fleeing earth to re-settle on the planet Kobaïa. (Yes, that is pretty dorky, but The Force Awakens netted $2 billion, so don’t mount that high horse just yet.) What separates Magma’s take on the popular ’70s trope of space-travel-themed prog-rock is the musical component. “Thaud Zaia,” one of the album’s highlights, is more like an avant garde jazz track than a rock song, balancing discordant keyboards against horns and flutes, and some gorgeously nuanced piano. To hear it without context, it might sound more like a film score than anything else, which in a way is pretty accurate—there’s just no film to go with it.

“Mekanik Kommandoh” from Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh (1973) Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh is a concept album about seeking justice for the death of a Kobaian ambassador (or something, who knows, it’s all in a language nobody can understand so don’t worry about it). This is a hard album to choose a standout track from, if only because it flows as one continuous piece of music on each side. Yet as the band’s most highly acclaimed and musically adventurous album, I didn’t want to leave it out. It features a full choir and pulsing, minimalist-inspired textures and recurring melodic motifs, the end result being something like Philip Glass’ Einstein on

“Coltrane Sündia” from Köhntarkösz (1974) In the context of the whole of the Köhntarkösz album, “Coltrane Sündia” seems like a minor piece. That’ll happen when 75 percent of the album is a two-part, 30-minute track. Yet, it’s a crucially important piece of music to Magma on the whole, because of its homage to the jazz giant referenced in its title: John Coltrane. Magma leader Christian Vander spoke about the importance of his music on his own work in a 1995 interview, noting, “it is still Coltrane who actually gives me the real material to work on, to be able to move on.” This song showcases that influence transparently in a concise package, beautifully incorporating the atmospheric motifs of Coltrane’s spiritual jazz of the mid- to late-’60s.

“De Futura” from Üdu Wüdü (1976) This is it: The big one. The 17-minute monster that grew more heads onstage and extended beyond the 20-minute mark during live performances. You can’t really say that Magma has any “hits” to speak of, but the reputation of this track positions it as one, in a way. Several versions of it show up on the first page of a “Magma” search on YouTube, in particular a live performance that shows just how badass the band was in their element— and how many great shapes Vander contorted his face into while playing it. “De Futura” is a summary of everything that Magma is and could be: Massively ambitious rock, creepy and ethereal avant garde composition and jazz improvisation, all rolled into one overwhelming package.

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

#SDCityBeat

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO W

ild Wild Wets’ music is going to make an appearance in a new cable drama. The band’s song “UK Drugs,” from their 14th Floor album, released last year, will appear in the new A&E show Damien, which is based on the character form the classic horror movie, The Omen.

Wild Wild Wets frontman Mike Turi says the opportunity came about when they began working with a licensing agency called Armory, who first told them about the placement back in 2015.

“I heard about it in July while I was in Spain,” he says in an interview at Caffe Calabria. “I was rushing to get all of our music on ASCAP so everything was ready.

Then I didn’t hear about it for about six months.”

The show’s pilot airs on March 7, and “UK Drugs” appears in the fourth episode of the 10-episode season. As far as context for when the song shows up, Turi was only given some vague details about where and when you can hear it.

“It’s in some bar scene,” he says. “Somebody talks to somebody. It’s about 30 seconds.”

The episode will likely air at the end of March, though that’s subject to change. In the meantime, Turi says the licensing deal has turned into a good

Wild Wild Wets business opportunity for the band, and one that could prove to be beneficial down the line.

“With this company, they gave us the right to veto anything we weren’t into. And they can’t use another 30 seconds of the same song without paying us,” he says. “But it’s a great opportunity. Hopefully it turns into something more.”

—Jeff Terich

SAN DIEGO BANDS AT SXSW 2016

T

his month, SXSW launches again, with two show is part of a longer series of tour dates planned, weeks of film, technology, music and de- in addition to their appearance at the Drive Like Jebauchery in downtown Austin. It’s always hu-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties in Wales in April.

Prayers (March 16, Trinity Hall): Prayers are fun, no matter who’s playing (and exhausting, so plan on sleeping a lot beforehand), but this year blowing up like crazy, so it only makes sense that several of San Diego’s heavyweights are playing the they’d make a return to SXSW this year, where their “cholo-goth” sound is likely to festival. Here’s who you’ll catch be met with a big crowd. Just in Austin this year. a month later, they’re playing Author and Punisher Coachella, just to give you some (March 19, Swan Dive Patio): indication as to the size of their One man industrial metal powhype train. erhouse Tristan Shone has been The Touchies (March 18, pretty much everywhere in the Grackle): Local punks The last year, recently embarking Touchies are making the trek on an extensive European tour out to Austin to play a special before returning to the states. If all-day show, headlined by you want something heavy, dark Japanese band Peelander-Z. It’s and intense, you need to go see also an all ages show, so if you’ve him. got some friends just under the Little Hurricane (March 15, legal drinking limit, they can Maggie Mae’s): Little Hurricane Author and Punisher hang out here. are vets when it comes to playing The Young Wild (March 17, Esther’s Follies): SXSW, and it’s easy to see why. Every time the rock ‘n’ roll duo plays in town, the show sells out pretty The Young Wild are making their first appearance at fast, so it’s not hard to imagine their bluesy style SXSW this year, and they’re making quite a go of it, hitting up an official showcase in addition to several translating to the character of the city.

Mrs. Magician (March 18, BD Riley’s): Mrs. Ma- day parties. On March 18, they’re even playing a Guagician is releasing a new album again after a period camole Showdown, so come hungry for that. of relative quiet, and that seems like the perfect op—Jeff Terich portunity to return to Austin to help promote it. This

#SDCityBeat

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

Music

Jeff Terich

If I were u A music insider’s weekly agenda Wednesday, March 2 PLAN A: Protomartyr, Chastity Belt, Octagrape @ Soda Bar. Protomartyr released one of last year’s best albums, The Agent Intellect, which was an abrasive and dark take on post-punk. They were awesome the last time they played in San Diego, and they will be awesome again.

PLAN B: Battalion of Saints, Nomads, Ad Seg @ Til-Two Club. Local hardcore icons Battalion of Saints are back, and they’re bruising just like the good old days.

The EP they released last year proved they still have the same bite as before, so steel yourself for the pit. BACKUP PLAN: Basia Bulat, The Weather Station @ The Casbah.

Thursday, March 3 PLAN A: Waxahatchee, Briana Marela, Globelamp @ The Irenic. Waxahatchee’s most recent album Ivy Tripp is an emotional and energized set of indie rock. Her shows are surprisingly rocking, so get ready to feel things with the volume knob cranked.

BACKUP PLAN: The Chamanas, Le Ra, Cesar Saez @ The Hideout.

Friday, March 4

PLAN A: Wavves, Best Coast, Cherry Glazerr @ Observatory North Park.

Wavves are alright, but I’m more interested in throwing my endorsement to Best Coast, whose new album California Nights is the crunchy alt-rock blockbuster that they’ve been building up to. Lots of guitars, lots of fun. PLAN B: Agent Orange, Sculpins, Cochinas Locas @ The Casbah. Agent Orange have been playing punk rock since before you bought your first Punk-O-Rama compilation. They’re Southern California vets, come to town pretty regularly and there’s never a bad time to check them out. BACKUP PLAN: Xixa, Cumbia Machin, Goma, DJ Ana Brown @ Soda Bar.

Saturday, March 5 PLAN A: Ditches, Spooky Cigarette, Lower Dens @ The Casbah. Lower Dens’ style of krautrock-influ-

32 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

enced psychedelic pop is both infectious and densely layered, which makes for an interesting listening experience all around.

They’re a band whose music warrants repeated listens, and should prove to be an engaging live experience for that matter.

BACKUP PLAN: Nervous, Daisy World, Tan Tien, Quali, Adhesive @ Che Cafe.

Sunday, March 6 PLAN A: Heron Oblivion, Color, Shujaa Saati @ Til-Two Club. Heron Oblivion just released their debut album on Sub Pop, but they’re no greenhorns. This psychedelic supergroup comprises members of Espers and Comets on Fire, and they’re going to take you into some weird places. PLAN B: Tycho (DJ set), Chet Faker (DJ set) @ Music Box. This weekend is the CRSSD Festival, which brings together a long list of EDM heavyweights, but for a more low key evening, check out this pair of DJ sets from a couple of its banner acts. A dance party will break out one way or another.

Monday, March 7 PLAN A: The Bulbs, Sledding With Tigers, William and the Nephews @ The Casbah. Tijuana’s The Bulbs rock pretty damn hard, playing psychedelic garage rock with some beefed up heaviness. It’s a welcome spin on the surfy, scraggly sounds that are so saturated in Southern California.

BACKUP PLAN: Juice Box, Bomb Squad, Obtuse Goose @ Soda Bar.

PLAN A: Le1f, Junglepussy, DJ Jeff Graves @ Soda Bar. The last time I went to SXSW, Le1f gave one of the most incredible performances of the whole week. The hip-hop artist’s music is danceable, futuristic, flamboyant and unlike much of what you’re probably listening to right now. BACKUP PLAN: Black Pussy, Desert Suns, Red Wizard @ The Merrow.

Le1f

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March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

Music

Concerts HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Murder by Death (Casbah, 3/26), Head Wound City (Casbah, 3/31), Peter Murphy (Irenic, 4/1), Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde (Humphreys, 4/10), Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (Observatory, 4/14), Slightly Stoopid (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/9), Jackson Browne (Humphreys, 8/29).

GET YER TICKETS Magma (Brick by Brick, 3/15), Junior Boys (Casbah, 3/18), Napalm Death (Casbah, 3/25), Abbath, High on Fire, Skeletonwitch, Tribulation (Observatory, 3/26), Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place (Casbah, 3/27), Santigold (HOB, 3/29), Tyler, the Creator (Observatory, 4/1), The Killers (Harrah’s Resort, 4/2), White Denim (BUT, 4/2), Into It. Over It., The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die (The Irenic, 4/3), Tinashe (HOB, 4/4), Amon Amarth (HOB, 4/7), The Darkness (HOB, 4/10), Steve Miller Band (Humphreys, 4/14), Foals (Observatory, 4/17), The Front Bottoms (Observatory, 4/18), Silversun Pickups (Observatory, 4/19), The Damned (BUT, 4/19), Deafheaven (Casbah, 4/21), Mac Sabbath (Music Box, 4/22), Deerhunter (Observatory, 4/22), Thao & the Get Down Stay Down (BUT, 4/28), Immortal Technique (Observatory, 4/29), Puscifer (Copley Symphony Hall, 5/1), Tortoise (BUT, 5/3), Beach Slang

(Casbah, 5/6), Explosions in the Sky (Observatory, 5/3-4), Violent Femmes (Humphreys, 5/6), So Hideous, Bosse-de-Nage (The Merrow, 5/7), The Slackers (Music Box, 5/7), Torche (The Hideout, 5/7), Four Tet (Music Box, 5/8), X, Los Lobos, Blasters (Observatory, 5/8), The Residents present Shadowland (BUT, 5/8), Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires (Observatory, 5/12), Andrew Bird (Observatory, 5/13), Beyonce (Qualcomm Stadium, 5/12), Modern English (The Hideout, 5/17), Joseph Arthur (Music Box, 5/17), Titus Andronicus, La Sera (Che Café, 5/20), Frightened Rabbit (BUT, 5/21), Jewel (Humphreys, 5/21), Refused (BUT, 5/30), The Cure (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/30), Leon Russell (BUT, 5/31), The Brian Jonestown Massacre (BUT, 6/2), Thrice (HOB, 6/4), Eric Bachmann (Soda Bar, 6/5), PUP (Soda Bar, 6/11), Lady Antebellum (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 7/5), Chicago (Harrah’s Resort, 7/8), Phish (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/23), Brand New, Modest Mouse (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/26), Weezer, Panic! At the Disco (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/3), Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/14), Ben Harper (Humphreys, 8/23), Dave Matthews Band (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/26), Journey, The Doobie Brothers (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/30), Mana (Viejas Arena, 9/9), Ray Lamontagne (Open Air Theatre, 9/13), Leon Bridges (Humphreys, 9/21), Peter Hook and the Light (HOB, 11/8).

at The Casbah. Mutemath at House of Blues. Battalion of Saints at Til-Two Club.

March

Bongzilla at Brick by Brick. Gary Clark Jr. at House of Blues (sold out). Eleanor Friedberger at The Hideout. Astronauts Etc. at The Merrow. XXYYXX at Observatory North Park. Brian Ellis

Wednesday, March 2 Protomartyr at Soda Bar. Basia Bulat

34 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

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

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

The Mother Hips at Belly Up Tavern.

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

Sunday, March 6 311 at House of Blues (sold out).

Monday, March 7 John Hiatt at Belly Up Tavern.

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

Thursday, March 10 Pearl Charles at The Hideout.

Friday, March 11

Group at Til-Two Club. Mystic Braves at The Casbah.

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

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

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

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

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

Friday, March 18 Junior Boys at The Casbah. Ben Rector at Observatory North Park. Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern. The Smith Street Band at Che Café. The Schizophonics at Til-Two Club. Anthony David at Music Box.

Saturday, March 19 Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern.

Quilt at The Hideout. A Great Big World at The Irenic.

Sunday, March 20 Madeleine Peyroux at Belly Up Tavern.

Dwarves, Queers at Soda Bar. Disturbed at House of Blues (sold out).

Tuesday, March 22 Warren Haynes at Belly Up Tavern.

Wednesday, March 23 Yuck at Soda Bar. Wolfmother at House of Blues. Reverend Horton Heat at Belly Up Tavern. Bayonne at The Hideout.

Thursday, March 24 Glassjaw at Observatory North Park.

Daughter at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

Black Tusk, Holy Grail at Brick by Brick.

Friday, March 25 Black Tusk, Holy Grail at Brick by Brick.

TEEN at Whistle Stop. Napalm Death at The Casbah. Prince Rama at Soda Bar.

Saturday, March 26 Hey Marseilles at Soda Bar. High on Fire, Skeletonwitch, Tribulation at Observatory North Park. Alex Calder at The Hideout. Brian Fallon and the Crowes at House of Blues. Murder by Death at The Casbah.

Sunday, March 27 Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place at The Casbah.

Tuesday, March 29 Foxing at The Irenic. Santigold at House of Blues.

#SDCityBeat

Music Wednesday, March 30 Quantic at Music Box.

Thursday, March 31 Head Wound City at The Casbah.

April Friday, April 1 Alex G at Che Café. Redwoods Revue at Music Box. TV Girl at The Hideout.

Tyler the Creator at Observatory North Park. Peter Murphy at The Irenic.

Saturday, April 2 Dan Padilla at The Casbah. Geographer at The Irenic. Absu at Brick by Brick. White Denim at Belly Up Tavern.

The Killers at Harrah’s Resort.

Sunday, April 3 Into It. Over It., The World Is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die at The Irenic.

Monday, April 4 Tinashe at House of Blues.

Wednesday, April 6 Basement at Lamppost Warehouse.

Thursday, April 7 Elvis Costello at Balboa Theatre (sold out). Amon Amarth at House of Blues.

Friday, April 8 Third Eye Blind at Observatory North Park. Cullen Omori at The Casbah.

#SDCityBeat

Saturday, April 9 The Schizophonics, New Kinetics at Til-Two Club.

Sunday, April 10 Operators at Soda Bar. The Darkness at House of Blues. Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde at Humphreys by the Bay.

Tuesday, April 12 Diarrhea Planet at Soda Bar.

rCLUBSr

57 Degrees Wine Bar, 1735 Hancock St., Middletown, San Diego. Midtown. Fri: Inner Universe.

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., San Diego. Pacific Beach. Fri: Shellshock, Star Child, Stone Soul. Sat: The Moves, Finnegan Blue. Tue: The Aura & Øvation, Eridia.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, San Diego. Little Italy. Fri: Jamie Shadowlight. Sat: Sunday Hustle.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Thu: Norm Macdonald. Sun: The Miracle Joke Elixir with Chris Fairbanks.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: The Heart. Fri: Jimmy Lewis Band. Sat: Fish & The Seaweeds. Sun: Matt Bolton.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Solana Beach. Wed: Black Tiger Sex Machine, Apashe, Dabin. Thu: Galactic, The Record Company. Fri: The Mother Hips, The Donkeys. Sat: Tainted

Love, DJ Scotto. Sun: Johnny Marr, Mimicking Birds. Mon: John Hiatt, Rick Brantley. Tue: John Hiatt, Rick Brantley.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad. Carlsbad. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

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

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., San Diego. Bay Park. Sat: Motorbreath, Sonic Temple, Stoned Temple Pilots, American Zombie, Memory Layne. Sun: Viscous, 1001, Scarlet Canary, DONA NOVA. Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Wed: Aro Di Santi. Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joef & Co. Mon: Malamana.

Tue: Perla Negra.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, San Diego. Mission Bay. Thu: Mar Picao sextet.

Fri: Markus Burger. Sat: The Benedetti Trio.

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

Downtown. Sat: Nipsey Hussle.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave. , San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: Rozes. Sat: Chachi.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Wed: MUTEMATH, Paper Route. Thu: Penny and Sparrow. Fri: Chippendales. Sat: From Indian Lakes.

Sun: 311 (sold out). Tue: Breaking Benjamin, Starset.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Fri: ‘Purps and Turqs’.

Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., San Diego. Kensington. Sat: The Bollweevils, White Kaps, Western Settings, Tiltwheel, Darlington. Sun: Jack Topht, Hidhawk, Mayor Taco Ghost, Vaginals.

Music Box, 1337 India St., San Diego.

Little Italy. Thu: Fiji & Drew Deezy. Fri: DJ Harshal, Prashant. Sat: Ryan Hemsworth.

Sun: Chet Faker (DJ set), Tycho (DJ set).

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Wed: DJ Kiki. Fri: DJs John Joseph, Will Z. Sat: DJs K-Swift, Taj. Sun: DJ Cros.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Protomartyr, Chastity Belt, Octagrape. Thu: Dirty Dishes, Versus The World, Brian Wahlstrom, Strike Twelve. Fri: Xixa, Cumbia Machin, Goma, DJ Ana Brown. Sat: Eliot Sumner.

Sun: Simo, The Glorious Sons, Hot Damn Sextet. Mon: Juice Box, Bomb Squad, Obtuse Goose. Tue: Le1f, Junglepussy.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego. Midway. Fri: Assuming We Survive, Uh Huh Baby Yeah, Reckless Serenade, RVLS, After The Fall, Amaya Lights.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., San Diego. Midtown. Fri: Siya.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd., Spring Valley. Spring Valley. Thu: ‘Darkwave Garden’. Fri: Condor, Ritual Potion, Nebula Drag . Sat: FUZZ Junkies, Shadowplay, Chango’s Psychedelic Garage. Sun: The Dowling Garagegrass Experiment.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: Basia Bulat, The Weather Station. Thu: Liza Anne, Gayle Skidmore, YOUTH. Fri: Agent Orange, Sculpins, Cochinas Locas. Sat: Lower Dens. Sun: The Flavr Blue, Heartwatch, Sasha Marie. Mon: The Bulbs, Sledding With Tigers, William and the Nephews.

The Che Cafe, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla.

La Jolla. Sat: Nervous, Daisy World, Entertainment Law, Quali, Nervous, Daisy World, Tan Tien, Quali, Adhesive. Sun: Fake Tides, Pueblo, Siena Riley, Ren-

egade, Banquet, Fake Tides, Pueblo, Siena Riley, Renegade, Banquet.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Thu: The Chamanas, Le Ra, Cesar Saez. Fri: Hunter Valentine, Vowws.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., San Diego.

North Park. Thu: Waxahatchee, Briana Marela.

The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. La Jolla. Thu: Pell. Sat: Tyson Motsenbocker.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Fri: Mario Esteban & The Blessed Hellhounds, The ShiftyEyed Dogs, Radios Silent. Sat: Festering Grave, Kulteir, A Hero Within, Greenskull.

Tue: Black Pussy, Desert Suns, Red Wizard.

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

North Park. Wed: ‘The Strokes Nite’ w/ Saul Q. Tue: ‘Trapped’.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Battalion of Saints, Phobia, Nomads. Fri: The Other, B Movie Monsters, They Feed at Night, 13 Wolves. Sat: Bad Cop/Bad Cop, The Maxies, Dudes Night. Sun: Heron Oblivion, Color, Shujaa Sauti.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: ‘Hip Hop vs Punk Rock’. Sat: Sammy Kay. Sun: Select Sex, Bastardsect.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, San Diego.

South Park. Wed: ‘St. Vitus Dance Party’ w/ DJs Handsome Skeleton, Ryan Hand.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., San Diego.

Ocean Beach. Thu: Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, The Sextones. Mon: Electric Waste Band.

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 35

Last Words

Brendan Emmett Quigley

Hi there Across 1. Fish for dinner 6. Words at a wedding 10. Drink made with the pour over method 14. Spread on a fish taco 15. Musk of Tesla 16. Tripping stuff 17. Surfer girls with their surfboard applications?

20. Veggie stir fry bean 21. NFL team whose fans spell out its name while cheering 22. Turned white 23. Besides that 24. Game played in nine different rooms simultaneously 25. Next in line after Paul Pierce?

32. Actor Paul of TV’s “The Path” 33. Get rid of 34. Row-making tool 35. Ziggy Stardust genre 36. Casual wear 37. “The Force Awakens” Jedi 38. Giant Mel 39. Fast food chain with the Wacky Pack kid’s meal 40. Broadcasted 41. Awesome skiing trip in the Andes, maybe?

44. Dual rejection word 45. Line on a Lyft app: Abbr.

46. Follow creepily 48. Every 50. Down Under runner 53. Some Muslims in the construction Last week’s answers

36 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

industry?

56. The neighborhood 57. Kind of tide 58. Not quite specific 59. Spice 60. Pantheon figures 61. Relating to the moon

Down 1. Woodshop cutters 2. Affected goodbye 3. Brian Eno band ___ Music 4. Cheer for Neymar 5. Split into two 6. Get a few things off your chest 7. Auto pioneer Ransom 8. Stun 9. Like some fitted reusable diapers 10. Can collector?

11. Spots on the face 12. Competed (for) 13. YouTube clip intros 18. Unimaginably long stretch 19. Terre ___ 23. Atoms For Peace singer Yorke 24. Monopoly card 25. Famed Iditarod dog 26. One of the muses 27. 1973 Judy Blume book 28. Hiker’s path 29. Reggae greats Black ___ 30. Symbolic 31. Follow to the letter 32. Highly excited 36. CNN election correspondent who uses the Magic Wall 37. Run-on sentence?

39. Reprimand 40. Colonial mound 42. Forensic facility 43. St. Louis attraction 46. “Why not” 47. Level 48. “Oh. My. Gosh!”

49. Egyptian biters 50. School Eddie Redmayne attended 51. Geographical table 52. One on Snapchat 53. Cranky cry 54. Prefix for someone breaking tradition 55. Broke marker

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#SDCityBeat

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 37

38 · San Diego CityBeat · March 2, 2016

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

March 2, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 39