San Diego CityBeat • May 1, 2013

Endorse P.4 Abstinence P.9 CafĂŠ P.18 Smang P.24

2 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Our May 21 election endorsements For some progressive voters who fully support Filner, who’s endorsed Cole, none of that’s a probLet’s deal immediately with the unsightly elephant lem, because Cole will be a reliable progressive vote in the room: Dwayne Crenshaw, one of two candion a City Council with a 5-4 Democratic majority. dates for the vacant City Council District 4 seat up For us, however, it just doesn’t feel right. for grabs in a May 21 special election, is backed by When it comes to demonstrated comprehension the Lincoln Club of San Diego County, a pro-busiof the issues, Crenshaw is far superior to Cole. Call ness group often aligned with the Republican Party. us crazy, but Crenshaw’s ability to clearly articulate David Rolland That’s fine for you conservatives; for us, complex matters and propose policy opit’s cause for concern. tions should count for something. Cole’s inCrenshaw’s always been a liberal Demability to do so leaves us worried that she’ll ocrat, but he finds himself facing Myrtle merely be someone’s puppet. Her cryptic, Cole, who won the endorsement of the unexplained jab at Crenshaw during a local Democratic Party and the San Diego forum last week at Lincoln High School and Imperial Counties Labor Council, an about his tenure in student government umbrella organization representing local while in college—information she said she unions. We suspect that, for the Lincoln got from state Assemblymember Shirley Club, it’s simply a lesser-of-two-evils calDwayne Crenshaw Weber—didn’t help her case with us. culation—oppose the labor candidate and So, our choice is an uninspiring, odd hope for the best. bird in hand (Cole) or a bird in the bush (CrenHowever, Crenshaw does favor opening up Disshaw) that has the potential to be much grander. trict 4—which covers San Diego’s southeastern We’re betting that Crenshaw will remain true to his neighborhoods—to Walmart. He says he believes disprogressivism. We’re endorsing him and hoping he trict residents are so starved for grocery stores that doesn’t make us regret it. We urge District 4 voters they welcome even the corporate behemoth with to cast their ballots for Dwayne Crenshaw. the predatory business practices and awful record of employee treatment. He insists that he’d negotiate a State Assembly, District 80 community-benefits agreement with Walmart that With apologies for the short shrift we’re giving the mandates compensation and hiring concessions. special election for the state Assembly, compared On the plus side, the Lincoln Club will surely opwith City Council District 4, we enthusiastically urge pose an increase in the so-called linkage fee, which voters in District 80 to choose Lorena Gonzalez. Disdevelopers pay to the city when their projects result trict 80 includes City Heights, Chollas View, Barrio in a greater need for affordable housing. The fee is Logan, Logan Heights, Sherman Heights, Mount long overdue for a hike, and Crenshaw promises to Kelly davis Hope, Mountain View, National City, Chusupport an increase when it comes up for la Vista, San Ysidro and Otay Mesa. a vote. In CityBeat’s view, the linkage fee We’ve known Gonzalez well for more is a crucial indictor issue. Crenshaw says than a decade, starting when she worked he can’t legally control who spends money for former Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and independently on behalf of his election, through her tenure as political direcand he vows to be his own man and vote tor and then CEO for the San Diego and according to his progressive principles.

Imperial Counties Labor Council. We’ve We’re certain that his opponent, Cole, rarely disagreed with her on issues. We will vote consistently with local labor and share her passion for strengthening the Mayor Bob Filner’s values in mind. More Lorena Gonzalez middle class and lifting folks on society’s often than not, that would be a good thing, bottom rungs out of poverty. She has intelligence but not always. The problem with Cole is that’s she and wit and an abundance of heart. just not an impressive candidate. In our experience Please vote for Lorena Gonzalez for state Aswith her—a lengthy interview and a couple of cansembly. didate forums—she’s been awkward and devoid of interesting ideas and she hasn’t shown that she has What do you think? Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com. a firm grasp of the issues facing the city.

City Council, District 4

This issue of CityBeat is willing to be Manti Te’o’s girlfriend.

Volume 11 • Issue 39 Editor David Rolland Associate Editor Kelly Davis Music Editor Peter Holslin Staff Writers David Taube, Alex Zaragoza Events Editor Shea Kopp Film Editor Anders Wright Web Editor Ryan Bradford Art director Adam Vieyra

Columnists Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb Contributors Ian Cheesman, David L. Coddon, Seth Combs, Jeff “Turbo” Corrigan, Katrina Dodson, Michael A. Gardiner, Dave Maass, Scott McDonald, Jenny Montgomery, Kinsee Morlan, Mina Riazi, Jim Ruland, Marie Tran-McCaslin, Jen Van Tieghem, Jeff Terich, Quan Vu Interns Elizabeth Shipton, Crystal Tellez-Giron, Connie Thai, Wilson To, Rees Withrow Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse Senior account executive Jason Noble

Cover design by Adam Vieyra Advertising Account Executives Sean Eshelman, Beau Odom, Paulina Porter-Tapia director of marketing Chad Boyer Circulation / Office Assistant Shea Kopp Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami Human Resources Andrea Baker Accounting Alysia Chavez, Linda Lam, Monica MacCree Vice President of Operations David Comden Publisher Kevin Hellman

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4 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

Terrible mistake I am disappointed that CityBeat could not write a story about transgender people without messing up a person’s preferred gender pronoun. CityBeat owes Lyn Gwizdak an apology.

In a photo caption accompanying the April 24 Art & Culture story, Lyn is referred to as female, “doing work that proves she’s ‘contributing to society.’” I understand that mistakes happen, but specifically when you’re discussing gender and trans issues, I’d hope you’d pay extra attention to pronouns.

Your inability to do so underscores the need for trans awareness and sensitivity. I applaud you for your effort, but am very disappointed that such a critical aspect of Lyn’s life was ignored.

Allan Acevedo, City Heights Editor’s note: It was indeed an awful mistake, and we have apologized to Lyn Gwizdak.

Mentally ill inmates Thank you so much for the articles [“60 Dead Inmates,” March 27 and April 3] on the torture that psychiatric patients get in jail. All your readers should write to state Attorney General Kamala Harris and demand an investigation.

The problem starts when police refuse to transport schizophrenic patients to the hospital.

Hospitals refuse to force-treat them. Desperate relatives or uneducated bystanders provoke them. They offend and are arrested. They are coerced into guilty pleas when they are not guilty by reason of insanity.

In the central jail, they’re left untreated, subjected to sleep deprivation with 2 a.m. medical screenings and 4 a.m. breakfast, loud and violent TV all day, cold

temperatures and verbal abuse.

Then they decompensate, become incompetent for release at court, and are made to wait four months instead of the promised two weeks in central-jail torture, waiting for a place at state hospital.

At state hospital, they’re verbally abused, overdosed and overtreated for six weeks. If 30 percent of inmates are psychiatric patients, they should be in county psychiatric care, but the Board of Supervisors has refused to give treatment to these people.

Please write to your representatives to expand a mental-health court that diverts schizophrenics from jail into forced treatment and keeps them on medical probation indefinitely.

Val Sanfilippo, Linda Vista

Nonstarting lid I quote from John R. Lamb’s April 10 Spin Cycle column about two local men who propose doing something to Balboa Park: “Both [Pauly] De Bartolo and [Howard] Blackson describe the idea’s signature component—a triangular 9-acre, grassy freeway ‘lid’ that spans the I-5 east of Park Boulevard coupled with a pedestrian ‘Centennial Bridge’ delineating that stadiumto-Plaza-de-Panama link—as a ‘conversation starter.’”

I looked at the site and the city budget. I remembered that I’ve watched the love affair between San Diego’s citizens and Balboa Park since before either man was born. I recalled the many high and mighty who have tried and failed to re-mold Balboa Park to suit themselves.

The lid might be a conversation starter. I predict it’s also a nonstarter.

Jim Varnadore, City Heights

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

From PhotoBucket

Part five of a series: 60 Dead Inmates But, instead, Hartsaw was put into the jail’s general population and into a dorm-like unit with a 6-foot-4, 215-pound gang member who rallied four other inmates to attack Hartsaw.

“That seems to be the critical question—what was he doing in the general population?” says Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, senior policy advocate on criminal justice issues for the San Diego-Imperial Counties ACLU.

H An undated photo of Russell Hartsaw

(Un)protective custody The story of how Russell Hartsaw, a mentally ill and elderly man, was beaten to death in jail

by Kelly Davis

S

itting in his office at the back of Downtown’s Popular Market, Jesse Gonzalez reaches under his desk and pulls out a collection of paperclipped newspaper articles. One from 2007, in CityBeat, features a photo of his friend Russell Hartsaw. Hartsaw’s dressed in black slacks and a black button-down shirt; the wind’s blowing the hair on one side of his head almost straight up.

“If he weighed 160 pounds there,” Gonzales points to the page, “he weighed 130.”

That last part refers to another photo—the one Gonzalez gave an investigator from the District Attorney’s office that shows a much frailer Hartsaw, closer to what he looked like in July 2011 when he was beaten to death by inmates at George Bailey Detention Facility who wrongly believed he was a child molester.

Between 2007 and 2012, 60 people died in San Diego County jails, pushing the inmate mortality rate here to the top of California’s 10 largest jail systems. Since March 27, CityBeat’s reported on some of

those deaths, caused by suicide, drug withdrawal and excessive use of force. Five of the 60 deaths were labeled homicides and, among those, Hartsaw is the only inmate killed by other inmates. While his death raises questions about how jails house—and protect—their most vulnerable inmates, the last several months of Hartsaw’s life offer a glimpse at man who was perhaps beyond help but whose myriad problems rendered him virtually ineligible for services.

At 70 years old, he’d spent more than half his life in prison; his longest stint of freedom appears to have been his last eight years, when he decided to try to turn his life around. Rulette Armstead, who was an assistant police chief when she met Hartsaw in 2003, recruited him to talk to her San Diego State University criminaljustice students and served on the board of a nonprofit that Hartsaw was trying to start to help homeless kids.

“I couldn’t find 42 years of experience in text books,” says Armstead, who’s since retired from

6 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

the police department but is still teaching. “He captivated my students—42 years of his life being locked up in prison.”

But it was a struggle. Hartsaw would tell his friends that prison is better than jail and federal prison is better than state prison. And, it seemed, being locked up was better than freedom.

“He told me, ‘You know, sometimes I think about going out and actually pretending to commit a crime so that I could go back to prison,’” Armstead recalls. “‘I’m out here, I don’t have any friends, nobody invites me to Christmas.

In jail, I was around people all the time; I was never lonely.’”

“He was trying to adjust,” Gonzalez says, “but how can you adjust after 40-something years in prison?”

In January 2011, Hartsaw landed back in jail after threatening two people with a stun gun. Court records in that case depict a man who was mentally and physically ill. An inmate roster printed on the day he died says he was supposed to be in protective custody.

artsaw would tell people that at age 9, he came home from school one day to find his parents, his dog and the family’s mobile home gone. He’d spend the next nine years in foster homes, orphanages and juvenile detention facilities. His long rap sheet—all nonviolent crimes—starts with a conviction for misdemeanor theft in December 1959, seven months after his 18th birthday. In all, he’d go on to spend more than four decades behind bars, mostly in federal prisons in California, Ohio and Washington. Though he’d talk candidly about the harsh realities of prison, some of his crimes—like a clumsy attempt to rob a well-guarded bank—seemed to have a prison sentence, not cash, as the end goal. He and Gonzalez would talk for hours about Hartsaw’s life behind bars.

“I guess he liked it,” Gonzalez says. “He was somebody there.”

On Jan. 7, 2011, roughly eight years after he’d been released from prison, Hartsaw was evicted from Trolley Court, the Downtown residential hotel where he’d been renting a tiny room since Nov. 1, 2006. The eviction notice, filed in Superior Court, documented a number of incidents in which Hartsaw acted inappropriately toward staff, concluding, “Several employees have expressed fear for their safety because of you [sic] ever increasing aggression, anger, threats and harassment.”

But, by Jan. 7, Hartsaw was already in jail. The day before, he’d pulled out a stun gun and threatened two Trolley Court employees.

He was charged with two counts of making a criminal threat.

Hartsaw’s attorney in that case, Marcee Chipman, declined to speak to CityBeat, citing the upcoming trial of two inmates charged in his murder, but the

court file tells the story of a man in poor mental and physical health.

Twice his arraignment had to be postponed because he was too sick to come to court. In late January, a judge recommended that Hartsaw be seen by a jail psychiatrist and, in April, requested that he be evaluated by the Probation Department’s Mentally Ill Offender (MIO) unit, which provides intensive supervision and services to adult probationers with a serious mental illness.

The District Attorney agreed to give Hartsaw probation, so long as he sought anger-management counseling and stayed away from Trolley Court. On May 20, 2011, Chipman filed a statement with the court outlining Hartsaw’s probation options. He’d been rejected

by MIO “because of his criminal history, and other undisclosed reasons,” she wrote. She’d tried to get Hartsaw into the county’s Behavioral Health Court, which, similar to MIO, offers mentally ill offenders treatment and other services.

He was rejected there, too. He was too old for two other programs.

All Chipman could find was a clinic in Mission Valley where Hartsaw could get counseling and a program in Pacific Beach that offered walk-in services between 9 and 11 a.m., four days a week.

Hartsaw didn’t have a car and struggled with public transportation. Gonzalez recalls Hartsaw getting lost during a bus trip to Rolando, even after Gonzalez had given him explicit instructions.

“Unfortunately, there were no county probation-court services available,” Chipman wrote to the judge. “This is the best that I could provide for Mr. Hartsaw.”

Hartsaw was put on probation in late May, but it didn’t last long.

Within a month, he was arrested and jailed on a probation violation. While his court file doesn’t say what the violation was, it does note that Hartsaw was homeless.

Gonzalez saw him during the brief time he was out of jail.

Hartsaw, who usually wore slacks and a black, button-up shirt, was dressed in shorts and had dyed his hair. “I didn’t recognize him,” Gonzalez says. “I knew he was going over the edge.”

Hartsaw CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Data cop

David Taube

City gang commission member says gang-related crimes are under-reported

by David Taube Cornelius Bowser was astonished when the San Diego Police Department told the city’s Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention two weeks ago that there’s been only one gang-related murder so far this year. Bowser, a commission member, pastor of Charity Apostolic Church in Santee and a reformed gang member himself, says there have been at least five.

It’s not that the police department can’t count; it’s that it uses different criteria to determine what is and what isn’t a gangrelated crime. The discrepancy worries Bowser because lower numbers can be used to claim that crime-reduction efforts have been more successful than they’ve been, and because the numbers can factor into where the city spends limited money.

“If the stats are not correct, then we won’t get the resources

and support and the help we need in our communities,” says Bowser, who grew up near Memorial Park in Logan Heights and now lives in El Cajon. “These are homicides that happen in our communities….

A lot of times, people don’t pay attention to them, and something has to be done.”

At the April 18 meeting of the Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention, which advises the mayor and City Council on how best to tackle the problem of gang violence, Police Lt. Dave Nisleit read off statistics for 2012 and compared them with what’s happened so far in 2013. According to his report, only one gang-related homicide occurred this year.

After the meeting, Bowser compiled his own statistics for this year based media reports and vigils and funerals he’s attended— some of those experiences come from working with the San Diego

Cornelius Bowser Compassion Project, which gives emotional support to people who lose family members to violence.

For this year, Bowser counted four deaths he believes involved gang members killing one of their own. Another death involved a drive-by shooting, and two others resulted from police shootings.

Two other deaths might be gangrelated homicides, but Bowser

isn’t sure.

During the commission meeting, Nisleit noted that certain incidents are not classified as gangrelated crimes, such as when one gang member assaults a member of the same gang.

Bowser said intra-gang squabbles should be included in police data.

The police disagree. In a state-

ment provided to CityBeat, the department said it’s confident the statistics presented to the commission are comprehensive and that it has no plans to change its reporting methods. Lt. Roy Moody, who was a sergeant for one year in the gang unit and a lieutenant for two, said in an interview that the statistics aren’t misleading; the department’s merely following the law.

Police consider a crime to be gang-related if the incident benefits a gang. It can also be defined as gang-related if a gang directs or is associated with an incident and the crime helps other criminal conduct perpetrated by gang members. The criteria are based on the California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act, signed into law in 1988.

Police point out that all statistics are reported to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, as well as to the San Diego Association of Governments; gang-related stats are merely a data subset that’s given to the commission.

They also acknowledge that statistics can be changed retroactively, like when a cold case is solved and

Gang CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Hartsaw CONTINUED from PAGE 6

A

ccording to court records and Hartsaw’s autopsy report, around 9:30 p.m. on July 17, 2011, he asked to be transferred to another quad—basically, a large dorm-style cell—in the jail’s medical unit. He wasn’t getting along with inmates in his quad, he told Deputy David Ulloa.

Ulloa went downstairs, to Quad 101, and asked Mario Lopez for permission to move Hartsaw into his quad. Lopez, a gang member with a rap sheet only slightly longer that Hartsaw’s, was the quad’s leader, or “tank captain.”

Lopez later told investigators that Ulloa told him that Hartsaw “had a mouth” and was calling other inmates “punk” and “bitch.” Lopez gave Ulloa the OK to transfer Hartsaw in and, as a reward, received two inmate-welfare kits.

According to a motion by the DA seeking to exclude the Sheriff’s Department from culpability in Hartsaw’s death, “Deputy Ulloa did not have concerns about placing Hartsaw in #101 after speaking with Hartsaw.”

According to the DA’s complaint, after the 12:50 a.m. bed check, Lopez and four other inmates assaulted Hartsaw. Lopez, the complaint alleges, took the lead and, after an initial beating, told other inmates, “It’s not over.

Let me show you how it’s done.”

Hartsaw was still alive at that point, a witness told police. Lopez, the complaint says, continued to “kick, stomp and jump on Hartsaw’s head and body.” When he was done, the men dragged Hartsaw to the floor near his bunk and made it look as if he’d fallen.

But, deputies didn’t buy it; Hartsaw’s injuries were too severe. In a court brief, prosecutors describe the damage to his face alone: “Hartsaw’s face was distorted, his nasal bones were fractured such that his face was concave.”

On July 23, five days after Hartsaw’s death, a deputy intercepted a note from Lopez to another inmate. In it, Lopez refers to himself as a “187”—the state penal code for murder. He refers to a “chomo”— jail slang for a child molester—and says his “obligation was to smash all trash.”

“I took care of a fuck’n chomo that ain’t gon to hurt kids no more,” the note says. He signed it “Evil One.” How Lopez concluded that Hartsaw was a child molester isn’t clear. Hartsaw’s rap sheet includes a conviction in 1967 for

violating California Penal Code 288a which, back then, involved getting caught giving or receiving oral sex. In an April 6, 2011, letter agreeing to allow Hartsaw to be sentenced to probation, Deputy District Attorney Greg McClain explained why the PC 288a charge shouldn’t factor into the sentencing recommendation.

“What remains of the court file indicates that the case involved consensual conduct between adults that is no longer a violation of California law, but was under the statute as it existed in 1967.”

It’s possible that, if someone took a quick look at Hartsaw’s rap sheet, the 288a could be confused with 288(a)—committing a “lewd or lascivious act” with a child under the age of 14. But, in a court brief, prosecutors dismiss that possibility: “There is no evidence that any defendant saw Hartsaw’s rap sheet or knew the extent of his criminal history.”

Ulloa told prosecutors that Hartsaw told him he was required to register as a sex offender.

Both Armstead and Gonzalez recall that not long after Hartsaw’s release from prison in 2003, he was notified that he needed to register as a sex offender for the 1967 crime. But, both say, he filed a protest with the state Attorney General’s office and was relieved of the requirement.

On April 19, CityBeat asked the Attorney General’s office whether there’s any record of Hartsaw having to register as a sex offender. We were told on April 26 to file a public-records request.

By press time, we hadn’t received a response.

A roster of inmates included in the court file shows Hartsaw’s housing status as “protective custody.” According to jail policies, protective custody can be voluntary or involuntary and is reserved for inmates whose life has been threatened, inmates who are developmentally disabled and inmates who “by virtue of his/her small size, advanced age, or other characteristic may be in danger of abuse from inmates in general population.”

Hartsaw was also classified as “Keep Separate All” (KSA)— “a housing status that further restricts housing options within Protective Custody” (PC), policies say.

The investigative report included with Hartsaw’s autopsy says that he’d insisted on being put in the general population.

Cmdr. John Ingrassia, the Sheriff’s Department’s jail supervisor, said via email that inmates

8 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

can ask to be removed from both protective custody and “keep safe all” status, “but not all requests are honored.”

Jail Population Management Unit staff “review the requesting / insisting inmate’s history and reason for the PC or KSA status to determine whether or not any changes have occurred to support a decision to return the inmate to general population housing,” Ingrassia explains.

Hartsaw, he says, requested in writing to be removed from PC and KSA, and his request was approved.

The Sheriff’s Department rejected CityBeat’s request for Hartsaw’s inmate file.

T

LU’s Dooley-Sammuli.

“Who is a risk to public safety and who can be safely monitored in the community?”

But the services need to be there for tough cases like Hartsaw.

“As awful as what happened in the jail, it’s a problematic finding that the system knew what he needed and told him that he was not going to be allowed to get those services,” she says.

A news brief in the July 20, 2011, issue of The San Diego UnionTribune mentions a 70-year-old inmate who’d died at George Bailey Detention Facility, but not by name. Gonzalez knew it was Hartsaw. He wonders if Hartsaw, who’d told Gonzalez he’d had thoughts of killing himself, intentionally violated probation, landed himself back in jail and got into a situation where he knew he’d get killed.

“He couldn’t make it on the outside,” he says. “In my heart, I think he had a death wish.”

Armstead says she’d begged Hartsaw to stay out of custody.

“You don’t want to die in prison,” she’d tell him.

“He was tormented,” she says, “and I don’t think he could ever get past that.”

hree of the inmates involved in Hartsaw’s death pleaded guilty to lesser charges—Enrique Huerta and James Houlsen to involuntary manslaughter and John McGrogan to being an accessory to murder. Lopez and a fifth inmate, David Donas, are facing trial in July.

With prison realignment—Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to reduce inmate overcrowding by shifting responsibility for lower-level felons from state to local control—comes opportunities for counties to take a closer look at who they’re hold- Write to kellyd@sdcitybeat.com ing in jail and why, says the AC- and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Gang CONTINUED from PAGE 7 found to have been gang-related, changing the tally for that year.

Although another commission member, Dr. Rodney Hood, said he’d also like to see more comprehensive statistics, the commission made no plans at the April 18 meeting to ask the police to change the way the numbers are reported.

Rosa Ana Lozada, who chairs the gang commission, said after the April 18 meeting that she doesn’t see a need for the numbers to be reported differently.

The commission has requested additional statistics in the past, and the police department has provided them. That information helps the commission determine where to focus its efforts. Lozada said that including additional data is always a possibility, but she added that commissioners might have individual interests that deviate from the group’s larger mission.

“I think we’re always struggling with what is the information that is most useful and most helpful in assisting us with the work that we’re doing,” she said.

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

edwin

sordid tales

decker Abstinence education is fine; abstinence-only is not Pam Stenzel, my favorite abstinence-only education discussed in the home and the only sex education zealot, was in the news last month for some gnarly we received in school was if you happened to walk comments she reportedly made during her seminar in on the gym teacher tagging a guidance counselor for students at George Washington High School in in the supply closet.

West Virginia.

Nobody taught me nuthin’ ’bout sex, and so, unAccording to some students in attendance, Stensurprisingly, I had a plethora of wildly stupid ideas zel delivered such golden nuggets of sexual psyabout it—one of which was that you had to pee inchology as “If you take birth control, your mother side a woman to get her pregnant. I also used to beprobably hates you” and “I could look at any one lieve that women’s breasts were just bags of milk. of you in the eyes right now and tell if you’re goAnother stupid idea I had about sex was that the ing to be promiscuous,” as well as her standard vagina was located in the same area on the female talking points such as: Condoms don’t work; God as the penis was on the man—that it was front and hates sluts; extramarital sex will cause death, discenter, between the waist and the pubic mound. ease and/or psychological devastation; and the So, there I was, on a pitch-black night at Round only way to prevent these things from happening Lake, drunk on hormones and an eight-pack of is through abstinence.

Piels, poking futilely at this young woman’s upper Just go to YouTube and watch some of Stenzel’s mons pubis and muttering, “OK, ya ready?—poke. speeches. The woman is such a screeching abstiHere we go—poke. Oh boy, this is gonna—poke—be nence harpy that I can’t even tolerate her pregnant great. Yup, this is it for sure. Here it—poke—comes! pauses. And she refuses to modify the absolutism We’re almost ther—.” Until she irritably grabbed my of her claims. For instance, Stenzel doesn’t say exshaft and marched me down to the vulva the way tramarital sex might cause death, disease and/or a teacher yanks a troublemaker’s arm and marches psychological problems; she him to the principal’s office. says it will. She won’t say that What an odd place to put the best way to prevent disease a vagina, I thought when the And, hell to the hell-yes, I and pregnancy is with abstiencounter was finally consumwould approve of that kind nence; she says it’s the only mated. I must remember this way, which is just so whack of sexual exploration for my for next time.

Ah, yes, I remember my since everybody on the planet teenage son or daughter. sexteens fondly: getting covert who doesn’t get birth-control hand jobs in my girlfriend’s information from Nickelodeon parents’ basement; giving good knows that condoms are pretty finger on the county fair Ferris wheel; and, of course, damn good at preventing both. laying on the grass at Round Lake and playing hide It’s true that abstinence-only absolutely prethe memory maker all over again. What a great time. vents pregnancy and venereal disease. However, And nobody got hurt. And, hell to the hell-yes, I abstinence-only education doesn’t prevent squat. would approve of that kind of sexual exploration for Because abstinence-only education is not abstimy teenage son or daughter (if I had one). nence; it’s the act of selling abstinence—usually to Naturally, I would be diligent about providing curious, rebellious, hormonally saturated, dumball the pertinent information. I would warn them of as-a-bag-of-bedbugs-and-thrice-as-engorged teenthe dangers, advise them about the safeguards and, agers whose bodies are built for fucking the way just, you know, totally freaking prepare them as best Kenyans are built for running. as humanly possible for a sexual existence—which Sure, abstinence should be taught to students, is to say, human existence. but not -only. Abstinence should be taught side-byI know you parents don’t believe that. You’re side with the condom option, the pill option, the thinking, Ed, if you had teenagers, there’s no way you mutual-masturbation option and the gargle-Listerwould approve of them getting a little sump’n-sump’n. ine-before-giving-head option.

And maybe you’re right. Having kids probably would The average age that human beings lose their virchange my opinion. But that’s the point. My opinion ginity is 17, which means that a crap-ton of people lost is not clouded by the insanity that comes with childtheir virginity when they were 14, 15 and 16. And we rearing. Isn’t it possible that you’re the one whose know this is true because that’s when you lost your opinion on this matter is clouded? Maybe you’re the virginity, right? And when all your friends lost it. And one who’s being overprotective; maybe you’ve contheir friends, too. I was 15 when—under a moonless veniently forgotten what it was like to be a kid, and summer night on the grassy shore of Round Lake in I’m the one who’s seeing things the way they actuMonroe, N.Y.—a much older woman of 18 burgled ally are. Who knows? The point remains, abstinence my virginity. And by “burgled” I mean that I left the is fine as an individual choice, but this abstinencefront door to my virginity open, disabled the alarm only education business is for the birds. and pinned a note saying, “Come on in and take what you want, you sexy-ass cat burglar.”

Write to ed@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcity My first sexual encounter, by the way, was hibeat.com. Listen to “Sordid Tales: The Podcast” larious. at sdcitybeat.com.

I grew up in a place and time when sex was not

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

by michael a. gardiner michael a. gardiner

who worked with Nobu Matsuhita in his New York flagship restaurant and helmed his Milan outpost.

Give it a splashy—even spectacular—build-out. Add a see-and-beseen vibe. Surely it cannot possibly miss, right?

Only it did miss. Badly. Keli Dailey of the U-T San Diego’s food section blamed the restaurant’s closing on three factors: the fusion concept, the lack of signage and the prices. The key factor, though, was this: the food.

Dishes such as the Spicy Yellowtail Roll with Crunchy Red Pepper showed the concept could work. It had clear bloodlines running to both the east and west, its paradigm being a Japanese idiom Sora’s spicy yellowtail roll (sushi) with the spiciness moved to the outside of the roll and presented in an Italian vernacular. But dishes such as that one were the exception, not the rule.

The Lobster and Edamame Ravioli looked great on paper but was a long dish of cream with islands of average pasta filled with indifferent and indistinct seafood. It was a waste of calories, at Que sera Sora best, and a felony in five states, at worst.

The Risotto Ossobuco (Japanese Style) was We’ve all experienced it: that brilliant idea that’s neither risotto nor ossobuco nor anything more so utterly perfect it absolutely has got to work. than a passing reference to a Japanese Izakaya It’s a certifiable, undeniable, verifiable winner. dish. The rice was definitely not risotto nor suAcclaim, if not riches, will surely follow. And pershi rice, but a light, fluffy affair more reminishaps that should be your first clue to do a mental cent of a Spanish offering. It was not a bad dish double take. Turn away while you still can. All but it was neither Japanese, Italian nor a fusion evidence suggests that sort of idea is the one that of the two. will have you falling flat on your face.

There was nothing wrong with Sora’s fusion And so, it seems, it was with Sora (655 W. concept. As Café Japengo shows, similar ideas Broadway, Downtown), which recently anhave worked in San Diego, both in the short run nounced it was closing to re-emerge as Meatball and over the long haul. The signage may not have Cucina Modern Italian Eatery (someone has been ideal, but it was far more prominent than apparently been watching the Chase Business that of many highly successful restaurants. The credit-card commercials). In theory, Japaneseprice point was not excessive in the abstract, but Italian fusion ought to have worked. Both cuisines it certainly was for what you got on the plate. prominently feature noodles (pasta for Italy and And that focuses squarely on the real problem: udon and soba for Japan). Both have raw-fish trathe food. No concept—not Japanese-Italian fusion ditions (crudo for Italy and sushi/sashimi for Jaand not meatballs—will work if the food does not fulfill the promise of the premise. pan). The elegant simplicity for which Japanese cuisine is known ought to find a natural partner in Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com the cuisines of Tuscany and Piedmont. and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Put it all in the hands of Noriyoshi Teruya,

the world

fare

10 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

Jen Van Tieghem

bottle

a P.B. bartender, and her thorough knowledge of the wine list complemented her upbeat sprit. Wines by the glass range from $7 to $12, and flights of any three are $10 with pours of 2 to 3 ounces. I picked a wide-ranging wine flight: Stratum Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, an Argentinian Alta A pleasant surprise in P.B. Vista Malbec and a Zinfandel from Paso Robles

by Minassian Young. These varietals and regions Beyond beach babes and beer bros, Pacific being my favorites, I was excited to sample each.

Beach suits limited walks of life. Since sunshine I was originally going to pick the $7 Malbec, but disagrees with my pale skin and I’m allergic found it to be the weakest of my trio, so the flight to reggae, I don’t head there often. However, turned out to be a good value. The Zinfandel was Jen van Tieghem after a friend’s mention of Turquoise delicious, meriting its $12 price. After Cellars (5026 Cass St., facebook.com/ tasting, I ordered a glass of the crisp Sauv turquoisecellars), I made an exception.

Blanc—its tart, herbal flavors making it a The recently opened wine bar hidden fine stand-alone choice for $7. inside Turquoise Coffee offers a change The quaint wine bar has sparse of pace to the neighborhood. hours—5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through The space is aesthetically appealing Saturday—but offers an appealing food and functional. With bar seating, menu of appetizers and flatbreads intimate tables and one long table, it to complement the wines. There’s a accommodates all sizes of wine-loving decent micro-brew selection for beer groups. Behind the bar, a large floral drinkers, with flights of four for $10. display and rows of stemware create an Unfortunately, no happy hour or nightly attractive backdrop. specials are offered—something I adore about I perused the retail selections first. Bottles wine bars in North Park and Hillcrest. While priced at $20 to $30 seemed reasonable, and Turquoise doesn’t suffer from a lack of clientele, each had a descriptive card to help shoppers.

I think specials could pack the place with those looking for a new wine hangout.

I found out that if we wished to imbibe one of these, the corking fee would be $10 (bottles not Write to jenv@sdcitybeat.com bought at Turquoise can be corked for $20). and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Our sun-kissed blonde server looked the part of

Rocket

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

by marie tran-McCaslin marie tran-mccaslin

fun to revisit Sab-E-Lee here in The Wandering Appetite. I visit the Santee location often, and the food is still delicious. It isn’t close to home, but I like that it has ample parking and there’s rarely a wait for a table. The menu hasn’t changed too much throughout the years; it features many of the same dishes as other Thai restaurants in San Diego. Sab-E-Lee has long set itself apart by doing those dishes at a higher level. Curries, noodles and stir-fries can be one-note, but here they’re full of flavors from lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, turmeric and chilies.

My favorite part of the menu is toward the back and labeled “Isaan Specialties.” Isaan (also spelled Isan, Esan and Issan) is the northeastern Sab-E-Lee 2’s catfish larb region of Thailand bordering Laos. I can’t tell you too much about culture or history, but I do know that Sab-E-Lee’s Isaan dishes are fantastic. I consider the trifecta of som tam (shredded papaya salad), catfish larb (grilled catfish ground and mixed with herbs and toasted rice) and sai krok (Isan-style sausage) to be one hell of a meal. Everything can Carry on be made spicy or mild, but when it’s spicy, the papaya salad becomes a mixture of refreshing Being Asian-American, I often feel like I’m valiand searing. dating some kind of stereotype by taking photos Curries at Sab-E-Lee are more nuanced than of my food. The same apprehension applies bemany versions I’ve tried in San Diego. Different hind the wheel, but that’s another story. While spices come through in the sauce, while meat dining at Santee’s Sab-E-Lee one evening, I noand vegetables are perfectly cooked. Noodles ticed that the people at the next table were openaren’t mushy, and it’s that sort of small detail that ly bemused by me snapping a photo of dinner. makes Sab-E-Lee stand out. The menu is diverse, While they condescendingly chuckled, my dining mixing traditional dishes with dishes that Americompanions arched subtle eyebrows at the plate can diners would expect. Kai jeow is listed as an of glossy orange chicken on their table. omelet, but it’s a savory fried egg that’s best on Orange chicken at Sab-E-Lee and you’re judgrice with hot sauce. There’s even a place for the ing me? Mmmhmm. aforementioned orange chicken.

Sab-E-Lee was a food-lovers’ darling when The original Linda Vista location (2405 Ulric it made the rounds through blogs and Internet St., originalsab-e-lee.webs.com) is still in busiforums. Like all popular restaurants, it grew ness, and the owners of that location have opened and expanded. What started as a small restaua new one in Rancho Penasquitos (13223-2 Black rant with six tables in Linda Vista became a busMountain Road). Keep in mind, though, that diftling hub with long waits. Division of ownership ferent management means different experiences. brought two locations, the first in Linda Vista No matter which you frequent, though, please don’t bother with the orange chicken. and the original owner opening another location in Santee, known as Sab-E-Lee 2 (9159 Mission Write to marietm@sdcitybeat.com Gorge Road). and editor@sdcitybeat.com The buzz has quieted, so I thought it’d be

the wandering

appetite

12 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

the floating

library

by jim ruland

Karen Green’s artfully fragmented elegy I learned a valuable lesson in grief last year.

Shortly after the shootings at Sandy Hook in December, my wife and I were horrified to learn that our friends’ daughter, Avielle, was among the schoolchildren who had been killed. A few days after the tragedy, seeking a reprieve from our relentless sorrow, my wife and I went Christmas shopping at Anthropologie at Otay Lakes Town Center. Big mistake.

The holiday music and festive cheer inside the beautifully designed store was so out of sync with the way we felt that we momentarily broke down. Shoppers slipped around us and avoided our section of the store while we sobbed. When the moment passed, and it always passes, we resumed shopping, a little freaked out by the spectacle we’d become.

Of course, our friends in Sandy Hook have endured much, much worse. In addition to the loss of their child, they’ve been called puppets by the gun lobby and crisis actors by conspiracy loons. At a time when they’ve been at their most vulnerable, they’ve been attacked.

Artist and writer Karen Green can relate. Her book, Bough Down, published by Siglio, is an elegy for her husband, the much-loved writer David Foster Wallace, who committed suicide in 2008.

Green, a visual artist who works in a variety of media, has come under fire by the kooks and cranks who troll online comments sections of popular portals and websites. Green writes, “Strangers feel free to email: Nobody knew you before your husband took his life.”

Green turns this cruel and callous dagger into a hallucinatory riff that drains the barb of its venom and turns it into something revelatory. In Bough Down, she blends striking miniature collages with dreams, vignettes and recollections distorted by the unreliability of her memories and addled by the drugs her doctor urges her to call meds.

It is a work concerned not so much with tragedy but its aftermath, an intense period when one’s senses are heightened, laughter erupts through tears and every impression leaves a mark: “I worry I broke your kneecaps when I cut you down. I keep hearing that sound.”

This is precisely the kind of worry that makes people uncomfortable. Bring it up too often and the worrier will get that “We’re concerned about you” look that leads to late-night phone calls, increased dosages, a reality ravined. It’s easier to submit to the pharmacological voodoo that is 21st-century mental healthcare, which seldom works and fails to address the fundamental problem: that which others would prefer to be left unsaid cannot be unthought.

Green, thankfully, has other options. By expressing her grief through words and images, she transmutes the experience into art. The results are nothing short of shattering.

“Ultimately, the loss becomes immortal and hole is more familiar than tooth. The tongue worries the

phantom root, the mind scans the heart’s chambers to verify its emptiness. There is the thing itself and then there is the predicament of its cavity.”

With cutting prose (“It’s hard to remember tender things tenderly”) and haunting imagery, Bough Down is a palimpsest of sorrow. It is a portrait seen through a funeral veil, a fragmented collage of a past that wasn’t what it seemed and a future that never will be.

“Sentences have been highlighted just to demolish me when I find them. I will find them for years.”

When her husband died, Green’s loss was compounded by the adoring fans who clamored for answers and shaped what they could get into a narrative that assuaged the loss of the books they would never get to read. In Bough Down, Green takes the grief back and makes it indelibly her own.

“The policeman asks, Why did I cut you down.

The question abides in the present tense. Because I thought and still think maybe.”

When we mourn, we mine our memories for answers and dig up nuggets of truth and fantasy, a counterfactual mixture from which we seek solace and find still more sorrow. This is difficult to do publicly, but to nurture grief in private, in the empty canyons of our heart, is an invitation to madness.

The lesson I learned in Anthropologie, and that Bough Down has reaffirmed, is that we should never be ashamed to grieve. We cannot treat grief as a problem to be fixed, a malady to be treated. Grief is a tribute that must be paid so that the memories of those who have been taken from us can once again bring joy.

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

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

the

SHORTlist

ART

COORDINATED BY ALEX ZARAGOZA

ebrate Cinco de Mayo with some cool art and culture at the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library’s Fiesta del A-List at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2 (1008 Wall St. in La Jolla).

The A-List is the Athenaeum’s regular meet-up that combines art, food, music and drink with a theme that relates to a current exhibition. This time, view pieces from San Diego Art Prize recipients, which include vibrant jewelry, sculpture, mixed media and paintings.

Check out the art while grubbing on tasty Mexican food from La Jolla eatery Puesto and sipping cerveza from Karl Strauss and tequila cocktails from Cup. There will also be a perfor“Saints & Angels” by Arline Fisch mance by the 13-piece avant-garde mariachi band Red Pony Clock and a small vinyl shop selling records from the Athenaeum’s collection.

Ask people what’s celebrated on Cinco A-list committee co-chair Katie Walders says the de Mayo and many will say it’s Mexican exhibition and the Mexican holiday mix perfectly Independence Day, which, as anyone who’s able to because some of the art has a border influence, ingoogle “Cinco de Mayo” can tell you, is false. The cluding Arline Fisch’s “Saints & Angels.” holiday celebrates the victory at the Battle of Puebla, “This event will marry local artists with local when Mexican soldiers said, “Au revoir, pendejos,” to culture,” she says. “We’re honoring the tradition of French forces occupying the city. Nowadays, Cinco Cinco de Mayo but having a modern take on it and de Mayo is reserved for college kids in racially insen- celebrating the current artists and musicians that are sitive outfits getting drunk on tequila. carrying on the tradition.”

Don’t be that drunken dumb-dumb; instead, celTickets are $12 and can be purchased at ljathen aeum.org/alist.html.

1

ART-O DE MAYO

2 SEX CRIMES RETOLD 3 TOTALLY PO-MO In 2001, authorities busted a major human-trafficking and sex-slavery network that had been terrorizing Mexican women and girls in the San Diego County-Tijuana region. That despicable operation serves as the dramatic foundation for a new chamber opera, Cuatro Corridos, which tells the story of exploitation of young women in U.S. migrant-worker communities by focusing on four female protagonists. The opera features soprano Susan Narucki, percussionist Steven Schick, pianist Aleck Karis and guitarist Pablo Gomez performing compositions by Hilda Paredes, Arlene Sierra, Lei Liang and Hebert Vázquez. A video screen made to look like a border fence will translate lyrics sung in English and Spanish. Shows are at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, May 8, 10 and 11, at the Conrad Prebys Music Center at UCSD. cuatrocorridos.com

“I used to be Snow White,” declares Yolande Snaith in her multimedia performance piece One Hundred Feet. A new solo work that incorporates elements of dance, video, sound and lighting design, One Hundred Feet finds Snaith—a celebrated performer and choreographer and the head of graduate dance theater at UCSD— hopping through time and space with the help of 50 pairs of shoes, digging into ideas of identity by exploring iconic women like Joan of Arc, Gertrude Stein and Marilyn Monroe. If you’re in the mood for some high-concept art, head to UCSD’s Wagner Dance Building for performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4. Tickets are $10 to $20.

Visit imagomoves.com for details, theatre.ucsd.edu/ places/parking.html for directions.

AMY BOYLE

Spring Student Art Show at Mesa College Art GaMay 2lery, 7250 Mesa College Drive, Clairemont. The gallery exhibits work of student artists in various media.

Reception includes a Bluegrass performance by Lemon Grove Trio and a Flamenco presentation. On view through May 16. From 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2.

388-2829, sdmesa.edu/art-gallery HTiger Bomb Art Show Encore at Gelato Vero Caffe, 3753 India St., Mission Hills.

Proceeds from the tiger-themed art show go to the World Wildlife Fund. Curated by local band Lion Cut, these works will remain on display through May 31. Opening at 6 p.m. Friday, May 3. 619-295-9269, facebook.com/lion.cut

14 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

Yolande Snaith

HSave on Everything at Helmuth Projects, 920 E St., Downtown. New works in sculpture, photography, collage and video by Joe Yorty. On view through May 25. Opening at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 4. 619-933-5480, facebook.com/ events/122283234629594

HCognitive Dissonance at Subtext, 2479 Kettner Blvd., Little Italy. Kelly McKernan displays her paintings and drawings, which depict ethereal women intertwined with elements of nature. Runs through June 9. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, May 3. 619-876-0664, subtextgallery.com

HHomesteading Arts Festival at City Farmers Nursery, 4832 Home Ave., City Heights. Local artists showcase handmade goods from birdhouses to glassware to soap and show you how they did it. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 4. 619-2846358, cityfarmersnursery.com/events

Kai Savelsberg at Galeria Jan, 1250 Prospect St., La Jolla. German painter, poet and recipient of the Golden Osten Award displays his work and reads his poetry. On view through May 24. Opening at 6 p.m. Friday, May 3. 858-551-2053, galeriajan.com

ArtWalk & Car Show at Old California Restaurant Row, 1080 W. San Marcos Blvd., San Marcos. The free, monthly event features art exhibitions in the theme of Cinco de Mayo and a car club display with Ferraris, race cars, hot rods and more. From 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 5, oldcalrestaurantrow.com

Ray Ferrer at Protocol Wine Studio, 4186 Sorrento Valley Blvd., Suite H. The East Coast artist debuts his urban wall art and murals in California. RSVP required to tina. morey@protocolwine.com or sign up on the website. From 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 3, protocolwinestudio.com/studio-events Rummage Arts Show at Bamboo Lounge, 1475 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Support your local artists, including Danny Peralta, N.B. Carlo, Doc Grable, Jared Blake and Effie Shops, as they display their latest works. From 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, May 3. 619-291-8221, facebook. com/events/472642026141969/ Beachaholics at Bamboo Lounge, 1475 University Ave., Hillcrest. Robin Hackett hosts an art show; all proceeds benefit the victims of the recent Boston Marathon tragedy. At 4 p.m. Friday, May 3. 619-291-8221, facebook.com/ events/638673562826126 HKeep A Breast: Poppin’ Off at Univ, 1053 S Coast Highway 101, Encinitas.

Grand opening of the Keep A Breast Pop Up Shop featuring artwork by Keep A Breast, Non Toxic Revolution and Kassia Meador. Tarot card readings by Natalia Benson and music by Tony Larson. From 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, May 3. 619-200-7916, univ-shop.com Test Kitchen at New Children’s Museum, 200 W. Island Ave., Downtown. Visit the Test Kitchen on Fridays through May 26 to get a sneak peek of artwork that artists are developing for the museum’s next exhibition, opening in the fall of 2013. From 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, May 3. Free with admission. 619-233-8792, thinkplaycreate.org Brisa Mediterranea at Exclusive Collections Gallery, 568 Fifth Ave., Downtown.

Spanish painter Royo exhibits new portraits.

From 6 to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 3-4. 800-599-7111, ecgallery.com HFiction Alters Form at TFR Gallery, 1026 N. Coast Hwy., Encinitas. This exhibit features work by Joe Yorty, cut-paper paintings of Matt Rich and the folk paintings and sculptures of Joshua Miller, which seek to create asymmetry out of symmetry. On view through May 26. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 4. 760-274-7252, facebook.com/events/146985745481705

From left: Aleck Karis, Pablo Gomez, Susan Narucki and Hida Paredez

Natural Reserve, 11255 North Torrey Pines Road, Torrey Pines. The free festival features nature-inspired work in various media including painting, pastels, drawing, sculpture and photography. There will also be guided nature walks, tours of Torry Pines Lodge and live music. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 4, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 5. 858-755-2063, artinthepines.org

Art in the Pines at Torrey Pines State

HLa Cultura Urbana at Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2125 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. Celebrate San Diego urban culture by way of art from Robert Dove, Travis Crosby, Soner and more. Live music from Los Hollywood, Azucar, Cumbia and DJ sets from Kid wonder and Office Twins. From noon to 6 p.m.

Sunday, May 5. $10-$15. 619-235-6135, funkyoucreative.com/cincodemayo HSpring Talmadge Art Show at Liberty Station, Roosevelt & Cushing, Point Loma.

Check out works by multiple emerging artists at this free event. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday, May 5, talmadgeartshow.com I Appreciate You at UCSD Art Gallery, Mandeville Center, UCSD campus. A site specific project by Erina Alejo that aims to bring individuals together to explore interdependence using exercises from Augusto Boal’s “Games for Actors and Non Actors.” From 11 a.m. to noon and 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, facebook.com/ events/636536213029180 Raul Gonzalez Microphotography at San Diego Natural History Museum, Balboa Park. Gonzalez displays 60 plates illustrating the travels of John Steinbeck and Edward Rickett and their records of marine life in the Gulf of California in 1940. On view through Sept. 10. See website for museum hours and admission. Opens Tuesday, May 7. 619-232-3821, sdnhm.org

BOOKS HZohreh Ghahremani at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla.

Ghahremani returns to discuss her new novel, about a mother and her daughter living in 1970’s Iran, The Moon Daughter.

At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1. 858454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com Kevin Powers at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. National Book Award Finalist discusses and signs The Yellow Birds. Reserved seating is available. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2. 858454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com HJeremy Scahill at Hoover High School, 4474 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. New York Times best-selling author discusses his newest release, Dirty Wars, which tells the story of a man targeted by national assassins. In Hoover High School’s audi-

torium. At 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2. 619283-6281, dirtywars.org/screenings Weekend with Locals: Sara Christenon at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Co-author of Malibu Nanny: Adventures of the Former Kardashian Nanny discusses her time as caretaker for the famous fashionistas. At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4. 858-454-0347, warwicks. indiebound.com Weekend with Locals: Lenore Tolegian Hughes at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Warwick’s hosts the author of Cups of Fortune. At noon Saturday, May 4. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com Free Comic Book Day at Comickaze, 5517 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont.

Comickaze gives away thousands of comic books and hosts comic creators who will be signing and sketching all day. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 4. 858336-1671, comickaze.com Leslie Bennett & Stefani Bittner at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Co-founders of Star Apple Edible Fine Gardening discuss and sign The Beautiful Edible Garden: Design a Stylish Outdoor Space Using Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs. At noon Sunday, May 5. 858454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com Brad Willis at Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace, 5998 Alcala Park, USD, Linda Vista. Former NBC war correspondent and cancer survivor discusses his book about turning away from Western medicine in favor of non-traditional practices and yoga.

From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, May 5.

619-260-7509, bhavaram.com Laura Preble at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The local author signs her new young adult work, Out, a fictional take on gender identity. At noon Monday, May 6.

858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Seth Lerer at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Dean of Arts and Humanities at UCSD talks about his fatherson memoir, Prospero’s Son. At 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 7. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com

COMEDY HNBT presents: In this Economy? at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Commiserate over the dire state of our economy with the hysterical sketches and stand-up of Ron Babcock, Paul Cibis and Greg Santos. At 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 1. 619-284-6784, sosayweallonline.com Steve Trevino at Mad House Comedy Club, 502 Horton Plaza, Downtown.

You’ve seen him on his Showtime special, Comedy Central, Mind of Mencia and more. At 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 3-4. 619-702-6666, madhousecomedyclub.com

DANCE Dance Break 2013 at MiraCosta College, 1 Barnard Drive, Oceanside. MiraCosta College’s Dance Program presents a concert featuring choreography by students and faculty featuring ballet, jazz, modern and tap. In Theater OC2001. At 7:30 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, May 3-4, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5. $8-$12. 760-435-3065, miracosta.edu HOne Hundred Feet at Wagner Theatre @ UCSD, La Jolla. Choreographer Yolande Snaith, video artist Nataila Valerdi and sound designer Nick Drashner present a multimedia performance that journeys through the lives of idols Joan of Arc, Marilyn Monroe and more. At 8 p.m. Saturday,

“Entropy” by Kelly McKernan is on view in Cognitive Dissonance, opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, May 3, at Subtext Gallery (2479 Kettner Blvd. in Little Italy).

May 4. $10-$20. 858-534-3791, imagomoves.com Fiesta de Reyes Folklorico Competition at Old Town Historic Park, 2454 Heritage Park Row, Old Town. The six finalist groups compete in traditional Latin American dance styles that emphasize folk culture. From 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 4. 619-491-0099, fiestadereyes.com

FOOD & DRINK Beer & Bugs at San Diego Natural History Museum, Balboa Park. Try some of San Diego’s most popular micro-brews with deliciously prepared insect appetizers. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1. $20-$25.

619-232-3821, sdnhm.org/calendar Farm House Mead Tasting at Sea Rocket Bistro, 3382 30th St., North Park. Meet the men behind Farm House Mead while you enjoy a kale salad, grass-fed burger and mead-soaked bread pudding. Reserve your spot: 619-255-7049. Thursday, May 2. $25. 858-663-7752, searocketbistro.com

Guadalajara to perform a free concert. At 4 and 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 1. 760-8394190, artcenter.org/performances Bayou Brothers at Summit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 8778 Cottonwood Ave., Santee. Hear the group’s zydeco, blues and R&B stylings plus guests Mama Tokus and Andy Williamson from the U.K. At 7 p.m. Friday, May 3. $15. 619-5620833, suuf.org Mantras, Beats and Bass at World Beat Cultural Center, 2100 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. Ecstatic Chant and Dance teams up with kirtan performers and producers DJ Draz and DJ Sol to present current dance beats. World Famous Prophets Restaurant provides vegetarian cuisine and beverages. At 8 p.m. Friday, May 3. $15-$20.

619-230-1190,worldbeatcenter.org HOlga Kern at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. The first of the three Jacobs Masterworks programs features the Van Cliburn Gold Medalist performing Ives, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. At 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 3-4, and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 5. $20-$96. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org

Chocolate Festival at Maritime Museum of San Diego, 1492 N. Harbor Drive, Downtown. California Fruit and Wine and David Bacco Chocolates provide wine, cheese and chocolate pairings while a Mars Chocolate representative explains the origin of one of America’s favorite sweets. From 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, May 03. $15. 619-2349153, sdmaritime.org

HThird Story at Museum of Making Music, 5790 Armada Drive, Carlsbad. Bassist Danny Weller, guitarist Jeff Miles, pianist Joashua White and drummer Jens Kuross perform their unique modern jazz. At 7 p.m. Saturday, May 4. $20. 760-4385996, museumofmakingmusic.org

Food & Wine Festival at La Jolla Cove, 1100 Coast Blvd., La Jolla. The largest benefit for the Junior League of San Diego hosts 50 restaurants offering bites, wines, micro brews and exotic cocktail tastings.

From 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 4. $75. jlsdfoodandwine.com

Coyote Music Festival at Cuyamaca College, 900 Rancho San Diego Pkwy., El Cajon. Bring your picnic basket and blanket to enjoy this free, outdoor music festival featuring nine local bands. From noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 4. 619660-4275, coyotemusicfest.com

MUSIC

Old Worlds/New World at Mandeville Auditorium, UCSD campus, La Jolla.

Steven Schick conducts the orchestra through music influenced by ancient Europe and China as well as new-world

WOW! First Wednesdays at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. Mariachi Garibaldi travel from the famed “Encuentro de Mariachi” in

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

THEATER Oscar and Felix are still at odds The Odd Couple has been around so long you could almost call it a period piece: the swingin’ ’60s music, the smoke-filled poker games, the divorce-American-style oneliners. Neil Simon’s 1965 comedy about—as if you need to be told— slob sportswriter Oscar Madison and fussbudget Felix Unger has been a hit movie, a hit TV show and a theatrical staple for coming up on 50 years. This is the first time that the North Coast Repertory Theatre has staged any Simon play. So, perhaps the thinking went: Why not start with the granddaddy?

The Odd Couple does feel somewhat dated, as much an American comedy of another era as was The Dick Van Dyke Show. It’s still quite funny in spots: The rapid-fire repartée between the gang at the poker table, both in Act 1 and Act 2; the mawkish meltdown Felix suffers in front of the expatriate British birds Gwendolyn and Cecily Pigeon; the hurling by Oscar of Felix’s plate of linguini (not spaghetti!). And Oscar’s line about the note Felix left on his pillow, the one that read “We’re out of cornflakes. F.U.,” rightfully earns among the biggest laughs of the night.

Louis Lotorto nails Felix’s singular mix of hapless hypochondriac and sympathetic everyman, an aproned clown who inspires pathos. Matt Thompson, however, is too fit and well groomed to fill the worn shoes of Oscar, who should look like an unmade bed and should be more short-tempered and coarse. Their argument scenes together in the second act compensate for rather plodding, more philosophical dialogue between them in Act 1.

The supporting cast—in particular a howling Bernard X. Kopsho as Murray the cop and Callie Prendiville and Amanda Schaar as the upstairs Pigeon sisters—is a strength of this production, as they volley Simon’s clever words back and forth at whatever velocity is called for at the moment.

The plight of the sad-sack, soon-to-be-divorced (or maybe not) Felix feels no more imporAmerica. Solos by Chou Wen-chung and Nicolee Kuester. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4, and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 5. $15$29. 858-534-TIXS, lajollasymphony.com Still We Rise at University Christian Church, 3900 Cleveland Ave., Hillcrest. San Diego Women’s Chorus performs a spring concert with guests the Black Storytellers.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, May 4, and 5 p.m.

Sunday, May 5. $15-$20. sdwc.org Intimate Classics at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. Classical artists take center stage in this new recital series. This week, The Lincoln Trio performs. At 7 p.m. Saturday, May 4. $35-$47. 760-839-4190, artcenter.org/performances/1213intimate HAthenaeum Jazz at The Scripps Ranch Institute, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, La Jolla. The Athenaeum’s jazz program returns for its annual spring series with a local debut by MacArthur-winning pianist Jason Moran’s trio. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 8. $32-$37. 858-459-3728, ljathenaeum.org/jazz.html

16 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

KEN JACQUES

Matt Thompson (left) and Louis Lotorto tant than who’s winning the night’s poker game, but then Simon wasn’t shooting for sobering social commentary way back when. The intention was to get laughs, and lots of ’em. The Odd Couple may be weary after 48 years of productions, but it’s not too tired for that.

It runs through May 12 at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. $37-$54. north coastrep.org

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

OPENING I Love My Computer Because My Friends Live in It: The new musical by Broadway Vista co-owner Randall Hickman focuses on five women and their electronic-communication and social-media exploits. Opens May 3 at the Broadway Theatre in Vista. broadwayvista.com

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

HBunnell Strings Quintet at Malcolm X Branch Library, 5148 Market St., Valencia Park. The five siblings play classical music fueled by the loss of both of their parents at a young age. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 8. 619-527-3405, sandiegolibrary.org HCuatro Corridos: A Chamber Opera at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UCSD campus, La Jolla. The unique chamber opera, led by Grammy award winning soprano Susan Narucki, addresses the issue of human trafficking. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 8. $10.50-$15.50. 973-6264984, cuatrocorridos.com

PERFORMANCE Sweet Dreams Burlesque Cabaret at 1202 Nightclub, 1202 University Ave., Hillcrest. Pixie Stixx Burlesque returns after their last sold out performance and will feature Cooc L’Amour, Jaguar, Peaches D’Light, Miss Devore and others. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4. $10-$20.

619.715.3657, pixiestixxburlesque.com

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HTrain of Thought at Mosaic San Diego, 1402 Commercial St., East Villege, San Diego Repertory Theatre actor and HBO Def Poet Joe Hernandez-Kolski performs followed by an open-mic tournament. From 8:30 to 11 p.m. Wednesday, May 1. $5-7.

619-230-8710, www.trainofthoughtsd.com HElevated! Grand Slam at Eveoke Dance Theatre, 2811-A University Ave., North Park. Thirteen local poets compete for the champion title and a trip to the National Poetry Slam in Boston. At 9 p.m.

Thursday, May 2. $5. 619-928-9308, collectivepurpose.org HShadab Hashmi and Najah Abdelkader at Southwestern College, 900 Otay Lakes Road, Chula Vista. The international poet and philosopher recite works in Arabic and English about their travels. In Room L238 N/S. From 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 7. 619-421-6700, swccd.edu HPoetry Ruckus at Ducky Waddle’s Em-

porium, 414 N. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas.

Local poets read their work with special guest Rae Armantrout, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. If you would like to join in contact: ruthlesshippies@gmail. com. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 8. 760632-0488, duckywaddles.com

POLITICS & COMMUNITY Civilized Conversation Club at Coco’s Restaurant, 13040 Friars Road, Mission Valley. This week’s timely roundtable discussion topic: “Immigration Reform: What Would Work?” From 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, May 6. 858-231-6209, civilizedconversation.wordpress.com

Cajon Classic Cruise at Prescott Promenade, East Main St., El Cajon. The weekly car show features more than 200 classic vehicles. This week’s theme is Funny Car Frenzy. Enjoy restaurant specials, bounce houses and street vendors. From 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 8. 619-401-8858, downtownec.com

SPORTS Fiesta De Futbol at Old Town Historic Park, 2454 Heritage Park Row, Old Town.

Red Bull hosts a street style, 3-on-3 soccer tournament with semi-professional and professional players. At 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5. 619-491-0099, sealionsoccer.com/redbullfiestadefutbol

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS Michael Gordon at Rancho Valencia Resort, 5921 Valencia Circle, Rancho Santa Fe. Chief military affairs correspondent for The New York Times discusses his book, Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, From George W. Bush to Barack Obama. At 6 p.m. Thursday, May 2. $15.

858-759-6216, cityclubofsandiego.com James Kugel at York Hall, Room 2722, UCSD campus. Kugel discusses “From Text to Interpretation: How the Bible Came to Mean Some of the Strange Things it Means.” At 8 p.m. Thursday, May 2. 858534-2230, calendar.ucsd.edu Chris McCaw: Sunburn at Museum of

Photographic Arts, Balboa Park. The San Francisco-based photographer will discuss his project in which he allowed the sun to burn a path onto paper negatives. At 7 p.m.

Friday, May 3. 619-238-8777, mopa.org San Diego Architecture at Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside. Learn about the architecture of Herbert B. Turner and James Hubbell in this illustrated lecture presented by Wendy L. Tinsley Becker. From 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 4. 760-435-3720, oma-online.org Bill Traylor at Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Join the museum to learn about the life and work of the self-taught artist, whose currently featured in an exhibition at the Mingei.

Presenters include Roger Ricco, filmmaker

Jeffrey Wolf, and L.A. artist Mark Steven Greenfield. From 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 4. $20-$25. 619-239-0003, mingei.org Musical Milestones: An Anniversary Series at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. Violinist Victoria Martino performs music from the Renaissance period and discusses the historical and cultural context. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, May 6. $25. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org/lectures.html Art in the Afternoon at Timken Museum of Art, Balboa Park. Curator John Marciari discusses Giovanni Battista Moroni in a lecture entitled, “The Only Mere Portrait Painter that Italy has Ever Produced.” At 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 8. 619-2395548, timkenmuseum.org

SPECIAL EVENTS HFiesta del A-Lista at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla.

Mingle with other art loving folks while enjoying a performance by 13-piece avantgarde mariachi group, Red Pony Clock and sipping beverages provided by Puesto and Karl Strauss. At 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2. $10-$12. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org/alist.html The Good Life Festival at Towne Square and Matthew’s Quad, UCSD campus, La Jolla. The free event looks to encourage healthy living and offers activities such as a climbing wall, inflatable pillow fighting, human hampster balls in a pool, food, henna artists and giveaways. Takes place at the campus. From 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 2. 858-534-2230, zone.ucsd.edu/goodlife Gaslight Gathering Convention at Town & Country Hotel, 500 Hotel Circle N., Mission Valley. Steampunk and Victorian enthusiasts unite in one location. Enjoy themed vendors, classes and presentations. From noon to midnight, Friday, May 3, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday, May 4, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 5. $10$60. 619-291-7131, gaslightgathering.org San Diego Ho’olaule’a & Keiki Heihei Wa’a at Mission Bay. Experience Hawaiian culture with canoe races in the De Anza Cove, live bands, Hula and Tahitian performances and a silent auction. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, nakoakai.com/Regatta.html Car and Motorcycle Show at MiraCosta College, 1 Barnard Drive, Oceanside. Bring the whole family to enjoy the sights, music

by New Riders and food vendors. To register your own vehicle, visit the website. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 4. $10$20. 760-435-3065, foundation.miracosta. edu/events.html Fiesta Old Town Cinco de Mayo at Old Town Historic Park, 2454 Heritage Park Row, Old Town. A free weekend party with 40 live bands, Lucha Libre performances, a mercado with 100 retail and food booths, an equestrian show and a beer garden.

From 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 4, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 5.

619-491-0099, fiestaoldtown.com Wild in the Country at Lions, Tigers & Bears, 24402 Martin Way, Alpine. Come out for an afternoon of animal encounters to help raise funds for the rescue group.

Food catered by Phil’s BBQ, live auctions and a performance by the Animal Cracker Conspiracy Puppet Masters. From 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 4. $25-$95. 619-6598078, lionstigersandbears.org HSpring Trunk Show at Handmade Revolution, 3054 Juniper St., South Park.

Shop locally handmade art, jewelry, clothing and other treasures. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 5. 619-920-7887, thehandmaderevolution.com

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

Paul Savage

J

Wendy Savage (left) and Laura Bohlin bemoan being single in Booth Watching.

udy Forman woke up last Sunday morning completely exhausted. “Judy ‘The Beauty’ On Duty,” as she’s known around town, questioned her motivation for continuing to work long, hard hours at The Big Kitchen, the restaurant and café in South Park that she’s owned for more than 30 years. But then she picked up her scrapbook and started digging through memories, reminding herself that The Big Kitchen is more than just a place to get a good cup of coffee and something warm to eat.

“We’ve done a lot of big, heavy, serious theater here,” Forman says, citing Bertolt Brecht’s Conversations in Exile, Edward Albee’s Counting the Ways and Václav Havel’s Audience among the productions staged in the small café back in the late 1980s and early ’90s. “I call it ‘intimate theater’ because it doesn’t get more intimate than our theater.

“And I’m just so thrilled with

what’s happening now,” she continues, rebounding from her temporary malaise as she talks about the most recent endeavor at The Big Kitchen. “I had no idea the writing, acting and directing was going to be so great. And my desserts were pretty amazing, too; I do have to say that.”

A few nights prior, Forman was whipping up coffeecake, hot-fudge sundaes and other goodies to accompany a preview of the recently founded New Play Café’s production of The Coffee Shop Chronicles, a collection of seven site-specific plays written by up-and-coming local playwrights and staged in The Big Kitchen’s two cozy dining rooms. The production continues with a sold-out show at 7:30 p.m.

Friday May 3, and another on Friday, May 10 (tickets are available at newplaycafe.com). A Wednesday, May 15, show was added after tickets started selling fast.

Amid the clutter of wall-towall photographs, shelves filled Paul Savage

James P. Darvas (left) and Bryant Hernandez are hilarious in Terminator 4.

18 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

with random odds and ends, politically liberal bumper stickers pinned around the room with sayings like “Tea parties are for little girls with imaginary friends” and even a life-sized cardboard cutout of Jerry Garcia, two actors push through the squeaky front door of The Big Kitchen and immediately command the small audience’s attention as they bring playwright Jennie Olson Six’s original production, Whoha, to life.

The pair works at a café—that much is quickly made clear—but something’s wrong. Yes, something is definitely off as the two make their way through a typical day in a busy coffeehouse.

“I need to quit smoking; it’s making me look old and weird,” worries one of the characters as she catches a glimpse of her reflection in the window.

But the two disappear for a smoke break before you can figure things out or even catch your breath. Without missing a beat, two beautiful young actresses make their entrance, and, suddenly, you’re watching witchcraft (Witch Café by Soroya Rowley). The two witches are at war with one another, and only clever trickery can help save the day. Next, you’re eavesdropping on a conversation packed with witty double entendre inspired by the current cell-phone-powered dating world (Message Send Failure

by Teresa Beckwith). Then Satan and Jesus take the witches’ places, and you’re captivated as the café is turned into an impromptu gameshow-style throw-down between good and evil (Kevin Six’s Between Heaven and Hell).

Dessert is a welcome break from the whirlwind of mysteries,

comedies and dramas unfolding in the narrow aisles of the homey café. And Forman’s right, the dessert is pretty amazing.

Coffee’s poured, and before it gets cold, the second half of the show begins. The mystery of the two servers’ dilemma is revealed before two young chatty girls take to the pseudo-stage to gripe about the single life (Booth Watching by Lizzie Silverman). Their seats are then filled by a young lady with a chip on her shoulder and an older man with a manila envelope and some bad news (Lock and Key by Delia Knight). The night concludes with the guy behind me laughing so hard he snorts multiple times as two strange and entertaining men enter the café claiming to be from the post-apocalyptic future (Terminator 4 by Jonathan Hammond).

In the end, despite a few small glitches and quirks, most in attendance seem satisfied. It’s fair to say Forman is flabbergasted.

“Très bien!” she exclaims, wiping a tear from her eye. “They’re so quick, but marvelous!”

With the only parameters being that the works are short and set in a coffeehouse, New Play Café founders Kevin Six, Lizzie Silverman and Jennie Olson Six accepted submissions in various states of readiness for their debut production. The whole premise of New Play Café, in fact, is to provide a venue for local playwrights to workshop their pieces, see them in action and learn from the real-world feedback.

“The thing for me is to go through a process,” says Kevin Six, an actor, director and playwright himself. “It’s something playwrights don’t get a lot of. You sit at your computer with voices in your

head, and you have a pretty good idea what they sound like, but it’s never the same as the real thing. I think the best part of the process is when an actor reads through the piece and asks about the work.

It inevitably evolves.”

San Diego is a theater town and, while Six admits that there are already plenty of useful outlets for emerging playwrights and even a good amount of playhouses that stage works written by locals, he says he and his New Play Café cofounders saw room for something less polished and a little rawer.

The voracious response in ticket sales is a testament to that, Six says. The team already has plans for a breakfast-for-dinner night featuring sci-fi themed pieces later this summer at The Big Kitchen. Further down the road, Six says they’ll perhaps move to a bar or other locations to set a different kind of scene.

Site-specific theater attracts a nontraditional audience, and short pieces cater to the reduced attention spans of younger people. Six says that’s who New Play Café is targeting, and while hectic backstage activity isn’t made any easier within the confines of the kitchen of a crammed café, he says it all comes together at the last minute if you’ve got the right kind of passionate folks involved.

“Theater is one of those things,” he says. “I think the success of your opening night comes down to how much you wanted to quit the business during the dress rehearsal. It was rough for us, but it’s that magical thing that happens in 24 hours— everyone pulls together.”

Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

seen local Houses of horror A lovely house with a perfectly manicured lawn and white picket fence may not always be what it seems.

Indeed, many horror flicks are staged in such an idyllic setting. What terrors and tragedies lurk behind those beautiful silk curtains?

That’s explored in Tommy DiVita’s series, Home Sweet Home. The 24-year-old Encinitas artist (facebook.com/disorderdolls) builds 2-foot-tall dollhouses that tell stories about mental disorders and afflictions that have plagued him or someone close to him. For a tour of his studio at Space 4 Art (sdspace4art.org) this past weekend, DiVita set five dollhouses on Astroturfed pedestals, each telling the story of a different condition.

They’re equal parts fascinating and disturbing.

Inside them, he created scenes using what he calls “disorder dolls”—Barbie- and Ken-like figurines he made by hand out of Sculpey, a brand of polymer clay.

The house on eating disorders, for example, was covered in toy candy and food. Inside stood a skeletal figurine in an empty kitchen staring into a mirror. Another dollhouse was draped in long hair and featured a multitude of doll arms holding ripped-up hair as a reference to trichotillomania, the condition that causes an urge to pull out one’s own hair.

“I wanted to make the viewer see that, with the people and the dolls, it’s their home and their life and everything around them that is a part of their affliction and part of their insecurity,” explains DiVita, who found making the dollhouses a therapeutic experience.

For the series, DiVita not only drew upon his experience with some of these conditions but also his family history. His grandmother was a model and fashion designer who worked at Mattell.

“She hoarded all these dolls, so I had a lot of access to them,” he says.

DiVita doesn’t want his series to be interpreted as criticism of Barbie dolls. He thinks the ideals Barbie reflected were already ingrained long before the tinywasted, blonde model / veterinarian / dream-home owner was created. Still, he accepts that there’s an inevitable reference to Barbie in his work.

DiVita hopes viewers of the series—he’s continuing to work on it, and folks can see it by appointment or during his studio’s open hours—are able to reflect on their own issues and maybe seek help.

“I want people to recognize that aspect of themselves in these houses,” he says. “I think I’ve done a pretty good job based on the response I’ve gotten from people that have looked at them.”

Divita’s trichotillomania-inspired dollhouse bell Open House on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 16, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’ll serve as headquarters for the foundation, as well as a space for lectures, classes, art displays, storage of Hubbell’s work and an archive with a searchable database for those who want to learn more about him. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at ilanlaelfoundation.org.

Along with the building, a sun dial made from rock, tile and forged metal will be installed on the site to honor those who contributed to the construction.

“The response from the community was overwhelming,” says Marianne Gerdes, executive director of the Ilan-Lael Foundation. “A lot of money was put forth to rebuilding the compound. It made us realize that the community had a vested interest in what he’s done. It shows his longtime presence and how he resonates with the community. ” And because this is a James Hubbell building, it’ll be visually stunning. Expect stained glass and mosaic walls, a beautiful sculptural façade and unique embellishments throughout. The building continues the story of Hubbell’s growth as an artist.

“People interested in art can see his current style and see how it evolved through these buildings,” Gerdes says.

The foundation hopes to raise another $150,000 to complete work on the Hubbell compound. It’s always applying for grants and accepting donations in order to fund the project.

Hubbell “is an important artist,” Gerdes says.

“The beauty of his designs really captures people’s imagination.”

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

Hubbell’s story continues Prolific San Diego artist James Hubbell’s home in Santa Ysabel is well known in the art community for its beautiful design and collection of paintings, mosaics and sculptures that Hubbell created throughout a career spanning more than 50 years.

Hubbell ( jameshubbellart.com) and his wife, Anne, purchased the property in 1958 and, over time, constructed eight buildings. Eventually, the Hubbells gave the property to the Ilan-Lael Foundation, an education and arts nonprofit. Four of the structures were destroyed by wildfire in 2003, including Hubbell’s residence, but the foundation was able to raise $200,000 to re-construct them.

A new ninth building will be unveiled at the Hub-

20 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

The new ninth building at James Hubbell’s compound, in progress

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Family-farm affair Director Ramin Bahrani plows the wrong field in At Any Price

by Anders Wright Filmmaker Ramin Bahrani has made several excellent features about people of color living on the fringes of the American dream. Thing is, it may not be the version of the American dream you’re used to. I first encountered Bahrani’s work, as did many others, with Man Push Cart, the 2005 film about a onetime Pakistani rock star whose move to the U.S. reduced him to selling coffee on the streets of Manhattan. Chop Shop was about an orphaned Latino boy struggling to better his life while working in an auto-body repair shop in Queens. And Goodbye Solo Dennis Quaid is acting. looked at a Senegalese immigrant driving a cab in Winston-Salem, N.C., who formed a bond with an a Ned Flanders sort of way and oblivious to Dean’s older white man contemplating suicide. All of these true passion—racing cars. This isn’t just a kid rebelfilms are smart and subtle, which is why Bahrani’s ling against his straight-laced dad, either. Henry has latest work, At Any Price—opening Friday, May 3, at all kinds of problems: He’s losing ground to another Hillcrest Cinemas—is such a disappointment. salesman, Jim Johnson (Clancy Brown); he’s been I hope this new effort is merely a misstep in what’s involved in some shady agriculture business; and so far been a wonderful body of work. While all his he’s getting something on the side with Meredith, films take on the American dream, none does so more a former cheerleader who’s become a local cougar emphatically than At Any Price. That’s one of the (Heather Graham). He’s not a good guy. problems: There’s nothing subtle about the new film.

Oh, and Quaid is terrible, and his character is the It marks the director’s first lynchpin of the entire film. foray into the Midwest, but his This is an actor who’s been in view of the people who work, several movies I hold dear, but At Any Price live and love there feels stilted it’s hard to buy into his charDirected by Ramin Bahrani and unnatural, miles away from acter here, sort of a farming Starring Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron, the sort of storytelling to which version of the guy William H. Heather Graham and Kim Dickens we’ve grown accustomed.

Macy played so well in Fargo.

Rated R These days, there are few But where Macy embodied things that are more red-state poor, dumb Jerry Lundegaard, than farming and car racing, here you feel as though Quaid and At Any Price has both. Additionally, it’s tough is acting the whole time. More importantly, and this to come up with two more white-bread actors than fault lies with both Quaid and Bahrani, I couldn’t feel Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron, and, yes, At Any Price for him at all, or even begin to understand the moral features both of them. Quaid plays Henry Whipple, and ethical quagmire into which he’s sinking. an Iowa farmer and seed salesman who seems to have Now, that might have been an interesting movie. it all. He has a lovely wife in Irene (Kim Dickens) and But At Any Price devolves into anger, sex and viotwo sons. Grant (Patrick Stevens) went to college on a lence, without truly exploring the issues facing the football scholarship, and, as far as Henry’s concerned, heartland. Oh, sure, it hints at meth labs and fundathe younger Dean (Efron) is perfectly happy at home mentalism, but it never actually gets dirty enough on the farm, which he’ll eventually take over. to tackle those issues. There’s no doubt that family But all’s not well in these fields of dreams. Hen- farming is in crisis in this country, but Bahrani’s new ry’s a shark, living by the “expand or die” credo movie barely scratches the surface of what could that’s taken over the industry, willing to do almost have been a very interesting harvest. anything to fill his treasure chest. Grant’s so unhappy that he doesn’t come home from college, and Dean Write to anders@sdcitybeat.com can’t stand his father, because he’s overbearing in or editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Big and little

Elysium

22 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

A babysitting snafu forced me to miss the press screening of Iron Man 3 earlier this week. That’s not a problem, really—the movie opens Friday, May 5 (it’s already screening in much of the rest of the world), and it’s going to make scads of money. More importantly, though, it kicks off the summer movie season, which will blockbuster its way through the next couple of months.

As usual, there’s no shortage of sequels and remakes (Star Trek into Darness, Fast and Furious 6, The Hangover Part III, The Wolverine, Man of Steel, Kick-Ass 2, Dirty Dancing, Despicable Me 2, Monsters University, etc.), but there’s also a couple of original big-budget movies I’m looking forward to.

Brad Pitt takes on fast zombies in World War Z on June 21, and the footage I’ve seen has me excited. Meanwhile, Guillermo del

Toro pits giant robots against giant monsters in Pacific Rim on July 12. And, I’m eager to see Elysium, the new one from District 9 helmer Neill Blomkamp, which comes out on Aug. 9. Oh, and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are teaming up once again with Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright for the endof-the-world comedy called, um, The World’s End. That comes out on Aug. 23.

Of course, there are plenty of movies coming out this summer that aren’t gigantic studio pictures, and they often get overlooked, which is a shame. Sarah Polley, who has turned into a wonderful director, has a new film, Stories We Tell, due in May, and I’m very excited about Deceptive Practices: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay, which opens at the Ken Cinema on May 24. Journalist Jeremy Scahill, who wrote a damning account of Blackwater, the shadowy private-security firm, has a new film, Dirty Wars, scheduled for a June release, and Joss Whedon, of all people, has directed a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, which comes out on June 21.

Reading Cinemas Gaslamp continues to program some of the

more interesting indie and foreign films in town, and the new Digital Gym Cinema in North Park continues to add to the mix.

Yes, of course, you’re about to be deluged with marketing and advertising for all these enormous movies, and some of them actually look kind of cool. But there’s a lot of smaller films coming to town this summer that are more than worth your while, if you’re willing to find them.

—Anders Wright

Opening At Any Price: Ramin Bahrani’s made three interesting films about the American experience through the eyes of people of color. This time he takes on the American dream, as seen through the eyes of a shady Iowa farmer (Dennis Quaid) and his rebellious son (Zac Efron). See our review on Page 22.

Bert Stern: Original Madman: Stern was one of the key photographers during the Golden Age of Advertising. Other than that, title pretty much says it all, right? Screens for one week only at the Ken Cinema.

In the House: French film about a 16-yearold boy whose work in a literature class has a profound impact on the teacher and his fellow students.

Iron Man 3: The summer blockbuster season kicks off with that snarky Tony Stark saving our ungrateful hides once again.

Kon-Tiki: New film about Thor Heyerdal’s

1947 ocean adventure, in which he sailed across the ocean on a balsa raft to prove that South Americans were able to cross in pre-Columbian times.

outbid the oil companies for land with money he didn’t have. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2, at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Hillcrest.

new library is getting its finishing touches.

Anthony Hopkins plays the portly director.

Screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, at the Hervey Branch Library in Point Loma.

La Rafle: Jean Reno and Melanie Laurent star in this true story of Jews in occupied France. Screens at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Birds: Hitchcock’s wonderful flying creepshow. Birds attack a lovely seaside town. The how and the why don’t matter.

Screens at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2, through Saturday, May 4, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Nacho Libre: Jack Black jumps on your back at 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, at the Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Running America: Some of the proceeds from this documentary, about a pair of marathoners planning to run from San Francisco to Times Square, will go to the OneFundBoston. Screens at Digiplex Mission Valley.

The World Before Her: This documentary about the changing and challenging roles of women in India opens Tuesday, May 7, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

One Time Only Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy: Stay classy, San Diego. By the way, the sequel is shooting in Atlanta.

Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Iron Man marathon: Is there such a thing as too much of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark? Find out on Thursday, May 2. The first one starts at 1 p.m., followed by Iron Man 2, The Avengers and, yes, Iron Man 3.

It happens at several local AMC theaters.

Pulp Fiction: Still Tarantino’s best, this crime-thriller-comedy that spans dozens of characters and fractures its own timeline is a terrific piece of work. Screens at noon and 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2, at Reading Cinemas Town Square in Clairemont.

Bidder 70: Documentary about Tim DeChristopher, the college student who

Errors of the Human Body: A genetic scientist who’s discovered a conspiracy among his colleagues ends up creating a new virus that could wipe out humanity. Screens at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4, at Reading Cinemas Gaslamp.

SDLFF Shorts: This collection of short films provided by the San Diego Latino Film Festival starts at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.

Wreck-It Ralph: Disney’s charming animated video-game movie kicks off a new outdoor series in Normal Heights. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4, outside on a big screen at Adams Avenue Park.

The Impossible: Ewan McGregor and Natalie Watts star in this sentimental look at a family torn apart by the 2004 tsunami.

San Diego Arab Film Festival mid-season event: After enjoying a successful inauguration, the new fest will present three short films from director Zaid Abu Hamdan, who’ll be in attendance. A reception starts at 6 p.m., and the film rolls at 7 p.m.

Sunday, May 5, at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.

Hitchcock: The Making of Psycho: The Public Library’s Film Forum moves to Point Loma for three months while the

Now Playing Graceland: This Filipino take on Taken is grittier and twistier than you expect.

Arthur Newman: Colin Firth plays Newman, an unhappy divorcé who stages his own death in hopes of starting over.

The Big Wedding: Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton are a long-divorced couple who must pretend to be married at the wedding of their adopted son.

May Day Workers Film Festival: Four films over four days at different venues around San Diego. Get all the details at workersfilmfestival.org. Ends on May 1.

Mud: Matthew McConaughey continues to deliver the emotional goods in this coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old boy who idolizes a drifter with a violent past.

No Place on Earth: Documentary about a group of Ukrainian Jews who escaped the Holocaust by hiding out in underground caves. Ends May 2 at Hillcrest Cinemas.

For a complete listing

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

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

Flynt Flossy (third from left) says Flynt Flossy is his real name.

Turquoise Jeep Records is a YouTube sensation · by Peter Holslin

M

aybe it’s the singer’s penetrating, comehither gaze. Maybe it’s his over-the-top dance moves, the way his whole body gyrates like a snake. Maybe it’s his tacky, early-’90s getup—his thick headband, rimless glasses, black muscle shirt and single gold earring.

Maybe it’s the way he sings all smooth and sexy-like, laying on the seduction extra-thick. Maybe it’s the goofy, giggle-inducing wordplay of the lyrics: “Lemme smang it, girl / Smash it and bang.”

Maybe it’s all of the above.

What’s clear is that “Lemme Smang It,” a song and video that stars a handsome singer and MC by the name of Yung Humma, is a hit. Made by the hip-hop group Turquoise Jeep Records, it’s racked up more than 10 million views since being posted on YouTube in late 2010.

“If you hashtag ‘smang it,’

‘smang’ on Twitter, you’ll probably see a lot come up. It’s become part of the everyday vernacular for people,” says Flynt Flossy, a member of Turquoise Jeep who also appears on the track. “It’s probably going to be in the Webster dictionary soon.”

Celebrated for their innuendoladen lyrics, infectious hooks and impressive dance moves, the guys in Turquoise Jeep—Humma, Flossy, Pretty Raheem, Slick Mahony, Tummiscratch and Whatchyamacallit—have built a rabid following.

Countless fans have posted tribute videos to the group’s own low-budget productions, which lovingly toy with the conventions of old-school hip-hop, R&B and techno.

In all the years Turquoise Jeep’s been cranking out videos, they’ve never made it clear whether they’re being serious or not. While they’re obviously joking with some songs—their jaunty new tune

24 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

“Treat Me Like a Pirate” has them singing “Treat me like a pirate / And gimme that booty”—others blur the line between sincerity and hilarity.

“I still don’t know if these guys are for real or not,” a YouTube user named Rere Pope recently wrote in the comments section of the “Lemme Smang It” video.

Flossy, for his part, is a tough dude to nail down. A rapper, producer and video director with a deep voice and lean dancer’s physique, he always sports a fake mustache and goatee. Speaking with CityBeat, he dodges questions about his personal history and insists that Flynt Flossy is his real name.

“Flynt Flossy, born and raised,” he says. “I’m like a unicorn, baby.

I gotta keep that mystique, you feel me?”

Though they’re often hilarious, Flossy says they’re not explicitly trying to do comedy. They’re just being themselves, and they’re hap-

py however the audience reacts.

“It’s all what the fans think.

You feel me, baby?” Flossy says.

“Whatever emotion you get, when you listen to ‘Lemme Smang It,’ we did our job—as long as you get an emotion out of it. Whether if you say, ‘Hey, this is just a good song,’ you just want to dance to it, we did our job. If you laugh at it, hey, we did our job.”

When they aren’t putting together dirty, innuendo-laden rhymes, they exploit the delightful contrast between intense, soulful sincerity and gaudy, dated style. In the video for the upbeat “Can He Move it Like This,” singer Pretty Raheem tries to wrest a woman from her boyfriend by dressing up in a lime-green suit and jerking around in a spazzedout dance routine, like he’s some low-rent MC Hammer.

Celebrated comedic songwriters, like South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone, love the genres

they toy with. Turquoise Jeep is no different; Flossy says they take inspiration from artists like Slick Rick and Teddy Riley, the pioneer of the bumping, sentimental ’80s electroR&B sound called new jack swing.

Flossy likes that artists from the ’80s weren’t trying to look cool or show off. Turquoise Jeep’s intentions are similarly pure, he says.

“I think that’s why a lot of times, people have a connection with us, because they can relate to us on a lot of these tracks. We’re just talking. I’m not out here saying Flynt Flossy is better than anybody. I’m not better than anyone, you know?

I’m just expressing myself.”

Turquoise Jeep got its start around 2008 or 2009. Flossy, Humma and Whatchyamacallit had spent years toiling in the music industry on small projects— singing, writing and directing videos—and they finally decided to do their own thing.

They started to get some attention when their 2009 song “Stretchy Pants”—a tribute to women’s skin-tight stretch pants— showed up on an episode of Attack of the Show! Their profile got bigger with the release of their tune “Fried or Fertilized” (“How you like your eggs / fried or fertilized?”).

But “Lemme Smang It” is what really put them on the map, boosting their fan base and providing them big opportunities.

Now, they’re planning to release their next album, Keep the Jeep Ridin’ Vol. 2. With the recent success of YouTube sensations PSY and Baauer (the guy behind “Harlem Shake”), it seems they have a chance at achieving mainstream success.

“We plan on getting on Billboard real soon, you feel me?” Flossy says.

“It’s gonna happen.”

Turquoise Jeep play at The Casbah on Thursday, May 9. turquoisejeep. com. Write to peterh@sdcitybeat. com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

notes from the smoking patio Locals Only With their weird, violent lyrics, rockers The Burning of Rome aren’t the kind of band you’d normally expect to hear at a mainstream sporting event. But for months last season, their song “Cowboys & Cut Cigars” blasted through the speakers at Cowboys Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

The song would play every time the team scored a touchdown, reaching the ears of tens of thousands of football fans.

“Now they’re asking us to actually rework [the song] so that it’s more appropriately themed for the Cowboys,” says Adam Traub, the band’s singer and keyboardist, noting that the song’s lyrics (example: “brain-dead and bearing arms”) aren’t exactly football-friendly.

The band got the deal through their label, Surfdog Records.

Surfdog’s owner, Dave Kaplan, is friends with the Cowboys’ entertainment director, and the label sent the song over to him after the album came out late last year.

26 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

Kristin Burns

“I got a note back from their supervisor basically just saying, ‘These lyrics are way too outlandish,’” he says. Among the things he was told: “You can’t use the word ‘kill.’”

However the new lyrics turn out, he hopes to make them just a little bit subversive.

“You gotta try to sneak something in there,” he says. “You have to. It’s going to be played for 70,000 people every Sunday.”

Music review Dirty Sirens Dirty Sirens (self-released) When it comes to rock ’n’ roll, San Diegans are easy to please. If your band has rad riffs, bluesy licks and a charismatic singer, you’re golden. Play a few shows, and, The Burning of Rome soon enough, you’ll have countless concert-goers and music writers Scott Seine, Surfdog’s execu- stage of their growth.” tive vice president and general Traub hasn’t decided how to eating from your hand.

Experiment too much, though, manager, says the Cowboys want rewrite the lyrics yet. He offered to use the song next season. The to make them allude to the Cow- and you risk losing your audience. band hasn’t been paid for the boys’ longstanding rivalry with While scores of citizens will be deal—and may not be for this sea- the Washington Redskins—by happy to sip some whiskey along to son, he adds. making the song about a group the straightforward, Southern-rock “We’re just trying to break the of marauding cowboys who go to stylings of Dead Feather Moon, band,” he says. “For us, it’s just Washington, D.C., to destroy Con- only a niche crowd will be game to experience the cosmic, stoner‘Get the music out there’ at this gress—but that idea got nixed.

drone transcendence of Earthless.

On their debut EP (available for download on Friday, May 3, at dirtysirens.bandcamp.com), Dirty Sirens straddle these two spheres. Delivering a solid dose of Sabbath-like riff-rock, the upand-coming quartet ramps up the intensity with the help of a dynamic frontwoman and some of the gnarliest, most fucked-upsounding guitar I’ve ever heard from a local band. For better or worse, though, they stay firmly rooted in a radio-friendly realm.

The EP’s gripping opener, “Siren Song,” will fill you with a mix of terror and delight. Throwing down a hurricane of stabbing riffs and tribal drums, they ratchet

up the tension only to find release in the chorus, when singer Monterey Salka—possessed with a voice that cuts like a rusty razor blade—lets out a big, “whoa-ohoh” war cry.

“Hellfire” is more to-the-point.

A straight-ahead rager, it’s guided by pummeling drums, acidic lyrics (“You say that you’re a man, but you’re just a fucking cunt”) and gnarly riffs from guitarist Christy Hüber, who makes her six-string quake with generous helpings of fuzz and distortion. For all the track’s crudeness, it bursts with shit-kicking attitude.

In “Speakeasy,” Hüber lays down a buzzing, one-chord guitar riff that’s so delectably potent that I’d have been happy if they’d grooved on it for, like, 20 minutes.

Instead, they throw in a basic, three-chord chorus and doubletime breakdown, missing an opportunity to explore the nuances of mood and texture.

Dirty Sirens have already gotten some buzz in the local scene, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this EP helps land them a nomination for the San Diego Music Awards.

Still, they could benefit from pressing deeper into experimental terrain, bar-goers be damned.

—Peter Holslin Write to peterh@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

if i were u Wednesday, May 1

Saturday, May 4

PLAN A: Os Mutantes, Capsula @ The Casbah. Members of the “tropicália” art movement of the late ’60s, Brazilian psychrockers Os Mutantes have gained an international following thanks to their groovy tunes and trippy, oddball attitude. They’ve been on a solid run since reuniting in 2006 (minus a few key members), and their new album, Fool Metal Jack, oozes with endearing weirdness. PLAN B: JJUUJJUU, Blackfeet Braves, Wild Wild Wets, Barbarian @ The Void. Once you get past their ridiculous name, JJUUJJUU actually sound pretty good: The scorched-earth psychedelia of their song “G 4 A G,” all grime-encrusted guitars and crashing drums, broods with punk intensity. BACKUP PLAN: Helmet, Ape Machine, i*wish*i @ The Griffin.

PLAN A: Killing Joke, Czars, Shaolin Signal @ Brick by Brick. In a career that reaches back to the late-’70s, English post-punks Killing Joke have inspired everyone from Nirvana to Napalm Death with their synthy, industrial-tinged brand of goth-rock gloom. Touring in support of a new compilation, The Singles Collection: 1979-2012, they continue to look something fierce onstage. PLAN B: El Monte Slim, River City, Behind the Wagon, Rusty Maples @ Soda Bar. Local country quartet El Monte Slim are celebrating the release of their debut album, If I Could Just Break Even, so expect a hip-thrusting hoedown, with plenty of slide guitar to go around.

BACKUP PLAN: Born Ruffians, Moon King @ The Casbah.

Thursday, May 2

Sunday, May 5

PLAN A: Javelin, Helado Negro, Jamaican Queens @ The Casbah. Like the proprietors of a sonic junkyard, Brooklyn duo Javelin build distinct, dance-floor-ready pop out of anything from trunk-rattling hip-hop beats to Peruvian pan-flute melodies. Florida beatmaker Helado Negro, meanwhile, makes measured tunes that’ll make you think while grinding. PLAN B: Paul Collins Beat, The Widows, Whales, DJ Mongo Style, DJ Richard Thompson @ Til-Two Club. When it comes to melodic, guitar-driven powerpop, few do it better than Paul Collins. A former member of the mid-’70s trio The Nerves, he’s spent decades penning one catchy heartbreaker of a tune after another. BACKUP PLAN: C.J. Ramone, Bümbkläätt, The Touchies @ Soda Bar.

PLAN A: The Israelites, Kingston A Go Go, The Amalgamated @ Til-Two Club.

The Israelites may not be Rastafarians— they’re actually devout Christians—but they’ve held the torch for authentic Jamaitim soter can ska for nearly 25 years.

With deep bass, solid horns and inspiration from the skinhead movement (the original, non-racist variety), they produce uplifting tunes with lots of soul. PLAN B: Jad Fair @ Craftlab Gallery (821-A South Tremont St., Oceanside). Jad Fair is probably best known as the co-founder, with his Javelin brother David, of the quirky alt-rock band Half Japanese.

But he’s also made some distinctive music and art of his own. Tonight, he’ll display an array of paper cuttings and drawings and play an acoustic set. BACKUP PLAN: Beat Connection, Odesza, Astronautica @ Soda Bar.

Friday, May 3 PLAN A: Prince @ Hard Rock Hotel. If you’ve got $250 burning a hole in your pocket, you’d be wise to spend it on a ticket to this intimate, one-time-only series of shows starring one of pop’s most legendary badasses.

(Prince will also play on Saturday, March 4; he’s playing two shows per night.) PLAN B: Skrapez, Sleeve, DJ Pound, Mystery Cave, Zochi Beats, Will Spliff, Sasquach, AbJo, Boarsley, Misk, Griefshare @ Kava Lounge. For years, Kava Lounge manager Mateo Silva has been a kind of Poppa Bear to a tight-knit community of DJs, beatmakers and hip-hop heads. Silva’s leaving the club to pursue his practice in holistic healing, and, tonight, nearly a dozen locals will send him off with a long night of dope beats.

BACKUP PLAN: Method Man & Redman, DJ Scene, Decon, Kevin Brown, Hernandez, Static Promenade @ Stingaree.

28 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

BY peter holslin

Monday, May 6 PLAN A: Laura Stevenson, Field Mouse, The New Trust @ Soda Bar. Leave your indifferent-hipster bullshit at the door for this one. In her indie-pop tunes “Runner” and “Master of Art,” songwriter Laura Stevenson aims her confident lyrics and winsome melodies directly at your heart, prying it right open.

Tuesday, May 7 PLAN A: Bleached, Ex-Cops @ The Casbah. Of all the buzzy beach-punk bands out there, Bleached is certainly one of the best.

Their songs are fairly one-dimensional, anchored by retro love-song clichés, but they’re catchy enough that most people won’t notice or care.

HOT! NEW! FRESH! Quel Bordello, Strange & Wildlife (Casbah, 5/20), Joyce Manor (The Irenic, 5/25), Fiction Family (Casbah, 5/27), Fear (Casbah, 5/31), YG (HOB, 6/6), Cayucas (Casbah, 6/6), Dilated Peoples, People Under the Stairs, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, The Visionaries, Revolutionary Rhythm (HOB, 6/9), GZA (Porter’s Pub, 6/11), Zomboy (HOB, 6/15), The Soft Pack (Casbah, 6/28), Queensrÿche (Casino Pauma, 6/28), Anberlin, Stars in Stereo, Campfire OK (Casbah, 7/2), Damian and Stephen Marley (BUT, 7/2), Palms (BUT, 7/10), Portugal.

The Man, Avi Buffalo (HOB, 7/10), Ted Nugent (HOB, 7/15), Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/19), Key & Peele (Balboa Theatre, 7/20), Slightly Stoopid, Atmosphere, Tribal Seeds, The Grouch, Eligh (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/20), The Uncluded (Aesop Rock & Kimya Dawson), Hamell on Trial (The Irenic, 7/23), BoDeans (BUT, 7/24), Son Volt (BUT, 8/2), Sublime with Rome, 311 (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/3), The Heavy (BUT, 8/5), The Monkees (Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, 8/11), Joe Satriani (Balboa Theatre, 8/29), Uproar Festival w/ Alice in Chains, Jane’s Addiction, Coheed and Cambria (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/14), Julieta Venegas (HOB, 9/19), Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Casbah, 9/28), Taj Mahal Trio, Vusi Mahlasela and Fredericks Brown (BUT, 10/7). Pet Shop Boys (Copley Symphony Hall, 10/8),

GET YER TICKETS Os Mutantes, Capsula (Casbah, 5/1), Prince (Hard Rock Hotel, 5/3-4), Black Angels (BUT, 5/19), Green Day’s Ameri-

can Idiot (Civic Theatre, 5/28), Mumford & Sons (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 6/3), Erykah Badu (Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, 6/27), They Might Be Giants (BUT, 6/16), The Postal Service (SDSU Open Air Theatre, 7/21), Depeche Mode, Crystal Castles (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/22).

May Wednesday, May 1 Os Mutantes, Capsula at The Casbah.

Chad Valley at Soda Bar. Helmet at The Griffin. JJUUJJUU, Blackfeet Braves at The Void.

Thursday, May 2 Javelin, Helado Negro, Jamaican Queens at The Casbah. C.J. Ramone at Soda Bar.

Friday, May 3 Maps and Atlases at Soda Bar. Pine Mountain Logs at Belly Up Tavern. Adam Green & Bikini Shapiro, La Sera at The Griffin. Prince at Hard Rock Hotel (two sets).

Saturday, May 4 Born Ruffians at The Casbah. Prince at Hard Rock Hotel (two sets).

Sunday, May 5 Mindless Self Indulgence, Chantal Claret at House of Blues. Built to Spill at The Casbah. Hot Club of Cowtown at AMSDconcerts. Beat Connection at Soda Bar. Jad & David Fair at Craftlab Gallery (821-A South Tremont St., Oceanside).

Monday, May 6 Bob’s Burgers Live at The Irenic (sold

out). Built to Spill at The Casbah. El Ten Eleven, Bonobo at Belly Up Tavern. Parlotones at The Griffin.

Tuesday, May 7 Bleached, Ex-Cops at The Casbah. Akron/Family at Porter’s Pub. Sara Watkins at The Griffin. Jad Fair at Craftlab Gallery

Wednesday, May 8 Jerry Joseph, Wlater Salas-Humara, Steve Drizos at The Casbah.

Thursday, May 9 Turquoise Jeep at The Casbah. Devendra Banhart at Belly Up Tavern. Schoolboy Q at House of Blues.

Friday, May 10 Marina and The Diamonds, Charli XCX at House of Blues. Blowoff w/ Bob Mould, Rich Morel at The Casbah. Manhattan Transfer at Balboa Theatre. Unwritten Law at The Casbah.

Sunday, May 12 The Milk Carton Kids at Belly Up Tavern.

Acid Mothers Temple, Tjutuna at The Casbah. Cloud Cult at Porter’s Pub.

Monday, May 13 oOoOO at Soda Bar.

Tuesday, May 14 Rotten Sound, Black Breath at Soda Bar. Yngwie Malmsteen at House of Blues.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

the hit list Fiesta time Contrary to popular belief, Mexicans who live in The Ruby Room (1271 University Ave. in HillMexico don’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Grow- crest) is getting in on the Cinco de Mayo action on ing up in Tijuana, I never saw a single Mexican Saturday, May 4, with Elektrofied, a regular club InSapphoWeTrust / Flickr night that brings live acts, art flag strapped to a pickup truck roaring through stop signs and and music to the party people as honking like crazy on May 5. a benefit for Young Audiences Now, Sept. 16, which is Mexico’s of San Diego, an arts-education Independence Day, is a different nonprofit. The night will feature story. My mom wouldn’t let me a burlesque-style performance go out to celebrate, fearing I’d be

by Sarah Saraphim and Elena killed by a wayward bullet shot QM involving hoops, swords into the air in a fit of patriotism. and fire and art by Eddy BerI’m still not sure that was a thing ducido, Citali Rodriguez, Alex I really had to worry about. In Arped and Rhiannon Turksu.

San Diego, people go all out for DJs InsanelySound, Nikolbag Cinco de Mayo. Here are some and Datelines will spin ’80s, ways to celebrate: new wave and electro to get the Shake your Latin-loving dance floor moving. booty on Thursday, May 2, at Finally, what’s a Cinco de Don’t be like these jerks Voz Alta (1754 National Ave. in Mayo weekend without some on Cinco de Mayo.

Barrio Logan) for the weekly Lucha Libre fun? Head out to Latin Jazz Jam featuring trumpeter extraordi- Family Gym Stadium (101 17th St. in East Village) naire Bill Caballeros. The weekly jam is always at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for Batalla de Mexico en full of energy and great sounds. Grab some wine or USA, presented by Lucha Libre legend Rey Misa beer from the bar and groove to the cool sounds. terio Sr. There’ll be five rounds of carnage. BYO While the mood is usually chill, it isn’t unheard of luchador mask. for people to dance up a storm. Take a chance and —Alex Zaragoza check it out.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

Thursday, May 16 Devin the Dude at Porter’s Pub.

Friday, May 17 Jimmy Eat World, Iamdynamite at House of Blues.

Saturday, May 18 Ariel Pink at The Casbah.

Sunday, May 19 Black Angels, Wall of Death, special guest at Belly Up Tavern, The Appleseed Cast at The Casbah.

rCLUBSr

1202 Nightclub, 1202 University Ave., Hillcrest. pixiestixxburlesque.com. Sat: Sweet Dreams Burlesque Cabaret. 710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic, open jam. Fri: Natural Heights, Brothers Gow, Arden Park Roots. Sat: Unlock the Night (7:30 p.m.); Todo Mundo (9:30 p.m.).

Sun: Cinco De Mayo Bikini Pageant and Fundraiser (2:30 p.m.); Local Bands, Local Brews (9:30 p.m.). Tue: 710 Bass Club.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Fri: Leonard Patton. Sat: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

Tue: Battle of the Bands.

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

Wed: ‘Breezy Bliss’ w/ Scott Roberts, DJ Irok, JoshthebeaR, Volz, Sixmil. Thu: DJs Bala, Lucky J, Lehder 10. Fri: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk. Sat: DJ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Noise Agents’ w/ DJs Watch .44, Sunday Sauce.

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

Wed: Clayton Thomas Presents. Thu-Sat: Rob Delaney. Sun: Morgan Murphy. Tue: Gaslamp Open Mic. Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Wed: DJ Grandmasta Rats.

Thu: Gone Baby Gone (Album Release), Queen Caveat. Fri: Dj Artistic, NoSuckerDJs. Sat: Dominique Pruitt, Little Fowl.

Sun: DJs JoeMama, TramLife. Mon: The Husky Boy All-Stars. Tue: Adrian Demain’s Exotica-Tronica.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: ‘Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus’ w/ Peter Story, Monique Marvez. Thu: Glow Party w/ DJ Man Cat, Chamberlin, Dbear, Digital Opinion, DJ Gina Cat. Fri: Pine Mountain Logs, Charlie Vaughn, The Daily Routine. Sat: ‘Cinco De Mustache’ w/ The Young Guns. Sun: Tony Suraci as The Highwayman. Mon: Bonobo, El Ten Eleven, DJ Eddie Turbo (sold out). Tue: Richard Thompson Electric Trio.

Blarney Stone Pub, 5617 Balboa Ave, Clairemont. 858-279-2033. Wed: The Barmen. Thu: Dirty Sue. Fri: The Fooks. Sat: Dana Henry, Haley Lenore. Sun: Open mic w/ Men of Leisure. Mon: Trivia. Tue: Irish jam, Bob Tedde.

Block No. 16 Union & Spirits, 344 Seventh Ave, Downtown. blockno16.com. Fri-Sat: DJ Marc Thrasher. Sun: Safety Orange.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Wed: Open mic.

Thu: Michele Lundeen, Backwater Blues Band, Swirl. Fri: Cherie Currie, Roni Lee, Get Rockin, Core. Sat: Killing Joke, Czars, Shaolin Signal.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Wed: Gipsymenco. Thu

& Sat: Malamana. Fri: Joef and Co. Sun: Aragon y Royal.

Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: Os Mutantes, Capsula. Thu: Javelin, Helado Negro, Jamaican Queens. Fri: Black Mountain, Sleepy Sun. Sat: Born Ruffians, Moon King, Takahashi. Sun: Built to Spill, Junior Rocket Scientist (sold out). Mon: Built to Spill, Junior Rocket Scientist (sold out).

Tue: Bleached, Ex-Cops.

Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. thechecafe.blogspot.com. Sun: Tough Stuff, Higher Learning, Jelly Boyz, Ella.

Croce’s, 802 Fifth Ave, Downtown. croces.com. Wed: Fuzzy. Thu: Sue Palmer.

Fri: Gio Trio plus-1. Sat: Daniel Jackson (11:30 a.m.); Eve Selis (8:30 p.m.). Sun: Elliott Lawrence (11:30 a.m.); The Archtones (7:30 p.m.). Mon: Dave Scott and Monsoon Jazz. Tue: Dave Curtis Quartet.

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

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Dr, Downtown. dizzyssandiego.com. Thu: Jaeryoung Lee w/ Danny Weller, Kevin Koch, Matt Falker.

Fri: The California Guitar Trio. Sat: Jim Romeo and the Mesa College Concert Jazz Band.

El Dorado Bar, 1030 Broadway, Downtown. eldoradobar.com. Thu: ‘In the Cut’ w/ Unite, J-Blow. Fri: ‘Hickies and Dry Humps’ w/ Saul Q, Don’t Go Jason Waterfalls, DJ Lady Sha. Sat: ‘Boys and Girls’.

Sun: Azucar, Saul Q, Kid Wonder, Office Twins, Stanley.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd. com. Thu: Carnage. Fri: DJs Brett Bodley, XP. Sat: Sid Vicious, Craig Smoove. Mon: Jameson Bartender’s Ball.

Griffin, 1310 Morena Blvd, Bay Park. thegriffinsd.com. Wed: Helmet, Ape Machine, iwishi. Thu: Yellow Red Sparks, Tyson Motsenbocker, Lowly Spects. Fri: Adam Green and Binki Shapiro, La Sera, Buddy Banter, DJ Andrew Mills. Sat: Crash Kings, Chris Wilson and Planet Earth, Dreamers Dose. Sun: ‘Ritmo De Mayo Conscious Party’ w/ B-Side Players, Las Cafeteras, Cumbia Machin, DJ Unite, DJ Sloepoke, DJ Beto Perez. Mon: The Parlotones, Dinner and a Suit, Cameron, Irontom. Tue: Sara Watkins, Kris Orlowski.

Hard Rock Hotel, 207 Fifth Ave, Downtown. hardrockhotelsd.com. Thu: KVR, Dela Chapelle. Fri: Prince (two sets). Sat: Prince (two sets); DJ Fingaz, Mr. Dee Jay (207); Kevin Brown, DJ Toma (Float). Sun: Sid Vicious, Rico de Largo, DJ Kurch (207).

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Wed: Face to Face, Teenage Bottlerocket, Blacklist Royals; Jammingout the House of Blues. Sat: Problem, Iamsu. Sun: Mindless Self Indulgence, Chantal Claret; Cinco de Mayo Celebracion. Tue: Soul Pie, We Are Sirens.

Inn at the Park, 3167 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill. innattheparkdining.com. Wed: Andy Anderson, Nathan Fry. Thu: Roman Palacios and Tommy Gannon. Fri: Janice Edwards, Nathan Fry. Sat: Rick and Ria. Sun: Ria Carey, Don LeMaster. Mon: Karaoke. Tue: Carol Curtis.

Ivy @ Andaz, 600 F St, Downtown. ivyentertainmentsandiego.com. Thu: Dainjazone, FKME, Animal Riot. Fri: Office Twins, A-Train, Beatnick, Este, Tylerty, Zero Doo. Sat: Kaos, Este.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Wed: ‘Future Wendesdays.’ Fri: ‘Take Me Out with the Fader’ w/ Skrapez, Sleeve, DJ Pound, Mystery

Cave, Zochi Beats, Will Spliff, Sasquach, AbJo, Boarsley, Mis. Sat: ‘Ascension.’

La Gran Tapa, 611 B St, Downtown. lagrantapa.com. Wed: Carlos Velasco, Grupo Bohemio. Thu: Dusty Brough Guitar and Friends, Carlos Velasco. Fri: Juan Moro, flamenco. Sat: Latin Magic. Sun: Carlos Velasco, Grupo Bohemio, Hot Blood Orkestar. Tue: Tomcat Courtney.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave, Normal Heights. lestats.com. Wed: Cara, Chris Avetta, Dom Liberati. Thu: Jonina Aradottir, Kristi Krause, Mauru. Fri: The Gregory Page Show. Sat: Eleonor England. Sun: Jon Runion, Chelsea Crowell. Mon: Open mic w/ Chad Taggart. Tue: Comedy.

Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. theloft.ucsd.edu. Thu: Tiffany Alvord and Jason Chen. Mon: Blabbermouth.

Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave, Hillcrest. martinisabovefourth.com. Fri: Carol Curtis. Sat: Teagan Taylor Trio. Mon: Musical Mondays. Tue: Aaron and Amelia.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. numberssd.com. Thu: ‘Tagged’ w/ DJ Angel X; ‘Varsity.’ Fri: ‘Viernes Calientes.’ Sun: Cinco de Mayo La Fiesta Mexicana.

Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Tue: ‘The Boardroom.’

Pal Joey’s Cocktail Lounge, 5147 Waring Road, Mission Valley. paljoeysonline. com. Wed, Thu, Sun, Tue: Karaoke. Fri: Blue Rockit. Sat: Back Fat. Mon: Vicious Phishes.

Porter’s Pub, 9500 Gilman Dr., UCSD campus, La Jolla. porterspub.net. Sat: Something Nasty Vol. 2. Mon: Burnt, Giraffe Aftermath, Ottly Mercer.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: ‘Mischief’ w/ Bianca, DJ John Joseph. Thu: ‘Repent Ladies Night’. Fri: ‘Club Papi Anniversary’ w/ Kat Deluna, DJs Mike, Will Z. Sat: ‘Voltage’ w/ DJ Taj. Sun: ‘Pump! Cinco De Mayo!’ w/ DJ John Joseph (noon); DJs Hektik, Marcel (10 p.m.).

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

Wed: Kice Simko and Friends. Thu: Al Howard. Fri: Rio Peligroso. Sat: Baja Bugs. Tue: Party Planet Karaoke.

Ruby Room, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. rubyroomsd.com. Wed: Absu, Condemned, Ruines Ov Abaddon, Invocation War, Cosmonogy. Thu: Lovebirds (CD Release), Sister Speak. Fri: Knobs Live, Ciren, Netika, Josh the Bear. Sat: ‘Elektrofied Variety Showcase’. Sun: Cinco De Drinko All Day Fiesta (2 p.m.). Tue: Coen Brothers Movie Marathon.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: Chad Valley, Ski Lodge, Mothlight. Thu: C.J. Ramone, Bumbklaat, The Touchies. Fri: Maps and Atlases, Young Man, Torches.

Sat: El Monte Slim, River City, Behind the Wagon, Rusty Maples. Sun: Beat Connection, Odesza, Astronautica. Mon: Laura Stevenson, Field Mouse, The New Trust.

Tue: Rose Windows, Oh and the Whats, Amerikan Bear.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Thu: Eyes Set to Kill, Shining Through, Within Ourselves, Five Body Blade, The I In Self, Parliament Of Owls. Fri: The Gravities, Pulse Liberation, Selis, The Winders, Spider and the Ant. Sat: Hula Guns, The Scatter Bombs, Oversoul, Kids in Heat, School of Rock House Band.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St, Midtown. spin-

32 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

nightclub.com. Fri: ‘Fab Fridays.’ Sat: ‘I Like It Dirty’ w/ Evol Intent, Dysphemic and Miss Eliza, 6blocc, Mr. Vandal.

Stage Bar & Grill, 762 Fifth Ave, Downtown. stagesaloon.com. Wed: Bl3ndr, Mark Fisher/Gaslamp Guitars. Thu: Dubstep DJs, Van Roth. Fri: The Disco Pimps.

Sat: DJ Miss Dust, Fingerbang. Sun: Cinco Blowout. Mon: Reggae.

Stingaree, 454 Sixth Ave, Downtown. stingsandiego.com. Fri: Method Man and Redman, DJ Scene, Decon, Kevin Brown, Hernandez, Static Promenade.

The Flame, 3780 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. flamesandiego.com. Sat: ‘Soul Kiss.’

The Void, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, North Park. thevoidsd.com. Wed: JJUUJJUU, Black Feet Braves, Wild Wild Wets, Barbarian.

Thu: Crash Engine, Rad Company, From Scars, J Wang and Matty Kirkly. Fri: Civil War Rust, Bankers Hill, Tod Allen, All Things in the End Pay Off. Sat: Dollyrots, Revenge Club, Linkletter. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: The Fresh and Onlys, Tropical Popsicle, Ditches. Tue: The William Hatch Band, Scott Mathiason and The Shifty Eyed Dogs.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Wed: DJ Heather Hardcore. Thu: Paul Collins Beat, The Widows, Whales, DJs Mongo Style, Richard Thompson. Sat: Joy, Harsh Toke, Black Pussy. Sun: The Israelites, Kingston a Go Go, The Amalgamated.

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

Wed: The Young Gents, District Verdant, Neighbors to the North. Thu: Tar Halos, Prize Hog, Tit Wrench. Fri: Leanna May and The Matadors, Hello Penelope, Ed Ghost Tucker. Sat: Comet Calendar, Crazy Eyes, Requiem for the Rockets. Mon: Tin Can Country Club w/ Matthew Strachota.

Tue: Idlehands, As in We, Cochino.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Fri: ‘Hip-Hop vs. Punk Rock’ 2-year anniversary w/ The Lumps, First Power Crew, The Mice, BDP and T, DJs Unite, Mr. Henshaw, Pelengue.

Sat: East of Sweden, The Paper Thins, Black Snow.

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

Wed: Tomcat Courtney. Thu: Pan Am. Fri: Tomcat Courtney (6 p.m.); Afro Jazziacs (9 p.m.). Sat: Pan Am, Tomcat Courtney. Sun: Sounds Like Four (4 p.m.); Um Cantinho do Samba (7 p.m.). Mon: Pan Am. Tue: Afro Jazziacs.

U-31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Thu: DJ Schoeny. Fri: DJ Don Rivers. Sat: Groundlfoor. Sun: Reggae Night. Mon: ‘Taking Back Monday.’

Tue: Karaoke.

Voyeur, 755 Fifth Ave, Downtown. voyeursd.com. Thu: Gladiator and Kennedy Jones. Sat: Zen Freeman.

Voz Alta, 1754 National Ave, Barrio Logan. vozaltaprojectgallery.com/. Thu: Bill Caballero’s Latin Jazz Jam. Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: Comedy. Sat: Records with Roger, Sleepwalking.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Open mic w/ Jefferson Jay (6 p.m.); Piracy Conspiracy, DJ Carlos Culture (9:30 p.m.). Thu: Ocean Beach Comedy Competition (6 p.m.); Top Shelf, Mystic Roots, Bare Feet (9 p.m.).

Fri: Steven Garza, Tommy Lucero (6 p.m.); Jetwest, The Stir Crazies (9:30 p.m.). Sat: Head for the Hills. Sun: Giraffe Aftermath, Burnt, Ottly Mercer, DJ Cool Breeze (4 p.m.); ‘O.B.-o-ke’ w/ Jose Sinatra (10 p.m.). Mon: Electric Waste Band.

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

Proud sponsor: Mitch’s Seafood

Ink Well Xwords by Ben Tausig

Across 1. Peter, eldest of the Monkees 5. Nonchalant 9. Tosses some chips in the pot, say?

14. Cookie that’s one year older than crosswords 15. Instrument on Mariah Carey’s “Hero” 16. “Pal Joey” author John 17. How some prefer to go out 19. Made speechless 20. Draft 21. Autograph signer’s tool 23. At ___ (unsure what to say) 24. Response to a site gag?

25. Be full of chit?

26. Shinto, e.g., briefly 27. Lamb Chop’s partner 31. “No, seriously” 33. Disney On Ice leaps 34. Song that begins “Hey, where did we go, days when the rains came” 38. Baller’s building 39. One who finds god through reason 40. Array in a honeymoon suite 43. It’s cut and dried 46. Many of his relics are housed in the Egyptian Museum 47. Ironic 48. Alternative to a snake 50. “Ready to roll?”

53. British battleship 55. Doors tune?

56. Change, e.g., and a hint to this puzzle’s theme 58. On track to win 59. BO part Last week’s answers

60. Roman four, if there’s no V handy 61. Sirs’ partners 62. Sanctioned car seizure, casually 63. Pocket billiards ball count, sometimes

Down 1.

2.

3.

4.

Vehicle that removes wrecks Maryland’s state bird Update, as machinery Department store chain headquartered in Wisconsin 5. Desert near Beijing 6. Angle iron 7. Pax TV, now 8. Plead to get 9. Use a lane 10. “Cat on ___ Tin Roof” 11. Stooges album with “Search and Destroy” 12. Philosopher’s subject 13. Blue state 18. Eveready products 22. Goldsworthy of “Degrassi” 24. Billie, to fans 27. ___ Dimas, California (Bill and Ted’s city) 28. Hasten, old-style 29. Straggles 30. Place to get off 31. ___ Skye (Donovan’s daughter) 32. Transpose 34. Scene 35. Place to go, when you’re on your way somewhere 36. Unagi, e.g.

37. Obloquy, informally 38. What a forger might pull off 41. “TMI, bro ...”

42. Quake 43. State where Don Ho was born (or was he? let’s see the REAL birth certificate, Don!) 44. OTC pain reliever 45. Super goofy English terrier 48. Letters next to Clinton’s name, until 2008 49. Singing spring sign 51. Garden cover 52. Honorary legal degs.

53. Post-L letters 54. Space leader?

57. Breathless dedication

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

34 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013

May 1, 2013 · San Diego CityBeat · 35

36 · San Diego CityBeat · May 1, 2013