San Diego CityBeat • Mar 20, 2013

Four P.4 Conspiracies P.6 Street P.18 Elephants P.24

2 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Our District 4 endorsement San Diego’s District 4 has been without represensocial-justice candidate, and we love his enthusiasm tation on the City Council since December, when and his policy specifics.

Tony Young resigned to take the top job at the loBut we like Pollard, too. A human-resources execcal Red Cross. Nine candidates want his old seat; a utive by trade, Pollard started on his political path by special primary election will be held next Tuesday, organizing a neighborhood watch and by trying unMarch 26, with a runoff between the top two vote successfully to start a community garden. After losing getters likely to be held in May. to Young in 2010, Pollard could have retreated, but Currently, there are four Republicans and four he dove into public service, joining numerous comDemocrats on the council, and because the district munity groups and playing a key role in the arduous leans heavily Democratic, the election will surely redistricting process. He’d be an independent, critical swing the balance of power to the Dems. However, thinker as an elected official, and we’re confident that council votes rarely fall along purely partisan lines. he’d come up with interesting ideas, like the one he’s The questions will be whether district voters bolster currently pursuing: to create a solar-energy field on the liberals on the council or the centrists, whether vacant property near Chollas Lake. organized labor can get its candidate elected and So, what to do? whether a gay African-American can win.

Brown doesn’t have much of a chance against Of the nine candidates, we like four—Blanca candidates like Crenshaw, Pollard, Myrtle Cole and david rolland Lopez Brown, Dwayne Crenshaw, Bruce Williams, who have higher Monica Montgomery and Barry Polname recognition, more money to lard. Brown and Montgomery are spend and/or—in the case of Cole, new names in San Diego’s political who has the people-power of labor arena while Crenshaw and Pollard behind her—ground forces. Do we are familiar faces, having run for this dismiss her in favor of a higher-proseat five times between them: Crenfile candidate? shaw in 2002, ’04 and ’13, Pollard in We’re not completely sold on Pol2010 and ’13. lard. As a sort of indicator question, Montgomery is an attorney who we asked him and Crenshaw if they’d specializes in helping families fight vote to increase the so-called “linkforeclosure. She’s not our first choice age fee” that developers pay to fund in this race, but we like her spirit and affordable housing. Under city law, Blanca Lopez Brown we see potential. A rival candidate the fee should be raised. Crenshaw told us last week that folks shouldn’t be surprised would raise it; Pollard equivocated, which was disif Montgomery were to end up getting hired by the appointing. Yet, we want a longer look at Crenshaw; eventual winner. We certainly hope we haven’t seen he stands an excellent chance of reaching the runoff the last of her. election in May, so we’re confident that we’ll get it.

Brown, in particular, has really impressed us.

There are several good candidates in this race, She’s a preschool teacher, a member of the Lemon which bodes well for District 4. Votes for Crenshaw, Grove School District’s Governing Board and a forPollard and Cole are certainly justifiable—Cole mer small-business owner. Listen to her for five hasn’t impressed us to merit endorsement considminutes and it’s clear she has more than surfaceeration, but she’d be a solid progressive vote on the level knowledge about public-sector governance; City Council nonetheless. her grasp of complex issues is obvious.

But, in the primary election, we’re endorsing We endorsed Crenshaw in November 2002 when Brown. While she likely won’t win, we can’t say he ran against, and lost to, Charles Lewis for the Disenough about how intrigued we are with her, and trict 4 seat. He desperately wants to serve the public, we want to encourage her to build a support system having worked for elected officials at the city, counin preparation for her next run for office and work ty and state levels and having run for state Assembly on injecting some energy into her in-person preand the community-college board, in addition to the sentation. We urge District 4 voters to select Blanca Lopez Brown on March 26.

City Council. He’s also worked for three nonprofit organizations and is currently on leave from headWhat do you think? Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com. ing up San Diego Pride. Crenshaw’s our kind of proThis issue of CityBeat is dedicated to the St. Paddy’s Day stabber, who’s still not the worst part about the Gaslamp.

Our cover art is by Ned Porter.

Read about him on Page 20.

Volume 11 • Issue 32 Editor David Rolland Associate Editor Kelly Davis Music Editor Peter Holslin Staff Writer Alex Zaragoza Events Editor Shea Kopp Film Editor Anders Wright Web Editor Ryan Bradford Art director Adam Vieyra Columnists Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb

Contributors Ian Cheesman, Derrik Chinn, David L. Coddon, Seth Combs, Jeff “Turbo” Corrigan, Katrina Dodson, Michael A. Gardiner, Dave Maass, Scott McDonald, Jenny Montgomery, Kinsee Morlan, Sasha Orman, Mina Riazi, Jim Ruland, Marie TranMcCaslin, Jeff Terich, Quan Vu Interns Crystal Tellez-Giron, Rees Withrow Production Manager Efraim Manuel Senior account executive Jason Noble Advertising Account Executives Sean Eshelman, Beau Odom, Paulina Porter-Tapia

director of marketing Chad Boyer Circulation / Office Assistant Shea Kopp Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami Business Manager Angela Wang Human Resources Andrea Baker Accounting Tracy Lowe Alysia Chavez Vice President of Operations David Comden Publisher Kevin Hellman

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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 2013.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

Edwin the glib sociopath If Edwin Decker, in his Feb. 20, “Sordid Tales” column about assault rifles, was attempting an imitation of Tom Tomorrow’s Glib Sociopath, then he succeeded fully. Swimming pools? Toasters in bathtubs?

Edwin, you are now the cartoon.

machines know where we’ve been traveling, too. Do they keep a record, too, like the police and car license plates? And what is the effect of all this electronic air pollution on our own bodies’ magnetic fields?

Val Sanfilippo, Linda Vista

Francis Console, Oceanside

It’s the data, not the tool Regarding your Feb. 20 news story on local law enforcement’s use of license-plate readers: While it may be the beginning of a slippery slope, I think fearing license-plate-reader technology (LPR) is much ado about not much. Rather than “a composite picture of what a person is doing… visits to your church or mosque, doctor’s office or AA meeting,” LPR data merely shows the author’s car frequents a certain street “not far from my home.” Even if a reader were to record a plate being parked in a particular location, there is no way to track where the occupant of the car has gone.

Remember Gene Roddenberry’s vision of utopia in the 24th century of Star Trek? Whenever someone committed some nefarious act, all they needed to do was view the visual records of what really happened. I find any application of this to be a good thing, not bad.

What privacy-rights advocates need to watch are laws regarding what can be done with any of the mass of data being collected. In other words, I would be much more cautious about the usage of the data than the tool used to collect it.

Michael-Leonard Creditor, La Jolla

More reading material In reference to your Feb. 20 news article about license-plate readers, I did not realize this was happening. My question is that if they are reading every plate out there, how come I see so many with expired tags? The state is losing a lot of money here, too.

Ronald E. Long, East Village

What about Compass cards?

Regarding your Feb. 20 news story on license-plate readers: Aren’t bus and trolley riders’ privacy also invaded by the use of Compass cards? These magnetic

False medi-pot claims Your March 6 “Filner mulls a tax and big permit fee on pot” editorial falls trap to the false conception that San Diegans don’t have access to medi-pot.

This false rhetoric comes from pot-shop owners and their lobbying organizations, because some of their storefronts, profits and market share have taken hits from law enforcement.

First, there are hundreds of delivery services; they advertise all over the Internet (go ahead and Google them) and in print media like the San Diego Reader, and, at times, CityBeat. Delivery services operate 24/7 and will deliver right to your door. For “patients,” it can’t get any easier. And for the safety of our roadways, the less pot users on the road, the better. And for neighborhoods like Pacific Beach and Mid-City suffering under an over-concentration of pot shops and their criminal byproducts, it’s better.

So, every time I hear the false claim that San Diegans don’t have safe access to pot, it reiterates what the pot lobby really wants, and that is more access, easier access, unlimited access. Cities can agonizingly try to craft regulations, but nothing changes: Federal law enforcement will uphold the law and shut down pot stores and delivery services that sell an illegal and harmful drug.

Diego Di Maria, Rancho Bernardo

It’s about drug dealing I was surprised with your concern re: nimbyism in your March 6 editorial, “Filner mulls a tax and big permit fee on pot.” Of course we don’t want them in our communities; we know what they are like—an excuse for drug dealing and drug pushing. We have seen it. We know that true patients and caregivers would exchange pot just as the law allows without setting up a shop. Since the delivery services advertize heavily, there is no need for a store unless this isn’t about compassion but profits.

Ken Scott, City Heights

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

The new era of conspiracy thinking together in Estes Park shortly after the Ruby Ridge incident and devised a plan to exploit the national anger over guns and government. These racist leaders devised and launched a plan that would eventually result in the creation of a 3-million-strong anti-government militia/constitutionalist movement.

Recruits to these new anti-government organizations that sprang up in every state in the union were told that the government wanted to take away their guns so that it could declare martial law and/ or suspend the Constitution and/ or imprison American citizens on behalf of the Jews and blacks who were taking over the world. The ultimate threat depended on which group you were in; some were racially motivated, some were not.

Why people die when we talk about gun control

by Joel Dyer When it comes to the emotional issue of gun control, Harry Truman had it right when he said, “The only thing new in this world is the history that you don’t know.”

I’ve been thinking about Harry’s observation quite a bit over the past weeks and months as I’ve been listening to our latest raging gun control debate. I’ve been waiting for someone, anyone, to talk about the gun-control elephant in the room, but so far it hasn’t happened. I think it’s time.

I admit that I have a slightly different concern than most folks when it comes to the subject of gun control. In fact, my main concern, and also my main area of expertise on this subject, really has nothing to do with controlling gun ownership or trying to figure out the best way to stop some of us from murdering the rest of us with assault rifles and the like, which I acknowledge is quite disturbing and happening at an unprecedented rate.

Even so, I believe there is a darker side to our current gun conversation. The elephant is the impact that the gun control debate is having on the conspiracy-driven anti-government movement. Make no mistake about it. We are currently setting the stage for things to literally start blowing up again, big things like federal buildings. And as Harry Truman would surely have relished pointing out, it’s happened before for the exact same reasons.

My belief that history is repeating itself when it comes to the radical right is based on my research of

anti-government rhetoric following Ruby Ridge became the fuel for the new movement’s growth.

It all might have died down at some point, except for the federal government’s inability to learn from its mistakes. At the same time the anti-government movement was telling anyone who would listen that the feds would do anything to take away your guns—unbelievably, only a year after Ruby Ridge—the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives launched its monumental failure of a raid on David Koresh’s Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, Texas, for the purpose of taking guns that had not been properly registered and may have been converted from semi to fully automatic and, of course, arresting the offending

Things are worse today because the large end of the anti-government funnel has gotten bigger, much bigger, in recent years. the subject over the past 20 years, including spending many months holed up with people in armed compounds across the country, from Texas to Montana to California to Florida. I have written much on the subject, including my first book, Harvest of Rage: Why Oklahoma City is Only the Beginning, which I wrote back in the mid 1990s, the last time things were blowing up over the perceived threat of the government taking away citizens’ guns.

You may recall that it was a national furor over the Second Amendment that launched the birth of the modern anti-government militia movement in the early 1990s. The catalyst for the move-

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ment’s birth was the government’s gun-related sting operation against Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. The sting went badly wrong, and before it was over, Weaver’s family was shot to bits by federal agents for what was, at most, a minor gun violation. Weaver’s wife Vicki and son Sammy were both killed by federal agents.

Gun owners everywhere were beyond outraged by the government’s actions, and the leaders of the violent, racist right—including the heads of Christian Identity churches, Aryan Nations, the KKK, Posse Comitatus and nearly every white supremacist and separatist organization in the country came

These anti-government adherents were told that the U.S. government had been infiltrated by proponents of the one-world government that would stop at nothing, including killing them and their families, in order to take their guns. They used Ruby Ridge as the proof that the conspiracy theory was true.

The racist leaders who planned and launched the movement were pretty smart. They made the decision to downplay their racial rhetoric in the beginning in order to make the movement more appealing to mainstream Americans such as those in traditional churches, small rural towns, and members of the National Rifle Association whose

gun owners. The raid resulted in a televised blood bath followed by a 51-day standoff that resulted in yet another bloodbath and fire.

For David Koresh, a conspiracy believer who taught his followers that they would know it was the biblical end times when the government came to get them, the ATF raid to take the Davidians’ guns was their confirmation that the end-times conspiracy was true.

At the end of the siege, 76 people within the compound had been killed, most of them lost in the fire on the last day of the standoff, many of them women and children. The anti-government sentiment across the country exploded

after the Waco debacle and so did the number of people who joined the militia movement. Though no one knew it at the time, a young former soldier by the name of Timothy McVeigh was in the crowd at Waco, watching the siege and growing angrier with the government with each passing day.

We all know what happened after that. On the second anniversary of the Waco fire, Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 innocent people, including 19 children in a daycare housed in the building.

McVeigh and tens of thousands of other anti-government practitioners considered themselves to be at war with our government. For them and their innocent victims, the war was absolutely real.

I remind you of our tragic past in hopes that you will understand my grave concern when I say that the sociological environment that gave birth to the domestic antigovernment violence of the 1990s has returned today, more powerful than ever.

If, as Truman said, history is an indicator of future events, then the level of anti-government radicalism that is on the verge of boiling over today far exceeds

All images taken from internet sites used the metaphor of a funnel to describe how people transition from merely frustrated with their government into violent radicals at war with their government.

In the 1990s, there was little question by those of us researching the anti-government movement that the NRA represented one of, if not the, largest single organization pouring people into the top of the anti-government funnel. Joining the NRA with their own ax to grind against government were the many rural refugees of the decade-long farm crisis and their urban cousins living in the Rust Belt, who had been likewise economically hammered by unemployment due to the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and the recession of the late ’80s and early ’90s.

This isn’t to say that there is anything wrong with being a member of the NRA, an unemployed Rust Belt worker or a foregovernment funnel has gotten big- closed-on farmer. There isn’t.

The premise behind the funger, much bigger, in recent years. nel metaphor is that if you pour enough people into the large end who share a distrust of governAcademics, journalists and watch- ment—whether it’s a distrust based dog groups who study the antigovernment movement have often conspiracy CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 that which existed 15 to 20 years ago and led to so much racial, religious and conspiracy-fueled violence. Things are worse today because the large end of the anti-

The funnel

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Conspiracy CONTINUED from PAGE 7

on their interpretation of the Second Amendment, or a distrust by people who blame the government for their economic troubles—a small number of those people, when continuously exposed to political, racial and religious-based conspiracy theories and associated rhetoric, will eventually become true believers and be forced out of the small end of the funnel as fully radicalized, dangerous individuals who believe it is their duty to fight the government and/or nonwhites and/or non-Christians by any means possible, including terrorism and murder.

The theory is that the more people there are entering the top of the funnel, the more violent radicals come out the small end.

So who is entering the top of the funnel these days? It is being filled by a true cornucopia of anti-government sentiment. As evidenced by current media reports, the NRA is still flowing into the funnel with its inflammatory anti-government talking points as a result of the current gun control debate, but it is no longer the largest group entering

the anti-government funnel.

The Tea Party, which many observers believe is merely the reincarnation of the 1990s militia movement—that is to say, the same people, albeit with a more political than militaristic agenda, at least on the surface—is likely the largest contributor to the fun-

Adding fuel to this dangerous fire is Fox News, with its constant anti-government whine and frequent repeating of the movement’s conspiracy theories, from Obama’s birth certificate to “who controls the Federal Reserve?” with its anti-Semitic innuendo. Then throw in the fact that a black man is

monitors anti-government and hate groups, is reporting that the movement has exploded since 2008 and is now bigger than it has ever been, much bigger than it was the last time things started blowing up.

But as I said earlier, millions of people get pulled into the top of the funnel and never break the law or do anything more than exercise their right to free speech. So why do some people descend deeper into the funnel than others, and why are some folks such fertile ground for conspiracy theories?

Fertile ground You could walk up to almost anyone on the street and tell them that the reason our government is trying to control guns and prevent us from owning assault rifles is because U.N. troops are secretly massing on the Mexican side of nel. With high-profile people like president, which is a primary mo- the Texas border in preparation Sarah Palin, who had her own ties tivator for the racist elements of for an all-out attack on U.S. citito the anti-government movement the movement—who believe that zens that has been sanctioned by in Alaska, and Ron Paul with his blacks are the soulless henchmen our own now-corrupt governFederal Reserve and gold standard at the command of the Jews, who ment, which has, due to a series conspiracies, and Michele Bach- are trying to control the world— of complex legal maneuverings in mann’s militia-informed revision- and we have one full anti-govern- the courts, become nothing more than a puppet of the World Bank, ist American history leading the ment funnel. way, being anti-government has It’s no wonder that the South- which is really just a front for the become nearly mainstream. ern Poverty Law Center, which Jews, who have been plotting this

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overthrow of America since the day that they spelled out their plans for a one-world government as described in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion—and you’d probably get a funny look as that person ran away bewildered and disgusted.

It’s easy to laugh, but it’s really not funny. As crazy as the above conspiracy theory sounds to most people, there are hundreds of thousands who absolutely believe that most, if not all, of it, admittedly oversimplified here for space, is true.

Conspiracy theories are a complex issue. While they sound nuts to most people, these theories evolve over time with incredible detail and supposedly supporting data. At their core, conspiracy theories explain the secret reason that something that a person doesn’t like is happening to them. Enter the psychology behind the conspiracies.

You could write a book on this subject—I know, I did—so trying to explain it in a paragraph isn’t easy.

At its core, when people become seriously depressed, often due to economic stress from things such as losing a job and not being able to find a new one, or losing a farm or home to foreclosure, their depression stems from blaming

themselves for the problem. They believe they are failures who have let down their families. If unchecked, this depression can lead to suicide, as evidenced by the fact that suicide was the number one cause of death on the family farm during the farm crisis.

But the human mind is always looking for a way out. When it comes to self-blame, scapegoating or blame-shifting is the escape of choice. When it comes to blameshifting economic problems, the No. 1 choice is to blame the government or the banks or, more often than not, both. So when someone tells you that your problems aren’t your fault, it’s the banks’ or the government’s fault, and then they start weaving this incredibly detailed tale of how Satan is fighting God, and the government has been infiltrated, and how you are merely a victim in this cosmic war that now needs you as a soldier to restore America to its rightful place as the super No. 1 most special and blessed country in the world, it feels like a salve to your unbearably painful psychological wounds. There is literally a painending conspiracy salve for every problem a person can have. The closer you are to the bottom, the

more fertile your mind becomes for the planting of a conspiracy theory. Anyone can fall prey to conspiracy thinking.

For example, just a few months ago, a sitting Texas judge made headlines for publicly declaring that he was putting together a local militia to combat U.N. forces massing at the Mexican border to attack us. We all laughed, but we shouldn’t have. The truth is, there were nearly a hundred grown men with guns, all products of the funnel, actually willing to drive south to the border and start shooting people if this judge told them to.

This was occurring at a time when there was already speculation among law enforcement and those who monitor the radical right that American vigilantes may already be murdering undocumented migrants along the border. This stuff isn’t funny. People are dying.

It doesn’t matter that you think conspiracy theories are stupid.

What matters is that a shocking number of people believe them with every fiber of their body.

And for those people—true believers like Tim McVeigh and Olympic Park / abortion-clinic bomber Eric Rudolph, tax protestor and Posse Comitatus leader Gordon

Kahl, Sikh-temple killer Wade Page, the seven anti-government radicals in Louisiana who just killed two cops, the old man who, just days ago, shot a school bus driver and took a 6-year-old hostage in his bunker, the 10 radicals in Georgia accused of killing a couple to get nearly $100,000

true. And these true believers who have popped out of the small end of the anti-government funnel are willing to murder and terrorize and blow things up in their effort to win a war that the vast majority of us don’t even know is being waged.

There are few things more powerful or dangerous than a mind being driven by hate-fueled conspiracy thinking.

The conspiracy theories are always with us, as is the anti-government funnel, but there are certain times when the headlines, at least to true believers, appear to confirm the truth of those conspiracies, and that is when things can quickly get out of hand and dangerous.

Unfortunately, I believe that we have now entered such a time because we have been in the worst recession in U.S. history, with no thanks to our banks, and we have a black president who is leading the charge to restrict gun ownership.

It’s a conspiracy theorist’s wet dream that will likely unleash a period of sporadic, isolated antigovernment terrorism.

I hope that I’m wrong.

in weapons for the coming race war, the hundreds of thousands of people who call themselves sovereigns, and countless others who believe that they are at war with their government—every time the issue of gun control starts making headlines, the ensuing debate becomes yet anoth- This story was originally published er confirmation that the conspiracy in the Boulder Weekly. Write to theories they have latched onto are editor@sdcitybeat.com.

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

edwin

sordid tales

decker Understanding the difference between ‘public’ and ‘private’ After nearly 25 years of receiving hate mail from irate readers, I finally got around to writing an angry letter to an editor myself.

The missive was in response to an article written by Baptist Pastor Chris Clark for a Christian newspaper called Good News, etc. His piece was titled, “Pastor welcomes atheists’ billboard,” about an anti-religious road sign that was scheduled to appear along the Martin Luther King Jr. freeway.

The pastor correctly pointed out that atheists have a right to advertise on billboards, but he wondered why they don’t have the same tolerance for Christian marketing.

“I wish atheists and humanists wouldn’t get all worked up over a nativity scene in a park, or a display of the Ten Commandments in a courtroom,” he wrote in his Good News commentary. “Atheists and humanists get a free pass to display their religion in the public square but no one else is allowed.”

It was Clark’s use of the term “public square” that set me off; hence this letter:

billboard. Well, you can argue it, I suppose, but wildly negligent, self-sustained ignorance makes the baby Jesus cry. “‘Rather than ban any and all displays in the public square,’ writes Clark, ‘I propose allowing all religions access to the public square.’

“Methinks the pastor might be smoking some of that stinky Eucharist dank before Sunday services because dude has it mass-backwards. There’s no room for the icons of 300-plus American religions in each of our squares! Clearly, the place for that is in the private sector—your homes, your businesses and your towering, gaudy churches that cast icy shadows upon the frostbitten poor. These are the places to promote your racket faith. But in the public square? And you gotta be really freaking high if you believe the residents of Sharia-phobic Oklahoma would ever allow a statue of Mohammed on any of their courthouse lawns. “‘So let the atheists and humanists spend their money and erect a billboard to convince the public of their constructed reality,’ the Pastor writes in his “Dear Pastor Clark and Good Methinks the pastor might hilarious conclusion. ‘We as News editors: It’s one thing followers of Jesus are billwhen some Joe off the street be smoking some of that boards ourselves….’ doesn’t know the difference stinky Eucharist dank before “OK, first of all, Pastor, between the words public you’re acting as though it is and private, but you guys are Sunday services because beneath Christians to use billsupposed to be authorities dude has it mass-backwards. boards. So did I imagine all on language and religion, so those ‘Jesus is the Reason for what gives? the Season’ and ‘Christ is not “In the context of the First a swear word’ monstrosities? Hell, I’ve seen people Amendment, the word ‘public’ does not mean ‘out wearing sandwich boards at football games to proin the open’—as in, ‘Did you hear that Father Mcmote the Lord. Come to think of it, they even got Creepy exposed his genitals in public again?’ Rather, Jesus ads on the sandwiches, usually grilled cheese, the word public refers to that which is owned by govso don’t tell me that billboards are beneath you. ernment and is therefore owned by the citizens.

“Secondly, really? It is the atheists who have ‘con“Private, on the other hand, refers to that structed reality’? Well, isn’t that just the Popov callwhich is not owned by government—as in private ing the Ketel whack? Let me get this straight: You’re property or private business, both of which are saying it’s the atheists who’ve ‘constructed reality’ owned by individuals or groups. Do not confuse by, um, not constructing an all-knowing, all-loving, the lay meanings of private and public because, in super-deity who lives in a special happy palace this context, a ‘private’ business may be totally where only happiness happens? OK, got it. Thanks. visible and open to the public, just as some ‘pub“Sincerely, Edwin Decker, Ocean Beach (land of lic’ installations (the White House bomb shelter the heretics).” comes to mind) can be completely hidden and virtually private, dig?

And there you have it—my first hate letter in 25 “In fact, most billboards are privately owned years. I forgot how much fun they can be. Admitbusinesses atop privately owned property, and evtedly, I removed some of the offensive jokes, mostly ery secularist I know not only tolerates, but ferobecause I didn’t want them to stamp “Return to ciously defends the right of any religious group to Satan” on the envelope. For instance, I deleted the promote their delusional interpretation of reality sacredly held beliefs in the ‘private’ square. “smoking Eucharist” bit (to which I bade a tear“So, a monument to the Ten Commandments ful farewell); I also cut the Father McCreepy line on the courthouse lawn is expressly forbidden (goodbye Father McCreepy line—sniff—oh, how by the First Amendment while a crucifix nestled we laughed); and, of course I ditched the Kim Karin Kim Kardashian’s otherwise public cleavage dashian cleavage joke (bon voyage, Kim Kardashian cleavage joke, I always loved you the best). is not. That’s my opinion, anyway. And we can argue all day about the intent of the establishWrite to ed@sdcitybeat.com and editor@ ment clause, but there’s no arguing that a relisdcitybeat.com. Listen to “Sordid Tales: gious message in a public courtroom is in any way The Podcast!” at sdcitybeat.com. analogous to an irreligious message on a private

10 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

by Mina Riazi mina riazi

if it weren’t for the scaly, decorative dragon frozen mid-dive above the doorway. Inside, skylights create a buoyant, relaxed atmosphere. With its wooden bar, chairs, tables and ceiling panels, the well-lit restaurant reminds me of a breezy tree house.

The warm weather called for an icy drink, so my grub buddy and I each ordered the grasshopper—a tangy blend of green tea and lemonade. The drink menu shimmered with several other enticing options, including the Mexican mocha and the Brazilian mimosa. A side of rosemary bread—sliced diagonally and toasted—came next, joined by a knob of butter. Crisp, chewy and faintly sweet, the bread was addictive, and I must have buttered up and gobbled down more than half Isabel’s avocado scramble the portion by the time my main dish arrived.

My cheesy scramble was soft, fluffy and studded with hunks of avocado. Black beans, rosemary potatoes and a flour tortilla completed the sturdy meal. The warm tortilla had a pleasant pull, and I packed it with creamy bits of egg and beans before adding bright drops of salsa cruda for pizazz. AlUnder Isabel’s spell though I was initially rooting for my avocado and eggs—and they didn’t disappoint—the potatoes My love affair with eggs began during my senior were the real cause for applause. Crackly-skinned year in college. I ate eggs fried, baked, scrambled, but soft and crumbly on the inside, the spuds were basted, poached and boiled. I ate eggs in soups, flecked with crunchy specks of rosemary. I inhaled over salads and on toast. I slid wobbly eggs on them almost as quickly as I did the bread—there’s spaghetti and let the oozy yolk dress the noodles. something about rosemary, I guess.

Once, I smeared half an avocado on bread and Thanks to its lemongrass-and-coconut-milk topped it with a soft, squishy egg. A dribble of olbroth, my friend’s steam-breathing Buddha bowl ive oil later and the result was so luscious that I was fragrant and flavorful. Meaty chunks of tofu, vowed never to eat eggs any other way. celery, carrot and shiitake mushroom gave the Although that didn’t end up happening, I otherwise-watery noodle dish some oomph. As I couldn’t help but revisit my heartfelt pledge haven’t yet mastered the skill of slurping without while scanning the menu at Isabel’s Cantina splashing, I was all too happy to focus on my tor(966 Felspar St. in Pacific Beach, isabelscantina. tilla and eggs. com). Lodged between the artichoke scramble Although Isabel’s Cantina serves dinner, I and the croissant breakfast was the avocado think I’ll be back for brunch. Menu items like the scramble. Not only did the dish feature my favorcoconut French toast and soy chorizo scramble ite duo, but ordering it would mean breakfast at 2 made me wish I had a bigger appetite, or at least stretchier pants. p.m., and everyone knows that breakfast is more delicious around lunchtime.

Write to minar@sdcitybeat.com Isabel’s Cantina sits on a wide residential street and editor@sdcitybeat.com. in P.B. The squat building would be easy to miss

One Lucky

Spoon

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

by jenny montgomery Jenny montgomery

and lobster meat, served with poached eggs and a mustard hollandaise sauce? For $18, I expected much more than overcooked shrimp, scant flakes of lobster meat and a sad drizzle of thin sauce.

Biscuits and gravy with a twist were up next. Chorizo provided the base to a creamy sauce that came off tasting more like Dennison’s chili than the zesty, sophisticated comfort food we hoped it would be.

I tried being positive: “I like chili con carne! It’s so good on nachos when we watch football!”

Then we looked at the bill, and I could be cheery no longer.

I can’t justify paying Hiltonrestaurant prices when the best Chandler’s lamb sandwich compliment I can give the kitchen is, “Look, it’s not bad.”

I hoped our brunch experience was an anomaly and decided to give Chandler’s another try. I checked out their weekday menu, hoping the Ateam kitchen crew was on the job.

A warm bowl of beet soup was decent, though way too salty (and I love salt), but it was certainly ‘Look, it’s not bad’ the prettiest cup of soup I’ve had in awhile. Nature hit it out of the park when creating the viI had such high hopes for Chandler’s Restaubrant, magenta root, and dipping a slice of butrant and Lounge. There it sits, facing the bright, tered bread into the creamy cup of soup was satblue ocean, separated from the sand by a parisfying on a cloudy coastal day. ticularly fast section of Highway 101. Its home is My server assured me that the sandwich feathe new Hilton in South Carlsbad (1 Ponto Road, turing ground lamb was “amazing,” so I went chandlerscarlsbad.com), a clean and modern for that instead of the shrimp panzanella salad property that exudes bland and non-threatening (I didn’t want to be disappointed again by overwarmth. And, yet, like so many beachfront rescooked shellfish). The pita was warm, soft and taurants, the location is the star, the food coming chewy—the highlight of the sandwich. The slices in a distant second. of lamb were dry, occasionally gritty, and would My husband and I recently had an entire easily be defeated in a Gyros taste test by your avbaby-free day (thank you, grandparents of the erage mall food court. world!), and high on our giddy list of activities I think the lesson here is to always mainwas brunch at Chandler’s. As avid 101 cruisers, tain low expectations and hope to be pleasantly we’d watched the hotel being built and thought surprised. OK, fine, I’m far more of an optimist the coastal locale had the potential to be a tranthan that, but when it comes to dining on beachquil, grownup hangout. front property, I’m going to keep looking for the whole package.

Turns out it’s just a boring restaurant with smiley service and salty food. Bummer.

Write to jennym@sdcitybeat.com My love of hollandaise drew me to the Shrimp and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Benedict. What’s not to love about shrimp, crab

north

fork

12 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

the floating

library

by jim ruland

Tell it on the mountain As a liberal-arts major at a small state college in southwest Virginia, I felt duty-bound to take a class in Appalachian studies. We studied the mores and folkways of Scots-Irish descendants whose principal aspiration, as near as I could tell, was to be left the fuck alone. I wrote a research paper on the practice of taking up serpents during Pentecostal worship services. Hunkered down in the library’s basement watching footage of snake handlers and strychnine drinkers, I thought to myself, Who are these people?

Then there was the Appalachian studies I conducted firsthand during my shift as a midnight cook. The hamburger flippers on parole, the cashiers who came to work with black eyes, the brawl that broke out when a busload of outof-state basketball players arrived just as the Pulaski County Speedway released its drunken horde were more instructive than any textbook.

These are Scott McClanahan’s kind of people.

The West Virginia native is the author of Crapalachia: A Biography of a Place. There aren’t any yokels in overalls in his new book.

No barefoot girls in homespun dresses. No snake handlers.

Peppered with family history and community lore, McClanahan’s exploration of smalltown life in coal-mining country is as educational as any documentary.

For most writers, that’s a one-way ticket to the regional section of the local library, but McClanahan’s style is as seductive as a circuit preacher’s.

His message is finely honed yet plainspoken, so it comes across as unvarnished truth.

“We drove through the places where Ruby had given birth to babies in shacks that no longer stood, and where grandfather sold moonshine.

We gunned it up Backus Mountain with my Uncle Nathan, sitting in the back of the truck trying to hang on with his palsy legs.”

Crapalachia is McClanahan’s third book about the Mountain State but his first long-form treatment of the subject nearest and dearest to his heart. He couples a savage sense of humor with a willingness to revisit life’s most uncomfortable moments. From head lice and wrestling maneuvers to feeding tubes and hawg balls—yes, hog testicles—McClanahan’s humor ranges from scatological to sophomoric.

“Well I’m here to tell you that I like my women like I like my fried chicken—a little bit greasy and with plenty of fat around the edges.”

There are no sacred cows in Crapalachia.

Everyone is fair game: family members, childhood friends, former coworkers. A mountain is a mountain, a shit stain a shit stain. He doesn’t dress things up or dumb them down.

He shows us things as they are in his corner of West Virginia, and what they are is confusing, just like everywhere else. Why did his grandmother chase away the only woman his handicapped uncle

ever loved? How did his childhood friend become a murderer? Why does everything have to change?

McClanahan doesn’t have the answers, but that doesn’t make the questions any less important, and the urgency with which he poses them transcends the page.

In a passage that follows a litany of McClanahan’s family, he writes, “These are the names that are written inside my heart, but my heart will die one day. So I want these names to stay inside this book forever, but if this book is needed for fire, then set this book on fire.”

This kind of direct address is not uncommon in McClanahan’s work. When he asks us to be kind to one another or tells us he’s searching for us, he reminds us that the community of readers is just that—a community.

Every time I read one of McClanahan’s books, I want to get in the car and drive to Rainelle, W.V., so he can show me the places in his stories. Then I want to drive across the Blue Ridge Mountains to southwest Virginia so he can show me what I’d missed, what I’d been too blind to see. But even that misses the point.

The lesson from Crapalachia is that all of us are searching for a place to call home. Chances are, the place we’re looking for exists only in our memories, a place that can only be resurrected in stories. Crapalachia is both an homage and a eulogy for a place where, through the sorcery of McClanahan’s storytelling, we can all pull up a chair and find ourselves at home.

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

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

the

SHORTlist

1

ART

COORDINATED BY ALEX ZARAGOZA

EATING IN THE STREETS

Foodies often say that when it comes to tasting the best culinary offerings a culture has to offer, there’s no better place to look than on the streets. Sure, a Michelin-level restaurant is undeniably delectable, but, let’s be honest: A steamy taco assembled from a cart can be pretty delicious, too.

San Diego Public Market (1735 National Ave. in Barrio Logan), which sells fresh local produce, meats and more on Sundays and Wednesdays, will bring together street goodies from 42 of San Diego and Tijuana’s best chefs and eateries for the First Annual Authentic Street Food Market, from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, March 24.

Market co-founder Catt White, along with event co-chairs Andrew Spurgin and Melissa Mayer, figured that a street-food smorgasbord would be a great way to raise money for their Market Kitchen programs, which provide community education on business and food.

Street food “fits with the market environment, and it’s a core part of every culture, so the possibilities are endless,” White tells CityBeat in an email.

“It’s really fresh food by definition, too. No big walkin [refrigerators] on those little carts. San Diego will always have many places for foodies, but public markets all over the world are true gathering places for people who want to take advantage of the diversity of offerings.”

The event attracted so many regional chefs hoping to participate that a few had to be turned away. Those who’ll be serving include Hanis Cavin of Carnitas

2

14 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

Beyond Modern Frameworks at Space 4 Art, 7454 University Ave., La Mesa. The school displays its artists’ thesis work in IAM@NSAD, which focuses on what architecture can be. On view through March 29.

Opening from 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, March 20, sdspace4art.org An Artist’s Perspective at MCASD Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd.,. Hear from artists David Avalos, Louis Hock, Elizabeth Sisco and others about the works in the “white cube” space, which focuses on border activism. At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org Artist Talk: Ben Darby at Pulse Gallery, 2825 Dewey Road, Suite 103, Point Loma.

Learn the artist’s inspiration, his painting process and how he crafts whimsical creations through natural and manmade elements. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 21, pulsegallery.org Art Happy Hour at Expressive Arts @ 32nd & Thorn, North Park. Paint, create collages, compose poetry or simply doodle. Materials are provided. From 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, March 22. $20. expressiveartssandiego.com

Snack Shack, Urban Solace’s Matt Gordon, Snake Oil Cocktails and Tortas Washmobile. Plus, there’ll be music from Todo Mundo and Bulevar Descarga.

“Expect all the action you’d see when people are gathering at a busy street market in an urban plaza, and a bit more,” White says.

Admission is $65 and includes all tastes. For $85, you get early entry, food and alcohol. sandiegopub licmarket.com/street-food.html

3

BE A BEATNIK

Whether you’re excited about next week’s release of the film adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel On the Road, or you’re cringing in anticipation because it stars Kristen Stewart, the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library has an event for you: Beatniks. It’s the next edition of the Athenaeum’s “A List” music-and-art social-mixer series, at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21, and it highlights You never know what to expect at The the current exhibition of Ed Ruscha: On the Road, San Diego Experimental Guitar Show. Ruscha’s limited-edition artist-book interpretation An annual celebration of the beloved six-string, it’s of Kerouac’s classic novel. Pages of Ruscha’s book played host to cosmic zone-out sessions, unholy are being displayed at the library (1008 Wall St. in La noise experiments and Jolla) through March 23, and there will be music by even a gnarly take on local band Ed Ghost Tucker and poetry readings by “The Star-Spangled Ban- Ccep J. Dew, El Ghazali and Rutger Rosenborg, plus ner.” For this year’s edi- food and drink. $12. ljathenaeum.org/alist tion—at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at Soda Bar (3615 El Cajon Blvd. in City Heights)—organizer Sam Lopez will bring in six artists, including local songsmith Rafter Roberts, to get freaky with their axes. As part of the event, performer Wages will also host a free sound-art exhibit, Persono, at Space 4 Art (325 15th St. in East Village) at 7 p.m. Friday, March 22, and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 23. The guitar show is $7. sdxgusa.com From Ed Ruscha’s artist book, On The Road

PSYCHOTIC SIX-STRINGS

HLux@Night at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Celebrate the first day of spring with the pointillist creations of resident artist James Chronister and live blues from Ripe Red Apple. From 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 20. 760436-6611, luxartinstitute.com

HSustainable Systems at SDSU Downtown Gallery, 725 West Broadway, Downtown. Faculty members display work that addresses the concept of sustainability as it relates to the environment, society and politics. Runs through June 3. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 22, art.sdsu.edu Art of Persistence Silent Art Auction at Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2125 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. Members of IDEAS auction off their crafts and jewelry to fund scholarships for incoming City College freshmen. From 5 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, March 22. 619-235-6135, facebook.com/ events/316007498522551 Eclectic at UnLabeleD, 4140 Oceanside Blvd. #145, Oceanside. Artists Bete, Optimus Volts, Danny Delgado, Kody Barnes, Braxton Ross and Daryl Lapuebla share their work. At 6 p.m. Friday, March 22. 760-500-9306, facebook.com/ events/578170602207278 Menagerie at Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park. Handcrafted animals made from wood, papier mache, painted clay, beads and other materials amassed from cultures across the globe. Opens Saturday, March 23, and runs through Sept. 8. 619-239-0003, mingei.org The Mighty Creators at The Spot, 1835 Main St., Barrio Logan. This group show features artists interpreting the poetry of Kien Lieu. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 23. thespotbarriologan.com Group Art Show at Voz Alta, 1754 National Ave., Barrio Logan. Celebrate women’s month with the work of Aileen Reyes, Tamara Juan Daffron, Maya Ramirez-Schwarz, Irma Aguayo and Patricia Marin. From 7:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday, March 23. 619-230-1869, facebook.com/ events/423852424370080 HPersono: An Interactive SoundArt Exhibit at Space 4 Art, 325 15th St., East Village. Running concurrently with the 2013 San Diego Experimental Guitar Show (sdxgusa.com), Wages presents unorthodox guitar technique that uses sand and motors. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 23, sdspace4art.org Who is the Boss? at Disclosed unLoca-

tion, 1925 30th Ave., South Park. The new work by J. Noland and Josh Pavlick explores the power dynamic between traditional roles of artist and curator. Opening at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 23. 619-933-5480, facebook.com/events/223590484445798 Tribute to McNeil Sargent at Front Porch Gallery, 2903 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad. Celebrate the founder and artist emeriti of the Sargent Art Group and 35 other North County artists. Opening from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, March 24. 760795-6120, frontporchgallery.org Ginger Louise at EloS Shoes, 3404 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. The artist displays her handmade handbags and collage-style artwork. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 27. 619-2412201, elosshoes.com

BOOKS Amy Finley at Earl and Birdie Taylor Library, 4275 Cass St., Pacific Beach. Finley, author and winner of “The Next Food Network Star” and Susan McBeth, founder of Adventures by the Book, discuss Parisian cuisine. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 20. 858-581-9934, pblibraryfriends.org Gloria G. Harris & Hannah S. Cohen at Astor Judaica Library, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. The authors discuss their book, Women Trailblazers of California, which chronicles the triumphs of 40 women throughout history. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 20. 858-457-3030, sdcjc.org/ajl HMatt Kepnes at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The travel blogger discusses and signs his book How to Travel the World on $50 a Day. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 20. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com HSuicide Girls at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. Several of the models will sign copies of Suicide Girls: Hard Girls, Soft Light, a compilation of photos that look to change the common notion of beauty.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com Greg Bear at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The science fiction author will discuss the conclusion to his Forerunner trilogy. At 7 p.m. Friday, March 22. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The author of One Amazing Thing discusses and signs her newest novel, Oleander Girl.

At 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 22. 858-4540347, warwicks.indiebound.com American BOOOM! at Villainous Lair Comics, 3371 Adams Ave., Kensington. A release party for Little Fish Comic Book Studio’s first comic book, which tells the story of a girl’s vendetta against Mexican cartels. From 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, March 22. 619-944-5292, facebook.com/ events/437329672980755 Terry Brooks at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. Best-selling, fantasy author signs his novels with the original, Sword of Shannara, celebrating its 35th anniversary. At 2 p.m. Saturday, March 23. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Mary Pearson at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The author of The Jenna Fox Chronicles, The Miles Between, and A Room on Lorelei discusses and signs her novels. At 2 p.m. Sunday, March 24. 858-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

THEATER

A guide to love, murder and laughter A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder could end up on Broadway. We’ll see.

But buoyed by a rollicking, intoxicating first act (Act 2 is, by comparison, so-so), this irresistible force of silliness definitely has a Great White Way about it.

The new musical comedy by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak will go as far as Jefferson Mays can carry it, and that could be all the way to New York. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, a co-production with Hartford Stage, is making its world premiere at The Old Globe Theatre, and it’s Mays’ house to have and to hold. Playing all the members of the D’Ysquith family (male and female), from a twittering preacher to a buxom suffragette, Mays is flat-out hysterical as he quick-changes from one character to another and endows each with broad comic brilliance. This kind of duty is not unprecedented for Tony Award winner Mays, who played more than 40 roles in Doug Wright’s acclaimed I Am My Own Wife nearly a decade ago.

A Gentleman’s Guide is based on Roy Horniman’s novel, Israel Rank, as was the beloved 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets. (There, Alec Guinness portrayed eight members of the D’Ascoyne family.) The premise of the Edwardian-era romp is that a D’Ysquith discard named Monty Navarro (Ken Barnett) plots to kill off all eight members of the clan and become rightful earl. That would be Jefferson Mays times eight. Adding to the free-for-all, but far less fun than watching Monty do away with the various D’Ysquiths, is a love triangle with two lovelies (Lisa O’Hare and Chilina Kennedy) panting for the man who would be earl.

The murders, in all their sight-gag zaniness, are this show’s (directed by Darko Tresnjak) selling point. All but one victim is offed by intermission, leaving the second act feeling rather flat. There’s more emphasis on the story’s romantic foibles and, in general, less Mays, and that’s not optimal.

Throughout, however, the tunes are jaunty and the lyrics delightfully fiendish.

For this show, the Globe is transformed into a stage within a stage, music hall-style, heightening A Gentleman Guide’s farcical tone and facilitating its anything-goes goings-on. The murdering is more entertaining than the lovemaking in this show, but if the goal is to eventually make a killing on Broadway, all the better.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder runs through April 14 at The Old Globe Theatre. $39 and up. oldglobe.org

—David L. Coddon Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Accomplice San Diego: A different kind of theater happening—part play, part game—courtesy of La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls program: Audience members arrive in Little Italy and experience the play around them as they walk through the neighborhood and respond to clues provided to them. Opens March 26. Find details at lajollaplayhouse.org.

HENRY DiROCCO

Jefferson Mays An Inspector Calls: A detective arrives at the home of a wealthy businessman and politician and grills each member of the family about a young woman’s death. Opens March 23 at Scripps Ranch Theatre. scrippsranchtheatre.org Born Yesterday: A corrupt businessman hires a reporter to tutor his showgirl mistress in the ways of Washington, D.C., and she learns a little too much for his own good. Opens March 21 at Avo Playhouse in Vista. moonlightstage.com Damien: In a one-actor production, Robert Smyth reprises his role as a Belgian priest who ministered to people suffering from leprosy on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Opens March 22 at Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado. lambsplayers.org The Fox on the Fairway: In what sounds like Caddy Shack lite, a country-club president is in danger of losing a bet when his ace golfer defects to the opposing team and his replacement becomes unhinged over a lost engagement ring. Opens March 22 at Broadway Theatre in Vista. broadwayvista.com Grey Gardens: Musical based on a documentary of the same name about Big Edie and Little Edie—Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ aunt and cousin—and their descent from an opulent lifestyle. Presented by Ion Theatre Company, it opens March 23 at BLKBOX Theatre in Hillcrest. iontheatre.com Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House: Director Kirsten Brandt and translator Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey present a new adaptation of the Norwegian playwright’s famed feminist work.

Opens March 23 in The Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org Menopause The Musical: Four women meet in a department store and bond over that special time in every female’s life. Presented by GFour Productions, it runs March 22 and 23 at the Balboa Theatre. sandiegotheatres.org The Psychic: In this comedy, a struggling writer starts giving psychic readings in order to pay the rent and entangles himself in a murder mystery. Presented by Different Stages, it opens March 22 at The Swedenborgian Hall in University Heights. differentstages.biz The Second City’s Laughing Matters Tour: The Second City improvisational-theater troupe has been a veritable comedian factory since 1959. This tour combines new material with some of the group’s classic sketches. Runs March 20 through 23 in a cabaret space in La Jolla Playhouse’s Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. lajollaplayhouse.org

For full listings, please visit “T heater ” at sdcit yb eat.com

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

sdcyb.tix.com

268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Weekend with Locals: Carol Tibbetts at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of its continuing series, Warwick’s hosts the author of Twelve Mindful Months. At noon. Sunday, March 24. 858454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com

FOOD & DRINK HFood Truck Fierceness at the LGBT Community Center, 3909 Centre St., Hillcrest. The Center’s parking lot hosts food trucks and a beer garden to raise money for Dining Out for Life San Diego. The evening includes a “dragioke” performance by the Dining Out Divas. From 5 to 8 p.m.

Thursday, March 21. facebook.com/ events/424135674338912

Kevin J. Anderson at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. Anderson talks about his latest Hellbone: Awakening. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 26. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Debra Driza, Chris Howard, and Shannon Messenger at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. Robin Benway hosts three authors whose books offer a variety of solutions for teen and tween readers. At 7 p.m.

Wednesday, March 27. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com

Coffee for a Cause at Caffe Calabria, 3933 30th St., North Park. Meet local roasters, learn the best practices for home brewing and sample local coffee. All proceeds benefit the Wounded EOD Warrior Foundation. From 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, March 22. $15. coffeeforacause.eventbrite.com

Amy Hatvany at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Language of Sisters author discusses her new, romantic novel, Heart Like Mine. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 27. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com

COMEDY Rhiannon Jones at Moniker Warehouse, 705 16th St., East Village, East Village. Finest City Improv introduces the monologist in the premiere of “The World According to,” in which acts out sketches based on her life stories. At 8 p.m. Saturday, March 23. 619-306-6047, finestcityimprov.com

DANCE HThe Roots of Swing at Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park. Inspired by the work of Bill Traylor currently on view at

“The Mechanics of Premonition” by David Fobes will be on view in Sustainable Systems, an exhibition of works by SDSU art and design faculty, opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 22, at SDSU Downtown Gallery (725 W. Broadway). the museum, and in collaboration with Firehouse Swing, the last dance class of the series focuses on Chicago Steppin’ and Soul Line Dancing. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 21. $10-$15, mingei.org Tribal Bellydance Night at World Beat Cultural Center, 2100 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. Featuring live performances by Tribal Vixens, Cairo beats, Madame Raine and

16 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

Sabrina Fox. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 22. $10-$12. 619-230-1190, facebook.com/ events/430921556996396 Beauty and the Beast at Casa Del Prado, Balboa Park. Enjoy the timeless story of inner beauty and prevailing love as performed by an all-youth cast. At 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 23-24, and 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 27. $10-$15.

Masters of Food & Wine at Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, 7100 Aviara Resort Drive, Carlsbad. A beer tasting paired with salumi from Pascal Besset, owner of Angel’s Salumi, followed by a tour of the Lost Abbey Brewery and a Churrascaria lunch.

From 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 23. 310-882-5441 x103, park.hyatt. com/en/parkhyatt/masters.html Sushi Class at Cafe Japengo, 8960 University Center Lane, La Jolla. Executive Chef Jerry Warner teaches sushi-making secrets. Admission includes two sake tastings and a maki board. From noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 23. $60. 858-4503355, cafejapengo.com HStreet Food Market at San Diego Public Market, National Avenue and Beardsley, Barrio Logan. Over 40 chefs share their street food creations made with farm fresh, local ingredients. From 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, March 24. $55-$85. 619- 233-3901, facebook.com/events/490820734288325

H4th Annual Mission Valley Craft Beer & Food Festival at Handlery Hotel, 950 Hotel Circle N., Mission Valley. Enjoy tastings from 30 breweries, food from 20 chefs and live music. Proceeds benefit Wounded Warrior Homes. From 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 24. $20-$55. 619-398-8348, facebook.com/events/413611305373861 Evening of BBQ, Bourbon & Smoke at True North Tavern, 3815 30th St., North Park. Urban Solace chef, Matt Gordon creates a four-course BBQ meal paired with bourbon tastings and cigar selections chosen by David Mogilner of Racine and Larime. At 6 p.m. Monday, March 25. $50. 619-291-3815, truenorthtavern.com Helm’s Brewing Beer Dinner Pairing at Roseville Cozinha, 2750 Dewey Rd. #104, Point Loma. Meet the brewer while sipping on Captain’s Pale Ale and other craft beers paired with pork shoulder, oysters and other menu items. From 5 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27. $40. 619-794-2192, facebook.com/ events/223844351087288

MUSIC Island Mirage at ArtLab Studios, 3536 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. A tropical theme party with Latin dance favorites, cha-chas, rhumbas, tangos and mambos.

From 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, March 21.

619-283-1199, ext.115, artlabsd.com Emma’s Revolution at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1036 Solana Drive, Solana Beach. Musicians and political activists Pat Humphries and Sandy O. perform their anti-war anthems. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 22. $18. emmasrevolution.com/live Women Turning the Tables at Ivy @ Andaz Hotel, 600 F St., Downtown. This salon-style presentation explores wom-

en’s roles in the electronic music industry.

RSVP to andazsandiego@prchemistry. com for a hosted bar. At 8 p.m. Saturday, March 23. andazsandiego.com Yolanda Kondonassis at Museum of Making Music, 5790 Armada Drive, Carlsbad. The harpist performs for the opening of the museum’s exhibit, The Harp: A Global Story of Man, Music and Medicine.

At 6 p.m. Saturday, March 23. $25-$30.

760-438-5996, museumofmakingmusic.org Faure Requiem at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The Center Chorale performs the famous classical piece that was used in the films American Beauty, The Thin Red Line and 28 Days Later. At 3 p.m. Sunday, March 24. $5-$25. 760-839-4190, artcenter.org/performances HAthenaeum Mini-Concerts at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. The free, afternoon concert series presents gypsy-jazz Trio Gadjo. At noon Monday, March 25. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org/miniconcerts.html Houghton College Choir at First United Methodist Church, 2311 Camino del Rio S., Mission Valley. The troupe performs music ranging from the baroque motet to the African American spiritual. At 7 p.m.

Monday, March 25, fumcsd.org

OUTDOORS Joy Ride Celebration at Leucadia Roadside Park, 860 N Coast Highway 101, Encinitas. Encinitas Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee hosts a nine-mile community bicycle ride. Open to riders of all levels. At 11:30 a.m. Saturday, March 23. 760-633-2740, facebook.com/ events/215515451924634

PERFORMANCE

SPECIAL EVENTS

Menopause the Musical at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. A parody about four women, a black lace bra and hot flashes set to tunes from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 20. $45-$65.

760-839-4190, artcenter.org/performances

HBeatniks at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. The Athenaeum’s ongoing A List series presents this evening themed around Ed Ruscha’s new artist book On the Road. The evening features an art exhibition, live music and a communal art project. 21+. At 7 p.m.

Thursday, March 21. $12. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org/alist

The Vagina Monologues at The Center, 3909 Centre St., Hillcrest. Bella Luna Educational Foundation presents Eve Ensler’s women’s empowerment play. All proceeds go to the LGBT Women’s Resource Center. At 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 22-23, and 11:30 a.m. Sunday, March 24. $20. 619-328-1466, bellalunaeducationalfoundation.com HWrite Out Loud: Orpheus at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. This series of short stories read aloud by actors returns with an evening of stories about art and artists. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, March 25. $12-$17. 858-4545872, ljathenaeum.org/lectures.html

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD New Alchemy Poetry Series at Upstart Crow, 835 West Harbor Drive, Seaport Village. Jackleen Holton and Ron Salisbury lead the open-mic series. Local artists are welcome to share their own poetry. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 20. 619-2324855, upstartcrowtrading.com Poetry Ruckus at Ducky Waddle’s Emporium, 414 N. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas.

Local poets perform with special guest, Ed Coonce. To read you own poetry email ruthlesshippies@gmail.com. At 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 23. 760-632-0488, duckywaddles.com

Lunada: The Alamar is for Everyone at Arroyo Alamar, Tijuana. Learn about this threatened open-space area, camp overnight, take part in a beach clean-up and enjoy and art and music festival. Camping starts at 6 p.m. Friday, March 22, and the beach clean-up takes place at 8 a .m. Saturday, March 23. See website for a map and full schedule. alamarsustentable.org 4th Annual Chamorro Cultural Fest at Market Creek Plaza, 5160 Federal Blvd., Diamond District. Celebrate the Pacific Chamorro people with cultural workshops, island-themed vendors, traditional performances and a chance to win a trip to the Marianas. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 23. chelusd.org HSouth Park Walkabout Check out festivities at restaurants, shops and on the streets of South Park. See website for map. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 23. southparkwalkabout.weebly.com HBusker Festival at Seaport Village, West Harbor Drive, Downtown. See bizarre talents from sword swallowing to knife throwing and juggling on unicycles at this free event. From noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 23-24, seaportvillage. com/entertainment/busker-festival HBuskers After Dark at Seaport Village, West Harbor Drive, Downtown. A more untamed version of the Busker Festival in-

cludes fire jugglers, comedians, acrobats and DJs. 18+. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 23. RSVP to sdcitybeat.com/ sandiego/contestsView-311.html for $1 beer specials. seaportvillage.com Anniversary Carnival Party at To Hell in a Handbag, 3302 32nd St., North Park.

Celebrate the boutique’s first year with a circus-themed party that includes a fire breather, stilt walker and hula hooper.

A $100 gift card and other prizes will be given to the best circus-themed costume. From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 23. 858-729-4786, facebook.com/ events/135123409999323 Expo Day at Petco Park, Downtown. The Festival of Science concludes with a day filled with kid-friendly science experiments and activities. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 23, sdsciencefestival.com Paws in the Park at Kit Carson Park, 3333 Bear Valley Pkwy., Escondido. Bring your dog to participate in the 14th annual walk to raise funds and awareness for homeless animals. Post walk activities include a Paw-parazzi Parade. At 8 a.m. Sunday, March 24, escondidohumanesociety.org Rolando Street Fair at 4800 Rolando Blvd. Over 100 vendor booths participate in the 17th annual free event. Also enjoy rides at the Kids’ Corner and live music from local bands. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday, March 24. 6192864014, rolandocommunitycouncil.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS Daniel Essig at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. Essig speaks about his book sculptures and his life as an artist living in Asheville, North Car-

olina. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 22. 858454-5872, ljathenaeum.org/lectures.html HWhy is Sculpture Relevant in the Age of Texting? at Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside. Artists James Hubbell, TJ Dixon and Kenneth Capps discuss the relevance of sculpture in our modern society with public art coordinator Dana Springs. From 2 to 4 p.m.

Saturday, March 23. 760-435-3720, oma-online.org Dr. Samuel Shen at Joyce Beers Community Center, 3900 Vermont St., Hillcrest.

Is our climate changing? The SDSU professor and Scripps Institute researcher addresses the history of climate change in the United States since 1895. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, March 24, sdari.org/ schedule.html African Cosmology at World Beat Cultural Center, 2100 Park Blvd., Balboa Park.

Doctor Kaba Hiawatha Kamen discusses the “Science of the Soul” as encoded within the Shabaka Stone of ancient Egypt, the Dogon of Mali and the Bantu-Kongo spiritual systems. From 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 24. 619-230-1190, facebook.com/ events/504795256244655 The Song is Ended at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla.

Bruno Leone presents a music lecture and performance about The Golden Age of American popular music. At 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 26. $24-$34. 858-4545872, ljathenaeum.org/lectures

Fo r m o r e list ings, visit “E ve nt s” a t sd c it yb e a t.c o m

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

Woon r d s

Alli Bautista

th e

st r e e t

eventually become DC Shoes, as well as collaborating with big names like Mike Giant and Mo2 One. While he generally agrees with Neko that the local scene can seem a little “watered down” at times, he adds that talent and drive will ultimately weed out those whose hearts aren’t in the right place.

“It’s a question of personality,” Persue says, calling from Detroit, where he’s stopped briefly while on a cross-country tour with fellow graffiti artist Jersey Joe. “Are they willing to sacrifice? Do they give up and get that corporate job, or do they want to rough it and see where their art goes? The ones that are going to do it no matter what, regardless of whether it’s popular or not, are usually the ones that are really unique and will get opportunities.”

Persue makes a valid point. Of the local artists that he and Neko mention as upand-coming, almost none of them returned emails or calls for this story. It seems that even as ubiquitous and accepted as street art, graffiti and, to a lesser degree, tagging, have become, those who engage in it are still a secretive, conspiratorial and even flakey lot. If you’re lucky to track one down, it’s rare that you’ll get them to respond, much less go on the record.

“I wasn’t there that night, and I didn’t touch any animals,” jokes “Bobby,” the alias of a young artist and tagger whom Neko finds ative and people would accept it. If they don’t particularly promising. “I got into street art like it, it’s vandalism. If they do, it’s street art,” because I was bored with what I was doNeko says. “That’s what they do in the art ing with my art at that time—making it for world. Once something gets popular, sudden- myself. I wanted other people to see it. And ly guys are getting flown around the world more than that, I got into it for reactions. It’s and getting paid by companies to paint what all sort of selfish, really, except what I get out is essentially just a gigantic graffiti mural.” of it has no material value. I spend my own Persue, working on a wall in Oakland

Sure, graffiti is now on gallery walls, but for two local scene vets, nothing beats the real thing · by Seth Combs

“Oh , man,

this is one of my favorite things in San Diego,” says Neko Burke as he stares up at the decades-old mural on the side of Golden Hill Liquor at the corner of 28th and B streets.

“When I was a kid, that was a flying Impala with a cholo in it,” he adds, pointing at what’s now a couple flying in a UFO. “I’ve been looking at this thing for 30 years of my life. It’s still the same aesthetic, but it’s totally different now.”

Same aesthetic, but totally different now.

The phrase could easily describe a faded liquor-store mural or the current state of the local graffiti and street-art scene.

Neko grew up around that scene and has been participating in it since 1991, after he was initially inspired by the Old English graffiti lettering he saw at Grant Hill Park.

He points out the Golden Hill mural at the beginning of a nearly two-hour tour of some of his favorite street art around San Diego.

Soon enough, he’s remarking on the Keith

Haring-inspired, Rocco Sotoshi “Freedom” mural on the side of Albert Einstein Academy in South Park (“I helped paint that when I was a kid”) and a giant wall piece

by Persue, Rime and Dabs Myla in the alley between Illinois and Ohio streets in North Park (“That’s just cool graffiti to me”). He even points out stuff he doesn’t like (“That just pumps up some corporation or business—I understand it, but I hate it”).

With the latter remark, there’s a tone in Neko’s voice that echoes the sentiments of many old-school graffiti artists these days: that their medium is quickly becoming oversaturated with so-called “street artists” trying to capitalize on trends. Nationally and locally, galleries are filled with pieces inspired by graffiti and other illegal forms of art. Documentaries are made, Jeffrey Deitch throws a party and suddenly every kid who can afford a can of spray paint or a permanent marker is the next Banksy or Zephyr.

“To me, ‘street art’ is a term somebody made up so that it wouldn’t be viewed as neg-

Slayer album covers, painted over by Neko

18 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

“Bobby Eats Pizza” tag at Lefty’s Chicago Pizzeria in North Park

N eko and Persue will show new work at Chop Sticks, an exhibition opening at Subtext Gall ery on March 29 and running through April 26. cargocollective.com/nekoburke itsbunnykitty.blogspot.com · subtextgallery.com Dave “Persue” Ross caught the graffiti bug in 1988 after seeing the works of firstgeneration graffiti artists like Quasar, Zodak and Dysein. He’s managed to turn it into a career, becoming the artistic director of a skateboard-apparel company that would

money to do it, actually.”

Back on our tour, in North Park, Neko points out Bobby’s signature tag spray-painted on the side of a trash can (now painted over) and on a telephone pole next to Lefty’s Pizza (still there, for now). The autograph is easy to spot and decipher, since it looks like either a kindergartner or a mentally disturbed person wrote it. Still, crude as it is, it makes Neko laugh and gives him hope that there’ll always be a new generation of artists skulking around the streets late at night looking for something to use as a canvas.

“I love graffiti so much because there’s always going to be people who would rather look at a solid, blank wall than have someone paint something amazing on it. No matter what changes, there’s no way you can package and sell the pure act of graffiti as vandalism. You can use it to sell a T-shirt or two, but you can’t sell the act of fucking something up.”

graffiti alley mural

by Persue in North Park Respond: Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

seen local Let’s make a deal A designer chair doesn’t come cheap. An Eames chair, for instance, runs into the thousands of dollars. But designer Nathan Tobiason isn’t looking for a few grand for his pop-up designer chair. What he wants is a unique experience.

Tobiason, 26, is a recent graduate of Hampshire College, a liberal-arts school in Amherst, Mass., and originally from Coronado. As part of his final project, he created a modern chair and ottoman inspired by the pop-up books and cards he created as a kid. They’re made from a single sheet of Baltic birch plywood assembled in a way that goes from completely flat to upright by lifting a handle. An additional piece of wood can be pulled out and unfolded to create the ottoman.

“The idea behind the design was to make nice furniture that’s easy to transport and store because people move so frequently,” Tobiason says. “A lot of it was an after-effect of the function.”

After returning to San Diego, Tobiason and a friend made a batch of the chairs. When their relationship ended, however, he was left with 20 chairs piled up in his house.

“I didn’t know what to do with them, and I wasn’t having a good time selling them,” he says. “So I came up with the idea of trying to trade them, and not getting money for them but getting some emotional value from them. I put a lot of time into them, and I didn’t want to put them on craigslist for free, though I was near that point.”

So far, Tobiason has traded half of his chairs and received some interesting things in return. One person traded him flying lessons over La Jolla. Another trader sent him a box of homemade sensual massage oils and lube. For the remaining 10 chairs, he hopes to get more cool experiences.

“If someone wanted to take me spear-fishing, I would love that,” he says.

Tobiason is currently working on a coin-bank design that he hopes to sell. He funds his design projects by playing poker at the Palomar Poker Room on El Cajon Boulevard. You can check out the popup chairs and make the designer an offer at please tradewithme.com.

Meet our cover artist Women have long influenced male artists. One of Pablo Picasso’s most iconic images, “Portrait of Dora Maar,” was inspired by the artist and poet who was his lover for almost a decade.

Similarly, Ned Porter, whose pen, ink and spraypaint piece “Bodysnatcher” is on this week’s cover, finds inspiration from powerful females, though maybe not in the same manner as Picasso.

“All the girls’ faces in my art are from nightmares,” he says.

Even so the 24-year-old, who cut his teeth as a graffiti artist in Pittsburgh, can’t get enough of the ladies. In fact, he has an entire section on his website (vividdreams.carbonmade.com), titled “My Girls,” dedicated to his muses.

“I’m addicted to women. I love drawing women, and I love drawing naked women. But [for this piece] I felt like I needed to cover something up,” Porter explains. “The hands going toward her, with the eyes,

20 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

Nathan Tobiason’s pop-up folding chair kind of represents a beautiful girl and everyone just trying to get her and bring her down. But she’s staying strong. She’s above it all.”

Though women play a large role in Porter’s art, he prefers the life of bachelorhood. Being in a relationship is “dangerous” for him because he becomes less productive.

Living in Encinitas, with its mellow beach vibe, has also helped him stay focused on his art. He moved to North County from Pennsylvania five years ago, after running into trouble with the law.

“I just really needed to get out of Pittsburgh,” he says. “It was like a black hole. I kept getting arrested for graffiti. I’ve been a good boy since I’ve been here.

I first moved here, and I was the crazy, rambunctious city kid in the beach town, so everyone was kind of standoffish towards me. It’s really helped me relax and calm down a lot. It’s a little too mellow for me, but it helps me get a lot of art done. I go home, get in my garage and get busy painting.”

Still, residing in a complex with his best friends can have its distractions.

“I’ll be in my garage or my room trying to do art, and someone will knock on my door with two 40s and ask if I want to come drink one with them and play four square in the yard,” he says with a laugh.

Porter’s working on a space-travel series inspired by the television show Quantum Leap and looking for venues where he can exhibit.

—Alex Zaragoza Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Ned Porter

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Girls gone wild Movie tries to bring meaning to our violent, sexualized culture

by Anders Wright There’s a standing piece of advice I offer to anyone who asks me about a forthcoming movie that features a particular actor: Unless that actor is Tom Cruise, the person you need to know about isn’t the lead; it’s the director. A film is ultimately the result of the director’s vision, and with that in mind, I suspect there will be a lot of bros who come out of the theater wondering what the fuck they spent their $12 on.

Girls gone got busted.

Sure, it’s a crime thriller about hot girls going on spring break, complete with plenty of guns and to Florida with the rest of the world, to cut loose and nipples. But, most of all, Spring Breakers is a film by have a meaningful experience.

Harmony Korine, the enfant terrible of American Wait, a meaningful experience on spring break? filmmakers. And despite the intentionally exploit- Ah, yes, that gets to the heart of what Korine’s trying ative camera work, the gun porn, the drinking, the to say. These girls, Faith excepted, are so desperate to blow and the preponderance of topless, bronzed co- add both good times and meaning to their lives that eds, Spring Breakers is an art film—one that seeks to they actually rob a restaurant, terrifying the patrons explore and possibly break (the title is just one of the as they relieve them of their wallets. It’s a crazy thing film’s double-meanings) down the segment of our to do, but where they’re headed is crazy, too; lots of culture so prodigiously documented by such vener- blow and booze later, they end up arrested and in need able organizations as Girls Gone Wild. of a savior. He comes in the form of Alien, played by a Korine’s never been afraid to push buttons or en- silver-toothed James Franco, a local rapper and gangvelopes. This is the guy who wrote Kids and directed ster who takes them under his seamy, corrupt wing.

Julien Donkey-Boy and Trash Humpers. Spring BreakI wish the girls personalities didn’t fade into the ers is by far his most mainbackground once Alien sorts stream effort to date, but deout that these Earth girls Spring Breakers spite outward appearances, are easy—I think that’s the Written and directed by Harmony Korine it’s not really mainstream film’s biggest problem. That at all. There’s a character in Starring James Franco, Selena Gomez, said, Korine finds meaning the film who says that spring for the young women, and Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson break is essentially the for Alien, who, after one Rated R American dream for college very strange sexual situakids, and he’s not far off, betion, tells the other particicause the mythology of spring break is that you have pants that they’re his “motherfucking soulmates.” no responsibilities, you can do anything you want and The thing is, he means it. there are virtually no consequences. But that’s just the And that’s Korine’s point: It can be debauched and dream, of course—there are always consequences, as meaningful. The bare-breasted women flipping off the four women in Spring Breakers learn. the camera while being doused in beer by horny guys There’s Brit (Ashley Benson), Candy (Vanessa are having the greatest time of their lives. These four Hudgens), Cotty (Rachel Korine, the director’s wife) nubile young things have a life-altering experience, and Faith (Selena Gomez), the sheltered, religious even though it ends with sex and guns and violence. member of the quartet. The casting of these Disney Korine makes you uncomfortable while they have it, starlets is significant, certainly, because each is using as his camera lingers over his bikini-clad stars like an this movie to transition from teen stardom to adult- old man in a peep show. He wants you to judge him. hood. We know them as being innocent and, for the He wants you to judge his characters. And then he most part, chaste, which is exactly what young, in- wants you to think about why you’re judging. nocent girls toss out the window when they go on spring break. When the film starts, they’re stuck at Write to anders@sdcitybeat.com college, bored out of their minds, desperate to head and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Local filmmaker’s riding high

Short Term 12

22 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

In January 2009, things were going well for Destin Daniel Cretton. He was close to earning his master’s degree from SDSU’s School of Theatre, Television and Film and his thesis project, a 20minute film called Short Term 12, loosely based on Cretton’s own experiences working at a residential facility for troubled teens, had

been accepted into the Sundance Film Festival. It went on to win the Jury Prize for Best U.S. Short Film, putting Cretton on the map.

He recently completed a featurelength version of Short Term 12, which has undergone some major structural changes from the short version; it premiered at South by Southwest last week.

I spoke to him this past weekend. He was still groggy, having been up late the night before. But

can you blame him? He was still in Austin, after all, and just days before, Short Term 12 won the Grand Jury Prize.

“I didn’t see it coming, at all,” he said. “Honestly, it was special, the screenings we’ve been having—really, really wonderful. I can’t ask for more than that.”

South by Southwest was the first time the new movie played to a large crowd, and watching it in a packed theater was an entirely new thing for Cretton. “It almost seemed like I was watching the movie for the first time,” he said.

“It almost felt like it was somebody else’s movie. It was a very strange and wonderful experience.”

I haven’t seen the featurelength version, but I’m familiar with almost all of Cretton’s other work. What you need to know about him is this: He’s self-effacing and, thankfully, extremely humble, quick to share the glory with his collaborators. He’s also the sort of filmmaker who continues to evolve—as a person and an artist.

“The feature is even more personal to me than the short,” he said.

“When I first started, I tried to write it as an extension of the short.

But I couldn’t do it. The short was not meant to be turned into a feature. It didn’t feel fresh. One of the main reasons I changed the main character from a guy to a girl was that I’d never written from a girl’s perspective before and I knew it’d be a big challenge for me. Once I did that, the story just opened up, popped open again, and it felt like I was writing something new.”

Banff Mountain Film Festival: The traveling extreme-sports festival returns, screening at 7 p.m. Sunday and Monday, March 24 and 25, at La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas.

The Other Son: An Israeli and a Palestinian must come to terms with learning that they were switched at birth. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 25, at the Central Library, Downtown.

The African Queen: Uptight Katharine Hepburn and slovenly Humphrey Bogart team up to take on the Germans during World War I. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 25, at ArcLight La Jolla.

On the Road hostage before being killed by disgraced Secret Service agent Gerard Butler. It’s ludicrous, for sure, but pretty enjoyable as R-rated action films go.

On the Road: Long-shelved version of Kerouac’s definitive beat novel stars Sam Riley as the writer’s alter ego, as well as Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart as Dean Moriarty and his girlfriend.

Garden State: Zach Braff wrote, directed and starred in this well-loved cult film about a young man who returns to New Jersey for his mother’s funeral. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

The Silence: In this German thriller, a 13year-old girl goes missing, and her bike is found where another girl was murdered more than two decades earlier. Screens for one week only at the Ken Cinema.

now playing

Spring Breakers: Harmony Korine takes on the Girls Gone Wild spring break mythos with this violent, exploitative, oddly insightful art film. See our review on Page 22.

Upside Down: Jim Sturgess and Kristen Dunst fell in love as teenagers. Standing in their way is the fact that they live in two different worlds, where gravity works in opposite directions.

One Time Only

The Call: Halle Berry is a 911 operator who takes a call from a girl who’s been kidnapped by a serial killer.

Least Among Saints: This documentary, about the challenges veterans face when they return home from war, is presented by The Children’s School and benefits Operation Homefront. Screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21, at Digiplex Mission Valley.

Opening Admission: Tina Fey plays a Princeton admissions officer who could blow her career by accepting a student who just might be the kid she gave up for adoption 18 years ago.

A Clockwork Orange: Stanley Kubrick’s dystopian masterpiece made Malcolm McDowell a star and is just as freaky today.

Screens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21, at ArcLight La Jolla.

The Croods: Animated caveman movie featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds and Emma Stone.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Peter Jackson goes back to Middle Earth and takes Martin Freeman, who plays the young Bilbo, with him. Screens at 8 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, March 22 and 23, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Ginger & Rosa: Sally Potter’s new film is about two teenage girls, played by Elle Fanning and Alice Englert, growing up in London’s swingin’ ’60s, during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Harvest of Empire: Documentary about the many times the U.S. has flexed its muscles in Latin America and how that has impacted the current immigration crisis.

InAPPropriate Comedy: A tablet computer full of the world’s most offensive sketches, starring the likes of Adrien Brody, Rob Schneider, Michelle Rodriguez and Lindsay Lohan, unleashes its content upon the world.

Murph: The Protector: Documentary about Michael Murphy, a Navy SEAL who was awarded the Medal of Honor after his death in 2005.

Olympus Has Fallen: Terrorists take over the White House and take the president

Mindless Behavior: All Around the World: The hip-hop boy band gets its first behind-the-scenes documentary!

Beyond the Hills: The new film from Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, who directed the superb 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, is about two women who grew up in the same orphanage. One now lives in Germany and is desperate to get her friend to move there with her. Ends March 21 at La Jolla Village Cinemas.

Caravaggio: The San Diego Italian Film Festival presents this biopic about the famous artist and his boisterous times in Renaissance Rome. Screens at 7 p.m.

Thursday, March 21, at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.

—Anders Wright

The Black Scorpion: The Public Library’s Schlockfest, curated by Horrible Imaginings mogul Miguel Rodriguez, presents this stinger from America’s past. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27, at the Central Library, Downtown.

Blood Runs Cold: This Swedish slasher flick kicks off Bloody Disgusting Presents, a monthly film series that’ll run at Reading Cinemas Gaslamp. This one screens at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 22 and 23.

Foreign Letters: Set in the 1980s, this one is about a young Jewish immigrant in the U.S. who becomes friends with a girl from Vietnam who’s also finding her way in a new country. Screens at noon, Saturday, March 23, at the Central Library, Downtown.

Hitchcock marathon: FilmOut presents four of the master’s best: Rear Window, Vertigo, The Birds and Psycho, followed by Stanley Kubrick’s creepshow, The Shining.

It all starts at 12:45 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at Birch North Park Theatre.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: Steve Carell is a fading spray-tanned Vegas magician whose popularity is being usurped by a David Blaine-esque upstart (played here by Jim Carrey). Can the power of illusion help him sort out why he fell in love with magic in the first place? Um, yes.

Like Someone in Love: Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s new film is about a young Japanese escort who ends up in an emotional relationship with the older academic widower who gives her a call. Ends March 21 at the Ken Cinema.

Running the Sahara: Matt Damon narrates this documentary about three men— an American, a Canadian and a Taiwanese—who attempt to run across the Sahara desert, a feat never before accomplished.

Screens at Digiplex Mission Valley.

Stoker: The first English-language film from Korean auteur Park Chan-wook is a gothic tale about a young girl (Mia Wasikowska) who learns she has a creepy uncle (Matthew Goode) who shows up after her dad dies mysteriously.

Barbara: Terrifically acted German film set in the 1980s, about an East German doctor consigned to a small-town clinic who desperately hopes to defect to be with her West German lover.

Dead Man Down: Colin Farrell is mobster Terrence Howard’s right hand man, until he falls under the spell of a woman (Noomi Rapace) who wants a shot at his boss.

For a complete listing

of movies pla ying locally, please see “F ilm S creenings” at sdcit yb eat.com under the “E vents” tab.

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

Pete Santos

From left: David Tye, Sean Davenport, Daniel Gallo and Andrew Armerding

Anything but swift

Hills Like Elephants explore the realm between ‘indie’ and ‘pop’ · by Peter Holslin

At

first glance, Sean Davenport seems like a fairly serious songwriter. His band, Hills Like Elephants, takes its name from the title of a short story by Ernest Hemingway. His music, guided by his slurring vocal delivery and soulful keyboard parts, offers a sophisticated, eclectic take on modern-day pop-rock.

But when I sit down with Davenport and his bandmate, Andrew Armerding, at Old Mill Cafe in North Park, I quickly learn that Davenport doesn’t take his band too seriously. In an hour-long interview, the two musicians knock back Heinekens and share an oversized turkey sandwich as we crack jokes and tell funny stories.

When I finally get around to asking a standard bandinterview question—“What is Hills Like Elephants all about?”—Davenport doesn’t skip a beat before serving up a crude, facetious response.

“Tits in a blender,” he says.

Hills Like Elephants—Davenport (keyboards, vocals), Armerding (guitar), Gregory Theilmann (synth, guitar), Daniel Gallo (bass), David Tye (drums)—is the type of

24 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

emme Records / BMG Chrysalis, was recorded in five days by engineer Christopher Hoffee. The band laid down all of the tracks live, using minimal overdubs, which helps make for a loose, streamlined vibe.

“It’s just kind of how it naturally happened,” Armerding says. “We never had any sort of moment where we sat down and [said], ‘OK, what kind of direction do we want to go on this album? What kind of thing are we going for?’ It was more like, ‘We want to record, and we currently have enough songs that we’ve written that we’re playing to make an album, so let’s just record them.’”

The album is more upbeat than Hills Like Elephants’ 2012 debut, The Endless Charade. With the earlier one, working in the studio with Hoffee and some local musicians, Davenport ended up with an album that’s crammed with interesting ideas but low on hummable melodies.

Even he seems to acknowledge that it’s not as much fun to listen to as Feral Flocks.

“The Endless Charade was me very bummed out about a certain girl situation,” he says. Feral Flocks “was like me having a very fun time with my buddies.”

Hills Like Elephants started in late 2011, after the dissolution of Davenport’s previous band, Gun Runner. Though his new project started as a solo effort, it soon expanded into a full band. They’ve since gained a lot of buzz in the local scene, winning the trophy for Best New Artist at last year’s San Diego Music Awards.

Theilmann and Armerding are both seasoned local musicians—Theilmann also plays in the indie-electro group Odd Shapes, while Armerding plays with folkies River City and recently started a band called Champ—and they’ve helped give Hills Like Elephants a pulsing, atmospheric sound. Meanwhile, on the album, Gallo and former drummer Juan Carlos Ortiz lay down nice, danceable rhythms.

“I take my hands off the keyboards at times and listen to it and go, ‘This is really cool what you guys are doing,’” Davenport says about their rehearsals. “‘I’m gonna get a glass of water. You keep doing that.’”

These days, the lines between pop and indie often seem to blur, and some artists appeal to both worlds. Clearly, though, Hills Like Elephants lean more toward indie—Davenport makes it clear that he’d never want the band to make ultra-polished pop songs in the vein of a hit-maker like Taylor Swift.

“I can’t let anything ever be like that,” he says, “so I do everything I can not to make it that.”

If anything, the band wants to offer a good alternative.

“You can have fun without listening to Taylor Swift,” Armerding counsels. “You want to get into some good music? Hey, instead of listening to Taylor Swift, why not listen to Hills Like Elephants?”

band that fits comfortably in the space between “indie” and “pop.” They have a knack for catchy hooks. They have interesting textures and thoughtful lyrics. But they aren’t opposed to being a little crude or engaging in some drunken debauchery.

Their new album, Feral Flocks, finds them honing a luminous sound full of electro-infused grooves and big, satisfying rave-ups. The catchy opener, “Ninjavitus,” sets things off at a sprightly pace, with a driving beat and jaunty guitar plucks punctuated by a cheery vocal sample. But perhaps it’s the song’s adorable music video that really sets the mood.

Created by local group The Visualists, the video shows the band waving around a big Hills Like Elephants sign (the type normally used by sign-spinners) on the streets of North Park. Then, they head to Armerding’s apartment to throw a party with all their friends. As Davenport boogies down in a silly outfit—women’s sunglasses, white blazer with no shirt underneath, a scarf bearing a piano-keys pat- Hills Like Elephants play with Barbarian and Keith Sweaty at Bar Pink on Friday, March 29. tern—it looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

Feral Flocks, which comes out on March 26 via Requi- facebook.com/hillslikeelephants

notes from the SMOKING PATIO Joy Cretton

Locals Only The filmmaker behind I Am Not a Hipster got big props at South

by Southwest’s film festival last week, winning the Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature for a new film he directed, Short Term 12. The film also won the Audience Award (based on audiences’ post-screening ballots) in the same category.

The film’s director, Destin Daniel Cretton (see Page 22 for an interview with him), isn’t the only one basking in the glory: Short Term 12 features two tracks by beatmaker Keith Sweaty, and the score was written by Joel P West of The Tree Ring. West, who also did the music for I Am Not a Hipster, seems blown away by the positive reception.

“It’s pretty amazing because it sort of just lets distributors know that both critics and audiences liked it,” he says. “It’s a really, really great thing.”

The film stars Brie Larson as a

Joel P West (left) and Destin Daniel Crettin at South by Southwest young supervisor at a foster-care group home. West says he developed a quiet, fragile tone for the score, reflecting the film’s complex range of emotions.

“There’s a lot of times in the movie where it feels real, and it’s very true to what these facilities for foster-care kids look like.

A lot of times it’s just really hard

to know what to feel, and that’s true in the movie,” he says. “A lot of times, also, there’s very sudden changes in emotion, just because there’s these magical moments with these kids, and there’s sort of a living darkness to what their situations are and what kind of

CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

challenges they have.”

West says the producers are looking to find a distributor for the film. Meanwhile, he’s interested in working on another film.

CD Review Wavves Afraid of Heights (Mom + Pop) To borrow a phrase from Point Break, Nathan Williams is a real blue-flame special—young, dumb and full of cum. In the past five years, the Wavves frontman has achieved a huge level of success even while he’s maintained a laidback, fuck-all attitude. Indeed, it’s precisely that attitude that’s made him famous, with lyrics like “I’m so bored” and “I’m an idiot” serving as rallying cries for the young and apathetic.

But on Afraid of Heights, Wavves’ fourth album, Williams suggests that he’s not as much of an idiot as one might think. While previous efforts found him banging out irreverent pop-punk ditties, now he and bandmate Stephen Pope take a step toward maturity, teaming with producer John Hill

26 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

(who’s also worked with Santigold and Rihanna) to add big buildups and more texture to their songs, incorporating glockenspiel, cello and electronic programming. And at some points, the band even touches on deep, existential themes—albeit in their own stonerly way.

Of course, Wavves—who play at The Casbah on Thursday,

bum finds them digging into other, perhaps less carefree corners of the pop and rock canon—some songs are laced with nods to the emo anthems of Weezer (“Afraid of Heights”) and the carnal rock of The Stooges (“Dog”).

And while Williams’ belting voice helps him keep up poppunk appearances, his lyrics are darker and more reflective this time around. On “Gimme a Knife,” his indifference turns acrid as he sings: “I loved you Jesus / You raped the world / I feel defeated / guess I’ll go surf.” He almost seems like he’s communing with a higher spirit in album closer “I Can’t Dream,” a hazy ballad that alludes to something bigger at stake than a pot-head’s sleeping patterns: “I was fucked from the start / So would you mind setting me free?”

Clearly, Williams has grown up a bit, both as a songwriter and as a person. On Afraid of Heights, he exposes his vulnerabilities in ways he hadn’t before and expresses his ideas and feelings with more nuance. Maybe this blue-flame special is a true-blue songwriter after all.

March 21—still offer up plenty of infectious hooks: The tsunamisize riffs of highlights like “Sail to the Sun” and “That’s on Me” have an idiot-savant quality to them, sounding immaculate and tossedoff at the same time. The band also lets out a number of delightful, —Peter Holslin Beach Boys-style “oohs,” as they did on their last full-length, 2010’s Write to peterh@sdcitybeat.com King of the Beach. But the new al- and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

if i were u

BY peter holslin

Wednesday, March 20 PLAN A: Merchandise, Wet Hair, Ditches, DJ Art Vandelay @ Soda Bar. Channeling the jangle and fuzz of My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain, Tampa indie-rockers Merchandise create a sweltering, romantic sound that’s rich with melody. And as Jeff Terich wrote in a feature in last week’s issue, their forthcoming new album, Total Nite, is their gloomiest, most dissonant yet.

PLAN B: Ducktails, Mark McGuire, Lost Ships @ The Void. Some may dig the soothing, rather snoozy soft-rock of Ducktails’ new album, The Flower Lane. But I prefer the hypnotic, Krautrock-tinged guitar quests of Emeralds member Mark McGuire, which unspool in intricate, multilayered loops.

Thursday, March 21

Stull, Clint Davis, Demetrius Antuna, Rafter, Wages @ Soda Bar. Things can get pretty wild at this annual celebration of the six-string. I’m not quite sure what to expect at this year’s installment, but whatever strange, atmospheric or dissonant creations these guys come up with should be a real treat. (See more on Page 14.) PLAN B: Toothless George & His Ten-Man Band, The Screamin Yeehaws @ The Ruby Room. Toothless George’s rollicking country-punk tunes will get a lot beefier tonight.

To celebrate 10 years as a one-man band, he’s putting together a 10-piece outfit featuring members of some local bands.

Sunday, March 24

PLAN A: Black Lips, Night Beats, Wild PLAN A: Doldrums, Blue Hawaii, Sean Wild Wets, DJ Myke Hunt @ The Casbah.

Nicholas Savage, DJ Bruin @ Soda Bar. If When garage-rock hellions Black Lips played you like the elfin electro-pop of Grimes, you’ll at Hard Rock Hotel last year, things got so probably dig fellow Montreal crazy that the show was shut acts Doldrums and Blue Hadown after three songs. Now’s waii. Specializing in skewed your chance to see a full set, club music, Doldrums serve or even two: They’ll also play up schizo electronics and pulsat The Casbah on Saturday, ing beats while Blue Hawaii March 23. (I recommend going conjure winsome, head-nodtonight, so you can catch local ding vibes. PLAN B: Wavves, psych-rock bruisers Wild Wild FIDLAR, Cheatahs @ The Wets.) PLAN B: Tittyfucker, Casbah. Wavves and FIDLAR The Albert Square, Haruka, both throw down pretty hard.

Burnt @ The Ché Café. What When they’re on the same bill, better way to commemorate though, they’re probably like a Women’s History Month than beer-chugging, weed-smoking with a grindcore band called Voltron. (Check out my review Tittyfucker? Fronted by two Jeff Mangum of Wavves’ new album, Afraid badass ladies, the trio takes of Heights, on Page 26.) BACKUP PLAN: cues from The Locust, with throat-shredding Christopher Owens @ The Irenic. shrieks and crude, provocative lyrics. BACKUP PLAN: Bruin, Gap Dream, The New Rivers, Pool Honeys, Little Girl Blue, CosFriday, March 22 monauts, Traumahelikopter, DJ Lee Noise PLAN A1: Parker & The Numberman, @ The Tower Bar (noon).

Sighphur One & Ethix, Edgar IsReal, Awkward Congregation, Aki Kharmicel & Beatsmith Resist, DJ Oplif @ Head- Monday, March 25 quarters Café (5841 El Cajon Blvd.). Hip- PLAN A: Anthrax, Exodus, High on Fire, hop heads won’t want to miss this latest in- Municipal Waste, Holy Grail @ House of stallment of “The Beat Bombardment,” an Blues (5 p.m.). Thrash-metalers Anthrax ongoing showcase for MCs and beatsmiths. broke through in 1987 with Among the Living, Don’t miss organizers Aki Kharmicel and an album full of gnarly riffs and Stephen King Beatsmith Resist, who make potent, sample- references. Tonight, they’ll perform the alheavy beats. PLAN A2: Masta Killa, Solicit, bum in its entirety. BACKUP PLAN: HeartAims & Banish, 33rd Infantry, Vers 2:51, less Bastards, Jonny Fritz @ The Casbah.

Pedalay the Boss, A-Lowe, DJs Tone Spliff, Tony Sleez @ Kava Lounge. Masta Killa may be one of the least-known members of Tuesday, March 26 the Wu-Tang Clan, but his three solo albums PLAN A: Jeff Mangum, Tall Firs @ Spreare full of solid rhymes and tough, soulful ckels Theatre. For many indie-rock fans, beats. BACKUP PLAN: The Donkeys, Low Jeff Mangum needs no introduction: With his odd voice and surreal lyrics, the former Volts, John Meeks Band @ Soda Bar. Neutral Milk Hotel frontman has penned a number of timeless, bewitching tunes.

Saturday, March 23 There’s no saying when (or if ) he’ll ever PLAN A: The San Diego Experimen- come back to San Diego, so you’d better tal Guitar Show w/ Scott Nielsen, Bart grab those tickets while you still can.

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

28 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

HOT! NEW! FRESH! The Evens (The Irenic, 4/10), Parlov Stelar (HOB, 4/18), Slum Village (HOB, 4/19), Paul Kelly (HOB, 4/21), Juicy J, A$AP Ferg (HOB, 4/21), AraabMuzik (Voyeur, 4/24), Manhattan Transfer (Balboa Theatre, 5/10), Devin the Dude (Porter’s Pub, 5/16), Glen Ross Campbell of The Misunderstood (Casbah, 5/24), Love Revisited with Johnny Echols (Casbah, 5/25), Fortune & Maltese, The Rising Ramrods, Ty Wagner (Casbah, 5/26), Fiesta Del Sol w/ Tristan Prettyman, Greyboy Allstars, Anuhea, White Buffalo (BUT, 6/1-2), Ex-Cult (Soda Bar, 6/16), Heart, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience (SDSU Open Air Theatre, 8/26),

March Wednesday, March 20 Merchandise, Wet Hair at Soda Bar. Citizens! at The Casbah. Andrew McMahon at House of Blues. Ducktails, Mark McGuire at The Void. Barcelona at House of Blues.

Thursday, March 21 Kenny Rogers at Belly Up Tavern. Doldrums, Blue Hawaii, Sean Nicholas Savage at Soda Bar. Wavves, FIDLAR, Cheatahs at The Casbah. Pure X at The Void. Allison Weiss at Ché Café.

Friday, March 22 Pennywise at House of Blues. Los Lonely Boys at Casino Pauma. Sex Panther at Voyeur. Pennywise, Anti-Flag, Death

by Stereo at House of Blues.

Saturday, March 23 Pennywise at House of Blues. Black Lips, Night Beats at The Casbah.

Sunday, March 24 Gordon Lightfoot at Belly Up Tavern.

Black Lips, Night Beats at The Casbah.

Monday, March 25 Anthrax, Exodus, High on Fire, Municipal Waste, Holy Grail at House of Blues.

Hoodie Allen, AER at Porter’s Pub. The Mavericks at Belly Up Tavern. Heartless Bastards at The Casbah. The Woolen Men, Dream Boys, Oh and The Whats at Soda Bar.

Tuesday, March 26 Jeff Mangum at Spreckels Theatre. Miner at The Casbah.

Wednesday, March 27 Sarah Brightman at Viejas Arena. Toots & The Maytals at House of Blues.

Thursday, March 28 Tiger Army at House of Blues. Daedelus, Two Fresh, Ryan Hemsworth, Samo Sound Boy at The Casbah. Peelander-Z at Soda Bar. Joey Badass, Pro Era at Porter’s Pub.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic, open jam. Thu: DJs Mada, Beefam. Fri: Split Finger, Subliminal Trip. Sat: Unlock the Night (7:30 p.m.); High Noon, WithOut Papers, Tonsil Yeti (9 p.m.). Sun: The Ro-

man Watchdogs. Mon: San Diego Music TV Showcase. Tue: 710 Bass Club.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Thu: The David Mosby Quartet. Fri: Fred Benedetti, daughters Regina and Julia, Jeff Pekarek.

Sat: Krass Bros.

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

Wed: ‘Good Music for Good People’ w/ DJ Hevorck. Thu: DJs Bala, Lucky J, Lehder 10. Fri: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk,. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: DJs Watch .44, Sunday Sauce.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco.com.

Wed: Sucia Latino Comedy Night. ThuSat: Chris D’Elia. Sun: Full Throttle Comedy. Tue: Open mic.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Wed: Funk 101. Thu: The Soul Fires. Fri: ‘Bonkers!’. Sat: Stevie and The Hi-Stax, The Milkcrates DJs. Sun: Happy Endings w/ DJs Joemama, Tramlife. Tue: ‘Tiki Tuesday’ w/ Mr. Craig Prior.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Pimps of Joytime, Vokab Kompany. Thu: Kenny Rogers. Fri: Bob Schneider, Matthew Patrick Davis, The Palace Ballroom. Sat: The Atomic Punks, 619. Sun: Gordon Lightfoot. Mon: The Mavericks, Seth Walker (sold out). Tue: Mika: An Intimate Evening.

Blarney Stone Pub, 5617 Balboa Ave, Clairemont. 858-279-2033. Wed: The Barmen. Thu: Adam Jones. Fri: Ass Pocket Whiskey Sellers. Sat: The Fooks. Sun: Open mic w/ Men of Leisure. Mon: Trivia.

Tue: Irish jam, Bob Tedde.

Block No. 16 Union & Spirits, 344 7th Ave., Downtown. blockno16.com. Fri-Sat:

DJ Marc Thrasher.

Bluefoot Bar & Lounge, 3404 30th St, North Park. bluefootsd.com. Wed: DJ C. Wizard. Thu: VJ JK. Fri: DJ Julz. Sat: Profile, Uncle Junie. Sun: VJ JK. Tue: DJ Girl Friday.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave, Carlsbad. boarcrossn.net. Thu: ‘Lyrical Skoolyard.’

Fri: ‘Club Musae.’ Sat: Total Distortion.

Sun: Thieves of the American Dream.

Tue: Video DJ. Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Fri: GenerationXIX. Fri: DJ Manny Lehman. Sun: The 12th Annual Mark Huntley Memorial Easter Bunny Show. Sun: San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus Bachelor Auction.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Wed: SD Music TV open mic w/ Harriet and the Tubman.

Thu: Today is the Day, Black Tusk, KEN Mode, Fight Amp. Fri: Sinner’s Sermon Unplugged, Freakstar. Sat: Los Compadres De Escuela Longfellows Silent Auction w/ The Weener Pigs.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Wed: Gipsymenco. Thu & Sat: Malamana. Fri: Joef and Co. Sun: Aragon y Royal. Mon: Spanish Rock Mondays.

Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: The Bright Light Social Hour, Citizens!, Grayshot, Lovelife.

Thu: Wavves, FIDLAR, Cheatahs. Fri: Get Back Loretta, Barbarian, Jackson Price, 9 Theory. Sat: Black Lips, Night Beats, Beach Party (sold out). Sun: Black Lips, Night Beats, Wild Wild Wets, DJ Myke Hunt. Mon: Heartless Bastards, Jonny Fritz. Tue: Soda Pants, Miner, Seventh Day Buskers.

Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. th-

echecafe.blogspot.com. Wed: Retox, Secret Fun Club, Anthrot, Innerds. Thu: What’s Eating Gilbert, Pentimento, Candy Hearts, Allison Weiss, Save the Swim Team. Sat: Big Bad Buffalo, Ella, Christy, The Bridge. Sun: Tittyfucker, The Albert Square, Haruka, Burnt.

Croce’s, 802 Fifth Ave, Downtown. croces. com. Wed: Fuzzy. Thu: Sue Palmer. Fri: Lady Dottie and the Diamonds. Sat: Daniel Jackson (11:30 a.m.); Eve Selis (8:30 p.m.).

Sun: Elliott Lawrence (11:30 a.m.); The Archtones (7:30 p.m.). Mon: Dave Scott and Monsoon Jazz. Tue: Gio Trio plus 1.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. dirksniteclub.com. Wed & Sun: Karaoke. Fri-Sat: Serious Guise.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Dr, Downtown. dizzyssandiego.com. Sat: Charlie Chavez and Afrotruko. Sun: ‘Women in Jazz’ w/ Melonie Grinnell, Jodie Hill, Laurel Grinnell, Jamie Shadowlight, April West, Allison Adams Tucker.

El Dorado Bar, 1030 Broadway, Downtown. eldoradobar.com. Wed: Sweet Cheeks. Thu: The Hollerin, OkayOkay, Brothers Weiss, DJs Camiron, Bidi. Fri: ‘Soul Flexin’ w/ DJ Charlie Rock, Marsellus Wallace, Question. Sat: Dolla Dolla DJs. Epicentre, 8450 Mira Mesa Blvd, Mira Mesa. epicentreconcerts.org. Fri: Mod Sun, Cisco Adler, Tayyib Ali, Pat Brown, Super Groupie, Falkon Klan. Sat: The Orange Pickers, The Gravities, Dark Matter.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. f6ixsd.com.

Thu: ‘Throwback Thursdays.’ Fri: ‘Fingaz Fridayz.’ Sat: DJ Seize. Sun: DJ Brett Bodley.

Flame, 3780 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. flame-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

the hit list Special guest DJs Heather Locklear made a great career move in the rockers LMFAO left off by dealing outrageous 1990s when she joined the cast of Melrose Place as club jams themed on overt sexuality, getting wasta special guest star. She was so good as Amanda ed and partying all night. While their outfits aren’t Woodward, the mega-bitch ad executive, that she nearly as ridiculous as Redfoo and SkyBlu’s, they never left the show. still bring the antics. Videos of the hard-partying Quality Social (789 Sixth Ave., Downtown) tag team waving light sabers from their groins and is taking a page out of Aaron dancing amidst the crowd are Spelling’s casting book with all over YouTube. If you’re in the new 91X-sponsored guestthe mood to get crazy on the DJ series No Request Thursdance floor, check out these days. Every Thursday night, guys on Friday, March 22. resident DJ Mike Delgado will Not much for the frenetbe joined at the turntables by ic sounds of the party-rock a guest DJ. Together, the boss scene? U-31 (3112 University selectors will get the party Ave. in North Park) will have poppin’ by spinning 91X-apa cooler night of clubbing with proved indie and rock tunes. special guest DJ Morse Code Drink specials, like $3 shots on Saturday, March 23. The and tall cans and $6 Moscow DJ’s known for blending evSex Panther bring stage antics mules, will also ensure a Frierything from rap to Motown and flowing locks of hair. day hangover. to disco with electronic beats While a long-running guest spot for a DJ with to create grooves ripe for dancing or even just the power to get the club bumpin’ is great, those bobbing your head at the bar. appearances kind of lose their novelty after about Now, go out and be special. three weeks. For an extra-special night out with —Alex Zaragoza guest DJs, head to Voyeur (755 Fifth Ave. in Downtown) and party with Sex Panther. The electron- Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com ic-music duo are taking over where defunct party and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

sandiego.com. Fri: ‘Klub Therapy’ w/ DJs Bryan Pollard, DarkAngel, Pnm; ‘Darkwave Garden’ w/ DJs B. Pollard, Draikette. Sat: ‘Deeply Rooted’ w/ DJs Tone Capone, Henry Diaz, percussionists Richie B, Senor Clave.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, DJ Brett Bodley, Erik Till. Fri: DJ Eye, DJ Slowhand. Sat: DJ Karma, DJ Kyle Flesch.

Flying Elephant Bar and Grill, 850 Tamarack Ave, Carlsbad. flyingelephantpub. com. Tue: Open mic.

Griffin, 1310 Morena Blvd, Bay Park. thegriffinsd.com. Wed: Mor Ve Otesi, Twenty7, Hargo. Thu: Schematic, Asker, Man On Earth, Gone By Daylight. Fri: Beyond I Sight Band, Maka and the I Sight Band, Positive Co. Sat: The Amalgamated, Stevie and the Hi Staxx, T Irie Dread. Sun: Dinner and a Suit, Animal Games, Debaser. Tue: Small City Calling, Jerry Olea and The 805 Drifters, Color You, Ancient Sea. Hard Rock Hotel, 207 Fifth Ave, Downtown. hardrockhotelsd.com. Thu: Boy King, Deadly Birds (Maryjane’s Underground); John Hart. Fri: DJ Neva (207).

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Wed: Andrew McMahon, Barcelona, Erland Wanberg; Michael Malone, Justin Foster (comedy). Fri & Sat: Pennywise, Anti-Flag, Death by Stereo. Mon: Anthrax, Exodus, High On Fire, Municipal Waste, Holy Grail.

Tue: Switchyard, Tweed Deluxe Blues.

Ivy @ Andaz, 600 F St, Downtown. ivyentertainmentsandiego.com. Thu: Felguk, Tristan D, IDeal, Dropset, Este, Kevin Brown, Animal Riot, Fltrfreq, Lojic. Fri: Lipstik Inc. Sat: Posso, Frankie M., Este, Kevin Brown, Schoeny, Lipstik Inc.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Wed: N8tron.

Thu: Sangria Shimmy and Audio Sustenance w/ Lunarbeets, Ratmuscle, Zano, Alexa, Madame Raine, Heather. Fri: Masta Killa, Solicit, Aims and Banish, 33rd Infantry, Pedalay the Boss, Vers 2:51, A-Lowe, DJs Tone Spliff, Tony Sleez. Sat: ‘Boogie’ w/ JQ, Kombat, Joe Pea, Brutus, Kevin Glover. Sun: Sophia Romeri b-day.

La Gran Tapa, 611 B St, Downtown. lagrantapa.com. Wed: Grupo Bohemio, Agave Guys. Thu: Dusty Brough Guitar.

Fri: Flamenco, Juan Moro. Sat: Latin Magic. Sun: Grupo Bohemio. Tue: Tomcat Courtney.

Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. theloft.ucsd.edu. Wed: Miracles of Modern Science, 808 MPH. Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: Ron’s Trio. Thu: JG Duo. Fri: Trunk Monkey.

Sat: Traxx.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. numberssd.com. Thu: DJ Angel X. Fri: DJs Sebastian La Madrid, Rubin. Sat: ‘Club Sabbat’ w/ Robin Roth; ‘Ladies - Femme Fatale.’

Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: Hot Nerds. Thu: Ikah Love, Adam Salter, DJ Old Money. Fri: Adam Salter, Saul Q. Sat: DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada. Mon: ‘Dub Dynamite’ w/ Rashi, Eddie Turbo. Tue: DJ Colour Vision.

Pal Joey’s Cocktail Lounge, 5147 Waring Road, Mission Valley. paljoeysonline. com. Wed-Thu, Sun, Tue: Karaoke. Fri: Misty and The Moby’s. Sat: Idle Train.

Mon: Vicious Phishes.

Patricks II, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: Mystique Element of Soul.

Thu: Bill Magee Blues Band. Fri: Len Rain-

ey’s Midnight Players. Sat: 145th Street.

Sun: DD and The Down Beats. Mon: The Jam Band. Tue: Walter’s Chicken Jam. Porter’s Pub, 9500 Gilman Dr., UCSD campus, La Jolla. porterspub.net. Sat: Joe Moses, TY$, 2Die4. Mon: Hoodie Allen, AER, Jared Evans.

Propagandist, 835 Fifth Ave, Downtown.

619-238-7117. Fri: KAMP!, Colour Vision, Blancnoire.

Queen Bee’s, 3925 Ohio St, North Park. queenbeessd.com.

Wed: Firehouse Swing. Fri: Battle of the Bands Finale.

Sun: Salsa. Tue: ‘Lyrical Exchange.’

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: ‘Mischief’ w/ Bianca, DJ John Joseph. Thu: ‘Repent - Ladies Night.’ Fri: DJ dirty KURTY, DJ Will Z. Sat: DJ Taj, DJ Will Z, DJ Vaughn Avakian, Nikno. Sun: DJ Kiki, DJ Cros 1.

Riley’s, 2901 Nimitz Blvd, Point Loma. rileysmusiclounge.com. Wed, Sun, MonTue: Karaoke. Thu: The Bottom Dollars, Deathrow Tull. Fri: EB4 Real, DJ Kandu.

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

Wed: Kice Simko and Friends. Thu: Jimbo Trout. Fri: Johnny B. Sat: Red Lotus Revue. Tue: Party Planet Karaoke.

Ruby Room, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. rubyroomsd.com. Wed: Cheers Elephant, The Fixtures, Adult Fiction. Thu: FILTER Art and Music Event. Fri: Still Ill, WET, Comfort in Chaos. Sat: Toothless George and His Ten-Man Band, The Screamin Yeehaws. Sun: Paper Thins, Kitty Plague, Tiny Frank, Manifold. Mon: Menace, Evacuate, Rat City Riot, Inciting Riots.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd. Wed: Gilbert Castellanos Jazz Jam. Thu: Trouble

in the Wind. Fri: John Reynolds Band.

Sat: Soul Organization.

Shakedown Bar, 3048 Midway Drive, Point Loma. theshakedownsd.com. Wed: Black Beast Revival, Midnight Spin, Sandbox. Fri: Shout Out Hoods, G.O.D., Amigo the Devil, Straight Laced Crooks. Sat: CrashDiet, Crucified Barbara, Snakeskyn Whiskey, Slut Machine, Sister. Sun: 21st Century Goliath.

Shakespeare Pub & Grille, 3701 India St, Little Italy. shakespearepub.com. Sun: Quiz Night.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: Merchandise, Wet Hair, Ditches, DJ Art Vandelay. Thu: Doldrums, Blue Hawaii, Sean Nicholas Savage, DJ Bruin. Fri: The Donkeys, Low Volts, John Meeks Band. Sat: San Diego Experimental Guitar Show w/ Scott Nielsen, Bart Stull, Clint Davis, Demetrius Antuna, Rafter, Wages. Sun: Natural Child, Pangea, Fletcher C Johnson. Mon: The Woolen Men, Dream Boys, Oh and The Whats. Tue: Snuffaluffagus, Idyll Wild, Island Boy. SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Fri: Enter Shikari, The Architects, Heartist, Crossfaith. Sat: Mortify Your Enemies, Brave Coast, Capsize, Jeremiah Johnson, Immoral, Halftime.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St, Midtown. spinnightclub.com. Fri: Deco, Borsche Poxster, Rebellion, Arietta, Volz, Ryan G. Sat: Tribe of Kings, Getto Story, Dynamiq Intl, Culture Blend, DJ JFX. Sun: Reggae.

Stage Bar & Grill, 762 Fifth Ave, Downtown. stagesaloon.com. Wed: Bl3ndr, Mark Fisher/Gaslamp Guitars. Thu: Dubstep DJs, Van Roth. Fri: The Disco Pimps, Plan B. Sat: DJ Miss Dust, Fingerbang. Mon: Reggae. Tue: DJ Von Kiss, Kahn Artest.

Stingaree, 454 Sixth Ave, Downtown. stingsandiego.com. Fri: DJ Kurch, DJ Decon, Robot, Jon Dadon. Sat: DJ Skratchy, DJ AD, DJ JB. Mon: DJs Kaos, Dynamiq, Taylor Michael.

The Void, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, North Park. tinyurl.com/axnjs56. Wed: Ducktails, Mark McGuire, Lost Ships. Thu: Pure X, Chasms, O.P.P., DJs Amanda Schoepflin, Mario Orduno.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Wed: The Spits, The Creepy Creeps, Useless Eaters, The Lumps. Sat: Ill Repute, Ghetto Blaster, Death Crisis, Diatribe, DJ Roger Lane.

Mon: Karaoke.

Tin Can Ale House, 1863 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill. thetincan1.wordpress.com.

Wed: Electric Healing Sound, The Ballantynes, Posole. Thu: Old Man Wizard, Black Beast Revival, Saline Solutions. Fri: Tactical Ffever, ANA, Dead Animal Mod. Sat: Lucky and Wild, Owl Paws, Rob Bondurant. Mon: Tin Can Country Club w/ Eric Hankins. Tue: Dinner with the Doods.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Wed: Zydeco Patrol. Thu: Nathan James and The Rhythm Scratchers. Fri: Da’ Mac. Sat: Full Strength Funk Band. Sun: Salsa.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Wed: The Last Years, Nightmare Boyzzz, The Cutaways, The Mice. Thu: Castle, California Bleeding, Bhorelorde. Fri: Chica Diabla, The Touchies, Hocus, SXO. Sat: Shitzophonics, Midnight Eagle, Chango Rey. Sun: Bujwah and Burger Bonanza w/ Gap Dream, The New Rivers, Pool Honeys, Cosmonauts, Traumahelikopter, DJ Lee Noise (noon). Mon: Pyrate Punx DJs. Tue: The Ace Degenerate.

Turquoise, 873 Turquoise St, Pacific Beach. theturquoise.com/wordpress. Wed: Tomcat Courtney. Thu: Pan Am. Fri: Afro Jazziacs, Tomcat Courtney. Sat: Tomcat Courtney (6 p.m.); Peligroso Caramelo (9 p.m.). Sun: Sounds Like Four (4 p.m.); Middle Earth (8 p.m.). Mon: Pan Am. Tue: Afro Jazziacs.

U-31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Thu: Slynkee. Fri: DJ Artistic, Cros1, Felt1, Hektik. Sat: Saul Q, Kid Wonder, DJ Morse Code. Sun: Rasta Nation Reggae Night. Mon: ‘Taking Back Monday.’ Tue: Karaoke.

Vin De Syrah, 901 Fifth Ave, Downtown. syrahwineparlor.com. Thu: DJ Huy Believe.

Voyeur, 755 Fifth Ave, Downtown. voyeursd.com. Thu: Mr. White. Fri: Sex Panther. Sat: Gregor Salto.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: ‘Now! Hear!

This!’. Thu: ‘Makeout Weird’ w/ Rail Them to Death, Scott Nielsen, DJs Monsterpussy, Freak Sauce. Fri: Band Showcase.

Sat: DJ CLaire (5 p.m.); ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob (9:30 p.m.). Tue: ‘Friends Chill..

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Open mic w/ Jefferson Jay (6 p.m.); Simmerdwon Riddem Section, DJ Carlos Culture (9:30 p.m.). Thu: O.B. Comedy Competition (6 p.m.); Maiz (10 p.m.). Fri: Jeff Bilodeau, Dom Delfalco, OBC (6 p.m.); The Red Not Chili Peppers, Wicked Garden (9 p.m.).

Sat: Cubensis, Moonalice. Sun: Jimmy Thackery and The Drivers, The Blitz Brothers (4 p.m.); ‘O.B.-o-ke’ w/ Jose Sinatra (10 p.m.). Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Barrio Planta Project benefit concert w/ Rangabond and Walsh, Taylor, Hollingworth.

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

32 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

Proud sponsor:

Ink Well Xwords by Ben Tausig

[Note: The circled letters comprise a three-word instruction that, when applied to one square in the completed grid, reveals a group who might follow a code of silence]

Across 1. Former UN leader Hammarskjöld 4. Private invasion, with “the” 8. Wells’ genre 13. Card game with its own deck 14. Major microcredit organization 15. “Shoot!”

16. Certain mind tricks 19. Networking event, often 20. Singer Mann with a “Big Lebowski” role 21. Eisenhower Executive Office Building figs.

22. White stuff, commercially 23. Common Asian place suffix 24. Salinger and Souther, e.g.

27. “Buy it for looks. Buy it for life” sloganeer 28. Aussie airport code 29. Texted question of concern 30. Means of transport when you’re late?

32. Unhelpful implements in janitors’ closets 34. Like some urban legends 37. Name in soccer cleats 38. Butt byproduct 41. “Greetings, friend!”

42. Palindromic Dutch city 43. Harper’s Bazaar artist 44. ___ Maria 45. They’re shorter than full-lengths 48. Producer of material for bats 49. Pageant winner who also won at the “USA” and “Universe” levels in 2012 54. Making-of 55. Eats into, as rock 56. Bombeck who wrote “Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession” 57. Magician Geller who beefed with James Randi 58. Exchange numbers?

59. One unlikely to veg out 60. Hotmail owner

10. Baby’s first tooth, often 11. Voldemort portrayer 12. “You’re never getting that thing back” 15. Like, super intense to think about 17. Countenance 18. Place to get a title: Abbr.

24. Group of twelve, often 25. Period 26. FaceTime alternative 27. Hungry niño’s request 29. Tear 30. You can’t go there again, it’s said 31. Org. to be headed by Gina McCarthy, soon 32. Org. currently headed by Michele Leonhart 33. It may be slung 34. Senate room 35. Mediterranean resort area 36. Visible range 38. Piece of esoterica 39. Wake and bake practitioners 40. Enters 43. Fashion magazine since 1945 45. Beach birds 46. Degs. that result in jobs, eventually, I hope 47. “No! No! Tzat guy’s try to take my drink way but I not finisht!” speaker 48. Leave ___ (mark permanently) 50. Fries or slaw, say 51. Only batted, briefly 52. Gateway Arch designer Saarinen 53. “Woe ___!”

Last week’s answers

Down 1. Fool 2. Fixed payment 3. Runs through the neighborhood naked and covered in oatmeal, say 4. Perfume with famously racy ads 5. Actor’s delivery 6. It’s in the same family as Budget 7. Opaque campaign supporters, briefly 8. Holds’ cousins, for baseball relievers 9. Lit ___

Two $20 gift certificates to Mitch’s Seafood will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-325-1393. Limit one win per person per 30 days.

34 · San Diego CityBeat · March 20, 2013

March 20, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 35