San Diego CityBeat • March 26, 2014

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Fun, old-timey cars are among the many ideas that will either be seized or abandoned as the city takes over the Balboa Park Centennial

by Kinsee Morlan • P. 20

Wages P.4 ’Hoods P.6 Enemy P.23 Appleseed P.25

2 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Minimum wage on the fast track On Monday, by a vote of 2-1, the San Diego City Council’s Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee voted to have the City Attorney’s office draft an ordinance that would allow the council to place an initiative on the November ballot that would raise the minimum wage and mandate five sick days per year for all workers within city limits. Good for City Council President Todd Gloria for leading a fast-moving campaign to push this proposal forward.

Also, good for Councilmembers Marti Emerald, Myrtle Cole and Sherri Lightner for being on board.

If you’re wondering why Councilmember David Alvarez’s name isn’t listed, so were we. Gloria didn’t ask Alvarez to be part of the campaign because five council proponents would have violated the Brown Act, which governs public meetings in California, and Alvarez was occupied with his campaign for mayor when the movement to raise the minimum wage was started, a spokesperson for Gloria says. A spokesperson for Alvarez assures us that he’s strongly in support of raising the minimum wage.

We don’t yet know exactly how much of an increase will be proposed. Currently, the statewide minimum wage is $8. That will rise to $9 this July and $10 on Jan. 1, 2016. But that’s not enough to live on in San Diego. In his State of the City speech in January, Gloria cited data that said a person needs to earn at least $30,000 a year to make it in San Diego, which translates to $14.42 per hour. His proposal to the Economic Development Committee on Monday talked about a livable annual single-person income of $27,655, which would be $13.09 per hour.

Therefore, $13 per hour could be the starting point when it comes to settling on a figure, which will likely be subject to behind-the-scenes talks with groups pushing for a wage hike and groups representing small businesses, restaurants, hotels and motels that are nervous about an increase.

Just as the state increase is phased in, Gloria is suggesting a phased-in raise. But unlike the state, the local proposal is to index the minimum wage to an annually updated cost of living; the minimum wage at all levels of government should rise gradually along with the cost of living.

City Councilmember Mark Kersey was the lone Economic Development Committee member to vote

against telling the City Attorney’s office to draft an ordinance. Concerned particularly about the impact on small business, Kersey wants to see an independent study of a wage increase’s impact on the local economy. He also said he believes the minimum wage should be a state issue, not a local issue.

“A minimum wage increase isn’t a silver bullet for an issue as complex as poverty,” he says in a statement provided to CityBeat.

No, but it’s the obvious place to start. And, yes, it would be awesome if the state’s lowest wage was enough for a full-time worker to live on. It’s not.

We’d like Kersey to imagine life at $8 to $10 an hour. This week, the National Low Income Housing Coalition released a report that said a person needs to make $26.04 per hour to comfortably afford a two-bedroom apartment in San Diego, which, acDavid Rolland cording to the study, is exactly representative of California overall (assuming 30 percent of gross income is spent on housing and utilities).

Not everyone needs a two-bedroom place, but you get the idea—onebedroom apartments aren’t a whole lot cheaper.

We’re all for a comprehensive study of the economic impacts and benefits. Certainly, it won’t be a piece of cake for many small businesses, particularly independent restaurants—we know some that are owned by people who think the minimum wage should be higher, Todd Gloria but they’re worried nonetheless.

Their voices should be heard.

Local business groups lately have been playing the unfamiliar role of obstructionist—the Barrio Logan Community Plan, the affordable-housing fee increase—but the defiant stance amid those issues has been expensive, and they can’t keep going back to the same donors for campaign money, right?

Convincing a general-election electorate that $10 is plenty could be pricey.

A representative of the California Restaurant Association who spoke at the Economic Development Committee meeting on Monday said the group wasn’t reflexively opposed to a wage increase, instead remaining neutral at this early stage. We hope that’s a sign that these groups will be more cooperative on the minimum-wage issue.

What do you think? Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

This issue of CityBeat’s case of March Madness turned out to be something way more serious, according to WebMD.

Cover design by Lindsey Voltoline.

Photo courtesy of David Marshall.

Volume 12 • Issue 33 Editor David Rolland Associate Editor Kelly Davis Music Editor Jeff Terich Arts Editor Kinsee Morlan Staff Writer Joshua Emerson Smith Web Editor Ryan Bradford Art director Lindsey Voltoline Columnists Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza

Contributors Ian Cheesman, David L. Coddon, Seth Combs, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Nina Sachdev Hoffmann, Peter Holslin, Dave Maass, Scott McDonald, Jennifer McEntee, Jenny Montgomery, Susan Myrland, Mina Riazi, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Jen Van Tieghem, Quan Vu

Circulation / Office Assistant Giovanna Tricoli

Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse

Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami

Production artist Rees Withrow

Vice President of Operations David Comden

MultiMedia Advertising Director Paulina Porter-Tapia

Publisher Kevin Hellman

Senior account executive Jason Noble Account Executives F. Scott Berman, Beau Odom

Accounting Alysia Chavez, Linda Lam, Monica MacCree Human Resources Andrea Baker

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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 2014.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

Morlan and Peña I just wanted you to know that I loved Kinsee Morlan’s story about Daniel Peña [“Art & Culture,” Feb. 26]. His work is great, and Morlan is, too, for writing about him.

Congratulations on your publication.

Gabriela Johnston, Mariposa, Calif.

What’s that stench?

Your Feb. 19 editorial opined that time will tell whether Kevin Faulconer’s policy agenda matches his populist campaign. An indicator of Faulconer’s true colors might be that it didn’t take the vultures— in the form of Chargers’ attorney Mark Fabiani—very long to resume the taxpayer-shakedown crusade.

Fabiani said he hopes to meet with Faulconer once he’s in office. That in itself might not be of significance, but the fact that Fabiani’s comment came less than 24 hours after Faulconer was proclaimed mayorelect seems indicative that in Faulconer, the vultures smell the stench of pro-business / pro-wealthy.

Dan Jacobs, Mira Mesa

Heath and Cuarón I was just writing to congratulate Glenn Heath Jr. for two things: 1) his correct prediction (hope) that Alfonso Cuarón would win the Best Director Oscar and 2) that he held that hope despite the odds being against Cuarón [“Film,” Feb. 26].

I saw similar hidden value in Gravity and recognized that it was so much more than the sum of its parts. I’m glad that San Diego has at least one film writer who not only cuts through all the hype, but who alao actually understands the importance of the art-form as both a cultural barometer and an idea fosterer.

Thanks, too, for pointing out James Franco in Spring Breakers. The entire piece is a work of art, let alone Franco’s courageous work in it.

Keep on speaking your mind; it brings genuine value to the publication.

Radames Pera, Middletown

Time for climate action Regarding your story on San Diego’s proposed Climate Action Plan [“News,” Feb. 26]” Thank you for covering this important topic in a thorough and intelligent fashion. As a local climate activist, I know that the longer we wait to act on climate, the more dramatic the changes in our infrastructure and lifestyle we’ll have to make will have to be.

There’s been much foot dragging on climate action in San Diego County, and, in my opinion, there’s nothing that Mayor Kevin Faulconer could do to better the city of San Diego that would be more important and have more significant impacts than to support the strong climate plan developed under iMayor Todd Gloria and Nicole Capretz.

Thanks again for the good reporting!

Masada Disenhouse, La Mesa

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Joshua Emerson Smith

Mayor Kevin Faulconer and City Councilmember Marti Emerald were in City Heights Tuesday to tout CDBG spending on sidewalks.

Pie fight City and nonprofits battle over shrinking pot of federal anti-poverty money

by Kelly Davis A medical facility and job-training center planned for the corner of Federal Boulevard and Pentecost Way in the southeastern San Diego neighborhood of Emerald Hills is the kind of project envisioned by the federal anti-poverty program that’s helping pay for it.

The building will replace a vacant, overgrown lot and provide services to an underserved community, and, perhaps most importantly, the job training will focus on the employment-rich field of health information technology.

“It’s really a good benefit to the city, it’s a good benefit to our patients and it’s a good benefit to us as an organization,” says Ben Avey, spokesperson for Family Health Centers of San Diego, which is building the facility.

To complete the $9.5-million project, Family Health Centers applied to the city of San Diego for $1.6 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). Cities and counties get CDBG money annually from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to spend on

6 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

programs and projects that will fight poverty. This year, San Diego received $11.2 million, down from 2012’s pre-sequestration amount of $16.3 million.

The money is divvied up by category, with 15 percent going to social services, 10 percent going to economic development, 20 percent going to administration and the remaining 55 percent going to capital improvements like the one planned for Federal Boulevard.

Last week, Mayor Kevin Faulconer proposed locking in a guarantee that the city will get 60 percent, or $3.6 million, of the roughly $6 million in CDBG funds available annually for capital-improvement projects.

Traditionally, the city has had to compete for that money alongside nonprofits, but with an estimated citywide infrastructure backlog of $1 billion, CDBG would provide annual guaranteed funding for things like sidewalks and streetlights. Faulconer’s proposal, which requires City Council approval, isn’t unusual, the Mayor’s office argues: San Jose carves out 65 percent of its total CDBG allocation for city projects, while takes 56 percent. San Diego’s 60-percent share of CIP money equates to 33 percent of its $11.2-million grant. Oakland and San Francisco, however, take less than that—23 and 22 percent, respectively.

Nonprofits, left to compete for the remaining 40 percent, or $2.4 million, aren’t too happy. Avey said it seems less likely that bigger

projects like the new Family Health Centers facility will get funding because that would eat up too large a chunk of a smaller pot.

In a March 17 letter to the City Council’s Public Safety & Livable Neighborhoods Committee, which discussed the mayor’s proposal last week, Avey pointed out that the 60/40 split could conceivably cut the number of nonprofits awarded funding by more than one-third—this year, 11 projects, nine of them administered by nonprofits and two by the city, were recommended for funding.

“If the proposed budgetary formula was applied to current applications, only 3 nonprofit [capital-improvement] projects would be recommended for funding,” Avey wrote.

“I heard some of the council members talking about transformational projects,” Avey told CityBeat. “That’s what they’re looking for, is transformational projects. Really, if the city takes 60 percent of the CIP funding for sidewalks, it’s not going to allow enough money for transformational projects.”

Last week, Faulconer told U-T San Diego that the money would go toward building a fire station in Skyline Hills. But a consultant hired by the city to help develop a CDBG spending plan said it’s more likely the money would fund things like sidewalks and streetlights around the fire station. The grant money can’t pay for planning and design and must be spent within 18 months of receipt, making it less than ideal for larger government projects.

That consultant, LeSar Development, conducted community outreach, via survey and public meetings, as part of a process to determine how CDBG money should be best spent.

While affordable housing and jobs topped the list of overall greatest needs, sidewalks and street improvements topped the list of infrastructure needs. LeSar Development’s Vicky Joes said public safety came up often, too, but not the meaning one might expect.

“We heard public safety all the time,” Joes said. “And, what I assumed that [meant] was, like, police force. And it was sidewalks and lights. The kids in San Ysidro walking to school down that street [lacking a sidewalk], that’s a public safety issue….

Where you have lights, you also have economic development. So, it’s really trying to get the most bang for the economic buck.

It’s dwindling resources that folks are understandably passionate about.”

Using CDBG money to pay for sidewalks is allowed under federal guidelines as long as the sidewalks are in lower-income neighborhoods and the money doesn’t supplant funding that’s otherwise available. Jay Powell, former director of the City Heights Community Development Corporation, believes CDBG money should be spent on bigpicture projects, not basic infrastructure.

“The city has a responsibility to provide certain basic services…. And I thought that community-development funds were to go to make up certain other kinds of deficiencies,” he said.

During the recent mayoral campaign, a political-action committee supporting Faulconer sent out a barrage of mailers accusing City Councilmember David Alvarez of wanting to give CDBG money to three communities—City Heights, San Ysidro and southeastern San Diego. The claim was based on Alvarez’s suggestion that city staff explore the possibility of setting up so-called Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Areas that allow more flexibility with how CDBG money is spent and require significant community involvement when it comes to determining funding priorities. The mailers quote Faulconer as saying he plans to make sure “every neighborhood receives its fair share of community funding.”

Powell said that when he heard about Faulconer’s proposal for CDBG funding, his mind went to those mailers.

“When we look at capital-improvement budgets, and we say, ‘Alright, Scripps Ranch, here you go: Here’s your list, and here’s how much you’re going to get for your stuff,’ and then we look at City Heights and we say, ‘OK, City Heights, here’s your list, and here’s what we’re going to do: We’re going to take CDBG money and spend it to fulfill your list, but we’re going to take generalfund money and use it to fulfill Scripps Ranch’s list.’”

Infrastructure-deficient neighborhoods like City Heights should be getting double scoops, Powell said. “Now we’re talking; now we’re making progress. Now we can attack the deficiencies.”

Craig Gustafson, a spokesperson for the mayor, said infrastructure improvements in CDBG-eligible areas won’t be limited to CDBG funding. “Just because they are getting CDBG money will not preclude the city from spending other money there, as well.”

CDBG CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

courtesy: AFSCME Local 127

The fleet-maintenance yard, where staffing levels have compromised the number of reserve fire engines available for emergencies

Playing with fire Why the city can’t maintain enough emergency trucks

by Joshua Emerson Smith After the driest year in California history, the state’s fire season is off to an ominous start. Since January, California has suffered more than 810 wildfires, three times the average for this time of year, according to data from CalFire.

However, despite concerns stretching back to last fall, the San Diego Fire Department may be ill-prepared to battle the next big blaze here in the region.

The department lacks access to adequate reserve fire engines because of the city’s inability to keep up with needed repairs, according to a city-contracted audit of its Fleet Maintenance Services dated Feb. 10.

“This greatly limits both the ability of the San Diego Fire Department to handle emergency situations within its own jurisdiction and the ability to support other organizations by providing spare units,” the audit report by Huron Consulting Group concluded.

As of the beginning of last week, there were only three fully equipped reserve fire engines ready for use, Fire Department officials say. The department has roughly 30 reserve engines that, if properly maintained, could be ready for emergencies.

The Fire Department has requested the city start maintaining at least “15 to 20” fully repaired reserve engines, “as soon as possible,” said Fire Chief Javier Mainer in an email sent by a spokesperson.

“We have been working closely with public works fleet division, the Mayor’s office and City Council to ensure we have an adequate number of reserve fire engines available to provide for a surge capacity that will allow us to deploy additional firefighters in the event of a large wildfire or other emergency,” Mainer said.

The city plans to address the Fire Department’s concerns, said Mayor Kevin Faulconer, also in an email sent by a spokesperson. “It’s my strong desire to give Chief Mainer and all of our brave city firefighters all the tools necessary to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.”

So, what’s the hold up?

Since 2011, Fleet Services—the division of the city’s

Public Works Department that repairs the city’s roughly 4,030 vehicles, including golf carts, garbage trucks and fire engines—has accumulated 66 vacancies out of 249 original staff positions. The workers were never replaced because officials with Fleet Services were in the process of eliminating a total of 92 positions under a program known as managed competition.

Approved by voters in 2006, managed competition was billed as a way to improve government efficiency. The program allows private companies to bid alongside public employees for city contracts.

The Mayor’s office has the final say on who wins the contract, but a private-sector bid must cost at least 10 percent less than the public-employee proposal to even be considered.

Under managed competition, Fleet Services agreed to shave roughly $4 million from its annual budget, bringing last year’s cost to roughly $51.7 million.

However, Fleet Services could have bid 20 percent (roughly $10 million) higher and still won the competition, according to a staff report done under former Mayor Bob Filner that was never officially released.

In stern opposition to the process, Filner put managed competition on hold, which prevented workers from being transferred within divisions at Fleet Services until labor negotiations could occur. As a result, the divisions that lost the most workers through attrition were hit the hardest. For example, the division that repairs fire engines lost five of its 17 employees.

The city is in labor negotiations to reassign workers according to department needs, Faulconer said.

“The full implementation of managed competition in Fleet Services should lead to greater efficiency and therefore additional reserve engines being available on a daily basis,” he said.

Once the negotiations are complete, full implementation of managed competition will take about four to six months, said Craig Gustafson, spokesperson for the mayor.

“Unfortunately, the Fleet Services managed competition stalled under former Mayor Bob Filner and was never implemented,” he said.

After labor negotiations, further reductions in staff are unlikely, said Public Works Director James Nagel-

Fleet CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

8 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

CDBG CONTINUED from PAGE 6

Fleet CONTINUED from PAGE 7

Joes said LeSar Development has recommended that a citizens advisory board that makes CDBG award recommendations work with city staff to come up with “a clear understanding of how [spending] determinations are made so that no wheel needs to be re-created on how you prioritize which project is in the most need or is most near completion or is lacking of funds.”

LeSar is also recommending that the city come up with a method of geographic targeting to ensure that the neighborhoods most in need get priority.

City Council President Todd Gloria said he gets both sides of this issue. He points to the LGBT Center in Hillcrest, where CDBG funds helped create a computer lab, library and public-meeting space.

“Hillcrest doesn’t have a branch library, doesn’t have a park, doesn’t have a recreation center. That facility, in many ways, serves those purposes.”

CDBG, he said, was a “wiser investment” than the city building a rec center in Hillcrest.

“If there’s less funding available for those kinds of projects, that comes at a cost—that’s the balancing issue.”

On the other hand, the city could have claimed an even larger piece of the ever-shrinking CDBG pie than it did. That pie has decreased by more than $5 million from just two years ago, due to federal sequestration.

“The higher competition for a smaller and smaller pie is just making this problem more acute,” Gloria said. “And I think there’s going to be more of that to come.”

voort at last week’s meeting of the City Council’s Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee.

“We do not believe this will actually result in employees losing employment,” he said. “It doesn’t mean they’ll end up with the job they want. Where they get placed, not everyone will be satisfied.”

Whether shifting people around will fix Fleet Services’ problem in the long run remains to be seen.

However, to mitigate short-term risk, the city needs to “adjust staffing levels” or “supplement resources through outsourcing,” according to the audit report.

Since last fall, Fleet Services has contracted with several private vendors, as well as approved overtime for all employees who maintain fire vehicles, Nagelvoort said at the committee meeting.

“We’ll probably need to maintain overtime for awhile,” he said. “We’re also talking about perhaps we might reach out to provisional employees to see if they might want to come back for a short period of time to assist.”

Since 2011, the size of the city’s fleet has increased by 70 vehicles, Nagelvoort added. “Our workload has increased since we bid. Also the demand and the needs of our customers may be changing.”

The City Council is scheduled to discuss the audit report at its April 8 meeting.

“We’ll need some flexibility going forward to see if we have to make changes or renegotiate with ourselves, basically, on making sure this fleet maintenance is going to meet our needs,” City Councilmember Marti Emerald said at the committee meeting.

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

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

aaryn

backwards & in high heels

belfer Oh, yes, I’m about to throw some shade Something’s bothering me this week, folks. I’m Now, I love me some Blind Lady Ale House vitroubled. Maybe you’re thinking, No! Something’s brations. I do. I love the atmosphere; I love the pizupsetting the Belf ? How could this even be possible? za; I love the beer (as much as a Meh, it’s another She seems so unflappable. Clearly, you are not a regcraft beer person can love beer). And I maybe even ular reader. But welcome. I’m happy you’re here. have a teensy lady crush on one of the teensy lady I’m smiling on the inside about it. Really. It might owners. But early on, shortly after they opened their not look like it on the outside, but that’s just how my brilliantly named doors, someone reduced the comface works. It’s sort of defective. pletely awesome establishment name to its acronym But where was I? Oh, yeah. I’m irritated and and it’s stuck like Kerry Strug on a broken ankle. have been for quite some time by a trend I’ve no“Are you going to BLAH?” “Wanna meet at BLAH ticed in almost all online communications, with after the ride?” “Let’s watch the U.S. kick some the worst offenders—though certainly not the only World Cup ass at BLAH.” I wonder if their other ones—being fashion and mommy bloggers and the smartly named joint has been shortened to Tig!Tig! fans of both. I’ve been forced to un-RSS a bunch of I know, I know. It’s exhausting to have to finsites because my tolerance finally threw her hands ish all those pesky words that come one after the in the air and packed her toothbrush, her pillow, the other in complex sentences, all descriptive and books with her name in them and all the pep talks multi-syllabic and derived from Latin and whatnot.

I’d given her and walked out on me.

When talking, the tongue gets waggly and the brain What’s got me hooving into a brown paper bag is is taxed with decoding symbolism and meaning and the motherfucking curlicue abbreviation and modiyowzers! A person just goes haywire, especially affication of every damned thing. Or, rather, the mofo ter a day spent texting things like “r u there? lol!” cc abbrev ’n mod of ev da thang. That was pretty And all that completing of words when typing is annoying to read, huh? And don’t just say whatmos def cray-making for the fingers, no? evs, either, because you know I’m Then there’s the quirky-cool bringin’ all the feels. #Ohmagerd. factor. It’s not fly to remark, “She’s “Preshie!” and an The abbrevs are not only maj precious” when leaving a comment annoy, but they’re totes ubiq, too. on a photo of your friend’s new baby emoticon with heartSo much so, that a collabo beon Facebook. “Preshie!” and an shaped eyes, on the tween Sprint and actors James emoticon with heart-shaped eyes, other hand, will raise Earl Jones and Malcolm McDowon the other hand, will raise street ell resulted in a commercial that cred(ibility). Folks will think you’re street cred(ibility). effectively illustrates the curclever. They’ll think you’re adorbs. rent crisis. Using caszh lingo and When you say on your fashion Shakespearian-esque dialect, these thespian giants blog, “I wore new sunglasses, a Breton under a boys reduce themselves to preening teenagers, as have blazer (on sale at Crew Cuts), and my new shoes. I the many supposedly grown-women bloggers who looked super-cute when I met my friends at Blind started this obtuse ish.

Lady Ale House,” it’s tough to make your personality Grant Barrett, I hope you’re with me here, or shine like the little diamond that it is in the swampwe’re going to be having a serious convo. land of blogs jammed with self-portraits—er, I mean, This bastardization—which surely shares some selfies. Incidentally, how are blogs not yet dead?

DNA with Twitter’s 140-character limit—has been “Sportin’ new sunnies, striped Bret, la blaze (on elevated via the ridiculousness that is hashtaggery maj discount at Crew Cuts, (swoon<3)), and my fresh run amok (#imbeinggenerous #seeabove, #seejimsneaks for the girl-gathering at BLAH. Check out myfallon) and has subsequently infiltrated Facebook, the selfies from our drunken photog sesh. Woot!”

Instagram, email—basically any form of modern huThat really separates the wheat from the chaff. man correspondence. Professors out there: Email Of course, I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t acknowlme if you’ve found such offenses in any dissertations edge that I have, in these very pages, resorted to and I’ll buy you a bottle of wine. You deserve it. such vomit-inducing cutesy laziness. I honestly All of it is cilantro to my eyeballs. I might as well thought at one point not that long ago, that I’d invented the term “cray cray.” I really did. I also grew lay my head beneath a pump dispenser of Meyer’s up thinking I was the only Aaryn on the planet with Clean Day Liquid Hand Soap and squirt the stuff two “a”s and a “y.” It wasn’t until the Internet gave right in there. Literal eye-burning would see me me proof that I was disavowed of that illusion and suffer less than I do at this assault. It’s the computlet me know how un-unique I am. er version of schoolgirl notes with round, bubbly Really, I’d like to find all of this less grating and handwriting; the 21st-century version of heart-dotmore hilar. But my disdain shows no sign of abating. ted “i”s; the verbal pairing of the less-than symbol Unfortunately, neither does said altered verbiage. I and the number 3. Like this: <3. guess the solution is a big giant whatevs. Because: I can pinpoint the moment when my shelf life Chocolate. <3<3<3 on such antics expired. It was four years ago (yes, it’s been pent up inside me all this time) and Blind Write to aaryn@sdcitybeat.com Lady Ale House on Adams Avenue had just opened and editor@sdcitybeat.com. for business.

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

by michael a. gardiner Michael A. Gardiner

at Haritna (7303 El Cajon Blvd., haritnarestaurant. com). While the flavor profile of the falafel works, it lacks the textural contrast between crispy exterior and fluffy, light interior of the best to be found in the labyrinthine souk that is Jerusalem’s Old City. The hummus is good but hardly extraordinary. While Haritna’s version is significantly better than average, it didn’t have the subtle balance of chickpea, tahini, lemon and olive oil that Lamb kabob with basmati rice and salad marks the best hummus.

More interesting than the hummus was the fool, essentially a variation on the same dish, but made with fava beans instead of chickpeas.

If the hummus and falafel were less than exceptional, the same cannot be said about Haritna’s lamb kidneys sautéed in olive oil with onions and Discovering Palestinian cuisine garlic. The caramelized exterior of the kidneys encapsulate a savory and surprisingly mild, meaty Palestine. It’s a name familiar to all of us from interior with only the slightest of mineral-like reevening-news reports and morning newspapers. minders that you’re eating organ meat. If you can We all have opinions, some of us more than one. bring yourself to get past the idea of eating offal, Images cascade: the intifada, the bombed-out this appetizer is an extraordinary experience. carcass of a bus in Tel Aviv or cratered Gaza The best of the meat main dishes was the lamb buildings, crying children amid wreckage on kabab—chunks of spiced lamb skewered, grilled both sides of a wall that Robert Frost might have with onion and tomato, served over basmati rice advised against. and accompanied by a green salad. While the We think we know about it. We think we know salad was slightly underdressed and the onion the narrative, the history, the culture and the stoundercooked, the lamb—the star of the plate— ry. We may know less than we think. Indeed, for was perfectly cooked, as was the tomato. Eating all we think we know of Palestine, one thing we a bit of the tomato with the lamb together ofprobably don’t think we know much about is Palfers a brilliant bite: savory and meaty with hints estinian food. An excellent place to explore the of sweetness and acid. The basmati rice is made cuisine is at Haritna Mediterranean RestauLebanese-style, mixed with vermicelli pasta and rant in La Mesa. more than a bit of fat.

Likely the first dishes that come to mind— The flavors at Haritna are decidedly—and unfalafel and hummus—are certainly found in Palsurprisingly—Mediterranean. The accent, while estine. Then again, those or similar dishes are Arabic, is comfortably familiar. Perhaps the most also found all over Israel (and, indeed, elsewhere remarkable thing about Palestinian food is that in the region). Like seemingly everything else in we know more about it than we thought. Now, about those walls. the Middle East, the origin and ownership of these dishes is disputed. Israelis claim them. Palestinians Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com claim them. Egyptians claim they’re both wrong. and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

In fact, neither dish is the best thing to have

the world

fare

10 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

BY KELLY DAVIS

cocktail

tales Booze boutique

On the short list of retail shops that San Diego lacks are good liquor stores. That’s not to say there aren’t any, but there aren’t many. Welcome, Native Spirits (nativespiritssd.com).

Scheduled to open this summer at 2884 El Cajon Blvd. in North Park, Native Spirits will focus on “small-batch spirits, lesser-known cocktail ingredients, amaros and digestifs, and a small but thoughtfully curated selection of beer and wine,” says owner Logan Mitchell.

Mitchell co-founded The Cellar Door supper club with pal Gary McIntire (Native Spirits’ general manager), and the two plan for the space to include a 750-square-foot dining area where they’ll serve food by chef Javier Ortega’s Spanglish Kitchen (spanglisheats.com). For now, they have only a beer-and-wine license, Mitchell says, but that gives them a chance to get creative: “The goal is to focus on less-familiar ingredients like vermouth, fortified wine, port. No soju Bloody Marys here.”

•••

Polite Provisions’ Erick Castro is launching

what he’s calling “Spirit Society.”

The cocktail-education series kicks off Monday, April 7, and will feature monthly hands-on classes (limit 12) Lyudmila Zotova that range from a focus on basics—Cocktails 101 is the theme for the first three classes—to either a specific spirit (tequila and mescal on Aug. 11) or style of cocktail (tiki drinks on July 7). Cost is $60 (see politeprovisions. com), and attendees will be provided all the tools and ingredients to Erick Castro make three drinks.

•••

Not a huge fan of gin? Maybe you need to try one of the so-called “New American gins” that are less about the botanical flavors that gave gin its name (genievre is French for “juniper”).

One of those new-gen gins is Aviation, which is also a sponsor of Gin Fest (ginfest.bpt.me), happening from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 29, at Hiatus Lounge in Hotel La Jolla (7955 La Jolla Shores Drive). Admission is $10, and the event includes tastings, classic-cocktail demos by head Hiatus bartender Chris Burkett and slow-roasted grilled chicken to snack on.

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

by Mina Riazi mina riazi

menistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The country’s cuisine, therefore, reflects its unique geographical positioning. The Afghan aush, for instance, is a noodle and vegetable soup closely related to the Iranian asheh resheth. There are also mantu, or steamed dumplings stuffed with minced beef, that resemble the Chinese jiaozi. The tomato-andyogurt mixture blanketing the mantu brings to mind India’s dahi vada, a popular street food featuring deep-fried dumplings soaked in yogurt.

The sambosas served at Ariana Kabob House are a cross between Indian samosas and Chinese wontons. Flat and triangular, they arrive four to a plate. ComAriana Kabob House’s mantu pared with samosas, which are chubby and uneven and loaded with ingredients, the sambosas might seem scrawny and incomplete at first. But their brittle, crunchy edges will win you over. A mild beef-and-chickpea mash creates the filling; dunk the chip-like pastry into cilantro chutney for a quick hit of heat. The light and flavorsome appetizer provides a delicious Afghan home cooking entry point into the rest of Ariana’s menu.

Served beside a heap of long-grain white rice, Well into its seventh year in Scripps Ranch, Arithe chicken curry is hearty and unembellished. A ana Kabob House shares a colorless strip mall homemade curry sauce studded with green peas with the usual suspects: a Pizza Hut, a donut shop envelops tender chicken pieces, which range from and a smattering of medical offices. But unlike its small bits to large hunks. Free of fancy add-ons, fast-food neighbors, the Afghan restaurant ofAriana’s curry is unpretentious and delectable—a fers home-cooked fare in a dining room outfitted weighty reminder of why homemade cooking is with green-cushioned chairs, potted plants, a gion a level all its own. ant painting of turbaned horsemen and a grandThe mantu, though, are the instant favorite. father clock.

Aside from being visually luscious, the steamed Complete with carpeted floors, the family-run dumplings represent an intersection of Chinese, eatery (9910 Mira Mesa Blvd., find it on Facebook) Indian and Russian cuisines. While the minced feels like a hotel banquet room, the kind of place beef filling tastes immediately familiar, the vibrant where you might spot a lightly perfumed flock of yogurt, tomato and lentil blend capping the crewell-dressed women chattering over afternoon tea. ation is an unexpected addition. To me, the mantu Nevertheless, no other patrons showed up during exemplifies the excitement of Afghan cuisine. my visit. It’s probably because I arrived between 5 On my way out, I asked Wahid whether he’s and 6 p.m.—that quiet slip of time that’s too late for also the chef. lunch and, for some, too early for dinner.

“No,” he said, “the chef is my boss.”

Lucky for me, though, this meant that owner Seeing my confused expression, he quickly Wahid Maher—a mustachioed man who emerged added, “My wife is the boss.” from the back kitchen in a well-worn red apron— If that doesn’t point to a beautiful partnership, I don’t know what does. could spend a few good minutes elaborating on Ariana’s diverse menu. As Wahid noted, AfghaniWrite to minar@sdcitybeat.com stan is completely landlocked, bordered by China, and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Pakistan, Iran and the Central Asian states of Turk-

One Lucky

Spoon

12 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

[T echnology ] no life

offline

by dave maass

Better than Buzzfeed’s quizzes I promise this isn’t going to be another screed about the latest Internet trend that’s driving me absolutely nuts.

But before I get to the thing that is not-a-screed, I have to start by telling you that there’s this one new Internet trend that’s driving me absolutely nuts. But before I even get to that, I just need to have a quick meta-screed: Why isn’t there a verb tense of “screed”? Doesn’t it totally make sense to say, “Hey, I’m about to scree about Buzzfeed’s online quizzes?” OK, pre-screed over, now for the mini-screed before I actually get to the point.

Buzzfeed’s “Which [character / celebrity / inanimate object] Are You?” online quizzes—oh, these just suck. It used to be that with a quiz like this, there’d be some—well, not scientific, but at least logical reason why I’m Barf from Spaceballs.

Those were fun. Now, I’m pretty sure Buzzfeed is being deliberately arbitrary, relying on pure peer pressure to drive pure, shameless clickbait. Everyone wants to know which Kraft salad dressing represents them after they learn their best friends on Facebook were Catalina and Creamy Italian.

Mini-screed over. Thinking about Buzzfeed’s quizzes made me curious to check out ClinicalTrials.gov, the government’s hub for health experiments, to see what opportunities there are to become a real Internet test subject.

Insomniacs (1.usa.gov/1gJZhMl): No less than five health studies are currently recruiting insomniacs to try out Internet tools designed to help them sleep. The obvious joke here is: If you want to go to sleep, shut down your damned browser. Really, though, most of these studies are just measuring how cognitive-behavioral therapy delivered via a website compares with therapy delivered the oldfashioned way, by a human being, usually one with glasses, a pen and a soothing new-age manner.

For example, the cleverly named SHUTi program (Sleep Healthy Using the Internet) from the University of Virginia involves a five-part online course and sleep journal. As a bonus, participants receive a cumulative $200 in gift certificates for sticking with the program a full year. So far, only the University of Manitoba has published results of such as study, finding that “psychiatric comorbidity and education moderated the impact of treatment on fatigue and that sleep symptom comorbidity moderated the impact of treatment on maladaptive attitudes about sleep.” I have no idea what that means, but I certainly drifted off reading it.

Veterans (1.usa.gov/1ozaj9u): A lot of federal money is devoted to veterans’ health care, but not nearly enough, so it makes sense that health researchers are looking for ways to treat conditions specific to the retired war-fighter population (particularly mental-health issues) on a larger scale, but without expanding resources.

There are studies about using online tools to help veterans of the Iraq war quit smoking and help families of veterans welcome them home.

Lindsey Voltoline

One fascinating experiment currently recruiting participants is the “Virtual Hope Box.” According to Aysha Crain, a social worker and research coordinator at the Portland VA, which is running the study, they’ve seen success counteracting suicidal thoughts by having veterans prepare a “self-soothing box” to help them “remember better times through favorite photos, gifts and notes, and by using distraction tools or games like Sudoku or crossword puzzles.” This project is evaluating the efficacy of digitizing this experience so that it’s accessible via smartphone.

Cell-phone users with bad hearts (1.usa. gov/1gevjkZ): One of the most shocking pieces of information I came across while researching this column comes from a German research project: No one has ever conducted a systematic study of whether smartphones can interfere with pacemakers. The details aren’t clear, but I imagine they’ll be monitoring people with pacemakers who have cell phones and comparing them with people with pacemakers but no cell phones, as opposed to just wanding patients with an iPhone until their hearts stop.

Video gamers (1.usa.gov/1gVDH3L): I usually groan when researchers launch studies designed to emphasize the negative impacts of video gaming, and the clinical-trials site is filled with experiments on the connection between violent video games and serotonin levels and the effect of video games on a kid’s lunchtime appetite. However, I’m glad to see researchers are also looking into the possibilities of video games in treating amputees, rehabilitating addicts (especially smokers) and preventing the spread of HIV. So, let’s play the Buzzfeed game: Which obscure clinical trial are you?

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

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

the

SHORTlist

1

ART

COORDINATED BY KINSEE MORLAN

BEHIND THE PAPAL CURTAIN

NANCY WIECHEC

Glyphic at Thorn Street Brewery, 3176 Thorn St., North Park. The second Glyph art show will feature more than 50 multimedia artists including Jackie Laudate, Victor Roman, Brian Wesley Oakes and more. Opening from 6 to 11 p.m. Thursday, March 27. Free. facebook.com/ events/599714506780763

One of John Thavis’ first assignments as a young reporter in Rome, Italy, was to interview a Colombian cardinal about the drug wars in his country.

The ecclesiastical official wouldn’t return his calls, so Thavis approached him after a speech he gave in Rome.

“Actually, I never got close—his bodyguards threw me against the wall, and I never did get to talk to him,” Thavis recalls in an email interview with CityBeat. “The lesson was, you don’t ambush a cardinal.”

Thavis might not tell that story when he gives an upcoming talk in San Diego, but given his 30 years covering the Vatican, you can bet that the stories he does tell will be rich and fascinating. The author will appear at the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Theatre at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 26, to discuss his book The Vatican Diaries: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church. Admission is $20 and includes a copy of the book. Visit warwicks.indiebound.com/event/john-thavis.

“I’ll pull back the curtain on the backstage reality at the Vatican,” Thavis says about his talk, “using real-life stories to tell how things work and how they fall apart, introduce the hidden movers and shakers and explain why Pope Francis has his work cut out

Art Speaks: Femme Fatale at TPG2, 1475 University Ave., Hillcrest. A conversation on women in power as depicted in art and literature with three of artists—Alfie Numeric, Richard Salcido and Stephanie Takemodo—currently exhibited at TPG2.

Discussion begins at 7 p.m. There will also be a performance from chamber music composer Carolyn Chen. From 6 to 10 p.m.

Thursday, March 27. $5 suggested donation. thumbprintgallerysd.com/tpg2.html

John Thavis

for him when it comes to making reforms.”

The book details many misconceptions about the Vatican, including the notion that everyone there marches in lockstep. In reality, Thavis says, it’s an institution “where personalities count, where missteps are common, where cardinals disagree over policies and where the theater goes off-script at times. As a journalist, all this made the Vatican immensely more interesting to me, and I wanted to share that. The book humanizes the Vatican, while not excusing its mistakes”—including the handling of accusations of sexual abuse.

USD is a Catholic university. But Thavis says he won’t tailor his presentation differently for a Catholic venue. “Actually, it won’t make any difference,” he More than 100 street performers from says. “My book tried to be honest, sometimes bruaround the world applied to perform at tally honest, about things at the Vatican, and I find the upcoming Spring Busker Festival at Catholics are hungry for that.”

Seaport Village (849 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown).

The list has been whittled down, and this year’s lineup includes aerialists Aerial Revolution, The Balloon You might assume that The Rattling Man, Murrugun the Mystic (who swallows swords Wall takes its name from a short story and does other things no human being ever should) by someone like, say, Flannery O’Connor. and Smilin’ Jack the accordionist, among many entertaining acts. Performances will happen through- Nope. Michele Meyering, founding editor of the Los out Seaport Village from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday Angeles-based literary journal, used her grandparand Sunday, March 29 and 30. The festival includes ents as inspiration—her grandmother’s maiden name a special Buskers After Dark affair geared toward was Wall and her grandfather’s (very cool) middle the 18-and-older crowd: Enjoy a DJ, $1 beer specials name was Rattle. For (courtesy of CityBeat’s Beer Club) and unfiltered, the fourth edition of the edgy entertainment. It’s free, but bring cash to tip journal—an attractive, 272-page collection of your favorite buskers. seaportvillage.com HEATHER VAN GAALE short fiction, travel essays and poetry by established and up-andcoming writers—Meyering’s taking some of her contributors on the road. At 7 p.m. Friday, March 28, at San Diego Writers, Ink (2730 Michelle Meyering Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 16, in Point Loma’s Liberty Station), Ben Loory, Ruth Nolan, Leah Griesmann, Jeremy Radin, Ron Gutierrez and Amy Wallen will read their work.

Admission is free. therattlingwall.com

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BUSK OR BUST

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14 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

HFarmers and Me at Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., North Park. Artist Cristal Chen shines a light on the local organic-farm movement through a short documentary, photos and other graphics.

Area farmers will be there, Chen will give a talk, local food will be served and attendees can enter to win a box of locally grown veggies. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 27. 619-584-4448, farmersand.me

TELLING TALES

The Gates of Heck Print Show at MRKT, 740 Market St., East Village. As a follow up to his recent “Gates of Heck” multimedia performance and art show, artist Perry Vasquez will be presenting a show of limited-edition silk-screen prints. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Thursday, March 27.

619-971-3964, mrktshop.com The Sun Rises in Anambra at Freshly Faded, 2850 El Cajon Blvd., North Park.

Photos and a short documentary by Jason Ilyas Curtis documenting the cultural repercussions of epilepsy in rural southern Nigeria during the launch of the Nigerian Epilepsy Care Advancement Program.

From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, March 27. $5 suggested donation. 619-677-4733 Cruzada: A Xicana Indígena Ceremony of Uncrossing at The FRONT, 147 W. San Ysidro Blvd., San Ysidro. See the work of dozens of California- and Tijuana-based artists in this annual juried Dia de la Mujer exhibition and enjoy a special performance featuring Celia Herrera Rodriguez. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 27. facebook.com/THEFRONT147 Wiglee Onez Art Show at Chicano Art Gallery, 2117 Logan Ave. #1, Logan Heights. Artists like Dulce, Kristin Rice and Jorge Pina show off art inspired by Wiglee Onez, vibrant little animals and creatures that are fun for the whole fam. Opening 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday, March 29. 892-8278 Sacred Geometry for a Profane Existence at Helmuth Projects, 1827 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Last chance to see Matthew Bradley’s new collection of sculptural objects and video works that attempt to investigate conspiracy theories through a lens of skepticism and doubt. There will also be an artist talk with Bradley. From 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 29. 619-2656842, helmuth-projects.com The Adventures of Captain Doodle and the Sea Wolf at Fowlers, 731 S Highway 101, Suite 1A3, Solana Beach.

Illustrator Juan Marante (El Gran Tocayo/ Captain Doodle) and photographer Todd Glaser (the Sea Wolf) debut new work inspired by the ocean. Opening 6 to 9 p.m.

Saturday, March 29. 858-436-7016 HSpanish Sojourns: Robert Henri and the Spirit of Spain at San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park. From famous dancers and dashing bullfighters, to spirited Gypsies and weathered peasants, this is the first museum exhibition dedicated to the Spanish paintings of Robert Henri

(1865-1929), one of the most influential American artists of the early 20th century.

Opens Saturday, March 29. $4.50-$12.

619-232-7931, sdmart.org H30 Block Art Night at North Park along 30th Street, 3700 and 3900 block, North Park. Boutiques and businesses showcase new artwork, host trunk shows and debut new wares. Highlights include the grand opening show Kolor Blind Shoes with works from Freehand Profit and the Edison MFG Co. trunk show at Pigment. Other participants include The Fresh Yard, Visual, Overload, Aloha Sunday and Subterranean Coffee. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 29. northparkmainstreet.com HArtScream Social at You Are Here, 811 25th St., Golden Hill. Enjoy a one-night-only art event that showcases contemporary art produced by several Point Loma Nazarene University students and graduates, with live music by La Grancha x La Tigres and food by Salt and Flour. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 29. 619-906-4006 HJohn Cederquist: Illusions in Wood at William D. Cannon Art Gallery, 1775 Dove Lane, Carlsbad. The San Juan Capistrano artist shows off new works of playful trompe-l’œil (“trick the eye”) wood assemblages and furniture that blur the distinctions between reality and illusion. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 29.

11 DIMENSIONS | Through Abstracted Reflections at Glashaus, 1815-B Main St., Barrio Logan. Featuring new paintings and photographs from Maha Comianos, who synthesizes photography, painting and design to express and cultivate emotion. The event will include music and light hors d’oeuvres. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 29. facebook. com/events/224670654406494 HLuz Tenue at Tijuana Cultural Center, Paseo de los Heroes No. 9350, Tijuana.

An exhibition from photojournalist David Maung, who focused on deportees and workers stranded at the border and forced into transitional shelters, alleys or motley sites in ruins. Opening from 7 to 9 p.m.

Sunday, March 30, cecut.gob.mx

BOOKS HJohn Thavis at Shiley Theatre, 5998 Alcala Park, Camino Hall, USD campus, Linda Vista. Thavis will discuss his book The Vatican Diaries, which offers a revelatory portrait of one of the world’s most powerful and mysterious religious institutions. At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 27. $20. 619-260-4600, sandiego.edu HDavid Tanis at The Chino Farm, 6123 Calzada del Bosque, Rancho Santa Fe. The celebrated chef and author will sign and discuss his latest book, One Good Dish: The Pleasures of a Simple Meal, and Chino Farm will also be introducing its new Good Earth/Great Chefs pop-up store featuring all kinds of cool kitchen stuff. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, March 30. 619889-2271, goodearthgreatchefs.com HJennifer Coburn at St. Tropez Bistro, 926 Broadway Circle, Gaslamp. The San Diego author will discuss and sign her book, We’ll Always Have Paris, a memoir of her and her daughter’s travels through the City of Lights. Admission includes a French dinner. At 6 p.m. Sunday, March 30. $35.

619-696-8695, adventuresbythebook.com Cara Black and Rhys Bowen at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Part of Warwick’s “Murder Mystery Monday,” the bestselling mystery authors discuss and sign their new books Murder in Pigalle and City of Darkness and Light.

At 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 31. 858-4540347, warwicks.indiebound.com Caitlin Rother at Encinitas Library, 540

Cornish Drive, Encinitas. Rother will discuss and sign I’ll Take Care of You, about the murder of multimillionaire Bill McLaughlin by his femme fatale fiancee, and her NFL linebacker lover. At 6 p.m.

Wednesday, April 2. caitlinrother.com Gabrielle Zevin at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Zevin will discuss and sign The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, about a widowed bookstore owner who receives a mysterious package that affords him the opportunity to make his life over. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 2. warwicks.indiebound.com

COMEDY Comicazi Comedy Crew at Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.,

Clairemont. The local laugh crew will feature over half a dozen comics in one night.

At 8 p.m. Thursday, March 27. $20. 858573-9067, thecomedypalace.com HEsau McGraw at Mad House Comedy Club, 502 Horton Plaza, Downtown. One of the original members of the improv group PCP (Phat Comedy Players) where he often played up to eight characters in one night. At 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 28-29. $20. 619702-6666, madhousecomedyclub.com Fahim Anwar and Francisco Ramos at Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St., La Jolla. Ramos has appeared on the CBS Multicultural Diversity Showcase. Anwar is a TV regular on shows like Californication, Chuck and Lie to Me. At 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 28-29. $20. 858-

454-9176, lajolla.thecomedystore.com Simply Cookie at Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The cleverly crass Detroit comic’s most recent projects include Snoop Dogg’s Bad Girls of Comedy on Showtime and the Russell Peters Notorious World Tour. At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 28-29. $20. thecomedypalace.com

818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. His work can be seen on MTV, E!, the CW network, and on Comedy Central’s Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 2. $12. 619-795-3858, americancomedyco.com

Wheels at Pernicanos, 711 Turquoise St., La Jolla. Come out and dine on Italian fare at this 17th annual dinner with proceeds benefiting Meals-on-Wheels Greater San Diego. From 5 to 10 p.m.

Thursday, March 27. $12. 858-4882900, meals-on-wheels.org/pernicanos

DANCE

HBankers Hill Art & Craft Beer Festival at The Abbey, 2825 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. The annual event features more than 15 local craft breweries, food from Bankers Hill restaurants and art installations from artists like Gustaf Anders Rooth, Benjamin Lavender, Keith Greene and more. From 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 28. $20-$35. 619-686-8700

HMal Hall at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Originally from San Diego, he’s quickly evolved into a popular and successful college act, performing at hundreds of campuses winning over audiences with his keen observations and cool delivery. At 8 p.m.

Sunday, March 30. $12. 619-795-3858, americancomedyco.com

HCinderella at Casa Del Prado, Balboa Park. San Diego Civic Youth Ballet’s fulllength production of the fairytale favorite features professional costumes, sets, lighting and staging. At 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 2. $10-$15. sdcyb.org

Colin Kane at American Comedy Co.,

Spaghetti

FOOD & DRINK Dinner

for

Meals-on-

Plan 9 at Plan 9 Alehouse, 155 East Grand

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

Ave, Escondido. The family-friendly event features face painting, a raffle, a screening of the cult classic Plan 9 From Outer Space and a special meet-and-greet with one of the film’s stars, Gregory Walcott. Proceeds from food and beverages sales will be donated to San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum. From 1:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 29. 760-489-8817, sdcdm.org Gin Fest at Hiatus Lounge, 7955 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla. The inaugural spirit festival at Hotel La Jolla will feature premium and unique brands as well as classic gin cocktail demos from head bartender Chris Burkett. From 4 to 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 29. $10. 858-551-3620

HEALTH & WELLNESS Fight for Air Climb at One America Plaza, 600 W. Broadway, Downtown. Individuals, teams, police officers, firefighters and members of the community will climb 657 stairs (32 floors) to raise awareness about lung disease. Proceeds benefit the American Lung Association in California. From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, March 30. $25.

619-798-3000, fightforairclimb.org National Walking Day at Civic Center Plaza, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. Ditch anything with wheels and head downtown for this free celebration with CPR demos, live entertainment, giveaways and food samples. UCSD will be offering complimentary health screenings. From noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 2.

858-410-3849, startwalkingnow.org

MUSIC HCROSSFIRE at Glashaus, 1815-B Main St., Barrio Logan. Art of Elan hosts this special show that fuses pop and classical music elements. Performance include classical surf-punk ensemble SWARMIUS, the soulful house music of DJ Jose Marquez, and an all-new “beat suite” composition by San Diego Symphony violist AJ Nilles. At 6:15 p.m. Thursday, March 27. $15. artofelan.org San Andreas Quartet at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla.

Four world-class Californian musicians, performing in the unusual line-up of trombone, violin, piano and clarinet. Program includes “Fantasy Toccata,” a work by Caleb Burhans, and a Sequenza by Luciano Berio. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 27. $10-$25. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org HPeter Nero Plays Gershwin at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Take a trip through the vast American songbook of George Gershwin with pianist and conductor Peter Nero, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award-winner and Philly Pops conductor. At 8 p.m. Friday, March

KEN JACQUES

THEATER The songs remain the same—irresistibly Kander & Ebb The World Goes ‘Round, a two-act musical revue at Avo Playhouse in Vista, is really one extended session of “Kander and Ebb Karaoke.” In it, five fresh-faced singers perform 30 mostly memorable tunes by the estimable Broadway composing team of John Kander and Fred Ebb. They’re backed simply and elegantly by Moonlight Stage Productions musical director Elan McMahan on piano and Mark Phelps on bass. This allows Kander and Ebb’s alternately frothy and witty numbers to shine without being overpowered by swooning Broadway-type orchestration.

Some of Kander and Ebb’s best work is included—namely “All That Jazz,” “Class,” “Mr. Cellophane” and “Me and My Baby” from Chicago. They’re reminders of why recent stagings of the play by both San Diego Musical Theater and the Welk Resort Theatre were so popular. Chicago’s a show that never gets moldy. But the same can’t be said for Cabaret, whose “Maybe This Time,” “Money, Money” (from the film) and the title tune sound worn out after all these years.

The World Goes ‘Round also taps songs from less-remembered Kander and Ebb shows like Rink and The Happy Time, as well as the hilarious slice of philosophy “The Grass is Always Greener” from 1981’s Woman of the Year. Ensemble members Chelsea Franko and Marlene Montes do that one great justice, just as they do earlier with the salty-mouthed “Class” from Chicago. Other teasing delights are “Arthur in the Afternoon” from The Act and a likably silly tribute to Sara Lee and her baked goodies.

28, and Saturday, March 29. $20-$85.

619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org

These comic moments are a welcome break from the lion’s share of The World Goes ‘Round’s sincere, ballad-heavy repertoire.

Franko, a standout in Moonlight Stage Production’s The Who’s Tommy last summer, is also the sparkplug in this five-member cast, completed by Montes, Kristen Lamoureux, Casey Garritano and Benjamin Lopez, all of the latter making their Avo Playhouse debuts. David Engel directs and choreographs this production, though the dancing is on the elementary side given the restraints of the set. It, like the few bits played for laughs, takes a back seat to the songs, which follow one after the other as jauntily and cleanly as a jukebox in fine working order.

The World Goes ‘Round runs through April 6 at Avo Playhouse in Vista. $22-$30. moonlightstage.com

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

OPENING 13: A musical about a Jewish boy from New York City who’s forced to move to small-town Indiana after his parents divorce. Presented by Actors Conservatory Theatre, it runs March 28 through 30 at the Lyceum Theatre at Horton Plaza, Downtown. lyceumevents.org A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: In this Stephen Sondheim musical farce, a slave in ancient Rome schemes to win his freedom by delivering the object of his young master’s affection, but, of course, everything goes haywire. Presented by Broadway Vista, it opens March 28 at Welk Resort Theatre in Escondido. broadwayvista.com

rich vocals of Teresa Horgan. At 7:30 p.m.

Friday, March 28. $23. 619-222-7295, holytrinityob.com

Interplay Trio at La Jolla Community Center, 6811 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla.

LJCC’s monthly jazz series showcases this trio featuring award-winning flutist Lori Bell, pianist/composer Dave Mackay and guitarist/vocalist Ron Satterfield. Includes hors d’oeuvres, one glass of wine and free valet. At 7 p.m. Friday, March 28. $20$25. 858-459-0831, ljcommunitycenter.org

HBesos de Coco at White Box Theater, 2690 Truxtun Road, Point Loma. This eclectic, all-female chamber group features tap-dancer Claudia Gomez Vorce, double-bassist Evona Wascinski and classical guitarist/vocalist Lorraine Castellanos. At 8 p.m. Saturday, March 29. $15.

6192251803, sandiegodancetheater.org

FullSet at Bethany Lutheran Church, 2051 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., Ocean Beach.

Direct from Ireland and closing out their month-and-a-half American tour, this traditional Irish music sextet features the

HThe Banjo: A New Day for an Old Instrument at Museum of Making Music, 5790 Armada Drive, Carlsbad. The new exhibition features historical documents, interactive presentations and an impres-

From left: Casey Garritano, Chelsea Franko and Benjamin Lopez All My Sons: Arthur Miller’s award-winning drama, set in 1946, is about the lengths to which a successful businessman has gone in order to provide a secure financial future for his two sons. Presented by Intrepid Shakespeare Company, it opens in previews on March 27 at San Dieguito Academy Performing Arts Centre in Encinitas. intrepidshakespeare.com The Liar: An adaptation by David Ives of a 17th-century play about a man who tells multiple fibs as he courts one of two sisters, mistakenly believing she’s the other sibling. Opens March 29 at Scripps Ranch Theatre. scrippsranchtheatre.org Opus: A staged reading of a play about the turmoil the erupts among the ranks of a world-class string quartet just before it’s scheduled to perform at the White House.

It happens March 30 at PowPAC in Poway. powpac.org Red: A successful abstract-expressionist painter must create a piece for the Four Seasons restaurant but is dogged by persistent challenges from his opinionated assistant. Presented by San Diego Repertory Theatre, it opens March 29 at the Lyceum Theatre at Horton Plaza, Downtown. sdrep.org Time and the Conways: This philosophical drama follows a British family from hope in 1919 to desperation in 1937 and then returns to 1919 to show how things started to go wrong. Opens March 29 at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. oldglobe.org

at sdcit ybeat.com

sive array of instruments. The countryfolk duo Victoria Ghost will perform. At 7 p.m. Saturday, March 29. $22. 760-4385996, museumofmakingmusic.org

shows for a five-volume musical project he’s been working on since the late ‘90s.

At 8 p.m. Sunday, March 30. $5. 619692-1155, castorandpolluxmusic.com

HKasondra Kazanjian at Ducky Waddle’s Emporium, 414 N. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas. Accompanied by Julio de la Huerta on guitar, the young lyric soprano will present a program of Spanish, French, Italian, English and maybe even some Armenian music. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 29. $10 suggested donation. 760-632-0488, duckywaddles.com

HNed Rothenberg & Marty Ehrlich at The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. Part of the ongoing “Fresh Sound” experimental music series, two long time musical colleagues join forces for an evening of solo and duo music for woodwinds, from alto sax and clarinet to the five-holed Japanese bamboo flute known as shakuhachi. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 2. $10-$15. henceforthrecords.com

The Beloved Trout Quintet at The Auditorium at TSRI, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla. Chamber music players will perform Franz Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet in addition to other works by Schubert and Mozart. There will also be two performances Sunday at the St. Elizabeth Seton Church and Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club. At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 29, and 2 and 5 p.m. Sunday, March 30. $10-$75. 858-784-2666, mainlymozart.org HViva el Mariachi Femenil at North Chapel, 2881 Roosevelt Road, Point Loma. Celebrate Women’s History Month with Mariachi Flor de Toloache, New York’s first, and only, all female mariachi ensemble, as they make their West Coast debut in San Diego. From 2 to 4 p.m.

Sunday, March 30. $20-$35. womensmuseumca.org HNathan Hubbard: Encinitas and Everything After at Taoist Sanctuary of San Diego, 4229 Park Blvd., University Heights. The local musician will perform the first in a series of five concerts/release

16 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

For full listings,

please visit “T heater ”

High Society Jazz Band at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. Part of the Center’s “WOW First Wednesdays” concert series, this group puts a fresh twist on the lively sounds of traditional jazz. At 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 2. 760-8394190, artcenter.org Il Divo at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. The record-breaking classical crossover quartet has sold more than 26 million albums worldwide and is on tour to support their sixth studio album, A Musical Affair, with songs inspired by Broadway shows. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 2. $58-$138. 619-235-0804, livenation.com

OUTDOORS HCicloSDias at Pacific Beach, intersection of Garnet Avenue and Cass Street.

Approximately 2.5 miles of city streets will be open to families, pedestrians, cyclists, joggers, skateboarders, rollerbladers and anyone not in a motorized vehicle. Shops

and restaurants will be open and there will also be vendor booths and live bands.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 30. ciclosdias.com Grunion Run at La Jolla Shores, La Jolla Shores Drive. Birch Aquarium’s annual tradition and the public’s chance to observe hundreds of small silver fish ride the waves onto La Jolla beaches to spawn.

Tickets must be purchased in advance.

From 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tuesday, April 1. $16. 858-534-7336. aquarium.ucsd.edu

PERFORMANCE HFaust Fest at Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. A night of puppetry in the time-honored fashion of Punch and Judy by locals Max Daily and Ryan Severance, as well as a special appearance from the Millions of Brazilians troupe from Portland, all in honor of the late puppeteer Jacob Faust. Proceeds from the performance will generate a scholarship for young puppeteers. At 10 p.m. Thursday, March 27. $5. 619-280-5834

HChamorro Cultural Festival at Market Creek Events Center, 404 Euclid Avenue, Encanto. Artists, dancers, musicians and comedians from the Micronesia, Polynesia and Mariana islands share their culture. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 29. $25-$50. chelusd.org Rolando Street Fair at Rolando Village, 7824 Rolando Blvd., Rolando. Check out 100 vendor booths, children’s activities and local bites, plus live music. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 30. rolandocc.org Paws in the Park at Kit Carson Park, 3333 Bear Valley Pkwy., Escondido. Participate in a 1.5- or 2.5-mile course dog walk with a variety of festivities afterward including games, food, an opportunity drawing and a “Terriers and Tiaras” fash-

ion show. Proceeds benefit the Escondido Humane Society. From 8 a.m. to noon.

Sunday, March 30. Donations welcome. escondidohumanesociety.org Opening Day Block Party at East Village, Downtown. This family-friendly festival celebrates the Padres opener against the Dodgers with live entertainment, a beer garden and food from local restaurants and food trucks. From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, March 30. eastvillagesandiego.com

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HPirate Science: The Role Pirates Played in the Birth of Modern Natural History at San Diego Natural History Museum, Balboa Park. Join Mark G.

Hanna, professor of history at UCSD, as he explains how pirates were, in many respects, the early progenitors of the citizen scientists who founded the Natural History Museum. At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 27. $11-$17. 619-232-3821, sdnat.org Spanish Sojourns Lecture at San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park. On the occasion of the opening of SDMA’s Spanish Sojourns exhibition, Ariel Plotek, associate curator of modern art, will consider the works in the exhibition alongside Robert Henri’s writings in The Art Spirit, his advice to artists and students. At 6 p.m. Friday, March 28. $4.50-$12. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org State of the Arts in North County at Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside. Find out how the art scene in North County is gaining momentum at this panel discussion with Oceans-

ide Museum of Art Director Daniel Foster and key North County arts leaders. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 1. $10.

760-435-3720, oma-online.org Richard Dawkins at UCSD Rimac Arena, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla. The famous atheist and bestselling author is touring the U.S. to screen his new film, The Unbelievers, as well as answer audience questions. He’ll be joined by physicist Lawrence Krauss and filmmakers Gus and Luke Holwerda will also take questions.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 2. $30. 619230-8441, ucsdboxoffice.com

For full listings,

please visit “E vents” at sdcit yb eat.com

HSuper Awesome Showdown: Hyper Quasar Edition at Victory Theater, 2558 Imperial St., Logan Heights. Technomania Circus’ take on professional wrestling returns to Victory Theater for a night of family-friendly intergalactic combat. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 28. $5-$10. 619-2361971, victorytheatersd.com HThe Seduction of Debussy at Visionary Performance Space, 7502 El Cajon Blvd., College Area. Visionary Dance Theatre presents a dance-theater work loosely based on the composer’s life. At 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 2829. dancetheatre.org

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HThe Rattling Wall at Ink & Inspirations Gallery, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. PEN Center and Narrow Books present The Rattling Wall, a literary journal and reading tour that will feature contributors Ben Loory, Ruth Nolan, Leah Griesmann, Jeremy Radin, Ron Gutierrez and Amy Wallen. Rattling Wall founding editor Michelle Meyering will host the reading. At 7 p.m. Friday, March 28.

619-696-0363, penusa.org

SPECIAL EVENTS HBusker Festival at Seaport Village, West Harbor Drive, Downtown. The eighth annual festival invites contortionists, acrobalancers, fire-breathers and other street performers from around the world. In addition to the daytime festival, there’s a special Buskers After Dark performance on Saturday, March 29, from 7 to 10 p.m. with $1 beer specials and busker acts best suited for those over 18. From noon to 6 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, March 29-30. seaportvillage.com San Diego Travel & Adventure Show at San Diego Convention Center, 111 W Harbor Drive, Downtown. Enjoy two days enlightening travel info. There will be a “Taste of Travel Stage” designed for foodies and travel experts sharing tricks of the trade. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 29-30. $15. 619525-5000, adventureexpo.com Night at the Museum at San Diego Natural History Museum, Balboa Park. Don your PJs, bring your sleeping bag, and spend the night at the NAT. Guests will have the opportunity to visit the newest exhibition, Real Pirates, and enjoy lots of great activities. At 6 p.m. Saturday, March 29. $125.

619-232-3821, sdnhm.org

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

A E E F R EN T EV

Pacific Beach

Pu A l Gu l-Ou id t e

INFORMATION & MERCHANDISE INFORMACIÓN Y MERCANCÍA

PERIDOIC CROSSING CRUCES PERIÓDICA

CICLOSDIAS ROUTE CICLOSDIAS RUTA

www.ciclosdias.com

Walk, ride, stroll & enjoy activities, shops & restaurants along the route. A response to the congestion and pollution of city streets.

Announcing San Diego’s Only FREE Open-Street Event!

10am –3pm

Sunday • March 30 • 2014

LouLouPhotos / shutterstock

t es For ? e l fizz What could’ve been, what could be and what’s actually happening with the Balboa Park Centennial

Courtesy: David Marshall

by Kinsee Morlan

Will Electriquettes be buzzing about Balboa Park in 2015?

T

he 2015 Balboa Park Centennial celebration could’ve been good.

Scratch that. It could’ve been great. Next year’s party was going to be a yearlong, multimillion-dollar citywide event that would go down in history as one of the city’s proudest moments. As originally envisioned, San Diego was on course to put on quite a show. It was to be an event impressive enough to pay proper homage to the significance of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, the city’s first international fair that helped create the Balboa Park of today.

But that wasn’t in the cards for San Diego, a city that seems to constantly be trying to dig itself out of political turmoil. When news broke early in March that Balboa Park Celebration Inc. (BPCI), the nonprofit group charged with organizing the centennial, was disbanding and handing the reins to the city, the typical reaction was that we’ll ultimately get a watered-down event.

A recent opinion piece in U-T San Diego starts with the jarring line, “Plans for the Balboa Park Centennial in 2015 are dead.”

However, significant centennial-celebration programming is alive and well. While the original grand vision is out of reach, 15 park institutions have announced their plans for 2015. Nine local arts organizations were awarded grants from the city’s Commission for Arts and Culture for Balboa Park centen-

nial projects that are moving forward. And dozens of plans for special events and happenings inside Balboa Park in 2015 were solicited by BPCI prior to its dissolution and are currently in various stages of development.

Those plans could feasibly move ahead, depending on the city’s next moves.

According to documents provided to CityBeat by BPCI, more than two dozen community groups and other organizations were in the midst of developing programming for the centennial—a fact CityBeat confirmed by checking in with almost all of the listed entities. Some of the plans were mere conversations or inklings of ideas, left in nascent stages of development before BPCI’s collapse, while others were far enough into development that the organizing entities are moving ahead, whether the city allows their events to be held inside Balboa Park or not.

BPCI made mistakes and failed to work with community groups quickly and effectively enough to craft a vision that potential corporate sponsors and donors wanted to support. It was unable to raise funding for an event that, at one time, former Mayor Bob Filner estimated would cost around $40 million.

Representatives of groups that worked with BPCI told CityBeat that outreach and cooperation fell short. While a few community groups and arts organizations that proposed events had nice things to say about their interactions with BPCI, others described their encounters as confusing,

20 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

frustrating and noncommittal. But despite the issues, BPCI did get some interesting ideas and potential events in the pipeline.

“The city has asked us to help make sure that none of these groups get lost in the transition,” says Gerry Braun, BPCI’s transition director.

The city has announced that Carolyn Wormser, director of special events, will lead the planning efforts. While Mayor Kevin Faulconer is on the record only as saying the city intends “to move forward with a more practical and realistic celebration,” City Council President Todd Gloria, whose district includes Balboa Park, was willing to share more of the city’s current vision.

“It’s not going to be the extravaganza that had been previously envisioned,” Gloria says. “But I think there will be opportunities for new programming and signature events.

A lot of that will depend on funding.”

Gloria says he’s aware of the ideas and events BPCI had in the works, but he wasn’t ready to commit to anything moving forward. He did say that attempts would be made to keep organizing entities “in the fold.”

“We’re going to lean heavily on the cultural institutions that have already planned their own programming,” Gloria says.

R

eading through a report given to the BPCI board of directors in January, it’s easy to imagine the type of event the yearlong celebration could have been—and could potentially still become.

According to the document, BPCI invited ArtWalk San Diego to move the huge

annual arts event to Balboa Park for 2015.

Partially because heavy construction is planned in Little Italy next year, Sandi Cottrell, ArtWalk’s executive director, says she’s still somewhat receptive to the idea.

“We’re open to continuing the conversation,” Cottrell says. “Whether or not we could even make it fit logistically is still a big question mark.”

Ann Berchtold, director of the annual Art San Diego Contemporary Art Fair, has joined forces with her husband David Malmuth and Pete Garcia of the development company I.D.E.A. District in proposing an 11-day event, with Balboa Park as the hub, that would include the art fair, potentially the San Diego City College Book Fair and showcase events for San Diego’s students, innovators, entrepreneurs and makers.

“We thought it would have been really cool, and we thought we had a lot of support,” Berchtold says. “We still may.”

She says she’s hopeful that the city will pick up where BPCI left off. But, the group’s 17-page proposal to BPCI includes a request for initial funding of $100,000 with a promise to independently raise the rest of the projected $1.4 million in expenses. Many of the other ideas and proposals submitted to BPCI included similar requests for funding.

Real-estate developer Sandy Shapery was in the middle of contract negotiations with BPCI when the group voted to disband. Shapery’s behind the well-publicized push to bring back “electriquettes,” or motorized wicker carts widely used during San Diego’s 1915 Panama-California

Exposition. The carts would be a fun way for folks to explore the park, says Shapery, who also envisions having dignitaries participate in whimsical electriquette races (the carts don’t surpass speeds of 4 mph).

“I certainly hope it still happens,” Shapery says, when asked if a fleet of new electriquettes will be buzzing around Balboa Park in 2015. “It’s just a challenge getting it over the finish line.”

Shapery says he’s been asking for a long-term contract with the city since he’ll need to recoup costs.

“Our program has really been set back as a result of the committee disbanding,” Shapery says. “I think there’s a better opportunity it will happen now [that the celebration is being organized by the city]… but I’ve heard nothing from the city, and we’re running at a critical time crunch because, to build these things in time, we needed to start [manufacturing the carts] about two months ago.”

The San Diego Filipino-American community came together in a big way to propose an event to BPCI. Ten Filipino community groups joined forces and submitted a proposal describing a Filipino Independence Day event inside the park in June.

“We’re actually excited,” says Anamaria Lebao Cabato, executive director of Pasacat Philippine Performing Arts Company, one of the groups behind the event. “This is something unprecedented for our community to collaborate in this way, and we want to show what we have to offer.”

Cabato says she’s confident the city will include their event as part of the official celebration.

At one point, BPCI was in negotiations with San Diego Opera—which last week announced it would close after this year’s season to avoid bankruptcy—to put on a free version of La Bohéme at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. According to BPCI documents, those talks eventually fell through, but BPCI was also working with Opera Neo, a relatively new, youth-oriented opera group, on offering free opera, too.

“It’s a very fluid situation, so I’m not really sure what’s going to happen yet,” said Opera Neo artistic director Peter Kozma.

“We would like to add what we can offer to the celebration, as well.”

A group called Maataam Nakashin,

Cogart Strangehill / Flickr

Erin Stevenson O’Connor / Flickr

Kinsee Morlan

Balboa Park Celebration Inc.’s dissolution leaves the city with several seeds of ideas and event proposals from more than a dozen cultural organizations, including the Intertribal Centennial Committee (above), ArtWalk San Diego (above right) and Art San Diego (right). formed by the Intertribal Centennial Committee made up of representatives from regional Native American tribes, worked with BPCI and has already printed brochures featuring their tentative schedule of centennial events intended to happen inside Balboa Park.

“We’re going to do everything we can to not get lost in the shuffle, but I don’t foresee any problems,” says Michael Connolly Miskwish, Maataam Nakashin’s project manager. “We’re going to do the best we can to communicate and try to do the best we can for the city and the park.”

Other event ideas include a bigger Moon Festival put on by the House of China, one of the International Cottages inside Balboa

Park; large-scale choral events in which audiences are invited to participate, organized by the Choral Consortium of San Diego; and outdoor movie screenings presented by the San Diego Asian Film Festival, put on by Pacific Arts Movement.

Programming already planned independently of BPCI by Balboa Park organizations and nonprofit groups awarded centennial-project grants are ambitious.

The Museum of Man’s Border Crossing program will transform the trails and canyons of Balboa Park into an immersive experience meant to replicate the journey of undocumented immigrants crossing the border. Mainly Mozart will present a concert transmitted live onto giant screens

simultaneously broadcast in Balboa Park and Tijuana while amateur musicians in the audience are invited to join in live. And the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the San Diego Museum of Art and the San Diego History Center and others have timely, interesting exhibitions scheduled.

“I think lots of good things are going to come out of this, actually,” says Sue Varga, director of marketing for Balboa Park Central. “I think it’s disappointing in a lot of ways that it didn’t go the way it was planned, but I think we’re going to have plenty of spectacular things to do here.”

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

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Seen Local

attitude,” explains Chacon, who worked with Villegas on the piece last summer.

Chacon and Villagas also recruited high-school students to paint panels that’ll be positioned atop the project’s subterranean parking structure. Those, too, are complete and will likely be installed in NoEye on Public Art vember, along with the mural.

A recurring feature focusing on public-art projects The sculptural component of the project, meanwhile, has been delayed. Nina Karavasiles, the projCOMM22, a new mixed-use development, is tak- ect’s public-art consultant, says that the developers ing root at 2225 Commercial St. in Logan Heights. discovered utility lines directly underneath the proCivic San Diego, the agency created to wind down posed location for the sculpture—the lines weren’t Courtesy: MAAC the city’s redevelopment efidentified in documents providforts, included an onsite publiced to the developer. There’s also art requirement for the proja pole connected to the nearby ect, which is being developed trolley that needs to be moved. through a partnership between While progress has been made Bridge Housing and MAAC. on relocating the pole, the develThe project’s public-art comopers are still figuring out how ponents include a large-scale to fit a proper concrete foundaprofessional mural, student tion for the sculpture without artwork and a central outdoor disrupting the utility lines. sculpture. Through a competiA few regional artists have tive process, the developers sebeen shortlisted for the sculplected artist Mario Chacon and ture, but developers have yet to his apprentice Hector Villegas announce the final selection, to complete a mural that’ll be partly because the size and shape mounted in an entryway on the of the foundation will dictate the south side of the building. Chasize and shape of the sculpture. con, a well-known local paintKaravasiles says they may er whose work is included in Mario Chacon works on have to go back to the shortChicano Park, says the mural, the mural for COMM22. listed artists and ask if they’d be which is complete and awaitinterested in resubmitting proing installation, is a positive piece that celebrates the posals based on the site’s constraints. area’s diversity.

“But the developers are committed to the sculp“We decided to do what I call an ‘urban interven- tural element,” Karavasiles says. “It’ll happen.” tion,’ which is imagery that will have an impact on —Kinsee Morlan people’s mood, imagery that will help change your Kinsee Morlan

Matthew Bradley

A room of his own

be preaching or delivering any kind of message as to what I do or don’t believe. I don’t think that’s particularly important.”

What is important, he says, is providing a provocative space where conversations can happen. Bradley will discuss the show at a closing reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 29, at the gallery.

“I think there are some fascinating stories, and they are as varied as there are numbers of people who believe them,” he says.

Bradley tucks well-researched narratives into every sculpture, video and site-specific painting and installation in the exhibition. The Internet Explorer logo emblazoned on the wall, for example, leads to a conversation about the widely held belief that contemporary corporations can’t help dropping hints about their otherworldly origins (the IE logo includes a reference to Saturn’s rings).

Obelisks and pyramids made of cardboard and duct tape are positioned throughout the gallery, lights on the ceiling replicate constellations and a mirror on the floor is placed beneath a column so its reflection doubles the beam’s height—the whole show, in fact, is in thoughtful geometric alignment.

An exhibition coordinator at the New Children’s Museum, Bradley spends his days helping other artists realize their visions within a space. This solo show has allowed him to bring his own ideas to life, and his experience and technical skills show.

“I like the idea that you can discover things for yourself when you walk in here,” Bradley says.

For two years, San Diego artist Matthew Bradley researched conspiracy theories, mainly those swirling around the so-called Illuminati and alternate versions of history, which some folks believe explain today’s corporate and political power structures. The result of that work can be seen in the current exhibition Sacred Geometry for a Profane Existence at Helmuth Projects in Bankers Hill.

Helmuth Projects’ Josh Pavlick invited Bradley to move into the experimental gallery space (1827 Fifth Ave.) several weeks before the exhibition opened on March 1. Bradley used the extra time in the space to carefully plan out and execute a gallerywide, site-specific installation tackling the odd and interesting subject of conspiracies and the symbolism and philosophies surrounding them.

“I just went down the rabbit hole with it,” Bradley says, sitting on a stool positioned in the far back —Kinsee Morlan corner of his exhibition. He explains that he’s fairly cynical when it comes to buying into far-flung theo- Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com ries. “I didn’t have any intention with this show to and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

22 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

Caught in the web Get entangled in Denis Villeanueve’s mysterious new thriller

by Glenn Heath Jr. The Toronto skyline appears poisoned in the opening shots of Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy, tainted by a jaundiced hue that folds over each building and street like a venomous cloud. As the camera slowly glides through the air and a thunderous, drum-infused score lays down enough bass to wake the dead, we get the distinct feeling that One of the Jake Gyllenhaals, with Sarah Gadon a lethal force has bitten the world at large, and the diagnosis doesn’t look good. any life returns to the space.

It’s later clear that this vision of society reflects Villeneuve and cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc the toxic point of view of Adam (Jake Gyllenhaal), a construct each frame as if it were one piece of an reclusive college professor whose life is turned up- evolving puzzle. Hints about Adam’s guilt and Anside down when he discovers his double, a semi-suc- thony’s promiscuity filter through the dialogue secessful actor named Anthony (Gyllenhaal again) also quences mostly consisting of non-sequiturs, but it’s living in town. Curiosity and happenstance cause the motifs found in the imagery itself that offer the their fates to intertwine, but something more sinis- best clues to their relationship. During the scene ter emerges from their awareness of each other. Both when Adam first sees Anthony’s face in a film that men’s motivations quickly become obscured by the he’s rented, the bright light of the laptop screen reextreme sense of dread that permeates every frame. flects in the orb of his eye. Here, we see the film’s Much of Enemy grapples with themes of duality represented in the psychological consequences a visually breathtaking way.

Enemy of Adam and Anthony’s cat-andEnemy—which opens Friday, Directed by Denis Villeneuve mouse game. Many questions March 28—ultimately wrestles Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, arise as to why their interconwith our need to control every nectedness creates such a profacet of life, from our identity to Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon foundly disturbing ripple. What’s our unspoken animalistic desires. and Isabella Rossellini consistent is Villeneuve’s striking You can see these conflicts in both Rated R environment of metal and glass, Adam’s ghostly relationship with highlighting a network of wires Mary and Anthony’s stricken marrunning through the city like a circuit board that riage to Helen (Sarah Gadon), whose pregnancy promost people would ignore. Adam notices neither vides the film with its most harrowing cliff note. Even them nor the constricting spaces that surround him more apparent is the way the camera often twists and daily. But they are key to understanding the way his turns, creating imagery that feels devoid of gravity. past trauma informs the film’s aesthetics.

Villeneuve’s previous thriller, Prisoners, was a With only a torn picture of a woman for a refer- bombastic and bloated genre piece posing as awardsence point, the audience struggles to fill in the con- season fodder. Thankfully, Enemy is lean and mean, text of Adam’s deep malaise. As a result, Enemy is a meticulous display of film craft that explores texconsistently baffling, favoring surrealism and mood tural and audible patterns within a framework that’s over a traditional plot. The vibe of each “normal” lo- entirely singular. Adam and Anthony are caught in cation is tainted by how claustrophobic it feels. Ad- a multi-level web of their own making, and the film am’s classroom might seem expansive at first, but the is less interested in releasing them from its grasp camera often pushes him up against the chalkboard than it is in poking each character relentlessly to see as he lectures about philosophy. Even more disturb- which one screams first. ing is his cave of an apartment, made up entirely of dark corners. It’s only when his attractive girlfriend, Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com Mary (Mélanie Laurent), shows up does it seem like and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

A dangerous pair

Ernest and Celestine

“A bear and a mouse can’t be together,” screams the rodent mistress of an orphanage for mice in the opening sequence of Ernest and Celestine. The grotesque old witch is responding to a daring comment made by a precocious youngster named Celestine, who audaciously suggests that her sewer species could potentially

unify with the world of bears living above the surface. It’s a radical statement, potentially even a dangerous one.

Celestine’s theory is put to the test when she ventures topside and meets Ernest, a grumpy bear who lives by himself in the countryside.

He suffers from extreme loneliness, only visiting town when his

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

hunger becomes too wild and uncontrollable. The two fatefully connect over a shared affinity for art; she draws, and he plays music. But their fondness for each other represents a dangerous precedent. By simply sharing time together, Ernest and Celestine become instant pariahs in the eyes of their respective communities, intolerant institutions that breed prejudice.

Nominated for Best Animated Film at this year’s Academy Awards, Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner’s joyous parable seems like a farcical sketch on the surface but deftly reflects the current tensions in France amid social reform and racial inequality. While the two

Opening Cesar Chavez: The first narrative film to dramatize Cesar Chavez’s attempts to unify farm workers in California’s central valley in the 1960s. It’s directed by Diego Luna and stars Michael Peña.

Enemy: A lonely college professor (Jake Gyllenhaal) in Toronto discovers that he has a double, and then becomes obsessed with finding out why. See our review on Page 23.

Ernest and Celestine: In this Oscarnominated animated film from France, a precocious mouse meets a grumpy bear and threatens the strict ideologies of their

animal characters don’t represent a specific sexual preference or ideological view, their friendship does incite dialogue about governmental interference in the personal lives of citizens.

That Ernest and Celestine— which opens Friday, March 28, at La Jolla Village Cinemas—frames all of this subtext within a charming and quick-witted chase film makes its virtues even more lasting. In the end, its one true goal is to suggest that these two artists should not only be able to express themselves through their particular mediums, but also do it together in the comfort of their own shared space.

—Glenn Heath Jr. respective societies. Screens through April 3 at La Jolla Village Cinemas. See our review on Page 23.

5 Hour Friends: Tom Sizemore plays a middle-aged golfer and flagrant womanizer who finally gets a taste of his own medicine when a female companion cheats on him.

Noah: Darren Aronofsky’s long-gestating epic about the titular biblical figure (Russell Crowe) and his epic quest to build an ark and save the world’s species from a worldwide flood.

On My Way: Catherine Deneuve plays Bettie, a former beauty queen whose

24 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

struggling restaurant is about to fold. During a weekend road trip, she finds herself contemplating her life decisions and finding peace with their outcomes.

Sabotage: Arnold Schwarzenegger leads a brutal DEA unit tasked with taking down the worst offenders. When members of the team start dying, all signs point to a Mexican cartel.

One Time Only You Will Be My Son: The owner of a prestigious vineyard in France must come to grips with his winemaker son’s success when he returns home from California.

Screens at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, at the Mission Valley Library.

Gorgo: Sailors capture a giant lizard and sell it to a London circus. Then its mother shows up. Presented by SchlockFest, it screens at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, at the San Diego Public Library in East Village.

Silent Spring: This WGBH public-TV documentary is about Rachel Carson, whose work in the 1950s and ’60s sparked the environmental movement. Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, at the San Diego Women’s Museum in Point Loma’s Liberty Station.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: Sometimes we all need a day off as cool as Ferris Bueller’s. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

20 Feet from Stardom: The winner of the Best Documentary Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards tells the stories of several backup singers who’ve tried to make the jump to stardom. Screens at 8 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, March 28 and 29, at

Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

A Box Full of Rocks: The childhood years of rock critic Lester Bangs is the focus of this documentary made by San Diego filmmaker Raul Sandelin. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 31, at the Mission Valley Library.

Pulling Strings: Mexican comedian Jaime Camil is up to his old tricks as a mariachi singer who meets an American diplomat after a night of heavy drinking.

Screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, at the Hervey Branch Library in Point Loma.

Now PLaying Bad Words: A former spelling-bee loser (Jason Bateman, who also directs) decides to find a loophole in the competition rules and participate as an adult.

Blood Ties: In 1970s Brooklyn, two brothers face off from opposite sides of the law, turning their families upside down. Expect a lot of yelling and bloodshed. Starring Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis and Marion Cotillard.

Divergent: The future is a world divided into factions based on tested virtues. A young woman (Shailene Woodley) threatens to topple this rigorous framework when she’s deemed “divergent”—an outsider who must be disappeared.

The Jewish Cardinal: Jean-Marie Lustiger grew up in a Jewish household and converted to Catholicism at a young age.

This documentary explores how one man maintained his cultural identity even after he shifted religious beliefs. Ends March 27 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Lunchbox: In Mumbai, thousands

of lunchboxes are delivered every day, thanks to a famously efficient service run by couriers. When one of these orders is delivered to the wrong address, the mistake inadvertently connects an aging businessman and an unhappy housewife.

Muppets Most Wanted: Miss Piggy, Kermit and the rest of the Muppets gang find themselves embroiled in a European jewel heist. It co-stars humans like Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais and Ty Burrell.

Nymphomaniac: Volume 1: The first part of Danish auteur Lars von Trier’s epic about a self-professed sex addict (Charlotte Gainsbourg) who recalls her origins in the apartment of a stranger (Stellan Skarsgård) while recuperating from a brutal beating.

Particle Fever: Documentary about the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, one of the most expensive and ambitious physics experiments ever conceived.

Ends March 27 at the Ken Cinema.

Le Week-End: An elderly British couple (Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan) come to grips with their crumbling marriage while spending a weekend in Paris.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Ralph Fiennes leads an all-star cast in director Wes Anderson’s latest film, which takes place inside an elaborate European hotel populated by eccentric characters.

For a complete listing of movies, please see “F ilm S creenings” at sdcit yb eat.com under the “E vents” tab.

Everything

is

illuminated

The resurrection of The Appleseed Cast •

J

ust two years ago, to a distracted consumer wading through the torrent of sounds available at the click of a mouse, The Appleseed Cast would have seemed like a relic of another time.

The band’s debut album, 1998’s The End of the Ring Wars, established them as one of the more interesting acts to surface from the wellspring of intense, guitar-based indie rock being made across the United States in the late ’90s. And up through 2005, The Appleseed Cast were as active as any band, having released five solid albums and a handful of EPs and singles between touring the country and playing shows.

And then, things slowed down. Band principal—and only remaining founding member—Chris Crisci wrote less, and The Appleseed Cast recorded less and toured less, for several years. But in 2012, Crisci followed up an earlier epiphany—at age 16, he says, he realized he was going to play music for the rest of his life—with another.

“It kind of occurred to me that I really wanted to put more into the band again,” he says. “It was the not-playing that was getting to me—the bug.”

The result was a resurgent Appleseed Cast. They hit the road in earnest during the past couple of years and, in 2013, released a gorgeous new album, Illumination

Ritual, on the Savannah, Ga.-based Graveface Records label.

For those who associate Crisci’s band with its earliest work, the new album may feel like reconnecting with a childhood friend. It seems sonically familiar—in its ambition, the guitar tones and Crisci’s voice when he’s reaching for a note or extra oomph—but more masterful and mature.

On the lead track, “Adriatic to Black Sea,” The Appleseed Cast spend half of their fiveand-a-half-minute running time repeating an eight-note melodic idea as guitars swirl and Nate Whitman’s bass burbles beneath, before building to a chunky crescendo in the final 90 seconds. On “Great Lake Derelict,” Crisci and Taylor Helenbeck wring cosmic sparks out of their six-strings while ridiculously skilled drummer Nathan Wilder offers a clinic on how to do more than just keep time behind the kit.

Later, “Barrier Islands (Do We Remain)” follows a jittery groove before clearing space for Crisci’s soaring vocals, which sound shipped in from an interstellar echo chamber, and “Clearing Life” sounds like Explosions in the Sky with serrated edges and deeper roots. The closing title track is the most reminiscent of the heavier Ring Wars days—at least up until its playful final two minutes and choral coda.

“I wanted to strip down the production and instrumentation to just the bare bones in order to pull energy from that,” Crisci says. “Guitar, bass and drums. It’s kind of [a] throwback for us.

“So much of that record is first or second takes, and it sounds like it,” he continues. “But that’s one of the things I like about it. It’s much more raw.”

Crisci planted the seeds of The Appleseed Cast in Southern California before moving to Lawrence, Kan., between the release of Ring Wars and the band’s 2000 sophomore effort, the concept record Mare Vitalis. In the Midwest, the band found itself in the middle of a post-hardcore movement—or “emo,” as it was also called, sometimes derisively—that captured the hearts and minds of sensitive punks, college-radio DJs and folks for whom a Diary was not a blank book you write in, but a Sunny Day Real Estate album you clutch to your chest while singing along with cryptic songs about angels.

(Before settling on The Appleseed Cast, the band was once named December’s Tragic Drive, which came from a Sunny Day lyric.)

For the next half-dozen years, however, Crisci and his evolving cast of bandmates distanced themselves from emo, most notably on Low Level Owl, a sprawling album that found the group further exploring the

by Ben Salmon arpeggiated guitars of post-rock and augmenting their songs with ambient sounds and experimental techniques. It was, according to the influential music website Pitchfork, “groundbreaking” work, particularly in the glow of Radiohead’s concurrent aesthetic expansion.

But where Radiohead became, well, Radiohead, Crisci has continued to make music mostly in and for the underground. He remains in Lawrence, back in the Appleseed Cast saddle and still finding new and interesting things to do with the instrument that has enamored him from the beginning.

“It wasn’t until I saw a punk band play at my school during lunch that I was compelled to play an instrument, as opposed to playing one obligatorily,” he says. “Electric guitar changed my world, and from the day I first played one I kind of set myself to a more serious pursuit in learning music.”

The learning process continues, but 16-year-old Crisci’s epiphany about a life spent playing music still rings true for this now 42-year-old rock ’n’ roll lifer.

“I’m not really surprised in that I’m still doing it,” he says, but “I am grateful that I’m still able to.”

The Appleseed Cast will play at The Casbah on Monday, March 31.

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

notes from the smoking patio Emil Roy Brown

Locals Only

Singer / songwriter Drew Andrews, formerly of Via Satellite and The Album Leaf, has launched a new project called Bit Maps.

The band features the same lineup as Andrews’ backing band for his solo material: James Zzyzzyx, Josh Carlson, Erik Nordgaard and Matt Bennett.

But, sonically, the band is taking on an entirely new sound, which Andrews says arose out of experimenting with new instruments.

“I got hold of a Fender Rhodes piano—it’s kind of my Cadillac,” Andrews says. “With Album Leaf, I saw Jimmy [Lavalle] use it, and I fell in love with the sound and tone.”

Andrews describes Bit Maps as “influenced a lot by electronic music,” but translated into live instrumental arrangements. And the group will also incorporate more samples than Andrews did with his solo work.

This integration of live and electronic sounds ties into a full-length record that Andrews and his band have been working on for more than a year. The record, On Demand Living, is “80 percent done,” Andrews says.

“It’s a concept sort of record that revolves around themes like the title suggests—how everything is Drew Andrews right at our hands… how we’re sort of evolving into a new human person and the integration of home life Andrews says the album is tentatively set for a and cyber life,” he says. “It’s not necessarily that I’m May or June release. Bit Maps will play their debut against technology. To me, we’re at a time and place show at Whistle Stop Bar on Friday, March 28. where there’s not enough of a filter. It seemed like a —Jeff Terich good time to explore that.”

Singer vs. Song A recurring feature in which we ask musicians to name a song they never want to hear again Daniel Cervantes, Mrs. Henry: “Good Riddance”

by Green Day. “The soundtrack to every graduation, montage video and end-of-year moment from fifth grade on. [It] brings back memories of a gym full of adolescents screaming at photos of their friends from the overnighter. It’s a very well-written song, though, and goes exactly where your ear wants it to. Ironically, it’s incredibly predictable and super-gooey cheese, but that’s probably why it was such a hit and long stay.

Just like high school, though: Good riddance.”

Jake Najor, Chess Wars / Styletones: “We Are Young” by fun. “I cringe every time I hear it. The lyrics are trite, and the production is way over the top for my taste.”

Jason Cardenas, Transfer: “Around the World” by Red Hot Chili Peppers. “Well, there’s bad songs... then there’s the songs that you want to punch in the face. Seriously, there’s nobody in the [band] that heard this song and thought it was a bad idea?

A 5-year-old can write better lyrics. I can’t describe the depth of my hatred for this song. If ‘Around the World’ took a human form and walked up to me in a bar, I would grab a pen and promptly stab it in the neck—not because I’m a violent person, but because it would be in the best interest of humanity.”

Megan Liscomb, Soft Lions / Boy King: “Love Shack” by The B-52’s. “‘Love Shack’ is that song that

26 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

Red Hot Chili Peppers comes on at a wedding and your creepiest uncle gets really excited. Also, I hate the shrieking lady singers and the yelling dude singer: Two kinds of annoying vocal styles battling.”

Mike Turi, Wild Wild Wets: “Better Off Alone” by Alice Deejay. “Growing up in New Jersey, it’s a rite of passage to go down to the Jersey Shore for prom weekend. I guess it’s also when 14-plus jerk adolescents try ecstasy for the first time, too—myself included. We all get hotel rooms, and it’s just what one would think of: a complete shit show. (Disclaimer: I happen to love where I’m from and wouldn’t ask for a greater upbringing, but the stereotypes are all true nonetheless.) So, as I [was] indulging in day-drinking shenanigans and other activities, I kept passing a room that, for 10 hours straight, had this terrible song on repeat with the same meathead dancing the entire time. To this day, it makes my spine ache just thinking about it. Nightmare!”

—Jeff Terich Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

if i were u

BY Jeff Terich

Wednesday, March 26 PLAN A: Reverend Horton Heat, Nekromantix, Deke Dickerson @ The Casbah.

Psychobilly legends Reverend Horton Heat sold out their first show at The Casbah so quickly that they ended up booking two more in a row. Why is the Reverend still packing ’em in after all these years? I’ve got one word for you: showmanship. BACKUP PLAN: Ghost Come Back, Jacob Elliot, Hawke Auburn @ Tin Can Ale House.

Thursday, March 27 PLAN A: Art of Élan presents “Crossfire” with Swarmius @ Glashaus. Chamber group Art of Élan is putting on a special performance with “classical-punk” outfit Swarmius that blends contemporary classical sounds with pop and hip-hop in a collision of styles—hence the “Crossfire.” If you’re looking for something a bit more sophisticated, but still gritty and underground, this is your best bet. PLAN B: Tactical Ffever, Devfits, The Hague @ The Bancroft. But maybe it’s just the gritty and underground part you’re looking for,

in which case you should check out noise rockers Tactical Ffever, featuring members of Street of Little Girls and Ilya. BACKUP PLAN: Northern Tigers, Jaded Juice Riders, Electric Healing Sound @ Tin Can Ale House.

Friday, March 28 PLAN A: Octo Octa, Magic Touch and Afterhours, DJ Bob Dazzla @ The Hideout. This show is labeled “100% Silk Night” because of its lineup of acts from the Los Angeles-based electronic label. Headliner Octo Octa, in particular, is one to hear, with a hypnotic sound that layers ethereal synths over deep house beats. PLAN B: Ruines ov Abaddon, Eukaryst, Old Man Wizard, Fadrait @ The Merrow. Attention: San Diego metal fans. Support your local headbangers and be treated to a whole smorgasbord of heavy flavors at The Merrow, including Ruines ov Abaddon’s black metal, Eukaryst’s death metal and Old Man Wizard’s stoner / doom sounds. Only a couple days left to safety pin the Darkthrone patch on your denim vest! BACKUP PLAN: Too $hort @ Porter’s Pub.

with an open mind. It’s essentially performance art: Musicians approach the guitar in a variety of unconventional ways, whether building their own instruments, creating installation pieces or just abusing an acoustic. It’ll be unlike any other show you’ll see all year. PLAN B: Magical Mistakes, Seiho, And Vice Versa, Mystery Cave, HGHWND, Nick Leng, Amanda Schoepflin and DJ Mateo Silva @ The Hideout.

Magical Mistakes is the project of Erik Luebs, a producer who blends post-rock atmosphere with Flying Lotus-style beats.

Duck in and vibe out to some chill sonic head-trips.

BACKUP PLAN: Space Chainsaw, Craterface @ The Bancroft.

Buddy Banter @ The Casbah. See Page 25 for Ben Salmon’s feature on The Appleseed Cast, a Kansas band that disappeared for seven years but was recently revived by frontman Chris Crisci with some great new atmospheric indie-rock sounds. PLAN B: William Tyler, New Madrid, Mark Dzula @ Soda Bar. William Tyler is probably best known for being a member of ever-evolving Nashville alt-country outfit Lambchop, but he’s slowly building an impressive catalog of American-primitivismstyle guitar records, like last year’s incredible Impossible Truth. Just stunning.

Tuesday, April 1

PLAN A: Brad Mehldau Trio @ La Jolla Athenaeum.

Pianist Brad Mehldau is one of Sunday, March 30 the biggest names in contemPLAN A: Saintseneca, The porary jazz. You’ve most likely Blank Tapes, Vikesh Kaheard one of his Radiohead poor @ The Casbah. Ohio covers, but, in any case, his trio indie-folk outfit Saintseneca puts a modern twist on classic William Tyler go above and beyond whatpost-bop sounds, be it through ever connotations you think of when you innovative covers or original compositions. read the words “indie folk.” They’re more PLAN B: Brain Scraper, Pig Life, FermenNeutral Milk Hotel than tepid Americana tor @ Tower Bar. I mean, why wouldn’t Saturday, March 29 or busker rock, with just the right balance you want to see a band called Brain Scraper?

PLAN A: San Diego Experimental Guitar of atmosphere and songwriting chops.

Especially one with a song called “LobotoShow w/ Glen Galloway, Vabianna Santos, mizer”? I don’t know about you, but I’m Clint McCallum @ Soda Bar. The Experisold. (They’re a hardcore / crust band, if mental Guitar Show is a unique event that’s Monday, March 31 that helps.) BACKUP PLAN: Bruin, Banbest experienced without expectations and PLAN A: The Appleseed Cast, Idyll Wild, gladesh, Emerald Rats @ Soda Bar.

28 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

HOT! NEW! FRESH! George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic (HOB, 5/1), Circle Takes the Square (Che Café, 5/2), Riff Raff (HOB, 5/7), Tom Jones (HOB, 5/8), ‘Channel 933 Summer Kickoff’ w/ Fall Out Boy, Tiesto, Paramore (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/9), YG (HOB, 5/24), In the Valley Below (Casbah, 5/27), Pink Mountaintops (Casbah, 5/29), Kill Holiday (Soda Bar, 5/31), The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band (BUT, 6/9), The Both (BUT, 6/15), Blackbird Blackbird (Soda Bar, 6/15), Sage Francis (BUT, 6/17), The Reverend Horton Heat (BUT, 7/11), Robert Francis and the Night Tide (Casbah, 7/16), John Hiatt (BUT, 7/30)

GET YER TICKETS Adolescents (Casbah, 4/4), The Cult (Humphrey’s), The Black Lips (BUT, 4/5), Rome (BUT, 4/6), The Dodos (The Loft, 4/11), Cypress Hill (HOB, 4/17), Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (Casbah, 4/17), Jeff Bridges (BUT, 4/23), Ghost B.C. (HOB, 4/26), Danny Brown (Porter’s Pub, 5/2), Goblin (HOB, 5/2), Tokyo Police Club (BUT, 5/2), The Bad Plus (The Loft at UCSD, 5/4), Manchester Orchestra (HOB, 5/6), Old 97s (BUT, 5/8), Suzanne Vega (BUT, 5/25), Backstreet Boys, Avril Lavigne (Viejas Arena, 5/28), Eagulls (Soda Bar, 5/28), Lady Gaga (Viejas Arena, 6/2), Rodriguez (North Park Theatre, 6/3), Wanda Jackson (Casbah, 6/7), EMA (Casbah, 6/29), World Party (BUT, 6/29), Kiss, Def Leppard (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/6), Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/21).

March Wednesday, March 26 The Reverend Horton Heat at The Casbah.

Thursday, March 27 The Reverend Horton Heat at The Casbah.

Friday, March 28 Transfer at The Casbah. Too $hort at Porter’s Pub.

Saturday, March 29 Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at The Casbah. San Diego Experimental Guitar Show 2014 at Soda Bar.

Monday, March 31 The Appleseed Cast at The Casbah.

William Tyler at Soda Bar. Celtic Woman at Copley Symphony Hall. Cut Copy at House of Blues.

April Tuesday, April 1 The Mavericks at Belly Up Tavern.

Wednesday, April 2 Il Divo at Copley Symphony Hall. VNV Nation at Belly Up Tavern. Ume at Soda Bar.

Thursday, April 3 Cheetah Chrome at Soda Bar. The Grouch and Eligh at Porter’s Pub. Big Head Todd and The Monsters at Belly Up Tavern. Lo-Fang at The Casbah.

Friday, April 4 Big Head Todd and The Monsters at Belly Up Tavern. Willie Nelson at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay. Mustard Plug at The Casbah. Adolescents at The Casbah.

Saturday, April 5 The New Kinetics at The Casbah. The Black Lips at Belly Up Tavern. The Cult at Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay.

Sunday, April 6 Rob Thomas at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay. The War on Drugs at The Casbah. El Tri at House of Blues. Rome at Belly Up Tavern.

Monday, April 7 Lures at Soda Bar.

Tuesday, April 8 Burnt Ones at Soda Bar.

Thursday, April 10 Tyrone Wells at The Griffin. Ghoul at Soda Bar.

Friday, April 11 Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern.

Slaughterhouse at Porter’s Pub. The Dodos at The Loft at UCSD.

Saturday, April 12 Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern.

Sunday, April 13 Break Anchor at Soda Bar. John Scofield at The Loft.

Monday, April 14 Vertical Scratchers at Soda Bar.

Tuesday, April 15 Mobb Deep at The Casbah. Peelander-Z at Soda Bar. Mogwai at Belly Up Tavern. City and Colour at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay.

Wednesday, April 16 Bonobo at Belly Up Tavern. Chrome Sparks at Soda Bar.

Thursday, April 17 Bombay Bicycle Club at Belly Up Tavern. Cypress Hill at House of Blues.

Bryan Ferry at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at The Casbah.

Saturday, April 19 Caravan Palace at Belly Up Tavern.

Sunday, April 20 40 Oz. to Freedom at Belly Up Tavern.

Leopold and His Fiction at The Casbah.

Monday, April 21 Deadphones at The Loft.

Tuesday, April 22 Thou at Che Café. Gondwana at House of Blues.

Wednesday, April 23 Big Mountain at Belly Up Tavern. The Men at The Casbah. Jeff Bridges at Belly Up Tavern.

achievers at Porter’s Pub. 710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic, open

rCLUBSr

jam. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: Brit Doehring (5 p.m.); Brothers Gow, Sol Seed, Down North (8 p.m.). Sat: The Bastard Suns, Broken Stems, The One. Mon: Battle of the bands. Tue: DJ Non Profit.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Thu: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio. Fri: ‘The Music of West Side Story’ w/ Gilbert Castellanos.

Sat: Curtis Brooks.

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

Wed: DJ Sean Maricich. Thu: DJs ALA, Mikeytown. Fri: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk.

Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Sunday Sonic Chill’ w/ DJ Shermz.

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

Wed: JC Coccoli. Thu-Sat: Stephen Rannazzisi. Sun: Mal Hall. Tue: Open mic.

AMSDconcerts, 1370 Euclid Ave, City Heights. amsdconcerts.com. Fri: Dave Stamey.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St, Downtown. facebook.com/BangBangSanDiego. Fri: Mikey Lion, Porkchop. Sat: Shift K3Y. Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Wed: ‘HAM’ w/ DJ L. Thu: Bella Novela, Fartbarf. Fri: ‘Bonkers!’ Sat: Stevie and the Hi-Stax. Mon: Dan Sartain, Ghetto Blaster, Saint Shameless.

Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave, Downtown. bassmntsd.com. Thu: Adrian Lux. Fri: Craig Anthony. Sat: Eddie Halliwell.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla. brocktonvilla.com/beaumonts.html.

Thu: Adam Block Duo. Fri: Rob Bonderant Trio. Sat: Random Radio. Sun: Joe Cardillo.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Ambrosia. Thu: Lettuce, Kraz. Fri: One Drop, The Simpkin Project, DJ Carlos Culture.

Sat: Strung Out, The Creepy Creeps.

Sun: Leftover Salmon. Tue: The Mavericks (sold out).

Bluefoot Bar & Lounge, 3404 30th St, North Park. bluefootsd.com. Wed: DJ Donger. Thu: DJ Mike Face. Fri: DJs Julz, J Time, Akrite, Kev Mighty. Sat: DJ Iggy.

Bourbon Street, 4612 Park Blvd, University Heights. bourbonstreetsd.com. Wed: ‘TRW’ w/ VJ K Swift. Thu: ‘Wet’. Sun: ‘Soiree’.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Thu: DJ Simon Taylor. Fri: ‘Brown Sugar’. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA. Sun: ‘Noche Romantica’ w/ Daisy Salinas, DJ Sebastian La Madrid. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJs Junior the DiscoPunk, XP. Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joeff and Co. Sat-Sun: Aragon y Royal.

Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, Bankers Hill. crocesparkwest.com.

Wed: Chaz Cabrera. Thu: Dave Scott and the New Slide Quartet. Fri: Ruby Blue.

Sun: Lawrence Upchurch.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. dirksniteclub.com. Fri: TNT. Sat: Zone 4.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. dizzyssandiego.com. Thu: Joshua White. Fri: The Bi-National Mam-

Thursday, April 24 The Alarm at Brick by Brick. The Under-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30 March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

bo Orchestra.

El Dorado Bar, 1030 Broadway, Downtown. eldoradobar.com. Wed: ‘The Tighten Up’. Thu: Laura Jones. Fri: ‘Soul Flexin’. Sat: ‘French Toast’.

Epicentre, 8450 Mira Mesa Blvd, Mira Mesa. epicentreconcerts.org. Fri: The Miltons, Machine Liar, The Indys, Romeo Complex, Tears for the Innocent.

Sat: The Plague, Good as New, Was/ Am/Was, No Coast, Nightstands, Cuddle Weather.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: ‘IDGAF’ w/ LA Riots. Fri: Kyle Flesch. Sat: Sid Vicious.

Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave, Ocean Beach. 619-222-5303. Wed: Fish Out of Water. Thu: Maka Roots and the I-Sight Band, DJ Reefah, TRC Soundsystem. Fri: Morning Glory, Still 111, DJ Arox. Sat: Todo Mundo, DJ Chelu. Sun: Ace’s Jam Session.

Hard Rock Hotel, 207 Fifth Ave, Downtown. hardrockhotelsd.com. Fri: Roscoe Dash. Sat: DJs Five, Craig Smoove. Sun: ‘Sunday School’ w/ DJs Sid Vicious, Kurch.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown. henryspub.com. Wed: Johnny Tarr, DJ Christopher London. Thu: Mark Fisher, DJ Yodah. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: DJs E, Yodah. Mon: DJs Yodah, Joey Jimenez, Johnny Tarr. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Fri: Being As An Ocean. Sat: Smooth Harbor Yacht Club. Sun: Frankie Ballard, The Brodie Stewart Band. Mon: Cut Copy (sold out). Tue: Blackberry Smoke.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Thu: ‘Represent’.

Fri: ‘Tribalove’. Sat: ‘SUBDVSN’. Sun: Open Mike Eagle.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave, Kensington. 619-284-2848. Thu: Cumbia Machin, DJs Bob Green, Viejo Lowbo, Ana Brown. Fri: Kodiak, Griever, Deep Sea Thunder Beast. Sat: Revolut-chix, Poontang Clam, Bat Lords.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: Ron’s Trio. Fri: Mystique. Sat: Ron’s Garage.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: The Rayford Brothers. Thu: Christina. Fri: The Bill Magee Blues Band. Sat: Mystique Element of Soul. Sun: Trey Tosh. Mon: The Groove Squad.

Porter’s Pub, 9500 Gilman Dr., UCSD campus, La Jolla. porterspub.net. Fri: Too $hort.

Queen Bee’s, 3925 Ohio St, North Park. queenbeessd.com. Sat: Beatles fair. Tue: Open mic.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Thu: DJ Kiki. Fri: DJs Dirty Kurty, Will Z. Sat: DJs Taj, Vaughn Avakian, Nikno. Sun: DJ Hektik.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd.

Thu: Comedy night. Fri: Neighbors to the North, Chess Wars. Sat: Jimmy Ruelas.

Shakedown Bar, 3048 Midway Drive, Point Loma. theshakedownsd.com. Wed: Ash Williams, Dead Frets, A New Ending.

Thu: Obszon Geschopf, Tempest and the Diaspora, Darsombra. Fri: Ultra Violent Rays, New Rome, Quartet, Sssnake, Chill Clinton. Sat: Roman Watchdogs, Swirl, Robin Hill. Sun: Stephen Rey w/ Matt Molarius, Low Volts, DJs Jeremiah Z, P Star,

30 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

DJ Doobie.

Side Bar, 536 Market St, Downtown. sidebarsd.com. Wed: Epic Twelve. Thu: ‘Divino Thursday’. Fri: DJ Craig Smoove.

Sat: Chris Cutz.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: Moving Units, Hot Nerds, Glass Spells, DJ Justin Pearson. Thu: The Kin, Finish Ticket, Oh Honey. Fri: Bad Sports, Roll the Tanks, The Natives, Vaguess. Sat: ‘San Diego Experimental Guitar Show’. Sun: Wild Child, Robert Ellis. Mon: William Tyler, New Madrid, Mark Dzula. Tue: Bruin, Bangladesh, Emerald Rats.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Thu: Emmure, Volumes, Thy Art Is Murder, Gideon, Sworn In, Killing The Messenger. Sun: Bring Me The Horizon, Of Mice and Men, LetLive., Issues.

Stage Bar & Grill, 762 Fifth Ave, Downtown. stagesaloon.com. Wed: Mark Fisher and Gaslamp Guitars. Thu: Van Roth.

Fri: Disco Pimps. Sat: Hott Mess, Blank Way (7:30 p.m.); DJ Miss Dust (10:30 p.m.). Sun: ‘Funhouse/Seismic’.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego, Normal Heights. sycamoreden. com. Thu: Ben Powell.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd, Spring Valley. 619-469-2337. Wed: Karaoke.

Thu: Tactical Ffever, Devfits, The Hague.

Fri: Machines Learning, Gladness. Sat: Space Chainsaw, Craterface. Sun: Fissure, Fraude.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: Reverend Horton Heat, Nekromantix, Deke Dickerson. Thu: Reverend Horton Heat, Nekromantix, Deke Dickerson (sold out). Fri:

Transfer, Okapi Sun, Hong Kong Fuzz, Octagrape. Sat: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Speedy Ortiz (sold out). Sun: Saintseneca, The Blank Tapes, Vikesh Kapoor. Mon: The Appleseed Cast, Idyll Wild, Buddy Banter. Tue: That 1 Guy. The Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. thechecafe.blogspot.com. Wed: Hemingway, Conheartist, Pedestrian, Rare Form.

Thu: Safe and Sound, Singled Out, Rise!, Desperate Living, Dharma. Fri: Toby Foster, Ginger Alford, Girlpool, Plastic City Pariah. Sat: Souvenirs, Sea Lions, Sustains, Pizza Time, Dictator.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. rubyroomsd.com. Thu: Undead Garden, Black Market III. Fri: Ruins Ov Abaddon, Eukaryst, Old Man Wizard, Fadrait. Sat: Dropjoy, Sinflood, Alex and Alison of My Elysian, Simon and Hunter.

Sun: Karaoke.

The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: ‘Tones’. Thu: ‘Sex Everywhere’. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs Kid Wonder, Girth. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Uncle Junie. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings. Mon: ‘Dub Dynamites’ w/ DJs Rashi, Eddie Turbo.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Thu: Oceanside Sound System, Skandalism, Reckless Disregard. Fri: Noel Jordan, State to State, The Anomaly, Between California and Summer. Sun: Comedy night.

Tin Can Ale House, 1863 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill. thetincan1.wordpress.com. Wed: Ghost Come Back, Jacob Elliot, Hawke Auburn. Thu: Northern Tigers, Jaded Juice Riders, Electric Healing Sound. Fri: Brian Ellis Group, Zaub Nasty, Hing. Sat: The Whiskey Circle, Kenneth Brian Band, The Flowerthief. Mon: ‘Tin Can Country

Club’. Tue: Late Nite Howl, Glasshopper, Sweater Brown.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Thu: Bill Magee. Fri: Pleazure. Sat: Lil’ A and the Allnighters. Tue: Zydeco Patrol.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Sat: Obnox, Sleeping Ghost, Badabing. Tue: Brain Scraper, Pig Life, Fermentor.

Turquoise, 873 Turquoise St, Pacific Beach. theturquoise.com/wordpress.

Wed: Tomcat Courtney (7 p.m.). Thu: Talia (4 p.m.); The Jade Visions Jazz Trio (7 p.m.). Fri: Gabriela Aparicio (4 p.m.); Tomcat Courtney (7 p.m.); Afro Jazziacs (9 p.m.). Sat: Zak Lipton Trio (4 p.m.); Tomcat Courtney (6:30 p.m.). Sun: Sounds Like Four (4 p.m.); Trey Synolo (8 p.m.). Mon: Samba2. Tue: Louis Valenzuela (4 p.m.); Grupo Globo (7 p.m.).

Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Wed: Jackson Price, The Heavy Guilt, A Happy Death. Thu: ‘Sampology’. Fri: Lee Churchill. Sat: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk.

West Coast Tavern, 2895 University Ave, North Park. westcoatstavern.com.

Wed: DJ Fish Fonics. Thu: Clean Cut. Fri: Billy the Kid. Sat: DJ Impakt.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: Alice Bag, DJ Hector Penalosa. Fri: Bit Maps, Tropical Popsicle. Sat: ‘Diamonds in the Back’ w/ DJ Dimitri.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Eminence Ensemble. Fri: Naive Melodies. Sat: Toubab Krewe, Spafford, Mark Sexton. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: West Water Outlaws, Mrs. Henry.

Proud sponsor: Pacific Nature Tours

Ink Well Xwords by Ben Tausig

Across 1. “I’ve never heard of that person” 4. “Only You” new wave duo, as known in the U.K. 9. Alec Baldwin’s former affiliation 14. Geologist’s unit 15. Heaters 16. Garlic sauce in Guy Fieri’s unfortunate “Tex Wasabi’s Fish Tacos” 17. Caustic stuff 18. Huge fan of spells, conjuring, and anything and everything broom-related?

20. Bolivian city named by conquistadors 22. Driver on “Girls” 23. Sushi seaweed 24. Important considerations in Cy Young Award voting 26. Joint production?

28. What happened, perhaps, after “Tower Heist” failed to be nominated for Best Picture?

34. Time ___ 35. Bond villain named Julius 36. Rakim’s partner in old-school hip-hop 39. Devoured 42. PIN pad device 43. What’s in the room 44. Name used while pointing a cane 45. Matches 47. Fish in Guy Fieri’s unfortunate “Tex Wasabi’s Fish Tacos” 48. Task in the pit after a blowout?

52. Sit or rom follower 53. Coin with the same name as a dynasty 54. Obey Bob Barker, in a way 57. Manner 61. Song, as it were 64. Blown-up, make-believe sous-chef?

67. Prohibition 68. It might give you a gut feeling

Last week’s answers

69. All-male nude thing, perhaps 70. “Go, Ronaldinho!”

71. Classy gals 72. Put on the books 73. Domain name ending available to pornographic sites

Down 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

It might get pumped Patrick Ewing or Patrick Ewing, Jr., in college Occupy Wall Street target “Holy cow!”

Mp4 relative Sixth Greek letter, though it seems like it might be the last 7. How fewer and fewer albums are released 8. Org. that investigated SeaWorld 9. Burning ___ 10. Instruction next to an X 11. Bringing a bottle of water through security, e.g.

12. Damon Albarn band 13. Bank based in New York 19. Apple-on-the-desk option 21. Abstract artist Jean 25. Barrett who played on the only great Pink Floyd album [*ducks*] 27. Sanctuary for bikes or rakes 28. Tragic war stat 29. In the direction of, formally 30. Tries to seem big 31. Trailing behind 32. Rourke’s “The Wrestler” costar 33. Classic Samberg-Timberlake “SNL” song 37. Masked scavenger 38. “Master and Commander”-era boat 40. Hobby vehicle for Donald Rumsfeld (seriously) 41. Fire obsessive, casually 46. “Babe” location 49. Palindromic plus-sized model 50. Scallopini piece 51. Response to a dad joke, say 54. One might have TBA listed on it 55. Typewriting type size 56. One of trillions in a single human body 58. Subject heading abbr.

59. Genesis venue 60. PBS show with episodes about tornadoes and catacombs and the like 62. Powdery mineral residue 63. Lego competitor 65. Word on a towel for couples who I guess couldn’t find different colored towels 66. Jean-___ Picard

A pair of tickets for a 4.5 or 8 hour Pacific Nature Tour will be awarded weekly. Email a picture of your answers to crossword@sdcitybeat.com or fax it to 619-325-1393. Limit one win per person per 30 days.

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

32 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

34 · San Diego CityBeat · March 26, 2014

March 26, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 35