San Diego CityBeat • Apr 27, 2016

2 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

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April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Underpass rock garden is “anti-homeless”

S

HORTLY AFTER AN ACTIVIST POSTED vice jobs that are downtown. But women were being photos of a pointy rock installation that would assaulted in the underpass. And children were being deter homeless people from sleeping under a harassed. It was a dangerous situation.” downtown San Diego bridge, his social media Carrillo says the social media reaction to the rock page lit up. People were outraged at the notion of the installation was one-sided. “People who see this as city spending money to seemingly go out of its way to anti-homeless have never walked or biked or jogged be especially mean-spirited to the unsheltered. there,” he says.

People weighed in to call the plan evil, thoughtThe community has been working to get the city less, shameful, sad, embarrassing, inappropriate and to fund beautification projects at the Imperial Avsoulless. It’s like putting in metal spikes under eves enue underpass and other underpasses in the area, to keep pigeons out—only these are humans, wrote Carrillo adds. He hopes artwork and better lighting one poster. are also on the way.

“The new landscaping along Imperial Avenue is City spokesperson Harris says the total cost of the meant to address safety concerns by neighborhood project will be approximately $57,000, including maresidents in Sherman Heights,” says Bill Harris, terials and labor costs for the landscape, new drainsupervising public information officer for the city age system and curb improvements. of San Diego. Harris did not respond to follow-up San Diego City Councilmember David Alvarez— questions about whether Mayor Kevin Faulconer who represents Sherman Heights—was previously RON DONOHO unaware of the project. “Our considers the rock garden “anti-homeless.” office had no involvement in Michael McConnell does. this. It was a surprise,” says He runs the Homelessness Alvarez’s deputy chief of News San Diego page on staff Lisa Schmidt. “At first Facebook, which has amassed glance, this is not how our of15,000-plus followers in a fice would move forward with short time. The businessman plans to clean up the area.” and downtown resident paSchmidt later emailed this trols East Village on a regustatement from Alvarez: “I unThe “rock garden” at the lar basis, photographing and Imperial Avenue underpass derstand the concerns of resichronicling the recent series dents being able to use their of encampment sweeps being conducted by the sidewalks but I’m more concerned with the missing city’s Environmental Services Department and the and broken sidewalks throughout my district and San Diego Police Department. feel that the money should be used on fixing our deHe says by far the “rock garden” post generated teriorated sidewalks.” more interactions than anything else he’s docuCouncilmember Todd Gloria—who represents mented. downtown and is chairman of the Regional Con“Among other things the rocks are now a garbage tinuum of Care Council, which oversees homelesstrap,” McConnell adds. “And it’s dangerous, right ness issues—says “the [rock garden] concept does there by the sidewalk. And it seems like a bad design, not address the larger issue of getting people off the even for an anti-homeless design.” streets.”

And yet, on the eastern side of the underpass, “This is starting to tear me up inside,” says downthere are those who are also concerned about home- town activist McConnell. He points to absenteeism lessness but are pleased to see the rocks being put on the part of the mayor and his lack of commitment in place. to solving the homeless problem.

“Our community is celebrating this,” says Ildi“I’m in this for the communities as well as the fonso Carrillo, an instructional designer at National homeless people,” McConnell says. “But policies of University and co-founder of Compassionate Solu- not addressing the issue are driving communities to tions. The Sherman Heights native says he’s not this. East Village shouldn’t be at odds with Sherman anti-homeless, but is pro-resident.

Heights. But a lack of leadership is starting to turn “The homeless are being moved into our commu- communities against each other. We’re all tied tonity,” he says. “That underpass is a dangerous place. gether, though. We’re in this together.”

We do a lot of walking—we don’t get into cars. Our

—Ron Donoho community walks through there to get to their ser- Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com This issue of CityBeat sounds like doves crying.

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4 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

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April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

UP FRONT | LETTERS

RAMPANT AFFLUENZA

Regarding “Nuñez release points to need for clemency reform” [April 13]: The coverage of Ethan Couch in Texas put a spotlight on “affluenza,” but affluenza is not unusual or new; and Esteban Nuñez is just another instance. More irritating is that some of the same people who go easier on affluent or prominent offenders are quick to throw the book at others, and balk at granting pardons or early release to those more deserving than Nuñez.

Perhaps the most egregious conduct is that of prosecutors or district attorneys who are loath to release or reverse convictions of prisoners who did not receive fair trials or have even been cleared by new evidence. In these instances justice is seemingly a lower priority than being tough on crime. Even worse is some DAs and prosecutors cravenly push to keep innocent people in jail because release would lower their won/loss stats.

Though needed, clemency reform will likely remain on the back burner absent organized effort.

In the mean time, we would do well to not be influenced and distracted by meaningless talking points like “tough on crime.”

Dan Jacobs,

Mira Mesa

HOMELESSNESS ARMY

FROM THE BOTTOMS

Hi my street name is Jingles. I’m writing in rebuttal to your article [“Making homelessness a story,” April 20]. It’s terrible what happened to that homeless man but things happen every day. The city wants to get a thousand vets off the streets. Well what about the other 22,000 men, women and children who are also on the streets and not veterans?

I’m out here in what’s called The Bottoms. It’s not as dangerous as everyone makes it out to be.

They claim the problem is people in tents. Well those tents are the only means to be out of the elements since the city is putting sharp rocks and boulders into the ground under the bridges, which was the only rain shelter, and they will be doing this to all the bridges. They build new single-room occupancy housing (Alpha Square), but in the process they shut two buildings.

If you want to end homelessness there are simple steps that would change many factors and possibly work. First off you tell me how many average people (minimum-wage earners) can afford any place in California to live when housing is over 85 percent of one’s incoming funds. This doesn’t count the lights, water, cooking and heating fuels and owning a vehicle and eating. And many other SROs around San Diego have closed down. How can you end homelessness if you shut down housing?

This was what I say will end homelessness: 1. Lower rents.

2. Employ Americans.

3. Raise minimum wage to commensurate housing costs.

Please, please, please do more reporting on this situation [“Making homelessness a story,” April 20]. I am out every Sunday delivering food and other items to these people. The sweeps are devastating and the treatment of these people is inhumane. What the city

Jingles, needs to realize is that there is an army of people who

San Diego do care what happens to the homeless and we are out there doing what we can while the city drags its feet.

Not as sexy a topic, I guess, as developing stadiums and convention centers. Thank you for the piece.

POT THOUGHTS

Long ago, when I was in my late teens, and early

Jennifer Porter, twenties, I smoked pot hundreds of times [The 420

via sdcitybeat.com Issue, April 20]. The occasions have been few and far between since I moved to San Diego.

I learned, from experience, some basic features of the evil weed. The primary effect is to make people happy. Secondly, you have the stoned hungries. It also enhances your appreciation of music, temporarily cures shyness and helps to alleviate some medical conditions such as nausea caused by chemotherapy.

I saw two people, less than one percent, have a bad reaction to marijuana. One guy tried it a few times and had headaches instead of getting high. A young woman totally freaked out and started screaming— it was probably a bad reaction to a combination of THC and some kind of prescription medication.

There are never hangovers of any form in the morning after sampling some reefer.

There are certain things to remember. The smoke from MJ is rather harsh. A good libation is handy to have. I discovered after some experimentation that Lambrusco and pot is a salutary mixture. One combo Editorial Assistant Torrey Bailey shot curathat was different and unforgettable was washing tor Amanda Cachia (pictured) for this week’s down a few joints with sake. Not better, not smoothcover. It was only natural to take pictures of Caer, but the 18 percent alcoholic content of Japanese chia among her latest exhibition, Sweet Gongs rice wine seems as if it must be stronger than that.

Vibrating, at the San Diego Art Institute. “It Another detail that really stands out for an old was really cool because I got an insider tour of codger such as myself is that pot now is much stronthe exhibition while we were taking pictures,” ger now than when I first had it, circa 1970. Two or Bailey says. “Cachia is very passionate about the three tokes now and you’re gone. I have known a artists, and I really wanted to capture that.” Her couple of exceptions, but most devotees of MJ are favorite piece in the exhibition? Brian Goeltnot able to drive well with their mind kind of floating zenleuchter’s scent-based “Let’s Call It Grass around the world around them.

(Spoiler Alert).” “It made me want to buy a wheatgrass shot. When I smelled it, I just felt

Deuel Woodward, healthy.” Check out the full story on page 18.

Chula Vista

ON THE

COVER

6 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS UP FRONT From the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 NEWS: The delegate game . . . . . . . . . 7 OPINION: Spin Cycle . . . . . . 8 FOOD: The World Fare. . . . 10 FOOD: Dishing It Up. . . . . . . 11 BEER: Final Draught. . . . . . . . 12 BOOKS: Floating Library . . . 13

Bugsy’s BBQ (Page 10)

GOOD READS Backwards and in High Heels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Well, That Was Awkward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

ARTS & CULTURE SHORT LIST: Three you have to see. . . . . . 14 Events Calendar. . . . . . . . 14-17 Theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 FEATURE: Amanda Cachia. . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Seen Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Films . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-23

Tortoise (Page 24)

MUSIC FEATURE: Tortoise . . . . . . . 24 Notes from the Smoking Patio . . . . . . . . 26 If I Were U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Concerts and Clubs. . . . 29-31

LAST WORDS Advice Goddess. . . . . . . . . . 32

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Up Front | news

Chris stone

Sanders holds edge in state caucuses Pundits pick Clinton, but she trails among delegate wannabes

by Ken Stone

H

illary Clinton is a lock to win California in the June 7 presidential primary, polls and pundits suggest. Jess Durfee, former San Diego County Democratic Party chairman, said last week: “I would say that if the trends are going the way they are, California could definitely put Hillary over the top.”

But another election—the statewide party caucuses happening this Sunday, May 1—tells a different story.

Of the 4,505 California Democrats vying to be delegates to the national convention, 51.3 percent aim to nominate Sanders in Philadelphia, according to lists posted on the state party’s website. Another sign of the Bernie boom: All but one of the would-be delegates responding to CityBeat inquiries back Sanders.

Every congressional district in the state is supposed to have two caucuses—one to pick Clinton delegates and one for the Sanders slate. But in San Diego County, the 50th District will have a Hillary caucus and two Bernie caucuses—in Escondido and El Cajon.

If delegate applicants equate to voter trends, Sanders may succeed in stalling the Clinton juggernaut—at least in California. But who are these convention wannabes? How do they expect to punch a ticket to Philadelphia in July?

Bernie backer Jim Kilby of Escondido, a 66-year-old retired casino management professor, is going for a delegate slot in the 50th District. “Bernie is in it for what he can do for the 99 percent,” he says. “Hillary will do for the 99 percent what the 1 percent will permit.”

Kilby was a little less clear on the caucus process, however.

“I don’t know how it works,” he says. “Do we have the OK to speak at the caucus?”

Yes. But talk fast.

In every local caucus but one, would-be delegates get 30 seconds to make a pitch starting around 3:15 p.m. on Sunday. That’s to accommodate as many as 64 speeches at a Sanders caucus in Kearney Mesa. (A Clinton caucus in Imperial north of El Centro has 15 Philly hopefuls. With under 20 delegates on that ballot, they’ll have a whole minute to orate.)

But speeches won’t really matter, says Durfee, who will attend the DNC as one of four county superdelegates (unpledged types, including all three county Democrats in Congress.)

“Ninety-five percent of the people participating will show up, cast their vote and leave,” said Durfee, the “convenor” or overseer, of a Clinton caucus at the San Diego LGBT Community Center.

Durfee, who gave delegate workshops this spring, has advice for those seeking to win a slot.

“It’s about showing up with everyone you know and love that’s a Democrat in your congressional district,” he said. “Actually, you don’t want them hanging around because...they might get excited and vote for somebody else.”

He also suggests running as a slate. Since Dems allocate delegates on a boy-girl-boy-girl basis, an opposite sex partner is best. Moreover, he says, “If you’re going to pair up with someone, pick somebody from a different circle. Not best buddy or spouse. That doesn’t expand your reach. If

#SDCityBeat

Bernie Sanders at the San Diego Convention Center you’re a schoolteacher, pair up with a nurse. Expand your circle, so collectively you have a big draw.”

Craig Roberts, a party official who tried four times before becoming a DNC delegate, will vie again—one of 25 men running in the Clinton caucus at the LGBT center.

But Roberts notes another path to Philly—applying to be one of 116 at-large delegates: “You might get selected, so why not?”

At-largers (in both camps) help the state party meet affirmative action goals (“not quotas,” a party spokesman stressed).

One who might qualify in the disabled demographic (10 percent of delegation) is Bernie backer Lynn Warner of Point Loma, a retired clinical psychologist who says she has two “invisible” disabilities—previously profound major depression and severe chronic fatigue syndrome.

“The likelihood that I would receive enough votes to be one of the top two to four women seems very slim,” she says of the 52nd District caucus.

Still, regional party executive Roberts said the easiest way to become a delegate is winning at the caucus level.

For Kilby, who taught 21 years at UNLV, the odds are long. He’s one of 21 men going for two male delegate slots in his district.

Chances are better for Randall Benson of Carlsbad, a 63-year-old San Onofre nuclear plant engineer nearing retirement who backs Clinton. As one of six men vying for four male delegate spots, he says: “I’m not believing those pie-in-the-sky things that Senator Sanders said.”

Other would-be delegates are using social media to gin up support.

Crown Point’s Kristen Lednovich, a 27-year-old biotech scientist, says she’s contacting voters via a Facebook events page. “I want to make this fun,” she said. “We’re going out to celebrate after the event.”

North Park’s Lynn Marie Morski, 38, is a physician and lawyer with many Sanders campaign credits. “I will be handing out flyers with my credentials at the election (there are no electioneering rules for the caucus),” she says, “while holding a sign and standing out front in my Bernie gear” at the Teamsters Local 542 caucus in Mission Gorge.

La Jolla’s Andrea Hahn is a local wildlife advocate who doesn’t plan on doing much aside from “posting my information and hoping for the best.” But she’s already reserved a hotel room in Philadelphia, “which is both affordable and refundable up to a certain date. Overall, I plan to get by on about $1,000. I’ll be miffed at myself if I don’t make this mark.”

Point Loma’s Heidi Salerno, 49, is a deputy state attorney general under Kamala Harris who shared a photo of her 9-year-old sign-carrying daughter, “a YUUGE Bernie

supporter.” She’ll help mom stump at the Kearny Mesa caucus.

And the Republicans? Fifteen delegates from San Diego County districts will attend their July 18-21 convention in Cleveland. Local caucuses? No. You fill out a form and the presidential campaigns will call you. Maybe.

The 2016 election

delegate details

WHAT: California caucuses to elect Sanders and Clinton delegates to the Democratic National Convention July 25-28 in Philadelphia WHEN: Sunday, May 1 WHERE: Eleven sites in San Diego County’s five congressional districts WHO: Any registered Democrat can vote for delegates in their congressional district. If you’re not a Democrat, you can sign up on the spot at caucus.

Seventeen-year-olds can vote if they turn 18 on or before Nov. 8.

WHY: To ultimately decide how many delegates from each district will pledge to Clinton and Sanders in Philly. June 7 primary results for each district decide how Clinton and Sanders delegates are apportioned.

Registered Democrats in San Diego County: 450,084 Dems seeking to be Sanders delegates in San Diego County districts: 215 Dems seeking to be Clinton delegates in San Diego County districts: 192 Delegates at stake in San Diego County: 32 (including alternates) April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | opinion

spin

cycle

john r. lamb

Will the Port District sue to bogart the Citizens Plan?

We do have a zeal for laughter in most situations, give or take a dentist.

—Joseph Heller

t had been a while—four score and seven years ago, perhaps— since Spin Cycle had paid a visit to “The Rock,” the not-soflattering nickname given the World War II-era box of a headquarters for the San Diego Unified Port District on Pacific Highway.

It’s probably a good thing the pain meds were starting to kick in.

The gawd-awful, oversized block of concrete had changed very little. Oh, a whimsical publicart tree topped with a shanty birdhouse had risen from the parking lot, momentarily distracting the eye from the massive freeway overpasses hovering nearby. Once inside, though, it all seemed famil-

I

iar—except for the elderly guard standing by the metal detector and a single, lonely looking plastic container awaiting Spin’s orebased possessions.

No drug tests were administered prior to reaching the cavelike boardroom just a shuffle away from detector central. Not that Spin was anticipating such a thing, but Norco—a gift foisted upon Spin the day before following a blurry visit to the neighborhood oral surgeon—is a precocious mistress, eager to play mind games.

Upon entering the boardroom, a flood of memories returned: how uniformly dressed most attendees are, particularly port staff who apparently all shop at the same Brooks Brothers and share an affinity for dark charcoal hues. (The exception was San Diego City Councilmember Lorie Zapf’s for-

8 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

mer chief of staff, Job Nelson, now a port policy bigwig, who sported something in brown. “I decided to go with tan…” Spin overheard Nelson telling his charcoal brethren before the little voice inside said to look away.)

Scheduled as a budget workshop, Thursday’s special meeting of port commissioners had taken on a portentous sheen after activist attorney Cory Briggs began shouting from the Twitter rafters earlier in the week that the session was cover for an impending “power grab.” “@portofsandiego holds ‘budget workshop’ to pass ordinance making all city laws affecting port ‘void,’” one Briggs tweet trumpeted, later followed by “With @portofsandiego power grab, it could block the voters’ will on anything that hurts port tenants.”

Briggs tweet-skewered commissioners as “unelected appointees” harboring “zero accountability to voters” but wielding immense power that aims to “screw” Chula Vista’s bayfront plan and tie up downtown stadium plans for “years in court”—all because it wants to protect “its own.”

“Anyone who cares about not screwing voters, protecting democ-

racy,” Briggs typed from the mountaintop, “should go” to the meeting.

As Chargers fans began to respond on social media, Briggs advised them to attend the meeting and urge a no vote or a continuance.

but Spin knows two things: Port commissioners want autonomy from its five member cities on such heathen topics as smoking and marijuana use. Coronado’s commissioner, retired Rear Adm. Garry Bonelli, wondered aloud john r. lamb how visitors are supposed to know “what they’re doing is breaking the law or not” when it comes to “smoking marijuana or just smoking in general?”

“Particularly after smoking marijuana!”

Chairman Merrifield added as the room erupted in laughter.

Spin wandered back into the sunlight as the Do port officials have a message for commissioners voted activist attorney Cory Briggs? unanimously.

A bit later, Spin reached But as the meeting got going, out to San Diego Commissioner it was clear that advice went un- Bob Nelson, a well-connected gentleman who typically speaks heeded.

“I look forward to a produc- clear English. tive day,” port Chairman and forBriggs described the ordinance mer District 1 city council hopeful passage as a “precursor to a lawMarshall Merrifield declared to suit” the port will file challenging open the meeting. “Madam presi- the Citizens Plan ballot measure dent, lead the pledge for us.” he authored on behalf of his cliPain meds fully unfurled, Spin ent San Diegans for Open Governrose, thinking some pagan ritual ment and is confident will qualify was about to go down, swearing for the November ballot. an oath to rid port tidelands of all “Let them sue,” Briggs told that is revenue-neutral and bear- Spin. “We’ll win.” ing witness to the god Nepture.

Nelson chuckled when asked Instead, it was just the Pledge of if this were so. “No, it’s not really…

Allegiance, which Spin aced.

This would happen with or withThen a representative for tuna out the Citizens Plan,” he said, fishermen came forth to lament launching into the “botched” athow long it’s been since the lo- tempt in 2013 when then-mayor cal economic impact of commer- Bob Filner vetoed two port apcial fisheries had been studied. “I pointments only to be thwarted by think that needs to be done very state law. “It was the point,” Nelquickly,” he implored, while also son said, “where I realized there noting, “I’m actually having a lit- are too many people who don’t tle trouble both with my computer bother to crack open the state and my car talking back to me.” law books. They don’t understand But before Spin could deter- we’re different.” mine if the meds were affecting A breakfast in late February auditory skills, commissioners between City Attorney Jan Goldmoved on to the pre-workshop smith and port general counsel action of the day, or as Merrifield Tom Russell should not suggest titillatingly described it, “an ordi- collusion on a gamble with Mayor nance amending the part of 8 of Kevin Faulconer to crush anything the San Diego Port District Code, Briggs-related, Nelson insisted.

Section 8.2, confirming San Diego “They meet all the time,” he added Unified Port District’s authority of the legal duo. “I assure you that over local laws.” none of these ordinances we’re Spin’s ears perked up, only to adopting are being promulgated be beaten down over the next ex- or instigated or anything else by cruciating 10 minutes while a port any place outside of the port,” Nelattorney delivered a Cliff’s Notes son said. soliloquy about the formation of “The Citizens Plan does not the Port District by an act of the force the port to do anything of California Legislature in 1962. which I am aware,” plan backer “As such the port was formed Donna Frye told Spin. The port, under the San Diego Unified Port from a boosted hotel-tax rate, Act and that is codified in Harbors would receive matching money if and Navigation Code Appendix it wants to build park and recre1,” the attorney droned on as Spin ational facilities. But it’s voluntary. contemplated the purpose of the The cash-hungry port declinappendix. ing money? Whoa, Spin’s getting The rest of the meeting is foggy, off the Norco pronto.

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | Opinion

Aaryn Belfer

Backwards & in

high heels

It’s all about the Tubmans, baby “When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold through the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven.”

—Harriet Tubman, on crossing into the free state of Pennsylvania

T

here are 274 American women influencers on perhaps the most stunning list of runnersup ever compiled in one place. Some of the women on the Department of Treasury’s website were familiar to me (Madame C.J. Walker, Dorothy Parker, Sacagawea) while many of them were not (Ellen Swallow Richards, Rebecca Crumpler). If you have some time to spare, this inspiring list—the culmination of “a robust national conversation” begun by the Treasury last year as it considered which historical woman would be the face of the redesigned $10 bill—is one rabbit hole worth scampering down.

I’m already using it as a jumping off point for teaching my daughter and myself a little history. Cue the preteen eye roll.

But like I said, this killer compilation includes those who didn’t make the cut to be the new face of American currency. Last week, it was announced that Alexander Hamilton would remain on the front of the tenspot, thanks in no small part to LinManuel Miranda’s Pulitzer Prizewining hip-hop musical, Hamilton, which is on repeat in my home and in my car and in my office. The back of the to-be-redesigned $10 bill, however, will include Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul, all key players in the suffragist movement.

It’s not exactly surprising, that five women would crowd the back side instead of the front, considering we still don’t earn wages equal to the menfolk. We’ve got to take our wins where we can get them, I suppose.

The new $10 currency is scheduled to make its debut in 2020, on the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. I hope my heart holds out for me to see the day. Even more exciting is the debut of the new $20 bill in 2030 (why it should take so long is not even a question I’ll ask), because (drum roll)…

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced last week that Harriet Tubman has been chosen to replace Andrew Jackson’s as the face of the twenty.

And she will not be on the back. Harriet Tubman— former slave, leading abolitionist, Union spy and badass—is gonna Rosa Parks that paper and take her place right up front.

Now, if you’re not familiar with said badass-ery, there is no shortage of literature to educate. I recently heard from friends, though, that most people don’t read anymore. If you fall into this category, if you only have a six-minute attention span, if you

need humor to soften the blow of the pain, then I point you to Crissle West’s Drunk History episode: “Harriet Tubman Leads an Army of Bad Bitches.”

Trust me when I tell you to Google that straight away. (Crissle forevah!)

Without question, it is long past time for such changes, and the Treasury Department should be applauded for making it rain women, but particularly Tubman. I mean, a black woman on the front of the $20? Yaaaaaassss!

And yet. (There is no pleasing me.)

We, the people, should push back against what seems to be the establishment’s attempt at fair and balanced. In other words, powerful white dudes making sure to protect the delicate feelers of the not-so-powerful white masses.

The treasury has managed to miss the mark here. Like the suffragettes on the back of the $10 bill, slave owner and Indian killer Andrew “Sharp Knife” Jackson will not disappear from the money that bears his face. Instead, he will be relegated to the backside of the Tubman Twenty.

Just to make it plain, Jackson was deemed by Indian Country Today as the number-one worst U.S. President.

And they have a point. The Indian Removal Act—which dislocated tens of thousands of native people, resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands more, and redistributed more than 25,000 acres of land for plantations— was Jackson’s baby.

“In his brutal military campaigns against Indians, Andrew Jackson recommended that troops systematically kill Indian women and children after massacres in order to complete the extermination,” according to the website Unsettling America.

“His frontier warfare and subsequent ‘negotiations’ opened up much of the southeast U.S. to settler colonialism.”

Jackson’s wealth was directly linked to his ownership of slaves who worked the Hermitage, his massive plantation, and it is estimated that he owned upward of 300 slaves during the course of his lifetime. Of course, apologists claim that he was a “humane slave owner,” given that he provided tools for them to hunt and fish, provided housing and allowed the women to have children. Super generous of the dude who also whipped his slaves and advertised rewards for those who escaped. Did I mention he owned human beings like Harriet Tubman who escaped the life of slavery into which she was born?

To quote Crissle, “Gawd! Black people have been through so much shit.”

So yah, this guy is going to be looking over Tubman’s shoulder. With a list of 273 other influential, powerful, groundbreaking women, one would think the Treasury could come up with a better solution.

Or just put Prince on the back and call it a day.

“

The treasury has managed to miss the mark here.

“

#SDCityBeat

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

April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

Up Front | Food

by michael a. gardiner

the world

fare

You can’t barbecue on a Gaslamp

B

arbecue joints tend to be located on the wrong side of the tracks. Whether that’s down to the cheap rent, tradition or that folk in those communities are less likely to complain about the smoke is unclear. But great barbecue in high-rent neighborhoods is the exception, not the rule. Enter Bugsy’s BBQ (827 Fifth Ave.) in the Gaslamp Quarter.

Not so long ago, San Diego was definitely not a barbecue town.

There was little beyond the mediocrity of Phil’s BBQ and Kansas City Barbecue’s appearance in Top Gun. Suddenly, though, Coop’s West Texas Barbecue came to Lemon Grove, Cali Comfort BBQ moved in to Spring Valley, and there’s Iron Pig Alehouse, Mark’s Bark Barbecue and more. San Diego has clearly upped its ’que game. So when Pitmaster Jake Greene announced the opening of a “southern soul barbecue” in the heart of the Gaslamp, there was reason to be hopeful.

But Bugsy’s looks more like a sports bar than a BBQ joint. And there’s the semi-ironic play on Vegas’ mobster-era or is it the Rat Pack? What any of that has to do with barbecue is another question altogether. The test, though, lay in the ’cue.

The best offering at Bugsy’s is the brisket. So often—even at some of the best barbecue places in town—brisket ends up dry and over-smoked. Not Greene’s. Moist, savory and succulent, Bugsy’s barbecued brisket was all about the meat’s natural flavor. It’s delicious straight up and without sauce.

If everything at Bugsy’s were as good as the brisket it would be a very good barbecue joint indeed. Everything wasn’t. The beef ribs were overdone but still tasty with a flavor that was savory with just a smoky accent. While the smoke on the

10 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

St. Louis-style ribs was good, they were, plainly and simply, overcooked. The baby back ribs, on the other hand, were both overcooked and overly smoky. The pulled pork was overly dry and the only flavor seemed to come from the smoke (and way too much of it).

Bugsy’s best take on pork ribs were its rib tips.

A short, meaty section attached to the lower end of the rib, it’s a by-product of butchering St. Louis ribs. Where back or spare ribs have bones, rib tips’ structure is cartilage. Bugsy’s were tender and meaty, but were also absolutely drowning in sauce. It was a challenge to taste the quality of the meat and the cook through all that sauce.

Michael A. Gardiner

Rib tips Frankly, Bugsy’s sauces were almost all overthe-top sweet and seemed to compete with the meats rather than complement them. The best was “da grim reaper” which was not nearly as hot as the name suggested. The sauces, though, were part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Bugsy’s inability to decide whether it is a sports bar or a barbecue joint would not be much of a problem if the barbecue emerging from its pit was excellent. It isn’t. While the brisket was memorably good, the rest is better not remembered.

It’s barbecue that wouldn’t even cut it on the wrong side of the tracks.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | Food

by james vernette

dishing it

Mike Pawlenty

out

Give me Liberty

W

hen restaurateur David Spatafore was invited to come up with a concept for Liberty Station two years ago, he admits he wasn’t inspired by the space.

“Liberty Station presents some challenges because of all the historical buildings…limits what Baker & Olive you can do there,” says Spatafore, the man behind Stake Chophouse & Bar and Moo Time Creamery. Pike Place. You won’t see people tossing around Instead, Spatafore saw a marketplace akin fish, but you may see a “tomahawk” or two, to Pike Place in Seattle or Granville Island in according to Tommy Battaglia, the head butcher Vancouver, B.C. at Liberty Meat Shop.

“I realized the greatest markets are actually “Ultimately, I believe our goal should be to repurposed old buildings,” he says. establish our own identity and not try to imitate Now Liberty Public Market (2820 Historic other cities,” he says. “A prime example of this is Decatur Road) has opened up with 27 shops and our brass-bell. Every time we sell a Tomahawk more on the way. If all goes well, it will become Chop—a three-to-four-inch-thick full-bone Ribground zero for the San Diego food scene.

Eye—we ring the bell and people all over the “A one-stop shop would be the goal,” he says. market yell, “Tomahawk!”

“It’s an incubator, a test ground.”

Spatafore hopes to attract foodies from all Janet Gilbert, store manager of Baker and over the county and beyond, but figures the core Olive, which sells specialty oils Mike Pawlenty customers are people who live and vinegars, is confident the in Point Loma, the Midway area, market can only help the food Mission Hills and Coronado. scene.

“This isn’t necessarily for “It will lift a lot of ships,” she a quick trip,” he says. “It’s for says. “The market gives homage people who have a little time to the whole food ecosystem. to look through the produce There are vendors here that section or want to talk with the come right out of the farmers butcher about a particular cut market, giving birth to their of beef.” first retail space, to others that Even then, he realizes it may have refined their local craft take some work before locals and know how to provide an really understand the purpose exceptional experience to the of the market. customer.”

“Most reviews have been Spatafore insists success can positive but [there was] one only come if it’s a community woman who complained about asset, not just a tourist spot. He spending $60 on cheese,” he uses Pike Place as an example.

Cuts from Liberty Meat Shop says. “These are hand-crafted “Pike Place is a mecca for artisan cheeses and Venissimo tourists, but very little of what’s for sale there can goes out of its way to give samples and find out fit in a suitcase,” he says. “They’re selling things what you like. like meat, fish or produce—no trinket-y garbage.”

“When she wrote, ‘Looks like it’s back to CostThere are some differences between LPM and co,’ that grossed me out.”

#SDCityBeat

April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

Up Front | Drink

final

by beth demmon

draught What place does “big” beer hold in San Diego?

beth demmon

T

he definition of craft beer is under scrutiny, and no beer discussion nowadays is without debate or drama—especially when it comes to big beer. The industry standard reads that craft is “small, independent and traditional,” but if we aren’t even sure what craft is, how small is “small?”

Small can actually be pretty big. Three San Diego breweries—Stone Brewing, Ballast Point and Green Flash—each found a place on the 2015 Brewers Association’s list of of the top 50 American breweries by output. (Not just craft breweries—all U.S.-based breweries.) With beer behemoths like MillerCoors only a few slots away, perhaps redefining our conceptions of “big” beer isn’t outlandish.

Stone Brewing, for instance, came in at number 15 on the list—the highest of any San Diego craft brewery. Stone has been synonymous with San Diego craft beer for 20 years, and yet I can’t be the only one who rarely opts for a pint of Stone IPA when faced with a bevy of taps to choose from. Why? It’s not the quality. It’s because it’s always available. Stone has the capability to ensure its beer is omnipresent around town. And in today’s world of FOMO (almost laughably next-level in the beer community) when everyone rushes to be the first to check in on Untappd for that new release, it’s easy to skip the big guys, even if they’re local. Why drink Green Flash’s West Coast IPA when there are 15 other locals IPAs I’ve never had before on the same list?

What we need to remember is that without the pioneers such as Stone, Ballast Point (number 17) or Green Flash (number 49), the promising upand-comers of today wouldn’t exist. Perhaps it’s time to return to the roots of what put San Diego on the craft beer map before it was cool. Just remember...

Local isn’t always good.

I’ve had beer from a respected local craft brewery that was so laced with the off-flavor dimethyl sulfide it was completely undrinkable.

12 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

Damn the man. Stone stays true to the craft.

Don’t blindly follow the cult of local. Pledge allegiance to quality.

Big isn’t always bad.

To put Stone’s self-made, staunchly antimacro approach under the same “big” banner as the twin Satans of the industry is preposterous.

Support the little guys…

Every new brewery that opens in San Diego drives the quality bar higher and our collective reputation forward. Embrace them and keep the independent spirit alive. ...but don’t forget where we started.

Craft beer consumers often get sidetracked with the newest hard-to-get release, but when you seize an opportunity to rediscover the foundation of the San Diego beer scene, you might be surprised at what has stood the test of time.

Continue the conversation of what craft is, was, and should be.

Is Saint Archer still a craft brewery? How does the Green Flash/Alpine partnership fit into the craft beer merger rankings? Only you can find your comfort level in the murky areas of where your beer comes from, who makes it and the overall quality.

As long as we continue to debate these issues we’ll all be able to shape the future of craft together.

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

#SDCityBeat

Up Front | books

The floating

by jim ruland

library The Opposite Shore

T

he New England coast is both geographically distant and culturally remote from the imagination of most Southern Californians.

For San Diegans, it is a place of quaint fishing villages and bustling harbor towns. A place to go if you want to watch the leaves turn color and the seasons change.

Sara Majka upends these stereotypes in her haunting collection of linked short stories, Cities I’ve Never Lived In, published by Graywolf earlier this year. The picture she paints is of dank bars, gloomy docks and desolate streets socked in with fog where you can’t get away from the ocean even if you want to.

Escape (and its aftermath) is Majka’s major theme. Her characters are looking for something: eager to flee a situation or searching for those who have already left them behind. In the story “Strangers,” which is about the intimacy of coming to know those closest to you after being shocked into the realization that you don’t know them at all, Majka presents what feels like the key to whole collection: “Well, you learn quickly when looking for something that it isn’t there, and that you’re going to the very places you won’t find it. For instance, if you lose something in your house, you’ll search the same place over and over again, because it stopped mattering where you look.”

Lovers wait for their ex-lovers to return. Abandoned children see their mothers and fathers in the faces of strangers. Friends slip away into depression, breakdowns and even madness. There’s a touch of the fairy tale at work here as Majka turns everyday anxiety into something fantastic.

“One day the ferry went out to sea but the mainland never came. The captain turned back fearing he would run out of gas. He tried again the next day, but still couldn’t find the shore.”

Yet Majka’s language is neither flashy nor baroque. There’s an observational quality to these stories that makes them feel lived and are packed with truths that wouldn’t feel out of place in a personal essay, like this reflection from “Saint Andrews Hotel”: “How strange we are. How different we are from how we think we are. We fall out of love only to fall in love with a duplicate of what we’ve left, never understanding that we love what we love and that it doesn’t change.”

That’s the beauty of Majka’s voice: a dreary day

#SDCityBeat

turns Gothic, ordinary loss transforms into something wise, even if we never quite make it to the place we’re striving to reach. *** Matt Sumell’s collection, Making Nice, which was released in paperback earlier this year by Picador, also concerns loss, but the way Alby, the “hero” of these stories, deals with his despair is to wreak more devastation.

Alby comes from a seemingly normal nuclear family on the Long Island shore, but his home is wrecked when his mother succumbs to cancer and his father, who lost a leg in a motorcycle accident, becomes a phantom parent in the family dynamic.

Alby loves to smoke cigarettes, get drunk and eat Hot Pockets.

When he’s not doing court-ordered community service he feeds his needs without ever satisfying them because at the base of Alby’s hierarchy of need burns a whitehot volcano of rage. He has three modes: bored resentment, furious anger and guilt-ridden ennui. As he cycles through these phases he lashes out at his brother, sister, dying grandmother, various girlfriends and complete strangers.

“People are veal,” Alby snarls.

Alby is not the kind of person who keeps a lid on his emotions until things reach a boiling point.

His control is marginal; his boiling point constant. Rather, Alby observes the world with OCD-like obsessiveness until he can’t take it anymore.

“I grabbed the two-liter bottle of Coke, put the bottle on the table, unscrewed the cap, walked over to the cabinet, got a glass out of the cabinet, put the glass on the table, poured some Coke in the glass, paused, looked at the dog—who was looking at me—while I waited for the fizz to go away, topped off the glass, put the bottle down on the table, picked up the glass, drank half, put the glass down, thought about my grandmother, and punched the bottle off the table. Sparkles licked puddles of cola.”

While Alby is hardly a paragon of restraint, we need more people lashing out at the world because there’s so much about it that’s lousy and dumb that it deserves to be lashed out at, Hot Pockets notwithstanding. Alby isn’t a nice guy and Making Nice isn’t a nice book, but its outrageous humor will make you laugh.

Write to jimr@sdcitybeat.com.

April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

SAN DIEGO

1 LIVING ON A DINE

While living with HIV is no longer a death sentence, it’s easy to forget this wouldn’t be the case if so many people hadn’t started events to raise awareness as well as muchneeded funds for HIV/AIDS charities.

“It hasn’t changed much, which is unfortunate. People are still getting diagnosed,” says Ian Johnson, director of events at the LGBT Community Center and an HIV test counselor. “The stigma is still so strong that people are afraid to get tested, and that’s because people still aren’t talking about it.”

That’s why events like Dining Out for Life are still so important. Originally started 26 years ago in Philadelphia, the concept of the event was simple enough: For one night, local restaurants and bars would donate a portion of the night’s sales to local HIV/AIDS services. Patrons could enjoy a night out and know it was going to a good cause.

Now held in more than 60 cities, San Diego will be celebrating its tenth year on Thursday, April 28.

When it first started, the event was held in about 30 restaurants. This year, diners can choose from more than 70 with some, such as Barrio Star and Waypoint Public, kindly donating half of their sales that night. Some, such as Adams Avenue Grill, will be donating sales from Thursday all the way through Sunday.

“There’s over 20,000 people in San Diego living with HIV,” says Ian Johnson, who is one of the organizers of Dining Out and is HIV positive. “Many

SAN DIEGO

RAW: Signature at House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Indie arts organization RAW will showcase over 60 artists at this one-night-only event. Also includes fashion designers, vendor booths and music from DJ Effren Villan, Kingdom of Lights, Skyler Lutes and more. From 6 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, April 27. $20-$25.

619-299-BLUE, houseofblues.com Spring 2016 Student Art Exhibition at Mesa College Art Gallery, 7250 Mesa College Drive, Clairemont. An exhibit featuring over 100 artworks in a variety of media.

All the works were created by students in Mesa’s Studio Art classes. Opening from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28. Free. 619388-2829, sdmesa.edu/art-gallery/

Dining Out For Life of them are women and children and people of color, so it’s good to see people get out because it brings up the conversation again.”

What’s more, all the funds raised at Dine Out stay in San Diego and help go toward programs such as the Center’s Youth Housing Project and the HIV Funding Collaborative. Johnson mentions that some of the restaurants, especially the ones donating 50 percent of sales, tend to get packed so make reservations if it’s not too late. Times vary.

Check out diningoutforlife.com for a full list of participants.

MISSION VALLEY

2 CATCH 22

Stretching all the way from University Heights to Kensington, the fifth annual Adams Avenue Unplugged has to be one of the best ways to see some of the top local acoustic acts.

More than 150 acts will be playing the two-day music fest including headliners Cactus Blossoms, Sam Outlaw and Augie Myers, as well as tons of locals like Gregory Page, Tomcat Courtney and Euphoria Brass Band. The musicians will be spread out over 22 stages inside local bars, coffee shops and galleries, spanning two miles of Adams Avenue on Saturday, April 30, from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday, May 1, from noon to 7 p.m. The event is free, but brew lovers can taste local crafts on Saturday for $19 via this year’s “Unplugged Untapped.” adamsavenueunplugged.com COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

HFriends & Family at UCSD Visual Arts Facility Gallery, Russell Dr. and Lyman Ave., La Jolla. The thesis exhibition by UCSD MFA Candidate Tanya Brodsky, who specializes in structurally abstract sculpture installations that almost resemble hand rails. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 27. Free. visarts. ucsd.edu

3 SPRING FRAMING

Pacific Arts Movement (the brains behind the San Diego Asian Film Festival) are already known for movie marathoning at its finest and the sixth annual Spring Showcase is no exception. Eight days, 14 films, and a whole lot of live music. With the theme of melodies and vibrations in Asian cinema, the showcase will be presenting some exclusive films. The Music of Strangers follows an assembly of musicians brought together by Yo-Yo Ma, while China Now is a documentary about the country’s underground film industry. Sweet 20 is everything you want in an age-swap movie and is centered on a feisty Vietnamese grandma. The showcase will take place Thursday, April 28, through Thursday, May 5, at Mission Valley Ultra Star Cinemas (7510 Hazard Center Drive). Tickets are $9.50 to $15. festival.sdaff.org/spring2016.

GTH

HArt Alive at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Over 100 local designers present floral interpretations of famous works of art from SDMA’s permanent collection. This annual floral exhibition is accompanied by three full days of events. See site for full schedule and tickets. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, April 29. $20. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org HMisc BS at Helmuth Projects, 1827 Fifth Ave., Bankers Hill. A new show curated by Mindy Solis that uses random ephemera and memorabilia from the local record store, Tasha’s Music City. Includes performances from Jack Name and White Magic. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 30. Free. 619-265-6842, sayingtheleastandsayingitloud.com HMission Federal ArtWalk at Little Italy. The 32nd annual festival and event will fill 17 blocks and feature over 350 artists showcasing every medium, including painting, sculpture, glass work, photography, fine jewelry and more. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1. Saturday, April 30. Free. artwalksandiego.org HQueen’s Circle: Cruising Oral Histories of Balboa Park at Marston Point, 6th & Laurel, Balboa Park. Part of the Parkeology series, this public space exhibition explores Marston Point’s past reputation as a hotspot for gay cruising culture. Includes sound and light installations in parked cars and an abandoned municipal bathroom. RSVP recommended. From 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday, April 30. Free. parkeology.org/queenscircle/ The Wilderness Inside at L Street Fine Art, 628 L St., East Village. New abstract paintings from Sheryl Tempchin that attempt to capture on canvas the ephemeral convergence of spirit and matter. Includes a musical performance by Jack Tempchin.

Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 30. Free. 760-492-2876, omnihotels.com/ hotels/san-diego/property-details/l-street Spring Talmadge Art Show at Liberty Station Conference Center, 2600 Laning Rd, Point Loma. Check out the work of over 65 artists and crafters selling handmade arts and goods. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May. 1. Free. 619-5599082, talmadgeartshow.com HI Am That at UCSD Visual Arts Facility Performance Space, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla. This video art exhibition from UCSD MFA candidate Stefani Byrd features two installations that explore the themes of breath, mediation and the nature of time. Opening from 2 to 6 p.m.

Gregory Page

14 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

Heart Attack

H = CityBeat picks

Wednesday, May. 4. Free. 858-5342230, visarts.ucsd.edu

BOOKS HScott Woolley at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The technology and business writer will sign and discuss The Network: The Battle of the Airwaves and the Birth of the Communications Age. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 27. Free.

858-454-0347, warwicks.com Jung Yun and Patricia Park at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The two authors will be promoting their respective new novels, Shelter (Yun) and Re Jane (Park). At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com R.H. Gutierrez at Upstart Crow Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 835 West Harbor Dr., Suite C, Downtown. The local author will do a signing of his new book, Cereus and the Rarest Thing After. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, April 29. Free. 619-2324855, upstartcrowtrading.com Wendy Hornsby and Timothy Hallinan at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The two award-winning mystery authors will be promoting their new novels, Disturbing the Dark (Hornsby) and King Maybe (Hallinan). At 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 29.

Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com HIndependent Bookstore Day at various locations. Bookstores all over San Diego will feature readings, specials and exclusive items that will only be available that day. See website for details and full list of participants. Various times. Saturday, April 30. indiebookstoreday.com Jessica Barraco at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals program, Barraco will be signing and discussing The Butterfly Groove: A Mother’s Mystery, a Daughter’s Journey.

At noon. Sunday, May. 1. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com HWriters 2 Watch: Alyce Smith Cooper, Jaime V. Jones and Judy Sundayo at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. Join the authors as they celebrate the publication of The GUMBO Pot Poems, a book celebrating food, friendships and family that includes recipes and accompanying poetry. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May. 1. Free. 619-236-5800, sdfocl.org Kevin Naughton and Craig Peterson at California Surf Museum, 312 Pier View Way, Oceanside. The two surfers will be on hand to promote their new book, Search for the Perfect Wave, which collects their classic articles of surf-travelmisadventures in the ‘70s and ‘80s for SURFER Magazine. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May. 4. Free. surfmuseum.org Kirk Kenney at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The local sports writer will sign and discuss his new book, 100 Things Padres Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May. 4. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com

COMEDY HJoe Sinclitico at The American Comedy Co., 818 6th Ave., Ste. #B, San Diego’s own Joe Sinclitico has been featured on Comedy Central and Deathsquad. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, May. 1. $10. 619795-3858, americancomedyco.com Marlon Wayans at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The funny guy behind all those Scary Movie flicks and White Girls stops by on his Scandal-Less Tour. At 8 p.m. Sunday, May. 1. $40.

619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 #SDCityBeat

THEATER JIM COX

The decidedly non-linear story of Marianne (Victoria Frings) and Roland (Christian Coulson) is likely to get under your skin in a hurry. Whether that’s a pleasant or annoying experience may hinge on the following: your scientific literacy; your affinity for numerous workshoppy moments in which the actors exchange the same lines of dialogue while reflecting different attitudes or temperaments; and your own romantic past. If only the secrets of this multiverse were as illuminating as Bradley King’s exquisite lighting design.

Constellations runs through May 8 at the Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre. $29 and up. oldglobe.org

Jesus Hates Me runs through May 7 at ion theatre’s BLKBOX @ 6th & Penn in Hillcrest. $10-$32. iontheatre.com

*** esus may indeed hate Ethan, the protagonist of Wayne Lemon’s self-indulgent 2005 play. But Lemon must have loved writing Jesus Hates Me because the script glories in its would-be profundities, like “Pain’s the only way I know I’m alive,” and cutesies like the Blood of the Lamb Miniature Golf Course. Ion Christian Coulson and Victoria Rings in Constellations theatre’s Glenn Paris and Claudio Raygoza co-direct this West Texas-set tragicomedy that tries very hard to Lovers star-crossed in Constellation shock, but is better at just plain southern discomfort.

Certainly there’s nothing novel about people trapped in elationships are complicated enough without the a small town who are aching to get out. They include moments of high drama recurring over and over, Ethan (Connor Sullivan), who’s hamstrung by a trouand not always in the same way. But in the “multi- bled parent (Lisel Gorell-Getz) who would give Norverse” explained by physicist Marianne, the more grating man Bates’ ma a run for her money.

None of the lot is what you’d call sympathetic, half of the two lovers in Nick Payne’s techno-contrived Constellations, that’s the dynamic not only of love but of though Richard Johnson’s Boone is so outrageously all human interaction. It’s within this sphere of scientific doltish you can’t help but like him. The specter of a exposition that the 75-minute Constellations, directed by mannequin Jesus literally hangs over the action and the Richard Seer, unfolds in the Old Globe’s Sheryl and Har- deep-fried misery—misery that no one lets you forget for a minute. vey White Theatre.

Catch Me If You Can: The musical version of the film about a jetsetting con man and the FBI agent hot on his tail. Presented by Coronado School of the Arts, it opens April 29 at the Coronado Performing Arts Center. cosasandiego.com

J

R

#SDCityBeat

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: TBD: A Collaboratively Devised Theatre Piece: The name says it all. USD theater students create a new play on the spot. It opens April 28 at the Vassiliadis Family Black Box Theatre in Linda Vista. sandiego.edu/cas

Evita: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s lavish musical about Eva Peron’s rise from the slums of Argentina to the country’s first lady. Directed by Jessica Brandon, it opens April 29 at OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista. onstageplayhouse.info An Enemy of the Pueblo: A staged reading of the modern, Chicano take on An Enemy of the State takes place in a small Mexican village.

Written by Josephina Lopez, it opens for one performance May 2 at the Lyceum Stage in Downtown. sdrep.org The Soap Myth: In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, a staged reading of the Jeff Cohen play about an investigative reporter trying to get to the bottom of one survivor’s story. It happens May 2 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org Wagner New Play Festival: The annual festival features original fulllength and one-act plays written, directed and performed by UCSD graduate students. Opens May 3 at the UCSD theaters in La Jolla. theatre.ucsd.edu

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

April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

DANCE University Dance Company at SDSU Dance Studio Theatre, 5500 Campanile Dr., College Area. The spring concert features young artists performing contemporary dance work and choreographed by SDSU faculty and guest artists. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30, and 2 p.m.

Sunday, May 1. $5-$10. 619-594-6031, music.sdsu.edu HHubbard Street Dance Chicago at Spreckels Theater, 121 Broadway, Downtown. Known for their exuberant, athletic and innovative repertoire, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago brings an ensemble of dancer-artists performing four distinct works. At 8 p.m. Saturday, April 30. $20-$75. 619-235-9500, ljms.org

FILM HSpring Showcase at UltraStar Mission Valley Cinemas, 7510 Hazard Center Dr., Mission Valley. Presented by Pacific Arts Movement, the sixth annual mini film fest features 14 film programs from 10 countries that includes everything from docs to romantic tearjerkers. See website for full lineup and times. From Thursday, April 28 through Thursday, May 5. Various times. $9-$15. 619-685-2841, festival.sdaff.org HExploring the Border with Paul Espinosa at Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. A day of films and discussion with award-winning documentary filmmaker and producer Paul Espinosa. Includes a reception at the San Diego History Center featuring a panel

discussion with local experts about the region and Espinosa’s work. From 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 30. $6-$27.

619-238-8777, visarts.ucsd.edu HTribal Baroque: Beingness at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. The premiere of a 30-minute doc featuring Tribal Baroque, the musical string duo who perform regularly in Balboa Park. The group will perform live and there will be a Q&A with filmmakers Barbarella and David Fokos.

From 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 30. $5 suggested donation. facebook.com/ events/158457804552690/

FOOD & DRINK HDining Out for Life at Various locations., Visit one of the 70 participating restaurants, bars, coffeehouses and nightclubs in town on this night and 25 to 50 percent of sales will go to local HIV/AIDS services and prevention programs. Various times. Thursday, April 28. Prices vary. diningoutforlife.com Dinner & Show at The Prado, 1549 El Prado, Balboa Park. Enjoy The Prado’s Dinner & Show package featuring a twocourse menu with wine and a ticket to see Rain at the Old Globe Theatre. At 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28. $87. 619-5579441, cohnrestaurants.com HChef Celebration Food & Beer Pairing Festival at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens-Point Loma, 2816 Historic Decatur Rd #116, Point Loma. Attendees can enjoy live entertainment while they sip and savor 14 small dishes created by local chefs alongside 14 brews paired by Stone Brewing Co. Craft Beer Ambassador Dr. Bill Sysak. From noon to 3 p.m. Sun-

16 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

day, May. 1. $49. 619-269-2100, chefscelebration.org

MUSIC Wednesdays@7: Erik Carlson and Aleck Karis at UCSD Conrad Prebys Music Center, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla.

Violinist Erik Carlson and pianist Aleck Karis will perform Swiss composer Jürg Frey’s “Buch der Räume und Zeiten.” At 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 27. Free-$15.50. musicweb.ucsd.edu/concerts/ HAdams Avenue Unplugged at Adams Avenue, 4S Ranch. The fifth annual event will feature more than 150 artists at 22 venues along Adams Avenue, from University Heights to Kensington, including headliners Sam Outlaw, Cactus Blossoms and more. From noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 30 and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday, May 1. Saturday, April 30. Free-$15. adamsavenueunplugged.com Mainly Mozart Spotlight Series at The Auditorium at TSRI, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Dr., La Jolla. Mainly Mozart kicks off its Spotlight Series with a night of chamber music featuring pieces by Beethoven and Dohnanyi. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 30 and 2 and 5 p.m. Sunday, May 1.

Saturday, April 30. $58. 858-784-2666, mainlymozart.org HOcean Commotion Concert at Campland On The Bay, 2211 Pacific Beach Dr., Pacific Beach. Bands like The Barnwell Shift, The Barnwell Shift, Sully and the Blue-Eyed Soul Band, Wag Halen and Dulaney and Co. perform a special concert to benefit San Diego Coastkeeper.

From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 30. $15-$20. sdcoastkeeper.org Cathy Kautsky at UCSD Conrad Prebys Music Center, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla.

A solo piano recital from the soloist and chamber musician that will include selections from Schubert, Wedmann and Ravel. At 5 p.m. Sunday, May. 1. Free. musicweb.ucsd.edu

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

SDSU Symphony Orchestra at SDSU Don Powell Theatre, 5500 Campanile Dr., College Area. The SDSU Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony showcase their season of work in this culminating annual performance. Includes the Concerto Competition winner performance.

From 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, May. 3. $5$10. 619-594-6365, music.sdsu.edu HNew York Philharmonic at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown.

The La Jolla Music Society’s Celebrity Orchestra Series concludes with the acclaimed Philharmonic performing masterworks by Beethoven and Sibelius. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, May. 4. $30-$105.

619-235-0804, ljms.org Wednesdays@7: Takae Ohnishi at UCSD Conrad Prebys Music Center, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla. The renowned harpsichordist will present an “All J.S. Bach Program” which will include Toccata E minor, Toccata in D minor, French Suite No.5, and more. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, May. 4. Free-$15.50. musicweb.ucsd.edu

PERFORMANCE HTonight in San Diego Live Taping at RAW Space Off Broadway, 931 1st St., Downtown. A live taping of the comedy talk show web series hosted by comedian Jesse Egan. This week: Casbah owner Tim Mays and Hula Hoop performer, Hillia. From 7:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May. 4. $7. tonightinsandiego.com

“Crossing the Rubicon” by Sherry Krulle Beaton is on view at Resonance, a group show at Sparks Gallery (530 6th Ave.) in Downtown. There will be an artist talk from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 28.

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HPoetry Ruckus at Ducky Waddle’s Emporium, 414 N. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas.

Featured poet Anna Zappoli will read from her book, From Somewhere Else, followed by an open mic for poets. Zappoli’s book

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EVENTS will be available for purchase. From 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, April 27. Free. 760632-0488, duckywaddles.com HVAMP: Minimum Wage at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. So Say We All’s monthly storytelling night features stories about those jobs we took because we had to take a job. Featured readers include Allison Gauss, Annmarie Houghtailing, Cecile Estelle, and more. From 8:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday, April 28. $5 suggested donation. 619-284-6784, sosayweallonline.com HNon-Standard Lit Reading Series: Emily Carr and James Meetze at Gym Standard, 2903 El Cajon Blvd. #2, North Park. The author of Whosoever Has Let A Minotaur Enter Them, Or A Sonnet (Carr) and Phantom Hour (Meetze) will be on hand for a reading of poetry and prose. From 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, May. 1. Free. 619-5014996, facebook.com/nonstandardlit

From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May. 1.

760-931-8400, www.carlsbad.org

SPORTS San Diego Growlers vs Seattle Cascades at Balboa Stadium, 1405 Park Blvd., Downtown. The San Diego Growlers take on the Seattle Cascades in a professional ultimate disk team face off.

From 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 30. sdgrowlers.com

15498 Espola Rd., Poway. The worldrenowned autism spokeswoman and livestock consultant will highlight the bond between animals and the autistic community. Proceeds benefit Tender Loving Canines Assistance Dogs, Inc. At 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 27. $30-$150.

858-748-0505, powaycenter.com

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS

HArtist Talk: Resonance at Sparks Gallery, 530 6th Ave., Gaslamp. Artists from the all-abstracts group show will talk about their work and techniques.

Artists include Edwin Nutting, Danielle Nelisse, Leah Pantea, Lenore Simon and more. From 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28. Free. 619-696-1416, sparksgallery.com

HAn Evening with Temple Grandin at Poway Center for the Performing Arts,

HBikes on Tap at Breakwater Brewing Co., 101 N Coast Hwy, Oceanside. The

San Diego County Bike Coalition hosts this monthly bike-in happy hour event to get biking residents involved in their communities and discuss bike projects planned for that specific community.

From 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28.

Free. 760-433-6064, sdbikecoalition.org

THEATER HSan Diego Student Shakespeare Festival at El Prado Promenade, Balboa Park, Balboa Park. Teams of students from city and county schools will perform 10-minute scenes from Shakespeare on outdoor stages along the El Prado pedestrian promenade. From 12:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 30.

Free. sandiegoshakespearesociety.org

WORKSHOPS HArt Alive Floral Demonstration at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Part of Art Alive, this floral demonstration is led by Kika Shibata, a renowned instructor of Sogetsu Ikebana—the avant-garde form of the Japanese art of flower arranging. From 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 30. $25-$50.

619-232-7931, sdmart.org Kombucha 101 at Sleep Bedder, 2855 El Cajon Blvd., Ste. #4, North Park. Come learn to brew your favorite, gut-friendly, fermented beverage with the pros from Edible Alchemy. Includes an organic meal by Dobraya Dasha. From 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, May. 4. $30. 619-8927412, sleepbeddernorthpark.com

POLITICS & COMMUNITY HDistrict 3 Candidates Debate at Moniker Warehouse, 705 16th St., East Village. Anthony Bernal and Chris Ward, who are vying to replace Todd Gloria on the San Diego City Council, will discuss urban issues, such as parking, homelessness and new developments. At 6 p.m.

Thursday, April 28. Free. facebook.com/ events/1742656242613436/

SPECIAL EVENTS Bloom Bash at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. SDMA’s signature fundraiser and annual exhibition features floral interpretations of famous works of art from SDMA’s permanent collection from over 100 floral artists. From 7 p.m. to midnight. Friday, April 29. $200$250. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org HFiesta del Mar at Imperial Beach Pier Plaza, Seacoast Drive, Imperial Beach.

This family-friendly fest will showcase live music, art and entertainment from both the Rosarito and San Diego areas, interactive family activities, and Baja food and wine. From noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 30. Free. imperialbeachca. gov/FiestadelMar HSpring Arts and Crafts Fair at Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market, 4765 Voltaire St., Ocean Beach. Co-op memberowners will showcase and sell their handmade wares. Items include a unique selection of jewelry, pottery, scarves and bags, trinkets, magnets, soaps, candles, stained glass and much more. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 30. Free. 619-2241387, obpeoplesfood.coop Bella Italia at the Bay at Spanish Landing Park, North Harbor Dr., Downtown.

The public is invited to come and get an up-close view of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis and other exceptional cars.

This free event will feature live music, vendors and a silent auction. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30. Free. focsandiego.com HSummer Bazaar at Sparks Gallery, 530 6th Ave., Gaslamp. Shop for new jewelry and small works by local artists. Includes a live painting demo by Gloria Muriell and vendors such as Alexandra Hart, Bette Barnett, Bri Anderson, Eva Zuzu, Penny Sparkle Designs, among others. From 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May. 1. Free. 619-6961416, sparksgallery.com/events/summerbazaar-2016 Carlsbad Village Faire at Carlsbad Village, Grand Ave., Carlsbad. The largest one-day street fair in the nation stretches 14 blocks and includes over 800(!) vendors. Takes place on Grand Avenue from Carlsbad Boulevard to Jefferson Street.

#SDCityBeat

April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

Ashley DeHoyos

Culture | Art

Amanda Cachia speaking at her custom podium created by Nicolas Bourriaud t’s surprising, at first, to hear Amanda Cachia emphasize she’s part of a disabled class. Sure, she’s a little person, but by no means does this seem to disable her. She has a brilliant mind, functioning limbs and a discerning pair of eyes when it comes to contemporary art.

She’s curated more than 30 art exhibitions all around the world, has two master’s degrees from prestigious institutions and is finishing her Ph.D. dissertation at UC San Diego. Why would a woman so clearly capable of great things go out of her way to point out she’s disabled?

“I’m physically disabled, but it’s according to the social model of disability which means that society disables me,” says Cachia, who has a rare form of dwarfism called brachyolmia. She is quick to point out there are hundreds of different kinds of dwarfism. “I’m not medically disabled where a doctor would say, ‘We have to fix you,’ but in the social model where we believe that the world built around us is not built for disabled people…Whether you’re blind or deaf, society is not really open to diverse body types and I relate to that a lot because there are things in the world that are inaccessible to me.”

Despite her stature and society’s limitations, Cachia has made a national name for herself by focusing on disability within the arts. Up until recently, she was the chair of the Dwarf Artists Coalition for Little People of America (she says she left because of the demands of curating and her studies at UCSD) and she’s also on the Committee on Diversity Practices, which is part of the College Art Association. She recently organized a discussion at the group’s national conference titled “Curating Diversity,” and when it comes to showing the work of disabled artists or art that deals in issues of disability, she is very serious about her role as curator.

“I’m often the platform for these artist’s talents and I take that role very seriously,” Cachia says. “That’s a huge responsibility.”

She grew up Wollongong, a coastal city in Australia, south of Sydney. After attending the University of Wollon-

18 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

gong for graphic design, she worked in Wollongong City Gallery, but knew she wanted more for herself. She moved to London to get her master’s in Creative Curating and then to New York City and later to Regina, Saskatchewan, where she started working at the Dunlop Art Gallery.

After she left her family back in Australia, Cachia says she had to “learn how to be dependent on herself. She’s never been afraid to ask for what she wants. Cachia tapped big name artists like Kara Walker, Rodney Graham and Ghada Amer to come to Regina. “If you want something, just go up to the front door and ask for it,” she says. “If you don’t ask for what you want, you’ll get run over.”

Before moving to San Diego in 2012, Cachia made one more stop in San Francisco in 2010 to get her second master’s in Visual & Critical Studies at the California College of the Arts. That’s where she really developed her interest in artistically exploring disability.

She decided to focus on this more when she moved to San Diego to get her Ph.D. from UCSD in Art History, Theory and Criticism.

Despite all the work that comes with school and writing a dissertation on the “intersection of disability, phenomenology, and contemporary art,” Cachia says she still wanted to curate shows. Her first local show in 2014 at Space 4 Art in East Village was a photography show called Composing Dwarfism: Reframing Short Stature in Contemporary Photography. Last year, she did a body-focused show called The Flesh of the World in Toronto, as well as a show at UCSD’s gallery@calit2 space that focused on deafness.

For Sweet Gongs Vibrating, which opened at the San Diego Art Institute in March, and will be up through May 28, Cachia took a more indirect look on the larger theme of disability. The multi-artist exhibition focuses on multisen-

sory art that isn’t wholly dependent on vision and relies more on sound, touch and even smell.

“While in the past I’ve had art work that addresses disability, for this one, I wasn’t trying to bang people over the head with it,” Cachia says. “To be a little more careful with my language, because there’s still so much stigma and ghettoization when it comes to the d-word.”

Cachia adds that these stigmas are often more about people’s fears of “bodies that are different.”

“There’s so much nervousness and anxiety and fear around different bodies,” Cachia says. “You can say that disability is the last bastion of minority groups that haven’t ryan gambrell achieved full equality. It’s getting a lot better, obviously, but I think we’re still behind even things like the gay rights movement.”

Asked for an example, Cachia says things like dwarf tossing is still considered acceptable, and that it was only recently that New York passed a law that all cabs had to be wheelchair accessible. She addresses these issues by going to speak at universities and conferences where she’s not Amanda Cachia only known for being very open to any questions people want to ask, but also for her own collapsible, custom-made podium that she wheels out on stage and sets up in front of the audience. She’ll often joke with audiences about her experiences in public bathrooms where she’ll only be able to see a small portion of her body in the mirror.

“I’ll say something like, ‘Oh, the top of my head looks awesome today,’” says Cachia, adding that it serves as a good icebreaker. “I get a lot of people saying things like, ‘Finally, I’m allowed to ask this question.’ Once they get over that fear of asking questions, they get over that fear of disability.”

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Art carolyn ramos

Seen LocaL hot water

“

T

hey’re just trying to clear a hurdle as far as I know and they could care less about what the murals and the theater mean to the citizens of San Diego,” says Bill Coons, executive director of the Save Our Heritage Organization. He’s referring to a report submitted to the city’s Historical Resources Board by technical services company AECOM asking the board not to designate the three murals on the sides of the California Theatre as historic and, therefore, no longer safe from demolition or defacement.

The three Caliente murals were painted in the ’60s to advertise a Mexican racetrack. The murals, as well as the theater (which was built in 1927 but has sat vacant on the corner of 4th and C since the ’90s) have long been a point of contention between real estate developers and preservationists. The owners of the property, the Beverly Hills-based Sloan Capital Partners, LLC, want to build a multiunit residential building. While the theater itself has been designated by the city as historic, AECOM’s new report contends that the murals on the theater do not fall into the parameters of HRB’s criteria for historic designation. The HRB staff concurred with the report and plans to have a meeting at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, to hear from AECOM and decide the mural’s fate.

“The whole report is kind of a botched amateur report. They’re paid to make sure that the developer gets his way,” says Coons, claiming that the AECOM report, among other things, misrepresented the painting technique used for the mural, which could help distinguish it as historic. SOHO’s website also quotes AECOM’s own website which states that the company’s agenda is “managing historic preservation processes and moving the project forward, re-

Caliente mural gardless of the challenges.”

Reached by email, senior planner and HRB liaison Kelly Stanco says that the board has done its due diligence.

“That [AECOM] report found the signs ineligible for designation,” Stanco says. “Staff reviewed the report and the designation file for the California Theatre, conducted a site visit and ultimately concurred with the conclusion of the consultant’s analysis.”

Coons encourages anyone who cares about the murals to sign the group’s change.org petition and to write to Stanco and/or to their city councilmember.

He’s also encouraging supporters to show up at the HRB meeting on Thursday to voice their concerns.

Stanco added that it’s a possibility the board “takes action” on Thursday. If they decide the murals will not be historically designated, Coons says SOHO still has legal recourse.

“They’ll get a letter from our attorney reminding them it’s still significant under CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] and they still have to treat it that way for purposes of their Environmental Impact Report. And we’ll submit it to the state for designation and to the National Register of Historic Places,” Coons says. “We’re going to do everything we can to protect the murals and the theater. This is only the first shot across the bow.”

—Seth Combs

SO LONG, MUSIC CITY

“

T

o be honest, I don’t even know what we’re going out it’s ephemera, which is a word I didn’t even know to do,” says Josh Pavlick as he glances over the existed. I just thought it was basically crap.” piles of posters, art work and random memoraCrap or not, Solis plans to sort it out and create bilia he and curator Mindy Solis are sorting through an installation that resembles a vintage “kid’s bedin the back of the Helmuth Projects space in Bankers room.” At the opening, there will be musical perHill. “It’s just a treasure trove seth combs formances from Jack Name of weird, cool stuff.” and White Magic among the Among the piles are vintage ephemera. What’s more, the wrestling and black-light postMisc BS show will also mark ers, as well as countless picthe beginning of the end for tures and promotional materiHelmuth Projects, at least in als for ’60s and ’70s rock bands. its current form. Pavlick says Pavlick and Solis are sorting he’ll have two more shows through all of it to find items over the next few months, but for Misc BS, a new Helmuth isn’t sure what he’ll do with show opening Saturday, April the space after that.

30, at 7 p.m. All of the items are Until then, he’s content from Mike Millsap, owner of helping Solis sort through the neighboring Tasha’s Music Josh Pavlick, Mindy Solis and Mike Millsap all of Millsap’s collection in City store, which has the disorder to find the weird, cool tinction of being the oldest record shop in San Diego stuff they’ll need for the show. And while they both (it’s been around since the ’60s). While the store has seem a little bummed about Millsap closing shop, the moved several times over the years, Millsap cites the man himself says it’s time. rising cost of rent and his own health as the main rea“I don’t consider it bittersweet, because this desons he recently decided to close for good. He says cision has been years in the making,” says Millsap, he has two storage units filled with records and other who plans on enjoying retirement while also trying things he’s collected over the years. to sell some of the stuff he’s collected over the years.

“I just kept stuff because I thought, ‘Well, let’s not “I’ve lounged around that store for a year saying I’ve get rid of this,’” says the 67-year-old Millsap. “Turns got to get out. It’s overdue.”

—Seth Combs

#SDCityBeat

April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

Culture | Voices

ryan bradford

well that was

awkward

San Diego writers vs. Los Angeles: a battle fought in seven rounds

R

yan vs. Los Angeles is a seven-round battle in which Our Hero goes toe-to-toe against the City of Angels. In the event of no clear victory, L.A. wins by default, regardless of relevance, logic or reason.

Round 1: The Association of Writers & Programs conference (or AWP) is like Comic-Con for writers, but much more polite and slightly less farty. Every year, thousands of writers descend upon a predetermined city to sell/buy books, attend panels and get drunk to the capacity that only depressed writers can.

The conference is in Los Angeles, and I’m attending with So Say We All, the San Diego literary nonprofit where I act as creative director and publisher of literary horror journal Black Candies—just one of SSWA’s publications.

We load my little Toyota Corolla with boxes of books and drive north. It’s a two-hour journey, but it takes us five hours to get there because...well you’ve driven to L.A. (Winner: L.A.) Round 2: The Omni hotel in downtown Los Angeles is an exquisite example of the dangers that lie beneath L.A.’s alluring exterior.

For one, it charges $49 a night to park your car in the garage. I bring this up in conversation all weekend long. Nobody wants to hear about our hotel’s parking situation, but I can’t stop myself.

I find an overnight parking garage that only charges $16 for every 24 hours. I’ve never been so happy to pay $48 for parking. (Winner: Ryan?)

Round 3: There are hundreds of tables in the Los Angeles Convention Center—all occupied by niche presses, college journals, authors, you name it. Literary prowess and social anxiety as far as the eye can see.

So Say We All’s table happens to be located right next to a publisher that had previously solicited me for my work and then never responded after I sent it to them—pretty much the same as writer “ghosting.”

I introduce myself anyway, because after all, we’re going to be neighbors for the next three days.

Let’s get neighborly. We shake hands. Pretty sure she recognizes my name. We spend the rest of the conference not making eye contact. (Winner: L.A.) Round 4: The cafeteria in the convention center sells a single slice of pizza for $7. (Winner: L.A., overwhelmingly) Round 5: I get sick on the second day of the conference. Actually, it’s more like getting re-sick. I’ve had this cough for roughly a month, but the previous night’s whiskey intake turned out to be nary as medicinal as I had drunkenly convinced myself.

It takes two types of cold medicines, a pain reliever and some fizzy vitamin C drink and an expensive-ass cup of regular coffee (from The OM-

MMNNI, [pronounced like “KHAAAN”]) to make me feel human enough to man So Say We All’s table.

But, damn, it works. The enthusiasm I muster to sell books—paired with my bloodshot eyes, swollen face, and old-man cough—is only slightly frightening. (Winner: Ryan) Round 6: There’s an offsite party at The Standard hotel, which is anything but standard due to the purposely upside-down signage on the front of the building. Whoa! Crazy!

The Standard’s rooftop looks out on the grandeur of downtown L.A. A movie plays on the side of an adjacent building. Lots of fedoras up here. People snuggle in what can only be described as furniture cocoons. I pay $9 for a beer. This is the most L.A. thing I’ve ever done, I think. I sit with a small group of writers and try to think of things to talk about other than the parking situation at The Omni Hotel. (Winner: L.A.) Round 7: My friend Jake pulls out a box of weed gummies on the third night of the conference, and given the tolls taken on my body and immune system, nothing has made more sense than eating these edibles. Jake distributes the drugs to me, our friend Julia and Adrian, a writer I admire and convinced to hang out with us at The OMMMNNI. Adrian takes us to meet some other esteemed writers at a bar hosting a literary party. The moment I step out of the cab, the drugs kick in and I feel my social skills become sealed behind a coat of gummy anxiety. I beeline to the food table, and eat everyone’s flatbread and chicken wings.

SSWA executive director Justin Hudnall texts, asking where we are. Jake and Julia race to reply with our address. I stare at my phone as their responses fill my screen. Then, thinking it’s the best joke ever, I reply with the same text, but two minutes later. Julia and I laugh until my chest hurts. When Adrian asks what’s so funny, I point to my phone but can’t really explain it. Finally, I say, “It’s funny if you’re high,” to which he responds: “I am high.”

We leave that party to meet Justin, who is at the prestigious PEN Center USA’s party. Weed paranoia sets in and I slink around in the party’s dark periphery until finally resigning myself to the hot dog stand outside. I buy one and ask that they only put guacamole on it. Nearby, I think I see actress Fiona Dourif, star of the most recent Chucky movie (which I really liked). I go back inside to confirm this on my phone, but realize I’m standing in the middle of a fancy party looking at pics of Chucky.

(Winner: Close call, but that guac dog was bomb.

So, Ryan.)

Champion: LA. Always and forever. Winning there is not allowed.

“

Literary prowess and social anxiety as far as the eye can see.

“

20 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Film

Ordinary people

Louder Than Bombs

Norwegian auteur Joachim Trier discusses identity, transition and working in America

N

orwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier has a situation of a soldier returning from the conflicts knack for tackling difficult subject matter that the U.S. has been involved in during the last 15 with a delicate touch. His first two films— years. I thought it would be interesting to talk about Reprise and Oslo, August 31st—are intimate dramas a journalist in that way.

CB: Devin Druid plays Conrad, a disaffected teen about confused young people who must confront the realities of disappointment in order to survive. whose rage has real world consequences, but not the Their experiences with suicide, depression and rage ones you might expect. What was your approach toward crafting this complex of a character? are handled in the most nuanced of ways.

JT: There are a lot of negative preconceptions Trier’s third effort, titled Louder than Bombs (his first in English) takes place in upstate New York about gamer kids, and it’s a generational thing. and Manhattan. It closely examines the personal We’re talking about millions of children who play relationships of an upper middle class family at- online and develop friendships. Both Devin and I tempting to collectively reconcile a deepening past didn’t want to judge and speak negatively of them, trauma. More specifically, the film strives to uncover simply because they aren’t doing exactly what we the way secrets are passed on between generations, expect in terms of social life. They have formed this community online, and there’s and how stagnation eventually a lot of fun and creativity going sets in when communication on there. breaks down. In our social melouder than We also play with these clidia age, where access has bechés, our worry about the introcome paramount, this presents bombs vert teenager and what terrible a fascinating opportunity for Directed by Joachim Trier rage can happen or could be at self-reflection.

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, play in a young life like that.

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Gabriel Byrne, Devin Druid Ultimately I’m interested in huGabriel Byrne and Isabelle manist stories, and having a bit Huppert, among others, the film and Isabelle Huppert of faith in people. I also think feels like a throwback ensemble Rated R there’s a portrait of a young artpiece, one that refuses to sugarist in Conrad’s story, someone coat or demonize its characters’ who actually has a creative inpersonal quagmires. CityBeat had the privilege of speaking with Joachim Trier clination, but just hasn’t found an outlet, yet.

CB: Many of the characters in Louder Than over the phone from Norway about his shift to an American setting, non-judgmental storytelling and Bombs and your previous film Oslo, August 31st are torn between roles and expectations. What about what it means to wrestle with transition.

CityBeat: Do you think Louder Than Bombs ad- this struggle interests you as a filmmaker? dresses experiences that are particularly American?

JT: The idea of family life versus ambition is Joachim Trier: In a way, we are dealing with something that many people struggle with on a daily universal themes in the film. There’s the element of basis. I think in America and Norway, we are very parent/child relationships, how delayed experienc- alike. What you do well defines who you are. It’s es of grief impact all members of a family. But more what gives you meaning. specifically, how these men try to move forward, This brings up existential questions of choice. even when the ghost of the their matriarch still lin- For instance, how do we create meaning in our lives? gers around. The idea of who she was still remains Why are we forced to have one identity even when unanswered. it’s still so fleeting? Memory is also a major theme in When you start exploring a family setting in New the film. How come we remember these things that York it becomes interesting to look at the specifics we’ve done together so differently? The film plays of American high school life and the photojournalist around with these various interpretations. That environment in New York. On another level, there is whole idea of identity not being fixed, but being a also the coming home story of the mother Isabelle (played by Huppert); instead of the more classical film CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

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April 27, 2016 • San Diego CityBeat · 21

22 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

#SDCityBeat

Culture | Film alism toward family and career but aren’t prepared for the realities inherent to those situations.

Whether it’s your vision of what a great marriage looks like or the idealism of a job, you don’t really know until you’re there, in the thick of it. And that’s life.

Louder Than Bombs opens on Friday, April 29, at the Ken Cinema.

fluid thing, interests me a lot.

CB: Louder Than Bombs feels more stylistically impressionistic than your previous work. Why use slow motion, dream sequences and non-linear editing for this particular story?

JT: I’m very much interested in how form creates emotion, how we get closer to characters by making formal choices as storytellers, rather than just shooting people walking into a room and talking to each other. There’s a whole different journey going on when you’re able to experience characters’ memories, what they are thinking subjectively, their dreams and different per-

#SDCityBeat

ceptions. I think that’s a playful, fun way of making movies.

CB: Isabelle (Huppert) and Jonah (Eisenberg) both struggle with avoidance when it comes to major transitions in life. Why is this struggle so powerful for them?

JT: It’s human nature, my friend, to be afraid of the major changes that come. What scares the shit out of people, including myself, are the transitional moments, yet we strive for them at the same time. It’s the paradox of moving forward and growing older. Hopefully we get a little wiser with the years. In Jonah’s case, what he’s dealing with is very much a parallel to his mother— they both feel this sense of ide-

Mother’s Day: Spare your mothers and skip this one.

Pali Road: Upon waking up from a violent car accident, a young doctor finds herself living a life she doesn’t remember.

Opens on Friday, April 29, at the AMC La Jolla Cinemas.

Film reviews run weekly.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

Papa Hemingway in Cuba: Adrian Sparks plays the legendary author who befriends a young writer while living in late 1950s Cuba.

Opening

Ratchet and Clank: This animated children’s film tells the story of a mechanic and his newfound robot ally who battle a nefarious space captain in order to save the world.

Joachim Trier (right) on the set of Louder Than Bombs

film CONTINUED from PAGE 21

Louder Than Bombs: Gabriel Bryne, Jesse Eisenberg and Isabelle Hupper star in this drama about a family coming to grips with the death of their matriarch.

This is the first English-language film by Norwegian Joachim Trier.

6th Annual Spring Showcase: San Diego Asian Film Festival showcases 14 film programs from 10 countries including the opening night presentation of The Music of Strangers, a documentary about Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. Opens Thursday, April 28 and runs through Thursday, May 5, at the Ultrastar Mission Valley Cinemas.

El Clan: Set during the early 1980s in Argentina, Pablo Trapero’s thriller revolves around the crimes perpetrated by Arquimedes Puccio, who kidnapped wealthy men and women and held them for ransom. Screens through Thursday, May 5, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Green Room: A young punk band is stalked by neo-Nazis after performing at a lowly country bar.

Keanu: Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele play two friends who hatch a plan to retrieve a stolen kitten from a street gang.

Sky: A French woman (Diane Kruger) experiences a reawakening while traveling through the American west. Screens through Thursday, May 5, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Take Me to the River: A teenager from California travels to Nebraska for a family reunion and gets a rude awakening.

The Meddler: Susan Sarandon plays an aging widow who follows her daughter (Rose Byrne) to Los Angeles in the hopes of starting a new life.

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

April 27, 2016 • San Diego CityBeat · 23

Music

andrew paynter

cago commissioned the band to compose an original suite based on their ties to the city’s jazz and improvised music scenes.

After expanding their sound with the addition of two sax players, piano/synth, flute and cello for the gig, the original idea was to record the new material with guests inosquito. That’s the name since 2001, the band further solidifies the cluded. So they did. But it didn’t stick.

“We came to the realization that it was Chicago post-rock pioneers constantly growing parallel to their curcool,” says McEntire. “But it wasn’t us. It Tortoise went by at the begin- rent moniker.

“There’s a lot of evolution to our compo- was something else entirely. That’s anothning of their career. Not exactly an image that conjures the longevity and sitions,” drummer/producer John McEntire er reason why when we finally did decide sturdiness that’s been synonymous with tells CityBeat, in a phone interview from his to re-record that stuff, it took quite a bit of the genre-defying instrumental quintet for Chicago home. “People will ask, ‘Why did it thinking about how to make it our own.”

They also resurrected an idea from the take you so long to make this record?’ Well, nearly a quarter-century.

2004 album, It’s All Around You, for the But with the January release of The to be honest, it’s because we write these Catastrophist, the first Tortoise album in songs at least a couple of times before we steady, funk chugging of “Hot Coffee” and decided to put their own unique spin on nearly seven years and only their third get them anywhere near to being done.”

And that’s just for starters. The genesis the David Essex ’73 pop for most of the tracks on The Catastrophist hit “Rock On.” It’s a lengthy and comcame in 2010 when the city of Chiplex process. For every song that gets a second chance, there are dozens that end up on the scrap heap. Unfinished but satisfactory compositions can wait in the queue for decades, sitting in limbo until necessity or nostalgia calls them back. But when the philosophy of a band centers on pushing boundaries and expanding sounds, things are just going to take a little longer. Also, McEntire is aware there are certain penalties for being so meticulous.

“We have this phrase we always use with each other,” he says. “It’s like, ‘We’re really doing way too much work here.’ And it’s true.

We loved that record we did with Will Oldham (The Brave & The Bold). But we were all like, ‘Holy shit! All you need is a singer and you can make a three-chord song and everybody likes it.’”

Despite only occasionally having lyrics to help with a song’s emotional cues or narrative, Tortoise is also battling a logistics problem. Cofounder John Herndon and longtime member Jeff Parker left the Midwest for Los Angeles a few years From left: John McEntire, Doug McCombs, John Herndon, Dan Bitney and Jeff Parker ago. So without overt po-

24 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

etry or the ability to literally put their heads together without jumping on a plane, how do they find succinct ways to add emotionality or a narrative arc to the music?

“That’s a tough one,” says McEntire.

“It’s not something that we really ever discuss. I think we just try to let things evolve to a certain point and then once it becomes kind of apparent there’s a feel developing, it’s a matter of trying to harness that and see what can be done to make it more interesting. But it’s hard to say. We just do our thing. We’re never really explicitly working towards some goal.”

Not that any Tortoise song is ever really done. With all of the changes it takes to just get the songs onto a record, many of them continue changing through their life on stage with the band and beyond, taking on a new identity distinctly different than the recorded version. Each song seems to have its own story of how it had to fight, live and have some serendipity in play to see the light of day.

But through the continued process, the band has amassed a collection of compositions that have survived their rigorous scrutiny. Tortoise also recently revitalized their once stagnant playlist, a move McEntire knew would bring benefit to both the band and their fans.

“It’s been wonderful,” he says. “I think we now have about 35 tunes in rotation.

Which means we always play a different set every night. And now we can make them really different. And if we happen to play somewhere two nights in a row, we can do it without overlapping. And I think people really enjoy that.”

Tortoise will get plenty of opportunities to prove that theory, as their current tour continues through North America and Europe until July. After that, the long process of what the band will do next begins.

“We haven’t talked about anything specifically,” says McEntire. “But I know that everybody’s really enjoying this, and the process of making the last record, too. I think the main thing that we’d really like to do is just be more consistent in terms of getting stuff out, at least more than once every seven years.” He laughs. “Everyone’s into it right now, so I think it’s the thing to do.”

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#SDCityBeat

April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO JEFF TERICH

O

ff the Record is closing. The record shop announced via Facebook that it would be closing its doors after 11 years of business in its North Park location (2912 University Ave.). Previously, it was located on Fifth Avenue in Hillcrest since 1989, after opening in the College Area in 1978. For owner Curt Peterson, the decision came down to numbers.

“There was just not enough income and too many expenses,” he says in a phone interview. “It just caught up with us. We bounced back when vinyl did, and did OK from 2010 to 2015, but our night business has pretty much dropped.”

Off the Record will be open until May 1, and in its final week will be selling off inventory at 20 to 50 percent off. Once the closure is final, Peterson says he has no immediate future plans to start up a new venture.

“For me, I’m just going to take it easy for a while,” he says. “Most employees I’ve had for a long time.

It’s an emotional thing for everyone. They’ve been through a lot.”

Off The Record As the local retail institution faces its final days after 38 years, Peterson has kind words for its clientele, who remained loyal despite the changing music retail economy.

“There’s a good amount of still loyal customers,” he says. “They’re great. I just can’t compete with online stuff. I just want to thank everyone who supported us over the years.”

—Jeff Terich

SAN DIEGO PAYS TRIBUTE TO PRINCE

Craig Oliver, Volar Records: “Prince’s performance of ‘Purple Rain’ in the film of the same name ast week pop music icon Prince died at the age is a giant moment, and for me, the single greatest of 57, bringing a sad and unexpected end to a music moment in film history. When he finally plays massive music legacy. In light of his passing, we the song (which in the film is credited to the women asked people in the music scene about their reflec- in his band), it’s an ultimate moment of vulnerability, redemption, catharsis and tions on his life and music.

HERB RITTS transcendence, a spiritual Jenny Merullo, Sledrebirth in song that will fording With Tigers: “Prince ever bring me to tears every was easily one of the greattime I watch it.” est guitar players of all time, Tim Pyles, 91X: “The and that’s not even what he closest I ever got to the man did best. I can’t think of was in 1999 when I was able anyone who compares.” to attend the MTV Music Pat Erhard, Ash WilVideo Awards. I remember liams: “In the insane turgoing to a random club to moil of my childhood, one see Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, thing that would always but when the band was done keep my little brother and the club transformed into an myself happy was sitting urban oasis of hip-hop and in the outward facing seats R&B. It was past 2 a.m., and of my mom’s station wagon I turn around to see Prince and singing, ‘When Doves Prince and Lenny Kravitz sitting in Cry’ at the top of our lungs. a booth together. I’d like to Prince gave me music when I needed it the most.” say I sat down and joined them in conversation, but Nats Babel, Chica Diabla: “Growing up in Min- the security guards discouraged me. Oh well, the moneapolis, Prince is omnipresent, and I had the for- ment was still magical.” tune of delivering pizzas to his house and Paisley Drew Andrews, Bit Maps: “Prince possessed Park for my first job. I saw him all the time out and the singular gift of merging low and dirty freak with about, as he is woven into the fabric of my home- a high-art aesthetic—summoning foreign worlds of town. As far as musical artists go, there was Prince sound in his songwriting by his multi-instrumentaland then there was everybody else.” ist capabilities. There are few artists left who comBrian Ellis, Brian Ellis’ Reflection: “It’s still mand, or care about, such risky things. Saying he’ll hard for me to accept that he’s gone from this plan- be missed seems cheap and tawdry.” et. His master musicianship and integrity have always been an endless source of inspiration for me.

—Jeff Terich The world just lost one of the greatest to ever do it.”

L

26 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Music

Jeff Terich

If I were u A music insider’s weekly agenda Wednesday, April 27

PLAN A: Har Mar Superstar, White Fang, Rig 1 @ The Casbah. My favorite story about Har Mar Superstar involves an ill-fated Strokes show at 4th and B (R.I.P.) at which Julian Casablancas was too drunk to sing. So Har Mar took over. It’s just as well—the man’s a soulful badass. PLAN B: Humans, Colour Vision, Astral Touch @ Soda Bar. Humans isn’t the most memorable name in the world, just slightly better than The Men. But the Vancouver group’s electronic pop will definitely capture your attention. They’re all about the subtle, sexy, atmospheric dance jams.

Thursday, April 28

PLAN A: Modern Funk Fest w/ Psychic Mirrors, Brian Ellis’ Reflection @ TilTwo Club. I profiled eclectic Escondido musician Brian Ellis in our Local Music Issue last month, and if you’re not familiar with his music yet, there’s a lot to dive into. He’ll be playing some synth-driven

28 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

funk with Brian Ellis’ Reflection and will be joined by Miami groovemeisters Psychic Mirrors. PLAN B: Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Seratones @ Belly Up Tavern. Thao Nguyen has been playing well-written, melodic indie rock for more than a decade, and since fleshing out the sound with her band The Get Down Stay Down, her anthems have only grown bigger. BACKUP PLAN: Susan, Flatworms, Vyper Skwad @ The Hideout.

sometimes leans a little heavy on the conspiracy theories, and his politics can be bludgeoning, but you can’t ignore the fire he brings to his verses. This is intense, engaging hip-hop. BACKUP PLAN: Radio Moscow, Harsh Toke, Slow Season, DJ Mario Rubalcaba @ Til-Two Club.

Saturday, April 30

PLAN A: Cigarettes After Sex, Hexa, Angels Dust @ The Hideout. Another night of synth-driven weirdness! Cigarettes After Sex are dark, but not necessarily in the beat-driven dance floor menace kind of way. They’re slow, somber and stunning. PLAN B: Flatbush Zombies @ Observatory North Park. Flatbush Zombies do hip-hop with a heavy psychedelic aesthetic, which probably comes as a result of heavy consumption of psychedelic drugs. Whatever your choice of

Friday, April 29 PLAN A: Body of Light, High Functioning Flesh, Nylon Apartments, DJ Jon Blaj @ The Hideout. Synth-pop outfit Body of Light have a sinister melodic sound that exists in the meeting place between darkwave, coldwave and new wave, with a little old-school industrial for good measure. Dress in black and be ready to slink across the dance floor. PLAN B: Immortal Technique, Big C.A.E., No1MC @ Observatory North Park. Immortal Technique

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down

chemical, they’ve got some great, trippy beats. BACKUP PLAN: Pleasure Fix, Hand of Gavrilo, Dexter Riley Xperiment, Omni @ Soda Bar.

Sunday, May 1 PLAN A: Scott H. Biram, Jesse Dayton @ The Casbah. A guitar-pluckin’ badass in the outlaw country tradition, Scott H. Biram does his Americana with a chaser of whiskey and cigarettes. It’s roots music with more than its share of bruises.

Monday, May 2

PLAN A: The Subways, Pins @ The Casbah. The UK’s Subways have been around a pretty long time, but with meaty guitar hooks like theirs I’m glad to know they’re still going strong.

Tuesday, May 3

PLAN A: Tortoise, Fell Runner @ Belly Up Tavern. Read Scott McDonald’s feature this week on Chicago post-rock icons Tortoise, whose new album The Catastrophist represents another bold new chapter in their artistic evolution. PLAN B: Explosions in the Sky, Disappears @ Observatory North Park. Or perhaps you prefer your post-rock a bit more climactic and less based in subtle grooves. Explosions in the Sky is the band that should scratch that itch, with big crescendos and dramatic instrumentals. BACKUP PLAN: Dungen, Boogarins @ The Casbah.

#SDCityBeat

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

‘Hardcore Matinee’ w/ Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place, Octagrape, Mrs. Magician (Bar Pink, 5/15), Budos Band (BUT, 6/3), Junior Brown (BUT, 6/5), Armored Saint, Metal Church (Brick

by Brick, 6/5), The Gory Details (Casbah, 6/6), Federico Aubele (Casbah, 6/20), Venom Inc. (Brick by Brick, 6/25), Deerhoof (Casbah, 7/14), We Are Scientists (House of Blues Voodoo Room, 7/15), Nails (Brick by Brick, 7/20), People Under the Stairs (BUT, 8/4), The Weight: Members of the Band/Levon Helm Band (BUT, 8/18), Kraftwerk (Balboa Theatre, 9/16), Tegan and Sara (Observatory, 9/25), Cyndi Lauper (Humphreys, 10/3).

GET YER TICKETS Beach Slang (Casbah, 5/6), Four Tet (Music Box, 5/8), X, Los Lobos, Blasters (Observatory, 5/8), Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires (Observatory, 5/12), Beyonce (Qualcomm Stadium, 5/12), Pennywise (Observatory, 5/13-15), Aesop Rock (BUT, 5/13), Andrew Bird (Music Box, 5/13), Joseph Arthur (Music Box, 5/17), Titus Andronicus, La Sera (Che Café, 5/20), The Thermals (Soda Bar, 5/20), Frightened Rabbit (BUT, 5/21), Pentagram (Brick by Brick, 5/25), Refused (BUT, 5/30), The Cure (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/30), Modern Base-

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ball, Joyce Manor (HOB, 6/1), Voivod (Brick by Brick, 6/1), ‘X-Fest’ w/ Offspring, Cheap Trick (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 6/5), Case/Lang/Veirs (Humphreys, 6/22), Blue Oyster Cult (BUT, 6/26), Brian Wilson (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 6/30), Ringo Starr and His All Star Band (Humphreys, 7/1), Lady Antebellum (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 7/5), Toad the Wet Sprocket, Rusted Root (Observatory, 7/9), Joan Jett (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 7/9), White Lung (Casbah, 7/9), Widespread Panic (Civic Theatre, 7/12), M. Ward (BUT, 7/12), Wye Oak (Irenic, 7/17), Psychedelic Furs, The Church (Humphreys, 7/19), The Joy Formidable (Irenic, 7/20), Inter Arma (Soda Bar, 7/24), Brand New, Modest Mouse (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/26), Julieta Venegas (HOB, 7/30), Sublime with Rome (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/30), Weezer, Panic!

At the Disco (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/3), Kurt Vile and the Violators (HOB, 8/9), Guns ‘n’ Roses (Qualcomm Stadium, 8/22), Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, Melissa Etheridge (Open Air Theatre, 8/23), Ben Harper (Humphreys, 8/23), Dave Matthews Band (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/26), Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/27), Jackson Browne (Humphreys, 8/29), Deftones (Open Air Theatre, 8/29), Huey Lewis and the News (Humphreys, 9/1), Mana (Viejas Arena, 9/9), Dierks Bentley (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/11), Ray Lamontagne (Open Air Theatre, 9/13), Counting Crows, Rob Thomas (Open Air Theatre, 9/14), Sigur Ros (Copley Symphony Hall, 9/23), The Specials (HOB, 9/26), Ani DiFranco (BUT, 10/2), ZZ Top (Humphreys, 10/4), Kamasi Washington (Humphreys, 10/7), Florida Georgia Line (Sleep Train Am-

phitheatre, 10/9), Jethro Tull (Balboa Theatre, 10/17), Tracy Morgan (Humphreys, 10/20), Peter Hook and the Light (HOB, 11/8).

APRIL WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 Har Mar Superstar at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, APRIL 28 Thao & the Get Down Stay Down at Belly Up Tavern.

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

SATURDAY, APRIL 30 Flatbush Zombies at Observatory North Park. 36 Crazyfists at Brick by Brick.

Joe Mande at The Casbah.

MAY SUNDAY, MAY 1 Chris Stapleton at Humphreys (sold out). Puscifer at Copley Symphony Hall.

MONDAY, MAY 2 The Subways at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, MAY 3 Tortoise at Belly Up Tavern. Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds at Soda Bar. Explosions in the Sky at Observatory North Park.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

FRIDAY, MAY 13

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 Crystal Bowersox at House of Blues.

Explosions in the Sky at Observatory North Park. Kool Keith at The Casbah.

FRIDAY, MAY 6 Violent Femmes at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Beach Slang at The Casbah. Jim Bruer at Observatory North Park. Voodoo Glow Skulls at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, MAY 7 So Hideous, Bosse-de-Nage at The Merrow. Torche at The Hideout. The Slackers at Music Box. Lily and Madeleine at The Loft at UCSD.

SUNDAY, MAY 8 Four Tet at Music Box. The Residents Present Shadowlands at Belly Up Tavern. X, Los Lobos, Blasters at Observatory North Park.

TUESDAY, MAY 10

Wild Belle at The Casbah (sold out).

THURSDAY, MAY 12

30 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

SUNDAY, MAY 15 Pennywise at Observatory North Park.

‘Hardcore Matinee’ w/ Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place, Octagrape, Mrs. Magician at Bar Pink.

TUESDAY, MAY 17 Tech N9ne at Observatory North Park.

Joseph Arthur at Music Box.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18 King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at Soda Bar. Yuna at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MAY 19 Wreckless Eric at The Hideout.

FRIDAY, MAY 20

SATURDAY, MAY 21

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11

Qualcomm

Kris Allen at Music Box. Pennywise at Observatory North Park.

Titus Andronicus, La Sera at Che Café.

The Thermals at Soda Bar.

Bear Mountain at The Casbah.

at

Steel Panther at House of Blues. Andrew Bird at Music Box. Aesop Rock at Belly Up Tavern. Pennywise at Observatory North Park.

SATURDAY, MAY 14

THURSDAY, MAY 5 Mariachi El Bronx at Belly Up Tavern.

Fear Factory at Brick by Brick. Givers at The Casbah.

Beyonce

EZRA SHAW

Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires at Observatory North Park.

Stadium.

Iron Butterfly at Music Box. Soulfly at Brick by Brick. Jewel at Humphreys by the Bay. Frightened Rabbit at Belly Up Tavern. Dreams Made Flesh at The Hideout. Father at Observatory North Park. ‘In-

Beyoncé—May 12 at Qualcomm Stadium Ko-Pah 3’ w/ Three Mile Pilot, Shady Francos, Madly at Desert View Tower.

SUNDAY, MAY 22 Idlewild at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, MAY 24 Son Little at The Casbah.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 Pentagram at Brick by Brick.

THURSDAY, MAY 26 Anti-Nowhere League at Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, MAY 27

Gary Wilson at Brick by Brick. Lumineers at Open Air Theatre (sold out).

Insane Clown Posse at House of Blues.

D.O.A. at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, MAY 28 U.S. Girls at Soda Bar. Upsilon Acrux at The Hideout. Dillinger Four at The Casbah (sold out).

SUNDAY, MAY 29 Big Black Delta at The Casbah. Brett Dennen at Belly Up Tavern.

MONDAY, MAY 30 The Cure at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

Refused at Belly Up Tavern.

Moderat at Observatory North Park.

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MUSIC TUESDAY, MAY 31 Leon Russell at Belly Up Tavern. The Hush Sound at The Casbah.

JUNE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1 Voivod at Brick by Brick. Modern Baseball, Joyce Manor at House of Blues.

Local H at Belly Up Tavern.

THURSDAY, JUNE 2 Yeasayer at Observatory North Park.

Brian Jonestown Massacre at Belly Up Tavern.

FRIDAY, JUNE 3 Broncho at The Casbah. Anvil at Brick

by Brick. Budos Band at Belly Up Tavern.

SATURDAY, JUNE 4 The Obsessed at Brick by Brick. Thrice at House of Blues (sold out). So So Glos at Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, JUNE 5 Eric Bachmann at Soda Bar. ‘X-Fest’ w/ Offspring, Cheap Trick at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. Armored Saint, Metal Church at Brick by Brick. Junior Brown at Belly Up Tavern.

MONDAY, JUNE 6 The Gory Details at The Casbah.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., San Diego. Pacific Beach. Wed: Pet Tigers. Thu: Pet Tigers. Fri: Thicker Than Thieves, Perro Bravo, Animo Cruz. Sat: Jay Allan & the Uncommon Good, Elektric Voodoo.

Four Tet—May 8 at Music Box Downtown. Fri: Lema. Sat: Reflex.

Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave., San Diego. Ocean Beach. Wed: Thundercocks. Thu: Raggabond. Fri: California Celts. Sat: Temple of the Dad. House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Wed: RAW: Signature, La Ley, The Klub. Fri: Far Out. Sat: Tribal Theory, One Drop, Lea Love. Sun: Hit the Lights, Seaway, Boston Manor, Can’t Swim. Tue: Gin Wigmore, Matthew Santos.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., San Diego. Kensington. Thu: Augie Myers, Action Andy and the Hi-Tones. Sat: Augie Myers, Action Andy and the HiTones.

Moonshine Flats, 344 7th Ave., San Diego. Gaslamp. Sat: Honky Tonk Boombox.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, San Diego. Little Italy. Fri: Jamie Shadowlight. Sun: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

Music Box, 1337 India St., San Diego.

Little Italy. Fri: The Highwayman Show.

Sat: Caravan 2 Cabo.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., San Diego. Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Future Sound’ w/ DJ Jaydean. Thu: ‘Libertine’ w/ DJs Jon Wesley, 1979. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ DJ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJ Karma.

Nate’s Garden Grill, 3120 Euclid Ave., San Diego, City Heights. Thu: Robin Henkel.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: Luxxury, Boys Don’t Disco. Sat: Sirus Hood.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., San Diego.

North Park. Wed: DJ L. Thu: Gone Baby Gone. Fri: DJ @Large.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Jamestown Revival, Aubrie Sellers. Thu: Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Seratones. Fri: Wild Child, Dazed and Confused. Sat: Josh Garrels, Jason Barrows (sold out). Sun: ‘Terminator Too!’. Tue: Tortoise, Fell Runner.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., San Diego. Bay Park. Fri: Media Solution, Mindwards, Vyces. Sat: 36 Crazyfists, Unset, 1001, Thirty 30.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Sat: Flamenco Dinner Show.

Sun: Buena Vista Sundays.

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

Downtown. Thu: Cool Cat Karaoke. Fri: Modern Day Moonshine. Sat: Jason Hanna & The Bullfighters.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, San Diego. Mission Bay. Fri: Javier Cabanillas. Sat: Sacha Boutros. Mon: Palomar College Big Bands.

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

Fri: DJ Rell.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., San Diego.

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Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St., San Diego. Downtown. Wed: The Upshots.

Thu: Len Rainey’s Midnight Players.

Sat: The Counterfeits.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Fri: Three Chord Justice. Sat: Johnny Deadly Trio.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Humans, Colour Vision, Astral Touch. Fri: Wolfwaker, A New Challenger Approaches, I Survive, Sight Unscene. Sat: Pleasure Fix, Hand of Gavrilo, Dexter Riley Xperiment, Omni.

Sun: Fighting Friction, Vulture Culture, Almost Monday. Mon: Tigerman Woah, These Wild Plains, Ted Z and the Wranglers. Tue: Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds, The Heartaches, Cruz Radical.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego. Normal Heights. Thu: King Taylor Project, David Ryan Norgren.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd., Spring Valley. Spring Valley. Thu: Hellflowers, Flames Of Durga, Goldilox and the Bears, Dum Cumpsters. Fri: Vic Viper, Mass Delete, The Grok. Sat: Loud on Mute, The Mongrels. Sun: Let’s Break Up, Naked Naps, Woodruff. Mon: Talia Keys.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: Har Mar Superstar, White Fang, Rig1. Thu: Pepper (sold out). Fri: Zepparella, Bone Scott and

Big Balls. Sat: Joe Mande, Joe Mande, Buckfast Superbee, Furious IV, Diamond Lakes, 3 Iron. Sun: Scott H. Biram, Jesse Dayton. Mon: The Subways, Pins. Tue: Dungen, Boogarins.

The Field, 544 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: Quel Bordel. Sat: Chipp Corderman Band.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Thu: Susan, Vyper Skwad, Flat Worms, DJs Katie Serbian, Chrissy Strothers. Fri: Body of Light, High Functioning Flesh, Nylon Apartments. Sat: Cigarettes After Sex, Hexa, Angels Dust.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Wed: Stenox, Krxspy Krxme, Kallahan. Thu: The Tommy Mitchell Show, The Dirty Diamond, Sometimes Julie. Fri: End Thought, Imagery Machine, Misc. Ailments, Flakes.

Tue: Quiet Life, Wish and the Well, Mike Quinn.

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

North Park. Wed: ‘Through Being Cool’ w/ DJs Derek Hubbard, Steven Oira.

Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘Cool Party Bro’ w/ DJs Heminguey, Ikah Love. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada. Mon: ‘Grand Ole Office: Ryan Adams Edition’. Tue: ‘Trapped’ w/ DJ Ramsey.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Thu: ‘Modern Funk Fest’ w/ Psychic Mirrors, Brian Ellis’ Reflection. Fri: Radio Moscow, Harsh Toke, Slow Season, DJ Mario Rubalcaba. Sat: ‘Sleepwalking’. Sun: Bat Lords, Space Wax, Christ Killer, Doc Hammer, Midnight Eagle.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., San Diego.

Bay Park. Wed: Gino and the Lone Gunmen. Thu: Nathan James and the Rhythm Scratchers. Fri: Clapton Hook.

Sat: Full Strength Funk Band.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Fri: Tightwads, Chango Rey, Los Apaches, DJ Mongo Style.

Sat: Back from the Dead!, Supersonic Dragon Wagon, Condor, Beira. Sun: The Strikers, Sawyer Family Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, San Diego.

South Park. Wed: ‘Cure Night’ w/ Jon Blaj. Thu: VAMP: Minimum Wage. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., San Diego.

Ocean Beach. Wed: Sol Tribe, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: ‘SUBDVSN’. Fri: Midnight North, The Moves. Sat: Fruition. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: The Movement, Iya Terra, Wheeland Bros.

April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

last words | Advice

amy alkon

advice

goddess What you seethe is what you get My boyfriend of a year used to fly into rages. He and his ex had huge, ugly screaming fights. He now uses “mental tricks” to stay calmer. Obviously, rage is a bad thing, but it’s also a passionate thing. Is it crazy to worry that he doesn’t care enough about me to get really angry?

—Fretting When the cops come to the door, it usually isn’t to say, “Your neighbors called and said they heard you loving each other really loudly.”

Rage isn’t a sign of love; it’s a sign of bad emotion management. Research by doctor and behavioral neuroscientist Emil Coccaro finds that people who are prone to angry outbursts—responding to every slight like somebody just nuked Rhode Island—have exaggerated activity in part of the brain called the amygdala.

This is a set of lima bean-sized structures that basically work as a security guard, identifying threats (or potential threats). As neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux explains it, the amygdala makes a “quick and dirty” assessment that danger is afoot—before rational thought can get involved—and releases chemical messengers to get us to leap into action, as in, “DO SOMETHING BEFORE YOU DIE!” But because the amygdala is an evolutionarily ancient structure—one we share with sheep and hamsters—it’s not all that discerning. In fact, it makes a lot of mistakes. That’s because our chances of survival are better if we jump out of our skin at a rustling in the leaves that turns out to be nothing—rather than being all, “Yeah, that could be a deadly poisonous snake, but I’m not letting it get in the way of a good bong hit.” Still, socially, a hypersensitive amygdala can pose problems—like our going all Kill Bill on somebody’s ass when they, oh, graze our arm reaching for a coffee lid.

Chances are that what your boyfriend has learned to do through these “mental tricks” is redirect his attention from the amygdala to the newer, thinkier “frontal” parts of the brain. Yes, your brain is about as easily fooled as Aida, my 6-pound Chinese crested. The vet holds out a treat in one hand so Aida won’t get hopped up about the other—which is en route to her butt with the same size thermometer they use on the Great Dane.

Your boyfriend’s newfound cool is a sign—showing that he gets that rage is to problem-solving as a chain saw is to hangnail eradication. Of course,

many people realize that they’re doing something totally counterproductive—and remain all pedal to the metal down Stupid Avenue instead of investing the effort your boyfriend did (and does) to respond differently. As for the notion that his not blowing his top means he doesn’t care about you…right.

Nothing says you’ve got the lukewarmies for somebody like treating them with love, patience, and respect instead of giving in to your initial impulse to stab them in the neck with a fork.

Free (Scared) Willy I’m a woman with a high sex drive. My boyfriend and I live a long plane ride apart. Months can go by between visits. On our first day together, he typically has erectile dysfunction. The next day, everything’s good. However, it’s hard to not take the first day personally. After we’re apart for a while, shouldn’t he be raring to go?

—Concerned

“

Rage isn’t a

A classic car that’s been garaged for the winter can also be hard to start, but that probably isn’t a sign that you need to lose a few pounds and sex up the undies.

Luckily for the car, it just needs a battery jump, not reassurance from the tow truck driver: “You’ve still got it, Impala!”

For a man, however, first-dayback jitters can easily turn Mr. Happy into Mr. I Dunno What Happened. This occurs because emotions aren’t just feeling-flavored thoughts; they have physiological underpinnings. Anxiety is a cousin of fear. The same area in the brain—the amygdala— sounds the alarm, chemically messaging your body to prepare it to fight or flee. Your body, in turn, shuts down processes not required for that, like digestion, and diverts blood flow where it’s needed most: to your heart and the large muscles (in your arms and legs) that you’d use to hit back or run. (Sadly, the “third leg” does not count as an actual leg.)

If your boyfriend doesn’t feel pressured to put on a big show, the show might just happen. On your first day together, tell him that you just want to cuddle and reconnect—and act like you mean it. Your overriding goal should be making him feel comfortable—though not the way an ER nurse would, by cutting off his jeans while he’s asleep with a big pair of surgical scissors.

sign of love; it’s a sign of

bad emotion

“

management.

32 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

(c)2016, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (advicegoddess.com).

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April 27, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

34 · San Diego CityBeat · April 27, 2016

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