San Diego CityBeat • Mar 9, 2016

1 · San Diego CityBeat · January 6, 2016

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#SDCityBeat

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Up Front | From the editor

Homeless left out in the rain

T

he green “Notice of Cleanup and Propnnell’s Facebook page, called Homelessness News erty Removal” signs recently posted over San Diego. a surprisingly wide swath of East VilI caught up with McConnell on Tuesday while he was out on the streets of East Village, again observlage caught the eye of Michael O’Connell. ing and taking photographs.

Something was brewing. McConnell, a downtown “These action are a buildup of frustration in the resident, local businessman and former head of the downtown community that has complained to the homelessness advocacy group 25 Cities San Diego, mayor’s office and the Downtown San Diego Partset out early on Monday morning to document the nership,” he said. “Pressure is exerted on City Hall, San Diego Police Department sweeping homeless and this is the only tool in the toolbox they have that encampments. can be quickly deployed.”

In two locations—both in the vicinity of where McConnell said police did a better job Tuesday, the Chargers are hoping to erect a billion-dollar-plus but believes there is still no political “sense of urfootball stadium—McConnell observed a large contingency” in town to address homelessness problems gent of police officers asking individuals to disperse, with longer-term solutions that have been shown to gather up belongings and take down tents. Then at approximately 9 a.m. a widely forecasted El Niño thunbe successful all over the country. derstorm blew into downtown.

“I’m here to advocate putting pressure on elected leaders,” he said. “[City Councilmember] Todd Gloria “This is bad policy—you’re beating down homeless is a supporter but everybody could step it up a notch. people time and time again,” McConnell said. “And And I don’t think the county supervisors really unit’s about to rain. And there were more police officers than needed…and in many casMichael McConnell derstand the situation.”

A written statement from es it was officers bagging peoGloria concluded: “I remain ple’s stuff. Last I checked, the focused on advancing solupolice department response tions that move homeless San rate wasn’t great in San Diego.

Diegans off the streets and into Police picking up the homeless’ housing which would avoid stuff is a bad use of funds.” situations like today.”

McConnell saw otherwise, There’s a growing concern but the “San Diego Police Deamong homelessness advopartment was on hand to proSDPD homeless sweep in East Village cates that the city is planning vide safety while the city’s Environmental Services Departa broad sweep this summer in advance of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game ment crews did cleanup work,” SDPD spokesperson on July 12 at downtown’s Petco Park, and that this Sergeant Lisa McKean wrote in an email. week’s actions are a precursor.

“Several individuals ignored the posted signs and Asked if that were true, the mayor’s office sent a remained at the locations,” according to McKean. one-page fact sheet on the city’s longstanding abate“They were asked to vacate the property and take ment program. City of San Diego senior public intheir belongings with them. The vast majority comformation officer Jose Ysea denied that the cleanup plied without incident. details are related to the impending Padres season or “Four individuals were arrested for outstanding the All-Star Game. warrants and their property was loaded into garbage bags and taken to Police Headquarters where McConnell is skeptical. “No, that’s my thought,” he it will be held until each respective owner comes said. “And if that is the case I plan on making it as emand retrieves it (the picture that was tweeted out, barrassing as possible for them. They want the camershowing black bags in the back of a SDPD pickup as to see a certain image of America’s Finest City. But truck, was the arrestees’ bulk property),” she addif this is not handled in the right way the city’s going to ed. “A fifth individual was detained and taken to a be hurt—image-wise—for not handling it right.” sobering center. All other persons at the locations Incidentally, the areas swept on Monday were by were allowed to leave and take their belongings Tuesday morning already re-occupied by tents, tarps with them.” and vulnerable people attempting to stay dry.

McKean wrote that the enforcement ended

—Ron Donoho around 9 a.m., when it started to rain.

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com To see more photos of the sweeps go to McCoThis issue of CityBeat got totally high in remembrance of Nancy Reagan.

Volume 14 • Issue 31 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 9, 2016

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Up Front | Letters

SOUTH PARK PROUD

After reading your neighborhood feature on South Park [“Neighborhood Watch,” March 2] I thought I might add a few observations from the perspective of an actual resident. Socalled “gentrification” is a good thing for us homeowners because, yes, we do care about property values. Why else would anyone pay a half million or more for a 50-60-year-old home including the exorbitant property taxes that go along with it?

Regarding Target Express—some of us are quite happy that they moved in and replaced the old (and always empty) Gala Foods. Many of us prefer Starbucks (gasp) over Rebecca’s for that morning coffee and speaking personally, I’ve eaten at The Big Kitchen once and never returned because their food is “meh” and I really don’t need a side order of political commentary or activism with my breakfast, thank you very much.

I understand your journalistic need to produce an entertaining article which only features your hand-selected group of eclectic “South Parkians,” but had you talked to some actual residents you would know that our little enclave is better represented by the folks who are quietly working Monday to Friday, raising families and yes, enjoying living in this great little neighborhood but probably for reasons much more mundane than your story suggests.

#SDCityBeat

Steve Andrews, South Park

On the

HOMELESS AID NOT SEXY

Methinks your editorial [“Putting the ‘aid’ in a ‘convadium,’” March 2] will never fly because the powers that be want to provide a playpen for the millionaire mindless muscle merchants who will not find your idea “sexy.” John Moores ripped off the taxpayers in the Petco Park debacle and now he’s back for seconds to refill his pockets! If there is to be a new Charger stadium let it be in Mission Valley with the Spanos family having “skin in the game” equal to, at a minimum, the dollar amount of the relocation fee they’d have to pay to move to Inglewood to play second fiddle to the Rams in front of an empty stadium. San Diego’s version of the Gordian Knot will never be untied!

Cover

Art director Carolyn Ramos created the photo illustration on this week’s cover.

She takes inspiration from all sources in her design work but admits this cover was motivated by the photo-shopping whimsy of longtime Spin Cycle columnist John Lamb. The story, about the new life inserted into the San Diego mayor’s race, was written by news writer Ken Stone, who has authored all of the pieces so far in our Voting Matters: Primary 2016 series.

Lou Cumming, La Jolla

CONVADIUM CONUNDRUM

A downtown stadium, homeless support or not, is much more costly than people realize [“Putting the ‘aid’ in a ‘convadium,’” March 2].

1) The Q in Mission Valley still needs to be dealt with, demolished, etc.

2) Even if NFL and hotel tax builds a stadium, taxpayers will still be saddled with annual upkeep and eventual demolition of a city asset. Awful plan that is bad for San Diegans, regardless if homeless support is added in.

Scotsman619,

via sdcitybeat.com

CITY VERSUS COUNTY

I can remember [San Diego City Councilmember] George Stevens saying homeless aid was the county’s responsibility and not the city’s [“Rebuking county homeless efforts,” Feb. 17].

He was legally correct, but morally he and many of us knew the city needed to take action.

Kirk Mather, via sdcitybeat.com

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Chris stone

Chris stone

Up Front | news

xxxxxxx

Lori Saldaña

Kevin Faulconer

Ed Harris

San Diego now has a mayoral race

• What are your timelines for Climate Action Plan implementation? Who will manage it? Who have you hired?

Who will take over the planning for the CAP? How will it be financed?

Harris, Saldaña, others want to debate Faulconer • What will you do to solve continuing pension issues?

Instead of one pension plan for current employees, we have

by Ken Stone between five and 10 different pension plans, depending on when they were hired under what contract. How will you o debating it. To deny the frontrunner a debate will be aired live on April 12 at 6 p.m. with “regular deal with unresolved liability issues such as death and disprimary victory, his opponents may have to join and business people involved.” ability of public-safety workers? forces. No, that’s not a reference to the #NeverAt least two other debates could be in the works. Last • How will you get the funding for a water-reclamation Trump campaign. Call it #StopFaulconer. week, San Diego State University political science profesplant—estimated at $1 billion? Where’s the money going San Diego’s mayoral election—considered a cakewalk sor Carole Kennedy said two clubs were working on an to come from to pay for reclaiming and reusing treated for Kevin Faulconer until recently—has two major chal- SDSU-hosted debate, but the school’s College Republicans wastewater? lengers, including former appointed San Diego City Coun- hadn’t yet signed up. Local League of Women Voters Presi• Why the complete radio silence on the shooting of cilmember Ed Harris, a Democrat who last week pulled dent Jeanne Brown said her group was still deciding on a unarmed civilians? How would you learn from what other nomination papers. date and place—as well as looking for a co-host. cities are doing to deal with gun vioLori Saldaña, the former state Assembly member who Will Faulconer agree to a debate lence?

The 2016 left the Democratic Party two years ago is running as an schedule? His camp has been mum, Nurse practitioner Gita Apindependent—and forming an alliance with Harris. She but the mayor’s senior advisor did plebaum, 53, an unheralded Democalls it a “tag-team approach.” participate in a recent Voice of San crat, says she’d forgo the mayor’s Speaking to the La Mesa-Foothills Democratic Club last Diego podcast in which Roe said $100,464 annual salary and would week, Saldaña said she and Harris had been commiserating elected officials have an obligation ask Faulconer: When is it?: since December over the lack of a progressive challenger to stand and debate—and accept • What have you done for people Tuesday, June 7 to Faulconer. Gretchen Newsom, the Ocean Beach Town criticism. of color to really make them feel sigCouncil president and labor union leader, had dropped out While we wait for any defininificant in this community?

Register at: Dec. 10 after less than two months in the race. tive debate lineup, CityBeat gave Encanto’s Gregory Morales, 54, registertovote.ca.gov Saldaña said they encouraged each other to run, aiming challengers the opportunity to ask a labor economist with SDSU ties to force the Republican mayor into a more Democratic- the questions they’d ask the sitting who calls himself independent and Deadline: friendly November runoff—and deny him talking points mayor. a socialist, asks: May 23 for an expected 2018 gubernatorial bid in which he’ll say: Harris offered: • Do you think we should have “Everything is fine in San Diego. The Democrats love me.

• We are over budget by about $6 rent control to protect residents and More info: Look, they wouldn’t even challenge me!” million for police overtime. Police small businesses? Who will be held sdvote.com “So Ed, you won!” Saldaña told the club. “I’m running. are still underpaid. The $6 million responsible if we lose 50 percent of And now it looks like maybe somebody else…has encour- could have been put into salary to our used-rate supplies of water by aged [Harris] to run.” attract the very best officers from this time next year?

Saldaña told CityBeat that, “We’ve known all along that other departments. You want to give a sports corporation Sina “Simon” Moghadam, 41, a restaurant owner in Carit will take more than a one-on-one campaign to defeat $200 million taxpayer dollars for a stadium. Why do you mel Mountain Ranch who ran to replace ousted Mayor Bob [Faulconer].” continue to play Russian Roulette with public safety?

Filner, would ask the mayor if “he or any related affiliates, • And you used millions of public dollars to do an expeHarris, 50, confirms the you-or-me dialog with Saldaña, directly and indirectly, benefited or received any financial 57, but disagrees on the runoff goal, saying: “I want to get dited environmental impact report for a new stadium. Why gain from his time in politics.” He also wants to know the to work sooner! I plan to win this in June [by exceeding 50 does your administration charge communities thousands “specifics of his office budget/personal,” and “Should pubpercent of the vote], so I can immediately put my energy of dollars for volunteer public projects? When schools lic officials be financially liable for damages occurred by toward turning the city around.” want to paint a mural in a crosswalk, set up a community their direct decisions?”

No matter the strategy, the duo hopes to debate Faul- garden or beautify a median, they are met with excessive Kenneth “Marty” Gardner was upset by an email from coner—as would seven other potential candidates. fees of $15,000 plus.

CityBeat sent to mayoral hopefuls. “If you want to get seriFaulconer’s campaign manager and Marco Rubio se• Managed competition is the reason the vehicle fleet ous, then approach me as if I am the front-runner,” he renior adviser Jason Roe didn’t respond to numerous re- is mothballed. After years of touting managed comp, why plied. “My qualifications are that I am an American citizen, quests for comment. But the mayor has accepted at least has it dropped out of conversation? If it was a success, why who will get the 200 required signatures to get his name on one debate invitation—from the Spanish-language sta- was the effort stopped? the ballot.” That deadline is Thursday tion Univision.

Saldaña, who opened her campaign by calling on FaulMontreal-born Steven Greenwald, 69, couldn’t be Univision senior news reporter Carlos Gonzales, who coner to join her in signing a pledge to serve all four years reached. And Bilal Homran and Lawrence Zynda, 83, didn’t confirmed the mayor’s acceptance, says a half-hour studio if elected, would ask: respond to inquiries.

N

Primary Election

6 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | opinion

spin

cycle

john r. lamb

Jason Roe your boat aground There are no true friends in politics. We are all sharks circling, and waiting, for traces of blood to appear in the water.

—Alan Clark

O

nly two short months ago, Mayor Kevin Faulconer proudly hopped aboard the Marco Rubio train to the White House, becoming one of seven co-chairs for the Florida senator’s presidential campaign in California leading up to the June primary.

“Marco Rubio knows that it is not about where you came from, or what your last name is, but that in America anyone can succeed,” Faulconer proclaimed in a statement.

But judging by the media buzz, Rubio’s train may be running out of steam—and could even (horrors!) crash and burn in a pile of career-damaging rubble in his home state’s primary next week.

#SDCityBeat

Rubio soldiers breathlessly denied a CNN report Monday that the U.S. senator’s triage unit was weighing exit strategies prior to the March 15 Florida primary, for fear of an ugly ending at the hands—those hands!—of current runaway Republican smash hit “The Donald.”

“Unbelievably bad journalism,” Rubio’s communications director tweeted in disgust.

By Tuesday, Rubio was seen embracing the underdog role he finds himself in, which typically in politics means “get the campaignsuspension speech prepped.”

Back in stormy/sunny/stormy San Diego, Faulconer must be sweating the prospect of choosing between the media-presumed finalists in the Republican run, blowhard dick-boaster Donald “Pretty Hands” Trump or Dracula’s lardbased second cousin, the equally distasteful Ted Cruz of Texas.

More likely Mayor All Smiles ticians who put political games- the Republican snipe contest. has left the heavy sweating to manship ahead of solving real It was, after all, Rubio who inhis trusted political field general, problems. The incumbent thinks terjected the small-hands-mustJason Roe—who also serves as a media events are equivalent to equal-small-penis notion into the political adviser to and perpetu- accomplishments. He’s more con- current political consciousness, ally tan media guy for (wait for it) cerned with running for higher of- perhaps—Spin Cycle is merely presidential dwindling-hopeful fice than he is in running the city speculating here—in response to Marco “Underdog” Rubio. of San Diego.”

Donald Trump’s penchant to adHere at home, Faulconer has That “higher office” dig from dress him as “Little Marco.” gone from an unchallenged lock Harris refers to the oft-repeat“You get to a point where on re-election in June you’ve got to fight john r. lamb to what appears to be fire with fire,” Roe shaping up as a bruising told the Boston Hercampaign questioning ald last week. “You the mayor’s brief but PRhave to mock Trump reliant legacy to date. a little bit because he Last week, lifeguard has become a caricaunion head and former ture of himself…”

San Diego City CounSince then, Rucilmember Ed Harris (a bio has had a rough Democrat who subbed time of it, managing for Republican Faulconto win only in Puerto er when he ascended to Rico while Cruz and the mayor’s seat from the Trump have stepped council) announced he up calls for him to was throwing his boxing drop out of the Regloves into the ring, joinpublican presidening equally feisty former tial race. Hence, the state Assemblywoman importance of FloriLori Saldaña and a host Will Trumpian headaches emerge for campaign guru Jason da next week, where Roe and Mayor Faulconer if Marco Rubio loses Florida? polls show Rubio of lesser-knowns in the June race. trailing Trump—if Harris, seeking to tap current ed speculation that if Faulconer he loses, pundits figure it’s time political sentiments, minced few were to win re-election outright for Camp Rubio to break down words about Faulconer’s mayor- in June—bypassing a presumably the tents. ship in his opening gambit: “San more left-leaning voting populace So, then what for Mayor FaulDiegans, like voters throughout in November—his political ward- coner? A re-election mayoral our country, are fed up with poli- robe department would take im- candidate without a presidential mediate measurements for a run horse preference? That would at California governor in 2018. And seem a likely scenario from a then, you know, naturally a run politician who seems allergic to himself for the White House down conflict. But that might turn off the road. Crazy world, right? some voters who expect their Faulconer appears to be doing leaders to lead—even if it means his best to clear the June ballot of into a valley of sludge and muck any potential potholes. This week, and wieners. his office said the mayor’s proposed Roe, meanwhile, has said he hotel-tax-hike ballot measure to could not support a Trump presihelp expand the convention center dential assault. But what else to would be postponed to a later un- expect from a political hardball specified date. The measure would player whose team has yet to be have required two-thirds voter ap- mathematically eliminated? proval, a daunting task.

Back in December, Voice of How Roe wants to attack an- San Diego referred to Roe, a other June inconvenience—a bal- former Mitt Romney adviser, as lot measure to boost the city’s the mayor’s “elbow,” meaning minimum wage necessitated by he’s not averse to taking shots at Faulconer’s 2014 veto of a council- the rib cages of opponents. He’s approved incremental boost to been willing—or forced—to trade $11.50—also seems up in the air. verbal barbs with the Chargers, The question, as always in politics, even changing his Twitter avawill be how much campaign cash tar to an Oakland Raiders logo at the mayor’s Republican back- one point until local football fans ers plan to throw at the measure noticed. He has since swapped it while maintaining Faulconer’s out for a skull-and-crossbones carefully manicured image as a motif. moderate—not to mention how Maybe Roe has surrendered. much political capital the mayor Last week, the man once called a himself is willing to spend. “crazy little bastard” for jumping in These are likely nervous times after a 200-pound shark that had for Roe, who works hard to ap- snapped his pole tweeted, “Amerpear unfazed. His presidential ica just jumped the shark.” meal ticket on the ropes, Roe has abandoned previous boasts about Spin Cycle appears every week.

Rubio’s decision to remain above Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com. the sophomoric schoolyard fray in

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | Opinion

Sordid

Edwin Decker

Tales

Memoirs of an argumentative asshole

I

t was the last straw. My inability to ignore ignorant or hypocritical opinions has cost me dearly over the years. This time it ruined an opportunity for me to get laid—which at my age really sucks since the only women I meet anymore work at my colonoscopy doctor’s office.

At first, the date was going well. We shared long, quiet stares over a candlelit dinner after which, over flutes of dessert wine, she unabashedly launched into a soliloquy of her political views.

“I’m a conservative,” she announced unexpectedly. “I favor small government.”

Oh Gawd, not this old hypocrisy, I thought. Whatever, just don’t say anything to cause her not to have sex with you.

“I hate how liberals are trying to make everything permissible today, like drugs, prostitution, gay marriage...”

Not a word, do you hear me?

Not a single word!

“But most of all, I hate how we live in a nanny state, where we are not allowed to make decisions for ourselves.”

You keep your fat mouth shut, Ed, do you underst...But I could stand it no more.

“That is a nanny state,” I bellowed. “You say you’re against government overreach, but have no problem letting it decide what kind of sex you can have and what types of drugs you can take?”

It got pretty heated after that but needless to say, any hope of exchanging naughty touches in a dark, wet place had evaporated. But see, this is how it has always been with me. If somebody says something ignorant or hypocritical, I have an obsessive need to call bullshit. Take for instance the cockamamie opinion that we should ban Muslims from entering the country. Yes, I know it’s just an opinion, and opinions cannot be wrong, except they can be wrong. This one is quite wrong, just as the opinion that opinions can’t be wrong is wrong.

Of course, if someone mistakenly cites the air speed velocity of the unladen African Swallow as being 15 miles per hour (it’s 24 mph), I wouldn’t be indignant about it. But if somebody makes an outrageously ignorant remark, I’m inclined to get in their face. Such as I did last October, when a client remarked that, “Black people have an extra bone in their foot that enables them to jump higher.”

“Is that so?” I asked. “Did you learn that at the Fallbrook School of Backward Learning for Skinhead Crackpot Fuckwads?”

Needless to say, I don’t have that client anymore, and that sucked. But it was the self-destruction of my sex life that made me vow to ignore the idiotic comments of others. And I was doing pretty well.

For example, a few nights after The Date That Did Not End with Sex happened, an acquaintance com-

mented that, “ISIS is all Obama’s fault,” to which I did not say, “Actually, it was George W. Bush who created ISIS by needlessly attacking Iraq and disbanding the Iraqi army.” Then there was a friend who insisted that the Star Wars franchise is superior to Star Trek. Admittedly, I was not able to contain my blustery snort of contempt. However, I did manage to not remark about the laughably choreographed saber duels, or the fact that a battalion of blind donkeys have better aim than Stormtroopers, or Yoda’s ridiculously overacted death scene, or the fact that Obi-Wan endeavored to hide Luke Skywalker’s existence from his father, Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader), yet didn’t change his Skywalker surname! I mean, Luke Moonskipper, or Cloudhopper—anything but Skywalker fer crissake!

So yeah, I was getting pretty good at keeping my mouth shut.

Until I went to Best Buy, and it all fell apart.

I was in the TV aisle with a small group of customers listening to a clerk explain the features of an Ultra HD big screen jobber when a promo for Making a Murderer popped up. For those who don’t know, Making a Murderer is a Netflix documentary series about a man named Steven Avery who may have been framed for murder.

Upon seeing the promo, an attractive brunette with whom I would have liked to have sex, blurted, “That documentary was bogus! Do they really expect us to believe that three police agencies, the district attorney, the judge, the FBI forensics were all conspiring to frame Avery?”

Easy now, Ed. Keep your cool.

“Are we supposed to believe that all the people in all those departments had something against Avery?”

It’s just her opinion, I said to myself. She is entitled to hav...” and then the switch flipped: “You really don’t know what you’re talking about,” I snickered. “The defense didn’t suggest everybody was in on the frame-job—only two officers from the Manitowoc police department.”

I was in a fustian vortex then, oblvious to my surroundings, bloviating with all my moving parts.

“Nobody knows if the police were dirty, but let’s not pretend this shit never happens. Let’s not pretend law enforcement has never planted evidence, or that nobody was ever framed, or that conflict of interest doesn’t poison investigative objectivity or that...” Then I stopped—suddenly self-aware—and looked around. Everyone was staring at me with jaws dropped. The clerk was scanning the store for backup. And the brunette was shaking her head in a way that told me we would not be having intercourse. Oh well, I thought. Back to the drawing board.

“

Needless to say, I don’t have that client anymore, and that sucked.

“

8 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

Sordid Tales appears every other week.

Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | Food

by michael a. gardiner

the world

Michael A. Gardiner

fare

Take a pull at Green China Grill

T

here’s a new formula for Chinese restaurant success in San Diego. Find a seemingly obscure region of China, focus on its specialty dishes, throw in something “handcrafted” and trade on “authenticity” and exoticism. Village Kitchen, Myung In Dumplings and Xian Kitchen are all doing it. Green China Grill (4688 Convoy St., Suite 110) shows both the promise and the peril of this formula.

Local foodie conventional wisdom has it San Diego is a Chinese cuisine wasteland with “inauthentic” American-Chinese places, average dim sum and second-rate Cantonese spots. While our Chinese food scene may not match San Gabriel Valley’s, it was never as bad as rumored. The influx of regional Chinese restaurants, though, has clearly upped our game.

Green China features the cuisine of Lanzhou, capital of Northwestern China’s Gansu Province. The Province bears the mark of Gansu’s ethnic minority Hui and Tibetan peoples. Their cuisine prominently features hand-pulled noodles (there’s that hand-crafted element), beef and lamb.

The best dish at Green China is one of Lanzhou’s signatures: hand-pulled noodles with braised beef brisket (sometimes called beef lamien). While the deeply savory braised brisket is one feature of the dish, it’s those toothsome handpulled noodles that star. The broth is simple, flavorful and soothing if not particularly complex.

Daikon radishes provide vegetal interest.

As you await your bowl of soup you could do worse than marvel at the cook in the interior window of the kitchen—swinging, twisting and stretching the noodles. It’s a welcome distraction from the enforced-cheer of the blindingly bright and almost comically green ice cream parlor style décor of the place. Did I mention it’s bright?

Green China also offers variations on the beef

#SDCityBeat

Hand-pulling the noodles lamien. One had sirloin—more tender if less flavorful than the brisket—with a thinner broth and a distinctive MSG salty-sweetness. The menu also offers a spinach-and-beef version, though it was unavailable on any of my trips. Indeed, much of Green China’s menu—all of the skewered meat and vegetable dishes, for example—are frustratingly unavailable at lunch. The result is a short menu: two beef noodle dishes, some fried noodle (not hand pulled) dishes that are not particularly distinctive, and cold appetizMichael A. Gardiner ers.

But, as so often seems to be the case with regional Chinese cuisines, those cold appetizers are worth the price of admission. At Green China, unlike many of the Sichuan restaurants in town, the offerings are mostly vegetarian.

They are also delicious. The celery and bean curd dish, Cold appetizers for example, puts the bright astringency of the celery forward, but backs it up with umami-laden bean curd and the warm glow of sesame oil. Soy comes to the foreground in the terrific lotus root appetizer, the best use of that vegetable I’ve experienced. Frankly, though, there isn’t a bad cold appetizer.

Ultimately, the limited menu—especially at lunch—gives one pause contemplating Green China’s prospects. How many visits will one make for the same soups, a few grilled kabobs and that very, very green décor? It will be a test of the new formula for Chinese restaurant success in San Diego.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

Up Front | drink

in the

By michelle poveda

spirits Whiskey time

L

lin Sour, made of Teeling Irish Whiskey, for $5 for Happy Hour (4 to 7 p.m.), and $7 at regular price.

eave the wearing of the green to the amateur- Avant Restaurant hour St. Patrick’s Day revelers and focus like (17550 Bernardo Oaks Drive) a true Irish lad or lass on the real spirit of the Inside the Rancho Barnardo Inn is the elegant resday: whiskey. Not everybody can slug down a shot, taurant, Avant. This St. Patty’s Day, its bartenders however, and that’s why whiskey cocktails were have created the Smoked Fig—Maker’s Mark whisinvented. The variety and comkey, fig and rosemary syrup and Courtesy Rancho Bernardo Inn plexity of whiskey is extensive, charred rosemary. These beauties but whatever you’re looking for, are $12 a pop. somebody in San Diego can serve Rare Form it up. Check out these 10 cocktails (793 J St.) around town to see why it really is Head to this cocktail haven in East that Irish eyes are smilin’.

Village for the Rare Form Whiskey Seven Grand Cocktail ($10). An Old Fashioned(3054 University Ave.) spin, it combines bourbon, houseNo whiskey list is complete withmade cherry cordial, Kirschwasout the inclusion of Seven Grand. ser and chocolate bitters.

Located in North Park, it’s honorVom Fass ing St. Patty with a Teelings Irish (1050 University Ave.) Whiskey Old Fashioned and a On March 17, this quaint specialty Teelings Mule. Available for the shop in North Park will offer an month of March only, they’re Irish Fairy ($10) which mixes priced at $10 each.

The Smoked Fig at Avant Irish whiskey, absinthe, orange liBankers Hill Bar + Restaurant queur, grenadine and bitters. It’ll (2202 Fourth Ave.) also have an Irish whiskey tasting from 6:30 to 8 Indulge in the Drinking for Gold cocktail ($12) at p.m. for $35 per person. this restaurant in, yep, Bankers Hill. Composed of Irish whiskey, coffee liqueur, Baileys Irish Cream Andaz San Diego and chocolate bitters, the cocktail is served with a (600 F St.) chocolate gold coin in the bottom of the glass, to Feeling chic? Head to the rooftop of this downtown hotel for a Dublin mule ($15). Made with Jameson, consume at the end of your drink.

St. Germain, orange and ginger beer, patrons can sip Grant Grill on this while taking in the downtown skyline.

(326 Broadway) Created in 2010 to honor the centennial of the Leroy’s Kitchen + Lounge hotel where the bar is housed, The US GRANT (1015 Orange Ave.) Centennial Manhattan ($15) incorporates Ameri- In Coronado, Leroy’s is mixing up the Irish Rose with can High West Rye Whiskey, Dolin Vermouth Telling Irish Whiskey, Julian Apple Cider and houseRouge, and Premium Old Fashioned Bitters, aged made rosemary-pear simple syrup for $12.37 each. for 100 days in American oak barrels.

The Whiskey House (420 Third Ave.) If Whiskey is in the name, it’s a good place to start your whiskey hunt. Located on Third Avenue downtown, The Whiskey House serves an Old Dub-

10 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

Draft Republic (4282 Esplanade Ct.) Mission Beach’s Draft is mixing up its version of a Moscow mule. The Parliament’s Mule is made with Jameson Irish Whiskey, St. Germain, fresh lime juice and ginger beer, and is being slung for $9.

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | Drink

the

by andrew dyer

beerdist

andrew dyer

Monkey Paw brewer reacts to a changing industry

A

fter Civic San Diego voted last month to approve plans for an Anheuser-Busch-owned 10 Barrel brewpub in East Village, Cosimo Sorrentino sat angrily at Monkey Paw Brewing (805 16th Street), where he manages and brews. At the meeting of the Downtown Community Planning Council, 10 Barrel Brewing co-founder Garrett Wales mentioned plans to visit the brewpub, located one block from his proposed location. Sorrentino waited anxiously at his stool, stopping me when I got up to leave.

“You might want to stick around for this,” he said.

As if on cue, the 10 Barrel entourage filtered in like aliens in their oxford shirts and business casual slacks.

Wales found his way to the dark corner of the bar where a brooding Sorrentino waited. Sorrentino bought his crew a round of beer, and it started.

The “sellout” interloping brewery founder and the fiercely independent local began hashing out the biggest debate in local beer.

“I let him know I was going to get it all out that night,” Sorrentino said. “He presented the opportunity to ask any question, and I respect him for that. And he answered every (one).”

At times their exchange became heated, drawing worried glances from several other patrons.

“He’s answered these questions in many forms and from many people. Some of it was well rehearsed, but for a reason,” Sorrentino said. “That being said, it gave me a lot of understanding of his viewpoint.”

After a 30-minute back-and-forth, members of Wales’ party began to interject into the conversation and Sorrentino backed off. They stayed for several rounds and left just before closing. Sorrentino said his conversation with Wales opened his eyes to another perspective.

“In a person-to-person way, I was comfortable shaking his hand when he left the bar,” he said. “It didn’t change my view in how I saw the company (or) how I’m going to vote with my dollar.”

The inevitability of Big Beer in the craft marketplace is a foregone conclusion at this point. Sorren-

#SDCityBeat

Cosimo Sorrentino tino said he believed Wales’ approach comes from somewhere genuine.

“I think he truly does appreciate beer. I think he believes he’s still upholding the values that he started with,” he said.

Over the next 10 days Sorrentino also met with another local brewer, Saint Archer Brewing Co. barrelmaster Greg Peters. MillerCoors acquired Saint Archer last year. Sorrentino said his talk with Wales had made him curious about the perspectives of other brewers, “just to see how they felt about the way the company was going.”

Sorrentino is in charge of beer buying at Monkey Paw, and said he has stopped serving both Saint Archer and Ballast Point since they were sold.

Moving forward, Sorrentino is holding a forum for the San Diego beer community on Sunday, March 6, at Mission Brewery.

“Really this was a quest for me trying to figure out where the industry was (and) where I want to fit in,” Sorrentino said. “I don’t want to be a hypocrite in a year when I turn around and do something.”

As for the term “craft,” Sorrentino said he does not know what it means.

“So beer is a word, craft beer is another set of words that generally mean something,” he said.

“Indie beer, once again, further narrows it. Craft?

The BA (Brewer’s Association) continually changes the definition to protect the Boston Beer Company. There is no definition of craft. Defending that word? I’m done with that.”

The Beerdist appears every other week.

Write to andrewd@sdcitybeat.com

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

UP FRONT | PLACES

HIDDEN

BY JESSICA JOHNSON

SAN DIEGO JESSICA JOHNSON

Cedar Fire left Dyar House skeleton

A

trip to Cuyamaca, which isn’t far from Julian, can be a full-day adventure.

Spotting wild turkeys added a fun touch for me—they let us get relatively close even though they don’t trust humans. Because Thanksgiving.

One reason for visiting the 24,000-acre Cuyamaca Rancho State Park was to explore my old sixth grade campground. But portions of it had burned down.

What remains is a gorgeous stone structure. You can’t go inside—it’s hollowed out and the floor is filled with beams, all courtesy of the 2003 Cedar Fire. But it’s worth a long look.

The Dyar House was built in 1923. It’s believed to be made from the same hand-cut native stone that was used to build the Lassator’s Green Valley Ranch. In 1870, gold was found nearby and the Stonewall Mine was established. The mine was incredibly rich, but had gone bust by the time of Ralph Dyar’s purchase. He dismantled the mine buildings and used some of the wood as ceiling beams for his house.

The two-story house had six bedrooms upstairs and two full baths on either end of the hallway that ran the length of the home. There was a woodburning furnace in the basement, and the heat was pumped into each room through vents. The family entertained the likes of Will Rogers and actor Leo Carrillo at the ranch.

The Dyars made a deal with the state of California to take over the ranch and open it to the public.

The state used the home as a small lodge for paying guests.

Since the late ’60s, the Dyar House had served as a museum, library, gift shop and headquarters to

12 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

Dyar House ruins the park—until the fire. Thankfully, most of the museum displays were saved before the structure was wiped out.

Artifacts from a 1970s dig at Barrel Springs, south of Palmdale, were stored at the Dyar House. Among the thousands of artifacts were lanterns, pottery and scales used during gold mining. The Barrel Springs collection had been moved in 2002, ironically, to avoid the Pine Fire.

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

Dyar House Ruins

Cuyamaca Rancho State Park 13652 Hwy 79 Julian, CA 92036 760-765-0755

#SDCityBeat

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

1

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

REEL TALK

For 23 years the San Diego Latino Film miering here in San Diego along with the works of Festival has always been a great show- other local filmmakers,” Zuniga says. “The short case of up-and-coming filmmakers from all over films program also happens to be one of my favorite Latin America. It has also been committed to show- programs at film festivals.”

For Ethan van Thillo, casing local filmmakers COURTESY OF WOO FILMS executive director and who push the boundarfounder of the festival, ies of documentary, feaMedia Arts Center San Diture and short filmmakego, the Latino Film Festiing. CityBeat readers val plays an important role may already be familiar in promoting diversity. with documentarian “In light of the recent Evan Apocada, who will Oscars and the fact that be premiering his docuzero actors of color were mentary short, Que Lejos nominated, film festivals Estoy (How Far Am I), at like this one have become this year’s festival. increasingly important,” And the list goes on…

Elvira, Te Daría Mi Vida Pero la Estoy says van Thillo. “The upLocals such as James Cooper and David Fernandez will also have films coming film festival is a wonderful opportunity to premiering at this year’s fest, which takes place promote and celebrate the many talented actors from Thursday, March 10 through Sunday, and filmmakers traditionally ignored by mainMarch 20. Paolo Zuniga will be premiering his stream media.”

Tickets for the festival range from $8.50 to new short film, Nighttime Strikes, this year. Shot in and around San Diego, it tells the story of a young $11.50 for a single screening to $225 for an allman who finds himself caught up in a crime plot access VIP pass that’ll get patrons into any of the that also involves a hostage. Zuniga says he’s al- screenings, panels and parties, as well as special ways admired the festival’s commitment to local perks like early admission. All screenings take talent and has personally attended the event many place at AMC Fashion Valley 18 (7037 Friars Road) and Digital Gym Cinema in North Park (2921 El times over the years.

“It’s exciting to hear that the film will be pre- Cajon Blvd.). See sdlatinofilm.com for full list of screenings and times.

2 IT TAKES A VILLAGE

There have been some great local art exhibitions lately on the subject of immigration and New Codex: Oaxaca, Immigration and Cultural Memory, promises to be another. It focuses on the small town of Tanivet, Oaxaca, where immigrating to the United States is practically a rite of passage. Curator Marietta Bernstoff and 43 other artists worked with women in the vilCOURTESY OF THE ARTIST lage to develop art pieces based on their families’ migration stories. The result is a poignant look into what it means to migrate and includes textiles, photographs, engravings and more. Works from two local Mexican artists, Omar Pimienta and Claudia Cano, will also “Mexico Exports” be on display. The

by Ana Santos exhibition opens at the Mesa College Art Gallery (7250 Mesa College Drive) with a panel discussion on Wednesday, March 16, at 11 a.m. and an official opening on Thursday, March 17, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. sdmesa.edu/art-gallery

#SDCityBeat

3 LOAD OF CRAFT

Readers of our bi-weekly beer column, The Beerdist, may have caught the Jan. 22 piece about what to look for and, more importantly, what to avoid when choosing a beer festival to attend. Luckily for readers, the fourth annual Bankers Hill Arts and Crafts Beer Festival falls well into the parameters of a must-go fest. The event will include suds from a variety of local breweries and chefs from big names such as Stone Brewing Co., Barrio Star and Jimmy Carter’s. Originally a mixer for local business owners, the fest combines the best parts of a beer sampling fest and a “Taste Of”-style aspect.

Oh, and there will be plenty of local art to peruse as well. It goes down on Thursday, March 10, at The Abbey on Fifth Avenue (2825 Fifth Ave.) and tickets are $30 in advance or $35 at the door. bankershill.ticketleap.com/festival SHUTTERSTOCK

Israel in Light an 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 Dear Sea, Love Me at CSUSM Kellogg Library, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd., San Marcos. A collection of woodcuts by artist Julie Goldstein, who draws inspiration from the natural environment, the sea, urban culture and experiences from her travels. Opening from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 10. Free. 760750-4378, biblio.csusm.edu Gesture and Mark at Southwestern College Art Gallery, 900 Otay Lakes Road, Building 710, Chula Vista. An exhibit of drawing by the 25 accomplished artists of West Coast Drawing who use multiple inspirations and techniques. Highlighted will be the colored pencil work of Karen Rhiner.

Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 10. Free. westcoastdrawing.com Invasion of the Mallows! at Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream, 3077 University Ave., North Park. Thumbprint Gallery presents this custom vinyl toy show featuring work from local artists. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 10. Free. 619220-0231, thumbprintgallery.com HPlay to Create at The Front at Casa Familiar, 147 W. San Ysidro Blvd., San Ysidro. The ninth Annual Dia de la Mujer exhibition is dedicated to the work of more than 25 women artists from both sides of the border. Includes more than 50 paintings, sculptures and photographs, and performances from Madame Ur and Her Men. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 10. Free. casafamiliar.org HShe Steel He Wood at Glashaus, 1815-B Main St., Barrio Logan. New sculptural, wood and furniture work from local crafters Nicole Deline and John Cortese. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, March 10. Free. facebook.com/ theglashaus HIntersections 2016 at Luxe Gallery, 1081 16th St. (5th Floor), Downtown. A dual exhibition with City Gallery that includes more than 130 works of art that attempt to illuminate contemporary art in digital media. Includes work from Ron Belanger, Pasha Turley, Pamela York and many more. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, March 11. Free. 619-388-3281, sdcity.edu/citygallery Do-It-Together at Citizen Brewers, 5837 Mission Gorge Rd, Ste. A, Mission Valley. Wonka Gallery teams up with Citizen Brewers for an art show celebrating the community spirit of the local brewing and art scene. Art work from Bret Barrett, Paul Brogden, Janelle Despot, Brian Dombrosky, Matt Forderer and more. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 12.

Free. 760-587-7989, wonkagallery.com HIn Danger of Extinction at Monarch | Arredon Contemporary, 7629 Girard Avenue Suite C2, La Jolla. New works by local Cory Bennett who takes iconic imagery of west coast lifestyle and and juxtaposes it with layerings of our threatened local ecosystems. Opening from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 12. Free. 858-454-1231, monarchfineart.com HKelly Vivanco: Tendrils at Distinction Gallery and Artist Studios, 317 E. Grand Ave., Escondido. The Escondido-based artist will show off new paintings that are inspired by both the real and imagined world and include playful and curious characters. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m.

H = CityBeat picks

Saturday, March 12. Free. 760-7815779, distinctionart.com HPortraits of Pomeroy at Central Library Gallery, 330 Park Blvd, Downtown.

An exhibition of local modern art from the ‘50s and ‘60s all culled from the collection of art collector Walter Pomeroy. Features work from notable artists like Richard Allen Morris, John Baldessari, Bob Matheny and more. Opening from noon to 2 p.m.

Saturday, March 12. Free. 619-2365800, sandiego.gov/public-library Ray at Night. North Park’s monthly art walk returns with open art galleries, food trucks, and live music performances by local bands. Takes place in the heart of North Park along 30th St., University Ave., Ray St., and more. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 12. Free. rayatnight.com HSacrifice/Souvenir at Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., North Park. An immersive installation by painter Geoffrey Cunningham that deals in themes of the fleeting nature of “the news.” Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 12.

Free. 619-584-4448, artproduce.org Brokers Building Open Studios at Brokers Building, 402 Market St., Downtown. Meet the Brokers Building artists while they are working on paintings, sculptures, photography, mixed media, assemblage and more. From 1 to 6 p.m.

Sunday, March 13. Free. facebook. com/thebrokersbuildinggallery

BOOKS 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 Lisa Lutz and Alison Gaylin at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The two thriller authors will sign and discuss their respective new books, The Passenger (Lutz) and What Remains of Me (Gaylin). At 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 10. Free. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com HStephanie Storey at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The debut novelist will be signing copies of Oil and Marble, art historical fiction about the real-life rivalry between artists Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. At 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 10. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com HDenver McGarey at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals Program, McGarey will sign and discuss The Indenture, about a young boy whose family goes from being rich to poor. At noon. Sunday, March 13. Free.

858-454-0347, warwicks.com Rachel A. Marks, Cindy Pon, Debra Driza and Stephanie Diaz at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The mystery, sci-fi and fantasy writers will sign and discuss their respective new titles, Darkness Fair (Marks), Serpentine (Pon), MILA 2.0: Renegade (Driza), and Evolution (Diaz). At 2 p.m. Sunday, March 13. Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com/event/rachel-marks-cindy-pondebra-driza-stephanie-diaz-sign-san-diego Patricia Briggs at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The bestselling urban fantasy author will be promoting her latest Mercy Thompson novel, Fire Touched. At 7 p.m.

Monday, March 14. Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com HDavid Randall at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The New York

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

p.m. Friday, March 11. $12-$15. sandiego-art.org

Times bestselling author andsenior reporter at Reuters will speak about and sign his new nonfiction book, The King and Queen of Malibu, which traces the history of California’s most prestigious beachside community. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

Paul Lewis at Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St, La Jolla. The acclaimed British pianist will perform music from Schubert, Listz and Brahms as part of the La Jolla Music Society’s Frieman Family Piano Series. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 11. $30-$80. 858-454-3541, ljms.org

COMEDY Jeff Dunham at Viejas Arena, 5500 Canyon Crest Drive, College Area. The popular comic and ventriloquist, known for characters like Achmed the Dead Terrorist and Walter, stops by on his “Perfectly Unbalanced” international tour. At 5 p.m.

Saturday, March 12. $51.50. 619-5940429, ticketmaster.com

DANCE Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. Michael Flatley’s latest dance show features new technology, including holographs, special effects lighting, dancing robots, world champion acrobats and, of course, Irish dancing. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 11. $45-$97. sandiegotheatres.org Romeo and Juliet at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The California Ballet Company’s take on the Shakespeare classic includes a pre-performance lecture by choreographer Maxine Mahon. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 12 and 1 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday, March 13. $37.50-$72.50.

619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org

FILM HSan Diego Latino Film Festival at AMC Fashion Valley, 7037 Friars Rd., Mission Valley. An 11-day juried film and video exhibition of work celebrating Latino artists and Latino genre. Includes filmmaker appearances, workshops, live music, art exhibitions and gala celebrations. See website for full schedule and times. Various times. Thursday, March 10, through Sunday, March 20. $8.50$225. sdlatinofilm.com

FOOD & DRINK Belching Beaver Beer Pairing Dinner at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse, 2180 Harbor Island Drive, Downtown. Enjoy brews from Belching Beaver Brewing while enjoying a dinner hosted by Executive Chef Kyle Kovar from Tom Ham’s Lighthouse. From 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 9. $65.

619-291-9110, bbbeerdinnerthl.bpt.me HChicks for Beer at High Dive, 1801 Morena Blvd., San Diego, Bay Park. An event that brings women together to discover, learn about and enjoy craft beer while eating an expertly paired five-course meal. All proceeds go to the San Diego chapter of the Susan G Komen Foundation. From 7 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, March 15. $45. 619-275-0460, bit.ly/chicks4beer

MUSIC HAccordant Commons at Athenaeum Art Center, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. Vocalists Stephanie Aston, Marja Liisa Kay, Tany Ling, and Argenta Walther performing a program of commissioned works by female composers. At 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 10. $5-$25. 858-4545872, ljathenaeum.org/new-music HMixtape Vol. 1: Art’s All Over at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. The San Diego Art Institute celebrates the release of their first mixtape album with a release party featuring music, sound, video and performance art.

Lineup includes Angels Dust, Hit Bargain, and headliners L.A. Witch. From 8 to 11

Choral Consortium of San Diego PopUp Concert Series at various locations.

Throughout the month of March, groups like the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus, San Diego Jewish Men’s Chorus, Escondido Choral Arts and more will make impromptu performances throughout the county. See website for full schedule of appearances.

Various times. Saturday, March 12, through Wednesday, March 30. Free. choralconsortiumofsandiego.org Yanni at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. The instrumental world music star just isn’t the same without that killer mustache and mullet.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 12. $35$110. sandiegotheatres.org Julio Iglesias at Harrah’s Resort SoCal, 777 Valley Center Rd, Valley Center. A performance from the Grammy-award winning Spanish singer and songwriter known for hits like “Me Olvide de Vivir” and more.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, March 13. $40-$95.

760-751-3100, harrahssocal.com José González with yMusic at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. José González’s voice and classical guitar will be reframed by new chamber orchestra arrangements by yMusic resulting in a collision of art rock, contemporary classic, and indie pop-folk. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15. $40-$55.

760-839-4190, artcenter.org Yolanda Kondonassis at The Auditorium at TSRI, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Dr., La Jolla. The acclaimed classical harpist and featured soloist on the San Diego Symphony Orchestra will play selections from Schocker, Lansky, Ravel and more.

At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15. $30.

858-784-2666, sandiegosymphony.org

PERFORMANCE HLa Jolla Symphony & Chorus at Mandeville Auditorium, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. This concert features music from Michael Gordon and Igor Stravinsky, and incorporates film, projectors, lighting, dance and orchestra to create a multimedia experience. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 12 and 2 p.m.

Sunday, March 13. $18-$39. 858-534TIXS, lajollasymphony.com reAwakening at Sweetwater High School, 2900 Highland Ave., National City. A touring show commemorating Ireland’s 1916 Rising and a century of Irish freedom and culture. Includes musical, dance and spoken-word performances.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 12. $25$33. amsdconcerts.com TAO: Seventeen Samurai at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown.

The Taiko Drummers of Japan’s new production features traditional Japanese drumming, contemporary costumes and innovative choreography. At 8 p.m. Saturday, March 12. $20-$80. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HVoices of Ireland at Lamb’s Player Theater, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado.

Local actors and poets will read passages from notable Irish writers such as Padraig Pearce, Thomas Mac Donagh, William Butler Yeats, and more. Also includes music from The Celtic Echoes. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 14. $25-$30. lambsplayers.org

14 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

“Bloom” by Kelly Vivanco is on view in Tendrils, a solo show opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 12, at Distinction Gallery (317 East Grand Ave. in Escondido).

SPECIAL EVENTS HBankers Hill Arts and Crafts Beer Festival at The Abbey, 2825 5th Ave., Bankers Hill. The fourth annual fest will include suds and grub from a variety of local breweries and chefs, as well as local art to peruse. From 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, March 10. $30-$35. bankershill. ticketleap.com/festival St. Patricks Day Half Marathon, 5K and Festival at Downtown El Cajon, El Cajon. Join thousands of others for this annual race through El Cajon with live entertainment on stages throughout the course and an all-day beer and wine festival. From 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 10 and Friday, March 11, and 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 12. Free-$59. stpatricksdayhalf.com Date Night for a Cause at Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach.

Hosted by The North Coast Unit of Rady Children’s Hospital Auxiliary, the fifth annual event features live music, a live auction and drawings. From 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 11. $65-$75. 858-481-8140, radysncu.com The Price Is Right Live at Harrah’s Resort SoCal, 777 Valley Center Rd., Valley Center. Be an audience member at the classic game show hosted by Jerry Springer. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 11. $25-$45. 760-751-3100, ticketmaster. com C.F.F and Heartlight San Diego Youth Fitness Expo at Spreckels Organ Pavilion, 1549 El Prado, Balboa Park. The 21st annual event features educational exhibitions, fitness activities, carnival games, raffles and performances from the children in C.F.F. programs. From 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 12. Free. 619702-8138, balboapark.org St. Baldrick’s Shave-A-Thon at The Commons, 901 Fourth Ave., Downtown.

Watch dozens of people shave their heads to raise awareness for childhood cancer. A $20 donation at the door includes admission to the event, T-shirt and raffle ticket and proceeds will go directly to St. Baldrick’s Foundation. From noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 12. $10-$20. stbaldricks.org HSt. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival

at Balboa Park, Balboa Park. Celebrate all things Ireland at this annual event featuring more than 120 parade entries. Also includes live entertainment on two stages, food, craft booths and two beer gardens.

Takes place at Sixth Avenue and Laurel Street. From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 12. Free. stpatsparade.org Walk of Hope at NTC Park at Liberty Station, 2455 Cushing Road, Point Loma. A one-mile walk and fundraiser for the National Infertility Association. Includes a post-walk festival with DJs, face-painting, a bounce-house, food vendors and more.

From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 12. 619-573-9260, resolve.org/sdwalk National City International Mariachi Festival & Competition at Pepper Park, 3299 Tidelands Ave., National City. The fourth annual festival features live music, food, a beverage garden for adults, pony rides, carnival games and arts and crafts. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Sunday, March 13. Free. 619-6866222, mariachifest.com HPuppy Love 5K at Lake Poway, 14644 Lake Poway Road, Poway. Helen Woodward Animal Center’s seventh annual, dog-friendly race helps raise funds for orphan pets. Includes a post-race fest with music, a human-canine costume contest, dog agility courses, kid’s activities, and more. From 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Sunday, March 13. $15-$38. 858-3614811, animalcenter.org HSan Diego Women’s Week at various locations. A week of dynamic speakers and events designed to inspire, empower and connect women of all ages and professions. Locations and times vary. See website for full details. From Monday, March 14 to Friday, March 18. $35$185. sdwomensweek.com Indian Music and Dance Festival at Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, Jacobs Family Campus, 4126 Executive Dr., La Jolla. The ninth annual event features vocal and instrumental artists of both the Hindustani and the Carnatic traditions of Indian music, as well as percussionists and unique dance performances. From 6:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, March 15. $30-$45.

8584421586, indianfinearts.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HPHIL-x: Motivators Motivating Motivation at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. A satirical take on the popular TED Talks features an entire lineup of questionable authorities speaking on previously unheard of discoveries for your educational entertainment. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 9. $5 suggested donation. 619284-6784, amodernprofession.com Distinguished Lecture Series: Women In Art at Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside. To celebrate women’s history month, join OMA as they take a look at how women have represented themselves in art throughout the years.

At 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 9.

Free-$10. 760-435-3720, oma-online.org HConversation with Sister Corita Kent’s Students at USD, 5998 Alcala Park, Linda Vista. In conjunction with the new exhibition, love is here to stay (and that’s enough): Prints by Sister Corita Kent, students of the iconic pop artist will talk about her work and influence. Takes place in the French Parlor in Founders Hall. At 5:15 p.m. Thursday, March 10. Free.

619-260-4681, sandiego.edu/galleries HImmigration as Expressed in Art at Mesa College, 7250 Mesa College Drive, Kearny Mesa. In conjunction with the new exhibition, New Codex: Oaxaca, Migration and Cultural Memory, artists, curators and student activists will discuss the immigrant experience and how it’s represented in art. Takes place in room H117 -118.

From 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16. Free. sdmesa.edu/art-gallery

WORKSHOPS Loving YOU without Losing ME: Holding on to SELF in Relationships at Sleep Bedder, 2855 El Cajon Blvd., Suite #4, North Park. Tera Gardner hosts this workshop on nonviolent communication, which supports using language in self-responsible, respectful, compassionate and empowering ways that maximizes the possibility of respectful compromise. From 5:15 to 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 13. $25. 619-892-7412, sleepbeddernorthpark.com

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THEATER Those wacky adulterers

AARON RUMLEY

T

he out-loud laughter during North Coast Repertory Theatre’s production of Now You See It doesn’t really begin until David McBean’s ShaftesburyPhipps struts on stage. In the role of the married lady of the house’s hapless suitor, McBean continues his local theater tradition of being a scene-stealer, whether it’s bounding through open windows or stuffily pronouncing India “In-ja.” Shaftesbury-Phipps, mind you, is not the bad guy in Kenneth McLeish’s adaptation of a farce written by Georges Feydeau in 1892. That would be a philandering husband (Kern McFadden), who puts his wife (Allison Minick) to sleep with hypnosis so he can frolic with a lover.

In this hectic Edwardian comedy, directed at the North Coast Rep by Bruce Turk on a gorgeous set by Marty Burnett, nothing especially novel or surprising occurs, but there are sight gags, double takes and moments of hapless exasperation to spare. Besides McBean, the cast features the dependable Ruff Yeager, bellowing indignation as a cuckolded wine merchant. John Greenleaf’s manservant Oriole, perpetually woozy not from wine but from something stronger, relies on dipsomaniacal antics, a familiar ploy.

Now You See It runs through March 27 at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. $43-$50; northcoastrep.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Rocks in Her Pocket: The ghosts of Virginia Woolf, Diane Arbus and Sylvia Plath appear to a maid at an academic conference in this new play from Adele Edling Shank. It opens for five performances March 9 at the Arthur Wagner Theatre at UCSD. theatre.ucsd.edu

David McBean and Allison Minick in Now You See It melt down in Marty’s “Adult Creative Drama” class in fictional Shirley, Vermont. Annie Baker’s play posits simple rather than monumental truths about human behavior. Point Loma Playhouse’s production, directed by George Ye, occupies the theater’s shell-like stage, managing to accommodate the play’s physicality (Marty’s four students, one her husband, play theater games as a pretext for understanding themselves and their classmates). Elementary stuff.

Circle Mirror Transformation runs through March 13 at Point Loma Playhouse. $20-$22; pointlomaplayhouse.com

*** The appeal of Circle Mirror Transformation is two*** fold: Its characters are genuine, true-to-life people Worth noting: San Diego State University’s School who are possessed with insecurities and prone to self- of Theatre, Television and Film is presenting through absorbed little meltdowns—just like us—and we get a March 13 a first-rate production of The Drowsy Chapervoyeuristic kick out of watching them be insecure and

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one in SDSU’s Don Powell Theatre. Tickets are $15-$17.

See it. kpbs.org/events

R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe: A return engagement of the one-man-show about a spaceship captain where the audience is part of the crew. Starring former Cirque du Soleil clown Ron Campbell, it opens March 10 at the Lyceum Stage in Downtown. sdrep.org The Rocky Horror Show: You’ve seen the movie, now see the show about a couple who unwillingly stumbles upon the castle of a “sweet transvestite” and a sordid cast of characters. Presented by Cygnet Theatre, it opens March 10 at the Old Town Theatre. cygnettheatre.com Mack & Mabel: The musical story of a silent film director recalling his love affair with an actress he discovered. It opens March 11 at the Lamplighters Community Theatre in La Mesa. lamplighterslamesa.com Jane Austen Unscripted: Impro Theatre’s off-the-cuff take on the novels of the famous English writer. It opens for a one-night performance on March 14 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org The Wizard of Oz: The story of a Kansas farm girl who gets swept up in a tornado, gets attacked by a lion and kills two witches, but somehow manages to never stop singing. Presented by Broadway San Diego, it opens March 15 at the San Diego Civic Theatre in Downtown. broadwaysd.com

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

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

torrey bailey

Walter Pomeroy here’s a story behind each and every one of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of pieces of art Walter Pomeroy has hanging in his house.

“That one is based on a Wallace Stevens poem,” says the 82-year-old Pomeroy, who has lived in San Diego since he was a toddler.

“I bought this when my brother and I were in a little restaurant in Maine,” he says. “We were sitting at this table and we looked up and there was this drawing of the table we were sitting at.”

Whether it’s the twinkle in his eyes or the rising cadence of his voice, it’s easy to notice Pomeroy’s connection to the art he’s been collecting since the 1950s. Many of the pieces he bought from artist friends for what he describes as “whatever money I had in my pocket at the time.” His walls are covered from floor to ceiling, and the pieces are displayed salon style in rows and columns. He owns and lives in a six-unit apartment building in Pacific Beach. Since buying the property in the ’70s, he has knocked down the walls of two of the units in order to make his place bigger and, more importantly, make more room for his art collection.

The three-sided living room walls are covered in pieces from the late San Diego modernist painter Guy Williams, a close personal friend of Pomeroy. Scattered throughout the house are pieces from the likes of Richard Allen Morris, John Baldessari, Bob Matheny and other highly important and influential artists from the ’50s and ’60s. If there’s a piece of wall that isn’t covered in art, Pomeroy is quick to point out that’s because he recently donated it to either to the Oceanside Museum of Art or to the city of San Diego.

Many of those pieces and paintings had been in his place for so long, there are now a noticeable yellowish outlines on the walls where the pieces once hung.

“Please try not to look at the dirt,” Pomeroy says unabashedly. “I’m usually quick to replace something if another piece comes down.”

The quick-witted Pomeroy loves to dismiss questions

16 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

about which are his favorite pieces, and it’s easy to see friends were.” After college, he worked at Convair (which that all of them as representative of Pomeroy’s love affair later became General Dynamics) working in the aeronauwith art. It’s a love that has lasted over six decades and tics division. He says when he wasn’t working, he was alis finally getting its due at a new show opening March 12 most always hanging out at the artist studios at Spanish at the downtown Central Library Gallery (330 Park Blvd.) Village in Balboa Park and it was there that he made friends entitled Portraits of Pomeroy. The exhibition will include with people like Jean Swiggett and Richard Allen Morris. dozens of works on loan from Pomeroy, OMA and the city, A 15-minute documentary, made by local filmmaker Bill and will feature important pieces from the aforemen- Perrine, also accompanies the exhibition and delves into tioned San Diego artists of the ’50s and stacy keck the personal relationships Pomeroy de’60s. Guest curator Dave Hampton, who veloped with these artists even though first met Pomeroy after hearing about he admits to only dabbling in art himself. him from artist and critic Mark-Elliott Even now, when he sees the paintings on Lugo, says the exhibition is just as much his wall, he doesn’t see investments or about Pomeroy as it is about local mideven a collection, but rather, reminders century contemporary art. of the lifelong bonds he made with the “We have these stereotypes and conpeople who made them.

“Some people decide they want to structs of what it means to be an art collector,” says Hampton, who has written collect and build a collection, but that extensively about the San Diego art scene was never my intent,” Pomeroy says. “I in the ’50s and ’60s. “When I saw Walnever saw them as masterpieces. These were just friends hanging on my wall.” ter’s collection for the first time, it opened my eyes. It was the first example I’d seen Therein lies the true character of where someone had put together a truly Walter Pomeroy. It’s completely incispecial, truly historically significant coldental that some of the works in his vast lection, but also developed these lifelong collection have appreciated over the years. He bought them because he liked friendships out of that without any of the the way they looked and wanted to suptrappings or bullshit associated with what port his friends. His life is a lesson not it means to be an art collector.”

“I think it’s very much the story of Walter Pomeroy’s dining room only in what it means to collect art beman and how he wanted to, needed to, cause you love it, but to collect it to supsupport local artists,” adds Library Arts and Culture Exhibi- port the arts as well. tion Coordinator Kara West, who helped Hampton spear“Buy what you like, and don’t buy names. If you buy what you like and it ends up being worth thousands of dolhead the exhibition.

This story began in the ’30s when a two-year-old Walter lars later, that’s great,” says Pomeroy. “When it came to the Pomeroy moved to what was then a very different San Di- art, I was more into the people than the objects, but you ego. Proficient in science and mathematics, Pomeroy says can’t collect artists. Well, Peggy Guggenheim collected arthe was drawn to visual art because, “that’s where all my ists, but I’m not on her level.”

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March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

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18 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

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23rd Annual Latino Film Festival • 2016

23rd Annual Latino Film Festival • 2016

23rd Annual Latino Film Festival • 2016

Culture | Art

Seen LocaL TO SEE OR NOT TO SEE: UCSD OPEN STUDIOS 2016

E

very year, UC San Diego grad-student artists open up their studios to show off what they’ve been working on for the past year. The Open Studios 2016 showcase (ucsdopenstudios.com/2016) has consistently been a unique opportunity to view up-and-coming talents that often go on to become respected and prolific presences in the local art scene. In the past, I’ve discovered artists such as Stefani Byrd (who I profiled recently in a story on local video artists) and Morgan Mandalay, who’s been making waves with his site-specific SPF15 exhibitions. What’s more, the artists are often present at the UCSD Open Studios to offer attendees a rare window into the artistic process. Of the dozens showcasing this year, here are just a few we’ll be keeping on our radar.

Gabi Schaffzin: Already a well-respected artist, Schaffzin (utopia-dystopia.com) is actually a Ph.D. student at UCSD whose work emphasizes how, in his words, “forces acting upon our technologically mediated world shape our subjectivity, especially in the contexts of algorithmic inference.” That is, his work attempts to deconstruct and make sense of the codes seth combs

Quickie Dingler and algorithms that humankind has become increasingly more dependent on. His “Whisper” installation inside his studio proved intriguing to anyone who stumbled in. Essentially a plastic box with an ominous red button, viewers were invited to tell it “how they felt” by speaking into an attached microphone.

The “Whisper” machine then takes the one-word

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adjective, feeds you synonyms, and works to find you books on the subject on Amazon. It was a fun little trick, but the piece itself was an impressive statement on our relationships with and trustfulness of technology.

Erika Ostrander: There was an eerie minimalism to Ostrander’s studio (erikaostrander.com) that was accented by the organic sculptures she crafts out of salvaged print materials and animal tissue. But it’s hard not to be bowled over by “Hair,” an ongoing piece made with human hair that she collects from friends and hair salons and then weaves together on a vintage spinning wheel. When I visited, it was hanging from the ceiling as if waiting to be climbed, a la Rapunzel. She was inspired to do the piece afseth combs

Joshua Saunders ter working at both a hair and waxing salon. “I became very interested in people and how they deal with their bodies and their relationships with their bodies,” Ostrander said. “It’s constantly growing so hopefully, if it gets installed enough, it will end up being very huge.”

Joshua Saunders: As I entered Saunders’ studio ( joshuasaunders.net), a child was getting a little too familiar with one of the artist’s paintings. I can’t say that I blame the kid. The works incorporate the bright and shimmering enamel paint you often find on new cars along with molds that resemble the handles and equipment you see in wall-climbing facilities. The results were vibrantly affecting and often mesmerizing. “They have this secret quality to them,” said Saunders. “If the light hits them a certain way, they have these other elements. Not so much a secret, but a duality. Like if you hung them in natural light, they’d play tricks on you all day.”

Quickie Dingler: Not a person, but rather a showcase of several of the Open Studios artists using a room that artist Audrey Hope (audrey-hope. com) had painted pink and had used to showcase her collage-style sculptures made from found and everyday materials. Rather than take down her work, she invited artists such as Mandalay, Saunders and sculptor Corey Dunlap (coreypatrickdunlap.com) to showcase some of their works in what was a fun and invigorating setting. While Dunlap’s piece seemed slightly out of place, Mandalay’s fantastical oil and spray paintings fit the room perfectly. Along with Tanya Brodsky’s sculptural work (tanyabrodsky. com), I left hoping that this was a group of friends that would work together again in the future.

Other artists that were particularly notable: Patrick Shields (patrickshields.info), Kara Joslyn (karajoslyn.com), Shana Demassi (shanademassi. com), Jonathan Paden ( jonpaden.tumblr.com) and Andy Sturm.

—Seth Combs March 9, 2016· San Diego CityBeat · 23

Culture | Voices

THERE SHE

ALEX ZARAGOZA

GOZ

Nose rings, breakups and non-Trump culture

W

hen you’re a member of a minority culture (though I think Mexicans are getting closer to being the majority in San Diego), you often find yourself explaining even the small nuances of life to friends and acquaintances outside it. Sometimes it can lead to awkward, borderline racist conversations. Other times, it can offer an interesting perspective on people’s experiences.

I’ve had a lot of these conversations lately and so has America, as race becomes a bigger, more important and passionate issue in this Trumpified society.

Every time that man opens his disgusting, Cheetocolored mouth and spews a layer cake of hatred, ignorance or an unwarranted reference to the size of his penis, a large part of this country applauds increasingly louder and I get more and more scared for the future.

My conversations don’t always erupt into a barrage of angry emails, tweets, PMs and in-person confrontations, as I recently experienced. Sometimes they simply lead to fascinating dialogues about the differences between cultures. These are conversations I love and regularly enjoy having, because in understanding our different experiences, traditions and beliefs I truly believe that individuals, and the collective human race, become more compassionate and less close-minded.

I recall a friend, an immigrant from Afghanistan, getting her nose pierced. “Oh my god, what did your parents say?” I asked. “Mine would kill me!” She explained that nose rings were a widely accepted tradition for women in her culture, so no, her parents weren’t mad. Alternatively, my boyfriend’s septum rings upset his religious mom.

It’s her Biblical belief that nose rings were intended for slave women and he’s not a woman and therefore it is offensive. When my mom saw my nose piercing, she was infuriated that I would do that to my face, the face of her baby, and threatened to rip it out. In all situations, I learned something new about the meaning to different cultures of a sliver of metal piercing through a nostril.

My best friend is going through a difficult divorce. We’ve all been through breakups, some of us through divorces. The role our family plays in those situations varies, depending on culture and one’s relationship with their family. My best friend, who is white, refuses to talk to her parents about it. “I literally have zero interest in talking to them about my divorce,” she says. “They don’t know anything about me. If they want to help, they can give me money to go to Ikea.”

At first it seemed cold. Her relationship with her parents isn’t strained. In fact, she loves them very

dearly and even spends a fair amount of time with them. I didn’t get her reaction. When I was going through my divorce, that wasn’t even an option. My family demanded details. If I wanted that newly single cash handout to take to Ikea, I was going to pay for it with information. And the reactions were Telenovela sized. Cómo! Que paso? Por qué! No puede ser! Cómo es posible!

I had to brace myself for the anything-but-delicate familial reaction as hard as I had to brace for the crippling loss of my marriage. The gossip quickly made its way to my extended family and family friends. Distant relatives and friends of my mom asked me deeply personal questions, and I didn’t have the option of asking for privacy on the matter.

Well, maybe I did but it’s just not how my culture, or family, works. That’s not to say all Mexican families are the same, but it is a common thread.

Because of this, my eldest sister and I seem to have developed a trauma for drama. I downplay most things because I’ve had too many years of experiencing level-500 reactions to any not-great news. Last year, when my doctor told me I have a tumor on my brain’s pituitary gland, my initial reaction was panic and fear for my health. My second reaction was, “Oh god, I’m going to have to tell my mom and she’s going to lose it.” Even when I told my closest friends, I let them know as they were walking out of my apartment just to avoid any fussing. (Everything is fine, by the way.)

When I tell this to my best friend, she is absolutely horrified at even the idea of having to discuss any of her personal hardships with her parents. She doesn’t think it’s weird or look down at the fact that I do, and there’s not really a choice in the matter. It just took a long time to admit what she was going through, and the idea of being forced to share her struggles and have the people she loves freak out over it is an anxiety attack waiting to erupt. I realized it’s not cold at all.

It’s just how her culture and family works, and I explained to her that those freak-outs come from love.

That’s why I accept them.

The larger conversation revolving around these differences when it comes to break ups has been fascinating and varied, and much of that is because my best friends come from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Our different perspectives and histories offer a new insight, and it’s pretty awesome.

When those perspectives come together to help heal a friend we love, it becomes all the more important that they coexist and are understood.

“

Our different perspectives and histories offer a new insight, and it’s pretty awesome.

“

24 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

There She Goz appears every third week.

Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com.

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Culture | Film

Knight of Cups

Shaken and stirred Terrence Malick’s daringly illusive Los Angeles city symphony

by Glenn Heath Jr.

T

he earthquakes in Terrence Malick’s film are own making, Knight of Cups purposefully calls attenusually spiritual in nature, but Knight of Cups tion to those very barriers. Rick is less a character literally shakes the earth to its core. Early in than a searcher, a lost vessel that keeps bumping up this empathetic, daring and illusive experimental film against the borders of his surroundings. Listening to a winsome and sorrowful screenwriter named Rick the mosaic of voices that flood his perspective, in(Christian Bale) is jarred awake by a massive tremor. cluding those of his tormented brother (Wes BentHe ventures outside into a horizon of steel and glass ley), resolute ex-wife (Cate Blanchett), or melanwhere other Angelenos tread lightly, dodging falling choly mother (Cherry Jones), these collisions seem potted plants and looking up at the sky as if the tec- to evoke the thorny process of remembering. tonic plates were being controlled by the almighty.

Rick’s broken father (Brian Dennehy) reminisces Every experience, including this one, reminds about “the pieces of your life,” an idea that crystalRick of another. Fittingly, Emmanuel Lubezki’s lucid izes into something more profound thanks to the camera never stops swinging through space, careen- film’s enigmatic editing style. What initially seems ing between time periods and settings with the swift like a series of incoherent rendezvous builds toward ease of a boomerang. Voice-over narration from key a greater awakening of self-reflection and patience. characters acts as a philosophical The extended finale involving a connective tissue, beginning with hopeful vision of Rick’s progress Knight Ben Kingsley’s gripping recital of exemplifies the great malleability a key passage from John Bunyan’s of Knight of Cups. of Cups religious doctrine The Pilgrim’s Like all of Malick’s films, ulDirected by Terrence Malick Promise. timate meaning lies in the cinStarring Christian Bale, While Malick’s films often lean ematic crescendo, and his latest Natalie Portman, on Christian theology to inspire is no different. Though Rick’s enCate Blanchett feeling, Knight of Cups does so tanglement in Hollywood’s artiwithin an overtly stylized and artifice remains intact, breaking free and Brian Dennehy ficial world. The inherent contranow feels like a choice rather than Rated R diction is startling. Here, a lonely a burden. If Rick has been collectand weak man’s internal crisis being the confessions of others all comes an out-of-body experience along, he’s done so to finally write that stretches from the lunar-like deserts of Califor- his own. One of the last nimble images lingers on a nia to outer space where satellites dance with neon naked woman swimming in a posh pool before sudstardust. Somewhere in between is Hollywood itself, denly scaling a rock formation and zooming down a la la land of empty studio back lots and snooty pool an open road. Thinking outside the box will set you parties where Rick finds himself trapped between free. soulful longing and perennial excess.

Knight of Cups, which opens Friday, March 11, The urban setting of Knight of Cups stands in never fully condemns the lavish virtual reality of Holcontrast to Malick’s usual use of rural milieus, most lywood. For example, the womanizing louse played notably the quiet and endless Midwest prairies of by Antonio Banderas doesn’t pretend to be anything To the Wonder. But this shift befits Rick’s emotional other than a womanizing louse. Instead, the film claustrophobia. He’s boxed in not only by structures refuses to sympathize with those people who, like of modern design, but also memories and instincts. Rick, tow the line between self-pity and opportunWhether he’s walking through an aquarium, reaching ism. Malick patiently asks his protagonist to embrace out and touching the glass or perusing a sandy South- the artifice of life or transcend it to find affirmation ern California beach with a past lover (Natalie Port- elsewhere. Just don’t settle for the moody purgatory man), he is perpetually caught between moments. in between.

If the futuristic sections of Malick’s The Tree of Life envision a dystopian city of industry where Sean Film reviews run weekly.

Penn’s wanderer can no longer see the walls of his Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

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March 9, 2016 • San Diego CityBeat · 25

Culture | Film

Parting Glances

Truly, madly, deeply

H

ow does it feel to have lost someone even when they are still in the room? Bill Sherwood’s pivotal gay romantic comedy Parting Glances grapples with this difficult and heartwrenching reality, then connects it with collective fears generated by the AIDS crisis.

Michael (Richard Ganoug) and his partner Robert (John Bolger), who’s set to leave for a two-year work assignment in Africa, have reached a crossroads in their five-year relationship. Separation looms, and so does the fear of an unknown future.

The film may be shot like a breezy New York City trifle, but an aching undercurrent resides in ev-

26 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

ery interaction. Sherwood traces Michael and Robert’s day together before their imminent parting.

Dinner with Robert’s freewheeling boss reveals compartmentalized tensions between the couple, while attendance at a rowdy loft party confirms that fear can be communicated in a number of different ways.

Much of this stems from the elephant in the room; Michael’s close friend Nick (Steve Buscemi) is slowly dying of AIDS, and processing this reality has become a game of duck and cover for everyone involved.

Sherwood alludes to hostilities coming from outside the confines of Michael, Nick and Robert’s community of friends (i.e. the whispered vitriol from a cab driver). But it’s the denial and delusion from inside their group that stings the most. Buscemi’s wisecracking Nick is equally perplexed and frustrated at how to handle his illness, giving the film a deep human complexity.

Initially released in 1986, Parting Glances has since become an essential marker of the New Queer Cinema that also included early works by Todd Haynes, Tom Kalin and Gus Van Sant, just to name a few. This would be the only film

Sherwood would make, as he died in 1990 from the AIDS virus.

In honor of its 30th anniversary, FilmOut San Diego will screen Parting Glances at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at the Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

Opening 10 Cloverfield Lane: After the Cloverfield monster wreaks havoc on the world, two survivors are imprisoned in an underground refuge by a mysterious stranger.

Embrace of the Serpent: A shaman and two European scientists go on a journey up the Amazon to find a scared healing plant that can only be found in the farthest reaches of the region. Opens Friday, March 11, at the Ken Cinema.

Knight of Cups: In Terrence Malick’s new film, a reflective writer (Christian Bale) experiences a spiritual awakening walking around the cement corridors of Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The 23rd San Diego Latino Film Festival: This 11-day event showcases the best in Latino film, including special showcases on Colombia, documentary and LGBTQ cinema. Opens Thursday, March 10, and screens through Sunday, March 20, at the AMC Fashion Valley Cinemas and Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Young Messiah: As a seven-yearold, Jesus Christ travels from Egypt to his hometown of Nazareth eventually finding his religious identity.

One Time Only Animal House: A rowdy fraternity battles a conservative dean at an American university in 1962. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Trumbo: Bryan Cranston stars as the blacklisted screenwriter who never stops working. Screens at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 11 and 12 at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Mad Max: Fury Road: Celebrate one of the best films of 2015 (and six-time Oscar winner) back on the big screen for one night only. Screens at 11:55 p.m. Saturday, March 12, at the Ken Cinema.

2001: A Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick’s Sci-fi masterpiece provides a millennium-spanning look at the destructive relationship between technology and mankind. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at the Arclight La Jolla Cinemas.

Parting Glances: A gay couple living in New York City must come to grips with their impending separation while also confronting a mutual friend’s crippling AIDS diagnosis. Presented by FilmOut San Diego. Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at the Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas.

Rushmore: Wes Anderson and Jason Schwarztman’s collaboration began with this funny, snarky and sincerely moving story of a talented young man who prefers to distract himself from his education by joining every conceivable school club.

Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

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

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achieve that thing. And of course it never works out that way.

There’s always a whole new set of things to worry about.”

With Oh No finished and ready to be released, and a new year of touring ahead of her, Lanza acknowledges those elements of being a performer that are less glamorous or enjoyable than they might seem. But she also finds strength in making music. In a way, she’s made her peace with knowing that her relationship with music is a complicated one.

“Music has always been cathartic for me. It’s always been the thing that helped me,” she says. “But it’s also a source of great anxiety—it’s both things at the same time.”

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

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pretentious—I mean, he doesn’t really have an ego when we’re working.”

If the title Oh No suggests a sense of despair or unease, it’s by design. As Lanza was working on the album, and following the critical success of her debut, she began to more closely tune into long-term feelings of anxiety that she had been dealing with for a long time. Though the album itself isn’t necessarily about that, the process of making it drew her attention to those anxieties, and how her career can sometimes make things more complicated.

“The title came from me kind of coming to terms with a lot of anxiety and depression issues that I’ve felt my whole life, which were kind of amplified by the fact that

ho

essy Lanza is an unlikely pop star. The 30-year-old native of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, tends to disappear into her work. Her voice is expressive, but ethereal, its sweetly harmonious tones fusing with her R&B-inspired electronic production so that it becomes almost like a part of the scenery, rather than a counterpoint to it. There’s no mistaking her voice when you hear it, it’s just that it works best as part of a greater whole, gently melting into a swirl of intoxicating sounds.

Onstage, she’s just as likely to retreat from the spotlight, often performing behind a table of samplers and synthesizers as a thin layer of fog engulfs her. She’s almost like a ghost onstage, albeit one with a pedigree in New Jack Swing and ’90s R&B—a barely-there apparition that just happens to be responsible for some gorgeously danceable songs. In the context of her music, her unassuming stage presence makes sense, but it also has a little to do with her own history as a reluctant performer.

As Lanza explains in a phone interview before a live performance in the United Kingdom, she grew up learning to sing and dance, though the latter didn’t really take.

“My parents were both musicians and my dad was always very pushy about like, ‘you’re going to take dance lessons, and you’re going to write songs,’” she says. “He always encouraged me to do that. And I grew up doing music, but I suck at dancing.

I hated dance class. I’m not a triple-threat kind of person or performer, even though my dad always wanted that for me. I’ve always struggled with coming out of my shell, when it comes to performing in front of people. But more and more I’m finding where I’m comfortable with it. It doesn’t come naturally to me in a conventional sense.”

Lanza isn’t a conventional performer, so it only makes sense that her style of pop music isn’t really conventional pop music either. On May 13, Lanza will release her second album, Oh No, via Hyperdub Records, and it’s an eclectic, atypical exploration of pop that continues the arty electronic sounds of her first album, Pull My Hair Back. The first single from the album, “It Means I Love You,” is built on icy, “When Doves Cry”-style synthesizers and a persistent beat, with Lanza pitch-shifting her voice to take on a more disorienting quality. Meanwhile, “I Talk BB,” which is named for a Canadian cell phone provider, is an ambient slow jam that does a lot with a little, and “Going Somewhere” pushes a deeper, heavier bassline forward while twinkles of synth make a misty bed for Lanza’s coos of “Say you love me, say you love me.”

Oh No was recorded with her partner—both musical and romantic—Jeremy Greenspan of fellow Hamilton synth-pop act, Junior Boys, with whom Lanza is touring this spring. Lanza says that Greenspan makes for an easy musical partner to work with, though they do their best to compartmentalize their roles both inside and outside of the music they make.

“Our working relationship and our private relationship, we try to keep that separate,” she says. “It’s great working with him, because we like the same music, and he’s a great person to work with because he doesn’t take things too seriously, doesn’t take himself too seriously. He’s not

I didn’t have any expectations for the first record,” she says. “When it actually did alright and people responded to it and I ended up traveling and getting this response from people, it brought up this new set of anxieties.

“In music, everything kind of seems like one big accident,” she adds.

“Nothing is for sure, and everything is kind of unpredictable. Here I am doing the thing I’ve always wanted to do, and my life is going to get better if I can

Jessy Lanza

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO T

he Black Heart Procession are playing their first show in four years. The long-running San Diego outfit will perform at the Psycho Las Vegas festival during the weekend of Aug. 26-28, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The band also plans to play a local show around the same time of the festival. The last major tour that the band embarked on was for their 2009 album Six, with the last batch of live shows closing out 2011. After that, they went on an extended hiatus, and founding member Tobias Nathaniel moved to Serbia.

“We had done six albums, a lot of touring,” says Black Heart Procession frontman Pall Jenkins in a phone interview. “It seemed like a good time to stop. The industry changed, and we changed. We definitely went on hiatus, but there was the intent of returning to some unfinished stuff that we had been working on.”

Jenkins says that for the festival to be worth their time and effort the offer would have to be good enough to make up for some of the complications that led to their hiatus in the first place. It took some negotiation, but they got there.

They contacted us and wanted to know if we would play. They made us an offer, and I said no. We

The Black Heart Procession went back and forth a few times,” he says. “Part of it is that my hearing is kind of deteriorating, so I don’t like to play too many shows. But they got to a point where it was enough to make it worth it for us. And our agreement was that we would book one other show.”

In other Black Heart Procession news, Jenkins is reissuing the band’s debut album on 180-gram vinyl.

A pre-order link is now up on his website, and the LP will be released later this year.

“It’s just really hard to find on vinyl,” he says.

“People have been expressing interest in it.”

—Jeff Terich

Octagrape Aura Obelisk (Sounds Familyre)

O

ctagrape are most in their element onstage.

They’re a loud and fiery bunch, prone to playing intense sets of fuzz-heavy psychedelic rock that moves the body as much as it alters your state of mind. Singer and guitarist Glen Galloway is the focal point of the band, an animated leader who deals out the bulk of their wonderful noise, and manages to play his guitar without strapping it to his shoulders—a feat that’s considerably harder than it looks.

The band’s new album, Aura Obelisk, captures and bottles up that live energy to great effect, each of its 19 tracks dripping with trippy weirdness and an almost disorienting level of distortion. There is, however, a pretty significant difference between Aura Obelisk and the band’s live sets: It’s a hell of a lot longer. As you might imagine, an album containing 19 tracks tends to stretch on for quite a while, and though most of them aren’t that long it’s a sum total of around 73 minutes of music. That’s a lot of Octagrape.

It’s not, however, a surplus to complain about.

Aura Obelisk is an embarrassment of volumecranked riches, and one that features a pretty di-

28 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

verse range of sounds within a reasonably straightforward guitar-bass-drums setup. Opener “Strange Light” is one of the weirdest of the bunch, a jerky krautrock-inspired dirge that lurches deeper into mind-bending psychedelia as it goes on. That song is followed by the screeching garage rock of “Too Fly,” which can hold its own against the speaker-blowing anthems of contemporary garage gurus such as Thee Oh Sees or Ty Segall.

That Octagrape doesn’t frontload the album with catchier, simpler numbers is a testament to their ability to create a flow to Aura Obelisk, allowing it to build up to different peaks. One such high point is “Hightropics,” a two-chord barnburner that aims straight for the pleasure zone.

And just two tracks later on “Seizures,” they stomp harder than ever, hammering out a psychotic glam rock anthem with one of the biggest choruses on the album. Because Aura Obelisk is a lot to process in one sitting, it might be best experienced in smaller chunks, but wherever you start from on the tracklist, you’re guaranteed an ass-kicking rock ‘n’ roll experience.

—Jeff Terich #SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

Music

Jeff Terich

If I were u

as ever. Their most recent album, I Am a Problem—Mind in Pieces, was released on Jack White’s Third Man Records, and while it’s certainly accessible, they haven’t abandoned their weirdo sensibility.

Sunday, March 13

PLAN A: This Will Destroy You, Vinyl Williams @ The Irenic. The name This Will Destroy You implies a certain level of aggression, but TWDY’s brand of destruction is more the emotional sort. The Friday, March 11 instrumental post-rock group plays epic PLAN A: Eleanor Friedberger, The compositions that rise to grand crescendos.

Nephews, Icewater @ The Hideout. Elea- Bring a hanky. PLAN B: Young Thug @ nor Friedberger rose to prominence as half Observatory North Park. I didn’t know of eclectic duo The Fiery Furnaces, but if what to make of Young Thug at first, but you ask me her solo material has surpassed I’ve become a fan of his album The Barter 6, that band’s. Her songwriting is better than which is top-notch trap from the dude with ever, and this show is sure to be a great one. a unique lyrical sound. BACKUP PLAN: PLAN B: Brian Ellis Group, JOY, Phar- Dengue Fever, Dani Bell and the Taranlee, R.I.P. @ Til-Two Club. Brian Ellis is tist, Thee Commons @ The Casbah. one eclectic dude, and on this particular night he’ll be in mind-bending jazz fusion mode, while JOY turns up the fuzz and the Monday, March 14 riffs. It’ll be a psychedelic treat. BACKUP PLAN A: Fred and Toody (of Dead Moon), PLAN: Bongzilla, Black Cobra, Lo-Pan, Heartaches, Creepseed @ The Casbah.

Against the Grain @ Brick by Brick.

Dead Moon is a great cult lo-fi garage rock band from the ’80s, and members Fred and Saturday, March 12 Toody are touring as a duo. Make it there PLAN A: Wolf Eyes, Timmy’s Organearly to hear Joshua Kmak of The Shady ism, Video, DJ Craig Oliver @ The Francos in his new outfit, Creepseed. PLAN Hideout. Wolf Eyes have come a long B: Andrea Gibson, SOAK @ The Irenic. way since their earliest noise experiAndrea Gibson isn’t a musician, she’s a poet, ment days, though they’re still as bizarre

A music insider’s weekly agenda Wednesday, March 9 PLAN A: Tennis System, Quali, Silent @ The Hideout. Los Angeles group Tennis System play excellent, shoegazing rock that’s a little dreamy, a little lo-fi, and a whole lot of fun. Bring earplugs. PLAN B: So Much Light, Oshwa, Cloudside @ Soda Bar. So Much Light’s new EP is titled Idiot Soul, but there’s nothing idiotic about the music this indie R&B artist makes.

There’s ambience, emotion, soul and some great falsetto vocals. Nope, no idiots here.

BACKUP PLAN: Cruz Radical, Crime Desire, Steel Chains @ Til-Two Club.

Thursday, March 10 PLAN A: The Fever, PRGRM, Bada Bing @ The Merrow. Berlin/L.A. group The Fever play sleazy, electronic fuzz-glam, and perform with electrical tape on their nipples. If you dig early Yeah Yeah Yeahs or The Kills, then their trashy hooks should do nicely.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

Eleanor Friedberger though her poetry often comes accompanied by atmospheric music. It’ll be powerful all the same. She’ll be accompanied by SOAK, a young singer/songwriter with a penchant for gentle, breezy folk ditties.

Tuesday, March 15 PLAN A: Magma, Helen Money @ Brick

by Brick. In case you missed it, read my feature from last week on French jazz-prog pioneers Magma. They’re one of the most unconventional, inscrutable bands of the last 50 years, and they’re going to treat you to a strange, incredible performance you’re unlikely to forget. PLAN B: Ape Machine, Loom, Lord Howler, Beastmaker @ The Merrow. You don’t necessarily have to be from the desert to play desert rock. Case in point: Ape Machine, who hail from Portland but play a blazing stoner rock style in the vein of Kyuss. Rockin’.

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

Music

Concerts HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Little Hurricane (Music Box, 3/24), Spencer Moody (Casbah, 4/6, 4/13), Dwele (Music Box, 4/14), The Front Bottoms (Observatory North Park, 4/18), 36 Crazyfists (Brick by Brick, 4/30), Fear Factory (Brick by Brick, 5/5), Lily and Madeleine (The Loft at UCSD, 5/7), The Thermals (Soda Bar, 5/20), Iron Butterfly (Music Box, 5/21), Son Little (Casbah, 5/24), Big Black Delta (Casbah, 5/29), Yeasayer (Observatory North Park, 6/2), ‘X-Fest’ w/ Offspring, Cheap Trick (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 6/5), Mutual Benefit (Casbah, 6/11), Bob Dylan (Humphreys, 6/13), Case/Lang/Veirs (Humphreys, 6/22), Nothing (Soda Bar, 6/22), Pity Sex (The Irenic, 6/26), Tokyo Police Club, We Were Promised Jetpacks (BUT, 7/17), The Yardbirds (BUT, 7/19), Burt Bacharach (BUT, 8/21).

GET YER TICKETS Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place (Casbah, 3/27), Santigold (HOB, 3/29), Head Wound City (Casbah, 3/31), Tyler the Creator (Observatory, 4/1), Peter Murphy (Irenic, 4/1), 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), Bone Thugs N Harmony (Observatory, 4/14), 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 Shadowlands (BUT, 5/8), Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires (Observatory, 5/12), Beyonce (Qualcomm Stadium, 5/12), Andrew Bird (Observatory, 5/13), 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 Amphi-

32 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

theatre, 5/30), Leon Russell (BUT, 5/31), 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), Slightly Stoopid (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/9), 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), Jackson Browne (Humphreys, 8/29), 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).

March Thursday, March 10 Pearl Charles at The Hideout.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday, March 18 Junior Boys at The Casbah (sold out).

Ben Rector at Observatory North Park.

Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern.

#SDCityBeat

Music 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.

Little Hurricane at Music Box.

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.

#SDCityBeat

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

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

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.

Spencer Moody at The Casbah.

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.

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.

Wednesday, April 13 Lord Huron at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Chvrches at Observatory North Park (sold out). Spencer Moody at The Casbah.

Thursday, April 14 NOFX at House of Blues (sold out). Steve Miller Band at Humphreys by the Bay. Bone Thugs N Harmony at Observatory North Park. Dwele at Music Box.

Friday, April 15 Beach House at Observatory North Park (sold out).

Saturday, April 16 L.A. Witch at The Casbah.

Sunday, April 17

Saturday, April 30

Acid Mothers Temple at Soda Bar. James Bay at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Foals at Observatory North Park.

Flatbush Zombies at Observatory North Park. 36 Crazyfists at Brick by Brick.

Sunday, May 1

Monday, April 18 The Front Bottoms at Observatory North Park. Protoje at Belly Up Tavern.

Chris Stapleton at Humphreys (sold out). Puscifer at Copley Symphony Hall.

Tuesday, May 3

Tuesday, April 19 The Damned at Belly Up Tavern. Silversun Pickups at Observatory North Park.

Wednesday, April 20 The Big Pink at Soda Bar. The Arcs at Observatory North Park.

Thursday, April 21 Deafheaven at The Casbah.

Tortoise at Belly Up Tavern. Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds at Soda Bar. Explosions in the Sky at Observatory North Park.

Thursday, May 4 Crystal Bowersox at House of Blues.

Explosions in the Sky at Observatory North Park.

Thursday, May 5

Friday, April 22 Deerhunter at Observatory North Park.

Mac Sabbath at Music Box. Prong at Brick by Brick.

Saturday, April 23 Ellie Goulding at Viejas Arena.

Wednesday, April 27 Har Mar Superstar at The Casbah.

Thursday, April 28 Thao & the Get Down Stay Down at Belly Up Tavern.

Friday, April 29 Immortal Technique at Observatory North Park. Body of Light, High Functioning Flesh at The Hideout.

Mariachi El Bronx at Belly Up Tavern.

Fear Factory at Brick by Brick.

rCLUBSr

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

Thu: Karaoke. Fri: Roots of a Revival, Creative Impulse, Levi Dean & the Americats. Sat: The Gold Standard, Blue Jean Simmons. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: The Montell Jordans, Philosopher’s Ray Gun. 98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, San Diego. Little Italy. Fri: Triple Deez Band. Sat: ‘Tribute to John Coltrane’ w/ Gilbert Castellanos. Sun: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

clubs CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

Music clubs CONTINUED from PAGE 33 Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., San Diego. Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Electric Martini’ w/ DJs Jeneration Y, DirtyHoney. Sat: ‘JUICY’ w/ DJ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJ Karma.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Thu: Rod Man. Sun: The Miracle Joke Elixir with Matt McCarthy.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: BOT, Banter. Sat: Michael Calfan.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., San Diego. North Park. Wed: Taurus Authority. Thu: The Husky Boy All-Stars. Fri: Ditches. Sat: The Milkcrates DJs. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’.

Mon: ‘Wreckord Mania’ w/ DJ @Large.

Tue: ‘Tiki Tuesday’ w/ DJ Bongo Tony.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Simeon Flick Duo. Fri: Aquile.

Sat: Star69. Sun: Kayla Hope.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Almost Young, Luneaux, Elektric VooDoo. Thu: AJ Froman, Shady Francos, The Art Dealers. Fri: 5th Annual Date Night for a Cause, Abbey Road’s Beatles vs. Stones. Sat: Beat Farmers Reunion, Rosie Flores. Sun: Anderson East, Dylan Leblanc. Tue: The Revivalists.

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

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

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

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., San Diego. Bay Park. Fri: Bongzilla, Black

Cobra, Lo-Pan, Against the Grain. Tue: Magma, Helen Money.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Wed: Aro Di Santi. Fri: Joef and Co.. Sat: Aire. Sun: Aire. Mon: Perla Negra. Tue: Perla Negra.

Cat Eye Club, 370 7th Ave, San Diego.

4S Ranch. Fri: Melinda West. Sat: Jason Hanna and The Bullfighters.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. Fri: FX5. Sat: DJ Alex.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, San Diego. Mission Bay. Fri: Gillian Margot’s Black Butterfly Project. Sat: Joshua White with Marshall Hawkins.

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

Downtown. Fri: DJ Shadowman. Sat: DJ Mo Beatz.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Fri: Deejay Al. Sat: Brett Bodley.

Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave., San Diego. Ocean Beach. Thu: Piracy Conspiracy. Fri: The Smash Ups. Sat: Sandollar and DJ Green T. Mon: ‘Mic Check Monday’.

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

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

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Wed: Skizzy Mars, P-Lo. Thu: Cannibal Corpse, Cryptopsy, Abysmal Dawn, Obituary. Fri: Gary Clark, Jr., The Shelters (sold out). Sat: Kaleo, firekid, Dreamers, Arkells, Karma Killers.

Sun: Gungor.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: ‘Family Matters’.

Thu: ‘Progress’. Fri: ‘Future Funk’. Sat: Jason Blakemore, J Splat, Nastytryx, Terry James. Tue: ‘Tribe Night’.

34 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: JG Duo. Thu: Mystique.

Fri: Pat Ellis & Blue Frog Band. Sat: Trunk Monkey. Sun: Ron’s Garage.

Music Box, 1337 India St., San Diego.

Little Italy. Wed: Steep Canyon Rangers.

Fri: Fuerza De Tijuana. Sat: The Soul Rebels, Chali 2na. Tue: Goldfish.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Thu: ‘Wet’. Fri: ‘Uncut’. Sat: ‘Club Sabbat’. Sun: ‘R&B Divas’.

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

Sat: ‘Onyx Saturday’. Tue: ‘Neo Soul’.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St., San Diego.

Downtown. Wed: The Upshots. Thu: Bill Magee Blues Band. Fri: RedWave. Sat: Mystique Element of Soul. Sun: Johnny Vernazza. Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Paddy’s Chicken Jam. Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Fri: DJs Dirty Kurty, Will Z. Sat: DJs Taj, K-Swift.

Sun: DJ Hektik.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Fri: Black Market III. Sat: Rip Carson.

Side Bar, 536 Market St., San Diego.

Downtown. Thu: DJ XP. Fri: DJ Schoeny with Jason Whitmore. Sat: Kyle Flesch.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: So Much Light, Oshwa, Cloudside. Thu: DZ Deathrays, The Attack. Fri: The Major Minus, Social Club, Ned and the Dirt. Sat: The Soft White Sixties, Decorator, End Thought.

Sun: Shawn James and the Shape Shifters, Robert Jon and the Wreck, Jake Loban. Tue: The Lower 48, Hello Penelope, The Wind Playing Tricks.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego. Midway. Fri: The Casualists, Aure Coyote, Hard To Hit, Imperial, STEUER . Sat: Born of Osiris, Veil of Maya, After The Burial, Erra, Bad Omens. Mon: Pouya, The Buffet Boys, $uicide Boy$.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego. Normal Heights. Thu: Ezekiel Morphis, Dan Versman.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd., Spring Valley. Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: Kaus & Emphasize, Tall Can & Generik, A to Z, DJ Peptow. Fri: Potbelly, 13 Scars, Goldilox and the Bears. Sat: Love Ethic, Horsefly, Let’s Break Up. Sun: Spirit Tribe, Baker Street Blues Band, Fountain of Youth. Tue: Karaoke.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: Miner. Thu: Kitten, Electric Mudd, Machineheart. Fri: Mystic Braves, The Loons, Los Sweepers. Sat: ‘Saved by the 90s’ w/ Junior the Disco Punk. Sun: Dengue Fever, Dani Bell and the Tarantist, Thee Commons. Mon: Fred and Toody, Heartaches, Creepseed.

The Che Cafe, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla.

Fri: Nate Pop, DNLL, DXZX, Lewis Vuitton. Sat: World of Pain, CDC, Hammerfist, These Streets, MADD. Sun: Foster Body, Man and the Smells, Lora Mathis, Cheeky Cheeky. Tue: Deep Sea Thunder Beast, Griever, Letters to Catalonia, Mercy Ties, XHENDRIX. The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Tennis System, Quali, Silent. Thu: Pearl Charles, Tall Tales and the Silver Lining. Sat: Wolf Eyes, Timmy’s Organism, Video.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., San Diego.

North Park. Sat: Slaves, Capture The Crown, Myka Relocate, Outline in Color, Conquer Divide. Sun: This Will Destroy

You, Vinyl Williams. Mon: Andrea Gibson, Soak.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Thu: The Fever, PRGRM, Badabing. Fri: Astronauts, Etc., Harriet Brown, Bakkuda. Sat: Big Goat, Thirty 30, Dona Nova, Trelic. Mon: ‘The Back Room’ w/ Heather Hardcore. Tue: Ape Machine, Lord Howler, Loom, Beastmaker.

The Office, 3936 30th St., San Diego. North Park. Wed: ‘Wild Planet’ w/ DJ Jon Blaj.

Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs Saul Q, Kid Wonder. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs Kanye Asada, Gabe Vega. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings. Mon: ‘Velvet Goldmine’ w/ Heather Hard Xore. Tue: ‘Trapped’.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Cruz Radical, Crime Desire, Steel Chains. Thu: Banquet, Monarch. Fri: Brian Ellis Group, JOY, Pharlee, R.I.P. Sat: The Dogs, Dirty Eyes, Dr. Boogie. Sun: Culture Abuse, Strange Wilds.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Revolt, Ciphers of Transcendence. Tue: Jittery Jack and Miss Amy, The Hotshot Drifters.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave., San Diego.

North Park. Fri: DJ Bacon Bits. Sat: Lee Churchill. Tue: Karaoke.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, San Diego.

South Park. Wed: ‘Phil-X: Motivators Motivating Motivation’. Thu: ‘Lovecuts’. Fri: ‘Death By Dancing’. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., San Diego.

Ocean Beach. Wed: Open mic. Thu: THC Teal Stone, Alie En, Struble. Fri: Spiritual Rez. Sat: The Devastators, Naked Funk. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band.

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March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 35

last words | Advice

amy alkon

advice

goddess Having The Time Of Someone Else’s Wife I’m a 39-year-old guy, and I just met the most amazing woman, but she’s going through a divorce. My best friend said to never date somebody while they’re divorcing, because they’re crazy and emotionally unavailable. He says you need to wait for two years afterward. Well, I really like this woman, and she likes me. If I dated her now, would I just be a rebound?

—Bad Waiter There are clues to where on the divorce spectrum someone falls, like whether she makes offhand remarks along the lines of “I wish him well, but we weren’t a good match” or “I wish I could leave him tied up in a clearing so something would eat him.”

There is something to be said for waiting periods, whether you’re mentally ill and shopping for an Uzi or hoping to live happily ever after with someone who might not be entirely recovered from her previous attempt. But the blanket “wait two years!” advice is silly and probably comes out of a misconstruing of some research finding. (Also, as an epidemiologist friend frequently points out to me, these findings tell us how something seems to affect most people; however, there are important individual differences that get lost…like that tiny line about potential side effects: “Oh, by the way, 1 percent of the subjects ended up wearing all their teeth on a necklace.”)

Still, unless this woman and her not-quite-ex-husband got married a few months ago because they were super-drunk and standing near each other in Vegas, there’s a chance she’ll believe she’s ready to get involved before she actually is. Whether it makes sense to date her now becomes a question of risk analysis. Plug in the variables you know, like the ugliness level of her divorce, whether she starts every other sentence with “my ex…”, and whether she seems to understand where she went wrong (and take responsibility for her part in it). Factor in her fabulousness and your level of risk tolerance—how willing and able you are to deal if, a year in, she apologizes after realizing that she just needed a nice man to put Band-Aids on her ouchies.

Even if it seems unwise to date her right now, you can keep a foot in the game by seeing her regularly—like once a month—while keeping the temperature on low.

Stick to daytime dates—short, bright light, no alcohol—and use abstinence-only measures that have been found to be highly effective, such as wearing Green Lantern Underoos. (As a bonus, these would double as incentive to avoid texting while driving and ending up the talk of the ambulance bay for two weeks.)

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Whether it makes sense to date her now becomes a question of risk analysis...

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(c)2016, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@ aol.com (advicegoddess.com). Weekly radio show: blogtalkradio.com/ amyalkon Order Amy Alkon’s book, “Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say The F-Word” (St. Martin’s Press, June 3, 2014).

36 · San Diego CityBeat · March 9, 2016

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March 9, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 39